Chapter Text
They were fine.
Despite being kicked out of their home and thrown out onto the streets of Seoul, an unfamiliar and now seemingly cold city, Sicheng and Ten were fine. As for how they got there? Sicheng and Ten had met in a program for foreign exchange students and immediately hit it off. Despite the language barrier, Ten being Thai and Sicheng Chinese, they became fast friends. With the help of their mutual Korean lessons, they began to be able to communicate more and more, becoming closer than ever. When the tie had come for them to choose where they would stay for their exchange, they had jumped at the chance to sign up to be roommates in the bright city of Seoul, South Korea.
Alas, all had not turned out as planned.
It had been a month into their year-long program, and all had been going well. Their host family was nice, if not a tad standoffish at first. They were welcoming to the best friends, the middle-aged man and woman welcoming them into their house and treating them nothing short of fantastic after getting to know them better. They were fed three meals a day and the woman was always attentive to their needs. The man, while more silent than anything, still provided good advice and short, yet smart remarks that made television all that more entertaining. One night, Sicheng and Ten had been curled up on the couch together, watching a drama together and mindlessly eating popcorn. Ten had mindlessly planted a kiss on his best friend's cheek, both not thinking anything of the small gesture. It was just something they did, a wholly platonic and pure action they had always shared, they never thought anything of it.
That is until the woman had dropped the teacup she was holding, causing it to shatter on the tile flooring as the man's face turned bright red.
Sicheng and Ten were now standing outside the house, their bags packed and a cab being called for them by Ten. He had grumbled something about knowing a man name Jaehyun that could help them. Leave it to Ten to know everyone, Sicheng thought. He was glad his best friend had the safety net of his friends in the city, although it felt odd to be glad for something in their current situation.
"Ten?" He asked, his hand reaching out for his friend's, interlocking their fingers.
"Yes, Winwinnie?" he responded, looking up from his phone.
"Why- why did they throw us out? Did we do something wrong?" He asked, his brow furrowing in thought. Ten sighed, squeezing Sicheng's hand in reassurance. The boy had always grown up very sheltered, and Ten doubted the boy even knew what being gay was, let alone people's reactions to it.
"We didn't do anything Winwin, it was probably a problem with the agency, okay? Don't worry about it," He reassured, looking for their cab hopelessly. He didn't want to explain what it was to the poor boy, let alone in their situation. Sicheng's face screwed up in confusion, his lips forming a pout. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but by the grace of God (Or probably whichever diety had decided to have mercy on them that day) the taxi pulled up and Sicheng's question was quickly forgotten.
After hurriedly shoving their luggage in the trunk, Ten Ushered Sicheng inside, smiling weakly as the boy interlocked their fingers again as they both were seated. Ten checked his phone, looking at the address Jaehyun had texted him. "Uh, the SM hotel on 127 North please?" he asked the driver, who simply nodded and started to drive.
Thankfully, Sicheng was silent through the ride. He just sat with his hand in Ten's as he stared at the window, his eyes occasionally fogging up with tears. The elder soothed his friend by slowly rubbing his thumb over his knuckles, reminding Sicheng that he was here. When they arrived at the hotel, Jaehyun was standing outside the door, and Ten had never loved a man more in his life. He and Sicheng paid the driver, taking their luggage from the trunk and walking up to Jaehyun.
"Barely in Seoul a month and already stirring up trouble Ten?" He teased, laughing as the aforementioned Thai slapped him on the arm.
"Hey, it wasn't our fault, fuck off Yoonhoe," He said, laughing it off. "Anyways, thanks for letting us crash here until we find a place to stay, we really owe you one," Ten said, looking at the man before him with his best puppy eyes.
"You bet your ass you do, you've owed me one since middle school." Jaehyun paused, sending a cursory curious glance at Sicheng, who hadn't said a thing the whole conversation. "By the way, who's the kid?" He asked, gesturing towards Sicheng. To Ten's surprise, Sicheng looked at Jaehyun, smiled and bowed.
"I'm Sicheng, but people call me Winwin. Thank you for helping us," He said, and Ten smiled at how outgoing the other had become. Before, he was so self-conscious about his Korean he almost never spoke, but with his development, he spoke more and more.
"Hey, I'm Yoonoh or Jaehyun, most people just call me Jae," He said, then turned around to gesture at the hotel behind him. It was large and made of brick, something odd to see in modern Seoul. The sight somehow comforted Ten, lie he was somewhere home. "This is the hotel I own. I inherited it from my father a while back. You're both welcome to stay as long as you want, so don't worry about paying," He said, turning back around. "Care to see your rooms?"
( ~ * ~ )
An hour later, Ten found himself seated at the hotel bar with Sicheng and Jaehyun, nursing a fruity cocktail while Sicheng happily sipped on some strawberry soda Ten had never heard of before. "Knowing our dear Tennie here," Jaehyun said, smirking at the nickname. "I know you two won't want to be here for long, I know he hates to feel like he's freeloading. I know two guys who can help you out, I've known them since my freshman year of college. They're pretty chill, and they'll be here soon," He said nonchalantly, ignoring how Ten choked slightly on his cocktail.
"Soon? As in how soon?" Ten asked, shooting Jaehyun a glare.
"Within the hour, this was the only time they were free," Jaehyun said, chuckling to himself at what seemed to be an inside joke and suddenly Ten was very sketched out.
"Are you sure Jae? I need to make sure these guys aren't like- ax murderers or anything," Ten said, still eyeing his friend suspiciously.
"Oh, come on. Do you really think I'd set you up with murderers? Don't you trust me?"
"Barely."
"Good enough for me."
( ~ * ~ )
True to Jaehyun's word, within the hour, two admittedly well-built men in suits walked into the bar, making a beeline for Jaehyun. They walked with casual purpose, like they knew exactly what they were doing at all times. The first was tall, all long limbs and golden skin with brown hair and striking but soft features, greeting Jaehyun with a loud "Jaehyun! Buddy!" and a clap on the back. The second of the two was smaller but had an aura of power and importance nonetheless. He had black hair that fell into his piercing eyes that were a shade of blue from what looked to be colored contacts. They were both good looking (read: fucking sex on legs ) and quite frankly, had jawlines that could cut steel. (Not that Ten was looking.)
"Well, I've filled you both in on each other, I trust you four to talk it out among yourselves. Have fun kids~," Jaehyun, who Ten was now unsure was either his savior or the reason he would die in a back-alley, disappeared from the bar.
Ten shifted so he was in front of Sicheng, his gaze diverting to the men in front of them. No one spoke for a few seconds, the four all sizing each other up.
"Hello, I'm Johnny," Said the tall one, the first to break the silence. He stuck out his hand to Ten, who shook it firmly.
"Ten," He simply replied, hearing a small "I'm Winwin," sound off from behind him.
"Taeyong," The other man said, shaking Ten's hand as well before moving on to Sicheng's. They both had sharp contrast, even in their temperature. While Johnny's skin was hot, so hot Ten was almost concerned the man had a fever, Taeyong's was cold like ice. It went with their personalities, he assumed. They seemed almost too different to be there together, like there was something wrong about them being somewhere so below what Ten assumed was their high status.
"So, I assume Jaehyun told you how we're willing to help you out with your, well... predicament?" Johnny said, looking down slightly to meet Ten's eyes. Ten had never felt smaller than in that moment, and Ten instinctively clasped his hand with Sicheng's.
"No, actually he didn't," Ten replied, shooting them a suspicious glance. Johnny sifted on his feet, casting a glance at Taeyong, who nodded ever so slightly before he began speaking.
"Well, you see, we have a rather large household, a penthouse downtown. We haven't had company in a while, and you two are welcome there," Taeyong said, picking up for Johnny.
"We don't want you to worry about expenses, we know you're both exchange students and probably worry about that stuff anyways. As you can see, or maybe as Jae told you, we're both important bosses at the company that owns a chain of restaurants up here on 127 and all over Seoul. We have spare cash to burn and then some. We'll take care of everything," Johnny said, seemingly having some sort of rehearsed routine.
"Anything and everything," Taeyong echoed, his raspy voice seeming to rumble in Ten's chest.
Ten was taken aback, the offer reverberating in his ears. This was not happening, he did not get this lucky. Rich men did not just give their money away to people like him and Sicheng.
"All we ask for in return is your company and your time," Johnny finished, and suddenly everything clicked in Ten's head. He was angry, but he couldn't place why. Maybe it was because Jaehyun assumed he couldn't take care of himself, maybe it was because he'd dragged Sicheng into this mess, he didn't know.
"We'll think about it," He hurriedly answered, immediately pulling (read: dragging) Sicheng out of the bar to find Jaehyun. When they did, Ten practically launched himself at the man, a death glare in his eyes.
"You set us up with sugar daddies?!"