Every Step of the Way - Part Two
Title: Every Step of the Way
Fandom: U-KISS, cameos from SS501 and Epik High
Pairings: friendship!KeMaru, SooBum
Word Count: 9,700
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Kevin had been with KiBum through thick and thin, since they were children. He was his protective best friend, the one he could always talk to. What KiBum didn’t know was that protectiveness stemmed from a powerful secret…and soon it would be time to say goodbye.
A/N: Spin-off from Guardian, illustrating Kevin and KiBum’s story from beginning to end. My first attempt at a U-KISS fic, please be gentle ^^;; It’s highly advised to read Guardian before reading this. MASSIVE thanks to renichifreak for the beta!!
One day, Kevin called SooHyun and asked him to meet him alone.
Come to think of it, he’d never been anywhere just him and Kevin, SooHyun mused to himself as he tried to figure out what the younger man might want. It was always him, Kevin, and KiBum. Kevin was always with KiBum. He couldn’t remember any of the others spending any one-on-one time with Kevin either, not since he’d joined their Seeker group.
Looking around the quiet park at night, SooHyun spotted Kevin approaching from the other side of a water fountain. The young man was looking sicklier each day, and his usual thinness had seemed to get to the point of skeletal, especially when combined with his height. KiBum was visibly worried, trying to get Kevin to eat more or to take better care of himself, but even the best care seemed to have no effect.
It really was like Kevin had just…ran out of time. But SooHyun was still trying to figure that part out. He’d gone into extensive research on Kevin, trying to turn up anything about the younger man…anything at all.
He’d been unable to find anything on Kevin in Korea. Absolutely nothing. No school records, even though KiBum went to school with him since elementary. No passports from traveling back and forth from the United States. He’d even tried to pull a few strings and turn up a citizenship, or something.
Absolutely nothing.
“Hey,” SooHyun grinned a little when Kevin arrived, the younger man smiling back at him. It was then SooHyun noticed the redness around Kevin’s eyes. “What’s up, you okay?”
“Could have been better,” Kevin laughed, and the sound was so tired. “I just wanted to talk to you about something quickly, I don’t have much time.”
Time. What was it about time?
“Sure, what’s going on?” SooHyun asked, sitting down on a bench. Kevin sat down next to him.
“I wanted to ask you…you’re serious about KiBum hyung, right?”
SooHyun stared at Kevin at the question. “Kev, I thought we already went through the ‘overprotective best friend’ phase years ago.”
“I’ll always be his overprotective best friend,” Kevin’s smile was strained. “Please, just answer my question hyung?”
“All right…” SooHyun sighed. “Yes, I am serious about him. I love him.”
“And you’d take care of him always?”
“Kevin, what’s-“
“Please hyung.”
SooHyun sighed and nodded, pushing his hand back through his hair. “That’s my intention, yes. I’m not about to leave him to face the world alone.”
“Thank you,” Kevin sighed softly.
“Now are you going to tell me what’s up? This isn’t like you Kev, first of all you never enjoyed being mysterious, and second you’ve never asked me to talk alone, especially not this time of night.” SooHyun eyed the younger man suspiciously.
Kevin was silent for a long moment. “I…have to go away for a while, hyung.”
“Go away?” SooHyun blinked at him. “Where? Does KiBum know?”
“He’ll know tomorrow. So I just wanted to make sure you’ll look after him while I’m gone. Promise me, you’ll take care of him.”
“I promise, of course,” SooHyun frowned, trying to figure out what was prompting all this. It didn’t escape him that Kevin hadn’t said where he was going. “Why do you have to leave?”
Kevin gave him a sad smile. “I’ve been here too long, I think. It’s time to go back home.”
It was so similar to what he’d overheard Alexander say to Kevin just a week ago.
“But your home’s here.”
“Yeah…I thought so too.”
A chilly breeze ran through the area at those words.
“Take care of him, SooHyun…please…”
*******************************************
With a groan KiBum flopped down backwards onto his bed, feeling like death warmed over. A year into the demon-hunting business known as Seeking, and he still had trouble getting used to the idea. Demon hunters…and the Sight.
KyuJong had taught him everything he knew about the Sight, and what it enabled them to do. KiBum didn’t want to believe him at first, the idea that they were ‘chosen children’ was a little too much for him…but he had to grudgingly admit that it made some sense.
He, HyungJoon and Kevin had joined KyuJong and Daniel as Seekers. There were a few others, but they came and went, and some were in the process of leaving the city. No one other than himself and KyuJong possessed the Sight.
“Tired?” The bed dipped next to KiBum, and he opened his mismatched eyes to see Kevin looking down at him. A loud snore from across the hall meant HyungJoon had already fallen asleep.
“More than just tired,” KiBum groaned. “You don’t look much better. Wanna crash here tonight?”
“It’s fine, I can make it back home,” Kevin started to stand up again. KiBum wrapped his arms around the younger teen’s middle and Kevin fell back onto the bed with a yelp, half on top of KiBum.
“You kidding? We just finished killing a bunch of demons, and there’s a ton more, and you want me to let you walk home alone at this time of night when you can barely walk straight?” KiBum tangled his legs around Kevin’s. “Sleep here tonight, the bed’s big enough.”
“Okay, okay,” Kevin sighed with a small smile, squirming around in KiBum’s arms to face him properly. “You can let go hyung, I’m not gonna run away.”
“I don’t wanna let go,” KiBum yawned, burying his face in Kevin’s shoulder. “We both need showers tomorrow, you’re all sweaty.”
“Well you’re not much better,” Kevin chuckled, pushing at KiBum in retaliation before settling down.
The room was silent for a long time, both boys settling down to sleep. Just as they were about to drift off, KiBum’s quiet voice punctuated the silence. “Kev?”
“Yeah?” Kevin mumbled, half-gone.
“We’ll always be best friends, right?”
“Mhm,” Kevin nodded, running his fingers through KiBum’s short hair. “No better friends than us.”
“Never,” KiBum shook his head, not removing his face from Kevin’s bony shoulder. “I can’t do this without you.”
“I’ll always be here for you,” Kevin’s smile was audible in his voice, but there was something sad about it. “Always.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
*******************************
Kevin went missing.
SooHyun answered a frantic call from KiBum while at work, that Kevin hadn’t been in class all day. When KiBum tried calling him, there was an electronic voice telling him that number was not in use. When he went to see Kevin at his small apartment, the place was abandoned.
Managing to leave work early, SooHyun met KiBum and the others outside Kevin’s apartment, Daniel interrogating the building owner.
“I don’t know sir,” the flustered man told them, made anxious by the angry young men in his apartment complex. “He left a few days ago, didn’t leave any way to contact him.”
“A few days ago? That’s impossible, we saw him yesterday!” KiBum yelled, a frantic note in his voice. HyungJoon had to physically hold his little brother back from doing something rash.
“We’ll retrace the paths he usually takes,” Daniel was trying to calm KiBum after they left the building. “He can’t have just vanished into thin air.”
But Kevin had. Five hours of fruitless searching later, they turned up absolutely nothing. Daniel pulled out several of his contacts from the country to help them look, and SooHyun tried to channel that weird energy he always felt around Kevin. There was no sign of him.
Guilt gnawed at his stomach as he watched KiBum drop down onto his bed that night, exhausted and beyond the point of tears. He’d nearly punched a hole in the wall earlier when the suggestion was made they stop for the night and try again tomorrow, but now he just looked so devoid of energy.
“We’ll find him,” SooHyun said quietly, sitting down next to KiBum and pulling his boyfriend close.
“We have to,” KiBum whispered, burying his face in SooHyun’s shoulder, and the older man let him.
Should he tell KiBum about the strange meeting with Kevin last night? That Kevin had told him he had to leave…but didn’t tell him to where? It wasn’t something SooHyun could keep from his distraught boyfriend.
“I…met with Kevin last night,” he started slowly, and KiBum shot upright immediately, eyes wide.
“You did? But you never meet with him.”
“I know, he called me out to talk,” SooHyun said, worried about how KiBum would react about this. “He’s been acting weird, you know? Lately.”
“No shit Sherlock.”
SooHyun sighed. “Listen. He told me…that he was going away for a while.”
“What?!” KiBum grabbed SooHyun’s shirt. “Why? Where did he go? Why didn’t he tell me?”
“I don’t know, he told me he would let you know today!” SooHyun snapped, grabbing KiBum’s wrists and pushing the younger man’s hands away before he could be choked. “He didn’t tell me where, I tried asking.” He didn’t say anything about the promises Kevin had gotten from SooHyun.
“But that doesn’t make any sense, Kevin’s never been like that!” KiBum stared at him, anger, grief and worry twisting his expression. “And why would he tell you before me?”
“I don’t know! I just don’t know, KiBum!” SooHyun pushed his hair back out of his eyes in frustration. “He said something about…having to go home.”
“But his home’s here! He’s been living here for years!”
“What about America? Doesn’t he have parents there?”
“He hasn’t left to see them in years, SooHyun. This is…I don’t get it. Where would he have gone? Without telling us, without letting us know he’s okay?” KiBum’s hands clenched into shaking fists in his lap, and he punched the bed hard.
“I don’t know,” SooHyun pulled KiBum into a tight hug, ignoring the grief-weakened beating against his chest. “I wish I knew, KiBum. We’ll find him, okay?”
Continuing to hit SooHyun for a minute, KiBum finally lost energy again, going limp against the older man as his eyes closed and tears slipped down his cheeks. “That bastard…he promised…”
SooHyun shut his eyes tightly, kissing the top of KiBum’s head as his boyfriend started to cry.
**********************************
A few days passed, then a week. Kevin didn’t turn up. They found absolutely nothing on him. It really was as if he’d just vanished off the face of the earth.
KiBum seemed to withdraw more each day, refusing to smile and neglecting his health in favor of keeping up the search. Sometimes, SooHyun felt anger at Kevin for leaving his best friend like this, worried sick and heartbroken. What had that kid been thinking?
A quick conversation with the others confirmed that SooHyun had been the only one to talk to Kevin alone the night before his disappearance. Why him, of all people? Kevin had been pleasant with him from day one, especially since he became KiBum’s boyfriend, but SooHyun had always had a nagging feeling that the younger man didn’t like him getting close to KiBum.
After leaving KiBum to HyungJoon for the night, the older brother dead-set on making sure KiBum got some rest even if he had to slip him sleeping pills, SooHyun headed back to his own small apartment and did some research of his own. As a medium, his reach went far, and together he and Daniel had been searching for any sign of Kevin’s whereabouts.
Remembering his idea that Kevin might have gone to America, SooHyun started searching English sites instead, for records or anything on the younger man. It meant a lot of back-and-forth with an inefficient online translator (the translator needed a translator in his opinion, with some of the gibberish it spat out), but he kept at it, knowing that KiBum was never going to be able to move on without some proof that Kevin was safe. And then maybe an address so he could track the younger man down and kick his ass for disappearing.
Lips pursed, SooHyun scrolled through the hits he got on Kevin’s name, looking for anything. There were too many ‘Woo SungHyun’s he quickly decided. What should he be searching under, anyways? SungHyun, or Kevin? Or both?
Sipping some of his coffee, SooHyun nearly spat it back out again when he scrolled right past a picture of the man he was looking for. Quickly scrolling back up, he stared. It was Kevin all right, he looked a little different in black and white, but that was him. It was some English newspaper website. Without even thinking, he went to the website and copy-pasted the entire thing into a translator.
Reading through, SooHyun’s heart sank in his chest, and he wished he hadn’t.
*********************************
“KiBum?” SooHyun knocked repeatedly on the apartment door. “HyungJoon, hey! Open up!”
HyungJoon appeared at the door, hair tousled and rubbing sleep from his eyes. “SooHyun? What’s going on? It’s early.”
KiBum appeared at the sound of his boyfriend’s voice. “Did you find him?!”
“KiBum, go back to bed, you’re a zombie walking,” HyungJoon tried to push his little brother back inside.
“I…I found him.”
Both brothers froze at that, KiBum’s eyes widening as he turned to SooHyun hopefully. “You did?!” But the bleak expression on his boyfriend’s face nearly shattered that hope. “SooHyun?”
“Can I come in?”
Stepping out of the way, KiBum watched as SooHyun entered the apartment, kicking off his shoes and heading into the main room. “SooHyun, where is he? Tell us!”
“I…I don’t know how,” SooHyun drew in a shaky breath, and dropped pieces of paper onto the coffee table before dropping onto the sofa, head in his hands. “I’m sorry, KiBum…”
Those words made KiBum’s face go white as a sheet. “What?” Fearing the worst, he snatched up the papers, all translated awkwardly from some different language.
But the words that mattered were as clear as day, and KiBum had to sit down.
California.
Serial killing.
Ten victims.
Teenage boys.
SungHyun Woo.
Kevin.
Kidnapped.
Dead.
The papers fell from KiBum’s hands to the floor.
Dead.
“I…I don’t…” KiBum’s throat worked, trying to say something, but the words wouldn’t reach him. “That’s…Kevin was here last week. Not California. It can’t be him.” Even if it was Kevin’s picture…it couldn’t be him. It couldn’t be him, in that collection of ten black and white photos.
SooHyun covered his eyes with one hand, unable to take seeing what was going to happen next. “KiBum…look at the date of the article…” he whispered, voice hoarse.
With shaking fingers, KiBum slowly picked up the papers again, eyes scanning to the date of the newspaper article at the top of the page.
October 12th, 1980.
“This…this is not him, SooHyun!” KiBum threw the papers across the room. “Kevin did not die thirty years ago! He was here last week! This is bullshit!”
“KiBum, listen to me!” SooHyun grabbed KiBum’s wrists to stop him from throwing anything else, or hitting him. “Listen! Everything I found confirms that it is him. That article was on a bunch of news papers, and all the pictures were him!”
“But Kevin didn’t die thirty years ago!” KiBum yelled.
“I have an idea,” SooHyun said, and KiBum quietened, staring at him warily. “It’s just a theory, but you have to listen to me. Remember when I was telling you Kevin had a weird aura?”
“And I told you, he does not! There’s nothing wrong with Kevin!”
“KiBum, I’m the medium, and I sensed something off around him! That’s why it always seemed like my ability was going haywire, because he was always around!”
HyungJoon had picked up the papers and read through by then, pain lacing his expression. “Then…what are you suggesting, SooHyun?”
“I got the exact same vibe from that YoungSaeng person,” SooHyun looked at him, still holding onto KiBum. “And Alexander, and those other ‘contacts’. Remember our idea on what they were?”
“…Guardian Angels?” HyungJoon sat down.
“So what you’re trying to say is, Kevin is some guardian angel sent to protect me or some crap like that?” KiBum glared at SooHyun, tears in his eyes. “This isn’t funny, SooHyun. My best friend is missing, and you’re pulling this shit right now?!”
“KiBum, give me five minutes to explain! You’ve said it yourself, remember? Kevin was always there to help you.”
“He’s my best friend, of course he was!”
SooHyun pressed harder. “But being a best friend can only go so far! For him to show up exactly at the right time, every time without fail, don’t you think it’s weird?! For years! Not just once or twice, but he’s been consistently there for you, for years!”
“That doesn’t mean he’s some angel, SooHyun.” KiBum shook his head hard. “That doesn’t mean he’s dead!” The tears were falling.
“I never told you, did I?” SooHyun grabbed KiBum’s chin, forcing the angry younger man to look at him. “Remember when that demon nest happened? And you were knocked unconscious? You were bleeding, right here,” His free hand tapped lightly against KiBum’s temple. “Your whole head was covered in blood. Kevin found a place for us to hide, told me to protect you while he stood guard. He touched your head lightly, and then left. And when I checked your injury, there was nothing. No wound, except for this scar.”
“That doesn’t mean…” KiBum continued shaking his head, but his hands were starting to tremble.
“He’s…making some sense, KiBum,” HyungJoon swallowed.
“Hyung, not you too!”
“I remember when you and Kevin first brought KyuJong and Daniel back home.” HyungJoon was frowning. “You said Kevin found them, and brought them to you.”
“Yeah,” KiBum nodded, trying to wipe at his eyes.
“How did Kevin find them?”
“He…” KiBum trailed off as he realized that no, he didn’t know how Kevin had found them. “Well, he probably ran into them somewhere!”
“And knew where to find you? Knew you were in trouble?”
“It might have been KyuJong who saw the demon…”
“But you just finished saying Kevin brought them to you, not KyuJong,” HyungJoon insisted. “And the timing was-“
“Enough!” KiBum covered his face with his hands. “Just, enough!”
They were starting to make a little too much sense for KiBum to handle. Kevin couldn’t have been a guardian angel the entire time…he just couldn’t.
“The night before he disappeared, Kevin said something about running out of time,” SooHyun said quietly. “Do guardian angels have a certain amount of time they can be here?”
“I thought guardian angels were for life?” HyungJoon frowned.
“But angels don’t have real bodies like ours maybe? The demons didn’t…”
SooHyun stopped his theory when KiBum started to sob brokenly. Grief twisting his own expression, he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and held him close, wishing he could comfort him in some way
HyungJoon sniffled a little too, wiping at his eyes. “Well…there’s only one way to find out, is there? Find out if all this is real or not?”
“What?” SooHyun looked up at him, rubbing KiBum’s back slowly.
The other man looked at him sadly. “You found Kevin, didn’t you?”
SooHyun drew in a slow breath, shutting his eyes tightly. HyungJoon was right. There was only one way they were going to know for sure.
It was time to pay Kevin one last visit.
*************************************
“I thought California was supposed to be warm?” SooHyun stomped his feet a little, stuffing his hands into his pocket as they walked.
“It is getting to the end of the year…” KiBum looked up at the leafless trees, the sky bleak and gray. It wasn’t a good day to be doing anything…but it had taken long enough to find where they needed to go, they would have to leave for Korea again soon. This would be their only chance to do what they came to do.
“There it is,” SooHyun motioned up ahead. He couldn’t read English very well, but the sign on the gate up ahead matched that of the words on the map he was holding.
KiBum drew in a shaky breath, wrapping one arm around SooHyun’s as they stepped into the cemetery. There had to be thousands of tombstones.
“How are we ever going to find him?” SooHyun murmured, looking around. “He would have a tombstone, right?”
KiBum didn’t reply, just starting to walk. SooHyun followed beside his boyfriend.
They walked up and down the lines of tombstones for half an hour before they found what they were looking for. The tombstone was so small they almost missed it, tucked in a back corner of the graveyard. It was relatively new compared to the other gravestones, but neglect and vandalism made it look centuries older, a corner broken off and trash littering the area.
“This is disgusting,” KiBum whispered as they passed by it. “How could people stand doing this to someone’s gra-“ His voice cut out in his throat as his eyes scanned over the words written on the tombstone, and his hand fell from SooHyun’s. “…Oh God...”
SooHyun stepped back, unable to do anything but watch as KiBum dropped to his hands and knees, pushing away the trash and fallen leaves to uncover the words completely.
SungHyun Kevin Woo.
1961-1980
Every man's life is a plan of God.
“…It’s really him…” KiBum whispered, tears falling down his cheeks as he lightly brushed his fingers against the cold stone. “Kevin…why didn’t you tell me? We’re best friends…”
“Maybe he couldn’t,” SooHyun said softly. “I guess even guardian angels have their own rules.”
KiBum sobbed quietly, resting his head against the tombstone. “He said he’d be here always…”
Wiping away his own tears, SooHyun suddenly froze when something nudged at the corners of his senses. “…KiBum?”
“Yeah?” KiBum wasn’t paying attention to him, staring at the tombstone with heartbreak in his eyes.
“KiBum, he’s here…I sense him.”
“He…what?” KiBum looked back at him then, seeing the wide-eyed look on SooHyun’s face. “Kevin’s here?”
“Yeah…h-he’s…” SooHyun suddenly wavered and sank to his knees. “Urh…”
“SooHyun?! What’s wrong?” KiBum scrambled back to him, kneeling down beside the man and trying to support him. “What’s happening?” The gasping noises SooHyun was making was scaring him.
Then SooHyun’s breathing eased, and he lifted his head. KiBum stared blankly when he saw the misted over quality to SooHyun’s eyes. He’d seen that look before…when SooHyun was channeling a spirit.
“KiBum hyung?”
The voice that came from his boyfriend’s lips did not belong to SooHyun, but KiBum recognized it. The tears started all over again…that voice was all the confirmation he would ever need. “K-Kev? Kev, is that you?”
SooHyun’s smile was heartbreaking. “I’m sorry, hyung…I wanted to stay. But I was out of time.”
“Oh God, Kevin…” KiBum pulled his boyfriend into a tight hug, eyes squeezing shut. “You’re…you’re my guardian angel? Kev, I can’t take this…what am I supposed to do without you?”
“You have to keep going KiBum, please.” Strong arms wrapped around him, but to KiBum it was as if it was thin, bony Kevin was hugging him back, not SooHyun. “I’ll always be around…but I can’t keep a physical form anymore. I was supposed to stop when you were ten.”
“When I was…ten?”
“Yeah…but I just couldn’t leave you. I’m sorry…I wanted so badly to always be your best friend.”
KiBum sniffled a little, hugging him tighter. “You’re still my best friend, you idiot. You’ll always be my best friend. You promise you’ll be nearby?”
“Mhm,” SooHyun nodded, pulling back a little to smile at him. “I’ll always be with you KiBum hyung.”
KiBum looked into his boyfriend’s glazed-over eyes, seeing Kevin inside him. “So…this isn’t really goodbye then, right?”
“No, just…’I’ll see you later’,” Kevin and SooHyun’s smile became warmer.
“You’ll be waiting…when it’s my turn to go?”
“I’ll be waiting. But you’re going to have a long, happy life.”
“You’ll be making sure of that I guess,” KiBum gave a watery chuckle.
“Yeah,” Kevin’s high-pitched laugh made something loosen in KiBum’s chest, and for the first time in nearly a month, he could smile properly. “Take care, KiBum hyung.”
“I’ll see you when it’s time,” KiBum smiled wider through his tears. “Best friends forever, Kevin…Promise?”
“Promise!”
And then the glazed quality left SooHyun’s eyes, and KiBum had to support his boyfriend from slumping over. “Urgh…what happened?” SooHyun winced, sitting up slowly and pressing one hand to his pounding head. “What was that?”
“That was Kevin saying goodbye,” KiBum smiled at him, before drawing in a shaky breath and resting his head against SooHyun’s shoulder, closing his eyes.
“Oh…” SooHyun wrapped his arms tightly around KiBum, closing his eyes. “So…is everything okay?”
“Not yet…” KiBum sniffled a little, smiling through the tears. “But it will be.”
*******************************************
“Come on, you’re going to be late for your own graduation!”
“Shut up, you’re stressing everyone out!”
Laughter rang out as the group walked down the street, KiBum trying to stop HyungJoon from dragging him on ahead. “The ceremony starts in two hours hyung, chill out!”
“I can’t help it! My little brother is graduating from university!” HyungJoon whined, before shrieking as JungMin grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him back.
“Yah, we’re going to leave you home next time!”
Laughing, SooHyun shook his head at them all before looking at KiBum, who was now walking ahead of the group. “KiBum, wait up!”
“Yeah yeah!” KiBum waved back at them, going to cross the street.
A car horn blared loudly in his ears, and KiBum yelled in alarm when suddenly a vehicle came barreling down the street towards him, not stopping.
Hands grabbed his arms and pulled him back, KiBum falling back onto his rear. The car drove by without stopping, someone yelling out the window for ‘stupid kids to watch where they’re going’.
“KiBum!” SooHyun pulled him back up to his feet. “KiBum, are you okay?” The others crowded around them, clamoring to know the same thing as HyungJoon started to check him over for injuries.
“Yeah…just a little shell-shocked,” KiBum blinked, still dazed. “Uh…thanks for pulling me back.”
“KiBum…no one pulled you back,” SooHyun blinked at him. “You backed up and fell over.”
“Huh? But I felt…” KiBum looked around at the confused faces. “…No one pulled me back?”
“No one was close enough.”
“…Huh…must have been imagining things,” KiBum frowned, before shaking his head and turning around to try crossing the street again. “Well, let’s go!”
SooHyun wrapped one arm around his waist, not about to let him get nearly killed again. They continued down the street, the idle chatter gradually starting up again.
Once the others were thoroughly distracted, KiBum smiled to himself, and whispered a “thank you” under his breath.
Warm fingers curled around his own. There was no one there.
Fandom: U-KISS, cameos from SS501 and Epik High
Pairings: friendship!KeMaru, SooBum
Word Count: 9,700
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Kevin had been with KiBum through thick and thin, since they were children. He was his protective best friend, the one he could always talk to. What KiBum didn’t know was that protectiveness stemmed from a powerful secret…and soon it would be time to say goodbye.
A/N: Spin-off from Guardian, illustrating Kevin and KiBum’s story from beginning to end. My first attempt at a U-KISS fic, please be gentle ^^;; It’s highly advised to read Guardian before reading this. MASSIVE thanks to renichifreak for the beta!!
One day, Kevin called SooHyun and asked him to meet him alone.
Come to think of it, he’d never been anywhere just him and Kevin, SooHyun mused to himself as he tried to figure out what the younger man might want. It was always him, Kevin, and KiBum. Kevin was always with KiBum. He couldn’t remember any of the others spending any one-on-one time with Kevin either, not since he’d joined their Seeker group.
Looking around the quiet park at night, SooHyun spotted Kevin approaching from the other side of a water fountain. The young man was looking sicklier each day, and his usual thinness had seemed to get to the point of skeletal, especially when combined with his height. KiBum was visibly worried, trying to get Kevin to eat more or to take better care of himself, but even the best care seemed to have no effect.
It really was like Kevin had just…ran out of time. But SooHyun was still trying to figure that part out. He’d gone into extensive research on Kevin, trying to turn up anything about the younger man…anything at all.
He’d been unable to find anything on Kevin in Korea. Absolutely nothing. No school records, even though KiBum went to school with him since elementary. No passports from traveling back and forth from the United States. He’d even tried to pull a few strings and turn up a citizenship, or something.
Absolutely nothing.
“Hey,” SooHyun grinned a little when Kevin arrived, the younger man smiling back at him. It was then SooHyun noticed the redness around Kevin’s eyes. “What’s up, you okay?”
“Could have been better,” Kevin laughed, and the sound was so tired. “I just wanted to talk to you about something quickly, I don’t have much time.”
Time. What was it about time?
“Sure, what’s going on?” SooHyun asked, sitting down on a bench. Kevin sat down next to him.
“I wanted to ask you…you’re serious about KiBum hyung, right?”
SooHyun stared at Kevin at the question. “Kev, I thought we already went through the ‘overprotective best friend’ phase years ago.”
“I’ll always be his overprotective best friend,” Kevin’s smile was strained. “Please, just answer my question hyung?”
“All right…” SooHyun sighed. “Yes, I am serious about him. I love him.”
“And you’d take care of him always?”
“Kevin, what’s-“
“Please hyung.”
SooHyun sighed and nodded, pushing his hand back through his hair. “That’s my intention, yes. I’m not about to leave him to face the world alone.”
“Thank you,” Kevin sighed softly.
“Now are you going to tell me what’s up? This isn’t like you Kev, first of all you never enjoyed being mysterious, and second you’ve never asked me to talk alone, especially not this time of night.” SooHyun eyed the younger man suspiciously.
Kevin was silent for a long moment. “I…have to go away for a while, hyung.”
“Go away?” SooHyun blinked at him. “Where? Does KiBum know?”
“He’ll know tomorrow. So I just wanted to make sure you’ll look after him while I’m gone. Promise me, you’ll take care of him.”
“I promise, of course,” SooHyun frowned, trying to figure out what was prompting all this. It didn’t escape him that Kevin hadn’t said where he was going. “Why do you have to leave?”
Kevin gave him a sad smile. “I’ve been here too long, I think. It’s time to go back home.”
It was so similar to what he’d overheard Alexander say to Kevin just a week ago.
“But your home’s here.”
“Yeah…I thought so too.”
A chilly breeze ran through the area at those words.
“Take care of him, SooHyun…please…”
*******************************************
With a groan KiBum flopped down backwards onto his bed, feeling like death warmed over. A year into the demon-hunting business known as Seeking, and he still had trouble getting used to the idea. Demon hunters…and the Sight.
KyuJong had taught him everything he knew about the Sight, and what it enabled them to do. KiBum didn’t want to believe him at first, the idea that they were ‘chosen children’ was a little too much for him…but he had to grudgingly admit that it made some sense.
He, HyungJoon and Kevin had joined KyuJong and Daniel as Seekers. There were a few others, but they came and went, and some were in the process of leaving the city. No one other than himself and KyuJong possessed the Sight.
“Tired?” The bed dipped next to KiBum, and he opened his mismatched eyes to see Kevin looking down at him. A loud snore from across the hall meant HyungJoon had already fallen asleep.
“More than just tired,” KiBum groaned. “You don’t look much better. Wanna crash here tonight?”
“It’s fine, I can make it back home,” Kevin started to stand up again. KiBum wrapped his arms around the younger teen’s middle and Kevin fell back onto the bed with a yelp, half on top of KiBum.
“You kidding? We just finished killing a bunch of demons, and there’s a ton more, and you want me to let you walk home alone at this time of night when you can barely walk straight?” KiBum tangled his legs around Kevin’s. “Sleep here tonight, the bed’s big enough.”
“Okay, okay,” Kevin sighed with a small smile, squirming around in KiBum’s arms to face him properly. “You can let go hyung, I’m not gonna run away.”
“I don’t wanna let go,” KiBum yawned, burying his face in Kevin’s shoulder. “We both need showers tomorrow, you’re all sweaty.”
“Well you’re not much better,” Kevin chuckled, pushing at KiBum in retaliation before settling down.
The room was silent for a long time, both boys settling down to sleep. Just as they were about to drift off, KiBum’s quiet voice punctuated the silence. “Kev?”
“Yeah?” Kevin mumbled, half-gone.
“We’ll always be best friends, right?”
“Mhm,” Kevin nodded, running his fingers through KiBum’s short hair. “No better friends than us.”
“Never,” KiBum shook his head, not removing his face from Kevin’s bony shoulder. “I can’t do this without you.”
“I’ll always be here for you,” Kevin’s smile was audible in his voice, but there was something sad about it. “Always.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
*******************************
Kevin went missing.
SooHyun answered a frantic call from KiBum while at work, that Kevin hadn’t been in class all day. When KiBum tried calling him, there was an electronic voice telling him that number was not in use. When he went to see Kevin at his small apartment, the place was abandoned.
Managing to leave work early, SooHyun met KiBum and the others outside Kevin’s apartment, Daniel interrogating the building owner.
“I don’t know sir,” the flustered man told them, made anxious by the angry young men in his apartment complex. “He left a few days ago, didn’t leave any way to contact him.”
“A few days ago? That’s impossible, we saw him yesterday!” KiBum yelled, a frantic note in his voice. HyungJoon had to physically hold his little brother back from doing something rash.
“We’ll retrace the paths he usually takes,” Daniel was trying to calm KiBum after they left the building. “He can’t have just vanished into thin air.”
But Kevin had. Five hours of fruitless searching later, they turned up absolutely nothing. Daniel pulled out several of his contacts from the country to help them look, and SooHyun tried to channel that weird energy he always felt around Kevin. There was no sign of him.
Guilt gnawed at his stomach as he watched KiBum drop down onto his bed that night, exhausted and beyond the point of tears. He’d nearly punched a hole in the wall earlier when the suggestion was made they stop for the night and try again tomorrow, but now he just looked so devoid of energy.
“We’ll find him,” SooHyun said quietly, sitting down next to KiBum and pulling his boyfriend close.
“We have to,” KiBum whispered, burying his face in SooHyun’s shoulder, and the older man let him.
Should he tell KiBum about the strange meeting with Kevin last night? That Kevin had told him he had to leave…but didn’t tell him to where? It wasn’t something SooHyun could keep from his distraught boyfriend.
“I…met with Kevin last night,” he started slowly, and KiBum shot upright immediately, eyes wide.
“You did? But you never meet with him.”
“I know, he called me out to talk,” SooHyun said, worried about how KiBum would react about this. “He’s been acting weird, you know? Lately.”
“No shit Sherlock.”
SooHyun sighed. “Listen. He told me…that he was going away for a while.”
“What?!” KiBum grabbed SooHyun’s shirt. “Why? Where did he go? Why didn’t he tell me?”
“I don’t know, he told me he would let you know today!” SooHyun snapped, grabbing KiBum’s wrists and pushing the younger man’s hands away before he could be choked. “He didn’t tell me where, I tried asking.” He didn’t say anything about the promises Kevin had gotten from SooHyun.
“But that doesn’t make any sense, Kevin’s never been like that!” KiBum stared at him, anger, grief and worry twisting his expression. “And why would he tell you before me?”
“I don’t know! I just don’t know, KiBum!” SooHyun pushed his hair back out of his eyes in frustration. “He said something about…having to go home.”
“But his home’s here! He’s been living here for years!”
“What about America? Doesn’t he have parents there?”
“He hasn’t left to see them in years, SooHyun. This is…I don’t get it. Where would he have gone? Without telling us, without letting us know he’s okay?” KiBum’s hands clenched into shaking fists in his lap, and he punched the bed hard.
“I don’t know,” SooHyun pulled KiBum into a tight hug, ignoring the grief-weakened beating against his chest. “I wish I knew, KiBum. We’ll find him, okay?”
Continuing to hit SooHyun for a minute, KiBum finally lost energy again, going limp against the older man as his eyes closed and tears slipped down his cheeks. “That bastard…he promised…”
SooHyun shut his eyes tightly, kissing the top of KiBum’s head as his boyfriend started to cry.
**********************************
A few days passed, then a week. Kevin didn’t turn up. They found absolutely nothing on him. It really was as if he’d just vanished off the face of the earth.
KiBum seemed to withdraw more each day, refusing to smile and neglecting his health in favor of keeping up the search. Sometimes, SooHyun felt anger at Kevin for leaving his best friend like this, worried sick and heartbroken. What had that kid been thinking?
A quick conversation with the others confirmed that SooHyun had been the only one to talk to Kevin alone the night before his disappearance. Why him, of all people? Kevin had been pleasant with him from day one, especially since he became KiBum’s boyfriend, but SooHyun had always had a nagging feeling that the younger man didn’t like him getting close to KiBum.
After leaving KiBum to HyungJoon for the night, the older brother dead-set on making sure KiBum got some rest even if he had to slip him sleeping pills, SooHyun headed back to his own small apartment and did some research of his own. As a medium, his reach went far, and together he and Daniel had been searching for any sign of Kevin’s whereabouts.
Remembering his idea that Kevin might have gone to America, SooHyun started searching English sites instead, for records or anything on the younger man. It meant a lot of back-and-forth with an inefficient online translator (the translator needed a translator in his opinion, with some of the gibberish it spat out), but he kept at it, knowing that KiBum was never going to be able to move on without some proof that Kevin was safe. And then maybe an address so he could track the younger man down and kick his ass for disappearing.
Lips pursed, SooHyun scrolled through the hits he got on Kevin’s name, looking for anything. There were too many ‘Woo SungHyun’s he quickly decided. What should he be searching under, anyways? SungHyun, or Kevin? Or both?
Sipping some of his coffee, SooHyun nearly spat it back out again when he scrolled right past a picture of the man he was looking for. Quickly scrolling back up, he stared. It was Kevin all right, he looked a little different in black and white, but that was him. It was some English newspaper website. Without even thinking, he went to the website and copy-pasted the entire thing into a translator.
Reading through, SooHyun’s heart sank in his chest, and he wished he hadn’t.
*********************************
“KiBum?” SooHyun knocked repeatedly on the apartment door. “HyungJoon, hey! Open up!”
HyungJoon appeared at the door, hair tousled and rubbing sleep from his eyes. “SooHyun? What’s going on? It’s early.”
KiBum appeared at the sound of his boyfriend’s voice. “Did you find him?!”
“KiBum, go back to bed, you’re a zombie walking,” HyungJoon tried to push his little brother back inside.
“I…I found him.”
Both brothers froze at that, KiBum’s eyes widening as he turned to SooHyun hopefully. “You did?!” But the bleak expression on his boyfriend’s face nearly shattered that hope. “SooHyun?”
“Can I come in?”
Stepping out of the way, KiBum watched as SooHyun entered the apartment, kicking off his shoes and heading into the main room. “SooHyun, where is he? Tell us!”
“I…I don’t know how,” SooHyun drew in a shaky breath, and dropped pieces of paper onto the coffee table before dropping onto the sofa, head in his hands. “I’m sorry, KiBum…”
Those words made KiBum’s face go white as a sheet. “What?” Fearing the worst, he snatched up the papers, all translated awkwardly from some different language.
But the words that mattered were as clear as day, and KiBum had to sit down.
California.
Serial killing.
Ten victims.
Teenage boys.
SungHyun Woo.
Kevin.
Kidnapped.
Dead.
The papers fell from KiBum’s hands to the floor.
Dead.
“I…I don’t…” KiBum’s throat worked, trying to say something, but the words wouldn’t reach him. “That’s…Kevin was here last week. Not California. It can’t be him.” Even if it was Kevin’s picture…it couldn’t be him. It couldn’t be him, in that collection of ten black and white photos.
SooHyun covered his eyes with one hand, unable to take seeing what was going to happen next. “KiBum…look at the date of the article…” he whispered, voice hoarse.
With shaking fingers, KiBum slowly picked up the papers again, eyes scanning to the date of the newspaper article at the top of the page.
October 12th, 1980.
“This…this is not him, SooHyun!” KiBum threw the papers across the room. “Kevin did not die thirty years ago! He was here last week! This is bullshit!”
“KiBum, listen to me!” SooHyun grabbed KiBum’s wrists to stop him from throwing anything else, or hitting him. “Listen! Everything I found confirms that it is him. That article was on a bunch of news papers, and all the pictures were him!”
“But Kevin didn’t die thirty years ago!” KiBum yelled.
“I have an idea,” SooHyun said, and KiBum quietened, staring at him warily. “It’s just a theory, but you have to listen to me. Remember when I was telling you Kevin had a weird aura?”
“And I told you, he does not! There’s nothing wrong with Kevin!”
“KiBum, I’m the medium, and I sensed something off around him! That’s why it always seemed like my ability was going haywire, because he was always around!”
HyungJoon had picked up the papers and read through by then, pain lacing his expression. “Then…what are you suggesting, SooHyun?”
“I got the exact same vibe from that YoungSaeng person,” SooHyun looked at him, still holding onto KiBum. “And Alexander, and those other ‘contacts’. Remember our idea on what they were?”
“…Guardian Angels?” HyungJoon sat down.
“So what you’re trying to say is, Kevin is some guardian angel sent to protect me or some crap like that?” KiBum glared at SooHyun, tears in his eyes. “This isn’t funny, SooHyun. My best friend is missing, and you’re pulling this shit right now?!”
“KiBum, give me five minutes to explain! You’ve said it yourself, remember? Kevin was always there to help you.”
“He’s my best friend, of course he was!”
SooHyun pressed harder. “But being a best friend can only go so far! For him to show up exactly at the right time, every time without fail, don’t you think it’s weird?! For years! Not just once or twice, but he’s been consistently there for you, for years!”
“That doesn’t mean he’s some angel, SooHyun.” KiBum shook his head hard. “That doesn’t mean he’s dead!” The tears were falling.
“I never told you, did I?” SooHyun grabbed KiBum’s chin, forcing the angry younger man to look at him. “Remember when that demon nest happened? And you were knocked unconscious? You were bleeding, right here,” His free hand tapped lightly against KiBum’s temple. “Your whole head was covered in blood. Kevin found a place for us to hide, told me to protect you while he stood guard. He touched your head lightly, and then left. And when I checked your injury, there was nothing. No wound, except for this scar.”
“That doesn’t mean…” KiBum continued shaking his head, but his hands were starting to tremble.
“He’s…making some sense, KiBum,” HyungJoon swallowed.
“Hyung, not you too!”
“I remember when you and Kevin first brought KyuJong and Daniel back home.” HyungJoon was frowning. “You said Kevin found them, and brought them to you.”
“Yeah,” KiBum nodded, trying to wipe at his eyes.
“How did Kevin find them?”
“He…” KiBum trailed off as he realized that no, he didn’t know how Kevin had found them. “Well, he probably ran into them somewhere!”
“And knew where to find you? Knew you were in trouble?”
“It might have been KyuJong who saw the demon…”
“But you just finished saying Kevin brought them to you, not KyuJong,” HyungJoon insisted. “And the timing was-“
“Enough!” KiBum covered his face with his hands. “Just, enough!”
They were starting to make a little too much sense for KiBum to handle. Kevin couldn’t have been a guardian angel the entire time…he just couldn’t.
“The night before he disappeared, Kevin said something about running out of time,” SooHyun said quietly. “Do guardian angels have a certain amount of time they can be here?”
“I thought guardian angels were for life?” HyungJoon frowned.
“But angels don’t have real bodies like ours maybe? The demons didn’t…”
SooHyun stopped his theory when KiBum started to sob brokenly. Grief twisting his own expression, he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and held him close, wishing he could comfort him in some way
HyungJoon sniffled a little too, wiping at his eyes. “Well…there’s only one way to find out, is there? Find out if all this is real or not?”
“What?” SooHyun looked up at him, rubbing KiBum’s back slowly.
The other man looked at him sadly. “You found Kevin, didn’t you?”
SooHyun drew in a slow breath, shutting his eyes tightly. HyungJoon was right. There was only one way they were going to know for sure.
It was time to pay Kevin one last visit.
*************************************
“I thought California was supposed to be warm?” SooHyun stomped his feet a little, stuffing his hands into his pocket as they walked.
“It is getting to the end of the year…” KiBum looked up at the leafless trees, the sky bleak and gray. It wasn’t a good day to be doing anything…but it had taken long enough to find where they needed to go, they would have to leave for Korea again soon. This would be their only chance to do what they came to do.
“There it is,” SooHyun motioned up ahead. He couldn’t read English very well, but the sign on the gate up ahead matched that of the words on the map he was holding.
KiBum drew in a shaky breath, wrapping one arm around SooHyun’s as they stepped into the cemetery. There had to be thousands of tombstones.
“How are we ever going to find him?” SooHyun murmured, looking around. “He would have a tombstone, right?”
KiBum didn’t reply, just starting to walk. SooHyun followed beside his boyfriend.
They walked up and down the lines of tombstones for half an hour before they found what they were looking for. The tombstone was so small they almost missed it, tucked in a back corner of the graveyard. It was relatively new compared to the other gravestones, but neglect and vandalism made it look centuries older, a corner broken off and trash littering the area.
“This is disgusting,” KiBum whispered as they passed by it. “How could people stand doing this to someone’s gra-“ His voice cut out in his throat as his eyes scanned over the words written on the tombstone, and his hand fell from SooHyun’s. “…Oh God...”
SooHyun stepped back, unable to do anything but watch as KiBum dropped to his hands and knees, pushing away the trash and fallen leaves to uncover the words completely.
SungHyun Kevin Woo.
1961-1980
Every man's life is a plan of God.
“…It’s really him…” KiBum whispered, tears falling down his cheeks as he lightly brushed his fingers against the cold stone. “Kevin…why didn’t you tell me? We’re best friends…”
“Maybe he couldn’t,” SooHyun said softly. “I guess even guardian angels have their own rules.”
KiBum sobbed quietly, resting his head against the tombstone. “He said he’d be here always…”
Wiping away his own tears, SooHyun suddenly froze when something nudged at the corners of his senses. “…KiBum?”
“Yeah?” KiBum wasn’t paying attention to him, staring at the tombstone with heartbreak in his eyes.
“KiBum, he’s here…I sense him.”
“He…what?” KiBum looked back at him then, seeing the wide-eyed look on SooHyun’s face. “Kevin’s here?”
“Yeah…h-he’s…” SooHyun suddenly wavered and sank to his knees. “Urh…”
“SooHyun?! What’s wrong?” KiBum scrambled back to him, kneeling down beside the man and trying to support him. “What’s happening?” The gasping noises SooHyun was making was scaring him.
Then SooHyun’s breathing eased, and he lifted his head. KiBum stared blankly when he saw the misted over quality to SooHyun’s eyes. He’d seen that look before…when SooHyun was channeling a spirit.
“KiBum hyung?”
The voice that came from his boyfriend’s lips did not belong to SooHyun, but KiBum recognized it. The tears started all over again…that voice was all the confirmation he would ever need. “K-Kev? Kev, is that you?”
SooHyun’s smile was heartbreaking. “I’m sorry, hyung…I wanted to stay. But I was out of time.”
“Oh God, Kevin…” KiBum pulled his boyfriend into a tight hug, eyes squeezing shut. “You’re…you’re my guardian angel? Kev, I can’t take this…what am I supposed to do without you?”
“You have to keep going KiBum, please.” Strong arms wrapped around him, but to KiBum it was as if it was thin, bony Kevin was hugging him back, not SooHyun. “I’ll always be around…but I can’t keep a physical form anymore. I was supposed to stop when you were ten.”
“When I was…ten?”
“Yeah…but I just couldn’t leave you. I’m sorry…I wanted so badly to always be your best friend.”
KiBum sniffled a little, hugging him tighter. “You’re still my best friend, you idiot. You’ll always be my best friend. You promise you’ll be nearby?”
“Mhm,” SooHyun nodded, pulling back a little to smile at him. “I’ll always be with you KiBum hyung.”
KiBum looked into his boyfriend’s glazed-over eyes, seeing Kevin inside him. “So…this isn’t really goodbye then, right?”
“No, just…’I’ll see you later’,” Kevin and SooHyun’s smile became warmer.
“You’ll be waiting…when it’s my turn to go?”
“I’ll be waiting. But you’re going to have a long, happy life.”
“You’ll be making sure of that I guess,” KiBum gave a watery chuckle.
“Yeah,” Kevin’s high-pitched laugh made something loosen in KiBum’s chest, and for the first time in nearly a month, he could smile properly. “Take care, KiBum hyung.”
“I’ll see you when it’s time,” KiBum smiled wider through his tears. “Best friends forever, Kevin…Promise?”
“Promise!”
And then the glazed quality left SooHyun’s eyes, and KiBum had to support his boyfriend from slumping over. “Urgh…what happened?” SooHyun winced, sitting up slowly and pressing one hand to his pounding head. “What was that?”
“That was Kevin saying goodbye,” KiBum smiled at him, before drawing in a shaky breath and resting his head against SooHyun’s shoulder, closing his eyes.
“Oh…” SooHyun wrapped his arms tightly around KiBum, closing his eyes. “So…is everything okay?”
“Not yet…” KiBum sniffled a little, smiling through the tears. “But it will be.”
*******************************************
“Come on, you’re going to be late for your own graduation!”
“Shut up, you’re stressing everyone out!”
Laughter rang out as the group walked down the street, KiBum trying to stop HyungJoon from dragging him on ahead. “The ceremony starts in two hours hyung, chill out!”
“I can’t help it! My little brother is graduating from university!” HyungJoon whined, before shrieking as JungMin grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him back.
“Yah, we’re going to leave you home next time!”
Laughing, SooHyun shook his head at them all before looking at KiBum, who was now walking ahead of the group. “KiBum, wait up!”
“Yeah yeah!” KiBum waved back at them, going to cross the street.
A car horn blared loudly in his ears, and KiBum yelled in alarm when suddenly a vehicle came barreling down the street towards him, not stopping.
Hands grabbed his arms and pulled him back, KiBum falling back onto his rear. The car drove by without stopping, someone yelling out the window for ‘stupid kids to watch where they’re going’.
“KiBum!” SooHyun pulled him back up to his feet. “KiBum, are you okay?” The others crowded around them, clamoring to know the same thing as HyungJoon started to check him over for injuries.
“Yeah…just a little shell-shocked,” KiBum blinked, still dazed. “Uh…thanks for pulling me back.”
“KiBum…no one pulled you back,” SooHyun blinked at him. “You backed up and fell over.”
“Huh? But I felt…” KiBum looked around at the confused faces. “…No one pulled me back?”
“No one was close enough.”
“…Huh…must have been imagining things,” KiBum frowned, before shaking his head and turning around to try crossing the street again. “Well, let’s go!”
SooHyun wrapped one arm around his waist, not about to let him get nearly killed again. They continued down the street, the idle chatter gradually starting up again.
Once the others were thoroughly distracted, KiBum smiled to himself, and whispered a “thank you” under his breath.
Warm fingers curled around his own. There was no one there.