SUPER (but junior) GODS from the East [Chapter 11]
Title: SUPER (but junior) GODS from the East
Chapter: 11/? (I'm estimating ~16 chapters?)
Characters: DBSK, Super Junior, CSJH The Grace
Genre: mutant!AU, action/adventure, friendship
Rating: PG-13
Summary: In which all 18 boys have super powers, and are forced to learn to use them to defend themselves when a powerful enemy kidaps some of their own. Being a teenager has never been this hard.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters nor the concept of the powers. I also realise other writers may have had the same type of story before; please rest assured that I'm not trying to plagiarise your ideas!
A/N: this is a new mutant power series that I'm currently writing. I've also written a few related oneshots earlier.
Han Geng opens the door slowly, and looks into the shared room to see Siwon doing push-ups at a ridiculously fast rate. After being the younger boy’s roommate for so long, Han Geng has learned that Siwon exercises when he’s free, and exercises like a madman when he’s stressed.
He enters the room, glad that even if Siwon is stressed; it’s better than him being so tired that he just goes straight to sleep. Because, really, how is one supposed to talk to a sleeping guy?
“You’re back.”
Siwon stops to smile at him briefly. “Yeah. Have you eaten yet, hyung?”
Han Geng finds it slightly odd that this seems to be a standard question to ask in Korea, but goes along with it anyway. “Yes. Have you?”
Siwon is about to say the same thing he told Jaejoong, but looks at Han Geng’s serious face, and shakes his head truthfully. “I didn’t really have time. Nor the appetite for it.” He adds, with a frown on his face.
Han Geng sits on his bed and Siwon lies back down to continue his sit-ups, but then comes up again to see the other boy waiting patiently. He sighs and ruffles his hair agitatedly. “You want to know what happened, don’t you.” Han Geng nods quietly, and Siwon scrunches up his face for two seconds, before relaxing his features again.
“It’s just…my parents insisted that I come home for dinner today. My father forgot that I had cram school, and so he called me during class repeatedly. I had to leave it early, go home, and get scolded by him for not remembering to remind him that I had lessons!”
Han Geng nods sympathetically, and hands him a face towel to wipe the sweat from his exercise off. “And then when I was going to leave right after dinner to come back here, he started going on and on about how I should just stay at home, and not stay in a place that might come under attack again. And we started yelling at each other…” Siwon trails off, face going red from the memory.
“In the end I just left and came here, but then Jungsu hyung started shooting questions at me, and I…it sounded just like what my father had been saying.”
“And so you were rude to him as well.” Han Geng concludes, and Siwon looks sufficiently guilty.
“I know I shouldn’t have yelled at hyung like that.” He makes no excuse for his bad behaviour, and Han Geng smiles, because it’s one of the things he loves about Siwon.
“So what are you waiting for?”
Siwon looks confused. “What?”
“You should be going to apologise now, right?”
Siwon sighs. “But- he’s probably mad at me now! And if I go talk to him and he gets angry at me, just like my father does, I might just…”
Now Han Geng stands up and folds his arms adamantly. “You aren’t going to let something like that stop you.” It isn’t a question, and Siwon stands up reluctantly.
They find Jungsu in his own room, who looks slightly surprised to see Siwon standing there.
“Um, Jungsu hyung, I’m sorry for being so rude to you earlier.” Siwon bows in apology, and Jungsu looks at him seriously.
“So you won’t be rude to your seniors next time?” Siwon nods uncomfortably. “You promise to call and tell us if you’re going to be late, or not coming back for the night?” He nods again.
“And you promise to do everything I say from now on?” Siwon looks taken aback, and Jungsu laughs his typical high-pitched giggle, moving over to pull the taller boy into a bear hug. They let go soon, as Han Geng pats their shoulders, and Siwon grips Jungsu’s hand firmly, only to have Jungsu gasp in pain.
Siwon lets go immediately and they stare at the reopened cuts on Jungsu’s palms. “What happened?” His eyes widen in astonishment.
“Jungsu dropped a glass right after you left, and got cut.” Han Geng pipes up and Jungsu’s eyes narrow slightly. He’s positive that wounds healed by Han Geng aren’t supposed to reopen. His train of thought is interrupted by Siwon frantically smacking Han Geng on the arm and telling him to quickly ‘heal hyung’s hands before they get infected or something.’
Han Geng repeats what he did earlier in the living room, but still doesn’t heal it fully enough to make the scars disappear. Siwon doesn’t notice, and gives Jungsu one more tight hug and a whispered “I love you, hyung”, before running back up to his room to start on his homework.
“Youngwoon was wondering…” Jungsu blurts out before Han Geng leaves as well, and the Chinese boy turns around to face him. “…why you didn’t heal these completely earlier on. Was it to show him?” He points outside to indicate Siwon.
Han Geng smiles sheepishly and nods. “Siwon is a good person. He’s sorry for what he does, but usually only because he has been taught from a young age to be good. I think he does not always realise how much he can hurt people.”
Well, with busy parents who probably hadn’t always listened to Siwon as a child, he might not understand the impact of what he says or does to other people, Jungsu muses.
“Do you want me to heal it totally?” Han Geng adds, almost as an afterthought. Jungsu thinks for a moment or two, and then shakes his head.
“I think I’ll keep it as a reminder that my words can hurt them as well. And that I shouldn’t keep fussing over them so much.” He smiles ruefully at Han Geng, who chuckles along.
“That’s because you have the…the mother complex.” Jungsu’s expression is comical as he stares at Han Geng, who is mentally congratulating himself on using such a difficult word today.
“Where did you learn how to say that?”
“Hmm? Oh, Heechul taught me that word.” Jungsu face-palms.
--
“You know, I’ve been thinking.” Youngwoon begins, as he continues lifting his weights.
“Really? Didn’t think you were that capable.” Heechul replies without so much as a glance in his direction, concentrating instead on the bowl of water in front of him.
The other boy growls in annoyance. “I was thinking about how we fought against those guys who came to get us here.”
A small flame flickers a couple of inches above the water. “Yeah, what about it?”
“We hurt a lot of people that night. Well, at least I did.” He stares at his hands - thick fingers wrapped around hard metal. “I don’t even know how many I knocked unconscious.”
“They attacked us first.” Kibum puts in quietly, as he phases his hand through a long block of wood, followed by his arm all the way to his shoulder. “We were defending ourselves.”
“Okay. But what about when we snuck into their building to rescue the three of them?” Youngwoon glances at Donghae at the other side of the room, acting as a dummy for Ryeowook as the latter practices seeing him through progressively thicker opaque objects.
“If I recall correctly, you were one of those who voted to rescue them as quickly as possible.” Heechul retorts, staring at his flame descending slowly towards the water.
Sungmin resists the playful urge to flick the water up and douse the flame. “And they were obviously in the wrong for kidnapping our friends.”
“Does that mean,” Jungsu finally speaks up, “that it’s okay for us to use our powers to solve our problems anytime someone wrongs us?”
Youngwoon is about to reply when Changmin suddenly appears next to them, with Yunho holding on to his arm. “Damn it.” The teleporter mutters, and Kibum raises a brow at his roommate.
“End up at the wrong place?”
Changmin shoots him a dirty look. “As if. I’m trying to teleport without bringing Yunho hyung along.”
“What’s wrong with Yunho?” Heechul demands, scowling as his flame touches the water and immediately fizzles out.
Yunho rolls his eyes. “He’s trying to teleport without bringing someone along even if they’re holding on to him. You know, in case it’s someone he’s trying to get away from.”
The others make sounds of understanding, but Youngwoon frowns. “Why?”
“He just told you why.” Changmin frowns, gesturing at Yunho who nods in assent.
“Who would you be trying to get away from?” Youngwoon clarifies, with a serious expression on his face.
“I don’t know, maybe if we get attacked again? Or if someone tries to kidnap me like they did the others?” The youngest boy replies almost sarcastically, as if the answer should be obvious. “I’m not going to wait for- for you to knock them out, or for Jaejoong hyung to make them blackout, or…” He tries to think of more examples.
Youngwoon drops his weights, making a dent in the floor. “When did we become so accustomed to the idea of using our powers against others?”
Changmin falls silent as the others look pensive. They’ve all learnt through experience or been taught in the Academy not to reveal their powers to other people if possible, and most definitely not to use them to harm other people.
“It’s hard, isn’t it?” Jungsu breaks the silence. “You have these abilities that normal people don’t. And so you refrain from using it against them because it’s not fair, and you don’t want to be revealed as a freak of nature. But when someone normal who knows about your powers attacks you anyway, you feel the need to use them so that you’ll win. And then you tell yourself it’s fair to use them if your opponent has their own powers too.”
“You end up fighting against people whom you believe are abusing their brand of power, all the while fearing that you’re doing the exact same thing.” Yunho confesses dejectedly as he slumps down to sit on the floor next to Heechul.
“Better that, I think,” Jungsu smiles wryly, “than not fearing it at all.” He looks perceptively at Changmin, who doesn’t quite dare to meet his gaze, because the youngest boy has never thought about this issue before.
He nods quietly and teleports back to the landing at the base of the stairs, where Junsu happens to be walking up to go to his room. “Hey.” Junsu greets him cheerily before noticing the look on his face. “What’s wrong?”
Changmin hesitates slightly before repeating the earlier conversation in the training room, and Junsu listens to it carefully as his expression sobers, nodding when Changmin finishes. “And what do you think about that?”
Changmin bites his lip, looking for once like the 15-year old kid he still is. “I…it never occurred to me before that I might be abusing my power. I’ve been using it since I was a child, and it just made sense to keep using it when we were going to save the three of them, or when we were attacked in our own home.” His tone is slightly defensive.
Junsu sighs. “Maybe that’s because you’ve never needed to fear your own power.” And then Changmin realises that Junsu probably has more reason to fear what his power can do than anyone else in the Academy. It makes him feel like a horrible person for even bringing this topic up, but Junsu doesn’t seem to be perturbed.
“Changmin-ah, it’s okay that you’ve never thought about this before.” Junsu smiles reassuringly. “I know you always use your power to help others, to make things convenient for them. It’s just that I think we all have to learn at some point in our lives what the consequences of using our powers actually are.”
He looks a little pensive, and Changmin wonders what it’s like to be like Junsu - always thinking about these consequences. “How do you do it?” He blurts out curiously, and Junsu blinks, drumming his gloved fingers on the banister as he considers this.
“I don’t really know.” He finally admits. “It’s really hard trying not to cross the line between use and abuse. But I think Jungsu hyung means that fearing that you might be abusing your power is the first step towards making sure that you don’t.”
He pats Changmin on the shoulder. “You know what they say - the worst kind of villain is the one who doesn’t think he’s doing anything wrong.”
**
was this chapter trying too hard to be philosophical? haha, I hope not, but I guess I felt that they needed to think about these issues at some level.
please comment and tell me your thoughts! they are always appreciated!
A/N: I'm having something of a writer's block now - mostly to do with how to end the fic, so if I don't churn out chapters as quickly as you might like, please be patient :D plot ideas are also welcome, though I can't promise to deliver exactly what you suggest.
Chapter: 11/? (I'm estimating ~16 chapters?)
Characters: DBSK, Super Junior, CSJH The Grace
Genre: mutant!AU, action/adventure, friendship
Rating: PG-13
Summary: In which all 18 boys have super powers, and are forced to learn to use them to defend themselves when a powerful enemy kidaps some of their own. Being a teenager has never been this hard.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters nor the concept of the powers. I also realise other writers may have had the same type of story before; please rest assured that I'm not trying to plagiarise your ideas!
A/N: this is a new mutant power series that I'm currently writing. I've also written a few related oneshots earlier.
Han Geng opens the door slowly, and looks into the shared room to see Siwon doing push-ups at a ridiculously fast rate. After being the younger boy’s roommate for so long, Han Geng has learned that Siwon exercises when he’s free, and exercises like a madman when he’s stressed.
He enters the room, glad that even if Siwon is stressed; it’s better than him being so tired that he just goes straight to sleep. Because, really, how is one supposed to talk to a sleeping guy?
“You’re back.”
Siwon stops to smile at him briefly. “Yeah. Have you eaten yet, hyung?”
Han Geng finds it slightly odd that this seems to be a standard question to ask in Korea, but goes along with it anyway. “Yes. Have you?”
Siwon is about to say the same thing he told Jaejoong, but looks at Han Geng’s serious face, and shakes his head truthfully. “I didn’t really have time. Nor the appetite for it.” He adds, with a frown on his face.
Han Geng sits on his bed and Siwon lies back down to continue his sit-ups, but then comes up again to see the other boy waiting patiently. He sighs and ruffles his hair agitatedly. “You want to know what happened, don’t you.” Han Geng nods quietly, and Siwon scrunches up his face for two seconds, before relaxing his features again.
“It’s just…my parents insisted that I come home for dinner today. My father forgot that I had cram school, and so he called me during class repeatedly. I had to leave it early, go home, and get scolded by him for not remembering to remind him that I had lessons!”
Han Geng nods sympathetically, and hands him a face towel to wipe the sweat from his exercise off. “And then when I was going to leave right after dinner to come back here, he started going on and on about how I should just stay at home, and not stay in a place that might come under attack again. And we started yelling at each other…” Siwon trails off, face going red from the memory.
“In the end I just left and came here, but then Jungsu hyung started shooting questions at me, and I…it sounded just like what my father had been saying.”
“And so you were rude to him as well.” Han Geng concludes, and Siwon looks sufficiently guilty.
“I know I shouldn’t have yelled at hyung like that.” He makes no excuse for his bad behaviour, and Han Geng smiles, because it’s one of the things he loves about Siwon.
“So what are you waiting for?”
Siwon looks confused. “What?”
“You should be going to apologise now, right?”
Siwon sighs. “But- he’s probably mad at me now! And if I go talk to him and he gets angry at me, just like my father does, I might just…”
Now Han Geng stands up and folds his arms adamantly. “You aren’t going to let something like that stop you.” It isn’t a question, and Siwon stands up reluctantly.
They find Jungsu in his own room, who looks slightly surprised to see Siwon standing there.
“Um, Jungsu hyung, I’m sorry for being so rude to you earlier.” Siwon bows in apology, and Jungsu looks at him seriously.
“So you won’t be rude to your seniors next time?” Siwon nods uncomfortably. “You promise to call and tell us if you’re going to be late, or not coming back for the night?” He nods again.
“And you promise to do everything I say from now on?” Siwon looks taken aback, and Jungsu laughs his typical high-pitched giggle, moving over to pull the taller boy into a bear hug. They let go soon, as Han Geng pats their shoulders, and Siwon grips Jungsu’s hand firmly, only to have Jungsu gasp in pain.
Siwon lets go immediately and they stare at the reopened cuts on Jungsu’s palms. “What happened?” His eyes widen in astonishment.
“Jungsu dropped a glass right after you left, and got cut.” Han Geng pipes up and Jungsu’s eyes narrow slightly. He’s positive that wounds healed by Han Geng aren’t supposed to reopen. His train of thought is interrupted by Siwon frantically smacking Han Geng on the arm and telling him to quickly ‘heal hyung’s hands before they get infected or something.’
Han Geng repeats what he did earlier in the living room, but still doesn’t heal it fully enough to make the scars disappear. Siwon doesn’t notice, and gives Jungsu one more tight hug and a whispered “I love you, hyung”, before running back up to his room to start on his homework.
“Youngwoon was wondering…” Jungsu blurts out before Han Geng leaves as well, and the Chinese boy turns around to face him. “…why you didn’t heal these completely earlier on. Was it to show him?” He points outside to indicate Siwon.
Han Geng smiles sheepishly and nods. “Siwon is a good person. He’s sorry for what he does, but usually only because he has been taught from a young age to be good. I think he does not always realise how much he can hurt people.”
Well, with busy parents who probably hadn’t always listened to Siwon as a child, he might not understand the impact of what he says or does to other people, Jungsu muses.
“Do you want me to heal it totally?” Han Geng adds, almost as an afterthought. Jungsu thinks for a moment or two, and then shakes his head.
“I think I’ll keep it as a reminder that my words can hurt them as well. And that I shouldn’t keep fussing over them so much.” He smiles ruefully at Han Geng, who chuckles along.
“That’s because you have the…the mother complex.” Jungsu’s expression is comical as he stares at Han Geng, who is mentally congratulating himself on using such a difficult word today.
“Where did you learn how to say that?”
“Hmm? Oh, Heechul taught me that word.” Jungsu face-palms.
--
“You know, I’ve been thinking.” Youngwoon begins, as he continues lifting his weights.
“Really? Didn’t think you were that capable.” Heechul replies without so much as a glance in his direction, concentrating instead on the bowl of water in front of him.
The other boy growls in annoyance. “I was thinking about how we fought against those guys who came to get us here.”
A small flame flickers a couple of inches above the water. “Yeah, what about it?”
“We hurt a lot of people that night. Well, at least I did.” He stares at his hands - thick fingers wrapped around hard metal. “I don’t even know how many I knocked unconscious.”
“They attacked us first.” Kibum puts in quietly, as he phases his hand through a long block of wood, followed by his arm all the way to his shoulder. “We were defending ourselves.”
“Okay. But what about when we snuck into their building to rescue the three of them?” Youngwoon glances at Donghae at the other side of the room, acting as a dummy for Ryeowook as the latter practices seeing him through progressively thicker opaque objects.
“If I recall correctly, you were one of those who voted to rescue them as quickly as possible.” Heechul retorts, staring at his flame descending slowly towards the water.
Sungmin resists the playful urge to flick the water up and douse the flame. “And they were obviously in the wrong for kidnapping our friends.”
“Does that mean,” Jungsu finally speaks up, “that it’s okay for us to use our powers to solve our problems anytime someone wrongs us?”
Youngwoon is about to reply when Changmin suddenly appears next to them, with Yunho holding on to his arm. “Damn it.” The teleporter mutters, and Kibum raises a brow at his roommate.
“End up at the wrong place?”
Changmin shoots him a dirty look. “As if. I’m trying to teleport without bringing Yunho hyung along.”
“What’s wrong with Yunho?” Heechul demands, scowling as his flame touches the water and immediately fizzles out.
Yunho rolls his eyes. “He’s trying to teleport without bringing someone along even if they’re holding on to him. You know, in case it’s someone he’s trying to get away from.”
The others make sounds of understanding, but Youngwoon frowns. “Why?”
“He just told you why.” Changmin frowns, gesturing at Yunho who nods in assent.
“Who would you be trying to get away from?” Youngwoon clarifies, with a serious expression on his face.
“I don’t know, maybe if we get attacked again? Or if someone tries to kidnap me like they did the others?” The youngest boy replies almost sarcastically, as if the answer should be obvious. “I’m not going to wait for- for you to knock them out, or for Jaejoong hyung to make them blackout, or…” He tries to think of more examples.
Youngwoon drops his weights, making a dent in the floor. “When did we become so accustomed to the idea of using our powers against others?”
Changmin falls silent as the others look pensive. They’ve all learnt through experience or been taught in the Academy not to reveal their powers to other people if possible, and most definitely not to use them to harm other people.
“It’s hard, isn’t it?” Jungsu breaks the silence. “You have these abilities that normal people don’t. And so you refrain from using it against them because it’s not fair, and you don’t want to be revealed as a freak of nature. But when someone normal who knows about your powers attacks you anyway, you feel the need to use them so that you’ll win. And then you tell yourself it’s fair to use them if your opponent has their own powers too.”
“You end up fighting against people whom you believe are abusing their brand of power, all the while fearing that you’re doing the exact same thing.” Yunho confesses dejectedly as he slumps down to sit on the floor next to Heechul.
“Better that, I think,” Jungsu smiles wryly, “than not fearing it at all.” He looks perceptively at Changmin, who doesn’t quite dare to meet his gaze, because the youngest boy has never thought about this issue before.
He nods quietly and teleports back to the landing at the base of the stairs, where Junsu happens to be walking up to go to his room. “Hey.” Junsu greets him cheerily before noticing the look on his face. “What’s wrong?”
Changmin hesitates slightly before repeating the earlier conversation in the training room, and Junsu listens to it carefully as his expression sobers, nodding when Changmin finishes. “And what do you think about that?”
Changmin bites his lip, looking for once like the 15-year old kid he still is. “I…it never occurred to me before that I might be abusing my power. I’ve been using it since I was a child, and it just made sense to keep using it when we were going to save the three of them, or when we were attacked in our own home.” His tone is slightly defensive.
Junsu sighs. “Maybe that’s because you’ve never needed to fear your own power.” And then Changmin realises that Junsu probably has more reason to fear what his power can do than anyone else in the Academy. It makes him feel like a horrible person for even bringing this topic up, but Junsu doesn’t seem to be perturbed.
“Changmin-ah, it’s okay that you’ve never thought about this before.” Junsu smiles reassuringly. “I know you always use your power to help others, to make things convenient for them. It’s just that I think we all have to learn at some point in our lives what the consequences of using our powers actually are.”
He looks a little pensive, and Changmin wonders what it’s like to be like Junsu - always thinking about these consequences. “How do you do it?” He blurts out curiously, and Junsu blinks, drumming his gloved fingers on the banister as he considers this.
“I don’t really know.” He finally admits. “It’s really hard trying not to cross the line between use and abuse. But I think Jungsu hyung means that fearing that you might be abusing your power is the first step towards making sure that you don’t.”
He pats Changmin on the shoulder. “You know what they say - the worst kind of villain is the one who doesn’t think he’s doing anything wrong.”
**
was this chapter trying too hard to be philosophical? haha, I hope not, but I guess I felt that they needed to think about these issues at some level.
please comment and tell me your thoughts! they are always appreciated!
A/N: I'm having something of a writer's block now - mostly to do with how to end the fic, so if I don't churn out chapters as quickly as you might like, please be patient :D plot ideas are also welcome, though I can't promise to deliver exactly what you suggest.