→ "This isn't Gotham."
Title/Prompt: “This isn’t Gotham.”
Genre: Supernatural
Rating: G
Pairing: Sungmin/Yesung
Summary: This isn’t Gotham. This isn’t one of those comic-book superhero stories where the vigilante is accepted by the people for doing what he does. No, this is reality, and Yesung knows it well.
Set in Neo-Seoul, the world is divided between the “normal” humans and those humans “cursed” with super natural powers. Those that possess these powers are scorned and persecuted by society because people fear their inhuman powers. In this world, there is a haven for those special ones, called Rosen Manor, where they can be protected from the horrors of the so-called normal society.
He was alone, as usual.
It was not like he didn’t enjoy the solitude. Today was quite nice, and despite the loud blaring of the car horns in the street during rush hour, it was pleasant in the city and for once, he decided to go outside and take a walk, and maybe get some fresh air.
Well, as fresh as city air could be anyhow.
Yesung sat down on a worn stone bench at the edge of the park, watching as the many coloured cars passed to and fro before his eyes, and enjoying the feeling of the soft breeze caressing his face.
He closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of grass and flowers and trees. He loved these short moments, where he could just sit down and relax for once, instead of running.
He was tugged gently from his reverie when he felt something land in his lap, and he sat up, blinking the sunlight from his eyes.
He inclined his head just slightly to see a cheerfully bright-coloured ball sitting on his legs and he looked up a little to see a little girl of about 5 years standing shyly a ways from him.
She had dark hair braided into long plaits that brushed the back of her knees, and a face set with innocent eyes and plump rosy baby cheeks. Yesung smiled at her and she averted her eyes to her shuffling feet timidly.
“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you. Is this yours?” He asked, holding out the multi-coloured ball in one hand as his other hand gestured for the girl to come closer.
Eventually she did, and with hesitant hands she took the ball from his hand. After that, she simply stood there, unsure of what to do or say.
“Jaehee! There you are!” Yesung looked up to see a worried looking woman run up to the toddler in front of him, immediately seeing the semblance between the woman and the child.
She saw Yesung and made to bow apologetically. “I’m sorry if she caused you any trouble. Jaehee has a habit of wandering off by herself.”
Yesung shook his head, smiling still. “She was no trouble at all. She was just playing ball by herself, that’s all.”
The woman smiled gratefully at him. “Well, thank you for watching her. I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t find her here.”
Yesung nodded and watched as the mother scolded her young daughter, gentle hands stroking her hair and checking her face and body for any sign of a bruise or a scratch of some sort. Not finding any, she smiled and the two started to walk down the path leading out of the park and into the asphalt city streets.
The little one walked ahead of her mother, and started to throw her ball happily into the air. After several throws, she missed the ball and it flew from her arms and into the street.
She ran after the bouncing rubber ball, not hearing her mother’s shouts to stop, only thinking of her favourite toy.
Yesung’s eyes widened as he spotted the blur of a car speeding down the street and closer and closer to destroying the innocence that was Jaehee with each passing second. His blood pumped loudly in his ears and he silently shouted in his head.
Before he even knew what he was doing, he had somehow made it to Jaehee within the blink of an eye, pulling her small body against his chest and the power emanated from his other hand as a protective dome of crackling white energy formed around them almost too late.
Yesung winced as he felt the impact of the car crashing against the force field, straining to keep his wrist steady even though he was sure it was probably sprained or fractured now. He glanced down as the young girl smothered against his torso, his vision met with wide brown eyes.
The energy automatically dissipated as Yesung let down on his control over it, the force field disintegrating away to leave only a few sparks jumping from the tips of his fingers.
“JAEHEE!” He felt Jaehee yanked harshly from his hold and he let her go, unable to keep the frantic mother from reclaiming her child.
“Mama, he saved me!” The woman gathered the girl into her arms protectively, sending Yesung a fearfully hateful glare. He didn’t say or do anything; he had already foreseen this outcome.
Instead, he walked over to the now heavily damaged bumper of the car, bending down to reach down and take out the object underneath the mangled mass of metal.
He walked over to Jaehee and her mother, who had her arms held protectively around her little daughter. He handed her the bright-coloured ball, smiling gently.
Jaehee reached out to take the ball from him, but before she could, her mother slapped Yesung’s offered hand away sharply, the ball falling out of his grasp.
He managed not to wince, for she had struck his injured hand, and merely looked apologetic as he watched the ball roll back to his feet. He picked it up once more and stepped forward to hand it back to its owner, but before he could, a sudden spike of electricity was shot up his arm and he drew his hand back instinctively, dropping the ball once more.
The mother had shocked him with a small taser, and this time he winced in pain, the electricity traveling through his nerves and causing his fingers to twitch slightly. As if his wrist weren't messed up enough.
“Get away from my daughter!”
Yesung looked into the mother’s eyes and saw the fear in her eyes, masked by her blind hate of him. No, not just him. Everyone like him. He said nothing as she ushered her child quickly away from him, glancing back every now and then, as if she were making sure that he was no following them.
He sighed.
Everytime, it was the same.
-x-
Sungmin sat next to his bed, unwrapping the makeshift bandages around Yesung’s wrist. He frowned at the bruising that had occurred at the area, looking at the other male with the expression still on his face.
“Did you go and do something stupid again?” He asked, even though Yesung knew he already knew the answer to that question.
He sighed and looked away from his scrutinizing gaze. “It’s nothing.”
“This isn’t Gotham, you know. I know you probably did it because you wanted to help someone, but next time try to be less reckless. The people are never friendly once they find out. Not at all like the bedtime stories we grew up with.”
Yesung was quiet and Sungmin didn’t prod any further; he knew that Yesung would only dismiss his questions with some excuse or another. He pressed the purpled skin gently with his thumbs, assessing the damage done. Yesung bit his lip, sucking in a sharp intake of air in pain.
“Sorry.” The older boy mumbled in apology. It seemed that Yesung had fractured his wrist, as well as damaging his muscle tissues, which explained the bruising. It was helpful that his mother had been a doctor in her day, otherwise he would not have known.
Had been a doctor. She was long gone now.
He looked up at Yesung again. “Do you want me to take away the pain?”
Yesung shook his head, his hair falling into his eyes. He used his uninjured hand to tuck his shoulder-brushing hair behind one ear, displaying the earring decorating his earlobe.
“It’s fine, I can take it.” In the back of his mind, Sungmin wondered if the younger boy was lying to him, but again, he didn’t say anything, simply nodding once in reply before moving onto the next task.
He silently apologized to Yesung before sharply pulling at the mid section of his forearm in opposite directions, realigning the fractured bone beneath the skin and muscle.
Yesung let out a stifled noise of pain, biting his lip and clenching his bed sheets in his other hand to keep himself from being any louder.
Sungmin didn’t ask him this time, but he lightly touched the area of the bruising and a faint blue-white light fluttered beneath his fingers. The sparks that flowed into his fingers gave him a lifting invigorating feeling, like he had just had a cup of strong coffee.
He was sure Yesung had noticed that he had taken away the pain (at least, he had taken most of it) but the younger boy said nothing to him. He proceeded to wrap a splint around the fractured limb to keep the bone straight, winding the white bandages around his wrist enough to cover it almost completely and tying it with a secure knot.
He looked at Yesung’s face, the expression on his face contemplative and thoughtful, but blank enough that it was hard to decipher what he was thinking about or feeling.
He left for a moment to get Yesung a cup of tea, and soup, coming back not too long afterwards. He sat next to the bed, looking expectantly at the quiet boy in it.
“Eat.” was all he said, and after several seconds, Yesung began to eat the hot soup slowly. It made Sungmin pleased to see his friend eating. He knew that Yesung would never admit it, but he loved his cooking, since his mother had brought him home after finding him all alone when he was 14 years old.
Now they were both living together in a small apartment. They never stayed one place for long so there wasn’t any need to take up residence in a high class condo or anything like that. Plus, they couldn't carry that much money around with them, so what was a 20 year old runaway, and his 18 going on 19 year old brother to do?
“Did you think about what I asked you yesterday?” Sungmin finally asked, when Yesung was done eating, knowing that if he had asked sooner, Yesung would not have finished his soup.
“Jongwoon-ah, do you want to move into Rosen Manor?”
Yesung was quiet for awhile. For some reason or other, he had quite an aversion to the place. For Sungmin, it was simply a safe place, a place he could be himself without having to hide his “curses.”
Finally Yesung spoke, quietly but still audible. “If you want to, then I’m fine with going.”
Sungmin grinned happily. “Okay, I’ll get our things packed then, alright?”
Yesung simply nodded, holding back a yawn. The older boy put a hand to his shoulder comfortingly.
“You go to sleep, I’ll pack for you.”
He only left after Yesung nodded again and slid beneath the cotton covers, pulling the comforter up to his chin and closing his eyes.
“Good night, Jongwoon.”
Genre: Supernatural
Rating: G
Pairing: Sungmin/Yesung
Summary: This isn’t Gotham. This isn’t one of those comic-book superhero stories where the vigilante is accepted by the people for doing what he does. No, this is reality, and Yesung knows it well.
Set in Neo-Seoul, the world is divided between the “normal” humans and those humans “cursed” with super natural powers. Those that possess these powers are scorned and persecuted by society because people fear their inhuman powers. In this world, there is a haven for those special ones, called Rosen Manor, where they can be protected from the horrors of the so-called normal society.
He was alone, as usual.
It was not like he didn’t enjoy the solitude. Today was quite nice, and despite the loud blaring of the car horns in the street during rush hour, it was pleasant in the city and for once, he decided to go outside and take a walk, and maybe get some fresh air.
Well, as fresh as city air could be anyhow.
Yesung sat down on a worn stone bench at the edge of the park, watching as the many coloured cars passed to and fro before his eyes, and enjoying the feeling of the soft breeze caressing his face.
He closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of grass and flowers and trees. He loved these short moments, where he could just sit down and relax for once, instead of running.
He was tugged gently from his reverie when he felt something land in his lap, and he sat up, blinking the sunlight from his eyes.
He inclined his head just slightly to see a cheerfully bright-coloured ball sitting on his legs and he looked up a little to see a little girl of about 5 years standing shyly a ways from him.
She had dark hair braided into long plaits that brushed the back of her knees, and a face set with innocent eyes and plump rosy baby cheeks. Yesung smiled at her and she averted her eyes to her shuffling feet timidly.
“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you. Is this yours?” He asked, holding out the multi-coloured ball in one hand as his other hand gestured for the girl to come closer.
Eventually she did, and with hesitant hands she took the ball from his hand. After that, she simply stood there, unsure of what to do or say.
“Jaehee! There you are!” Yesung looked up to see a worried looking woman run up to the toddler in front of him, immediately seeing the semblance between the woman and the child.
She saw Yesung and made to bow apologetically. “I’m sorry if she caused you any trouble. Jaehee has a habit of wandering off by herself.”
Yesung shook his head, smiling still. “She was no trouble at all. She was just playing ball by herself, that’s all.”
The woman smiled gratefully at him. “Well, thank you for watching her. I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t find her here.”
Yesung nodded and watched as the mother scolded her young daughter, gentle hands stroking her hair and checking her face and body for any sign of a bruise or a scratch of some sort. Not finding any, she smiled and the two started to walk down the path leading out of the park and into the asphalt city streets.
The little one walked ahead of her mother, and started to throw her ball happily into the air. After several throws, she missed the ball and it flew from her arms and into the street.
She ran after the bouncing rubber ball, not hearing her mother’s shouts to stop, only thinking of her favourite toy.
Yesung’s eyes widened as he spotted the blur of a car speeding down the street and closer and closer to destroying the innocence that was Jaehee with each passing second. His blood pumped loudly in his ears and he silently shouted in his head.
Before he even knew what he was doing, he had somehow made it to Jaehee within the blink of an eye, pulling her small body against his chest and the power emanated from his other hand as a protective dome of crackling white energy formed around them almost too late.
Yesung winced as he felt the impact of the car crashing against the force field, straining to keep his wrist steady even though he was sure it was probably sprained or fractured now. He glanced down as the young girl smothered against his torso, his vision met with wide brown eyes.
The energy automatically dissipated as Yesung let down on his control over it, the force field disintegrating away to leave only a few sparks jumping from the tips of his fingers.
“JAEHEE!” He felt Jaehee yanked harshly from his hold and he let her go, unable to keep the frantic mother from reclaiming her child.
“Mama, he saved me!” The woman gathered the girl into her arms protectively, sending Yesung a fearfully hateful glare. He didn’t say or do anything; he had already foreseen this outcome.
Instead, he walked over to the now heavily damaged bumper of the car, bending down to reach down and take out the object underneath the mangled mass of metal.
He walked over to Jaehee and her mother, who had her arms held protectively around her little daughter. He handed her the bright-coloured ball, smiling gently.
Jaehee reached out to take the ball from him, but before she could, her mother slapped Yesung’s offered hand away sharply, the ball falling out of his grasp.
He managed not to wince, for she had struck his injured hand, and merely looked apologetic as he watched the ball roll back to his feet. He picked it up once more and stepped forward to hand it back to its owner, but before he could, a sudden spike of electricity was shot up his arm and he drew his hand back instinctively, dropping the ball once more.
The mother had shocked him with a small taser, and this time he winced in pain, the electricity traveling through his nerves and causing his fingers to twitch slightly. As if his wrist weren't messed up enough.
“Get away from my daughter!”
Yesung looked into the mother’s eyes and saw the fear in her eyes, masked by her blind hate of him. No, not just him. Everyone like him. He said nothing as she ushered her child quickly away from him, glancing back every now and then, as if she were making sure that he was no following them.
He sighed.
Everytime, it was the same.
-x-
Sungmin sat next to his bed, unwrapping the makeshift bandages around Yesung’s wrist. He frowned at the bruising that had occurred at the area, looking at the other male with the expression still on his face.
“Did you go and do something stupid again?” He asked, even though Yesung knew he already knew the answer to that question.
He sighed and looked away from his scrutinizing gaze. “It’s nothing.”
“This isn’t Gotham, you know. I know you probably did it because you wanted to help someone, but next time try to be less reckless. The people are never friendly once they find out. Not at all like the bedtime stories we grew up with.”
Yesung was quiet and Sungmin didn’t prod any further; he knew that Yesung would only dismiss his questions with some excuse or another. He pressed the purpled skin gently with his thumbs, assessing the damage done. Yesung bit his lip, sucking in a sharp intake of air in pain.
“Sorry.” The older boy mumbled in apology. It seemed that Yesung had fractured his wrist, as well as damaging his muscle tissues, which explained the bruising. It was helpful that his mother had been a doctor in her day, otherwise he would not have known.
Had been a doctor. She was long gone now.
He looked up at Yesung again. “Do you want me to take away the pain?”
Yesung shook his head, his hair falling into his eyes. He used his uninjured hand to tuck his shoulder-brushing hair behind one ear, displaying the earring decorating his earlobe.
“It’s fine, I can take it.” In the back of his mind, Sungmin wondered if the younger boy was lying to him, but again, he didn’t say anything, simply nodding once in reply before moving onto the next task.
He silently apologized to Yesung before sharply pulling at the mid section of his forearm in opposite directions, realigning the fractured bone beneath the skin and muscle.
Yesung let out a stifled noise of pain, biting his lip and clenching his bed sheets in his other hand to keep himself from being any louder.
Sungmin didn’t ask him this time, but he lightly touched the area of the bruising and a faint blue-white light fluttered beneath his fingers. The sparks that flowed into his fingers gave him a lifting invigorating feeling, like he had just had a cup of strong coffee.
He was sure Yesung had noticed that he had taken away the pain (at least, he had taken most of it) but the younger boy said nothing to him. He proceeded to wrap a splint around the fractured limb to keep the bone straight, winding the white bandages around his wrist enough to cover it almost completely and tying it with a secure knot.
He looked at Yesung’s face, the expression on his face contemplative and thoughtful, but blank enough that it was hard to decipher what he was thinking about or feeling.
He left for a moment to get Yesung a cup of tea, and soup, coming back not too long afterwards. He sat next to the bed, looking expectantly at the quiet boy in it.
“Eat.” was all he said, and after several seconds, Yesung began to eat the hot soup slowly. It made Sungmin pleased to see his friend eating. He knew that Yesung would never admit it, but he loved his cooking, since his mother had brought him home after finding him all alone when he was 14 years old.
Now they were both living together in a small apartment. They never stayed one place for long so there wasn’t any need to take up residence in a high class condo or anything like that. Plus, they couldn't carry that much money around with them, so what was a 20 year old runaway, and his 18 going on 19 year old brother to do?
“Did you think about what I asked you yesterday?” Sungmin finally asked, when Yesung was done eating, knowing that if he had asked sooner, Yesung would not have finished his soup.
“Jongwoon-ah, do you want to move into Rosen Manor?”
Yesung was quiet for awhile. For some reason or other, he had quite an aversion to the place. For Sungmin, it was simply a safe place, a place he could be himself without having to hide his “curses.”
Finally Yesung spoke, quietly but still audible. “If you want to, then I’m fine with going.”
Sungmin grinned happily. “Okay, I’ll get our things packed then, alright?”
Yesung simply nodded, holding back a yawn. The older boy put a hand to his shoulder comfortingly.
“You go to sleep, I’ll pack for you.”
He only left after Yesung nodded again and slid beneath the cotton covers, pulling the comforter up to his chin and closing his eyes.
“Good night, Jongwoon.”