Even as the words were leaving Taemin’s mouth, Byungchul struggled to believe them. For so long he had just been expecting the worst outcome and convincing himself that he would be deserving of anything Taemin said to him, no matter how horrible, even if he knew Taemin would never be the type to do such a thing. Not once had he considered forgiveness a possibility. 

“You… You want to go back?” Byungchul asked, wanting Taemin to assure him that yes, he wanted to go back. Maybe it would be easier to believe the second time around. His largest concern in attempting to return things to the way before was that he couldn’t guarantee his hyung’s safety… He never wanted Taemin to play witness to a breakdown of his. He couldn’t undo what Taemin had seen. He didn’t expect Taemin to react with grace, but he didn’t expect Taemin to react the way he had either. Taemin could catch him in a moment like that again, and then what? Would they have to go through this every time? 

“Are you sure we can?” he asked. “Like, you… you just learned about something I’ve been trying to keep you from finding out about for… who even knows how long? I don’t expect you to just… be okay with it, and… as much as I didn’t want you to see me when I…” He trailed off, feeling his breath catch. He couldn’t look at Taemin while speaking, so he dropped his eyes to the empty space on the couch between them. “This is just what happens to me sometimes, you know? When things get too much, it’s like… it’s terrifying. I don’t blame you at all for being scared of me.” He laughed a little, voice going scratchy. “Hell, I scare myself. I just, I want you to know that I would never hurt you, hyung. I never hurt anyone other than myself. What I did was-- it was bad. I know it was bad, but I don’t know how to make sure you never see it, and… I don’t know if I can take it if you ignore me again because of it. I’m sorry if you don’t like seeing me like that, but I don’t know how to stop. What if this happens again, hyung?”

Byungchul assumed the older had his reasoning for not wanting to join the others in the same way he himself had stayed behind, so he didn’t push the topic any further. He easily took point in walking to the living room, wanting to get there as quickly as possible so that the changing of location wouldn’t be an inconvenience to them talking. When he landed on the couch, he took up as little space as he possibly could. Kind of a difficult feat, because he was a bigger guy, but he did his best to curl up into the corner. He wanted to allow plenty of room for Taemin so that he could sit comfortably.

Unsure of how else to begin, he asked, “So, uh… Did you need something, hyung?” He really had no idea if they were going to talk about anything or if Taemin was going to tell him he didn’t want to be his friend again, or worse, he didn’t want to be in the same group as him… His anxiety was only increasing as seconds passed them by.

song byungchul as pamela isley or poison ivy, a villain well-known for his ability to exude lethal antigens and intoxicating pheromones. these powers have always been with him, operating on a hardly noticeable level, but did not make themselves known until they were forced to the surface. at a young age, he was taken captive by a scientist that admired his beauty. the scientist believed he possessed the potential to be greater than human, and wanted to perform tests in hopes of stimulating mutant genes. it wasn’t until the scientist’s experimentation proved successful that byungchul could make his escape. too frequently, he has been taken advantage of by those enthralled by the pheromones his powers involuntarily produce in others, and now, he despises being perceived as alluring. anyone that objectifies or targets others find themselves being returned to the earth. if he were able to change his methods, redeeming himself as a superhero would not be impossible; however, for obvious reasons, he has difficulty trusting people above plants. thus far, he has only felt comfortable enough to allow kulap and nuri into his life at an intimate level. in order to protect them, he has helped them build an immunity to the biochemical toxins of his person. in doing so, not only can neither of them be poisoned by him, but they can no longer be poisoned by anyone. kulap kitsuwon as harleen quinzel or harley quinn, a whimsical and childish villain whose powers were born out of an abusive relationship with one bank chaiprasit or the joker. after psychologically tormenting kulap into submission and obedience, bank grew bored with how easily malleable kulap was and became more fascinated by what all the younger might do for him. curiosity laced with murderous intent: would kulap die for him? one of bank’s many attempts to kill kulap resulted in exposure to a radioactive vat that, to bank’s frustration, increased kulap’s bodily resistance to harm. having already exhausted the possibilities of manipulating kulap any further, and no longer able to hurt kulap physically in the ways he desired, bank realized the only option he had left, if he wished to continue harming kulap, would be to abandon him. he derived pleasure in kicking kulap back onto the streets. love-sick and disillusioned, kulap continued believing that bank could do no wrong. it was byungchul that helped him realize the truth. because of this, kulap became quickly infatuated with the older, and later found himself equally as affectionate for nuri, who offered to help them exact revenge. lee nuri as selina kyle or catwoman, a grey-moral thief that tends to align with those he feels most strongest towards as opposed to actually picking a side in the fight of good vs evil. after the death of his father, nuri found himself most often aligning with the needs of his remaining family, even if that meant going outside the law in order to support them. having to resort to criminal methods at such a young age took a toll on him; the use of a villainous alias for so long has permanently created a divide in his personality, creating two distinct halves as a psychological means to disassociate himself from his life of crime.

unlike his criminal counterparts, nuri’s strength comes from rigorous training. it would not be untrue to say that his only “super” power is the immunity to toxic chemicals, and even that was given to him by byungchul as a token of trust. these two had crossed paths many times in their endeavors before finally deciding to ally with one another, because even the most self-isolating of individuals take comfort in the company of those who are similar to them.

later, when byungchul brought kulap into nuri’s life, and he heard of the horrors the youngest of the three had lived through, offering his loyalty was no question. like byungchul, he wished to protect kulap. when the idea of vengeance came to the table, it was nuri who assumed charge of planning their operation, and kulap and byungchul offered no complaints-- of their trio, nuri had survived the longest in the throes of gotham and did so without the use of abilities beyond a human’s. clearly, he was best fit to lead.

got a curse we cannot lift shines when the sunset shifts there's a cure comes with a kiss the bite that binds the gift that gives.

“Me,” Byungchul said. “I would care. Does that mean nothing to you, noona? I can’t believe you would rather have me walking around all what’s up doc instead of letting me defend myself to total strangers... You wanna talk about dying by something falling on my head? Have me dress like I’m from the goddamn Looney Tunes. Let’s see how long it takes for an anvil to drop out of nowhere, just like in the cartoons.”

Having successfully ruined the mood, Byungchul felt like he could breathe again. He didn't like stopping Kulap--and he had done a lot of stopping lately, because Kulap kept coming at him, quoting flirty lines from shows they had watched together and putting his hands very obviously in places that insinuated what he wanted--but he was afraid of what might happen if he let him continue. He had a hard enough time filtering through what was and wasn't appropriate with strangers; it was infinitely more difficult to do the same with Kulap because neither of them wanted to remain in the confines of appropriate anymore.

"I'm not making fun of you," Byungchul replied. He adjusted himself on the bed, bringing his knees in closer to his chest as a barricade of sorts. It would prevent Kulap from climbing halfway onto his lap again, but he knew it didn't matter if Kulap was literally on him or simply beside him. Just being in Kulap's proximity got him all shaken up. That's how it always had been, and he was starting to think that's how it would always be.

"You really didn't hurt me that bad, you can still put the makeup on my arm. Besides, my foundation's... somewhere," he said, dishing out excuses.

He faltered because he realized how ridiculous he sounded, protesting against wearing anything himself. Recognizing this, he immediately uncurled himself and stood from the bed. He went and got his foundation and dropped it to join the pile of Kulap's makeup. He forgot all about his barricade plan when he sat back down, posture going lax and Kulap could have gotten closer to him without any resistance. "How do we start?"

other works in this AU: (fire and ice), (00:00)

and here’s the second self-para that takes place in the siblings AU in which byungchul is dating his best friend’s little brother, @acekulap, and one day they get caught canoodling by the one person they didn’t want finding out about their relationship. it’s not angsty, i swear! hopefully some of you will actually get some laughs out of these two rascals getting walked in on ^^;;

other works in this AU: (fire and ice), (mistakes were made)

this is the first of two self-paras i’ve written that takes place in the siblings AU in which byungchul is risking his life dating his best friend’s little brother, @acekulap, in secret. this self-para in particular is mostly exposition about byungchul and kulap’s relationship. it gets a little frisky at the end lmao