(Fanfiction) Lullaby
Title: Lullaby
Pairing: Kyumin
Rating: Pg-13;
Genre: Angst, AU
WARNING: Character Death
Notes: Thanks to imhappi for beta-ing! Enjoy!
Summary: Kyuhyun's life began and ended with a lullaby.
***
“Be safe, Kyuhyun!” said Sungmin with a wide grin, as he shouted frantically at the sleek black car pulling out of the driveway in a pale pink sweater. “Be home by 9!” Kyuhyun chuckled, waving slightly, as he watched the receding figure hop, arms flailing, until the bright man disappeared from his view.
***
It had been a blissful year since he and Sungmin had met, and 4 months since they had started living together. Kyuhyun still couldn’t believe he was lucky enough to meet such an amazing person, and occasionally wondered if he was lapsed in a heavnly dream. As he drove down an aisles of old maple trees gloating the rainbow of autumn, the bright leaves made him wistfully think back to their first meeting…
Sitting on a bench some few meters away from the playground, a man quietly gazed at the vivid golden leaves surrounding him, as he hummed a soft tune to himself. Kyuhyun, passing by the playground on an errand, had become mystified, as he semi-consciously inched in to get a better look. The stranger was beautiful; the fair rays of a slowly setting sun kissed his angelically feminine features and flecks of gold danced in his calm, brown eyes. When the man realised that he was gaping at him, he blinked and smiled. Kyuhyun forgot how to breathe. “Would you like to hear a lullaby?” Kyuhyun nodded, taking a seat beside the angelic stranger. With a gentle bob of his head, the man closed his eyes and began to sing.
Since then, Sungmin only sang the lullaby to him. He could almost hear his lush, melodic voice wafting through the car. Drumming his long fingers on the steering wheel, Kyuhyun whispered the lullaby by heart. Such a sad song, he thought, never quite understanding how a children’s tune could be quite so gloomy and beautiful. His mind wandered however, as he passed a small farm which a family friend owned. Ah, I should pick up some strawberries on the way home, Kyuhyun noted, knowing that Sungmin would very pleased to see his favourite fruit in all its ripe glory.
***
His day at the office was typically uneventful. Hustling people walked frantically through floors with thick, manila folders in their hands as everyone else typed feverishly at their computers. To Kyuhyun, it almost seemed as if the days became more and more colorless as the months dragged by. The only thing keeping him in a good mood knowing that he would walk into a warm home that evening to be greeted by the most beautiful being on earth and the dazzling, adoring smile which only Kyuhyun was ever shown. The fact that Sungmin, his Sungmin was waiting patiently at home for him, was more then enough to energize him through the day.
***
When the day finally ended, Kyuhyun practically ran out of the building with Sungmin on his mind. The second he sunk into his car, fat droplets of water hit his windshield. Kyuhyun looked at his watch, which displayed 8:27pm in bright neon green. He remembered his promise to be home by 9, and hoped the rain wouldn’t slow him down too much.
Ploughing through the pouring rain, he dangerously braked in front of the farm. The friendly farmer gave Kyuhyun the keys to the strawberry shed as he went to run an errand. “Betsy ain’t gunna be happy if I don’t round up the equip’nt in the rain.”, he drawled with a chuckle, trusting that Kyuhyun would pay the next time he visited. With the farmer gone with his errand on the other side of the farm, Kyuhyun easily found the shed and unlocked it, though he didn’t see the point of a lock. The shed was run down and old, creaking dangerously under the wind and rain, ominous cracks in the ceiling drenching Kyuhyun.
While frantically searching for the perfect crate of strawberries, there was a roar of thunder and a blinding flash of lightning. With only enough time to turn around, Kyuhyun found himself violently making contact with the ground as a 3 inch thick plank landed on his chest with a sickening thud followed by a crack of bone. He screamed when he felt a rusty nail pierce deep just above his stomach. Kyuhyun could feel a sticky, warm fluid form around the wound, the searing pain causing for him to see white spots. His left arm was caught underneath another plank, and with dread, Kyuhyun found his legs immobile. I’m going to die, flashed briefly through his mind as he realised that the closest hospital was an hour away, Sungmin…he’s waiting at home…Sungmin. With an extraordinary struggle (and a wet spurting noise from the nail puncturing even deeper) Kyuhyun used his right arm to grasp at the cell phone which had fallen just out of his reach- and victoriously grasped its cool, metal surface. Pressing “1”, where he had “Home” on speed dial, he shakily brought the phone to his ear. Kyuhyun barely noticed the blazing pain where he was being punctured, or the fact he was straining to breathe with a heavy plank on top of him and several broken ribs, but rather grasped the cell phone like a life line, praying that Sungmin would pick up.
“Sungmin-ah, how come sometimes when I call, you don’t pick up?” With a grin, Sungmin pecked him on the check. “Cuz it’s dangerous to drive and talk on a cell phone.”
3 nerve racking dial tones later, Kyuhyun’s prayer was answered, “Hello?” Kyuhyun closed his eyes for a split second, just to savour his lover’s sweet voice. “Sungmin…” he gasped. “Kyuhyun? Where are you? Are you ok? You sound sick…” Sungmin frantically retaliated. He was worried. “Just a bit tired, long day” Kyuhyun replied, trying to dismiss the subject “I’m…waiting at a gas station for the rain to stop…” His mind reminded him of the limited amount of time he had left when his vision increasingly blurred and the excruciating pain reached its climax. “Sungmin…you know…that lullaby…” Kyuhyun choked, trying to sound as normal as possible, “I-I memorised it, you know?” Silence. Sungmin responded slowly, admiringly touched, with traces of anxiety “Really, Kyu?” Taking a deep breath, Kyuhyun gasped “I…I want you to s-sing it to me.” Sungmin sensed the absolute desperation in Kyuhyun’s voice and smiled slightly, assuming it to be one of his random whims. His voice softened, laced with adoration “Alright Kyuhyunnie…” Closing his eyes and imagining Sungmin’s beaming smile, glittering eyes, and silky ebony hair, Kyuhyun swallowed and sunk into his love’s voice. He panted hoarsely, breath ridden with pain he barely even felt, the lack of oxygen distorting his senses.
Kyuhyun lay his head in his love’s lap, as Sungmin lovingly stroked his soft brown locks. He closed his eyes as Sungmin’s rich melody filled him, lulling him to a dream-like state, as he wondered what he had done to deserve such a perfect life.
As if his weakening life force granted his final wish, Kyuhyun could almost feel Sungmin’s gentle fingers in his hair and the comfy mattress they shared under him, and the lingering fragrance of home, freshly baked pumpkin pie, fill the shed. He used the last of his remaining breath to very quietly, heart wrenchingly breathe “I love you” into the phone, tears of longing streaming down his ashen cheeks. As his vision discoloured slowly into darkness and the pain faded away, the rain slowed, and the shed echoed a waning line of I love you too…
***
When the farmer returned from his errand, he found Kyuhyun surrounded by a shallow puddle of his own blood, clutching his cell phone so tightly that his knuckles were white. At peace, salty dried tear tracks streaked his cold, pale face with a ghost of a smile on his features.
***
It was a crisp autumn afternoon. A young boy, no older then 4, with sharp black eyes and wavy brown hair followed his wandering soccer ball to a bench a couple of meters away from the playground. There, sat an old man with grey hair and distant soft, brown eyes. His ripened face once flaunted youth and beauty, now displaying wisdom and age. The man softly hummed a mystifying tune, a bittersweet lullaby, as the boy stepped slowly towards him, continuing to stare at the elderly man. As if noticing him just then, the senior smiled so widely that the boy thought he shone for a split second. “Hello” he said, voice smooth and flowing. The boy noticed a sudden glint of metal in the senior’s hands. It was rusty and old fashioned cell phone that went out of style before the boy was born; he couldn’t imagine why the senior tenderly cradled it in his hands like a treasure. “What’s so special about that?” enquired the curious young boy. The elder smiled down at the old cell phone with such a tender, distantly loving look in his eyes that the boy wondered if the elder was insane and thought it was a human. Instead of answering the boy’s question, the senior looked towards the golden trees surrounding them with wistful eyes and asked, nearly illegibly, “Would you like to hear a lullaby?” The boy nodded, taking a seat beside the senior. With a gentle bob of his head, the elder closed his eyes and began to sing.
“My dear,
Spring is whisking away winters bite.
I watch it gently sprinkle glistening droplets,
Humming softly,
As I wait for your return.
My dear,
Summer is whisking away springs compassion.
I watch it boastfully beam radiant light,
Laughing cheerfully,
As I wait for your return.
My dear,
Autumn is whisking away summers inferno.
I watch it quietly scatter golden leaves,
Sighing tenderly,
As I wait for your return.
My dear,
Winter is whisking away autumn’s breeze.
I watch it grievingly release delicate crystals,
Sobbing mournfully,
As I wait for your return...”
~End~