Sand people [part 6]
Title: Sand people [part 6]
Characters: Junho/Wooyoung
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 3158
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: I was lazy again because I was on vacation, so I'm not sorry this time lol. Huge thanks to retropedia for editing this mess ;~; Enjoy!
Junho’s uneasy despite the fact this stranger most likely won’t do any harm to him, but his defensive senses kick in and he’s careful. There’s probably only one person he can really trust, and that’s not him standing before Junho now. This man doesn’t look like he’d harm anything; his face is calm, and the intense look in his charcoal eyes is almost hypnotising as Junho finds himself staring right into those dark orbs. Junho gulps and notices he has no shoulder armour. There’s only one piece of shiny iron covering his forearm, just like Wooyoung’s. It’s really hard to tell what this super human is capable of since it doesn’t seem like he’s of any threat, but Junho’s sure there’s lots of energy hiding beneath that tanned skin. He also must be able to regulate his temperature, Junho decides when he looks at the identical black leather pants - the only piece of clothing on the stranger’s body. His hair is dark and short, framing the sharp-looking face. The man tilts his head slightly and his eyebrows cast a dark shadow, making him look even more mysterious. He’s as captivating as Wooyoung and Junho thinks maybe it’s good they cannot feel any strong emotions, because there would be thousands of broken hearts in that super human planet, and dozens of love triangles, squares, pentagons and whatnot.
Junho lifts his chin slightly. “Chose? Now you make it sound like I was graced by a divine entity.” He makes it clear he doesn’t think super humans should be thought of as majestic creatures as they do. Perhaps they are, a bit, Junho thinks. But just a bit.
“In a way, yes.” The stranger smiles and takes a step closer, not thinking much of Junho’s stern face. “But let’s not dwell on this now, we should hide. The sun's almost set and I saw a few enemies not too far away. Take me to Wooyoung.”
Junho doesn’t protest and walks past the man. Mentioning water-carriers always makes him work quickly and he doesn’t have a death wish. Besides, Wooyoung’s not healed completely and perhaps his kindred can do the deed. “Who are you?” He asks as they get inside the cave and walk beside each other.
“I’m Wooyoung’s team leader, my na-”
“Junsu!” Wooyoung sounds too excited, but it’s nothing compared to Junsu’s surprised face when his subordinate throws his arms around Junsu’s neck and locks him in a tight embrace, making the older super human hug him back to maintain their balance due to the sudden collision. Junsu stares at Junho, waiting for an explanation, but Junho just snickers. Wooyoung pulls back and looks like an overgrown kid whose parent just showed up after weeks of absence in the kindergarten. He grabs Junsu’s hand and holds onto it, making the latter give more confused glances at both men.
“Wooyoung, this is not exactly how you should greet me.” He stares at the younger male.
“I know! But I’m very happy to see you!” He bounces like a ball with Junsu’s hand in his, and Junho bites his lip, looking away for a few seconds. “So many things happened!”
“Yes, I’m aware of that...” Junsu pulls his hand out of Wooyoung’s tight grip. “Just like I thought, there’s something wrong with your energy.”
“Did you know?” Junho asks without hesitation, because it appears Junsu came here on purpose and that purpose is grinning a bit too much in front of his superior.
“I couldn’t contact him anymore, so I assumed his energy flow was off. Something must’ve happened.” Junho’s reminded of the super humans’ ability to contact each other using telepathy and nods faintly.
“Yeah... But we’re working on it.”
“Junho’s amazing! I’ve learned so much already, just wait till I tell you all about it!” Wooyoung nods several times hastily, like a clockwork soldier.
Junho decides it’s time to help Wooyoung with his over-excitement and takes his hand, the latter’s staring back at him instantly. “Wooyoung, calm down. Stop acting like a dog.”
Wooyoung sighs, closes his eyes and concentrates, letting Junho’s energy flow through him. Seconds later, he opens his eyes and looks at Junsu as if nothing’s happened. Junho releases his hand and he’s sure everything’s intact now. “He was injured.”
“How’s that possible?” Asks Junsu and sounds a bit reprimanding. Junho thinks it can’t be easy to comprehend defeat when you’re so advanced and yet one of your subordinates was injured. Sometimes a perfect mirror has barely visible cracks beneath its frame too.
“He just wanted to help me. That’s all.” Junho shrugs.
“Help you?” Junsu doesn’t look convinced.
“Yeah, what’s so weird about that?”
“I assume you know quite a lot about our kind by now. We don’t really help someone, unless it’s an order. Helping someone is acting on their own accord based on one’s emotions. We’re not capable of that. Perhaps...” Junsu crosses arms over his chest. “Since he chose you, maybe he put his own life in danger to help ensure his mission's success. Yes.” Junsu nods to himself.
Junho closes his eyes and shakes his head. “This is so... super human-like.” He mumbles. “I guess this shouldn’t surprise me, but that sounds like he’d have left me to die if he hadn't chosen me? What does that mean, exactly? You choose people? Isn’t your mission to save every human being left alive on this Earth?”
Junsu looks at Wooyoung meaningfully, and the younger male seems a bit perplexed. Junho raises his eyebrows in question, but none of them are speaking. Junho feels as if this is getting somewhere he doesn’t like. “There’s no point in hiding it, I suppose. You’re coming with us anyway.” Junsu sighs and Junho’s heart sinks a bit. “We have precise information about who’s left on this planet. We were ordered to save only the most valuable people. To do so, we have to watch over the chosen candidates, evaluate them and choose.”
Something sharp squeezes Junho’s heart and he blinks slowly. “The rest of them... The rest of my kind... Will you leave them to die here?”
Junho feels Wooyoung’s defeated gaze on his profile, but he cannot concentrate on this now. All he can think about is this cruel selection. “Yes. There’s a certain number of people each of us can take, so-”
“How many?” Junho interrupts. “How many?!” He yells.
“Twenty. One person per super human.” Junsu answers simply.
Junho turns away, places his hand on the wall of the cave and presses his forehead to it, trying his best to contain his anger and disappointment. He didn’t think that much about Wooyoung’s words when he first said they wanted to save only the strongest ones, and Junho didn’t pry too much into it back then. He didn’t have the slightest idea there was only a certain number of people that were meant to be saved. In any case, Junho thought the number was far greater. However, he miscalculated.
It is not easy to accept this. And Junho doesn’t. He just buries his disappointment deep in the furthest corner of his mind and keeps on breathing steadily into the solid rock. There’s another thing he realises - he’s really lucky no matter how you look at it. Wooyoung saw something valuable in him, giving Junho a chance to survive.
Junho’s body twitches when he feels a hand stroking his back gently and that anger dissolves gradually. Maybe it is too soon to believe so, but Junho senses Wooyoung might actually understand this. He’s still learning, but nevertheless, Wooyoung’s showing a huge improvement as someone who has never had any feelings before. And then there’s Junsu. Someone who reminds him of the previous Wooyoung, but he has a different feel to it. Maybe because he’s a higher rank and older. Who knows. Junho’s too tired to think about it.
Junho turns around. “Can you heal Wooyoung?”
“Let me take a look at it.” Junsu comes closer to his junior and touches the bandage, making Wooyoung wince. “Sorry.” He proceeds moving his delicate fingers in a softer way and removes it completely. Junsu kneels immediately to have a better look, and his exhale sounds like damn to Junho.
“So?” Junho’s impatient.
“Let me try something.” Junsu’s palms get close to the wound and he shuts his eyes, doing something Junho's clueless about. There’s only one thing happening that’s quite obvious, and Junho watches Wooyoung’s wounds closing up, astonished. However, his birthmark doesn’t look any better by the time all of Wooyoung’s injuries are gone. Junsu keeps his hands in front of the younger super human’s hip a bit longer, but then he stands up. “I cannot interfere with this birthmark and energy. I cannot heal something as complicated as our birthmarks. It’s blocking me.”
“Blocking?” Junho and Wooyoung ask in unison.
“Yes. Why are you so surprised, Wooyoung?”
“No particular reason. I guess my emotions are still messed up.” He smiles reassuringly, but Junho can feel him somehow-- he doesn’t know if it’s because their arms are touching-- but Junho’s pretty sure Wooyoung has just told his first lie. He didn't reveal one important thing to his superior: Junho's energy has access through his birthmark, and yet, Junsu doesn't. How can Junho's energy freely flow through him when a fellow super human's cannot?
“Fine. I need to assess your human,” Junsu states, drawing a very unimpressed expression out on Junho’s face.
“Excuse me, I’m not a piece of sausage,” he claims and Wooyoung snickers beside him, covering his mouth. “Please call me Junho.”
“Ah, forgive me. That was very rude of me, Junho.” Junsu beams with a wide smile plastered on his friendly face, and Junho feels like this super human is messing with his mind. Must...resist, Junho grits his teeth. “Will you come closer to me?”
Junho looks at Wooyoung and the latter nods, meaning Junsu’s not going to eat him or anything. Junho takes a step forward and Junsu’s not satisfied with the distance, so he comes even closer. “Lift your arms up.”
Junho does, and Junsu does the same, but he touches Junho’s palms and traces his fingers down the human’s arms, sending tickling sensations through his nerve endings. He has no idea what Junsu’s doing and when he looks at Wooyoung, Junho notices how the latter’s face clouds up gradually as Junsu’s hands are moving down Junho’s biceps and land on his chest for a while. Junho can also see how Wooyoung’s muscles tighten, and the more he looks at this vessel of freshly bloomed emotions, Junho feels like... “Woah!” He yelps when Junsu’s fingers press against his hip bones, way too close to his private area. This touch is stronger than the previous ones. Junsu isn’t affected by the human’s surprised sound, but when his hands touch Junho’s butt, the apocalypse crashes upon them.
The next thing Junho knows is that Wooyoung’s back is glued to Junho’s chest, while his hand is squeezing Junho’s wrist and his other hand is on Junsu’s neck. Junho sees Wooyoung’s neck tattoo flash. This can’t be good. “Do not touch him,” Wooyoung hisses and does something that makes Junsu jump back swiftly, but he doesn’t retreat. The next moment, the situation is reversed as Junsu sends an invisible force from his palms right into Wooyoung’s damaged birthmark and grabs his wrists from behind.
Now Junho’s staring at Wooyoung’s pained expression as Junsu’s standing behind him with his junior’s wrists locked in his powerful hands. “Wooyoung-ah, calm down,” He whispers into his ear, but it doesn’t give the much desired effect. Before it all gets worse, Junho runs quickly over to them and cradles Wooyoung’s face in his palms.
“Wooyoung. Concentrate. Just listen to my voice and breathe, yeah, like this.” Junho bobs his head back and forth slowly, like he has been doing whenever Wooyoung would start losing himself and it seems to help, because Wooyoung closes his eyes and listens to Junho’s calm voice telling him it’s all good. Junho then nods to Junsu and he releases his subordinate, who buries his face into Junho’s neck and hugs him tightly.
To say Junho’s worried is an understatement. He’s actually scared because he thought they got it all under control, but all it takes is for someone else to appear and Wooyoung’s a carousel of emotions all over again. The only thing that didn’t change is Junho’s ability to bring the sanity back to Wooyoung’s vicious heart. Junho embraces him and stares at Junsu past Wooyoung’s head. Junsu doesn’t seem too surprised this time, and it clicks in Junho’s mind. “You did this on purpose.”
“I had to know if my soldier is well enough to continue working on this mission. This doesn’t look good.” Junsu leans back with his arms crossed on his chest. “Though I have to admit the effect you have on him seems to work, but...”
“Don’t tell me you’re going to remove him from this mission.” Junho’s grip on Wooyoung’s body tightens, feeling as the super human wants to speak up against this. No, Junho whispers and makes Wooyoung trust him on this one.
“This is what I should do, to be honest...” He shrugs.
“Don’t do it. Please.” Junsu eyes Junho and stays quiet. His face says nothing and it bugs Junho, because it’s not possible to defy a super human. Not with an emotionally damaged Wooyoung in his arms.
“Why?” He asks casually after a pause, but Junho’s sure there’s nothing casual about this question. This means a lot.
“What if by the time we reach the star gate, he’s in perfect control of his emotions? What if he becomes the first super human with well-controlled emotions? Wouldn’t it be a huge advantage to your race? Not some petty human being, but one of your kind who can actually control his emotions, energy, and everything else, just by his pure willpower. Wouldn’t that be a unique item to your nation?” Junho feels how Wooyoung grips on his shirt stronger, but he doesn’t let go of him yet. Junho needs to keep him steady, because they have a long way to go and they have to do it together. Also, Junho knows how to work his way through a super human’s mind. He’s had his practice with Wooyoung and he hopes it will work on Junsu too.
“If you’re trying to manipulate me, you’re doing a great job. Unlike Wooyoung, I’ve had past experiences with your kind. That’s why I’m his team leader and not the other way around.” Junsu smirks and there’s something sinister about it that it makes Junho feel uncomfortable. “However, I like the way you think. I don’t want to risk one of my soldiers, but I’m intrigued to see if this can work out. And if it does... Wooyoung will be a great asset to our race.”
Junsu looks too smart, Junho thinks. He’s rational and emotionless, but he’s just too smart and Junho’s baffled. Some of his facial expressions look intense even if he’s trying to hide it. Junho feels Wooyoung and Junsu are different somehow. Then he glances at Junsu’s body and notices another thing. “Where’s your other birthmark?”
Junsu’s lips curl up. “Right now it’s a very sensitive topic.” He glances at Wooyoung’s back. “But it’s on my butt. Why are you asking this now?”
“I just thought all of you had your birthmarks on the same places. But back to our previous topic...”
“Right. I covered only the positive side. And if Wooyoung is still not in control, we’ll just have to take some measures to restore the damaged birthmark, which means he will no longer be able to express emotions. Just the old rational Wooyoung.” Junho frowns at that thought. Wooyoung might be slightly psychotic, well, maybe more than slightly, but he feels alive now. “How can I be sure you’ll teach him control?”
“You can’t,” Junho smiles and Junsu arches his thick eyebrow. “You’ll have to trust me.”
“I cannot trust you,” Junsu unfolds his arms and comes closer to the pair. “But I can tell Wooyoung trusts you.” Junsu ruffles his junior’s hair and Junho finally releases him, completely sure he has given enough of time to make him feel at ease. Junho takes a step back when Wooyoung turns around and kneels on his right leg with his head bowed in front of Junsu.
“My apologies.” His voice isn’t loud, but he’s heard.
“I just hope this will end well. For all of us.” Junsu leans down and squeezes Wooyoung’s shoulder.
“Do not disappoint me.” Junsu turns around and is about to leave the cave when Junho’s voice stops him.
“Wait, aren’t you staying? It’s dangerous outside.”
“I have someone I must observe. I’m a team leader for a reason.” Junsu presses two fingers to his temple and smiles. “See you by the star gate.”
It’s very silent inside the cave and Wooyoung’s still on his knee when Junho squats in front of him. “Hey, we should go to sleep, it’s been a long day.” Wooyoung nods without looking at him and follows Junho.
They lie down and Junho covers their bodies with his precious foil, feeling a bit lonely when Wooyoung doesn’t spoon him and just lies on his back beside him, their arms touching softly. “Junho...” He speaks up after a few minutes.
“Yeah?”
“What was that feeling? The one that made me attack Junsu?” He sounds hurt and Junho’s now forced to think of a good answer.
Before he answers, Junho takes his time to think this through. Then, he asks something. “Describe what you were feeling.”
Wooyoung hesitates, but Junho turns his head to look at the latter’s profile and nudges him gently. “When he touched you... It felt like something pierced my chest. Like something was burning. Then you yelped, but he kept on touching you, and my mind went blank. All I knew was I had to get his hands off of you...”
Junho sighs and looks up, because he knows what it is and it burdens him. If Wooyoung indeed has such intense feelings for him... How is Junho going to deal with this? He cannot come up with an answer, because Junho might as well become a burden to Wooyoung. When Junsu told him he might take Wooyoung away from him it set up an internal fire within him as well. Junho cannot deny this anymore, because there is no point in doing that. He cares as much about Wooyoung as the super human does about him.
“Jealousy. It’s jealousy, Wooyoung-ah...” Junho hears a soft snore and looks at Wooyoung’s face turned to his side. He’s already dreaming about something.
At this point, Junho knows they’re both screwed. First, because they have to prove Junsu something. Second, because teaching and learning self-control is one of the most challenging things. Third, because Junho selfishly wants to keep this Wooyoung beside him.