「 they're all the same
they never learn
so dig their grave
and let that motherfucker burn 」

♫ ella eyre; comeback

✩ s a n ✩

San felt how Hongjoong kept looking at him, while they ate the breakfast San had ordered from a nearby restaurant, which served one of the best brunches in the city. But each time San looked up, Hongjoong's eyes would sway away.

He knew what it was about, of course, it was about the marks on his back. The ones he, after all those years, didn't give much thought anymore - and why would he? Giving them even the smallest sign of attention, would only bring back the memories that he had buried deep in his mind.

No one ever saw them, not to the extend that it had raised any questions, at least. But he had never let anyone stay the entire night, and let the morning sun reveal his secret from his past before. But somehow he didn't regret that it had happened, perhaps it had made Hongjoong more intrigued? It seemed so, at least.

"What are your plans for today?" San asked, sounding as interested as he could force himself to, while digging the thin, silver fork into the soft strawberry on his plate.

The way the red juice tricked out on the white porcelain, made his heart beat fast with the enticing thoughts of what this otherwise innocent sight was reminding him of - the way the heart of the beauty, with the cotton candy hair, would bleed out in front of him, when he would break it into a million pieces.

"Nothing much," Hongjoong replied from the other side of the table. "Just going to buy a box dye and dye my hair, I think..."

"Really? Why do you want to change it? I think the baby pink suits you quite well."

"I..." Hongjoong's voice lowered, and so did his eyes. "I just... I guess that some things aren't made for me after all."

He ran his finger around the edge of his glass with orange juice, as a storm of thoughts seemingly ran the same way in his head - in circles. With a small sigh, he pushed the pink hair back, the locks falling back down into the soft mess it had been left as, from night in San's bed.

"I see," San hummed. "But, don't waste your money on a shitty box dye. I'll take you to my hairdresser, and I can drop you off at home on my way to work afterwards."

☆

Flipping through the pages of a random fashion magazine, San waited in a blue velvet chair, while Hongjoong was getting his hair done. It did take a couple of tries to get him convinced to go there, but in the end San got his way - as expected.

Now and then, he peeked in Hongjoong's direction, and while Hongjoong did seem in a good mood - talking with the hairdresser while she dyed his hair, his eyes showed short glimpses of sadness, as the baby pink locks were changed one by one.

"You're done?" San asked with a smile, as Hongjoong finally stepped out of the chair.

The cotton candy hair was gone, and instead the soft waves around Hongjoong's face were a shining golden-blonde.

San rose from his seat as well, and walked over to stand behind Hongjoong, who was looking at himself in a full length mirror on the wall. San then gently placed his hands on Hongjoong's slim shoulders, and let one of them dive through the soft, golden hair.

"You look amazing," he whispered, lips touching Hongjoong's ear - just slightly.

"Thank you..." Hongjoong mumbled back, as their eyes met in the reflection.

Keeping the eye contact through the mirror, San let his hands glide down each of Hongjoong's arms, giving him small squeezes on the way - giving clear hints on what he had in mind. Playing Hongjoong had become something that took up all of San's attention and time - but he didn't mind it at all. While he knew what his main goal was, he would lie if he said he didn't enjoy how it felt to have the, now, golden beauty under him in bed.

"Well..." San mumbled, briefly lost in Hongjoong's brown eyes, "We have to leave now. I have this absolutely dreadful meeting waiting for me at work..."

☆

"San, thank you for joining us today," Seonghwa spoke, with a thick layer of irony smeared across his voice - clearly annoyed that San showed up twenty minutes late for the meeting the older had set up for the day.

"You're very much welcome," San responded with a fake smile, as he took a seat next to Jongho.

The younger side-eyed him, with a glare that didn't hide how pressed he felt about his older brother not showing up on time. He even emphasized how displeased he was, by scooting his chair to the opposite side.

"What?" San whispered under his breath, glaring at his brother.

"Ssh," Jongho hissed, "Don't talk to me!"

San rolled his eyes, while Jongho returned to keeping his eyes focused on the life-suckingly boring PowerPoint that Seonghwa was pointing at, in the front of the conference room. Trying to focus on it as well, failed within seconds for San, who didn't find the same excitement for all the graphs and numbers presented, as everyone else in the room did.

Instead he yanked his phone out of his pocket, and kept it hidden just underneath the edge of the table, as was he straight back to his high school days. A text from Hongjoong made him lose the last small fragment of interest for whatever Seonghwa was jabbering about.

Hongjoong:
Thanks for the make-over

San:
No problem. Anything for you.

Hongjoong:
Careful what you promise me now

San:
I like taking risks, you should know that by now.

Hongjoong:
I guess that's true

San:
So, what are you up to baby?

Hongjoong:
Laundry. So boring
Miss me already?

San:
Maybe
Why? Do you miss me?

A sudden nudge against his elbow, made San look up. Jongho was glaring at him again, the frown on his face seemed to have gotten stuck these days. With an annoyed, loud huff, San put his phone away and did his very best to pretend he was paying attention to whatever Seonghwa was talking about. But his mind had soon wandered off on its own...

☆

"San. Jongho," Seonghwa called out, just as San had dared to believe he had escaped the claws of Satan for the day.

Rushing out of the room and down the hallway wasn't enough, apparently, because there he was - coming towards them in his tailored suit that was as black as his very soul.

"Yes?" Jongho replied, as the only one of the two.

As Seonghwa came towards them, his every step seemed to echo throughout the entire building. When he stood right in front of them, he almost towered above them, despite not being that much taller in height. But his terrifying persona made him seem at least one head taller - or San one head smaller.

"I would like to see some more commitment, unless you want me to regret keeping you in the company," Seonghwa sneered, a brow raised with the usual degrading look in his dark eyes.

"You can't change the contracts now," Jongho pointed out, in an instant.

"I can do whatever I want to." Seonghwa said, with a gloating smile. "So, I suggest you get your shit together. Both of you!"

"What do you mean, both of us? I-I'm trying my hardest! It's not my fault that-" A stutter from Jongho's mouth was something so rare that San actually felt nervous from just hearing it.

But he kept quiet, he knew that it was the best decision, as always. No reason to piss Seonghwa more off, not right now at least.

"I don't care," Seonghwa cut him off, holding a hand in front of Jongho's distressed face. "If one of you disappoints me, you both do."

He then spun around on his heels, and walked away with a blow of cold air from his sudden movement, hitting San and Jongho right in the face. San held back a sigh of relief, while side-eyeing Jongho who looked like he could explode any second.

"I fucking hate you!" the younger growled, intentionally bumping his shoulder against San's as he passed by him.

With an eye-roll San followed him, both heading towards their shared office. The fact that they were sharing one, wasn't something neither of them were too pleased about, but despite Jongho's dissatisfaction, he probably knew that it was necessary to keep an eye on his brother.

"Don't think I'm having any affectionate feelings for you either," San mumbled, as they walked through the door to their office.

Heading straight to dump down onto his black leather chair, San let go of the sigh he had held back earlier.

"Whatever," Jongho scoffed, "I'll grab us some coffee, I'll be right back."

San swung his legs on top of his desk and found his phone from his pocket, ignoring the look his brother was sending him, before walking out the door again. Something else had caught San's attention; a new message from Hongjoong was waiting for him, and San smirked to himself as he opened it.

Hongjoong:
Well... I miss you inside of me

San:
You didn't get enough last night?

Hongjoong:
Yes that is the problem
When I think about it, I want more

San:
We can make that happen

Hongjoong:
When?
Kinda needy for you

San:
Of course you are baby
Why don't you tell me what you would like me to do to you then?

The door to his office opened up, but San didn't register much before Jongho was standing right on the other side of the desk.

"Ew, what's wrong with your face?" Jongho asked, as he put the coffees down.

"What do you mean?" San mumbled, busy typing away on his phone, and completely unaware of his own facial expression

Pulling a chair out, Jongho sat down while clearing his throat rather loudly. San reached out for his coffee, eyes still completely focused on the very sexually explicit messages he was receiving, and sending.

"Are you... Smiling? Why are you smiling?" Jongho then said, with a grimace of disgust masked on his face.

San finally looked up, the look on his brother's face almost made him crack up. Jongho kept staring at him, like he had just seen the most horrible thing in the world.

"What? No, I'm not..." Taking a sip of his coffee, San didn't realize that Jongho was in fact right, before he felt how the corners of his lips fell a little.

"Yes you are. Stop doing that, it's gross!" the younger complained, acting like a real Choi - disgusted by any emotions displayed in front of others. "What are you even doing?"

"None of your business."

San turned his office chair half-way around, with his coffee in one hand and his phone in the other. Jongho sighed from the other side of the table, pulling out his own phone - but unlike San, he probably used it to do something productive. Seonghwa had been no where near impressed by them, and knowing Jongho, it wasn't something that pleased him. At all.

"You're right. I don't even want to know..." he mumbled, sucking his teeth for a bit, which clearly showed how affected he was by their older brother's words. "Unless you're planning on how we can kill Seonghwa."

With a chuckle, San turned his chair back, to look directly at his brother. Jongho briefly looked up, and San hadn't realized before now how tired he actually looked. The younger had worked his ass off day and night, to please Seonghwa - which was nearly impossible, while San had been too busy with his own plans to even notice his brother's struggles.

"Believe me, I'll tell you right away, when I come up with the right plan," San then said, a brow quickly raised, at the small truth in his own joke.

Both of them returned to their respective phones for a while, only the sound of them sipping their coffee, and their fingers tapping against the screens, broke the silence between them.

"This is some pretty fucked up brotherly bonding..." Jongho mumbled from his side of the table.

"I know..." San snickered, "The only way we know how."

Jongho made a small tilt with his head, while keeping his eyes focused on his phone, but the small motion indicated that he agreed. For once.