SSS 2010: FOR OLEBADE
For: olebade
From: Your Secret Santa
Title: When the angel meets the Lucifer
Pairing: Jonghyun/Onew
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 3,100
Summary: In which Onew is the imperfect angel and Jonghyun is the perfect devil.
Once upon a time, there were two lands that lie on the border of existence and non-existence.
Vault of Nightmares. Amazingly, even though the name sounds horrible, mortals or even other mythical creatures desire to find their way to this deserted city. Rumours are that once you step in, you’ll acquire immortality. However, there is a very huge price to pay, and none of them would ever think of it before they get entangled in the vault of nightmares.
Island of Dreams. This island is not very perfect. The angels living there do not have eternal life, nor are they flawless. Their lives are simple and sweet, and the shops lining the road are dainty. Although most of the angels are contented with their lives, a few rebellious ones desire perfection and are determined to find their way to the Vault of Nightmares.
And when an imperfect angel accidentally stumbles into the Vault of Nightmares and meet a perfect devil, the whole system changes.
-
Day One.
-
Onew was lost. Okay fine, all he tried to do was to just step out of his freaking house for a minute and tried to walk aimlessly around the town to find FRIED CHICKEN. It wasn’t his fault the town in Island of Dreams was so complicated anyway. Ugh, not only did he not have his precious fried chicken, he was stuck on this weird deserted city.
And then he heard footsteps behind him.
Shit. He didn’t expect himself to die in such a horror fashion. Like ohmygawd. He imagined a huge monster creeping up behind him. Or maybe it was some crazed stalker waiting to murder him. Fuck. Maybe it could be that weird tv ghost climbing out from the well from that horror movie he watched yesterday. What was it again? Oh yes. The Ring.
He heard the footsteps approaching him.
Shitshit. Onew started to hyperventiliate. He considered the options. Number one, to run. That is impossible, considering that he would most probably trip and fall on flat ground and he took like 1 minute to run a 100m race. The ghost would most probably fly after him at lightning speed anyway.
He realised he wasn’t moving from his spot.
Shitshitshit. He began to walk again. What if he died? There were so many things he hadn’t done. He wanted to win the Guiness Records of being able to eat a whole tub of chicken in 10 seconds, and he hasn’t had his first kiss yet either. Or- Onew felt his forehead connect with the floor. Oh crap, he just had to trip and fall flat on his face at this time of his life.
He then felt a tap on his shoulder.
Onew then tried to plaster himself to the ground so the evil monster or whatever that was tapping him couldn’t drag him off to god-knows-where. Somehow or rather he started to hyperventilate and began shrieking like some little girl.
“Oh god just don’t freaking kill me I promise to do whatever you want just don’t kill me! Oh wait of course I won’t promise to you killing me I mean- I’ve been a good boy like since I was born and the most tragic sin I’ve ever done was just to eat 5 tubs of fried chicken in a row! WAAAAA-“
“Fried chicken? Amusing. Will you just get up now and stop being some retarded crybaby.”
Onew was shocked at the deep tone of his pursurer and turned around cautiously, while still trying to plaster himself to the ground of course. He braced himself to see some weird monster with wings waiting to take him away once it had the chance.
What he didn’t expect to see what someone who had wings too- but it wasn’t some creepy stalker or anything. It was someone he didn’t expect to see the most. A devil. A devil from the Vault of Nightmares. Was he in the Vault of Nightmares already?
Strangely, he didn’t feel scared or cautious at all once he saw the devil.
Instead, he felt safe and secure and most of all, Onew thought that he looked oh-so-perfect.
The devil raised his eyebrows and reached out a hand. “Hello, I’m Kim Jonghyun.”
-
“I want to go home. I mean, who dares to live in this creepy forest with trees and weird climbing vines. Hell, it shouldn’t be even called a forest but some haunted maze instead.” Onew whined.
“Surprisingly, you’re correct. Nobody would never want to get thrown out here by punishment. You’ll never find your way back home ever again.” Jonghyun turned to stare straight into Onew’s eyes. “The weird climbing vines, or that’s what you call it, will keep changing direction and shape will you won’t know whats left and whats right anymore.”
With that, he gave an ominous chuckle.
“Oh, don’t even try to leave here. It’ll do you more harm than good.”
-
Jonghyun’s home was quite well furnished, to Onew’s shock. He expected it to be some kind of horror mansion with cobwebs and weird climbing vines all around the floor on which he would trip on, and mirrors that have weird souls living in them - and maybe a crystal ball or two.
What he didn’t expect was this cozy little house with huge and comfy sofas and a soft light streaming in from the window through light blue curtains and then his eyes settled on a bucket of something on his dining table.
A bucket of - what? He thought he saw fried chicken on the bucket…
Onew practically bumbled and fumbled and bounced his way through. After tripping on flat ground and rolling over goodness-knows-what, he finally reached his ‘heaven’, also known as the bucket of chicken.
“My love, we meet again!” Onew closed his eyes in pure estacsy and bit into his first piece of chicken.
-
They decided to watch a horror movie that night - The Grudge. Onew was alredy shrieking when the opening credits showed. Jonghyun sighed and looked into his eyes. “I will protect you.” And then he proceeded to sling his arm over Onew.
Onew felt a sense of secureness as he stammered, “Oh well, j-judging by your muscles, you probably could.” And leaned back against Jonghyun. It felt so comfortable.
Minutes later, Jonghyun was seen half yelling at the television screen and half cowering behind Onew.
“So much for protecting me.”
-
Jonghyun looked up at Onew with big puppy eyes. “I mean, why can’t I sleep with you! I could protect you from that ghost girl we saw earlier on. Remember, she was hiding under the blankets! Holy shit what if she was hiding under my- I mean, your blanket! You need someone powerful to be able to protect you!” Jonghyun was talking non-stop and waving his arms everywhere.
Onew sighed and looked into his eyes. His adorable puppy eyes were tempting him to say yes. In the end, he rolled over to one side of the bed, earning a loud “YES!” from Jonghyun.
-
To Jonghyun, it was the first time he ever slept with another person on the same bed, much less a stranger whom he just met for one day. He was shocked when Onew turned over and cuddled against him, but all he did was to smile down at him. Momentarily confused by a strange warm fuzzy feeling in his heart, he quickly shrugged it off and decided to tell Onew about the Final Test tomorrow.
He swore to protect Onew no matter the outcome of the Final Test.
Whether he could stay.
Or be banished.
Forever.
-
Day Two.
-
It seemed like a blur to Onew. Why was he lying in this strange place? The bed seemed too soft, and the room seemed too dark. Where was his rabbit soft toy that has always accompanied him to sleep without fail?
He rubbed his eyes and sat up straight, and the first thing he saw was Jonghyun’s face.
Oh right.
Jonghyun’s expression was grim as he dragged Onew to a table where breakfast was laid. Onew’s attempt to brighten up the atmosphere was foiled as Jonghyun interrupted his “Ooooh I didn’t know you could-” with his “I need to talk.”
-
“When you came here, of course I knew you had no intention to be perfect or gain any materialistic things. Maybe chicken, but I’m sure you had plenty of that back in your island. However, whoever who steps into this vault cannot leave, and must undergo a Final Test in which they will decide whether you get to stay.”
Onew sensed something missing from his sentence. “Or…?”
“Or…” Jonghyun hesitated. “You’ll be banished. We have 1 more day to the test. But, trust me, I’ll do everything to protect you.”
All Onew needed to do was to look into his assuring eyes, and he felt that strange feeling of secureness washing over him again.
-
They decided to go to the Amusement Park that day. What Onew wasn’t expecting was a whole mixture of colours, pink and white with shades of blue all over, mixed with smells of popcorn and ice cream. Okay, he thought, an amusement park can’t exactly be dark and gloomy. He glanced around and tried to take in all the sights in one glance, and got startled when he felt someone hold his hand.
Looking down, he realised it was Jonghyun. Both of their hands fitted into each other like it was destined, like they were perfect from each other at the beginning. Jonghyun gave Onew a goofy grin that made Onew’s heart go…
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Jonghyun then pulled Onew towards a small dainty shop in the middle of all the chaos and happenings around them. They spent hours inside the shop, trying on different headbands and laughed till their sides ached at how Jonghyun looked with rabbit ears.
“You look nice in rabbit ears, Onew. Ohmygod I just realised something you look like a rabbit! Ontokki!” Jonghyun burst out in laughter.
When they were done with choosing headbands they went to play around with the other accessories in the shop, trying on gloves and all that. For the first time in his life, Jonghyun was happy. He wasn’t lonely anymore. Glancing by his side, he could see Onew smiling happily while waving his chicken necklace around, and that brought a smile to his lips too.
And it also brought a fierce determination to his heart to keep him by his side forever.
-
They had fun for the entire day, not only at the shop of course, but the entire theme park. They shared ice-creams and boat rides and whatnot, and the hours flew past. Laughters filled the air in between them.
Jonghyun realised that he found the person he had been looking for in his entire life.
-
He was alone in his dark room. He could hear his mother doing goodness-knows-what in the adjacent room. Not like he cared.
He fiddled for the razor blade in his drawer, and heaved a sigh of relief when his fingers closed around it.
Assuring himself that it would all be over, and the relief will come soon enough, he cut.
Except the relief didn’t come.
-
Jonghyun woke up in his room, sweating. He hadn’t had that nightmare in ages! Glancing around, he realised Onew was missing. Panicking, he ran out of the room and flung the door wide.
His heart was beating fast. Did he leave me, just like everyone else?
It turned out that Onew was in the kitchen, drinking a cup of water. Jonghyun sighed and sat down beside him.
“Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?” Jonghyun questioned.
“I was not sleepy… So I decided to drink a cup of water.” Onew explained.
“Onew… the Final Test is just tomorrow. Are you… are you nervous or scared or anything?”
Onew looked directly back at Jonghyun, and his lips quivered. Blinking back to keep the tears from flowing, he tried to answer.
“I’m scared. I’m freaking scared of anything and possibly even everything that can happen tomorrow. And yet, I don’t know why. Whenever I’m beside you, I can feel a sense of secureness that I myself cannot explain. Your words are reassuring to me, yet after the words leave your lips, I feel doubtful. I have no idea what’s wrong with this.
But, I think that you have already been indispensable to my life.”
Onew took a deep breath and continued.
“I had no intention of telling you this, but since I might be banished for good, I see no harm in telling you this. Tomorrow will probably be the last day I get to be together with you, and I don’t know whether I can even survive being banished. So, I want to thank you for all the things you have done for me, even if it’s just a pathetic two days.”
An awkward silence followed this long speech, until Jonghyun walked over to Onew and held his hand.
“Onew. I- I didn’t know if you got my message the previous times I talked to you about the Final Test, but I don’t think you got it. Well, here’s the deal. If you’re going to banished, I’m going with you.”
Onew eyes turned as wide as saucers. Curious, he asked why.
“I was all by myself when I first met you in that forest. I was alone, depressed and lonely. My dad worked for the high officials and got banished when he made a huge major mistake of announcing this vault to the entire world. After that, we had to have tests to see who was worth staying. After my dad got banished, I had absolutely no one to talk to. My mum spent 23 hours of the day outside the house, and for the 1 hour, she shuts herself in her own room doing her own things. People that I once called friends left me.
Everyone left me, and that mattered until I saw you in that woods that day.
So obviously, I’m going to protect you with all my heart.”
Jonghyun stared intensely at Onew for any signs of violent reaction, but there was nothing violent, just a sense of understanding.
And Jonghyun could not take it any longer. He bent down and their faces were inches away from each other.
“I love you, Onew.”
They were like two total opposites; day and night, sun and rain. It may be a cruel fate to others to be opposites, but they didn’t mind. After all, they attracted each other like north and south poles.
Their lips met.
“I love you too, Jonghyun.”
-
The Final Test
-
It was time. Onew’s steps were heavy as he was led by some weird cloaked guard and accompanied by Jonghyun. They were in a huge castle, and it was magnificent. Even though Onew’s heart was thumping like it was crazy, he could not hide his awe at the intricate designs and the small details around the palace. The hall alone was outstanding enough, with high-rising pillars. And at the end of the long corridor, he could spot a golden throne.
He swore his heart skipped a beat. He realised he was beginning to hyperventilate, but was then again reminded of Jonghyun’s presence beside him as Jonghyun squeezed his hand.
Like that action was some relief to his hyperventilation, his heartbeat slowed down.
-
It seemed to take forever to reach the foot of the throne. It turned out to be sort of a floating pedestral, on air. On it sat the most beautiful guy- apart from Jonghyun.
“I’m not supposed to be thinking of this ughhh. I mean, I sort of belong to Jonghyun already don’t I?!” Onew thought to himself.
-
“Hi newcomer.” The guy on the pedestral, or the grand throne, smirked. “Call me Key, and I’ll be your facilitator for this little game we’re gonna have here. Do it right, you’ll stay. Do it wrong, and you’ll be banished. Beware, being banished isn’t exactly fun.”
Key turned to Jonghyun and gave him a knowing grin. “Last words for him?”
There was a short pause and Jonghyun turned towards him. Onew could see into the depth of his eyes, and he was definitely able to see the tears that threatened to brim over.
“Just do whatever your heart tells you to do, and don’t worry cause I’ll be there for you alrights?”
All Onew could manage was a small nod before Key snapped his fingers and he felt everything turn black.
-
The Beginning
-
He felt faint as he opened his eyes. In front of him was a panel of judges.
What was he doing here? He couldn’t recall anything, or what he was supposed to be doing. Was this a weird side effect of not eating chicken for one hour?
The guy with the tag named “Lee Soo Man” cleared his throat and stared quizzically. “Umm, you can start performing for your auditions now Lee Jinki.”
He felt a light-headness. So that was his name. Lee Jinki. Then he realised he didn’t know what to perform.
Jinki closed his eyes and did the first thing that popped into his mind- the only thing (other than eating a tub of chicken in 30 seconds) that he could do well in.
He opened his mouth and sang out his deepest innermost feelings, a jumble of confusion and bittersweetness.
That was all it took for him to get recruited to SM Academy, where he had to undergo crucial training.
-
The following months were hell. Training his vocals in the wee hours of the morning and perfecting dance moves in the middle of the night, it seemed never to stop. Time flew past and finally, he could debut. To debut as SHINee.
The first time he saw the rest of his members, he saw Kim Jonghyun. And only him.
And somehow, he was assured that everything would be all right. That he could be an awesome leader, and that SHINee would forever shine.
-
The End
-
Walking up the steps to claim the Newcomer’s award, Jinki teared. His hard work finally paid off. He reached out to hold the award, but instead, everything went black.
He felt himself falling.
-
“I see you have achieved the goal. Congratulations, Onew. You can stay here, if you wish. Or go back to your dream. Or some would consider it as a nightmare.” Key chuckled darkly.
Surprisingly, Onew decided. “I want to go back to my beautiful dream. With Jonghyun. Together. Forever.”
Key tried to mask his shock, but ended up grinning.
-
Jinki and Jonghyun on the same stage, together. Forever.
But at night, when no fangirls around, and their members were all sleeping, they’ll spread out their wings and fly back to the Vault of Nightmares to pay Key a visit.
From: Your Secret Santa
Title: When the angel meets the Lucifer
Pairing: Jonghyun/Onew
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 3,100
Summary: In which Onew is the imperfect angel and Jonghyun is the perfect devil.
Once upon a time, there were two lands that lie on the border of existence and non-existence.
Vault of Nightmares. Amazingly, even though the name sounds horrible, mortals or even other mythical creatures desire to find their way to this deserted city. Rumours are that once you step in, you’ll acquire immortality. However, there is a very huge price to pay, and none of them would ever think of it before they get entangled in the vault of nightmares.
Island of Dreams. This island is not very perfect. The angels living there do not have eternal life, nor are they flawless. Their lives are simple and sweet, and the shops lining the road are dainty. Although most of the angels are contented with their lives, a few rebellious ones desire perfection and are determined to find their way to the Vault of Nightmares.
And when an imperfect angel accidentally stumbles into the Vault of Nightmares and meet a perfect devil, the whole system changes.
-
Day One.
-
Onew was lost. Okay fine, all he tried to do was to just step out of his freaking house for a minute and tried to walk aimlessly around the town to find FRIED CHICKEN. It wasn’t his fault the town in Island of Dreams was so complicated anyway. Ugh, not only did he not have his precious fried chicken, he was stuck on this weird deserted city.
And then he heard footsteps behind him.
Shit. He didn’t expect himself to die in such a horror fashion. Like ohmygawd. He imagined a huge monster creeping up behind him. Or maybe it was some crazed stalker waiting to murder him. Fuck. Maybe it could be that weird tv ghost climbing out from the well from that horror movie he watched yesterday. What was it again? Oh yes. The Ring.
He heard the footsteps approaching him.
Shitshit. Onew started to hyperventiliate. He considered the options. Number one, to run. That is impossible, considering that he would most probably trip and fall on flat ground and he took like 1 minute to run a 100m race. The ghost would most probably fly after him at lightning speed anyway.
He realised he wasn’t moving from his spot.
Shitshitshit. He began to walk again. What if he died? There were so many things he hadn’t done. He wanted to win the Guiness Records of being able to eat a whole tub of chicken in 10 seconds, and he hasn’t had his first kiss yet either. Or- Onew felt his forehead connect with the floor. Oh crap, he just had to trip and fall flat on his face at this time of his life.
He then felt a tap on his shoulder.
Onew then tried to plaster himself to the ground so the evil monster or whatever that was tapping him couldn’t drag him off to god-knows-where. Somehow or rather he started to hyperventilate and began shrieking like some little girl.
“Oh god just don’t freaking kill me I promise to do whatever you want just don’t kill me! Oh wait of course I won’t promise to you killing me I mean- I’ve been a good boy like since I was born and the most tragic sin I’ve ever done was just to eat 5 tubs of fried chicken in a row! WAAAAA-“
“Fried chicken? Amusing. Will you just get up now and stop being some retarded crybaby.”
Onew was shocked at the deep tone of his pursurer and turned around cautiously, while still trying to plaster himself to the ground of course. He braced himself to see some weird monster with wings waiting to take him away once it had the chance.
What he didn’t expect to see what someone who had wings too- but it wasn’t some creepy stalker or anything. It was someone he didn’t expect to see the most. A devil. A devil from the Vault of Nightmares. Was he in the Vault of Nightmares already?
Strangely, he didn’t feel scared or cautious at all once he saw the devil.
Instead, he felt safe and secure and most of all, Onew thought that he looked oh-so-perfect.
The devil raised his eyebrows and reached out a hand. “Hello, I’m Kim Jonghyun.”
-
“I want to go home. I mean, who dares to live in this creepy forest with trees and weird climbing vines. Hell, it shouldn’t be even called a forest but some haunted maze instead.” Onew whined.
“Surprisingly, you’re correct. Nobody would never want to get thrown out here by punishment. You’ll never find your way back home ever again.” Jonghyun turned to stare straight into Onew’s eyes. “The weird climbing vines, or that’s what you call it, will keep changing direction and shape will you won’t know whats left and whats right anymore.”
With that, he gave an ominous chuckle.
“Oh, don’t even try to leave here. It’ll do you more harm than good.”
-
Jonghyun’s home was quite well furnished, to Onew’s shock. He expected it to be some kind of horror mansion with cobwebs and weird climbing vines all around the floor on which he would trip on, and mirrors that have weird souls living in them - and maybe a crystal ball or two.
What he didn’t expect was this cozy little house with huge and comfy sofas and a soft light streaming in from the window through light blue curtains and then his eyes settled on a bucket of something on his dining table.
A bucket of - what? He thought he saw fried chicken on the bucket…
Onew practically bumbled and fumbled and bounced his way through. After tripping on flat ground and rolling over goodness-knows-what, he finally reached his ‘heaven’, also known as the bucket of chicken.
“My love, we meet again!” Onew closed his eyes in pure estacsy and bit into his first piece of chicken.
-
They decided to watch a horror movie that night - The Grudge. Onew was alredy shrieking when the opening credits showed. Jonghyun sighed and looked into his eyes. “I will protect you.” And then he proceeded to sling his arm over Onew.
Onew felt a sense of secureness as he stammered, “Oh well, j-judging by your muscles, you probably could.” And leaned back against Jonghyun. It felt so comfortable.
Minutes later, Jonghyun was seen half yelling at the television screen and half cowering behind Onew.
“So much for protecting me.”
-
Jonghyun looked up at Onew with big puppy eyes. “I mean, why can’t I sleep with you! I could protect you from that ghost girl we saw earlier on. Remember, she was hiding under the blankets! Holy shit what if she was hiding under my- I mean, your blanket! You need someone powerful to be able to protect you!” Jonghyun was talking non-stop and waving his arms everywhere.
Onew sighed and looked into his eyes. His adorable puppy eyes were tempting him to say yes. In the end, he rolled over to one side of the bed, earning a loud “YES!” from Jonghyun.
-
To Jonghyun, it was the first time he ever slept with another person on the same bed, much less a stranger whom he just met for one day. He was shocked when Onew turned over and cuddled against him, but all he did was to smile down at him. Momentarily confused by a strange warm fuzzy feeling in his heart, he quickly shrugged it off and decided to tell Onew about the Final Test tomorrow.
He swore to protect Onew no matter the outcome of the Final Test.
Whether he could stay.
Or be banished.
Forever.
-
Day Two.
-
It seemed like a blur to Onew. Why was he lying in this strange place? The bed seemed too soft, and the room seemed too dark. Where was his rabbit soft toy that has always accompanied him to sleep without fail?
He rubbed his eyes and sat up straight, and the first thing he saw was Jonghyun’s face.
Oh right.
Jonghyun’s expression was grim as he dragged Onew to a table where breakfast was laid. Onew’s attempt to brighten up the atmosphere was foiled as Jonghyun interrupted his “Ooooh I didn’t know you could-” with his “I need to talk.”
-
“When you came here, of course I knew you had no intention to be perfect or gain any materialistic things. Maybe chicken, but I’m sure you had plenty of that back in your island. However, whoever who steps into this vault cannot leave, and must undergo a Final Test in which they will decide whether you get to stay.”
Onew sensed something missing from his sentence. “Or…?”
“Or…” Jonghyun hesitated. “You’ll be banished. We have 1 more day to the test. But, trust me, I’ll do everything to protect you.”
All Onew needed to do was to look into his assuring eyes, and he felt that strange feeling of secureness washing over him again.
-
They decided to go to the Amusement Park that day. What Onew wasn’t expecting was a whole mixture of colours, pink and white with shades of blue all over, mixed with smells of popcorn and ice cream. Okay, he thought, an amusement park can’t exactly be dark and gloomy. He glanced around and tried to take in all the sights in one glance, and got startled when he felt someone hold his hand.
Looking down, he realised it was Jonghyun. Both of their hands fitted into each other like it was destined, like they were perfect from each other at the beginning. Jonghyun gave Onew a goofy grin that made Onew’s heart go…
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Jonghyun then pulled Onew towards a small dainty shop in the middle of all the chaos and happenings around them. They spent hours inside the shop, trying on different headbands and laughed till their sides ached at how Jonghyun looked with rabbit ears.
“You look nice in rabbit ears, Onew. Ohmygod I just realised something you look like a rabbit! Ontokki!” Jonghyun burst out in laughter.
When they were done with choosing headbands they went to play around with the other accessories in the shop, trying on gloves and all that. For the first time in his life, Jonghyun was happy. He wasn’t lonely anymore. Glancing by his side, he could see Onew smiling happily while waving his chicken necklace around, and that brought a smile to his lips too.
And it also brought a fierce determination to his heart to keep him by his side forever.
-
They had fun for the entire day, not only at the shop of course, but the entire theme park. They shared ice-creams and boat rides and whatnot, and the hours flew past. Laughters filled the air in between them.
Jonghyun realised that he found the person he had been looking for in his entire life.
-
He was alone in his dark room. He could hear his mother doing goodness-knows-what in the adjacent room. Not like he cared.
He fiddled for the razor blade in his drawer, and heaved a sigh of relief when his fingers closed around it.
Assuring himself that it would all be over, and the relief will come soon enough, he cut.
Except the relief didn’t come.
-
Jonghyun woke up in his room, sweating. He hadn’t had that nightmare in ages! Glancing around, he realised Onew was missing. Panicking, he ran out of the room and flung the door wide.
His heart was beating fast. Did he leave me, just like everyone else?
It turned out that Onew was in the kitchen, drinking a cup of water. Jonghyun sighed and sat down beside him.
“Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?” Jonghyun questioned.
“I was not sleepy… So I decided to drink a cup of water.” Onew explained.
“Onew… the Final Test is just tomorrow. Are you… are you nervous or scared or anything?”
Onew looked directly back at Jonghyun, and his lips quivered. Blinking back to keep the tears from flowing, he tried to answer.
“I’m scared. I’m freaking scared of anything and possibly even everything that can happen tomorrow. And yet, I don’t know why. Whenever I’m beside you, I can feel a sense of secureness that I myself cannot explain. Your words are reassuring to me, yet after the words leave your lips, I feel doubtful. I have no idea what’s wrong with this.
But, I think that you have already been indispensable to my life.”
Onew took a deep breath and continued.
“I had no intention of telling you this, but since I might be banished for good, I see no harm in telling you this. Tomorrow will probably be the last day I get to be together with you, and I don’t know whether I can even survive being banished. So, I want to thank you for all the things you have done for me, even if it’s just a pathetic two days.”
An awkward silence followed this long speech, until Jonghyun walked over to Onew and held his hand.
“Onew. I- I didn’t know if you got my message the previous times I talked to you about the Final Test, but I don’t think you got it. Well, here’s the deal. If you’re going to banished, I’m going with you.”
Onew eyes turned as wide as saucers. Curious, he asked why.
“I was all by myself when I first met you in that forest. I was alone, depressed and lonely. My dad worked for the high officials and got banished when he made a huge major mistake of announcing this vault to the entire world. After that, we had to have tests to see who was worth staying. After my dad got banished, I had absolutely no one to talk to. My mum spent 23 hours of the day outside the house, and for the 1 hour, she shuts herself in her own room doing her own things. People that I once called friends left me.
Everyone left me, and that mattered until I saw you in that woods that day.
So obviously, I’m going to protect you with all my heart.”
Jonghyun stared intensely at Onew for any signs of violent reaction, but there was nothing violent, just a sense of understanding.
And Jonghyun could not take it any longer. He bent down and their faces were inches away from each other.
“I love you, Onew.”
They were like two total opposites; day and night, sun and rain. It may be a cruel fate to others to be opposites, but they didn’t mind. After all, they attracted each other like north and south poles.
Their lips met.
“I love you too, Jonghyun.”
-
The Final Test
-
It was time. Onew’s steps were heavy as he was led by some weird cloaked guard and accompanied by Jonghyun. They were in a huge castle, and it was magnificent. Even though Onew’s heart was thumping like it was crazy, he could not hide his awe at the intricate designs and the small details around the palace. The hall alone was outstanding enough, with high-rising pillars. And at the end of the long corridor, he could spot a golden throne.
He swore his heart skipped a beat. He realised he was beginning to hyperventilate, but was then again reminded of Jonghyun’s presence beside him as Jonghyun squeezed his hand.
Like that action was some relief to his hyperventilation, his heartbeat slowed down.
-
It seemed to take forever to reach the foot of the throne. It turned out to be sort of a floating pedestral, on air. On it sat the most beautiful guy- apart from Jonghyun.
“I’m not supposed to be thinking of this ughhh. I mean, I sort of belong to Jonghyun already don’t I?!” Onew thought to himself.
-
“Hi newcomer.” The guy on the pedestral, or the grand throne, smirked. “Call me Key, and I’ll be your facilitator for this little game we’re gonna have here. Do it right, you’ll stay. Do it wrong, and you’ll be banished. Beware, being banished isn’t exactly fun.”
Key turned to Jonghyun and gave him a knowing grin. “Last words for him?”
There was a short pause and Jonghyun turned towards him. Onew could see into the depth of his eyes, and he was definitely able to see the tears that threatened to brim over.
“Just do whatever your heart tells you to do, and don’t worry cause I’ll be there for you alrights?”
All Onew could manage was a small nod before Key snapped his fingers and he felt everything turn black.
-
The Beginning
-
He felt faint as he opened his eyes. In front of him was a panel of judges.
What was he doing here? He couldn’t recall anything, or what he was supposed to be doing. Was this a weird side effect of not eating chicken for one hour?
The guy with the tag named “Lee Soo Man” cleared his throat and stared quizzically. “Umm, you can start performing for your auditions now Lee Jinki.”
He felt a light-headness. So that was his name. Lee Jinki. Then he realised he didn’t know what to perform.
Jinki closed his eyes and did the first thing that popped into his mind- the only thing (other than eating a tub of chicken in 30 seconds) that he could do well in.
He opened his mouth and sang out his deepest innermost feelings, a jumble of confusion and bittersweetness.
That was all it took for him to get recruited to SM Academy, where he had to undergo crucial training.
-
The following months were hell. Training his vocals in the wee hours of the morning and perfecting dance moves in the middle of the night, it seemed never to stop. Time flew past and finally, he could debut. To debut as SHINee.
The first time he saw the rest of his members, he saw Kim Jonghyun. And only him.
And somehow, he was assured that everything would be all right. That he could be an awesome leader, and that SHINee would forever shine.
-
The End
-
Walking up the steps to claim the Newcomer’s award, Jinki teared. His hard work finally paid off. He reached out to hold the award, but instead, everything went black.
He felt himself falling.
-
“I see you have achieved the goal. Congratulations, Onew. You can stay here, if you wish. Or go back to your dream. Or some would consider it as a nightmare.” Key chuckled darkly.
Surprisingly, Onew decided. “I want to go back to my beautiful dream. With Jonghyun. Together. Forever.”
Key tried to mask his shock, but ended up grinning.
-
Jinki and Jonghyun on the same stage, together. Forever.
But at night, when no fangirls around, and their members were all sleeping, they’ll spread out their wings and fly back to the Vault of Nightmares to pay Key a visit.