お帰り [Welcome Home] - Chapter Seventeen
Title: お帰り [Welcome Home]
Authors: curionenene and yeonah
Chapter: 17/?
Fandom: SS501 + Epik High Cameos
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, HyunJoong, and Tablo are played by curionenene , while JungMin, YoungSaeng and Mithra are played by yeonah .
HyunJoong had the strongest urge to cover his ears. As an adult, he already didn’t have the patience to deal with this kind of crap. As a kid, he could barely stand still, hopping lightly from one leg to another, trying to pay attention.
It wasn't working though. All he heard was: nag, nag, nag, scold, nag, nag, nag…
Chewing on the inside of his cheek to remain silent, YoungSaeng subtly kicked HyunJoong's foot when the child's shuffling became too obvious. They couldn't afford to tick these people off anymore than they already had.
Tablo and Mithra were doing their best to direct the leader's attention in a more positive way, but sometimes it just didn't work, and YoungSaeng wanted to snap back at them could you have done any better? He managed to hold his tongue, not usually this hotheaded, but he felt the need to stand up for HyunJoong.
Especially when one of the leaders seemed determined to peg all the fault on his master.
"All those lives lost, for what? One person? If this ankou was capable of killing the kitsune," the older man waved one hand at KyuJong, not even looking at him, "then why didn't he just do it? Half our organization was killed out there. Half. For one person, who can't even begin to make up for those lives because he's in the body of a child."
HyunJoong quietened down when YoungSaeng kicked him, his adult rationality understanding the reason behind that kick. But five seconds later, he had this scratchy feeling in his stomach, and his brain was wandering everywhere. He knew he was being insulted, but frankly he really didn’t care. All he wanted to do was pee…
Ugh… this was more annoying than he had first thought.
“Sir…” Tablo quickly injected when he saw that HyunJoong wasn’t going to defend himself. “May I remind everyone that this child is a Merus and therefore a great asset to the organization. If we hadn’t gotten him back, then the kitsune who took him would have gone on and killed everyone on the planet - not only would have the organization been at risk, but millions of innocent lives.”
"Millions of innocent lives could have still been at risk, Tablo sshi," the man, Yang MyungSoo said sternly. "This was a shot in the dark, and the fact that you are so close to the Merus means that your judgment was most likely impaired. If the reckless attempt to save this child had gone wrong, the ankou could have been compromised as well, and with him our chance at stopping the fox. Your methods have to be taken into question."
JungMin shuffled beside KyuJong, not liking the way the man referred to KyuJong as a thing rather than a person, and the fact that the redhead was holding his tongue was far more obvious than it was with YoungSaeng.
Sensing JungMin’s irritation, KyuJong reached out slowly, grabbing the human’s hand reassuringly. Things were already pretty bad, and if they did or said anything out of turn, things would only get worse. Although… he really didn’t like this man who seemed to be thoroughly against HyunJoong. His life energy was… sour… somehow. And that made KyuJong instinctively wary of him. Looking at the fidgeting HyunJoong, he wondered if he was feeling it too.
“Well, I admit that I might have pulled out more resources than I’d normally have…” Tablo said slowly, hoping that his admission to his mistake would soften MyungSoo. “However, things worked out in the end. Perhaps, not very favorable on paper, but taking things into context, it was a very good result. You were there when the kitsune went rogue 5 years ago, MyungSoo nim, and you know how much damage that caused."
Thankfully, one of the other leaders stepped in before it could get out of hand. "We are all aware of what happened 5 years ago, Tablo sshi," she sighed, one hand against her temple. "Which is why, although I do not condone the idea of sacrificing so many lives, I do believe you all handled this as best as you could on such a short notice."
YoungSaeng watched as MyungSoo leaned back, obviously angered, but not speaking again. Relaxing somewhat, the felinefolk glanced at HyunJoong again, then back at the leaders.
"Meanwhile, we need to plan for the future," the only woman leader continued. "The Hunter organization was weakened by the attack, but they have always found supporters from all locations and it won't take them long to be up to full strength. And now that we lack eyes inside their headquarters, we will be at a serious disadvantage if we don't act soon, while they are still in disarray."
“Well…” a voice suddenly spoke up from the side. KyuJong blinked, turning to place his attention on a leader that had been quiet so far. “Then, I suppose we don’t really have a problem at all…”
KyuJong blinked, tilting his head in confusion. The ankou hadn’t really noticed him earlier; probably since the rest of the spirit energies in the room were so domineering and powerful, that this man’s seemed to pale in comparison. But now that he was paying attention, KyuJong could see the strength in his spirit, subtle power in his every word. It showed in the way everyone was paying full attention to him, despite his extremely relaxed sitting position.
Mithra tilted his head slightly as he observed the man who'd spoken up, a faint smile dancing across his lips. Trust him to always come to their rescue...
One of the other leader's leaned forward. "How so? Explain yourself, Tukutz."
Blinking, YoungSaeng smiled faintly, relaxing a little further. Here was one of the leaders he didn't actually mind. While he spoke up rarely, he seemed to set everyone at ease immediately. Even prickly MyungSoo couldn't talk back to Tukutz.
“Well~” Tukutz waved his hand lazily about. “Now that the Hunter organization’s numbers has been severely cut down, that means they’re looking to recruit new people, no? We can easily take that chance to sneak in one of our own into the HQ again. No problem.”
HyunJoong raised an eyebrow in interest, even his child’s instincts calming down around this man. He’d always liked Tukutz, ever since he was a kid. And even though HyunJoong reckoned that Tukutz was actually only a few years older than him, he’d always behaved the way he had - even now. Lazy, relaxed, but somehow still powerful and commanding.
"That doesn't sound that bad," mused the woman. "Although I would like for HyunJoong and YoungSaeng to take their positions inside Hunter HQ again, since they did such a great job, it would be impossible now. Even if HyunJoong wasn't in this state...your cover is blown completely, correct?"
YoungSaeng nodded when she looked at him.
"Any recommendations for who you would like to infiltrate HQ instead?" she asked, looking at them all. "It couldn't be just anyone...word could get out too easily if it was known we are looking for a pair to work from the inside."
There was silence for a moment, except for the murmurs of the leaders talking among themselves. Spotting JungMin and KyuJong holding hands out of the corner of his vision, Mithra held back a smirk.
And, subtly, he nudged Tablo beside him and directed his attention towards the two standing at the back.
Tablo blinked, turning to where Mithra was pointing. He didn’t understand at first, but then, looking back at Mithra and the smirk on his face, he slowly grinned in understanding.
“I have a recommendation.” He spoke up, acting the attention of the leaders. “I recommend… Park JungMin and Kim KyuJong.”
JungMin's eyes widened as he looked at Tablo, then at KyuJong. What? Were they even eligible for undercover operations?
Instantly protests rose from some of the leaders. "Their track record is far from satisfactory, and this operation is far too delicate," exclaimed MyungSoo, a few others echoing him.
"And yet in the more serious problems of late, they've proven they are more than capable of pulling their weight," Mithra pointed out. "Kim KyuJong has always been an asset to us, his efficiency top notch, even without using his status as an ankou. And not many of our human anti-hunters would put themselves in the way of almost certain death to secure a mission."
The leaders still argued, but a few were nodding, the sole woman watching KyuJong and JungMin with keen interest.
YoungSaeng looked down at HyunJoong. "What do you think?" he murmured quietly.
“I think…” HyunJoong cast a glance at that, and with a knowing smile that was too old and shrewd for his ten-year-old face, chuckled. “I think that they’ll be fine.”
It was then that Tukutz interrupted the argument. “Well… I agree that these two are a little premature to undertake such a delicate assignment…”
Tablo looked up at Tukutz in surprise, he had thought that the man would be the first to back them up again. Then, noticing the scandalized look Tablo gave him, Tukutz smiled, giving the younger man a flicker of a wink. “And so, I profess a compromise.”
Gesturing to HyunJoong and YoungSaeng, he smiled. “JungMin sshi and KyuJong sshi can undertake this assignment, however, they will be coached by HyunJoong sshi and YoungSaeng sshi, since the two have proven themselves capable in the exact same mission. I suppose… this should be enough to quell any worries?”
More of the leaders were nodding at that, and though there were still some who were against it, such as MyungSoo, it seemed like a compromise had been met.
"Very well," spoke the oldest of the leaders. "We expect you to keep us informed. I believe I'm right in saying that Tablo sshi and Mithra sshi will continue to watch over the situation?" When Mithra nodded, the leader sat up straight. "Then make it so. Move quickly, but carefully."
Blinking, JungMin looked from face to face, a little caught off guard by the sudden development. Was this really happening?
KyuJong, every bit as dazed, squeezed JungMin’s hand as if to test if everything was real. JungMin’s hand felt real enough… and warm… so perhaps this was really happening.
Meanwhile, HyunJoong looked up at Tukutz with a knowing look. The older man raised an eyebrow before saluting HyunJoong, who in return, smirked and place his hand on his hip, commenting to YoungSaeng. “Man… that guy… really has his own pace… He got us out of trouble and promoted at the same time, all within the span of 10 minutes…”
YoungSaeng relaxed slightly, lips curling upwards slightly in response. Tukutz was really...something. He was glad the man was on their side, or else things could have been so much more troublesome.
Tablo and Mithra fielded the remaining questions, and then they were all bowing before leaving the room, the breath YoungSaeng had been unconsciously holding leaving him. He disliked going before their leaders, even with Tukutz helping them. What made it worse was that not once had MyungSoo let up his criticism, and the way he watched HyunJoong and himself sent shivers through the felinefolk's body.
"Home now?" He asked hesitantly.
Again noticing the way YoungSaeng felt extremely uncomfortable under the scrutiny of the leaders… especially that one, HyunJoong hid his own suspicions, taking up YoungSaeng’s hand and beaming innocently. “Yeah. Let’s go home… you promised me beef!”
He ignored the stare he could practically feel boring into his head, he knew who it was, and frankly, he didn’t like the man one bit. His spirit energy was sour, and that placed him even lower under JaeJoong as far as he was concerned… at least JaeJoong had been okay once… he’d just been… misdirected.
Shaking the sad memories out of his hand, he tugged at YoungSaeng’s hand cheerfully. “Let’s go!”
*************
A few days later found JungMin and HyunJoong in the underground rooms the organization used to train. It was time to make sure JungMin knew enough to ensure he would be able to survive when they infiltrated Hunter HQ.
Unfortunately, JungMin wasn't taking being taught by a ten-year-old very well.
"Why are you showing me this? I already know how to do this," the redhead grumbled, going through the movements for what must have been the hundredth time.
HyunJoong rolled his eyes, sighing and whacking JungMin on the head with a rolled up piece of paper as he’d taken to doing the past few days. “Because you’re not doing it right. Put some more back into it… you’re so slow!”
KyuJong hid a smile, watching them. YoungSaeng was sharing with him some of the emergency procedures to do if they ever fell under suspicion, but he was being distracted by JungMin’s stubbornness.
"You, pay attention too," YoungSaeng chuckled, nudging KyuJong with one foot. Not that he really blamed the ankou; the sight was too amusing.
JungMin shrieked again when he was thwacked. "Yah! I'm gonna tie you from the ceiling if you keep doing that!" He would too, never mind the fact that HyunJoong was actually older than him. He went through the motion again. "Now?"
“Better… now if you can do it ten times in a row without making a mistake, then we’ll go onto the next action.” HyunJoong said calmly, every inch the strict instructor.
KyuJong smirked, before turning back his attention to YoungSaeng, “Sorry… haha… I’ve just never seen JungMin work so hard… for someone I figured as laid back, HyunJoong really pays attentions to the details.”
Listening to JungMin grumble as he did as he was told, YoungSaeng smiled. "The details are what's important. Now, let's review and see if you remember the details. Let's say you're working to smuggle out a few captive non-humans before they are transported to the dungeons and considered inaccessible. You manage to make the escape look accidental, or even better the fault of another hunter, but the shipment driver spotted you at the last second, not trying hard enough to catch the escaping non-humans."
“Hmm… that is true…” KyuJong sobered up. YoungSaeng was right… attention to detail could mean life or death in the situation they were going to be in. “Wow… I never thought about it like that… how long were you undercover for actually, YoungSaeng sshi?”
YoungSaeng tilted his head slightly to one side, thinking. "It must be close to 2 years now. I met HyunJoong a little over 2 years ago, and we started working undercover a few months after that." Once he had understood that HyunJoong wasn't going to offer him back to the hunters, he'd wanted to help get back at the sadistic humans who'd turned his life upside-down.
"Now, focus. What are you supposed to do if you think someone has the suspicions that could compromise your position in HQ?"
Wow… two whole years. That was a long time to go undercover… a long time living in fear of being discovered… a long time of pretending to be something you were not…
Somehow, now, this job didn’t seem like such a good thing anymore. And KyuJong just couldn’t seem to concentrate enough to answer YoungSaeng’s question. “I… uh… I would…”
"..." Watching the expression on KyuJong's face, YoungSaeng sighed. "Hey...I'm not saying that it won't be tough. There will be a lot of things you'll have to do that you won't like, and you'll have no choice but to play along. Everyone in this organization who doesn't know of your position will hate you." He smiled bitterly.
"It's brutal. But at the same time...you're the best chance any of those non-humans in the dungeons have at ever seeing the sky again. You're their salvation, even if they don't know it. And at the same time, you can sabotage HQ from the inside, foil plans to capture or kill more innocents...it's hard, but it's worth it in the end."
"Besides, you'll have the red-headed clown with you, so I doubt you'll be too lonely."
KyuJong smiled at YoungSaeng’s reassurance. And casting a glance at JungMin, he thought that YoungSaeng was right - as tough as it would be, the only person that he never wanted to hate him would be in the same boat together… and that made everything right.
“Thanks, YoungSaeng sshi…” KyuJong smiled, his determination restored. He would have to pay full attention if he wanted to protect JungMin. “All right, what was your question again?”
Smiling, YoungSaeng was about to repeat the question when a commotion from the center of the room caught their attention. HyunJoong must have whacked JungMin with the paper again, because the redhead had finally reached the limit to his patience.
The felinefolk watched with much amusement as JungMin picked up HyunJoong and hung him from a clothes hangar by the back of his shirt before leaving the room, fuming.
"...I think our productivity has ended for the day," YoungSaeng remarked, managing not to laugh. "Maybe you should follow your master before he blows something up."
KyuJong didn’t have such a restraint, and did burst out into laughter at the sour look HyunJoong had on his face as he screamed after JungMin. Nodding, he tottered out of the room, somehow managing to shout for JungMin to wait up for him while laughing.
HyunJoong scowled, reaching up and trying to get himself down, but to no avail. “Stupid redhead who thinks he’s already good… bah… stupid, idiot…”
Finally laughing once KyuJong had left the room, YoungSaeng stood and padded over, eyes dancing. "The rolled-up newspaper may have been a bit much," he observed, lips curled upwards as he watched HyunJoong dangle high off the ground. Maybe he should get him down, but right now it was just too funny.
HyunJoong scowled, “Daniel hyung did the same thing to me and I didn’t hang him off a clothes hanger…” He glared at YoungSaeng, folding his arms, having given up trying to get himself down. “Stop laughing and help me down!”
"Maybe you would have if he was a midget," YoungSaeng teased, amused. "But Hyunnie...you're finally your proper height again," he remarked, before bursting out into laughter again.
He couldn't remember ever laughing this much before...not in years. But the expression on HyunJoong's face drew it out of him.
HyunJoong let out a sigh, his anger and irritation deflated by how carefree YoungSaeng’s laughter sounded. He didn’t think he’d heard the felinefolk ever laugh like this before…
But still… being dangled from a clothes hanger wasn’t exactly comfortable. And so letting out a sigh, he folded his arms. “Well, fine. Laugh. But at least get me down?”
YoungSaeng recovered enough to smile, nodding before he reached out and carefully plucked HyunJoong off the hanger, placing him back on solid ground. "Better?" he asked, before giggling again. "Aw...I should have taken a picture..."
"I think the rest of the afternoon has just become free..." He mused. Unless by some miracle they could get JungMin back over here.
HyunJoong rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah… laugh all you want… And even if that redhead comes begging for me to teach him, I’m not going to!” He huffed, beginning to storm off.
Smiling, YoungSaeng followed after the child, keeping pace easily. "You say that now, but you know Daniel hyung will have your head if you don't get him ready," he chuckled. "What now?"
“Aish… he’ll be fine.” HyunJoong sighed. “When the time comes for him to perform, he will… I’m just making a show of teaching him so the higher ups won’t nag…”
He tilted his head up, his mood suddenly changing. It was a little disconcerting, but it was one of the things that came with his new body. “Ah… so anyway, we have the rest of the day off, since that stubborn red-head won’t learn… let’s go do something fun!”
Raising an eyebrow at the sudden mood swing, YoungSaeng restrained another smile. "Something fun? What did you have in mind?" YoungSaeng was unsure what would constitute as 'fun' for a half-child, half-adult HyunJoong. He hadn't been around children in a while, and had always turned down any offer of 'fun' from the adult HyunJoong anyways.
“Uh…” HyunJoong paused, thinking. What could they do together? Hmm… “I’m not really sure… Hmm… I just realized I haven’t had any real fun since… well… 5 years ago… maybe even more than that…” HyunJoong sunk deep into thought… then looking up, he nodded as if coming to a decision within himself.
“Okay… I’ve decided… let’s go… to the organization’s underground park!”
The underground park was literally what it was. It was built by the designers of the anti-hunter organization so that the non-human’s in the place could have somewhere to relax and bring their kids to. It was usually bustling with activity, filled with both humans and non-humans alike.
YoungSaeng blinked at that, and nodded after a moment. During the last 2 years with HyunJoong, he'd only seen the underground park in passing. All his memories of the place were from ages ago.
He wondered how much it had changed in 15 years.
"...Sure, why not?" He said, a small smile curling his lips. "You'll have to remind me where it is though." He couldn't remember the way, not that he could be expected to. The felinefolk stepped forward to walk beside HyunJoong rather than behind.
Despite his annoyance at their cover being blown, there was something soothing about being back in the organization they worked for officially, and being able to walk beside HyunJoong like an equal.
HyunJoong grinned as YoungSaeng walked by his side, happily allowing the felinefolk to do so. Frankly, he’d been rather irritated by the way YoungSaeng had to pretend to be submissive to him - this was so much better.
They got to the park soon enough, and HyunJoong paused at the entrance, taking in everything that had changed since the last time he came in. “Woah… it’s changed quite a lot.”
For one thing, there was lot more stuff here now - where there used to be empty space was more playgrounds, activity centers, small shops selling snacks… and so on. And there seemed to be a lot more people than HyunJoong remembered - evidence of how much the anti-hunter organization had grown.
Looking around with wide eyes and perked-up ears, YoungSaeng nearly bumped into HyunJoong. "It's a lot...bigger," the felinefolk murmured, though he really shouldn't have been as surprised as he was.
Seeing the amount of people made him a little uneasy (after being separated from others for so long he had grown comfortable that way), but YoungSaeng ignored that in favor of the need to explore the underground park. His memories of it were hazy. "Where first?" he asked, stepping in hesitantly and quickly stopping to avoid being bowled over by a blur that whizzed by, a brightly colored Fae flitting around.
“Uh…” HyunJoong shrugged, a little overwhelmed. Part of him (the kid part) wanted to just run straight off to whatever caught his fancy, but another part kept him staying put, and he reached out to hold YoungSaeng’s hand. “Hmm… how about let’s get a snack first? Ice cream?”
Feeling the small hand fit into his own, YoungSaeng looked down at HyunJoong before smiling faintly and curling his fingers slightly, securing the grip. The amount of time he hesitated before responding to the touch was slowly decreasing.
"Ice cream sounds good," he agreed, starting forward and looking around as they walked, both looking for a place that would sell ice cream and just taking everything in.
The ice cream place was easy to find enough - HyunJoong’s kid instincts making it so, and they had just gotten into the queue (with HyunJoong insisting on getting chocolate and peanut butter even though they’d found out a couple of days ago that it made him hyper), when someone tapped HyunJoong on the back.
“Hey! Don’t I know you from somewhere?” a small-sized female feather-folk with soft blue eyes asked when HyunJoong turned around. “I swear… you look like someone I know from ten years ago…”
Slowly, a smile spread across HyunJoong’s face. “Haneul ah! It’s me, HyunJoong! Don’t you recognize me?”
“Eh? HyunJoong?” the feather-folk was startled, gazing up and down HyunJoong’s form. “But aren’t you human, how come you haven’t changed at all?”
HyunJoong laughed, “Well… it’s a long story… Anyway, this is YoungSaeng, my partner! YoungSaeng, this is Haneul, an old friend of mine. We used to play together in the sandbox here… only I don’t think it’s around anymore…”
Watching the exchange with interest, YoungSaeng smiled politely when he was introduced. "It's nice to meet you, Haneul sshi," he said, not really sure what else to say other than that. So he just fell silent again, instead watching HyunJoong interact with the girl with interest. It was very different than how HyunJoong had needed to act in the company of hunters for the past 2 years.
HyunJoong was in the process of chatting animatedly to Haneul, ice cream all forgotten. They hadn’t seen each other for so long, and there was a lot of catching up to do. And slowly, the crowd around HyunJoong began to grow - old friends Haneul called to, new friends that wanted to be introduced, and some stragglers who just wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
However, throughout, HyunJoong never failed to introduce YoungSaeng to them.
Doing his best to keep up with all the new arrivals, YoungSaeng soon was forced to give up the idea of actually putting names and faces together. Naturally wary of crowds, he did his best to relax and managed to start a few conversations on his own while HyunJoong was occupied, but one eye was always on his master.
There were so many people so curious about one child...drawn to him like moths to a candle. No...moths to a bonfire.
Well, this was a little overwhelming, and noticing the discomfort on YoungSaeng’s face, HyunJoong began to withdraw himself from the crowd with quick excuses and pulled the felinefolk away from the store.
“Huh…” he commented once they were somewhat free. “I never realized how many friends I had when I was a kid…”
Following HyunJoong willingly, YoungSaeng held back a small sigh of relief. Too many people.
"Social butterfly," he commented, smiling again after a moment. Even those who hadn't known HyunJoong had been attracted though.
"So...what n-"
"YoungSaeng hyung? Heo YoungSaeng, is that you?"
Pausing, YoungSaeng squeaked when he was suddenly assaulted from behind. A young man hugged the suddenly stiff felinefolk before stepping around to where he could be seen.
Wide eyes looked from YoungSaeng to HyunJoong with interest. "It's been years! Aw, who's this? He's cute!" The new arrival crouched down in front of HyunJoong, long, rabbit ears flopping into his own face as he did so. "Hi!"
HyunJoong was just about to retort to the social butterfly comment when his partner was suddenly accosted from behind by what seemed to be a… man… with rabbit ears. Well, that was an interesting twist to the usual bunny girls.
Turning to YoungSaeng for help when the new arrival crouched in front of him, he ventured a slightly nervous “Hi…” this half rabbit’s spiritual energy was… huge…
It took a moment for YoungSaeng to place a name to the familiar face; it had been 15 years after all. As such, he looked just as baffled as his master when HyunJoong turned to him for assistance.
Thankfully, the new arrival quickly resumed talking. "I wasn't expecting to see you around again! I mean, my parents thought for sure the entire litter was done for. When did you get back?"
Then YoungSaeng remembered. Right...their parents had been friends, and this hyperactive bunny boy had attached himself to YoungSaeng since he was the youngest of his litter.
"Um...not that...long ago," YoungSaeng muttered. Seeing that the boy was ready to start asking more questions, and possibly bring up subjects YoungSaeng didn't want discussed, the felinefolk hurriedly stepped in. "HyunJoong, this is...HyungJoon. Our parents were acquainted." The almost identical names nearly had him tongue-tied for a second.
"Nice to meet you!" HyungJoon smiled at the child, all overly curious goodwill.
“HyungJoon…” HyunJoong blinked at the name that was too similar to his own. “I see… it’s nice to meet you too, HyungJoon sshi…”
He looked over at the half bunny curiously, wondering what sort of history he had with YoungSaeng, as well as why he had such a ridiculously huge energy. It was almost rival to JaeJoong’s… yet the man had this sort of dazed look to him, not exactly befitting of his powers.
"Oh, don't bother with the 'sshi', no one does," HyungJoon said, waving one hand absently. He was the exact same as YoungSaeng remembered him. Despite the enormous power being practically one-of-a-kind gave him (how many young men had giant bunny ears, even in the organization?), he seemed to be ignorant of it. Or if he knew, he just didn't seem to care. Not once could YoungSaeng remember him using his energy for anything other than small pranks.
"Say, have you guys seen the new playground they set up in the back? I swear, they're going for something out of a Japanese game show," HyungJoon laughed, bouncing to his feet and smacking himself with his ears yet again. "Let me show you!"
“Er… okay…” HyunJoong blinked, a little overwhelmed by the guy though he didn’t show it. Years of being undercover had given him quite a good poker face after all. “Lead the way!”
HyungJoon didn't need any more encouragement than that, and he quickly took off down the path, then seemed to realize belatedly that they weren't going to be going as fast as him and doubled back before he lost them. YoungSaeng couldn't help the amused curl of his lips. Baby would be Baby.
It wasn't long before they reached the playground, and YoungSaeng rather thought 'playground' didn't exactly fit it. It was more like...a water park? A giant swimming pool with floating platforms, and walkways going from one to the other. It really was like those game shows, with padded obstacles set up to knock an unsuspecting victim off the platforms and into the water. There was a loud splash as a young girl who had been cleverly climbing the ropes to avoid being nailed suddenly had a gallon of water dumped on her, and she fell into the pool with a squeak.
HyunJoong scratched his head as he saw the rather flamboyant pool. So this was what they had been doing with the money he sent back to the organization. “Huh… okay… this looks… interesting.”
Actually, it looked rather daunting… and although HyunJoong didn’t really mind getting wet, this stuff looked… rather dangerous. And extreme. And although he could swim as an adult, he wondered if he could do so now, in this new fragile body of his.
Seeming to pick up on the unease, HyungJoon waved his hand. "Everything's padded to an extreme so nothing actually hurts, but the people with wings usually get them shielded before going to play just in case, since anything can take out a pair of wings. Come on Saengie hyung, let's go!"
Squeaking when his hands were grabbed, YoungSaeng dug in his feet. "Water!"
"Come on~, you take showers don't you? Just don't get knocked in and you're all good!" HyungJoon turned a wide-eyed, pleading look to HyunJoong, enough to compete with the child's own. "Help me get YoungSaeng hyung in?"
Not that the pleading look worked, but HyunJoong giggled and redirected the pleading look to YoungSaeng. “Please, Saeng, let’s go together?”
He was curious to see how YoungSaeng operated in water, and frankly, the bunny’s upbeat manner was beginning to get infectious.
"Hyun!" YoungSaeng cried out in dismay when his master took HyungJoon's side. Trying to avoid the puppy-eyed look, he could feel himself giving in, and then HyungJoon was pulling him towards the first of the floating platforms, the only one connected to dry land.
"The point is to get through all the obstacles, and to the top of the last platform, and blow that horn," the bunny explained, pointing towards the horn in question. "When that happens, everyone else on the platforms usually take to the water, whether they want to or not." Buckets of water would ensure that.
"So it's...like a race," YoungSaeng muttered uneasily, and at some point he had grabbed onto HyunJoong's hand. A race basically guaranteed he was getting soaked unless he got to that horn thing first.
"Yup!" HyungJoon waved to them both before leaping nimbly onto the first platform, arms out for balance. YoungSaeng watched him easily avoid the first obstacle, a large spinning arm, and run across the boardwalk to the next platform.
It was like training in a way...a fun way to improve your coordination and reflexes. If it weren’t for the ominous pool below the platforms, YoungSaeng wouldn't have minded so much.
HyunJoong blinked at the hand which had somehow gravitated into his, and he turned away hiding a smile. Somehow, this was a rather happy side effect.
However, his thoughts quickly returned to the task at hand as he watched HyungJoon pass by the first obstacle easily.
’Huh… this is like a training course… figures. The organization wouldn’t give up a chance to help train future agents…’ HyunJoong thought to himself, before he shrugged. “Well, I guess let’s give it a try.”
HyunJoong pulled away from YoungSaeng, leaping onto the first platform and easily avoiding the first obstacle, since his body was a lot smaller, thus giving him more space to maneuver. Moving onto the next platform, he turned around, calling to YoungSaeng. “Come on, Saeng!”
Feeling the small hand slip out of his own, YoungSaeng watched with wide eyes as HyunJoong moved on past the first platform easily. It seemed to get harder as you went along. Swallowing, and shoving back every single cat instinct that was screaming at him this was a moronic thing to do, he ran onto the first platform.
Though he wasn't as small as HyunJoong was now, he was agile, and YoungSaeng leapt over the padded arm as it swung his way before making his way to where HyunJoong was. They were being sprayed by a light mist, his fur and long hair becoming damp.
“There… see, that wasn’t so bad!” HyunJoong grinned broadly, grabbing YoungSaeng’s hand and squeezing reassuringly. Then leaning over, he whispered, “I’ll try to fish you out even if you fall in. And I’ll treat you to a cup of honey milk later if you do.” He knew that YoungSaeng was probably going against all his instincts just to stand here with him right now.
Blinking at his master, and trying not to wonder how HyunJoong would 'fish him out' when he was half his height, YoungSaeng felt a small smile form on his lips before he nodded.
"Come on guys!" HyungJoon yelled from three platforms ahead, waving at them.
Looking up, YoungSaeng blinked. "Joonie, watch out for the..." He trailed off as the bunny was swept right off his feet and into the water with a yelp and a loud splash. The felinefolk couldn't help but laugh.
Wincing as the bunny fell prey to one of the many obstacles that dotted the course, HyunJoong began to laugh as well when he saw the amused look on YoungSaeng’s face. Then, a mischievous grin broke out as he tugged the felinefolk forward. “Come on, let’s show him what the anti-hunter HQ’s top pair can do!”
And running forward, he continued on the course with much vigor.
Nodding, YoungSaeng tried in vain to shake the water droplets off his tail and ears before following after his master. Settling down into a crouch, he found the slippery platforms tricky to navigate; even just running along them was asking to slide right off. That was without the various obstacles in their way.
Seeing a bucket of water tipping over farther up, YoungSaeng reached out and pulled HyunJoong back before he could be nailed by it. "I've got your back," he said, breathing uneven but a small smile playing on his lips.
HyunJoong yelped as he was suddenly pulled back, and then let out a squeak when a ton of water just splashed right in front of him. Looking back, he grinned and nodded. “You sure do! Thanks~”
Once the way was clear they continued, the pace quickening. From HyungJoon's mess-up, it was clear that staying immobile would land you in the water even faster than tripping over the obstacles.
Pausing for a moment to consider the ropes where the girl from before was still trying to cross, YoungSaeng yelped when he was suddenly on his stomach on the spongy platform, knocked over by a slowly rotating arm he hadn't seen.
He was several steps ahead, moving a lot easier due to his small body, but then, he turned around at YoungSaeng’s yelp, and quickly doubled back to help his partner.
But as he neared, his sharp eyes caught another obstacle heading YoungSaeng’s way. And biting his lip, he rushed forward, and using the momentum he gained, pushed YoungSaeng out of the way.
However, he wasn’t quite in time to dodge the obstacle and ended up being smacked straight off the platform. “Woah!”
Authors: curionenene and yeonah
Chapter: 17/?
Fandom: SS501 + Epik High Cameos
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, HyunJoong, and Tablo are played by curionenene , while JungMin, YoungSaeng and Mithra are played by yeonah .
HyunJoong had the strongest urge to cover his ears. As an adult, he already didn’t have the patience to deal with this kind of crap. As a kid, he could barely stand still, hopping lightly from one leg to another, trying to pay attention.
It wasn't working though. All he heard was: nag, nag, nag, scold, nag, nag, nag…
Chewing on the inside of his cheek to remain silent, YoungSaeng subtly kicked HyunJoong's foot when the child's shuffling became too obvious. They couldn't afford to tick these people off anymore than they already had.
Tablo and Mithra were doing their best to direct the leader's attention in a more positive way, but sometimes it just didn't work, and YoungSaeng wanted to snap back at them could you have done any better? He managed to hold his tongue, not usually this hotheaded, but he felt the need to stand up for HyunJoong.
Especially when one of the leaders seemed determined to peg all the fault on his master.
"All those lives lost, for what? One person? If this ankou was capable of killing the kitsune," the older man waved one hand at KyuJong, not even looking at him, "then why didn't he just do it? Half our organization was killed out there. Half. For one person, who can't even begin to make up for those lives because he's in the body of a child."
HyunJoong quietened down when YoungSaeng kicked him, his adult rationality understanding the reason behind that kick. But five seconds later, he had this scratchy feeling in his stomach, and his brain was wandering everywhere. He knew he was being insulted, but frankly he really didn’t care. All he wanted to do was pee…
Ugh… this was more annoying than he had first thought.
“Sir…” Tablo quickly injected when he saw that HyunJoong wasn’t going to defend himself. “May I remind everyone that this child is a Merus and therefore a great asset to the organization. If we hadn’t gotten him back, then the kitsune who took him would have gone on and killed everyone on the planet - not only would have the organization been at risk, but millions of innocent lives.”
"Millions of innocent lives could have still been at risk, Tablo sshi," the man, Yang MyungSoo said sternly. "This was a shot in the dark, and the fact that you are so close to the Merus means that your judgment was most likely impaired. If the reckless attempt to save this child had gone wrong, the ankou could have been compromised as well, and with him our chance at stopping the fox. Your methods have to be taken into question."
JungMin shuffled beside KyuJong, not liking the way the man referred to KyuJong as a thing rather than a person, and the fact that the redhead was holding his tongue was far more obvious than it was with YoungSaeng.
Sensing JungMin’s irritation, KyuJong reached out slowly, grabbing the human’s hand reassuringly. Things were already pretty bad, and if they did or said anything out of turn, things would only get worse. Although… he really didn’t like this man who seemed to be thoroughly against HyunJoong. His life energy was… sour… somehow. And that made KyuJong instinctively wary of him. Looking at the fidgeting HyunJoong, he wondered if he was feeling it too.
“Well, I admit that I might have pulled out more resources than I’d normally have…” Tablo said slowly, hoping that his admission to his mistake would soften MyungSoo. “However, things worked out in the end. Perhaps, not very favorable on paper, but taking things into context, it was a very good result. You were there when the kitsune went rogue 5 years ago, MyungSoo nim, and you know how much damage that caused."
Thankfully, one of the other leaders stepped in before it could get out of hand. "We are all aware of what happened 5 years ago, Tablo sshi," she sighed, one hand against her temple. "Which is why, although I do not condone the idea of sacrificing so many lives, I do believe you all handled this as best as you could on such a short notice."
YoungSaeng watched as MyungSoo leaned back, obviously angered, but not speaking again. Relaxing somewhat, the felinefolk glanced at HyunJoong again, then back at the leaders.
"Meanwhile, we need to plan for the future," the only woman leader continued. "The Hunter organization was weakened by the attack, but they have always found supporters from all locations and it won't take them long to be up to full strength. And now that we lack eyes inside their headquarters, we will be at a serious disadvantage if we don't act soon, while they are still in disarray."
“Well…” a voice suddenly spoke up from the side. KyuJong blinked, turning to place his attention on a leader that had been quiet so far. “Then, I suppose we don’t really have a problem at all…”
KyuJong blinked, tilting his head in confusion. The ankou hadn’t really noticed him earlier; probably since the rest of the spirit energies in the room were so domineering and powerful, that this man’s seemed to pale in comparison. But now that he was paying attention, KyuJong could see the strength in his spirit, subtle power in his every word. It showed in the way everyone was paying full attention to him, despite his extremely relaxed sitting position.
Mithra tilted his head slightly as he observed the man who'd spoken up, a faint smile dancing across his lips. Trust him to always come to their rescue...
One of the other leader's leaned forward. "How so? Explain yourself, Tukutz."
Blinking, YoungSaeng smiled faintly, relaxing a little further. Here was one of the leaders he didn't actually mind. While he spoke up rarely, he seemed to set everyone at ease immediately. Even prickly MyungSoo couldn't talk back to Tukutz.
“Well~” Tukutz waved his hand lazily about. “Now that the Hunter organization’s numbers has been severely cut down, that means they’re looking to recruit new people, no? We can easily take that chance to sneak in one of our own into the HQ again. No problem.”
HyunJoong raised an eyebrow in interest, even his child’s instincts calming down around this man. He’d always liked Tukutz, ever since he was a kid. And even though HyunJoong reckoned that Tukutz was actually only a few years older than him, he’d always behaved the way he had - even now. Lazy, relaxed, but somehow still powerful and commanding.
"That doesn't sound that bad," mused the woman. "Although I would like for HyunJoong and YoungSaeng to take their positions inside Hunter HQ again, since they did such a great job, it would be impossible now. Even if HyunJoong wasn't in this state...your cover is blown completely, correct?"
YoungSaeng nodded when she looked at him.
"Any recommendations for who you would like to infiltrate HQ instead?" she asked, looking at them all. "It couldn't be just anyone...word could get out too easily if it was known we are looking for a pair to work from the inside."
There was silence for a moment, except for the murmurs of the leaders talking among themselves. Spotting JungMin and KyuJong holding hands out of the corner of his vision, Mithra held back a smirk.
And, subtly, he nudged Tablo beside him and directed his attention towards the two standing at the back.
Tablo blinked, turning to where Mithra was pointing. He didn’t understand at first, but then, looking back at Mithra and the smirk on his face, he slowly grinned in understanding.
“I have a recommendation.” He spoke up, acting the attention of the leaders. “I recommend… Park JungMin and Kim KyuJong.”
JungMin's eyes widened as he looked at Tablo, then at KyuJong. What? Were they even eligible for undercover operations?
Instantly protests rose from some of the leaders. "Their track record is far from satisfactory, and this operation is far too delicate," exclaimed MyungSoo, a few others echoing him.
"And yet in the more serious problems of late, they've proven they are more than capable of pulling their weight," Mithra pointed out. "Kim KyuJong has always been an asset to us, his efficiency top notch, even without using his status as an ankou. And not many of our human anti-hunters would put themselves in the way of almost certain death to secure a mission."
The leaders still argued, but a few were nodding, the sole woman watching KyuJong and JungMin with keen interest.
YoungSaeng looked down at HyunJoong. "What do you think?" he murmured quietly.
“I think…” HyunJoong cast a glance at that, and with a knowing smile that was too old and shrewd for his ten-year-old face, chuckled. “I think that they’ll be fine.”
It was then that Tukutz interrupted the argument. “Well… I agree that these two are a little premature to undertake such a delicate assignment…”
Tablo looked up at Tukutz in surprise, he had thought that the man would be the first to back them up again. Then, noticing the scandalized look Tablo gave him, Tukutz smiled, giving the younger man a flicker of a wink. “And so, I profess a compromise.”
Gesturing to HyunJoong and YoungSaeng, he smiled. “JungMin sshi and KyuJong sshi can undertake this assignment, however, they will be coached by HyunJoong sshi and YoungSaeng sshi, since the two have proven themselves capable in the exact same mission. I suppose… this should be enough to quell any worries?”
More of the leaders were nodding at that, and though there were still some who were against it, such as MyungSoo, it seemed like a compromise had been met.
"Very well," spoke the oldest of the leaders. "We expect you to keep us informed. I believe I'm right in saying that Tablo sshi and Mithra sshi will continue to watch over the situation?" When Mithra nodded, the leader sat up straight. "Then make it so. Move quickly, but carefully."
Blinking, JungMin looked from face to face, a little caught off guard by the sudden development. Was this really happening?
KyuJong, every bit as dazed, squeezed JungMin’s hand as if to test if everything was real. JungMin’s hand felt real enough… and warm… so perhaps this was really happening.
Meanwhile, HyunJoong looked up at Tukutz with a knowing look. The older man raised an eyebrow before saluting HyunJoong, who in return, smirked and place his hand on his hip, commenting to YoungSaeng. “Man… that guy… really has his own pace… He got us out of trouble and promoted at the same time, all within the span of 10 minutes…”
YoungSaeng relaxed slightly, lips curling upwards slightly in response. Tukutz was really...something. He was glad the man was on their side, or else things could have been so much more troublesome.
Tablo and Mithra fielded the remaining questions, and then they were all bowing before leaving the room, the breath YoungSaeng had been unconsciously holding leaving him. He disliked going before their leaders, even with Tukutz helping them. What made it worse was that not once had MyungSoo let up his criticism, and the way he watched HyunJoong and himself sent shivers through the felinefolk's body.
"Home now?" He asked hesitantly.
Again noticing the way YoungSaeng felt extremely uncomfortable under the scrutiny of the leaders… especially that one, HyunJoong hid his own suspicions, taking up YoungSaeng’s hand and beaming innocently. “Yeah. Let’s go home… you promised me beef!”
He ignored the stare he could practically feel boring into his head, he knew who it was, and frankly, he didn’t like the man one bit. His spirit energy was sour, and that placed him even lower under JaeJoong as far as he was concerned… at least JaeJoong had been okay once… he’d just been… misdirected.
Shaking the sad memories out of his hand, he tugged at YoungSaeng’s hand cheerfully. “Let’s go!”
*************
A few days later found JungMin and HyunJoong in the underground rooms the organization used to train. It was time to make sure JungMin knew enough to ensure he would be able to survive when they infiltrated Hunter HQ.
Unfortunately, JungMin wasn't taking being taught by a ten-year-old very well.
"Why are you showing me this? I already know how to do this," the redhead grumbled, going through the movements for what must have been the hundredth time.
HyunJoong rolled his eyes, sighing and whacking JungMin on the head with a rolled up piece of paper as he’d taken to doing the past few days. “Because you’re not doing it right. Put some more back into it… you’re so slow!”
KyuJong hid a smile, watching them. YoungSaeng was sharing with him some of the emergency procedures to do if they ever fell under suspicion, but he was being distracted by JungMin’s stubbornness.
"You, pay attention too," YoungSaeng chuckled, nudging KyuJong with one foot. Not that he really blamed the ankou; the sight was too amusing.
JungMin shrieked again when he was thwacked. "Yah! I'm gonna tie you from the ceiling if you keep doing that!" He would too, never mind the fact that HyunJoong was actually older than him. He went through the motion again. "Now?"
“Better… now if you can do it ten times in a row without making a mistake, then we’ll go onto the next action.” HyunJoong said calmly, every inch the strict instructor.
KyuJong smirked, before turning back his attention to YoungSaeng, “Sorry… haha… I’ve just never seen JungMin work so hard… for someone I figured as laid back, HyunJoong really pays attentions to the details.”
Listening to JungMin grumble as he did as he was told, YoungSaeng smiled. "The details are what's important. Now, let's review and see if you remember the details. Let's say you're working to smuggle out a few captive non-humans before they are transported to the dungeons and considered inaccessible. You manage to make the escape look accidental, or even better the fault of another hunter, but the shipment driver spotted you at the last second, not trying hard enough to catch the escaping non-humans."
“Hmm… that is true…” KyuJong sobered up. YoungSaeng was right… attention to detail could mean life or death in the situation they were going to be in. “Wow… I never thought about it like that… how long were you undercover for actually, YoungSaeng sshi?”
YoungSaeng tilted his head slightly to one side, thinking. "It must be close to 2 years now. I met HyunJoong a little over 2 years ago, and we started working undercover a few months after that." Once he had understood that HyunJoong wasn't going to offer him back to the hunters, he'd wanted to help get back at the sadistic humans who'd turned his life upside-down.
"Now, focus. What are you supposed to do if you think someone has the suspicions that could compromise your position in HQ?"
Wow… two whole years. That was a long time to go undercover… a long time living in fear of being discovered… a long time of pretending to be something you were not…
Somehow, now, this job didn’t seem like such a good thing anymore. And KyuJong just couldn’t seem to concentrate enough to answer YoungSaeng’s question. “I… uh… I would…”
"..." Watching the expression on KyuJong's face, YoungSaeng sighed. "Hey...I'm not saying that it won't be tough. There will be a lot of things you'll have to do that you won't like, and you'll have no choice but to play along. Everyone in this organization who doesn't know of your position will hate you." He smiled bitterly.
"It's brutal. But at the same time...you're the best chance any of those non-humans in the dungeons have at ever seeing the sky again. You're their salvation, even if they don't know it. And at the same time, you can sabotage HQ from the inside, foil plans to capture or kill more innocents...it's hard, but it's worth it in the end."
"Besides, you'll have the red-headed clown with you, so I doubt you'll be too lonely."
KyuJong smiled at YoungSaeng’s reassurance. And casting a glance at JungMin, he thought that YoungSaeng was right - as tough as it would be, the only person that he never wanted to hate him would be in the same boat together… and that made everything right.
“Thanks, YoungSaeng sshi…” KyuJong smiled, his determination restored. He would have to pay full attention if he wanted to protect JungMin. “All right, what was your question again?”
Smiling, YoungSaeng was about to repeat the question when a commotion from the center of the room caught their attention. HyunJoong must have whacked JungMin with the paper again, because the redhead had finally reached the limit to his patience.
The felinefolk watched with much amusement as JungMin picked up HyunJoong and hung him from a clothes hangar by the back of his shirt before leaving the room, fuming.
"...I think our productivity has ended for the day," YoungSaeng remarked, managing not to laugh. "Maybe you should follow your master before he blows something up."
KyuJong didn’t have such a restraint, and did burst out into laughter at the sour look HyunJoong had on his face as he screamed after JungMin. Nodding, he tottered out of the room, somehow managing to shout for JungMin to wait up for him while laughing.
HyunJoong scowled, reaching up and trying to get himself down, but to no avail. “Stupid redhead who thinks he’s already good… bah… stupid, idiot…”
Finally laughing once KyuJong had left the room, YoungSaeng stood and padded over, eyes dancing. "The rolled-up newspaper may have been a bit much," he observed, lips curled upwards as he watched HyunJoong dangle high off the ground. Maybe he should get him down, but right now it was just too funny.
HyunJoong scowled, “Daniel hyung did the same thing to me and I didn’t hang him off a clothes hanger…” He glared at YoungSaeng, folding his arms, having given up trying to get himself down. “Stop laughing and help me down!”
"Maybe you would have if he was a midget," YoungSaeng teased, amused. "But Hyunnie...you're finally your proper height again," he remarked, before bursting out into laughter again.
He couldn't remember ever laughing this much before...not in years. But the expression on HyunJoong's face drew it out of him.
HyunJoong let out a sigh, his anger and irritation deflated by how carefree YoungSaeng’s laughter sounded. He didn’t think he’d heard the felinefolk ever laugh like this before…
But still… being dangled from a clothes hanger wasn’t exactly comfortable. And so letting out a sigh, he folded his arms. “Well, fine. Laugh. But at least get me down?”
YoungSaeng recovered enough to smile, nodding before he reached out and carefully plucked HyunJoong off the hanger, placing him back on solid ground. "Better?" he asked, before giggling again. "Aw...I should have taken a picture..."
"I think the rest of the afternoon has just become free..." He mused. Unless by some miracle they could get JungMin back over here.
HyunJoong rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah… laugh all you want… And even if that redhead comes begging for me to teach him, I’m not going to!” He huffed, beginning to storm off.
Smiling, YoungSaeng followed after the child, keeping pace easily. "You say that now, but you know Daniel hyung will have your head if you don't get him ready," he chuckled. "What now?"
“Aish… he’ll be fine.” HyunJoong sighed. “When the time comes for him to perform, he will… I’m just making a show of teaching him so the higher ups won’t nag…”
He tilted his head up, his mood suddenly changing. It was a little disconcerting, but it was one of the things that came with his new body. “Ah… so anyway, we have the rest of the day off, since that stubborn red-head won’t learn… let’s go do something fun!”
Raising an eyebrow at the sudden mood swing, YoungSaeng restrained another smile. "Something fun? What did you have in mind?" YoungSaeng was unsure what would constitute as 'fun' for a half-child, half-adult HyunJoong. He hadn't been around children in a while, and had always turned down any offer of 'fun' from the adult HyunJoong anyways.
“Uh…” HyunJoong paused, thinking. What could they do together? Hmm… “I’m not really sure… Hmm… I just realized I haven’t had any real fun since… well… 5 years ago… maybe even more than that…” HyunJoong sunk deep into thought… then looking up, he nodded as if coming to a decision within himself.
“Okay… I’ve decided… let’s go… to the organization’s underground park!”
The underground park was literally what it was. It was built by the designers of the anti-hunter organization so that the non-human’s in the place could have somewhere to relax and bring their kids to. It was usually bustling with activity, filled with both humans and non-humans alike.
YoungSaeng blinked at that, and nodded after a moment. During the last 2 years with HyunJoong, he'd only seen the underground park in passing. All his memories of the place were from ages ago.
He wondered how much it had changed in 15 years.
"...Sure, why not?" He said, a small smile curling his lips. "You'll have to remind me where it is though." He couldn't remember the way, not that he could be expected to. The felinefolk stepped forward to walk beside HyunJoong rather than behind.
Despite his annoyance at their cover being blown, there was something soothing about being back in the organization they worked for officially, and being able to walk beside HyunJoong like an equal.
HyunJoong grinned as YoungSaeng walked by his side, happily allowing the felinefolk to do so. Frankly, he’d been rather irritated by the way YoungSaeng had to pretend to be submissive to him - this was so much better.
They got to the park soon enough, and HyunJoong paused at the entrance, taking in everything that had changed since the last time he came in. “Woah… it’s changed quite a lot.”
For one thing, there was lot more stuff here now - where there used to be empty space was more playgrounds, activity centers, small shops selling snacks… and so on. And there seemed to be a lot more people than HyunJoong remembered - evidence of how much the anti-hunter organization had grown.
Looking around with wide eyes and perked-up ears, YoungSaeng nearly bumped into HyunJoong. "It's a lot...bigger," the felinefolk murmured, though he really shouldn't have been as surprised as he was.
Seeing the amount of people made him a little uneasy (after being separated from others for so long he had grown comfortable that way), but YoungSaeng ignored that in favor of the need to explore the underground park. His memories of it were hazy. "Where first?" he asked, stepping in hesitantly and quickly stopping to avoid being bowled over by a blur that whizzed by, a brightly colored Fae flitting around.
“Uh…” HyunJoong shrugged, a little overwhelmed. Part of him (the kid part) wanted to just run straight off to whatever caught his fancy, but another part kept him staying put, and he reached out to hold YoungSaeng’s hand. “Hmm… how about let’s get a snack first? Ice cream?”
Feeling the small hand fit into his own, YoungSaeng looked down at HyunJoong before smiling faintly and curling his fingers slightly, securing the grip. The amount of time he hesitated before responding to the touch was slowly decreasing.
"Ice cream sounds good," he agreed, starting forward and looking around as they walked, both looking for a place that would sell ice cream and just taking everything in.
The ice cream place was easy to find enough - HyunJoong’s kid instincts making it so, and they had just gotten into the queue (with HyunJoong insisting on getting chocolate and peanut butter even though they’d found out a couple of days ago that it made him hyper), when someone tapped HyunJoong on the back.
“Hey! Don’t I know you from somewhere?” a small-sized female feather-folk with soft blue eyes asked when HyunJoong turned around. “I swear… you look like someone I know from ten years ago…”
Slowly, a smile spread across HyunJoong’s face. “Haneul ah! It’s me, HyunJoong! Don’t you recognize me?”
“Eh? HyunJoong?” the feather-folk was startled, gazing up and down HyunJoong’s form. “But aren’t you human, how come you haven’t changed at all?”
HyunJoong laughed, “Well… it’s a long story… Anyway, this is YoungSaeng, my partner! YoungSaeng, this is Haneul, an old friend of mine. We used to play together in the sandbox here… only I don’t think it’s around anymore…”
Watching the exchange with interest, YoungSaeng smiled politely when he was introduced. "It's nice to meet you, Haneul sshi," he said, not really sure what else to say other than that. So he just fell silent again, instead watching HyunJoong interact with the girl with interest. It was very different than how HyunJoong had needed to act in the company of hunters for the past 2 years.
HyunJoong was in the process of chatting animatedly to Haneul, ice cream all forgotten. They hadn’t seen each other for so long, and there was a lot of catching up to do. And slowly, the crowd around HyunJoong began to grow - old friends Haneul called to, new friends that wanted to be introduced, and some stragglers who just wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
However, throughout, HyunJoong never failed to introduce YoungSaeng to them.
Doing his best to keep up with all the new arrivals, YoungSaeng soon was forced to give up the idea of actually putting names and faces together. Naturally wary of crowds, he did his best to relax and managed to start a few conversations on his own while HyunJoong was occupied, but one eye was always on his master.
There were so many people so curious about one child...drawn to him like moths to a candle. No...moths to a bonfire.
Well, this was a little overwhelming, and noticing the discomfort on YoungSaeng’s face, HyunJoong began to withdraw himself from the crowd with quick excuses and pulled the felinefolk away from the store.
“Huh…” he commented once they were somewhat free. “I never realized how many friends I had when I was a kid…”
Following HyunJoong willingly, YoungSaeng held back a small sigh of relief. Too many people.
"Social butterfly," he commented, smiling again after a moment. Even those who hadn't known HyunJoong had been attracted though.
"So...what n-"
"YoungSaeng hyung? Heo YoungSaeng, is that you?"
Pausing, YoungSaeng squeaked when he was suddenly assaulted from behind. A young man hugged the suddenly stiff felinefolk before stepping around to where he could be seen.
Wide eyes looked from YoungSaeng to HyunJoong with interest. "It's been years! Aw, who's this? He's cute!" The new arrival crouched down in front of HyunJoong, long, rabbit ears flopping into his own face as he did so. "Hi!"
HyunJoong was just about to retort to the social butterfly comment when his partner was suddenly accosted from behind by what seemed to be a… man… with rabbit ears. Well, that was an interesting twist to the usual bunny girls.
Turning to YoungSaeng for help when the new arrival crouched in front of him, he ventured a slightly nervous “Hi…” this half rabbit’s spiritual energy was… huge…
It took a moment for YoungSaeng to place a name to the familiar face; it had been 15 years after all. As such, he looked just as baffled as his master when HyunJoong turned to him for assistance.
Thankfully, the new arrival quickly resumed talking. "I wasn't expecting to see you around again! I mean, my parents thought for sure the entire litter was done for. When did you get back?"
Then YoungSaeng remembered. Right...their parents had been friends, and this hyperactive bunny boy had attached himself to YoungSaeng since he was the youngest of his litter.
"Um...not that...long ago," YoungSaeng muttered. Seeing that the boy was ready to start asking more questions, and possibly bring up subjects YoungSaeng didn't want discussed, the felinefolk hurriedly stepped in. "HyunJoong, this is...HyungJoon. Our parents were acquainted." The almost identical names nearly had him tongue-tied for a second.
"Nice to meet you!" HyungJoon smiled at the child, all overly curious goodwill.
“HyungJoon…” HyunJoong blinked at the name that was too similar to his own. “I see… it’s nice to meet you too, HyungJoon sshi…”
He looked over at the half bunny curiously, wondering what sort of history he had with YoungSaeng, as well as why he had such a ridiculously huge energy. It was almost rival to JaeJoong’s… yet the man had this sort of dazed look to him, not exactly befitting of his powers.
"Oh, don't bother with the 'sshi', no one does," HyungJoon said, waving one hand absently. He was the exact same as YoungSaeng remembered him. Despite the enormous power being practically one-of-a-kind gave him (how many young men had giant bunny ears, even in the organization?), he seemed to be ignorant of it. Or if he knew, he just didn't seem to care. Not once could YoungSaeng remember him using his energy for anything other than small pranks.
"Say, have you guys seen the new playground they set up in the back? I swear, they're going for something out of a Japanese game show," HyungJoon laughed, bouncing to his feet and smacking himself with his ears yet again. "Let me show you!"
“Er… okay…” HyunJoong blinked, a little overwhelmed by the guy though he didn’t show it. Years of being undercover had given him quite a good poker face after all. “Lead the way!”
HyungJoon didn't need any more encouragement than that, and he quickly took off down the path, then seemed to realize belatedly that they weren't going to be going as fast as him and doubled back before he lost them. YoungSaeng couldn't help the amused curl of his lips. Baby would be Baby.
It wasn't long before they reached the playground, and YoungSaeng rather thought 'playground' didn't exactly fit it. It was more like...a water park? A giant swimming pool with floating platforms, and walkways going from one to the other. It really was like those game shows, with padded obstacles set up to knock an unsuspecting victim off the platforms and into the water. There was a loud splash as a young girl who had been cleverly climbing the ropes to avoid being nailed suddenly had a gallon of water dumped on her, and she fell into the pool with a squeak.
HyunJoong scratched his head as he saw the rather flamboyant pool. So this was what they had been doing with the money he sent back to the organization. “Huh… okay… this looks… interesting.”
Actually, it looked rather daunting… and although HyunJoong didn’t really mind getting wet, this stuff looked… rather dangerous. And extreme. And although he could swim as an adult, he wondered if he could do so now, in this new fragile body of his.
Seeming to pick up on the unease, HyungJoon waved his hand. "Everything's padded to an extreme so nothing actually hurts, but the people with wings usually get them shielded before going to play just in case, since anything can take out a pair of wings. Come on Saengie hyung, let's go!"
Squeaking when his hands were grabbed, YoungSaeng dug in his feet. "Water!"
"Come on~, you take showers don't you? Just don't get knocked in and you're all good!" HyungJoon turned a wide-eyed, pleading look to HyunJoong, enough to compete with the child's own. "Help me get YoungSaeng hyung in?"
Not that the pleading look worked, but HyunJoong giggled and redirected the pleading look to YoungSaeng. “Please, Saeng, let’s go together?”
He was curious to see how YoungSaeng operated in water, and frankly, the bunny’s upbeat manner was beginning to get infectious.
"Hyun!" YoungSaeng cried out in dismay when his master took HyungJoon's side. Trying to avoid the puppy-eyed look, he could feel himself giving in, and then HyungJoon was pulling him towards the first of the floating platforms, the only one connected to dry land.
"The point is to get through all the obstacles, and to the top of the last platform, and blow that horn," the bunny explained, pointing towards the horn in question. "When that happens, everyone else on the platforms usually take to the water, whether they want to or not." Buckets of water would ensure that.
"So it's...like a race," YoungSaeng muttered uneasily, and at some point he had grabbed onto HyunJoong's hand. A race basically guaranteed he was getting soaked unless he got to that horn thing first.
"Yup!" HyungJoon waved to them both before leaping nimbly onto the first platform, arms out for balance. YoungSaeng watched him easily avoid the first obstacle, a large spinning arm, and run across the boardwalk to the next platform.
It was like training in a way...a fun way to improve your coordination and reflexes. If it weren’t for the ominous pool below the platforms, YoungSaeng wouldn't have minded so much.
HyunJoong blinked at the hand which had somehow gravitated into his, and he turned away hiding a smile. Somehow, this was a rather happy side effect.
However, his thoughts quickly returned to the task at hand as he watched HyungJoon pass by the first obstacle easily.
’Huh… this is like a training course… figures. The organization wouldn’t give up a chance to help train future agents…’ HyunJoong thought to himself, before he shrugged. “Well, I guess let’s give it a try.”
HyunJoong pulled away from YoungSaeng, leaping onto the first platform and easily avoiding the first obstacle, since his body was a lot smaller, thus giving him more space to maneuver. Moving onto the next platform, he turned around, calling to YoungSaeng. “Come on, Saeng!”
Feeling the small hand slip out of his own, YoungSaeng watched with wide eyes as HyunJoong moved on past the first platform easily. It seemed to get harder as you went along. Swallowing, and shoving back every single cat instinct that was screaming at him this was a moronic thing to do, he ran onto the first platform.
Though he wasn't as small as HyunJoong was now, he was agile, and YoungSaeng leapt over the padded arm as it swung his way before making his way to where HyunJoong was. They were being sprayed by a light mist, his fur and long hair becoming damp.
“There… see, that wasn’t so bad!” HyunJoong grinned broadly, grabbing YoungSaeng’s hand and squeezing reassuringly. Then leaning over, he whispered, “I’ll try to fish you out even if you fall in. And I’ll treat you to a cup of honey milk later if you do.” He knew that YoungSaeng was probably going against all his instincts just to stand here with him right now.
Blinking at his master, and trying not to wonder how HyunJoong would 'fish him out' when he was half his height, YoungSaeng felt a small smile form on his lips before he nodded.
"Come on guys!" HyungJoon yelled from three platforms ahead, waving at them.
Looking up, YoungSaeng blinked. "Joonie, watch out for the..." He trailed off as the bunny was swept right off his feet and into the water with a yelp and a loud splash. The felinefolk couldn't help but laugh.
Wincing as the bunny fell prey to one of the many obstacles that dotted the course, HyunJoong began to laugh as well when he saw the amused look on YoungSaeng’s face. Then, a mischievous grin broke out as he tugged the felinefolk forward. “Come on, let’s show him what the anti-hunter HQ’s top pair can do!”
And running forward, he continued on the course with much vigor.
Nodding, YoungSaeng tried in vain to shake the water droplets off his tail and ears before following after his master. Settling down into a crouch, he found the slippery platforms tricky to navigate; even just running along them was asking to slide right off. That was without the various obstacles in their way.
Seeing a bucket of water tipping over farther up, YoungSaeng reached out and pulled HyunJoong back before he could be nailed by it. "I've got your back," he said, breathing uneven but a small smile playing on his lips.
HyunJoong yelped as he was suddenly pulled back, and then let out a squeak when a ton of water just splashed right in front of him. Looking back, he grinned and nodded. “You sure do! Thanks~”
Once the way was clear they continued, the pace quickening. From HyungJoon's mess-up, it was clear that staying immobile would land you in the water even faster than tripping over the obstacles.
Pausing for a moment to consider the ropes where the girl from before was still trying to cross, YoungSaeng yelped when he was suddenly on his stomach on the spongy platform, knocked over by a slowly rotating arm he hadn't seen.
He was several steps ahead, moving a lot easier due to his small body, but then, he turned around at YoungSaeng’s yelp, and quickly doubled back to help his partner.
But as he neared, his sharp eyes caught another obstacle heading YoungSaeng’s way. And biting his lip, he rushed forward, and using the momentum he gained, pushed YoungSaeng out of the way.
However, he wasn’t quite in time to dodge the obstacle and ended up being smacked straight off the platform. “Woah!”