Sand people [part 8]
Title: Sand people [part 8]
Characters: Junho/Wooyoung
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 3591
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: Comments are <3 And thanks to @egle0702 for editing this chapter c:
The night is windy, Junho can't rest properly compared to Wooyoung, who‘s sleeping like a log. Junho sighs seeing the sky getting brighter, and that means they've survived one more night in this water-carrier infested world. As much as Junho would like to stay longer in this place that could be easily titled Paradise (after having lived for so long in a desert, every other place would seem like a paradise), he knows it's impossible. Many of his kind died just because they stayed in one place for more than a few days. It's only Junho's theory, but perhaps water-carriers can find them so quickly because water composes 70% of human body.
Junho turns his head to Wooyoung and stares without blinking. They need to reach stargates as soon as possible; they cannot put it off any longer, because it's not safe. Especially when you enter territories, ravaged by enemies. Junho remembers the very first reports about aliens and how the government was going to do everything to stop those things, but the problem was - aliens didn't want any negotiations. It was pure destruction. Humans gave them too much time and water-carriers used it well. Hoards of their offspring were born in a few months and it didn't stop. Even rivalling nations joined forces to fight water-carriers, but to no avail as they killed many humans in the process. Chemical weapons used against the aliens did more damage to the earthlings than the enemy.
Junho was just a 16-year-old kid, doing his school work like a diligent student and training martial arts with his father during his free time. Like many others, he was naive in thinking this would end soon. It did, but not in the way anyone expected it to. The next thing he knew, Junho was travelling with what was left of his family to a desert. His 17th birthday was marked by the loss of it. While his parents were killed protecting the children, the next morning Junho’s sister chose suicide. She chose it over pain and constant running, excluding Junho from it. Now that Junho thinks about it, she probably thought Junho was the strongest one. It was cruel to leave him out like this, but the day before Junho said he'd never give up no matter what. He chose to be responsible for his own destiny.
Because of that, he's looking at Wooyoung now. There is hope.
Junho closes his eyes and drifts off, his cloudy mind welcoming a childhood dream.
They decide to stay for a few more hours. They find three cups, fill them with water and as Wooyoung stands still Junho puts each cup on his shoulders and head. He walks like this for some time, working on his concentration and later on he goes back to shooting arrows. Junho's not very keen on trying to make Wooyoung's repkit work and just tells him to wear it without worrying about Junho. Besides, probably all the energy he got from Wooyoung was wasted already and this training wouldn't be very useful. Wooyoung tries to talk the human into trying it again, but Junho's not showing any enthusiasm. Junho's a bit old-fashioned and he makes Wooyoung go back to his own training by saying "I know martial arts more than necessary and that is enough for me. I don't want to learn something I might not be able to use at all; it'd be a waste of time. I'll just focus on my awesome regular human body and ancient fighting techniques." And he goes back to doing push-ups and the rest of his body strengthening routine.
Eventually they begin fighting each other, trying to see who's got better moves. Junho's winning this one, smirking at Wooyoung because even though Wooyoung might be stronger - Junho's technique is sharper. Also, Wooyoung can't really attack him using full power as he has no wish to break Junho's ribs (if he got a chance to actually get close to them). This counts as training for the super human as well as he has to keep his emotions in check and maintain the same level of strength. In the end, it's a tie.
Tired, they flop down on the grass. "I've never asked you," Junho begins. "But how old are you? Super humans probably live longer than we do, right?"
"You're right." Wooyoung rubs his forehead with the back of his hand and gazes at the cloudy sky. "This body, as we like to refer to it - a vessel - it usually takes around 900 years to wear off completely. This is actually a rather interesting topic, because when we die," Wooyoung makes quotation-marks stressing the last word, "The core of our energy, or soul, as you'd call it, leaves this vessel and if it's caught on time we can transfer it into an empty vessel of a super human foetus." Wooyoung looks at Junho's blank face as the human tries to comprehend everything and smiles. "Reincarnation of some sort."
"Elaborate." Junho blurts out and leans in with curious eyes.
"Foetus does not have energy, or soul in other words, until the last month before birth. I'll just say soul, so it'd be easier to understand, fine?" Junho nods frantically. "If no one wants to use that vessel - the baby gets a pure new soul, which starts developing during the last few weeks before birth. However, if there's a super human, whose old vessel isn't suitable for him or her anymore, they can choose a pregnant woman from a reproduction department and their soul will be planted into her foetus. Most of your character traits and experiences will be locked within your soul, so you might remember some things from your past life as you grow up. Not everything, but the most important things. As for me, I'm just 118 years old. I was born with a pure new soul."
"118 years old? You old geezer." Junho wheezes. "How about Junsu?"
"I'm just a baby compared to him. He has had 3 vessels already, he's in the 4th now, and currently he's a bit over 500 years old."
"Man, that's like... You're immortal." Junho stares at Wooyoung with his mouth wide open. "And he looks pretty good for a 500-year-old dude."
Wooyoung gives him a glare. "Pretty good? So, I'm not good enough or what?"
"Calm down," Junho rubs Wooyoung's arm and the new mark flashes slightly. "I'm just saying, for a person of that age, I expected him to have wrinkly skin at least. You're hot as hell, Wooyoung. I don't need to tell you this, because that mark wouldn't be here if I thought otherwise, would it?"
Wooyoung purses his lips and looks away. "I guess so." He takes a few moments and everything's back to normal. "We do not age in that sense. Yes, we might get a few wrinkles as we get closer to 900, some grey hair as well. However, it's our internal organs that make us get another vessel. Carrying that much energy takes its toll on us."
"So, can you really die?"
"Yes, if we do not want our soul to be caught and stored safely. It just flies away, a small orb of light."
"What about us, humans? I mean, there were rather many cases of people talking about reincarnation, their past lives and such. I'm pretty sure no one catches their soul after they die."
Wooyoung smiles faintly. "It's a pure accident. That might happen in a hospital, where pregnant women come and someone dies - their soul might accidentally collide with the foetus. Souls are invisible to simple human eye; many of them wander around for years until it dissolves completely. But it's a very rare occurrence. Catching a soul for us is also a difficult task, that's why we have to prepare for it and usually 3 people attend the soul catching ceremony. There's a special container for it."
Junho turns away from Wooyoung and starts picking at the grass, staring at the greenery around his hands. "So... There might be a chance I could get that ceremony done for me as well?"
The weight of this question gets Wooyoung. He notices the depth of it as Junho's voice sounds normal, but his tone is not that certain. Wooyoung takes Junho's hand and squeezes it, sending pleasant sensations through his body. Junho lifts his eyes and gives a pensive look. "It should be possible."
Junho nods and his face brightens up slightly. "Thanks."
Wooyoung leans closer and is about to kiss his partner, when a drop of rain splashes on his cheek. Junho pulls back immediately and jumps on his feet. "We need to leave this place. Quickly." Wooyoung agrees, because at this point staying here any longer is dangerous and the super human knows - when there's rain, there must be water-carriers somewhere nearby. "I'll go and grab my bag from inside, wait here." Junho says and runs towards the building.
He curses, because he should've thought this through better. Junho didn't pay much attention to the sky and clouds as he was too immersed in their training and now they have to hurry without looking back. Junho reaches the bedroom and throws another black jumpsuit in his bag (chances are he's going to ruin the one he's wearing if things get worse, because that's how it's been recently), zips it up and is about to turn on his heel, when someone grabs him from behind, covers his mouth, holds onto his waist, and presses their bodies against the wall. Junho notices the repkit and nods. Wooyoung removes his palm from the human's lips and whispers into his ear, "They're here. Six of them."
"We can escape through that window," Junho whispers back. "It's raining we might cover our tracks successfully. And we have to go to that nearby city. We have no choice." They're out of time and it is more than obvious the only place they can hide in is the deserted city. Wooyoung releases Junho and the latter opens the window silently. He looks back at Wooyoung, nods, and jumps outside effortlessly.
Junho squats immediately and as Wooyoung lands beside him there's a sound of someone walking in the building. Wooyoung points his fingers towards the thick bushes on their left and Junho's eager to move, but the super human holds onto his arm, indicating they should wait. Junho looks at him with his eyebrows raised and Wooyoung taps on the repkit, going through the list quickly. Seconds later, a small silver gun appears in Wooyoung's hand and he gives it to Junho, mouthing laser.
They move slowly at first, trying to be as quiet as possible and with the sound of heavy rain it becomes an easy task. Once they get a bit further from the building, the pair runs fast, with their sole purpose to reach the invisible airbike. Junho slows down before the turn and it appears to be a very wise decision, because there's one water-carrier securing the entrance to the zoo. Junho glances at Wooyoung and smirks, pointing the super human's gun at the unsuspecting alien.
He's astonished at the functionality of the advanced gadget as its noise level is extremely low and the dead alien with its brain fried falls down immediately. They run past him and notice their vehicle, another brilliant idea popping in Junho‘s mind. "This should hold them back." Junho fries the engine using the laser and Wooyoung drags him, only wishing to get away without any injuries.
This time they succeed.
"Apocalypse at its greatest," Junho murmurs as the airbike flies into the empty city. Tall buildings look like frozen ghosts, bottles and papers scattered all over the streets, which are now decorated by grass - nature trying to break free through the cracked pavement. Abandoned cars, some of them burned down, broken windows and personal belongings being carried by the wind and stuck somewhere - it makes Junho shudder. People in despair didn't know what to do to survive. Once there was life. Now all of it is gone. A godforsaken place.
There's a stray cat, staring at them expectantly and Junho wonders how it has survived till now. It probably wouldn't budge to devour Junho if he fell dead here. He looks away and there's tears burning the corners of his eyes. How much he'd give to change everything that is impossible to change.
Wooyoung turns his airbike into a secluded alley and stops. "Looks like an office building, 15 floors." He says as they jump on the ground.
"Good choice. Hotel would be a dangerous place to stay at." He smiles and Wooyoung's satisfied. "Also, we can see most of the city if we go to the top."
"Let's go then."
Junho opens the back exit door after breaking the lock and they move up the stairs. The entrance to the top floor isn't locked and that saves Junho from breaking another lock. The sunset greets them through wide windows and they stop for a bit, taking in the view. The hall is huge, full of tables as it's a usual thing for every regular office. Everything's tidy though (except for a thick layer of dust) and Junho decides the head of this office was smart enough to let people leave before the hell broke loose. Then, he sees a separate room and as they get closer to it, they can read a signboard on the door - ‘Director'.
Junho has to break the lock to get them inside and it's harder this time, because this room belonged to a director and it had to be protected well. Then he stops fiddling with the lock, takes out the laser gun and melts the lock effortlessly. "Very useful thing, you should've showed it to me earlier." He blows the invisible smoke and hands the gun back to the owner. "After you, sir."
"Why, thank you." Wooyoung chuckles and opens the door, entering the room first. There's a huge wooden desk, a wall decorated with family pictures, a few shelves with books and a leather sofa. They make their way to the window and watch over the city, coloured in orange sun rays.
"On normal circumstances I'd say it's beautiful, but how dead scenery can be beautiful. It's dreadful. So empty." Junho turns around and goes to the sofa to sit down.
"Not anymore." Wooyoung offers him a playful smile and as he walks away from the window, his expression changes to a serious one. "We cannot allow ourselves to put this off anymore. We must reach the stargates soon. If I were to ride my airbike in full power, we could reach it in two days." Wooyoung flops down beside Junho.
"So fast..." Junho moves around and cradles his head into Wooyoung's lap, looking towards the window. "It's surreal."
"It's going to be even more dangerous as it's located near the ocean. We won't have the luxury to make mistakes."
"It's always been like that for me." Junho looks back at Wooyoung, his smile containing hidden sadness and something clutches at Wooyoung's chest. He wants to comfort Junho and remembers the first time he tried to do so without any real emotions. A feeling of guilt tugs at him as he stares down at Junho.
Wooyoung leans in and kisses Junho as the latter shifts to make it not so awkward, positioning himself better in the super human’s embrace. Their kiss is slow, they have nowhere to hurry and Wooyoung pulls away, asking Junho to move forward. Wooyoung spoons Junho on the leather sofa, his arm hanging over the human’s waist, nuzzling his nose against the soft hair like a cat. “Idiot.” Junho says, his voice more cheerful than before enjoying the heat surrounding him from behind.
“Says who?” Wooyoung mocks him and rests his head on his arm.
“Shut up, I want to sleep.”
“Oh, interesting~” Wooyoung’s voice too suggestive for Junho to ignore it.
“And what do you mean by that?” Junho shifts his body to face the super human.
“Nothing.” He averts his eyes grinning.
“That’s definitely not nothing. Yah.” Junho slaps Wooyoung’s shoulder.
“I haven’t used that on you. Yet.”
“Used what?”
“I can scan your most vivid dreams.” Wooyoung’s grin gets wider and quite scary.
“Yah, you know that’s invading my privacy. You’re such a creep, Wooyoung-ah. Why did I have to get involved with the creepy one?” Junho exhales, shifting on his back and staring at the ceiling.
“I guess creeps attract the bitchy ones.”
“Now you’re asking for it...” Junho attempts to pinch him, but Wooyoung grabs his wrists and straddles him. “Yah...”
“Junho.” Wooyoung tilts his head. “Shut up.” Wooyoung plants his lips on Junho’s and this time their lips are not moving slowly. Their hunger for each other awakens, hands groping everywhere and the room’s filled with kissing sounds. Wooyoung’s about to unzip Junho’s jumpsuit when his upper body shoots up instantly and he freezes staring at the wall, scaring the living soul out of Junho.
“What the fuck.” Junho manages to blurt out as Wooyoung’s in some sort of a trance, still straddling his hips. “Totally ruined the mood. Wooyoung?” Junho waves his hand in front of Wooyoung’s face. It takes a few moments and the super human is back to this world. “What the hell was that creepy shit you just pulled on me? Like a demon possessed you or something.”
“Sorry,” Wooyoung actually looks apologetic and destroys any plans of mockery Junho’s had in his mind. “My telepathy’s working again. Junsu contacted me. He’s coming here.”
“At least I didn’t get a raging erection...” Junho mutters as he pushes Wooyoung off his body and stands up. “Does it always look like you’re possessed when you use telepathy?” He sits on the table.
Wooyoung pulls one leg close to his chest, places his hands on his knee and rests his head on top of it, barely seeing Junho’s face as the night completely consumes the sky. Only the moonlight enlightens the room. “No, it’s probably because it was so sudden after blocking him unintentionally. Usually I can react to things happening around me. I guess my brain restarted or something.”
“Still, that’s weird he’s coming here. Did he tell you anything else?”
“No, he was in a hurry. But my repkit has a tracking bug, so he knows my exact location. He should be here soon, don’t panic if you hear anything weird.”
“Pft, like I would...” Junho snorts and decides to look over the abandoned city for the time being. Total darkness makes Junho think how scary it would be to stroll around the hostile streets. They cannot use any artificial light as this is not a cave, which could conceal everything. Moonlight is all they can rely on.
He sees a bat flying swiftly and wonders how great it’d be to have its senses. They can locate the surroundings so easily in the dark. Junho’s fists dig deeper into his pockets when Wooyoung hugs his waist from behind. “You think too much.”
“Cannot get rid of that habit.” Junho reacts to a small noise in the hallway and Wooyoung pulls away, both of them facing the door now.
They’re not scared though as they know who’s about to open it. Junsu enters the room catching his breath, but to Junho and Wooyoung’s surprise there’s another person following from behind. “Of course you had to choose the top floor. Quite a task to run up so high.”
Junho examines the person beside Junsu and he’s much thinner than the super human, especially his long legs. He cannot see every little detail, but Junho guesses this must be a fellow earthling as he’s all dressed up like a normal person should be - thick sweater and pants. Their eyes meet and Junho notices how big the guy’s eyes are. Junho thinks of his first puppy the parents bought him in the first grade.
“Oh, you found someone after all.” Wooyoung’s voice brings Junho out of his analysis process.
“This is Wooyoung and Junho. Meet Nichkhun.” Junsu introduces quickly. “Why don’t you sit down?” He glances at Junho and Nichkhun, pretty much leaving them without any other option. Both earthlings sit down on the sofa while the super humans take their respective seats in the chairs in front of them.
“Feels like a very late business meeting,” Junho notes.
“Very much so,” Junsu smiles at him and then glances at Wooyoung’s arm. “So, the new mark is there.”
Junho and Wooyoung exchange surprised looks. “Why does it sound like you knew this would happen?” Junho asks first.
“Because that’s what happened to us.” Nichkhun’s soft voice startles Junho a bit.
“Nichkhun...” Junsu stares at him.
“What? You were going to tell them anyway.” Nichkhun shrugs and now Wooyoung speaks up, his own impatience growing.
“Hold on. Explain everything, because we do not understand what you’re talking about.”
Junsu leans back and exhales heavily. “This is strictly between us until we reach the planet and talk to the Elder. This might shock you, but since we’re all in the same position, more or less, I’ve decided to tell you this.” Junho gulps nervously, all eyes on Junsu. “Before water-carriers invaded the Earth, I had a special mission here. There was a teenager, whose brain activity was so astonishing, he could actually use telepathy. I had to watch him and send my observations to our planet - Gaia.” He then looks at the earthling, sitting beside Junho. “It was Nichkhun.”