Romeo and Juliette
Title: Romeo and Juliette
Pairings: OnTae
Type: one-shot
Rating: PG-13
Description: A modern day Romeo and Juliet, where they finally end up in eternal bliss.
This was the same scene he’d seen a million times before, the unearthly hour that had half the world fast asleep, the ridiculous number of beeping machines around the bed, the stark white lights that were harsh on his eyes, the same bleached linen bedcovers, the same pitiful person standing beside the bed as the doctor rambled on about procedures and details but never giving the answer that really mattered, the same - no, not the same face lying on the pillow.
It couldn’t be the same face.
This was the face that he would turn around to while rolling his eyes at the corny plotline on TV only to see tears being hastily wiped away from, the face that flushed so easily at the mere brush of his fingers across the warm cheek, the face that hundreds of fans saved as their screensavers and background pictures, the face that he saw every time he closed his eyes.
Onew closed his eyes and thought back to just the day before.
“How could this happen, doctor??”
“He…was knocked over by a car. There wasn’t much we could do but we tried our best.”
“Noooo!!!”
Onew shook his head in amazement at how the same plot repeated across half a million TV dramas could still attract so many fans. Laughing gently to himself, he turned around to the boy on the couch, expecting to see the same smirk mirrored back to him. But the boy was transfixed on the screen, the tears in his eyes welling over and dripping onto his lap. Onew was shocked for a moment, but instinctively reached over and wiped away his tears tenderly. The moment his fingers brushed the boys’ cheek, the skin flushed a bright pink, and the boy snapped out of his trance.
“Hyung…” he whispered as a new flood of tears appeared. Onew couldn’t think of anything to do but he pulled the boy’s face close to him and kissed his tears.
“I’ll never leave you. I love you.”
Reaching over, Onew stroked the boy’s cheek as he always did, but this time, the skin had no tinge of red, it was cold and stiff. What happened to you, what was it that you couldn’t tell me about…? How can you leave me alone like this…? He heard the soft sound of water dripping onto the stiff sheets, and glanced down. Am I crying?
The boy tottered onto the road with the red man staring disapprovingly down at him. His head was reeling and devoid of emotion, and he took no notice at the glare of headlights flying around the corner. One more step, and he would be safe, separated from life and death by mere inches, but he stopped. Turning his head to glance at his Grim Reaper, the boy grimaced before letting his eyelids flutter shut.
And I love you too, Onew.
Just earlier that night, Taemin had been practicing a new routine at the dance studio and fell asleep from pure exhaustion. By the time he awoke, the sky had turned black and the roads were emptying. Knowing his hyungs would worry when he wasn’t back by ten, Taemin had started to gather his stuff, but then his heart felt like it got stabbed. The voice echoed in his head.
“I can’t believe you failed all your tests, what the hell is your problem? I can’t date an idiot, it’s over Taemin, leave me alone!”
The higher the pedestal, the harder the fall, isn’t that something you should know by now, Lee Taemin? He knew he should be hurrying, but yet couldn’t find the energy to lift a finger. Every move he made, he saw the professors shaking their heads in disappointment, the jocks mocking and scorning him in the halls, the back of the most perfect girl in his life walking away from him.
And worse, when he got home, there was no way umma wouldn’t pick up on his mood. When the others heard the top student had failed all his exams, they’d deal with it in their own ways. “It’s the stress, right Taem?” Jonghyun would slap him on the back and start singing some irrelevant song, Key would start brewing toxic smelling tonics while looking up effective studying methods for him, Minho would suggest going out for a run to keep his brain oxidised, and Onew…oh Onew.
Taemin doubled over in the middle of the street, attracting stares at he stumbled over to the nearest bench. Onew hyung had been second in his school, and when Taemin beat that record last term, he’d cried from happiness. Onew hyung had never once told him off for not studying, when his score slipped a couple of points he would just smile and shrug.
That stupid little smile, as if that insignificant action could clear the rain and bring the sunshine, oh whoop-de-doo are we all smurfs now? That annoying nonchalant shrug, which always raised the hem of his shirt and drew Taemin’s eyes to that little flash of skin, making him shudder and break out in goosebumps at his own thoughts. Taemin drew in a sharp breath as the cold air stung the tears flowing freely down his cheeks.
What was wrong with him? What guy who scores top grades isn’t satisfied with the hottest most popular girl in the school, and is sent to ecstasy by a friendly hug from another guy? Not just any guy…but…there was no way he felt the same way as Taemin did. He was the leader, the elder brother, the dad, and he would never be able to be what Taemin desperately wanted him to be. His.
Ever since Taemin had been admitted to the hospital, the members noticed a drastic change in Onew. Besides the fact that he only got an hour of sleep a day because he spent every spare second at the hospital, his ‘sangtae’ got a whole lot worse. It used to be occasional slips and minor accidents, all in the name of fan service and his natural clumsiness, but it wasn’t until Key came across him staring off into nothingness while his palm lay on the kitchen table open and bleeding furiously at 3am did he finally burst.
As Key angrily disinfected and bandaged the wound, which he apparently got while sharpening the kitchen knives as a ‘present’ for Key, Onew just sat there not even wincing when Key doused the wound with cleaning alcohol.
“Dammit Onew, how long are you going to be like this?!” his well-hidden Daegu accent slipped out for a moment, making Onew start and listen. “You think the rest of us aren’t hurting either?? That’s my baby in the hospital, Minho’s little brother, Jonghyun’s singing prodigy -”
“My heart.” Onew said firmly.
Taemin’s doctors said it was likely that he would remain in a coma for quite some time. He might wake up the next day, the next month, the next year, or never at all. They had no way of knowing. Onew had completely lost his drive, and the company suggested that the group take a break, and they held their goodbye stage 2 weeks early, without Taemin.
Onew holed himself up in his room the whole day, coming out occasionally to shower or eat, before clambering back into bed with the sheets pulled over his head. When Key finally gathered the courage to venture into the room, he found the thick curtains drawn, shrouding the room in darkness. Cursing as he stumbled across piles of scattered clothes and empty take-out boxes, he made his way to the bed where an ominous lump resided.
Yanking off the blanket forcefully, Key gasped at the sight of the leader curled up in a foetal position, gripping an empty bottle of sleeping pills, Taemin’s tear-stained picture next to his face. His heart pounding wildly, Key shook the elder hard, but Onew didn’t open his eyes, rolling over onto his back. Key stared hard at his chest waiting to see the rise and fall that would tell him that Onew was just asleep…
Then Key started screaming.
The headlines the next day were splashed with pictures of the group, even more than when they released their new album. They say dead writers sell, so idol groups with one dead and one comatose member, definitely sold. The remaining three members refused all interviews, and were given time off to return home, but they chose to stay together, visiting Taemin daily in the hospital, and Onew in the cemetery.
Things were never going to be the same, and the company was debating over adding new members or just disbanding the whole group, while the public raved and ranted over the despicable effects of idol groups. For the first few months, Onew was surrounded at every moment of the day by lamenting fans that left mountains of gifts that even covered the gravestone, but soon the news died down and other new scandals and actual news resumed their places on the headlines.
The members didn’t know what to do with themselves, and just lived day by day, but they had all changed. Jonghyun couldn’t carry a tune without his voice cracking, Minho put on 5 pounds each month, and Key didn’t even nag at the mess they lived in. Anyone who saw them on the streets wouldn’t be able to recognise them as the shining members of the popular boy-group who exploded with charisma and personality on and off stage.
Key’s well shaped cheeks were sunken and his hair in a mess, Minho was pudgier by the day, and Jonghyun had a twitch in his eye. And yet they continued to live on, with the hope of someday waking up and realising this was all a bad dream, that Taemin and Onew would be back, and they would continue to take over the world with their contemporary music and ideas.
Before they realized it, a year had passed. It was the anniversary of Onew’s…passing and his grave was once again swarming with fans. The trio chose to spend the day with Taemin instead, as they took up their usual positions of Key sitting on the bed, Minho sunk into a chair and Jonghyun pacing the room. Key continued to talk to Taemin daily, even when he didn’t get any reply, he always felt like the boy could somehow hear him.
And besides, if it was him on that bed and all they did was stand there and look sad, he’d be screaming at them the moment he woke up. Like seriously, being in a coma is bad enough, being bored while in a coma is possibly the worst thing ever. Key was caught up in his usual drabble of “oh do you remember when…” when Taemin’s eyes shot open. None of them noticed at first, Minho and Jonghyun were used to spacing out while Key droned on and on, until Taemin laughed.
Minho fell off the chair and Jonghyun froze in midstep as Key squealed in pure joy. The three fell onto the bed, laughing and crying at the same time. Everyone started speaking at once, jumping around like they were in a loony ward. Taemin just kept nodding and took it all in.
“Where’s Onew hyung?” he whispered. With that one sentence, the room fell silent.
“Baby…” Key sighed and took Taemin’s tiny hands in his own as he sat down on the bed. “I…we…after you…” it was the first time the diva was at a loss for words, and Taemin shook his head.
“I get it. I want to see him.”
Wrapped snugly in at least 5 layers of clothes, a beanie pulled over his hair and a thick scarf over his face, Taemin shuffled slowly across the graveyard. He’d insisted on coming alone, although he knew Key was waiting just outside the gates, prepared to come running at any moment. Finally he reached Onew’s and sighed at the unfortunate picture they’d put on his gravestone.
“Really hyung, couldn’t you have visited Key in a dream or something? That picture is so…” his laugh sounded foreign and starkly out of place in the empty cemetery. Then Taemin lay down gently next to the grave, placing his hand over where he imagined Onew’s was.
He spent 5 hours there, in pure silence. It wasn’t that he didn’t have anything to say, he just knew he didn’t need to say it. The dew had dampened his clothes, but he didn’t feel the cold. Finally closing his eyes for the last time, he saw the light; and Onew was there waiting for him, with that smile and that shrug that was finally, completely, utterly, purely, and solely his.
this was pure ecstasy to write, probably the best thing i've done in a while. hope you enjoy this((:
and no, i didn't really enjoy killing OnTae, but that's how the story goes. comments please!
-aelis
Pairings: OnTae
Type: one-shot
Rating: PG-13
Description: A modern day Romeo and Juliet, where they finally end up in eternal bliss.
This was the same scene he’d seen a million times before, the unearthly hour that had half the world fast asleep, the ridiculous number of beeping machines around the bed, the stark white lights that were harsh on his eyes, the same bleached linen bedcovers, the same pitiful person standing beside the bed as the doctor rambled on about procedures and details but never giving the answer that really mattered, the same - no, not the same face lying on the pillow.
It couldn’t be the same face.
This was the face that he would turn around to while rolling his eyes at the corny plotline on TV only to see tears being hastily wiped away from, the face that flushed so easily at the mere brush of his fingers across the warm cheek, the face that hundreds of fans saved as their screensavers and background pictures, the face that he saw every time he closed his eyes.
Onew closed his eyes and thought back to just the day before.
“How could this happen, doctor??”
“He…was knocked over by a car. There wasn’t much we could do but we tried our best.”
“Noooo!!!”
Onew shook his head in amazement at how the same plot repeated across half a million TV dramas could still attract so many fans. Laughing gently to himself, he turned around to the boy on the couch, expecting to see the same smirk mirrored back to him. But the boy was transfixed on the screen, the tears in his eyes welling over and dripping onto his lap. Onew was shocked for a moment, but instinctively reached over and wiped away his tears tenderly. The moment his fingers brushed the boys’ cheek, the skin flushed a bright pink, and the boy snapped out of his trance.
“Hyung…” he whispered as a new flood of tears appeared. Onew couldn’t think of anything to do but he pulled the boy’s face close to him and kissed his tears.
“I’ll never leave you. I love you.”
Reaching over, Onew stroked the boy’s cheek as he always did, but this time, the skin had no tinge of red, it was cold and stiff. What happened to you, what was it that you couldn’t tell me about…? How can you leave me alone like this…? He heard the soft sound of water dripping onto the stiff sheets, and glanced down. Am I crying?
The boy tottered onto the road with the red man staring disapprovingly down at him. His head was reeling and devoid of emotion, and he took no notice at the glare of headlights flying around the corner. One more step, and he would be safe, separated from life and death by mere inches, but he stopped. Turning his head to glance at his Grim Reaper, the boy grimaced before letting his eyelids flutter shut.
And I love you too, Onew.
Just earlier that night, Taemin had been practicing a new routine at the dance studio and fell asleep from pure exhaustion. By the time he awoke, the sky had turned black and the roads were emptying. Knowing his hyungs would worry when he wasn’t back by ten, Taemin had started to gather his stuff, but then his heart felt like it got stabbed. The voice echoed in his head.
“I can’t believe you failed all your tests, what the hell is your problem? I can’t date an idiot, it’s over Taemin, leave me alone!”
The higher the pedestal, the harder the fall, isn’t that something you should know by now, Lee Taemin? He knew he should be hurrying, but yet couldn’t find the energy to lift a finger. Every move he made, he saw the professors shaking their heads in disappointment, the jocks mocking and scorning him in the halls, the back of the most perfect girl in his life walking away from him.
And worse, when he got home, there was no way umma wouldn’t pick up on his mood. When the others heard the top student had failed all his exams, they’d deal with it in their own ways. “It’s the stress, right Taem?” Jonghyun would slap him on the back and start singing some irrelevant song, Key would start brewing toxic smelling tonics while looking up effective studying methods for him, Minho would suggest going out for a run to keep his brain oxidised, and Onew…oh Onew.
Taemin doubled over in the middle of the street, attracting stares at he stumbled over to the nearest bench. Onew hyung had been second in his school, and when Taemin beat that record last term, he’d cried from happiness. Onew hyung had never once told him off for not studying, when his score slipped a couple of points he would just smile and shrug.
That stupid little smile, as if that insignificant action could clear the rain and bring the sunshine, oh whoop-de-doo are we all smurfs now? That annoying nonchalant shrug, which always raised the hem of his shirt and drew Taemin’s eyes to that little flash of skin, making him shudder and break out in goosebumps at his own thoughts. Taemin drew in a sharp breath as the cold air stung the tears flowing freely down his cheeks.
What was wrong with him? What guy who scores top grades isn’t satisfied with the hottest most popular girl in the school, and is sent to ecstasy by a friendly hug from another guy? Not just any guy…but…there was no way he felt the same way as Taemin did. He was the leader, the elder brother, the dad, and he would never be able to be what Taemin desperately wanted him to be. His.
Ever since Taemin had been admitted to the hospital, the members noticed a drastic change in Onew. Besides the fact that he only got an hour of sleep a day because he spent every spare second at the hospital, his ‘sangtae’ got a whole lot worse. It used to be occasional slips and minor accidents, all in the name of fan service and his natural clumsiness, but it wasn’t until Key came across him staring off into nothingness while his palm lay on the kitchen table open and bleeding furiously at 3am did he finally burst.
As Key angrily disinfected and bandaged the wound, which he apparently got while sharpening the kitchen knives as a ‘present’ for Key, Onew just sat there not even wincing when Key doused the wound with cleaning alcohol.
“Dammit Onew, how long are you going to be like this?!” his well-hidden Daegu accent slipped out for a moment, making Onew start and listen. “You think the rest of us aren’t hurting either?? That’s my baby in the hospital, Minho’s little brother, Jonghyun’s singing prodigy -”
“My heart.” Onew said firmly.
Taemin’s doctors said it was likely that he would remain in a coma for quite some time. He might wake up the next day, the next month, the next year, or never at all. They had no way of knowing. Onew had completely lost his drive, and the company suggested that the group take a break, and they held their goodbye stage 2 weeks early, without Taemin.
Onew holed himself up in his room the whole day, coming out occasionally to shower or eat, before clambering back into bed with the sheets pulled over his head. When Key finally gathered the courage to venture into the room, he found the thick curtains drawn, shrouding the room in darkness. Cursing as he stumbled across piles of scattered clothes and empty take-out boxes, he made his way to the bed where an ominous lump resided.
Yanking off the blanket forcefully, Key gasped at the sight of the leader curled up in a foetal position, gripping an empty bottle of sleeping pills, Taemin’s tear-stained picture next to his face. His heart pounding wildly, Key shook the elder hard, but Onew didn’t open his eyes, rolling over onto his back. Key stared hard at his chest waiting to see the rise and fall that would tell him that Onew was just asleep…
Then Key started screaming.
The headlines the next day were splashed with pictures of the group, even more than when they released their new album. They say dead writers sell, so idol groups with one dead and one comatose member, definitely sold. The remaining three members refused all interviews, and were given time off to return home, but they chose to stay together, visiting Taemin daily in the hospital, and Onew in the cemetery.
Things were never going to be the same, and the company was debating over adding new members or just disbanding the whole group, while the public raved and ranted over the despicable effects of idol groups. For the first few months, Onew was surrounded at every moment of the day by lamenting fans that left mountains of gifts that even covered the gravestone, but soon the news died down and other new scandals and actual news resumed their places on the headlines.
The members didn’t know what to do with themselves, and just lived day by day, but they had all changed. Jonghyun couldn’t carry a tune without his voice cracking, Minho put on 5 pounds each month, and Key didn’t even nag at the mess they lived in. Anyone who saw them on the streets wouldn’t be able to recognise them as the shining members of the popular boy-group who exploded with charisma and personality on and off stage.
Key’s well shaped cheeks were sunken and his hair in a mess, Minho was pudgier by the day, and Jonghyun had a twitch in his eye. And yet they continued to live on, with the hope of someday waking up and realising this was all a bad dream, that Taemin and Onew would be back, and they would continue to take over the world with their contemporary music and ideas.
Before they realized it, a year had passed. It was the anniversary of Onew’s…passing and his grave was once again swarming with fans. The trio chose to spend the day with Taemin instead, as they took up their usual positions of Key sitting on the bed, Minho sunk into a chair and Jonghyun pacing the room. Key continued to talk to Taemin daily, even when he didn’t get any reply, he always felt like the boy could somehow hear him.
And besides, if it was him on that bed and all they did was stand there and look sad, he’d be screaming at them the moment he woke up. Like seriously, being in a coma is bad enough, being bored while in a coma is possibly the worst thing ever. Key was caught up in his usual drabble of “oh do you remember when…” when Taemin’s eyes shot open. None of them noticed at first, Minho and Jonghyun were used to spacing out while Key droned on and on, until Taemin laughed.
Minho fell off the chair and Jonghyun froze in midstep as Key squealed in pure joy. The three fell onto the bed, laughing and crying at the same time. Everyone started speaking at once, jumping around like they were in a loony ward. Taemin just kept nodding and took it all in.
“Where’s Onew hyung?” he whispered. With that one sentence, the room fell silent.
“Baby…” Key sighed and took Taemin’s tiny hands in his own as he sat down on the bed. “I…we…after you…” it was the first time the diva was at a loss for words, and Taemin shook his head.
“I get it. I want to see him.”
Wrapped snugly in at least 5 layers of clothes, a beanie pulled over his hair and a thick scarf over his face, Taemin shuffled slowly across the graveyard. He’d insisted on coming alone, although he knew Key was waiting just outside the gates, prepared to come running at any moment. Finally he reached Onew’s and sighed at the unfortunate picture they’d put on his gravestone.
“Really hyung, couldn’t you have visited Key in a dream or something? That picture is so…” his laugh sounded foreign and starkly out of place in the empty cemetery. Then Taemin lay down gently next to the grave, placing his hand over where he imagined Onew’s was.
He spent 5 hours there, in pure silence. It wasn’t that he didn’t have anything to say, he just knew he didn’t need to say it. The dew had dampened his clothes, but he didn’t feel the cold. Finally closing his eyes for the last time, he saw the light; and Onew was there waiting for him, with that smile and that shrug that was finally, completely, utterly, purely, and solely his.
this was pure ecstasy to write, probably the best thing i've done in a while. hope you enjoy this((:
and no, i didn't really enjoy killing OnTae, but that's how the story goes. comments please!
-aelis