Imperfectly Perfect Chp. 5
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“You should be a singer,” are the first words Hangeng hears the following morning when Heechul walks into the kitchen. Hangeng is already at the coffee machine, making their first batch of caffeine to get them through the day.
The sweet smell of hazelnut fills the air, and Heechul’s sleepy face already looks instantly brighter.
There are so many different varieties of coffees in their cupboards since Heechul fancies trying each one once and never using it again so they have a mystery coffee every day.
Hangeng chuckles at the prospect of himself being a singer.
“Stop being ridiculous, I could not become a singer,” he says to Heechul, who’s rolling his eyes at him now.
“No honestly,” Heechul continues, throwing his still damp red locks behind his shoulder. “I think you’d do great. You could be like one of those -- y’know, those idol people and like dance and sing.”
Heechul’s grinning from ear to ear now and Hangeng simply shakes his head at him.
“I can’t sing,” he concludes, still shaking his head at the ridiculous suggestion. If I were to build any kind of fame for myself, we’d both be dead by now, Hangeng wants to say to Heechul, but doesn’t of course.
“Yes you can, you pabo!” Heechul declares angrily, hands on his fist now. “What exactly do you mean by you can’t sing? I definitely heard you last night.”
“I used to dance, though,” says Hangeng suddenly, attempting to change the subject.
Heechul snorts.
“What? I really did!” Hangeng replies a bit indignantly, huffing.
“Oh yeah? What kind of dance? I doubt you did hip hop,” the red-head sneers, reaching for the already buttered bagel from the toaster that Hangeng had prepared earlier that morning.
“Ballet and traditional Chinese dances,” Hangeng answers simply, his words muffled by the bagel halfway in his mouth. “I know all fifty eight of them,” he adds smugly.
Heechul nearly spits out his coffee. “What!” he shrieks. “You never told me you did ballet!!” he continues shrieking.
“Calm down~ I didn't think it would have mattered so much,” Hangeng says quietly and Heechul is about to strangle him for being so frustratingly casual about it all.
“B-but!” sputters Heechul, hopelessly trying to get Hangeng’s attention. “Well obviously now you have to show me some moves,” he announces angrily.
The Chinese man scoffs, “Like hell I will!”
Heechul pouts and punches Hangeng’s shoulder a bit harder than the usual daily abuse cycle and Hangeng gives in, saying he’ll show him later that night.
Grinning like an idiot, Heechul sips his mug of coffee sheepishly and they stand before the window in the kitchen, watching the pots of sunflowers bloom brightly in the early morning sun.
---
The sunlight that streams in through the dusty windows of the bookstore illuminates the small text on the book that Heechul has flipped open on his counter, legs all curled up on the old armchair he’s settled in.
The atmosphere is silent and serene -- just how he likes to spend his sun-filled days and his rainy days and especially the snowy ones.
Suddenly, there is a ringing sound and Heechul perks up out of his book-reading trance to finally realize that the chirping, ringing noises are emanating from his phone.
Fishing the black device from his pocket, he flips it open.
“Hello?”
“Chullie~” Sungmin’s whiny voice responds and Heechul already knows something’s up.
“What is it this time?” Heechul says snappishly, but a wide smirk is stretched across his face. He’s actually curious as to what kind of trouble Sungmin has managed to stir up this time.
He can hear Sungmin stifling his stupid little giggles in between the static noises in the background, “I got revenge on Siwon...”
Heechul can almost see the devious smirk Sungmin is sporting right now and he can’t help but let out a little chuckle, “And how well did that go for you?”
“Oh, just swell,” Sungmin coos, probably flushed with excitement right now.
“Humor me,” Heechul replies. Something probably had happened this time, if Sungmin’s that cocky about it. “Better not be bluffing,” he adds before his best friend can reply.
“Well~” he begins slyly, the word pulled out teasingly on his lips, “I asked him on a date! And he said yes!” Sungmin ends up squealing despite his mischievous demeanor.
Scoffing, Heechul finds himself at a loss for coherent words, “What...how does that even...how exactly did you get revenge then?”
“No, I didn’t ask Siwon on a date you silly--”
“Oh my God, don’t tell--” Heechul interrupts, voice rising a couple octaves.
“Yes!!” Sungmin is squealing now and Heechul feels a bit breathless from the shock that has hit him.
“You!”
“Yes!!” Sungmin Sungmin says again gleefully, his voice a high-pitched squeak again.
"Wow, I'm so happy for you, Minnie!"
“He’s sooo charming. And you should have seen Siwon’s face of jealousy right after I asked Kyuhyun to go to dinner. I did it right when he walked past too,” Sungmin gushes.
“Oh, you didn’t,” Heechul says, as if it’s the most scandalous thing he’s ever heard.
“I did~!” replies the latter cheerily, “Gosh really, you should have seen his face. He was so angry he looked literally green with envy.”
Sungmin giggles again and Heechul is forced to roll his eyes at how girlish and bubbly Sungmin is acting. But in any case, Heechul’s genuinely happy Sungmin has a real date after all these years of chasing after Siwon. He’s deserved to have someone pine after him too.
“You’re gonna have a great time, Minnie. Just make sure you really get to know Kyuhyun. Don’t think about Siwon at all on the date okay? You deserve that much,” he says sincerely and is almost tempted to hang up the phone because he feels so sappy and embarrassed.
---
The fresh smell of laundry is the first thing that hits him when Heechul walks in the doorway of the apartment. He’s expecting some kind of Chinese food smell, but instead it smells like lavender and aftershave. The scent hangs heavily in the air as Heechul continues into the living, toeing off his shoes at the entrance of the doorway.
“Geng?” he calls out, not seeing anyone in the kitchen.
There’s no answer, but he does get an answer as to why the place smells so nice when he see the wire strung from one wall to the opposite wall, articles of still-damp clothing hanging precariously from the thin string. It’s blocking off the entire walkway of the living room to the rest of the apartment, including the bedroom.
Suddenly, Heechul hears soft padding noises from the hallway and he looks up to find Hangeng ducking underneath some black trousers and emerging with a towel around his neck and his polo shirt with buttons all popped open, revealing a toned chest that Heechul still can’t figure out how that is possible and how Hangeng can be so fit when he barely even works out. Then he remembers the bedroom each night and then blushes a bit of crimson.
Hangeng is looking up at Heechul with a poker face on as he approaches him, bare feet pressing softly on the hardwood floor and hair still a bit slicked wet with water, most likely from his shower.
“Heechul,” Hangeng says softly, smiling now, but there’s something hidden in there that causes Heechul’s stomach to flip uncomfortably.
“I made some dinner. Let’s eat.”
The red head nods curtly and they walk together into the dining room, Hangeng’s palm on the small of Heechul’s back and he wants to just curl up and sleep in with warmth; he’s so ridiculously exhausted that he doesn’t even want to eat. However, the smell of the seaweed and tofu soup that Hangeng serves him in the little China bowls that he treasures so much triggers his appetite and he inhales invigoratingly, taking in the delicious smell.
“So how come we have all the clothes strung up all over the place?” Heechul asks, sipping his soup and relishing the feeling of real food warming his stomach.
“Oh, that,” Hangeng says, plopping a spoonful of rice in his mouth, “the dryer broke so I had to air-dry our clothes,” he explains.
Heechul nods in response, but doesn’t say much because now he’s really hungry and is wolfing down soup, tofu, and all.
“Dinner’s yummy tonight, what’s the big occasion?” Heechul asks, savoring the richness of the soup on his tongue.
“Nothing,” Hangeng replies casually, brushing a strand of Heechul’s hair out of his eyes, “Just thought you might enjoy a change.”
Heechul tries to hide his silly stupid smile and just downs the rest of the soup and feels fullness settling in - the feeling of the earlier emptiness is gone and he feels much better.
“So,” he begins, looking up at Hangeng with a little sparkle of excitement in his eyes, “Guess what?”
“Hmm?” Hangeng asks, eyes soft, and something still hidden behind them that twists Heechul’s stomach into little worried knots.
He ignores that nagging feeling and continues, “Sungmin finally got a date with someone!” he announces happily.
Hangeng smiles slightly at the news, “Yeah? That’s great! Who is it?”
“Just this new guy at his work place. Apparently he’s really nice and good looking as well,” Heechul says smugly.
“So no more lusting after Siwon?” Hangeng chuckles, leaning on the table to get a closer look at Heechul’s face.
Heechul shakes his head happily, grinning widely, “Thank goodness. That million year old crush was not getting anywhere. I swear, Siwon will never break his belief that he one day will marry a perfect, pious housewife when it’s obvious he’s pretty much never going to even date anyone because he’s so Goddamn picky. I mean c’mon. He even rejected me,” Heechul scoffs with still a bit of bitterness and disbelief in his voice.
“I mean, pfft, what’s wrong with him anyways? No one’s ever rejected me before. Just can’t believe the level of blindness in that silly boy,” he continues ranting and Hangeng’s expression changes to amusement now.
“Well maybe you just weren’t his type, Princess,” he teases, watching Heechul get more and more flustered.
“W-what! No way, I’m everyone’s type,” Heechul argues back, trying to reassure himself.
“Whatever you say, dear,” Hangeng says, smiling secretively to himself - the little hidden smirk that he knows drives Heechul completely nuts because it sets him off his high horse every time Hangeng does it.
“Yeah, whatever,” Heechul responds, still flustered as he gets up from the dining table, picking up his china bowl and setting it gently in the sink.
Without a hint or even a tiny sound of rustling, Hangeng is somehow behind Heechul, pressing his lips against the back of Heechul’s neck, hot mouth warming his cold skin. The shirt he’s wearing has a wide open gaping neckline and pretty much screams easy access.
“It’s okay, Heechul,” Hangeng breathes against Heechul’s skin, causing him to shiver involuntarily. “You’ll always be my type.”
Heechul shifts uncomfortably against the other and his breaths come out a bit more erratically.
In a gentle voice, Hangeng continues, “You’ll be my only type, forever.”
Heechul sucks in a sharp intake of air and closes his eyes, wondering how much deeper in love he could possibly fall because he doesn’t know how much more of this intensity his heart can take.
How much can a human heart really love?
How much more can he withstand before he internally combusts with all these overwhelming emotions that he’s been trying to suppress?
How much love is just too much to handle?
How would he know?
---
The following day is the day they both have off and Heechul is of course curled up in a little cozy ball with a blanket over his small form, one of the last of the leather bound books nestled into his arms, his nose practically in it.
On the other hand, Hangeng is sitting on the couch beside him, but he has various kinds of papers and envelopes spread out before him on the marble coffee table. Their mugs of coffee are cooling beside each other. Heechul had bought the two porcelain cups at the street markets a couple weeks ago and thought that their simple colors and designs were “too adorable to pass up.” So there they have it - one blue and one pink that do not match any other cups they have and look pretty much out of place in their simple colored apartment - an array of blacks and whites and grays.
But Heechul adored them, so Hangeng didn’t complain, only sighed helplessly and filled his blue cup obediently and not another word had been spoken about it.
“Oh goodness, Chullie,” Hangeng groans, pressing his hands to his temples. “Where is that cell phone bill I gave you a couple days ago to pay off? You didn’t pay it off did you?”
There’s a small pause and then, “What bill?”
Sighing in resignation, Hangeng replies, “Nevermind, I’ll just pay it online. You probably just threw it away or something without even a second thought, huh?”
Heechul grins cheekily at the Chinaman and sneaks his face back into the book, reveling in the smell of pages and something magical about it.
His moment of peacefulness is interrupted by Hangeng’s worried voice though, “We have so many bills to pay off this month,” Hangeng groans again, face wrinkled up in stress.
“Ah, it’s fine~” Heechul says casually, “don’t worry so much! I’ll help you pay it off as soon as I finish this novel.”
The latter scoffs at Heechul’s ridiculous suggestion, and returns his attention to the pile of bills in front of him.
“Really,” he says, “I hope we have enough to pay all this stuff off…I mean what the hell is this, Heechul?”
Sitting up now, Heechul leans over Hangeng shoulder, looking uninterestedly at the paper he’s holding in his hand.
“Hmm?”
“Are you serious, Heechul!” exclaims Hangeng suddenly, “Did you really buy a 170000 won jacket?!” His voice is rising a couple octaves now and Heechul shrinks back a bit, feeling slightly remorseful for splurging on that really cool black fleece jacket he bought at Barney’s last week on the shopping spree with Sungmin and Jaejoong, his two shopping buddies.
“It came with a really cute scarf….?” he says meekly, covering his face with part of the blanket to defuse Hangeng’s unrelenting glare.
“Heechul! Th-that’s an absurd price to pay for ONE article of clothing!” Hangeng sputters and puts a palm over his face.
“Sorry…I just…couldn’t help it! It was so nice,” Heechul says slowly. “I’ll return it if you want. I kept the receipt…”
There’s a slow, long sigh from Hangeng and he looks up at Heechul with an unreadable expression in his eyes, “Nevermind,” he begins softly, brushing a strand of bright red hair from Heechul’s eyes and his voice is controlled now, and gentle.
“I’m sorry about that. Don’t return it, Heechul. I just overreacted. I know I don’t make a ridiculous amount of income, and neither do you, but if you want to live to the fullest and enjoy everything in life without being stingy about money, then I shouldn’t stop you. I just want you to be happy anyways,” Hangeng continues, smiling softly at the suddenly quiet but usually loud and snappy Heechul.
“I was just panicking because I thought we wouldn’t be able to pay it off, but we should be allowed to splurge once in a while, if we want to.”
Heechul doesn’t say anything for a long while. Then he nods slowly, showing acknowledgement of what Hangeng is saying.
“Sorry I overreacted,” Hangeng says again, pressing a soft touch of his lips against Heechul’s cheek ever so briefly and then pulling away.
“It’s fine,” says Heechul in a low voice. The guilt of being such a spoiled brat settles heavily in his chest. He really should stop spending so much on nice things for himself. “I think we should just forget about all these stressful bills for today…let’s go somewhere nice-- just the two of us. It’s not so often we both get a day off,” he suggests cheerfully, already rising happily on his feet from the couch.
His book lies face down on the couch, forgotten for a moment as he pulls Hangeng up on his feet as well.
“Where shall we go?” asks Hangeng a bit hesitantly, but the way that Heechul’s eyes are suddenly lit up makes his heart flutter helplessly.
“Hmm~” he responds, prancing over to the refrigerator and grabbing two small pieces of paper off one of the magnets on the fridge. “Well, we do have free tickets…and we haven’t used them yet…so you wanna go to the new theme park with me?” his voice is hopeful and eager.
A huge, silly grin is on Heechul’s face and despite the exhaustion that Hangeng feels, he can’t deny the excitement sparkling in Heechul’s eyes and he just can’t seem to say no.
“Alright, let’s go,” is the final answer. Heechul flounces around the living room energetically while announcing to the world that they are going to a theme park.
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