Title: Time Limit
Chapters: 4/?
Author:
paranoiascreamsGenre: Fluff, Angst, AU, Fantasy
Warning: unbeta’d
Rating: PG-13
Pairings/Characters: Minho x Jonghyun, Onew x Key, Minho x Taemin (onesided)
Synopsis: Minho meets a mesmerizing stranger during his prom, only to wish that he never had.
Disclaimer: Loosely based on these gifs:
here and
here.
[01] [02] [03] [04] Minho crawls towards Jonghyun instinctively, "Are you okay?"
Jonghyun wheezes then looks at Minho, "Meet me in your bedroom..."
"What?" Minho asks in confusion but before he gets an answer the scheduler is gone.
He rises up and races to his room, avoiding the questions of his mother he isn't able to understand.
He finds the scheduler lying on the bed, still heaving, Minho locks the door behind him, "Are you dying?"
The scheduler faintly laughs, "I died already... Come here."
Minho follows him and sits beside Jonghyun, "Care to tell me what's wrong with you right now?"
"The moment you wake up, I will..."
"Huh?" Was all Minho could mutter before he passes out on his bed beside Jonghyun.
-----
Minho wakes up to a dark room, faintly lit by the shining moon outside, he scratches his eyes and checks his clock, it's past 3:00 in the morning. He's passed out for more than he was yesterday.
"How are you feeling?"
Jonghyun's voice startles him a little, he searches the room and sees the silhouette of the scheduler sitting on his desk.
"Massive headache... What happened?" Minho asks as he lights up his lampshade to see Jonghyun better.
"It's a little too early for you to know, but maybe because the situation's different now, I'll explain things about me. A little."
Minho nods, Jonghyun sighs, "I was a human once. I died 19 years ago..."
"Do we all become schedulers when we die?"
Jonghyun shakes his head, "No."
"Then how did..."
"Will you let me finish?"
Minho nods, Jonghyun continues, "I just know that I was an orphan and I don't remember much about it. In our term, I'm still a young boy and I'm still part human."
Minho raises an eyebrow, "Part human?"
Jonghyun smirks, "I get exhausted when I fetch a soul each time. They say it's because I'm still young compared to them."
"Them?"
"Other older schedulers." Jonghyun sighs, "But it'll be all over soon in less than two weeks."
"When I die?!"
"You could say that." Jonghyun smiles then bows, "I'm sorry for today."
"Yeah. About earlier, why did I pass out like that?"
"I need your life's energy to sustain my humanity."
Minho blurts out a loud "What?!" But Jonghyun shakes his head.
"I'm just gonna leave you with that thought."
"But with what you just told me, it seems you need to lose your humanity to become a full-pledged scheduler so why do you need to sustain it with mine? Can't you get another person's soul?"
Jonghyun doesn't answer immediately, he smiles, "You'll know why very soon."
"Do I still have the time for that?"
"Trust me, you do." Jonghyun jumps off where he's seated and walks by the window and gazes at the moon, "I've almost forgotten that the moon is always beautiful even in its loneliness."
Minho stares at the scheduler, the dim light from the moon reflects on the being's face, he almost looks like he's illuminating a calm and radiant light.
"Are you lonely, Jonghyun?"
Jonghyun turns to him and smiles shyly, "Recently, I'm not."
"And the reason is?"
Jonghyun scratches his head, "I'm kind of having fun with you."
Minho laughs in amusement, Jonghyun hits him with small rock lying by the window sill. The human stops and takes a moment to look at Jonghyun and asks, "What's it like up there?"
Jonghyun cocks an eyebrow, "Up there?"
"Where you come from. It's like heaven, right?"
Jonghyun laughs a little, "I'm not from heaven, silly. I don't know where we're from really. We just wander around, I guess."
"You don't have a home?"
Jonghyun pauses then looks at him, "You could say we squat by the gates of the limbo world." The scheduler laughs, "We get your souls, but we don't decide whether you go up or down."
"Do schedulers age? Do you stop being schedulers?" Minho asks, curiosity is getting the best of him.
"I guess we don't age. I mean, physically. And we don't stop being schedulers." Jonghyun smiles.
Minho takes a deep breath and lies on his back, "You know... Why didn't you just headed straight here in my room instead of waiting in the garage earlier?"
Jonghyun hoarsely laughs, "I didn't want to freak out your mother. What will she say when she finds me passed out here?"
"You could have just returned to your area then come back here when you're energized."
Jonghyun scratches his head, looking a little pissed, "I just told you, right? I need to feed on your humanity. Only yours matter right now."
"You fed on Taemin, Key and Onew."
"More like a bite. I can't feed on them, it'll mess you up."
"What does it have to do with me?" Minho straightens up, wide-eyed looking straight to the scheduler.
"Trust me, Minho. A lot. It has a lot to do with you."
Minho sighs, he doesn't admit defeat but right now, he just have to.
"It's Sunday today, Minho. And you have 11 days left. Do you have any plans?" Jonghyun asks innocently, Minho looks at him sharply.
"Plans? Hmn, how about I get an insurance and plan my funeral already?"
Jonghyun just smirks then looks at the dark sky.
"You know something huh?"
"Of course Minho. I know a lot about your fate."
They both turn quiet, the dark morning is enveloping the whole of Seoul and the silence of the city is deafening.
"Wanna fly?"
"Huh?"
Jonghyun faces the human, "Do you wanna fly?"
"I can't. Obviously."
"I can."
"Right. Like hell you can carry me. I mean, me burning you and all. And my weight against... Your built."
Jonghyun doesn't say anything but instead rummages Minho's closet, after a few seconds a pair of gloves land on the human's lap while another pair is getting worn by the scheduler.
"Wear a jacket. Anything that won't get any contact with me. And by the way, I'm pretty strong." Jonghyun confidently tells him.
"Yeah. Says the one wheezing in our garage."
"Says the human who passed out."
They both laugh. Minho wears the jacket and gloves, Jonghyun flies out of the room through the window when the scheduler is sure that no one's around.
"Just hold my hands, okay?" Jonghyun tells him, Minho nods. He takes the schedulers hands and he feels himself floating away from his window and up, up higher in the dark skies.
"Don't let go of me, okay!?"
"I won't. It's not yet time for you to go!" Jonghyun laughs as he flies over the silent city. A few minutes later they land on the highest rooftop of a building.
"You're quite heavy." The scheduler giggles as he sits next to Minho by the ledge.
"I told you."
Jonghyun points to a direction of a room in a building across them, "The guy sleeping there will die in 2 months. He's a co-founder of one of the most powerful underground mafias here in Seoul."
"Are you gonna fetch him?"
"I dunno. Maybe. In eleven days, I'll know."
Minho stares at Jonghyun again, "You're more complicated than I thought. I mean, initially, I thought you just get our soul, you move on."
"No job is simple I guess."
Minho stares harder, it seems to him that the moonlight loves Jonghyun's face. He seems mythical, perfect for someone out of this world. So dreamlike yet so real and just inches from him.
"You must have been beautiful when you were alive..."
Jonghyun smiles shyly as he looks at Minho, "Am I not anymore...?"
"No. You're so much more than just beautiful now."
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Author's Notes: Short update guys. ^_^ It's been pretty busy where i am. I'm also having issues posting here at LJ. ahahaha.