Running (Chapter 31)
Title: Running
Pairing: Yoosu, ChangKi, Yunjae
Rating: PG-15
Genre: Angst, Comedy
Quotes:
"There is no such thing as [running] forever."
Three days, four days, five. How many days is ‘later’? What did Yoochun mean when he said that he would see Xiah again…‘later‘?
Tired and depressed, Xiah settled behind the desk and eyed the flowers that surrounded him. The rainbow combination of petals didn’t look at all beautiful.
He folded his arms on the desk and rested his head on his arms. His eyes began to close…
“Excuse me?”
Xiah opened his eyes and stood up from the seat, so fast that the chair fell backwards. Did he fall asleep?
“I’m sorry, how can I…?” he stopped talking when he realized who his customer was. Not allowing himself to memorize every part of Yoochun’s handsome features, Xiah looked away. “What do you want?”
Xiah was definitely angry at Yoochun, but what’s the real reason behind the anger at this moment?
“I want to buy a flower that represents love,” Yoochun spoke softly and Xiah was thankful that he wasn’t staring.
A customer was a customer. Yoochun is a customer. So Xiah walked over to the section of roses. “How many do you want to purchase?”
“One for today,” Yoochun replied.
Xiah could feel Yoochun’s eyes on his back. It was making him uncomfortable so he moved quick, wrapping the crimson red rose with a clear sheen of plastic. He named the price and handed Yoochun the item, not meeting the older man’s eyes.
“Thank you,” Yoochun paid and Xiah was careful not to touch his hand when taking the money.
Before Xiah could hand him the change, Yoochun had grabbed the rose and walked out of the flower shop.
He didn’t get his 1 won in change. Xiah was curious about who Yoochun had bought the rose for, but that wasn’t the reason why Xiah followed Yoochun out. Xiah followed Yoochun out because…he needed to give Yoochun the extra money.
Xiah couldn’t get very far. He stood right outside the shop, watching Yoochun cross the street and standing on the opposite sidewalk.
Yell his name. Yell his name. Call for him. Tell him to come back…
…for…for the money.
Xiah opened his mouth to shout the name that he missed so much, but lost his voice when a young girl ran towards Yoochun. She was grinning at Yoochun, who was smiling in return. He said something and she laughed. She nodded and he grinned. Yoochun handed her the crimson rose, the symbol of love.
Xiah turned away immediately, unable to continue watching.
Go in. Go in. Back into the store. Close the door. Protect yourself.
Xiah turned to walk back into the shop, only to have a small hand grasp onto his arm, stopping him from entering the shop.
“Excuse me, sir.”
Xiah turned his head to see that it was the girl Yoochun had been flirting with. She was still holding the red rose and Xiah tried (so hard) not to hate her.
“Can I help you?” he managed to speak in a calm (but not friendly) voice.
“Someone told me to give this to you. Told me to tell you that it’s from someone who loves you,” she smiled sweetly while sticking the rose in Xiah’s face.
Xiah blinked, confused. “What? Why?”
“My work is accomplished. Bye!”
She skipped off while Xiah was staring at the rose in his hand. Then raised his head to search for Yoochun, wanting to find Yoochun.
Yoochun was gone…
Gone…
“Xiah!”
Xiah jumped and felt himself falling off a chair. He felt a slight pain on his rear and looked up to see Yunho and Jaejoong staring down at him. He looked around and saw that he was still in his flower shop, behind his desk.
Where was the crimson rose that Yoochun had bought? Where was Yoochun?
“Xiah, are you okay?” Yunho inquired, concerned.
“I…what happened?” Xiah couldn’t understand.
“You fell asleep. Someone could have walked in and robbed you,” Yunho said.
“Yunho, it’s a floral shop,” Jaejoong pointed out with sarcasm.
“I’ll work on my sarcasm,” Yunho said lightly before turning back to the quiet Xiah. “Xiah, are you feeling okay?”
Xiah blinked. The rose, Yoochun, the girl: was it all a dream? It was just a dream!
Dreams had become even more common after seeing Yoochun again that night.
“Xiah?” Jaejoong tried.
Xiah blinked again, nodding frantically. “Yes, yes, I’m fine. I’m fine. Just…tired.”
Just wishing that reality was the dream….
“Xiah, we have something to tell you,” Yunho captured his attention again.
“Hmm?”
“Bae is dead and his whole gang has dispersed. Some were captured and some escaped,” the tallest man informed. It didn’t pass his eyes when Xiah’s hands turned into fists. He analyzed the younger man carefully as he finished, “Park escaped.”
Xiah didn’t realize he was being obvious when he released the tension on his hand, allowing his fingers to stretch out of the fist. His expression remained blank. “We…won’t have to hide anymore, right?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Yunho spoke. “Now I can openly find Park without having to worry about Bae’s men. And I can start by tracking down his best friend.”
=====
Meanwhile, that same morning…
Kibum glanced at the clock and it flashed ’10:31.’ He was fidgeting with the corner of the pillow and still wondering where in the world Changmin was. He said he’d be ‘home late,’ but he didn’t even come home at all last night! Now the sun is up and noon isn’t too far away. Where is he? Kibum misses Changmin.
The door clicked open and Kibum prepared himself to yell until he lost his voice (and then kiss Changmin silly right afterwards).
Except all senses of humor evaporated when Kibum saw Changmin walk in, his shirt covered in blood and his face pale. His hands and arms had been washed, but there were still traces of dried blood. Where did he go last night? Another job? Another murder? Didn’t he stop? He never promised Kibum he would stop. They never talked about his association with the mafia or his past. But…but Kibum would assume that…he would stop.
His fist clenched and he glared at the slouching man at the door. “I can’t believe this! You went back? You went back to your past and committed another…another job? For what? For money? You can’t just find another job?”
Changmin’s head was low as he remained rooted to the floor. “Kibum…”
“I can’t do this! I can’t! I’m in love with you! Of all people, I had to fall in love with you! But I can’t do this! I don’t want to be with someone who kills people for a living!” he hissed in a lower voice. “It’s dangerous and it’s wrong! I don’t care if we have to eat dirt to stay alive or if we starve to death! I don’t want you going back to that lifestyle!”
At least he was talking about eating dirt with Changmin instead of leaving without Changmin.
Kibum has changed. If he was still the hopeless romantic from the past, he would have confessed to Changmin long ago and they would have been a couple for the past months. But Kibum had changed. He’d taken things into consideration and in a way, he’d become afraid of Love. Maybe he was still feeling guilty, blaming himself for what happened to Yoochun and Junsu. Maybe he was afraid of dating someone with such a dark past. But at least he did love Changmin.
“Kibum…”
“It’s dangerous! For the both of us! I could be killed! You could be killed! Killing you is like killing me! All because I had to go and fall in love with you! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”
“I’m…”
“Shut up! I’m not done!” Kibum took long steps and was soon standing right in front of Changmin, forcing him to back up against the door. As the shorter man spoke, tears formed in his eyes. “You listen to me, with both ears and heart! You’re going to stop! Because I can’t imagine what I would do if you died! You’re not allowed to die…”
Changmin shut him up with a kiss and to Hell if Kibum cared that his favorite pajamas were rubbing against dried blood stains. He hugged the taller man tightly and never wanted to let go.
Face buried against Changmin’s neck, he spoke in a much softer tone, “Please don’t go back. I don’t care if we have to run and hide forever.”
“We won’t have to run anymore.”
Kibum pulled away just enough to look up at Changmin. Those were words that he wanted to hear, but at what consequence. “Why?”
“Bae is dead.”
Kibum blinked and Changmin wondered if he would pull away from the embrace. Love is Love, but Murder is also Murder. “Did you…?”
“No, I didn’t kill him,” Changmin paused. “Yoochun did.”
Kibum’s eyes widened. “You saw Yoochun? Where is he? How is he?”
Changmin’s arms tightened around Kibum. He brushed at a trail of tear on his smooth cheek. How would he react?
“Yoochun is…”
Kibum waited silently for Changmin to continue, but saw how hard it was. He laid his head on the tall man’s shoulder, “It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me. If Yoochun doesn’t want anyone else to know, then I won’t make you break your promise to him. I’m just glad to have you back.”
Changmin wished he had the strength to smile. But he couldn’t. “Thank you.”
=====
Hi Everyone!
I'm extremely, extremely SORRY for making anyone worry and even more SORRY for being so late with the updates! School started a couple weeks ago and I needed to pick up more hours for my jobs.
I'm SORRY for not being able to reply to all the lovely messages that you guys left. It generally takes a long time for me to post/link these chapters and at this point, I can't afford to take out another hour from my sleep time. SORRY!
Thank you to everyone for leaving some Love with those comments. It's always nice to know what you guys are thinking as you read.
I hope everyone is healthy and well. Take good care of yourselves!
Love,
Micah
P.S. This isn't the end. There are a couple more chapters left.
P.S.S. I've recently been lucky enough to be selected for a chance to be featured in TVXQWorld Magazine's February Issue. Please visit ONETVXQ Forums [www.onetvxq.com] to check it out (when it comes out in February), along with Magazines that have been done in the past. These creators are really talented and they do a really good job with it.
THANK YOU AGAIN!
Chapter 32 // “Do you know where Yoochun is?”