a/n: sulay, au, fluff, ~3500 words. it's my first time writing sulay, i love them. enjoy!

image credit: MyPrinceSUHO

There are a lot of regular guests at the hotel Yixing works at. However, there’s one that he likes a bit more than the others. And it’s not because he tends to give Yixing generous amounts of tips.

Okay, it is partly because of that, but still.

His name is Kim Junmyun, and he is a businessman just like the majority of the guests. He is a whole lot nicer, though. Not that the other guests are rude (well, there are some who are), but they’re the typical business people whose time is too expensive to be nice to service boys like Yixing. That’s okay though, he’s used to it. But it is refreshing to have people like Kim Junmyun there, people who treat him like a fellow human being instead of some kind of service machine.

Anyway, Kim Junmyun also happens to be quite good-looking. Neatly styled hair, nice skin, expensive brand suits. He’s young, the same age as Yixing (Yixing’s seen his date of birth in his passport; it’s not something he’s obsessively gone out of his way to find out). Twenty-six is a lot younger than the majority of the other businessmen, although Yixing supposes that’d be twenty-seven in Korea.

Kim Junmyun visits the hotel every now and then, and in one way or another he’s become something Yixing looks forward to. He doesn’t know in advance when Kim Junmyun will come to China, his visits aren’t the most regular. There are some periods when he arrives almost once a week, and sometimes it takes a whole month or two until Yixing sees him again. Still, Yixing always looks forward to his visits. The extra tips are greatly appreciated (this is Yixing’s only job and his pay isn’t the highest in the world), but mostly Yixing simply enjoys Kim Junmyun’s presence. There’s just something about him, a nice aura, that draws Yixing in. Kim Junmyun’s special to him. Yixing thinks he might be special to Kim Junmyun as well, because the businessman tips him far more than he does any of Yixing’s co-workers.

This week Yixing takes the late evening slash night shifts, and he usually doesn’t enjoy those a whole lot (to be quite honest he would prefer lying in his bed at this hour), but when he saw that Kim Junmyun had booked a room for this night and the next Yixing kinda changed his mind.

However, the clock is almost one at night and Kim Junmyun is nowhere to be seen. The lobby is nearly empty, the only ones there are Yixing and his co-worker, who’s sitting behind the desk and playing solitaire on the computer out of boredom. It isn’t entirely uncommon for them to have guests arriving in the middle of the night, but Kim Junmyun has never been one of those guests. This situation is kind of strange.

Finally, when the clock turns seven minutes past one, a taxi stops outside the building, and a surprisingly scruffy-looking Kim Junmyun gets out. Well, he isn’t exactly scruffy, but he’s not as put together as usual. He’s wearing a fancy-looking suit like he normally does, but his tie is loosened and his hair is very out of place, as if he’s walked through a storm.

Kim Junmyun scrambles to get all of his things together, and Yixing immediately runs out the front gate, ready to welcome the man and help him with his luggage.

“Good evening, sir. Let me take care of your luggage”, Yixing says in his best Korean. One thing that the hotel that Yixing works at prides itself in is the fact that the majority of the guests are business people from South Korea. Therefore all the hired staff has to, if they haven’t already, take regular lessons in Korean to be able to interact better with their guests. Yixing’s studied Korean for several years, yet he can admit that he still has troubles with the language. Reading and writing it is the most difficult part. Speaking and understanding spoken Korean is a whole lot easier, as he does that almost every day.

“Oh, thank you so much. I am very sorry for arriving so late, I had a long day at work and had to take a late flight here, have I kept you up-” Kim Junmyun worries, and Yixing finds that somewhat endearing. Only he would say something like that.

“It’s alright sir, we would still be working now even if you had arrived earlier”, Yixing assures him while they make their way into the lobby. He waits by the lifts as Kim Junmyun walks up to Yixing’s co-worker to confirm his reservation and get his key card. After that, Yixing leads him into the lift.

“Which floor is your room on, sir?”

“Seven”, Kim Junmyun reads from his card, “it’s room number 714. And I’ve told you before, there’s no need to call me sir. We’ve met enough times to be on more familiar terms than that. People calling me sir makes me feel more important than I actually am.”

Yixing smiles.

“Mr Kim, then. But I bet you must be very important, doing business abroad so often.”

“Oh, please don’t call me that either. Just Junmyun is fine, really. And can I call you by your name?” Kim- no, just Junmyun leans forward to read on Yixing’s name tag. Conveniently, below the Chinese characters of his name on the tag, Yixing’s name is also written in hangul.

“I’ve always wondered if I’m pronouncing it right… is it like Jang Issing?” Junmyun asks, obviously having read the hangulified version of his name.

“It’s close. Zhang Yixing, but Yixing is fine. And if you want me to call you Junmyun, I’ll only do it in private because my boss won’t be too happy if he overhears me addressing our guests by their given names.”

“Oh, I understand”, Junmyun smiles prettily. Yixing smiles back, and at that moment everything feels perfect. They’ve had some nice conversation and successfully become a bit closer by entering first name basis. Yixing feels absolutely wonderful.

However, something happens.

The elevator comes to a halt with a booming sound. The sudden stop creates an impact that make them both unsteady for a second, and Junmyun even falls forward. Luckily, Yixing manages to grab onto him in the right moment.

“Ah, thank you”, Junmyun says while standing up straight again, but Yixing doesn’t reply. He’s feeling very uneasy.

“Why did the lift stop? We’re only between the fourth and fifth floors!”

After Yixing’s uttered his thoughts out loud, the lights go out. At first, it seems completely pitch dark, but their eyes quickly get used to the lack of light, allowing them to see the shapes of all the things occupying the small space.

“Wh-What happened?” Junmyun asks, clearly worried.

“I think… the electricity shut off. Or something”, Yixing says while clicking the button with the number seven on it multiple times, but it’s not working. With a sigh he pushes any and all of the elevator buttons, only to get the same result.

“It has to be that, because there’s this emergency button you’re supposed to push if something happens to the elevator, but not even that works.”

“So… what do we do? What can we do?” Junmyun sounds kind of shaky in his tone and it makes Yixing want to do something to get them out of there, now. He can’t have his most important guest feeling this way.

However, Yixing doesn’t have his phone with him, so there’s no way for him to call his co-worker in the lobby or anyone else that could possibly help. Unless…

“I don’t know, do you have a phone I could borrow?”

“Ah, well, that… You see, the journey here took longer than usual and I ran out of battery… that’s why I couldn’t call you and announce my delay.” Yixing can make out Junmyun smiling nervously in the darkness.

“I-I’m sorry…” Junmyun adds, “I should’ve found somewhere to charge it before… Are there any other ways to get this to work again? Is there anything I can do? Are we really stuck in here-”

Junmyun’s voice is sounding more and more distressed with each word.

“Sir- no, I mean Junmyun”, the name feels so strange for Yixing to say out loud, “calm down. Please! It’s not your fault, you can’t help that this happened, alright?” Yixing looks him in the eyes and even though it’s dark Yixing is sure that Junmyun is looking right back into his.

“And …yes. We’re stuck, for the moment at least. I guess we’ll have to wait. There’s no way for me to contact the people in the lobby but they’ll probably notice something’s wrong soon. Perhaps they’re affected as well”, Yixing reassures him, and Junmyun seems to calm down a bit, at least.

“Well, it’s just… I’ve had a long day at work today, and the trip here was very time-consuming, and… I have a meeting tomorrow at eight in the morning and I’m just…”, Junmyun pauses to yawn and that’s all he really needs to do to get his point across. “I really need some sleep, I was planning to go to bed instantly when I got my room but… this happened.”

Yixing feels so sorry for Junmyun, but he can’t really do anything. He jabs the emergency button again a couple of times, but of course nothing happens. He realises that as a pretty easygoing person, he wouldn’t be this bothered if he was stuck in here by himself. He wouldn’t really miss anything important, and if it happened to him only it wouldn’t ruin anything for anyone else.

Being stuck in here with Junmyun is completely different, though. Yixing feels the need to do something, anything, to help Junmyun get out of the elevator. This makes him feel hopeless, too. He can’t contribute with anything. Except for company, maybe.

There’s one thing he can do, Yixing realises. Since Junmyun’s so tired, he shouldn’t be forcing himself to stand up and wait. If this’ll take a long time he might as well sit down and relax. The floor is not in its cleanest state though, so Yixing takes off his jacket and places it on the floor, next to the wall.

“Please, sit down”, he tells Junmyun and points to the jacket.

“Oh, you don’t have to-” Junmyun starts but seizes the opportunity to sit down anyway when he sees Yixing giving him a look. He must be really tired, because when he sits down his whole body kind of slumps together, he’s not at all looking like the important businessman that he usually is. He’s showing another side of himself, a weaker state, and Yixing feels the need to protect him, for some reason.

Junmyun pats the floor next to him.

“Yixing… sit down as well. I suppose this could take a while.”

Yixing considers declining the offer, he’s still at work after all and relaxing doesn’t give him a professional image, as his boss would say. However, after a couple of seconds of thinking he sits down, it’s only Junmyun there anyway. It should be alright. Junmyun even asked him to.

“So, to pass time… Is there anything we could talk about? How about you tell me a little bit about yourself? How come you work here?” Junmyun says unexpectedly.

“Well…” Yixing doesn’t know what to say. Should he just tell the whole story about him being the country boy moving to the big city to make his dreams come true, but instead ending up working at a service job to afford a living?

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to! It’s fine”, Junmyun assures him.

“No, it’s okay”, Yixing says. “I’m… I’m not from here originally, I grew up in a small town. I moved to this city when I was around twenty, and tried a bunch of different jobs. I ended up working here, which I’ve done for many years now.”

“Ah, but why did you move?” Junmyun looks at him curiously. “I’ve always wondered what it’s like living in a small town.”

“Huh? It’s nice, I suppose. A familiar atmosphere. But when you’re still young and have big dreams, you get tired of living in the same old town with no opportunities.”

“And what were your dreams?” Junmyun asks, looking at Yixing with an unreadable expression. “Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to barge in on your private life, I’m just curious, that’s all”, he adds, waving his hands in front of him. Yixing smiles.

“Working with music. It’s my passion”, he says, and it’s the first time he’s told anyone that in who-knows-how-long.

“As a singer, then, or…?”

“Well, it doesn’t really matter, as long as I work with music. I could sing, play the guitar or the piano, compose songs… Yeah, composing songs is something I would want to do for a living.” Yixing can’t help but smile at the thought. It would be nice.

“Ah, the piano. My son is currently learning how to play the piano”, Junmyun says, and Yixing quickly turns his head around to look at him, surprised. He had no idea Junmyun had kids. Actually… Yixing is hit with the realisation that he knows almost nothing about Junmyun’s life apart from the fact that he works as a businessman. The thought of Junmyun as a father makes Yixing smile, although he can’t help but feel a little pinch at his heart at the fact that he must be married.

“You have a son?”

“Yes, he’s almost four. A real troublemaker, but I love him more than anything”, Junmyun smiles lovingly at nothing in particular, clearly thinking about his son.

“But how do you… Does your wife take care of him by herself when you’re here?” Yixing asks, and he doesn’t mean to pry, but he’s sure Junmyun understands that.

“Well, yes, kind of… We’re divorced, you see. Sometimes he lives with me, sometimes he lives with her.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Yixing politely exclaims, although there’s this little feeling of hope stirring up in his stomach that he feels deeply ashamed of. Junmyun really fascinates him. Getting married, having a kid, and a divorce at such a young age? He sure is a mystery. Yixing doesn’t even know what kind of business he’s doing.

“It’s fine, the divorce was mutual, we both agreed it was a good idea.”

There are about a hundred questions Yixing wants to ask Junmyun, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t want to pry or come off as someone who puts his nose in other people’s business, so he lets it be. It feels like it’s better that way, at least for the moment.

He suddenly feels a weight on his shoulder, and looking down Yixing notices that Junmyun is leaning against him, head on his shoulder. Yixing can’t really describe the feeling he gets in his chest when it happens.

“I’m sorry but I am so tired, is it okay if I…” Junmyun starts and Yixing quickly replies that of course, it’s alright. It’s more than alright. Junmyun’s so close to him, Yixing even notices his scent. It smells mostly of perfume, probably an expensive one, a little bit of sweat mixed with something else, something Yixing can’t identify.

“…Do you have someone special in your life, then?” Junmyun then asks, continuing their conversation.

“Well, I have my family, but… If you’re referring to a romantic relationship, then no. Not at the moment”, Yixing says, and the truth is that he hasn’t dated someone for almost two years now.

“Really?” Junmyun asks, and Yixing wishes he could see Junmyun’s facial expression.

“Yeah.”

After that there’s a long silence, and judging from the way Junmyun’s chest seems to rise and sink steadily, Yixing thinks he might be sleeping. He lets himself relax additionally, after all there’s nothing he can do right now about the power outage.

Junmyun suddenly moves at his side.

“Ah… I’m so sleepy but… I’m curious about what kind of music you’re making. Couldn’t you sing something for me?”

That was an unexpected question, but Yixing feels kind of used to Junmyun surprising him by now. He smiles and starts humming on one of his slower compositions, a ballad. It’s a shame he doesn’t have his phone with him, because he has a recording of the piano part of the song on it.

Junmyun releases a deep sigh and relaxes some more, and even though they’re currently stuck in an elevator, Yixing feels kinda content with the situation. When he’s finished, Junmyun speaks again, voice sounding drowsy.

“Why are you so nice to me, Yixing? Why do you take care of me so much?”

Yixing chuckles.

“Well, that’s my job.”

“…Yeah, but you treat me especially nice. Would you do this with any of your other guests?”

Yixing is quiet for a couple of seconds, because Junmyun is right.

“How come you tip me so much? A lot more than you do with the other service boys?” Yixing asks him instead, turning tables. He can feel Junmyun smiling against his shoulder.

“Well… Yixing…” Yixing can’t help it, he loves when Junmyun says his name with that little accent of his.
“…you lift me up.”

Junmyun snickers silently at his own pun and Yixing smiles, too.

They sit in silence and after a while Yixing is sure that Junmyun is sleeping, his eyes are closed, his expression serene and his breaths are silent but steady. The sight of Junmyun so relaxed but so vulnerable is somewhat adorable, Yixing has to admit. He himself sits glued at his spot on the floor, afraid to disturb Junmyun’s sleep if he moves.

And there he sits.

Time goes by, and Yixing doesn’t really know for how long he’s been sitting there when the lift suddenly lights up again, awaking from its previously dead state. It could’ve been hours, or only minutes. He doesn’t know. What he does know, however, is that the lift seems to be functioning again.

Yixing isn’t exactly sure what he’s going to do about this, Junmyun is in deep sleep and he doesn’t want to interrupt it, especially not when he knows that Junmyun has to get up early in the morning. He needs to get Junmyun to his room, though.

Therefore, Yixing moves as carefully as he can, leans Junmyun’s head against the wall on the opposite side of him and rises to his feet. The buttons are working, and they reach the seventh floor in no time at all. Now, what?

“Junmyun”, Yixing says and shakes the mentioned man gently, but receives no response. He tries again.

“Junmyun. Kim Junmyun. Wake up”, but no answer. Yixing doesn’t want to wake Junmyun up in a rude manner such as shaking him violently or shouting, so he leaves Junmyun in the lift, knowing that nobody will use it at the moment as the time is about four in the morning, and carries Junmyun’s baggage to room 714.

When he returns, Yixing tries to gently lift Junmyun up. It is not as hard as he thought it’d be, Junmyun is lighter than he expected. With his face so close to Yixing’s own, Yixing can spot the heavy bags under Junmyun’s eyes, the image of exhaustion painting his face. Yixing can’t help but feel concerned for him. Hopefully Junmyun’ll get enough rest before his meeting.

Yixing slowly carries him to the room, opens the door and puts him down on the bed. At that, Junmyun starts stirring.

“Junmyun?” Yixing tries again, and this time he receives a reply from the other.

“Hmm?” Junmyun manages to say, clearly struggling to stay awake.

“The lift started working again, and I took you to your room, is that alright? Should I request waking service for you in the morning?”

“Uh, I… Yeah, do that. Six thirty. And…” Junmyun trails off.

“What?”

“Thank you, Yixing”, Junmyun utters with a smile.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just doing my job. Please, go back to sleep.”

And so he does. Just as Yixing’s about to turn around and leave the room, he notices that one of Junmyun’s sleeves has moved up, revealing one of his lower arms. And an impressive tattoo. Junmyun didn’t seem like the type to have tattoos, but this one is obviously real.

The design looks like an angel, standing by a waterfall, Yixing believes. There’s also a text. The font makes it a bit hard to read, but Yixing’s somewhat sure that the characters say Suho, guardian. He ponders for a while what the meaning behind the tattoo could be, and what kind of businessman has large tattoos like that hidden under his sleeves? Junmyun sure is a mystery.

Yixing leaves the room, thinking about their evening together, not realising the fact that his shift ended a long time ago.

end note: the lifts at the hotel yixing works at are absolute . haha. random fact: i had to go to the korean wikipedia to look up how yixing's name is spelled in hangul. hope you liked this!