Will-O'-the-Wisp: Epilogue/Side Story
Title: Will- O'- the- Wisp
Author: chaebol
Plot by: kpopbee
Beta: youngwoong
Pairing: YunJae, JunChun
Genre: Mystery, horror, romance, mpreg, some angst and humor
Length: (side story/8 + side story)
Warning(s): lots of explicit smut, some language
Rating: NC-17
Summary: When Jaejoong turned sixteen, he started dreaming of certain things. Things with gentle hands, strong legs, broad shoulders, smooth tan skin, a cunning face with sweet luscious lips and an alluring voice whispering delicious sin every night. He was tempted to wake up. He really was. He just didn’t know how.
A/N: JunChun side story. Could also be seen as a stand alone so you don't really have to read the main story to get most of it. :D
Previous: Chapter 1/ Chapter 2/ Chapter 3/ Chapter 4/ Chapter 5/ Chapter 6/ Chapter 7/ Chapter 8
Epilogue/Side Story: Jack-O'-Lantern
“Trick-or-treat, Ahjusshi!” The little kids screamed in unison, and the pony-tailed haired man flipped his cap over his shoulders, showering the little children with pieces of sweet candy wordlessly. The small bodies all squealed and thanked the man, venturing into the night before the man sighed.
“Oh, what am I still doing here?” Yoochun questioned miserably, especially since he was sitting quite close to- ok never mind, in the cemetery and accompanying his friend who happened to be amongst the graves.
It was Halloween night and somehow he chose this day to visit the graveyard, despite the superstitions. But he’d rather see kids running around for his candy than stay there alone. However, that didn’t change the fact that he was still scared shitless.
He sighed again.
Yoochun buried his face between his hands, not caring if there were candy stuck to his face because honestly, it wasn’t funny to have candy stuck on his face unless there was someone laughing with him- or at him for the very least.
Which remind him why he was sitting in the said graveyard without a friend.
Well, one, his friend was buried ten feet beneath the ground and two, he doesn’t have any other friends to watch movies and play videogames with all night long (unless you count Changmin, but he was stingy when it came to these things, and he had a boyfriend).
Yoochun sighed.
He wished he had a boyfriend, or at least, a new friend to hang out with.
He missed Jaejoong.
His very close friend- only friend who understood him (Changmin doesn’t count), laughed at his jokes and gossiped about the world (and men) and all about the damn things in life, which includes studying without sleep. It happened suddenly with one crazy thing after another and his friend probably overstressed himself, eventually collapsing on the road and getting into a state of a coma until the doctor dubbed him a vegetable for life.
Unfortunately enough, his parents couldn’t handle it and asked the doctor to do away with their son without letting Yoochun say his goodbyes to him. He felt so helpless without the other man and there wasn’t anyone else to laugh at his jokes and criticize the world with him (and Changmin doesn’t care).
Luckily, Yoochun was able to find the grave site and apologize to Jaejoong’s remains, decorating his tribute with tons of flowers, which he practically bought from the entire flower shop.
Only the lilies, of course. God forbid he bought the whole shop full of flowers or his poor wallet will never see the light of day.
Ruffling his hair, Yoochun turned his gaze to the shining bright moon until he noticed something gleaming in the dark and walking right up to him.
It was a man.
Oddly, he was dressed with black attires and wore a white overcoat. He had a lantern in his hand and was using it as a guiding light across the graveyard and strangely enough, he had the brightest platinum blonde hair Yoochun had ever seen.
Not soon after, he gawked at the large amount of make-up covering the other’s face when it hit the moonlight and wondered if the man was dressed fully for the fun of Halloween night or he was actually the mortician and about to kick Yoochun the fuck out.
Hopefully not the latter because he still wanted to spend time with Jaejoong.
Quickly, Yoochun packed away the candy, dumping them all in a bag and about to make a run for it until he tripped over one of the pumpkins (unfortunately) that he had lying around. He made an ‘oomf!’ once his face hit the grass and dirt and he’d so wish the other man didn’t see that.
Fortunately with some miracle out there, a gust of wind blew at him, and he used the opportunity to pull himself away and hide behind the patch of pumpkins, waiting for the man to pass right by him.
However, that didn’t seem to happen because the blonde man stopped right in front of Jaejoong’s stone, lantern still at hand and touching the rock like a creeper.
If his costume wasn’t enough, Yoochun doesn’t know what else was and ducked his head between the carved jack-o’-lanterns, making a face he hoped disguised him well. And if anything, the dark should cover up his face, right? Right.
Once the strange man seemed to be done with whatever he was doing and left, Yoochun jumped right out of the pumpkin patch and dug in his bag for a flashlight. He turned it on and raised it against the stone, observing the damage that had been done to it until he heard a voice.
“What are you doing?”
He screamed, dropping his flashlight and turned out hastily. He was greeted by the blonde haired man, who he could have sworn just left a moment, he gulped.
“Um…uh… nothing special, really… um… Just inspecting it, you know. Cleaning it. Haha.“ He polished the stone with his sleeve. “This one is really dusty and I must go now… um… toodles. By- “
Gracelessly, Yoochun tripped over his flashlight, causing him to fall and he drop his bag.
Candy came spilling out of his bag and scattered all over the floor. Yoochun landed on the patches of pumpkins, knocking over the lantern that the man had brought along and the lights went out.
“Shit!” Yoochun cursed in the dark and the other man heard him loud and clear.
“Why are you here?” He asked like he wasn’t fazed at all, and Yoochun was beginning to think this guy wasn’t the mortician because who the fuck would ask that kind of question and not kick him out already?
“Um… giving out candy?” He lied. Well, it wasn’t entirely a lie and it wasn’t entirely the truth either but the guy doesn’t have to know that.
Surprisingly, it kind of shocked Yoochun more when the guy asked him something else unexpected, “Can I do it too?”
Hurriedly, he got up and turned to the man, who was practically illuminating underneath the moonlight very clearly, especially with his platinum blonde hair and white coat. The guy shined a lot from head to toe and Yoochun doesn’t mean that in a good-looking way either.
Hell, the shit on the guy’s face still scares him and he thought he had the most hideous face tonight.
“S-sure.” He said, uncertain of whether to decline or not since the guy didn’t really seem to mean any harm (so far).
Slowly, Yoochun gathered some of the candy off the ground and placed them into a large bowl, laying them on the grass as the two of them stared off everywhere except each other. Silently, the blonde guy was just looking straight at something and Yoochun couldn’t really pinpoint it when he grabbed his flashlight and twirled it around his fingers.
It was awfully quiet, probably entering the eerie night where all the kids went back home and enjoyed their haul of treats for the night. There wasn’t even the sound of crickets and Yoochun could have sworn those suckers always came out when the night was quiet. It bothered Yoochun a lot and he shifted his position on the grass until he decided to make some sort of small conversation with the other man.
“So… what’s your name?”
He asked, turning to the other in a blink of an eye and even at the moment, the man wasn’t all that eager to answer him either.
“I’m Yoochun.” He said quickly, silence immediately eating the end of his sentence.
The guy still didn’t anything to him.
Instantly, it became quiet and Yoochun started fiddling with his fingers, unsure of what to do with them or the time in the cemetery or of why he was still sitting here with some weirdo right next to him. He should’ve left already, but for some reason he was still curious why this guy, of all people, would come up to Jaejoong’s tombstone as if he knew the guy.
“By any chance, do you know the guy here?” He pointed at the rock and if one didn’t know they were at a cemetery, they would call him crazy for calling a rock a person.
Not that he was.
The guy didn’t seem to respond to him nor did he even look at Yoochun, and if he didn’t see the guy walk up to him earlier, he would have thought he was a fucking mannequin.
“Um… excus- “
“Do you miss someone?” The guy asked suddenly, startling Yoochun, who looked at the tombstone and back at the man again.
“Y-yeah. Do you?” The pony-tailed haired man asked, trying to act like it was completely normal.
“I don’t know. I’ve never met the person to know.” He simply answered and Yoochun internally face-palmed for a moment, however, after a minute or two he found it logically reasonable to not know how it feels to miss someone when you’ve never met them before.
Or was it the other way around?
“Do you want to meet that person?” Yoochun asked curiously. Even though the guy looked like he could scare the shit out of someone right now, he sounded quite sensitive in Yoochun’s opinion.
“Someday.” He mumbled quietly, ending the mini conversation right there when he stood up without looking at Yoochun. Swiftly, he grabbed his lantern and turned away from the grave site until a voice called out to him, screaming even once he was a few feet away.
“Could you at least tell me your name?”
Yoochun called from afar and the blonde man sent him an eerie look.
“Junsu.”
- ->
“So, tell me why you’re here again?” Changmin said in a tone of boredom, as if he has had this conversation countless of times and it had become an extremely tiresome topic.
“I live here too, you asshole.” Yoochun stated, annoyed. Obviously sitting on the couch of their apartment and eating an orange from a basket of fruits that one of the neighbors handed to him first. It was probably intended for Changmin with the way his neighbor was blushing and the card (which he got rid of) was enough proof for the ponytail haired man to understand.
Changmin took an apple and bit onto it the second it fell victim to his hand. “I know very well you live here, hyung. I asked you ‘why you’re here again?’ not ‘what are you doing here?’ Learn to listen before calling someone an asshole, Yoochun. Tsk.”He took another bite of his apple, half consumed.
Apparently, Yoochun had class down at the university right now, however, he didn’t feel like going since an overdose of leftover candy made him whole-heartedly sick and he wished his mother didn’t send him so much of it.
He wasn’t even supposed to be out on a Halloween night, but his urge to visit Jaejoong was really bothering him and yet again, he seriously need some new friends. Though, it doesn’t matter because he ended up meeting a creeper with heavy make-up whom he hoped to never see again.
At least, he hoped he won’t.
“I trust you’re not disappointing your mom with your grades.” His friend started, eating a few grapes and now that Yoochun looked at the basket, it was practically half empty and he only had an orange.
Slowly, he looked up to Changmin and notice the other’s hair was ruffled like he just woke up, his lips swollen with redness and his skin was really glowing.
“Did you just fuck last night? I hope it wasn’t on my bed.” Yoochun mentioned, half sarcastic and the other half dead serious if he found stains on his bed.
Changmin swallowed a grape with a rather loud gulp and looked at the other man quickly, his eyebrows furrowed. “Don’t change the subject and it’s none of your business.” He waved him off with ease and Yoochun smirked (to himself, of course).
It was one thing to tease the younger and another to have something work his way for awhile, but most of the time Yoochun never really meant what he said.
“Whatever. If your lips are sealed, so are mine.” He muttered while Changmin stood up, the fruits evidently gone from the basket as the younger made his way to the bathroom and said.
“Go get a sex life so you can stop butting into mine.” He huffed.
Yoochun palmed his face.
- ->
“I’m home.” Junsu said, closing the door behind him. No one responded to his greeting and he overlooked the basket of fruits sitting on the table, as if inviting him to take a bite out of it for its luscious taste. It called to him in mere whispers, asking him for his soul or to ‘save them’ which he highly disregarded and entered another room.
It was a dark room and it only lit up with a glowing flame, the only source of light. It changed from dark violet to bright orange immediately when Junsu step foot into the room and he smiled.
“I’m back.” He mused and the fire sparkled with a new shade of yellow and then back to orange.
Junsu didn’t know when it began, but he had been talking to the fire since youth and it seemed to be the only thing willingly to spend time with him. Considering that the bells only rang randomly and the doors love to shift his room from time to time.
For some reason, the fire was capable of responding to his comments and thoughts, however, it was hard to keep a conversation since Junsu needed to read the colors shimming from the flames.
The fire blazed a shade of green, probably worry Junsu thought and orange was beginning to be his favorite color on the fiery flames because he knew it meant it was happy.
There were other colors, like yellow, which was excited, blue for understanding and dark violet when it was neutral.
However, he still didn’t understand red.
Rarely, he had seen the color and he had tried a variety of conversations, but it never appeared when he wanted it to.
“I met someone. He’s clumsy but he seems to miss someone just as much as I do.” He grimaced and the blaze switched to a lighter shade of blue, as it understood and then flashes of green came back.
He sighed. “I went to visit Appa at the place father told me he would be.” Focusing his eyes on the flame and it calmed him greatly to see the shades change back to blue and a tint of orange too.
Apparently, his father was the devil in the flesh and down to the very soul. Sometimes making Junsu wonder how was he born into this line of demons, however, he didn’t ponder into the thought that long because once he was born, he was breathing, seeing and living.
He didn’t need to know anything else.
Even though the only thing he was ever curious about was who was the “mother” who gave birth to him.
Unfortunately, his father was stubborn and he wouldn’t tell him anything other than a name and where he was.
Not only that, it was probably because Junsu wasn’t of age yet.
Considering that he grew in a pace different from humans, his powers haven’t fully developed and his father has yet to recognize him. Though, it wasn’t something that worried him since he discovered a few weeks ago that he couldn’t die in the slightest bit.
At least, not very easily.
Suddenly the bells rang and the flamed reverted back to violet.
It was a signal.
Junsu noticed not long ago and it would tell him whenever his father returned, sometimes inaccurate and sometimes predictable. However, it didn’t stop Junsu from walking to the door and checking to see if his father had arrived from wherever he came from.
“You’re home.” A voice came from behind him, undoubtedly the devil himself. Junsu turned around and found his father, sitting on an arm chair, legs crossed and staring at the red and violet flames.
He looked relaxed, at leisure, and Junsu wasn’t sure what to say until he remembered about his visit to the human world.
“You visited your Appa?” His father Yunho asked, playing with a glass of red wine he picked up on floating table that came and went. It dove back into the darkness and Junsu almost wondered where it went.
“I did.” He said calmly, watching his father take a sip of his wine. “But it wasn’t him. There was another soul there.”
At that statement, his father raised his eyebrows and smiled. “Another soul? A wanderer?” He took another sip before setting his cup back onto the table, emptying it to the very bottom and still fresh against his tongue. “Or a human?”
“A human.” Junsu muttered softly, uncertainty clearly plastered onto his face and Yunho probably noticed it too.
“Did you have fun in the other world?” The devil asked casually, chuckling as he played with the bells hanging on the side of the wall and Junsu would have thought they were expecting another visitor if it weren’t for the different sound it was making.
Junsu simply nodded because technically speaking, it was his first and only time he had ever ventured into the human world alone and without any guidance. Naturally, he found everything amusing once he stepped out of the darkness and discovered many other living creatures, smell and the brightness.
Especially the light.
It was much brighter than he expected the world to be even though he was strolling through it in the dark, however, the lights that radiated from different places drew his eyes yet it also stung so badly.
Luckily, he didn’t stay long enough to observe the light but he did know that he liked the darkness of that world. There were many calling out to him, yet at the same time, not so many once they felt him come closer, they would scatter immediately and then he was greeted by the silent dark again.
Delicately, he let out a sigh, ignoring the fact that his father had already left the room while he was wallowing in his thoughts. The fire had sprung into a shade of blue and violet, however, it didn’t seem like it was paying attention to Junsu anymore.
It felt quite lonely.
And he was used to it.
- ->
Yoochun probably shouldn’t have asked for the creepers name because the now said creeper “Junsu” was by the Han River on a mid-November night, sitting on a bench- his favorite bench (and only favorite) specifically, and on his spot too.
Nervously, Yoochun wrapped his arms tightly around his jacket to prevent the cold from seeping into his skin. It was futile and Yoochun knew it, but he didn’t want to let go despite his useless efforts.
He shivered uncontrollably, puffing some warm air into his hands as he waited for the other man to leave on his own, just like on that Halloween night. Though Yoochun wondered why the guy had to choose a night where Changmin kicked him out to the cold because he was making out with his boyfriend and Yoochun was interrupting them to the point where he felt like a third wheel.
Well, he was.
But it was also his apartment and fuck, he wished he had some new friends (or boyfriend) already.
Slowly, he let out a sigh when he couldn’t tell if his ass was freezing anymore and turned around.
Sadly, he slipped on a leaf on the wet grass and fell face first (again) and he just thought today (or tonight) couldn’t get any crueler.
Just at the moment of his fall, he heard some rustling and later some footsteps, which he soon recognized, came from the blonde man and he stared down at Yoochun curiously.
He didn’t say much. Not even a ’Here, let me help you, Yoochunnie!’ as Yoochun would have expected from a normal person, however, he didn’t want to think that far nor did he want to imagine those words coming out of the other man’s mouth.
Ruthlessly, Yoochun picked himself up, brushing the leaves off him like nothing and the blonde only stared at him until he picked a piece off Yoochun’s forehead, who blushed, embarrassed (because it was cold!) when he didn’t notice it.
“Thanks.” He whispered quietly while the blonde man observed the leaf he had plucked out in his hand.
Again, the man didn’t say anything and Yoochun was beginning to wonder what was with him.
Also, why the man’s face was still covered in heavy make-up from the other night.
That is, if the guy had a thing for it.
“Are you lonely?” Junsu asked suddenly, his gaze never leaving the leaf as he twirled it around his fingers and soon placed it onto the center of his palm in fascination.
Even though Yoochun was standing right in front of the man, his thoughts were already telling him it wasn’t a good idea to socialize with the guy- if he was even sociable. However, it didn’t make a difference because his mind was shouting at him to leave the weirdo to whatever he was doing while his body somehow just stood rooted there.
“I guess.” He answered subconsciously, oblivious to the small smile on the other man’s lips, which soon disappeared the moment it formed.
Yoochun coughed. “Did you meet that person yet?”He asked, a bit on the curious side, but it was mostly because silence visited them a lot, and he found it hard to converse with the other man.
Especially when he would ask random things.
The blonde man was still looking at the leaf in his hand intently and Yoochun decided to look down at it too.
However, he didn’t know whether it was a good or bad idea because the moment he set eyes on it, the leaf began to turn to a shade of black, and then sparks appeared. Blue smoke started forming around the leaf and its edges gradually curled like there was some sort of force willing it to move.
It freaked Yoochun a bit, but he couldn’t stop staring at it, not even if he wanted to.
Then within an instant, it burned.
“Holy shi- “The pony-tailed haired man cursed, looking around frantically until he grabbed onto the other’s hand and dragged him down the bank right near the river.
There were blue flames emitting from Junsu’s hand and Yoochun wasn’t sure how to drag the man any lower when they were close to the river until he pushed the man forward, grabbing him by the waist to prevent him from falling it.
It was really difficult.
Difficult that the other didn’t seem to want to throw his hand into the water and Yoochun had to take the other’s arm and aim it directly into the river.
Gracelessly, it ended with a splash and a hiss on Junsu’s part when his hand touched the freezing cold water, instantly putting out the blue flame and a trail of smoke rose like fog above the water.
Once Yoochun though the fire was completely put out, he dragged Junsu back up, taking off his scarf and wrapping it around the other man’s wounded hand, which had leftover ashes on his skin.
He wheezed heavily.
“Shit, man. Are you a magician or something? What is wrong with you?” He knotted the scarf on the other’s hand. “You could have fucking burned yourself and I don’t give a fuck if you don’t care but if you want to die, do it in front of someone else!”
Yoochun shouted with unclear words because his teeth wouldn’t stop clanking together and suddenly he had the urge to hit the other on the head. Even though Junsu was giving him a confused look and furrowing his eyebrow, the pony-tailed haired man wanted to punch him even more.
It was already bad enough that he had lost a friend and it would be predominantly worse to see some strange guy he hardly know trying to burn his own body right in front of him.
“I wasn’t going to die.” Junsu mumbled quietly and Yoochun nearly didn’t catch it.
“Then what?” The pony-tailed haired man asked immediately, his patience turned thin because he wouldn’t mind snapping some sense into the other man if he didn’t give him a spectacular excuse for being reckless. Yoochun thought sarcastically and waited.
“I wanted to use my powers.” He said, with a straight face (with hideous make-up) and Yoochun doesn’t believe him one bit.
“Powers? Haha. Good one. Cracking jokes? I never knew you were the type.” He laughed, sarcasm evident in his voice, however Junsu didn’t seem to be laughing either and only stared at him blankly.
There was a moment of pause when Junsu (surprisingly) spoke up. “As a human, I didn’t think you would laugh.” He said, actually seriously and given, the blonde’s voice dropped incredibly low and Yoochun started to feel the chills.
A gust of cold wind blew, swiftly cutting through Junsu’s voice and Yoochun could hardly hear what was going on anymore.
Suddenly, it became quite dark, even though the night was evident, the brightness of the moon quickly disappeared and multiple leaves flew past him. He clung to his jacket tightly, shivering when another gust of cold wind bounced against him, as if pushing his body down until he was on his knees.
It was a few minutes later when everything stopped completely, the eerie silence rang in Yoochun’s ears and he looked up when he saw Junsu walking closer to him. The blonde lowered himself onto one knee, reaching his free hand onto Yoochun’s face.
It was cold.
“As the son of the devil, I can’t die easily.”
Junsu muttered under his breath, a mere whisper and Yoochun couldn’t stop staring at the other’s gaze once they reached his own. He shivered, not from the cold, but because something was crawling up his spine literally and he couldn’t help but take the other man’s words seriously.
Another gust of wind blew and subsided the moment it came when Junsu began emitting a small blue fire at the tip of his pointer finger.
“But you can die, human.”
Junsu pointed it close to Yoochun’s nose and with the snap of his fingers, it disappeared immediately.
Yoochun gulped.
Genuinely, he was telling the truth.
If the wind wasn’t enough proof, the fire, those eyes that spelled trouble, and Yoochun didn’t mean that in a badass way. Hell, he would be shitting for making fun of this guy, who had his life in his very hands (literally) and can easily do away with it as he wishes.
“Do you believe me?” Junsu simply questioned and the pony-tailed haired man nodded his head rapidly with a faint ‘yes.’
It wasn’t long when another wind came, this time stronger and it blew Yoochun’s ponytail over his face, black and darkness covered his vision and the world of sound came back to him.
Once it settled, he opened his eyes, slowly looked around and pushing his ponytail aside when he noticed something different.
Junsu was gone.
- ->
Silently, Junsu stared at the flames.
The flamed conjured up on the palm of his hand specifically.
It was fascinating to know that he was able to obtain one of his powers within a few weeks in time and his father had probably already noticed when Junsu discovered a cell phone on his bed. The device turned on automatically when he drew his finger (with his free hand) upon the screen and he realized it was a phone from the human world once he spotted two humans being displayed.
One was Yoochun, Junsu noted when he saw him smiling with two fingers pointing upwards and a silly grin plastered on his face- one that Junsu had yet to see.
And then there was another man standing next to him, whom Junsu could only assume was his Appa, Kim Jaejoong, since his father had given him the cell phone only because he wanted to find out more about the other man, the one who gave birth to him-what sort of person was he, that his father had made love with this him and thus, had given birth to him?
It still made Junsu curious and seeing the picture only influenced his desire to find out what was his Appa like.
Also, there was Yoochun.
Idly, he looked down on the scarf still wrapped around one of his hand and studied the designs and patterns embedded on the red scarf.
Oddly enough, he had never seen this before and the flame that appeared on his hand didn’t have this fuzzy feeling either. Though, there was nothing special about it, from what Junsu could tell, he knew there was one thing about it.
It felt warm.
- ->
It was in the late evening when Yoochun spotted a blue lantern with yellow polka dots hanging on a tree branch and later, when he came closer, he found Junsu standing under the tree.
Of course, without a second to spare, Yoochun made a U-turn, however, just when he was about to make his great getaway, he tripped.
Sadly, it was over his own shoelaces, tangled together (these fuckers) and he was able to catch his fall (sort of) with the help of Junsu. Even though he didn’t know how the man made it so quickly to catch him, he wasn’t going to question it right now because one wrong move might have his head chopped off.
That is, if he wasn’t careful.
Slowly, Yoochun stood up, regaining his composure once Junsu let go of him and set himself there silently.
He didn’t move and Yoochun didn’t say anything.
An awkward silence.
And Yoochun seriously didn’t know how he should run away without getting caught.
“So…um… how’s the weather?” He started nervously, unsure of what else to say the other man, who did nothing but stared at the ground.
A slight knot formed on the corner of Junsu’s eyebrows like he was contemplating over something before he looked up suddenly, causing Yoochun to flinch and focus on him abruptly. Slowly, Junsu put his one of his hand into his pocket (no scarf on either of his hands) and dug for something that looked like gold and round when he pulled it out.
He signaled for Yoochun to bring his hand out, but when the pony-tailed haired man didn’t understand the gesture, Junsu grabbed his wrist with a free (cold) hand and released the other’s hand till the palm was facing up.
Gently, he dropped the object into Yoochun’s palm and said. “A token of knowledge for the thing you gave me.” He claimed and Yoochun only looked at him, confusion evident on his face.
“Thing? Oh… oh! You mean the scarf?” He asked, sighing in relief when he thought Junsu was about to do something to his arm (or hand). Smiling, he laughed, subconsciously squeezing onto the golden round object in his hand and it immediately shined in his grasp.
It was gold coin.
Nothing extravagant.
Okay, nevermind, it was really extraordinary from head to toe and the lantern above him allowed him to see all the markings clearly etched onto it. As if, it was carved specifically this way, some words on the side and the center had a “T” mark on it.
Allured, Yoochun stared at it a bit longer and he didn’t snap out of it until he felt Junsu breathing closely to his cheek when he too, started observing it right in front of him.
Yoochun gulped, turning red.
He wasn’t sure what to do when the other man looked down at the coin on his open palm, which he clearly wanted to move, however, he didn’t want to remove it from the other’s sight either. If anything, he might earn some whipping or beating or fucki-
No, no, no. He told himself, shaking his head frantically. He shouldn’t be thinking of this!
And then finally murmured a small ’thanks’ to the blonde man.
Politely, Junsu nodded and the corner of his lips twitched a little, which Yoochun could only assume the other was either trying to smile or he just wanted to scare the crap out of him even more.
Junsu met with his gaze and all thoughts Yoochun had harbored went out the window.
“Ah, I forgot to thank you for helping me obtain one of my powers.” Junsu stated dully, as if he was speaking about the weather and Yoochun eyed him in horror, expecting the other to suddenly drag him to hell in gratitude. Taking him in those bloody flames, torturing him and trapping him there until who knows when he will ever get out.
His stomach twisted at the mental image, and when Junsu grabbed onto his shirt collar, he waited for the worse to happen and closed his eyes tightly.
However, there was only a silent pause with nothing happening and Yoochun slowly opened his eyes to simply be greeted by Junsu’s face- up close and scaring the fuck out of him with that bloody make-up.
He screamed.
And Junsu kissed him.
- ->
“Yoochun, you’re drooling.” Changmin stated flatly, devouring his pizza as he observed the way his friend realize there was even anything coming out of his mouth.
He wiped the drool away. “Sorry.” Yoochun said nonchalantly, eating his own pizza that was already half consumed by Changmin and probably the rest if he doesn’t finish it in a hurry. However, a minute later he resumed looking at nothing in particular, daydreaming even until Changmin shook him lightly and he came back down to earth.
“Tell me. What’s wrong?” The younger demanded as he watched the pony-tailed haired man look at him for a moment and then sighed loudly. “You don’t think I will believe you, do you?” He guessed quickly, hitting the spot when Yoochun groaned with the pizza stuffed in his mouth and nodded.
“You should know, I’ll judge you once you explain.” Changmin said, giving the elder a stern look and finished his pizza, clearing his throat in the process. “And if you don’t believe me?”
“I’ll buy dinner. Now talk.”
It was a simple negotiation and Yoochun was (sort of) reluctant to tell the other that he just kissed the devil’s son the other night, but who was he to talk if he couldn’t believe it himself.
Anyhow, it hurt more when Junsu said he thought it was a way for humans to appreciate each other when they were thankful.
That is, if he was talking about lovers, Yoochun noted bitterly.
“I met the devil’s son.” He started off the bat and noticed the way Changmin raised an eyebrow immediately, disbelief already spreading in that head of his. “He’s weird, we hung out a bit, he’ll kill me eventually and then we kissed last night.” He finished quickly, hoping he didn’t need to explain any further with the most unbelievable story of the century (and he knew it).
Changmin rubbed his head and it was already the first sign for Yoochun to say ‘buy me dinner now.’
“Okay, first, who is the devil’s son? Two, what have you been drinking last night?”
Yoochun sighed.
He knew this would happen.
“The devil’s son has outrageous platinum blonde hair, heavy make-up and he can make blue fireballs.” He stated calmly. “And I didn’t drink anything last night. I’m sober and I’ve been that way since this morning if you got up to notice. Also, I don’t smell like alcohol right now.”
He said the last part proudly when he say Changmin secretly leaning in forward to get a sniff from his breath since he pretty much know what sort of alcohol Yoochun would drink. However, he should also know that Yoochun gave up drinking a few months back too.
“I’ll buy you dinner.”
Changmin finally said, getting up and leaving Yoochun to his own thoughts (crazy assumptions too).
He didn’t even pay the bill.
- ->
It was a few days later when Junsu discovered another of his awakening powers.
The apple he took a bite from the basket of fruits had wilted away when his lips came in contact with the ripe fruit and it decayed in his very hands. Fortunately, it wasn’t the only case when he tried the water in the human world and watched the liquid turn into black goo, and an odor emanated and spread all over the place.
Though, now Junsu wondered if he could still do that thing where he could put his lips onto Yoochun’s.
Would it have the same effect on humans as it did on the food or would it simply do nothing?
Junsu doesn’t know.
“Do you like him?” A voice questioned him from behind and he saw his father holding onto a few pieces of strawberries, ripe as they ever are as he ate them. They looked tempting when they entered his father’s mouth and Junsu was momentarily distracted with curiosity until he found his train of thoughts again.
“He’s interesting. More than the other humans I saw.” There was a mild darkness in his voice and a pinch of joy, which Yunho realize was screaming at his son’s lungs for an escape. Something that was rather fascinating that Yunho could tell the words were at the tip of Junsu’s tongue and the younger wanted to say it so badly.
Yunho said nothing about it and pointed on at the basket of fruits, which immediately drew the form of another object, slowly modifying itself. It turned to a pool of liquid, wet and hot like paste, gradually forming a shape and then it started to dry.
Once it solidified, Junsu recognized it immediately when his eyes lay upon it.
It was another lantern and it had keys inside it.
Junsu stared at the lantern longer, observing the violet and blue that colored it like his blue flames. Idly, he picked it up, his father’s presences gone from the room and Junsu took the keys that hung out at the side.
Instantly, he became curious. Curious to the point that he didn’t know where the key led to or what door it would open and give him all the answers he needed.
He took a hold of it and observed it intensely.
Although, Junsu may not need them because he took a moment to recognize the marks embedded on the hilt and placed them in his pocket.
They were the keys to hell.
- ->
Yoochun doesn’t see Junsu until a few weeks into his final exams and luckily, he was at the end of them. He didn’t think he could deal with the blonde man in his studious state of mind, otherwise.
Oddly, the blonde had been stuck in his mind ever since their last meeting, especially the kiss, and he was uncertain about the feelings welling up inside him. Another side of him was saying he probably should ignore the feelings and then the other side of him wanted to know what they were about-how he could confront them and find out if they were really real or not.
Not that he would know on his own, but surely with the help of the other man he can.
“Do you like lanterns?” Junsu asked and Yoochun looked at him, not very much surprised when he spotted an ash blue violet lantern sitting right next to Junsu- or rather, in between the blonde and the pony-tailed haired man.
They were sitting on the bench near the Han River again and there were clouds of warm smoke whenever they opened their mouth, mostly Yoochun, who tried to warm his hands through his gloves.
The two didn’t talk about the kiss at all.
Still, he was grateful for the lantern because Junsu had been thoughtful enough to light it up with his flame and Yoochun found it quite endearing that even though the fire was blue, it still burned.
“Yeah, lanterns are nice.” He mumbled underneath an orange scarf he had this time wrapped around his mouth and half covering his nose to keep him warm. “Why?”
“I like them.” The blonde finally said.
It was the first time Yoochun had ever heard the other expressing any interest in anything (if you count staring) but literally admitting it out loud. And he was a bit surprised that Junsu would say anything about it. However, it was obvious with the way the blonde would carry one around with him all the time (and in different colors too).
Cautiously, Yoochun turned to face Junsu, who was watching the water of the Han River, and noticed the other’s complexion wasn’t as bad as he thought.
Well, if he looked at it long enough (and ignore the make-up). He still doesn’t know why Junsu would put it on and he tried asking, but the other didn’t answer him at that time.
Either way, Junsu had a nice face, Yoochun thought.
“Junsu.” He called and the blonde automatically turned his head at the name.
Suddenly, Yoochun had the urge to kiss him, however by the time he was only a few centimeters away from the other’s face, Junsu quickly turned his head away. His eyes widen with shock and Yoochun felt embarrassed.
“W-what- I-I- I’m sorry. “ Yoochun stuttered on his words, but it didn’t stop Junsu from turning away from him, more expression that Yoochun had ever seen on the man.
“You can’t.” Was the only thing Junsu could say when he covered his mouth with his hands and Yoochun felt like he was disgusted, and that he should’ve kept his feelings to himself.
Swiftly, Yoochun stood up, saying a faint “I’m sorry” and about to leave when Junsu tugged onto his jacket, also getting up until something fell out of his pocket.
It was a cell phone.
Junsu didn’t move to pick it up, still looking at Yoochun, who bent down to pick it up instead. A habit he had taken to whenever he was around the blonde because the man had trouble understanding what to do at certain times.
Yoochun picked up the cell phone, the screen now cracked. He was surprise that Junsu would own a cell phone at all or even something technological when the blonde had powers for everything. Slowly, he pressed his finger over the screen and it lit up to the pony-tailed haired man’s touch.
“You….know Jaejoong?” The first words that came to Yoochun’s mind when he saw the picture of him and Jaejoong displayed on the cell phone.
And now that he thought about it, wasn’t this Jaejoong’s cell phone?
“Why do you have his phone?” He looked up at Junsu, eyes agape as while the other stared right back at him, not saying a word at all.
“Who are you?” Yoochun demanded, betrayal evident in his voice and he had the urge to punch the other for lying to him about his deceased friend.
Silence met with them again and Yoochun wanted to say more before his ass freezes, however Junsu beat him to it. “That’s my Appa.” He finally said, bluntly. Probably straightforward too but, Yoochun didn’t know which because he couldn’t tell what the fuck was the other man talking about now.
“Appa? Seriously?” He nodded, his mouth hanging even lower. “I knew you were crazy from the beginning, and I only believed you were the devil’s son because you sounded like you could actually be him. But you know what? I don’t give a fuck right now because there is no way in hell that my friend is your fucking Appa.”
He heaved, not caring how Junsu’s face fell or even when he gave him a solemn look with those attractive eyes.
“Did you kill him too?” Yoochun continued, too shock to comprehend how the fuck did a guy he met soon after his friend’s death end up right in front of him, conversing and having friendly chats with him, and the pony-tailed haired man wondered why he hadn’t choked the other man already.
Junsu stayed quiet and once Yoochun deemed that he wouldn’t be getting an answer anytime soon, he left.
Dropping the coin in his pocket too.
- ->
“Father.”
Junsu called in the empty room.
Not once had he ever attempted to call his father or even to bother him with anything because he didn’t know what he would try to ask to begin with. Also, his father was very perceptive about giving him everything, no questions asked and no answers given. Everything was for Junsu and though his father had never expressed anything, Junsu knew his father was willing to protect him.
“Yes?”
Junsu turned around. As expected, his father never entered from the front, but always from the back and Junsu now understood.
“What if I like a human? Would you still tell me about Appa?” The younger asked, his eyes turning red and Yunho knew his son had become serious. He smiled.
“You may be my son and your powers have bloomed expectedly, but…” He paused, clicking his tongue before becoming distracted by the glowing fire in the room. “You still don’t understand about being the devil, nor have you grasped the thing that you like.” He finished, disappearing within a flash and he didn’t leave anything behind.
He spared a glance at the fire in the room and it blazed with the color orange and then violet.
It reminded him of Yoochun.
- ->
Yoochun met up with Junsu again (probably the last time) when his apartment goes on fire and he’s trapped in his room, no access to the bathroom and on the fifth floor. The door of his room collapsed, hitting him in the head and once he woke up, his room was on fire and there were dark smokes everywhere, blinding him from everything.
He had some burnt marks on his arm but he doesn’t care because Junsu magically appeared in his room, blue flames surrounding him as the fire fell into his will and he had control over it.
If Yoochun had seen Junsu for the first time, he would have thought he was an angel instead of the devil’s son.
Calmly, Junsu made his way to Yoochun’s weak body.
The pony-tailed haired man’s leg area had a cabinet squishing him from above.
“Junsu, is that really you?” Yoochun asked, a bit in the head because he realized that he had drank some vodka earlier (secretly) even though he had sworn he wouldn’t drink again. He knew it was a bad idea and karma was an anal in his life.
First Jaejoong, now him.
He just hoped Changmin doesn’t come after.
“Yeah, I’m here.” Junsu said, assuring and Yoochun thought he was seriously dreaming, and then he laughed. “Oh god, does fate have to be so cruel?” He whined and Junsu pulled Yoochun’s head into his arms.
“Even though you were creepy, I just want to say…” Tears started pouring from Yoochun’s eyes and he doesn’t know if it’s the alcohol working or he just had to have a really cheesy moment for his near death.
“I really liked you. No, I-I love you, Junsu. Be it a devil or a human, I fucking love you, man.” He cried, the ceiling close to breaking down when the fire burned the poles sustaining one of the corners.
Quietly, Junsu allowed the words to seep in and his eyes widened in realization once he saw the crying man burying his face into his chest and he hugged him gently.
The fire grew bigger, engulfing the two of them when Junsu let go of his hold on them and he held onto Yoochun’s turning cold hand, which was also becoming warm in his own grasp. He stared down at the other man attentively, shake him a little to stay awake because of the words he was about to say were only going to be said once.
“I love you too.”
And he kissed him.
- ->
Hell’s river reminded Junsu a lot of the Han River on earth.
It had a few exceptions because it was Hell and the river wasn’t driven by water alone, but rather by the souls of the living and many more if Junsu counted.
He only visited Hell one time with his father and this was his second time with another person.
Calmly, he sat on a small boat, enough room for himself and a journey for him alone. He looked down, keys jiggling at his side, and found Yoochun’s reflection on the water staring back at him.
He was smiling.
His favorite red lantern covered with flower decorations hung on a post in the tiny boat and a blue flame was lit within it. The colors flared into a mixture of shades from blue to violet and then from violet to red.
It reminded him of the fire back at his room. How the colors would change with its surrounding and burn animatedly throughout the night despite all conditions.
Also, he probably figured out what the red meant now.
Considering that he didn’t understand the significant of the color before, well, not until he met Yoochun.
Even though they were heading to hell right now, that doesn’t mean Junsu can’t visit him.
A human who had shown the blonde what was the world of the living like, how to appreciate it and learn to smile at it. Even though Junsu would have discovered all of it eventually, he didn’t expect to learn it all from a human and he especially didn’t expect to fall for one.
Just like his father.
A devil, yet fascinated by his Appa, who was human, he learned and eventually falling into their every whim.
A whim that only humans are able to treasure forever, appreciate it like the color red and smile at it for what it was.
Just at the thought, the lantern glowed into a bright red color, as if it knew what was on Junsu’s mind.
It meant love.
- ->
“It looks like our son has grown.” Yunho muttered, watching the flames spread across the ashes and engulfing with its fiery heat.
The fire switched into a colorful shade of blue and then red.
Beat
Beat
Beat
Swiftly, it grew bigger and bigger, encasing the stones with dark shades until a hand formed right around the edges. Slowly, flames in form of a hand reached out, crawling away from the fire cavern and another arm appeared, both clawing onto the cold stone floor for support.
He eyed the formation of the glowing fire that it grew to the point where it had legs.
It stood up and it was almost as tall as the devil himself.
Gradually, the flames ebbed, revealing what soon became layers of skin, bones, beautiful eyes and soft red lips.
“Right?” He asked.
Its eyes opened and the devil breathed.
“BooJae.”
The end.
A/N: Offical ending! \(^ _ ^)/ And first JunChun fic so it might as well be a fail since it’s not really a happy but on the sad-side ending. Though nonetheless a semi-neutral ending. :D So yeah, this is the epilogue/side story of Will-O’-the-Wisp which is a YunJae story and I decided to call this Jack-O’-Lantern due to the similarities with the main story title. Also, if no one noticed, that’s why Junsu is holding a lantern! >:D kekekekeke.
Also, in the main story Yunho calls Jaejoong “BooJae” if no one has read that yet but otherwise, this could be a stand-alone Junchun story too. :)
And of course, thanks to my awesome beta! :D I’m sorry if I rushed you! D: /rolls away
Question, comments and criticism are welcome! :D
Author: chaebol
Plot by: kpopbee
Beta: youngwoong
Pairing: YunJae, JunChun
Genre: Mystery, horror, romance, mpreg, some angst and humor
Length: (side story/8 + side story)
Warning(s): lots of explicit smut, some language
Rating: NC-17
Summary: When Jaejoong turned sixteen, he started dreaming of certain things. Things with gentle hands, strong legs, broad shoulders, smooth tan skin, a cunning face with sweet luscious lips and an alluring voice whispering delicious sin every night. He was tempted to wake up. He really was. He just didn’t know how.
A/N: JunChun side story. Could also be seen as a stand alone so you don't really have to read the main story to get most of it. :D
Previous: Chapter 1/ Chapter 2/ Chapter 3/ Chapter 4/ Chapter 5/ Chapter 6/ Chapter 7/ Chapter 8
Epilogue/Side Story: Jack-O'-Lantern
“Trick-or-treat, Ahjusshi!” The little kids screamed in unison, and the pony-tailed haired man flipped his cap over his shoulders, showering the little children with pieces of sweet candy wordlessly. The small bodies all squealed and thanked the man, venturing into the night before the man sighed.
“Oh, what am I still doing here?” Yoochun questioned miserably, especially since he was sitting quite close to- ok never mind, in the cemetery and accompanying his friend who happened to be amongst the graves.
It was Halloween night and somehow he chose this day to visit the graveyard, despite the superstitions. But he’d rather see kids running around for his candy than stay there alone. However, that didn’t change the fact that he was still scared shitless.
He sighed again.
Yoochun buried his face between his hands, not caring if there were candy stuck to his face because honestly, it wasn’t funny to have candy stuck on his face unless there was someone laughing with him- or at him for the very least.
Which remind him why he was sitting in the said graveyard without a friend.
Well, one, his friend was buried ten feet beneath the ground and two, he doesn’t have any other friends to watch movies and play videogames with all night long (unless you count Changmin, but he was stingy when it came to these things, and he had a boyfriend).
Yoochun sighed.
He wished he had a boyfriend, or at least, a new friend to hang out with.
He missed Jaejoong.
His very close friend- only friend who understood him (Changmin doesn’t count), laughed at his jokes and gossiped about the world (and men) and all about the damn things in life, which includes studying without sleep. It happened suddenly with one crazy thing after another and his friend probably overstressed himself, eventually collapsing on the road and getting into a state of a coma until the doctor dubbed him a vegetable for life.
Unfortunately enough, his parents couldn’t handle it and asked the doctor to do away with their son without letting Yoochun say his goodbyes to him. He felt so helpless without the other man and there wasn’t anyone else to laugh at his jokes and criticize the world with him (and Changmin doesn’t care).
Luckily, Yoochun was able to find the grave site and apologize to Jaejoong’s remains, decorating his tribute with tons of flowers, which he practically bought from the entire flower shop.
Only the lilies, of course. God forbid he bought the whole shop full of flowers or his poor wallet will never see the light of day.
Ruffling his hair, Yoochun turned his gaze to the shining bright moon until he noticed something gleaming in the dark and walking right up to him.
It was a man.
Oddly, he was dressed with black attires and wore a white overcoat. He had a lantern in his hand and was using it as a guiding light across the graveyard and strangely enough, he had the brightest platinum blonde hair Yoochun had ever seen.
Not soon after, he gawked at the large amount of make-up covering the other’s face when it hit the moonlight and wondered if the man was dressed fully for the fun of Halloween night or he was actually the mortician and about to kick Yoochun the fuck out.
Hopefully not the latter because he still wanted to spend time with Jaejoong.
Quickly, Yoochun packed away the candy, dumping them all in a bag and about to make a run for it until he tripped over one of the pumpkins (unfortunately) that he had lying around. He made an ‘oomf!’ once his face hit the grass and dirt and he’d so wish the other man didn’t see that.
Fortunately with some miracle out there, a gust of wind blew at him, and he used the opportunity to pull himself away and hide behind the patch of pumpkins, waiting for the man to pass right by him.
However, that didn’t seem to happen because the blonde man stopped right in front of Jaejoong’s stone, lantern still at hand and touching the rock like a creeper.
If his costume wasn’t enough, Yoochun doesn’t know what else was and ducked his head between the carved jack-o’-lanterns, making a face he hoped disguised him well. And if anything, the dark should cover up his face, right? Right.
Once the strange man seemed to be done with whatever he was doing and left, Yoochun jumped right out of the pumpkin patch and dug in his bag for a flashlight. He turned it on and raised it against the stone, observing the damage that had been done to it until he heard a voice.
“What are you doing?”
He screamed, dropping his flashlight and turned out hastily. He was greeted by the blonde haired man, who he could have sworn just left a moment, he gulped.
“Um…uh… nothing special, really… um… Just inspecting it, you know. Cleaning it. Haha.“ He polished the stone with his sleeve. “This one is really dusty and I must go now… um… toodles. By- “
Gracelessly, Yoochun tripped over his flashlight, causing him to fall and he drop his bag.
Candy came spilling out of his bag and scattered all over the floor. Yoochun landed on the patches of pumpkins, knocking over the lantern that the man had brought along and the lights went out.
“Shit!” Yoochun cursed in the dark and the other man heard him loud and clear.
“Why are you here?” He asked like he wasn’t fazed at all, and Yoochun was beginning to think this guy wasn’t the mortician because who the fuck would ask that kind of question and not kick him out already?
“Um… giving out candy?” He lied. Well, it wasn’t entirely a lie and it wasn’t entirely the truth either but the guy doesn’t have to know that.
Surprisingly, it kind of shocked Yoochun more when the guy asked him something else unexpected, “Can I do it too?”
Hurriedly, he got up and turned to the man, who was practically illuminating underneath the moonlight very clearly, especially with his platinum blonde hair and white coat. The guy shined a lot from head to toe and Yoochun doesn’t mean that in a good-looking way either.
Hell, the shit on the guy’s face still scares him and he thought he had the most hideous face tonight.
“S-sure.” He said, uncertain of whether to decline or not since the guy didn’t really seem to mean any harm (so far).
Slowly, Yoochun gathered some of the candy off the ground and placed them into a large bowl, laying them on the grass as the two of them stared off everywhere except each other. Silently, the blonde guy was just looking straight at something and Yoochun couldn’t really pinpoint it when he grabbed his flashlight and twirled it around his fingers.
It was awfully quiet, probably entering the eerie night where all the kids went back home and enjoyed their haul of treats for the night. There wasn’t even the sound of crickets and Yoochun could have sworn those suckers always came out when the night was quiet. It bothered Yoochun a lot and he shifted his position on the grass until he decided to make some sort of small conversation with the other man.
“So… what’s your name?”
He asked, turning to the other in a blink of an eye and even at the moment, the man wasn’t all that eager to answer him either.
“I’m Yoochun.” He said quickly, silence immediately eating the end of his sentence.
The guy still didn’t anything to him.
Instantly, it became quiet and Yoochun started fiddling with his fingers, unsure of what to do with them or the time in the cemetery or of why he was still sitting here with some weirdo right next to him. He should’ve left already, but for some reason he was still curious why this guy, of all people, would come up to Jaejoong’s tombstone as if he knew the guy.
“By any chance, do you know the guy here?” He pointed at the rock and if one didn’t know they were at a cemetery, they would call him crazy for calling a rock a person.
Not that he was.
The guy didn’t seem to respond to him nor did he even look at Yoochun, and if he didn’t see the guy walk up to him earlier, he would have thought he was a fucking mannequin.
“Um… excus- “
“Do you miss someone?” The guy asked suddenly, startling Yoochun, who looked at the tombstone and back at the man again.
“Y-yeah. Do you?” The pony-tailed haired man asked, trying to act like it was completely normal.
“I don’t know. I’ve never met the person to know.” He simply answered and Yoochun internally face-palmed for a moment, however, after a minute or two he found it logically reasonable to not know how it feels to miss someone when you’ve never met them before.
Or was it the other way around?
“Do you want to meet that person?” Yoochun asked curiously. Even though the guy looked like he could scare the shit out of someone right now, he sounded quite sensitive in Yoochun’s opinion.
“Someday.” He mumbled quietly, ending the mini conversation right there when he stood up without looking at Yoochun. Swiftly, he grabbed his lantern and turned away from the grave site until a voice called out to him, screaming even once he was a few feet away.
“Could you at least tell me your name?”
Yoochun called from afar and the blonde man sent him an eerie look.
“Junsu.”
- ->
“So, tell me why you’re here again?” Changmin said in a tone of boredom, as if he has had this conversation countless of times and it had become an extremely tiresome topic.
“I live here too, you asshole.” Yoochun stated, annoyed. Obviously sitting on the couch of their apartment and eating an orange from a basket of fruits that one of the neighbors handed to him first. It was probably intended for Changmin with the way his neighbor was blushing and the card (which he got rid of) was enough proof for the ponytail haired man to understand.
Changmin took an apple and bit onto it the second it fell victim to his hand. “I know very well you live here, hyung. I asked you ‘why you’re here again?’ not ‘what are you doing here?’ Learn to listen before calling someone an asshole, Yoochun. Tsk.”He took another bite of his apple, half consumed.
Apparently, Yoochun had class down at the university right now, however, he didn’t feel like going since an overdose of leftover candy made him whole-heartedly sick and he wished his mother didn’t send him so much of it.
He wasn’t even supposed to be out on a Halloween night, but his urge to visit Jaejoong was really bothering him and yet again, he seriously need some new friends. Though, it doesn’t matter because he ended up meeting a creeper with heavy make-up whom he hoped to never see again.
At least, he hoped he won’t.
“I trust you’re not disappointing your mom with your grades.” His friend started, eating a few grapes and now that Yoochun looked at the basket, it was practically half empty and he only had an orange.
Slowly, he looked up to Changmin and notice the other’s hair was ruffled like he just woke up, his lips swollen with redness and his skin was really glowing.
“Did you just fuck last night? I hope it wasn’t on my bed.” Yoochun mentioned, half sarcastic and the other half dead serious if he found stains on his bed.
Changmin swallowed a grape with a rather loud gulp and looked at the other man quickly, his eyebrows furrowed. “Don’t change the subject and it’s none of your business.” He waved him off with ease and Yoochun smirked (to himself, of course).
It was one thing to tease the younger and another to have something work his way for awhile, but most of the time Yoochun never really meant what he said.
“Whatever. If your lips are sealed, so are mine.” He muttered while Changmin stood up, the fruits evidently gone from the basket as the younger made his way to the bathroom and said.
“Go get a sex life so you can stop butting into mine.” He huffed.
Yoochun palmed his face.
- ->
“I’m home.” Junsu said, closing the door behind him. No one responded to his greeting and he overlooked the basket of fruits sitting on the table, as if inviting him to take a bite out of it for its luscious taste. It called to him in mere whispers, asking him for his soul or to ‘save them’ which he highly disregarded and entered another room.
It was a dark room and it only lit up with a glowing flame, the only source of light. It changed from dark violet to bright orange immediately when Junsu step foot into the room and he smiled.
“I’m back.” He mused and the fire sparkled with a new shade of yellow and then back to orange.
Junsu didn’t know when it began, but he had been talking to the fire since youth and it seemed to be the only thing willingly to spend time with him. Considering that the bells only rang randomly and the doors love to shift his room from time to time.
For some reason, the fire was capable of responding to his comments and thoughts, however, it was hard to keep a conversation since Junsu needed to read the colors shimming from the flames.
The fire blazed a shade of green, probably worry Junsu thought and orange was beginning to be his favorite color on the fiery flames because he knew it meant it was happy.
There were other colors, like yellow, which was excited, blue for understanding and dark violet when it was neutral.
However, he still didn’t understand red.
Rarely, he had seen the color and he had tried a variety of conversations, but it never appeared when he wanted it to.
“I met someone. He’s clumsy but he seems to miss someone just as much as I do.” He grimaced and the blaze switched to a lighter shade of blue, as it understood and then flashes of green came back.
He sighed. “I went to visit Appa at the place father told me he would be.” Focusing his eyes on the flame and it calmed him greatly to see the shades change back to blue and a tint of orange too.
Apparently, his father was the devil in the flesh and down to the very soul. Sometimes making Junsu wonder how was he born into this line of demons, however, he didn’t ponder into the thought that long because once he was born, he was breathing, seeing and living.
He didn’t need to know anything else.
Even though the only thing he was ever curious about was who was the “mother” who gave birth to him.
Unfortunately, his father was stubborn and he wouldn’t tell him anything other than a name and where he was.
Not only that, it was probably because Junsu wasn’t of age yet.
Considering that he grew in a pace different from humans, his powers haven’t fully developed and his father has yet to recognize him. Though, it wasn’t something that worried him since he discovered a few weeks ago that he couldn’t die in the slightest bit.
At least, not very easily.
Suddenly the bells rang and the flamed reverted back to violet.
It was a signal.
Junsu noticed not long ago and it would tell him whenever his father returned, sometimes inaccurate and sometimes predictable. However, it didn’t stop Junsu from walking to the door and checking to see if his father had arrived from wherever he came from.
“You’re home.” A voice came from behind him, undoubtedly the devil himself. Junsu turned around and found his father, sitting on an arm chair, legs crossed and staring at the red and violet flames.
He looked relaxed, at leisure, and Junsu wasn’t sure what to say until he remembered about his visit to the human world.
“You visited your Appa?” His father Yunho asked, playing with a glass of red wine he picked up on floating table that came and went. It dove back into the darkness and Junsu almost wondered where it went.
“I did.” He said calmly, watching his father take a sip of his wine. “But it wasn’t him. There was another soul there.”
At that statement, his father raised his eyebrows and smiled. “Another soul? A wanderer?” He took another sip before setting his cup back onto the table, emptying it to the very bottom and still fresh against his tongue. “Or a human?”
“A human.” Junsu muttered softly, uncertainty clearly plastered onto his face and Yunho probably noticed it too.
“Did you have fun in the other world?” The devil asked casually, chuckling as he played with the bells hanging on the side of the wall and Junsu would have thought they were expecting another visitor if it weren’t for the different sound it was making.
Junsu simply nodded because technically speaking, it was his first and only time he had ever ventured into the human world alone and without any guidance. Naturally, he found everything amusing once he stepped out of the darkness and discovered many other living creatures, smell and the brightness.
Especially the light.
It was much brighter than he expected the world to be even though he was strolling through it in the dark, however, the lights that radiated from different places drew his eyes yet it also stung so badly.
Luckily, he didn’t stay long enough to observe the light but he did know that he liked the darkness of that world. There were many calling out to him, yet at the same time, not so many once they felt him come closer, they would scatter immediately and then he was greeted by the silent dark again.
Delicately, he let out a sigh, ignoring the fact that his father had already left the room while he was wallowing in his thoughts. The fire had sprung into a shade of blue and violet, however, it didn’t seem like it was paying attention to Junsu anymore.
It felt quite lonely.
And he was used to it.
- ->
Yoochun probably shouldn’t have asked for the creepers name because the now said creeper “Junsu” was by the Han River on a mid-November night, sitting on a bench- his favorite bench (and only favorite) specifically, and on his spot too.
Nervously, Yoochun wrapped his arms tightly around his jacket to prevent the cold from seeping into his skin. It was futile and Yoochun knew it, but he didn’t want to let go despite his useless efforts.
He shivered uncontrollably, puffing some warm air into his hands as he waited for the other man to leave on his own, just like on that Halloween night. Though Yoochun wondered why the guy had to choose a night where Changmin kicked him out to the cold because he was making out with his boyfriend and Yoochun was interrupting them to the point where he felt like a third wheel.
Well, he was.
But it was also his apartment and fuck, he wished he had some new friends (or boyfriend) already.
Slowly, he let out a sigh when he couldn’t tell if his ass was freezing anymore and turned around.
Sadly, he slipped on a leaf on the wet grass and fell face first (again) and he just thought today (or tonight) couldn’t get any crueler.
Just at the moment of his fall, he heard some rustling and later some footsteps, which he soon recognized, came from the blonde man and he stared down at Yoochun curiously.
He didn’t say much. Not even a ’Here, let me help you, Yoochunnie!’ as Yoochun would have expected from a normal person, however, he didn’t want to think that far nor did he want to imagine those words coming out of the other man’s mouth.
Ruthlessly, Yoochun picked himself up, brushing the leaves off him like nothing and the blonde only stared at him until he picked a piece off Yoochun’s forehead, who blushed, embarrassed (because it was cold!) when he didn’t notice it.
“Thanks.” He whispered quietly while the blonde man observed the leaf he had plucked out in his hand.
Again, the man didn’t say anything and Yoochun was beginning to wonder what was with him.
Also, why the man’s face was still covered in heavy make-up from the other night.
That is, if the guy had a thing for it.
“Are you lonely?” Junsu asked suddenly, his gaze never leaving the leaf as he twirled it around his fingers and soon placed it onto the center of his palm in fascination.
Even though Yoochun was standing right in front of the man, his thoughts were already telling him it wasn’t a good idea to socialize with the guy- if he was even sociable. However, it didn’t make a difference because his mind was shouting at him to leave the weirdo to whatever he was doing while his body somehow just stood rooted there.
“I guess.” He answered subconsciously, oblivious to the small smile on the other man’s lips, which soon disappeared the moment it formed.
Yoochun coughed. “Did you meet that person yet?”He asked, a bit on the curious side, but it was mostly because silence visited them a lot, and he found it hard to converse with the other man.
Especially when he would ask random things.
The blonde man was still looking at the leaf in his hand intently and Yoochun decided to look down at it too.
However, he didn’t know whether it was a good or bad idea because the moment he set eyes on it, the leaf began to turn to a shade of black, and then sparks appeared. Blue smoke started forming around the leaf and its edges gradually curled like there was some sort of force willing it to move.
It freaked Yoochun a bit, but he couldn’t stop staring at it, not even if he wanted to.
Then within an instant, it burned.
“Holy shi- “The pony-tailed haired man cursed, looking around frantically until he grabbed onto the other’s hand and dragged him down the bank right near the river.
There were blue flames emitting from Junsu’s hand and Yoochun wasn’t sure how to drag the man any lower when they were close to the river until he pushed the man forward, grabbing him by the waist to prevent him from falling it.
It was really difficult.
Difficult that the other didn’t seem to want to throw his hand into the water and Yoochun had to take the other’s arm and aim it directly into the river.
Gracelessly, it ended with a splash and a hiss on Junsu’s part when his hand touched the freezing cold water, instantly putting out the blue flame and a trail of smoke rose like fog above the water.
Once Yoochun though the fire was completely put out, he dragged Junsu back up, taking off his scarf and wrapping it around the other man’s wounded hand, which had leftover ashes on his skin.
He wheezed heavily.
“Shit, man. Are you a magician or something? What is wrong with you?” He knotted the scarf on the other’s hand. “You could have fucking burned yourself and I don’t give a fuck if you don’t care but if you want to die, do it in front of someone else!”
Yoochun shouted with unclear words because his teeth wouldn’t stop clanking together and suddenly he had the urge to hit the other on the head. Even though Junsu was giving him a confused look and furrowing his eyebrow, the pony-tailed haired man wanted to punch him even more.
It was already bad enough that he had lost a friend and it would be predominantly worse to see some strange guy he hardly know trying to burn his own body right in front of him.
“I wasn’t going to die.” Junsu mumbled quietly and Yoochun nearly didn’t catch it.
“Then what?” The pony-tailed haired man asked immediately, his patience turned thin because he wouldn’t mind snapping some sense into the other man if he didn’t give him a spectacular excuse for being reckless. Yoochun thought sarcastically and waited.
“I wanted to use my powers.” He said, with a straight face (with hideous make-up) and Yoochun doesn’t believe him one bit.
“Powers? Haha. Good one. Cracking jokes? I never knew you were the type.” He laughed, sarcasm evident in his voice, however Junsu didn’t seem to be laughing either and only stared at him blankly.
There was a moment of pause when Junsu (surprisingly) spoke up. “As a human, I didn’t think you would laugh.” He said, actually seriously and given, the blonde’s voice dropped incredibly low and Yoochun started to feel the chills.
A gust of cold wind blew, swiftly cutting through Junsu’s voice and Yoochun could hardly hear what was going on anymore.
Suddenly, it became quite dark, even though the night was evident, the brightness of the moon quickly disappeared and multiple leaves flew past him. He clung to his jacket tightly, shivering when another gust of cold wind bounced against him, as if pushing his body down until he was on his knees.
It was a few minutes later when everything stopped completely, the eerie silence rang in Yoochun’s ears and he looked up when he saw Junsu walking closer to him. The blonde lowered himself onto one knee, reaching his free hand onto Yoochun’s face.
It was cold.
“As the son of the devil, I can’t die easily.”
Junsu muttered under his breath, a mere whisper and Yoochun couldn’t stop staring at the other’s gaze once they reached his own. He shivered, not from the cold, but because something was crawling up his spine literally and he couldn’t help but take the other man’s words seriously.
Another gust of wind blew and subsided the moment it came when Junsu began emitting a small blue fire at the tip of his pointer finger.
“But you can die, human.”
Junsu pointed it close to Yoochun’s nose and with the snap of his fingers, it disappeared immediately.
Yoochun gulped.
Genuinely, he was telling the truth.
If the wind wasn’t enough proof, the fire, those eyes that spelled trouble, and Yoochun didn’t mean that in a badass way. Hell, he would be shitting for making fun of this guy, who had his life in his very hands (literally) and can easily do away with it as he wishes.
“Do you believe me?” Junsu simply questioned and the pony-tailed haired man nodded his head rapidly with a faint ‘yes.’
It wasn’t long when another wind came, this time stronger and it blew Yoochun’s ponytail over his face, black and darkness covered his vision and the world of sound came back to him.
Once it settled, he opened his eyes, slowly looked around and pushing his ponytail aside when he noticed something different.
Junsu was gone.
- ->
Silently, Junsu stared at the flames.
The flamed conjured up on the palm of his hand specifically.
It was fascinating to know that he was able to obtain one of his powers within a few weeks in time and his father had probably already noticed when Junsu discovered a cell phone on his bed. The device turned on automatically when he drew his finger (with his free hand) upon the screen and he realized it was a phone from the human world once he spotted two humans being displayed.
One was Yoochun, Junsu noted when he saw him smiling with two fingers pointing upwards and a silly grin plastered on his face- one that Junsu had yet to see.
And then there was another man standing next to him, whom Junsu could only assume was his Appa, Kim Jaejoong, since his father had given him the cell phone only because he wanted to find out more about the other man, the one who gave birth to him-what sort of person was he, that his father had made love with this him and thus, had given birth to him?
It still made Junsu curious and seeing the picture only influenced his desire to find out what was his Appa like.
Also, there was Yoochun.
Idly, he looked down on the scarf still wrapped around one of his hand and studied the designs and patterns embedded on the red scarf.
Oddly enough, he had never seen this before and the flame that appeared on his hand didn’t have this fuzzy feeling either. Though, there was nothing special about it, from what Junsu could tell, he knew there was one thing about it.
It felt warm.
- ->
It was in the late evening when Yoochun spotted a blue lantern with yellow polka dots hanging on a tree branch and later, when he came closer, he found Junsu standing under the tree.
Of course, without a second to spare, Yoochun made a U-turn, however, just when he was about to make his great getaway, he tripped.
Sadly, it was over his own shoelaces, tangled together (these fuckers) and he was able to catch his fall (sort of) with the help of Junsu. Even though he didn’t know how the man made it so quickly to catch him, he wasn’t going to question it right now because one wrong move might have his head chopped off.
That is, if he wasn’t careful.
Slowly, Yoochun stood up, regaining his composure once Junsu let go of him and set himself there silently.
He didn’t move and Yoochun didn’t say anything.
An awkward silence.
And Yoochun seriously didn’t know how he should run away without getting caught.
“So…um… how’s the weather?” He started nervously, unsure of what else to say the other man, who did nothing but stared at the ground.
A slight knot formed on the corner of Junsu’s eyebrows like he was contemplating over something before he looked up suddenly, causing Yoochun to flinch and focus on him abruptly. Slowly, Junsu put his one of his hand into his pocket (no scarf on either of his hands) and dug for something that looked like gold and round when he pulled it out.
He signaled for Yoochun to bring his hand out, but when the pony-tailed haired man didn’t understand the gesture, Junsu grabbed his wrist with a free (cold) hand and released the other’s hand till the palm was facing up.
Gently, he dropped the object into Yoochun’s palm and said. “A token of knowledge for the thing you gave me.” He claimed and Yoochun only looked at him, confusion evident on his face.
“Thing? Oh… oh! You mean the scarf?” He asked, sighing in relief when he thought Junsu was about to do something to his arm (or hand). Smiling, he laughed, subconsciously squeezing onto the golden round object in his hand and it immediately shined in his grasp.
It was gold coin.
Nothing extravagant.
Okay, nevermind, it was really extraordinary from head to toe and the lantern above him allowed him to see all the markings clearly etched onto it. As if, it was carved specifically this way, some words on the side and the center had a “T” mark on it.
Allured, Yoochun stared at it a bit longer and he didn’t snap out of it until he felt Junsu breathing closely to his cheek when he too, started observing it right in front of him.
Yoochun gulped, turning red.
He wasn’t sure what to do when the other man looked down at the coin on his open palm, which he clearly wanted to move, however, he didn’t want to remove it from the other’s sight either. If anything, he might earn some whipping or beating or fucki-
No, no, no. He told himself, shaking his head frantically. He shouldn’t be thinking of this!
And then finally murmured a small ’thanks’ to the blonde man.
Politely, Junsu nodded and the corner of his lips twitched a little, which Yoochun could only assume the other was either trying to smile or he just wanted to scare the crap out of him even more.
Junsu met with his gaze and all thoughts Yoochun had harbored went out the window.
“Ah, I forgot to thank you for helping me obtain one of my powers.” Junsu stated dully, as if he was speaking about the weather and Yoochun eyed him in horror, expecting the other to suddenly drag him to hell in gratitude. Taking him in those bloody flames, torturing him and trapping him there until who knows when he will ever get out.
His stomach twisted at the mental image, and when Junsu grabbed onto his shirt collar, he waited for the worse to happen and closed his eyes tightly.
However, there was only a silent pause with nothing happening and Yoochun slowly opened his eyes to simply be greeted by Junsu’s face- up close and scaring the fuck out of him with that bloody make-up.
He screamed.
And Junsu kissed him.
- ->
“Yoochun, you’re drooling.” Changmin stated flatly, devouring his pizza as he observed the way his friend realize there was even anything coming out of his mouth.
He wiped the drool away. “Sorry.” Yoochun said nonchalantly, eating his own pizza that was already half consumed by Changmin and probably the rest if he doesn’t finish it in a hurry. However, a minute later he resumed looking at nothing in particular, daydreaming even until Changmin shook him lightly and he came back down to earth.
“Tell me. What’s wrong?” The younger demanded as he watched the pony-tailed haired man look at him for a moment and then sighed loudly. “You don’t think I will believe you, do you?” He guessed quickly, hitting the spot when Yoochun groaned with the pizza stuffed in his mouth and nodded.
“You should know, I’ll judge you once you explain.” Changmin said, giving the elder a stern look and finished his pizza, clearing his throat in the process. “And if you don’t believe me?”
“I’ll buy dinner. Now talk.”
It was a simple negotiation and Yoochun was (sort of) reluctant to tell the other that he just kissed the devil’s son the other night, but who was he to talk if he couldn’t believe it himself.
Anyhow, it hurt more when Junsu said he thought it was a way for humans to appreciate each other when they were thankful.
That is, if he was talking about lovers, Yoochun noted bitterly.
“I met the devil’s son.” He started off the bat and noticed the way Changmin raised an eyebrow immediately, disbelief already spreading in that head of his. “He’s weird, we hung out a bit, he’ll kill me eventually and then we kissed last night.” He finished quickly, hoping he didn’t need to explain any further with the most unbelievable story of the century (and he knew it).
Changmin rubbed his head and it was already the first sign for Yoochun to say ‘buy me dinner now.’
“Okay, first, who is the devil’s son? Two, what have you been drinking last night?”
Yoochun sighed.
He knew this would happen.
“The devil’s son has outrageous platinum blonde hair, heavy make-up and he can make blue fireballs.” He stated calmly. “And I didn’t drink anything last night. I’m sober and I’ve been that way since this morning if you got up to notice. Also, I don’t smell like alcohol right now.”
He said the last part proudly when he say Changmin secretly leaning in forward to get a sniff from his breath since he pretty much know what sort of alcohol Yoochun would drink. However, he should also know that Yoochun gave up drinking a few months back too.
“I’ll buy you dinner.”
Changmin finally said, getting up and leaving Yoochun to his own thoughts (crazy assumptions too).
He didn’t even pay the bill.
- ->
It was a few days later when Junsu discovered another of his awakening powers.
The apple he took a bite from the basket of fruits had wilted away when his lips came in contact with the ripe fruit and it decayed in his very hands. Fortunately, it wasn’t the only case when he tried the water in the human world and watched the liquid turn into black goo, and an odor emanated and spread all over the place.
Though, now Junsu wondered if he could still do that thing where he could put his lips onto Yoochun’s.
Would it have the same effect on humans as it did on the food or would it simply do nothing?
Junsu doesn’t know.
“Do you like him?” A voice questioned him from behind and he saw his father holding onto a few pieces of strawberries, ripe as they ever are as he ate them. They looked tempting when they entered his father’s mouth and Junsu was momentarily distracted with curiosity until he found his train of thoughts again.
“He’s interesting. More than the other humans I saw.” There was a mild darkness in his voice and a pinch of joy, which Yunho realize was screaming at his son’s lungs for an escape. Something that was rather fascinating that Yunho could tell the words were at the tip of Junsu’s tongue and the younger wanted to say it so badly.
Yunho said nothing about it and pointed on at the basket of fruits, which immediately drew the form of another object, slowly modifying itself. It turned to a pool of liquid, wet and hot like paste, gradually forming a shape and then it started to dry.
Once it solidified, Junsu recognized it immediately when his eyes lay upon it.
It was another lantern and it had keys inside it.
Junsu stared at the lantern longer, observing the violet and blue that colored it like his blue flames. Idly, he picked it up, his father’s presences gone from the room and Junsu took the keys that hung out at the side.
Instantly, he became curious. Curious to the point that he didn’t know where the key led to or what door it would open and give him all the answers he needed.
He took a hold of it and observed it intensely.
Although, Junsu may not need them because he took a moment to recognize the marks embedded on the hilt and placed them in his pocket.
They were the keys to hell.
- ->
Yoochun doesn’t see Junsu until a few weeks into his final exams and luckily, he was at the end of them. He didn’t think he could deal with the blonde man in his studious state of mind, otherwise.
Oddly, the blonde had been stuck in his mind ever since their last meeting, especially the kiss, and he was uncertain about the feelings welling up inside him. Another side of him was saying he probably should ignore the feelings and then the other side of him wanted to know what they were about-how he could confront them and find out if they were really real or not.
Not that he would know on his own, but surely with the help of the other man he can.
“Do you like lanterns?” Junsu asked and Yoochun looked at him, not very much surprised when he spotted an ash blue violet lantern sitting right next to Junsu- or rather, in between the blonde and the pony-tailed haired man.
They were sitting on the bench near the Han River again and there were clouds of warm smoke whenever they opened their mouth, mostly Yoochun, who tried to warm his hands through his gloves.
The two didn’t talk about the kiss at all.
Still, he was grateful for the lantern because Junsu had been thoughtful enough to light it up with his flame and Yoochun found it quite endearing that even though the fire was blue, it still burned.
“Yeah, lanterns are nice.” He mumbled underneath an orange scarf he had this time wrapped around his mouth and half covering his nose to keep him warm. “Why?”
“I like them.” The blonde finally said.
It was the first time Yoochun had ever heard the other expressing any interest in anything (if you count staring) but literally admitting it out loud. And he was a bit surprised that Junsu would say anything about it. However, it was obvious with the way the blonde would carry one around with him all the time (and in different colors too).
Cautiously, Yoochun turned to face Junsu, who was watching the water of the Han River, and noticed the other’s complexion wasn’t as bad as he thought.
Well, if he looked at it long enough (and ignore the make-up). He still doesn’t know why Junsu would put it on and he tried asking, but the other didn’t answer him at that time.
Either way, Junsu had a nice face, Yoochun thought.
“Junsu.” He called and the blonde automatically turned his head at the name.
Suddenly, Yoochun had the urge to kiss him, however by the time he was only a few centimeters away from the other’s face, Junsu quickly turned his head away. His eyes widen with shock and Yoochun felt embarrassed.
“W-what- I-I- I’m sorry. “ Yoochun stuttered on his words, but it didn’t stop Junsu from turning away from him, more expression that Yoochun had ever seen on the man.
“You can’t.” Was the only thing Junsu could say when he covered his mouth with his hands and Yoochun felt like he was disgusted, and that he should’ve kept his feelings to himself.
Swiftly, Yoochun stood up, saying a faint “I’m sorry” and about to leave when Junsu tugged onto his jacket, also getting up until something fell out of his pocket.
It was a cell phone.
Junsu didn’t move to pick it up, still looking at Yoochun, who bent down to pick it up instead. A habit he had taken to whenever he was around the blonde because the man had trouble understanding what to do at certain times.
Yoochun picked up the cell phone, the screen now cracked. He was surprise that Junsu would own a cell phone at all or even something technological when the blonde had powers for everything. Slowly, he pressed his finger over the screen and it lit up to the pony-tailed haired man’s touch.
“You….know Jaejoong?” The first words that came to Yoochun’s mind when he saw the picture of him and Jaejoong displayed on the cell phone.
And now that he thought about it, wasn’t this Jaejoong’s cell phone?
“Why do you have his phone?” He looked up at Junsu, eyes agape as while the other stared right back at him, not saying a word at all.
“Who are you?” Yoochun demanded, betrayal evident in his voice and he had the urge to punch the other for lying to him about his deceased friend.
Silence met with them again and Yoochun wanted to say more before his ass freezes, however Junsu beat him to it. “That’s my Appa.” He finally said, bluntly. Probably straightforward too but, Yoochun didn’t know which because he couldn’t tell what the fuck was the other man talking about now.
“Appa? Seriously?” He nodded, his mouth hanging even lower. “I knew you were crazy from the beginning, and I only believed you were the devil’s son because you sounded like you could actually be him. But you know what? I don’t give a fuck right now because there is no way in hell that my friend is your fucking Appa.”
He heaved, not caring how Junsu’s face fell or even when he gave him a solemn look with those attractive eyes.
“Did you kill him too?” Yoochun continued, too shock to comprehend how the fuck did a guy he met soon after his friend’s death end up right in front of him, conversing and having friendly chats with him, and the pony-tailed haired man wondered why he hadn’t choked the other man already.
Junsu stayed quiet and once Yoochun deemed that he wouldn’t be getting an answer anytime soon, he left.
Dropping the coin in his pocket too.
- ->
“Father.”
Junsu called in the empty room.
Not once had he ever attempted to call his father or even to bother him with anything because he didn’t know what he would try to ask to begin with. Also, his father was very perceptive about giving him everything, no questions asked and no answers given. Everything was for Junsu and though his father had never expressed anything, Junsu knew his father was willing to protect him.
“Yes?”
Junsu turned around. As expected, his father never entered from the front, but always from the back and Junsu now understood.
“What if I like a human? Would you still tell me about Appa?” The younger asked, his eyes turning red and Yunho knew his son had become serious. He smiled.
“You may be my son and your powers have bloomed expectedly, but…” He paused, clicking his tongue before becoming distracted by the glowing fire in the room. “You still don’t understand about being the devil, nor have you grasped the thing that you like.” He finished, disappearing within a flash and he didn’t leave anything behind.
He spared a glance at the fire in the room and it blazed with the color orange and then violet.
It reminded him of Yoochun.
- ->
Yoochun met up with Junsu again (probably the last time) when his apartment goes on fire and he’s trapped in his room, no access to the bathroom and on the fifth floor. The door of his room collapsed, hitting him in the head and once he woke up, his room was on fire and there were dark smokes everywhere, blinding him from everything.
He had some burnt marks on his arm but he doesn’t care because Junsu magically appeared in his room, blue flames surrounding him as the fire fell into his will and he had control over it.
If Yoochun had seen Junsu for the first time, he would have thought he was an angel instead of the devil’s son.
Calmly, Junsu made his way to Yoochun’s weak body.
The pony-tailed haired man’s leg area had a cabinet squishing him from above.
“Junsu, is that really you?” Yoochun asked, a bit in the head because he realized that he had drank some vodka earlier (secretly) even though he had sworn he wouldn’t drink again. He knew it was a bad idea and karma was an anal in his life.
First Jaejoong, now him.
He just hoped Changmin doesn’t come after.
“Yeah, I’m here.” Junsu said, assuring and Yoochun thought he was seriously dreaming, and then he laughed. “Oh god, does fate have to be so cruel?” He whined and Junsu pulled Yoochun’s head into his arms.
“Even though you were creepy, I just want to say…” Tears started pouring from Yoochun’s eyes and he doesn’t know if it’s the alcohol working or he just had to have a really cheesy moment for his near death.
“I really liked you. No, I-I love you, Junsu. Be it a devil or a human, I fucking love you, man.” He cried, the ceiling close to breaking down when the fire burned the poles sustaining one of the corners.
Quietly, Junsu allowed the words to seep in and his eyes widened in realization once he saw the crying man burying his face into his chest and he hugged him gently.
The fire grew bigger, engulfing the two of them when Junsu let go of his hold on them and he held onto Yoochun’s turning cold hand, which was also becoming warm in his own grasp. He stared down at the other man attentively, shake him a little to stay awake because of the words he was about to say were only going to be said once.
“I love you too.”
And he kissed him.
- ->
Hell’s river reminded Junsu a lot of the Han River on earth.
It had a few exceptions because it was Hell and the river wasn’t driven by water alone, but rather by the souls of the living and many more if Junsu counted.
He only visited Hell one time with his father and this was his second time with another person.
Calmly, he sat on a small boat, enough room for himself and a journey for him alone. He looked down, keys jiggling at his side, and found Yoochun’s reflection on the water staring back at him.
He was smiling.
His favorite red lantern covered with flower decorations hung on a post in the tiny boat and a blue flame was lit within it. The colors flared into a mixture of shades from blue to violet and then from violet to red.
It reminded him of the fire back at his room. How the colors would change with its surrounding and burn animatedly throughout the night despite all conditions.
Also, he probably figured out what the red meant now.
Considering that he didn’t understand the significant of the color before, well, not until he met Yoochun.
Even though they were heading to hell right now, that doesn’t mean Junsu can’t visit him.
A human who had shown the blonde what was the world of the living like, how to appreciate it and learn to smile at it. Even though Junsu would have discovered all of it eventually, he didn’t expect to learn it all from a human and he especially didn’t expect to fall for one.
Just like his father.
A devil, yet fascinated by his Appa, who was human, he learned and eventually falling into their every whim.
A whim that only humans are able to treasure forever, appreciate it like the color red and smile at it for what it was.
Just at the thought, the lantern glowed into a bright red color, as if it knew what was on Junsu’s mind.
It meant love.
- ->
“It looks like our son has grown.” Yunho muttered, watching the flames spread across the ashes and engulfing with its fiery heat.
The fire switched into a colorful shade of blue and then red.
Beat
Beat
Beat
Swiftly, it grew bigger and bigger, encasing the stones with dark shades until a hand formed right around the edges. Slowly, flames in form of a hand reached out, crawling away from the fire cavern and another arm appeared, both clawing onto the cold stone floor for support.
He eyed the formation of the glowing fire that it grew to the point where it had legs.
It stood up and it was almost as tall as the devil himself.
Gradually, the flames ebbed, revealing what soon became layers of skin, bones, beautiful eyes and soft red lips.
“Right?” He asked.
Its eyes opened and the devil breathed.
“BooJae.”
The end.
A/N: Offical ending! \(^ _ ^)/ And first JunChun fic so it might as well be a fail since it’s not really a happy but on the sad-side ending. Though nonetheless a semi-neutral ending. :D So yeah, this is the epilogue/side story of Will-O’-the-Wisp which is a YunJae story and I decided to call this Jack-O’-Lantern due to the similarities with the main story title. Also, if no one noticed, that’s why Junsu is holding a lantern! >:D kekekekeke.
Also, in the main story Yunho calls Jaejoong “BooJae” if no one has read that yet but otherwise, this could be a stand-alone Junchun story too. :)
And of course, thanks to my awesome beta! :D I’m sorry if I rushed you! D: /rolls away
Question, comments and criticism are welcome! :D