[fic] up and down, up and down
Title: Up and Down, Up and Down
Pairing(s): Jinru
Genre: Romance, Fluff
Rating: PG
Summary: Jin drags Maru back to Sendai.
Really, of all the places Jin could have taken him, it has to be here. When Jin appeared that morning in front of his apartment, leaned his head out of that ugly minivan he drives, and ordered Maru to hop in, because they were going on a trip, he’d never have expected that Jin would bring him all the way here.
Back to Sendai. Back to that dreadful amusement park. Back to the bungee jump.
Maru stands on the very top of the metal structure, looking down at the grounds below him. Everything is just like before when the Cartoon KAT-TUN episode had been filmed. Once again a helmet is strapped on his head, and once again a large bungee chord with all the bands and clasps done sits uncomfortably on his frame.
And once again, he’s refusing to jump.
Maru looks down at the tiny inflatable safety mat way down below him. Its small size does nothing to help his deep-settled fear or compel him to jump. If, god forbid, the chord snaps, I’m supposed to land on that thing? he thinks. There’s no way I’m jumping, no way. It’s impossible.
He looks around for Jin, sees a head turned up to stare, a gleeful expression, arms crossed in front of his chest. The situation is all too familiar. Jin’s leaning back on the white railing in the same attitude as before, and that grin, that damned knowing grin, stretches across his face yet again.
Why’d he bring me here? Maru thinks, for what seems like the twentieth time since he’d crawled up here an hour ago. It isn’t like this is a little day trip, where they can eventually go their separate ways when the sun sets and night comes. This is something that means a shared hotel room (Jin is stingy, he’d absolutely refuse to pay for his own room), meals together, doing something other than this torture. The last time they’d done something like this… Well, it must’ve been Kyoto all those years ago.
Is this just another form of entertainment for Jin? A weekend of laughs, where he can watch me suffer from the steady, safe ground? He says it’s to let me finish what I started, but is that really it?
A gust of wind jostles him out of his thoughts, and his grip tightens. And darn, it really is impossible. I can’t jump, no way. As if I’ll do it.
“Nakamaruuuuu, hurry up! You’re taking too long.”
Maru glances down at the ground again and sees Jin still standing there, still looking up, and still smiling that goddamned smile.
“No way. Impossible,” he calls back. He crosses his arms in an ‘X’ above his head. “Muri.”
“Dude, you should be like, a pro by now. You’ve jumped how many times at the concerts?”
“It’s not like doing it a few times will make it easier for me, Akanishi.”
“What’s gonna make you jump?” Jin calls. He sounds exasperated, but it’s nothing serious, nothing that would make him climb the steps and push Maru off. For once in his life, Maru is happy about Jin’s lazy tendencies.
“Nothing. It’s impossible,” he repeats again. “I’m not gonna jump.”
He leans out a bit, hands grasping the railing in a vice grip. The constant exposure to heights has increased his tolerance, but still, only just a little. He looks down at Jin, and their gazes lock. “Impossible,” he reiterates.
“If I…” And when Jin’s smile disappears, Maru expects something serious, perhaps pleading, bribery, the word please, and he holds his breath in anticipation.
“If I, if I kissed you, would that make you want to jump?”
Maru gapes down at Jin. Of all the things the man could have said, it’s that? Shocked beyond words, his grip slackens around the railing and before he can react and grab a hold of it again, he tumbles from the platform.
He kind of blacks out for a split second, when the fear is overwhelming, but he manages to retain conscious, squeezing his eyes shut as the wind whistles past his ears, his stomach flying up as he free-falls. He starts screaming when the chord snaps him back up into the air and he can’t stop until he’s safely lowered to the ground. Maru hears Jin laughing when he finally gathers himself together enough to think coherently.
He stands on shaky feet, and his eyes are still closed, but he can hear Jin approaching, the guy’s laughter unmistakable. He shuts his eyes tighter, and turns his face away from Jin. The laughter stops.
“Hey, hey, are you crying again?” he hears. Jin’s voice is surprisingly soft.
“Shut up, so what. God, I hate this bungee thing. Don’t ever make me do it again.”
“But that’s the thing Maru, you’re done. You finally jumped, right?” Maru nods and laughs a bit, but it comes sounding more like a sob. The world is still jumping, (up and down and up and down), and Maru can’t seem to ground himself.
But when he feels Jin’s strong arms suddenly wrap around him, it all stops in an instant. The other’s breath skates past his ear, and Maru hesitantly brings his own arms up and grabs a hold of Jin’s jacket. Maru drops his head to Jin’s shoulder and feels his heart beat begin to speed up. He’s warm, he thinks.
“We’re proud of you. I’m proud of you,” Jin mumbles. “We really thought you wouldn’t jump during the concerts, but we were so wrong. Good job, Maru, you showed us all.”
“Thanks,” Maru replies, and tries to will his fast beating heart to slow down. It doesn’t work of course, so Maru just buries his head deeper in the folds of Jin’s jacket and hopes the other doesn’t notice. But when Maru stills, and feels that the beat of Jin’s heart is nearly as fast as his own, he smiles into Jin’s shoulder.
“Here,” Jin says after a blissful moment. The younger pulls back slightly, and Maru feels a tiny pressure on his nose for an instant before it disappears. It takes him a while to realize that Jin just kissed him, and when he does his face flames a brilliant red. Jin breaks away from him, his hand pulling down Maru’s arm and lingering momentarily at Maru’s fingertips, before skipping away, laughing.
“Jump from the ten meter diving board and you’ll get another one, Nakamaruuuuu,” Jin teases, calling over his shoulder. Maru shakes his head but smiles, and begins walking after the other.
“I better. And a longer one too,” Maru demands. Jin half-turns around while walking and grins.
“Okay,” he replies.