one-shot: in the shadows, we love
In the shadows, we love
2Min | PG-13 | 5120 words
Every 100 years in a small town, demons rise from their realm and into the mortal world in order to feast on humans. In order to successfully capture humans without them noticing, they possess a human's shadow and attack them when they least expect it. Minho, who doesn't believe in such silly folklore, comes face-to-face with a shadow demon, but what comes afterwards is far from normal.
So, this is what happens when I force an idea out of my brain and into words. This is not my best work, and I completely drawled this out, but I still tried my best ;-; Oh, this was written for the fic exchange at taeminho, specifically for haruhanayukiko :D I hope you like it >w< Btw, even though this is a PG-13 fic, there is R-rated material in here, however for like a paragraph or two. Enjoy!
Minho tries to remember why he’s running a million miles per hour, dashing down the dark hallway of the school as he feels a threatening presence chasing him from behind. His legs ached, and his lungs were burning passionately. A storm of thoughts entered his mind, but none could be comprehended. As of right now, all his actions were determined by pure, hardcore adrenaline.
He frantically made his way up the stairs, winding and winding in a labyrinth-like pattern, until he finally busted down the door and entered the rooftop of his high school. A thought finally processed as his adrenaline began to drain: it was over. It was all over.
Compressed darkness being stabbed into oneself agonizingly is what it felt like, as Minho heard the creature come closer and closer, growling its foreign call. Hopeless, frightened, the only thing he was capable of doing was simply shutting his eyes and hoping for a painless end.
He slightly wondered if that painless end involved an inhuman light shining radiantly, along with a young boy suddenly appearing before him.
His days start off just like any regular day. Minho falling off his bed as he hears the obnoxious, wailing alarm ring consistently till he manages to switch it off, shuffling around the house as he went about his hygienic business, then dashing out the door with a slab of toast in his mouth, meeting Jonghyun at the front gate of his house. Indeed, just like any regular day.
Well, today was a little different. He met up with Jonghyun, conversing with him along the way to school. When they both fell silent, Minho noticed everyone going in the same direction was gossiping rather ecstatically, almost frantically. The only word that Minho could pick up from all their conversations was the word “shadow”.
Even in school, he watched girls run frantically into his classroom, crowding around another group who were all talking about some sort of shadow. By the time it was lunch, curiosity was practically tearing him apart.
“Why is everyone suddenly talking about ‘shadows’?” Minho wondered aloud as he sat down at the lunch table. Jonghyun took his rightful place across from him, setting his tray on the surface. He wore a devastated look in response to the question.
“What? You mean you haven’t heard of… them?” Jonghyun asked.
“No, I haven’t. Care to enlighten me?” Minho watched Jonghyun look around precariously, as though the topic itself was forbidden. Which it wasn’t, considering everyone and their mothers were talking about said subject.
“This may sound a little superstitious, but there’s this legend that is bound eternally with this small town we live in. I don’t know all of the details, but I just know that every 100 years, these…demons come out from their realm into ours in search for food, their main diet being humans. In order for these demons to come into our realm without being noticed, they take form of shadows and capture people when they least expect it.” Jonghyun informed rather excitedly. Minho’s response was a simple cock of an eyebrow.
“Are you serious? Everyone’s got their pants in a bunch over some folklore?” Minho questioned indignantly.
Jonghyun gaped at him with a rather hurt look. “You say that like it’s not real, even though it is,” He whimpered.
“Is there evidence that these ‘demons’ are actually abducting people? Like on photographs or video?” Minho continued, chewing on a loaf of bread.
“Well, no - at least not that I know of. However, there’s a rumor going around that someone from our school was abducted by a shadow demon!”
“Oh really, and who would that be?” Minho mused.
“Lee Jinki of Class 3-D,” Jonghyun chimed. Minho stared at Jonghyun with an incredible amount of disbelief.
“No way, Jinki-sunbae?” Minho said a doubtful tone to his voice. Jonghyun nodded vehemently which caused Minho to clear his throat, clarifying, “Well, he could simply be sick, or is probably out of town. No need to jump to conclusions.”
“Man, you’re absolutely no fun,” Jonghyun complained as he stood, dumping his trash into the garbage and setting his tray on top of said bin.
Minho sighed as he stuffed his materials into his bag, sweat running down his neck as soccer practice had just ended. It had been hours since the bell rang, marking the end of the school day. The sun was nearing the horizon, mellow oranges and warm yellows surrounding the school classroom. He always enjoyed being alone during this time of day, it made him very contemplative towards everything, which calmed him at times.
He swung his bag over his shoulder and made his way towards the door. Before opening the door, he noticed his own shadow, stretched and deformed as the sunset sun casted its light upon him. Shadow demons, huh? Minho lingered, staring at his shadow some more. What a ridiculous fairytale.
Just as he was about to slide the entrance open, there was a sound of some sort. It sounded like a mere crackle, but it was enough for Minho to look back and drop his bag in astonishment.
Where did his shadow go?
Minho began to panic as he looked around the room. It was impossible, absolutely impossible. How could an opaque object not have a shadow? This was breaking the rules of reality, science, everything that Minho believed in.
After making a 180 degree turn, he was face-to-face with the windows that looked out onto the school’s campus. However, that wasn’t the reason for the most utmost look of shock on Minho’s face. Next to the windows, on the wall, was Minho’s shadow staring back at him. How was his shadow facing him when the sun was not shining that way?
He watched, his heart wrenching and dropping, as the shadow morphed. It was a sea of blackness, darkness overwhelming its image. No longer was it a reflective image of him, but a rough unidentified shape of pure darkness. Minho wanted to scream as he watched two dots of light form in the middle of the mass, and a cynical grin growing slowly as well. When the transformation was over, Minho did the one thing he could do: run.
Everything around him was a rushed blur as he sped down that hallway, bag slapping against him and a uniform weighing him down. Minho made the mistake of looking back finding this thing, which honestly shouldn’t have any substance to it, catching up to his every step as it swam across the floor. He looked about frantically as he came up to a fork in the hallway - one led to the school’s entrance, the other being the staircase that led to the second floor and so forth. Having only a millisecond to decide, Minho made a mad dash towards the staircase, sprinting up its steps two at a time.
His mind clearly thought that the shadow would be unable to swim across the uneven flooring of the stairs, but was quickly proven wrong as the darkness jumped up towards the wall and charged towards him.
After another minute or so of running about like a mad man, Minho found himself on the school roof, panting heavily and stamina draining. There was no other way to escape, unless he chose the leap of death which honestly wasn’t much of an option right now, and the doorway in which he came through was swarmed by an opaque darkness, a nauseating murmuring sound coming from it.
As soon as Minho saw the substance charge at him, he knew then it was all over. He closed his eyes in surrender, waiting for the unknown pain that would soon overcome him.
He waited, and waited for the ultimate doom. How long does it take to get killed around here?
Minho peeled his eye open, only to have both widened in astonishment. There in front of him was a rather young-looking boy. His frame was quite thin, shoulders petite and bare back lean. Honestly, he should’ve been wondering how this boy got on the roof in the first place, but he couldn’t help but take in the details in which he could see.
The setting sun casted a nice caramel brown onto the boy’s hair, tuft and soft from where Minho could see. The boy was donned in clothing that resembled a gladiator’s outfit - heavy, brown, and most definitely made out of leather, a metal plate that hung proudly on his shoulders. From the waist down, he had on a pair of white linen shorts that went down all the way to his knees, a brass belt wrapped tightly around his frame, as well as brass boots to accompany his attire.
What stuck out to Minho the most, though, was the exotic black designs on the boy’s back, swirling seductively all around his pale skin and scaling down all the way towards his legs.
The boy turned around so that he could face Minho, a sly grin growing on his face. Minho was taken away by his features: bright, passionate eyes, a slim face, sharp cheekbones, and soft, pale lips. All accompanied nicely with the rest of his body.
A deafening roar sounded, mostly likely from the shadow creature, and the boy immediately took out the weapon that hung around his back: a long spear. However, it didn’t really look like a spear that was used in ancient times; it was heavily built, as though the staff was made out of obsidian and the sharp edge out of steel. Elaborate designs gilded with gold were placed on the spear, a wing-like structure protruding out of both sides of the spear.
The darkness swam at a frightening rate, ready to consume the innocent yet dangerous looking boy. Minho watched as the boy thrust the spear forward into the shadow, twirling the staff around until the spear had completely ripped through all sides and faces of the creature. With a pained and inhuman moan, the shadow evaporated into air, a crystal replacing its place.
Minho watched with a dumbstruck expression as the other picked up the small crystal, placing it into a sack that hung from his belt. With a tentative step, Minho approached the stranger, wondering what he should say.
“Um - I…” Minho stuttered and paused as he watched the boy spin around hastily, as though frightened by his presence. They stood in a confused and dazed stare down until finally, the boy spoke.
“I-I’m sorry, I should go,” White swallowed the doorway whole, representing a portal of some sort. The boy made a move towards the entrance, placing the spear back into its holster.
“Wait!” Minho shouted, grabbing the other’s shoulder and spinning him around till they were face-to-face. His heart raced with adrenaline, mind just barely processing the events that had happened in the past hour or so. “I’m Minho, what’s your name?”
The latter grinned softly, placing a fragile hand onto Minho’s hand that was still on his shoulder. “Taemin,” He whispered before stepping into the portal backwards, his presence diminishing within seconds.
Minho let his hand hang by his side, an unknown feeling burning on his hand where the so-called Taemin had touched. He cleared his throat, straightened out his uniform and bag, and headed towards the school entrance, a plethora amount of questions still lingering in his mind.
“Minho…” A voice had called out. The said male spun around in the world of darkness, searching for the source. It was hard to tell whether he had made a complete circle or not, but his name grew in volume. He distinctly remembered the tune of which the mystical being called Taemin sounded. The light pitch he carried and the words which glided swiftly over his tongue. He had only spoken a couple of words, yet the impact of it was…
“Minho!” Jonghyun screamed, slamming his hand on the desk in which Minho had been sleeping on. The world was a haze, and it took a couple of minutes to recall what he had been doing previously. Oh right, school.
“What - where, uh,” Minho muttered, rubbing the sand in his eyes away.
“School’s already over. You must’ve had one hell of a dream, because you practically slept the minute lunch was over. Did you not get enough sleep or something?” Jonghyun leaned in closer to Minho, staring at the bags that lied beneath Minho’s eyes.
“Uh, yeah. Something like that. Don’t worry about it.”Jonghyun cocked an eyebrow at the response but merely shrugged it off, swinging his bag on his shoulders.
“Well, I’m going to go home. You coming?”
“I have something to do, actually. Sorry.” Minho stated without much thought. Jonghyun shrugged and proceeded to exit the classroom, leaving him alone once more. A sense of fear prickled at his brain as the events from yesterday flooded his mind. He quickly grabbed his bag and left the building, making sure not to look back at his shadow.
His steps were slow and heavy, walking towards no particular direction. Nearly 24 hours had passed since then, and yet he still had so many thoughts, so many questions. Most directed towards the boy called Taemin. Minho vaguely thought whether he would ever see him again - it would be a shame if he could not. It wasn’t everyday that someone could see someone so unique, so exquisitely divine yet fierce at the same time.
Minho looked up from his wandering to find himself near the park that was a couple blocks down from his home. He found himself entering the grassed area, a small playground nearby. It wouldn’t hurt to have a little fresh air every now and then.
As he approached a swing set, Minho heard a crackling sound somewhere along to his left. Immediately, his head spun in said direction to find a giant tree. He figured it was a squirrel rustling in the canopy of the tree, but a closer look at the tree’s base said otherwise.
In a matter of seconds, a wooden door of the same material of the tree was outlined in its bark. A door.
Minho blinked, completely dumbstruck with what he was looking at. He thought two things: one, that he was still dreaming in class or two, Fate must love screwing with people - especially people named Choi Minho.
Before he could even think about turning the doorknob, the entrance had opened to a portal of blinding white in which Minho had to shield his eyes. When he withdrew his hand, he held his breath as he saw the stunning figure in front of him.
It was Taemin.
It seemed as though both shared the same expression, Taemin’s eyes widening as they made eye contact. A long, awkward silence rose among them, both wondering if their existences were truly real. Finally, Taemin took the initiative to say something.
“What are you doing here?” He asked, almost unsure of himself.
“I live nearby here. What about you? It’s not every day that someone comes through a tree.” Minho heard Taemin suppress a chuckle, his heart fluttering ever so slightly.
“Well, um…” Taemin started, drifting off afterwards. Minho saw Taemin waving his arms about as though it were to explain everything, but the answer came soon enough as a grumble was heard. They locked eyes, seeing who would break out laughing first. Minho unfortunately won.
“What is this?” Taemin inquired, holding a cone in his grasp, clearly confused as to even hold the object.
“It’s ice cream. You’re supposed to eat it.” Minho said, grinning as he watched Taemin lick the vanilla-flavored ice cream tentatively.
“It tastes…sweet.” Taemin said in awe, licking at it some more.
“Well, that’s how it’s supposed to be. You’ve never eaten ice cream before?” Taemin shook his head in response.
They were both situated in one of the park’s benches. Minho had gone and fetched some ice cream from a booth that conveniently passed by them. Before Minho could comment on the crime of never eating ice cream before, Taemin remarked, “This is my first time eating human food. I never knew it was so good.”
“Human food?” Minho asked, now wondering what exactly he was. “What do you normally eat?”
He watched Taemin fidget, eyes wandering back and forth from his dessert to Minho. After a while, he finally answered, “Demons.”
Honestly speaking, if Minho had a bottle of water, he would’ve done a spit-take right then and there. Such a young and innocent-looking boy eating something as sinful as a demon, which was by far incomprehensible by a mere human? His astonishment took over as he echoed Taemin’s answer in question form: “Demons?”
“Sorry, that - that probably sounds really odd coming from someone like me…but you saw me capture a demon the other day. Well, me capturing my dinner anyway.” Taemin added, laughing a little at the last sentence.
Minho had thought back to when the shadow-demon-creature transformed into a crystal after being beaten to smithereens by Taemin. That thought was at least a bit more comforting then imagining Taemin ripping a literal demon’s head off and eating its remains.
“What exactly are you?” Minho asked unintentionally.
Taemin hummed in thought, swinging his legs back and forth as he devoured the rest of his ice cream cone. “Well, in all technicalities, I’m a demon but not the type of savage demons that come to this realm and eat humans. I am above those lesser demons, therefore allowing me the right to eat them.” Minho nodded, trying to grasp what he was saying. “The humans around here call us Shadow Stealers.”
“Why do they call you that?”
“You didn’t notice? That you didn’t have a shadow after I ate the demon that possessed your shadow yesterday?”
Minho gaped, frantically looking for his shadow which was obviously there, distorted by the setting sun’s glow. He looked back at Taemin who smiled timidly back at him.
“So, um, are there more of you? Shadow Stealers, I mean.” Minho asked, trying to change the topic. He noticed Taemin’s expression changed to a solemn one. He barely noticed Taemin grimacing.
“Yes, there are more of us. However, it’s not exactly a good idea to come in tact with one - well for me, anyway.”
“Why’s that?”
“…Competition is pretty fierce among us. We’re willing to kill one another just to get a decent meal, since it is so hard to track down a demon that has possessed a shadow. I mean, we wait for 100 years just to get the opportunity to eat something. It’s pretty intense.”
Minho hummed, taking in the newfound information. It was…mind-opening to say the least. His eyes wandered about Taemin’s figure which was still the same from the day before. The clothing, the hair, the markings, the eyes. He felt his hands grab at Taemin’s oh so very thin wrists, clamping around them as though they were fine glass. Minho brought the appendage towards his line of vision, observing the intricate black designs that swirled and wave all about the latter’s arm.
“It’s interesting, how you look so human and yet like a divine creature at the same time,” Minho heard himself say.
“There’s nothing ‘divine’ about -”
“I wonder if Shadow Stealers possess emotions as humans do. To feel happiness, sadness, anger, love.” Minho drabbled, bringing Taemin closer and closer. What in the world was he doing?
Taemin grinned empathetically, coaxing Minho to let go of his arm. When the other finally complied, Taemin placed one arm on Minho’s shoulder, the other one caressing Minho’s cheek. In a matter of seconds, Taemin had placed his lips onto the latter’s, sharing a rather sweet kiss. The taste of vanilla was strong on Taemin’s tongue as it prodded and swirled. As fast it came, Taemin drew back centimeters away, their noses just barely brushing.
“I don’t know, you tell me.” He whispered.
“Minho…” Taemin moaned as his head snapped back, mouth ajar. Minho ran his fingers through the demon’s hair, entangling it deep into the crevices of his hands. His lips toyed with the smooth skin of Taemin’s neck, placing red marks along the way down. Minho was awarded with a nice gasp as his tongue lapped at Taemin’s ear.
“God, you’re so beautiful,” He heard himself whisper before sliding a hand on the curve of Taemin’s lean back.
Minho rose up to Taemin’s level to lean in for another kiss. His tongue dove straight into Taemin’s mouth, lapping and tasting all around. Minho suckled lightly on Taemin’s cotton-like lips before massaging it with his teeth.
He heard Taemin moan gently as he did so. Minho smirked as his hand wandered farther and farther south. “Minho,” Taemin gasped, curling into Minho’s embrace, “I - I love…”
“Minho, are you even listening?” Jonghyun snapped, tapping Minho on the head with his text book. Minho rose, mind still processing what he had just dreamt. When he finally remembered, he felt his face heat up instantly, making sure that he hid a certain problem thoroughly.
There were a couple of students within the classroom, eating their boxed lunches peacefully. He noticed Jonghyun had brought his own lunch today and was sitting directly across from him.
“Um, what? Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” Minho watched Jonghyun roll his eyes.
“Okay, so,” Jonghyun started, leaning in profusely towards him. “You know how I told you about the legend about the demons and how they come to this town and eat people, right?” Minho nodded in answer. “You won’t believe what I saw the other day!”
“Could you get to the point?” Minho winced as he felt Jonghyun punch him in the arm. “Ow, what was that for?”
“I was just getting there, so don’t interrupt me,” Jonghyun looked around before finally saying, “A Shadow Stealer!”
“You what?” Minho asked astonished by the words that had come out of Jonghyun’s mouth.
“A Shadow Stealer. You probably don’t know what they are because I forgot to mention them when I was telling you about the legend. Basically they’re these things that come out and hunt down demons that took over shadows - and I got to see one!” Jonghyun exclaimed, an expression in his eyes that was trying to prove Minho’s earlier theory wrong.
“…Right…” Minho muttered, having nothing much else to say.
“It’s true! Did you know that Shadow Stealers are super pretty? They call themselves demons, but they don’t look anything like it. The Shadow Stealer I met was pretty damn hot, so I was trying to hook up with her, but when I kissed her, I immediately realized she was a guy!” Jonghyun drabbled, expressing his emotions through his hand and arm movements. “I like girls, but I don’t mind being gay for that guy, because he was fucking perfect. I think he said his name was Kibum.”
Minho nodded emptily, not necessarily paying attention to Jonghyun’s sexuality problems as his mind was pre-occupied with Taemin. Oh how he wanted to see him right now.
Soon the bell rang, marking the day’s end. Minho passed up on the offer of walking home with Jonghyun, who was tried to drag him to the place where Jonghyun last saw the supposed Shadow Stealer.
Minho wondered if he would be able to see Taemin again. It had been a week since he last saw Taemin, which didn’t bother him much - he was sure that food was spread all across town and not just his area. Still he couldn’t help but visit the park everything, hoping that Taemin would be waiting for him patiently where they had first shared a kiss. He suppressed a grin as he remembered the dream he had earlier.
Minho turned the entrance to the park, expecting to find the bench which he passed by every day to be empty. He expected to find the park to be at a peaceful state, a serene silence filling the air of the perimeter.
However, this was not the case.
Minho dropped his bag, his eyes widening in surprise as he saw Taemin; although, Taemin wasn’t alone. The said male was currently lying on the grass, spear wielded in a defensive stance. On top of him was another figure with the similar markings and clothing as Taemin. However, instead of a spear, the stranger was holding a sword with designs that matched Taemin’s weapon.
He saw that Taemin was struggling, his body trembling with all of his strength being put forth into offending the male that was on top of him. He had short-cropped hair, a lighter shade of brown than Taemin’s caramel-colored hair. His face wore a rather demonic smile, emphasizing the male’s sharp jaw line and high cheek bones. It was as Jonghyun said; all Shadow Stealers were pretty damn pretty.
“Oh, Taemin,” The stranger finally spoke, struggling to push the sword onto Taemin’s slim figure, “I didn’t think I would finally be killing you today of all days.”
“Not…a chance.” Taemin muttered through gritted teeth. To this, the latter cackled insanely, pushing the sword even closer to Taemin.
“So optimistic! However, this territory will be mine now, and all the demons that inhabit it as well.”
“I’m not giving this place to you so easily, Kibum.” Taemin said, just barely keeping up with Kibum’s strength.
Minho’s jaw fell agape as he heard the name that Taemin spoke. The male on top of Taemin was Kibum? As in the Kibum who Jonghyun was in love with?
“Hey!” Minho yelled unintentionally, jogging up to the both of them. Kibum wore a rather confused expression as he looked up from staring down, however Taemin was completely devastated.
Before Minho could say anything else, he heard Taemin yell, “Don’t come any closer!” At this, Minho froze in his spot, merely yards away from reaching their spot. From his position, Minho could see Kibum grin, evil intentions clearly developing in his mind.
“Oh?” Kibum sang, withdrawing his sword as he stood, “Who is this, Taemin? A friend of yours?”
Taemin grimaced, standing up as he dashed towards Minho side, placing his spear in an offensive stance. “Don’t you dare touch him,” Taemin growled.
“Hmm? But Taemin, that’s not very fair. You can’t have such a nice territory as well as such a good-looking companion. One of them has got to go,” Kibum smiled insanely, immediately charging with the sword plunging forward.
“Over my dead body!” Taemin screeched before charging with his spear as well. Minho looked at the both of them intently, wondering what was going to happen next. He was so scared, fear locking him in place. However, as he saw the both of them closing in on one another, his instincts immediately kicked him.
“Don’t hurt him!” Minho screamed.
He doesn’t really know what happened next. He remembered rushing over to Taemin, just barely pushing him aside. Minho felt something brush against his chest, before a sudden rush of fiery pain burst in his torso. He remembered collapsing on the ground as the pain numbed him, and lulled him into unconsciousness. The last moments he remembered before blacking out was hearing Taemin scream - out of agony or anger, he couldn’t tell - and plunging the spear into Kibum with all of his might.
Minho grinned, cheering Taemin on in his mind as he blacked out into an eternal darkness.
White, why was there so much white?
Minho couldn’t tell whether he was dead or alive, couldn’t tell what the color of death was. He was so used to seeing black, but to see so much white…what was it he wondered?
However, after blinking a couple of times, he finally realized the white was the color of the hospital room he was currently in.
Slowly, Minho sat up in place, coaxing the roaring pain that surged through him as he moved. He winced as he observed his surroundings. He was placed in a single-bed room, walls practically glowing white, and a window beside him that showed the cityscape of his town. Minho tried to remember why he was here in the first place, why there was so much pain in his chest.
Taemin!
He frantically searched all around the tiny space, of course being met with completely silence. Minho could hear the heart monitor beside him grow loud as a sort of nervousness and worry overcame him. Where was he? Was Taemin alright? So many questions flooded his mind, hoping and wishing that Taemin would just magically appear by his side.
As Minho continued his search, his eyes landed on the side table, a glass of water and a jar of flowers occupying it. However, a closer look into it showed that there was a piece of paper under the jar of flowers. Minho took it with much hesitance, noticing that it was a letter of some sort. With a deep breath, he opened the envelope and emptied the contents.
Inside was a letter, dark scrawling visible from Minho’s vision. He straightened out the message and read it to himself:
I’m sorry, I’m so sorry for what I have done to you.
I don’t even know what to say: to say thank you for saving me…or to call you the world’s biggest idiot for throwing your life like that. My life isn’t worth yours; please consider that before endangering yourself.
I don’t…I don’t know whether you are or are not alive. I hope that this letter gets to you somehow, I hope that you are able to read this because…
I love you.
I love you so much; I care about you so much. Most people who find Shadow Stealers are immediately scared the minute they see us, so the fact that you were so intrigued by someone like me, I guess I couldn’t help myself.
I love you so much, but the fact that I let you get hurt like that…
I’m so sorry. I’m ashamed that you knew someone like me. To let you get hurt like that, you probably don’t like me anymore.
With that said, I won’t appear in front of you again. I love you, so it’s for the best. Even if you don’t love me back anymore.
-Taemin
It took all of Minho’s strength not to crumple the paper, not to rip it up into shreds and throw it against the wall, not to let the tears fall down his cheek. Yet he faltered as he choked on a sob, his vision blurring by the second.
His body shook as he began to cry, tear after tear falling onto the white sheets. The tremors drastically hurt his chest, opening the wound with fresh blood pouring onto his white garment.
Minho grinned bitterly at the thought of how his chest hurt both physically and emotionally.
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I cannot do angst for the life of myself, so I hope that was angsty enough for you haruhanayukiko ;-;
This fic is completely un-betaed, so feel free to tell me what a dumbass I am for making a certain mistake, etc. I wrote a majority of this fic in an airplane where I was incoherent as hell, so there's bound to be a bunch of grammar mistakes. Even though I really don't like how this fic turned out, I still hope that everyone else enjoyed it, and yeah. GIMME SOME COMMENTS COOKIES?!
2Min | PG-13 | 5120 words
Every 100 years in a small town, demons rise from their realm and into the mortal world in order to feast on humans. In order to successfully capture humans without them noticing, they possess a human's shadow and attack them when they least expect it. Minho, who doesn't believe in such silly folklore, comes face-to-face with a shadow demon, but what comes afterwards is far from normal.
So, this is what happens when I force an idea out of my brain and into words. This is not my best work, and I completely drawled this out, but I still tried my best ;-; Oh, this was written for the fic exchange at taeminho, specifically for haruhanayukiko :D I hope you like it >w< Btw, even though this is a PG-13 fic, there is R-rated material in here, however for like a paragraph or two. Enjoy!
Minho tries to remember why he’s running a million miles per hour, dashing down the dark hallway of the school as he feels a threatening presence chasing him from behind. His legs ached, and his lungs were burning passionately. A storm of thoughts entered his mind, but none could be comprehended. As of right now, all his actions were determined by pure, hardcore adrenaline.
He frantically made his way up the stairs, winding and winding in a labyrinth-like pattern, until he finally busted down the door and entered the rooftop of his high school. A thought finally processed as his adrenaline began to drain: it was over. It was all over.
Compressed darkness being stabbed into oneself agonizingly is what it felt like, as Minho heard the creature come closer and closer, growling its foreign call. Hopeless, frightened, the only thing he was capable of doing was simply shutting his eyes and hoping for a painless end.
He slightly wondered if that painless end involved an inhuman light shining radiantly, along with a young boy suddenly appearing before him.
His days start off just like any regular day. Minho falling off his bed as he hears the obnoxious, wailing alarm ring consistently till he manages to switch it off, shuffling around the house as he went about his hygienic business, then dashing out the door with a slab of toast in his mouth, meeting Jonghyun at the front gate of his house. Indeed, just like any regular day.
Well, today was a little different. He met up with Jonghyun, conversing with him along the way to school. When they both fell silent, Minho noticed everyone going in the same direction was gossiping rather ecstatically, almost frantically. The only word that Minho could pick up from all their conversations was the word “shadow”.
Even in school, he watched girls run frantically into his classroom, crowding around another group who were all talking about some sort of shadow. By the time it was lunch, curiosity was practically tearing him apart.
“Why is everyone suddenly talking about ‘shadows’?” Minho wondered aloud as he sat down at the lunch table. Jonghyun took his rightful place across from him, setting his tray on the surface. He wore a devastated look in response to the question.
“What? You mean you haven’t heard of… them?” Jonghyun asked.
“No, I haven’t. Care to enlighten me?” Minho watched Jonghyun look around precariously, as though the topic itself was forbidden. Which it wasn’t, considering everyone and their mothers were talking about said subject.
“This may sound a little superstitious, but there’s this legend that is bound eternally with this small town we live in. I don’t know all of the details, but I just know that every 100 years, these…demons come out from their realm into ours in search for food, their main diet being humans. In order for these demons to come into our realm without being noticed, they take form of shadows and capture people when they least expect it.” Jonghyun informed rather excitedly. Minho’s response was a simple cock of an eyebrow.
“Are you serious? Everyone’s got their pants in a bunch over some folklore?” Minho questioned indignantly.
Jonghyun gaped at him with a rather hurt look. “You say that like it’s not real, even though it is,” He whimpered.
“Is there evidence that these ‘demons’ are actually abducting people? Like on photographs or video?” Minho continued, chewing on a loaf of bread.
“Well, no - at least not that I know of. However, there’s a rumor going around that someone from our school was abducted by a shadow demon!”
“Oh really, and who would that be?” Minho mused.
“Lee Jinki of Class 3-D,” Jonghyun chimed. Minho stared at Jonghyun with an incredible amount of disbelief.
“No way, Jinki-sunbae?” Minho said a doubtful tone to his voice. Jonghyun nodded vehemently which caused Minho to clear his throat, clarifying, “Well, he could simply be sick, or is probably out of town. No need to jump to conclusions.”
“Man, you’re absolutely no fun,” Jonghyun complained as he stood, dumping his trash into the garbage and setting his tray on top of said bin.
Minho sighed as he stuffed his materials into his bag, sweat running down his neck as soccer practice had just ended. It had been hours since the bell rang, marking the end of the school day. The sun was nearing the horizon, mellow oranges and warm yellows surrounding the school classroom. He always enjoyed being alone during this time of day, it made him very contemplative towards everything, which calmed him at times.
He swung his bag over his shoulder and made his way towards the door. Before opening the door, he noticed his own shadow, stretched and deformed as the sunset sun casted its light upon him. Shadow demons, huh? Minho lingered, staring at his shadow some more. What a ridiculous fairytale.
Just as he was about to slide the entrance open, there was a sound of some sort. It sounded like a mere crackle, but it was enough for Minho to look back and drop his bag in astonishment.
Where did his shadow go?
Minho began to panic as he looked around the room. It was impossible, absolutely impossible. How could an opaque object not have a shadow? This was breaking the rules of reality, science, everything that Minho believed in.
After making a 180 degree turn, he was face-to-face with the windows that looked out onto the school’s campus. However, that wasn’t the reason for the most utmost look of shock on Minho’s face. Next to the windows, on the wall, was Minho’s shadow staring back at him. How was his shadow facing him when the sun was not shining that way?
He watched, his heart wrenching and dropping, as the shadow morphed. It was a sea of blackness, darkness overwhelming its image. No longer was it a reflective image of him, but a rough unidentified shape of pure darkness. Minho wanted to scream as he watched two dots of light form in the middle of the mass, and a cynical grin growing slowly as well. When the transformation was over, Minho did the one thing he could do: run.
Everything around him was a rushed blur as he sped down that hallway, bag slapping against him and a uniform weighing him down. Minho made the mistake of looking back finding this thing, which honestly shouldn’t have any substance to it, catching up to his every step as it swam across the floor. He looked about frantically as he came up to a fork in the hallway - one led to the school’s entrance, the other being the staircase that led to the second floor and so forth. Having only a millisecond to decide, Minho made a mad dash towards the staircase, sprinting up its steps two at a time.
His mind clearly thought that the shadow would be unable to swim across the uneven flooring of the stairs, but was quickly proven wrong as the darkness jumped up towards the wall and charged towards him.
After another minute or so of running about like a mad man, Minho found himself on the school roof, panting heavily and stamina draining. There was no other way to escape, unless he chose the leap of death which honestly wasn’t much of an option right now, and the doorway in which he came through was swarmed by an opaque darkness, a nauseating murmuring sound coming from it.
As soon as Minho saw the substance charge at him, he knew then it was all over. He closed his eyes in surrender, waiting for the unknown pain that would soon overcome him.
He waited, and waited for the ultimate doom. How long does it take to get killed around here?
Minho peeled his eye open, only to have both widened in astonishment. There in front of him was a rather young-looking boy. His frame was quite thin, shoulders petite and bare back lean. Honestly, he should’ve been wondering how this boy got on the roof in the first place, but he couldn’t help but take in the details in which he could see.
The setting sun casted a nice caramel brown onto the boy’s hair, tuft and soft from where Minho could see. The boy was donned in clothing that resembled a gladiator’s outfit - heavy, brown, and most definitely made out of leather, a metal plate that hung proudly on his shoulders. From the waist down, he had on a pair of white linen shorts that went down all the way to his knees, a brass belt wrapped tightly around his frame, as well as brass boots to accompany his attire.
What stuck out to Minho the most, though, was the exotic black designs on the boy’s back, swirling seductively all around his pale skin and scaling down all the way towards his legs.
The boy turned around so that he could face Minho, a sly grin growing on his face. Minho was taken away by his features: bright, passionate eyes, a slim face, sharp cheekbones, and soft, pale lips. All accompanied nicely with the rest of his body.
A deafening roar sounded, mostly likely from the shadow creature, and the boy immediately took out the weapon that hung around his back: a long spear. However, it didn’t really look like a spear that was used in ancient times; it was heavily built, as though the staff was made out of obsidian and the sharp edge out of steel. Elaborate designs gilded with gold were placed on the spear, a wing-like structure protruding out of both sides of the spear.
The darkness swam at a frightening rate, ready to consume the innocent yet dangerous looking boy. Minho watched as the boy thrust the spear forward into the shadow, twirling the staff around until the spear had completely ripped through all sides and faces of the creature. With a pained and inhuman moan, the shadow evaporated into air, a crystal replacing its place.
Minho watched with a dumbstruck expression as the other picked up the small crystal, placing it into a sack that hung from his belt. With a tentative step, Minho approached the stranger, wondering what he should say.
“Um - I…” Minho stuttered and paused as he watched the boy spin around hastily, as though frightened by his presence. They stood in a confused and dazed stare down until finally, the boy spoke.
“I-I’m sorry, I should go,” White swallowed the doorway whole, representing a portal of some sort. The boy made a move towards the entrance, placing the spear back into its holster.
“Wait!” Minho shouted, grabbing the other’s shoulder and spinning him around till they were face-to-face. His heart raced with adrenaline, mind just barely processing the events that had happened in the past hour or so. “I’m Minho, what’s your name?”
The latter grinned softly, placing a fragile hand onto Minho’s hand that was still on his shoulder. “Taemin,” He whispered before stepping into the portal backwards, his presence diminishing within seconds.
Minho let his hand hang by his side, an unknown feeling burning on his hand where the so-called Taemin had touched. He cleared his throat, straightened out his uniform and bag, and headed towards the school entrance, a plethora amount of questions still lingering in his mind.
“Minho…” A voice had called out. The said male spun around in the world of darkness, searching for the source. It was hard to tell whether he had made a complete circle or not, but his name grew in volume. He distinctly remembered the tune of which the mystical being called Taemin sounded. The light pitch he carried and the words which glided swiftly over his tongue. He had only spoken a couple of words, yet the impact of it was…
“Minho!” Jonghyun screamed, slamming his hand on the desk in which Minho had been sleeping on. The world was a haze, and it took a couple of minutes to recall what he had been doing previously. Oh right, school.
“What - where, uh,” Minho muttered, rubbing the sand in his eyes away.
“School’s already over. You must’ve had one hell of a dream, because you practically slept the minute lunch was over. Did you not get enough sleep or something?” Jonghyun leaned in closer to Minho, staring at the bags that lied beneath Minho’s eyes.
“Uh, yeah. Something like that. Don’t worry about it.”Jonghyun cocked an eyebrow at the response but merely shrugged it off, swinging his bag on his shoulders.
“Well, I’m going to go home. You coming?”
“I have something to do, actually. Sorry.” Minho stated without much thought. Jonghyun shrugged and proceeded to exit the classroom, leaving him alone once more. A sense of fear prickled at his brain as the events from yesterday flooded his mind. He quickly grabbed his bag and left the building, making sure not to look back at his shadow.
His steps were slow and heavy, walking towards no particular direction. Nearly 24 hours had passed since then, and yet he still had so many thoughts, so many questions. Most directed towards the boy called Taemin. Minho vaguely thought whether he would ever see him again - it would be a shame if he could not. It wasn’t everyday that someone could see someone so unique, so exquisitely divine yet fierce at the same time.
Minho looked up from his wandering to find himself near the park that was a couple blocks down from his home. He found himself entering the grassed area, a small playground nearby. It wouldn’t hurt to have a little fresh air every now and then.
As he approached a swing set, Minho heard a crackling sound somewhere along to his left. Immediately, his head spun in said direction to find a giant tree. He figured it was a squirrel rustling in the canopy of the tree, but a closer look at the tree’s base said otherwise.
In a matter of seconds, a wooden door of the same material of the tree was outlined in its bark. A door.
Minho blinked, completely dumbstruck with what he was looking at. He thought two things: one, that he was still dreaming in class or two, Fate must love screwing with people - especially people named Choi Minho.
Before he could even think about turning the doorknob, the entrance had opened to a portal of blinding white in which Minho had to shield his eyes. When he withdrew his hand, he held his breath as he saw the stunning figure in front of him.
It was Taemin.
It seemed as though both shared the same expression, Taemin’s eyes widening as they made eye contact. A long, awkward silence rose among them, both wondering if their existences were truly real. Finally, Taemin took the initiative to say something.
“What are you doing here?” He asked, almost unsure of himself.
“I live nearby here. What about you? It’s not every day that someone comes through a tree.” Minho heard Taemin suppress a chuckle, his heart fluttering ever so slightly.
“Well, um…” Taemin started, drifting off afterwards. Minho saw Taemin waving his arms about as though it were to explain everything, but the answer came soon enough as a grumble was heard. They locked eyes, seeing who would break out laughing first. Minho unfortunately won.
“What is this?” Taemin inquired, holding a cone in his grasp, clearly confused as to even hold the object.
“It’s ice cream. You’re supposed to eat it.” Minho said, grinning as he watched Taemin lick the vanilla-flavored ice cream tentatively.
“It tastes…sweet.” Taemin said in awe, licking at it some more.
“Well, that’s how it’s supposed to be. You’ve never eaten ice cream before?” Taemin shook his head in response.
They were both situated in one of the park’s benches. Minho had gone and fetched some ice cream from a booth that conveniently passed by them. Before Minho could comment on the crime of never eating ice cream before, Taemin remarked, “This is my first time eating human food. I never knew it was so good.”
“Human food?” Minho asked, now wondering what exactly he was. “What do you normally eat?”
He watched Taemin fidget, eyes wandering back and forth from his dessert to Minho. After a while, he finally answered, “Demons.”
Honestly speaking, if Minho had a bottle of water, he would’ve done a spit-take right then and there. Such a young and innocent-looking boy eating something as sinful as a demon, which was by far incomprehensible by a mere human? His astonishment took over as he echoed Taemin’s answer in question form: “Demons?”
“Sorry, that - that probably sounds really odd coming from someone like me…but you saw me capture a demon the other day. Well, me capturing my dinner anyway.” Taemin added, laughing a little at the last sentence.
Minho had thought back to when the shadow-demon-creature transformed into a crystal after being beaten to smithereens by Taemin. That thought was at least a bit more comforting then imagining Taemin ripping a literal demon’s head off and eating its remains.
“What exactly are you?” Minho asked unintentionally.
Taemin hummed in thought, swinging his legs back and forth as he devoured the rest of his ice cream cone. “Well, in all technicalities, I’m a demon but not the type of savage demons that come to this realm and eat humans. I am above those lesser demons, therefore allowing me the right to eat them.” Minho nodded, trying to grasp what he was saying. “The humans around here call us Shadow Stealers.”
“Why do they call you that?”
“You didn’t notice? That you didn’t have a shadow after I ate the demon that possessed your shadow yesterday?”
Minho gaped, frantically looking for his shadow which was obviously there, distorted by the setting sun’s glow. He looked back at Taemin who smiled timidly back at him.
“So, um, are there more of you? Shadow Stealers, I mean.” Minho asked, trying to change the topic. He noticed Taemin’s expression changed to a solemn one. He barely noticed Taemin grimacing.
“Yes, there are more of us. However, it’s not exactly a good idea to come in tact with one - well for me, anyway.”
“Why’s that?”
“…Competition is pretty fierce among us. We’re willing to kill one another just to get a decent meal, since it is so hard to track down a demon that has possessed a shadow. I mean, we wait for 100 years just to get the opportunity to eat something. It’s pretty intense.”
Minho hummed, taking in the newfound information. It was…mind-opening to say the least. His eyes wandered about Taemin’s figure which was still the same from the day before. The clothing, the hair, the markings, the eyes. He felt his hands grab at Taemin’s oh so very thin wrists, clamping around them as though they were fine glass. Minho brought the appendage towards his line of vision, observing the intricate black designs that swirled and wave all about the latter’s arm.
“It’s interesting, how you look so human and yet like a divine creature at the same time,” Minho heard himself say.
“There’s nothing ‘divine’ about -”
“I wonder if Shadow Stealers possess emotions as humans do. To feel happiness, sadness, anger, love.” Minho drabbled, bringing Taemin closer and closer. What in the world was he doing?
Taemin grinned empathetically, coaxing Minho to let go of his arm. When the other finally complied, Taemin placed one arm on Minho’s shoulder, the other one caressing Minho’s cheek. In a matter of seconds, Taemin had placed his lips onto the latter’s, sharing a rather sweet kiss. The taste of vanilla was strong on Taemin’s tongue as it prodded and swirled. As fast it came, Taemin drew back centimeters away, their noses just barely brushing.
“I don’t know, you tell me.” He whispered.
“Minho…” Taemin moaned as his head snapped back, mouth ajar. Minho ran his fingers through the demon’s hair, entangling it deep into the crevices of his hands. His lips toyed with the smooth skin of Taemin’s neck, placing red marks along the way down. Minho was awarded with a nice gasp as his tongue lapped at Taemin’s ear.
“God, you’re so beautiful,” He heard himself whisper before sliding a hand on the curve of Taemin’s lean back.
Minho rose up to Taemin’s level to lean in for another kiss. His tongue dove straight into Taemin’s mouth, lapping and tasting all around. Minho suckled lightly on Taemin’s cotton-like lips before massaging it with his teeth.
He heard Taemin moan gently as he did so. Minho smirked as his hand wandered farther and farther south. “Minho,” Taemin gasped, curling into Minho’s embrace, “I - I love…”
“Minho, are you even listening?” Jonghyun snapped, tapping Minho on the head with his text book. Minho rose, mind still processing what he had just dreamt. When he finally remembered, he felt his face heat up instantly, making sure that he hid a certain problem thoroughly.
There were a couple of students within the classroom, eating their boxed lunches peacefully. He noticed Jonghyun had brought his own lunch today and was sitting directly across from him.
“Um, what? Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” Minho watched Jonghyun roll his eyes.
“Okay, so,” Jonghyun started, leaning in profusely towards him. “You know how I told you about the legend about the demons and how they come to this town and eat people, right?” Minho nodded in answer. “You won’t believe what I saw the other day!”
“Could you get to the point?” Minho winced as he felt Jonghyun punch him in the arm. “Ow, what was that for?”
“I was just getting there, so don’t interrupt me,” Jonghyun looked around before finally saying, “A Shadow Stealer!”
“You what?” Minho asked astonished by the words that had come out of Jonghyun’s mouth.
“A Shadow Stealer. You probably don’t know what they are because I forgot to mention them when I was telling you about the legend. Basically they’re these things that come out and hunt down demons that took over shadows - and I got to see one!” Jonghyun exclaimed, an expression in his eyes that was trying to prove Minho’s earlier theory wrong.
“…Right…” Minho muttered, having nothing much else to say.
“It’s true! Did you know that Shadow Stealers are super pretty? They call themselves demons, but they don’t look anything like it. The Shadow Stealer I met was pretty damn hot, so I was trying to hook up with her, but when I kissed her, I immediately realized she was a guy!” Jonghyun drabbled, expressing his emotions through his hand and arm movements. “I like girls, but I don’t mind being gay for that guy, because he was fucking perfect. I think he said his name was Kibum.”
Minho nodded emptily, not necessarily paying attention to Jonghyun’s sexuality problems as his mind was pre-occupied with Taemin. Oh how he wanted to see him right now.
Soon the bell rang, marking the day’s end. Minho passed up on the offer of walking home with Jonghyun, who was tried to drag him to the place where Jonghyun last saw the supposed Shadow Stealer.
Minho wondered if he would be able to see Taemin again. It had been a week since he last saw Taemin, which didn’t bother him much - he was sure that food was spread all across town and not just his area. Still he couldn’t help but visit the park everything, hoping that Taemin would be waiting for him patiently where they had first shared a kiss. He suppressed a grin as he remembered the dream he had earlier.
Minho turned the entrance to the park, expecting to find the bench which he passed by every day to be empty. He expected to find the park to be at a peaceful state, a serene silence filling the air of the perimeter.
However, this was not the case.
Minho dropped his bag, his eyes widening in surprise as he saw Taemin; although, Taemin wasn’t alone. The said male was currently lying on the grass, spear wielded in a defensive stance. On top of him was another figure with the similar markings and clothing as Taemin. However, instead of a spear, the stranger was holding a sword with designs that matched Taemin’s weapon.
He saw that Taemin was struggling, his body trembling with all of his strength being put forth into offending the male that was on top of him. He had short-cropped hair, a lighter shade of brown than Taemin’s caramel-colored hair. His face wore a rather demonic smile, emphasizing the male’s sharp jaw line and high cheek bones. It was as Jonghyun said; all Shadow Stealers were pretty damn pretty.
“Oh, Taemin,” The stranger finally spoke, struggling to push the sword onto Taemin’s slim figure, “I didn’t think I would finally be killing you today of all days.”
“Not…a chance.” Taemin muttered through gritted teeth. To this, the latter cackled insanely, pushing the sword even closer to Taemin.
“So optimistic! However, this territory will be mine now, and all the demons that inhabit it as well.”
“I’m not giving this place to you so easily, Kibum.” Taemin said, just barely keeping up with Kibum’s strength.
Minho’s jaw fell agape as he heard the name that Taemin spoke. The male on top of Taemin was Kibum? As in the Kibum who Jonghyun was in love with?
“Hey!” Minho yelled unintentionally, jogging up to the both of them. Kibum wore a rather confused expression as he looked up from staring down, however Taemin was completely devastated.
Before Minho could say anything else, he heard Taemin yell, “Don’t come any closer!” At this, Minho froze in his spot, merely yards away from reaching their spot. From his position, Minho could see Kibum grin, evil intentions clearly developing in his mind.
“Oh?” Kibum sang, withdrawing his sword as he stood, “Who is this, Taemin? A friend of yours?”
Taemin grimaced, standing up as he dashed towards Minho side, placing his spear in an offensive stance. “Don’t you dare touch him,” Taemin growled.
“Hmm? But Taemin, that’s not very fair. You can’t have such a nice territory as well as such a good-looking companion. One of them has got to go,” Kibum smiled insanely, immediately charging with the sword plunging forward.
“Over my dead body!” Taemin screeched before charging with his spear as well. Minho looked at the both of them intently, wondering what was going to happen next. He was so scared, fear locking him in place. However, as he saw the both of them closing in on one another, his instincts immediately kicked him.
“Don’t hurt him!” Minho screamed.
He doesn’t really know what happened next. He remembered rushing over to Taemin, just barely pushing him aside. Minho felt something brush against his chest, before a sudden rush of fiery pain burst in his torso. He remembered collapsing on the ground as the pain numbed him, and lulled him into unconsciousness. The last moments he remembered before blacking out was hearing Taemin scream - out of agony or anger, he couldn’t tell - and plunging the spear into Kibum with all of his might.
Minho grinned, cheering Taemin on in his mind as he blacked out into an eternal darkness.
White, why was there so much white?
Minho couldn’t tell whether he was dead or alive, couldn’t tell what the color of death was. He was so used to seeing black, but to see so much white…what was it he wondered?
However, after blinking a couple of times, he finally realized the white was the color of the hospital room he was currently in.
Slowly, Minho sat up in place, coaxing the roaring pain that surged through him as he moved. He winced as he observed his surroundings. He was placed in a single-bed room, walls practically glowing white, and a window beside him that showed the cityscape of his town. Minho tried to remember why he was here in the first place, why there was so much pain in his chest.
Taemin!
He frantically searched all around the tiny space, of course being met with completely silence. Minho could hear the heart monitor beside him grow loud as a sort of nervousness and worry overcame him. Where was he? Was Taemin alright? So many questions flooded his mind, hoping and wishing that Taemin would just magically appear by his side.
As Minho continued his search, his eyes landed on the side table, a glass of water and a jar of flowers occupying it. However, a closer look into it showed that there was a piece of paper under the jar of flowers. Minho took it with much hesitance, noticing that it was a letter of some sort. With a deep breath, he opened the envelope and emptied the contents.
Inside was a letter, dark scrawling visible from Minho’s vision. He straightened out the message and read it to himself:
I’m sorry, I’m so sorry for what I have done to you.
I don’t even know what to say: to say thank you for saving me…or to call you the world’s biggest idiot for throwing your life like that. My life isn’t worth yours; please consider that before endangering yourself.
I don’t…I don’t know whether you are or are not alive. I hope that this letter gets to you somehow, I hope that you are able to read this because…
I love you.
I love you so much; I care about you so much. Most people who find Shadow Stealers are immediately scared the minute they see us, so the fact that you were so intrigued by someone like me, I guess I couldn’t help myself.
I love you so much, but the fact that I let you get hurt like that…
I’m so sorry. I’m ashamed that you knew someone like me. To let you get hurt like that, you probably don’t like me anymore.
With that said, I won’t appear in front of you again. I love you, so it’s for the best. Even if you don’t love me back anymore.
-Taemin
It took all of Minho’s strength not to crumple the paper, not to rip it up into shreds and throw it against the wall, not to let the tears fall down his cheek. Yet he faltered as he choked on a sob, his vision blurring by the second.
His body shook as he began to cry, tear after tear falling onto the white sheets. The tremors drastically hurt his chest, opening the wound with fresh blood pouring onto his white garment.
Minho grinned bitterly at the thought of how his chest hurt both physically and emotionally.
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I cannot do angst for the life of myself, so I hope that was angsty enough for you haruhanayukiko ;-;
This fic is completely un-betaed, so feel free to tell me what a dumbass I am for making a certain mistake, etc. I wrote a majority of this fic in an airplane where I was incoherent as hell, so there's bound to be a bunch of grammar mistakes. Even though I really don't like how this fic turned out, I still hope that everyone else enjoyed it, and yeah. GIMME SOME COMMENTS COOKIES?!