Wine of Ages (Part III)
Title: Wine of Ages (Part III)
Pairing: Onew/Key, Onew/Taemin
Genre: Romance, Angst, Supernatural, Horror(ish)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A young innocent boy with rosy cheeks and a beating heart, or a walking corpse with pale -almost ghostly blue, unpulsing flesh? It's up for him to choose.
Prologue | Part I | Part II
Jinki shifted comfortably on the bed, before the constricting pain on his head started coming up to him, pulling the man back from his sleep. Delicate fragrance of lilies greeted him, tickling his nasal cavity, gradually surrounding his tactless senses. He could only moan quietly at the gentleness wrapping his tense muscles as his nose inhaled the light alluring air.
There’s something more about the faint scent, something perplexing among its every string of aroma lingering around him, it felt relaxing yet unnerving at all once.
Jinki’s subconscious mind attempted to throw the sudden alarming ambiance away, but his eyelids were already fluttering open to perceive what had caused his tiny bit of uneasiness emerging to surface. Feeling completely awake, he furrowed his eyebrows at the unfamiliar surroundings.
“Where is this?” Jinki muttered to himself.
He checked around the room, observing everything that was visible through his eyes. He noticed the large white bed he was currently sitting on, semi-transparent curtain hanging low from the ceilings, framing around his place alongside the bedposts. The room was a little bit dark, the only lighting presented was some lanterns hung up on the room corners. He glanced sideways, attention fixed to a black antique grand piano on one side of the room. There was a bouquet of blue roses on the music rack, nicely placed in a very old silver vase.
Jinki blinked twice. Slowly but sure, the fuzzy memory from the night came back to him from the back of his head, washing his haze away.
The wedding rehearsal. Taemin’s soft fingers. A clearing in the forest. His perfect vows…
Jinki bolted upright so abruptly. Without much awareness, his hands quickly went inside his coat pockets, searching a certain thing his mind couldn’t even identified yet. Just like how he started, all too sudden his move was halted, as his face turned pale the moment he recalled everything.
It was Taemin’s ring. And someone- no, it wasn’t even a human. Something, something else was wearing it.
“Oh my, he’s awake!” A child voice suddenly stopped his thought. A little boy appeared at the door, running toward him with a wide smile. “Kibum! Kibum! He’s awake!” The boy was jumping cheerily on the edge of the bed, looking somewhat too excited considering that he hadn’t even known him at all.
Jinki stayed quiet as he took in the little boy’s appearance. He looked just normal, with big brown eyes and chubby cheeks, a typical look of a cute 10 year-old boy. But of course something would feel off again. What’s with this night, really? An eerie feeling was emitting from the little one’s aura. It gave him a slight shiver on the nape of his neck, though it soon disappeared as soon as the boy gave him a friendly grin.
“What’s your name?” The boy asked after a few seconds of silence. He was still on the right side of the bed, his legs dangling on the edge as he supported his upper body on the mattress with his folded arms.
“Jinki,” Jinki mumbled, obviously still trying to get everything that had happened into his consideration.
“Nice to meet you, Jinki. I’m Yoogeun!” the Yoogeun boy beamed and a small smile found its way to the elder’s lips. Though he still couldn’t completely erase his wary, the boy’s innocent look and smiles seemed convincing enough to at least let Jinki’s guard down.
“Why aren’t you wearing your ring?” Yoogeun sneaked out his hand, taking Jinki’s left hand to examine his finger, but as soon as their skins made contact, Jinki immediately pulled away, shocked to feel the absurd iciness from the boy’s touch.
An expression of bewilderment appeared on Yoogeun’s face. It took a second for him to realize what effect his casual touch did to the breathing man in front of him. “Ah, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to surprise you. Guess you haven’t gotten used to it after all…,” he frowned.
There was nothing else but fear and confusion filling Jinki’s thought. He didn’t like how he couldn’t grasp even the slightest bit of what was going on around him. He badly wanted to demand some explanation but didn’t even know where to start from. Jinki clutched his hair, letting out a frustrated groan, as the boy beside him giving him a sympathetic look.
“What you said earlier… about my ring, what was that supposed to mean?” Jinki finally calmed himself, shooting a glare toward Yoogeun, who seemed unfazed with it.
“Well, doesn’t married couple wear rings?”
“…Married?” Jinki stared out at the boy, silently wondering how he could probably know about him getting married soon.
Yoogeun nodded frantically. Jinki was about to fire him more questions but the voice at the door grabbed their attention.
“Oh, you’re awake.”
Jinki looked up to see that same figure with worn white coat and jet black hair, high cheekbones and white pale skin, the same captivating gaze that had enthralled him, sinking his consciousness deep into the darkness of his blue orbs. But every daunting thing from the corpse suddenly seemed out of place, with his gorgeous smile that plastered on his happy face as he finally greeted him with his sweet voice.
“Welcome, Jinki, to the Land of the Dead.”
***
Taemin leaned his shoulder at the window frame in his bedroom, his gaze far stretched outside the glass, looking past the manor’s gate and searching for a certain figure among the hazy fog of the cold night. Ever since Jinki left the manor in the afternoon to set his mind at rest, he hadn’t yet come back until then. It was barely past midnight, yet it already felt like forever to him.
He reached into his pocket, picking the ring between his thumb and forefinger. He almost got lost for an umpteenth time in his own thought hadn’t someone knocked at his door. Taemin turned back to see the maid standing at the other side of the room.
“Young master, what are you doing still up at this hour?”
“Good evening, Victoria,” Taemin put Jinki’s ring back into his pocket and smiled at the woman. “I’m just wondering why Jinki hasn’t come back yet,” he threw his gaze toward the front gate again.
“His parents and your mother are still in the dining hall now. They’re still discussing about this matter too. I suggest you not go there, the atmosphere…was not really nice,” Victoria scratched the back of his neck.
“Did you overhear something from their conversation?” Taemin anxiously asked.
Victoria nodded, “Obviously, if your groom still doesn’t show up this night, there won’t be any wedding tomorrow. Maybe they would delay it. Then again, there’s no way your parents are willing to wait for a long time.” When she noticed how glum Taemin became because of her statement, Victoria quickly added, “But Sungmin and Leeteuk are doing their best now! They’re making sure to search for him in every corner of the town.”
‘Of course they are,’ Taemin thought. Their parents wouldn’t risk creating some rumors and scandals by letting everybody know about the missing groom. There’s no other chance but settled the problem with their own efforts for now.
Taemin looked up to his maid, his eyes exuding uncertainty. “What did Dad say about this?”
“Milord was really annoyed,” Victoria sighed. “But he’s much calmer now, some talks with his guest has distracted him. They’re still in the study hall right now.”
“A guest?” Taemin frowned. “At this hour? Who?”
“I’m not really sure… It was ‘Lord Jonghyun’ or something,” Victoria knitted his eyebrows together as he tried to remember the guest’s name. “I thought he is Milord’s comrade. But he looks rather young, I suppose he’s still thirty. So maybe he’s just an acquaintance,” Victoria shrugged.
Taemin walked to the armchair, seeking some warmth from the fireplace. He rested his back and loosened his tie, as he took the ring again and placed it on a marble table beside him.
“You should get some rest now, young master,” Victoria approached the younger and squeezed the younger’s shoulder lightly.
“What if he won’t come back? What if he ran away because he didn’t want this marriage from the start?” Taemin looked up to the latter, insecurities coating his voice. “What if he actually never meant what he said to me?”
“How can such thought passes through your mind? Does Sir Jinki appear like some irresponsible person to you?”
Taemin fixed his gaze on the floor, battling with his incredulity inside.
“You already said that you liked him, didn’t you?” Victoria inquired with a comforting tone. Taemin timidly nodded. “And what did he say to you again?” She smiled as she remembered Taemin’s joyful expression when he told her about his little confession to Jinki that afternoon.
“He said… he promised to make me happy,” Taemin uttered, his cheeks blushing.
“Then everything’s gonna be alright,” Victoria ruffled Taemin’s hair gently, chuckling at her young master’s cuteness. “He’s not gonna run away from this.”
Taemin smiled.
“Sir Jinki is going to be back for you soon.”
***
He never said a word to me after his ridiculous welcoming earlier in the bedroom. The only words that he spoke were only a command to follow him to where he’s heading. I meekly nodded and got off the bed, then realized after a few minutes that the Yoogeun boy wasn’t with us anymore.
We were walking through the hallway with him leading the way, striding past number of doors, until we finally got to stairs that led to the first floor. The big windows along our way caught my attention and I couldn’t help but wonder about the state I was in, and whether I was imagining things or not because what I saw outside the windows was not the view of the usual starry night.
“So what is this place exactly?” I asked, his pace slowed down as he turned his head looking past his shoulder and smiled.
“Amber owns this inn. I’ve been living with her ever since I came down here,” he answered, his smile never wearing off. I hummed in response though it wasn’t completely what I wanted to hear because I’m still completely sane to realize that the normal sky wasn’t supposed to be dark purple with orange mist floating all around.
We had arrived at another door when he stopped on his track, turning his back to face me.
“Do you want to go out now or… do you want to meet the others first? Uh… that’s if you’re ready,” he stuttered, I found it slightly amusing since it’s the first time I saw him without that confidence in his eyes.
Before I could bring myself to respond, my eyes had fixed to the front of his white suit, noticing the torn fabric and a rather small stain of dried blood on his left chest that made me feel quite disturbed. Because from the look of it, clearly the blood didn’t come from outside. I was already prepared to assume the fact but I didn’t even dare make a guess.
“Oh well… sooner or later you’ll meet them anyway so let’s just go through the bar,” he added. This guy never gave me a chance to get the hang of it and now he’s making me even more confused.
He pushed the door open and walked past it with me trailing behind him. The room was filled with a batch of people crowding around what I assumed as a bar counter on the furthest side of the exit. There were several tables on the middle of the room, some weren’t taken as they preferred to gather and stand up near the counter. A location board that was hanging on the wall had let me know that the first floor was for the bar’s purpose whilst the inn was situated on the second and top floor.
I glanced unknowingly, staring absently at some people, and that was when I felt my breakfast turning inside my stomach. If only I hadn’t been too observant, maybe I would just overlooked it, but I was already wide awake to perceive that these people didn’t look healthy enough to stroll around the bar like that. I shouldn’t be too surprised since I had witnessed that strange blood stain on the boy’s clothes and his strange body temperature, but I still couldn’t accept the fact that I was interacting with the dead right now. As if I had said my thoughts loud aloud, my eyes instinctively darted to the bar’s entrance and I saw a headless soldier with sword stabbed through his stomachs walking past the door. Okay, it wasn’t the most amusing scene to see. I was surprised myself that I could tolerate all of these and not actually fainted on the spot.
“Everybody was kinda surprised with the news, but my friends are putting their best to hold our wedding reception by tomorrow,” his voice suddenly snapped me back to reality.
‘Our’ wedding reception.
I grabbed his wrist and pulled him back to the previous hallway that was a bit desolated from the customers. I ignored the coldness that crept to my hand as soon as my skin came into contact with his. He was a bit startled at first, but followed my steps without any complaints.
“You’re kidding. Right?” I snapped when I had pushed him against the wine-colored wall at the corridor.
“What?” He looked puzzled with my question, not knowing which part he had said wrong.
“No. You can’t be serious about this,” I started laughing, assuring myself that this boy- this dead boy was merely joking around.
“What- what do you mean?” He chuckled nervously.
“That ring. On your finger. It’s not yours,” I took a hold on his wrist and showed him his own hand in front of his face. “Now would you mind giving it back to me?” I released his hand, gesturing my fingers to take Taemin’s ring off of his finger, all the while trying to hold in my anger.
“What do you mean ‘giving it back’?” His expression started to change, his voice rising. “You declared your vows in the woods and put the ring on me, isn’t it supposed to be mine now?!”
“Listen,” I smacked the wall with the flat of my hand, making him jump from shock. “I don’t know what kind of prank you’re playing at me, but this is not funny. I have to go back to town immediately and you’re gonna bring me back to where you had kidnapped me.”
“No, you listen!” He pushed me back, never came to my expectation that I would be impressed by his strength. “I am not receiving this kind of treatment from you and you’re not going to fucking dump me now because I have the right to be heard too as your partner!”
“What?!” I stared disbelievingly at him. “You can’t possibly force me to marry you, right?!”
“How can you say that when YOU’RE the one who put this ring on ME?!”
At this stage, it seemed like all the shouts had caught some passerby’s interest. The bar that was once noisy had quietened down and I couldn’t stop myself from checking our surroundings, hoping that none of them had the intention to step forward and defend their kind.
“I’m not talking to you until you say sorry,” the boy hissed menacingly before rushing to the exit.
I could feel people around having their eyes at me, giving me some knowing and judging looks. Just great, now everybody think I was the bad guy. I didn’t know why I never felt intimidated by these though, considering this place and creatures were nothing near normal, but I guessed the thought of finding a way to go back to the Lee manor was the only thing that occupied my mind right then.
I stared at the space where that boy had left before, debating with myself whether to run after him or not. I decided not to. That delusional boy most likely would talk nonsense about me being his spouse again.
I collected my thoughts, calming my erratic heartbeat as I glanced around the room. I walked to a table and sat myself down, some people were still glancing at me and started murmuring, obviously talking about the previous argument, but I barely cared.
“We’ve never had a visit from a breather before,” I heard a low voice spoke from a table next to mine.
I deliberately braced myself to observe the person. The man appeared like he’s in his twenties and he appeared to be a couple of years younger than me. His hair was chopped in a nice short cut, perfect black covering each smooth fiber that shone under the dim light of the room’s ceiling. He was wearing a strange set of clothes which I assumed came from the past two centuries. It looked like it was the clothing of Spanish Empire, I wasn’t really sure. Then again, I couldn’t really be sure with everything I saw ever since I witnessed this ‘living dead’ thing.
He turned to face me and gave me a little smile, and I almost couldn’t believe how good-looking some of these dead people looked.
Well, at least some of them who still had their heads and face on.
“So? Found anything fun yet?” His question snapped me from my reverie. Seriously? This guy couldn’t be that stupid to not realize that I clearly wasn’t enjoying the gory view in their weird universe, right?
“If you kept the maggots away from eating your brain, mister, you would know well that I’m not really here for a vacation,” I retorted, not really caring that he’s merely a stranger. I’m too tired with all of these misfortunes going on in the-already-worst day of my life.
He chuckled, “Yeah, I overheard your conversation with Kibum just a moment ago.”
Upon hearing this, I instantly averted my gaze back to him. “You know him?”
“Hmm-hm,” he reached a brown mug on the table and stirred the spoon inside, playing with its content. “I’ve been living as a non-living here for centuries, of course I know everyone.”
That statement somehow relieved me to no end. I hastily rose from my seat and dragged a chair to sit across him instead. Maybe he could be my other ticket to step outside of this world. “Look, I need your help.”
The stranger raised an eyebrow at my abrupt request.
“Tell me how to go back.”
I grew anxious as there was a sudden concerned look on his face. He eventually replied after what seemed a minute to mull over his answer, “I’m sorry, but you’ll need Kibum for that. He’s the one who brought you here, he’s the one who’ll get you out.”
“What? What kind of nonsense is that?!”
“It’s some sort of unwritten rules here. We don’t just go ‘upstairs’ whenever we want, it belongs to the living and our place now is here. If you break the rule; like in this case Kibum had brought you here, then he has to escort you back with The Elder’s permission.”
“Shit,” I muttered as I buried my face in my palms. “He’s not gonna listen, that’s for sure.”
“Don’t be too hard on him, that kid has been through a lot,” he turned to face me and smiled.
I scoffed. “Yeah. I believe there’s something worse than being dragged to an eerie underworld and forced to wed to a motherfucking corpse.”
“Well, you should know better than declaring your vow carelessly like that.” The mysterious guy chuckled as he lifted his mug to sip whatever-the-hell-zombie-drinks before he placed the mug back and focused again on me. “Even so, you have to believe me,” he sighed, thought lost amongst the crowd of people in front of our table. “I know everyone’s history here.”
“Really?” I inquired, trying my best to hide a tinge of sarcasm in my tone. “So what’s his?”
“Before that,” He lifted the tip of his hat and extended his arm to offer a handshake. “I’m Minho.”
I cautiously shook his hand then nodded, “Jinki.”
“So what’s his story?” I demanded again.
Minho rested his back on his chair and shrugged, “A tragic tale of romance, passion… and murder most foul.”
“He was… murdered?” I was taken aback by the fact. I thought that boy was just another distressed teenager who ended his life with some suicide attempt or such.
Now it was Minho’s turn to frown. “Didn’t you notice the blood-stained opening on his suit near the chest area?”
“Ah... Yes, I remember. I just didn’t think he would be-”
“Sadly, that’s what happened to almost all of us here, Jinki. Do you wanna see my scar?” He was about to take off his coat to show me something I clearly wouldn’t like to see, so I quickly prevented him because I didn’t want to be sick all over the table.
“So what makes him special?” I huffed and asked him for the second time.
“I won’t say it like that if I were you. There’s nothing special with being killed, you know,” Minho squinted at me. Realizing that he wasn’t amused with my comment, I mouthed an apology to him. Fortunately he just shrugged it off.
I kept eyeing him while he finally finished his drink and began his story, “Back then in his living days, Kibum’s family had always become the favorite topic for his town’s gossip. Rumors weren’t always meant to be good, but nobody could avoid that since he’s a highborn after all.”
‘Sounds like Taemin,’ I thought bitterly to myself.
“You may think that I’m exaggerating things, but it’s quite the truth that he was too perfect for his own good. He had several young men asking for some special attention from him, but he never really paid an interest on them. However, he stopped being a single when one night a stranger came and captured him by his charm.
He was good-looking, some said, but was sure down on cash. News spread fast, even before Kibum had the chance to introduce his new lover to his family, wind had brought the gossip over to his house. His father forbade him from meeting the man right away -of course he did, this certain guy was a newcomer in town, nobody knew well where he came from, and worst of all; he’s penniless. Not the best way to start dating an aristocracy,” Minho chuckled.
“I know you probably won’t believe this since he looked so fierce with the way he spoke to you just now, but Kibum was, and I guess will always be, a naïve young man right until this moment. He was desperately in love with this man, he just couldn't cope that his dearest father didn’t approve his relationship with his new lover. So they continued meeting each other, keeping their little secret to themselves. All the things seemed going on very well, until his lover demanded for more; to fully own him as a partner for life.
Kibum wasn’t one to say no, moreover when love was taking his thought and blinding his logic. He’s more than willing to take this man as his lawfully husband. So these two lovebirds, they made up a plan to elope. Kibum was told to meet him at a pathway led to the western forest, at night when a full moon would arise.
His lover was a sincere man and so was their love, it was what Kibum believed. That’s why he never felt wrong when he did what this man ordered, to bring some goods that could ‘help’ them to start their new life far away from their town, like the family jewels and a satchel of gold.
Kibum arrived at the pathway earlier than the promised time. His perfect white suit he’s wearing was such a contrast to the dark and gloomy haze drifting around the air. Never once that smile fading from his face, he thought his heart couldn’t beat any faster than it already was, jittery he became at the idea of running away with the man he loved. Excitement, anxiety, overflowing joy brimming over in his chest, the faint howls of wolf and pitch dark sky he normally scared of were nothing compared to his current joyful feeling.
Kibum just waited and waited. The night felt so long, the bright full moon had already appeared, but he knew his lover would come, so he kept waiting. An old oak tree near the clearing took the stand of his love and loyalty,” Minho halted his story, his gaze was now lost in the empty air in front of him.
“Did they finally meet?” I hesitantly asked him.
“You can say so, I guess,” Minho replied.
“So… what happened next?”
“That boy was so happy to see his lover walking slowly toward the clearing. He didn’t know what else to think of but ‘finally’, as he stood up and opened his arms to his side, expecting the warmth in hugs like they used to share on their secret meetings.
But as he saw an unreadable expression on his lover’s face that went along with a cold smirk he’d never seen before, the warmness he was seeking never came either.
The sudden agonizing pain in his chest replaced it. Bitter laugh of his lover echoing in his ears, gradually explained the nasty reality to his confused mind. Salty tears flowing past his trembling lips, as he realized it had never been his true love all along.
When he opened his eyes, all his precious belongings had gone. His perfect white suit was stained with a pool of blood on his chest. His heart wasn’t beating anymore, but still, he could feel it breaking with all the pain it went through.”
I simply lost my words at that moment.
“This underworld and all of us greeted him with looks of sympathy. We had made a promise to befriend those who were stuck in their second life, so since then we’ve always been trying our best to make him at least smile. That’s why those people were sending you daggers when you hurt our little groom’s feelings,” he chuckled quietly.
A rather long string of silence stretched between us for a while, none of us had anything to say to continue the conversation. Minho’s gaze was lost in empty air again, and I knew that mine wasn’t focused either; it was wandering at the bar’s exit where Kibum had left.
“He should have listened to his father,” Minho’s voice broke the silence. “Like I said before, I’ve been here for over centuries. That’s a damn long time, I tell you. Most of us here had almost forgotten that kind of emotions; hurt, grief, anguish, blahblah you name it. Some even failed to remember who’s responsible for their deaths. We don’t really care anymore, all we do every day is wasting our time with each others’ company until the day something will set us free, which we’re not sure when,” Minho stated like it’s the most usual thing in the world. “Life’s been good, so why not enjoy our second one?”
“But someone like Kibum? It’s only been about a decade after that incident. He can’t forget the pain easily,” Minho paused to give a signal to a waiter near the counter to bring him more drink. “He never once lost his hope though.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know whether others and The Elder know this, but I’m pretty much aware that Kibum was never around every time the full moon arose. I guessed he always went ‘upstairs’, recalling his painful past under that same oak tree. Maybe he’s still hoping... that someday there would be someone who’s actually meant for him. He’s still young in the heart, after all. Still naïve as ever,” he smiled as he ran his finger to trace his empty mug’s rim. “And then you came. Thanks to you, the living corpses here finally get the chance to see our little groom’s genuine smile.”
I winced at the statement, having no idea how I should react to that.
“I’m not forcing you to stay, Jinki,” he said sternly as he looked into my eyes. “But do you think you could be cruel enough to snatch that happiness from him?”
I didn’t know. Can I?
---
A/N: wow that was long O____O well it really was the longest chapter I've ever written XDD
so Jinki's condition and Kibum's past is now revealed :D now, now, how's Taeminnie doing at the Lee manor? :3
constructive criticism? <333 :))
Pairing: Onew/Key, Onew/Taemin
Genre: Romance, Angst, Supernatural, Horror(ish)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A young innocent boy with rosy cheeks and a beating heart, or a walking corpse with pale -almost ghostly blue, unpulsing flesh? It's up for him to choose.
Prologue | Part I | Part II
Jinki shifted comfortably on the bed, before the constricting pain on his head started coming up to him, pulling the man back from his sleep. Delicate fragrance of lilies greeted him, tickling his nasal cavity, gradually surrounding his tactless senses. He could only moan quietly at the gentleness wrapping his tense muscles as his nose inhaled the light alluring air.
There’s something more about the faint scent, something perplexing among its every string of aroma lingering around him, it felt relaxing yet unnerving at all once.
Jinki’s subconscious mind attempted to throw the sudden alarming ambiance away, but his eyelids were already fluttering open to perceive what had caused his tiny bit of uneasiness emerging to surface. Feeling completely awake, he furrowed his eyebrows at the unfamiliar surroundings.
“Where is this?” Jinki muttered to himself.
He checked around the room, observing everything that was visible through his eyes. He noticed the large white bed he was currently sitting on, semi-transparent curtain hanging low from the ceilings, framing around his place alongside the bedposts. The room was a little bit dark, the only lighting presented was some lanterns hung up on the room corners. He glanced sideways, attention fixed to a black antique grand piano on one side of the room. There was a bouquet of blue roses on the music rack, nicely placed in a very old silver vase.
Jinki blinked twice. Slowly but sure, the fuzzy memory from the night came back to him from the back of his head, washing his haze away.
The wedding rehearsal. Taemin’s soft fingers. A clearing in the forest. His perfect vows…
Jinki bolted upright so abruptly. Without much awareness, his hands quickly went inside his coat pockets, searching a certain thing his mind couldn’t even identified yet. Just like how he started, all too sudden his move was halted, as his face turned pale the moment he recalled everything.
It was Taemin’s ring. And someone- no, it wasn’t even a human. Something, something else was wearing it.
“Oh my, he’s awake!” A child voice suddenly stopped his thought. A little boy appeared at the door, running toward him with a wide smile. “Kibum! Kibum! He’s awake!” The boy was jumping cheerily on the edge of the bed, looking somewhat too excited considering that he hadn’t even known him at all.
Jinki stayed quiet as he took in the little boy’s appearance. He looked just normal, with big brown eyes and chubby cheeks, a typical look of a cute 10 year-old boy. But of course something would feel off again. What’s with this night, really? An eerie feeling was emitting from the little one’s aura. It gave him a slight shiver on the nape of his neck, though it soon disappeared as soon as the boy gave him a friendly grin.
“What’s your name?” The boy asked after a few seconds of silence. He was still on the right side of the bed, his legs dangling on the edge as he supported his upper body on the mattress with his folded arms.
“Jinki,” Jinki mumbled, obviously still trying to get everything that had happened into his consideration.
“Nice to meet you, Jinki. I’m Yoogeun!” the Yoogeun boy beamed and a small smile found its way to the elder’s lips. Though he still couldn’t completely erase his wary, the boy’s innocent look and smiles seemed convincing enough to at least let Jinki’s guard down.
“Why aren’t you wearing your ring?” Yoogeun sneaked out his hand, taking Jinki’s left hand to examine his finger, but as soon as their skins made contact, Jinki immediately pulled away, shocked to feel the absurd iciness from the boy’s touch.
An expression of bewilderment appeared on Yoogeun’s face. It took a second for him to realize what effect his casual touch did to the breathing man in front of him. “Ah, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to surprise you. Guess you haven’t gotten used to it after all…,” he frowned.
There was nothing else but fear and confusion filling Jinki’s thought. He didn’t like how he couldn’t grasp even the slightest bit of what was going on around him. He badly wanted to demand some explanation but didn’t even know where to start from. Jinki clutched his hair, letting out a frustrated groan, as the boy beside him giving him a sympathetic look.
“What you said earlier… about my ring, what was that supposed to mean?” Jinki finally calmed himself, shooting a glare toward Yoogeun, who seemed unfazed with it.
“Well, doesn’t married couple wear rings?”
“…Married?” Jinki stared out at the boy, silently wondering how he could probably know about him getting married soon.
Yoogeun nodded frantically. Jinki was about to fire him more questions but the voice at the door grabbed their attention.
“Oh, you’re awake.”
Jinki looked up to see that same figure with worn white coat and jet black hair, high cheekbones and white pale skin, the same captivating gaze that had enthralled him, sinking his consciousness deep into the darkness of his blue orbs. But every daunting thing from the corpse suddenly seemed out of place, with his gorgeous smile that plastered on his happy face as he finally greeted him with his sweet voice.
“Welcome, Jinki, to the Land of the Dead.”
***
Taemin leaned his shoulder at the window frame in his bedroom, his gaze far stretched outside the glass, looking past the manor’s gate and searching for a certain figure among the hazy fog of the cold night. Ever since Jinki left the manor in the afternoon to set his mind at rest, he hadn’t yet come back until then. It was barely past midnight, yet it already felt like forever to him.
He reached into his pocket, picking the ring between his thumb and forefinger. He almost got lost for an umpteenth time in his own thought hadn’t someone knocked at his door. Taemin turned back to see the maid standing at the other side of the room.
“Young master, what are you doing still up at this hour?”
“Good evening, Victoria,” Taemin put Jinki’s ring back into his pocket and smiled at the woman. “I’m just wondering why Jinki hasn’t come back yet,” he threw his gaze toward the front gate again.
“His parents and your mother are still in the dining hall now. They’re still discussing about this matter too. I suggest you not go there, the atmosphere…was not really nice,” Victoria scratched the back of his neck.
“Did you overhear something from their conversation?” Taemin anxiously asked.
Victoria nodded, “Obviously, if your groom still doesn’t show up this night, there won’t be any wedding tomorrow. Maybe they would delay it. Then again, there’s no way your parents are willing to wait for a long time.” When she noticed how glum Taemin became because of her statement, Victoria quickly added, “But Sungmin and Leeteuk are doing their best now! They’re making sure to search for him in every corner of the town.”
‘Of course they are,’ Taemin thought. Their parents wouldn’t risk creating some rumors and scandals by letting everybody know about the missing groom. There’s no other chance but settled the problem with their own efforts for now.
Taemin looked up to his maid, his eyes exuding uncertainty. “What did Dad say about this?”
“Milord was really annoyed,” Victoria sighed. “But he’s much calmer now, some talks with his guest has distracted him. They’re still in the study hall right now.”
“A guest?” Taemin frowned. “At this hour? Who?”
“I’m not really sure… It was ‘Lord Jonghyun’ or something,” Victoria knitted his eyebrows together as he tried to remember the guest’s name. “I thought he is Milord’s comrade. But he looks rather young, I suppose he’s still thirty. So maybe he’s just an acquaintance,” Victoria shrugged.
Taemin walked to the armchair, seeking some warmth from the fireplace. He rested his back and loosened his tie, as he took the ring again and placed it on a marble table beside him.
“You should get some rest now, young master,” Victoria approached the younger and squeezed the younger’s shoulder lightly.
“What if he won’t come back? What if he ran away because he didn’t want this marriage from the start?” Taemin looked up to the latter, insecurities coating his voice. “What if he actually never meant what he said to me?”
“How can such thought passes through your mind? Does Sir Jinki appear like some irresponsible person to you?”
Taemin fixed his gaze on the floor, battling with his incredulity inside.
“You already said that you liked him, didn’t you?” Victoria inquired with a comforting tone. Taemin timidly nodded. “And what did he say to you again?” She smiled as she remembered Taemin’s joyful expression when he told her about his little confession to Jinki that afternoon.
“He said… he promised to make me happy,” Taemin uttered, his cheeks blushing.
“Then everything’s gonna be alright,” Victoria ruffled Taemin’s hair gently, chuckling at her young master’s cuteness. “He’s not gonna run away from this.”
Taemin smiled.
“Sir Jinki is going to be back for you soon.”
***
He never said a word to me after his ridiculous welcoming earlier in the bedroom. The only words that he spoke were only a command to follow him to where he’s heading. I meekly nodded and got off the bed, then realized after a few minutes that the Yoogeun boy wasn’t with us anymore.
We were walking through the hallway with him leading the way, striding past number of doors, until we finally got to stairs that led to the first floor. The big windows along our way caught my attention and I couldn’t help but wonder about the state I was in, and whether I was imagining things or not because what I saw outside the windows was not the view of the usual starry night.
“So what is this place exactly?” I asked, his pace slowed down as he turned his head looking past his shoulder and smiled.
“Amber owns this inn. I’ve been living with her ever since I came down here,” he answered, his smile never wearing off. I hummed in response though it wasn’t completely what I wanted to hear because I’m still completely sane to realize that the normal sky wasn’t supposed to be dark purple with orange mist floating all around.
We had arrived at another door when he stopped on his track, turning his back to face me.
“Do you want to go out now or… do you want to meet the others first? Uh… that’s if you’re ready,” he stuttered, I found it slightly amusing since it’s the first time I saw him without that confidence in his eyes.
Before I could bring myself to respond, my eyes had fixed to the front of his white suit, noticing the torn fabric and a rather small stain of dried blood on his left chest that made me feel quite disturbed. Because from the look of it, clearly the blood didn’t come from outside. I was already prepared to assume the fact but I didn’t even dare make a guess.
“Oh well… sooner or later you’ll meet them anyway so let’s just go through the bar,” he added. This guy never gave me a chance to get the hang of it and now he’s making me even more confused.
He pushed the door open and walked past it with me trailing behind him. The room was filled with a batch of people crowding around what I assumed as a bar counter on the furthest side of the exit. There were several tables on the middle of the room, some weren’t taken as they preferred to gather and stand up near the counter. A location board that was hanging on the wall had let me know that the first floor was for the bar’s purpose whilst the inn was situated on the second and top floor.
I glanced unknowingly, staring absently at some people, and that was when I felt my breakfast turning inside my stomach. If only I hadn’t been too observant, maybe I would just overlooked it, but I was already wide awake to perceive that these people didn’t look healthy enough to stroll around the bar like that. I shouldn’t be too surprised since I had witnessed that strange blood stain on the boy’s clothes and his strange body temperature, but I still couldn’t accept the fact that I was interacting with the dead right now. As if I had said my thoughts loud aloud, my eyes instinctively darted to the bar’s entrance and I saw a headless soldier with sword stabbed through his stomachs walking past the door. Okay, it wasn’t the most amusing scene to see. I was surprised myself that I could tolerate all of these and not actually fainted on the spot.
“Everybody was kinda surprised with the news, but my friends are putting their best to hold our wedding reception by tomorrow,” his voice suddenly snapped me back to reality.
‘Our’ wedding reception.
I grabbed his wrist and pulled him back to the previous hallway that was a bit desolated from the customers. I ignored the coldness that crept to my hand as soon as my skin came into contact with his. He was a bit startled at first, but followed my steps without any complaints.
“You’re kidding. Right?” I snapped when I had pushed him against the wine-colored wall at the corridor.
“What?” He looked puzzled with my question, not knowing which part he had said wrong.
“No. You can’t be serious about this,” I started laughing, assuring myself that this boy- this dead boy was merely joking around.
“What- what do you mean?” He chuckled nervously.
“That ring. On your finger. It’s not yours,” I took a hold on his wrist and showed him his own hand in front of his face. “Now would you mind giving it back to me?” I released his hand, gesturing my fingers to take Taemin’s ring off of his finger, all the while trying to hold in my anger.
“What do you mean ‘giving it back’?” His expression started to change, his voice rising. “You declared your vows in the woods and put the ring on me, isn’t it supposed to be mine now?!”
“Listen,” I smacked the wall with the flat of my hand, making him jump from shock. “I don’t know what kind of prank you’re playing at me, but this is not funny. I have to go back to town immediately and you’re gonna bring me back to where you had kidnapped me.”
“No, you listen!” He pushed me back, never came to my expectation that I would be impressed by his strength. “I am not receiving this kind of treatment from you and you’re not going to fucking dump me now because I have the right to be heard too as your partner!”
“What?!” I stared disbelievingly at him. “You can’t possibly force me to marry you, right?!”
“How can you say that when YOU’RE the one who put this ring on ME?!”
At this stage, it seemed like all the shouts had caught some passerby’s interest. The bar that was once noisy had quietened down and I couldn’t stop myself from checking our surroundings, hoping that none of them had the intention to step forward and defend their kind.
“I’m not talking to you until you say sorry,” the boy hissed menacingly before rushing to the exit.
I could feel people around having their eyes at me, giving me some knowing and judging looks. Just great, now everybody think I was the bad guy. I didn’t know why I never felt intimidated by these though, considering this place and creatures were nothing near normal, but I guessed the thought of finding a way to go back to the Lee manor was the only thing that occupied my mind right then.
I stared at the space where that boy had left before, debating with myself whether to run after him or not. I decided not to. That delusional boy most likely would talk nonsense about me being his spouse again.
I collected my thoughts, calming my erratic heartbeat as I glanced around the room. I walked to a table and sat myself down, some people were still glancing at me and started murmuring, obviously talking about the previous argument, but I barely cared.
“We’ve never had a visit from a breather before,” I heard a low voice spoke from a table next to mine.
I deliberately braced myself to observe the person. The man appeared like he’s in his twenties and he appeared to be a couple of years younger than me. His hair was chopped in a nice short cut, perfect black covering each smooth fiber that shone under the dim light of the room’s ceiling. He was wearing a strange set of clothes which I assumed came from the past two centuries. It looked like it was the clothing of Spanish Empire, I wasn’t really sure. Then again, I couldn’t really be sure with everything I saw ever since I witnessed this ‘living dead’ thing.
He turned to face me and gave me a little smile, and I almost couldn’t believe how good-looking some of these dead people looked.
Well, at least some of them who still had their heads and face on.
“So? Found anything fun yet?” His question snapped me from my reverie. Seriously? This guy couldn’t be that stupid to not realize that I clearly wasn’t enjoying the gory view in their weird universe, right?
“If you kept the maggots away from eating your brain, mister, you would know well that I’m not really here for a vacation,” I retorted, not really caring that he’s merely a stranger. I’m too tired with all of these misfortunes going on in the-already-worst day of my life.
He chuckled, “Yeah, I overheard your conversation with Kibum just a moment ago.”
Upon hearing this, I instantly averted my gaze back to him. “You know him?”
“Hmm-hm,” he reached a brown mug on the table and stirred the spoon inside, playing with its content. “I’ve been living as a non-living here for centuries, of course I know everyone.”
That statement somehow relieved me to no end. I hastily rose from my seat and dragged a chair to sit across him instead. Maybe he could be my other ticket to step outside of this world. “Look, I need your help.”
The stranger raised an eyebrow at my abrupt request.
“Tell me how to go back.”
I grew anxious as there was a sudden concerned look on his face. He eventually replied after what seemed a minute to mull over his answer, “I’m sorry, but you’ll need Kibum for that. He’s the one who brought you here, he’s the one who’ll get you out.”
“What? What kind of nonsense is that?!”
“It’s some sort of unwritten rules here. We don’t just go ‘upstairs’ whenever we want, it belongs to the living and our place now is here. If you break the rule; like in this case Kibum had brought you here, then he has to escort you back with The Elder’s permission.”
“Shit,” I muttered as I buried my face in my palms. “He’s not gonna listen, that’s for sure.”
“Don’t be too hard on him, that kid has been through a lot,” he turned to face me and smiled.
I scoffed. “Yeah. I believe there’s something worse than being dragged to an eerie underworld and forced to wed to a motherfucking corpse.”
“Well, you should know better than declaring your vow carelessly like that.” The mysterious guy chuckled as he lifted his mug to sip whatever-the-hell-zombie-drinks before he placed the mug back and focused again on me. “Even so, you have to believe me,” he sighed, thought lost amongst the crowd of people in front of our table. “I know everyone’s history here.”
“Really?” I inquired, trying my best to hide a tinge of sarcasm in my tone. “So what’s his?”
“Before that,” He lifted the tip of his hat and extended his arm to offer a handshake. “I’m Minho.”
I cautiously shook his hand then nodded, “Jinki.”
“So what’s his story?” I demanded again.
Minho rested his back on his chair and shrugged, “A tragic tale of romance, passion… and murder most foul.”
“He was… murdered?” I was taken aback by the fact. I thought that boy was just another distressed teenager who ended his life with some suicide attempt or such.
Now it was Minho’s turn to frown. “Didn’t you notice the blood-stained opening on his suit near the chest area?”
“Ah... Yes, I remember. I just didn’t think he would be-”
“Sadly, that’s what happened to almost all of us here, Jinki. Do you wanna see my scar?” He was about to take off his coat to show me something I clearly wouldn’t like to see, so I quickly prevented him because I didn’t want to be sick all over the table.
“So what makes him special?” I huffed and asked him for the second time.
“I won’t say it like that if I were you. There’s nothing special with being killed, you know,” Minho squinted at me. Realizing that he wasn’t amused with my comment, I mouthed an apology to him. Fortunately he just shrugged it off.
I kept eyeing him while he finally finished his drink and began his story, “Back then in his living days, Kibum’s family had always become the favorite topic for his town’s gossip. Rumors weren’t always meant to be good, but nobody could avoid that since he’s a highborn after all.”
‘Sounds like Taemin,’ I thought bitterly to myself.
“You may think that I’m exaggerating things, but it’s quite the truth that he was too perfect for his own good. He had several young men asking for some special attention from him, but he never really paid an interest on them. However, he stopped being a single when one night a stranger came and captured him by his charm.
He was good-looking, some said, but was sure down on cash. News spread fast, even before Kibum had the chance to introduce his new lover to his family, wind had brought the gossip over to his house. His father forbade him from meeting the man right away -of course he did, this certain guy was a newcomer in town, nobody knew well where he came from, and worst of all; he’s penniless. Not the best way to start dating an aristocracy,” Minho chuckled.
“I know you probably won’t believe this since he looked so fierce with the way he spoke to you just now, but Kibum was, and I guess will always be, a naïve young man right until this moment. He was desperately in love with this man, he just couldn't cope that his dearest father didn’t approve his relationship with his new lover. So they continued meeting each other, keeping their little secret to themselves. All the things seemed going on very well, until his lover demanded for more; to fully own him as a partner for life.
Kibum wasn’t one to say no, moreover when love was taking his thought and blinding his logic. He’s more than willing to take this man as his lawfully husband. So these two lovebirds, they made up a plan to elope. Kibum was told to meet him at a pathway led to the western forest, at night when a full moon would arise.
His lover was a sincere man and so was their love, it was what Kibum believed. That’s why he never felt wrong when he did what this man ordered, to bring some goods that could ‘help’ them to start their new life far away from their town, like the family jewels and a satchel of gold.
Kibum arrived at the pathway earlier than the promised time. His perfect white suit he’s wearing was such a contrast to the dark and gloomy haze drifting around the air. Never once that smile fading from his face, he thought his heart couldn’t beat any faster than it already was, jittery he became at the idea of running away with the man he loved. Excitement, anxiety, overflowing joy brimming over in his chest, the faint howls of wolf and pitch dark sky he normally scared of were nothing compared to his current joyful feeling.
Kibum just waited and waited. The night felt so long, the bright full moon had already appeared, but he knew his lover would come, so he kept waiting. An old oak tree near the clearing took the stand of his love and loyalty,” Minho halted his story, his gaze was now lost in the empty air in front of him.
“Did they finally meet?” I hesitantly asked him.
“You can say so, I guess,” Minho replied.
“So… what happened next?”
“That boy was so happy to see his lover walking slowly toward the clearing. He didn’t know what else to think of but ‘finally’, as he stood up and opened his arms to his side, expecting the warmth in hugs like they used to share on their secret meetings.
But as he saw an unreadable expression on his lover’s face that went along with a cold smirk he’d never seen before, the warmness he was seeking never came either.
The sudden agonizing pain in his chest replaced it. Bitter laugh of his lover echoing in his ears, gradually explained the nasty reality to his confused mind. Salty tears flowing past his trembling lips, as he realized it had never been his true love all along.
When he opened his eyes, all his precious belongings had gone. His perfect white suit was stained with a pool of blood on his chest. His heart wasn’t beating anymore, but still, he could feel it breaking with all the pain it went through.”
I simply lost my words at that moment.
“This underworld and all of us greeted him with looks of sympathy. We had made a promise to befriend those who were stuck in their second life, so since then we’ve always been trying our best to make him at least smile. That’s why those people were sending you daggers when you hurt our little groom’s feelings,” he chuckled quietly.
A rather long string of silence stretched between us for a while, none of us had anything to say to continue the conversation. Minho’s gaze was lost in empty air again, and I knew that mine wasn’t focused either; it was wandering at the bar’s exit where Kibum had left.
“He should have listened to his father,” Minho’s voice broke the silence. “Like I said before, I’ve been here for over centuries. That’s a damn long time, I tell you. Most of us here had almost forgotten that kind of emotions; hurt, grief, anguish, blahblah you name it. Some even failed to remember who’s responsible for their deaths. We don’t really care anymore, all we do every day is wasting our time with each others’ company until the day something will set us free, which we’re not sure when,” Minho stated like it’s the most usual thing in the world. “Life’s been good, so why not enjoy our second one?”
“But someone like Kibum? It’s only been about a decade after that incident. He can’t forget the pain easily,” Minho paused to give a signal to a waiter near the counter to bring him more drink. “He never once lost his hope though.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know whether others and The Elder know this, but I’m pretty much aware that Kibum was never around every time the full moon arose. I guessed he always went ‘upstairs’, recalling his painful past under that same oak tree. Maybe he’s still hoping... that someday there would be someone who’s actually meant for him. He’s still young in the heart, after all. Still naïve as ever,” he smiled as he ran his finger to trace his empty mug’s rim. “And then you came. Thanks to you, the living corpses here finally get the chance to see our little groom’s genuine smile.”
I winced at the statement, having no idea how I should react to that.
“I’m not forcing you to stay, Jinki,” he said sternly as he looked into my eyes. “But do you think you could be cruel enough to snatch that happiness from him?”
I didn’t know. Can I?
---
A/N: wow that was long O____O well it really was the longest chapter I've ever written XDD
so Jinki's condition and Kibum's past is now revealed :D now, now, how's Taeminnie doing at the Lee manor? :3
constructive criticism? <333 :))