we were so beautiful
title: we were so beautiful
pairing(s): 2min, jongkey
rating: pg-13
wordcount: 4877
summary: Five young misfits are struck by lightning during a freak storm that changes their lives forever.
a/n: If you recognize the plot from the summary, then I love you. If you didn't, then you should go watch the show Misfits right now, because it's amazing. So amazing that I borrowed its main concept for this fic. idk, this just spawned from my intense love for that show. Also everyone is rather ooc, lol, especially Taemin. Be warned.
Title is from Nathan's speech in the last episode of season 1.
We had it all. We fucked up bigger and better than any generation that came before us. We were so beautiful! We're screw-ups.
Taemin isn't really a bad kid. Okay, he might be kind of obnoxious, and so maybe he has no friends. This does not make him a bad kid.
And, as he is trying to explain to his companions, neither does the fact that he is a thief.
"So, you stole half the inventory of an electronics store," says pretty, well-groomed Kibum, "and you expect us to believe that you're not a criminal?"
"Yeah, enough with the bullshit," adds Jonghyun, who's examining his reflection in the window of the community service center.
"Oh, come on," Taemin says cajolingly, unphased. "Don't tell me you lot haven't done worse!"
"One fight is definitely not worse than millions of won worth of theft," Minho says frankly.
Taemin looks him up and down and snorts. "Who'd you fight, your hairdresser? What the hell's with those curls?"
Minho balls his fists, looking murderous. "You got a problem with my hair?"
"Don't you? I mean, look at it!"
Minho lunges for Taemin's throat; luckily Jonghyun grabs him from behind and holds him back. Jonghyun may be a full two heads shorter than Minho, but he's got plenty of muscle and an athlete's build to make up for it.
"Calm down," Jonghyun hisses.
"Honestly," Kibum says, sounding bored.
"Yeah, honestly," Taemin sneers.
Minho flares.
"Are you making fun of me?" Kibum snaps, crossing his arms.
"Never," Taemin replies at once. "I don't make fun of pretty girls."
"I'm a guy!" Kibum says heatedly.
"Oh. Well then." Taemin giggles. "I do make fun of pretty boys."
"Like you're one to talk," Jonghyun says, still gripping a struggling Minho. "You're not exactly the picture of masculinity."
"Says the dwarf." Taemin smirks.
Going completely red in the face, Jonghyun releases Minho and, as one, the two of them pounce, kicking and punching Taemin with everything they've got. Luckily for Taemin, it's at that moment that their probation worker shows up, and in a matter of moments the fight is broken up.
"Such a shame," Taemin pants, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. "I was so hoping we'd be pals."
"Prick," mutters Minho.
"Get along, girls," the probation worker says, sounding bored. "You lot have some benches to paint."
They don't even notice Jinki. It's as though, despite his bright orange body suit, he's completely disappeared. He can't say he minds very much, seeing as it's a bunch of criminals he's with, but still. They could at least have the decency to return his hellos.
When Kibum imagined himself as a painter, this was not what he had in mind.
Slopping Navajo White all over these filthy green benches may be a favor to the community, but it's hardly what he would call art.
"Be careful, would you?" Jonghyun says as Kibum savagely attacks the bench with his paintbrush. "You're splattering me."
"I'm only splattering that disgusting jumpsuit," Kibum sniffs.
"You might get it in my hair, though," Jonghyun protests, and Kibum laughs.
"Oh, big deal." He flicks a drop of paint at Jonghyun's cheek. "You're very vain, aren't you?"
"Okay," Jonghyun says, grinning, dipping his brush in the can, "I'll get paint in your hair and see how you like it."
"Don't!" Kibum shrieks, causing the others to look over, startled.
"So, a truce?" Jonghyun laughs.
"Only because my hair happens to be styled today," Kibum says. He tosses his head of wavy blonde hair and bats his eyelashes. "Like it?"
Jonghyun swallows, noticing Kibum's creamy throat and the way his jumpsuit is unzipped halfway down his chest, exposing pale collarbones.
"Yeah," Jonghyun manages finally.
Kibum smiles.
"I know."
"So," Taemin says, dropping his brush carelessly into the can of paint, "Mr. Macho here got done for being a hoodlum, I'm a large scale pickpocket. How about you?"
"Me?" Jinki says, startled. He's been diligently painting the bench while the other two slack off.
"Yeah, you," Taemin says impatiently. He squints at Jinki. "I'll bet you're a pervert. Or a pedophile. You look like a panty-sniffer to me; what do you think, Macho?"
"It's Minho," the older man says through gritted teeth.
"I'm not a pervert!" Jinki exclaims.
"Then why are you here?"
"I'm - I don't feel like saying," Jinki murmurs.
"Right." Taemin rolls his eyes. "Panty-sniffer."
"I'm not a panty-sniffer!"
"Whatever," Minho snaps. "Would you both shut up? Look at the sky. Don't you think we should get under cover or something? It looks like a real storm."
"I'm surprised you don't want to tough it out, Macho," Taemin says.
"We could go under those trees," Jinki offers.
"This is so fucking retarded," Kibum says as he and Jonghyun jog over to join them. "We just wasted all that time painting these stupid benches and now the rain's going to ruin it all."
"We've only been out here half an hour," Jinki points out, but cowers when Kibum shoots him a dirty look.
The sky is darkening rapidly, and before the five of them can make their way to the cover of the trees it begins to pour.
"Fuck, my hair!" Kibum yells, breaking into a sprint.
"Fuck your hair," Minho yells back, pointing to huge chunks of ice raining from the sky, "run for your fucking life!"
A ball of ice strikes one of the trees they're running toward, and three thick branches tumble to the ground with a thud. Kibum screams, and Jonghyun yells, "Back to the community center!"
It's chaos. As they run along the slippery concrete path, they're deafened by the clamor of ice striking the ground, hitting nearby cars, banging on the roofs of neighboring buildings. Kibum has his hands over his head, Jonghyun and Minho are sprinting at full tilt in the front of the pack, and Taemin is screaming at the top of his lungs. Jinki is recording it all on his camera phone.
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT," Taemin is hollering. "FUCKING HELL, FUCKING SHIT, HOLY FUCK!"
"Just get inside the building!" Minho shouts over him. "Everyone get inside and we should be - "
ZAP.
It comes out of nowhere - well, no - it comes from the sky, but it seems to come out of nowhere, the lightning. Bright and blinding, it envelops the five of them and knocks them off their feet; for a moment they seem to be suspended in midair, floating, illuminated by the white lightning, and then all at once they crash to the ground.
"What the fuck," Jonghyun pants. "What in the fuck."
"Oh God, oh God, we've been struck by lightning - we're going to die!" Taemin splutters.
"Calm down," Minho snaps. "If we were going to die, we would have done already. We survived."
"And the storm's calming down," adds Jonghyun.
"Let's get inside," snaps Kibum, "I don't want to take any more chances."
As soon as they get in the community service center, Taemin begins laughing hysterically.
"What's so funny?" Minho says, rounding on him. "Jesus, why can't you take this seriously? You were screaming like a girl just a second ago, and now this is all some joke?"
"No, it's just - the look on Joongki's face!"
"It's Jinki," Jinki mutters, shooting Taemin a reproachful look before returning his attention to the screen of his phone. "And what's wrong with my face?"
"Nothing, it was just - hey, are you filming this?"
Jinki hastily pockets his phone. "No."
"Whatever, who cares," Kibum says. "Hey, the probation worker's not here. Let's ditch the jumpsuits and go, yeah? The paint's probably ruined anyway."
"Really?" Jonghyun says, tugging Kibum back by the sleeve. "We just got hit by lightning, and all you care about is getting out of community service."
"Well, what do you want to do? Have us all sit in a circle and talk about traumatized we've just been?"
"I agree with the pretty girl," Taemin says. "A popular, good-looking guy like yours truly always has places to be, people to see, women to fuck - "
Kibum rolls his eyes.
" - so while the rest of you have your little pity party and cry about getting hit by lightning, I will be using my new status as a burn victim - "
"You haven't been burned," Jinki points out.
" - to garner sympathy so I can get laid," Taemin finishes, turning to leave. "Later!"
"Hold on, you prick," Minho says irritably. "We haven't finished with our community service yet."
"Don't care," Taemin says. "We just got struck by lightning, I think that's enough of a reason to quit for the day."
"But that wasn't normal lightning," Jinki says. "That's not what normal lightning feels like."
"Oh, so you've been struck by lightning before?" Taemin says, whipping around to face Jinki. "You can tell us how real lightning feels? Enlighten me. Please. Because that felt pretty damn real to me!"
"But it didn't burn," Jinki says quietly, faltering under Taemin's stare. "Lightning is electricity. We should be burnt. We could be dead."
"I am burnt!" Taemin says defensively. "All over! I felt it!"
"Don't make things up," Minho interrupts.
"All right, maybe not quite a burn - but I definitely felt a tingle! A strong tingle."
"A tingle," Minho says. "Right."
"Yeah, a tingle," Taemin says, eyeing Minho.
God. I'd like to tingle you.
"You'd like to what?" Minho yelps.
"What?" Taemin says, frowning.
"What are you talking about?" Kibum asks.
"He just said - he said he'd like to - " Minho flails his arms helplessly. "Didn't you hear him?"
"No," Jonghyun says slowly, watching Minho carefully.
He's touched in the head. Probably an after effect of the lightning or something.
"I'm not touched in the head," Minho says heatedly, spinning around to glare at Jonghyun.
"I - I didn't say you were," Jonghyun says, looking confused.
"You did!"
"He didn't," Taemin confirms. "What's wrong, ears blocked by your ridiculous hairstyle?"
"Shut up about my hair!" Minho snarls. "Listen - "
"No, you listen," Taemin says. "Don't make things up, didn't you just say that to me? Well, you're the one putting words in our mouths."
"But I really heard you say them!" Minho insists, running a hand through his hair in agitation.
Oh, god, that was sexy. Do it again.
Minho is watching Taemin's lips this time, and they're absolutely still. But those chocolate eyes are gleaming hungrily as his words echo in Minho's mind, and a suspicion forms in Minho's mind. He runs his hand through his hair again, deliberately pushing it back slower, knitting his brow, biting his lip.
Fuck yeah. Jesus, that's hot. One more time, come on, let’s see it…
This time, there's no doubt. Taemin is silent, yet the predatory look on his face makes it abundantly clear that the words Minho's hearing are what Taemin's thinking.
Minho can read minds.
"Bullshit," Kibum says as soon as Minho announces his discovery, "that's fucking impossible."
"Easy to disprove, though," Taemin says. "What number am I thinking of right now?"
"You don't need telepathy for that one," Jonghyun scoffs. "Sixty-nine."
"Damn."
"Think of something else," Minho presses. "Anything."
“Fine. What am I thinking?” Taemin wiggles his eyebrows.
I really want to scratch my balls right now.
"Your balls itch."
"Alright, too much information," Kibum says, wrinkling his nose.
"Come on, we're all guys here," Taemin says, grinning. Then he does a double take. "Wait, you really can read minds! Right - how about this - "
Joongki has a nice ass. For a panty-sniffer.
"Jinki-ssi, watch your back," Minho says without taking his eyes off the redhead, "Taemin likes your ass."
"Holy shit," Taemin says. "Holy fucking shit. You're not lying."
Oh, fuck. So he knows I was thinking about how hot he was earlier.
Minho raises an eyebrow.
Fuck! And he heard that just now! But it’s not my fault he’s hot. Fucker, he heard that, too… God, I need to stop…
Minho can't help but smile just a little bit, and Taemin lowers his head in embarrassment.
"Hey," Jonghyun says, "speaking of Joongki - "
"Jinki," Kibum corrects.
"Yeah, him - where is he? He was just here a second ago, wasn't he?"
"He was," Taemin affirms. "Yah! Pervert! Where'd you go?"
Invisibility is a curious thing. Jinki is no expert on the topic, but he's always wondered how large the field of extension would be for an individual with the ability to become invisible. About half of the comic books he's read have led him to believe that anything the invisible person is touching will disappear as well, and the other half have led him to believe that when one goes invisible one's clothing appears to float around bodiless.
Now, at last, he has his answer.
The others are all staring right at where he is - where he's been standing for the past five minutes - and yet none of them seem to see a thing. Jinki thinks they're joking for a moment, and then he waves a tentative hand and none of them respond.
"Can't you see me?" he whispers.
"I heard something!" Minho exclaims. "Jinki-ssi! Where are you?"
"I'm right here," Jinki says, louder this time. "Why can't you see me?"
"My god, that's his voice," Kibum says, going white. "That's definitely him. But where is he?"
"I am right here," Jinki repeats, irked. He concentrates very hard and feels a jolt run down his spine.
"Oh, there you are," Taemin says.
"What the fuck," Kibum says, his jaw dropping. "How did you just - "
"He can go invisible," Minho says, awed.
"Right," Taemin says, "anyone else with a freaky superpower? Just come out with it now. No more surprises. Come on. Kibum? Jonghyun?"
"The probation worker," Minho says suddenly. "He's got one."
"Doubt it," Taemin says, "that man is duller than a blunt stick in the mud."
"He's got a power! I can hear it!" Minho insists. "He's got some kind of weird … I dunno, it like turns your brain to mush? He's just done it to a random lady right outside and he's about to come in and do us next and we need to get the hell out! Now!"
"Yeah, right," Taemin snorts. "Like any of that's true - "
"Hey," Jonghyun snaps, "didn't we just determine that Minho reads minds? He can't be lying. I think we should listen to him."
"Jonghyun's right," Kibum says. "I trust the psychic."
"My name is Minho," Minho gripes. "Not 'the psychic'."
"Whatever. So, what should we do then?" Kibum asks. "Make a run for it?"
"But he's right outside the door," Jinki points out, eyes wide. "Look!"
Sure enough, the shadow of the probation worker looms darkly in the gray window next to the door. He seems to be dragging the body of a woman behind him, and for a moment he struggles with the door handle while balancing her on his knee.
"Find a different door!" Minho yells. They sprint off down the hall in search of another exit. Unfortunately, the other door out of the community service center is locked, and their only remaining option is to hide in the locker room. The five of them end up huddling together behind a row of lockers, listening intently as the footsteps of the probation worker draw slowly nearer.
"I know you're in there," he drawls. There's a sickening thump, and they see the body of the woman loll about on the cold tile floor. "No use hiding," he continues.
"Fuck this," Taemin says suddenly, "I don't need to hide!" He jumps out from behind the lockers, and even as Kibum is shrieking and trying to pull him back, the probation worker meets Taemin's eyes and smiles.
"Goodbye," he says calmly, his irises flashing crimson.
Taemin's eyes go blank, and then he slumps over, his head hitting the floor with a hollow crack.
"He's gone!" Minho cries. "I can't hear him!" He darts out from behind the lockers and bends over Taemin's motionless body, feeling for a pulse in his wrist with one hand and running his hand through the younger man's red hair with the other.
"Minho!" Kibum screams. "Get the fuck back here!"
"He's alive," Minho breathes. "But… his mind - "
"He's a vegetable," the probation worker says. "Never to think again."
Minho's head snaps up to face the probation worker.
"And you're next."
The others watch in horror as Minho, too, falls lifelessly to the floor.
"Don't think you three can escape," the probation worker says pleasantly.
"What are we going to do?" Kibum moans. "Oh, God. They're as good as dead - we're as good as dead! What can we do?"
"If only we hadn't let him in," Jinki whispers. "But it's too late now."
Jonghyun opens his mouth to speak, but his words catch in his throat. His stomach heaves, his head pounds, and quite suddenly he's no longer crouching in the locker room but standing with the rest of them - Minho and Taemin included - in the entryway of the community service center.
"Right," Taemin is saying, "anyone else with a freaky superpower? Just come out with it now. No more surprises. Come on. Kibum? Jonghyun?"
Jonghyun blanches. He's positive Taemin was lying braindead on the locker room floor just seconds ago. Yet here he is, alive and well and snarky as ever. Could it be that - ?
"The probation worker," Minho says. "He's got one."
Jonghyun has been here before, he's been through all of this. He knows how it ends - with all of them dead.
Unless he does something to change the future.
"Doubt it," Taemin is saying, but Jonghyun shoves him out of the way and leans against the door.
"Shut up," he says tersely. "Minho's right. The guy's got the power to fry our brains and he's going to come in here in about thirty seconds. We need to do something."
"How do you know?" Taemin demands.
"I've seen it!" Jonghyun exclaims. "It's happened already, I saw him kill you, or close enough. You and Minho both. I saw him get you. And then, I don't know how, but I ended up back here. Like I rewound time or something."
"That would qualify as a freaky superpower," Taemin says, "if I believed you."
"Believe me or not, the probation worker is going to come in here with one dead body and if we don't do something right now he's going to leave with six!" Jonghyun yells, frustrated.
"Then let's get the hell out of here!" Kibum says, scared. "Go!"
"I see him," Jinki says, pointing. "He's right outside!"
"There's another door - " Kibum begins.
"It's locked," Jonghyun says. "We're trapped."
"Only one thing to do, then," Minho says grimly. He rips a nearby plaque off the wall. "Incapacitate him."
"Sure, brute force, that's the way to go," Taemin says, sounding bored. "This is a load of bullshit - "
"Open the door on three," Minho instructs Jonghyun. "One, two, three!"
The door swings open and reveals the probation worker, looking surprised. His eyes start to go red, but Minho swings the plaque around hard, hitting him in the forehead with a loud crack, and the man is knocked backwards. Kibum gasps and covers his mouth.
"Is he out?" Jonghyun asks.
Minho steps forward to check. The probation worker has fallen atop the body of the woman he'd been dragging, and he doesn't stir when Minho pokes him with his foot. "He's out," Minho confirms.
"Oh, he's more than out," Taemin says grimly, coming closer and crouching over the man's head. "Look. His neck's broken from hitting the wall here. He's dead."
"No," Minho whispers. He takes a step backward, dropping the plaque to the ground. "No, I didn't - no. He's just unconscious."
Taemin shakes his head. "He's never waking up. You, sir, are a murderer."
"I didn't mean to!" Minho says frantically. "I had to do it! It was him or us - you didn't hear his thoughts. He hated us. He wanted us gone, thought we were the scum of the earth. He was going to get rid of you first, Taemin, because he hated you the most - you should be thanking me! I just saved your life, you stupid, ungrateful prick!"
"Thanks, then," Taemin says, surprising them all.
"Oh," Minho stutters, taken aback. "Oh - well, you're welcome."
"What are we going to do?" Kibum says, his voice hushed. "We just killed our probation worker."
"Correction: Minho just killed our probation worker," Taemin interjects.
"In self defense," Jonghyun says. "It was self defense. He was going to kill us."
"But we're a bunch of criminals," Jinki points out glumly. "Who'll believe us? We've got two bodies on our hands."
"Let's just leave them here," Minho suggests.
"But the police will know we were the last ones here," Jinki says, "doing our community service. We'll be the first suspects."
There's a tense silence as the five of them consider the problem.
"We have to get rid of the bodies," Jinki says at last. "It's the only way."
"Hey," Minho says, turning to Jonghyun. "Why don't you just rewind time to before the probation worker is dead - "
"You mean before you killed him," Taemin says.
" - and we can lock the door and call the police? They'll come and take care of him and then we don't have to worry about this at all."
"I - I don't know," Jonghyun says. "I'm not sure I can control it . . ."
"Well, try," Minho urges. "It's worth a shot."
"But then the police will end up dying. He might get free and end up getting us eventually anyway," Jinki says.
"Just try!" Minho tells Jonghyun.
"Okay." Jonghyun takes a deep breath. "I'm going to try." He closes his eyes, focuses hard, clenches his stomach muscles, tries to recreate the experience of reversing the flow of time -
And nothing happens.
"It's no good," Jonghyun says. "I have no idea how I did it."
"Great," Taemin mutters. "That's so useful."
"It's more useful than you!" Jonghyun snaps. "You can't even do anything!"
"Would you all just shut up?" demands Kibum. "I thought we were getting rid of the bodies? Can we just do that quickly before anyone comes?"
"Sure, princess," Taemin says, rolling his eyes. "Whatever you want."
"He's right, though," Jinki says. "Let's take them to that spot under the freeway. We can bury them. They'll never be found."
"You are a proper criminal," Taemin comments.
Jinki ignores him.
It's one thirty AM, as the five of them are gathered around the freshly covered hole under the freeway, when they discover Kibum's power.
"Shall we say a few words for these poor departed bastards?" Taemin offers. "Or shall we leave them to rot in peace?"
"You," Minho says conversationally, "are quite possibly the most insensitive person I have ever met in my entire life."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Taemin says , shrugging. "At least I'm best at something."
"Let's go," Jinki says, "before someone sees the flashlights."
"I'm so glad we've finished this now," Kibum sighs.
"We?" scoffs Jonghyun. "All you've done is stand there and watch."
"Whatever," Kibum says.
"You know what, you need to carry the shovels back to the car," Jonghyun says, hefting the two tools up. "It's the only way you can be helpful, seeing as you can't even drive us."
"You say that like getting three DUI's was my fault," Kibum pouts, extending his arms to receive the shovels. "It's not like I wanted my license revoked. But I guess I see your point."
"Yeah," Jonghyun says, placing the shovels in Kibum's soft, delicate hands. "Oh - careful, they're heavy - "
"Thanks," Kibum says, and their fingers brush.
Jonghyun feels as though he's been struck by lightning, only it's nothing like the lightning from the storm, which had been brief and vaguely tingly. This is a current of electricity that runs through his body, igniting every nerve ending and racing through his veins, accelerating his heartbeat. This is molten lava setting his brain on fire. This is an uncontrollable heat overtaking his body, dilating his pupils, rushing to his groin.
This is unstoppable lust.
"Let's fuck," Jonghyun groans, his voice not his own. He grips Kibum's wrist tightly in one hand. "I want you so fucking bad, I have to have you - "
"What's wrong with you?" Kibum screeches, clawing at his hand. "Let go of me!"
"Jonghyun?" Minho calls from the car. "What's going on? Kibum?"
"Get off of me!" Kibum screams hysterically, leaning as far away from Jonghyun as he can. Jonghyun keeps pressing closer, inhaling Kibum's scent, caressing Kibum's throat, trying to get his thigh between the blonde's legs.
"I've got to fuck you," he breathes. "I want to be inside you - fuck you so hard - make you scream my name - "
"This isn't funny!" Kibum sobs. "Stop! Get off - "
At this point Jinki has the good sense to rush over and pull Jonghyun off of Kibum, who falls to the ground and stays there a moment, breathing hard as though he's on the verge of tears. Jonghyun looks down at Kibum, then at Jinki, who's glaring at him, and then at Taemin and Minho, who have hurried over from the car. Their faces are all angry and questioning, and Jonghyun honestly has no idea why.
"What just happened?" he asked.
"You tell us," Minho says, crossing his arms. "Sounded like you were trying to rape Kibum."
"No," Jonghyun says, laughing a little, "we were just talking… and then I sort of blacked out…"
"You said you wanted to fuck him," Jinki says flatly. "You wouldn't let go of him."
"No," Jonghyun says, the smile fading from his face in the harsh beam of the flashlight. "But we were just - I was telling him to carry the shovels…"
"It started when you touched me," Kibum says, his voice trembling. He stands up slowly. "You touched my hand and then suddenly you were all horny and 'let's fuck,' and then when Jinki pulled you off me you stopped."
"So," Taemin muses, rubbing his chin, "either Jonghyun has an awful lot of pent-up sexual frustration that he just decided to take out on Kibum, or we've got another freaky superpower on our hands."
"You're kidding," Jonghyun says, eyeing Kibum warily. "Your power is to make people want to fuck you?"
"You say that like being sexy is my fault!" Kibum protests.
"Let's test it," Taemin suggests, grabbing Jinki by the arm.
"No!" Kibum takes a step back, but Taemin is already shoving Jinki towards him, face-first. Kibum tastes Jinki's soft lips and minty chapstick, and then the older man is sliding his hands down Kibum's torso and breathing raggedly against his neck.
"Oh, God, Kibum, I just want you fuck you so hard," he's moaning. "You're so fucking beautiful, I can't wait to sink my cock into your perfect little ass - "
"Right, I think that'll do it," Taemin says hastily, hauling Jinki backwards by the collar.
"Did I say that, too?" Jonghyun asks, horrified.
"Slightly less graphically," Kibum says, wiping his mouth. "Wow, this is a shit power."
"I don't know," Taemin says, "it could be useful."
"How?"
"Well. If you ever felt like having sex with someone - "
"Then they wouldn't remember a second of it," Kibum hisses.
"But if you were only after a quick fuck - "
"That's enough," Minho says sharply. "Can we just leave now? Kibum, don't touch anyone else, alright?"
"Oh, I won't," Kibum says sulkily. "Trust me, I won't."
"So we killed and buried our probation worker," Jonghyun says in the locker room when they meet for community service the next day. "And we all got struck by lightning and have superpowers."
"Except for him," Minho says, pointing to Taemin, who sticks his tongue out.
"Except for Taemin," Jonghyun amends, "we all have superpowers. Now what?"
"First of all," Taemin says, "I'm sure I've got one. So first we figure out what I can do, which'll probably be something kickass and way better than stupid shit like rewinding time or mind reading."
"Right, sure," Kibum says, waving Taemin's words off with a flick of his wrist. "And then what? Are we just stuck with them? Just five freaks in a freakshow - hang on, where's Jinki?"
"I'm here," Jinki says, shuddering and appearing, making them all jump.
"Jesus, you creeper panty-sniffer you," Taemin says. "A little warning next time? Nearly gave me a heart attack."
"You were asking what comes next?" Jinki says seriously, facing the other three. "Now that we've all - except Taemin - got powers?"
"You think you know?" Kibum says incredulously.
"I think we're supposed to use them for the good of humanity," Jinki goes on seriously. "I think we're supposed to use them to save the world."
(As it turns out, their own asses need saving rather frequently, so the world is just going to have to wait.)
pairing(s): 2min, jongkey
rating: pg-13
wordcount: 4877
summary: Five young misfits are struck by lightning during a freak storm that changes their lives forever.
a/n: If you recognize the plot from the summary, then I love you. If you didn't, then you should go watch the show Misfits right now, because it's amazing. So amazing that I borrowed its main concept for this fic. idk, this just spawned from my intense love for that show. Also everyone is rather ooc, lol, especially Taemin. Be warned.
Title is from Nathan's speech in the last episode of season 1.
We had it all. We fucked up bigger and better than any generation that came before us. We were so beautiful! We're screw-ups.
Taemin isn't really a bad kid. Okay, he might be kind of obnoxious, and so maybe he has no friends. This does not make him a bad kid.
And, as he is trying to explain to his companions, neither does the fact that he is a thief.
"So, you stole half the inventory of an electronics store," says pretty, well-groomed Kibum, "and you expect us to believe that you're not a criminal?"
"Yeah, enough with the bullshit," adds Jonghyun, who's examining his reflection in the window of the community service center.
"Oh, come on," Taemin says cajolingly, unphased. "Don't tell me you lot haven't done worse!"
"One fight is definitely not worse than millions of won worth of theft," Minho says frankly.
Taemin looks him up and down and snorts. "Who'd you fight, your hairdresser? What the hell's with those curls?"
Minho balls his fists, looking murderous. "You got a problem with my hair?"
"Don't you? I mean, look at it!"
Minho lunges for Taemin's throat; luckily Jonghyun grabs him from behind and holds him back. Jonghyun may be a full two heads shorter than Minho, but he's got plenty of muscle and an athlete's build to make up for it.
"Calm down," Jonghyun hisses.
"Honestly," Kibum says, sounding bored.
"Yeah, honestly," Taemin sneers.
Minho flares.
"Are you making fun of me?" Kibum snaps, crossing his arms.
"Never," Taemin replies at once. "I don't make fun of pretty girls."
"I'm a guy!" Kibum says heatedly.
"Oh. Well then." Taemin giggles. "I do make fun of pretty boys."
"Like you're one to talk," Jonghyun says, still gripping a struggling Minho. "You're not exactly the picture of masculinity."
"Says the dwarf." Taemin smirks.
Going completely red in the face, Jonghyun releases Minho and, as one, the two of them pounce, kicking and punching Taemin with everything they've got. Luckily for Taemin, it's at that moment that their probation worker shows up, and in a matter of moments the fight is broken up.
"Such a shame," Taemin pants, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. "I was so hoping we'd be pals."
"Prick," mutters Minho.
"Get along, girls," the probation worker says, sounding bored. "You lot have some benches to paint."
They don't even notice Jinki. It's as though, despite his bright orange body suit, he's completely disappeared. He can't say he minds very much, seeing as it's a bunch of criminals he's with, but still. They could at least have the decency to return his hellos.
When Kibum imagined himself as a painter, this was not what he had in mind.
Slopping Navajo White all over these filthy green benches may be a favor to the community, but it's hardly what he would call art.
"Be careful, would you?" Jonghyun says as Kibum savagely attacks the bench with his paintbrush. "You're splattering me."
"I'm only splattering that disgusting jumpsuit," Kibum sniffs.
"You might get it in my hair, though," Jonghyun protests, and Kibum laughs.
"Oh, big deal." He flicks a drop of paint at Jonghyun's cheek. "You're very vain, aren't you?"
"Okay," Jonghyun says, grinning, dipping his brush in the can, "I'll get paint in your hair and see how you like it."
"Don't!" Kibum shrieks, causing the others to look over, startled.
"So, a truce?" Jonghyun laughs.
"Only because my hair happens to be styled today," Kibum says. He tosses his head of wavy blonde hair and bats his eyelashes. "Like it?"
Jonghyun swallows, noticing Kibum's creamy throat and the way his jumpsuit is unzipped halfway down his chest, exposing pale collarbones.
"Yeah," Jonghyun manages finally.
Kibum smiles.
"I know."
"So," Taemin says, dropping his brush carelessly into the can of paint, "Mr. Macho here got done for being a hoodlum, I'm a large scale pickpocket. How about you?"
"Me?" Jinki says, startled. He's been diligently painting the bench while the other two slack off.
"Yeah, you," Taemin says impatiently. He squints at Jinki. "I'll bet you're a pervert. Or a pedophile. You look like a panty-sniffer to me; what do you think, Macho?"
"It's Minho," the older man says through gritted teeth.
"I'm not a pervert!" Jinki exclaims.
"Then why are you here?"
"I'm - I don't feel like saying," Jinki murmurs.
"Right." Taemin rolls his eyes. "Panty-sniffer."
"I'm not a panty-sniffer!"
"Whatever," Minho snaps. "Would you both shut up? Look at the sky. Don't you think we should get under cover or something? It looks like a real storm."
"I'm surprised you don't want to tough it out, Macho," Taemin says.
"We could go under those trees," Jinki offers.
"This is so fucking retarded," Kibum says as he and Jonghyun jog over to join them. "We just wasted all that time painting these stupid benches and now the rain's going to ruin it all."
"We've only been out here half an hour," Jinki points out, but cowers when Kibum shoots him a dirty look.
The sky is darkening rapidly, and before the five of them can make their way to the cover of the trees it begins to pour.
"Fuck, my hair!" Kibum yells, breaking into a sprint.
"Fuck your hair," Minho yells back, pointing to huge chunks of ice raining from the sky, "run for your fucking life!"
A ball of ice strikes one of the trees they're running toward, and three thick branches tumble to the ground with a thud. Kibum screams, and Jonghyun yells, "Back to the community center!"
It's chaos. As they run along the slippery concrete path, they're deafened by the clamor of ice striking the ground, hitting nearby cars, banging on the roofs of neighboring buildings. Kibum has his hands over his head, Jonghyun and Minho are sprinting at full tilt in the front of the pack, and Taemin is screaming at the top of his lungs. Jinki is recording it all on his camera phone.
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT," Taemin is hollering. "FUCKING HELL, FUCKING SHIT, HOLY FUCK!"
"Just get inside the building!" Minho shouts over him. "Everyone get inside and we should be - "
ZAP.
It comes out of nowhere - well, no - it comes from the sky, but it seems to come out of nowhere, the lightning. Bright and blinding, it envelops the five of them and knocks them off their feet; for a moment they seem to be suspended in midair, floating, illuminated by the white lightning, and then all at once they crash to the ground.
"What the fuck," Jonghyun pants. "What in the fuck."
"Oh God, oh God, we've been struck by lightning - we're going to die!" Taemin splutters.
"Calm down," Minho snaps. "If we were going to die, we would have done already. We survived."
"And the storm's calming down," adds Jonghyun.
"Let's get inside," snaps Kibum, "I don't want to take any more chances."
As soon as they get in the community service center, Taemin begins laughing hysterically.
"What's so funny?" Minho says, rounding on him. "Jesus, why can't you take this seriously? You were screaming like a girl just a second ago, and now this is all some joke?"
"No, it's just - the look on Joongki's face!"
"It's Jinki," Jinki mutters, shooting Taemin a reproachful look before returning his attention to the screen of his phone. "And what's wrong with my face?"
"Nothing, it was just - hey, are you filming this?"
Jinki hastily pockets his phone. "No."
"Whatever, who cares," Kibum says. "Hey, the probation worker's not here. Let's ditch the jumpsuits and go, yeah? The paint's probably ruined anyway."
"Really?" Jonghyun says, tugging Kibum back by the sleeve. "We just got hit by lightning, and all you care about is getting out of community service."
"Well, what do you want to do? Have us all sit in a circle and talk about traumatized we've just been?"
"I agree with the pretty girl," Taemin says. "A popular, good-looking guy like yours truly always has places to be, people to see, women to fuck - "
Kibum rolls his eyes.
" - so while the rest of you have your little pity party and cry about getting hit by lightning, I will be using my new status as a burn victim - "
"You haven't been burned," Jinki points out.
" - to garner sympathy so I can get laid," Taemin finishes, turning to leave. "Later!"
"Hold on, you prick," Minho says irritably. "We haven't finished with our community service yet."
"Don't care," Taemin says. "We just got struck by lightning, I think that's enough of a reason to quit for the day."
"But that wasn't normal lightning," Jinki says. "That's not what normal lightning feels like."
"Oh, so you've been struck by lightning before?" Taemin says, whipping around to face Jinki. "You can tell us how real lightning feels? Enlighten me. Please. Because that felt pretty damn real to me!"
"But it didn't burn," Jinki says quietly, faltering under Taemin's stare. "Lightning is electricity. We should be burnt. We could be dead."
"I am burnt!" Taemin says defensively. "All over! I felt it!"
"Don't make things up," Minho interrupts.
"All right, maybe not quite a burn - but I definitely felt a tingle! A strong tingle."
"A tingle," Minho says. "Right."
"Yeah, a tingle," Taemin says, eyeing Minho.
God. I'd like to tingle you.
"You'd like to what?" Minho yelps.
"What?" Taemin says, frowning.
"What are you talking about?" Kibum asks.
"He just said - he said he'd like to - " Minho flails his arms helplessly. "Didn't you hear him?"
"No," Jonghyun says slowly, watching Minho carefully.
He's touched in the head. Probably an after effect of the lightning or something.
"I'm not touched in the head," Minho says heatedly, spinning around to glare at Jonghyun.
"I - I didn't say you were," Jonghyun says, looking confused.
"You did!"
"He didn't," Taemin confirms. "What's wrong, ears blocked by your ridiculous hairstyle?"
"Shut up about my hair!" Minho snarls. "Listen - "
"No, you listen," Taemin says. "Don't make things up, didn't you just say that to me? Well, you're the one putting words in our mouths."
"But I really heard you say them!" Minho insists, running a hand through his hair in agitation.
Oh, god, that was sexy. Do it again.
Minho is watching Taemin's lips this time, and they're absolutely still. But those chocolate eyes are gleaming hungrily as his words echo in Minho's mind, and a suspicion forms in Minho's mind. He runs his hand through his hair again, deliberately pushing it back slower, knitting his brow, biting his lip.
Fuck yeah. Jesus, that's hot. One more time, come on, let’s see it…
This time, there's no doubt. Taemin is silent, yet the predatory look on his face makes it abundantly clear that the words Minho's hearing are what Taemin's thinking.
Minho can read minds.
"Bullshit," Kibum says as soon as Minho announces his discovery, "that's fucking impossible."
"Easy to disprove, though," Taemin says. "What number am I thinking of right now?"
"You don't need telepathy for that one," Jonghyun scoffs. "Sixty-nine."
"Damn."
"Think of something else," Minho presses. "Anything."
“Fine. What am I thinking?” Taemin wiggles his eyebrows.
I really want to scratch my balls right now.
"Your balls itch."
"Alright, too much information," Kibum says, wrinkling his nose.
"Come on, we're all guys here," Taemin says, grinning. Then he does a double take. "Wait, you really can read minds! Right - how about this - "
Joongki has a nice ass. For a panty-sniffer.
"Jinki-ssi, watch your back," Minho says without taking his eyes off the redhead, "Taemin likes your ass."
"Holy shit," Taemin says. "Holy fucking shit. You're not lying."
Oh, fuck. So he knows I was thinking about how hot he was earlier.
Minho raises an eyebrow.
Fuck! And he heard that just now! But it’s not my fault he’s hot. Fucker, he heard that, too… God, I need to stop…
Minho can't help but smile just a little bit, and Taemin lowers his head in embarrassment.
"Hey," Jonghyun says, "speaking of Joongki - "
"Jinki," Kibum corrects.
"Yeah, him - where is he? He was just here a second ago, wasn't he?"
"He was," Taemin affirms. "Yah! Pervert! Where'd you go?"
Invisibility is a curious thing. Jinki is no expert on the topic, but he's always wondered how large the field of extension would be for an individual with the ability to become invisible. About half of the comic books he's read have led him to believe that anything the invisible person is touching will disappear as well, and the other half have led him to believe that when one goes invisible one's clothing appears to float around bodiless.
Now, at last, he has his answer.
The others are all staring right at where he is - where he's been standing for the past five minutes - and yet none of them seem to see a thing. Jinki thinks they're joking for a moment, and then he waves a tentative hand and none of them respond.
"Can't you see me?" he whispers.
"I heard something!" Minho exclaims. "Jinki-ssi! Where are you?"
"I'm right here," Jinki says, louder this time. "Why can't you see me?"
"My god, that's his voice," Kibum says, going white. "That's definitely him. But where is he?"
"I am right here," Jinki repeats, irked. He concentrates very hard and feels a jolt run down his spine.
"Oh, there you are," Taemin says.
"What the fuck," Kibum says, his jaw dropping. "How did you just - "
"He can go invisible," Minho says, awed.
"Right," Taemin says, "anyone else with a freaky superpower? Just come out with it now. No more surprises. Come on. Kibum? Jonghyun?"
"The probation worker," Minho says suddenly. "He's got one."
"Doubt it," Taemin says, "that man is duller than a blunt stick in the mud."
"He's got a power! I can hear it!" Minho insists. "He's got some kind of weird … I dunno, it like turns your brain to mush? He's just done it to a random lady right outside and he's about to come in and do us next and we need to get the hell out! Now!"
"Yeah, right," Taemin snorts. "Like any of that's true - "
"Hey," Jonghyun snaps, "didn't we just determine that Minho reads minds? He can't be lying. I think we should listen to him."
"Jonghyun's right," Kibum says. "I trust the psychic."
"My name is Minho," Minho gripes. "Not 'the psychic'."
"Whatever. So, what should we do then?" Kibum asks. "Make a run for it?"
"But he's right outside the door," Jinki points out, eyes wide. "Look!"
Sure enough, the shadow of the probation worker looms darkly in the gray window next to the door. He seems to be dragging the body of a woman behind him, and for a moment he struggles with the door handle while balancing her on his knee.
"Find a different door!" Minho yells. They sprint off down the hall in search of another exit. Unfortunately, the other door out of the community service center is locked, and their only remaining option is to hide in the locker room. The five of them end up huddling together behind a row of lockers, listening intently as the footsteps of the probation worker draw slowly nearer.
"I know you're in there," he drawls. There's a sickening thump, and they see the body of the woman loll about on the cold tile floor. "No use hiding," he continues.
"Fuck this," Taemin says suddenly, "I don't need to hide!" He jumps out from behind the lockers, and even as Kibum is shrieking and trying to pull him back, the probation worker meets Taemin's eyes and smiles.
"Goodbye," he says calmly, his irises flashing crimson.
Taemin's eyes go blank, and then he slumps over, his head hitting the floor with a hollow crack.
"He's gone!" Minho cries. "I can't hear him!" He darts out from behind the lockers and bends over Taemin's motionless body, feeling for a pulse in his wrist with one hand and running his hand through the younger man's red hair with the other.
"Minho!" Kibum screams. "Get the fuck back here!"
"He's alive," Minho breathes. "But… his mind - "
"He's a vegetable," the probation worker says. "Never to think again."
Minho's head snaps up to face the probation worker.
"And you're next."
The others watch in horror as Minho, too, falls lifelessly to the floor.
"Don't think you three can escape," the probation worker says pleasantly.
"What are we going to do?" Kibum moans. "Oh, God. They're as good as dead - we're as good as dead! What can we do?"
"If only we hadn't let him in," Jinki whispers. "But it's too late now."
Jonghyun opens his mouth to speak, but his words catch in his throat. His stomach heaves, his head pounds, and quite suddenly he's no longer crouching in the locker room but standing with the rest of them - Minho and Taemin included - in the entryway of the community service center.
"Right," Taemin is saying, "anyone else with a freaky superpower? Just come out with it now. No more surprises. Come on. Kibum? Jonghyun?"
Jonghyun blanches. He's positive Taemin was lying braindead on the locker room floor just seconds ago. Yet here he is, alive and well and snarky as ever. Could it be that - ?
"The probation worker," Minho says. "He's got one."
Jonghyun has been here before, he's been through all of this. He knows how it ends - with all of them dead.
Unless he does something to change the future.
"Doubt it," Taemin is saying, but Jonghyun shoves him out of the way and leans against the door.
"Shut up," he says tersely. "Minho's right. The guy's got the power to fry our brains and he's going to come in here in about thirty seconds. We need to do something."
"How do you know?" Taemin demands.
"I've seen it!" Jonghyun exclaims. "It's happened already, I saw him kill you, or close enough. You and Minho both. I saw him get you. And then, I don't know how, but I ended up back here. Like I rewound time or something."
"That would qualify as a freaky superpower," Taemin says, "if I believed you."
"Believe me or not, the probation worker is going to come in here with one dead body and if we don't do something right now he's going to leave with six!" Jonghyun yells, frustrated.
"Then let's get the hell out of here!" Kibum says, scared. "Go!"
"I see him," Jinki says, pointing. "He's right outside!"
"There's another door - " Kibum begins.
"It's locked," Jonghyun says. "We're trapped."
"Only one thing to do, then," Minho says grimly. He rips a nearby plaque off the wall. "Incapacitate him."
"Sure, brute force, that's the way to go," Taemin says, sounding bored. "This is a load of bullshit - "
"Open the door on three," Minho instructs Jonghyun. "One, two, three!"
The door swings open and reveals the probation worker, looking surprised. His eyes start to go red, but Minho swings the plaque around hard, hitting him in the forehead with a loud crack, and the man is knocked backwards. Kibum gasps and covers his mouth.
"Is he out?" Jonghyun asks.
Minho steps forward to check. The probation worker has fallen atop the body of the woman he'd been dragging, and he doesn't stir when Minho pokes him with his foot. "He's out," Minho confirms.
"Oh, he's more than out," Taemin says grimly, coming closer and crouching over the man's head. "Look. His neck's broken from hitting the wall here. He's dead."
"No," Minho whispers. He takes a step backward, dropping the plaque to the ground. "No, I didn't - no. He's just unconscious."
Taemin shakes his head. "He's never waking up. You, sir, are a murderer."
"I didn't mean to!" Minho says frantically. "I had to do it! It was him or us - you didn't hear his thoughts. He hated us. He wanted us gone, thought we were the scum of the earth. He was going to get rid of you first, Taemin, because he hated you the most - you should be thanking me! I just saved your life, you stupid, ungrateful prick!"
"Thanks, then," Taemin says, surprising them all.
"Oh," Minho stutters, taken aback. "Oh - well, you're welcome."
"What are we going to do?" Kibum says, his voice hushed. "We just killed our probation worker."
"Correction: Minho just killed our probation worker," Taemin interjects.
"In self defense," Jonghyun says. "It was self defense. He was going to kill us."
"But we're a bunch of criminals," Jinki points out glumly. "Who'll believe us? We've got two bodies on our hands."
"Let's just leave them here," Minho suggests.
"But the police will know we were the last ones here," Jinki says, "doing our community service. We'll be the first suspects."
There's a tense silence as the five of them consider the problem.
"We have to get rid of the bodies," Jinki says at last. "It's the only way."
"Hey," Minho says, turning to Jonghyun. "Why don't you just rewind time to before the probation worker is dead - "
"You mean before you killed him," Taemin says.
" - and we can lock the door and call the police? They'll come and take care of him and then we don't have to worry about this at all."
"I - I don't know," Jonghyun says. "I'm not sure I can control it . . ."
"Well, try," Minho urges. "It's worth a shot."
"But then the police will end up dying. He might get free and end up getting us eventually anyway," Jinki says.
"Just try!" Minho tells Jonghyun.
"Okay." Jonghyun takes a deep breath. "I'm going to try." He closes his eyes, focuses hard, clenches his stomach muscles, tries to recreate the experience of reversing the flow of time -
And nothing happens.
"It's no good," Jonghyun says. "I have no idea how I did it."
"Great," Taemin mutters. "That's so useful."
"It's more useful than you!" Jonghyun snaps. "You can't even do anything!"
"Would you all just shut up?" demands Kibum. "I thought we were getting rid of the bodies? Can we just do that quickly before anyone comes?"
"Sure, princess," Taemin says, rolling his eyes. "Whatever you want."
"He's right, though," Jinki says. "Let's take them to that spot under the freeway. We can bury them. They'll never be found."
"You are a proper criminal," Taemin comments.
Jinki ignores him.
It's one thirty AM, as the five of them are gathered around the freshly covered hole under the freeway, when they discover Kibum's power.
"Shall we say a few words for these poor departed bastards?" Taemin offers. "Or shall we leave them to rot in peace?"
"You," Minho says conversationally, "are quite possibly the most insensitive person I have ever met in my entire life."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Taemin says , shrugging. "At least I'm best at something."
"Let's go," Jinki says, "before someone sees the flashlights."
"I'm so glad we've finished this now," Kibum sighs.
"We?" scoffs Jonghyun. "All you've done is stand there and watch."
"Whatever," Kibum says.
"You know what, you need to carry the shovels back to the car," Jonghyun says, hefting the two tools up. "It's the only way you can be helpful, seeing as you can't even drive us."
"You say that like getting three DUI's was my fault," Kibum pouts, extending his arms to receive the shovels. "It's not like I wanted my license revoked. But I guess I see your point."
"Yeah," Jonghyun says, placing the shovels in Kibum's soft, delicate hands. "Oh - careful, they're heavy - "
"Thanks," Kibum says, and their fingers brush.
Jonghyun feels as though he's been struck by lightning, only it's nothing like the lightning from the storm, which had been brief and vaguely tingly. This is a current of electricity that runs through his body, igniting every nerve ending and racing through his veins, accelerating his heartbeat. This is molten lava setting his brain on fire. This is an uncontrollable heat overtaking his body, dilating his pupils, rushing to his groin.
This is unstoppable lust.
"Let's fuck," Jonghyun groans, his voice not his own. He grips Kibum's wrist tightly in one hand. "I want you so fucking bad, I have to have you - "
"What's wrong with you?" Kibum screeches, clawing at his hand. "Let go of me!"
"Jonghyun?" Minho calls from the car. "What's going on? Kibum?"
"Get off of me!" Kibum screams hysterically, leaning as far away from Jonghyun as he can. Jonghyun keeps pressing closer, inhaling Kibum's scent, caressing Kibum's throat, trying to get his thigh between the blonde's legs.
"I've got to fuck you," he breathes. "I want to be inside you - fuck you so hard - make you scream my name - "
"This isn't funny!" Kibum sobs. "Stop! Get off - "
At this point Jinki has the good sense to rush over and pull Jonghyun off of Kibum, who falls to the ground and stays there a moment, breathing hard as though he's on the verge of tears. Jonghyun looks down at Kibum, then at Jinki, who's glaring at him, and then at Taemin and Minho, who have hurried over from the car. Their faces are all angry and questioning, and Jonghyun honestly has no idea why.
"What just happened?" he asked.
"You tell us," Minho says, crossing his arms. "Sounded like you were trying to rape Kibum."
"No," Jonghyun says, laughing a little, "we were just talking… and then I sort of blacked out…"
"You said you wanted to fuck him," Jinki says flatly. "You wouldn't let go of him."
"No," Jonghyun says, the smile fading from his face in the harsh beam of the flashlight. "But we were just - I was telling him to carry the shovels…"
"It started when you touched me," Kibum says, his voice trembling. He stands up slowly. "You touched my hand and then suddenly you were all horny and 'let's fuck,' and then when Jinki pulled you off me you stopped."
"So," Taemin muses, rubbing his chin, "either Jonghyun has an awful lot of pent-up sexual frustration that he just decided to take out on Kibum, or we've got another freaky superpower on our hands."
"You're kidding," Jonghyun says, eyeing Kibum warily. "Your power is to make people want to fuck you?"
"You say that like being sexy is my fault!" Kibum protests.
"Let's test it," Taemin suggests, grabbing Jinki by the arm.
"No!" Kibum takes a step back, but Taemin is already shoving Jinki towards him, face-first. Kibum tastes Jinki's soft lips and minty chapstick, and then the older man is sliding his hands down Kibum's torso and breathing raggedly against his neck.
"Oh, God, Kibum, I just want you fuck you so hard," he's moaning. "You're so fucking beautiful, I can't wait to sink my cock into your perfect little ass - "
"Right, I think that'll do it," Taemin says hastily, hauling Jinki backwards by the collar.
"Did I say that, too?" Jonghyun asks, horrified.
"Slightly less graphically," Kibum says, wiping his mouth. "Wow, this is a shit power."
"I don't know," Taemin says, "it could be useful."
"How?"
"Well. If you ever felt like having sex with someone - "
"Then they wouldn't remember a second of it," Kibum hisses.
"But if you were only after a quick fuck - "
"That's enough," Minho says sharply. "Can we just leave now? Kibum, don't touch anyone else, alright?"
"Oh, I won't," Kibum says sulkily. "Trust me, I won't."
"So we killed and buried our probation worker," Jonghyun says in the locker room when they meet for community service the next day. "And we all got struck by lightning and have superpowers."
"Except for him," Minho says, pointing to Taemin, who sticks his tongue out.
"Except for Taemin," Jonghyun amends, "we all have superpowers. Now what?"
"First of all," Taemin says, "I'm sure I've got one. So first we figure out what I can do, which'll probably be something kickass and way better than stupid shit like rewinding time or mind reading."
"Right, sure," Kibum says, waving Taemin's words off with a flick of his wrist. "And then what? Are we just stuck with them? Just five freaks in a freakshow - hang on, where's Jinki?"
"I'm here," Jinki says, shuddering and appearing, making them all jump.
"Jesus, you creeper panty-sniffer you," Taemin says. "A little warning next time? Nearly gave me a heart attack."
"You were asking what comes next?" Jinki says seriously, facing the other three. "Now that we've all - except Taemin - got powers?"
"You think you know?" Kibum says incredulously.
"I think we're supposed to use them for the good of humanity," Jinki goes on seriously. "I think we're supposed to use them to save the world."
(As it turns out, their own asses need saving rather frequently, so the world is just going to have to wait.)