070. Thunderstorm, Kangin/Sungmin
Title : After the Storm
Theme: #70 Thunderstorm, (100 suju fic challenge)
Pairing Kangin/Sungmin
Rating G
Summary. Life's hard but sometimes there are good surprises. ONESHOT
AU (isn't it always though, since none of what we right will ever be real life?) ONESHOT
Disclaimer If I owned Suju, I wouldn´t be writing fanfiction
After The Storm
Kangin looked at the deceptively blue sky from his office on the 40th floor. He could almost believe that it would stay that way if it weren't for the fact that he could see gray clouds accumulating in the distance.
He wished that he could have that same perspective on his life, maybe he would have been able to avoid many painful things in his trajectory to the top. He would have been able to tell his family to wait a day more before coming to see him in Seoul at his boarding school, then they wouldn't have been on the train that derailed, and they wouldn't have died. Or he would have been able to warn his best friend about the violent nature his boyfriend hid beneath the friendly façade then Jungsoo wouldn't be in a hospital living only due to the respirators he was connected to.
Kangin felt his heart constrict painfully as he thought about his best friend, but as long as there was still brain activity there was still hope. So he would help his friend fight for as long as was necessary. Jungsoo was alone in the world like Kangin so they'd relied a lot on each other and Kangin would help keep him alive at the hospital until he was able to live on his own.
Kangin went over to his desk and picked up the files that he had to look over and grabbed his suit jacket.He needed to leave right away before his thoughts got anymore maudlin.
As he left he saw his secretary hard at work in the outer office. "Sunny, you can go home for today, go take care of your family," He smiled at her and patted her head gently as she bowed. "I told you, we've known each other for a long time, you don't have to do that."
Sunny smiled cheekily before replying, "But you're my boss now, not just my silly handsome oppa from the class next door anymore."
Kangin laughed at her cheekiness, " Don't let your husband hear you call me handsome, he may get the wrong idea."
"yes oppa..."
Kangin was about to leave but he remembered the approaching dark clouds, he probably should take Sunny to her metro stop.
"do you want me to drop you off at the metro station?"
"If you did it that would be great oppa."
Kangin waited for her to pack up her things, and together they headed out to his car. After a short while of silence, Sunny began to squirm in her seat before deciding to voice her question. " Oppa... are you feeling alright?"
Kangin looked at her for a bit, "I'm fine. I'm healthy aren't I?"
"Oppa you know I'm not asking you about your physical health. Lately you've been staring blankly out the window and you've either forgotten or canceled several meetings with your clients."
"I'm a little tired that's all, next week I'll be more focused, don't worry, your boss won't ruin his practice and leave you without a job."
"That's NOT what I meant oppa... It's not your fault you know."
"I don't want to talk about it Sunny."
"You'll have to soon, it's eating you up inside isn't it?"
"Shut up..." he just about growled at her.
Sunny however didn't give up."Jungsoo oppa wouldn't blame you for what happened you know."
"I told you I don't want to talk about it!" His knuckles became white as he gripped the wheel tightly.
Sunny shook her head, not letting the subject drop " You didn't know Jaehee's twisted personality when you introduced Jungsoo oppa to him."
Suddenly the car screeched to a halt " Here's the station, get out." Kangin's face was tight with anger and pain.
Sunny leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, " you know I'm right oppa, it's not your fault." With that said she got out of the car and walked away.
He drove away as if the hounds of hell were chasing him. He didn't want to think about it.
As soon as he got out of the city and headed out to his home on it's outskirts huge drops fell and soon they were pelting down unrelentingly and visibility was low. This was the storm he'd seen build up.
The wind increased in intensity. the trees bent precariously to one side as though they were going to fall over or get blown away like feathers. Kangin forgot for a moment the thoughts that had been troubling him as he concentrated on maneuvering the car and avoiding getting blown to the side.
As he inched forward slowly so as not to lose control he saw a shape of a man walking almost completely bent at a ninety degree angle fighting the wind and making no progress at all.
Kangin pulled over next to the man and shouted for him to get on but the wind was too strong and the man didn't hear him... quickly he pulled on his raincoat and got out of the car . He hurried over to the man and grabbed him by the elbow at which the man turned and looked at him fiercely.
Kangin just stared, because there standing before him was his first love, Lee Sungmin, the man hadn't changed at all.
The other must have recognized him also because he shouted "Youngwoon!" and his arms were suddenly around his neck .
Kangin shrugged off the hug and grabbed Sungmin's hands and dragged them both over to his car. "Get in!" he shouted over the din of the storm.
Once safely in the car Kangin turned to look at the man, " What are you doing walking here in the middle of the storm? Are you an idiot?"
Sungmin blushed and frowned at the same time, " No I'm not an idiot I was going to go visit a friend and my car broke down right before the storm hit."
Kangin turned on the ignition, " well let's go to my house for now and then we'll figure out what to do about your car and your trip to your friend."
The trip to the house was silent for the most part with only Sungmin's shivering and sudden bouts of coughing.
Kangin looked over worried at his passenger "When we get to my house, go take a hot shower, you'll get pneumonia if you stay wet like right now."
"Thanks" was the only reply he got before Sungmin fell asleep shivering all the while.
Kangin looked at Sungmin and whispered, "who are you trying to fool, only I live around here for miles in this area."
When he finally managed to pull over into his driveway at his ranch style mansion, the wind was starting to die down and the rain was a mere drizzle. He tried to wake up Sungmin but he wasn't even stirring, Kangin placed the back of his hand on Sungmin's forehead and noticed that he was extremely hot.
He quickly went and opened the door to his home, started running the hot water in one of the downstairs guest bedrooms and hurried back to the car. As he started to lift him up, Sungmin stirred and protested weakly, "I can walk you don't have to do that, Youngwoon-ah."
"Shut up and just let me take you inside." Kangin proceeded to carry him into the house where he started to strip him down against feeble protests.
Quickly he placed the now stripped to his boxers Sungmin in the tub and started scrubbing him down and washing his hair. The hot water and the gentle treatment seemed to revive Sungmin a bit and by the time the bath ended he was more conscious of his surroundings. When Kangin came back into the bathroom with the towel he'd gone to find Sungmin was sitting on the edge of the tub waiting for him.
"Are you feeling better now?"
Sungmin looked up from his lap and nodded, "yes, thank you and sorry for all the trouble."
"What would you have done if I hadn't passed by and seen you?" Sungmin looked at him silently, no answer at the ready. Kangin just shook his head, " for someone who's extremely smart you can be pretty dumb can't you? Well there's no helping that it's how you've always been. Here, let's get you dry."
Kangin stood in front of Sungmin and started drying his hair and once he was satisfied with that he wrapped the towel around Sungmin's shoulder's and proceeded to pick him up. Sungmin started struggling and protested at being carried around like a princess, but Kangin just growled at him to "Shut up and stop squirming like an eel."
As he set Sungmin on the bed he felt his forehead, " you still are a bit feverish, so don't go in between the heavy covers, I have the heater on so you won't feel cold. Here's a light sheet to cover yourself up."
After making sure that Sungmin was lying down and covered Kangin started to walk out the bedroom door. As he was about to cross the doorway he heard his name being called, "Youngwoon.."
He looked back "yes?"
"you're still too nice for your own good" was the quiet comment.
"Go to sleep Sungmin."
"yes."
_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
The next day Kangin woke up and went to check up on his guest, but found the bedroom empty. Suddenly he heard a teapot whistling , 'Housekeeper Jang doesn't come in on Saturdays...'
When he got to the kitchen he saw that Sungmin had already prepared a feast of bacon,eggs and pancakes...
"So you're feeling better?" Kangin asked from the kitchen archway.
Sungmin turned around smiling, "yes I wanted to thank you for taking care of me last night."
Kangin went and sat down at the bar stool on one side of the kitchen island. "What are we going to do about your car? Do you want me to take you to your friends house after we deal with it?"
"I've called Yunho to take care of it, he'll take it to his shop with his tow-truck. and, actually..."
Kangin raised his eyebrow, "yes?"
"I came to see you..." Sungmin stared at him quietly waiting for a response.
Kangin grabbed a plate of pancakes and motioned for Sungmin to take one also, completely ignoring the previous comment. Nervously Sungmin took a plate and sat down beside Kangin, " are you mad that I came?"
Kangin shook his head, " not mad but I'm confused, you're the one who walked out on our relationship, why did you decide to come back?"
"I'm sorry, I was too childish back then, and because I didn't have all your attention I easily became jealous and depressed. I thought that you liked Jungsoo..."
At the mention of his friend's name Kangin's face got clouded for a second before he schooled his expression back to neutral, but Sungmin had seen it, " I'm sorry, I heard about Jungsoo from Boom hyung. I came to see if you needed any help. I don't know why I thought you might need me, I'm really sorry for troubling you so much."
Kangin took a deep breath, "You know, you were such an idiot back then, but then so was I, I didn't know that I hadn't made myself clear on what I felt about you. Jungsoo and I..., we go way back, he's the hyung who saw me cry for the first time in my life when my parent's died, and I saw him cry his heart out when he lost his mother, his only family. So I did spend a lot of time with him, he was the only link I had to my childhood, but you were my future,or I thought you were, until you left with only a note."
Kangin rubbed his face tiredly," When you left me I wouldn't eat, sleep or even go out of my room, Jungsoo stayed through that too. And then I finally began to breathe like a normal person, each day that passed was no longer such a burden, and I have Jungsoo to thank for that. Jungsoo and I have never been more than brother's to each other and now someone I introduced him to, someone I trusted has hurt him and I'm alone, that's all I can think about, I can't bear it if my only family dies..."
Sungmin felt tears roll down his cheeks, "I'm sorry, please let me stay with you, I won't walk out again, we can welcome Jungsoo-hyung back together, I'll stay if you'll have me."
"I don't know Sungmin, I can't trust your words, I love you, but I can't build a life with someone I don't trust anymore."
"Youngwoon-ah, I'll stay and become the sunshine after a storm for you, you can count on that."
Kangin shook his head, "you're still the only one who calls me that." suddenly re-energized he started cutting up his pancakes in little squares, Sungmin sat still, waiting for his answer, " If you ever say I'll be your sunshine or some such sappy shit again, I'll hit you over the head Lee Sungmin."
_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
A few months passed and the miracle that Kangin was hoping for happened, together he and Sungmin welcomed Jungsoo back into the land of the living. When he saw them together he'd smiled and said," Good, life's back to where it should be, but I really missed out on a lot while I was lying down on the bed, haven't I?"
After the hospital discharged Jungsoo, they took him back to Kangin's home and set up the guest bedroom for him and they both helped Jungsoo regain his strength. When he was finally able to walk around the house and leave his bedroom, Jungsoo looked out to the garden where Sungmin was puttering around, he was glad that Kangin had given himself and Sungmin a second chance, they deserved it. Life was to short to miss out on the best of it because of misunderstandings. He hoped he'd find someone that would treat him as well as his friends treated each other.
Theme: #70 Thunderstorm, (100 suju fic challenge)
Pairing Kangin/Sungmin
Rating G
Summary. Life's hard but sometimes there are good surprises. ONESHOT
AU (isn't it always though, since none of what we right will ever be real life?) ONESHOT
Disclaimer If I owned Suju, I wouldn´t be writing fanfiction
After The Storm
Kangin looked at the deceptively blue sky from his office on the 40th floor. He could almost believe that it would stay that way if it weren't for the fact that he could see gray clouds accumulating in the distance.
He wished that he could have that same perspective on his life, maybe he would have been able to avoid many painful things in his trajectory to the top. He would have been able to tell his family to wait a day more before coming to see him in Seoul at his boarding school, then they wouldn't have been on the train that derailed, and they wouldn't have died. Or he would have been able to warn his best friend about the violent nature his boyfriend hid beneath the friendly façade then Jungsoo wouldn't be in a hospital living only due to the respirators he was connected to.
Kangin felt his heart constrict painfully as he thought about his best friend, but as long as there was still brain activity there was still hope. So he would help his friend fight for as long as was necessary. Jungsoo was alone in the world like Kangin so they'd relied a lot on each other and Kangin would help keep him alive at the hospital until he was able to live on his own.
Kangin went over to his desk and picked up the files that he had to look over and grabbed his suit jacket.He needed to leave right away before his thoughts got anymore maudlin.
As he left he saw his secretary hard at work in the outer office. "Sunny, you can go home for today, go take care of your family," He smiled at her and patted her head gently as she bowed. "I told you, we've known each other for a long time, you don't have to do that."
Sunny smiled cheekily before replying, "But you're my boss now, not just my silly handsome oppa from the class next door anymore."
Kangin laughed at her cheekiness, " Don't let your husband hear you call me handsome, he may get the wrong idea."
"yes oppa..."
Kangin was about to leave but he remembered the approaching dark clouds, he probably should take Sunny to her metro stop.
"do you want me to drop you off at the metro station?"
"If you did it that would be great oppa."
Kangin waited for her to pack up her things, and together they headed out to his car. After a short while of silence, Sunny began to squirm in her seat before deciding to voice her question. " Oppa... are you feeling alright?"
Kangin looked at her for a bit, "I'm fine. I'm healthy aren't I?"
"Oppa you know I'm not asking you about your physical health. Lately you've been staring blankly out the window and you've either forgotten or canceled several meetings with your clients."
"I'm a little tired that's all, next week I'll be more focused, don't worry, your boss won't ruin his practice and leave you without a job."
"That's NOT what I meant oppa... It's not your fault you know."
"I don't want to talk about it Sunny."
"You'll have to soon, it's eating you up inside isn't it?"
"Shut up..." he just about growled at her.
Sunny however didn't give up."Jungsoo oppa wouldn't blame you for what happened you know."
"I told you I don't want to talk about it!" His knuckles became white as he gripped the wheel tightly.
Sunny shook her head, not letting the subject drop " You didn't know Jaehee's twisted personality when you introduced Jungsoo oppa to him."
Suddenly the car screeched to a halt " Here's the station, get out." Kangin's face was tight with anger and pain.
Sunny leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, " you know I'm right oppa, it's not your fault." With that said she got out of the car and walked away.
He drove away as if the hounds of hell were chasing him. He didn't want to think about it.
As soon as he got out of the city and headed out to his home on it's outskirts huge drops fell and soon they were pelting down unrelentingly and visibility was low. This was the storm he'd seen build up.
The wind increased in intensity. the trees bent precariously to one side as though they were going to fall over or get blown away like feathers. Kangin forgot for a moment the thoughts that had been troubling him as he concentrated on maneuvering the car and avoiding getting blown to the side.
As he inched forward slowly so as not to lose control he saw a shape of a man walking almost completely bent at a ninety degree angle fighting the wind and making no progress at all.
Kangin pulled over next to the man and shouted for him to get on but the wind was too strong and the man didn't hear him... quickly he pulled on his raincoat and got out of the car . He hurried over to the man and grabbed him by the elbow at which the man turned and looked at him fiercely.
Kangin just stared, because there standing before him was his first love, Lee Sungmin, the man hadn't changed at all.
The other must have recognized him also because he shouted "Youngwoon!" and his arms were suddenly around his neck .
Kangin shrugged off the hug and grabbed Sungmin's hands and dragged them both over to his car. "Get in!" he shouted over the din of the storm.
Once safely in the car Kangin turned to look at the man, " What are you doing walking here in the middle of the storm? Are you an idiot?"
Sungmin blushed and frowned at the same time, " No I'm not an idiot I was going to go visit a friend and my car broke down right before the storm hit."
Kangin turned on the ignition, " well let's go to my house for now and then we'll figure out what to do about your car and your trip to your friend."
The trip to the house was silent for the most part with only Sungmin's shivering and sudden bouts of coughing.
Kangin looked over worried at his passenger "When we get to my house, go take a hot shower, you'll get pneumonia if you stay wet like right now."
"Thanks" was the only reply he got before Sungmin fell asleep shivering all the while.
Kangin looked at Sungmin and whispered, "who are you trying to fool, only I live around here for miles in this area."
When he finally managed to pull over into his driveway at his ranch style mansion, the wind was starting to die down and the rain was a mere drizzle. He tried to wake up Sungmin but he wasn't even stirring, Kangin placed the back of his hand on Sungmin's forehead and noticed that he was extremely hot.
He quickly went and opened the door to his home, started running the hot water in one of the downstairs guest bedrooms and hurried back to the car. As he started to lift him up, Sungmin stirred and protested weakly, "I can walk you don't have to do that, Youngwoon-ah."
"Shut up and just let me take you inside." Kangin proceeded to carry him into the house where he started to strip him down against feeble protests.
Quickly he placed the now stripped to his boxers Sungmin in the tub and started scrubbing him down and washing his hair. The hot water and the gentle treatment seemed to revive Sungmin a bit and by the time the bath ended he was more conscious of his surroundings. When Kangin came back into the bathroom with the towel he'd gone to find Sungmin was sitting on the edge of the tub waiting for him.
"Are you feeling better now?"
Sungmin looked up from his lap and nodded, "yes, thank you and sorry for all the trouble."
"What would you have done if I hadn't passed by and seen you?" Sungmin looked at him silently, no answer at the ready. Kangin just shook his head, " for someone who's extremely smart you can be pretty dumb can't you? Well there's no helping that it's how you've always been. Here, let's get you dry."
Kangin stood in front of Sungmin and started drying his hair and once he was satisfied with that he wrapped the towel around Sungmin's shoulder's and proceeded to pick him up. Sungmin started struggling and protested at being carried around like a princess, but Kangin just growled at him to "Shut up and stop squirming like an eel."
As he set Sungmin on the bed he felt his forehead, " you still are a bit feverish, so don't go in between the heavy covers, I have the heater on so you won't feel cold. Here's a light sheet to cover yourself up."
After making sure that Sungmin was lying down and covered Kangin started to walk out the bedroom door. As he was about to cross the doorway he heard his name being called, "Youngwoon.."
He looked back "yes?"
"you're still too nice for your own good" was the quiet comment.
"Go to sleep Sungmin."
"yes."
_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
The next day Kangin woke up and went to check up on his guest, but found the bedroom empty. Suddenly he heard a teapot whistling , 'Housekeeper Jang doesn't come in on Saturdays...'
When he got to the kitchen he saw that Sungmin had already prepared a feast of bacon,eggs and pancakes...
"So you're feeling better?" Kangin asked from the kitchen archway.
Sungmin turned around smiling, "yes I wanted to thank you for taking care of me last night."
Kangin went and sat down at the bar stool on one side of the kitchen island. "What are we going to do about your car? Do you want me to take you to your friends house after we deal with it?"
"I've called Yunho to take care of it, he'll take it to his shop with his tow-truck. and, actually..."
Kangin raised his eyebrow, "yes?"
"I came to see you..." Sungmin stared at him quietly waiting for a response.
Kangin grabbed a plate of pancakes and motioned for Sungmin to take one also, completely ignoring the previous comment. Nervously Sungmin took a plate and sat down beside Kangin, " are you mad that I came?"
Kangin shook his head, " not mad but I'm confused, you're the one who walked out on our relationship, why did you decide to come back?"
"I'm sorry, I was too childish back then, and because I didn't have all your attention I easily became jealous and depressed. I thought that you liked Jungsoo..."
At the mention of his friend's name Kangin's face got clouded for a second before he schooled his expression back to neutral, but Sungmin had seen it, " I'm sorry, I heard about Jungsoo from Boom hyung. I came to see if you needed any help. I don't know why I thought you might need me, I'm really sorry for troubling you so much."
Kangin took a deep breath, "You know, you were such an idiot back then, but then so was I, I didn't know that I hadn't made myself clear on what I felt about you. Jungsoo and I..., we go way back, he's the hyung who saw me cry for the first time in my life when my parent's died, and I saw him cry his heart out when he lost his mother, his only family. So I did spend a lot of time with him, he was the only link I had to my childhood, but you were my future,or I thought you were, until you left with only a note."
Kangin rubbed his face tiredly," When you left me I wouldn't eat, sleep or even go out of my room, Jungsoo stayed through that too. And then I finally began to breathe like a normal person, each day that passed was no longer such a burden, and I have Jungsoo to thank for that. Jungsoo and I have never been more than brother's to each other and now someone I introduced him to, someone I trusted has hurt him and I'm alone, that's all I can think about, I can't bear it if my only family dies..."
Sungmin felt tears roll down his cheeks, "I'm sorry, please let me stay with you, I won't walk out again, we can welcome Jungsoo-hyung back together, I'll stay if you'll have me."
"I don't know Sungmin, I can't trust your words, I love you, but I can't build a life with someone I don't trust anymore."
"Youngwoon-ah, I'll stay and become the sunshine after a storm for you, you can count on that."
Kangin shook his head, "you're still the only one who calls me that." suddenly re-energized he started cutting up his pancakes in little squares, Sungmin sat still, waiting for his answer, " If you ever say I'll be your sunshine or some such sappy shit again, I'll hit you over the head Lee Sungmin."
_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
A few months passed and the miracle that Kangin was hoping for happened, together he and Sungmin welcomed Jungsoo back into the land of the living. When he saw them together he'd smiled and said," Good, life's back to where it should be, but I really missed out on a lot while I was lying down on the bed, haven't I?"
After the hospital discharged Jungsoo, they took him back to Kangin's home and set up the guest bedroom for him and they both helped Jungsoo regain his strength. When he was finally able to walk around the house and leave his bedroom, Jungsoo looked out to the garden where Sungmin was puttering around, he was glad that Kangin had given himself and Sungmin a second chance, they deserved it. Life was to short to miss out on the best of it because of misunderstandings. He hoped he'd find someone that would treat him as well as his friends treated each other.