Chapter 1 - Welcome to SM (1/1)

Minho awoke to a scream. The second his eyes opened, instincts took over and he yanked a pocket knife out of his boot, rolling over onto his feet to grab his opponent’s wrists and press the tip of the blade to their throat. Years of working in his field had taught him to never be taken by surprise and always fight back. Nothing could break his resolve. Nothing but the fact that his “attacker” was a tiny young man who looked like he was about to either faint or burst into tears. The night before came rushing back and he realised that this must have been one of the workers for the circus. He was probably just surprised (with reason) to find two men hiding in their storage van. “Please,” the man was murmuring softly, head tilted back to avoid the knife still at his jugular. “Please don’t hurt me.” Minho immediately lowered his weapon but didn’t let go of his wrists. He was at a loss for words, especially as a second man entered, swinging a cane in his left hand and checking a mobile phone with his right. He stopped in the doorway of the van, looking carefully at the two men in front of him. “You were taking a long time getting out the benches,” the new arrival said slowly, still looking strangely at Minho. “Taemin, who is this?” Minho quickly released the younger man, who he now knew to be called Taemin, and stepped forward to introduce himself. “Anneyonghaseyo,” he said, bowing. “I am Choi Minho and this is Kim Jonghyun.” He gestured to the lump still fast asleep under the tarp. “Our car was damaged in the desert and we stole a ride with you. I apologise.” The man watched him with narrowed eyes before brightening up. “It’s ok! Just ask next time you hitch a ride, kiddo!” Minho’s eyes widened. ‘Seriously? You’ll let it go that easy?’ “Thank you so much sir.” ‘Dumbass.’ “No problem,” he replied with a wink. “So where are you boys headed?” “Brazil, but anywhere you can leave us is fine.” “Luckily for you, we’re an international act! Except we won’t be going to South America for another twelve weeks.” He frowned. “You’re welcome to stay that long, but I get it if you don’t want to.” “We’d love to stay,” Jonghyun piped up, evidently finally awake. Minho shot him a look. “Are you sure it’s alright with you?” “The more the merrier!” The strange man actually seemed thrilled at the prospect of having guests. “On one itsy-bitsy teeny-tiny condition though: Anyone’s welcome here as long as they pay their way. I’m fine with giving you food, shelter, travel and general pep but you have to help out around the camp.” “Sounds fair,” Jonghyun replied again before Minho could say a word. ‘What is he playing at?’ “Great!” the man’s cheer was back in full force. “In that case, allow me to introduce myself.” He stood back and took a sweeping bow. “I am Kim Heechul, the ringmaster of this fine establishment. Welcome to SM Town.” -- “That’s the main tent over there… Oh and that’s Kevin… And those are some helpers, they pop up in every town… And that’s…” Minho and Jonghyun were currently being given a tour of the camp by a very excited Heechul. Minho hadn’t had a chance to ask his partner about his choice to stay here yet, but the second he got Jonghyun alone, he’d rip his goddamn throat out. “And this,” Heechul said, gesturing toward the van they were approaching. “Is Onew’s quarters.” “Who’s Onew?” “The brains of the whole operation, my dear boy! The yin to my yang, the dark to my light, the moon to my sun, the-” The door of the van swung open suddenly to reveal a man with a friendly face and ruffled brown hair. “I think they get the point, Cinderella.” Heechul grinned at the man, who Minho was guessing was Onew. “Tae-baby found these two in the storage van. Can we keep them? Please, please, please?” Onew smiled. “Sure! They look like they could be a great help around the place anyway.” “Then I guess I’ll just leave you to sort their positions. I really must be off to help Hangeng with the kitties. Goodbye boys!” He bowed elaborately before skipping off to another part of the site, leaving the others to watch him go. Once he had disappeared from view, Onew turned to the two men on his doorstep and invited them in. “Sorry it’s a bit messy. I do most of the business side of things and there’s been a lot of work with that lately.” Minho carefully made his way through the mounds of paperwork to sit on the bed like Onew was gesturing for him to do so. Jonghyun soon followed without any major disaster, but when Onew attempted to take his seat, he tripped over a stray sheet and knocked over a stack of papers. Laughing sadly, he shook his head. “Third time today. I really should move those.” “Anyway,” he went on, pulling a notebook off his desk and scribbling something on it. “Firstly, what are your names?” Over the next ten minutes, Minho went through a highly detailed, yet completely fabricated story of how he and Jonghyun were travelling to see another part of the world in Brazil but got in car troubles and stole away in the van. Onew nodded sympathetically during the whole story and Minho was once again taken aback by the overly generous nature of these people. “So when Heechul offered for us to stay, we just had to take the offer. I thought it would be interesting to see how different it is in Brazil, then we stumbled upon the circus…” “Well, you can feel free to stay as long as you like,” Onew smiled once he’d finished. “Will I put you down for twelve weeks and you can decide once we’re there if you’d like to stay longer?” “That would be great,” Minho grinned. ‘Like anything could keep me in this hellhole…’ “Hmm… since you’re staying so long, I’d like to give you some bigger roles than construction or maintenance.” “What kind of roles?” “Our Spanish Web Act has been lacking lately. It’s only a new enough addition to our line up, since the man who does it now came to us with his skills already. A second performer would definitely help.” “That sounds perfect for Jonghyun,” Minho said quickly. ‘It was his idea to stay, he can be the one prancing around the stage in a leotard.’ “Great!” Onew grinned. “Just a warning: Key’s a great performer, but he can be very brash. Try to stay on his good side.” Minho could practically feel Jonghyun glaring holes in the side of his head. “That just leaves us with you, Mr. Minho. We used to have an amazing double act on the trapeze until Heechul and Hangeng swapped roles. Then we got a new performer, who’s just as skilled as they are but needs a partner. How do you feel about being an acrobat?” Minho froze. Did Onew really expect the two of them to miraculously become amazing performance artists in a few weeks? Wasn’t that a lot of responsibility? “Don’t worry,” Onew continued, seemingly reading their minds. “It’s not as tough as you think and I’m not expecting a miracle. Hell, the only reason I’m “the brains of this operation” is because I can barely keep standing when I have both feet on the floor! “All I’m looking for is people to basically keep the other two at the top of their game. They need partners and you seem fit for the job. So,” he tilted his head to the side in question. “You in?” The criminals glanced at each other. They had nowhere else to go and no way to get there. “We’re in.” “Great!” Onew said yet again. “Just a warning for you too Minho: Taemin can be a bit shy, but deep down, he’s a little sweetheart. Keep him safe.” Wait, ‘Taemin’? The man he’d threatened with a knife? Minho suddenly got the feeling he’d end up regretting this choice to stay. A/N First chapter's up, please sub and/or comment if you like what you see :DToodles!