jar of hearts
title: jar of hearts
rating: pg13
pairing: minkey
genre: angst, romance, sci-fi kinda, futuristic (?)
a.n; for miss_circle for replay4japan :D sorry this took so long ;__; idek know if it makes sense. kind of inspired by christina perri's jar of hearts. oh and guys, if you want a short prequel kinda thing, click here :>
it took so long just to feel alright,
remember how to put back the light in my eyes.
Kibum knew he was walking into a trap. He walked into the house, the big beautiful house, stepping where others have so many times. The inside of the house was just as beautiful as the outside.
Not just everybody came to Minho's. Only the lost, only the broken, only the ones that had no love, only the ones that had no heart to love. Kibum came to give his useless heart away. People like Onew and Taemin didn't need to go to Minho's. Kibum walked through the long corridor, admiring the paintings and holographic portraits that hung on the walls. On his right, there was door, do not enter, but Kibum was curious and saw no harm in taking just a peek. So he opened the door after looking left and right and stepped in. A cold gust hit Kibum and he shivered, eyes adjusting to the dimly lit room. On either sides of him were shelves, shelves filled with jars. Kibum gasped; they were jars of hearts. Was this where his heart was going to end up? He walked up to one; it was labelled Jonghyun, Kim. But before he could piece anything together, a cough from behind him made him spin with guilt because he knew he wasn't supposed to be in there.
He had never actually seen this Minho person before but he had never imagined him to be so... so young. Kibum would've imagined someone old and grumpy because if you had to take out other people's hearts all day, tearing love apart, you would turn grumpy too. But Minho wasn't.
"I'm, I'm so sorry," he apologized, bowing ninety degrees.
"It's alright," Minho smiled, "Just don't ever do it again."
-
Minho sent Kibum home, saying that he was booked full that day and maybe he can come back in a few days. Kibum bowed and said farewell, thinking if there were actually so many people like him. He felt a little sad, but walked down the streets with a small smile on his face because the cup of tea Minho had offered him was very, very delicious.
-
Kibum crosses his arms across his chest in front of the machine, contemplating whether to get the Caesar salad or the fruit salad.
"I think that one tastes better," a voice behind Kibum says, and a finger points to the fruit salad. He turns around and sees Onew smiling at him. Kibum nods, pushing F15 on the machine and a single packaged, light green coloured pill drops down the chute. He picks it up and moves out of the way so Onew could use the machine.
"Thanks," Kibum says, popping the pill into his mouth with a cup of water that was so conveniently provided by the machine.
"No biggie," Onew replies, pushing in A12 and then D03. Onew's finger hovers over the pad and Kibum's right eyebrow raises in question.
"Uh..."
"Tartar sauce, I forgot what Jonghyun wanted."
Kibum remembers the jar, Jonghyun, Kim and was about to ask Onew about it because he knew Onew was close to Jonghyun (though he didn't know why) when Taemin decides to come bouncing in.
"Key hyung!"
Kibum whips around to greet Taemin with the smile only reserved for the people he liked most. Once he gets close enough, Kibum's hand reaches out to pinch his chubby cheeks and Taemin half-heartedly slaps his hand away before going over to Onew. Kibum's smile falters a little when Taemin wraps his arms around Onew's waist and rests his chin on his shoulder, reminding him of what Jonghyun wanted.
Just because he heart couldn't love, it didn't stop his heart from being jealous. Oh, don't get him wrong, he didn't like Onew or Taemin in that way, but he was jealous of them. He envied them for having such a fairy tale love. Kibum left, without saying good bye, not wanting to disturb them. When he turned the corner, he heard Taemin playfully scold Onew for getting chicken again.
-
He went back to Minho's three days later, only to be greeted by Minho's tired face. Minho said he was too tired to do anything today but would be happy to have some company that afternoon and that’s why Kibum’s now sitting in Minho's extravagant living room that was big enough to be his whole apartment. He sipped his tea, savouring every moment because the tea tasted like heaven.
They talked and talked the whole afternoon, learning about each other. Minho smiled a lot and he laughed a lot; he filled Kibum with his deep, husky voice, he filled the air with his boy-ish laughter. Kibum couldn't keep the smile off of his face and he laughed so much, he was afraid he would explode. But every now and then, he noticed Minho would have a far-away look in his eyes and sometimes when he looked at Kibum, his stare would be almost pleading.
-
"Jonghyun is not from here, he came from a different universe."
Kibum's eyes widened in surprise, "What do you mean, a different universe?"
Onew scratched the back of his head before leaning over the balcony's railing.
"Well, he created this universe," Onew said as he gestured with his hands, “Because the place where he came from was destroyed by his own kind." Kibum nodded, trying to take in everything he was telling him.
"He never really actually told me about anything but I've seen a picture of a girl in his room that he holds very dearly to his heart," Onew continues, looking out into the multi-coloured sky, "I'm guessing it's his girlfriend or something."
Onew inhales and exhales before he finishes.
"I think she was supposed to come here with him."
Kibum realizes Onew isn't as dumb as he looks.
-
that he holds very dearly to his heart? But he doesn't have one.
Then Kibum also realizes that Onew didn't know Jonghyun didn't have a heart (he had left it with her).
-
Kibum thinks he doesn't need it anymore and heads out to Minho's to tell him. He walks up to the door and sees a sign hanging on it that says, Off for vacation; be back in a few days. Kibum shrugs and decides to walk to Jonghyun's. He could wait another three days.
-
He finds Jonghyun on a bar stool in his favourite cafe and greets him with a slap upside the head.
"Ow, hey," Jonghyun turns around and sees Kibum's bright smile. Kibum decided to be extra nice to Jonghyun now that he knew about his past, but then went against it because he knew Jonghyun didn't want to be pitied.
As they talk, Kibum noticed that Jonghyun had the same look in his eyes as Minho but he brushes it off, without realizing what it meant.
-
When Kibum tells Minho that he didn't need his help anymore, the smile that appears on Minho's face is worth everything in the world.
"I knew it, Kibum," Minho sighs happily, "Someone as beautiful as you deserve to love and to be loved."
Kibum's heart beats and he feels a thousand butterflies dancing inside his stomach. He thinks this is what love is supposed to feel like.
He smiles at Minho, "Yeah, it feels good to love." He looks at Minho with those eyes and that smile and Minho's smile turns into his frown when he realizes Kibum is talking about him.
"Wait, no, Kibum, you can't."
"What? Why not?" Kibum cries, feeling his heart beat once again with something that he was familiar with (sadness, rejection).
"Just, you can't," Minho replies with a sad smile and his ticking heart aches to see the unshed tears in Kibum's eyes as he closes the door and shuts Kibum out of his life.
-
Minho and I were here yesterday -
Isn't Minho on vacation? (Kibum looks at Jonghyun curiously)
N - I mean yes, right, he is.
-
Kibum feels so frustrated because he couldn't have his heart taken out anymore. Only hearts that didn't have a reason to beat for had the right for it to be removed. Kibum didn't know love could hurt. Why was the world such a cruel place? He felt horrible when he couldn't love, and now that he could, he felt even more horrible.
-
Kibum slips into Minho's house in the middle of the night and it's scary, but Kibum has a mission to accomplish. He tip toes down the corridor, looking for the room that he wasn't allowed to go into. He finds the door on his right and he opens it, the same cold gust hitting him in the face. He skims the shelves, passing the Kim’s, the Lee's, the Jung's, and finally finds the Choi's. He searches the jars of hearts, hoping desperately to not find what he was trying to look for. Kibum was about to sigh in relief when he got to the last jar, way at the back, hidden and gloomy. His heart started beating furiously as his hand pulled the jar out, the cold glass tingling on his skin. There in his hands was the jar he didn't want, the jar of heart labelled Minho, Choi.
He looked back up at the place where he found the jar and saw another jar. This jar was empty and stuck out like a sore thumb in the sea of the other ugly, cold jars. He reached for it and gasped when he saw it was labelled with his own name, but instead of holding his heart, it was holding a piece of paper. Two words were written across the white piece of paper, too beautiful, and Kibum starts tearing up.
"Hey, I told you to not come in here again," whispered Minho's voice from outside the room, breaking the silence and the empty jar (Kibum's heart) drops to the ground, breaking into thousands of tiny pieces. Kibum can hear the anger in Minho's voice and turns around to see his emotionless face that softens when he sees Kibum's tears cascading down his beautiful, beautiful cheeks.
Kibum wipes at his tears and puts away the jar, Minho's eyes following his every movement. As he heads out of the room, he offers Minho a small smile and a timid sorry for intruding.
But what Minho replies throws Kibum off-guard and he falters a little as he reaches for the knob of the front door.
"No, I'm sorry, Kibum."
Sorry? Why are you sorry?
-
It was his fault for falling in love.
a.n2: if you guys didn't get it, it goes a little like this. they're in this weird place that jjong had created and key went to get his heart removed because he couldnt love. minho, who is in charge of taking hearts out, thinks key is too beautiful so he makes excuses up to give key time to love. BUT THEN he couldnt cuz he had no heart to love and its all sad and stuff. youd have to read the prequel to understand jjong's part of the story. im sorry if i confused any of you guys lol.