Work Text:
Kai walked into a bar. It was his 18th birthday. There was a party planned for the weekend, but his parents were out of town until Friday, and his sisters were still in Hawaii. That left Kai alone in his empty house on his birthday, with nothing but his thoughts for company.
"Think of this as an opportunity! You can go out and meet someone who isn't me or Beomgyu. It'll be good for you!" Taehyun had said, when he told Kai at school he was bailing on their Avengers marathon.
"Go out. By myself. Alone. How does that sound fun?" Kai asked.
"Well," Taehyun deliberated. "You might meet someone."
And that was how Kai wound up at The Blue Polaris.
Kai looked around nervously. There were a lot people at the club, most of them somewhere between elderly and decrepit. It made him wonder exactly how his brand-new fake ID had managed to get him into the place. He had not expected other freshmen, but was everyone supposed to be so old?
Maybe he should leave.
Stop being pathetic, Kai. It only feels like everyone is staring, he thought with a grimance. Kai made his way to the bar, figuring he might as well have some liquid courage, and shoved his way between two groups so he could speak to the bartender.
"What can I get you?" the bartender asked, just as Kai leaned gingerly against the counter.
Kai blinked. There were people who had obviously been waiting for a drink; he could see them eyeballing him.
"Shouldn't—" he started.
"Get him the strongest shit on the menu, he looks like he can stomach it," someone said.
Kai went bright red in about five seconds. He sputtered. "N-no!" and whipped his head around to see a man, probably in his late 20s, staring down at him. His eyes were dark and hungry. "That's really alright! Um, just a rum and coke, please." Kai spat out the first drink he could think of, his mother's standard.
The man laughed. "I'm Hyunri," he said. "You sure you don't want that? My treat.”
"I'm sure!" Kai squeaked. "Oh, thank you," he told the bartender, who slid the drink into place in front of him. He paid for the drink and gulped it down. "I'm going to go dance," he announced, backing away from the creepy stranger.
"Great!" said Hyunri. "I'll dance with you."
"That's really okay," Kai said, sliding through the crowd to get to the dance floor. For the first time in his life, he was grateful for being skinny. The crowd swallowed him easily.
Thursday nights at The Blue Polaris were always hit or miss. Most time there was absolutely no one worth a drink, much less a conversation. Other nights, Soobin would see someone he had to have, either in his bed or in the backseat of his car. Soobin was not picky and people seemed to like him more than they should because of his face—and well him being rich was also a bonus.
Tonight looked to be headed for the former. There were a lot people Soobin had already fucked and even more people Soobin would never fuck. He was about ready to call it a night when the prettiest thing he'd seen in years walked in the front door.
It was possible his jaw dropped.
The kid was young, but not young enough for Soobin to call him a kid, at least. He had dark curls and a pale skin that shone so brightly even under the dingy light. It was hard to tell in the dark of the club, but Soobin thought he was tall and skinny. The boy walked over to the bar and Soobin gulped down.
He was strongly tempted to go over to the boy, but something about the shape his jaw and the width of his shoulders suggested that the newcomer was towing the underage line, if he managed to cross it at all. Soobin watched from his table, nursing his beer and wishing that walking over and talking to the pretty boy would not make him feel like a creeper.
Time passed. Soobin, who should have gone onto the dance floor or gone from the club entirely, continued to watch as the boy gathered quite the crowd of men. He took a devastating turn on the dance floor, where he was met with an assortment of partners that spread the entire population of the club. He went back to the bar and his paramours practically fell all over each other trying to buy him drinks. Soobin idly considered going over there and bringing up the fact that one phone call would land all of them in jail. He continued to watch.
"He's a pretty little thing, isn't he?"
Soobin looked up over to see Yeonjun had decided to sit at his table. "Why are you here?" Soobin asked." Aren't you supposed to be in jail?"
Yeonjun put his hand over his heart. "I'm hurt," he said. "It's been months, Bunny. Haven't you missed me?"
"Like a dog misses fleas." Soobin took a rather large gulp of his beer, hoping Yeonjun would take the hint and go away.
"Well," Yeonjun said, and stood and stretched. "If you aren't going to be any fun tonight, maybe I'll go see what all the fuss is about. He does have a nice ass." The other man meandered toward the bar, where the pretty boy was trying to decline what appeared to be every single mixed drink the bartender knew how to make.
Soobin scowled. Yeonjun was a jerk and douchebag even Soobin had a problem with. He had also been kicked out of The Blue Polaris for harassing the staff. It had been a pleasant two months without him. But even Yeonjun, a man who actually wore Axe body spray, must have better sense than to harass an obviously underage boy.
He was wrong.
It was a little overwhelming to have so many men surrounding him, buying him drinks. Kai had wanted a break from dancing, and feeling like he was being passed from partner to partner with no say of his own. Many of the men he danced with had followed him back to the bar and he found himself drowning in alcohol. Maybe it was time to go. Maybe this had been a bad idea. Obviously, Taehyun had no idea what went on in gay bars.
"Give him some room, people!" A new man was forcing his way up to Kai. He was older than many of the other people at the bar, with cold eyes of an indeterminate color and a smile that put Kai on edge. "You should have some water." The men signaled for the bartender to bring Kai a glass.
Kai slid farther back on his barstool, but only accomplished bruising himself on the bar. "I-I'm okay, I already have some water." He gestured at the single water bottle amidst this sea of brightly colored drinks. It was a little incongruous and made Kai think of coffee shops and hipster photographs. He could probably get a lot of money for this shot.
"If you're planning a drinking all these," said the man, "You're going to need more than one bottle of water." He added, "I'm Yeonjun, by the way."
Kai said, "Oh, I'm not drinking all of these."
"Which ones are you going to drink?" Hyunri asked, still hovering nearby.
Kai looked helplessly down at the drinks. He wished Taehyun were here, or Beomgyu, or anyone, really, who he actually knew, instead of this horde of pushy men.
"Why don't we take some of them to a table," Yeonjun suggested, grabbing up a couple drinks in one hand, and reaching out for Kai with his other.
"Oh," Kai protested. He tried to back away but there was nowhere else to go.
"Fuck off, Yeonjun," a brand-new voice said. "You'll get yourself thrown out again, and this time they might call the cops."
Kai looked around and found the new person with a lanky brunette with a pouty lips and dark, smoky eyes. Kai had his fair share of meeting handsome people from all over the world, but this man in front of him might took the cake. The brunette said, "You shouldn't actually drink any of these. How old are you, anyway? Are you even legal?"
All of a sudden, the crowd around Kai began to mutter.
"Yes," said Kai, obviously a lying through his teeth. "I'm 21, today."
"Right. I don't actually believe you." The brunette gestured toward one of the tables in the back. "Why don't we go back there and talk and you can explain to me why I shouldn't put you in a cab immediately."
A cab did not sound all that bad, actually, but there was something intriguing about the way the tall man effortlessly took control of the situation. Kai deliberated, and then said, "I don'—I don’t even know your name."
The man paused, glancing back at Kai with amusement parting his lips. Damn, he took his previous statement back. The man was not handsome, he's fucking ethereal.
"My name? You're worried about my name?" He looked meaningfully at the crowd around them, and the drinks that covered half the bar, and raised an incredulous eyebrow.
Kai set his chin stubbornly despite his red ears and flushed cheeks. "Yes."
"Choi Soobin," the man said, grinning. "And you?"
"U-Um," Kai stuttered, heart beating so fast when he saw two little dimples carving themselves on the man’s cheeks. “H-Huening Kai.”
"Well, Hyuka," Kai blushed even more when Soobin shortened his name, smirking. "It's nice to meet you.”
Kai blinked when Soobin offered him a hand, but his instinct told him to accept his offer so he did. He let out a gasp when the man immediately linked their fingers together, so tender and perfect like they were solved puzzles.
“Let’s get the hell away from these thirsty gentlemen, shall we?”