Caught Up [4/?]
Caught Up
Rating: PG?
Pairing: None
Genre: idek angst?
Word Count: 1162
Summary: In a world where being different is on par with the most heinous of crimes, hiding is the only option. Being found out brings about the worst nightmares for most-betrayal, abandonment, imprisonment, experimentation.
Death.
Junmyeon is nineteen when he saves a life, exchanging it for his.
When Junmyeon decided to spend the summer between high school and college being a lifeguard for the local swimming pool, he didn't think it'd be this hard. He'd been hoping it'd be easy enough, that it'd look good on his resumes and on the applications for the four year college that he wants to transfer to after community college. Or the one his parents want him to transfer to.
They tell him he needs to come in for a bit of training first, and that's what he expects-a bit. Not six weeks of courses on CPR, swimming, how to save a drowning person, and signs to look for to check if any of the kids have swallowed too much chlorine.
He surfaces at the end of the pool during one of the training sessions, fingers scrabbling at the grout between the titles, panting hard. He's never tried to swim the entire length of the pool on a single breath, and it's a lot harder than he originally thought.
"Better," his coach says, patting his swim cap.
Junmyeon sighs, pressing his face into his arms. He can't wait to be done with the training.
Six days later finds him with his own official looking lanyard, the picture not one of his best, and the material itchy against his neck. He doesn't really like it, but it makes his parents proud, and he supposes that's good enough for him. He's doing it for them, after all. And if they're happy, he's happy. Sometimes.
Now is not one of those times, and he wishes they'd allowed him to do something else for his summer, like maybe travel. Or study. He'd definitely take studying over all these kids and their parents that seem to be paying no attention whatsoever.
"Yah! Yah, no running!" he shouts, trying to catch up to the kid without running himself. He manages to catch him just before he slips, and Junmyeon wishes someone else was there to help him. He knows that today is supposed to be a slower one, so he's the only one on duty, but he really can't handle fifteen kids and half as many parents.
The boy lets out a half-hearted, "Sorry," before twisting out of his grasp and walking off as fast as he can, trying to run without running. Junmyeon lets him leave, not wanting to bother with anything anymore. The kids won't listen to him, the parents won't control said kids, and Junmyeon is hot, not used to the sun beating down on his bare back like it is.
That's when he hears a splash and a shout, disregarding it at first because he's been hearing them all day-kids and teens, especially the girls, squealing anytime they jumped in the water. The same little boy comes running up to him, tugging at his shorts and Junmyeon opens his mouth to tell him to stop running and then promptly shuts it. The boy's face is streaked with tears and he's pointing toward the deep end, something that sounds like "Appa can't swim!" repeating over and over again.
He wastes no time tossing his lanyard and grabbing one of the lifesaver rings, jumping into the water near the flailing man. He realizes a little too late that he should have just tied it off and thrown the device in, because the man is far larger than Junmyeon is, and he knows he can't handle him.
It's too late to turn back though, the man grasping desperately at anything even close to him, namely Junmyeon, and he tries to keep his head above the water, tries to get the man to grab onto the floatie instead of his hair, his arms.
But too much movement and water sends the slippery life ring out of both their reach, and Junmyeon suddenly finds himself underwater, trying to remember the coach's words. And he tries hard not to panic, kicking his legs in an attempt to get them to the shallower end of the pool where he can stand, where he can get out of the other's grip and above the water to breathe.
This seems to bring on another round of panic for the man, and he starts kicking harder, kicking Junmyeon, knocking any air that he had left out of his lungs and his own panic sets in. This isn't his coach holding him under for practice, ready to let go as soon as Junmyeon pinches his wrist as a sign that he can't hold his breath any longer. This isn't any of his friends just messing around at the pool, dunking him under for a few seconds before running away so he can't get them in return. This is a drowning man who is not afraid to drown Junmyeon himself as long as it means he gets to breathe a little longer, and the thought terrifies him, body spasming and he chokes on water, so scared he's going to die here. Die because he made a mistake, because he miscalculated the man's size before he jumped in, because he was so desperate for the kid to stop crying, not wanting anyone to drown on his watch.
Desperate to please his parents. I saved a man today, aren't you proud of me?
He inhales another lungful of water, fighting back harder to get them both out of the water, and just when he's sure that he really will die there's no more water. He hits the bottom of the pool hard, elbow scraping against the rough bottom and thankfully rolling out of the man's grip. He coughs up mouthfuls of water, struggling not to vomit, tears stinging his eyes.
He doesn't understand. One second he's sure he's going to die, and the next the pool is nearly entirely empty, concession stand and the entirety of the deck flooded, and he doesn't get it.
He doesn't, because he wanted the water gone, he wanted to breathe, but he can't...he's not...
He places his hand in the small puddle beneath him, wishing the water away, and he wants to cry as it spreads away from his fingers, trickling out of the groove and down the incline of the pool bottom.
He suddenly feels like he's choking again, eyes welling with more tears, and he wishes he could blame it on the fact that he nearly died, wishes he could blame it on the chlorine in his eyes, the blood oozing from the scrape on his arm. But he can't. He can't because he's so sick he has to bring a shaking hand up to his lips to keep the bile back, sick and crying because he's one of them. He's one of them, and schools would never accept a freak, jobs would never allow something like him to work for them. His parents...
I'm so sorry but...I saved a man today.
Aren't you proud of me?
back | next
Rating: PG?
Pairing: None
Genre: idek angst?
Word Count: 1162
Summary: In a world where being different is on par with the most heinous of crimes, hiding is the only option. Being found out brings about the worst nightmares for most-betrayal, abandonment, imprisonment, experimentation.
Death.
Junmyeon is nineteen when he saves a life, exchanging it for his.
When Junmyeon decided to spend the summer between high school and college being a lifeguard for the local swimming pool, he didn't think it'd be this hard. He'd been hoping it'd be easy enough, that it'd look good on his resumes and on the applications for the four year college that he wants to transfer to after community college. Or the one his parents want him to transfer to.
They tell him he needs to come in for a bit of training first, and that's what he expects-a bit. Not six weeks of courses on CPR, swimming, how to save a drowning person, and signs to look for to check if any of the kids have swallowed too much chlorine.
He surfaces at the end of the pool during one of the training sessions, fingers scrabbling at the grout between the titles, panting hard. He's never tried to swim the entire length of the pool on a single breath, and it's a lot harder than he originally thought.
"Better," his coach says, patting his swim cap.
Junmyeon sighs, pressing his face into his arms. He can't wait to be done with the training.
Six days later finds him with his own official looking lanyard, the picture not one of his best, and the material itchy against his neck. He doesn't really like it, but it makes his parents proud, and he supposes that's good enough for him. He's doing it for them, after all. And if they're happy, he's happy. Sometimes.
Now is not one of those times, and he wishes they'd allowed him to do something else for his summer, like maybe travel. Or study. He'd definitely take studying over all these kids and their parents that seem to be paying no attention whatsoever.
"Yah! Yah, no running!" he shouts, trying to catch up to the kid without running himself. He manages to catch him just before he slips, and Junmyeon wishes someone else was there to help him. He knows that today is supposed to be a slower one, so he's the only one on duty, but he really can't handle fifteen kids and half as many parents.
The boy lets out a half-hearted, "Sorry," before twisting out of his grasp and walking off as fast as he can, trying to run without running. Junmyeon lets him leave, not wanting to bother with anything anymore. The kids won't listen to him, the parents won't control said kids, and Junmyeon is hot, not used to the sun beating down on his bare back like it is.
That's when he hears a splash and a shout, disregarding it at first because he's been hearing them all day-kids and teens, especially the girls, squealing anytime they jumped in the water. The same little boy comes running up to him, tugging at his shorts and Junmyeon opens his mouth to tell him to stop running and then promptly shuts it. The boy's face is streaked with tears and he's pointing toward the deep end, something that sounds like "Appa can't swim!" repeating over and over again.
He wastes no time tossing his lanyard and grabbing one of the lifesaver rings, jumping into the water near the flailing man. He realizes a little too late that he should have just tied it off and thrown the device in, because the man is far larger than Junmyeon is, and he knows he can't handle him.
It's too late to turn back though, the man grasping desperately at anything even close to him, namely Junmyeon, and he tries to keep his head above the water, tries to get the man to grab onto the floatie instead of his hair, his arms.
But too much movement and water sends the slippery life ring out of both their reach, and Junmyeon suddenly finds himself underwater, trying to remember the coach's words. And he tries hard not to panic, kicking his legs in an attempt to get them to the shallower end of the pool where he can stand, where he can get out of the other's grip and above the water to breathe.
This seems to bring on another round of panic for the man, and he starts kicking harder, kicking Junmyeon, knocking any air that he had left out of his lungs and his own panic sets in. This isn't his coach holding him under for practice, ready to let go as soon as Junmyeon pinches his wrist as a sign that he can't hold his breath any longer. This isn't any of his friends just messing around at the pool, dunking him under for a few seconds before running away so he can't get them in return. This is a drowning man who is not afraid to drown Junmyeon himself as long as it means he gets to breathe a little longer, and the thought terrifies him, body spasming and he chokes on water, so scared he's going to die here. Die because he made a mistake, because he miscalculated the man's size before he jumped in, because he was so desperate for the kid to stop crying, not wanting anyone to drown on his watch.
Desperate to please his parents. I saved a man today, aren't you proud of me?
He inhales another lungful of water, fighting back harder to get them both out of the water, and just when he's sure that he really will die there's no more water. He hits the bottom of the pool hard, elbow scraping against the rough bottom and thankfully rolling out of the man's grip. He coughs up mouthfuls of water, struggling not to vomit, tears stinging his eyes.
He doesn't understand. One second he's sure he's going to die, and the next the pool is nearly entirely empty, concession stand and the entirety of the deck flooded, and he doesn't get it.
He doesn't, because he wanted the water gone, he wanted to breathe, but he can't...he's not...
He places his hand in the small puddle beneath him, wishing the water away, and he wants to cry as it spreads away from his fingers, trickling out of the groove and down the incline of the pool bottom.
He suddenly feels like he's choking again, eyes welling with more tears, and he wishes he could blame it on the fact that he nearly died, wishes he could blame it on the chlorine in his eyes, the blood oozing from the scrape on his arm. But he can't. He can't because he's so sick he has to bring a shaking hand up to his lips to keep the bile back, sick and crying because he's one of them. He's one of them, and schools would never accept a freak, jobs would never allow something like him to work for them. His parents...
I'm so sorry but...I saved a man today.
Aren't you proud of me?
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