Title: Denial Is Just A River in Egypt
Main Pairing: Changmin x Junsu; Siwon x Kyuhyun
Side Pairing: Yunho x Jaejoong; Kangin x Leeteuk
Genre: Romance/Comedy
Rating: PG-13 overall, NC-17 in later chapters
Warnings: boy x boy relationship, language, BFF!Changmin x Kyuhyun
Disclaimer: I do not own Super Junior/DBSK/JYJ
Summary: Changmin and Kyuhyun were best friends since kindergarten and they had similar taste in everything. One of the most important is how they want to live their live as a happy, single man. Little did they know, their plan wouldn't work out so well as each of them discovered love in a similar way and time.
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Denial is Just A River in Egypt
Chapter 5
By: Sharl/zielddhy
Jaejoong suspiciously watched his dongsaeng over a plate of steaming breakfast. As usual, Changmin ordered a hearty portion considering it was still very early in the morning and all of the food seemed to go straight to his height. The architect was as lean as ever. And yet something was off with him this morning, but he hadn’t known what.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing,” Changmin grumbled.
“Oh come on, Min. Tell your hyung, please?”
“No,” the architect stubbornly said, “I’m fine. Now drop it.”
Jaejoong’s eyes narrowed. “Hey, that’s not how you talk to someone who’s older than you.” Changmin snorted rudely and Jaejoong decided to take the last straw. “Tell me what’s causing you to be in this mood or I won’t give you food for two months.”
Changmin gaped. “I’m a paying customer!”
Jaejoong merely smirked and finally the younger man admitted defeat. He put down his fork and sighed. “I went clubbing last night and I met Junsu.”
“Junsu is…” the chef tilted his head.
“That crazy marine biologist I’ve told you and Yunho-hyung about? The one who keeps bothering me and following me around and haven’t shut up about stupid marine facts and stuff? Rotten eggs, remember?”
“Oh yes!” Jaejoong happily replied, “I remember him.”
“Yeah. So, I met him at Pulse last night. I was alone and then suddenly he showed up. We talked a bit -after I forbid him to speak anything marine-ish in which he complied quite willingly by the way- drank a bit and then we danced.” Ignoring his Hyung’s girly shrieks and obvious glee, the architect continued. “I was having a pretty good time actually. Well I did, until I met Taeyang and he sucked me off and I’ve found that Junsu’s left.”
“Taeyang is…” Jaejoong furrowed his brows in confusion.
“Quick fucks from random strangers that I pick up from equally random nightclubs?”
“Ah.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Why what?” Changmin asked back.
Jaejoong rolled his eyes, “Why did you need Taeyang to suck you off?”
Changmin gave him a blank look. “Because I’ve got a hard on obviously. And a mouth on your dick is definitely better than your own hands.”
“It’s not what I meant,” the chef huffed a bit, “why not let Junsu the one who sucked you off?”
“Nah, that’s way too fast. Granted he looked very good,” ooh, Jaejong giggled at which Changmin ignored once again, “and we danced pretty close together,” Jaejoong squealed and Changmin threw him a withering glare, “but that’s it. We talked some more at the bar and then I went away to take care of my hard on and boom, Taeyang showed up.”
Jaejoong wondered if Changmin realized that he treated Junsu differently than the rest of his one night stands. He’d done everything so far, getting to know each other, dancing together but not yet at intimate level. Almost as if he was courting the other. Jaejoong couldn’t wait to tell Yunho about this. Their little Minnie might be in monogamous relationship pretty soon. His inner Jaejoong squealed, inner this time because the architect was already looking daggers at him. Now if only he could out give out few hints. “So… you and Junsu get along just fine, then?”
The younger man thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, I guess. I mean that guy is surprisingly pleasant when he’s not sprouting out absurd marine nonsense. He’s also pretty funny, capable of making jokes and he danced like a pro.”
“Minnie,” Jaejoong looked at Changmin with the same way Yunho usually did. “There is a difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. I saw this guy who actually did that, can you believe it?” the chef said with a shudder.
Changmin blinked.
Jaejoong scowled. “That was a metaphor. God, and they say you’re genius,” he added with a dramatic roll of eyes. “My point is: there might be a difference as to how you actually feel about Junsu. You obviously have thought differently towards him.”
The architect gave him a dubious look. “Yeah, I’ve found out that he’s a decent guy.”
The older man sighed. Oh well, Changmin would realize it sooner or later. And who knows, he thought with a glee, Changmin might not be single for much longer.
***********************************
Kyuhyun looked at his watch for the fifth time in the last two minutes. He drummed his fingers on the big conference table impatiently. Thirty seconds later he was pacing back and forth the vast room, in this rate he’d definitely wore a hole on Siwon’s carpet. Shit, I’m becoming like Donghae. He shuddered.
With that realization Kyuhyun plopped down to a nearby chair and looked up to see Siwon watching him with amused face. “What?” he barked out irritably.
“Oh nothing, I just like watching you,” the lawyer replied.
Kyuhyun rolled his eyes. “Save that pleasantry later. Are you sure we’re alright? I mean maybe one week is not enough time to prepare. I don’t mind waiting for a bit longer if it means we can win this case. Do you think we even have a case? What if-”
“Hey hey stop right there,” Siwon interrupted. He stood up and walked towards the novelist. “Relax. Calm down. Breathe.” From the way Siwon talked to him, Kyuhyun felt like as if he was a woman about to give birth. He scowled but took a deep, calming breath nonetheless.
“Good. Now they’ll be here anytime soon, or maybe they might be late in purpose, trying to make us sweat and impose their self-importance.” That dimpled smile showed up again. “Don’t let that get into you. I’ll do the talking, you just sit there and be quiet because every word you speak will be recorded and can be used against you. Okay?” Kyuhyun nodded. Thirty minutes later finally they arrived. Kim Jong Wook, the guy who sued Kyuhyun, strutted in with six other lawyers following. Yes, six.
Siwon stood up to welcome them. Few introductions were made but Kyuhyun noticed that Siwon was no longer smiling. The lawyer had obviously put on his poker face and he held an air of arrogance around him. Kyuhyun was somehow reminded back to the first time he met Siwon, when five fuming men walked out of this same room and how confident Siwon sounded that time. Well, look like Kangin wasn’t lying when he said Siwon was a capable lawyer after all.
“Now gentlemen,” Jong Wook said haughtily, “Let’s get this done with, shall we? I’m a busy man; I have to write my next best seller after all.”
Kyuhyun scowled but Siwon’s touch on his knee reminded him not to respond and so he stayed quiet. “Of course,” Siwon replied, “go write a check of 900,000 dollars and read a public apology in front of the press and we’ll call it done.”
The other six lawyers laughed. “What are you talking about?” One of them said, “Your client is the one being sued here Choi Siwon-shi, he is the one who should write a check.”
Siwon chuckled. “Really now? My client has written ten other books, in which six of them are best sellers by the way, before he wrote the one you claim to be plagiarized. Your client on the other hand, has only written two books and only one of them makes it as best seller, courtesy of the free publicity he gets by suing my client. Now, I imagine you know that each writer has their own personal writing style. Do you really want me to get an expert to prove that? A critic, perhaps?”
He paused for a moment to pour some water into his glass. Kyuhyun stared at him, obviously thinking something along the line of ‘What the hell is this guy doing?’ The other six lawyers apparently had seen this movement before as they merely rolled their eyes and one of them grumbled, “Oh here we go.”
The same lawyer who grumbled then spoke condescendingly, “We know what you’re doing there, Siwon-shi. That little trick of yours won’t make us nervous, not at all.” But despite what he said, the water’s slow trickling noise permeated the room and Kyuhyun could see it bothered them a bit.
He’s good, Kyuhyun thought.
Siwon leaned back in his chair and smiled at the six opposing lawyers in front of him. “And here is your choice. Either your client write a check of 900,000 dollars and a public apology or we’ll take this to court in where you will not only lose, but will also suffer the humiliation from the press knowing that your client is the one who’s doing the plagiarism. Which one do you prefer?”
********************************
“Hi.”
Junsu looked up from his cup of tea only to see Changmin’s tall form towering over him. “Hello,” he replied with a smile as he scooted over. Changmin took the invitation and sat down. They were currently in a tea house near the construction site and as he drove back to the office earlier, Changmin saw Junsu stepped into this shop. Feeling a little bit weird not seeing the other at the site like usual, curiosity won and he pulled over.
Plus you feel guilty after last night’s incident, his gremlin had unhelpfully reminded.
Shut up, he had snapped.
And so here Changmin was, a victim of his own choice, seating awkwardly besides Junsu while the marine biologist calmly continued sipping his Jasmine tea and eating some cake, blueberry cheesecake from the look of it.
“So uh, you left early yesterday,” Changmin broke the silence after he ordered a cup of peppermint tea from a smiling, terribly polite waiter. He declined the offer of any cakes, feeling not in the mood for some sweet things.
Unless it’s fed directly from Junsu’s mouth, of course.
Didn’t I tell you to shut up?
Junsu sheepishly smiled. “Yeah, I might’ve drunk too much last night; I’m not very good on the alcohol tolerance level thing. So I thought: better get home while you still can.” He put down the cup and looked at Changmin straight in the eye. “Sorry I left just like that; I should’ve waited for you or at least informed you I was leaving.”
“No no, it’s okay. I totally understand.” Changmin waved away the apology dismissively. He couldn’t help but feeling a bit relieved that apparently Junsu didn’t leave because of that little session he had with Taeyang. Or maybe he just didn’t care. The thought somehow bothered him. The waiter then appeared, bringing Changmin’s peppermint tea. For a few moments neither man spoke but somehow there was no awkwardness in them.
“Are you doing anything?” Junsu suddenly asked.
Changmin shrugged in reply, “Not really, I’ve finished all my work yesterday.”
“Great!” the marine biologist then stood up. “Come with me, I want to show you something.”
Twenty minutes later, Changmin felt like he had stepped into a different world. Junsu had brought him to what looked like animal recovery and conversation facility, but the place held small pools everywhere instead of cages. Each pool was filled with what he suspected was seawater as there were countless fishes, turtles and even some baby seals. Junsu on the other hand looked very much to be at home. The marine biologist practically glowed with happiness as soon as he stepped into the facility.
Junsu stopped into a pool of baby sea turtles and picked one of them up. “This one I’ve found stranded on the beach only few days ago. You see this tear on his hind flippers here? A barbed wire was somehow stuck there and hurt him. Hopefully he’ll be okay in a couple of weeks.” He set the baby turtle down and picked up another one. “This one I found just yesterday. She was tangled in small some net and as she struggled to get free, the net damages her shell and thus make it crooked. Thankfully there is no organ damage but she needs some time to adjust with the crooked shell, preferably somewhere where there are no predators.”
Changmin scowled. “Junsu what are you doing? I’ve told you again and again, I don’t have any power to cancel the project. You’re talking to the wrong man here.”
Junsu chuckled. “No, that’s not my intention at all, believe me and I’ve already realized that there is no way they will cancel the development. I just… I don’t know, I guess I just want to show these to you. This is what I’ve been doing for the last five years and well, I want to share this with you.”
The architect was stunned. From Junsu’s expression, he knew how much this whole facility meant to him and the fact that he was willing to ask Changmin to come here was mind blowing. He himself hadn’t even known Junsu long enough to ask him on a dinner or something and yet Junsu already shared this with him.
Changmin was touched. He looked around to see all the marine life in the room, realizing for the first time that although the effort done here was good, it was still very tiny compared to the damages mankind had made. It was not enough. Changmin’s brain processed the whole thing and like a genius that he was, an idea suddenly came. Glancing at Junsu, he said in excited tone, “Listen, if I can convince my client to change their plan, can you help to guarantee so that the entire marine live in the area will be as pristine as possible?”
“What?” Junsu’s brows furrowed, but his eyes held a glint of hope in them.
“They are planning to build apartment complex right? So I’m thinking that if they change the plan into hotels instead and use the beach and diving spots as the main attractions, we may be able to save all of these. They can even build a gigantic aquarium or fish tank, like those in SeaWorld to expose all these marine life and get even more profit. So in a way we’ll convert the whole area into a marine conservation and use that as tourism industry for the hotel. That way you can save anything you want -just ask them for a joint project or something- and I will still get my success fee as per planned.”
Junsu’s brain was wheeling. “Do you think you can convince them?”
Changmin smirked. “Maybe not by me, but I know someone who might just do the job.”
-End Chapter 5-
Author’s Note: lawyer!Siwon = hot. Yes? xDDD And isn't Changmin smart? :D
6. Chapter Six 4. Chapter Four 3. Chapter Three 2. Chapter Two 1. Chapter One 0. Foreword