As the Petals Fall - Chapter Three
Title: s the Petals Fall
Main Pairing: yumin
Side Pairings: unhae, Hanchul
Genre: uspense, Romance
Type: haptered
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.
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3
~Misconceptions~
Even though Sungmin had just finished up over three hours’ worth of shows, he felt nothing as he walked home. On a normal day, exhaustion would be straining to overcome him, but today was special. His heart light with happiness, he continued on his way, anticipating the moment he would finally reach his doorstep and be able to tell Donghae the good news.
Yes, today it had finally happened. After months of hard work, and both him and Heechul working themselves to the brink of death, they had finally been able to earn enough money to be able to pay for Donghae’s necessary treatments. Laughing joyously, something he hadn’t done in years, Sungmin started to jog as he couldn’t wait to his younger brother the news.
Finally, after all these years of pain and hardships, everything was going to be alright.
But, as he stepped to the front porch of his home, he sensed that something was wrong. Every single light in the house was on, and he heard muffled whimpers coming from inside. Frightened, Sungmin tore open the door and raced inside. His heart seemed to stop as he realized where all the commotion was coming from. Donghae’s room. He took a shaky step inside, fearing what he might find. His fears were confirmed as he turned to the hospital bed where his brother lay. All of a sudden nothing seemed to matter to him, and all he could see was the face of the young man in the bed, whose expression was so peaceful he appeared to be only sleeping, yet the flat line of the heart monitor signaled otherwise.
For the first time ever, Sungmin completely broke down and sobbed.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
For the tenth night in a row, Sungmin woke up with large tears streaming down his face. During the day he was tortured with fear for his brother, and the night seemed to be his release, but now he didn’t even have that. He would even prefer the bloodstained memories of his past to the torturous reminders of what the future might hold. Donghae was his little brother and he had promised to always protect him, even if it meant sacrificing himself.
Stifling a yawn, he got up and walked to his brother’s room. Even though he knew it was a dream, he still felt like he needed some reassurance. Slowly pushing the creaky door inwards, he peaked inside, sighing in relief as he saw the younger snuggled under his covers, snoring softly. Smiling softly at the peaceful sight, he turned around and left the room, trying not to make a sound so he wouldn’t wake his little brother.
“Why do you even keep trying? He just a worthless brat who is better off dead.” an unwanted voice rang out in the quiet. Clenching his jaw, Sungmin turned to the source, his eyes narrowing in hatred as he saw the familiar face of the one person he hated most.
“What are you doing here? Get out.” He growled.
The man gasped in an offended way that would have looked believable to anyone, but Sungmin wasn’t just anyone. “Now, now. Is that anyway to talk to your father?”
Sungmin clenched his jaw in anger. “You are no father of mine.”
His father just shook his head in mock sadness. “How sad. My own son has no love for his father.”
“A father that tries to kill his own son does not deserve to be called a father.”
“A useless sickling like him does not deserve to live.”
At this, what was left of Sungmin’s self-control snapped, and his fist collided painfully with his father’s nose with a sickening crunch. Blood immediately began to seep out from the broken nose, yet his father made no move to wipe it away, and instead glared darkly at his son.
“You should remember who the stronger one here is.” With a flash of his father’s eyes, Sungmin found himself held against the wall by his neck, an unseen force slowly crushing his esophagus and choking him. He closed his eyes, the torture bringing back painful memories of darker times. Sungmin was powerless.
Just as he thought his father was just going to end him, the force diminished, and he fell to the ground, panting.
“You’re still as powerless as ever, Sungmin. It’s pathetic. If only you had just stayed with me. You could have been so much more than you are now.”
“And what? Leave my brother to die?” Sungmin spat out venomously between pants.
“He’s worthless anyways. He doesn’t stand a chance.” Sungmin winced as the words hit home, because some part of him knew his father was right. Donghae didn’t stand a chance with the way things were going.
“He won’t be going anywhere as long as I’m around.”
His father just shook his head in mock disappointment. “You’ll regret this.”
“Then let me regret. Now get out.”
Something flashed in the old man’s eyes and he sighed, “Still haven’t learned respect have you, boy. You shouldn’t order around those who are stronger than you.” His eyes lingered on Sungmin’s for a bit, then he turned around and left the house.
As he watched him leave, Sungmin bit his lip. His father wanted him? Why? It had been years since their last contact with each other, and he had thought that his father had finally given up on him. Hadn’t he made it evident that he didn’t want anything to do with him? Yet his father had tracked him down once again, and with him came the horrifying memories that he had spent most of his life trying to erase.
He buried his head in his knees, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart.
“Sungmin hyung?”
Sungmin turned his head towards his brother’s doorway to see Donghae watching him, his eyes shining in worry.
“Are you alright hyung?”
Sungmin turned up the corners of his mouth in a small smile, hoping it didn’t appear forced. “I’m fine Hae. Don’t worry about me. Why are you already awake?”
Donghae walked over to him and leaned his head on his shoulder. “I thought I heard some noises out here… But no one is here! Was Heechul here earlier?”
Sungmin shook his head. “No, no one was here. Now you should go to sleep,” he lied, hoping it sounded convincing. His little brother didn’t need to know about their father being here. It would just give him unnecessary stress.
Donghae suck out his bottom lip in a small pout, “But I’m not tired anymore…”
Sungmin ruffled the younger’s hair affectionately. “Well then, what would you like to do now that we’re both awake?”
Donghae’s eyes shone with excitement, “Really?”
“Why not?”
“Yes! Can we watch Finding Nemo? Please??”
“Again? Didn’t you watch that recently?”
“No I didn’t!”
“Yes you did.”
Donghae pouted, “Please?”
Sungmin sighed. He could never resist his younger brother. “Fine.” He couldn’t help but to smile at the joyful expression on Donghae’s face as he said yes.
“Yay! I love you hyung!”
“I love you too, Hae.”
Donghae pulled his older brother into his room in excitement, and both were oblivious to the person listening at the door, the man’s face grimacing in annoyance.
“He’ll pay for this.”
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
As soon as he heard the final ‘clink’ of spare change hitting the bottom of his glass jar, the door to Heechul’s left disappeared and the show inside began. With a sigh, he unscrewed the jar and took out the money, counting each dollar and all the change carefully, so he wouldn’t drop anything. Loosing change in the dark like this would make it impossible to find, and in their current situation, they needed all the money they could get. Every cent counted.
With a sigh, he placed the money back in its spot. Still too little. Eyes narrowing in hatred as he remembered the reason why they were in this situation, he cursed the man would was cowardly enough to stoop low enough to steal from those who needed it. If he ever found out who did it, he would slowly stab the person to death, making sure he or she would suffer as they had. But then even that would not make the person understand their pain; stab wounds were only physical, but it was the mental pain that hurt the most.
Ears and eyes on alert, he snuck away into the darkness, his feet making almost no sound as they hit the ground. He wasn’t called a cat for nothing. Years of thieving had led to his precision and stealth; a true master thief must be one with the night. Making many detours to lose any person who dared to try and follow, Heechul raced towards the house. He didn’t trust anyone but Sungmin, Ryeowook, and Donghae anymore. Too many things had happened, and he definitely didn’t trust Sungmin’s father not to rush back to the house when him and Sungmin weren’t there and kill Donghae in his sleep. If it was up to him, they would have all been gone by now, having moved to a different location so that young and innocent Hae could live in peace. They would all live together, somewhere where no one could ever find them, in a large mansion like the one that watched over the village from to top of the hill. That was his fantasy, yet he knew that it was impossible. But he could still dream.
As he was almost to the house, his acute hearing picked up on the sound of footsteps walking behind him. Whoever it was wasn’t being very discrete, and it was almost as if that person was begging to be found as he or she trudged behind him. Making a sharp left, Heechul prepared to stop. If that person had the nerves to follow the Kim Heechul, he would have to face him. Spinning on his heel, he reached for the hidden dagger within his shirt. It was one that he had always kept with him, one that not even Sungmin knew about. This dagger held a special meaning to him, as it had been given to him by someone special, one that he would never see again. His cat-like eyes scanned the darkness, searching for the person whose footsteps he had heard, then narrowing in suspicion as he found no one. Stepping out from his hiding spot to get a better view of the forest around him, his sharp eyes once again began to scrutinize his surroundings. Heechul cursed his bright red hair; because of it, he stood out in the darkness of the trees. If the other had wanted to attack, he would be at the disadvantage.
When no one approached him, his suspicion grew. Cautiously, he stepped out of the shadows of the forest path he had taken and into the open. A street light above him flickered threateningly, and he tensed up.
“Excuse me sir! Are you alright?” Heechul spun to his left, eyes narrowed in suspicion as he looked to see who had spoken. Even though the lighting was dim, Heechul could still easily make out the details of the man’s face in front of him. The man, who appeared about the age of sixteen, had bright blonde hair that was styled perfectly to frame his smooth face, and dark eyes that appeared kind and innocent with a hint of mischief. This person had obviously been living in the better part of town, with his ironed button-down shirt and jeans.
“So was it you who was following me?”
The other man looked confused. “Following you? No. Why would you be followed?”
Heechul just glared at the other man, the person’s prying questions immediately getting on his nerves.
“That’s none of your business.”
The blonde look surprised at the sudden hostility, but soon adapted, putting his face back into a cheery mask. “Oh ok then. You dropped something.” Stooping down to pick something off the ground, he handed the thing to Heechul. Heechul’s eyes widened as he saw the five-dollar bill on the ground, and immediately started to panic, worried that he might have lost more.
The blonde smiled, amused by his panic. “Don’t worry, you didn’t drop anything else.”
“How would you know that?”
The man shrugged. “Just a feeling. It seemed to have come loose, and had just fallen to the ground. Did you, by any chance, take something out of you shirt? That would have probably knocked it loose.”
The knife. Heechul remembered. He must have knocked the money from its spot when reaching for it in his panic.
“You seem to need the money. What for?”
"Who doesn’t need money?” This man… he asks too many questions. No one needs to know about Donghae and our situation.
“I’m sorry I keep asking! And who’s Donghae? Is he sick?”
Heechul’s eyes widened in surprise. “What are you talking about?” How did he know about Donghae?
At his reaction, an unidentifiable emotion flickered in the man’s eyes for a moment, then was gone. “You seem to think out loud. Murmuring often happens when people are in distress whether or not they notice it.”
“Well then, forget about what you heard.” Cursing his carelessness, he turned to slip back into the cover of the darkness, but was stopped by the irritating voice of the blonde once again.
“If he’s sick, you seem like a good thief. Maybe you could try and steal something to help that boy. Ever heard of the Juyo?
Heechul almost gasped in shock. How could one so seemingly insignificant know about something such as that? That Juyo was a powerful magical object, one with magical properties that could supposedly heal any ailment. But as far as he knew, it was in the hands of the king, and stealing from him was an impossible task.
The blonde seemed to guess what he was thinking. “No, the king doesn’t have it, and never will. It is a magical object, and one that can only be touched by those with magical abilities. So instead it just sits in a hidden place under a powerful barrier to prevent anyone without the right powers from touching it.”
Useless information, Heechul thought.
“Not if you know the place, it isn’t. I’m sure you could find it. And old storage factory, appearing abandoned… Right in this town…”
Heechul’s eyes widened in surprise. He knew that building. Was this true? If this man’s information was true, then the solution to everything was in his very hands… But what if it was a trap?
“They lied, Chullie! It was a trap! Get out of here!”
“No! I won’t leave you!”
Shaking his head to clear the bad memories, he stalked off into the night. His head was empty of all thoughts except one,
Was it worth it?
A.N.: And so it begins…Sorry if it seems to be too much about Donghae right now… and if it’s seeming really lame right now… it will be like that for the next chapter too, then after that it focuses on other things. You’ll see! (I made it a magical artifact for something later in the plot… it holds much less significance then you would think) And sorry for the slow update. School is really keeping me busy ._. I really enjoyed writing Heechul’s part in this chapter. I made his character so different and interesting… maybe I’ll give him a bigger part then I had originally intended to.
Please comment! I love hearing from all of you!
LJ hates me, so please let me know of any parts where it has deleted the first letter of the word. Sorry if it won't let me change it.
Chapter 4