A Single Word - Chapter Nine
Title: A Single Word - Chapter Nine
Pairing: JongKey. Also some Minkey.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Angst, bullying, mentions of abuse.
Summary: The night a strange new person enters his life, everything changes for Key.
Word Count: 2,105
Notes: Yay! I've been thinking about part of this chapter for a while, so excited to finally include it. I hope to be able to update more regularly now, but we'll see.
Spots For: hurryupthecakes, ezri_sun, ryotanfan29, and nurmee ^.^
01| 02| 03| 04| 05| 06| 07| 08
Things just weren't going okay, and Key had no idea what to do about it. Minho was stubborn, always had been. Soccer, relationships -or lack thereof- and now Jonghyun. But now it was about something he really had no control of. As he walked home, Key found himself staring at his own shadow, pooling around his feet. The sun was welcome warmth on his back as the cool wind tickled his skin that was not covered by his clothes. Jonghyun's footsteps padded softly beside him, quiet as usual.
Earlier in the day, Key had been surprised when the other boy had suddenly disappeared at lunchtime. After finishing his talk with Onew, Key had gone to look for Jonghyun because he was afraid of where he might have wondered off to, or who with. When he saw him with the new kid, Key watched them with curiosity for a minute before shrugging and going to eat his own lunch, so there would be no embarrassing stomach rumbles in his next classes. Taemin, that was his name. Of course Key knew of him, because Key kept up on the school's gossip with the best of them, but due to current circumstances, he hadn't learned as much about the new kid as he usually would have. Last school year, he would have already known his dating history, whether or not he had any important family members, and the reason why he had transferred schools. Now he knew just his name and face. It hadn't felt unsettling until he saw the guy with Jonghyun. Now he felt responsible somehow, like he needed to make sure he was a good guy.
It took a minute for Key to realize that Jonghyun's shadow was no longer moving steadily beside his. He snapped out of his thoughts and looked around to see that he had stopped a few feet back. Key had to blink and shade his eyes from the setting sun. Jonghyun was just standing there, his head turned, looking off into the distance.
"Jonghyun, what is it?" Key questioned, slowly moving his feet to step back closer to him.
Jonghyun looked at him with his big brown eyes, something in them looking both soft and alive with curiosity at the same time. "Do we have to go straight home?"
Taken a bit by surprise, Key stared at Jonghyun for a moment before asking, "Why? Where do you want to go?"
The shorter boy bit his lip tentatively and took a deep breath. "It's just that the only places I've been are your house, school, and the therapist's office. I've only seen what I can from our walks and the car rides. I haven't been able to just walk around and go places since..." he cut off and looked at the ground, and Key didn't have the heart to force him to continue.
He scoffed, maybe a little too much given the situation, and nudged Jonghyun's arm. "Of course we can. You could have told me you wanted to go exploring. Come on, we can just walk around, wherever you like. We don't need to be home for ... at least another couple of hours," he said with a smile as he checked his phone for the time. "So, want to lead?"
A bright smile curled onto Jonghyun's face, making Key's heart speed up slightly. He wished he had thought of this sooner, if it was something that made Jonghyun that happy.
Without another word, Jonghyun turned and started walking off the path a bit. Key stared at the ground not covered in concrete for one disdaining moment before following. He kind of had the feeling that Jonghyun had no idea where he was going, but Key was sure that he could take care of them. He would keep Jonghyun from going into any bad parts of town.
Even though it was really obvious that Jonghyun was unfamiliar with the area, he didn't let that stop him from moving forward at a quick pace. His gaze moved around, drinking in the sights around them. At each road, he would stop and look down to see if there was anything interesting. Sometimes there were just businesses or houses, other times it was a bit more deserted. They got further away from the city as Jonghyun continued making turns down roads he thought looked interesting. By Key's estimates, they were now approximately, a thirty-minute walk from home.
That was when Jonghyun stopped dead in his tracks. Key stepped up beside him and looked at his face, which was covered with surprise. Following his line of vision, Key saw the small playground. It was one he'd gone to often as a child, but around the age of ten he had decided he was too old for it. He'd been there a couple of times since then, but not to play himself.
"What is it?" Key asked, a little uncertainly. He definitely didn't want Jonghyun to become upset about anything.
"This place," Jonghyun's voice was quiet, his eyes trained onto the playground like there was nothing else left to look at in the world. He slowly started to walk again, moving toward it. Key watched him for a second before quickly following.
For a while, Key strongly felt like he'd been forgotten. Jonghyun paid him no attention as he ran his hand over the cool metal of the swing set. The paint was peeling now because of its age. Jonghyun moved to the swing itself, not touching but staring, then to the sandbox and further. Key watched him from the edge of the park, letting him walk around. Ten, fifteen minutes went by before Jonghyun finally sat down on a bench at the edge of the park. Key sighed and slowly walked over to join him.
"Have you ... been here before?"
Jonghyun's slow, but sure nod made Key's heart beat a little faster again.
"Really? So, you're from around here?" Jonghyun only shrugged to that question, still looking around with a set frown on his face.
Suddenly, Key felt a cold, gripping fear settling on his entire being. If Jonghyun had been here before, wasn't it possible that they were near where he'd been held captive at well? Wasn't it possible that the man who had locked him away could be nearby as well? "Jonghyun, I think we should go."
At the suggestion, Jonghyun turned to look at him, his eyes full of questions. Instead of saying anything though, he simply nodded and stood up. Key didn't want to freak Jonghyun out, so he didn't mention the thought that had scared him.
Once they were home, Key's mother rushed to the door, descending on him with a disappointed frown. "Where have you been? You weren't answering your phone, and you're over an hour late."
"We were just walking around," Key answered as he collapsed on the couch with a sigh. "I just showed him around town a little."
"Do you realize how dangerous that was?" she whispered low, as if Jonghyun couldn't hear from where he stood awkwardly a few feet away. "We should always know where you are. What if something happened?"
Key thought it would have been more accurate to say that she always wanted to know where Jonghyun was, and that something might happen involving him. Key had been going out on his own for a couple of years now, and they had never been upset with him for getting home an hour later than the walk from school took. "I'm sorry mom. Next time I'll let you know."
She sighed loudly and pressed a hand to her head. "Okay, just, go get ready for dinner." Key wasn't going to stick around to talk about it any longer.
The week went on, and Key met Taemin for the first time a couple of days later. Jonghyun had continued to eat with the blonde kid, and Key invited himself to tag along one day. Taemin smiled brightly when they were introduced. Well, Key introduced himself, and Taemin returned the favor. Jonghyun sat beside them, smiling a bit awkwardly. But, it was still smiling, so Key felt like it was okay.
Key got pretty much every detail he'd already heard retold from Taemin himself, only omitting some of the more wild rumors. He seemed sweet though, and Key couldn't help but feel a little relieved that Jonghyun had found someone else he got along with. Key didn't know how to handle being someone's only friend, and Taemin seemed more than eager for the job of second.
As the week went on, Jonghyun didn't return to eat lunch with Key, who was now eating with Onew. Minho had been eating with the other soccer guys for the past couple of days, and when Key offered to let him go too, Onew said with a laugh that he didn't want to join that rowdy group of guys. Key was secretly glad he wasn't completely deserted.
Later in the week, Key walked by the spot where Jonghyun and Taemin were eating. The blonde kid was waving around his carton of milk and talking animatedly about something. Jonghyun covered his mouth as he laughed, his eyes crinkling into slits as he doubled over. Key was about to keep walking, but felt his feet still as a realization hit him hard, like a slap in the face. He'd never seen Jonghyun laugh before. He couldn't keep his body from turning and his eyes going back to the pair. He blinked several times as he watched them, and he couldn't really explain the feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was nice, seeing that smile, a real smile reaching all the way up to his eyes. Even so, at the same time that Key felt happy for him, he also felt kind of lonely. So many things in his life had changed because of Jonghyun, so, didn't he deserve that laugh? Didn't he deserve that smile?
Later that day, Onew came rushing into the classroom, falling face first when his foot caught on the edge of someone's seat. Key almost laughed at him, but managed to hold back, as he rushed over to help him up. "Yah, you old man, really. Is your eyesight already that bad? What are you in such a hurry for anyway?"
"It's Jonghyun," he hissed, rubbing his knee where it hit the floor. "He was in the washroom scrubbing his shirt in the sink. He's freaking out. I don't know, he won't talk to me, so I came to get you," by the time he finished, his voice was no longer affected by the pain or the fact that he'd just been running, but Key wasn't focusing on that.
Cursing under his breath, Key shot up and rushed out of the classroom. There was still five minutes before the last class of the day began, so he had enough time to get there, but he didn't know if he'd have time to deal with whatever was going on. It was just like Onew had described when Key arrived at the washroom. Jonghyun was bent over the sink, furiously scrubbing the jacket of his uniform. Upon walking closer, Key noticed not only the black ink staining over half of the back, but Jonghyun's eyes, red and shining with wetness.
Reaching up, Key touched his shoulder, making Jonghyun jump and look at him with wide eyes that only seemed to tear up more when he saw who was in front of him. "Jonghyun," Key said softly as the boy jerked his head back to the sink and continued what he was doing. "Jonghyun, stop," Key commanded, reaching out to grab the uniform.
"I ... I'm sorry," Jonghyun croaked through his tight throat, and Key sighed softly.
"This is not your fault, Jonghyun. Here, give it to me. You can borrow my extra, okay? This can be our little secret, okay?"
Jonghyun looked up at him with those wet brown eyes and slowly nodded before relinquishing the soiled uniform to Key's hands. He looked it over a bit more closely and frowned. It was most definitely ruined.
Jonghyun shuffled his feet nervously, so Key stopped staring at it and put his arm around Jonghyun's shoulder. "Come on, my locker is nearby."
He was really glad he always kept an extra change of clothes there just in case something happened. He would not be one of those kids walking around all day looking like crap. Frowning with determination as he shoved the ruined jacket into a nearby trash bin, Key thought Jonghyun wasn't going to be either.
Chapter Ten
Pairing: JongKey. Also some Minkey.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Angst, bullying, mentions of abuse.
Summary: The night a strange new person enters his life, everything changes for Key.
Word Count: 2,105
Notes: Yay! I've been thinking about part of this chapter for a while, so excited to finally include it. I hope to be able to update more regularly now, but we'll see.
Spots For: hurryupthecakes, ezri_sun, ryotanfan29, and nurmee ^.^
01| 02| 03| 04| 05| 06| 07| 08
Things just weren't going okay, and Key had no idea what to do about it. Minho was stubborn, always had been. Soccer, relationships -or lack thereof- and now Jonghyun. But now it was about something he really had no control of. As he walked home, Key found himself staring at his own shadow, pooling around his feet. The sun was welcome warmth on his back as the cool wind tickled his skin that was not covered by his clothes. Jonghyun's footsteps padded softly beside him, quiet as usual.
Earlier in the day, Key had been surprised when the other boy had suddenly disappeared at lunchtime. After finishing his talk with Onew, Key had gone to look for Jonghyun because he was afraid of where he might have wondered off to, or who with. When he saw him with the new kid, Key watched them with curiosity for a minute before shrugging and going to eat his own lunch, so there would be no embarrassing stomach rumbles in his next classes. Taemin, that was his name. Of course Key knew of him, because Key kept up on the school's gossip with the best of them, but due to current circumstances, he hadn't learned as much about the new kid as he usually would have. Last school year, he would have already known his dating history, whether or not he had any important family members, and the reason why he had transferred schools. Now he knew just his name and face. It hadn't felt unsettling until he saw the guy with Jonghyun. Now he felt responsible somehow, like he needed to make sure he was a good guy.
It took a minute for Key to realize that Jonghyun's shadow was no longer moving steadily beside his. He snapped out of his thoughts and looked around to see that he had stopped a few feet back. Key had to blink and shade his eyes from the setting sun. Jonghyun was just standing there, his head turned, looking off into the distance.
"Jonghyun, what is it?" Key questioned, slowly moving his feet to step back closer to him.
Jonghyun looked at him with his big brown eyes, something in them looking both soft and alive with curiosity at the same time. "Do we have to go straight home?"
Taken a bit by surprise, Key stared at Jonghyun for a moment before asking, "Why? Where do you want to go?"
The shorter boy bit his lip tentatively and took a deep breath. "It's just that the only places I've been are your house, school, and the therapist's office. I've only seen what I can from our walks and the car rides. I haven't been able to just walk around and go places since..." he cut off and looked at the ground, and Key didn't have the heart to force him to continue.
He scoffed, maybe a little too much given the situation, and nudged Jonghyun's arm. "Of course we can. You could have told me you wanted to go exploring. Come on, we can just walk around, wherever you like. We don't need to be home for ... at least another couple of hours," he said with a smile as he checked his phone for the time. "So, want to lead?"
A bright smile curled onto Jonghyun's face, making Key's heart speed up slightly. He wished he had thought of this sooner, if it was something that made Jonghyun that happy.
Without another word, Jonghyun turned and started walking off the path a bit. Key stared at the ground not covered in concrete for one disdaining moment before following. He kind of had the feeling that Jonghyun had no idea where he was going, but Key was sure that he could take care of them. He would keep Jonghyun from going into any bad parts of town.
Even though it was really obvious that Jonghyun was unfamiliar with the area, he didn't let that stop him from moving forward at a quick pace. His gaze moved around, drinking in the sights around them. At each road, he would stop and look down to see if there was anything interesting. Sometimes there were just businesses or houses, other times it was a bit more deserted. They got further away from the city as Jonghyun continued making turns down roads he thought looked interesting. By Key's estimates, they were now approximately, a thirty-minute walk from home.
That was when Jonghyun stopped dead in his tracks. Key stepped up beside him and looked at his face, which was covered with surprise. Following his line of vision, Key saw the small playground. It was one he'd gone to often as a child, but around the age of ten he had decided he was too old for it. He'd been there a couple of times since then, but not to play himself.
"What is it?" Key asked, a little uncertainly. He definitely didn't want Jonghyun to become upset about anything.
"This place," Jonghyun's voice was quiet, his eyes trained onto the playground like there was nothing else left to look at in the world. He slowly started to walk again, moving toward it. Key watched him for a second before quickly following.
For a while, Key strongly felt like he'd been forgotten. Jonghyun paid him no attention as he ran his hand over the cool metal of the swing set. The paint was peeling now because of its age. Jonghyun moved to the swing itself, not touching but staring, then to the sandbox and further. Key watched him from the edge of the park, letting him walk around. Ten, fifteen minutes went by before Jonghyun finally sat down on a bench at the edge of the park. Key sighed and slowly walked over to join him.
"Have you ... been here before?"
Jonghyun's slow, but sure nod made Key's heart beat a little faster again.
"Really? So, you're from around here?" Jonghyun only shrugged to that question, still looking around with a set frown on his face.
Suddenly, Key felt a cold, gripping fear settling on his entire being. If Jonghyun had been here before, wasn't it possible that they were near where he'd been held captive at well? Wasn't it possible that the man who had locked him away could be nearby as well? "Jonghyun, I think we should go."
At the suggestion, Jonghyun turned to look at him, his eyes full of questions. Instead of saying anything though, he simply nodded and stood up. Key didn't want to freak Jonghyun out, so he didn't mention the thought that had scared him.
Once they were home, Key's mother rushed to the door, descending on him with a disappointed frown. "Where have you been? You weren't answering your phone, and you're over an hour late."
"We were just walking around," Key answered as he collapsed on the couch with a sigh. "I just showed him around town a little."
"Do you realize how dangerous that was?" she whispered low, as if Jonghyun couldn't hear from where he stood awkwardly a few feet away. "We should always know where you are. What if something happened?"
Key thought it would have been more accurate to say that she always wanted to know where Jonghyun was, and that something might happen involving him. Key had been going out on his own for a couple of years now, and they had never been upset with him for getting home an hour later than the walk from school took. "I'm sorry mom. Next time I'll let you know."
She sighed loudly and pressed a hand to her head. "Okay, just, go get ready for dinner." Key wasn't going to stick around to talk about it any longer.
The week went on, and Key met Taemin for the first time a couple of days later. Jonghyun had continued to eat with the blonde kid, and Key invited himself to tag along one day. Taemin smiled brightly when they were introduced. Well, Key introduced himself, and Taemin returned the favor. Jonghyun sat beside them, smiling a bit awkwardly. But, it was still smiling, so Key felt like it was okay.
Key got pretty much every detail he'd already heard retold from Taemin himself, only omitting some of the more wild rumors. He seemed sweet though, and Key couldn't help but feel a little relieved that Jonghyun had found someone else he got along with. Key didn't know how to handle being someone's only friend, and Taemin seemed more than eager for the job of second.
As the week went on, Jonghyun didn't return to eat lunch with Key, who was now eating with Onew. Minho had been eating with the other soccer guys for the past couple of days, and when Key offered to let him go too, Onew said with a laugh that he didn't want to join that rowdy group of guys. Key was secretly glad he wasn't completely deserted.
Later in the week, Key walked by the spot where Jonghyun and Taemin were eating. The blonde kid was waving around his carton of milk and talking animatedly about something. Jonghyun covered his mouth as he laughed, his eyes crinkling into slits as he doubled over. Key was about to keep walking, but felt his feet still as a realization hit him hard, like a slap in the face. He'd never seen Jonghyun laugh before. He couldn't keep his body from turning and his eyes going back to the pair. He blinked several times as he watched them, and he couldn't really explain the feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was nice, seeing that smile, a real smile reaching all the way up to his eyes. Even so, at the same time that Key felt happy for him, he also felt kind of lonely. So many things in his life had changed because of Jonghyun, so, didn't he deserve that laugh? Didn't he deserve that smile?
Later that day, Onew came rushing into the classroom, falling face first when his foot caught on the edge of someone's seat. Key almost laughed at him, but managed to hold back, as he rushed over to help him up. "Yah, you old man, really. Is your eyesight already that bad? What are you in such a hurry for anyway?"
"It's Jonghyun," he hissed, rubbing his knee where it hit the floor. "He was in the washroom scrubbing his shirt in the sink. He's freaking out. I don't know, he won't talk to me, so I came to get you," by the time he finished, his voice was no longer affected by the pain or the fact that he'd just been running, but Key wasn't focusing on that.
Cursing under his breath, Key shot up and rushed out of the classroom. There was still five minutes before the last class of the day began, so he had enough time to get there, but he didn't know if he'd have time to deal with whatever was going on. It was just like Onew had described when Key arrived at the washroom. Jonghyun was bent over the sink, furiously scrubbing the jacket of his uniform. Upon walking closer, Key noticed not only the black ink staining over half of the back, but Jonghyun's eyes, red and shining with wetness.
Reaching up, Key touched his shoulder, making Jonghyun jump and look at him with wide eyes that only seemed to tear up more when he saw who was in front of him. "Jonghyun," Key said softly as the boy jerked his head back to the sink and continued what he was doing. "Jonghyun, stop," Key commanded, reaching out to grab the uniform.
"I ... I'm sorry," Jonghyun croaked through his tight throat, and Key sighed softly.
"This is not your fault, Jonghyun. Here, give it to me. You can borrow my extra, okay? This can be our little secret, okay?"
Jonghyun looked up at him with those wet brown eyes and slowly nodded before relinquishing the soiled uniform to Key's hands. He looked it over a bit more closely and frowned. It was most definitely ruined.
Jonghyun shuffled his feet nervously, so Key stopped staring at it and put his arm around Jonghyun's shoulder. "Come on, my locker is nearby."
He was really glad he always kept an extra change of clothes there just in case something happened. He would not be one of those kids walking around all day looking like crap. Frowning with determination as he shoved the ruined jacket into a nearby trash bin, Key thought Jonghyun wasn't going to be either.
Chapter Ten