Archive of Our Own

There’s something about these types of events that has always made Kai nauseated. 

Maybe it’s the poor lighting, or the awful company – perhaps, it’s the five glasses of champagne he needs in order to bear with said awful company. At the end of the day, the cause of it doesn’t matter. What matters is that Kai is here, again, standing with a group of insufferably rich men who are haughtily laughing about whatever immoral activities they pursue without their poor wives knowing. 

Kai is sure it’s not all the men, because he knows one or two of them are actually still single. And there are women around too, but they’re left sitting at the tables, watching over the godawful clash of businesses and businessmen tonight. At times like these, Kai has no other option but to put on a fake smile, and sometimes stare down at his glass of whiskey until someone directly asks him a question. He stares down at it now, swivelling the liquid inside before knocking it back and excusing himself when there’s finally a moment of peace. 

With a sigh, he heads over to the bar, exchanging his empty glass for a fuller one. The poor lighting isn’t so bad around the bar, Kai leans his forearms on the counter and closes his eyes for some rest. Soobin owes him big time for leaving him to deal with this all alone tonight. He can already think of some ways his best friend can repay him, pondering over how evil it would be to take some of Soobin’s holiday so he has to deal with a week of meetings all by himself. 

By the time his new glass of whiskey arrives, Kai has concluded that Yeonjun would definitely have some not nice things to say about  Kai wanting to steal his boyfriend’s already booked days off. 

Reputation is everything to people like Kai and Soobin, it is for Yeonjun too, but Kai and Soobin weren’t born into this world like he was. The importance of his reputation is the only thing that holds Kai back from knocking this glass down his throat too. Instead, he runs a fingertip over the edge of the rim, debating if he can find a way to sit with the women at the tables rather than the men standing around. 

He’s so fucking tired. 

“You look a bit young to be here,” a deep voice says, ripping Kai’s attention from his escape plan. The eyes staring into his own are very big, and everything about this man’s features are too sharp for Kai to handle.  

The thing is, Kai has been to these events twice a year, every single year, since he built his company with Soobin. He knows everyone here, and a list of attendees gets sent out three weeks in advance for people to brush up on knowledge about newbies. 

He has never seen this man before.

Silently, Kai stares at him. His large eyes that blink too slowly for Kai’s touch deprived body to even comprehend, his thick lips that smile at Kai in ways he cannot mistake for something other than flirting. The stranger tilts his head, well aware of Kai checking him out, but he seems to like it. Kai swallows some saliva down his throat, fighting the urge to down his whiskey even more. This gorgeous man is wearing a different kind of suit, something Kai would see on Yeonjun, probably. 

The blazer of it is cut in ways the boring old men here would not be able to understand as fashion. His blouse is way too fancy for these men to even respect, actually. Kai can’t help but let his eyes linger on the small waist where the blouse is tucked into his slacks. With a smug look, the stranger gently moves some hair out of his face, leaning closer to Kai. 

Kai must be delirious now, because he looks at his large hand around the whiskey tumbler, and wonders if it’d fit around the man’s small waist the same way. Whoever the hell brought this man here truly has no idea how to appreciate him, Kai thinks to himself. If they did, then they wouldn’t let him wander around flirting with others. 

“I could say the same to you,” he utters, lifting the glass to his lips and taking a small sip. 

“Hm,” the stranger beckons for a bartender, ordering an awfully expensive drink that Kai can vouch for being disgusting. “I don’t think you and I are here for the same reasons.” 

“I suppose not,” Kai says with a calm voice. “I know everyone here.”

“You don’t know me,” the man says with a glint in his eyes. “I don’t know you.”

“No,” Kai looks down at his glass. “You do not.”

“I bet you’re wondering how I’m here,” he smiles at Kai, almost draping himself over the counter. 

“I could take a few guesses,” Kai mutters, a bored look on his face. “Hate to break it to you, but you’re not the first hired date here.”

“Oh,” he pouts, and Kai stares right at his lips. “But I’m the prettiest, right?”

The laugh bubbles out of Kai before he can even fight down the thought of laughing with this stranger. He nods, pursing his lips and looking over the crowd of people. 

“Sure,” he tells the stranger. 

The man smiles at the bartender when he returns with the worst drink Kai has ever had. He thanks the bartender with one too many blinks, smiling and taking a sip as he walks away. Kai reaches his own cup up to his lips, smiling into it when the stranger splutters and curses under his breath. 

“That’s the worst fucking drink I’ve ever had.”

“I know,” Kai laments, swivelling his glass again. “So why did you order it?” 

“I don’t look at the menu, I look at the prices,” he mutters, a poor look on his face because of the drink. “What do you have?”

“Oh, no,” Kai shakes his head, “I’m not trading drinks with you. It’s not like you’re paying, just order something else.”

Kai watches the men walk around, laughing and chatting, chucking in some pretentious lingo here and there so they look interesting to their wives. 

“It’s a shame, isn’t it,” the stranger sighs, eyes floating around the room. “These people either have wives who they don’t respect, or they hire people like me to keep them looking good enough for these things.”

Kai doesn’t respond because he agrees. Both he and Soobin hate these things, it’s all fake and for the use of saving face. If they didn’t show up, their entire company could crumble to the ground. Still, Soobin tries to save Yeonjun from it most of the time, only bringing him once a year. Kai gets it, to be honest, he thinks Yeonjun should save himself and never tag along. These things are only half bearable when Kai has Soobin. They’re a package deal, everyone here knows that. 

“So who’s the one paying for your drinks tonight?” Kai asks, finally giving in and pouring his glass down his throat. It burns a little, and he can feel his feet float which means he should definitely not have any more drinks. 

“That one,” the stranger nods in the direction of a man surrounded by two others. 

Kai isn’t surprised, really. It’s the kind of behaviour people would expect from him. The only thing that does surprise him, really, is that he brought a man along tonight. 

“I bet those conversations are fun.”

“Well, what about you?” The stranger asks. His eyes are dark as they study Kai’s body, definitely pausing on the way his shirt is tightly holding onto his chest. Kai doesn’t do anything about it, though, because he’s extremely bored and maybe borderline drunk. In fact, he leans against the counter some more, knowing it’ll stretch the buttons on his shirt. He smiles when the stranger’s eyes darken more. 

“What about me?” 

“What’s your story, are you a bachelor? A rich son taking over his dad’s wealth? Oh,” the stranger’s eyes are glittering with excitement. “Are you with a cougar?”

Kai smiles, letting out a polite chuckle and looking down at the beige marble tiles. 

“No,” he denies, looking at the stranger with a smaller smile. “I’m none of those things, actually.”

“You,” the man points at Kai, “are like all these men?” He waves a finger around in a circle in disbelief. 

“Well, I would hope I’m not,” Kai mumbles more to himself. “I own a company, yes.”

“You’re, like, a kid.”

“I’m pretty sure we’re not far apart in age,” he raises an eyebrow, strongly implying their difference in career choice. 

“A company all by yourself?”

“With my best friend,” Kai does admit. 

“How old are you?”

Kai raises an eyebrow, watches the stranger take a sip of the awful drink, mildly surprised at the lack of reaction this time. 

“Haven’t you heard about how the plus ones sit at the tables and look pretty?” Kai wonders. “I don’t think you should be asking all these questions.”

“Ah,” the stranger shrugs his shoulders with an eye roll. “That’s boring. You look exciting.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Kai mumbles. “Nothing exciting about me.”

“Twenty-seven,” the stranger muses. 

Kai fixes him with a weak glare. “Twenty-five.”

“Oh, so we are the same age, then.”

The man takes another look at Kai, leaning back and acting as if he’s seeing him for the very first time. Kai’s never been one for having all the attention, especially in times like these. So he ducks his head and bashfully looks away, amused at the silence that takes over the stranger. 

“You’re a nice guy, aren’t you?” The stranger sighs as if it’s a loss. 

Kai shrugs his shoulders. “Depends what you define as nice. ”

His employees probably wouldn’t say he’s nice. His mother might, and his sister might say it if she’s in a good mood. Soobin would have to think before answering. Yeonjun would definitely disagree. Kai looks at the tumbler hanging by the grip of his fingertip, disappointed at the emptiness that greets him. God, he’s so tired. 

He has to focus his eyes properly to be able to read the time on his watch, sighing when he sees he should stay for at least another hour before leaving. 

“I wish someone like you hired me for the evening,” the man says randomly. 

Kai pulls a face. “I wouldn’t be half as much company as your friend over there.”

“Oh, no, quite the opposite,” the stranger mutters. His eyes pour into Kai’s with a sharp look. “Though I suppose you’d be much harder to get into bed with.”

It’s embarrassing that the bold statement shocks Kai. He should have expected it, especially from the moment the stranger pointed out the man he came here with. It’s what he’s kind of known for, but for some reason, Kai just didn’t put it together in his head. He’s not judging anyone – not the man he has seen once or twice in the past few years and definitely not the stranger he met only twenty minutes ago. 

That kind of lifestyle just isn’t for Kai. 

Soobin would most likely make a comment about how it’s the only way Kai can meet someone. It’s a good thing he’s never been one for Soobin’s distasteful jokes. 

“You’re right about that,” Kai agrees. He can’t help the satisfaction that blooms in his chest when the stranger’s face falls. 

“Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

“I’d have to know your name, at least,” Kai reasons, looking at the man with dark eyes. The stranger shifts on his feet, ready to play along. “Your real name,” he clarifies.

“Do you think we have stage names, or something?” the man scoffs lightheartedly. 

“I don’t know a thing about you. And I don’t really plan to.”

The stranger sighs loudly. “Nice guys,” he mutters around the straw of his drink. 

Still, Kai can’t hide his smirk when the man pulls out a card from his blazer pocket, sliding it across the counter towards him. He looks away, makes eye contact with the wife of a man who he doesn’t like so much, but she’s a lovely lady. She looks at Kai, then at the man beside Kai, and turns back to whoever she’s sitting next to. 

“I’m not gonna take that,” Kai tells him, still looking at the guests. 

There’s no verbal response from the man, only him sliding up close to Kai and placing the card in his front pocket himself. His breath lingers around Kai’s nose, smelling too much like the drink and Kai’s headache comes back tenfold. But he can’t close his eyes to ease it, otherwise the stranger will think he’s won Kai over. And it takes a lot more than some flirting over cocktails to win Kai over. 

“If you do come around,” the man says quietly, eyes gazing up at Kai, “ask for Taehyun.”

The rest of the hour goes by quickly. Though, that may just be because Kai had caved in to another glass of champagne. He’s near the end of rounds, bidding goodbye to strangers, old faces, and people he’s seen a few times. Most of them shake his hand and say they’ll see him next time. The ones who really know him tell him to get home safe and they’ll be in touch. Someone even tells him to make sure Soobin comes next time. Kai reassures that he will, because there’s no way in hell he’d ever do this alone again. 

One of the last people he says goodbye to, has a newly familiar person draped over his arm. The same alluring man from the bar, with those eyes and those lips, though his lips look a lot more red than Kai remembers. His hair is a little messed up too, but Kai saves him the awkwardness of asking about it. He figures it has something to do with why the businessman’s clothes are a bit dishevelled, too. 

He’s nearly done, just gotta shake this sleazy man’s hand and get to his taxi. 

“You met Taehyun, right?” the man asks Kai, pushing Taehyun forward slightly like he’s an object.

Kai looks at Taehyun, a moment of silent communication between them. 

“We met at the bar earlier,” Taehyun speaks up. His voice is a little rougher than earlier, and Kai has a good guess on why that might be. “Do forgive me,” he smirks at Kai, “but I’ve forgotten your name…”

The space for Kai to respond irks him, but he does have to give it to Taehyun for getting what he wanted. This isn’t the place to make enemies, so Kai smiles politely, taking Taehyun’s hand to shake it goodbye.

“Kai,” he tells him. 

Taehyun smiles, something genuine slipping into his act of nonchalance. “Well, it was nice meeting you. I hope to see you around, Kai.”

The nausea eases finally when Kai slips into the back of his taxi. After a second of silence, he lets his driver know his address, not in the mood to entertain the man’s confusion as to why such a young person is living in the richest parts of Seoul. With his eyes closed, Kai throws a hand up to press at the aches in his forehead. He slides down the seat, craning his neck back and holding back a groan of relief. 

Soobin really fucking owes him. 

When the car pulls to a stop, Kai thanks the man for driving him, and even makes sure to leave a tip. The receptionist at his apartment building nods in acknowledgment, wishing Kai a goodnight and smiling when he responds the same. He counts the floors it takes to get him to his apartment at the very top. Finally releasing his tired groan when his apartment door beeps open and he’s greeted with his ceiling to floor window view of Seoul. The lights aren’t so nauseating from up here, Kai notices. A part of him is really feeling like flopping onto the sofa and falling asleep right here. 

But the bright pink note that reads HIYYIH VISIT TOMORROW serves its purpose and gets Kai into the bathroom so he can wash up. The last thing he needs on his plate is his sister complaining that he should take better care of himself. Begrudgingly, Kai rushes through brushing his teeth and washing his face, barely taking his clothes off properly. Absent-mindedly, he pulls out his phone and other stuff from his pockets. All the cards he had gotten in exchange for his own fall onto his vanity, all of them he ignores to turn his phone on while falling into bed. 

Kai squints at the screen, unaware he had left his brightness this high. With sleepy movements, he opens the message from Soobin, smiling at the photo attached. 

Thank you for giving me this evening. I owe you. 

Kai likes the photo, replying to say he hopes Soobin and Yeonjun had a wonderful time. 

Then he chucks his phone to the side, curling up and closing his eyes. 

Maybe he is the nice guy.

Kai is not the nice guy. Not when someone is loudly clattering around his kitchen at god knows what time in morning. With heavy limbs, he falls onto his back, lifting his head and immediately burying his face in his pillow. He inhales deeply, pulling himself out of bed and rubbing at his eyes as he shuffles into the kitchen. 

“I don’t remember giving you the code to my apartment,” he says with a rough voice. 

“You didn’t,” his sister responds chirpily. She places a mug of coffee in front of Kai as he falls into the stool by his island. “You’re just predictable,” she smiles. 

Huening Bahiyyih is a presence, to say the least. 

Everywhere she goes, there’s a dazzling bright light that follows her. It’s been like that her whole life, Kai is sure of it. It only makes sense that she’s one of South Korea’s most popular idols. 

“Don’t you have work this morning?” She asks, still pattering around Kai’s home. 

“It’s my company,” Kai mumbles, sipping on his coffee and closing his eyes in relief. “No one’s gonna tell me off if I’m a little late.”

“Soobinie oppa might,” Bahiyyih quips. “Mum is asking when you’re going to visit home.”

“I went two weeks ago,” Kai frowns. 

“You went a month ago,” his sister retorts. 

“Well, does she wanna see me come home or does she wanna see me bring someone home?”

Bahiyyih gives him a look that says she’s not entertaining this conversation. Kai can’t blame her. It’s too much to get into, and she’s the only other one who understands the difficulty of dating in the world they live in. He sips on his coffee some more, still reeling from the seven glasses of champagne mixed with whiskey. The smell of the bitter drink helps, though. 

For one of the nation's biggest celebrities, Bahiyyih has a bad sense of privacy. She’s in and out of Kai’s bedroom before he notices, flicking through all the cards he got yesterday. Her perfectly manicured nails have all these gems on them that catch the light and remind Kai of the bad lighting from last night. 

“Oh,” she hums, lifting a card and showing it to Kai in interest. “This is a new one.”

Kai isn’t bothered. He nods, unsure if it actually is a new card or not. All he knows is that he gave their company’s card to one of their biggest assets last night, and Soobin will probably want to take him out this weekend to celebrate. He runs a hand through his hair, letting Bahiyyih continue flicking through all the cards. 

Except she doesn’t continue. She puts the stack of cards down and stays on the new one. 

“There’s no name on it,” she mentions. Kai frowns, looking at her now. Bahiyyih looks over the back of it, frowning in confusion. “Eternity ,” she reads out loud. 

That doesn’t sound like anything Kai recognises from the list of attendees. He looks at the card in her hands, rushing to put the mug of coffee down. A flash of wide eyes and thick lips and soft smiles plays through Kai’s mind. He reaches for the card. 

“That’s — don’t worry about this one.”

His sister is annoyingly persistent. Kai hates how well that runs in their blood. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Kai lies. His chest burns with the feeling of a pretty stranger tucking the same card in his pocket. “I need that for today.”

Usually when he says something is urgent for work it gets Bahiyyih to stop asking questions. It’s something she learnt the hard way when Kai pulled out a PowerPoint presentation he was working on to explain things. So she does nothing but let Kai take it from her hands. He places it down beside his mug. 

“I’m going to get dressed,” he tells her. “Don’t come into my room. And don’t take any of those cards home.”

He can hear Bahiyyih whining about him being boring and some other stuff he ignores easily. 

Kai is wealthy. When he tells people that he and Soobin have built their ways up from nothing, he means it. Because there’s no other way he’d be standing in a walk-in closet reserved for just his finest suits that he has to wear to work every single day. Well, most days. He’s not really one for fashion, and most of these are from Yeonjun. But he does his best to not repeat wearing the same outfit three days in a row. 

He picks out a navy blue thing, maybe Yeonjun mentioned it was Ralph Lauren when he gave it on Kai’s birthday. By the time he walks back out, Bahiyyih is waiting with her shoes on by the door. She’s holding the card in between her fingers, waiting for Kai to take it from her. 

“You clean up nicely,” she jokes. 

Kai holds his apartment door open for her to leave first. 

He’s not that vain, okay, but Kai already knows that he cleans up nicely. Besides persuasiveness and charm, good looks is something that runs in their genes too. He ignores his sister's little comment about his hair becoming too long for him to style nicely, though. 

“Don’t you have a personal driver?” He asks Bahiyyih in pretend frustration. 

She hums while clicking her seatbelt into place. “If I didn’t force you to do it I’d never see you,” she says simply. 

Kai waits for her to put the radio on before pulling out of the apartment car park. The streets of Seoul are a lot nicer to navigate when you’re in a fancy car with blacked out windows, Kai thinks. Even when he has to detour to pull up in front of his sister's company. Bahiyyih smiles at him, putting sunglasses on her face even though the sun isn’t even out today. Kai bids her goodbye, waiting until she’s by the entrance doors before driving off to his own company.  

All he knows is that by the time he’s in the elevator heading up to his office floor, he needs another cup of coffee. His assistant is on his tail the second he steps out of the elevator, reading a list of things off an iPad until Kai lifts a hand to silence him. 

“Give my eleven o’clock meeting to Soobin,” he says, waiting for his assistant’s usual hesitation before facing him with his most business glare. 

“Got it,” the boy squeaks, tapping away on the iPad screen instantly. “You have a call with the Hawaiian branch for two in the afternoon,” he reminds Kai. 

The man nods, unfortunately this one he can’t give to Soobin because Soobin doesn’t know English. 

“I’ll take the call from the main meeting room, make sure no one comes to see me for that hour.”

His assistant nods again, letting Kai walk ahead into his office. The silence he’s met with is heavenly, especially since his headache hasn’t gone away. There’s a dull thumping behind his eyes as he works his coffee machine into pouring out a hazelnut latte. When it’s done, Kai grabs the cup gingerly, blowing over the rim of it to take a much needed sip. 

The drink nearly spills on himself when his office door opens loudly, alarming him. 

“Jesus,” he mutters, facing Soobin with an unimpressed glare. “You could've knocked.”

“You could’ve warned me about giving me the eleven o’clock with Kim’s associates.”

Kai sips on his latte obnoxiously. “I didn’t decide that until just now,” he says pathetically. 

Soobin scoffs, but none of it is with malice. 

“You’re wearing the Ralph Lauren,” he notices. Kai looks down at himself like it’s supposed to mean something. “Hyung will be happy.”

“Let’s not tell Yeonjun I’m wearing his gift to me,” Kai points a finger at his friend. 

“Why not?” Soobin pouts. “You two need to stop this pretend enemy thing you got going on.”

“Ask him if it’s pretend,” Kai jokes. “I exchanged contacts with the G group.”

The way Soobin’s eyes light up reminds Kai of when they first decided to make a business together. It’s nice to have those remnants of who they once were before all the luxury events and hard meetings. 

“Damn it,” Soobin hisses, “I missed it.”

“Serves you right,” Kai mutters. “Leaving me to fend for myself around Choi Hyeongmin.”

It’s funny, the way Soobin’s nose scrunches up in distaste just at the mention of someone’s name. This man in particular is more awful than the rest. The only thing is, he’s one of the most expected faces at those events. Kai and Soobin can only wish to become as anticipated as he and his company is. Still, he’s definitely unbearable, always talking about his badly failed relationships and having something equally bad to say about his own family. 

Kai can’t stand people like that. 

But it’s all for the business, he tells himself. 

“They all love you, though,” Soobin says. 

“Good for them,” Kai sighs, falling into his chair behind his desk. “I still have a fucking headache from it all.”

“I’ll tell Yeonjun hyung to stop by with some leftovers for you to take home for dinner.”

“I can feed myself,” Kai says while looking over some files. He knows Soobin means well, but he doesn’t need him doting on Kai’s every move. 

His friend takes a seat opposite him, a hand already waiting for the cards he got yesterday. 

“Hiyyih took them from my bedroom,” Kai doesn’t even lift his head from the desk. Soobin’s hand closes around nothing. “I think she forgot them on my kitchen island.”

“You’ve got to stop letting her look through those cards,” Soobin sighs. 

Kai doesn’t lift his head, but he does move his eyes to look at Soobin with a flat look. “Are you gonna be the one to tell her that?”

Soobin leans back. “Good point.” He watches Kai. “You didn’t even bring G group’s card?”

“I’ll bring it tomorrow,” Kai promises. 

“I can pick it up at dinner tonight,” Soobin says instead. 

Kai purses his lips. “I didn’t know you were coming over,” he murmurs. His subtle way of telling Soobin not to come over.

“Eight o’clock. Yeonjun hyung and I will bring your favourite wine.”

“I have a wine cooler stocked with it,” Kai mutters. 

Soobin leans forward again, clicking his fingers over the desk in front of Kai’s face. 

“I may be your best friend but I’m still older than you. Respect me.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, chairman Choi,” Kai puts his hands together as if he’s pleading for forgiveness. Soobin looks smug, but they both know none of this is real. 

“You couldn’t have even picked up one card?”

Kai reaches inside his blazer pocket, ready to fish around for nothing just to tease Soobin. Maybe he’d be a bit childish and pull out the middle finger. Kai’s considering it when his hand scrapes the edge of a card. He freezes. Soobin isn’t watching him, so he pulls his hand out and holds out an empty palm. 

“She rushed me this morning,” he half-lies. “It’s okay,” Kai defends. “She’s busy with a comeback now so she won’t be able to come over and snoop through any stuff for the company.”

“She doesn’t even understand what we do,” Soobin mutters. “Why does she go looking all the time?”

“You know what Hiyyih’s like,” Kai shrugs his shoulders. “I think she’s looking to see if I have a partner.” 

“Does she wanna set you up again?” Soobin sounds pretty excited about this, Kai has to roll his eyes. 

“I don’t know, I don’t care.”

“Oh, come on,” his friend complains. “The last guy wasn’t so bad, was he?”

Kai thinks about it. Thinks about the idol that his sister set him up with for a blind date. Kai thought it would get a bit more bearable once they got past the hurdle of the man finding out Kai knows nothing about idols. It actually only got worse from then. The man wouldn’t stop talking about himself or his schedule. If Kai wanted to marry himself, then he’d do so. He needs something different. Someone to pull him out of the sinking sand that is his career. 

He definitely did not need the guy who offered Kai a signed album before its release. 

“He was worse,” Kai replies. 

“Okay,” Soobin tilts his head. “I know you keep saying no, but Yeonjun hyung’s manager is—”

“I have the power to fire you, right?” 

“Alright,” Soobin lifts his hands in surrender. “So no idols, no managers,” he friend looks over the papers on Kai’s desk. “What do you want, Kai? Because I know you don’t want to be lonely.”

“I’m not lonely,” the lie is embarrassing and they both know it. “I’m just… busy,” he says. 

“I’m sure hyung’s manager will be cool with friends with benefits,” Soobin jokes. “You know he has a crush on you.” 

“And when it all goes to shit those birthday dinners of Yeonjun hyung’s will be really fun,” Kai answers sarcastically. “Look,” he tells Soobin, “I’m fine, honestly.”

Work is work. Kai has to let Soobin go so he can lead the dreaded eleven o’clock meeting, and the card that’s been burning a hole in his blazer pocket finally sees the light. He holds it between his fingertips, reading over the words etched in golden writing. To be fair, it’s one of the nicer business cards Kai has been given. 

It’s black, with a golden border around the words ETERNITY in some fancy font. If Kai is found with this he’d never hear the end of it, heck, he’d be mortified to be found with it. He flips the card over, reading over the address. The eyebrow raise is automatic as he realises the establishment is in one of the richest parts of Seoul. And he can’t help the snort as he reads the words Entertainment Hire beneath the address. 

God, he can’t believe he’s even staring at this damn card. If someone had told Kai he’d walk out of last night’s event with this card he’d laugh in their face. 

In all of his years in this world, Kai and Soobin prided themselves on being the most normal. If Soobin saw him now, he’d laugh at Kai and say he’s gone crazy. 

Maybe he has gone crazy, because Kai looks at the card and sees the wide eyes and soft smile and thick lips wrapped around a paper straw. 

His loneliness must be making him crazy. 

The card gets forgotten as Kai goes about his day. To be fair, it feels like his brain has been stretched thin by the time he has to do the call to Hawaii. But he has a job and he takes it seriously, enough that no one can actually tell he’s brain fried and exhausted. 

He sits across from the projector screen, papers out and pens ready in case he needs to make important notes. The call dials in and Kai smiles at the vaguely familiar face. There’s not too much to discuss, just confirming numbers and reassuring security. A lot of the terminology used surprises his assistant listening in, probably hearing Kai chuck out all those long English words for the first time. 

By the time he’s done, he unbuttons the top button of his shirt, tired and a little sweaty. Kai pinches the bridge of his nose, sniffling and asking if there’s anything more on his schedule. 

“Nothing urgent,” his assistant says, eyes not lifting from the iPad screen. 

“Clear it,” Kai tells him. “I’m going home early. Tell Soobin I’ll expect him for seven-thirty. No earlier, no later.”

His assistant nods and walks away immediately, leaving Kai alone in the boardroom. Maybe he’s hungover, that had to be the only explanation as to why Kai can’t get the man from last night out of his head. He just didn’t get enough sleep and dealing with Bahiyyih at nearly seven in the morning after a night of drinking is just setup for making a person delirious for that. 

Kai loves the silence. His apartment is the most silent place to him, it’s his sanctuary. And he has about just under five hours of silence before Soobin shows up with his boyfriend to ruin it all. Eagerly, Kai shrugs off his blazer, emptying his pockets just like he did last night. The card lands somewhere on his bedside desk with his phone, barely catching his attention. At least he can take off this fucking suit before Yeonjun sees him in it. 

For one of the richest people of his age, Kai should probably be a little more put together. But he’s really disorganised when he’s not in his office, and especially disorganised when he’s exhausted (which is all the time). So he can’t be blamed when he crashes into bed at nearly three in the afternoon, barely dressed in clothes appropriate for guests. Kai doesn’t really care about it, though, not when sleep is crawling up to him instantly. 

He wakes up an hour before Soobin is meant to arrive, dressing in something that’s maybe too fancy to wear at home. But he figures if Yeonjun is coming, a little dress-up would be worth it. It would certainly save Kai from the backhanded comments about his usual dress sense. By the time his friend is meant to arrive, Kai takes three deep breaths in preparation.

The unimpressed look on his face is a total one-eighty from the cheerful smile on Soobin’s, and it only flattens when his best friend lifts up a bottle of what is definitely not Kai’s favourite wine.

“That’s not what you promised,” Kai says, letting his friend inside. 

Soobin frowns, and it’s all fake. “Did I promise?” he blinks at Kai, “I don’t think I promised.”

“I haven’t cooked,” Kai mutters, ignoring the eye roll from Soobin. “And before you speak, I can feed myself just fine. I just didn’t want to feed you . I ordered food, it’ll be here soon.”

“Is this about the personal chef?” Yeonjun asks, already draping his jacket over the back of a chair. Kai sighs, fighting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose.

“It really isn’t that important of a debate that everyone needs to know,” Kai mumbles.

“Not everyone,” Soobin says from his seat, “just Yeonjunie hyung.”

“You told Bahiyyih,” Kai reminds him. 

“How is she?” Yeonjun asks, placing a hand on top of Soobin’s to stop him from annoying Kai even more. “I have some more new looks if she wants to try them.”

Kai nods, lifting the glass of water to his lips. He admittedly takes a larger sip than needed, throat dry and headache finally easing. Also he’s being a little petty because Soobin brought the wrong wine. 

“She’s fine, busy. I’ll let her know,” Kai puts the glass down. “But, hyung, you can always contact her yourself.”

Yeonjun nods, tilting his head to the side. “You’re the only person she replies to quick enough,” he smiles.

That much is true, Kai guesses. Neither he nor his sister are the greatest with communication. At least that’s one thing Kai can do better, because he has both Soobin and Yeonjun in his court. Bahiyyih is hopeless with answering texts and calls. 

 “How was your evening yesterday?” Kai asks, not in the mood to do the talking. He did enough of it yesterday. It gets Soobin going, too, and that works for Kai. He listens to Soobin gush and go on about their date until the food arrives. 

Kai’s got a chopstick of noodles up to his mouth when Yeonjun starts questioning him.

“So,” he sips on the wine. “Soobinie tells me you don’t wanna see my manager.”

Kai stares at his friend, then stares at Yeonjun. “When you say it like that I sound like a bitch.”

Yeonjun laughs, but Soobin nods. “We just wanna see you putting yourself out there, Kai. It’s been what– two years?”

“Does it matter how long it's been?”

“Dating is whatever, you’ve always been picky about that,” Soobin says, and Kai is not looking forward to what he’s about to say next. “But when did you last get laid?”

He puts the chopsticks down, completely losing his appetite. “I am not discussing this with you two.”

“Why not?” Soobin nearly whines, Kai looks at Yeonjun with his best pleading eyes.

“Can you stop him?” he asks Yeonjun.

The oldest of the three puts a hand on Soobin’s shoulder, easing him away from this embarrassing conversation. Kai manages to get the rest of his dinner finished, despite it taking nearly a whole hour. And when his friends finally leave his apartment, he leans on his kitchen counter in mild relief. 

He’s not at all tired now, thanks to his sleep in the middle of the day. But both Soobin and Yeonjun have their own busy days tomorrow so Kai couldn’t force them to stay any later. With a glance to the clock on his way into his bedroom, he sees it’s nearly half past ten at night. When he gets inside his bedroom, he finds himself staring at the same black and gold card that’s been giving him flashbacks.

The streets around the club are quiet. Probably because it’s located in a private area, one where only the richest of the rich can afford a home. Which means only the richest of the rich are here, and none of them want people to know they are here. Kai stares at his hands on the steering wheel. He really shouldn’t be here. There’s no predicting what he will find inside, and there’s no guaranteeing he’s going to meet the stranger from last night. And yet, he finds himself locking his car on the side of the street, heading into the club with his head hanging low.

“Proof of invitation,” the person at the reception says blandly. 

Kai falters, stammering before fishing out the card he was handed. The receptionist takes it from him, looking over it herself before handing it back to him.

“Do you plan on taking anyone home?” she asks.

“Um,” Kai frowns. “No?” 

She stares at him.

“No,” he repeats, biting down on his lip in pain before asking: “what’s the protocol if I were to… you know.”

“There’s a membership setup where you can put who you want on your tab for the night, and the money gets taken out automatically. There are all sorts of NDA’s and different tiers for membership. All of that can be sorted out if you let us know, a colleague will take you to get set up with us.”

“Do people normally take them home?” Kai asks, half curious, half in disbelief.

The receptionist shrugs her shoulders. “For the highest tier, it’s possible to book someone for a couple of days.”

“Doesn’t that risk people, like, running away?” Kai can’t help but ask.

The lady looks bored, like she doesn’t actually care what happens to the people here. Kai can’t believe he’s even set foot in the place. 

“I don’t know the details,” she tells him. “But you’re free to enter without membership if you aren’t taking anyone home.”

Kai hesitates, definitely aware that he should back out now. He’s embarrassed and ashamed of himself for even considering looking at the membership prices, this is not what he expected for himself at all. With a kind smile to the receptionist, he declines a membership setup, but heads inside anyways. You know what they say, curiosity killed the cat. Kai’s always been a believer in satisfaction saving it. 

The club is not dark, which is not at all what he expected. There’s chandeliers and dark-ish lighting, but the walls are an off-white colour which gives it an edge of luxuriousness. Kai looks around, a little bit surprised at how large the space inside is. There are many occupied round tables with velvet sofas. Some smaller tables where workers are sitting on their own, there’s a stage, too with some people on it. Kai doesn’t actively stare at that part. He does find the bar, though, and makes his way to sit on a stool by it.  

It’s busy inside, but not crowded. While there’s definitely noise, it isn’t loud enough to make him want to down five glasses of champagne. Though, he guesses drinking would make it easier to be in this environment. He’s staring at the bar counter, berating himself and wondering why the fuck he’s here when someone slides up beside him.

“Are you uncomfortable?” the voice asks, sending shivers down Kai’s spine.

He smiles to himself, looking at the man with a raised eyebrow. “How did you know it was me?”

“I can spot beauty from a mile away,” he winks. “I’m a little hurt, though,” he pouts. “Didn’t I tell you to ask for Taehyun?”

Kai shakes his head. “I’m not here to take anyone home,” he responds. “Sorry.” 

Taehyun rolls his eyes, dropping his head back and letting Kai stare at his exposed neck. “You don’t have to take me home,” he teases, blinking at Kai the same way he did that night. “I didn’t think you’d show up,” Taehyun says, voice a lot less sultry now.

“Yeah,” Kai sighs. “I didn’t think I would either.”

“Couldn’t get me off your mind?”

“Something like that.”

They watch each other for a few moments. Kai takes in how Taehyun looks quite different, despite only seeing him just over twenty-four hours ago. His hair is styled differently, not falling in his eyes but parted to the side to make his eyes all the more noticeable. The makeup on his face is definitely more than it was yesterday. His eyes have some glitter on them that Kai wouldn’t even be able to describe, and those lips are covered in something shiny. Kai has to look away. 

“Can I get you a drink?” Taehyun asks in a friendly tone. 

Kai hopes he doesn’t lose the facade this easily with the other men here. But thinking like that makes him wonder if he is just like all the guys here. Giving in to the idea that they’re someone special, when the reality is they’ve had to pay for company. 

“I’m driving,” Kai tells him. “Nothing with alcohol in it.”

“Look at you,” Taehyun drawls, smiling at Kai in amusement. “A nice, law-abiding man.”

“I don’t think a law-abiding man would be here right now.”

“Maybe,” Taehyun’s eyes flick to the stage behind Kai, making the man turn around to see what’s got his attention. 

There’s someone walking offstage, but Kai can’t see too well from back here. From the reactions of the people closer to the stage, Kai guesses this person was just performing. All he can see is the man sorting his hair out, smiling at one or two of the other men as he makes his way towards the bar. The closer he gets the clearer his appearance is to Kai. Something about him makes Kai’s throat dry, makes him consider actually downing some alcohol to get these absurd thoughts out of his head. 

“Of course,” Taehyun mutters from behind him. Kai turns back to face him, finding no bitterness in his eyes despite his tone. “Beomgyu hyung always attracts the cute ones.”

Kai doesn’t have the headspace to register Taehyun calling him cute. No, he’s too focussed on this dazzlingly beautiful man walking towards them. There’s a layer of sweat on him, but Kai cannot bring himself to even try being grossed out by it. His hair is a little wavy, making him look softer than his features actually are. 

“Who’s your friend, Taehyun?”

His voice is deep and rough, and good God, Kai needs to hear him say his name. 

Taehyun nudges Kai in a not-so-elegant manner. “Go on, then.”

“Uh,” he speaks stupidly. The gorgeous man blinks at him. “I'm Kai.” 

There’s a look exchanged between Taehyun and the man, where the stranger sighs at the end of it. 

“Beomgyu,” he smiles. “Is he yours?” He’s asking Taehyun, but his eyes are on Kai. 

“He’s no one’s,” Taehyun jokes. “Hasn’t paid to take someone home.”

Kai must be imagining the flash of disappointment in the beautiful stranger’s eyes, at least, that’s what he tells himself. The takes a sip around a straw, Kai had no idea where he got the drink from until he realises that it's  his drink. The one that Taehyun bought him. He watches the stranger, mesmerised by more than his looks, snorting at the way he and Taehyun bicker for the next fifteen minutes. 

The three of them get to know each other all night long, laughing and talking like friends. Kai pays for one or two of their drinks, making sarcastic comments when Taehyun tries to tease him. 

Kai slides into the seat of his car, sighing at the clock reading 2:00 in the morning. He closes his eyes for a second, sees Beomgyu laughing and the way he was looking at Kai.

He wonders how absurd it’d be if he came back tomorrow night, and that’s when Kai knows he’s fucked. When he gets into bed and falls asleep thinking of Beomgyu’s voice, Kai is barely able to register just how different his life is about to be. 

“We don’t need their backing,” Kai tells Soobin, pressing a finger to the side of his head to ease the headache. 

It’s the end of a long day. The kind of day where the both of them have been pulled in and out of boardroom meetings. A lot of video calls and a lot of working with other employees through stuff. It’s always like this during the spring months, business picking up a little more. But with the hectic past few days, the two of them have been at their desks until late at night. 

This is the only time they’ve actually had to finally regroup together to discuss. 

His friend has the gleam in his eye that tells Kai he isn’t going to let up on this. He also looks extremely unimpressed that Kai is not willing to listen to him. The hand on Kai’s head stretches to his forehead, rubbing at it until there’s probably a red mark. Kai places his hand on the table the same time Soobin brings out his phone. 

“I don’t get it,” Kai mumbles, “we don’t like their foundations. We don’t like the way they handle things. How is this going to give us extra security? We aren’t those guys, Soobin.”

Soobin puts his phone down, whatever he wanted to show Kai taking the backseat for a second. He smiles at Kai, dimples coming out to play. 

“That’s exactly why we want them.”

“I don’t know,” Kai mutters. He rubs at his eyes, bringing his palms down to his cheeks and dragging some of the skin there. “Isn’t it too risky?”

“Hyuka,” Soobin says in a light voice. The nickname strikes something in Kai, makes him feel like the little boy who grew up next door to Soobin. Maybe he does need to start respecting his older friend again. “Isn’t that what makes all those guys scared of us? We take the risks.”

“What if this is the one time it blows up?”

“It’s just a longer process than we’re used to,” Soobin reassures, Kai nibbles on his lip in consideration. “This is our next step. We always said so: get our feet stuck in it, get known, expand.”

He’s not wrong. Soobin’s never wrong, especially when it comes to his business inklings. It’s a huge part of how they got to be some of the richest men in Korea while being under thirty. Kai has to think about it. He’s the thinker, the paperwork, he does the finelining and the logistics. Soobin is the doer, the action-taker. He does the talking and most of the directing. 

Soobin knows how Kai works.

That’s why they leave each other at the car park with soft mutterings of goodnight . No more talking about it until Kai has a resolute answer – which they both know will be the green light to go ahead. But Soobin never pushes and that’s just one part of how they work so well together. 

Kai slips into his car at nearly midnight. He thinks about how Soobin will probably get home and slide into bed with Yeonjun hyung, how his best friend has someone to take the weight of a work day off his shoulders. Kai grits his teeth, already bubbling with something close to shame as he looks around for the card he’s kept in his glove box since last week. The roads are empty as Kai navigates his way to his destination, and he spends his time at the red lights asking himself exactly what his intentions are.

Even when he parks up on the pavement away from the club, Kai isn’t sure what his intentions are.

The person working the reception is different. Kai hands them his card, not wanting to do much talking right now. The receptionist looks it over, raises an eyebrow at its nearly worn out state.

“Sir,” the young boy speaks, his words just a little hesitant. “We can get you an actual membership card if you’d like.”

“No, thank you,” Kai mutters, “I don’t– that’s not what I’m here for.”

The receptionist doesn’t say much else. Whether that’s because he has nothing more to say or because he should respect the lines of his job, Kai doesn’t know. He doesn’t really care. He does give a small smile when the card is handed back to him, though, heading inside and dropping the weight off his shoulders.

The bar is busy tonight. Kai looks around, sees workers standing around the bar and at tables. He finds an empty booth in a corner, sliding into it and wondering what the hell his next move is. The music is muffled from where Kai is sat, but he still drums his fingertips on the table. Maybe it’s from boredom, or anticipation. 

He avoids eye contact with the workers who walk past his table, feeling stupid about doing so. Why is he here if he doesn’t want to talk to someone? Why is he here if he’s not engaging with the workers? 

Kai sighs. He lets his head fall back against the seat’s cushioning, feeling rather than hearing the thump it makes. He blinks up at the ceiling, the light catching off the chandeliers makes his head spin but he can’t seem to look away. 

“I thought I’d seen the last of you.”

Kai closes his eyes and can’t help the smile on his face. 

He looks across at Beomgyu, raising an eyebrow. “Did you miss me?”

The man leans back in the seat of their booth, his hair falling away from his face. Kai looks at him. Beomgyu’s makeup is different today. And there’s no gloss on his lips, Kai pushes away the thoughts of someone else being the cause of that. Instead, he tilts his head, looking Beomgyu in the eyes until the man smiles and looks away from Kai. 

“Maybe,” he says quietly. 

“It’s been a week,” Kai responds. “And that was my first time here.”

“I know all the regulars,” Beomgyu tells him. Kai wonders just how well Beomgyu knows them. “I was hoping you’d become one. I thought we got along.” 

There’s something dripping in his voice that Kai can’t figure out. Something seesawing between genuine and the usual act for anyone working here. 

Kai smiles at him. He doesn’t realise how naturally it happens. “Does that mean I’ll need to come back here every night just to see you?”

Beomgyu looks at him, but doesn’t respond. He sighs, looking around and ignoring Kai’s question. 

“Taehyun’s not working tonight,” he says. “If you’re here to see him. He’s off on Wednesdays.”

Kai shakes his head. “I’m not here to see anyone.”

“Why does that offend me?” Beomgyu asks lightly. “Can I get you a drink?”

“Shouldn't I be offering you one?” 

“Maybe,” Beomgyu says again. “Are you driving again?”

Kai nods. “What time do you finish?” He almost slaps himself for asking such a question. 

“Depends,” Beomgyu mumbles. “Why?”

“No reason,” Kai mutters, looking down at his lap in embarrassment. God, he really needs to get a grip on himself. He blinks at Beomgyu, the silence between them finally making Kai realise how tired he is. 

“How long have you been out today?” He asks. 

Beomgyu shrugs his shoulders. “Since ten, maybe.”

“It’s nearly one,” Kai looks at him through lazy eyes. “When’s your break?”

“Right now.”

“Don’t you have a break room?” 

Kai tries to ignore the absurd dots trying to connect themselves in his mind. He tries not to think anything of this. 

“We do,” Beomgyu informs. “Saw you on my way to it. Decided to spend my break with you, instead…” He bites on his lip, looking at Kai with wide eyes. “Unless… you want me to leave you alone?”

It must be the hesitance in Beomgyu’s voice that makes Kai sit up straight. He shakes his head instantly, reassuring that he’s glad Beomgyu is here. 

“When does your break end?”

“Ten minutes,” Beomgyu’s eyes are wide again. There’s a spark in them that strikes Kai in the torso, burning him down to the bottom of his stomach. The heat pools in it, and it burns in Beomgyu’s eyes the longer they stare at each other. 

“Ten minutes,” Kai repeats after him. “What days off do you get?”

“What’s with all the questions, are you a cop?”

Kai scoffs, smirking at Beomgyu while leaning a little more forward. “No,” he chuckles. Beomgyu blinks at him. “I’m just curious.”

“Thursdays,” Beomgyu mutters, not taking his eyes off Kai’s. “Why?” He teases, “you wanna come in here and not see me?”

Kai has to bite his tongue in order to stop himself from blurting that it’s quite the opposite.

But Beomgyu must be awfully good at reading people, because he stares at Kai and smiles sweetly.

“Tae’s gonna be pissed, you know,” Beomgyu makes his fingers walk across the table closer to Kai’s hand. Both of them watch his hand move, watch it drop flat against the table barely an inch from Kai’s. “The one he picked doesn’t want him.”

“I’m sure Taehyun will agree that he and I are better off as friends,” Kai says quietly.

Beomgyu blinks at him again, slowly.  Kai has to wonder if these people have been trained to blink so hypnotizingly or is he really that touch-starved. 

“What about us?” Beomgyu asks just as quietly.

Kai shrugs his shoulders. “What about us?”

Beomgyu won’t answer that question, they both know it. 

“Taehyun says you’re rich.”

“Isn’t everyone here?” 

Beomgyu smiles at Kai shyly. “I guess,” he mumbles. “But you’re like half their age.”

“That’s really not the flattering compliment you or Taehyun think it is.”

“I’m serious,” Beomgyu is still smiling. “Are you a chaebol?”

If Kai had a drink right now, this would be the part where he spits it out of his mouth in shock.

“Nowhere near,” he laughs. “Taehyun clearly didn’t speak about me much for someone who claimed to be so interested.”

“Taehyun’s never been interested in more than the money,” Beomgyu snorts. Kai can tell from the way he speaks that he means it from a place of fondness, though. 

“What are you interested in?” Kai asks on a bated breath.

Beomgyu takes a while to answer, looking around and sighing. He looks at Kai for a second, and the man swears he sees a flash of honesty in them before they glaze over and lock him out. 

“I just do my job,” Beomgyu utters the words, but Kai can’t bring himself to believe them.

“I’m interested in you,” he says brashly. It gets Beomgyu freezing, his eyes stuck on Kai and the ice in them melting instantly.

“You don’t know me.”

“I want to,” Kai ponders. “Isn’t that enough?”

Beomgyu shifts in his seat. Kai watches him, not at all worrying if he’s made Beomgyu uncomfortable. Maybe in other cases he’d be a little more cautious, but he can see the exact same want he has mirrored in Beomgyu’s eyes. 

“My break is about to end,” Beomgyu looks away from Kai. He slides away from the booth. “I should go.”

Kai watches Beomgyu slip away into the room at the back, falling back into his seat with a huff. What the hell is he doing?

It takes two nights of restless sleep and a meeting that almost goes wrong for him to make a decision. 

Kai ignores Soobin’s probing gaze all day, ignores his assistant’s hesitancy towards him, and he ignores his thoughts that scream this is a bad idea. By the end of the day, Kai’s migraine has only gotten worse. Yet, somehow, he’s leaving work at midnight, driving his car towards that quiet side of the city that he shouldn’t have grown so accustomed to in only two visits. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Kai blames it on the fact that he loves the quiet so much.

He’s antsy as he waits in the room they’ve guided him into. The receptionist had told him to wait here, and a colleague will be out to set him up. Kai bounces his leg up and down at record speed, fast enough he’s starting to feel the ache in his calf. If his mother were here she’d put a hand to the leg and tell him his luck is running away. He sighs at the thought of his mother while being in a place like this. God help him if Bahiyyih or Soobin ever find out he’s doing this. 

“Hello,” the staff member that walks out is dressed in respectable attire. Something akin to a fancy waiter, maybe. Kai stands hastily, bowing at the man as he does the same. 

“Hi,” Kai says, sitting back down. “You can call me Kai.”

“Kai-ssi,” the man nods his head. He pulls out papers, and files — all to explain the different tiers, Kai presumes. 

“It’s a lot less complex than it looks,” the man says, “but it is important we ensure your full understanding for our workers’ safety.”

Kai nods, weirdly getting a genuine feeling from this guy. 

“What does the highest tier entail?” He asks, already aware he’s probably going for that one. 

The man hesitates, but then he looks at Kai and looks at the black card Kai fishes out of his blazer pocket. He flicks over some pages, sliding the paper towards Kai. 

“It’s a cost of five million won every two months,” the man says. “Costs get split evenly between the club’s maintenance, and workers of all types — waiters, bartenders, membership providers… We do get a little less than those performing, though.”

Kai bites his lip, reading the papers and nodding along. It all makes sense, and it all seems fair. Five million won every two months should have his eyes falling out his head, but Kai figures there’s a reason he’s got a black card right now. 

“It says here about specialised services…”

The man looks over at the paper. “Yes, if you want to hire someone for daytime hours. Since it would technically be outside of working hours,” he explains.

Kai nods again, not thinking much because he’s already decided. 

“If I sign up now,” he looks at the man, “I can take someone home tonight, yes?”

“Well, it’ll take a few minutes to get your card made, and we’ll have to take the five million out now,” the man gathers the papers. “But then as soon as we hand your card over, yes, you may.”

“I’ll pay,” Kai puts his black card on the table for emphasis. He takes the forms left out and fills them in with the pen provided by the man. “Once you make my card,” he says, handing the papers over. 

The man nods and tells Kai he’ll be back very soon. So he waits, and looks around the plain room. It’s not very big, nor is it very decorated. It’s separate to the entrance of the club, which means Kai hasn’t had the chance to go inside tonight. He doesn’t really plan to, if he’s being honest. He knows what he wants. 

“Here’s your card, Kai-ssi.”

Kai takes it carefully. It looks a lot like the business card Taehyun had handed him. All black with fine gold designs on it. ETERNITY printed on the front, Kai’s name and personal membership number on the back. It’s much better quality, though. Made like a real credit card rather than a flimsy little business card. He nods to the man, thanking him and handing over the black card for payment. 

“You can head inside and let the kiosk staff know if anyone catches your eye,” he tells Kai, handing the card back over. 

“I don’t need to go in,” Kai smiles politely. It’s the kind of smile he gives at the end of employee meetings. “I’d like Beomgyu.”

The man hesitates, definitely confused but he nods regardless. “I’ll bring him in for you.”

When the man leaves, Kai sighs. He pinches the bridge of his nose and screws his eyes shut. The silence he’s left in is peaceful, but he’s way too restless so he opts for tapping his membership card against the table in boredom. Kai looks up from the table when the door opens again, and in walks the man who helped him. He waits, staring at the entrance and letting out the breath he was holding when Beomgyu enters. 

He’s a little reserved when walking inside. But the second his eyes land on Kai, the tension in his shoulders release and Beomgyu gives a small smile. 

“Beomgyu, you just need to fill out your reservation,” the staff member hands over a clipboard. Kai watches him, taking note of how quick he writes out Choi Beomgyu before handing it back to the man. 

“You are both free to leave, or stay,” he clears everything up, ready to finally leave them alone. “But Beomgyu is hired to go home with you either way, Kai-ssi.”

There’s a welcomed breeze about the night when the two of them head towards Kai’s car. Beomgyu is trailing alongside him, staring at Kai with an awful smirk on his face. 

“Can’t say I was ever expecting you to do this,” Beomgyu admits, buckling himself into the passenger seat of Kai’s car. “Guess you’re more unpredictable than I thought.”

“I suppose so,” Kai mutters. “But just so you know, I have absolutely no idea what I was thinking by doing this.”

“That’s okay,” Beomgyu smiles. “I can help you with the next part.” 

The next part is what has Kai bricking it, actually. He guides Beomgyu up the elevator and into his apartment. From there he pauses, letting Beomgyu take his shoes off and wander inside. Kai stays by the door, the reality of it all sinking in and he feels a little dizzy. 

“Can I get you a drink?” Kai offers awkwardly. 

Beomgyu shrugs his shoulders. “Looks like you need one more than me.”

“Sorry,” Kai chuckles awkwardly. He does crack open a bottle of his good wine, though, and pours some for him and Beomgyu. 

He hands it over with barely still hands, keeping eye contact with Beomgyu and trying to make sure he hasn’t made an awful mistake. 

“You can stop looking so stressed,” Beomgyu says before taking a sip. Kai looks away from him. “I’m glad you called me,” he tells Kai. 

“We— we don’t have to do anything,” Kai says then. “If you don’t want to, that is. I’m okay with talking. You can take the guest room, too.”

“Do you want to just talk?” Beomgyu steps closer, his voice a lot more breathier now. “I’ll do that if it’s what you want… but if you want more that’s okay, too.”

Kai nods, taking a large sip of his wine before admitting: “I have no idea where to start. I’ve never done this before.”

“Sleep with another man?” Beomgyu asks lightly, smiling at the snort his question gets from Kai. “Hiring someone?”

“That,” Kai mumbles, still too pathetic to say it for what it is. “Do you have ground rules?”

“Well, you’ve read the contracts,” Beomgyu speaks differently now, his voice a little more real now that he’s discussing the business side of it all. Kai is a bit embarrassed at how much he likes it. “Safety and all that.”

“But what about you ,” Kai presses. “Personal rules?”

Beomgyu blinks at him. “I might have had them,” he mutters. Kai raises an eyebrow. “But I think you already know that I wouldn’t consider them with you.”

The words falling from Beomgyu’s mouth has Kai surging forward. The taste of red wine from Beomgyu’s lips is far more intoxicating than any drop of it Kai’s ever had before. It must be the reason he goes in for more, taking and taking until he physically cannot. Kai finds his way to his bedroom with Beomgyu, pausing again while staring down at him with dark eyes. 

“Don’t worry,” Beomgyu whispers, already reaching to take Kai’s blazer off his shoulders. “Just let it happen.”

Kai watches Beomgyu’s gentle fingers work to open each button of his shirt. He can feel his heart beating in his chest, and he honest to god cannot remember the last time he felt this nervous. Beomgyu presses a hand to Kai’s chest, still covered by the unbuttoned shirt. He looks up at Kai, eyelids low as he guides the man towards his bed. Kai sits on the edge of it, biting his lip in anticipation when Beomgyu smiles down at him. 

“Are you okay?” Beomgyu asks softly.

Kai nods, fighting the urge to fall back onto the bed entirely. Beomgyu crouches to his level, hands on Kai’s thighs and digging his fingertips in slightly. With as much gentleness as he can maintain at this moment, Kai kisses Beomgyu again. It’s not the sweetest kiss, but he guesses they’re not really having the sweetest moment. Beomgyu’s grip on his thighs tighten and his breath gets caught the more Kai pours himself into the kiss. 

But then Beomgyu pulls away and sinks to his knees in front of Kai. He looks up through his eyelashes, touching everywhere he can while still staring at Kai. It is something alongside pathetic and embarrassing, the way Kai’s legs turn to jelly as Beomgyu works him up. He falls back onto his elbows, eyes closing at the immense pleasure he’s feeling for the first time in a long time. Kai lets himself get lost in the feeling, toes curling and head falling back.

“Is this all you want?” Beomgyu asks. His voice is rough, and a little deeper than normal. Kai looks down at him with heavy eyes. Beomgyu’s own eyes are blinking up at him, but Kai can see the little tears in them. His lips are wet, and Kai can’t help wiping the bottom lip with his thumb.

The question isn’t charged with any sort of extra intention at all. Beomgyu is simply asking because it’s his job. Between all the blurriness in his eyes and chest, Kai finds himself admiring Beomgyu’s ability to switch into business mode so easily. 

“What happens if I say no?” Kai asks breathlessly.

Beomgyu keeps his hand on Kai, moving up and down slowly as he tilts his head. “Whatever you want to happen,” he answers. “This is your personal service, Kai-yah.”

“Okay,” Kai mutters. 

He has Beomgyu pressed against his mattress, hypnotised by the way his breath hitches every time Kai’s hips knock into his. Beomgyu’s hands are in Kai’s hair, pulling and scratching and making himself known in any way he can. It must be near four in the morning when Beomgyu finally tells Kai he’s ready, like he was asked to. Kai doesn’t like to waste time, of course, and he brings them both crashing down from their high. His hand around Beomgyu fumbles by the end, his own release taking over. 

When they’re lying beside each other, chests heaving and eyes barely open, Beomgyu turns to his side. He faces Kai, reaching out to place a hand on his cheek. He turns Kai’s head to look at him, too, leaning forward and leaving a soft kiss to his lips.

“Goodnight, Kai-yah,” he mumbles. 

Kai’s problem has always been that he’s a little too curious.

That’s how he and Soobin have stumbled across unpleasant truths their whole lives. Soobin always says he’d be living a life of ignorant bliss if Kai wasn’t so nosy. Kai definitely knows that his mother would still treat him the way she treats Bahiyyih if he wasn’t so eager to know everything. But he is, and he always has been, which is how he found out at age fifteen the reason he doesn’t see his father very much. Now, his mother protects him in a way different to how she protects Bahiyyih. 

It’s why he spent the two nights before making a membership researching everything he could about Eternity . 

He likes to tell Soobin it’s the reason they’re so high up in their careers. And he likes to remind Soobin that his nosiness is the reason he’s in a relationship with Yeonjun, too. 

The only issue is that when Kai has a question itching his mind, he can’t focus on anything else.

He’s a little too emotional, maybe too sensitive, which is hard to believe when you see Kai at work. But Soobin knows it, his sister knows it, and his mother knows it best. Unfortunately, Yeonjun knows it, too. He’s sitting in this meeting right now, thinking over his dinner with Beomgyu last night, trying to figure out how the hell he knew. Kai’s had Beomgyu over quite often in the past two weeks, almost every night except for Thursday’s, obviously. Sometimes he just goes in to see him and Taehyun at the club, other times he brings Beomgyu home for the night. 

Times like last night have become more frequent. Kai brings Beomgyu home for dinner and a chat before they fall asleep in the same bed, nothing more than some gentle kisses shared.

This is where his problem starts, because he can’t bring himself to discuss it with anyone else. Not without giving the whole story, and he cannot do that. When the meeting is dismissed, Kai is out of the room in seconds, already holding his phone to his ear and heading to his office.

Maybe this is where he should have realised that he’s in too deep. The fact that he can dial Taehyun’s personal number with his own personal number. 

“Hi, Kai,” Taehyun says calmly. “What’s up?”

“You’re not working tonight right?”

There’s a stretch of silence over the phone. Kai can hear some shuffling about, Taehyun whispering something to someone else. 

“No,” Taehyun confirms. “Why?”

“Do you wanna get lunch with me?” he asks before he can stop himself. “In about half an hour, I’ll text you the address?”

“Okay,” Taehyun agrees easily. “Just the two of us? Beomgyu hyung is at the store right now, but I can–”

“No,” Kai cuts him off. “No, don’t worry about hyung. I’m seeing him later anyway.”

That’s another thing Kai has started doing, calling Beomgyu his hyung .

It’s interesting to see Taehyun with no makeup on his face. Kai can’t help but blatantly stare at him, just a little amused at his awful dress sense. He’s in jeans and a hoodie. His hair is messy and he honestly looks like he’s just rolled out of bed.

“I have some questions,” Kai gets to the point. Taehyun looks a little confused, but he lets Kai proceed. “About the setup of it all.”

“I can try to answer,” Taehyun says, taking a sip of his drink. “But everyone at the club has different situations.”

“You live with Beomgyu hyung,” Kai reiterates. “How different are the two of you?”

“Well,” Taehyun thinks about it. “I’ve been there just a little longer than him. I’m planning on leaving soon.”

Kai nods, looking out the window in thought.

“Kai-yah,” Taehyun calls him. “Do you think we’ve become friends, you and I?”

Kai hums in confirmation. “Why?”

“What do you really want to ask me?”

“What happens when a customer starts to like you?”

The look on Taehyun’s face makes Kai feel a little humiliated. He clears his throat.

“It’s hypothetical,” he tells Taehyun.

“You like Beomgyu hyung?” 

It’s posed like a question, but it feels more like Taehyun is trying to tell Kai. Still, he doesn’t respond, waiting for Taehyun to tell him what happens.

“Well, it’s between us and the customer,” Taehyun says. “We can have relationships outside of work. Just means our partner would have to be okay with what we do, I guess. We could change to a non-hirable worker, but our pay would be a little less.”

“And they’d have to be a partner, only , I assume?”

Taehyun nods. “Yeah, you’d have to end your membership.” 

“You guys are free to leave whenever?”

“Yeah,” Taehyun says honestly. “They already know I’m planning to go soon.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“I’ve made more than enough money to be jobless for a while,” he smiles. “I’ll spend some time looking, doing something simple, I think.”

Kai nods, “if you ever need job help come to me, okay?”

Taehyun pulls a face, but there’s no real distaste to it. “Such a nice guy,” he jokes. “Thanks, Kai.”

When he gets back to work after lunch, there’s no escaping Soobin. He’s on Kai’s trail like a lost child, eyes wide and lips twisted in the way that shows he has something to say.

At least he has enough of a brain to let Kai sit in his office chair with a coffee. He still doesn’t speak, but he looks at Kai with those eyes that remind Kai he is younger than Soobin. Kai pretends not to notice by busying himself with whatever papers he’s got lying around. 

“Are you seeing someone?”

Kai pauses. His hands hover over some contract for an intern, reaching for his cup of coffee instead. He looks at Soobin over the rim of the cup. 

“What?” he asks before taking a sip.

Soobin leans back in the chair opposite Kai. “You’re very happy lately,” he comments.

“Glad to know how I usually come across,” he mutters with a blank look.

“You know what I mean,” Soobin sighs. “Even Hiyyih and Yeonjunie hyung have asked me if I know anything.”

Kai almost hesitates, raising an eyebrow at his friend. “What does Hiyyih know?”

“That you didn’t have any complaints with her posting you on her instagram,” Soobin retorts.

It’s a fair point, actually. Usually, Kai will just text her scans of privacy contracts if she posts him on her social media without forewarning – which is all of the time. The other day, Kai had done nothing but like the post amidst texting Beomgyu about his day. He didn’t think much of it then, and tries not to think anything of it now.

Except, he’s beginning to realise that he’s not very fond of saying that he and Beomgyu aren’t together. 

“So, I liked my sister’s post, now you think I’m seeing someone,” he mumbles. “Even you aren’t that ridiculous, hyung.”

“Hyuka,” Soobin looks at him carefully now. “Going out of your office for lunch is something you haven’t done in nearly five years.”

“We go out and eat sometimes,” he tells Soobin. His friend gives him a flat glare, not giving in to Kai’s fake aloofness. He sighs. 

Soobin gives up eventually, thankfully. But he spams Kai with tons of emails and contracts to look over for the rest of the day. He feels his eyeballs literally burning by the time he shuts off his computer past midnight. Soobin had come in maybe an hour ago, told Kai he’s going home and asked him not to stay too late. 

He figures one hour after Soobin isn’t too late. 

The streets are dead empty as Kai drives home. The receptionist smiles at him, wishes him a good night and Kai has to stop himself from falling asleep inside the elevator. He had started to use all the benefits of his level of membership by the third night with Beomgyu. He avoids the club as much as he can, only going when he needs a change of scene. Beomgyu can get dropped off, and Kai sighs when he remembers that Beomgyu was to be here at eleven. 

They’ve been getting into a routine, kind of. Kai will come home and Beomgyu will be waiting for him in the kitchen. They’ll eat, or Kai will just de-stress by talking about his meetings. Beomgyu will stay with him and listen to whatever he says regardless of understanding it or not. He tells Kai his days off, sleeping in on Thursdays and cleaning his apartment with Taehyun on Saturdays when the club isn’t open. 

Beomgyu tells Kai whether other people at the club are interested in him. Always adding in that he’s managed to make a co-worker look much more interesting than he is. Kai never takes the time to question the relief he feels whenever Beomgyu says that. 

Kai kicks off his shoes, staring at Beomgyu’s as he does so. The kitchen is empty, save for a meal covered for Kai left on the island. He looks at the note left on top. He fails to recognise the warmth in his chest as he reads Beomgyu’s handwriting. Kai puts the covered food in his refrigerator, heading into his bedroom. 

His footsteps falter at the sight of Beomgyu curled onto his side in Kai’s bed. 

Quietly, and slowly, Kai undresses himself and puts on a loose t-shirt that was lying around. The bathroom he uses is connected to his bedroom. It’s bigger than the guest bathroom, with enough space for a shower and a tub. Kai goes straight for the sink, reaching for his toothbrush which was left beside Beomgyu’s. He splashes water onto his face, looking at his red eyes and blinking at himself tiredly. 

Beomgyu stirs from his sleep when Kai slides into bed beside him. He’s not wearing his usual silk blouse and black jeans, already dressed in sleep shorts and some old t-shirt Kai had forgotten he owns. He falls onto his back, letting Kai pull him close enough for their lips to meet softly. 

“Hi, baby,” Kai whispers tiredly. Tired enough that he doesn’t notice the nickname fall out of his mouth. 

Beomgyu’s eyes blink open while looking up at him. “Sorry, I fell asleep,” his voice is groggy and deep. 

“It’s okay,” Kai squeezes Beomgyu’s hip gently. He watches his eyes close again. “Are you tired?”

“Do you want to do anything, we can,” Beomgyu answers quickly, his voice still soft in the dark room. 

Kai leaves another kiss on Beomgyu’s lips. He goes in a bit deeper this time, leaving both of them with wet lips. Beomgyu hums into it, barely needing to fight his way into Kai’s mouth. 

“I’m going in late tomorrow,” Kai tells him. “We have the morning, go to sleep, hyung.”

“Hm,” Beomgyu turns closer to Kai. “You too, Kai-yah.”

It takes Kai some time to fall asleep. 

He spends the time looking down at Beomgyu, curled up into Kai’s large frame. Beomgyu’s features look the nicest when he’s asleep, Kai’s come to learn. It’s because he has no coy expression on nor does he have those trained eyes blinking at him. He looks calm. There’s a small frown between his eyebrows whenever he’s deep into his sleep.

Kai has also come to learn that he enjoys pressing a finger in that space to smooth it out. 

Beomgyu’s fingers stretch out over Kai’s chest, sighing in his sleep and eventually pulling the younger man down with him. 

It’s a little sad that Kai’s idea of waking up late is eight in the morning. Still, he can’t help it, being used to five in the morning starts. Beomgyu is still asleep, because he quite literally sleeps like the dead, according to Kai. If you ask him, he’ll just say he has a normal sleep schedule, unlike Kai. Slowly, and as gently as he can, Kai slides out from underneath Beomgyu. 

He grabs his phone, checking his emails and texts from Soobin. Kai scrolls carelessly, ignoring the texts but focussing on one or two email subjects. Maybe he should really get back to Soobin about the merger he so badly wants. He’s pulled from his phone, though, when Beomgyu rolls closer and rests his head on Kai’s shoulder. 

“What are you doing?” He says lowly.

Kai turns his head, leaving his phone on the bedside desk and facing Beomgyu. 

“Nothing,” Kai mumbles, lying on his side opposite Beomgyu. 

The older man closes his eyes for two seconds, opening them again to blink sleepily at Kai. 

“Didn’t look like nothing,” he says. “Looked like your emails. I thought you were off this morning.”

Kai smiles, reaching forward to push some of Beomgyu’s hair out of his face. He lets his hand rest in the strands of hair, pressing gently where he can. Beomgyu smiles back with his eyes closing again. 

“I’m off,” Kai promises. “You miss me that much?” He jokes. 

Beomgyu hums. Kai doesn’t really know what it means exactly, but he gladly accepts the kiss Beomgyu barely touches on his lips. 

“I have a question,” Kai tells him, a little bit hesitant. Beomgyu hums again. “What do you plan on doing after this?”

Beomgyu looks at him with a weak frown. “After the club?” He asks. Kai nods. “As in, my job?” 

Kai doesn’t nod this time, nor does he confirm with words. He just looks at Beomgyu until he responds. 

“I don’t know,” he mumbles, turning onto his back. 

Kai chases after him immediately. He hovers over Beomgyu’s side, holding his hip gently. 

“I was never supposed to be working there this long,” he admits in a whisper. 

“Why are you?”

“You know my parents stopped supporting me when I came out… the money was quick, and pretty good,” Beomgyu avoids Kai’s eyes as he speaks. He tries to look into them, tries to show Beomgyu there’s nothing to hide from Kai. “And then I met Taehyun. Now he’s my best friend, and we have each other’s backs…”

“Taehyun’s leaving,” Kai supplies. “He told me.”

“I know,” Beomgyu mumbles. He looks at Kai, pursing his lips in thought. “But what would I do?”

“What do you want?” Kai thumbs at the skin under Beomgyu’s eye. “I’ll help you.”

“Kai-yah,” Beomgyu sighs. “It’s not that simple.”

“Why not, hyung?”

Beomgyu doesn’t respond. He doesn’t have anything to say because he’s scared to admit that Kai does make it seem that simple. But nothing in Beomgyu’s life has ever been simple, so forgive him if he’s a little sceptical. 

He stretches his hands upwards, pulling Kai down to kiss him properly. Slowly, too slowly, Beomgyu works Kai open, breathing into each other’s space and giving all he can. Kai’s hand wanders. It slips beneath the baggy shirt Beomgyu is wearing and tickles his skin softly. His breath hitches, giving Kai an advantage to take over. The hand slips lower, fingertips dipping beneath the waistband of the shorts. 

Beomgyu presses himself into Kai, wanting nothing more than for his hand to stop teasing. He whines a little when Kai pulls his hand away entirely. With a chuckle, Kai dips his head lower, kissing down Beomgyu’a jaw as slowly as possible. Despite it being the most tempting thing in the world, Kai has to stop himself from biting onto Beomgyu’s collarbone. He has to refrain from leaving visible marks on his neck, it’s in the contract, unfortunately. 

Kai freezes when he hears the familiar beeping of his apartment door being unlocked. He lifts his head, groaning in frustration and barely acknowledging Beomgyu’s confusion. With grumbles from his lips, Kai kisses Beomgyu apologetically, dragging himself out of bed. Beomgyu sits up in bed, rubbing at his face and blinking at Kai half-awake. He’s not sure what’s happening, but all Kai does is tell him to stay here and that he’ll sort it. 

“This is breaking and entering,” Kai tells Bahiyyih as he dawdles into the kitchen. 

She’s already at the coffee machine, two mugs out. Kai reaches for a third one, placing it beside them and ignoring her noise of confusion. He stares at his sister, resting his hip against the counter. 

“It’s good for me to make sure you’re alive every now and then,” she says cheerfully. 

“Soobin sees me at work everyday. Isn’t that enough?”

“No,” Bahiyyih smiles. Though she opens her mouth to speak, nothing but a wrangled noise leaves it. Kai follows her line of vision, sighing in defeat. 

“I knew it,” she almost screams. Kai has to nudge her to remind her that they’re indoors. She turns to her brother. “I knew you were seeing someone.”

Beomgyu stands in his bedroom doorway, looking over the kitchen in hesitation. His toes are curled up in awkwardness, eyes stuck on Kai most of the time, but he does sneak a glance or two at Bahiyyih. Kai holds a hand out, smiling when Beomgyu takes it and sits beside him at the island. 

“Hyung,” Kai tries to cover his grimace with a smile. “Sorry. Hiyyih doesn’t know how to live in her own apartment.”

“It’s— it’s okay,” Beomgyu says so quietly only Kai can hear him. He looks at Bahiyyih again. 

“You’re awful,” Bahiyyih says to Kai, setting down two cups of coffee. “Introduce me properly,” she demands. 

Kai holds back on rolling his eyes. 

“This is my sister,” he tells Beomgyu. 

“Your sister,” Beomgyu repeats. “Your sister is Huening Bahiyyih?” 

“I know,” Bahiyyih pouts. “He’s way uglier than me, right?”

Kai sighs, rubbing at his eye to ward off a headache first thing in the morning. He ignores Bahiyyih’s comment, opting to glance at Beomgyu sheepishly instead. 

“Hiyyih,” he says with a little shyness. “This is Beomgyu.”

“Is he your boyfriend?”

Beomgyu splutters on his sip of coffee. Kai avoids Beomgyu’s wide eyes on him, choosing to weakly glare at his sister instead. Bahiyyih blinks at him innocently, like always. 

“He’s… my friend,” Kai says slowly. He looks away from Bahiyyih, and he definitely doesn’t look at Beomgyu. 

“He’s wearing your clothes,” Bahiyyih comments. Kai figures she must’ve been the one to get him the t-shirt.  

“Stop talking like he isn’t in the room,” Kai scolds softly. Bahiyyih pouts, and it’s times like these that remind Kai he is the older brother. He turns to Beomgyu with a small smile. “Sorry,” he whispers. 

“I won’t tell mum,” Bahiyyih promises. “How long have you been seeing each other?”

Kai purses his lips in frustration, ready to refute. 

“Three weeks.”

Beomgyu’s reply steals all the argument from Kai’s mouth. He looks at Beomgyu in silent surprise, barely noticing the bright red of the older man’s ears. He and Bahiyyih are smiling at each other and Kai finds he could get used to the image. 

“Okay, I have to admit,” Bahiyyih nods. “I’m shocked no one figured it out until now.”

“Everyone is wildly interested in my love life,” Kai tells Beomgyu. 

The older man nudges Kai softly. “They care about you.”

“I like you already,” Bahiyyih says suddenly. 

Kai ignores the freezing feeling in his stomach. He doesn’t think Beomgyu is ready for a new life like Kai wants him to be. Not if anything he was saying earlier is to go by. The part that scares Kai the most, he realises as he watches Beomgyu smile and talk to Bahiyyih — he can wait for him to be ready. He would wait for Beomgyu to come to him if that’s what has to happen. 

“Three weeks is a long time,” his sister mentions to Beomgyu. “And you’re staying the night.”

“I thought you weren’t going to pry,” Kai mumbles, downing the rest of his coffee. He stands up to stretch, his back clicking in ways that makes Bahiyyih wince. 

“I don’t mind,” Beomgyu replies gently. He looks up at Kai with soft eyes, reaching forward and pinching the bit on skin on show from his stretch. “Be nice to your sister.”

“Do you have siblings?”

Beomgyu’s smile falters. “No,” he says simply. “I don’t talk to my family much. I’m from Daegu.”

“Oh. Did Kai tell you we have family in America?”

“No,” he tilts his head, glancing at Kai briefly. “He didn’t mention it.”

“Yeah, we don’t talk to them,” Bahiyyih smiles. “We get it.”

By the time Bahiyyih leaves, Kai is ready to call in for the whole day off. Except he can’t do that otherwise Soobin will kill him. So he’s in his bedroom, putting on a fresh shirt and looking at Beomgyu who is sitting on the edge of the bed. He’s looking right at Kai. 

Despite Kai getting ready for work, Beomgyu is still in his sleep clothes. He doesn’t look like he’s about to get dressed anytime soon, and Kai finds he doesn’t care about leaving Beomgyu in his home for the day. The realisation sits funny in his mind, making him grit his teeth in thought. 

“What’s got you thinking so hard?” Beomgyu asks. 

Kai looks at him, eyes wide and jaw unclenching.

“What do you mean?” He tucks his shirt into his slacks. Beomgyu stands up to easily take over, looping Kai’s belt through the trousers and pulling him closer. 

He smiles up at Kai. “You were clenching your jaw,” he mutters. 

“I wasn’t,” Kai lies. Beomgyu sighs, blinking at him in disbelief. He lets Kai get away with it though, simply tugging him closer and pressing their lips together.  

“Your sister is nice,” he whispers. “Still can’t believe your sister is the most famous singer in the country, but she’s nice.”

“She has her moments,” Kai mumbles, falling into Beomgyu’s lips again. “She’s not gonna shut up about you now, gonna send me texts all the time.”

“That’s good,” Beomgyu smiles. “You have to think about me all the time, then.”

Kai stares at him. He hopes the fact that he already thinks about Beomgyu all the time isn’t so obvious. 

“Yeonjun hyung’s birthday lunch is this Saturday,” Kai says. He bites on his lip in mild nervousness, knowing Beomgyu only knows of Soobin and Yeonjun. “Come with me?”

“I don’t work Saturdays,” Beomgyu says as he grabs Kai’s blazer. 

He accepts it from him, sliding his arms in and looking away from Beomgyu’s eyes. “I know.”

They face each other for a moment, Kai reaching to smooth out some of Beomgyu’s hair off his face. He tilts his head upwards, searching his eyes for any sign of discomfort.

He finds none. All Kai sees in Beomgyu’s eyes is the same crazy feeling he feels. 

“You know what that means?” Beomgyu whispers. 

Kai nods, still searching his eyes. “I know.”

“You— you want this?”

Kai nods again, bringing his face closer to Beomgyu’s.

“How could I want anything else?”

He seals his words with a soft kiss, holding Beomgyu’s face in his two hands. Beomgyu’s hands grip onto Kai’s arms, squeezing tight as he breathes heavily into the kiss. 

“I’m nothing special,” Beomgyu says weakly. He’s not looking at Kai. 

“Hyung,” Kai whispers softly. He waits for their eyes to meet again. “You’re everything special. From the moment I saw you, I knew.”

“Isn’t this too much?” Beomgyu laughs humourlessly. “Too soon?”

Kai shakes his head, smiling at Beomgyu. “Is that how you feel?”

Beomgyu is silent for a few seconds. He eventually looks at Kai, shaking his head with a small frown. 

“I’m a bit scared,” he admits. 

Kai pulls him closer, holds him in his arms. “Will you come?” He asks, “on Saturday?”

He feels Beomgyu nod against his shoulder. Kai smiles. 

“Then we’ll start from there, okay?”

Kai wonders how absurd it is for fall for someone in the span of three weeks. He thinks about how absurd it is for him to fall for someone in that time. It’s been about a month since Taehyun gave him that card. He should be used to the fast paced days, since his job usually makes things feel like this.  

It’s not like Kai is heartless, okay. Maybe his job did tear up his sentimentality just a little bit, and maybe he has become more accustomed to the black and white of it all. Soobin has always been the feeler between the two. Kai only lets his heart get involved when it’s concerning the people closest to him. Never has Kai felt like his heart is one of the people closest to him. He wonders if this is how Soobin feels for Yeonjun.

It sits a little funny in his head, the fact that his two closest friends are in love. Kai never thought he needed someone like that. He doesn’t like to rely on people. Not at work, and especially not when it comes to his personal life. It’s what drives Soobin and Bahiyyih crazy. 

His car alerts him with a text message from his mother. She’s asking for Kai to come visit her for dinner one day. He looks at the screen on his car, barely reading the message preview and leaving it for later. There’s no doubt he’ll be seeing her soon, his mother is very authoritative like that. It’s where Kai and Bahiyyih get it from. Soobin has definitely gotten some of it, too, if his years of knowing her have meant anything.  

It’s probably the worst thing that Soobin has gotten, because now he knows exactly how to talk to Kai to get him to give in. 

Kai pulls his car up in front of an apartment building that is significantly smaller than his. There are about ten, maybe thirteen floors that Kai notices. He stares at his steering wheel, taking a deep breath in and bracing himself to go inside. The wind isn’t too bad today, something Kai is grateful for because he actually put some effort into styling his hair today. It’s the least he could do for Yeonjun’s birthday. 

The buzzer options startle Kai for a moment. He embarrassingly crouches to be at level with it, hesitating to hold down the buzzer beside the number 5 which has Choi Beomgyu and Kang Taehyun written beside it. The buzzing sound echoes around the speakers in front of Kai, and he waits while holding his breath.

“Hello?” 

The voice is a little scratchy and distorted from the old speakers. Kai smiles at the sound of it anyway.

“Hyung,” he says, hoping the nerves aren’t too noticeable. “It’s Kai.”

“Oh,” Beomgyu says through the speaker. He sounds a little lighter now, a little caught off guard, maybe. “I’ll be down in five minutes, wait for me.”

The speaker clicks off before Kai can respond. He pulls away, standing upright and feeling the small ache in his back disappear immediately. He waits, looking around and taking in the part of Beomgyu’s life he hasn’t been so exposed to before. The streets around him are busy, right in the centre of the city, not on the outskirts like Kai’s home. There are cars on almost every road he can see, leaving little room for silence with their traffic. Kai tries not to let the noise seep into his head.

“Hi,” the voice beside him seems to do the trick. Beomgyu sucks away all the noise that bothers Kai like a vacuum. 

Kai looks at him, eyes sizing up and down Beomgyu’s attire. His hair is barely parted in the middle, letting his face be on show while still falling into his eyelashes a little. There’s no makeup on his face, which Kai hadn’t realised until now is something he prefers. Beomgyu looks up at him, squinting to avoid the sun in his eyes.

His black suit is well fitted, Kai notes. Something he’d probably not have the eye to pick out for himself, either. A normal shirt tucked into his black trousers. Kai smiles, hoping his own grey suit matches Beomgyu well.

“Wow,” Kai breathes. “You look handsome, hyung,” he says quietly.

Beomgyu smiles shyly. “Thanks… you too, Kai-yah.” He gestures towards Kai’s car, the two of them shuffling across the pavement to get inside.

“Are you okay?” Kai asks when Beomgyu settles in and clicks his seatbelt in place.

He looks at Kai with a little smile, eyes flicking around. “Yeah,” he whispers. “Just… a bit nervous. I don’t – I’ve never done this.”

Kai holds his hand out, palm facing upwards. He watches Beomgyu slide his hand over Kai’s, holding it carefully and pulling him in. Kai feels the warmth bloom in his stomach as their lips press together. He smiles into it, distracting Beomgyu enough that the shakiness of his hands goes away. Kai leans away, letting beomgyu use his fingertip to fix some of his hair.

“I’ll be with you,” he tells Beomgyu with a soft gaze. 

Soobin and Yeonjun live in a home that is arguably nicer than Kai’s. Probably because it’s not a penthouse apartment on the highest floor that overlooks all the city lights. It’s on the quiet road just above the richest part of Seoul, where only about five houses stand separate from one another. Slowly, Kai pulls up near a large home hidden behind gates. Beomgyu looks outside the window with wide eyes, mouth hanging open just a little. He turns to Kai. 

“What the fuck?”

Kai bites on his lip to hide his smile. 

“Yeonjun hyung’s family is richer than Soobin and I combined,” he says, reaching for Beomgyu’s hand. Kai looks down at them, watches his thumb smooth over the back of Beomgyu’s hand. 

“Okay, so you are a rich CEO. Your best friend is also one, your sister is the most famous idol in the country. And now you’re telling me your best friend’s boyfriend is a chaebol ?”

“When you say it like that we sound insufferable,” Kai mutters with a light eye roll. Beomgyu faces him with a serious look. Kai smiles at him.

“Kai-yah,” he sighs. “Taehyun and I split ramyeon packets on Sundays.”

Kai cackles. The laugh rumbles out of him before he can consider if it’ll offend Beomgyu. He throws his head back before looking at Beomgyu with watery eyes.

“Hyung, that means nothing to me.”

“Well, maybe it should,” Beomgyu stresses. Kai shakes his head. “I’m serious, darling, I’m not– I’m not like you. I’m not even from the city.”

“Beomgyu hyung,” Kai grabs his attention. “Do I make you uncomfortable?”

He gives Kai a flat look. “You know you don’t.”

“Did Hiyyih? Do you think my friends will?”

Beomgyu sighs. “Kai-yah, I don’t want you to realise in a few months that I’m not what you really want… And you just think you want me because I’m something different to you.”

“Hyung,” Kai breathes out, he can feel his eyebrow twitching in confusion. “You have changed my life,” he says. Beomgyu looks away from him. “I mean it,” Kai holds onto his hands. “I can see my future with you,” he admits. 

Beomgyu looks into Kai’s eyes, the emotion swimming in them matching Kai’s own. He tilts his head, giving in too easily, because he always does when it’s Kai. Kai waits for Beomgyu to nod his head, reaching up to hold Kai’s face gently.

“Kai-yah,” he whispers. Kai closes his eyes, listening to Beomgyu. With a shaky voice, Beomgyu continues. “Do you love me? Because I love you.”

Kai thought the warmth in him every time he touched Beomgyu was it. He thought every moment he spent in comfortable silence with the older man was it. Kai had no idea he needed to hear the words directly from Beomgyu. 

“I love you,” Kai promises. Beomgyu lets out a shaky exhale. 

Kai kisses him slowly, carefully. Beomgyu’s fingers curl into the back of Kai’s hair to pull him closer. With a smile, Kai pulls away. Beomgyu’s hands are still in Kai’s hair. 

Beomgyu blends in with Kai’s circle easily. It’s almost hard to believe this is their first time meeting. Kai stands on the side, watching Beomgyu talk to Bahiyyih and Yeonjun about something. He has that glint in his eyes that makes Kai feel special for being able to see them all the time. Soobin comes up beside him as Yeonjun starts explaining some of their house extensions. Kai can feel Soobin’s eyes on the side of his head, burning into him. He looks down at his drink, feigning nonchalance. He’s doing a very poor job of faking it, though. 

“Thought you said you weren’t seeing anyone,” Soobin says in an awfully unbearable tone.

Kai sighs. “Didn’t you always say you wouldn’t ask questions if I ever brought someone to you?”

“I never thought you actually would,” Soobin retorts. “I’m entitled to one question, no?”

“What if I agreed to the merger now in return for no questions?” Kai tries, looking at Soobin with a cheeky grin.

The question makes Soobin hesitate. He looks back at Kai with a fake frown, cursing him under his breath. It gets Kai the result he wants, though, so he can put up with it. He’s sure other people have called him worse things. 

Kai feels his heart spread that now-familiar warmth around his body when Beomgyu turns around to look for him. When their eyes meet, he smiles at Kai, waving for him to come over. 

“You called me darling,” Kai whispers later that night. Beomgyu makes a confused sound, looking up at Kai with warm eyes. 

“What?”

“In the car, earlier,” Kai tells him, his hand roaming down the side of Beomgyu’s body. “You called me darling.”

“I don’t— did you not like it?”

Kai chuckles, leaning down to kiss Beomgyu’s nose softly. “I liked it,” he mumbles. 

“Good,” Beomgyu smiles. “My darling.”

Kai responds by pressing Beomgyu into the mattress. Their hands lock together slowly as Kai pushes his hips into Beomgyu’s just slowly. Hypnotised by the sounds he makes, Kai continues — giving and giving as Beomgyu does nothing but takes and takes. When Beomgyu’s head falls back against the pillow, Kai watches him as if he’s in a trance. 

There’s nothing else for him to do but to give himself to Beomgyu entirely. His face falls into Beomgyu’s neck, kissing and biting softly. The soft breaths in his ear spur him on, proving his love for Beomgyu in the form of red and purple marks blossoming on his neck. 

“Not— not too much,” Beomgyu barely says. “The contract.”

Kai pulls away, watches how Beomgyu can barely keep his eyes open. There’s no point in mentioning the contract, not when they’ve promised themselves to each other. Not when Kai is cancelling his membership on Monday, and definitely not when Beomgyu is planning on handing in his notice with Taehyun. 

“Fuck the contract,” Kai mumbles. Despite being the one who warned, Beomgyu smiles at the way Kai says it. 

“Why?” Beomgyu asks, still smiling as he waits for Kai’s answer. 

“Because I love you,” Kai replies instantly. 

Beomgyu nods, his hands holding onto Kai’s shoulders, fingertips digging in slightly. Kai hisses, breathless from holding himself up. Beomgyu’s face contorts with each roll of his hips, and the ache in his arms seems to be nothing compared to the sight. 

“You love me,” Beomgyu whimpers. Kai leans down to kiss him messily. “I love you,” he babbles. “Love you, Kai-yah. Kai-yah— ”

The gasp from Beomgyu is taken in by Kai, kissing him through it all. His quiet sounds are all stolen by Kai, holding him close like he might disappear. Kai’s hands are everywhere on his body until Kai needs Beomgyu to ground him. There’s nothing but the sounds of them breathing for a while. Kai keeps his eyes closed as he falls beside Beomgyu. 

By midnight, they’ve showered and Beomgyu is sleeping in Kai’s arms. His face is pressed against Kai’s chest, eyebrows furrowed. Kai can see just enough in the darkness to press a finger to the little crease between the eyebrows. Beomgyu’s entire face relaxes, leaning closer into Kai. 

It’s not been a long time, but Kai supposes the right person wouldn’t need a lot of time to become a natural part of his life. He used to think no one would get him. No one could blend into the silence that Kai has always loved so much. 

Beomgyu gets him. He puts himself right in the centre of the silence, takes all the tired thoughts from Kai and throws them into the void for him. Beomgyu has become someone who makes Kai’s miserable everyday into something peaceful, something worth it. Maybe it’ll take some time to get to where they both want to be, but as long as they want to get there together, Kai doesn’t mind so much. 

Being with Beomgyu like this is how Kai learns that the silence is nicer when there’s someone to share it with.