baseCODE 10/?
Title: baseCODE 10/?
Pairing: Jaejoong/Junsu, Changmin/Yunho, Donghae/Eunhyuk, Heechul/Yoochun, Leeteuk/Kyuhyun, Siwon/Ryeowook
Rating: NC-17 for this chapter
Disclaimer: Not mine to rate track or own. I really wish I could order them to have sex with each other and let me tape it, but ... yeah, can't do that.
Summary: Junsu is a normal twenty-three year old. He has retired from Duty to the People and he's content to spend the next two years relaxing before his Date of Expiration. His biggest fear is that the love he carries for his roommate will be discovered. But Jaejoong is not who he says he is, and Junsu finds himself in a race to save not only Jaejoong's life, but ultimately his own.
This fic is first person from Junsu's POV and it is written in present tense. Chapter titles are quotes from "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare.
Poster credit goes to yceam!!! It's awesome, darling! ♥
Part 10: Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms
... for my mind misgives
Some consequence yet hanging in the stars
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date
With this night's revels and expire the term
Of a despised life closed in my breast
By some vile forfeit of untimely death.
From Romeo & Juliet
I wake up extremely happy. Content. In love.
The soreness hits me when I roll into Jaejoong’s warm body. I moan and bury myself against his bare chest, trying to breathe through the ache. I felt worse from some of the experiments and probes and after a rough game of soccer, but never so fully satisfied.
“Morning, love,” Jaejoong whispers and presses a kiss to my forehead.
I grunt in response, and he chuckles. His arms wrap around me, and I relax again.
“It’s almost noon. Are you hungry?”
“Yeah.”
The sound of heated voices permeates the thick door of our room. Jaejoong winces.
“What’s going on?”
“Just KyuTeuk fighting.”
“Still?”
“Yeah. Kyuhyun brought Sungmin in this morning, unconscious, and nursing a broken arm. He’d accidentally dropped him.”
“Wow.”
“Leeteuk is all kinds of pissed off right now.”
“Is it because of Sungmin’s arm, or because of Sungmin?”
Jaejoong smiles. “Probably just because of Sungmin. He’s old, but Leeteuk is still human, and he’s being irrational. We all know … well, we all hope he’ll get over it soon.”
“So with Sungmin here does that mean Changmin is going to be able to make more frog piss?”
“Maybe. But I doubt it. We need supplies. And the supplies are lacking. We hope Sungmin can bring in more, but if they aren’t there to begin with … ” He trails off and shrugs. “I can honestly say that I don’t care about that right now.” He leans down and kisses me. His hand trails down my hip and cups my ass. I have other questions, but they are not urgent. Not as urgent as Jaejoong’s dick pressing against me anyway.
“How are you feeling?” he whispers. I tug on his arm; he frowns but follows the direction and kneels between my spread legs.
I steal his breath in another kiss. “Pleasantly sore,” I reply into his mouth. He smiles and lowers his body, skin against skin. I slip my hands into the back of his sweats, pushing them down. He breaks away, probably to protest, but I wrap my legs around his waist and my hand around his cock.
His eyes shut with a moan.
“I can eat later,” I whisper and direct him back into my body. Everything is sore at first, and Jaejoong pulls away. This time I’m about to protest, but he only moves enough to grab the lube from the dresser. I take it from him and coat my hand in it. His eyes shut, and his fingers grip his knees as I stroke his cock until he’s slick and hard. So hard.
I shiver, and he shivers. With a low growl, he shoves my hand away and pushes my legs up. I laugh, grab behind my knees, and this time when he pushes into me, he slides in easily. The discomfort is gone the minute he moves and kisses me.
There is no urgency to get out of bed, no government trying to control us, no issues with a smart-ass scientist. It’s just us in this room, and my heart swells and my breaths echo in our sanctuary. We amble through the motions, sharing more kisses than pleasure. I hold Jaejoong against me, instead of hanging off him. There is no desperation as our bodies melt and our lips meet again and again.
My name falls from his lips in a quiet plea. His body trembles through his orgasm. His movements slow, but don’t stop. With a hand by my head, he forces himself up, blowing sweat-soaked hair from his eyes. I chuckle and he smiles. His hips move languidly as he strokes my cock.
My eyes shut with a contented sigh and I move my hands from my knees to his shoulders, slipping on his skin as he teases my orgasm from me. It builds slowly, and at this point, getting off is less important than just being with Jaejoong. I come as quietly as he did. My arms tighten around his shoulders, pulling my body up, face buried in his neck. His hand falters on my cock, while the other wraps around my back holding me up. I shudder through my orgasm, gasping his name.
He kisses down my sweaty neck and shoulder, carefully lowering my shaking body back to the bed. He stays inside me, still moving and I moan, back arching off the bed to meet his movements. I need a shower, my stomach is empty and my body is now sorer than ever. I pull his lips to mine and decide all of that can wait.
|||X|||X|||
We emerge from our bedroom after three. A short nap, a longer shower, another round in the shower.
Heechul rolls his eyes at our smiles. Yoochun down right laughs when he sees me wince. Jaejoong’s arms wrap around me for a moment, he presses a kiss to my forehead. Ignoring Yoochun’s jibes, Jaejoong leads me to the kitchen.
Once again, Changmin and Kyuhyun are huddled together in a debate using scientific terms I have no chance of understanding.
When Jaejoong starts cooking, Changmin breaks off mid sentence and says, “Oh my god, the servant has arrived. I’m starving.”
Jaejoong makes a face at him. “How’s Sungmin?”
“Pissed,” Changmin answers. “He woke up about an hour ago and won’t talk to anyone except Ryeowook about how his arm is healing.”
“And Yunho?”
Changmin’s face breaks into the biggest smile I have ever seen on him.
“Guess that answers that question,” Jaejoong says with a laugh.
“Ryeowook says he can walk around later today and come up to our bed tomorrow night.”
“No hanky panky though,” Heechul says from the door. “Too bad for that. There isn’t much else Yunho is good for.”
Changmin opens his mouth, eyes flashing, and Jaejoong steps in front of him. “Cinderella.”
“You know, for as often as you clean, I think you need a new nickname,” Donghae says.
Heechul sticks his tongue out and flips his hair.
Eunhyuk sits next to me, and Donghae sits on my other side. They both smile at me and I look between the two of them. “What?”
“Jaejoong is going to want to drag you back to bed after you eat, but you promised. Soccer.”
I laugh and nod. “Okay. Okay. Sounds fun.”
“Oh, when you play,” Changmin says and stands up. He leaves the room.
Confused, I look at Jaejoong. He rolls his eyes. “Probably something scientific.”
Two minutes later, Changmin returns. He has something with wires in his hands. I know a heart monitor when I see one.
I roll my eyes. “Fine. For the good of the resistance.”
Heechul and Yoochun burst out laughing. Changmin frowns at me and Eunhyuk hangs off my body, trying to breathe past his laughter.
“This is important. The lichen in your baseCODE is in its simplest form. More data, constant data, is needed to gain more results. I need another sample.”
“Oh hell no!” Jaejoong snaps.
Changmin continues as if Jaejoong said nothing. “It’s like O blood type, Junsu. You can give O blood to anyone of another blood type. It’s easier to manipulate a simple strain, and I’m hoping that others with more complicated strains can take the serum produced by the simple strains and have their baseCODEs turn green again. Like Ryeowook’s. His baseCODE is so complicated.”
“Too bad he didn’t have it on last night,” Yoochun says and licks his lips at me.
Changmin spins to Jaejoong. “Next time-“
“No!”
Heechul leers at me. “You don’t need a heart monitor to know how good Jaejoong is in bed.”
I blush.
“Take one for the team!” Eunhyuk says.
Jaejoong slams a hand on the counter. “Changmin. No. Yunho isn’t here at the moment, but you know the rules. Keep science out of the bedroom.”
Changmin actually pouts, and turns back to me. “Unless the participants agree.”
“Well, I don’t agree,” Jaejoong says.
“I don’t know,” I say. “The cords of that heart monitor could be useful.”
Everyone turns to me in shock. My cheeks burn a little, but I smile at Jaejoong. “Well? They could.”
“Oh god, Changmin,” Yoochun says. “Give me one. Heechul and I will go fuck right now.”
Changmin sneers at them. “I’d rather get it back not covered in your nasty fluids.”
“There’s a reason why Yunho has a rule about separating sex and science,” Kyuhyun says.
Heechul waves his fingers at Changmin. “I know why. Experiments gone wrong, huh?”
Changmin glares, but his cheeks turn pink.
Jaejoong sits a sandwich down in front of me.
“Oh my god, that looks awesome,” Donghae says and reaches for it. Jaejoong slaps his hand away. “Make me one, Jae, please.”
“Me, too!”
Jaejoong meets my eyes, and I smile and take a bite. I let out an exaggerated moan as the flavors hit my tongue.
Yoochun and Heechul burst out laughing.
Jaejoong grins at me. He ends up making everyone a sandwich. After I’m done eating, EunHae drag me to the basement to play soccer. I can’t remember the last time I was so happy and carefree. I have only felt this way before on the soccer field. And even though the concrete under my feet is nothing compared to the softness of grass and soil, the company around me is well worth it.
EunHae are awesome soccer players, and given the chance, they could have been great.
Just like Jaejoong could have been a great singer. Or Yunho a great dancer. Or I could have been a great piano player.
The system is flawed. I’ve always known that. I wonder again how many people there are in the world that are over twenty-five. There have always been rumors about other nations not having an age limit or having an older one. But in Korea, there is no information about any outside nation.
After soccer, I take the heart monitor down to Changmin. Ryeowook conducts more physical tests. Changmin points at a bed and I lay on my stomach. He starts poking at my neck.
“Stop pawing at my boyfriend,” Jaejoong says.
“You’ve been pawing at mine for the last half hour,” Changmin says.
“Really? Too bad I missed that,” I say. “How’s he doing?” I wince as Changmin hits a sensitive spot on my baseCODE.
Jaejoong sits next to me and takes my hand. “He’ll recover.”
“Can I snag another sample, Junsu?” Changmin asks, trying to keep the eagerness out of his voice.
I roll my eyes as Jaejoong shouts, “No!”
“It’s fine, hyung,” I say and squeeze his hand. “If I break your fingers, Ryeowook is right here to set them.”
Jaejoong frowns. My smile falls and pain lashes through my body as Changmin digs into my baseCODE.
“Fuckin’ hell tha’ hurts,” I slur. My vision blurs and my stomach rolls.
“Thank you, Junsu,” Changmin says. “I know it hurts.”
“Take your own baseCODE next time,” Jaejoong all but growls.
Changmin hands me a juice box. “I do, you know. Most of my research is done on mine and EunHae’s baseCODEs. They aren’t babies like you are.”
“Fuck off.”
“Jaejoong, please,” I whisper, head pounding. “I’m fine.”
Beeping fills the room.
“Sungmin is awake,” Changmin mutters.
“I’ll go see what he needs,” Ryeowook says quickly.
Jaejoong puts a hand on Changmin’s shoulder. “You okay?”
Changmin shrugs. “Yeah. I just hope this isn’t the biggest mistake we’ve ever made.”
“You don’t trust him?”
“No. A lover scorned will do anything to get back at the person … I can’t even think straight,” Changmin says.
“You’re afraid he’ll betray us because Leeteuk is with Kyuhyun.”
“I think we all are. You can take him up to bed now. Thanks again, Junsu.”
“An-any time,” I stammer.
Jaejoong scoffs and Changmin chuckles.
|||X|||X|||
I rest for the remainder of the day. Jaejoong dotes on me almost to the point of annoyance, but he’s too pretty to be mad at for long. And it’s not that bad. I don’t understand why he worries so much.
“Why do you worry so much?” I whisper into his neck as he holds me tightly.
“I … I don’t worry.”
I snort. “Come on, Jaejoong. You’re like a smothering mother hen who refuses to let her grown chick go build its own nest.”
Jaejoong pulls away and props up on an elbow. “Am I annoying you?”
“A little,” I reply and smile as his face falls. “But only because I don’t understand. You’ve never been this clingy.”
“I’m afraid that the next time one of us leaves this place, we won’t come back.”
I frown and tug him to me for a kiss. “You can’t live your life like that.”
“I have to live like that. Otherwise, I’ll take you for granted and …”
I kiss him again and pull him so he’s hovering over me, enclosing me in his arms and body. “You won’t ever do that, because of these circumstances.”
“I was freaking out when Yoochun called about that bomb. What if you guys hadn’t found it?”
“Nothing would have changed. We left for the drop early. We wouldn’t have been in the car at all at that time.”
“I know, but what if-“
I kiss him again. “Sh, babe, don’t do this to yourself. You’ll drive yourself crazy.”
“I know.”
We rearrange and cuddle together. I can feel Jaejoong’s shoulders shaking, but I say nothing and run my hands over his back. I understand his worry. This life they lead is almost like a dream. It is easy to grow complacent and forget that your life was ever dictated by the government.
Someone knocks lightly on our bedroom door. Jaejoong takes a deep breath and tells them to come in.
Yoochun opens the door and leans against the frame. “You okay to come down for a meeting. Siwon is back with a new car, and he says he has some information.”
Jaejoong nods. “Okay.”
He rolls off me and I sit up. He frowns, but doesn’t tell me to stay. I hold out my hand and he takes it and helps me to my feet. His arms snakes around my shoulders, helping me disguised as a loving embrace. I lean against his chest with a smile and let him lead me down to the kitchen.
Both Yunho and Sungmin are there. Jaejoong makes sure I’m seated before moving around the table to press a kiss to Yunho’s cheek. He whispers something that makes Yunho smile and then Changmin spouts out an irritated noise.
Jaejoong returns next to me.
Everyone looks at Siwon.
“Sungmin is reported as dead.”
“Fuck,” more than one of them mutters.
“Thanks a lot, you fuckers,” Sungmin says. His left arm is in a cast and a brace.
“Who reported him as dead?” Changmin asks.
Siwon shrugs. “I don’t know. Why?”
“Because supposedly the only people in the facility that know that he is here-“
“Was kidnapped,” Sungmin interjects.
“-are Kyuhyun, him and me. He hasn’t even been gone for a day.”
“Well, this just keeps getting more interesting,” Heechul says. He looks at Leeteuk. “Plan B?”
“No, we don’t have the facilities to move to another location.”
“Is there another location?” Donghae asks.
“There is always another location,” Leeteuk replies, but changes the subject. “So what can we assume? They are suspicious of Kyuhyun. And now they have Sungmin and Junsu and Jaejoong on a ‘watch for’ list. What about you, Siwon?”
Siwon shrugs. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. If I was under suspicion, would they be letting me take the cars from the manufacturer like this?”
Leeteuk leans back and taps his chin with a finger. “It could be how they are getting information on our whereabouts. We can’t assume those bombs are a coincidence. But no one has followed you? Or you haven’t felt like anyone has been suspicious of you?”
“No. They know I like to drive nice cars, and I’m the designer, so they don’t care when I take one.”
“We’ll have to suspend operations for now,” Leeteuk says. “Lay low for a while and see if we can’t spy on the spyers.”
“Even if that’s dangerous?”
Leeteuk nods. “It’s inevitable. We have to know who and what we’re up against. Junsu says he saw someone with a black baseCODE in the open. Again, I want us to go to our scheduled drops and pickups, but only to observe, be there before they are. There’s no way they know about them all.”
“That’s dangerous,” Changmin says.
Leeteuk looks at him for a long time. The tension between them grows. “Everything is dangerous, dongsaeng. So tomorrow, Eunhae, go to Gimsam again. Discreet questions and observations of the pick up site, okay?”
Eunhae nod.
Kyuhyun’s cell phone rings. He digs it out of a pocket and frowns. “Caller unknown.”
“Don’t answer it,” Leeteuk says, voice softer than it had been. “If they are saying Sungmin is dead, then they may be trying to find you.”
Kyuhyun nods and leaves his cell phone on the table. It rings again in seconds, and then again. The third number is not unknown, and Kyuhyun recites it for the rest of them.
“Eight two seven is a government number,” Heechul says.
Leeteuk sighs. “I think we need to watch the news right now.”
We all stand and head to the living room. Leeteuk turns on the television as the rest of us find seats. Jaejoong sits on the couch and pulls me to his lap. YooChul join us and Eunhae cuddle in a chair. SiWook find a spot on the floor and Changmin stays standing, keeping Yunho steady.
Kyuhyun curses. His face is in the corner of the screen.
“-all speculations, but the young man can’t be found anywhere. The police say his apartment has been abandoned and his cell phone is not accepting calls. With clues like these, they say that it is likely the young scientist knows something regarding Dr. Lee Sungmin’s death and he’s hiding. If he was not involved, he would have come forward. The police are naming him their prime suspect.”
“Well fuck,” Changmin mutters.
“Researchers at the government genetics lab assure us that the loss of these two will not impede the progress of the baseCODE research.”
“There are always other brilliant scientists to take our place,” Kyuhyun mutters.
Leeteuk frowns at him.
“The populace is being asked to provide any information they can on the whereabouts of Cho Kyuhyun.”
Leeteuk turns the television off and looks at Kyuhyun.
“Yay,” Kyuhyun says. “I get to stay home from school.”
Changmin snorts. “And my work is going to be doubled. Fucking hell.” He turns to Sungmin. “You should go back to bed. You too, Yunnie. Jae is going to bring down something for you to eat.” He shoots a look at Jaejoong that dares him to protest.
Jaejoong nods and pushes me up.
“Well, Xiah,” Yoochun says, “might as well turn the rest of your hair blond.”
“Good, I get to accidentally grope him again,” Heechul says with a leer.
Jaejoong opens his mouth, and then shuts it and shakes his head. “Don’t let him touch you,” he says to me.
I grin at Heechul and shrug. “The man has wandering hands.”
“And your boyfriend has a nice ass,” Yoochun says.
“It’s almost a rule that it must be groped,” Heechul adds.
Jaejoong cups the body part in question and pulls me against his body. “I can’t argue with that logic, can I?”
I laugh and shake my head. “Nope.”
Part 11: A dram of poison, such soon-speeding gear/ As will disperse itself through all the veins
Part 9: Sin from my lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again
Part 8: we shall not scape a brawl; For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring
Part 7: Fortune, fortune, be fickle fortune, but do not keep him long but send him back.
Part 6: For exile hath more terror in his look, Much more than death.
Part 5: These violent delights have violent ends And in their triumph die.
Part 4: Not mad, but bound more than a mad man is
Part 3: Prick love for pricking and you beat love down.
Part 2: O, teach me how I should forget to think.
Part 1: I must be gone and live or stay and die.
.
Pairing: Jaejoong/Junsu, Changmin/Yunho, Donghae/Eunhyuk, Heechul/Yoochun, Leeteuk/Kyuhyun, Siwon/Ryeowook
Rating: NC-17 for this chapter
Disclaimer: Not mine to rate track or own. I really wish I could order them to have sex with each other and let me tape it, but ... yeah, can't do that.
Summary: Junsu is a normal twenty-three year old. He has retired from Duty to the People and he's content to spend the next two years relaxing before his Date of Expiration. His biggest fear is that the love he carries for his roommate will be discovered. But Jaejoong is not who he says he is, and Junsu finds himself in a race to save not only Jaejoong's life, but ultimately his own.
This fic is first person from Junsu's POV and it is written in present tense. Chapter titles are quotes from "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare.
Poster credit goes to yceam!!! It's awesome, darling! ♥
Part 10: Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms
... for my mind misgives
Some consequence yet hanging in the stars
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date
With this night's revels and expire the term
Of a despised life closed in my breast
By some vile forfeit of untimely death.
From Romeo & Juliet
I wake up extremely happy. Content. In love.
The soreness hits me when I roll into Jaejoong’s warm body. I moan and bury myself against his bare chest, trying to breathe through the ache. I felt worse from some of the experiments and probes and after a rough game of soccer, but never so fully satisfied.
“Morning, love,” Jaejoong whispers and presses a kiss to my forehead.
I grunt in response, and he chuckles. His arms wrap around me, and I relax again.
“It’s almost noon. Are you hungry?”
“Yeah.”
The sound of heated voices permeates the thick door of our room. Jaejoong winces.
“What’s going on?”
“Just KyuTeuk fighting.”
“Still?”
“Yeah. Kyuhyun brought Sungmin in this morning, unconscious, and nursing a broken arm. He’d accidentally dropped him.”
“Wow.”
“Leeteuk is all kinds of pissed off right now.”
“Is it because of Sungmin’s arm, or because of Sungmin?”
Jaejoong smiles. “Probably just because of Sungmin. He’s old, but Leeteuk is still human, and he’s being irrational. We all know … well, we all hope he’ll get over it soon.”
“So with Sungmin here does that mean Changmin is going to be able to make more frog piss?”
“Maybe. But I doubt it. We need supplies. And the supplies are lacking. We hope Sungmin can bring in more, but if they aren’t there to begin with … ” He trails off and shrugs. “I can honestly say that I don’t care about that right now.” He leans down and kisses me. His hand trails down my hip and cups my ass. I have other questions, but they are not urgent. Not as urgent as Jaejoong’s dick pressing against me anyway.
“How are you feeling?” he whispers. I tug on his arm; he frowns but follows the direction and kneels between my spread legs.
I steal his breath in another kiss. “Pleasantly sore,” I reply into his mouth. He smiles and lowers his body, skin against skin. I slip my hands into the back of his sweats, pushing them down. He breaks away, probably to protest, but I wrap my legs around his waist and my hand around his cock.
His eyes shut with a moan.
“I can eat later,” I whisper and direct him back into my body. Everything is sore at first, and Jaejoong pulls away. This time I’m about to protest, but he only moves enough to grab the lube from the dresser. I take it from him and coat my hand in it. His eyes shut, and his fingers grip his knees as I stroke his cock until he’s slick and hard. So hard.
I shiver, and he shivers. With a low growl, he shoves my hand away and pushes my legs up. I laugh, grab behind my knees, and this time when he pushes into me, he slides in easily. The discomfort is gone the minute he moves and kisses me.
There is no urgency to get out of bed, no government trying to control us, no issues with a smart-ass scientist. It’s just us in this room, and my heart swells and my breaths echo in our sanctuary. We amble through the motions, sharing more kisses than pleasure. I hold Jaejoong against me, instead of hanging off him. There is no desperation as our bodies melt and our lips meet again and again.
My name falls from his lips in a quiet plea. His body trembles through his orgasm. His movements slow, but don’t stop. With a hand by my head, he forces himself up, blowing sweat-soaked hair from his eyes. I chuckle and he smiles. His hips move languidly as he strokes my cock.
My eyes shut with a contented sigh and I move my hands from my knees to his shoulders, slipping on his skin as he teases my orgasm from me. It builds slowly, and at this point, getting off is less important than just being with Jaejoong. I come as quietly as he did. My arms tighten around his shoulders, pulling my body up, face buried in his neck. His hand falters on my cock, while the other wraps around my back holding me up. I shudder through my orgasm, gasping his name.
He kisses down my sweaty neck and shoulder, carefully lowering my shaking body back to the bed. He stays inside me, still moving and I moan, back arching off the bed to meet his movements. I need a shower, my stomach is empty and my body is now sorer than ever. I pull his lips to mine and decide all of that can wait.
|||X|||X|||
We emerge from our bedroom after three. A short nap, a longer shower, another round in the shower.
Heechul rolls his eyes at our smiles. Yoochun down right laughs when he sees me wince. Jaejoong’s arms wrap around me for a moment, he presses a kiss to my forehead. Ignoring Yoochun’s jibes, Jaejoong leads me to the kitchen.
Once again, Changmin and Kyuhyun are huddled together in a debate using scientific terms I have no chance of understanding.
When Jaejoong starts cooking, Changmin breaks off mid sentence and says, “Oh my god, the servant has arrived. I’m starving.”
Jaejoong makes a face at him. “How’s Sungmin?”
“Pissed,” Changmin answers. “He woke up about an hour ago and won’t talk to anyone except Ryeowook about how his arm is healing.”
“And Yunho?”
Changmin’s face breaks into the biggest smile I have ever seen on him.
“Guess that answers that question,” Jaejoong says with a laugh.
“Ryeowook says he can walk around later today and come up to our bed tomorrow night.”
“No hanky panky though,” Heechul says from the door. “Too bad for that. There isn’t much else Yunho is good for.”
Changmin opens his mouth, eyes flashing, and Jaejoong steps in front of him. “Cinderella.”
“You know, for as often as you clean, I think you need a new nickname,” Donghae says.
Heechul sticks his tongue out and flips his hair.
Eunhyuk sits next to me, and Donghae sits on my other side. They both smile at me and I look between the two of them. “What?”
“Jaejoong is going to want to drag you back to bed after you eat, but you promised. Soccer.”
I laugh and nod. “Okay. Okay. Sounds fun.”
“Oh, when you play,” Changmin says and stands up. He leaves the room.
Confused, I look at Jaejoong. He rolls his eyes. “Probably something scientific.”
Two minutes later, Changmin returns. He has something with wires in his hands. I know a heart monitor when I see one.
I roll my eyes. “Fine. For the good of the resistance.”
Heechul and Yoochun burst out laughing. Changmin frowns at me and Eunhyuk hangs off my body, trying to breathe past his laughter.
“This is important. The lichen in your baseCODE is in its simplest form. More data, constant data, is needed to gain more results. I need another sample.”
“Oh hell no!” Jaejoong snaps.
Changmin continues as if Jaejoong said nothing. “It’s like O blood type, Junsu. You can give O blood to anyone of another blood type. It’s easier to manipulate a simple strain, and I’m hoping that others with more complicated strains can take the serum produced by the simple strains and have their baseCODEs turn green again. Like Ryeowook’s. His baseCODE is so complicated.”
“Too bad he didn’t have it on last night,” Yoochun says and licks his lips at me.
Changmin spins to Jaejoong. “Next time-“
“No!”
Heechul leers at me. “You don’t need a heart monitor to know how good Jaejoong is in bed.”
I blush.
“Take one for the team!” Eunhyuk says.
Jaejoong slams a hand on the counter. “Changmin. No. Yunho isn’t here at the moment, but you know the rules. Keep science out of the bedroom.”
Changmin actually pouts, and turns back to me. “Unless the participants agree.”
“Well, I don’t agree,” Jaejoong says.
“I don’t know,” I say. “The cords of that heart monitor could be useful.”
Everyone turns to me in shock. My cheeks burn a little, but I smile at Jaejoong. “Well? They could.”
“Oh god, Changmin,” Yoochun says. “Give me one. Heechul and I will go fuck right now.”
Changmin sneers at them. “I’d rather get it back not covered in your nasty fluids.”
“There’s a reason why Yunho has a rule about separating sex and science,” Kyuhyun says.
Heechul waves his fingers at Changmin. “I know why. Experiments gone wrong, huh?”
Changmin glares, but his cheeks turn pink.
Jaejoong sits a sandwich down in front of me.
“Oh my god, that looks awesome,” Donghae says and reaches for it. Jaejoong slaps his hand away. “Make me one, Jae, please.”
“Me, too!”
Jaejoong meets my eyes, and I smile and take a bite. I let out an exaggerated moan as the flavors hit my tongue.
Yoochun and Heechul burst out laughing.
Jaejoong grins at me. He ends up making everyone a sandwich. After I’m done eating, EunHae drag me to the basement to play soccer. I can’t remember the last time I was so happy and carefree. I have only felt this way before on the soccer field. And even though the concrete under my feet is nothing compared to the softness of grass and soil, the company around me is well worth it.
EunHae are awesome soccer players, and given the chance, they could have been great.
Just like Jaejoong could have been a great singer. Or Yunho a great dancer. Or I could have been a great piano player.
The system is flawed. I’ve always known that. I wonder again how many people there are in the world that are over twenty-five. There have always been rumors about other nations not having an age limit or having an older one. But in Korea, there is no information about any outside nation.
After soccer, I take the heart monitor down to Changmin. Ryeowook conducts more physical tests. Changmin points at a bed and I lay on my stomach. He starts poking at my neck.
“Stop pawing at my boyfriend,” Jaejoong says.
“You’ve been pawing at mine for the last half hour,” Changmin says.
“Really? Too bad I missed that,” I say. “How’s he doing?” I wince as Changmin hits a sensitive spot on my baseCODE.
Jaejoong sits next to me and takes my hand. “He’ll recover.”
“Can I snag another sample, Junsu?” Changmin asks, trying to keep the eagerness out of his voice.
I roll my eyes as Jaejoong shouts, “No!”
“It’s fine, hyung,” I say and squeeze his hand. “If I break your fingers, Ryeowook is right here to set them.”
Jaejoong frowns. My smile falls and pain lashes through my body as Changmin digs into my baseCODE.
“Fuckin’ hell tha’ hurts,” I slur. My vision blurs and my stomach rolls.
“Thank you, Junsu,” Changmin says. “I know it hurts.”
“Take your own baseCODE next time,” Jaejoong all but growls.
Changmin hands me a juice box. “I do, you know. Most of my research is done on mine and EunHae’s baseCODEs. They aren’t babies like you are.”
“Fuck off.”
“Jaejoong, please,” I whisper, head pounding. “I’m fine.”
Beeping fills the room.
“Sungmin is awake,” Changmin mutters.
“I’ll go see what he needs,” Ryeowook says quickly.
Jaejoong puts a hand on Changmin’s shoulder. “You okay?”
Changmin shrugs. “Yeah. I just hope this isn’t the biggest mistake we’ve ever made.”
“You don’t trust him?”
“No. A lover scorned will do anything to get back at the person … I can’t even think straight,” Changmin says.
“You’re afraid he’ll betray us because Leeteuk is with Kyuhyun.”
“I think we all are. You can take him up to bed now. Thanks again, Junsu.”
“An-any time,” I stammer.
Jaejoong scoffs and Changmin chuckles.
|||X|||X|||
I rest for the remainder of the day. Jaejoong dotes on me almost to the point of annoyance, but he’s too pretty to be mad at for long. And it’s not that bad. I don’t understand why he worries so much.
“Why do you worry so much?” I whisper into his neck as he holds me tightly.
“I … I don’t worry.”
I snort. “Come on, Jaejoong. You’re like a smothering mother hen who refuses to let her grown chick go build its own nest.”
Jaejoong pulls away and props up on an elbow. “Am I annoying you?”
“A little,” I reply and smile as his face falls. “But only because I don’t understand. You’ve never been this clingy.”
“I’m afraid that the next time one of us leaves this place, we won’t come back.”
I frown and tug him to me for a kiss. “You can’t live your life like that.”
“I have to live like that. Otherwise, I’ll take you for granted and …”
I kiss him again and pull him so he’s hovering over me, enclosing me in his arms and body. “You won’t ever do that, because of these circumstances.”
“I was freaking out when Yoochun called about that bomb. What if you guys hadn’t found it?”
“Nothing would have changed. We left for the drop early. We wouldn’t have been in the car at all at that time.”
“I know, but what if-“
I kiss him again. “Sh, babe, don’t do this to yourself. You’ll drive yourself crazy.”
“I know.”
We rearrange and cuddle together. I can feel Jaejoong’s shoulders shaking, but I say nothing and run my hands over his back. I understand his worry. This life they lead is almost like a dream. It is easy to grow complacent and forget that your life was ever dictated by the government.
Someone knocks lightly on our bedroom door. Jaejoong takes a deep breath and tells them to come in.
Yoochun opens the door and leans against the frame. “You okay to come down for a meeting. Siwon is back with a new car, and he says he has some information.”
Jaejoong nods. “Okay.”
He rolls off me and I sit up. He frowns, but doesn’t tell me to stay. I hold out my hand and he takes it and helps me to my feet. His arms snakes around my shoulders, helping me disguised as a loving embrace. I lean against his chest with a smile and let him lead me down to the kitchen.
Both Yunho and Sungmin are there. Jaejoong makes sure I’m seated before moving around the table to press a kiss to Yunho’s cheek. He whispers something that makes Yunho smile and then Changmin spouts out an irritated noise.
Jaejoong returns next to me.
Everyone looks at Siwon.
“Sungmin is reported as dead.”
“Fuck,” more than one of them mutters.
“Thanks a lot, you fuckers,” Sungmin says. His left arm is in a cast and a brace.
“Who reported him as dead?” Changmin asks.
Siwon shrugs. “I don’t know. Why?”
“Because supposedly the only people in the facility that know that he is here-“
“Was kidnapped,” Sungmin interjects.
“-are Kyuhyun, him and me. He hasn’t even been gone for a day.”
“Well, this just keeps getting more interesting,” Heechul says. He looks at Leeteuk. “Plan B?”
“No, we don’t have the facilities to move to another location.”
“Is there another location?” Donghae asks.
“There is always another location,” Leeteuk replies, but changes the subject. “So what can we assume? They are suspicious of Kyuhyun. And now they have Sungmin and Junsu and Jaejoong on a ‘watch for’ list. What about you, Siwon?”
Siwon shrugs. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. If I was under suspicion, would they be letting me take the cars from the manufacturer like this?”
Leeteuk leans back and taps his chin with a finger. “It could be how they are getting information on our whereabouts. We can’t assume those bombs are a coincidence. But no one has followed you? Or you haven’t felt like anyone has been suspicious of you?”
“No. They know I like to drive nice cars, and I’m the designer, so they don’t care when I take one.”
“We’ll have to suspend operations for now,” Leeteuk says. “Lay low for a while and see if we can’t spy on the spyers.”
“Even if that’s dangerous?”
Leeteuk nods. “It’s inevitable. We have to know who and what we’re up against. Junsu says he saw someone with a black baseCODE in the open. Again, I want us to go to our scheduled drops and pickups, but only to observe, be there before they are. There’s no way they know about them all.”
“That’s dangerous,” Changmin says.
Leeteuk looks at him for a long time. The tension between them grows. “Everything is dangerous, dongsaeng. So tomorrow, Eunhae, go to Gimsam again. Discreet questions and observations of the pick up site, okay?”
Eunhae nod.
Kyuhyun’s cell phone rings. He digs it out of a pocket and frowns. “Caller unknown.”
“Don’t answer it,” Leeteuk says, voice softer than it had been. “If they are saying Sungmin is dead, then they may be trying to find you.”
Kyuhyun nods and leaves his cell phone on the table. It rings again in seconds, and then again. The third number is not unknown, and Kyuhyun recites it for the rest of them.
“Eight two seven is a government number,” Heechul says.
Leeteuk sighs. “I think we need to watch the news right now.”
We all stand and head to the living room. Leeteuk turns on the television as the rest of us find seats. Jaejoong sits on the couch and pulls me to his lap. YooChul join us and Eunhae cuddle in a chair. SiWook find a spot on the floor and Changmin stays standing, keeping Yunho steady.
Kyuhyun curses. His face is in the corner of the screen.
“-all speculations, but the young man can’t be found anywhere. The police say his apartment has been abandoned and his cell phone is not accepting calls. With clues like these, they say that it is likely the young scientist knows something regarding Dr. Lee Sungmin’s death and he’s hiding. If he was not involved, he would have come forward. The police are naming him their prime suspect.”
“Well fuck,” Changmin mutters.
“Researchers at the government genetics lab assure us that the loss of these two will not impede the progress of the baseCODE research.”
“There are always other brilliant scientists to take our place,” Kyuhyun mutters.
Leeteuk frowns at him.
“The populace is being asked to provide any information they can on the whereabouts of Cho Kyuhyun.”
Leeteuk turns the television off and looks at Kyuhyun.
“Yay,” Kyuhyun says. “I get to stay home from school.”
Changmin snorts. “And my work is going to be doubled. Fucking hell.” He turns to Sungmin. “You should go back to bed. You too, Yunnie. Jae is going to bring down something for you to eat.” He shoots a look at Jaejoong that dares him to protest.
Jaejoong nods and pushes me up.
“Well, Xiah,” Yoochun says, “might as well turn the rest of your hair blond.”
“Good, I get to accidentally grope him again,” Heechul says with a leer.
Jaejoong opens his mouth, and then shuts it and shakes his head. “Don’t let him touch you,” he says to me.
I grin at Heechul and shrug. “The man has wandering hands.”
“And your boyfriend has a nice ass,” Yoochun says.
“It’s almost a rule that it must be groped,” Heechul adds.
Jaejoong cups the body part in question and pulls me against his body. “I can’t argue with that logic, can I?”
I laugh and shake my head. “Nope.”
Part 11: A dram of poison, such soon-speeding gear/ As will disperse itself through all the veins
Part 9: Sin from my lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again
Part 8: we shall not scape a brawl; For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring
Part 7: Fortune, fortune, be fickle fortune, but do not keep him long but send him back.
Part 6: For exile hath more terror in his look, Much more than death.
Part 5: These violent delights have violent ends And in their triumph die.
Part 4: Not mad, but bound more than a mad man is
Part 3: Prick love for pricking and you beat love down.
Part 2: O, teach me how I should forget to think.
Part 1: I must be gone and live or stay and die.
.