Don't Fight It

Part 8

The two VIXX members arrived in the small town dispirited and sopping wet. They managed to find the guest house, and Hongbin let the other do all the talking to get them situated. He tuned in briefly when, much to his dismay, he registered that the ajumma who ran the place said there was only one room available - though it did seem like par for the course the way the day had gone so far; and only spoke up to ask if there was something they could use to dry the damp clothes in their bags.

Hair dryer and electric fan in hand, they found their room and closed their eyes as they sank down on the floor to rest their sore feet, the intermittent dripping of the water off their clothes and hair seeming to echo in the enclosed space. They remained that way for several long minutes until the younger of the two's phone buzzed a notification, startling them into action.

In a daze, they fell into the familiar pattern born of years of living together and being roommates in hotels across the globe. Without a word, they pulled their clothes and toiletries out of their bags. After handing his clothes over, Hongbin's associate went to shower. Mechanically, Binnie undressed to his boxers and went to wring his clothes out on the room's small covered porch where they'd left their shoes, but decided it'd be easier to do all of it together. And since the other set was in the bathroom with the showering member ("Don't think about it. Don't think about it."), Hongbin would leave it for him to do when he came out. Knowing the owner would be coming with the meal they'd requested within the hour and they'd need to be more presentable, he plugged in the devices, hung up their clothes, and set about drying the pajamas, figuring tomorrow's outfits could air dry.

He heard the water cut off, and the other man emerged from the bathroom ten minutes later, wearing the sweatpants he'd thought to bring in with him and rubbing his hair with towel. Binnie couldn't stop himself from observing that, with the steam pluming out the door behind him, he looked straight out of a sexy scene from a drama and had to force himself to look away, even as his heart betrayed him with a painful, excited thump. He quickly gathered up his toiletries, remembering to grab his mostly dry pajamas at the last second, and skirted around the other man into the bathroom, shutting the door firmly behind him.

Stepping under the hot water, Binnie noticed the pressure wasn't that great. "He could've warned me," Hongbin thought sourly. That thought tipped the scale in his mind, releasing all the pent up negativity in reaction to what he'd experienced that day. Everything flashed through his head: the excruciatingly uncomfortable car trip; the disaster of the car breaking down; the frustrating wait to hear back from someone about being rescued; the shock and betrayal of being set up by his members; the rain that seemed to mock their predicament; and finally, having to spend the night in the same room with him and a crappy shower.

Afraid that he'd start crying and never stop if he allowed it all to overwhelm him, Hongbin instead grabbed onto another emotion, and the angrier he became, the harder he scrubbed himself, so that by the time he finally turned off the water his skin was bright red and he was seething. He hastily dried himself and tugged on his clothes, then yanked open the door and stalked out, intending to vent his anger at the root cause of it, only to be brought up short by the sight of the ajumma setting down their trays of food.

Binnie reigned in his raging emotions and put on a good face for her, thanking her and making small talk about where they were going and what had happened. He listened to her coo over their handsome features and wish that she was 50 years younger, or at least had a granddaughter to introduce them to. By the time she left, his anger was simmering rather than boiling, and he decided the steaming rice and soup were more enticing than an argument at the moment. They ate in silence, lost in their own thoughts, until Hongbin was startled by his compatriot slamming down his spoon and pushing away his tray table.

"For god's sake just tell me what I did wrong!" the taller man demanded in a tortured voice. "I can't take you glaring at me, or worse, treating me like I have some infectious disease at best and don't even exist at worst. Just tell me what I did so I can fix it," he pleaded.

Looking at the other man's anguished expression, Hongbin's anger came flooding back and he, too, roughly pushed away his meal. "Nothing," he ground out between clenched teeth, blazing eyes betraying the lie. "You did nothing wrong. Of course you didn't. It's all me and you're completely blameless."

"Bullshit!" Hongbin's opponent cried. He stood up and began pacing, casting angry glances down at the dark expression of his companion as he spoke. "For months you've been inconsolably depressed, hiding away in your room and avoiding everyone like accepting their help would kill you. But N was right; you'll at least tolerate their presence, while with me can't escape fast enough. What the hell, Hongbin-ah?" He stopped right in front of the sitting man, fists clenched, chest heaving, as he stared down, daring Hongbin to respond.

Hongbin's anger had been increasing with every word that hit his ears, and now it propelled him to shoot straight up and look the other man in the eye, less than a foot between them.

"YOU KISSED HER!" he screamed, insensible to what he was actually saying. "That night in the club I saw you kissing that random woman and I...I just...broke. Oh god..." As if they were some kind of spell, in saying the words his rage deserted him, leaving despair to come crashing in to take its place, robbing the strength from his body as he collapsed back down on the floor and began sobbing into his hands.

"What?" the other man asked in disbelief, fury deflating as he looked down again at his distraught friend. "What did you say?" he asked again, more urgently this time, only to be met with Hongbin's wracking sobs. He sank to his knees and grabbed the jerking shoulders of the crying man. "Tell me again. Say. It. Again," he commanded desperately, trying to look into the other's eyes.

Hongbin tried to push him away and stand again so that he could run...somewhere, anywhere else. Run far away to someplace where he could be alone with his shame and misery. But the man in front of him refused to let go, and Hongbin ended up tumbling backwards, taking the other down with him. Hongbin's head banged on the floor and his vision was clouded with bright spots for a moment, only to clear and reveal the face centimeters away from his own, the hands on the floor above his shoulders the only thing preventing them from crashing together.

Tears drying on his cheeks as he gazed up into those beautiful brown eyes, Hongbin got lost for a long moment. 

"How did it come to this?" he thought, as he and the other man glared at each other, the sounds of their ragged breathing and the relentlessly beating rain increasing the already heavy tension hovering in the room.

"How in the world did we end up here?"

And then the look in the eyes above his changed, softened as the mouth below the eyes breathed, "Hyung~," in a tense, slightly husky tone Binnie had never heard before; one that made him gasp and shiver. He froze as his heartbeat began to speed up, then launched into an all-out sprint, as the gaze lowered to his lips. He became aware of the hot breath washing across his face, the way their bodies were pressed together, and began to tremble as his thoughts lost their shape when for one interminable, eternal moment their eyes locked again.

Then with a groan that was part frustration, part relief, and shook Hongbin to the core, Hyuk lowered his head to close the tiny gap between them and kissed Hongbin.

Thankfully his body responded without giving his brain a chance to process things - for if he'd been able to think, events undoubtedly would have unfolded differently - and before he knew what was happening Hongbin was kissing Hyuk back with all the passion he'd been restraining, reaching up to snare the younger man's hair in his grip and hold him in place as their lips moved together, deliciously rough and familiarly unfamiliar.

They had to break apart to breathe, and Hongbin caught his breath again when Hyuk began trailing hot, lingering kisses over his eyes, his cheeks, and down to his neck. He squeezed his eyes shut and arched his back in response, only to abruptly come back to himself as a sudden crack of thunder sounded overhead and the lights blinked out.

------------------------------------------------------

A/N: And there you have it...the big reveal!  Who guessed correctly?  Was there something that definitively gave it away?  Who else were you rooting for?