Safe (for Now)
Title: Safe (for Now)
Prompt: 35 - terrible
Pairing: Gen
Rating: PG
Summary: KwangMin didn't know if he could believe his senses
Notes: No more feasible, but sort of works?
Disclaimer: Not mine, not true
See Table here!
Series: Rescue
The room around him felt… strange. Too small, for one, and he couldn't hear anything. He always could, breathing from the others, at least one crying, speaking in their sleep, the tread of the guards weaving it all together. He'd moved around, from place to place, but in every barracks he'd been in, it had been the same. Rooms with floors, bunks, children miserable and broken and missing parents, brothers, sisters, everything.
Something covered him, too, and that made even less sense. He hadn't had a blanket in so long, not one this thick and warm. Someone lay next to him, but that happened a lot - even with all the room and everything, the barracks rarely had enough beds for the number of boys. Usually, they managed to reach a truce during the night, curling together to keep warm. Slowly, he opened his eyes, looking up at a ceiling so low it almost made him claustrophobic - a ceiling, not a bunk bed - light streaked across it. It meant enough light that he could see, and he turned to see who he shared his bed with this time, if it were someone he knew. Rare, but it had happened.
He couldn't stop the audible gasp that escaped, and he reached out, hand trembling, to make sure someone hadn't played a trick on him and put a mirror there. But no, his fingers brushed warm skin, and KwangMin nearly burst into tears for the first time since the whole nightmare had happened. They couldn't have gotten YoungMin. They'd never have let them even know, never let brothers and sibs together, even second cousins were separated. Friends were as well, so no way would they have let YoungMin…
"Are you okay?"
KwangMin froze, looking up at the man who stood over them, hair in disarray from sleep, looking like he'd just woken up. He rubbed his eyes, and then comprehension filled them. He shook YoungMin's shoulder. "Hey," he said softly. "Wake up. Your brother looks lost and like he thinks I'm going to kill him."
YoungMin's eyes opened, and KwangMin looked at him. For the first time in years, he saw his brother's face, YoungMin's smile. "Thanks, DongHyun," YoungMin said, and KwangMin gulped to try to keep from crying. He'd managed so far, because he wouldn't show them weakness, wouldn't let them know just how much….
The man moved away, climbing into a bed not too far, and YoungMin took a deep breath that shuddered. "Hey," he said. "Sorry. I was trying to stay awake, but…."
"How," KwangMin asked, his voice shaking even as he tried to keep from showing how he felt.
"I let them take you," YoungMin said flatly, his voice hard and quiet. "I wasn't going to let them keep you." His eyes left KwangMin's. "I'm sorry," he added, quieter now. "I'm so sorry. I didn't think they'd…."
"No one did," KwangMin said, trying to get his head around it. "I don't… who… where… what happened?"
YoungMin sighed. "It's a long story. Short version, I got you out and brought you to a place they don't seem to know about. Are you okay? Hungry?"
KwangMin shook his head. "No, I'm not hungry," he said, but didn't say anything about being okay. He knew he wasn't that, either. It all felt so mundane, like they should be talking about how to stay hidden, how to keep from getting caught, who that man had been and who else was here, and he couldn't do more than touch his twin again, just to be sure. "I'm not dreaming, right?"
YoungMin grinned, the smile that let KwangMin know he'd done something stupid marred by tears that glittered in YoungMin's eyes, and pinched him. "No," he said when KwangMin flinched and rubbed his arm. "You're not dreaming." The smile faded. "I'm so glad you're back," he said, and scooted closer to hug KwangMin. "I've missed you."
That broke through the wall that he'd used to keep everything in, to hide how much this had HURT. The first sob surprised him, but it didn't stop with that, and he nestled into YoungMin, sobbing hysterically. He didn't even notice when he fell asleep, still holding YoungMin like a life line.
"Is he okay?" DongHyun asked when it became clear that KwangMin had fallen asleep.
"I don't know," YoungMin said, sounding no more steady than his twin had just a while ago. "I think… I think it'll be a while before he is, though."
"We'll deal," DongHyun said. "Are you okay?"
YoungMin laughed. "I don't know," he said.
"Sleep," DongHyun told him, and then, when YoungMin had done as he'd asked, DongHyun went to sleep as well. They'd figure it out in the morning.
The morning brought an influx of surprised questions that made YoungMin look lost, and as soon as DongHyun realized it, he sent the others off to get breakfast.
As soon as the others had gone, YoungMin sat up, and with him came his twin. They sat there, and DongHyun looked between them for a moment. "Hi," he said finally. "I'm DongHyun. Welcome."
KwangMin nodded, but didn't even try to say anything.
Not too much of a surprise. He'd had that affect on just about everyone else, too. "YoungMin will explain everything to you as soon as he thinks you need to know or when you ask. I don't want you overwhelmed with information. Are you hungry?"
KwangMin shook his head at the same time that YoungMin nodded.
DongHyun regarded them quietly, more disturbed that he wanted to let them know. "I'd like you to try to eat anyway," he said. "I don't know how long ago you ate, and you're smaller than your brother, which I wouldn't have thought would be possible and keep you alive."
YoungMin glared at him. "I am not-"
"So, we'll start with something small for you," DongHyun said, grinning at YoungMin to take the sting out of his interruption. "Please try to eat it."
KwangMin just stared at him. DongHyun smiled and took himself back to the kitchen, finding something the two could eat, and took it into the bedroom. "I figure you'll want to stick together for a while," he added, setting the food on the bed next to them. "We'll figure something out. YoungMin, see if you can talk to him and get him to tell you what he likes to eat, just in case it changed, and I'll see if I can get any. I'm going shopping today - payday." He smiled and left again.
"Is that normal?" KwangMin asked, and DongHyun stopped in the hallway, where they couldn't see him. "That he just… takes charge?"
"He's the only one here legally," YoungMin said. "All of us are hiding. The land lord doesn't seem to care, one way or the other, or he hasn't realized it. Which could be, I think he spends his whole time as drunk as possible."
DongHyun had often had the same thought, so he couldn't fault YoungMin's assessment. "And he's older than all of us. So far, we've stayed out of the hands of the soldiers, and as long as that happens, nothing else matters."
KwangMin didn't say anything, and DongHyun continued down the hall.
"He didn't say anything about it to me," Minwoo said as DongHyun said down. "He never said anything about a brother."
"Twin," DongHyun said, and they all stared at him.
"Twin?" HyunSung asked.
"Yeah," DongHyun said, and reached out to stop Minwoo from running into the room. "He's skittish, and you don't need to scare him. You can see later," he added, sitting Minwoo back in his chair. "Let them alone right now."
Minwoo pouted, but sighed and stopped fighting him. "Do we still want to go out?" he asked after a while.
DongHyun hesitated.
"I don't think it's a good idea," HyunSung said at the same time JungMin did, and the two exchanged smirks.
"You're probably right," DongHyun said. "Just… please try not to do anything too loud so that we get found out." He got up and took his plate to the sink. "I have to get going. I'll be back later."
JungMin and Minwoo went up to the roof to watch for the soldiers, and HyunSung watched them go with relief. He wanted to talk to YoungMin - maybe his twin, but definitely YoungMin - to find out what he'd done. And see if it was something they could do again.
KwangMin had gone back to sleep - not too much of a surprise - and YoungMin sat against the wall on the bed, KwangMin's head in his lap. He looked up when HyunSung walked in, and half smiled.
"Did he eat anything?" HyunSung asked.
"Some," YoungMin said. "I don't know if they've fed the kids at all."
HyunSung nodded. "Survival of the strongest," he said. "I bet it's terrible there."
"He didn't say anything," YoungMin said. "I guess that's normal. He'll have to, at some point, but right now, I'm okay with him as he is. He's here."
HyunSung sat down on his own bed. "How did you get him out?" he asked.
YoungMin laughed softly. "I had a lot of luck," he said. "I've been watching when they come close, checking when it's just the soldiers and when they're moving the kids."
HyunSung held up a hand. "You know the schedule?"
"I can make a good guess," YoungMin said. "Sort of like DongHyun can, with when the soldiers march around here."
"That is good to know," HyunSung said. "We need to get a calendar - or make one - and see if we can see a pattern." He'd have to mention it to DongHyun. "So you know when they're moving the kids. Because of him?"
YoungMin nodded. "I knew they'd have to bring them back here at some point. No way can they actually remember where each one came from, and probably there's a more nefarious reason, but still. So I kept track, and watched, and… got really lucky. I saw him."
"And decided you needed to get him back."
YoungMin nodded. "Yeah. I had planned something, at least, and it actually worked." He took a deep breath. "I just slipped in, pretended to be one of the boys, found him, and… dragged him out. Carried him out, actually. I couldn't get him to wake up."
HyunSung frowned. "You couldn't get him to wake up?" he repeated. "That sounds bad. Was everyone asleep like that?"
YoungMin shook his head. "No." He stopped a moment. "No, but most of the kids that were up looked like zombies, like they should be in bed."
"Huh," HyunSung said. "And no one noticed you with KwangMin?"
YoungMin shrugged. "I think at first they thought I was him, and then… no one was watching by the time I got out, like… they didn't expect anyone to be up and around."
None of that sounded good. It sounded like they'd taken to drugging the kids to keep them in line, and to keep from having to watch them. He had to wonder what else the government was doing to them, how much the kids had - and what would happen when they stopped taking the drugs.
If nothing else, he'd have someone to watch and find out. He'd have to talk to JungMin as soon as he got back.
Prompt: 35 - terrible
Pairing: Gen
Rating: PG
Summary: KwangMin didn't know if he could believe his senses
Notes: No more feasible, but sort of works?
Disclaimer: Not mine, not true
See Table here!
Series: Rescue
The room around him felt… strange. Too small, for one, and he couldn't hear anything. He always could, breathing from the others, at least one crying, speaking in their sleep, the tread of the guards weaving it all together. He'd moved around, from place to place, but in every barracks he'd been in, it had been the same. Rooms with floors, bunks, children miserable and broken and missing parents, brothers, sisters, everything.
Something covered him, too, and that made even less sense. He hadn't had a blanket in so long, not one this thick and warm. Someone lay next to him, but that happened a lot - even with all the room and everything, the barracks rarely had enough beds for the number of boys. Usually, they managed to reach a truce during the night, curling together to keep warm. Slowly, he opened his eyes, looking up at a ceiling so low it almost made him claustrophobic - a ceiling, not a bunk bed - light streaked across it. It meant enough light that he could see, and he turned to see who he shared his bed with this time, if it were someone he knew. Rare, but it had happened.
He couldn't stop the audible gasp that escaped, and he reached out, hand trembling, to make sure someone hadn't played a trick on him and put a mirror there. But no, his fingers brushed warm skin, and KwangMin nearly burst into tears for the first time since the whole nightmare had happened. They couldn't have gotten YoungMin. They'd never have let them even know, never let brothers and sibs together, even second cousins were separated. Friends were as well, so no way would they have let YoungMin…
"Are you okay?"
KwangMin froze, looking up at the man who stood over them, hair in disarray from sleep, looking like he'd just woken up. He rubbed his eyes, and then comprehension filled them. He shook YoungMin's shoulder. "Hey," he said softly. "Wake up. Your brother looks lost and like he thinks I'm going to kill him."
YoungMin's eyes opened, and KwangMin looked at him. For the first time in years, he saw his brother's face, YoungMin's smile. "Thanks, DongHyun," YoungMin said, and KwangMin gulped to try to keep from crying. He'd managed so far, because he wouldn't show them weakness, wouldn't let them know just how much….
The man moved away, climbing into a bed not too far, and YoungMin took a deep breath that shuddered. "Hey," he said. "Sorry. I was trying to stay awake, but…."
"How," KwangMin asked, his voice shaking even as he tried to keep from showing how he felt.
"I let them take you," YoungMin said flatly, his voice hard and quiet. "I wasn't going to let them keep you." His eyes left KwangMin's. "I'm sorry," he added, quieter now. "I'm so sorry. I didn't think they'd…."
"No one did," KwangMin said, trying to get his head around it. "I don't… who… where… what happened?"
YoungMin sighed. "It's a long story. Short version, I got you out and brought you to a place they don't seem to know about. Are you okay? Hungry?"
KwangMin shook his head. "No, I'm not hungry," he said, but didn't say anything about being okay. He knew he wasn't that, either. It all felt so mundane, like they should be talking about how to stay hidden, how to keep from getting caught, who that man had been and who else was here, and he couldn't do more than touch his twin again, just to be sure. "I'm not dreaming, right?"
YoungMin grinned, the smile that let KwangMin know he'd done something stupid marred by tears that glittered in YoungMin's eyes, and pinched him. "No," he said when KwangMin flinched and rubbed his arm. "You're not dreaming." The smile faded. "I'm so glad you're back," he said, and scooted closer to hug KwangMin. "I've missed you."
That broke through the wall that he'd used to keep everything in, to hide how much this had HURT. The first sob surprised him, but it didn't stop with that, and he nestled into YoungMin, sobbing hysterically. He didn't even notice when he fell asleep, still holding YoungMin like a life line.
"Is he okay?" DongHyun asked when it became clear that KwangMin had fallen asleep.
"I don't know," YoungMin said, sounding no more steady than his twin had just a while ago. "I think… I think it'll be a while before he is, though."
"We'll deal," DongHyun said. "Are you okay?"
YoungMin laughed. "I don't know," he said.
"Sleep," DongHyun told him, and then, when YoungMin had done as he'd asked, DongHyun went to sleep as well. They'd figure it out in the morning.
The morning brought an influx of surprised questions that made YoungMin look lost, and as soon as DongHyun realized it, he sent the others off to get breakfast.
As soon as the others had gone, YoungMin sat up, and with him came his twin. They sat there, and DongHyun looked between them for a moment. "Hi," he said finally. "I'm DongHyun. Welcome."
KwangMin nodded, but didn't even try to say anything.
Not too much of a surprise. He'd had that affect on just about everyone else, too. "YoungMin will explain everything to you as soon as he thinks you need to know or when you ask. I don't want you overwhelmed with information. Are you hungry?"
KwangMin shook his head at the same time that YoungMin nodded.
DongHyun regarded them quietly, more disturbed that he wanted to let them know. "I'd like you to try to eat anyway," he said. "I don't know how long ago you ate, and you're smaller than your brother, which I wouldn't have thought would be possible and keep you alive."
YoungMin glared at him. "I am not-"
"So, we'll start with something small for you," DongHyun said, grinning at YoungMin to take the sting out of his interruption. "Please try to eat it."
KwangMin just stared at him. DongHyun smiled and took himself back to the kitchen, finding something the two could eat, and took it into the bedroom. "I figure you'll want to stick together for a while," he added, setting the food on the bed next to them. "We'll figure something out. YoungMin, see if you can talk to him and get him to tell you what he likes to eat, just in case it changed, and I'll see if I can get any. I'm going shopping today - payday." He smiled and left again.
"Is that normal?" KwangMin asked, and DongHyun stopped in the hallway, where they couldn't see him. "That he just… takes charge?"
"He's the only one here legally," YoungMin said. "All of us are hiding. The land lord doesn't seem to care, one way or the other, or he hasn't realized it. Which could be, I think he spends his whole time as drunk as possible."
DongHyun had often had the same thought, so he couldn't fault YoungMin's assessment. "And he's older than all of us. So far, we've stayed out of the hands of the soldiers, and as long as that happens, nothing else matters."
KwangMin didn't say anything, and DongHyun continued down the hall.
"He didn't say anything about it to me," Minwoo said as DongHyun said down. "He never said anything about a brother."
"Twin," DongHyun said, and they all stared at him.
"Twin?" HyunSung asked.
"Yeah," DongHyun said, and reached out to stop Minwoo from running into the room. "He's skittish, and you don't need to scare him. You can see later," he added, sitting Minwoo back in his chair. "Let them alone right now."
Minwoo pouted, but sighed and stopped fighting him. "Do we still want to go out?" he asked after a while.
DongHyun hesitated.
"I don't think it's a good idea," HyunSung said at the same time JungMin did, and the two exchanged smirks.
"You're probably right," DongHyun said. "Just… please try not to do anything too loud so that we get found out." He got up and took his plate to the sink. "I have to get going. I'll be back later."
JungMin and Minwoo went up to the roof to watch for the soldiers, and HyunSung watched them go with relief. He wanted to talk to YoungMin - maybe his twin, but definitely YoungMin - to find out what he'd done. And see if it was something they could do again.
KwangMin had gone back to sleep - not too much of a surprise - and YoungMin sat against the wall on the bed, KwangMin's head in his lap. He looked up when HyunSung walked in, and half smiled.
"Did he eat anything?" HyunSung asked.
"Some," YoungMin said. "I don't know if they've fed the kids at all."
HyunSung nodded. "Survival of the strongest," he said. "I bet it's terrible there."
"He didn't say anything," YoungMin said. "I guess that's normal. He'll have to, at some point, but right now, I'm okay with him as he is. He's here."
HyunSung sat down on his own bed. "How did you get him out?" he asked.
YoungMin laughed softly. "I had a lot of luck," he said. "I've been watching when they come close, checking when it's just the soldiers and when they're moving the kids."
HyunSung held up a hand. "You know the schedule?"
"I can make a good guess," YoungMin said. "Sort of like DongHyun can, with when the soldiers march around here."
"That is good to know," HyunSung said. "We need to get a calendar - or make one - and see if we can see a pattern." He'd have to mention it to DongHyun. "So you know when they're moving the kids. Because of him?"
YoungMin nodded. "I knew they'd have to bring them back here at some point. No way can they actually remember where each one came from, and probably there's a more nefarious reason, but still. So I kept track, and watched, and… got really lucky. I saw him."
"And decided you needed to get him back."
YoungMin nodded. "Yeah. I had planned something, at least, and it actually worked." He took a deep breath. "I just slipped in, pretended to be one of the boys, found him, and… dragged him out. Carried him out, actually. I couldn't get him to wake up."
HyunSung frowned. "You couldn't get him to wake up?" he repeated. "That sounds bad. Was everyone asleep like that?"
YoungMin shook his head. "No." He stopped a moment. "No, but most of the kids that were up looked like zombies, like they should be in bed."
"Huh," HyunSung said. "And no one noticed you with KwangMin?"
YoungMin shrugged. "I think at first they thought I was him, and then… no one was watching by the time I got out, like… they didn't expect anyone to be up and around."
None of that sounded good. It sounded like they'd taken to drugging the kids to keep them in line, and to keep from having to watch them. He had to wonder what else the government was doing to them, how much the kids had - and what would happen when they stopped taking the drugs.
If nothing else, he'd have someone to watch and find out. He'd have to talk to JungMin as soon as he got back.