Before the Dawn - Chp. 8
TITLE: Before the Dawn
RATING: PG to PG-15ish?
PAIRING/FOCUS: Jongho (Main), Cheundong/Krystal (sub-main) SulTae (sub-main)
GENRE: ...adventure, au, romance?
NOTES: For a happy Jongho shipper, this chapter's got a lot of SulTae hints. And not a whole lot else. ((I'm sorry. I really am)) And the first part is kind of wonky. I think it felt kind of rushed. I'm sorry. *bows head in apology*
PLOT AND CAST LIST || PROLOGUE + CHAPTER ONE || CHAPTER TWO || CHAPTER THREE || CHAPTER FOUR || CHAPTER FIVE || CHAPTER SIX || CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHTHe supposed he should have expected the older man to approach him while he was nursing a cup of coffee the next morning. There was a red mark beneath his bangs, a remnant of the “egg sized” bump he possessed the night before, healed/fixed by Taemin of course. He gently slid the cup of coffee to the side as the older man slid into the seat, placing down a cup of coffee himself as well as a plate of breakfast. How he managed to have the appetite to eat, Joon didn’t want to know. He just sipped at his coffee, contemplating things in the silence. Then,
“I didn’t expect to see you here Changsun,” was the easy drawl and Joon hummed lightly, looking up at the other from behind the rim of his coffee cup. A half smile was thrown his way and Joon smirked lightly back. “The last time I saw you, you were attempting to break out of your room…again. Of course, I distinctly remember you being dragged back into the palace by your two ridiculously strong cousin and sister,”
“You try living there your entire life. I bet you would have fled all the same Seung-gi,” was Joon’s simple reply and Seung-gi leaned back in his chair, a grin quirking his lips. Joon took another sip of his coffee then uttered softly, “They send their love to you by the way,” Seung-gi hummed and Joon continued, “I don’t see why they seem to love you more than they love me, their own flesh and blood. I mean, no offense or anything, but you happen to be a sell sword,”
“Non taken. But I suppose they’ve gotten tired of seeing you all the time no?” and Seung-gi grinned at him. Joon laughed. “Onto other things I suppose. What do you think caused the explosion in the room last night?”
“The same explosion that knocked all of us out cold so that Ex-Northglenn and terrifying Taemin had to repair everything that was broken and make sure we weren’t dead?” Joon questioned lightly. Seung-gi nodded, stabbing his fork into the odd mesh of yellow the bartender had told him was eggs.
“I mean I knew Jonghyun was strong but to obliterate the room and cause Taemin and Cheundong to be barely conscious is quite the feat. Taemin is powerful on his own, as is Luna although the two of them have much, much better control than Jonghyun. And from what I could see, Cheundong-ah isn’t to be taken lightly either,” The younger of the two hummed, his eyes closing as he searched his memory. After a moment, he grinned lightly.
“I’m surprised you didn’t know. You were the one who helped my sister learn of the Arts in the first place,” Joon reclined on his chair, leaning back. He wasn’t worried of blocking other people’s ways, since he figured that in this part of town, not many people woke up early enough anyways. “There was an amplifier in the room at the same time Jonghyun’s magic exploded,”
“Amplifier?” Mir’s voice rang out groggily as he joined them and Joon grinned, lightly patting Mir’s head as the younger sidled up to his seat.
“An amplifier,” Joon repeated. “More specifically, a magical amplifier. Some mages and people who study the Arts extensively, have one or have come across one in their lifetime. Mostly, amplifiers boost the power of the magic and sometimes, though usually in rare cases where the amplifier is an actual human as opposed to an object, they can help the mage control their magic. But Amplifiers are rare. It’s hard to come across them, inanimate or animate. Much less three, I think, in the same room,”
“That explained why Taemin’s magic seemed more suffocating than normal,” Mir commented groggily. Seung-gi nodded and Joon shrugged.
“But amplifiers only amplify one person and one person alone. It is unheard of for one to amplify two people. And think about it,” Joon placed his cup onto the table. “If there was nothing physically standing post Jonghyun’s magic discharge, what could have been the amplifiers that boosted the magical ability of the Mages in the room?”
“So it was a person for the amplifier? But there are four mages, or rather, 4 students of the Arts in our party. Jonghyun, Cheundong, Taemin, and Luna,” Seung-gi commented. Mir hummed lightly. “And you said there were three amplifiers? Could Luna or Taemin have amplified-“
“Not necessarily. In battle, a mage can boost the magical ability of another mage but that is only if it’s necessary or done out of will. An Amplifier does it unconsciously and they’re normally connected to the mage somehow. No one ever knows how and no one really knows what an amplifier is or does besides strengthen magic and allow the mage better control of the Arts,” Joon shrugged and he laughed gently when Mir whined. It was obvious to him that the younger didn’t understand. He just reached over and patted at the younger’s ginger-brown hair. “Don’t worry about it Mir-ah. I don’t completely get it either,"
Joon supposed that he appreciated that Mir wasn’t as awake as he could have been and he just nodded sleepily before flagging down a waitress for a cup of coffee. Had Mir been just a bit more awake, Joon supposed that he would have gotten questions of, “If he really didn’t understand it, how could he explain so much?” and that, for the moment, was a secret Joon was going to take to the grave with him. While he ordered, Joon and Seung-gi exchanged looks. After a moment, Seung-gi snorted and lifted a forkful of yellow mush (eggs) into his mouth.
“You haven’t changed Changsun-ah,”
~*~*~
“Ngh,” it was the soft moan that made him jerk from his seat, much to the amusement of the other in the room with him. He flew across the room, ignoring the crinkle of parchment as the other turned a page in the book he was reading. He was pretty much hovering as dark eyes fluttered open and stared right up at him. There was a moment of pause before a hand rose and gently caressed his cheek. In response, he caught the hand before it fell back to the sheets and he murmured, “You’re awake. We were worried,”
“I was not,” and Minho ignored Taemin as the younger closed the parchment book he held, the younger male standing from his chair. “I told you Jong-ah would wake up when he did. It wasn’t like he was suffering major wounds or anything. Just a bit of magic depletion,”
“That explains why I feel like something ran me over,” was Jonghyun’s hoarse groan as he sat up. Had it not been for Minho, Taemin supposed that the older man would have flopped halfway to the ground as his body imitated jelly. Instead, Minho caught Jonghyun and gently eased him to settle comfortably against himself. Taemin was quiet, his eyes watching and his body tensed, as Jonghyun almost froze before settling comfortably against Minho.
A small, tiny smile curved Jonghyun’s pale pink lips and Taemin smiled at the action before slipping out of the room.
Perhaps Minho could do what Taemin in his immortality could not. Taemin could save Jonghyun from the moment they met until the moment she would weave that he died, and while in each moment, while Jonghyun was physically safe, Taemin knew that he wouldn’t be able to heal Jonghyun of any emotional mishaps. His guild chief had Minho for that. Taemin chuckled, his eyes darkening slightly as a familiar voice purred in the back of him mind, the tongue bouncing off in the walls of his thoughts,
“I suppose she wasn’t all that stupid. Stupid enough to take Sanghyun’s bet but not stupid enough to incur mother’s wrath. Mother is fond of the two of them,”
“Taemin?” his eyes closed and he banished the voice in his mind before he smiled gently, turning around. He blinked for a moment before he adverted his eyes, as Sulli padded up to him, wrapped in what could have been a blanket or a traveling cloak. Taemin wasn’t sure if she was dressed or not but he wasn’t about to ask such a question to one of his best, mortal, friends. Sulli smiled at him and Taemin resisted the urge to run a finger down her cheek, down the spot where his spell had healed the night before.
“Morning Jin-ah,” he greeted. The younger girl smiled at him, eyes crinkling slightly at the corners and Taemin grinned, still kind of looking at her but not at the same time. Sulli seemed to notice and she smiled brightly.
“I’m dressed Taemin. It’s just cold,” and Sulli laughed when Taemin went, “Oh,” and his cheeks pinked just a little bit. There was a moment of silence between them, both of them just observing each other and Taemin’s lips quirked into a slight smirk. Sulli smiled back.
“Hey Jin-ah, I don’t mean to just kind of bail on you but I’ve got some stuff to do in town. We’ll talk later kay?” Sulli just nodded, watching as the older boy spun lightly on his heels and walked down the hall. Her chest ached slightly and Sulli leaned against the wall, her hair framing her face when Taemin was out of sight. She suddenly felt as if she couldn’t really stand anymore.
Sulli found it just a bit odd; that she could know Lee Taemin for almost her entire life, probably 12 years and counting, but she still had so much to learn about him. She realized, that as she stood there, that she didn’t really know one of her best friends. She didn’t know his favorite foods, his favorite colors, his best weapon; she didn’t know anything really about him. She knew what he wanted them to know and she realized that what he wanted them to know was just the barest minimum; his name, his age, and that he was a mercenary. She bit her lip, trying to force back the rush of tears she knew was coming and Sulli angrily brushed the back of her hand across her eyes, whispering a bitter, “Just who are you Lee Taemin?”
“One of your best friends,” and Sulli jerked her head up, eyes widening when she saw Taemin back in front of her. She squeaked in surprise, and Taemin frowned lightly. He raised a hand, fingers gently brushing the tears marking her cheeks and Sulli felt the corners of her eyes burn even more. His voice lowered, turning softer and he murmured lightly, “What’s wrong Jin-ah,”
“J-Just something in my eye,” Sulli tried and she gasped softly when his hand slammed against the wall next to her face and he was suddenly a lot closer. His eyes searched her face and he uttered quietly, “I know you Jin-ah. What’s wrong?”
Anger bubbled to the surface of her gut and surprising even herself, Sulli placed her hands on his chest and pushed, hard. Taemin blinked in surprise and stumbled backwards from the force of it, his foot sliding back to keep his balance as the younger girl glowered up at him through a veil of watery tears. His chest clenched and Sulli ran the back of her hand across her eyes again, swiping the tears away.
“What’s wrong?! What’s wrong is that I don’t know you!! I’ve known you for almost 12 years now, 12 years Lee Taemin and in the last few days I just realized that I don’t know you!” Sulli’s voice was rising. “I don’t know what you like to do, what you’re good at; I don’t even know your birthday! And we’re supposed to be friends!” and she flinched when Taemin’s hand landed on her arm. Just as heads began poking sleepily out of doorways, the world turned on her and the duo found themselves out in the stables, the bed sheet Sulli was wrapped in fluttering to the ground. Sulli jerked away, hand rising accusingly to point at him. “I didn’t even know that you were able to do that! Goddamnit! Taemin I,” Taemin watched her, watched as she slowly began to lose her anger, her control and her voice trembled, air hissing shakily from her lips. “I-I don’t know you and it scares me,”
“Jin-ah,” Taemin uttered quietly. Sulli laughed softly, shakily and Taemin winced at how much emotion he could hear behind it. It wasn’t her usual bright, cheerful laugh and it hit him much harder than anything could. He reached out and it hurt when she shrank back.
“I don’t know you at all. I don’t know the you who’s been with the guild for years, the you who saved the guild. I really don’t Taemin,” Sulli’s voice was dropping in tone, and Taemin was silent. Taemin didn’t know what to do. She laughed again. “I should though. 12 years Taemin. We’ve known each other for 12 years and counting but in just a few days. A few days I learned that I knew nothing about you,”
Sulli didn’t answer and Taemin leaned back, his hip resting easily against one of the paddocks of the horses and he ignored it when one tried to nip at his hair. He said something short to it; the strange language ringing out and the horse obediently shuffled back. Sulli bit her lip and Taemin glanced at her. She froze.
“Why do you want to know so much about me Choi Jin-ri?” his voice was gentle but Sulli had lived long enough to hear a possible threat behind it. She frowned darkly and the anger suddenly came back full blast.
“It’s not a lot Taemin! I just want to know you a little better! Because apparently, after 12 years, I still don’t know you!” she was nearly shrieking at him. Then, part of her words stopped halfway into her mind and throat when all of a sudden, Taemin towered over her.
Her breath hitched as they stood face-to-face, chest-to-chest and every, calm breath he took, she felt. Every shaking, halting breath she breathed, he knew. Fear filled every fiber of her being and she backed up, pressing closer to the banister behind her, her hands clutching at the wood, feeling the rough texture beneath her palms. He just moved that much closer.
She was confused, unsure and Taemin knew it. Taemin, no matter what station his mother had given him upon his ascension was by no means a selfish person. He was vicious and downright evil when his station called for it but he was never selfish. He did things not for himself but for others and everyone knew it; the mortals, the immortals. And for the first time since his ascension, Taemin was being selfish.
He dipped his head and kissed Choi Jinri.
“You don’t want to know me Jin-ah,” his voice was gentle when he pulled back, and Sulli swallowed nervously, her cheeks flushed and her eyes glazed. His eyes raked her face; his body felt her trembling form against his and he heard the unspoken “Why?”
He gave her a bitter smile and Taemin uttered, “I’m afraid you’ll hate me afterwords,”
~*~*~
((Okay, so there's a little bit of insight to the SulTae pair. I promise, promise, promise that things will pick up later. I promise. There might be some time lapse between this chapter and the next one. I need to find my more action oriented bunnies. ...and the bunny who had Jonghyun's past. That one vanished too.))
RATING: PG to PG-15ish?
PAIRING/FOCUS: Jongho (Main), Cheundong/Krystal (sub-main) SulTae (sub-main)
GENRE: ...adventure, au, romance?
NOTES: For a happy Jongho shipper, this chapter's got a lot of SulTae hints. And not a whole lot else. ((I'm sorry. I really am)) And the first part is kind of wonky. I think it felt kind of rushed. I'm sorry. *bows head in apology*
PLOT AND CAST LIST || PROLOGUE + CHAPTER ONE || CHAPTER TWO || CHAPTER THREE || CHAPTER FOUR || CHAPTER FIVE || CHAPTER SIX || CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHTHe supposed he should have expected the older man to approach him while he was nursing a cup of coffee the next morning. There was a red mark beneath his bangs, a remnant of the “egg sized” bump he possessed the night before, healed/fixed by Taemin of course. He gently slid the cup of coffee to the side as the older man slid into the seat, placing down a cup of coffee himself as well as a plate of breakfast. How he managed to have the appetite to eat, Joon didn’t want to know. He just sipped at his coffee, contemplating things in the silence. Then,
“I didn’t expect to see you here Changsun,” was the easy drawl and Joon hummed lightly, looking up at the other from behind the rim of his coffee cup. A half smile was thrown his way and Joon smirked lightly back. “The last time I saw you, you were attempting to break out of your room…again. Of course, I distinctly remember you being dragged back into the palace by your two ridiculously strong cousin and sister,”
“You try living there your entire life. I bet you would have fled all the same Seung-gi,” was Joon’s simple reply and Seung-gi leaned back in his chair, a grin quirking his lips. Joon took another sip of his coffee then uttered softly, “They send their love to you by the way,” Seung-gi hummed and Joon continued, “I don’t see why they seem to love you more than they love me, their own flesh and blood. I mean, no offense or anything, but you happen to be a sell sword,”
“Non taken. But I suppose they’ve gotten tired of seeing you all the time no?” and Seung-gi grinned at him. Joon laughed. “Onto other things I suppose. What do you think caused the explosion in the room last night?”
“The same explosion that knocked all of us out cold so that Ex-Northglenn and terrifying Taemin had to repair everything that was broken and make sure we weren’t dead?” Joon questioned lightly. Seung-gi nodded, stabbing his fork into the odd mesh of yellow the bartender had told him was eggs.
“I mean I knew Jonghyun was strong but to obliterate the room and cause Taemin and Cheundong to be barely conscious is quite the feat. Taemin is powerful on his own, as is Luna although the two of them have much, much better control than Jonghyun. And from what I could see, Cheundong-ah isn’t to be taken lightly either,” The younger of the two hummed, his eyes closing as he searched his memory. After a moment, he grinned lightly.
“I’m surprised you didn’t know. You were the one who helped my sister learn of the Arts in the first place,” Joon reclined on his chair, leaning back. He wasn’t worried of blocking other people’s ways, since he figured that in this part of town, not many people woke up early enough anyways. “There was an amplifier in the room at the same time Jonghyun’s magic exploded,”
“Amplifier?” Mir’s voice rang out groggily as he joined them and Joon grinned, lightly patting Mir’s head as the younger sidled up to his seat.
“An amplifier,” Joon repeated. “More specifically, a magical amplifier. Some mages and people who study the Arts extensively, have one or have come across one in their lifetime. Mostly, amplifiers boost the power of the magic and sometimes, though usually in rare cases where the amplifier is an actual human as opposed to an object, they can help the mage control their magic. But Amplifiers are rare. It’s hard to come across them, inanimate or animate. Much less three, I think, in the same room,”
“That explained why Taemin’s magic seemed more suffocating than normal,” Mir commented groggily. Seung-gi nodded and Joon shrugged.
“But amplifiers only amplify one person and one person alone. It is unheard of for one to amplify two people. And think about it,” Joon placed his cup onto the table. “If there was nothing physically standing post Jonghyun’s magic discharge, what could have been the amplifiers that boosted the magical ability of the Mages in the room?”
“So it was a person for the amplifier? But there are four mages, or rather, 4 students of the Arts in our party. Jonghyun, Cheundong, Taemin, and Luna,” Seung-gi commented. Mir hummed lightly. “And you said there were three amplifiers? Could Luna or Taemin have amplified-“
“Not necessarily. In battle, a mage can boost the magical ability of another mage but that is only if it’s necessary or done out of will. An Amplifier does it unconsciously and they’re normally connected to the mage somehow. No one ever knows how and no one really knows what an amplifier is or does besides strengthen magic and allow the mage better control of the Arts,” Joon shrugged and he laughed gently when Mir whined. It was obvious to him that the younger didn’t understand. He just reached over and patted at the younger’s ginger-brown hair. “Don’t worry about it Mir-ah. I don’t completely get it either,"
Joon supposed that he appreciated that Mir wasn’t as awake as he could have been and he just nodded sleepily before flagging down a waitress for a cup of coffee. Had Mir been just a bit more awake, Joon supposed that he would have gotten questions of, “If he really didn’t understand it, how could he explain so much?” and that, for the moment, was a secret Joon was going to take to the grave with him. While he ordered, Joon and Seung-gi exchanged looks. After a moment, Seung-gi snorted and lifted a forkful of yellow mush (eggs) into his mouth.
“You haven’t changed Changsun-ah,”
~*~*~
“Ngh,” it was the soft moan that made him jerk from his seat, much to the amusement of the other in the room with him. He flew across the room, ignoring the crinkle of parchment as the other turned a page in the book he was reading. He was pretty much hovering as dark eyes fluttered open and stared right up at him. There was a moment of pause before a hand rose and gently caressed his cheek. In response, he caught the hand before it fell back to the sheets and he murmured, “You’re awake. We were worried,”
“I was not,” and Minho ignored Taemin as the younger closed the parchment book he held, the younger male standing from his chair. “I told you Jong-ah would wake up when he did. It wasn’t like he was suffering major wounds or anything. Just a bit of magic depletion,”
“That explains why I feel like something ran me over,” was Jonghyun’s hoarse groan as he sat up. Had it not been for Minho, Taemin supposed that the older man would have flopped halfway to the ground as his body imitated jelly. Instead, Minho caught Jonghyun and gently eased him to settle comfortably against himself. Taemin was quiet, his eyes watching and his body tensed, as Jonghyun almost froze before settling comfortably against Minho.
A small, tiny smile curved Jonghyun’s pale pink lips and Taemin smiled at the action before slipping out of the room.
Perhaps Minho could do what Taemin in his immortality could not. Taemin could save Jonghyun from the moment they met until the moment she would weave that he died, and while in each moment, while Jonghyun was physically safe, Taemin knew that he wouldn’t be able to heal Jonghyun of any emotional mishaps. His guild chief had Minho for that. Taemin chuckled, his eyes darkening slightly as a familiar voice purred in the back of him mind, the tongue bouncing off in the walls of his thoughts,
“I suppose she wasn’t all that stupid. Stupid enough to take Sanghyun’s bet but not stupid enough to incur mother’s wrath. Mother is fond of the two of them,”
“Taemin?” his eyes closed and he banished the voice in his mind before he smiled gently, turning around. He blinked for a moment before he adverted his eyes, as Sulli padded up to him, wrapped in what could have been a blanket or a traveling cloak. Taemin wasn’t sure if she was dressed or not but he wasn’t about to ask such a question to one of his best, mortal, friends. Sulli smiled at him and Taemin resisted the urge to run a finger down her cheek, down the spot where his spell had healed the night before.
“Morning Jin-ah,” he greeted. The younger girl smiled at him, eyes crinkling slightly at the corners and Taemin grinned, still kind of looking at her but not at the same time. Sulli seemed to notice and she smiled brightly.
“I’m dressed Taemin. It’s just cold,” and Sulli laughed when Taemin went, “Oh,” and his cheeks pinked just a little bit. There was a moment of silence between them, both of them just observing each other and Taemin’s lips quirked into a slight smirk. Sulli smiled back.
“Hey Jin-ah, I don’t mean to just kind of bail on you but I’ve got some stuff to do in town. We’ll talk later kay?” Sulli just nodded, watching as the older boy spun lightly on his heels and walked down the hall. Her chest ached slightly and Sulli leaned against the wall, her hair framing her face when Taemin was out of sight. She suddenly felt as if she couldn’t really stand anymore.
Sulli found it just a bit odd; that she could know Lee Taemin for almost her entire life, probably 12 years and counting, but she still had so much to learn about him. She realized, that as she stood there, that she didn’t really know one of her best friends. She didn’t know his favorite foods, his favorite colors, his best weapon; she didn’t know anything really about him. She knew what he wanted them to know and she realized that what he wanted them to know was just the barest minimum; his name, his age, and that he was a mercenary. She bit her lip, trying to force back the rush of tears she knew was coming and Sulli angrily brushed the back of her hand across her eyes, whispering a bitter, “Just who are you Lee Taemin?”
“One of your best friends,” and Sulli jerked her head up, eyes widening when she saw Taemin back in front of her. She squeaked in surprise, and Taemin frowned lightly. He raised a hand, fingers gently brushing the tears marking her cheeks and Sulli felt the corners of her eyes burn even more. His voice lowered, turning softer and he murmured lightly, “What’s wrong Jin-ah,”
“J-Just something in my eye,” Sulli tried and she gasped softly when his hand slammed against the wall next to her face and he was suddenly a lot closer. His eyes searched her face and he uttered quietly, “I know you Jin-ah. What’s wrong?”
Anger bubbled to the surface of her gut and surprising even herself, Sulli placed her hands on his chest and pushed, hard. Taemin blinked in surprise and stumbled backwards from the force of it, his foot sliding back to keep his balance as the younger girl glowered up at him through a veil of watery tears. His chest clenched and Sulli ran the back of her hand across her eyes again, swiping the tears away.
“What’s wrong?! What’s wrong is that I don’t know you!! I’ve known you for almost 12 years now, 12 years Lee Taemin and in the last few days I just realized that I don’t know you!” Sulli’s voice was rising. “I don’t know what you like to do, what you’re good at; I don’t even know your birthday! And we’re supposed to be friends!” and she flinched when Taemin’s hand landed on her arm. Just as heads began poking sleepily out of doorways, the world turned on her and the duo found themselves out in the stables, the bed sheet Sulli was wrapped in fluttering to the ground. Sulli jerked away, hand rising accusingly to point at him. “I didn’t even know that you were able to do that! Goddamnit! Taemin I,” Taemin watched her, watched as she slowly began to lose her anger, her control and her voice trembled, air hissing shakily from her lips. “I-I don’t know you and it scares me,”
“Jin-ah,” Taemin uttered quietly. Sulli laughed softly, shakily and Taemin winced at how much emotion he could hear behind it. It wasn’t her usual bright, cheerful laugh and it hit him much harder than anything could. He reached out and it hurt when she shrank back.
“I don’t know you at all. I don’t know the you who’s been with the guild for years, the you who saved the guild. I really don’t Taemin,” Sulli’s voice was dropping in tone, and Taemin was silent. Taemin didn’t know what to do. She laughed again. “I should though. 12 years Taemin. We’ve known each other for 12 years and counting but in just a few days. A few days I learned that I knew nothing about you,”
Sulli didn’t answer and Taemin leaned back, his hip resting easily against one of the paddocks of the horses and he ignored it when one tried to nip at his hair. He said something short to it; the strange language ringing out and the horse obediently shuffled back. Sulli bit her lip and Taemin glanced at her. She froze.
“Why do you want to know so much about me Choi Jin-ri?” his voice was gentle but Sulli had lived long enough to hear a possible threat behind it. She frowned darkly and the anger suddenly came back full blast.
“It’s not a lot Taemin! I just want to know you a little better! Because apparently, after 12 years, I still don’t know you!” she was nearly shrieking at him. Then, part of her words stopped halfway into her mind and throat when all of a sudden, Taemin towered over her.
Her breath hitched as they stood face-to-face, chest-to-chest and every, calm breath he took, she felt. Every shaking, halting breath she breathed, he knew. Fear filled every fiber of her being and she backed up, pressing closer to the banister behind her, her hands clutching at the wood, feeling the rough texture beneath her palms. He just moved that much closer.
She was confused, unsure and Taemin knew it. Taemin, no matter what station his mother had given him upon his ascension was by no means a selfish person. He was vicious and downright evil when his station called for it but he was never selfish. He did things not for himself but for others and everyone knew it; the mortals, the immortals. And for the first time since his ascension, Taemin was being selfish.
He dipped his head and kissed Choi Jinri.
“You don’t want to know me Jin-ah,” his voice was gentle when he pulled back, and Sulli swallowed nervously, her cheeks flushed and her eyes glazed. His eyes raked her face; his body felt her trembling form against his and he heard the unspoken “Why?”
He gave her a bitter smile and Taemin uttered, “I’m afraid you’ll hate me afterwords,”
~*~*~
((Okay, so there's a little bit of insight to the SulTae pair. I promise, promise, promise that things will pick up later. I promise. There might be some time lapse between this chapter and the next one. I need to find my more action oriented bunnies. ...and the bunny who had Jonghyun's past. That one vanished too.))