fic: The Long Exile, chapter 12
Title: The Long Exile
Length: Chaptered, Chapter 12/?
Author: M_K Yujji
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama/Angst/Fantasy
Disclaimer: Though real people are used as characters, this fic bears no resemblance to Real Life and these people are not owned by me.
Notes: kenaressa is amazing.
As always, the 'ie' is a cutsey shortening, not an intended honorific, though I suppose it fits as either here. The only real purpose for using any honorifics at all in this fic is to separate the AU side of the story from the more reality-based side. Also, to separate the paralleling differences between the characters.
Previous
Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11
Summary:When the line between reality and dreaming begins to blur...
~*~*~
Jaejoong held himself tightly in the dark, trying to force himself further back into his hiding space. They wouldn't follow him.
He was sure they wouldn't follow him.
But they might.
He was usually so careful at avoiding the worst of the bullies, but he'd been distracted, thinking about things he shouldn't have been and not paying attention to where he'd wandered or who was around. If he had, he'd have seen the cruel looks and run straight back to the palace and the minimal protection of the royal guards. They wouldn't like protecting the changeling, but if he got hurt right under their noses and the prince or king found out... They'd think about their positions more than they'd think about who they were protecting.
Jaejoong hadn't been paying attention, though, and he hadn't seen the looks, or the handful of boys who'd begun to stalk his path, until he was too far away from the palace for it to be an option any longer.
He hadn't even noticed one had managed to slink around in front of him until he'd already tripped over the outstretched foot.
Once he'd managed to scramble away, he'd just run - thankful that their superior attitudes meant they would take their time egging each other on before really going in for the truly damaging blows. It gave him time to put a little distance between them.
It gave him time to head toward the only other place that might offer him any degree of safety.
With war looming, no one wanted to be caught lingering near the river and the magical border it represented.
He'd only hesitated on the shore for a moment before the sounds of his pursuers had made the decision for him and he'd bounded into the water without another thought.
The unknown dangers that might lurk on the other side couldn't possibly be as frightening as the ones he knew would get him if he stayed on this side.
The water had been shockingly cold, but he'd ignored that and forced himself to keep swimming, pushing for the relative safety of the distant shore. There was a moment when he'd doubted he'd make it, a moment when he'd almost given in and let the force of the current sweep him away from everything, but then his feet had hit mud again.
He'd only had enough energy left to pull himself to his current hiding place, tucked into the root system of one of the hulking trees along the bank.
It was dark and he was shaking fiercely as cold seeped through his wet clothes, but he did his best to keep still and quiet.
Their taunts had faded away as they'd moved on in their search for him, likely never even considering that someone would choose to wander out of the protection of the kingdom.
Jaejoong had no idea how much time had passed or whether they'd finally given up entirely. The adrenaline that had been pushing him had left him in the river and now he was just weary to his bones.
He wasn't sure when the soft murmuring started, when it became more than just a buzzing in his ears and settled into indistinct words.
There was something soothing about it. Something that felt like safety, peace.
Something... welcoming.
He sighed softly, relaxing, and let his eyes drift shut.
~*~*~*~
“Your necklace....”
Jaejoong glanced up, biting his lip at the worried tone in Yunho's voice. Then he shrugged and looked away. “The photographer said it didn't go with the outfit or... whatever.”
He hadn't liked taking it off - had, in fact, downright refused for longer than he'd ever have dared to before - but he'd been overruled by their manager who'd rolled his eyes and threatened to have bodyguards come and sit on him while it was removed if he didn't take it off of his own accord. Afraid that it'd be damaged, he'd complied though he'd still argued and pouted the entire time.
His lover turned to glower unhappily at the oblivious staff for a moment before sighing and turning back to Jaejoong. He looked up and down, arching a brow at the barely there wisps of cloth the lead singer had been put in. “Where'd you put it?”
“Changmin is holding onto it for me,” he muttered, pouting a little that the baby had been allowed something that actually resembled clothing. “They may as well just do a nude shoot. I practically am as it is.”
That got an actual snicker out of Yunho as his lover pulled him into a quick hug, careful not to disturb the draping cloth and risk bringing Jaejoong's words to truth. “You know... our sales would probably skyrocket. Of course... you'd probably also give a good chunk of our fangirls a heart attack.” He quirked a grin and tweaked Jae's nose. “They already go a little faint hearted when they get good glimpses of your tattoo.”
“Yeah, but really it would work better if it was Minnie. My chest is always up for display. They should be getting more of his.” Because really, as much as Jaejoong had once made a big deal of open shirts and showing off his chest to prove he wasn't the girl some fans seemed to think he was, it was a little ridiculous that now he was just expected to show everything at the drop of a hat while the baby of the band only had to bare a little skin here and there.
“Ah, but Changmin is the eternal tease.” Yunho glanced around to make sure no one was actually paying any attention to them before turning back and dropping a soft kiss on Jaejoong's lips. “Everyone already knows you put out.”
Even as he protested the accusation, Jaejoong couldn't help but laugh with Yunho, all unease and worry concerning his pendant fading under the simple pleasure of love and comfort.
~*~*~
Hours later, Jaejoong pulled a t-shirt on and slumped wearily against Yunho in the small dressing room that had been set up for their use. “Why are photo shoots more draining than concerts?”
Yunho made soft noises of sympathy, reaching up to tangle his fingers in Jaejoong's hair even as he continued to fill out the paperwork he'd been plowing through for most of the day. “Because you feed off the crowds energy in a concert.”
Jaejoong wrinkled his nose. “Like some kind of... vampire?”
What an uncomfortable thought.
The rumbling sound of his stomach made Yunho glance away from the papers finally and focus more fully on Jaejoong. “Did you eat lunch?”
“Nah. I took a nap.”
“Boo....”
“I know, I know. Eat first. Then sleep.” The mantra was one that had been drilled into them early on when the constant exhaustion had been unfamiliar and had threatened to become dangerously unhealthy as they skipped meals trying to beat it out with naps.
Yunho took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes before glancing at his watch. “Geez. Why do your shoots always take so much longer than everyone else's?”
“The staff hates my guts?”
That got a snort and Yunho shook his head. “They love you. In fact, I bet they do it on purpose so that they can-”
He trailed off for a moment, his gaze dipping down as something seemed to occur to him. “Did the others go home already?”
“I have no idea.” Jaejoong wrinkled his brow as he tried to remember if he'd seen the others as he'd finally been released from duty and sent to get changed. He'd been a little tunnel visioned, entirely focused on nothing more than finally putting some real clothes on. The entire building was drafty as hell and it had started getting genuinely cold as night fell and people had started deserting it.
Yunho bit his lip, a flash of emotion crossing his face too quickly for Jaejoong to decipher. When he spoke again, his voice was flat, devoid of inflection. “Changmin took your pendant home.”
It wasn't a question, but Jaejoong frowned and responded anyway. “He must have. He didn't give it back to me.”
A shiver worked its way down his spine.
Their apartment was across town from the shoot location.
It might as well have been across the world, its distance weighing on Jaejoong as it never had before he'd slowly begun losing his mind.
Yunho offered him a smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. “I guess it's a good thing I got caught up in this stuff, then, isn't it?”
They weren't even two steps out of the building before they were set upon.
The streets were never really empty in Tokyo no matter the time of day, but there were points where the crowds thinned and only stragglers hurried along the sidewalks.
There were four of them this time. Four middle aged Japanese men and women who would have been entirely average and unremarkable if not for the twisted expressions of vicious hatred marring their faces as they advanced.
Something about that startled Jaejoong - whatever was haunting him, it had never felt hateful - and he paused for a precious moment, staring, before Yunho yanked him back towards the entrance.
There was no where to go but up and Yunho pulled Jaejoong to the stairs.
“The elevator-”
Yunho glanced back at him with a grimace as they pounded up the steps. “Too slow. They'd catch us before we could even get on it.”
They only made it a few flights before the sound of a door bursting open above them echoed through the stairwell.
“Fuck.” Despite Yunho's curse, they didn't slow down. If anything, he sped up, dragging Jaejoong hard behind him.
Jaejoong didn't get much of a look at the man who careened down the stairs before Yunho let go and flung himself forward, the attack formed and executed before Jaejoong was even fully aware of what was happening.
A quick flurry of movement, punches and kicks that looked awkward and difficult in the confines of the stairwell, and then Yunho was dumping the stranger over the railing and sending him crashing down the stairs.
He grabbed Jaejoong's hand and they were rushing up again.
The second one appeared just as they were nearing the last flight up to the roof and almost slammed Yunho with the door as he forced his way into the stairwell. Yunho managed to dodge and immediately attacked, catching the man by surprise with a swift kick to the groin and a slammed head to the side of the wall.
Jaejoong wasn't as lucky. The door caught him full force and sent him flying down several steps before the wall was kind enough to stop him, head first.
Everything flashed, black for a moment then searing light and it took a second before he could sit up.
Yunho dragged him back to his feet, sparing only a cursory glance at Jaejoong's head before pulling him up the last few steps and shoving their way through the door. They stumbled onto the roof, but even though he was lightheaded with pain and fatigue, Jaejoong knew suddenly that they'd only killed themselves.
“There's no where to go, Yunho.”
Already he could hear the sounds of their pursuers - they couldn't be more than a couple of flights of stairs behind.
The younger man ignored him, eyes darting around, looking for some avenue of escape. Then he whipped around and gripped Jaejoong's upper arms tightly. “Do you trust me?”
“What?” Jaejoong couldn't help but gape slightly at the question even as he held one hand pressed tight against his bleeding forehead. Of all the times to question his trust. “Of course I trust you, Yunnie, but what-”
“Good, then follow my lead no matter how crazy it seems, okay?”
As if anything in the entire mess that his life had become was exactly sane. “Okay.”
They made it most of the way to the far side of the building before the emergency door slammed once more and spilled out their agitated pursuers.
“You are an amazingly annoying thorn in the side, little king....”
Even though they'd turned to keep their eyes on the attackers, Yunho kept edging them ever slowly backwards. “I'm not afraid of you.”
The smallest of the quartet, a woman in pumps and a skirt that was totally unsuited for any kind of running, smirked and shook her head. “You should be, little king. All alone with only a fraction of your power locked in a puny human body? You're practically helpless as an infant.”
“Helpless?” Yunho snorted and shook his head. “And you're delusional.”
The woman's face twisted with anger as the other three fanned out on either side of her, forming a neat little trap to keep the boys herded away from the door.
Jaejoong clutched tightly at Yunho's shoulder, peering over and wondering exactly what Yunho thought he was doing, taunting these people. “Yunnie?”
The backs of his legs hit the short ledge that surrounded the top of the building and he stumbled to a halt, daring only a quick glance back before burying his face against Yunho's neck at the feeling of vertigo that rushed through him.
There was a moment of absolute stillness in Yunho before he turned and scrambled up onto the ledge, pulling Jaejoong up with him.
He kissed Jaejoong quickly as he forced Jaejoong's arms tight around him. “Hold on tight and don't let go.”
“What?!” But the word barely had a chance to be shrieked before it was snatched from him and they went hurtling over the side of the building.
He couldn't help but scream and clutch at Yunho as they fell, windows flying by at frightening pace.
This is it, he thought with near hysteria. This is how we die. Messy splatters of blood and gore on the pavement of a Tokyo street.
And though there was some comfort in knowing he wasn't dying alone, it was lost under the terrible idea of Yunho and death.
His eyes clenched shut. He didn't want to see the end. So far up, falling so fast... Surely they'd be dead before they even realized it.
There was a bit of a jerk and a rustling of sound over the rush of air in his ears. The sudden end of everything never came though and finally Jaejoong peeked.
Then his eyes flew open completely and stared uncomprehendingly at the wide stretch of feathers. “Uh...”
Yunho glanced at him for a moment, the tight look on his face melting into sad resignation. “Sleep...”
There was a moment when he wanted to struggle against the soft command, but his mind and body had been through too much too quickly.
The blackness reached up and snatched consciousness away.
~*~*~
“But we jumped. I remember.” He could still feel the sensation of falling, the wonder of Yunho's wings spread above him.
The others shared a look, Yunho's fierce and protective while the rest were clearly at a loss of what to say or do with him.
“You hit your head pretty hard, Jaejoong... You'd have lost consciousness immediately, and... Do you have any idea how tall that building actually is?”
For all that Yunho looked like he wanted to verbally rip Changmin a new one for even daring to suggest Jaejoong was making up stories again, he wasn't exactly correcting them either and Jaejoong had to sit back and really give it some more thought.
He'd woken up safely tucked into his own bed, a swath of gauze wrapped around his forehead and Yunho - normal and wingless once more - laying against his side.
A doctor had appeared briefly, but he'd still been more fuzzy headed than not and he had no real memory of it. He'd been in and out of consciousness for a day or two and band activity had once more been halted.
As best as he could work out from the snatches of conversation he'd caught here and there, it sounded like the entire band would be under extra security until management and the other powers that be figured out who had tried to attack them and why.
Jaejoong had kept silent about their escape because Yunho had.
It had never even occurred to him that Yunho had kept silent because the fall and flight had been yet another hallucination.
He frowned at his concerned bandmates. “I'm not crazy.”
“I didn't say you were,” Changmin replied, looking like he wanted to smack Jaejoong. “I said you had a head injury.”
Though he was reasonably sure Changmin's one-touch style of affection would wait to reassert itself until his concussion was gone, Jaejoong was still glad that Yunho had shifted slightly to put himself more between the youngest and eldest members of the band.
Changmin caught the move and rolled his eyes. “Besides. We have a bigger problem on our hands now than your sanity or lack thereof. These guys attacked you in the middle of Tokyo in front of anyone who bothered to look, in a building that could have been crawling with security. They didn't even care that they'd get caught. And trying to take Yunho? It's not like anyone who knows anything about this band doesn't know that of all of us, he's the most able to handle himself in a fight. None of this makes any sense.”
Jaejoong reached up to absently fiddle with the pendant that was once again hanging safely around his neck.
It was hard to sort through what his memory insisted had happened and the story he'd been given when he'd woken up.
Whichever version of events was real - and the blank confusion on Yunho's face at the insistence that he'd grown wings and they'd jumped off the building did more to convince Jaejoong that he'd imagined that whole bit than anything anyone else could have said - Changmin was right.
Nothing made sense anymore.
~*~*~
Continued in Chapter 13
Length: Chaptered, Chapter 12/?
Author: M_K Yujji
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama/Angst/Fantasy
Disclaimer: Though real people are used as characters, this fic bears no resemblance to Real Life and these people are not owned by me.
Notes: kenaressa is amazing.
As always, the 'ie' is a cutsey shortening, not an intended honorific, though I suppose it fits as either here. The only real purpose for using any honorifics at all in this fic is to separate the AU side of the story from the more reality-based side. Also, to separate the paralleling differences between the characters.
Previous
Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11
Summary:When the line between reality and dreaming begins to blur...
~*~*~
Jaejoong held himself tightly in the dark, trying to force himself further back into his hiding space. They wouldn't follow him.
He was sure they wouldn't follow him.
But they might.
He was usually so careful at avoiding the worst of the bullies, but he'd been distracted, thinking about things he shouldn't have been and not paying attention to where he'd wandered or who was around. If he had, he'd have seen the cruel looks and run straight back to the palace and the minimal protection of the royal guards. They wouldn't like protecting the changeling, but if he got hurt right under their noses and the prince or king found out... They'd think about their positions more than they'd think about who they were protecting.
Jaejoong hadn't been paying attention, though, and he hadn't seen the looks, or the handful of boys who'd begun to stalk his path, until he was too far away from the palace for it to be an option any longer.
He hadn't even noticed one had managed to slink around in front of him until he'd already tripped over the outstretched foot.
Once he'd managed to scramble away, he'd just run - thankful that their superior attitudes meant they would take their time egging each other on before really going in for the truly damaging blows. It gave him time to put a little distance between them.
It gave him time to head toward the only other place that might offer him any degree of safety.
With war looming, no one wanted to be caught lingering near the river and the magical border it represented.
He'd only hesitated on the shore for a moment before the sounds of his pursuers had made the decision for him and he'd bounded into the water without another thought.
The unknown dangers that might lurk on the other side couldn't possibly be as frightening as the ones he knew would get him if he stayed on this side.
The water had been shockingly cold, but he'd ignored that and forced himself to keep swimming, pushing for the relative safety of the distant shore. There was a moment when he'd doubted he'd make it, a moment when he'd almost given in and let the force of the current sweep him away from everything, but then his feet had hit mud again.
He'd only had enough energy left to pull himself to his current hiding place, tucked into the root system of one of the hulking trees along the bank.
It was dark and he was shaking fiercely as cold seeped through his wet clothes, but he did his best to keep still and quiet.
Their taunts had faded away as they'd moved on in their search for him, likely never even considering that someone would choose to wander out of the protection of the kingdom.
Jaejoong had no idea how much time had passed or whether they'd finally given up entirely. The adrenaline that had been pushing him had left him in the river and now he was just weary to his bones.
He wasn't sure when the soft murmuring started, when it became more than just a buzzing in his ears and settled into indistinct words.
There was something soothing about it. Something that felt like safety, peace.
Something... welcoming.
He sighed softly, relaxing, and let his eyes drift shut.
~*~*~*~
“Your necklace....”
Jaejoong glanced up, biting his lip at the worried tone in Yunho's voice. Then he shrugged and looked away. “The photographer said it didn't go with the outfit or... whatever.”
He hadn't liked taking it off - had, in fact, downright refused for longer than he'd ever have dared to before - but he'd been overruled by their manager who'd rolled his eyes and threatened to have bodyguards come and sit on him while it was removed if he didn't take it off of his own accord. Afraid that it'd be damaged, he'd complied though he'd still argued and pouted the entire time.
His lover turned to glower unhappily at the oblivious staff for a moment before sighing and turning back to Jaejoong. He looked up and down, arching a brow at the barely there wisps of cloth the lead singer had been put in. “Where'd you put it?”
“Changmin is holding onto it for me,” he muttered, pouting a little that the baby had been allowed something that actually resembled clothing. “They may as well just do a nude shoot. I practically am as it is.”
That got an actual snicker out of Yunho as his lover pulled him into a quick hug, careful not to disturb the draping cloth and risk bringing Jaejoong's words to truth. “You know... our sales would probably skyrocket. Of course... you'd probably also give a good chunk of our fangirls a heart attack.” He quirked a grin and tweaked Jae's nose. “They already go a little faint hearted when they get good glimpses of your tattoo.”
“Yeah, but really it would work better if it was Minnie. My chest is always up for display. They should be getting more of his.” Because really, as much as Jaejoong had once made a big deal of open shirts and showing off his chest to prove he wasn't the girl some fans seemed to think he was, it was a little ridiculous that now he was just expected to show everything at the drop of a hat while the baby of the band only had to bare a little skin here and there.
“Ah, but Changmin is the eternal tease.” Yunho glanced around to make sure no one was actually paying any attention to them before turning back and dropping a soft kiss on Jaejoong's lips. “Everyone already knows you put out.”
Even as he protested the accusation, Jaejoong couldn't help but laugh with Yunho, all unease and worry concerning his pendant fading under the simple pleasure of love and comfort.
~*~*~
Hours later, Jaejoong pulled a t-shirt on and slumped wearily against Yunho in the small dressing room that had been set up for their use. “Why are photo shoots more draining than concerts?”
Yunho made soft noises of sympathy, reaching up to tangle his fingers in Jaejoong's hair even as he continued to fill out the paperwork he'd been plowing through for most of the day. “Because you feed off the crowds energy in a concert.”
Jaejoong wrinkled his nose. “Like some kind of... vampire?”
What an uncomfortable thought.
The rumbling sound of his stomach made Yunho glance away from the papers finally and focus more fully on Jaejoong. “Did you eat lunch?”
“Nah. I took a nap.”
“Boo....”
“I know, I know. Eat first. Then sleep.” The mantra was one that had been drilled into them early on when the constant exhaustion had been unfamiliar and had threatened to become dangerously unhealthy as they skipped meals trying to beat it out with naps.
Yunho took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes before glancing at his watch. “Geez. Why do your shoots always take so much longer than everyone else's?”
“The staff hates my guts?”
That got a snort and Yunho shook his head. “They love you. In fact, I bet they do it on purpose so that they can-”
He trailed off for a moment, his gaze dipping down as something seemed to occur to him. “Did the others go home already?”
“I have no idea.” Jaejoong wrinkled his brow as he tried to remember if he'd seen the others as he'd finally been released from duty and sent to get changed. He'd been a little tunnel visioned, entirely focused on nothing more than finally putting some real clothes on. The entire building was drafty as hell and it had started getting genuinely cold as night fell and people had started deserting it.
Yunho bit his lip, a flash of emotion crossing his face too quickly for Jaejoong to decipher. When he spoke again, his voice was flat, devoid of inflection. “Changmin took your pendant home.”
It wasn't a question, but Jaejoong frowned and responded anyway. “He must have. He didn't give it back to me.”
A shiver worked its way down his spine.
Their apartment was across town from the shoot location.
It might as well have been across the world, its distance weighing on Jaejoong as it never had before he'd slowly begun losing his mind.
Yunho offered him a smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. “I guess it's a good thing I got caught up in this stuff, then, isn't it?”
They weren't even two steps out of the building before they were set upon.
The streets were never really empty in Tokyo no matter the time of day, but there were points where the crowds thinned and only stragglers hurried along the sidewalks.
There were four of them this time. Four middle aged Japanese men and women who would have been entirely average and unremarkable if not for the twisted expressions of vicious hatred marring their faces as they advanced.
Something about that startled Jaejoong - whatever was haunting him, it had never felt hateful - and he paused for a precious moment, staring, before Yunho yanked him back towards the entrance.
There was no where to go but up and Yunho pulled Jaejoong to the stairs.
“The elevator-”
Yunho glanced back at him with a grimace as they pounded up the steps. “Too slow. They'd catch us before we could even get on it.”
They only made it a few flights before the sound of a door bursting open above them echoed through the stairwell.
“Fuck.” Despite Yunho's curse, they didn't slow down. If anything, he sped up, dragging Jaejoong hard behind him.
Jaejoong didn't get much of a look at the man who careened down the stairs before Yunho let go and flung himself forward, the attack formed and executed before Jaejoong was even fully aware of what was happening.
A quick flurry of movement, punches and kicks that looked awkward and difficult in the confines of the stairwell, and then Yunho was dumping the stranger over the railing and sending him crashing down the stairs.
He grabbed Jaejoong's hand and they were rushing up again.
The second one appeared just as they were nearing the last flight up to the roof and almost slammed Yunho with the door as he forced his way into the stairwell. Yunho managed to dodge and immediately attacked, catching the man by surprise with a swift kick to the groin and a slammed head to the side of the wall.
Jaejoong wasn't as lucky. The door caught him full force and sent him flying down several steps before the wall was kind enough to stop him, head first.
Everything flashed, black for a moment then searing light and it took a second before he could sit up.
Yunho dragged him back to his feet, sparing only a cursory glance at Jaejoong's head before pulling him up the last few steps and shoving their way through the door. They stumbled onto the roof, but even though he was lightheaded with pain and fatigue, Jaejoong knew suddenly that they'd only killed themselves.
“There's no where to go, Yunho.”
Already he could hear the sounds of their pursuers - they couldn't be more than a couple of flights of stairs behind.
The younger man ignored him, eyes darting around, looking for some avenue of escape. Then he whipped around and gripped Jaejoong's upper arms tightly. “Do you trust me?”
“What?” Jaejoong couldn't help but gape slightly at the question even as he held one hand pressed tight against his bleeding forehead. Of all the times to question his trust. “Of course I trust you, Yunnie, but what-”
“Good, then follow my lead no matter how crazy it seems, okay?”
As if anything in the entire mess that his life had become was exactly sane. “Okay.”
They made it most of the way to the far side of the building before the emergency door slammed once more and spilled out their agitated pursuers.
“You are an amazingly annoying thorn in the side, little king....”
Even though they'd turned to keep their eyes on the attackers, Yunho kept edging them ever slowly backwards. “I'm not afraid of you.”
The smallest of the quartet, a woman in pumps and a skirt that was totally unsuited for any kind of running, smirked and shook her head. “You should be, little king. All alone with only a fraction of your power locked in a puny human body? You're practically helpless as an infant.”
“Helpless?” Yunho snorted and shook his head. “And you're delusional.”
The woman's face twisted with anger as the other three fanned out on either side of her, forming a neat little trap to keep the boys herded away from the door.
Jaejoong clutched tightly at Yunho's shoulder, peering over and wondering exactly what Yunho thought he was doing, taunting these people. “Yunnie?”
The backs of his legs hit the short ledge that surrounded the top of the building and he stumbled to a halt, daring only a quick glance back before burying his face against Yunho's neck at the feeling of vertigo that rushed through him.
There was a moment of absolute stillness in Yunho before he turned and scrambled up onto the ledge, pulling Jaejoong up with him.
He kissed Jaejoong quickly as he forced Jaejoong's arms tight around him. “Hold on tight and don't let go.”
“What?!” But the word barely had a chance to be shrieked before it was snatched from him and they went hurtling over the side of the building.
He couldn't help but scream and clutch at Yunho as they fell, windows flying by at frightening pace.
This is it, he thought with near hysteria. This is how we die. Messy splatters of blood and gore on the pavement of a Tokyo street.
And though there was some comfort in knowing he wasn't dying alone, it was lost under the terrible idea of Yunho and death.
His eyes clenched shut. He didn't want to see the end. So far up, falling so fast... Surely they'd be dead before they even realized it.
There was a bit of a jerk and a rustling of sound over the rush of air in his ears. The sudden end of everything never came though and finally Jaejoong peeked.
Then his eyes flew open completely and stared uncomprehendingly at the wide stretch of feathers. “Uh...”
Yunho glanced at him for a moment, the tight look on his face melting into sad resignation. “Sleep...”
There was a moment when he wanted to struggle against the soft command, but his mind and body had been through too much too quickly.
The blackness reached up and snatched consciousness away.
~*~*~
“But we jumped. I remember.” He could still feel the sensation of falling, the wonder of Yunho's wings spread above him.
The others shared a look, Yunho's fierce and protective while the rest were clearly at a loss of what to say or do with him.
“You hit your head pretty hard, Jaejoong... You'd have lost consciousness immediately, and... Do you have any idea how tall that building actually is?”
For all that Yunho looked like he wanted to verbally rip Changmin a new one for even daring to suggest Jaejoong was making up stories again, he wasn't exactly correcting them either and Jaejoong had to sit back and really give it some more thought.
He'd woken up safely tucked into his own bed, a swath of gauze wrapped around his forehead and Yunho - normal and wingless once more - laying against his side.
A doctor had appeared briefly, but he'd still been more fuzzy headed than not and he had no real memory of it. He'd been in and out of consciousness for a day or two and band activity had once more been halted.
As best as he could work out from the snatches of conversation he'd caught here and there, it sounded like the entire band would be under extra security until management and the other powers that be figured out who had tried to attack them and why.
Jaejoong had kept silent about their escape because Yunho had.
It had never even occurred to him that Yunho had kept silent because the fall and flight had been yet another hallucination.
He frowned at his concerned bandmates. “I'm not crazy.”
“I didn't say you were,” Changmin replied, looking like he wanted to smack Jaejoong. “I said you had a head injury.”
Though he was reasonably sure Changmin's one-touch style of affection would wait to reassert itself until his concussion was gone, Jaejoong was still glad that Yunho had shifted slightly to put himself more between the youngest and eldest members of the band.
Changmin caught the move and rolled his eyes. “Besides. We have a bigger problem on our hands now than your sanity or lack thereof. These guys attacked you in the middle of Tokyo in front of anyone who bothered to look, in a building that could have been crawling with security. They didn't even care that they'd get caught. And trying to take Yunho? It's not like anyone who knows anything about this band doesn't know that of all of us, he's the most able to handle himself in a fight. None of this makes any sense.”
Jaejoong reached up to absently fiddle with the pendant that was once again hanging safely around his neck.
It was hard to sort through what his memory insisted had happened and the story he'd been given when he'd woken up.
Whichever version of events was real - and the blank confusion on Yunho's face at the insistence that he'd grown wings and they'd jumped off the building did more to convince Jaejoong that he'd imagined that whole bit than anything anyone else could have said - Changmin was right.
Nothing made sense anymore.
~*~*~
Continued in Chapter 13