Unlock - Chapter Thirty-Seven
Title: Unlock
Authors: renichifreak and yeonah
Chapter: 37/?
Fandom: SS501, cameos by KARA
Pairings: KyuSaeng, HyunMin (may be other pairings in the future)
Rating: PG-16
Warning: Angst, AU, Fluff
Summary: Not everything is as it seems, and for those who are as far from normal as you can get, life is a bleak existence. The only ones who can truly understand what these individuals go through are those...just like them.
A/N: YoungSaeng and HyunJoong are played by renichifreak and KyuJong and JungMin are played by me. Updates will be every Wednesday <3
It was the end of the week when they decided to give practicing a try again. There was finally a lull in the rush of homework, and after just relaxing for most of the day, the majority of the group was getting ready to gather in KyuJong and YoungSaeng's room, what had become their unofficial meeting spot.
JungMin poked his head into HyunJoong's room, grinning. "Hey, the others are all practicing I think. Feeling up to being in the same room, or think you should sit this one out?"
He hadn't said a word about HyunJoong's ability to lock their gifts since it had happened, trying not to seem like he was putting pressure on the older boy.
Looking up as his door opened, HyunJoong smiled when he saw JungMin. He'd been more or less stuck in his room all week since his condition refused to stabilize, leaving him exhausted and feeling like hell. Today had been a good day, though, even allowing him to attend his classes, so he nodded his head.
"I should be okay to go today. I actually survived a full day of classes finally," he chuckled, shoving the books to the side and holding his hands out, motioning for JungMin to be nice and help him up.
The redhead bounced over, hands out to help. One person he'd never ignored a request of help from, besides YoungSaeng, was HyunJoong. "That's great! Just let us know if it's getting too much before you pass out, okay?" he chuckled, taking HyunJoong's hands and pulling him to his feet. "I think you gave Joonie whatever it is you have too, he's sniffly and being more whiny than usual."
Still a bit shaky on his feet, HyunJoong didn't let go until he knew he was stable. "Well I had no idea what was going on...now I do, and before, I used it on everyone in the room, so if I focus on one person, then I should be fine," he defended with a smile.
At hearing about HyungJoon, he frowned. Whatever he had was nothing he recalled ever having and he wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy, let along HyungJoon. "I hope not. This sucks."
"He'll live, right now he's just enjoying complaining about it." JungMin tapped the top of HyunJoong's head. "And I meant dealing with everyone's powers, migraine, remember? If you get a migraine you tell us right away." Bouncing to the door, he waited for HyunJoong to be ready, shuffling around excitedly. "I'm gonna turn off that blasted light bulb today!"
"Promise," HyunJoong agreed as he met JungMin at the door. Slipping his shoes on, he opened the door and waited for the redhead before shutting and locking the door. "You can do it. You've been getting closer and closer, right?"
"Not really, but I keep telling myself that cause otherwise I definitely won't be able to," JungMin grinned, wiggling a little as he walked beside the older boy to their friends' room. "It's funny, I can get the electricity to go wherever I want it to, that's not a problem. But I can't get rid of it. It doesn't like being still."
"Well, neither do you," HyunJoong pointed out with a laugh. "Maybe one of these days we can work on redirection. Like, if you want to touch someon-thing...something, you can move the energy out of your hands," he explained, stuttering over the slipup.
JungMin blinked at the switch of words, but didn't seem to make the connection. "There's an idea. I can try that today," he mused. "Rather than try to stop it completely." He had a feeling it wouldn't be any easier, but it was worth a shot.
Reaching KyuJong and YoungSaeng's room, he knocked before opening the door. The others were already there, leaving the other bed free for HyunJoong and JungMin.
"Hey," KyuJong smiled. "Feeling any better, hyung?"
"Somewhat," HyunJoong replied before taking his shoes off and taking a seat on the bed when he reached it. Looking over at HyungJoon, he could see that he was indeed unwell, and hoped it was something different than what he had. "Min told me you're sick. Feeling any better?" he asked quietly.
The youngest pouted before falling back to the ground and letting out a loud whine. "I think I'm dying."
Pausing for a second, he sighed. "HaRa noona, are you gonna answer that?" he asked.
She looked at him in confusion. "Answer wha-” She was cut off when her cell phone ringtone went off.
Nicole's eyebrow raised slightly. "Looks like the practice is finally paying off," she said, as HaRa scrambled to answer the call. "Either that or whatever you caught is sending your power haywire."
"It does that for you too?" KyuJong asked. Controlling his time jumping was always at its worst when he was sick.
She nodded. "It's like that for all of us, I think," she said, looking at them. JungMin sat down on the bed next to HyunJoong, waving enthusiastically at YoungSaeng.
Smiling, YoungSaeng waved back at his friend from his position in KyuJong's lap. Thinking on Nicole's words, he recalled one of the few times that he had gotten sick; the hospital staff had to keep him sedated after he broke down from the sheer overabundance of spirits that came to him.
"It was for me," he replied with a nod, surprised that it didn't seem to affect him as badly as it would have a scarce couple months ago.
Nicole smiled back at him. "I fall through the bed regularly, and he starts spewing predictions like CO2," she said, nudging HyungJoon with her foot. "It doesn't change his 10:1 success ratio any though. HaRa spontaneously heals anyone who touches her whether they need it or not, so if we just leave her be she's fine."
"Does, too...I'm right more often..." HyungJoon pouted, nudging back.
"Does not, it only seems like more because you're going for a hundred predictions at once," Nicole retorted.
"Maybe Joon should stay out of this then," KyuJong chuckled.
"Oh, he's going to be predicting things whether he 'practices' or not."
HaRa finished with her phone call, slightly pink. "Sorry. I'm ready now."
"You sure you're okay to be here?" KyuJong asked HyunJoong, running his fingers through YoungSaeng's hair.
HyunJoong nodded. "I'm sure, and if something changes, I promised to speak up, especially since I know what it feels like now."
Smiling, KyuJong leaned over to kiss YoungSaeng's cheek as he looked around for something he could do this time. JungMin fished out his light bulb from one of the drawers.
HyunJoong took a moment of consideration before speaking up. "Hey Joonie, mind letting me see if I can get that locking ability to work?" he asked. He was pretty sure that he remembered how to do it, but unsure about whether or not he could get it to work.
Lifting his head off the floor, HyungJoon blinked at him. "Sure, don't see why not, does it mean I have to move?"
"Lazy," Nicole shook her head, smiling.
HyunJoong snickered. "I was going to classes and I was ten times worse off than you are," he chuckled. "But no, you don't have to move," he added, getting to his feet slowly and padding over to where HyungJoon was, taking a seat on the floor in front of him.
"And we know right where that got you, Hyung," YoungSaeng chimed in.
"Shush, you," HyunJoong muttered, fighting a smile.
JungMin watched them with interest, grinning at the jab. After a moment he turned his attention to the light bulb, pursing his lips as he took off a glove and held it with his bare fingertips, watching the light bulb flicker to life as usual. Drawing in a breath, he brought his knees up to his chest and focused on the electricity in his hand.
Thinking for a moment, KyuJong took off his watch and placed it on the bed beside him. "Let's see if I can do this," he murmured, continuing to play with YoungSaeng's hair as he turned his attention to the watch.
YoungSaeng looked up at KyuJong, blackened eyes curious. "What're you trying?" he asked, trying to ignore the whispers in favor of his lover.
KyuJong's lips quirked lightly. "Trying to see if I can be more precise with how I change time," he murmured, brow furrowing slightly. "Make it exactly twice as fast...or a third slower...” Concentrating harder, he watched with some sense of triumph as the hands on the watch came to a stop, but nothing else around them did.
Taking a few breaths, HyunJoong closed his eyes and tried to focus on searching for that door again. It took a while, but he finally found it. In his mind, he could tell that this was HyungJoon and watched with some satisfaction as the letters HJB appeared beside the partially opened door.
He didn't notice how his breath was beginning to quicken, still focused on the door in his mind. With another deep breath, the door slid shut, but only for a split second as a sudden sharp pain snapped HyunJoong out of the trance, releasing the power and returning HyungJoon's power to normal.
HyungJoon jerked slightly as he felt his power disappear, disorientating him, before suddenly snapping back. Propped up on his elbows, they gave out and he flopped onto his stomach with an 'oof', dizzy. "That felt weird."
Watching them from the bed, JungMin frowned lightly but didn't say anything, keeping an eye on HyunJoong as he worked on his own control.
"Sorry, Joonie," HyunJoong said, smile sheepish as he rubbed his temple. "It was weird on my end, too, if it helps any," he chuckled. "I can find the power just fine. It's the closing off that I need to work on."
"That's what we're practicing for, I guess," HyungJoon grinned, stretched out on his stomach on the floor. "Or, you people are practicing. I'm just involuntarily word-vomiting every now and then." He closed his eyes. "You're being watched."
JungMin jumped and quickly turned his attention back to the light bulb.
Blinking at the youngest, HyunJoong looked around, eyes falling on JungMin, but not seeing anyone looking back. "10:1," he chuckled as he tried again. This time, he focused on labeling all of the doors of the people in the room to make it easier later.
Biting his tongue, JungMin refrained from saying that HyungJoon had been right with that one. Instead he focused on the light bulb, but it still wasn't having much of an effect, a growl of annoyance escaping him as he narrowed his eyes at it.
KyuJong was busy making the watch hands go forwards and backwards to different speeds at his whim, but keeping such strict control over it was making each breath a little shorter than the last.
Diverting attention slightly from the task at hand when JungMin growled, YoungSaeng chuckled, especially since he knew that HyungJoon was right as well.
Practice continued on like that, with HyungJoon mumbling things under his breath, small visions as they came to him. KyuJong gave up after a few more minutes, resting against the headboard and breathing unevenly as the watch hands started moving normally again.
“Joon, you okay?” HaRa asked after a moment, frowning as she watched the young boy. HyungJoon had closed his eyes tightly, groaning quietly in the back of his throat, and this time it didn’t sound like he was making it up.
"Time for HyungJoonie to take a break," HyunJoong chuckled, still a bit lightheaded and dizzy from both practice and his illness.
Getting to his feet, he suddenly gasped and fell into the wall, hand going to his head as pain suddenly hit. It felt the same as what had happened before, yet there was something different. Internally, rather than slamming shut, he felt the doors trying to force their ways open.
Clenching his eyes shut, HyunJoong slowly slid down the wall, curling in on himself as he tried to keep it from happening. After all, if closing the doors shut off their powers, then opening them...
"M-Min..." he gasped. "G-g-gloves...now..."
Focusing on the light bulb, eyes widening slightly when he noticed the light was dimmer than before, JungMin looked up at HyunJoong in confusion. When he noticed what was going on he dropped the light bulb in surprise. "Hyun? Are you okay?" He was a little slow to process the words that came from the older boy, especially with the stutter, and by the time he realized what HyunJoong said it was too late.
A wave slammed into everyone present, but it was different than the last time. Instead of feeling like a car that had suddenly stopped, something inside them was jump-started and sent spiraling out of control.
Nicole released a shriek as she suddenly fell through the bed and out of sight, KyuJong disappearing in the same instant with a sharp gasp. Sparks exploded from JungMin's body and he cried out in fear, tumbling off the bed and scrambling back into the corner. Gloves were forgotten as he curled up as tightly as he could to try and contain the electricity that was causing his body to jerk slightly as it flashed in the air around him, the power in the building going out.
There were voices in the air around them, silent screams and whispers and static like a badly tuned radio, louder than ever before. HyungJoon was gasping for breath, body arching up off the floor as words spilled from his lips, words that could be the past, present or future, tears slipping from his tightly-shut eyes at the overload. HaRa was the one least affected, gasping as her healing went into overdrive, but as long as she remained out of contact with anyone it was manageable.
YoungSaeng's eyes flooded with the deepest black as the usually muffled white noise became clear as a bell suddenly. His head was ringing and he began to panic when KyuJong disappeared.
Forcing it all back, he staggered to his feet and knelt down in front of HyunJoong, who was curled up on the floor, hands clutching at his hair and tears falling.
"HyunJoong, you need to calm down," YoungSaeng told him, voice as calm as he could get it, though there was a clear shake to his voice.
"I can't...it hurts so damn badly!" he yelled out, choking on the words. He was barely able to focus on YoungSaeng over the ringing in his ears and the sounds that YoungSaeng's power brought.
"I know it does, but you have to try." Pausing to think of a way to help, something came to him. "Think of JungMin. Think about what would come of you getting control of this," he whispered, just loud enough for HyunJoong to hear.
Doing as YoungSaeng suggested, HyunJoong slowly lifted his head to see JungMin, trying desperately to keep his power restrained. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes again and tried to focus his frantic mind. Coming up to JungMin's door, he managed, after a minute, to return it to its original state.
Once that was done, he went from door to door, doing the same to each before falling over, mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted.
It took a moment for the reversion to take effect on each individual, most of them forced on by their own distress. HyungJoon was screaming now, crying with the pain of whatever he was seeing. He kept sobbing, "they're coming, run away, they're coming," before the loss of power finally reached him and his body sank back to the ground, voice dying out.
The crackle of electricity in the air faded somewhat as JungMin's body finally stopped jerking with the force of it. He slumped forward over his legs, gasping as tears fell of their own will, frame trembling as he tried to calm down.
Nicole reappeared after a moment; her control had come in handy, and it turned out she'd only fallen through the bed and not the floor. Crawling out of the bed's frame, she stopped beside HyunJoong, panting a little.
"That was...exciting," she said after a moment, touching HyunJoong's shoulder lightly. Looking to HyungJoon, she saw he'd passed out.
KyuJong reappeared and fell off the bed with a thump.
Smiling in relief as KyuJong returned and the noise faded, YoungSaeng turned his attention back to HyunJoong, who had fallen over, tears of exhaustion and stress falling. "You did good..." he reassured, trying to calm the elder boy.
Swallowing heavily, HyunJoong slowly lifted his head and looked around the room. Seeing the shell-shocked expressions brought the tears even faster. Pulling away, he shakily got to his feet, falling once, and backed into the door. "I-I...need to...” Not finishing, he opened the door and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Fever returning full force, HyunJoong used the wall to get as far away from the others as he could.
KyuJong pushed himself shakily into a sitting position, dizzy and confused. He looked around, blinking blearily. "What just happened?" JungMin had yet to come out of his corner, jerking at the sound of the door slamming.
"I think we found the flip side to Hyun oppa's locking power," HaRa said quietly, drawing in a breath of relief now that the pressure had faded.
YoungSaeng was still staring at the closed door. He'd seen the fear and the telltale flush of fever. "I think he relapsed...maybe one of us should go after him and make sure he makes it to his room," he suggested, concern clear in his tone.
Slowly opening his eyes, JungMin drew in a shaky breath, looking down at his bare hands. They shook uncontrollably, electricity twining around his fingers before he got to his hands and knees and made his way back to the bed, picking up his gloves and pulling them back on.
Wiping the tears off his face with his sleeve, he drew in another breath before unsteadily making his way across the room and to the door, opening it and heading down the hallway.
HyunJoong had gotten about halfway to his room when he had to stop. Perhaps leaving alone had not been the smartest idea, but he didn't know what else to do. HyunJoong felt himself slide to the ground, resting his head on his knees, legs barely able to hold himself up any longer.
Trembling as he recalled the looks on the others' faces, he closed his eyes and tried to ignore them.
JungMin had to stop once out in the hallway to collect himself and figure out what he was doing. He couldn't go after HyunJoong looking as rattled as he felt, that wouldn't be very helpful at all. But he couldn't help but feel like everything he'd worked hard to try and achieve had just fallen apart.
No, he wasn't out of control, the redhead reminded himself firmly, sniffling a little as he wiped at his eyes again. He wasn't. It had just been a slight hiccup, like the incident at KyuJong's house. He still had control, as little as it was. JungMin repeated that over and over in his head until he felt calmer, able to stand up straight and draw in normal breaths of air. Once he was better, and had made sure his gloves were secure, he set out after HyunJoong.
It didn't take long to find him; he hadn't gone that far. Swallowing, JungMin padded over to crouch down next to him, peering at the space between HyunJoong's chest and his knees where he could see the older boy's face. "The hallway isn't the best place to fall asleep."
Jumping at the sound of JungMin's voice, HyunJoong met his gaze with wide eyes before turning away quickly to wipe away the tears that were still falling slowly. He had no idea what to say to him.
"A-are you okay...?" he asked lamely.
Biting his lower lip at the tears, JungMin squirmed a little before nodding, even though HyunJoong's head was turned and he couldn't see it. "Feeling a little like the energizer bunny, but yeah, I'm fine." He nudged HyunJoong's shoulder carefully. "Come on, let's get out of the hallway before someone tramples us. Can you move?"
At the question, HyunJoong sighed and shifted in an attempt to get to his feet, but his legs just weren't cooperating. After a few tries, he finally managed to get to his feet, but he was leaning completely against the wall, sure that he'd fall if he moved away.
Watching him carefully, JungMin glared down at his gloves for a moment before drawing in a breath and reaching out hesitantly, resting a hand against the middle of HyunJoong's back. "Here, lean on me a little." He eased HyunJoong away from the wall, being careful not to touch bare skin. "This okay?"
Feeling the hand on his back, HyunJoong nearly fell as he was eased away from the wall. Dropping his head onto JungMin's shoulder, HyunJoong collected himself before pulling away slightly, though still leaning against the younger. "Yeah...thanks."
On the way back, he realized just how hard it was to walk, the strong fever sapping his energy.
JungMin walked alongside HyunJoong patiently, doing his best to help without too much contact. "At least you're conscious this time," he quipped after a moment, trying to lighten the mood. "You're no featherweight to carry around. I thought we were trying to get rid of the fever?"
HyunJoong smiled apologetically. "It wasn't so bad the last couple days, though. I just wasn't expecting what happened." At that, he frowned, averting his eyes. "I'm so sorry, JungMin ah. If I had known that would happen...” He should have, though. If he could close the doors, it should only stand to reason that he could open them as well.
The redhead frowned at him. "I'd hit you but I don't think your fever would appreciate the voltage. You didn't know, so it's fine. We just have to figure out why it decided to kick in now, I guess. And no more practice for you until you can run laps around the track." He stopped outside HyunJoong's door, looking at him.
Pulling his key out of his pocket, HyunJoong moved to open the door. It took a couple tries to get the key into the lock, but once that was done, he opened the door and slowly made his way to the bed, falling over with a sigh. Pausing, he pulled himself back into a seated position and motioned for JungMin to come closer. "I don't have much energy right now, but I wanna try something..."
Closing the door behind them, JungMin blinked at HyunJoong and padded over, watching him. "Shouldn't you rest? You did nearly pass out in the middle of the hallway," he said, frowning lightly.
HyunJoong's lips curled into a small smile. "True, but this is important." Getting to his feet slowly, he closed his eyes and concentrated. After a false start or two, he focused on JungMin's door. Gathering as much energy as he could, knowing that he'd probably pass out soon after, he closed the door and managed to keep it that way.
Once that was done, he took a deep breath and did something that he had always wanted to do:
He kissed him.
About to ask what HyunJoong was doing, JungMin's breath caught as he suddenly felt the electricity in his veins stop completely, disappearing. He didn't have any chance to comment, a muffled squeak escaping him when warm lips pressed against his own, and everything just came to a stop.
JungMin stared at HyunJoong's face so close, needing to do a double- and triple-take before it clicked that HyunJoong was kissing him. HyunJoong, kissing him.
He didn't know what to do, or rather, what to do first, a billion things running through his head before he finally just gave up and went with the most pressing issue; HyunJoong's mouth. He couldn't help how his gloved fingers curled into the fabric of HyunJoong's shirt as he pressed back into the kiss, craving more.
The older boy was relieved and quite ecstatic when JungMin began to return the kiss. HyunJoong sighed, focusing on this kiss, though trying to keep himself from passing out in the middle of it. He brought his arms up slowly to pull the redhead closer, one resting on his lower back and the other at the back of his neck, playing with the strands of hair.
The need for air came far too quickly as HyunJoong slowly let his lips fall from JungMin's, his breath a bit heavy. Resting his head on JungMin’s shoulder, HyunJoong smiled tiredly. "I've wanted to do that for a while," he murmured.
When they parted, JungMin was still in shock over the whole thing, blinking owlishly. This was really happening. Feeling HyunJoong’s head fall to his shoulder, tears prickled the back of his eyes lightly, as JungMin rested his head against the older boy’s, arms wrapping around his waist and fingers clutching at the back of his shirt.
Nodding a little at HyunJoong’s words, JungMin gave a watery chuckle. “You’re warm,” he whispered, unable to say more than that, his throat closing up. He’d never felt anything like this before, and he didn’t want it to ever stop. But he knew it would have to stop, feeling how HyunJoong sagged against him.
“You should rest…” He continued to cling to the older boy, burying his nose against HyunJoong’s hair and enjoying the contact while he could.
The moment it was pointed out to him, HyunJoong felt the sudden wave of fatigue fall over him. Despite that, HyunJoong didn't want to let go of his newly acquired power. Looking up at JungMin, he lifted one of JungMin's hands and slipped off the glove before placing the redhead's hand against his cheek. He recalled their discussion and was curious as to what JungMin would do with the ability to touch someone without fear of hurting them
JungMin’s eyes widened slightly as he felt his glove slipping off, fingers shaking a little as he felt warm skin under his fingertips. Lips parting slightly, he was distracted by the feeling, brushing his fingers slowly over HyunJoong’s cheek. “Why is your skin so soft?” he whispered, unable to speak louder than that, nor really control what he was saying.
He lightly caressed HyunJoong’s cheek, brushing his hair back out of his face slowly. After a moment he gave in to temptation and brought his hand through HyunJoong’s hair to twine into the soft strands at the back of his head, ducking his head slightly to press his lips against HyunJoong’s.
Shifting into the light caress, HyunJoong felt his eyes start to close, the feeling of JungMin's touch better than he thought it would be, and he had often thought about it. He released a small sound when the redhead wrapped his long fingers into his hair and kissed him again. His imagination did it little justice.
The younger boy was shaking again, but not from fear this time. Instead, he couldn't seem to get close enough, the kiss a little inexperienced but completely eager once it finally processed that HyunJoong wanted this and wasn't going to push him away. He couldn't ever remember anything feeling this good, and he desperately didn't want it to end.
But he knew it would have to, because HyunJoong could only hold his powers back so long, and he didn't want the older boy to hurt himself. So it was with reluctance he finally broke the kiss, breathing uneven as he stared at HyunJoong, wetting his lips slightly and tasting HyunJoong on them. "Y-you need to rest," he repeated, swallowing.
When JungMin broke the kiss, HyunJoong found himself following after before stopping to nod. He could feel the door trembling as he grew too tired to hold it closed any longer. Slumping against JungMin even more, he carefully replaced the glove and ghosted his lips over JungMin's a final time before slowly releasing his power, yet not moving away, likely to collapse without the support.
JungMin was sad to feel the electricity come back, baring him from any further contact. But he could still taste HyunJoong, and wanted to taste him again. Looking down at his gloved hands, he bit the inside of his cheek and told himself he was going to find a way to get rid of the electricity, no matter what.
But he couldn't focus on that right now, not when he could feel HyunJoong sagging against him. Restraining a sigh, JungMin smiled a little at him. "Come on you, in bed," he murmured, carefully helping HyunJoong sit down with one hand against his back for support, pushing the blankets back so he could lie down.
HyunJoong smiled as JungMin helped him to bed. Laying down, he rolled onto his side and found himself chuckling slightly. "Remind me to get my shoes from Kyu..."
Laughing quietly, JungMin absently played with a bit of the bed sheets, smiling at the older boy. The red wouldn't leave his face, and he felt giddy, this time not from the electricity. "I'll remind you whenever you wake up, though I don't think that's going to be in a while. Let's get rid of that fever completely, okay?"
At the mention of the extremely persistent fever, HyunJoong found himself pouting, burrowing under the blankets until only his eyes were visible. "This fever sucks..." he muttered, voice muffled by the thick blankets. "I can't practice with it because I don't want to hurt anyone if it backfires, but I...” He faded out as he blushed, which was hidden thankfully by the blanket. The thought of kissing JungMin again popped into his head.
Blinking at him, JungMin bit his lower lip and flushed a little more, and unlike HyunJoong, he had no blanket to hide behind. "Y-yeah...well...if you rest it should go away soon." He hoped. "I should probably leave you to rest," he mumbled, not wanting to go.
"And, uh...you're a good kisser, by the way," he muttered, positively glowing now. "Just putting it out there."
"But I've been resting all week, though," HyunJoong all but whined, something he only did when he was either sick or exhausted. At JungMin's comment, however, his eyes grew as the red darkened considerably. "Y-You're not bad yourself..." he replied, stammering slightly.
Squirming a little, JungMin jumped and nearly fell off the bed when the power came back on, the alarm next to HyunJoong's bed lighting up as the heater in the room turned back on. "They're getting faster," he mumbled, eyeing the alarm, not sure what to say about HyunJoong's comment and just leaving it. "Uh...so...yeah, I'll let you rest," he said, standing up.
Before he was able to step away, HyunJoong reached out and grabbed hold of JungMin's hand. "Tell them I'm sorry...?" he asked, eyes imploring. "I didn't mean for that to happen..."
JungMin blinked at him before smiling and nodding. "Yeah, I'll tell them. Though I honestly don't think they're going to hold it against you or anything." He squeezed HyunJoong's hand lightly, sad he couldn't feel the warmth he knew was there, before slowly stepping away. "I'm coming back to make sure you're resting, so don't do anything stupid," he warned, smiling after a moment as he pointed at HyunJoong.
Smiling at JungMin once he unburied himself, HyunJoong nodded his head and reluctantly let go of JungMin's hand. He could feel the fever getting to him again and knew that he should rest. "Thanks, Min. For the help."
The younger boy just smiled at him, walking over to the door. "Sleep well." He let himself out, closing the door behind him and leaning against the wall for a moment with a sigh.
He touched gloved fingertips to his lips, the taste of HyunJoong slowly fading. It made him sad, but at the same time a smile curled his lips because HyunJoong had kissed him, HyunJoong liked him, and it made everything worth it. He turned and headed back to KyuJong and YoungSaeng's room after a moment, thoughts still on the kiss.
Authors: renichifreak and yeonah
Chapter: 37/?
Fandom: SS501, cameos by KARA
Pairings: KyuSaeng, HyunMin (may be other pairings in the future)
Rating: PG-16
Warning: Angst, AU, Fluff
Summary: Not everything is as it seems, and for those who are as far from normal as you can get, life is a bleak existence. The only ones who can truly understand what these individuals go through are those...just like them.
A/N: YoungSaeng and HyunJoong are played by renichifreak and KyuJong and JungMin are played by me. Updates will be every Wednesday <3
It was the end of the week when they decided to give practicing a try again. There was finally a lull in the rush of homework, and after just relaxing for most of the day, the majority of the group was getting ready to gather in KyuJong and YoungSaeng's room, what had become their unofficial meeting spot.
JungMin poked his head into HyunJoong's room, grinning. "Hey, the others are all practicing I think. Feeling up to being in the same room, or think you should sit this one out?"
He hadn't said a word about HyunJoong's ability to lock their gifts since it had happened, trying not to seem like he was putting pressure on the older boy.
Looking up as his door opened, HyunJoong smiled when he saw JungMin. He'd been more or less stuck in his room all week since his condition refused to stabilize, leaving him exhausted and feeling like hell. Today had been a good day, though, even allowing him to attend his classes, so he nodded his head.
"I should be okay to go today. I actually survived a full day of classes finally," he chuckled, shoving the books to the side and holding his hands out, motioning for JungMin to be nice and help him up.
The redhead bounced over, hands out to help. One person he'd never ignored a request of help from, besides YoungSaeng, was HyunJoong. "That's great! Just let us know if it's getting too much before you pass out, okay?" he chuckled, taking HyunJoong's hands and pulling him to his feet. "I think you gave Joonie whatever it is you have too, he's sniffly and being more whiny than usual."
Still a bit shaky on his feet, HyunJoong didn't let go until he knew he was stable. "Well I had no idea what was going on...now I do, and before, I used it on everyone in the room, so if I focus on one person, then I should be fine," he defended with a smile.
At hearing about HyungJoon, he frowned. Whatever he had was nothing he recalled ever having and he wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy, let along HyungJoon. "I hope not. This sucks."
"He'll live, right now he's just enjoying complaining about it." JungMin tapped the top of HyunJoong's head. "And I meant dealing with everyone's powers, migraine, remember? If you get a migraine you tell us right away." Bouncing to the door, he waited for HyunJoong to be ready, shuffling around excitedly. "I'm gonna turn off that blasted light bulb today!"
"Promise," HyunJoong agreed as he met JungMin at the door. Slipping his shoes on, he opened the door and waited for the redhead before shutting and locking the door. "You can do it. You've been getting closer and closer, right?"
"Not really, but I keep telling myself that cause otherwise I definitely won't be able to," JungMin grinned, wiggling a little as he walked beside the older boy to their friends' room. "It's funny, I can get the electricity to go wherever I want it to, that's not a problem. But I can't get rid of it. It doesn't like being still."
"Well, neither do you," HyunJoong pointed out with a laugh. "Maybe one of these days we can work on redirection. Like, if you want to touch someon-thing...something, you can move the energy out of your hands," he explained, stuttering over the slipup.
JungMin blinked at the switch of words, but didn't seem to make the connection. "There's an idea. I can try that today," he mused. "Rather than try to stop it completely." He had a feeling it wouldn't be any easier, but it was worth a shot.
Reaching KyuJong and YoungSaeng's room, he knocked before opening the door. The others were already there, leaving the other bed free for HyunJoong and JungMin.
"Hey," KyuJong smiled. "Feeling any better, hyung?"
"Somewhat," HyunJoong replied before taking his shoes off and taking a seat on the bed when he reached it. Looking over at HyungJoon, he could see that he was indeed unwell, and hoped it was something different than what he had. "Min told me you're sick. Feeling any better?" he asked quietly.
The youngest pouted before falling back to the ground and letting out a loud whine. "I think I'm dying."
Pausing for a second, he sighed. "HaRa noona, are you gonna answer that?" he asked.
She looked at him in confusion. "Answer wha-” She was cut off when her cell phone ringtone went off.
Nicole's eyebrow raised slightly. "Looks like the practice is finally paying off," she said, as HaRa scrambled to answer the call. "Either that or whatever you caught is sending your power haywire."
"It does that for you too?" KyuJong asked. Controlling his time jumping was always at its worst when he was sick.
She nodded. "It's like that for all of us, I think," she said, looking at them. JungMin sat down on the bed next to HyunJoong, waving enthusiastically at YoungSaeng.
Smiling, YoungSaeng waved back at his friend from his position in KyuJong's lap. Thinking on Nicole's words, he recalled one of the few times that he had gotten sick; the hospital staff had to keep him sedated after he broke down from the sheer overabundance of spirits that came to him.
"It was for me," he replied with a nod, surprised that it didn't seem to affect him as badly as it would have a scarce couple months ago.
Nicole smiled back at him. "I fall through the bed regularly, and he starts spewing predictions like CO2," she said, nudging HyungJoon with her foot. "It doesn't change his 10:1 success ratio any though. HaRa spontaneously heals anyone who touches her whether they need it or not, so if we just leave her be she's fine."
"Does, too...I'm right more often..." HyungJoon pouted, nudging back.
"Does not, it only seems like more because you're going for a hundred predictions at once," Nicole retorted.
"Maybe Joon should stay out of this then," KyuJong chuckled.
"Oh, he's going to be predicting things whether he 'practices' or not."
HaRa finished with her phone call, slightly pink. "Sorry. I'm ready now."
"You sure you're okay to be here?" KyuJong asked HyunJoong, running his fingers through YoungSaeng's hair.
HyunJoong nodded. "I'm sure, and if something changes, I promised to speak up, especially since I know what it feels like now."
Smiling, KyuJong leaned over to kiss YoungSaeng's cheek as he looked around for something he could do this time. JungMin fished out his light bulb from one of the drawers.
HyunJoong took a moment of consideration before speaking up. "Hey Joonie, mind letting me see if I can get that locking ability to work?" he asked. He was pretty sure that he remembered how to do it, but unsure about whether or not he could get it to work.
Lifting his head off the floor, HyungJoon blinked at him. "Sure, don't see why not, does it mean I have to move?"
"Lazy," Nicole shook her head, smiling.
HyunJoong snickered. "I was going to classes and I was ten times worse off than you are," he chuckled. "But no, you don't have to move," he added, getting to his feet slowly and padding over to where HyungJoon was, taking a seat on the floor in front of him.
"And we know right where that got you, Hyung," YoungSaeng chimed in.
"Shush, you," HyunJoong muttered, fighting a smile.
JungMin watched them with interest, grinning at the jab. After a moment he turned his attention to the light bulb, pursing his lips as he took off a glove and held it with his bare fingertips, watching the light bulb flicker to life as usual. Drawing in a breath, he brought his knees up to his chest and focused on the electricity in his hand.
Thinking for a moment, KyuJong took off his watch and placed it on the bed beside him. "Let's see if I can do this," he murmured, continuing to play with YoungSaeng's hair as he turned his attention to the watch.
YoungSaeng looked up at KyuJong, blackened eyes curious. "What're you trying?" he asked, trying to ignore the whispers in favor of his lover.
KyuJong's lips quirked lightly. "Trying to see if I can be more precise with how I change time," he murmured, brow furrowing slightly. "Make it exactly twice as fast...or a third slower...” Concentrating harder, he watched with some sense of triumph as the hands on the watch came to a stop, but nothing else around them did.
Taking a few breaths, HyunJoong closed his eyes and tried to focus on searching for that door again. It took a while, but he finally found it. In his mind, he could tell that this was HyungJoon and watched with some satisfaction as the letters HJB appeared beside the partially opened door.
He didn't notice how his breath was beginning to quicken, still focused on the door in his mind. With another deep breath, the door slid shut, but only for a split second as a sudden sharp pain snapped HyunJoong out of the trance, releasing the power and returning HyungJoon's power to normal.
HyungJoon jerked slightly as he felt his power disappear, disorientating him, before suddenly snapping back. Propped up on his elbows, they gave out and he flopped onto his stomach with an 'oof', dizzy. "That felt weird."
Watching them from the bed, JungMin frowned lightly but didn't say anything, keeping an eye on HyunJoong as he worked on his own control.
"Sorry, Joonie," HyunJoong said, smile sheepish as he rubbed his temple. "It was weird on my end, too, if it helps any," he chuckled. "I can find the power just fine. It's the closing off that I need to work on."
"That's what we're practicing for, I guess," HyungJoon grinned, stretched out on his stomach on the floor. "Or, you people are practicing. I'm just involuntarily word-vomiting every now and then." He closed his eyes. "You're being watched."
JungMin jumped and quickly turned his attention back to the light bulb.
Blinking at the youngest, HyunJoong looked around, eyes falling on JungMin, but not seeing anyone looking back. "10:1," he chuckled as he tried again. This time, he focused on labeling all of the doors of the people in the room to make it easier later.
Biting his tongue, JungMin refrained from saying that HyungJoon had been right with that one. Instead he focused on the light bulb, but it still wasn't having much of an effect, a growl of annoyance escaping him as he narrowed his eyes at it.
KyuJong was busy making the watch hands go forwards and backwards to different speeds at his whim, but keeping such strict control over it was making each breath a little shorter than the last.
Diverting attention slightly from the task at hand when JungMin growled, YoungSaeng chuckled, especially since he knew that HyungJoon was right as well.
Practice continued on like that, with HyungJoon mumbling things under his breath, small visions as they came to him. KyuJong gave up after a few more minutes, resting against the headboard and breathing unevenly as the watch hands started moving normally again.
“Joon, you okay?” HaRa asked after a moment, frowning as she watched the young boy. HyungJoon had closed his eyes tightly, groaning quietly in the back of his throat, and this time it didn’t sound like he was making it up.
"Time for HyungJoonie to take a break," HyunJoong chuckled, still a bit lightheaded and dizzy from both practice and his illness.
Getting to his feet, he suddenly gasped and fell into the wall, hand going to his head as pain suddenly hit. It felt the same as what had happened before, yet there was something different. Internally, rather than slamming shut, he felt the doors trying to force their ways open.
Clenching his eyes shut, HyunJoong slowly slid down the wall, curling in on himself as he tried to keep it from happening. After all, if closing the doors shut off their powers, then opening them...
"M-Min..." he gasped. "G-g-gloves...now..."
Focusing on the light bulb, eyes widening slightly when he noticed the light was dimmer than before, JungMin looked up at HyunJoong in confusion. When he noticed what was going on he dropped the light bulb in surprise. "Hyun? Are you okay?" He was a little slow to process the words that came from the older boy, especially with the stutter, and by the time he realized what HyunJoong said it was too late.
A wave slammed into everyone present, but it was different than the last time. Instead of feeling like a car that had suddenly stopped, something inside them was jump-started and sent spiraling out of control.
Nicole released a shriek as she suddenly fell through the bed and out of sight, KyuJong disappearing in the same instant with a sharp gasp. Sparks exploded from JungMin's body and he cried out in fear, tumbling off the bed and scrambling back into the corner. Gloves were forgotten as he curled up as tightly as he could to try and contain the electricity that was causing his body to jerk slightly as it flashed in the air around him, the power in the building going out.
There were voices in the air around them, silent screams and whispers and static like a badly tuned radio, louder than ever before. HyungJoon was gasping for breath, body arching up off the floor as words spilled from his lips, words that could be the past, present or future, tears slipping from his tightly-shut eyes at the overload. HaRa was the one least affected, gasping as her healing went into overdrive, but as long as she remained out of contact with anyone it was manageable.
YoungSaeng's eyes flooded with the deepest black as the usually muffled white noise became clear as a bell suddenly. His head was ringing and he began to panic when KyuJong disappeared.
Forcing it all back, he staggered to his feet and knelt down in front of HyunJoong, who was curled up on the floor, hands clutching at his hair and tears falling.
"HyunJoong, you need to calm down," YoungSaeng told him, voice as calm as he could get it, though there was a clear shake to his voice.
"I can't...it hurts so damn badly!" he yelled out, choking on the words. He was barely able to focus on YoungSaeng over the ringing in his ears and the sounds that YoungSaeng's power brought.
"I know it does, but you have to try." Pausing to think of a way to help, something came to him. "Think of JungMin. Think about what would come of you getting control of this," he whispered, just loud enough for HyunJoong to hear.
Doing as YoungSaeng suggested, HyunJoong slowly lifted his head to see JungMin, trying desperately to keep his power restrained. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes again and tried to focus his frantic mind. Coming up to JungMin's door, he managed, after a minute, to return it to its original state.
Once that was done, he went from door to door, doing the same to each before falling over, mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted.
It took a moment for the reversion to take effect on each individual, most of them forced on by their own distress. HyungJoon was screaming now, crying with the pain of whatever he was seeing. He kept sobbing, "they're coming, run away, they're coming," before the loss of power finally reached him and his body sank back to the ground, voice dying out.
The crackle of electricity in the air faded somewhat as JungMin's body finally stopped jerking with the force of it. He slumped forward over his legs, gasping as tears fell of their own will, frame trembling as he tried to calm down.
Nicole reappeared after a moment; her control had come in handy, and it turned out she'd only fallen through the bed and not the floor. Crawling out of the bed's frame, she stopped beside HyunJoong, panting a little.
"That was...exciting," she said after a moment, touching HyunJoong's shoulder lightly. Looking to HyungJoon, she saw he'd passed out.
KyuJong reappeared and fell off the bed with a thump.
Smiling in relief as KyuJong returned and the noise faded, YoungSaeng turned his attention back to HyunJoong, who had fallen over, tears of exhaustion and stress falling. "You did good..." he reassured, trying to calm the elder boy.
Swallowing heavily, HyunJoong slowly lifted his head and looked around the room. Seeing the shell-shocked expressions brought the tears even faster. Pulling away, he shakily got to his feet, falling once, and backed into the door. "I-I...need to...” Not finishing, he opened the door and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Fever returning full force, HyunJoong used the wall to get as far away from the others as he could.
KyuJong pushed himself shakily into a sitting position, dizzy and confused. He looked around, blinking blearily. "What just happened?" JungMin had yet to come out of his corner, jerking at the sound of the door slamming.
"I think we found the flip side to Hyun oppa's locking power," HaRa said quietly, drawing in a breath of relief now that the pressure had faded.
YoungSaeng was still staring at the closed door. He'd seen the fear and the telltale flush of fever. "I think he relapsed...maybe one of us should go after him and make sure he makes it to his room," he suggested, concern clear in his tone.
Slowly opening his eyes, JungMin drew in a shaky breath, looking down at his bare hands. They shook uncontrollably, electricity twining around his fingers before he got to his hands and knees and made his way back to the bed, picking up his gloves and pulling them back on.
Wiping the tears off his face with his sleeve, he drew in another breath before unsteadily making his way across the room and to the door, opening it and heading down the hallway.
HyunJoong had gotten about halfway to his room when he had to stop. Perhaps leaving alone had not been the smartest idea, but he didn't know what else to do. HyunJoong felt himself slide to the ground, resting his head on his knees, legs barely able to hold himself up any longer.
Trembling as he recalled the looks on the others' faces, he closed his eyes and tried to ignore them.
JungMin had to stop once out in the hallway to collect himself and figure out what he was doing. He couldn't go after HyunJoong looking as rattled as he felt, that wouldn't be very helpful at all. But he couldn't help but feel like everything he'd worked hard to try and achieve had just fallen apart.
No, he wasn't out of control, the redhead reminded himself firmly, sniffling a little as he wiped at his eyes again. He wasn't. It had just been a slight hiccup, like the incident at KyuJong's house. He still had control, as little as it was. JungMin repeated that over and over in his head until he felt calmer, able to stand up straight and draw in normal breaths of air. Once he was better, and had made sure his gloves were secure, he set out after HyunJoong.
It didn't take long to find him; he hadn't gone that far. Swallowing, JungMin padded over to crouch down next to him, peering at the space between HyunJoong's chest and his knees where he could see the older boy's face. "The hallway isn't the best place to fall asleep."
Jumping at the sound of JungMin's voice, HyunJoong met his gaze with wide eyes before turning away quickly to wipe away the tears that were still falling slowly. He had no idea what to say to him.
"A-are you okay...?" he asked lamely.
Biting his lower lip at the tears, JungMin squirmed a little before nodding, even though HyunJoong's head was turned and he couldn't see it. "Feeling a little like the energizer bunny, but yeah, I'm fine." He nudged HyunJoong's shoulder carefully. "Come on, let's get out of the hallway before someone tramples us. Can you move?"
At the question, HyunJoong sighed and shifted in an attempt to get to his feet, but his legs just weren't cooperating. After a few tries, he finally managed to get to his feet, but he was leaning completely against the wall, sure that he'd fall if he moved away.
Watching him carefully, JungMin glared down at his gloves for a moment before drawing in a breath and reaching out hesitantly, resting a hand against the middle of HyunJoong's back. "Here, lean on me a little." He eased HyunJoong away from the wall, being careful not to touch bare skin. "This okay?"
Feeling the hand on his back, HyunJoong nearly fell as he was eased away from the wall. Dropping his head onto JungMin's shoulder, HyunJoong collected himself before pulling away slightly, though still leaning against the younger. "Yeah...thanks."
On the way back, he realized just how hard it was to walk, the strong fever sapping his energy.
JungMin walked alongside HyunJoong patiently, doing his best to help without too much contact. "At least you're conscious this time," he quipped after a moment, trying to lighten the mood. "You're no featherweight to carry around. I thought we were trying to get rid of the fever?"
HyunJoong smiled apologetically. "It wasn't so bad the last couple days, though. I just wasn't expecting what happened." At that, he frowned, averting his eyes. "I'm so sorry, JungMin ah. If I had known that would happen...” He should have, though. If he could close the doors, it should only stand to reason that he could open them as well.
The redhead frowned at him. "I'd hit you but I don't think your fever would appreciate the voltage. You didn't know, so it's fine. We just have to figure out why it decided to kick in now, I guess. And no more practice for you until you can run laps around the track." He stopped outside HyunJoong's door, looking at him.
Pulling his key out of his pocket, HyunJoong moved to open the door. It took a couple tries to get the key into the lock, but once that was done, he opened the door and slowly made his way to the bed, falling over with a sigh. Pausing, he pulled himself back into a seated position and motioned for JungMin to come closer. "I don't have much energy right now, but I wanna try something..."
Closing the door behind them, JungMin blinked at HyunJoong and padded over, watching him. "Shouldn't you rest? You did nearly pass out in the middle of the hallway," he said, frowning lightly.
HyunJoong's lips curled into a small smile. "True, but this is important." Getting to his feet slowly, he closed his eyes and concentrated. After a false start or two, he focused on JungMin's door. Gathering as much energy as he could, knowing that he'd probably pass out soon after, he closed the door and managed to keep it that way.
Once that was done, he took a deep breath and did something that he had always wanted to do:
He kissed him.
About to ask what HyunJoong was doing, JungMin's breath caught as he suddenly felt the electricity in his veins stop completely, disappearing. He didn't have any chance to comment, a muffled squeak escaping him when warm lips pressed against his own, and everything just came to a stop.
JungMin stared at HyunJoong's face so close, needing to do a double- and triple-take before it clicked that HyunJoong was kissing him. HyunJoong, kissing him.
He didn't know what to do, or rather, what to do first, a billion things running through his head before he finally just gave up and went with the most pressing issue; HyunJoong's mouth. He couldn't help how his gloved fingers curled into the fabric of HyunJoong's shirt as he pressed back into the kiss, craving more.
The older boy was relieved and quite ecstatic when JungMin began to return the kiss. HyunJoong sighed, focusing on this kiss, though trying to keep himself from passing out in the middle of it. He brought his arms up slowly to pull the redhead closer, one resting on his lower back and the other at the back of his neck, playing with the strands of hair.
The need for air came far too quickly as HyunJoong slowly let his lips fall from JungMin's, his breath a bit heavy. Resting his head on JungMin’s shoulder, HyunJoong smiled tiredly. "I've wanted to do that for a while," he murmured.
When they parted, JungMin was still in shock over the whole thing, blinking owlishly. This was really happening. Feeling HyunJoong’s head fall to his shoulder, tears prickled the back of his eyes lightly, as JungMin rested his head against the older boy’s, arms wrapping around his waist and fingers clutching at the back of his shirt.
Nodding a little at HyunJoong’s words, JungMin gave a watery chuckle. “You’re warm,” he whispered, unable to say more than that, his throat closing up. He’d never felt anything like this before, and he didn’t want it to ever stop. But he knew it would have to stop, feeling how HyunJoong sagged against him.
“You should rest…” He continued to cling to the older boy, burying his nose against HyunJoong’s hair and enjoying the contact while he could.
The moment it was pointed out to him, HyunJoong felt the sudden wave of fatigue fall over him. Despite that, HyunJoong didn't want to let go of his newly acquired power. Looking up at JungMin, he lifted one of JungMin's hands and slipped off the glove before placing the redhead's hand against his cheek. He recalled their discussion and was curious as to what JungMin would do with the ability to touch someone without fear of hurting them
JungMin’s eyes widened slightly as he felt his glove slipping off, fingers shaking a little as he felt warm skin under his fingertips. Lips parting slightly, he was distracted by the feeling, brushing his fingers slowly over HyunJoong’s cheek. “Why is your skin so soft?” he whispered, unable to speak louder than that, nor really control what he was saying.
He lightly caressed HyunJoong’s cheek, brushing his hair back out of his face slowly. After a moment he gave in to temptation and brought his hand through HyunJoong’s hair to twine into the soft strands at the back of his head, ducking his head slightly to press his lips against HyunJoong’s.
Shifting into the light caress, HyunJoong felt his eyes start to close, the feeling of JungMin's touch better than he thought it would be, and he had often thought about it. He released a small sound when the redhead wrapped his long fingers into his hair and kissed him again. His imagination did it little justice.
The younger boy was shaking again, but not from fear this time. Instead, he couldn't seem to get close enough, the kiss a little inexperienced but completely eager once it finally processed that HyunJoong wanted this and wasn't going to push him away. He couldn't ever remember anything feeling this good, and he desperately didn't want it to end.
But he knew it would have to, because HyunJoong could only hold his powers back so long, and he didn't want the older boy to hurt himself. So it was with reluctance he finally broke the kiss, breathing uneven as he stared at HyunJoong, wetting his lips slightly and tasting HyunJoong on them. "Y-you need to rest," he repeated, swallowing.
When JungMin broke the kiss, HyunJoong found himself following after before stopping to nod. He could feel the door trembling as he grew too tired to hold it closed any longer. Slumping against JungMin even more, he carefully replaced the glove and ghosted his lips over JungMin's a final time before slowly releasing his power, yet not moving away, likely to collapse without the support.
JungMin was sad to feel the electricity come back, baring him from any further contact. But he could still taste HyunJoong, and wanted to taste him again. Looking down at his gloved hands, he bit the inside of his cheek and told himself he was going to find a way to get rid of the electricity, no matter what.
But he couldn't focus on that right now, not when he could feel HyunJoong sagging against him. Restraining a sigh, JungMin smiled a little at him. "Come on you, in bed," he murmured, carefully helping HyunJoong sit down with one hand against his back for support, pushing the blankets back so he could lie down.
HyunJoong smiled as JungMin helped him to bed. Laying down, he rolled onto his side and found himself chuckling slightly. "Remind me to get my shoes from Kyu..."
Laughing quietly, JungMin absently played with a bit of the bed sheets, smiling at the older boy. The red wouldn't leave his face, and he felt giddy, this time not from the electricity. "I'll remind you whenever you wake up, though I don't think that's going to be in a while. Let's get rid of that fever completely, okay?"
At the mention of the extremely persistent fever, HyunJoong found himself pouting, burrowing under the blankets until only his eyes were visible. "This fever sucks..." he muttered, voice muffled by the thick blankets. "I can't practice with it because I don't want to hurt anyone if it backfires, but I...” He faded out as he blushed, which was hidden thankfully by the blanket. The thought of kissing JungMin again popped into his head.
Blinking at him, JungMin bit his lower lip and flushed a little more, and unlike HyunJoong, he had no blanket to hide behind. "Y-yeah...well...if you rest it should go away soon." He hoped. "I should probably leave you to rest," he mumbled, not wanting to go.
"And, uh...you're a good kisser, by the way," he muttered, positively glowing now. "Just putting it out there."
"But I've been resting all week, though," HyunJoong all but whined, something he only did when he was either sick or exhausted. At JungMin's comment, however, his eyes grew as the red darkened considerably. "Y-You're not bad yourself..." he replied, stammering slightly.
Squirming a little, JungMin jumped and nearly fell off the bed when the power came back on, the alarm next to HyunJoong's bed lighting up as the heater in the room turned back on. "They're getting faster," he mumbled, eyeing the alarm, not sure what to say about HyunJoong's comment and just leaving it. "Uh...so...yeah, I'll let you rest," he said, standing up.
Before he was able to step away, HyunJoong reached out and grabbed hold of JungMin's hand. "Tell them I'm sorry...?" he asked, eyes imploring. "I didn't mean for that to happen..."
JungMin blinked at him before smiling and nodding. "Yeah, I'll tell them. Though I honestly don't think they're going to hold it against you or anything." He squeezed HyunJoong's hand lightly, sad he couldn't feel the warmth he knew was there, before slowly stepping away. "I'm coming back to make sure you're resting, so don't do anything stupid," he warned, smiling after a moment as he pointed at HyunJoong.
Smiling at JungMin once he unburied himself, HyunJoong nodded his head and reluctantly let go of JungMin's hand. He could feel the fever getting to him again and knew that he should rest. "Thanks, Min. For the help."
The younger boy just smiled at him, walking over to the door. "Sleep well." He let himself out, closing the door behind him and leaning against the wall for a moment with a sigh.
He touched gloved fingertips to his lips, the taste of HyunJoong slowly fading. It made him sad, but at the same time a smile curled his lips because HyunJoong had kissed him, HyunJoong liked him, and it made everything worth it. He turned and headed back to KyuJong and YoungSaeng's room after a moment, thoughts still on the kiss.