[fics] hyukchul fics
5 au fics
pg13 - heechul/hyukjae
//for ♥runawayxxlovee. when you have people that love you, it can only get better. let’s fall in love, i promise not to break your heart. ^^
alchemy au.
the boy hyukjae leads home isn't dead. you blink at him, stunned, but hyukjae only shakes his head, red hair catching the last of the sunset light. "he's very hurt. i'm going to take care of him."
you switch your gaze to the other boy, thin and tall and nothing but bones, and he snorts and looks away, attitude clear on his face and pain written into the way his hand is clenched around hyukjae's.
you nod, kiss hyukjae's cheek. "you do what you have to."
-
the boy hyukjae brings home is named heechul, and heechul runs the other boys in circles. he yells at them with a smile and compliments them with a snarl, and yoochun's cried more then once because of him. you leave him to hyukjae though, because hyukjae gives you a look. you comfort yoochun instead, keep changmin from punching the newest boy again like he'd done the week before.
you watch quietly as hyukjae takes heechul's hand, leads him away from the others.
"hyung... can't you be nice?"
"i told you i'm not a very nice person. if you don't like me, kick me out." heechul flips his hair with a shrug, but his shoulders are tense.
hyukjae shakes his head and hugs him, arms tight around his waist and lips pressing against his hair. "i can't kick you out of your home. you have to stay here with us. with me."
-
heechul settles, fitfully. there are still outburts, times when the boy lashes out with his words like it's a cat o' nine tails, and more than once you're holding donghae or junsu to you and wiping away their tears. at other times, heechul is quiet, a far away glance outside of windows, the soft flips of the pages of a book. he never quite fits in with the other boys, always a little rough around the edges, but hyukjae doesn't stop pushing him.
you're sure you can count on one hand the number of times hyukjae has left the other's side voluntarily. hyukjae chatters into heechul's ear, holds his hand, pulls him to play outside with the others. you've seen heechul hit hyukjae more than once, each slap resounding a little deeper in your chest, but hyukjae always laughs it off, wraps heechul into a hug.
you ask him one night, curled around him in the biggest bed in the house, why he lets heechul do the things he does.
hyukjae's answer is a smile, soft and mysterious. "he's just a little bruised, hyung. i want him to know, no matter how much he hits or yells, we won't let go of him."
zombies au.
you run away from the group of survivors with heechul. heechul is the only one not going insane by the lack of other survivors, the only one not reverting back to insanity and cruelty. he holds your hands as you leave in the middle of the night, in a desert somewhere. it's dangerous dangerous dangerous to move at night, but it's the only time you can get away from the name who's declared himself king of the surviving humans.
"we're going to be fine," heechul whispers into the dark. it's as much of a question as it is a statement.
you squeeze his hands. "i know."
-
heechul is not the easiest person to run away with. he's grouchy in the mornings because there's no coffee to drink, grouchy in the nights when there's no water to shower with. he's scared and tired and wants to go home. another time, another you, another person, and you would've been pulling at hair in annoyance. but it's heechul, and it's you, and instead you sneak into convenience stores filled with dead bodies and sneak out water, coffee bags, soap in pretty bottles.
-
heechul kisses you one day, sleeping in the basement of a house where you've nailed planks to the front door.
"h-hyung-"
"shush." heechul's eyes flash at you, quick and mercury. "let me feel how alive you are."
so you kiss him back, every emotion you've ever had on high melting down to a low shimmer that sits in your stomach. his hands are cool against your face, his hair soft on your hands, and when he presses you down on the cold concrete floor, you feel something like life in your fingertips.
-
you wake up in the morning shivering, the warmth of a body gone from your arms. you blink, sit up, flush red as you pull your clothes on. "hyung? heechul hyung?"
you never find him then. you never find him any other day. and so you go on, running without a purpose, keeping the marks on your hips as a sign that one day, one time, you were loved and not alone.
gangster au.
Heechul's seen a lot of ridiculous stuff in his life, but he thinks this might top the cake.
"You're the boss?"
The boy (because he's really just a boy) nods, careless and sprawled on the deep red couch that takes over an entire wall of the already extremely large and extravagant apartment. "Yeah, surprise, isn't it?" He's holding a carton of fucking milk in his hands. Heechul doesn't know if he should be laughing, or terrified out of his mind.
"You? Not Jongwoon, that bastard?" Heechul shifts on the hardbacked armchair he's perched on, tapping his fingers against his kneecap as he processes. He's been dealing with Jongwoon and his thugs for a better part of a year, and now he finds out that Jongwoon isn't even the big fish he's been wanting, but another pawn, another shield.
The boy shakes his head, his hair softly brown and sleek across his cheeks, looking as if he's fresh out of high school with a book bag filled with red-marked papers and a dream in his hands. "No, Jongwoon is just an old old friend who puts his life in danger to hide me. Look at me, do I look intimidating at all? Jongwoon can command the respect that I can't." He smiles, shrugging, and looks away, and Heechul can tell he's not saying everything, it's crystal clear on the boy's (man man man) face. No wonder he isn't out heading the deals.
Heechul sits back, just a little, back relaxing. "So why did you call me? We're allies, but definitely not on the level where you exposing yourself to me is a good idea. I could be taking this information back and sell it. I hear Sungmin's been digging around your bank accounts." He gives the other man a lazy smile.
The boy (man not boy, man) laughs, leans in a little. Heechul takes in the milk carton he's holding and snorts at the strawberries gracing the sides before looking back up. The boy is watching him with a clear steady gaze, and something about it makes the hair on the back of Heechul's neck rise.
"I'm not worried about you, Heechul. You won't be telling anyone." He smiles, and Heechul shivers. Maybe, just maybe, he's underestimated his ally much too soon. "And besides, I didn't call you here about work. I called you about something personal."
Heechul arches an eyebrow at him. "Personal?"
The boy rises, and Heechul blanches slightly. Sitting down, he was attractive enough. Standing now, there's a grace to him that Heechul knows he'll never achieve. He's dressed casually, sweat pants loose around his waist and black sweater loose around his shoulders, a sharp contrast to the dark pinstriped suit Heechul's in. He pads to Heechul, leans against one of the armrests to touch a hand to Heechul's hair, dyed red for the month. "Personal. You're beautiful, I'm sure you know."
Heechul wants to laugh him off, like he's done to all the men who think that because Heechul looks feminine, he'll bow down to their 'masculinity', but something about this whole situation, this man-boy touching him, makes him bite his tongue, look up to him. "I don't even know your name, and you want me to sleep with you?"
The boy smiles, brilliant and white. "I'm Hyukjae. You're Heechul. I want you. You could learn to want me. I'm very good in bed, people have told me so. I don't except you to turn over control of your boys, your territory. In fact, I'd be happy if we don't talk about work at all. I'm just really interested in seeing what kind of sounds I could get out of you."
Heechul runs his tongue against dry lips, feels some of his wits come back to him when Hyukjae's eyes follow the movement. He stands up, stands close, slips his fingers just into the hem of Hyukjae's sweatpants. "Or maybe I could get them out of you?"
Hyukjae's answer is a cheeky grin. "Tell me, how do you feel about handcuffs?"
author's choice // et dentelle noire.
hyukjae grumbles as the corset is tightened around his waist. "the things i do for money." there's a quick tug on the strings that leaves him gasping for air.
"shut up. you should just be thankful you're not living on the streets anymore, ungrateful brat." leeteuk's voice is firm, but there's a smile hidden in it that hyukjae knows all too well.
"you should be nicer to me, you can't hurt your best dancer. where will you get all your money?" hyukjae grins into his arms until leeteuk slaps at his butt, then he yelps and turns around. leeteuk only raises an eyebrow at him, and hyukjae sighs. "okay okay, whatever."
he smoothes out the dark red skirt he's been stuffed into, touches his fingers against the red and black lace of the corset. "i still think these men should go to a regular whorehouse if they want to see women."
"just go dance, will you? you're the only one here who complains so much, my god."
hyukjae flicks him a grin before leaving the room. "i'm not nearly as bad as aiden."
leeteuk groans at the thought of the american-born boy no one can understand because of his horrible korean, who doesn't ever shut up and calls himself a fish. it makes hyukjae laugh as he goes backstage.
he's thankful for this week's costume. dancing as a wild gypsy can-can girl means he can be barefoot, instead of trying to stomp around in heels he can never get the hang of. he hears the faint murmurs of the crowd, and instead of being nervous like the other boys, it makes his heart beat double-time while his breathing slows. he was born for the stage.
the music starts, and hyukjae arches his back and opens the wide black fan in his hands, and when the curtain rises, he's not hyukjae anymore, just a body that dances.
-
heechul yawns a bit, and sungmin punches his shoulder. "stop being such a grouch."
heechul only shrugs, leaning back in the plush chair of the exclusive box sungmin had bought. "dancers are a dime a dozen, sungmin. you keep dragging me to these places and expect me to be impressed by something. it hasn't happened yet, i don't think it ever will."
sungmin shakes his head, sips at the glass of wine in his hands. "i think you'll be surprised here, just wait."
heechul rolls his eyes and opens his mouth for another complaint when music starts, the orchestra he can barely see playing something slow and dark and slinky. heechul raises an eyebrow, amused. he'd been expecting the usual honkytonk; he admits he's surprised.
then the curtain rises, and heechul has to blink. it's a slim lithe figure, back to the audience, dressed in a red skirt ripped and torn around the knees, a corset tight around a thin waist. he assumes it's a woman, at first, but he's quick to take in the lack of definite curves, the flatness of the chest, the shortness of the hair. a boy?
his questioning quietens when the figure starts moving, hips moving side to side with the music, a fan waving in the air before lowering as the figure turns.
a boy, heechul confirms absently. he moves to the music, and the smile on his face shows he knows what he's doing to the crowd, to the people watching them. he waves the fan in the air, arms coming up over his head as he moves his hips in circles, dips and sways and arches his back. he commands attention, and rewards when it's given.
heechul's holding his breath without realizing it.
sungmin laughs when the curtain falls, turning to heechul. "well?"
heechul nods slowly. "i'll admit it, you were right this time... that boy, sungmin. i want him.”
-
when hyukjae dances backstage, laughing at the euphoria of a show done well, leeteuk rushes him, pushing him into the dressing rooms. "hurry, you've got to clean up, hurry!"
"wha-what? what's going on? hey, what's going on?" hyukjae fumbles as leeteuk strips him down with barely a pull, then rushes to the racks and pushing through clothes frantically.
"kim heechul is here and he wants to see you and damned if i'm not going to send you to get every penny out of him as you can."
"what?" hyukjae's eyes widen, and he stammers. "w-why in the world is he here and why in the world does he want me? he's going to change his mind in a second, hangeng is out there now and he's going to forget all about me." hyukjae nods as leeteuk snorts and pushes a black dress at hyukjae, more lace and thread of silver at the hem.
"you would get on my nerves so bad if i didn't know it wasn't just false modesty. just put the dress on and make yourself pretty, he's being taken to the blue room now."
hyukjae's fingers slip on the buttons of the dress and it falls to the floor, making leeteuk yelp and lunge for it, then helping (stuffing) hyukjae into it. "the blue room? but leeteuk, i'm not a whore. i can't sleep with him, you know i don't do that, oh my god what if he wants me to sleep with him, i can't go, send junsu, junsu knows what he's doing, leeteuk-" hyukjae's cut off by leeteuk slapping a hand over his mouth and glaring at him.
"shut up, get dressed, and get your ass to that room hyukjae, or i'm going to send you back to the streets."
hyukjae groans softly and puts on the dress.
-
there's a soft knock at the door. heechul sooths out the lapels of his suit and sits on the dark blue loveseat situated in the center of the room, raising a glass of wine to his lips. "enter."
the door opens slowly, and heechul smiles wide, anticipating. the dancer walks in, and heechul snorts, amused, at the open innocent look he's wearing, at odds to the lowcut black dress seemingly painted onto his body.
"hurry up, come in, don't act like a shy little thing. i'm sure you know what you're doing." heechul can't believe the boy would even try for the innocent virginal act, like anyone in this whorehouse was a virgin. that would defeat the purpose.
the boys nods, a red flush rising to his cheeks as he closes the door behind him, hands clasped demurely in front of him, head down.
heechul rolls his eyes. "come here, i told you to drop the act."
the boy blinks at him, before making his way over. "s-sorry, sir." he comes to stand in front of heechul.
heechul takes his hand and tugs him down, and the boy tumbles with a yelp, landing as a pile of lace and long pale legs on heechul's lap. heechul laughs, sliding a hand up a thin thigh to touch at a garter wrapped high around it. "i wonder, does that flush of yours cover your entire body?"
the boy makes a choked sound and slaps heechul's hands away from him, making heechul pull back, surprised. "don't! i'm not a whore, you can't just grab at me." he pulls away, falling to the floor, and he looks up at heechul, indignant, mouth pulled into a frown.
heechul stares down at him, stunned, then bursts into laughter. "you really want me to believe that?" he sneers, resting an elbow against the armrest of the loveseat to look at the boy. "you dance like that on stage, you wear clothes like that, you live at a whorehouse, and you expect me to believe you're not a whore?"
the boy makes a face. "i don't care if you believe me or not, but i'm not a whore. i just dance, to earn my keep, and leeteuk lets me live here, i've nowhere else to go." he ducks his head for a moment, fingers plucking at the lace decorating his skirt. "but i'm not a whore, and leeteuk doesn't use me as one."
heechul doesn't quite believe it, but he has to admit, the boy doesn't seem like he's lying, nor would he have a reason to. if he really were a whore, he wouldn't be trying to get out of a chance to earn money. heechul looks him over, the nervous tapping of his fingers, the red still staining his cheeks, and decides, the hell with it. he'll go along.
"come here, boy, i won't rip your clothes off. what's your name?"
the boy sends him a nervous glance, but stands up and comes to sit next to heechul, straightening out his skirt. "hyukjae, sir. my name is hyukjae."
"hyukjae..." heechul rolls the name on his tongue, and grabs the boy's hand, pulls him close to his side, laughing down at him. "well then, hyukjae, how about a deal? let's see if i can bring that flush back on your face without making you a whore."
hyukjae's eyes widen, mouth opening, and heechul takes the chance to kiss him.
non-celebrity // And it was all a dream.
hyukjae wakes up one morning and the dream he's woken up from makes him laugh, from the bed to the bathroom to the ride on the bus to work. in the office, heechul gives him a slow look-over, and ends with a raise of his eyebrows. "you got laid," he says, a statement not a question.
hyukjae shakes his head as he sits at his desk, spins around a couple times in his chair likes he does every morning. "nope." heechul's eyebrow raises higher and hyukjae laughs, concedes. "okay yeah, but not just that. i had the best dream ever. i was a pop star." he chortles, and heechul blinks once before starting into laughter.
heechul's laugh has a way of making you think he's laughing at you, no matter what, even when he isn't.
"you, a pop star? middle-age crisis already? before me?"
hyukjae shakes his head, takes the ribbing in good nature. "you were in it too. we were part of this gigantic boyband, we were two of fifteen, and we were gay."
heechul holds his stomach, holds himself up against the water tank that's never full fast the halfway line. "well, the last once is pretty truthful, to you at least."
hyukjae grins brighter, snippets of the dream coming back to him as he talks, absently shuffling through papers to get started for the day. "you were the queen of the group. you dyed your hair a different color every month-" he glances up to the short messy jet black hair heechul's had for the last three years "-and your nickname was cinderella. people were never sure if you were a girl or not, it was part of your mystery."
heechul slides into the seat of his own desk, drawing his legs to rest crossed at the ankle on top of his newest folders. "and you? please tell me you were the idiot of the group, it'll keep me happy through every bullshit complaint for at least the rest of the day."
"sorry, no can do. i was the dancer." hyukjae looks up, the grin on his face wide and proud. heechul dissolves into fresh laughter, sliding further down into his seat. "hey, i was awesome! totally one of the best dancers in the whole industry. i was pretty sexy."
heechul is wiping tears from his eyes at this point. "yeah, if there was any doubt this was a dream, that totally cleared it away. you couldn't dance for any circumstance under the bright blue sky."
hyukjae shakes his head as he finishes organizing. he takes quiet pride in being the regional manager of the local branch of a department store giant. "i know that. but it was a great dream, all in all. princess heechul and dancer hyukjae."
heechul chuckles, pulls out his phone. "i've gotta text hyejung about this, she'll laugh so hard. oh, speaking of, she wants you to come over for dinner in a few days. she wants to show off minjoo some more."
"i still can't believe you married such a great girl. you don't deserve her." hyukjae looks up and grins at the soft smile on heechul's face, the light in his eyes as he stares at his phone, where hyukjae knows that a picture of his wife and his one year old daughter is his background.
"i know i don't," heechul answers with a shrug, and the smile on his face grows a little sharper. "but you can't have her, back off."
hyukjae laughs. "say that when she falls for my manly charms and leave you for me."
heechul's booming laugh is cut off by the phone ringing, and the sound of people coming down the hall. he and hyukjae share a shrug and a wry smile; another day another dollar.
pg13 - heechul/hyukjae
//for ♥runawayxxlovee. when you have people that love you, it can only get better. let’s fall in love, i promise not to break your heart. ^^
alchemy au.
the boy hyukjae leads home isn't dead. you blink at him, stunned, but hyukjae only shakes his head, red hair catching the last of the sunset light. "he's very hurt. i'm going to take care of him."
you switch your gaze to the other boy, thin and tall and nothing but bones, and he snorts and looks away, attitude clear on his face and pain written into the way his hand is clenched around hyukjae's.
you nod, kiss hyukjae's cheek. "you do what you have to."
-
the boy hyukjae brings home is named heechul, and heechul runs the other boys in circles. he yells at them with a smile and compliments them with a snarl, and yoochun's cried more then once because of him. you leave him to hyukjae though, because hyukjae gives you a look. you comfort yoochun instead, keep changmin from punching the newest boy again like he'd done the week before.
you watch quietly as hyukjae takes heechul's hand, leads him away from the others.
"hyung... can't you be nice?"
"i told you i'm not a very nice person. if you don't like me, kick me out." heechul flips his hair with a shrug, but his shoulders are tense.
hyukjae shakes his head and hugs him, arms tight around his waist and lips pressing against his hair. "i can't kick you out of your home. you have to stay here with us. with me."
-
heechul settles, fitfully. there are still outburts, times when the boy lashes out with his words like it's a cat o' nine tails, and more than once you're holding donghae or junsu to you and wiping away their tears. at other times, heechul is quiet, a far away glance outside of windows, the soft flips of the pages of a book. he never quite fits in with the other boys, always a little rough around the edges, but hyukjae doesn't stop pushing him.
you're sure you can count on one hand the number of times hyukjae has left the other's side voluntarily. hyukjae chatters into heechul's ear, holds his hand, pulls him to play outside with the others. you've seen heechul hit hyukjae more than once, each slap resounding a little deeper in your chest, but hyukjae always laughs it off, wraps heechul into a hug.
you ask him one night, curled around him in the biggest bed in the house, why he lets heechul do the things he does.
hyukjae's answer is a smile, soft and mysterious. "he's just a little bruised, hyung. i want him to know, no matter how much he hits or yells, we won't let go of him."
zombies au.
you run away from the group of survivors with heechul. heechul is the only one not going insane by the lack of other survivors, the only one not reverting back to insanity and cruelty. he holds your hands as you leave in the middle of the night, in a desert somewhere. it's dangerous dangerous dangerous to move at night, but it's the only time you can get away from the name who's declared himself king of the surviving humans.
"we're going to be fine," heechul whispers into the dark. it's as much of a question as it is a statement.
you squeeze his hands. "i know."
-
heechul is not the easiest person to run away with. he's grouchy in the mornings because there's no coffee to drink, grouchy in the nights when there's no water to shower with. he's scared and tired and wants to go home. another time, another you, another person, and you would've been pulling at hair in annoyance. but it's heechul, and it's you, and instead you sneak into convenience stores filled with dead bodies and sneak out water, coffee bags, soap in pretty bottles.
-
heechul kisses you one day, sleeping in the basement of a house where you've nailed planks to the front door.
"h-hyung-"
"shush." heechul's eyes flash at you, quick and mercury. "let me feel how alive you are."
so you kiss him back, every emotion you've ever had on high melting down to a low shimmer that sits in your stomach. his hands are cool against your face, his hair soft on your hands, and when he presses you down on the cold concrete floor, you feel something like life in your fingertips.
-
you wake up in the morning shivering, the warmth of a body gone from your arms. you blink, sit up, flush red as you pull your clothes on. "hyung? heechul hyung?"
you never find him then. you never find him any other day. and so you go on, running without a purpose, keeping the marks on your hips as a sign that one day, one time, you were loved and not alone.
gangster au.
Heechul's seen a lot of ridiculous stuff in his life, but he thinks this might top the cake.
"You're the boss?"
The boy (because he's really just a boy) nods, careless and sprawled on the deep red couch that takes over an entire wall of the already extremely large and extravagant apartment. "Yeah, surprise, isn't it?" He's holding a carton of fucking milk in his hands. Heechul doesn't know if he should be laughing, or terrified out of his mind.
"You? Not Jongwoon, that bastard?" Heechul shifts on the hardbacked armchair he's perched on, tapping his fingers against his kneecap as he processes. He's been dealing with Jongwoon and his thugs for a better part of a year, and now he finds out that Jongwoon isn't even the big fish he's been wanting, but another pawn, another shield.
The boy shakes his head, his hair softly brown and sleek across his cheeks, looking as if he's fresh out of high school with a book bag filled with red-marked papers and a dream in his hands. "No, Jongwoon is just an old old friend who puts his life in danger to hide me. Look at me, do I look intimidating at all? Jongwoon can command the respect that I can't." He smiles, shrugging, and looks away, and Heechul can tell he's not saying everything, it's crystal clear on the boy's (man man man) face. No wonder he isn't out heading the deals.
Heechul sits back, just a little, back relaxing. "So why did you call me? We're allies, but definitely not on the level where you exposing yourself to me is a good idea. I could be taking this information back and sell it. I hear Sungmin's been digging around your bank accounts." He gives the other man a lazy smile.
The boy (man not boy, man) laughs, leans in a little. Heechul takes in the milk carton he's holding and snorts at the strawberries gracing the sides before looking back up. The boy is watching him with a clear steady gaze, and something about it makes the hair on the back of Heechul's neck rise.
"I'm not worried about you, Heechul. You won't be telling anyone." He smiles, and Heechul shivers. Maybe, just maybe, he's underestimated his ally much too soon. "And besides, I didn't call you here about work. I called you about something personal."
Heechul arches an eyebrow at him. "Personal?"
The boy rises, and Heechul blanches slightly. Sitting down, he was attractive enough. Standing now, there's a grace to him that Heechul knows he'll never achieve. He's dressed casually, sweat pants loose around his waist and black sweater loose around his shoulders, a sharp contrast to the dark pinstriped suit Heechul's in. He pads to Heechul, leans against one of the armrests to touch a hand to Heechul's hair, dyed red for the month. "Personal. You're beautiful, I'm sure you know."
Heechul wants to laugh him off, like he's done to all the men who think that because Heechul looks feminine, he'll bow down to their 'masculinity', but something about this whole situation, this man-boy touching him, makes him bite his tongue, look up to him. "I don't even know your name, and you want me to sleep with you?"
The boy smiles, brilliant and white. "I'm Hyukjae. You're Heechul. I want you. You could learn to want me. I'm very good in bed, people have told me so. I don't except you to turn over control of your boys, your territory. In fact, I'd be happy if we don't talk about work at all. I'm just really interested in seeing what kind of sounds I could get out of you."
Heechul runs his tongue against dry lips, feels some of his wits come back to him when Hyukjae's eyes follow the movement. He stands up, stands close, slips his fingers just into the hem of Hyukjae's sweatpants. "Or maybe I could get them out of you?"
Hyukjae's answer is a cheeky grin. "Tell me, how do you feel about handcuffs?"
author's choice // et dentelle noire.
hyukjae grumbles as the corset is tightened around his waist. "the things i do for money." there's a quick tug on the strings that leaves him gasping for air.
"shut up. you should just be thankful you're not living on the streets anymore, ungrateful brat." leeteuk's voice is firm, but there's a smile hidden in it that hyukjae knows all too well.
"you should be nicer to me, you can't hurt your best dancer. where will you get all your money?" hyukjae grins into his arms until leeteuk slaps at his butt, then he yelps and turns around. leeteuk only raises an eyebrow at him, and hyukjae sighs. "okay okay, whatever."
he smoothes out the dark red skirt he's been stuffed into, touches his fingers against the red and black lace of the corset. "i still think these men should go to a regular whorehouse if they want to see women."
"just go dance, will you? you're the only one here who complains so much, my god."
hyukjae flicks him a grin before leaving the room. "i'm not nearly as bad as aiden."
leeteuk groans at the thought of the american-born boy no one can understand because of his horrible korean, who doesn't ever shut up and calls himself a fish. it makes hyukjae laugh as he goes backstage.
he's thankful for this week's costume. dancing as a wild gypsy can-can girl means he can be barefoot, instead of trying to stomp around in heels he can never get the hang of. he hears the faint murmurs of the crowd, and instead of being nervous like the other boys, it makes his heart beat double-time while his breathing slows. he was born for the stage.
the music starts, and hyukjae arches his back and opens the wide black fan in his hands, and when the curtain rises, he's not hyukjae anymore, just a body that dances.
-
heechul yawns a bit, and sungmin punches his shoulder. "stop being such a grouch."
heechul only shrugs, leaning back in the plush chair of the exclusive box sungmin had bought. "dancers are a dime a dozen, sungmin. you keep dragging me to these places and expect me to be impressed by something. it hasn't happened yet, i don't think it ever will."
sungmin shakes his head, sips at the glass of wine in his hands. "i think you'll be surprised here, just wait."
heechul rolls his eyes and opens his mouth for another complaint when music starts, the orchestra he can barely see playing something slow and dark and slinky. heechul raises an eyebrow, amused. he'd been expecting the usual honkytonk; he admits he's surprised.
then the curtain rises, and heechul has to blink. it's a slim lithe figure, back to the audience, dressed in a red skirt ripped and torn around the knees, a corset tight around a thin waist. he assumes it's a woman, at first, but he's quick to take in the lack of definite curves, the flatness of the chest, the shortness of the hair. a boy?
his questioning quietens when the figure starts moving, hips moving side to side with the music, a fan waving in the air before lowering as the figure turns.
a boy, heechul confirms absently. he moves to the music, and the smile on his face shows he knows what he's doing to the crowd, to the people watching them. he waves the fan in the air, arms coming up over his head as he moves his hips in circles, dips and sways and arches his back. he commands attention, and rewards when it's given.
heechul's holding his breath without realizing it.
sungmin laughs when the curtain falls, turning to heechul. "well?"
heechul nods slowly. "i'll admit it, you were right this time... that boy, sungmin. i want him.”
-
when hyukjae dances backstage, laughing at the euphoria of a show done well, leeteuk rushes him, pushing him into the dressing rooms. "hurry, you've got to clean up, hurry!"
"wha-what? what's going on? hey, what's going on?" hyukjae fumbles as leeteuk strips him down with barely a pull, then rushes to the racks and pushing through clothes frantically.
"kim heechul is here and he wants to see you and damned if i'm not going to send you to get every penny out of him as you can."
"what?" hyukjae's eyes widen, and he stammers. "w-why in the world is he here and why in the world does he want me? he's going to change his mind in a second, hangeng is out there now and he's going to forget all about me." hyukjae nods as leeteuk snorts and pushes a black dress at hyukjae, more lace and thread of silver at the hem.
"you would get on my nerves so bad if i didn't know it wasn't just false modesty. just put the dress on and make yourself pretty, he's being taken to the blue room now."
hyukjae's fingers slip on the buttons of the dress and it falls to the floor, making leeteuk yelp and lunge for it, then helping (stuffing) hyukjae into it. "the blue room? but leeteuk, i'm not a whore. i can't sleep with him, you know i don't do that, oh my god what if he wants me to sleep with him, i can't go, send junsu, junsu knows what he's doing, leeteuk-" hyukjae's cut off by leeteuk slapping a hand over his mouth and glaring at him.
"shut up, get dressed, and get your ass to that room hyukjae, or i'm going to send you back to the streets."
hyukjae groans softly and puts on the dress.
-
there's a soft knock at the door. heechul sooths out the lapels of his suit and sits on the dark blue loveseat situated in the center of the room, raising a glass of wine to his lips. "enter."
the door opens slowly, and heechul smiles wide, anticipating. the dancer walks in, and heechul snorts, amused, at the open innocent look he's wearing, at odds to the lowcut black dress seemingly painted onto his body.
"hurry up, come in, don't act like a shy little thing. i'm sure you know what you're doing." heechul can't believe the boy would even try for the innocent virginal act, like anyone in this whorehouse was a virgin. that would defeat the purpose.
the boys nods, a red flush rising to his cheeks as he closes the door behind him, hands clasped demurely in front of him, head down.
heechul rolls his eyes. "come here, i told you to drop the act."
the boy blinks at him, before making his way over. "s-sorry, sir." he comes to stand in front of heechul.
heechul takes his hand and tugs him down, and the boy tumbles with a yelp, landing as a pile of lace and long pale legs on heechul's lap. heechul laughs, sliding a hand up a thin thigh to touch at a garter wrapped high around it. "i wonder, does that flush of yours cover your entire body?"
the boy makes a choked sound and slaps heechul's hands away from him, making heechul pull back, surprised. "don't! i'm not a whore, you can't just grab at me." he pulls away, falling to the floor, and he looks up at heechul, indignant, mouth pulled into a frown.
heechul stares down at him, stunned, then bursts into laughter. "you really want me to believe that?" he sneers, resting an elbow against the armrest of the loveseat to look at the boy. "you dance like that on stage, you wear clothes like that, you live at a whorehouse, and you expect me to believe you're not a whore?"
the boy makes a face. "i don't care if you believe me or not, but i'm not a whore. i just dance, to earn my keep, and leeteuk lets me live here, i've nowhere else to go." he ducks his head for a moment, fingers plucking at the lace decorating his skirt. "but i'm not a whore, and leeteuk doesn't use me as one."
heechul doesn't quite believe it, but he has to admit, the boy doesn't seem like he's lying, nor would he have a reason to. if he really were a whore, he wouldn't be trying to get out of a chance to earn money. heechul looks him over, the nervous tapping of his fingers, the red still staining his cheeks, and decides, the hell with it. he'll go along.
"come here, boy, i won't rip your clothes off. what's your name?"
the boy sends him a nervous glance, but stands up and comes to sit next to heechul, straightening out his skirt. "hyukjae, sir. my name is hyukjae."
"hyukjae..." heechul rolls the name on his tongue, and grabs the boy's hand, pulls him close to his side, laughing down at him. "well then, hyukjae, how about a deal? let's see if i can bring that flush back on your face without making you a whore."
hyukjae's eyes widen, mouth opening, and heechul takes the chance to kiss him.
non-celebrity // And it was all a dream.
hyukjae wakes up one morning and the dream he's woken up from makes him laugh, from the bed to the bathroom to the ride on the bus to work. in the office, heechul gives him a slow look-over, and ends with a raise of his eyebrows. "you got laid," he says, a statement not a question.
hyukjae shakes his head as he sits at his desk, spins around a couple times in his chair likes he does every morning. "nope." heechul's eyebrow raises higher and hyukjae laughs, concedes. "okay yeah, but not just that. i had the best dream ever. i was a pop star." he chortles, and heechul blinks once before starting into laughter.
heechul's laugh has a way of making you think he's laughing at you, no matter what, even when he isn't.
"you, a pop star? middle-age crisis already? before me?"
hyukjae shakes his head, takes the ribbing in good nature. "you were in it too. we were part of this gigantic boyband, we were two of fifteen, and we were gay."
heechul holds his stomach, holds himself up against the water tank that's never full fast the halfway line. "well, the last once is pretty truthful, to you at least."
hyukjae grins brighter, snippets of the dream coming back to him as he talks, absently shuffling through papers to get started for the day. "you were the queen of the group. you dyed your hair a different color every month-" he glances up to the short messy jet black hair heechul's had for the last three years "-and your nickname was cinderella. people were never sure if you were a girl or not, it was part of your mystery."
heechul slides into the seat of his own desk, drawing his legs to rest crossed at the ankle on top of his newest folders. "and you? please tell me you were the idiot of the group, it'll keep me happy through every bullshit complaint for at least the rest of the day."
"sorry, no can do. i was the dancer." hyukjae looks up, the grin on his face wide and proud. heechul dissolves into fresh laughter, sliding further down into his seat. "hey, i was awesome! totally one of the best dancers in the whole industry. i was pretty sexy."
heechul is wiping tears from his eyes at this point. "yeah, if there was any doubt this was a dream, that totally cleared it away. you couldn't dance for any circumstance under the bright blue sky."
hyukjae shakes his head as he finishes organizing. he takes quiet pride in being the regional manager of the local branch of a department store giant. "i know that. but it was a great dream, all in all. princess heechul and dancer hyukjae."
heechul chuckles, pulls out his phone. "i've gotta text hyejung about this, she'll laugh so hard. oh, speaking of, she wants you to come over for dinner in a few days. she wants to show off minjoo some more."
"i still can't believe you married such a great girl. you don't deserve her." hyukjae looks up and grins at the soft smile on heechul's face, the light in his eyes as he stares at his phone, where hyukjae knows that a picture of his wife and his one year old daughter is his background.
"i know i don't," heechul answers with a shrug, and the smile on his face grows a little sharper. "but you can't have her, back off."
hyukjae laughs. "say that when she falls for my manly charms and leave you for me."
heechul's booming laugh is cut off by the phone ringing, and the sound of people coming down the hall. he and hyukjae share a shrug and a wry smile; another day another dollar.