[Fic] The World I Know - 2/8
Title: The World I Know
Author: Coley Merrin
Rating: R overall (language, sexual situations)
Pairings: Kibum/Donghae, Tablo/Eunhyuk, Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun
Genre: AU. Angst/smut/fluff, Romance.
Summary: As the forest world’s protective barriers fail, the two remaining animal spirits must protect the men who have come to save them, or face certain death. And the spirit of the tiger is forced return to the forest, or risk losing his mate forever.
***
Part One * Part Two * Part Three
***
Kibum woke to a pounding heart and the sound of water. He was sitting upright within a moment, searching for Tablo. It was lighter, and perhaps they could find their way back to the tree, back to where something made sense. He wasn’t good with this kind of thing. Change, whatever. He didn’t want it. Hadn’t asked for it. And he had no idea what he was supposed to do in a forest when he had no idea how to take care of himself. No convenience stores, no…nothing. But Tablo was gone, and that alarmed him. Had the man they’d been following taken him while he slept? Left him alone? He didn’t think Tablo would leave without him, though, so he wasn’t sure what was going on.
That was when he saw it, the seal. Sleek, brown and gray, it was far too near him for comfort. Laying near where his head had been, a large lump on the ground. It sensed his movement as he stood, starting to back away. Were seals dangerous? They had teeth, he knew, but then again he hadn’t been eaten while he slept either.
The seal rolled onto its back, looking for all the world as though it was lounging, looking at Kibum with curious eyes. With a roll of the sleek head, the skin began to slide, spreading out in a deep brown puddle around the exposed naked skin. Human skin.
He wondered if it was normal that his knees would tremble.
The man who lay where the seal had been pushed upwards, naked limbs and soft brown eyes, a confident walk that brought them closer. His head jerked up as the man’s face was suddenly too close to his. They breathed in unison for long moments, three, four, Kibum studying that face. Was he a seal? A human? What was he, and how...
And then the man smiled. He smiled.
They stood together, the man pulling Kibum to his feet almost without effort. And he, he was still dazed by the transformation he had seen. Seal to human, stoic to smiling. As it was, it took him a moment to realize he was being led toward the water’s edge.
“No,” he said, tugging back. It wasn’t anything personal. He had nearly drowned once, and water wasn’t really his thing anyway.
He was stared at with wide, questioning eyes, and he knew all of his posture was screaming “no!”
Water was playfully splashed at his feet, as the man tugged and pointed at the sealskin. Some sort of “I’m a seal, trust me, I can swim” message. A soft voice crooning at him. He shook his head, leaning back with all his strength.
The man pouted a bit, but seemed resigned, scooping water in his hands and letting it dribble onto Kibum’s hair. An anointing almost. And that seemed to content him. And turning, the man grabbed the sealskin and began to lead him further upriver.
Kibum followed the man in front of him, feeling a bit desperate to keep up with the fluid stride. Yellowing leaves dropped around them like huge snowflakes, a testament to the dying trees, the dying forest. It was no paradise, not that he had seen. Found by what Tablo called a creepy faceless person, then abandoned... Or had Tablo been taken? The only person left to him, a mute man who could turn into a seal. And he had no idea where he could go to escape it all.
The river they emerged by was wide, rushing, clearly at the height of its fullness, and it made his skin crawl. But they stopped far from the crumbled bank. This time, he thought, for good.
The sealskin fell to the ground, a jumbled bundle as the man turned to him. Not even jerking his head back took their faces out of close proximity, the man’s face far, far too close for comfort. He was being...studied. White teeth fixed on the pink lower lip as the dark eyes studied him from hairline to chin. Whatever he saw, he seemed to approve, because the smile flashed again.
There was something about the man that made him want to babble, even if he was certain that he wouldn’t be understood, and he had never been prone to it. But the silence was oppressive. Maybe that was it. He was used to noise, chatter, music... Even if he wasn’t the one making it.
And it seemed like the man who darted from his side, exposing the curve of his ass beneath the cloth to Kibum’s eyes for a brief second, would be noisy. It was just a gut feeling. Not like the way he swallowed, and fixed his eyes on the rolling water. Tentative hands lifted a cup toward his face. Nudging it toward his nose until he took an obedient sniff. It was sweet. Did nothing for him. But the smug tilt of the mouth in front of him...
He tried to keep his eyes away from the distractingly peeking tongue, as slender fingers traced a wet line across his forehead. His eyebrow twitched as a trickle of the juice tickled it. Before he could think to purse them, to get away from the contact, the man’s thumb had run wet, quick, solid across his lips. And leaning close with closed eyes, as though to smell his handiwork. Smell the sweetness that was now in his mouth.
“What’s this for?” Kibum asked, resisting the urge to reach up and wipe his mouth.
The man hummed softly, hand warm, liquid cool as his whole hand pressed against Kibum’s chest.
And he couldn’t help sucking in his stomach, wanting to twist away as fingers ran across it. A word.
“Donghae,” the man said, smiling up at him. “Donghae.”
“Donghae?” Kibum repeated, the name numbing, sweet on his tongue. And Donghae’s hand rose to his own chest, as though to confirm it.
Donghae offered him the cup, a smile in his eyes.
And Kibum realized that it wasn’t a friendly gesture. He was being claimed. Donghae had written his name on him, and that... He was stupid about people, but he wasn’t stupid.
He heard the cup fall as he turned, ran, and pushed into the forest.
***
Kyuhyun woke before him, which was unusual. But not much before, because the confusion was clear as Zhou Mi pushed himself upright.
Kyuhyun had withdrawn his hand.
“I thought this might have been a dream,” Kyuhyun said. “But my ass hurts from falling on the floor, so I’m thinking that’s a no. Where are we?”
Zhou Mi swallowed. “Our apartment.”
“And you are...? Zhou...? What?”
“Mi. Zhou Mi.”
“Are we roommates?” Kyuhyun’s eyes swept the room, focusing on his things that were scattered there. “Is this like some kind of amnesia or something? Have I hit my head recently?”
“What’s the last thing you remember?”
“Um. Talking to my mom... She told me my sister is expecting her first kid... And sleeping.”
Zhou Mi wasn’t sure if it were possible to feel more ill. He had nearly been asleep on the couch when Kyuhyun had kicked him, mouthing “Uncle Mimi” at him with a grin. It had taken him a little while to process the happy smile Kyuhyun wore with who he was talking to. They had talked about it all that night, joking about it before going to sleep. Kissing happily at the thought of a baby niece or nephew to spoil. That had been... Not even twelve hours before.
“You... Don’t remember telling me?” Zhou Mi prompted. “I was sitting beside you.”
Kyuhyun seemed stumped. “No. I don’t remember you at all. I was alone in my apartment... My apartment, not this one.”
“The apartment you first got when you moved out on your own? You...you haven’t lived there in months.”
“But the conversation with my mom, about the baby...?”
“Was yesterday.”
Kyuhyun rested his forehead in his palm. “I have a headache. This doesn’t make sense. Why would I forget getting a roommate and a new apartment?”
I’m not your roommate! Zhou Mi wanted to shout. You love me!
It was as though something had rewritten Kyuhyun’s memories, so that Zhou Mi’s existence and things they shared were gone entirely. He was supposed to be the one with the answers, and he had none.
“I’m going to call Siwon and Han Geng, see if they can come...”
“You know Siwon and Han Geng?” Kyuhyun demanded.
Zhou Mi blinked. “Yes? You do?”
“Yeah, of course. They’re my friends.”
It shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did, to be sitting in their apartment with Kyuhyun, to be looked at like a stranger, to know that Kyuhyun remembered other people and not him. But it did hurt.
It did.
“What were you dreaming of when you woke?”
Kyuhyun frowned, lifting a hand to his neck. “It’s weird... It felt too real to be a dream.”
“Tell me. Please. It might help... Something might help.”
He hoped his face was an earnest and concerned one and not a desperate one.
“I was in a forest,” Kyuhyun began. “It was dark, and weird. I kept looking behind me, thinking I was being followed. And I saw... A tiger.”
A chill raced down Zhou Mi’s spine. Just like in his dream. “A tiger following you?”
“Stalking me. It was...menacing. I mean, it’s not like I could fight back or get away. And it leapt for me, pushing me into the dirt. When I woke up, I thought I was about to die. It had sank its fangs into my neck.”
A cruel perversion of their relationship, Zhou Mi realized. The attacking tiger instead of the nurturing one. He was Kyuhyun’s protector, not his killer.
“So when I woke with you hovering over me, I freaked,” Kyuhyun admitted with a wry grin. “I thought you were about to kill me.”
“Who would take out the garbage if I killed you?” Zhou Mi asked, feeling weak.
“So we must be close if we’re sharing a bed? Is my room under renovation or something?”
Zhou Mi stood slowly, reaching for the photo album he had put together for Kyuhyun as a gift. A picture the day they had met again on earth. Their first trip to the ocean. Self camming, funny faces and cheeks together as they lay together in bed.
Kyuhyun flipped through it silently. Laughing a bit as he went.
“You’d almost think we were dating,” Kyuhyun laughed. And flipped the page.
Zhou Mi knew what he was seeing. The picture was the background of his cell phone. A picture Siwon had taken on the night of Kyuhyun’s big promotion, when the four of them had gone out to celebrate. It was easy to see in the picture the amusement on Kyuhyun’s face, as they giggled against each others’ mouths.
The celebratory, after-toast kiss.
“Was this some kind of dare?” Kyuhyun asked of the picture. It was one Zhou Mi had nearly framed except that Kyuhyun had called it too sappy.
Their relationship? A dare?
“No,” Zhou Mi said, soft and desperate to be understood. “That was the night of your promotion.”
“I don’t understand. I remember that night. I had a celebratory beer alone,” Kyuhyun said.
“No. We had dinner out with friends. You and I... We’re not friends or roommates. We’re in love.”
Kyuhyun’s face was open, as though waiting for the confirmation of a joke. But none came.
“I’m sorry,” Zhou Mi said finally. “I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“That’s crazy,” Kyuhyun argued. “I don’t date men. I mean, no offense, I’m sure you’re a handsome guy and all, but I’m not into that.”
“You weren’t into men... Just. Just me.”
“Why do I remember differently, the night of the promotion?”
Zhou Mi didn’t know how to explain that he knew.
***
It took a visit from Siwon and Han Geng to convince Kyuhyun that what Zhou Mi was telling him was the truth. Telling him the story of how they had met, the forest, finding each other on earth. To any normal person it would have sounded fantastical and impossible. Kyuhyun took it as well as someone who had three, otherwise rational, adults insisting that they were right could have. And he had thought telling him that they were dating and sleeping together had been shocking. That part, given the amount of pictures Zhou Mi had of them, Kyuhyun at least could not dispute.
Zhou Mi concluded that when the death bird had been taken back to the forest with Siwon and Han Geng, some shadow, a residue, had been left in Kyuhyun’s mind. The bird, though dead, was still connected to all the others… Kind of a hive mentality. And if they could reach into both their dreams, then… They must be feeling desperate, knowing that the last two spirits were finding their mates. That Zhou Mi sending to the two men had caused the birds to take this step…
No. Perhaps they would have all along. At the destruction of the world, one last parting gift. And then Zhou Mi would have had no recourse at all. No place to turn.
He tried everything he knew, that day. Meditating. Trying to sleep so that he could dream again. Everything but screaming up at the sky. He had fixed Kyuhyun his favorite lunch, to both their levels of uncomfortable. Siwon and Han Geng had stayed as long as they were able. But Zhou Mi knew it was ultimately up to him. He hung his head, insisting on sleeping on the couch. Allowing Kyuhyun to stay in their room, around their things… In case any of it jogged his memory.
While Zhou Mi, in their main room, researched and thought, and… Watched how they had been together.
He felt Kyuhyun’s presence as if he were a burning torch on a cold night. His instinct was to close his laptop immediately, hide what he was watching, but his breath caught as the presence of the man behind him and the sight of the movement on the screen merged.
It had been his birthday, not long before they had found Siwon. And their friends had been there. Family. His mother had taken the video he was watching, and he could hear her chirping at him from behind her camera. Everyone hushed as one person began singing, Kyuhyun, nearly getting through the whole first line before anyone had the wits to join in. And he had emerged from behind a gaggle of people into his mother’s line of sight, Zhou Mi’s cake in his hands, his face brightened by the candles. Eyes focused on Zhou Mi.
Zhou Mi spared himself a glance, his smiling face, eyes steady on the advancing form of the man he loved. The singing petered out, silence as he had inhaled and blew out the numbers on the cake... Written in arabic numerals since Kyuhyun had joked that there wasn’t enough space on the cake to put all of them. And poked the air out of Zhou Mi’s puffed cheeks when he had said it.
The cheer as the little lights went out at his exhale, smoke wafting. He could almost smell it. That and the chocolate frosting as Kyuhyun set it down on the table between them. He watched as he had dabbed a bit on his finger, offering it to Kyuhyun...and smearing it over his lips. The camera had caught every dance of Kyuhyun’s eyes as his tongue peeked out to taste, leaning in eagerly as Zhou Mi had tasted it on his lips as well. The kiss had been sweet, they were among company... But there was no dismissing their closeness as Kyuhyun had snugged to his side, manning the cake knife because he didn’t trust Zhou Mi with straight lines, helping each other to serve slices, handing forks, plates to each other.
Kyuhyun had leaned into him, and whispered, “Happy birthday,” so that only he could hear. Had said it again that night, in a different tone. Had called him “Mimi.” That had been worth more than any present...
A handkerchief appearing beside his face startled him out of his reminiscing. He had almost, not quite, remembered that Kyuhyun was there. And realized that during the short clip, maybe two minutes... He had begun to cry. Kyuhyun was stoic as he sat on closest footstool, eyes uncomfortably focused on Zhou Mi. Which wasn’t helping since he was trying to discreetly wipe his face. Why shouldn’t Kyuhyun know what they were to each other? Why should it only be him who remembered?
“Your birthday?” Kyuhyun asked, and Zhou Mi nodded. Not quite trusting his voice as yet.
“I know what everyone has told me... But seeing that is like seeing a totally different person. He...I...really love you a lot.”
“Each other. We love each other,” Zhou Mi said, kind of hating his voice at that moment. “Kui... Oh.”
“It’s weird how I feel like my life is real now, to see that I had a different one.”
Zhou Mi forced himself to breathe as he considering Kyuhyun. That would be weird. Like a serious case of amnesia... It was hard on him. And hard on Kyuhyun.
“Is it something you want back?” he queried.
“I don’t really know how to answer that,” Kyuhyun said, cocking his head as he mused. “I’ve thought about it all day… I don’t… If I was that happy, then yeah. I just can’t conceptualize it. At all. It’s like telling me I used to be a girl. I don’t even…”
“Yeah. It’s…weird.”
“But it’s not just me. I could go on like this, but you… It’s not fair to you, if we don’t…fix it.”
A tiny flame of hope lit in Zhou Mi’s heart. Maybe that was the first step. “Then you would be willing to help?”
“Yeah…” Kyuhyun swallowed. “Yeah, if I can.”
Zhou Mi sent Kyuhyun off to sleep, feeling lighter. But he woke with no more answers, because his sleep had been untouched by dreams.
And that night, and the night after. Kyuhyun became easier around him. Tried to joke with him, support him. But it wore on them both.
***
He edged off of the treadmill, feeling some of the tension that had driven him to it gone, but not enough when he saw Kyuhyun in the doorway. He let the towel in his hands drape around his neck, feeling his body throb with the inactivity.
“Did you need something?” Zhou Mi asked, drawn to Kyuhyun as though just being near him were enough.
“You smell,” Kyuhyun said, laughing and trying to edge away.
“I’ll show you smell,” he growled back, grabbing for Kyuhyun and rubbing his face against his neck. And hearing his laugh...
It was, for a few moments at least, so normal and wonderful and right, to be holding Kyuhyun against him. The slender body, solid...
“That’s a little over the line, don’t you think?” Kyuhyun said, pushing at Zhou Mi’s shoulder.
“Sorry...”
Zhou Mi’s hands slipped up above Kyuhyun’s hips. It wasn’t that he was used to groping Kyuhyun indiscriminately, but he was quite used to touching without thought. To think nothing of sweeping his hand from Kyuhyun’s thigh to his waist, teasing him about his cute butt. Though cute meant more like “amazing” or most times “fantastic.” And definitely with a hint of possession. Kyuhyun had never been offended by Zhou Mi referring to him as “mine.”
And would usually tease Zhou Mi as well...
“You’re used to what you’re used to,” Kyuhyun said, arranging himself in a chair as though nothing awkward had just happened. “Though, you know. Thanks for showing some restraint.”
“Yeah.” He began to feel a bit cold, standing there with empty arms and a somewhat apologetic though indifferent man in front of him. “I’m going to go shower.”
“Make sure you scrub good everywhere,” Kyuhyun joked as Zhou Mi turned.
In his memory, Zhou Mi heard Kyuhyun adding “Or I’ll have to come get the places you missed.”
***
“Daniel...”
He didn’t really want to wake up... He moaned as much, trying to bury his face beneath the warmth beside it.
“Daniel,” the voice continued. In addition to a finger poking his cheek, a hand was gently petting his hair.
And the warmth? A bare length of thigh. He squinted upward, blinking several times before the features of the man he barely knew and yet had...so rather indelicately had sex with swam into view.
“Hyukjae?” he croaked after he levered himself upright. What was the protocol for the morning after meeting half naked jungle men, and having sex with them?
Apparently it was contact, and lots of it, because Hyukjae pressed a lot of very bare skin to a lot of his for a brief snuggle. He didn’t even have a chance to get his hands coordinated before food was being pressed to his lips. Berries. Fish. Some kind of crunchy root vegetable he couldn’t identify. All eaten because he didn’t even remember what he’d had for his last meal. Hyukjae was as silent as he had been before, helping him to eat and urging him to have more and more, until he seemed satisfied.
“Thanks,” he said, kind of ineffectually. He wasn’t really sure how to thank half naked men when they fed him, either. Still, Hyukjae leaned into his hand as he reached for his face, seeming to like the touch, the contact. No, he was pretty sure just how he wanted to thank him. He didn’t just jump into bed with strangers. Or. At least not often. He usually liked them. Respected them. Spent pleasurable time kissing them. Maybe... Just maybe Hyukjae was waiting for him to make a move. Even as a wolf, he’d been a little...unsure. Which was best not to think about. Still.
The lips he focused on parted in surprise as he drew their faces together. In retrospect, he realized the exact moment there was realization of his intention, because one second he had been a bare inch away from tasting Hyukjae’s mouth, and the next he was flat on his back, staring dazedly at the sky.
Hyukjae was strong, he realized with some irony. He didn’t remember being pushed, much less thumping onto the ground.
Low sounds were being made over him as Hyukjae fussed over him, cradling the back of his head and staring into his eyes.
“I take it you don’t like kissing?” he asked. And of course the only answer he got was a worried expression and a set mouth. And from that, he averted his attention. Maybe they needed to have sex a few more times before Hyukjae was comfortable enough to kiss him. No. Wait. That didn’t make sense even to him.
But one way or the other, it seemed that was the order of things... Because the next sound from his mouth was a moan, as strong hands worked down his body. In the dark eyes, he saw apology...and need. And he accepted both.
***
Kibum realized he had no idea where he was going. He had run into the forest, thinking he would see something familiar, if he just curved back to his left where he thought they had come from. But nothing looked familiar. He just scaled fallen trees and seemed to get nowhere. The hush was almost eerie at times, the clack of bare branches together in the moving wind, the scatter of barely clinging leaves. So when he saw movement, his heart nearly stopped.
Donghae.
The sealskin was clutched in his arms, and he was staring at Kibum with something that looked close to fear. He walked toward Kibum as though he were a flighty animal, and to be honest, he just about felt that way. The long fingers were trembling when they reached for his, and he stepped back, avoiding the touch.
“Look, my name is Kibum okay?” he said, putting a hand to his chest. Maybe making nice would make the guy want to help him. “I don’t want to be here. Can we just go back to the tree, and maybe I can find a way to get out of here? You can get back to…doing whatever.”
“Kibum,” Donghae said, sounding a little doubtful, his face drawn.
Kibum dropped down, drawing the outline of a large tree with a cracking hole at its base. Donghae’s face lit with understanding, and Kibum forced his eyes away from the curving mouth.
It seemed Donghae wanted to take his hand while they walked. He avoided it, ignored it, and walked until Donghae began leading him in a different direction.
His heart leaped in shock when he heard laughter, and then in some perverted form of hope. That was Tablo, unless he was very much mistaken. And joy, Tablo was mostly naked, with a similarly mostly naked guy plastered against him, feeding him. He rolled his eyes, and tried not to pay attention to Donghae’s harsh breathing as he sat down near his roommate.
“I see you were looking real hard for me,” Kibum said, not really put out as much as it sounded. Since they’d arrived, there hadn’t been much danger. Unless he counted someone wanting to strip him naked. And unless he was mistaken, by the hand Tablo had at the man’s waist, he’d gotten the naked treatment full on. “You seem really sad to be here.”
“It’s an interesting place,” Tablo said. And sent a glance to the man at his side.
“Interesting place to get laid,” Kibum said. Tablo made a strange sound at that, and waved between he and the still panting Donghae. Kibum shook his head. No he definitely had not touched Donghae. “No, we haven’t. Seems like he wanted to, but I just want to get out of here.”
He inched to the side as Donghae tried to touch him, from where he had curled on the ground beside him.
“Don’t you want to go home?” he asked Tablo bluntly.
“Sure, but… Is he okay?”
Kibum didn’t bother looking. “We walked fast to get here. Maybe he’s not used to it.”
He caught a glance of the slender legs beside him. Had he gotten paler? He pushed it out of his head, and stood.
“I’m going to the tree… If you want to go back, I guess you know how. Happy…whatever you’re doing.”
“Kibum!”
The dark of the tree was welcoming, and he put his hands against the slick insides. He felt a little ridiculous, because being in it meant that he assumed some sort of magic in the tree would open up and take him home. Barring that, perhaps he could find some clue as to why they were there…
He cursed himself, as he closed his eyes, that the first thing he imagined was Donghae’s face.
***
The man with Kibum disappeared after him around the bend of the tree, and Tablo’s worry went with him. Disappeared was a kind term for the deliberate gait that the man adopted. If that was the same person who had led them, running, to safety when they had arrived… What had happened to him? Kibum had clearly rejected him… Hyukjae had seemed quite distressed at the appearance of the other two, turning worried eyes to him. But there was no understanding between them. He understood there was something wrong, and that was it.
Kibum also seemed under the impression that he was willing to stay just for the sex. Which wasn’t entirely true. He was curious, was all... Was much of it anyway. And he did not resist when Hyukjae helped him to stand, leading him away from the tree.
It was hard not to swagger a little bit. He was partially naked, stuck in a weird world. And, since was having incredible sex with a man who seemed like any time of the day was good enough to get down and dirty. He couldn’t pretend he wasn’t thinking about sex as he admired Hyukjae’s ankles, or his ears, because Hyukjae was pressing close with interested noises, and exploring hands. And then Hyukjae came to him with the food. Good sex, good food. He almost could see himself being satisfied with that... Well. For a while.
He’d end up missing the music... And the writing...
But while he was there. He couldn’t help but show off. He was a little less... He was an urban warrior, to put it kindly. Hyukjae’s body was quite a bit tighter. And though it seemed they wanted each other equally, he didn’t want to be seen as less somehow. He had his pride.
Well. He had his pride for about five seconds. When he stepped mightily up onto the rotted log, he was a conquistador, master of his surroundings... And the next second, he was flat on his face in the mud. He’d barely had enough time to extend in his hands to keep from killing himself, and as he looked up, mud globbing onto his cheek from a cruel clump of hair, all he saw was his supposed advocate and bedmate, rolling around on the ground like a crazed monkey. Gasping, holding his stomach as laughter positively rang out in husky gasps.
His hand closed around Hyukjae’s ankle, tugging at him. And with the wolf pelt safely on dry ground, Hyukjae leaped onto him with a shout.
They rolled, wrestled, squelching in the fetid mud and standing water. Just feet away was the river, but he was having none of that, smearing mud on Hyukjae’s face with his cheek. They were laughing, gasping, together. When he saw that happy smile, he felt something, just fleeting, like a bird too quick to catch.
And they were aware of each other, as amusement merged to something darker.
There was some interesting blank space around Hyukjae’s neck, one that looked like some strange sort of wide necklace. Tablo’s fingers painted one there for him, fingers jerking with the movement of Hyukjae’s body against his. As the cloth was eased away, and all there was was heat and Hyukjae’s sliding hand.
Even through the mud, he could see the flush that had risen on Hyukjae’s cheeks. Maybe partly shyness, but it was lust that glittered in the brown eyes. He tried to touch, and Hyukjae shook his head. His laugh came out like a gasp when that movement sprayed droplets of dirty water. His hands settled instead on Hyukjae’s thighs, lean and strong, the heaving ribs, the sloping shoulders...
He was lost as he focused on Hyukjae’s face, white teeth sinking into the plump bottom lip, face lost to the sensations that was his hand on their bodies, the feel of them together... And as the peak dawned, he wanted that mouth against his. Could imagine what it would feel like to trace that jaw, and invade that mouth as his body bucked, buried inside him in so many ways. It was that thought, that or the nails that Hyukjae raked down his stomach, that finished him.
His next conscious thought was some time later, and consisted of a few parts. He was laying in mud. That was disgusting. And it remained so even if he did have a gorgeous creature stretched out against him. One who looked rather smug with himself, if Tablo was any good at reading expressions. He gave into one of his desires, and nipped at the dip in Hyukjae’s jaw.
“Should we go wash...” He held up an arm that was dosed in brown flecks and muddy splotches, and tried to look wretched.
Hyukjae’s smile was almost painfully bright, but he helped Tablo to his feet, pulling their filthy cloths out of the mud behind them.
***
They hadn’t tarried long in the cold water, Hyukjae helping him to wash, and him returning the favor. Sweeping hands from the width of that shoulder to the skinny waist. Hyukjae bit at his shoulder playfully as they dried off, and he caught himself staring at that mouth again. Not good.
“Hyukjae…”
He didn’t really realize he’d said it until Hyukjae’s head rose, staring at him with a question written in his eyes. Because he wanted to touch that face, he resisted. Leaning forward, puffing warm air into Hyukjae’s ear until he was laughing against him. Arms that held him so tightly. He wondered what Hyukjae would do if he could show him a piano, the way he would touch the keys, startling at the sounds they made. Sitting with a lazy smile as Tablo played for him. Or edging between him and the keyboard, leaning in and…
Since they had washed the cloths, hung them first, they were nearly dry by the time they were ready for them. At least not cool enough to be a detriment in the heated air.
“We should go back to Kibum,” Tablo said, reluctant, gesturing that direction. It was hard to imagine what Kibum’s issue was. And he felt like a bad person when he said that, because he really didn’t know. He just knew what Hyukjae’s reactions were, and because that indicated it wasn’t good… If Kibum didn’t want to play nice, then they just had to figure out a way to get back before one of them was killed or starved to death.
He wondered as he wrapped his hand around Hyukjae’s, watching his hair fluff up in little drying tufts. Wondered if there was any way they could go back together. They were bonded, weren’t they? He could show him around, or… Something. He pushed it out of his head. He was being stupid, as usual. Thinking too much.
He wasn’t really thinking much beyond that contact between them when Hyukjae gasped, jerking his hand away and rushing forward. On the forest path, the man who had been with Kibum lay, jerking as though in a seizure. Hyukjae was crooning at him, yelping back at Tablo as though to get him to hurry up.
It was clear the man needed help, but Hyukjae didn’t seem to know what to do. Hyukjae couldn’t stay with him and send Tablo ahead for Kibum on his own, so together they ran to the tree.
Tablo would have said he’d get Kibum to the man no matter what, but his strength was in words, not so much in power. But that was why he had Hyukjae.
Kibum was going back with them, whether he had to knock him unconscious or not.
***
Author: Coley Merrin
Rating: R overall (language, sexual situations)
Pairings: Kibum/Donghae, Tablo/Eunhyuk, Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun
Genre: AU. Angst/smut/fluff, Romance.
Summary: As the forest world’s protective barriers fail, the two remaining animal spirits must protect the men who have come to save them, or face certain death. And the spirit of the tiger is forced return to the forest, or risk losing his mate forever.
***
Part One * Part Two * Part Three
***
Kibum woke to a pounding heart and the sound of water. He was sitting upright within a moment, searching for Tablo. It was lighter, and perhaps they could find their way back to the tree, back to where something made sense. He wasn’t good with this kind of thing. Change, whatever. He didn’t want it. Hadn’t asked for it. And he had no idea what he was supposed to do in a forest when he had no idea how to take care of himself. No convenience stores, no…nothing. But Tablo was gone, and that alarmed him. Had the man they’d been following taken him while he slept? Left him alone? He didn’t think Tablo would leave without him, though, so he wasn’t sure what was going on.
That was when he saw it, the seal. Sleek, brown and gray, it was far too near him for comfort. Laying near where his head had been, a large lump on the ground. It sensed his movement as he stood, starting to back away. Were seals dangerous? They had teeth, he knew, but then again he hadn’t been eaten while he slept either.
The seal rolled onto its back, looking for all the world as though it was lounging, looking at Kibum with curious eyes. With a roll of the sleek head, the skin began to slide, spreading out in a deep brown puddle around the exposed naked skin. Human skin.
He wondered if it was normal that his knees would tremble.
The man who lay where the seal had been pushed upwards, naked limbs and soft brown eyes, a confident walk that brought them closer. His head jerked up as the man’s face was suddenly too close to his. They breathed in unison for long moments, three, four, Kibum studying that face. Was he a seal? A human? What was he, and how...
And then the man smiled. He smiled.
They stood together, the man pulling Kibum to his feet almost without effort. And he, he was still dazed by the transformation he had seen. Seal to human, stoic to smiling. As it was, it took him a moment to realize he was being led toward the water’s edge.
“No,” he said, tugging back. It wasn’t anything personal. He had nearly drowned once, and water wasn’t really his thing anyway.
He was stared at with wide, questioning eyes, and he knew all of his posture was screaming “no!”
Water was playfully splashed at his feet, as the man tugged and pointed at the sealskin. Some sort of “I’m a seal, trust me, I can swim” message. A soft voice crooning at him. He shook his head, leaning back with all his strength.
The man pouted a bit, but seemed resigned, scooping water in his hands and letting it dribble onto Kibum’s hair. An anointing almost. And that seemed to content him. And turning, the man grabbed the sealskin and began to lead him further upriver.
Kibum followed the man in front of him, feeling a bit desperate to keep up with the fluid stride. Yellowing leaves dropped around them like huge snowflakes, a testament to the dying trees, the dying forest. It was no paradise, not that he had seen. Found by what Tablo called a creepy faceless person, then abandoned... Or had Tablo been taken? The only person left to him, a mute man who could turn into a seal. And he had no idea where he could go to escape it all.
The river they emerged by was wide, rushing, clearly at the height of its fullness, and it made his skin crawl. But they stopped far from the crumbled bank. This time, he thought, for good.
The sealskin fell to the ground, a jumbled bundle as the man turned to him. Not even jerking his head back took their faces out of close proximity, the man’s face far, far too close for comfort. He was being...studied. White teeth fixed on the pink lower lip as the dark eyes studied him from hairline to chin. Whatever he saw, he seemed to approve, because the smile flashed again.
There was something about the man that made him want to babble, even if he was certain that he wouldn’t be understood, and he had never been prone to it. But the silence was oppressive. Maybe that was it. He was used to noise, chatter, music... Even if he wasn’t the one making it.
And it seemed like the man who darted from his side, exposing the curve of his ass beneath the cloth to Kibum’s eyes for a brief second, would be noisy. It was just a gut feeling. Not like the way he swallowed, and fixed his eyes on the rolling water. Tentative hands lifted a cup toward his face. Nudging it toward his nose until he took an obedient sniff. It was sweet. Did nothing for him. But the smug tilt of the mouth in front of him...
He tried to keep his eyes away from the distractingly peeking tongue, as slender fingers traced a wet line across his forehead. His eyebrow twitched as a trickle of the juice tickled it. Before he could think to purse them, to get away from the contact, the man’s thumb had run wet, quick, solid across his lips. And leaning close with closed eyes, as though to smell his handiwork. Smell the sweetness that was now in his mouth.
“What’s this for?” Kibum asked, resisting the urge to reach up and wipe his mouth.
The man hummed softly, hand warm, liquid cool as his whole hand pressed against Kibum’s chest.
And he couldn’t help sucking in his stomach, wanting to twist away as fingers ran across it. A word.
“Donghae,” the man said, smiling up at him. “Donghae.”
“Donghae?” Kibum repeated, the name numbing, sweet on his tongue. And Donghae’s hand rose to his own chest, as though to confirm it.
Donghae offered him the cup, a smile in his eyes.
And Kibum realized that it wasn’t a friendly gesture. He was being claimed. Donghae had written his name on him, and that... He was stupid about people, but he wasn’t stupid.
He heard the cup fall as he turned, ran, and pushed into the forest.
***
Kyuhyun woke before him, which was unusual. But not much before, because the confusion was clear as Zhou Mi pushed himself upright.
Kyuhyun had withdrawn his hand.
“I thought this might have been a dream,” Kyuhyun said. “But my ass hurts from falling on the floor, so I’m thinking that’s a no. Where are we?”
Zhou Mi swallowed. “Our apartment.”
“And you are...? Zhou...? What?”
“Mi. Zhou Mi.”
“Are we roommates?” Kyuhyun’s eyes swept the room, focusing on his things that were scattered there. “Is this like some kind of amnesia or something? Have I hit my head recently?”
“What’s the last thing you remember?”
“Um. Talking to my mom... She told me my sister is expecting her first kid... And sleeping.”
Zhou Mi wasn’t sure if it were possible to feel more ill. He had nearly been asleep on the couch when Kyuhyun had kicked him, mouthing “Uncle Mimi” at him with a grin. It had taken him a little while to process the happy smile Kyuhyun wore with who he was talking to. They had talked about it all that night, joking about it before going to sleep. Kissing happily at the thought of a baby niece or nephew to spoil. That had been... Not even twelve hours before.
“You... Don’t remember telling me?” Zhou Mi prompted. “I was sitting beside you.”
Kyuhyun seemed stumped. “No. I don’t remember you at all. I was alone in my apartment... My apartment, not this one.”
“The apartment you first got when you moved out on your own? You...you haven’t lived there in months.”
“But the conversation with my mom, about the baby...?”
“Was yesterday.”
Kyuhyun rested his forehead in his palm. “I have a headache. This doesn’t make sense. Why would I forget getting a roommate and a new apartment?”
I’m not your roommate! Zhou Mi wanted to shout. You love me!
It was as though something had rewritten Kyuhyun’s memories, so that Zhou Mi’s existence and things they shared were gone entirely. He was supposed to be the one with the answers, and he had none.
“I’m going to call Siwon and Han Geng, see if they can come...”
“You know Siwon and Han Geng?” Kyuhyun demanded.
Zhou Mi blinked. “Yes? You do?”
“Yeah, of course. They’re my friends.”
It shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did, to be sitting in their apartment with Kyuhyun, to be looked at like a stranger, to know that Kyuhyun remembered other people and not him. But it did hurt.
It did.
“What were you dreaming of when you woke?”
Kyuhyun frowned, lifting a hand to his neck. “It’s weird... It felt too real to be a dream.”
“Tell me. Please. It might help... Something might help.”
He hoped his face was an earnest and concerned one and not a desperate one.
“I was in a forest,” Kyuhyun began. “It was dark, and weird. I kept looking behind me, thinking I was being followed. And I saw... A tiger.”
A chill raced down Zhou Mi’s spine. Just like in his dream. “A tiger following you?”
“Stalking me. It was...menacing. I mean, it’s not like I could fight back or get away. And it leapt for me, pushing me into the dirt. When I woke up, I thought I was about to die. It had sank its fangs into my neck.”
A cruel perversion of their relationship, Zhou Mi realized. The attacking tiger instead of the nurturing one. He was Kyuhyun’s protector, not his killer.
“So when I woke with you hovering over me, I freaked,” Kyuhyun admitted with a wry grin. “I thought you were about to kill me.”
“Who would take out the garbage if I killed you?” Zhou Mi asked, feeling weak.
“So we must be close if we’re sharing a bed? Is my room under renovation or something?”
Zhou Mi stood slowly, reaching for the photo album he had put together for Kyuhyun as a gift. A picture the day they had met again on earth. Their first trip to the ocean. Self camming, funny faces and cheeks together as they lay together in bed.
Kyuhyun flipped through it silently. Laughing a bit as he went.
“You’d almost think we were dating,” Kyuhyun laughed. And flipped the page.
Zhou Mi knew what he was seeing. The picture was the background of his cell phone. A picture Siwon had taken on the night of Kyuhyun’s big promotion, when the four of them had gone out to celebrate. It was easy to see in the picture the amusement on Kyuhyun’s face, as they giggled against each others’ mouths.
The celebratory, after-toast kiss.
“Was this some kind of dare?” Kyuhyun asked of the picture. It was one Zhou Mi had nearly framed except that Kyuhyun had called it too sappy.
Their relationship? A dare?
“No,” Zhou Mi said, soft and desperate to be understood. “That was the night of your promotion.”
“I don’t understand. I remember that night. I had a celebratory beer alone,” Kyuhyun said.
“No. We had dinner out with friends. You and I... We’re not friends or roommates. We’re in love.”
Kyuhyun’s face was open, as though waiting for the confirmation of a joke. But none came.
“I’m sorry,” Zhou Mi said finally. “I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“That’s crazy,” Kyuhyun argued. “I don’t date men. I mean, no offense, I’m sure you’re a handsome guy and all, but I’m not into that.”
“You weren’t into men... Just. Just me.”
“Why do I remember differently, the night of the promotion?”
Zhou Mi didn’t know how to explain that he knew.
***
It took a visit from Siwon and Han Geng to convince Kyuhyun that what Zhou Mi was telling him was the truth. Telling him the story of how they had met, the forest, finding each other on earth. To any normal person it would have sounded fantastical and impossible. Kyuhyun took it as well as someone who had three, otherwise rational, adults insisting that they were right could have. And he had thought telling him that they were dating and sleeping together had been shocking. That part, given the amount of pictures Zhou Mi had of them, Kyuhyun at least could not dispute.
Zhou Mi concluded that when the death bird had been taken back to the forest with Siwon and Han Geng, some shadow, a residue, had been left in Kyuhyun’s mind. The bird, though dead, was still connected to all the others… Kind of a hive mentality. And if they could reach into both their dreams, then… They must be feeling desperate, knowing that the last two spirits were finding their mates. That Zhou Mi sending to the two men had caused the birds to take this step…
No. Perhaps they would have all along. At the destruction of the world, one last parting gift. And then Zhou Mi would have had no recourse at all. No place to turn.
He tried everything he knew, that day. Meditating. Trying to sleep so that he could dream again. Everything but screaming up at the sky. He had fixed Kyuhyun his favorite lunch, to both their levels of uncomfortable. Siwon and Han Geng had stayed as long as they were able. But Zhou Mi knew it was ultimately up to him. He hung his head, insisting on sleeping on the couch. Allowing Kyuhyun to stay in their room, around their things… In case any of it jogged his memory.
While Zhou Mi, in their main room, researched and thought, and… Watched how they had been together.
He felt Kyuhyun’s presence as if he were a burning torch on a cold night. His instinct was to close his laptop immediately, hide what he was watching, but his breath caught as the presence of the man behind him and the sight of the movement on the screen merged.
It had been his birthday, not long before they had found Siwon. And their friends had been there. Family. His mother had taken the video he was watching, and he could hear her chirping at him from behind her camera. Everyone hushed as one person began singing, Kyuhyun, nearly getting through the whole first line before anyone had the wits to join in. And he had emerged from behind a gaggle of people into his mother’s line of sight, Zhou Mi’s cake in his hands, his face brightened by the candles. Eyes focused on Zhou Mi.
Zhou Mi spared himself a glance, his smiling face, eyes steady on the advancing form of the man he loved. The singing petered out, silence as he had inhaled and blew out the numbers on the cake... Written in arabic numerals since Kyuhyun had joked that there wasn’t enough space on the cake to put all of them. And poked the air out of Zhou Mi’s puffed cheeks when he had said it.
The cheer as the little lights went out at his exhale, smoke wafting. He could almost smell it. That and the chocolate frosting as Kyuhyun set it down on the table between them. He watched as he had dabbed a bit on his finger, offering it to Kyuhyun...and smearing it over his lips. The camera had caught every dance of Kyuhyun’s eyes as his tongue peeked out to taste, leaning in eagerly as Zhou Mi had tasted it on his lips as well. The kiss had been sweet, they were among company... But there was no dismissing their closeness as Kyuhyun had snugged to his side, manning the cake knife because he didn’t trust Zhou Mi with straight lines, helping each other to serve slices, handing forks, plates to each other.
Kyuhyun had leaned into him, and whispered, “Happy birthday,” so that only he could hear. Had said it again that night, in a different tone. Had called him “Mimi.” That had been worth more than any present...
A handkerchief appearing beside his face startled him out of his reminiscing. He had almost, not quite, remembered that Kyuhyun was there. And realized that during the short clip, maybe two minutes... He had begun to cry. Kyuhyun was stoic as he sat on closest footstool, eyes uncomfortably focused on Zhou Mi. Which wasn’t helping since he was trying to discreetly wipe his face. Why shouldn’t Kyuhyun know what they were to each other? Why should it only be him who remembered?
“Your birthday?” Kyuhyun asked, and Zhou Mi nodded. Not quite trusting his voice as yet.
“I know what everyone has told me... But seeing that is like seeing a totally different person. He...I...really love you a lot.”
“Each other. We love each other,” Zhou Mi said, kind of hating his voice at that moment. “Kui... Oh.”
“It’s weird how I feel like my life is real now, to see that I had a different one.”
Zhou Mi forced himself to breathe as he considering Kyuhyun. That would be weird. Like a serious case of amnesia... It was hard on him. And hard on Kyuhyun.
“Is it something you want back?” he queried.
“I don’t really know how to answer that,” Kyuhyun said, cocking his head as he mused. “I’ve thought about it all day… I don’t… If I was that happy, then yeah. I just can’t conceptualize it. At all. It’s like telling me I used to be a girl. I don’t even…”
“Yeah. It’s…weird.”
“But it’s not just me. I could go on like this, but you… It’s not fair to you, if we don’t…fix it.”
A tiny flame of hope lit in Zhou Mi’s heart. Maybe that was the first step. “Then you would be willing to help?”
“Yeah…” Kyuhyun swallowed. “Yeah, if I can.”
Zhou Mi sent Kyuhyun off to sleep, feeling lighter. But he woke with no more answers, because his sleep had been untouched by dreams.
And that night, and the night after. Kyuhyun became easier around him. Tried to joke with him, support him. But it wore on them both.
***
He edged off of the treadmill, feeling some of the tension that had driven him to it gone, but not enough when he saw Kyuhyun in the doorway. He let the towel in his hands drape around his neck, feeling his body throb with the inactivity.
“Did you need something?” Zhou Mi asked, drawn to Kyuhyun as though just being near him were enough.
“You smell,” Kyuhyun said, laughing and trying to edge away.
“I’ll show you smell,” he growled back, grabbing for Kyuhyun and rubbing his face against his neck. And hearing his laugh...
It was, for a few moments at least, so normal and wonderful and right, to be holding Kyuhyun against him. The slender body, solid...
“That’s a little over the line, don’t you think?” Kyuhyun said, pushing at Zhou Mi’s shoulder.
“Sorry...”
Zhou Mi’s hands slipped up above Kyuhyun’s hips. It wasn’t that he was used to groping Kyuhyun indiscriminately, but he was quite used to touching without thought. To think nothing of sweeping his hand from Kyuhyun’s thigh to his waist, teasing him about his cute butt. Though cute meant more like “amazing” or most times “fantastic.” And definitely with a hint of possession. Kyuhyun had never been offended by Zhou Mi referring to him as “mine.”
And would usually tease Zhou Mi as well...
“You’re used to what you’re used to,” Kyuhyun said, arranging himself in a chair as though nothing awkward had just happened. “Though, you know. Thanks for showing some restraint.”
“Yeah.” He began to feel a bit cold, standing there with empty arms and a somewhat apologetic though indifferent man in front of him. “I’m going to go shower.”
“Make sure you scrub good everywhere,” Kyuhyun joked as Zhou Mi turned.
In his memory, Zhou Mi heard Kyuhyun adding “Or I’ll have to come get the places you missed.”
***
“Daniel...”
He didn’t really want to wake up... He moaned as much, trying to bury his face beneath the warmth beside it.
“Daniel,” the voice continued. In addition to a finger poking his cheek, a hand was gently petting his hair.
And the warmth? A bare length of thigh. He squinted upward, blinking several times before the features of the man he barely knew and yet had...so rather indelicately had sex with swam into view.
“Hyukjae?” he croaked after he levered himself upright. What was the protocol for the morning after meeting half naked jungle men, and having sex with them?
Apparently it was contact, and lots of it, because Hyukjae pressed a lot of very bare skin to a lot of his for a brief snuggle. He didn’t even have a chance to get his hands coordinated before food was being pressed to his lips. Berries. Fish. Some kind of crunchy root vegetable he couldn’t identify. All eaten because he didn’t even remember what he’d had for his last meal. Hyukjae was as silent as he had been before, helping him to eat and urging him to have more and more, until he seemed satisfied.
“Thanks,” he said, kind of ineffectually. He wasn’t really sure how to thank half naked men when they fed him, either. Still, Hyukjae leaned into his hand as he reached for his face, seeming to like the touch, the contact. No, he was pretty sure just how he wanted to thank him. He didn’t just jump into bed with strangers. Or. At least not often. He usually liked them. Respected them. Spent pleasurable time kissing them. Maybe... Just maybe Hyukjae was waiting for him to make a move. Even as a wolf, he’d been a little...unsure. Which was best not to think about. Still.
The lips he focused on parted in surprise as he drew their faces together. In retrospect, he realized the exact moment there was realization of his intention, because one second he had been a bare inch away from tasting Hyukjae’s mouth, and the next he was flat on his back, staring dazedly at the sky.
Hyukjae was strong, he realized with some irony. He didn’t remember being pushed, much less thumping onto the ground.
Low sounds were being made over him as Hyukjae fussed over him, cradling the back of his head and staring into his eyes.
“I take it you don’t like kissing?” he asked. And of course the only answer he got was a worried expression and a set mouth. And from that, he averted his attention. Maybe they needed to have sex a few more times before Hyukjae was comfortable enough to kiss him. No. Wait. That didn’t make sense even to him.
But one way or the other, it seemed that was the order of things... Because the next sound from his mouth was a moan, as strong hands worked down his body. In the dark eyes, he saw apology...and need. And he accepted both.
***
Kibum realized he had no idea where he was going. He had run into the forest, thinking he would see something familiar, if he just curved back to his left where he thought they had come from. But nothing looked familiar. He just scaled fallen trees and seemed to get nowhere. The hush was almost eerie at times, the clack of bare branches together in the moving wind, the scatter of barely clinging leaves. So when he saw movement, his heart nearly stopped.
Donghae.
The sealskin was clutched in his arms, and he was staring at Kibum with something that looked close to fear. He walked toward Kibum as though he were a flighty animal, and to be honest, he just about felt that way. The long fingers were trembling when they reached for his, and he stepped back, avoiding the touch.
“Look, my name is Kibum okay?” he said, putting a hand to his chest. Maybe making nice would make the guy want to help him. “I don’t want to be here. Can we just go back to the tree, and maybe I can find a way to get out of here? You can get back to…doing whatever.”
“Kibum,” Donghae said, sounding a little doubtful, his face drawn.
Kibum dropped down, drawing the outline of a large tree with a cracking hole at its base. Donghae’s face lit with understanding, and Kibum forced his eyes away from the curving mouth.
It seemed Donghae wanted to take his hand while they walked. He avoided it, ignored it, and walked until Donghae began leading him in a different direction.
His heart leaped in shock when he heard laughter, and then in some perverted form of hope. That was Tablo, unless he was very much mistaken. And joy, Tablo was mostly naked, with a similarly mostly naked guy plastered against him, feeding him. He rolled his eyes, and tried not to pay attention to Donghae’s harsh breathing as he sat down near his roommate.
“I see you were looking real hard for me,” Kibum said, not really put out as much as it sounded. Since they’d arrived, there hadn’t been much danger. Unless he counted someone wanting to strip him naked. And unless he was mistaken, by the hand Tablo had at the man’s waist, he’d gotten the naked treatment full on. “You seem really sad to be here.”
“It’s an interesting place,” Tablo said. And sent a glance to the man at his side.
“Interesting place to get laid,” Kibum said. Tablo made a strange sound at that, and waved between he and the still panting Donghae. Kibum shook his head. No he definitely had not touched Donghae. “No, we haven’t. Seems like he wanted to, but I just want to get out of here.”
He inched to the side as Donghae tried to touch him, from where he had curled on the ground beside him.
“Don’t you want to go home?” he asked Tablo bluntly.
“Sure, but… Is he okay?”
Kibum didn’t bother looking. “We walked fast to get here. Maybe he’s not used to it.”
He caught a glance of the slender legs beside him. Had he gotten paler? He pushed it out of his head, and stood.
“I’m going to the tree… If you want to go back, I guess you know how. Happy…whatever you’re doing.”
“Kibum!”
The dark of the tree was welcoming, and he put his hands against the slick insides. He felt a little ridiculous, because being in it meant that he assumed some sort of magic in the tree would open up and take him home. Barring that, perhaps he could find some clue as to why they were there…
He cursed himself, as he closed his eyes, that the first thing he imagined was Donghae’s face.
***
The man with Kibum disappeared after him around the bend of the tree, and Tablo’s worry went with him. Disappeared was a kind term for the deliberate gait that the man adopted. If that was the same person who had led them, running, to safety when they had arrived… What had happened to him? Kibum had clearly rejected him… Hyukjae had seemed quite distressed at the appearance of the other two, turning worried eyes to him. But there was no understanding between them. He understood there was something wrong, and that was it.
Kibum also seemed under the impression that he was willing to stay just for the sex. Which wasn’t entirely true. He was curious, was all... Was much of it anyway. And he did not resist when Hyukjae helped him to stand, leading him away from the tree.
It was hard not to swagger a little bit. He was partially naked, stuck in a weird world. And, since was having incredible sex with a man who seemed like any time of the day was good enough to get down and dirty. He couldn’t pretend he wasn’t thinking about sex as he admired Hyukjae’s ankles, or his ears, because Hyukjae was pressing close with interested noises, and exploring hands. And then Hyukjae came to him with the food. Good sex, good food. He almost could see himself being satisfied with that... Well. For a while.
He’d end up missing the music... And the writing...
But while he was there. He couldn’t help but show off. He was a little less... He was an urban warrior, to put it kindly. Hyukjae’s body was quite a bit tighter. And though it seemed they wanted each other equally, he didn’t want to be seen as less somehow. He had his pride.
Well. He had his pride for about five seconds. When he stepped mightily up onto the rotted log, he was a conquistador, master of his surroundings... And the next second, he was flat on his face in the mud. He’d barely had enough time to extend in his hands to keep from killing himself, and as he looked up, mud globbing onto his cheek from a cruel clump of hair, all he saw was his supposed advocate and bedmate, rolling around on the ground like a crazed monkey. Gasping, holding his stomach as laughter positively rang out in husky gasps.
His hand closed around Hyukjae’s ankle, tugging at him. And with the wolf pelt safely on dry ground, Hyukjae leaped onto him with a shout.
They rolled, wrestled, squelching in the fetid mud and standing water. Just feet away was the river, but he was having none of that, smearing mud on Hyukjae’s face with his cheek. They were laughing, gasping, together. When he saw that happy smile, he felt something, just fleeting, like a bird too quick to catch.
And they were aware of each other, as amusement merged to something darker.
There was some interesting blank space around Hyukjae’s neck, one that looked like some strange sort of wide necklace. Tablo’s fingers painted one there for him, fingers jerking with the movement of Hyukjae’s body against his. As the cloth was eased away, and all there was was heat and Hyukjae’s sliding hand.
Even through the mud, he could see the flush that had risen on Hyukjae’s cheeks. Maybe partly shyness, but it was lust that glittered in the brown eyes. He tried to touch, and Hyukjae shook his head. His laugh came out like a gasp when that movement sprayed droplets of dirty water. His hands settled instead on Hyukjae’s thighs, lean and strong, the heaving ribs, the sloping shoulders...
He was lost as he focused on Hyukjae’s face, white teeth sinking into the plump bottom lip, face lost to the sensations that was his hand on their bodies, the feel of them together... And as the peak dawned, he wanted that mouth against his. Could imagine what it would feel like to trace that jaw, and invade that mouth as his body bucked, buried inside him in so many ways. It was that thought, that or the nails that Hyukjae raked down his stomach, that finished him.
His next conscious thought was some time later, and consisted of a few parts. He was laying in mud. That was disgusting. And it remained so even if he did have a gorgeous creature stretched out against him. One who looked rather smug with himself, if Tablo was any good at reading expressions. He gave into one of his desires, and nipped at the dip in Hyukjae’s jaw.
“Should we go wash...” He held up an arm that was dosed in brown flecks and muddy splotches, and tried to look wretched.
Hyukjae’s smile was almost painfully bright, but he helped Tablo to his feet, pulling their filthy cloths out of the mud behind them.
***
They hadn’t tarried long in the cold water, Hyukjae helping him to wash, and him returning the favor. Sweeping hands from the width of that shoulder to the skinny waist. Hyukjae bit at his shoulder playfully as they dried off, and he caught himself staring at that mouth again. Not good.
“Hyukjae…”
He didn’t really realize he’d said it until Hyukjae’s head rose, staring at him with a question written in his eyes. Because he wanted to touch that face, he resisted. Leaning forward, puffing warm air into Hyukjae’s ear until he was laughing against him. Arms that held him so tightly. He wondered what Hyukjae would do if he could show him a piano, the way he would touch the keys, startling at the sounds they made. Sitting with a lazy smile as Tablo played for him. Or edging between him and the keyboard, leaning in and…
Since they had washed the cloths, hung them first, they were nearly dry by the time they were ready for them. At least not cool enough to be a detriment in the heated air.
“We should go back to Kibum,” Tablo said, reluctant, gesturing that direction. It was hard to imagine what Kibum’s issue was. And he felt like a bad person when he said that, because he really didn’t know. He just knew what Hyukjae’s reactions were, and because that indicated it wasn’t good… If Kibum didn’t want to play nice, then they just had to figure out a way to get back before one of them was killed or starved to death.
He wondered as he wrapped his hand around Hyukjae’s, watching his hair fluff up in little drying tufts. Wondered if there was any way they could go back together. They were bonded, weren’t they? He could show him around, or… Something. He pushed it out of his head. He was being stupid, as usual. Thinking too much.
He wasn’t really thinking much beyond that contact between them when Hyukjae gasped, jerking his hand away and rushing forward. On the forest path, the man who had been with Kibum lay, jerking as though in a seizure. Hyukjae was crooning at him, yelping back at Tablo as though to get him to hurry up.
It was clear the man needed help, but Hyukjae didn’t seem to know what to do. Hyukjae couldn’t stay with him and send Tablo ahead for Kibum on his own, so together they ran to the tree.
Tablo would have said he’d get Kibum to the man no matter what, but his strength was in words, not so much in power. But that was why he had Hyukjae.
Kibum was going back with them, whether he had to knock him unconscious or not.
***