"At World's Edge" [1/1]
Title: At World's Edge [1/1]
Pairing: Yoochun/Changmin
Genre: AU, drama/romance
Warnings: None
Words: 3791
Summary: While embarking on a transnational journey to find his girlfriend, Changmin's path is intercepted by overly curious flight attendant Park Yoochun.
A/N: For sin_delight. As requested!
She had worked hard to become a flight attendant. Fluent in Korean, English, and Japanese, she'd aced all her exams, and swam like a fish. She'd always prided herself in having excellent interpersonal skills. She could be a leader, follow orders, and was generally empathetic to others' needs.
This, however, was proving to be the absolute worst day of her two-year career thus far.
The day began fairly normally. Her boyfriend left her a cute message on her cell phone for Valentines Day. She went to work on time, ate lunch with her colleagues, and had collected all the information for the flight she was to take. By six in the evening, she'd had it all memorized. They had been ready to begin boarding at eight twenty.
Then the snowstorm had hit.
These things happened, she'd always been told. Snowstorms meant delays, delays meant unhappy passengers. Unhappy passengers meant some recognized that she wasn't the one making it snow and others believed that she could single-handedly pave a way through the storm so the plane could take flight.
"Wait, what?"
This particular customer glared at her as she winced. She was looking fairly flustered herself. Hair was beginning to slip from the careful bun at the back of her head and her cheeks now held an unnatural hue. It was a small flight - but having gone through all forty-nine of the passengers, she had hoped that the last would be an amiable, kind person who would take pity on her.
Instead, she got an irate, while dashingly good looking, young man who looked to be a bit older than her. His hair was short, highlighting his cheekbones, and if he weren’t looking so angry, his eyes would've been pleasant to look into.
She flinched when he slammed a hand onto the counter. Furtively, she glanced around her but all the passengers had wandered off after being told of the latest delay. Inwardly, she cursed her colleague - while being a very kind man and always insisting she rely on him in her early days at work, nothing could stop him from taking his smoke break.
"I'm sorry, sir, the snow storm...It's far too dangerous to fly," she all but whimpered.
"What I want to know is why I wasn't informed of this permanent delay earlier," he glanced at her name tag but apparently decided against using it, "or why your website made no mention of this."
"Sir - " She bit her lip and faced him as bravely as she could. She forced her mind to work quickly. "I'm afraid the only thing I can tell you is that we will gladly offer you the lounge to spend the night as well as complimentary late night snack and breakfast at nine in the morning tomorrow. Your flight will depart at ten twenty."
"That's not helpful," he practically growled and closed his eyes, already feeling an impending headache. "Tell me," he said, voice soft and wracked with something akin to pain (but certainly she was mistaken), "how will I find her now."
"Who?" She clapped both hands over her mouth comically, eyes wide. 'Not your place, you idiot!' She hissed at herself, before he looked at her. Frustration still lined his face but he seemed calmer, not quite as eager to take her apart limb from limb until the plane was ready to fly.
"Never mind," he said shortly, and bent to pick up his briefcase, loosening his tie with his other hand. "Where's the lounge?"
"T - take the escalator. It's to your left. Have a nice night, sir." She bowed, just to be safe. Feeling his eyes on her, she didn't move until she heard receding footsteps. Finally, she breathed and sagged against the counter.
"Well, that went well."
"What went well?"
"Yoochun oppa!" She almost clobbered him with her clipboard. "While you were rotting your lungs out, I almost got killed!"
"Hey hey," he grinned, "I'm sure you handled it with your usual class and poise."
"Whatever," she growled, whipping off the hair tie and letting her long locks tumble down her back. She ignored the way his eyes followed the action, having gotten used to his harmless flirtation. "I'm going back to the locker room. You're bringing - " she flicked a finger across one of the keys on the keyboard and the list of passengers came up, "Shim Changmin sshi his late night snack that I promised we would provide to him for free. He's in the lounge."
"But what about - "
Pulling open the drawer, she grabbed a menu pamphlet and shoved it into his hands. "Good night."
God she needed a shower.
~*~*~
Stumbling back a few steps at the shove, he watched his colleague stomp away. He couldn't blame her; all of them had endured insufferable passengers who wouldn't take any excuse for an answer.
Yoochun tucked the menu into his pocket, making sure it wouldn't form a wrinkle, and began making his way to the lounge. The airport was almost completely deserted. It seemed that passengers of the flight had found places to stay for the night; others had curled up in the isolated seating areas, scattered throughout the floor. He was fairly sure no one on this flight had purchased lounge privilege, but figured his colleague had probably sent this particular passenger there in order not to incur his wrath. It was a last resort the head of staff had allowed them to use.
Approaching the glass double doors, he greeted the older woman who sat at the front desk.
"Is the - "
"Changmin sshi would like his coffee black and to be left alone," she grumbled, promptly standing up and retrieving her purse that she had stashed under the desk.
"Um, okay, where - "
"I. Am on break now. Good luck, Yoochun."
He gaped at her retreating form and then took the menu out of his pocket, tossing it onto the previously occupied desk. "He can't be that bad."
Yoochun rounded the corner and took a quick look around. Empty, as far as he could see. Shim Changmin must've tucked himself into one of the couches by the corner, hidden from view behind the large and fancy, but mostly useless, wall. He ducked into the staff room and made a beeline for the coffee machine before making a cup, deciding that a peace offering would make this trek into unexplored territory far more pleasant. Finally, he edged along the wall and allowed himself a little peek before making his presence known.
Shim Changmin sat right up against the window looking out into the night sky. His briefcase was flung onto the seat next to him and he had his head in his hands, elbows on his knees.
Uncertainly, Yoochun took a few steps forward to stand by the low table.
"Sir, your coffee?"
Slowly, Changmin sat up and looked up at him.
Immediately, Yoochun was struck by the absolute hopelessness oozing from him. His lips were turned downward and once he'd sat back, his entire posture seemed to be melding into the couch. A hand came up to rub his forehead.
"Just put it down."
He set the cup down, purposely with a loud clatter. Amazingly good looking or not, his tone was infuriating. Deliberately, Yoochun kept his voice soft and pleasant. "You know, you almost bit my lovely colleague's head off."
"Your colleague was completely incompetent and apparently they train all their flight attendants here to speak out of line."
"I overslept on the day they held the class on how to deal with assholes. Sorry," He bowed mockingly, the smile still present on his face.
Yoochun watched humorously as Changmin's jaw tightened.
"Will you just leave?"
"Nope." Yoochun sat down next to him, stretching his arms over his head. Sometimes even he couldn't believe his own audacity. "You look like you could use an ear."
"I look more like I should be left alone," Changmin insisted, staring incredulously at the flight attendant who was currently making himself comfortable next to him.
"Man, you guys always get the best accommodations. We get these crappy plastic chairs in the staff room."
"Yes, well, paying customers and all."
"Not disputing that, but some employee love would be nice." Yoochun grinned at him. "Better drink your coffee while it's hot."
"For the last time," Changmin snapped through gritted teeth, snatching the cup, "please get the hell out."
Seeing no immediate danger to his person if Yoochun disregarded the last statement, he watched as Changmin took a careful sip and placed the cup back on the table. The grimace he tried to hide wasn't lost on him and Yoochun took out of his pocket something he'd grabbed as an afterthought. Because he was a firm believer that no one but the oldest, most world-weary people could withstand pure black coffee and Changmin was far from world-weary. Maybe just a bit weary.
"Here."
Without saying anything, Changmin accepted his offer of a cream and two packets of sugar. Yoochun watched as deft hands prepared the coffee; long slim fingers, smooth skin and clean nails, and he stretched again, pulling his arms over his head.
"I know this will sound weird, but could we talk? I swear I'm not crazy - " he laughed as Changmin shot him a look that indicated he thought Yoochun was nothing but - "but I'm stuck here for the night too and sleeping on plastic chairs would suck for me. And it's Valentines Day."
"So?"
"So...Oh c'mon, it's an excuse to pig out on chocolate and bemoan my lack of a boyfriend to snuggle up with. Humour me, Changmin sshi."
Almost unwillingly, Changmin's eyes slid to his nametag and Yoochun grinned.
"I don't have to humour anybody. I paid to be left alone."
Yoochun shrugged, noting that he didn't look quite as annoyed anymore. Or rather, he didn't appear ready to throw him out with his bare hands if given the opportunity. "Well, how about I politely introduce myself then? Hello, I'm Park Yoochun, I thought you'd make an interesting conversation partner." He stuck out his hand. He waited. When almost five minutes passed by with Changmin deliberately ignoring him, sipping at his coffee and staring out the window at the snowstorm, he dropped his hand. "Wow, you're really not making this easy for me."
Changmin stayed silent, though his eyebrow twitched.
"Alright, I guess I'll talk. Well, I'm twenty-five doing - arguably - my dream job. I just flew back from America last week. Very convenient - I visited my family in Virginia. I'm actually covering for someone today - originally I was going to crash for at least two weeks but I thought, hey Japan sounds pretty fantastic. I was getting sick of flying in the Western hemisphere anyway."
He paused, allowing for any comments, but Changmin stayed stubbornly silent, lips glued to the edge of the cup. Fleetingly, Yoochun thought how those lush pouting lips would feel glued to something else, but only allowed a leer to form on his face. Any such comment would probably really result in him getting his ass booted out the door.
"I've always wanted to go to Japan. Big city, crazy nightlife - doesn't seem very different from Seoul, but Tokyo's the place to be in Asia, you know? Well, Hong Kong too but I don't think I can stand it there, the pollution. Crazy weather. Some of my friends came back from there with the flu in forty degrees weather, see? Insane. So, Tokyo sounds pretty good. I've lived in Seoul for..." He paused to count the years in his head. "Five years. Seen everything, been everywhere. I like travelling. I was with a band for some years and we roughed it up going 'round the country, doing these ridiculously small shows at local bars, pubs, what have you."
"You sing?"
"Ah, finally, some interest!" Yoochun flashed him a grin and Changmin looked away quickly, a stern look returning to his face. "Yeah, I sing." It was rather like entertaining a shy animal. Aggression was met with further aggression, but nonchalance brought out equally nonchalant curiosity and interest.
"The kind of music we made is sort of acoustic rock ballad - very mellow stuff. Once we realized we weren't going to be the next Nell though, we split and went right into the work force. Or back to school. I always liked flying. And since I wasn't exactly pilot material, I went for the next best thing. It's not bad - meet all kinds of people. Like you." He grinned with flourish.
"Fortunately, my work rarely ever leads me into meeting someone like you," Changmin responded dryly.
"It's your loss," Yoochun shrugged, brushing the comment off as nothing but stuff that Changmin probably said on a regular basis. "Do you work in an office?"
"I own an IT company."
He whistled. "You've done pretty well for yourself. How old are you?"
"Twenty-three." Changmin looked as if he had no idea why he was actually answering him. It made Yoochun grin.
"Your parents must be proud."
"They were." His jaw tightened.
"Let me guess," Yoochun sat back with his hands behind his neck, staring upwards, "girlfriend or money problems?"
"How did you - "
"It's always one or the other. How else will someone your age disappoint his parents?"
"You talk like you know," Changmin said darkly, not without some bitterness.
"Not denying it."
"What?"
"Met her on one of our tours. Long story short, she was pretty and smart; turns out what she really was, was insane and had some pretty strong stalking tendencies. My parents didn't want me to marry a psycho but understandably, they were pretty disappointed. Thought their oldest son was finally settling down."
"But you said something about...about not having a boyfriend."
"Yeah, she scared me off women," he joked and when Changmin's eyes widened, he laughed. "What I mean is that I'm bisexual. Dating her wasn't exactly a walk in the park, so right now I'm not looking anymore. What I said earlier was just because Valentines Day is generally a depressing day for singles, isn't it? I didn't want to appear too pathetic, in case you were happily married or something."
"Oh."
One look at his face told him what Changmin thought of that idea.
"So what's your story?" Changmin hesitated. "You don't have to tell me," Yoochun said, shrugging, "but unless you're feeling sleepy, we've got more than a few more hours to kill."
"This wasn't exactly how I imagined my dramatic chase across oceans for her."
"Generally they don't turn out as expected. Korean dramas lie, in case that's where you got your information from." Changmin laughed. The sound was pleasant and Yoochun didn't even try to bite back a smile.
"I wanted to show her I wasn't drifting away, that I was willing to do anything for her. We - we've been having problems."
"What kind?"
"I guess I...I tried too hard, sometimes. I never told her what I wanted. I was always 'at her beck and call,' as she explained."
"That's - " Yoochun paused to look at him. Changmin was looking back at him, biting uncertainly on his bottom lip, and wow, he really should make an active effort to keep his thoughts from derailing. "Odd," he continued, because Changmin was beginning to look as if he regretted opening his mouth, "I thought girls liked that kind of thing."
"I thought so too."
They fell into silence after that. For some reason, Yoochun was beginning to feel nervous, as if maybe he'd walked into something he shouldn't have been so eager for. If this wasn't how Changmin imagined he'd be spending the night, playing confidante to a heartbroken younger man definitely didn't top many of Yoochun's lists either. It helped though, when the heartbroken younger man was Shim Changmin and his sad, beaten eyes.
"What did you want?"
"Something else," he said without hesitation, and then looked panic stricken at the idea that those words had come out of his mouth. "I mean - "
"Not a happily ever after with your girlfriend, who I would assume would've become your fiancé if all things had gone according to plan?"
"I..."
"What's stopping you?"
"You know," Changmin snapped, standing up. "I believe this conversation has gone on for long enough. If you'll excuse me."
"Whoa, wait! What did I say?" Yoochun grabbed his arm just as he was about to step past him, a dark, stormy look on his face.
"The problem - " Changmin growled as he struggled to wrench his arm from his grip, "is that you're making unfounded assumptions and there's no reason for me to stand here to be - "
In an attempt to stop him from tipping them both over, Yoochun grabbed the other wildly gesticulating arm and pulled him tight against his body. To his surprise, especially since Changmin was taller than him by several inches, he stilled completely, staring down at him in alarm.
"I didn't mean anything by it," Yoochun said soothingly, mistaking the sudden freeze as more anger, "I thought if you talked about it, it wouldn't bother you as much. We could just go back to talking about me if that makes you feel better?" He grinned, recognizing it as a joke.
However, once he caught sight of the other man's face, the expression was all too familiar for him to dismiss. As if he didn't hear him, Changmin continued to stare down at him, laboured breathing echoing loudly between them. There was wild panic there, but also -
"Let go," he breathed.
"Oh."
"What? What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, no wonder things with your girlfriend didn't work out." He would've shut his mouth if Changmin had looked closer to actually decking him in the face, but it was doing weird things to his stomach to realize that Changmin looked far more scared than angry now.
"You're wrong."
"Um..." Yoochun had a second to whisper a quick prayer to whatever god his mother often prayed to on his behalf before placing his hand carefully at the back of Changmin's neck. "I don't think I am." Then he kissed him.
It was slow and deliberate. Yoochun kept it chaste, because he wanted to keep his face intact, thank you very much, but just the same - he couldn't resist the swipe of his tongue against Changmin's lower lip as he drew away. When their faces were a reasonable distance apart again, Yoochun licked his own lips.
Finally, he let go and Changmin promptly stumbled back, just barely missing the table where his cold coffee sat. For a second, Changmin's face was that of pure terror - it made Yoochun want to offer him a hug, after all it must suck being closeted into one's twenties - but when Changmin's cheeks became enflamed and he drew back more shyly than furiously, Yoochun sucked in a breath. He sat down on the arms of the couches they had occupied minutes earlier.
"How did you know?" Changmin whispered harshly, as if saying it out loud made it true.
Yoochun had learned long ago that the truth had nothing to do with words or actions. It just was. "The way you kept avoiding my eyes."
He frowned, visibly confused.
"I learned this while I was on tour. It's hard to see the audience on stage, no matter how crappy the venue was - " Yoochun grinned, "but when the fans would flock to the back door to catch us as we tried to leave, they would never approach close enough to meet our eyes."
It took a second for that to settle in.
"Are you saying - "
"That you're attracted to me? Yeah. But that's nothing to be ashamed of, is it? It's only embarrassing when it isn't returned."
"Not when my girlfriend had our wedding planned after she finished school. Not when my parents expected - " His voice broke. "I will single-handedly destroy everything they've done for me. I can't be this way." The anguish in his voice was clear.
"Ah, classic case of self-hate. How about this, Changmin sshi? Come here."
He looked lost.
"I meant take a seat so I don't have to crane my neck trying to talk to you." Slowly Changmin sat down next to him, carefully avoiding his eyes. Yoochun looked down at him from his position. "Remember what I asked you earlier?"
Changmin shook his head, not saying a word. Instead, he stared mutely at the ground.
"What did you want?"
"Sometimes..." He hesitated.
"Go on."
"Sometimes I looked at other men. Like you." Changmin gave out a little choked laugh, turning to gaze up at Yoochun. It wasn't difficult to see how much it took him to admit even that. "She gave me a way out. Said she loved me too much to see me suffer. And by following her and taking this flight, you know what I was doing?"
Yoochun shook his head.
"Trying to be normal again, just like everyone else."
"What do you want, Changmin?"
They stared at each other for a long time. When Yoochun reached up to run his hand through Changmin's hair, he shivered.
"I can't be normal anymore."
It didn't answer the question, but Yoochun figured it was close enough. He leaned in and their lips met for the second time. And if Changmin whimpered, a needy, desperate little sound, as if he had craved this for a long, long time, both of them tried not to think about it.
~*~*~
As Changmin approached the gate, briefcase clutched tightly in his hand, Yoochun stopped him with a light brush against his bare wrist. His colleague shot them a curious look but he waved her off with a sheepish grin. Rolling her eyes, she stepped behind the curtain to begin cleaning up the economy class.
"Hey, Changmin."
He looked at him, a little sad, a little troubled, but infinitely more pleasant than when they had met the night before.
"Yes?"
"You know, if things don't work out with your lady love..."
His eyes widened a little. "It..." Then he breathed deeply and closed his eyes. "If it doesn't?"
"Well..." Yoochun handed him a card with his number written on it. "Give me a call." Except even this was a bit too forward for him and he leaned against the door Changmin was about to step through. "It's not the end of the world if she's not the one, you know?"
Changmin stared down at the card in his hand, and then looked up at him. Hesitant.
"Maybe it isn't," he agreed.
Pairing: Yoochun/Changmin
Genre: AU, drama/romance
Warnings: None
Words: 3791
Summary: While embarking on a transnational journey to find his girlfriend, Changmin's path is intercepted by overly curious flight attendant Park Yoochun.
A/N: For sin_delight. As requested!
She had worked hard to become a flight attendant. Fluent in Korean, English, and Japanese, she'd aced all her exams, and swam like a fish. She'd always prided herself in having excellent interpersonal skills. She could be a leader, follow orders, and was generally empathetic to others' needs.
This, however, was proving to be the absolute worst day of her two-year career thus far.
The day began fairly normally. Her boyfriend left her a cute message on her cell phone for Valentines Day. She went to work on time, ate lunch with her colleagues, and had collected all the information for the flight she was to take. By six in the evening, she'd had it all memorized. They had been ready to begin boarding at eight twenty.
Then the snowstorm had hit.
These things happened, she'd always been told. Snowstorms meant delays, delays meant unhappy passengers. Unhappy passengers meant some recognized that she wasn't the one making it snow and others believed that she could single-handedly pave a way through the storm so the plane could take flight.
"Wait, what?"
This particular customer glared at her as she winced. She was looking fairly flustered herself. Hair was beginning to slip from the careful bun at the back of her head and her cheeks now held an unnatural hue. It was a small flight - but having gone through all forty-nine of the passengers, she had hoped that the last would be an amiable, kind person who would take pity on her.
Instead, she got an irate, while dashingly good looking, young man who looked to be a bit older than her. His hair was short, highlighting his cheekbones, and if he weren’t looking so angry, his eyes would've been pleasant to look into.
She flinched when he slammed a hand onto the counter. Furtively, she glanced around her but all the passengers had wandered off after being told of the latest delay. Inwardly, she cursed her colleague - while being a very kind man and always insisting she rely on him in her early days at work, nothing could stop him from taking his smoke break.
"I'm sorry, sir, the snow storm...It's far too dangerous to fly," she all but whimpered.
"What I want to know is why I wasn't informed of this permanent delay earlier," he glanced at her name tag but apparently decided against using it, "or why your website made no mention of this."
"Sir - " She bit her lip and faced him as bravely as she could. She forced her mind to work quickly. "I'm afraid the only thing I can tell you is that we will gladly offer you the lounge to spend the night as well as complimentary late night snack and breakfast at nine in the morning tomorrow. Your flight will depart at ten twenty."
"That's not helpful," he practically growled and closed his eyes, already feeling an impending headache. "Tell me," he said, voice soft and wracked with something akin to pain (but certainly she was mistaken), "how will I find her now."
"Who?" She clapped both hands over her mouth comically, eyes wide. 'Not your place, you idiot!' She hissed at herself, before he looked at her. Frustration still lined his face but he seemed calmer, not quite as eager to take her apart limb from limb until the plane was ready to fly.
"Never mind," he said shortly, and bent to pick up his briefcase, loosening his tie with his other hand. "Where's the lounge?"
"T - take the escalator. It's to your left. Have a nice night, sir." She bowed, just to be safe. Feeling his eyes on her, she didn't move until she heard receding footsteps. Finally, she breathed and sagged against the counter.
"Well, that went well."
"What went well?"
"Yoochun oppa!" She almost clobbered him with her clipboard. "While you were rotting your lungs out, I almost got killed!"
"Hey hey," he grinned, "I'm sure you handled it with your usual class and poise."
"Whatever," she growled, whipping off the hair tie and letting her long locks tumble down her back. She ignored the way his eyes followed the action, having gotten used to his harmless flirtation. "I'm going back to the locker room. You're bringing - " she flicked a finger across one of the keys on the keyboard and the list of passengers came up, "Shim Changmin sshi his late night snack that I promised we would provide to him for free. He's in the lounge."
"But what about - "
Pulling open the drawer, she grabbed a menu pamphlet and shoved it into his hands. "Good night."
God she needed a shower.
~*~*~
Stumbling back a few steps at the shove, he watched his colleague stomp away. He couldn't blame her; all of them had endured insufferable passengers who wouldn't take any excuse for an answer.
Yoochun tucked the menu into his pocket, making sure it wouldn't form a wrinkle, and began making his way to the lounge. The airport was almost completely deserted. It seemed that passengers of the flight had found places to stay for the night; others had curled up in the isolated seating areas, scattered throughout the floor. He was fairly sure no one on this flight had purchased lounge privilege, but figured his colleague had probably sent this particular passenger there in order not to incur his wrath. It was a last resort the head of staff had allowed them to use.
Approaching the glass double doors, he greeted the older woman who sat at the front desk.
"Is the - "
"Changmin sshi would like his coffee black and to be left alone," she grumbled, promptly standing up and retrieving her purse that she had stashed under the desk.
"Um, okay, where - "
"I. Am on break now. Good luck, Yoochun."
He gaped at her retreating form and then took the menu out of his pocket, tossing it onto the previously occupied desk. "He can't be that bad."
Yoochun rounded the corner and took a quick look around. Empty, as far as he could see. Shim Changmin must've tucked himself into one of the couches by the corner, hidden from view behind the large and fancy, but mostly useless, wall. He ducked into the staff room and made a beeline for the coffee machine before making a cup, deciding that a peace offering would make this trek into unexplored territory far more pleasant. Finally, he edged along the wall and allowed himself a little peek before making his presence known.
Shim Changmin sat right up against the window looking out into the night sky. His briefcase was flung onto the seat next to him and he had his head in his hands, elbows on his knees.
Uncertainly, Yoochun took a few steps forward to stand by the low table.
"Sir, your coffee?"
Slowly, Changmin sat up and looked up at him.
Immediately, Yoochun was struck by the absolute hopelessness oozing from him. His lips were turned downward and once he'd sat back, his entire posture seemed to be melding into the couch. A hand came up to rub his forehead.
"Just put it down."
He set the cup down, purposely with a loud clatter. Amazingly good looking or not, his tone was infuriating. Deliberately, Yoochun kept his voice soft and pleasant. "You know, you almost bit my lovely colleague's head off."
"Your colleague was completely incompetent and apparently they train all their flight attendants here to speak out of line."
"I overslept on the day they held the class on how to deal with assholes. Sorry," He bowed mockingly, the smile still present on his face.
Yoochun watched humorously as Changmin's jaw tightened.
"Will you just leave?"
"Nope." Yoochun sat down next to him, stretching his arms over his head. Sometimes even he couldn't believe his own audacity. "You look like you could use an ear."
"I look more like I should be left alone," Changmin insisted, staring incredulously at the flight attendant who was currently making himself comfortable next to him.
"Man, you guys always get the best accommodations. We get these crappy plastic chairs in the staff room."
"Yes, well, paying customers and all."
"Not disputing that, but some employee love would be nice." Yoochun grinned at him. "Better drink your coffee while it's hot."
"For the last time," Changmin snapped through gritted teeth, snatching the cup, "please get the hell out."
Seeing no immediate danger to his person if Yoochun disregarded the last statement, he watched as Changmin took a careful sip and placed the cup back on the table. The grimace he tried to hide wasn't lost on him and Yoochun took out of his pocket something he'd grabbed as an afterthought. Because he was a firm believer that no one but the oldest, most world-weary people could withstand pure black coffee and Changmin was far from world-weary. Maybe just a bit weary.
"Here."
Without saying anything, Changmin accepted his offer of a cream and two packets of sugar. Yoochun watched as deft hands prepared the coffee; long slim fingers, smooth skin and clean nails, and he stretched again, pulling his arms over his head.
"I know this will sound weird, but could we talk? I swear I'm not crazy - " he laughed as Changmin shot him a look that indicated he thought Yoochun was nothing but - "but I'm stuck here for the night too and sleeping on plastic chairs would suck for me. And it's Valentines Day."
"So?"
"So...Oh c'mon, it's an excuse to pig out on chocolate and bemoan my lack of a boyfriend to snuggle up with. Humour me, Changmin sshi."
Almost unwillingly, Changmin's eyes slid to his nametag and Yoochun grinned.
"I don't have to humour anybody. I paid to be left alone."
Yoochun shrugged, noting that he didn't look quite as annoyed anymore. Or rather, he didn't appear ready to throw him out with his bare hands if given the opportunity. "Well, how about I politely introduce myself then? Hello, I'm Park Yoochun, I thought you'd make an interesting conversation partner." He stuck out his hand. He waited. When almost five minutes passed by with Changmin deliberately ignoring him, sipping at his coffee and staring out the window at the snowstorm, he dropped his hand. "Wow, you're really not making this easy for me."
Changmin stayed silent, though his eyebrow twitched.
"Alright, I guess I'll talk. Well, I'm twenty-five doing - arguably - my dream job. I just flew back from America last week. Very convenient - I visited my family in Virginia. I'm actually covering for someone today - originally I was going to crash for at least two weeks but I thought, hey Japan sounds pretty fantastic. I was getting sick of flying in the Western hemisphere anyway."
He paused, allowing for any comments, but Changmin stayed stubbornly silent, lips glued to the edge of the cup. Fleetingly, Yoochun thought how those lush pouting lips would feel glued to something else, but only allowed a leer to form on his face. Any such comment would probably really result in him getting his ass booted out the door.
"I've always wanted to go to Japan. Big city, crazy nightlife - doesn't seem very different from Seoul, but Tokyo's the place to be in Asia, you know? Well, Hong Kong too but I don't think I can stand it there, the pollution. Crazy weather. Some of my friends came back from there with the flu in forty degrees weather, see? Insane. So, Tokyo sounds pretty good. I've lived in Seoul for..." He paused to count the years in his head. "Five years. Seen everything, been everywhere. I like travelling. I was with a band for some years and we roughed it up going 'round the country, doing these ridiculously small shows at local bars, pubs, what have you."
"You sing?"
"Ah, finally, some interest!" Yoochun flashed him a grin and Changmin looked away quickly, a stern look returning to his face. "Yeah, I sing." It was rather like entertaining a shy animal. Aggression was met with further aggression, but nonchalance brought out equally nonchalant curiosity and interest.
"The kind of music we made is sort of acoustic rock ballad - very mellow stuff. Once we realized we weren't going to be the next Nell though, we split and went right into the work force. Or back to school. I always liked flying. And since I wasn't exactly pilot material, I went for the next best thing. It's not bad - meet all kinds of people. Like you." He grinned with flourish.
"Fortunately, my work rarely ever leads me into meeting someone like you," Changmin responded dryly.
"It's your loss," Yoochun shrugged, brushing the comment off as nothing but stuff that Changmin probably said on a regular basis. "Do you work in an office?"
"I own an IT company."
He whistled. "You've done pretty well for yourself. How old are you?"
"Twenty-three." Changmin looked as if he had no idea why he was actually answering him. It made Yoochun grin.
"Your parents must be proud."
"They were." His jaw tightened.
"Let me guess," Yoochun sat back with his hands behind his neck, staring upwards, "girlfriend or money problems?"
"How did you - "
"It's always one or the other. How else will someone your age disappoint his parents?"
"You talk like you know," Changmin said darkly, not without some bitterness.
"Not denying it."
"What?"
"Met her on one of our tours. Long story short, she was pretty and smart; turns out what she really was, was insane and had some pretty strong stalking tendencies. My parents didn't want me to marry a psycho but understandably, they were pretty disappointed. Thought their oldest son was finally settling down."
"But you said something about...about not having a boyfriend."
"Yeah, she scared me off women," he joked and when Changmin's eyes widened, he laughed. "What I mean is that I'm bisexual. Dating her wasn't exactly a walk in the park, so right now I'm not looking anymore. What I said earlier was just because Valentines Day is generally a depressing day for singles, isn't it? I didn't want to appear too pathetic, in case you were happily married or something."
"Oh."
One look at his face told him what Changmin thought of that idea.
"So what's your story?" Changmin hesitated. "You don't have to tell me," Yoochun said, shrugging, "but unless you're feeling sleepy, we've got more than a few more hours to kill."
"This wasn't exactly how I imagined my dramatic chase across oceans for her."
"Generally they don't turn out as expected. Korean dramas lie, in case that's where you got your information from." Changmin laughed. The sound was pleasant and Yoochun didn't even try to bite back a smile.
"I wanted to show her I wasn't drifting away, that I was willing to do anything for her. We - we've been having problems."
"What kind?"
"I guess I...I tried too hard, sometimes. I never told her what I wanted. I was always 'at her beck and call,' as she explained."
"That's - " Yoochun paused to look at him. Changmin was looking back at him, biting uncertainly on his bottom lip, and wow, he really should make an active effort to keep his thoughts from derailing. "Odd," he continued, because Changmin was beginning to look as if he regretted opening his mouth, "I thought girls liked that kind of thing."
"I thought so too."
They fell into silence after that. For some reason, Yoochun was beginning to feel nervous, as if maybe he'd walked into something he shouldn't have been so eager for. If this wasn't how Changmin imagined he'd be spending the night, playing confidante to a heartbroken younger man definitely didn't top many of Yoochun's lists either. It helped though, when the heartbroken younger man was Shim Changmin and his sad, beaten eyes.
"What did you want?"
"Something else," he said without hesitation, and then looked panic stricken at the idea that those words had come out of his mouth. "I mean - "
"Not a happily ever after with your girlfriend, who I would assume would've become your fiancé if all things had gone according to plan?"
"I..."
"What's stopping you?"
"You know," Changmin snapped, standing up. "I believe this conversation has gone on for long enough. If you'll excuse me."
"Whoa, wait! What did I say?" Yoochun grabbed his arm just as he was about to step past him, a dark, stormy look on his face.
"The problem - " Changmin growled as he struggled to wrench his arm from his grip, "is that you're making unfounded assumptions and there's no reason for me to stand here to be - "
In an attempt to stop him from tipping them both over, Yoochun grabbed the other wildly gesticulating arm and pulled him tight against his body. To his surprise, especially since Changmin was taller than him by several inches, he stilled completely, staring down at him in alarm.
"I didn't mean anything by it," Yoochun said soothingly, mistaking the sudden freeze as more anger, "I thought if you talked about it, it wouldn't bother you as much. We could just go back to talking about me if that makes you feel better?" He grinned, recognizing it as a joke.
However, once he caught sight of the other man's face, the expression was all too familiar for him to dismiss. As if he didn't hear him, Changmin continued to stare down at him, laboured breathing echoing loudly between them. There was wild panic there, but also -
"Let go," he breathed.
"Oh."
"What? What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, no wonder things with your girlfriend didn't work out." He would've shut his mouth if Changmin had looked closer to actually decking him in the face, but it was doing weird things to his stomach to realize that Changmin looked far more scared than angry now.
"You're wrong."
"Um..." Yoochun had a second to whisper a quick prayer to whatever god his mother often prayed to on his behalf before placing his hand carefully at the back of Changmin's neck. "I don't think I am." Then he kissed him.
It was slow and deliberate. Yoochun kept it chaste, because he wanted to keep his face intact, thank you very much, but just the same - he couldn't resist the swipe of his tongue against Changmin's lower lip as he drew away. When their faces were a reasonable distance apart again, Yoochun licked his own lips.
Finally, he let go and Changmin promptly stumbled back, just barely missing the table where his cold coffee sat. For a second, Changmin's face was that of pure terror - it made Yoochun want to offer him a hug, after all it must suck being closeted into one's twenties - but when Changmin's cheeks became enflamed and he drew back more shyly than furiously, Yoochun sucked in a breath. He sat down on the arms of the couches they had occupied minutes earlier.
"How did you know?" Changmin whispered harshly, as if saying it out loud made it true.
Yoochun had learned long ago that the truth had nothing to do with words or actions. It just was. "The way you kept avoiding my eyes."
He frowned, visibly confused.
"I learned this while I was on tour. It's hard to see the audience on stage, no matter how crappy the venue was - " Yoochun grinned, "but when the fans would flock to the back door to catch us as we tried to leave, they would never approach close enough to meet our eyes."
It took a second for that to settle in.
"Are you saying - "
"That you're attracted to me? Yeah. But that's nothing to be ashamed of, is it? It's only embarrassing when it isn't returned."
"Not when my girlfriend had our wedding planned after she finished school. Not when my parents expected - " His voice broke. "I will single-handedly destroy everything they've done for me. I can't be this way." The anguish in his voice was clear.
"Ah, classic case of self-hate. How about this, Changmin sshi? Come here."
He looked lost.
"I meant take a seat so I don't have to crane my neck trying to talk to you." Slowly Changmin sat down next to him, carefully avoiding his eyes. Yoochun looked down at him from his position. "Remember what I asked you earlier?"
Changmin shook his head, not saying a word. Instead, he stared mutely at the ground.
"What did you want?"
"Sometimes..." He hesitated.
"Go on."
"Sometimes I looked at other men. Like you." Changmin gave out a little choked laugh, turning to gaze up at Yoochun. It wasn't difficult to see how much it took him to admit even that. "She gave me a way out. Said she loved me too much to see me suffer. And by following her and taking this flight, you know what I was doing?"
Yoochun shook his head.
"Trying to be normal again, just like everyone else."
"What do you want, Changmin?"
They stared at each other for a long time. When Yoochun reached up to run his hand through Changmin's hair, he shivered.
"I can't be normal anymore."
It didn't answer the question, but Yoochun figured it was close enough. He leaned in and their lips met for the second time. And if Changmin whimpered, a needy, desperate little sound, as if he had craved this for a long, long time, both of them tried not to think about it.
~*~*~
As Changmin approached the gate, briefcase clutched tightly in his hand, Yoochun stopped him with a light brush against his bare wrist. His colleague shot them a curious look but he waved her off with a sheepish grin. Rolling her eyes, she stepped behind the curtain to begin cleaning up the economy class.
"Hey, Changmin."
He looked at him, a little sad, a little troubled, but infinitely more pleasant than when they had met the night before.
"Yes?"
"You know, if things don't work out with your lady love..."
His eyes widened a little. "It..." Then he breathed deeply and closed his eyes. "If it doesn't?"
"Well..." Yoochun handed him a card with his number written on it. "Give me a call." Except even this was a bit too forward for him and he leaned against the door Changmin was about to step through. "It's not the end of the world if she's not the one, you know?"
Changmin stared down at the card in his hand, and then looked up at him. Hesitant.
"Maybe it isn't," he agreed.