#Super Junior Heechul fic | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

noonawriter · 4 years ago

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Delicious Rendezvous Chapter 7

WORD COUNT: 3465

WARNINGS: Bodily harm threats, mention of narcotics, smut, cursing, alcohol consumption, Heechul feels a lot more than he actually realizes

DELICIOUS RENDEZVOUS

CHAPTER 7

Throbbing throughout your body was the first thing you noted. It was hard to pinpoint just where the pain began, where it stopped, but knowing that you felt it was a good sign. You were still alive.

Eyelids heavy, you tried to open them slowly; bright lights shining down made it next to impossible to see clearly. You attempted to turn your head to the right, just to get a sense of where you were or what was going on. Then you heard him.

“Ahh, I see you’re back among the land of the living. Just in time, too.” Claude’s sharp voice sent a chill through your body. It made you shrink back, but not anywhere near as far as you’d have hoped. A quick tug to your wrists gave you the tinge of clarity you needed. You were strapped down onto some sort of table. At least he’d had some sort of humanity to leave something soft under your head.

You groaned, trying to find some sort of relief and adjust. “Please, I’m begging you, le…”

Claude hummed sarcastically, as through he was enjoying every moment. “Are you?” he drawled, clearly excited. “If you were begging, you’d be on your knees.”

Your eyes cut to him quickly, mouth opening to hurl insults and swears his way when his hand clamped down, muffling you effectively. “Nice try, but you, my dear, are going to listen to what I have to say. You may not enjoy it, but I am quite through with playing nice.” The sinister look that settled upon his face had you recoiling as much as your straps would let you. The way his hand moved to gently caress your cheek made you want to retch, and the loving look that took over his face gave him a psychotic-looking aura.

Claude begins to murmur to himself as he turns away from your immobile form. You can hear metal hitting against metal as he moves items around. “You should have just said yes. No one has ever turned me down.” He turns back to you with some type of syringe in his hands. You see him push the plunger, fluid coming from the rather larger bore needle that sits threateningly atop it.

Shivering at the surprisingly gentle touch he is using, you can tell he’s about to inject you with some unknown substance. Whether it’s poison or narcotics, you cannot afford to be under his spell. Your brain whirs as you try to pull some magic from the reserve you keep closed off, in case of emergencies. It shocks you to find that he hasn’t placed any magical dampeners on wherever you are. If you can just hold on a bit longer, the perfect time will happen and you can bust your way out of here. But for now, you need to keep him occupied and keep that syringe away from your neck.

You cleared your throat, mustering up the strongest voice you can manage in this situation. “This isn’t the way to make anyone love you.”

Claude stops short, taken aback by how unaffected you sound. “Love?” He laughed at that, fondly even, as he looked down at you with heat in his eyes. “My sweet plaything, this isn’t about love.”

“You haven’t forced yourself on me. You haven’t even touched me until now.” You swallowed, forcing yourself to maintain that steadiness. “And even then, it was as though you think I’m made of glass.”

He smiled, utterly sure of himself, “I’m patiently waiting for you to ask nicely.” He leaned down to murmur right into your ear, “And you will ask nicely.” He looked away for a moment - gone was the tenderness. “Him and his damned predictions, trying to turn everyone against me. But now that I have you, all the power lies in my hands.” His muttered rant continued as he stared off into the distance. “He’s been a thorn in my sides for more decades than I care to count. Now that I have the opportunity to take him out? It’s a win-win situation.”

You struggle against your bonds as he comes closer to you with the menacing shot in his hands. He looks you up and down and smiles, creepily, evilly, knowingly. There is something darker, more menacing behind his eyes and you aren’t sure you want to stick around and find out what he’s on about. He gets down in your face, lips dangerously close to yours.

Claude took in a deep breath, nosing down to your ear. “You will love me eventually.” Once his hands make contact with your skin, it flashes through your mind like a highlight reel, all the plans he has for you, the chaos he plans to create where Heechul is concerned. What frightens you the most is that he sees you standing beside him, a lifeless smile plastered across your face while he hurts those you’ve come to know and quite possibly love.

Before his lips can touch yours, a blinding light surges through your body, feeling like a dam has broken and all its water is surging forward with nowhere else to go. You’re hurtling through some unknown space, lights making it so you can’t see. Somewhere deep in the back of your mind, the only image you can see is Claude flying through the air and landing far away. You can tell you are no longer in that sadistic opulent room.

Jagged concrete digging into your palms is the first thing you notice when everything goes still. Dampness begins to encompass your overheated body. Taking in deep breaths as you struggled to sit up, your body sagged and fought for you to be still. “Need...” You rasp as you try to get up again, head swimming. Shaking your head to clear it seems pointless. You manage to crack open one eye and see a city street before you, street lamps dark and fog settling around you. “Got to get ba-”. The sentence doesn’t get completed because as you finally stand to search for the club, you feel yourself falling down, though you don’t land on the harsh concrete. A strong pair of leather-clad arms caught you securely as the darkness welcomed you into its cool embrace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Siwon was the first to notice the dark lump on the sidewalk. An unknown force was pulling him towards it, telling him to check it out. Once he caught your scent, he moved in carefully, cautious because something didn’t feel right. He caught you on the second sway, carefully cradling your body close to his, damning his cold nature. “Master!” He cried out.

He didn’t need to yell too loud. Heechul was right on his heels the moment he felt your energy reappear in his area. His eyes searched your face, his sweep surely noting the pallor of your usually tanned skin. You felt drained of blood, of everything. He noticed a few small pin pricks along your carotid and fumed. He saw how your sluggish eyes struggled to open as he took your frail form into his own arms. “Shhhh. It’s me.”

It didn’t register. Not at first. You fought with what little energy remained in your body. He tightened his hold, pulling your head into his chest and squeezing your shaking body gently. “It’s me! Calm down. You’re safe.”

A quick kiss pressed to your forehead, then he teleported you both into his chambers.

Once Heechul had you settled, he began to mentally bark out orders. They were so loud; he wasn’t taking care to direct them. Though you could hear it, your comprehension still drifted in and out, sluggish, the words jumbling, crashing into each other. He sent word for Jongwoon and called for some water. So loud. But then so gently, he clutched your hand with his eyes closed, muttering to himself. His grip tightened. Your lips were moving but he couldn’t hear what you were saying - if you even knew yourself. He lowered his head enough to barely catch your whimpered ‘don’t leave’. His little gasp meant he must’ve heard you.

A feedback loop seemed to have formed between you and him, its switch stuck in the on position. If one of you was supposed to do something about that, it clearly wasn’t going to happen. His skin felt so nice where it touched yours.

The doctor showed up moments after Heechul had reassured you that he wasn’t going anywhere. He sat quietly by your side, thumb running across the back of your knuckles softly. Muting out Jongwoon, he zoned out; more quietly thinking of all the ways he can exact revenge for what happened to you, like a low muttering beneath your own muddled thoughts. Claude was going to pay for taking you right from under his nose. That much, you agreed with. Heechul still couldn’t wrap his head around how it all went down. An elegant plan: create chaos, misdirect attention and extract the real target while the distractions play themselves out.

That bastard didn't care how any of it went because he didn't have to.

He was brought out of his moment when he heard you clear your throat. Turning towards the weakened sound of your voice, his eyes lit up, knowing things were sort of alright. You struggled swallowing, wincing each time. He grabbed the cup from the side table, assisting you to sit up and drink some more.

“You don’t have to say anything right now. Just rest.” Heechul’s words shot out rapidfire, so fast they nearly tripped over each other. Caught off guard by your giggles, his eyes go wide. He’s not used to someone taking him lightly like this. His mouth opens and closes several times, unsure what to say, what to do.

He felt you grip his hand tighter to bring him out of his head. “Heechul, stop trying so hard.” A flush of embarrassment threatens to rush to his face as you continue, the curling in dread of it mirroring itself in your chest, yet not yours. “This is weird, even for you.” The energy you put off hits him like a freight train. You’re still terrified and now he can see it in your eyes, reflected in pulses coming off of him.

Eyes boring into each other, he breaks the silence first. “I can see it in your eyes. The panic. What’s gotten you so scared?”

He watches as your eyes divert to the other side of the room. The frazzled energy you were giving off earlier grows even greater. “Claude got me because of chaos”, you whisper. “Who’s to say he won’t do it again?”

“Look at me.” Heechul’s command leaves no room for argument. His tone sounded firm even though he was still shaken on the inside. “I have an idea, but, you need to rest first.”

He goes to leave, but a quick squeeze to his hand was how you told him you wanted him to stay by your side. Being left alone was the last thing you wanted right now. He slipped off his shoes, removed his suit vest and settled in beside you, hand still clasped firmly with yours.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Alyssa, we need to re-do the ritual.” Heechul says matter-of-factly. It’s glaringly obvious that it wasn’t enough last time but he knows he didn’t go all out either. “I know you aren’t up to it right now. And that’s okay.” His last few words were hesitant. The sooner they pull this off, the better protected she’ll be and the better he’ll feel.

He lays beside her, arm draped across her waist as he breathes in the comforting scent that she gives off. She’s awake but not talking. He can feel her processing his words, trying to decide if she’s ready for that level of commitment. He’d had her research sex magic a bit more since their last rendezvous in this same bed. He wanted her to be aware of her options, of what she would be signing up for should any of it be required. Admitting that it was more of a necessity than he'd impressed upon her was... a matter he had thought he would have more time to prepare for.

She sighs deeply. “I’m ready. I don’t ever want to experience that again.” A visible shudder rolls through Alyssa’s body that causes her to grind on him, given their current positions. He bites back a moan, but she feels the catch in his breathing. She arched her back in his hold, ass on his nether regions as she whispers, “Tell me what to do.”

His hands gripped her hips tightly as his lips trail down the cusp of her ear to her jaw line, leaving behind open-mouthed kisses. “This is going to be more intense than last time.” One of his hands slipped away from her hips, fingertips trailing up to her breasts where he kneads the clothed mound gently. “We must connect at a deep level,” he groaned out. “I know just how to achieve that.”

He’d smirked when he said it, but the edifice of his confidence, in truth, felt fragile.

Heechul rolled the two of them so he was laid comfortably on the bed and Alyssa was straddling his hips, her throbbing sex lined up perfectly with his hardening crotch. “The truth is, I... have a predilection for, well-” Embarrassment was a feeling nearly forgotten from how very much time had passed since it had last visited him. This wonder atop him, oh, how she has brought out so much that had long been buried! “I enjoy being moderately restrained,” he whispered at last as he produced a golden, corded rope from under the pillow. She bit her lip and ground down on him, making them both cry out; his groan deep and raspy, hers high and wanton.

She gathered his wrists together, securing them to the post at the head of the bed. She begins to litter kisses down his jaw to his collarbone, paying particular attention to the pulse point that had him shivering. He tried to continue. “The protection will be much more powerful this w-” He visibly swallowed. A nip to his skin had him stuttering while Alyssa continually ground down. “Fuck. Th-this way, our powers will combine better, but yours will be more in control, as will you.” He jerked his hips up to emphasize that last point.

She whined out and caught herself before she could fall completely on him. She found his lips and kissed him passionately. He returned the kiss with just as much fervor, tongue swiping at hers, asking for entrance. As their tongues clashed, her hands roamed to his belt, fighting to get it undone just enough. She paused their makeout session as she gestured for Heechul to lift his hips.

“God, you’re eager.” He moaned as she worked diligently getting his throbbing member free and stripped down herself.

Alyssa smirked back at him. “And you’re not?” Her hands on her hips, eyebrow cocked up as she stared at him. The feedback loop snapped back on, the circuit complete once more, his every thought and feeling hers and the same returning to him. They were completely open to each other, as though they were one person sharing two bodies. He surrendered to it, to being overpowered with her thoughts, her feelings, her very being.

It reverberated through him, She couldn’t deny how turned on she was right now. How she’d never been in control like this, and the power trip she was currently experiencing was otherworldly. The pre-cum dripping from his reddening tip was enticing her. She crawled back up his legs, placing a kiss to the slit, carefully watching him writhe in his bonds. It was exquisite agony. Deciding to play with him a bit, she took his hot length into her mouth, carefully sliding it all the way to the back of her throat.

Heechul convulsed on the spot and pleaded, “Let, let me finish!” She popped off, a trail of saliva still connecting her lips to his member. When she stared at him through the tendrils of hair that covered his face, he wanted to cum right on the spot. “You are in control,” he said, knowing its truth. “This is what we’re focusing on this time.” His wholly unnecessary breaths nonetheless grew rapid; he couldn’t discern what was whose anymore. “You can decide what magic comes through and what doesn’t.” He watches as she wipes her mouth off with the back of her hand and moves to line her entrance up as she takes him into her hands. “It will draw from- your power- hngh!”

He bit his lower lip as she eases down onto him, her velvet walls sucking him in, fitting him like a glove. She moaned out so loudly that he knew someone would hear them, but she felt so good like this, he couldn’t bring himself to care. As she set the pace, her hands found purchase on his chest. She leaned in, kissing him deeply to try and mute herself.

He closed his eyes, allowing their magic to combine in this moment, the very last barrier falling, him alongside it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His fingertips traced random patterns along her naked thigh as he watched her slumber deeply, content to allow her this moment of peace. She deserved at least that. From the simple yet intoxicating scent he was breathing in from her to the comfortable weight of her legs entwined with his own, Heechul felt something deep in his soul - something he’d thought to be lost.

He quickly but gently adjusted his hold on her, smirking when she subconsciously fit yourself against him again, like a puzzle piece. From this angle, he noticed the reddening around her wrists had begun to fade. Anger surged to the forefront of his mind. How dare he mark her body like that, like he owned her.

That thought hit him like a freight train.

The idea of someone else having any claim to her was not as foreign of a concept as he initially thought it was when the two of them first met. She was just a side project that would, in time and with some luck, become a full-fledged member of his menagerie. How had she managed to break through every single wall he’d manage to build up in the past few centuries?

He considered all the possibilities until he heard the door creak open. He shifted slightly, pulling more cover over the both of them and closed his eyes to appear asleep. However, that familiar scent gave the intruder away. Heechul heard a gasp once his bartender fully realized what he was seeing. He silently chuckled, opting to send the comical man a telepathic message instead of disturbing Alyssa.

‘Let me find out you breathed any one word of this to any of the brothers.’ He could physically feel the way Shindong gulped, almost seeing the way he was trying to not trip over his own two feet to vacate Heechul’s bedroom. He pulled her closer, heart warming slightly as she relaxed further into his hold. Work had to be done, but... Now was not the time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After helping Alyssa get to the shower and making sure her strength had returned, Heechul contemplated returning to his office. His mind was running rampantly, deconstructing what had happened, how they’d made it through his barriers. So lost in thought, he didn’t even notice how red Shindong had gone in the face when he walked past. Muttering voices hushed as he passed but he paid them no mind.

Safely ensconced in his office, he went to his private stash to pour a stiff drink. Several of the bottles were a personal collection and every bottle had a story behind it. He recalled who was with him when he gained a particular bottle. A special occasion indeed. A small smile stole over his face at the memory of how it was a group effort, but his brothers knew what it meant to him.

A second after he picked up his drink, he put it right back down to pace without having taken a sip. “Of course! My mistake is so obvious now. Trying to topple them by myself is a fool’s errand.” He tried to rest for a moment on a soft chaise lounge at one end of the room, but sprung right back up, shaking his head before going back to pacing. “I must choose my first prospective ally wisely..."

He cleared his throat, taking a large swig of his beverage. “Siwon.” Nothing more needed to be said. The calm, commanding aura of his clan’s leader surged behind him. “It’s time for a meeting. But first, we need to talk.”

Author’s Note: This one took a bit more time that I planned for. Life just wasn’t allowing for creativity for a few days. But no fear because the story is back and still chugging along! Lots of credit still goes to @thesirenandtheking for the immaculate help. Couldn’t do this without you.

#Superjunior #Super Junior #Superjunior fic #Super Junior Heechul #Super Junior Heechul fic #heechul fic #heechul smut #suju fic #supernatural heechul #supernatural kpop fic

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kpopimaginings · 3 years ago

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SuJu Reaction: S/O is being bullied

Leeteuk

Wants to fix it. As a leader he is used to having to step in and diffuse situations which is what he wants to do here. He will either do what he can to stop them or remove you from any situation that gives them the opportunity.

Heechul

His focus is all on you. Are you ok? How can he cheer you up? Just wants to sit and hold you for a while. Will assure you that clearly the bully has issues because you are perfect so there's no way you could be the problem.

Yesung

Little ball of rage. Ready to solve this with violence if he needs to. Will be with you as much as he can and threaten the bully to get them to leave you alone.

Shindong

His reaction will depend a lot on how affect you are by it. His first thought is to be goofy and take your mind off of it. The he might try to take some serious action to get it stopped. Wouldn't get involved himself but would speak to someone in authority.

Eunhyuk

Protective boy. Keeps flicking between wanting to comfort you and wanting to sort out the bully. Knows the best way to cheer you up is to make it stop so will do what he can and then give you all the love.

Siwon

Starts asking lots of questions. Just wants to fully understand the situation so he can make his love feel better. Creates a safe space for you to talk and vent and escape when you need to.

Donghae

Probably going to end up just as upset as you are. Expect him to sit and cry it out with you before he starts to think logically.

Ryeowook

Sweet boy. Lots of empathy . Another one that will probably start crying too if you're crying. Will get emotional and give you compliments over and over until you believe it. Lot's of 'I love you's. Almost forgets that you were being bullied because he was so focused on making sure you are alright.

Kyuhyun

Depends on the extent of the bullying. Might start hanging around you more when the bully could be present and just start doing it back, being his savage, petty self. If it's really serious or the bully gets physical with you, he'll report it to make sure the right things are done to stop it. Expect a cuddly affectionate Kyu when you're alone, just to make sure you're ok and feel safe.

NAVIGATION | SUPER JUNIOR MASTERLIST

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blesspastacraig · 3 years ago

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Lucky Star - 4/20

There are a lot of people who think that Kyuhyun is a useless stereotype. That's because he's had Byul in high school and he isn't technically out of his teens yet and he's having his second baby. People are much more complex than that. There are many intersecting reasons and factors as to why this has happened. Kyuhyun doesn't want to explain to his critics the ins and outs of his sex life. He doesn't want to explain just how the accident happened a second time.

So instead he's just judged. Seen as someone too stupid to use contraception. Someone who pops out more babies than he can afford. It's not true, of course. But that's the opinion of the general public.

#my fic #my writing #mpreg #super junior #cho kyuhyun #kim heechul #heekyu #kyuchul #super junior fanfic #super junior fanfiction #super junior kyuhyun #super junior heechul #cho kyuhyun/kim heechul #teenage pregnancy #teen parents #teenage parents #teen pregnancy

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hyukja3bbie · 4 years ago

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Chae’s childhood

*this would be a little more serious than the next parts of her life so putting it out there*

warnings: mentions of abuse, killing, depression, physical and emotional abuse (i don’t if there’s more please read with caution)

Parents: Min Sun-ah and Park Seong-hun

Both of them are very well known dancers in S. Korea

Sun-ah is also a neurologist

They divorced when Chae was 2 years old because they fell out of love and Sun-ah thought her husband cheated on her

but he didn’t. They just fell out of love

Sun-ah then met her boyfriend Yong-su who is also a dancer

They raised her pretty well

Chae started dancing when she was 2

Sun-ah and Yong-su helping her out

Mainly Yong-su since Sun-ah was busy with the hospital

Their family was really close to the Lee’s aka Donghae’s family because they were right next to each other

The Lee’s even letting Chae sleep in their house for fun

Sometimes even have Donghae and Chae farm

Reason why they’re so close

Everything was fine until Yong-su eventually got into gambling and alcohol

That’s when he started physically discipling Chae even in the littlest things like messing up choreography

Chae, being a very talk-balk person talk-balked at him every time he hurt her

But he would only get madder

He became more abusive to her and her mother, hurting her mother if she didn’t give him money for alcohol

His abusive act towards Chae became much more harsher, every day she would get a new bruise or cut

Sun-ah couldn’t do anything because he threatened to kill Chae if she does anything

Chae took all of those beatings every day while still having to go to school

Donghae would notice her bruises but she would brush him off, not wanting him to get involved scared that he might get hurt

When she got to school, there were times where she would encounter her fellow schoolmates getting bullied

And of course she can’t just ignore it

So she’d get into fights trying to defend them

And what comes with fights? Principal’s office

Yong-su would get called into the principal’s office so much

He wouldn’t care though

He was actually surprised to see Chae still being able to fight in her state

When they get home, he would discipline her much more harsh

Every time Chae cries she would get hit harder

That’s where she developed her phobia of crying

Every time she would cry, she would see visions of her stepfather hurting her

Her mother felt very sorry

Each time she went back home Chae would have sometimes have blood in her legs, hands and face

She helped her in treating her bruises

They felt sorry for each other. Both of them were abused

That’s why Chae created Impulse dance crew when she was 12

And also why she joined multiple sports

So she could stay away from home

She’s the leader of Impulse dance crew, with the three core member: her, Donghae and Jihoon

Impulse dance crew is for another part

Back to her family, when Chae turned 10 she was forced to work in Seoul because Yong-su had made Sun-ah quit her job

Chae worked 4 jobs back to back and went back to mokpo from seoul until she debuted

4 jobs because she was still young and she could only do jobs in cafes and restaurant like washing dishes and preparing ingredients

Donghae noticed this and that’s only time Chae had told him about what happened to her family

He became protective of her

But he was still a child

One time while Chae was home, a small child came to her house looking for her this was in 1999

That’s when she found Changmin

Changmin, her half-sibling showed her their father who was on his death bed because of stage 3 cancer

Adding onto her responsibilities, She took care of Changmin becoming his noona despite being tired

Having her salary divided into her family and Changmin

Sun-ah helped her daughter as much as she could

But she only did as much to protect her daughter

Sun-ah had given Chae the keys to her small house in seoul, wanting her to stay there.

While in working in Seoul, she was scouted multiple times

But she always declined not wanting to have more work to do

SM scouting her first, then YG, then SM again, and finally Lee Soo Man when she was buying food for Changmin in a street cart

She eventually accepted LSM’s offer

And was given a different contact

Because she had school, training for SM, sports and dance for Impulse, she never was home

Letting her rest from the continuous abuse that her stepfather did to her

But her mother was the one that got abused

Chae felt depressed about her life

Especially because of how her mother is getting hurt by her own boyfriend

On her fifth year of being a trainee (2003), she was called by her stepfather back home

She heard her mother scream bloody murder in the phone call

Making her ditch training and run back home

The last sight making breaking her into a millions pieces

She went home seeing her mother tied into a chair while Yong-su kills her slowly

Chae not being able to do anything because of the gun pointed at her by her psycho stepfather

Having exchanged i love you’s with her mother, Sun-ah dies without seeing her daughter’s future

Yong-su killing himself right after Sun-ah died

Chae had fallen

She stayed in the house while crying one last time

They were found by Donghae’s father next door when he heard a gun shot go off

Ever since then Chae became broken

She never became happy

She had no one beside Changmin

Chae moved out of the house and moved to her mother’s house in seoul with Changmin

During the funeral and the destruction of her home in Mokpo, she saw one box by her room

Inside of that box was letters from her mother during the time Chae was in seoul to work

Not only that, letters from Yong-su were also there

Asking for forgiveness

Chae had never made peace with him not until 2007 where she got the strength to forgive him and finally get peace

Her childhood became one of the biggest reasons why Chae is so disciplined, fearless and fragile

She never talked about it, only once

and that one time was enough for the fans to understand her story and why she never cried

She had only told this story to her members once, making them extremely protective of her

Its always been a mystery how she can smile and be happy in front of cameras while still bearing the pain

But when she learned to make peace, she became much more happier with herself but the pain never left her

Chae’s broken self slowly being healed back by her members and brother

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k-ryeo · 4 years ago

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#HappyHEECHULDay!

it was late at night, as usual. the infamous kim heechul was casually lying down on his bed, playing a new arcade game he just recently installed in his phone.

gibok lied beside him, sleeping peacefully as colorful curse words flowed effortlessly outside his owner’s mouth.

the singer/variety show genius was bothered lately and he didn’t know why. it felt weird. he kept feeling like he was forgetting things, but being meticulous and tidy, he seems to have everything in check even when he’s rushing to go to a shooting set.

nevertheless, the singer continued to relieve his stress by angrily tapping on his phone, dodging zombies as his character tried to survive the game.

— meanwhile, outside his apartment—

“you know the password, punch it in already!” hyukjae whispered to donghui, who stood in front of heechul’s door.

the 8 remaining members of super junior stood in front of kim heechul’s apartment, bringing a variety of goodies such as soju and other meals suitable for the occasion.

as usual, the hyungs brought both food and drinks while the maknaes brought out the decorations. a cute “happy birthday” streamer was held by kyuhyun and balloons spelling “heenim hyung” was brought by siwon and ryeowook.

“god if he charges at us with a knife just know i will not hesitate to yeet myself outta this apartment floor” donghui mutters as he punches in heechul’s apartment code.

the beep signifies their entrance, but the gamer-singer was already too immersed in his game to notice his members shuffling around his apartment, keeping everything quiet and clean to not upset the madman.

the maknaes set to work and the hyungs have prepared the table and the dining room because honestly heechul’s so tidy its no doubt he will throw hands when there is unintentional mess. oof.

meanwhile, heechul had the sudden urge to pee, so, pausing his game, he puts on his slippers and goes outside, only to be greeted by 8 other crazy people who greeted him a happy birthday.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEECHUL HYUNG!!!” they all greeted, clapping and cheering.

“im changing my apartment password after this.” he stated. “also, its not my birthday.”

“its definitely your birthday.” kyuhyun says, popping open a soju bottle.

“give me a calendar. its not and i will prove it to— oh.” heechul says as donghae pulls out his phone to show the exact time and date.

“july 10, 2020, 00:00”

“nevermind. happy birthday to me.” heechul says, dumbfounded.

a moment of silence passed by until jungsoo decided to cheer, his MC disease taking over again.

everyone else followed his cheer as they all celebrated, the cheering continues after they all came around and gave each other hugs and nice, warm greetings.

“see, hyung, heechul hyung didn’t charge at us with a knife.” hyukjae whispers to donghui as they all sat down to eat.

“not now, but if one of you stains my couch i might chase you all down with a knife.” heechul says as he grabs a slice of cake, maneuvering his way over to the couch and plops down.

“no but seriously.” heechul says after a quiet moment, chewing his cake quietly.

“thank you for visiting.” he finishes, eyes cast down on his plate. the rest of the members all smiled, gathering around their second hyung, giving him a sweet group hug.

—————

“hyung someone spilled seaweed soup on the carpet”

“get the fuck out of my apartment.”

————-

hope you like it lol;; i love heebom so much he deserves everything in this world ;—;

#happy birthday heechul #super junior #leeteuk #suju #sm entertainment #ryeowook #donghae #shindong #eunhyuk #siwon #yesung #heechul #kyuhyun #birthday #scenario #suju fics #superjunior fanfic #suju scenario #happyHEECHULday

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haus-of-wu-ao3 · 3 months ago

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fictober 2024 - day 9: don't listen to me, listen to them

summary:

taeyeon should be ecstatic about being named leader of the new team, but that's not the primary feeling that swirls in her gut. she calls on an old friend to get his perspective.

rating: teen and up audiences; no archive warnings apply

relationship: kim taeyeon & kim heechul

genre: magical realism, vignette

content warnings: none

#fictober24 #kpop rpf #snsd #girls' generation #taeyeon #super junior #heechul #k writes #fic updates #like a maniac i'm doing fictober (for the first time ever) to build the lore for #series: the magical everyday #i'm a bit late with this one lel

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inspired-by-the-music · 5 years ago

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Lost In Your Eyes: Heechul x Reader

Genre: high school au; i’m a believer in fluffy endings, but there are some kind of deep issues explored in this work. namely, beauty standards.

Word Count: 10k (this is actually my longest drabble!)

Tracklist: “Lost In Your Eyes�� by Debbie Gibson & “I Think We’re Alone Now” by Tiffany (bc your girl is 80s pop trash)

Note: y’all why do I have no self control when it comes to Heechul? this was literally just supposed to be a short piece based on a dream I had & it became a novella lol. honestly, I could have kept writing this forever & I could definitely be convinced to revisit this story’s universe!

fyi: to explore the themes of this story, the reader character is of Korean and Hispanic heritage.

You almost made it through high school without attracting a single boy. While you didn’t rejoice in that fact, you certainly weren’t losing sleep because the high school boys didn’t fawn over your naturally curly hair and eternally bronzed skin. Long ago, you had accepted that you did not fit their standard of beauty; you never would.

“There are far more important things than boys,” your father said often— whenever he found time to look up from the books that detailed the financial records of the Korean-Mexican restaurant he operated with your mother.

You believed him just as much as you believed your mother when she patted your shoulder and pressed a kiss to your cheek, saying, “You’re beautiful, baby.”

And yet, when your father hired him to work as a host and server so you could focus on studying for the upcoming graduation exams, you wondered if he would look at you if you resembled the girl on the cover of the magazine you read while stuffing your mouth full of rice.

His name was Heechul— or so you gathered from your father’s praises of his salesmanship and the excited chatter of girls who visited the restaurant, clad in tiny shorts and bikini tops, just to get a look at him.

“Come on now, ladies.” He would wink at the girls when they delayed in placing an order as long as possible in an effort to admire him for as long as possible without having to pay for food they didn’t care to eat. “You’ll order something, won’t you? Every penny you spend here goes toward my dream of buying a new motorcycle. Maybe if you help me enough, I’ll take you for a ride.”

Heechul’s dream changed every day. Sometimes, he dreamed of buying a new motorcycle, sometimes a new car, sometimes a new guitar or a new drum set (that he would use to write a song especially for whoever bought the most food). The girls never noticed that he never held a dream for long; they were all too happy to be a part of his fantasy of the day.

You couldn’t blame them for leaning into his every word. Aside from the fact that he was beautiful— his sleek shoulder-length black hair often falling from its ponytail to frame his face— Heechul crafted his sentences carefully. They probably didn’t recognize his wit. How could they even notice it when they were lost in his eyes or enchanted by his smile?

You could appreciate Heechul’s cleverness at first, though, because you only heard his punchlines while reviewing a practice test or while penning your answers to a magazine quiz to learn which K-Pop idol would totally fall for you. Heechul didn’t look at you, so you couldn’t get lost in his eyes. He didn’t smile at you, and yet you were very much enchanted by him long before he sat in the seat across from you in the corner booth.

“Hey.” His eyes met yours over the top of the magazine. Tapping his index finger against the cover, he asked, “Is this nonsense really more important than your studies, Y/N?”

Burning with the question, “How does he know my name?” you dropped the magazine onto the table and closed it over your open textbooks. Heechul pointed again to the neon decal advertising, “Want porcelain skin like your crush’s ideal type? Try these 5 tricks!”

“No.” You shook your head. “That’s not important to me at all. I was reading about this.” With your pink highlighter, you circled the text: “How to tell him you’re not interested.”

Heechul’s face flushed pink when he met your gaze, and once he recognized the teasing smile spreading across your face, he laughed. That high pitched scream of a laugh didn’t seem like it should have come from such a delicately pretty face, but it did; it turned heads, and the stares deepened your own laughter.

“Careful there,” he warned, expression suddenly grave. “You almost had me convinced that you weren’t interested in my attention.”

When you shrugged, feigning disinterest, and dropped your gaze back to the magazine as you flipped through its pages, Heechul yelped, “Hey! If you’re going to neglect your studies, at least pay attention to me!”

He snatched your magazine and fanned himself with it so the hair that escaped his ponytail blew in the breeze. He smirked at your glare— apparently of the belief that all attention is good attention— and you realized that Heechul wasn’t talking to you because of any genuine interest. He just couldn’t live knowing that he hadn’t stared into the eyes of every girl who entered the restaurant.

You had been content with being just another girl who admired Heechul, but you didn’t want to be another girl who inflated his ego. You didn’t want to be another girl who felt special just because he glanced your way.

Frowning at the realization that you couldn’t like him anymore— and you really enjoyed having such a harmless crush before he ruined it— you asked, “Shouldn’t you be working?”

Heechul retorted, “Shouldn’t you be studying?”

Hoping to drive him away by refusing him any attention you agreed, “You’re right,” before grabbing a pencil and reading through the instructions of the next practice test.

Heechul groaned at the lack of admiration and jumped out of the booth. “Right. So you don’t get distracted again, young lady—” he couldn’t have been more than a year or two older, so you rolled your eyes at his condescending language— “I’ll be confiscating this.” He flashed his glittering teeth when you watched him tauntingly lift the magazine higher and higher out of your reach.

“Give that back, Heechul!” You hissed as you stood in your seat to reach for the magazine. It hadn’t cost much, and you weren’t all that interested in it, but that wasn’t the point.

Who was he to make you feel small— first figuratively with his games and then literally by holding your property over your head? He couldn’t get away with being annoying just because he was gorgeous.

Except he could. His behavior had probably been excused every day of his life on account of his appearance. And he probably never paused to consider how his actions— how flaunting his good looks— impacted others.

“Oh, so you do know my name!” Heechul jumped as you tried to grab at the magazine. “It actually sounds better than usual when you say it. Do it again!”

Your fingers caught the cover, but Heechul wouldn’t loosen his grip around the pages, so when you pulled, the staples binding the magazine together snapped. Brightly colored pages depicting celebrities’s faces, detailing fashion advice, and instructing teen girls in the art of appealing to boys scattered across the recently mopped floor. They were ruined.

Heechul’s wide, guilty eyes met yours briefly before he set to gathering each page while muttering, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

You would have accepted his apology if you weren’t crumbling under the stares of the customers, many of whom were young women who hated you for holding Heechul’s attention for a moment when you were clearly so unworthy— so unappreciative. Too embarrassed to speak, you slumped into your seat, crossed your arms over the table, and buried your face in the bend of your elbow.

“I’m sorry,” Heechul repeated. Had you looked up, you would have seen how delicately he placed the poorly stacked pages on the table’s corner. You would have seen how he leaned forward, his face almost level with yours, to implore you to look at him so all could be forgiven.

You didn’t look, though, because you didn’t want him to see your face scorched by a crimson blush. “Just throw the pages away, please.”

“Are you sure?”

You doubted whether he could see that you nodded into your elbow, but when you looked up minutes later (after the waves of embarrassment subsided) the remnants of the magazine were gone along with every trace of Heechul.

Of course, you hadn’t been foolish enough to think that you wouldn’t see Heechul again just because he had taken care to avoid your table for the rest of his shift. You knew that it was likely just a matter of time until he spoke to you again, but you hadn’t expected his next correspondence to come so soon through a note that you found on your table.

After tossing your backpack into the booth, you read what he scrawled onto a sticky note likely grabbed from the host’s booth: “Sorry I ripped your magazine. Here’s a new one. And here’s my number if you want to call/text to cuss me out.” Carefully, you peeled the note off of the magazine and saw that Heechul used a red marker to circle a featured article titled “Five Ways To Say Sorry.”

It was silly: the fact that he had gone so far to apologize for ruining a cheap magazine filled with superficial thoughts you were supposed to hate and the fact that your heart raced just from reading his handwriting.

Unsure of how to reply to your cousin, you tossed your phone down on the table, rubbed the fatigue out of our eyes, and resumed your work. Sometimes, you thought, studying was less stressful than talking to AJ.

You didn’t think anything about leaving your phone unlocked, screen facing upward, until Heechul settled into the seat across from you and declared, “I see my name!”

Your eyes flicked up to find him scrolling through the texts. When you reached for the phone, knots tying in your stomach as you wondered how much of your cousin’s insanity he had read and taken as truth, he held the phone out of your reach.

“Apparently—” your face burned as you dared to look into his eyes— “you don’t learn from your mistakes. Does this scene look familiar to you at all?”

“I apologized!” Heechul reminded, and he probably would have clung to your phone longer if your father hadn’t appeared at your side.

Clearing his throat, your father asked, “What is going on here?” His stern gaze wandered between you and Heechul.

While you sank because disappointing your father was your deepest fear, Heechul responded promptly. Setting the phone down on the table, Heechul said, “I just came to check on Y/N’s progress. You know, I thought I could offer her some tips because I took the graduation exams just a couple of years ago, but I was never half as smart as she is.”

When Heechul glanced into your eyes, which were narrowed, confused by the sudden flattery, he smiled. “I guess I’m not much of a tutor, then.”

Mouth pressed into a thin line as a wrinkle darkened between his eyebrows, your father suggested, “I suppose that means you should get back to work, then.” It wasn’t a suggestion so much as an order.

Heechul’s smile faltered. Your heart sank at the thought, and you realized that your heart had been swelling with the growth of his smile. You had been leaning across the table, subconsciously willing yourself closer to him. You were just like everybody else: enchanted by Heechul’s smile.

Chewing on his lips as if embarrassed by your father’s reprimand, Heechul nodded. He tucked stray strands of hair behind his ears. “Yes, sir.” He dropped your phone— now locked, as evidenced by the darkened screen— atop your book and encouraged, “Keep up the good work,” before setting off to help your mother carry a tray piled high with enchiladas.

Your father then patted your shoulder and, after praising your hard work, reminded, “There are more important things than boys.” The twitch that moved his eyebrow when his icy eyes fell on Heechul from across the room was in stark contrast with his past boasts about the young college student who nearly doubled profits with his charisma.

Had your father mistaken Heechul’s interest in you too?

He wouldn’t walk away until you promised, “I know,” and proved your belief by fixing your stare on the math practice sheet when you really just wanted to watch Heechul laugh with your mother.

Once satisfied that your father wasn’t watching— he was too busy talking to a longtime customer— you unlocked your phone to see that Heechul had sent a text.

Despite your cousin’s professed interest in visiting, you didn’t expect to look up from your studies to find her sitting across from you, smiling broadly as she twisted one of her long blonde curls.

“AJ!” You would have smiled if your jaw hadn’t gone slack from the surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Okay, so here’s the official answer.” She tapped her French manicured nails on the shine black tabletop as her peach colored lips pulled more tightly into a bright grin. “It’s my spring break, and your mom paid for me to fly out here as a part of your birthday present!”

Your birthday? Surely you hadn’t forgotten.

When you scrambled through strewn papers to find your phone, you blinked at the date. It was your birthday— the one day of the year that was yours— and you hadn’t even realized until after wasting half of it studying in the corner booth of your parents’ restaurant.

“But unofficially,” AJ divulged, “I’m here on my quest for a baby daddy.”

At that moment, Heechul decided to appear at the table. Wearing his apron and name tag, hair tied back as he held the pen in one hand and notepad in the other, he looked like a model employee except for the devilish smirk twisting the corner of his mouth when he asked, “Who needs a baby daddy?”

Your face flushed crimson, and he laughed when you mumbled, “Damn it, Heechul, why did you have to show up right this second?” Since he called you beautiful, you hadn’t been able to look at him without blushing; this topic deepened your embarrassment.

Placing both hands on his hips and tilting his head at AJ, he asked, “How much will you pay me— to be your baby daddy?”

Anyone else in the world would have melted at his wink, but AJ didn’t crack the smallest smile. She didn’t flatter him with the faintest blush. She only shook her head. “Sorry, sir—”

Heechul glared when you giggled at the word ‘sir,’ but he ultimately broke into his own laughter until AJ concluded, “But you don’t have the assets I’m looking for in a baby daddy.”

As if you had been the one to offend him, Heechul gasped and looked to you for an explanation as he clutched his notepad over his chest. Rolling your eyes at his theatrics and AJ’s ideal type, you started, “She’s into buff—”

“I’ve heard enough!” Heechul decided, waving his hand dismissively as it fell from its place over his heart. “I didn’t come here to get insulted! I came to look at a beautiful girl—” He blew a kiss at you and delighted when you fixed your flustered gaze away from him— “and to take your drink order,” he said to AJ.

“That won’t be necessary.” AJ laughed at your embarrassment with Heechul. “I was just about to drag Y/N off to the beach if you wanna tag along. Maybe we can talk her into wearing a bikini!”

Heechul’s eyes widened at AJ’s proposition, and you wondered, glaring at her, “How are you going to talk me into wearing something I don’t own?”

“We can go shopping!” AJ suggested enthusiastically. “I saw a cute little boutique on my walk over here! Let’s just swing by on our way to the beach!” Then, as if a lack of funds was the cause of your reluctance, she offered, “I’ll buy the bikini— just consider it a birthday gift from me to you!”

Heechul asked, “It’s your birthday?” and he frowned when you nodded. “Damn! Now I feel really terrible about turning you ladies down. I’m on the clock, ya know?” He gestured sadly to his work attire.

Noting how your shoulders slumped, weighted by disappointment, AJ tried to make you laugh by joking, “Damn! Now how are we gonna assess your tiddie situation, Heechul?”

Again, as if you had spoken, Heechul scoffed at you. “Wow! I didn’t know you could be so bold!” He caught his tongue with his teeth as he smirked, his dimples deepening. “If you wanted me to take my shirt off, all you had to do was ask.”

Winking, Heechul set his pen and notepad on the table, reached around his back to untie his apron, and he might have reached for the hem of his shirt (as AJ slapped her hands on the table, roaring with laughter, while you concealed your burning face with your hands, peeking at him through your fingers) had your mother not approached the table.

“Oh, hi, ma’am.” Heechul bowed and donned a smile so sweet it made your teeth hurt. He waved both hands, and your mom mirrored the gesture.

“Hi, Heechul! And hey, AJ— I’m glad to see you made it here safely!” Your mom’s forever smiling eyes landed on you as she asked AJ, “You’re still walking down to the beach with Y/N, right?”

“Yeah, if I can convince her to walk away from her work for just a few hours!” AJ huffed in exaggerated frustration because she knew that would appeal to your mom, who feared that you didn’t spend enough time doing ‘normal teenager things.’

You mom told you, “You can take a break at least for today.”

Before you could argue that you weren’t reluctant to leave your work— you were just uncomfortable about having to wear a bikini— your mother set to closing your books and stacking your papers. “You can take the day off too, Heechul, so you can look after these girls. Make sure to have them back at the restaurant by 7 to have cake; you can stay for that, if you want.”

The beach was less than a mile away from the restaurant, and you had never been in trouble a day in your life, so there was no rational reason for mom to send Heechul to escort you and AJ. Still, you didn’t point that out when Heechul nodded, promising, “I’ll keep them out of trouble, ma’am!”

Nobody could have kept AJ out of trouble, though. As soon as the three of you entered the boutique across the street from the restaurant, she abandoned you and Heechul to strike up a conversation with the boy running the cash register.

While you rolled your eyes at her nerve, Heechul grabbed you by the hand and pulled you to the rack of bathing suits. “Guess that leaves us to shop alone.” He didn’t seem at all affected by AJ’s misplaced priorities.

Heechul usually laughed at your blush, but his gaze softened when he noticed that you were staring down at your sandals. “Hey.” He nudged you until you looked up at him, and he smiled— a small closed mouth grin that wasn’t supposed to make your heart thunder— as he released your hand.

“You don’t have to wear anything you don’t want to wear. See— here’s a modest one.” He plucked from the rack a striped black long sleeved bathing suit top matched with black shorts and held it out for your approval.

You shook your head, and when Heechul looked at you with gathered eyebrows, you explained, “Horizontal stripes aren’t flattering on me.”

“What—” His tone was harsh until he remembered that he was trying to make your birthday happy. Swallowing his annoyance, Heechul forced a grin, returned the striped bathing suit, and reached for another. This one was a ruffled cotton-candy-pink one piece.

“Ruffles exaggerate my curves.” You frowned as you picked at your nail beds.

Heechul groaned, “Y/N, curves are good—” and he bit his tongue only when you cut your eyes at him, cheeks reddening. “Fine.” He slammed the hanger back on the rack and asked, “Where do you get all this stuff, anyway? Is it from those magazines—”

“It’s fashion advice,” you maintained, but Heechul continued to argue.

“I don’t think it’s good for you to read things that tell you ‘You look bad in this, this, and that.’”

Had the shop been busier, you might have been embarrassed by his volume. Maybe then, you still would have been too flattered by his rage on your behalf to care who overheard.

Calmly, you explained, “They don’t just tell me what I look bad in. They also say what’s flattering for my body type.”

Heechul rolled his eyes as he humored you by asking, “Well, what do the magazines say flatters you?”

You pointed to the polka dotted red one piece. Heechul grabbed it and ushered you into the dressing room in the back of the store. In another attempt to make you laugh, the tried to walk into the dressing room with you.

He laughed— that high pitched cackle that drew everyone’s attention— as you snatched the bathing suit from his hands and pushed him out of the room, chuckling, “Nice try, Heechul.”

Even after all his skepticism toward magazine advice, Heechul frowned when you walked out of the dressing room without modeling the bathing suit.

“Patience, Heechul,” you urged as you rose to your tiptoes to pull the elastic that held his hair back. You had never seen him with his hair down before; he looked more beautiful this way. “You’ll see it at the beach.”

He grumbled, “Whatever,” while raking his fingers through his hair. He smiled only when you absentmindedly slid his hair tie onto your wrist before skipping to meet AJ at the register.

“Cute,” AJ cooed when you dropped the bathing suit onto the counter. “Very 1950s chic! Your almost-boyfriend has great taste!” You shoved her as she turned to wiggle her eyebrows and wave at Heechul.

Heechul’s frown returned when AJ whipped her wallet out to purchase your bathing suit.

“Hey!” His eyes spat fire. “I wanted to buy that!” Stepping by your side, he had also pulled his wallet from his work pants’ front pocket. He wore an indignant expression that clearly meant, “And I have every right to buy it! I helped her pick it out while you were sidetracked by your baby daddy quest!”

AJ mimicked his face, going so far as to stick her tongue out at him while adopting his whining tone. “Too bad! This was my idea first, so you’ll have to think of some other present for Y/N!”

While the cashier watched their exchange with raised eyebrows, you offered him an apologetic smile and tugged anxiously at one of your twin braids. “Guys, I’ll just buy it myself—”

“No!” Heechul and AJ shouted in unison, causing you and the cashier to jump and raise your hands in surrender.

Shoving his wallet back into his pocket, Heechul grumbled, “It was AJ’s idea first, so whatever.”

AJ stood triumphantly, beaming as she counted the money likely given to her by your Mom, and Heechul stood over by the door. He crossed his arms over his chest, lips pressed out into a pout.

You couldn’t explain that his presence alone was a gift without sounding like a lovesick fool, so you smiled as you walked to his side and said, “We’ll need towels and sunscreen and stuff, right?”

Heechul blinked until he understood that you were offering him another way to financially contribute to the beach trip since, obviously, that was so important to him. He grabbed you around the shoulders and grinned as he instructed, “Wait here.”

. . .

“What was the point of buying a bathing suit,” AJ asked as she plopped onto the checkered blanket with you and Heechul, “if you’re just gonna sit here the whole time?”

You tossed a towel at her, kicking with your bare feet to drive her off of the corner of the blanket she was soaking with ocean water. “Why did you drag me to the beach for my birthday if you’re just gonna flirt with every guy on the beach?”

The red patches that rose over AJ’s cheeks were either the beginning stages of a sunburn or her first blush. “Well, forgive me for not wanting to interrupt you and Heechul.”

At his name, Heechul propped himself up on his elbows and lowered his sunglasses to cock an eyebrow at AJ. “Excuse me? We aren’t doing anything. I am being a remarkably well behaved boy.”

“Right,” AJ said skeptically before rising to her feet and dropping the towel onto the blanket. “Well, I’m gonna go get ice cream. Might swim some more. I’m not sure yet. But you won’t see me again ’til it’s time to walk back to the restaurant.”

You thought AJ was mad at you until she winked before prancing away.

So that’s why she had been elusive all day: she didn’t want to be the third wheel. In her mind, this was a date that she had coordinated with your mom’s help.

Heechul rolled onto his side. “You can go swimming if you want.” Lying like that, with one hand supporting his head and the other resting on his hip, clad only in his black slacks, you couldn’t bear to look at him. You fixed your gaze on the not-too-distant shoreline as he said, “I wouldn’t mind. It’s your birthday, and your cousin is visiting from across the world, so do what’s fun to you.”

It occurred to you that there was an imbalance between you and Heechul. While you had vaguely admitted your attraction to him as some kind of crush similar to one every girl developed when looking at him, he had been open about liking you. Liking someone is different from having a crush. Liking someone is different from thinking they’re pretty.

The thing was, you did like Heechul. You couldn’t exactly explain why or when it started, but you figured you must have tripped some time during your first conversation. You must have fallen without realizing it until you looked up at him from your place on the ground.

You hadn’t ever liked somebody before, so you didn’t know how these things worked. You didn’t know what marked the distinction between crush and love, but you knew that you liked Heechul, and you didn’t want to swim because he couldn't walk into the water wearing his work uniform.

You knew, “I am having fun,” so you told him.

Heechul didn’t tease you. He simply lowered his sunglasses again to look at you without the barrier— to check your expression for any signs of uncertainty or deceit. He handed the glasses to you, explaining, “You’re squinting. Here.”

As you slid them onto your face, he crawled in front of you, sat with his back to you, and asked, “Do you know how to braid hair?”

“Yeah,” you answered, “but I don’t have a hair tie.”

He advised, “Check your wrist,” and you saw that you were wearing one.

Unable to remember where it came from or how Heechul noticed it, you set to combing through his hair with your fingers. “Do you want, like, a French braid, or—”

“I don’t care.” Always a little too honest to believe, Heechul explained, “I just want you to touch me, okay? And not in, like, a pervy way, so stop blushing.”

It wasn’t so impressive that Heechul knew that you were blushing without watching your face burn; you were almost always turning red while talking to him.

“Okay,” you agreed, playing with his hair without pausing for even a moment. Your movements didn’t falter until Heechul leaned back so that his back was flush with your chest.

“What are you doing?” He whirled around when you pushed him away. His voice had been grating— irritated— until he noticed that the color had drained from your face. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you or—”

Shaking your head, you explained, “My heart is racing. I didn’t want you to feel—”

Heechul gently grabbed your wrist and held your palm flat over his chest— bare and warm from the sun’s rays— so that you could feel it too: the rapid booming of his heart. Somehow, that made it okay. Somehow that made it right: the fact that he felt this way too.

Once you nodded, Heechul returned to his position with his back against your chest. When you said, “I can’t braid your hair when you’re this close,” he repeated, “I don’t care,” and he reached for his phone.

So he really did just want to be close to you.

You sat there for a few minutes, gaze shifting from the clouds overhead to the shoreline to the children building sandcastles to the couples sitting on blankets in positions to yours and Heechul’s. You sat there for a few minutes, stiff and unsure of what you should do, unsure of what you were expected to do, uncomfortably aware of what you wanted to do.

Finally, you gave in to your desires. You wrapped your arms around Heechul’s waist and hid your burning face in the scalding crook of his neck as you awaited his reaction.

He gasped at the unexpected affection and dropped his phone. His hair tickled your nose and lips while he asked, “What are you doing?” For once, he was the surprised one. He was the breathless one.

You replied, “I just want to touch you, okay? And not in a pervy way, so stop blushing.”

“Me?” His voice cracked as his arms grazed over yours. “I don’t blush.”

Hoping to call his bluff, you tried to raise your head, but he held you where you were, saying, “Don’t move. I want to stay like this for a while.”

“But Heechul,” you whined against his skin, “how am I supposed to kiss you from here?”

“Yah!” Heechul jumped out of your embrace and rounded on you again. He leaned forward on his knees, hands pressed down on the blanket on either side of your body, face just inches from yours. He couldn’t truthfully deny that his face was scarlet when he asked, “What’s gotten into you? Your cousin shows up, and suddenly you’re a shameless flirt?”

“Don’t blame AJ.” Somehow emboldened by Heechul’s blush, you accused, “It’s your fault that I’m acting like this.”

“My fault?” His jaw dropped, and he shook his head.

You nodded. “Yeah! You’re a terrible influence!”

“I resent that.” His growing smile suggested otherwise. His blush faded as he adapted to the situation; if you wanted to remain dominant, you would have to take action quickly.

“Besides, Heechul—” you teasingly lowered the sunglasses he gave you so he could see your wink— “hasn’t anybody ever told you that you’re irresistible?”

It was quick— almost too quick for you to appreciate the cherry flavor of his barely chapped lips against yours— over in the blink of an eye, but you would never forget that first dizzying kiss.

“Ah, damn it.” Heechul huffed when he backed away from you. His hair fell over his face, and he didn’t bother to move it (probably) because it acted as a curtain between his blush and your wide, curious eyes. “I’m supposed to prove myself worthy by waiting for you, and then I got all impatient like an idiot.”

At first, you thought that he was throwing a theatrical fit to lighten the mood— maybe he thought you were overwhelmed by the kiss— but then his shoulders slumped. He didn’t meet your eyes because he was focused on his balled fists.

You tried to comfort him by acknowledging, “I went out of my way to tempt you,” but that only seemed to make matters worse.

“That’s no excuse. You clearly said that you don’t want to date, and—”

“I’m sorry,” you interrupted, annoyed by his efforts to dampen the moment, “but I didn’t know that sharing one sweet kiss means we have to get married next week.”

Heechul blinked and opened his mouth like he wanted to argue, but then he broke into a bashful grin. “Oh. Yeah, maybe I’m overthinking things.” When he moved to sit by your side, he was careful not to brush his hand against yours; evidently, he wasn’t done overthinking.

A part of you— the part that forced your lips into a heavy frown— wondered how long things would be like this. How long would he, who never hesitated before, fear crossing the boundary you had drawn before trust was (somehow) established?

A part of you— the part that compelled you to toss the sunglasses into the beach tote so you could look at him without the slightest obstruction to your vision— said, “You’re a really nice person.” Then, that part of you said, “You’re a beautiful person, Heechul.”

“Why are you saying that?” He looked at you with an apprehension you recognize from the times you caught your reflection at school. He didn’t believe you. “You can’t say something like that just because I kissed you—”

“I’m not,” you argued, voice sharp as a blade although your heart was flooded with burning compassion. “I’m not trying to— I’m saying that you’re beautiful because you’re not going to kiss me again.”

Heechul sighed. “I don’t understand. I don’t know why you’re confusing me like this, but—”

“It’s beautiful that you care so much about waiting for me. It’s beautiful that you’re not pressuring me to just hurry up and date you just because the feelings are there.”

“That’s not beautiful,” Heechul murmured, smoothing the patch of blanket before him. “That’s called not being a total jerk.”

“Well,” you breathed, “I think it’s beautiful that you’re not a total jerk.”

When Heechul swallowed, his eyes still clinging to his mistrust, he seemed to realize that he couldn’t change your mind. Maybe he didn’t want to change your mind. “Okay. I believe that you think I’m beautiful, so I think you should try to believe that I think you’re beautiful.”

You gasped. When would you get used to the fluttering in your chest those words caused? Did you want it to end so that you could breathe more comfortably? Or did you want the feeling to last forever?

“What? What’s wrong?” Heechul finally pushed his hair aside so you could watch his face contort as he complained, “Y/N, you make me a little bit crazy. I know there’s a lot going on in your head, and maybe I wouldn’t get it all, but I— try to trust me a little. Please?”

“It’s not an issue of trust,” you claimed, but maybe it was. “It’s just—” adjusting your denim shorts, you worried aloud, “what if you think I’m weird?”

“Who gives a shit what I think?” Heechul apologized when you winced at his tone. “Well, obviously, you care what I think, huh?” He clicked his tongue. “Don’t worry then. I don’t think being weird is bad. I don’t think anything about you is bad.”

“I was just thinking,” you confessed when he linked his pinky with yours, “that I can’t breathe when you call me beautiful. And then I wondered how long I will feel this way. And then I wondered what’s wrong with me.”

“First of all, there’s nothing wrong with you,” Heechul said matter-of-factly. “It’s okay to be happy when somebody calls you beautiful—”

At the risk of sounding like a fool, you elaborated, “It’s not about being called beautiful. It’s about you calling me beautiful. I don’t want to be one of those girls who only feels special because a boy— even a boy like you— compliments her.”

Heechul frowned and scratched at the back of his neck. “See, I don’t know what to say about that. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with you feeling special because— get this— you are. And if I help you realize it, then, well, I don’t see any harm in that.” As if wounded, he asked, “Why can’t I be one of the things that make you happy? I get why I can’t be everything— I don’t want to be everything— but why can’t I be something?”

You shrugged, unsure of how to process his question (much less answer it), and Heechul started guessing, “Because I’m a boy? Because I like you? Because I’ll kiss you every chance I get? That’s not very fair, if you ask me.”

“It’s not because you’re a boy or because you like me or because you want to kiss me,” you admitted in a small voice, gathering your legs so you could rest your chin atop your knees. “It’s because— what do I do when you change your mind?”

Your question knocked the breath out of Heechul. He tried to mask his wheeze with a laugh. “Change my mind about what? Liking you? Falling in love with you? Thinking you’re beautiful?” He looked to you, again, for answers. Again, you shrugged, so he reasoned, “Well, Y/N, I’m not gonna lie or sugar coat things. People change, people grow, and sometimes people leave. I’m not going to promise you forever, and you shouldn’t trust anybody who does.”

Everything he said— you already knew it. Those truths were among the many fears that prevented you from leaping into the unknown with him despite your repressed desires. Hearing them spoken aloud should have stunned you, maybe terrified you, but the words were a comfort.

Heechul understood; Heechul wouldn’t pretend to hold the authority to silence your concerns forever. Perhaps above all, you appreciated his honesty.

“I like you now. I’m pretty sure I’m falling in love with you now,” he confessed. You knew he wasn’t speaking for a reaction, as he often did, because he wasn’t even looking at you. “Now is all I can give you.”

“Now,” you wanted to say, “is beautiful,” but you couldn’t find your voice, or you couldn’t find the words.

“But—” he looked at you briefly, stuttered when he found that you had been admiring him, and fixed his gaze up on the sky— “I will always think you’re beautiful. Even if you cut my heart out and stop on it— and I know you would never intentionally hurt me, but come on, that’s one of those things people do— you won’t stop being beautiful. Maybe you don’t know it yet, maybe you never will, but your beauty is one of those few forever things.”

You said, “I don’t believe in forever,” and Heechul breathed an airy sort of laugh that wasn’t born from amusement.

“Well, I guess we have more in common than we thought.” He looked at you, took your hand, and said, “I guess when it ends—” he gasped and amended— “ah, I don’t want to think about that, so let’s say if— if it ends, I’ll be able to look back and know that I loved someone truly beautiful.”

Heechul’s face burned when you said, “I don’t think that’s so important.” Lacing your fingers through his when he tried to pull away, you supposed, “That’s not as important as knowing that you were loved by someone who knows you are truly beautiful.”

Moments passed in silence, with the two of you looking at each other.

“You need to let go,” Heechul whispered, “because if you don’t, I’m going to kiss you again.”

“I’m not going to let you go.”

This time, you crossed the distance and caught his lips with yours. This time, the kiss lasted long enough for you to memorize the feeling of Heechul’s cool breath against your skin, the feeling of his one hand squeezing yours while the other moved to cup your cheek. This time, you knew that you would never catch your breath again, and you didn’t mind.

. . .

“Nice lipstick, Heechul.” AJ smirked on the walk back to the restaurant. “I’m sure Y/N’s parents are really gonna love how it compliments your complexion.”

Heechul smiled even as he reached up to wipe at his lips and cheeks. You blushed, realizing that he hadn’t stopped smiling like that since your second kiss.

AJ squealed, “Ah! He’s so damn happy he got kissed on the beach, he doesn’t care if he gets scolded by the ’rents!”

“The ’rents?” You rolled your eyes at AJ’s vocabulary while straining to remove the red stains from Heechul’s face. “What kind of— Heechul, stop pushing me away!”

“I like my kiss marks!” He shrieked before lifting you off the ground, arms secured around your waist, and peppering your face with light kisses.

“Children!” AJ playfully scolded, cupping her hands around her mouth like a megaphone. “Behave!”

You couldn’t help but laugh as a sharp breeze blew Heechul’s hair against your face. Cursing, he set you back onto your feet and set to combing through his hair. He was too focused on making his hair presentable to distract you from wiping at his face with a towel from the beach bag.

“My dad won’t like them,” you reasoned to his childish pout. “You don’t want him to make us break up so soon, do you?”

“Obviously not,” Heechul grumbled as you fished his red button-down shirt out of the bag.

Tossing the short at him, you ordered, “Put this on, then—”

Smirking, he jested, “That’s not usually how these things go. You’re asking me to put my clothes on?”

“— Nobody is gonna react well if you walk into the restaurant shirtless,” you concluded, gaze stern in response to his perversion.

AJ observed, wiggling her eyebrows at you, “You don’t seem to mind the sight so much,” and Heechul joined her in laughing at your spreading blush.

Their laughter didn’t die until the three of you walked into the restaurant and met with your father’s disappointed scowl behind the host’s podium. “Where have you been?”

Although his gaze was fixed solely on you— your breath gasped past your lips and, in your shame, you dropped the bag onto the floor— AJ answered your father as Heechul knelt to stuff the escaped towels back into the bag. “Auntie said that as long as we were back by 7—”

AJ fell silent as your father eyed her sharply. He turned his attention to Heechul, who stood up straight while holding the bag’s strap. Fearing that your father could somehow see the lipstick stains you had meticulously scrubbed, you shrank.

“Where have you been, Heechul?” Your father asked. “Weren’t you scheduled to work until closing?”

Shifting from one foot to another, Heechul started, “I—”

You would never hear his response. Your mom walked out of the kitchen carrying a birthday cake and smiled as she asked, “So, kids, how was the beach? Heechul, AJ didn’t act up too badly, did she?”

Apparently, it didn’t matter much (or at all) to your father that your mom had given the three of you permission— encouragement— to go to the beach. Pinching at the bridge of his nose, he said flatly, “AJ, I’m used to you being a bad influence—”

Rather than listening to your father’s scolding and crumbling under the weight of his disappointment, AJ rolled her eyes and stormed past you and Heechul, who were frozen stiff, to help your mom set the table.

“— but Heechul, I expect better from you considering your circumstances. You have a lot to prove.”

Heechul’s circumstances?

You glanced at Heechul for some kind of explanation, knowing well that this wasn’t any time to talk, but he had fixed his gaze down at his dull black shoes. The circumstances— whatever they were— must have been dire, judging by the dark maroon that colored Heechul’s entire face.

“And Y/N—” your father’s stern tone faltered when you looked away from Heechul to meet his stare with tear-filled eyes. Quietly, he asked as if he truly couldn’t understand why you would want to do something fun for your birthday, “You were supposed to be studying— don’t you care about your future at all?”

“Alright!” Your mom slammed the plates down on the table, stormed toward the conflict, and you were thankful that the restaurant closed early; at least nobody else would have to witness your humiliation. “Don’t start saying things like that! Your daughter slaves away in that corner booth every day of every week, and I don’t want her to become one of those zombie kids who don’t know how to crack a smile, so I sent her to the beach with AJ and Heechul because she likes them. She deserves to spend time with people she likes—”

It wasn’t often that your mother lost her temper, but it was never a pretty sight. She was so loud, and your father was so distracted by her wagging finger, that they didn’t notice you slip out the door.

Nobody would have seen you lower your head as your threw your back against the building’s rough brick exterior had Heechul not followed you outside wearing an expression of genuine concern.

“Are you okay?” He leaned against the wall too, and reached for your hand that was much colder in the moonlight outside your parents’ restaurant than it had been under the beach’s sun.

You nodded and wiped at your tears with your available hand. “Yeah. Dad will apologize for being so strict after you and AJ go home. He’ll be proud of me for studying in that corner booth hours before the restaurant opens, and— and—”

“It’s okay to be upset.” Heechul offered, “If it means he’ll apologize sooner, I’ll go home—”

“I don’t want you to go home,” you blurted. Thinking that Heechul would tease you, a hand automatically clamped over your mouth.

He didn’t laugh at you, though. A kind, gentle sort of smile curved his lips as he agreed, “Okay. I won’t go home then.” You nodded gratefully, and he promised, “I’ll wait out here with you until you’re ready to go back inside.”

And he waited patiently.

It turned out that Heechul really did have a motorcycle. On days when the sun shone brightly through the morning clouds, he used it to drive you to school and to pick you up during his break or on his way to start his shift at the restaurant. A far sweeter boyfriend than you dreamed was possible, he always pressed a soft kiss to your forehead and fastened your helmet before every ride.

On overcast days when rain threatened to fall from gray morning clouds, Heechul drove you to and from school in his car. Although meticulously cleaned and well functioning, the car wasn’t exactly new.

Upon entering it for the first time, you joked, “So your little sales pitch to the ladies at the restaurant— ya know, ‘buy today’s special, help me earn money, and I’ll drive you around town in a new convertible—’”

Heechul, who had been resisting laughter since you started to mimic his voice, interrupted with a wink. “Those were empty promises, baby. I only ever had eyes for you.”

“Right. Of course.”

You couldn’t quite understand how Heechul could be so indifferent to all of the girls, many of whom were devastatingly gorgeous, but you believed him when he called those interactions mindless flirting. After all, that was all it had been to those girls— non-committal conversations with one of the prettiest boys they had ever seen.

Moments passed in relative silence. The only noise was the drumming of Heechul’s fingers against the steering wheel until you asked, “What time do you have to work today?”

That was how your conversations went when you weren’t busy making fun of each other. Although it didn’t affect him, Heechul would ask about the tests you had scheduled for the day. Although it didn’t affect you, you would ask about his work schedule. It was just nice to express an interest in each other’s day, even if you wouldn’t be there for most of the moments.

“I’m off today.”

You gawked at him. “You don’t have to go in at all?” You couldn’t remember the last time Heechul hadn’t worked at the restaurant for at least a few hours.

“Baby,” Heechul laughed, bringing his eyes away from the road for a split second to look at you. “That’s what it means to be off.”

As always, you rolled your eyes in instances like these when Heechul pretended to be much smarter than you. “Don’t be a butt.” He chuckled at your weak insult. “I’m just surprised that you woke up early to drive me to school when you could have slept in. I can take the bus when you’re unavailable, you know. That’s what I’ve done for years.”

Granted, you embraced Heechul’s role in your morning routine, and your day wouldn’t start nearly as happily without him, but you didn’t want to be selfish with his time.

“But I’m not unavailable,” Heechul argued, shutting the radio off when a song he didn’t like played through the speakers. “I enjoy our morning chats, so you’ll just have to get used to the passenger seat, alright?”

You adopted the tired tone he usually used when groaning, “Whatever,” before offering your sincere thanks.

Instantly, he replied, “You’re welcome,” and you smiled because he no longer squirmed when you spoke to him in genuine admiration.

As he pulled into the parking lot of your school, bringing the car close to the building so you wouldn’t have to walk far in the rain, you looked at him with a pout.

“Ah damn,” Heechul sighed, working a hand through his hair as he took in your expression. “What do you want?”

“Let’s play hooky!” You suggested just to see how he might react.

Heechul snorted. “I’m out of school for the summer, so I’m not pulling some delinquent stunt by driving out of this parking lot. He raised an eyebrow at you. “You, however—”

“Come on, Heechul, pretty please?” Bringing your hands together, you poked your bottom lip out. “I’m just a few weeks away from graduating, and I’ve never skipped a single day.”

“Your father is never going to approve of me if I aid and abet in your first act of truancy, Y/N,” Heechul deadpanned, shaking his head. “I’ve made a lot of progress during the family dinners, and I’m not about to see all my hard work and good manners go to waste just because you look at me like that with your pretty eyes.”

Your effort to skip school had been half-hearted at best, so you forfeited the fight almost as soon as it started. Zipping your backpack, you huffed, “Fine, fine,” biting back your amusement that, for once, he was being the responsible one. “I’ll see you later.”

“So you’re going to leave without giving me a kiss just because I’m not giving you your way?”

That hadn’t been your reasoning at all, but when you turned to face him, hand on the door handle, and saw that Heechul’s lips were puckered disappointedly, you shrugged. Your only motive to play along with his narrative was your amusement with Heechul’s frustration.

“That’s really childish.” Very rich coming from the king of childish behavior.

You shrugged again, and Heechul asked, “Where would we even go if you didn’t go to class?” He carefully phrased the question as a hypothetical, but you understood that he was giving in.

Settling back into your seat, you chewed on your cheek. Because the rain was falling in full force now— pounding against the roof of Heechul’s car and sliding down the windows— the park, beach, and nearby outdoor shopping center wouldn’t be too fun. What was even open at that hour?

Remembering that on an earlier car ride, Heechul mentioned that he was renting an apartment just a few miles from your school, you suggested, “Your place?”

“Wow.” Heechul chuckled at your nerve. “There you go again, being all bold like I can resist you.”

“There you go, being a pervert again,” you squirmed when he smirked at your suggestion. He probably wouldn’t notice the blush rising beneath your makeup, but you turned to face out the window anyway. “It’s not dirty unless you make it dirty, Heechul.”

“Do you want me to?” He reached across the center console to poke at your ribs like an annoying child. As you reached again for the door handle, he blurted, “Sorry, sorry! I won’t make it dirty if you really want to visit my place.”

You skeptically narrowed your eyes at him, reluctantly leaning back in your seat. “Promise?”

Heechul promised, and once you buckled your seatbelt, he drove away. His only condition for allowing you to skip school was that you text your mother to tell her where you were, preparing for the likelihood that the school may call home to report your absence— he didn’t want to worry her.

“Call me crazy,” he said, “but I feel like your mom will be overjoyed that you’re doing a normal teenager thing for once.”

“You are crazy,” you teased, giggling when he rolled his eyes, “but not because of that. While Dad has always been worried about me growing into a successful adult, I think Mom has been worried that I was never really a happy kid.”

Casually, as if the question weren’t deeply personal, he asked, “Were you? Were you a happy kid?”

Why couldn’t you answer straight away?

In all honesty, you couldn’t remember laughing as much in your entire life as you had in the last month with Heechul. You couldn’t remember the last time you looked up from your textbooks before that day he sat across from you and ripped your magazine.

Maybe it wasn’t so much that you were unhappy before Heechul’s smile became the highlight of your day. Maybe you just hadn’t known before that happiness could be a priority.

Heechul pulled you out of your thoughts by calling your name as he opened your door. Offering his hand, he wondered, “What are you thinking?”

All you could think was, “I love you, I love you, I love you,” the feeling magnified by his touch, but that hardly seemed like the right thing to say when Heechul led you into his spotless all-white apartment, out of the rain.

“Doesn’t it stress you out?” You asked as you anxiously eased onto the red couch at his urging. “Living in a place like this, I mean. I would be afraid I would spill something or somehow ruin the pretty white paint.”

After kicking your shoes off, you pulled your socked feet onto the couch, afraid of soiling the shiny white floor that appeared untrodden.

Heechul said, laughing at your behavior, “You can’t be afraid of making your mark on the world.”

Taking that as encouragement to follow him into some other room, you leaped off the couch. Heechul almost collided with you when he turned out of the room, clutching a guitar in hand.

“Wow,” he grinned despite his promise not to make things weird. “If you’re so eager to come into my room, come on ahead.” He pushed the door open, probably expecting you to run, blushing, back into the living room.

Driven by curiosity and a desire to surprise Heechul, you walked past him into a white bedroom covered with posters, housing guitars— electric and acoustic— and lined with bookshelves. Upon closer inspection, however, you realized that the shelves weren’t filled with books; they were overflowing with alphabetized CDs ranging from all languages, all genres, all decades.

Apparently unable to stand the silence, Heechul remarked, “I just re-organized those. I change it up a lot. This time it’s alphabetical order, but I’ve tried organizing them by genre, release date, language— oh—”

When you turned to face him, he was sitting with his back against the headboard and blushing. Sometimes, like when he chewed his lips to cope with mild embarrassment, Heechul was adorable.

“Oops.” He mirrored your smile when you sat on the foot of his bed. “I’m rambling.”

“Did you write me a song?” You folded your hands in your lap as you teased, “You know, like how you used to promise those girls—”

Throwing his head back, Heechul groaned, “This again!” He couldn’t dampen the bright smile that illuminated his face when you giggled at his reaction. “I don’t write songs about other girls! Only about you!”

Assuming that he was joking as usual, you disregarded that remark until he started strumming on the strings and filled the air with his gentle hum. Heechul sang often in the car, and you often complimented his talent, but there was a softer quality in his voice now.

Why was his voice so different? Was it because you were in his room, whose atmosphere was somehow different— almost forbidden— from his car’s atmosphere? Was it because his voice was accompanied by a dulcet acoustic guitar rather than the full hard rock ensemble he sang along to in the car?

Maybe Heechul sensed your questions, and maybe he wanted to give you some answers. “I haven’t written the lyrics yet. Or maybe I have, and I’m just too embarrassed to sing them while you’re looking at me like that—”

Like what? Like there had never been anybody so beautiful in the history of mankind? Like he held your heart in the palm of his hand (and probably didn’t even realize it)? Like you wanted to admire him for the rest of time?

“— but I kind of thought it would be nice— like something romantic from one of your magazines— to tell you that I love you with a song, but—”

Heechul paused again as if you weren’t leaning in to his every word. His strumming ceased as he looked up from the guitar to gauge your reaction. Once satisfied by your sharp gasp, he continued, “But you know I can’t ever really stick with a plan. I see you, and I get so excited that I can’t just think to myself that I love you. I have to tell you.”

He set the guitar down on the floor, crawled to your side of the bed. Balancing on his knees and maintaining a small distance between your faces that instantly flooded your senses with memories of your first cherry flavored kiss on the beach, he breathed, “I love you.”

Then, as if to spare you the burden of having to return the three simple words, Heechul brushed his lips against yours.

Not too long ago, Heechul would have tried to debate when you breathlessly responded, “I love you too.” He would have said something like “Why are you saying that? You can’t just say that you love me because I said it first.”

Your feelings must have been obvious from the expression he admired on your face when he broke the kiss; Heechul’s only response was a smile as he pulled your body against his.

. . .

“He really likes you,” AJ said over the phone when she called to congratulate you on graduating.

Applying the last touches of your makeup, you agreed. “I know.”

Your father decided that the best way to celebrate your graduation and acceptance into an online summer college program was to host a small party. Beaming too radiantly at your achievements to cling to his disapproval of your boyfriend, he had said, “You can even invite Heechul!” as if Heechul didn’t work at the restaurant where the party would be hosted. Still, you smiled at your father’s effort to encourage your happiness.

Maybe it was silly to put so much effort into your appearance when Heechul considered you beautiful during all those days when you didn’t bother wearing makeup, but maybe you weren’t dressing up to impress him. Maybe you were trying to demonstrate with your appearance some transformation that occurred over the past few months; after all, your magazines called fashion a form of self-expression.

AJ teased, her smirk almost audible, “I bet you’re doing that adorable thing where you smile down at the ground, just lost in the thought of him.”

AJ was right about one thing: you were smiling, but not at the ground. You smiled as you met your bright eyes in the mirror.

“Of course, I don’t blame you or anything. He really likes you,” she repeated, and you almost wanted to brag that he loves you, but that seemed too special to share over a phone call. That detail needed to be reserved for an in-person conversation (or at least a FaceTime chat).

She continued, “You barged into his bedroom, and nothing scandalous happened? That’s true love.”

Or maybe, you thought, smile fading, Heechul just didn’t think about you like that.

It was ironic. AJ (the self-proclaimed wild child always searching for a fling) admired the lack of physical intimacy in your relationship while you (the lifelong good girl who found love without looking) frowned.

Why were you upset, though? Did you genuinely crave that kind of connection with Heechul? Wasn’t it enough— more than enough— beautiful— that he loved you? Was this knotting in your stomach just the latest manifestation of your fear that, maybe, his attraction to you was limited?

You couldn’t understand, and that confusion about your own feelings deepened the frown lines around your cherry red lips.

Calling your name, AJ asked, “Are you still there?”

“Sorry.” Although nobody was there to see it, you forced a smile as you swept your makeup into a drawer. “I have to go, AJ. All this talking about Heechul has made me lose track of time.” You hoped that by distracting her with a joke at your own expense, she wouldn’t be able to imagine your sudden discomfort.

Too consumed by your spiraling thoughts on the short walk from your family’s home into the restaurant, you didn’t see him coming until he had you pinned against the cold, hard floor. Before you ever looked at him, you felt Heechul’s heart thundering against your chest.

He grinned, reaching up to pick pieces of crushed taco shell out of your hair. Apparently in no rush to stand despite the stares and laughter of party guests— comprised mostly of family members and your parents’ friends— Heechul traced the outline of your lips with his thumb. “Hey.”

“Hey.” You were just about to hiss for him to get off, heat rising to your cheeks at his close proximity, when you made the mistake of looking into his eyes.

On the bright side, looking at him— loving him— distracted you from the burning embarrassment of having fallen in a restaurant full of people. You probably would have laid there, heart racing, staring at Heechul for hours if he hadn’t suddenly jumped up.

As if realizing at once that the people closest to you (and your family) were watching, Heechul dropped the tray he had been carrying onto an empty table and offered both hands to help you off of the ground.

The restaurant wasn’t entirely closed to the public— your father probably determined that he couldn’t afford to miss a day of profit. A table full of girls clad in brightly colored bikini tops giggled when Heechul pulled you past them to the back of the restaurant.

Stupidly, as if you couldn’t read the sign that marked the ladies’ restroom, you whispered, “Where are we going?”

“You have lettuce and tomato and beef all in your hair,” Heechul explained as he led you into the restroom. He ushered for you to sit atop the bathroom counter. “And that’s my fault, so—”

“You can’t be in here!” As if transforming into your mother, you wagged your finger as you scolded him. “What if somebody—”

“Look at us. Anyone who walks in here and thinks it’s a little suspicious that the waiter and the owners’ daughter are alone in the women’s restroom, they’ll quickly realize that this is some kind of emergency.” Heechul spun you around to face your reflection. Both of you were covered head to toe, as he said, in lettuce, tomato, beef, and whatever else Chef Leeteuk piled onto the tray.

Having only soiled his apron— which, technically, was made to be dirtied— Heechul frowned only when he noticed your frown in the mirror.

“Hey.” Heechul turned you to face him before he lifted you onto the counter. “I’m sorry.” He ripped a paper towel from its dispenser, ran it under the water faucet, and wiped at some sauce staining your cheek. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

Stirred by the guilt flooding his eyes, you didn’t hesitate to explain, “I’m not hurt. I’m just— I know you probably think this kind of thing is stupid— but I spent a long time getting dressed, and—”

Heechul followed your gaze down to your white dress that had been stained by the food. “Shit. I’m sorry—” He moved to wipe at the stain, but faltered once he realized that it covered the majority of your chest. Tossing the paper towel onto the counter, he repeated, “I’m really sorry. It’s not stupid that you dressed up for your graduation party; it’s stupid that I ran into you with a tray full of tacos. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” you responded to each of Heechul’s apologies, but he didn’t seem to hear you.

“I know this won’t be nearly as pretty as your dress—” Heechul looked you over again and cast his eyes up to the ceiling as he hissed, “Damn it, you really dressed nice. You still look pretty post-incident, so I know you looked drop dead gorgeous when you walked in. And I barely even got to see it before I tackled you.”

“Heechul.” To make him hear, you had to hold his face in your hands. His cheeks scalded your palms. “It’s okay. I’m okay. Yeah, this dress is probably ruined—” he groaned— “but it’s not the end of the world. This is one of those one time dresses, anyway. It’s fine. Really,” you said to his skeptical expression, “it’s fine.”

Unconvinced, Heechul shook his head before catching your lips with his. Maybe he thought the sweet act of affection would lessen his guilt. Maybe he wanted to gauge whether you were truly upset by your response to his kiss.

Maybe he was satisfied by the urgency with which you drew him closer, forgetting (or not caring) that the food still sticking to his apron would further taint your dress. Maybe he was smiling into the kiss until, without warning, your hands gathered the fabric over his chest and shoved him away.

“What’s wrong?” Heechul asked so often that the words rolled off his tongue without much thought. He gave you that look— brows furrowing and eyes twinkling with curiosity— that always preceded his request for you to trust him with your deepest thoughts.

“We can’t do this here.”

“What?” Heechul quirked his head at you, hair falling from his ponytail holder to fall into his eyes. “Kiss?”

You nodded, and he kissed— the frustrating tight-lipped pecks that were ending and beginning again before you could react— your lips again and again until you gathered the strength to push him away.

“We are in a public restroom, Heechul,” you reminded him between pants, “and we are in my parents’ restaurant, and—”

“I promise I’m not just being an insatiable pervert.” Heechul retied his ponytail before saying, “I know when you’re embarrassed. You’ve been blushing since those stupid girls laughed at us—”

Us, Heechul said, but they had been laughing at you. Knowing that Heechul wouldn’t want to hear that— explaining that would send him out to their table to harshly deliver a piece of his mind— you bit your tongue.

“— and I would just rather think that you’re blushing because I kissed you over and over again— not because I ran into you with a tray of tacos like an idiot.”

Again, like every other day of knowing him, you were struck by the realization, “You’re nice, Heechul.” Sometimes, because he teased you so much, that fact was easy to forget; rediscovering it every day was a joy, though.

“Only to you,” he conditioned before kissing you. “Oh— like I was trying to say earlier before I got distracted— I know that this isn’t anywhere near being as pretty as your dress—” He frowned, tracing his fingers along the ruined fabric— “but I brought clothes to change into after my shift, before I joined your party. They probably won’t fit you right, but—”

“Heechul,” you wiggled your eyebrows teasingly, “was this all an elaborate scheme to get me out of my clothes?”

Because he was honestly trying to atone for his actions, Heechul wasn’t prepared for your playfulness to strike at that exact moment. His face turned beet red, and he stuttered, “No— I— no—”

“If you wanted me to take my dress off,” you jumped off of the counter and reached for the zipper, biting back laughter, “all you had to do was ask.”

Heechul kept his eyes fixed on yours, either trying to call your bluff or daring you to follow through. When you started to tug on the zipper, however, he clapped a hand over his eyes and whined, “We can’t do this here! We’re in a public restroom, and we’re in your parents’ restaurant!”

Once you doubled over laughing, he dropped his hand, wheezing, “Aish, everything’s a joke with you, huh?”

Thoroughly unashamed— proud, even— you nodded your head. “A funny joke!”

“You win this round, baby,” Heechul warned, “but watch out.” He brushed his lips against your forehead before walking out of the restroom, you assumed, to retrieve the clothes he offered.

Leaning against a stall door, you passed the time as you always did when Heechul wasn’t by your side: by imagining the next time you would get lost in his eyes.

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legendarydreamqueen · 4 years ago

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Watch "super junior vampire au fmv // ❝ house of the rising sun ❞" on YouTube

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haveanotherkpopblog · 5 years ago

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The Wild, Wild West Masterlist

Pairing: You Choose!

Rating: MA

Genre: Angst, Comedy, Fluff, Mamacita!AU, Old West!AU, Smut

Summary: It’s the old west and the laws are simple: don’t drink anything weaker than whiskey, and look out for your own. In the small town of Heartsease, New Mexico, ten stories all connect into one, giant, tangled mess. Laws and hearts are broken, alliances are formed, and who doesn’t love a good ol’ fashioned duel? Oh Mamacita!

A/N: They don’t have to be read in order, but it is recommended.

Trailer

Exquisite Horror

-> Lee Hyukjae is known as Eunhyuk el Matador Increible (Eunhyuk the Amazing Bullfighter). Crowds of hundreds gather to watch him battle big, terrifying bulls. By his side is his best friend since childhood. She has been supporting him for as long as he’s been chasing his dream, even if she doesn’t agree with it. Women shamelessly throw themselves at him, desperate to create a wedge between him and his best friend. In the dangerous Matador world, full of greed and fame, she is his light. But can she protect him from the dangers that lay both in and out of the bull ring? He’ll have to make a choice on what kind of a man he wants to be. Oh Mamacita!

The Extent of Ignorance (MA)-

-> Lee Donghae has been on a mission of self-righteousness ever since his parent’s untimely murder. After the criminal escaped, Donghae made it his mission to bring that man to justice, by any means necessary. But after his inevitable success, there’s still a hole inside him he can’t seem to fill. So he travels throughout the wild, wild west, taking down fugitives left and right. It’s only when he meets one and gets to know them on a personal level does he realize that blind justice won’t fill the hole inside him. But fate doesn’t give things easy, and he’ll be faced with an impossible choice that may leave a bigger hole. Oh Mamacita!

Begins in Delight (MA)-

-> Shin Donghee is in a tough spot. His once successful and booming business is slowing down and has almost grinded to a complete halt. While drowning his sorrows, he overhears a plan that may save his dying business. The plan is easy enough to follow, and he feels he has the easiest part. Then why does he fail so miserably? Because he left out one key factor: love. Now he’s he really stuck between a rock and a hard place. He’s now faced with two options: follow his heart to his business, or follow his heart to her. Oh Mamacita!

Death was an Exaggeration-

-> Choi Siwon is the much-respected sheriff of his beloved small town of Heartsease. However, his success as the sheriff has been purely accidental. The true hero behind his success is his little sister- a woman with brains and beauty. But when one of his accidental successes escapes, the whole town turns against him. He turns to his younger sister for support and help. She offers him an idea that could save his reputation, but it may cost a man his life. Oh Mamacita!

Nevermore (MA)-

-> Park Jungsoo is on the run. Years of bad deeds have finally caught up to him. There’s only one person he can turn to now: the woman whose heart he shattered years ago. She wants nothing to do with him, but you never forget your first love. Now she’s an accomplice, and he’s found himself in trouble once again. He has two choices: run and break her heart once more, or stay and take her down with him. Oh Mamacita!

A Homesickness-

-> Kim Ryeowook lives a simple life. After taking over his father’s business, his life couldn’t be more at peace and he couldn’t be happier. Or so he thought. When a couple strangers come into town, they turn his simple world upside down. He learns to take risks and to live life as if each day is his last, but he never thought he’d fall in love. Now he has to find a way to keep the free-spirited woman who’s captured his heart to stay. Oh Mamacita!

Lost in Translation-

-> Kim Youngwoon, or Kangin as his friends call him, is a humble businessman. Fresh and wholesome produce is not easy to come by, especially out west, but he does his best to deliver the best to his small town of Heartsease. When his shop is disrespected, he leaves his only employee, a young woman with a mysterious past, in charge. But when that mysterious past comes back to haunt her, he worries. Will he come back to a booming business or a crashed market? Oh Mamacita!

Ends in Wisdom-

-> Lee Sungmin is generally content man. He’s content with his life. He’s content with his job, well, except for his Co-Deputy Director. A loud and opinionated woman, he finds her to be the most disagreeable person in the town of Heartsease. But when the crown they’re meant to deliver to the United States National Bank is stolen, they’ll have to team up and get it back before their boss finds out. Oh Mamacita!

Texas Holdem (MA)-

-> Cho Kyuhyun is a gambling man with an unusual love for taking risks. His life takes a turn for the better when the Sheriff’s little sister gives him an offer he can’t refuse. While he accepts the offer that could potentially end his life, he finds himself growing close to the Sheriff’s sister- a woman completely off limits. But he’s always been a man to take risks, so what’s another? Oh Mamacita!

Irresistibly Desired (MA)-

-> Kim Heechul knows everything about everyone. He runs the only bar in the small town of Heartsease, and people are chatty when drunk. They’re also touchy, and when it comes to his favorite employee, he doesn’t like it at all. But when a rare opportunity to make money and rid himself of a pest falls into his lap, he jumps at the chance. However, the saying “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” is implemented in more than one way, and it may lead Heechul to more trouble than he was expecting. Oh Mamacita!

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noonawriter · 4 years ago

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Delicious Rendezvous

WORD COUNT: 4638

WARNINGS: flashbacks to torture, shameless flirting, over-worked and stressed main character

DELICIOUS RENDEZVOUS

Chapter 4

“Bad news,” Siwon said as soon as he was in earshot of Heechul. “Our contact in 223 has been transferred and is locked out of the local system here.” He bit his lip, a rare slip of control. “As I’m sure you know, we’re cutting it too close to develop a new one just yet.” His first creation walked up to him with a look of hesitation on his face.

No mystery as to why.

Back when the terror of it was fresh, Siwon informed Heechul of a raid that had occurred a decade ago and how badly it had ended. The whole thing played like a movie reel of memories and fears. It wasn’t the sex work that sank them that time - no one runs that kind of operation without a contingency plan. No, it was who was doing it that led to tragedy.

Several of the employees ended up in a specialized prison only to be slowly tortured to death because supernatural creatures weren’t known then... And groups of humans have the capacity to do terrible things when they’re afraid of the unknown. Ingenuity, put to exactly the wrong purpose. What little inside data could be gleaned was... It was... Unspeakable, to this day.

Heechul considered giving him a moment of comforting touch, but it would be crass to make it so very evident that his right-hand man’s thoughts were left entirely unlocked. They sure as hell didn’t have time for a fight, either.

Not a creature anywhere didn’t hear about that disaster. The Council exploited those fears, the prejudices borne of it, but for the rest of the community, lacking that level of power... Whatever there was where Heechul’s stomach used to be turned just the same way at being bombarded with it all over again, shrunk into a few nauseating seconds. If his hair could still stand on end, it would. Even the humans that supported that establishment had been fined so heavily that they were out on the streets, and then... disappeared. Maybe to the same place. Who knows? Siwon visibly winced at that last thought, but forced that idea to the side. There were days that his confidence that his master would never let anyone harm him or their brethren was all that allowed the leader to make it happen.

Yet, sometimes, Heechul really wished Siwon had more magic potential. This was one of the rare moments where he’d very much like to be able to not hear these thoughts. Keeping his hands from ripping his own hair out was as much as he could manage here, arms stiff at his sides. Was he even capable of crying anymore? Did he have what it would take to stop a repeat of such horrors between his very own walls?

It was all too much. Too much. Heechul had to set it all aside too. Rather than comfort, he ended up having to tap Siwon’s cheek just to bring him back to the present.

“Sorry,” he mumbled with a shake of his head. ”I remembered it again.” That raid was the last time Siwon tried working for anyone else, is the only other thing he would say about it out loud. He broadcast the rest louder than an echo in a cave, though, he just didn’t know he was - right to Heechul like an open book, at least. Not a hint of a side gig since.

The grass only looks greener, as it were.

Finally, that portion of mental agony was over, tucked away back in its box. Upon realizing the massive amount of work that their contact being pulled out from under them meant, Heechul’s shoulders slumped. There was too much weight upon them.

However, he only allowed himself those two seconds of self-pity before squaring them back up. “Shit. That means there’ll still be a raid tomorrow night.” He checked, unwittingly holding his breath, but couldn’t get much detail. “That only gives us about a day and a half.” He counted off on his fingers as he called out instructions. “We need to put up glamour and force barriers on the rooms, make excuses, reschedule appointments, make sure all my kids have somewhere to stay for the night..."

A groan slipped out. But only one. How he dreaded this last part. “I’ll have to handle the backstage regulars. They would feel slighted if informed through an intermediary.”

While he was appreciative of his higher-paying customers in that they kept the show running, literally and otherwise, they always looked down their noses at him when complications came up. Fuck, he felt a headache coming on already. He pinched the spot just above the bridge of his nose. He’d have to add on the promises of a free service to make sure they kept silent about where they went and who ran the show - and he hated burdening his kids like that.

Hated it with everything in him, but the alternative was worse. He’s not risking any kind of prison cell for anyone.

“Of course, Master. I’ll initiate the protocol and distribute the workload immediately.” A floating schedule appeared next to Siwon, its constituent lines made of light if light could be smoke.

“Thank you. Time for me to get to my part of the work as well.” Heechul watches as Siwon carefully inspects the list and moves to assign each task. He stretches his arms out wide, a satisfying crack sounding in response, as he rotates his neck and searches his mind for where Alyssa is and what she’s doing. He needs her now more than ever.

While her training had, of course, been intended to prepare her for bigger and better things, he needed that untapped power she was sitting on to pull this off on such short notice. It felt as though he had more to hide this time, more at stake, when in reality, the only new addition to the club was his little witch. A flush took over his cheeks quickly. He’d not felt the need to protect anyone quite so strongly since he’d made Siwon. “Stupid sex magic. Everything is amplified.”

He tried to sound mad about it, but inside, even if only to himself, he had to admit that he was more amazed at just how much change the ritual had wrought in the first place. He also decided then and there that he would not perform any sex magic with another person, ever.

Definitely not if it turned out like this. He didn’t want this with anyone else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No better way to learn, Heechul had insisted, than throwing you in to help with glamouring the back rooms to look like cramped offices and storage space. Everything was tightly coordinated - regimented, even, which was surprising to see in a place usually so loosely and chaotically run. Time constraints would do that, you supposed.

He rattled off instructions and even showed you exactly what you needed to do and say, but your brain was foggy with all the veins of magic flowing through the club. There was an anxiety running through the employees that you couldn’t help but soak up to some extent. “Let’s add empath to the list of things to deal with. That’ll be fun,” you said under your breath, none too pleased with the discovery. Your eyes rolled, but you continued with the task, pride not allowing you to step back and admit defeat.

Maybe even that little voice inside that was happy that Heechul was the one who needed you, for once, instead of the other way around. Just the thought made your ears burn.

Putting up the glamours was the easy part, though. Imbuing them with enough power to stay up for two entire days left you sweating and ravenous. You huffed, taking a second to wipe the sweat off your forehead and sip from the water bottle Mi had brought you hours ago, tossing it on his way past with a small smile and a congenial nod.

When all this work was done, you for sure had to get him to show you that one shade of purple again so you could try to find a matching dye. His hair had only held it for a second earlier.

You were getting distracted again. And you finally noticed that your hands were shaking, too. The strain was getting to you.

“Fucking hell. This shit is for the birds.” Your voice was tired and wavering. Hands on your hips, you stood there admiring the iridescent sheen from the last barrier you put into place. “God damn, I should have eaten first.”

“Such dirty words coming from such a pretty little mouth.” Of course, when you’re a sweaty mess, that’s when Heechul shows up to inspect your work. On his face blooms his signature smirk; after holding your attention on it for a second, he adds, “I like it,” with a ridiculous waggle of his eyebrows.

Damned if it didn’t make you want to kiss him again. You whimpered at the thought and immediately flushed, thinking that while he was still there.

As usual, though, he was gone before you could give the thought any weight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You were carefully not thinking about the absurdity of taking a coffee break in a... house of pleasure where your magic training is happening, the legitimate front half of the building notwithstanding. Even after all the upheaval, there was something sort of amazing about creatures of all sorts here milling about, living their ordinary lives and being themselves. The comfortable atmosphere in this room left you feeling bold enough to lean back against the counter near where the siren was, the dull gray microwave buzzing on the other side of him. You were protected now, right? And his boyfriend was really friendly with you, so that’s gotta count for something.

"Hey," you said, wiggling your fingers in a sheepish wave. He acknowledged you with a sideways glance, but nothing more. After hours working quietly side by side, following his occasional directions about images and dimensions, that didn’t seem odd anymore. "Look, you can tell me if this is out of line, but I'm really curious about something."

"Hmm?" Ryeowook answered absentmindedly, watching Henry and Donghae play-fighting across the room with a fond half-smile. You may have even heard a faint, tuneless humming; couldn’t be sure, but you felt a little bolder, a little more free either way.

"Does the, uh, backstage work affect you at home?" This was so embarrassing to ask about, but you'd been dying of curiosity and this seemed like your best bet to get some answers. Usually, it was your training regimen that left you too drained to make conversation. To be honest, you were still kinda drained; it was hard to tell whether your thoughts made sense, your brain-to-mouth filter just about gone.

When Ryeowook turned to you, though, his brow was furrowed in confusion. "Why would I do work at home? Heechul’s wards and security are far better than anywhere else, even clubs supposedly owned by the very wealthy,” he pointed out, crossing his arms. “I only do work here."

"No, I mean, um," you blushed as your composure slipped further, not wanting to have to spell it out, "you know, you do-" You waved towards the hallway of back rooms. "You do this for work, so does it, uh, when you're at home, does it get in the way of, wait, no, does that cause any problems for you with," you were definitely red as a tomato now, your entire face aflame, "making love?"

But Ryeowook only blinked twice. "If he wanted to, we could."

"Oh! Oh, sorry, I didn't think- Sorry. I shouldn't have assumed. You probably think I'm a jerk now, huh," you admitted clumsily, pursing your lips. I sound like an idiot! This was such a bad idea.

But he only hummed nonchalantly, turning away once more. "Hmm. Well, you wouldn't be the first to assume, only the first to apologize for it," he said offhandedly, taking a sip from his mug. "But it doesn’t matter to me. I suppose I take after my mother that way," he continued in a wistful voice, a touch of sorrow coloring his features. "Keeping my mate safe and happy is my heart's greatest desire."

"That's so sweet!" You cooed, genuinely touched by the sentiment, only to be met with an icy stare as he whirled around to face you.

"Don't know why I'm telling you all this," Ryeowook said while he pushed off from the counter, his tone acrid and sharp as though the words were meant to cut to the bone, his eyebrows drawing together in anger, startling you when he slammed his mug down on the hard surface. "I don’t care if you’re Heechul’s newest, shiniest project. If that's your power,” one peak of his upper lip curled up towards his nose in contempt, “let's not do this again. I need to get back to work."

"But wait, I didn't-" He'd crossed the short distance to the doorway in three quick strides and left before you could finish your sentence. "-do anything," you finished dejectedly, dropping your raised hand. Not that you knew what you were going to do with it anyway. You muttered under to yourself, “‘Make friends,’ he said. Do this, do that, blah blah blah.” Wait a second. Newest project?

What happened to the others?

“Don’t take it too personally,” a genial voice said next to you, cutting off your train of thought. Guess your muttering was louder than you’d realized. “He takes a while to warm up to most people.”

You turned to- not the butler. Mi. Seriously, still not a butler, you hastily reminded yourself. More of a jack of all trades? Maybe it was better not to call a shapeshifter that, so you went with, “You really think it’ll be okay? I feel like I screwed up pretty bad.”

“Welllll, maybe warm up isn’t the right word. But he’ll probably stop being an ass.”

“Probably?” Despite yourself, you laughed, smiling back at Mi’s toothy grin. He patted your shoulder in a friendly way before saying, “Excuse me, I need some tea,” his hair color and the shape of his arms changing three or four times between the microwave and what you’d come to call caffeine central more towards the back of the room.

Still, after the- intimacy you and Heechul had shared so far, the idea that you were one in a long line of projects, to be set aside whenever he decided he’d had his fun, rubbed you the wrong way.

Which not only lingered through your meal, but grew. And grew. And grew bigger still.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You stomped down the extravagantly decorated hall, footsteps echoing off the marble tiles that probably set him back more than you cared to think about. A red haze settled in your mind as you mulled over the words Ryeowook spat to you. Hands curled into tight fists, you didn’t bother knocking before making entrance into his office. Hopefully, whatever sights awaited you wouldn’t be something you’d regret seeing, because you were way past caring now.

"So I'm your latest project, am I?" You flung the words at Heechul the very second you walked into the room.

"Feisty today, aren't you."

You wanted to slap him. Something. Anything. Instead you settled on a seethed, "What happened to the others?!"

Heechul laughed. "What happened?" He asked condescendingly, moving his upturned palm in a horizontal arc, his eyes following before landing back on you. "Look around you, darling."

"Argh!" You clenched your fists. Eyes rolling as you wanted to tear your hair out. "Can't you just say what you goddamn mean for once?!"

But Heechul only sighed. "Really, you could stand to learn to read between the lines. Can't always rely on your power, you know." But as you glared, he seemed to relent a bit, his smile turning amused, his eyes a touch fond. "Haven't you noticed? Those who sincerely come to me for aid... I don't take that lightly. Why, I develop them to the fullest of their talents. How else could I build all this?"

Silence enveloped the room as you looked deep into his unwavering sight. Dammit, you sighed under your breath. He was being honest - well, his version of it anyway. Relenting yourself, you breathed out a long exhale. "...That's it?"

"Yes, that's 'it'. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement. My favorite kind," he finished with a smirk, alluding to extremely pleasant memories of the 'arrangement' already between the two of you.

You took a moment to gather what you wanted to say. His aura gave you a reason to pause. Your words needed to be chosen carefully. You gestured your hands between the two of you. “This? Us? Just me scratching your back and you scratching mine, I’ll assume?”

“We both know what assume means, sweetheart. Let’s not do that.” He turned to walk out, but before he made it through the doorway, he called out over his shoulder, “Good job out there. You’re doing better than I expected.”

Might’ve been better that he looked away before you could flip him off. You tried sending it mentally anyway, pleased to faintly hear his distinctive laugh. At that point, you didn’t know if the warmth in your heart that you felt a moment later was his or your own.

He kept getting you all mixed up like that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Donghae was speaking in hushed tones with Heechul when you rounded the corner. He noticed you coming in and moved to intercept you as the man you wanted made his smooth escape, right back into the office you’d just vacated. Damnit. “Come on, Alyssa, follow me. You need to let off some steam.” Objecting, you pointed towards the doorway where you were trying to go, because Heechul kept escaping conversation like some sort of extremely beautiful eel, but Donghae wrapped his hand firmly around your wrist, steering you in a completely different direction. “Your work is done for now. The boss has some things to tend to. He asked me to help you get some frustration out.”

Before he crossed the threshold to a room new to you, he looked at you, waggling his eyebrows. “I’m more than happy to help, Lys.” He giggled at your huffed response as he pulled you out a side door and a few buildings over into what looked like a gym at a country club, just on a smaller scale. Taking in the sights before you, your brain reeled at the possibilities of what Heechul was going to have you working on now.

“It’s not like I’m not appreciative for a break, but is physical fitness really important to my training? I’m fit enough, but…” Donghae shushed you with a finger to your lips.

Eyebrow raised, he explained. “This isn’t just gym class. Boss asked me to evaluate your skills. See where you are so we’ll know where to start.” You wondered what he was talking about. Surely you wouldn’t be stranded without your powers? He grinned as though he knew exactly what you were thinking. “Come on, just think of it as a bit of stress relief. Let me show you what I want you to be able to do.” He proceeded to throw a few punches, one sequence after another. A minute became more as he got more focused.

You allowed your eyes to roam his form as he continued his session. The thick, corded muscles from his biceps down his back, his ass just as shapely as his chest was, even to his hips as they tightened and flexed as he danced around the hanging heavy bag. A small sheen of sweat coated his forehead as he threw hit after hit. You even noticed how his tongue was situated between his teeth at the corner of his mouth. It was cute, but then, you took his figure in again in its very nice entirety.

If anything, you were getting more frustrated, though certainly not the way he’d intended.

You weren’t blind. Donghae was fit. That was the simplest way to put it. But the way he moved around the bag gracefully almost had you forgetting he was a supernatural creature. His eyes had a dangerous focus blazing in them, and you shuddered to think of those who would be on the receiving end of an angry version of this barrage. You couldn’t help but find it attractive, mentally thanking Heechul for suggesting this break; truth be told, you didn’t even try to stop your gaze from going wherever it was drawn to. Oh, the things you could imagine...

He stopped at hearing a whine from you, his eyebrow raised high. For a second, you were irrationally terrified that he could read your thoughts too. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were staring, hard.” He looked none too surprised by that - amused, if anything.

Fuck. At least he couldn’t see what I was thinking. You stuttered out some nonsense, words failing you at the fact that he’d caught you drooling over him.

Eyes shut in embarrassment, you didn’t notice him move, which is why you ended up jumping in surprise when you heard his voice in your ear. “This is delicious. Thanks for the free meal.”

“I...” Damn this anxiety. “Hey wait, I didn’t tell you that you could do that!” He rolled his eyes, and, really, you could tell you needed to concentrate so you could get done and leave. For your sanity’s sake. You stepped to the bag and looked at him, wide-eyed and ready for his instruction without any further distractions. Hopefully.

He chuckled. “Let’s see what you got. Give me a few good sequences and we’ll call it a day. And I promise I won’t tell Heechul that you were eyeing me like a piece of meat. Besides, it’s my job to do the ogling around here.” He winked, making you feel a bit weak in the knees.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“As I mentioned, we unfortunately have a highly contagious bout of illness, and thus, those facilities are unavailable for a couple of nights. We can reschedule your appointment if you would just come this way.”

“You’re a goddamned liar! Lemme back there!” Regular though this man may be, at the moment, he seemed to be doing his best to make the saying that hell is other people a reality. Heechul’s temper reached its last frayed thread.

“You, sir, need to calm the hell down. You’re at a fifteen and I need you at, like, a seven,” Heechul snidely commented as the regular patron threw every excuse in the book at him as to why he should be allowed inside even if no one else is there. The growl that rumbled at the back of his throat was deep and raspy, full of rage as the patron tried to push his way from the front waiting room onto the main floor. Heechul called out in a dead language - and suddenly, the snarling long-time customer was frozen on the spot.

The thread snapped.

No longer willing to hold back, Heechul took a deep sigh of relief as he got right in front of the now confused man. “I told you, countless times,” he emphasized as he bared his teeth, “we are closed for the next couple of nights. I can see that you refuse to take my words seriously, not even attempting to cooperate.” His hand glided up to the patron’s face as his nail traced his red, splotchy cheek. “What you fail to realize is just who,” Heechul took that same nail and raked it from the patron’s temple to his lips, leaving a deep, seeping wound behind, “I am.” Taking the customer’s chin in his other hand, he jerks the man’s head in the direction of the floor.

Seconds later, Heechul had drawn a crude symbol on the marble. “You will never step foot in this establishment again. Should you even try, I will know. I will hunt you down and tear you limb from limb. And I will enjoy every single second of it,” he hissed, face contorting in unbridled rage. Then he stood, straightening to his full height as the doors flew open.

As Heechul walked towards the doors, the man who was still immobile was moved to the opening. His body seemed to fly as he let out a terrified scream.

“I don’t ever want to see you here again.” Heechul turned on his heel to walk away. He tilted his head a few degrees towards the sound when he heard Mi’s firm “Sir”, but didn’t falter in his step, as he had more important things to deal with. His favorite shapeshifter could handle the situation however he saw fit. Trash disposed of, Heechul added the area to be monitored more closely in addition to his typical security alert set, along with making a mental note to check his crew for potential teleporting capability or an ability to learn quickly so he could evaluate offering security training and shifts. There were plenty enough to rotate at the front and connecting doors, but in the back rooms...

That’s where danger turned on a dime.

Breathing slowly, Heechul ran his hand over the back of his neck. Problem after problem continued to appear. If he couldn’t entice some of the other customers to fill in those appointments, cover the disruption, it’d be two months at most before he had to evaluate dipping into the stash. The guilt of it ate at him whenever he couldn’t keep it entirely at bay. The ex-noble’s possessions were Heechul’s by right, but he hated exercising that option; Siwon was loyal, and good at his job, and would never turn down the request.

That it benefitted his safety as well as everyone in his employ was not as comforting as it should have been. Taking from it, even with permission, still felt like stealing. I need a drink.

No time. Back to work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The static took over your vision as you saw bits and pieces of something happening. Grainy images and darkened tones did not help. Even as your eyes closed, you squeezed them tighter and found you could see through someone else at the moment, someone tall and weighed down by something. Equipment? What could- You could hear a sinister cackle to your right but the current head you were occupying wouldn’t turn so you could see who it was. Though, if your memory served you well enough, it sounded like Claude and he was headed somewhere with a mission.

You studied the surroundings of the overly dressed-up group of men you were envisioning. Sidewalks, street lamps, old brick. “Shit!” You yelled out, gasping for breath as your feet began to move without you willing them to. You couldn’t be bothered to apologize for knocking into the others as you dashed to where Heechul’s magic was emanating strongest.

The doorway to his office was shut with a supernatural energy, but somehow, your inner self anticipated it. Without breaking stride, your palm came up and a small glow emanated from it. Light enveloped the door, causing its edges to hum, opening to you silently but swiftly.

“They’re coming.” Your eyes darted around the room, taking in the sights of Heechul’s closest and most trusted. Gulping, feeling like you couldn’t get enough oxygen, you panted, “It’s happening early. The...” A boom against the barred doors down at the end of the hallway sounded throughout the club. “The raid. Claude got- someone to bump up the time frame.” Heechul was by your side in an instant as the rest of the crew flew out of the room, knowing exactly what they needed to do.

Author’s note: mad props to @thesirenandtheking. An amazing sounding board, wonderful aesthetic maker when it comes to setting, and SUJU knowledge!!! Couldn’t do this without you.

#super junior #super junior fic #Super Junior Heechul #Super Junior Heechul fic #heechul fic #suju fic #kpop fic #supernatural kpop

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