お帰り [Welcome Home] - Chapter Five
Title: お帰り [Welcome Home]
Authors: curionenene and yeonah
Chapter: 5/?
Fandom: SS501
Pairings: KyuMin, HyunSaeng
Rating: PG-16
Warning: Angst, AU
Summary: Black and white... white and black. It isn't always possible to tell what is good and what is evil; and four players in the never-ending fight for freedom would know. In a world where things are painted by shades of grey, taking a stand could mean life or death. And the struggle to be free, truly free, may tear them apart until there is nothing left but ash.
A/N: KyuJong and HyunJoong are played by curionenene , while JungMin and YoungSaeng are played by yeonah .
KyuJong had been so busy preparing the argument in his mind to counteract whatever JungMin was going to say that he didn’t notice the metal plate giving way until it was too late.
He had taken a step forward in order to catch JungMin and he was reeling back trying to support JungMin’s weight in the awkward position but failing, the both of them falling to the floor. KyuJong had been about to get back up to make sure JungMin was alright, but then the human’s lips were on his seconds later and all coherent thought was wiped out of his mind like strong bleach on cloth.
A little stunned by the sudden fall and the equally sudden kiss, JungMin didn't move for a long moment and just blinked in surprise. While he'd fallen on top of KyuJong multiple times since they met, usually in the process of being woken up, it had never turned out like this before. KyuJong's mouth was soft, a fact that he really hadn't considered before. It was almost nice…if he didn't have the distinct feeling he was going to be kicked off the roof as soon as KyuJong recovered.
Pushing himself up somewhat so he wasn't squishing his partner, JungMin blinked down at him. "Sorry...are you okay?" Maybe the ankou had hit his head a little too hard; he had a rather interesting expression.
KyuJong had been staring dazed at JungMin, his brain entirely shorted out and his cheek a soft, delicate pink. He continued staring at JungMin even after the human pushed himself off him, and it was only a few minutes after JungMin had asked his question that KyuJong comprehended exactly what had happened.
The result was immediate and KyuJong turned a deep flushed red, hands flailing all over the place - one pushing up at JungMin before going over to his lips and then both trying to get out from under JungMin, while at the same time stuttering furiously although his words made absolutely no sense even to him.
Alarmed by sudden flailing, JungMin quickly scrambled out of the way to avoid being smacked and to let KyuJong get up. Maybe he did hit his head. "H-hey, relax before you dislocate something." He had absolutely no idea what KyuJong was trying to say and gave up on that part after a moment of trying to figure it out, pulling his partner up into a sitting position. 'Was the kiss really that bad?' he wondered in confusion.
KyuJong was immediately hauled up by JungMin’s strong pull and he let out a strange sound that smacked of embarrassment and something else. He was no way near calm but the worried look on JungMin’s face made KyuJong at least what to try. Taking deep breaths, KyuJong tried to swallow down what felt like a mountain-load of raging hormones, trying to calm the huge blush that had invaded his face. When he was finally sane enough to speak, the first words that burst out of his mouth were “I’M SORRY!”
JungMin blinked at him, badly confused and concerned for his partner's mental health. "Um...why are you sorry?" KyuJong hadn't done anything. "I'm the one who kissed you." Reminded, he looked back at the metal plate he had been standing on. Two corners had collapsed. It hadn't seemed that unstable.
Returning his eyes to KyuJong, he tried again. "Are you alright?" he asked, watching the other man's face change colors.
“Aaah….” The reminder of the kiss only served to deepen the blush on KyuJong’s cheeks until it was almost a shade of purple. And he swallowed, looking anywhere but JungMin’s eyes, or worse, lips. Otherwise he might be tempted to try it again…
‘NO YOU IDIOT! DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!’
It distressed KyuJong further that JungMin seemed entirely apologetic about the kiss - perhaps he hadn’t enjoyed it the way KyuJong had. No, he definitely didn’t. And so KyuJong began to stutter out more apologizes. “No, no, you and I, we still…I mean…that…thing…must not have been enjoyable for you…it was an accident…but still…I’m sorry!”
Confused even more, JungMin blinked at the ankou. "Who's the one freaking out, you or me?" He wasn't going to deny the kiss had been nicer than he would have expected it to be, but perhaps that wasn't the right thing to say right now with KyuJong about to have a heart attack. "Don't forget to breathe, right?" Purple definitely wasn't a normal color, even for an ankou.
Breathe. Right. Breathe. KyuJong nodded at the reminder and began doing just that. Anything to take his mind off the kis-dang it.
“Freaking out?” KyuJong tried to concentrate on JungMin’s words in order to distract himself. “I think…I am…or are you? I can’t tell…You seem calm. I mean. I’m sorry that happened…you didn’t want it right…yeah…you probably didn’t want it. I’m so sorry, I deserve to be punished, you really should do that you know and I’m a really bad servant you should really, really punish me and…” KyuJong’s attempt to distract himself began to fail as his words began more garbled and tears began to come to his eyes. He had pretty much convinced himself that JungMin didn’t like it, which hurt KyuJong more than he expected.
JungMin started to panic when he saw the tears. One thing he had never been able to stand was KyuJong crying. "H-hey, wait, what's wrong?" He was having a hard time following what KyuJong was saying as the other man's voice became waterlogged.
"What in the world are you going on about?" Needing KyuJong to stop before he worked himself into hysterics, JungMin gripped his partner's arms and did the first thing that came to mind that would shut him up.
Kiss him again.
And it did have the intended effect, KyuJong shutting up immediately as JungMin’s lips met his again. But his mind continued to rant, worrying about all sorts of things - both related and unrelated. Until a deeper, more animalistic part of his mind screamed over everything else to Just. Shut. The. Hell. Up. And. Enjoy. The. Kiss.
Thus, KyuJong did.
Deciding he liked this much better than having a hysterical KyuJong, JungMin smiled inwardly when he felt KyuJong relax slightly. Eyes shutting after a moment, he couldn't stop himself from framing the other man's face lightly with one hand, cupping his cheek.
When he was sure KyuJong wasn't going to start babbling again, he broke the kiss, straightening and looking the other man in the eyes with a seriousness he rarely showed. "I don't want to hear you call yourself a servant ever again, alright?" he scolded. "You are not my servant, Kyu."
It was almost a pity when JungMin broke the kiss and KyuJong found himself wanting to press forward to capture JungMin’s lips again. But he forced himself to stop - he had no right to do anything of the sort. He was but a servant bound to his master, and JungMin had given him more freedom than any master had ever given him already without KyuJong taking advantage of the fact.
At JungMin’s words, KyuJong looked away - he had just been guilty of it again but KyuJong knew not how to behave if not like a servant. He wanted to serve JungMin to the best of his abilities, to protect his master the way a loyal non-human partner would. But he didn’t want JungMin to be angry with him so he just nodded, even though in his mind he knew it was impossible for him.
JungMin smiled when KyuJong nodded, letting go of the other man. "Good. And the same thing goes for that 'punishing' nonsense." He didn't want to be the man's 'master', he wanted to be his equal. He thought he'd cleared that up when they first met, it was somewhat disappointing that KyuJong still treated him like a master.
Looking at the sky and noticing it was much, much later than when they started looking, he pouted slightly. "Maybe we should start heading back...” It was frustrating they hadn't been able to find anything, but he had a funny feeling this wouldn't be the last time they heard from their mysterious informant.
KyuJong nodded, his nerves too shot for him to do anymore investigating. Looking down at his hands, he found them shaking and he hid them from JungMin, a forced smile on his face as he looked up. “As long as it gets you back on the ground again.”
He had convinced himself that JungMin had done the second kiss out of necessity but rather than harp over what KyuJong thought was the obvious truth, he kept it in his mind like a sacred treasure - savoring the memory, thinking that it was probably the last time something like this would ever happen again.
"I kinda like it up here though," JungMin huffed, standing finally. "It's nice. Maybe we could move out of our apartment and find some sort of penthouse with a glass ceiling." Whenever the organization decided to give them bonuses.
Glad for the change in topic, KyuJong put on his worried face again, shaking his head at the suggestion. “Glass? You’d probably break it, JungMin ah…”
"Would not!" The human pouted. "It would be specially thick glass. Wouldn't it be nice?" He looked around and headed for the nearest stairwell, expecting KyuJong to be right beside him.
But KyuJong wasn’t, staring at JungMin for a while - the human didn’t notice it, but he was standing with his back to the dying sunlight, making the human seem like he was glowing - his head gleaming red, and the aura of life that always surrounded JungMin intensifying. And KyuJong was fixated on the sight, just staring at how beautiful his master was.
Then JungMin’s question snapped him out of it and he nodded slowly, a soft smile coming to his lips as he walked forward to join his master. “Yeah…” he answered wistfully. “It would be nice.”
A moment after the two had disappeared, YoungSaeng jumped back onto the balcony next to HyunJoong, tail waving and the kitten looking a little too pleased with himself. Nosing his clothing, he inched back out of HyunJoong's immediate field of vision before shifting back and starting to pull on his clothing. "Look and I'll kick you off the balcony. Those two are denser than I thought."
HyunJoong laughed - as if kicking him off the balcony would be a threat. HyunJoong could easily land onto the ground without breaking a sweat. But he didn’t peek as he normally would have pretended to, instead looking at the two ‘dense ones’ with much sad amusement.
“Are you sure you can call them dense, YoungSaeng ah?” HyunJoong all but murmured to himself, his voice barely a whisper.
"Well, they're definitely a little slow on the uptake...” Ears twitching to catch the whispered words, YoungSaeng glanced at HyunJoong as he buttoned his jeans. He wondered what his master was thinking of. It was rare he caught HyunJoong with such an expression. "What do you think?"
“Hmm?” HyunJoong shook himself out of it, turning to YoungSaeng with a purposefully careless smile. “I think… I want beef for dinner! Beef~”
He pushed himself away from the railing and danced around YoungSaeng childishly, his hands behind his back. “Cook that for me, YoungSaeng-ah?”
YoungSaeng blinked at HyunJoong, halfway through pulling his shirt on, then gave a long-suffering sigh. This was why he rarely attempted serious conversation with the man. "Alright, alright. Do we even have beef in the apartment?"
Tugging his shirt down, he stood, snatching the hat off the balcony railing and covering his ears. He'd purposely not pulled his tail through the hole in the back of the jeans so he could walk back instead of scaling the buildings. "Don't do that, you're going to crash into something and wake up the people who live here." He wasn't quite sure whose balcony they were using, only that they were fast asleep at the moment.
“I don’t care~ I want beef!” HyunJoong exclaimed, punching his fist into the air, ending up in a ridiculous pose which would have been rather cute if he had not been a full grown man, and dressed in the intimidating clothes of a hunter. “And you wound me…” HyunJoong imitated a dying man, clutching his hand to his chest.
"And you belong in a circus," YoungSaeng retorted, but he couldn't help the way the corners of his lips curled upwards slightly. "Come on, before we're spotted." He vaulted over the railing and landed neatly on the ground several floors down. "Don't break your fragile bones, old man!"
HyunJoong would pause for the smallest of pauses, his eyes flashing with something unsaid, before he mock scowled, shouting back down, “That’s only if you count your age in cat years!”
And he leapt down as well, his expression well placed, hiding the truth feelings underneath. YoungSaeng would probably never know how true it was when HyunJoong said the felinefolk wounded him.
"It should be counted in cat years, I'm a cat. And even in human years I'm not that old," YoungSaeng replied, straightening from his crouch. Tugging his hat off for a moment so he could hear without everything sounding muffled, he listened for signs of movement, head tilted slightly to one side. When nothing came back to him other than the sound of cars in the streets, he yanked the hat back down. "There's no one nearby."
HyunJoong fell beside YoungSaeng, his landing more practical than the felinefolk’s, rolling into a ball as he hit the ground to prevent himself from jarring any bones. Getting up, he dusted out his outfit before he nodded at the information. “That’s good then. It seems like a good day’s work.”
YoungSaeng sneezed at the dust HyunJoong raised when he shook out his outfit. "I guess. Headquarters has us busy all tomorrow, right?" Covering his sensitive nose, he sneezed again. "P...please don't do that. That thing needs to be washed." He backed away a few feet so he couldn't get any more dust in his nose.
HyunJoong looked up and his hand seized in their movements. “Sorry.” The hunter said simply, staying a bit away from YoungSaeng. “I keep doing things that end up irritating or hurting you huh?” HyunJoong said, half to himself before he began to walk the way that lead to home. “I’ll wash this outfit tomorrow.”
Blinking, YoungSaeng's eyes narrowed as he followed along behind him. He hated it when HyunJoong said things like that, mostly because he had no idea what to say in response. So he just stayed quiet, uncovering his nose after a few more sneezes.
They'd just about reached the end of the maze of alleys when there was an explosion of barking from their left. His hearing hindered by the hat and his nose by the dust and grime of the alleys, YoungSaeng hadn't noticed the chained dogs until then. Before he could stop himself, the felinefolk let out a strangled cry and attached himself to HyunJoong's arm.
HyunJoong himself was startled when YoungSaeng suddenly latched on to him and he immediately pushed the felinefolk behind him protectively, crouching forward to see what was wrong.
Heart hammering in his chest, YoungSaeng couldn't help the way he held on to the back of HyunJoong's cloak, breath coming short and quick. Three large Dobermans jumped at them from their position chained next to a back door, the chain bringing them up short.
"S-s-sorry," YoungSaeng whispered, shaking like a leaf. Dogs and him were not friends, especially not dogs that big and vicious.
“It’s alright, just come with me slowly.” HyunJoong said reassuringly, having grasped the situation fairy quickly and carefully standing in between the dogs and YoungSaeng. “They won’t hurt you, promise. I won’t let them.”
And slowly, he led YoungSaeng past the dogs, careful to keep well away from the snapping jaws. “Slowly, slowly…it’s alright.”
Normally YoungSaeng was able to contain himself around dogs. He dealt with the small and medium sized ones as best as he could with minimal hissing or panicking mostly because he was aware of their presence before they became aware of his. But when taken by surprise and confronted with dogs like those...he couldn't deal at all.
Shutting his eyes tightly and flattening his ears beneath the hat, the felinefolk let HyunJoong lead him away, holding on to him with shaking hands.
“Alright…you’re safe now.” HyunJoong reassured the shaking felinefolk clinging onto him once they were past the dogs, taking YoungSaeng’s hands with his free arm, and slowly detaching them from his person. He usually wouldn’t mind the contact, but he was sure that YoungSaeng would still want his private space. “Everything’s just fine.”
YoungSaeng didn't want to let go, badly rattled and needing some form of contact to reassure him he wasn't back in that place again. When he felt the fingers carefully prying his hands off HyunJoong's arm though, he opened glassy eyes and drew in a shaky breath, sucking it up and slowly letting himself be removed. He nodded stiffly at HyunJoong's words, entire body tense as he fought the instinct to shift back into his other form where he could hide easily. "Th...thank you..."
“…” HyunJoong felt the reluctance at which YoungSaeng had let go of him. And he looked at YoungSaeng, still extremely tense and couldn't help but put a tentative arm on YoungSaeng, his body shifting closer with extreme cautious as he almost whispered the words. “Do you…?”
Teary golden eyes looked up at HyunJoong, YoungSaeng trying to blink the tears away without much luck. The warmth of the hunter's arm around him was in sharp contrast to the chill slowly invading his body. There was no verbal response to HyunJoong's half-question, but after a moment YoungSaeng looked down and slowly leaned into the contact, head resting against HyunJoong's shirt.
HyunJoong breathed a tiny sigh of relief, before he quietly and slowly pulled YoungSaeng in closer, allowing the felinefolk the warmth and companionship that HyunJoong knew he needed. But at the same time, he kept his distance, keeping the touch purely platonic, a touch between friends.
It was harder than HyunJoong would have thought. Especially with the way he was used to such things and things much deeper…things that he didn’t especially want to think about at the moment.
And instead, he concentrated on YoungSaeng, murmuring soft encouragements to the felinefolk. “Everything’s fine now.” HyunJoong nearly cooed, “Just fine…”
It was the first time YoungSaeng had been so close to HyunJoong...willingly, at least. Burying his nose in the other man's shirt, YoungSaeng found he could make out the human's scent underneath all the dust, a warm earthy scent that set him at ease. Closing his eyes, he let himself slowly calm down.
The other man's words though, innocent and reassuring, made his stomach clench tightly, HyunJoong's voice being overrun by those in his memories. "Don't say that," he whispered, voice muffled by the human's shirt. "Talk about something else...say something else...not that."
HyunJoong wondered what he had said wrong but he did as YoungSaeng said, not wanting to upset him, and instead began to talk about the mundane. Like the weather or how it was getting colder as the days past, about work, about food, about how YoungSaeng should stop scratching the furniture.
And when he ran out of mundane things to say, he moved on to the ridiculous. Like wondering if a cloud was kangaroo shaped or bunny shaped, singing nursery rhymes or spelling words backwards. Anything to help distract YoungSaeng from whatever was causing him distress.
Listening to HyunJoong talk about random things that had no real importance, YoungSaeng slowly relaxed into the hold, body becoming pliable in the other man's arms. Sometimes HyunJoong would say something that drew a smile to his lips, hidden against the hunter's shirt. Even through the hat covering his ears, their proximity meant he could hear all sorts of things. The rumble in HyunJoong's chest when he spoke. The steady beating of his heart. The whoosh of air entering and leaving his lungs. YoungSaeng let the sounds overwhelm him until that was all he could hear, all he needed to hear.
There was a momentary rumble in his throat, a soft purr, before the felinefolk gathered himself enough to slowly pull away, looking down at the ground and hat pulled over the upper part of his face to hide his pink cheeks. "Th...thank you," he mumbled.
HyunJoong had cut off rambling like an idiot when YoungSaeng suddenly purred. Startled, he had barely enough time to hide away his blush as the felinefolk pulled away. He didn’t see the pink of YoungSaeng’s cheeks because, embarrassed as well, HyunJoong was looking away - anywhere but YoungSaeng. “It’s no problem at all… I told you remember, I’d protect you. Not just as your master but also as your friend.”
YoungSaeng nodded slowly, still looking down. The first time HyunJoong had told him that, he hadn't believed him, making that clear with a cold, blank look and refusing to talk to him for so long he could have been mute. The man's hunter status made it especially hard on him.
But now, however many times later, he found himself believing it. And he wasn't at all sure what to make of it. So he just tugged his hat farther down, trying to hide his blush. "We should...head to your apartment."
“Our apartment.” HyunJoong corrected, “You live there too, remember?” And with a smile he offered his hand in the hopes that YoungSaeng would this time take it.
He remembered YoungSaeng’s refusal of it the first time round and he was wondering if anything had changed since then.
Looking up at the offered hand, YoungSaeng chewed on his lower lip with one fang, eyes hesitant. The nagging fear was still there, screaming at him not to take it and to remember what happened the last time he trusted a human. Humans had been nothing but bad news for him since birth, everything he experienced teaching him they were creatures with no morals, no conscience. Filthy, cruel, sadistic murderers.
Eyes flicking up to HyunJoong's face, then back to his hand, YoungSaeng slowly reached out and curled his fingers loosely around the hunter's.
It was more than HyunJoong could ever hope for, and with that loose grip, HyunJoong began to lead YoungSaeng forward, uncharacteristically quiet as he did so.
It would come as a surprise to even him but HyunJoong was suddenly not very sure about his being happy that YoungSaeng was closer with him - he was, but at the same time an old fear threatened to well up and consume him once again. An old fear that had once been very real and had nearly destroyed HyunJoong’s soul.
But HyunJoong pushed it down, concentrating on the feeling of YoungSaeng’s hand in his and just that.
As long as YoungSaeng needed him, he would trust this feeling inside him - this feeling that he had once thought was lost in him forever.
*******************
JungMin closed the door behind him none-too-gently and the entire wall shook as he ran over to KyuJong, waving an unmarked letter like a child with candy. "There's another one!" he exclaimed happily, landing on the couch beside his partner and holding out the letter. It could just as easily be an actual assignment, except that they had been both secured a few days without missions due to the investigation they had been busy with.
Which naturally left only one possibility for what the letter could contain…another message from their mysterious informants.
KyuJong blinked, looking up from the book he had been reading, putting it down. He smiled a little at JungMin’s excitement, his manner a little more otherworldly after his concentration had been taken off the real world for a bit. “What does it say, JungMin?”
As though he had been waiting for KyuJong to give him permission, JungMin opened the letter with a wide grin, nearly giving himself a paper cut in his haste. Unfolding the piece of paper, his lips pursed slightly as he read the short message. It was a name, a location...and a date. "Kim WooJin, 182 3rd street...10pm." He blinked up at KyuJong. "Who's Kim WooJin?"
KyuJong gently took the letter away from JungMin, looking it over, flipping it to the other side in case there was something written there, but there nothing else except what JungMin had read. “Hmm…could it be…a target?”
"Maybe?" JungMin blinked for another minute, then grinned. "I mean, whoever's sending us these notes knew about the danger to the safe house, so it might be a target. The information is pretty detailed." He brightened considerably. "Does that mean we get to go rescue people again? Yes!" The human punched the air happily.
KyuJong looked at JungMin and smiled, but the smile was not the usual one of faint joy and wry amusement. Instead it was one of polite interest, as if JungMin was a fascinating specimen to study. And KyuJong found himself contemplating how interesting it would be to pull the string of JungMin’s life…until the book that was in his lap fell to the floor with a clatter.
And KyuJong snapped out of it. His eyes widening, he quickly bent to the floor, hiding his expression. And as he did, reached inside his shirt to find the necklace he always wore that bore the plain silver ring of immense importance to him now.
Looking up to make sure JungMin was preoccupied with the excitement of having a new mission, he raised the ring to the light, scouring the ring for something, his eyes narrowing as he found it - a crack, thin and barely-there, but a crack nevertheless.
KyuJong closed his eyes, cursing his carelessness. He would need to find another sealing ring soon.
Overexcited, JungMin continued to bounce and chatter about this being much more exciting than the tiny missions the organization sent them on. He only paused in his ranting when he noticed KyuJong's eyes narrow, the human blinking as his voice trailed off. "Everything alright, Kyu?"
“Hmm?” KyuJong quickly put the ring back down, looking up at JungMin with a smile. “Yeah. I just thought I saw a scratch on my ring…so…where was the location again? I’ll need to go look at the directory if I don’t know how to get there.”
JungMin continued to look at him for a moment, but when KyuJong mentioned the location, the human brightened again. "182 3rd street. While you're doing that, I'll look up this WooJin person!" With that he had jumped to his feet and ran for the phonebook or anything he could use to look up names.
Truthfully, KyuJong could have easily found out every single thing about Kim WooJin if he had not sealed up his full powers. He was an ankou - a powerful entity that had control over life and death. In his full glory he could easily pick through the lifelines that stretched all over the world, playing with them and reading the life of the humans they represented.
But it was something KyuJong had sworn never to do - to do so would mean a corruption of the kind soul JungMin had drawn out. And the ankou feared what he would do if this power sealed up in him were ever released.
And so KyuJong kept it sealed, kept it secret away from JungMin’s knowledge.
And KyuJong meant to keep it that way.
Authors: curionenene and yeonah
Chapter: 5/?
Fandom: SS501
Pairings: KyuMin, HyunSaeng
Rating: PG-16
Warning: Angst, AU
Summary: Black and white... white and black. It isn't always possible to tell what is good and what is evil; and four players in the never-ending fight for freedom would know. In a world where things are painted by shades of grey, taking a stand could mean life or death. And the struggle to be free, truly free, may tear them apart until there is nothing left but ash.
A/N: KyuJong and HyunJoong are played by curionenene , while JungMin and YoungSaeng are played by yeonah .
KyuJong had been so busy preparing the argument in his mind to counteract whatever JungMin was going to say that he didn’t notice the metal plate giving way until it was too late.
He had taken a step forward in order to catch JungMin and he was reeling back trying to support JungMin’s weight in the awkward position but failing, the both of them falling to the floor. KyuJong had been about to get back up to make sure JungMin was alright, but then the human’s lips were on his seconds later and all coherent thought was wiped out of his mind like strong bleach on cloth.
A little stunned by the sudden fall and the equally sudden kiss, JungMin didn't move for a long moment and just blinked in surprise. While he'd fallen on top of KyuJong multiple times since they met, usually in the process of being woken up, it had never turned out like this before. KyuJong's mouth was soft, a fact that he really hadn't considered before. It was almost nice…if he didn't have the distinct feeling he was going to be kicked off the roof as soon as KyuJong recovered.
Pushing himself up somewhat so he wasn't squishing his partner, JungMin blinked down at him. "Sorry...are you okay?" Maybe the ankou had hit his head a little too hard; he had a rather interesting expression.
KyuJong had been staring dazed at JungMin, his brain entirely shorted out and his cheek a soft, delicate pink. He continued staring at JungMin even after the human pushed himself off him, and it was only a few minutes after JungMin had asked his question that KyuJong comprehended exactly what had happened.
The result was immediate and KyuJong turned a deep flushed red, hands flailing all over the place - one pushing up at JungMin before going over to his lips and then both trying to get out from under JungMin, while at the same time stuttering furiously although his words made absolutely no sense even to him.
Alarmed by sudden flailing, JungMin quickly scrambled out of the way to avoid being smacked and to let KyuJong get up. Maybe he did hit his head. "H-hey, relax before you dislocate something." He had absolutely no idea what KyuJong was trying to say and gave up on that part after a moment of trying to figure it out, pulling his partner up into a sitting position. 'Was the kiss really that bad?' he wondered in confusion.
KyuJong was immediately hauled up by JungMin’s strong pull and he let out a strange sound that smacked of embarrassment and something else. He was no way near calm but the worried look on JungMin’s face made KyuJong at least what to try. Taking deep breaths, KyuJong tried to swallow down what felt like a mountain-load of raging hormones, trying to calm the huge blush that had invaded his face. When he was finally sane enough to speak, the first words that burst out of his mouth were “I’M SORRY!”
JungMin blinked at him, badly confused and concerned for his partner's mental health. "Um...why are you sorry?" KyuJong hadn't done anything. "I'm the one who kissed you." Reminded, he looked back at the metal plate he had been standing on. Two corners had collapsed. It hadn't seemed that unstable.
Returning his eyes to KyuJong, he tried again. "Are you alright?" he asked, watching the other man's face change colors.
“Aaah….” The reminder of the kiss only served to deepen the blush on KyuJong’s cheeks until it was almost a shade of purple. And he swallowed, looking anywhere but JungMin’s eyes, or worse, lips. Otherwise he might be tempted to try it again…
‘NO YOU IDIOT! DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!’
It distressed KyuJong further that JungMin seemed entirely apologetic about the kiss - perhaps he hadn’t enjoyed it the way KyuJong had. No, he definitely didn’t. And so KyuJong began to stutter out more apologizes. “No, no, you and I, we still…I mean…that…thing…must not have been enjoyable for you…it was an accident…but still…I’m sorry!”
Confused even more, JungMin blinked at the ankou. "Who's the one freaking out, you or me?" He wasn't going to deny the kiss had been nicer than he would have expected it to be, but perhaps that wasn't the right thing to say right now with KyuJong about to have a heart attack. "Don't forget to breathe, right?" Purple definitely wasn't a normal color, even for an ankou.
Breathe. Right. Breathe. KyuJong nodded at the reminder and began doing just that. Anything to take his mind off the kis-dang it.
“Freaking out?” KyuJong tried to concentrate on JungMin’s words in order to distract himself. “I think…I am…or are you? I can’t tell…You seem calm. I mean. I’m sorry that happened…you didn’t want it right…yeah…you probably didn’t want it. I’m so sorry, I deserve to be punished, you really should do that you know and I’m a really bad servant you should really, really punish me and…” KyuJong’s attempt to distract himself began to fail as his words began more garbled and tears began to come to his eyes. He had pretty much convinced himself that JungMin didn’t like it, which hurt KyuJong more than he expected.
JungMin started to panic when he saw the tears. One thing he had never been able to stand was KyuJong crying. "H-hey, wait, what's wrong?" He was having a hard time following what KyuJong was saying as the other man's voice became waterlogged.
"What in the world are you going on about?" Needing KyuJong to stop before he worked himself into hysterics, JungMin gripped his partner's arms and did the first thing that came to mind that would shut him up.
Kiss him again.
And it did have the intended effect, KyuJong shutting up immediately as JungMin’s lips met his again. But his mind continued to rant, worrying about all sorts of things - both related and unrelated. Until a deeper, more animalistic part of his mind screamed over everything else to Just. Shut. The. Hell. Up. And. Enjoy. The. Kiss.
Thus, KyuJong did.
Deciding he liked this much better than having a hysterical KyuJong, JungMin smiled inwardly when he felt KyuJong relax slightly. Eyes shutting after a moment, he couldn't stop himself from framing the other man's face lightly with one hand, cupping his cheek.
When he was sure KyuJong wasn't going to start babbling again, he broke the kiss, straightening and looking the other man in the eyes with a seriousness he rarely showed. "I don't want to hear you call yourself a servant ever again, alright?" he scolded. "You are not my servant, Kyu."
It was almost a pity when JungMin broke the kiss and KyuJong found himself wanting to press forward to capture JungMin’s lips again. But he forced himself to stop - he had no right to do anything of the sort. He was but a servant bound to his master, and JungMin had given him more freedom than any master had ever given him already without KyuJong taking advantage of the fact.
At JungMin’s words, KyuJong looked away - he had just been guilty of it again but KyuJong knew not how to behave if not like a servant. He wanted to serve JungMin to the best of his abilities, to protect his master the way a loyal non-human partner would. But he didn’t want JungMin to be angry with him so he just nodded, even though in his mind he knew it was impossible for him.
JungMin smiled when KyuJong nodded, letting go of the other man. "Good. And the same thing goes for that 'punishing' nonsense." He didn't want to be the man's 'master', he wanted to be his equal. He thought he'd cleared that up when they first met, it was somewhat disappointing that KyuJong still treated him like a master.
Looking at the sky and noticing it was much, much later than when they started looking, he pouted slightly. "Maybe we should start heading back...” It was frustrating they hadn't been able to find anything, but he had a funny feeling this wouldn't be the last time they heard from their mysterious informant.
KyuJong nodded, his nerves too shot for him to do anymore investigating. Looking down at his hands, he found them shaking and he hid them from JungMin, a forced smile on his face as he looked up. “As long as it gets you back on the ground again.”
He had convinced himself that JungMin had done the second kiss out of necessity but rather than harp over what KyuJong thought was the obvious truth, he kept it in his mind like a sacred treasure - savoring the memory, thinking that it was probably the last time something like this would ever happen again.
"I kinda like it up here though," JungMin huffed, standing finally. "It's nice. Maybe we could move out of our apartment and find some sort of penthouse with a glass ceiling." Whenever the organization decided to give them bonuses.
Glad for the change in topic, KyuJong put on his worried face again, shaking his head at the suggestion. “Glass? You’d probably break it, JungMin ah…”
"Would not!" The human pouted. "It would be specially thick glass. Wouldn't it be nice?" He looked around and headed for the nearest stairwell, expecting KyuJong to be right beside him.
But KyuJong wasn’t, staring at JungMin for a while - the human didn’t notice it, but he was standing with his back to the dying sunlight, making the human seem like he was glowing - his head gleaming red, and the aura of life that always surrounded JungMin intensifying. And KyuJong was fixated on the sight, just staring at how beautiful his master was.
Then JungMin’s question snapped him out of it and he nodded slowly, a soft smile coming to his lips as he walked forward to join his master. “Yeah…” he answered wistfully. “It would be nice.”
A moment after the two had disappeared, YoungSaeng jumped back onto the balcony next to HyunJoong, tail waving and the kitten looking a little too pleased with himself. Nosing his clothing, he inched back out of HyunJoong's immediate field of vision before shifting back and starting to pull on his clothing. "Look and I'll kick you off the balcony. Those two are denser than I thought."
HyunJoong laughed - as if kicking him off the balcony would be a threat. HyunJoong could easily land onto the ground without breaking a sweat. But he didn’t peek as he normally would have pretended to, instead looking at the two ‘dense ones’ with much sad amusement.
“Are you sure you can call them dense, YoungSaeng ah?” HyunJoong all but murmured to himself, his voice barely a whisper.
"Well, they're definitely a little slow on the uptake...” Ears twitching to catch the whispered words, YoungSaeng glanced at HyunJoong as he buttoned his jeans. He wondered what his master was thinking of. It was rare he caught HyunJoong with such an expression. "What do you think?"
“Hmm?” HyunJoong shook himself out of it, turning to YoungSaeng with a purposefully careless smile. “I think… I want beef for dinner! Beef~”
He pushed himself away from the railing and danced around YoungSaeng childishly, his hands behind his back. “Cook that for me, YoungSaeng-ah?”
YoungSaeng blinked at HyunJoong, halfway through pulling his shirt on, then gave a long-suffering sigh. This was why he rarely attempted serious conversation with the man. "Alright, alright. Do we even have beef in the apartment?"
Tugging his shirt down, he stood, snatching the hat off the balcony railing and covering his ears. He'd purposely not pulled his tail through the hole in the back of the jeans so he could walk back instead of scaling the buildings. "Don't do that, you're going to crash into something and wake up the people who live here." He wasn't quite sure whose balcony they were using, only that they were fast asleep at the moment.
“I don’t care~ I want beef!” HyunJoong exclaimed, punching his fist into the air, ending up in a ridiculous pose which would have been rather cute if he had not been a full grown man, and dressed in the intimidating clothes of a hunter. “And you wound me…” HyunJoong imitated a dying man, clutching his hand to his chest.
"And you belong in a circus," YoungSaeng retorted, but he couldn't help the way the corners of his lips curled upwards slightly. "Come on, before we're spotted." He vaulted over the railing and landed neatly on the ground several floors down. "Don't break your fragile bones, old man!"
HyunJoong would pause for the smallest of pauses, his eyes flashing with something unsaid, before he mock scowled, shouting back down, “That’s only if you count your age in cat years!”
And he leapt down as well, his expression well placed, hiding the truth feelings underneath. YoungSaeng would probably never know how true it was when HyunJoong said the felinefolk wounded him.
"It should be counted in cat years, I'm a cat. And even in human years I'm not that old," YoungSaeng replied, straightening from his crouch. Tugging his hat off for a moment so he could hear without everything sounding muffled, he listened for signs of movement, head tilted slightly to one side. When nothing came back to him other than the sound of cars in the streets, he yanked the hat back down. "There's no one nearby."
HyunJoong fell beside YoungSaeng, his landing more practical than the felinefolk’s, rolling into a ball as he hit the ground to prevent himself from jarring any bones. Getting up, he dusted out his outfit before he nodded at the information. “That’s good then. It seems like a good day’s work.”
YoungSaeng sneezed at the dust HyunJoong raised when he shook out his outfit. "I guess. Headquarters has us busy all tomorrow, right?" Covering his sensitive nose, he sneezed again. "P...please don't do that. That thing needs to be washed." He backed away a few feet so he couldn't get any more dust in his nose.
HyunJoong looked up and his hand seized in their movements. “Sorry.” The hunter said simply, staying a bit away from YoungSaeng. “I keep doing things that end up irritating or hurting you huh?” HyunJoong said, half to himself before he began to walk the way that lead to home. “I’ll wash this outfit tomorrow.”
Blinking, YoungSaeng's eyes narrowed as he followed along behind him. He hated it when HyunJoong said things like that, mostly because he had no idea what to say in response. So he just stayed quiet, uncovering his nose after a few more sneezes.
They'd just about reached the end of the maze of alleys when there was an explosion of barking from their left. His hearing hindered by the hat and his nose by the dust and grime of the alleys, YoungSaeng hadn't noticed the chained dogs until then. Before he could stop himself, the felinefolk let out a strangled cry and attached himself to HyunJoong's arm.
HyunJoong himself was startled when YoungSaeng suddenly latched on to him and he immediately pushed the felinefolk behind him protectively, crouching forward to see what was wrong.
Heart hammering in his chest, YoungSaeng couldn't help the way he held on to the back of HyunJoong's cloak, breath coming short and quick. Three large Dobermans jumped at them from their position chained next to a back door, the chain bringing them up short.
"S-s-sorry," YoungSaeng whispered, shaking like a leaf. Dogs and him were not friends, especially not dogs that big and vicious.
“It’s alright, just come with me slowly.” HyunJoong said reassuringly, having grasped the situation fairy quickly and carefully standing in between the dogs and YoungSaeng. “They won’t hurt you, promise. I won’t let them.”
And slowly, he led YoungSaeng past the dogs, careful to keep well away from the snapping jaws. “Slowly, slowly…it’s alright.”
Normally YoungSaeng was able to contain himself around dogs. He dealt with the small and medium sized ones as best as he could with minimal hissing or panicking mostly because he was aware of their presence before they became aware of his. But when taken by surprise and confronted with dogs like those...he couldn't deal at all.
Shutting his eyes tightly and flattening his ears beneath the hat, the felinefolk let HyunJoong lead him away, holding on to him with shaking hands.
“Alright…you’re safe now.” HyunJoong reassured the shaking felinefolk clinging onto him once they were past the dogs, taking YoungSaeng’s hands with his free arm, and slowly detaching them from his person. He usually wouldn’t mind the contact, but he was sure that YoungSaeng would still want his private space. “Everything’s just fine.”
YoungSaeng didn't want to let go, badly rattled and needing some form of contact to reassure him he wasn't back in that place again. When he felt the fingers carefully prying his hands off HyunJoong's arm though, he opened glassy eyes and drew in a shaky breath, sucking it up and slowly letting himself be removed. He nodded stiffly at HyunJoong's words, entire body tense as he fought the instinct to shift back into his other form where he could hide easily. "Th...thank you..."
“…” HyunJoong felt the reluctance at which YoungSaeng had let go of him. And he looked at YoungSaeng, still extremely tense and couldn't help but put a tentative arm on YoungSaeng, his body shifting closer with extreme cautious as he almost whispered the words. “Do you…?”
Teary golden eyes looked up at HyunJoong, YoungSaeng trying to blink the tears away without much luck. The warmth of the hunter's arm around him was in sharp contrast to the chill slowly invading his body. There was no verbal response to HyunJoong's half-question, but after a moment YoungSaeng looked down and slowly leaned into the contact, head resting against HyunJoong's shirt.
HyunJoong breathed a tiny sigh of relief, before he quietly and slowly pulled YoungSaeng in closer, allowing the felinefolk the warmth and companionship that HyunJoong knew he needed. But at the same time, he kept his distance, keeping the touch purely platonic, a touch between friends.
It was harder than HyunJoong would have thought. Especially with the way he was used to such things and things much deeper…things that he didn’t especially want to think about at the moment.
And instead, he concentrated on YoungSaeng, murmuring soft encouragements to the felinefolk. “Everything’s fine now.” HyunJoong nearly cooed, “Just fine…”
It was the first time YoungSaeng had been so close to HyunJoong...willingly, at least. Burying his nose in the other man's shirt, YoungSaeng found he could make out the human's scent underneath all the dust, a warm earthy scent that set him at ease. Closing his eyes, he let himself slowly calm down.
The other man's words though, innocent and reassuring, made his stomach clench tightly, HyunJoong's voice being overrun by those in his memories. "Don't say that," he whispered, voice muffled by the human's shirt. "Talk about something else...say something else...not that."
HyunJoong wondered what he had said wrong but he did as YoungSaeng said, not wanting to upset him, and instead began to talk about the mundane. Like the weather or how it was getting colder as the days past, about work, about food, about how YoungSaeng should stop scratching the furniture.
And when he ran out of mundane things to say, he moved on to the ridiculous. Like wondering if a cloud was kangaroo shaped or bunny shaped, singing nursery rhymes or spelling words backwards. Anything to help distract YoungSaeng from whatever was causing him distress.
Listening to HyunJoong talk about random things that had no real importance, YoungSaeng slowly relaxed into the hold, body becoming pliable in the other man's arms. Sometimes HyunJoong would say something that drew a smile to his lips, hidden against the hunter's shirt. Even through the hat covering his ears, their proximity meant he could hear all sorts of things. The rumble in HyunJoong's chest when he spoke. The steady beating of his heart. The whoosh of air entering and leaving his lungs. YoungSaeng let the sounds overwhelm him until that was all he could hear, all he needed to hear.
There was a momentary rumble in his throat, a soft purr, before the felinefolk gathered himself enough to slowly pull away, looking down at the ground and hat pulled over the upper part of his face to hide his pink cheeks. "Th...thank you," he mumbled.
HyunJoong had cut off rambling like an idiot when YoungSaeng suddenly purred. Startled, he had barely enough time to hide away his blush as the felinefolk pulled away. He didn’t see the pink of YoungSaeng’s cheeks because, embarrassed as well, HyunJoong was looking away - anywhere but YoungSaeng. “It’s no problem at all… I told you remember, I’d protect you. Not just as your master but also as your friend.”
YoungSaeng nodded slowly, still looking down. The first time HyunJoong had told him that, he hadn't believed him, making that clear with a cold, blank look and refusing to talk to him for so long he could have been mute. The man's hunter status made it especially hard on him.
But now, however many times later, he found himself believing it. And he wasn't at all sure what to make of it. So he just tugged his hat farther down, trying to hide his blush. "We should...head to your apartment."
“Our apartment.” HyunJoong corrected, “You live there too, remember?” And with a smile he offered his hand in the hopes that YoungSaeng would this time take it.
He remembered YoungSaeng’s refusal of it the first time round and he was wondering if anything had changed since then.
Looking up at the offered hand, YoungSaeng chewed on his lower lip with one fang, eyes hesitant. The nagging fear was still there, screaming at him not to take it and to remember what happened the last time he trusted a human. Humans had been nothing but bad news for him since birth, everything he experienced teaching him they were creatures with no morals, no conscience. Filthy, cruel, sadistic murderers.
Eyes flicking up to HyunJoong's face, then back to his hand, YoungSaeng slowly reached out and curled his fingers loosely around the hunter's.
It was more than HyunJoong could ever hope for, and with that loose grip, HyunJoong began to lead YoungSaeng forward, uncharacteristically quiet as he did so.
It would come as a surprise to even him but HyunJoong was suddenly not very sure about his being happy that YoungSaeng was closer with him - he was, but at the same time an old fear threatened to well up and consume him once again. An old fear that had once been very real and had nearly destroyed HyunJoong’s soul.
But HyunJoong pushed it down, concentrating on the feeling of YoungSaeng’s hand in his and just that.
As long as YoungSaeng needed him, he would trust this feeling inside him - this feeling that he had once thought was lost in him forever.
*******************
JungMin closed the door behind him none-too-gently and the entire wall shook as he ran over to KyuJong, waving an unmarked letter like a child with candy. "There's another one!" he exclaimed happily, landing on the couch beside his partner and holding out the letter. It could just as easily be an actual assignment, except that they had been both secured a few days without missions due to the investigation they had been busy with.
Which naturally left only one possibility for what the letter could contain…another message from their mysterious informants.
KyuJong blinked, looking up from the book he had been reading, putting it down. He smiled a little at JungMin’s excitement, his manner a little more otherworldly after his concentration had been taken off the real world for a bit. “What does it say, JungMin?”
As though he had been waiting for KyuJong to give him permission, JungMin opened the letter with a wide grin, nearly giving himself a paper cut in his haste. Unfolding the piece of paper, his lips pursed slightly as he read the short message. It was a name, a location...and a date. "Kim WooJin, 182 3rd street...10pm." He blinked up at KyuJong. "Who's Kim WooJin?"
KyuJong gently took the letter away from JungMin, looking it over, flipping it to the other side in case there was something written there, but there nothing else except what JungMin had read. “Hmm…could it be…a target?”
"Maybe?" JungMin blinked for another minute, then grinned. "I mean, whoever's sending us these notes knew about the danger to the safe house, so it might be a target. The information is pretty detailed." He brightened considerably. "Does that mean we get to go rescue people again? Yes!" The human punched the air happily.
KyuJong looked at JungMin and smiled, but the smile was not the usual one of faint joy and wry amusement. Instead it was one of polite interest, as if JungMin was a fascinating specimen to study. And KyuJong found himself contemplating how interesting it would be to pull the string of JungMin’s life…until the book that was in his lap fell to the floor with a clatter.
And KyuJong snapped out of it. His eyes widening, he quickly bent to the floor, hiding his expression. And as he did, reached inside his shirt to find the necklace he always wore that bore the plain silver ring of immense importance to him now.
Looking up to make sure JungMin was preoccupied with the excitement of having a new mission, he raised the ring to the light, scouring the ring for something, his eyes narrowing as he found it - a crack, thin and barely-there, but a crack nevertheless.
KyuJong closed his eyes, cursing his carelessness. He would need to find another sealing ring soon.
Overexcited, JungMin continued to bounce and chatter about this being much more exciting than the tiny missions the organization sent them on. He only paused in his ranting when he noticed KyuJong's eyes narrow, the human blinking as his voice trailed off. "Everything alright, Kyu?"
“Hmm?” KyuJong quickly put the ring back down, looking up at JungMin with a smile. “Yeah. I just thought I saw a scratch on my ring…so…where was the location again? I’ll need to go look at the directory if I don’t know how to get there.”
JungMin continued to look at him for a moment, but when KyuJong mentioned the location, the human brightened again. "182 3rd street. While you're doing that, I'll look up this WooJin person!" With that he had jumped to his feet and ran for the phonebook or anything he could use to look up names.
Truthfully, KyuJong could have easily found out every single thing about Kim WooJin if he had not sealed up his full powers. He was an ankou - a powerful entity that had control over life and death. In his full glory he could easily pick through the lifelines that stretched all over the world, playing with them and reading the life of the humans they represented.
But it was something KyuJong had sworn never to do - to do so would mean a corruption of the kind soul JungMin had drawn out. And the ankou feared what he would do if this power sealed up in him were ever released.
And so KyuJong kept it sealed, kept it secret away from JungMin’s knowledge.
And KyuJong meant to keep it that way.