[Fanfic: time * space]
Title: Time * Space
Fandom: Super Junior
Pairing: Donghae/Sungmin
Genre: series of AU
Rating: PG13
WC: 2175
Summary: Donghae just wonders how many different instances out there does he meet Sungmin
A/N: trying so hard to write sungmin again, something's just not feeling right. peaches_n_kream I tried bb, but haemin just isn't really working with me as much as it should. Oh, and I need KIMIN IN MY LIFE, and kangmin, but KIMIN first
“You know, I still hate you for taking the last dumpling that time,” Sungmin whispered over his shoulder, “I just never told you.”
“I never knew you remember those things,” Donghae tightened his grip around the crimson handle, blade pointed down against the dirt,
“now that I think about it, matches your personality.”
“Even when we’re about to die, you can still crack a joke,” Sungmin jabbed him hard in the stomach with the end of his spear, brows furrowed in annoyance, “I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not.”
Donghae flashed him a huge grin as a wave of soldiers came blaring down the surrounding hill, hundreds and hundreds of moving dots filling in every speck of vegetation.
“You still care about me.” The deafening screams from the soldiers echoed inside the valley, flags of emerald and gold raging behind the first wave of soldiers. Even if they were two of the best mercenaries of their entire band, there was no way they’d make it out alive.
“I don’t know why I do.” Sungmin took a step back, his back pressed firmly against Donghae. “I honestly don’t know why.”
~
“I honestly don’t know why I still put up with you.” Sungmin grimaced as he took another patch of Donghae’s hair, holding it up and throwing another clip into the tangled mess, “Do you know how hard it is to constantly fix your hair all the time?”
“I’m sorry,” Donghae almost disappeared into the chair as Sungmin sprayed another puff of scented hair spray into his locks, attempting to minimize the damage.
“I hate being your hair stylist,” Sungmin rolled his eyes, fingers expertly trying to fix his bangs. “I swear to god if you weren’t my good friend, I wouldn’t give two fucks about you.”
“I’m sorry, okay, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Donghae stood up after Sungmin violently tugged his sleeve. He stood up and Sungmin softened his scowl, flipping him around and pressing their backs together to make sure Donghae’s hair was the right height.
“Good, good, oh my god I love myself sometimes.” Sungmin looked into the mirror, nodding at his own brilliance. At least Donghae’s hair was mildly presentable right now.
Donghae was about to sift his hand into his hair when Sungmin barked at him.
~
“Stop it!” Sungmin barked as he edged forward, his beam of light steady as he traced up the walls of the tomb.
“Oh god, oh god can we please jus -” Donghae whimpered, flicking his flashlight everywhere he could, attempting to illuminate the darkness. He hated darkness and dark places and now they were deep underground in some desert and why had he agreed to do this.
“No, we did not come this far just to go back empty handed.”
“No but, Sungmin!! Oh god,” Donghae shrieked when a beetle crawled into view and he almost threw his flashlight at the fragile sand.
“Shut the fuck up.” Sungmin pressed forward, his careful hands grazing over the hieroglyphics etched onto the crumbling stone. “Can you just shut up for three minutes? Three minutes, that’s all I’m asking for.”
Donghae bit his tongue, swallowing another scream as he pressed his back against Sungmin, his flashlight darting around the ruins. He swore he felt something move against his foot. It’ll be over in a couple of hours if Sungmin was in a good mood. He closed his eyes, trying to delude himself from the surroundings and relying on Sungmin’s back to keep him grounded to realty.
~
Their backs were pressed firmly against each other to the point where they were trying to knock the other off balance. They were at another press conference, this time revolving around their casting together in the same movie as the male leads.
“At least pretend to like me.” Sungmin said through gritted teeth, his eyes crinkled as he waved at the cameras. “It’ll give the both of us some good publicity.”
“I’m sorry I can’t be as fake as you.” Donghae chuckled as the cameras continued flashing. It was like an uncoordinated symphony of noise, blaring and unattractive. There was bound to be one bad candid shot, and those ones were especially annoying to deal with.
“I hope you drown.” Sungmin gave another fake laugh, politely pushing away three microphones threatening him. “Oh Donghae here, we’re such good friends, sometimes I even call him at night and we talk to each other about everything for hours.”
“Sungmin is almost like my best friend, we’re going to work so well together in this movie, right Sungmin?”
Reporters continued scribbling everything they said. Something was bound to work as a captivating headline.
Sungmin leaned away, pretending to speak into a microphone, and Donghae almost fell on the red carpet.
“That’s it.” Donghae whipped his head back in pure anger, growing under his breath, and Sungmin merely shrugged his shoulders, continuing to smile and wave to the cameras. This is the last time Donghae would ever accept anything associated with Sungmin.
~
Sungmin whipped his head back and forth, eyes alert for any motion inside the warehouse. Stacks and stacks of empty cargo containers and wooden crates cluttered the suspected hideout of a triad leader responsible for the series of recent murders.
“Hae, do you see anything suspicious?” Sungmin pressed his back against his comrade, gun pointing in random directions. Leave it up to Donghae to get them in this position without backup for at least another seven minutes. They were authorized to kill if needed.
A shot rang out, it’s killing scream echoing inside the deserted building and Donghae collapsed beside Sungmin, clutching a bleeding mess that was once his right hand.
“Move, and your friend here takes the next one in the head.” Sungmin felt the cold metal cruising near his neck. Sungmin caught a glimpse at the damage, Donghae could probably never hold a gun again. Sungmin swallowed hard, wincing when the figure kicked his hand hard, his gun dropping to the floor.
~
The pain was excruciating. The burning sun felt especially relentless today as they stood in the scorching heat. Their backs were pressed tightly together, their arms strategically angled robotically, not moving an inch. The sunlight flared down, illuminating the silver and gold paint sloshed over their skin.
People bustled around them, an occasional few pausing to admire their act, throwing down coins and bills galore. They were in a popular corner in downtown, a crowded street filled with high end fashion and a couple of the largest office buildings. Foreigners, probably tourists, Sungmin noted, tended to stop and take a few photos. Sungmin could feel Donghae smiling at the camera.
The grandfather clock struck twelve and the two of them sprung down from the podium, scaring the nearby tourists posing for a photograph. They clanked around brokenly, like two malfunctioning robots, and interacted with the audience, their metallic skin glistening from their sweat.
Sungmin looked at Donghae and the two of them got back on the podium within five minutes, backs pressed firmly together as neither smiling at the uproar of applause. This crowd was extra generous, Sungmin held up a $100 note and showed Donghae. Hopefully the next batch of people will be equally generous.
~
“Oh,” Donghae turned around, startled in surprise when he took a step back and hit something. The club was cluttered and steamy; air circulation was a concept that never seemed to cross the designer’s mind. “Sorry.”
The other person also turned around at the contact, smiling politely and waving away the apology. He was really cute, dressed in a simple pink blazer and tight jeans.
“I’m Donghae.” He brought out a hand and the other boy gladly took it, a small smile radiating like the morning sun. And Donghae thought the previous time was going to be his last visit to the club, thank god he didn’t give in to peer pressure.
A slow song came after the heavy techno music, and people cheered, the light melody refreshing as it drifted into every corner of the club. Couples began assembling together already, the dance floor filled with soft touches and gentle affection.
Donghae turned back to the boy, he still didn’t know his name yet, and offered his hand once more. He looked uncertain, almost scared, but Donghae reached forward, boldly taking his hand and pulling him up from the stool.
“Come on...” Donghae led them to a less crowded area, feet synchronized as they slow danced to the beat of the song, swaying back and forth gently. “I still don’t know your name.”
“Sungmin.” The boy fell forward erratically when someone behind him shoved him forward, landing awkwardly against Donghae. It had a soft ring to it.
~
“Sungmin...”
“It sucks it had to come down to this,” Sungmin tipped his cowboy hat down further, covering his misty eyes from the rest of the community, “I, I don’t know why it had to end like this.”
“It’s okay,” Donghae whispered back, head tucked down solemnly, “It was worth it, every bit of it was worth it.”
“I love you,” Sungmin almost lost it, they’d both be shot if he turned around to hold Donghae once more in his arms, “I really love you.”
Donghae was crying, eyes moist and tears carving a path down his cheek. Many of the spectators growled in disgust, a few of them even pretending to throw up at their public affection.
“Hae,” Sungmin reached up and grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly, “If only the circumstances were different, everything would be different, and we’d be happy together, forever.”
“Stop it, just stop talking,” Donghae thrashed, and one of the sheriffs hollered at them to part ways and begin the shooting. Only one of them was going to make it out alive, and even if he did, the rest of the community would shun the survivor for his difference.
Sungmin still refused to let go of his hand, their backs still firmly pressed against one another, fingers lingering lazily. It was only a matter of seconds before an eternal void separated the two, and Donghae clutched back desparately.
The head sheriff fired a shot into the air, and Sungmin didn’t care, instead turning around and wrapping both his arms tightly around Donghae. Donghae squeezed back, the blaring noise meaning nothing to him. The sheriff warned them, the crowd yelling profanities and voicing their disapproval, and Sungmin held on tighter. Nothing else mattered.
Two final shots rang out, two bodies collapsing onto the dirt, two streams of crimson tainting the ground, fingers still intertwined.
~
“You know, most people actually face the person and propose on their knees.” Sungmin attempted dryly, masking the joy in his voice. He tried not to laugh when he felt Donghae’s fingers against his hand, the occasional press of cold metal against his warm skin.
“But I’m not like most people,” Donghae kept rotating the silver ring in his fingers. “You didn’t even answer me, will you marry me?”
“I don’t even know if it’s a ring.”
“Does it matter? Will you marry me?”
They were in the middle of the boardwalk, backs pressed against one another as Donghae fumbled to slip the ring onto Sungmin’s finger, a soft congratulatory murmur to himself after his success hushed under his breath.
“I still haven’t said yes,” Sungmin stated blankly, face absent of any emotion and Donghae jumped in front of him, nearly in tears.
“Min, I love you, and I promise I’ll do anything you want, really...” Donghae looked down in disappointment, “I just want to be able to make you happy, will you marry me?”
“Hae, I don’t know...” Sungmin began when Donghae interjected.
“I don’t think I can, I have the courage to ask again after this, I can’t, I can’t deal with it.” Donghae was babbling again, “Lee Sungmin, will you marry me?”
Sungmin nodded, pulling Donghae up and into his arms.
~
“Come on, Donghae ah,” Sungmin tugged on Donghae’s hand, pulling the other child up, “we have to go back now.”
Donghae nodded, brushing off the sand on his pants while Sungmin led the two of them back. Their teacher had already been counting numbers to make sure everyone was present.
“Stand still, come on Donghae, Sungmin, get in line,” Their teacher pushed them into the line of other students. They held hands as they touched the chocolate brown planks, cheeks flushed from running around during recess.
Donghae held onto Sungmin’s hands before turning around, pressing his back against Sungmin’s shoulder, tipping on his toes.
“Sungmin, I’m taller than you now,” Donghae laughed lightly before the teacher came and hit him on the head.
~
Donghae wonders just how many alternate worlds where Sungmin and him could be strangers, acquaintances, friends, or even more, each situated in a different line, each representing a sprinkle of time, a sliver of space across millennia. He looked outside the window of the waiting room, stars and galaxies so far away and who knows what could be going on out there.
“Hae, we’re on in seven minutes, hurry up and get changed.” Sungmin pushed him into a cubicle and pulled the curtains shuts.