blurry reflections
From where he’s standing, Hao sees a mirror. There’s a seesaw in the reflection.
With the way the seesaw sways and the echo of airy laughter Hao hears, he realizes there’s two people sitting on it. The seesaw tilting on both sides, one of them making it stay on one side and laughing while the other struggles to get it upwards. Hao goes closer, stands right in front of the mirror that’s devoid of his own reflection and tries to make out the figures inside.
Oh.
One of them is– Hanbin.
Hanbin is laughing, someone else is laughing with him but the other voice is so faint that only Hanbin’s voice echoes. Hao has never heard Hanbin laugh before, and has never seen him happy. He had no idea what happiness looked like on him. Hao thinks— it looks warm. Hanbin looks warm when he laughs, and somehow the warmness seeps through the cracks and Hao himself feels warm. He feels like the sun is on his skin, but the sun is nowhere to be seen. It’s been raining this whole time, Hao realizes. The droplets on his skin should feel cold, but they don’t. They feel like—they feel warm. They feel like what Hao thinks Hanbin feels like.
Hao hates the rain. But more than that, he hates Hanbin.
But for some reason, right now, he can’t remember what that feels like. Because right now, he feels warmth.
And the last thing he hears is Hanbin’s laughter echoing through the park.
☆
Hao feels heavy, almost like something is weighing him down. It’s soft but heavy. He slowly opens his eyes and groans into his pillow. He turns around and brushes the hair out of his face– processes the dim light entering his room from the window– wait, not his room. He’s not in his room– not in his world.
Right.
Hao registers the sharp throbbing pain at the back of his head and his throat feels like it’s pointy at the edges. The constricting feeling craves something to soothe the feeling. He needs to get some water to down the anxiety bubbled in his stomach from last night’s dream.
No, not a dream. Nightmare.
Hao remembers seeing Hanbin in the dream, and the unsettling feeling that left him with. God, he’s not free from Hanbin while he’s sleeping either. That’s great.
Hao waddles his way to the hallway, cradling the side of his head with one hand, pressing down to unsuccessfully help with his throbbing headache. He hears someone rummaging in the kitchen, he hopes it’s the nice housekeeper lady from yesterday.
When has he ever gotten what he’s hoped for?
Hanbin’s standing behind the counter working his way on the stove. He’s moving what seems like a pot of– soup to the isle and pours it onto a ceramic bowl. The absolute horror of waking up in the place that looks like his own home and seeing Sung Hanbin in his kitchen, what has his life come to? He walks over to the sofa and sinks into it. He groans into his hands, feeling the headache grow stronger.
Hanbin rummages through the utensils and sets some spoons on the side of the bowl, “I made breakfast, come eat.”
Hao rolls his eyes and picks up the phone seated on the coffee-table. The lockscreen of it being a picture of Ricky and him– his doppleganger. The phone automatically unlocks after it picks up his face and Hao sees the screensaver being a picture of Hanbin and his dog.
Hao sighs, “Is this his phone?” Hanbin nods and with a groan Hao says, “Ugh, I’m ordering food.”
“You’re so dramatic. I made you hangover soup, just eat it.” Hanbin heaves while setting the bowl down on the countertop.
“Hangover, right. Explains my headache.” Hao groans then says to himself than anybody else, “Or that could just be the nightmare.”
“What nightmare?”
“Leaving that to your imagination. I don’t wanna talk to you.” Hao flashes the rudest smile he can manage.
Hanbin shakes his head, “You were too careless last night. I asked you to pretend to get drunk, not get so shitfaced for real that you can barely move your head to the side.”
“Why’re you giving me a lecture? You need to get over your savior complex.”
Hanbin tsks, “I just didn’t want you to blabber something out to Jiwoong hyung in that state? You already said– a lot of weird stuff last night.”
Hao furrows his brows, his voice getting lower, “What’d I say?”
“I’ll be– leaving that to your imagination.”
“Touché.” Hao huffs, his head hurting too much for him to entertain this conversion.
“You can throw away the soup if you want, order food– do whatever. Housekeeping will be here soon, if you need anything just ask Sora-ssi.” Hanbin takes out a box from the fridge and opens up the wrapper of what seems like kimbap. Grabbing cold kimbap when he could’ve just cooked for himself, Hanbin is so full of shit. He takes his apron off and brushes his hair through his fingers, the hair seemingly looking damp to touch. Hao assumes he probably took a shower first thing in the morning– then came here to cook. What a weirdo.
Hao knows he’s being overboard with the man when he did cook him soup. But he doesn’t owe him anything, it’s not like Hao asked for it. Hanbin should learn to leave Hao the fuck alone.
Hanbin speaks up, effectively defying Hao’s inner thoughts, “I’m leaving for the office, have work.” When he gets a eyebrow raise from Hao as if to ask what the fuck Hao is going to do with that information, he sighs, “Just in case anyone asks where I am.”
“Have fun lapping at your dearest father’s feet.” Hao says, uninterested.
Hanbin huffs in a low voice, “Low blow, even for you.”
Hao knows that he crossed a line. He’s seen the straining relationship between Hanbin and his father for years. The superficial facade they’ve put up for the world, this perfect father-son image, it’s all too familiar to Hao. But at least, Hao isn’t the one that’s spineless enough to support his father’s quest to overthrow KHP group and selfishly throw out years of work to go independent. Hao wants to call Hanbin out from behind, say this and start another argument. What he doesn’t understand is why the urge to do that stems from the guilt that’s building up in his stomach from the disappointed look on Hanbin’s face at the comment about his father.
No, he will not allow himself to feel guilt for Sung Hanbin.
He looks at the kitchen where Hanbin was and stares helplessly at the soup. Then he defeatedly shuffles his way to sit at the stool beside the counter and blows at the soup, he takes a quick sip. The warm liquid seeping through his throat, making it feel like a luxury at the moment. Hao can’t fathom the idea of having something made by Hanbin, but it’s not like he can complain. This is his only option for now, he doesn’t have it in him to wait for delivery. Plus, the taste isn't all that bad.
When Hao’s about to take another sip of the soup, his– the other Hao’s phone rings. He walks over to the sitting area and picks the phone up, the caller ID flashing his Mother’s name. Great, what a way to start his already shitty morning. Hao braces himself and picks the call up.
“A-Hao, what took you so long to pick up?” His mother asks from the other end of the line, shuffling noises coming through the speaker.
“It didn’t even ring halfway through.” Hao sighs, “What do you want?”
His mother fake gasps, “Eh, is that a way to talk to your mother? Come over for breakfast. Bring your boyfriend.”
Hearing his mother refer to Hanbin normally, especially with an adjective he never thought he would have to refer to the guy as, sends shivers down Hao’s spine. What the fuck is his life?
“Um, he’s at work.” Hao says, his mother muttering something like ‘Ah, of course.’ with a bitter nuance to her voice. “And I’m already seated for breakfast.”
“Nah-uh, I’m not hearing anything. I know you’re not seated for anything. You don’t even wake up until later.” His mother says, matter of factly and Hao tries to say something in response but she cuts him off, “Ricky’s already here, I know you won’t say no now, so come over.”
Oh god. As if the prospect of having breakfast over at his parent’s couldn't get worse than this. Hao sighs and puts his phone down after humming an affirmative. He walks back to the counter and stares at the soup. Should he call Taerae? He thinks back to yesterday and everything Taerae was put through despite not being in contact with any of the boys. He sighs again. He’s gonna leave him be and meet up to thank him later on. After a long stretch of time spent just staring at the soup, Hao wonders if he should just pop this in the fridge, he did get called to have breakfast, it’s not necessary for him to have this.
Hao picks the bowl up and before he can put it in the fridge, he sighs and sits down again. Slurping at the content of the bowl. His mother can wait. Hao tries not to think about the reason he picked the soup up again, when he didn’t need to. He tells himself it’s because his head hurts.
☆
Hanbin gets a ping on the infotainment screen of his car. The notification being from Jiwoong.
Jiwoong-hyung sent you a message.
Hanbin-ah
Stop by the firm before going to the office
Eomoni wants you here
read 07:40am
Hanbin takes a deep breath. He rings his assistant and lets her know he’s going to be running late. Although he’s exceptionally early today, leaving the house as soon as he could to avoid being around Hao for any longer– he guesses the conversation with Danbi is going to be painfully long.
When he’s reached the firm, he receives a text from Yurina in return, who informs him his father told him to take the day off today.
Huh. Strange.
But he’s learned not to question it.
When he’s walking in he gets greeted by almost everyone in the building he comes across, he reaches Danbi’s cabin and lets himself in with a knock. He notices Jiwoong and Danbi having an argument about something– he doesn’t wanna ask. They turn their attention to him at once and Hanbin sits down on the couch, on the farthest corner of the room.
“Why’re you sitting there? Sit in front of me.” Danbi leans back into her chair, her hands intertwined on the table.
Hanbin shrugs, “I’m good.”
“I raised you on my back, kid. You’ll listen to me.”
“You’re funny.” Hanbin scoffs. “You only raised Jiwoong-hyung on your back.”
Danbi scowls, offended, “I raised you on my back by association.”
Hanbin laughs at that, “Alright, alright, what did you wanna say to me?” He gets up and walks over to Danbi’s table, taking the seat beside Jiwoong, who gives him a smile.
“So,” Danbi starts, “How’s Hao?”
Hanbin sinks back into his chair, Danbi and Jiwoong’s questioning gazes pinning him down, “You saw him like– not even 24 hours ago.”
“Hm, well, where is he? I got informed he left the house a while ago.”
Hanbin raises a brow, “You have to be kidding me. You know keeping an eye on us like this is a violation of our privacy, right?”
Danbi rolls her eyes, “Sora told me when I called to ask her how you guys are.”
Right, Sora, his housekeeper who Hanbin pays, who babysat Hanbin for half her life, is suddenly on Danbi’s side.
“Still invasion of privacy. What have you even done to Sora-ssi for her to be leaking this information to you?”
“I’m just really charming with women.” Danbi shrugs while smiling cheeky.
Jiwoong chimes in with discomfort, “O-kay, that’s enough. Hanbin, you didn’t answer her question though.”
“You guys are the same.” Hanbin sighs. “I don’t know where he is, I’m his boyfriend. not his guardian. He must be with Ricky or something.”
“This early? Is everything okay?” Danbi asks, concern laced in her voice.
“Hao and Ricky don’t need a crisis to be together. Any time of the day, however inconvenient,” Hanbin says, flashbacks etched at the back of his head. “You’d think they’re actual brothers and not just cousins thrice removed.”
“Aw, us.” Jiwoong smiles at Hanbin.
“I wish we were brothers instead so at least I could renounce Sung Holdings and ask you guys to put me on the will.” Hanbin defeatedly sighs.
Danbi flashes a sympathetic smile, “Yujin and Gunwook do not have any interest in business so you’re more than welcome to take over after Jiwoong has to retire from old age.”
“You’re acting like me and Hanbin are a generation apart.”
“We kind of are, hyung.” Hanbin says at the same time as Danbi says, “You should stop acting like it.”
Jiwoong says nothing to that, knowing full well the lecture he is going to receive from Danbi about taking too much workload on his shoulders for his age if he tried to refute them. It’s laughable, Hanbin thinks. After all, Jiwoong simply just takes after her.
“Anyways. I brought you both here today to inform you of something.” Danbi tentatively leans forward.
“Are you getting married at your big age?” Hanbin clicks his tongue.
“How can I do that when I’ve got children like you? Spending my life at your care is my fate, I’m afraid.” Danbi laughs.
Hanbin knows she’s joking, to which Jiwoong just awkwardly smiles. But they both know, it’s the truth. She’s all they’ve known as a good parental figure. The boys would argue the best of their traits are the ones they inherited from being around Danbi as children. She worked relentlessly with her everything, to make sure the order within the families stays intact. But she always found time to play with them, to read to them. To bring them together and make them bond. To help them grow without the hostility their parents instilled inside them about each other.
But– Hanbin and Hao ended up being her biggest failures.
He always wondered where it went wrong. How deep the wounds were of their parents that it destroyed the potential of a good friendship between them. For the past 2 years, he was trying to make up for it. But look at where his life has brought him again, back at the place it all started to change for the better.
Hanbin really hopes it doesn’t get worse than this.
“Don’t give me those faces. There’s nothing else I’d rather do in the world than what I have my whole life.” Danbi smiles briefly, then composes herself with a big breath, “This isn’t about that. I–” She sighs then looks at Jiwoong, “Dansuk is coming, for the gathering. He’s been appointed as the to-be Director of the Regulatory Board of Sung Holdings.”
Oh. It just got a lot fucking worse than this.
“What?” It’s Jiwoong who yells. Followed by Hanbin cursing under his breath.
Jiwoong turns to look at Hanbin, “Did you know this?” Jiwoong stands up, agitated. “Did you fucking know this, Hanbin?”
“No? Of course I didn’t know this. Do you think I would’ve let my father do this if I knew?”
It makes sense. Why his father has been acting differently lately. The man who always pushes Hanbin to his worst when it comes to work– giving him days off. Of course, this is what he’s been planning.
Jiwoong scoffs, “Oh yeah, you wouldn’t have?”
“Jiwoong-ah.” Danbi looks at Jiwoong, warning laced in her voice.
“No, what? Tell me. Would he have done anything to protest? Has he done anything to protest so far? He’s just blindly following his father like a fucking dog.” Jiwoong spits.
Hanbin knows Jiwoong is too bitter and upset to say something rational. But the constant jabs at him for doing what his parents are forcing him to do, it hurts. The only person who understood was Hao. Who isn’t even here anymore.
Hanbin’s alone. And he knows he deserves it.
“Kim Jiwoong. Don’t say anything that you’ll regret.” Danbi starts, “It’s not Hanbin’s fault your father is a scumbag jumping at hoops of any opportunity he gets to climb the ladder.”
“I don’t have a father.” Jiwoong spits.
Danbi lets out a breath, “Alright. But Hanbin does have one. And he’s trying not to lose him. You once tried to hold onto your excuse of a father too. Don’t blame Hanbin for doing what you yourself would’ve done if you were in his place.”
Jiwoong seems to suck a deep breath in at that. He lets it out and sits back down in his chair. After taking a moment to calm down he looks at Hanbin with defeated eyes.
“Sorry for yelling at you, I didn’t mean it.” Jiwoong mumbles.
Hanbin pokes his ear, “Hm, what? I didn’t hear you.”
That grants Hanbin a slap on his head from Jiwoong, then they burst out laughing.
Danbi smiles at them, and when they stop laughing she composes herself.
“Okay, get serious, we have a lot to discuss.”
☆
Hao gets off the car and sucks in a deep breath before entering his parents’ house. He’s greeted by their gardener and sighs in relief at the sight of a familiar person. When he enters the house he realizes it’s all the same, really. Except there’s a giant cut out of some magazine with Hao and Hanbin as their frontpage hanging on the wall beside some family photos. Something about taking South Korea by a storm together– he can’t be bothered to read. Too tired to even ponder over the absurdity of Hanbin being on a picture at his parents house.
It all seems familiar. The wallpapers, the fireplace, the artifacts his father collects laid neatly on top of the furniture. It’s a sight that Hao has seen almost everyday in his world. It feels too familiar, but it still doesn’t feel like home.
He tries to shake the feeling of emptiness away when one of his mother’s helpers, someone who he thankfully knows, greets him and takes his jacket from him to hang on the hanger beside the door. He insists he do it himself but she just smiles and loudly wonders to herself how Hao’s mother managed to raise such a polite boy. Hao awkwardly laughs and she leads him to the dining space, where his mother and Ricky are. He mentally braces himself for any questions his mother might ask that he may not know the answer to. Considering this woman is not quite his mother– he feels his nerves getting the best of him and almost contemplates running away. But, he guesses, Ricky will cover for him. Which is laughable. Out of all the people in the world, his last resort being Shen Ricky for help.
Hao scoffs to himself. It’s pathetic. Because whenever he looks at Ricky, all he can feel is the rush of betrayal and hurt he felt the first time they started fighting. All he can see is the nights he spent curled in on himself– sobbing his eyes out– at the loss of his only best friend in the world. Hao doesn’t think he can ever forgive him.
And to make things worse, Eumppappa runs out from the dining space and starts taking laps around his feet.
The universe must really hate him.
How’s this dog even allowed into this place? Even if she didn’t hate Gyuvin in this universe for 'being acommoner that the Sungs dragged in’, she still hates pets. To a point where she would have Hao screened off of any animal remnants every time he would come home. But now all of a sudden, now that he’s no longer a kid, now that he’s no longer in his own world, he’s had two dogs that he has always hoped to pick up and play with lapping at his feet two days in a row.
It isn’t even that serious, it’s not like Hao spent a life of isolation and absolute misery when all the other kids within the families at least had someone or something they could rely on. It’s not like Hao was abandoned by his closest people (read: Shen Ricky) and couldn’t even rely on something like a simple house pet, it’s fine. It’s not that serious.
Eumppappa snuggles in closer to Hao’s leg as if she can sense the distress signals. Get it together, Hao. It’s just a dog. It’s fine. Do not cry. Do not.
The tears really start prickling his eyes when Eumppappa starts wagging his tail and barking at him, waiting for Hao to pick him up, he guesses. He’s watched too many animal videos. He knows how this works. But that's the thing, isn’t it? All Hao has ever had was videos on the internet and his loneliness.
Gyuvin happened to be his only friend in the house left after his fallout with Ricky. Well, in the sense that he also despised Ricky the same as Hao did even if he did keep in close association with Hanbin. But then even he went ahead and brought a little dog home. Which practically led to Gyuvin centering his whole life around her, the little time Hao would have with him spent by Gyuvin ranting about ‘his daughter’, which grace of Hao’s mother, he wasn’t even ever allowed to see.
Fuck Shen Ricky, honestly. It’s so stupid that Hao had to spend his youth feeling inferior to everything– even a goddamn dog– because of him. It was easy for Ricky, it always had been. He had a loving mother, a father who let him do whatever he wanted, friend’s who cared. He had a charming personality that had all of Shanghai floored, leading him to immediately building a good relationship with everyone in the families when they came down to Korea– even with Sung Hanbin.
Especially Sung Hanbin. Isn’t that how it all started in the first place?
Hao sighs, the memories feeling fresh on his skin. Another wave of bitterness washes over him. Well, at least he had Taerae and Gyuvin– to a point. As if on cue, Gyuvin walks over looking for Eumppappa and greets Hao when he sees him. As delightful as ever. Hao feels a little at ease now that he’s here. Gyuvin announces to people inside the dining space of Hao’s arrival and Ricky’s excited voice echoes through there. Seemingly getting closer as Ricky makes his way out to where Hao is and wraps him in a tight hug. Hao’s hands snug to his sides as he tries to wriggle out of Ricky’s embrace.
“Your mother’s here, keep the act up.” Ricky whispers into Hao’s ears, finally letting him free.
“She literally cannot see us right now.” Hao bites back, struggling out of the hug.
Once free, Ricky’s gummy smile greets him and Hao just rolls his eyes. No matter what universe, this kid just never fails to get on his nerves, it seems. Although the next thing Hao sees really throws him off, which is saying a lot considering Ricky has done his fair share of things to throw Hao off. But somehow this is the worst. Because the Ricky he knows wouldn’t pick Eumppappa up in his arms and smother his nose with kisses. Because frankly speaking, even if he was to try– Eumppappa would bite his nose off. Hao looks to the ground and sighs. Before his head starts hurting anymore he opts to walking over to where his mother is arranging breakfast on the table.
“Ah, Hao-hao, you’re here.” Hao’s mother exclaims, oddly chirpy for herself, “Sit, grab something, you look so pale.”
Hao sits down first, and Ricky– this jerk– sits beside him. Way too close for his comfort.
“Can you sit like– literally anywhere but here?”
Ricky gives him a toothy grin, “I’m just here to protect you if things go the wrong way.”
Hao is about to say something when his mother starts filling their plates with food, he just huffs and takes a bite out of the cong-you-bing. The bite too hot on his tongue, it makes him wince. Ricky notices and hands him a glass of water. When Hao refuses, Ricky tilts his head towards Hao’s mother. Hao sighs and flashes him a smile when his mother looks between the two of them, he chugs the water down and makes sure to leave some in the glass– he sets it down and some of it ‘accidentally’ falls into Ricky’s lap.
Hao- 1, Ricky- 0.
Okay maybe, he lied about that, Ricky’s score is a lot higher, but this is his inner monologue, it can be whatever he wants it to be. But when Hao sees Ricky giggling while brushing the water off, he almost orchestrates a gruesome murder sequence in his head. He shouldn't let his imagination run so free, who knows what it'll manifest to in reality, Hao thinks, while shooting Ricky daggers with his eyes. His mother picks up the heaviness in the ambience and thankfully doesn’t comment on it. She excuses herself to go to the restroom.
“You look like you wanna murder me.” Ricky says, the shit-eating grin still plastered to his face.
“Maybe because I do.” Hao replies, replicating Ricky’s grin, just a more sinister version of it. “Speaking of murder, is my father dead in this universe?”
Ricky’s eyes go wide and Gyuvin chokes on his food, “Jesus, hyung, you said that too casually. That was grim.”
“Well, my father is alive so I don’t really care.” Hao shrugs, “Plus, I thought maybe something happened that triggered this Hao to go batshit crazy.”
“What makes you say he’s crazy?” Gyuvin takes a sip of his juice. Hao just raises his eyebrows as if to say it’s obvious.
Ricky laughs, “‘Cause he’s still friends with me?”
Gyuvin seems to read Hao’s mind and adds, “And ‘cause he’s dating Hanbin hyung.”
“Right.” Ricky points his finger at Gyuvin, “You’re so smart.”
Gyuvin wipes his mouth with the paper towel and leans forward to press a kiss to Ricky’s mouth. Hao looks away in disgust. Ricky then takes a strawberry from the basket and feeds it to Gyuvin. Saying some cheesy shit like ‘you should eat a lot, my baby.’ ‘you work so hard, you’ve gotten so skinny.’
It gets unbearable for Hao, “He’s a grown man, with dick and balls and a career of his own, he can eat by himself, I’m sure.”
“Said dick and balls belong to me half the time, I don’t know what your point is.” Ricky cheekily replies while Gyuvin laughs.
Hao stares at Ricky in disbelief for a brief while and then slowly gets up from his chair, planning to walk straight out of the house. His dramatic plan comes to a halt when his mother returns and asks him what he thinks he’s doing.
“Uh– just taking the dishes to the sink.”
“You don’t even have dishes in your hand.” His mother arches her head to the side.
Hao defeatedly sits back down and awkwardly laughs at everyone. Ricky tries throwing a hand around Hao’s shoulder to join in on the joke by saying something about how silly Hao is. Hao’s too busy throwing daggers at Ricky to notice what he’s saying.
“How’s Hanbin doing? You know, with the work and all.” Hao’s mother asks, a bitter nuance to her tone.
Hao is caught off guard, he stumbles on his words when Ricky jumps to his rescue, “We all met up yesterday, you know, got drunk and everything. Helped everyone relax a bit. Especially Hanbin-hyung. He’s got a lot on his plate. He’s not really doing all the work on his own accords.”
Gyuvin chimes in, “He’s got no creative input in anything. My dad received all the documents for publication and– none of them had Hanbin-hyung’s signatures. Even though he wrote and outlined a lot of it.”
Hao’s mother scoffs, “Of course. That bastard’s making his own son do mindless labor. Without any credit where it’s due.”
Ricky shakes his head, “No, the problem is, Mr Sung does want Hanbin-hyung to get credited for it, he’s trying to make him the perfect heir. But Hanbin-hyung is trying to not let this show on his record, he doesn’t want a hand in putting KHP’s future in crisis.” He looks down at his hands, “I don’t think he likes the prospect of leaving us like this either.”
“Ugh, I really hate his father.” Hao’s mother sighs.
“You’ve hated him from before we were even born, mama.” Ricky grants her a sympathetic smile.
“Yeah? Tell me about it. You wanna hear about that one time– ” Hao’s mother starts ranting away.
This is going to be a long meal.
☆
The trees sway in the wind as gray clouds loom from above. It looks like it might rain, but despite the moody atmosphere outside, the inside of the firm’s lobby is quite the contrary. It’s warm, illuminated by the soft glow of lights from the receptionist’s desk, and the sharp LED illumination across the space. Jiwoong and Hanbin, finally freed from the exhausting conversation back in Danbi’s room, make their way outside and as soon as they get to the exit-way of the building, it starts to pour. The rain beats hard against the floor, leaving puddles and muddy footprints trailing along the floorboards as people start to run about to take shelter on the building grounds.
Jiwoong brings his hand up from the inside of his pants pocket and scratches the back of his neck, “I’ll get going. Have too much work today.”
“Yeah, see you.” Hanbin nods as he watches Jiwoong make his way to the garage, managing to soak himself to the bones, clothes already sticking to his skin at the outpour. Hanbin laughs at the sight.
The sky rumbles in roars of thunder and Hanbin’s sprinkled with rain, standing awkwardly under the beam not doing much– his hair clinging to his forehead with every splash of rain. He raises a hand and gathers some drops in his palm. This is nice.
But as things go with him, he’s apparently not allowed to have nice things for more than two seconds in total, his phone pings.
wookie bear sent you a message
hyung
meet us at oscilia asap
we’re here already
read 12:23 pm
Hanbin sighs. Staring up at the sky for dramatic effect, typing up a reply when the unhelpful sky refuses to provide him with background music in the form of a resounding thunder.
outgoing message
wtf
why
read 12:27 pm
wookie bear sent you a message
just get here please
ASAP
read 12:28 pm
bin hyung is typing…
wookie bear sent you a message
bring hao-hyung
read 12:28 pm
Hanbin gasps. He’d rather pack his bags and flee the country than ask Hao to do something.
wookie bear sent you a message
don’t think abt bailing
just tell him taeraes here
he will comply
ASAP
read 12:31 pm
outgoing message
ugh
ok
read 12:32 pm
wookie bear sent you a message
:D
love youuu
read 12:32 pm
Hanbin braces himself and huffs. He dials Hao up, hoping Hao has the phone on him. To his luck, Hao picks up.
“What?” Comes Hao’s voice, low and annoyed.
Hanbin breathes in, “Gunwook needs us at Oscilia right now, he’s already there with Taerae. Something probably happened, he didn’t tell me much.”
“Okay, I’ll be there.”
Huh? That was quick.
Hanbin wonders if the prospect of Taerae being there sealed the deal for Hao immediately when he hears Hao talk to– his mother on the other side. Oh, so Hao’s at his mother’s. He probably just wants to get away.
“Yeah, sorry, mama, I gotta go. Gunwook-ie asked to meet up.” Hao’s muffled voice comes from the other end of the line.
Hao’s mother says something intelligible in Mandarin– Hanbin only picks up the words boyfriend and live without. Hanbin can’t see Hao but from the huff that comes from the other side– Hanbin can almost see Hao’s furrowed brows and downturned pout.
“Do you want me to pick you up? I’m nearby.” Hanbin asks Hao, who almost yells at him.
Hanbin can hear Hao regulate his breathing and reply as politely as he can, “No, I know how to drive.”
From the other side, Hanbin can hear Ricky asking Hao if he should accompany him, Hao replies with a curt no, Ricky insists but Hanbin guesses Hao turns away from Ricky and walks off, as Ricky's requests get fainter in the background.
Hao winces in pain for a brief second– probably running into something while running away from Ricky. That almost makes Hanbin snort, “Alright. It’s raining bad, drive safe.” He says and cuts the call before he can hear Hao reply.
He stands there for a few more moments, taking in the rain.
His Hao would’ve loved today’s sky.
☆
The pattering of the rain grew fiercer as the bell above the door rang, signaling Hao’s arrival to the cafe. Hao gently shakes the beads of water off of his now closed umbrella as he wipes his shoes on the mat. The cafe is warm and dimly lit, the usual bar lights for nighttime retracted back into the ceiling. Hao had only been here a couple of times. When there would be birthdays or Hao would need to film something with the boys for Pride Month. The concept of this place always fascinated Hao. A queer explicit cafe with the ability to transform into a raging gay bar and host incredible drag shows. The interior, the little isolation corner where you could read books and have coffee with a stuffed animal– not that Hao would know, not that he has sneaked into this place more times than he would like to admit.
The place belonged to the Sungs after all. How Hanbin managed to convince his father to build a haven for Queer people in mainstream Seoul was beyond him. He can’t deny it’s probably the only good thing Hanbin has done.
“Hyung!” A familiar voice reaches his ear as he crosses the threshold of the entrance, “We’re here.”
Gunwook waves big at him from the left end of the cafe, Taerae turns around to give Hao a small smile while Yujin just gives him a curt nod, this kid, Hao smiles to himself. He sets his umbrella down on the umbrella stand beside the counter. He walks over to the boys and sits down on the chair beside Taerae. Gunwook sets the book kept open in front of him aside, “Hanbin hyung isn’t here yet. Maybe got stuck in traffic.”
Hao clicks his tongue, “He was the one rushing me and he isn’t even here yet.”
“The rain is pretty bad.” Taerae looks outside, on cue, the sky outside roars, the lightning burns and flashes, illuminating the clouds.
Hao wonders where Hanbin is, for a brief moment a thought flashes across his mind. Hanbin had asked him to drive safe, is he himself driving safe?
Hao shakes the thought away, “Hope he drowns then.”
Taerae awkwardly laughs and Gunwook seems to send someone a text, “He’s not replying. I swear if he bailed on us–” Gunwook gets cut off when the bell rings again. Hanbin walks in and sets his umbrella on the stand, he nods to the receptionist who welcomes him with a smile.
“Ah, you came. I thought you bailed on us.” Gunwook says, when Hanbin sits down beside him.
Hanbin shakes the water droplets off of his hair, “Eh, I just had to go back home to change my clothes, some ahjussi drove a puddle on me.”
Yujin shakes his head in disappointment and Hao suppresses a snort and whispers to no one in particular, “Deserved.”
Hanbin looks sharp at Hao, raising his brows, “Did the soup help with your headache?” He says, with a cocky smile plastered on his face.
Hao huffs, offended, “I threw it out, flushed it straight down the sink.”
Hanbin nods, the small smile still plastered to his face. Hao should’ve thrown the damn thing out.
Gunwook looks back and forth between them and then at Taerae, who just awkwardly smiles. “O–kay, now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk business.”
“Oh my god, no please, it’s supposed to be my off-day today.” Hanbin dramatically groans.
Gunwook looks puzzled, “I– not that business. God, you’re so triggered by the mention of the word alone.” He laughs, “I meant to talk about our research."
Hanbin sighs in relief, “Oh, did you find something?”
“Nope, Yujin’s been scouring the internet day and night. Gyub and Rick have been searching too– and me and Taerae-hyung went to the two most probable places which could have the information we were searching for but– nothing.” Hanbin’s shoulders go slump and Hao looks outside at another flash lightning. Gunwook continues, “But, one thing Yujin found today could help.”
Oh.
“What is it?” Hao hurriedly asks Yujin.
“There’s some…people. Who can sense these things? The brief imbalance on the universal plane. Most people can but very little are aware of it. Even if some are aware of it, they don’t really do much about it.” Yujin explains, “But some people, they study it. The brief mishap in physical properties across the world, what causes it etcetera. Most people would brush it off as natural phenomena but some people can– pick up energies? If that makes sense?”
Hanbin hums, “No, it doesn’t. Continue.”
Gunwook rolls his eyes, “Yeah, and I feel like– if someone with such experience was to meet Hao, maybe they could sense something different on him, since he’s essentially from another universe. The laws of the physical world might be the same but maybe– just maybe, there could be something exclusively of that spatial dimension that separates Hao from us. And if that’s the case, maybe we could figure out a way to reverse this.”
“Okay,” Hanbin nods thoughtfully, “So we have to find someone psychic. Where do we find them?”
“Not psychic,” Gunwook starts but then decides it's better to not argue with Hanbin, “Don’t worry about that. Taerae-hyung has someone we can ask for help from. But Hao, are you okay with telling someone else everything?”
Hao doesn’t waste a second to reply, “Yeah, I wanna do anything I can to get back.”
Beside Hao, Taerae squeezes his hand.
“Okay, that’s settled then, let’s g–” Gunwook gets cut off with the ping of his phone. He reads the text and his face drops.
“Is everything okay?” Taerae asks.
Gunwook heaves, “Depends on how okay you are to have dinner with Jiwoong hyung.”
Taerae looks puzzled, “I don’t understand?”
“He just texted me to pick you up at night and take you back to our apartment. He’s gonna cook and apologize to you over dinner for being– indecent last night.” Gunwook says while looking at his phone.
Taerae looks taken aback and Hanbin seems amused, “He couldn’t have apologized over text?”
“It’s Jiwoong hyung. He loves being extra.” Gunwook says and then turns to Taerae, “...So?”
“He didn’t do anything to offend me though, why is he apologizing? I thought he was just saying harmlessly drunk stuff.” Taerae pouts, genuinely confused.
Gunwook shrugs, “I guess he just wants to properly catch up over dinner, I don’t know.”
“Ah,” Taerae thoughtfully hums. “I’d love to go then.”
Gunwook sighs, “Alright, that’s settled. We go meet the person first and then, dinner.”
“Today’s been a hard fucking day.” Hanbin looks outside.
Gunwook sympathetically smiles, “The day has just started.”