(for your tpp requests) p lease pls please draw either nureyev carrying juno or juno carrying nureyev i just feel like,, that's something that should exist in the world
You know for all the shit you could talk on Jack or Ramses or whomever, he achieved exactly what he wanted.
His biggest source of pride and guilt (Andromeda) never had a home because he hadn’t built himself one yet.
And he did! He made a home for people, a home where they would be safe and ‘happy’. The kind of place that- in theory- a hero would be proud to come home to.
Don’t get me wrong, he is a horrible, manipulative, ass of a man, who went about his life doing the wrong things to serve his own hero complex. He saw himself in Andromeda, and I think that’s why he felt so strongly that he direct that project exactly to his liking.
He is a hero in the very worst sense of the word. He slammed his way through to the top and put his priorities and greater good before others.
After all, who could be more important than the man who would save Hyperion city?
Underrated part of the Hell’s Chicken event was when Gregor told Sinclair the raw chickens are attacking people as revenge for the time Sinclair didn’t finish his drumstick. That was such a dad thing to say.
Other underrated part was when Outis had something negative to say about everyone on her team (Sinclair being short, Faust having gray hair, Ishmael having rough hands) but had no criticisms to make about Rodion. Outis thinks Rodion is perfect (she is!)
I love the tense plot lines and action packed moments as much as anybody
But it’s the small character interactions like this that I truly adore!!
Dante frantically looking for Don when there’s trouble (that she is most likely already participating in)
Yuri and Sinclair bickering with Charon over directions
Ishmael and Heathcliff butting heads (or batting heads if Heathcliff is feeling extra violent) with each other
Rodion flirting with Gregor
Meursault judging Yi Sang for liking spoiled milk
And many MANY more iconic moments. They don’t even have to be friends or anything, (they are literally just coworkers after all) I just really appreciate these characters actually interacting rather than just existing in a vacuum
You have the ability to see into the past. You can only observe past events, not change them. You’re helping the police solve a murder. As you’re describing what happened, the killer suddenly turns around and seems to look you straight in the eye. “I know you’re watching”.
“Damn, it’s cold.” Cale said as hurried to open the latch to the bathroom. He quickly changed out of his clothes and let his towel hang when he entered the large bath, however he had a guest, “Ah.”
As he pulled the sliding door he could see his partner having the time of his life.
Wine on the counter, while overlooking the entire city, a marble bathtub so large it could fit 5 grown adults in it, and who should be leaning in the bath with a wine glass in his hand but the owner of the extravagant bathroom, his lover, Alberu Crossman.
“Oh, you’re home,” the blonde said as he leaned back to meet Cale’s eyes.
“You seem comfortable.” Cale said as he walked near the golden haired man, planting a kiss on his forehead.
Alberu chuckled as he pulled Cale’s hand into the bathtub, “Care to join me?” He said, pulling out the bottle of wine from the counter and into his hands.
“Of course. It’s cold.” Cale said as he casually slipped into the bath.
Alberu hummed a Christmas carol as he unscrewed the bottle and handed it to Cale.
Cale thanked him and took a large swig of the liquid.
‘Château Lafite Rothschild. How expensive for a bath. I don’t mind though.’
Cale put his head in the warm water for a minute, allowing the dizziness and warmth to spread over his body like a wet blanket.
He exhaled as he pulled himself out of the water and proceeded to recline on the other end of the bathtub.
Alberu hummed a little tune, “Fly me to the moon, is it?” Cale asked as he got out of the tub and began to put the soap on his body.
“Mhmm,” Alberu nodded as he filled his glass again, “Also Cale, could I wash your hair?”
Cale was a bit perplexed but didn’t stop what he was doing, “Why?” he asked, turning his head to face him.
Alberu just tilted his head over a smile on his face, “Just a small whimsy of mine, so won’t you let me?”
Cale sighed as he got the shampoo and walked back into the tub, this time however he sat within Alberu’s open embrace, and quietly overlooked the scenery that encompassed the entirety of the cityscape.
Cale noticed the little flakes of snow dropping from the sky and onto the hundreds of buildings, and roads that ran across the city. The orange lights that he could see from his own towering building were almost blinding.
“Would you look at that, it’s the first snow of the year.” Cale remarked.
Alberu took a short pause, looking outside the window, “Oh, you’re right.”
He could feel the calloused fingers of the man gliding through his hair meticulously shampooing his hair come to a stop before continuing ever so naturally.
The touch was so delicate, it was almost ticklish.
When the fingers touched his neck he realized that they were cold. Probably because he had them out of the water for so long. Not to mention that he did have his hand on the cold wine bottle for quite a while.
Alberu tried to make small talk, “How’s your day been?”
To which Cale sighed and replied, “Busy, but definitely not as busy as your day has been.” He looked back at his partner’s face.
There were signs of faded dark circles from not sleeping enough and a weary feeling to his movements. Or was he just drunk?
Cale’s eyebrows furrowed as he returned his head to face the window, “Shall we go on a trip this Sunday?”
Alberu smiled brightly, “Sounds heavenly. Although, why so suddenly?”
Cale’s speculations of this man desperately needing a break were of course correct, after all this was the Alberu-notorious-for-overworking-himself-until-he-collapses-Crossman. He sighed dismissing the blond’s question, “In a week, let’s visit the Henituse estate, as well as visiting the east.”
“Shouldn’t we fly to somewhere warm?” Alberu asked.
“It rests all on you. After all, it is you who needs a break, no?” Cale questioned.
“I really can’t hide anything from you, can I?” Alberu chuckled, letting go of the hair that he had been shampooing for a while.
“Of course you can’t. We’re one and the same after all.” Cale said, slowly letting his hair dip into the lukewarm water.
“Want me to give you a massage?” Cale asked, making Alberu drunkenly laugh.
“You don’t think you’ll be able to put any pressure on me, not with those puny arms!?”
Cale pouted jokingly, “Do you really think so?”
“Of course I do,” However a hug would be the perfect thing to take the place of that massage you’re offering me.”
Cale laughed playing along with the tired and clearly blasted man, “Sure, just take some time off alright? I’ll book it after we get out.”
Alberu nuzzled the redhead’s cold back, slowly moving up to his neck as he wrapped his arms around him, he muttered in Cale’s ear, “I love you.”
Cale nodded his head, “I got it, but don’t fall asleep in the bath.”
“Mmmm” Alberu hummed, “can we sleep after this?”
“Yeah, sure.” Cale said trying to get out of the bath unsuccessfully. He turned his head incredulously at Alberu, “Come on, let’s head out then,”
But Alberu was asleep and showed no signs of waking up soon.
So all Cale could do was to struggle in the cold water until this tuckered out oaf who didn’t realize his own weight would get up.
The lighter clicked as Alberu made his way down the red pathway filled with leaves.
He’d taken some time out to get some breakfast this morning and he wasn’t going to waste it at home. As he leisurely walked down the street, he could hear the voice of the local newspaper dealer calling for the people to buy the daily papers. He took a puff of his store bought cigarette as he looked at the young children running around with their little clique.
Alberu looked at the tree leaves that kept on falling and thought quietly to himself, ‘It’s already autumn. Time flies so fast.’
He didn’t mind the way he had aged. It had already been five years since he had met his lifelong partner. And by now, he was already familiar with the way his bastardly redhead behaved.
With all this time that had passed, he remembered so many different emotions he had been through. Emotions he had never thought was possible for him to feel.
He never knew he could experience such joy by just looking at his partner’s face.
Never knew that he was the type of person who could actually be overprotective and get so bothered over such small things.
“It’s almost foreign with how much I’ve changed.” he said out loud before releasing the smoke into the sepia atmosphere.
The years all seemed like a blur that merged into one another. His memories felt like drops of liquid that grew to become waves about the years. He remembered how his memories before were almost always stained with a strong tinge of black or indigo. But now, they had morphed; they had changed to an almost blinding shade of white. They shined through his eyes, reflecting the surface of his mind with light. Like a beluga had consumed him, ridding him of all his ‘dirtiness’ that he had previously engulfed himself in.
White, akin to the blend of emotions he felt.
Not a single emotion going untouched. Even that ghastly indigo-ish black had somehow spread out through the liquid to no point of recognition.
It was a comforting sensation that spread under his skin, akin to goosebumps.
The red leaves that fell down to the ground were just as pretty as the hair of his partner. Not nearly as vivid as him, but was just as torpid, lazily falling to the ground slowly. The gentle breeze swept his unkempt hair that was gelled together to hold the strands back just enough for them to stay in place.
His cigarette stayed lit, filling his nose with that distinct smell of tobacco smoke and cold air. It was almost suffocatingly bitter, but he was so used to it, he couldn’t help himself to one. A harmful coping mechanism reduced to nothing but a guilty pleasure.
A difference that was as stark as the sunset and sunrise.
That is, not that much, but a lot at the same time.
A blurry line mixing the two palettes but still consisting of a streak of indigo, but now at the very least it had become tolerable.
“Ah.” He realised he had ventured too far.
He turned tail and walked back to the café quickly.
‘After all, he must be waiting.’
He chuckled as he looked over the petite little place before entering. The bushes that surrounded it still remained green unlike its surroundings and stood out like a sore thumb.
The bell rang as he went in and he heard a familiar voice from behind the counter.
“Welcome.” The voice slurred casually, despite Alberu being the customer.
“My love, did you just wake up?”
“Yup,” The redhead yawned before continuing to ask, “So, what do you want to order?”
Alberu smiled gently, “An americano, a baked pretzel and—”
“—A slice of the season special pastry.” Cale smirked, making Alberu light up like a firecracker.
Cale always found it so cute when Alberu smiled. To specify, his genuine smile, not the air hostess smile that graced his visage when he socialised with people, but the smile of this particular individual. The way his smile extended and made his dimples pop. Amongst all the people he had met, to him Alberu was one of the very few <i>individuals</i> he found. His precious hyung, an important part of his heart.
His weary, tired, and beautiful shining sun that rose every morning to meet him. Be it in summer, spring, winter, or autumn. It didn’t matter. He was always there.
“And a cute redhead’s forehead if I can.” he finished.
Cale scoffed, “Mister, I think you should tidy up that scruff of yours before you ask that, shouldn’t you?”
“Oh come on, my dear. Won’t you let me?”
Cale put his forehead in his direction as Alberu placed a peck on his forehead gently as he held back a musical laugh.
Just as Alberu tried to let go, Cale pulled him into another one, this time though, it was on the mouth.
“You smell like cigs.” Cale said, before clicking his tongue, “You smoked again didn’t you?”
Alberu let out a fake ‘haha’ to please the younger.
Cale sighed. “Did something happen?”
“Not really. Just felt like it.”
‘Liar.’ thought Cale, but left it in his mind. “I’ll go to the back then. Wait for a few minutes in the seats.”
“Thank you.” He said, while taking a seat at the seat nearest to the reception table.
‘This place never gets old, does it.’ he thought as he took a look around the familiar place. The walls were coloured a soft maroon red, while the marble floors shone with a moon like
The rustic chairs were placed in such a way they blended in with the modern tables.
“So,” Cale began, prodding Alberu to pay attention, “When are we planning to go out again?”
“I think it was next Saturday.”
“You’re really getting busy.” Cale said as he poured the coffee through the filter.
Alberu chuckled, “Well, things certainly do get busy when you’re the one in charge now don’t they? And,” He turned to Cale, “Wouldn’t you know that the best, Mr. Henituse?”
Cale scoffed, “I have given up my rights as successor long time ago, hyung. And neatly tied up all ends as well.”
Alberu batted his eyes as he smirked, “This is why I fell in love with your vicious side, darling.”
“Oh please,” Cae said as he brought out the cake from the showpiece and the pretzel out of the basket, putting them in the plate neatly, “I think we can all agree that I am the least of your troubles in that factor.”
“Choi Han certainly does take the cake.” Alberu said as Cale set the table.
“Easily,” Cale agreed, taking a seat next to him, “Speaking of the guy, he came this morning it seems.”
“Unlike you, he’s punctual with his shifts, Cale.” Alberu said cutting a piece of the cake with the wooden cutlery.
“Oh shut it. You’re one to talk.” Cale said, letting his head rest on his hand gently.
The autumn air was cool and breezy. It felt like a sweet version of the bitter throes of winter that were yet to come. And Alberu thought that autumn was a season that suited Cale.
From the red leaves, to the bitter aftertaste of butterscotch that swept over his tongue for a moment.
To him, Cale was a walking tornado.
A natural disaster so violent, so loud, it attracted him like a call, a pang of hunger, perhaps? He could never tell. But he knew that he was the angel that would lead him to a happy life, and the devil who would lead him to his death.
But who cared, he was already smitten by this ‘person’, so whatever he was,
He was ready to accept it all.
“Cake?” Alberu asked, raising the fork to meet Cale’s mouth.
Cale leaned forward to take a bite. ‘How nice.’ Cale thought as he licked the cake that got stuck on his lip.
“Hmm, it tastes like butterscotch.”
“Huh,” Alberu mused, as he too took a bite from the cake.
“You’re right.”
It was so warm in the shop, almost making his vision hazy. It was almost magical how the atmosphere relaxed him.
‘Ah, if only I could stay here forever.’ He thought in passing as he took a sip of the coffee.
The jangling sounds filled the empty hallway, Cale opened his door, slipping the phone between his shoulder and ear.
Alberu sighed as a ping sounded loudly in his background, “I’ll get back to work, yeah? So, hang up for me.”
Cale nodded, “See you in a week then hyung. I’ll disconnect now.”
The phone pinged as the call ended, leaving Cale in the silence of his own home.
He looked at his doorway in silence for a while, before keeping his luggage away.
He closed his eyes, remembering the time they had as high school students. Well, it was two years ago, there wasn’t much of a gap. The time that they had their first kiss always crossed Cale’s mind. It wasn’t that sudden, more gradual than one would expect.
‘Mint ice cream on a summer day.’
That’s what it tasted like.
Although Cale had dated once or twice when he was sixteen, this kiss was the most memorable. Was it because it was the most recent or was it because it was with Alberu? He had no idea.
The summer was the same as a year ago. Sultry and humid as usual.
The bell rang through Cale’s ears, sonorously waking him up from his afternoon nap. He lazily opened his eyes, as they scanned the room casually. He could see various people with different features, from fins to wings. After all, he was in a different universe. His eye caught a person waiting at the doorway, causing most of the students to flock around him.
The blonde gave a painfully obvious fake smile, as he waved at Cale. The fake gold pools reflected the noon sunlight, accentuating the spark of the yellow strands of hair. His clear aquamarine jewels fit so perfectly in his sockets, almost like a doll’s. His skin was pale and near snow, although it was no match to his own, which was already as white as the roofs on Christmas. Cale could admire Alberu for all eternity. Of course, that would only be natural as Alberu was his elegant and chivalrous prince.
‘So he came to pick me up, huh.’Cale swung his backpack and got up to greet the other boy.
“Sunbae~” He cooed cheekily, trying to divert the attention, “Should we leave now? There are too many people around.”
Alberu smiled, but Cale knew that it was all but a farce, and that his true feelings were more akin to sighing in exhaustion of Cale’s antics. “Sure, my lovely dongsaeng. Why not? We need to get going anyway.”
It had only been a couple of months since he had been asked out by this boy. A third year who was about to graduate in two months, that was his boyfriend’s identity. Alberu had the aura of a prince and was called such by many. Some said it in jest, while some called him so in admiration.
Although no one knew of their relationship, Cale did enjoy the affections he indulged in along with Alberu in private. Well, he was the very few who knew of his secret.
The fact that the famous prince was a dark elf and not your average human.
Dark elves were often looked down upon because of their consumption of dark mana. Cale however, quite loved Alberu’s dark elf form from the first time he saw it.
Mesmerising was the only way he could describe it, really. His dark brown hair was as warm as hot chocolate on a summer evening.
Almost scorching heat that would melt one’s tongue.
His skin resembled citrine with its dark and sparkling texture and his eyes felt like they were glazed over like a slab of brown granite, ever so fixated on him.
One thing Cale always loved about Alberu in his dark elf form was the freedom that came with it. He knew that the time Alberu truly felt he was free was when he was in that form. But then again, that was only natural was it not? Anyone would be the happiest in their own colour, in their true forms.
As the two walked quietly, the heat started to get to Cale. “Should we get some ice cream?”
Alberu snapped out of his thoughts “Huh? Ah yeah sure.”
The cashier rang up two mint creams as the humid air from outside cooled down in the air conditioner.
Cale wondered why Alberu wasn’t talking that much today. It was odd, especially considering the fact that it was the norm for him to engage first.
As Alberu paid the cashier, Cale was a bit surprised.
‘Alberu never paid for my share.’
“Oh, I’m out of cash. Could you lend me 500 ₩?”
“Sure.” Cale handed him the money stoically, easily hiding his panicky suspicions.
“Thanks.”
‘That’s strange too. He doesn’t thank me for these kinds of things either. Today is so damn strange. Is he planning something?’
As the two walked out of the store Cale dug his wooden spoon in the ice cream.
‘Mint.’
Alberu too did the same, and slowly continued to walk.
Cale on the other hand was even more confused and had alarms blaring in his mind as to why that was, ‘WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING??? IS HE GOING TO BREAK UP WITH ME? IS THAT WHY HE’S BEING SO NICE AND QUIET??’
In the middle of the footpath, Alberu stopped to throw his trash in a nearby trashcan and so did Cale, even though he wasn’t done with his ice cream. The shade nearby was the only relief unless the ice cream wasn’t in his mouth.
“What’s wrong?” Cale said cooly, putting a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth while his inner self was screaming in happiness, ‘Finally, you finally said something.’
“C-c-” Alberu stammered.
“Yeah?” Cale asked inquisitively, awaiting an answer.
“Could I hold your hand right now?” He asked, his face red, and his hand inching towards Cale’s.
“Eh?”
Cale was speechless to say the least. ‘Why is he being so coy about holding hands!? We hold them everyday! Does he have something planned? Oh, is he finally going to—’ His thoughts got cut off when Alberu slid his hand into Cale’s and whispered something into his ear, “And, after this, c-can I kiss you?”
Cale looked at him, eyes widened.
‘Oh.’
The weird signs all made sense, despite the fact that they were flimsy ones.
The mint ice cream, the silence, the blush, the extra niceness. Oh god. His partner was an idiot. And he loved that idiot. He was his idiot.
Cale cracked up in relief, “Really? That’s it? So, that’s why you were acting so odd.”
Alberu’s blush went redder and face was tinted with surprise because Cale laughing was so rare he too had never seen it, “What do you mean odd!?”
Cale had never laughed so much in a long time. This time, it wasn’t a bitter sarcastic chuckle, not a fake laugh to keep the other entertained, but a genuine one from the pit of his stomach.
“Pfft- You even bought me ice cream, not to mention pffftttttt—,”Cale struggled to contain his laughter as he spoke, “It was fucking ice cream, how did you think that would work, hyung!? Aren’t you supposed to be the genius here!!!??”
“Shut up.” Alberu huffed with no real bite, trying to walk in front leading the younger man who had lost all sense and reasoning behind him before feeling a tug at his hand.
Cale’s grip tightened on the other, wiping away his tears, and his face returned stoic, “So, let’s do it, shall we?”
Alberu looked around incredulously, trying to wave off the hand stuck to him, “Of course not here!”
“Let’s move somewhere more private then.” Cale pointed at an empty playground at the corner.
“How about there?”
“Why is this so convenient?” Alberu muttered as his ears turned a distinct shade of red, as he led Cale to the playground.
Even though Cale’s face had returned stoic, Alberu could tell that the bastard was definitely happy, judging by how he had more of a bounce in his step.
They sat on the bench for a while as Cale looked at his cup of ice cream.
‘Oh, it’s melted,’ he looked at the older boy and then back at his ice cream, his visage stained with a smirk that looked like he wanted to mess around. ‘He should also suffer a bit for toying with me this entire afternoon shouldn’t he?’
Cale asked Alberu nicely, “Open your mouth.”
“Okay?” He said, obliging, but definitely picking up on the fact that something was horribly wrong with the current situation.
Cale took the remnants of the former ice cream and poured it in Alberu’s mouth, electrifying his tongue and making his closed eyes fly open before sending him into a coughing fit at the unexpected liquid sliding down his throat.
“You wanted it so much, so you might as well have some more you know?” Cale said as Alberu coughed out the liquid, regrettably staining his blazer with the dripping ice cream mixed with his saliva. Alberu looked at Cale in annoyance as the bastard smiled that sham of a smirk that dripped with contempt and definitely some amount of pettiness.
Alberu pulled him down in a fit of annoyance, before taking a moment to quiver before he could grace Cale’s lips with a gentle peck.
‘Ah. It’s soft as expected.’ Cale thought as he touched Alberu’s lips.
‘I guess he wasn’t wrong to choose the ice cream.’
Right after a second of their lips touching Alberu pushed him away, as Cale’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, before his eyes met Alberu’s face.
His face was tinted with the recognizable red blush he had seen a few minutes ago. Cale’s stoicness returned before he pulled Alberu into him for another kiss, while the stunned Alberu could do nothing but oblige with his partner’s outrageousness.
And with that the innocent pink petals of spring fell to the ground and the now bare bud bloomed into a green tinted flower of summer.
Alberu looked at the mirror intently holding two coats that were blue and beige respectively, “Which one would be better?” he muttered under his breath.
Below the two coats, he was wearing a turtleneck, since it was a present Cale had gifted him on his last birthday paired with his beige trousers.
His dark skin crinkled around his eyes as he furrowed his eyebrows.
Despite being only 30, his face looked like it had aged ten years more. It was full of wrinkles and visibly damaged oak skin.
His black bleach damaged hair was coarse, riddled with knots making it near impossible to comb.
Staring intently at the mirror for so long easily renewed the amount of hate he had for his body.
He felt a strong dislike of seeing himself in the mirror. He felt disgusted with himself. He felt disgusted for putting up with all of that, and never offering any resistance. It made him boil with rage.
He knew that it wasn’t his fault.
He knew that people close to him wouldn’t think it to be that way either.
Neither would his partner.
It was the Kim Rok Soo he knew after all.
The one that accepted everyone no matter how they looked, felt or talked.
Only if they don’t annoy him or get in the way of his slacker life.
He chuckled. That guy always sparked his interest, no matter how long they knew each other.
He was the person who pulled him out of his restricted view of the world, and gifted him the ability to run.
He was the person who made him feel free for the first time in his life. The one who loosened the lock of the cage and waited patiently for Alberu to break through that cage.
He remembered the first time they met each other, mostly because it was a spring morning.
It was an old incident, which happened almost 11 years ago. He was 19, and was rescued by a 14 year old boy, Rok Soo.
Well, it happened by chance, although he still thought of it as a rescue, he wasn’t sure whether the other would.
He was only nineteen and had recently been given a few days of vacation as a reward for being <i>‘a good boy’</i>.
He was taking a trip to Japan as a short break, in order to replenish his energy for even more strenuous amounts of work that was waiting for him back at home.
It was supposed to be a simple college vacation, and his first in a very long time.
He wanted to keep a low profile, and just have fun, but life is just a massive bitch so of course he had to run into the press.
‘Shit.’
Although he had tried to deny any of the claims, the crowd only got bigger and showed no signs of calming down. He hadn’t been having a great morning anyway and had just been wanting to take a break after receiving the fruits of his achievements without anyone annoying or talking to him.
This was his only resting time, and he really didn’t want any disruptions.
He felt crushed by the weight of the questions, it made it harder to breathe in the already cramped space. Either asking him about his identity, what he was doing here and questions like so.
It was so smothering, it was like inhaling smoke that couldn’t be thrown out of his system.
He wanted help.
He couldn’t breathe.
Out of nowhere a hand reached out to him and pulled him out of the crowd and started to run.
It was as if someone actually heard his plea. Feeling the wind as he ran, guided by the back of a person ahead of him, it was truly an odd experience.
For the first time, someone actually did.
Alberu felt as if all of his life had come to a stop at that moment.
He remembered the scarlet strands of hair as a hand pulled him out of that stifling bubble.
“Run.”
That was all the young boy said. His voice was cool, without any sign of agitation or hesitation.
That word alone was enough to send chills down his spine.
As if all he could do was follow that ‘order’.
And it only became more intoxicating from there. As he ran, he could feel the goosebumps crawling over his body.
They felt like tiny butterflies lightly grazing him as they passed by, just enough to let him feel their electrifying touch on all his body.
Was it the petals from the trees nearby or was it the wind? He couldn’t tell.
His legs felt free.
These legs that had never known the feel of running through asphalt in the morning— They felt like they had been returned to something familiar.
Although, never experiencing this amount of freedom ever in his life, he felt like he knew this feeling. It felt like he had been drugged his whole life, and for the first time he had known true relief, not some artificial sweetener that would wear off in a few minutes, but an actual sugar cane.
This was the most alive Alberu had felt in a long time despite the excitement being short lived.
He could feel the wind hit his face and he felt exhilarated. Everything seemed so much more clearer.
He observed the child for a moment.
The dull blue beret acted as nothing but decoration to enhance the red strands of hair strewn over those mahogany eyes. The leaves from the pink trees falling on his hair like petals sticking to the stem after being distanced for a long time.
Six minutes.
For these six whole minutes, Alberu felt like he could fly.
He heard the younger boy stop and pant, his pace slowing down with the boy’s as well.
‘Did he run out of stamina so fast?’
As soon as the boy stopped, Alberu was snapped back to reality.
He heard the desperate shouts of the reporters. He could feel the gazes of curious onlookers.
He didn’t want it. He couldn’t take it. It made him sick, made him want to puke. It was a sickening feeling. <i>The feeling of being watched was truly the most repulsive.</i>
‘I want to get away. This instant. Goddammit, what was I thinking?’
He clicked his tongue and picked the red head up, running to an alley.
Alberu didn’t know how much he ran, and he didn’t care.
As they reached an alley Alberu had spotted nearby he asked the child, “Why did you pull me out?”
Alberu quickly placed a hand over his face, ‘Was this kid even Korean?’
The young child was stoic but annoyed, “All the people surrounding you were blocking my favourite view, and I could see that you were in the middle of it all so I simply distracted the crowd by taking away the one in the centre.”
Alberu’s eyebrows inched closer in disbelief, ‘Is this boy right in the head? And what was he even thinking? He doesn’t know me?’
“Do you know how filthy rich I am? I could sue you for kidnapping.”
The little boy’s ears perked up, he ignored the remark about suing, but a sly smile danced on his face.
“Hooo? Are you richer than a prince?”
Alberu knew he got the rascal’s attention as he could see the previously small and uninterested eyes grow big.
“I sure am. Much richer than a prince in fact. You should just call me that, since you don’t have the sense to use formal language. Despite kidnapping me.” He said, sighing.
“Sure, your highness.” the young boy teased, still not bothering with formalities.
Alberu scoffed, ‘The gall of this child. First, making it seem like I’d been kidnapped, and then started making fun of me. Is he not afraid of anything?’
Alberu glanced at the young boy’s clothes to see any signs of identification. Perhaps an identity card or some sort of bib? He wasn’t sure how children worked.
He noticed that all the clothes he was wearing were quite luxurious, consisting of some high quality navy shorts and a blue silk shirt that matched his beret. He also noted something else.
Namely, the wisp of black hair poking out of the beret.
He blinked, pointing at the red locks of hair he asked the young child, “Hey, is that your real hair?
Kim Rok Soo looked at him, before removing the beret, and along with the beret the red hair.
“Of course not.”
Alberu looked at him dumbfounded.
Rok Soo scoffed, not caring one bit at Alberu’s visible turmoil, looked at his watch, exclaiming, “Oh would you look at that, it’s time to go to Cale. He’ll be starting to get worried.”
He got up and dusted his knees, before looking at Alberu, “As for you, my prince, you should go whenever you want since I don’t think anyone comes here. I wish you a happy sightseeing.”
Alberu remembered the blossoms going through the young boy’s hair, as he scoffed at his face one last time. His jet black hair was short but swayed along with the wind. His eyes remained fixed to the exit, as if planning his next move.
The first time he met that guy, it was like a turbulent hurricane and as the unknown boy left him, Alberu felt as devastated as a man surviving the entire incident alone.
Although they didn’t reunite until several years later, although the impact the small little dot of ebony had on Alberu was as apparent as the day and sunset.
He grew more independent, even started to challenge his father’s authority, and eventually started to win even though it was just a little bit.
Years passed and Alberu had now turned 25, when he finally saw Kim Rok Soo again. The now older Kim Rok Soo had short hair which was black as ink and had a lean
They reunited when Kim Rok Soo was in college, once more in the spring, the same cold weather just a bit older.
He remembered the shock in the other’s eyes as they made eye contact at the orientation.
He remembered running over to his table and asking him whether the two of them could be friends.
‘To be friends with him.’
Well, at first, that was all Alberu wanted. He thought it was enough, but gradually, other feelings crept up on him. Feelings of greed and feelings of love.
He wanted Kim Rok Soo to be his, and his only.
And so his spring had once again arrived.
In the remaining two years, Kim Rok Soo helped Alberu to stop dying his hair in order to fit in, he stopped applying that abhorrent amount of foundation all over his skin, he stopped wearing those flimsy blue lenses.
Instead, he let his true self be seen, in the moonlight, or in the sun, it didn’t matter.
He finally felt like he could accept himself.
He didn’t need to fit in, and that he could tell that was fine.
And after three full years of pining, letting their close friends irritated at their endless games of cat and mouse, they finally confirmed the other’s feelings when Alberu confessed.
They made plans to go on a date a week later, and now that particular week had passed and the big day had arrived.
After all this time, it felt like an ordinary outing, however the two knew better.
He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to put it in place properly. Blowing away another untamed strand of hair.
It was the first date, sure they knew each other for five years but still a date was completely different.
They had decided to take the bus to an aquarium.
Alberu was nervous and anxious. Two emotions he knew all too well, but he never could quite like the feeling of having an empty pit as a stomach and a perpetual dry throat.
Seven minutes had already passed, and there was no sign of Rok Soo so Alberu decided to give him a call.
It took three rings for Kim Rok Soo to take the call.
[Hello? Hyung?]
“Have you not arrived yet?”
Alberu looked at his watch, while sitting on a bench while waiting for the bus to stop.
[I'm sitting at the XXX bus stop right now. What about you?]
Alberu arched over to get a clearer look at the station number. “I’m in the YYY one.” He took a pause, “Didn’t we agree to meet here?”
The voice behind the phone hummed for a moment, amidst the crowd he had a clearer and much more stark voice, of course that was because it was so close to the phone, but it was still so remarkably different from the other sounds, it almost seemed like the background had blended together and quietened its very own presence.
[Hyung, could you describe your surroundings?]
Alberu nodded, it was a simple thing anyway. His eyes darted around, making sure to capture all the features that could describe the location “Sure, I’m sitting on a bench, and I can see a Starvucks in front of me, and there’s a string of cherry blossoms around it, I think behind—”
[And what are you wearing?]
A smile tingled Alberu’s face lightly, barely noticeable but it was certainly there.
“Why are you so curious about how I look, dongsaeng? Do you really like me that much? I mean, of course you do, I am your prince, aren’t I?”
[<i>Sigh.</i> Just describe yourself.]
Alberu chuckled, it really was fun riling his dongsaeng up, “I’m wearing a black turtleneck, the one you gifted me, and a dark brown coat. My pants are beige in colour. Oh, not to forget the black shoes that you gave me for my other birthday.”
[Mmm, fine. I’m hanging up now.]
“What??” But before Alberu could say anything further, Kim Rok Soo had already gone through with the action. ‘What was that!? Why would you ask me all that and then hang up? Is he trying to use me as a landmark? How cu–’
He suddenly felt two hands over his eyes, and a similar stoic voice talking to him from behind the bench he was resting on.
“Guess who?” Rok Soo was still calm as he said this, not showing a hint of embarrassment at doing this in public.
Alberu pulled the hands off his face and turned back, the tiny smile grew unconsciously, “Jesus, you need to get a better sense of humour dongsaeng.”
He scoffed, sliding his hands down to hug his neck, “As if you didn’t do this to me before?”
“Touché.” Alberu chuckled, motioning Kim Rok Soo to take a seat next to him.
Kim Rok Soo hummed before taking him up on his offer, leaning over to take a look at his partner’s watch.
‘11:56 a.m’
“When does our train arrive?”
“12 o’ clock supposedly, but I’m sure it’ll be at least 10 minutes late.” Alberu replied.
“That so? I guess I’ll just sit around til then.” Rok Soo said, making himself comfortable.
‘Hm?’
He felt a hand on his, looking to find out that it was Alberu's.
A sinister smile danced on his face.
Alberu who was looking the other way, trying to not meet the other’s eyes was all too familiar with this smirk of Rok Soo’s. He felt jitters over his hands, before Rok Soo clasped his hand in return, making Alberu’s ears turn into a distinct shade of pink. “Wasn’t I the one who liked you more? Hmm, hyung?”
“Sh-shut it.”
Rok Soo chuckled, his grin still as cheeky as before, but his face somewhat red.
“Oh why on earth should I do that, my dear prince?”
The trees shook around and the scent of the petrichor roamed around freely.
Characters- Kim Rok Soo, Alberu Crossman, Lee Soo Hyuk, Choi Jung Soo, Tasha
Ratings- K+
Shippings- Kimrokberu
Type- (Fluff)
Part 5
((CW. mentioned racism))
The tray made a harsh clink as Alberu set it in front of Taerang, who was sitting on the lignum vitae chair, on the coffee table which formed a complete set with the said chair.
“So, sir, in the end,” Taerang took a pause to sip on the tea the host had provided, though he was the junior, “Did you tell him your name?”
Alberu averted his eyes, before answering in a low voice, “...Yes.”
Taerang sighed. He cared about his employer a lot, especially because of the fact that they had known each other for quite some time, and in that time, he had come to realize rather early on, that Alberu was rather soft on the inside, despite his harsh mannerisms and stern appearance. He cared far too deeply for people and always hesitated to let a connection go. It would be bad in their line of work, but well, sometimes it was necessary.
He remembered the way the younger college student had always shook his hand rather than barking at him and treating him like a meagre guard. Even though he was one, who had been given to him as a present for his achievements by his former ‘owner’, Angelica and right before Choi Jung Gun, and before that his guardian, Ahn Mon Ran.
He was always viewed as a tool, almost always at least, Ahn Mon Ran had no other option but to give him to Choi Jung Gun because of the hand the man had on him.
He asked once again, “Did you say anything that even remotely points out the fact that made the person think that you’re part of the elite Crossman family, and not your average joe?”
Alberu still didn’t meet Taerang’s eyes. Taerang knew what that meant and unfortunately Alberu did too.
Alberu struggled to meet Taerang’s eyes, “I’m sorry, hyung-”
“Don’t call me that right now, sir. You know you’re in trouble. Big time.”
Taerang took a sip of his lavender tea which had been poured til the brim of the teacup, “You were the one who originally asked for these rules to be made, and we can’t break them, since you specifically gave us instructions not to. No matter what you say at the time.”
Taerang looked at the man who was fidgeting anxiously. He knew why these rules were a safety precaution, and he didn’t want Alberu to go through that experience again. Well, technically speaking, he wasn’t there but he was told the story, and he didn’t like it either way, not one bit.
Alberu also knew the reasons, and the repercussions, and yet it felt horrible. He knew why this had happened, and he didn’t want it to happen again but still. He looked at the table silently for a moment, thinking about the various possibilities which seemed to end with his heartbreak.
Kim Rok Soo didn’t seem like the guy who would take advantage of him, he just didn’t. Not to mention, the connection- the connection felt as if he was a gust of wind that had finally found his tree, but he knew that in the end, this was the best move he could play. If he stayed, he had no idea what to do.
Would he confront Kim Rok Soo?
Would he pretend never to see him again, despite knowing that his heart longed for the other?
That would just be running away, but Alberu wasn’t even sure what Kim Rok Soo would want. He thought that Kim Rok Soo was free, and that he, a caged bird could never compare, even if he liquidised all his assets he couldn’t compare with that man, and so, he might as well not trouble the other.
Alberu was determined, yet this time he felt like he couldn’t win. A feeling he hadn’t felt for a long time. It reminded him of the time he had to deal with his dad, and those were memories he would rather not recall, but he was sure a broken person like him didn’t deserve Kim Rok Soo.
After this short exchange with himself, he looked at Taerang, his eyes looked soulless, and his voice was brittle as he spoke, “So let’s go through with it.”
Taerang felt something inside of him break, he couldn’t do anything but agree, “...Yes, let’s go through, sir.”
Alberu took a short sip of the liquid that had been sitting in front of him untouched, “Ah look, it’s gone cold.”
***
Kim Rok Soo’s apartment was in an overly pristine condition, despite it normally being clean, Choi Jung Soo could tell that he had cleaned the place intensely a couple of hours earlier. The yellow evening lights had been switched on a few hours ago and the three men were sitting on the floor on a neatly maintained rug, with more than an average number of bottles that three men should consume in a single night being kept on the table. It seemed that they had all acknowledged that the only function of the table right now was to act as storage.
“Rok Soo-ya?” Choi Jung Soo asked, waving his hand over the other’s face.
“Ah,” Kim Rok Soo blinked, adjusting his eyes to the light, before replying to the call of this man, “Yes?”
Choi Jung Soo took a seat next to him and could easily notice a couple of things that were odd off the bat. For example, the eyebags were deeper, he wasn’t paying attention at all, which even when separated from these discrepancies was odd. Not to mention he was drinking a lot, almost as if he was trying to get drunk. Even though Choi Jung Soo knew that Kim Rok Soo was aware of his own tolerance, which was inhumanly high, something must have happened and it was definitely not a good thing, seeing as the way Kim Rok Soo looked and acted.
Choi Jung Soo patted the other’s head gently, you could hear the tease in his tone, “What’s wrong?”
“Don’t really want to talk about it…Could you pour another one?” the other responded with a burnt out tone, letting the hand rest there.
‘I guess it didn’t go well.’ Choi Jung Soo poured another cup for himself, using the nearest half filled bottle, before filling Kim Rok Soo’s cup.
Lee Soo Hyuk on the other hand, was drinking a little too much than what a forty year old liver could take. He’d drunk two bottles. Downing them like they’re soup, well not like his dongsaeng hadn’t drunk about three bottles of the same type of strong alcohol in one sitting.
‘Really, the people around me really don’t take care of themselves,’ thought Choi Jung Soo drinking down his seventh cup of scotch. He sighed and looked at Kim Rok Soo, he was sure it was a rejection.
Kim Rok Soo felt like throwing up. He wanted to throw up all his feelings related to his former neighbor. It had only been a day, he wasn’t that close- So it wouldn’t be hard at all, if that was the case, right?
“Who am I kidding, of course not.” he murmured.
“Hmm?” the one beside him asked, “Is something wron-” Before Choi Jung Soo could finish his question, he was tackled with a hug from the one he had presumed to be on the other end of the table.
“Rok Soo yaaaaa~ Don’t worry, these kinds of things will always happen.”
Choi Jung Soo struggled to escape the bear hug he had, without his knowledge, stepped into. “Hyung- Kim Rok Soo is there- There-” he tried to point to the clearly dispirited Kim Rok Soo, failing and being pinned to the floor, while Lee Soo Hyuk fell asleep on him.
Gradually, Choi Jung Soo too, started losing consciousness, albeit something he did not sign up for, and drifting to sleep, while Kim Rok Soo was sitting in the end of the line of drunkards, well two pass outs and one drunk.
Kim Rok Soo shuffled to get the two blankets to cover his hyungs before getting his own to join in on the pile of corpses. He shifted the table a bit, and tucked himself to make the rug a little more comfortable to lie on. He tried to close his eyes, but he simply couldn’t. His mind was haunted by the brunette, and not in a good way. He turned to a couch, which brought back the incident that occured day before yesterday. He shifted once more, this time to look at the faces of his hyungs, this again reminded him of the time they were so excited about the whole soulmate jamboree.
Everything reminded Kim Rok Soo of Alberu, and he didn’t like it. No matter how hard he tried he could simply not forget the man. He had a striking appearance and a discernable mark on his life, despite them knowing each other for a day.
They hadn’t met each other since Kim Rok Soo had moved here, which was 6 years ago. Well, that was partly Kim Rok Soo’s fault for thinking that it was too much work to meet his neighbours, and he just ended it with seeing his then 24-year-old neighbour, who was too busy with his work once.
Now, he regretted his decision. If only he had met him earlier. If only he hadn’t ignored his neighbour. These thoughts were the only ones going through his head that night, as he kept on twisting and turning, before finally finding a comfortable position to sleep in.
***
Alberu got up to an undesired nostalgia of mahogany furniture and neatly lined bookshelves along with the scent of cookies permeating the room. It wasn’t dense but rather a soft scent, being accompanied by a denser scent of black coffee.
What was strange, was the fact that there was no coffee in the vicinity, and he knew his aunt, much like him, leaned towards tea. He was a bit curious about the fragrance but didn’t want to give it much thought as his brain was more preoccupied with other means- Kim Rok Soo.
How would he deal with him?
Alberu was fully aware of what a jerk he was being. He knew that it had been very unfair of him to just straight up leave.
“Aunt Tasha-” he called out to the similar looking black haired woman, her eyes glistened. Her hair was cut short which gave her a gentle look.
“Yes?” she answered with a hum.
“So…” he couldn’t help but fidget in worry, was he allowed to ask such a thing in the first place? He knew fully well that what his aunt was doing was for his best interests, for his sake.
Yet, it bugged him.
He wanted to see the other man desperately.
It nagged at him.
Like a gnawing frostbite that never seemed to go away.
“Speak up, Alberu. You know I’m willing to listen so take your time.”
Alberu looked at her, always supportive of him no matter what he wanted to do. Always watching, and he felt guilty about that.
Alberu gripped his arm, he told himself that he had to remain firm. This was just a simple and easy task, so what was he getting all anxious about?
“I think I found my soulmate,” Alberu blurted out, wanting to get it over with. It made him feel a bit too bizarre, a feeling he didn't enjoy. He thought a little about the man, his calming, and sarcastic attitude. It made him smile lovingly and softly, it was almost invisible.
When he saw Tasha’s eyes, his smile fell apart, she didn’t meet his eyes with the same gaze he did. Her face was instead painted with a base of shock, and another which was an even more unfavourable expression on it; outrage.
One glance is all it took for Tasha to assess the situation. She had already been informed by Taerang about his leaked identity, which in itself had been surprising. Tasha could smell the coffee and cookies off her nephew. She didn’t know how it got there since they had no coffee at home, and she knew her nephew didn’t drink coffee, and buttered chocolate cookies. It would have been plausible if he hadn’t come out of the bedroom.
She knew what this meant, the boy had found his soulmate, but she also knew one thing– you could have problems with your past lover. It was like any relationship, simply adding in the strong connection. It wasn’t that big of a deal as people made it up to be.
After all, her sister had also been in a similar kind of relationship and she easily got replaced. Zed had simply thrown her away when he realized that his soul mark had appeared again. It was plausible that the bad luck might have carried from the mother to the son. Even though deep down, she was sure that wasn’t the case. She was worried, and terribly, terribly protective of her nephew, for he was the only one part of her sister that had remained in the world of the living. Being a soulmate had led to her sister’s heartbreak and eventual death, and perhaps it wouldn’t be as severe in Alberu’s case, but he had suffered enough after his mother’s death, she concluded.
“You found a soulmate?” she asked, her expression now a bit less animated than her previous one, but Alberu could tell that she was not pleased one bit.
He had a rough idea why but he wasn’t all that into the details. He was young when his mother and ‘father’ divorced, and he knew how his mother had committed suicide after a weeks of the unusual event. After that, he knew how his life had spiralled down to. She died without gaining custody of her child because Alberu’s talents had been noteworthy and rather eye-catching and Zed thought the boy would fetch a pretty price as a showpiece.
He wasn’t wrong per se, but the exposure to the life of adults had dimmed his young eyes that had been previously filled with life. He had gotten used to going days without proper food and water, and that he wasn’t allowed anything as an emotional support. He wasn’t allowed to have a weakness, if he wanted to stay with his worth.
He had been locked, neglected, even abused if his scores or position went a bit under than perfect. Well, that was at first, then it escalated to him being the outsider of the ‘family’.
Alberu had noted at the ripe age of eighteen, the people he lived with were hypocrites. In private they would always say the opposite of what they said under the public eye.
‘The shame of this house.’
‘The joy of our family.’
‘You dirty leech. Shouldn’t you be working non-stop? You live here rent free anyway.’
‘He’s always such a darling brother of mine. I simply worry that he works too hard for his own good.’
‘Disgusting. That skin of yours looks so ugly, maybe it’d be better if we got rid of it’
‘He looks so handsome too! He looks just like father, well his skin tone doesn’t matter.’
‘Don’t you get it? You don’t have a place here.’
‘Even though he looks different, he fits right in. Exactly, it's petty to not care about someone who shares the same blood as your sons just because they have a different skin tone.’
They weren’t memories he would want to remember at all, even though they constantly played on his mind like a broken record player. Constantly.
That’s why he trusted his Aunt’s judgement, for she was the only one who had helped him get out of that hellhole. It was her acceptance that Alberu wanted the most.
Alberu nodded, in return to which Tasha’s unamusement became even more apparent with a long sigh. She was very reluctant to entrust her nephew in anyone’s hand, and the thought of him getting used made her boil over with rage, and so she simply cut off the communication between the two, by a few words, “Alberu, I don’t approve.”
***
Kim Rok Soo grumbled at the white noise that was playing on repeat in the background. He could hear the chattering that was going on between the two other men in the house. He laid on the makeshift bed until he heard a ringtone. A particular ringtone which made him sure of the person on the other line.
‘Basen.’
He stretched his hand out to reach his phone, still remaining tucked in his blanket and refusing to move. By the third ring of the phone, he had successfully maneuvered himself in a way that he could stay comfortable and pick up the phone. He finally received it.
“Hello?” The voice on the other end greeted Kim Rok Soo.
Kim Rok Soo, still groggy and voice still unsettled, spoke in a lower tone than his usual. It sounded synonymous to the croak of a frog, “Good morning Basen. What makes you call this early?”
Basen knew that tone belonged to his uncle, and he also knew that this was the tone of voice he had in the morning before he had even gotten up from bed. He’d found out so from the several sleepovers he had with him. Still it was odd to hear his voice this deep. Had his Ahjussi been drinking? “Uncle Rok Soo, how much did you drink last night?”
“Why do you ask?” Kim Rok Soo said, shuffling in the sheets, shifting his movements ever so slightly to stay within the warmth of the blanket that covered him up completely like a cocoon.
“Have you still not gotten up?” Basen asked, his tone a bit shocked.
Kim Rok Soo hummed to give an affirmative response.
Basen sighed, “Do you know what time it is?”
“It’s...” He slurred while reordering his position to face the clock. “Three.”
Basen sighed, his voice then went low as he turned his face away from his phone “Haaaa... What’s that Pen?”
Kim Rok Soo’s ears perked up, “Pen’s there?”
He could hear Basen crack up a bit, “Uncle Rok Soo, you attended the wedding, didn’t you? We’re married, so of course we’re living together.”
Kim Rok Soo relaxed again remembering the joyous event that had taken place a month ago, “Ah, yeah yeah.”
Basen slid the phone between his ear and shoulder, “Uncle, are you still out of it?”
Kim Rok Soo twisted his head, cocking it out of the blanket. “Maybe,” he yawned.
“Rok Soo-ya? You’re finally up?” Kim Rok Soo saw Lee Soo Hyuk standing in front of him.
“Um, yeah.” Kim Rok Soo lazily replied.
“Ah,” Basen said from the other end, “If Lee Soo Hyuk Ahjussi is there, why not give him the phone, and probably freshen up.”
Kim Rok Soo nodded and handed the phone to Lee Soo Hyuk, while informing the other person about his nephew, “It’s Basen, he wants to talk to you.”
Lee Soo Hyuk’s face quirked up to form a grin, “It’s been a long time since he’s talked to me, has he been busy with his lover?”
Kim Rok Soo looked over and casually answered,“Their honeymoon did get over a few weeks earlier. So it is a possibility.”
Lee Soo Hyuk sighed while taking the phone from Kim Rok Soo, “Aiya, I really am getting old. Everyone around me is getting married or starting to date someone. Ah, the woes of an old man.”
He heard an annoyed voice from the far side of the kitchen, “Did you forget that you’ve been with your lover for over 15 years, Mr. old man?”
The mention of Lee Soo Hyuk’s lover made Kim Rok Soo think about his friend, “Ah, I need to talk about the details about the meeting with Beacrox.”
Lee Soo Hyuk turned to him, his head tilted to the right, “He has been talking about that too. Do you have something in mind for the day?”
Kim Rok Soo could feel the headache rushing over him like a tidal wave, “I'll talk later, I need to wash my face and brush.”
“Oh wait, before you go-” Lee Soo Hyuk stopped him, causing Kim Rok Soo to turn, “You kinda smell like aloe vera? I didn’t know you kept any plants here?”
Kim Rok Soo pulled his t-shirt to sniff it, indeed, it smelled like the said succulent. He furrowed his eyebrows. It was odd, but it was too much for his woozy head to think about.
He pulled himself out of the mattress and walked to the bathroom, lazily scratching his hay-like hair. His eyes lazily lolled around, scanning the surroundings of his own apartment as if it was something foreign. He sighed, standing there for a moment facing his reflection in the mirror.
He ran his fingers through the messy strands that gently lay on the shoulder, remembering Alberu’s fingers cold touch. They were hardened and felt like they had been holding a pen their entire life, never wanting to try anything else, though Kim Rok Soo thought that Alberu merely never got the time to engage in hobbies.
‘That’s not how hair gel works, hyung.’
He remembered the annoyed tone the man could endlessly fill his voice with. He splashed some water on his eyes, still wondering where the other had gone. It would be quite foolish to disappear if he were fearing rejection, if that is the reason the dark man had disappeared, he would think of the said man to be quite dense to not recognize Kim Rok Soo’s feelings towards himself.
***
Alberu tried to keep the volume down as he washed the dishes in the empty and eerily huge villa’s secluded kitchen. To be fair, it wasn’t empty, there were servants and Aunt Tasha was lounging in the living room.
His mind was currently occupied with his aunt’s reaction.
He didn’t expect such a strong rejection since he believed his aunt would be a little more liberal towards this aspect.
However, Alberu knew the reason why his aunt was overprotective since he was well aware of what happened to his mother. Sure, he understood why she didn’t want him to date Kim Rok Soo, but she also refused to acknowledge that his soulmate was different than his mother’s and it wasn’t fair to not give him a chance. Or at least give him the benefit of the doubt.
‘Bitten once, twice as shy, I guess.’ He thought, sighing.
He simply wanted to meet Kim Rok Soo, simply wanted to check something, a simple gut feeling.
An instinct.
Normally, he would have ignored it, but it was a sensation that he couldn’t help but dwell upon. It wasn’t gripping, more like a mild fever that had come over him. He thought that it was something that would easily go away and not bother him anymore, yet it stuck persistently, that it can’t help but get noticed no matter how much he tried to look the other way.
It felt real and that scared Alberu.
He didn’t hate the feeling of love.
It was just that, he was so scared of being involved with it, that it felt like he couldn’t breathe.
The so-called love he knew was only based on the last sole affection he’s gotten from his mother.
He believed that Kim Rok Soo wouldn’t be the kind of person to ‘love’ him. Alberu wasn’t the type to have gotten everything in his life in a neatly packaged bow, and that included his relationships all the more.
Love? He couldn't trust it nor did he have the guts to risk letting the feeling take over him.
Any relationship he tried to maintain didn’t end on a good note, for numerous reasons. Even though his face wasn’t shown and he had a fake surname, his previous partners always knew he was rich. His arranged marriage partners thought of him as a mere money milking tool or someone who would just settle for just a crumb of bread.
The idea of that appalled Alberu. Somehow he couldn’t think of it in a good light. He didn’t want to be the sort of person who would force someone to be with him just for his money.
If that was the case he was better off without anyone.
But why was it that he couldn’t forget about him?
That man, who had seen him in his most vulnerable state had simply accepted it. Had waved off the thought that he was odd or unbelonging. He had given him the chance to feel these new sets of emotions he thought he would never experience in his lifetime.
Unbeknownst to Alberu, his hands were working fast and intensely out of all the stress. Only when he heard a loud clang was he snapped back to reality. His eyes immediately darted to the cause of the noise, which was a plate that had slipped from his hands and had fallen into the sink.
Alberu stared at it for a bit, sighed and washed it.
It was a good thing it didn’t break.
After neatly placing it in the dryer, he walked out of the kitchen and took a seat in the hall on the coach facing his aunt’s.
She tore her eyes away from the book she was reading to face him. Tasha noticed the lost look in his eyes, and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Alberu blinked, turning his gaze away from the table and meeting his aunt’s, “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” He said, picking up a book lying on the Pacini e Cappellini coffee table to read.
Tasha sighed, sticking a bookmark between her copy of ‘War and Peace’, marking her progress in rereading the classic, “Are you still bothered by it?”
Alberu tried to feign ignorance, “By what?”
“We both know what you’re thinking about.” Tasha knew that he wouldn’t outright address the topic. He was far too self constricted with her for that.
Alberu met her eyes, but still had his eyes glazed over, it was as if he actually had no idea of what his aunt was talking about, “Like I said, what?”
Tasha however, was having none of that, she knew Alberu since he was a baby albeit she was young during those turbulent times. She motioned her hand as if she was pointing to the person in question, “Your soulmate, whoever that may be.”
“Huh.” Alberu mused, making it painfully obvious for Tasha to tell he was unimpressed, “What about my soulmate?”
Tasha, also aware of his current ‘yearnings’ spoke without batting an eye, “You want to meet them.”
“I sure do, but there’s someone who's preventing that, isn’t there?” He said, finally keeping his book down and sending his aunt a glare that was trying very hard not to reveal its true intentions.
Tasha got annoyed at the misconception Alberu had of her. She was doing this for him. How couldn’t he not get it?“ You know that I’m doing this for your sake. Your mother died because–”
“–Of her soulmate.” Alberu completed her sentence. He had heard it for so many times he was sure that was what the next few words entailed. He sighed.
“Aunt,” He said in a chilling voice, he was the closest to his aunt but there was definitely a line that shouldn’t be crossed.
Not everything was about his mother. He was well aware how his mother’s death had unfolded but not everyone was like his father, not everyone was as egregious as that man.
“I understand your concerns but do remember.” He paused to take a good look at his aunt, “I am not my mother,” he took another pause “and I never will be.”
Alberu could never be his mother. His mother was pure, and charismatic, not to mention she was the incarnation of beauty itself. Never attempting any foul means, she tried hard. She died protecting him.
And he could never be, not even an inch close to being as great as her. Or so he believed.
Tasha looked the other way, “I know that…but it still scares me. What if they lose interest in you and desert you–”
Alberu sighed again. The next few words he had said out of the simple motivation to prove Tasha wrong about soulmates, and snag a lover in one quick move. “Alright, since you are so bothered by the fact that they’ll cheat on me or lose interest. Let me put forward the idea of a bet. I’ll not visit my soulmate for two months and after those two months, let’s see whether they get over me in that period of time.” ‘–well formally, I won’t be meeting him.’
Alberu thought about it for a moment. He would use himself and Kim Rok Soo as an experiment. He set a bet like that out of impulse to prove her wrong. Even though he wouldn’t mind if he had really moved on, a part of him wanted to know the outcome to all this as well.
If fate would really allow them to be together, or would it be another curse that had befallen since his mother’s time?
Would things be different?
He didn’t know the answer to that. That was why he did this. That was why he made this stupid bet to at least convince himself that it was alright for him to love, or just have believed in his Aunt’s words in the first place.
Alberu was not the type to easily trust people but this time he wanted to try.
He wanted to try and place a bit of his faith on that man.
Tasha, who was also right at the end of her wits from this conversation, agreed in a fit of confusion and annoyance with the flow of the conversation, wanting it to end, “Ok, fine. Let’s do just that. When should we start?”
Alberu asked, also getting riled up, “How about right this second?”
Tasha leaned back, “Alright then. For 2 months which start at 5pm December 8th, 2XXX until 5pm February 8th, 2XXX(+1). Deal?”
“Deal.”
“Ok then. Taerang, write this down.” Tasha crossed her arms together, her eyes still lingering at her nephew who broke eye contact.
“Yes ma’am.” The mostly stationary man, who had been sitting on the chair beside Alberu finally spoke.
‘Now that this was sorted,’ thought Alberu, ‘I have to contact him, I guess. Hoo boy, this is gonna be a whole different game to play.’
AGUDKBVGKHFVBKRGFBKUJBGKJFBV MIKA YOU LOVELY SOUL
I HAVE SCREAMED AT YOU ONCE AND I SHALL DO IT AGAIN
LOVELY SOUL HOW DO YOU MAKE YOUR WARES
THIS POTTER IS NOT WORTHY
Characters- Kim Rok Soo, Alberu Crossman, Lee Soo Hyuk, Choi Jung Soo
Ratings- K+
Shippings- Kimrokberu
Type- (Fluff)
Part 4
The symbol did indeed look like a small sun encompassed in a gigantic moon which made the sun pale in comparison, yet the pale yellow shade stood out more than that of the moon which made Kim Rok Soo’s eyes first fall on the sun. The moon on the other hand was as white as milk, with grey spots that resembled craters, or perhaps that’s what the splotches of orange juice gave an illusion of. The starry midnight sky that adorned the outer gap of the sun-filled moon occupied less space and created a small background that faded out, causing the entire mark to look like a cartoonish sketch of an eclipse. It had its own charm of homeliness and peace, yet it felt unnecessarily regal. It was as if his soulmate was once a king... Wait... didn't his neighbour—now soulmate, say that he had his name plastered on several...broadcasts.
Kim Rok Soo took a moment to let the realization sink in, the same way the orange juice had seeped through the shirt.
“Haaaaa…”
Kim Rok Soo sighed deeply. A famous person. That was something he’d never wanted to be, nor be with even in his wildest dreams, nor as an impossible to get Christmas present. Well, to be fair, he didn’t expect to have a soulmate in the first place, but look where that got him.
Even though many would assume otherwise, all he ever wanted was a slacker life, an early retirement, that’s all and nothing more. A tiny, and easily attainable dream. Being the soulmate of a rich person wouldn’t hamper his dream but it would put people’s unwelcome attention on him and that was an unnecessary trade off, especially when he could pave his own way to the desired slacker life.
He would rather go unnoticed than be put under the everlasting spotlight of fame. Money did interest him, however being well-known or being the latest hot topic did not.
That was one of the reasons why he left Deruth and the entire Henituse estate without a fight. It wasn’t like there was any place for him there any way. He got his inheritance which he had in his savings just in case.
Thus he decided that he would just join his hyungs, though that had immediately backfired and he became one of the most famous musicians where everyone wanted him to play the instrument.
Willingly choosing fame was inherently never part of his nature, he was more of a money oriented person. Yet his soulmate had to be really damn famous, huh.
How did he even get himself into this soulmate mess in the first place?
He always told himself to be as smart as a badger yet he overlooked such a crucial detail. Was it because the man had made him so relaxed that he had completely lost track of his words and was too focused on the sound of his low, gentle and overall lovely voice?
It made sense, the man in question was his soulmate after all. It would only be natural for Kim Rok Soo to immediately drop his usually high guard down.
He splashed more water on his face, deciding that he would think about this awkward and unpleasant situation as he was going home. He had a long drive to look forward to anyway.
He trudged out of the bathroom, his eyes were bloodshot as the result of the orange juice getting in his eyelids and his jacket was neatly folded and tucked under his arm. He was greeted by an extremely dejected and worried man at the door. The man could also be called the one responsible for the sweet and sour liquid going in his eyes.
“Hyung?”
Lee Soo Hyuk turned to him. Kim Rok Soo could tell that the elder man was concerned. He walked in large strides and patted Kim Rok Soo’s body down, looking straight into Kim Rok Soo’s eyes, examining the damage he had done. He frowned, “Should I get you eyedrops?”
“Hmm? Is it really needed? It doesn’t hurt that much.” Kim Rok Soo asked, since his mind was preoccupied with the soul mark he wasn’t really paying attention to the throbbing pain in his eye.
“They might be infected,” said Lee Soo Hyuk while he was examining Kim Rok Soo’s eyes.
Kim Rok Soo realized there were streams of tears as a reaction to the citrus juice only after Lee Soo Hyuk pointed it out.
“It really got everywhere, huh?” Lee Soo Hyuk said, looking at the utterly soaked shirt and the removed jacket in Kim Rok Soo's hands.
He removed a handkerchief and wiped the streaming tears along with the dried ones from the younger man’s face.
“It’s not that much, they’ll dry up soon enough.” Kim Rok Soo grumbled, only for the disagreement to be pushed aside, like all the other oppositions that had taken place that day.
Lee Soo Hyuk sighed, looking at the tear-stained face. Though it wouldn’t be proper to call them ‘tears’, it was more of a mere reflex, “My bad. I should’ve been less...startled when you told me that your neighbour was The Alberu Crossman of the Crossman family.” he looked at the blank faced man and tilted his head, “Do you know exactly how famous that family is?”
“No,” Kim Rok Soo said, definitely not revealing the fact that Alberu had told him that he was indeed a famous man, and the fact that his words had completely slipped Kim Rok Soo’s mind only because Kim Rok Soo was only paying attention at Alberu’s voice. Little did he know his vacant look was giving him away to the person he’d known for a long time.
Lee Soo Hyuk looked at the other, inspecting his dongsaeng’s reaction,
“Do you even watch the news anymore?”
Kim Rok Soo fell silent for a while,
“I stopped when they started showcasing me as one of the most popular men.” He felt a rough hand on his cheek which then gently tapped Kim Rok Soo there.
“You should really get over that,” Lee Soo Hyuk said as he wiped the other man’s face one last time. It was gentle despite the coarse hand. Kim Rok Soo knew that his hyung was genuinely trying to help him and nuzzled the hand in an unnoticeable fashion.
“He’s the CEO of the Roan company.” Kim Rok Soo immediately remembered the Roan company. He had heard of it, “The Crossmans are the founders of one of the big corporations with several branches which are humongous even when counted on their own. Recently it was also branded as the longest lasting one.” Lee Soo Hyuk patted Kim Rok Soo’s cheek again and exaggeratedly sighed, “What are we going with you, Rok Soo-ya? You even forgot who runs the company your nephew currently has a branch in.”
Kim Rok Soo’s face turned stoic from the previously blank face at his hyung’s over-the-top reaction, “Henituses were known for their marble and wine branches. But I didn’t know that it was the Crossmans who were in charge. I just remember the Roan Conglomerate. It didn’t concern me after all.”
Lee Soo Hyuk looked at Kim Rok Soo’s now clean yet somewhat red face,
“Do you want to go home? I’ll be driving.”
Kim Rok Soo nodded, since he didn’t want to decline the offer, especially being drenched head to waist in orange juice.
Lee Soo Hyuk led him to their table, as they finally reached there lay a passed out Choi Jung Soo with the three empty glasses and Lee Soo Hyuk’s card accompanied by a paid check on the table.
Lee Soo Hyuk looked at the younger man, and chuckled, “Look at this rascal.”
He draped Choi Jung Soo over his shoulder, turning to Kim Rok Soo before informing him, “Wait for me in the car. I'll just drag this guy over.”
Kim Rok Soo nodded and exited the restaurant and walked over to the parking lot, and gently slid into his car’s passenger seat since his hyung was driving. He reclined in his seat and shut his eyes, turning the faucet to his thoughts and letting them slowly drip which quickly escalated to a waterfall. He started to think about the entire soulmate thing. He knew very well that even though he had a soul mark, there weren't any requirements for him to date the person in question. He knew several people who had met their soulmate yet never crossed the line of friends. It was wholly possible that even if he didn't get together with Alberu right now, Alberu could find his own love somewhere else, and not with him, yet that thought pricked him. Kim Rok Soo also knew that if he did get with the man, everyone's attention would fall on him. On the other hand, there was also the fact that Alberu was completely his type, not to mention Alberu had a pleasing personality. Even though they were the same kind of people, Alberu somehow felt purer than himself.
He remembered the panic attack he saw Alberu experience, just this morning.
He remembered the younger man’s franticness.
He remembered the other’s anxiousness.
He remembered the desperate way Alberu held onto his hand, as if Kim Rok Soo was his only grip on reality.
He remembered how Alberu’s dark eyebags that adorned his face always sunk deep into his cheeks, even though he had been asleep a minute before.
He remembered how fragile Alberu looked.
He remembered how he quickly recovered, like he had been subjected to these sorts of attacks for ages. Even though Kim Rok Soo had experienced such attacks a couple of times himself, he could never get used to the feeling of fear overwhelming him like an overflowing cup.
Alberu looked like a broken mirror to him at the time. A broken mirror who no one wanted to spend their time on fixing. Alberu reminded Kim Rok Soo of himself, before he met his hyungs.
But the brokenness of his soulmate was not the only thing Kim Rok Soo remembered about Alberu.
He remembered how Alberu’s dark skin and hair shimmered under the moonlight, it was like the moon was calling its brethren.
He remembered how cute Alberu looked when he was sleeping on that bench, so adorable Kim Rok Soo was tempted not to wake him up.
He remembered Alberu's embarrassed and red face when he decided to call after him that night.
He remembered the way Alberu’s hair wildly and freely flew open when he was on his balcony. It reminded him of a bird that had finally attained its freedom.
He remembered the sensual way the olive puffer jacket refused to slide down Alberu's arms.
He remembered how inviting Alberu looked glistening with sweat, sitting on his sofa, wearing that pink turtleneck.
He remembered Alberu's unending laugh at his short and ordinary words, at least that’s what Kim Rok Soo thought.
He didn't understand why Alberu laughed, but he did remember the sound. It was like a pleasant tune that played on his mind as he sat in the car.
He remembered the relaxingly cool touch of Alberu’s calloused fingertips.
He remembered everything about this man.
This astoundingly alluring neighbour of his. It was as if Alberu drew Kim Rok Soo towards himself, like a craftsman would be drawn to the right materials. If Alberu was a cracked mirror then Kim Rok Soo would be more than glad to collect the broken shards and create a mosaic that would resemble a stained glass painting.
At that moment Kim Rok Soo knew that he was captivated by this man. Honestly, who wouldn’t, it was a terribly attractive offer. To be the significant other of this wonderful person would be an honor. Though a nagging thought pulled at his mind. Would his affection be-
“-Rok Soo-ya? Are you there?”
Kim Rok Soo’s eyes flew open in surprise. He had fallen too deep into his thoughts, not realizing that the car’s door had opened and closed twice already. He could also see Lee Soo Hyuk’s face painted with a cheeky grin.
“Hyung.” Kim Rok Soo said, rubbing his eyes trying to fall out of the daze .
Lee Soo Hyuk knew that this was an unusual occurrence since Kim Rok Soo wasn’t the type that used to take this much time to respond to his call. Especially since he was alone. Lee Soo Hyuk also knew what Kim Rok Soo would most probably be thinking about right now. He himself had noticed the soul mark but didn’t say a word as he was too busy taking care of his dongsaeng's tears.
“Are you thinking about your dark skinned neighbour and-” he glanced at the now dried and translucent shirt before he continued, “possible soulmate?”
Kim Rok Soo, still in a muddled state, managed to let the words come out of his mouth, without any filter before promptly catching himself, “Ye- I mean no.”
This mixed reaction made Lee Soo Hyuk chuckle. He hadn’t seen such a slip in ages, especially when it came to matters relating to love. 'It was only a couple of years ago he decided to leave the estate.’ Lee Soo Hyuk sniffled, ‘They grow up so fast.’ He swerved into Kim Rok Soo, giving the younger man a hug and dramatically cried, “You grew up too soooonnnn. Three years ago you didn’t even think you’d ever have a lover, and now you have a soulmate. I’m so prouddddd of youuu,” whilst Kim Rok Soo sat in the passenger seat, stiff at the sudden wave of affection he was receiving, but of course he reciprocated it by letting his free arms gently wrap themselves around his hyung’s back. Kim Rok Soo gently nuzzled Lee Soo Hyuk’s neck.
He loved Lee Soo Hyuk. His eldest brother, his respectable mentor who had taught him how to play, his elder brother figure, ever since he was young, his only escape from that excruciatingly stuffy residence. He was someone he knew he could confide in, one of the few people he held the closest to his heart. That was a fact.
Lee Soo Hyuk was a respected person, no matter how you thought about it, wherever you go in the opera world, you would have to hear his name being mentioned whether you liked it or not. He was a famous conductor whose name echoed through the entire opera world with admiration and jealousy.
When Lee Soo Hyuk let Kim Rok Soo go, Kim Rok Soo was sure he could tell Lee Soo Hyuk about the soulmate situation, not that Lee Soo Hyuk didn’t know what Kim Rok Soo was thinking. They knew each other for a long time and naturally had gotten so close to each other that they pretty much guess what the other was thinking.
Lee Soo Hyuk could clearly remember the first time he saw that small ball that he could tell was filled with gloom sitting in the corner of a classroom. Lee Soo Hyuk remembered passing the middle school class while he was a highschool student by the hallway before that ball of gloom caught his eye. The child was thin as if he hadn’t been fed in days. Lee Soo Hyuk also remembered pulling that tiny hand out of that corner desk and asking whether the boy wanted to eat along with him. And when the other accepted, he remembered the way the boy’s stoic face that was barely ticking out of his arms had changed itself to a more startled expression, that was before it changed back to a less animated one.
He remembered how their seemingly small friendship had continued until his college years where Kim Rok Soo had met Choi Jung Soo. Choi Jung Soo, Kim Rok Soo and him got along well enough. He also remembered how Kim Rok Soo’s eyes shone when he saw the saxophone play in a school band for the first time. Even though Kim Rok Soo would never say it out loud, Lee Soo Hyuk knew that his dongsaeng loved the instrument. The same went for Choi Jung Soo, excluding the fact that Choi Jung Soo was more vocal about his love for the flute. Lee Soo Hyuk too loved conducting operas, even more so when he saw his dongsaengs playing every single time. They were his motivation and his younger brothers that he cherished more than anything in the world. He couldn't believe his ears when he found out that one of them, especially the more antisocial one had found someone. Of course, he didn’t think it was a bad attribute of Kim Rok Soo’s to be antisocial but he was overjoyed that someone as humble and emotionally choked up as Kim Rok Soo had got someone who could love him just the way he was.
“Hyung,” Kim Rok Soo said as his arms were wrapped around the other.
“Hmm?” mused a happy Lee Soo Hyuk, finally letting go of Kim Rok Soo.
“I need to tell you something.” Kim Rok Soo’s hands slipped down the man’s back as the man shuffled to return back to his seat.
“I’m listening,” he muttered, trying to make himself comfortable in the driver’s seat.
Kim Rok Soo knew that Lee Soo Hyuk was indeed paying attention to his words, even though he wasn’t looking at Kim Rok Soo, and so continued speaking, “So, I think you may have already figured it out but I have a soulmate.”
“Mhmmm,” the other hummed, finally sitting without moving around.
“He’s my neighbour, Alberu Crossman.” Kim Rok Soo’s voice was calm, as if he had already understood what was going to happen.
“Figured as much.” Lee Soo Hyuk remarked. He had known ever since Kim Rok Soo told him that his neighbour was Alberu.
He was surprised, to say the least but he still knew that Kim Rok Soo was not done with the even more eye opening comments on his situation.
“I also need your opinion on something.” Kim Rok Soo said as he seat belted himself.
“Go ahead.” Lee Soo Hyuk said as he started the car.
Choi Jung Soo had already been strapped in so there was no problem if Lee Soo Hyuk took him to his house.
“Should I date him even though he’s famous?”
Somehow Lee Soo Hyuk wasn’t surprised at his words even for a bit. “Does his fame really matter?”
Kim Rok Soo deadpanned but Lee Soo Hyuk could see his eyes sparkle, “My slacker life takes the first place in life.”
Even if Kim Rok Soo said that, Lee Soo Hyuk knew that the words were superficial, since many a times Kim Rok Soo was prone to choosing the opposite nevertheless, Kim Rok Soo was a contrary man, but a man that kept his promises. That in itself was contrary.
“Wouldn’t a famous person as a lover have higher chances of leading a successful slacker life?”
Kim Rok Soo looked out of the window and spoke, “I would be put under the public eye, and it would be far worse than it is now.”
Lee Soo Hyuk knew the reason why Kim Rok Soo disliked being the centre of attention. He’d been to the Henituse residence a couple of times. And one thing that had struck him so hard that could remember was Deruth’s picturesque display of hospitality. For some petty reasons, some going along the lines of jealousy and disgust of the limelight placed on Kim Rok Soo, the reason for that was the fact that Kim Rok Soo was delicate and the youngest, not to mention, the adopted one and the one who was chosen.
Lee Soo Hyuk also remembered how the younger brother, who had just been adopted and was clueless about the house’s atmosphere, was admonished and humiliated several times, sometimes even appearing bruised. He remembered seeing Kim Rok Soo’s eyes grow dim whenever he talked to the elder sibling, or even made eye contact with the elder.
Their age gap was large, spanning about over 10 years, yet it had always surprised Lee Soo Hyuk how Deruth acted. He acted in such petty jealousy of the attention Kim Rok Soo received from their father, he left Kim Rok Soo utterly traumatized of ever receiving things, so traumatized that he left the house and thought that he was the one at fault, that he was the one who was intruding, that he was better off with receiving an allowance every year without returning to the place of his birth, well not that Kim Rok Soo would want to. The allowance was large, as if it was consolation money. Maybe it was.
Lee Soo Hyuk wasn’t sure but he thought that was why Kim Rok Soo was so obsessed with his early retirement to be peaceful and mainly, not attract any attention. Perhaps, it was because of the years he had spent in that hellhole.
Lee Soo Hyuk knew Deruth, not that well, but well enough to decide that he didn't like the child’s personality, despite it becoming a little more amiable when he had married his first wife. Only when his first child was born did Kim Rok Soo decide that he wanted to accept the long time invitation of reestablishing contact. It was not much so of regaining contact than it was not wanting his nephew to go through the same things he did, not that he would admit it.
Lee Soo Hyuk and Choi Jung Soo shared some things in common one of them being their extreme dislike towards Deruth, not his children of course, those little rascals were adorable. Lee So Hyuk still remembers the day when Kim Rok Soo had volunteered to babysit the two sons; Basen and Cale.The reason being the fact that Violan, Deruth’s second wife, went on a vacation to get herself some rest for her upcoming pregnancy, along with her husband, of course. Basen was eight and Cale was eleven. Cale was rather annoyed all the time, until Kim Rok Soo gave him a lollipop, after that his face lit up like a firework on a starry night. Lee Soo Hyuk remembered the small pale child, with flushed cheeks sitting only next to Kim Rok Soo. Cale said that it was because Kim Rok Soo had the lollipops, which he absolutely loved, but everyone knew that wasn’t the case.
Basen liked Kim Rok Soo because the elder man fascinated him, and he liked the way he played the saxophone. He had all these memories stored in his brain solely because these were joyful instances, some that continued even today. Even when the small Cale had grown up to be a splendid twenty five year old, even when the curious Basen seemed to have matured into a calm adult, they both seemed to revert back to the way they were when they were kids in front of Kim Rok Soo. It was also known how overprotective Kim Rok Soo was of the duo, which then evolved into a trio as Lily was born.
Lee Soo Hyuk was genuinely glad that his dongsaeng had gotten a soulmate, albeit unexpected who the soulmate was, it was good to have his thoughts take form in reality and that someone other than people close to Kim Rok Soo, who all had their own partners to worry about, had dug deep enough to find that the stoic man made a splendid companion.
Even though it didn’t take that much time for Alberu to crack this seemingly tough nut.
“So,” Lee Soo Hyuk asked, “Are you going to ask him out on a date?”
Kim Rok Soo looked out of the side view mirror for a second before answering,
“Yes.”
**
Alberu returned to his seat on the couch, after feeding the two cats and washing the cup, still dazed and trying to register what he just saw.
‘That- that was a soulmark, right? Really? I’m not that sleep deprived, am I?’ He raised his sweater once more to see the mark.
‘So it wasn’t a hallucination.’
He sighed in defeat, until he felt a small head purring under his hand, which made his downcast gaze shift and meet the grey cat’s gleaming yellow eyes, “Hmmm?” he hummed in confusion.
The grey cat’s beady eyes seemed to twist into a more annoyed way each time Alberu saw them, or perhaps that was just his imagination.
Alberu leaned over his shoulder, “What should I do about this now?”
‘I do like the idea. Should I just see how it goes before jumping to any more conclusions.’
“What the hell should I do-”
His lamenting was cut off by the shrill sound of the doorbell, which made him scramble to his feet, leaving the two cats startled at this unexpected noise.
When Alberu opened the door, he was finally greeted by the long awaited and familiar face of his college friend and secretary. Alberu looked at the other with a half irritated expression, “You really took your time, huh?”
The taller man, tanned and adorned with two small black stars under his eyes, had a look of nonchalance, his short sun-kissed hair with beach wave nature bobbing gently alongside the wind.
He spoke with little or no care of the standing between the two individuals, despite the other being the superior, with an audible british accent.
“Sir, I was called by Mistress Angelina and Sir Choi Jung Gun for tea a while before you called me to retrieve your keys, which I presumed was an easy thing to not forget, but I suppose even the greatest minds can slip up-”
He was cut off with an annoyed shush by the other, “Could you please stop with the unpleasant pleasantries of yours.”
Taerang took a pause, before scanning the younger man, “How did you manage to get so wet?”
Alberu sighed, “It’s a long story.”
He heard a small mew near his leg, which prompted him to look down to see the red cat rubbing itself on his ankle. Alberu looked back at Taerang, motioning that they should move locations, preferably to his home, in response to which Taerang simply nodded.
After a sorrowful parting with the cats, Alberu shut Kim Rok Soo’s door and turned to look at Taerang who looked a bit surprised.
“What’s wrong?” Alberu asked, walking through the hallway.
Taerang’s head slightly tilted, walking at an equal pace, “You’re quite close to your neighbor. Did you already tell him who you are?”
Alberu flinched, “Not at all.”
Alberu flinching would normally not be noticeable to other people, but Taerang knew Alberu, so he could easily see through him. “Really? I’ll have to report to Miss Tasha either way. You do remember the repercussions of disclosing your identity, right?”
Alberu was silent until they reached his house, “We’ve reached. Let’s talk here.”
**
When Kim Rok Soo returned, he saw his hall exactly how he had left it. He felt the two cats mewling at his feet. He picked the red one up and sat down on the sofa, the other following him and laying herself on his lap.
The rest of Kim Rok Soo’s day was uneventful, except the fact of him planning the confession before he slept. He decided to talk with the other person for a while, and see whether the other thought the same. Going slow would be the best for now, he thought, turning to his side.
But you know life had always been cruel to him, always raising his expectations, only to let him see them come crashing down like a child’s sandcastle built too close to the sea. Again, and again, without any pause. This time was no different.
The next evening Kim Rok Soo decided to visit Alberu, he wasn’t greeted with the annoyed expression he’d expect from the darker man, instead, he was greeted by a paper stuck on the door that read in big font,
‘Now on sale! Buy a new flat-’
Kim Rok Soo didn’t bother reading the rest. He was too shocked to comprehend the words plastered on the face of the flyer.
Characters- Kim Rok Soo, Alberu Crossman, Lee Soo Hyuk, Choi Jung Soo
Ratings- K+
Shippings- Kimrokberu
Type- (Fluff)
Part 3
Alberu turned around awkwardly to see the elder man, and spoke with a face flushed in red, “Say….Would it be alright if I stayed at your house for a while?”
Kim Rok Soo met his eyes, confuzzled at the sudden request, “Why? Don’t tell me you forgot your ke-” his voice faded out as he was scanning Alberu.
His neighbour had indeed forgotten them.
He heard Alberu nervously chuckle and shrug, “I’m sorry, but at least now I can see the cats.”
Kim Rok Soo sighed, before opening his own door and motioning the other to come inside, which Alberu graciously obliged.
Alberu blinked trying to process what his eyes were busily examining everything in the room.
It looked modern from the large white lace on the plain ash coloured walls in the room that was adorned by plosh white furniture. A black table in front of the couch, beneath which Alberu could see a furry rug which looked like it had been taken extra care for, to the remaining empty looking hall.The only splash of any vibrant color that Alberu could see was a vibrant shade of pink on a photo frame.
He walked over to the French window, as if in a trance and opened it up to see an overhead view of the park that they had just left. It indeed looked pretty. The greenery made him feel at peace. It was serene and he could feel the brisk wind blow past him, which prompted him to ask rather unknowingly,
“Have you ever had tea here? It seems like a perfect place to do so, it seems so-” ‘free.’ He dare not say the last word out loud. It was to forever remain in his thoughts.
“Tea?” Kim Rok Soo confirmed, trying to register the strange words he'd just heard.
“Yes,” Alberu took a deep breath whilst inhaling the fresh air of the morning. It was still before 8:30, and he had time to relax, he looked back at Kim Rok Soo,
“Tea. Don’t you drink it?”
Alberu compared the apartment to his own green and plant-filled room, his chamomile plants, his bedside aloe vera, not to mention the hibiscus and the sleep inducing lavender, which never seems to work, seeing as to how he keeps waking up too early. He remembered how all his plants were scattered around his numerous balconies.
The difference was striking but Alberu gladly welcomed it. He also observed that the tiled off-white floor underneath his feet was as clean as a mirror. The room was mostly devoid of colour if Alberu avoided the two small shapes resting on the white sofa with plush black cushions and a small ....pink frame with a picture on a desk. Alberu didn’t pay much attention to the photo, he just assumed that they were people that were dear to this person.
Kim Rok Soo had no expression on his face.
“I do. Somewhat. I mostly drink coffee,” Alberu thought to himself at that moment and chuckled out loud, ‘This person’s personality really matches his house. Devoid of any emotion unless it’s important to him.’
“So…you’re allowing me to stay here until?” The young man asked.
“Until the spare key comes over,” Kim Rok Soo’s bass-like voice replied.
As Alberu looked over to him, Alberu’s hair was swaying so wildly Kim Rok Soo’s eyes couldn’t tear away from the dazzling brunette no matter how hard he tried. He remembered this feeling, but where?
Alberu smiled warmly, but it was a phony; Kim Rok Soo could tell, “Tell me hyung, are you always this defenseless? you're allowing me to stay here, and when you're not even going to be here at that.”
Kim Rok Soo scoffed and looked amused at the question, “You’re special.”
The younger one grinned at the expected response, this smile was genuine.
Looking at the blinding sun that reflected the darker man’s skin brilliantly. Kim Rok Soo felt as if he had swallowed a honeycomb which hadn’t been processed and was still raw, containing actual bees. As if they were still alive in his stomach, giving him a buzzing, tingly and brambly feeling. It was a familiar feeling, something he hadn’t felt in a long time.
Was it this person? That was a plausible yet a ridiculous thought, he doesn’t even know this person. How can he miss him? Logically speaking, he didn’t even know who this person was and last night was the first time they had met each other. He possibly couldn’t feel that way at the second meeting itself.
He ignored the gnawing feeling of reminiscence, ruling out all the possibilities that seemed like the only answer, most of which would have been rather crucial for him to come to the correct conclusion.
“You should smile more often.” He remarked. Alberu asked, confusedly, “Pardon? Aren’t I always smiling?”
Kim Rok Soo’s face looked unimpressed at the false words, “You shouldn’t lie to someone older to you, unless you’re trying to con them. It’s easy to find out.”
Alberu flinched, a bit uncomfortable, his hand had moved from the railing and was now putting his loose hair behind his ears which seemingly hadn’t bothered him before, “How could you tell?”
Kim Rok Soo laughed silently, “It's because you and I are the same kind of people.”
Alberu smiled half-bitterly, “If I knew that earlier then I probably would not have talked to you.”
"Do you regret it? Getting up in the middle of the night, I mean." Kim Rok Soo questioned.
“I always do, but that night, surprisingly I didn't. Is it because I got to meet you?” he said, twirling the loose hair,”I'm pretty sure not, I think it's because of the …” he paused for a bit, scanning the room for excuses, his eyes eventually landed on the small cats and he exclaimed, “Cats! Yes, cats!”
It was a terrible excuse but still, it was better than spilling out the current feelings of nostalgia and yearning that were running rampant in his mind.
“Cats?” The other repeated,
Kim Rok Soo hummed disbelievingly, before sighing, ‘I guess he doesn’t want to tell me.’ He changed the topic, “So your secretary will be coming to give you the keys. What was his name again?”
“Taerang.”
Kim Rok Soo checked his watch and blinked in surprise at the time. He was going to be earlier than he intended. “I'm going to get ready. You can make yourself at home.”
Alberu nodded, as a response.
He walked towards the coat rack right in front of the door he entered and removed his jacket, the sleeves slipping gently down his arms like silk touched a pane of glass. Kim Rok Soo couldn't help but be captivated by the sight of the dark man, his eyes remained fixed on the other.
Alberu could feel Kim Rok Soo's gaze, it was something Alberu could easily notice…..well in this case anyone would. It was rather obvious.
Alberu felt a bit uncomfortable, and turned his head towards the cause of his discomfort and cleared his throat, to snap the other man out from the trance he seemingly was in.
Kim Rok Soo’s eyes lazily moved from Alberu's arms to his face, completely calm, and only then did his lips part,
“Yes?”
Alberu’s visibly wrinkled forehead was quite visible as he spoke, “Your hands have stopped moving. Weren't you busy?”
‘Ah.’
Kim Rok Soo smiled politely, “I’m sorry if I bothered you. I'll get going now.”
He walked over to a room adjacent to the balcony, and locked the door.
“Really. What a strange man” Alberu muttered, before numerously trying to tug at the suddenly clingy jacket a few times. Now a bit tired at the vainless attempts, he pulled on it harder, this time, completely pulling the jacket off himself. He huffed at his victory and hung the jacket on the rack, his hot pink shaded turtleneck sweater now soaked with beads of sweat. He walked over to the nearest sofa and collapsed on it. ‘Haa….’
He blinked and stared at the ceiling, thinking about all the incidents that had led up to this one.
He sighed, ‘I shouldn’t have forgotten my keys.’
Alberu’s eyes still remained locked on the ceiling, unmovingly. He murmured a barely audible tune, that was until he heard the locked door open. As soon as he heard the sound, his eyes darted to meet the other’s, like a moth to a tube light.
It took him a moment to swallow the other’s outfit. His hyung was rather….stylish. Unexpectedly so.
It was a two piece suit, his hair was sloppily slicked back which made Alberu actually think that Kim Rok Soo was his age.
The jacket was like midnight, and his bow tie was the same magnificent shade. His stoic and calm face painted the picture rather well. On his back, Alberu could see a case hanging on back, also darker than the night itself.
“You look rather dashing. Didn’t know you could look like that.” Alberu said, making a passing remark, to hide his real thoughts.
Kim Rok Soo ignored the jab and eyed him carefully, he liked the way Alberu looked right now, he looked unbelievably pretty,
Kim Rok Soo said nothing except, “You don’t look too bad yourself.”
“Mmm?” The object of Kim Rok Soo’s gaze hummed as his eyebrows began to scrunch up,
“Why’re you staring?”
“Thanks, I guess,” Alberusaid, confused at the sudden compliment. He hadn’t expected this man to care about social cues.
On closer inspection Alberu saw that Kim Rok Soo’s hair wasn’t in place, and him being the utter clean freak he was, he had to go and fix it. He walked towards the taller man, a bit annoyed. His hands were now on the older man’s hair and his arms extended over Kim Rok Soo’s shoulder, “That is not how gel works, hyung” He murmured, fixing the two strands of hair, to see it perfectly in place.
Kim Rok Soo maintained a cool face, despite the inward panic he was facing right now.
He closed his eyes and let the younger man finish what he had begun. Alberu was too focused to notice the little or no proximity between his and Kim Rok Soo’s face. After he was done, he smiled, satisfied at his accomplishment.
“Are you done?” Kim Rok said, after realizing that he no longer felt the cool touch of the calloused hands on his scalp.
Alberu nodded, “Looks better.”
Alberu looked down and also noticed that Kim Rok Soo’s bowtie was crooked. He hadn’t noticed that from a distance, but now that he was closer, he clicked his tongue, “Up.”
“Up?” Kim Rok Soo asked before Alberu sighed and tapped the bowtie, “It’s crooked, so, look up. I need to fix it.”
‘Ah.’ Kim Rok Soo quietly moved his head up and the younger man gently but efficiently tied the bow.
It was as if time had stopped at that moment. ‘He’s quite good at it. Probably used to it.’ Kim Rok Soo’s thoughts started to drift about his performance today.
It was at the wedding of his subordinates, Kim Min Ah and Bae Puh Rum. The couple that were the ones to have a trident as their soulmate symbol. In all honesty, Kim Rok Soo thought that they made a cute couple. They complimented each other’s personality. He ended up losing himself in his thoughts, and didn’t register the feeling that his tie had already been fixed until Alberu lightly tapped his chest and spoke in a harsher tone, “Did you not hear me? It’s done.”
Kim Rok Soo shifted his head, and blinked. Alberu thought it looked like an owl waking up after fourteen hours.
“Thank you.”
Alberu could hear the sloth-like tone, and immediately giggled. He had heard that tone several times, he just didn’t know where. “I guess no matter how much you dress a person up, they’ll always act the same.”
Kim Rok Soo’s eyebrows formed a slight frown, “What do you mean by that? Would you rather I act differently?”
“No, I’d prefer the you right now.” Alberu’s hand unknowingly went to touch Kim Rok Soo’s face, before Alberu himself understood where it was going, he had no idea where it reached until the darker hand entered his field of vision. ‘Ah,’ he awkwardly reeled it back, as he stuttered, “I-I’m sorry. I have no idea what came over me.” Alberu sighed, ‘Why was this even happening? I swear to god.’
Kim Rok Soo just nodded at the some and moved towards the door,
“I’ll head out now. Here are the keys.” He said, throwing the keys across the room, directly into the very surprised Alberu’s hands.
“Keep them.You can return them later.”
Alberu scoffed, quite fed up with Kim Rok Soo’s haughtiness,
“What makes you so sure that we’re gonna meet after this?”
Kim Rok Soo quietly spoke, “Well, you did tell me that you were going to call me hyung, and I didn’t pin you to be the kind to call just anyone hyung.”
Kim Rok Soo could see Alberu’s cheeks light up as he clamped his near open mouth shut.
Kim Rok Soo softly smiled, “Do remember to make yourself at home.”
Alberu nodded his head, as he walked towards the door, and bowed,
“Thank you for helping me.” It was against Alberu’s principles to not express gratitude to someone who helps him, especially without any ill intentions.
Kim Rok Soo didn’t know what to do as a response, he simply didn’t want to feel responsible for a frozen neighbour. That’s all.
He wondered how to get himself out of this quagmire, so he simply gave an excuse, while awkwardly turning and rubbing the back of his neck,
“I just didn’t want to see a person I just helped freeze. That would be a terrible premonition, would it not?”
Alberu couldn’t help but laugh at the excuse. It was so stupid, yet hilarious.
“Pfft-”
Kim Rok Soo turned his head to see a now straight standing Alberu laughing at his excuse.
He gasped for his breath, “Premonition…” he tried to say, struggling to contain his laughter,
“You really don’t seem like a…pfft-”
‘It was like a never-ending spiral’ thought Kim Rok Soo,
“Superstitious haha-” he cracked up again,
Kim Rok Soo could not understand why the other person was laughing,
“Person,” he said in a higher pitch than usual, “I’m sorry. It’s just too-,” he wheezed, trying to stop himself, utterly failing, though. “-funny.” He moved one of his hands to cover his face. “You might want to head out, I’m really sorry, but this is a bit pfft- too too funny.” Kim Rok Soo nodded his head before turning it away, before once more being interrupted by the younger man,
“See you later then, hyung.”
Kim Rok Soo couldn’t get mad at that face. He sighed, “See you later.”
Alberu smiled contentedly at the expected reaction.
***
“Why isn’t he here yet?” Alberu said out loud, his thoughts momentarily escaping his mind, filling the empty room. His hands were lightly caressing the two baby cats who purred, enjoying the affection.
An hour had passed, and Taerang still hadn’t arrived. This made Alberu have the need to drink water in the morning after eating something spicy.
‘I’m thirsty. Where’s Taerang? He usually isn’t this late. I can’t just use a random cup. What if it’s his favourite and he doesn’t want people touching it. Wait, does he even have a favourite cup? He sure as hell looks like the person that would.’ with all these thoughts and the overwhelming thirst, Alberu’s brain collectively drew one decision, ‘Wait, couldn’t I just not tell him? And he did say that I could treat this like home so, don’t mind if I do.’
He picked himself up from the couch that was kept in front of the table, his slouched position switching to a more animated one.
He walked over to the kitchen to see that it was rather large, neatly arranged and sparkling. Not a single sign of greasiness, and not to forget, he could see everything, from the first traditional chef’s knife to the last peeling knife, plastered on the white wall with black columns. The shelves were all flanked towards the left side of the large space, the middle remaining clear and spacious.
He opened the fridge to see a jug of water sitting on the first cell. He took it out, and walked over to the counter and placed it on the plane surface, before scuttling around to find the mugs. His eyes landed on the shelf on his right which contained several rows of cups and glasses.
Alberu picked the white mug, since he thought that Kim Rok Soo would be the least angry if he chose it. Little did he know that the white mug in particular was Kim Rok Soo’s favourite.
He set the mug down right next to the jug and began to pour the water into the mentioned mug.
After he was done, he put the jug in the fridge, exactly where he had placed it and walked out of the kitchen along with the cup.
He sighed as he took a seat again on the sofa.
He slowly tried to structure his thoughts on this person,
‘Was it simply nostalgia or something more than that? And if it’s not as simple as me missing something, then how deep w? How deep were the feelings I felt?’
As he sat down with his emotions and reasonings for those particular emotions, he took a sip of the cool liquid.
Unlucky for him, he didn’t expect that one of those cats would move, since in the entire hour he was there they hadn’t and so, quite unstratergically, the red cat jumped over him, propelling itself onto his chest where he had carefully positioned the glass of water leading the mug to spill over him.
He cursed and screamed at the freezing touch of the liquid inwardly, “Really?” he asked, turning to the cat, who had nestled itself on his chest, despite not expecting an answer, it would have been nice if the cat gave him the reason for this unsuspected pounce.
He received a cute ‘mew’ as a response which made him a teensy bit lenient towards the cat and ended his annoyance with just a warning and the kitten being put down.
He sighed as he searched for a bathroom and consecutively found one, he began his search to find a mirror to check the parts which had been soaked. It was easy to do so, since the mirror was quite visible, he walked over and used to see his reflection. In it, he could mainly see a smudge all over his turtleneck, it looked like the water had gotten everywhere. No wonder, he could feel the cold temperature of the liquid grip the entirety of his skin.
He pulled over the turtleneck slightly over his abdomen to take a closer look, but as he saw something else caught his attention, and needless to say, it was not a smudge. More like a symbol.
‘Huh? What’s this-’
***
On Kim Rok Soo’s end, the arrangement had gone quite well. The other members had also played their part splendidly.
He felt a pat on his shoulder, which made him turn around to meet the eyes of the conductor, or as he was better known to him, his hyung.
“Oh Rok Soo-ya, you did well, today.”
Kim Rok Soo sighed, and as soon as he did, he felt another pat, this one on his head,
“Rok Soo-ya, today you were going rather fast. Did something happen?” Kim Rok Soo spoke clearly, “Nothing out of the ordinary.”
Choi Jung Soo, being the closest to his age amongst the three, could easily tell what was going on inside his dongsaeng’s tiny little and prone to overthinking brain, he sighed, his eyes that were fixed on Kim Rok Soo’s face, were now filled with mischief,
“Oh ho~ Doesn’t really seem like anything. Did you perhaps,” he gasped and whispered the remaining words, “-finally find your soulmate?”
Kim Rok Soo was rather confused and surprised at how Choi Jung Soo reached that conclusion, but before he could say anything else his other hyung joined in on the fun. “Oh~ Is that so, dongsaeng? Details, details. Don’t be shy.”
“What-”
“Shush, Rok Soo-ya. We need to hear everything about this.”
Kim Rok Soo could barely get a word in before the two began to drag him to a restaurant.
“Wait-”
As they got a table, Kim Rok Soo had only one opinion of this fiasco, which was that he didn’t like this. He didn’t like this one bit. The two sat in front of the other.
“This feels like an interrogation.” Kim Rok Soo said, still stoic.
“As it should,” said Choi Jung Soo before ordering a whiskey for Kim Rok Soo, a beer for himself and an orange juice for Lee Soo Hyuk instead of the beer the man usually drank.
“Wait, shouldn’t I be allowed to drink the most easily here?” Lee Soo Hyuk asked, surprised at the clear injustice when he’s the eldest and the hyung here.
Choi Jung Soo eloquently countered his argument,
“Well, we obviously need Kim Rok Soo to be drunk and excluding Kim Rok Soo, you are the only one who knows how to drive, so you have to be sober.”
Lee Soo Hyuk grumbled something along the lines of, “How unfair.”
Kim Rok Soo, who was the witness to this short exchange had just one thought in his mind,
‘When did I ever say I was getting drunk though?’
“So,” Lee Soo Hyuk started as he turned to Kim Rok Soo, “Who is this mysterious soulmate of yours?”
Kim Rok Soo sighed,
“First of all, he isn’t-”
Choi Jung Soo gasped, “A man. My my, Rok Soo-ya. How cute.”
“Listen to me-”
Lee Soo Hyuk asked very intrigued by this unknown person, completely pushing aside Kim Rok Soo’s stance,
“What does he look like?”
Kim Rok Soo opened his mouth to refute the fact and state that his neighbour couldn’t possibly be his soulmate. Though, he was rather charming. It simply couldn’t be possible.Though, it was clearly visible that his disagreements were most probably going to be discarded or thrown away. So he simply gave up defending his case, and described his neighbour,
“He has bronze skin-”
Before he could finish he was cut off by his two energetic hyungs who couldn’t wait for him to finish his sentence.
“Bro-bronze skin! Does it look pretty!?”
“Ye-”
‘I know right,’ thought Kim Rok Soo, but refused to share his opinion with the two.
Before he was going to speak, the waiter arrived with their respective beverages and Choi Jung Soo handed one over to Kim Rok Soo and the youngest obliged, taking the glass mug off the other’s hands, before pressing it on his lips and guzzling it down.
He kept it down and spoke, his voice a bit hoarse after drinking so much in a gulp,
“He also has the cutest fashion sense.”
“Oooooh,” Choi Jung Soo wooed.
Lee Soo Hyuk took a sip of his orange juice and asked,
“What’s his name?”
Kim Rok Soo didn’t hesitate to say his neighbor's name. After all, that wouldn't be important, would it?
“Alberu Crossman.”
Lee Soo Hyuk’s reaction was maybe not the best.
He spat out the orange juice which then resulted in the volatile liquid planting itself onto Kim Rok Soo’s face quite unsophisticatedly.
“Wha-” Choi Jung Soo had a similar reaction to Lee Soo Hyuk but luckily, it did not end up with Kim Rok Soo being soaked in both alcohol and orange juice.
Kim Rok Soo distinctly remembers the citrus juice burning his eyes as he had promptly excused himself to tactfully retreat to the washroom to wash his face, hair and possibly dab some water on his now utterly soaked suit.
As he splashed the water on his eyes, feeling some relief, it wasn’t much but still it was much better. He poured some of the water that was violently gushing down the tap on his hair to remove any traces of the liquid from there too. He sighed as he removed the blazer from his shoulders, which quite persistently stuck itself to his shoulders. The substance was sticky and rather difficult to remove. He pulled it down hard, resulting in it finally getting out. He looked in the mirror to see the places that had spots created by the orange juice. But instead of him catching any of that, a single thing caught his attention, an undeniably weird symbol right underneath his chest caught his attention. He frowned as he unbuttoned the dress shirt, revealing a symbol of a small sun encompassed in a bigger moon.
His mind was going wild, but only one thought solidified in his head,
‘I guess hyung was right. I really do have a soulmate now.’
They normally go to pubs like usual, except Glenn is more loose when they’re on a date, and normally drinks a lot more. His tolerance is lower than Bud’s so Bud usually sees Glenn drunk.
Glen and Bud have a bit of a soft toy collection cuz Bud likes collecting them and since they started dating, Glenn officially became his storage compartment.
Glenn likes Bud’s glasses, he calls them ‘petite’ which always makes Bud laugh.
Glenn got pissed at the fact that Bud wouldn’t get his romantic clues and pinned him to a wall in order to find out his feelings.
Bud mostly gets Glenn bouquets only consisting of a few particular flowers which are, yellow roses (friendship) and white gerbera daisies (I love you). Glenn, who doesn’t know flower language at all, just thinks about why Bud always gets him the same thing. The day he realized was the first time Bud saw Glenn blush, though it wasn’t the last.
Glenn was pretty used to sitting on Bud’s lap and usually used to sit there. Now that they started dating, whenever Glenn sits on Bud’s lap he’s assaulted with kisses on his head and behind his ears, so he doesn't unless he wants affection.
Glenn likes touching Bud’s lips. Am I giving context, no. Will I proceed with giving context? Also no.
Glenn dries Buds and combs Bud’s hair after they come out of the bath together.
When Glenn seldom leaves, he keeps his cologne behind because Bud told him to, Bud uses that cologne instead of his usual as a substitute for the time Glenn isn't with him.
They've exchanged clothes so many times, neither of them knows whose clothes are whose anymore.
There's no shying away when they're sharing an indirect kiss, but when it's direct, both of them are redder than rose and feel hotter than magma.
They spoon. Bud's the small spoon cuz he needs extra warmth on his back and Glenn's the big spoon because he needs to see Bud's vibrant blue hair in the morning cause it pulls him out of his nightmares, otherwise he's reminded of the massacre and starts shivering.
Both of them are mostly drunk shoppers, so they usually end up owning things they never wanted, Glenn especially.
They would share a blanket, but Glenn knows Bud's habit of stealing it, hence they both have different blankets.
When Bud's hair's left open when he’s busy, Glenn is usually the first to notice and tie it up neatly.
Bud knows how to play a ukulele and Glenn usually accompanies it with a clarinet. They usually play during their home dates, when they’re at home, which is rather rare.
Whenever they’re at home they’re usually more affectionate and usually act like drunk himbos.
Bud and Glenn are the only people to have seen the other when they were the most down.
Glenn likes it when Bud hugs him. It gives him a sense of security, he says
“It wasn’t bad walking down using the stairs sometimes,” Alberu grumbled.
He played his favorite playlist on his phone and put his earphones in his ears one by one as he took a short walk.
The early morning highlighted the stairway which gave an extraordinary sparkling glow. It was a pretty and refreshingly cool morning which had a slight tint of light purple. He could see the amber outline of the sun over the buildings from where he stood, the rays of the sun hit his eyes, causing him to blink at the sight.
‘It really isn’t all that bad.’ He reconsidered waking up early once in a while, gradually he started losing himself in the scenery, he tripped on his shoes and fell down the stairs, his earphones falling out of his ears violently.
“Never mind. I am never doing this again.” he muttered before he heard the sound of something playing in the background.
It was….a saxophone? Alberu couldn’t register the sound he just heard and asked himself once again.
‘Was that a saxophone? In the morning? At 9:00 a.m.? Is the person crazy?’
He peeked over the window to see an astonishing sight.
It was his neighbor who was in the park nearby, and it was him who was playing that tune, which was extremely good but Alberu couldn’t admit that. “Huh. It was indeed a crazy person.” He thought to himself before collecting his thoughts,
“Well, that's unexpected, it doesn’t really fit his image. He looks more like an insensitive prick most of the time rather than someone who’d know how to play an instrument.” Remembering last night he corrected himself, “Should’ve known better than to think of that with what he did for me last night.” He stopped his train of thought and helped himself up using the ledge near the casement. He then slowly opened it, slightly looking over the side of the window.
He sighed while picking his earphones from the tiled marble floor as he staggered while regaining his balance. He continued walking, this time paying attention to the path without getting distracted.
On reaching the end of the stairwell, he caught a glance of a kiosk. It was selling some hot tteokbokki. Even though he was a son of a rich family, he used to sneak out a lot to escape his stepmother’s abuse, so he was more or less used to eating street food.
He got some for himself before walking off to the park, the saxophone still played in the background, which for some reason helped him completely immerse himself in his thoughts.
He got a call just when he had taken his seat on a bench. “Yes Aunt Tasha?” It was his maternal aunt and the only person that Alberu could truly think of as family.
“Good morning,” There was a short pause, “Didn’t think that you would be awake around this time.”
“What a coincidence. Me neither.”
He chuckled rather bitterly.
“Was it because of those things?”
His aunt sounded genuinely worried.
Alberu didn’t want her to worry about him. It wasn’t needed, after all, it would be burdensome.
“No, it was just that I slept earlier last night.”
Alberu could lie easily, since he had experience. He had been doing it for a long time.
“If you say so.” Tasha paused for some time, a bit longer than the previous one,”Where are you?” she questioned.
“A park. Why?” Alberu answered.
“I just heard a saxophone...?” Tasha sounded a bit confused as to why someone was playing a saxophone in the park, truthfully Alberu was too. “Is someone….playing a saxophone…. in the morning?” She struggled to comprehend such strange things that were happening in her nephew’s neighbourhood. Perhaps, it was because her nephew was also abnormal.
“Yes.” Alberu admitted.
“Wow.” her eyes widened, they weren’t in front of each other but both Alberu and Tasha had known each other for a long time. So, they could tell by the tone, well at least, one of them could.
“I know right.” He nodded,
“By the way, we are still meeting tomorrow, right?”
“Definitely.”
“Great. I need to discuss that in person.”
He could feel the urgency in her voice. It was indeed serious. Yet he felt that his aunt didn’t need to purposely send her people for this matter. It didn’t have to concern her, but she still went this far. His aunt could have just said a few kind words, yet she still concerns herself with the likes of him.
‘Filthy dog- ’ he heard a whisper but couldn’t complete that thought, he felt his head go dizzy and felt chills all over his body. This one, he was absolutely sure that it was not because of the cold.
Alberu stiffened, yet did not drop the tone of his voice.
“I’m looking forward to it. See you tomorrow.”
“Bye. Don’t hesitate to call me if you’re having nightmares.”
“I will.” Alberu chuckled, “Bye.”
Again, another lie.
Alberu hung up, he was trying hard to distract himself from his earlier thoughts by replacing it with the meeting tomorrow.
‘So, that matter will be discussed tomorrow, What else? Oh yeah, and the stocks too.’
He recollected the work that he had planned to do in the upcoming week, he sighed again.
He put a piece of tteokbokki in his mouth, allowing the hot and spicy flavour to fill his entire mouth. He realized that it was still hot, seconds after he exhaled quickly, trying to let some of the heat out.
It was a cold morning. The spice warmed him up. He finished the entire box rather quickly.
“This feels exhilarating….” He could feel the cool breeze on his face, the icy cold air, the warmth inside of his mouth and also the overwhelming exhaustion that this week had left him. For some time he tried his best to stay awake, but his eyes were beginning to droop.He could feel a gentle whirr inside him which slowly but completely took over his mind, leaving him asleep on the bench, all nuzzled up in an olive green puffer jacket and some charcoal coloured loose track pants which he didn’t care much about. They seemed just right on him.
He hoped that everyday would be like this. But he knew that this could never happen. It was only common sense.
***
“You alive?”
Alberu was dizzy, too dizzy in fact. In his defense, he may have gotten a bit confused, and he may have reacted as a defense mechanism.
Hearing those words, Alberu’s previously closed eyes flew open, those words he’d heard before, he detested those words to his core, he unconsciously screamed. His hands covered his face before leaving a deep scratch on the innocent owner of the voice and balled into fists, as if something could harm the sturdily built man. The gravelly voice brought about memories. Some he would rather keep buried deep in him.
“WHY ARE YOU HERE???” his tone was higher and he was agitated by the other, despite him not recognizing the other’s face at all
Alberu was alarmed and afraid, incredibly so. Kim Rok Soo had no idea, had no idea what was the trigger but he was also a man with a lot of trauma so he did recognize what the brunette was going through. He was having a panic attack.
The black haired man looked at the other unsurprised only on the surface. He noticed many things. He could see the young man had a quite noticeable frown, not to mention the cold sweat running down his forehead. Kim Rok Soo could feel the raspy breaths. The man looked….defensive. Kim Rok Soo himself had been like that, that was until he met his team. He remembered the way his hyung had tackled this situation. He remembered the steps. All of them. He ignored the blood and proceeded to sit down and speak in a lower tone, trying to relax the other; he luckily had experience dealing with things like this.
Alberu did want to relax, but his body wouldn’t let him. ‘I was supposed to be away from that place, away! Just sleeping on my bed and not hearing this shit, not this voice, I even made extra sure not to. I live alone, I just don't want to hear him. Not that voice. I just wanted to wake up to an empty apartment, not that-”
“Look at me. Focus.” The same low voice spoke. The tone was almost a whisper which only the man that was right next to him heard.
Alberu moved his head to face him, slowly relaxing, it was like he had been hypnotized. He mumbled some unintelligible words that Kim Rok Soo couldn't hear much of what he said except for the sentence, "Don't hurt me, please." He was begging.
Rok Soo noted that as he looked at the other's eyes and spoke slowly,
“Deep breaths.”
Alberu thought the voice was cool, like the cold, refreshing water that usually relaxes his mind and his breathing stabilized. He felt a slap on his back which reeled him back from the unpleasant thoughts to the cold, but comforting reality.
Alberu's eyes slowly became a little less alarmed, he coughed violently, and started to breathe heavily,
“Insane bastard?” He asked, recognizing the face now that his mind was a bit more stable, but his voice was still raspy, he didn’t realize that his hand was being held by the other.
“What?” Kim Rok Soo’s stoic face twisted into a frown.
“Why-why did you wake me up?” He asked, completely ignoring the insult he had just called this man, who he believed to be older to him. His words sounded more like a croak. He had sweat dripping down his forehead on a cold day, it was as if he had a terrible dream, maybe it was just that, a bad dream.
Kim Rok Soo thought about something, ‘why?’
Kim Rok Soo had no particular reason for waking the young man up, or even patting his head yet…?
Why did he do so?
Why did it matter to him whether this young man catches a cold?
He sighed at his actions, and simply spoke a few words knowing that the other was really anxious right now,
“No reason.”
He squeezed the other’s hand tightly before letting it go and getting up from the bench, only for it be held by the other almost immediately,
“Ummm…Could you keep it like that for some time?” The voice was weak and croaky.
Kim Rok Soo was terribly weak against these kinds of things.
He couldn’t just leave him, helpless. Somehow, even though he was usually appalled by the very thought of extended skin contact, but, with this man he didn’t seem to mind.
Kim Rok Soo sat back down on the bench, this time a little farther than usual. Kim Rok Soo felt something though, was it movement, perhaps? He peeked over his shoulder and saw the only slightly shorter man creep up to him, and Kim Rok Soo just let Alberu gradually make himself more comfortable.
Something struck Kim Rok Soo at that exact moment. He hadn’t asked this strange neighbour of his name. He leaned back, letting his slightly long hair drape over the bench,
“Hey,”
“Yeah,” as the now calm person replied, Kim Rok Soo quietly noted another thing about this person. He was used to having these kinds of attacks, probably on a regular basis, and somehow that fact pricked him. Nevertheless, he ignored the weird feeling and spoke in a low voice, so as to not scare the younger man.
“I’ve been wondering for a while. What’s your name and how old are you?”
The other man chuckled and grinned so brightly, you wouldn’t believe that the incident that just took place earlier.Kim Rok Soo could tell that it was fake.
“And here I thought my name was something you might’ve seen bannered across several television screens, I’m Alberu Crossman. I’m 25 years old. How about you, ahjussi?”
Kim Rok Soo was a bit shocked, ‘did I really look that old that a person 5 years younger than me would call me ahjussi? I didn’t mind it much, I was rather happy that he was being referred to at all. What? Wait, wait, repeat that thought again slower this time, why was I happy to be talked to. Normally, it didn’t bother me, so why? Was this person special? Was he that special in the first place?’ With all these questions he only gave what the younger man had wanted to know,
“I’m Kim Rok Soo and I'm 30 years old. Nice to meet you, Alberu.”
‘This feels like a marriage meeting,’ Alberu laughed a bit at the familiar feeling, ‘It’s good that there’s no rejection this time though.’
“Ah.” Alberu realized,
“Then should I call you hyung, Kim Rok Soo hyung?”
Kim Rok Soo’s face was stoic, a little flushed but those were just the results of a cold morning, that’s what Alberu thought.
Kim Rok Soo smiled slightly,
“Sure, why not.”
Alberu asked the second most asked question in interviews, he didn’t know what else to ask this person. To him, this stranger was one of the two people who actually cared enough to help him when he was having his attacks. Also he was just a neighbour, just a stranger who he had met once, yet this person held great importance to him now. He decided that in a second,
“Hyung, have you already met your soulmate?”
Kim Rok Soo scoffed.
The soulmate marks in this world were worked rather strangely at times, sometimes they appeared at birth, sometimes it didn’t appear until the person was as old as fifty and sometimes it didn’t appear at all. It was an indication that you had met your soulmate. Sometimes they had weird shapes, Kim Rok Soo knew a couple who had a trident as their mark. The marks appeared on the exact part of each partner. Mostly it was on their arms but it varied from person to person. Some were detailed and some just a blob. People said that soulmate symbols were a sign that the two in the relationship had been lovers in their past life.
Kim Rok Soo had never seen his own, he never felt the need to. His life went on as it did, and it went on well. He had no qualms with having no mark, nor did he have any with having a mark.
“Nope.” He said, “What about you, youngster?”
‘Y-youngster?? Somehow that pisses me off.’ Alberu hadn't seen his mark either. He sometimes wondered whether it even existed in the first place. “Never.”
‘What a coincidence.’ They both thought, before Kim Rok Soo asked the other man,
“Are you usually this defenseless?”
Alberu frowned,
“Nope, with you it’s odd. I feel like I’ve met you before.”
Kim Rok Soo had to leave soon though, he had a show booked at 9 and he had just been practicing his instrument. He noticed that Alberu had calmed down and turned over to look at the other man,
Kim Rok Soo also felt the same way, somehow he felt that in front of this person, he could be himself and people were rather rare. He could count them on one hand. Kim Rok Soo nodded,
“It is rather nostalgic.”
“Um, I need to go soon. Shall I walk you home?”
Alberu was still a bit drowsy, so he easily accepted it without any complaints.
Kim Rok Soo got up and stretched out his gloved hand to the young man who could now see the man completely. Kim Rok Soo was wearing a black turtleneck and a royal blue jacket on top of it, fitting his tall body neatly.
Alberu took the other’s hand weakly, and Kim Rok Soo gently pulled him up from the bench, giving Alberu an unexpected jerk. He lowered his head in reflex, and landed right in Kim Rok Soo’s chest.
Kim Rok Soo waved off the action, even though he was panicking quite a bit inside.
‘Ah.’
“I-I’m sorry, I’m still a bit out of it, it seems. Haha” he chuckled nervously, quickly excusing himself.
“Mm. Then, let’s go.”
Alberu nodded, smiling a bit now, this time Kim Rok Soo could tell, ‘It wasn’t fake.’
“Sure.”
It couldn’t be that Kim Rok Soo, a man that he barely knew would be his soulmate. It was unimaginable. Simply incredulous.
Kim Rok Soo started walking towards the elevator, his gloved hand still holding Alberu’s.
Alberu didn’t mind, not one bit. Which was odd, because he could never bear anyone touching him, not even his aunt, yet on the numerous occasions he could toss this man’s hand aside, he didn’t budge. This person felt really special. Why? He didn’t know, he did want to find out. He needed to. He thought about a possibility, but quickly dismissed it.
(If only that was true, if only, Alberu.)
They reached the elevator and Kim Rok Soo had still not let go of Alberu’s hand. Kim Rok Soo clicked the button, and entered the lift. The lift wasn’t small, but the both were still standing in one corner. Alberu finally pointed out the obvious fact,
“Um...Excuse me, hyung, you’re still holding my hand.”
Alberu was actually glad that the other person wasn’t talking about the breakdown he had earlier. It was refreshing to not be interrogated for a change.
Kim Rok Soo seemed like he hadn’t even noticed the fact that he was holding Alberu’s hand until Alberu told him.
“Ah.” He let go of Alberu’s hand and the both fingers that were intertwined now hung in the air.
Even though the two were standing right next to each other, neither of them tried to initiate a conversation the entire ride. It was silent but it was comfortable. Not talking was also good.
Ding!
As soon as they heard the sound,they both walked out of the elevator and to the hallway. They both recollected the events that took place that night and chuckled a bit. They both walked through the corridor and in front of their own apartments.
Only then did it dawn over Alberu, that he’d forgotten another thing in his morning daze.
