As the Petals Fall - Chapter One
Title: As the Petals Fall
Main Pairing: Kyumin
Title: As the Petals Fall
Main Pairing: Kyumin
Side Pairings: Will be determined as story progresses
Genre: Suspense, Romance
Type: Chaptered
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
Description: Sungmin is no ordinary human; he is something called an enchanter, or manipulator. From a young age, he has had the ability to manipulate the world around him; creating things, mending, destroying. In comes Kyuhyun, an illusionist. He has the ability to make anyone see the things he wants them to see, or to make others forget what they had seen. Together, they are thrown into a very dangerous world full of deceit and lies, one that neither of them might be able to survive.
Forward
...
1
~Plagued~
.
Some way off, a young man about sixteen dressed in all black appears in the dead of night. The place where he appears is deserted and dreary looking. He walks along a small dirt path all the way to a run-down looking place. The door is partially coming off its hinges and needs to be pried open by the man. He enters the small cottage, but rather than a trashed place full of rats and small bunks there is instead a clean-looking house with hard-wood flooring that appears to shine in the bright lighting. The room is empty, save for a tan couch pushed up against the wall and a glass table in front of it. The worry that had previously haunted the man’s eyes now changes to fondness as he gazes at a doorway on his right. One the door there is a sign that reads: Lee Donghae.
The man pulls open the door to reveal an ocean-blue colored room. This room is more cluttered than the last, and gives off a feeling of cheeriness. There is a fish tank pushed up against the wall across from him, and a small bookshelf is against the wall to his left. But instead of books, the shelves are littered with numerous DVDs. Next to the shelf is a TV and on the floor there is a Finding Nemo rug. But none of this the man pays any attention to, and instead turns to his right where there is a small pull-out hospital bed and numerous beeping machines. In the bed, there is a young boy with hair a soft brown color sleeping peacefully. The man walks over to the boy and sits in a small chair, running his fingers through the boy’s hair. The boy stirs and opens his eyes too look at the man next to him.
“Sungmin hyung?” The man’s lips curve up into a smile as he looks at his younger brother.
“I’m home.”
“What took you so long?” the boy wondered sleepily.
Sungmin chuckled fondly. “I was finishing up the shows for tonight. I need to make money for you somehow. You can’t keep living like this forever; we will need to get you to a hospital sooner or later.”
“I wish you could heal me.”
Sungmin sighed, looking at Donghae with sadness. “I wish I could too,” he whispered, then brightened; ruffling his sibling’s hair, “And now go to sleep; you’re going to need your strength.”
The brunette wined at his brother’s statement, his lips forming a small pout, “but you never spend time with me anymore. I miss you hyung.”
“I’ll try and get some days off soon, but your health has to come first. I don’t want you dying and leaving me all alone here.”
“But Ryeowook is a nurse!”
Sungmin sighed, “I know he is; I hired him, but he can’t perform the necessary operations that you need. Therefore, I need to make enough money so you get can get it done professionally.”
“I still wish you could heal me.”
Sungmin sighed. “Me too, little brother, me too.”
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Shutting the door as quietly as he could, trying not to disturb the younger, Sungmin stepped out into the empty room. Putting a hand to his head in exhaustion, he slumped down on the couch, not even wanting to walk the few extra feet to his room in his fatigue. He closed his eyes, ready to finally give in to the temptations of sleep, but then a voice rang out in the quiet, causing his eyes to fly open, and him to leap off the couch in fright, tripping over the glass table in his haste.
“We did pretty well tonight, Mr. Vincent Lee”
Sungmin got up and glared at the intruder, “Dammit, what if you had woken up Donghae?” He put his hands on the ground to push himself off the floor, then cussed as he cut his finger on the broken glass of the small coffee table. “Look at what you made me do, you jerk!”
The trespasser laughed. “That’s you own fault for being so jumpy. Besides, you can easily fix it yourself.”
Instead of replying, Sungmin just glared at the other, before getting up and surveying the damage. He took in every small detail with his scrupulous foxlike eyes, then closed them, feeling how every piece fit together. When he was certain that he could fix it, he then reached for the vast energy reserves inside himself, before releasing it. When he opened them again, the table once again looked brand-new, and the stinging cut on his hand had healed.
“No matter how many times I see you do that, it still amazes me.”
“I’m not surprised Heechul. If I wasn’t the one doing it, it would probably terrify me.”
“Well, that’s not saying much.” Heechul laughed, then ducked as Sungmin swung his fist at him. “Hey!”
Sungmin just shrugged in response. “So you were saying?”
“Right. We made quite a bit tonight, my friend. Maybe enough to finish up with that debt you owe for previous surgeries for Hae.” Heechul reached into his pocket, and brought out a large wad of cash. Sungmin quickly grabbed it, and started counting.
“Seven-fifty bucks… not bad. But it’s still not enough.”
Heechul let out a small curse. “Still? We’re going to be screwed if we can’t get Donghae to a hospital soon.”
“I know Chul, I know that better than anyone.”
“God, with all your abilities, don’t you think healing him should be included? After all, you heal yourself just fine.”
Sungmin winced; this was his third time hearing this today. “I know, but you know how my powers better than anyone else. You know why I can’t.”
“Yeah.” Heechul sighed, running a hand through his red hair. “Still wish though. Then we wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place.”
Sungmin sighed. “I know, stop reminding me.”
He smirked, “Then why don’t we stop talking about things that we can’t change and celebrate tonight’s success? Get us some wine and some glasses any we’ll party all night.”
“I think getting some sleep would be more appealing right now.”
Heechul pouted. “But Min~”
Sungmin couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s failed display at aegyo. “That was pathetic, Chul. You know you can’t do cute to save your life.”
“But at least I’m damn sexy.”
Sungmin laughed again. “Keep telling yourself that.”
“… Meanie.”
“Well, I’m going to sleep now. Go ahead and celebrate by yourself if you want; I don’t care. Just don’t make a mess or disturb Hae’s rest.”
“You’re no fun. No way would I celebrate by myself for your hard work. Someday, I’m going to take some time off my work to force you to take a day off and we’ll go have some fun. You work too hard.”
“Not without good reason.”
“True, but you deserve it.”
Sungmin shrugged, feeling his drowsiness starting to take over after his excitement had ended. “We’ll discuss this when I wake up. I need to sleep so I’ll be ready for tomorrow’s performances.”
“Party pooper. Whatever, good night.”
“Night.” Sungmin hobbled away into the other room next to his younger brother’s. After giving the room next to his an affectionate look, he hobbled into his room to collapse onto his bed.
Never before could he remember his bed feeling so soft.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
“Father...”
“Stop whining you useless brat! You’ve got to learn some way.”
“No… please!”
But his pleas were useless and he barely had the time to close his eyes before pain rendered him senseless.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Sungmin woke up the next morning, shaking from the terrible memories that plagued him all last night. Even though he had been having the same dream for years now, he still woke up terrified and vulnerable. Trying to control the shiver that racked his short frame, he got out of bed to go make himself some breakfast. It was half past noon; he still had plenty of time to himself to enjoy before he had to start his first show.
As he stepped out of his room he bumped into Ryeowook, the young doctor who was in charge of helping young Donghae.
“How is he?” he whispered to the other man.
“Fine... right now. Just a few moments ago he had been having bad palpitations, but it stopped.”
“WHAT!” Sungmin’s heart felt as if it would explode with worry as he grabbed the small doctor and shook him by the shoulders. “Why didn’t you wake me up?! Why didn’t you take him to a hospital?!” he said, lowering his voice so his brother could rest without any disturbances.
“I-I’m sorry. But you know I couldn’t… if I took him, the hospital would have tried to collect the payments you already owed them. I know you can’t afford that yet.”
“I don’t care. If it means jeopardizing his health further, I’ll sell a kidney to pay off that hospital!”
Ryeowook winced. “Don’t worry too much. I’m trained in the medical field remember? I took care of him. He’s fine now. But I’d recommend getting him to one soon. If it gets any worse… then we’re in trouble.”
Sungmin pressed a hand to his forehead as he leaned against the wall for support. Why his brother? He needed to hurry and get money for him soon. If only he could work more jobs, but with the energy it cost to run all his shows, he couldn’t take on another job without jeopardizing his health and putting them even more in debt then before. And even with Heechul juggling three different jobs at a time to help with the dues, they still weren’t close enough.
“I wish…”
Ryeowook sighed, patting him on the shoulder in sympathy. “We all wish, hyung. Now go relax and enjoy a day to yourself before your next job. You need a break.”
Even with all this stress, Sungmin managed a small smile at the young nurse. He had done so much for them, and without him, Sungmin was sure Donghae wouldn’t be alive today and Sungmin would be left all alone. He owed the other so much, yet Ryeowook refused any pay, saying that he was glad to help and reminding him that their family needed to save up the money. “ "Thanks, Wookie. I don’t know where I would be without you.”
“You mean where Donghae would be.”
“No, we all know where Hae would be, but I’d be lost without him. Thank you for everything.”
“Don’t thank me. I’m glad to help out a friend in need.” Ryeowook returned Sungmin’s small smile. “Now go out and have some fun!”
Sungmin chuckled, “Yes, sir.”
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Every time Sungmin would go out, he would always find himself walking to the same three places in the city depending on him mood. On days when he was relaxed, he would go to the library. On days when he was feeling very stressed or angered, he would walk to the park. But on days like today, when he felt that he needed something sweet in his life, he would find himself at Shindong’s ice cream shop. Shindong was another good friend of his, and was always glad to see him drop by, even though he was scared to death of Heechul. He opened the door, and the bells rang to alert the owner of a new visitor.
“Hey Min! Long time no see! I feel hurt that you ignored me all this time. It’s been weeks!”
Sungmin smiled, all of his previous worries going away momentarily as he saw his old friend again. “I know, but I was just busy.”
“Oh, no worries. What flavors do you want today? It’s on the house, and don’t you dare refuse that.”
“Ok.” Sungmin looked around, biting his lip slightly as he tried to pick a flavor. He was in the middle of deciding whether to get plain vanilla or strawberry when he gasped in surprise as a wave of something hit him.
“Are you alright?” Shindong asked, worried.
“Fine,” Sungmin said, looking around anxiously. He knew that feeling. It was a feeling all magicians got when they were near another of great power: a feeling as if you’ve just been slapped by a giant hand. He had heard about the feeling before, but this was the first time he had ever felt it himself. It was rare to find another with abilities like his, yet, by some unknown miracle, there was one in this very town. Ignoring Shindong’s cries of worry behind him, he ran outside, trying to pinpoint the source.
Once outside, he gasped as the wave hit him even stronger than before. Looking around, he focused his energy on trying to pinpoint the source, but to no prevail. The energy seemed dispersed, as if it was coming from everywhere, rather than from just one person. How could someone learn to do that? Sungmin knew that if this was a challenge, he would be at the disadvantage. He was certain that the other person could tell exactly where he was, yet he couldn’t do the same to him and it frustrated him. He walked around, trying to see if he could find anyone suspicious, but found nothing. Time was passing, and Sungmin knew that the time for him to perform was nearing, yet he just couldn’t let this go. Somewhere out there, there was someone like him, maybe having the same troubles as him, maybe having even gone through the same torture as he had. Someone he could relate to.
He continued wandering around, but finding nothing, decided to surrender to the fact that he wouldn’t find the source. Yet even as he gave up, he still couldn’t help but wonder who exactly that person was…
.
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A.N.: Here we see a bit about Sungmin’s powers. More will be explained later. My sister (daesungsgirl) said that it was a bit weird that their family was poor yet they could afford hardwood flooring and other stuff like that… there is a reason, but it will be explained later as I explain Sungmin’s abilities more. If you’re wondering about what Donghae’s medical problem is, he has a congenital heart defect, which means he was born with something wrong with his heart. If you have any other questions, just ask me in the comments.
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Chapter 2