Sand people [part 3]
Title: Sand people [part 3]
Characters: Junho/Wooyoung
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 2560
Summary: Year 2063. Mankind has been trying to fight the invasion of aliens for 10 years, but there's not many people left alive. And those who are still alive are struggling to survive. Junho's one of them. But when his life is at stake there's someone who saves his life and offers something Junho can't refuse.
Author's note: well, this changes things...kkk. enjoy! thanks @retropedia for putting up with my grammar issues lol.
Strong wind rattles the window and Junho calms down. His eyes feel immensely tired. The arms around him relax, but Wooyoung doesn't let go completely. Junho wipes away his tears, realising he's not showing the strongest and manliest side right now, so it makes him feel embarrassed. "Why were you crying?" Wooyoung asks bluntly.
Junho touches Wooyoung's wrists and breaks free from this soothing embrace. He turns around and sits in front of his new friend on the dusty floor. It's weird to have a friend. Junho notices Wooyoung's spiky shoulder armour sitting on top of the bed and thinks it's very considerate of him to take his time to remove that thing just to console Junho with a hug. "Many reasons," he speaks as his gaze fixates on the longest spike.
"I really want to understand you." Wooyoung's words surprise Junho.
"I think this ruined world is enough of an explanation, but since you're asking... Okay." Junho's eye feels itchy and he scratches it. "I've lost many dear people. Like this family, we all have suffered enough and they chose suicide just like my sister. You can't possibly understand this, because you have to live through it. I don't even know why you're asking such an obvious thing. This existence is challenging and dreadful. I thought you understood me and that's why you took your time to console me." Junho feels a bit disappointed, as Wooyoung doesn’t show much compassion.
"I wasn't trying to console you."
Junho's immediately taken aback by his words. "What?"
"I was doing something I saw your race do when someone's crying. It appears to be a natural reaction." Junho frowns. He didn't expect this answer. It sounds too alien.
"Wait, wait... What's that supposed to mean?"
Wooyoung purses his lips for a brief moment and exhales. "I guess this is where I should answer your earlier question. Why did we create you inferior to us?"
"Well..?" Junho's impatient. This person is confusing him.
"When we changed our DNA and created Earth people, we did something to make sure you're really opposite from us, for example, the removal of birthmark. Junho, we don't have feelings. I mean, it's like we have this barrier that pushes our personal emotions aside, and we can't really feel much of it. You see me do some things similar to you, because I studied some resources on how to act in certain situations. However, I don't really feel anything." He stops talking and looks at Junho with a blank face, while Junho's face is a pure reflection of disappointment and disbelief.
"You're not a human. You're a robot." Junho mumbles, feeling hurt.
"I'm not a robot. I have emotions, but they're all locked. They're unnecessary. That's how our race became advanced, because we're very rational and we do everything to develop our society, ignoring our own personal needs and emotions. But it was beginning to burden us. Thus, we created you. Our Elder realised our lack of emotions could become of a vital problem one day and he thought creating you would help us to develop ourselves so we could use that knowledge to our advantage. As you've noticed, Universe is full of different entities. We fought against few and we won. Nevertheless, there were a few times when fighting only using our advanced technology wouldn't help us that much. Other species seemed to have more passion about defeating us, whereas we lacked their greediness and treachery. It almost brought us to an end because they were out of control, unlike us. They were radical." Wooyoung ends his business-like explanation.
Junho clutches his fists. He almost wishes he didn't know any of this. "I can't believe this... Do you have any feelings at all? Or was it all just act you learned watching movies and whatnot?"
"Joy is my strongest emotion. It's positive, so it's a good one to have."
Junho looks down at his ankles and examines his brown boots as he thinks. If Wooyoung is pretty much a superior human with no useless emotions, what about..? Junho clears his throat. "Do you even know what love is?"
"Love?" Wooyoung smiles. "It must be something nice, but irrational."
"Don't you have anyone you love? Or at least feel passionate about?" Junho stares at him hopefully.
"I have no knowledge of that feeling. I guess the closest to your so-called love is respect. We respect each other."
"I can't imagine a woman surviving without love... Respect, pft..." Junho rolls his eyes and somehow feels dejected. The more he know about Wooyoung and his super human race, the more he’s disappointed.
"Our women get enough respect."
"Oh, shut the fuck up with your respect." Junho can't take this anymore and stands up, ignoring Wooyoung's slightly surprised face. "You'd tell a woman you respect her and don't love her, you'd be killed at least mentally here. Just what did I get myself into?.." Junho places hands on his hips and shakes his head. "I just don't get one thing. You had hundreds of years to develop yourselves while watching us, but you tell me your strongest emotion is joy. How the fuck will it help to conquer those greedy and cunning species?"
"That's why we're saving you. We need you to help us. Humans have been fighting against each other ever since their creation, and we need those war tactics to help our kind. And you," Wooyoung jumps on his feet quickly, touches Junho's shoulder, and leans in. "You're a very useful asset to us."
Junho slaps his hand away and closes the bathroom door abruptly, leaving the dead family behind it. He's had enough of this alien bullshit. "You know what, you can go back to your peaceful hippie planet and play home there. I'm not joining this idiocy. How am I supposed to have a meaningful life with boring and dull people like you? I'm out. Seriously. I'd rather die on this planet while having an interesting fight than spend my life like an old man in an elderly nursing home." Junho goes past Wooyoung and the latter catches him by his arm. Junho doesn't look at him.
"Even if you want to stay here and die trying to survive, you don't have any food left. You can't get water that easily. You can't travel without gas. You can't have a steady life and home. Stop being so emotional and calm down. Be rational."
Wooyoung's calm voice annoys Junho even more, and he pushes Wooyoung angrily. The latter hits the wall, wearing a blank expression on his face. "Fuck off. It pains me to see someone so emotionless when I've been through so much shit. What do you even know about life? Fuck your advanced technology, and your awesome connection between nature and yourself. You don't know what real life is. Get real, you alien creep." Junho leaves the room and hears Wooyoung saying ‘Don't reject this opportunity, we need you.’
Junho storms out of the house and kicks a stone, sending it further carelessly. Junho feels so offended his fists are shaking, because Wooyoung is like an empty canvas behind glass. No emotion can soil it. It‘s just sitting there safely and avoiding any external forces. It must be very convenient to live like this, and Junho‘s blood boils, because Junho is the complete opposite. He‘s like a match that flares up quickly.
It‘s been awhile since he felt betrayed, but now that feeling consumes him. When he thought someone he could share his horrid experiences with appeared, it turned out to be just an act. Junho thinks Wooyoung doesn‘t deserve to see that fragile side of him and he gave in way too easy. He should‘ve pushed him away when Wooyoung showed this fake affection. Junho sighs and blames himself for becoming so weak. He was too fast to judge a person he barely knew. Junho assumed he would understand him, but he was wrong. Being alone is easier - you don‘t depend on anyone.
Junho walks behind the house and his eyes notice an old solar-powered bicycle. His eyes catch something even more interesting, and Junho runs to the object. There’s a few solar panels attached to some sort of a reservoir lid on the ground and Junho’s jaw hangs open. “No way,” he mutters. Junho runs back inside the house and rushes into a bathroom on the first floor. If his assumptions are right, those solar panels might be meant for heating the water from that old reservoir.
Junho turns the tap on and sees a brown stream of water run out of the shower head. It takes around a minute for the rust to wash off and there’s clear water running through Junho’s fingers. It’s warm and Junho smiles widely, because for the first time in hell knows how many weeks, he’s going to enjoy a decent shower.
He strips off his clothes immediately, jumps into the bathtub, and closes the grey curtain. It’s overwhelming. Junho sighs deeply and buries his face underneath the warm stream, savouring every second of these glorious moments. He can feel his muscles relax upon the touch of this magic liquid, and Junho moans ‘Oh, God.’
Junho finds a soap bar and rubs it all over his body, massaging his hungry skin. There’s also a bottle of shampoo, and Junho doesn’t even care about the expiration date as the thick liquid still smells good, just like fresh vanilla. He rinses his hair slowly and lets the pleasant water stream wash it all away. He doesn’t count minutes, but Junho feels his fingertips getting wrinkly.
It’s not easy to turn the tap off, but Junho knows he doesn’t have much time left before the sunset. He pulls the curtain and is startled to such extent that he slips in a bathtub while trying to grab on the curtain, but Wooyoung catches him before it’s too late, and Junho lands on top of him with a loud thud. Junho’s heart is beating so fast, it takes a couple of moments to regain his senses. Junho jumps on his feet, throwing daggers with his eyes at Wooyoung. “Are you fucking crazy?! Who the hell creeps on someone like this, I could’ve broken my neck in there!”
Wooyoung stands up and tilts his head, making himself look even creepier. “But I saved you.”
“If you weren’t here in the first place, everything would’ve gone just fine!” Junho screams, his heart still not calm enough. “Whatever. What do you want? I thought you left me.”
“I’ve thought about it.” Wooyoung takes a step closer to Junho. “You were talking about love. If it’s sex you want, I don’t have any problem with that.” He states like a businessman. “And your reproductive organs seem to be just fine.” Wooyoung looks down and Junho holds onto the ripped shower curtain tighter, covering his manhood.
“That must be the shittiest pick up line ever.” Junho answers coldly. “Oh, your reproductive organs are so brilliant, we should be fuck buddies for the sake of my alien planet.” Junho mimics Wooyoung in a ridiculous high-pitched voice, and Wooyoung laughs unexpectedly, surprising Junho. “Stop your act.”
“I’m not acting. You’re funny. So, how about it?” He smiles at Junho’s unimpressed face.
“Listen. I’m not desperate enough to sell my body. I’d rather enjoy my hand than ruin my precious reproductive organs for on dull super human with super alien attitude. You might be hot in all aspects, ” Junho stares at Wooyoung up and down, the latter rising his eyebrows. “But you’re just an empty canvas.”
Junho turns around and grabs a towel, ready to go to another room to look for new clothes, when Wooyoung’s voice stops him in the doorway. “That’s still rude of you to talk to me like this. I might not have strong emotions, but I have my dignity as well.” Junho looks at him and feels a bit guilty, but his own dignity is bruised too much for that feeling to last long.
“Your dignity is none of my concern.”
Junho ignores Wooyoung’s existence as he makes noodle soup, praying these noodles wouldn’t turn into a gummy mass. Basically all food is past the expiration date, and Wooyoung’s words about the lack of food appear on his mind. That’s true, he knows, but he doesn’t want to give up just yet. Even if it’s irrational, as Wooyoung would say.
Junho’s done with his not-so-tasty soup, and he notices Wooyoung in the corner opening a small bag. He takes a small package and opens it. The thing he takes out and bites looks like a chocolate bar and Junho is confused. Does he have food? “What is that thing you’re eating?”
“Oh, just something similar to your food pills, except this bar is enough for a week.” Wooyoung answers deliberately.
“You asshole. You have food substitute and you watch me starve? You’re seriously mental. If you had any sense, you’d have shared it with me!”
“You didn’t ask me. And I wouldn’t share it anyway. I need to survive as well.” His answer kills Junho and he swears to shove a bucket of stones up his throat someday.
“Screw this, I’m going to sleep . You can be the watchdog since you’re full of energy.”
“I’m not bursting with energy, but fine, I’ll keep one eye open.”
Junho glances at the bag on top of the table and leaves the kitchen. Wooyoung’s going to pay for this and Junho knows how.
Wooyoung falls asleep eventually, his equipment and energy telling him this house is safe for the night. He falls asleep, thinking about Junho and how that man’s capable of thrusting so many emotions at him. He’s never experienced direct human contact before. Everything is new to Wooyoung, as he was assigned to find a useful human by the Elder himself. Watching Junho from afar didn’t make him look that feisty, but once he got into contact, Wooyoung realised this one’s not going to be easy to tame. But how can he even do that if he doesn’t know how that works? Wooyoung can’t use force against him, he doesn’t even feel like it, but sometimes... Sometimes Wooyoung thinks there’s something that...irks him? No, this can’t be the case. Wooyoung’s a calm warrior, but this mission is taking a lot of his energy. Balancing it out is getting difficult, but it’s nothing major.
Wooyoung can’t understand half of the things Junho means, but it’s not his duty to do so. He ignores Junho’s outbursts. However, his words sometimes make him wonder about the true meaning behind them, and this is where Wooyoung stops letting these things go under his skin. He’s not even capable of it, Wooyoung thinks. There must be a way to make Junho come with him.
Sunrays reach Wooyoung’s face and he wakes up, lifting his head off the kitchen table. His muscles feel strong and full of energy as Wooyoung stretches his limbs. He walks over to the bedroom where Junho’s sleeping and opens the door just to see the bed’s already empty. “Junho?” He calls out, but no one responds. Wooyoung checks the remaining rooms and feels something’s wrong here. He runs back to the kitchen and stares at the empty spot on the table.
His food bag and Junho are gone.