Shinee Reprise
Key stepped out into the hallway, closing Jinki’s bedroom door softly. Earlier, Jinki’s mother-Min as she insisted he call her-told him where the bathroom and kitchen were. Even though she and Jinki’s older brother, Donghae, were very nice, Key still didn’t feel comfortable enough to wander around the house. He was in a strange house, with people he didn’t know if he could trust. He was getting softer with Jinki, but Jinki’s eyes were easy to read and pure, his smile honest. It was harder to read the others, and it made Key uneasy. As a result he sat by Jinki’s bed until he really couldn’t hold it in any more and needed to desperately relieve himself.
Glancing around Key made for the bathroom, but suddenly heard someone behind him. On instinct his body tensed as he turned, preparing for an attack. And it wasn’t Donghae or Min, but a strange young man who leaned casually against the wall on the top of the stairs. His stare and posture was relaxed and almost lazy, but there was something in his eyes that made Key tense again and narrow his eyes in suspicion.
“I just came up to see how Onew was doing,” the young man said in a nonchalant voice, “his mother’s a little worried but she’s too busy with work to come up herself.”
“She’s really concerned if her work comes first to her son’s health,” Key shot back quickly, then blinked. He hadn’t meant for that to come out, but the young man’s casualness was almost unbearable and disconcerting.
Nonetheless he felt guilty and embarrassed. “I…I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sure she’s doing what she can for her family. Um…his fever’s down, it’ll break soon.”
The young man nodded, his eyes still boring deeply into Key. “Right, I’ll let her know. Thanks.”
Quickly he took a step forward, unfolding his arms and sticking a hand out. Instinctively Key jerked back and braced himself for an attack, only to find that the young man made no further attempt to move further, his hand still outstretched. The young man looked curiously at Key, who hurried to straighten and stuck out his hand slowly.
“The name’s Park Yoochun,” the young man said, when his warm hand connected with Key’s cool one, “thank-you for taking care of Onew.”
“Yeah…no problem,” Key muttered, pulling his hand away quickly, “I have to go…bye.” He hurried away, shutting the bathroom door firmly behind him. He didn’t dare move a muscle until he heard Yoochun’s footsteps die away. Then he did his business and went back to Jinki’s room without pausing to see if Yoochun was still upstairs.
When Key closed the door and turned to the bed he saw Jinki’s eyes were open and staring at the ceiling. Then they fell on Key as he came over. They were still glossed over with fever but Jinki smiled when Key sat down.
“Hey,” he mumbled, “you’re still here?”
Key just shrugged. “Someone has to take care of you.”
Jinki nodded and his eyes moved back towards the ceiling. “I would have thought you left because of what happened. You didn’t really want to drag me into this, so I figured you would have just disappeared.”
For a long moment Key remained silent. He stared at the bedside table as if debating the right words to tell Jinki. Then slowly he spoke. “It doesn’t matter if I leave you or not. When E-Tox finds out you were with me when Heechul attacked then they’ll find you and get whatever information they can. With me you stand a better chance of surviving, even if they’re target is me. They know I left so they’ll go after the more vulnerable one.”
Jinki lay there his eyes glossy and distant. It was hard to tell whether he was thinking about what was said or if he was too feverish to process anything. Key studied his face carefully, wondering if maybe he should contact the others. He pushed that thought away quickly. If he went back to the others there would be a chance that E-Tox could tail him and then capture all four of them at once. And Key didn’t want to do that to them for a second time; the guilt already was too immense for him to handle.
“Well I guess you’re stuck with me aren’t you,” Jinki smirked slightly, his eyes drooping. Like he had seen Min doing, Key pulled the covers up and smoothed back Jinki’s hair affectionately. His forehead was still hot to the touch, but it was a great deal better than before. Then Key watched as Jinki’s eyes slid closed and then sat back in the chair and sighed. What was he going to do now?
~*~*~
The sunlight trickled in through the crack of the drawn curtains. There wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to touch Jinki’s face and make him scrunch it irritably. Then he rolled over and pulled the blanket over his head. Then that got suffocating and he had to surface so he threw them off and opened his eyes. The movement and light and suffocation were enough to wake him fully, and though he wanted to sleep some more there was no chance after all the movement. So he pulled himself into a sitting position quickly, but it was too fast for the room spun dizzily. Swallowing the dizziness he fell back onto the pillow and closed his eyes, moaning slightly.
Everything was hazy, like a dream. He had met a young man…Key was his name. He had told Jinki that he was an element, not a human. The water element. He had also said that there was someone after him, and someone had attacked him. It had been raining-hard-and Jinki felt chilled to the bone. Eventually Key and Jinki managed to get away from the attacker and that was when Jinki began to feel dizzy…. After that everything seemed blurry. Suddenly Jinki was aware of another presence in the room and opened his eyes. They widened in surprise when he saw who it was.
Key sat in the chair, his head on his chest, hands folded loosely in his lap. His chest rose and fell slowly as if he were in a deep sleep. His eyes were closed and his mouth was open just a crack. Even sleeping he looked stunning; and yet vulnerable and young.
“So it wasn’t a dream,” Jinki muttered, as Key stirred.
Key’s head lifted sleepily, his eyes opening a crack and then further. He saw Jinki staring at him and smiled groggily. Then he seemed to see Jinki clearly and his startling eyes widened.
“You’re awake!” he gasped, pressing a hand against Jinki’s forehead. “And the fever’s broke.”
“How long was I out?” Jinki asked, a little worried.
“Since yesterday afternoon. Well, you woke up for a little bit, but that was more a feverish state and you passed out soon after. By the looks of it you’ll be just fine.”
“I feel dizzy.”
“It’ll pass. You’re just weak from the fever. Here; your umma brought some water up for you in case you woke up. She had to go to work, but Donghae hyung downstairs.”
“Thanks.” Jinki sat up and took the glass, taking a gulp of the icy water. It was so refreshing and Jinki realized he was parched and quickly downed the whole glass in seconds. Key smiled and shook his head amusingly.
“I’ll go tell hyung you’re awake,” he said, standing.
He was about to leave when he felt Jinki’s hand tightly around his wrist.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to leave,” Jinki muttered, “just stay here for now.”
Key sat down silently, figuring it was best to do as the other young man wished. Jinki still held tightly to his wrist which he studied.
“Are we safe?” he whispered, “do they know where we are?”
Key blinked. He didn’t need Jinki to say who “they” were, but he couldn’t help shudder at the thought. But he had decided he wasn’t going to hide anything from Jinki, for he needed to know what was going on. “I don’t know…I really don’t know. E-Tox is a very capable company with a lot of money being handed to them. They can afford the best and if they have their eyes set on something you can guarantee they’ll get it. It was only a matter of time before they caught up with me and the other three, no matter how much we had hoped they wouldn’t.”
Jinki nodded. “So this means you’ll have to leave?”
Key bit his lip. “I…think it’s best if we both leave Jinki. Like I said, once they know who you are and that you have a connection with me, they’ll come after you. You’re not safe, and it’d be best for your umma and hyung if you left. They’ll be safe.”
There was a pause as Jinki stared at Key’s hand, looking as though he was debating whether he should let go of it or not. Key let him think in silence, knowing arguing would only make Jinki upset. He really didn’t want to pull Jinki away from his mother and brother, but there was no other choice. And it looked as though Jinki knew it too. Sighing, his eyes moved up to Key’s and he bit his lip nervously.
“If that’s what it takes then fine, we’ll leave,” he said, his voice wavering slightly. “But not yet; it’s umma’s birthday on Friday and I’d like to be here for that. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine here. On Saturday we’ll leave. I promise.”
Key considered it and then nodded. It was five days, but if he lay low, it shouldn’t be a problem. Heechul hadn’t followed them to the house so it would take some time for E-Tox to track him down again. Hopefully it would be after Key and Jinki left.
“Fine, we leave Saturday morning, no later than that.”
Jinki smiled shakily and then sat up, and Key could tell the conversation had been drawn to an end.
“I need some breakfast,” he said, “let’s go downstairs and eat something.”
“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”
“Yeah, I think I need to move around a bit to get some more strength. Plus I’m starving.”
Key didn’t say it, but he was too. And ever so thirsty. He hadn’t had any water since the day before, and he was feeling the effects. Nonetheless he was caring for Jinki so he’d get his water when he was done helping Jinki.
Jinki made it all the way down stairs and then at the table he slumped into it, his face pale as his strength was gone again. Donghae came in and raised his eyebrows.
“You sure are stubborn,” he sniffed, shaking his head, “why you had to come all the way down here when I easily could have brought your breakfast to you, I don’t know.
Jinki shrugged. “I wanted to see if I could get my own breakfast.”
Rolling his eyes, Donghae went to the kitchen. “Well stay where you are; I’ll make something.”
“Which is why I wanted to get it myself,” Jinki muttered, with a groan, “you can’t cook hyung! Next I’ll get food poisoning!”
“Ah shut it!” Donghae called back, “I can make eggs alright, it’s just other stuff I can’t make!”
“I don’t even think your eggs are edible,” Jinki mumbled as Key suppressed a chuckle.
But Donghae was adamant about making Jinki breakfast that the younger sibling eventually relented and let his brother cook. Key sat there watching the two bicker, as siblings do, and felt a little twinge of sadness. Taemin always complained about Jonghyun’s cooking, and would demand that Key be the one to do the cooking. Soon Key got Minho’s vote and Key became the cook in the house-much to Jonghyun’s dismay. Like Jinki and Donghae’s relationship, the four elements were like brothers and acted much the same way.
“Here we go!” Donghae smiled, coming out of the kitchen.
Jinki stared at the plate warily, as if expecting the food to explode or walk away from the plate. However, all Key saw was a plate of scrambled eggs; they didn’t look inedible or anything like that. Gingerly he picked up his fork and shovelled a bite into his mouth. Jinki watched him curiously, to see whether it was safe to eat or not.
“Not bad,” Key smiled, “you can make eggs alright.”
“See! I told you,” Donghae beamed, as Jinki stuck his tongue out at him.
~*~
I'm sorry it's not a very long chapter...I'm so tired and full on Thanksgiving turkey that I can't think of anything to write... >.<