The box of metal pounded against each wall. It thumped and grunted eruptively. As loud as a pounding heart in intense moments. Pain writhed through the wrought iron. The buttons gleamed slightly under the chemical lighting of the small room. Pound, pound, pound. The architecture could've been better. The walls could've been stronger, the ropes, the chains. But this place was built on fifty thousand dollars only, so what could they do?
Andrei huffed next to the wall. His head forged into it, wishing to blend them together. His throat was thick and heavy once again. Filled with coffee and the heaviness of a cigarette. His fists clenched at the texts on screen. Work.
Andrei wouldn't usually work. Especially not at seven in the morning. But he decided to take a shift for the family business. For fun.
Or because it had been three faithful days since Andrei had seen the boy. His boy. The one with golden lashes and eyes that sparkled when the light sprinkled over them. The one who liked snow more than heat. For an American, it was odd. Most New Yorkers complain about the cold. Andrei only hummed at the moment.
It wouldn't leave his broken head. He signed himself up for something stupid in return.
Maybe he was worried. Terrified that the boy would do something stupid again. Like stand up. The idea punished his brain. As though black blood, ruined by cigarettes and substance abuse.
Andrei ticked his head against the edge once more. The elevator was too slow. It really did need to be fixed.
The doors thudded apart. That was why it was slow. The sound of it infiltrated Andrei's precious ears. He only sighed. Then, he froze.
Pink hair. A rap t-shirt. More black skinny jeans.
Andrei didn't even say hi.
"What are you doing here?" he grunted.
The boy, this time, flinched. "Wh-what? I-I l-live..I live here?" His soft voice cracked. Andrei rolled his eyes, bad at confrontation, clearly. He thought. "Hurry," Andrei gestured beside the tiny boy without much thought. The pink-haired man limped his way forward. The scent of vanilla wrapped around Andrei tighter than any jacket. He sighed, Yoonjae stood right where his finger was.
Andrei pressed the close the door button and turned to Yoonjae. The boy's eyes glimmered again, twinkling that beautiful purple hue. Only under this light. His lips were pursed, nose red like he's already cried. Andrei chewed on his own lip.
"I know that. Why are you even up?"
The boy stared. Blankly at the older man. "Uhm...I-I have w-work? I-it's tu-Tuesday...."
Andrei cracked his knuckles. It stung as though he broke them hard and rough. Each muscle flinched under the heavy pressure of his long nails built for clay. They clashed through the skin with a force he only hummed at. It burned.
Why do people hurt themselves for money?
The Russian man wouldn't have the time to answer his own question as a sniffle rang out. It bounced against the walls harder than life itself. Something pulled down the sleeve of his blazer, like a kid would. His eyes shut. A hand dug into the collar.
"Why are you wearing a suit?" Yoonjae said. His voice sounded stuffed up and yucky. Andrei glanced at him. He looked the tiny boy up and down, at how he stands so low and so short. "Work."
"Y-you d-don't u-usually...wear suits.." another sniffle. "Di-did y-you get a new job...?"
"No."
"O...oh."
Andrei crushed the cigarette in his grasp. He loathed that. The way the boy deflated at everything.
The blonde heaved once and dropped his hands. "It's not a new job. I have to stand in for my twin brother. He runs the building and is changing some kind of layout. I have to tell all of the tenants about the new plans for the building."
"Ah!" Andrei turned to him. He analyzed the boy. Chartruse hair hid the fair skin of his forehead and his thinning eyebrows. His pores were wide and big, you could see straight through them. Clean and sparkly, he smelled like vanilla love. Poison. Andrei trembled softly to it. The boy's throat bobbed repeatedly. "Sorry, hihi...you're so s-s-successful...I-I just make onomatopoeias..."
Andrei paused. His brows knit. "'Onomatopoeias?'"
"Sounds, hihi! A lot of sounds..."
"Did you just move to America?"
"Ouch. That hurt....no...I l'm American.."
"I think you mean vocalizations." Andrei hummed. He didn't realize how rough his voice came out. He didn't know he sounded grouchy and angry. He didn't know words curled around his mouth in a trance. That they stuck to his lips and chewed them out from the inside. Not until, from the corner of his eye, he saw that glowing pink head drop. And suddenly, Yoonjae looked away. A woeful whimper escaped in the form of a word.
"Okay."
"No, don't do that. I don't think you're stupid. At all. I think you're hard working and intelligent. You're interesting and much more than your looks which is hard to find up here. I like your directness."
"Y-you t-think I'm direct...?"
"You're not fake." Andrei cleared his throat. He leaned against the back of the wall, fighting himself. He can't stare, it'll make him seem psychopathic.
"You start conversations and are confident, it's impressive. I'm sorry I'm being an asshole, I'm just worried about you standing all day. I guess I'm not in the right place to comment on that. I'm sorry." The Russian tugged his blazer tighter around the slim connect of his waist. He swallowed whatever else he was going to say. His cheeks flushed pink, he'd embarrassed himself again. The type of embarrassment that sat on your conscience and had to be removed by physical intimacy.
He grabbed another cigarette.
He just barely caught the hitch in Yoonjae's breath.
"That...that's the sweetest thing an adult...has told me." The pink-haired exhaled forcibly. Andrei nodded despite his eyes being on the slow flip of the numbers. "C-cause I'm around kids....so much...most people get tired of me quick or say I'm babying them...I-I can't help it...am I saying too much?"
"No. I like your voice, keep talking."
"I-....okay I'm nervous now, can you talk? Wh-what are you-you going to fill in for your brother?"
"I'm going to say that some units will be shut down and those in those units will be moved to our new buildings temporarily on the other side of town. People are going to be mad but whatever. The plumbing and electrical-your apartment is good, right?" The man turned. As a robot attached itself to him and infiltrated his blood. Mechanical. His speech halted.
Yoonjae flushed. "I-I guess...wh-what do you mean?"
"Do you have warm water and do all of your plugs work?"
"I...maybe? One-one plug doesn't and th-that's okay...the wa-water gets cold if I'm in it for too long... you're in the apartment next to me...what do you think?"
Andrei tilted his head. "I don't know because I take cold showers."
"Al-all the time?"
"Yes."
The pink-haired giggled. Ethereal was the only word existent in Andrei's selfish head.
"Wh-why?"
"Military school."