Hunted

Those orientals were a surprising bunch. Zach had gotten notice from Leandor that they wanted to talk to him, and then proceeded to offer to get something sorted with no apparent connection to him. Danger was not a problem - in fact, danger was a plus - and difficulty wasn't a deal-breaker. Of course, by the hints he received, he realised it wasn't them who were going to do it.

Still, he'd taken the chance to give them the one assignment that'd save him a lot of trouble. It was about as illegal as actions came, but the redhead wasn't overly worried about that. It was a rare month where he hadn't broken the law at some point. If one counted what his 'employees' did, it'd be every week for sure.

The surprising bit, though, was that it had been resolved with success already that same night. Now that was efficiency. The guy he had talked to - 'Choi' was what he called himself - had said that it was nice to be able to do a favour back for allowing them to stay, but this was far bigger than letting them stay in an apartment for a week or two. He owed them a thanks... perhaps especially because that was an excellent excuse to go see Leandor.

Unfortunately, he didn't know much about them, so figuring out a suitable token gift had been difficult. Bradley was no help either, so in the end, he had settled for alcohol and chocolate. He heard orientals consumed a lot of alcohol. So big bag in one hand, he knocked on the door with the other.

There was a bit of noise on the other side followed by quick footsteps. The sound of the door being unlocked came and then it slid open a crack. A purple-haired young man peaked out and then proceeded to opening it the rest of the way. He flashed a bright friendly smile as he looked over the guest and his eyes landed on the bag briefly. "Hello sir! Can I help you?"

Sir? He didn't often get titulated that by youngsters not on his payroll. He matched the smile, listening for noise but not hearing any of consequence. "Good evening. Would Choi or Leandor be around?"

"They're both in, actually, but Choi's napping... You must be Zach, right? Come on in!" The guy stepped aside, granting entry into the suite. He held out his hand for a friendly shake and stated, "I'm Julian."

Zach smiled. In hindsight, maybe it was to be expected that people opening that door would know who he was, but it was nice nevertheless. He accepted the hand and claimed eye contact as he moved inside. "Hello Julian. You're right, I'm Zach." Leaving the bag leaning against the wall, he started removing his boots. Would probably be rude to assume he could stay a bit just like that in another context, but given the situation, he figured it wasn't a problem.

"Go ahead and find a seat. I'll go get Leandor. He's been practically living on that balcony tonight. In his state, it'll be a miracle if he doesn't get sick." Julian rushed across the room toward the open balcony door and disappeared outside. Only a second later he appeared again, smiling sheepishly and made his way to the kitchen. "He'll be out right away. Can I get you something to drink?"

Apparently, that guy was rather service-minded. Zach started wondering what he worked with, quickly ruling out branches like airlines or banking, as he doubted either kind of company would allow an employee to colour his hair purple. Probably something a bit more relaxed. A bar, maybe? He smiled appreciatively as he followed into the living-room area, noting a sleeping oriental on a couch. "Thank you, Julian. A drink would be appreciated." He rested the bag against the nearest chair, then sat down in it.

Julian opened the fridge and some rattling was heard. "Well, we have lots of beer... Is beer okay?" The guy took out a few glasses and peeked over to the other. "Kyun, do you want something to drink too?"

For a second, the redhead wondered whether the guy was talking to the sleeping one, but then spotted another oriental out in the kitchen. Obviously rather fond of the purple-haired guy from the glances and touches he made. "Beer's good," Zach answered, then let his glance wander around the apartment. Leandor said there'd be lots of people; perhaps they were in the bedrooms or something. Being out past 10 pm didn't seem too likely given their need for a safe place to stay.

The awake oriental flickered his tongue over Julian's cheek, chuckling lightly before he started mumbling. "Yeah, I'm thirsty... want me to carry anything?"

"Yeah, you can carry two of these to the coffee table." Julian grinned and pecked his friend on the lips before getting to work pouring the beer into four mugs.

Cursing came from the open balcony door, but there was no visual sign of life. The sound of a chair scraping against the floor followed with some irritated grumblings. Not much later, the blond stepped inside. He was topless with a book pressed against his chest like he was hiding something, and had a dark bruise on his stomach. There was a red stain on the hem of his pants, but other than that he looked perfectly clean. "Hello Zach. So nice of you to drop by. You wouldn't happen to be carrying a spare shirt around with you, would you?"

The redhead gazed over at him with confusion for a bit. Upon realising that it most likely was a joke, he tried for a warm smile. "Don't tend to, no." After pondering for a moment whether just to get one or offering to, he figured the latter was likely to be denied. "Are you out of shirts?" He asked, hoping to receive a serious response.

Leandor nodded and strolled over to sit on the arm of Zach's chair. "I ripped my last one, and I would not dare wear a ripped shirt." He sighed, draping his free arm over the back of the chair. "Well, anyway, we can talk about that later. To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit, bible boy?"

Furrowing his brow, the redhead shifted to put a hand on the man's shoulder. "When later? I should know what happened, shouldn't I?" He slid his fingers further, gently brushing over the man's neck. Zach wondered whether to answer the question as well, but decided that'd make it too easy to avoid his own questions.

"What happened?" Leandor seemed to consider that while he shifted the book covering his chest slightly. He looked a bit uncomfortable holding it there. "It's nothing to fuss about, really. A sweet little school girl fell on me and ripped my shirt." He smiled politely when the purple-haired fellow came over to hand them their beers.

Zach sighed. What was that man hiding? He fixed the blond a worried glance as he slowly rested his free hand on the book. Reluctantly, it was lowered to expose the chest. Not a pretty sight. A large, mean-looking wound made Zach swallow uncomfortably. Although it appeared to be cleaned, it was still undressed. He opened his mouth to say something, but he just sighed again. Seeing Leandor like that brought pain to his chest. "Who did this?" He finally whispered.

"A school girl. Oh, did I forget to mention she had a knife and was bent on killing me?" He chuckled nervously and focused on taking a sip from his glass as if it were the most interesting thing there. He cleared his throat and replaced the book where he had it hiding his wound despite the hand still resting on it. "It's just a scratch. Forgive me for getting ahead of myself, but I suspect I will survive."

Withdrawing his hand, Zach attempted a smirk. Didn't want to ruin anyone's mood more than necessary. "Sure, you'll be fine..." he started, then thought better of it. "Are you in pain? Did anyone look at it yet?"

"Yes, it hurts. But I don't want it bandaged up. As if scabs weren't unattractive enough, a bandage would just be plain tacky." The blond raised a curious brow and leaned over to give Zach a gentle peck. "You didn't answer my question, bible boy. What brought you all the way over here? It's about our little friends, right? Ramesh?"

The redhead smiled. So it was okay to display that much affection in front of the others? Good. He wasn't all too fond of hiding such things. With a light shrug, he nodded over at the couch. "If you didn't want to see me, I guess I'll blame the guy on the couch. That is, if that's Choi." Bringing the free hand up to graze the blond's cheek, he used the other to pull him a little closer. "Do you want my shirt? I've only worn it for a couple of hours..."

There was an amused laugh as Leandor's gaze drifted over to the sleeping man on the couch. "I'm always happy to see you, my dear." He ran his fingers through Zach's red hair and then thoughtfully glanced at Kyun. "Think anyone will bite if I offer 100 dollars to anyone who wakes Choi up with a kiss?"

With a shrug and a faint smirk, the Korean leant forward a bit. "Put the money on the table, and we'll see, won't we?" He chuckled lightly as he slid a hand into Julian's purple hair. Leaning against the guy, he let out a content sigh.

Leandor got up and took his wallet out of his back pocket. He opened it and counted out five $20 bills, tossing them on the coffee table and then reclaiming his seat on the arm of Zach's chair. He sighed dramatically and shook his head. "Oh the price I will pay for entertainment..."

Smirking, Kyun pushed to his feet, giving Julian's cheek a light peck before stepping over to the other couch. With a quick kiss on Choi's forehead, he triggered a groan as a response. Talking softly in an incomprehensible language - probably Oriental of sorts - he stepped backwards, scooping up the bills as he sat back down next to the purple-haired guy. "I owe you an ice-cream." He told his companion with a smile.

"Yes. Yes you do." Julian faked a pout and wrapped his arms around Kyun's torso to snuggle up. "Soon we'll be able to go out to eat again!"

Leandor looked a bit disappointed. He was watching Choi carefully, but didn't seem very happy about the waking up part. "Choi, you handsome devil. Wake up, we've got a guest. You wouldn't want to miss another discussion about Ramesh, would you?"

It was good to see these guys trying to make their own fun. If Zach had to sit in an apartment all day, he was sure he'd have gone nuts. His eyes drifted to the couch to watch the progress. While rubbing his eyes, the guy let out another groan. As he sat himself up, he stretched, then a somewhat confused gaze landed on the redhead.

Wasn't the guy going to introduce himself, or at least say something? Zach shrugged. Maybe he shouldn't blame the guy, considering he'd have had some understanding if they went wacko. So instead, he put on a friendly smile. "Good evening. Sorry to disturb your beauty sleep. I'm Zach Kirkland."

The Korean yawned, then ruffled his hair. As his gaze finally settled on Zach, it held a touch of suspicion, whatever may have caused that. "Choi." He eventually said in a voice that would normally imply boredom. The guy's eyes wandered on over the other people in the room, then yawned again.

"Well, this is pleasant." Leandor sighed loudly, his annoyance visible as he started counting the money he had left in his wallet. "Here I thought this situation had quite the potential to be entertaining."

This didn't turn out quite as Zach had hoped. Wanting to express gratitude and triggering a tense situation wasn't exactly success. With hopes that it could lift the atmosphere a few notches, he leant over to pick up the bag, placing it on the table. "Now that everyone's awake, I guess it's time to show what I brought. You know, a small token of thanks."

It did have an effect. Almost immediately the purple-haired fellow perked up and his eyes glistened with excited curiosity. "A token? Is it an edible token?"

Good to know at least someone would appreciate it. Zach smiled, pulling out the contents without much of a shows. Placing two bottles of liquor and two containing wine next to each other, he retrieved the boxes of chocolate and packed the bag away.

Leandor laughed and brushed his hand down Zach's back before he leaned forward to study the labels of the wine. "Well, well, well. Not bad taste, and I think you've made a friend for life in Julian already." He took his beer to drink a little more and moved back to get comfortable.

There was no doubt, Julian was squirming at the sight of the chocolate, but managed to keep himself in his spot. He blushed slightly at the blond's words and looked back and forth between Zach and Choi. "This Ramesh issue you wanted to talk about? Was it important? Maybe if Choi's still too tired, Luo would talk to you about it. I could go get him. Or maybe Kyun should. I'm not so sure I want to see what he and Rick are doing..."

"Well..." Zach started, then paused. He glanced over the others, expecting that him making any arrangements with the purple-haired one could be poorly received. Smiling over at Choi, he continued, "I actually came to say thanks and to see Leandor, but after seeing that wound..." he stopped on purpose to let them come to whatever conclusions they deemed appropriate.

"Wound is such an ugly word. I'm marred. Doesn't that sound better?" Leandor waved his hand flippantly and turned away, dismissing the subject. He scowled over at Choi with obvious annoyance and then got up, moving toward the kitchen. "There's nothing anyone can do about it right now, anyway."

~~~~~

This is a collab, written together with Chlover. You can find her author profile here: http://original.adult-fanfiction.org/authors.php?no=26260