[Fic] More Than This - 1/15
Title: More Than This
Author: Coley Merrin
Pairings: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun, Tablo/Eunhyuk
Other: Zhou Mi/other, Kyuhyun/other, Eunhyuk/Sooyoung, various
Rating: R
Genre: AU, crime, romance
Warnings: violence, death (not of main characters)
Summary: Zhou Mi’s focus is Heartstrings, a dating company where love is more than just a guarantee - it's in Zhou Mi’s blood. A matchmaking gift he’s used with gladness, until a series of murders has it shaping his nightmares.
Eunhyuk, his business partner, can’t let go of his tumultuous past. But finding a man he’s been looking for over half his life has repercussions not only for him, but for Zhou Mi and their future.
Chapter One * Chapter Two
***
Kyuhyun had done a lot of things since he’d graduated college. He’d worked on web sites - back end, of course - content organizer, general person who knew what a computer was when it wasn’t upside down, program manager, and office assistant. He wasn’t a genius at it. He didn’t have an advanced degree. Most of what he knew had been from a few classes, and trial and error. But he did know how to search the Internet, and how to slam his forehead into a keyboard until it generally gave him what he wanted.
And if that failed, he knew how to call tech support for a subtle backup.
But of all the things he thought he’d be doing, all the things his parents thought he’d be good at, matchmaking wasn’t one of them.
Perhaps that was putting it too far. He wasn’t actually going to be matchmaking. He was being farmed out by his boss, which happened sometimes. A local small business needed part-time help with office work, computers, and phones. That was what Tablo did, matching up workers to jobs.
And Tablo had told him in person, rather than sending him an email. And he was pretty sure why, when Tablo had told him what the business was.
“Heartstrings,” Tablo read from the paper in his hands. “They are a matchmaking and dating service. They need someone part time to help out, and are just down the block. I met with one of the co-owners the other day. And you’re getting kind of bored just bumping around here making friends with the water cooler.”
Theoretically, Kyuhyun was training to do what Tablo did as well. To start helping with the matching of workers to employers, and recruiting. At least, he would be when the economy started picking up again. He picked up some of Tablo’s overflow here and there, but it wasn’t enough to keep him busy full time. He did his best to look busy, but Tablo wasn’t exactly stupid.
And farming him out meant that Tablo got a cut, too. Win-win, on one of their ends anyway.
Semi-casual, Tablo had told him. And the owners wanted to meet him, of course, before giving their go-ahead. He told himself he should be grateful that Tablo wasn’t cutting him loose entirely. Keeping him on half time at Tablo’s office, and half time at Heartstrings meant more money, more experience. And when Tablo had more work, Kyuhyun could consolidate.
It didn’t make him less anxious. Interviews were never his strongest suit. He left off his tie, but kept his suit jacket. Tablo didn’t require either at the office, but the first impression was sometimes the only one. He blew out a breath, approaching the door marked “Heartstrings” with the heart logo running around it. It didn’t look like Cupid had farted on it, but it was pretty enough. The site said men and women used it, so the logo was designed to be attractive.
The doorknob gave easily to the reception area. An empty desk, his he assumed. A tall potted plant beside a couple of chairs couch. A large aquarium bubbling, and another desk further back. There were two doors. One marked Restroom, and the other he assumed to be an office. It was a small bit of real estate, but nice. It smelled of coffee, and something undefinable. Cleaning supplies, maybe.
But people, there were none of those. He stood, shifting from foot to foot. No bell to ring. The back office door was slightly open, so he weighed his next move. Walking over, knocking on the frame. Hoping someone acknowledged his existence.
He’d taken a full step when the door behind him rattled to announce it’s opening, and he jumped like he was trying to burgle the place. Most of the man’s face was obscured by sunglasses, and he seemed as surprised to see someone standing there as Kyuhyun was to see him. There were several moments of awkward silence as Kyuhyun tried to recall all the languages he thought he knew, up to and including all the random curse words he knew from languages he didn’t know. Thankfully the man at the door got there first.
“Oh, are you Kyuhyun? Eunhyuk said you were coming to meet us today.”
A hand extended to him, one that wasn’t holding a cup from a coffee company, and Kyuhyun gripped it out of instinct.
“I’m Zhou Mi,” the man said, smile flashing. “It’s nice to meet you. I’ll get Eunhyuk and we can sit and talk.”
“Sure. Yes. That’s fine.”
Their hands disconnected and Kyuhyun muttered “Nice to meet you too?” under his breath as Zhou Mi and his stone washed jeans sailed into the back office. Zhou Mi. Owner, founder. Co-owner, he guessed, but it was clear from the documentation that he’d founded the business himself before taking on a partner. Nothing about the humorous, though professional picture on their website had prepared him for the man himself. Congenial. And certainly casual. And tall.
“Hi!” Eunhyuk said, a folder in his hand as he came out. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in. I guess we need to get bells for the door or something.”
“‘You make my heart sing,’” Zhou Mi sang from the back office.
Eunhyuk at least was familiar to him. The brief meeting with Tablo to make sure that needs and abilities matched up. It was a new job, so he was worried he’d be able to perform. Not embarrass himself. Push himself a little, but not too much. He didn’t want to be bored, or stressed out of his mind.
But Eunhyuk greeted him with a handshake as well, offering for him to sit at the empty desk, as Eunhyuk brought the chair over from the other desk in the room. Moments after, Zhou Mi appeared, rolling out a chair for himself, and then they were a triangle of men on wheels. Eunhyuk was dressed almost as casually as Zhou Mi, only he had on khakis and a buttoned shirt, instead of jeans and a t-shirt.
Wardrobe. They were definitely going to have to discuss that.
“This isn’t really an interview,” Zhou Mi said, and Kyuhyun could see all of his face now that the huge sunglasses were gone. “I just wanted to be able to meet you, and have a moment where we could both talk to you before you got started. See if you had any questions.”
He shifted in his seat and tried not to grip his hands together. Interview or not, casual clothes or not, it was still very interview-like. He wasn’t really sure what could’ve made it less so, even if they were all in swimsuits at a poolside. Maybe five or six beers, but that wasn’t really an option.
“I think Eunhyuk told me most everything I needed to know before,” Kyuhyun said finally, nodding at Eunhyuk. “I’ve been on the website and had a look around. Is there anything else you had to tell me?”
“Have you used a dating service before? Not that that’s a requirement!” Zhou Mi assured him. “I… But you know how they work.”
“Generally, yes.”
Eunhyuk was snickering while Zhou Mi sent him dirty looks, but from the folder he’d brought out, Eunhyuk handed him several sheets of paper.
“You’re probably not going to get too deep into the matchmaking side, but there’s a sample profile on top there, and a few possible matches below that. Zhou Mi’s program does most of the matching, but you can see if you can pick out the likely choice.”
Oh, goody, a surprise quiz. He stared at the profile on top. Man, looking for a woman. Where he wanted to live, what he did, religion, age, want of children, hobbies. Of the three other profiles, he immediately rejected the man. Neither of the women were exact, but based on religion, age, and how many kids she wanted, he went with his gut.
“This one?” he said, and handed the papers back to Eunhyuk. Zhou Mi leaned over to see, and both men smiled.
“That’s good. Really good. Even if a lot of it is done by computers, it’s good to have an idea of the reasons why people gravitate to each other.”
Zhou Mi leaned forward, his hands braced on his knees. “It runs in the family. My grandmother and her mother were both matchmakers. I’m not really in the traditional sense. But with the number of clients we have, it’s not at total random. For some clients, I do the matching hands on, and Eunhyuk as well. We have a program that runs for us, and has parameters that gets us most of the way. But nothing automated is quite like a human.”
“He watched his grandmother, and I fell into it accidentally,” Eunhyuk said wryly. “I thought I was going to be stuck in an office somewhere. Oh wait. I am . But running copies, not playing Cupid.”
The way they explained it made sense to Kyuhyun. They were finding ways that people fit together. Certainly not something he’d had experience with, other than the matchmaking attempts of his family and friends. But they would have looked at the same things he had. Age, location, wants. Trying to make the most advantageous match. He nodded, staring at the profiles still in Eunhyuk’s hand.
“It sounds kind of interesting. Kind of like an equation, that you’re trying to find a solution for. You know what the solution is, but you need the variables.”
Zhou Mi blinked at him. “Right. Yes. Though much more complicated than simple algebra. Everything is variable.”
“And people probably don’t look kindly on being equated to numbers,” Eunhyuk inserted.
“That too.”
Kyuhyun laughed, and ignored the trickle of sweat down his back. Maybe he should’ve asked Tablo to put him someplace less… Less something. Informal. Less about hearts and more about car engines. Though he probably understood the inner workings of both about equally. The only thing that didn’t make him run screaming was that it was clear that he wasn’t going to be putting his hands in any relationships. No one was going to call him up and berate him for setting them up on a terrible date. At least he didn’t have to present a written account of his dating history, because if that had been necessary, he might not have even made it to the test part. They might have laughed him right out of the heart-festooned door.
Zhou Mi smiled, standing, and both he and Eunhyuk stood as well. The smile had a certain amount of charm to it, what he imagined had to be necessary when someone was arranging people’s futures. Charm and something indefinable as Zhou Mi held out his hand.
“It was really nice meeting you. I hope everything goes smoothly and that we both don’t harass you too much.”
Eunhyuk snorted.
“I’ll show him around and get him settled if you want to get back to work,” Eunhyuk told Zhou Mi before Kyuhyun could get his mouth open.
Zhou Mi nodded at them both. “Great. See you later.”
“Thank you! Nice meeting you, too.” Kyuhyun blurted, before Zhou Mi could fully turn. He got a wave, and wished the transition had been smoother as he looked back to Eunhyuk.
“I’ll introduce you to The Beast,” Eunhyuk said, laughing. “We just call it that, but the computer works fine.”
The desk they had been sitting by would be his desk. He had his own computer, a large tower, hence the name, and his own phone. The drawers were stocked with office supplies. He was encouraged to bring in any personal items or pictures to make it more personal and hospitable.
“We don’t stand much on ceremony here,” Eunhyuk said, and pulled himself up to sit on the corner of the desk as though to prove it. “A lot of it is organizational, events, planning. Marketing, or sending out emails. Communication. You’ll fend calls, and direct emails. We do get some physical mail, also. But you won’t have to do all that at once to start. It’s just too much for him and I to handle on our own. Especially as the business has grown, Zhou Mi spends a lot of time with clients that pay to be more specifically matched up. We bring in money from people who use the site to connect, but a lot of the revenue does come from the more affluent customers. So you and I will be more keeping an eye on the social aspects of the dating site, and things like that. Um. Yeah. Tomorrow, I guess you can dive right in.”
Eunhyuk smiled as though he should be excited. And he was. Mostly. Nothing sounded like he had to utterly dread it, as he had with some jobs.
Though only time would tell.
***
One of the most frequent questions Zhou Mi was asked in his line of work was how he got started. It wasn’t every day a man was seen as the head of a company devoted to bringing true love to the masses.
Not that that was how it was marketed, of course. That was just how some people seemed to perceive it. True love was as subjective as as the next thing. It was like promising to find someone’s soulmate. What that meant could be so varied. But love, that was something else. Find a person whose existence would be meaningful, whose similarities were the right kind.
A love that would touch the heartstrings. Hyukjae had rolled his eyes, saying even that was cheesy. But he wanted to separate himself from the other services. He hadn’t thought he’d be doing it as a career. His business degree was put to good use in the end. And with a friend beside him who not only saw the possibilities but was talented in his own right.
It wasn’t exactly a business that got Zhou Mi a corner office. They rented out a slip of space in an office building, tucked back in the bowels of the building on the third floor. The only view he got out of his office window - the only window they had - was of the back of some other building, and the alley that separated them. He kept that particular vantage to his back, choosing a large painting for the wall he faced, one of a door that seemed to open to some open space - a beach perhaps. He could almost feel the breeze. A door he wanted to step through on some days, if it was possible to just throw himself through a painting.
He had a couple of other framed prints on the walls, of romantic locations. Venice, the Eiffel Tower. A small collection of postcards from places he’d been, and wanted to go back to. The Great Wall, Thailand, the US.
Not that he’d get to go back any time soon. The upward struggle that was a new business had finally plateaued, meaning he wasn’t worried for his stomach lining as much as he had been. It made up for some of the nights he hadn’t left, making a pallet on his office from cushions he had stacked in the closet, and risking the yelling Eunhyuk had delivered.
Hiring an assistant was progress. It was also effort. Expending time to train a new person. Most of that would fall on Eunhyuk, but not all. Eunhyuk was thrilled, no two ways about it. He’d been the one to bring the business plan. That they could afford an extra part-time salary, that it would improve their business functions, cut down on their workload, improve productivity. Actually, the whole deal had been blessedly light on Zhou Mi. Eunhyuk had found an agency to hire from, engaged them, done the preliminary interview. He’d gotten updates along the way, of course. So they had Kyuhyun. His resume had seemed fine, if uninspired. He hadn’t expected someone with a degree in matchmaking after all. And Kyuhyun in person had been articulate and seemed sharp. All they really needed.
A quick glance at the clock on the wall told him it was near to the time he tried to close down. But there was a client he had been working on, and no amount of running him through their databases came up with a match that satisfied Zhou Mi. And he wanted to know why.
Eunhyuk came in to tell him goodnight, with that special edge in his voice that prodded that Zhou Mi take him up on the suggestion. And he meant to, he really did. He just got too deep into examining the program, seeing what was going wrong.
It was simple, really. To match via parameters. Questions that matched on a varying scale of importance. Did the man want his wife to work after marriage, did he intend to stay in Seoul, how many children did he want. Same for any potential matches. If she wanted a career as well as to be a wife, then he needed to pair her with someone whose ideals matched hers. Incomes, areas of work, family background. Anything and everything a matchmaker would look at to ensure a match was accepted by both families, as well as the greatest potential for love.
Inside his head it was a puzzle. A man, seeking a wife. Not just a woman, because they were not in short supply. But a match, an equal. Partner. Friend. Slowly the picture began to emerge of needs. He’d whittled the list of possible candidates to four women, through two pots of tea and a half-stale cookie. And looking between them, remembering the face of the man who was looking, his details, he waited for the quiet tingle that told him he was close.
It had been years since he’d begun to feel - to know - when he was on the right track. Sometimes it was a little feeling when he looked at two profiles. Like a whisper, that beckoned him. Sometimes it was sharper, like a spark in front of his eyes, or a picture that became complete. He wasn’t sure how to explain it, the complexity of it. Only that it had been there, as long as he could remember. He didn’t even know how to label it. He couldn’t tell the future, or talk to spirits. It didn’t make him feel crazy. It was just that when he considered puzzles, like the puzzle of matching a human to another human, sometimes he just knew. And that was enough.
So he stared at the picture of a young man wishing to marry, and eliminated his potential brides one by one. Like a child chasing a leaf in changing winds, he waited for everything to calm, to stop for that one moment. That moment of crystal clarity, of a held breath, the sweetest ring of a crystal bell.
And he smiled at the woman’s picture as he made his choice. The match was deeply satisfying. She was intelligent, of the right age, and well-positioned in life. Her face was as pleasing to him as any of the others, but it was the personality she showed in her profile that urged him further. Humor was a fine companion through life. He printed out all the information he needed for his meeting, and closed the file, feeling his success as he flexed his fingers.
The subway was closed by the time he locked up, and a taxi was his only option. But it wasn’t like there was anyone waiting for him at home.
***
To Kyuhyun, the most interesting thing about Heartstrings didn’t include the training. As co-owners, Kyuhyun considered both Zhou Mi and Eunhyuk his supervisors, even if he worked with Eunhyuk directly more often. It had been a while since he’d been in a small office, or in an office run by friends - because it hadn’t taken more than a day to realize that they weren’t just business partners. Zhou Mi usually arrived back in the office from lunch not long after Kyuhyun arrived, stalking to Eunhyuk’s desk to collect his cell phone.
Kyuhyun’s curiousity masked behind a subtle glance clearly hadn’t worked, because Eunhyuk leaned back in his computer chair and seemed to relish being able to tell on Zhou Mi.
“I have to confiscate his phone every day when he goes to lunch, or he just works and doesn’t eat,” Eunhyuk said, smirking at Zhou Mi who was rifling through papers Eunhyuk had handed him. “Just letting you know, in case you have to take over that duty if I’m out sick.”
Right. Confiscating phones from his boss. Of course.
“I leave to go eat like you tell me I have to,” Zhou Mi pointed out.
“Yeah? And what time did you leave the office last night? ‘Cause I have emails at 1:30 A.M., and 6:45 A.M., and I’m pretty sure one of those wasn’t sent from home.”
Zhou Mi’s face was sulky. “I’m not trying to hide what time I go home from you. And now that we have help…?”
Both sets of eyes swiveled to Kyuhyun, and all he could do was waggle the pen in his hand and grin. Now that he was there, maybe Zhou Mi would be able to eat without having his phone taken, and not have to stay to all hours of the night. He realized, again, just how much they’d really needed help. But even with those moments of bickering, some of the arguments clearly firmly trenched, there were just as many smiles and high-fives. And they didn’t do it to Kyuhyun’s exclusion - as though he was an outsider. But he was still on the fringes, looking in. Because he was still on his trial period, and working on his training.
Kyuhyun paid attention to that, especially on the email-sorting. What went to Zhou Mi, what went to Eunhyuk, what he was meant to take care of himself. It wasn’t like Eunhyuk gave him a three second tutorial and went off to do his own thing. The volume of email was hardly massive, but it took time to sort through - and it didn’t take much reasoning to at least start a foundation of knowledge. Eunhyuk answered all his questions, gave him written advice so he could have something to reference, and then checked over his email lists before they could be redirected to Zhou Mi’s inbox, or otherwise.
“It’s not life or death, usually,” Eunhyuk said, patting Kyuhyun’s shoulder. “The clients who pay for Zhou Mi’s help know how to get in touch with him directly. You’re doing good so far.”
The first week, he’d been in Zhou Mi’s office twice. Once, delivering mail. The second getting mail. Their intraoffice IMing kept Zhou Mi from having to shout for him, like he was some kind of dog. But it also startled him. Eunhyuk didn’t use it unless he was on the phone, since their desks weren’t ten feet apart. He tried to not feel like a kid called into the principal’s office, he really did.
“Ah, the mail is in the outbox,” Zhou Mi said, smiling with his eyes as he glanced, up, hands poised on the keyboard.
And that exchange itself sort of proved his point.
Zhou Mi, imposing? Hardly.
***
Bouncing between Tablo’s office and Heartstrings broke Kyuhyun’s days up into definite areas. Morning making sure paperwork was done on job transfers, and afternoons babysitting a website and customers who were trying to get lucky in love.
The irony wasn’t lost on him.
But it meant the first two weeks of the job went faster than he’d have thought. Unlike some jobs, with after-hours bonding, Kyuhyun was almost always ushered out first, besides the one time Eunhyuk had left early.
“Make sure you tell Zhou Mi goodnight before you go,” Eunhyuk had said, not bothering to keep his voice low. “And make sure he hears you. Otherwise he thinks it’s noon all day.”
“I can hear you!” Zhou Mi had shouted.
But he’d passed two weeks that way.
And out of the blue, he had both Eunhyuk and Zhou Mi telling him to get up - they were going to dinner. It was 30 minutes to the usual closing time, and both men were shrugging into their jackets. He’d have felt remiss not to stand, shutting off his monitor after eyeballing his email program.
“Time to celebrate your first two weeks,” Eunhyuk said, and Kyuhyun grabbed his jacket and bag, standing awkward until he realized he had to go out so Zhou Mi could lock up behind him. All the lights but Zhou Mi’s office were turned off, and he cleared his throat.
“The lights…?”
“Zhou Mi will be coming back,” Eunhyuk said, sounding resigned.
“Glad to know you know me so well,” Zhou Mi retorted.
But there was that little glow in his chest, one he hadn’t had since his last birthday in an office. Of being acknowledged and appreciated. Not always something that went hand in hand with work life.
“To making two lives easier and hopefully your life not worse,” Eunhyuk said, toasting Kyuhyun once they’d finally snagged a seat at the food stand that had popped up for workers heading home.
Kyuhyun tapped his bottle of beer to Zhou Mi’s matching bottle, and Eunhyuk’s soda. It had definitely not been anywhere close to his nightmares.
“So, is there any way to ask this without sounding totally intrusive and obnoxious?” Eunhyuk asked Zhou Mi, leaning on one elbow on the table as they ate.
That didn’t sound good, that was for sure.
Zhou Mi just rolled his eyes, and shrugged, meeting Kyuhyun’s curious gaze. “Probably not. But we were wondering if you were dating. Or if you want to be.”
For the briefest second, Kyuhyun’s brain blared a warning that he was being asked out. It sent his heart rate through the roof and his breath caught. And then he caught hold of the significant word in that sentence. “We.” So unless Zhou Mi dated in threes, the question was exactly how it sounded. That Zhou Mi and Eunhyuk were asking his status. And he had a feeling he knew why.
“I’m not, right now,” Kyuhyun said. “But, yeah. I guess I do want to be.”
He made some awkward sound, and Zhou Mi nodded at him encouragingly. “We haven’t had an employee before. So, normally there’s a fee to set up a profile and get started. But if you were interested, you could set one up. And I would help you. No charge.”
Kyuhyun glanced between both faces, so filled with expectation and trained on him. He’d expected computer work, and weirdness, and possibly getting teased by his friends for where he was working.
But dating help. Maybe he was more in need of that than he realized.
***
The opening of the outer door was a momentous occasion, usually saved for Zhou Mi or Kyuhyun’s arrivals. When all three of them were in-office, the familiar click-creak of the heavy metal door had both Eunhyuk and Kyuhyun looking up. Female, Eunhyuk noted first. Dressed in a vibrant blue dress. And he realize he knew that figure, so when he got a full profile of her face after she let the door close, the smile was immediate. Sooyoung.
And Kyuhyun’s desk was right there, an unfamiliar face for her. He could almost see her waver, as though wondering if she was in the right spot before she shook her head.
“Can I help you?” Kyuhyun asked.
“Oh, that’s okay. I’m here to see Eunhyuk?” she said, and turned toward Eunhyuk’s desk.
His desk clearly hadn’t moved since they’d gotten the workspace they were in if she still knew where it was. That might have to change.
The greeting smile was on her face, and he stood. It took two and a half steps for her walk to falter, and another moment for her hand to raise and cover her gaping mouth as she stared.
He really, truly did try to hide his smugness as he tugged down on his jacket and stepped out to meet her since she had clearly frozen on the spot, fabulous heels and all.
“Your hair,” she managed out when he’d nearly reached her.
“Do you like it?” he asked, putting his hand to his blond head with a flourish. Of course, he knew his roots were showing by then, but that didn’t chance the fact that he still blinked at himself in the mirror every morning before grinning. He’d expected to like it, but maybe not that much.
“Can I-“
Her fingers reached to touch, capturing strands between her fingers, as though she expected it to be just a bit of fluff and to disappear.
“So nice. It makes your eyes stand out. That’s all I can say without making your head explode,” she said, a laugh in her voice. “You’re so weird.”
“Look who’s talking.”
But despite the tease, he tugged in her in, enveloped by her familiar arms, and mysterious scents of woman. Perfume, or stuff in her hair, he didn’t know. But very much like Sooyoung. A glance up told him Kyuhyun was very, almost painfully so, trying to ignore that anything existed outside of himself and his computer mouse.
“It’s so good to see you,” he murmured, kissing her cheek as he pulled back, and taking one of her hands. It had been too long since they’d met. “Is this business, or are you just stopping by?”
“A little of both.”
“Okay. Before we sit, let me introduce you to our new employee.”
He cleared his throat, to give Kyuhyun a bit of a heads-up, so he could stand to greet their guest.
“Sooyoung, this Kyuhyun. He’s been here a few weeks now as my right arm and leg, and keeping Zhou Mi from working himself into a third ulcer. Kyuhyun, this is Sooyoung. A friend of mine. And Zhou Mi’s, too.”
“Only because his arm and leg are on vacation,” Kyuhyun joked. And they exchanged Nice-to-meet-you’s before Eunhyuk guided her back to his own desk. The chair beside his desk was nice, if not super comfortable, but he didn’t think she was looking to stay all that long.
“You must be doing good if you’re bringing on help,” she said, and he tried not to glance down as she crossed her legs. An asset of hers, as she well knew. She reached out a hand to take his, and he gave it to her easily.
“Not polite to discuss money in public, right? But yeah. We’re doing well. Zhou Mi is busy enough for two of him. And you? How have you been?”
The way she bit her lip before looking up at him had him a little worried.
“I’ve been good, but that kind of leads into the other reason I’m here. You know my older brother?”
Eunhyuk nodded, pulling up a mental picture. “Siwon, yes.”
“My parents have been pushing at him to start dating more, looking toward marriage. You know how it is. And he is ridiculously genial and respectful but he likes to go his own way. So I thought I might bring you a little business!”
“You’re going to try dating for him?”
She glared right through him, and opened her purse to pull out a folder. “This is all his information that my parents gave the one matchmaker they engaged. All he was paired up with were stuffy little robots. I think he can do a lot better with you.”
He flipped through the pages with picture, family and personal information.
“And before you ask,” Sooyoung put in. “He does know I’m here. He went through that information and personalized it a little more than what the matchmaker saw. Mostly because I forced him. But you know what my parents are looking for. And I know I’m not Siwon, but you know me. I’d have sent him instead, but- He’s cautious. I just need to go back to him with information.”
“Sure. I understand.” It didn’t seem it was any easier to find love when a man was tall, good looking, and wealthy. “You don’t mind if I pull Zhou Mi in on this as well?”
She grinned. “You’ve always said he’s the best.”
The contract information was the technical part, and she knew it had been coming. He went over all of it with her, flagging where Siwon needed to sign. It didn’t matter who paid, but Zhou Mi’s policy wasn’t to set up any person without their - un-coerced - signature on a contract.
“And Zhou Mi will want to meet with him. Ideally in person. Phone maybe in a pinch. But this is what he and I do every day. What we help people do for themselves. If he has any questions, have him call. Here’s my card, and Zhou Mi’s as well.”
“How many weddings have you been invited to since you started?” she asked.
He paused. “I don’t remember.”
“But I bet you have a spreadsheet on your computer that tells you, don’t you?”
She laughed as he sputtered. “Get out of my head.”
“Never,” Sooyoung said, though the smugness was eclipsed in the mirth. “Thank you. Really.”
“Hey, family is family.”
He leaned into her hug after they stood, and pretended to lift her as she swatted his head.
“We need to get together really soon. Dinner?” she asked, searching his eyes.
“Dinner,” he confirmed. “How about tomorrow?”
“Sounds great.” And she held him still, leaning in as she pressed a soft kiss to his mouth. An imaginary speck of lint was brushed off his shirt, before she looked back up. Perfectly Sooyoung. “We’ll catch up then. And thank you.”
He watched Sooyoung walk away, all trim in her little dress and heels. She said goodbye to Kyuhyun as she passed, waving at Eunhyuk one last time before the door closed.
Slowly Kyuhyun’s head turned toward him. “Wow,” Kyuhyun mouthed at him.
His thought exactly.
***
Eunhyuk was glad for the quiet times. Mornings tended to be quiet because Zhou Mi was usually meeting with clients, and afternoons were suddenly full of having Kyuhyun in the office with him. It wasn’t like Kyuhyun was loud, or got into Eunhyuk’s space. It was just the fact that there was another body, another chair squeaking. For the sake of all their sanities, no one listened to music out loud. Zhou Mi had his own headphones, Eunhyuk had his. Kyuhyun had definitely been invited to use his own as well. He appreciated that Kyuhyun only kept one earbud in, the one furthest away, so Eunhyuk didn’t have to shout. Though he could’ve gotten Kyuhyun’s attention any number of ways, including calling him, using the intercom, IM, email. Or sometimes all at once.
He’d done that to Zhou Mi once and had gotten a very perturbed man popping out of the office to stare at him.
All Eunhyuk had to tell him was that he was out of office paper. And that was the nice thing about working with a friend, because he’d been laughed at as Zhou Mi retreated. And Zhou Mi had only locked him out of the office for five minutes. Before popping his head out with sly eyes and depositing a new package of printer paper from their supply closet on the floor. Like he was feeding a prisoner. Zhou Mi knew how to get him back, that was for sure.
Kyuhyun was doing well. It was both a relief, and a worry. Of course he’d expected Kyuhyun to be bright. He was prompt, took instruction well. Accepted advice, and made himself better.
That help was exactly what he had told Zhou Mi that they had wanted and needed in an assistant. But with Kyuhyun gone for the evening, and Zhou Mi lost in the world of matchmaking, Eunhyuk opened his bottom drawer, and drew out a folder that had grown fatter over the last couple of months. It was all in there chronologically. Addresses, information, and names. An orphanage for older children that didn’t exist any more. He touched a picture of the building and tried to match it to the images he had in his head. They were so vague, and he’d been too young. There were other things, too. Internet searches, searches on one person in particular. He wanted to make his memories reconcile with what he knew right then.
The last thing in the folder was something that had become touch-worn, even then. And he could not stop himself from opening it. Again, searching his memory to make images agree. Sometimes he wondered if he wanted it to be true too much, that he had begun to see things, to write over what was real and true. Other times, he knew so strongly that he was right, that he nearly couldn’t sit still. Burning with knowledge and the need to confirm it. The folder was a walking tour of his life, but with over twenty years between the first piece of paper, to the last.
Eunhyuk folded the brochure back together for the agency he had hired Kyuhyun from, adding it back to the file of loose papers and notes that he kept locked up. The image he’d closed the brochure on, Tablo’s face, had been there to inspire trust in the company.
That wasn’t what he was feeling.
The drawer locked with a satisfying click.
Eunhyuk hadn’t gotten the information he wanted yet. But the longer Kyuhyun was there, he knew it was only a matter of time.
***
Screams, high pitched, fearful. A woman.
He stumbled, was walking, couldn’t stop walking, like there was a wind at his back driving him forward when he didn’t want to go.
He suffocated in fear, the tightness of his chest, the sweat rolling down his back. Until he saw what he had been dreading.
The screams faltered, and weakened, and there was the hand. Pale, fragile fingers uncurling as they bounced off the pavement.
He knew, beyond a doubt, that that was what death looked like.
Unseeing eyes, slack mouth.
Alone, on the street, and dead.
He nearly screamed himself at the touch.
A child’s hand, a quarter of the size of his own, tugged on his pant leg.
“Help me,” the voice pleaded, sweet and tearful.
Not just a woman. A wife. A daughter.
A mother.
And he saw her bleed.
Zhou Mi came out of sleep on a half gag, barely swallowing the reflex before flailing for his bedside glass of water. One hand pushed up his sleep mask as the other shakily grasped the glass in front of him, and brought it unsteadily to his lips. He gulped the tepid water, and stared into the murk that his room was at…he squinted at the clock. 4:35 A.M.
It had felt so real, the tug on his pants, being shoved along, the visage of death. He’d had nightmares, night terrors, before, but nothing like that. It was almost enough to have him switching on his bedside lamp, just to make sure there was nothing lurking in his room, his closet, under his sink.
“I am a grown man. There is nothing in this room that can hurt me. I’m going back to sleep,” he said out loud.
And mostly was trying to convince himself. The apartment was quiet, but for the occasional cycle of the fridge and air conditioner, and what vague noise he could hear from outside. Just as it usually was, though he strained to hear if there was anything more.
He settled back, tugging up his blanket. Down went the sleep mask, and he focused on relaxing from his feet up, wiggling all his joints and urging himself not to sweat any further.
The sleep he had was uneasy, and light, half waking several times as though to reach to save a dying woman.
It wasn’t an hour later before he gave up, throwing down the mask in defeat and yanking clothes out of his closet. He showered, because he stank of fear, and his eyes were dead tired in the mirror. But there was nothing he could do. He ate his breakfast, tidied his bed, and went to work.
It took four hours for his adrenaline to die out. Mid-morning, and having gotten a judging look from Eunhyuk when Eunhyuk had come in. It was just one of those days.
But it was the fear he couldn’t shake.
***
Author: Coley Merrin
Pairings: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun, Tablo/Eunhyuk
Other: Zhou Mi/other, Kyuhyun/other, Eunhyuk/Sooyoung, various
Rating: R
Genre: AU, crime, romance
Warnings: violence, death (not of main characters)
Summary: Zhou Mi’s focus is Heartstrings, a dating company where love is more than just a guarantee - it's in Zhou Mi’s blood. A matchmaking gift he’s used with gladness, until a series of murders has it shaping his nightmares.
Eunhyuk, his business partner, can’t let go of his tumultuous past. But finding a man he’s been looking for over half his life has repercussions not only for him, but for Zhou Mi and their future.
Chapter One * Chapter Two
***
Kyuhyun had done a lot of things since he’d graduated college. He’d worked on web sites - back end, of course - content organizer, general person who knew what a computer was when it wasn’t upside down, program manager, and office assistant. He wasn’t a genius at it. He didn’t have an advanced degree. Most of what he knew had been from a few classes, and trial and error. But he did know how to search the Internet, and how to slam his forehead into a keyboard until it generally gave him what he wanted.
And if that failed, he knew how to call tech support for a subtle backup.
But of all the things he thought he’d be doing, all the things his parents thought he’d be good at, matchmaking wasn’t one of them.
Perhaps that was putting it too far. He wasn’t actually going to be matchmaking. He was being farmed out by his boss, which happened sometimes. A local small business needed part-time help with office work, computers, and phones. That was what Tablo did, matching up workers to jobs.
And Tablo had told him in person, rather than sending him an email. And he was pretty sure why, when Tablo had told him what the business was.
“Heartstrings,” Tablo read from the paper in his hands. “They are a matchmaking and dating service. They need someone part time to help out, and are just down the block. I met with one of the co-owners the other day. And you’re getting kind of bored just bumping around here making friends with the water cooler.”
Theoretically, Kyuhyun was training to do what Tablo did as well. To start helping with the matching of workers to employers, and recruiting. At least, he would be when the economy started picking up again. He picked up some of Tablo’s overflow here and there, but it wasn’t enough to keep him busy full time. He did his best to look busy, but Tablo wasn’t exactly stupid.
And farming him out meant that Tablo got a cut, too. Win-win, on one of their ends anyway.
Semi-casual, Tablo had told him. And the owners wanted to meet him, of course, before giving their go-ahead. He told himself he should be grateful that Tablo wasn’t cutting him loose entirely. Keeping him on half time at Tablo’s office, and half time at Heartstrings meant more money, more experience. And when Tablo had more work, Kyuhyun could consolidate.
It didn’t make him less anxious. Interviews were never his strongest suit. He left off his tie, but kept his suit jacket. Tablo didn’t require either at the office, but the first impression was sometimes the only one. He blew out a breath, approaching the door marked “Heartstrings” with the heart logo running around it. It didn’t look like Cupid had farted on it, but it was pretty enough. The site said men and women used it, so the logo was designed to be attractive.
The doorknob gave easily to the reception area. An empty desk, his he assumed. A tall potted plant beside a couple of chairs couch. A large aquarium bubbling, and another desk further back. There were two doors. One marked Restroom, and the other he assumed to be an office. It was a small bit of real estate, but nice. It smelled of coffee, and something undefinable. Cleaning supplies, maybe.
But people, there were none of those. He stood, shifting from foot to foot. No bell to ring. The back office door was slightly open, so he weighed his next move. Walking over, knocking on the frame. Hoping someone acknowledged his existence.
He’d taken a full step when the door behind him rattled to announce it’s opening, and he jumped like he was trying to burgle the place. Most of the man’s face was obscured by sunglasses, and he seemed as surprised to see someone standing there as Kyuhyun was to see him. There were several moments of awkward silence as Kyuhyun tried to recall all the languages he thought he knew, up to and including all the random curse words he knew from languages he didn’t know. Thankfully the man at the door got there first.
“Oh, are you Kyuhyun? Eunhyuk said you were coming to meet us today.”
A hand extended to him, one that wasn’t holding a cup from a coffee company, and Kyuhyun gripped it out of instinct.
“I’m Zhou Mi,” the man said, smile flashing. “It’s nice to meet you. I’ll get Eunhyuk and we can sit and talk.”
“Sure. Yes. That’s fine.”
Their hands disconnected and Kyuhyun muttered “Nice to meet you too?” under his breath as Zhou Mi and his stone washed jeans sailed into the back office. Zhou Mi. Owner, founder. Co-owner, he guessed, but it was clear from the documentation that he’d founded the business himself before taking on a partner. Nothing about the humorous, though professional picture on their website had prepared him for the man himself. Congenial. And certainly casual. And tall.
“Hi!” Eunhyuk said, a folder in his hand as he came out. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in. I guess we need to get bells for the door or something.”
“‘You make my heart sing,’” Zhou Mi sang from the back office.
Eunhyuk at least was familiar to him. The brief meeting with Tablo to make sure that needs and abilities matched up. It was a new job, so he was worried he’d be able to perform. Not embarrass himself. Push himself a little, but not too much. He didn’t want to be bored, or stressed out of his mind.
But Eunhyuk greeted him with a handshake as well, offering for him to sit at the empty desk, as Eunhyuk brought the chair over from the other desk in the room. Moments after, Zhou Mi appeared, rolling out a chair for himself, and then they were a triangle of men on wheels. Eunhyuk was dressed almost as casually as Zhou Mi, only he had on khakis and a buttoned shirt, instead of jeans and a t-shirt.
Wardrobe. They were definitely going to have to discuss that.
“This isn’t really an interview,” Zhou Mi said, and Kyuhyun could see all of his face now that the huge sunglasses were gone. “I just wanted to be able to meet you, and have a moment where we could both talk to you before you got started. See if you had any questions.”
He shifted in his seat and tried not to grip his hands together. Interview or not, casual clothes or not, it was still very interview-like. He wasn’t really sure what could’ve made it less so, even if they were all in swimsuits at a poolside. Maybe five or six beers, but that wasn’t really an option.
“I think Eunhyuk told me most everything I needed to know before,” Kyuhyun said finally, nodding at Eunhyuk. “I’ve been on the website and had a look around. Is there anything else you had to tell me?”
“Have you used a dating service before? Not that that’s a requirement!” Zhou Mi assured him. “I… But you know how they work.”
“Generally, yes.”
Eunhyuk was snickering while Zhou Mi sent him dirty looks, but from the folder he’d brought out, Eunhyuk handed him several sheets of paper.
“You’re probably not going to get too deep into the matchmaking side, but there’s a sample profile on top there, and a few possible matches below that. Zhou Mi’s program does most of the matching, but you can see if you can pick out the likely choice.”
Oh, goody, a surprise quiz. He stared at the profile on top. Man, looking for a woman. Where he wanted to live, what he did, religion, age, want of children, hobbies. Of the three other profiles, he immediately rejected the man. Neither of the women were exact, but based on religion, age, and how many kids she wanted, he went with his gut.
“This one?” he said, and handed the papers back to Eunhyuk. Zhou Mi leaned over to see, and both men smiled.
“That’s good. Really good. Even if a lot of it is done by computers, it’s good to have an idea of the reasons why people gravitate to each other.”
Zhou Mi leaned forward, his hands braced on his knees. “It runs in the family. My grandmother and her mother were both matchmakers. I’m not really in the traditional sense. But with the number of clients we have, it’s not at total random. For some clients, I do the matching hands on, and Eunhyuk as well. We have a program that runs for us, and has parameters that gets us most of the way. But nothing automated is quite like a human.”
“He watched his grandmother, and I fell into it accidentally,” Eunhyuk said wryly. “I thought I was going to be stuck in an office somewhere. Oh wait. I am . But running copies, not playing Cupid.”
The way they explained it made sense to Kyuhyun. They were finding ways that people fit together. Certainly not something he’d had experience with, other than the matchmaking attempts of his family and friends. But they would have looked at the same things he had. Age, location, wants. Trying to make the most advantageous match. He nodded, staring at the profiles still in Eunhyuk’s hand.
“It sounds kind of interesting. Kind of like an equation, that you’re trying to find a solution for. You know what the solution is, but you need the variables.”
Zhou Mi blinked at him. “Right. Yes. Though much more complicated than simple algebra. Everything is variable.”
“And people probably don’t look kindly on being equated to numbers,” Eunhyuk inserted.
“That too.”
Kyuhyun laughed, and ignored the trickle of sweat down his back. Maybe he should’ve asked Tablo to put him someplace less… Less something. Informal. Less about hearts and more about car engines. Though he probably understood the inner workings of both about equally. The only thing that didn’t make him run screaming was that it was clear that he wasn’t going to be putting his hands in any relationships. No one was going to call him up and berate him for setting them up on a terrible date. At least he didn’t have to present a written account of his dating history, because if that had been necessary, he might not have even made it to the test part. They might have laughed him right out of the heart-festooned door.
Zhou Mi smiled, standing, and both he and Eunhyuk stood as well. The smile had a certain amount of charm to it, what he imagined had to be necessary when someone was arranging people’s futures. Charm and something indefinable as Zhou Mi held out his hand.
“It was really nice meeting you. I hope everything goes smoothly and that we both don’t harass you too much.”
Eunhyuk snorted.
“I’ll show him around and get him settled if you want to get back to work,” Eunhyuk told Zhou Mi before Kyuhyun could get his mouth open.
Zhou Mi nodded at them both. “Great. See you later.”
“Thank you! Nice meeting you, too.” Kyuhyun blurted, before Zhou Mi could fully turn. He got a wave, and wished the transition had been smoother as he looked back to Eunhyuk.
“I’ll introduce you to The Beast,” Eunhyuk said, laughing. “We just call it that, but the computer works fine.”
The desk they had been sitting by would be his desk. He had his own computer, a large tower, hence the name, and his own phone. The drawers were stocked with office supplies. He was encouraged to bring in any personal items or pictures to make it more personal and hospitable.
“We don’t stand much on ceremony here,” Eunhyuk said, and pulled himself up to sit on the corner of the desk as though to prove it. “A lot of it is organizational, events, planning. Marketing, or sending out emails. Communication. You’ll fend calls, and direct emails. We do get some physical mail, also. But you won’t have to do all that at once to start. It’s just too much for him and I to handle on our own. Especially as the business has grown, Zhou Mi spends a lot of time with clients that pay to be more specifically matched up. We bring in money from people who use the site to connect, but a lot of the revenue does come from the more affluent customers. So you and I will be more keeping an eye on the social aspects of the dating site, and things like that. Um. Yeah. Tomorrow, I guess you can dive right in.”
Eunhyuk smiled as though he should be excited. And he was. Mostly. Nothing sounded like he had to utterly dread it, as he had with some jobs.
Though only time would tell.
***
One of the most frequent questions Zhou Mi was asked in his line of work was how he got started. It wasn’t every day a man was seen as the head of a company devoted to bringing true love to the masses.
Not that that was how it was marketed, of course. That was just how some people seemed to perceive it. True love was as subjective as as the next thing. It was like promising to find someone’s soulmate. What that meant could be so varied. But love, that was something else. Find a person whose existence would be meaningful, whose similarities were the right kind.
A love that would touch the heartstrings. Hyukjae had rolled his eyes, saying even that was cheesy. But he wanted to separate himself from the other services. He hadn’t thought he’d be doing it as a career. His business degree was put to good use in the end. And with a friend beside him who not only saw the possibilities but was talented in his own right.
It wasn’t exactly a business that got Zhou Mi a corner office. They rented out a slip of space in an office building, tucked back in the bowels of the building on the third floor. The only view he got out of his office window - the only window they had - was of the back of some other building, and the alley that separated them. He kept that particular vantage to his back, choosing a large painting for the wall he faced, one of a door that seemed to open to some open space - a beach perhaps. He could almost feel the breeze. A door he wanted to step through on some days, if it was possible to just throw himself through a painting.
He had a couple of other framed prints on the walls, of romantic locations. Venice, the Eiffel Tower. A small collection of postcards from places he’d been, and wanted to go back to. The Great Wall, Thailand, the US.
Not that he’d get to go back any time soon. The upward struggle that was a new business had finally plateaued, meaning he wasn’t worried for his stomach lining as much as he had been. It made up for some of the nights he hadn’t left, making a pallet on his office from cushions he had stacked in the closet, and risking the yelling Eunhyuk had delivered.
Hiring an assistant was progress. It was also effort. Expending time to train a new person. Most of that would fall on Eunhyuk, but not all. Eunhyuk was thrilled, no two ways about it. He’d been the one to bring the business plan. That they could afford an extra part-time salary, that it would improve their business functions, cut down on their workload, improve productivity. Actually, the whole deal had been blessedly light on Zhou Mi. Eunhyuk had found an agency to hire from, engaged them, done the preliminary interview. He’d gotten updates along the way, of course. So they had Kyuhyun. His resume had seemed fine, if uninspired. He hadn’t expected someone with a degree in matchmaking after all. And Kyuhyun in person had been articulate and seemed sharp. All they really needed.
A quick glance at the clock on the wall told him it was near to the time he tried to close down. But there was a client he had been working on, and no amount of running him through their databases came up with a match that satisfied Zhou Mi. And he wanted to know why.
Eunhyuk came in to tell him goodnight, with that special edge in his voice that prodded that Zhou Mi take him up on the suggestion. And he meant to, he really did. He just got too deep into examining the program, seeing what was going wrong.
It was simple, really. To match via parameters. Questions that matched on a varying scale of importance. Did the man want his wife to work after marriage, did he intend to stay in Seoul, how many children did he want. Same for any potential matches. If she wanted a career as well as to be a wife, then he needed to pair her with someone whose ideals matched hers. Incomes, areas of work, family background. Anything and everything a matchmaker would look at to ensure a match was accepted by both families, as well as the greatest potential for love.
Inside his head it was a puzzle. A man, seeking a wife. Not just a woman, because they were not in short supply. But a match, an equal. Partner. Friend. Slowly the picture began to emerge of needs. He’d whittled the list of possible candidates to four women, through two pots of tea and a half-stale cookie. And looking between them, remembering the face of the man who was looking, his details, he waited for the quiet tingle that told him he was close.
It had been years since he’d begun to feel - to know - when he was on the right track. Sometimes it was a little feeling when he looked at two profiles. Like a whisper, that beckoned him. Sometimes it was sharper, like a spark in front of his eyes, or a picture that became complete. He wasn’t sure how to explain it, the complexity of it. Only that it had been there, as long as he could remember. He didn’t even know how to label it. He couldn’t tell the future, or talk to spirits. It didn’t make him feel crazy. It was just that when he considered puzzles, like the puzzle of matching a human to another human, sometimes he just knew. And that was enough.
So he stared at the picture of a young man wishing to marry, and eliminated his potential brides one by one. Like a child chasing a leaf in changing winds, he waited for everything to calm, to stop for that one moment. That moment of crystal clarity, of a held breath, the sweetest ring of a crystal bell.
And he smiled at the woman’s picture as he made his choice. The match was deeply satisfying. She was intelligent, of the right age, and well-positioned in life. Her face was as pleasing to him as any of the others, but it was the personality she showed in her profile that urged him further. Humor was a fine companion through life. He printed out all the information he needed for his meeting, and closed the file, feeling his success as he flexed his fingers.
The subway was closed by the time he locked up, and a taxi was his only option. But it wasn’t like there was anyone waiting for him at home.
***
To Kyuhyun, the most interesting thing about Heartstrings didn’t include the training. As co-owners, Kyuhyun considered both Zhou Mi and Eunhyuk his supervisors, even if he worked with Eunhyuk directly more often. It had been a while since he’d been in a small office, or in an office run by friends - because it hadn’t taken more than a day to realize that they weren’t just business partners. Zhou Mi usually arrived back in the office from lunch not long after Kyuhyun arrived, stalking to Eunhyuk’s desk to collect his cell phone.
Kyuhyun’s curiousity masked behind a subtle glance clearly hadn’t worked, because Eunhyuk leaned back in his computer chair and seemed to relish being able to tell on Zhou Mi.
“I have to confiscate his phone every day when he goes to lunch, or he just works and doesn’t eat,” Eunhyuk said, smirking at Zhou Mi who was rifling through papers Eunhyuk had handed him. “Just letting you know, in case you have to take over that duty if I’m out sick.”
Right. Confiscating phones from his boss. Of course.
“I leave to go eat like you tell me I have to,” Zhou Mi pointed out.
“Yeah? And what time did you leave the office last night? ‘Cause I have emails at 1:30 A.M., and 6:45 A.M., and I’m pretty sure one of those wasn’t sent from home.”
Zhou Mi’s face was sulky. “I’m not trying to hide what time I go home from you. And now that we have help…?”
Both sets of eyes swiveled to Kyuhyun, and all he could do was waggle the pen in his hand and grin. Now that he was there, maybe Zhou Mi would be able to eat without having his phone taken, and not have to stay to all hours of the night. He realized, again, just how much they’d really needed help. But even with those moments of bickering, some of the arguments clearly firmly trenched, there were just as many smiles and high-fives. And they didn’t do it to Kyuhyun’s exclusion - as though he was an outsider. But he was still on the fringes, looking in. Because he was still on his trial period, and working on his training.
Kyuhyun paid attention to that, especially on the email-sorting. What went to Zhou Mi, what went to Eunhyuk, what he was meant to take care of himself. It wasn’t like Eunhyuk gave him a three second tutorial and went off to do his own thing. The volume of email was hardly massive, but it took time to sort through - and it didn’t take much reasoning to at least start a foundation of knowledge. Eunhyuk answered all his questions, gave him written advice so he could have something to reference, and then checked over his email lists before they could be redirected to Zhou Mi’s inbox, or otherwise.
“It’s not life or death, usually,” Eunhyuk said, patting Kyuhyun’s shoulder. “The clients who pay for Zhou Mi’s help know how to get in touch with him directly. You’re doing good so far.”
The first week, he’d been in Zhou Mi’s office twice. Once, delivering mail. The second getting mail. Their intraoffice IMing kept Zhou Mi from having to shout for him, like he was some kind of dog. But it also startled him. Eunhyuk didn’t use it unless he was on the phone, since their desks weren’t ten feet apart. He tried to not feel like a kid called into the principal’s office, he really did.
“Ah, the mail is in the outbox,” Zhou Mi said, smiling with his eyes as he glanced, up, hands poised on the keyboard.
And that exchange itself sort of proved his point.
Zhou Mi, imposing? Hardly.
***
Bouncing between Tablo’s office and Heartstrings broke Kyuhyun’s days up into definite areas. Morning making sure paperwork was done on job transfers, and afternoons babysitting a website and customers who were trying to get lucky in love.
The irony wasn’t lost on him.
But it meant the first two weeks of the job went faster than he’d have thought. Unlike some jobs, with after-hours bonding, Kyuhyun was almost always ushered out first, besides the one time Eunhyuk had left early.
“Make sure you tell Zhou Mi goodnight before you go,” Eunhyuk had said, not bothering to keep his voice low. “And make sure he hears you. Otherwise he thinks it’s noon all day.”
“I can hear you!” Zhou Mi had shouted.
But he’d passed two weeks that way.
And out of the blue, he had both Eunhyuk and Zhou Mi telling him to get up - they were going to dinner. It was 30 minutes to the usual closing time, and both men were shrugging into their jackets. He’d have felt remiss not to stand, shutting off his monitor after eyeballing his email program.
“Time to celebrate your first two weeks,” Eunhyuk said, and Kyuhyun grabbed his jacket and bag, standing awkward until he realized he had to go out so Zhou Mi could lock up behind him. All the lights but Zhou Mi’s office were turned off, and he cleared his throat.
“The lights…?”
“Zhou Mi will be coming back,” Eunhyuk said, sounding resigned.
“Glad to know you know me so well,” Zhou Mi retorted.
But there was that little glow in his chest, one he hadn’t had since his last birthday in an office. Of being acknowledged and appreciated. Not always something that went hand in hand with work life.
“To making two lives easier and hopefully your life not worse,” Eunhyuk said, toasting Kyuhyun once they’d finally snagged a seat at the food stand that had popped up for workers heading home.
Kyuhyun tapped his bottle of beer to Zhou Mi’s matching bottle, and Eunhyuk’s soda. It had definitely not been anywhere close to his nightmares.
“So, is there any way to ask this without sounding totally intrusive and obnoxious?” Eunhyuk asked Zhou Mi, leaning on one elbow on the table as they ate.
That didn’t sound good, that was for sure.
Zhou Mi just rolled his eyes, and shrugged, meeting Kyuhyun’s curious gaze. “Probably not. But we were wondering if you were dating. Or if you want to be.”
For the briefest second, Kyuhyun’s brain blared a warning that he was being asked out. It sent his heart rate through the roof and his breath caught. And then he caught hold of the significant word in that sentence. “We.” So unless Zhou Mi dated in threes, the question was exactly how it sounded. That Zhou Mi and Eunhyuk were asking his status. And he had a feeling he knew why.
“I’m not, right now,” Kyuhyun said. “But, yeah. I guess I do want to be.”
He made some awkward sound, and Zhou Mi nodded at him encouragingly. “We haven’t had an employee before. So, normally there’s a fee to set up a profile and get started. But if you were interested, you could set one up. And I would help you. No charge.”
Kyuhyun glanced between both faces, so filled with expectation and trained on him. He’d expected computer work, and weirdness, and possibly getting teased by his friends for where he was working.
But dating help. Maybe he was more in need of that than he realized.
***
The opening of the outer door was a momentous occasion, usually saved for Zhou Mi or Kyuhyun’s arrivals. When all three of them were in-office, the familiar click-creak of the heavy metal door had both Eunhyuk and Kyuhyun looking up. Female, Eunhyuk noted first. Dressed in a vibrant blue dress. And he realize he knew that figure, so when he got a full profile of her face after she let the door close, the smile was immediate. Sooyoung.
And Kyuhyun’s desk was right there, an unfamiliar face for her. He could almost see her waver, as though wondering if she was in the right spot before she shook her head.
“Can I help you?” Kyuhyun asked.
“Oh, that’s okay. I’m here to see Eunhyuk?” she said, and turned toward Eunhyuk’s desk.
His desk clearly hadn’t moved since they’d gotten the workspace they were in if she still knew where it was. That might have to change.
The greeting smile was on her face, and he stood. It took two and a half steps for her walk to falter, and another moment for her hand to raise and cover her gaping mouth as she stared.
He really, truly did try to hide his smugness as he tugged down on his jacket and stepped out to meet her since she had clearly frozen on the spot, fabulous heels and all.
“Your hair,” she managed out when he’d nearly reached her.
“Do you like it?” he asked, putting his hand to his blond head with a flourish. Of course, he knew his roots were showing by then, but that didn’t chance the fact that he still blinked at himself in the mirror every morning before grinning. He’d expected to like it, but maybe not that much.
“Can I-“
Her fingers reached to touch, capturing strands between her fingers, as though she expected it to be just a bit of fluff and to disappear.
“So nice. It makes your eyes stand out. That’s all I can say without making your head explode,” she said, a laugh in her voice. “You’re so weird.”
“Look who’s talking.”
But despite the tease, he tugged in her in, enveloped by her familiar arms, and mysterious scents of woman. Perfume, or stuff in her hair, he didn’t know. But very much like Sooyoung. A glance up told him Kyuhyun was very, almost painfully so, trying to ignore that anything existed outside of himself and his computer mouse.
“It’s so good to see you,” he murmured, kissing her cheek as he pulled back, and taking one of her hands. It had been too long since they’d met. “Is this business, or are you just stopping by?”
“A little of both.”
“Okay. Before we sit, let me introduce you to our new employee.”
He cleared his throat, to give Kyuhyun a bit of a heads-up, so he could stand to greet their guest.
“Sooyoung, this Kyuhyun. He’s been here a few weeks now as my right arm and leg, and keeping Zhou Mi from working himself into a third ulcer. Kyuhyun, this is Sooyoung. A friend of mine. And Zhou Mi’s, too.”
“Only because his arm and leg are on vacation,” Kyuhyun joked. And they exchanged Nice-to-meet-you’s before Eunhyuk guided her back to his own desk. The chair beside his desk was nice, if not super comfortable, but he didn’t think she was looking to stay all that long.
“You must be doing good if you’re bringing on help,” she said, and he tried not to glance down as she crossed her legs. An asset of hers, as she well knew. She reached out a hand to take his, and he gave it to her easily.
“Not polite to discuss money in public, right? But yeah. We’re doing well. Zhou Mi is busy enough for two of him. And you? How have you been?”
The way she bit her lip before looking up at him had him a little worried.
“I’ve been good, but that kind of leads into the other reason I’m here. You know my older brother?”
Eunhyuk nodded, pulling up a mental picture. “Siwon, yes.”
“My parents have been pushing at him to start dating more, looking toward marriage. You know how it is. And he is ridiculously genial and respectful but he likes to go his own way. So I thought I might bring you a little business!”
“You’re going to try dating for him?”
She glared right through him, and opened her purse to pull out a folder. “This is all his information that my parents gave the one matchmaker they engaged. All he was paired up with were stuffy little robots. I think he can do a lot better with you.”
He flipped through the pages with picture, family and personal information.
“And before you ask,” Sooyoung put in. “He does know I’m here. He went through that information and personalized it a little more than what the matchmaker saw. Mostly because I forced him. But you know what my parents are looking for. And I know I’m not Siwon, but you know me. I’d have sent him instead, but- He’s cautious. I just need to go back to him with information.”
“Sure. I understand.” It didn’t seem it was any easier to find love when a man was tall, good looking, and wealthy. “You don’t mind if I pull Zhou Mi in on this as well?”
She grinned. “You’ve always said he’s the best.”
The contract information was the technical part, and she knew it had been coming. He went over all of it with her, flagging where Siwon needed to sign. It didn’t matter who paid, but Zhou Mi’s policy wasn’t to set up any person without their - un-coerced - signature on a contract.
“And Zhou Mi will want to meet with him. Ideally in person. Phone maybe in a pinch. But this is what he and I do every day. What we help people do for themselves. If he has any questions, have him call. Here’s my card, and Zhou Mi’s as well.”
“How many weddings have you been invited to since you started?” she asked.
He paused. “I don’t remember.”
“But I bet you have a spreadsheet on your computer that tells you, don’t you?”
She laughed as he sputtered. “Get out of my head.”
“Never,” Sooyoung said, though the smugness was eclipsed in the mirth. “Thank you. Really.”
“Hey, family is family.”
He leaned into her hug after they stood, and pretended to lift her as she swatted his head.
“We need to get together really soon. Dinner?” she asked, searching his eyes.
“Dinner,” he confirmed. “How about tomorrow?”
“Sounds great.” And she held him still, leaning in as she pressed a soft kiss to his mouth. An imaginary speck of lint was brushed off his shirt, before she looked back up. Perfectly Sooyoung. “We’ll catch up then. And thank you.”
He watched Sooyoung walk away, all trim in her little dress and heels. She said goodbye to Kyuhyun as she passed, waving at Eunhyuk one last time before the door closed.
Slowly Kyuhyun’s head turned toward him. “Wow,” Kyuhyun mouthed at him.
His thought exactly.
***
Eunhyuk was glad for the quiet times. Mornings tended to be quiet because Zhou Mi was usually meeting with clients, and afternoons were suddenly full of having Kyuhyun in the office with him. It wasn’t like Kyuhyun was loud, or got into Eunhyuk’s space. It was just the fact that there was another body, another chair squeaking. For the sake of all their sanities, no one listened to music out loud. Zhou Mi had his own headphones, Eunhyuk had his. Kyuhyun had definitely been invited to use his own as well. He appreciated that Kyuhyun only kept one earbud in, the one furthest away, so Eunhyuk didn’t have to shout. Though he could’ve gotten Kyuhyun’s attention any number of ways, including calling him, using the intercom, IM, email. Or sometimes all at once.
He’d done that to Zhou Mi once and had gotten a very perturbed man popping out of the office to stare at him.
All Eunhyuk had to tell him was that he was out of office paper. And that was the nice thing about working with a friend, because he’d been laughed at as Zhou Mi retreated. And Zhou Mi had only locked him out of the office for five minutes. Before popping his head out with sly eyes and depositing a new package of printer paper from their supply closet on the floor. Like he was feeding a prisoner. Zhou Mi knew how to get him back, that was for sure.
Kyuhyun was doing well. It was both a relief, and a worry. Of course he’d expected Kyuhyun to be bright. He was prompt, took instruction well. Accepted advice, and made himself better.
That help was exactly what he had told Zhou Mi that they had wanted and needed in an assistant. But with Kyuhyun gone for the evening, and Zhou Mi lost in the world of matchmaking, Eunhyuk opened his bottom drawer, and drew out a folder that had grown fatter over the last couple of months. It was all in there chronologically. Addresses, information, and names. An orphanage for older children that didn’t exist any more. He touched a picture of the building and tried to match it to the images he had in his head. They were so vague, and he’d been too young. There were other things, too. Internet searches, searches on one person in particular. He wanted to make his memories reconcile with what he knew right then.
The last thing in the folder was something that had become touch-worn, even then. And he could not stop himself from opening it. Again, searching his memory to make images agree. Sometimes he wondered if he wanted it to be true too much, that he had begun to see things, to write over what was real and true. Other times, he knew so strongly that he was right, that he nearly couldn’t sit still. Burning with knowledge and the need to confirm it. The folder was a walking tour of his life, but with over twenty years between the first piece of paper, to the last.
Eunhyuk folded the brochure back together for the agency he had hired Kyuhyun from, adding it back to the file of loose papers and notes that he kept locked up. The image he’d closed the brochure on, Tablo’s face, had been there to inspire trust in the company.
That wasn’t what he was feeling.
The drawer locked with a satisfying click.
Eunhyuk hadn’t gotten the information he wanted yet. But the longer Kyuhyun was there, he knew it was only a matter of time.
***
Screams, high pitched, fearful. A woman.
He stumbled, was walking, couldn’t stop walking, like there was a wind at his back driving him forward when he didn’t want to go.
He suffocated in fear, the tightness of his chest, the sweat rolling down his back. Until he saw what he had been dreading.
The screams faltered, and weakened, and there was the hand. Pale, fragile fingers uncurling as they bounced off the pavement.
He knew, beyond a doubt, that that was what death looked like.
Unseeing eyes, slack mouth.
Alone, on the street, and dead.
He nearly screamed himself at the touch.
A child’s hand, a quarter of the size of his own, tugged on his pant leg.
“Help me,” the voice pleaded, sweet and tearful.
Not just a woman. A wife. A daughter.
A mother.
And he saw her bleed.
Zhou Mi came out of sleep on a half gag, barely swallowing the reflex before flailing for his bedside glass of water. One hand pushed up his sleep mask as the other shakily grasped the glass in front of him, and brought it unsteadily to his lips. He gulped the tepid water, and stared into the murk that his room was at…he squinted at the clock. 4:35 A.M.
It had felt so real, the tug on his pants, being shoved along, the visage of death. He’d had nightmares, night terrors, before, but nothing like that. It was almost enough to have him switching on his bedside lamp, just to make sure there was nothing lurking in his room, his closet, under his sink.
“I am a grown man. There is nothing in this room that can hurt me. I’m going back to sleep,” he said out loud.
And mostly was trying to convince himself. The apartment was quiet, but for the occasional cycle of the fridge and air conditioner, and what vague noise he could hear from outside. Just as it usually was, though he strained to hear if there was anything more.
He settled back, tugging up his blanket. Down went the sleep mask, and he focused on relaxing from his feet up, wiggling all his joints and urging himself not to sweat any further.
The sleep he had was uneasy, and light, half waking several times as though to reach to save a dying woman.
It wasn’t an hour later before he gave up, throwing down the mask in defeat and yanking clothes out of his closet. He showered, because he stank of fear, and his eyes were dead tired in the mirror. But there was nothing he could do. He ate his breakfast, tidied his bed, and went to work.
It took four hours for his adrenaline to die out. Mid-morning, and having gotten a judging look from Eunhyuk when Eunhyuk had come in. It was just one of those days.
But it was the fear he couldn’t shake.
***