Time Bound [1]
Title: Time Bound
Pairing(s): Onew/Taemin
Author(s): shinminji & kingheechul
Genre: humor ; romance; drama
Length: chaptered 1/?
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Taemin encounters a totally confused and DEAD Onew that is seeking only for someone who could explain what is happening to him. Will he be able to?
The soul is the spiritual nature of humans.
It is immortal, separable from physical form; void of any human emotions.
It is said to roam the world in search of enlightenment or any business passed on from it's physical life and cannot pass on to the other world unless it is filled.
If so happens that a soul does not complete his misfindings, he is destined to drown in eternal misery and the door to reincarnation is closed.
---
Onew roams the city in search of his favorite chicken shop. He skips around his normal route. He senses that his body is abnormally light and he doesn't feel anything, at all. Not sadness, not happiness, not angry, hungry, irritated or depressed.
Nothing.
He halts in front of the shop and stares at it wondering why he wasn't craving for it. For food, for water, for...anything at that matter and he didn't even trip once today.
It was unusual, everything.
He decided to go home after a quick mumble of goodbye to the chicken he once loved. He thinks he grew out of liking it, or he probably just ate too much of it already.
Still, he can't explain why, just why.
He goes home and announces his presence but no one answers him.
He enters his blank room. He stares and asks himself why his bed wasn’t there, why his clothes, posters and books were not where they were. Nothing, there was nothing in his room.
He was trying to think about why this was happening; why his room seems like it never had been used, and why he wasn’t panicking. He sighed, the only thing he could manage since being deprived of emotions, and went down to look for his mom.
He calls for her a few times, trying to get her attention but still no response. "Umma…" he tries again, but tough luck. He wonders if she suddenly developed a hearing impairment or she's purposely ignoring him, if so, why? As far as he knows, he has never done anything to anger her.
He taps her shoulder once, twice and two more times. His patience...was dangerously running thin. If she wasn't his mother, he would've smacked her upside the head. But no, he couldn't because yeah…she's his freaking mother.
He sits on the kitchen counter where his mom was cooking and just spoke openly.
"Umma, please listen to me, I...why is my room empty?" He let a few seconds pass before he spoke again. "I don't know what's happening. I don't remember anything. I can't even remember how I woke up today, if I went to school or where I've been. Am I sick?" He searched for a flinch, a nod, anything that could tell him his mom was listening, but there was none.
He takes the silence as a yes. "I'm sick, ain't I?"
"Is it that hard to answer?" He asks. He wants to get angry, to shout at her, but he couldn't. He couldn't feel anything, at all. Why?
"Have I done anything wrong, anything? Huh, umma?" he sounds desperate. He stares at her straight into her eyes but she wasn't even looking at him.
He urges to follow and follow his mom, desperate for her to say a word, or at least look at him and pat his head like she always did.
But then she turned away, left the kitchen and sat down on the sofa to turn on the TV, his eyes widened.
He runs, as fast as he could and he didn’t think about whether he’d trip and land on his face, which didn’t seem impossible when it started to rain, and for the first time that day he felt something, his heartbeat raced about a thousand times faster than it had to, at least, that’s how it felt. He tried to seek console and plead for the people who pass him by to explain to him why this was happening, and for each person who ignored him, his heart beat a thousand times more. Soon he felt water running down his being, they weren’t tears, they weren’t his, but he sees it fit to pass on as his own.
He saw himself as no one in the crowd he was currently in the middle of.
His heart continuing to beat and burst right off his chest while he stood there, stoic as he was then but there is, definitely, something.
He was feeling.
Was he?
Feeling, what, exactly?
He lifted his hands close to his face, clenching and unclenching, he felt disgusted of himself right now, someone like him who didn’t exist in the world. He should just d-
Die? Dead. What was this?
He took two steps back, and for the first time that day, he fell down.
He stayed fixated on the hard cemented floor he was currently lying on, should he stand up? No one would even see him to care anyway.
Just when he decided not to make an effort to stand up,
“Hey,”
His ears perked at the sound that was precariously directed to his ear and felt a hand wrap around his wrist leading him up.
He lifted his head cautiously before his eyes landed on a boy, as tall as him, really cute and looking worried.
“Are you alright? I’m really sorry; I was kind of in a hurry.” He was bowing and palming the back of his neck rather guilty and shy. But that wasn’t the main issue here. This guy…can see him.
"You," he remained indifferent, his eyes dark and lifeless, pointing at the guy before pointing at his wet self. "…you can see me?"
The guy looks at him as if he was uhm…insane? "Uh, I can? Err...can you see me?" he asks him just for the heck of it.
"Name," he demands.
"Lee Taemin," Taemin responds immediately, scared by his monotous voice. "M-may I know your name? That is if you want to tell me, but if you don't it's completely fine with me. I mean, I'm just a stranger who happens to come across someone weird like you. And no, I didn't mean that in a bad way. You're just..forget it. But really, please don't-"
"Jinki, Lee Jinki. But people call me Onew,"
Taemin found it a little awkward that he was still holding on to Onew’s wrist but he felt a need to do so, looking at the other’s downcast and somewhat weak state, thinking that when he does let go, the other would just slide down again, and he can’t afford injuring the poor man, twice!
He didn’t know how to respond, also, the rain wasn’t doing them any good. Surprisingly, Onew just followed his lead when Taemin guided him to a dry spot in front of a bakery. He let go just then.
Onew, however, still felt blank, his heartbeat though, slowed down the tiniest bit when he was dragged towards the bakery shop.
“H-hyung? Uh…I need to go, really, I’m really sorry! I had a hard time watching where I was going because of the rain, mianhe hyung! Bye bye!”
He charged through the rain with his hands above his head trying to shield himself from it, not that it was doing him any good, Onew stares at Taemin’s silhouette, trying to measure the situation in his head.
His feet took one step toward the crashing rain, another, and another although his mind wasn’t really doing anything in the moment, his body just took over and soon, he was tracing Taemin’s tracks.
It was like it wasn’t enough that he absolutely cannot comprehend anything that was going on that day, and he fell down a second time. He raised his body up and continued to run to seemingly the only person who could touch him, hear him…see him, someone who could offer him what he’s longing for that very moment, existence.
When Taemin gave up on running from the calming rain, he just relished the momentary feeling of being drenched throughout his whole body and slowed down to a normal pace. His mind dropped back to Onew wishing he was doing well despite the weather, and despite his mishap, not to mention leaving him soaked and didn’t even offer him…well, something? He sort of felt guilty but he was desperate to get home as well.
“Wait,”
He screamed.
Taemin felt a cold hand deadly gripping his forearm and turning after his fright.
His vision landed on Onew’s disheveled appearance.
His bangs dripping from his face, his pale lips and skin, his rash breathing and cold touch, Taemin was scared. He felt sorry but he was scared, scared stiff.
“P-please let go.” He pleads while trying to yank his arm off Onew’s grip, which, to his advantage was loosening.
Onew stood straight when his hand couldn’t even hold on to the other anymore. “Am I dead?”
Taemin’s eyes suddenly went from scared to totally petrified.
There were a few explanations for this, he thought. It was either Onew crazy patient from lala land, a pervert, a convict or worse, a ghost!
His whole body shook when Onew took a step forward, overcome by fear, he pushed the boy harshly, “Don’t come near me!” barks a scared Taemin, body still trembling vigorously, “See this?” he points at his cell phone, “I just called the police and they’ll be here any minute so don’t you dare do something to me!”
“No, please...I’m not gonna hurt you” Onew tries to reason out, reaching out to hold Taemin’s hands.
Taemin gets the wrong idea and swats Onew’s hands away. “Are you a stalker or something?” he points an accusing finger at the other.
Both didn’t care that they were soaking wet. Taemin continued to stare at the other who stared back at him. “Y-you’re creeping me out. Who are you, really?”
“I wasn’t lying when I told you who I was” Onew was getting confused. A while ago, Taemin was acting all friendly on him and now he’s pushing him away as if he was some serial killer.
“What do you want from me?
Even before Onew opened his mouth, heavy footsteps were heard.
“Hey kid!” and Taemin turns around, instantly feeling relieved at the sight of policemen running towards him. “What happened here?”
He shoots Onew a glare and looks at the three police officers, frightened. “Sir, this guy right here,” he motions to Onew who obviously looked lost. “He’s stalking me.” he knows it wasn’t real but hey, he had to say something.
“Kiddo, are you on crack?” the short and chubby officer asks feeling irritated.
“What? No! Look at him!” Taemin is now officially distressed.
“Look kid, we’re on patrol and you’re wasting our time on your little prank here.” One of them grabs Taemin’s shirt collar and stares him down. “If you don’t want your mommy to fetch you in jail then I suggest you go home and dry up.”
As they left, Taemin stood ghostly cold and searching for Onew, who suddenly isn’t the most terrifying person anymore though he still, kind of, is.
He bravely took quivering steps towards the boy and slowly reaches to touch the other’s face.
Onew, who quietly watched the scene earlier, shifted impulsively avoiding Taemin’s shaking hand as he felt his pulse running in his chest once again.
“How is it that only you could see me?”
Taemin’s heart clenched at the words that feel from Onew’s lips and it made him long to touch him more, and he did. Onew’s skin still felt cold to touch as Taemin whispers “I…don’t know.” While his hands continued to skim through his face.
“Who are you, really?” He brushed the bangs covering the other’s gaze.
Onew searched for Taemin’s eyes and saw himself in it.
“I told you,”
Taemin breathes in a gasp whilst staring at Onew’s bare, obsidian eyes and feels the wind gush through him like an omen, a message, a sign.
“My name is Onew.”
Pairing(s): Onew/Taemin
Author(s): shinminji & kingheechul
Genre: humor ; romance; drama
Length: chaptered 1/?
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Taemin encounters a totally confused and DEAD Onew that is seeking only for someone who could explain what is happening to him. Will he be able to?
The soul is the spiritual nature of humans.
It is immortal, separable from physical form; void of any human emotions.
It is said to roam the world in search of enlightenment or any business passed on from it's physical life and cannot pass on to the other world unless it is filled.
If so happens that a soul does not complete his misfindings, he is destined to drown in eternal misery and the door to reincarnation is closed.
---
Onew roams the city in search of his favorite chicken shop. He skips around his normal route. He senses that his body is abnormally light and he doesn't feel anything, at all. Not sadness, not happiness, not angry, hungry, irritated or depressed.
Nothing.
He halts in front of the shop and stares at it wondering why he wasn't craving for it. For food, for water, for...anything at that matter and he didn't even trip once today.
It was unusual, everything.
He decided to go home after a quick mumble of goodbye to the chicken he once loved. He thinks he grew out of liking it, or he probably just ate too much of it already.
Still, he can't explain why, just why.
He goes home and announces his presence but no one answers him.
He enters his blank room. He stares and asks himself why his bed wasn’t there, why his clothes, posters and books were not where they were. Nothing, there was nothing in his room.
He was trying to think about why this was happening; why his room seems like it never had been used, and why he wasn’t panicking. He sighed, the only thing he could manage since being deprived of emotions, and went down to look for his mom.
He calls for her a few times, trying to get her attention but still no response. "Umma…" he tries again, but tough luck. He wonders if she suddenly developed a hearing impairment or she's purposely ignoring him, if so, why? As far as he knows, he has never done anything to anger her.
He taps her shoulder once, twice and two more times. His patience...was dangerously running thin. If she wasn't his mother, he would've smacked her upside the head. But no, he couldn't because yeah…she's his freaking mother.
He sits on the kitchen counter where his mom was cooking and just spoke openly.
"Umma, please listen to me, I...why is my room empty?" He let a few seconds pass before he spoke again. "I don't know what's happening. I don't remember anything. I can't even remember how I woke up today, if I went to school or where I've been. Am I sick?" He searched for a flinch, a nod, anything that could tell him his mom was listening, but there was none.
He takes the silence as a yes. "I'm sick, ain't I?"
"Is it that hard to answer?" He asks. He wants to get angry, to shout at her, but he couldn't. He couldn't feel anything, at all. Why?
"Have I done anything wrong, anything? Huh, umma?" he sounds desperate. He stares at her straight into her eyes but she wasn't even looking at him.
He urges to follow and follow his mom, desperate for her to say a word, or at least look at him and pat his head like she always did.
But then she turned away, left the kitchen and sat down on the sofa to turn on the TV, his eyes widened.
He runs, as fast as he could and he didn’t think about whether he’d trip and land on his face, which didn’t seem impossible when it started to rain, and for the first time that day he felt something, his heartbeat raced about a thousand times faster than it had to, at least, that’s how it felt. He tried to seek console and plead for the people who pass him by to explain to him why this was happening, and for each person who ignored him, his heart beat a thousand times more. Soon he felt water running down his being, they weren’t tears, they weren’t his, but he sees it fit to pass on as his own.
He saw himself as no one in the crowd he was currently in the middle of.
His heart continuing to beat and burst right off his chest while he stood there, stoic as he was then but there is, definitely, something.
He was feeling.
Was he?
Feeling, what, exactly?
He lifted his hands close to his face, clenching and unclenching, he felt disgusted of himself right now, someone like him who didn’t exist in the world. He should just d-
Die? Dead. What was this?
He took two steps back, and for the first time that day, he fell down.
He stayed fixated on the hard cemented floor he was currently lying on, should he stand up? No one would even see him to care anyway.
Just when he decided not to make an effort to stand up,
“Hey,”
His ears perked at the sound that was precariously directed to his ear and felt a hand wrap around his wrist leading him up.
He lifted his head cautiously before his eyes landed on a boy, as tall as him, really cute and looking worried.
“Are you alright? I’m really sorry; I was kind of in a hurry.” He was bowing and palming the back of his neck rather guilty and shy. But that wasn’t the main issue here. This guy…can see him.
"You," he remained indifferent, his eyes dark and lifeless, pointing at the guy before pointing at his wet self. "…you can see me?"
The guy looks at him as if he was uhm…insane? "Uh, I can? Err...can you see me?" he asks him just for the heck of it.
"Name," he demands.
"Lee Taemin," Taemin responds immediately, scared by his monotous voice. "M-may I know your name? That is if you want to tell me, but if you don't it's completely fine with me. I mean, I'm just a stranger who happens to come across someone weird like you. And no, I didn't mean that in a bad way. You're just..forget it. But really, please don't-"
"Jinki, Lee Jinki. But people call me Onew,"
Taemin found it a little awkward that he was still holding on to Onew’s wrist but he felt a need to do so, looking at the other’s downcast and somewhat weak state, thinking that when he does let go, the other would just slide down again, and he can’t afford injuring the poor man, twice!
He didn’t know how to respond, also, the rain wasn’t doing them any good. Surprisingly, Onew just followed his lead when Taemin guided him to a dry spot in front of a bakery. He let go just then.
Onew, however, still felt blank, his heartbeat though, slowed down the tiniest bit when he was dragged towards the bakery shop.
“H-hyung? Uh…I need to go, really, I’m really sorry! I had a hard time watching where I was going because of the rain, mianhe hyung! Bye bye!”
He charged through the rain with his hands above his head trying to shield himself from it, not that it was doing him any good, Onew stares at Taemin’s silhouette, trying to measure the situation in his head.
His feet took one step toward the crashing rain, another, and another although his mind wasn’t really doing anything in the moment, his body just took over and soon, he was tracing Taemin’s tracks.
It was like it wasn’t enough that he absolutely cannot comprehend anything that was going on that day, and he fell down a second time. He raised his body up and continued to run to seemingly the only person who could touch him, hear him…see him, someone who could offer him what he’s longing for that very moment, existence.
When Taemin gave up on running from the calming rain, he just relished the momentary feeling of being drenched throughout his whole body and slowed down to a normal pace. His mind dropped back to Onew wishing he was doing well despite the weather, and despite his mishap, not to mention leaving him soaked and didn’t even offer him…well, something? He sort of felt guilty but he was desperate to get home as well.
“Wait,”
He screamed.
Taemin felt a cold hand deadly gripping his forearm and turning after his fright.
His vision landed on Onew’s disheveled appearance.
His bangs dripping from his face, his pale lips and skin, his rash breathing and cold touch, Taemin was scared. He felt sorry but he was scared, scared stiff.
“P-please let go.” He pleads while trying to yank his arm off Onew’s grip, which, to his advantage was loosening.
Onew stood straight when his hand couldn’t even hold on to the other anymore. “Am I dead?”
Taemin’s eyes suddenly went from scared to totally petrified.
There were a few explanations for this, he thought. It was either Onew crazy patient from lala land, a pervert, a convict or worse, a ghost!
His whole body shook when Onew took a step forward, overcome by fear, he pushed the boy harshly, “Don’t come near me!” barks a scared Taemin, body still trembling vigorously, “See this?” he points at his cell phone, “I just called the police and they’ll be here any minute so don’t you dare do something to me!”
“No, please...I’m not gonna hurt you” Onew tries to reason out, reaching out to hold Taemin’s hands.
Taemin gets the wrong idea and swats Onew’s hands away. “Are you a stalker or something?” he points an accusing finger at the other.
Both didn’t care that they were soaking wet. Taemin continued to stare at the other who stared back at him. “Y-you’re creeping me out. Who are you, really?”
“I wasn’t lying when I told you who I was” Onew was getting confused. A while ago, Taemin was acting all friendly on him and now he’s pushing him away as if he was some serial killer.
“What do you want from me?
Even before Onew opened his mouth, heavy footsteps were heard.
“Hey kid!” and Taemin turns around, instantly feeling relieved at the sight of policemen running towards him. “What happened here?”
He shoots Onew a glare and looks at the three police officers, frightened. “Sir, this guy right here,” he motions to Onew who obviously looked lost. “He’s stalking me.” he knows it wasn’t real but hey, he had to say something.
“Kiddo, are you on crack?” the short and chubby officer asks feeling irritated.
“What? No! Look at him!” Taemin is now officially distressed.
“Look kid, we’re on patrol and you’re wasting our time on your little prank here.” One of them grabs Taemin’s shirt collar and stares him down. “If you don’t want your mommy to fetch you in jail then I suggest you go home and dry up.”
As they left, Taemin stood ghostly cold and searching for Onew, who suddenly isn’t the most terrifying person anymore though he still, kind of, is.
He bravely took quivering steps towards the boy and slowly reaches to touch the other’s face.
Onew, who quietly watched the scene earlier, shifted impulsively avoiding Taemin’s shaking hand as he felt his pulse running in his chest once again.
“How is it that only you could see me?”
Taemin’s heart clenched at the words that feel from Onew’s lips and it made him long to touch him more, and he did. Onew’s skin still felt cold to touch as Taemin whispers “I…don’t know.” While his hands continued to skim through his face.
“Who are you, really?” He brushed the bangs covering the other’s gaze.
Onew searched for Taemin’s eyes and saw himself in it.
“I told you,”
Taemin breathes in a gasp whilst staring at Onew’s bare, obsidian eyes and feels the wind gush through him like an omen, a message, a sign.
“My name is Onew.”