“You’re the second best thing that’s ever happened to me, Sungmin.”

The young man looks up from his wok, eying the girl trespassing his personal bubble in the heart of his very own work kitchen. “Only second?” He drawled sarcastically, moving her aside as he reaches for a bottle of seasoning on the table beside her. “What’s first?”

“Getting away from my mother, obviously.” She laughs.

Sungmin rolls his eyes, but a smile follows shortly after. “How did you manage to escape this time, Vic? Your mom didn’t throw a fit about you leaving her for your father and your brothers?”

She smiles and shrugs, reaching across the cooking counter to a plate filled with freshly cooked string beans and chicken. He beats her hand away and she purses her lips. “She thinks I’m in Wuhan.”

“That won’t sit well with her when she finds out you’re all the way out here in Korea, will it?” Sungmin threatens.

Victoria glowered at him. “You wouldn’t.”

“I would, unless you run down to the bar and grab me a bottle of wine.” Sungmin grins at her innocently. “Oh, I’d prefer Port but Sauvignon Blanc is fine if Port is unavailable.”

The young tour guide pouts, smacking her lips together in disapproval. “I will not encourage your alcoholic tendencies.” Says Victoria.

Sungmin gives her a stern raise of an eyebrow. “Now, or you’ll pay for the international phone call bill to Qingdao.”

One last glare at him and Victoria turns on her heel, stomping towards the door. “I can’t believe you’d do this to me,” she grumbles. “I knew I should have just went straight home to Minho and Tao after I got here-- at least they wouldn’t blackmail me.”

The door slams shut.

Returning to work on his dish, Sungmin shakes his head with a low chuckle.

Oh, if only she knew the things her brothers would do to make her stay here, in Korea.

-

Halfway down the hall that leads her to the lounge, Victoria trips over a waiter and apologizes profusely to the poor young soul that is now terrified of being fired from their first job ever acquired.

“No worries.” Victoria assures her. “I’m totally fine. I’m just-- I’ll just be on my way now.”

She later identifies the girl as Tiffany, the new recruit added to the big hotel family, and notes that she has a brilliant smile when she’s not freaking out over running customers down on her four inch heels.

“You’re back.” Someone over the bar greets her.

Victoria turns to him and nods. “Long story.”

“Keep it to yourself then,” the boy replies with a smirk, “we don’t have time for socializing with other employees here.”

Pursing her lips, she leans her elbows over the bar counter and narrows her eyes. “You’re spending too much time with Sungmin, Yesung. I can’t believe you’re bullying me, too.”

Yesung smiles fondly and reaches over, patting her on the head. “Never.”

She hears ratting beyond the counters and looks over Yesung’s shoulder. “You’ve got company?”

“A new recruit.” Yesung nods, crossing his arms over his chest. “Well, not new, I suppose. He’s been here for nearly two months.”

Victoria leans in and whispers. “Is he any good?”

“Try him. His name is Xiumin.”

“Okay.” Victoria smiles.

She straightens up her back and supports herself at her new height with both palms on the counter. The darkness of the bar doesn’t help her view, but she manages to see as much as she can through squinted eyes.

“Xiumin! A bottle of Port for Sungmin, please!” She shouts.

A small voice echoes from the back. “Coming right up!”

“He’s good.” She acknowledges. “Whenever I used to come and pick up white wine, just the mention Sungmin’s name scared your bartenders away.”

Yesung scoffs. “He’s fresh.”

“He’s brave,” Victoria corrects matter of factly.

“Sure.” Yesung humors her. “How is Minho faring?”

The beautiful tour guide pouts. “You never ask about Tao.”

“I’ve never met Tao.” Yesung defends himself. “But okay, how’s Tao?”

Victoria sighs dramatically. “They’re both doing good, thanks for asking. You should visit Minho sometime, he says he misses you rambling on and on about alcoholic mixes and the dangers of not drinking at an early enough age to build tolerance. Good advice, he claims.”

“I don’t appreciate your sarcasm.” Yesung raises a brow in mock offense.

“Yeah, well, if you can deal with Sungmin, you can deal with me.”

Unfortunately, she’s right. “Look, I hear that there’s this group of kids that will be working near the hotel the next few weeks on court order community service. I just thought you’d like to know before you took your clients out on tours around the city and run into a bunch of rebels.”

“Thanks.” Victoria tips her head at him. “I’ll make sure to get details and avoid them like a good person would.”

“The sarcasm.” Yesung shakes his head. “Still not fancying it.”

Victoria laughs. “No, really, thank you. I’ll make sure nothing bad happens on this tour.”

In reply, Yesung just nods and makes his way to the back. Not long later, a small boy pops out from the far area of the bar stage. “Sorry!” He apologizes and holds out a bottle of wine. “We ran out of Port from Sungmin hyung’s last request so I thought maybe Sauvignon Blanc would be an okay replacement?”

He’s cute, so Victoria decides not to torment him. “It’s perfect. Thank you, Xiumin.”

“You’re welcome.” He grins back at her, and his eyes form small lines as his lips quirk into an adorable little arc. “Are you close to Yesung hyung?”

“Sort of?” Victoria says. “We’ve known each other for a few years. I’m closer to Sungmin.”

Xiumin nods.

She smiles and leans over, poking him in the cheek. “I wouldn’t get too close to Yesung if I were you, though. He’s a scary one-- you best watch your back.”

“Hey!” Yesung shouts from the darkened area of the bar.

Victoria laughs aloud and scrambles a few feet away, pulling Xiumin with her. “I’m Victoria, nice to meet you!”

“I’m--”

“Xiumin, I know.” She chuckles, throwing an arm over his shoulder. “Hey, do you know if Yesung is--”

The young boy is abruptly pulled out of her hold, Yesung tugging him to his side. “Hands off, Vic. This one’s off limits.”

“What are you talking about?” Victoria rolls her eyes. “I was just asking him a question. You know I have no interest in younger men.”

Yesung shrugs. “I didn’t know that, actually.”

“So, why are you so nervous about him?” Victoria smirks. “Is he--”

“He’s my brother.”

Victoria allows her jaw to snap close. “Biological?”

“Very much so.” Yesung replies.

She furrows her brows and tilts her head to one side. “But, you look nothing alike! Xiumin is so much cuter! And I thought--”

“Hey!” Yesung protests. “I’m perfectly cute myself!”

Being the polite tour guide that she is, Victoria chooses to ignore his comment. “--I thought your brother’s name was Kim Minseok? You have two brothers?”

“Nickname.” Xiumin explains. “Much like you and Yesung hyung. We all use nicknames.”

Victoria hugs the bottle of wine to her chest. “Hm.” She hums to herself. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Yes, of course.” Yesung says, with much of an edge to his tone. “Don’t forget to meet up with us tonight at seven. I’ll text Sungmin the details and you can ask him about it later.”

She raises a brow. “When did I sign myself up for this? I’m busy tonight! I’ve got a tour to organize and--”

Yesung bluntly ignores her and walks to the bar. “Xiumin, I’ll teach you how to make the perfect wine slush!” He hollers over his shoulder.

After bowing slightly at Victoria and patting her on the shoulder, he rushes over to his brother. “But hyung, I haven’t even perfected the cocktail you taught me yesterday!”

“You can practice that some more later.” She hears Yesung telling his younger brother from a distance.

She looks down to the bottle of Port in her arms and sighs.

Everything comes at a price, she supposes.

-

“I think it’d be a lot of fun if you spend your next vacation in Japan!”

Sungmin tosses the contents of the pan into the air and a fire sprouts from the stove, embracing the food that is now steaming with a slightly aromatic bitterness. “I don’t speak Japanese, Donghae. What would I do in Japan?”

“Of course you do!” Donghae beams. “You have me, your own personal translator!”

As difficult as it was for Sungmin to hold back a scoff, he managed. “I’m flattered, but I have to work. I’m on a tight budget and now’s not really the time for me to take a vacation. Thank you for the offer, though, I’m--”

“I can get you the ticket.” Donghae offers. “No sweat on accommodations and housing, either. I’ve got it all covered. You just need to worry about having fun!”

“Donghae, I--”

Donghae pulls a round eyed, puppy face. “Please, Sungmin? I hardly get to see you even twice a month. It’d be nice if you could spend a couple of days with me in Japan. You know, friendly bonding and what not?”

Being the secret weakling that he is inside, Sungmin takes a deep breath and sighs.

“Is that a yes?” Donghae smiles brightly.

Sungmin turns to face him, eyes wide. “No!”

“But--”

The door opens and Sungmin is all but too glad to see Victoria walk through the doors, a bottle of wine in her hands. He releases a visible deep breath of air and Victoria stares at them with eyes of a deer in headlights.

“Am I interrupting something?” She asks.

“No!” Sungmin blurts out. “No! Not at all.”

Victoria eyes him oddly. “Okay...”

Donghae takes a step aside, eyes on the ground, so that Victoria could hand Sungmin his wine. Victoria gets a closer look and extends her hand, a smile on her lips.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Victoria.”

He smiles in return. “Lee Donghae.”

Sungmin remains quiet, reaching for a corkscrew in one of his cabins.

“I think I’m going to go.” Donghae says. “I’ll talk to you about the plans later, Sungmin.”

Victoria bows at him slightly and he pats her on the back, smiling gently.

“It was nice to meet you, Victoria.” Donghae says, voice soft. “See you around.”

She nods and sees him out, waving until he disappears from plain sight. “So, what was that about?”

“What?” Sungmin asks, tone flat.

Victoria tilts her head from side to side. “I don’t know... Lee Donghae? He looks familiar. Isn’t he a tour guide, too?”

Sungmin returns to his silence.

“Japan!” She exclaims. “I remember being introduced to him a couple months back at a meeting as the representative for Japan!”

Again, Sungmin is unmoved.

“What’s wrong with him?” She ponders aloud.

“Nothing.” Sungmin replies.

Victoria bites down on her bottom lip. “Then why reject him? He’s cute.”

“The same reason why I reject all the rest of them. They’re men.” Sungmin says plainly.

“But that’s the way you like them.” Victoria reasons. “There’s no reason to fight yourself.”

Sungmin sighs. “It’s all the more reason to fight against it, Vic. People like us are hard to find and, when we find them and actually make something happen between us, we end up getting hurt. I don’t have the time to play a game just to lose in the end-- it’s not worth it.”

“Well, the rest of the homoual world is offended.” Victoria denotes. “Thank you for your wise input, Sungmin. I never knew you could be so intelligent about something as difficult as accepting yourself for who you are and being proud of it.”

“That’s not what I’m saying.” Sungmin counters. “I’m just saying I’m not ready.”

Victoria frowns. “Well, the world won’t wait for you.”

“Yeah? Well, maybe someone will fall behind with me, then, and we can stand up and catch up with the rest of the world together.” Sungmin smiles. “Plus, at least I still have you here with me, even if the rest of the world leaves me behind.”

“I’m a conformer.” Victoria jokes. “I like keeping up with the majority.”

Sungmin held up a pair of chopsticks. “Then I guess I’ll just have to wrap your precious long hair around my weapon and drag you down with me!”

The young tour guide narrows her eyes. “Evil.”

“Takes one to know one.” Sungmin retorts.

They laugh and they share a brief moment of understanding. Sungmin pours his white wine into a pot of marinated sauce, measuring it to just the right amount, and empties out the rest into two glasses.

He hands one to Victoria.

“I don’t think I’m staying.” She says, taking the glass from his hands and raising it to her lips. “It’s suffocating here.”

Sungmin takes a quick glance over of his kitchen. “It’s all about the smoke and oil in here.”

“Yeah.” Victoria laughs weakly, glancing around. What she sees is larger than the kitchen, though-- it’s the entire country, it’s Korea. “It really is.”

“Not much different in China, though, I presume?” He asks, nudging her with his shoulder.

Victoria tips over a little but regains her balance.

She smiles, the smile not quite reaching her eyes. “No,” she nearly whispers, “it’s not much different there at all.”