Kicks

A/N: So... Anyway.
Where were we?

Oh right.
Fresh-- I mean. French Prince of Bel Air--- ERRR. FRANCE. PARIS. OUI OUI~~

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"So why do we have to attend this gala?"

For the umpteenth time, Sae whined in the backseat of the limo, and for the umpteenth and one time, Bam reached over and put a reassuring hand on the burgundy-haired youth's thigh.

"Because he invited us and it would be rude to decline." His tone was slightly chastising and mocking, but still sincere. The bluenette was probably getting tired of repeating the same thing over and over again to his perturbed lover.

Groaning, Sae let his head fall back on the cushion of the seat. He really didn't know what to expect from Georges; especially after his and Bam's silent war. It was comforting to know that his cousin had won the little war with the French Prince, that Bam was going to stick up for the teen (even if it was in a silent manner with no verbal 'hey, back off of my man'). Was that going to persist? Or was Bam going to continue to be amused with the fact that Sae was practically beating off love-sick assholes with a stick left and right?

"Don't worry babe," he said, and Sae instantly felt a little lighthearted. 'Babe' and 'baby' usually always calmed the waters for the teen. "If things get messy I'll just throw a croissant at him or something."

"... I don't think that's the right weapon, Bam..." Sae said, raising a brow.

Bam nodded and snapped his fingers, smiling. "Ah, because he would use croissants against us, because he's French! We shall fight him with knives and butter!"

Sae opened his mouth to say something, but then decided against it and instead sighed and shook his head as he glanced out of the window. One of the hotels had been completely rented out for the occasion, and people in extravagant dress were milling about inside and out. It was late afternoon and the sun was setting, but still fairly warm as women donned sheer scarves and elbow-length gloves, and men pulled out their beetle tail blazers.

The limo stopped in front and instantly camera crews and reporters swarmed; Sae knew he should have requested they take an unmarked limo instead. Even after two years and running in the business he still wasn't so used to the publicity, and all of the flashing lights gave him a headache. He took a deep breath and nodded at Bam, who was poised to open the door - the door swung open and Bam helped the young Prince out of the limousine, girls screaming and calling his name as he gave a small half-smile and a feeble wave. Reporters were in his face instantly, asking about his suit - Armani - his jewelery - Dolce & Gabana - and his hair - Penny. But instead of saying 'Penny' he gave a charming smile and a wink, "My personal stylist~", taking a leaf out of Bam's book and leaving it slightly mysterious as they were ushered in.

He was on Bam's arm per usual, and no one seemed to flare any questions about that. Instead, they waved in tandem to all of the party goers and the people watching, before they finally disappeared inside of the hotel. The lobby was decorated lavishly in golds and purples, and Sae barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he glanced up at his scruffy date.

"Can he be any more gay?" He asked, making sure to speak Korean as the foreign reporters tried to worm their way over.

"Of course, Your Highness. The gayest of the Princes." Bam replied easily, and this time Sae gave in to the urge to roll his eyes and let out a sigh.

A pink microphone was shoved under his nose and they had to stop walking, Sae a bit surprised at the forwardness of the geeky, scrawny American reporter on the other side. America doesn't have a Prince... why is there an American reporter here?

"Er, hi." Sae said, not really wanting to speak much English at all tonight, if he didn't have to. And Prince Georges fell into the category of 'have to'. Not this puny American.

"Sae Rang," ugh, pronunciation was horrible, "you had a personal invite from Prince Georges?"

"Yes," the young Prince smiled and tried to wave off the next question, taking a few steps forward. But, the reporter was persistent.

"Is there any romantic connection between you and the Prince of France?"

"No, there is no romance between me and anyone, thank you," Sae said, his tone of voice clipped. The reporter frowned and that seemed to have been the ticket, as he stopped pestering the pair and dropped back into the crowd of cameras and microphones.

"No one holds your heart, Kicks?" Bam whispered in Sae's ear, and the teen blushed and flustered before pushing his cousin away.

"Shut up. Are we supposed to sign something, like a guest list?" The burgundy-haired youth glanced around, before spotting a table with a large book on it. He grabbed Bam's hand and dragged him over to the table, reaching for the feather that was resting in the ink jar.

"Guess you answered your own question," Bam said, chuckling lightly as he stood next to Sae, who shrugged as he signed his name on the line. Bam took the feather from Sae and signed his name as well; he wrote his name out in Roman letters, whereas Sae just signed his name in Hanguk. Apparently Sae didn't care too much about the function, Bam noted.

"Ah, the guests of Honor!"

The Korean men turned around at the cheery voice behind them, and Sae paled slightly and looked like he was about to flee. For good measure, Bam grabbed ahold of the sleeve of his jacket and held him in place, smiling brightly at the French Prince.

"Sir Georges, happy birthday," Bam said, bowing graciously and tugging on Sae's jacket to make him do the same thing.

Georges apparently missed the subtle stiffness in Sae's (forced) movements, or he chose to ignore them as he reached forward to shake Bam's hand.

"Thank you so much, Shin, I really appreciate the presence of two such fine men," Georges gushed, turning to kiss Sae's knuckles gently. The teen blushed and huffed, averting his gaze, before Georges decided to switch tactics. "Dinner will be served shortly. I trust you two can... oh, what is the term? 'Cut a rug'?" He laughed, and the joke was lost on Sae, who had never heard the English saying before.

"We'll see what we can do, Your Highness," Bam said, ever the perfect arm candy - complete with sugar-coated words.

"I can't wait to see you move..." Georges said to Sae with a wink and a flourish.

Sae nodded dumbly, in the back of his mind wondering just how he was going to survive through the night.

This was Hell.

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Apparently, Hell was supposed to be permanently encased in flames, and that is just what happened to the hotel that was hosting the Prince's gala. Said Prince was outside in tears, fuzzy blanket thrown over his shoulder as fire crews put out the fire that had suddenly exploded in the lobby and spread through all fourteen floors of the hotel. Sae and Bam stood out in the crowd as well, sans blankets, and were staring up at the burning building.

"You know," Sae said, a bit absently as he regarded the flames. "I was just thinking about how nice it would be to see this place spontaneously combust. The next time Georges asked me to dance and I had to decline I was getting ready to throw a tea candle at a curtain."

Bam chuckled and placed an arm over Sae's shoulders. "Maybe it was one of those instances where the human mind was tested to see what psychic powers it could produce, and you managed to light up the whole building?"

Sae snorted, "In order for my 'mission' to be complete and successful, Princess Prissy-Pants over there would be inside with it."

Princess Prissy-Pants was currently screaming at one of his butlers in French, but the obscenities were clear as day with every time the stoic butler's eye twitched as insults were hurled at him.

"Can we get out of here yet? I don't think he'll notice us slipping away..." Sae said, tugging on Bam's sleeve like an impatient child.

"Alright, alright, don't get your panties in a twist," Bam acquiesced, and the pair stole away into the crowd before locating their driver and getting into the waiting limo. With the older man's words Sae's face scrunched up cutely, and as they sat in the back seat he huffed and turned to Bam. "What?" The bluenette raised a brow towards the young Prince. "Don't like that saying?"

"I only like it, when it applies," the burgundy-haired youth said, folding his arms over his chest.

"Oh? And it doesn't apply right now?" Bam asked curiously.

"No," Sae said, and with a devious smirk he leaned over to breathe across the shell of the older man's ear. "... because I'm not wearing any panties."

A light blush dusted Bam's smooth cheeks, and Sae reached over to brush his fingertips over the man's stubbly chin. The ruggedness of his demeanor still amazed Sae to this day; Shin always had a perfect 5 o'clock shadow, no more, no less -- it was like he was frozen in time, stuck looking the way he was forever. Sae hadn't even seen or heard of him dying his hair to keep it that blue color; his roots weren't even showing. But those thoughts were easy enough to forget when Bam leaned in to press their lips together.

"Don't tempt me like that, Kicks..." the older man whispered against Sae's lips, azure eyes hooded as he regarded his young companion.

The pair went in for another kiss, but halfway were interrupted when the limousine lurched to a halt and they surged forward, Sae toppling onto the floor with a curse and Bam grabbing onto the signature 'oh shit' handle to keep himself upright.

"What the fuck!?" Sae sat up and rubbed his head, frowning as he moved to the window to see what was going on.

"Don't go near the window!" Bam suddenly yelled, a hand reaching out to grip Sae's shoulder and rip the teen away from the window, throwing him back on the floor. The window Sae had been attempting to look out shattered into a million shiny black pieces as a bullet flew through, Bam quickly throwing himself on the ground next to the teen and covering him with his body. "Jin! Jin!!"

He cried out for the driver, but no response came. A slightly shaky hand reached for the button that operated the window between the cab and the limo, and pressed the lever.

Nothing happened.

The window was stuck.

"I think they got him," Sae said, tugging Bam back down to the floor of the limo. His bright eyes were wild; it had been a long time since any excitement like this had come around the Joo clan, and apparently a function like this was an easy target. Were the perpetrators responsible for the fire, too?

Everything was like slow motion. The sounds of bullets were echoing through Sae's head, making it pound and his heart accelerate as tinted glass shattered and flew around them, each piece glinting in the dying sun light and blazing with the reflection of the flames of the burning building. Bam was yelling but Sae couldn't understand his words; the window that was shielding the driver from the young Princes was shattered as well, and this time azure eyes caught sight of crimson.

Blood.

The driver had been shot.

Didn't Sae make a vow to himself two years ago? A vow to never let others be hurt or get mixed up in his responsibilities? That promise to himself was now broken, symbolized with the horrendous sound of the glass breaking and falling onto the floor of the vehicle, covering them in shards, clattering on the pavement outside. People were screaming - was this really happening? Everything was still in slow motion and Sae let himself be covered by Bam's body. He glanced up to see blood pouring out of the side of the driver's head, his ear completely nullified, flesh hanging off of his bleeding scalp.

Then, without warning, time sped up. Bam was reaching under the seats of the limousine and pulling out assault rifles, checking the ammo and slinging even more over his shoulder. Sae barely comprehended the fact that an AK-47 was being shoved into his arms, but a sharp stinging sensation to his face made his pupils shrink and his attention focus on Bam, who's hand was raised and his chest was heaving.

"Get in the game, Kicks!" Bam demanded, chancing a glance out of the window to take in the situation.

Blinking, Sae suddenly felt a jolt of adrenaline course through his body. Sweat started to catch up with his parched sweat glands and he was locking and loading the rifle in his arms, digging through the ammunition to find some smaller hand guns to tuck onto his person. He mimicked Bam and shucked off his tuxedo jacket, tossing it carelessly aside as Bam positioned himself by the door. He lifted three fingers and Sae nodded, licking his lips and hoping that it was a good idea to get into the middle of it. Gun fire was still ringing throughout the air.

One by one Bam's fingers closed down to his palm, until just his index finger was left -- he made a fist and kicked the door open, rolling out onto the pavement and scoping out the area before Sae tumbled out behind him, weapon at the ready. Their expressions were hard as they moved forward, the crowd already scattered due to the confusing masses that had destroyed it. Paparazzi was scrambling for their cars, a few getting gunned down for their trouble, but most everyone had ran in the opposite direction. The fire crews were taking shelter by their truck and the few cops that were there were barking orders into their CB ---

A thought struck Sae.

Nobody aside from the Joo family knew what they knew.

Nobody aside from the Joo family knew that the Joo family wielded weapons and hardened attitudes.

Well... nobody aside from their enemies, and they learned that lesson quick.

Someone could see them, and the perfect Joo family name could be smeared forever. Sae would no longer be the ideal poster boy. Neither would Bam. They'd both be viewed as killers, murderers...

Thugs with big guns.

There was no way they couldn't be seen, kicking the door to the limo open and barreling out, taking aim at anything that moved.

They were in such deep shit.

To his left, a shot rang out and a bullet grazed his arm before he got completely out of the way, and for a moment, he thought he saw Bam's eyes flash red before the bluenette took precision aim and a startled cry ripped through the air as the other gunman fell dead.

"Bam!" Sae scooted back on his ass until his back was against the side of the limo, and Bam got up on his knees to prop himself on the hood and take aim.

The perpetrators were hanging out by the cop cars, and what few cops were still in the area looked massively confused. Obviously because a sudden shooting had taken place, and moreso probably because Shin Hae Joo was holding a gun that was almost as big as he was. Sae grunted and clenched a hand over his arm, trying to stem the bleeding; it was a shallow cut but the heat of the bullet was searing his skin and making it burn quite a bit.

"Bam we have to get outta here," Sae said, kicking at Bam's feet.

"Gotcha."

The voice that came from Bam was nothing like his usually calm, centered, steady voice. It sounded breathy, unstable, and... manic. Sae glanced up, and from what he could see, Bam's open eye was a glaring crimson red. Had he been shot? Did he get hit in the eye? The teen's heart hammered in his chest, he didn't hear Bam say anything about getting hit... then again the man's pain tolerance wasn't something to blink at.

The older man's gun went off and Sae knew that he hit his mark when the bluenette let out a low, sinister chuckle. What happened to Bam? Where was the calm, cool and reserved man that had saved Sae's life? Sapphire eyes glanced up to his cousin with a bit of fear, and Sae started shaking a bit. It wasn't the strangers that had guns aimed at them that he was afraid of...

For once in his life, Sae Rang Joo was afraid of the only person he trusted.

--
A/N: Muwahaha.
Let's start taking a look at this mysterious, ruggedly handsome Bam eh?
Eheheheheheheljrufljefsijfakfs.

Reviews make me work faster~
♥