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fic advent 2013: day eighteen
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mangafanxd ♥
u-kwon centric, u-kwon/jun sunhye
r for violence, 3k words
au based on block b's be the light mv and heavily featuring u-kwon's irl gf, model jun sunhye!!
mangafanxd ♥u-kwon centric, u-kwon/jun sunhye
r for violence, 3k words
au based on block b's be the light mv and heavily featuring u-kwon's irl gf, model jun sunhye!!
Half-awake, Yukwon rolls over, his face bumping messily up against Sunhye’s shoulder. That wakes him up for real. He props himself up on one elbow, blinking down at her. She’s got creases on her face from the pillow, and she looks softer without her makeup. It’s - well, it’s kind of weird, but in a good way. Sunhye never spends the night. Never. So he’s never really seen her like this, really unguarded and relaxed. Her mouth is a little bit open, and she’s totally drooling. He laughs quietly.
That pulls her out of sleep, too, nose scrunching as her eyes slide open, taking a second to focus. “Hey,” she grumbles, slapping the back of her hand against his shoulder. “Are you watching me sleep? Creep.” A smile spreads across her lips and he catches her wrist in his hand, pressing a kiss against her knuckles. “Good morning.”
Yukwon could get used to this. “Good morning, noona.” He leans in to kiss her for real and she squeaks, shoving him away.
“Morning breath,” Sunhye warns and he groans, flopping back in bed. It’s a small price to pay, though. He’s never had a lazy morning with her, and he kind of likes it. Not that he’d ever tell the rest of the guys, they already give him enough shit for dating her. He doesn’t mind much, really. It is kind of strange, the two of them, but in a really good way. He met her one night, the two of them waiting at the same bus stop. Sunhye was all long legs and really expensive shoes, and Yukwon had been a little bit smitten as soon as he saw her. She laughed when he tripped getting onto the bus, and he’d introduced himself, and things had gone from there.
For the first few weeks they were dating, Sunhye never mentioned her family. She never talked about her home, or her school, and any time that Yukwon tried to steer the conversation that way, she shut him down. There were some clues, though. She came out with them one night, and Jaehyo’s girlfriend of the moment had nearly choked on her tongue when she’d seen Sunhye’s purse. “Doesn’t that cost a fortune?” she’d gasped, stroking a hand down the strap, and that was the first time Yukwon had seen Sunhye uncomfortable, flushing and avoiding his eyes.
He’d only truly understood the extent of it a few months later when some middle-aged man had stopped her on the street. It was weird, seeing the way she had suddenly straightened, a mask settling over her face as she’d greeted him graciously. He was a friend of her fathers, it seemed, a very important man, and when she’d taken a step away from Yukwon, not bothering to introduce him, that had hurt. It was nothing on the icy shock Yukwon had felt when the man mentioned, in passing, her father’s position. As CEO of the largest bank in South Korea.
Sunhye had stiffened at that, glancing at Yukwon. It made sense. The way that she’d never wanted him to meet any of her friends, how she’d steadfastly avoided bringing him to any of her haunts. Yukwon didn’t doubt the fact that he must not meet the usual standards of her regular life. He didn’t really think that the guys he runs with qualify as a gang, but he wasn’t sure that her father would really value the difference. Or the four year age difference. Or that he had a job, since he wasn’t in college and the job he did have was a low-level serving gig at his uncle’s restaurant. Wow.
Sunhye had bowed once more at the man and they’d continued on their way, but Yukwon had felt pretty shell-shocked. “I’m sorry,” she’d said, as soon as she could be sure that the man wouldn’t overhear them. “It’s just - ”
“Daddy wouldn’t approve?” Yukwon had snarled. It was harsher than he’d meant, but he was reeling. He liked Sunhye. Thing was, now he wasn’t sure that she liked him or what he was, what he represented. He’s been someone’s petty rebellion before. Wasn’t a good feeling, that was for sure. “That’s how you like it, right, noona?”
Sunhye’s eyes had darkened. “No, you ass,” she’d snapped. “But he wouldn’t understand.” She’d pressed her lips together, blinking rapidly. “You don’t - the last three guys I dated, my dad introduced us. They spent more time trying to lick his ass than even get to know me.” Tears had welled in her eyes but they didn’t fall. “You are not going to make me feel guilty for this, Yukwon. You like me, and I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you, but I didn’t want that to end.”
Yukwon’s words had dried up in his throat. He’d stared at her, wordless, for long enough that she’d laughed, voice harsh and bitter, and shaken her head. “Silly me, huh?” she’d said, and she’d turned and marched off, head high.
He’s spent the rest of the day sitting on a park bench, smoking a cigarette and staring at his feet. It’d taken him nearly a week to sort himself out, to call Sunhye and beg forgiveness. And beg he had, locked in the bathroom where Zico, his roommate, couldn’t hear him, forehead pressed against the door. “I’m an idiot,” he’d told her.
“Yeah,” she’d agreed. But he could hear her smile. “But I think you’re mine.”
Yukwon had closed his eyes and pressed a hand to the peeling paint of his bathroom door. “I love you,” he’d said, and her breath had hitched. “I mean it.”
“Definitely mine,” she’d replied.
And he still is, now, when she laughs and rolls on top of him, pressing her lips to the hinge of his jaw, the bridge of his nose, the shell of his ear. Yes, Yukwon definitely likes morning Sunhye, sleepy and playful, even if she won’t let him kiss her. “We’ve never had a sleepover before,” he says.
“Dad’s in Japan for the weekend,” she says. She squirms around until she’s comfortable, half sprawled across his chest, her thigh between his, head tucked underneath his chin. “No one to ask nosy questions.”
It’s a little sad that Sunhye is a grown woman and yet she still has to sneak around behind her father’s back. Yukwon thinks about saying something, but he knows it won’t do anything, so he bites his tongue. “Works for me,” Yukwon says.
It takes him ten minutes to work up the drive to climb out of bed and brush his teeth, but it’s not his fault that his bed is comfortable and Sunhye’s hands and mouth make such a compelling argument to stay. They also make a really compelling argument for brushing his teeth too, though, so eventually he hauls his ass up.
When he gets back from the bathroom, Sunhye is sitting up, the sheets pooled around her waist and her phone pressed to her ear. “We had a few drinks, Dad, I just thought it would be easier if I stayed the night.” She sighs, glancing up at Yukwon and making a face. “You know Jihyun. It was just one night.”
So much for their lazy Sunday morning in bed. He hikes his boxers up on his hip and sits down heavily next to her, and she turns to press her cheek to his shoulder. “Dad, it’s fine. I’ll be home soon. We decided to get breakfast.” Yukwon can hear her father’s voice over the line, rumbly and authoritative. “I’ll see you soon.”
She lets her phone fall into her lap and exhales in a rush, groaning. “Spoke too soon,” she says. He pets a hand through her hair and she shifts, her phone sliding off the mattress as the sheets hit the floor. “Well, better make use of the rest of the morning, right?” she says, lips quirking up. She straddles his hips, pushing him down with a forceful press of her hand.
Yukwon grins up at her. “Yes, noona,” he says obediently, and she rewards him by bending down to kiss him, deep and hard.
-
He’s really not expecting it when it all goes wrong. One minute he’s got his fingers around Sunhye’s wrist, leaning close to kiss her (not too much, though, she doesn’t want to ruin her lipstick). The next, he’s on the ground, pain shooting up the back of his skull from where it’d collided with the pavement. He gasps, staring up, blinking to clear his head. A massive man stares him down, flanked by three more, and Yukwon swallows hard. “What the hell is this?” Sunhye demands. “What are you doing?”
Yukwon pulls himself up slowly, exploring the back of his head with his fingers. He doesn’t seem to be bleeding, but he’ll probably have one hell of a goose egg in a couple of hours. It’s not that important right now. What is important is the way those four men are eyeing them. He can’t think of what he could’ve done to provoke this - he and his crew have scuffled with other groups in the past, but nothing in a while. Did he do something when he was drunk? Not important. He puts himself between Sunhye and the men, even if he knows he won’t be able to do a whole lot of good against all four. “What do you want?” he asks.
“Mr. Jun thinks that it’s time for this to end,” the first man says, and Yukwon goes cold. “Enough playing around with this kid.”
Sunhye barks out a laugh. “Are you serious?” she says. “I am an adult, I will date whoever I want to.” She looks furious, something he’s familiar with, but also scared, and that’s not an expression he’s ever seen before.
The man shakes his head. “I’m just following orders,” he says. He steps forward, too close, and looks down. “I’ve been told to make it real easy for you to decide.”
“This is absolute bullshit,” Sunhye says, crossing her arms and fixing the men with her best disdainful stare.
Even if Yukwon hadn’t been able to put together what the man meant by his tone, he doesn’t get a chance to think about it before the man throws a punch. It’s teeth rattlingly hard, sending Yukwon stumbling all over again. Dimly, he can hear Sunhye screaming, and a distant part of him takes a certain amount of pride in her rage.
It’s drowned out when the man lands a kick to his gut that sends him sprawling. He slams into the ground, sobbing for breath. This isn’t like any of the fights Yukwon has ever been in - this is clinical, precise. Each blow is calculated not to get him to surrender, but to hurt. And it’s working. He tastes blood on his teeth and his hands are raw from where they’ve scraped against the pavement. “Fuck,” he gasps, and the man kicks him in the ribs again. And again, and again, and again, until Yukwon feels something snap and he screams, curling in on himself.
Through the haze and the pain, Yukwon can see Sunhye, fighting, slamming her hands against the man’s shoulders, stomping on his toes. “I’ll go, I’ll go, just stop,” she cries, angry tears welling in her eyes. “For God’s sake, enough!”
The man steps away, eyeing her, and then he nods. “I think he gets the picture,” he agrees, and for a second, Yukwon doesn’t understand. All he knows is the burning pain in his chest and the ache in his skull. “Come on.”
“Sunhye,” Yukwon says, and she grits her teeth and shakes her head. She’s always been practical, he thinks and he wheezes, pressing his fingers to his ribs desperately, like he can hold them straight.
“If I go,” Sunhye says, and her voice wavers, but stays firm. “If I go, you leave him alone. No more of this.”
The big man is impassive. “You’ll have to talk to Mr. Jun,” he says.
Yukwon watches through blurry eyes as Sunhye turns. She’s doing that thing again, where she straightens her shoulders and becomes Miss Jun Sunhye once more, dutiful heir and daughter. “Fine,” she says. She glances down at Yukwon and her mouth twists. She mouths the words I love you, and then she’s following the men away.
No matter how he fights, Yukwon can’t make himself sit up. Hot tears prickle at the corner of his eyes and his ribs scream at him, but all he can do is watch. He feels dizzy for so many reasons.
He doesn’t know how long it is until they find him. “Look at you,” Kyung says, reaching for him. Yukwon stares at his stupid short pants and ugly socks as Kyung hoists him up. “Dude, you got your ass kicked.”
“You should see the other guy?” Yukwon tries, but it’s not easy to feign nonchalance with a mouthful of blood. The ache in his ribs has subsided, but as Kyung shifts him up, it awakens, sharp and horrible. Someone slides under his other arm, and he knows it’s Minhyuk, his arm familiar and firm around Yukwon’s waist.
“Who did this?” Zico asks. Yukwon has known Zico for years, seen him go from goofy high schooler who drinks too much and likes girl group dances to who he is today - still a bit goofy, sometimes, but focused, ambitious, determined. The way that he stares at Yukwon right now is so level and serious that Yukwon is certain that Zico would do whatever Yukwon asked for right now.
But they’re just a bunch of guys who do okay in a fight. Sunhye’s father is no one to fuck with. Yukwon shakes his head. “Don’t bother,” he says. “Guy runs a bank.” Taeil is exploring the damage to his ribs with careful hands, pressing down with his thumbs and nodding to himself every time Yukwon gasps. “It - it’s fine. It’s whatever.” It’s not whatever. The throbbing pain in Yukwon’s broken ribs is nothing on the ache in his chest. He should’ve known that this would end, a guy like him can’t date the heiress of a man like Jun forever. Still, even if it feels a little bit inevitable, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck.
He sees the glance that passes between Minhyuk and Zico. “Doesn’t look like whatever,” Zico says, head tipped.
“Looks like two broken ribs,” Taeil announces. “Maybe three.”
“Can I just go home?” Yukwon sighs. He kind of just wants to sleep for the next year. Maybe two.
Zico shrugs. “Yeah, alright,” he says, patting the back of Yukwon’s neck. “You good to walk?”
“Sure.” It’s not his ankles that hurt, thankfully enough. He’s just lucky that Mr. Jun isn’t in the mob, because he could’ve been dealing with broken feet, or worse.
At another nod from Zico, Minhyuk shifts Yukwon’s weight onto his shoulder and they shuffle forward. “You know,” Jaehyo says thoughtfully, “I would’ve thought I would be the first one to get their ass kicked for a girl.”
“Your time will come,” Minhyuk says dryly, and Jaehyo squawks in protest. Yukwon turns it all out, too aware of the blood on the back of his teeth and the throb in his chest, but mostly the empty spot in his ribcage.
-
“I’m meeting with one of my father’s proteges tonight,” Sunhye says. Her voice sounds muted over the phone - dull and resigned. “He’s agreed that as long as we never speak again, he’ll leave you alone.”
“What if I don’t want to?” Yukwon asks. He feels petulant, but he means it. He doesn’t want to let her go. What right does her father have to make these decisions for her?
“Yukwon,” Sunhye sighs. She’s always been so practical, he thinks miserably. “You know this is how it has to be. I can’t - I won’t let him do that to you again. I can’t.” She falls silent for a second, then continues. “You don’t get it. Next time, it’d be worse. My father is...very determined. Please, baby. Just do this for me.”
He presses his hands against his eyes, hot tears prickling at the back of his eyelids. “You had to use the big guns,” he says weakly.
“I love you,” she says, and though her voice is small, he memorizes this - the surety of her words, how it feels in his chest to hear it. “Please, just let me know that you will be okay.”
“I love you too,” Yukwon whispers. He knows it’s the last time he’ll hear her say it. It’s all so fucking unfair
When she hangs up, he sits on the bathroom floor, still and empty. He only jerks to attention when Zico opens the door. He squats in front of Yukwon, a rubber clown mask in his hands. “Hey,” he says, surprisingly gently. “What would you say if I told you I had a plan?”
Yukwon stares at Zico’s hands for a long second. Zico’s got a lot of plans, and all of them are reckless and kind of terrifying. But Zico is loyal, and most of them work. “Let me hear it,” he says, and Zico grins.
That pulls her out of sleep, too, nose scrunching as her eyes slide open, taking a second to focus. “Hey,” she grumbles, slapping the back of her hand against his shoulder. “Are you watching me sleep? Creep.” A smile spreads across her lips and he catches her wrist in his hand, pressing a kiss against her knuckles. “Good morning.”
Yukwon could get used to this. “Good morning, noona.” He leans in to kiss her for real and she squeaks, shoving him away.
“Morning breath,” Sunhye warns and he groans, flopping back in bed. It’s a small price to pay, though. He’s never had a lazy morning with her, and he kind of likes it. Not that he’d ever tell the rest of the guys, they already give him enough shit for dating her. He doesn’t mind much, really. It is kind of strange, the two of them, but in a really good way. He met her one night, the two of them waiting at the same bus stop. Sunhye was all long legs and really expensive shoes, and Yukwon had been a little bit smitten as soon as he saw her. She laughed when he tripped getting onto the bus, and he’d introduced himself, and things had gone from there.
For the first few weeks they were dating, Sunhye never mentioned her family. She never talked about her home, or her school, and any time that Yukwon tried to steer the conversation that way, she shut him down. There were some clues, though. She came out with them one night, and Jaehyo’s girlfriend of the moment had nearly choked on her tongue when she’d seen Sunhye’s purse. “Doesn’t that cost a fortune?” she’d gasped, stroking a hand down the strap, and that was the first time Yukwon had seen Sunhye uncomfortable, flushing and avoiding his eyes.
He’d only truly understood the extent of it a few months later when some middle-aged man had stopped her on the street. It was weird, seeing the way she had suddenly straightened, a mask settling over her face as she’d greeted him graciously. He was a friend of her fathers, it seemed, a very important man, and when she’d taken a step away from Yukwon, not bothering to introduce him, that had hurt. It was nothing on the icy shock Yukwon had felt when the man mentioned, in passing, her father’s position. As CEO of the largest bank in South Korea.
Sunhye had stiffened at that, glancing at Yukwon. It made sense. The way that she’d never wanted him to meet any of her friends, how she’d steadfastly avoided bringing him to any of her haunts. Yukwon didn’t doubt the fact that he must not meet the usual standards of her regular life. He didn’t really think that the guys he runs with qualify as a gang, but he wasn’t sure that her father would really value the difference. Or the four year age difference. Or that he had a job, since he wasn’t in college and the job he did have was a low-level serving gig at his uncle’s restaurant. Wow.
Sunhye had bowed once more at the man and they’d continued on their way, but Yukwon had felt pretty shell-shocked. “I’m sorry,” she’d said, as soon as she could be sure that the man wouldn’t overhear them. “It’s just - ”
“Daddy wouldn’t approve?” Yukwon had snarled. It was harsher than he’d meant, but he was reeling. He liked Sunhye. Thing was, now he wasn’t sure that she liked him or what he was, what he represented. He’s been someone’s petty rebellion before. Wasn’t a good feeling, that was for sure. “That’s how you like it, right, noona?”
Sunhye’s eyes had darkened. “No, you ass,” she’d snapped. “But he wouldn’t understand.” She’d pressed her lips together, blinking rapidly. “You don’t - the last three guys I dated, my dad introduced us. They spent more time trying to lick his ass than even get to know me.” Tears had welled in her eyes but they didn’t fall. “You are not going to make me feel guilty for this, Yukwon. You like me, and I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you, but I didn’t want that to end.”
Yukwon’s words had dried up in his throat. He’d stared at her, wordless, for long enough that she’d laughed, voice harsh and bitter, and shaken her head. “Silly me, huh?” she’d said, and she’d turned and marched off, head high.
He’s spent the rest of the day sitting on a park bench, smoking a cigarette and staring at his feet. It’d taken him nearly a week to sort himself out, to call Sunhye and beg forgiveness. And beg he had, locked in the bathroom where Zico, his roommate, couldn’t hear him, forehead pressed against the door. “I’m an idiot,” he’d told her.
“Yeah,” she’d agreed. But he could hear her smile. “But I think you’re mine.”
Yukwon had closed his eyes and pressed a hand to the peeling paint of his bathroom door. “I love you,” he’d said, and her breath had hitched. “I mean it.”
“Definitely mine,” she’d replied.
And he still is, now, when she laughs and rolls on top of him, pressing her lips to the hinge of his jaw, the bridge of his nose, the shell of his ear. Yes, Yukwon definitely likes morning Sunhye, sleepy and playful, even if she won’t let him kiss her. “We’ve never had a sleepover before,” he says.
“Dad’s in Japan for the weekend,” she says. She squirms around until she’s comfortable, half sprawled across his chest, her thigh between his, head tucked underneath his chin. “No one to ask nosy questions.”
It’s a little sad that Sunhye is a grown woman and yet she still has to sneak around behind her father’s back. Yukwon thinks about saying something, but he knows it won’t do anything, so he bites his tongue. “Works for me,” Yukwon says.
It takes him ten minutes to work up the drive to climb out of bed and brush his teeth, but it’s not his fault that his bed is comfortable and Sunhye’s hands and mouth make such a compelling argument to stay. They also make a really compelling argument for brushing his teeth too, though, so eventually he hauls his ass up.
When he gets back from the bathroom, Sunhye is sitting up, the sheets pooled around her waist and her phone pressed to her ear. “We had a few drinks, Dad, I just thought it would be easier if I stayed the night.” She sighs, glancing up at Yukwon and making a face. “You know Jihyun. It was just one night.”
So much for their lazy Sunday morning in bed. He hikes his boxers up on his hip and sits down heavily next to her, and she turns to press her cheek to his shoulder. “Dad, it’s fine. I’ll be home soon. We decided to get breakfast.” Yukwon can hear her father’s voice over the line, rumbly and authoritative. “I’ll see you soon.”
She lets her phone fall into her lap and exhales in a rush, groaning. “Spoke too soon,” she says. He pets a hand through her hair and she shifts, her phone sliding off the mattress as the sheets hit the floor. “Well, better make use of the rest of the morning, right?” she says, lips quirking up. She straddles his hips, pushing him down with a forceful press of her hand.
Yukwon grins up at her. “Yes, noona,” he says obediently, and she rewards him by bending down to kiss him, deep and hard.
-
He’s really not expecting it when it all goes wrong. One minute he’s got his fingers around Sunhye’s wrist, leaning close to kiss her (not too much, though, she doesn’t want to ruin her lipstick). The next, he’s on the ground, pain shooting up the back of his skull from where it’d collided with the pavement. He gasps, staring up, blinking to clear his head. A massive man stares him down, flanked by three more, and Yukwon swallows hard. “What the hell is this?” Sunhye demands. “What are you doing?”
Yukwon pulls himself up slowly, exploring the back of his head with his fingers. He doesn’t seem to be bleeding, but he’ll probably have one hell of a goose egg in a couple of hours. It’s not that important right now. What is important is the way those four men are eyeing them. He can’t think of what he could’ve done to provoke this - he and his crew have scuffled with other groups in the past, but nothing in a while. Did he do something when he was drunk? Not important. He puts himself between Sunhye and the men, even if he knows he won’t be able to do a whole lot of good against all four. “What do you want?” he asks.
“Mr. Jun thinks that it’s time for this to end,” the first man says, and Yukwon goes cold. “Enough playing around with this kid.”
Sunhye barks out a laugh. “Are you serious?” she says. “I am an adult, I will date whoever I want to.” She looks furious, something he’s familiar with, but also scared, and that’s not an expression he’s ever seen before.
The man shakes his head. “I’m just following orders,” he says. He steps forward, too close, and looks down. “I’ve been told to make it real easy for you to decide.”
“This is absolute bullshit,” Sunhye says, crossing her arms and fixing the men with her best disdainful stare.
Even if Yukwon hadn’t been able to put together what the man meant by his tone, he doesn’t get a chance to think about it before the man throws a punch. It’s teeth rattlingly hard, sending Yukwon stumbling all over again. Dimly, he can hear Sunhye screaming, and a distant part of him takes a certain amount of pride in her rage.
It’s drowned out when the man lands a kick to his gut that sends him sprawling. He slams into the ground, sobbing for breath. This isn’t like any of the fights Yukwon has ever been in - this is clinical, precise. Each blow is calculated not to get him to surrender, but to hurt. And it’s working. He tastes blood on his teeth and his hands are raw from where they’ve scraped against the pavement. “Fuck,” he gasps, and the man kicks him in the ribs again. And again, and again, and again, until Yukwon feels something snap and he screams, curling in on himself.
Through the haze and the pain, Yukwon can see Sunhye, fighting, slamming her hands against the man’s shoulders, stomping on his toes. “I’ll go, I’ll go, just stop,” she cries, angry tears welling in her eyes. “For God’s sake, enough!”
The man steps away, eyeing her, and then he nods. “I think he gets the picture,” he agrees, and for a second, Yukwon doesn’t understand. All he knows is the burning pain in his chest and the ache in his skull. “Come on.”
“Sunhye,” Yukwon says, and she grits her teeth and shakes her head. She’s always been practical, he thinks and he wheezes, pressing his fingers to his ribs desperately, like he can hold them straight.
“If I go,” Sunhye says, and her voice wavers, but stays firm. “If I go, you leave him alone. No more of this.”
The big man is impassive. “You’ll have to talk to Mr. Jun,” he says.
Yukwon watches through blurry eyes as Sunhye turns. She’s doing that thing again, where she straightens her shoulders and becomes Miss Jun Sunhye once more, dutiful heir and daughter. “Fine,” she says. She glances down at Yukwon and her mouth twists. She mouths the words I love you, and then she’s following the men away.
No matter how he fights, Yukwon can’t make himself sit up. Hot tears prickle at the corner of his eyes and his ribs scream at him, but all he can do is watch. He feels dizzy for so many reasons.
He doesn’t know how long it is until they find him. “Look at you,” Kyung says, reaching for him. Yukwon stares at his stupid short pants and ugly socks as Kyung hoists him up. “Dude, you got your ass kicked.”
“You should see the other guy?” Yukwon tries, but it’s not easy to feign nonchalance with a mouthful of blood. The ache in his ribs has subsided, but as Kyung shifts him up, it awakens, sharp and horrible. Someone slides under his other arm, and he knows it’s Minhyuk, his arm familiar and firm around Yukwon’s waist.
“Who did this?” Zico asks. Yukwon has known Zico for years, seen him go from goofy high schooler who drinks too much and likes girl group dances to who he is today - still a bit goofy, sometimes, but focused, ambitious, determined. The way that he stares at Yukwon right now is so level and serious that Yukwon is certain that Zico would do whatever Yukwon asked for right now.
But they’re just a bunch of guys who do okay in a fight. Sunhye’s father is no one to fuck with. Yukwon shakes his head. “Don’t bother,” he says. “Guy runs a bank.” Taeil is exploring the damage to his ribs with careful hands, pressing down with his thumbs and nodding to himself every time Yukwon gasps. “It - it’s fine. It’s whatever.” It’s not whatever. The throbbing pain in Yukwon’s broken ribs is nothing on the ache in his chest. He should’ve known that this would end, a guy like him can’t date the heiress of a man like Jun forever. Still, even if it feels a little bit inevitable, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck.
He sees the glance that passes between Minhyuk and Zico. “Doesn’t look like whatever,” Zico says, head tipped.
“Looks like two broken ribs,” Taeil announces. “Maybe three.”
“Can I just go home?” Yukwon sighs. He kind of just wants to sleep for the next year. Maybe two.
Zico shrugs. “Yeah, alright,” he says, patting the back of Yukwon’s neck. “You good to walk?”
“Sure.” It’s not his ankles that hurt, thankfully enough. He’s just lucky that Mr. Jun isn’t in the mob, because he could’ve been dealing with broken feet, or worse.
At another nod from Zico, Minhyuk shifts Yukwon’s weight onto his shoulder and they shuffle forward. “You know,” Jaehyo says thoughtfully, “I would’ve thought I would be the first one to get their ass kicked for a girl.”
“Your time will come,” Minhyuk says dryly, and Jaehyo squawks in protest. Yukwon turns it all out, too aware of the blood on the back of his teeth and the throb in his chest, but mostly the empty spot in his ribcage.
-
“I’m meeting with one of my father’s proteges tonight,” Sunhye says. Her voice sounds muted over the phone - dull and resigned. “He’s agreed that as long as we never speak again, he’ll leave you alone.”
“What if I don’t want to?” Yukwon asks. He feels petulant, but he means it. He doesn’t want to let her go. What right does her father have to make these decisions for her?
“Yukwon,” Sunhye sighs. She’s always been so practical, he thinks miserably. “You know this is how it has to be. I can’t - I won’t let him do that to you again. I can’t.” She falls silent for a second, then continues. “You don’t get it. Next time, it’d be worse. My father is...very determined. Please, baby. Just do this for me.”
He presses his hands against his eyes, hot tears prickling at the back of his eyelids. “You had to use the big guns,” he says weakly.
“I love you,” she says, and though her voice is small, he memorizes this - the surety of her words, how it feels in his chest to hear it. “Please, just let me know that you will be okay.”
“I love you too,” Yukwon whispers. He knows it’s the last time he’ll hear her say it. It’s all so fucking unfair
When she hangs up, he sits on the bathroom floor, still and empty. He only jerks to attention when Zico opens the door. He squats in front of Yukwon, a rubber clown mask in his hands. “Hey,” he says, surprisingly gently. “What would you say if I told you I had a plan?”
Yukwon stares at Zico’s hands for a long second. Zico’s got a lot of plans, and all of them are reckless and kind of terrifying. But Zico is loyal, and most of them work. “Let me hear it,” he says, and Zico grins.