(the line) from me to you
Title: (the line) from me to you
Author: Anonymous until 1/30/14
For: Everyone
Pairing: Baekhyun/Kyungsoo, Baekhyun/Kai
Word Count: 6,586
Summary: Time passes in a daze when you can choose how to live.
Warnings: allusions to character death, slight violence.
Rating: PG-13
One
20:34:82 [location undisclosed]
Baekhyun glances out of the window; this heist is an easy in/easy out type, made easy by a few days of observation and interception. For someone in Baekhyun’s profession, one can’t say that today’s advanced technology made everything much simpler, hours condensed into mere seconds. With Kyungsoo by his side, they could hit every house in the area without using a gun, escaping unscathed, and richer than they were before. Baekhyun hoists himself onto the dressing table, watching Kyungsoo with a hint of possessiveness in his eyes.
Baekhyun can safely say that he has made numerous mistakes in his life; regarding family, regarding partners, regarding education, regarding his decisions in general. There was, however, one decision he’s made that he’s never regretted. That decision was -is Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo with his wide eyes and perpetually shocked expression, with his heart-shaped smile and his dexterous fingers. Kyungsoo who balanced Baekhyun’s short temper like a soothing balm, mellow and an always there presence, the comfortable weight of his body against Baekhyun’s. Partner and partner in crime.
Kyungsoo has his palms against the cool steel of the vault. Vaults like these are rare in today's world where safety is assured by endless encryption keys and logarithms, vaults at least two feet thick fitting with doors of six feet in depth, stored in banks, constantly under watch. There was also money-not-money, gold-not-gold, transactions made through the Internet and confirmed by sheaves of paper. The novelty of actually having gold bars or stacks of cash was something only criminal rings and the filthiest of the rich indulged in (or spoilt children with trust funds seeking ways to increase their inheritance.)
Kyungsoo meets Baekhyun's eyes and smiles at the older; Baekhyun bounding over to kiss him firmly. Kyungsoo is mildly disturbed and Baekhyun knows it’s because he’s been proven to be a distraction before. There was one instance where he’d insisted on sucking Kyungsoo off, cutting the time allocated for the specific heist by half. Kyungsoo didn’t mind and Baekhyun knew the younger focused better after an orgasm, smiling dreamily as he spun dials and scrawled combination keys across doors.
Kyungsoo bats Baekhyun's shoulder lightly and Baekhyun huffs. "Open it, Soo."
“It’s easier said than done, fuckwit.” Kyungsoo shoots Baekhyun an affronted look and Baekhyun’s arms wrap around Kyungsoo’s waist, chin settling in the familiar dip of his boyfriend’s narrow shoulder.
Kyungsoo gives up on trying to shake Baekhyun off which satisfies him deeply and turns back to the vault. The first four digits of the combination key are already scrawled onto the door and it never fails to amaze Baekhyun how Kyungsoo does it by touch and sound; no fancy gadgets involved. Carefully, ever so carefully, Kyungsoo spins the dial. It’s not a complicated vault but one never knows what they’re up against when breaking open vaults by touch. Fine-freaked out, insecure, neurotic, emotional. Both of them live by that code and as far as Baekhyun is concerned, breaking it would mean a lot of complications. Freaked out, insecure, neurotic, emotional; that’s the way things are not supposed to go.
Kyungsoo spins the dial anti-clockwise, and Baekhyun is shocked to see he’s already completed the second set of numbers and is now working on the third. Kyungsoo inhales deeply as he gets the first number of third set and Baekhyun flashes back to the first time he tried to do what Kyungsoo is currently doing.
÷
10:27:34 [home]
Baekhyun presses his ear against the cool to touch steel, fingers working carefully as he spins the dial. It’s a practice run and Kyungsoo is lounging on the bed, lying on his stomach, smiling knowingly at Baekhyun. The frustration is starting to get to him, breaking the emotional barrier he’s built around himself as he spins the dial aimlessly the monotonous click click click betraying no sign of the combination lock.
Baekhyun doesn’t know what he’s supposed to be looking for and Kyungsoo’s sardonic smile is weaving its dangerous trap around his mind. It’s as much as a mind game as it is being able to tune into your finer senses and fucking figure out the eight digit combination that fucking Kyungsoo, that fucking brat had used to lock the fucking safe. Baekhyun sighs in exasperation, noticing Kyungsoo getting up from the corner of his eye.
“You could give me a blowjob and I’d be able to crack a Worthington 1000 faster than you can do this shit.” Kyungsoo’s breath is warm against Baekhyun’s skin and he shivers; Kyungsoo knows how to pick his games and fight them well. Baekhyun is easy to rise to the bait; he has a temper that simmers under the surface of his skin and tints his vision red when released. Kyungsoo had been around for only six months (still longer than anyone else) and he knew how to push Baekhyun’s buttons right.
The younger pushes him away from the safe, straddling his lap and draping his arms around Baekhyun’s neck. The two of them are built small but chairs are only meant for one person at a time and Baekhyun’s head is short-circuiting because Kyungsoo’s lips are plush and inviting and the fucking safe couldn’t be as sexy as Kyungsoo even if it tried which is kind of impossible and Baekhyun realises he’s probably doing something akin to babbling but he has a lapful of Kyungsoo and-
The younger tastes like something oddly familiar to Baekhyun. He’s never able to guess the taste but as their lips slide together, teeth catching and pulling, Baekhyun thinks Kyungsoo tastes like jasmine tea. The way Kyungsoo bites at his lower lips and twist his tongue against Baekhyun’s has one of his hands settling on the soft curve of Kyungsoo’s waist and the other twisting in the younger’s burgundy locks. Kyungsoo’s moan is loud and filthy and he pulls away, leaving Baekhyun panting and gazing longingly at his boyfriend’s saliva slicked lips.
Baekhyun buries his face in the crook of Kyungsoo’s neck. “Do you really want me to blow you while you open the safe?” His fingers are toying with the hem of Kyungsoo’s T-shirt and he slips his hand under, revelling in the warmth.
“There’s no fucking fun if we’re doing it here, why don’t we save it for the next heist?” Baekhyun looks at Kyungsoo disbelievingly, and Kyungsoo’s suggestive smirk sets his nerves on fire; pooling, tugging, raging in his gut.
“I fucking love you.” Baekhyun kisses Kyungsoo again, rocking his hips against the younger as fingers scramble to pull off clothes.
“Mmph-yeah, I know, baby.”
÷
20:49:15 [location undisclosed]
Baekhyun is pulled back into the present by a soft peck on his cheek and he stares at the vault door. It’s covered in crossed out numbers and the final combination is underlined. 3861-6686-2205. He glances at the watch on his wrist; Kyungsoo had done it in 15 minutes.
“God, Soo, you’re so amazing. Fifteen minutes.” Kyungsoo smiles knowingly at him and spins the dial accordingly.
Together, they pull the vault door open.
Kyungsoo gasps and Baekhyun gapes; there are jewellery boxes and gold bars and stacks of cash. The gold bars run across in horizontal stacks of twenty and vertical stacks of fifteen.
“300.” Kyungsoo stares at him wonder in his eyes.
And Baekhyun knows it’s mirrored, they could get away with just the gold. “That’s 45.12 per gram.”
“13, 536.” They both call it out at the same time. That’s a lot of money from just the first row alone.
÷
16:35:22 [Sinsa-dong]
“We heard you have one of the best vault crackers with you.” Kyungsoo’s grip around his arm tightens noticeably, and Baekhyun can’t help but worry.
They do small heists, robbing homes of the rich not full scale bank robberies. And even though Kyungsoo can do it (for Kyungsoo has done it), Baekhyun isn’t ready to take the risk, to put Kyungsoo’s life on the line. His doesn’t matter; he is secondary to Kyungsoo, it’s always been Kyungsoo.
Baekhyun clears his throat. “I do but that depends on what you need him for. He’s not here with us.”
The man, Chanyeol, or something, laughs and it’s not a nice sound. It’s a mocking sound, a sound indicating he knows Baekhyun is lying.
“We know that your boyfriend over there is the one who breaks open the vault and that you plan everything. There’s no one else, it’s a two man army; quiet, personal.” He peers at his hands, buffing his nails on his suit jacket.
Kyungsoo’s gasp is on the side of too loud.
Baekhyun’s heartbeat is on the side of too loud.
“How did you know that?” Kyungsoo’s voice doesn’t betray any fear; it’s calm, even. It’s Kyungsoo.
Chanyeol smiles. “Welcome to the real deal, big boy. Time to put on your big boy pants and understand that when you're dealing with Park Chanyeol and if I want something, I’ll get it. So will you, or will you not, help me?”
See, the thing about Chanyeol is that he towers over both Baekhyun and Kyungsoo. He also runs an extremely sizable operation. He'd be last in a list of people Baekhyun would cross, based on the fact that he managed to track down Baekhyun's information. Kyungsoo always came first in every decision he made and if he didn't make the right one at this point he'd be in trouble. Kyungsoo glances at him beseechingly.
"Do we have time to make a decision?"
Park Chanyeol smiles, waving a hand non-committedly. "An hour." He rises and walks away, his cape? Cloak? Fluttering around him.
"Do you think you can do it?" Baekhyun turns to Kyungsoo, cupping the younger's face in his hands.
They're of the same height and build, and there are many times where their relationship is purely antagonistic but Kyungsoo is more than just his heist partner.
Kyungsoo smiles and nuzzles into Baekhyun’s palm. “I did this before you, Baek.”
“Alright. We’ll tell Chanyeol we’re in.”
÷
00:42:45 [Jung-gu]
Baekhyun’s breath is misting the air and tensions are high, anxiety simmering under his skin. His entire life had been made up of theft after theft and yet, he’d never done high profile jobs before.
“Listen up, boys!” Baekhyun immediately turns his attention to Chanyeol. “He’s not wearing his cape-coat thing.” Kyungsoo whispers in Baekhyun’s ear. The elder stifles the urge to laugh.
“We are still in Jung-gu, and the risks are very high. It’s a quick in and out, our goal is to get to Dragon’s safe. Take everything. Leave. Assert that this is our fucking territory.” Baekhyun’s tempted to point out that the cover is already blown by the volume of Chanyeol’s voice but he appreciates his life.
A lot.
Kyungsoo begins humming and Baekhyun squeezes his hand gently. Physical contact calms him down
“Baekhyun, you’re with Jongdae. Minseok, you watch perimeter and Kyungsoo, you’re with me.” Ah. It’s a small one. “We’ll meet the others inside.” Baekhyun bites his tongue. A big one then.
Jongdae yanks him away with a grin but not before he kisses Kyungsoo’s cheek, a good luck charm of sorts.
The doors of the bank seem to open the second they stand outside and Baekhyun is more than fairly impressed. Chanyeol’s gang? Mob? Their influence is seemingly everywhere.
Jongdae leads Baekhyun upstairs while Kyungsoo and Chanyeol head to the main vaults. There are other men, dressed in black and holding guns, forming a circle around Kyungsoo and Chanyeol. Baekhyun chants their mantra under his breath; fine, freaked out, insecure, neurotic, emotional. Jongdae looks at him as if he’s crazy.
The vault door is open as well and their goal must be one of the sub vaults within. Kyungsoo goes in, followed closely by a gun toting Chanyeol. Baekhyun waits with bated breath.
It’s amazing how fast chaos can descend, how its fluidity crashes down with a roar. There’s the sound of a dull explosion, Kyungsoo and Chanyeol running out of the vault, waving a bag. Baekhyun smiles in relief and even Jongdae relaxes next to him. When they ask you what gunfire sounds like, Baekhyun will tell you it’s the sound of rain pounding down during jangma, terrifying and oddly comforting.
He’s suddenly seven years old, remembering his first jangma when the gunfire starts. Men dressed in silver are shooting wildly and Chanyeol is shouting. Baekhyun’s grip tightens around the banister when Kyungsoo glances up at him, eyes wide in fear. The elder is ready to jump from the banister and limp to Kyungsoo. The thought is half formed when one of the silver clad men stands several feet away from Kyungsoo, firing his gun.
“Kyungsoo!” Baekhyun screams, watching as the younger crumples. Even from above, he can see the red spreading across the grey shirt Kyungsoo is watching. His hand is outstretched and the entire bank is descending into chaos, the Dragon’s men shooting with a fury. Baekhyun sees a blur of red hair- Chanyeol is rushing to Kyungsoo’s side and he calms down marginally.
It’s only then that Baekhyun realises that Jongdae is holding him back bodily and he slumps, Jongdae relaxing his grasp on Baekhyun. For a slight second there’s silence.
And then-
Bang. Baekhyun feels his gut lurch forward and he glances down, to find nothing. He does feel like he’s being compacted in many directions and his heart is going to come out through his oesophagus and somewhere he wonders, is this what being shot feels like? Is this what Kyungsoo felt like? There is a pull behind his navel.
÷
13:35:34 [New York, 2009]
“First time?” The boy, Baekhyun is pretty sure he’s a boy gestures at his sprawled body. Where is he? Where is Kyungsoo? What is happening?
“Where am I?” he says, lurching to his feet.
The boy smirks at him, tossing a newspaper in his direction. “Welcome to New York, 2009.”
Baekhyun blinks twice at the date on the paper. Saturday, 17th January 2009. “Who are you? What do you want from me?” Baekhyun licks his lips; his throat is dry, there’s no way he could have gone back in time, the idea was laughable.
“My name is Kim Jongin. The only thing you can give me is a ride to my home.”
“I’m from 2013, you don’t get it, this is bullshit, a huge prank, Park Chanyeol must have put you on it, where is Kyungsoo?” He rushes at Kim Jongin, who’s bigger than him but Baekhyun knows hapkido, enough to pin Jongin down and shake the truth from him.
Jongin dodges his first punch easily. And he keeps dodging the following punches, laughing mockingly at Baekhyun.
“Don’t you get it twink, you jumped.” Jongin is grabbing his hand and suddenly he gets that feeling again. Like he’s being compacted from different directions, the breath forced out of his lungs. They land, he supposes, on grass. One look at the tower in the distance and Baekhyun knows where they are.
÷
21:39:34 [Paris, 2008]
Baekhyun leans against Jongin, breathing hard and unstable on his feet. Jongin laughs as they stagger towards a bench and Baekhyun’s far too confused to comprehend anything. Time travelling was a myth but here he was, travelling through time to actual places. Kim Jongin is smiling at his side and Baekhyun’s stomach, his head, everything is churning around him. Baekhyun lurches to his feet.
Jongin gets up with him. “Hey hey calm down, dude, it’s your first jump.”
He grips Jongin’s hands- he’s a stranger, really, on the edge of too tight and there’s the jolt again.
÷
12:05:25 [Shanghai, 2008]
They appear in the middle of a crowded market, with people around them shouting in Mandarin. Baekhyun hears Olympics and Jongin cursing next to him, feeling woozy.
“Your buddy there okay?” a boy with lilac-coloured hair asks, almost jabbing his cigarette into Baekhyun’s eye.
Jongin glares at the boy; he must know him from somewhere. “He’s a first timer, Han.” Han chuckles before disappearing, leaving behind the rancid smell of tobacco.
“Up you go.” Han materialises next to Baekhyun and he’s being supported by two men. “Where you headed, Kim?”
“Scotland. You know where.” Baekhyun’s head lolls as he’s jerked forward again. He passes out before they reach their destination.
÷
[time: unsure. destination: unsure.]
“Have you found a way to get back yet?” someone’s voice breaks through the haze in Baekhyun’s mind.
“The only clue Junmyeon left behind was Banpo Bridge.” The other person sounds frustrated.
“And that guy?” Person No. 1 asks.
“First timer.” Person No. 2 replies.
Baekhyun slips further into the recesses of his mind.
÷
[time: unsure. destination: unsure.]
“Hey sleeping beauty.” Baekhyun’s eyes flutter open and he’s stares at the man above him, face swimming lazily in front of his eyes.
Baekhyun’s mouth is dry and it feels like something died in there. “Where am I?” he rasps out. Another person shoves a glass of water into his hand and Baekhyun downs it gratefully.
“Welcome to Scotland.” Lilac Hair greets, Han, if he remembers correctly.
“What’s your name?” Jongin swims into vision.
“Baekhyun,” he coughs out. “Byun Baekhyun.” Han beams at him and then taps Jongin on the back.
“I’m going to leave now since he’s come to his senses.” Han says, kissing Jongin on the cheek before he disappears into thin air.
“Holy shit what the hell was that?” Baekhyun positively screams, staring at the spot Han previously stood.
“It was what I was trying to explain to you before you decided to jump across god knows how many time zones and space frames.” Jongin massages his temples, shoulders slumped.
Baekhyun frowns at Jongin, “That’s not possible.”
When Jongin moves into the light, Baekhyun notices the dark circles under his eyes and how tired the presumably younger looks. Maybe he’ll give Jongin the benefit of doubt. “Explain.” he demands.
Byun Baekhyun is used to getting his way.
“We are called Jumpers, I guess. There’s no formal name for it and no saying how many there are in this world. We can travel from time to time, even specific places with practice. We cannot go back to our own time.”
“Oh.” Jongin stares at him as if he’s going to rip Baekhyun’s eyes out.
“Get better fast, we have to start training you.”
÷
20:05:13 [Scotland, 2008]
“I can’t fucking do this!” Baekhyun screams at Jongin. He’s been attempting to Jump into the hula hoop Jongin has laid on their Scotland lawn but it just isn’t working. He’s been to India, France and even the fucking Antarctica.
“Move your ass Byun Baekhyun, you can do long specific distances but not short ones. It’s not good. You have to be able to jump at any time.”
Baekhyun really wants to kill Kim Jongin. But instead of carrying out his explicit deathwish and harming every hair on Kim Jongin’s blonde head, he channels his anger into the orange loop Jongin is standing in.
He closes his eyes and prepares for the jerk of the jump.
What he lands on is very warm and soft and thinks oh no not again because the last time this happened he’d jumped onto some poor man in India.
“For someone so short, you’re really heavy.” Baekhyun opens his eyes. He’s lying on Jongin. Baekhyun flushes and stands up, checking himself for grass stains.
Jongin’s grin is big and wide, tugging at his heartstrings all too noticeably. “Since you did it, we can take a break. Or rather, I can quiz you so you won’t forget your time.”
Your time. All Jongin talked about whenever they weren’t training was their time. Kyungsoo wasn’t a subject that had come up yet but they’d talked about everything else, from family to preferences to pets to dreams. The blonde was younger and Jongin wanted to dance for the Royal Ballet Academy. He jumped at his very first performance there.
“What did you do, before this?” Jongin flops onto the grass, staring at the sky. The stars are bright. Baekhyun follows his movements.
Ah. Well the subject was going to come up, at some point, why not now.
“I used to rob people. Sorry, carry out heists.” Baekhyun says softly, biting his lip. He’s waiting for the eventual lash out.
The response he gets is shocking.
“Same.” Baekhyun sits up and stares at the younger sharply. He looks like a male Adonis, dancing having carved his body into gorgeous lines.
Jongin flushes. “When I started Jumping, I started robbing. It was easy, no one got hurt, nothing bad really happened. Did you have a partner?”
Baekhyun plucks a fistful of grass, ripping it into shreds and scattering it in the light breeze. “Do Kyungsoo.” he says.
Do Kyungsoo with a heart shaped smile and a biting sense of sarcasm, with acute hearing and the wonderful ability to break open vaults, perfect, wonderful, lovely, Do Kyungsoo.
Jongin doesn’t say anything for a while. Baekhyun is content with the silence as well.
“Want to rob a bank together?”
What else does Baekhyun have left? “Sure.”
÷
23:50:03: [Cannes, 1994]
They’re standing outside the Carlton Hotel jewellery store and it’s 1995. Jongin and Baekhyun are both dressed in stolen suits, observing the steady trickle of visitors. In approximately ten minutes, the jewellery store was to close and both of them had to jump to the exact time in 1994.
Jongin hums under his breath, something Baekhyun recognizes as a Muse song, places it as Time is Running Out, ironic under their circumstances. They had all the time in the world. Jongin checked the bag slung over his shoulder where two machine guns sat, filled with blanks.
Necessary precaution, Jongin had said.
Jongin’s hand tightens around his and Baekhyun prepares himself. They jump.
The two of them appear within the store just as they secure the door.
Jongin acts in seamless motion, pulling the gun out and firing a few blanks. “Put the jewels in the bag and no one gets hurt.” His voice is commanding, authoriative as Baekhyun runs around grabbing whatever he can.
Outside he can see security trying to break the way in and after an attendant shoves a bunch of jewellery boxes in the bag, Baekhyun runs to Jongin and grabs his hand.
Jump.
÷
09:39:33 [Monte Carlo, 2000]
“Holy shit that just happened.” Baekhyun babbles.
Jongin is laughing and they’re in the presidential suite of some hotel, paid for by a diamond ring in their spoils. They’re sipping champagne from crystal flutes and Baekhyun doesn’t know if it’s the bubbles or if it is Jongin whose getting to his head.
÷
02:34:33: [Fortaleza, 2005]
They’d jumped into the main vault based on architectural records they’d found at the city halls. Banco Central looked imposing but with their abilities, there wasn’t a robbery that they wouldn’t be able to carry out.
There were security cameras but the ability to choose which time you lived in made one reckless, safety was secondary when Baekhyun and Jongin were shovelling Real Notes into the bags. Jongin was Jumping at ten minute intervals to the Scotland home, stowing away all money they’d gotten.
There was undeniable attraction bubbling under Baekhyun’s skin, churning and surging every time the younger smiled at him, at every succesful heist they carried out, the way they fell into the same bed every night, limbs tangled.
Jongin was as far from Kyungsoo as they could go.
÷
22:49:20 [Belfast, 2004]
Jongin slid a case across the floor before running to Baekhyun. The sirens were wailing and yet, they were still laughing like mad people as Baekhyun caught Jongin in his arms and jumped.
At some point, they’d gotten past every boundary; nights spent talking and smoking together. They’d exchanged casual touches and yet somehow, Baekhyun could see a barely concealed hunger in Jongin’s eyes.
They find themselves in the master bedroom of the Scotland house, and Baekhyun drops the cases before grabbing Jongin’s hand and jumping again. They need a break, to settle whatever this was between them.
÷
21:58:10 [Egypt, 2003]
If someone caught them, Baekhyun and Jongin would be in a whole lot of trouble. As it is, they were sitting on the Pyramid of Giza, staring up at the night sky. He’d never admit it but there were certain things he felt with Jongin than he never did with Kyungsoo; and he was eager to explore, to tell Jongin.
“So how does it work?” Jongin is stuffing his mouth with bread when he turns to face Baekhyun.
Jongin swallows his food, chases it down with water as Baekhyun watches the bob of his throat. “How does what work?”
“Travelling. What triggers it? What brought me to you?”
Jongin frowns, staring at the moon. In its pale light, he looked as regal as the pharaoh who built the pyramid.
(Maybe. He didn't know if King Khufu was hot. If he was as hot as Jongin, he probably had a lot of concubines. Maybe they could travel to his time.)
“It’s triggered by anything. At least for me, it was triggered at my first performance as a ballerino. And for you, it was triggered by seeing Kyungsoo get shot. I knew another traveller, Kris, we were together for a while and his trigger was moving to Canada.” He says, playing with the bottle in his hands.
“And then there was Junmyeon. I was with Junmyeon for a long time before he decided he needed to go back to his time.” Baekhyun wants to ask about Junmyeon because of the tone Jongin used. Junmyeon must have been important, he decides.
“And what brought me to you? What happens to our current selves when we travel?” As if to prove his point, two silhouettes materialise few steps below them. Baekhyun is startled but the silhouettes disappear as soon as they appeared.
Jongin beams at this. “It functions like a magnet you see. I’m able to travel to the future. You’re able to travel to the past. You were drawn to the nearest future traveller in your past. And that’s me. As for our current selves…a sort of copy is formed, a duplicate of ourselves. Wherever we go, part of us is left behind. Makes sense?” Jongin looks at him.
Baekhyun stares at his plump lips.
“Yes.” He leans over to kiss him. Jongin stiffens under him at first and Baekhyun is half tempted to pull away. He doesn’t.
It takes a minute, maybe two, for Jongin to kiss him back, hands grabbing shoulders and lips parting for tongue. The fire has always been there, waiting for something to rekindle it. And Jongin is entirely new territory, from taste to touch to response but all Baekhyun yearns to do is learn it all, lap it all up. The jump is a knee jerk reaction and Jongin laughs when they end up in a hotel room.
The night is spent making memories and mapping bodies, with breath fogging windows and whispered words and jumping from decade to decade with all the carelessness only adolescents hold in their hands.
÷
17:04:23 [Italy, 2004]
Baekhyun is going through a list of all the robberies, sorry, heists Jongin and him have carried out.
“So what is our next heist going to take place?” Jongin is leaning over Baekhyun’s shoulder, watching the elder circle countries on a map. Places they’ve been, places they’ve robbed, dates and times circled neatly in pen. A time capsule for those who didn’t have much to live for.
Baekhyun hums and turns to kiss Jongin’s cheek. “It depends. Where do you want to hit? What do you want to hit?” Baekhyun runs through a mental list; most of their heists as a pair consisted of cash.
“Diamonds. Lots and lots of diamonds.” Baekhyun laughs and digs his elbow into Jongin’s stomach. The younger digs his nails into Baekhyun’s stomach in retaliation before pulling away.
Diamonds. Diamonds were generally heists that required a lot of planning; security was an important aspect but with their abilities, they might have an easy time with it.
“Leave it to me.” Jongin hums his approval, kissing Baekhyun’s forehead before walking off.
÷
10:50:09 [London, 2009]
London of past is no different from London of future. London always struck Baekhyun as dreary, cold; passer-by’s eager to get out of the constant cold. There was also something old, something ancient, the remains of a once great empire fallen into slumber. It is raining again and their breaths are misting, Baekhyun shivering against Jongin’s side.
They weren’t dressed appropriately for London weather but then again, they never were.
Baekhyun presented the building in front of them with a flourish, “Welcome to Graff Diamonds.” Graff Diamonds bore the same architectural features as all London buildings, grand, imposing. Jongin shivered against him and maybe getting warm should be their first priority.
“It’s fucking cold. I hate London.” Baekhyun is quick to point out that Jongin had never liked any of the destinations they’ve jumped to, besides Egypt.
“I don’t like cities. I like deserted places. Like the field we accidentally ended up in...”
“In Scotland,” Baekhyun supplies. Jongin scowls and tightens his grip on Baekhyun’s hands. The feeling associated with the jump is familiar now; he’s waiting for the jolt that signals their arrival at whatever destination Jongin has picked.
÷
23:42:11 [Seoul, 2013]
“You’re from Seoul?” Baekhyun is reeling from the new information. It’s easy to recognize the crowds in Myeongdong, the stores, even. Baekhyun has been here far too many times.
“Yeah?” Jongin mumbles, scratching his head. “2010 Seoul, but I misjudged.” Baekhyun bites his tongue. He’s never told Jongin how’s he’s from 2013, the subject had never come up but Jongin should have some inkling because after all, Baekhyun travelled to the past and Jongin, the future. Or maybe Baekhyun had told Jongin he was from 2013. He doesn’t remember. Time passes in a haze.
Guilt washes through him; a rush of memories made with Kyungsoo. He’s spent so much time with Jongin that Kyungsoo sounds like a dream.
“I don’t think we should be here.” Baekhyun says, gripping Jongin’s hand.
They jump.
They’re back in London again, and Baekhyun doesn’t say anything as they hunt for apartments on rent to make their own in the few months (weeks, most of the time) leading up to the robbery.
÷
07:15:13 [London, 2009]
Baekhyun hasn’t seen Jongin in three days but it’s considered a norm. The younger has a tendency to jump and not return at times; they’ve developed a pattern. It’s always before a heist and their current heist is supposed to be the diamond heist. Baekhyun glances out of the window into the gloomy London scenery.
He knows exactly how and where they have to jump, judging by the layouts in front of him. City records are an amazing thing and while Jongin is off doing what Jongin does, Baekhyun runs through mental checklists. Kyungsoo’s lost is still fresh but Kyungsoo’s lost takes second seat to his newfound abilities. For some reason, Baekhyun wishes he could bring Kyungsoo here.
London seems like his former boyfriend’s scene. Baekhyun waits for Jongin.
÷
18:00:03 [London, 2009]
“You were supposed to be here an hour ago.” Jongin looks tired but Baekhyun is angry.
“Leave me alone, Baek.” Jongin closes the apartment door behind him and Baekhyun fumes, pounding on the door.
“Don’t be a fucking bastard Kim Jongin open up the door right now!” He keeps pounding; pounding and crying and wishing and wanting.
Jongin opens the door and Baekhyun glares at him; the younger is packing their clothes into a duffel bag. “What are you doing, Jongin?” he whispers.
“Going home, Baekhyun. I’m going home.” Jongin’s eyes are dark with something Baekhyun doesn’t recognise.
“Why would you want to go home, aren’t I enough?” he demands.
“You’re not Kim Junmyeon!” Jongin explodes, breathing heavily. Something in Baekhyun breaks. “I-I’m sorry. You’re not Kim Junmyeon and your Kyungsoo is alive.”
Baekhyun reels back as if he’s been slapped. “Kyungsoo’s alive?” he whispers.
Jongin nods, not meeting his eyes.
Kyungsoo’s alive. Baekhyun jumps without Jongin for the first time.
÷
23:59:12 [London, 2009]
They clasp hands like angels in prayer in a London cemetery, foreheads pressed together. The jerk is welcome this time, and their destination? Home.
Jongin to his home and Baekhyun to his home and peace from the pseudo madness that time travelling caused. “Remember Baekhyun, Banpo Bridge.”
He’d spent two days away from Jongin before he caved in, he hadn’t travelled that far anyway, only a month from where they previously were. When he did return to their London apartment, Jongin had explained the methods to get home, a secret he kept for selfish reasons.
“We aren’t going to work, hyung. We’re good, but we won’t work.” Baekhyun had kept silent the entire time. It wasn’t worth arguing if one of them were reluctant.
(Besides, the news of Kyungsoo being alive gave him purpose, gave him an excuse to forget Jongin.)
“Banpo Bridge, 2010. You have to jump off it and imagine your anchor. We can do this, Baekhyun. Escape it all.” Baekhyun nods mutely, face cold and lips cold and heart turning cold for Jongin.
He envisions Banpo Bridge as hard as he can and the pull is stronger this time, as if the bridge itself is a beacon for those like them, pointing out the direction and bringing them home.
÷
04:20:21 [Banpo Bridge, 29 December 2010]
“FOUR TWENTY BLAZE IT!” Someone yells as they stagger past Baekhyun and Jongin.
They’re in 2010. It had taken approximately nine to ten tries for them to get to 2010; there was a force that prevented a jumper to Jump back to their own time.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay, Jongin?” Jongin smiles.
It’s a smile Baekhyun hasn’t seen since Egypt, carefree and ready to take on the world. “Your Kyungsoo is alive, Baekhyun. And my Junmyeon, my Junmyeon is here. Looking for me.”
Baekhyun nods shakily as they stand on the Banpo Bridge. “Are you sure this is the only way?”
Death terrifies everyone. Baekhyun is no different. Jumping from the bridge was Jongin’s sure fire answer to returning to Baekhyun’s time but it could also result in death. Hypothermia. Broken bones. Kyungsoo’s smile was the only thing that pushed him.
(Jongin was wonderful in so many ways and yet, Jongin wasn’t the right one.)
“I’ll find you again, hyung.” Jongin kisses him quick and Baekhyun feels a vague melancholia settling in his bones.
He clambers over the barricade, standing on the edge. Jongin’s hands are warm around his. He lets go.
÷
13:01:11 [Yongsan-gu, 2013]
Baekhyun gasps when he wakes up. The water had been icy cold and the sound of ice cracking was loud, far too loud but it didn’t feel like he was dead. He just felt really sore. The walls around him are white and someone is holding his hand tightly. It takes him far too much time to recognize the man as Kyungsoo.
“You’re alive.” Kyungsoo is smiling through his tears, nodding frantically. Baekhyun almost feels like laughing because Kyungsoo never cries, the last time being their Tennis Prince marathon. He also feels like ten kinds of sore, and not the good kind either.
“Where am I?” the elder asks, glancing around. There’s a beep beep beep and Baekhyun thinks he knows where he is but he isn’t entirely sure.
“In the hospital. We were both shot but you had it worse. You were out for a week,” Kyungsoo says through tears.
Hospital. A week. Jongin. A decade. Jumping. Dream. Not dream. Real. Not real.
Baekhyun’s focus blurred again, black tinging his vision.
÷
09:39:41 [Mapo-gu, undetermined future]
“Hello and welcome to Bun Palace!” Baekhyun’s head jerks up and he stares at the boy manning the counter. There’s something about him that’s all too familiar, right down to his voice. And yet Baekhyun doesn’t remember his face and maybe it’s one of the people who volunteered to read while he was in coma.
“Hey, Baek, look, this place is definitely a bun palace.” Kyungsoo jerks his chin in the direction of a waiter? Barista? Who has his hair dyed in every colour possible but he has a nice ass.
Baekhyun gets Kyungsoo’s thing for nice asses.
His own is a very nice ass.
“Kyungsoo?”
“Yes?” Baekhyun’s frowns in the direction of the boy behind the counter as they take a seat. “Have you ever seen that boy?”
The younger looks up from the menu, studying the brunette intently. “I can’t say I have. Any reason?”
Baekhyun purses his lips and shakes his head. “Nothing.”
He volunteers to place their order, staring at the boy the entire time. “Do I know you?” he asks as Boy (there’s a deep-rooted feeling that Boy is extremely important) rings up their purchases.
“Uh...my name is Kim Jongin?”
“You don’t seem like you’re sure your name is Kim Jongin.” Kim Jongin frowns at him.
“And you seem like your name might just be asshole and a half.” The line sounds vaguely familiar for a reason Baekhyun can’t place and it nags at him.
“Junmyeon hyung! Two cappucinos, one with a double shot of espresso!” Jongin gets an answer back and the younger smiles to himself. Baekhyun would think it’s cute but --
Kim Jongin. Junmyeon. “29 December, 2010.”
Jongin’s head jerks up and his face turns ashen. Baekhyun wonders if he really has changed a lot since then; he’s gotten skinnier, dyed his hair purple, nothing that equated to people not recognising him.
“Baekhyun hyung.” Jongin glances fearfully over his shoulder. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“You’re real.” He breathes out. Jongin comes rushing back in a mix of Egypt and New York, hasty kisses and empty fields, diamonds and cash, cigarette smoke and hurried fucks, too much and too little.
Jongin bites his lip and Baekhyun’s gaze is drawn to the younger’s lips. He swears he loves Kyungsoo but Jongin must be some kind of exception to that particular fact. Some small part recognises he’s incompatible with Jongin and yet, the yearning is still there.
“We need to talk " They do need to talk because the last time Baekhyun had seen Jongin, the younger was coaxing him to jump off a bridge.
"Yes, but not here." Jongin smiles at Kyungsoo before turning his attention back to Baekhyun. "Meet me in 2003, Baek. You know where." Jongin smiles gently as he hands over their coffee, fingers brushing.
The ashes of a fire built on the Pyramid of Giza flicker to life. He’s happy with Kyungsoo but there’s a side to him, a side he only finds around Jongin. A side that doesn’t overanalyse everything. He wants it, wants it so badly he can taste it on the tip of his tongue. The jerk of the jump, the freedom it grants. It’s all he wants.
Baekhyun leaves with a question answered. Kim Jongin was indeed a real person and not a construct of his mind. During the months of his coma he was also travelling with Kim Jongin. His hand tightens around Kyungsoo’s as they walk home; the emotions equated with jumping returning like a long forgotten rush.
One.
Two.
Three.
Baekhyun’s eyes fall shut.
÷
00:16:17 [Egypt, 2003]
“Hello again, Byun Baekhyun.” Jongin smiles at him, still dressed in his uniform.
“Hello again, Kim Jongin.” The rush of adrenaline is familiar.
“Ready to jump.” They have no need for words.
A/N:
As always, with the influx of fiction I’ve been writing, I’d like to thank R, for being the best ego booster anyone could ask for. B, thank you for the six a.m. coffee runs. The robberies in this story are in fact, some very real robberies, with exception for the Junggu Industrial Bank robbery. I tried to stay as true to the prompt as I could, my beloved recipient and I hope you enjoy this.
One
Author: Anonymous until 1/30/14
For: Everyone
Pairing: Baekhyun/Kyungsoo, Baekhyun/Kai
Word Count: 6,586
Summary: Time passes in a daze when you can choose how to live.
Warnings: allusions to character death, slight violence.
Rating: PG-13
One
20:34:82 [location undisclosed]
Baekhyun glances out of the window; this heist is an easy in/easy out type, made easy by a few days of observation and interception. For someone in Baekhyun’s profession, one can’t say that today’s advanced technology made everything much simpler, hours condensed into mere seconds. With Kyungsoo by his side, they could hit every house in the area without using a gun, escaping unscathed, and richer than they were before. Baekhyun hoists himself onto the dressing table, watching Kyungsoo with a hint of possessiveness in his eyes.
Baekhyun can safely say that he has made numerous mistakes in his life; regarding family, regarding partners, regarding education, regarding his decisions in general. There was, however, one decision he’s made that he’s never regretted. That decision was -is Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo with his wide eyes and perpetually shocked expression, with his heart-shaped smile and his dexterous fingers. Kyungsoo who balanced Baekhyun’s short temper like a soothing balm, mellow and an always there presence, the comfortable weight of his body against Baekhyun’s. Partner and partner in crime.
Kyungsoo has his palms against the cool steel of the vault. Vaults like these are rare in today's world where safety is assured by endless encryption keys and logarithms, vaults at least two feet thick fitting with doors of six feet in depth, stored in banks, constantly under watch. There was also money-not-money, gold-not-gold, transactions made through the Internet and confirmed by sheaves of paper. The novelty of actually having gold bars or stacks of cash was something only criminal rings and the filthiest of the rich indulged in (or spoilt children with trust funds seeking ways to increase their inheritance.)
Kyungsoo meets Baekhyun's eyes and smiles at the older; Baekhyun bounding over to kiss him firmly. Kyungsoo is mildly disturbed and Baekhyun knows it’s because he’s been proven to be a distraction before. There was one instance where he’d insisted on sucking Kyungsoo off, cutting the time allocated for the specific heist by half. Kyungsoo didn’t mind and Baekhyun knew the younger focused better after an orgasm, smiling dreamily as he spun dials and scrawled combination keys across doors.
Kyungsoo bats Baekhyun's shoulder lightly and Baekhyun huffs. "Open it, Soo."
“It’s easier said than done, fuckwit.” Kyungsoo shoots Baekhyun an affronted look and Baekhyun’s arms wrap around Kyungsoo’s waist, chin settling in the familiar dip of his boyfriend’s narrow shoulder.
Kyungsoo gives up on trying to shake Baekhyun off which satisfies him deeply and turns back to the vault. The first four digits of the combination key are already scrawled onto the door and it never fails to amaze Baekhyun how Kyungsoo does it by touch and sound; no fancy gadgets involved. Carefully, ever so carefully, Kyungsoo spins the dial. It’s not a complicated vault but one never knows what they’re up against when breaking open vaults by touch. Fine-freaked out, insecure, neurotic, emotional. Both of them live by that code and as far as Baekhyun is concerned, breaking it would mean a lot of complications. Freaked out, insecure, neurotic, emotional; that’s the way things are not supposed to go.
Kyungsoo spins the dial anti-clockwise, and Baekhyun is shocked to see he’s already completed the second set of numbers and is now working on the third. Kyungsoo inhales deeply as he gets the first number of third set and Baekhyun flashes back to the first time he tried to do what Kyungsoo is currently doing.
÷
10:27:34 [home]
Baekhyun presses his ear against the cool to touch steel, fingers working carefully as he spins the dial. It’s a practice run and Kyungsoo is lounging on the bed, lying on his stomach, smiling knowingly at Baekhyun. The frustration is starting to get to him, breaking the emotional barrier he’s built around himself as he spins the dial aimlessly the monotonous click click click betraying no sign of the combination lock.
Baekhyun doesn’t know what he’s supposed to be looking for and Kyungsoo’s sardonic smile is weaving its dangerous trap around his mind. It’s as much as a mind game as it is being able to tune into your finer senses and fucking figure out the eight digit combination that fucking Kyungsoo, that fucking brat had used to lock the fucking safe. Baekhyun sighs in exasperation, noticing Kyungsoo getting up from the corner of his eye.
“You could give me a blowjob and I’d be able to crack a Worthington 1000 faster than you can do this shit.” Kyungsoo’s breath is warm against Baekhyun’s skin and he shivers; Kyungsoo knows how to pick his games and fight them well. Baekhyun is easy to rise to the bait; he has a temper that simmers under the surface of his skin and tints his vision red when released. Kyungsoo had been around for only six months (still longer than anyone else) and he knew how to push Baekhyun’s buttons right.
The younger pushes him away from the safe, straddling his lap and draping his arms around Baekhyun’s neck. The two of them are built small but chairs are only meant for one person at a time and Baekhyun’s head is short-circuiting because Kyungsoo’s lips are plush and inviting and the fucking safe couldn’t be as sexy as Kyungsoo even if it tried which is kind of impossible and Baekhyun realises he’s probably doing something akin to babbling but he has a lapful of Kyungsoo and-
The younger tastes like something oddly familiar to Baekhyun. He’s never able to guess the taste but as their lips slide together, teeth catching and pulling, Baekhyun thinks Kyungsoo tastes like jasmine tea. The way Kyungsoo bites at his lower lips and twist his tongue against Baekhyun’s has one of his hands settling on the soft curve of Kyungsoo’s waist and the other twisting in the younger’s burgundy locks. Kyungsoo’s moan is loud and filthy and he pulls away, leaving Baekhyun panting and gazing longingly at his boyfriend’s saliva slicked lips.
Baekhyun buries his face in the crook of Kyungsoo’s neck. “Do you really want me to blow you while you open the safe?” His fingers are toying with the hem of Kyungsoo’s T-shirt and he slips his hand under, revelling in the warmth.
“There’s no fucking fun if we’re doing it here, why don’t we save it for the next heist?” Baekhyun looks at Kyungsoo disbelievingly, and Kyungsoo’s suggestive smirk sets his nerves on fire; pooling, tugging, raging in his gut.
“I fucking love you.” Baekhyun kisses Kyungsoo again, rocking his hips against the younger as fingers scramble to pull off clothes.
“Mmph-yeah, I know, baby.”
÷
20:49:15 [location undisclosed]
Baekhyun is pulled back into the present by a soft peck on his cheek and he stares at the vault door. It’s covered in crossed out numbers and the final combination is underlined. 3861-6686-2205. He glances at the watch on his wrist; Kyungsoo had done it in 15 minutes.
“God, Soo, you’re so amazing. Fifteen minutes.” Kyungsoo smiles knowingly at him and spins the dial accordingly.
Together, they pull the vault door open.
Kyungsoo gasps and Baekhyun gapes; there are jewellery boxes and gold bars and stacks of cash. The gold bars run across in horizontal stacks of twenty and vertical stacks of fifteen.
“300.” Kyungsoo stares at him wonder in his eyes.
And Baekhyun knows it’s mirrored, they could get away with just the gold. “That’s 45.12 per gram.”
“13, 536.” They both call it out at the same time. That’s a lot of money from just the first row alone.
÷
16:35:22 [Sinsa-dong]
“We heard you have one of the best vault crackers with you.” Kyungsoo’s grip around his arm tightens noticeably, and Baekhyun can’t help but worry.
They do small heists, robbing homes of the rich not full scale bank robberies. And even though Kyungsoo can do it (for Kyungsoo has done it), Baekhyun isn’t ready to take the risk, to put Kyungsoo’s life on the line. His doesn’t matter; he is secondary to Kyungsoo, it’s always been Kyungsoo.
Baekhyun clears his throat. “I do but that depends on what you need him for. He’s not here with us.”
The man, Chanyeol, or something, laughs and it’s not a nice sound. It’s a mocking sound, a sound indicating he knows Baekhyun is lying.
“We know that your boyfriend over there is the one who breaks open the vault and that you plan everything. There’s no one else, it’s a two man army; quiet, personal.” He peers at his hands, buffing his nails on his suit jacket.
Kyungsoo’s gasp is on the side of too loud.
Baekhyun’s heartbeat is on the side of too loud.
“How did you know that?” Kyungsoo’s voice doesn’t betray any fear; it’s calm, even. It’s Kyungsoo.
Chanyeol smiles. “Welcome to the real deal, big boy. Time to put on your big boy pants and understand that when you're dealing with Park Chanyeol and if I want something, I’ll get it. So will you, or will you not, help me?”
See, the thing about Chanyeol is that he towers over both Baekhyun and Kyungsoo. He also runs an extremely sizable operation. He'd be last in a list of people Baekhyun would cross, based on the fact that he managed to track down Baekhyun's information. Kyungsoo always came first in every decision he made and if he didn't make the right one at this point he'd be in trouble. Kyungsoo glances at him beseechingly.
"Do we have time to make a decision?"
Park Chanyeol smiles, waving a hand non-committedly. "An hour." He rises and walks away, his cape? Cloak? Fluttering around him.
"Do you think you can do it?" Baekhyun turns to Kyungsoo, cupping the younger's face in his hands.
They're of the same height and build, and there are many times where their relationship is purely antagonistic but Kyungsoo is more than just his heist partner.
Kyungsoo smiles and nuzzles into Baekhyun’s palm. “I did this before you, Baek.”
“Alright. We’ll tell Chanyeol we’re in.”
÷
00:42:45 [Jung-gu]
Baekhyun’s breath is misting the air and tensions are high, anxiety simmering under his skin. His entire life had been made up of theft after theft and yet, he’d never done high profile jobs before.
“Listen up, boys!” Baekhyun immediately turns his attention to Chanyeol. “He’s not wearing his cape-coat thing.” Kyungsoo whispers in Baekhyun’s ear. The elder stifles the urge to laugh.
“We are still in Jung-gu, and the risks are very high. It’s a quick in and out, our goal is to get to Dragon’s safe. Take everything. Leave. Assert that this is our fucking territory.” Baekhyun’s tempted to point out that the cover is already blown by the volume of Chanyeol’s voice but he appreciates his life.
A lot.
Kyungsoo begins humming and Baekhyun squeezes his hand gently. Physical contact calms him down
“Baekhyun, you’re with Jongdae. Minseok, you watch perimeter and Kyungsoo, you’re with me.” Ah. It’s a small one. “We’ll meet the others inside.” Baekhyun bites his tongue. A big one then.
Jongdae yanks him away with a grin but not before he kisses Kyungsoo’s cheek, a good luck charm of sorts.
The doors of the bank seem to open the second they stand outside and Baekhyun is more than fairly impressed. Chanyeol’s gang? Mob? Their influence is seemingly everywhere.
Jongdae leads Baekhyun upstairs while Kyungsoo and Chanyeol head to the main vaults. There are other men, dressed in black and holding guns, forming a circle around Kyungsoo and Chanyeol. Baekhyun chants their mantra under his breath; fine, freaked out, insecure, neurotic, emotional. Jongdae looks at him as if he’s crazy.
The vault door is open as well and their goal must be one of the sub vaults within. Kyungsoo goes in, followed closely by a gun toting Chanyeol. Baekhyun waits with bated breath.
It’s amazing how fast chaos can descend, how its fluidity crashes down with a roar. There’s the sound of a dull explosion, Kyungsoo and Chanyeol running out of the vault, waving a bag. Baekhyun smiles in relief and even Jongdae relaxes next to him. When they ask you what gunfire sounds like, Baekhyun will tell you it’s the sound of rain pounding down during jangma, terrifying and oddly comforting.
He’s suddenly seven years old, remembering his first jangma when the gunfire starts. Men dressed in silver are shooting wildly and Chanyeol is shouting. Baekhyun’s grip tightens around the banister when Kyungsoo glances up at him, eyes wide in fear. The elder is ready to jump from the banister and limp to Kyungsoo. The thought is half formed when one of the silver clad men stands several feet away from Kyungsoo, firing his gun.
“Kyungsoo!” Baekhyun screams, watching as the younger crumples. Even from above, he can see the red spreading across the grey shirt Kyungsoo is watching. His hand is outstretched and the entire bank is descending into chaos, the Dragon’s men shooting with a fury. Baekhyun sees a blur of red hair- Chanyeol is rushing to Kyungsoo’s side and he calms down marginally.
It’s only then that Baekhyun realises that Jongdae is holding him back bodily and he slumps, Jongdae relaxing his grasp on Baekhyun. For a slight second there’s silence.
And then-
Bang. Baekhyun feels his gut lurch forward and he glances down, to find nothing. He does feel like he’s being compacted in many directions and his heart is going to come out through his oesophagus and somewhere he wonders, is this what being shot feels like? Is this what Kyungsoo felt like? There is a pull behind his navel.
÷
13:35:34 [New York, 2009]
“First time?” The boy, Baekhyun is pretty sure he’s a boy gestures at his sprawled body. Where is he? Where is Kyungsoo? What is happening?
“Where am I?” he says, lurching to his feet.
The boy smirks at him, tossing a newspaper in his direction. “Welcome to New York, 2009.”
Baekhyun blinks twice at the date on the paper. Saturday, 17th January 2009. “Who are you? What do you want from me?” Baekhyun licks his lips; his throat is dry, there’s no way he could have gone back in time, the idea was laughable.
“My name is Kim Jongin. The only thing you can give me is a ride to my home.”
“I’m from 2013, you don’t get it, this is bullshit, a huge prank, Park Chanyeol must have put you on it, where is Kyungsoo?” He rushes at Kim Jongin, who’s bigger than him but Baekhyun knows hapkido, enough to pin Jongin down and shake the truth from him.
Jongin dodges his first punch easily. And he keeps dodging the following punches, laughing mockingly at Baekhyun.
“Don’t you get it twink, you jumped.” Jongin is grabbing his hand and suddenly he gets that feeling again. Like he’s being compacted from different directions, the breath forced out of his lungs. They land, he supposes, on grass. One look at the tower in the distance and Baekhyun knows where they are.
÷
21:39:34 [Paris, 2008]
Baekhyun leans against Jongin, breathing hard and unstable on his feet. Jongin laughs as they stagger towards a bench and Baekhyun’s far too confused to comprehend anything. Time travelling was a myth but here he was, travelling through time to actual places. Kim Jongin is smiling at his side and Baekhyun’s stomach, his head, everything is churning around him. Baekhyun lurches to his feet.
Jongin gets up with him. “Hey hey calm down, dude, it’s your first jump.”
He grips Jongin’s hands- he’s a stranger, really, on the edge of too tight and there’s the jolt again.
÷
12:05:25 [Shanghai, 2008]
They appear in the middle of a crowded market, with people around them shouting in Mandarin. Baekhyun hears Olympics and Jongin cursing next to him, feeling woozy.
“Your buddy there okay?” a boy with lilac-coloured hair asks, almost jabbing his cigarette into Baekhyun’s eye.
Jongin glares at the boy; he must know him from somewhere. “He’s a first timer, Han.” Han chuckles before disappearing, leaving behind the rancid smell of tobacco.
“Up you go.” Han materialises next to Baekhyun and he’s being supported by two men. “Where you headed, Kim?”
“Scotland. You know where.” Baekhyun’s head lolls as he’s jerked forward again. He passes out before they reach their destination.
÷
[time: unsure. destination: unsure.]
“Have you found a way to get back yet?” someone’s voice breaks through the haze in Baekhyun’s mind.
“The only clue Junmyeon left behind was Banpo Bridge.” The other person sounds frustrated.
“And that guy?” Person No. 1 asks.
“First timer.” Person No. 2 replies.
Baekhyun slips further into the recesses of his mind.
÷
[time: unsure. destination: unsure.]
“Hey sleeping beauty.” Baekhyun’s eyes flutter open and he’s stares at the man above him, face swimming lazily in front of his eyes.
Baekhyun’s mouth is dry and it feels like something died in there. “Where am I?” he rasps out. Another person shoves a glass of water into his hand and Baekhyun downs it gratefully.
“Welcome to Scotland.” Lilac Hair greets, Han, if he remembers correctly.
“What’s your name?” Jongin swims into vision.
“Baekhyun,” he coughs out. “Byun Baekhyun.” Han beams at him and then taps Jongin on the back.
“I’m going to leave now since he’s come to his senses.” Han says, kissing Jongin on the cheek before he disappears into thin air.
“Holy shit what the hell was that?” Baekhyun positively screams, staring at the spot Han previously stood.
“It was what I was trying to explain to you before you decided to jump across god knows how many time zones and space frames.” Jongin massages his temples, shoulders slumped.
Baekhyun frowns at Jongin, “That’s not possible.”
When Jongin moves into the light, Baekhyun notices the dark circles under his eyes and how tired the presumably younger looks. Maybe he’ll give Jongin the benefit of doubt. “Explain.” he demands.
Byun Baekhyun is used to getting his way.
“We are called Jumpers, I guess. There’s no formal name for it and no saying how many there are in this world. We can travel from time to time, even specific places with practice. We cannot go back to our own time.”
“Oh.” Jongin stares at him as if he’s going to rip Baekhyun’s eyes out.
“Get better fast, we have to start training you.”
÷
20:05:13 [Scotland, 2008]
“I can’t fucking do this!” Baekhyun screams at Jongin. He’s been attempting to Jump into the hula hoop Jongin has laid on their Scotland lawn but it just isn’t working. He’s been to India, France and even the fucking Antarctica.
“Move your ass Byun Baekhyun, you can do long specific distances but not short ones. It’s not good. You have to be able to jump at any time.”
Baekhyun really wants to kill Kim Jongin. But instead of carrying out his explicit deathwish and harming every hair on Kim Jongin’s blonde head, he channels his anger into the orange loop Jongin is standing in.
He closes his eyes and prepares for the jerk of the jump.
What he lands on is very warm and soft and thinks oh no not again because the last time this happened he’d jumped onto some poor man in India.
“For someone so short, you’re really heavy.” Baekhyun opens his eyes. He’s lying on Jongin. Baekhyun flushes and stands up, checking himself for grass stains.
Jongin’s grin is big and wide, tugging at his heartstrings all too noticeably. “Since you did it, we can take a break. Or rather, I can quiz you so you won’t forget your time.”
Your time. All Jongin talked about whenever they weren’t training was their time. Kyungsoo wasn’t a subject that had come up yet but they’d talked about everything else, from family to preferences to pets to dreams. The blonde was younger and Jongin wanted to dance for the Royal Ballet Academy. He jumped at his very first performance there.
“What did you do, before this?” Jongin flops onto the grass, staring at the sky. The stars are bright. Baekhyun follows his movements.
Ah. Well the subject was going to come up, at some point, why not now.
“I used to rob people. Sorry, carry out heists.” Baekhyun says softly, biting his lip. He’s waiting for the eventual lash out.
The response he gets is shocking.
“Same.” Baekhyun sits up and stares at the younger sharply. He looks like a male Adonis, dancing having carved his body into gorgeous lines.
Jongin flushes. “When I started Jumping, I started robbing. It was easy, no one got hurt, nothing bad really happened. Did you have a partner?”
Baekhyun plucks a fistful of grass, ripping it into shreds and scattering it in the light breeze. “Do Kyungsoo.” he says.
Do Kyungsoo with a heart shaped smile and a biting sense of sarcasm, with acute hearing and the wonderful ability to break open vaults, perfect, wonderful, lovely, Do Kyungsoo.
Jongin doesn’t say anything for a while. Baekhyun is content with the silence as well.
“Want to rob a bank together?”
What else does Baekhyun have left? “Sure.”
÷
23:50:03: [Cannes, 1994]
They’re standing outside the Carlton Hotel jewellery store and it’s 1995. Jongin and Baekhyun are both dressed in stolen suits, observing the steady trickle of visitors. In approximately ten minutes, the jewellery store was to close and both of them had to jump to the exact time in 1994.
Jongin hums under his breath, something Baekhyun recognizes as a Muse song, places it as Time is Running Out, ironic under their circumstances. They had all the time in the world. Jongin checked the bag slung over his shoulder where two machine guns sat, filled with blanks.
Necessary precaution, Jongin had said.
Jongin’s hand tightens around his and Baekhyun prepares himself. They jump.
The two of them appear within the store just as they secure the door.
Jongin acts in seamless motion, pulling the gun out and firing a few blanks. “Put the jewels in the bag and no one gets hurt.” His voice is commanding, authoriative as Baekhyun runs around grabbing whatever he can.
Outside he can see security trying to break the way in and after an attendant shoves a bunch of jewellery boxes in the bag, Baekhyun runs to Jongin and grabs his hand.
Jump.
÷
09:39:33 [Monte Carlo, 2000]
“Holy shit that just happened.” Baekhyun babbles.
Jongin is laughing and they’re in the presidential suite of some hotel, paid for by a diamond ring in their spoils. They’re sipping champagne from crystal flutes and Baekhyun doesn’t know if it’s the bubbles or if it is Jongin whose getting to his head.
÷
02:34:33: [Fortaleza, 2005]
They’d jumped into the main vault based on architectural records they’d found at the city halls. Banco Central looked imposing but with their abilities, there wasn’t a robbery that they wouldn’t be able to carry out.
There were security cameras but the ability to choose which time you lived in made one reckless, safety was secondary when Baekhyun and Jongin were shovelling Real Notes into the bags. Jongin was Jumping at ten minute intervals to the Scotland home, stowing away all money they’d gotten.
There was undeniable attraction bubbling under Baekhyun’s skin, churning and surging every time the younger smiled at him, at every succesful heist they carried out, the way they fell into the same bed every night, limbs tangled.
Jongin was as far from Kyungsoo as they could go.
÷
22:49:20 [Belfast, 2004]
Jongin slid a case across the floor before running to Baekhyun. The sirens were wailing and yet, they were still laughing like mad people as Baekhyun caught Jongin in his arms and jumped.
At some point, they’d gotten past every boundary; nights spent talking and smoking together. They’d exchanged casual touches and yet somehow, Baekhyun could see a barely concealed hunger in Jongin’s eyes.
They find themselves in the master bedroom of the Scotland house, and Baekhyun drops the cases before grabbing Jongin’s hand and jumping again. They need a break, to settle whatever this was between them.
÷
21:58:10 [Egypt, 2003]
If someone caught them, Baekhyun and Jongin would be in a whole lot of trouble. As it is, they were sitting on the Pyramid of Giza, staring up at the night sky. He’d never admit it but there were certain things he felt with Jongin than he never did with Kyungsoo; and he was eager to explore, to tell Jongin.
“So how does it work?” Jongin is stuffing his mouth with bread when he turns to face Baekhyun.
Jongin swallows his food, chases it down with water as Baekhyun watches the bob of his throat. “How does what work?”
“Travelling. What triggers it? What brought me to you?”
Jongin frowns, staring at the moon. In its pale light, he looked as regal as the pharaoh who built the pyramid.
(Maybe. He didn't know if King Khufu was hot. If he was as hot as Jongin, he probably had a lot of concubines. Maybe they could travel to his time.)
“It’s triggered by anything. At least for me, it was triggered at my first performance as a ballerino. And for you, it was triggered by seeing Kyungsoo get shot. I knew another traveller, Kris, we were together for a while and his trigger was moving to Canada.” He says, playing with the bottle in his hands.
“And then there was Junmyeon. I was with Junmyeon for a long time before he decided he needed to go back to his time.” Baekhyun wants to ask about Junmyeon because of the tone Jongin used. Junmyeon must have been important, he decides.
“And what brought me to you? What happens to our current selves when we travel?” As if to prove his point, two silhouettes materialise few steps below them. Baekhyun is startled but the silhouettes disappear as soon as they appeared.
Jongin beams at this. “It functions like a magnet you see. I’m able to travel to the future. You’re able to travel to the past. You were drawn to the nearest future traveller in your past. And that’s me. As for our current selves…a sort of copy is formed, a duplicate of ourselves. Wherever we go, part of us is left behind. Makes sense?” Jongin looks at him.
Baekhyun stares at his plump lips.
“Yes.” He leans over to kiss him. Jongin stiffens under him at first and Baekhyun is half tempted to pull away. He doesn’t.
It takes a minute, maybe two, for Jongin to kiss him back, hands grabbing shoulders and lips parting for tongue. The fire has always been there, waiting for something to rekindle it. And Jongin is entirely new territory, from taste to touch to response but all Baekhyun yearns to do is learn it all, lap it all up. The jump is a knee jerk reaction and Jongin laughs when they end up in a hotel room.
The night is spent making memories and mapping bodies, with breath fogging windows and whispered words and jumping from decade to decade with all the carelessness only adolescents hold in their hands.
÷
17:04:23 [Italy, 2004]
Baekhyun is going through a list of all the robberies, sorry, heists Jongin and him have carried out.
“So what is our next heist going to take place?” Jongin is leaning over Baekhyun’s shoulder, watching the elder circle countries on a map. Places they’ve been, places they’ve robbed, dates and times circled neatly in pen. A time capsule for those who didn’t have much to live for.
Baekhyun hums and turns to kiss Jongin’s cheek. “It depends. Where do you want to hit? What do you want to hit?” Baekhyun runs through a mental list; most of their heists as a pair consisted of cash.
“Diamonds. Lots and lots of diamonds.” Baekhyun laughs and digs his elbow into Jongin’s stomach. The younger digs his nails into Baekhyun’s stomach in retaliation before pulling away.
Diamonds. Diamonds were generally heists that required a lot of planning; security was an important aspect but with their abilities, they might have an easy time with it.
“Leave it to me.” Jongin hums his approval, kissing Baekhyun’s forehead before walking off.
÷
10:50:09 [London, 2009]
London of past is no different from London of future. London always struck Baekhyun as dreary, cold; passer-by’s eager to get out of the constant cold. There was also something old, something ancient, the remains of a once great empire fallen into slumber. It is raining again and their breaths are misting, Baekhyun shivering against Jongin’s side.
They weren’t dressed appropriately for London weather but then again, they never were.
Baekhyun presented the building in front of them with a flourish, “Welcome to Graff Diamonds.” Graff Diamonds bore the same architectural features as all London buildings, grand, imposing. Jongin shivered against him and maybe getting warm should be their first priority.
“It’s fucking cold. I hate London.” Baekhyun is quick to point out that Jongin had never liked any of the destinations they’ve jumped to, besides Egypt.
“I don’t like cities. I like deserted places. Like the field we accidentally ended up in...”
“In Scotland,” Baekhyun supplies. Jongin scowls and tightens his grip on Baekhyun’s hands. The feeling associated with the jump is familiar now; he’s waiting for the jolt that signals their arrival at whatever destination Jongin has picked.
÷
23:42:11 [Seoul, 2013]
“You’re from Seoul?” Baekhyun is reeling from the new information. It’s easy to recognize the crowds in Myeongdong, the stores, even. Baekhyun has been here far too many times.
“Yeah?” Jongin mumbles, scratching his head. “2010 Seoul, but I misjudged.” Baekhyun bites his tongue. He’s never told Jongin how’s he’s from 2013, the subject had never come up but Jongin should have some inkling because after all, Baekhyun travelled to the past and Jongin, the future. Or maybe Baekhyun had told Jongin he was from 2013. He doesn’t remember. Time passes in a haze.
Guilt washes through him; a rush of memories made with Kyungsoo. He’s spent so much time with Jongin that Kyungsoo sounds like a dream.
“I don’t think we should be here.” Baekhyun says, gripping Jongin’s hand.
They jump.
They’re back in London again, and Baekhyun doesn’t say anything as they hunt for apartments on rent to make their own in the few months (weeks, most of the time) leading up to the robbery.
÷
07:15:13 [London, 2009]
Baekhyun hasn’t seen Jongin in three days but it’s considered a norm. The younger has a tendency to jump and not return at times; they’ve developed a pattern. It’s always before a heist and their current heist is supposed to be the diamond heist. Baekhyun glances out of the window into the gloomy London scenery.
He knows exactly how and where they have to jump, judging by the layouts in front of him. City records are an amazing thing and while Jongin is off doing what Jongin does, Baekhyun runs through mental checklists. Kyungsoo’s lost is still fresh but Kyungsoo’s lost takes second seat to his newfound abilities. For some reason, Baekhyun wishes he could bring Kyungsoo here.
London seems like his former boyfriend’s scene. Baekhyun waits for Jongin.
÷
18:00:03 [London, 2009]
“You were supposed to be here an hour ago.” Jongin looks tired but Baekhyun is angry.
“Leave me alone, Baek.” Jongin closes the apartment door behind him and Baekhyun fumes, pounding on the door.
“Don’t be a fucking bastard Kim Jongin open up the door right now!” He keeps pounding; pounding and crying and wishing and wanting.
Jongin opens the door and Baekhyun glares at him; the younger is packing their clothes into a duffel bag. “What are you doing, Jongin?” he whispers.
“Going home, Baekhyun. I’m going home.” Jongin’s eyes are dark with something Baekhyun doesn’t recognise.
“Why would you want to go home, aren’t I enough?” he demands.
“You’re not Kim Junmyeon!” Jongin explodes, breathing heavily. Something in Baekhyun breaks. “I-I’m sorry. You’re not Kim Junmyeon and your Kyungsoo is alive.”
Baekhyun reels back as if he’s been slapped. “Kyungsoo’s alive?” he whispers.
Jongin nods, not meeting his eyes.
Kyungsoo’s alive. Baekhyun jumps without Jongin for the first time.
÷
23:59:12 [London, 2009]
They clasp hands like angels in prayer in a London cemetery, foreheads pressed together. The jerk is welcome this time, and their destination? Home.
Jongin to his home and Baekhyun to his home and peace from the pseudo madness that time travelling caused. “Remember Baekhyun, Banpo Bridge.”
He’d spent two days away from Jongin before he caved in, he hadn’t travelled that far anyway, only a month from where they previously were. When he did return to their London apartment, Jongin had explained the methods to get home, a secret he kept for selfish reasons.
“We aren’t going to work, hyung. We’re good, but we won’t work.” Baekhyun had kept silent the entire time. It wasn’t worth arguing if one of them were reluctant.
(Besides, the news of Kyungsoo being alive gave him purpose, gave him an excuse to forget Jongin.)
“Banpo Bridge, 2010. You have to jump off it and imagine your anchor. We can do this, Baekhyun. Escape it all.” Baekhyun nods mutely, face cold and lips cold and heart turning cold for Jongin.
He envisions Banpo Bridge as hard as he can and the pull is stronger this time, as if the bridge itself is a beacon for those like them, pointing out the direction and bringing them home.
÷
04:20:21 [Banpo Bridge, 29 December 2010]
“FOUR TWENTY BLAZE IT!” Someone yells as they stagger past Baekhyun and Jongin.
They’re in 2010. It had taken approximately nine to ten tries for them to get to 2010; there was a force that prevented a jumper to Jump back to their own time.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay, Jongin?” Jongin smiles.
It’s a smile Baekhyun hasn’t seen since Egypt, carefree and ready to take on the world. “Your Kyungsoo is alive, Baekhyun. And my Junmyeon, my Junmyeon is here. Looking for me.”
Baekhyun nods shakily as they stand on the Banpo Bridge. “Are you sure this is the only way?”
Death terrifies everyone. Baekhyun is no different. Jumping from the bridge was Jongin’s sure fire answer to returning to Baekhyun’s time but it could also result in death. Hypothermia. Broken bones. Kyungsoo’s smile was the only thing that pushed him.
(Jongin was wonderful in so many ways and yet, Jongin wasn’t the right one.)
“I’ll find you again, hyung.” Jongin kisses him quick and Baekhyun feels a vague melancholia settling in his bones.
He clambers over the barricade, standing on the edge. Jongin’s hands are warm around his. He lets go.
÷
13:01:11 [Yongsan-gu, 2013]
Baekhyun gasps when he wakes up. The water had been icy cold and the sound of ice cracking was loud, far too loud but it didn’t feel like he was dead. He just felt really sore. The walls around him are white and someone is holding his hand tightly. It takes him far too much time to recognize the man as Kyungsoo.
“You’re alive.” Kyungsoo is smiling through his tears, nodding frantically. Baekhyun almost feels like laughing because Kyungsoo never cries, the last time being their Tennis Prince marathon. He also feels like ten kinds of sore, and not the good kind either.
“Where am I?” the elder asks, glancing around. There’s a beep beep beep and Baekhyun thinks he knows where he is but he isn’t entirely sure.
“In the hospital. We were both shot but you had it worse. You were out for a week,” Kyungsoo says through tears.
Hospital. A week. Jongin. A decade. Jumping. Dream. Not dream. Real. Not real.
Baekhyun’s focus blurred again, black tinging his vision.
÷
09:39:41 [Mapo-gu, undetermined future]
“Hello and welcome to Bun Palace!” Baekhyun’s head jerks up and he stares at the boy manning the counter. There’s something about him that’s all too familiar, right down to his voice. And yet Baekhyun doesn’t remember his face and maybe it’s one of the people who volunteered to read while he was in coma.
“Hey, Baek, look, this place is definitely a bun palace.” Kyungsoo jerks his chin in the direction of a waiter? Barista? Who has his hair dyed in every colour possible but he has a nice ass.
Baekhyun gets Kyungsoo’s thing for nice asses.
His own is a very nice ass.
“Kyungsoo?”
“Yes?” Baekhyun’s frowns in the direction of the boy behind the counter as they take a seat. “Have you ever seen that boy?”
The younger looks up from the menu, studying the brunette intently. “I can’t say I have. Any reason?”
Baekhyun purses his lips and shakes his head. “Nothing.”
He volunteers to place their order, staring at the boy the entire time. “Do I know you?” he asks as Boy (there’s a deep-rooted feeling that Boy is extremely important) rings up their purchases.
“Uh...my name is Kim Jongin?”
“You don’t seem like you’re sure your name is Kim Jongin.” Kim Jongin frowns at him.
“And you seem like your name might just be asshole and a half.” The line sounds vaguely familiar for a reason Baekhyun can’t place and it nags at him.
“Junmyeon hyung! Two cappucinos, one with a double shot of espresso!” Jongin gets an answer back and the younger smiles to himself. Baekhyun would think it’s cute but --
Kim Jongin. Junmyeon. “29 December, 2010.”
Jongin’s head jerks up and his face turns ashen. Baekhyun wonders if he really has changed a lot since then; he’s gotten skinnier, dyed his hair purple, nothing that equated to people not recognising him.
“Baekhyun hyung.” Jongin glances fearfully over his shoulder. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“You’re real.” He breathes out. Jongin comes rushing back in a mix of Egypt and New York, hasty kisses and empty fields, diamonds and cash, cigarette smoke and hurried fucks, too much and too little.
Jongin bites his lip and Baekhyun’s gaze is drawn to the younger’s lips. He swears he loves Kyungsoo but Jongin must be some kind of exception to that particular fact. Some small part recognises he’s incompatible with Jongin and yet, the yearning is still there.
“We need to talk " They do need to talk because the last time Baekhyun had seen Jongin, the younger was coaxing him to jump off a bridge.
"Yes, but not here." Jongin smiles at Kyungsoo before turning his attention back to Baekhyun. "Meet me in 2003, Baek. You know where." Jongin smiles gently as he hands over their coffee, fingers brushing.
The ashes of a fire built on the Pyramid of Giza flicker to life. He’s happy with Kyungsoo but there’s a side to him, a side he only finds around Jongin. A side that doesn’t overanalyse everything. He wants it, wants it so badly he can taste it on the tip of his tongue. The jerk of the jump, the freedom it grants. It’s all he wants.
Baekhyun leaves with a question answered. Kim Jongin was indeed a real person and not a construct of his mind. During the months of his coma he was also travelling with Kim Jongin. His hand tightens around Kyungsoo’s as they walk home; the emotions equated with jumping returning like a long forgotten rush.
One.
Two.
Three.
Baekhyun’s eyes fall shut.
÷
00:16:17 [Egypt, 2003]
“Hello again, Byun Baekhyun.” Jongin smiles at him, still dressed in his uniform.
“Hello again, Kim Jongin.” The rush of adrenaline is familiar.
“Ready to jump.” They have no need for words.
A/N:
As always, with the influx of fiction I’ve been writing, I’d like to thank R, for being the best ego booster anyone could ask for. B, thank you for the six a.m. coffee runs. The robberies in this story are in fact, some very real robberies, with exception for the Junggu Industrial Bank robbery. I tried to stay as true to the prompt as I could, my beloved recipient and I hope you enjoy this.
One