Fic: Closer III

Closer III

Author: Aphrodite

Feedback: Yes, send to aphroditeslabyrith@gmail.com

Disclaimer: Fiction.

Rating: R

Fandom: American Idol Slash

Summary: Heejun Han never went out at nine.

Author's Notes: I apologize for the racial remarks ahead of time. I am sure Heejun's mother is a lovely person in real life; just not in this story. Also, this work is completely unbeta'd and to be honest, I'm not completely satisfied with it, but hopefully it'll get better.


Closer III

Los Angeles, CA 2010

Another two days pass by before Heejun runs into Phillip, again. Colton's lady companion shows up, again, and Heejun bids them farewell without uttering a word, opting to seek rest in the lobby for a few hours. Restful sleep doesn't welcome him though. Somber acoustic guitar strumming and haunting words of a blower's daughter do.

I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes...

Did I say that I loathe you?
Did I say that I want to
Leave it all behind?

I can't take my mind off you
I can't take my mind off you...
I can't take my mind off you
I can't take my mind off you
I can't take my mind off you
I can't take my mind...
My mind...my mind...
'Til I find somebody new


As soon as the last note is sung, Heejun shoots up to his feet and claps his hands enthusiastically from across the lobby. Phillip looks up, offers a weak smile, and puts his guitar away. He folds his lean body to fit a three seat bench and rests his head uncomfortably on an armrest of the bench. Heejun lowers his head to the ground as he crosses the floor to settle into the chair next to Phillip.

"PP, what are you doing here?" Heejun asks.

"I finally got a roommate and he kind of kicked me out the first night he's here."

"What?"

"Yeah, his wife came along and you know..." Phillip explains.

"Same here," Heejun says a little too enthusiastic, excited to have something, anything in common with the boy.

"You, too?" Phillip perks up.

"Me, too. So I snuck out to give them some space."

"It's okay though. She'll leave tomorrow," Phillip says and then returns to his sleeping position.

A few more unnerving silent moments pass and Heejun breaks the silence. "I'm sorry," he murmurs. "I'm sorry about the other day. What they did to you."

"It's okay," Phillip responds. "Not the first time."

"PP-"

"Hollywood is weird like that," Phillip continues, interrupting Heejun, "people don't respect people around here. Not like Leesburg."

"Is that where you're from, PP?"

"Yeah, it's a small town in Georgia."

"How small?"

"Less than 5000 people."

"Tell me about Leesburg."

Phillip springs into a sitting position and without interruption tells tales of the wonderful life he has back home in Leesburg and suddenly Heejun wants nothing more than to move to Leesburg and be Phillip's neighbor down the street. "The only downside is there's not much diversity," Phillip adds at the end. "You might find this strange, but I've never met or seen an Asian person before until I got here."

"Same here," Heejun chirps.

"You, too?" Phillip sounds surprised.

"Phillip," Heejun says calmly, adjusting the glasses on his nose and trying not to burst into laughter, "Look at me. I'm very much an Asian man. I meant that we are very similar. Where I come from, my neighborhood is all Asians- Koreans to be exact."

"You're from Korea?"

"No! This isn't Korean Idol." The stereotype about pretty people not being the brightest is true, thinks Heejun sadly. He is almost disappointed. Almost, but not quite. He remembers his mother used to say, Marry a pretty girl and you'll be poor for she'll live off you. Marry a plain, nice girl, and she'll be your lifelong partner and even support you because she would be smart enough to make something out of herself. Heejun definitely doesn't mind living in poverty if he can have Phillip by his side. "Of course, I'm not. I'm from New York, but within New York are neighborhoods and in the one I live not many other people besides Koreans. I have seen white people, but never friends with them."

"I'll be your friend, Heejun," Phillip tells him.

Heejun laughs out loud, shaking his head. "Are you sure I'm good looking enough to be friends with you?"

"Stop it. You're a good looking guy," Phillip says, smiling.

"Not like you, Mr. Abercrombie and Fitch model with the sexy chest hair and pretty blue, green, golden eyes."

"They're hazel. And I hate Abercrombie."

"Oh. Tell me more. I thought all good looking white people work for them."

"I did actually," Phillip admits. "For a short time. My first time out of Leesburg for college and I went to the mall in Atlanta. I was walking by and they offered me a job right on the spot."

"See. I told you so."

"The pay was pretty good for just folding clothes. I wasn't even working there long before they asked me to model their clothes. And I thought that's cool. Better than folding clothes all day. I just wear their clothes and get paid the same."

"I knew it. I knew you were a model."

"Nah," Phillip says, shaking his head. "Head boss called me in early in the morning before we even opened up for business. He wanted me to model the latest sleepwear. I went into the dressing room and changed. Came out in flannel pajamas. Apparently, he didn't like the way they looked on me."

"I'm sure you looked fine."

"He took off my shirt. Then my pants. He didn't want me to model their sleepwear at all. He wanted me to stand in just a pair of boxer shorts outside the store. I told him no. I quit that day. My mom was so freaking livid. She threatened to sue them since I was still seventeen. I told her no harm was done. He didn't try anything with me. But she went to the store anyways and yelled at everyone. Good thing she did because I now have an endless supply of plaid shirts and hoodies. The kids at the shelter were looking stylish that year."

"Cool story, bro."

"What?" Phillip asks, scrunching his face at Heejun.

"It's not? That's what people always say."

"Heejun, I just told you a story about some old perv harassing me."

"So, it's not? But you got free clothes."

Phillip pouts. "You weren't listening to me."

"I'm sorry, PP. I wasn't paying attention. You're really distracting me. So it wasn't a cool story?"

"No," Phillip replies, shaking his head while trying to hold in his laugh.

Another moment of silence pass and Heejun is ready to break it, again.

"So are Georgia peaches as delicious as they say?"

"They are," Phillip says, yawning. "They're the best."

"I want to try," Heejun says with a devilish smirk. He turns to Phillip, who has since settled back into an infantile position on the bench sleeping while he sits, wide awake, watching the boy sleep ever so peacefully.

TBC

Closing Notes: To read all my fics including this one as well as my latest Phillip Phillips' bdsm fiction, Hard Lessons, please visit Aphrodite's Labyrinth. Thank you.