Before the Dawn - Interlude
TITLE: Before the Dawn
AUTHOR: Kurokitsune09 ^^
RATING: PG to PG-15ish?
PAIRING/FOCUS: Jongho (Main), Cheundong/Krystal (sub-main) SulTae (sub-main)
GENRE: ...adventure, au, romance?
NOTES: This Is Just an Interlude. A mercenary gets a visitor.
PLOT AND CAST LIST || PROLOGUE + CHAPTER ONE || CHAPTER TWO || CHAPTER THREE || CHAPTER FOUR || CHAPTER FIVE || CHAPTER SIX || CHAPTER SEVEN || CHAPTER EIGHT || CHAPTER NINE
~INTERLUDE~
By the time he returned back to the inn, his body fazing into a secluded part of the tavern, there wasn’t a person in sight. His hair was a tangled mess about his face, shoulders and neck and somewhere in the struggle in the underground; he lost the tie that the chestnut colored strands together. His tunic was torn, hanging slightly in tatters about his arms and just a little bit over his chest and he figured he reeked of blood, smoke, ash, soot and sweat. He paused on his way up to his room, standing for a moment at the foot of the stairs and he tugged the tattered remains of his tunic so it covered more skin.
Then he proceeded to limp up the stairs. He sighed, eyes flickering as he passed certain rooms and he felt like throwing up when he passed Jonghyun and Minho’s room. His brows furrowed and he frowned tightly as a stone of emotions he was somewhat unfamiliar with sank into his gut. He just slipped into his own room, shutting the door with a light click behind him. He sighed again before he began maneuvering through the dark, moving slightly past a pulled out chair towards his mattress. He stripped of his tattered tunic, throwing the ruined clothing towards the mattress, wincing faintly when it irritated the slash marks and other injuries on his lithe frame.
After a moment, he propped his hip against the nightstand next to his bed and uttered quietly, his eyes closing, “To what do I owe the honor weaver?”
“The underground must be more dangerous than we remember Min-ah. You used to leave unscathed, unmarked,” the voice was soft, lilting and Taemin’s eyes reopened, locking on the woman’s shadowed frame within the darkness of his room. Her skirts rustled lightly and Taemin huffed, his eyes flickering as she moved towards him and he just hummed. “Does it hurt Min-ah?”
“What do you want Jessica?” Taemin’s voice rang out quietly, wearily. He hated beating around the bush. He hated it a lot. The weaver didn’t come to see if his wounds fucking hurt. And Taemin knew that. “You seldom make personal visits,”
“To apologize Min-ah,” his brows rose in surprise and he looked at the other immortal. In the dark, he could make out a pained smile on her lips and his brows then furrowed. She twisted a strand of dark hair in between her fingers and she sighed softly. “Had it not been for Sanghyun and I, you wouldn’t be down here. Mother wouldn’t have needed to send you because the threads wouldn’t have been corrupted. They wouldn’t have needed you to save them,”
“Your webs seldom get corrupted and people who can corrupted them are higher than yourself. And among them, me. And I’m too fucking lazy to actively make more trouble for myself,” Taemin answered flatly back. His lips curled into a bitter smirk. “And besides, it wouldn’t have mattered anyways. You two bet the horizon and even if mother never ordered me, I would have eventually come down anyways. The fate of the world is mine to decide after all,”
“Min-ah, does it get hard? Especially when you become attached?” Taemin ran a hand through his hair, wincing when he hit a tangle and he felt her fingers run through his hair, straightening out the strands. “What do you do then? Does mother like seeing you in pain?”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had to destroy anything I was attached too. I was never around long enough to find out how it would be like. Mother orders, and I follow,” Taemin answered back with a shrug. Her hands stilled and Taemin pulled back, leaning away and letting his now untangled hair flutter around his face.
“And now?” Taemin was silent for a split seconds and faces flashed through his mind’s eye. Jonghyun laughing, Luna’s smile, Joon and Mir being idiots, Minho and Cheundong watching but the one that stood out the most was her. Choi Jinri and Taemin just sighed.
“I don’t know. If mother orders, I’ll follow. I don’t have a choice,” she was silent and Taemin asked softly, “How does it end weaver? You, who spins the lives of everyone, immortal or not to connect. How did you end it?”
He looked up and he blinked at her odd stare. Her lips pursed and she answered softly, “I do not know Taemin-ah and I do not weave the lives of Immortals. At least, not yours. And I haven’t touched the loom in years. I honestly do not know what is to come,”
“I see,” Taemin muttered and he settled his weight onto the bed, the mattress sinking at it. He could feel her smile at the crown of his head and she murmured a soft goodbye in the other tongue and Taemin was alone once more.
He didn’t realize or know how long he just sat there, the chill of the night caressing his bare skin and his forgotten injuries from the underground throbbed, reminding him that they needed tending to. His head dropped into his hands, fingers threading through his chestnut strands and he didn’t react when there was a noise, a chair scraping along the wooden floor.
Soft steps rang out and it wasn’t until she squeaked, toppling over almost in the dark that he reacted and she knew that he knew she was there. His arms caught her as her balance died and her hands settled on his biceps. In that moment, Taemin was suddenly very, very aware that he was shirtless and judging from the surprised squeak, Sulli was very aware as well. There was a moment, her fingers dancing over his bare skin, feeling the scabbed cuts and whatever few scars he may have possessed. His eyes flickered in the dark and he shifted, a little bit uncomfortable as her hot breath brushed against his chest and her long hair tickled his shoulders.
“What are you doing here Jin-ah?” he wanted to ask but they just stood for a moment, staring silently. “I was worried,” she wanted to say and instead, her hands tightened slightly on his arms, her head bowing slightly.
“You should go Jin-ah. It’s late,” his voice pieced the quiet darkness and she felt him step aside, brushing past her and she instinctively caught one of his hands, threading her fingers with his. “Jin-ah,”
“No one’s mad Taemin. We’re upset. That was a time that none of us want to remember, especially not the Chief. But we know it wasn’t you,” her voice was quiet, trembling and Taemin was quiet again. His hand slipped from hers and Sulli felt as if she was struck, even though he hadn’t touched her. He moved back to his mattress and Sulli bit her lip.
“Goodnight Jin-ah,” She didn’t answer and Taemin’s eyes closed when he heard the door shut behind her as she left. He sighed, staring up at the ceiling and their entire encounter replayed in his mind and then some. He remembered what Jessica said and he sighed.
I honestly do not know what is to come.
AUTHOR: Kurokitsune09 ^^
RATING: PG to PG-15ish?
PAIRING/FOCUS: Jongho (Main), Cheundong/Krystal (sub-main) SulTae (sub-main)
GENRE: ...adventure, au, romance?
NOTES: This Is Just an Interlude. A mercenary gets a visitor.
PLOT AND CAST LIST || PROLOGUE + CHAPTER ONE || CHAPTER TWO || CHAPTER THREE || CHAPTER FOUR || CHAPTER FIVE || CHAPTER SIX || CHAPTER SEVEN || CHAPTER EIGHT || CHAPTER NINE
~INTERLUDE~
By the time he returned back to the inn, his body fazing into a secluded part of the tavern, there wasn’t a person in sight. His hair was a tangled mess about his face, shoulders and neck and somewhere in the struggle in the underground; he lost the tie that the chestnut colored strands together. His tunic was torn, hanging slightly in tatters about his arms and just a little bit over his chest and he figured he reeked of blood, smoke, ash, soot and sweat. He paused on his way up to his room, standing for a moment at the foot of the stairs and he tugged the tattered remains of his tunic so it covered more skin.
Then he proceeded to limp up the stairs. He sighed, eyes flickering as he passed certain rooms and he felt like throwing up when he passed Jonghyun and Minho’s room. His brows furrowed and he frowned tightly as a stone of emotions he was somewhat unfamiliar with sank into his gut. He just slipped into his own room, shutting the door with a light click behind him. He sighed again before he began maneuvering through the dark, moving slightly past a pulled out chair towards his mattress. He stripped of his tattered tunic, throwing the ruined clothing towards the mattress, wincing faintly when it irritated the slash marks and other injuries on his lithe frame.
After a moment, he propped his hip against the nightstand next to his bed and uttered quietly, his eyes closing, “To what do I owe the honor weaver?”
“The underground must be more dangerous than we remember Min-ah. You used to leave unscathed, unmarked,” the voice was soft, lilting and Taemin’s eyes reopened, locking on the woman’s shadowed frame within the darkness of his room. Her skirts rustled lightly and Taemin huffed, his eyes flickering as she moved towards him and he just hummed. “Does it hurt Min-ah?”
“What do you want Jessica?” Taemin’s voice rang out quietly, wearily. He hated beating around the bush. He hated it a lot. The weaver didn’t come to see if his wounds fucking hurt. And Taemin knew that. “You seldom make personal visits,”
“To apologize Min-ah,” his brows rose in surprise and he looked at the other immortal. In the dark, he could make out a pained smile on her lips and his brows then furrowed. She twisted a strand of dark hair in between her fingers and she sighed softly. “Had it not been for Sanghyun and I, you wouldn’t be down here. Mother wouldn’t have needed to send you because the threads wouldn’t have been corrupted. They wouldn’t have needed you to save them,”
“Your webs seldom get corrupted and people who can corrupted them are higher than yourself. And among them, me. And I’m too fucking lazy to actively make more trouble for myself,” Taemin answered flatly back. His lips curled into a bitter smirk. “And besides, it wouldn’t have mattered anyways. You two bet the horizon and even if mother never ordered me, I would have eventually come down anyways. The fate of the world is mine to decide after all,”
“Min-ah, does it get hard? Especially when you become attached?” Taemin ran a hand through his hair, wincing when he hit a tangle and he felt her fingers run through his hair, straightening out the strands. “What do you do then? Does mother like seeing you in pain?”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had to destroy anything I was attached too. I was never around long enough to find out how it would be like. Mother orders, and I follow,” Taemin answered back with a shrug. Her hands stilled and Taemin pulled back, leaning away and letting his now untangled hair flutter around his face.
“And now?” Taemin was silent for a split seconds and faces flashed through his mind’s eye. Jonghyun laughing, Luna’s smile, Joon and Mir being idiots, Minho and Cheundong watching but the one that stood out the most was her. Choi Jinri and Taemin just sighed.
“I don’t know. If mother orders, I’ll follow. I don’t have a choice,” she was silent and Taemin asked softly, “How does it end weaver? You, who spins the lives of everyone, immortal or not to connect. How did you end it?”
He looked up and he blinked at her odd stare. Her lips pursed and she answered softly, “I do not know Taemin-ah and I do not weave the lives of Immortals. At least, not yours. And I haven’t touched the loom in years. I honestly do not know what is to come,”
“I see,” Taemin muttered and he settled his weight onto the bed, the mattress sinking at it. He could feel her smile at the crown of his head and she murmured a soft goodbye in the other tongue and Taemin was alone once more.
He didn’t realize or know how long he just sat there, the chill of the night caressing his bare skin and his forgotten injuries from the underground throbbed, reminding him that they needed tending to. His head dropped into his hands, fingers threading through his chestnut strands and he didn’t react when there was a noise, a chair scraping along the wooden floor.
Soft steps rang out and it wasn’t until she squeaked, toppling over almost in the dark that he reacted and she knew that he knew she was there. His arms caught her as her balance died and her hands settled on his biceps. In that moment, Taemin was suddenly very, very aware that he was shirtless and judging from the surprised squeak, Sulli was very aware as well. There was a moment, her fingers dancing over his bare skin, feeling the scabbed cuts and whatever few scars he may have possessed. His eyes flickered in the dark and he shifted, a little bit uncomfortable as her hot breath brushed against his chest and her long hair tickled his shoulders.
“What are you doing here Jin-ah?” he wanted to ask but they just stood for a moment, staring silently. “I was worried,” she wanted to say and instead, her hands tightened slightly on his arms, her head bowing slightly.
“You should go Jin-ah. It’s late,” his voice pieced the quiet darkness and she felt him step aside, brushing past her and she instinctively caught one of his hands, threading her fingers with his. “Jin-ah,”
“No one’s mad Taemin. We’re upset. That was a time that none of us want to remember, especially not the Chief. But we know it wasn’t you,” her voice was quiet, trembling and Taemin was quiet again. His hand slipped from hers and Sulli felt as if she was struck, even though he hadn’t touched her. He moved back to his mattress and Sulli bit her lip.
“Goodnight Jin-ah,” She didn’t answer and Taemin’s eyes closed when he heard the door shut behind her as she left. He sighed, staring up at the ceiling and their entire encounter replayed in his mind and then some. He remembered what Jessica said and he sighed.
I honestly do not know what is to come.