Of Swaggers, Saloons, And Star Badges - Chapter 10
Title: Of Swaggers, Saloons, And Star Badges - Chapter 10
Character/Pairing: Jae/Min/Chun and variations of, minor one-sided YunChun, YooSu bffery
Genre: drama/angst, romance, and a bit of comedy and action, Korean Wild West AU!
Rating: PG-13 to be safe (for now)
Word Count: 2,028
Disclaimer: I have a what?
Previous parts: Prologue , Chapter 1 , Chapter 2 , Chapter 3 , Chapter 4 , Chapter 5 , Chapter 6 , Chapter 7 , Chapter 8 , Chapter 9
Yoochun crouched down in some thicker brush behind a wide oak tree. The sun was shining in his eyes and made it difficult to identify who was approaching. The figure had broad shoulders, hat pulled down low and was slightly hunched over, and was following his trail. Yoochun held his breath until the man passed, it was then that he recognized the man’s swagger.
Jaejoong.
Either Yoochun was being quite clever leaving false trails and doubling back or the teen was completely delirious or perhaps Jaejoong was not as good at tracking as he once was. He took his hat off and ran a hand through his hair. Losing the track now was the last straw and he yelled out in frustration. He was so close. So close to finding Yoochun and it felt like he had let the man slip right through his fingers. If something had happened to Yoochun, Jaejoong would never be able to forgive himself for failing the man a third time. He squatted down as an intense rush of emotion overcame him. He gasped as his heart raced. He needed to calm himself and forced his lungs to take in deep breaths. He slowly stood and replaced his hat.
Yoochun took a moment to drink in the sight of his hyung. He was so happy to see Jaejoong there; that man was always coming to his rescue. Yoochun was about to jump out from his hiding stop and yell out ‘my hero!’ when he saw Jaejoong cry out and drop to the ground. His heart clenched. It was such a heartbreaking sight and it had Yoochun frozen in the spot. It took a moment of awful silence but Jaejoong collected himself and stood, straightening his shoulders. As the older man moved forward, Yoochun step out and around the tree to follow his hyung and surprise him when someone called out to him from back a distance.
Changmin rode down the old road, passing cabin after cabin and urging his horse to go faster. The wind ripped through the mane of the beast that carried him. He pushed harder. Though he was sure they were going faster than the horse probably should be; he felt like they were trying to run through molasses. He was so concentrated on going faster that when a cabin with two horses blurred past him he almost didn’t recognize that it was the last cabin on the trail.
“Whoa! Whoa boy!” He pulled back on the reigns and the creature came to a halt. Taking pity on Junsu’s horse, Changmin allowed the animal to trot back to the cabin. He recognized the black stallion tied up next to Jaejoong’s mare. Song Seung-Heon was already in the woods and a heck of a lot closer to finding Yoochun and Jaejoong than he was.
“Damn.” He cursed under his breath as he tied the panting horse to the hitching post. He had to catch up to Seung-Heon before he could surprise Jaejoong. He only hoped that the former Deputy was as capable as he as was cocky.
Jaejoong froze. It had been a while since he had heard that name said with such rage. He slowly turned while one of his hands shot down to his hips and drew a gun. That is when he saw Yoochun between him and the rustler - but he was too late.
“MICKY!” Seung-Heon was beyond livid and was completely enraged. After he had arrived at his cabin he had found a strange horse outside it. Upon searching the structure he found his roof sagging in and the youth gone. He found the trail of two people heading into the forest and he followed after, pistol out. It wouldn’t be too far later that he would find the escaped prostitute and the feisty Deputy.
Yoochun saw his hyung whip out his gun but Seung-Heon was already poised to fire. He couldn’t let Seung-Heon shoot Jaejoong so he stood his ground while the crazed man approached.
“Please don’t shoot!” Yoochun cried out. Eyes shut tightly. If Seung-Heon was going to kill Jaejoong he couldn’t bear to watch it. He just hoped that his outburst would distract Seung-Heon enough for Jaejoong to get out of range.
Seung-Heon cocked his head. Was the whore pleading for his life? And that’s when he noticed the man past him. Ah, the firecracker. He had been so set on recapturing Micky that he hadn’t even seen the feisty Deputy ahead of the younger man.
Yoochun’s cry shocked Jaejoong. He didn’t understand until he saw that Seung-Heon could have shot him instead of Yoochun. However, it would seem that Seung-Heon had been more focused on Yoochun, as was evident by the way he approached the still man with a ferocious look in his eyes.
“Don’t touch him!” Jaejoong cried as Seung-Heon continued his advancement.
“Oh, too late for that. Haven’t you noticed my handiwork yet? His pale skin was a pleasure to mark.” The cruel grin sent a shiver down Jaejoong’s spine. He wanted to go to Yoochun and protect him but Yoochun was too far from him and Seung-Heon’s gun was aimed at him; he was too afraid to upset the unstable man. Seung-Heon threw an arm around Yoochun and turned him so that he was now facing Jaejoong and Seung-Heon had his chest pressed up against the young man. He made Yoochun into a human shield.
“Bastard!” Jaejoong couldn’t get a clear shot at the distance they were at now. He needed to get closer, without provoking Seung-Heon. Yoochun still had his eyes shut tightly but there were tears that had escape and were now rolling down his cheeks.
“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. That temper of yours will only get you into trouble.” Seung-Heon’s condescending tone let Jaejoong know that he was being toyed with now. If he could make Seung-Heon think he had won then maybe the man would drop his guard and Jaejoong could get close enough to get a shot off.
“Then I guess I’ll just have to do whatever it is that you want.” Jaejoong sighed.
Seung-Heon sneered. “How touching. Such sweet devotion to a little whore.”
“He’s not a whore. He’s Park Yoochun and I love him.” Jaejoong made his voice sound desperate and pleading, which wasn’t much of a stretch at the moment. “Please just let him go and take me hostage instead.”
Yoochun’s eyes shot open. They were blood shot and glistening in the sunlight. He had heavy bags under his eyes and his face was bruised. He looked paler than usual and completely haggard. But to Jaejoong, he had never looked more beautiful.
“There you are.” Jaejoong whispered.
“Don’t hyung. Just walk away. I’ll be okay.” Yoochun pleaded. He wouldn’t let Jaejoong die for someone like himself.
“I think you should do what your little pet says and leave. I promise to give you a head start before I come after you. Once I’m done with Micky.” Seung-Heon licked the side of Yoochun’s neck and the younger man had to hold back a gag. Jaejoong tightened his hold on his gun.
“Well, that doesn’t sound very fair to me.” The voice came from behind Seung-Heon. They had all missed the approach of a fourth person while they had been bantering. Seung-Heon moved the pistol trained on Jaejoong to Yoochun’s temple and turned sideways.
“Careful Sheriff. You shoot me and my gun just might go off.” Seung-Heon began to back up. “We wouldn’t want any accidents, now would we?”
“Changmin-shii!” Yoochun’s tears flowed once more
“Put down the gun Seung-Heon.” Changmin’s voice was steady as he spoke. “Put down the gun and we can talk about this.”
“I’ve done enough talking with you today. We’re done.” Seung-Heon cocked his gun as Changmin stepped towards him.
“Changmin-ah.” Jaejoong called out to the Sheriff. Urging the man to not step any closer.
“Jaejoong, stay back. I don’t need you getting hurt too.”
“Oh, do we have a ourselves a little love triangle here?” Seung-Heon’s words struck a chord with the men pointing a gun at him. Jaejoong and Changmin’s eyes became slits and their mouths set in a tense line. Yoochun’s eyes widened in shock. “Looks like I just might be right.” Seung-Heon began to laugh and while he was distracted there was a loud popping sound of a gun going off and he and Yoochun fell to the ground.
“Yoochun-ah!” both Jaejoong and Changmin called out and ran to the fallen men.
There was a tense moment of silence as the two men lay silent on the ground. Then Yoochun slowly began to shift.
“Aish. I think I broke my finger now too.” Yoochun pouted with an annoyed scowl; when they fell his finger has been caught against the trigger.
“Yoochun-ah.” The two men crouched at his side said in relief.
“You said that already. Now will someone untie me and help me up.” Jaejoong chuckled and reached for the rope while Changmin helped him sit up. “Too cute Chunnie-ah.”
Yoochun scoffed but it turned into another painful groan as the blood pushed through his untied arms. He flexed his limbs stiffly and examined his right trigger finger; it was already purpling but at least he could bend it. “Good thing I’m left handed.”
“But what just happened?” Changmin asked as he frowned at the obvious whip marks adorning Yoochun’s body.
Just then Seung-Heon coughed and blood bubbled from his mouth. He wheezed as he took his last breaths. Yoochun crawled over to the man and rolled him onto his back. Seung-Heon opened his eyes to look up at him.
“When you’re in hell, remember that it was this whore that sent you there.” Yoochun’s face was devoid of any emotion as he spoke those words in a low tone, just loud enough for the other two men to hear.
Seung-Heon reached up a hand to grab hold of Yoochun’s neck and with his last bit of energy tried to choke the life from the young man; but it was all in vain as he died seconds later. His arm fell limply at his side and Yoochun just stared into the dead eyes of his last abuser.
“Come on Yoochun-ah.” Jaejoong said softly as he gently took hold of Yoochun’s shoulders and helped him stand. “There is nothing more he can do to you.”
Changmin took a moment to study the scene and picked up Seung-Heon’s second pistol - the one that had killed him. “How did this go off?” he asked aloud.
“The ropes had loosened a bit after I had swung around from the ceiling and my right hand was able to get a hold of his left pistol that was still holstered when he pulled back to laugh. I was only able to pull it out so far - I couldn’t even see what angle it was at - I had to go by feel alone and took the risk. Bang!”
“He hung you from the ceiling?” Changmin’s body shook with anger. If Seung-Heon wasn’t already dead he would be now. “Was that before or after he whipped you?”
Yoochun looked at his feet and brought his good hand put to hold at his sore ribs. He hated feeling like the victim all the time. “After. It was my punishment for trying to run away.” He wasn’t going to cry over Seung-Heon or Yunho or any of the other monsters that had hurt him ever again.
It took every last drop of will Changmin had to not kick the shit out of Seung-Heon’s dead body. He wanted to tear the man apart.
“Bastard!” Jaejoong yelled out and spat on Seung-Heon’s still form.
Yoochun opened his mouth to speak but the sound of a person approaching stopped him.
“I was on my way back and I heard the gun shot and came through the woods as fast as I could!” Junho huffed but then stood stalk still as he noticed Seung-Heon’s body.
“Neh, Junho-shii, is your horse near?” Yoochun asked.
Startled by the sudden question, Junho just nodded in response. Yoochun smiled with a sigh and then dropped to the ground the second time that afternoon.
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Character/Pairing: Jae/Min/Chun and variations of, minor one-sided YunChun, YooSu bffery
Genre: drama/angst, romance, and a bit of comedy and action, Korean Wild West AU!
Rating: PG-13 to be safe (for now)
Word Count: 2,028
Disclaimer: I have a what?
Previous parts: Prologue , Chapter 1 , Chapter 2 , Chapter 3 , Chapter 4 , Chapter 5 , Chapter 6 , Chapter 7 , Chapter 8 , Chapter 9
Yoochun crouched down in some thicker brush behind a wide oak tree. The sun was shining in his eyes and made it difficult to identify who was approaching. The figure had broad shoulders, hat pulled down low and was slightly hunched over, and was following his trail. Yoochun held his breath until the man passed, it was then that he recognized the man’s swagger.
Jaejoong.
Either Yoochun was being quite clever leaving false trails and doubling back or the teen was completely delirious or perhaps Jaejoong was not as good at tracking as he once was. He took his hat off and ran a hand through his hair. Losing the track now was the last straw and he yelled out in frustration. He was so close. So close to finding Yoochun and it felt like he had let the man slip right through his fingers. If something had happened to Yoochun, Jaejoong would never be able to forgive himself for failing the man a third time. He squatted down as an intense rush of emotion overcame him. He gasped as his heart raced. He needed to calm himself and forced his lungs to take in deep breaths. He slowly stood and replaced his hat.
Yoochun took a moment to drink in the sight of his hyung. He was so happy to see Jaejoong there; that man was always coming to his rescue. Yoochun was about to jump out from his hiding stop and yell out ‘my hero!’ when he saw Jaejoong cry out and drop to the ground. His heart clenched. It was such a heartbreaking sight and it had Yoochun frozen in the spot. It took a moment of awful silence but Jaejoong collected himself and stood, straightening his shoulders. As the older man moved forward, Yoochun step out and around the tree to follow his hyung and surprise him when someone called out to him from back a distance.
Changmin rode down the old road, passing cabin after cabin and urging his horse to go faster. The wind ripped through the mane of the beast that carried him. He pushed harder. Though he was sure they were going faster than the horse probably should be; he felt like they were trying to run through molasses. He was so concentrated on going faster that when a cabin with two horses blurred past him he almost didn’t recognize that it was the last cabin on the trail.
“Whoa! Whoa boy!” He pulled back on the reigns and the creature came to a halt. Taking pity on Junsu’s horse, Changmin allowed the animal to trot back to the cabin. He recognized the black stallion tied up next to Jaejoong’s mare. Song Seung-Heon was already in the woods and a heck of a lot closer to finding Yoochun and Jaejoong than he was.
“Damn.” He cursed under his breath as he tied the panting horse to the hitching post. He had to catch up to Seung-Heon before he could surprise Jaejoong. He only hoped that the former Deputy was as capable as he as was cocky.
Jaejoong froze. It had been a while since he had heard that name said with such rage. He slowly turned while one of his hands shot down to his hips and drew a gun. That is when he saw Yoochun between him and the rustler - but he was too late.
“MICKY!” Seung-Heon was beyond livid and was completely enraged. After he had arrived at his cabin he had found a strange horse outside it. Upon searching the structure he found his roof sagging in and the youth gone. He found the trail of two people heading into the forest and he followed after, pistol out. It wouldn’t be too far later that he would find the escaped prostitute and the feisty Deputy.
Yoochun saw his hyung whip out his gun but Seung-Heon was already poised to fire. He couldn’t let Seung-Heon shoot Jaejoong so he stood his ground while the crazed man approached.
“Please don’t shoot!” Yoochun cried out. Eyes shut tightly. If Seung-Heon was going to kill Jaejoong he couldn’t bear to watch it. He just hoped that his outburst would distract Seung-Heon enough for Jaejoong to get out of range.
Seung-Heon cocked his head. Was the whore pleading for his life? And that’s when he noticed the man past him. Ah, the firecracker. He had been so set on recapturing Micky that he hadn’t even seen the feisty Deputy ahead of the younger man.
Yoochun’s cry shocked Jaejoong. He didn’t understand until he saw that Seung-Heon could have shot him instead of Yoochun. However, it would seem that Seung-Heon had been more focused on Yoochun, as was evident by the way he approached the still man with a ferocious look in his eyes.
“Don’t touch him!” Jaejoong cried as Seung-Heon continued his advancement.
“Oh, too late for that. Haven’t you noticed my handiwork yet? His pale skin was a pleasure to mark.” The cruel grin sent a shiver down Jaejoong’s spine. He wanted to go to Yoochun and protect him but Yoochun was too far from him and Seung-Heon’s gun was aimed at him; he was too afraid to upset the unstable man. Seung-Heon threw an arm around Yoochun and turned him so that he was now facing Jaejoong and Seung-Heon had his chest pressed up against the young man. He made Yoochun into a human shield.
“Bastard!” Jaejoong couldn’t get a clear shot at the distance they were at now. He needed to get closer, without provoking Seung-Heon. Yoochun still had his eyes shut tightly but there were tears that had escape and were now rolling down his cheeks.
“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. That temper of yours will only get you into trouble.” Seung-Heon’s condescending tone let Jaejoong know that he was being toyed with now. If he could make Seung-Heon think he had won then maybe the man would drop his guard and Jaejoong could get close enough to get a shot off.
“Then I guess I’ll just have to do whatever it is that you want.” Jaejoong sighed.
Seung-Heon sneered. “How touching. Such sweet devotion to a little whore.”
“He’s not a whore. He’s Park Yoochun and I love him.” Jaejoong made his voice sound desperate and pleading, which wasn’t much of a stretch at the moment. “Please just let him go and take me hostage instead.”
Yoochun’s eyes shot open. They were blood shot and glistening in the sunlight. He had heavy bags under his eyes and his face was bruised. He looked paler than usual and completely haggard. But to Jaejoong, he had never looked more beautiful.
“There you are.” Jaejoong whispered.
“Don’t hyung. Just walk away. I’ll be okay.” Yoochun pleaded. He wouldn’t let Jaejoong die for someone like himself.
“I think you should do what your little pet says and leave. I promise to give you a head start before I come after you. Once I’m done with Micky.” Seung-Heon licked the side of Yoochun’s neck and the younger man had to hold back a gag. Jaejoong tightened his hold on his gun.
“Well, that doesn’t sound very fair to me.” The voice came from behind Seung-Heon. They had all missed the approach of a fourth person while they had been bantering. Seung-Heon moved the pistol trained on Jaejoong to Yoochun’s temple and turned sideways.
“Careful Sheriff. You shoot me and my gun just might go off.” Seung-Heon began to back up. “We wouldn’t want any accidents, now would we?”
“Changmin-shii!” Yoochun’s tears flowed once more
“Put down the gun Seung-Heon.” Changmin’s voice was steady as he spoke. “Put down the gun and we can talk about this.”
“I’ve done enough talking with you today. We’re done.” Seung-Heon cocked his gun as Changmin stepped towards him.
“Changmin-ah.” Jaejoong called out to the Sheriff. Urging the man to not step any closer.
“Jaejoong, stay back. I don’t need you getting hurt too.”
“Oh, do we have a ourselves a little love triangle here?” Seung-Heon’s words struck a chord with the men pointing a gun at him. Jaejoong and Changmin’s eyes became slits and their mouths set in a tense line. Yoochun’s eyes widened in shock. “Looks like I just might be right.” Seung-Heon began to laugh and while he was distracted there was a loud popping sound of a gun going off and he and Yoochun fell to the ground.
“Yoochun-ah!” both Jaejoong and Changmin called out and ran to the fallen men.
There was a tense moment of silence as the two men lay silent on the ground. Then Yoochun slowly began to shift.
“Aish. I think I broke my finger now too.” Yoochun pouted with an annoyed scowl; when they fell his finger has been caught against the trigger.
“Yoochun-ah.” The two men crouched at his side said in relief.
“You said that already. Now will someone untie me and help me up.” Jaejoong chuckled and reached for the rope while Changmin helped him sit up. “Too cute Chunnie-ah.”
Yoochun scoffed but it turned into another painful groan as the blood pushed through his untied arms. He flexed his limbs stiffly and examined his right trigger finger; it was already purpling but at least he could bend it. “Good thing I’m left handed.”
“But what just happened?” Changmin asked as he frowned at the obvious whip marks adorning Yoochun’s body.
Just then Seung-Heon coughed and blood bubbled from his mouth. He wheezed as he took his last breaths. Yoochun crawled over to the man and rolled him onto his back. Seung-Heon opened his eyes to look up at him.
“When you’re in hell, remember that it was this whore that sent you there.” Yoochun’s face was devoid of any emotion as he spoke those words in a low tone, just loud enough for the other two men to hear.
Seung-Heon reached up a hand to grab hold of Yoochun’s neck and with his last bit of energy tried to choke the life from the young man; but it was all in vain as he died seconds later. His arm fell limply at his side and Yoochun just stared into the dead eyes of his last abuser.
“Come on Yoochun-ah.” Jaejoong said softly as he gently took hold of Yoochun’s shoulders and helped him stand. “There is nothing more he can do to you.”
Changmin took a moment to study the scene and picked up Seung-Heon’s second pistol - the one that had killed him. “How did this go off?” he asked aloud.
“The ropes had loosened a bit after I had swung around from the ceiling and my right hand was able to get a hold of his left pistol that was still holstered when he pulled back to laugh. I was only able to pull it out so far - I couldn’t even see what angle it was at - I had to go by feel alone and took the risk. Bang!”
“He hung you from the ceiling?” Changmin’s body shook with anger. If Seung-Heon wasn’t already dead he would be now. “Was that before or after he whipped you?”
Yoochun looked at his feet and brought his good hand put to hold at his sore ribs. He hated feeling like the victim all the time. “After. It was my punishment for trying to run away.” He wasn’t going to cry over Seung-Heon or Yunho or any of the other monsters that had hurt him ever again.
It took every last drop of will Changmin had to not kick the shit out of Seung-Heon’s dead body. He wanted to tear the man apart.
“Bastard!” Jaejoong yelled out and spat on Seung-Heon’s still form.
Yoochun opened his mouth to speak but the sound of a person approaching stopped him.
“I was on my way back and I heard the gun shot and came through the woods as fast as I could!” Junho huffed but then stood stalk still as he noticed Seung-Heon’s body.
“Neh, Junho-shii, is your horse near?” Yoochun asked.
Startled by the sudden question, Junho just nodded in response. Yoochun smiled with a sigh and then dropped to the ground the second time that afternoon.
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