Work Text:
1.
They have taken over the playground, sitting lazily on the swings, taking swigs of warm beer and crunching noisily on greasy snacks. The afternoon is ending, and the sky is lacerated with red streaks. It’s still warm though, and it’s nice. Laughter cramps their bellies, someone spills beer on their new shoes, there’s play fighting and some serious banter.
Hoseok is the first one to hear it, someone running towards them at full speed, and he recognizes the youngest of their group, sent earlier on a supply mission. His hands are empty though, and he skids to a stop in front of Hoseok, sending up a small cloud of dust. Questioning eyes fall on him and he grins.
“There’s a big fight! Near the construction site.”
Swings get abandoned in a rush and soon enough everyone is piling behind a low wall that offers the best viewpoint on the ordeal. Hoseok has someone’s elbow in his ribs and he’s pretty sure that someone else’s foot is under his, but the show is too good for him to care.
Because there is indeed a fight. It is almost over though, there’s already two people writhing on the ground and a third one gets decked in the jaw, reels back, trips and falls. Hoseok winces in painful solidarity, and someone gasps when the perpetrator obviously goes for a kick to the face. He doesn’t have time though, as another guy barrels into him with an awkward drop-kick. Someone cheers from behind the wall, but their joy doesn’t last long as the guy doesn’t recover quickly enough and gets strangled. Hoseok winces again. This is never good.
That’s when he sees him. A slender guy, with slick black hair. His face would be almost delicate if he didn’t wear such a hard expression. He’s trailing an aluminum bat on the ground, not even bothering to lift it. Going straight for the two wrestling shapes. Silence falls on those behind the wall when they all take notice of him. Hoseok grabs whoever is closest to him by the shoulders, points in his direction.
“Do you know who that is?”
His friend shakes his head and none of them are taking their eyes off the guy. He’s getting into position, taking his time. If this was actual baseball they would probably be witnessing the hit of the decade. But it’s not, and there’s a collective intake of breath when he swings, dropping his victim in one hit.
Hoseok thinks he might be slightly in love.
2.
He needs a new batch of friends, Hoseok thinks, when not one of them can tell him who the guy was. That is, until he tells the story to Hyunwoo, while the giant is folded over hot coffee, his university books by his side.
“Oh. That must be Kihyun. Sounds like him at least.”
Hoseok looks at his friend expectantly, but Hyunwoo just goes back to silently sip his coffee. He tries hard to swallow his impatience.
“And? Who is he?”
“We had a class together last semester. We still talk sometimes.”
“He goes to university?”
Hyunwoo nods and somehow Hoseok is surprised. He had pictured the guy as some sort of merciless gang leader, and has trouble reconciling this image with the idea of him going to school. With Hyunwoo, of all people.
“Yeah. Well, I don’t see him much there anymore. He works part-time at a karaoke.”
“Which karaoke?”
Hyunwoo narrow his eyes at him and Hoseok does his best to look nonchalant. It’s not working.
“Are you going to stalk him at his workplace? It’s creepy you know.”
“It’s less creepy if you come with me.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
3.
Hoseok secretly thanks the gods for giving him a cute face because he can’t fathom any other reasons why Hyunwoo would have agreed to this. They’re standing on the sidewalk opposing a slightly run-down karaoke joint in a neighborhood he doesn’t usually frequent, and he still hasn’t made-up his mind to go inside. The grey building doesn’t look inviting at all, and Hyunwoo is in no-way encouraging. Hoseok is about to give up when a commotion at the door makes him look back.
There’s Kihyun, and a guy who’s visibly past drunk aggressively hanging onto him. They’re both shouting, Kihyun trying unsuccessfully to push him off. Punching clients must not be in the employee handbook, Hoseok assumes, and he’s crossing the street before he can think twice. His arms slip easily in place, one over, one behind, he’s done this a thousand times. When he pulls his shoulders back, it’s only a matter of seconds before he feels the man go limp against his chest. He lays him gently on the ground and when he straightens up, Kihyun is looking at him with narrowed eyes.
“When he wakes up, he’ll have calmed down.”
“Are you sure of that.”
Hoseok nods.
“He’ll be out just a couple of seconds.”
And sure enough, the man is already groaning at Hoseok’s feet. Kihyun doesn’t seem to care.
“So what are you? Some sort of vigilante?”
“I’m… a friend of Hyunwoo. We were in the neighborhood, and…”
He points over his shoulders, to Hyunwoo, who’s making his way over to them. Kihyun smiles when he sees him, and Hoseok feels his heart skip a beat.
4.
When Kihyun’s shift end, they spend the rest of the night together, the three of them. Hoseok learns that Kihyun is all dry humor, sudden outbursts and unsuspected warmth.
They end up in a small urban park at 4am, and there’s still people milling about, drinking in small circles, laughing loudly, huddled together for warmth. They get beers from the convenience store, sit down on a low wall, watch a guy play guitar. Kihyun’s cheeks have a rosy tint, from the night breeze or the alcohol or both, and he keeps smiling at everything. It’s not even cold but he’s swaddled in a huge scarf, and there’s a bruise on his cheekbone, and Hoseok wants to do something about how Kihyun is too much but he doesn’t know where to start.
So instead he teaches him the rear neck choke when he asks, keeping him against his chest a bit longer than strictly necessary, Hyunwoo watching over them with a smile. Kihyun keeps Hoseok’s arm draped over his shoulders when they go back to sit. Soon enough Hoseok feels a warm weigh against his side, realizing belatedly that Kihyun fell asleep. He fits him more comfortably against him, covering him with his jacket.
Hyunwoo and Hoseok talk about nothing and everything in hushed whispers until the sky turns rosy from the rising sun. Kihyun wakes up with a stifled yawn when Hoseok nudges him, talking about first trains, and going home. Kihyun shakes his head. He wants to eat, warm dumpling soup and maybe ramen and maybe a spicy jjigae because it’s good for hangovers. Hoseok is had at the mention of ramen. He’s falling so fast he cannot see the sights.
5.
Hoseok learns that Kihyun is also hard edges and cold fires. It’s later in the morning, they still haven’t gone home, and Kihyun receives a call for help. His eyes turns cold and unforgiving, miles from the warm fuzziness sleep had brought to them.
That’s how they end up in the same place near the construction site, Hoseok mentally apologizing to his taekwondo master that insisted the art is not to be used in actual fights. There’s a blond guy crouching on the low wall behind him, screaming advice with a slightly veiled voice from behind a backpack he’s using as a shield. It’s good he is, because Hoseok’s focus is wavering. Kihyun is a few meters away, and he looks hard as steel. He has his bat again. He’s merciless. He’s beautiful, too, wild, and Hoseok misses the blond guy’s scream and gets punched in the sternum, the air painfully rushed out of him. The punch is followed by a swipe at his legs; he falls hard on the ground, teeth clattering. He tries to scramble back up but the guy kicks him in the ribcage once, twice, and he falls on his back again, out of breath, pain blurring his mind. That’s when he hears a shriek, and sees the blond guy whacking his opponent over the head with his backpack, in full force. The guy stumbles, and Hoseok takes the opportunity to force himself back up and drops him with a kick.
“What the heck did you put in that bag?”
“Textbooks.”
The guy winks and saunters off to Hyunwoo, who’s carting a visibly unconscious fellow off from the fight. It’s almost over, and they won.
6.
The last thing Hoseok learns is that Kihyun has infinite care for those around him.
They’re all huddled over the eating counter of a convenience store, and Kihyun keeps pushing kimbap slices towards their youngest, the one who fell unconscious during the fight. He’s ignoring Hoseok but Hoseok doesn’t mind, keeps talking to whomever is listening. He doesn’t mind, if Kihyun doesn’t listen he does let him come too close, steal from his food, steal warmth, steal touches. So Hoseok keeps talking even though no one is listening, and when Kihyun turns towards him to tell him to shut up, he smiles that one smile that takes up his whole face, and if Kihyun’s cheeks turn rosy it’s not from the spices in his ramen.
(7.
It’s not true, there’s much else Hoseok learns. Much later. He learns that Kihyun tastes like cinnamon if you kiss him after breakfast and dumplings after lunch, that he falls asleep easily and wakes up early. That his body is all hard edges and soft slopes, that his voice is velvet, that he likes gripping hands in his hair. That he did name his baseball bat but is too embarrassed to tell what. That he’s too embarrassed to tell of his feelings as well, so he will show them through food, care, and a warmth Hoseok’s the only one to feel.)