Super Junior AU; Various Pairings; Love/War
Title: Love/War (10/?)
Fandom: Super Junior AU (Mafia)
Pairings: Siwon/Hankyung/Heechul (Hankyung/Heechul), Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi, Kibum/Donghae, Yehsung/Ryeowook, Kangin/Eeteuk, Tablo/Eunhyuk
Pairings in Chapter: Implied Siwon/Hankyung/Heechul, implied Tablo/Eunhyuk, implied Yehsung/Ryeowook
Word Count: 3,694
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The Kim family and the Choi family are the two oldest families in Seoul: where other families have been born, grown, and then fell apart, they remain strong. Unfortunately, they are mortal enemies, and where one lives alongside the law, the other is beyond any control. It's up to the new generation of members to destroy the violence between them - even if it means destroying one family in the process.
A/N: I love reading everyone's theories <3! I wonder who will have got it right...
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10
“Hey, Hae,” said Sungmin, watching as Donghae piled as much food as he could on his plate and started eating. “Do you not think that Eunhyuk has been acting weird recently?”
Donghae paused, and then shook his head. “No, not really,” he said. Sungmin rolled his eyes at him.
“He’s been going out really early and coming in late,” he said. “And when I’ve checked the rota for the jobs, he doesn’t have to work anything like those hours.”
Donghae shrugged. “Maybe he just needs to get out,” he said.
“Not like this,” said Sungmin. “Donghae, he’s never actually in.”
Donghae shrugged again, not too bothered by it. “Sungmin, we know Eunhyuk. If something was wrong, he’d tell us.”
“I don’t think anything’s wrong,” said Sungmin with a grin. “In fact, I think the exact opposite.”
Donghae, though he hadn’t been looking at him, picked up on the insinuating tone of his voice and looked up in interest. “What do you think?” he asked. Sungmin leant back in his chair and folded his arms, looking like the very definition of smug.
“I think he’s seeing someone,” he said.
Donghae choked on his mouthful of rice, gasping out and reaching in desperation for the glass of orange juice that he had poured out for himself. Sungmin sighed and handed it over, reflecting once again that although the others thought he was too cute for his own good when it came to this job, it was at least obvious that he was the eldest when it came to his cousins.
“Eunhyuk?” gasped Donghae. “Seeing someone? Who would go out with Eunhyuk?”
“You say that like he would never be able to get a date for as long as he lived,” said Sungmin, slightly amused.
“Yes?” said Donghae. Clearly that had been what he had been saying.
“Eunhyuk’s got his own charm,” argued Sungmin. “I’m sure that he’s very popular with the girls that he meets when he’s carrying out his rounds.”
“You really think that Eunhyuk is going out with someone?” asked Donghae: he sounded like he had serious doubts about the idea.
“What other explanation is there?” asked Sungmin. “It’s not like he’s walking a dog or something. He’s out much later than anyone else! What is he doing if not seeing some girlfriend or something?”
“I don’t know,” said Donghae, frowning. “Maybe he’s going to clubs?”
“That’s almost worse,” said Sungmin. “Imagine if it came out. Member of the Kim family is a gambler who frequents strip clubs.”
“Where did the gambler bit come from?” asked Donghae, confused.
“Anyway,” said Sungmin, waving his confusion off with a careless hand. “I think we should-”
He stopped as the kitchen door opened and Kibum stepped through. Sungmin hissed a little in disappointment, and Donghae slid down in his chair a little, teeth clenched together. “Donghae,” said Sungmin. “Donghae, are you listening?” He almost missed seeing Donghae’s nod, it was so small.
“Hey,” said Kibum, seemingly determined to not let it get to him this time. “Do you know where the orange juice is?”
“Sorry, no,” said Sungmin. He did know - it was on the top shelf of the second refrigerator, hidden accidently behind the carton of milk, but Sungmin wasn’t going to tell him when Donghae could tell him himself and (hopefully) get over this complex he had. Sungmin was always attempting things like this, and he was rather annoyed that they never worked.
“Donghae?” asked Kibum, not looking at him but instead looking curiously in the wrong fridge.
“It’s,” said Donghae, before he swallowed hard. “It’s in the other one,” he said. “On the top shelf.”
Kibum stared at him for a minute, before he looked in said refrigerator, a slight smile playing on his lips. “Thanks,” he said, grinning at Donghae, as he pulled it out.
“No problem,” said Donghae quickly, stuttering a little and slumping lower in his seat as Kibum poured out a glass and put the juice back. Sungmin grinned at him, Kibum laughed a little - and Sungmin had never seen him so upbeat, something that he noted with a gleeful interest - and then left the room. Donghae sighed heavily.
“You’re trying?” Sungmin’s question was quiet, and not fully formed, but Donghae understood what he meant anyway.
“I could hear footsteps,” he said. “They sounded like his. It’s not so hard when I know that he’s going to be there. It’s hard when he just turns up without notice.”
“I know you’re trying,” said Sungmin. “But it’s been two years, and Kibum - he never actually did anything anyway.”
“I know,” said Donghae. “Sungmin, seriously, it never used to be like this with him. When he was - looking after me, it was different, and I - I want it to go back to that.”
“What caused it?” asked Sungmin. Usually, it was impossible to get anything about the story out of Donghae - not even Sungmin or Eunhyuk knew what had happened to him that had caused this reaction - so he was going to take his chance while he could.
“I don’t know,” said Donghae, and avoided his eyes. Sungmin sighed. Donghae’s self control when it came to this, beyond being remarkable, was totally out of character.
“I think we should follow Eunhyuk,” said Sungmin. Donghae frowned at him, opened his mouth to say something, and then Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi came in, laughing loudly at something.
“Did I miss something?” asked Sungmin; Zhou Mi had that look on his face which usually meant that he had some gossip that he was dying to share.
“I saw Siwon go into Hankyung and Heechul’s room with some wine last night,” said Kyuhyun with a grin. Zhou Mi slipped in his chair and bounced happily.
“Yeah?” Sungmin didn’t think that that was worth the glee. Siwon had been going out for drinks regularly with Heechul and Hankyung for the past two weeks.
“He hasn’t come out yet,” said Zhou Mi, all his teeth showing, he was smiling so widely. “He’s been in there all night.”
“Oh my god,” said Sungmin, clapping his hands together. Donghae just blinked. “You mean - oh my god!”
“Heechul didn’t get back until pretty late,” said Kyuhyun. “I only know because I heard Kibum shout in the yard and I looked out the window to check that nothing was going on.”
“They’re still in there,” said Zhou Mi. Sungmin checked his watch - almost eleven am. With a shock, he realised that he was due to start his route for the day in half an hour.
“Have you seen Eunhyuk?” he asked casually.
“He’s still in bed, I think,” said Kyuhyun. “I think he’s got to go Sang’s nightclub to check on the investigation into that attack on the dancer, but after that he’s free.”
“Right,” said Sungmin. “Donghae, are you finished?” Donghae nodded, slightly confused. “Come on then, we need to be ready for when Eunhyuk goes out. We’re following him?”
“You’re what?” Zhou Mi looked at Kyuhyun, fairly certain he had misunderstood that. Kyuhyun just shook his head at him.
“Don’t ask,” he said in Mandarin.
“Oh, right!” said Sungmin, and smiled winningly at Kyuhyun. “What are you doing today, Kyuhyunnie?”
“I’m not doing anything,” said Kyuhyun, apprehensive. “I have a free day.”
“Great!” trilled Sungmin. “Go with Henry to collect the money then for me? He knows what he’s doing, he just needs you to speak the Korean for him.”
“But-” said Kyuhyun, dismayed, but Sungmin had already swept out of the room, pulling Donghae after him by the arm. Kyuhyun poked miserably at his breakfast. “Stop laughing,” he muttered to Zhou Mi, who was, by this point, shaking with laughter.
“He’s just funny!” he protested.
“He thinks that just because he helped to look after me when I was ill that he can treat me like that,” said Kyuhyun, frowning.
“That’s because he can,” said Zhou Mi, before he suddenly grew serious. “Ill?” he asked, cocking his head to the side, like he wasn’t sure whether that was what Kyuhyun had said, like he had misunderstood. “Not ill, injured-”
Heechul walked into the room, a vest top pulled on, his trouser bottoms trailing on the floor - clearly they belonged to someone else. Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi exchanged amused glances as he took out three mugs and some coffee mix for the kettle in his and Hankyung’s room. When he turned back around, Kyuhyun noticed the dark purple bruise on his collarbone. He snorted and nudged Zhou Mi.
“You look like you’ve been on some sort of a debauch,” said Kyuhyun, smirking.
“Hmm,” said Heechul, and his own smirk was so mischievous that Kyuhyun began to laugh so hard that he choked. “It takes practice to perfect this ‘just had sex’ look, you know. Well, you have to actually have sex if you’re going to attempt it.”
Zhou Mi choked, much like Kyuhyun had done. “Hyung!” he said. “Sometimes you are just unbelievable!”
“Thank you, Seasoning,” said Heechul, and sauntered back out of the room.
“It takes practice to be as fucking smug as this, you mean,” Kyuhyun shouted at his back; though he grinned as he did so.
***
“I feel stupid,” grumbled Donghae, kicking at an empty can at the side of the road.
“Shut up,” hissed Sungmin. “You’re being too loud.”
They were stood on the corner of a building that lined the street which eventually opened up into the neutral center of the city. From where they stood, they could see Eunhyuk sitting on one of the benches in the park that signified the start of that center, dressed in casual jeans and a hooded sweatshirt - he had gone back home to change, something Sungmin had complained was very inconvenient when they were following him (they had had to wait outside the estate in a car for him), and then came straight to the park. He - and Sungmin and Donghae - had been waiting for over half an hour.
“Nothing’s even happening!” said Donghae. “And how on earth is he going to hear us? We’re hiding from him around the side of a building, he can’t see us, never mind actually hear us.”
“Just - be quiet, would you?” asked Sungmin. “I think this is her now.”
Donghae fell silent and joined him with peering around the side of the building. Together, they watched as a pretty girl wearing a floral print skirt stopped next to where Eunhyuk was sitting and spoke to him. Sungmin grabbed hold of Donghae’s arm in glee. Eunhyuk grinned - and then checked his watch.
“Shit,” said Sungmin as the girl thanked him and walked away. “Damn, she was cute! I really thought that was her.”
“This is ridiculous,” said Donghae. “Hyung, even I think that this is stupid. Hyuk isn’t dating someone.”
“Then why the hell is he sitting in the park dressed like he’s about to go on a date?” asked Sungmin, a note of mild hysteria in his voice. “Why is he, if he’s not going on a date?”
“Okay, that is weird,” admitted Donghae. “It’s just - why wouldn’t he tell us?”
“Maybe he’s worried about what Kangin or Eeteuk will say,” suggested Sungmin. “If she’s from a poor family or something, maybe he’s worried that they won’t accept her.”
“That would make sense if they were archaic,” said Donghae. “But they aren’t, they’re very welcoming.”
“Well, I don’t know,” said Sungmin. “I just don’t know what you think he’s doing, waiting in a park in the neutral part of town dressed casually and unwilling to tell anyone about it.”
“It is weird,” said Donghae. “I know that. I just think that we aren’t thinking this through properly and jumping to conclusions.”
“Oh, like you’re one to talk about not thinking things through properly,” retorted Sungmin.
***
Kyuhyun thumped his fist on Ryeowook’s bedroom door, trying to ignore the way that Zhou Mi was singing and bouncing at the end of the corridor. “Ryeowook!” he yelled. “I need you to go out today with Henry!” And then he turned around and strode off.
“But I’m going out with Yehsung today,” shouted Ryeowook, pausing in picking a t-shirt out. “He’s taking me to the shopping district.” He stopped; unfortunately he took the silence from the other side of the door as a sign that Kyuhyun had gone to find someone else to go with Henry.
***
“I’m hungry,” whined Donghae.
“Argh!” shouted Sungmin, and then clapped a hand over his mouth as he realised how loud he was being. He glared at Donghae, who just shrugged.
“This is getting silly now,” said Sungmin, looking reluctant about having to admit it. “We’ve been here for an hour, what is he doing?”
“Oh!” said Donghae.
“Do you think he’s on to us?” asked Sungmin fearfully. “He knows that we’re following him and so he’s just leading us on?”
“Look!” said Donghae.
“Well, what a waste of time this has been,” said Sungmin with a pout.
“Hyung, would you look? He’s stood up!”
Sungmin shot around to look out past the corner of the building, where Eunhyuk was standing next to the bench, his mobile telephone to his ear. “What’s he saying, what’s he saying?” Sungmin yelped, reaching out to grab hold of Donghae’s arm again.
“I don’t know!” said Donghae indignantly. “What, am I supposed to have super sonic hearing?”
“Oh!” Sungmin jumped slightly. “He’s moving, he’s moving.”
Eunhyuk was indeed moving: he strode confidently away from the park, phone still held to his ear. Sungmin and Donghae exchanged glances, and then suddenly had to rush as Eunhyuk went around a corner.
They realised after a few minutes that Eunhyuk knew exactly where he was going, though they were in the central part of the city that was unfamiliar to most of the family - after all, usually only those members who were Kim by actual name went to this part, and anyone else simply used the main roads. Eunhyuk led them down side streets, along a street where houses for the governors were, and then he stopped in front of a block of flats. He grinned, hung up, and then rang the door bell - there was something horribly familiar in the way he did it.
He was buzzed up; he pushed open the door and went inside. Sungmin glanced at Donghae, and then folded his arms. He took a step outside of their hiding place (behind two trees across the streets). “And now, we wait.” he said.
“That’s so boring,” said Donghae. “And I’m still hungry!”
***
Henry stood in the front hall, clutching his file of people he had to collect money from to his chest, and nervously checked his watch. Sungmin was now half an hour later, and if he didn’t leave soon, then he would be so late to his first appointment that it would be worthless to actually turn up. He had been thinking about just leaving, but he couldn’t drive, and couldn’t speak enough Korean to actually do anything.
The problem was that he had no idea where most people were. Sungmin was obviously missing; Donghae had gone somewhere as well; Eunhyuk, Shindong and Kibum all had appointments that day. Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi had disappeared. Ryeowook had gone out with Yehsung; and Henry didn’t dare go ask Eeteuk or Kangin for help. Which really, only left three people - and he had overheard Zhou Mi talking, so he knew exactly where to go to find them.
Henry didn’t like knocking on Hankyung’s bedroom door at the best of times, because sometimes Hankyung wasn’t even there and to be perfectly honest, Heechul scared him. He understood that his older brother was in love, and that Heechul would therefore most likely be a perfectly civil person to him, but Henry sometimes didn’t know whether Heechul was laughing with him or at him. He spoke too fast just generally, and Henry could hardly ever understand him. It worried him, sometimes, that Heechul could (and probably would) talk about him and Henry simply wouldn’t know what he was talking about. His one consolation was that at least Hankyung would tell him if he was.
Unfortunately, this isn’t even a best time. From what he could pick up, Hankyung and Heechul had Siwon in the room last night - and Siwon still hadn’t emerged. Henry, honestly, didn’t know whether to be shocked, but whatever he was feeling was tinged with just a little hint of awe.
He knocked lightly on the door; there were noises from within the room; when Hankyung opened the door, Henry almost died from the relief that it wasn’t Heechul. Hankyung frowned at him, pulling at his jogging bottoms absently. “Henry?” he asked in Chinese. “What are you doing here? What’s wrong?”
“Sungmin was supposed to come with me to collect this money,” said Henry awkwardly, waving the file aimlessly in the air. “But he never showed up, and I need someone to come with me and there’s no one else in the house and I was hoping-?“
“Sungmin didn’t turn up?” Hankyung frowned again. “That’s unlike him.”
“I think he went out with Donghae,” said Henry. “I saw them leave, but I thought he’d be back in time.”
“And now you don’t have anyone to go with you.” Hankyung sighed. “I’d come, but I’m not exactly allowed either.”
“I know,” said Henry. “I thought - Heechul-ge?”
“You want to go with Heechul?” asked Hankyung, amused.
“I heard my name,” said Heechul, suddenly appearing in the doorway.
“Henry’s been abandoned,” said Hankyung.
“Oh, poor thing,” said Heechul, and then lost interest. He patted Hankyung on the hip. “I’m going to take a shower.”
“Fine,” said Hankyung. “Leave me to sort this out, why don’t you?”
“He’s your brother,” said Heechul’s voice before the bathroom door was pulled shut. Siwon appeared at the doorway this time, and Henry blushed as he realised that Siwon was only wearing a pair of pyjama bottoms, and judging from the shortness in the leg, they belonged to Hankyung - clearly what Zhou Mi had been suggesting had been correct.
“Hey Henry,” said Siwon with a smile. Henry gave an embarrassed nod of the head. “What’s wrong?”
Hankyung explained the situation. “Clearly Heechul won’t go with him,” he said with a nod towards the bathroom, where the sounds of running water could be heard. “And I’m not sure Henry would want to go with Heechul anyway, he has this way of being rather blunt that Henry can’t quite keep up with.”
“No, ge,” said Henry earnestly. “I was hoping Siwon-ge would come with me.”
“Me?” Siwon looked surprised. “What would I need to do?”
“Just drive him places,” said Hankyung. “And translate his Chinese, if possible. The people tend to know what we are here for, and we only give Henry the debt collection of people that we’re certain will give us the money. Sungmin usually goes with him; he knows what to say anyway. It’s just Eeteuk and Kangin’s way of trying to help Henry take part in the running of the family.”
“Oh,” said Siwon, and he ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, that’s fine, I’ll go with him. But why can’t-”
“My capacity for speaking Korean outside of the family is limited,” said Hankyung, and there was a definite sense of the conversation being closed.
“Okay,” said Siwon. “Just let me go get ready.”
***
“This is unbelievably boring,” said Donghae. “Hyung, even imagining the different foods that we’re going to have for dinner tonight isn’t helping.”
“Oh, be quiet,” said Sungmin, arms wrapped around his knees. “What is he doing in there?”
“I’d tell you,” said Donghae with a grin. “But you’d probably be utterly scandalized.”
“And we don’t even know who with,” wailed Sungmin.
“Oh!” said Donghae, shooting upright. “He’s coming out, and he’s with-”
“Oh my god.” said Sungmin.
Eunhyuk was walking out of the doors, though he didn’t have his arm over the shoulder of a pretty young girl. Instead, another man’s arm was slung over Eunhyuk’s shoulder, and they were laughing together. “Just a friend,” supplied Sungmin’s mind, because Eunhyuk acted like that with plenty of people, but then he spotted the way Eunhyuk’s hand was slipped into the back pocket of the older man’s jeans - he didn’t know whether it was a bad thing that suddenly he was grinning.
The wind had dropped; from this close they could hear the conversation that was going on - clearly in the middle. “So you think I look young,” said Eunhyuk.
“Yes,” said the man bluntly. Eunhyuk actually pouted - Sungmin could practically feel his jaw falling open in shock. Since when was Eunhyuk him? “Well,” amended the man. “Young compared to me.”
Eunhyuk ducked out from under the man’s arm and said, “Everyone’s young compared to you.” He dodged the swat at him with a grin.
“It’s just those clothes,” said the man. “Usually, in your suit, you look a bit older.”
“I don’t know whether to take that as a compliment,” said Eunhyuk.
“It is,” reassured the man, with the kind of grin at Eunhyuk that made something in Sungmin’s stomach jerk - it may not have been a girl like he had previously thought, but there was something unbelievable in seeing Eunhyuk like that, smiling in a shy sort of a way.
“Yeah, well,” said Eunhyuk, blushing a little. “You don’t look so bad in your uniform either.”
What uniform? thought Sungmin, frowning suddenly. Donghae was still grinning.
“So you like a man in uniform,” said the man. “Don’t suits count as uniforms? How do you cope with all those men that you live with then?”
“Suits don’t count,” said Eunhyuk. “And anyway, there’s just something about the handcuffs…”
If the situation had been any different, Sungmin would have been struggling to hold back his laughing and cheering when he saw his cousin smiling self-consciously as the man slipped his fingers into the belt hoops on his jeans and pulled him towards him by the hips to kiss him; but the handcuff comment had just confirmed it - the man who was currently kissing Eunhyuk was a police officer, and that was bad.
“Oh god,” whispered Donghae beside him. “This is so bad.”
Fandom: Super Junior AU (Mafia)
Pairings: Siwon/Hankyung/Heechul (Hankyung/Heechul), Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi, Kibum/Donghae, Yehsung/Ryeowook, Kangin/Eeteuk, Tablo/Eunhyuk
Pairings in Chapter: Implied Siwon/Hankyung/Heechul, implied Tablo/Eunhyuk, implied Yehsung/Ryeowook
Word Count: 3,694
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The Kim family and the Choi family are the two oldest families in Seoul: where other families have been born, grown, and then fell apart, they remain strong. Unfortunately, they are mortal enemies, and where one lives alongside the law, the other is beyond any control. It's up to the new generation of members to destroy the violence between them - even if it means destroying one family in the process.
A/N: I love reading everyone's theories <3! I wonder who will have got it right...
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10
“Hey, Hae,” said Sungmin, watching as Donghae piled as much food as he could on his plate and started eating. “Do you not think that Eunhyuk has been acting weird recently?”
Donghae paused, and then shook his head. “No, not really,” he said. Sungmin rolled his eyes at him.
“He’s been going out really early and coming in late,” he said. “And when I’ve checked the rota for the jobs, he doesn’t have to work anything like those hours.”
Donghae shrugged. “Maybe he just needs to get out,” he said.
“Not like this,” said Sungmin. “Donghae, he’s never actually in.”
Donghae shrugged again, not too bothered by it. “Sungmin, we know Eunhyuk. If something was wrong, he’d tell us.”
“I don’t think anything’s wrong,” said Sungmin with a grin. “In fact, I think the exact opposite.”
Donghae, though he hadn’t been looking at him, picked up on the insinuating tone of his voice and looked up in interest. “What do you think?” he asked. Sungmin leant back in his chair and folded his arms, looking like the very definition of smug.
“I think he’s seeing someone,” he said.
Donghae choked on his mouthful of rice, gasping out and reaching in desperation for the glass of orange juice that he had poured out for himself. Sungmin sighed and handed it over, reflecting once again that although the others thought he was too cute for his own good when it came to this job, it was at least obvious that he was the eldest when it came to his cousins.
“Eunhyuk?” gasped Donghae. “Seeing someone? Who would go out with Eunhyuk?”
“You say that like he would never be able to get a date for as long as he lived,” said Sungmin, slightly amused.
“Yes?” said Donghae. Clearly that had been what he had been saying.
“Eunhyuk’s got his own charm,” argued Sungmin. “I’m sure that he’s very popular with the girls that he meets when he’s carrying out his rounds.”
“You really think that Eunhyuk is going out with someone?” asked Donghae: he sounded like he had serious doubts about the idea.
“What other explanation is there?” asked Sungmin. “It’s not like he’s walking a dog or something. He’s out much later than anyone else! What is he doing if not seeing some girlfriend or something?”
“I don’t know,” said Donghae, frowning. “Maybe he’s going to clubs?”
“That’s almost worse,” said Sungmin. “Imagine if it came out. Member of the Kim family is a gambler who frequents strip clubs.”
“Where did the gambler bit come from?” asked Donghae, confused.
“Anyway,” said Sungmin, waving his confusion off with a careless hand. “I think we should-”
He stopped as the kitchen door opened and Kibum stepped through. Sungmin hissed a little in disappointment, and Donghae slid down in his chair a little, teeth clenched together. “Donghae,” said Sungmin. “Donghae, are you listening?” He almost missed seeing Donghae’s nod, it was so small.
“Hey,” said Kibum, seemingly determined to not let it get to him this time. “Do you know where the orange juice is?”
“Sorry, no,” said Sungmin. He did know - it was on the top shelf of the second refrigerator, hidden accidently behind the carton of milk, but Sungmin wasn’t going to tell him when Donghae could tell him himself and (hopefully) get over this complex he had. Sungmin was always attempting things like this, and he was rather annoyed that they never worked.
“Donghae?” asked Kibum, not looking at him but instead looking curiously in the wrong fridge.
“It’s,” said Donghae, before he swallowed hard. “It’s in the other one,” he said. “On the top shelf.”
Kibum stared at him for a minute, before he looked in said refrigerator, a slight smile playing on his lips. “Thanks,” he said, grinning at Donghae, as he pulled it out.
“No problem,” said Donghae quickly, stuttering a little and slumping lower in his seat as Kibum poured out a glass and put the juice back. Sungmin grinned at him, Kibum laughed a little - and Sungmin had never seen him so upbeat, something that he noted with a gleeful interest - and then left the room. Donghae sighed heavily.
“You’re trying?” Sungmin’s question was quiet, and not fully formed, but Donghae understood what he meant anyway.
“I could hear footsteps,” he said. “They sounded like his. It’s not so hard when I know that he’s going to be there. It’s hard when he just turns up without notice.”
“I know you’re trying,” said Sungmin. “But it’s been two years, and Kibum - he never actually did anything anyway.”
“I know,” said Donghae. “Sungmin, seriously, it never used to be like this with him. When he was - looking after me, it was different, and I - I want it to go back to that.”
“What caused it?” asked Sungmin. Usually, it was impossible to get anything about the story out of Donghae - not even Sungmin or Eunhyuk knew what had happened to him that had caused this reaction - so he was going to take his chance while he could.
“I don’t know,” said Donghae, and avoided his eyes. Sungmin sighed. Donghae’s self control when it came to this, beyond being remarkable, was totally out of character.
“I think we should follow Eunhyuk,” said Sungmin. Donghae frowned at him, opened his mouth to say something, and then Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi came in, laughing loudly at something.
“Did I miss something?” asked Sungmin; Zhou Mi had that look on his face which usually meant that he had some gossip that he was dying to share.
“I saw Siwon go into Hankyung and Heechul’s room with some wine last night,” said Kyuhyun with a grin. Zhou Mi slipped in his chair and bounced happily.
“Yeah?” Sungmin didn’t think that that was worth the glee. Siwon had been going out for drinks regularly with Heechul and Hankyung for the past two weeks.
“He hasn’t come out yet,” said Zhou Mi, all his teeth showing, he was smiling so widely. “He’s been in there all night.”
“Oh my god,” said Sungmin, clapping his hands together. Donghae just blinked. “You mean - oh my god!”
“Heechul didn’t get back until pretty late,” said Kyuhyun. “I only know because I heard Kibum shout in the yard and I looked out the window to check that nothing was going on.”
“They’re still in there,” said Zhou Mi. Sungmin checked his watch - almost eleven am. With a shock, he realised that he was due to start his route for the day in half an hour.
“Have you seen Eunhyuk?” he asked casually.
“He’s still in bed, I think,” said Kyuhyun. “I think he’s got to go Sang’s nightclub to check on the investigation into that attack on the dancer, but after that he’s free.”
“Right,” said Sungmin. “Donghae, are you finished?” Donghae nodded, slightly confused. “Come on then, we need to be ready for when Eunhyuk goes out. We’re following him?”
“You’re what?” Zhou Mi looked at Kyuhyun, fairly certain he had misunderstood that. Kyuhyun just shook his head at him.
“Don’t ask,” he said in Mandarin.
“Oh, right!” said Sungmin, and smiled winningly at Kyuhyun. “What are you doing today, Kyuhyunnie?”
“I’m not doing anything,” said Kyuhyun, apprehensive. “I have a free day.”
“Great!” trilled Sungmin. “Go with Henry to collect the money then for me? He knows what he’s doing, he just needs you to speak the Korean for him.”
“But-” said Kyuhyun, dismayed, but Sungmin had already swept out of the room, pulling Donghae after him by the arm. Kyuhyun poked miserably at his breakfast. “Stop laughing,” he muttered to Zhou Mi, who was, by this point, shaking with laughter.
“He’s just funny!” he protested.
“He thinks that just because he helped to look after me when I was ill that he can treat me like that,” said Kyuhyun, frowning.
“That’s because he can,” said Zhou Mi, before he suddenly grew serious. “Ill?” he asked, cocking his head to the side, like he wasn’t sure whether that was what Kyuhyun had said, like he had misunderstood. “Not ill, injured-”
Heechul walked into the room, a vest top pulled on, his trouser bottoms trailing on the floor - clearly they belonged to someone else. Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi exchanged amused glances as he took out three mugs and some coffee mix for the kettle in his and Hankyung’s room. When he turned back around, Kyuhyun noticed the dark purple bruise on his collarbone. He snorted and nudged Zhou Mi.
“You look like you’ve been on some sort of a debauch,” said Kyuhyun, smirking.
“Hmm,” said Heechul, and his own smirk was so mischievous that Kyuhyun began to laugh so hard that he choked. “It takes practice to perfect this ‘just had sex’ look, you know. Well, you have to actually have sex if you’re going to attempt it.”
Zhou Mi choked, much like Kyuhyun had done. “Hyung!” he said. “Sometimes you are just unbelievable!”
“Thank you, Seasoning,” said Heechul, and sauntered back out of the room.
“It takes practice to be as fucking smug as this, you mean,” Kyuhyun shouted at his back; though he grinned as he did so.
***
“I feel stupid,” grumbled Donghae, kicking at an empty can at the side of the road.
“Shut up,” hissed Sungmin. “You’re being too loud.”
They were stood on the corner of a building that lined the street which eventually opened up into the neutral center of the city. From where they stood, they could see Eunhyuk sitting on one of the benches in the park that signified the start of that center, dressed in casual jeans and a hooded sweatshirt - he had gone back home to change, something Sungmin had complained was very inconvenient when they were following him (they had had to wait outside the estate in a car for him), and then came straight to the park. He - and Sungmin and Donghae - had been waiting for over half an hour.
“Nothing’s even happening!” said Donghae. “And how on earth is he going to hear us? We’re hiding from him around the side of a building, he can’t see us, never mind actually hear us.”
“Just - be quiet, would you?” asked Sungmin. “I think this is her now.”
Donghae fell silent and joined him with peering around the side of the building. Together, they watched as a pretty girl wearing a floral print skirt stopped next to where Eunhyuk was sitting and spoke to him. Sungmin grabbed hold of Donghae’s arm in glee. Eunhyuk grinned - and then checked his watch.
“Shit,” said Sungmin as the girl thanked him and walked away. “Damn, she was cute! I really thought that was her.”
“This is ridiculous,” said Donghae. “Hyung, even I think that this is stupid. Hyuk isn’t dating someone.”
“Then why the hell is he sitting in the park dressed like he’s about to go on a date?” asked Sungmin, a note of mild hysteria in his voice. “Why is he, if he’s not going on a date?”
“Okay, that is weird,” admitted Donghae. “It’s just - why wouldn’t he tell us?”
“Maybe he’s worried about what Kangin or Eeteuk will say,” suggested Sungmin. “If she’s from a poor family or something, maybe he’s worried that they won’t accept her.”
“That would make sense if they were archaic,” said Donghae. “But they aren’t, they’re very welcoming.”
“Well, I don’t know,” said Sungmin. “I just don’t know what you think he’s doing, waiting in a park in the neutral part of town dressed casually and unwilling to tell anyone about it.”
“It is weird,” said Donghae. “I know that. I just think that we aren’t thinking this through properly and jumping to conclusions.”
“Oh, like you’re one to talk about not thinking things through properly,” retorted Sungmin.
***
Kyuhyun thumped his fist on Ryeowook’s bedroom door, trying to ignore the way that Zhou Mi was singing and bouncing at the end of the corridor. “Ryeowook!” he yelled. “I need you to go out today with Henry!” And then he turned around and strode off.
“But I’m going out with Yehsung today,” shouted Ryeowook, pausing in picking a t-shirt out. “He’s taking me to the shopping district.” He stopped; unfortunately he took the silence from the other side of the door as a sign that Kyuhyun had gone to find someone else to go with Henry.
***
“I’m hungry,” whined Donghae.
“Argh!” shouted Sungmin, and then clapped a hand over his mouth as he realised how loud he was being. He glared at Donghae, who just shrugged.
“This is getting silly now,” said Sungmin, looking reluctant about having to admit it. “We’ve been here for an hour, what is he doing?”
“Oh!” said Donghae.
“Do you think he’s on to us?” asked Sungmin fearfully. “He knows that we’re following him and so he’s just leading us on?”
“Look!” said Donghae.
“Well, what a waste of time this has been,” said Sungmin with a pout.
“Hyung, would you look? He’s stood up!”
Sungmin shot around to look out past the corner of the building, where Eunhyuk was standing next to the bench, his mobile telephone to his ear. “What’s he saying, what’s he saying?” Sungmin yelped, reaching out to grab hold of Donghae’s arm again.
“I don’t know!” said Donghae indignantly. “What, am I supposed to have super sonic hearing?”
“Oh!” Sungmin jumped slightly. “He’s moving, he’s moving.”
Eunhyuk was indeed moving: he strode confidently away from the park, phone still held to his ear. Sungmin and Donghae exchanged glances, and then suddenly had to rush as Eunhyuk went around a corner.
They realised after a few minutes that Eunhyuk knew exactly where he was going, though they were in the central part of the city that was unfamiliar to most of the family - after all, usually only those members who were Kim by actual name went to this part, and anyone else simply used the main roads. Eunhyuk led them down side streets, along a street where houses for the governors were, and then he stopped in front of a block of flats. He grinned, hung up, and then rang the door bell - there was something horribly familiar in the way he did it.
He was buzzed up; he pushed open the door and went inside. Sungmin glanced at Donghae, and then folded his arms. He took a step outside of their hiding place (behind two trees across the streets). “And now, we wait.” he said.
“That’s so boring,” said Donghae. “And I’m still hungry!”
***
Henry stood in the front hall, clutching his file of people he had to collect money from to his chest, and nervously checked his watch. Sungmin was now half an hour later, and if he didn’t leave soon, then he would be so late to his first appointment that it would be worthless to actually turn up. He had been thinking about just leaving, but he couldn’t drive, and couldn’t speak enough Korean to actually do anything.
The problem was that he had no idea where most people were. Sungmin was obviously missing; Donghae had gone somewhere as well; Eunhyuk, Shindong and Kibum all had appointments that day. Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi had disappeared. Ryeowook had gone out with Yehsung; and Henry didn’t dare go ask Eeteuk or Kangin for help. Which really, only left three people - and he had overheard Zhou Mi talking, so he knew exactly where to go to find them.
Henry didn’t like knocking on Hankyung’s bedroom door at the best of times, because sometimes Hankyung wasn’t even there and to be perfectly honest, Heechul scared him. He understood that his older brother was in love, and that Heechul would therefore most likely be a perfectly civil person to him, but Henry sometimes didn’t know whether Heechul was laughing with him or at him. He spoke too fast just generally, and Henry could hardly ever understand him. It worried him, sometimes, that Heechul could (and probably would) talk about him and Henry simply wouldn’t know what he was talking about. His one consolation was that at least Hankyung would tell him if he was.
Unfortunately, this isn’t even a best time. From what he could pick up, Hankyung and Heechul had Siwon in the room last night - and Siwon still hadn’t emerged. Henry, honestly, didn’t know whether to be shocked, but whatever he was feeling was tinged with just a little hint of awe.
He knocked lightly on the door; there were noises from within the room; when Hankyung opened the door, Henry almost died from the relief that it wasn’t Heechul. Hankyung frowned at him, pulling at his jogging bottoms absently. “Henry?” he asked in Chinese. “What are you doing here? What’s wrong?”
“Sungmin was supposed to come with me to collect this money,” said Henry awkwardly, waving the file aimlessly in the air. “But he never showed up, and I need someone to come with me and there’s no one else in the house and I was hoping-?“
“Sungmin didn’t turn up?” Hankyung frowned again. “That’s unlike him.”
“I think he went out with Donghae,” said Henry. “I saw them leave, but I thought he’d be back in time.”
“And now you don’t have anyone to go with you.” Hankyung sighed. “I’d come, but I’m not exactly allowed either.”
“I know,” said Henry. “I thought - Heechul-ge?”
“You want to go with Heechul?” asked Hankyung, amused.
“I heard my name,” said Heechul, suddenly appearing in the doorway.
“Henry’s been abandoned,” said Hankyung.
“Oh, poor thing,” said Heechul, and then lost interest. He patted Hankyung on the hip. “I’m going to take a shower.”
“Fine,” said Hankyung. “Leave me to sort this out, why don’t you?”
“He’s your brother,” said Heechul’s voice before the bathroom door was pulled shut. Siwon appeared at the doorway this time, and Henry blushed as he realised that Siwon was only wearing a pair of pyjama bottoms, and judging from the shortness in the leg, they belonged to Hankyung - clearly what Zhou Mi had been suggesting had been correct.
“Hey Henry,” said Siwon with a smile. Henry gave an embarrassed nod of the head. “What’s wrong?”
Hankyung explained the situation. “Clearly Heechul won’t go with him,” he said with a nod towards the bathroom, where the sounds of running water could be heard. “And I’m not sure Henry would want to go with Heechul anyway, he has this way of being rather blunt that Henry can’t quite keep up with.”
“No, ge,” said Henry earnestly. “I was hoping Siwon-ge would come with me.”
“Me?” Siwon looked surprised. “What would I need to do?”
“Just drive him places,” said Hankyung. “And translate his Chinese, if possible. The people tend to know what we are here for, and we only give Henry the debt collection of people that we’re certain will give us the money. Sungmin usually goes with him; he knows what to say anyway. It’s just Eeteuk and Kangin’s way of trying to help Henry take part in the running of the family.”
“Oh,” said Siwon, and he ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, that’s fine, I’ll go with him. But why can’t-”
“My capacity for speaking Korean outside of the family is limited,” said Hankyung, and there was a definite sense of the conversation being closed.
“Okay,” said Siwon. “Just let me go get ready.”
***
“This is unbelievably boring,” said Donghae. “Hyung, even imagining the different foods that we’re going to have for dinner tonight isn’t helping.”
“Oh, be quiet,” said Sungmin, arms wrapped around his knees. “What is he doing in there?”
“I’d tell you,” said Donghae with a grin. “But you’d probably be utterly scandalized.”
“And we don’t even know who with,” wailed Sungmin.
“Oh!” said Donghae, shooting upright. “He’s coming out, and he’s with-”
“Oh my god.” said Sungmin.
Eunhyuk was walking out of the doors, though he didn’t have his arm over the shoulder of a pretty young girl. Instead, another man’s arm was slung over Eunhyuk’s shoulder, and they were laughing together. “Just a friend,” supplied Sungmin’s mind, because Eunhyuk acted like that with plenty of people, but then he spotted the way Eunhyuk’s hand was slipped into the back pocket of the older man’s jeans - he didn’t know whether it was a bad thing that suddenly he was grinning.
The wind had dropped; from this close they could hear the conversation that was going on - clearly in the middle. “So you think I look young,” said Eunhyuk.
“Yes,” said the man bluntly. Eunhyuk actually pouted - Sungmin could practically feel his jaw falling open in shock. Since when was Eunhyuk him? “Well,” amended the man. “Young compared to me.”
Eunhyuk ducked out from under the man’s arm and said, “Everyone’s young compared to you.” He dodged the swat at him with a grin.
“It’s just those clothes,” said the man. “Usually, in your suit, you look a bit older.”
“I don’t know whether to take that as a compliment,” said Eunhyuk.
“It is,” reassured the man, with the kind of grin at Eunhyuk that made something in Sungmin’s stomach jerk - it may not have been a girl like he had previously thought, but there was something unbelievable in seeing Eunhyuk like that, smiling in a shy sort of a way.
“Yeah, well,” said Eunhyuk, blushing a little. “You don’t look so bad in your uniform either.”
What uniform? thought Sungmin, frowning suddenly. Donghae was still grinning.
“So you like a man in uniform,” said the man. “Don’t suits count as uniforms? How do you cope with all those men that you live with then?”
“Suits don’t count,” said Eunhyuk. “And anyway, there’s just something about the handcuffs…”
If the situation had been any different, Sungmin would have been struggling to hold back his laughing and cheering when he saw his cousin smiling self-consciously as the man slipped his fingers into the belt hoops on his jeans and pulled him towards him by the hips to kiss him; but the handcuff comment had just confirmed it - the man who was currently kissing Eunhyuk was a police officer, and that was bad.
“Oh god,” whispered Donghae beside him. “This is so bad.”