what friends do
Pairing: Zhou Mi, Kyuhyun
Rating: G
Words: 710
Note: I have something better lined up, I promise!
The first week that Zhou Mi is discharged from the hospital, he pays a visit to the graveyard, supported on both sides by Siwon and Sungmin. It is a nice, sunny, balmy-breeze, let's-go-to-the-beach-and-sun-ourselves day and Zhou Mi feels vaguely insulted by it. He has practically returned from death, after all, and he's visiting the grave of a dearly beloved friend who'd given him the greatest gift of all; it's completely incongruous and unreasonable of the weather to be so cheerful.
The cross that they're looking for is ten stairwells down from the entrance, row 20, and by the time they arrive at it, Zhou Mi is feeling more insulted at the fact that they'd buried Kyuhyun in this godforsaken corner.
"There wasn't any other space," Sungmin explains half-apologetically when he tells them so. "Aging population, you know, lots of people…leaving recently."
"Is that any way to talk about Kyuhyun?" Zhou Mi says with grief. The name 'Cho Kyuhyun' in the middle of the cross makes his throat seize into a lump, and when he kneels down to place a bouquet of flowers ("You should have bought plastic flowers, they last longer," Siwon had said when they went to the florist) on the base of the cross, he sniffles back a tear.
"He gave up everything for me," he says, and gives up sniffling back his tears. "He died in my place."
Sungmin and Siwon stand behind him with their heads bowed respectfully.
"He traded his life for mine. You guys don't know anything, but I was there, in Heaven. I saw him negotiating with the Death Angel. He said yes to trading his life for mine. Do you know that feels?" Zhou Mi hugs the cross and cries, and Siwon and Sungmin remain standing behind him in respectful silence.
"I don't even know how to react to that. How do you react to someone who gives up his life for you?"
"Well…" Sungmin says quietly, reaching out to pat Zhou Mi's shoulder, "it must feel awful, I know. But if this makes you feel any better, Kyuhyunnie did it because he wanted to."
"That makes it worse!"
"No, I mean…" Sungmin hesitates and looks at Siwon for support.
"Er," Siwon says. "You know, Zhou Mi-yah, Kyuhyunnie wasn't really having the best of times here. On Earth, I mean. Donghae wrecked his computer, and Heechul borrowed his brand new Audi and accidentally drove it into a lamp post…and Kyuhyun hadn't finished making the instalment payments on it, too."
Zhou Mi blinks. "How did Heechul hyung drive it into a lamp post?"
"I don't know, he just did. He blamed the lamp post for being in his way."
"And," Sungmin goes on, "Ryeowookie beat Kyuhyun's high score in Starcraft just last week. And Donghee and Jongwoon hyung drank up all his wine because one night they wanted alcohol but were too lazy to go out to find some."
"And…yeah," Siwon says. "So when the Death Angel visited the dorm and told us that we had the option of trading any one of our lives for yours…"
"Maybe Kyuhyun thought Heaven was a better option," Sungmin says, shrugging. "The Death Angel said he could play his computer games in peace and quiet for all eternity. For free, too. And they'd reimburse him his Jaguar. Sounded like a pretty good offer, really."
"Well, I mean, Heaven was nice, but…" Zhou Mi sits down and stares at the cross.
"Look at it this way," Siwon says kindly. "It's a win-win situation."
"I guess," Zhou Mi says, and stares at the cross a little more. "That's what friends do? We look out for each other? Make each other's lives better?"
"Or deaths better," Sungmin says. "Yeah. Something like that."
There's a short pause.
"Well," Zhou Mi says, patting the cross, "Heaven's a nice place. I'm sure you're liking it there, Kyuhyun-ah. You can get ten Jaguars if you want, everything's free there. Thanks for giving me back my life on Earth. I suppose you should be thanking me too, for giving you a life in Heaven. I'll see you there sometime later. And, er. Real flowers are really expensive. The next time I come, I'll buy plastic flowers."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Sungmin says.
Rating: G
Words: 710
Note: I have something better lined up, I promise!
The first week that Zhou Mi is discharged from the hospital, he pays a visit to the graveyard, supported on both sides by Siwon and Sungmin. It is a nice, sunny, balmy-breeze, let's-go-to-the-beach-and-sun-ourselves day and Zhou Mi feels vaguely insulted by it. He has practically returned from death, after all, and he's visiting the grave of a dearly beloved friend who'd given him the greatest gift of all; it's completely incongruous and unreasonable of the weather to be so cheerful.
The cross that they're looking for is ten stairwells down from the entrance, row 20, and by the time they arrive at it, Zhou Mi is feeling more insulted at the fact that they'd buried Kyuhyun in this godforsaken corner.
"There wasn't any other space," Sungmin explains half-apologetically when he tells them so. "Aging population, you know, lots of people…leaving recently."
"Is that any way to talk about Kyuhyun?" Zhou Mi says with grief. The name 'Cho Kyuhyun' in the middle of the cross makes his throat seize into a lump, and when he kneels down to place a bouquet of flowers ("You should have bought plastic flowers, they last longer," Siwon had said when they went to the florist) on the base of the cross, he sniffles back a tear.
"He gave up everything for me," he says, and gives up sniffling back his tears. "He died in my place."
Sungmin and Siwon stand behind him with their heads bowed respectfully.
"He traded his life for mine. You guys don't know anything, but I was there, in Heaven. I saw him negotiating with the Death Angel. He said yes to trading his life for mine. Do you know that feels?" Zhou Mi hugs the cross and cries, and Siwon and Sungmin remain standing behind him in respectful silence.
"I don't even know how to react to that. How do you react to someone who gives up his life for you?"
"Well…" Sungmin says quietly, reaching out to pat Zhou Mi's shoulder, "it must feel awful, I know. But if this makes you feel any better, Kyuhyunnie did it because he wanted to."
"That makes it worse!"
"No, I mean…" Sungmin hesitates and looks at Siwon for support.
"Er," Siwon says. "You know, Zhou Mi-yah, Kyuhyunnie wasn't really having the best of times here. On Earth, I mean. Donghae wrecked his computer, and Heechul borrowed his brand new Audi and accidentally drove it into a lamp post…and Kyuhyun hadn't finished making the instalment payments on it, too."
Zhou Mi blinks. "How did Heechul hyung drive it into a lamp post?"
"I don't know, he just did. He blamed the lamp post for being in his way."
"And," Sungmin goes on, "Ryeowookie beat Kyuhyun's high score in Starcraft just last week. And Donghee and Jongwoon hyung drank up all his wine because one night they wanted alcohol but were too lazy to go out to find some."
"And…yeah," Siwon says. "So when the Death Angel visited the dorm and told us that we had the option of trading any one of our lives for yours…"
"Maybe Kyuhyun thought Heaven was a better option," Sungmin says, shrugging. "The Death Angel said he could play his computer games in peace and quiet for all eternity. For free, too. And they'd reimburse him his Jaguar. Sounded like a pretty good offer, really."
"Well, I mean, Heaven was nice, but…" Zhou Mi sits down and stares at the cross.
"Look at it this way," Siwon says kindly. "It's a win-win situation."
"I guess," Zhou Mi says, and stares at the cross a little more. "That's what friends do? We look out for each other? Make each other's lives better?"
"Or deaths better," Sungmin says. "Yeah. Something like that."
There's a short pause.
"Well," Zhou Mi says, patting the cross, "Heaven's a nice place. I'm sure you're liking it there, Kyuhyun-ah. You can get ten Jaguars if you want, everything's free there. Thanks for giving me back my life on Earth. I suppose you should be thanking me too, for giving you a life in Heaven. I'll see you there sometime later. And, er. Real flowers are really expensive. The next time I come, I'll buy plastic flowers."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Sungmin says.