look alive, sunshine

Yes! This!

2012-04-25T16:41:53Z

What is this thing with Japan having short and long versions of PVs? Just give me the longer version already, preferably with as much Donghae as possible.

My boys look goddamn fiiiiiiiiine!

Em's boys look goddamn fiiiiiiiine!

Anna's boys look goddamn fiiiiiiiiiiine!

LOL @ Shindong only being in it for about five seconds.

UNF DONGHAE.

The. end.

Google Privacy Issues: Web History

2012-02-28T16:26:36Z

Originally posted by anjak_j at Google Privacy Issues: Web History

If you are going to do this, you need to do it before March 1st. It has been said that users will not be able to do anything about this after that date.

With reference to Google's policy changes and how everything you do with your Google account will be tied together into their super-cauldron of information, you will probably want to clear your Google Web History out - if you turned that feature on - before month's end. After that, you won't be able to clear it, and everything you search for will be connected with your account.

To check settings and/or clear out your Web History:

1. Go to Google. If you aren't signed in already, do so.
2. In the top right-hand corner you'll find your email address or name, perhaps an icon if you have a Plus account, and a little downward facing arrow. Click on the arrow and a menu will pop up.
3. Click to 'Account Settings'. This will take you to a page called 'Accounts'. (If you have a Plus account, you might go via a Plus sign-in page.)
4. Scroll down to a section called 'Services'. Here you'll find an option called 'View, enable, or disable web history', which has a link next to it. Click on the link.
5. If you never turned web history on, you'll get a page asking if you want to turn this service on. Just click 'No Thanks' and all is good. If you did turn it on, you should have a list of your searches. At the top there is a button that says 'Remove All History'. Click this and follow the instructions which will remove all items from your Web History and pause the feature so nothing else will be added in future.

Also, you can completely remove Web History as a service from your account by clicking THIS LINK, checking the tick-box and confirming you want to remove Web History. To be safe, it is probably best to do the steps above first to remove any history that might have already been collected.

DBSK FIC: Never Let Go [Yoochun/Junsu, R]

2011-01-17T16:42:38Z

Title: Never Let Go
Author: lightly
Rating: R
Pairing: Yoochun/Junsu
Word count: 2,905
Summary: Yoochun wished to all hell that this could have been just another day on the job.
A/N: Bomb Squad!AU, a pinch hit hug______ Secret Santa for miduyoh. Also written as part of my kpop_prompts fics, prompt #48: Danger. My prompt table can be found here

Never Let Go

The quiet click of the bomb being armed was such a small sound and yet it cut through the noise of their boisterous conversation as if it were a fire alarm. Yoochun and Junsu stopped instantly. Stopped moving, stopped talking, stopped laughing and for a terrifying second Yoochun thought his heart might have stopped beating. Yoochun took a shallow, even breath, careful not to move even a little bit. He tried to steady himself, tried to kick his brain back into gear. His hands were still raised in a conciliatory gesture, he had been losing the friendly argument he and Junsu had just been having. It had been maybe half a minute since that ominous little click and already his arms were starting to ache, but he daren’t put them down. He daren’t move until they figured out just which one of them had stepped on the bomb.

Yoochun was already convinced he knew the answer to that riddle, though. He thought he could feel the pressure matt beneath his feet, white hot and deadly. Yoochun looked at Junsu, looked at his shock pale face and he felt only relief. He chanced a careful look down and yes, there under the construction dust and debris were the tell tale tracks of something being recently moved and there were wires, black and red, twisted together and leading off somewhere Yoochun couldn’t see. Yoochun would have to turn his head, his body, to follow the wires to where the explosive part of this IED was located.

Yoochun was relieved. Relieved that it was him standing on the trigger and not Junsu. But Junsu’s stricken expression told him that Junsu didn’t exactly feel the same way.

“Shit, Yoochun…” Junsu’s voice was whisper quiet but it still sounded unnaturally loud in the silence left in the wake of their previously echoing laughter. Junsu let his words trail off like he was afraid to say what he was going to say, so Yoochun mentally finished the sentence for him.

“Shit Yoochun you fucking idiot you are going to die now.”

Yoochun might have paraphrased a little.

Junsu swallowed audibly and took a step backwards. It was a reluctant step, Yoochun could see it in Junsu’s eyes, in the jerky way he moved. Yoochun could tell that what Junsu really wanted was to throw himself on the bomb which would have been 1) extremely stupid for obvious reasons, 2) completely against protocol, again for obvious reasons and 3) ultimately futile because it would just blow the both of them to hell and gone.

“Get out!” Yoochun said, his teeth gritted. “Get out now.”

Junsu just scowled at him and took another small step away. It wasn’t a small step towards moving out of blast range, it was a step away so Junsu could get a better look at what they were dealing with. Well, with what Junsu would be dealing with, Yoochun wouldn’t be a lot of help right now.

“How bad is it?” Yoochun asked even though he was pretty sure he didn’t want to know. Needed to know? Yes. Wanted to know? Very much no. Junsu didn’t answer, his face went a shade paler, his expression got a shade grimmer. “Oh,” Yoochun said almost absently. “That bad, huh?”

Again Junsu didn’t answer him, pointedly ignored him in even. Junsu turned away and fumbled for his radio. Yoochun could see that Junsu’s hands were shaking so much that it took him a couple of tries to flick the switch on the device. Junsu spoke into the radio in a low tone, Yoochun couldn’t quite hear what he was saying.

Yoochun could feel the seconds, minutes tick by. Time had an almost physical presence now, it pressed down on him like a heavy weight. Did the bomb have another trigger, did it have a timer that would kick in once the pressure matt failed to go off? How much time did he have before it went off? How long would it be before he couldn’t keep still anymore? Already his muscles burned, a slow pain that would build up and build up and build up until it became torture. The pressure matt beneath him felt like it was starting to seer away the souls of his shoes. He wanted to move, wanted to run, wanted Junsu to get the fuck out of here right the hell now.

He wondered if this bomb would as powerful as the dozen or so others that had been found in the building so far. Probably. They had all been made by the same nut job, all lovingly hand crafted, all individual and each of them more than capable of taking out this building on its own. If all the bombs had gone off the way said nut job had planned, the resulting explosion would have taken out half the district.

That would have been some firework show. Yoochun was glad that the whacko was already in custody. If Yoochun got out of here in one piece he was going to strangle that ass hole with his bare hands.

“That area was reported as cleared.”

Yoochun heard the crisp voice of their supervisor crackle over the radio and his heart constricted. This area was supposed to have been cleared, that’s why they both hadn’t been as careful as they should have been when walking though. Stupid. Fucking stupid. Yoochun thought he probably deserved to have stepped on a bomb. This area was supposed to have been cleared but it sure as shit hadn’t been cleared properly.

Yoochun felt a flash of anger roil up inside him, it was followed by disappointment and sadness. Junsu turned back to look at him, his expression was a mix of raw anguish, guilt, fear and anger. Yoochun knew that their supervisor had to have told Junsu who was responsible for this section. Yoochun thought he knew who it might have been also, he didn’t think he needed Junsu to confirm it. Junsu’s angry face might have been cute, it might have been almost enough to intimidate a five year old but Yoochun knew that--though he might have looked cute--you really, really didn’t want him to be angry at you.

Park Minwoo.

Junsu hadn’t even wanted that guy on the team for this assignment in the first place. Truth was, no one wanted to work with that guy anymore. Minwoo was a good man, had been a great cop and an asset to the bomb disposal unit. But it was that old story, a bad divorce had led to a drinking problem and now he cut a sullen figure as he slouched into the bull pen each day. Truthfully, the only reason Minwoo hadn’t been fired yet was due to some interdepartmental politics that Yoochun had never and would never be able to puzzle out. That is why Yoochun hadn’t yet and probably would never be promoted.

But Yoochun, ever the optimistic--or idiot, which ever--thought that everyone deserved a second chance.

“You know,” Yoochun said once Junsu had cut the connection on his radio. “Now would be the perfect time to tell me ‘I told you so’”

“Fuck you, idiot”

“Now is the perfect time to say that too.”

Yoochun exhaled slowly, carefully. A soft sigh. If Junsu was cursing the situation had to be dire. Yoochun was well and truly fucked.

“What’s the plan then?” Yoochun asked even though he already knew. He just wanted to keep talking, wanted to hear Junsu talk. Right now that was the only thing keeping him calm. Junsu’s hands were still shaking but he had forced his expression, is demeanour into that of blank serenity. Yoochun wondered if he could appear to be as calm if the situations were reversed. Probably not. Even now his heart felt like a Jack Rabbit trying to scramble out of his chest.

“Evacuation.” Junsu said softly and Yoochun nodded. As expected. They hadn’t yet finished clearing the building, they had been at it for hours and would have been at it for hours more--if Yoochun had not been an idiot. Yoochun had been looking forward to putting in the overtime, their rent was due. They had already evacuated as many people from the district as they could convince to go, and that had been a mission in and of itself given that the area around this building consisted of Mom and Pop stores and markets. The store owners are stubborn and didn’t want to leave. Now all unessential personnel would have to go and any available units not engaged in active bomb disposal would have to report to base camp. All hands on deck.

Hee, all hands on Yoochun.

Yoochun let out a sound that was somewhere in between a laugh and snort of frustration. He felt his body waver, he felt himself start to shake. Suddenly he was so very tired, this keeping still was hard work.

“Don’t move!” Junsu snapped and Yoochun fought the urge to snark back ‘Yes sir!’ He really didn’t have the energy of the brain capacity to waste on idle pettiness.

Junsu stepped away again, he moved off to Yoochun’s right and off around him. The second that Junsu was out of sight Yoochun started to panic and his world felt just that little bit colder. Ok, maybe that was just the temperature dropping. Still, Yoochun would feel better if he could see Junsu. Yoochun always felt better when he could see Junsu.

Yoochun shivered.

Somewhere, something started beeping.

“Shit.” Junsu breathed softly and Yoochun felt another surge of panic.

“Junsu, get out.” Yoochun said. He tried to keep his voice even and calm, but he failed. “Now.”

Junsu just ignored him again. Yoochun really wished Junsu would stop doing that. He heard Junsu mutter something into his radio, the words were too low for Yoochun to actually understand what Junsu was saying but his tone was rushed and urgent. The sound of the beeps from the bombs timer echoed around the cavernous room and Yoochun closed his eyes and he prayed.

*

After, afterwards when Yoochun was ninety percent sure he was all in one piece--the shock of relief made it sort of hard to tell--after that, Junsu wouldn’t talk to him. Wouldn’t even look at him. The others in their unit joked that they had just had a lovers spat. They clapped him on the back and laughed and said that Junsu would soon get his panties untwisted and they could all go out for drinks.

Man, getting drunk sounded like a good idea.

Yoochun just laughed along with his colleagues and his friends and if his laughter was a little forced no one said anything.

Yoochun and Junsu were partners, friends, brothers in arms. Their closeness had been noted but rarely was it commented upon and if the other guys they worked with even suspected the truth they never said a word.

Don’t ask, don’t tell.

Yoochun watched Junsu as he stood apart from the others. Watched the way he held himself, held his arms crossed over his waist like he was trying to keep himself from falling apart. Yoochun watched Junsu be praised by their supervisor. Watched him glare daggers into the back or Park Minwoo who stood alone--not even his partner wanted to stand near him now for fear of the shit storm that would follow him.

Yoochun watched Junsu and he tried not to think about just how close it had been, just like he tried to pretend that he was shaking because of the cold and for no other reason.

*

Their apartment was in darkness when they got back to it, quiet, still. No one else was home. It wasn’t that late and Yoochun expected Changmin to be home at least, even if he was just hiding in his bedroom having some private time.

But no, all was quiet, all was still.

It was a little spooky. After the day he’d had, coming back to an empty apartment made him feel a little uneasy. That was the blessing and the curse of living with four other people, there was always someone else home. Yoochun shivered again and turned to face Junsu. After Yoochun had been checked out by the medical staff he’d been judged relatively fit and then he’d been sent home, which had pissed him off a little. Junsu had volunteered to take him home, however, which had mollified him slightly. During the ride back Junsu would have to talk to him, right|

No, he didn’t.

And now here they stood in the tiny hallway of their cramped apartment that even with five of them they still found it difficult to afford. Junsu shucked off his boots and coat and left them lying on the floor in that way Yoochun knew Jaejoong hated. They just stood there looking at each other, Yoochun tried to smile but it was a weak effort. He opened his mouth to say he was sorry--he didn‘t know what he was sorry for, anything, everything. He didn’t get passed the first syllable before Junsu rushed at him, clung to him. Yoochun wasn’t ready for the sudden onslaught and he lost his balance and he fell down, taking Junsu with him. Yoochun knocked his hip on the little step that separated the hallway from the living area but he really didn’t care.

Junsu pressed his face into the curve of Yoochun’s shoulder. Junsu’s breath was hot and it tickled Yoochun’ skin as Junsu whispered words Yoochun couldn’t quite hear. He thought he heard the words ‘fucking’ and ‘idiot’.

“Su-ah.” Yoochun said softly, gently. He tried to push Junsu off a little, just enough so that Yoochun could look into his eyes. Junsu just clung on tighter. “Su-ah, it’s ok.”

Junsu hit him then. Hard, in the gut. All of Yoochun’s breath whooshed out of him like he’d been caught in a vacuum. Junsu stood up as Yoochun fought to breathe.

“Asshole.” Junsu said and stepped over him and into the main living area. Yoochun coughed and spluttered for a minute or so before he felt able to get up and join him. Junsu sat stiffly on their battered old sofa, his arms wrapped around his middle. “It almost wasn’t ok.” Junsu whispered, he didn’t look up.

Yoochun got it then. Never let it be said that he was quick on the uptake. In their line of work it was inevitable that this kind of thing would happen, it had happened before--but not to them until now. Yoochun always knew that it was a case of sooner or later, he’d hoped that it would have been later. Much, much, much later. Junsu clearly wasn’t in the mood for talking and really, neither was Yoochun. But he wanted to tell Junsu--needed him to know--that Yoochun was ok and all in one piece.

Yoochun thought the best way to do that would be to show him.

In a few short strides he crossed the room and, a little more forcefully than he meant to, had Junsu pressed down across the length of the sofa. Junsu’s arms were still wrapped around his middle and were now trapped under Yoochun’s weight, Junsu couldn’t get any leverage to push Yoochun off even though he tried.

Yoochun kissed him, gently at first, softly nudging Junsu’s mouth open with his lower lip. Then it was all teeth and tongues clashing together in their desperate need to get closer to each other. Yoochun tasted blood and felt a spike of pain as Junsu nipped at him a little too hard, but Yoochun didn’t care, it felt good. Yoochun tasted salt too, he thought Just might have been crying.

“Don’t cry, Su-ah.” Yoochun said softly, his lips brushing the tears away from Junsu’s cheek. “I’m here.”

*

In the end, Yoochun isn’t sure how they made it to their shared bedroom, or just when they got naked. Somewhere in the back of his mind--that distant part that wasn’t all caught up in the moment--he knew there had to be a messy trail of clothes leading to their bedroom door. He made a mental note to have them cleared away before the others got home, but that thought was soon lost among the sensations--the taste, the feel of Junsu, the sounds he made when Yoochun licked the skin around his nipple.

Yes, this is what Yoochun lived for.

Yoochun held onto Junsu like Junsu was his only lifeline, and really, that’s what Junsu was.

*

Sometime later, Yoochun was woken by a shrill, annoyed cry, a bark of laughter and the sounds of someone telling someone else firmly--but futilely--to calm down. Yoochun groaned and pressed himself closer to Junsu, pulling the bed clothes tighter around them and burrowing down.

“Yah! Park Yoochun!” He heard Jaejoong call. “Get out here right now!”

Yoochun groaned again and tried to pull Junsu on top of him, tried to hide behind him.

“Stop that.” Junsu admonished but there was laughter in his voice.

“Hey, do you think that if we played the ‘we almost died’ card it would get us out of trouble?”

Junsu scowled at him but then his expression softened into a smile.

“It might work with Yunho.” Junsu said and Yoochun laughed. Yoochun started to get out of bed but Junsu pulled him down again. “They can wait.” Junsu said and Yoochun couldn’t have agreed more.

THE END.

DBSK FIC: Paper Gangster [Yoochun/Junsu, R]

2010-12-22T18:34:30Z

Title: Paper Gangster
Author: lightly
Rating: R
Pairing: Yoochun/Junsu
Warnings: AU, Violence
Word count: 6,895
Summary: Undercover cop and a Mob Boss's boy toy, it's like neither of them knows who they are anymore.
A/N: hug______ secret santa fic for foliaceous

Paper Gangster

I. Let sleeping dragons lie.

Yoochun heard the quiet chuckle of the Goon behind him but he didn’t look up, he couldn’t. He couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t think, feel or breathe passed the pain. He hurt everywhere, it was impossible to distinguish what hurt and just how or where. He heard the Goon laugh again and this time Yoochun was able to move his head just that little bit to the side to look at the source of that laughter. Not that it afforded him a better view of anything, he was lying prone on the damp floor so all he could see was the Laughing Goon’s scuffed but expensive shoes. Yoochun’s face was pressed into a shallow puddle of water mixed with some substance Yoochun didn’t want to contemplate and if he lay like this much longer then he was going to drown in that little pool. He tried, but he just couldn’t bring himself to care about that.

“I think we hit him too hard.” The Laughing Goon said. Yoochun heard the other Goon snort which he took as being some kind of acknowledgement that, yes, they had hit him too hard. Yoochun tried to snort in acknowledgement too, but it came out as more of a gurgle. Laughing Goon laughed again and his scuffed but expensive shoes moved out of his line of vision.

“This is a waste of time.” Snorting Goon said. Or at Least Yoochun thought it was Snorting Goon, they both kind of looked and sounded the same. Like two big and burly clones of each other. Yoochun is sure that they have names, he was sure that at some point during his capture he had heard someone use the names that the Goons had. He is also sure that he didn’t give two shits and that he really, really just wanted this to be over.

“Do we really have to stay and watch this piece of shit? He’s not going anywhere.”

Yoochun tried to snort in acknowledgement of that point too. He really wasn’t going anywhere, except hell. He tried to move his arm but all he managed was a slight twitch of his fingers, which was some sort of progress.

“We have to wait for The Boss.” Laughing Goon said. There was a bored, unimpressed tone to his voice that Yoochun is pretty sure that he had to have practiced.

“I need a smoke.” Snorting Goon said. “I’m going outside.”

“He’s awake. Can’t leave him.” Laughing Goon said and there were footsteps, both Goons came to stand in front of him. Oh this was not going to be good. A foot connected with the side of Yoochun’s head and the dank world around him faded into black and for a small, blissful while nothing hurt at all.

*

When he came to again it was to the steady symphony of impatient noises. He heard whispered, angry sounding voices, someone pacing back and forth with quick authoritative steps, he heard someone else nervously shuffle their feet. He didn’t want to open his eyes, if he didn’t open his eyes then they wouldn’t know he was conscious.

“Wake him up. Now.” A cool voice said. The voice was quiet, but it held an authority that was unquestionable. Great, The Boss was here.

Cold water splashed over him which was just perfect because it wasn’t like he wasn’t already cold and wet and miserable enough already. Though the shock of the ice water did have the effect of clearing his fogged up head. Yoochun coughed and spluttered and tried to push himself up and away from the now considerably large puddle he was lying in, but he had little to no strength left in his body and his arms buckled under the strain and he face planted on the ground again.

“Pathetic.” The Boss Sneered. “Pick him up since he can’t seem to do it himself.”

Strong hand gripped Yoochun’s upper arms and hauled him bodily to his feet. The sudden movement was fast and hard enough to almost rip one of Yoochun’s arms from its socket and Yoochun bit back the cry of pain that threatened to break forth. He hadn’t cried out during any of the previous beatings and he was damned if he was going to give any of these bastards the satisfaction of starting now. They could get there sadistic jollies somewhere else. He couldn’t stand properly, couldn’t support his own weight so he just hung there limply in the Goon’s grip, this non action put pressure on his injured shoulder but he couldn’t do anything about it. One of the Goons holding him was Laughing Goon, he recognized the shoes.

There were more people in this little dungeon with him now, besides The Boss and the two Goons set to guard him. Idly, Yoochun wondered how long he was out this time, night had long since fallen and Yoochun was pretty sure that the last time he was aware of his surroundings it was close to twilight. Coloured lights glowed in through the small window placed high in the wall, the gaudy green and red of Christmas. Somewhere a jaunty jingle tinkled out of a broken down radio, given his situation the tune sounded awful and macabre. The Boss apparently arrived while Yoochun was out cold bringing his entire entourage with him. No wait…Yoochun looked around at the assembled cast of characters and noted that there were quite a few of The Boss’s usual aids missing. Not that this information did Yoochun any good, it didn’t matter that there were less people for him to contend with, he was in no condition to put up a fight. A physical one anyway. Just because he was going down doesn’t mean that he was going to go down quietly. Yoochun looked up at The Boss and offered him what he hoped was a winning smile. When he smiled he tasted blood, but that wasn’t a surprise, he could feel the cut on his lip. The wound seemed to pulse in time with his heart beat.

“Hey,” Yoochun drawled in English. His voice sounded strained, even to his own ears. “This is quite some party.”

The few minions The Boss had brought with him all had their attention focused on him, Yoochun could feel the weight of their collected glares. They were all waiting to take their pound of flesh out of him. The door to his little cell had been left open and someone stood back by the shadows. Yoochun couldn’t get a good look at him, whoever it was they didn’t seem to want to come any further into the room then they had to.

“Cut the crap, Micky.” The Boss said. He walked up to Yoochun, leaned in close. His breath stank of expensive whisky and even more expensive cigars, it made Yoochun want to throw up. The Boss spoke in heavily accented English but then switched back to Korean. “Or should I call you Park Yoochun?” The Boss smiled but that smile didn’t reach his eyes, they remained cold and calculating.

Yoochun tried not to let his smile falter. He guessed already that he was here because his cover had been blown, but there had been that small part of him that had hoped that he was here because The Boss suspected him of fiddling with the take of the delivery business he ran. Either scenario would result in Yoochun’s very slow and very painful death but if Yoochun’s cover had been blown then it wasn’t just Yoochun in the firing line and that thought was enough to make Yoochun’s heart stop all on its own. Yoochun’s eyes flicked back to the person lurking by the door, an involuntary motion. He didn’t want to look there, he didn’t want to see that person’s face. That person had moved a little further into the room and they were still cast in shadows, but the shape of their outline, the way they stood hunched over and unsure, it was so heartbreakingly familiar. Yeah, Yoochun was pretty sure he was going to throw up and hey, if he aimed it just right he might get it all over Laughing Goon’s stupid scuffed shoes. Well, he was going to die horribly soon anyway.

“Park Yoochun,” The Boss said again. “Now I have you.”

“Yes you do.” Yoochun said in Korean. There was no point keeping up the pretence anymore, if they knew his real name then they knew that he wasn’t a Korean-American on the run from the law in the states. Part of that cover had been that ‘Micky’ didn’t speak any Korean, thus ensuring that The Boss’s more idiotic employee’s didn’t keep their fool mouths shut when ‘Micky’ was around. “You’ve got me.” Yoochun tried to keep his voice light and agreeable. Show no sign of fear Yoochun old boy, show no sign of fear. “But have you got a breath mint? Because I would consider that to be more important.”

Yoochun didn’t see the blow coming, The Boss moved quickly despite his ample size. Yoochun braced himself for the hit anyway, it’s a predictable reaction, if you smart mouth the bad guy then you should expect to get socked in the gut. The breath whooshed out of him in a rush and he gasped and fought to be able to breathe again. The Boss laughed and walked away.

“Fucking cockroaches.” The Boss muttered. I get rid of one of you and another one takes its place.

Yoochun glared at The Boss but The Boss didn’t see the baleful expression, he was facing away from Yoochun, he faced toward the open door and the person standing there in the shadows.

“I trusted you Micky.” The boss said. He spoke to Yoochun but his words were directed at the shadow man, Yoochun was fairly certain it was a man. Yoochun felt his gut twist. No, no, no, no. The Boss turned back to him, his gaze steady and intent. “I saw potential in you. I consider myself to be a smart man and I believed in you, this was my failing and your doom.”

Yoochun rolled his eyes. His doom. Right, of course. He bit back his clichéd response and instead he looked away, looked down at the ground and hung his head slightly in that humiliating gesture of subservience that he’d had to adopt once he started this assignment. All The Boss’s employee’s adopted it, Yoochun hated it and he knew it wasn’t going to do him any good now but he couldn’t help it and he hated himself for doing it but he had to keep the boss talking, he had to know how much of his story The Boss knew. No one was coming to save him but there was one person that Yoochun could still save. The Boss knew that Yoochun was a spy and he had to know now that Yoochun was a cop.

But did he know that Yoochun had been working with someone else within the organization? Someone very, very close to The Boss.

Yoochun hoped, almost desperately so, that he didn’t.

II. Stop, rewind.

Yoochun didn’t want this assignment. Dread pooled low in his stomach, cold and ugly, as he looked at the photos spread out on the table in front of him. He’d given most of them only cursory glances, crime scene photos, mug shots of various members of the organization that had already been arrested. He only had eyes for two of the pictures. One was of a body pulled from the Han River two days ago. The body was bloated and deformed from its time in the cold waters, livid bruises and deep clear cuts covered the skin on its arms and torso and face. The face was so badly marred that it wasn’t recognizable as a face at all. DNA tests identified the body - him - as a Police Officer. The undercover agent that Yoochun was set to replace.

The other photo that held Yoochun’s attention so was that of The Boss himself. Boss Chang, head of the organization and the biggest Kingpin in Korea - allegedly. It was a candid shot of The Boss taken as from across the street as he got out of his Limo and walked to his club. Chang was a large man, tall, well built, as his years advanced he packed on a fair few pounds of fat but most of his bulk was muscle. He kept in shape and didn’t look close to being his age, 55, the Police had a copy of his birth certificate. Chang was smart and he kept a legal and above board paper trail, all his public businesses were above reproach, he paid all of his bills and taxes in full and on time. Despite the numerous spies and informers the Police had placed with Chang’s organization they had yet to garner any evidence that would hold up in court about Chang’s not so public businesses.

In this photo The Boss had his arm curled protectively around the waist of his boy toy, a dancer from one of The Boss’s clubs, one of that club’s more popular attractions. He was know as Xiah. Xiah wasn’t looking at the camera but from his closed expression and stiff posture Yoochun could tell that Xiah knew it was there, that he was being watched.

Xiah. Yoochun hated that name, hated this whole situation. Xiah’s real name was Kim Junsu and he wasn’t first undercover agent the KNPD had sent into the organization but he was the longest lasting and he was the one who had managed to get the closest to The Boss himself. He was also the reason that Yoochun hadn’t wanted to take this assignment but he was also the reason that he ultimately had to.

Yoochun looked at the photograph of Chang and Xiah, he looked at the tense expression on Junsu’s face. No, Xiah. He had to think of him as Xiah, one little slip up would mean death for the both of them. Rage roiled inside Yoochun’s gut at the thought of Chang touching him, at the thought of the things Junsu - Xiah dammit - has had to do to get so close to that asshole. Involuntarily Yoochun flashed back to the last time he had seen Junsu. That had been the last time Yoochun had held him, kissed him. It had been a hard, angry kiss that preceded hard, angry sex. Yoochun’s face coloured at the memory of Junsu writhing beneath him, moaning Yoochun’s name. Yoochun closed his eyes, pushed the photo away, he didn’t want to look at it anymore, didn’t want to do this. He stood up from the table, kicked his chair away, the other officers in the room didn’t say anything but there was an uncomfortable cough. Yoochun thought it might have come from his Superintendent.

Yoochun knew that none of the officers assembled here had any idea of his and Junsu’s - Xiah fucking dammit, he’s Xiah and you’re Micky - prior relationship. He knew that is they did then he wouldn’t be allowed within fifty feet of this investigation. He knew that his bigoted Superintendent would be doing everything in his power to get them both struck from the force.

Yoochun opened his eyes, looked at his lieutenant who nodded gravely at him.

“You ready, Micky?” He asked?

Yoochun managed to croak out a yes but that was a lie. Yoochun didn’t think he would ever be ready.

III. Could have waited for you all day.

Yoochun was cold. The bone deep weary kind of cold. His clothes and hair were wet from the bucket of ice water thrown over him, his skin was drenched in a cold sweat. His teeth clattered and he trembled. He exaggerated his teeth chattering slightly because god forbid anyone think he was trembling because he was scared.

He was afraid, yes, but it was that stupid kind of fear where he wasn’t afraid for himself. That ship had sailed and he was adrift on the seas of the ‘soon to be made dead’. No, he was afraid for someone else. So, so, so afraid. He was alone here in this situation, it was just him. That someone he was afraid for wasn’t with him and Yoochun had to blink his eyes and shake his head to clear away the visions of a slit throat and that someone’s body covered in blood.

There was a noise from the doorway, a soft gasp and a quiet scuffling. The person lurking there had edged further out of the door as if they were waiting for The Boss to be completely distracted so they could make a break for it. The Boss turned halfway towards the noise, Yoochun could still see his face in profile so he saw it clearly as The Boss’s smirk turned into a genuine smile. The kind expression looked out of place on The Boss’s face, wrong. Yoochun fought the urge to rip out of his captor’s grip and punch that smile off Chang’s face.

“It’s ok, baby.” Chang said, his voice soft and cajoling. Baby? Yoochun was finding it really, really hard not to vomit. “I’m sorry you have to see this but I do need you with me.” Chang turned completely away from Yoochun and towards the person in the shadows. “Come here.” Chang said and his tone might have been calm and inviting but there was no room for doubt that this was an order. A figure moved out of the shadows, Yoochun could see him clearly now and heart and breath lodged in his throat.

Despite the fact that Yoochun had been working undercover in the organization for the last six months and had been working with Xiah for most of that time, Yoochun hadn’t actually seen him. He hadn’t seen him face to face since Junsu stopped being Junsu and became Xiah, that had been a year and a half ago. The closest Yoochun had come had been just after Yoochun had started work for Chang under his cover of ‘Micky’. Yoochun had stopped by Chang’s main club to pick up a delivery and Xiah had walked passed, or it was more like he swaggered passed, all puffed up with confidence, wearing tight leather pants that hugged the curve of his ass just right. That had been before Yoochun had been able to contact Xiah through the channels that had been set up, it had been before Xiah had even known that his last contact had been murdered. Yoochun had seen a flare of panic in Xiah’s eyes when he saw Yoochun, but it was there for only a minute and then it was gone. Junsu never had a good poker face, Xiah’s however was flawless. Since then they had only communicated through furtive phone calls, Yoochun only got to hear Xiah’s voice for a minute at a time and he savoured every second.

Xiah looked almost the same now as he did all those months ago, except his hair had been dyed a deep red and it - along with his kohl lined eyes - made him look painfully young and hard. When Junsu had been given this assignment, information on Chang’s taste in partners had just been rumours and hearsay. But the department had been willing to take a gamble, if Chang didn’t go for it then they would have pulled Junsu out and tried again with some other bait.

Yoochun hated Chang with a passion that bordered on fanatic.

As Xiah walked unsteadily closer to them Chang reached out an arm and curled it around Xiah’s waist, pulling him into a one armed hug. The gesture was at once both tender and possessive and it made Yoochun see red. He wanted to scream and shout at Chang to get his filthy hands off his Junsu. Yoochun couldn’t help himself, he lunged forward and tried to speak but the words came out as a defiant snarl. The Goons still holding him pulled him back roughly, Yoochun heard a soft ‘pop’, pain - fiery and hot - flared through his arm and over his shoulder and he knew that one of his shoulders had to now be dislocated, but both of them hurt so much that he couldn’t tell which one it was.

Yoochun heard The Boss laugh and he looked up, he tried not to look at Xiah but it was hard. The Boss regarded him with amusement, Xiah just stood there, his expression blank, his face so pale and still that it could have been carved from stone.

“I trust you are finished with the useless escape attempts?” The Boss sneered. Yoochun didn’t bother giving a response, he was too busy trying to calm his rapid breathing. “Now that my most trusted associates have been assembled we can get on with tonight’s main event.”

Yoochun’s heart sped up, it beat a loud jungle rhythm against his chest, it felt like it was trying to beat its way to freedom - to Junsu. Yoochun had to fight to breathe. He’d been sure that if Xiah had been brought to this place then it would have been for some kind of cruel joke. He’d thought that Chang knew everything and that he was going to slit Xiah’s throat right in front of him. Yoochun was afraid that he was going to have to stand and watch his Junsu bleed. Watch him die. He didn’t know what to do with the relief that it was the case, his knees gave out and he sagged again in his captor’s grip.

Junsu was going to be ok.

That was assuming, of course, that Junsu played along the way he was supposed to. He was likely going to have to stand there and watch Yoochun die instead. Xiah would have to watch, but Yoochun hoped that he hadn’t screwed up so badly that Junsu wouldn’t care.

*

“I know who you are, Park Yoochun.” The Boss said and his voice was nothing more than a low rumble of menace. Yoochun met The Boss’s eyes, they were cold and empty of all reason. There was no sign of the kind expression he had graced Xiah with. “I know who you are working for, I just don’t know who you are working with.”

And that right there, Yoochun knew, was the only reason he hadn’t already been fitted for his cement shoes. The Boss might not suspect his little boy toy but he did suspect someone. In the months since Yoochun had be working under the cover of the hapless ‘Micky’ the Human Rights PD had made major head way into disrupting Boss Chang’s businesses - alleged. Chang specialized in human trafficking. Yoochun knew it. The KNPD knew it. But Chang was a smart and slippery fucker, doing all his dealing using proxy’s . Despite information from Yoochun, from Xiah, from the now deceased Lee Jaesun they had yet to get any solid evidence that would not be considered entrapment.

Fucking lawyers.

Even now, the only link the had between Chang and the dead Police Officer was that he had been working for Chang as part of his cover at the time of his death. At least once Chang ordered Yoochun’s death Officer Kim Junsu would be an eye witness. Chang was going to go down for that one.

“Do you expect me to talk?” Yoochun asked in English. He slurred the words in a mangled attempt at a Scottish accent. Chang just stared at him, one evil eyebrow arched in annoyance. Yoochun wasn’t sure how eyebrows could be evil, but Chang’s just were. Everything about him was evil.

There was silence. The silence stretched on for a few tense filled minutes, the only sounds in the room were the drip, drip, drip of a out of sight leaky pipe and Yoochun’s laboured breathing. “Awww come on, work with me here.” Yoochun said once the silence got too much for him to bear. “What’s the point of getting myself caught if I can’t engage in witty banter with the bad guys?”

“Your wit leaves little to be desired.” Chang said calmly. “Let him go.”

That last order was obviously meant for the Goons holding him because no sooner had the words passed Chang’s lips then Yoochun was dropped to the floor. He landed with a surprised ‘oomph’, the palms of his hands scraped on the ground in his belated attempt to brace for impact. Yoochun was aware of the people in the room as the gathered around him, he could feel their malice press down on him like it had a physical form. Oh God, this was really, really going to hurt. Chang walked slowly and deliberately to stand in front of where Yoochun now lay, Yoochun had a good view of his shoes. Lovely. They were also expensive (naturally,) but they weren’t scuffed, they were almost immaculately clean except for a small smudge of something at the tip of one toe. The smudge looked suspiciously like blood and Yoochun had the irrational urge to reach over and wipe it away.

“We’ll be leaving you now, Mr Park. But I am sure that Mr Kim and Mr Bang will take good care of you.”

What? He was leaving?

“But that’s so anti climatic.” Yoochun said and he hated how weak his voice was starting to sound. He coughed and was pretty sure he coughed up blood. “You call an ominous meeting, you’re all gloating and ‘aha now I have you’ and then you just up and leave?”

The Boss chuckled but there was no mirth in it.

“I’ve met many men like you, Mr Park.” Chang said, his voice even, calm, empty. “Men who think they are doing what is right and good. The last spy I had disposed of was very much like that. I tortured him for hours and he never said a word. Righteous idiot.” Chang’s empty tone turned derisive like being a good man was beneath contempt. “I’m a busy man, Mr Park, and I don’t have any more time to waste on you. You will live for a few more hours, we will see if whoever you are working with decided to fight or flight. I have let word of your situation slip through some of my less trust worthy grapevines. If your partner is anything like you then he will rush to your aid. If not then he will run. Either way we will know who he is. I will find out who is undermining my authority even if I have to rip apart my organization from the inside out. I can always rebuild, people, things are replaceable.”

“You kill me now and the whole KNPD will know what you’ve done.” Yoochun said. Chang laughed.

“First they will have to find the body.”

Yoochun tried to push himself up. His right arm wouldn’t work, that’s the one that’s dislocated then, so using his left arm and his legs he managed to work himself into a sitting position. He was not going to meet his end lying down, he just wasn’t. He looked up in time to watch Chang wrap an arm around Xiah’s waist and lead him out of the little room. Watching Junsu - Xiah - leave was the most painful thing he’d experienced so far. Xiah looked back over his shoulder and Yoochun saw pain in his eyes and a flash of anger, defiance and in that moment Yoochun felt a stab of sympathy for Boss Chang and that sympathy left a bitter taste in the back of his throat.

Boss Chang was a dead man walking and he wouldn’t even see it coming.

The rest of Chang’s minions filed out after him and Yoochun was left with only two men standing over him. Goons Laughing and Snorting, AKA Mr Kim and Mr Bang. Just perfect.

“Could I interest either of you in some witty banter?” Yoochun asked dryly. Neither Goon answered him but then he didn’t really expect them to. He braced himself and then the beating started.

He stopped feeling it after a while. These guys were good at inflicting pain but they weren’t masters, relying on punches and kicks to delicate places. There is only so much of this that a body can take before it hurts so much that any more blows are superfluous. Yoochun didn’t even realize when he lost consciousness. It was just that one moment it hurt and the next it didn’t and he was floating into a warm, friendly, familiar dream.

IV. Way back when

Yoochun felt safe, cared for. He felt like he had come home. He was dimly aware that he was dreaming, this was a long forgotten feeling and he had no idea just how much he had missed it until right now. So if this was a dream then he didn’t ever want to wake up from it.

He opened his eyes, blinked a few times to adjust to the almost unnaturally bright light. He thought he heard the steady drip, drip, drip of an out of sight leaky pipe, but that wasn’t so unusual. He recognized the room he found himself in as his old apartment, the one he had shared with Junsu. Well, calling it an apartment was a bit optimistic - it was more like a large room in a run down building. But it had four walls, something that passed for a bathroom, plumbing that sometimes worked and heating that didn’t. And it had Junsu. Back then they had been the next best thing to penniless, just trying to make their mark on the world. Yoochun had played piano at a club styled after the American Jazz clubs of the 1940’s and Junsu taught dance at the local studio. At first they just roomed together, sleeping on separate single bed on opposite ends of the room because the rent - even in this shack of a building - was too much for either of them to manage alone. Yoochun remembers the night their relationship slipped into something more. Their heads had been heavy from too much Soju and their mouths dry from too honest conversation. They’d pushed their beds together into the middle of the room because one bed was just not big enough for the both of them. But afterwards they had both crushed onto Junsu’s side because it was slightly more comfortable.

Yoochun was lying in the middle of that pushed together bed now, he could feel the divide pressing against his back. The door to the little bathroom was closed and Yoochun lay there listening to the thrum of the running shower and the steady drip, drip, drip of that out of sight leaky pipe. How long had it been since he had been here in the real world? Five years? Six? So much had happened since then it made Yoochun feel so old. He thought he heard another noise, a bang. Then another, and then another and then another. The sounds were muffled and distant but still, they sounded a lot like gun shots. Yoochun shrugged, they could have just as easily been someone’s car back firing.

Lying here in this place, it was hard for Yoochun to remember why he had joined the force at all, though he suspected that his reasons weren’t good. And Junsu had followed him because they hadn’t wanted to be apart.

The bathroom door opened and Junsu walked out, his image hazy, partly obscured by the steam coming from the now shut off shower. Junsu’s skin was pink, flushed from the hot water and yes, this was definitely a dream - their water heater had never worked that well. Junsu’s hair was black but when the light hit it as he walked across the room it glowed a deep red. Yoochun didn’t like that colour on him, but he couldn’t figure out why. Junsu knelt down by the bed and reached out a shaking hand, his fingertips were wrinkled from staying in the shower too long. Junsu lightly touched Yoochun’s head, a terribly gentle caress. When Junsu brought his hand back his fingers were coated in blood. Yoochun frowned, he couldn’t decide which one of them was bleeding.

“Please wake up.” Junsu said. His voice was a frantic whisper that seemed at odds with his clam demeanour. Junsu smelled clean, soapy. Yoochun liked it. “Yoochunnie, wake up!”

Yoochun blinked at him. He was awake, wasn’t he? You can’t be asleep in a dream, can you?

“My name is Micky.” Yoochun mumbled blearily. He had no idea why he said that and he knew that is was the wrong thing to say the moment he said it.

Junsu slapped him. Hard.

Yoochun woke up.

V. Safety and other clichés.

The hands shaking him awake were gentle but determined. Yoochun had a scant few seconds of that half asleep feeling where nothing registered and nothing hurt - and then reality set in. His cheek burned like it was on fire and it was strange that out of all his aches and injuries this should be the one that he focused on. Despite the pain it still took him a few minutes to realize that he was conscious, images, memories assaulted his disorientated mind an he didn’t want to open his eyes. If he didn’t open his eyes then he wouldn’t have to look at the four dank walls of his little prison. If he didn’t open his eyes then he wouldn’t have to face up to yet another beating - how much more could he take? If he kept his eyes close them maybe it would hurry up and be over.

He was tired.

Those gentle hands were still shaking him. They touched the exposed skin on his arms, mindful of his cuts and bruises. One hand cupped his cheek, the hand was so soft. So soft. The simple kindness of being touched so made Yoochun want to cry and something inside him snapped. This was too cruel. After all they had done to him, all they had to do to really break him was show him a little kindness. He felt tears leak out from under his eyelids, so hot and unwelcome that they scorched down his cheeks and he blindly kicked out at whoever was touching him. It hurt to move, he was weak and his kick had no real strength behind it. His care giver just calmly reached out and stilled his feeble movements. Yoochun fumed silently and opened his eyes - and his world stopped.

“Are you done flailing around?” Xiah asked him.

Yoochun tried to reach out to him but his arms wouldn’t work and it took him a confused moment to figure out why. Oh yeah, he was lying on his left side, his left arm trapped underneath him. His right arm was fucked - and the rest of him was pretty much fucked too.

“Xiah?” Yoochun said. Or at least he tried to. His throat was raw, his voice was barely croaked whisper like all his vocals had been screamed away.

“I don’t want to hear that name, not from you.” Xiah said. “Can you get up?”

That, Yoochun thought, was a really stupid question and Yoochun didn’t think it deserved an answer but Xiah - no wait, Junsu - seemed to be waiting for one. He shook his head.

Names were confusing, the world was confusing. Yoochun thought it would be best if he just shut his eyes again.

“Don’t you dare!” Junsu said, he sounded far away. Yoochun tried to concentrate on what Junsu was saying, he really did. But everything was fading to black and if he was lucky then maybe he could go back to that dream he was having. And this time he could join Junsu in that hot shower.

Junsu slapped him. Hard. Then he started shaking Yoochun again and this time there was nothing gentle about his touch. The motion made Yoochun’s stomach swirl.

“Wake the fuck up.” Junsu hissed. He enunciated his words slowly and carefully as if he were talking to a small child - or an idiot. “We have to get out of here and I can’t carry you out.”

Yoochun started to say “Well you’re going to have to.” The words came out only vaguely coherent. He opened his eyes and tried to fully focus on Junsu, his rescuer. At least he assumed he was being rescued, it would really suck if he was just imagining all this. It was like he had never really seen Junsu before. This man in front of him was different from the Junsu he remembered and wildly different from Xiah the dancer Junsu pretended to be. Yoochun remembered Junsu when he seemed almost impossibly young, smart but a little goofy with a disarming smile. He’d looked - and was - innocent, trusting. Yoochun remembered when it was those qualities that got Junsu promoted to the special unit, leaving Yoochun behind and propelling Junsu into the arms of Boss Chang. Yoochun had been petty and childish and it was too late now to pretend otherwise.

The Junsu that knelt before him looked older - despite the red hair and kohl rimmed eyes. Junsu’s eyes blazed with the fury of an avenging angel, Yoochun hoped to all hell that he wasn’t the one that Junsu was mad at.

“M’sorry.” Yoochun mumbled as Junsu pulled him to his feet. Yoochun was glad that Junsu was there to support him because there was no way he could support himself. Junsu pulled on Yoochun’s dislocated arm, but Yoochun couldn’t really feel it anymore.

The hallway outside was lined in blood, the shock of the sight was enough to make Yoochun stumble and almost bring the both of them to the floor. He had vague memories of being dragged down their earlier this evening - or yesterday, he didn’t have any real idea what time it was anymore. The labyrinth beneath Chang’s club had been dank and foreboding even then. Now it looked like something out of a horror movie. Bodies were strewn on the course ground, Yoochun recognized two of them as Goons Laughing and Snorting - but just barely.

“What?” Yoochun stammered out, Junsu shushed him.

“Escape now, explain later.”

Yoochun staggered in Junsu’s grip and he thought he heard Junsu growl. It was a strangely erotic sound and of course Yoochun’s libido would kick in now, it never did have a good sense of timing. But all urges become a moot point because he passed out again despite Junsu telling him firmly not to.

*

Light streamed in through curtains so thin they might as well not have been closed at all. The light hurt Yoochun’s eyes and he decided that waking up had been a bad idea and he squashed his face into his pillow. He could hear children joyfully screaming outside and somewhere someone was playing an R and B version of a Christmas Carol. Yoochun opened his eyes again, carefully, looked around. He was alone in the dingy clean blandness of a cheap motel room.

How the hell had he got here? Where was Junsu?

Yoochun felt the space in the bed beside him. The bed was large, the left side - Junsu’s side - was still warm. Someone had slept next to him but they were gone now, they hadn’t been gone for long. Yoochun tried to push himself up and then decided that was a really, really bad idea. He pushed the bed covers down a little, just enough to see the bruises marring his torso - and that he wasn’t wearing pants. The door to the room’s bathroom was open and Yoochun could hear the steady drip, drip, drip of the sink tap, or the shower.

The door to the main room opened and Junsu came in bearing coffee and a paper bag spattered with grease. Yoochun’s stomach roiled and he could decide if he was hungry or not.

“You’re awake.” Junsu said as he set the food down on the table. Yoochun’s first thought was to respond with something sarcastic but he didn’t have the energy and settled for a small nod instead. Junsu came and sat down on the bed, his posture a little awkward. The silence between them stretched on until it became uncomfortable. Yoochun had so many questions that he had trouble deciding which to ask first.

“Where are we?” He asked at last.

Junsu shrugged. “Not far from Chang’s place. You were too heavy for me to get far carrying you by myself. When you are feeling better we’ll move on.”

“What happened?”

Junsu shrugged again and got up and went to the table and picked up one of the coffees. “I quit.” Junsu said simply. Yoochun made a small choking sound and Junsu smile a little sadly. “You never did like my promotion.”

“We’re going to have a lot of explaining to do.”

Junsu walked back over to the bed and handed the cup of coffee to Yoochun.

“Later.” Junsu said.

“Chang?”

“Dead.”

Yoochun wanted to ask how, why, but he was afraid to. Junsu smiled his sad little smile again and sat down next to him.

“Remember when you used to play the piano?” Junsu asked and Yoochun nodded.

“And you used to dance.” Yoochun said, and then he added “The non sexual kind.” Junsu made a face.

“Do you think it could ever be like that for us again?”

Yoochun smiled and it felt like it was the first time he had smiled in years and he nodded.

“Yeah, I really do.”

The end.

DBSK FIC: Shatter [Yunho/Changmin, R]

2010-11-13T14:46:35Z

Title: Shatter
Author: Selena
Rating: R for creepy goings on
Pairing: Yunho/Changmin
Warnings: Implied violence, scary things.
Word count: 4, 538
Summary: Yunho is a monster hunter. Halloween is supposed to be his night off but this Halloween night he gets a call for help that he can't ignore.
A/N: Written for the homin_yongwonhi Halloween fic contest and because I also wrote it with a kpop prompt in mind I am going to add it to that challenge too. Prompt #4: Save. My prompt table can be found here.

Shatter

Yunho feels like he’s halfway to drunk when the phone rings. Ok, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, he’s only had a few mouthfuls of Soju but already he feels that soft buzz of inebriation. He wants to sit and finish his drink; he doesn’t want the phone to be ringing. Dammit, it’s Halloween; it’s supposed to be his night off.

The phone rings and rings and rings and rings and it might just be Yunho’s imagination but he thinks that the sound has an almost desperate quality to it. But that could also be the Soju affecting him, no one actually calls him unless they are desperate. He sighs resignedly, sets down his drink and extracts himself from the chair he was so comfortably ensconced in. His cell phone is on the table beside him but it’s the main line that’s ringing. His business line. Very few people have his cell number. He mutters curses as he pads barefoot across his sparse apartment, he was toasty warm in his chair beside the heater. Now the floor is cold against his exposed skin and...a soft, chilled breeze flows through the room, ghosts over his skin, leaving a flutter of gooseflesh in its wake and the phone keeps on ringing. Yunho shivers, there are no windows open in his apartment and the breeze—cold wind—emanated from the hallway where the phone keeps ringing and ringing.

“God dammit.” He mutters as he picks up the receiver. “This is my night off. Hello.” He says into the phone. He never identifies himself, who he is, what he does. He used to, when he first started out, people would hang up on him. Even those who called with a legitimate problem, because when you say those words out loud they are ridiculous. Most people have a hard enough time believing that they have a reason to call him without him saying:

“Jung Yunho, Monster Hunter. I bust what goes bump in the night.”

See, ridiculous.

“Hello?” He says again when there is no answer after a few minutes. Static crackles from the other end of the line, like someone breathing heavily into the mouth piece. Great, another prank call. Yunho hangs up. He looks at the phone for a moment, it doesn’t ring again, he turns away, goes back to his comfy chair. His eyes flick to the clock on the wall and he smiles. The drama that Heechul has a bit part in is due to start in a few minutes and Yunho did promise that he would watch. He drags a blanket off the sofa and cuddles down into it. He’s almost settled when the phone rings. It’s his cell phone this time, he grabs it, looks quickly at the caller ID.

“Yoochunnie.” He says, genuine warmth in his voice. “How goes it? You’re where? Yes, I’m watching it.” Yunho leans back in his chair and listens as Yoochun chats away. “No.” Yunho says the second Yoochun takes a breath. “I’ll stay here and watch, after the week I’ve had I just need a quiet night at home...yes, I’m sure.” Yunho pause. “Hey, is...is that Heechul laughing in the background? He sounds like he’s being murdered.”

They talk for a few minutes before Yunho begs off, after assuring his friend that, yes, he will be just fine here on his own.

Yunho takes the TV remote, flicks the set on. Immediately overly dramatic music sounds and blood splatters the screen. Oh this show is going to be awful, Yunho is going to love it. The phone in the hallway rings. It rings once, it rings twice, it rings three times and then cuts off. Yunho glowers in its general direction, he can’t see the offending object from where he sits but he sends annoyed vibes its way anyway. It’s going to ring again, he just knows it is, and he’ll have to get up to answer it. Chances are it will just be another crank call, but there is still that—very small—chance that someone might need his help. Not many things go bump on Halloween night, it’s like the Supernatural world takes a holiday and Yunho gets a night off.

He holds his breath and waits, the seconds tick by in silence and then the phone rings. But the ring sounds wrong; it sounds muffled and far way even though he knows that the phone is only in the next room. It sounds half faded, like someone is holding a pillow over it, trying to smoother the noise. A waft of air kicks up beside his head, like someone just walked quickly passed him. A cold wind flows around his legs, gently lifting up the edges of the blanket, exposing his bare feet to the cold. The phone keeps ringing but it’s getting quieter and quieter. The wind around Yunho’s legs whips up hard and the blanket is blown off and away. In less than a heartbeat Yunho is up off the chair and across the apartment. He grabs the phone from its cradle, the plastic feels terribly, unnaturally cold in his hand.

“Hello?” He says.

No answer. Static crackles over the line again. And then...

“Hello? Is this Yunho? Jung Yunho?” The voice on the other end of the line is male, he sounds young. Young and scared.

“Yes.” Yunho says and the boy heaves out a sigh of relief. It’s an almost familiar sound, that soft rush of air. It sounds a lot like the prank phone calls he’s been getting this last week.

“Finally.” The boy says. “I’ve been trying...she’s not been letting me get through.

Yunho waits for the boy to explain further. He wants to ask what the boy has been trying, who’s not letting him do what. He has to wait for the boy to tell him, he doesn’t want to scare him more then he already is. Yunho tries to imagine who the boy is, what he’s like. He guesses the boy to be in his late teens, maybe very early twenties, people always sound younger on the phone don’t they? He might not be that much younger than Yunho.

“Help me.” The boy says. His voice sounds thin, almost hopeless. “She won’t let me leave. She...” There is a gasp and then a click and then the line goes dead.

Yunho stands there for a minute, listening to the ominous drone of the dial tone. He hangs up the phone and waits. He has to suppress the urge to hit redial and call the boy back. The boy might try to get through to him again and Yunho doesn’t want him to get a busy signal. Five minutes pass and nothing happens. Yunho picks the phone back up, it still feels cold; just touching it chills him down to the bone. He dials his recall service and a robotic voice reads out the number that called him last, Yunho hastily scribbles it down. He calls the number and waits, his heartbeat thudding in his ears. After what feels like a lifetime the call is answered but whoever is on the other line doesn’t say anything.

“Hello?” Yunho says. No answer. Yunho hears breathing, a quiet hiss and then a soft, musical laughter. Female. Then the line goes dead again. Immediately Yunho calls back but the call isn’t picked up, instead it goes straight to voice mail.

“Hi, you’ve reached Shim Changmin. I’m sorry I can’t answer the phone right now...”

Yunho doesn’t get to hear the rest of the message, the phone he’s holding becomes so cold that it burns. The plastic cracks and shatters in his hand. He lets go of it, the little plastic pieces fall to the floor, Yunho just stares at them. Dread coils snakelike in his gut, settling uneasily in the pit of his stomach. He can still hear that musical laugh; it feels like it’s here in the room with him.

“Fuck.” Yunho curses. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.”

Not many things go bump on Halloween night, but one thing does. One thing doesn’t recognize that tonight is a Supernatural day of rest. They are rare here in Asia, the malevolent ones anyway, despite what the movies would have you believe. Rare here in a culture where the dead are honoured and spirits are laid to rest with dignity.

“Fuck.” Yunho says again. “I hate ghosts.”

*

He calls Jaejoong. Jae’s a cop and owes him a favor. Yunho rarely calls in anything he’s owed. Really, what’s a zombie outbreak between friends? But he needs information and he needs it now, so he calls. When Jaejoong answers Yunho gives him the Changmin’s name and number, Yunho needs his address.

“Give me a half hour and I’ll get back to you.”

“Thanks Jae, I owe you.”

“More like I owe you plenty. Is this kid in trouble? Your kind of trouble?”

“Yeah, I think he might be. I didn’t get really get to talk to him but this...it feels bad.”

“I’ll be as quick as I can.”

“Thanks, Jae.”

Yunho stands there staring at his cell phone for a few minutes willing Jaejoong to call him back faster, now, five minutes ago. Eventually, reluctantly, he decides that waiting for his phone to ring isn’t going to make it ring any sooner. He tucks the device back into his pocket then he writes out a memo to buy a new phone on a post it and sticks it above where the now broken phone sits. As he surveys his apartment he feels panic try to claw its way out of his chest. The apartment is still now, quiet. There is no trace of that chilling wind and he can’t hear that musical laugh. And yet he feels like there is something here with him, a residue of what or who is apparently haunting this Shim Changmin.

Yunho really, really hates ghosts.

Half an hour crawls by and still Jaejoong hasn’t called. Yunho checks his cell phone to make sure it’s still working and no indefinable presence has messed with it. It’s fine.

Yunho really, really, really hates ghosts. The last time he’d dealt with one had been back when his Dad ran this business and Yunho had been in training. That ghost had almost killed them both. Yunho grabs his kit bag from the hall closet and riffles though the contents. There are no real hard and fast rules for dealing with ghosts; it’s all about getting the restless souls to rest. Keeping yourself alive and in one piece while doing this is the tricky part. All Ghosts are different but they all want to head on to the hereafter, they just don’t know that they do.

He needs salt and iron to keep the ghost away while he works, but in his business he never knows what he might bump into so his kit bag is always well stocked for any eventuality. Wooden stakes, silver blades, a cross bow even a mallet. That’s for smashing in the heads of zombies, a messy but satisfying job.

Yunho is checking the contents of his bag for the fourth time when finally, finally his cell rings.

“I’m sorry,” Jaejoong huffs, he’s out of breath. “I got waylaid by my superintendant.”

Yunho wants to say its ok, but he doesn’t. He just waits. Jaejoong reels off an address and Yunho hangs up after a curt “thanks.” He grabs his kit bag and heads out. Changmin’s apartment complex is only a half mile away but Yunho thinks it will be quicker to drive. The streets are crowded with party goers and trick or treaters. There is a parking ticket sitting on the windscreen of his battered old Ford. Yunho just screws it up and throws it away.

*

When he arrives the apartment complex is quiet, too quiet. Yunho parks up outside and sits in his car to observe the unnatural stillness. The complex is rundown, on its way to being decrepit, but the building isn’t particularly old, it’s just been the victim of shoddy maintenance. It’s like no one cares about the building or the people in it. Yunho casts a glance around, it’s a poor area of town but there should still be more people about. Yunho doesn’t like that the place is so quiet, so empty. There is only one apartment with lights on, Yunho counts the windows, it could be Changmin’s apartment but he’s not really sure how the numbering in this place works. He watches that apartment for a moment, he thinks he sees a shadow cross one of the rooms but he can’t be sure.

As he gets out of his car Yunho thinks back to his conversation with Yoochun. He could be at that party right now. Heechul keeps telling him there is some guy he wants to introduce Yunho too, Yunho could possibly be getting laid right about now.

He really needs to get laid.

The main door of the apartment complex is unlocked. There looks like there used to be some kind of buzzing in system but it’s broken now. He doesn’t need to press the buzzer for Changmin’s apartment but he presses it anyway. It doesn’t work. Inside the foyer there is an elevator but there is no way Yunho is going to chance using it, the doors look rusted and stiff. Instead he trudges up the stairs to get to Changmin’s floor which is the fifth; he’s a little out of breath when he gets there so he gives himself a moment to rest and to listen. It’s still unnaturally quiet here. Yunho can almost feel the silence, it’s like a weight pressing down on him.

He shivers.

Changmin’s door is number 5C. Yunho stands outside the door, presses his ear to the wood, he hears nothing at first and then there is that soft, musical laugh. Yunho knocks but his knock doesn’t make a sound. He tries the door handle, the door is locked. That’s ok though, another core ingredient in Yunho’s kit bag is a lock pick set and it doesn’t even take him a minute to get the door open.

The door opens into a whirl wind. Yunho doesn’t have time to even take a breath before he’s swept up in it. The door slams shut behind him.

*

He manages to hold onto his kit bag for all of a minute before it’s ripped from his hand. Yunho—and his bag—then spend a fun filled five minutes bouncing off the walls as the whirlwind whips them around the room. Yunho tries to keep his eyes open, to see, to assess the situation, but it’s a stinging wind and his eyes water. Still, he thinks he sees her, the ghost girl, in the corner of the room. She is nothing but a shadow. He can’t see well but he can see enough and he’s more worried about what he doesn’t see than what he does see. Yunho is the only warm body caught up in this maelstrom, where is the kid? Where is Changmin?

He fumbles in his pocket, glad that he thought to have a few supplies on him when entering into this unknown situation. He pulls out a rock of salt; it’s about the size of a ping pong ball and is pure, unrefined salt. It’s perfect for throwing at all manner of spooky things. He aims for the corner where he thinks he saw the ghost girl but his shot is wide and he misses. Still, it seems that his pitiful attempt was at least enough to distract her because the shadow that is the ghost fizzes and crackles and fades away. Yunho—and everything else—falls back down to the floor with a heavy thump. Winded, Yunho can’t do much of anything for a few minutes while his body stutters for breath. He’s sore from the battering he’s just taken and tomorrow—if he lives to see tomorrow—he will be one giant bruise. When he is able to take a breath again Yunho stands up, he’s a little shaky on his feet and has to grab onto an arm chair for support. He looks around; the apartment is quiet, cold, still.

The unnatural cold seems to creep over his skin, Yunho knows the ghost is still here, watching him. He walks silently though the rooms, not even his footsteps make any noise. There aren’t many rooms so it doesn’t take him long to search through everything. There is a main room, a kitchen, a bathroom and one bedroom. There is no one else in the apartment. Yunho returns to the main room and just stands there unsure of what to do next. The lack of noise is unnerving, it’s like the world around him has been soundproofed. He shudders as a cold wind flutters passed him and he shuffles over to where his kit bag landed. He stuffs a few more rocks of salt into his pockets and he drags out an iron poker. These things will only keep the ghost away for a little while, Yunho hopes that he can buy himself enough time to find Changmin, he hopes that the kid managed to get the hell out of this apartment in time – though deep down he knows that this hope is futile.

“She won’t let me leave.”

Where the hell is he?

Then, slowly, like a veil being lifted, sound seeps back into the room. Yunho hears the sound of his own heavy breathing; he hears that horrible, soft, musical laugh.

“I won’t share him.” Something whispers by his ear. It’s a rasping, little used voice. “I won’t share him with anyone.”

Cool sweat trickles down the back of Yunho’s neck and he whirls around to face whatever had spoken. The poker in his hand swishes through the air but comes into contact with nothing. Yunho finds himself faced with nothing but empty space.

There is something wrong with this room...apart from the fact that it’s haunted. This room—there is something off about it. Most apartment complexes are uniform in both size and set up and this one should be just like the hundred or so others that Yunho has been in. This one should be very much like Yunho’s own apartment, but it’s not. This main room seems smaller, it might only be a difference of a foot or so, not enough space to be really missed but enough to be noticeable if you know what you are looking for and Yunho has trained himself to notice even the smallest of things.

There is a door in the far wall; it leads off to the back half of the apartment, the bedroom, the bathroom. Next to that door there should be an alcove, Yunho has a book self his grandfather made in the alcove in his living room. Slowly, Yunho steps up to the wall, he holds his poker up high, just in case. He places a hand on the plaster, its cold. Cold like his shattered phone, so cold that it almost burns. Feeling more than a little silly he knocks on the wall like he’s knocking on someone’s door. The knock is answered by a frantic pounding from the other side and Yunho hears someone call out:

“Help! Please, help me!

“You have got to be kidding me!” Yunho mutters to himself. His kit bag does not include a sledge hammer. This, well this he never expected.

Behind him the ghost girl screeches and he feels her tearing at his hair, clawing at his back. Pain sears through him and he feels his skin split and tear. The whirl wind starts to kick up again but everything stops with a swing of the weapon in his hand.

Yunho’s kit bag doesn’t have a sledge hammer but he does have a mallet and that proves to be just as effective against walls as it is against zombie brains. The wall is still cold, so unnaturally cold and all it really takes is one hard hit and the plaster splinters and shatters like it’s just a wall of ice. Behind the wall are two people, one alive and frightened and one very, very much dead.

“Hi.” Yunho says to the tall boy—kid, young man. “Did someone call for an exterminator?”

The kid, Changmin, doesn’t say anything. His face is chalk dusted and tear streaked and he looks so young that Yunho’s heart breaks a little. No one should have to see this kind of thing.

“Come on.” Yunho says as he takes Changmin’s hand. “We need to get out of here.” Yunho pulls Changmin away. He tries not to look at the body—the bones—that Changmin had been trapped in there with. The ghost is quiet now though Yunho can still feel her. She’s still in this room but she won’t bother them now that her body has been found.

In the end all they want is to be laid to rest.

*

They stand by Yunho’s car while they wait for the police. Yunho called Jaejoong because it was easier to explain to him about the body behind the wall. Not everybody, especially not everyone in the Police department, believes in the supernatural if they haven’t seen it for themselves. Yunho tells Changmin that it will be ok, Jaejoong will sort it out, he’s not all that sure that Changmin believes him. The kid is understandably shaken up, having been walled up with a corpse for the last few hours. He’s sweaty and pale and really, really good looking and Yunho tries not to think about that too much.

Heechul helped him out on a job once. Heechul didn’t much like the fact that he got covered in slime but he did enjoy ‘comforting’ the son of the victim family.

Yunho lays a hand on the kid’s (Changmin dammit) arm, hoping to steady him a little. He tries not to let his touch linger for too long.

Yunho really, really needs to get laid.

It takes a while to get the full story out of Changmin, the kid is reluctant to say the words out loud, to him this whole thing is still just too crazy. Yunho doesn’t really blame him, he felt like that once too.

Changmin tells Yunho that he knew there was something wrong with the apartment when he moved in. The rent was too low—even in this rundown neighbourhood—not to ask questions. The apartment manager was upfront enough to admit that some of the previous tenants had problems, just the female tenants though. He never went into detail as to what those problems were; just that whatever presence shared that apartment didn’t like girls.

“I said that was ok.” Changmin says, his voice quiet and unsure. “I’m a university student and between school and work I wouldn’t have time to have a girlfriend let alone bring anyone home.
Though the truth of it is that I don’t really like girls that way so I wouldn’t bring one home anyway.” Changmin falters, he sniffles. He looks so young and vulnerable that Yunho wonders if brushing the hair out of Changmin’s eyes would qualify as bad touching.

“I have friends who are girls, but I only see them at school. It was all going fine, I barely noticed anyone was in the apartment with me.”

“And then?”

“And then I brought a boy home, and she didn’t like that at all. Still, it was just little things at first. Loud banging, throwing stuff. But it slowly got worse. I was supposed to go out to a party tonight, a friend of a friend was supposed to set me up with a guy but...” Changmin trails off; he shrugs helplessly and gestures up to his apartment window. “I don’t even know who she is.”

“The police will identify her.” Yunho says and he tries to sound positive, sometimes bodies are never identified.

When the police do arrive, in the form of Jaejoong and his partner Junsu, Yunho is told to get the hell out and away. Jaejoong has enough to explain already without there being a ghost hunter on the scene.

“Monster hunter.” Yunho grumbles. “I don’t normally do ghosts.”
No one pays any attention to him.

*

For Yunho, the next few days are a rush of slime, blood and werewolves and he almost forgets about the tall, good looking boy. Until he sees a story in the paper about a body walled up in an apartment block. Yunho is said to see that the identity of the body is as yet unknown.

The same say he gets a cheque from Changmin, which is a nice surprise. Much like he doesn’t really call in favours he’s owed he rarely chases anyone up for money which is really no way to make a living.

So, he thinks, that’s it then.

*

“You ignorant bastard!” Heechul’s voice blares out from Yunho’s answer machine. “No one ignores Kim Heechul! Get your unsociable ass down here this instant.”

Heechul sounds half drunk and there are sounds of merriment in the background. Yunho shuts off the machine. There are about 15 more messages all from Heechul and all saying different variations of the same thing.

It’s a week later and there is another viewing party for Heechul’s drama. He’s got a bigger part in it this week. Yunho looks around his apartment, it’s all quiet, a natural quiet, and warm. He grabs his coat and his cell phone and heads out.

The bar is packed, the highest concentration of people congregating at the back where Heechul is holding court. Yunho can just about see him over there with his new boyfriend, a dancer from China. Yunho has a vague notion of leaving. There are a lot of people here tonight and he weighs up the pros and cons of drunken people asking about his job and facing Heechul’s wrath if he bails.

It’s moot point anyway, Heechul sees him.

“YUNNIE!” Heechul screeches. “You emerge from your pit at last, I am so proud.”

Heechul hooks a bony arm around Yunho’s neck and pulls him along. “There is someone I need you to meet. You’re going to love him and he’ll love you and you can go off and be sickeningly happy. How does that sound?”

“Like toothache.”

“Oh you. KYUHYUN!”

“I already know Kyuhyun, Hyung.” Yunho says and Heechul cuffs him around the head.

“I know that idiot. Kyuhyun’s friend. Kyuhyun has a cute and adorable friend that I want you to meet. His name is...well, I forget but it doesn’t matter, what matters is that he’s hot. Like fire. Ahh there they are.” Heechul stops suddenly, Yunho isn’t expecting it and he stumbles. “Kyuhyun, introduce your friend.”

Yunho regains his footing and straightens up, what he sees makes him smile. He sees Kyuhyun and his cute and adorable friend who really doesn’t need to be introduced.

“Hi.” Yunho says and he’s aware that he’s grinning but he doesn’t really care.

“Hey.” Changmin says, he’s grinning too. They stand there grinning at each other.

“I think I’m going to throw up.” Heechul grumbles and he stumbles away. “Don’t forget to invite me to the commitment ceremony.”

.end

SUPER JUNIOR FIC: We Could Be Heroes Masterlist

2010-11-07T15:57:19Z

Title: We Could Be Heroes
Author: Selena
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Various ninja!pairings.
Warnings: Fluff, crack, humor
Word count: 10, 994
Summary: One morning the members of Super Junior wake up with super powers. What follows is a day of chaos. Some of them have cooler powers than others, some adapt quicker to them than others. Leeteuk mainly worries for his sanity and for the fate of the world at large.

Part One: Siwon, Han Geng, Ryeowook (and Kangin)
Part Two: Kibum, Donghae and Eunhyuk
Part Three: Heechul, Leeteuk, Henry and Shindong
Part Four: Sungmin, Zhou Mi, Yesung and Kyuhyun

SUPER JUNIOR FIC: We Could Be Heroes Part Four of Four [PG-13, various ninja!pairings]

2010-11-07T15:16:48Z

Title: We Could Be Heroes Part Four of Four
Author: Selena
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Various ninja!pairings.
Warnings: Fluff, crack, humor
Word count: 3, 193
Summary: One morning the members of Super Junior wake up with super powers. What follows is a day of chaos. Some of them have cooler powers than others, some adapt quicker to them than others. Leeteuk mainly worries for his sanity and for the fate of the world at large.

Part One: Siwon, Han Geng, Ryeowook (and Kangin) | Part Two: Kibum, Donghae and Eunhyuk | Part Three: Heechul, Leeteuk, Henry and Shindong |

We Could Be Heroes

11) Sungmin

He’s being shaken awake. Roughly. Like whoever is shaking him is on the verge of panic.

“Sungmin-ah!” He hears someone say, the voice sounds muffled and far away. “Wake up!” Sungmin doesn’t want to wake up, he wants this person to leave him alone. “Sungmin-ah, wake up!”

Reluctantly Sungmin opens his eyes, he sees Shindong standing over him, he looks frightened, frantic.

“S’matter?” Sungmin slurs. He tries to sit up but his legs are weighed down, Kyuhyun is lying on them. Sungmin tries to shake him off, Kyuhyun’s eyes flutter but he doesn’t wake up.

“Sungmin-ah, I’m so sorry.”

“What for?”

“Just come on.”

Shindong hauls him to his feet, Sungmin’s still only half awake and he rubs at his eyes sleepily as he follows Shindong out to the main room. There is something he’s forgotten, we was sure of it. Something important he was doing or talking about before he fell asleep. Hey—why did he fall asleep? The main room is quiet and still save for the members soft snoring.

“Shindongie…what happened?” Sungmin looks around at the sleeping group. Yesung is kneeling by Ryeowook’s chair, his head in Ryeowook’s lap, Sungmin wonders when he’d arrived. Then Sungmin’s eyes fell on a small figure in the middle of the room and he remembers.

“Mr Pickles!” Sungmin cries and he runs over to the stuffed toy. Mr Pickles is lying on his back, one of Ryeowook’s chefs knives lodged in his chest. Every so often one of his little limbs twitches. “You stabbed him!”

“I had to!”

“He’s a stuffed bunny!”

“A homicidal stuffed bunny! Sungmin-ah, I’m sorry. He tried to eat me.”

“It’s ok.” Sungmin sniffs though—even to his own ears—he doesn’t sound convinced. Carefully , he removes the knife from Mr Pickles’ chest, some stuffing comes with it and Sungmin chokes back a sob. He hugs the toy to his chest and Shindong takes a step back.”

“You’re not going to…”

“No.” Sungmin says sullenly. “Go wake up the others.” Sungmin stomps out to the hall to wake Kyuhyun. When everyone was awake and assembled in the main room, Sungmin tries to explain his power. They had to explain everything, slowly, to Yesung who had returned after spending the night at his parents only to find everyone sleeping. He’d thought sleeping was a good idea so he curled up next to Ryeowook.

“Minnie-ah!” Heechul shrieks gleefully. “Kiss the toaster! I want to see what happens.”

“No!” Henry shouts, he empathically waves his arms. “No! Haven’t any of you seen Maximum Overdrive?”

Everyone just looks at him blankly.

“Donghae-ah, go fetch Zhou Mi.” Leeteuk asks. He sounds tired. Sungmin supposes it has been a long day, it’s getting dark outside, he wonders how long they were asleep.

“Anyone know what time it is?” Sungmin wonders out loud. He has his own watch on but it’s too much effort to look for himself. He looks out the window at the storm now raging outside.

“It’s just gone midday.” Kyuhyun says. “…wait, that can’t be right.”

Sungmin walks slowly to the window, tries to peer through the gloom.

“Where did the sun go?”

Sungmin hears a soft ‘pop’ behind him and he doesn’t have to turn round to know that Donghae has materialized with Zhou Mi in tow, he can hear Zhou Mi retching.

“It’s not that bad.” He hears Donghae grumble.

“It is for anyone who’s not you.” Leeteuk retorts.

“Hey, look!” Sungmin says and he points out of the window to where there is a sudden break in the clouds and a small ball of light is shining feebly. “The sun is coming back.” The wind is starting to die down and the strange sudden storm looks like it’s going to be over before it even really began.

“Isn’t this exciting!” Zhou Mi says and Sungmin turns round to look at him. Zhou Mi has recovered quickly from his teleportation experience and is smiling bright and sunny as he looks around the group. Sungmin looks back at the window. The sun is brighter now and it might just be his imagination but it looks closer too. Behind him Sungmin hears Zhou Mi laugh and he looks back around to see Kyuhyun tickling him. Sungmin turns back to the window. The sun is definitely brighter now and definitely closer.

“Huh.” Sungmin muses. “That can’t be good.”

12) Zhou Mi

He’s sort of upset and a little hurt when Sungmin comes up and pinches him. Hard.

“I’m sorry, Mi.” Sungmin says and he looks like he means it, but being sorry and meaning it doesn’t make it any less painful.

“Oww.” Zhou Mi whines and he hugs his forearm where Sungmin pinched him.

“Minne-ah, what did you do that for?”

“Just testing out a theory.” Sungmin says. “I’m really sorry, Zhou Mi.” Sungmin turns and points out of the window. “Guys, look!”

Zhou Mi looks though he’s not really sure what he’s supposed to be looking for. The sky outside has clouded over again just as the weather was taking a turn for the better. Stupid rain, stupid storm. Zhou Mi doesn’t like lightning.

“Kyuhyun-ah,” Sungmin says. “Make Zhou Mi laugh again.”

“Hey, wait, wh…” Zhou Mi starts but he doesn’t get to finish because Kyuhyun starts tickling him and Kyuhyun knows exactly which spots to go for. Within seconds Zhou Mi is gasping for breath as Kyuhyun’s lithe fingers work their way under his shirt.

“Kui Xian! Stop it!” Zhou Mi howls but Kyuhyun ignores him. Eventually Zhou Mi manages to straighten up and shove Kyuhyun away. When he can breathe again he finds everyone—well everyone save him and Kyuhyun—are staring out the window. They all look a little stunned, except for Kibum who looks grim, but that’s kind of his default expression. The sky outside has cleared again and the sun is shining brightly.

“What’s the matter?” Kyuhyun asks but no one answers, instead Sungmin walks over and pinches Zhou Mi again.

“Ow.” Zhou Mi pouts. “Sungminnie I don’t think I like you anymore.” No one pays any attention to him though, they are all too busy looking outside at the now darkened sky. Stupid, stupid weather.

“Kyuhunnie, make Zhou Mi laugh again.” Sungmin says.

“No!” Zhou Mi shouts and he tries to move away from Kyuhyun—who is taking far too much glee in this—but the younger boy just tackles him to the ground. Kyuhyun tickles him. Zhou Mi laughs. The sun shines.

“Huh.” Heechul says, his voice nonchalant. “Seasoning’s smile can make the sun shine. Literally.”

“And when he’s sad it rains.” Sungmin adds.

“Hmmmm.” Kyuhyun says thoughtfully. He pounces on Zhou Mi again and outside it gets hotter and hotter.

“Oh,” Yesung complains. “It’s too hot now. Zhou Mi stop being so happy.”

Kyuhyun stops his ministrations long enough to look up at Yesung and say, “Telling Zhou Mi not to be happy is like telling water not to be wet.” And then he goes back to attacking Zhou Mi…but it’s like Zhou Mi can’t feel it anymore. Zhou Mi suddenly feels like someone has poured ice all over him, he feels like he might never be happy again. Outside rain starts to fall again, harder, louder.

“Zhou Mi?” Kyuhyun says, worried. “Are you ok?”

Zhou Mi can only shake his head. Outside a strong, violent wind kicks up. It rattles at the windows.

“Oh that can’t be good.” Kibum mumbles.

“Seasoning, it’s only Yesung.” Heechul says, his voice soft and calm. “You Don’t have to listen to him.”

Zhou Mi nods, tries for smile, doesn’t quite manage it. Kyuhyun whirls on Yesung.

“What did you do to him?”

Yesung just shrugs helplessly. “I don’t know, I didn’t do anything.”

“Clearly you did something, hyung” Kibum says and he has this thoughtful expression on his face that Zhou Mi doesn’t think bodes well for anyone. Zhou Mi doesn’t really care about what’s coming next, it’s not like there is anything that could make his mood worse. Kibum looks around the room, his eyes fall on a just of water on the table. “Here.” He says to Yesung. “Tell this water not to be wet.”

Yesung looks at Kibum like he’s insane because, yes, Kibum has clearly lost it. Still, he reaches out hesitantly and takes the jug.

“Water,” Yesung says. “Don’t be wet.” Nothing happens for a few seconds and then…the water in the jug seems to recede and shrivel until all that’s left inside is a clear, withered husk.

“That shouldn’t be chemically possible.” Kibum says as he examines the transformed contents.

“Seriously?” Heechul says incredulously, he looks at Yesung then at the jug then at Zhou Mi an then back at Yesung. “Seriously? He gets the power to make people and things do whatever he says?”

“Oh god.” Shindong whimpers. “We’re all gonna die.”

“Oh.” Yesung says. He blinks slowly and looks round at the rest of the group, and then he smiles. “Heechul-Hyung,” He says and it’s like time stops as everyone takes a collective breath. “Could you make me some food?”

13) Yesung

Yesung thinks that Heechul’s head just might explode. Little wisps of smoke puff out of his ears and his face starts to turn an alarming shade of red as he fights not to do what Yesung told him to do.

“No, dongseang. I won’t.” Heechul growls. However his body is forcing him to do otherwise. His legs start moving him towards the kitchen and Heechul clearly doesn’t want this to happen. He grabs on to Donghae to try and stop himself from going but he only succeeds in dragging the younger boy with him and then Donghae teleports away and Heechul has nothing to hold onto anymore. “Hankyung!” Heechul cries. “Help me!”

“Would if I could, Hyung.” Han Geng says with a shrug. “But I can’t reach you from up here.”

“Hyung, please!” Ryeowook says, he grips tight to Yesung’s arm. “Take it back, tell him he doesn’t have to do it. He’ll set fire to the kitchen!”

“OK.” Yesung relents and everyone breathes out a sigh of relief. “Heechul-hyung, you don’t have to make me food.”

“Wise move.” Heechul says darkly as he slumps to the floor. “And while you’re making wise choices tell Seasoning to cheer up before our whole street floods.”

Yesung does so and immediately the sun starts to shine.

Leeteuk sighs—though it sounds more like a sob—and he buries his head in his hands.

“Oh god.” Leeteuk mumbles, his voice muffled. “Didn’t anyone give any thought to what they were doing and who they were doing it to?”

“It’s ok Seasoning.” Heechul says to Zhou Mi. “Kibum will fix you.”

“Why is it always me?” Kibum grumbles, but he takes Zhou Mi by the arm and hauls him off anyway. “Though if it’s really his mood controlling the weather how am I going to fix that? Teach him to feel neutrally about everything?”

Yesung gets this strange, creepy feeling like everyone is looking at him. Oh wait, they are.

“What?” Yesung says, more than a little bemuse.

“I vote for cutting out his vocal cords.” Heechul says. “And I volunteer to do it.”

Yesung shrinks back a little, he tries to hide behind Ryeowook but Ryeowook is having none of it. Yesung thinks he might be a little mad about the potential destruction of his kitchen.

“I don’t think we need to do anything that drastic, Hyung.” Kyuhyun says cheerfully. “I got this.”

Kyuhyun turns towards the kitchen, points and sort of squints his eyes. Nothing happens for a bit and Yesung snickers, Kyuhyun looks a little like he’s constipated. Yesung doesn’t think anything will actually happen…and then something does.

Slowly, something floats out of the kitchen, it looks like a dish cloth. It bobs along like a fish caught in a current until it reaches Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun then directs it over towards Yesung. Yesung just watches bemused—and a little fascinated—he doesn’t think to move out of the way until it’s too late. The dish cloth, god he hopes it’s a clean one, wraps itself around Yesung’s mouth.

“Mmphf.” Yesung says in protest.

“There.” Kyuhyun says with a smirk. “Fixed him.”

“Cho Kyuhyun.” Leeteuk says slowly. His voice is even and his eyes twitch in that way they do when Leeteuk is really, really annoyed. This is one of those times when Yesung is very, very glad he’s not Kyuhyun. “Just how long have you been able to do that?”

14) Kyuhyun

The answer to Leeteuk’s question is since about 6am that morning but he’s not about to admit to that. He found out pretty much as soon as he woke up, he wanted his PSP and it was all the way at the other end of the room and he really feel like getting out of bed to go get it. Sungmin was inconsiderate enough to still be asleep so Kyuhyun couldn’t cajole him into getting up and getting it either.

In the end, though, it didn’t matter because the next thing that Kyuhyun knew the PSP was in his hand. At the time he’d just put the phenomenon down to his own awesomeness.

“Since just now.” Kyuhyun lies smoothly. Leeteuk just stares at him, eyes narrowed, like he doesn’t believe him. But really, is it Kyuhyun’s fault that no one thought to ask him if he’d gotten his super power already? No.

Kyuhyun drops himself into a chair and starts floating things up in the air, some fruit, the jug with Yesung’s withered water in it. Ahhh, he’d been wanting to do this all day. Heechul starts blowing smoke rings again and Kyuhyun thinks it’ll be neat to try and float his object through the rings before they disappear.

“Kyuhyun, stop it. Someone might want to eat those apples. And Heechul stop blowing smoke rings you’re going to…” Leeteuk is once again interrupted by a shrill beeping. “…Set of the smoke alarms again.” Leeteuk sighs again. “I quit.” He moans. “That is it, I quit. I…”

Leeteuk doesn’t get to finish his tirade because Shindong chooses that moment to belch and everyone falls fast asleep.

15) Epilogue

The important thing is that they didn’t kill each other or destroy the world…yet.

The next day is calmer, there are no more nasty surprises to be had and for that Leeteuk is eternally grateful. It’s the days and weeks that follow which give Leeteuk all those new grey hairs.

*

Siwon eventually stops seeing naked people, much to his great relief and Heechul’s even greater annoyance. Heechul had taken a liking to tricking Siwon into looking at him and then rolling his hips suggestively.

It was Kibum who had the idea of tying some of Siwon’s weights around Han Geng’s waist to, well, to weigh him down. It’s an awkward solution but it sort of works. It’s only temporary…hopefully. Sometimes though, Han Geng will untie the weights and float back up to the ceiling, just to annoy Heechul.

Heechul doesn’t approve of Han Geng and Siwon having super powers anymore.

Eunhyuk does stop turning into stone every time he gets a fright, which was often since Kibum and Donghae took to sneaking up on him both invisibly and teleporting out of nowhere.

Kibum discovers that he can make anyone or anything he’s touching invisible too. Leeteuk can feel the ulcer growing, he can.

Zhou Mi is actually the easiest to deal with. All they had to do in the end was get Yesung to tell him to control the weather with his mind and not his mood and it was done. Though convincing Zhou Mi that he has to let it rain sometimes was hard.

Through trial and error thy find that Yesung’s power only work when he actually talks. So he sings all the time now which is actually kind of annoying but since the time when he told Kyuhyun to shove his head in the toilet…well, they put up with the constant singing.

Much to Leeteuk’s distress he finds that the strange shadow wings that aren’t really even wings, stupid things, won’t go away. And they can’t even be covered by clothes since they are not even really there. They are like a shadow that clings to Leeteuk’s back. It now looks like Leeteuk is permanently wearing some kind of cape. Kyuhyun says this is a good thing because it means that Leeteuk has finally fulfilled his life long dream of becoming a sailor moon character…just maybe not the one he would have wanted.

Kangin finds the whole situation hilarious and frequently communicates with Ryeowook, instructing him to point and laugh the way that Kangin would if he were there with them. But Ryeowook won’t do that, in fact he’s taken to not telling anyone when he is talking to Kangin because Leeteuk has this habit of grabbing Ryeowook’s face, looking into his eyes and saying:

“Youngwoon! Are you in there? Come home now, I need help.”

This face squishing really hurts and Leeteuk won’t let go until Kibum or Han Geng—someone with a rational mind—pulls him off.

Kangin thinks that Eunhyuk’s power is especially funny an incredibly lame. Eunhyuk says he can’t wait for Kangin to come back home.

“The next time he tries to hit me he’s going to break his fist.”

Sungmin is banned from kissing anymore of his stuffed toys, or any inanimate object for whatever reason ever. They did a bit on a variety show where they had to learn CPR. The resuscitation dummy might have been armless and legless but it was vicious. And Shindong could only tell them, tearfully, about what went down with Mr Pickles but they were all there to do battle with Snugglepuss and Bambi 2.0.

Henry got Donghae to take him back to Canada and He’s now refusing to return to Korea until everyone stops being insane…which means he might never come back. Leeteuk really kind of wishes he could do that too. The only peace he gets now is when Shindong exercises his power. Leeteuk likes Shindong’s power. Especially now that Shindong can pin point just one or a few people to be affected by the burp. Also, he can belch on command.

Heechul likes to put on impromptu pyrotechnic shows during performances. Leeteuk is terrified that someone is going to realize that they are more than just really good special effects.

Kyuhyun was voted most likely to become a super villain. But so far he seems content just to use his powers for silly pranks and distracting his opponents when playing video games.

Leeteuk’s keeping an eye on him though.

“I still don’t know exactly what’s going on.” Kibum says one day. “But god help the world if we ever have to save it.”

.the end.

Sorry this is late, life got in the way as it invariably does.

When I first thought about doing this fic I thought it would just be a short little silly thing...10,000 words later...oh god.

SUPER JUNIOR FIC: We Could Be Heroes Part Three of Four [PG-13, various ninja!pairings]

2010-10-30T12:53:15Z

Title: We Could Be Heroes Part Three of Four
Author: Selena
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Various ninja!pairings.
Warnings: Fluff, crack, humor
Word count: 3, 216
Summary: One morning the members of Super Junior wake up with super powers. What follows is a day of chaos. Some of them have cooler powers than others, some adapt quicker to them than others. Leeteuk mainly worries for his sanity and for the fate of the world at large.

Part One: Siwon, Han Geng, Ryeowook (and Kangin) | Part Two: Kibum, Donghae and Eunhyuk |

We Could Be Heroes

7) Heechul

He can breathe fire.

Heechul looks gleefully around at the horrified expressions on the faces of the rest of the group. Leeteuk looks really pale now, Heechul actually thinks that their fearless leader might just faint.

“Oh god,” Shindong gasps out, he watches fascinated as Heechul starts blowing smoke rings. “We’re all going to die.”

“Oh don’t be so dramatic.” Heechul gruffs and he puffs a flume of flames in Shindong’s direction. Shindong tips over backwards in his haste to get out of the way. “It’s not like I’m going to burn down the building.” He pauses, looks around. “But hey, on the bright side, if I did burn down the dorm at least we’d know one of us would make it out ok.” Heechul points over at Eunhyuk who has turned to stone again.

Heechul breathes fire onto his hand, he watches the flames lick over his skin. He can feel them, it’s like a soft tickling sensation. They don’t burn him.

“I,” Heechul announces. “Have the best super power so far. It’s good being me.”

“Hey!” Donghae calls out, he sounds slightly affronted.

“Sorry, Donghae-ah. Teleportation is cool too. Hey, let’s you and me go be super heroes. Kibum too I guess.”

“No!” Leeteuk snaps. “Both of you stay right there and Chullie-ah, stop blowing smoke rings you’re going to…” Leeteuk is interrupted by a shrill beeping. “…Set off the smoke alarm.” He sighs heavily, resigned. “Ok, everyone outside.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, hyung?” Kyuhyun says. “What if another one of us floats like Hankyung-hyung? We might float away. We might…mmphf.”

Heechul slaps a hand over Kyuhyun’s mouth.

“Don’t say such things, Kyuhyun-ah. Are you trying to give your hyung a coronary?”

“Yes.” Kyuhyun mumbles into Heechul’s palm and Heechul laughs. “Besides,” Kyuhyun shakes off Heechul’s hand. “Look outside, I don’t want to go out in that.”

Heechul looks out the window. The sky outside is rapidly darkening as ominous rain clouds gather. It looks like an epic storm is starting to kick up.

“You might be right there, magnae.” Heechul concedes. “And we all know there isn’t actually a fire.”

“Outside.” Leeteuk orders. “All of you. Now.”

“But you told me not to move off the sofa.” Donghae says.

Leeteuk’s eye twitches.

*

They all troop outside. Eunhyuk is excused this little fire drill on account of him still being a statue and no one wanted to carry him down the stairs. Siwon is holding on to Kibum’s arm, his eyes tightly closed. Heechul follows behind Leeteuk with Kyuhyun and Sungmin along side. Both younger boys are complaining about the cold, and it has got cold all of a sudden.

Heechul thinks there might be something on Leeteuk’s back but he can’t really be sure. It’s a fleeting image of a thing, like a shadow in the corner of his eye.

“Teukie…” Heechul starts, he’s unsure exactly what to say, it’s probably just his imagination that this indefinable shadow on Leeteuk’s back looks like a set of wings. “You haven’t had anything strange happen to you today, personally I mean, have you?”

“No,” Leeteuk says, he turns round to look at Heechul but keeps walking backwards. “Why?”

“Because it looks like there’s som…”

But Heechul doesn’t get to finish what he’s saying. A violent gust of wind kicks up, almost blowing Heechul over. It catches at the shadow on Leeteuk’s back. The shadow billows out like a parachute, not wings then, but something like it. Leeteuk is blown up and away into the air.

“Teukie!” Heechul cries and he makes a grab for Leeteuk’s leg. But it’s too late, in seconds Leeteuk is well out of reach. “Well,” Heechul murmurs as he watches their leader rise up into the air. “Well shit.”

8) Leeteuk

He’ll admit, he’s always wanted wondered what it would be like to actually fly, but he never thought he would find out and he never thought he would find out this way. He doesn’t want to look down, the ground is a very long way away now, but he can’t help it, he looks down. He can see the other members, he can’t see the looks on their faces but from the way they seem to be jumping up and down and waving their arms they appear to be frantic.

He’s pretty close to panic himself.

“Oh god, oh god, oh, god, oh god.” He says over and over again. “Oh god.”

He manages to drag his eyes away from the receding ground and instead he looks up to see that he’s being blown towards a building which is like some kind of miracle. Now, he thinks, he can grab onto something and stop his ascent to the heavens, all he has to do is hang on until someone works out how to get him down. But it seems that life actively hates him because the direction of the wind he’s caught up in changes and starts to move him away from salvation.

And he was so close too.

“Don’t worry, hyung.” Donghae says brightly as a hand—he assumes Donghae’s—grabs hold of his leg. “I’ve got you.”

Wait…Donghae?

Leeteuk has just enough time to see that Donghae is perched precariously on the edge of the building, just barely holding on with one hand, the other hand is clinging on to the material of Leeteuk’s jeans. Leeteuk feels his stomach lurch and his ears pop like he’s in an airplane. Then the building is gone and he’ not flying anymore, he’s falling. His landing is softer than he expected it to be but that’s really only because Donghae breaks his fall. Leeteuk stands up, his legs feel shaky, weak. He’s surprised to find that he’s inside now, in an unfamiliar room. He starts to turn around to help Donghae up but the view outside the window catches his eye. This room—where ever this room is—it over looks an ornate temple, a red and gold affair adorned with intricate carvings of dragons.

Leeteuk doesn’t think he’s in Korea anymore.

“Donghae-ah…” Leeteuk starts, he doesn’t turn round to look at Donghae, he can’t tear his eyes from the cityscape outside. “Donghae-ah, how did we get here?”

“Huh?” Donghae says distractedly. “Oh, I teleported onto that roof, got hold of you and then tried to teleport us somewhere safe.” Donghae sounds kind of pleased with himself and Leeteuk has to admit that the attempt was pretty impressive. “I did mean to get us inside the dorms though.” Now Leeteuk can almost hear a frown in Donghae’s voice. “I don’t actually know where we are.”

“China. Donghae we’re in China!”

“Oh.” Donghae says and he ambles over to stand beside Leeteuk. “Oh!”

“Uh…Hey, guys?” A voice from above them says.

Both boys whirl round and look up.

“Hyung!” Donghae cries with delight.

“Hankyung!” Leeteuk stammers. “What?…How?…How do we get you down from there?”

*

Leeteuk decides that he doesn’t much like teleporting, it makes his insides feel like they’ve shrivelled. And—if he’s entirely honest—he didn’t exactly trust that Donghae would get the three of them back safely and in one piece. But manage he did and they materialize in the main room of the dorm just as the rest of the group are coming back inside. There is a flurry of chaos where everyone starts running forward and talking at once.

“Teukie-hyung!”

“Donghae-ah!”

“You’re ok!”

“Hankyung! How did you get here?”

Han Geng releases the death grip he has on Leeteuk’s arm and gracefully floats up to the ceiling. Leeteuk feels almost a little envious of him as he is descended upon, someone is playing with the shadow wings on his back, Leeteuk thinks it might be Kyuhyun.

“God, Teukie!” Heechul complains. “Don’t you ever do anything like that again, I almost had a heart attack. Hankyung, you get down here right now!”

“Would if I could, Hyung.” Han Geng says with a shrug. “But I can’t.”

“Kibum! Fix him!” Heechul shouts.

“I’m still trying to fix Siwon, you can already control your power, you fix him.”

Leeteuk thinks about intervening in Heechul and Kibum’s squabble but his phone rings and a cold, creeping feeling settles over him. Given the day he’s having he doesn’t expect this phone call to bring joyous tidings. He pulls the phone out of his pocket, looks at the caller ID and he thinks he might faint.

“Oh god.” He moans and everyone stops talking to look at him.

“Oh god what, hyung?” Ryeowook asks.

Leeteuk holds up his phone so they can all read the display.

“That’s Henry’s mother.” Ryeowook says, confused. “Hyung, why is Henry’s mother calling you?”

“I don’t know. But more to the point how am I supposed to answer? I don’t speak Chinese or English well. Wait…” Leeteuk holds the phone up to Han Geng who just shakes his head. “Don’t you pretend you don’t understand. Take the phone!” Han Geng continues to shake his head and he pushes himself away.

“Oh give it here.” Kibum sighs and he snatches the phone. He hits the call button and starts talking in English. Leeteuk understands the words “Hello, Mrs Lau.”…and that’s it.

After a few minutes Kibum pulls the phone away from his ear and places a hand over the mouth piece.

“She wants to know what you’ve done to her son.” Kibum states flatly.

“What? What I’ve done to her son?” Leeteuk sputters, he looks around at the rest of the group, there are more than a few guilty faces.

“Henry seduced me!” Ryeowook squeaks. “Kyuhyun and Sungmin had the threesome with him first!”

“Wookie-ah, Shhhh!” Sungmin and Kyuhyun both exclaim.

“Given everyone’s special circumstances today,” Kibum says calmly. “I’m pretty sure that’s not what she means.”

“When all this is sorted out.” Leeteuk says, his eyes narrowing. “You’re all grounded.”

Kibum goes back to talking with Henry’s mother and then:

“His mother says he’s on the ceiling and she wants to know why.”

Oh, Leeteuk thinks, that’s ok. They already have one of those. They can try and fix the two of them at the same time.

“Go fetch him, Donghae-ah.” Han Geng says. “Then I can have some company up here.”

“No, wait.” Kibum says, he’s gone back to talking with Mrs Lau and is listening intently. “He…oh!” Kibum’s face drains of all colour and Leeteuk knows that whatever Kibum is going to say next is not going to be good. “Henry isn’t on the ceiling…“ Kibum says. “He’s in the ceiling.”

9) Henry

Why is his life like this? Seriously, why?

It had been a perfectly normal day, all things considered. He’d hung out with friends, practised a little violin and he was just working on a song for Super Junior when his mom called him for dinner. It was when he was walking across his room when it happened. He had this weird, insubstantial feeling, like he wasn’t quite all there like he should be. And then he was falling, falling though the floor. Henry thinks that if he hadn’t realized that he shouldn’t be falling though the floor like he was then he might have gone all the way through. The landing would have likely have hurt but it would have been preferable to stopping halfway like he did. Probably.

Henry sighs and rests his elbows on the carpet. He kicks his legs so he knows they are still there.

“Henry, stop that!” His mom calls out. “You almost kicked the light fixture!”

He can hear her talking on the phone but he can’t make out who she’s talking to. She got over her initial bout of panic pretty quickly and got straight on the phone, ever practical was his mom. He couldn’t think who she would call though. There is only one real source of weirdness in his life so his first thought would be to call there. Actually he’d call Ryeowook, he’d be less likely to freak out. Probably.

“Hi, Henli!” Donghae says, suddenly appearing beside him. Henry is more than a little startled and in his shock he kicks out his legs. He feels, and hears, it when he smashes his mom’s new light fixture.

“Ge!” Henry cries. “What…how did you?”

“Oh, we all have super powers today. I can teleport and you…what did you do?”

“I have no idea. What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been sent to fetch you. Teukie-hyung wants us all to be together.”

Oh, Henry thinks, that sort of makes sense. Kind of.

“Ok, come on then.” Donghae says and he grabs hold of Henry’s hand.

“Ge Ge, wait!” Henry implores. Donghae looks at him quizzically. “You’re going to teleport me?”

Donghae nods.

“To Korea?”

“Yes.” Donghae says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“Henry looks down at himself, thinks about the part of him that he can’t see.

“But what if you only teleport half of me. I don’t want to be split in two.”

“Why would that happen? You’re still all together now aren’t you?”

“I think so.”

“Ok, let’s go then.”

“But…Ge…Wai…” Henry doesn’t get to finish what he’s saying because with a stomach churning lurch and a soft ‘pop’ in his ears he is gone from his house. Suddenly he finds himself in the main living area of the Super Junior dorms. He’s alive, all in one piece and all his limbs are in the same room.

“Oh god.” He moans. “I think I’m going to throw up.”

“There, there.” Leeteuk says, patting him on the shoulder. “It’ll get better.”

“What’s your power, Henry?” Heechul asks, a gleeful lilt to his voice. “If it’s falling through floors then you might just be in the running for the lamest super power award.”

Heechul stands there looking at him expectantly, Henry can only blink at him.

“I still don’t understand what’s going on.” Henry says. Nausea builds in his gut, how can everyone be so calm about this?…Well, ok, Leeteuk doesn’t look calm, but everyone else is.

“How did you manage to fall through the floor, Henry?” Kibum asks. Kibum is calm. Kibum is very calm. His calmness almost makes Henry feel better.

Henry shrugs and he tries to explain, he’s not sure he explains it right but Kibum looks like he gets it.

“So you phased.” Kibum says thoughtfully. “You’re like Shadowcat from X-men, but with a penis.”

“That’s not quite how I’d put it.” Henry mutters, but he doesn’t think anyone pays any attention to him. “I have to call my mom. Try to explain to her why I’m suddenly in Korea, but I left my cell in my room.”

“Here.” Leeteuk hands Henry his phone, Henry’s mom is still on the line.

“MOM!” Henry says incredulously. “You called Leeteuk?”

“Henli! Stay where we can see you.” Leeteuk calls out. “In case you fall through the floor again.”

“I’m going to call Zhou Mi.” Henry hears Kyuhyun say. “Make sure he’s ok.”

After he finishes talking to his mom, who was also pretty calm about the whole thing, was everyone insane or was it just him? Henry sits down at the table next to Shindong.

“So,” Henry says, he tries to keep his vice even like this is just a normal conversation on a normal day. “What can you do?”

Shindong just shrugs. “Don’t know yet.” And then he belches. Shindong grins at him apologetically. “Sorry.”

“Ha ha, ewww Dong, that’s gro…” But Henry doesn’t get to finish what he’s saying, instead he falls fast asleep.

10) Shindong

Aww, Shindong thinks, Henry is so cute when he’s asleep. It takes a few minutes for him to realize that it’s not just Henry who’s asleep, everyone else in the room is as well. Leeteuk and Kibum are slumped on the floor, Siwon, Donghae and Eunhyuk are crammed on the sofa together. Ryeowook and Heechul are each in a chair, both sleeping soundly. Even Han Geng is asleep, still floating up on the ceiling.

“Oh,” Shindong says as he looks around. “Oh.”

He thinks Kyuhyun and Sungmin are in their room and he wonders if they have suddenly fallen asleep too. That question is answered when Kyuhyun comes striding back through the door.

“Zhou Mi’s Ok.” Kyuhyun announces. “He says the weirdest thing that’s happened to him today is the weather. It’s gotten really hot in China, he…hey, why is everyone sleeping?”

“I didn’t do it!” Shindong says quickly.

Kyuhyun just looks at him, his eyes narrowed.

“All right, I think I did. But I’m not sure how.”

“Well, wake them up.”

Shindong shrugs helplessly, he’s not sure exactly how. Kyuhyun stalks over to where Leeteuk lies prone and starts shaking him.

“Hyung!” He shouts in Leeteuk’s ear. “Hyung, wake up!”

Leeteuk stirs slightly, mumbles “Five more minutes” and goes back to sleep. Kyuhyun sighs and starts to shake him again but stops when Sungmin screams.

“Sungmin-ah!” Shindong and Kyuhyun shout and they both take off running only to collide with Sungmin as he hurries in from the back rooms.

“Hyung, what’s wrong?” Kyuhyun asks breathlessly.”

Sungmin looks at them, his eyes wide with wonder and fright.

“Did you see Mr Pickles?” He asks. “Did he run by here?”

“Mr Pickles?” Shindong repeats slowly, he thinks Sungmin might have really lost it this time.

“The stuffed bunny I got you for Christmas?” Kyuhyun asks and Sungmin nods.

“I…he…um.” Sungmin falters before steeling himself to carry on. “After Kyu left the room I hugged Mr Pickles because well…I’m a little scared about what’s going on today…don’t either of you laugh.”

“Wasn’t going to.” Kyuhyun says.

“Wouldn’t dare.” Shindong adds.

“Well, I gave him a little kiss and…and he came to life.”

“He what?” Shindong isn’t sure that he heard Sungmin right, or rather he hopes he hadn’t.

“He ran out of the room before I could stop him and I don’t know where he’s gone.”

Shindong can feel the burp bubble up in his stomach and he tries to hold it back he really does.

“Sungmin-ah, Kyuhyun-ah, I think I am going to have to apologize to you.”

“What for?”

Shindong belches and because he’d tried to hold it back it becomes the Montezuma’s revenge of belches, long and loud.

“Shindong, that’s disgu….” But Sungmin doesn’t get a chance to finish what he’s saying, instead he faceplants on the floor, fast asleep. Kyuhyun quickly follows.

“Crap.” Shindong grumbles. “Now what am I supposed to do?”

He hears a quiet rustling and a soft, high pitch giggle coming from the main room and he thinks that the other must be waking up. He rushes in there all set to apologize for making them sleep, he stops suddenly at the threshold of the room. There, standing over Leeteuk’s sleeping form is a medium sized, pink stuffed bunny.

“Mr Pickles?” Shindong’s throat is dry, his voice horse.

Mr Pickles looks up at him and they stand there locked in a bizarre staring contest for a few minutes before Mr Pickles giggles and lunges forward.

.End of part three

SUPER JUNIOR FIC: We Could Be Heroes Part Two of Four [PG-13, various ninja!pairings]

2010-10-27T17:55:35Z

Title: We Could Be Heroes Part Two of Four
Author: Selena
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Various ninja!pairings. In this part though there is some 3Min. None of those Min's is Sungmin.
Warnings: Fluff, crack, humor
Word count: 2, 336
Summary: One morning the members of Super Junior wake up with super powers. What follows is a day of chaos. Some of them have cooler powers than others, some adapt quicker to them than others. Leeteuk mainly worries for his sanity and for the fate of the world at large.

Part One: Siwon, Han Geng, Ryeowook (and Kangin)

We Could Be Heroes

4) Kibum

Oh, he’s having way too much fun with this.

It starts at his ridiculously early acting class, they have this new teacher who swears that the best work is done before the sun comes up.

“That’s when the soul is most alive.”

…or some shit like that.

There is a girl (or several) in his class who has the hots for him, and he’s used to it, it’s almost kind of cute. But it’s 4am and nothing and no one is cute and funny at 4am and when he sees this girl making a beeline for him he closes his eyes and just prays that she can’t see him. It’s a futile and kind of silly prayer so he’s taken completely by surprise when it works.

“Kibum-oppa?” Sunmin says as she approaches Kibum’s small group. “He was just here, where did he go?”

“He’s right there.” Minwoo says pointing to Kibum. Sunmin just looks at him blankly.

“No, he’s not.” Sunmin practically wails. “You’re so mean!” And then she’s gone and Kibum heaves out a sigh of relief.

“How did you do that?” Minwoo asks him, all wide eyed wonder.

“I have no idea.”

As he watches Sunmin’s sullen retreat he wonders if whatever he just did only works for people he really doesn’t want to talk to or if it would work for anyone and everyone. He decides the only logical thing to do is test it out so he wills himself invisible and unseen by all.

“Hey!” Joomin asks. “Where did Kibum go?”

Kibum chuckles softly and backs away from the group, careful not to brush up against anyone.

He thinks he’ll skip class today. Something weird is going on and really, there is only one source of weirdness in his life. So he decides to head on over there and see if the rest of Super Junior has had anything strange happen to them, well, stranger than usual. There is always something new and bizarre going on in that dorm. It’s still stupidly early but he is sure that Leeteuk will be awake, that guy never sleeps.

It’s about two miles from his class to the dorm and thinks it might be fun to walk it. It’s nice—he decides—being able to walk down the street and have no give him a second glance. Not that there are many people about at this hour to see him if he let himself be seen…but Kibum has learned from experience that cameras can be anywhere at anytime. It’s almost 6am by the time he gets to the dorms, he lets himself in with key he still has, he doesn’t think he’ll ever give it back. Only Leeteuk is awake, as expected. Leeteuk is sitting in the main living area on the worn out old sofa, he’s going over a pile of papers, he looks up at the sound of the door opening.

“Hello?” Leeteuk asks. Kibum holds his breath and wills Leeteuk not to see him. Leeteuk gets up and comes to the doorway. Kibum hasn’t shut the door, he can’t, he’ll give away his position. Leeteuk looks around, worry and confusion marring his brow. Kibum is standing right there in front of him but Leeteuk just can’t see him. “Maybe Donghae is right.” Leeteuk mutters as he surveys the empty hallway. “Maybe this place really is haunted.”

Kibum walks around the dorms listening to the soft snores and sleep snuffles of the other members and everything seems fine. Nothing out of the ordinary seems to be going on here, but Kibum refuses to believe that it’s just him this is happening to. It can’t be, that wouldn’t be fair. He passes Ryeowook’s room and he hears Ryeowook talking to himself…which is kind of weird. No, wait…Kibum hears Ryeowook talking to Kangin. At this time in the morning? Shouldn’t Kangin be off doing something Army-ish at this time? Like some kind of 5 mile run? Kibum stops and listens at the door but the voice inside goes quiet. Presently the door opens and Ryeowook comes out. Kibum has to quickly move out of the way to avoid Ryeowook bumping into him, he’s not quite quick enough and Ryeowook knock his arm. But it seems that Ryeowook is too caught up in his own thoughts to realizes that he’s just bumped into nothing.

“I must be going crazy.” Ryeowook mumbles as he walks away.

Kibum slips into Ryeowook’s room and settles down to wait for him to comes back. He hopes that he doesn’t have to wait for too long.

*

Which brings up back to now.

“We’re going to have to let Leeteuk-hyung know about this.” Kibum says and Ryeowook shakes his head violently.

“Do we have to? He’s got enough to worry about already.”

“Wookie-ah, you can talk to people who are miles away in your head. Kangin-hyung can leap tall buildings in a single bound, Hankyung-hyung is floating, Siwon sees naked people…”

“Hankyung-hyung says he thinks it’s more like Siwon-hyung can see through clothes.”

“Whatever. And I can make myself invisible. That’s five of us that suddenly have magic powers, who knows what will happen to the rest of them. The way our luck runs Donghae or Eunhyuk might be given the power to blow things up.

Ryeowook pales slightly.

“Plus,” Kibum continues. “Someone is going to have to go and get Siwon before he starts trying to claw his own eyes out.

“Ok.” Ryeowook say and he stands up. “But you’re doing all the talking, I am just going to nod and agree with you.”

*

It’s lucky that Kibum has something of a demonstrative power because this shit is hard to explain. Leeteuk sits there and listens quietly, he looks a little confused—and concerned—but that’s really kind of his default expression. Kibum knows that if it were anyone else telling him this potential tale of woe then Leeteuk would think it all some very lame joke.

But Kim Kibum does not joke, lame or otherwise.

Kibum starts disappearing and reappearing and the looks on the faces of the other members are priceless. Kibum is almost glad that Heechul is taking pictures, though Heechul is under strict orders not to let these pictures out onto the internet. Eventually Leeteuk sends Heechul out to retrieve Siwon, Heechul pouts a little but he goes. Kibum continues his disappearing act for a little while until…

“Kibummie stop it” Donghae wails. “I don’t like it when I can’t see you.”

“Aww, I’m sorry, Hae.” Kibum says and he creeps over to where Donghae stands and, still invisible, wraps his arms around Donghae’s waist. Donghae is so caught off guard by this unexpected touch that he yelps in surprise and is gone and Kibum finds himself holding nothing but air.

Donghae just, poof, disappears.

5) Donghae

Donghae blinks and looks around. He suddenly finds himself in a dimly lit room, daylight filters feebly in from the gap in the thick curtains. Donghae can just about make out the outline of a bed in the corner, he’s in someone else’s bedroom. Definitely not his room, his room has two beds and smells a little…different. He doesn’t know where he is or how the hell he got here or how the hell he is supposed to get back to his dorm.

He guesses that this must mean he has some kind of super power too, which on one hand is kinda cool, who doesn’t want to have a super power? On the other hand, though, he is kind of stuck, he could be anywhere in the whole world and…and the bed is moving. No wait, it’s just the bed covers that are moving and Donghae realizes—to his horror—that he is in someone else’s bedroom while that someone else is still here. Donghae holds his breath and starts to edge towards the door. Maybe, just maybe, he can get out of here before the person in the bed wakes up and sees him. Then he can get to a phone and call Kibum to come and get him…that might take a while if he turns out to be on the other side of the world. But he knows that Kibum will come get him.

Call Kibum. That, Donghae thinks, is a very, very good plan.

It’s a shame that none of his very, very good plans have ever gone right. Ever.

“Hyung?” A sleepy voice mumbles.

The room is getting lighter as the daylight outside takes a firmer hold and now Donghae can properly see the bed and it’s occupant. A head emerges from under the tangle of bed clothes and Donghae wonders if this is what having a heart attack feels like.

“Hyung, what are you doing here? Am I dreaming?”

Minho. He’s in Minho’s room. That’s all right then, at least he knows that he’s still in Korea. Donghae tries to stammer out an excuse for why he’s suddenly in Minho’s room unannounced and unexpected but the words catch in his throat as another head pushes its way out from under the covers.

“You’re not dreaming, Hyung.” Taemin says. “If this were one of your dreams then I imagine I would be happier to see him.”

Taemin is sleep rumpled and disgruntled and Donghae tries not to choke when he sees that both Minho and Taemin are apparently naked.

“Yeah.” Another voice says and yet another person emerges from under the covers. “Me too.”

“C…Changmin?” Donghae stutters. He’s so shocked that he starts to hiccup.

“Don’t,” Taemin says, his voice low with warning. “Don’t tell Onew.”

“Or Yunho.” Changmin adds darkly.

Donghae hiccups. He hiccups again and then, poof, he vanishes.

*

He’s back in the dorms again and he breathes out a sigh of relief as he looks upon the worried faces of the rest of the group. He can breathe now, he can relax. He can’t, however, bring himself to tell any of them where he’s been.

“Poor thing.” Leeteuk says. “Did you teleport into a hell dimension?”

Donghae can only shake his head.

“There’s no such thing as hell dimensions, hyung.” Kyuhyun deadpans.

“Like there’s no such things as super powers?” Leeteuk retorts, his voice shrill.

“Touché.”

Donghae looks around, counts heads.

“Where’s Kibum? Is he still invisible?”

“No,” Leeteuk says. “At least I don’t think so. He’s in the other room with Siwon trying to help him control his…uh…power.”

“Heechul is in there too.” Kyuhyun puts in. “I don’t think he’s trying to help.”

“Oh,” Donghae says. “Where’s Eunhyuk?”

“Ahh,” Leeteuk sighs and Donghae doesn’t like the way Leeteuk won’t look him in the eye. “Right. Well. About Eunhyuk…”

A feeling of cold dread pools low in Donghae’s stomach and he fights to catch his breath.

“What about Eunhyuk?”

“Well, we’re not exactly sure what happened, but when you vanished he…he…” Leeteuk takes a step to one side so Donghae has a clear view of the sofa and Eunhyuk. Eunhyuk is sitting in the exact same spot, in the exact shame position he was in when Donghae left.

Eunhyuk is sitting completely still, he’s completely immobile and completely made of stone.

6) Eunhyuk

When he comes too, Donghae is poking at his cheek. Donghae looks alarmed, worried. Eunhyuk wasn’t even aware that he had fallen asleep, or passed out, or whatever. What the hell had happened?

“Hey,” Eunhyuk mumbles. “What happened?” His throat is dry and his voice sounds scratchy, like it hasn’t been used in a while. “Hae! I can see you now. I got a shock when Kibum made you disappear.”

“Donghae wasn’t invisible, Hyukkie.” Leeteuk says. “He teleported into a hell dimension.”

“I did not.” Donghae mutters. No one pays any attention to him.

Eunhyuk blinks up at his fellow band members and he tries for a smile. His face feels stiff. He tries to stand up but his whole body feels stiff too. His limbs feel heavy, like they are made of stone.

Hey, wait.

He looks down at his hands. His skin is a mottled grey, his fingers thick and unwieldy. He holds his hand out in front of him, turning it round so he can look at it from every angle. He watches—fascinated—as the grey stone fades back into warm flesh.

“This is so cool.” He breathes.

“It’s not!” Leeteuk wails. “It’s not cool. You turned into stone! Stone, Hyukkie! And Donghae will probably end up teleporting himself into a volcano, Hankyung is floating somewhere in China. China! Oh god, what if he goes outside? What if he floats away?” Leeteuk sobs and slumps into a chair. “I wish Kangin were here.”

“Would you like me to go and get him, Teukie-hyung?” Donghae pipes up, he sounds almost hopeful. “I’m pretty sure I could.”

“Sure Donghae-ah.” Leeteuk says, without thinking. “No!” He shouts out suddenly. “No! You stay there. You stay right there on that sofa and don’t teleport anywhere. And you!” Leeteuk whirls on Eunhyuk. “You turn back to flesh and bone right this instant!”

“I’m trying, Hyung.” Eunhyuk says. He holds his hand up for Leeteuk to see. The transformation back from stone seems to be going glacially slowly. Leeteuk looks a little green.

“Ridiculous.” Heechul says, storming into the room. “Pathetic. I bet he secretly really wants to see people naked and that’s why Kibum can’t help him get it under control.” Heechul throws himself into a chair, looks around. “What’s wrong, Teukie? You look like you’re going to throw up.”

“Look, Hyung.” Eunhyuk says brightly, brandishing his arm. “I turn to stone.”

“You turn to stone.” Heechul repeats slowly. Then he laughs. “That’s almost as lame a power as seeing though clothes.” And Heechul laughs so hard that he snorts…and fire shoots out of his nose.

.end of part two

SUPER JUNIOR FIC: We Could Be Heroes Part One of Four [PG-13, various ninja!pairings]

2010-10-24T19:42:48Z

Title: We Could Be Heroes Part One of Four
Author: Selena
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Various ninja!pairings
Warnings: Fluff, crack, humor
Word count: 2, 249
Summary: One morning the members of Super Junior wake up with super powers. What follows is a day of chaos. Some of them have cooler powers than others, some adapt quicker to them than others. Leeteuk mainly worries for his sanity and for the fate of the world at large.

We could be heroes

1) Siwon

Siwon wakes up that morning with x-ray vision. No explanations as to why he suddenly has x-ray vision, there were no incidents with any genetically modified stuff, no falling into a vat of toxic waste, no getting hit by lightning and there have been no meteor showers.

It was just like, here, have a superpower.

The thing of it is though, it’s a very limited super power, as in he only has the ability to see through fabric and he doesn’t even realize that he has this power until about two hours after he wakes up. It’s one of those rare times that he’s staying at the dorms with the rest of the group and sure, he did notice that the sofa looked a little odd, like all it’s stuffing was on the outside. But it’s an old piece of furniture and he figures that Donghae and Eunhyuk must have killed it in his absence and no one saw any real point in getting it replaced. Donghae and Eunhyuk would probably just break the new one too.

It’s just him and Leeteuk that are up and around that morning, and really, seeing Leeteuk walking around the place naked isn’t all that unusual. It’s not until Ryeowook breezes through the door, butt naked and humming a jaunty tune that Siwon thinks that there might be something wrong. Siwon blinks, shakes his head, blinks again, rubs his eyes. No, Ryeowook is still naked.

“Hyung, are you all right?” Ryeowook asks, concerned. You look a little pale.”

One by one the rest of the group wakes up and files into the kitchen. All of them completely naked. Siwon decides that his only recourse is to go to church immediately and pray. Pray that he’s not going crazy and also to pray that he has gone crazy and that the whole world hasn’t up and become a nudist colony.

It turns out that going to church was quite possibly the worst idea ever. Everyone there is naked too, the pastor, the choir boys, old, old, old, old, Mrs Kim…who, it seems, has a tattoo of a dragon, the tail of it curling down towards her…

“Oh god.” Siwon moans. He closes his eyes, and that actually makes things better, but only for a little while. He knows that he can’t make it back to the dorm with his eyes closed and he doesn’t want to open his eyes because of the sudden outbreak of nakedness. The thought of calling one of his hyungs to come and get him fills him with all kinds of dread. What is he supposed to say? “Hi, I see naked people?”

Why is his life like this?

He sits down, he lands heavily, it’s hard to judge things like distance to the ground when you have your eyes closed. He pulls out his cell phone and starts pushing buttons. He doesn’t need to see to do this, the number he punches in is engrained on his memory. He calls the one person he thinks he can talk to about this, the one person who will listen calmly and won’t laugh at him or judge him or think he’s a complete head case.

He calls Han Geng.

Han Geng does listen patiently, makes soothing noises when Siwon chokes on his words.

“Ge, do you think I’m crazy? Because I think I might be crazy. Everyone is naked! Everyone!” He half whispers, half hisses the last part, emphasizing the words so that he is sure that Han Geng fully realizes his situation.

“No, Siwonnie. I don’t think you’re crazy.” Han Geng says, his voice calm, gentle. “I’ll tell you what is crazy, though. I’m sort of floating. I’m stuck up by the ceiling and I have no idea how I am supposed to get down."

2) Han Geng

Han Geng wakes that morning with the inexplicable feeling of lightness. He yawns and stretches, opens his eyes and looks down…hey, wait!

Down?

It takes him a few minutes to fully comprehend his predicament, it’s just too…too…he can’t even come up with a suitable word for whatever this shit is. At first he thinks—or more like he hopes—that he’s having an out of body experience. But then, if he were having an out of body experience surely he would be floating up here and looking down on himself sleeping and not floating up here and looking down on his empty bed, bare of even its sheets because they are still wrapped around him.

He really thought that he had left all this bizarre crap behind when he left Korea.

He pushes himself away from the ceiling and the bed sheets fall away and flutter back down to the floor. As soon as Han Geng stop pushing his ass hits the aertex again. He can push himself away, he can push himself along, he just cant get down, or at least he can’t stay down. He figures out that if he anchors himself to something heavier than he is then he’ll stay somewhere near ground level. He grabs on to the curtains and tries to climb down them like rope. It’s kind of awkward because his body tries to float its way back up to the ceiling but eventually he manages. He grabs onto a chair, which was stupid really because he just ends up right back where he started.

God dammit.

He blames Heechul. He’s not sure how or why and he is sure that it’s not really rational but somehow it’s all Heechul’s fault.

It’s like he’s weightless, he imagines that this is was astronauts might feel like. It’s…it’s almost kind of fun. Then his cell phone starts ringing and panic sets in.

Why is his life like this?

He drags himself back down to the ground, he hooks his legs around the foot board of his bed and grabs his phone off the dresser.

“Hello?” He says, trying to keep his voice calm, everything is cool, everything is ok, nothing weird or inexplicable is going on here, no sir. “Siwon? Are you ok? You what?”

He is so taken aback by what Siwon tells him that he lets go of the bed and is up on the ceiling again. He glad that this happened—if it had to happen at all—while he was inside. If this weightlessness had come upon him while he’d been outside? He shudders to think where he might have floated away to.

“It’s ok.” Han Geng says soothingly into the phone. Siwon sounds panicked and with probably good reason too. Han Geng is pretty close to panic himself. “Calm down, I don’t think you’re crazy. Look down at yourself.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Just do it. Are you naked?”

A pause and then…”Yes.” Siwon says meekly.

“I take it you put clothes on before you left home.”

“Of course I did.”

“Are you still wearing them?”

Another pause and then…”Yes, I think so. I think I can still feel them, I just can’t see them. Why can’t I see them Ge?”

Han Geng takes a deep, steadying breath. So, he can float and Siwon can see through clothes. Just a normal day then. He hears a soft whispering, or at least he thinks he does, quiet at first and then louder, coherent.

“Can you hear me?” The voice asks. This disembodied whisper sounds familiar, so familiar. “Hankyung-hyung, can you hear me? Is this working?”

“Oh, my.” Han Geng whispers.

“What is it?” Siwon asks, his voice now half way to frantic and for a minute there Han Geng had forgotten he was on the phone with him. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s ok, Siwonnie, calm down. I’m getting a message from…from…” The voice in his head keeps talking and Han Geng works on placing it—the voice—it gets louder and clearer and then Han Geng knows who it is.

“Hankyung-hyung, can you hear me?”

“Yes, Ryeowook-ah.” Han Geng says. “I can hear you.”

Yup, just a normal, normal day.

3) Ryeowook (and Kangin)

Ryeowook wakes up thinking about Kangin. He isn’t sure why at first, not until he starts to remember pieces of his dream. He was dreaming about the army, it’s been on his mind a lot lately so it’s not surprising that it’s filtered through to his dreams. He wakes up and he thinks ‘I wonder how Kangin-hyung is doing?’

“Oh, I’m doing great Wookie-ah.” A voice in his head says.

Ryeowook blinks into the dim light, he fumbles around to find the switch on the light by the bed, almost knocking the lamp over in his haste. When the light comes on he is almost relieved to find that he is alone in the room.

Then who had just spoken? Was he hearing voices in his head now?

“Yes, Wookie-ah, you are.”

“Kangin-hyung?” Ryeowook whispers, then he feels kind of silly talking to himself so he says it again in his head. “Kangin-hyung? Is that you?”

“No, Wookie-ah. You’ve gone crazy.”

“Oh, that’s a relief.” Ryeowook says out loud. He gets out of bed and pads across the room, he reaches for the door handle and he’s half way to opening it, then he stops. Wait, going crazy isn’t a good thing. He shuts the door again and makes his way back to his bed. He sits down and sighs heavily.

“You’re not going crazy, Wookie-ah.” Kangin’s voice says. Ryeowook looks around the room, no, he’s definitely alone. There is no one lurking in the shadows, he thinks. “Because if you’ve gone crazy then that means I have too and I, as Korea’s number one handsome guy, am not crazy.”

“Am I in your head or are you in mine?”

Kangin doesn’t answer right away. There is a long, long pause and it’s like Ryeowook can almost feel Kangin thinking about his answer.

“I have no idea.” He says at last.

“Where are you?”

“Boot camp. Hey, do you know what I did earlier?”

“Uh…no.” But Ryeowook has a feeling that Kangin is going to tell him anyway.

“I leapt over the barracks.” Kangin says, there is excitement and wonder in his voice, or at least Ryeowook thinks it’s in Kangin’s voice, he’s still not entirely sure what’s going on here. “It was at the 5am run, I just felt like I could jump really high…so I did.”

“You…you jumped over the barracks?”

“Yeah, it was awesome!”

“You jumped over the barracks and now I’m talking to you in my head?”

“Seems so.”

Ryeowook takes a deep breath, he feels a little nauseous, why is his life like this?

“Awww, shit.” Kangin’s voice says. “I gotta go, we have an inspection.” And then he’s gone. Ryeowook swears he can feel Kangin’s presence leave and his head feels almost empty. He sits there on his bed for a few minutes, listening to the quiet. No one else in the dorm is awake yet, Ryeowook closes his eyes.

“Teukie-hyung?” He thinks in his head.

Nothing.

“Yesung-hyung?”

Still nothing. Ryeowook sighs again. He must have been dreaming. He decides to go an take a walk and clear his crazy head.

*

When he gets back he almost bumps into Siwon who looks like he’s close to panic, his face is chalk white and he’s sweating.

“Hyung? Are you all right? You look a little pale.”

Siwon can’t seem to look at him, instead he flushes and quickly backs away, heads to the door and practically runs out of the dorm.

“Ignore him, Wookie-ah.” Leeteuk says, exasperation lacing his voice. “He’s been acting spooked all morning.” Leeteuk shakes his head and walks away. Ryeowook heads back to his room. He sits there in the quiet and he thinks about Han Geng. At first there is nothing and then…

“Yes, Ryeowook-ah, I can hear you.”

Ok that, it’s confirmed, he’s insane.

“You’re not insane. I can float and Siwon can see through clothes. It’s all good.”

…wait, what?

Ryeowook has to take several deep breaths while Han Geng’s voice whispers soothing words to him…and Siwon. Han Geng is on the phone with him and Ryeowook thinks it’s really, really weird that he can listen in on that conversation when Siwon is at his church and Han Geng is in China.

“Hey.” Another voice says, a real voice, solid and in the room with him. Ryeowook yelps and all but falls off his bed. Kibum is standing by the door, it’s almost like he materializes out of thin air. Ryeowook just stares at him. “Who were you talking to?” Kibum asks, his voice calm, rational, like Ryeowook wasn’t just sitting there talking to himself.

Ryeowook shakes his head forlornly. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. I’m not sure I even believe it myself.” Ryeowook looks at his door, it’s closed still and it didn’t open to let Kibum in. “What are you doing here, Kibum?” He asks even though he’s not sure he wants to know the answer. He points a shaking finger towards the door. “Don’t tell me you can walk through walls.”

Kibum laughs, it’s a deep, rich sound. “No Ryeowookie. I can’t walk through walls. I’ve been in here since before you came back in.” Kibum smiles, leans in close and whispers conspiratorially. “I can make myself invisible.”

.End Part one

SUPER JUNIOR FIC: As the crow flies master list

2010-10-09T17:36:50Z

Title: As the crow flies
Author: Selena
Rating: R
Pairing: Kangin/Leeteuk [main], Heechul/Han Geng [main], Eunhyuk/Donghae, Siwon/Sungmin, Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi, Yesung/Ryeowook.
Warnings: Angst, drama, sex, violence, character death
Word count: 43,199
Summary: Immortals, they fight for the right and the power to rule the earth. The gathering has started and group of mortals are in the wrong place at the wrong time, getting pulled into a bloody battle and becoming pawns in a sadistic game.
A/N: Loosely based on the Highlander TV series.

Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Interlude One [Kangin/Leeteuk, NC-17]
Interlude Two [Han Geng/Heechul, NC-17]
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Interlude Three [Han Geng/Heechul, R]
Chapter Nine
Epilogue

SUPER JUNIOR FIC: Never knew how much I’d like waking up next to you [Siwon/Kyuhyun, PG-13]

2010-09-27T19:19:26Z

Title: Never knew how much I’d like waking up next to you.
Author: Selena
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Siwon/Kyuhyun
Word count: 806
Summary: It's the morning after the night before.
A/N: A few weeks ago I did a prompt meme and I am just now getting around to writing some. Go me! This was written for my darling ithilmenel who wanted Siwon/Kyuhyun, early mornings.

Never knew how much I’d like waking up next to you.

Kyuhyun wakes slowly, in stages, reluctantly, and for the briefest moment - once awareness hits along with the hangover - he doesn’t know where he is. He’s not in his hotel room, he knows that for sure. This room has almost the same uniform blandness as his, but the layout is different and so is the artwork, there isn’t a large, garish, stylized picture of a dragon adorning the wall in his room. His room has twin beds and a soundly snoring Zhou Mi. This room has one large bed and someone pressed close to him, skin to skin.

Then, like a roughly hewn jigsaw, the fragments of his memory knit together and he remembers. He remembers fast kisses, needy and desperate. He remembers fervent touches, rough, almost bruising in their haste to get close to each other. The warm presence beside him snuffles slightly - he’s close to waking up too it seems. He nuzzles at Kyuhyun’s neck, his breath is hot, the feel of his body warm, his scent so familiar.

Siwon.

Kyuhyun lets himself relax, tries to will himself back to sleep, he doesn’t want to be awake right now. Being awake means having to get up, means having to face the day and all he wants to do is stay right here right now. If it wasn’t for the slight pounding in his head he could almost believe he were still locked in a dream. The wishful thinking kind. Dim sunlight filters in from the barely there curtains, it glints off the gold in the dragon painting - a tourist picture for a tourist hotel. They’d stayed in better places - they’d stayed in worse, though as he listens to Siwon’s soft breathing Kyuhyun thinks it might be his favourite place so far. It’s still early, but early is a relative term, their days do tend to start at the butt crack of dawn.

Siwon groans, the sound is a low rumble that tickles at Kyuhyun’s skin. Kyuhyun feels Siwon stretch out, the half rickety bed dips and sways with the movement. Kyuhyun thinks about what he and Siwon did last night and he wonders how it’s still standing. He wonders if Han Geng is going to have to weather some noise complaints. Siwon shifts again and the bed creaks. Kyuhyun thinks Han Geng just might, he almost feels sorry for him.

Siwon is hard. Kyuhyun can feel his erection pressing against the curve of his ass. He closes his eyes, see images of last night - flashes of memory. He remembers them fumbling to open the door of Siwon’s room, too wrapped up in each other to fully concentrate on the surprisingly complicate lock. He remembers Siwon above him, thrusting. Kyuhyun’s own cock twitches.

Their first time together is still just a jumble of pictures - blurred by a drunken haze. Kyuhyun wonders (hopes) if there will be a second time. He wonders (hopes) if there will be time for this second time before Han Geng starts banging down the door.

“Geng left the party with Donghae.”

Siwon’s mouth is so close to Kyuhyun’s ear, so close that the muttered words seem loud even though Siwon’s voice is barely above a whisper.

“I’m sure he’ll be…” Siwon trails off and pauses. “Distracted for a while yet.”

Kyuhyun smiles and pushes himself back, crushing himself against Siwon.

“Being distracted sounds like fun.” Kyuhyun says. He shifts himself, trying to turn and face Siwon. It’s an awkward, ungraceful movement and Siwon laughs as Kyuhyun kicks him in the leg. Siwon kisses Kyuhyun’s shoulder, Kyuhyun moans and arches against him, their erections rub against each other and the sensation is half pleasure half torture and Kyuhyun really just needs Siwon to touch him.

There is a knock at the door. Kyuhyun wonders if he ignores it hard enough then that knock won’t mean what he thinks it means.

There is another knock, louder, firmer, longer.

“Siwon!” Han Geng calls out. “Get up. You as well Kyu, I know you’re in there.”

Han Geng’s voice is all bright cheer, it carries the annoying tone of someone who has just got laid. The bastard. Kyuhyun thinks he might hate him - just a little. Ever the dutiful band member Siwon makes to get out of bed. Kyuhyun sighs, it’s a grumpy, petulant sound. He grabs onto to Siwon’s arm, tries to pull him back. Siwon smiles, leans down and kisses Kyuhyun’s nose.

“You. Me.” Siwon says. “Shower. Now.” Then Siwon is gone, walking - butt naked - across the room. Kyuhyun watches a moment or so and then gets up to follow.

The second time is more rushed than the first. Hot, fast. The third time, Kyuhyun thinks, the third time will be slower, less desperate.

Maybe.

.end

DBSK FIC: Yunho and Changmin (inadvertently) make a porno [Yunho/Changmin, R]

2010-09-26T20:23:03Z

Title: Yunho and Changmin (inadvertently) make a porno
Author: Selena
Rating: R
Pairing: Yunho/Changmin
Word count: 2, 709
Summary: At rehearsals for SMTown, Homin find that finding some privacy is very, very hard.
A/N: Written for kpop_prompts, prompt #6 - cat. My prompt table can be found here.

Yunho and Changmin (inadvertently) make a porno

I. …no, that’s not a roll of quarters in my pocket.

They haven’t seen each other in months. A quick text here, a fly by phone call there (and phone sex is no fun when you only have five minutes and your manager is banging down your door, inconsiderate bastard.) But they’d had no actual contact (physical) in - what felt like - for-fucking-ever and Changmin was horny enough to hump a table leg. Actually he did try humping a table leg, there was a splinter issue and there is no way he is going to admit that to anyone else because there is just no living it down.

Anyway - the point of all this is that Changmin is sick of it just being him and his hand, it’s getting old and he’s pretty sure he’s developing carpel tunnel. And Minho has started making allusions to blindness and how Changmin might go it, jumped up little shit, like he’s one to talk.

So, after all this, after a veritable lifetime of blue balls - the first time he actually gets to see Yunho would have to be in a room full of stage crew, managers, agents, stylist noonas and fellow artists. Such a lot of people in such a small space all laughing and being too happy and Changmin was sure that someone at some point is going to notice his erection. The erection he got when Yunho touched him. Just touched him. It was just a light, friendly squeeze on the shoulder and BAM little Changmin decided it was time to pop up and say hi. At first Changmin tried to hide behind a well placed and convenient sofa and all was going well, until Taemin came and sat down there and little Changmin refused to go down. Changmin had to move and quickly, he didn’t want Onew to catch him anywhere near Taemin with any kind of inappropriate bodily function.

Eventually - and he thinks he deserves points for initial patience - Changmin just straight up gives up. This rehearsal is not going to end anytime soon, a 6 hour long concert? Madness. Changmin looks at the hastily sketched rehearsal set list someone thrust at him earlier, and from the looks of it doesn’t appear that they will get around to Yunho and Changmin’s part until sometime next Tuesday - or at least that’s the way it feels. Changmin is through with being polite, he’s done with watching Yunho flit around with his hobaes - each one of them vying for Yunho’s attention. He’s had enough of watching Yunho being all gracious and friendly and charming. Dammit it was his time now, Yunho is his! He decides it’s time to come out from behind the plant pot (he swears he hears Minho snickering as he walks passed.) He hooks Yunho by the elbow and carries on walking - heading for the door and freedom. He quickens his pace when he hears Jonghyun implore:

“Come back!”

Yunho laughs and Changmin’s mood soars. He feels like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders and all Yunho had to do was smile at him. And of course Yunho’s smile has that effect on his libido and the pressure in his groin increases, with all those people crammed into the dressing rooms and everyone else up at the stage area there has to be an empty room, office, something around here somewhere - preferably something with a lock but right now Changmin would settle for a closet. It might be a little uncomfortable but they would work it out.

On the way out they pass Heechul who’s standing with Leeteuk. Heechul looks forlorn and Yunho being Yunho wants to stop and see what’s wrong.

“Oh he probably just broke a nail.” Changmin says impatiently. He presses on, not letting go of Yunho’s arm. He pulls Yunho down the corridor, as Leeteuk and Heechul disappear from view Changmin hears Leeteuk say:

“Why did you even bring him with you anyway?”

Changmin is pretty sure he doesn’t even want to know.

Further down the hall they meet Sungmin who’s looking confused - Changmin doesn’t think there is anything out of the ordinary there. What is slightly odd is that Sungmin is looking confused while looking though a pile of boxes. He’s poking at them gingerly - like there is something in there that might bite. Sungmin looks up as they approach.

“Hey guys, have you seen Heechul’s…”

“No.” Changmin says forcefully before Sungmin has a chance to finish his question.

Changmin decides it’s imperative to get Yunho somewhere private before there are anymore chances for interruptions. They are both laughing as they fall into the first open door they find, it’s someone’s office - the site managers probably. It’s small, cramped and dark but neither of them bother to flick on the light - they feel their way around the shadows until Changmin bumps (hard) into a desk. He lets out a sound that is caught somewhere between a laugh and a cry of pain, the sound is soon muffled though, swallowed up by Yunho kissing him.

Yes, this right here is what Changmin wanted.

II. …and yes, I am very happy to see you.

Yunho seems to have this idea about taking it slow. His hands explore Changmin’s body, soft, sensual touches that do nothing to quell Changmin’s urges. He burns like his whole body is on fire and Yunho’s insistence on taking his time to re-learn the lines of Changmin’s body - it’s just making the whole thing so much worse. Changmin pulls Yunho close to him, their teeth and tongues clash together, Changmin tastes blood but he doesn’t care. He fumbles at the zipper of Yunho’s ridiculously tight jeans, any other time and he might like to admire the way they hug the curve of Yunho’s ass, the way they fit like some kind of glorious second skin - but right now Changmin thinks the only places these jeans would look good is on the floor. He bites back a moan as Yunho leans in and nips at his neck. Changmin lets his head fall back, giving Yunho better access and Yunho licks along the line of Changmin’s collar bone. The sensation sends such a thrill of pleasure down Changmin’s spine that he trembles, his legs feel shaky and he has to hold tight to Yunho to keep from falling.

God he missed this, missed the feel and touch and taste of Yunho.

“Yunho, I need…” Changmin stutters out the words but his voice trails off as Yunho nibbles and nuzzles at the sensitive skin at his ear. Changmin thinks that Yunho is trying to leave a mark, one the make up noona’s won’t be able to cover up.

“What was that?” Yunho asks. The strangeness and the suddenness of the question makes Changmin fall back slightly. His ass hit’s the desk again and he half sits down on the surface and tries to hold onto Yunho who appears to be hearing things.

“What was what?”

“That noise, I heard scuffling.”

“I didn’t hear a thing. Now, come here.”

Changmin grips the collar of Yunho’s shirt and pulls him in for a kiss, a fast, desperate, needy kiss. The only light in this small from the small window and it’s getting dark outside. Changmin can’t see Yunho’s face but he can feel Yunho’s smile as he presses his lips against his. It’s tricky, but Yunho - with a little interference from Changmin - manages to get his shirt over his head and off without breaking the kiss for too long. Changmin is wearing a button down which (in Changmin’s opinion) is much more convenient and soon that joins Yunho’s shirt and jeans on the floor. The pile of clothing grows as more garments are shucked off and soon they are naked and panting hard. They stand there, their bodies crushed close together, skin to skin. Yunho slides his hands down, cups Changmin’s ass, holds him closer and then lifts. Yunho grunts at the effort and Changmin laughs, he’s not exactly light. But still, Yunho manages to lift him off the ground a little, just enough to get him onto the desk. It’s a cheap plastic piece and it feels cold against Changmin’s bare skin.

Yunho kisses Changmin’s neck again, it’s always been one of his most sensitive area’s and he loves the feel of Yunho’s mouth as he licks and sucks. Changmin pushes himself closer to Yunho, he needs more contact, he needs, needs, needs Yunho with him, close to him, in him. He tries to say this out loud, tries to tell Yunho just what he needs, but the words catch in his throat and all that comes out is a moan as Yunho’s lips press against his ear. Yunho murmurs a soft litany of words, the words are half muffled and Changmin doesn’t catch most of them but the ones he does hear makes his stomach lurch and his cock twitch. Yunho laughs again, the sound vibrates through Changmin’s whole body. Yunho slides down to his knees, roughly parts Changmin’s legs and Changmin gasps when he feels Yunho’s tongue on his dick. Yunho swirls his tongue around the head and licks his way along Changmin’s shaft. Changmin moans and bucks his hips a little, wanting Yunho to do more and to do it faster and then…and then Changmin hears it. A soft scuffling, like something scrabbling to get out. But get out of what?

“Did you hear that?” Changmin asks and then he groans as Yunho pulls away and in retrospect it’s a pretty fucking stupid question that only resulted in the loss of contact between Changmin’s cock and Yunho’s mouth. He really needs to learn to keep his mouth shut.

Changmin tries to push himself off the desk and stand up, but he is shaky on his feet and stumbles. This (hopefully) momentary distraction is doing nothing to down his erection, sometimes he thinks his dick might be made of steel. Like Superman, only with more fucking. He is so hard that it hurts. Stupid unexplained noise. He reaches for his jeans because he is not going to investigate said unexplained noise while naked. He watches horror movies thank you very much and it’s always the horny kids that get offed first. The material of his jeans feels rough and scratchy over his over sensitized skin and pulling the zipper up over his erection is just pure hell. He looks at Yunho and Yunho smiles and that does nothing to help Changmin’s situation. At all.

III. …this is not the reality I wanted.

There are two doors in this little office, Changmin didn’t notice the second one at first - well he did have other things on his mind, also the door is partly obscured by boxes. Likely it leads to some storeroom or the like but Changmin doesn’t really care. What he does care about is that the scrabbling, scuffling noise seems to be coming from their side of this new door. And Changmin thinks he might hear something else - he thinks he might hear breathing. Or more like he thinks he hears someone trying really hard not to breathe too loud. He feels Yunho take his hand, Yunho hears it too. There is someone or something hiding behind those boxes. Two somethings, the scrabbling continues and Changmin swears he hears someone say:

“Shhhhh.”

Yunho starts to move towards the boxes and Changmin is both relieved and not to see that he is wearing his pants again, though Yunho was sporting a pretty intense hard on too. Changmin is pissed off, really, really, really pissed off. All he wants is some sex, is that really so wrong? Yunho grabs a box and makes to pull it away and Changmin thinks he should at least attempt to have his boyfriends back so he follows. Only to have to duck as soon as Yunho moves the box. Something small with sharp claws flies at his face. He thinks it might be some kind of hell beast, but with his eyes closed it was kind of hard to be sure.

“What the hell was that?” Changmin hears Yunho shout.

“Oh no! Bangshin! Where did he go?”

Wait…what?

Changmin straightens up from behind the cover of the desk. He starts to straighten his shirt - style it out Changmin, style it out - and then he remembers he’s not wearing one. What Changmin sees when he stands up is Yunho trying (and failing) not to laugh and a very worried looking Donghae.

Donghae?

Changmin doesn’t get a chance to ask what the hell Donghae was doing hiding in this office, or what he was doing with one of Satan’s Hellions, or why he has his phone out. He doesn’t get to ask any of these questions because the already cramped space is suddenly full of the rest of Super Junior. They seem to just materialize out of nowhere and there seems to be a million of them.

“We heard someone scream.” Leeteuk says, worry creasing his brow. Both Yunho and Donghae point at Changmin.

“I did not.” Changmin huffs.

Yunho leans in close to him.

“Yeah, you kind of did.” Yunho whispers and Changmin pouts, he buries his face in Yunho’s shoulder. Why is his life so hard?

“Heechul-hyung.” Ryeowook says. “I saw Bangshin, he ran down the hall, you should…hey why are you two half naked?”

Changmin groans again and wonders if anyone will notice if he hides behind the desk again.

“Donghae-ah?” Leeteuk starts, his voice is halting like he’s about to ask a question he isn’t sure that he wants the answer too. What were you doing in here and really…why are the two of you half naked?”

The last part of the question was obviously aimed at Yunho and Changmin, Changmin thinks he’ll let Yunho answer.

“I was looking for Bangshin like Heechul-Hyung asked.” Donghae stammers. “And I found him, he looked like he was hunting something, he looked kind of funny so…” Donghae’s voice falters. “I started filming and followed him in here and…”

Dread pools low in Changmin’s stomach. He extracts himself from Yunho and looks at Donghae who is still holding out his phone.

“You were filming? Give me that!” Changmin lunges at Donghae but Heechul must be part ninja because he gets to him first. A look of pure glee spreads across Heechul’s face as he grabs the phone and starts watching the video. Heechul looks at Changmin, he looks at Yunho, he looks them up and down and leers.

“Oh.” Heechul says. “Oh my.”

“You two came in so fast.” Donghae says, he sounds unsure and embarrassed. “I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t want to disturb you, you seemed busy.”

“I’ll say.” Heechul says joyfully, he sounds like a kid at Christmas.

“Heechul.” Leeteuk sighs, the sound full of long suffering patience. “Your cat, don’t you think you should go and get him?” He takes the phone from Heechul and shuts it off. Changmin heaves out a sigh or relief, someone on that video was making a needy, keening sound - Changmin thinks it might have been him. Leeteuk puts the phone in his pocket, Donghae makes a sound of protest but Leeteuk just ignores him.

“Ok.” Leeteuk says. He looks at Changmin, his eyes drawn to his crotch, Leeteuk blushes. “We’ll leave the two of you alone, but don’t be too long in here I think you are up for sound check soon.” Leeteuk ushers the rest of Super Junior out of the room, firmly closing the door behind them all. Changmin slumps against the desk, he almost feels like crying.

“Oh god.” He mutters. “Oh god, oh god.”

Yunho wraps his arms around him, kisses him and Changmin feels a little better.

“If we stay in here much longer they are all going to think we’re having sex.” Changmin says petulantly. This is was all not going the way he planned.

“Then let’s get on with that.” Yunho says with a little leer. “I am going to make you scream, loud so they all can hear.”

.end

SUPER JUNIOR FIC: Welcome to the end of the world [PG-13, Eunhyuk/Donghae]

2010-09-10T09:09:10Z

Title: Welcome to the end of the world
Author: Selena
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Eunhyuk/Donghae, slight Kangin/Leeteuk
Warnings: Apocalypse AU
Word count: 911
Summary: Sometimes things can't really start until everything ends
A/N: Written for the miracle______ new beginnings challenge.

Welcome to the end of the world

Hyukjae meets Donghae when the sky is falling and he thinks - he thinks there is no one left in the world. Donghae smiles at him, a heartbreakingly warm and sincere smile, something Hyukjae doesn’t think he has seen in years - though it’s only been a few weeks since the world disappeared.

“Hi.” Donghae says and he sits beside Hyukjae on the ledge and they both look out on the empty space that used to be the Han River. Hyukjae just waves, a shy little gesture, he doesn’t trust his voice, doesn’t really want to speak. He hasn’t spoken since that last conversation with Junsu just before the explosion - just before the world went black and he woke up in the ruins. He hasn’t seen Junsu since - hasn’t seen anyone since, except now - except Donghae.

“I’m Donghae.” Donghae says. Hyukjae nods and Donghae’s smile falters a little. “We saw you sitting up here.” Donghae continues. His voice is soft, melodic. Hyukjae thinks that he might like to hear Donghae sing - someday.

“We?” Hyukjae says. His voice cracks and he tries to squash down the hope that flares in his stomach - hope that there are people left, hope that not everything is destroyed.

Donghae takes a deep breath and his smile widens - such a hope filled smile. “Jongwoon Hyung, Youngwoon Hyung, Sungmin Hyung, Heechul Hyung and Jungsu Hyung.” Donghae points behind him, Hyukjae doesn’t see where because he doesn’t turn around to look. “We were down there and we saw you up here.” Donghae stands up and reaches out a hand. “Come on.” He says. Hyukjae looks up then, looks up into friendly eyes.

“Where?” Hyukjae asks. His voice is getting stronger now, more confident.

“Home.” Is Donghae’s answer and he turns to go. He walks down the hill a little way before turning back and looking at Hyukjae expectantly.

“I don’t have a home anymore.” Hyukjae says and it’s that admission, saying it - out loud - for the first time that finally breaks him down and he starts to cry. He’s cold, he’s hungry, he’s been alone too long and he just wants to go home - but he can’t. Donghae’s arms, when they close around him, are warm and safe. He’s not even sure when Donghae had walked back to him.

“You do now.” Donghae says, his voice is muffled, his face pressed into Hyukjae’s shoulder.

“You don’t even know me.” Hyukjae says through tears. “I don’t even know you.”

“Jungsu Hyung found me a week ago.” Donghae keeps talking, his voice soothing, he doesn’t let go of Hyukjae. “He found the others too. He found you, he saw you up here first.”

Hyukjae really hadn’t thought anyone else had survived, didn’t know how he had and in truth he didn’t even know what was going on. One minute the world around him existed and the next it didn’t.

“I hadn’t done my home work.” Hyukjae sniffs. “Now I don’t have to.” He starts to giggle. This is it, Hyukjae thinks, he’s going mad. Didn’t take as long as he thought it would. Donghae laughs with him. It feels good to laugh even though it probably means that they are both going mad.

“Come home with me.” Donghae doesn’t ask this time. He doesn’t order, he doesn’t even suggest. It’s like he just doesn’t expect Hyukjae to say no.

Hyukjae isn’t sure why he does go. Maybe it’s the need for some kind of human contact or maybe it’s the sense that it’s all just a dream. One long, strange, terrible dream so nothing he does really matters.

The others are waiting for them at the bottom of the hill. Donghae sees them and waves enthusiastically. Hyukjae sees them and stops. Stops walking and for a second it feels like he even stops breathing. Seeing them there smiling, waving, alive - it doesn’t seem real. He stumbles and he falls. He feels the skin on the palms of his hands split as it scrapes against gravel. But Donghae is right there, helping him up, surprisingly strong hands pulling him, holding him.

“It’s ok,” Donghae says. “You’re safe now.”

*

“The world ended.” Jungsu says to him later. Later when Hyukjae is ensconced in blankets - threadbare but warm and welcome. “But life didn’t. We just have to pull ourselves up from the wreckage.”

Before this - before when he was alone, Hyukjae had wondered what made him so special. Why did he get to live on, why did he get to see the world crumble and fall? But as Donghae takes his hand and they look in to the fire that Youngwoon Hyung made - and Jongwoon Hyung almost put out again - he feels a flicker of happiness spark deep within him.

“There are others out there.” Jungsu says, to no one, to all of them.” “I know there is.”

“We’ll find them.” Youngwoon says. Hyukjae watches as Youngwoon slips an arm around Jungsu’s shoulders and Jungsu leans back into the touch, warm, comfortable, safe.

“Hyukjae.” Hyukjae says. He doesn’t remember telling them his name. Doesn’t think he did, but he feels the need to say it, to put it out there. Donghae smiles at him and Hyukjae smiles back and they sit together in the ruins of the old world and together - together they know that they’ll start a new one.

FIN.

SUPER JUNIOR FIC: As the crow flies Chapter Epilogue [R, various pairings]

2010-09-10T00:04:51Z

As the crow flies

What’s future is epilogue…AKA the epilogue.

Osaka. Club Soma. 12am. Three weeks after.

Kangin feels it the moment the other Immortal walks into the bar. The buzzing in his head is loud, this approaching Immortal is old. Underneath that noise Kangin hears another presence, not as strong, not as loud. It’s almost faded but it sounds like it has potential. Kangin relaxes in his seat, keeps on drinking his drink, keeps on looking at the dance floor. He’s halfway to tipsy and he thinks he needs to be, needs something to counter act the ‘so hip it hurts’ atmosphere of the club. He hadn’t wanted to come here, this place isn’t quite his style, but he’d been out voted. This is what you get for trying to be diplomatic.

Kangin doesn’t look up when Siwon sits down beside him, he just keeps watching Hyukjae and Donghae dance, he watches as Sungmin slinks into step with them Kangin doesn’t want to let either boy out of his sight for even a second, he’s half terrified of what Jungsu would do to him if he lost one or both of them. Siwon waits a few minutes and then coughs politely, like Kangin didn’t know he was there already. Kangin casts a quick look at him and then turns back to the dance floor.

“They’ll be ok.” Siwon says and it actually sounds like he is laughing at him, the bastard. Kangin almost feels like running though the complete list of worst case scenarios, all thought up by Jungsu when Donghae begged to be allowed to tag along on this trip. He doesn’t though, it is a very long, long list. He manages to drag his attention from the dancers and looks at Siwon. It’s weird, seeing him like this, out in the world. Kangin doesn’t know if he’ll ever get used to it.

“I thought that we were supposed to meet you two at your hotel tomorrow.” Kangin says and Siwon smiles, it’s a bright, radiant smile. Something Kangin hasn’t seen Siwon do in a long time.

“We checked in a few hours ago and I didn’t feel like staying in the hotel, I wanted to walk around.” Siwon taps his head. “We were just passing and I heard you.”

Siwon’s gaze travels to the dance floor, Kangin watches him watching Sungmin.

“How’s the kid working out?” Kangin asks and Siwon smiles brighter and blushes a little. Kangin has a feeling he’s going to wish he hadn’t asked.

“He’s amazing.” Siwon gushes, actually gushes. Kangin downs the rest of his drink. “He’s strong, brave, and a natural fighter.”

“Chullie-ah is all those things too.”

Siwon’s smile fades slightly, Kangin feels guilty.

“We were different people back then.” Siwon says, his voice wistful, sad. “And he was my student.”

“Sungmin’s your student.”

“No, it’s more like I’m his.” Siwon’s smile is back now, just as bright, just as radiant. “I have been out of the world so long it’s like I forgot how to be in it. These last few weeks have been an experience.”

Experience? Kangin thinks that’s one word for it. Kangin looks at Siwon, really scrutinizes it. He looks happy, like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders, but Kangin doesn’t think everything is completely ok. A couple of weeks of travel and—Kangin suspects from the relaxed slant of Siwon’s shoulders—some great sex won’t fix everything.

“Have you told him?” Kangin asks. Has Siwon told Sungmin the reason for his self imposed exile? Siwon’s smile slips again and Kangin thinks the answer is no.

“He asked.” Siwon says unhappily. “And I’ve told him that I will tell him, but…” Siwon’s voice trails off. Kangin gets it, he does, there are things he may never tell Jungsu. But Kangin thinks it might be better for the kid to know. “When will your swords be ready?” Siwon asks, changing the subject.

Yes, the swords. The reason Kangin brought Hyukjae to Japan—and Donghae since the two would not be separated. Baby Immortal’s first sword.

“A week or so. We are staying with Sensei until they are done. Hyukjae isn’t quite a natural at fighting with a sword but he has the potential to at least be ok.”

“And then what will you do?”

“When the swords are done? Then I’m going home.”

||

Seoul. Leeteuk’s bar. 10am. One month and one week after.

Kangin is alone in the bar when the boy comes in, everyone else is in back. The boy looks half starved, he’s dirty, his hair long and grimy. Kangin heard him before he saw him, heard that weak little half buzz.

“Hi,” The boy says, his voice is surprisingly deep. “I, uh…” The boy is skittish, he hunches his shoulders like he expects someone to hit him. “I need a job.” He finishes quickly, he looks hopefully at Kangin. Kangin smiles grimly. The boy grimaces and looks down at himself. “I know I don’t look like much, but I’ll work hard.”

“I don’t make the decisions here, kid.” Kangin says. “Wait here a minute.” Kangin dives into the back, calling for Jungsu. Kangin watches Jungsu as he considers the boy and it’s like he can almost see Jungsu’s heart melt as he takes in the boy’s bedraggled appearance.

It’s not like there isn’t room in the house now. Sungmin is with Siwon, Donghae moved in with Hyukjae and Kyuhyun spends most of his time with Zhou Mi. They reached the sleeping over stage while Kangin was in Japan. Jungsu called him in the middle of the night to fret. Jongwoon has moved into Ryeowook’s room on a semi permanent basis, Kangin really doesn’t approve of this.

Jungsu looks torn, the boy looks sorry for himself. Kangin knows Jungsu needs to have someone to take care of and all his birds were leaving the nest.

Hyukjae lopes in then, he stops when he sees the boy, he stares.

“Hey,” Hyukjae says, pointing at the boy. “He sounds like Sungmin.” Hyukjae smiles, pleased with himself for recognizing a Potential. Kangin pats him on the back, he’s kind of proud.

That revelation seems to make up Jungsu’s mind. He slips an arm around the boy, grimacing when he realizes just how bad the boy smells.

“We can’t pay much, but we can feed you and give you a place to sleep. Let’s get you cleaned up first.” Jungsu starts to lead the boy away and at first he resists, still a little scared. “What’s your name?”

“Minho.”

||

Still Seoul. Still Leeteuk’s bar. 3pm. Still one month and one week after.

An irate Buddhist Monk bangs on the back door, he’s got hold of Heechul by the collar, shaking him. Heechul is smirking, Kangin never has liked that smirk.

“Take this.” The Monk says and he roughly pushes Heechul at him. Kangin looks behind the Monk, Han Geng stands there, he looks guilty. “He is banned from the temple.” And then the Monk is gone. Kangin watches him stalk away.

“Chullie-ah?”

“Yes?” Heechul purrs.

“Siwon lived at that temple for one hundred and thirty years and you get kicked out of there after a month?”

Heechul doesn’t say anything, just pushes his way passed Kangin and into the bar.

“I am very sorry.” Han Geng says and he bows deeply.

“Oh believe me, kid. I don’t for one second think that it’s your fault.”

||

Paris. Café Des Deux Magots. 1pm. six months after.

Kangin has never been to Paris. It was the one city he’d always avoided with no real reason why. But he is glad that he came here with Jungsu, even if it did take some persuading to get Jungsu to leave his flock. Kangin thought Jungsu needed a break and everyone—except Jungsu—agreed. But here Jungsu is, sitting in the sun, a smile on his face. If he has checked his phone every five minutes looking for news from home? Well. Kangin is pretending not to notice.

“We’ll be going home soon,” Kangin says. “So just relax.”

Jungsu smiles weakly.

Home, such a strange concept, Kangin hasn’t had one for so long. But he knows that he doesn’t have to go back to Korea, go back to the house he now shares with Jungsu—and various other people. Kangin watches Jungsu watching the pigeons, in the middle of the throng of birds there is a lone crow. A group of children run into the middle of the flock and the birds disperse. The crow caws loudly as it flies overhead.

“There is an expression.” Kangin starts. “The quickest route between the two points is as the crow flies.” Kangin stands up. “If I want to go home now all I have to do is travel ‘as the crow flies‘.” He moves to Jungsu, wraps his arms around him. “Oh look, I’m home.”

…THE END.

OMG it's done.

Ok, when I first stared this I did intend for it to be a more ensemble piece. but as I got into it, it became very much about Kangin and Kibum and Jungsu and Heechul and anything that wasn't about them got pushed to the sidelines. But that is what side stories and sequels are for \o/ There is in fact a set up for the sequel in the Epilogue, can you see it?

Thanks for sticking wtih me guys!

SUPER JUNIOR FIC: As the crow flies Chapter nine/nine [R, various pairings]

2010-09-09T23:56:25Z

Title: As the crow flies chapter nine
Author: Selena
Rating: R
Pairing: Kangin/Leeteuk [main], Heechul/Han Geng [main], Eunhyuk/Donghae, Siwon/Sungmin, Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi, Yesung/Ryeowook.
Warnings: Angst, drama, sex, violence, character death
Word count: This Chapter = 5, 032
Summary: Immortals, they fight for the right and the power to rule the earth. The gathering has started and group of mortals are in the wrong place at the wrong time, getting pulled into a bloody battle and becoming pawns in a sadistic game.
A/N: Loosely based on the Highlander TV series.

Prologue / Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four / Chapter Five / Chapter Six / Interlude One [Kangin/Leeteuk] / Interlude Two [Han Geng/Heechul] / Chapter Seven / Chapter Eight / Interlude Three [Han Geng/Heechul]

As the crow flies

Chapter Nine: This is war…and there ain’t nothing funny about it.

It’s stuffy in the trunk of the car. It’s dank and it’s cramped and it smells of motor oil and vaguely of urine. His legs ache, his muscles are racked with tension, his chest hurts, his head hurts. Jungsu doesn’t know how long they, Kibum, has been driving for, he has no idea where they are going or how long it will take to get there. He’s scared. Scared to breathe, scared to move, scared to close his eyes.

There is a lot of junk stuffed into this space with him, unidentified objects dig into his back, press into his sides. Kibum drives fast, dangerously. As they fly through the streets screeching around corners and bouncing over uneven back roads all that junk—and Jungsu—bounces too.

After what feels like a lifetime Kibum stops the car, slamming on the breaks with such force that Jungsu is thrown up and around, his head hitting the roof of the trunk. Hard. Dazed, he tries to blink through the pain as the cramped world around him spins and whirls. After a few minutes he hears faint footsteps out side his metal tomb and then the trunk is thrown open and Kibum smiles down at him. It’s an odd, uneven smile, strained and awful. Jungsu tries to shrink back into the relative safety of the trunk, Kibum’s smile just gets wider like they are playing some kind of fun game.

“Hi,” Kibum says and he reaches out his hand, grips Jungsu’s shirt and hauls him out of the trunk. Kibum isn’t that much taller than Jungsu, maybe an inch or so, less body mass, but Kibum has this strength borne of madness. They stand there beside the car for a few frozen minutes, Kibum looks him up and down several times, sizing him up. Kibum’s smile turns into a sneer of disgust and Jungsu has the feeling that he has been assessed and been found wanting. He’s not sure why this bothers him, there is this naïve hope that this man, this mad boy, might be less likely to kill him if he likes him.

Stupid, really.

Kibum turns away from him, turns back to the trunk. He leans over, leans into the trunk, roots around. For a brief minute Jungsu thinks about bolting, just taking off and running. He doesn’t know where he is, looks like a field, middle of nowhere, but civilization can’t be far away. People, there has to be someone somewhere. He didn’t think he made any movement, any sound, but he must have done, Kibum stands back up. He half pivots around, pulls out his gun, cocks the trigger.

“Bullets are faster than you.” Kibum says. He’s smiling but his eyes are empty, his voice is cold. Jungsu shivers. Kibum turns back to the trunk, having not found what he’s rooting for.

“Why are you doing this?” Jungsu asks, he tries to keep his voice sounding calm and at ease, like he’s not terrified.

“Because,” Kibum says in that same dead tone. He stands back from the car, there is something in his hand, he looks triumphant, he starts to fiddle with it, tying it into a loose knot. Jungsu looks at the object but it’s like his brain refuses to register what it is. “I can.”

And then the noose is around Jungsu’s neck, the rope is harsh and heavy, rough against his skin. Kibum pulls on the rope but doesn’t pull it tight, the knot of the noose rests flush against Jungsu’s Adam’s Apple but there is still room for him to breathe, room to swallow. Still, it’s constricting, Jungsu imagines it getting tighter with each breath he takes.

“Come on.” Kibum says, his voice cajoling. “Let’s go, we’re walking from here.” Kibum pulls on the rope and Jungsu doesn’t even try to resist, he just follows where Kibum leads. The sky is greying, the time fading towards twilight, it’s hard to see clearly in the weird half gloom. The ground is uneven and messy there are small rocks and stones buried under the grass and a few times Jungsu feels himself stumble. Kibum has left some slack in the rope and he’s not walking too fast or too far ahead of Jungsu, there is leeway for him to trip, but Jungsu feels like the noose is strangling him anyway. They walk for while, five, maybe ten minutes and then Kibum stops. They are still essentially in the middle of nowhere, all Jungsu sees is grey skies and rough grass. And Kibum.

“Now we wait.” Kibum says and he pulls on the rope, pulls Jungsu closer.

“Wait for what?” Jungsu asks and this time his voice does waiver. He doesn’t really want to know the answer but he has to ask anyway.

“For Daddy to come home.”

Kibum pulls on the rope again, harder this time and this time Jungsu does feel the noose tighten. Kibum puts a hand on Jungsu’s shoulder, forces him down, down onto his knees, forces Jungsu to sit at his feet.

“Good puppy.” Kibum says his voice chillingly soothing. He reaches down and starts stroking Jungsu’s hair. Slowly, almost gently. Jungsu freezes, tries to resist the urge to shake off the touch, holds his breath.

He’s scared. Scared for the others back at the bar, hopes Ryeowook is ok, not in too much pain. He hopes that Hyukjae and Zhou Mi have woken up, is scared that they might not have, he’s scared that they won’t. He hopes that Kangin, Youngwoon, will come for him, wants to see him, needs to hold him. But he’s scared that this is what Kibum wants, wants Kangin to come. Jungsu is scared of what Kibum will do to him—to the both of them—if he comes. Jungsu is scared of what Kibum will do to him if Kangin doesn’t.

“He’s here.” Kibum sounds breathless, excited, hopeful. Jungsu feels his heart sink. He looks around, he can’t see anyone, see anything other than wild fields and darkness. But Immortal’s can hear each other, can’t they? They hear each other in their heads, Jungsu doesn’t understand it—probably never will—but Kibum can hear Kangin coming. Jungsu just doesn’t know how far away Kangin is.

There is silence, all Jungsu can hear is the sound of his too rapid heartbeat. And then…

“KIBUM!”

Jungsu hears Kangin call out, loud, demanding. Jungsu’s heart beats faster.

||

“Let’s go back to the start.”

That’s what Kibum said. It had nothing to do with where to find Heechul, Kangin knew that then and he knows it now. If it hadn’t been for Zhou Mi and his freaky dreams then they would have never found Heechul in time. Because Siwon was right, it was a place he had blocked from his mind, from his life. Maybe, with some time, with some encouragement he might have thought to go there, to look. But by then Heechul would have been long dead, his body left to rot. An ignoble death for a great man.

“Let’s go back to the start.”

It’s hard to remember every kill he’s made, every head he’s taken. After so many years all the numbers, all the different essences just blur together. But he remembers his first. He remembers how his hands shook, how he could barely hold up his sword, he remembers how he thought he had been prepared but really he hadn’t been. Nothing—not the training, not the abuse that passed for motivational speeches from his teacher—nothing could have prepared him for the way it felt to hack through someone else’s neck. He’d thrown up after and his teacher had proclaimed him a coward.

Kangin remembers another first kill too. Remembers taking Kibum to the field, a unusable piece of land on the outskirts of Seoul, he remembers the challenging Immortal laughing that the ‘kid’ had to bring his teacher with him, remembers Kibum’s grim little smile when the Challenger asked if Kibum was ready for this. Kangin remembers walking away and leaving Kibum to it, he remembers how the fight didn’t start until Kangin was out of sight. Kangin couldn’t see the two fighters, but he could hear the fight. They fought with such a ferocity that the sound of their clashing blades was near deafening. Kibum hadn’t been nervous, scared, when Kangin brought him to the fight. That alone should have maybe been a warning. Kibum had been excited, restless, longing for the kill. Despite the challenger being older, stronger, Kibum didn’t expect to lose. Kangin remembers his own doubts, his own fears, remembers thinking that it was too soon for Kibum to fight anyone let alone someone so skilled.

That’s where it started, this thing with Kibum. It started on that day, at that field, when Kibum took his first head.

As Kangin stands here now, on the edge of that field, the place where civilization stops, he thinks that this might have been the same wild area that Heechul stepped on to fight with Zhou Mi. Kangin wonders just how many battles have been fought on this field. How many battles have been fought and how many battles have been lost?

He can hear Kibum now, hear that stilted sound. It’s sounds more frantic now, the skip beat rhythm is faster than when Kangin first heard it days ago. Kangin knows it was Kibum he heard back then, knows for sure now. He wonders if Kibum recognized Kangin then, if he too heard a familiar Immortal melody. It used to be that Kibum’s radius for detecting Immortals was half of what Kangin’s is now, but things change. It’s been well over a hundred tears since they last faced each and God only knew how many heads Kibum had taken in that time and Kangin had been out of the game for a while.

He couldn’t tell exactly where Kibum is in this field, so he walks to the middle, the middle, he thinks, is the most likely place. The buzzing in his head gets louder and then louder still as he walks. Kangin hopes that Kibum has Jungsu with him, he can’t bear to think of Jungsu caught in some sick trap like Heechul was.

And then there they are, Kangin sees two figures, one standing, one sitting. They are barely outlines against the dark sky, but there they are waiting for him.

“KIBUM!” Kangin calls out as he marches towards them.

||

Jungsu blinks in the gloom, looks to where he thinks Kangin’s voice originates from. Sound travels differently at night and he can’t concentrate on anything much beyond the pain in his neck. Kangin starts of as a shadow moving in the dark, a smudged blur on the edge of his vision. But then he gets closer, Jungsu sees him and it’s not until Kangin is only a few feet away that Jungsu lets out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. The rope around his neck constricts slightly and Jungsu chokes.

“Let him go.” Kangin says. Kangin keeps his voice even but there is such a quiet fury there that Jungsu shrinks back a little.

Kibum chuckles, a light airy sound, it sounds eerie in the stillness of the night. Kibum starts wrapping the rope around his hand and when all the slack is gone Jungsu has no choice but to go where he is being pulled least the noose tighten even more. He’s on his knees now, his face pressed into Kibum’s thigh, it’s getting hard to breathe.

“Stop it.” Kangin’s voice is urgent now, urgent but fading. It’s hard for Jungsu to hear anything passed the thumping of his blood in his ears. White spots dance in front of his eyes, they smear and scorch over his field of vision like a motion picture film melting until all he can see is white and he can’t breathe. “Stop it.” He thinks he hears Kangin say again. “You’re killing him, Bummie-ah, stop it please.”

And then he can breathe again, albeit choking, gasping breaths. His limbs feel week and shaky, it’s an effort to support himself, to keep himself upright. Kibum lets go of the rope and Jungsu falls to the ground. It’s an after thought but he manages to put his arms out in front of him to brace his fall. He feels the skin on the palm of his hands tear as they scrape across stone. It’s a stinging pain, sharp, real, he feels it, that means he’s not dead. Jungsu wonders just how long that will be the case.

“I think I like hearing you say please.” Kibum says. “Say it again.” Kibum’s voice is cajoling but Kangin stays silent, not rising to the bait.

Jungsu fumbles with the knot at his neck, his fingers feel half numb and clumsy, he can’t undo it but he can loosen in a little. Now, finally, he can breathe.

“What’s the matter, Youngwoon?” Kibum asks. “Won’t you raise your sword while your pet is around? Won’t you fight me?”

“Just as soon as Leeteuk is safe and out of the area I will happily take your head, Bummie-ah.”

Leeteuk. The name is like a jolt to the heart, to the brain. Kangin’s voice uttering that word, it cuts though Jungsu’s stupor. He blinks, shakes his head, it makes him feel dizzy but that dizziness quickly recedes. His vision clears. He sees the end of the rope, it’s trailing loose at Kibum’s feet. Slowly, carefully, Jungsu takes hold of the rope and starts to reel it in. But Kibum sees this small movement and he lunges for the loose end, snatches it up before Jungsu can pull it in. Jungsu is dragged to his feet, pulled close to Kibum. Once again he can’t breathe, once again his vision blurs and fades.

“Protect me, Mortal boy.” Kibum says, mock fear in his voice. “Protect me from the big bad wolf.”

“Let him go, Kibum.”

“No, Youngwoon, I won’t.”

Kangin has his sword out, he holds it up and ready, he charges forward, Jungsu closes his eyes. There is a swish and a wet thump, a shriek of pain. Something warm, wet, splashes over his face, it goes in his mouth, the taste is bitter on his tongue.

“Jungsu run!” He hears Kangin yell, but Jungsu doesn’t run. Instead he opens his eyes and looks down, wishes he hadn’t.

Kibum’s hand is still holding on to the rope but that hand is no longer attached to Kibum. Jungsu looks at the screaming Immortal, Kibum has dropped his sword, his now free hand is clutching at the bloody stump where his left hand should have been. Jungsu fights the urge to throw up.

“Jungsu, RUN!” Kangin says again but Jungsu can’t run now, sick fascination has him rooted to the spot. He watches as sparks dance over the stump and when Kibum lets go of it Jungsu watches as those sparks form an abstract pattern that vaguely resembles a hand. Kibum flexes the sparks like they are fingers and then they are actual fingers. Kibum rotates the new appendage, waves it in front of his face.

“I can’t believe you did that.” Kibum says and it sounds as if he is laughing. “Good as new now though.”

Jungsu looks down again, Kibum’s old hand is gone. Kangin grabs hold of Jungsu, pulls Jungsu behind him.

“Run.” Kangin hisses at him.

“I can’t leave you.” Jungsu can’t, he won’t.

“I can’t kill him with you here.” Kangin almost pleads. “The lightening will kill you too. I can’t risk fighting him and if he kills me then you and I both will be dead.”

There is a part of Jungsu that would almost prefer it that way. He doesn’t think he could carry on if Kangin—if Youngwoon—lost this fight.

“I won’t lose.” Kangin says quietly, defiantly, determinedly. “Please, run.”

Jungsu runs then. He doesn’t know what direction he’s going in but he keeps on running.

||

Thunder rolls across the sky but no lightning follows with it. The air feels heavy with the coming storm, a real storm this time, not the faux threat that the Gathering brings with it. This mystical thing, this unknown element that is the Gathering, it dissipates just as quickly as it gathers and Kangin can feel that pull, that call to arms, it’s fading.

“We missed it.” Kibum says but he doesn’t sound disappointed.

Kangin has a deep sense of foreboding. This gathering wasn’t even half of what it promised to be. Lasting only a few days, it feels if anything like a warm up. But a warm up for what? Kangin doesn’t know, doesn’t think he wants to know. At least, he thinks grimly, with the twin distractions of Jungsu and Kibum he got his wish to sit the Gathering out. It happened around him, without him.

Kibum picks his sword up, he tosses it from hand to hand, testing out his new limb. It seems to be working just fine.

“Shall we do this then?” Kangin says. He feels jumpy and he doesn’t know why. Maybe it’s because he can’t be completely sure that Jungsu is safe and out of the area. Kangin and Kibum, they are both old—Kibum is two hundred and fifty and Kangin would rather not think about his own age. The resulting Quickening is likely to be powerful, violent and far reaching.

“So impatient.” Kibum says and he starts to move, starts to edge to the side. Kangin mirrors this move and they start to circle each other like caged lions. “What no last big speech? No ‘so it’s come down to this’? No last lesson from the great teacher?”

“No, Bummie-ah. Let’s just get this done, I have somewhere I have to be.” Someone to go back to, people who count on him. It hits him then, just how quickly his life has turned around in the blink of an eye. And he wasn’t even expecting it.

Kibum stops moving, cocks his head to one side, he looks almost sad.

“You gave up on me.” He says and oh god he looks so young, innocent. For the briefest second Kangin sees a glimpse of the man Kibum used to be. There was a part of Kangin that wanted to believe that man was still there, lurking underneath the madness. But like an apparition the image of who Kibum was is gone and in its place is insanity.

“Yes, I did.” Kangin says simply and he shrugs, a dismissive gesture. “I gave up on you a long, long time ago.” He can’t bring himself to say ‘before you killed my wife’. He just can’t. “I regret taking you in.” Kangin continues. “Is that what you want to hear? I should have left you for the wolves.”

Kibum’s reaction is sudden and immediate and violent, Kangin almost wasn’t ready for it, his reflexes slowed. Kibum charges, his sword held up in a classic attack position, familiar, safe. Kangin blocks it with his own sword, pushes Kibum back but he also staggers back himself, forced backwards by Kibum’s forward momentum. Kibum might well be more powerful, having taken far more Immortal essences into himself but there is one fact that will never change, Kangin is the one who taught him how to fight. Kibum might have learned some new tricks during those lost years but the fundamental style still remains. And before, before everything went wrong, they never did battle to see if the student could best the teacher. Kangin is bigger, physically stronger, but those aren’t always strengths in a sword fight. Kibum always was quicker than Kangin, but weigh up all their strengths and they would be just about even in a fair fight. But as Kibum jabs his sword at Kangin’s chest—aiming for the heart—it’s clear that Kibum has no intention of making this a fair fight.

Kangin spends the next few minutes—though it feels like hours—dodging well aimed strikes. Kibum is targeting vital organs, trying to wound somewhere it might kill him quickly or incapacitate him long enough for Kibum to strike the real killing blow. It’s really the quickest way to win, dirty, but Kangin can’t say that he hasn’t done it too.

Kangin starts to tire, he’s been too long on the defensive, letting Kibum have all the advantage. If there was a corner around then Kibum would have backed him into it by now. Kangin lifts his sword to attack and lunges forward, but in doing so he leaves his left side open and vulnerable. He feels Kibum’s sword pierce his skin. It hurts but Kangin grits his teeth against the pain and keeps on moving forward. He twists away to the right slightly so Kibum’s sword can’t go too deep, but it’s still imbedded in his side.

Kibum, though, doesn’t see what’s coming until it’s already too late.

With his sword still in KanginKib—um’s holding onto the hilt with both hands—there is nothing defending Kibum’s most vulnerable spot and Kangin swings his sword with such force that he barely feels any resistance as he cuts through Kibum’s neck. Kibum’s face registers shock for the barest hint of a second—a sick parody of an expression—before his head peels back and falls to the ground. Kibum’s body following half a beat later.

It starts to rain, then the lightning comes and when it hits Kangin’s entire world goes black.

||

When he wakes up he can hear whispering. It’s coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He thinks it might be in his head but it’s so loud, it’s so quiet, he thinks it might not be anywhere at all. The things the whispers tell him to do are alluring, the tone soft, cajoling. He thinks he might like to play.

“Youngwoon.”

He hears someone calling someone’s name. It sounds familiar, the voice sounds familiar too, but he doesn’t think the voice is calling out to him.

“Youngwoon.”

That’s not his name. He frowns, such a small movement of muscles but it hurts like his face is on fire. It hurts. Everything hurts.

“Youngwoon! Kangin!”

That’s not his name. His name is Jaesun…no, it’s Charles…no, no that’s not right either. He’s confused. There are so many voices, so many voices in his head. His name is Phoenix.

“Youngwoon, look at me.”

He blinks, looks up. A boy looms over him, a pretty little mortal boy, his eyes are large, wide with fear and apprehension. Oh yes, he thinks he might just like to play. He moves quickly, in a flash he has the boy on his back, presses him down onto rough grass. This full body movement hurts, but that hurt quickly fades, soothed away by the falling rain. The rain feels good on his skin, the boy feels good underneath him. He grinds his hips, he’s excited, hard. The boy is hard too. Interesting.

“Youngwoon.” The boy says urgently.

“That’s not my name.” He says and he nuzzles at the boys neck.

“Kangin.” The boy cries.

“Nope, try again.”

His name is Henry and he knows this boy…he thinks. It’s all fuzzy, messed up. No…his name is Kibum and he wants to kill. He reaches out with shaking hands and takes hold of the boy’s neck, squeezes.

“Youngwoon. Please, don’t” The boy’s voice is strained, strangled, there is fear there.

“Oh god.” Kangin breathes and it’s like the world snaps back into focus and he sees… “Leeteuk.” Kangin feels sick, sick at what he almost did, sick at what he wanted to do. He lets go of Jungsu’s neck and rolls away. He lies on his back looking up at the stars. The rain hurts as it falls onto his face but he doesn’t close his eyes. He feels Jungsu place a hand on his cheek, a soft touch, he shakes it away.

“You need to get away from me.” Kangin says. He’s Kangin now, now, he knows who he is. “I’m not myself.” But Jungsu doesn’t move away, instead he moves closer.

“You won’t hurt me now.” Jungsu says, his voice is horse but he talks with confidence.

No, Kangin doesn’t want to hurt him, but he still might. Jungsu lies next to him, clings to him. And they lay there like that, in the pouring rain, neither talking, neither moving away from the other.

*

Jungsu drives them back, drives them home. Neither of them are fully recovered, not even close. But Kangin still has those voices in his head, they are faded now that Kibum’s essence has almost settled within his own. But still, they are there. Kangin’s afraid he might run the car off the road if the voices told him to. But after an hour in the car with Jungsu behind the wheel, Kangin almost wishes he’d called Siwon to have someone to come and get them, even if it meant that someone would have to steal a car to do it.

They pull up outside the bar, Jungsu turns of the ignition and just sits there staring out of the windscreen. Kangin closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, counts…one, two, three, four Immortals and a half. Just the way it should be. The door of the bar is still missing but it has been boarded over, it’s a hap hazard, makeshift job but it looks solid.

“We’ll have to go through the back door.” Kangin says and Jungsu nods dumbly but doesn’t move. Jungsu casts a look at the bar, quick, furtive, like he’s scared of what’s inside and that’s when Kangin realizes that Jungsu doesn’t know what happened after he was taken. The car ride had been largely silent, with Kangin not knowing what to say and Jungsu likely too afraid to ask.

Kangin looks at Jungsu, in the dim glow of the streetlights he can see mottled bruises forming on Jungsu’s neck. Rope marks and finger prints. Kangin reaches out, gently brushes his fingers over them. Jungsu flinches slightly.

“They’re ok.” Kangin says quietly. Jungsu looks at him, eyes wide, hopeful. “Leeteuk, they’re ok. Hyukjae and Zhou Mi are awake now. I can hear them.” Kangin taps his head.”

“Ryeowookie?”

“His leg is going to hurt for a while, but he will be ok. Siwon took care of him.”

Jungsu lets out a relieved sigh and sags in his seat. He looks exhausted, Kangin is beyond tired too. All he wants is to get Jungsu into bed so they can both sleep.

“We should go in.” Kangin says. “Before someone comes out and gets us. Heechul will know I am out here.”

Jungsu nods again but still doesn’t move.

“Are you ok?”

Another nod. “I think so, it’s ok, I don’t need you to carry me inside.”

Kangin laughs. “But what if I want to?”

Jungsu laughs too and moves to get out of the car. Kangin doesn’t miss the way Jungsu winces when he stretches.

*

“You bastard.” Are the first words that Kangin hears when they walk into the bar. They do have to come in through the back so they enter through the kitchen, everyone except Ryeowook and Jongwoon are assembled there waiting for them. Siwon explains that Ryeowook is resting and Jongwoon won’t leave his side. Kangin isn’t sure that he approves of just how much of a liking his Watcher has taken to the young cook, that connection might mean that Jongwoon might stay around.

When they come in, Hyukjae, Donghae, Kyuhyun and Sungmin all race to Jungsu, crowd around him, cling to him. Kangin feels a stab of jealousy at having Jungsu’s attention taken away from him. It’s stupid, he knows, but without Jungsu Kangin is left alone to deal with…

“You bastard.” Heechul says again. No hello, no ‘glad you’re not dead’. “You bastard, you killed him.”

Heechul is sleep rumpled, his eyes are puffy—he looks like he just woke up—and he’s angry, really, really angry. Han Geng stands by his side. Hang Geng looks angry too, less so than Heechul, Kangin thinks it’s likely that he’s only upset because Heechul is upset.

“This is fucking unfair.” Heechul laments, his rant losing steam before it even really got started. “I’m the one that got killed, twice! I’m the one that was strapped down to a wooden table like some bargain basement damsel in distress and I didn’t get to kill him even a little bit. I hate you Youngwoon.” Heechul turns on his heel. “Come on Hannie.” He says as he stalks away.

“Hannie?” Han Geng repeats, he looks at Kangin quizzically. Kangin laughs a little at the confusion on the boy’s face. Han Geng smiles ruefully.

Heechul stops his away march when he realizes that Han Geng isn’t following him. He turns back around.

“I’ll never forgive you for this, Youngwoon.” He says firmly and then he’s gone, off up the stairs and up to the bedrooms.

“Is he going to be bitter about this for long?” Han Geng asks and Kangin laughs harder, he claps Han Geng on the back.

“I like you kid.” Kangin says. “So I am very, very sorry for the amount of times you are going to have to hear Heechul recount just how much of an unfair asshole I was.”

Han Geng deflates a little, slumps his shoulders. Kangin almost feels sorry for him, almost.

“Off you go now.” Kangin gives Han Geng a little push towards the stairs. “The Princess will be waiting for a goodnight kiss.”

Han Geng blushes a deep red and Kangin just keeps laughing.

…End chapter nine.

On to the epilogue

SUPER JUNIOR FIC: As the crow flies interlude three [R, Han Geng/Heechul]

2010-09-02T16:00:26Z

Title: As the crow flies interlude three: finding comfort in the chaos
Author: Selena
Rating: R
Pairing: Han Geng/Heechul
Word count: This interlude = 1, 141
Summary: It's not quite like coming home, but it's close.
A/N: Immortal!AU. Loosely based on the Highlander TV series.

Prologue / Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four / Chapter Five / Chapter Six / Interlude One [Kangin/Leeteuk] / Interlude Two [Han Geng/Heechul] / Chapter Seven / Chapter Eight

As the crow flies

Interlude Three: finding comfort in the chaos.

Heechul thinks about telling Han Geng that he can leave, that he doesn’t have to stay here in this room with him. Wants to tell Han Geng that he will be fine left on his own. Heechul thinks that he will be fine, maybe, he knows he’s safe now, that he’s safe here in this house. But he also knows that he doesn’t want Han Geng to leave him again. He doesn’t think he could take the rejection, not now. So he just lies there on the bed and Han Geng sits by his side and neither of them says anything for the longest time.

He hears it when Kangin leaves. To Heechul, Kangin’s presence sounds like Jungle drums, brash and loud and powerful. Those drums they falter and they fade as Kangin gets further away. Heechul thinks he hears a car start up and drive off.

“Where did he go?” Heechul mumbles to himself.

“Where did who go?” Han Geng asks, he’s confused, but then he can’t hear them like Heechul can.

“Never mind.” Heechul murmurs and they lapse into silence again.

There is a soft knock at the door, Han Geng gets up to answer it, holding the door open but a crack so that the visitor can’t see inside. It’s Jongwoon, Heechul can hear his voice. They talk for a minute or so, Han Geng opens the door a little wider and they do that ‘Watcher thing’ they nod respectfully and hold up their hands and show each other their wrists. They both have Watcher tattoos, intricate little designs inked onto their wrists, though some have them in more interesting places. Sometimes Heechul thinks that Immortals should have a special tattoo too, maybe a skull and bones motif. Heechul has always kind of wanted to be a pirate.

“What’s going on?” Heechul asks after Han Geng closes the door and comes back to sit on the edge of the bed.

Han Geng tells him, about Jungsu, about Kangin leaving. Heechul starts to get up but Han Geng pushes him back down, gently but firmly. Heechul pushes him back but Han Geng is stronger and this time he doesn’t hold any of the strength back and he holds Heechul down.

“Get off me.” Heechul snarls but he lacks venom, enthusiasm, he’s still weak, tired.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“I know where he went, I’m going after him.”

“No, you’re not.” Han Geng speaks slowly, almost patronisingly. Heechul almost wants to slap the expression of his face.

“Don’t treat me like a child.” Heechul sneers.

“Then stop acting like one.”

Heechul just glares at him balefully, petulantly. He can’t stay here, he can’t, not when Kangin might—does—need help. He can’t. Han Geng gets up and blocks the door.

“Move.” Heechul growls and Han Geng just shakes his head. Heechul sits up, scoots to the edge of the bed, sits there glaring defiantly.

“You might be Immortal.” Han Geng says in his broken Korean. “But you’re not superhuman. You need to rest.”

Deep down Heechul knows that he is right, Heechul hates that he is right.

“Why do you care?” Heechul asks and he hates the resignation, the hopelessness in his voice. He wants to hit Han Geng, hurt him for making him feel like this.

“Because it’s my fault.” Han Geng half shouts as if saying the words loud will help Heechul to understand. “I shouldn’t have left. “If…I hadn’t…”

Heechul just shakes his head. They don’t have enough words for this. The little Chinese that Heechul knows and the little Korean Han Geng knows, none of it converges to form the basis of a coherent conversation.

“Don’t flatter yourself, boy.” Heechul says, he tries to keep derision out of his voice but doesn’t quite manage. It still hurts, he still hurts no matter how much we wants to pretend otherwise. “If you’d have stayed he would have come in anyway and you wouldn’t have been able to stop him. I couldn’t. He’d have killed you, so it’s better that you did leave.”

There, Heechul doesn’t care. He doesn’t.

“I’m sorry.” Han Geng says and he moves from the door, kneels in front of Heechul, rests his head in Heechul’s lap. Heechul thinks about shoving him off but in the end he just doesn’t have the heart. “If I’d have known, I wouldn’t… I was so worried.”

Without even thinking about it Heechul reaches out, strokes Han Geng’s head, gently, with a soft reverence. He doesn’t say anything, they just sit there in silence for a few minutes Heechul listens for the Immortal presences in the house. One and a half, Siwon and Sungmin. Then, quiet at first and then louder and then louder still, two more melodies start up in his head. Hyukjae and Zhou Mi, coming back from the dead. Heechul once again tries to get up. Han Geng once again pushes him back down.

“No.” Han Geng says and his tome brokers no argument. But it’s in Heechul’s nature to argue, it’s what he does best. “Kangin took the car, you have no way of following.”

“I’ll steal one.”

“No.”

“I’m going t…” Heechul’s rant is cut off by a kiss. A soft and tender but still very demanding kiss. “At least tell Siwon…” Heechul starts talking again as soon as Han Geng breaks the kiss.

“Are you always this difficult?“

“Have you been paying attention at all?”

Han Geng kisses him again, more insistent and at first Heechul tries to push him back, push him away…But Han Geng’s mouth is so warm, his touch is so welcoming. Heechul kisses him back and it’s not quite like he’s come home, but it’s close.

They don’t have sex, at least not the hard and fast pleasure they both had last night. It’s gentle and it’s subtle and Heechul almost comes in his pants from the gentle fervour of Han Geng’s touches, from his kisses. But there is guilt there, mixed in with the exciting fizz and fuzz of sensuous stokes, guilt that he—Heechul—is here and safe and Kangin is out facing the unknown. Though somewhere in the back of his mind he knows, has always knows, that this is Kangin’s, no Youngwoon’s, fight. Han Geng holds him, kisses him, brushes up against him and it’s almost like they are caught up in their own little world.

Heechul tries not to sleep. Tries hard, something in him is afraid to close his eyes, he’s afraid that he will be alone when he opens them again. Sleep claims him in the end though and when he wakes again it’s dark, Han Geng is still there beside him.

…end interlude three

Chapter nine won't be done for a week. Because it's the last one (OMG I has a sad) I want to post the epilogue at the same time, that's a lot of words to write and I am going away to visit friends this weekend. I will have my beloved netbook with me...but I will at some points be expected to be sociable.

SUPER JUNIOR FIC: As The Crow Flies Chapter Eight/Nine [R, various pairings]

2010-08-30T19:25:45Z

Title: As The Crow Flies Chapter Eight
Author: Selena
Rating: R
Pairing: Kangin/Leeteuk [main], Heechul/Han Geng [main], Eunhyuk/Donghae, Siwon/Sungmin, Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi, Yesung/Ryeowook.
Warnings: Angst, drama, sex, violence, character death
Word count: This Chapter = 3, 756
Summary: Immortals, they fight for the right and the power to rule the earth. The gathering has started and group of mortals are in the wrong place at the wrong time, getting pulled into a bloody battle and becoming pawns in a sadistic game.
A/N: Loosely based on the Highlander TV series.

Prologue / Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four / Chapter Five / Chapter Six / Interlude One [Kangin/Leeteuk] / Interlude Two [Han Geng/Heechul] / Chapter Seven

As the crow flies

Chapter Eight: And then he said “Don’t lose your head”…The punchline is all in the delivery

There is silence. A deep, resound, ugly silence. Kangin watches Jungsu fuss around, cleaning, sweeping, doing everything but keeping still. Eventually he runs out of things to do and resorts to just pacing the room. Kangin gets up, goes to Jungsu, puts his arms around him. Kangin needs this, needs to feel Jungsu’s warmth, needs to have him close. He buries his face in Jungsu’s shoulder, he doesn’t realize he’s crying until Jungsu reaches up to wipe away the tears.

“Do you think he might be at your old house?” Siwon asks and it’s clear that he wants Kangin to answer, but Kangin doesn’t want to.

It doesn’t fit with the note—the clue—that Kibum left, but it would fit with Kibum. The house that Kangin shared with Yoonji, his wife, and the place where Kibum murdered her. It would be fitting that Kibum take Heechul there to kill him. Kangin loved his wife, but Heechul and Siwon they are the only constants he has ever had, Heechul is like a brother to him, the only family he’s ever really known.

But still, something didn’t fit. There was more to this—a lot more—Kangin just can’t pin it down. He never could see clearly when it came to Kibum, but Heechul always did. Heechul could figure this out. Kangin wishes desperately that Heechul were here with them and safe rather than god only knew where.

“We have to go there.” Han Geng says and Kangin almost feels like laughing. “It’s the only real lead we have and we have to start somewhere and soon.”

Kangin knows this, he does but… “It’s been over a hundred years since I left there.” Kangin says and he holds onto Jungsu tighter, using Jungsu’s presence to anchor himself to the here and now, to not let himself fall into memories of the past. “It’s been a mortal life time, there will be other people living there now if the place is still standing at all.”

“It’s still there.” Siwon says. Kangin opens his mouth to ask how Siwon knows this but Siwon carries on talking, cutting him off. “And I very much doubt that Kibum will care about any other residents. It’s secluded, it’s the last place you would think of or even want to go unless you had to. It’s perfect for him.”

Thoughts bubble up inside Kangin’s head. Violent, bloody. He remembers the look of horror on Yoonji’s face, she’d seen her death coming. He thinks about Kibum, thinks about him dismembered and begging for Kangin to take his head. Kangin has to let go of Jungsu then, least his lover be tainted by the imagined destruction.

“Where is it?” Han Geng demands and when Kangin doesn’t answer he turns to Siwon. “Where is it?”

“It’s a ways from here.” Kangin sighs. “We’re going to need a car.”

“I have one.” Jungsu says quickly, like he’s glad that he can help in some way. Kangin thinks he helps just by being here. “It’s out back. It doesn’t get used much because some people won’t let me drive.” He looks pointedly around the room. Ryeowook shrinks back a little, Kyuhyun looks unrepentant. “But I don’t have the keys.” He looks around again. “Who had them last?”

“I got them!” Donghae says and he retreats to the back rooms, Kangin hears him stomp up the stairs. He returns minutes later with a ring of keys which he hands to Jungsu, Jungsu presses them into Kangin’s hand.

“Ok.” Kangin says. “Siwon and I will go, the rest of you…”

“I’m going too.” Han Geng says, interrupting him. Kangin tries to stare the kid down but Han Geng just looks back resolutely. Kangin nods slowly, resigned.

“Ok, Han Geng comes too.”

“And me.” Sungmin puts in.”

“No!” Both Kangin and Jungsu say in unison. Kangin looks at Siwon, he is supposed to be the kid’s teacher. He’s surprised—shocked—when Siwon doesn’t seem to object. For the first time Kangin notices how close the two are sitting, the way their bodies lean towards each other, the way Siwon lightly touches Sungmin’s wrist. It’s only been less than two days since Sungmin was sent to Siwon’s temple, Kangin thinks that Heechul might have been justified in his indignation at the two being left alone together.

“No.” Kangin says again. He’s looking at Sungmin but the declaration is really meant for Siwon.

“He’s my student.” Siwon says, he stands, stretches himself to his full height, which is kind of intimidating. “He comes.” Siwon’s voice holds an authority that Kangin resents but can’t argue with.

Kangin looks at Jungsu. Jungsu shakes his head, mouths ‘Please no.’ Jungsu is on the verge of tears again.

“We’ll take care of him.” Kangin says. “I’ll take care of him.” He leans in to kiss Jungsu on the forehead but Jungsu pulls away. Kangin feels his heart twist. He turns on Hyukjae. “You’re my student.” He says. “And you’re staying here.”

Hyukjae nods, looks relieved.

“Right.” Kangin continues. “We’ll get the rest of you on to Holy Ground.”

“That won’t help.” Siwon cuts in and there is such a sudden look of helplessness, no, hopelessness on his face that Kangin feels his heart break. Siwon looks like someone who has everything taken away from him. “Safety on Holy Ground is just an illusion, I know that now. The only thing that it keeps us safe from is having to play the Game. Kibum can’t come on to Holy Ground and take our heads in a fight, that doesn’t mean that he can’t kill us there, kill them.”

“Ok, why can’t you fight on Holy Ground?” Jungsu asks and the words come out in such a rush that it’s clear he’s been wanting to ask for a while.

“Destruction.” Siwon says.

“Total.” Kangin says.

“It’s only happened once, many thousands of years ago. So long ago that it’s more myth than anything. But that myth is more than that enough to put the…” Siwon chuckles darkly. “The fear of god into all of us.”

“What happened?”

Siwon shrugs. “That’s just it. We don’t know. We only know where it’s supposed to have happened.”

“Then where?”

“Atlantis.” Siwon, Kangin and Zhou Mi all say together. Jungsu starts to laugh a little, stops when he sees that all three Immortals are deadly serious.

Siwon shakes himself as if shaking off a bad memory. “The best thing.” He says, looking around the bar. “The best thing would be for you all to barricade yourselves in here. Block all the door and windows. You should be safe until we get back.”

Kangin turns to Zhou Mi. “You’ll take care of them?”

Zhou Mi nods, bows. “I will protect them with my life.” He says.

“Ok then.” Kangin says, he picks up his swords, swings it around. “Lets go get Heechul back.”

“You know this is likely to be a trap right?” Siwon says to Kangin as they file out of the door.

“Yeah.” Kangin says almost wearily. “Yeah I do.”

||

Heechul doesn’t know how long he has been here, been lying here like this. There is a window high up by the ceiling, it’s small, cracked, dirty, it lets little to no light in and Kibum turned out the cellar lights when he left. It’s like Heechul has no concept of time anymore, he’s just there waiting in the dark. But waiting for what he doesn’t know. It feels like he might have been lying on this table forever. He is sure that Kangin, that Siwon, that Zhou Mi will come for him, but as the blade sways and seems to inch its way closer he doesn’t think they will be in time.

There is a chip in the blade. Even though he can’t see it clearly anymore he knows it’s there. Knows it’s there from studying the blade earlier in the light. The blade is cracked and rusted but that doesn’t make it any less deadly, Heechul knows this and even if he can’t see it he can’t look away. It’s like his gaze is frozen, locked on to the swinging sharp edge. He wonders when the rope will give way, when the blade will fall, when death will come. He wonders, he wonders that since no other Immortal will be around to take in his essence what will become of him. There will be a body left behind, something for someone to bury if they feel like it. But what will happen to him? To that indefinable thing that is him, where will that go? Will he go to heaven? Could he become a ghost? That might be interesting, he would haunt the shit out of Kangin. Kangin would from this point on be forever cock blocked by an incredibly irritated spirit. Heechul smiles a little at the thought, the thought of Kangin’s eternal frustration. The rope creeks again and to Heechul’s vivid imagination it looks like the blade dips a little, dangerously. Heechul’s momentary smile dissipates.

He never actually thought it would end like this, but then he never really thought about it ever ending at all. The thing about living forever is that the longer you live the less you want to die.

The silence around him is deafening, the swish the blade makes as it gently swings is loud, the creaking of the rope holding it up is louder. Heechul thinks he hears the rope snap and finally, finally he is able to close his eyes. He screws his eyes shut, turns his head away. If he can’t see the death coming then it won’t really happen will it? He holds his breath, tenses every muscle. It’s instinct to curl up into a foetal position but he can’t move, can’t move at all. He waits, he thinks it will be quick, but the seconds tick by and nothing happens. It’s a Herculean effort but he manages to open his eyes. He sees the blade, sees it clearly now. It’s barely an inch from his face, he sees the rust, sees the cracks, sees the chip, but he doesn’t see what’s holding it up now.

||

Kangin built this house, it was built with hard work and love but as he looks at it now he feels nothing but regret. It’s a mix of traditional Korean design with a western slant, a missionary friend of Siwon’s, an American, helped design it back before the turn of the century, helped build it too, as did Siwon. As did Heechul. It sits in a large clearing near the outskirts of Seoul. Kangin remembers taking Yoonji here before the house was built.

Kangin stands at the edge of the clearing with Siwon by his side, he never thought they would both be like here again. Here like this.

“There is only one Immortal inside.” Siwon says and Kangin nods, he already knew that.

“Is it Heechul?” Han Geng asks. The boy is twitchy, restless.

“Yes, I think so.” Siwon says. Kangin knows that Siwon isn’t as good at sensing Immortals as Heechul, but he’s a lot better then Kangin. Still, Kangin knows it’s Heechul in there, knows it in his heart and his head. He wants to go in there and get him.

“Where is this Kibum?” Han Geng asks. The kid has a knife, it’s in a sheath hung at his waist. He pulls it out now, holds it out ready. Kangin has no doubt that Han Geng knows how to use it.

“I don’t know.” Kangin says and that worries him. He was hoping that Kibum would be here waiting for them, waiting for him. The fact that he’s not, the fact that he left Heechul alone, it scares him. He’s scared for Heechul, he’s scared of what Kibum might be doing right now.

“Ok,” Kangin says. He puts his own sword back in the sheath strapped to his back. He doesn’t think he will need it now that Kibum is absent. Kangin doubts there will be any mortal guards or any mortal presence at all. This is confirmed when finds the body inside the front door. It falls out of the house as Kangin slides open the door, like it’s been propped up there, waiting to welcome him. Kangin can’t tell if it’s male or female. Han Geng grimaces, looks a little green. Kangin doesn’t blame him. It’s a horrific sight.

They have split up. There are two entrances to the house, front and back. Siwon and Sungmin went round back, Kangin and Han Geng took the front. They search room to room, slowly, carefully, looking for Heechul and any surprises Kibum night have left behind. They find Heechul in the cellar, the last place they look. Kangin sees Heechul lying there on the table and he runs to him, without giving a thought to any traps that might be lurking. Kangin hears Han Geng following close at his heels.

Kangin sees the blade start to fall in awful, awful slow motion.

||

Kibum stands at the end of the road. From when he looks on he has a perfect view of the bar, Leeteuk’s, with it’s pretty little owner and its pretty little occupants. He knows there are two Immortals in there, he can just about hear them, they float on the periphery of his awareness. One baby, one ancient. Kibum wonders if they can sense his presence. Probably. The ancient one should be able to at least, not that it’s going to do him any good. Kibum thinks they are probably racing to batten down the hatches. Oh no, don’t let the crazy man get in.

Kibum is a little disappointed at the lightening sky. It looks like the clouds are clearing, it might be a nice evening. Bright, clear, warm. The Gathering is almost over and Kibum thinks he is going to miss it’s destructive energy.

But still, there is much fun to be had before this last Gathering night is out.

His sword is strapped to his side, he isn’t going to need it yet. He checks the number of bullets in his gun. He smiles and starts walking to the bar.

||

At first the blade just hangs there, it swings and it sways. It’s so close. Heechul’s heart feels like it’s trying to beat its way out of his chest. Heechul thinks this might be what a heart attack feels like. It feels like he stops breathing.

Slowly, excruciatingly slowly, the blade rises. Bit by bit, inch by inch as someone pulls on the snapped rope, pulls it up and away. Heechul lets out a deep shuddering breath, closes his eyes, starts thanking a deity he never used to believe in.

“Chullie-ah?” he hears someone call to him. A familiar voice, soft and kind and Heechul feels tears fall. He doesn’t know if he’s happy that someone actually came or scared that it’s all in his imagination.

“Chullie-ah?” The voice says again, firmer and more insistent but still soft, still kind.

Heechul opens his eyes. Sees Kangin standing over him, sees Han Geng holding on to the rope, holding up the blade. He sees the pretty pre-Immortal, he sees…

“Siwonnie.” Heechul says with a sigh. “I must be dreaming. Am I dead? I think I might be dead. Sorry about that.”

“You’re not dead, Chullie-ah.” He hears Kangin say gruffly. “Stop being such a drama queen.”

“You need to get him off that table quickly.” Han Geng says. His voice sounds strained. The blade is probably heavy. “I can’t hold this up much longer.”

Heechul feels someone start to fumble at the ties on his arms, his legs and suddenly he can move. Slowly. His muscles, his limbs are strained from staying still for so long. He feels gentle and careful hands help him sit up and then stand. His legs are shaking and he stumbles and falls. He feels Siwon’s arms close around him, hold him and he closes his eyes. He is not going to cry again, dammit.

“Chullie-ah?” Kangin says again and if he says it one more time Heechul think he just might punch him. “Where is Kibum?”

Heechul shakes his head, but then he realizes that they probably can’t see that gesture since his head is bent low and he can’t raise it, can’t look at any of them.

“I don’t know.” He mumbles, he shakes his head again, shakes off Siwon’s touch, tries to walk by himself but again he stumbles. This time it’s Han Geng who catches him. Instinctively Heechul tries to shake off his touch too but Han Geng holds on tight, doesn’t let him go. “I don’t know,” Heechul repeats. “He just left.”

“We have to get back.” Kangin says, he sounds almost desperate. “And quick.”

Heechul is half carried half dragged out of the cellar, out of the house. He hates being so weak but he just can’t get his legs to work, it still doesn’t feel real that he’s out here and not still on that table. He’s gently loaded into a car, Siwon on one side of him and Han Geng on the other. It’s a quiet journey, and long. Kangin drives like a maniac and Heechul is bounced around until he feels dizzy. He leans into Han Geng, Han Geng puts his arms around him and for a little while—at least—Heechul almost feels safe.

||

Kangin drives fast, as fast as he can but still he feels like it might not be fast enough. He feels like his heart is caught in a vice, it hurts, that pain is propelling him forward, to Jungsu. He hopes, prays, that it’s not too late.

As he pulls the car up to the bar he can see that the door of the bar isn’t just open, it’s missing.

“Oh god no.” Kangin whispers. He brings the car to a crunching stop in the middle of the street, doesn’t bother to park, doesn’t bother to turn off the engine. He stops the car, gets out, leaves the door open. He runs into the bar, the sight he is met with brings him up short. There is blood, so much blood. Kangin counts the people in the bar, counts the dead, counts the wounded. There are six people, one missing.

Zhou Mi is dead. Gut wound, point blank. His skin is pallid, his lips blue. Kyuhyun cradles him gently, holds him, is whispering ’Wake up wake up please wake up.’ Hyukjae is dead too, chest shot, also at close range, it’s a messy wound but it’s already starting to heal. Donghae is holding him, his knees tucked under him. Donghae looks scared, like a lost little boy. Ryeowook has been shot too, in the leg. He sits curled up in Jongwoon’s arms, he’s crying softly.

Jungsu isn’t there. Kangin resists the urge to tear through the bar, tear through the house looking for him. Kangin knows that he won’t find him, he won’t be there.

“Oh,” Kangin hears Sungmin gasp out. “Oh no!”

Sungmin pushes passed him, runs to Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun barely even looks up.

“What happened?” Kangin asks the room at large, no one answers.

The rest of the group comes in from the car, Siwon is the last. He has the car keys in his hand.

“Take Heechul upstairs.” Kangin orders Han Geng. “Third room on the right.” That’s Jungsu’s room. It has the most comfortable bed. Heechul will be able to sleep there, recover. Han Geng nods and pulls Heechul away.

Kangin feels Siwon place a hand on his shoulder.

“Kibum was here.” Siwon says and Kangin laughs, a dark and low sound. Kangin already knew that.

The wound in Ryeowook’s leg is only a flesh wound but still it’s deep. Siwon gets to work on cleaning and stitching. They can’t afford to take him to the hospital, there is no way of disguising that it’s a gun shot wound. Siwon is more than capable of taking care of it, though they have nothing to dull the boy’s pain save for whiskey and aspirin. It’s not until he’s sure that Ryeowook is being looked after that Jongwoon leaves his side and finally tells Kangin what happened. He is the only one of the group able to think clearly at this point.

He tells a short and simple tale, straight to the point. Kibum came, he broke in, broke through the barricade they had set up by the door. He had a gun. He shot Zhou Mi first and then Hyukjae. He wanted Jungsu to go with him, threatened to shoot the others unless Jungsu did what Kibum wanted. At first Jungsu refused so Kibum shot Ryeowook in the leg, said it would be the head next if Jungsu said no again. Jungsu left with him then, that was about half an hour ago. Jongwoon doesn’t know where they went.

“All he said.” Jongwoon says. “Was ‘Tell Youngwoon, let’s go back to the start.’”

Kangin curses, punches the wall, punches the table, punches the wall again. He starts to shake, feels suddenly cold.

“I know where he went.” Kangin says quietly. Siwon looks up from his ministrations.

“Where?”

Kangin shakes his head, he’s not going to tell him, tell any of them. This, this he has to do by himself.

“Look after them, Siwon.” Kangin says then he scoops up the car keys from where Siwon left them. On his way out of the door he stops at Donghae’s side, Donghae and Kyuhyun still sit on the floor carefully cradling the fallen Immortals. Kangin bends down, waits for Donghae to look at him. When he doesn’t Kangin gently takes hold of Donghae’s chin, makes him look up.

“He’ll be all right.” Kangin says and even though he doesn’t say it out loud, he is referring to Hyukjae and Jungsu. He is going to get Jungsu back. He is. “He’ll wake up soon. He’s a superhero, remember?”

Donghae nods, it’s an awkward gesture since Kangin still has hold of his chin. Kangin tries to smile but knows it looks false. Kangin leaves then.

“Kangin!” Siwon calls after him. “Youngwoon! Where are you going?”

…end chapter eight.

SUPER JUNIOR FIC: As The Crow Flies Chapter Seven/nine [R, various pairings]

2010-08-28T14:15:06Z

Title: As The Crow Flies Chapter Seven
Author: Selena
Rating: R
Pairing: Kangin/Leeteuk [main], Heechul/Han Geng [main], Eunhyuk/Donghae. Eventual: Siwon/Sungmin, Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi, Yesung/Ryeowook.
Warnings: Angst, drama, sex, violence, character death
Word count: This Chapter = 4, 522
Summary: Immortals, they fight for the right and the power to rule the earth. The gathering has started and group of mortals are in the wrong place at the wrong time, getting pulled into a bloody battle and becoming pawns in a sadistic game.
A/N: Loosely based on the Highlander TV series.

Prologue / Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four / Chapter Five / Chapter Six / Interlude One [Kangin/Leeteuk] / Interlude Two [Han Geng/Heechul]

As the crow flies

Chapter Seven: A horse walks into a bar…the bartender asks “Why the long face?”

When Heechul wakes Han Geng isn’t there. The empty side of the bed is still slightly warm so he hasn’t been gone long. Heechul is surprised—and a little angry—at how much this hurts. Surprised by how much he actually wanted to see Han Geng when he woke, how much he wanted to see that silly, shy grin. He’s angry at himself for feeling this way, for letting himself get sucked in like this again. You think he would have learned by now.

He’s still tired, he slept so soundly last night—the sleep of the exhausted—his body is still sore from the grand fucking he got, so it takes him a while to hear it. Hear that jaunty yet stilted skip beat melody. He’s not fully awake yet, it’s a slow process but soon he’s firing on all cylinders and he knows there is an Immortal in the next room, in the living area. Waiting for him. Heechul kicks himself, both physically and mentally. For saying to Kangin that this wouldn’t happen, for letting his guard down. He reaches for his sword, he always keeps it there by the bed, always has to have a weapon handy, but it’s not there. Of course it’s not. Heechul hears laughter, soft, vicious. Kibum steps into the room, in one hand he holds Heechul’s sword, in his other hand he has a gun.

“You’re pathetic Chullie-ah.” Kibum says and his voice is almost cheerful.

Heechul resists the urge to clutch the bed clothes to his chest, to cover his nakedness. He forces himself to keep calm, to breathe deeply.

“Look at you.” Kibum continues. “One good fucking and you’re useless. But oh, you are so pretty when you’re asleep.”

Heechul wonders how long Kibum has been here, just how long since Han Geng left. Wants to ask but doesn’t, he doesn’t want Kibum to think, to know, Heechul is afraid.

“How did you get in?” Heechul asks, he tries to keep the quiver out of his voice. Kibum smiles, it’s a wide, toothy grin, an awful smile.

“I watched your friend leave.” Kibum says as if in answer to Heechul’s unasked questions. “Stupid little mortal boy couldn’t get out of here fast enough. Guess that’s one more who won’t be visiting the port of Heechul a second time. Aww, shame. Maybe next time, Chullie-ah. Maybe next time you’ll find someone who wants to stay with you.” Kibum smiles again, it’s a wicked, knowing smile. “I mean, Siwon wouldn’t stay with you, wouldn’t let you help him. He packed off up to Holy Ground rather than let you try to fix him. Seems you weren’t enough for him to stay, have you ever been good enough, Chullie-ah?”

Heechul doesn’t say anything. He just concentrates on not letting his hands shake visibly, shake from anger, from fear. He doesn’t think he’s concentrating hard enough.

“And Youngwoon,” Kibum continues. “He can only stomach your presence for so long. Poor, poor Chullie-ah, does anyone want you?”

“Fuck you.” Heechul spits out.

“No, thank you, Chul. I know all to well where you have been. Look at yourself, you’re shaking. Not such a tough guy without a weapon are you? You’re nothing Chullie-ah.”

Heechul starts to cry then, the tears come naturally enough. He buries his face in his hands and sniffles convincingly. He looks back up at Kibum, his face wet, his eyes puffy, but it’s clear that Kibum isn’t buying his act. Heechul shrugs, sniffs, wipes his face, sighs.

“It was worth a try.”

Suddenly Heechul is up out of the bed, he grabs hold of the covers and throws them at Kibum. He keeps hold of the end of the covers and as the bulk of them land gracefully over Kibum’s head Heechul lunges passed him, wrapping the material around Kibum’s body and pushing him. Hard. Kibum lets out a muffled curse as he lands on his butt. Heechul runs then, pausing only to pick up his sword that Kibum dropped, he doesn’t even stop to pick up a pair of pants. He reaches the door but even as he turns the handle he knows he’s to late. He hears Kibum behind him, hears the click of the gun.

“I didn’t say you could leave, Chullie-ah.” Kibum says. Heechul forces himself to turn around, forces himself to face Kibum, his back straight, his expression stoic. “We’re not finished yet.” Kibum fires the gun, it makes only the slightest ‘pop’, still it sounds too loud in the quiet of the room. Heechul has only seconds to think ‘silencer’ and then he feels the sting of the bullet and there is nothing.

||

Jungsu shakes him awake, forcefully, urgently. Kangin opens his eyes, blinks, looks up at Jungsu. Jungsu’s expression is tight, his forehead knitted with worry. Instantly Kangin is alert, he sits up.

“What is it?” He asks.

“Hyukjae’s not in his room.” Jungsu sounds—and looks—like he’s on the verge of tears. “I just went to check on them and Donghae’s still fast asleep but Hyukjae isn’t there.”

“It’s ok, calm down.” Kangin says, he reaches out, gently strokes Jungsu’s arm. He concentrates, listens, hears that tell tale buzz of an Immortal, it’s an almost frantic sound, alive with new energy. “He’s still in the house.” Kangin tells Jungsu and Jungsu breathes out a sigh of relief. “Have you checked the rest of the house?”

Jungsu shakes his head. “No, I looked in his room and then came straight here.”

Kangin smiles, leans in, kisses Jungsu tenderly. Already this has become second nature, to be with Jungsu, to touch him, to kiss him. Almost reluctantly Kangin gets out of the bed.

“Come on, lets go down there, see if he’s ok.”

“Um, Youngwoon?” Jungsu starts to say and it should feel strange to hear someone else—someone who wasn’t Heechul—call him that. But it doesn’t, it feels nice. “Shouldn’t you get dressed first?”

Kangin laughs and Jungsu laughs too. Kangin isn’t sure if Jungsu is laughing with him or at him. Probably both. Kangin has to hunt for his clothes, they are scattered around the room, thrown every which way in the excitement of last night. When he finds them he grimaces as he realizes he’s been wearing the same set for days. He hasn’t been back to his hotel in how long? Too long.

“I’m going to have to go back to my hotel.” Kangin says as he dresses.

“Oh.” Jungsu replies and it might be Kangin’s imagination but he thinks that Jungsu is trying not to sound disappointed.

“I’m going to need some clean clothes. In fact I should probably get all my stuff and check out if…”

“If…if what?”

“If,” Kangin is hesitant. “If I’m going to be staying here.”

Jungsu hugs him then. It’s kind of awkward because Kangin is only half dressed and the last thing he needs—even if it’s the first thing he wants—is for Jungsu to come into contact with bare skin. They have a lot to do today and neither of them can afford to get distracted.

Jungsu pulls away first.

“I’ll see you downstairs.” Jungsu says and then he’s gone. Kangin looks down at himself, at the tent at his crotch. He’s going to have to make a trip to the bathroom to ‘take care of business’ before he goes downstairs and takes care of business.

*

Kangin finds Jungsu, and Hyukjae, sitting at the table in the kitchen. Hyukjae is bent low, his head resting on the table, Jungsu has his arms around him. When Hyukjae looks up as Kangin enters it’s clear that he’s been crying.

“It’s louder now.” Hyukjae mumbles as he rubs snot from his nose. Jungsu passes him a tissue. “What’s that noise?” Hyukjae doesn’t look at Kangin but Kangin knows that the question is for him. Kangin sighs, runs a hand through his hair, sits at the table. Jungsu reaches out and takes his hand.

“It’s me.” Kangin says. “That noise you hear in your head, it’s me. It’s the sound of another Immortal. What does it sound like to you?”

“A buzzing.” Hyukjae says, he looks pained, he buries his head in his arms again. “Make it stop.”

“I can’t, kid. I wish I could But I can’t. There are ways to quiet it and ways to control it, but you can’t make it stop completely. Heechul is better at it than me, when he gets here we’ll help you learn. But you can’t stop it, you’re going to need it.” Kangin pauses, looks at Jungsu. Jungsu smiles at him, it’s a bright, radiant smile. When Jungsu smiles at him like that Kangin thinks he just might be the king of the world. “Last night you were in shock. You wouldn’t have noticed the noise then. But now your body is adapting to its immortality and that sound is your early warning system. Don’t worry, I’ll help you.” Kangin hasn’t had a student since Kibum, he didn’t think he would ever have one again. This time, this time he swears that it’s going to be different. Kangin looks back at Jungsu, looks into his eyes. “Everything is going to be ok.”

“Did you manage to talk to Donghae at all last night?” Jungsu asks Hyukjae. Hyukjae nods, or at least it looks like he does, it’s hard to tell with his head in his arms like that.

“He thinks I’m a superhero” Hyukjae sniffs and Jungsu laughs softly. Jungsu hugs Hyukjae close, doesn’t take his eyes off Kangin’s face.

“I think you are too.” Jungsu says. “I think you both are.”

*

Kangin has a plan, or more like a series of goals as opposed to an actual plan but that doesn’t make them any less valid. His plan—goal—is to get his stuff from the hotel, and Heechul’s stuff, along with Heechul, Heechul is just going to have to suck it up and come quietly. Then he is going to pack everyone off to Siwon’s temple. Once the residents of the bar, including Hyukjae—boy might have a score to settle now but he won’t be settling it yet—are safe then he, Heechul and Zhou Mi are going to hunt Kibum down. And they aren’t going to stop until he is dead. Permanently.

Kangin thinks, knows, he should have done it a century ago. After Yoonji.

It’s a good plan, goal. It’s a shame that in all of his years things rarely go the way he wants.

Kangin knows something is wrong the minute he gets to the hotel. If the police cars parked outside weren’t a dead give away then the fact that Zhou Mi’s young watcher, Han Geng, is pacing outside was. Kangin listens carefully, there are no Immortals in the area. Heechul isn’t in the hotel. He should be. He’s not. Kangin feels his heart drop into his stomach. Han Geng sees him and comes over.

“I can’t get back up to Heechul’s room.” Han Geng says. He doesn’t even try to speak Korean and Kangin thinks that’s fine. There are a surprising number of people milling about, brought out by the commotion no doubt. Their conversation will have a better chance of not being overheard or understood if they speak another language. Kangin notes that Han Geng doesn’t use formalities when referring to Heechul. Kangin doesn’t really want to think about just how close the two got last night. “I only left for a little while.” Han Geng continues, his words coming out in a rush and Kangin has to gesture for him to slow down, Chinese isn’t one of his best languages. “I had to report Henry’s death to the council, I had to check on Zhou Mi. I was only gone for an hour. I left a note.”

A note, Kangin thinks almost derisively and he resists the urge to punch the boy.

“when I got back,” Han Geng gestures to the steadily increasing police presence. “It was already like this. Security locked the place down, I can’t get in because I am not a guest.”

“Heechul’s not in there anymore.” Kangin says and Han Geng looks like someone’s punched him in the chest.

Kangin can get into the hotel because he is a guest. He shows his card key to the stern guard at the door, indicating that Han Geng is with him. It doesn’t take long to find out—from shell shocked staff, from gossiping guests—that a maid has been found murdered in one of the empty bedrooms on the fourth floor. The same floor Kangin and Heechul are staying on.

Kangin doesn’t bother going to his room when they get up to the fourth floor. The police look like that they are ready to commence a room by room search of the floor and Kangin has to get to Heechul’s room before they do.

There is a maid standing alone in the corridor, standing by her trolley of towels and linen. She looks a little lost, confused, scared. Kangin accidentally bumps into her, he bows, apologizes, palms the master key card he took from her apron pocket. Heechul’s room is a mess. The bed clothes are torn and thrown everywhere. Heechul’s sword lays abandoned on the now bare bed. It’s Han Geng that finds the spots of blood by the door.

“Oh Chullie-ah.” Kangin whispers as he surveys the wreckage. “I’m so sorry.”

Not for the first time Kangin wishes he were better at sensing Immortals. Sometimes if an Immortal is powerful enough he will leave a residual trace that the extra sensitive—like Heechul—can pick up. Kangin is far from sensitive. He can’t even sense Heechul’s presence in his own room let alone anyone else.

Kangin runs through possible scenarios as to what happened, comes up with two. One, Hunters came and took him. This is unlikely since Hunters tend to steer clear of Gatherings since that’s when Immortals are at their strongest, both physically and in numbers, and Hunters are, ultimately, cowards. The only other possibility is…

“Kibum.” Kangin growls and he punches the wall. The plaster cracks and splinters. He doesn’t even notice the wound on his hand, it closes over and heals in seconds.

Kangin instructs Han Geng to pack up some of Heechul’s things.

“He’s going to need them when we get him back.”

Then he goes to his own room and packs up his stuff, then as unobtrusively as they can they leave.

||

Kibum waits. He sits with his head resting on Heechul’s chest, waiting for him to stutter back to life, waiting for that pretty heart to beat again. He’s not been waiting all that long. He’s been in and out running errands secure in the knowledge that his prize wouldn’t be going anywhere. But now, now he thinks that it’s time, the time that sleeping beauty is going to wake up. It starts off slow, just a single beat and then another and then another until the rhythm of life fully kicks in and when Heechul’s heartbeat is in full swing so too is the drum beat inside Kibum’s head.

Kibum watches as Heechul opens his eyes, blinks blearily, looks around. It takes a few minutes for Heechul to recognize his predicament, but that’s ok, Kibum can wait. Heechul’s gaze passes over Kibum as he takes in his surroundings and when awareness finally dawns it’s not Kibum that Heechul focuses on. No, it’s the large blade suspended over his head. Heechul thrashes against his bonds. It’s an instinctual reaction and a half hearted one, Heechul’s body still hasn’t fully recovered from his death.

“Morning sunshine.” Kibum says and he’s all vim and vigour and bright cheer. Heechul doesn’t reply and Kibum narrows his eyes, silence is no fun. “I said morning sunshine.”

“What is this, Bummie-ah?” Heechul says. His voice is weak, sad, almost resigned. That’s no fun either.

“A test.” Kibum says with a smile. “A test for you and your friends, old and new. And a test for Youngwoon.” He spits out Kangin’s name, feels like it leaves a dirty taste in his mouth. “It’s something I like to call ’Do they care about you enough to come looking for you before…’” Kibum makes a cutting motion at his throat and gestures to the blade about Heechul’s head.

Heechul is lying—bound spread eagled—on an alter. It’s not quite the stone sacrificial alter they had back in the day, more like it’s a wooden table, but Kibum had to make do. Kibum has dressed him in some clothes he found in Heechul’s room, all that naked flesh? Disgusting, Kibum thinks. Above Heechul, in line with his neck, Kibum has hung an old guillotine blade. It’s rusted but still it’s sharp. A rope, thin, barely more than a piece of string, is the only thing holding the blade aloft. Thin rope, old and half frayed. Kibum wonders how long it will last.

He gets up from the chair he was sitting in, sitting vigilant at Heechul’s ‘death bed’, he starts to pace the room. They are in the cellar of a fine old house, or what used to be a fine old house. The walls are grand and strong, built to withstand war. But now the house is old and faded, half falling down like most of the houses of it’s time. Age has taken it’s toll.

“Do you recognize this place, Chullie-ah? Do you even know where you are?” Kibum gestures around him, at the dank, at the gloom. “You used to spend a lot of time here back then, back when Youngwoon was pretending to be something he wasn’t. Back when you all abandoned me.”

Heechul doesn’t say anything at first. Kibum wants him to argue, wants him to deny it. But Heechul doesn’t.

“I never figured you for the jealous type, Bummie-ah.” Heechul says. He doesn’t move his head to look at Kibum, instead he keeps his eyes fixed on the blade above him. “Batshit and homicidal, yes. I didn’t think you were capable of feeling anything else.” Kibum growls low in his throat but now that he has started Heechul doesn’t seem to want to stop talking. “Are you still sore because I always had Youngwoon’s attention and you didn’t? He tried to be there for you but you always had to have it your way, you always had to be right. Even though you knew that what you were doing was wrong.”

“I was saving people.” Kibum says, trying to defend himself, trying to make Heechul see. “Those Immortals I killed, you know what some of them were capable of, what all of them were capable of.”

“Maybe it started out that way, but you should have listened to Youngwoon, he wanted to help you. He warned you, we all warned you what would happened if you continued. Don’t blame me, don’t blame Youngwoon for what you’ve become.”

“I’ll do just want I like, Chullie-ah. Like you said. I’m good at that.”

Kibum sits down again, scoots his chair as close to Heechul and the alter as it can go, rests his head on Heechul’s chest. Heechul jerks his body as if trying to shake Kibum off. But it’s a futile effort, bound as he is there is nothing Heechul can do.

“I went to church today, Chullie-ah.” Kibum says, his voice a lilting, mocking, sing song. “Siwon wouldn’t come out but I saw him, and I saw his new boy, that pretty little pre-Immortal. Already they seem quite close. I’m surprised you let that happen, Chullie-ah. Or were you just not given any choice?”

Heechul sniffs like he’s trying not to cry. Kibum thinks it’s a wonderful sound.

“And Youngwoon, he’s got himself a pretty new toy too. Innocents to protect. He always did like to play the hero didn’t he? You talk big, Chullie-ah, but look at how easily you have been replaced.”

Kibum feels it then, feels Heechul’s body shudder as it’s wracked with sobs. Silent sobs, Heechul is still trying not to cry. Trying and failing. Kibum stands, leans over Heechul, wipes away his tears.

“Don’t cry, Chullie-ah.” Kibum says, his voice soft, his tone fond. “There is still hope. I’ve let them know where they can find you. I’ve left a note.” Kibum smiles bright. “It’s up to them if they come and get you. I’m sure they will.” Kibum looks up at the sharp edge suspended above them. The rope creaks, the blade sways. “Maybe they’ll even be on time.”

Then Kibum leaves. He doesn’t turn back to look at Heechul. Just leaves him there alone to face his fate.

||

When Kangin gets back to the bar—with Han Geng in tow—he’s greeted by Jungsu’s welcoming smile. But that smile fades when Jungsu catches sight of the grim look on Kangin’s face.

“What is it?” Jungsu asks. “What’s happened?”

Kangin doesn’t answer right away. He looks around the bar, everyone is in attendance, Ryeowook, Donghae, Hyukjae, Kyuhyun, there is a place setting set out at the bar. Chopsticks, plates of half eaten food.

“We have a customer.” Jungsu says. “He’s in the bathroom.”

This puts Kangin even more on edge. The only people out on the streets right now are those that have to be, or those included in the Gathering. Immortals or those caught up in the struggle, like Jungsu. No one is popping into a dive bar for lunch just for the fun of it. If the customer is still in the bathroom then he’s mortal. If he’s an Immortal then he is long gone.

“He’s been in the bathroom a while now, Hyung.” Ryeowook says. “You don’t think he’s gone out the window to avoid paying do you?”

“If he has, I think it’s the least of our worries right now, Ryeowookie.”

“He seemed so nice.” Ryeowook says a little forlornly. He sits down at the bar next to the vacant setting.

“What’s happened?” Jungsu asks Kangin again and the tone of his voice implies he’ll tolerate no more continued silence on Kangin’s part.

“Heechul’s missing.” Kangin says. Jungsu pales, fumbles to find a seat. Kangin tells them what he found when he got to the hotel. Han Geng mutters his agreement to the story.

“You left him?” Kyuhyun says to Han Geng, his voice loud, angry. “In his condition?”

“Kyuhyun, don’t.” Jungsu says. “It’s not his fault.”

Kangin knows this is true, he knows that Han Geng knows this. But Kangin also knows that the young watcher is beating himself up over it anyway.

There is silence for a few minutes, everyone lost in their own thoughts until someone—a new voice—says:

“Oh poor Heechul, that’s awful.”

Kangin groans, bangs his head on the table he’s sitting at.

“You’re still here!” Ryeowook says. Kangin groans again, it’s a long, frustrated sound.

“Yes,” The customer says. “I’m sorry I was so long in the bathroom. I spilt water down myself and it took a while to dry. The food was delicious, could I have some more? I’m very hungry.”

“Of course.” Ryeowook says with delight and Kangin hears him race off to the kitchen.

“Now.” The customer says. “Youngwoon, what are you going to do about Heechul? You can’t just leave him missing.”

Kangin looks up then, looks around the bar, looks at Jungsu. Jungsu doesn’t look happy. Kangin gestures helplessly at the customer.

“This is Jongwoon.” Kangin says, determinedly not looking at Jongwoon. “My Watcher.” He bangs his head on the table again and then again. He’s starting to get a headache. “How did you find me?”

“It wasn’t easy and I’m not happy. I have been put on probation thanks to you, Youngwoon.”

“You Don’t get to call me that, it’s not my name anymore.”

“That’s not what your file says.”

“Then update the damn file, it’s your job isn’t it?”

Jongwoon makes a non-committal noise and Kangin hears him retake his seat at the bar.

“Could you go away and get lost again.” Kangin pleads, his head still resting on the table. “I don’t have time to be dealing with you right now.”

“No,” Jongwoon says simply. “I like Heechul, I’m going to stay and help.”

Kangin bangs his head on the table again. And then —once the dizziness has cleared—he hears it. That buzzing noise and he knows that Hyukjae hears it too because the kid lets out a little whimper and tries to cover his ears like that’s going to help. Kangin listens, he hears two Immortals coming. Two and a half, a potential.

Zhou Mi enters the bar followed by Sungmin and…

“Holy shit.” Kangin breathes.

“Please don’t swear like that, Kangin.” Siwon says as he shuts the door behind him. Siwon bows formally to the occupants of the bar and then takes a seat at Kangin’s table. It’s strange seeing him out like this, almost alien. Despite the fact that he’s wearing street clothes, and not his monks robes, Siwon still looks out of place here.

“What brings you topside?” Kangin asks even though he thinks he already knows the answer.

“Kibum came to the temple today.” Siwon says sombrely. From his shirt pocket he pulls out a plain white envelope, he looks it over, hands it to Kangin. “He left this.”

Kangin opens the envelope, pulls out a small piece of card. On one side of the card are written the words: ’Little church mouse come out and play, I’m going to take a head today.’ On the other side is written: ’Let’s go back to the start again.’ Inside the envelope is a lock of bright red hair.

“Chullie-ah.” Kangin says softly.

“Let’s go back to the start.” Jungsu muses. “What does that mean?”

Kangin shakes his head. He doesn’t know.

“Kangin?” Zhou Mi says, his voice curious. The curiosity seems to make his accent thinker. “Does the name Yoonji mean anything to you?”

Kangin feels his heart constrict, his mouth dries and he can’t answer. Zhou Mi just takes his stunned silence as some sort of confirmation and carries on.

“I dreamed last night.” Zhou Mi says, his voice soft, almost floaty. “I dreamed of a beautiful woman, Yoonji. I don’t know why, but it felt connected to the vision I had of Heechul.”

Kangin shakes his head again. It didn’t make sense.

“But that’s not where it started. It Didn’t start with Yoonji.” Kangin pauses, looks out the window. The sky is starting to clear, the dark clouds dissipating. The Gathering is almost over. “That’s where it all ended.”

…end chapter seven.

1) Oh HAI Yesung. What took you so long?

2) Did I say Sunday? Totally meant Saturday.

3) I am aiming to have Chapter eight done by Wednesday at the latest. But it's a bank holiday here in not so sunny old England which means I don't have to go to work on Monday, so with extra time to work on it, it might be up earlier. *crosses fingers*

SUPER JUNIOR FIC: As The Crow Flies Interlude Two [NC-17, Han Geng/Heechul]

2010-08-25T22:44:24Z

Title: As The Crow Flies Interlude Two: And The Rest Is Silence
Author: Selena
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Han Geng/Heechul
Word count: This interlude = 1, 226
Summary: In the aftermath of tragedy they are just two people who don't want to be alone.
A/N: Immortal!AU. Loosely based on the Highlander TV series.

Prologue / Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four / Chapter Five / Chapter Six / Interlude One [Kangin/Leeteuk]

As the crow flies

Heechul isn’t one for dealing with things by getting drunk, that’s more Kangin’s shtick. But sometimes, sometimes things need to be dealt with using alcohol and Heechul thinks now is one of those times. The only problem is, the mini bottles in his mini bar aren’t enough to get the job done right and room service won’t send up alcohol after a certain time and it’s now long past a certain time. So Heechul is only slightly buzzed rather than drunkenly oblivious, which is what he really wants.

What he really wants—what he really needs—is to be able to sleep. This city, this Gathering place, it’s too noisy. When it’s all quiet around him, when he’s alone, he can hear all of them, all those Immortals. It’s like a 40 piece orchestra playing on a loop in his head, the melody amplified by the constant lightning storms. An incessant stream of noise, never ending, half deafening. He rubs at his temples.

“Are you ok?” Han Geng asks.

For a moment Heechul is confused, he’d forgotten that the mortal Watcher was still here with him, watching over him. Heechul isn’t even sure why he let the man stay with him. Maybe it was because the man has an almost calming presence, his voice is soft and soothing, even though Heechul can’t understand half of what he says. Or maybe it’s because it’s a novelty to be in the same room with someone—a stranger—who doesn’t make any moves to push him down, to claim him, to fuck him raw the way that others have wanted to. The desire is there—in Han Geng’s eyes—Heechul can see it, almost taste it. But there is a respect there too, an almost reverence and Heechul isn’t sure if it’s a reverence for him or for Immortals in general. Heechul thinks it might be for him, because isn’t everything about him in the end?

Just like Heechul can’t understand half of what Han Geng says, Heechul is sure that Han Geng can’t understand half of what Heechul says. But still, the Watcher seems content just to listen and the Whisky Heechul has consumed has loosened his tongue so Heechul is content just to talk. He talks about nothing for what feels like hours until he feels Han Geng’s hand on his shoulder, Han Geng’s lips on his neck and he’s not sure when they moved so close to each other. But when Han Geng kisses him it’s like the world stops and everything is quiet and all there is is here and now and the warm softness of Han Geng’s lips.

“I wasn’t watching them.” Han Geng says into Heechul’s mouth. The words are muffled and Heechul is surprised to find that he still understands them anyway. “These last few days, since I saw you. I haven’t been watching them…I’ve been watching you.”

Heechul pulls back, he understands, he thinks. He looks into Han Geng’s eyes, sees sadness, shock, guilt.

“Fucking me isn’t exactly going to ease your conscience.”

And it’s such stupid thing to say. Han Geng just blinks at him like he doesn’t understand. Heechul knows it isn’t like that, knows that even if Han Geng had been watching over the kid, there was nothing he could have done. Watchers aren’t supposed to interfere. The ones that did usually ended up dead. It was bad enough that this Watcher, this boy, ran into the path of a quickening and into a river just to fish Heechul out. Heechul would have ultimately been fine, wet, pissed off, but fine. Probably.

Han Geng looks at him, it’s a helpless look. Han Geng looks so young, Heechul feels so old.

“It’s, it’s not like that.” Han Geng says, his voice is soft, almost pleading.”

“Then what do you want?”

“I don’t want to be alone.” Han Geng says. “And I don’t think you want to be either.”

Heechul thinks he might be right.

*

It’s not slow and it’s not gentle. Han Geng tries to make it so, tries to take the time to explore all that Heechul has to offer. But Heechul isn’t in the mood for slow, when he decides he wants something then he wants it right then and right there. Despite all the centuries behind him he never has learned to be patient.

His kisses are fast and greedy and he writhes underneath Han Geng until he wises up and falls into Heechul’s rhythm. Heechul is gratified to find that Han Geng is more than capable of keeping up with him, and Han Geng is more than happy to let Heechul take the lead. They wrestle and tussle on the bed for a few minutes, testing each others’ strength. Han Geng is physically stronger, but it’s a strength that he holds in check for the most part. He lets Heechul push and pull at him until Han Geng is flat on his back. Heechul straddles him, his thighs pressing into Han Geng’s sides.

Clothes quickly become casualties in this sexual battle of wills, Heechul thinks that some things might have gotten torn off, torn apart, but he can’t bring himself to care. When Han Geng kisses him, when their tongues and their teeth clash together the world is quiet and silence is such a beautiful sound. Heechul can feel Han Geng’s erection pressing against the curve of his ass, hard, long, and it’s almost frightening how much he wants it. Wants Han Geng inside him, wants Han Geng to take him, consume him. Heechul’s blood feels hot as it pounds through his veins in violent time with his heartbeat.

Han Geng is fully erect—almost painfully—and it’s a delicious pain Heechul feels when he lowers himself down. Han Geng bucks his hips, trying to get himself further into Heechul’s tight warmth. But lying as he is he doesn’t have the angle to properly thrust, so he sits up. Heechul lets out a little whimper as Han Geng’s length is pushed further into him. They claw at each other, they hold on tight, Han Geng bucks and thrusts and Heechul doesn’t even try to hold back his cries of pleasure as Han Geng’s cock hits his prostate over and over sending waves of pleasure fizzing through his every nerve ending.

Han Geng comes first but Heechul isn’t far behind him, Han Geng’s own orgasm makes him pound harder into Heechul and that just pushes Heechul over the edge.

After, when they lay together—panting, bathed in sweat and come—that’s when Heechul thinks about the consequences of what they’ve done. After, when Han Geng doesn’t leave straight away even after he’s got what he wanted, left like others have done. That’s when Heechul stops to think about what it might be like to do this again, with Han Geng, to let himself cultivate some intimacy, to let himself connect with someone else.

Heechul feels peaceful, so peaceful, he wonders if the world will always be this quiet with Han Geng around. He hopes—almost desperately—so.

…End interlude two.

So I decided to put this by itself because I am kind of anal and this way there is symmetry...oh it makes sense to me. And now, on with the plot. Chapter seven will be up on Sunday. It's mostly all written...long hand in my notebook, I just have to type it up.

SUPER JUNIOR FIC: As The Crow Flies Interlude [NC-17, Kangin/Leeteuk]

2010-08-23T23:52:20Z

Title: As The Crow Flies Interlude: The Calm Before The Storm
Author: Selena
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Kangin/Leeteuk
Word count: This interlude = 1, 506
Summary: In a calm moment, Kangin and Leeteuk finally come together.
A/N: Loosely based on the Highlander TV series.

Prologue / Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four / Chapter Five / Chapter Six

As the crow flies

When Kangin wakes it’s still barely even the middle of the night. The clock ticking away on the wall reads 11:45pm, the hands illuminated by the dim glow that seeps under the door. The light in the hallway is on but the living room is dark. Kangin wonders who turned out the light.

Kangin thinks that he might need to pee but he doesn’t want to get up, doesn’t want to move—doesn’t dare to even breathe—because Jungsu is right there pressed up against him. His breath on Kangin’s neck is warm and he smells so good, fresh, clean. It should be uncomfortable, so uncomfortable, two grown men lying together on a sofa that’s barely big enough for one, but Kangin thinks that there is nowhere else he would rather be.

He knows, though, that as much fun as this is for him, he can’t let Jungsu spend the night like this. The temperature dips as the hours creep on and soon this room will be very cold, he doesn’t want Jungsu to get sick. He allows himself a few more minutes, just a few, and then he gently shakes Jungsu awake.

“Whatzit?” Jungsu mumbles sleepily, he rubs at his eyes in a way that Kangin can only describe as adorable. Jungsu looks young, so much younger than his 25 years, so young and for one heart beat Kangin isn’t sure if he can do this again, go through this again. He’s bedded many people in his too long life, mortal and Immortal, but Jungsu has managed to bury himself deep into Kangin’s heart without even trying. Just like Yoonji did. Kangin thinks he might just give himself up to the Hunters if anything were to happen to Jungsu.

“Kangin?” Jungsu asks and Kangin realizes that he’s been quiet for a few minutes, he’s been staring. “Are you all right?”

Kangin shakes off his maudlin thoughts and pastes on a smile. “Everything is fine, but you can’t sleep here. You need to get to bed.” Kangin starts to stand up, to do this he has to climb over Jungsu. He stops when a certain part of himself comes into contact with Jungsu’s thigh. Kangin pulls back, tries to put as much space between himself and Jungsu as he can, which isn’t much given the tight confines of the sofa.

Jungsu nods and stands up, Kangin instantly misses his warmth. Kangin makes to stand up too, but then has to sit down again because Jungsu decided to peel off his shirt and at the sight of all that smooth—and surprisingly toned—skin, little Kangin thinks it’s time to pop up and say hello. He covers himself with his hands and he’s glad that it’s too dark for Jungsu to see the way his cheeks colour.

Jungsu holds out his hand, Kangin just stares at it.

“You can’t sleep here either.” Jungsu says and he rotates his head like he’s got a cramp in his neck and he’s trying to stretch it out. “I never realized how uncomfortable that couch is.” He briefly drops his arm only to hold it out again, he waves his hand insistently until Kangin takes it. “Come with me.” Jungsu pulls him up and Kangin is only too happy to follow.

Before Jungsu takes him to his bedroom he quickly checks on the other boys sleeping in the house. Something inside Kangin shifts uncomfortably when he looks upon Hyukjae and Donghae. They are jammed together in the same small, single bed. They’re holding each other close and it’s almost impossible to tell where one boy ends and the other starts. Kyuhyun and Ryeowook are in the next room, they sleep in separate beds but their hands reach out to each other over the gap. And then Kangin is in Jungsu’s bedroom and he’s nervous, nervous like he hasn’t been in over a century.

*

He waits, lets Jungsu make the first moves. For a minute or so they stand there awkwardly, Jungsu still shirtless, Kangin still erect and ready. Kangin thinks it might be too much to hope that Jungsu hasn’t noticed that part.

He has.

With shaking hands Jungsu reaches out and starts fumbling with Kangin’s belt, with the zipper of his jeans. He’s nervous, clumsy and Kangin thinks about trying to help but Jungsu kisses him then and all coherent thoughts fly from his mind.

He’s not sure just how or when they both get completely naked. It’s like all of a sudden there they were, pressed skin to skin, Kangin feels Jungsu’s erection pressing against his own. They’re still kissing and the kissing is nice but Kangin wants more, so, so, so, much more and he wants it now now now. Still, he makes himself wait, wait until Jungsu is ready. The thing of it is that Kangin isn’t expecting it—when Jungsu is ready for him—Kangin doesn’t expect it at all. In a flash Kangin finds himself lying on his back, he’s forcefully pushed down onto the bed, he lands with an ‘oomph’. Jungsu straddles him and Kangin is amazed that all this happened and their mouths didn’t break contact. The kisses are harder now, harsher, more insistent. Kangin cups Jungsu’s ass with both hands and squeezes eliciting a yelp from Jungsu. Kangin smiles wickedly and uses Jungsu’s momentary distraction to turn the tables on him. In a heart beat Kangin has Jungsu on his back, arms pinned over his head. Jungsu is breathing heavy, they both are. Kangin grinds their hips together and Jungsu lets out a wanton little moan that almost makes Kangin come right then and there.

Kangin wanted to make this last, wanted to savour every moment, relish every sigh he could tease out of Jungsu’s mouth. But he wants this too much, needs this too much, the look in Jungsu’s eyes, the curve of Jungsu’s lips, the way their bodies fit together, all this has him feeling like the metaphorical virgin on prom night. Jungsu points him—breathlessly—to supplies in the night stand. Condoms, lube. Kangin wants to ask why Jungsu happens to have these things to hand. But that would require using words and words might just spoil the mood. He takes it slow, as slow as he can bear too. He’s gentle as he carefully stretches Jungsu out, one finger and then two and then three. He gets light headed when Jungsu starts making these sounds, these erotic little whisper moans. All his blood goes rushing to his cock, threatening to cut off the supply to everywhere else and he can’t take it anymore.

“Kangin,” He hears Jungsu whisper. “Please.” Jungsu’s voice is strained, his body rigid with tension. “I need you.”

Jungsu is still tight when Kangin slips inside him, still Jungsu takes all of him in, right to the hilt and it feels so good. So good, so, so, so, good. So good that Kangin just can’t help himself. A couple of quick thrusts and Kangin is done and he sighs out his pleasure even as he’s disappointed that he didn’t pleasure his partner first. Gently, Kangin rolls Jungsu onto his back and massages him to orgasm with his hands, with his tongue, with his lips. Kangin likes it that Jungsu has to muffle his ecstasy with his hands least the boys in the next room hear.

After, after they lie curled together, Kangin with his front pressed to Jungsu’s back, arms wrapped around him, their fingers entwined together. After, they lie together and whisper sleepily into the dark. Kangin listens to Jungsu’s hopes, his fears. Kangin wants to gather all those fears and take them away, he wants to collect all of those hopes and make them come true.

“My father opened this bar.” Jungsu says. Kangin doesn’t say anything, just makes a small noise of encouragement for Jungsu to keep talking, he likes to listen to Jungsu talk. “He named it after me. Leeteuk was…is a nickname he gave to me. It means special.”

“You are very special.” Kangin says.

Jungsu laughs, the sound a low rumble. He reaches behind him and slaps Kangin’s thigh. It hurts…a little.

“Don’t patronize me.” Jungsu says but his voice holds no seriousness.

“Sorry.” Kangin says in meek, mock apology. He kissed the back of Jungsu’s neck. Jungsu shivers under the touch.

“Only Ryeowookie and the rest of them, my brothers though they are more like my sons now. They call me Leeteuk, or teukie.” Jungsu heaves out a sigh, sleep is fast closing in on him, on them both. “You can too, if you want.”

“Thank you.” Kangin says quietly, his lips still pressed to the back of Jungsu’s neck. Kangin feels himself slide into that half asleep, half awake dream state. But before sleep claims him completely he says, “call me Youngwoon.”

…end interlude.

So, I decided to put this on its own because it doesn't fit the tone of chapter 7. That chapter will also likely have a higher rating cuz someone else gets some \0/ but that actually moves the plot along where as this doesn't and dammit, I wanted some Kangteuk sex.

SUPER JUNIOR FIC: As The Crow Flies Chapter Six/Nine [R, various pairings]

2010-08-21T19:41:56Z

Title: As The Crow Flies Chapter Six
Author: Selena
Rating: R
Pairing: Kangin/Leeteuk [main], Heechul/Han Geng [main], Eunhyuk/Donghae, Eventual: Siwon/Sungmin, Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi, Yesung/Ryeowook.
Warnings: Angst, drama, sex, violence, character death
Word count: This Chapter = 4, 615
Summary: Immortals, they fight for the right and the power to rule the earth. The gathering has started and group of mortals are in the wrong place at the wrong time, getting pulled into a bloody battle and becoming pawns in a sadistic game.
A/N: Loosely based on the Highlander TV series.

Also, happy birthday Kibum. Sorry I have made you a mental case.

Prologue / Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four / Chapter Five

As the crow flies

Chapter Six: One Immortal said to the other Immortal…”OFF WITH HIS HEAD!”

Kibum has a weird sense of coming back to himself, like he’s been floating along in a dream world and now he’s come back to earth, come back to his body, come back to see what he’s been doing. The kid in his grasp is slippery, slippery like a fish. Kibum has vague thoughts of throwing him in the river, it would make for a quicker getaway. But the vague thoughts were just that. There was something about the boy, something about the way he smelled—the sweat, the tears—something about the way he was crying softly but trying not to let it show. Kibum wonders if the boy will bleed pretty. He thinks he just might. He needs to get out of here, get away. Those Immortals he sensed by the bar were now closing in on him, at first he thought there might have been four, he was sure that he heard four, but now there is only two and they are getting closer. Kibum fumbles in his left pocket, his hand closes around his second knife and he pulls it out, it’s a weapon but it’s not enough, he won’t hold up for long against two Immortals with a small blade and a hostage, that’s if the coming enemy cares about a mortal boy at all.

He wonders who the coming enemy actually is, wonders if he knows them, wonders if that will matter.

He runs, pulling the boy along with him and the boy doesn’t put up much of a fight, he should, but he doesn’t. Grief and shock have a tight hold over him but Kibum doesn’t care about that at all. He runs, but not in the direction he came from. Behind the bar—one street over—there is an industrial wasteland that runs parallel to the Han River, it’s the last remains of the construction site for the newly erected sluice. It’s all jagged edges and rough lines and it’s really the perfect place for a fight, if he were up for a fight right now. It’s not a fight he wants or needs it’s transport, and he sees it. Close to the River bank there is a car, from far away it looks half wrecked but as Kibum gets closer he sees that it’s still serviceable. The kid starts to fight now, when he sees where Kibum is taking him. At last self preservation seems to be kicking in and getting taken away in a car by a strange man is not conducive to continued health. Kibum quickly tires of the struggle and he shoves the kid head first into the door of the car, dazed the kid slumps to the ground and is quiet. The car doors are unlocked and when Kibum opens the drivers side he sees a mess of cables under the dashboard all cut and frayed. Joy riders have had their joy with this ride and then abandoned it to rust. Kibum wonders if it will still run. He hopes so, the Immortals chasing him have caught up now. Kibum hears them, it’s like a marching band in his head.

“KIBUM!” Someone calls out to him. Kibum stills, a smile spreads over his face. He opens the back door of the car, pushes the boy inside.

“Stay.” He says, jabbing a finger at the window, but the boy is still slightly out of it from the blow to his head. In the corner of his eye he sees a streak of red coming towards him, he turns around.

“Chullie-ah.” Kibum says and there is glee in his voice, pure and utter. “I hoped I might run into you. But I never really believed that you would come to play. I wondered why…” Kibum stops, looks off into the distance. “I wondered why I could see them so clearly, those connecting threads. Do you see them Chullie-ah? They dance in the light of the storm.”

“You’re sick, you need help.”

“Are you going to be the one to help me, Chullie-ah. I don’t think so.”

Kibum is comforted by the presence of his knife, the hilt feels hot in his hand, the knife wants to fly, Kibum could almost see the way it would look embedded in Heechul’s head. He can feel his hand start to shake. He’s nervous, he’s excited, the palms of his hands start to itch. “If you came to the party does that mean…? No, no he wouldn’t, wouldn’t come.”

“Kibum,” Heechul says, his voice firm, his expression fierce, Kibum isn’t intimidated. Heechul is accompanied by another Immortal, barely a child. “I challenge you.”

Kibum smirks, cocks his head, looks Heechul up and down. Heechul is holding his sword up and ready.

“I’m unarmed, Chullie-ah.” He says as he hides the hand with the knife behind his back.

“I don’t care.”

“Look at the big man.” Kibum says almost derisively. “Where did your conscience go, Chullie-ah? You’re getting unscrupulous in your old age.”

“Fuck you.”

Kibum moves sideways, away from the car, away from Heechul, towards the river. Heechul follows him step for step, they move slowly in a circle until Heechul’s back is to the River.

“It’s been a long time, Chullie-ah.”

“Not long enough, Bummie.”

They stand there staring at each other. Kibum is fascinated with Heechul’s hair, it’s so red, so bright. Kibum wants to reach out and touch it. He feels his hand start to snake out—reaching—he stops himself, pulls it back before Heechul decides to cut it off.

“Tell me, Chullie-ah,” Kibum says, his voice quiet, soft, inviting. “In all the time we have been apart… have you learned to swim?”

“What?” Heechul lowers his sword just a little, not a lot, just enough for Kibum to have a good enough target. Kibum lets his knife go, it flies straight and finds its home in Heechul’s gut. Heechul looks down, he’s surprised, shocked, disbelief flashes across his face, he wasn’t expecting it, he should have expected it, especially from Kibum. Stupid really, Kibum thinks, to run into a situation without thinking. Heechul is getting careless, getting old. And then Heechul falls and falls and falls. There is a muted splash as his body hits the water. Kibum smiles when he sees that Heechul has dropped his sword. It lies on the bank abandoned. Kibum picks it up, it feels heavy in his hand, alien almost. He doesn’t like to use another’s sword, never feels right. He swings it around, swipes at the air. It’s not his sword but it will do, yes, now he is ready, ready for a fight. Shame the new challenger is no challenge at all. The baby Immortal looks afraid, he’s shivering, his sword shakes in his grip.

“Run away now boy.” Kibum says softly. The boy shakes his head and holds his sword up. It’s an awkward gesture, fighting and this boy do not fit well together. “Ok,” Kibum says and even to himself he sounds a little sad. “Have it your way.” Kibum takes one step closer to the boy, another step and then a third. The boy slips into a fighting stance but it does him no good, he’s not ready for it when Kibum swings his sword and the blade slices through muscle, through bone, and the boys head falls to the ground.

A second before the Quickening hits him Kibum thinks he sees a flash of something running passed him. A mortal. A mortal runs and dives into the river.

“Foolish mortal.” Kibum says “Enjoy your…” The lightening hits him then and he can’t speak anymore.

||

Without thinking Kangin runs out of the bar, without thinking he runs into the path of the lightening storm. It’s almost run its course so it’s just an aftershock of a Quickening that slams into him, it’s not at its strongest but it has enough force to fell him. His knees hit the ground and out of the corner of his eye he sees Zhou mi has done the same thing, run without thinking out into the storm. Kangin feels the transfer of power from the now permanently dead Immortal, the presence is familiar, someone he’d barely known.

“Henli.” Zhou Mi whispers. “Oh, Henli.”

Kangin staggers to his feet and goes to Zhou Mi who just sits where he fell looking dazed, saddened.

“Zhou Mi, come on get up.”

Zhou Mi just shakes his head. Kangin grabs his arms and hauls him up.

“I’m sorry about the kid, but we have to go.”

Zhou Mi shakes of his touch and stands up a little straighter, his hand tightens around the hilt of his sword. Kangin is a little impressed that Zhou Mi managed to keep hold of it. Kangin dropped his, he picks it up and starts to run again, he doesn’t look to see if Zhou Mi follows.

He runs in the direction he thinks the Quickening originated, runs until he finds Heechul’s sword lying on the ground. He stops, looks down at the sword, looks around, sees a figure trying to run off. The figure—the man—staggers, stumbles, he’s not quite recovered from the Quickening. The man stops and turns, waivers a little. Kangin gets a good look at him, he feels his breath whoosh out of him, like he’s been punched in the gut.

“KIBUM!” He yells out.

Kangin is torn, torn between finding Heechul—who wouldn’t leave his sword without a damn good reason—and chasing down the man he came here to find. And kill.

He hesitates a second too long and Kibum is gone. Kangin blinks and shakes his head, it’s almost like Kibum was some kind of apparition the way he melted into the darkness.

There is a movement in his peripheral vision, inside the car Heechul’s sword was dropped beside. Kangin looks in and sees the kid, Donghae. He opens the car door, getting an electric shock as he does so. The kid was lucky, being in the car, the tyres grounded him during the lightening storm. Still, he fizzes with static electricity. Gently. Kangin helps him out of the car. The kid looks dazed, confused.

“Is he ok?” Zhou Mi asks.

“I don’t know.” Kangin says. Donghae staggers, Kangin catches him before he can fall. “Can you take him back to the bar? I have to find Heechul.” Zhou Mi nods and takes Donghae from Kangin, he has to support most of the boys’ weight. Kangin watches them go as they make their slow way back down the street.

Nothing moves in the darkness.

“HEECHUL!” Kangin calls. “Chullie-ah?”

Nothing.

Kangin walks to the river bank. The new sluice isn’t activated yet, the water around it is stagnant, not even a ripple disturbs the surface. Kangin peers into the murky gloom. Sees nothing.

“Chullie-ah.” Kangin says softly, sadly. There wasn’t enough time. There wasn’t enough time for two Quickenings. There wasn’t. There was barely enough time for one. Heechul’s presence wasn’t in the lightening storm. It wasn’t. Kangin takes one last look around. Still, nothing moves. Kangin sees Henry’s sword lying on the ground forgotten. He reaches down, picks it up. “Chullie-ah.” Kangin says again, softer, sadder. “Where are you?”

||

Jungsu is halfway to frantic. He sits down at the table where Ryeowook and Kyuhyun sit clinging to Hyukjae. The three of them locked together in an embrace, holding onto each other for dear life. Hyukjae still doesn’t really understand what’s happened, doesn’t understand what he’s become. He’s now dressed in a set of Kyuhyun’s sweats. The t-shirts hangs loose on him, the sweat pants are too long, he plucks at the shirt he wears, gingerly, like he expects the knife and the wound it made to still be there. Hyukjae’s blood still stains the floor. Jungsu stands up from the table. He sits down again. He stands up. He worries at a wad of paper napkins, throws the pieces away, starts to tear up another wad. He sits down at the table again.
He jumps when the door bursts open and Zhou Mi staggers in half-carrying…

“Donghae.” Jungsu gasps, jumping up and rushing to the two men. “Oh god, Donghae. Is he ok? What happened?”

Donghae won’t look at him, he won’t lift his head from where it’s almost buried in Zhou Mi’s armpit. The half of Donghae’s face that Jungsu can see is tear streaked and dirty. Kyuhyun and Ryeowook get up from the table and crowd around him, the sudden fuss makes Donghae try to bury himself deeper into Zhou Mi’s arms. Jungsu stands back, he feels helpless, useless.

“Hae?” Hyukjae says softly. He comes over but he doesn’t come close, he stands there, awkward, hugging his chest. Donghae looks up then, he looks up and it’s like he has stars in his eyes.

“Hyukkie?” Donghae uncurls himself from where he was wrapped around Zhou Mi, he reaches out but then pulls his hand back, like he’s afraid that Hyukjae isn’t really there. “You’re alive?” Hyukjae steps closer, reaches out with his own hand, gently strokes Donghae’s arm. Donghae lunges at him then, grips him tight, his hands scrunching in Hyukjae’s shirt. Kyuhyun and Ryeowook join them, the four of them entwined together. Something inside Jungsu breaks a little, seeing them like this, seeing them torn up like this. His heart hurts, his head hurts.

The door opens again and Kangin comes in, he is holding three swords, the load is awkward and the blades clank together as he deposits them on a table. Jungsu looks at him expectantly, Kangin just shakes his head.

“The lightening?” Jungsu asks hesitantly.

“Henry.” Kangin says.

“Oh god.” Jungsu looks at Zhou Mi who slumps into a chair, his head in his hands. Gone was the gangly geniality and in its place is heartbreak. “And Heechul?”

“I don’t know. I have to go back out there and look for him, do you have a torch or something I could use. I think Kibum might have killed him, I have to find him before he wakes up, he’s vulnerable out there.”

“It’s too dark, you’ll never…wait…Kibum? You know him.” And it’s like something snaps, something finally breaks through the numb shock he’s been swimming through for the last few days and finally, finally anger struggles up to the surface. “The man who stalked Hyukjae came in here and terrorized my staff, no, my family. He wasn’t just some random Immortal looking for fun, you know him! You…?”

“Jungsu,” Kangin says, trying to keep his voice soft and soothing. “Jungsu, calm down it’s not like that.” Kangin takes a step forward, holds his arms out, Jungsu steps back.

“Don’t tell me to calm down.” Jungsu spits. “Don’t you dare.” His voice is quiet, his rage is soft, dangerous.

Before Kangin can say anything, defend himself, the door opens again and two men stagger through. Or one man staggers through, one man, Chinese, white blonde hair, Jungsu has never seen him before. One man carrying dead weight. Heechul is dead, his eyes closed, his skin pale, his red hair plastered to his face. Both men are dripping wet and trailing dirty water on the floor.

“Chullie-ah.” Kangin says, rushing to help the stranger haul Heechul’s body onto a table.

“I’m sorry.” The stranger says in halting Korean. “He drowned.”

Kangin doesn’t say anything, just starts to carefully arrange Heechul’s body, fixes his clothes.

“My name is Han Geng.” The stranger says with a bow. He turns to Zhou Mi and starts talking in rapid fire Chinese. Zhou Mi just slumps lower in his seat.

“He says he is sorry about Henry.” Kangin says quietly to Jungsu. “He’s their watcher, but I don’t think he ever really expected having to watch one of them die.”

Zhou Mi starts to cry softly, it’s a terrible sound really and Kyuhyun breaks away from the little group hug and goes over to Zhou Mi, pats his shoulder. It’s a clumsy gesture but it’s enough to get Zhou Mi to look up and in a flash he has wrapped his arms around Kyuhyun’s waist and is sobbing, his face pressed into Kyuhyun’s stomach. Kyuhyun just stands there, he looks at Jungsu helplessly. Jungsu just shrugs.

||

Heechul sputters back to life an hour later, or so he’s told. He opens his eyes to see Kangin hovering over him, Kangin looks angry, worried, concerned, Heechul didn’t think Kangin was capable of feeling so many things at once.

“That bastard.” Heechul mutters as he tries to push himself up on his elbows. He feels pain in his chest—likely still raw from the stab wound—he has to lie back down again. Heechul hasn’t been killed in over a decade and he’s angry that it was Kibum, that little shit, that felled him this time.

God, dying hurt.

He waits a few minutes, takes a few deep breaths and then sits up again. This time there is no pain. Kangin still looms over him.

“Fuck off.” Heechul growls. “You’re worse than Siwon.” Kangin gives him the finger, but he does move back and Heechul feels like he can breathe freely again. Heechul drags himself off the table and into a chair, Jungsu hands him a cup off hot tea and Heechul finds he’s actually grateful. He’s not sure exactly what the tea is and it doesn’t really even taste good, but after one sip he feels better. “Thanks.” He says. Jungsu nods and moves away back to the other end of the bar and as far away from Kangin as possible. Heechul looks around, only Jungsu, Kangin, Zhou Mi and a blonde stranger are in the bar now.

“Where are the others.”

“I sent them upstairs,” Jungsu says, he throws Kangin a look that Heechul can’t quite read. “They needed to rest.”

From the way that Kangin won’t meet Jungsu’s eyes Heechul thinks he must have missed something big…or at least interesting.

“Who are you?” Heechul asks in Chinese, he swears the blonde stranger sits up a little straighter when Heechul looks at him.

“Han Geng.” Han Geng says, standing up and bowing.

“He pulled you out of the river.” Kangin says with a hint of a smirk.

“Zhou Mi’s watcher?” He asks it as a question but he already knows the answer so he doesn’t wait for a response. He turns back to Kangin. “It was Kibum.” Heechul says and he thinks he hears Jungsu give snort.

“I know.” Kangin says. “I saw him.”

Heechul wants to get up and hit Kangin over the head and scream at him “I TOLD YOU SO!” But getting up would take some effort and while the restorative tea that Jungsu gave him is helping it hasn’t completely helped yet. He waits a few more minutes, takes a few more deep breaths, finishes the tea. He feels suddenly jittery, like he can’t keep still. His knees start to shake. What was in that tea?

“I have to get out of here.” He mumbles and he tries to stand, falters.

“Heechul,” Kangin starts. “you’re in no shape to go anywhere, and with Kibum out there it’s best to stick together.”

“I can take care of myself, Youngwoon.” Heechul says and if his voice is slurred and slow he’s not going to admit it. “And you, I think you have some business to take care of.” Heechul looks over at Jungsu who just looks away.

Heechul leaves. Kangin protests but it’s slightly half hearted. Kangin is worried for him but it’s clear that he wants to be alone with Jungsu. Heechul felt the tension, he didn’t want to have to deal with it. Zhou Mi’s hotel is in the opposite direction so he parts ways with Heechul outside the bar. Heechul watches him go, Zhou Mi casts a forlorn figure as he walks off into the night. Heechul almost half hopes that Zhou Mi doesn’t run into Kibum. Zhou Mi might kill him before Heechul has a chance to.

Heechul is a little unsteady but still insists he’s fine. But the Watcher, Han Geng, insists on walking him back to his hotel. Heechul argues but Han Geng refuses to back down, Heechul is so surprised by this that he relents and doesn’t stop to think about just how bad of an idea this is until they are at his hotel and then at his room and then in his room.

||

Jungsu finds Kangin in the living area. Jungsu hasn’t quite calmed down yet, he’s angry and he’s hurt and he’s confused and he wants some real answers. He wants to know why this happened, who these people are and why his life—all their lives—have been turned upside down like this. He finds Kangin sitting among sheets and pillows from where he was clearly trying to make up a bed but just ended up making a nest. Jungsu smiles despite himself at the rueful look on Kangin’s face.

“We need to talk.” Kangin says. Jungsu just nods, sits down beside him, stands up again, starts pacing the room. “Would you sit?” Kangin’s voice is kind and not even a little condescending but Jungsu snaps back at him anyway.

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

Still, he sits down. But in an armchair, away from Kangin.

There is silence for a few minutes until Jungsu asks the questions he really wants to ask.

“Who is this Kibum? What does he want with us?”

Kangin’s story just about breaks his heart.

*

“Kibum was my student,” Kangin starts his story, he doesn’t look at Jungsu while he talks. “Like the way Henry was to Zhou Mi. I found him wandering the street, lost and confused, the way most of us are after we have our first deaths. He Didn’t know who or what he was when I found him, I took him in and taught him the game.” Kangin pauses, takes a deep breath. “He was a good person once.”

“What happened to him?”

Kangin explains to him, slowly, patiently but Jungsu still doesn’t understand, isn’t sure he wants to understand. It has to do with the power transfer, the Quickening. When an Immortal’s essence is transferred to another during the lightening storm their personality, all that they are, is transferred as well and when it’s over a part of the losing Immortal is retained inside the winner and facets of the losing’s personality may show in the winner. If you take too many heads too quickly, not leaving enough time to process each one, take time to recover, then you could go mad.

Kibum, it seemed, went mad.

“It was my fault.” Kangin says. “I failed him, I failed as a teacher. He was a good man once, he was always a good fighter and he started taking on Immortals who were…” Kangin hesitates, searching for the right word. “Unsavoury.” Kangin looks at his hands. “I tried to warn him of the dangers of taking on too many unstable essences in too short a time, but he wouldn’t listen. I should have made him listen.”

Jungsu wants to tell Kangin that it wasn’t his fault, but he doesn’t dare speak. Doesn’t want to distract Kangin from his story.

Kangin breathes in slowly, his hands are shaking. “I’m old.” He says and this time he looks up at Jungsu, looks him in the eyes. There are tears there, hidden still, waiting to be shed. “Maybe I’ve lived too long. I get lonely.” He stops, shakes himself. “That sounds so cliché but it’s true. And sometimes, sometimes I just want to be normal…I wanted to have a life.” Kangin stops again, collects himself. “The last time I saw Kibum, before tonight, was in 1898, just before I left Korea. Kibum was the reason I left.

“I had a wife. Her name was Yoonji, she was mortal. We fell in love, she didn’t know what I was and I never told her. Kibum had disappeared, his last Quickening had sent him off on a dangerous tangent and he ran away. I hadn’t seen him in months.” Kangin breaks down then and before he even realizes what he’s doing Jungsu is out of the armchair and over to Kangin, he puts his arms around him and holds on as Kangin cries. “He killed her.” Kangin says. “I wasn’t there when Kibum decided to come looking for me, but Yoonji was. He killed her. I was Youngwoon back then. That was the name I was given by the family who took me in as a child, it‘s the name I shed when I left Korea after Kibum murdered my wife.” Kangin stops talking, his voice cracks and he can’t talk anymore.

Jungsu just holds him tighter.

*

While Kangin goes to the bathroom Jungsu remakes Kangin’s bed properly. It’s done when Kangin gets back. Kangin’s eyes are red, puffy, bloodshot. He bows when he sees Jungsu standing by the sofa.

“I’m sorry.” Kangin says. “I didn’t mean to burden you. I didn’t want to burden anyone with any of this. I’m sorry. Heechul was right, I should have stayed away. I am the reason that Kibum came here, found you.”

“Sungmin, you say he’s a pre-Immortal?” Jungsu asks and Kangin nods. “And now Hyukjae, he’s Immortal too?” Kangin nods again. “I’ve lived with Sungmin for most of my life. My father adopted him, he was a street kid who would hang out by the dumpster.” Jungsu smiles. “My dad had a thing for picking up strays as well. Donghae and Kyuhyun were children of friends of the family, when they couldn’t take care of their kids anymore my Dad took them in. Ryeowook too, my Dad took him away from his family when we found out he was being abused. They’re my family. If Sungmin is a Pre-Immortal and Hyukjae was too then this Gathering, other Immortals would have found us anyway. Kibum might have found us anyway.” It sounds like a question but Jungsu doesn’t ask it as one. He knows the answer. Kangin just nods. “I think it might be worse for them, for all of us, if you didn’t find us in that alley. I’d be dead now if it wasn’t for you.”

Kangin doesn’t say anything, Jungsu looks up at him, looks to gage his reaction but Kangin’s expression is stubbornly blank, he looks like he’s trying to hold something in, hold something back. There is a beat of silence, the tension is palpable. Kangin kisses him. Their faces were barely inches apart and Kangin just took a breath and closed the distance. Kangin’s lips are warm, soft and at first Jungsu stiffens in surprise but then he slowly melts into the kiss. He opens his mouth and Kangin slips his tongue inside.

Jungsu jumps backwards, the back of his knees hit a chair and he goes down. Quickly he scrambles back up and runs to the door.

“I’m sorry.” Kangin says quickly, urgently. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”

Jungsu stops, turns round, looks at Kangin’s stricken face. The door is open, Jungsu’s hand is on the handle. He closes the door and in a few quick strides he crosses the room again and the minute Kangin wraps his arms around him Jungsu feels like he’s come home.

…end chapter six.

I'm sorry Henry, I love you really.

Also it's not that this chapter is late it's that the others were early. I did want to have this done sooner but I got ~~a really bad head cold~~ the flu. In AUGUST, stoopid unseasonable rain.

SUPER JUNIOR FIC: As The Crow Flies Chapter Five/Nine [R, various pairings]

2010-08-12T00:16:31Z

Title: As The Crow Flies Chapter Five
Author: Selena
Rating: R
Pairing: Eventual: Kangin/Leeteuk [main], Heechul/Han Geng [main], Eunhyuk/Donghae, Siwon/Sungmin, Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi, Yesung/Ryeowook.
Warnings: Angst, drama, sex, violence, character death
Word count: This Chapter = 4, 159
Summary: Immortals, they fight for the right and the power to rule the earth. The gathering has started and group of mortals are in the wrong place at the wrong time, getting pulled into a bloody battle and becoming pawns in a sadistic game.
A/N: Loosely based on the Highlander TV series.

Prologue / Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four

As the crow flies

Chapter Five: More answers, more questions and…hey is that a sword in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

It wasn’t easy explaining that Immortals didn’t actually have any other super powers, not really. That Donghae kid was particularly hard to dissuade. Turns out he’s an inquisitive little shit, once he got over his initial shock.

“But you can’t die, that’s a super power.”

“One that all Immortals have and it’s not infallible.” Heechul says. He pinches the bridge of his nose and scrunches up his eyes. He’s getting a stress headache, it’s a good job he doesn’t have to worry about stress wrinkles.

“You can tell the difference between Immortals, in your head.” Donghae makes a wild sort of flaily gesture and indicates to his head and it’s clear that he doesn’t—even now—understand.

“That’s also something all of us could do.” Heechul says and he looks pointedly at Kangin. “If we practice.”

Kangin just shrugs and drains the last of his drink. Heechul isn’t sure when Kangin started drinking or even what he’s drinking, but he’s not listing in his seat so he’s not drunk, yet.

Heechul looks over at Zhou Mi who’s sitting with his protégé, who is older than Heechul first thought, the kid is only 15 years into his immortality and was only 17 when he had his first death. But still, compared to Heechul and especially compared to Zhou Mi, Henry is still just a baby. Zhou Mi is making eyes at the tall, snarky blonde kid, Kyuhyun, and Kyuhyun doesn’t really seem all that adverse to the idea. And when Kangin isn’t studying the contents of his glass he’s making eyes at Jungsu.

Heechul thinks that this must be some kind of national adopt a mortal day.

Stupid Zhou Mi, he would have to show up now and go ahead and make an already complicated and awkward situation even more so.

Zhou Mi is a seer, or rather he sees an abstract series of events that could loosely be construed as seeing the future. Hence the ‘Immortals don’t actually have super powers’ conversation he was forced to have. Zhou Mi is something of an anomaly among Immortals, but Zhou Mi says it’s something he’s used to. Heechul has only gotten to know Zhou Mi recently, though measurements of time are kind of ambiguous when you can live forever, any when in the last century could be considered recent. But Zhou Mi did tell him once that he could see the future before his first death, it was something he was born with, in as much as Immortals are born, it’s more like they are found. Foundlings borne from the earth like the Gods and Goddesses found in mythology the world over. If they are lucky these foundlings, these lost babies will be adopted into mortal families where they can grow up unaware of the shit storm fate has in store for them in the future.

Zhou Mi doesn’t really like to talk about the origins of his gift. Heechul thinks that this might be because that gift contributed largely to his first death. And while all subsequent temporary deaths become good drinking and campfire stories, the first one, the first one is always the hardest. There are some Immortals who never get over their first deaths.

Zhou Mi has been mentoring Henry for just over 10 years. Apparently he picked the kid up when he was passing through Canada sometime in the late 90’s. They had been based in Beijing for a year or so and Zhou Mi was planning on staying there for a good while longer. With Henry being so young Zhou Mi had planned on them sitting out this gathering. That was until Zhou Mi had an abnormally clear vision of Heechul’ terrible and violent death. Real death. Final death. Off with his head.

If it was due to be at another Immortals’ hands in a challenged battle then Zhou Mi could not and would not interfere. But it’s not. So Zhou Mi is here to repay a debt he thinks is long owed but Heechul thinks has been paid back in full ten fold. Just seeing Zhou Mi smile is payment enough.

Heechul thinks Kangin might have started drinking after Zhou Mi finished his tale. Heechul thinks he too could do with a stiff drink right about now.

*

“So,” Kangin asks, his voice is half way to being slurred and Heechul notes with satisfaction that Jungsu gave him coffee instead of the Hite he asked for. “How did you meet Heechul?”

Kangin asks this of Zhou Mi and Zhou Mi, it seems, is only too happy to answer once he has managed to pull himself away from the conversation he was having with Kyuhyun. The kid came and sat with them all at the table which surprised Heechul more than a little. But then it’s really more like he came to sit with Zhou Mi. Zhou Mi always did have that way about him, when he smiles it’s like the sun is shining. People are drawn to him.

Heechul was.

“Siwon saved me from the undignified death.” Zhou Mi says with a bright smile, like the undignified death is something to joke about. “Heechul helped.”

Heechul mentally face palms. “Seasonings.” Heechul says. “That’s not quite how it happened.”

“It’s how I choose to remember it so shush you.”

They are all still waiting on Sungmin. The kid isn’t quite ready to go yet and Heechul doesn’t think it has anything to do with him not knowing what to pack.

“What happened was,” Heechul begins, they might have to wait a while for Sungmin so Heechul settles down to tell a story, he always did like a good story. “You challenged me to a fight.”

In some ways Heechul is glad of the events that followed. If their fight had proceeded them it’s likely Zhou Mi would have taken Heechul’s head. Zhou Mi was older, more experienced. Not that Heechul would ever admit this to anyone other than himself.

“It was a good fight too,” Heechul continues. “A real epic battle. We were in a large field a wild area just outside of Seoul. It was the middle of the night and we thought we were unobserved. There were no other Immortals in the area and no mortals were abroad.”

“Or so we thought.” Zhou Mi interjects dramatically, getting into the swing of the story.

“Or so we thought.” Heechul repeats. “Or so we thought, until we were both shot multiple times in the back, which by the way hurts like a bitch.”

“We died and the next thing we knew were waking up in what I assume were jail cells. We had fallen afoul of a band of Hunters.”

“Seasonings, you did not just say ‘fallen afoul’” Heechul laughs. It felt good to really laugh.

Zhou Mi hits him in the shoulder, a light, barely there punch. “Shut up, Chullie. I’m old, respect your elders.”

“What are Hunters?” Ryeowook asks suddenly appearing next to Heechul baring a tray laden with yet more food. Heechul tries not to scream out in shock at the kids’ stealthy appearance and he just about manages it. Heechul thinks that this kid would make a great watcher, he’s got that sneaking around thing down very well.

“Hunters are like Watchers, only evil.” Zhou Mi says it like it explains everything.

Kangin huffs out a sigh and looks at Heechul. “Do you mind if I field this one and then we can get back to talking about you.”

Heechul flips him off. “Go ahead asshole.”

“Fucking Princess.” Kangin retorts, he takes a deep breath. “Watchers.” Kangin begins. “Are an ancient secret society of mortals. They were founded in America then spread to Britain, the rest of Europe and across the West. It’s only in the last 100 years that previously closed countries like Korea and China have been inducted into the order.” Kangin stops talking. Heechul looks around at the group gathered around the table, they all look a little bored. Heechul’s a little bored now too, trust Kangin to bring the mood down with actual facts. Heechul thinks it might be fun to blow this all off and go outside to look for the Watcher following Zhou Mi and Henry. Fucking with Watcher’s heads is one of Heechul’s favourite things to do.

“Their job,” Kangin starts up again. Oh god, Heechul had hoped he was done. “Is to watch Immortals, record what we do, who we fight and when and how many of us are left.”

“We’re not actually supposed to know that they are there.” Zhou Mi says seriously. “But we all do, it’s not a very well kept secret.”

“Worst secret society ever.” Heechul cackles and Henry even cracks a smile.

“All they do is watch.” Kyuhyun says slowly like he doesn’t quite understand. Heechul thinks it’s pretty straight forward. Stupid, but straight forward.

“Yes,” Kangin says. “All they do is watch. Hunters on the other hand…”

“Hunt?” Kyuhyun supplies, incredulity and sarcasm drip from that one word.

“Yes,” Kangin says with a sigh. “Hunters are former Watchers who take issue with one of us one day ruling the world. They have dedicated themselves to hunting us down and killing us.”

“The undignified death.” Zhou Mi whispers.

“I don’t understand.” Jungsu says.

“When an Immortal fights and kills his opponent, the final death, then all that the losing Immortal is or was becomes a part of the winner. It’s a transfer of power we call a Quickening and it manifests as a lightening storm.” Kangin points out the window, points to the darkening sky. “Our essence will live on inside another Immortal so in a sense we will truly never die. But if our final death is at the hands of a mortal and there is no other Immortal around to take the quickening then we just end. That’s it.”

“Game over.” Zhou Mi breathes and Heechul knows that he is remembering when that was almost his fate. It was almost Heechul’s fate too. “It’s not a good way to go.”

There is silence for a few moments. “Chullie-ah.” Kangin says something. “We can go back to talking about you now.”

“Oh. Right, yes. Where were we?”

“We’d been shot to death.” Zhou Mi says, making a valiant effort to keep his voice light. “And the Hunters had us.”

“Yes. We woke up in the same cell but later they separated us because we couldn’t be close to each other when we died or else the quickening from the one who died first would kill any mortal present. Being a secret society they were big on ritual, all robes and masks and chanting. They had to strike the killing blow on the 13th hour when the moon was shining backwards or something stupid like that. Which was good for us because it gave Siwon time to come and save me.”

“Wait, how did Siwon know where you were? When was this?”

“Apparently Siwon had contacts within the Watchers who has spies in the Hunters and they told him what was going on. It took him a couple of days but he came for me. I insisted that we go back for Zhou Mi, I couldn’t just leave him there.” Heechul pauses, thinks. “This was back in 1938, I think.”

“Wait, Siwon ventured forth from the bat cave sometime during this century and no one told me?”

“It was to save me so he kind of had to and you weren’t exactly easy to get hold of back then, Youngwoon.” Heechul pauses again, looks around the table, grins a little sadistically. “Feel like sharing with the class your whereabouts?”

Kangin looks up, looks at Jungsu. “Not really.” He says

“Where was he?” Henry asks, genuinely curious, his Korean is faltering but serviceable.

“Jail.” Heechul says succinctly. “In Mexico, followed by a stint in the foreign legion.” Heechul laughs. “Do you want to share what you did to warrant it?”

Kangin sighs, stands up from the table, walks away. “No.” He says. “And if you say anything it will be the last thing you ever do, Chullie-ah.”

Heechul thinks that this time Kangin might actually mean it. He pouts, just a little.

“How long have you had a Watcher, Seasonings?”

Zhou Mi thinks about this for a while. “This one is new, he has only been watching us for a few weeks. But I have had others in the past. This is Henry’s first Watcher.”

“I’m so happy.” Henry dead pans.

“Youngwoon has a Watcher too.” Heechul says loudly enough so that Kangin can hear him from the other end of the room. “How is Jon-”

“Don’t say his name.” Kangin shouts back. “I managed to lose the little shit in Honolulu last year, if you say his name it’s like a homing beacon to him and he’ll find me again. So shut it, Chullie-ah.”

“I’m ready to go now.” Sungmin says and Heechul wonders just how long the kid has been standing there in the doorway. Wonders if he’s heard all that they have been saying. The kid is standing there holding his back pack in front of himself like a shield, scared, unsure.

“Would you like me to come with you, Minnie-ah?” Jungsu asks and Sungmin looks like he desperately wants to say yes, but he just shakes his head.

“No Hyung, I’ll be ok.”

“Let’s go then.” Kangin says and as he passes Jungsu on the way to the door he reaches out and gently squeezes Jungsu’s shoulder. He leans in close and whispers something in Jungsu’s ear. Jungsu seems to relax a little, not much, but a little.

As they leave Heechul swears he sees a flash of something, a brief glimpse of almost white hair.

“Mimi.” Heechul says, surveying the empty streets. “Do you always know when your Watcher is following you?”

Zhou Mi nods. “He does make it obvious.”

Heechul looks again at the empty street, nothing moves at all.

“Ever think he might be doing it on purpose?” Heechul asks as they walk on.

“Huh?”

“your Watcher, ever think he might let you know he is there so that you’ll let your guard down when you think he’s not around?” Zhou Mi jut blinks at him, Heechul smiles fondly. “No, Seasonings. Of course you wouldn’t. Just how is it you’ve managed to live this long?”

Heechul pauses for one last look behind him. Still, nothing stirs.

||

The kitchen is ready to take orders, the bar is open but still no one comes. Jungsu isn’t surprised, not really. Disheartened, yes, but not surprised. Before this, before this situation, whatever this situation was, business had been down. Not bad exactly, they were getting by, but it hadn’t been good. In this neighbourhood they were doing as well as could be expected.

But tonight there was no one, not even Shindong showed up for his shift and he never missed a chance to eat Ryeowook’s food. Jungsu didn’t really blame him, this whole thing is too weird and Shindong has nothing to lose by cutting and running.

“Hi.” Hyukjae says cheerfully, walking through the door as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Jungsu is a little taken aback, he’d momentarily forgotten that Hyukjae was due to work that night too. Jungsu knows he has more staff than he actually needs, but like Sungmin said to him once, he just can’t help picking up the strays. Jungsu knows that if he hadn’t given Hyukjae a job, albeit part time, and introduced him to his friend who runs the dance studio, then it’s likely that Hyukjae would be out on the streets. He had no one else, but at least here Hyukjae has something he can call a family.

“Hyukkie!” Donghae yells out happily and he runs, throws himself into Hyukjae’s arms. Hyukjae stumbles back a little in the wake of the force of a stampeding Donghae. “I am so happy to see you.”

“Me too, Hae.”

“I have had the weirdest day.” They both say in perfect unison. They look at each other and laugh and Jungsu feels something tug at his gut. Jealousy? Maybe. It’s been a long time since someone looked at him like that.

“You go first.” Donghae says and he casts a look over at Jungsu. “I think my day will take a while to go through.”

Oh god, Jungsu realizes that Hyukjae doesn’t know. About any of it. It feels like forever since Hyukjae was last here, Jungsu can’t believe all that’s happened since. A small part of Jungsu doesn’t want to tell Hyukjae at all, he just wants to have someone that doesn’t have to be burdened by this.

“The strangest guy came into the studio this morning.” Hyukjae says. He slides into a bar stool, Donghae pulls up another one and they sit close together, lean in close to each other. Hyukjae looks tired, they all do. “No one else showed up to class and I was just practicing by myself when this guy comes in. He seemed cool at first.” Hyukjae wrinkles his nose in distaste. “He said he was looking to join a class so I was telling him all about the different programmes we do and then…” His voice falters. “And then he started going on about silver threads that were floating in the air and that we were all connected. He said he and I were connected by a thread but he didn’t know why and that it was interesting. He said I was connected to this freaky weather.” Hyukjae gestures out the window to the now completely darkened sky, illuminated occasionally by brief flashes of lightening. “Then he said he would see me around and then he left. I swear, though, he followed me part of the way home.”

“That is so weird.” Donghae says as he gently starts to rub Hyukjae’s back. “How do you know he was following you?”

“I don’t know, I just had this weird feeling, like I was being watched.” Hyukjae shudders and then he shakes himself like he’s shaking off a bad memory. “I’m hungry.” He says and looks at Jungsu a little sheepishly.

“Jungsu smiles. “Go into the kitchen, Ryeowook is trying something new, taste it and tell him what you think of it. And then come back here…we have a lot to tell you.” Jungsu looks over at Donghae. Donghae doesn’t look happy anymore.

Hyukjae senses the tension. “Ok, Hyung.” He says softly. “Is everything ok?”

“Fine, Hyukkie-ah.” Jungsu says, gently patting Hyukjae’s arm. “Go eat.”

Hyukjae gets up and walks off and at first Donghae makes to get up and follow but then he decides to stay where he is. They both sit there in silence for a few minutes until the bell over the door tinkles, the door opens and someone walks in.

“Customer!” Donghae says a little too excitedly, he jumps up, starts rooting through his apron pocket for his order pad, goes to greet the customer. “Welcome to Leeteuk’s.” He says. “Please sit where you like.”

The customer smiles and his smile is dazzling. White, perfect and yet slightly off. Jungsu feels a jolt of unease as he watches the customer take a seat by the door. Donghae hovers over him and Jungsu cringes a little. He’s still working on getting Donghae to seat the customer and then move back until he’s asked for.

“Teukie Hyung!” Hyukjae says, coming back into the bar his mouth still crammed with food. “Wookie’s new dish is amazing, you have to put it on the menu it might…oh.” Hyukjae’s voice trails off as he sees the new person sitting at a table. “It’s you.”

“Hello Hyukjae.” The customer says with a smile. Jungsu notes that the smile doesn’t reach his eyes.

“Uh.” Hyukjae stammers. “This is Kibum, he came to the studio today.”

“Yes,” Kibum says, his voice soft, almost dreamy. “We had such a nice conversation this morning that I just had to see you again. You’re very special Hyukjae, you could almost say that you were chosen.”

Jungsu feels something in his chest constrict. No no no no no no, he thinks. Not Hyukjae too.

“Were you following me?”

“Yes.” Kibum says simply. “I followed the threads most of the way. Do you see them yet, Hyukjae? Do you know?” Kibum casts his eyes around the room. “They’re everywhere, all of you.” He points at Jungsu, points to the back rooms where Kyuhyun and Ryeowook are. “All connected. Interesting. But yes, I followed you.” Kibum grins manically, looks at Donghae “Followed you home, like a puppy.”

“Donghae.” Jungsu says, fighting to keep the alarm out of his voice. “Why don’t you go give Ryeowookie a hand in the kitchen? I’m sure I can take care of Kibum-sshi’s order.”

“Donghae,” Kibum says slowly, rolling the name around his mouth. “How about you don’t.” In a move quicker than Jungsu can follow Kibum is up from his seat and he gets a hold of Donghae, one arm around his waist the other around his throat. “How about you stay right here.”

“DONGHAE!”

“Let him go!”

Hyukjae and Jungsu both shout at the same time. Donghae and Kibum are just about even in size but Kibum is faster and stronger. Donghae struggles in his grip.

“What’s the shouting about?” Kyuhyun says, coming in from the back rooms. “HEY!” He shouts when he sees Kibum and Donghae, he starts forward.

Kibum tightens his grip on Donghae’s neck. “Oh no you don’t, Stretch.” He says. “You stay there.”

Kyuhyun stills. Kibum cocks his head to one side as if listening to something. “Ahh,” he says, sounding almost disappointed. “I hear the pitter patter of Immortal feet. But be they friend or foe I do not know. Not ready for a fight.” Kibum nuzzles at Donghae’s neck. “Not ready for a fight right now. Can’t stop to chat.” Kibum lets go of Donghae’s waist, reaches into his pocket, pulls out a knife, holds it up for Donghae to see. “Shiny.” He whispers into Donghae’s ear.

Jungsu feels like he’s stopped breathing, the world starts to move in terrible slow motion. Oh no no no no, he think. No no no no.

“I will see you around, Hyukjae.” Kibum says and he throws the knife. It hits Hyukjae square in the chest. Blood blooms bright and red and spills over Hyukjae’s shirt. Hyukjae stumbles back, falls, hits the ground with a dull thud, doesn’t move again.

“Hyukjae!” Jungsu hears Donghae scream be he doesn’t see him, can’t see him. His vision dulls, blots out all light, blots out everything but the red of Hyukjae’s blood as it spreads over the floor.

Jungsu hears shouts, he hears some call his name. He’s not sure how long he stands there, hours maybe days, but he eventually feels arms around him. Strong arms, warm, safe and familiar. His vision clears, awareness returns. Kangin is holding him, Donghae and the stranger—Kibum—are gone.

“Jungsu, what happened?” Kangin asks and for a moment Jungsu can’t answer. He looks around wildly, clutches at Kangin’s arm. He sees Kyuhyun, Zhou Mi has his arms around him. He sees Ryeowook huddled in the corner by the bar. He sees Henry and Heechul holding up their swords, the look fierce, terrifying. No Donghae.

“Killed Hyuk.” Jungsu manages to sputter out. “Took Donghae.”

“Who. Jungsu, who did this?”

“I don’t know.” Jungsu’s voice is barely even a whisper.

“Another Immortal was here.” Heechul says. “He’s not quite out of range yet he…no, can’t be.” Heechul takes off running, Kangin makes to follow but Jungsu doesn’t want to let go.

“Chullie-ah, Wait!”

“Stay here, Youngwoon.” Heechul says forcefully and then he is gone.

Jungsu hears Zhou Mi call out “Henli! Wait!” Jungsu doesn’t look up to see where the young Immortal went. He looks down at Hyukjae and he feels like breaking down.

“No no no no.” Jungsu whimpers. “No.”

“Shhh.” Kangin whispers, he pulls Jungsu close, holds him tighter. “I’m sorry.” He says over and over. “I’m so sorry. I’m…you have got to be kidding me.”

Kangin pulls away. Jungsu follows Kangin’s gaze down to where Hyukjae lies still. Kangin reaches down, pulls the knife from Hyukjae’s chest.

Hyukjae opens his eyes, sits up, looks around, blinks slowly. He looks down at his shirt now completely stained red, he looks down at the pool of blood he’s lying in.

“What just happened?” He asks everyone and no one. “What’s going on?”

Lightening flashes across the sky, brilliant, bright and close. Too close.

“Oh no.” Kangin breathes. “Oh no.”

…end chapter five.

A/N: Wow, huge info dump and a cliffhanger. Um....yay?

1) While I have always known where I am going with this whole thing, I now finally know how long it will take me to get there. Four more chapters and an epilogue after this.

2) Two long awaited things will happen next chapter. Tune in next week to find out what they are.

SUPER JUNIOR FIC: As the crow flies chapter four/Nine [R, various pairings]

2010-08-06T22:37:07Z

Title: As The Crow Flies Chapter Four
Author: Selena
Rating: R
Pairing: Eventual: Kangin/Leeteuk [main], Heechul/Han Geng [main], Eunhyuk/Donghae, Siwon/Sungmin, Kyuhyun/Zhou Mi, Yesung/Ryeowook.
Warnings: Angst, drama, sex, violence, character death
Word count: This Chapter = 3, 550
Summary: Immortals, they fight for the right and the power to rule the earth. The gathering has started and group of mortals are in the wrong place at the wrong time, getting pulled into a bloody battle and becoming pawns in a sadistic game.
A/N: Loosely based on the Highlander TV series.

Prologue / Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three

As the crow flies

Chapter Four: Two more mysterious strangers walk into a bar…Ouch, that must have hurt.

Jungsu wakes with the feeling of having had the strangest dream. And a hard on. Neither sensation is an unusual morning occurrence, and the idea that they might be connected isn‘t either, but this time it feels different. Jungsu lies still for a few minutes, trying to sort through the thoughts floating through his head. He doesn’t remember exactly what he was dreaming about but he has vague impressions of strong arms and a warm tongue. Touching, tasting. He remembers the salt of sweat on skin, the feel of teeth clashing together in desperate need. He lies there until the pressure in his groin becomes too much and he has to find relief and find it now.

He hopes that the hour is still early enough for there to be no one else awake. It’s a meagre light that filters through the curtained windows, almost like it’s close to dawn but not quite there yet. Jungsu doesn’t think it’s an accurate reading of the time though. Doesn’t know if it’s just before dawn or it’s a while after and this gathering storm Heechul and Kangin talked about is stealing daylight. The clock on his night stand reads 8:27 pm. It’s stopped. Jungsu isn’t sure, but he thinks that might be the time Kangin walked into the bar last night.

He listens carefully, hears only muffled sighs and snores. The house is silent, still. He makes a break for the bathroom.

His skin, it feels hot, tight, like it’s not his own. He hasn’t felt like this since he was in his teens. He has that need, that need to get off quickly, now now now. He starts the shower running, strips out of the faded sweatpants he wore to bed, waits for the water to warm a little before stepping in.

When he touches himself he doesn’t want to think about Kangin, but he can’t help it. He thinks about the way it felt when Kangin held him the other night, the look in Kangin’s eyes, the way it might feel if Kangin pushed him down and…

Jungsu comes. Hard. When he whispers Kangin’s name it almost sounds like a prayer.

*

He tries to keep quiet as he walks back through the house, but his legs feel shaky in the wake of his orgasm. He should have stayed in the bathroom longer, collected himself, but he didn’t want to stay there. He needed to go, needed to move, needed to not be reminded of what he had just done. He passes the main room, the room Kangin stayed in last night. The door is open and the bedding neatly folded, Kangin is nowhere is sight. Jungsu feels something in his stomach constrict, tighten and release. Maybe it was all just a dream. One long, fucked up dream. He passes Sungmin and Kyuhyun’s room, he thinks he hears someone crying softly, thinks maybe it isn’t a dream after all.

He finds Kangin in the bar. Some tables and chairs have been pushed to one side, creating a decent sized space in the middle of the room. Jungsu watches—slightly breathless—as Kangin moves. He’s holding his sword in both his hands, he swings it through the air, gently, slowly, more gracefully than Jungsu would have thought him capable of. Kangin moves like he’s dancing to music only he can hear, moves like he’s dancing to a haunting, lilting melody. Beautiful. Deadly. He stands watching for a while, he tries to keep perfectly still, tries to not even breathe, he doesn’t want to move. Doesn’t want to disturb this moment.

Eventually Kangin stops, puts down his sword, opens his eyes, looks at Jungsu.

“Morning.” Jungsu says. His voice comes out faint, a little horse. He coughs and tries again. “Morning.”

“Morning.” Kangin says with a smile. Kangin’s smile is warm and Jungsu feels something in his heart trip.

“Hungry?” Jungsu asks. He wonders if he is going to be able to talk in complete sentences any time soon.

“A little.”

“Breakfast?”

“please.”

The bars kitchen doubles up as the house kitchen. The rooms above the bar are basic, one main living area, one bathroom, and three bedrooms. It’s small, maybe too small to house five grown men, but Jungsu likes it. It’s cosy. It’s home. Jungsu heads to the kitchen, Kangin follows close behind. Too close, Jungsu can feel Kangin’s breath on his neck. He’s too close, far too close. Jungsu jumps when he feels Kangin’s hand on his shoulder. Startled he turns around and backs up till his back is against something solid, he thinks it might be the refrigerator but he’s not really thinking all that clearly right now.

“Sorry,” Kangin says, his voice is contrite but his expression shows he is anything but. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s all right..I” Jungsu’s train of thought falls away as Kangin moves in yet closer, this is a bad idea but Jungsu doesn’t make to move away.

“Hyung?” Donghae’s voice cuts through Jungsu’s frozen thoughts. Sleepy, a little disorientated, Donghae stands in the kitchen doorway, rubbing his eyes and looking younger than Jungsu had ever seen him.

“Hae?” Jungsu asks, worried. “Are you all right?”

“Couldn’t sleep.” Donghae mumbles as he shuffles into the room. Kangin moves back and away and Jungsu doesn’t know if he is glad of that or not. “What time is it?”

“It’s early, you should go back to bed.”

“Mmmm not tired.” Donghae says as he jumps up onto one of the stools around the large preparation table, rests arms and head on the cool surface, within seconds he’s snoring softly. Jungsu smiles and looks up to see Kangin laughing.

“Cute kid.” Kangin says with a smile.

Jungsu nods. “He’ll wake up when he smells food cooking. Let’s see what we have in the cupboards.” Jungsu starts to root through the cabinets, careful not to look at Kangin again, very careful not to invite anything.

||

There are sliver cords floating in the sky. They twist and turn and gather in clumps, some coarse like fresh picked cotton, some smooth and flighty like silk. Kibum tries to reach out and grasp them but his hand goes right through, they don’t really exist, he is sure of that, but they look so real. It’s like the cords form a rough trail, like the world is a maze and the cords lead the way out. They extend as far as he can see, passed the crumbled down old buildings, it’s like they’re leading somewhere. The silver cords lead and Kibum follows.

The streets are quiet, deserted. Kibum doesn’t like the world this way, it’s too peaceful, too eerily calm. He needs disaster, he needs people, needs the chaos of life. He thinks that he might travel to the main part of the city, away from the Gathering. He thinks he might like to find himself a little toy to play with. His last kill—phoenix—is only a few hours old, still fresh in his head, Phoenix's voice whispers in his ears, Phoenix's desires pull at him. Kibum wants to play, Phoenix wants to play.

The trail of sliver doesn’t end at the dance studio Kibum comes to, it goes further, stretching through the streets, around lamp posts, wrapping around trees and bushes and balconies. But Kibum hears that skip beat in his head, a light tap tap tapping on his consciousness and he stops. There are lights on in the dance studio, someone inside, Kibum thinks it might be someone special.

Kibum walks through the halls of the studio, peaking in room after empty room. Like every other place in this district the dance studio is run down, faded. But still, even empty, the place teams with life. Posters are pasted over every available surface, garish colours, smiling faces, uplifting words. Kibum would think it inspiring if it wasn’t so headache inducing. In the last room he looks in, Kibum finds a boy. The boy is dancing but there is no music playing. He has his back to the door that Kibum walks through, he’s facing the large mirror mounted on the wall, Kibum can see that the boy has his eyes closed. He’s counting beats in his head, working through an un-finalised routine, Kibum thinks it’s fascinating to watch. The boy moves with a fluid grace even as he stops and starts while he figures out the next step. Kibum doesn’t think he made any kind of sound but he must have done because the boy stops, opens his eyes, sees Kibum in the mirror. The boys smiles. It’s a strange smile, bright, friendly, genuine, but slightly lopsided, all gums and teeth.

“Hi.” Kibum says and he waves, a jerky little movement.

“Hi,” the boy says. He turns round in order to look at Kibum in person instead of backwards in the mirror. “I’m sorry but we’re sort of closed.”

“Sort of closed? How could you be sort of closed?”

The boys’ smile falters and looks at the ground, shuffles his feet.

“No one showed.” He says quietly, looking and sounding like a kicked puppy. He looks up again and this time his smile looks a little forced. “It’s probably the weather, freaky isn’t it? All the lightening” The boy starts to pack up his things, a water bottle, CD’s, a hoodie, he stuffs these things into a battered canvas bag. “If I’d known this class was going to get blown off I would have stayed in bed too.”

“My name’s Kibum.” Kibum says cheerfully. “I can’t dance but I think I’d like to learn.”

The boy straightens up and smiles, and his heart is back in that smile. “Well, Kibum, I’d like to teach you. Why don’t you come back tomorrow, the weather might have calmed down by then and everyone else will come back to class. It’s more fun when there is lots of people.”

“Oh I think,” Kibum says. “I think this storm might be around for a while.”

“Let’s hope not.” The boy throws his bag over his shoulder and ambles passed Kibum and towards the door. “Oh,” the boy says, turning on his heel and holding out his hand. “I’m Hyukjae, it’s good to meet you.”

||

“He won’t leave.” Kangin says to Heechul when he arrives. Heechul is mad, he’s all pissed off intensity and Kangin knows that the conversation with Siwon did not go Heechul’s way. Heechul doesn’t say anything, just huffs and folds his arms, sulking like a child.

They sit in the main part of the bar, Jungsu and the rest are going about their usual routine even though Kyuhyun complains—loudly—that there will be no customers to prepare for so why bother? Jungsu hasn’t talked to him, or even looked at him, since that thing this morning. That thing that makes his dick hard whenever he even thinks about thinking about it. So close. It was a clumsy attempt on his part but Jungsu didn’t push him away.

The others bustle around them. Kangin weathers some dark looks from Kyuhyun, he’s is starting to like that kid, just a little. They all try not to pay attention to Kangin and Heechul’s conversation. Sungmin, especially, was staying clear, like if they pretended they weren’t there, if this wasn’t happening, then it would all go away.

Kangin had tried to broach the subject of leaving the city with Sungmin to Jungsu earlier and had got the expected response.

“He won’t leave.” Kangin says again.

“Siwon said he probably wouldn’t” Heechul says and he actually pouts.

“What’s the matter?” Kangin asks and he feels a hint of a grin slip into his voice. There is something more to Heechul’s mood than a kid who didn’t get his way.

Heechul sighs dramatically and runs a hand through his hair. “Siwon said that the best place for the ‘dear little Potential’ is on Holy Ground. With him.”

“Ahh.” Kangin says, and he gets it. Heechul is jealous, that’s so cute. Kangin smiles, he can’t help it.

“It’s not funny, Youngwoon.”

“Grow up, Chullie-ah, you’re not his student anymore.”

“He said he wouldn’t teach anyone else after me. He said he was done with that as well as the Game.”

“Did you traumatize him that badly?”

“Fuck you.”

“He has a right to change his mind, Chul. Did he say he would be the kid’s teacher?”

Heechul pouts again, flips his hair, slumps lower in his seat.

“No, he didn’t even mention it.”

“Then what are you getting so worked up about?"

Heechul shrugs, he turns his head away, looks out the window, mutters something that sounds like "Siwon will be his teacher. That's the kind of man he is." Kangin follows Heechul's gaze out the window. The world through the glass is almost dark, like a permanent twilight. The storm, the Gathering, it’s in full swing now.

“All we have to do is convince them.” Kangin says and Heechul makes a soft sort of mewl in the back of his throat. “That’s going to be a fun conversation.”

*

“I’ll go.” Sungmin says quietly. He’s nervous, fidgety, he’s no longer comfortable in his own skin. Kangin can relate, well, almost. It’s hard having your whole world turned upside down this way.

“Hyung, no!” Kyuhyun, Ryeowook and Donghae all say in perfect unison. Kangin would think it was funny if they all didn’t look so sad, if Jungsu didn’t look so sad. Heechul snickers and Kangin kicks him under the table. Hard. Heechul kicks him back. Harder.

“It’s because of me that Teukie Hyung was attacked, those men wanted me. You would all be safer if I wasn’t here.”

“Then leave the city all together.” Heechul says. He says it quietly but Kangin still hears him, Sungmin still hears him.

“I can’t.” Sungmin says and he looks so frightened, he doesn’t want to leave his home, the only one he’s known. Kangin wishes he could relate to that.

“You’ll be safe on Holy Ground, Siwon and the Monks will keep you safe. You might think that they are all about pacifism but trust me, the very last thing you will want to do is piss off a Buddhist Monk”

“Who is this Siwon?” Kyuhyun demands. “How can we know to trust him?”

“He’s and old friend,” Kangin says. “He’s a very old Immortal, one of the oldest I have ever met. I trust him with my life, he’s saved it more times than I deserve. You’ll be safe with him.”

“Why is he on Holy Ground? Why isn’t he out playing the Game like you guys?” Sungmin asks, he winces after the words are out. He doesn’t really want to know the answer.

“That’s his business.” Heechul says and his voice comes out quick and harsh. He stops, takes a deep breath. “He’ll tell you if he wants.”

“Don’t go, Hyung.” Ryeowook says softly and the look in his eyes is heartbreaking.

“I have to, Ryeowookie.” Sungmin mutters not looking the younger boy in the eye. “I should go pack.” He gets up to go and just like last night his legs are shaky, he stumbles. Ryeowook reaches out with a slender hand—to help? To stop him from going?—Kangin isn’t sure. The look Ryeowook gives Kangin as Sungmin walks away is fearsome, but still almost impossible to take seriously coming from such a cute kid.

Silence descends on the table. Deep, awkward.

“Right.” Jungsu says with a forced brightness. “Who wants lunch?”

“It’s not lunch time, Hyung.” Kyuhyun says but Jungsu doesn’t seem to hear him. “Right good. Ryeowookie, why don’t you come help.” They get up to go. Jungsu looks back at Kangin, stops. “What is it?”

Kangin stands up. Raises his hand for quiet. He’s heard them first, Heechul is too deep in his sulk to notice at first but after a few minutes, once the Immortals have gotten a little closer Heechul hears them too. Kangin reaches for his sword but Heechul doesn’t, he just starts to look a little panicked.

“Who is it Chullie-ah?” Kangin asks. He tries to listen harder, hear through the buzzing noise in his head, tries to differentiate between the two tones he’s hearing. He can tell that one of the Immortals approaching the bar is very old. Very, very old. The other is just a baby, so, so young. “Chullie-ah?” Kangin asks again. Heechul shakes his head and backs away.

“I have to get out of here.” Heechul says and the panicked look he has turns towards desperation.

“Heechul!” Kangin says. “Who is it?” Kangin feels worry tugging at his gut, he looks over at Jungsu, always at Jungsu. Jungsu’s expression is tight, scared. “Go into the back.” Kangin says to him.

“No, it’s okay.” Heechul says. “You guys stay here, I have to go. Is there a back door? I need a back door.”

Wordlessly Jungsu points out to the back rooms, Heechul scrambles to get over there, but he’s too late. The door to the bar opens with a crash and a tall, gangly, Chinese man stalks through.

“HEECHUL!” The man screeches. This is the old Immortal that Kangin sensed. The younger, baby, Immortal follows close behind him. God, the kid is young. Just a baby when he had his first death and that can’t have been more than a few years ago.

“Oh god!” Heechul says and he tries to make a break for it. The tall man closes the distance between them in just a few long strides and suddenly Heechul is enveloped in a very enthusiastic hug. Kangin stares and then he starts to laugh. Heechul says something that comes out as a muffled press of words as he is clutched to the man’s chest. The man ignores him and just hugs Heechul tighter. The kid, the baby Immortal comes to stand next to Kangin. He’s so young, too young to know that he shouldn’t let his guard down around any Immortal. The kid looks over to where his companion is trying to squeeze all the life out of Heechul and he shakes his head.

“Heechul!” The tall man says. “Oh Heechul, I am so sorry! It‘s going to be awful”

Kangin doesn’t know what is going to be so awful…well Heechul‘s reaction to being touched so in public is going to be awful but Kangin doesn’t think that’s what the stranger is referring too. He must have released his grip on Heechul slightly because Heechul is able to—eventually—extract himself.

“Seasonings.” Heechul says. “Let go of me.”

“Seasonings?” Kangin asks raising an eyebrow.

“Youngwoon,” Heechul says, his face is flushed, his hair is a mess. “This is Zhou Mi.”

Zhou Mi smiles and it’s an impossibly big smile, all teeth and dimples and guilelessness. Kangin wonders how this guy has managed to live as long has he has.

“Hi,” Zhou Mi says. His Korean is flawless with only the hint of an accent. “Henli.” He says pointing at the baby Immortal.

“Hen-RY” Henry says.

“Hen-li” Zhou Mi tries to say. The word doesn’t roll easily of his tongue.

“Close enough.” Henry heaves out a long suffering sigh, throws himself onto a bar stool. Zhou Mi blinks at him and that smile just gets wider. “This is what I have to put up with.” Henry says in English to no one in particular.

“American?” Donghae says and he sounds cheerful for the first time since this morning.

“Canadian.” Henry says flatly. Donghae just blinks at him. Henry just shakes his head and covers his face with his hand.

“Ahhhh” Ryeowook cries, jumping back and clutching at Jungsu’s sleeve.

“What is it, Ryeowookie?” Jungsu asks kindly, gently patting Ryeowook on the arm. Jungsu’s voice is patient, like dealing with a hysterical Ryeowook is a daily occurrence.

“There was a face, in the window. Someone was looking in.”

“Oh he’s ok.” Zhou Mi says, he slides onto the stool beside Henry and merrily taps a tune on the surface of the bar. “He’s our watcher, he’s been following us since we left Beijing.”

“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Heechul says and his sulk seems to be forgotten in favour of indignation. “Watcher’s are supposed to be unobtrusive, little fucking ninjas. What are they teaching them in Watchers school these days.”

“Zhou Mi likes to pretend he doesn’t know he’s there. He’s afraid of hurting the boy’s feelings.” Henry says.

Kangin thinks it’s a little weird to hear this child call anyone a boy.

“Well that’s stupid.” Heechul says. “How is he going to learn if you let him think he’s doing his job properly?”

“Chullie-ah, where are you going?”

“To teach Watcher boy a lesson.”

“Chullie-ah, wait.” But it’s too late, Heechul is off up and outside.

“What’s a Watcher?” Jungsu asks.

“We haven’t got that far yet, there is still a lot we have to tell you.” Kangin says and he feels regret at the wan look on Jungsu’s face.

“He’s gone.” Heechul says as he walks back inside. Heechul is pouting again, like he’s been deprived of a wonderful toy. “And I have no idea where he went.”

…End Chapter Four

SUPER JUNIOR FIC: In order to break even (you gotta break the rules) [PG-13, Kangin/Leeteuk]

2010-08-04T14:17:53Z

Title: In order to break even (you gotta break the rules)
Author: Selena
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Kangin/Leeteuk
Word count: 1, 059
Warnings: Very slight angst
Summary: AU, a cop a thief, a little help from the wrong side of the tracks.
A/N: Backwards story telling style. Written for kpop_prompts where I claimed Super Junior \o/ Prompt #17 Broken help. My prompt list can be found here.

Counting backwards from ten

10.

Jungsu doesn’t want to leave, but Leeteuk has too. It’s never fair.

He looks at the man lying in the bed. Looks at the way he’s sprawled ungracefully, comfortable, vulnerable. Sometimes, Jungsu thinks he could fall in love with this man. Jungsu thinks this but Leeteuk knows it’s a bad idea.

His life, it’s never fair.

Leeteuk leaves but a part of Jungsu always stays behind.

They sleep together for the first time when Leeteuk sneaks in through Youngwoon’s window. All he wanted was to tell Youngwoon that the job was done, he could have knocked on the door, but where would the fun have been in that. Leeteuk catches Youngwoon in bed alone. The hour is late (or early) and Youngwoon is in the throws of one hell of a dream. The name on Youngwoon’s lips is “Jungsu”. He whispers the name, moans it, calls it out and it’s Jungsu that slips into bed beside him. Leeteuk fades into the background like a thief in the night, because - really - that’s all he is.

There is this guy. Evil. Smart. Too smart to get caught. Youngwoon wants Leeteuk to go in and provide something for the cops to find next time they raid his place of business.

If Leeteuk does this then the charges against Donghae will disappear. Then Youngwoon will forget he knows Leeteuk’s face, will forget he knows where Leeteuk lives.

Jungsu isn’t sure he wants Youngwoon to forget. Leeteuk thinks it’s for the best.

Plant evidence. That’s what Youngwoon wants Jungsu - no Leeteuk - to do. Leeteuk tries to explain that he’s a thief. He takes things away from a scene, he doesn’t add things, that’s not the way it works. Youngwoon doesn’t seem to think there is much of a difference.

“I can make your friends problem go away.” Kim Youngwoon says to him.

Jungsu wasn’t even aware that he was being followed. Leeteuk thinks he might be getting to old for this game if this ungainly young man can get the better of him.

“Really?” Jungsu asks, unimpressed.

“Yeah, but I’ll need something in return.”

“Of course you will.”

Youngwoon smiles. Leeteuk thinks Youngwoon has a pretty smile, warm and welcoming. When Youngwoon smiles like that Jungsu thinks he might do just about anything Youngwoon wants. Leeteuk knows he’s being an idiot.

At the police station he doesn’t expect to run into Kim Youngwoon who’s stuck working desk duty on the night shift now. He doesn’t expect it but he should have because his life is never fair and it’s a police station and Youngwoon is a cop. His life, it’s never fair.

“Fuck.” Jungsu curses - he’s still Jungsu now, Leeteuk wouldn’t be caught near a police station. There used to be a time when he thought Leeteuk would never be caught at all.

Jungsu stares at him.

Youngwoon stares back.

Donghae gets out on bail.

Heechul doesn’t like being woken up at this time. Jungsu thinks he’s a pretty shitty lawyer but he’s a pretty good friend.

He gets the phone call at three am. Instantly he is awake and panicked, three am is never a good time to get a phone call. Someone is either, injured, dead or in jail.

It’s Donghae. He’s in jail.

Don’t get caught.

“Why did you call me?” Jungsu mumbles sleepily into the phone - he’s still Jungsu now, he hasn’t let Leeteuk out to play since he encountered Kim Youngwoon. “You only get one phone call, you should have called your lawyer.”

Donghae sniffles, he’s scared, he’s young. “Heechul hyung will be mad at me.”

“Hae, I’m mad at you.”

“But you won’t shout at me. Will you call him for me? Will you come here?”

It’s a bad idea, such a bad idea. But Jungsu pushes himself out of bed anyway.

Don’t get caught.

That’s the first thing Jungsu learns. He learns this before he becomes Leeteuk.

Don’t get caught.

It’s the first lesson that any of them learn. It’s a lesson he thought he had learned well. It’s a lesson that not all of them take to heart.

“Kim Youngwoon.” Kibum drawls. He slaps a photo down on the table where Jungsu is working. He is Jungsu now, he leaves Leeteuk far behind when the sun comes up. The photo Kibum has acquired is grainy but serviceable, it’s a blurry close up of the man Leeteuk met last night, the one Jungsu can’t stop thinking about this morning.

Sometimes Jungsu thinks his life is never fair.

“He’s been on your tail for a while Leeteuk.” Kibum puts extra emphasis on his other name, his stage name.

“Then why did he just let me go?”

Kibum shrugs. “I don’t know, Su-ah, maybe he thought you were too cute to go to jail.”

“Don’t be an ass.”

“Don’t get caught. You know how this works.

Jungsu nods. Yeah, he knows.

Leeteuk stares the cop down, stares into the barrel of the gun. The cop doesn’t waver but neither does Leeteuk. Beneath the mask he wears Leeteuk smiles, it’s a slow, sly, knowing smile. He waits for the cop to do something, anything. For his arms to get tired, for him to blink. He can’t hold that gun up forever.

The cop - a young man, too young - puts up his hands, hold out his gun, places it on a table.

This, this Leeteuk was not expecting.

He also wasn’t expecting the cop to charge at him, but charge at him the cop does.

They land in a heap, a tangle of limbs, Leeteuk on the bottom, the weight of the young cop pressing down on him. His mask is ripped away, the cop is non too gentle, Leeteuk feels strands of his hair come away as the cop grabs the flimsy material and pulls.

Leeteuk knows he has a pretty face, he is all angelic innocence, his face has got him into and out of a lot of trouble. He smiles shyly, bats his eye lashes. It’s a long shot, he doesn’t expect the cop to fall for it, fall for his act, fall for him.

He is surprised when that’s just what the cop does.

.end