[jongkey] (stay together) live forever

[pinkweather]

(stay together) live forever
Jonghyun/Key, PG-13, AU
summary: Choose your friends wisely.
warning: character death
a/n: yay for sem break! i’ve always wanted to write a fic that wasn’t…full of lulz…for once. thanks to lunayeppeo for reading this through for me ♥

It was an old house, and constantly on lease - the kind of house that newcomers to the area would settle down in for just long enough until they found a better one or had a new one built somewhere else. It wasn’t much to look at, but Kibum thought that a few renovations here and there would have resulted in a considerable improvement, if any of its former occupants had bothered to invest in the task. None of them ever, did, though - most just stayed for a little more than a month, and those who lasted nearly a year always ended up leaving under unfortunate circumstances, which was neighborhood code for a death in the family and the consequent need to move away and leave the bad memories behind.

Some of the neighbors believed that the house was haunted, but that never deterred Kibum from wandering beyond its gates whenever it had been newly vacated, an incidence that seemed to be occurring more and more often in recent years. The erstwhile tenants would catch wind of stories, of ominous whisperings among longtime residents in nearby homes who were positive that there was something terribly wrong with that house, and then, two weeks later, bags would be packed, furniture hauled back out and into moving trucks.

Kibum had always found the paranoia ridiculous. There was nothing wrong with the house. He had been in it more than a few times, when some of its past renters happened to have a teenage son or daughter he could hang out with to break the monotony. Mostly only old people lived in the neighborhood now, and it was so boring with no one his age to talk to.

He never went into the house when no one was currently living there, of course, but he often sat down by the fountain in the front yard, broken beyond repair and mottled with moss, a rather out of place garden ornament if ever there was one. Sometimes he threw coins into it, making silly wishes that the next tenants would arrive already, and that if they did, that they would have kids. And not of the insufferably bratty preschool variety, please.

It was on one such day that he was doing just that, watching the glint of silver sink beneath the murky water, when the corner of his eye caught a blur of movement from one of the house’s second floor windows. He smirked and patted the fountain, thinking That was fast, before strolling up to the front door and banging the old brass knocker against the wood three times with more force than was necessary. Hey, it had been months since the last tenants had lived here. The new neighbors ought to be glad he was this enthusiastic to greet them.

A minute passed by and no footsteps came rushing from the other side of the door. Kibum frowned and rapped the door with his knuckles this time. Another minute, and still nothing. That was weird - he could have sworn that he saw someone moving about upstairs.

He waited another five minutes, glancing every so often at the darkening sky, before giving up and leaving. Maybe he had just been imagining things.

The next morning was the start of a typical summer day, the cloudless sky a beautiful shade of blue. It put Kibum in a bad mood, knowing that it would be a total waste without anybody interesting to spend it with-again-and he glared up at the old house, wholly unthreatening in the light of the sun. He thought of how stupid it was that some people could even think that some sort of evil thing lurked about in there.

He moodily threw another coin into the fountain and started glaring at the water too, his annoyed reflection blurring in the ripples.

“What are you doing?”

Kibum jumped in surprise and whirled around, coming face to face with an unfamiliar boy who looked to be in his late teens. His dark brown hair hung disheveled in his eyes, stylishly so, as if he spent quite some time to make it perfectly tousled, and he had on a black wifebeater that showed off well-defined biceps. Designer jeans, Kibum noted, and a whiff of just-sprayed-on musk. If this were high school, Kibum would have pegged him for one of the popular kids.

“After you’ve finished checking me out,” the boy said dryly, smirking as soon as Kibum shot him a miffed look, “Just kidding. I’m Jonghyun.”

Kibum was still appalled at the boy’s display of what was apparently quite a large ego. “You live here?” he asked haughtily, jerking a thumb in the direction of the house.

Jonghyun nodded. “Since two days ago, yeah,” he said with a shrug.

Kibum scowled. “I thought so. I was here yesterday, and I knocked-”

“Oh, that was you? I was in the shower, sorry.”

Kibum blinked. “You…live alone?” It was the first time, for that house.

For a moment he thought he saw something dark flash across Jonghyun’s eyes, but Kibum blinked again and it was gone. “Yeah. I’m twenty, even if I don’t look it.” That smirk again, taunting Kibum, luring him in. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, uh…”

“Kibum,” Kibum said. “And I was just checking. I knew I saw someone inside that house yesterday.”

“Sure. And you wanted to make a wish upon a fountain,” Jonghyun said with a grin. Kibum reflexively smacked him on the arm, surprising himself with the uncalled-for act of familiarity, but Jonghyun just raised an eyebrow.

Kibum arranged his face into what he deemed was an appropriately contrite expression. “Sorry, I didn’t-”

“I’m sure you don’t mean that, but it’s okay,” Jonghyun said, waving a hand dismissively and laughing at Kibum’s stricken face. “Want to come in for breakfast?” He turned heel and walked up the driveway with the air of one used to being followed, and Kibum felt his feet automatically responding to the pull.

Jonghyun certainly fit in the category of interesting.

And he had a really nice laugh.

Kibum’s life was nowhere near boring, after that. He went to Jonghyun’s house everyday, and they never really had to go anywhere else. There was something about Jonghyun that made you want to sit still and just listen while he talked, and he had a lot to talk about, from the songs he was currently writing to the car he was going to buy when he’s saved up enough money to why sunsets were red and orange and pink. Kibum hadn’t met a person as lively as Jonghyun in ages, and something about the two of them clicked in a way that he never felt with his other friends who used to live there, friends who promised to keep in touch but never did, once they went away. It wasn’t that Kibum was needy, but he hated when he got attached to people and they would suddenly cut ties with him just like that. It had happened twice already in the past, and it only got worse after one of his friends actually died in that house, sealing its fate as a temporary housing solution and guaranteeing Kibum only fleeting friendships that he had to make do with year after year.

He really liked Jonghyun. He came across as obnoxious and self-centered at first, but he was actually funny and sincere and he always listened to Kibum talk like there was nothing more important in the world but what he had to say, which was maybe his way of compensating for talking too much himself, but still. It was like he cared about Kibum, really, genuinely cared about him in the way that he would for a friend he had known since childhood. Kibum had only known him for two weeks.

It had been such a long time since Kibum had last wished this strongly for someone not to leave him behind.

“Do you believe in ghosts?” Kibum shot Jonghyun a sidelong glance, watching his reaction closely.

Jonghyun paused in the middle of writing in his notebook, staring long and hard at the scribbles before turning to look at Kibum. “No,” he answered. “Why’d you ask?”

Kibum hesitated. “A lot of people say that this house is haunted,” he said. “That’s why nobody ever lives here for long. They always move out eventually. Sometimes they don’t even last a whole month.”

Jonghyun grinned. “You think I’ll be moving out in a couple of weeks?”

“It would be nice if you didn’t,” Kibum said, glaring sullenly at the huge labeled boxes still stacked against the wall, gathering dust after being untouched since they were first left there.

Jonghyun followed his line of vision and shrugged. “I’m just too lazy to unpack, is all,” he said. He patted Kibum’s knee reassuringly. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”

Kibum pursed his lips and said nothing.

Jonghyun laughed. “Anyway, you were saying something about ghosts. What, have people died here or something?”

Kibum thought it was about time for them to drop the subject, but he couldn’t stop his own mouth from responding, “Yes.”

“Really.” An enigmatic smile played upon Jonghyun’s lips. Kibum didn’t think there was anything amusing about it, but he figured that someone who said they didn’t believe in ghosts wouldn’t be scared off that easily, and that was a good thing, right?

“He was a friend of mine, and a good kid. He was so full of life, you know? Dancing was his energy outlet. He never could sit still for a minute, but one day he just started wasting away… His parents were so overprotective; after he got that way they wouldn’t let me see him. And then they just suddenly moved out.”

“Moved out? But how did you know that he died?” Jonghyun asked.

“The neighbors talked about it for weeks,” Kibum said shortly.

Jonghyun winced. “Sorry.”

Kibum shrugged it off. He had never really talked about Taemin with anyone before.

“So if people started moving out more quickly after your friend’s death, that’s implying that he’s still here,” Jonghyun pointed out.

Kibum’s eyes flashed. “Don’t,” he snapped.

Jonghyun didn’t even flinch. “Ghosts aren’t real,” he said, every syllable loaded with conviction. But he looked strangely thoughtful. “Which room was his?”

Kibum stared suspiciously at him. “Second floor, first room past the stairs. Why?”

Jonghyun glanced past him, up the staircase and onto the door closest to it. He smirked. “Just in case.”

There was only one thing that Jonghyun didn’t like to talk about, and that was his life before he moved into that house. Kibum knew all about Jonghyun’s dreams, knew that he dropped out of university because accountancy wasn’t going to help him become a better songwriter, knew that he had this beautiful chilling voice that could suck out your soul if you listened to him singing long enough.

“Suck out your soul?” Jonghyun had said, his dark eyes twinkling as he laughed aloud. “You’re a riot, Kibum, you know that?” And then he would pick up where he left off, every note resonating in Kibum, so powerful they made the hairs at the back of his arms stand up. Jonghyun could sing for hours and Kibum wouldn’t notice the day slipping away from them.

But that was pretty much all he knew, aside from the trivial ramblings that Jonghyun prattled on about when he wasn’t busy singing or weaving pretty words into lyrics. It irked Kibum somewhat, because he hadn’t been able to connect with anybody else the way he did with Jonghyun, and for some reason he wanted to find out everything there was to know about him. Jonghyun shared a lot of things, but there wasn’t much that he gave away.

He was mysterious like that. And Kibum didn’t appreciate being kept in the dark. But he let it slide, because he was sure that one day, Jonghyun would come around and tell him everything.

Kibum had never seen Jonghyun out of the house, except for the morning they first met. He pointed this out and Jonghyun laughed and said he was being ridiculous; of course he went out once in a while, otherwise he’d starve, wouldn’t he? He just didn’t like the heat, he said, he walked the two blocks to the grocery at night, after Kibum had already left, and what was up with all the silly questions?

So Kibum asked him about other things. He asked if Jonghyun was happy here, if he was already settled down, if there was the slightest possibility of him moving away before the summer ended.

“The way you keep asking about it, it’s like you want to get rid of me,” Jonghyun said, rolling his eyes.

“Stupid, I never thought that at all,” Kibum shot back, but his eyes widened in panic anyway, as if Jonghyun was going to announce a farewell party any day now.

“If I leave, it’ll be because this house is so damn old,” Jonghyun went on, gesturing around him. “It’s been raining a lot this week, right? And the wind’s so strong it makes everything in the house creak and groan like it’s got arthritis or something. I can’t sleep half the night because it drives me crazy. Maybe I should move out.”

“Is it really that bad?” Kibum asked anxiously.

“Sleep over sometime on a stormy night, and you be the judge,” he offered. “There’re leaks here and there whenever that happens, too. And when the thunder’s particularly awful, the power tends to go out.” Jonghyun sighed. “You gotta love this place.”

Kibum shrugged. “I don’t mind sleeping over. Is tonight okay?”

Jonghyun’s eyes lit up. “Great! I should have thought of this earlier. There’s only so much you can do on your own when it’s 7:30 in the evening and it’s pitch dark and you can’t even go to bed early because the wind keeps howling in your ears.”

A normal person would probably be scared shitless if they were alone under those conditions, Kibum thought, but Jonghyun was taking everything rather well. Kibum really hadn’t ever come across anyone quite like him.

“My room’s upstairs. Uh… I don’t mind sharing the bed, it’s big enough for the two of us, I guess, but if you’re not okay with that, I’ve got sleeping bags. Somewhere.” He glances unsurely at the still-unopened boxes all over the living room, squinting at the labels, but Kibum shook his head.

“I’m fine with sharing a bed,” Kibum told him.

“Right,” Jonghyun said. “There are blankets and pillows in that open box over there. Just help yourself and dump them on the bed. I’ll get dinner ready early-” As if on cue, a streak of white rent the skies outside, followed by a clap of thunder barely a second later. “-in case the power goes out again.” Jonghyun walked over to the open window-it was starting to rain-and shut it firmly.

Kibum wordlessly followed Jonghyun’s instructions, stopping at the foot of the stairs. He took a cursory glance at Jonghyun, who was still staring out the window. Jonghyun suddenly turned around and shot Kibum a weird look. “Something wrong?”

“No,” Kibum said uneasily, taking a few steps up the stairs. The second floor landing was dark and uninviting even from here.

“Sorry about the dark; I forgot to install the hallway lights,” Jonghyun called from the bottom of the stairs. “Try not to trip on anything.” He grinned up at Kibum before walking off and disappearing into a doorway leading to the kitchen.

Kibum clutched the spare pillow closer to his chest and climbed further up until he was standing at the end of the second floor hallway. The door closest to the stairs stood slightly ajar, and as Kibum passed by, the wind outside suddenly picked up and the door creaked further open. There was another flash of lightning and in that brief moment he thought he saw the outline of a person standing by the window inside the room, and then everything was plunged in darkness again. Kibum swallowed hard and quickened his pace, entering the only other open door in the hallway and flicking the light switch. A king-sized bed sat in the middle of the room, the duvet carelessly unmade over the bed sheets. Kibum threw the spare pillow and blanket onto the bed and ran back out, leaving the light on.

He resolutely didn’t glance at the first door on his way to the stairs, but as he went back down he felt the back of his neck prickle, as if a pair of eyes were watching him from behind.

“Are you okay? You’re all pale. Paler than usual, anyway,” Jonghyun said with a note of concern as he ladled ramyun into Kibum’s bowl.

“I’m fine,” Kibum muttered, grabbing his pair of chopsticks and poking at the ramyun.

“Sure? ‘Cause-excuse me for saying this-you look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” Jonghyun grinned.

Kibum glared. “Cut it out. And didn’t you say you don’t believe in ghosts?”

“I don’t,” Jonghyun agreed with a mysterious smile, “but you never said you didn’t.”

Kibum wasn’t enjoying this conversation very much. He slouched lower in his seat. “I… I don’t think they are,” he answered, avoiding Jonghyun’s intent stare.

“Good. Wouldn’t want you getting scared and asking me to hold your hand all night in case they come to get you,” Jonghyun said teasingly.

“Shut up,” Kibum said, throwing a shredded piece of cabbage at him. Jonghyun just laughed.

The power did go out, like Jonghyun predicted. Having Kibum for company in an old house robbed of electricity didn’t turn out to be as exciting as Jonghyun had hoped, because there still wasn’t much that they could do except sit in the dark and talk. Jonghyun pointed out that they ought to go to bed early after all, because they could do the same thing in there and be more comfortable while they were at it.

Jonghyun didn’t say anything when Kibum suddenly grabbed his hand as they went upstairs, said nothing when Kibum’s grip tightened painfully as they walked down the hall. The rain was still slapping against the windows, through which swaying tree branches cast eerie shadows over the walls whenever lightning struck.

The sound of the wind’s howls grew louder in Jonghyun’s room. Kibum now understood what Jonghyun meant about hearing the entire house from here-there was the scrape of metal against rusty metal as unseen hinges swung to and fro, the creak of loose floorboards as the weight of feet pressed upon them. Kibum had no idea how Jonghyun had been able to stand it.

“Now what?” Jonghyun asked after they were settled in bed, their backs against the headboard.

“I don’t know,” Kibum said, fiddling with the edges of his comforter. Other than literally sleeping, there was really only one thing he knew that two young people would do in a single bed with the lights out, but it had never crossed his mind to do such things with Jonghyun.

He could feel more than see Jonghyun smirking beside him, as if being this close to each other made him capable of reading Kibum’s thoughts, and then there was a tickle of breath against his ear, whispering, “Do you think we should-”

“No,” Kibum said vehemently, and he glared at the two pinpricks of light in the darkness before him-Jonghyun’s eyes, dancing merrily in amusement.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say.” Jonghyun’s voice was smug, his laughter light and airy, and Kibum closed his eyes, drinking it in. He really, really had a nice laugh.

Kibum slouched and slid down until his head was on his pillow, and he opened his eyes as he heard Jonghyun wriggling about and doing the same thing beside him. He let Jonghyun slip his hand into his own, and it felt nice, even if Jonghyun’s fingers were cold. Jonghyun started humming softly, a slow, lullaby-like melody that made Kibum’s eyes flutter closed again until he drifted off to sleep.

The last thing he remembered was the feeling of eyes on him.

It must have been midnight when he woke up, because he could hear a clock chiming somewhere. The rain had stopped, and the room was bathed in moonlight, its rays falling across Jonghyun’s face as he slept on.

Taemin was perched at the foot of the bed. “Hyung,” he said, his voice barely an echo of how it sounded like before. Hollow and wispy.

Dead.

Kibum shut his eyes tight and opened them again, but Taemin was still there, the same carelessly mussed hair, the same shirt that he had always loved wearing but was impossibly loose on him. “Go away,” Kibum said loudly, his heartbeat ringing in his ears. Jonghyun stirred beside him but didn’t wake.

Taemin’s eyes narrowed, lips slanting into a grimace, and it looked wrong on him, frightening and grotesque, a far cry from the cheerful smile that Kibum remembered. “Not him, hyung,” Taemin whispered, rising slowly and shuffling towards Kibum.

“Stop it, stop, please, leave me alone!” Kibum’s eyes grew wide as he pressed himself against the headboard, one hand shakily scrabbling to find Jonghyun’s. He saw Taemin’s face flash with anger at the contact.

Taemin hissed. “You can’t-”

“Kibum?” Jonghyun rolled over and squinted up at him, then blinked drowsily at the clammy hand in a death grip with his.

Kibum stared straight ahead, but there was no trace of Taemin anywhere.

Jonghyun struggled into a sitting position. “Kibum…you’re really pale,” he said, touching Kibum’s face with his free hand. Kibum flinched.

“It’s nothing,” Kibum whispered harshly, pointedly looking away from Jonghyun’s probing stare, “It’s nothing.”

Kibum kept coming back to the house despite knowing that Taemin was there. What did he want from him? Why couldn’t he just leave him and Jonghyun alone? He would catch glimpses of Taemin almost every day, standing in his old bedroom’s doorway, crouched at the top step of the stairs, perched on the railing with his legs hanging limp and unmoving over the side. Watching, always watching, his cold dead eyes following Kibum’s every move from above.

He didn’t tell Jonghyun about Taemin. Jonghyun didn’t seem to be able to see him. Jonghyun was as carefree as ever, grinning as he teased Kibum that he was getting paler by the day, was he sure that he was eating enough? Kibum clung to Jonghyun’s vivacity, his laughter, his song, his smile. Kibum felt increasingly listless as the days passed, worried sick about what Taemin was capable of doing, while Jonghyun remained so energetic, so full of life.

There were times when Jonghyun wasn’t home when Kibum dropped by, and Kibum would panic, because he had never gone a day without seeing Jonghyun, not in the two months they had known each other. He would sit by the fountain and stare anxiously up at the house, willing Jonghyun to come back. Sometimes he would see a flash of white in one of the second floor windows, and Taemin would be there, glaring darkly at him and silently urging him to leave. But he never did, not until he saw Jonghyun walking past the gate and greeting him with a sunny smile.

“Where’ve you been?” Kibum demanded as he followed at Jonghyun’s heels.

“Just downtown,” Jonghyun said with a shrug, tossing his grocery purchases onto the kitchen table. “Why are you so upset?”

“I’m not,” Kibum said, though his lips were twisted into a frown.

“Aww, missed me too much?” Jonghyun smirked.

Yes. “Don’t flatter yourself,” Kibum said flatly. He slid into a seat and nearly fell back out when he saw Taemin sitting at the kitchen counter, right beside Jonghyun who was washing his hands beneath the tap.

Taemin was smiling at him, the kind of smile that chilled you to the bone and made you want to run far, far away-his message was clear. Stay away from him.

Kibum swallowed hard. “Jonghyun?” he said, trying to ignore the apparition and staring straight at the back of the other boy’s head.

“Hmm?” Jonghyun mumbled, turning around. Taemin laid a thin, dead hand on Jonghyun’s shoulder.

“You’re not going anywhere, right?” Kibum said determinedly.

Jonghyun ran a hand through his hair. “No, Kibum,” he said with mild exasperation, like Kibum had asked him this a thousand times.

“And we’ll always be friends?” Kibum asked, not acknowledging the violent shake of Taemin’s head.

“What’s with you all of a sudden?” Jonghyun laughed. His eyes were dark, so dark-the shade always did deepen uncannily when he was amused by something that Kibum had said.

“Tell me,” Kibum insisted, meeting Jonghyun’s gaze. He thought that he wouldn’t mind terribly if he only had Jonghyun. Just Jonghyun was enough.

A lazy, satisfied smile crept over Jonghyun’s lips. “Okay, fine. Friends forever, and all that sappy shit,” he said. Above him, Taemin’s fathomless eyes narrowed into slits, his pale lips drawn into a scream that went unheard. And then he vanished.

Kibum grinned. He had won.

It was a new day, and Kibum hadn’t felt better in weeks. He was waiting for Jonghyun in the old house, letting himself in when nobody answered the door. He wasn’t anxious anymore, because he was sure that Jonghyun was going to come back. He promised.

The front door slammed open, and Jonghyun came rushing in, looking wildly around until his eyes fell on Kibum.

“Welcome back!” Kibum greeted, rising from his seat and walking up to Jonghyun.

Jonghyun had never looked so agitated. “Kibum-I just went to-but it doesn’t make sense-”

“Is anything wrong?” Kibum asked carelessly. It couldn’t be that important. The important thing was that Jonghyun was here now, and he wasn’t going to leave.

“The cemetery,” Jonghyun said, “And then the neighbors said-”

“Yes?” Kibum prompted, taking Jonghyun’s hand. Jonghyun stared down at their linked hands, ashen-faced, and he slowly met Kibum’s eyes, understanding dawning on his face.

“You’re dead, Kibum,” Jonghyun whispered, pulling his hand away and taking a step back towards the open doorway.

Kibum’s eyes flashed angrily. “Don’t be stupid, Jonghyun,” he snapped.

Pure fear crossed Jonghyun’s face and he spun around, poised to flee, but Kibum grabbed his arm and threw him hard onto the floor. Jonghyun gasped in pain and tried to get back up, but Kibum kneeled on either side of him and pinned his shoulders down with surprising force.

“Friends forever, you said,” Kibum said softly, leaning forward close enough to feel Jonghyun’s staggered breath against his face. He stroked Jonghyun’s cheek with a pale finger. “All of you forget so easily. I’ll make you remember.”

It was beautiful, really, Jonghyun’s voice. Kibum had always liked his laugh. No, he considered, he loved it. Almost as much as his scream.