Author's Note: This story was written for a friend as a reward for studying. Studying is very important, children. I've never written for Kazuya and Lee before so this is pretty tame, nothing too explicit. Also, it's AU, so don't expect a lot of background development and just practice drawing the lines.

DISCLAIMER: Characters depicted herein belong to NAMCO.

Pulse

By Koorime

"Get out of there before you catch pneumonia."

" … "

"Lee?"

One brown eye cracked open. "Mm?"

"Out." Kazuya threw a towel at the silver-haired man, a hand shot up from the water to catch before it could fall in. There came a knock, Kazuya gave his brother a stern look before turning back to the bedroom and crossing the short space to the door. A quick twist of the knob brought sunlight streaming in from the landing but a youth with ebony hair prevented it from striking his eyes. Kazuya looked upon the younger version of himself, nearly as tall, even though his face had adopted his mother's soft angles.

Jin held a bottle of water and pills in each hand which he promptly handed over, Kazuya placed them on the dresser by the bed.

"Domo."

Jin stood a bit hesitantly in the doorway, hands buried in his pockets. "Is Lee feeling any better?"

"Whining like a bitch, but is else fine," his father drawled.

"Not that I can hear you, or anything."

Both looked to the ensuite from which Lee was emerging clad in a heavy forest green bathrobe. He winced, pressed a hand to his temple and he sighed. "Stupid fireworks."

Jin smiled weakly. "I'm sorry, we shouldn't have made you come last night if-"

Lee grunted and brushed it off. "I'm only blaming the weather, Jin, not you." He was presented with the medicine and took it without question.

"Those are only painkillers and they're quite strong so you should rest, it's the only way you'll get better," Jin explained.

Kazuya frowned, glancing over his son's shoulder to the landing as a blast of music rose from the ground level of the house in a discordant symphony of guitars and drums. "What is that horrid noise?"

Jin sighed, seeming all-too-familiar with the occurrence. "Hwoarang. Sorry, Lee, I'll ask him to turn it down… or even better, off." He backed out quickly, closing the door behind him and leaving them in subsequent peace.

Lee moaned and fell back on the bed, eyes shutting tightly. Kazuya took the water bottle before it could spill and placed it back on the dresser as Lee pressed a hand over his eyes.

"My head is about to explode," he groaned.

"It will pass sooner if you don't speak."

"No-one's makin' you stay, Kaz, the door's behind you." Lee cursed and tangled both hands in his hair. "Dead before dawn, oh, please."

Kazuya smirked and settled next to him on the bed. "Complain is all you do."

His reply was a garbled noise that probably had the initial intent to insult when the pain kicked in. Lee wasn't much for conversation at the moment.

Lee felt the impression of movement in the mattress before a distinct weight settled on his hips. Frowning, he opened his eyes but was obscured as two large hands pulled his own away, revealing Kazuya peering down at him with a small frown of his own. Fingers gingerly weaved through his hair; pressing to his scalp they rubbed gently in small circles. Lee sighed, eyes slipping closed again to enjoy the tender massage. The throbbing at the back of his head began to ease, fading little by little until there was but a pulse left in its wake; though, it was a pulse that stabbed needles behind his eyes.

He let out a small sound of disappointment when the hands stopped; eyes opened and he both saw and felt Kazuya pulling back. Lee snatched his wrist before it had the chance to go far.

"Don't." Lee inwardly groaned at the selfish tone the word came out in but Kazuya only scowled.

"You're hard," the older man replied simply.

Funny, he hadn't noticed. "So?"

"So that's not why I'm doing this."

"Is it a problem?"

Kazuya gauged the intent behind those words and a sceptic look crossed his features. "I thought you said that your head was about to explode."

"You have good hands. Keep going."

Kazuya regarded the man beneath him with amusement but he needed little encouragement, hands returning to metallic strands. Lee purred in contentment, tilting his head back into the cool grasp he received a pleasant shock when sharp hips rolled against him, eliciting a short gasp. The fuzzy confusion from the headache served as a nice cushion for the steady desire seeping through his blood, pooling between taught thighs as he thrust against external heat.

Feeling the brush of hot air against his lips he forced his eyes open; dark mahogany stared back at him, dark and chilling they watched him, always framed by a frown but it had seemed to soften for the moment. They almost looked angry with the wild light of possession, Lee might have been apprehensive had he not been so accustomed to it.

"Your head," Kazuya whispered against his cheek. "Any improvement?"

Lee shuddered, body arching and sliding against the other, interested only in the benefits of friction. They were both hard but Lee's breathing was becoming a little ragged, skin flushed from fever and recent arousal.

"Stop?" Kazuya asked when Lee said nothing.

Lee's hands shot out and clutched his shirt, pulled him back down. Their activities had already pushed the front of his bathrobe open but Kazuya remained fully clad. That was very bad for progress.

"No." He shook his head and tried to steady his voice. "No… burn it out."

Hwoarang sat amidst a pile of CDs, scowling at the one in hand he tossed it aside to join the disarray. "Is there a repeat on the drug you gave him?"

"Only if the pain persists, so keep it down." Jin turned the page of the newspaper, propping himself up on his elbows as he lay beside the mess on the floor. He peered over his reading glasses at the spreading ruckus and looked to the source of it. "You'll clean this up, ne?"

The Korean didn't look up from the newest case for scrutiny, waving Jin off. "Yeah, when I'm done. Shit, do you even remember buying this CD?" Another for the scrap heap.

"Exactly what are you looking for?"

Hwoarang shuffled through the pile before frowning and turning back to the half-empty CD racks against the wall. "Not sure yet. Something I can play without your dad givin' me the evil eye."

"Do you have to take them all down?"

"Nah, some of these are yours and I don't need to touch those. The classics are safe."

"Why don't you put one of those on, then?"

Hwoarang tilted his head to one side and seemed to consider the prospect.

"Vivaldi?"

The redhead scowled. "Pansy."

Jin rolled his eyes. "Fauré?"

Hwoarang blinked at him. "I didn't realize we were in mourning."

"… How about Mussorgsky?"

The Korean scoffed and motioned about the lounge. "Despite the size, does this look like an opera house?"

"Brahms then. Father will appreciate you for Brahms."

Hwoarang shuddered. "Is that really a good thing?"

Jin looked at him in disbelief. "You have a criticism for everything, don't you?"

"Well, just think about how boring life would be if we all agreed? You'd be on top every time!"

"Very funny."

Hwoarang gave up on his search and brushed the 'play' button on the remote, the sound system flickered to life and Jin cringed as some archaic metal from the late twentieth century initiated. The lithe martial artist crawled over to Jin who promptly snatched the remote from him and forwarded to the next CD in the hopes that it wouldn't serve to torture his eardrums.

"Hey!"

Jin shushed him. "Remember that you're trying to stay on my father's good side. Lee is in a lot of agony, if he complains about the noise then father will become grumpy and then we will all be miserable."

Hwoarang scowled darkly and lazily draped himself over Jin, propping his chin on the Japanese boy's shoulder. "How long are they staying with us, anyway?"

Jin turned the page to the 'International Affairs' section and read on. "Less than a week, and then you'll have but one person to protest to the music selection."

"Good, because, not that I mind them and Lee's pretty cool, but I think your dad would… seriously hurt me if… he had the chance, you know?"

Jin chuckled. "He does come off that way, doesn't he?"

Hwoarang turned his head to look at Jin's face. "You won't turn out like that, will you?"

Jin paused in his reading and frowned slightly, Hwoarang wasn't sure if he was annoyed by the question or considering an answer. He continued quickly to save them both discomfort.

"Nah, I think you'll be fine, so long as you don't walk around like you've had a rod shoved up your ass." He snickered, then laughed as Jin gave him a pointed look. A simple chime echoed from the front foyer before he could add a punch line, a split moment later they heard the muffled sound of glass breaking and looked to the ceiling beyond which lay the second level guest room. Hwoarang immediately climbed off of Jin who also rose to his feet. The former started for the front door and motioned between Jin and the stairwell.

"Make sure that wasn't my lamp," he instructed, disappearing round the corner. "I like that lamp!"

"Hn." Jin started up the carpeted stairwell, silently musing to himself that it had probably been a window… or perhaps a mirror. Kazuya and Lee were known to quarrel, but they had never broken anything before. Something had definitely shattered and Jin was not amused. He was sure that his father held equal enthusiasm about spending his leave at his son's house, but they had both reluctantly agreed at Lee's persistence. The man was a good businessman, and he made a sound argument. Unfortunately, the concept of 'family time' was sounding hollower by the hour.

He came to a stop before the guest room and frowned at the door, hearing Hwoarang speaking to someone downstairs he listened for the other voice. For the moment, all he could hear was the door closing and lowered conversation. Mentally shrugging he knocked gently on the door and strained to hear for an answer over Hwoarang's music that had started up again. Maybe spring cleaning through the CDs wasn't such a bad idea.

As far as Jin could tell, there was no response. With a sigh he turned the knob and nudged the door open to peer in. "Lee, is…. "

Holy shit.

Dumbfounded, it took Jin several moments to revive his motor skills. Slamming the door shut as quickly as he could, he leaned against it at a loss for breath. His brain had geared to a complete halt, wondering if he'd just seen what he…. No, he must have been dreaming. Yes, it had to be a trick of the light. He groaned inwardly. Some real fancy trick.

He didn't notice the second pair of shoes in front of his own until they shuffled and knees bent so that a familiar face could peer up at him. Xiaoyu's bright smile had been traded for inquisitive concern as she beheld the bright blush in his cheeks.

"Daijobu?"

Jin's voice cracked when he tried to reply. His skin paled when a distinctive moan emanated through the door and he grabbed Xiaoyu's wrist, pulling her along to the stairwell. She yelped in surprise and glanced back at the door, letting Jin lead her away at a pace that even she had trouble keeping up with.

"Is someone in there?" she asked in confusion. "Is someone hurt?"

Jin laughed nervously and kept walking. He didn't stop until they entered the kitchen where Hwoarang was busy taking groceries out of plastic bags and setting them on the long counter. The Korean looked up and nearly laughed.

"What the hell's with you? You look like you're gonna have a heart attack."

Xiaoyu looked to the man at her side who still had her wrist in a death grip. Jin motioned dumbly, words coming out in malformed nonsense and a deep scarlet was returning to his cheeks. Finally he jerked a thumb in the direction of the stairs and Hwoarang frowned.

"Your dad killed him?"

Jin sighed and shook his head. "No, no.... !"

Xiaoyu looked between them. "Who?"

"My… my uncle and… my father, they… they.... " Jin cringed and shuddered as if shaking off a sudden chill, he thundered over to the fridge and threw the door open. Hwoarang and Xiaoyu exchanged bewildered looks as Jin rifled through the shelves in a distracted fashion, muttering under his breath.

"Did you see anything?" Hwoarang asked her, but she shook her head.

"I heard… " Her eyes widened as she suddenly understood Jin's distress. "Oh, yuck! Oh, eugh!" Her cries were half-distorted by her laughter which stopped just as promptly. "Wait, who's your uncle?"

"Chaolan, you know?" Hwoarang offered, starting to look a bit worried as Jin opened one of his bottles of beer and drank quickly enough to give the impression that he was trying to drown himself. "… Are you okay?"

"Chaolan Lee?" Xiaoyu echoed in surprise. "That tall, silver.... He's your uncle? But he doesn't look anything like you!"

Jin was busy drinking but waved her off with a hand as he tried to drown out the vision of moments ago. He'd only seen a glimpse, but that was more than enough. It was actually the smell that had stumped him initially, the overpowering scent of heat and sex should have processed what was going on before he had to see it. He hadn't actually realized how tanned Lee was until he saw the skin in broad expanse, covered in a thin sheen of perspiration. Luckily for Jin, the silver-haired man had still been wearing his robe, though it had fallen to bunch around his elbows, shielding all but those impossibly long legs wrapped around his-

Jin groaned, a hand coming to his forehead as he tried to block out the rest of the image but it was too vivid. Too horribly vivid. What had him reeling most was that he had seen his father, his father cradling the slender fighter in his lap, strong hands bracing that long back as they ground out a slow, hard rhythm and Lee was moaning. It was throaty and deep, made Jin's gut twist in a none-too-innocent fashion and he could still hear it rolling around to settle in the recesses of his mind. But when Lee's head fell back it also turned to him, maybe he had heard the door open because there was no surprise in his eyes, dark and leaden with lust… maybe he didn't even register Jin standing there.

Jin wasn't going to sleep for weeks, that much was sure.

A finger tapped his chin up and he looked into concerned amber. "You okay, babe?"

Jin grunted, feeling overheated and irrationally jittery. The bottle in his hand was now empty and Hwoarang took it from him, dropping it in the trash bin on the floor beside them. Jin fell back against the fridge, clutching Hwoarang's wrist that came to a rest on his shoulder. Hwoarang glanced back to Xiaoyu who was perched on the counter and wrestling with a bottle of yoghurt drink.

"What, were they screwing?" The redhead jested.

Jin groaned and covered his face with his hands. Xiaoyu shrugged but smiled mischievously. Granted from Jin's reaction, he was right. Hwoarang burst out laughing and hugged Jin to him.

"You're such an innocent."

"Scarred for life," Xiaoyu piped, finally succeeding and twisting the top off her bottle.

"It's not innocence!" Jin burst in. "It's… Lee and… ugh. Lee was supposed to be sick."

"It was probably just an excuse to get pampered," offered the small Chinese girl who threw him another bottle like her own. He caught it reflexively, though still looked considerably distressed. "Don't worry, Jinny, the shock will pass eventually. It'll just make for more fun-filled family tales by the fireplace."

"Shut up," Jin stated in exasperation, earning a laugh from both his friends.

"So, what did they break?" Hwoarang prompted. "Was it my lamp?"

Jin sighed. "Sorry, I didn't wait around to find out."

Hwoarang's mouth quirked and he ruffled Jin's bangs affectionately. "Don't worry, I'll make you forget all about 'em tonight."

Jin didn't look in the least comforted, staring off into the distance with a steadily deepening frown.

"Ne, just don't think about it!" Xiaoyu exclaimed, hopping off the counter and reaching for some Chinese broccoli. "Sheesh, am I the only one in this house not getting laid?"

That got the attention of both men and they stared at her in silence. Xiaoyu placed hands on hips and wrinkled her nose.

"I probably shouldn't have said that, huh?"

Hwoarang snickered and headed for the cupboards. "Hey, it's your life." He pulled out a wok and handed it to her, the kitchen was soon filled with the clatter of cooking and general conversation. The hours slipped by quickly and the sun was already setting when they began to set the table.

Jin was taking out a bottle of wine when Xiaoyu winked at Hwoarang and turned to her ebony-haired friend. "So do you want to fetch them for dinner, or should I? I'm sure they're done by now."

Jin baulked, stumbled over nothing in particular and crashed into the counter. Luckily, he retained good grip on the wine and threw Xiaoyu a withering look for the near accident. "No matter what you think, that will never be funny."

Xiaoyu giggled and another answered.

"What is that?"

The attention was drawn to the open entrance leading in from the hall where Lee was combing fingers through his hair. Lee looked much better than several hours prior - rested - which was the least any of them had expected. He returned their blank stares with a gentle smile and made his way over to Xiaoyu, taking one of the trays of food from her.

"Here, let me help you with that," he offered and made his way to the dinner table.

Xiaoyu blinked as if waking from a dream and seemed to perk up, grinning widely. "Oh, thanks!" She paused and took in Lee's attire. In spite of the warm weather he wore long-sleeved cotton with loose jeans whereas the three around him were sporting cargo pants, tanktops and the like. "Are... are you cold?"

Lee chuckled under his breath. "A little, but my fever's gone down. Thank you, Jin, those pills you gave me were very helpful."

The other man looked up at his name's mention in the middle of his search for the bottle-opener. "N-no problem." He turned away with a wince, Hwoarang took the wine from him and patted his shoulder.

"Go sit down," he whispered and Jin nodded, quickly taking a seat.

"Kazuya will be here soon, he was just getting out of the shower when I left." Lee took a seat across from Jin and placed an elbow on the table. Leaning chin in hand he noticed that his nephew was paying particular attention to his fork, stabbing little triads of patterns into the tablecloth. "Are you alright, Jin?"

Jin glanced up at him for the briefest moment. "... Sorry?"

Lee smiled softly. "You seem distracted."

Jin shrugged and shook his head quickly. "No, I - I just... I.... "

"Oh, I see."

Jin looked at him again. "What?"

"You've been working too hard, haven't you?" Lee's smile turned sympathetic. "You're supposed to rest on weekends, you know."

Xiaoyu laughed but was abruptly cut off by an elbow to the ribs. The small girl poked her tongue out at the offender but Hwoarang simply handed her the last of the dishes and pushed her towards the table. Starting round the counter she nearly bumped into a looming figure she hadn't even noticed approaching. She leaped back with a yelp, Kazuya only turned to regard her with a raised eyebrow, but didn't wait for an explanation.

"Oh, e-excuse me," she stumbled in embarrassment. Kazuya tilted his head which was probably a light notion of acceptance at her apology. He settled into the seat adjacent to Lee at the head of the table without a word, placing himself between Jin and his brother. Jin tried not to look too helpless and glanced back at Hwoarang who shrugged and uncorked the bottle with a loud 'pop'.

The table properly set, Xiaoyu plunked into the empty seat next to Lee with a content smile which she turned on Jin to give him some reassurance. Hwoarang joined them and poured the wine for all who accepted some, not too surprised when Jin did although he usually kept away from most alcohol. He had some wine at dinner on the odd occasion, so it probably didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary to the two older men at the table.

"Itadakimasu!" Xiaoyu declared and dug in, holding no modesty for the food she herself had cooked with her friends' aid.

Lee cleared his throat. "Oh, Jin, there was something I forgot to mention."

Jin set down his wine glass that was suddenly empty and ignored the frown Hwoarang was giving him. "Yes?"

"I'm afraid I might have broken the bedside lamp in our room," Lee apologized. "I'll replace it tomorrow, but I thought to tell you in case you wondered why it might have looked different."

Hwoarang's hand fell to the table with a thump, he looked very disappointed. "So it was my lamp?"

Lee looked confused. "I'm sorry?"

"We heard something break, but.... " Hwoarang stopped and not only because Jin's foot nudged his ankle. Nobody needed to be embarrassed at dinner. "It doesn't matter."

Xiaoyu licked her lips of sauce and placed her elbows on the table, chin resting on hands as she looked to Lee questioningly. "If you don't mind me asking: how did it break?"

Lee tilted his head to the side. "Well, I-"

"I was clumsy and it broke," Kazuya intercepted, speaking for the first time throughout the entire meal. For that and his words he received surprised looks, but no-one looked more startled than Lee, which was cause for suspicion. Kazuya ignored the looks and gave Xiaoyu a pointed look. "This food is very good."

Xiaoyu straightened in her chair, positively beaming at receiving such a compliment from such a person in such a droll monotone. "Oh, thank you! I enjoyed making it."

"So what did you kids get up to this afternoon?" Lee asked, looking between them.

Xiaoyu shrugged, swallowing quickly to answer. "Oh, you know, the usual: pretending I have a life and that these two have to beg me to grace them with my exalted presence nearly every day."

Lee chuckled. "Yes, you might as well move in, you're here often enough to give the impression that you live here."

Jin was again avoiding eye contact, staring to his left away from his father and uncle. He somehow missed the slim hand that left the table until it settled on his thigh and squeezed gently. His eyes narrowed at Hwoarang who winked back at him before grinning widely at Lee.

"Oh, you know; the usual."

And the rest was left to the imagination, which was somewhere Jin did not want to be at that precise moment. To Hwoarang's surprise Jin's hand covered his own and squeezed back as he reached again for the wine bottle but the redhead blocked him off. "That's enough for you tonight."

Xiaoyu giggled. "Yeah, they let me watch."

Kazuya snorted. "Typical kids these days."

Hwoarang flashed him a daring grin as Jin looked to Lee with a sigh and baulked when the silver-haired man winked at him with a little smile.

It was going to be a long night.

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