[fic] The Day the World Ended - Chapter Three (KangTeuk)
Title: The Day the World Ended
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Mostly focused on KangTeuk and HyukSu, but other pairings will most likely abound. I'm just that bias.
Summary: What would you do if the world came to an end?
Warning: AU, end-of-the-world type scenario, un-beta'd, tense manipulating, and horrible ploting skills went in to the creation of this fic.
Notes: I started writing this four years ago, but never finished it. The parts in this one feel a bit disconnected, but at least I got Zhoumi written in ^^
"What would you do if the world came to an end?" Donghae questioned, playing idly with a soccer ball. Schedule had ended early for him, something that didn't happen too often as of late, leaving Donghae full of energy and nothing to do with it.
Eunhyuk looked up from his PMP with a frown. "What kind of random question is that?"
"Hyung, just answer..." Donghae whined and threw the ball at Eunhyuk. It missed and instead hit Heechul's arm just as the other finished up painting a nail.
"Yah! You little--!" Donghae squealed and ran away, laughing at Eunhyuk who took the brunt of Heechul's rage instead.
***
It was a long day. Eeteuk threw himself onto his matress with a grunt finding himself, not for the first time, wanting the busy schedule of his previous life. He missed the stage and the talk shows and the silly little things they made him do. He missed talking to other people and traveling the world. Now he was stuck in a world that was a city block long with only the company of his brothers to take the edge of lonliness away.
He was starting to feel claustrophobic.
"Feeling alright?" Eeteuk turned his head, eyes meeting those of Kangin's as the other walked into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. "You didn't look so hot today."
"Must be the weather." It was a lame joke. Thunder and lightning crashed outside and the biting cold of rain slammed against their windows, hammering to get in. They had spent all day trying to stave off the rising floodwater on the first floor. Thankfully they were on the fourth, but for the building to stay structurally sound, they had to do something. Eeteuk was soaked down to the bone. Even now he shivered from the remanents of the chill. Kangin's hand found his and squeezed, Eeteuk smiling gratefully. The other was always much warmer than he was.
"The others are outside. Together." It was an invitation into a group huddle, the kind they had indulged in for the month that it took to get back to their dorms. Eeteuk refused, shaking his head at the idea. He was cold, sure, but right now he wanted time alone. Kangin nodded in understanding but made no move to go back into the living room. Instead he reached out and ran a hand through Eeteuk's hair affectionately. "You worry too much."
Eeteuk chuckled, lifting a cold hand to cradle Kangin's cheek. "Hypocrite." He drew the other down until their foreheads were touching, Kangin's breath tickling his lips. They stayed that way for more than a minute, savoring the other's presence. They had been through a lot together, before the End and after. Their relationship was closer than just best friends, borderlining the forbidden. But for some reason--either their career or their own hesitancies--they never took that last step.
"...woon-hyung, you don't happen to have the knife? Wookie's...er..." Donghae halted in his steps, as two pairs of eyes turned toward him. "Um...Am I interrupting?" Eeteuk knew that their positions looked compromising, but he couldn't care less. It wasn't as if they hadn't been in compromising positions before. Their work almost demanded it, from all of them.
Kangin pulled away and Eeteuk bit back a whimper from the loss of warmth. "Here." Kangin pulled the switchblade out of his back pocket, handing it to a blushing Donghae. "Don't ruin it." The switchblade was one of the few sharp knives they had. All the kitchen blades they found were dulled with use and sharpening knives took time. They had Eunhyuk on the job, since he still refused to leave his window. It was better now, though. He was more compliant, a little less shell-shocked. Most of them had him doing jobs that they had no time to do, like repairing clothing or other nonsense junk. As long as it allowed Eunhyuk to stay at his window, the near-catatonic boy did it. Kangin was starting to miss the other's exuberant chatter and energy. This quiet Eunhyuk wasn't the friend he'd play pranks on or joke around with. This was an Eunhyuk that had lost his will to live.
***
"The manager said I needed to meet with some reporters before I can meet up with you guys," Zhoumi's accent slurred his Korean and Kyuhyun had to strain to hear exactly what the other said. "I'll be an hour or so."
"Well hurry up, Henry looks like he's going stir-crazy." Kyunhyun frowned, watching the youngest of them literally jumping off of walls with Donghae following suit. He wondered if God had a plan when making him younger than thirteen others, because in his mind it was a very very cruel joke.
"Don't kill him or the mother will be angry," Zhoumi reminded him.
"Which one?" Kyuhyun snorted. He heard Zhoumi laugh and then the line went dead. When Eeteuk finally had the presence of mind to count them all, all of the control he'd previously had vanished and the panic rose up like bile in his throat.
"Where's Zhoumi?!" he asked frantically, going through his boys again, counting and recounting swiftly in his head. Zhoumi was missing. He was missing.
"Calm down!" Kangin screamed at him, but it was only a slap to the face that got the elder to turn toward him. "Jungsu!" Kangin shook the boy violently, Eeteuk's frantic eyes moving over the room still looking for the one missing. "look at me!" He was aware of the others around them, huddled and afraid. Some of them were at the point of breaking down themselves, others had already broken. Eeteuk's Panic attack wasn't helping the situation. "Fuck, Jungsu, get a grip of yourself! You're freaking everyone out!"
Eeteuk's eyes snapped to his, wide but comprehending. Figured it'd be the mentioning of the kids to get Eeteuk's attention. "We need to move. Now" The walls were cracking around them and he knew they didn't have much time left before the building came crashing down around them.
Eeteuk's eyes looked at the walls and then at the dusty, crying faces of his members. He nodded in acquiescences. They moved.
Later, when they were huddled up together against the cold, Eeteuk thanked Kangin for snapping him out of it. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Fall to pieces." Kangin said jokingly, but Eeteuk nodded solemnly.
"I need you." Eeteuk whispered, unconsciously burrowing himself tighter into Kangin's side. Kangin waited until the elder's breath had evened out before responding. "I need you more."
***
One day Kangin didn't come back.
"The storm." Shindong tried to explain to a furious Eeteuk who ushered them back in with stiff shoulders and a hard expression. "We didn't think it would get here that fast. We were separated a few blocks back. I took the kids back."
It was after making sure the first floor was secure and the rest of his charges inside and cuddled up for warmth that the realization he'd lost someone sank in. It brought him to his knees, body shaking like a leaf against the storm raging outside. He'd lost one more of them. Scenarios played out in his mind. Kangin was still out there, stuck in some basement or worse, still outside in the pouring rain. The worry that blanketed his little troope was tangible and made even worse with Eeteuk's constant pacing.
Three days later, the storm calmed down and Eeteuk expected there to be a knock on the door during dinner and a demand to be let inside. There wasn't one.
Five days later, Eeteuk sat beside Eunhyuk, worrying his hands to the point where Sungmin had to put gloves on them lest the older ring the skin off of his own fingers. The boys still did their work like a well oiled machine. There was nothing left to do but wait. Shindong lead the scavenging parties and dinners were cooked. Things were done, but tensions were at their highest. No one wanted to believe that Kangin was gone permanantly. They had never thought of losing one of them. Not this early in the game. No one mentioned Eeteuk's random thoughtlessness or nights spent in silent tears.
A month later, the door flung open and life was jolted back into place.
"Crazy bitches! I couldn't get away!" Eeteuk ran down the stairs, pushing through the boys to stand in front of Kangin, eyes red and hands clenched at his side. "Jungsu-hyung! I brought back a--"
The echo of Eeteuk's slap could be heard throughout the house and a hand flung up to reddened cheek. And although Kangin looked downright murderous, Eeteuk's expression was equally as frightening. "Don't you ever do that again!" Kangin looked taken back and then softened in understanding, arms wrapping around Eeteuk into a tight hug that had everyone else joining in moments later. "I couldn't leave him." Kangin explained, motioning back to the boy standing in the corner. "I found him. The Crazy Bitches were keeping him in a cellar."
"Nihao." The boy greeted with a familiar smile and Hankyung answered in kind echoed by all of them as one by one they all fell onto Zhoumi like drops of rain, hugging and smooshing him against themselves as if trying to attach the missing boy to their own bodies to make sure he never disappeared again.
"Zhoumi." Eeteuk breathed in relief, a fond smile on his face and tears in his eyes. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. Even Heechul was showing his utter relief at seeing the boy alive and safe. "How did you find him?"
"The Crazy Bitches turned out to be those really weird fans that we happen to have." Kangin shrugged. "They were keeping him tied in the basement. I think they had gone delusional. One of them thought I was you." Kangin shook his head. "I'm glad I was able to get out of there with him."
Eeteuk regarded Kangin for a moment, noticing the high blush on Kangin's face. Eeteuk frowned. "You got lost coming back, didn't you?"
"All the buildings look the same!" Kangin defended himself.
"For a month?"
"There were raiders too!" Eeteuk looked annoyed. "I'm serious! It was hard getting back here!"
Eeteuk sighed, letting his shoulder bump Kangin's lightly before resting his head on it. "I'm just glad you're back."
"Glad to be back." They stood there for a few seconds, watching as Zhoumi juggled an ecstatic Hankyung and a pouting Kyuhyun as the rest fought for the boy's attention. "I met Dongyup-hyung on my way back." Kangin broke the silence. "He heard that most of the family got away alive. There's no news on them, though." Kangin glanced at Eunhyuk who still sat at his window sill, ignoring the joyful reunion.
-------
I think I like doing bad things to Eunhyuk. *ded*
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Mostly focused on KangTeuk and HyukSu, but other pairings will most likely abound. I'm just that bias.
Summary: What would you do if the world came to an end?
Warning: AU, end-of-the-world type scenario, un-beta'd, tense manipulating, and horrible ploting skills went in to the creation of this fic.
Notes: I started writing this four years ago, but never finished it. The parts in this one feel a bit disconnected, but at least I got Zhoumi written in ^^
"What would you do if the world came to an end?" Donghae questioned, playing idly with a soccer ball. Schedule had ended early for him, something that didn't happen too often as of late, leaving Donghae full of energy and nothing to do with it.
Eunhyuk looked up from his PMP with a frown. "What kind of random question is that?"
"Hyung, just answer..." Donghae whined and threw the ball at Eunhyuk. It missed and instead hit Heechul's arm just as the other finished up painting a nail.
"Yah! You little--!" Donghae squealed and ran away, laughing at Eunhyuk who took the brunt of Heechul's rage instead.
***
It was a long day. Eeteuk threw himself onto his matress with a grunt finding himself, not for the first time, wanting the busy schedule of his previous life. He missed the stage and the talk shows and the silly little things they made him do. He missed talking to other people and traveling the world. Now he was stuck in a world that was a city block long with only the company of his brothers to take the edge of lonliness away.
He was starting to feel claustrophobic.
"Feeling alright?" Eeteuk turned his head, eyes meeting those of Kangin's as the other walked into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. "You didn't look so hot today."
"Must be the weather." It was a lame joke. Thunder and lightning crashed outside and the biting cold of rain slammed against their windows, hammering to get in. They had spent all day trying to stave off the rising floodwater on the first floor. Thankfully they were on the fourth, but for the building to stay structurally sound, they had to do something. Eeteuk was soaked down to the bone. Even now he shivered from the remanents of the chill. Kangin's hand found his and squeezed, Eeteuk smiling gratefully. The other was always much warmer than he was.
"The others are outside. Together." It was an invitation into a group huddle, the kind they had indulged in for the month that it took to get back to their dorms. Eeteuk refused, shaking his head at the idea. He was cold, sure, but right now he wanted time alone. Kangin nodded in understanding but made no move to go back into the living room. Instead he reached out and ran a hand through Eeteuk's hair affectionately. "You worry too much."
Eeteuk chuckled, lifting a cold hand to cradle Kangin's cheek. "Hypocrite." He drew the other down until their foreheads were touching, Kangin's breath tickling his lips. They stayed that way for more than a minute, savoring the other's presence. They had been through a lot together, before the End and after. Their relationship was closer than just best friends, borderlining the forbidden. But for some reason--either their career or their own hesitancies--they never took that last step.
"...woon-hyung, you don't happen to have the knife? Wookie's...er..." Donghae halted in his steps, as two pairs of eyes turned toward him. "Um...Am I interrupting?" Eeteuk knew that their positions looked compromising, but he couldn't care less. It wasn't as if they hadn't been in compromising positions before. Their work almost demanded it, from all of them.
Kangin pulled away and Eeteuk bit back a whimper from the loss of warmth. "Here." Kangin pulled the switchblade out of his back pocket, handing it to a blushing Donghae. "Don't ruin it." The switchblade was one of the few sharp knives they had. All the kitchen blades they found were dulled with use and sharpening knives took time. They had Eunhyuk on the job, since he still refused to leave his window. It was better now, though. He was more compliant, a little less shell-shocked. Most of them had him doing jobs that they had no time to do, like repairing clothing or other nonsense junk. As long as it allowed Eunhyuk to stay at his window, the near-catatonic boy did it. Kangin was starting to miss the other's exuberant chatter and energy. This quiet Eunhyuk wasn't the friend he'd play pranks on or joke around with. This was an Eunhyuk that had lost his will to live.
***
"The manager said I needed to meet with some reporters before I can meet up with you guys," Zhoumi's accent slurred his Korean and Kyuhyun had to strain to hear exactly what the other said. "I'll be an hour or so."
"Well hurry up, Henry looks like he's going stir-crazy." Kyunhyun frowned, watching the youngest of them literally jumping off of walls with Donghae following suit. He wondered if God had a plan when making him younger than thirteen others, because in his mind it was a very very cruel joke.
"Don't kill him or the mother will be angry," Zhoumi reminded him.
"Which one?" Kyuhyun snorted. He heard Zhoumi laugh and then the line went dead. When Eeteuk finally had the presence of mind to count them all, all of the control he'd previously had vanished and the panic rose up like bile in his throat.
"Where's Zhoumi?!" he asked frantically, going through his boys again, counting and recounting swiftly in his head. Zhoumi was missing. He was missing.
"Calm down!" Kangin screamed at him, but it was only a slap to the face that got the elder to turn toward him. "Jungsu!" Kangin shook the boy violently, Eeteuk's frantic eyes moving over the room still looking for the one missing. "look at me!" He was aware of the others around them, huddled and afraid. Some of them were at the point of breaking down themselves, others had already broken. Eeteuk's Panic attack wasn't helping the situation. "Fuck, Jungsu, get a grip of yourself! You're freaking everyone out!"
Eeteuk's eyes snapped to his, wide but comprehending. Figured it'd be the mentioning of the kids to get Eeteuk's attention. "We need to move. Now" The walls were cracking around them and he knew they didn't have much time left before the building came crashing down around them.
Eeteuk's eyes looked at the walls and then at the dusty, crying faces of his members. He nodded in acquiescences. They moved.
Later, when they were huddled up together against the cold, Eeteuk thanked Kangin for snapping him out of it. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Fall to pieces." Kangin said jokingly, but Eeteuk nodded solemnly.
"I need you." Eeteuk whispered, unconsciously burrowing himself tighter into Kangin's side. Kangin waited until the elder's breath had evened out before responding. "I need you more."
***
One day Kangin didn't come back.
"The storm." Shindong tried to explain to a furious Eeteuk who ushered them back in with stiff shoulders and a hard expression. "We didn't think it would get here that fast. We were separated a few blocks back. I took the kids back."
It was after making sure the first floor was secure and the rest of his charges inside and cuddled up for warmth that the realization he'd lost someone sank in. It brought him to his knees, body shaking like a leaf against the storm raging outside. He'd lost one more of them. Scenarios played out in his mind. Kangin was still out there, stuck in some basement or worse, still outside in the pouring rain. The worry that blanketed his little troope was tangible and made even worse with Eeteuk's constant pacing.
Three days later, the storm calmed down and Eeteuk expected there to be a knock on the door during dinner and a demand to be let inside. There wasn't one.
Five days later, Eeteuk sat beside Eunhyuk, worrying his hands to the point where Sungmin had to put gloves on them lest the older ring the skin off of his own fingers. The boys still did their work like a well oiled machine. There was nothing left to do but wait. Shindong lead the scavenging parties and dinners were cooked. Things were done, but tensions were at their highest. No one wanted to believe that Kangin was gone permanantly. They had never thought of losing one of them. Not this early in the game. No one mentioned Eeteuk's random thoughtlessness or nights spent in silent tears.
A month later, the door flung open and life was jolted back into place.
"Crazy bitches! I couldn't get away!" Eeteuk ran down the stairs, pushing through the boys to stand in front of Kangin, eyes red and hands clenched at his side. "Jungsu-hyung! I brought back a--"
The echo of Eeteuk's slap could be heard throughout the house and a hand flung up to reddened cheek. And although Kangin looked downright murderous, Eeteuk's expression was equally as frightening. "Don't you ever do that again!" Kangin looked taken back and then softened in understanding, arms wrapping around Eeteuk into a tight hug that had everyone else joining in moments later. "I couldn't leave him." Kangin explained, motioning back to the boy standing in the corner. "I found him. The Crazy Bitches were keeping him in a cellar."
"Nihao." The boy greeted with a familiar smile and Hankyung answered in kind echoed by all of them as one by one they all fell onto Zhoumi like drops of rain, hugging and smooshing him against themselves as if trying to attach the missing boy to their own bodies to make sure he never disappeared again.
"Zhoumi." Eeteuk breathed in relief, a fond smile on his face and tears in his eyes. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. Even Heechul was showing his utter relief at seeing the boy alive and safe. "How did you find him?"
"The Crazy Bitches turned out to be those really weird fans that we happen to have." Kangin shrugged. "They were keeping him tied in the basement. I think they had gone delusional. One of them thought I was you." Kangin shook his head. "I'm glad I was able to get out of there with him."
Eeteuk regarded Kangin for a moment, noticing the high blush on Kangin's face. Eeteuk frowned. "You got lost coming back, didn't you?"
"All the buildings look the same!" Kangin defended himself.
"For a month?"
"There were raiders too!" Eeteuk looked annoyed. "I'm serious! It was hard getting back here!"
Eeteuk sighed, letting his shoulder bump Kangin's lightly before resting his head on it. "I'm just glad you're back."
"Glad to be back." They stood there for a few seconds, watching as Zhoumi juggled an ecstatic Hankyung and a pouting Kyuhyun as the rest fought for the boy's attention. "I met Dongyup-hyung on my way back." Kangin broke the silence. "He heard that most of the family got away alive. There's no news on them, though." Kangin glanced at Eunhyuk who still sat at his window sill, ignoring the joyful reunion.
-------
I think I like doing bad things to Eunhyuk. *ded*