He shuddered slightly, cold air prickling his skin as he made his way down the hall. He’d packed everything Sungmin had given him, plus a new shirt and pants for Jaejoong, into a small bag that was now hanging from his shoulder. He had also packed a change of clothes for that other kid. Whoever he was.
As Changmin rounded a corner, he came up short when he saw a young, attractive woman trying to simply pull the door open. Her back was to him and she hadn’t seemed to notice his presence in the hall yet.
Changmin furrowed his brow as he watched her, pretty brown hair pulled back and petite frame clad in jeans and a purple t-shirt. She looked very attractive from the back…but why was she trying to get into the cell in the first place?
“You do know that it’s locked, right?” Changmin broke the silence, lifting his eyebrows slightly when she startled at the suddenness of his appearance.
“Oh…I…You…I was just…” She trailed off and bit her bottom lip slightly, brow crinkled in a look of embarrassed concern.
“What are you doing here?” She finally asked, seeming to have decided to ignore Changmin’s question.
“Me? Oh I’m here to take care of the prisoners. So what about you?” He questioned easily, bringing the topic back around to her. He would find out what she had been doing outside of Jaejoong’s cell.
“I just wanted to see them.” She finally sighed, shoulders slumping to show her defeat. “I was afraid that Junsu would be missing me a lot.” She seemed to be confiding in him, but Changmin wasn’t really sure if she had just revealed some great secret or not.
“Why do you look so guilty?” He questioned, not fully trusting her answer yet.
“I’m not supposed to be down here because one of them got out while I was visiting once.” She sighed, looking as if her annoyance was just a cover to hide her embarrassment.
“Ah, well you can come in with me.” He brandished the key with a dramatic swish of his wrist, earning himself a shocked and excited smile from the small female.
“How did you get a key?”
“I’m the one who will be taking care of the prisoners from now on.” Changmin supplied easily as he moved forward and slid the key into the slot. “What’s your name?”
“Oh, I’m Kwon Boa.” She flashed him a brief smile before her face fell into a look of inquiry. “What about you? What’s your name?” She brushed back a few loose strands of hair as she spoke, brow furrowed as she examined him.
“Changmi…..er….Robert Conner.” Changmin had to keep himself from wincing as he nearly blurted out his real name. Thankfully the door clicked open and stopped her from asking what questions it was that she wanted to ask.
Changmin tensed as he walked in the room, eyes immediately darting over to the corner. Would Jaejoong recognize him today? What if he did? Changmin felt panic grip at his heart as he realized the bad position he’d just put himself in. Jaejoong, if he saw Changmin, probably wasn’t going to keep understand the need to act like he didn’t know Changmin.
“Oh goodness.” Boa breathed in a tear voice as she walked into the cell and saw Jaejoong, still laying on the floor where Changmin had left him, body sweaty and dirty. He was pale and lifeless looking, as if he was hardly holding onto his remaining strands of life.
“What’s wrong with him?” Her voice quivered as she moved closer to him, completely ignoring the happy whimpers of the boy at her side.
“Looks as if they whipped him.” Oh he had to work so hard to keep the vindictive anger out of his voice; had to work so hard to keep himself from running over and pushing that Boa girl away from Jaejoong’s trembling body.
“Oh Jaejoong.” She breathed as she knelt on the floor next to him, her small hand coming to rest on his shoulder. “He’s burning up.” Her voice trembled as she took her hand away, turning dark, tear-filled eyes on Changmin.
“That is what usually happens when someone gets an infection.” He tried to keep that accusatory tone out of his voice as he moved farther into the cell.
“Junsu, did you put sand all over his back?” Boa questioned, turning her gaze towards the subdued boy that was sitting on the floor next to her.
He nodded his head, eyes cast towards the ground. “Bad blood.”
“Oh Junsu, how could you do this to him? He needs to have a bath, we’ll never get all the sand out of his wounds with just a towel and water.” She directed the last part at Changmin, eyebrows lifted in an expectant gesture. “Give Junsu his food and whatever else you brought him, and then I’m ordering you to help me get Jaejoong to your bathroom so we can clean him up.” Her eyes were dark with anger now, as if she viewed Changmin as the one who had inflicted those four, ugly gashes along Jaejoong’s flawless skin.
Despite feeling slightly taken aback by her demand, he quickly set about unpacking Junsu’s change of clothing and food from the bag. He tossed the wrapped sandwich and bottle of what to the floor on top of the stack of clothing he’d brought. “Okay, I’m ready.” He breathed softly as he moved forward and knelt next to Boa. “Should we really be doing this?” He asked, feeling a bit worried about what would happen if he got caught taking Jaejoong, a prisoner, to his room.
“It’s fine because I’m with you. Besides, if we don’t get him clean, he could very well die from this infection.” She gestured to his back were the wounds had begun to swell around the edges and some of them were seeping puss that was quickly turning the sand into a type of sticky blanket of Jaejoong’s back.
“Can you get him alone, or do you need my help?” She asked softly before turning to embrace Junsu softly.
“I can get him.” Changmin responded as he watched Boa gently stroke the other boy’s hair, a gentle, motherly smile on her face. She really was odd.
“I missed you, Junsu.”
“We missed Boa.” Junsu whimpered as he clung onto Boa’s small frame, eyes watering with tears. “My friends said you…never come back to.”
“I will always find a way to come and visit you, Junsu. I love you.” She said it like a mother would say to her small child, her hands stroking over his dirty hair as if he were the most loveable thing on earth.
“I love you, Boa.” He sobbed, nuzzling his head into her thin shoulder. “Please don’t go.”
“I have to go, Junsu, or Jaejoong is going to die. You don’t want him to die, do you?” She asked, forcing Junsu to step back and meet her gaze.
He shook his head no and took a step back, giving Boa enough room to leave.
She turned and looked towards Changmin, who had hefted Jaejoong off the ground and thrown him across his shoulder.
“You don’t think there’s a better way to hold him?” She questioned, eyes pinned on Jaejoong’s head hanging against Changmin’s back.
“I don’t want to touch his back; It will just cause him more pain.” Changmin supplied as he began to move towards the exit, Jaejoong’s diminished weight hardly seeming to bother his body. Had he always been this thin? Changmin wondered as he made his way through the door and began to trek down the hall, Boa following close behind him.
=--------------------------------------=
Ten minutes later found them in Changmin’s room, a tub full of steamy water waiting for Jaejoong.
“I have some aspirin in my room, do you think that would help?” Boa questioned as she looked down at Jaejoong’s small body lying on Changmin’s bed.
“It couldn’t hurt.” Changmin responded as he moved back into the main room, shirt falling to the floor as he spoke. “I’m going to take him into the shower first to get off the sand before I put him in the tub. So it’s probably better than you’re not here.” Changmin would have offered a teasing smile at that a moment, but the atmosphere in the room seemed far too tense for either of them to be making jokes.
“Right.” Boa blushed slightly and looked away. “I’ll come back I ten minutes with the medicine.” She stammered slightly as she turned and began to inch her way towards the door.
Changmin cracked a slight smile at her reaction. Oh yes, he was still just had handsome and irresistible as he’d always been.. “Okay then.” He called as the door to his room shut.
He strode forward and locked it, not wanting to be interrupted by unwelcome guests.
After securing the door, Changmin gently picked Jaejoong up, trying not to let the other boy’s soft whimpers of pain tear at his heart. Jaejoong was going to be okay. He kept telling himself that, but his mind kept pulling up images of Jaejoong the first time he’d seen Changmin two days ago. He hadn’t even wanted to believe that Changmin was real. How were things ever going to go back to normal after this?
After letting the water in the shower warm slightly, Changmin stepped in, setting Jaejoong on his feet but keeping him close to give him support.
The water washed over them, eating away at the caked dirt on Jaejoong’s back and returning his skin to the healthy pink shade it had been so many weeks ago.
Changmin sighed softly and turned Jaejoong so he was directly under the spray. He knew it probably didn’t feel all that great to have hot water pounding against his open skin, but all of the sand needed to get out.
“Please don’t.” Jaejoong whimpered, wrapping his arms around Changmin’s waist in an attempt to pull himself out of the stream of water.
“Oh, shit.” Changmin breathed as he felt his body begin to respond to the feel of Jaejoong’s supple body pressed so close. To make it worse, Jaejoong was shifting now, unintentionally rubbing his thigh against Changmin’s awakening arousal.
“Oh gosh, don’t do this to me.” He growled at his body, shutting his eyes and Jaejoong nestled his face into the crook of Changmin’s shoulder with a gentle whimper.
He felt so bad for getting aroused right now, but he and Jaejoong had always had a very sexual relationship, so what else was his body supposed to think when Jaejoong was pressed so close?
“I am such an evil pig.” Changmin berated himself as he quickly brushed the remaining sand from Jaejoong’s back and shut the water off.
Jaejoong let out a huff of relieved air, grip slackening around Changmin’s body.
“Do you know who this is, Jaejoong?” Changmin asked, hating the husky tone in his voice. He just wanted to know if Jaejoong even understood what was going on.
“Omma?” Jaejoong whimpered slightly, grip tightening again.
Omma? In what way did he feel like a woman to Jaejoong? He wondered with slight indignation.
“It’s the fever.” He whispered to himself as he lifted Jaejoong bridal style and stepped out of the shower, the cool air prickling at his skin.
After testing the water for heat, Changmin gently lowered Jaejoong into the tub before grabbing his robe and wrapping it around his body. He nearly moaned from the feeling of the fabric sliding over his hyper-sensitive skin.
After taking a moment to regain himself, Changmin set about gentle rubbing shampoo into Jaejoong’s hair. It had thankfully gotten wet in the shower, so there was no need to try dunking him. Changmin just wondered what he was going to do in order to wash the shampoo out.
After working his way through most of the matted hair, Changmin pushed his sleeves up and gently cradled Jaejoong’s head in his hand before dipping him back till up to his ears was submerged in the water. “I got you, Jaejoong.” Changmin breathed soothingly as Jaejoong let out the smallest whimper of pain. “It’s okay.”
It took him little while to wash all the shampoo out, but when he did he was rewarded with Jaejoong’s shimmering head of hair. He was still beautiful, even with large bruises and cuts across his face and torso and that hideous beard that was beginning to spread across Jaejoong’s face.
“I think I’ll just get rid of that now.” He nodded firmly as he rested Jaejoong in the tub and went to retrieve his razor and shaving cream from his bag.
It took him about five minutes to fully bring Jaejoong’s face back to the smooth, shimmering state it had been in the last time Changmin had seen Jaejoong.
Standing, Changmin moved and set the razor and shaving cream on the counter, his back towards Jaejoong.
He was still painfully aroused, but he was doing his best to force himself back into his normal state.
“Where am I?”
Changmin startled and quickly turned back to the tub, eyes large as he saw Jaejoong looking around with a slightly confused look on his face.
Then he saw Changmin.
“I-Is t-this real?” He breathed, eyes already filling with tears as he gazed up into Changmin’s wide eyes.
“Yeah, Jaejoong, it’s real. I’m really here with you.” Changmin breathed as he knelt on the ground next to the tub, tears pressing at his eyes as he watched the look of shocked disbelief slip across Jaejoong’s face.
“I thought I was hallucinating when I saw you in my cell.” His words were a whisper and he was already beginning to slip back into unconsciousness. It was obvious from the way he kept jerking his head and fluttering his eyes that he was trying to keep himself awake.
“Please don’t let me go to sleep, Changmin. I’m going to wake up and everything will have changed. I’m too tired to deal with anything else.” His words were a hoarse plea, his eyes large and watery as he turned them on Changmin.
“You need to sleep, Jaejoong. You’re sick and your body needs the rest.” Changmin breathed as he reached out and gently stroked the left side of Jaejoong’s face.
“Will you…kiss me…Changmin?” Jaejoong whispered, brow furrowing in a pleading look as he watched Changmin.
Oh, had this been any other situation, Changmin would have already molested Jaejoong in the shower and have been in that bathtub with him. But it wasn’t any other situation and Changmin had to control himself. Jaejoong seemed to want to make it harder by asking for a kiss.
But Changmin had a feeling that this kiss wasn’t simply a show of affection, but a sign that he still loved Jaejoong and didn’t think he was dirty for what had happened to him.
“Of course I will, Jaejoong.” He agreed as he leaned in and gentle pressed his lips against Jaejoong’s dry and cracked lips.
Just as he was about to pull away, a weak hand curled around his neck and held him in place as Jaejoong opened his mouth and pushed his tongue into the cavern of Changmin’s mouth.
Changmin moaned, making no move to pull away from a kiss that he knew Jaejoong shouldn’t be having right now. But he couldn’t make himself stop the kiss or simply not return it. He had to let Jaejoong know how much he still cared and loved him. So he kissed him back, opening his mouth wider and twining his tongue with Jaejoong’s.
After a moment both of them pulled away, breathing shallow as they looked at each other.
“I love you, Jaejoong.” Changmin breathed softly as he leaned forward and placed a small kiss against Jaejoong’s slightly open mouth. “I will take care of you forever.” He vowed as he twined his hand with Jaejoong’s pale one. “So just wait for me to get you out of here safely.”
“I love you too…Changmin.” Jaejoong managed to whisper before unconsciousness pulled him under once again. One large tear clung to the smooth skin of his creamy cheek.
“Then you had better hold on, Jaejoong.” Changmin breathed as he wiped away the tear before standing to retrieve the second robe from his bathroom.
After getting Jaejoong out of the bathtub and drying him off , Changmin wrapped him in the robe, laid him face-down on the bed, and covered him over to make sure he didn’t get cold.
A moment after he had finished, there was a knock on the door to signal Boa’s return with the medicine.
Changmin went to let her in.
=----------------------------------=
It was around 9:15 P.M. on a Saturday night that began to change the dynamics of the game that was being played.
Things were no longer as simple as everyone had thought them to be and the true master of the game was beginning to move everything into place.
His first step was to leave a message on the dining room wall that read:
“The heir to the Jung thrown should be careful where he steps,
for blood will be shed and it will be his.”
There was an accusation against the Kim Organization placed at just the right moment to incite rage and indignation. Then there was the firm suggestion that Yunho and Jaejoong be sent early to the American headquarters of the Jung Organization. After all, wasn’t it the plan to move the gang back to America in the coming month? Why not start early?
They accepted that suggestion so readily, believing that the one person who would be their downfall, was the man that actually cared.
So, just as he had suggest, they made plans to put Yunho and Jaejoong on the next available flight out. A flight that he booked and made “arrangements” for.
They were nothing but moronic children stumbling about in the game of life. Only he knew how to play it, and they were his pawns. He would crush them underfoot and laugh as their blood seeped from their bodies.
They would all die.