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Castle in the Sky 6/?
Ryeowook never showed up. Whether it was because he wasn’t finished talking with Henry or Kibum never actually talked to him, Donghae didn’t know. Instead, Kangin came out toting a pair of bright pink crutches sprinkled with glitter.
“They’re a little garish,” he said, “but they’ll work just fine.”
“They’re perfect,” Donghae assured, his head far too muddled by Kibum’s strange action moments before to be bothered. Kangin adjusted them to Donghae’s height, and Donghae hobbled back inside, feeling good now that he didn’t have to rely on anyone else to get around. Now that he didn’t have to rely on Kibum.
Kangin passed him to sit on a couch and Donghae watched as Leeteuk leaned against him, threading their fingers together and murmuring into the side of Kangin’s neck.
Donghae watched them whisper for a few seconds, and when the whispers turned into kisses, he turned away, making his way into the kitchen. Taeyeon was mixing some sort of strange concoction of food that he immediately attributed to hormones and she smiled at him, “Do they work well?”
“Yes,” Donghae said, nodding, “very well. Thank you.”
She grinned back and lifted her bowl and spoon, cradling it on top off her protruding belly. “I’m off to bed; hormones and all that, come on, I’ll show you to your room. Kibum made sure you got one on the ground floor.”
Donghae’s stomach dropped at the mention of the Castle captain, but he swallowed the emotions and followed, smiling as Taeyeon led him down the hall. “If you need anything,” she said, “Kibum’s just across the hall, alright? Great. If you’ll excuse me,” she waved, and then waddled off, already beginning to eat her snack as she made her way to her bedroom.
He wondered if she shared with Kangin.
The room was cozy. Spacious to some degree, with a bath off to the side (Donghae wondered if all the rooms had their own bathrooms,) and, he was pleased to note, a small private balcony. Well. He swung himself towards it and managed to slide the door open with the jerk of a crutch.
He closed his eyes as a breeze filtered into the room and he breathed in it in, trying to calm his mind.
He had come here, come to the Castle, searching for an out. Searching for a new life. Expecting to find a princess. All that jazz. Instead, he had landed in the middle of Outliers who weren’t at all what he had expected.
And there was Kibum. Kibum who had kissed him like it was the most natural thing in the whole world. Kibum who had nice muscles and was a little gruff and a brilliant smile--when he bothered to be happy, anyway. Donghae didn’t know what to make of it all.
He didn’t particularly know how he could look Kibum in the eye again.
Fate solved his dilemma when there was a soft knock on the door and Donghae made his way over to open it.
“Lovely color pink,” Kibum said, casting a gaze up and down the crutches.
“Yeah,” Donghae said, backing up slightly so Kibum could step into the room; he didn’t.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “I shouldn’t have done that on top of all the things I told you and...it was awful of me. Can we just forget that it even happened?’
Donghae met Kibum’s eyes and swallowed the spark the started to rise from his belly. “Um, yeah. Let’s.”
“Okay,” Kibum heaved himself off of the doorjamb and took a few steps backwards, “Well, I’ll...see you tomorrow.”
“Right,” Donghae nodded, and shut the door in Kibum’s face, leaning back against it. He heard Kibum’s door shut a few seconds later. “Shit,” he muttered to himself, because really, he didn’t want to forget. Not even a little.
*
Donghae woke the next morning to someone poking his cheek. He groaned under his breath and swatted the hand away, pulling his blanket up over his head. “Go ‘way.”
“Up!” A voice demanded and Donghae tried to place the tone. “Bummie says up!”
Donghae peeked over the edge of his comforter to see Soojin standing beside his bed and pointing imperiously at him. “Tell Kibum to come wake me up himself,” Donghae said.
“UP.” Soojin demanded, stamping her foot on the throw rug.
“No,” Donghae returned firmly.
She bristled, her little nose working up and down as she tried to control her toddler rage. Donghae found it so adorable he figured that he could at least appease her; she also looked ready to pull out the waterworks and Donghae didn’t want to deal with that.
He sighed dramatically and stretched, “Okay, you win.”
She grinned and marched out of the room. He heard her announcing loudly that he was awake and he thought he heard Kibum congratulating her on a successful mission.
Donghae rolled out of bed and grabbed the crutches and made his way for the bathroom, breathing a sigh of relief as he reached it in time. Perhaps it was a good thing that Soojin had woken him up when she did.
When he came back out, Kibum was sitting on his bed. “I need to change your bandage,” he explained.
Donghae tried very hard not to blush as his pants were pulled down. They were trying to forget last night, or at least, he was. Kibum didn’t seem fazed in the least, methodically peeling away the gauze and checking the stitches as he wiped away dried blood and antiseptic carefully. He re-doused the wound in a dark green goo that Donghae assumed was a bacteria killer. It stung a little. It was also gross to watch as it slid down his thigh.
“Ew.”
“I know. It’s gross, but it’s potent and your leg will heal faster, which is what you want, right?”
“Right,” Donghae swallowed, trying to hold down his nausea.
His head was patted after Kibum finished rewrapping his leg , “don’t take a shower. You can sponge bathe or something.”
Donghae visibly deflated.
“Do you want help?” Kibum offered.
“No,” Donghae answered a little too quickly, “No, thank you.” I’m trying to forget, and having you bathe me will not help. Not if your hands are on me, or you’re looking at my body or...well...
“Donghae?” He snapped out of his thoughts and gave a weak smile. “Should I help you dress or are you heading into the bathroom?”
Donghae reached for the pants and tried to keep his breathing under control as Kibum slid a pant leg over his knee and steadied Donghae as he pulled his sweats over his hips quickly. “Thanks.”
There wasn’t a vocal response, but Donghae could have sworn Kibum squeezed his hip very lightly before he let go.
“Come on, there’s breakfast waiting and then we have to go meet Heechul.”
*
Ryeowook didn’t say anything when he saw Kibum walk out of Donghae’s bedroom, Donghae following closely on a pair of hideously pink crutches. He heard Henry snicker behind him and he reached back to pinch at his arm, even though they shared a secret little smile.
Without even realizing it, Ryeowook had become terribly fond of Henry. And last night...last night had apparently been something of a night for kissing.
Ryeowook and Henry had been heading out onto the balcony to look at the stars but had been frozen at the sight of Kibum sweeping down and pressing his lips to Donghae’s. Ryeowook had not been sure what to make of that until Henry had tugged him into an alcove so that they could remain unseen as Kibum passed them. With Henry pressed so close, trying not to breathe too loud to alert Donghae to their presence, with Henry’s hands on his arms, Ryeowook had rather thought himself infatuated.
Apparently, so had Henry because it hadn’t taken him long to blush furiously before leaning in awkwardly to kiss Ryeowook. The thief had been a little apprehensive, thinking that it would sort of be like kissing your younger brother, but Henry had rather proved that he was sexy. Ryeowook smirked to himself at the memory. Oh yes. Very sexy indeed, and not at all as shy in the bedroom as he was everywhere else.
Ryeowook could appreciate that.
“Do you think they talked after Kibum bolted last night?” Henry whispered into his ear.
Ryeowook shrugged, “I don’t know. I guess we’ll see.”
He felt Henry nod against his ear and they headed towards the kitchen together, pinching each other back and forth and trying to smother their laughter so as not to obvious. This failed, Ryeowook realized, because as soon as they stepped into the kitchen, Kibum took one look at them and said dryly, “well, I’m glad to see that someone had a good night.”
Leeteuk looked up from where he was attempting to yank a spoon from Kangin’s hand and Ryeowook suddenly felt rather vulnerable.
“I don’t know what you mean,” the thief said innocently.
“I mean that,” Kibum pointed, and Ryeowook felt all the eyes in the room train to his shoulder. He vaguely recalled Henry biting him there, and Ryeowook blushed as Leeteuk clucked.
“Mind your own business,” Henry said, laying a hand on Ryeowook’s shoulder to cover the mark.
Kibum snorted and Ryeowook saw him and Donghae share A Look that was indecipherable. Mind your own business indeed.
“Not in front of Soojin,” Kangin growled, and took his hands away from his daughter’s ears.
“What!” she demanded loudly, though it sounded more like she was just shouting the word because that’s what the grown ups did when they wanted something rather than actually wanting to know what Kangin was hiding from her.
“Nothing,” Leeteuk soothed, “adult things your father doesn’t want you knowing about.”
“Ever,” Kangin said, stirring his pot ferociously.
Soojin looked ready to shout another word, now that more attention was trained onto her. “Jinnie-yah, why don’t you show Donghae and Ryeowook your fish?” Leeteuk suggested.
Her face brightened and Ryeowook found himself being pulled by the hand towards Soojin’s room, Donghae stumping along behind them. “Pretty,” Soojin insisted, pointing at the colored fish swimming in the tank and Ryeowook smiled and smoothed her hair.
“Very,” he agreed.
Donghae sat down in a chair by the tank and Soojin crawled onto his lap, pointing out each fish and telling him its name. He held her tight and listened intently until he could repeat each name back. Ryeowook was sure his knee hurt because Soojin’s hand was digging into the wound as she tried to sit comfortably, but Donghae didn’t even wince.
Ryeowook shook his head, “Soojin, you can’t sit on his lap.”
“Why?” she demanded, somehow already very comfortable with people she had only met the night before.
“His leg is hurt.”
She blinked owlishly at him and then patted Donghae’s knee hard, right on his wound. This time he did wince. “Fine,” Soojin assured Ryeowook.
At a loss, Ryeowook practically jogged from the room. He barely got out “Soojin is sitting on Donghae’s bad knee,” before Kibum and Kangin dashed away.
“Nice,” Henry said, and Ryeowook laughed as he realized that they were the only two people in the room.
Nice indeed.
*
Despite his constant mantra of forget, forget, forget, there was something about Kibum dashing into the room a la Knight in Shining Armor that made it all rush back.
“Soojin, get off.” Kibum yanked the girl off of Donghae’s lap and Donghae gasped as the pressure was released.
“What?” Soojin asked, scared of Kibum’s angry face and Donghae’s sudden tears.
“Come here,” Kangin said gently and Soojin hid inside the circle of his arms, frowning as Kibum eased Donghae’s pants down, hissing at the blood that was seeping through the gauze.
Soojin whimpered and tried to look away but Kangin held her firmly. “You can’t sit on his lap, Soojin,” he said, “he’s hurt.”
“Me?” she asked in a shaky voice, pointing at the blood and throwing a wary glance at Kibum as he left for his medical bag.
“No,” Kangin said, “that wasn’t you. But you can’t sit on him because of that, okay? No touching.”
Soojin’s lip trembled and Donghae watched through half-lidded eyes as she wiggled from her father’s arms to place a gentle kiss on Donghae’s leg. “Sorry.”
“Oh, sweetie, it’s okay,” Donghae said, and patted her, “you didn’t know and you were just really excited about your fish. It’s alright.”
She apparently decided to take it upon herself to make Donghae feel better because she snuggled up to the parts of him that she could and gripped onto his hand tightly. “Fish make better,” she said.
“Are they magic?” Donghae asked, glad of the distraction as Kibum returned and started to re-clean the wound, washing the green liquid off and making sure that his stitches had held through Soojin’s weight.
“Magic,” Soojin nodded.
“Where did you get them?”
“Heechul!” Soojin all but squealed.
“Heechul spoils you,” Donghae heard Kangin mutter, before Soojin launched into a speech about how wonderful Heechul was. At least, that’s what Donghae assumed; he couldn’t really understand her.
He blew out a sharp breath as Kibum poured more of the green antiseptic over the cut, willing himself to not feel the sting, which was worse than it had been earlier. “Sorry,” Kibum whispered, “I know it hurts.”
Soojin latched herself onto Donghae’s hand and held on, no doubt trying to be helpful. Donghae grit his teeth and tried not to squeeze her too tight lest he break something. He threw a glance at Kangin, afraid that he would do just that.
“Come on, baby,” Kangin pulled Soojin away, “Let’s go finish your meal. I have no idea why Leeteuk let you leave the table.”
Soojin did not look very happy at having to leave when someone needed her, but she apparently had already learned that not listening never ended well. She huffed, then wrapped her arms around Kangin’s neck and started to tell him that “Hae like fish!”
“I could tell, baby.”
Donghae drowned the rest of conversation out, only to hear Soojin screech loudly, “Teukie! HAE LIKE FISH!”
“She is so loud,” Kibum grumbled.
Donghae didn’t say anything as Kibum finished wrapping another bandage. “If it starts to bleed before we change it tonight, tell me.”
“Fine,” Donghae nodded, avoiding Kibum’s gaze. It stayed trained on him, even after Donghae was done pulling his pants back on. “Why are you staring?” he finally asked.
He didn’t dare look up at Kibum to garner his reaction. There was a beat or two of silence before Kibum finally said, “It’s not important. Forget it.”
Forgetting again, Donghae groaned to himself. He was not at all good with forgetting things.
“Come on, we need to eat and then leave so we can meet with Heechul on time. He hates it when he’s made to wait.”
*
The rest of breakfast was uneventful. Taeyeon eventually made it down and plastered herself to Kangin’s side, whining until he finally left the dishes for Leeteuk and made her a separate breakfast and rubbed the kinks out of her shoulders. Ryeowook and Henry disappeared after they finished their food, and Donghae wondered if he’d ever have Ryeowook to himself ever again. Henry was glued to his side and never left him alone.
Hangeng and Siwon appeared as Kibum and Donghae were awkwardly getting ready to leave, apparently having gotten up early to run some errands.
“Is Mei-yin coming?” Kibum asked.
“No,” Hangeng said, as if Kibum was dumb for even asking.
“I’ll feed her when she wakes up,” Kangin said from where he was still rubbing at Taeyeon’s shoulders.
“Feel free to give her chores,” Siwon ran a hand through his hair.
“Only if you take Soojin with you.”
“Heechul!” Soojin squealed from her chair, breakfast entirely forgotten.
“Yes,” Siwon muttered darkly, as he helped Soojin down, “Heechul.”
*
Heechul turned out to be not at all how Donghae imagined, and yet he wasn’t surprised by the eccentricities. Very richly dressed with flaming red hair and enviously good looks, he looked like corporeal temptation as he draped himself all over Kibum and then Hangeng, taking great care to kiss each of them thoroughly. Siwon didn’t seem the least perturbed and bent down to accept a kiss of his own, hiding Soojin’s face in his shoulder. Donghae tried very hard to forget as he felt Kibum gauging him for a reaction. He did his best to hide his displeasure.
“Heechul, Heechul, Heechul!” Soojin shrieked, trying to see him around Siwon’s hands and neck.
“Hi, Jinnie baby,” Heechul cooed and accepted her wriggling body, laughing as she latched onto him like a barnacle and started to talk a hundred miles a minute in baby speech. Donghae thought he heard the word fish repeated a few times. “I hope you’ve been good,” he said, “bad girls don’t get presents.”
“Angel,” Soojin said, slowly, as if she was trying to remember the exact word.
“Listen to you and your new vocabulary! Who taught you that?”
“Appa,” Soojin grinned and Heechul laughed, his gaze finally sliding to Donghae.
He took a few steps back involuntarily but it was no use. Heechul’s nose was practically pressed up against his as he gave Donghae a slow once over. “Well,” he drawled, “Kibum, you certainly know how to find them.”
“Hae like fish!” Soojin explained.
“I’m glad you approve of him,” Heechul chuckled, stroking at Soojin’s pigtails fondly. He smirked at the pink crutches, but said nothing more, hitching Soojin further up on his hip as he turned back towards his Castle. “Yah! Kyuhyun, let’s go!”
Two other men made their way leisurely down the Castle ramp and Donghae almost snorted. They looked so...he didn’t know the word. They were pretty, that was for sure, and they seemed to fit themselves around Heechul comfortably, dressed well, perfect skin and hair, walking on the ground like they owned it. Donghae wondered if they actually did.
Donghae tried not to stare at the one with the long legs but it was really, really hard.
“Nice crutches,” the shorter one said, and Donghae gave him a forced smile.
“Kui Xian! Be nice!”
“I’m just saying.”
“Say it nice!” Long legs insisted, and then introduced himself as Zhou Mi.
Donghae looked him up and down and then decided Zhou Mi’s long legs weren’t at all as enticing as Kibum’s muscles. Mind settled, he was able to genuinely smile as Kyuhyun was introduced to him by Heechul.
“So,” Heechul drawled, throwing an arm around Hangeng’s shoulders after Soojin was put on the ground so she could bounce around all of them to release her energy, “where’s Kangin?”
“Tending to Taeyeon,” Hangeng said, not minding the arm at all.
“And Leeteuk?”
“I have no idea where he is today.”
“Mei-yin?” Heechul finally asked.
“Sleeping,” Hangeng replied shortly as they start to walk towards Kibum’s Castle.
“She didn’t want to come and see me?”
“She wouldn’t have been allowed to had she been awake,” Siwon clarified and tried to reach out to capture Soojin’s hand. She thought it was a game and ran around the adults giggling, hiding behind Zhou Mi’s legs.
Zhou Mi just lifted her up and she lost interest in Siwon, Zhou Mi’s shirt buttons proving to be more of an interest.
“Oh dear,” Heechul said. His smile dropped when it wasn’t returned. “Wow, Siwon’s actually managed to stay mad. What did she do?”
“I’m not mad,” Siwon insisted, “I’m disappointed.”
Heechul turned his head to inspect Hangeng’s face, “You’re mad,” he said, and it wasn’t a question. “Maybe I’ll talk to her. You can tell me all the gory details after you see what I have for you.”
Hangeng mumbled something that Donghae couldn’t here, but it made Heechul laugh and start to nudge his nose into Hangeng’s cheek. “Cheer up,” he said and nipped at Hangeng’s ear until he was pushed away.
“Ew, okay. You’ve had your kiss. Hang on someone else.”
Siwon finally looked slightly disturbed and he took possession of Hangeng’s hand as they walked, wiping at his cheek.
Heechul just laughed again and hung onto Kibum instead. Donghae wished that Heechul would have just hung unto Hangeng. Kibum looked unimpressed but he tolerated the touching. Donghae tried to forget it, staring at Zhou Mi cooing over Soojin and Kyuhyun rolling his eyes at both of them; maybe it was everyone, Donghae wasn’t sure.
Heechul openly balked when he caught sight of the damaged grass. “Kibum, what have you been doing? Fighting off dragons?”
“It’s Donghae’s fault.”
“You’re a horrible pilot,” Heechul said immediately, after Donghae had stuttered out excuses for firefights and having a wing damaged.
“I am not!”
“Um,” Zhou Mi said, eyeing the carnage and then Donghae doubtfully.
“Yes you are,” Kyuhyun said, “that’s the shittiest landing job ever.”
“I was being shot at,” Donghae impressed upon them.
“Excuses, excuses,” Heechul waved a hand, “The truth of the matter is, you suck. There was no need to trash the grass. Lord, that’s going to be expensive to fix, Kibum.”
“I know,” Kibum ground out and Donghae avoided looking at him.
“Soojin,” Heechul said, “Make sure you become a better pilot than Donghae, alright?”
She nodded from her place in Zhou Mi’s arms and Heechul seemed to be satisfied. “Well, we’ll get someone on that. Kyuhyun, check his engine, will you?”
“I can only imagine,” Kyuhyun said, and dragged Zhou Mi inside, Soojin just managing to be put down. She ran back towards Siwon, now that Zhou Mi’s buttons were no longer available and held onto his hand. She jumped up and down in place, bouncing to her own music.
“Wish I had her energy,” Heechul said wistfully, “Oh the things I could do...the things I could last longer doing.” He sighed, and then said, before Donghae could attach images to the innuendo, “Let’s head back to my Castle. I have some interesting pieces for you to look at.”
It turned out, that by pieces, Heechul meant pieces of glass. Colored, shaped, and blown pieces of glass. Donghae couldn’t stop staring.
“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Heechul breathed into Donghae’s ear and he could only nod, enraptured.
The light bounced around all of them, casting soft, colorful glows all around them, the shadows flickering in the candle light.
“Pick something,” Heechul prodded, “You’re new and you don’t have money, so I’ll give you a gift. Just don’t expect it next time.”
“I-I couldn’t choose,” Donghae stuttered. A cup? A plate? There were necklaces and rings, knick knacks and lamps. Everything made out of glass and it was overwhelming.
“You’ll find something if you look long enough.”
Donghae had to look away lest he break down into tears at the sheer volume of beauty in front of him. So instead, he watched as Soojin cooed over the glass, held tight in Siwon’s arms so that she wouldn’t touch something and break it. Heechul wandered away and came back with a tub of glass that he set in front of Hangeng. “Here,” he said, “scraps. I know you can use them.”
Hangeng smiled and he sat down by it, carefully sifting through them. He pulled out the pieces that he liked best and set them in a sack Heechul handed them.
Donghae was so engrossed to notice Kibum coming up to stand behind him.
“You should pick something. Heechul doesn’t give out freebies of his work often; unless he really likes you,” Kibum added, and Donghae almost jumped out of his skin.
Once his heart calmed, he asked, “Heechul makes all of this?”
Kibum nodded, and Donghae tentatively reached out to trace circles on the cool glass. The feel of it sent shivers up his spine. “I can’t,” he finally breathed, “How can I just take something that...that could feed so many people in the Dome?”
Donghae felt an onslaught of tears threatening to push his way out of his chest.
“You’re not in the Dome anymore, Donghae. You won’t be in a Done for a long time.”
“But this--this is a fortune.”
“No, it’s not,” Kibum whispered, “it’s just glass. It’s not money. Not gold. Not silver.”
He ran a hand up and down Donghae’s back soothingly as Donghae trembled, overwhelmed. Kibum reached out and selected a polished piece of glass on a leather string and held it out for Donghae’s inspection. “Here, it’s just jewelry. It’s just decoration.”
Donghae leant his weight on one crutch and touched the blue glass. It shone in the low light, a sparkle of light coming from somewhere deep inside it, looking slightly green when turned a certain way. Kibum reached around Donghae’s neck and clasped the leather. “There. Now you don’t have to decide. Don’t lose it.”
How could he? Donghae thought he’d never take it off.
Hangeng finished his perusal of Heechul’s left over pieces soon after and they left the room, Heechul locking it behind them securely. “Did you pick something, Soojin?” he asked.
Soojin nodded, clasping a red heart in her hand. “Umma,” she said, and Heechul tweaked her nose.
“I’m sure she’ll love it,” Heechul said.
Donghae wondered what sort of child picked out a gift for their mother instead of something for herself. He wished he still had a mother; it certainly would have made his decision easier. Kibum squeezed his shoulder as if he could sense Donghae’s thought.
Forget, Donghae’s mind screamed, and he pushed Kibum and stars and kisses out of his mind. Must forget.
They had just reached the ramp of Heechul’s Castle when Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi returned.
“Kim Kibum,” Kyuhyun growled, “You are a bastard of a captain.”
“That bad?” Heechul asked conversationally.
“Kui Xian! Don’t say that in front of Soojin!”
“What!” Soojin asked. Siwon shushed her.
“It’s awful,” Kyuhyun said, arms crossed, “Absolutely pitiful. I am embarrassed for you.”
Heechul turned an eye to Kibum who shrugged, “I just fly it. I don’t know how it gets so bad.”
“You’re supposed to upkeep it. Perform maintenance. I taught you that much, at least.”
“I get a little busy,” Kibum shrugged again.
“It’s going to take awhile to fix,” Kyuhyun said, already tugging at Zhou Mi’s hands and heading up the ramp, “we’ll grab some stuff and head back. You’d better not let it get that bad again,” he added, pointing a finger at Kibum.
“I’ll be at Kangin’s,” Heechul said, “I think I ought to say hi. Talk to Mei-yin, maybe,” he added, throwing a look at Hangeng.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Hangeng said, and he actually looked relieved.
Heechul turned to Donghae. “Why don’t you go with Kyuhyun. Maybe you’ll learn something, since you have no future in flying outercraft.”
Donghae had a nasty retort on the tip of his tongue, but then he remember the glass hanging around his neck and just nodded in agreement.
*
Donghae was watching carefully as Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi made ready to pull apart Kibum’s Castle engine, dragging in vicious looking instruments, grinning gleefully at one another as they continually cracked jokes at the horrible engine upkeep.
“If Kibum ever lets you work on this engine,” Kyuhyun told him, “which is unlikely, but just in case he does, don’t ever let it get to this point.”
Zhou Mi was nodding furiously at everything Kyuhyun said. “It’s sad,” he said, stroking the metal lovingly and brushing off imaginary dust.
“I don’t think I’ll ever touch it,” Donghae said.
Kyuhyun only smirked at him over the engine and Donghae said no more, listening to Zhou Mi and Kyuhyun bicker lightly about different aspects of their repair.
“Kui Xian! That’s the left one.”
“No it’s not. This can go anywhere.”
“You’re going to make it blow up.”
“No, I’m not. Mimi, I invented this stupid engine and I taught you about it. Obviously you weren’t listening.”
“You’ll have to teach me again.”
“Oh, I’ll teach you,” Kyuhyun grumbled and Donghae rolled his eyes because Kyuhyun’s tone suggested lessons of another sort.
There was a moment where they both disappeared from view and Donghae heard Zhou Mi hiss, “Kui Xian, we’re not alone.”
“Oh. Right. I forgot.”
Donghae knew he was blushing furiously and he studiously ignored them both as they popped back up and continued their work. The silence was now very awkward and Donghae was relieved when there was a bang from somewhere outside the engine room and then the sound of running footsteps.
Hangeng came bursting in looking positively panicked. “Mei-yin!” He gasped.
“The brat?” Kyuhyun asked, “Did she finally run away?”
Zhou Mi hit him.
“She snuck out,” Hangeng explained, trying to catch his breath, “Heechul went to talk to her and her window was open and she was just gone.”
“She’s not here. I totally would have tattled on her if she was,” Kyuhyun said, and Donghae rather supposed he would of. The man seemed like the sort of person who would get some kind of sadistic pleasure out of watching other people get into trouble.
“You haven’t seen her at all?” Hangeng asked, “Not anywhere?”
“No,” Kyuhyun said, absorbed in attempting to unscrew a few bolts that were rusting. “Fuck,” he muttered, “Kibum actually wondered what was wrong?”
Zhou Mi shot Hangeng a sympathetic look, “We’ll let you know if she comes in here.”
Hangeng let out a strangled noise of frustration and Donghae took pity on him. “I’ll help you look,” he offered and Hangeng stopped tearing out his hair to give him a grateful smile.
There was no way that Donghae could have kept up with Hangeng, handicapped as he was, so he went off on his own into the downtown area of Regnum and searched. He didn’t really know where he would go, were he Mei-yin; he didn’t ever know where he’d go as Donghae. So he just browsed, ignoring the strange looks he was getting, no doubt due to the color pink that was standing out rather garishly.
He walked by a few restaurants, and then strolled down streets packed with vendors. The glass necklace Kibum had picked out for him hung heavy around his neck as he saw similar pieces hanging in shop windows. Somehow, they couldn’t quite compare.
He forced himself to turn his thoughts to Mei-yin and he strained his eyesight to it’s limit as he searched for anything that looked remotely like a thirteen year old. He had decided to head back after searching thoroughly for twenty minutes, when he caught sight of some Outliers.
And Mei-yin. Mei-yin being held by her hair as an officer compared her face to that of a wanted poster he was holding.
Donghae ducked behind a stall to watch and felt his stomach drop a little as the officer shoved the paper back into his jacket. Another officer hauled Mei-yin onto his shoulder as she started to kick and scream and they shoved her into an outercraft. Donghae scooted out and tried to get closer, to see their faces, to let Mei-yin see him and know that someone was going to come for her, but they blasted off before he could go three feet.
He watched it for a bit, until he thought he could tell about what direction they were heading and then hurried back as fast as he could.
Shit, he thought, the events finally sinking into his brain, shit, shit, shit.
~~~~~
And finally some action...
Also, Happy Belated Valentine's Day. I went out and bought myself the Spirited Away soundtrack. I wanted to buy boots but I couldn't find any so boo. Twas fun though.
“They’re a little garish,” he said, “but they’ll work just fine.”
“They’re perfect,” Donghae assured, his head far too muddled by Kibum’s strange action moments before to be bothered. Kangin adjusted them to Donghae’s height, and Donghae hobbled back inside, feeling good now that he didn’t have to rely on anyone else to get around. Now that he didn’t have to rely on Kibum.
Kangin passed him to sit on a couch and Donghae watched as Leeteuk leaned against him, threading their fingers together and murmuring into the side of Kangin’s neck.
Donghae watched them whisper for a few seconds, and when the whispers turned into kisses, he turned away, making his way into the kitchen. Taeyeon was mixing some sort of strange concoction of food that he immediately attributed to hormones and she smiled at him, “Do they work well?”
“Yes,” Donghae said, nodding, “very well. Thank you.”
She grinned back and lifted her bowl and spoon, cradling it on top off her protruding belly. “I’m off to bed; hormones and all that, come on, I’ll show you to your room. Kibum made sure you got one on the ground floor.”
Donghae’s stomach dropped at the mention of the Castle captain, but he swallowed the emotions and followed, smiling as Taeyeon led him down the hall. “If you need anything,” she said, “Kibum’s just across the hall, alright? Great. If you’ll excuse me,” she waved, and then waddled off, already beginning to eat her snack as she made her way to her bedroom.
He wondered if she shared with Kangin.
The room was cozy. Spacious to some degree, with a bath off to the side (Donghae wondered if all the rooms had their own bathrooms,) and, he was pleased to note, a small private balcony. Well. He swung himself towards it and managed to slide the door open with the jerk of a crutch.
He closed his eyes as a breeze filtered into the room and he breathed in it in, trying to calm his mind.
He had come here, come to the Castle, searching for an out. Searching for a new life. Expecting to find a princess. All that jazz. Instead, he had landed in the middle of Outliers who weren’t at all what he had expected.
And there was Kibum. Kibum who had kissed him like it was the most natural thing in the whole world. Kibum who had nice muscles and was a little gruff and a brilliant smile--when he bothered to be happy, anyway. Donghae didn’t know what to make of it all.
He didn’t particularly know how he could look Kibum in the eye again.
Fate solved his dilemma when there was a soft knock on the door and Donghae made his way over to open it.
“Lovely color pink,” Kibum said, casting a gaze up and down the crutches.
“Yeah,” Donghae said, backing up slightly so Kibum could step into the room; he didn’t.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “I shouldn’t have done that on top of all the things I told you and...it was awful of me. Can we just forget that it even happened?’
Donghae met Kibum’s eyes and swallowed the spark the started to rise from his belly. “Um, yeah. Let’s.”
“Okay,” Kibum heaved himself off of the doorjamb and took a few steps backwards, “Well, I’ll...see you tomorrow.”
“Right,” Donghae nodded, and shut the door in Kibum’s face, leaning back against it. He heard Kibum’s door shut a few seconds later. “Shit,” he muttered to himself, because really, he didn’t want to forget. Not even a little.
*
Donghae woke the next morning to someone poking his cheek. He groaned under his breath and swatted the hand away, pulling his blanket up over his head. “Go ‘way.”
“Up!” A voice demanded and Donghae tried to place the tone. “Bummie says up!”
Donghae peeked over the edge of his comforter to see Soojin standing beside his bed and pointing imperiously at him. “Tell Kibum to come wake me up himself,” Donghae said.
“UP.” Soojin demanded, stamping her foot on the throw rug.
“No,” Donghae returned firmly.
She bristled, her little nose working up and down as she tried to control her toddler rage. Donghae found it so adorable he figured that he could at least appease her; she also looked ready to pull out the waterworks and Donghae didn’t want to deal with that.
He sighed dramatically and stretched, “Okay, you win.”
She grinned and marched out of the room. He heard her announcing loudly that he was awake and he thought he heard Kibum congratulating her on a successful mission.
Donghae rolled out of bed and grabbed the crutches and made his way for the bathroom, breathing a sigh of relief as he reached it in time. Perhaps it was a good thing that Soojin had woken him up when she did.
When he came back out, Kibum was sitting on his bed. “I need to change your bandage,” he explained.
Donghae tried very hard not to blush as his pants were pulled down. They were trying to forget last night, or at least, he was. Kibum didn’t seem fazed in the least, methodically peeling away the gauze and checking the stitches as he wiped away dried blood and antiseptic carefully. He re-doused the wound in a dark green goo that Donghae assumed was a bacteria killer. It stung a little. It was also gross to watch as it slid down his thigh.
“Ew.”
“I know. It’s gross, but it’s potent and your leg will heal faster, which is what you want, right?”
“Right,” Donghae swallowed, trying to hold down his nausea.
His head was patted after Kibum finished rewrapping his leg , “don’t take a shower. You can sponge bathe or something.”
Donghae visibly deflated.
“Do you want help?” Kibum offered.
“No,” Donghae answered a little too quickly, “No, thank you.” I’m trying to forget, and having you bathe me will not help. Not if your hands are on me, or you’re looking at my body or...well...
“Donghae?” He snapped out of his thoughts and gave a weak smile. “Should I help you dress or are you heading into the bathroom?”
Donghae reached for the pants and tried to keep his breathing under control as Kibum slid a pant leg over his knee and steadied Donghae as he pulled his sweats over his hips quickly. “Thanks.”
There wasn’t a vocal response, but Donghae could have sworn Kibum squeezed his hip very lightly before he let go.
“Come on, there’s breakfast waiting and then we have to go meet Heechul.”
*
Ryeowook didn’t say anything when he saw Kibum walk out of Donghae’s bedroom, Donghae following closely on a pair of hideously pink crutches. He heard Henry snicker behind him and he reached back to pinch at his arm, even though they shared a secret little smile.
Without even realizing it, Ryeowook had become terribly fond of Henry. And last night...last night had apparently been something of a night for kissing.
Ryeowook and Henry had been heading out onto the balcony to look at the stars but had been frozen at the sight of Kibum sweeping down and pressing his lips to Donghae’s. Ryeowook had not been sure what to make of that until Henry had tugged him into an alcove so that they could remain unseen as Kibum passed them. With Henry pressed so close, trying not to breathe too loud to alert Donghae to their presence, with Henry’s hands on his arms, Ryeowook had rather thought himself infatuated.
Apparently, so had Henry because it hadn’t taken him long to blush furiously before leaning in awkwardly to kiss Ryeowook. The thief had been a little apprehensive, thinking that it would sort of be like kissing your younger brother, but Henry had rather proved that he was sexy. Ryeowook smirked to himself at the memory. Oh yes. Very sexy indeed, and not at all as shy in the bedroom as he was everywhere else.
Ryeowook could appreciate that.
“Do you think they talked after Kibum bolted last night?” Henry whispered into his ear.
Ryeowook shrugged, “I don’t know. I guess we’ll see.”
He felt Henry nod against his ear and they headed towards the kitchen together, pinching each other back and forth and trying to smother their laughter so as not to obvious. This failed, Ryeowook realized, because as soon as they stepped into the kitchen, Kibum took one look at them and said dryly, “well, I’m glad to see that someone had a good night.”
Leeteuk looked up from where he was attempting to yank a spoon from Kangin’s hand and Ryeowook suddenly felt rather vulnerable.
“I don’t know what you mean,” the thief said innocently.
“I mean that,” Kibum pointed, and Ryeowook felt all the eyes in the room train to his shoulder. He vaguely recalled Henry biting him there, and Ryeowook blushed as Leeteuk clucked.
“Mind your own business,” Henry said, laying a hand on Ryeowook’s shoulder to cover the mark.
Kibum snorted and Ryeowook saw him and Donghae share A Look that was indecipherable. Mind your own business indeed.
“Not in front of Soojin,” Kangin growled, and took his hands away from his daughter’s ears.
“What!” she demanded loudly, though it sounded more like she was just shouting the word because that’s what the grown ups did when they wanted something rather than actually wanting to know what Kangin was hiding from her.
“Nothing,” Leeteuk soothed, “adult things your father doesn’t want you knowing about.”
“Ever,” Kangin said, stirring his pot ferociously.
Soojin looked ready to shout another word, now that more attention was trained onto her. “Jinnie-yah, why don’t you show Donghae and Ryeowook your fish?” Leeteuk suggested.
Her face brightened and Ryeowook found himself being pulled by the hand towards Soojin’s room, Donghae stumping along behind them. “Pretty,” Soojin insisted, pointing at the colored fish swimming in the tank and Ryeowook smiled and smoothed her hair.
“Very,” he agreed.
Donghae sat down in a chair by the tank and Soojin crawled onto his lap, pointing out each fish and telling him its name. He held her tight and listened intently until he could repeat each name back. Ryeowook was sure his knee hurt because Soojin’s hand was digging into the wound as she tried to sit comfortably, but Donghae didn’t even wince.
Ryeowook shook his head, “Soojin, you can’t sit on his lap.”
“Why?” she demanded, somehow already very comfortable with people she had only met the night before.
“His leg is hurt.”
She blinked owlishly at him and then patted Donghae’s knee hard, right on his wound. This time he did wince. “Fine,” Soojin assured Ryeowook.
At a loss, Ryeowook practically jogged from the room. He barely got out “Soojin is sitting on Donghae’s bad knee,” before Kibum and Kangin dashed away.
“Nice,” Henry said, and Ryeowook laughed as he realized that they were the only two people in the room.
Nice indeed.
*
Despite his constant mantra of forget, forget, forget, there was something about Kibum dashing into the room a la Knight in Shining Armor that made it all rush back.
“Soojin, get off.” Kibum yanked the girl off of Donghae’s lap and Donghae gasped as the pressure was released.
“What?” Soojin asked, scared of Kibum’s angry face and Donghae’s sudden tears.
“Come here,” Kangin said gently and Soojin hid inside the circle of his arms, frowning as Kibum eased Donghae’s pants down, hissing at the blood that was seeping through the gauze.
Soojin whimpered and tried to look away but Kangin held her firmly. “You can’t sit on his lap, Soojin,” he said, “he’s hurt.”
“Me?” she asked in a shaky voice, pointing at the blood and throwing a wary glance at Kibum as he left for his medical bag.
“No,” Kangin said, “that wasn’t you. But you can’t sit on him because of that, okay? No touching.”
Soojin’s lip trembled and Donghae watched through half-lidded eyes as she wiggled from her father’s arms to place a gentle kiss on Donghae’s leg. “Sorry.”
“Oh, sweetie, it’s okay,” Donghae said, and patted her, “you didn’t know and you were just really excited about your fish. It’s alright.”
She apparently decided to take it upon herself to make Donghae feel better because she snuggled up to the parts of him that she could and gripped onto his hand tightly. “Fish make better,” she said.
“Are they magic?” Donghae asked, glad of the distraction as Kibum returned and started to re-clean the wound, washing the green liquid off and making sure that his stitches had held through Soojin’s weight.
“Magic,” Soojin nodded.
“Where did you get them?”
“Heechul!” Soojin all but squealed.
“Heechul spoils you,” Donghae heard Kangin mutter, before Soojin launched into a speech about how wonderful Heechul was. At least, that’s what Donghae assumed; he couldn’t really understand her.
He blew out a sharp breath as Kibum poured more of the green antiseptic over the cut, willing himself to not feel the sting, which was worse than it had been earlier. “Sorry,” Kibum whispered, “I know it hurts.”
Soojin latched herself onto Donghae’s hand and held on, no doubt trying to be helpful. Donghae grit his teeth and tried not to squeeze her too tight lest he break something. He threw a glance at Kangin, afraid that he would do just that.
“Come on, baby,” Kangin pulled Soojin away, “Let’s go finish your meal. I have no idea why Leeteuk let you leave the table.”
Soojin did not look very happy at having to leave when someone needed her, but she apparently had already learned that not listening never ended well. She huffed, then wrapped her arms around Kangin’s neck and started to tell him that “Hae like fish!”
“I could tell, baby.”
Donghae drowned the rest of conversation out, only to hear Soojin screech loudly, “Teukie! HAE LIKE FISH!”
“She is so loud,” Kibum grumbled.
Donghae didn’t say anything as Kibum finished wrapping another bandage. “If it starts to bleed before we change it tonight, tell me.”
“Fine,” Donghae nodded, avoiding Kibum’s gaze. It stayed trained on him, even after Donghae was done pulling his pants back on. “Why are you staring?” he finally asked.
He didn’t dare look up at Kibum to garner his reaction. There was a beat or two of silence before Kibum finally said, “It’s not important. Forget it.”
Forgetting again, Donghae groaned to himself. He was not at all good with forgetting things.
“Come on, we need to eat and then leave so we can meet with Heechul on time. He hates it when he’s made to wait.”
*
The rest of breakfast was uneventful. Taeyeon eventually made it down and plastered herself to Kangin’s side, whining until he finally left the dishes for Leeteuk and made her a separate breakfast and rubbed the kinks out of her shoulders. Ryeowook and Henry disappeared after they finished their food, and Donghae wondered if he’d ever have Ryeowook to himself ever again. Henry was glued to his side and never left him alone.
Hangeng and Siwon appeared as Kibum and Donghae were awkwardly getting ready to leave, apparently having gotten up early to run some errands.
“Is Mei-yin coming?” Kibum asked.
“No,” Hangeng said, as if Kibum was dumb for even asking.
“I’ll feed her when she wakes up,” Kangin said from where he was still rubbing at Taeyeon’s shoulders.
“Feel free to give her chores,” Siwon ran a hand through his hair.
“Only if you take Soojin with you.”
“Heechul!” Soojin squealed from her chair, breakfast entirely forgotten.
“Yes,” Siwon muttered darkly, as he helped Soojin down, “Heechul.”
*
Heechul turned out to be not at all how Donghae imagined, and yet he wasn’t surprised by the eccentricities. Very richly dressed with flaming red hair and enviously good looks, he looked like corporeal temptation as he draped himself all over Kibum and then Hangeng, taking great care to kiss each of them thoroughly. Siwon didn’t seem the least perturbed and bent down to accept a kiss of his own, hiding Soojin’s face in his shoulder. Donghae tried very hard to forget as he felt Kibum gauging him for a reaction. He did his best to hide his displeasure.
“Heechul, Heechul, Heechul!” Soojin shrieked, trying to see him around Siwon’s hands and neck.
“Hi, Jinnie baby,” Heechul cooed and accepted her wriggling body, laughing as she latched onto him like a barnacle and started to talk a hundred miles a minute in baby speech. Donghae thought he heard the word fish repeated a few times. “I hope you’ve been good,” he said, “bad girls don’t get presents.”
“Angel,” Soojin said, slowly, as if she was trying to remember the exact word.
“Listen to you and your new vocabulary! Who taught you that?”
“Appa,” Soojin grinned and Heechul laughed, his gaze finally sliding to Donghae.
He took a few steps back involuntarily but it was no use. Heechul’s nose was practically pressed up against his as he gave Donghae a slow once over. “Well,” he drawled, “Kibum, you certainly know how to find them.”
“Hae like fish!” Soojin explained.
“I’m glad you approve of him,” Heechul chuckled, stroking at Soojin’s pigtails fondly. He smirked at the pink crutches, but said nothing more, hitching Soojin further up on his hip as he turned back towards his Castle. “Yah! Kyuhyun, let’s go!”
Two other men made their way leisurely down the Castle ramp and Donghae almost snorted. They looked so...he didn’t know the word. They were pretty, that was for sure, and they seemed to fit themselves around Heechul comfortably, dressed well, perfect skin and hair, walking on the ground like they owned it. Donghae wondered if they actually did.
Donghae tried not to stare at the one with the long legs but it was really, really hard.
“Nice crutches,” the shorter one said, and Donghae gave him a forced smile.
“Kui Xian! Be nice!”
“I’m just saying.”
“Say it nice!” Long legs insisted, and then introduced himself as Zhou Mi.
Donghae looked him up and down and then decided Zhou Mi’s long legs weren’t at all as enticing as Kibum’s muscles. Mind settled, he was able to genuinely smile as Kyuhyun was introduced to him by Heechul.
“So,” Heechul drawled, throwing an arm around Hangeng’s shoulders after Soojin was put on the ground so she could bounce around all of them to release her energy, “where’s Kangin?”
“Tending to Taeyeon,” Hangeng said, not minding the arm at all.
“And Leeteuk?”
“I have no idea where he is today.”
“Mei-yin?” Heechul finally asked.
“Sleeping,” Hangeng replied shortly as they start to walk towards Kibum’s Castle.
“She didn’t want to come and see me?”
“She wouldn’t have been allowed to had she been awake,” Siwon clarified and tried to reach out to capture Soojin’s hand. She thought it was a game and ran around the adults giggling, hiding behind Zhou Mi’s legs.
Zhou Mi just lifted her up and she lost interest in Siwon, Zhou Mi’s shirt buttons proving to be more of an interest.
“Oh dear,” Heechul said. His smile dropped when it wasn’t returned. “Wow, Siwon’s actually managed to stay mad. What did she do?”
“I’m not mad,” Siwon insisted, “I’m disappointed.”
Heechul turned his head to inspect Hangeng’s face, “You’re mad,” he said, and it wasn’t a question. “Maybe I’ll talk to her. You can tell me all the gory details after you see what I have for you.”
Hangeng mumbled something that Donghae couldn’t here, but it made Heechul laugh and start to nudge his nose into Hangeng’s cheek. “Cheer up,” he said and nipped at Hangeng’s ear until he was pushed away.
“Ew, okay. You’ve had your kiss. Hang on someone else.”
Siwon finally looked slightly disturbed and he took possession of Hangeng’s hand as they walked, wiping at his cheek.
Heechul just laughed again and hung onto Kibum instead. Donghae wished that Heechul would have just hung unto Hangeng. Kibum looked unimpressed but he tolerated the touching. Donghae tried to forget it, staring at Zhou Mi cooing over Soojin and Kyuhyun rolling his eyes at both of them; maybe it was everyone, Donghae wasn’t sure.
Heechul openly balked when he caught sight of the damaged grass. “Kibum, what have you been doing? Fighting off dragons?”
“It’s Donghae’s fault.”
“You’re a horrible pilot,” Heechul said immediately, after Donghae had stuttered out excuses for firefights and having a wing damaged.
“I am not!”
“Um,” Zhou Mi said, eyeing the carnage and then Donghae doubtfully.
“Yes you are,” Kyuhyun said, “that’s the shittiest landing job ever.”
“I was being shot at,” Donghae impressed upon them.
“Excuses, excuses,” Heechul waved a hand, “The truth of the matter is, you suck. There was no need to trash the grass. Lord, that’s going to be expensive to fix, Kibum.”
“I know,” Kibum ground out and Donghae avoided looking at him.
“Soojin,” Heechul said, “Make sure you become a better pilot than Donghae, alright?”
She nodded from her place in Zhou Mi’s arms and Heechul seemed to be satisfied. “Well, we’ll get someone on that. Kyuhyun, check his engine, will you?”
“I can only imagine,” Kyuhyun said, and dragged Zhou Mi inside, Soojin just managing to be put down. She ran back towards Siwon, now that Zhou Mi’s buttons were no longer available and held onto his hand. She jumped up and down in place, bouncing to her own music.
“Wish I had her energy,” Heechul said wistfully, “Oh the things I could do...the things I could last longer doing.” He sighed, and then said, before Donghae could attach images to the innuendo, “Let’s head back to my Castle. I have some interesting pieces for you to look at.”
It turned out, that by pieces, Heechul meant pieces of glass. Colored, shaped, and blown pieces of glass. Donghae couldn’t stop staring.
“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Heechul breathed into Donghae’s ear and he could only nod, enraptured.
The light bounced around all of them, casting soft, colorful glows all around them, the shadows flickering in the candle light.
“Pick something,” Heechul prodded, “You’re new and you don’t have money, so I’ll give you a gift. Just don’t expect it next time.”
“I-I couldn’t choose,” Donghae stuttered. A cup? A plate? There were necklaces and rings, knick knacks and lamps. Everything made out of glass and it was overwhelming.
“You’ll find something if you look long enough.”
Donghae had to look away lest he break down into tears at the sheer volume of beauty in front of him. So instead, he watched as Soojin cooed over the glass, held tight in Siwon’s arms so that she wouldn’t touch something and break it. Heechul wandered away and came back with a tub of glass that he set in front of Hangeng. “Here,” he said, “scraps. I know you can use them.”
Hangeng smiled and he sat down by it, carefully sifting through them. He pulled out the pieces that he liked best and set them in a sack Heechul handed them.
Donghae was so engrossed to notice Kibum coming up to stand behind him.
“You should pick something. Heechul doesn’t give out freebies of his work often; unless he really likes you,” Kibum added, and Donghae almost jumped out of his skin.
Once his heart calmed, he asked, “Heechul makes all of this?”
Kibum nodded, and Donghae tentatively reached out to trace circles on the cool glass. The feel of it sent shivers up his spine. “I can’t,” he finally breathed, “How can I just take something that...that could feed so many people in the Dome?”
Donghae felt an onslaught of tears threatening to push his way out of his chest.
“You’re not in the Dome anymore, Donghae. You won’t be in a Done for a long time.”
“But this--this is a fortune.”
“No, it’s not,” Kibum whispered, “it’s just glass. It’s not money. Not gold. Not silver.”
He ran a hand up and down Donghae’s back soothingly as Donghae trembled, overwhelmed. Kibum reached out and selected a polished piece of glass on a leather string and held it out for Donghae’s inspection. “Here, it’s just jewelry. It’s just decoration.”
Donghae leant his weight on one crutch and touched the blue glass. It shone in the low light, a sparkle of light coming from somewhere deep inside it, looking slightly green when turned a certain way. Kibum reached around Donghae’s neck and clasped the leather. “There. Now you don’t have to decide. Don’t lose it.”
How could he? Donghae thought he’d never take it off.
Hangeng finished his perusal of Heechul’s left over pieces soon after and they left the room, Heechul locking it behind them securely. “Did you pick something, Soojin?” he asked.
Soojin nodded, clasping a red heart in her hand. “Umma,” she said, and Heechul tweaked her nose.
“I’m sure she’ll love it,” Heechul said.
Donghae wondered what sort of child picked out a gift for their mother instead of something for herself. He wished he still had a mother; it certainly would have made his decision easier. Kibum squeezed his shoulder as if he could sense Donghae’s thought.
Forget, Donghae’s mind screamed, and he pushed Kibum and stars and kisses out of his mind. Must forget.
They had just reached the ramp of Heechul’s Castle when Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi returned.
“Kim Kibum,” Kyuhyun growled, “You are a bastard of a captain.”
“That bad?” Heechul asked conversationally.
“Kui Xian! Don’t say that in front of Soojin!”
“What!” Soojin asked. Siwon shushed her.
“It’s awful,” Kyuhyun said, arms crossed, “Absolutely pitiful. I am embarrassed for you.”
Heechul turned an eye to Kibum who shrugged, “I just fly it. I don’t know how it gets so bad.”
“You’re supposed to upkeep it. Perform maintenance. I taught you that much, at least.”
“I get a little busy,” Kibum shrugged again.
“It’s going to take awhile to fix,” Kyuhyun said, already tugging at Zhou Mi’s hands and heading up the ramp, “we’ll grab some stuff and head back. You’d better not let it get that bad again,” he added, pointing a finger at Kibum.
“I’ll be at Kangin’s,” Heechul said, “I think I ought to say hi. Talk to Mei-yin, maybe,” he added, throwing a look at Hangeng.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Hangeng said, and he actually looked relieved.
Heechul turned to Donghae. “Why don’t you go with Kyuhyun. Maybe you’ll learn something, since you have no future in flying outercraft.”
Donghae had a nasty retort on the tip of his tongue, but then he remember the glass hanging around his neck and just nodded in agreement.
*
Donghae was watching carefully as Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi made ready to pull apart Kibum’s Castle engine, dragging in vicious looking instruments, grinning gleefully at one another as they continually cracked jokes at the horrible engine upkeep.
“If Kibum ever lets you work on this engine,” Kyuhyun told him, “which is unlikely, but just in case he does, don’t ever let it get to this point.”
Zhou Mi was nodding furiously at everything Kyuhyun said. “It’s sad,” he said, stroking the metal lovingly and brushing off imaginary dust.
“I don’t think I’ll ever touch it,” Donghae said.
Kyuhyun only smirked at him over the engine and Donghae said no more, listening to Zhou Mi and Kyuhyun bicker lightly about different aspects of their repair.
“Kui Xian! That’s the left one.”
“No it’s not. This can go anywhere.”
“You’re going to make it blow up.”
“No, I’m not. Mimi, I invented this stupid engine and I taught you about it. Obviously you weren’t listening.”
“You’ll have to teach me again.”
“Oh, I’ll teach you,” Kyuhyun grumbled and Donghae rolled his eyes because Kyuhyun’s tone suggested lessons of another sort.
There was a moment where they both disappeared from view and Donghae heard Zhou Mi hiss, “Kui Xian, we’re not alone.”
“Oh. Right. I forgot.”
Donghae knew he was blushing furiously and he studiously ignored them both as they popped back up and continued their work. The silence was now very awkward and Donghae was relieved when there was a bang from somewhere outside the engine room and then the sound of running footsteps.
Hangeng came bursting in looking positively panicked. “Mei-yin!” He gasped.
“The brat?” Kyuhyun asked, “Did she finally run away?”
Zhou Mi hit him.
“She snuck out,” Hangeng explained, trying to catch his breath, “Heechul went to talk to her and her window was open and she was just gone.”
“She’s not here. I totally would have tattled on her if she was,” Kyuhyun said, and Donghae rather supposed he would of. The man seemed like the sort of person who would get some kind of sadistic pleasure out of watching other people get into trouble.
“You haven’t seen her at all?” Hangeng asked, “Not anywhere?”
“No,” Kyuhyun said, absorbed in attempting to unscrew a few bolts that were rusting. “Fuck,” he muttered, “Kibum actually wondered what was wrong?”
Zhou Mi shot Hangeng a sympathetic look, “We’ll let you know if she comes in here.”
Hangeng let out a strangled noise of frustration and Donghae took pity on him. “I’ll help you look,” he offered and Hangeng stopped tearing out his hair to give him a grateful smile.
There was no way that Donghae could have kept up with Hangeng, handicapped as he was, so he went off on his own into the downtown area of Regnum and searched. He didn’t really know where he would go, were he Mei-yin; he didn’t ever know where he’d go as Donghae. So he just browsed, ignoring the strange looks he was getting, no doubt due to the color pink that was standing out rather garishly.
He walked by a few restaurants, and then strolled down streets packed with vendors. The glass necklace Kibum had picked out for him hung heavy around his neck as he saw similar pieces hanging in shop windows. Somehow, they couldn’t quite compare.
He forced himself to turn his thoughts to Mei-yin and he strained his eyesight to it’s limit as he searched for anything that looked remotely like a thirteen year old. He had decided to head back after searching thoroughly for twenty minutes, when he caught sight of some Outliers.
And Mei-yin. Mei-yin being held by her hair as an officer compared her face to that of a wanted poster he was holding.
Donghae ducked behind a stall to watch and felt his stomach drop a little as the officer shoved the paper back into his jacket. Another officer hauled Mei-yin onto his shoulder as she started to kick and scream and they shoved her into an outercraft. Donghae scooted out and tried to get closer, to see their faces, to let Mei-yin see him and know that someone was going to come for her, but they blasted off before he could go three feet.
He watched it for a bit, until he thought he could tell about what direction they were heading and then hurried back as fast as he could.
Shit, he thought, the events finally sinking into his brain, shit, shit, shit.
~~~~~
And finally some action...
Also, Happy Belated Valentine's Day. I went out and bought myself the Spirited Away soundtrack. I wanted to buy boots but I couldn't find any so boo. Twas fun though.
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Nicely done yet again :)
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but thank you <3
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Yes, there must be action. Lots and lots. Must keep everyone interested
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The thief had been a little apprehensive, thinking that it would sort of be like kissing your younger brother, but Henry had rather proved that he was sexy. Ryeowook smirked to himself at the memory. Oh yes. Very sexy indeed, and not at all as shy in the bedroom as he was everywhere else.
*loves Henwook* 8D Yes, Henry is always sexyy.
Omg the ending is such a major cliffhanger!
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Henry's wicked sexy :D
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NOT SAYING ANYTHING
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Oh Kibum, don't forget that you don't even want to forget about the kiss with Hae! >>:
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Of course Kibum doesn't want to forget. He just thinks Donghae does.
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OH NOES~~!!!!! MEI-YIN~~~~~~~~~~ Dx
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<3
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This story is awesome. I love love LOVE KiHae!!! Donghae is my second favorite in SuJu (guess who's first????) and Kibum is my secret SuJu weakness. They're so cute together!
I'm totally tracking this fic!
*goes to read your oneshots*