[Fic] Between the Lines - 3/3
Title: Between the Lines
Author: Coley Merrin
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Siwon/Hankyung
Genre: AU. Crime. Drama/angst/romance.
Summary: Hankyung’s new partner isn’t much an enigma, not like their cases are. He trusts Siwon with his life, but who can protect them from each other?
***
***
A/N: Once again, I apologize for the lateness of this. <3 Life got in the way, but no longer. :) :)
***
Siwon wished he could say something back, but the rag in his mouth prevented it. He saw only dim light, his hearing slightly muffled from the explosion that had knocked him back.
“I don’t know how you found me,” the man said, panicked. “Was it because I took another one so soon? I’ve waited years, and I just couldn’t help it. She came with me so willingly today! It was more than I could resist. Stupid. Stupid, why did you look there? Stupid!”
The muscles in his neck strained as his head snapped to the side under the force of the man’s fist. He could feel blood trickling onto his chin from his lip. The scent was metallic in his nostrils, and he let his head hang, listening if another blow was coming, or worse.
“They’ll never find you here!” the man said, almost breathing out his words. No one knows I own this house. They’ll look where you found me, but not here, not here. I’ve never killed a man before. Will I like it? I don’t know if I’ll like it. But I can’t let you go.”
He had seen a lot of things in his years working crimes and murders, but the sick glee at the idea of killing made his stomach tremble and he had to force himself to inhale slowly. He’d end up choking himself to death before the man even got a chance to try if he didn’t calm down.
“Look what you did,” the man said. “You made her get all upset by making me talk to you.”
He whimpered, unable to help himself, when what felt like the edge a boot hit his thigh. But that wasn’t the important part. If he strained to hear, not breathing, he could just make out quiet whimpers. Was the girl the man had taken still alive then? His hope flared. Not only then did Han Geng need to hurry to help him, but to hurry to save the poor girl’s life. They had a chance to make this right. To save one life before she fell into the hands of a murderer.
He imagined Han Geng’s hand on his face, soothing him, and did his best to breathe.
***
Han Geng was glad he had been in the passenger seat of the car when he had been on the phone with Siwon. Lecturing him to be careful, to wait if he could. The muffled sound of a shot had startled both of them, but nothing like a few seconds later, after Siwon had said he was going inside, the loud explosion.
And then the silence.
He had nearly dropped his phone, shouting Siwon’s name into it. All he had gotten was static, and the indication that the call had dropped. Had he been able to press the officer’s foot to the gas pedal, he would have, but it was good he hadn’t been able to. And very good he had not been driving. He would have wrecked for certain.
Siwon’s car was still there when they arrived, nondescript and sitting at the curb just as he had left it. He tried to keep the images out of his head, things he could not even conceive. Had it been a bomb? Some other kind of gun? Was Siwon dead, unconscious, bleeding?
He focused on moving quickly down the sidewalk, coordinating with the team. There were even more officers than he had called for, at the possibility of one of their own down.
He chose to go around the back for the simple reason that that was where he knew Siwon had gone. There was glass on the ground at the back of the house, but no body, and that was the first trigger of relief. They had men watching the alley where the other bodies had been dropped, just in case. Just in case.
There also wasn’t a lot of blood on the ground. A few drops, that he could see, probably from falling on the glass. And that was good. That meant… That meant there hadn’t been some fatal wound. But beside that, who could tell? He had almost started to let his optimism rise when he saw a different kind of glint, and realized it was a broken cell phone screen. Siwon’s cell phone, that had been crushed into several pieces, likely by someone’s foot. It made his stomach clench. Siwon you have to be okay, he swore internally.
A team went in the front, a team in the back, shouting out what they found and did not find. Careful of any booby traps. They searched every inch of the house, checking for hidden spaces. He went through each room personally, and found nothing. Absolutely nothing.
No people. No guns. No Siwon.
Was their hunch right, that he would go back to the alley? He shook his head. No. There also wasn’t any blood in the house. Unless the man had been very quick and killed in the bathroom, there was no way he could’ve gotten a heavy, full-grown man to a car before they arrived. The only way he could have done that was if he had taken Siwon and the girl somewhere else to kill them. And even then, how had he gotten them away?
They had people canvassing the neighbors, people on the phones, trying to find a place that he might have gone. Anything. They just needed a lead.
Back in the back yard, he dropped to his haunches, reaching out to pick up the little cross charm that Siwon kept on his cell phone. And frowned, at the mark beside it. It looked like something had been dragged, like a shoe. Two marks, as though a heavy man was being dragged. It was the faintest scuff, something he didn’t even notice in the light, but having crouched he saw the furrows. With the charm in his hand, he realized that the marks were not leading toward the house, but away from it.
“Hey, come over here and look at this,” he ordered, pointing out the marks to another detective. The gate that the marks led up to was not locked, but they peered through gaps in it rather than try to open it. It led to another house, on the facing street. Something they would not have thought to checked. All their records indicated this was the only house he owned.
“Call in and see if his parents owned a house on the other street,” he said to an officer. They couldn’t just go rushing in without information. Though the minutes they waited for confirmation were killing him. If Siwon had been drug away, then it was possible he was still alive.
***
It was difficult listening for every sound, trying to breathe. Waiting. If he murdered the girl right there, while Siwon listened, he wasn’t sure how he would get over it. If he had waited. Waited just a little longer.
With shouts a door burst open, indecipherable noises as his breath started puffing in his lungs. He was over here! He wanted to shout. The girl was no more than twenty feet from him!
The shot was almost deafening, and he was screaming through his gag, unable to see or hear anything. Han Geng, Han Geng, he shouted over and over, jerking at his bonds.
“Siwon!”
The sound of his name was loud in his muffled ears, and he closed his eyes in shock as the cloth was taken from his eyes. The brightness of the room suddenly too much.
What he saw first was Han Geng’s mouth, so near, and speaking incomprehensible words to him. Chinese, he realized. His brain working to catch up.
“I’ve got him,” Han Geng said, to the officer standing behind him. “Help take care of the girl.”
He turned back to Siwon with a smile, working at the rag in his mouth. “She’s all right. Shaken. He’s dead. He was pointing a gun at us when we came in, so we had to shoot him.”
His tongue felt like it was made of sawdust, and Han Geng caught a supply bag from one of the others, tipping a blissful swallow, two, into his mouth.
“Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere?”
“I do…Nothing really bad. Just, tied up.”
“I’ll get those off you now.”
They were zip ties, multiple ones, and Han Geng used the heavy shears in the same bag to snip them from Siwon’s wrists. His hands felt heavy and engorged, tingling as Han Geng laid them gently in his lap, cutting the ties from Siwon’s ankles as well. And when he was done, Han Geng knelt, rubbing gently at his smarting hands. And just staring at him. Which he didn’t mind, since he was staring back. Had he ever seen anything so wonderful? He was being sentimental, danger passed, but Han Geng was there, had come for him. And of course, so had the others. But Han Geng…
“I should’ve…” he started.
“It’s okay. It’s okay isn’t it? She’s all right, you’re all right. We got the man. We’ll talk about what could’ve gone better later.”
Han Geng stood, smiling, an with a gentle thumb, he wiped blood from Siwon’s chin. “Can you walk?”
He grinned up sheepishly. Flexing his legs. “Maybe with a little help.”
“You’ve got that.”
Together, somehow, they got him up the stairs. He felt as shaky as a newborn colt, for obvious reasons. The girl had been taken the hospital already, and there were paramedics waiting to see to him.
“I’m not going to the hospital,” he said, adamantly. “I was only unconscious for a few seconds at most.”
Maybe a minute. But still, it wasn’t enough to warrant a trip to the hospital. Han Geng looked ready to argue on the side of the paramedics and he felt a little glow of warmth and wonder, that Han Geng did not leave him. Almost would not stop touching him.
“You shouldn’t be alone, if something is wrong, if you feel worse…” one of the men argued.
“I won’t be alone,” Siwon said, slinging his arm around Han Geng’s shoulders. “My partner will be with me.”
They did manage to get his shirt off, brushing him of a few pieces of broken glass and bandaging a few small nicks. And after he’d downed a bottle of juice and put on Han Geng’s extra jacket, he felt like a whole new man.
He just tried not to lean on Han Geng too obviously as they walked to his car.
***
He had every intention of staying with Siwon through the night. His partner was alive, and in fairly good condition, considering. They got him out of the rest of his clothes and into pajamas, and Han Geng cooked for him. No takeout, just using what Siwon had in his refrigerator. They purged on each other for the day, talking out what they could, how they could. He did what he had to, staying busy at they talked so that he didn’t just crawl onto Siwon and hold him. And Siwon had pulled up a chair as near to Han Geng’s cooking area as he dared to get, close enough that if he went close, he laid a hand on Siwon’s shoulder, because he knew that was what Siwon needed.
He dressed in Siwon’s pajamas, helplessly enjoying the thought of it. And it was in Siwon’s bed that he crawled, lecturing the man that he had to let Han Geng know immediately if he felt off. There was no other option. Siwon squeezed his hand beneath the covers, and he felt giddy waves of relief and joy. He was alive, alive and beside him.
He woke from sleep to the lurching of the bed, Siwon grunting in what sounded like terror, a nightmare.
“Siwon,” he said, pushing lightly at Siwon’s shoulder. He didn’t want to get punched, so he figured a delicate touch was needed. “Siwon, wake up.”
With a gasp, he could tell Siwon had come up out of the dream.
“It’s okay,” he said, waiting until Siwon had focused on him, said his name. He let his hand rest on the side of Siwon’s clammy neck. “It’s all right. It was just a dream.”
“Han Geng. I dreamed… When you came for me, he killed you. Because of me.”
“No. No, everyone is okay. We saved that girl’s life because of you.”
“He killed you.”
“No.” He rolled closer, kneading Siwon’s shoulder. “I’m all right. Everyone is all right.”
It was instinct more than desire that had him kissing Siwon’s forehead. A tender, innocent touch that had the hand clutching at him relaxing somewhat.
“Sleep now,” he whispered. “It’ll be better in the morning.”
It would take time for both of them. And Siwon did not let him go, pressing a kiss to his face that was too near his mouth. No, not too near. It just made him dream, and feel ashamed that he would enjoy Siwon’s gratitude as something it was not. But he was not uncomfortable near, falling quickly into sleep.
***
Siwon took the mandatory week off before returning, and it was another week after that before he was cleared to do much more than sit at his desk. He chafed at it, but it was for the best, Han Geng thought. Both for his health mentally, and physically as well. There had only been two more nightmares. Han Geng had known, because he had not slept in his own apartment since. They hadn’t even really discussed it so much as known that Han Geng would stay. He supposed it was partly that they knew each other so well. And more each day.
When an officer came to their little corner, telling him that the chief wanted to see Han Geng, Siwon looked sort of inexplicably horrified. The nerves of that look and hesitant smile haunted him into the office.
“Closing that case was a big one,” his chief said, shuffling papers around his desk. “You’ve been a real asset to the team since you’ve gotten here, Hankyung.”
“Thank you, sir,” he said, and tried not to mentally correct him to Han Geng.
“Violent crimes, we have a lot of shuffling in and out. Park, the tall one, you know, is losing his partner, so we need to find a new one for him. I think it’s time. You’re ready to move on now, so you can move your things over, say…Tomorrow? He knows this is coming.”
“Move on? Move my… I don’t know if I understand, sir. You want me to be Park’s partner?”
“Most people find Siwon to be a very good partner to ease into the team with, but by the time they’re integrated, they’re ready to move on. Don’t worry, Siwon will get a new partner eventually.”
He stood a little straighter. “I understand your thinking, sir, but this time you’re wrong. I’m not ready to move on. I thought that we made a good team, Siwon and I. I don’t want a new partner, and I think Siwon is not only a good detective, but that you’re underestimating him. The problem is other people, not him.”
The chief raised his eyebrows. “I did notice that you weren’t in here complaining, but I thought that might’ve just been your nature. It’s just been common procedure, to move someone on, so I didn’t want to push you any further. It’s a pain to do up the paperwork anyway. You’re part of us now. If you do want a change, you’ll let me know?”
“I will, sir,” he said, and felt the tension start to seep down his back.
“Good. Dismissed.”
Siwon’s desk had gotten more disheveled since he had left, and so had Siwon’s hair. It made him want to smooth it back down for him, and usually it just sort of fell into place. Siwon was just lucky like that.
“Who’s he want you to partner with now?” Siwon asked, his tone light, but so much tension in it. It gave Han Geng pause, because he didn’t even realize that Siwon would know what he had been called away for. But of course he had, partners passing by him, and with the closing of their first big, high profile case… Everyone else in the bullpen suddenly looked down as he stared around, and he grimaced. He bet there were wagers going how long he could last, how quickly he had signed the transfer papers.
“Siwon, come with me a second,” he said. And all but dragged him to an empty room used for the occasional overnight stays. It was dark, and private.
“Park, was who he suggested,” Han Geng told Siwon.
Siwon nodded before he could say anything else. “Yeah, I thought so. He’s a good one. You should get along well with him.”
“I told him I didn’t want a different partner,” Han Geng interrupted. “And I don’t. Unless you want to get rid of me?”
How did he know what he would see? Certainly it was what he had hoped. The shock and then joy that spread across Siwon’s face. Like dawn on a hazy night. “You wanted to stay…with me?”
“You’re my partner, aren’t you?”
He was pretty sure Siwon knew he needed to breathe as he was crushed into a hug. “Yes, I mean. Obviously. Han Geng, I don’t… You should come meet my parents. No one has ever stayed long enough to meet my parents.”
“Okay.”
And he was so very content.
***
It wasn’t like his attraction to Siwon faded at all, now that they were permanent partners. And he felt he could be a little smug in saying that, and kind of wickedly hoped a lot of people lost money betting on how long they were going to last. Siwon had, more or less, hijacked his life after that. Not just their days off, but dinners, trips. Meeting his parents and his sister, on more than one occasion. He was spending so much time, in fact, in Siwon’s apartment, that he almost forgotten what his was like. Was that healthy? They probably needed time apart. They were nearly one person as it was. He was around Siwon more than any other human in his life. It wasn’t helping him be less in love with the man, was the general problem.
“I think someone in records was trying to ask me out today,” he said, staring up at a spot on the ceiling. “I didn’t really know how to respond. Probably against regulations, but, yeah. I don’t know.”
Talking about dating someone else while in Siwon’s bed seemed a little sacrilegious.
“Who was he?” Siwon ask quietly.
Han Geng turned his head slowly. “Did I say it was a man?”
It wasn’t unusual, among the people he knew Siwon knew, to have someone like men. It wasn’t as though he had felt the irrepressible judgement. They hadn’t delved too deep into past lovers or anything much of the like. In fact, the closest they had come was the night he had met Siwon’s sister. Should he have found that odd? Should they have discussed people they found attractive, or would that have only served to make each other uncomfortable? Perhaps there were some secrets between them yet. But his preferred gender apparently wasn’t one of those.
“No, you didn’t say that,” Siwon said. “I just. I’m sorry, I just assumed.”
He could have laughed for the uncertainty in Siwon’s voice. “Yes. You assumed right.”
“Were you interested? If he hadn’t worked for the department?”
“Why the sudden interest in my love life?” Han Geng wondered out loud, wishing he’d never said anything. If he wasn’t careful, he’d be giving away things he’d never intended to. “I wasn’t interested in him, no.”
He felt the bed dip and imagined that Siwon was staring at him.
“We haven’t talked about it. But interested, that’s not quite right. There wasn’t ever a good time. I don’t think there ever will be.” A shock shot through his shoulder as Siwon’s hand slipped down his forearm, catching at his wrist. “But I thought… Han Geng, if I’m wrong, it was the concussion, okay?”
He was about to ask what Siwon was going on about, but didn’t really get the chance, as Siwon’s mouth covered his. The light from the window was enough, giving even his cross-eyed view a glint of Siwon’s eyelashes. And though he wanted to push forward, Siwon’s lips, he pulled back.
“What? Why? What?”
Siwon touched his face, damp fingers against his skin. And they searched each other. “Why do I need you around me all the time, Han Geng?”
“I- I don’t know,” he stammered.
“It was you I worried about when I was trapped in that house, and that’s what gave me nightmares. And I was upset that you might transfer away, when I had never really cared before. I don’t want to make the choice between having you here with me, and working beside you. I want both. I need both.”
Hearing it made him wonder. There was no untruth in those words, and they were words that he could easily have spoken himself. That Siwon had been harboring those feelings, fearing losing him not only as a partner, but as…As more. That when Siwon had seen his face that day, seen him alive, it had been relief. Not just as a partner but as something else. Not just a friend, though they were that.
Siwon’s lips had curved, his eyes soft, and Han Geng knew he waited to see if his waiting had paid off. If Han Geng felt the same. But no, Siwon had not been wrong. He was not alone in feeling what he was. Even if they didn’t have it figured out, maybe they would. This time it was not Siwon who asked for the kiss, but him, and almost going weak as Siwon’s mouth parted wetly to his. Han Geng, was mumbled against his mouth, an arm cinching him close and tight. They should probably talk about it, he considered letting his hand devour the skin of of Siwon’s lower back. Sometime.
He still wasn’t entirely certain he wasn’t dreaming. “How long?” he murmured, hoping that Siwon understood him. And it made them pause, the tip of Siwon’s nose brushing his.
“Before I showed you the city. That day was so much to me, with you.”
“For me, too,” he admitted. He wasn’t dreaming. He wasn’t. “Siwon.”
What they were doing was against all the rules, they both knew that, even as he fisted his hands in Siwon’s shirt and pulled him into a kiss that said everything he could not. Melting hazy warmth and lust and love, and belonging. It was a sexy tussle to see who could touch more, laughter that turned him on as much as the feel of the muscles beneath his hands. It was a night for discovery, not more. But still, they ended up tangled, flushed and panting, kissing with fierce joy as one day turned into the other.
“Tell me everything,” Han Geng asked of Siwon. Every touch that had made him dream.
Their lips parted with a smacking sound, and Siwon sounded quite offended. “Well, to start with, you’re not allowed to date anyone from records. Or anywhere else.”
“Says who?” he asked, tracing Siwon’s dimples, and pressing lazy kisses to his chin.
“Says me.”
For that night, that was good enough for him. And for exploring the rest, he planned on them having plenty of tomorrows.
***
Author: Coley Merrin
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Siwon/Hankyung
Genre: AU. Crime. Drama/angst/romance.
Summary: Hankyung’s new partner isn’t much an enigma, not like their cases are. He trusts Siwon with his life, but who can protect them from each other?
***
***
A/N: Once again, I apologize for the lateness of this. <3 Life got in the way, but no longer. :) :)
***
Siwon wished he could say something back, but the rag in his mouth prevented it. He saw only dim light, his hearing slightly muffled from the explosion that had knocked him back.
“I don’t know how you found me,” the man said, panicked. “Was it because I took another one so soon? I’ve waited years, and I just couldn’t help it. She came with me so willingly today! It was more than I could resist. Stupid. Stupid, why did you look there? Stupid!”
The muscles in his neck strained as his head snapped to the side under the force of the man’s fist. He could feel blood trickling onto his chin from his lip. The scent was metallic in his nostrils, and he let his head hang, listening if another blow was coming, or worse.
“They’ll never find you here!” the man said, almost breathing out his words. No one knows I own this house. They’ll look where you found me, but not here, not here. I’ve never killed a man before. Will I like it? I don’t know if I’ll like it. But I can’t let you go.”
He had seen a lot of things in his years working crimes and murders, but the sick glee at the idea of killing made his stomach tremble and he had to force himself to inhale slowly. He’d end up choking himself to death before the man even got a chance to try if he didn’t calm down.
“Look what you did,” the man said. “You made her get all upset by making me talk to you.”
He whimpered, unable to help himself, when what felt like the edge a boot hit his thigh. But that wasn’t the important part. If he strained to hear, not breathing, he could just make out quiet whimpers. Was the girl the man had taken still alive then? His hope flared. Not only then did Han Geng need to hurry to help him, but to hurry to save the poor girl’s life. They had a chance to make this right. To save one life before she fell into the hands of a murderer.
He imagined Han Geng’s hand on his face, soothing him, and did his best to breathe.
***
Han Geng was glad he had been in the passenger seat of the car when he had been on the phone with Siwon. Lecturing him to be careful, to wait if he could. The muffled sound of a shot had startled both of them, but nothing like a few seconds later, after Siwon had said he was going inside, the loud explosion.
And then the silence.
He had nearly dropped his phone, shouting Siwon’s name into it. All he had gotten was static, and the indication that the call had dropped. Had he been able to press the officer’s foot to the gas pedal, he would have, but it was good he hadn’t been able to. And very good he had not been driving. He would have wrecked for certain.
Siwon’s car was still there when they arrived, nondescript and sitting at the curb just as he had left it. He tried to keep the images out of his head, things he could not even conceive. Had it been a bomb? Some other kind of gun? Was Siwon dead, unconscious, bleeding?
He focused on moving quickly down the sidewalk, coordinating with the team. There were even more officers than he had called for, at the possibility of one of their own down.
He chose to go around the back for the simple reason that that was where he knew Siwon had gone. There was glass on the ground at the back of the house, but no body, and that was the first trigger of relief. They had men watching the alley where the other bodies had been dropped, just in case. Just in case.
There also wasn’t a lot of blood on the ground. A few drops, that he could see, probably from falling on the glass. And that was good. That meant… That meant there hadn’t been some fatal wound. But beside that, who could tell? He had almost started to let his optimism rise when he saw a different kind of glint, and realized it was a broken cell phone screen. Siwon’s cell phone, that had been crushed into several pieces, likely by someone’s foot. It made his stomach clench. Siwon you have to be okay, he swore internally.
A team went in the front, a team in the back, shouting out what they found and did not find. Careful of any booby traps. They searched every inch of the house, checking for hidden spaces. He went through each room personally, and found nothing. Absolutely nothing.
No people. No guns. No Siwon.
Was their hunch right, that he would go back to the alley? He shook his head. No. There also wasn’t any blood in the house. Unless the man had been very quick and killed in the bathroom, there was no way he could’ve gotten a heavy, full-grown man to a car before they arrived. The only way he could have done that was if he had taken Siwon and the girl somewhere else to kill them. And even then, how had he gotten them away?
They had people canvassing the neighbors, people on the phones, trying to find a place that he might have gone. Anything. They just needed a lead.
Back in the back yard, he dropped to his haunches, reaching out to pick up the little cross charm that Siwon kept on his cell phone. And frowned, at the mark beside it. It looked like something had been dragged, like a shoe. Two marks, as though a heavy man was being dragged. It was the faintest scuff, something he didn’t even notice in the light, but having crouched he saw the furrows. With the charm in his hand, he realized that the marks were not leading toward the house, but away from it.
“Hey, come over here and look at this,” he ordered, pointing out the marks to another detective. The gate that the marks led up to was not locked, but they peered through gaps in it rather than try to open it. It led to another house, on the facing street. Something they would not have thought to checked. All their records indicated this was the only house he owned.
“Call in and see if his parents owned a house on the other street,” he said to an officer. They couldn’t just go rushing in without information. Though the minutes they waited for confirmation were killing him. If Siwon had been drug away, then it was possible he was still alive.
***
It was difficult listening for every sound, trying to breathe. Waiting. If he murdered the girl right there, while Siwon listened, he wasn’t sure how he would get over it. If he had waited. Waited just a little longer.
With shouts a door burst open, indecipherable noises as his breath started puffing in his lungs. He was over here! He wanted to shout. The girl was no more than twenty feet from him!
The shot was almost deafening, and he was screaming through his gag, unable to see or hear anything. Han Geng, Han Geng, he shouted over and over, jerking at his bonds.
“Siwon!”
The sound of his name was loud in his muffled ears, and he closed his eyes in shock as the cloth was taken from his eyes. The brightness of the room suddenly too much.
What he saw first was Han Geng’s mouth, so near, and speaking incomprehensible words to him. Chinese, he realized. His brain working to catch up.
“I’ve got him,” Han Geng said, to the officer standing behind him. “Help take care of the girl.”
He turned back to Siwon with a smile, working at the rag in his mouth. “She’s all right. Shaken. He’s dead. He was pointing a gun at us when we came in, so we had to shoot him.”
His tongue felt like it was made of sawdust, and Han Geng caught a supply bag from one of the others, tipping a blissful swallow, two, into his mouth.
“Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere?”
“I do…Nothing really bad. Just, tied up.”
“I’ll get those off you now.”
They were zip ties, multiple ones, and Han Geng used the heavy shears in the same bag to snip them from Siwon’s wrists. His hands felt heavy and engorged, tingling as Han Geng laid them gently in his lap, cutting the ties from Siwon’s ankles as well. And when he was done, Han Geng knelt, rubbing gently at his smarting hands. And just staring at him. Which he didn’t mind, since he was staring back. Had he ever seen anything so wonderful? He was being sentimental, danger passed, but Han Geng was there, had come for him. And of course, so had the others. But Han Geng…
“I should’ve…” he started.
“It’s okay. It’s okay isn’t it? She’s all right, you’re all right. We got the man. We’ll talk about what could’ve gone better later.”
Han Geng stood, smiling, an with a gentle thumb, he wiped blood from Siwon’s chin. “Can you walk?”
He grinned up sheepishly. Flexing his legs. “Maybe with a little help.”
“You’ve got that.”
Together, somehow, they got him up the stairs. He felt as shaky as a newborn colt, for obvious reasons. The girl had been taken the hospital already, and there were paramedics waiting to see to him.
“I’m not going to the hospital,” he said, adamantly. “I was only unconscious for a few seconds at most.”
Maybe a minute. But still, it wasn’t enough to warrant a trip to the hospital. Han Geng looked ready to argue on the side of the paramedics and he felt a little glow of warmth and wonder, that Han Geng did not leave him. Almost would not stop touching him.
“You shouldn’t be alone, if something is wrong, if you feel worse…” one of the men argued.
“I won’t be alone,” Siwon said, slinging his arm around Han Geng’s shoulders. “My partner will be with me.”
They did manage to get his shirt off, brushing him of a few pieces of broken glass and bandaging a few small nicks. And after he’d downed a bottle of juice and put on Han Geng’s extra jacket, he felt like a whole new man.
He just tried not to lean on Han Geng too obviously as they walked to his car.
***
He had every intention of staying with Siwon through the night. His partner was alive, and in fairly good condition, considering. They got him out of the rest of his clothes and into pajamas, and Han Geng cooked for him. No takeout, just using what Siwon had in his refrigerator. They purged on each other for the day, talking out what they could, how they could. He did what he had to, staying busy at they talked so that he didn’t just crawl onto Siwon and hold him. And Siwon had pulled up a chair as near to Han Geng’s cooking area as he dared to get, close enough that if he went close, he laid a hand on Siwon’s shoulder, because he knew that was what Siwon needed.
He dressed in Siwon’s pajamas, helplessly enjoying the thought of it. And it was in Siwon’s bed that he crawled, lecturing the man that he had to let Han Geng know immediately if he felt off. There was no other option. Siwon squeezed his hand beneath the covers, and he felt giddy waves of relief and joy. He was alive, alive and beside him.
He woke from sleep to the lurching of the bed, Siwon grunting in what sounded like terror, a nightmare.
“Siwon,” he said, pushing lightly at Siwon’s shoulder. He didn’t want to get punched, so he figured a delicate touch was needed. “Siwon, wake up.”
With a gasp, he could tell Siwon had come up out of the dream.
“It’s okay,” he said, waiting until Siwon had focused on him, said his name. He let his hand rest on the side of Siwon’s clammy neck. “It’s all right. It was just a dream.”
“Han Geng. I dreamed… When you came for me, he killed you. Because of me.”
“No. No, everyone is okay. We saved that girl’s life because of you.”
“He killed you.”
“No.” He rolled closer, kneading Siwon’s shoulder. “I’m all right. Everyone is all right.”
It was instinct more than desire that had him kissing Siwon’s forehead. A tender, innocent touch that had the hand clutching at him relaxing somewhat.
“Sleep now,” he whispered. “It’ll be better in the morning.”
It would take time for both of them. And Siwon did not let him go, pressing a kiss to his face that was too near his mouth. No, not too near. It just made him dream, and feel ashamed that he would enjoy Siwon’s gratitude as something it was not. But he was not uncomfortable near, falling quickly into sleep.
***
Siwon took the mandatory week off before returning, and it was another week after that before he was cleared to do much more than sit at his desk. He chafed at it, but it was for the best, Han Geng thought. Both for his health mentally, and physically as well. There had only been two more nightmares. Han Geng had known, because he had not slept in his own apartment since. They hadn’t even really discussed it so much as known that Han Geng would stay. He supposed it was partly that they knew each other so well. And more each day.
When an officer came to their little corner, telling him that the chief wanted to see Han Geng, Siwon looked sort of inexplicably horrified. The nerves of that look and hesitant smile haunted him into the office.
“Closing that case was a big one,” his chief said, shuffling papers around his desk. “You’ve been a real asset to the team since you’ve gotten here, Hankyung.”
“Thank you, sir,” he said, and tried not to mentally correct him to Han Geng.
“Violent crimes, we have a lot of shuffling in and out. Park, the tall one, you know, is losing his partner, so we need to find a new one for him. I think it’s time. You’re ready to move on now, so you can move your things over, say…Tomorrow? He knows this is coming.”
“Move on? Move my… I don’t know if I understand, sir. You want me to be Park’s partner?”
“Most people find Siwon to be a very good partner to ease into the team with, but by the time they’re integrated, they’re ready to move on. Don’t worry, Siwon will get a new partner eventually.”
He stood a little straighter. “I understand your thinking, sir, but this time you’re wrong. I’m not ready to move on. I thought that we made a good team, Siwon and I. I don’t want a new partner, and I think Siwon is not only a good detective, but that you’re underestimating him. The problem is other people, not him.”
The chief raised his eyebrows. “I did notice that you weren’t in here complaining, but I thought that might’ve just been your nature. It’s just been common procedure, to move someone on, so I didn’t want to push you any further. It’s a pain to do up the paperwork anyway. You’re part of us now. If you do want a change, you’ll let me know?”
“I will, sir,” he said, and felt the tension start to seep down his back.
“Good. Dismissed.”
Siwon’s desk had gotten more disheveled since he had left, and so had Siwon’s hair. It made him want to smooth it back down for him, and usually it just sort of fell into place. Siwon was just lucky like that.
“Who’s he want you to partner with now?” Siwon asked, his tone light, but so much tension in it. It gave Han Geng pause, because he didn’t even realize that Siwon would know what he had been called away for. But of course he had, partners passing by him, and with the closing of their first big, high profile case… Everyone else in the bullpen suddenly looked down as he stared around, and he grimaced. He bet there were wagers going how long he could last, how quickly he had signed the transfer papers.
“Siwon, come with me a second,” he said. And all but dragged him to an empty room used for the occasional overnight stays. It was dark, and private.
“Park, was who he suggested,” Han Geng told Siwon.
Siwon nodded before he could say anything else. “Yeah, I thought so. He’s a good one. You should get along well with him.”
“I told him I didn’t want a different partner,” Han Geng interrupted. “And I don’t. Unless you want to get rid of me?”
How did he know what he would see? Certainly it was what he had hoped. The shock and then joy that spread across Siwon’s face. Like dawn on a hazy night. “You wanted to stay…with me?”
“You’re my partner, aren’t you?”
He was pretty sure Siwon knew he needed to breathe as he was crushed into a hug. “Yes, I mean. Obviously. Han Geng, I don’t… You should come meet my parents. No one has ever stayed long enough to meet my parents.”
“Okay.”
And he was so very content.
***
It wasn’t like his attraction to Siwon faded at all, now that they were permanent partners. And he felt he could be a little smug in saying that, and kind of wickedly hoped a lot of people lost money betting on how long they were going to last. Siwon had, more or less, hijacked his life after that. Not just their days off, but dinners, trips. Meeting his parents and his sister, on more than one occasion. He was spending so much time, in fact, in Siwon’s apartment, that he almost forgotten what his was like. Was that healthy? They probably needed time apart. They were nearly one person as it was. He was around Siwon more than any other human in his life. It wasn’t helping him be less in love with the man, was the general problem.
“I think someone in records was trying to ask me out today,” he said, staring up at a spot on the ceiling. “I didn’t really know how to respond. Probably against regulations, but, yeah. I don’t know.”
Talking about dating someone else while in Siwon’s bed seemed a little sacrilegious.
“Who was he?” Siwon ask quietly.
Han Geng turned his head slowly. “Did I say it was a man?”
It wasn’t unusual, among the people he knew Siwon knew, to have someone like men. It wasn’t as though he had felt the irrepressible judgement. They hadn’t delved too deep into past lovers or anything much of the like. In fact, the closest they had come was the night he had met Siwon’s sister. Should he have found that odd? Should they have discussed people they found attractive, or would that have only served to make each other uncomfortable? Perhaps there were some secrets between them yet. But his preferred gender apparently wasn’t one of those.
“No, you didn’t say that,” Siwon said. “I just. I’m sorry, I just assumed.”
He could have laughed for the uncertainty in Siwon’s voice. “Yes. You assumed right.”
“Were you interested? If he hadn’t worked for the department?”
“Why the sudden interest in my love life?” Han Geng wondered out loud, wishing he’d never said anything. If he wasn’t careful, he’d be giving away things he’d never intended to. “I wasn’t interested in him, no.”
He felt the bed dip and imagined that Siwon was staring at him.
“We haven’t talked about it. But interested, that’s not quite right. There wasn’t ever a good time. I don’t think there ever will be.” A shock shot through his shoulder as Siwon’s hand slipped down his forearm, catching at his wrist. “But I thought… Han Geng, if I’m wrong, it was the concussion, okay?”
He was about to ask what Siwon was going on about, but didn’t really get the chance, as Siwon’s mouth covered his. The light from the window was enough, giving even his cross-eyed view a glint of Siwon’s eyelashes. And though he wanted to push forward, Siwon’s lips, he pulled back.
“What? Why? What?”
Siwon touched his face, damp fingers against his skin. And they searched each other. “Why do I need you around me all the time, Han Geng?”
“I- I don’t know,” he stammered.
“It was you I worried about when I was trapped in that house, and that’s what gave me nightmares. And I was upset that you might transfer away, when I had never really cared before. I don’t want to make the choice between having you here with me, and working beside you. I want both. I need both.”
Hearing it made him wonder. There was no untruth in those words, and they were words that he could easily have spoken himself. That Siwon had been harboring those feelings, fearing losing him not only as a partner, but as…As more. That when Siwon had seen his face that day, seen him alive, it had been relief. Not just as a partner but as something else. Not just a friend, though they were that.
Siwon’s lips had curved, his eyes soft, and Han Geng knew he waited to see if his waiting had paid off. If Han Geng felt the same. But no, Siwon had not been wrong. He was not alone in feeling what he was. Even if they didn’t have it figured out, maybe they would. This time it was not Siwon who asked for the kiss, but him, and almost going weak as Siwon’s mouth parted wetly to his. Han Geng, was mumbled against his mouth, an arm cinching him close and tight. They should probably talk about it, he considered letting his hand devour the skin of of Siwon’s lower back. Sometime.
He still wasn’t entirely certain he wasn’t dreaming. “How long?” he murmured, hoping that Siwon understood him. And it made them pause, the tip of Siwon’s nose brushing his.
“Before I showed you the city. That day was so much to me, with you.”
“For me, too,” he admitted. He wasn’t dreaming. He wasn’t. “Siwon.”
What they were doing was against all the rules, they both knew that, even as he fisted his hands in Siwon’s shirt and pulled him into a kiss that said everything he could not. Melting hazy warmth and lust and love, and belonging. It was a sexy tussle to see who could touch more, laughter that turned him on as much as the feel of the muscles beneath his hands. It was a night for discovery, not more. But still, they ended up tangled, flushed and panting, kissing with fierce joy as one day turned into the other.
“Tell me everything,” Han Geng asked of Siwon. Every touch that had made him dream.
Their lips parted with a smacking sound, and Siwon sounded quite offended. “Well, to start with, you’re not allowed to date anyone from records. Or anywhere else.”
“Says who?” he asked, tracing Siwon’s dimples, and pressing lazy kisses to his chin.
“Says me.”
For that night, that was good enough for him. And for exploring the rest, he planned on them having plenty of tomorrows.
***