Of Pools, Poliwogs, and Cougars (Part 2)
Ok I lied, NOW it is the end of unnofficial KyuChul week. :D
Title: Of Pools, Poliwogs, and Cougars (Part 2 of 2)
Pairing: KyuChul
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.
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
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Kyuhyun wasn’t certain when his relationship with Kim Heechul had gone from employer and employee-master and slave was a better description-to friends. He wondered if it had started when he’d begun watering Heechul’s roses, or if it had been when he’d brought Heechul to Sungmin’s house and introduced him to his friends.
Kangin had taken one look at the man and exclaimed, “This is your cougar?”
Heechul had been wildly amused, Kyuhyun had not.
Whatever had begun the odd friendship between them, he didn’t know. But what Kyuhyun did know was that he was still cleaning his now ‘friend’s pool and his ‘friend’ was still enjoying torturing him. Nothing seemed to have changed much, except that now after work he got to stay and lounge around with Heechul-and sometimes Henry and Zhou Mi when they weren’t at school or busy working.
“Kyuhyun,” Heechul muttered from the shade of a nearby tree. “How long are you going to take? We can’t go out to eat if you’re lounging around the pool like that.”
“Ya!” Kyuhyun glared, “If you helped I would get done faster and then you wouldn’t have to wait.”
Heechul sniffed. “I’m paying you for a reason, Kyuhyunnie. If I went and helped, it would be deducted from your pay, and weren’t you planning on getting that new gaming headset?”
Damn him, why had Kyuhyun let it slip that his addiction for games was fueling this entire summer venture? Kyuhyun merely attacked the leaves floating on the pool’s surface with an unholy fury, wishing he could incinerate them with his glare.
Heechul fiddling with the rubix cube in his hands before pausing, turning to look the younger boy over. He smiled to himself as he noticed the arm muscles that had built up over the weeks and the soft tan on the boy’s once pale skin. His time in the sun had certainly done him some good.
Heechul was proud of his little creation.
He also couldn’t quite understand why he was so attached the nerdy child that had applied for the summer job. A summer job that Heechul had accepted for the sole purpose of a bit of amusement during his stay in Busan.
He wasn’t certain when it all began.
Seven weeks in, Heechul realized that he found Kyuhyun attractive.
---
Eight weeks in, there were frogs. Also, Heechul realized that he wanted Kyuhyun. He also realized that it was probably illegal, given their age difference.
“Heebum is stuck outside somewhere!”
“Master Xi Che, it’s storming outside!” Zhou Mi yelled, trying to open the umbrella and stop Heechul from continuing toward the main door at the same time. “Please sir, we’ll find him after the storm…”
“Impossible.” Heechul snapped, “He’s probably wet and scared out there somewhere.” He pulled his coat on and slipped on a pair of boots. “Zhou Mi, stay in the backyard and try calling for him, will you? I’ll go look around the block and see if I can see something.”
Kyuhyun got a call from Henry a few minutes later and was halfway to the house when he caught sight of Heechul stumbling through the rain, calling out his cat’s name. Kyuhyun stepped out of his car-not his, Kangin’s, but he wasn’t going to tell anyone he’d taken it, especially not the person he’d stolen it from-and opened his umbrella.
“Heechul!”
The older man turned, ringing out his ponytail as he stood beneath an outcropping to get a small break from the downpour. He was soaked from head to toe, his designer clothing completely ruined. “Kyuhyun?”
“What are you doing out here?” Kyuhyun caught up to him, breathing heavily, “Did you walk the entire way?”
“Heebummie should be around here somewhere. I’m going to check the park.” Heechul didn’t seem to be listening as he grabbed Kyuhyun’s umbrella and headed back out into the rain.
“Heechul!” Kyuhyun ran after him, huddling beneath the umbrella and trying to keep up with the shorter man’s fevered pace. “Do you really think you’re going to find him?”
“Of course. Heebum likes the park. There are frogs there.”
“What?”
“At the pond. Frogs.” Heechul announced, “He plays with them.”
Kyuhyun stared at Heechul incredulously. “He plays with frogs?”
Heechul didn’t stop moving, hopping off of the curb and walking in the gutter. He kicked playfully at the water rushing past his now ruined designer shoes. He figured that Zhou Mi would have a heart attack when he saw the state they were in, but he’d give him a day off and an order to enjoy himself at a fashion show to make up for it. “Yes. He catches them and then makes them jump around before he decides he’s bored with them. Then he throws them in the toilet and flushes it.”
“Oh my god.”
“Yeah, Henry cried for three hours the first time he was too late to save one. Who would have known a cat could flush a toilet, huh?”
Kyuhyun was trying to fathom this and then realized that well, it was the cat of Kim Heechul so it would make sense. But that wasn’t the point. The fact of the matter was that Cho Kyuhyun was gallivanting around in a storm with multimillionaire Kim Heechul in search of a cruel and vindictive cat.
What if the paparazzi caught this on camera? What would it say? Would they attack Heechul for pedophilia? Because seriously, Kyuhyun was not jailbait! Kyuhyun wasn’t certain why he kept thinking back to their first meeting. To Heechul announcing he was eighty three-a lie-when Kyuhyun told him he was eighteen-the truth. But while Heechul’s age had been a lie, he was still older than Kyuhyun, much older, and it made the younger boy wonder if because of that, Kim Heechul would never see him as anything other than a friend.
It was a depressing thought and suddenly the stormy weather paralleled his mood completely as they two continued tromping through the rain toward the park. They would have reached it, too, if a car hadn’t rushed past. Kyuhyun grabbed Heechul and pulled him off of the street as the car honked loudly and zoomed off.
Kyuhyun lost his balance and the two went tumbling. Kyuhyun felt his ankle twist at an unnatural angle and he let out a yelp before feeling something warm smack into him and his breath was momentarily lost.
“Aish, Kyuhyun, clumsy kid.” Heechul grunted, trying to roll off of the younger boy. “What the hell was that for?”
“In case you didn’t notice, we were almost run over.” Kyuhyun snapped back, hissing as he tried to move his ankle and pain lanced up his leg. Heechul only then seemed to see the damage that had been done and quickly grabbed the younger man’s leg, pulling it into his lap.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine-ow ow ow ow stop touching it!” Kyuhyun whined as Heechul pressed his fingers against the ankle softly, applying a firm and steady pressure.
“Shut up you crybaby.” Heechul muttered, “I know what I’m doing. I was almost a doctor you know.”
“What? You? A doctor?” Somehow the thought of Kim Heechul saving lives was difficult. The thought of him donning surgeon garb and covered in blood and holding a scalpel was frightening.
“I have a friend who’s a doctor.” Heechul explained. “You wouldn’t know him. We went to school together and I was going to attend medical school with him until my older brother died. Then my father wanted me to continue in the company.” Heechul paused, and let out a small laugh. “He hadn’t contacted me at all since my tenth birthday and here he was, telling me I couldn’t do what I’d studied my entire high school life for just because he needed an heir. Any heir, an illegitimate one would do fine as long as he looked good and knew what he was doing.”
Kyuhyun watched Heechul and he couldn’t help but think that the pained look in his eyes, coupled with the rain pelting him, made him look beautiful. Prettier than usual, definitely more feminine and fragile. Before he knew it he was leaning forward-he bit back a wince as Heechul’s grip tightened on his ankle in surprise-and pressed his lips against the older man’s.
The kiss wasn’t long because Kyuhyun was embarrassed and Heechul was shocked. The older man didn’t respond to Kyuhyun’s lips, but neither did he push him away as Kyuhyun had feared. As the two parted there was a moment of silence before Heechul spoke.
“I’m twenty seven.”
“I know.”
“You’re eighteen.”
A nod.
“Right. Just thought you should know.” Heechul growled, before grabbing the back of Kyuhyun’s head and pulling him forward.
---
Nine weeks in, Heechul realized he didn’t care.
“You’re covered in mud, what were you two doing?” Zhou Mi asked worriedly as the two trudged through the back door. They remained on the welcome mat, dripping muddy water onto the tiled floor.
“The roses.” Was Kyuhyun’s only explanation. “They needed to be watered.”
“They got wet.”
“There was dirt.”
“Kyuhyun was too pale.”
“How is that an explanation for anything?”
“The dirt made you look more tan, I was just trying to help.” Heechul muttered, before wiping a glob of mud from his cheek. “Seasonings, can you make lunch for us? I need to take a shower.” A pause. “Get an extra set of towels for Kyuhyun, please.”
Zhou Mi nodded and gave a small sigh, “At least take off your shoes before you head to your bedroom, please.”
Heechul grinned, pulling Kyuhyun up the stairs after the two managed to get their sandals off of mud-splattered feet. “Kyuhyun-ah?”
“Mm?” Kyuhyun murmured, twirling a lock of his hair and seeing water droplets trail down his finger and arm.
“You don’t have extra clothing do you?” Heechul sighed, before stopping in front of a door. “I’ll get you something of mine to wear.” Kyuhyun followed Heechul into his bedroom and looked around. He’d never been inside before and as he eyed the pristine look of the place, he wondered if Heechul had either.
He didn’t even think he slept on the perfectly made bed. Everything was white and clean and unused. The only blemish to it now came in the form of mud spots on the white carpet, and the stains were glaringly obvious. Heechul didn’t seem to care as he peeled off his white t-shirt and threw it on the ground. It hit with a splat and the sound made Kyuhyun cringe as he watched the mud dribble out onto the clean floor.
“Come on, the bathroom is this way.” Heechul announced, still shedding clothing as he went. If Kyuhyun wasn’t so busy wondering where Heechul slept-since it obviously wasn’t here-he would have noticed the slow striptease and probably found it hot. As it were he collided with Heechul’s bare back when the older man stopped in the doorway of the bathroom.
He turned around and raised an eyebrow, “Kyuhyun, what are you doing?”
“Hm?”
“Obviously something is wrong.” Heechul placed a hand on his-bare-hip. “There is a beautiful naked man in front of you and you’re staring at my ceiling. I would prefer it if there were two naked men in this bathroom. And you can stare at me, I’m much more interesting than the spackle.”
Kyuhyun blinked and looked down-blushed-and looked back up. Oh. Oh. Heechul was naked. And wet. And muddy. And standing in front of him. Kyuhyun looked down at his own state of dress.
Too much clothing.
When they finally managed to overcome this problem and Kyuhyun had shoved Heechul against the tiled wall inside of the shower, he realized that his prediction of Heechul the first day was correct. When he pressed against him he could feel all his angles and dips and bends. He was lean and feminine and looked as fragile as glass but as he quickly reversed their situations and shoved a leg between Kyuhyun’s, the younger man realized that he was steel hidden beneath silk and that he’d underestimated the man’s strength.
Heechul snickered into Kyuhyun’s ear as he trailed his hand up the younger man’s chest.
“You really didn’t think I was going to let you top, did you?”
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