Of Pools, Poliwogs, and Cougars (Part 1)
And so, unnofficial KyuChul week ends...
Title: Of Pools, Poliwogs, and Cougars (Part 1 of 2)
Pairing: KyuChul, mentions of HanChul (oh Hannie, I didn't mean to make you the villain! *hugs* I'm sorry, I'll write more HanChul to make up for it, I promise!)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, not really angst?, romance
Summary: Cho Kyuhyun is a struggling high school graduate trying to support his gaming addiction and pay his way through college. Kim Heechul is the black sheep of one of Korea’s richest families who is looking for someone to torture for the summer in his never ending boredom. All Kyuhyun wanted was a few extra bucks. All Heechul wanted was a pool boy. Neither was expecting to fall in love.
Notes: Part 1 and Part 2 will be the end of Stormy and I’s KyuChul week challenge, but do not worry, KyuChul will live on forever. :D And there will be more stories to come. :D
---
Kyuhyun had an addiction. A time consuming and expensive addiction. This addiction was named gaming. Kyuhyun had also just graduated high school and was trying desperately to come up with enough money to attend Yonsei University.
But Kyuhyun had a problem.
Kyuhyun was broke.
This made both attending college and feeding his addiction to all things related to technology rather difficult. So difficult that his summer-his last summer before he began college (if he could afford it)-was now being spent searching for a job.
Unfortunately summer jobs for teenagers were scarce these days and the ones that existed weren’t worth the time they expended. He needed a decent paying job and fast if he intended on furthering his education.
And that new gaming keyboard was calling him! He needed it! More than he needed college! Well, most people would differ on that opinion but Kyuhyun was not most people. His gaming addiction was making it difficult to save any money at all, and his dwindling savings was disappearing fast. College was expensive, and so was gaming. The world seemed out to get Cho Kyuhyun.
And that was why he was now standing in front of the large mansion, hand paused above the door knocker. Why had he taken his friends’ advice?
“If you want money, why don’t you just go and clean pools? There are lots of rich families that will pay you a boatload just to get the leaves out.” Sungmin snorted, “As if they couldn’t do it themselves.”
“Watch out for cougars.” Kangin replied, grinning from ear to ear.
“What’s a cougar?” Ryeowook asked innocently. Yesung immediately grabbed the younger male and pulled him away from the conversation, glaring at the others for almost tainting his little Wookie.
Kangin watched them go, smirking, before he turned back to Kyuhyun, “Actually, I take it back. Find yourself an old lady and seduce her. Those rich housewives pay well, right?”
He’d put out an add in the paper and had gotten a call telling him to come to the address at 10am. So now he was here…and wondering if maybe he’d taken a wrong turn somewhere. He shrugged, grabbing the knocker and slamming it down three times.
He heard the sound echo through the house and he waited for someone to answer the door. It didn’t take long for it to be opened by a young boy-younger than Kyuhyun, probably still in high school-who looked him up and down before smiling and responding in accented Korean, “Hello, you must be the pool boy!”
“Er, um, yeah.” Kyuhyun nodded, noticing that the boy was wearing a school uniform and holding a bag. A second later a tall man in a butler’s outfit rushed into the room, “Master Henli, you shouldn’t answer the door like that, I was heading down here to get it. The driver is waiting with the car to take you to school.”
The boy nodded sullenly, “Ok…sorry.” He gave Kyuhyun one last, curious glance before heading out the door that Kyuhyun had just entered from. Kyuhyun was left alone with the tall, lanky butler.
“Please come with me. I’ll show you what needs to be done.” The butler motioned for him to follow him. Kyuhyun did so, staring up in awe at the behemoth of a home as they walked through the main hallway and down a secondary corridor. He passed bedrooms and a lounge until they came to a back door and Kyuhyun entered a tropical wonderland.
It was an aviary, full of parrots and macaws and toucans and who knew what else. Exotic plants lined the walls and there was a small pond in one corner-and was that an iguana hanging off of the tree? The butler had quickly shut the door that separated the exotic menagerie from the rest of the home and made his way down the small path toward the back.
“You won’t be heading through this way very often, as I’ll be giving you a key to the back entrance but if this circumstance occurs again, please make sure that you close the door fully behind you. If any of the Master’s animals were to escape he would be very displeased. These birds cost more than your salary for a whole year.”
Kyuhyun didn’t doubt it, as he stared up at the brightly colored feathers and listened to the singsong calls and caws. What kind of family had their own zoo? This was ridiculous. So that “Master Henli” owned all of this? Or was it his father who did?
“That boy seemed a bit young to be in charge of all of this…” Kyuhyun murmured, not realizing he’d spoken aloud until the butler turned to him with a quizzical glance.
“You mean Master Henli? Oh, he doesn’t live here. He comes here because he is childhood friends with the Master.” The butler nodded before leading Kyuhyun out of the aviary and into the immense back yard.
Kyuhyun stared at the pool in growing horror. No human could possible clean a pool that large in one day. This was insane!
“My Master expects the pool to be cleaned every morning before he comes to do his afternoon exercises after work.” The lanky butler continued in his heavily accented Korean-why did all of these people speak such odd Korean? Was the Master foreign?-and looked around the yard. “Hm, I’m not certain where my Master is currently but please, refrain from talking to him unless he talks to you first if you happen to chance upon him.”
Who was this guy, royalty? Kyuhyun merely nodded, even as he inwardly grumbled.
“The pool cleaning supplies are in the shed over there. Here is the key.” The butler pulled out a large key ring and pulled one off, handing it to the younger man and gave a bright smile. “I am very busy so I will leave you to your work then.” The butler bowed before heading back inside the way he came.
Kyuhyun stared around the large pool and took a deep breath. “…here we go…”
---
Thirty minutes later Kyuhyun was sweating like a pig and felt that he hadn’t made much progress with the pool. He wasn’t certain if this was because the pool was so large or he simply sucked at cleaning but all he knew was that he was exhausted and thirsty.
He let the net fall into the pool, and it hit the water with a smack. A few droplets hit his bare toes and he wiggled them, frowning down at the water’s edge. His arms hurt. They hurt a lot. Cleaning pools was harder than he’d thought. He’d figured that the arm muscles he’d gained from playing video games all the time would have benefited him here but either there were more muscles in his arms than he knew and these muscles were dedicated solely to cleaning pools or he was just really weak.
He figured it was the latter.
Just then someone appeared from behind the large manmade waterfall that stood at the left end of the pool. They were wearing a simple white shirt and shorts with a bandana wrapped around their head. The white t-shirt was covered in dirty stains and the person was wearing gloves and carrying a trowel.
Kyuhyun assumed he was the gardener as the person walked around the pool’s edge toward the back door of the house. The person seemed to catch a glimpse of Kyuhyun out of the corner of their eye because they turned at the last second and Kyuhyun found himself staring at the most beautiful face he’d ever seen.
Even covered in sweat and dirt, the face was prettier than any girls’. Black hair, pulled back in a small ponytail with bangs dusting an angular face as the man pulled off the bandana to wipe the sweat from around his neck. He was eyeing Kyuhyun warily, before a slow smirk curled up on full lips and he began walking back toward the pool.
“You must be the new pool boy.” The man spoke in a soft tenor, sitting down on one of the pool-side chairs and peering at Kyuhyun with barely veiled curiosity.
“Sixteen?”
“Eighteen.” Kyuhyun corrected hurriedly, a frown growing, “I’ll be nineteen in February.”
“That’s interesting.” The man stated, but his tone said he couldn’t care less as he leaned back in the chair, looking like he owned the place despite being covered in dirt and sweat.
“What about you, thirty-five?” Because he was Cho Kyuhyun, and the snark revealed itself unconsciously.
The gardener blinked, and Kyuhyun thought he saw annoyance and anger glimmer in the dark depths of his eyes before the man laughed. Actually, it was more of a cackle than anything else before he answered back, a grin in place, “Eighty-three, actually. I’m a lot older than I look, aren’t I?”
Kyuhyun was taken aback for a moment, and was about to ask him whether he was joking or not-the man was pale, milky white pale, so he could have been a vampire-when the gardener kicked off his sandals.
“Aish, it’s so hot.” The man muttered, scratching the back of his neck before he pulled off his shirt. Kyuhyun was met with a pale chest, and he couldn’t help but stare. The man wasn’t muscular, but he was well-built. All angles and sharp edges. Like if you hugged him you’d feel every single bone in his body.
But wait, why was the gardener taking off his shirt anyway? And why was he heading to the edge of the pool and-the sound of the man diving into the water cut him from his thoughts as he stared in shock. What was the gardener doing? What if the master of the house appeared? Or the tall butler that looked like a villain from a late-night drama?
The gardener came up for air, brushing water-logged bangs from his forehead with a grin and scrubbing off the dirt smudges on his cheeks.
“You can’t be in there, you’re the gardener!” The words spilled from Kyuhyun’s lips before he could stop them as he frantically stirred the pool with the long net. “If you don’t get out I might get in trouble for letting you get the pool dirty with your nasty garden dirt! Get out!”
The pretty man blinked, staring up at Kyuhyun in confusion before he cackled again, bobbing back in the water and almost swallowing a mouthful of it as he threw his head back and laughed. That was when the butler appeared, coming out of the house with a canned drink and a towel. He paused when he noticed the man in the pool.
Kyuhyun waited with baited breath, feeling something bad was about to happen.
Then the butler smiled and bowed, “Master Xi Che, when did you get back?”
Oh fuck.
‘Xi Che’ aka Kim Heechul simply grinned as he swam over to the edge of the pool and leaned against it, staring up at the butler. “A few minutes ago. What is that for, Seasonings?” He motioned to the towel and the drink.
The butler smiled brightly, a dopish, boyish smile, “I was bringing Kyuhyun-ssi something cold to drink and a towel to clean up.”
Heechul smiled mischievously up at Kyuhyun, “Kyuhyun, eh?” He turned back to the butler, “Can you get me one of those drinks as well?”
Kyuhyun was going to be fired, he knew it. And if he wasn’t going to be fired than it was going to be the worst summer job in the world.
---
One week in, Kyuhyun had become fast friends with the butler Zhou Mi and Heechul’s younger friend Henry.
“Kui Xian!” Zhou Mi smiled brightly as he exited the house carrying a bottle of chilled water and a sandwich. “Lunch break!”
Kyuhyun, who had somehow gotten used to the Chinese name he’d been given, nodded with a grateful smile as he dropped the net and headed toward the other side of the pool to eat.
Henry, who was sitting on one of the pool chairs, looking up as Zhou Mi exited the house, “Zhou Mi, do we still have some ice pops in the fridge?”
“Ah, yes.” Zhou Mi nodded, looking like he was trying to remember whether they were still there or not. “Why?”
“I want a cherry one.” Henry smiled brightly, turning to Kyuhyun, “What about you?”
“Uh?” Kyuhyun blinked, “Ice pop? Um, green!”
“Green isn’t a flavor.” A voice muttered from the aviary as Heechul walked out, closing the door behind him. “…stupid…” He headed to the birdfeeder hanging in one of the nearby trees and opened the bag of birdseed he’d been carrying from the aviary and began filling it up.
“But you always ask for the green ones too, Master Xi Che.” Zhou Mi said innocently, and Henry snickered into the palm of his hand.
Heechul coughed, clearing his throat as he finished with the bird feeder. “I’d never ask for something green flavored. You must have heard me wrong.” And he was heading back inside, birdseed bag held against his chest.
Kyuhyun wasn’t sure whether he should laugh because Heechul clearly looked embarrassed or feel stupid over the fact that he’d asked for a green flavored popsicle. He was still trying to get over the image of heir to a multimillion dollar company Kim Heechul willingly filling up a birdfeeder.
What kind of person was his boss?
---
Two weeks in, Kyuhyun had already learned everything that the world knew about Kim Heechul, and a few things that the general populace didn’t.
What the public knew:
Kim Heechul was the unwanted son of business tycoon Kim Hongwoon. He was loud and abrasive and blunt, but he was also a deadly opponent in the business world and respected and feared within the tight-knit circle of company holders.
He always had a snappy comeback to anything anyone said, and when his pictures appeared in newspapers for scandals-which happened often-he would laugh at whoever had tried to pull up some dirt on him and tell them to try harder next time in a public press conference.
He was an all-around smartass that always had a girl on his arm and wore the latest fashions-or making the trends himself. If you made him your enemy then you were an idiot, because it meant you wouldn’t last in the business industry no matter how rich or influential you thought you were.
His mother hated him because he wasn’t her son but she smiled and pretended to be a loving mother in front of the cameras.
His father saw him as a mistake and sent him to look over the company branch in Busan to get him out from under his feet.
He was cool, confidant, and genuinely a jerk to anyone around him. He was also a rich influential jerk and that meant people sucked up to him to get his favor.
He was handsome-beautiful-and he was who all the girls wanted and all the men wanted to be.
What the public didn’t know:
Kim Heechul knew he was unwanted and while he pretended he didn’t give a shit, when he read the paper that told about his family’s business, he always got an odd look on his face as if he didn’t know whether to smile or cry and would settle on a sarcastic comment in the end.
He liked animals because they were loyal to you as long as you fed them and took care of them. They didn’t have ulterior motives for loving you.
He gave a lot of his money to charities that helped endangered animals and orphaned children under pseudonyms so that no one would know it was him.
He loved his rose garden, and spent every morning attending to the thorn-covered flowers.
He treated his butler like a brother.
He was indeed a sarcastic, all-around smartass, but he kept Kyuhyun on his toes and sometimes held a decent conversation with him and even joked around. And as the days went on and Heechul snapped and Kyuhyun snapped back, Kyuhyun began to realize that there was a human being beneath the layers of jackass that he’d built up.
It was an odd and unnerving thought, because if he was human, Cho Kyuhyun might just start to like him.
---
Three weeks in he learned that Kim Heechul was gay. And not only was he gay, but he had a boyfriend.
“Kyuhyun, if you’re going to be my pool boy then at least take your shirt off and try and get rid of that pale nerd skin of yours. One look at you and anyone can tell that you haven’t left your mother’s basement since seventh grade.”
Kyuhyun grunted, shooting a scathing glare at the man sitting on the pool-side chair, reading a magazine. “What about you?” He looked over the man’s pale expanse of skin.
“I am not pale.” Heechul defended, “I am a beautiful alabaster white. Haven’t you seen a greek statue before? Adonis was white as marble.”
“That’s because he was made of marble.”
“Yeah, well you’re pale. Get some sun, Kyuhyunnie, before I drag you into a tanning booth and lock you in.” Heechul snapped, taking a sip of his Bloody Mary and slipping on his sunglasses.
Kyuhyun was about to reply-as well as take off his shirt and show Heechul that he was perfectly muscled for a teenage boy-when someone walked out the back door holding two drinks and a box of some sort. He was not Zhou Mi.
He was also extremely good looking.
“Xi Che.”
Heechul’s face brightened-Kyuhyun had never seen him look so happy before-as he threw down the magazine and stood in one fluid motion. “HANNIE!” He grabbed the man around the neck as the taller man laughed, trying to hold the drinks and the box as well as Heechul.
Kyuhyun tugged at the end of his shirt, making sure it stayed firmly in place as he eyed the Chinese man. He was tall, tan, and muscular. He also looked like he could smash a concrete block with his pinky finger. Kyuhyun looked at his arm, then to the Chinese man’s.
There was no competition.
Feeling a bit self-conscious, Kyuhyun ducked his head and continued cleaning the pool as Heechul and the man he would come to find out was named Hangeng, talked and flirted back and forth. When he saw the two holding hands by the poolside and the soft, radiant smile on Heechul’s face, he felt an odd burning sensation that began in his stomach and traveled up into his chest.
He didn’t know what the feeling was, but it was uncomfortable.
---
Four weeks in, Kyuhyun realized the feeling was jealousy.
He kicked at the edge of the pool, his toes skimming the water. He was on break, and he was alone. He could hear Heechul and Hangeng inside of the aviary, laughing.
“What kind of bird is this?” Hangeng asked in his accented Korean-the difference was obvious and Kyuhyun didn’t like it. He didn’t like the fact that Heechul hadn’t gone swimming or come to bother him at all since Hangeng had arrived and somehow, that meant he didn’t like people with Chinese accents speaking Korean.
“A malachite kingfisher. I’ve had her for a long time.” Heechul’s voice sounded pleased as he spoke, and Kyuhyun’s hand tightened on the net he’d been holding. He hit the water with an angry slap and watched as it splashed back up at him.
He wiped the droplets from his bangs and frowned even more, glaring at the glass walls that separated him and the loving couple.
“I’ve never understood why you like birds so much. I thought you were a cat person.”
“Have you ever seen a green cat before, Hannie?” Heechul scoffed, and through the glass Kyuhyun could see him hold out his hand as a large, crimson bird landed on his outstretched arm. “It’s different.” That was all the explanation he gave and it was all that was needed. Hangeng fell silent and Kyuhyun looked back down at the pool and his rippling reflection.
I understand, he thought with a pout. More than he does, I bet.
---
Five weeks in, Kyuhyun silently rejoiced when he heard that Hangeng had to head back to China.
They heard the sound of glass breaking, and Kyuhyun, Zhou Mi, and Henry all turned as one to the aviary. One of the panels had shattered, and they all saw the streak of scarlet as one of the birds flew out of the opening and into the sky.
“Omo!” Henry jumped up from his chair. “That’s hyung’s favorite!” He looked at Zhou Mi desperately, “What are we going to do?”
But Zhou Mi was more concerned with the broken glass, and Kyuhyun was more concerned with the yelling that was coming from inside that was almost drowned out by the frantic shrieks of the birds.
“You’re leaving?”
“I’m going back to China, Heechul.” Hangeng’s voice was soft and stern. “We both knew this was inevitable. I can’t stay in Korea forever. It isn’t my home.”
“What about Zhou Mi and Henli? They aren’t leaving!” Aren’t leaving ME. Heechul was staring at him desperately, and as Kyuhyun and the others entered the aviary, Kyuhyun could swear he was crying. There weren’t any tears, but his eyes glistened and his lips trembled.
“Zhou Mi and Henli are different.” Hangeng murmured.
“How?” Heechul snapped, “How is it different?”
They love you, he doesn’t. Kyuhyun thought, and as he looked at Henry and Zhou Mi he knew it was true. They were sharing in Heechul’s pain, a desperate anxiety rolled off of them as they tried to decide whether to jump in and help or remain silent and watch.
“I don’t understand you, Heechul, and I need time away to think about this. About us.” Hangeng finally murmured. “…I’ll call you.” And he headed in the opposite direction, back into the house to leave.
Heechul stood there for a few moments, blinking back tears. He brushed his hair out of his eyes and headed for the door. “Seasonings,” He began in a neutral tone, “Please have that window fixed. Kyuhyun, is the pool clean? I want to swim.”
---
Six weeks in, Kyuhyun felt like the biggest jackass in the world when he learned that Hangeng had left for good.
Zhou Mi brought the bird back a week after it had flown off. It hadn’t gotten far before it had been attacked, though none of them knew by what.
They were sitting outside. Henry was at school, so it left Kyuhyun and Heechul alone. Kyuhyun was cleaning and fixing the water pump system on the Jacuzzi attached to the main pool-the directions were pretty clear but he still felt wary about doing too much without the proper guidance-and Heechul was sipping a margarita and going over some company files that he’d been sent from the main office in Seoul.
Heechul simply took the bird from Zhou Mi’s grasp and stared down at the limp thing in his arms. The feathers were askew and crooked. Heechul didn’t say anything, and his face was the perfect stony visage that Kyuhyun recognized from interviews and magazines. A mask.
“Some things can’t survive out of their natural habitat.” Heechul finally spoke, and his voice cracked a bit, but he didn’t cry. “That’s why they should be free and allowed to return home, right? I don’t have any reason to stop them.”
Hangeng never called to discuss their future. Heechul never called to ask why he didn’t call. No one mentioned the Chinese man to the young master, but they all noticed the pallor of his skin and the shadows that continued to darken beneath his eyes.
Kyuhyun had hated the Chinese man because he had been with Heechul, but he hated him more now that he’d turned the beautiful man into a zombie who did nothing more than read files and attend business meetings.
He’d even forgotten to water his roses.
Kyuhyun found this out when Heechul was off at a business meeting. He’d never been able to go back to Heechul’s private garden to see them and now had seemed like the perfect opportunity. Something that the man had tended to with his own hands must have become as beautiful as he was. It was only fitting.
He was not expecting the sight in front of him. At one point, he knew that the flowers had been glorious. Now they were wilting, the color of their bright petals fading. There were roses of all colors: red, pink orange, yellow, white, lavender.
And there, in the center of the maze-like garden, was a rose bush he’d never seen before. He couldn’t quite say what color they were. In the light they changed from purple to blue, depending on the angle he looked at them, but he knew for a fact that blue roses couldn’t be grown in nature.
“It’s called the blue moon rose.”
Kyuhyun turned to see Heechul standing behind him, still dressed in his impeccable business suit from his meeting. He placed his briefcase against a statue and came up to Kyuhyun’s side. “The first blue roses were made by placing blue dye in the bark of the roots of a rose bush. The color isn’t a perfect blue, of course. Those can only be created genetically in labs.” He knelt down, and the earth-now damp from the hose Kyuhyun had used to water the plants with-stained his slacks. He didn’t seem to notice as he rubbed one of the fallen petals between his fingers.
“It means unattainable love. I planted it when I met Hangeng.”
Kyuhyun didn’t know what to say, so he simply remained where he was, holding the hose and watching as the water trickled out onto the stone path he was standing on, washing away the small bits of dirt and leaves.
“You were only supposed to work for me for four weeks.” Heechul finally muttered, “Actually, I was trying to get you to leave after the first one. But you were fun to snap at.” A small grin tilted his lips. “Even pushing you into the pool didn’t work.”
“You kicked me.” Kyuhyun corrected, “In the ass.”
The grin grew a bit, “You screamed like a little girl.” Heechul stood, and as he walked past Kyuhyun, his hand briefly rested on his shoulder. “Thank you for watering my roses.” And then he was gone.
Kyuhyun remained standing where he was, listening to the fading footsteps and the trickle of water. He knew that he was only supposed to have been there four weeks, but somehow he’d continued coming unconsciously.
No one had stopped him. He’d expected Heechul to kick him out but the older man had simply pretended that he didn’t know Kyuhyun’s work schedule was over. Kyuhyun wondered if Heechul did it because he wanted Kyuhyun to stay, or if it was because he simply needed someone to snap at.
Either way Kyuhyun supposed he was grateful.
He picked up his cell phone the moment it began ringing. “What is it?”
“Ya!” Kangin yelled over the line, “You’ve been having so much fun with your fucking cougar that you haven’t hung out with us at all this summer! Get your ass over to Sungmin’s house!”
Kyuhyun paused, before grinning, “Can I bring a friend?”