Chapter One

 Differentiation between a monk and monkey

An auburn, orange and light brown haired male fists his doorknob before swinging it open with more force than needed. Standing on the other side of the door are two snickering brunets and his housemate Siwon, whom was also coincidentally his best friend.

Half glancing over the sheepish lazy grin on the tall hunk’s face, Hyukjae's sight lands on his evil friend Kyuhyun and his scary boyfriend Sungmin. What a lovely couple they make, Hyukjae thinks as he snorts. A quick cough has his seriousness back, and making sure he sounds bothered and annoyed he asks menacingly, “What do you want?”

“Someone needs to get laid, fast.” Came the snarky reply from, of course, Cho Kyuhyun. Without waiting for Hyukjae to open his mouth and sound his opinions, Sungmin barges through the narrow space between Hyukjae and the doorframe and struts inside like he owns the place, his plump jiggling in those tight dark jeans.

“Be thankful we’re your delivery men. If it was others, I wouldn’t give a .” Kyuhyun continued as he followed his boyfriend, but instead of turning right he walked towards the stairs and climbs up in a hurried manner.

“What is wrong with them today?” The confused male mumbles to himself. He is familiar with the gay couple’s out of the world movements and actions but like usual, they would create reasons for Hyukjae to believe that his so called best friends are highly likely to be aliens in disguise.

“Sorry Hyuk, to disturb you but you know Min, as y as ever.” The polite well bred gentleman Siwon says calmly, sending the other a bright smile that you normally see in toothpaste adverts. Hyukjae honestly lost count of the number of girls giggling and swooning over the said male every time they went out together, be it shopping or meeting up with others.

“Forever y.” He sighs, leaning back on the ajar door. “Well, aren't you gonna come in?”

The handsome model smiles but shakes his head lightly, declining the offer. “My mission is to stand here so you can't escape.”

“Oh…whatever. Wait, what?!” The latter exclaims, suddenly feeling very alert, his soldier instincts kicking in. Seven years of being in the army sure kept Hyukjae organised and tidy, not mentioning his fighting talents and self-protection abilities. However, that’s all in the past: a bittersweet recollection of his that Hyukjae doesn’t generally share, and if he could he would want to forget about it.

“What the hell are they planning this time?” He nearly growls, his spine straight and eyes wide. Because the previous times were enough of an experience for Hyukjae that he can conclude whatever Sungmin and Kyuhyun plans, it’s not going to be good, or look good, or sound good. He remembers one time; they planned his birthday party back in high school (unfortunately he was stuck with them for half of his life), he naively allows a party over his house when his parents were out of the country for the weekend. But, on opening the door he sees the people he expected to see, Kyuhyun, Sungmin and a few of his mates but also behind them the entire freaking school. They wrecked his house and consumed everything like locusts, and for the first (and last) time he can relate to the Bible, where Egyptians were suffering the great plagues.

Except his was worse.

It got so out of hand that his neighbours had called the police on him, and then when everything was cleared (“I’m warning you, son, don’t do it again.” The fat burly policeman had pulled him outside to have a little chat) and the mess was cleaned the next day, he realised that his bed had disgusting white stuff that he would rather not imagine the origin and some of his boxers were gone. Never found again. Until this day, it still remains a mystery to him as of why would anyone want his boxers? Sure, he wasn’t poor and was able to afford nice boxers but he didn’t own any fabulous brands like Calvin Klein or anything. And Hyukjae has a hunch that it was Sungmin's doing. That bunny was too evil to be trusted and too to pass out a good opportunity to make out with his boyfriend.

“…and that is why I must remain rooted here.” Siwon finishes, but Hyukjae was so busy reminiscing those horrid memories that he had missed all of it.

“Come again?”

“He said that we’re going to abduct you to go on a holiday with us and we know you are going to decline so we need someone to guard the door so you can't run off.” Sungmin’s voice travels to Hyukjae's eardrums, and hastily Hyukjae backs away from the incoming figure, the twisted smirk lacing his lips was not a good sign.

“N-No, I'm not going and you can't make me.”

“We’ll see about that. Get him Kyu!” All of a sudden, Kyuhyun knocks into the man as his arms interlocks with Hyukjae's, and a second later Sungmin brings down his hand and karate chops the base of the latter’s neck, his hand coming into contact between the tense muscle. The body in Kyuhyun's arms went rigid, before instantly becoming limp.

“He's not dead is he?” Siwon asks, not sure if he just helped his friend to his death seeing the strong blow Hyukjae received.

“As much as I’d love to wipe out this ’s existence, I can't. He’s just um…call it sleeping, like really heavy. Let’s go guys.”

+++

Hyukjae wakes up groggily when he felt his seat shudder, soft fluttering noises all around. He groans as his eyes adjust to the dim lights, blinking the bleariness away. On shifting to his right a little, he found that his muscles are aching- especially his neck- and that he was cramped against the side of a smooth surface.

Sungmin! That man !

All of a sudden, Hyukjae seems to regain his memories of how Sungmin had used his martial arts on him because he didn’t want to go on…oh . Now he remembers everything; and how he is on his way to spend a holiday with his friends. Hyukjae cringes as he tries to picture what it would be like Sungmin treating him like his shopping slave for the day and Siwon his preaching partner at night, and Hyukjae just knows that he will not be able to have a good rest because the noise (or noises) he’s most likely to hear are ual grunts here and there along with Sungmin’s extremely -like moans.

The male dares to lift his head up a bit, deep dark royal blue covered velvet seat welcoming his view as he let his eyes roam the area and suddenly he has a terrible feeling from his gut telling him that he is on a plane. And as if the lanes that divided the seats from his vision aren’t enough of an indication, Hyukjae slowly turns his head around, finding Siwon wearing his eye patch and sleeping soundly like a baby. Next to Siwon, he could see a lump of something underneath the muddy brown blankets, probably Sungmin.

From the corner of his eye, Hyukjae can see across the expansion of the early sky, through the window next to where his head had been resting a while ago. The dull throbbing red washes itself with orange and blends with clouds forming beautiful colours of amber and violet with dashes of pink and peeking golden honey, drizzling the earth below his feet.

Momentarily the breathtaking sight has Hyukjae immobile in his seat, and his mind erases the thoughts of maybe killing his best friends. But, as the plane shakes ever so causally, he is constantly being reminded that he is travelling on the plane against his will. And Sungmin had violated him.

Looking around again, everyone or at least most people are trotting around somewhere in dreamland, yet here his friends abducted him resulting in him being on a plane to an unknown place. With a deep sigh, Hyukjae leans back into his seat, his head fitting snuggly between the cracks of the headrest and he notices a small black screen located in the seat in front.

Might as well make this enjoyable.

+++

By the time the sky refreshes to a bright blue tone, people are starting to stir and as Sungmin wakes, he finds his kidnapped friend eyes wide, anticipating whatever is going to occur on the screen. Hyukjae engrosses himself in a foreign American movie, his eyes scanning the Korean subtitles in a furious pace when suddenly he feels a light punch on his shoulder.

Knowing it is Sungmin; he shrugs off the cheap headphones and turns to the source of his misery. “What?” He hisses in annoyance.

“Stop pretending like it’s the end of the world, Hyuk. I know you aren't that bothered.” Sungmin answers with a little smirk tugging on the end of his lips, his tone coy and smug. Hyukjae pauses to think of a clever comeback, to say that Sungmin is wrong, but the more he thinks about it the more he tries to fight off a smile.

“Fine. I'm not angry anymore, but you could have at least told me beforehand.” The male half sulked and half whined. Sungmin finds it rather amusing to see his friend who has been in the army for several years, toughened to a point where many who do not know Hyukjae would call him heartless, but Sungmin knows that deep down beneath the layers of sarcasm, harshness and idiocy, was the sweet next door neighbour of his from their teenage years and the boy with a heart of gold. Sure, the army had turned Hyukjae into a man who knows consequences and such but it didn’t turn him into a bad man.

“Where are we going anyway?”

“China.”

“…You’re kidding me right?” Hyukjae deadpans, his calm composure shattering the second Sungmin finishes his reply.

“What are you thinking? You can't even speak Chinese!”

Sungmin rolls his eyes. Seriously, how much more outdated can his friend be? “Ever heard of English? It’s the twenty-first century, Hyuk. Chinese citizens are well equipped with languages in their files, heck, they’re so smart at everything I'm pretty sure a mere language will not throw them off their tracks. Plus, I may or may not have been learning Chinese as my secret hobby.”

A moment later, Sungmin adds, “Just leave everything to me, okay? Your goal this summer is to enjoy this holiday, and maybe even find love!” The optimist exclaims in excitement, his hands clapping as fingers interlock together.

+++

It is roughly around lunch when they settle in; rooms packed of clothes strewing over sofas and suitcases lying lifeless on the floor like a murder crime scene. The four decided to meet in the living room after packing and then go out to lunch as a group. Instead of opting to live in a grand hotel like other tourists, Sungmin had someh