Spirits and Sidewalks 6/7
TITLE Spirits and Sidewalks 6/7
SUMMARY Jonghyun's just an unfortunate kid. Kibum's just a lost spirit.
CHARACTERS/PAIRINGS [SHINee] Jonghyun/Key.
RATING/WARNING PG-13.
GENRE Fantasy/Romance
( 1) ( 2) ( 3) ( 4) ( 5)
AN: Hi, I do still exist. Just so you know. XD <3
spirits and sidewalks;
The crystal pulsed hot and cold in Jonghyun's hand. Maybe the sweat from his palm, the warmth from his thigh was causing the mix of temperatures. He wasn't sure what feeling rushed over him as Kibum brushed past him, not touching, but just quite-he shut the door with the wind's help, the click of resounding locks jolting him back to reality.
Kibum was beautifully pleased; it showed on the glow to his white skin and in the tiny hint of a smile he hid behind his dark gaze.
"It's not as exciting as I imagined it to be."
Jonghyun ignored him, tossing his bag onto the floor and carefully placing his bow beside it, within view and within reach.
Jonghyun wasn't sure how he planned this-he hadn't planned this at all. His heart was keeping an even beat in his chest, serenading the butterflies within his stomach and keeping him uneasy, but only just. "I let you in my house." He said, his actions finally donning on him.
"You needed to; I'm safe here. So are you." Kibum replied. Was he? Jonghyun wasn't sure. Taemin had been in here this morning, intruding, invasive-
"You're safe here?" Jonghyun almost let out a laugh. Kibum kept his eyes on Jonghyun as he went into the kitchen, digging around the fridge for something to drink. "I don't feel very safe. It was you who opened my window. Didn't you?"
"I couldn't have done that." Kibum replied. It was not a sentence that denoted truth or fallacy, Jonghyun thought, closing the fridge. The soda slipped out of his hand as he made his way back into the living room, and both he and Kibum watched it fall as if in slow motion. "The reason your hand's stiff," Kibum added quietly, "I can tell you."
He held up his own injured hand, fingers still seemingly stained by black ink. "You and I have that in common."
"You touched the book."
"And you touched the Heirloom," Kibum said. "Both of which were from Jinki."
Jonghyun picked up the shaken soda with his good hand. "You're suggesting-"
"I'm saying," Kibum went on over him, "That Jinki is doing nothing to help you."
"He says the same thing about you. Who should I believe?"
Kibum made no answer, eyes skirting from Jonghyun's face to his pocketed hand.
"I choose to believe myself." Jonghyun went on, the tenor of his voice reaching a loud, monotonous pitch. His head hurt, his body ached, something was wrong with him, he could feel it shaking through his bones. He pulled the crystal from his pocket, opening his palm with pained effort. Similar to his dream, his movement was no longer his own. His voice echoed in his head different words than he spoke. "This crystal is your soul. You've already found your most important possession. The heart of a god. Now you only need what was stolen from you."
"Whose heart," Kibum breathed slowly, though his posture was alert. Careful. "Jonghyun,"
Jonghyun sank onto the couch, placing a hand to his forehead. The static in his mind was convulsing like waves hitting against him harsh, soft. It couldn't be true, but he had just spoken the words himself. Kibum was on the floor beside him, head tilted and lips moving, yet Jonghyun couldn't hear him. He was close, but he wasn't touching Jonghyun, though his hands were held out as if wanting too, ready too. "But it's not me." Jonghyun breathed slowly. "It's not me. I can't be."
"What about your dreams? These feelings." Kibum urged, voice smooth and low.
"What did you say before?" Jonghyun asked. He reached down and brushed his knuckles against Kibum's injured hand, locking eyes with the fey as he did so. Then he placed the crystal within Kibum's palm, and it was exhilarating, the touch, the light Kibum's soul emitted as it faded back into place. There was something unreal about it, an intangible feeling. Jonghyun turned their hands over and linked fingers with Kibum, pulling forward. "What did you mean?"
"Don't let me go." Kibum repeated. "Everything I've done, I've done for you. For us." He was still, his eyes watching the way their fingers laced. A deep breath wracked through him, as if life was returning to an animated corpse. "Why won't you remember?"
Jonghyun's expression softened. The same words from Jinki, but more natural somehow. More right.
"I," Jonghyun replied, shaking his head. "It's not as if I'm not trying." His hand slid behind Kibum's neck, pressuring; it happened in the span of several seconds, the press of desperate lips to one another's, the feel of arms and shoulders and the familiarity of it all, as if it had happened before. Jonghyun didn't pull away at the revelation, he didn't let himself think. He pushed Kibum onto the floor as they kissed deeper, the fey's deft hands sliding up his arms and warming his cold skin like sparks of spitfire.
"And this?" Kibum asked breathlessly, dark eyes trained intently on Jonghyun. His hands were steady on Jonghyun's sides, but insecurity poured through them; Jonghyun could easily feel his anxiety-that human aspect of him was strange.
"I don't know." Jonghyun was confused; his thoughts were slipping away, memories spinning about.
"Jonghyun," Kibum said, pressing his palms against his face, a clear, unreadable expression upon Kibum's. "Wake up, wake up."
The mantra chanted over and over in Jonghyun's head until it was all he could focus on, the echo of Kibum's voice, the feel of his lips. The memory of it all.
"The test is such that I hold your soul and you hold mine." Kibum whispered into his ear. Jonghyun stared straight ahead, unblinking. He could feel Kibum's heart beating a strange rhythm against his chest. That wasn't right.
"Why my soul?" Jonghyun had a feeling he knew.
Kibum pulled away, righting his shirt back over his shoulder from where it had slipped. "You're just as powerful as he is. It's a game to him-a test to us." His eyes had a tiredness to them that Jonghyun hadn't seen before; a vulnerability that he'd completely missed behind his blank, feline expression. The barrier between them had finally broken, but Jonghyun couldn't comprehend the feelings rushing through him whenever Kibum touched his hand.
Jonghyun's thoughts halted when Kibum leaned in to say, "Everything in life is matched. I told you." He closed his eyes. "It's simple."
"You don't know either do you?" Jonghyun pulled away, brows drawn. "You don't know at all."
Kibum pointed to him. "You told me. You know. Things have changed, Jonghyun. I believe this game is ending, so hurry up and remember. Don't let it slip away again." Kibum vanished indirectly then, a supernatural rush of heat forcing Jonghyun to blink. Words echoed in the air, "I won't let you slip away again."
Gods, souls, games. Jonghyun closed his eyes. Memories. Dreams. Connect the dots.
Jonghyun grabbed his hoodie and headed straight to Jinki's; he didn't know why, his feet just took him. He was staring at the front door for several long, thoughtful minutes before it opened as his hand was raising to knock.
"I thought you'd never knock." Jinki smiled wearily down at him, leaning on the doorpost.
Jonghyun returned the smile with an amused huff. "Of course you'd know."
Jinki let him in, adopting a worried expression towards the wan color of Jonghyun's skin. "What happened?"
"Don' you know?"-can't you tell me? was what Jonghyun was really asking.
"Caught me." Jinki placed a warm hand on Jonghyun's shoulder, both of them weaving through the messy house to the living room. "My advice would fall on deaf ears," Jinki began, motioning for Jonghyun to show him his stiff hand. Jinki took it and pressed his thumbs to the palm, looking to Jonghyun for sense of feeling. Jonghyun shook his head-he felt nothing. "You are what you are, Jonghyun, but you still have time to let it go."
"If this is true," Jonghyun replied defensively, "I can't help how I'm feeling." He pulled his hand back. "And my dreams,"
Jonghyun explained in detail the crumbling dragon statue, the crystal globe, the ocean, Taemin.
"Taemin," Jinki echoed morosely. "He is the mediator. This game was his misconception of-well," he moved from his chair to sit on the daybed beside Jonghyun. "This is his game. It has been for a long, long time."
"What is he?" Jonghyun had to ask, eyes bright.
"A god." Jinki replied shortly. "Another lost god."
"A god," Jonghyun echoed absently. He felt drained. Overwhelmed. "I know you care about me. I know I'm in danger-I'm supposed to be someone else, okay. But," But I'm not. That isn't me, he wanted to say. Instead he turned a serious gaze to Jinki. "I just need some time to grasp it all."
"Time is what we're running short on." Jinki replied. "Be careful, Jonghyun. There's only so much I can do."
"How long have you been watching me?" Jonghyun queried.
Jinki let his back plop onto the bed. "Way too long, if you ask me."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jonghyun exclaimed, playfully punching him in the arm. He inhaled and exhaled slowly. He thought of Kibum.
Jonghyun fell onto the mattress beside his friend, and when Jinki sat up again, he felt his eyes start to droop, a sudden exhaustion overtaking him. He knew almost immediately that Jinki was using magic, but he fell asleep before he could tell him to stop. He was plagued with another dream; and it was almost as if it was what he had been waiting for.
Taemin seemed to be waiting for him as well.
"This is your third dream." He said. "It's all you can have."
"Then what?" Jonghyun asked.
Taemin held out his hands, "Your choice."
Jonghyun narrowed his eyes. "Who the fuck are you?"
"That you already know." Taemin laughed lightly, innocently. Deceivingly. "I'm the mediator. I watch you just like Jinki watches you, except I'm better at it. Though I'm biased," he added. "Jinki is too." The tide was low and when Jonghyun looked out to sea, the statue had completely crumbled. It's bird-like claws were the only thing remaining, gripping onto their solid stone bases in seeming determination.
"A dream is a reflection of yourself." Taemin continued. "Will you remember or will you continue to sleep?"
"Is this my last test?"
"Your last chance." Taemin corrected. He was perched on one of the dismembered feet of the dragon, throwing fragments of the statue into the sea and watching the waves consume them within their foamy depths.
It wasn't the dream Jonghyun recalled the next morning, but the cold yet lively eyes of Kibum from the previous evening-desperate, trapped. And Jonghyun knew. He had at least one part of the puzzle connected to the rest-now he was sure. Kibum had what he needed, now that Jonghyun remembered; his soul and his most treasured possession. Jonghyun's soul. His heart.
Jonghyun closed his eyes and breathed out. His heart had been stolen by a fox spirit.
The heart of a god.
previous | next
AN: Sorry if this seems rushed. It, uh, is. But I hope it was enjoyable. :3
SUMMARY Jonghyun's just an unfortunate kid. Kibum's just a lost spirit.
CHARACTERS/PAIRINGS [SHINee] Jonghyun/Key.
RATING/WARNING PG-13.
GENRE Fantasy/Romance
( 1) ( 2) ( 3) ( 4) ( 5)
AN: Hi, I do still exist. Just so you know. XD <3
spirits and sidewalks;
The crystal pulsed hot and cold in Jonghyun's hand. Maybe the sweat from his palm, the warmth from his thigh was causing the mix of temperatures. He wasn't sure what feeling rushed over him as Kibum brushed past him, not touching, but just quite-he shut the door with the wind's help, the click of resounding locks jolting him back to reality.
Kibum was beautifully pleased; it showed on the glow to his white skin and in the tiny hint of a smile he hid behind his dark gaze.
"It's not as exciting as I imagined it to be."
Jonghyun ignored him, tossing his bag onto the floor and carefully placing his bow beside it, within view and within reach.
Jonghyun wasn't sure how he planned this-he hadn't planned this at all. His heart was keeping an even beat in his chest, serenading the butterflies within his stomach and keeping him uneasy, but only just. "I let you in my house." He said, his actions finally donning on him.
"You needed to; I'm safe here. So are you." Kibum replied. Was he? Jonghyun wasn't sure. Taemin had been in here this morning, intruding, invasive-
"You're safe here?" Jonghyun almost let out a laugh. Kibum kept his eyes on Jonghyun as he went into the kitchen, digging around the fridge for something to drink. "I don't feel very safe. It was you who opened my window. Didn't you?"
"I couldn't have done that." Kibum replied. It was not a sentence that denoted truth or fallacy, Jonghyun thought, closing the fridge. The soda slipped out of his hand as he made his way back into the living room, and both he and Kibum watched it fall as if in slow motion. "The reason your hand's stiff," Kibum added quietly, "I can tell you."
He held up his own injured hand, fingers still seemingly stained by black ink. "You and I have that in common."
"You touched the book."
"And you touched the Heirloom," Kibum said. "Both of which were from Jinki."
Jonghyun picked up the shaken soda with his good hand. "You're suggesting-"
"I'm saying," Kibum went on over him, "That Jinki is doing nothing to help you."
"He says the same thing about you. Who should I believe?"
Kibum made no answer, eyes skirting from Jonghyun's face to his pocketed hand.
"I choose to believe myself." Jonghyun went on, the tenor of his voice reaching a loud, monotonous pitch. His head hurt, his body ached, something was wrong with him, he could feel it shaking through his bones. He pulled the crystal from his pocket, opening his palm with pained effort. Similar to his dream, his movement was no longer his own. His voice echoed in his head different words than he spoke. "This crystal is your soul. You've already found your most important possession. The heart of a god. Now you only need what was stolen from you."
"Whose heart," Kibum breathed slowly, though his posture was alert. Careful. "Jonghyun,"
Jonghyun sank onto the couch, placing a hand to his forehead. The static in his mind was convulsing like waves hitting against him harsh, soft. It couldn't be true, but he had just spoken the words himself. Kibum was on the floor beside him, head tilted and lips moving, yet Jonghyun couldn't hear him. He was close, but he wasn't touching Jonghyun, though his hands were held out as if wanting too, ready too. "But it's not me." Jonghyun breathed slowly. "It's not me. I can't be."
"What about your dreams? These feelings." Kibum urged, voice smooth and low.
"What did you say before?" Jonghyun asked. He reached down and brushed his knuckles against Kibum's injured hand, locking eyes with the fey as he did so. Then he placed the crystal within Kibum's palm, and it was exhilarating, the touch, the light Kibum's soul emitted as it faded back into place. There was something unreal about it, an intangible feeling. Jonghyun turned their hands over and linked fingers with Kibum, pulling forward. "What did you mean?"
"Don't let me go." Kibum repeated. "Everything I've done, I've done for you. For us." He was still, his eyes watching the way their fingers laced. A deep breath wracked through him, as if life was returning to an animated corpse. "Why won't you remember?"
Jonghyun's expression softened. The same words from Jinki, but more natural somehow. More right.
"I," Jonghyun replied, shaking his head. "It's not as if I'm not trying." His hand slid behind Kibum's neck, pressuring; it happened in the span of several seconds, the press of desperate lips to one another's, the feel of arms and shoulders and the familiarity of it all, as if it had happened before. Jonghyun didn't pull away at the revelation, he didn't let himself think. He pushed Kibum onto the floor as they kissed deeper, the fey's deft hands sliding up his arms and warming his cold skin like sparks of spitfire.
"And this?" Kibum asked breathlessly, dark eyes trained intently on Jonghyun. His hands were steady on Jonghyun's sides, but insecurity poured through them; Jonghyun could easily feel his anxiety-that human aspect of him was strange.
"I don't know." Jonghyun was confused; his thoughts were slipping away, memories spinning about.
"Jonghyun," Kibum said, pressing his palms against his face, a clear, unreadable expression upon Kibum's. "Wake up, wake up."
The mantra chanted over and over in Jonghyun's head until it was all he could focus on, the echo of Kibum's voice, the feel of his lips. The memory of it all.
"The test is such that I hold your soul and you hold mine." Kibum whispered into his ear. Jonghyun stared straight ahead, unblinking. He could feel Kibum's heart beating a strange rhythm against his chest. That wasn't right.
"Why my soul?" Jonghyun had a feeling he knew.
Kibum pulled away, righting his shirt back over his shoulder from where it had slipped. "You're just as powerful as he is. It's a game to him-a test to us." His eyes had a tiredness to them that Jonghyun hadn't seen before; a vulnerability that he'd completely missed behind his blank, feline expression. The barrier between them had finally broken, but Jonghyun couldn't comprehend the feelings rushing through him whenever Kibum touched his hand.
Jonghyun's thoughts halted when Kibum leaned in to say, "Everything in life is matched. I told you." He closed his eyes. "It's simple."
"You don't know either do you?" Jonghyun pulled away, brows drawn. "You don't know at all."
Kibum pointed to him. "You told me. You know. Things have changed, Jonghyun. I believe this game is ending, so hurry up and remember. Don't let it slip away again." Kibum vanished indirectly then, a supernatural rush of heat forcing Jonghyun to blink. Words echoed in the air, "I won't let you slip away again."
Gods, souls, games. Jonghyun closed his eyes. Memories. Dreams. Connect the dots.
Jonghyun grabbed his hoodie and headed straight to Jinki's; he didn't know why, his feet just took him. He was staring at the front door for several long, thoughtful minutes before it opened as his hand was raising to knock.
"I thought you'd never knock." Jinki smiled wearily down at him, leaning on the doorpost.
Jonghyun returned the smile with an amused huff. "Of course you'd know."
Jinki let him in, adopting a worried expression towards the wan color of Jonghyun's skin. "What happened?"
"Don' you know?"-can't you tell me? was what Jonghyun was really asking.
"Caught me." Jinki placed a warm hand on Jonghyun's shoulder, both of them weaving through the messy house to the living room. "My advice would fall on deaf ears," Jinki began, motioning for Jonghyun to show him his stiff hand. Jinki took it and pressed his thumbs to the palm, looking to Jonghyun for sense of feeling. Jonghyun shook his head-he felt nothing. "You are what you are, Jonghyun, but you still have time to let it go."
"If this is true," Jonghyun replied defensively, "I can't help how I'm feeling." He pulled his hand back. "And my dreams,"
Jonghyun explained in detail the crumbling dragon statue, the crystal globe, the ocean, Taemin.
"Taemin," Jinki echoed morosely. "He is the mediator. This game was his misconception of-well," he moved from his chair to sit on the daybed beside Jonghyun. "This is his game. It has been for a long, long time."
"What is he?" Jonghyun had to ask, eyes bright.
"A god." Jinki replied shortly. "Another lost god."
"A god," Jonghyun echoed absently. He felt drained. Overwhelmed. "I know you care about me. I know I'm in danger-I'm supposed to be someone else, okay. But," But I'm not. That isn't me, he wanted to say. Instead he turned a serious gaze to Jinki. "I just need some time to grasp it all."
"Time is what we're running short on." Jinki replied. "Be careful, Jonghyun. There's only so much I can do."
"How long have you been watching me?" Jonghyun queried.
Jinki let his back plop onto the bed. "Way too long, if you ask me."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jonghyun exclaimed, playfully punching him in the arm. He inhaled and exhaled slowly. He thought of Kibum.
Jonghyun fell onto the mattress beside his friend, and when Jinki sat up again, he felt his eyes start to droop, a sudden exhaustion overtaking him. He knew almost immediately that Jinki was using magic, but he fell asleep before he could tell him to stop. He was plagued with another dream; and it was almost as if it was what he had been waiting for.
Taemin seemed to be waiting for him as well.
"This is your third dream." He said. "It's all you can have."
"Then what?" Jonghyun asked.
Taemin held out his hands, "Your choice."
Jonghyun narrowed his eyes. "Who the fuck are you?"
"That you already know." Taemin laughed lightly, innocently. Deceivingly. "I'm the mediator. I watch you just like Jinki watches you, except I'm better at it. Though I'm biased," he added. "Jinki is too." The tide was low and when Jonghyun looked out to sea, the statue had completely crumbled. It's bird-like claws were the only thing remaining, gripping onto their solid stone bases in seeming determination.
"A dream is a reflection of yourself." Taemin continued. "Will you remember or will you continue to sleep?"
"Is this my last test?"
"Your last chance." Taemin corrected. He was perched on one of the dismembered feet of the dragon, throwing fragments of the statue into the sea and watching the waves consume them within their foamy depths.
It wasn't the dream Jonghyun recalled the next morning, but the cold yet lively eyes of Kibum from the previous evening-desperate, trapped. And Jonghyun knew. He had at least one part of the puzzle connected to the rest-now he was sure. Kibum had what he needed, now that Jonghyun remembered; his soul and his most treasured possession. Jonghyun's soul. His heart.
Jonghyun closed his eyes and breathed out. His heart had been stolen by a fox spirit.
The heart of a god.
previous | next
AN: Sorry if this seems rushed. It, uh, is. But I hope it was enjoyable. :3