Donghae/Shiwon, AU fic
title: head into the light
theme: 043. washing machines; 014/100; archive
Donghae/Shiwon
humor, weirdness, death
I lost whatever plot I may have had somewhere around the first couple sentences. Shortly after that I stopped trying to correct that problem. Don't expect this to be coherent. D:
Shiwon's life was average, to say the least. He went to university, had a part-time job, considered dating but never actually went through with the idea, and was generally quite content with the way things were. Happy, almost, if a little bored. Not that any of that continued to matter since as he walked between his apartment and the shop he worked at, he was killed by a falling washing machine being lifted up to the top floor penthouse of an upscale condominium.
He had very little time to think between "Oh," as the machine came flying down toward him, and "Shit," as he stood next to his own dead body. Immediately afterward there was a warm, glowing light as he began to slowly float upward. Until the light stuttered and then blinked out.
"Er," said a voice, seemingly coming from all around him. "Hold on a bit, will you?"
Shiwon nodded, though he wasn't sure what else he could do since he wasn't moving up or down and didn't think he could go anywhere even if he wanted to.
"Okay," the voice said after a minute, "We're having some technical difficulties, so...uh. Just relax." Then the voice began speaking in lower tones to someone Shiwon couldn't hear at all. "What? No, no, I replaced that yester- oh. It's been that long? Time just passes you by up- what? Godda-- Don't shh me! I can say-- why are you kicking th--" and then the light came back on and Shiwon, once again, began his ascent. "Hey, that worked!"
Shiwon wondered if up was really the best way to go.
"So, nice day, huh?" asked the voice.
"Don't ask him that, idiot, he just died." Interrupted another voice, before Shiwon could answer.
"Oh," said the first voice. "Yeah, forgot about that."
No one spoke for a while following that exchange and Shiwon noticed that he was moving very, very slowly and couldn't have been more than fifty feet from the ground. "Where am I going?" he asked looking up in the general direction he thought the voices had been coming from.
"Oh, you know, up," answered the voice. "Hey, do you mind if we speed this along a little? This whole process is kind of boring and this is my first time doing it and I'm a little hungry, so... would that be okay?"
"Uh, sure?" answered Shiwon. He figured that since he was already dead there wasn't much harm anyone could do. Especially since he didn't appear to be surrounded by the flames of Hell.
"Great!" And then the warm, bright light intensified by a thousand fold until it was the only thing Shiwon could see or feel and for a second he thought he heard music. Then he was standing in a long, glowing hall with large pillars and it was nice, really, though maybe a bit cliché, Shiwon thought.
"Welcome!" said the voice, except this time it seemed to be coming out of a young man, who appeared to be his own age, dressed in casual street clothes whereas Shiwon was wearing...white. He looked down at himself and saw white pants and a flowing white shirt and it all seemed vaguely glittery as well.
"You're here," said the other man. "Up! My name is Donghae and I'll be your guide."
Shiwon blinked at him, a little confused. "Guide?"
"Yeah, guide. I'm here to show you around so you can get acquainted with...up...here," said Donghae. "You do know you're dead, right? Because they had a course on what to do when someone doesn't know they're dead, but I kind of missed that day...Not that it was my fault or anything."
Shiwon stared, the nodded ever so slowly, afraid to make any sudden movements. "I know I'm dead," he replied.
"Good," said Donghae smiling. He wrapped an arm around Shiwon's shoulders and began leading them down the long corridor. "Well, not good, but you know."
"Uh, yeah," Shiwon said, not entirely sure he understood, but not willing to argue that point.
"So, there really aren't a lot of rules here, just the basics like 'don't place bets on the longevity of a civilization', 'don't antagonize the guys with the wings, even though it's fun', and 'don't use the big voice thing to convince people to perform human sacrifices'." Donghae ticked off the rules with his fingers. "There are other rules, but I forget them. You probably won't need to know them, anyway." He stopped and looked to the side and for the first time Shiwon realized that beyond the large pillars were walls lined with doors. Looking closer, Shiwon couldn't see a single difference in any of the doors, and the hall itself appeared to go on for miles.
Donghae walked them over to one of the doors on the left and stood in front of it for a moment, frowning. "I think this is it," he said. He stared at it for a few more seconds before smiling brightly. "Yeah, this is the one." He opened it up and pulled Shiwon inside.
Shiwon had a moment of complete and total disorientation, followed by a level of confusion he was becoming very much accustomed to. They were standing inside what Shiwon thought looked incredibly similar to a dance studio, and judging from the music and people dancing, he had to accept that it was exactly that. The music stopped and the occupants of the room all turned to look at them.
Shiwon's eyes widened, he opened his mouth to speak, then turned around and opened the door they had come in through. Except instead of the long, glowing hall they'd been in before, the door opened into a rather average looking hallway. Two people passed by, talking quietly to themselves, and paid Shiwon no attention. He noticed they were also dressed in white, glittering clothes nearly identical to his own. He shut the door and turned around to face the room again and Donghae rubbed his back comfortingly.
"You'll get used to it," said Donghae, smiling.
"Who's the new guy?" asked one of the people who had been dancing when they'd come in. He had bright red hair to match his tight red pants, and a loose t-shirt covered in text in a language Shiwon didn't think he'd ever seen before. His eyebrow was raised and he was gazing at Shiwon in a way that was meant to intimidate. Or so Shiwon thought until the other man licked his lips and winked at him.
"This is Shiwon," said Donghae. "Shiwon, that's Heechul," he pointed to the redhead, "that's Hankyung," he pointed to the guy that Heechul was currently using as some sort of armrest, "and this is Hyukjae." He pulled Shiwon over to the corner where another boy had been watching them.
Hyukjae smiled as they walked over. "Hi," he said, as they sat down next to him and Heechul and Hankyung resumed dancing, though this time without music and it couldn't have really been called dancing, anyway. "Sorry about, uh, dying." Shiwon immediately recognized his voice as the one he'd heard before, with Donghae.
"Thank you," he said, not sure that was even the right response. He looked around at everyone, before turning back to Donghae. "Are all of you..." he waved his arms around a little to help get his point across.
Donghae blinked wide eyes at him. "Dead?"
"I am," Hyukjae answered. "Same with Hankyung. We've been dead for a long time, though he was already around when I got here. Heechul and Donghae were never alive to begin with."
"Are you talking about me?" Heechul called over to them.
"Yes," said Donghae.
"No," said Hyukjae.
Heechul frowned and dragged Hankyung over to where they were sitting. "You better be telling the new kid all the nice things about me."
"Nice things?" Hankyung questioned, sitting down next to Shiwon and making room for Heechul to sit between his legs. Heechul swatted at his thigh.
"Hyukjae only said that you and I were never alive," said Donghae. Hyukjae looked distressed at having been mentioned at all.
"Oh," Heechul said, turning to Shiwon with a smile. "Then let me tell you some things. Hae and I have known each other forever, though you could say I grew up on the other side of the tracks." He laughed as Shiwon's eyes grew wider.
"Does that mean--" Shiwon was cut off as the door to the dance studio was thrown open.
Two men came in, one slender and almost delicate looking, though still obviously male, and the other one bigger and somewhat intimidating. He had his arms crossed and he stood back a little, and Shiwon wondered if maybe he was the bodyguard.
"Lee Donghae," said the first man. "You get your first assignment today and you haven't gone through any of the information outlined in the guidebook!" He waved around a clipboard a few times, then began writing on it. "First, you skipped the part where you serenely ascend your assigned person up here; second, you failed to attend the welcoming ceremony for new people; third--" Shiwon tuned out as his mind began to spin. Had he broken some rules? Was he going to be sent to Hell? Was his eternal soul now damned forever?
"Eeteuk," the bigger man cut in. "You're scaring the new kid."
"What?" Eeteuk asked, blinking.
"He doesn't know you're joking," said Donghae.
"Idiot," added Heechul.
"Oh," said Eeteuk. "Sorry." He turned his clipboard over so Shiwon could see it. On the official looking papers were poorly drawn pictures of what looked like smiling, happy clouds and a rainbow. "I'm Eeteuk, and this is Kangin. You're Shiwon, right?"
Shiwon nodded.
Eeteuk grinned at him and then dragged Kangin over to join their group sitting on the floor. "Kangin and I work around here. Kangin's on security and I am--"
"Donghae's boss," Heechul finished.
Donghae frowned and kicked out at Heechul's knee. "Don't say it like that. It's weird."
"It's true," Hyukjae said, grinning. "You work for Eeteuk now."
"Er," Shiwon interjected, "You're all friends?"
Donghae grabbed hold of Shiwon's hand and laced their finger together. "Yep! Well, not Kangin and Heechul. Well, that's what they say, but Kangin is the head of the security team in this area and he always looks the other way when Heechul and Hankyung come up, though Hankyung is allowed--" Donghae stopped when Kangin smacked him on the back of his head.
Heechul followed up with punching Kangin's arm. "He's just telling the truth, Kangin." He managed to say Kangin's name in a way that Shiwon felt was vaguely dirty. From the red of Kangin's face, he felt the same way. "You like me," Heechul continued.
Donghae nodded his head fast, up and down. "Right. And when Heechul's around, he tries not to cause any trouble because he knows it'd be a problem for Ka--" He stopped again when, again, he was hit on the head. Though that time it was by Heechul.
"I never knew you cared," Kangin said, looking smug.
Eeteuk rolled his eyes, stood up, and dragged Kangin to his feet. "Come on. We have places to go, things to do, and I'm not going to watch you two get into another stupid argument. It was nice meeting you, Shiwon," he said over shoulder, and then pushed Kangin out the door and left.
"You're my friend, too," Donghae said. He leaned over and gently pressed his lips to Shiwon's, using his free hand to run his fingers through Shiwon's hair. For a moment, Shiwon was completely frozen in shock, then tentatively he began to kiss back.
"I think," Shiwon heard Hyukjae say. "I should go. I should definitely go. Now."
"Ew, yeah," said Heechul. "Hankyung, stop watching them."
"What?" asked Hankyung. "Oh. I wasn't?"
Shiwon heard them shuffling around a bit before he heard the sounds of the door opening and closing and then they were alone. Donghae finally pulled away and Shiwon noticed, belatedly, that their hands were still clasped together.
"What was that for?" He asked, staring as Donghae licked his lips, still leaning in close enough that Shiwon almost had to cross his eyes to see.
"You died today," Donghae replied.
"Oh," said Shiwon. "Right." He had forgotten about that and, as Donghae pressed him to the ground and began kissing him for a second time, he forgot all about dying again.
theme: 043. washing machines; 014/100; archive
Donghae/Shiwon
humor, weirdness, death
I lost whatever plot I may have had somewhere around the first couple sentences. Shortly after that I stopped trying to correct that problem. Don't expect this to be coherent. D:
Shiwon's life was average, to say the least. He went to university, had a part-time job, considered dating but never actually went through with the idea, and was generally quite content with the way things were. Happy, almost, if a little bored. Not that any of that continued to matter since as he walked between his apartment and the shop he worked at, he was killed by a falling washing machine being lifted up to the top floor penthouse of an upscale condominium.
He had very little time to think between "Oh," as the machine came flying down toward him, and "Shit," as he stood next to his own dead body. Immediately afterward there was a warm, glowing light as he began to slowly float upward. Until the light stuttered and then blinked out.
"Er," said a voice, seemingly coming from all around him. "Hold on a bit, will you?"
Shiwon nodded, though he wasn't sure what else he could do since he wasn't moving up or down and didn't think he could go anywhere even if he wanted to.
"Okay," the voice said after a minute, "We're having some technical difficulties, so...uh. Just relax." Then the voice began speaking in lower tones to someone Shiwon couldn't hear at all. "What? No, no, I replaced that yester- oh. It's been that long? Time just passes you by up- what? Godda-- Don't shh me! I can say-- why are you kicking th--" and then the light came back on and Shiwon, once again, began his ascent. "Hey, that worked!"
Shiwon wondered if up was really the best way to go.
"So, nice day, huh?" asked the voice.
"Don't ask him that, idiot, he just died." Interrupted another voice, before Shiwon could answer.
"Oh," said the first voice. "Yeah, forgot about that."
No one spoke for a while following that exchange and Shiwon noticed that he was moving very, very slowly and couldn't have been more than fifty feet from the ground. "Where am I going?" he asked looking up in the general direction he thought the voices had been coming from.
"Oh, you know, up," answered the voice. "Hey, do you mind if we speed this along a little? This whole process is kind of boring and this is my first time doing it and I'm a little hungry, so... would that be okay?"
"Uh, sure?" answered Shiwon. He figured that since he was already dead there wasn't much harm anyone could do. Especially since he didn't appear to be surrounded by the flames of Hell.
"Great!" And then the warm, bright light intensified by a thousand fold until it was the only thing Shiwon could see or feel and for a second he thought he heard music. Then he was standing in a long, glowing hall with large pillars and it was nice, really, though maybe a bit cliché, Shiwon thought.
"Welcome!" said the voice, except this time it seemed to be coming out of a young man, who appeared to be his own age, dressed in casual street clothes whereas Shiwon was wearing...white. He looked down at himself and saw white pants and a flowing white shirt and it all seemed vaguely glittery as well.
"You're here," said the other man. "Up! My name is Donghae and I'll be your guide."
Shiwon blinked at him, a little confused. "Guide?"
"Yeah, guide. I'm here to show you around so you can get acquainted with...up...here," said Donghae. "You do know you're dead, right? Because they had a course on what to do when someone doesn't know they're dead, but I kind of missed that day...Not that it was my fault or anything."
Shiwon stared, the nodded ever so slowly, afraid to make any sudden movements. "I know I'm dead," he replied.
"Good," said Donghae smiling. He wrapped an arm around Shiwon's shoulders and began leading them down the long corridor. "Well, not good, but you know."
"Uh, yeah," Shiwon said, not entirely sure he understood, but not willing to argue that point.
"So, there really aren't a lot of rules here, just the basics like 'don't place bets on the longevity of a civilization', 'don't antagonize the guys with the wings, even though it's fun', and 'don't use the big voice thing to convince people to perform human sacrifices'." Donghae ticked off the rules with his fingers. "There are other rules, but I forget them. You probably won't need to know them, anyway." He stopped and looked to the side and for the first time Shiwon realized that beyond the large pillars were walls lined with doors. Looking closer, Shiwon couldn't see a single difference in any of the doors, and the hall itself appeared to go on for miles.
Donghae walked them over to one of the doors on the left and stood in front of it for a moment, frowning. "I think this is it," he said. He stared at it for a few more seconds before smiling brightly. "Yeah, this is the one." He opened it up and pulled Shiwon inside.
Shiwon had a moment of complete and total disorientation, followed by a level of confusion he was becoming very much accustomed to. They were standing inside what Shiwon thought looked incredibly similar to a dance studio, and judging from the music and people dancing, he had to accept that it was exactly that. The music stopped and the occupants of the room all turned to look at them.
Shiwon's eyes widened, he opened his mouth to speak, then turned around and opened the door they had come in through. Except instead of the long, glowing hall they'd been in before, the door opened into a rather average looking hallway. Two people passed by, talking quietly to themselves, and paid Shiwon no attention. He noticed they were also dressed in white, glittering clothes nearly identical to his own. He shut the door and turned around to face the room again and Donghae rubbed his back comfortingly.
"You'll get used to it," said Donghae, smiling.
"Who's the new guy?" asked one of the people who had been dancing when they'd come in. He had bright red hair to match his tight red pants, and a loose t-shirt covered in text in a language Shiwon didn't think he'd ever seen before. His eyebrow was raised and he was gazing at Shiwon in a way that was meant to intimidate. Or so Shiwon thought until the other man licked his lips and winked at him.
"This is Shiwon," said Donghae. "Shiwon, that's Heechul," he pointed to the redhead, "that's Hankyung," he pointed to the guy that Heechul was currently using as some sort of armrest, "and this is Hyukjae." He pulled Shiwon over to the corner where another boy had been watching them.
Hyukjae smiled as they walked over. "Hi," he said, as they sat down next to him and Heechul and Hankyung resumed dancing, though this time without music and it couldn't have really been called dancing, anyway. "Sorry about, uh, dying." Shiwon immediately recognized his voice as the one he'd heard before, with Donghae.
"Thank you," he said, not sure that was even the right response. He looked around at everyone, before turning back to Donghae. "Are all of you..." he waved his arms around a little to help get his point across.
Donghae blinked wide eyes at him. "Dead?"
"I am," Hyukjae answered. "Same with Hankyung. We've been dead for a long time, though he was already around when I got here. Heechul and Donghae were never alive to begin with."
"Are you talking about me?" Heechul called over to them.
"Yes," said Donghae.
"No," said Hyukjae.
Heechul frowned and dragged Hankyung over to where they were sitting. "You better be telling the new kid all the nice things about me."
"Nice things?" Hankyung questioned, sitting down next to Shiwon and making room for Heechul to sit between his legs. Heechul swatted at his thigh.
"Hyukjae only said that you and I were never alive," said Donghae. Hyukjae looked distressed at having been mentioned at all.
"Oh," Heechul said, turning to Shiwon with a smile. "Then let me tell you some things. Hae and I have known each other forever, though you could say I grew up on the other side of the tracks." He laughed as Shiwon's eyes grew wider.
"Does that mean--" Shiwon was cut off as the door to the dance studio was thrown open.
Two men came in, one slender and almost delicate looking, though still obviously male, and the other one bigger and somewhat intimidating. He had his arms crossed and he stood back a little, and Shiwon wondered if maybe he was the bodyguard.
"Lee Donghae," said the first man. "You get your first assignment today and you haven't gone through any of the information outlined in the guidebook!" He waved around a clipboard a few times, then began writing on it. "First, you skipped the part where you serenely ascend your assigned person up here; second, you failed to attend the welcoming ceremony for new people; third--" Shiwon tuned out as his mind began to spin. Had he broken some rules? Was he going to be sent to Hell? Was his eternal soul now damned forever?
"Eeteuk," the bigger man cut in. "You're scaring the new kid."
"What?" Eeteuk asked, blinking.
"He doesn't know you're joking," said Donghae.
"Idiot," added Heechul.
"Oh," said Eeteuk. "Sorry." He turned his clipboard over so Shiwon could see it. On the official looking papers were poorly drawn pictures of what looked like smiling, happy clouds and a rainbow. "I'm Eeteuk, and this is Kangin. You're Shiwon, right?"
Shiwon nodded.
Eeteuk grinned at him and then dragged Kangin over to join their group sitting on the floor. "Kangin and I work around here. Kangin's on security and I am--"
"Donghae's boss," Heechul finished.
Donghae frowned and kicked out at Heechul's knee. "Don't say it like that. It's weird."
"It's true," Hyukjae said, grinning. "You work for Eeteuk now."
"Er," Shiwon interjected, "You're all friends?"
Donghae grabbed hold of Shiwon's hand and laced their finger together. "Yep! Well, not Kangin and Heechul. Well, that's what they say, but Kangin is the head of the security team in this area and he always looks the other way when Heechul and Hankyung come up, though Hankyung is allowed--" Donghae stopped when Kangin smacked him on the back of his head.
Heechul followed up with punching Kangin's arm. "He's just telling the truth, Kangin." He managed to say Kangin's name in a way that Shiwon felt was vaguely dirty. From the red of Kangin's face, he felt the same way. "You like me," Heechul continued.
Donghae nodded his head fast, up and down. "Right. And when Heechul's around, he tries not to cause any trouble because he knows it'd be a problem for Ka--" He stopped again when, again, he was hit on the head. Though that time it was by Heechul.
"I never knew you cared," Kangin said, looking smug.
Eeteuk rolled his eyes, stood up, and dragged Kangin to his feet. "Come on. We have places to go, things to do, and I'm not going to watch you two get into another stupid argument. It was nice meeting you, Shiwon," he said over shoulder, and then pushed Kangin out the door and left.
"You're my friend, too," Donghae said. He leaned over and gently pressed his lips to Shiwon's, using his free hand to run his fingers through Shiwon's hair. For a moment, Shiwon was completely frozen in shock, then tentatively he began to kiss back.
"I think," Shiwon heard Hyukjae say. "I should go. I should definitely go. Now."
"Ew, yeah," said Heechul. "Hankyung, stop watching them."
"What?" asked Hankyung. "Oh. I wasn't?"
Shiwon heard them shuffling around a bit before he heard the sounds of the door opening and closing and then they were alone. Donghae finally pulled away and Shiwon noticed, belatedly, that their hands were still clasped together.
"What was that for?" He asked, staring as Donghae licked his lips, still leaning in close enough that Shiwon almost had to cross his eyes to see.
"You died today," Donghae replied.
"Oh," said Shiwon. "Right." He had forgotten about that and, as Donghae pressed him to the ground and began kissing him for a second time, he forgot all about dying again.