[Secret Santa] After Night Falls
Title: After Night Falls
Pairings: Jaejoong/Junsu
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Romance, smut, sci-fi
Warnings: Sexual content
Length: One-shot
Beta'ed by: kkumkkae
Summary: In a post apocalyptic dystopia Jaejoong tries to give Junsu a happy Christmas.
A/N: This was written for shu_jaesu as part of Hug_____'s Secret Santa. I've tried to stuff everything you asked for into a one-shot, including all the genres and the Christmas theme ^^;; Not sure why I did that... but I hope you'll like it!
---
Thick snowflakes twirled past his face, covering the deserted Seoul streets in sheets of white. Junsu narrowed his eyes but no matter how hard he tried, he could see no further than a few meters.
From the far distance there came a sound like gunfire and engines roaring and he cowered back into his hiding place; if one of those cyborgs got sight of him he would be finished. And all of this for a pair of batteries, he thought sourly. If someone had told him he would be running and hiding, crawling from hiding place to hiding place for a set of old fashioned batteries two years ago he would have laughed. But there was little to laugh about now.
He glanced down the pocket watch that was still ticking, unaware that the world it belonged to had ended. It was a few minutes past six in the morning. Curfew would start soon, and by that time the streets would be full of war veteran androids and their heavy weaponry. He should get out of here, soon.
The distant rumble and roars never died down completely, but he waited for it to lessen until he was sure they were far enough for him to make the cross safely. He took a deep breath and fixed his gaze on his watch one last time: 6:07
Then he started to run.
The snow scrunched underneath his boots as the wind blew flakes against his flustering cheeks and into his eyes. Gradually the threatening, low rumble increased in volume. He lifted his hand in front of him, almost tripped over the roadside, and gasped when an unexpected, strong wind blew his woolly cap off his head-his dark hair caught in the wind. On instinct he turned around to get it.
A sudden, loud screech echoed through the street and off the vacant, dilapidated skyscraper walls. Junsu froze. He looked up, his heart beating painfully fast and his hand halfway to his forgotten hat. Had they heard him? A second screech sounded, terribly close, but this time it didn't stop. He reached to cover his ears. The noise was all around him: metal clawing over ice covered stone and the high-pitched pained cries of inhuman monsters ringing in his ears. But he could not see. Could not see where it came from, or where it was going to; he could only see the snow.
His watch ticked on, uncaring of the time trickling past slowly, or the terror its owner was in.
When the noise made no inclination to stop Junsu forced his hands away from his ears and started running, on impulse, his boots crushing the snow underneath his feet, and his breath heaving. He pushed away the thoughts of what would happen if they caught sight of him. If he was lucky they’d shoot him straight away, if he wasn’t… No, he couldn’t think about that. He had to keep going.
A high building loomed up in front of him and he sped up. They were behind him. Had they seen him already? Another screech echoed off the walls, and he whimpered, audibly this time. It was only a few meters, three, two…
The door opened in front of him and he burst inside, tripping over his feet and tumbling down the floor as he gasped for air. The door was pulled shut and the noise disappeared to a faint background rumble. He had made it.
“Jjun, are you okay? Talk to me!” Jaejoong’s breathy, familiar voice came. He sounded worried.
Junsu nodded, his throat hurting from the cold air it had had to suck in and his hands numb from the cold, even inside their thick gloves. “Still alive…” was all he managed to wheeze out; he was still alive.
“Idiot…”
He smiled feebly, coughed the remainders of the cold air out of his lungs and leaned into the warm embrace Jaejoong initiated. Home was no longer a place to him, but a person he returned to after a night’s worth of running and hiding. He hadn’t been close with him when his world collapsed but he was here now, breathing, and alive. These days he longed for nothing more.
“We should go,” Jaejoong whispered as he helped him up to his feet. “It seems North has activated the machines already, it’s only a matter of time before the other side reacts accordingly.”
Junsu nodded, forcing himself back up to his feet, and despite the fact that he was still out of breath, he soon took the lead. His whole body was overflowing with the adrenaline his short sprint had erupted in him still and he was afraid he would collapse completely the moment he would relax. Jaejoong would not leave him lying in the middle of the deserted warehouse, he knew that, but he wasn’t going to put it to the test.
Wind seeped through the many holes in the walls they passed walking crouched and on their guard. The building was about to fall apart, but at least it had no corpses; it had been locked off too early for that. And at least it was still standing. They did not go upstairs, they weren’t that foolish, but went for the basement, opening heavy, metal doors, locking them the moment they had snuck through. Jaejoong took out his flashlight and they proceeded down the stairs.
Deep inside the belly of the ex-shopping mall, they had built their temporary residence, filled with things they had scraped together over the past few weeks: blankets and pillows from the third floor, melted snow from outside, a gas burner and kitchen supplies from next door and medicine from abandoned houses. And something Jaejoong had been dragging with him for two weeks now but still refused to reveal.
Passing the mysterious, rectangular shaped box roughly the size of his arm Junsu took off his boots, scarf and wet coat and settled on a pillow, wrapping himself in a silvery heat blanket. He rubbed over his feet, trying to get the warmth to return to them.
“Did you find everything?” Jaejoong asked, lighting the gas burner so that Junsu could warm his hands and feet. He had to have been inside for a quite a long time already; his hair was dry and he was wearing the slightly too big for him woolly sweater Junsu had lend him when the cold weather had just started. It was a sweater he refused to wear outside out of fear of staining it, a habit he had managed to preserve despite their rough lifestyle. Junsu felt no need to ask it back; it looked good on him.
“I did.” Now that he was down here Junsu could finally catch his breath for real. They were safe here; nothing could penetrate these thick walls. And even if it could, they were three floors underground. He smiled a little as he scooted closer to the fire, warming his stiff fingers. “Those batteries of yours took me ages to find though, why did you need them anyway? Our flashlights don’t use batteries, do they?”
Jaejoong looked up at him, his dark eyes narrowing. When he had first met him Junsu had found those eyes a little intimidating, scary almost; they could turn terribly cold within matter of seconds.
“Is that why it took you so long to get back? Because you were looking for those batteries?” Jaejoong’s voice had turned colder, like it did whenever he was angry, disapproving or felt bad about something but did not want to show it. Junsu tried to smile, quickly said that hadn’t been the reason, but it was too late. Jaejoong looked down, nudged the gas burner’s temperature setter before he whispered in a monotonous voice: “You should try to catch some sleep.”
Junsu bit his lip and plucked at his blanket. He had hoped, after all the effort he went through to retrieve the final necessities they needed, he would be met with a happier Jaejoong. But he seemed far from happy, and that was his fault. The number one rule they had was never to put their lives at risk if it was unnecessary. Whatever it was Jaejoong needed that battery for, it had not been worth it. He could tell that now.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, and looked down at his hands.
The silence in between them lingered in the air like a heavy cloud, invisible but present, until he heard a rustle as Jaejoong got up to his feet. He looked up, and was met with a soft kiss. “Go to sleep,” Jaejoong whispered against his lips, the warmth back in his dark eyes as he brushed over his hair. “You look tired.”
What he really wanted was to kiss Jaejoong again, tangle his fingers in his dark hair and make him forget about all the worries of that day. But Jaejoong was right; he was tired, and when he settled back in his blankets and pillows, he fell asleep almost instantly.
---
Junsu dreamt about his high school friends, from the time before the war started, about Christmas dinner and cheesy carol songs. He had never been particularly fond of Christmas, but in his dream it was presented as all he would ever need. When he opened his eyes nostalgia burned inside his chest, and he curled up further in his blanket. He could still remember the smell the roasted turkey and cranberry sauce, see the warm Christmas tree lights flicker at the other side of frost covered windows and hear the singing and laughter of people spending their happy time together.
But that was no more.
He forced himself to sit up, the many blankets that heavily rested on top of him falling into his lap; he refused to linger on memories like this; it could only lead to depression. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked down. His watch told him he had slept for almost fourteen hours, way too long. He groaned. Why hadn’t Jaejoong awoken him?
He pushed the blankets off him, turned to see if Jaejoong was still sleeping but faltered before he even got the chance. His eyes widened; the gas burner was still in the middle of the cellar room, blue flames licking at the bottom of the pan Jaejoong had put on top of it. There was the scent of roasted chicken and something that reminded him of the sweet, nut and honey smell of Hoddeok-the last time he had eaten that seemed ages ago. But the smell wasn’t what had surprised him most. His eyes turned from Jaejoong-who was stirring his pan, unaware he had woken up already-towards the brightly lit, plastic Christmas tree behind him. Next to it the carton box he had been dragging around for days lay, opened and now empty.
“Don’t tell me we almost got ourselves killed over a Christmas tree and the batteries needed to light it,” Junsu whispered, his breath taken as he still could not believe his eyes. Jaejoong looked up, startled.
“I…” he started, looking at the tree, and then back at him, guiltily. “So it seems.”
A big, happy smile unfolded over Junsu’s lips, larger than it had been in a long time. He quickly stood up, settling closer to Jaejoong as he tried to look inside the pan. Not since he was a child he felt this happily surprised.
“No, not yet,” Jaejoong scolded, closing the lid in front of his eyes. “Don’t look! And turn around.”
Junsu glanced at him, trying to pout but the eager anticipation in his eyes was ruining it. In the end he got forced to turn around and waited, the faint smile still hovering over his lips as he began toying with the hem of his sleeve. He couldn’t believe Jaejoong, but then again, until now the man had never failed to surprise him. The thought that it was Christmas Eve tonight hadn’t even crossed his mind, but apparently Jaejoong had worked on it for weeks now.
“Okay, you can look.”
He turned back, the brightness of his smile only increasing when he got handed a plate. It was filled with nut-rice and thin slices of meat, sprinkled in dark red, sweet smelling sauce and carefully proportioned vegetables of different kinds. It was probably the biggest meal he had seen in a long time, and certainly the best. “How…” he managed to say as he accepted the utensils handed to him.
“Canned food, right seasoning and a lot of cooking skills,” Jaejoong said proudly. His good mood had returned.
“And the meat?”
“You don’t want to know.” Jaejoong smiled, almost sheepishly as he started at his food.
“Tell me.” Junsu took his first bite, moaning at the juicy sweetness mixed with subtle spice. This was better than anything he remembered ever tasting before; the long-lasting food scarcities and hunger they had to suffer in the weeks prior to finding this place only made the taste sweeter.
“Rats.”
He coughed; sputtering while Jaejoong clapped his back and laughed. “Told you, you didn’t want to know.”
“Do… Do I want to know where you found them?” Junsu managed to breathe out, looking up at Jaejoong through tear filled eyes from coughing. He took a second bite quickly to make the weird feeling disappear, and was happy to find out the taste was just as good as it had been.
“Nope.”
This time he knew better than to keep asking, and simply trusted his words for it.
Junsu smiled brightly with every bite he took, his socked foot brushing over Jaejoong’s as the other teased back. The food wasn’t much, two years ago this could’ve barely been called a teaser, but it was more than enough for his food unaccustomed stomach. Happily he sighed and leaned against Jaejoong’s shoulder the moment he had put their plates away.
“I have a present for you,” Jaejoong whispered, reaching to retrieve something from his bag.
Junsu looked up at him, at Jaejoong that hid his hands behind his back and turned to him with an almost childlike, anticipating expression on his fair face. “I didn’t get you anything though,” he said slowly, eyeing him with hesitance. If he had known Jaejoong had gone through all this trouble he would have done something in return.
“You already fixed the Christmas lights,” Jaejoong replied easily, and shifted a little closer. “Now close your eyes.”
Junsu tried to keep his face even, but eventually couldn’t, grinning as he closed his eyes and sat up straight. This guy was too cheesy for his own good. And he was too easy.
“Open your mouth.” He did, no longer doubtful. He would walk through the dangerous outside world blindfolded if it was Jaejoong guiding him.
He felt the other press against his leg, and shifted a little awkwardly, about to ask what was taking him so long when a finger brushed over his lips and slipped something inside his mouth. He opened his eyes, his mouth filling with saliva as his tongue wrapped around the candy. His eyes widened as he looked up at Jaejoong.
“Any good?” Jaejoong eyed him carefully, as if waiting for him to complain he hated caramel. He didn’t; he loved it, had always done so and Jaejoong knew this. He could only nod as he looked down and sucked on the candy.
Above their heads a loud bang got muffled through the thick walls, and he was faintly aware of Jaejoong looking up. He felt strange, painfully nostalgic to happier times yet undyingly grateful at the same time. The taste reminded him of his childhood, but also of the effort Jaejoong had gone through to retrieve it. He wanted to scold him for the pointless risks he had taken over something as useless as this, but could not quite get himself to it.
A second bang sounded and this time he looked up as well, at the ceiling, and back down when Jaejoong leaned in, cupped his cheek and pressed their lips together. He sighed, automatically wrapped his hands around Jaejoong’s neck before tilting his head. He parted his lips, only a little, and smiled when he felt Jaejoong trying to steal the candy away from him. Quickly he moved back, biting down the candy and scrunching it away with a proud expression on his face. Jaejoong stared at him almost indignantly.
“Yah,” he scolded. “Do you know how long it took me to get hold of this specific candy? You shouldn’t eat it that fast!”
Junsu kept chewing. He wanted to make a remark about how you were supposed to eat candy like this, but didn’t get the chance when Jaejoong gave him a rough, punishing shove and pushed him down the blankets. He yelped, and then laughed as Jaejoong straddled on top of him and pressed his knees in his sides.
“That’s unfair,” he complained, the franticness of his laughter dimming when Jaejoong leaned in and pecked his neck first, then his cheek, and eventually his lips. He muttered something, but froze when a loud bang made the walls shake.
In the distance one of the very few working air alarms started howling.
They held their breath, Jaejoong’s dark eyes turning ice cold within a matter of seconds. Junsu could feel his heart beat wildly through the cold hands that held his arms tightly, his eyes racing over the ceiling for any traces their lair was discovered. The second rumble that sounded was a lot more distant, fainter, and when the air alarm died down Junsu dared to look at the man on top of him again. Jaejoong was still tensed, his eyes trailing over the ceiling.
He wanted to tell him there was no need to worry, but knew that would be a lie. “Curfew almost ended,” he whispered instead, and gently pulled Jaejoong back into his arms. It would be over soon, and then the night would belong to them again.
He brushed his nose against Jaejoong’s, pecked his lips, and sighed when the other complied and kissed him without hesitation. It was deeper this time; Jaejoong’s tongue darting around his as if trying to make them both forget about what was happening outside. He wrapped his legs around the other’s slim waist, his arms tightly around his shoulders, more than eager to help him do so.
Above them faint screeches sound, exactly like the ones that had hunted him that morning, but it did not stir the same feeling of fear inside of him. Not this time. Instead he clung onto Jaejoong tighter, groaning at the friction it caused, and deepened their kiss needingly. “Jaejoongie,” he whimpered, strained, biting his lip when Jaejoong’s hand trailed lower. “Can’t we-“
Jaejoong didn’t seem to hear, too busy pulling his shirt over his head before teasingly kissing his neck and shoulders. It was mostly just that: teasing. “We’ll waste too much energy,” he whispered, his cheeks faintly flushed when he looked up and met his eyes. The golden light of the Christmas tree created warm, subtle shadows on his usually pale features and made his dark eyes twinkle welcoming. Junsu’s heart trembled at the sight of it.
“But I want it,” he said slowly, knowing all too well Jaejoong was right. “I want you…” The tender smile that appeared told him he had won, and made him wonder when he had started to fall so deeply for him. He returned it, a smile over small secrets only they shared, and quickly sat up to take off his shirt. Jaejoong stood up to turn off the fire, seeming to doubt what to do with the lights before he reached for his bag; he left them burning. From deep inside his bag he withdrew the half empty bottle of lube they kept safe there like it was their most cherished possession. In a way it was.
“Me first?” Jaejoong asked as he pulled his own shirt off swiftly, and then proceeded with his pants. His tone had changed from a soft, tender whisper to something lower, more needy.
“You first,” Junsu agreed, and stripped himself off his pants. Now that the gas burner was no longer turned on the cold creeped back into the basement area steadily, but when Jaejoong’s warm body pressed against him and he pulled the blankets over them, Junsu was no longer bothered by it.
He ignored all the sounds from outside, only focused on Jaejoong shifting in between his legs, settling against him and trailing his hands over his stomach and over his thighs. He smothered a gasp, closed his eyes when Jaejoong pulled away his underwear for him, and slipped his hand in between his thighs. It had been too long ago.
“Warn me when you’re close,” Jaejoong breathed in his ear, his voice husked and low, as he began palming his crotch with terrible slowness. The time for him to groan that he was came embarrassingly quick. They barely ever had to time to touch each other, and even in better days he had failed desperately at restraining himself. Junsu whimpered pathetically, moaned when Jaejoong forced a finger inside of him, staining the sheets with lubricant and precum. He felt him smile against his cheek.
When Jaejoong settled behind him and lifted up his legs the blankets slipped off them. The quickly cooling air brushed over his body, that was slick with sweat already, and Junsu shivered involuntarily. He pleaded Jaejoong to hurry, wrapped his arms around his back, and eventually groaned when he felt him pushinside of him.
At first there was mostly the dull pain, creeping up his spine and making him hiss whenever Jaejoong moved. But the other took his time. He darted his hands over his stomach, hips and thighs, down his length and teased his tip. The pain never completely disappeared, but in the end the pleasure took over.
Junsu reached to tangle his hands in the other’s black, damp hair, and pulled him closer. Jaejoong’s lips hovered but an inch away from him, and he tried to kiss him, but let go of this attempt when a sudden jolt of pleasure shot through him. Jaejoong was jerking him off, more and more frantically, not at all in time with his slow thrusts.
He gasped out Jaejoong’s name, barely noticing that they had stopped moving all together and closed his eyes tightly in a desperate attempt to save himself from making too much noise. His body was trembling with pleasure, and every time Jaejoong forced inside of him, every jerk he made, caused him to spiral further down. He came with a smothered gasp, gripping Jaejoong’s back, moaning softly.
He could clearly feel that Jaejoong was still inside him, but he no longer registered the pain. Jaejoong leaned in, keeping his thrusts slow as he pushed him back against the sheets and pressed their lips together. They kissed, messily but eager, interrupted by Jaejoong’s gasp and Junsu’s needy pleas for more kisses.
Seeing Jaejoong slowly lose it on top and inside of him was stillthe best feeling. Jaejoong panted heavily against his lips, his thrusts turning less steady and his trembling hands struggling to keep Junsu’s legs in place. His eyes fluttered shut, his soft, bruised lips parting. Junsu brushed over the side of his face, feeling a little love sick as Jaejoong forced their lips together and thrust inside harshly. When he came Junsu could feel it clearly inside of him. Jaejoong trembled and then stiffened in his arms, his nails digging in his shoulders.
For a moment he simply held him tightly like that.Jaejoong slowly slipped out of him, but seemed to have no inclination to move away as he lay heavily on top of him. Inside of his chest his heart pounded audibly, but apart from that everything around him had turned quiet. Curfew had ended.
When Jaejoong looked up to meet his eyes his cheeks were flushed adoringly. There was a lazy smile ghosting over his lips. It did not disappear when he leaned in and pecked his, and then settled comfortably in his arms. “We should do this more often,” he mumbled.
“Didn’t you just say it was a waste of energy?” Junsu teased before he pressed his nose in Jaejoong’s damp hair. It smelled like spices and the sex they just had.
“I changed my mind…”
He contemplated giving Jaejoong a rough shove when it became obvious he was close to falling asleep, demanding he still had his turn left, and wasn’t finished with him just yet. But something stopped him. Lovingly he brushed over Jaejoong’s hair, pulling the blankets over him as he held him close against his chest. Behind them the Christmas lights continued to glow yellow, and the faint scent of carefully prepared dinner still lingered in the air. He would wake him later.
---
Pairings: Jaejoong/Junsu
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Romance, smut, sci-fi
Warnings: Sexual content
Length: One-shot
Beta'ed by: kkumkkae
Summary: In a post apocalyptic dystopia Jaejoong tries to give Junsu a happy Christmas.
A/N: This was written for shu_jaesu as part of Hug_____'s Secret Santa. I've tried to stuff everything you asked for into a one-shot, including all the genres and the Christmas theme ^^;; Not sure why I did that... but I hope you'll like it!
---
Thick snowflakes twirled past his face, covering the deserted Seoul streets in sheets of white. Junsu narrowed his eyes but no matter how hard he tried, he could see no further than a few meters.
From the far distance there came a sound like gunfire and engines roaring and he cowered back into his hiding place; if one of those cyborgs got sight of him he would be finished. And all of this for a pair of batteries, he thought sourly. If someone had told him he would be running and hiding, crawling from hiding place to hiding place for a set of old fashioned batteries two years ago he would have laughed. But there was little to laugh about now.
He glanced down the pocket watch that was still ticking, unaware that the world it belonged to had ended. It was a few minutes past six in the morning. Curfew would start soon, and by that time the streets would be full of war veteran androids and their heavy weaponry. He should get out of here, soon.
The distant rumble and roars never died down completely, but he waited for it to lessen until he was sure they were far enough for him to make the cross safely. He took a deep breath and fixed his gaze on his watch one last time: 6:07
Then he started to run.
The snow scrunched underneath his boots as the wind blew flakes against his flustering cheeks and into his eyes. Gradually the threatening, low rumble increased in volume. He lifted his hand in front of him, almost tripped over the roadside, and gasped when an unexpected, strong wind blew his woolly cap off his head-his dark hair caught in the wind. On instinct he turned around to get it.
A sudden, loud screech echoed through the street and off the vacant, dilapidated skyscraper walls. Junsu froze. He looked up, his heart beating painfully fast and his hand halfway to his forgotten hat. Had they heard him? A second screech sounded, terribly close, but this time it didn't stop. He reached to cover his ears. The noise was all around him: metal clawing over ice covered stone and the high-pitched pained cries of inhuman monsters ringing in his ears. But he could not see. Could not see where it came from, or where it was going to; he could only see the snow.
His watch ticked on, uncaring of the time trickling past slowly, or the terror its owner was in.
When the noise made no inclination to stop Junsu forced his hands away from his ears and started running, on impulse, his boots crushing the snow underneath his feet, and his breath heaving. He pushed away the thoughts of what would happen if they caught sight of him. If he was lucky they’d shoot him straight away, if he wasn’t… No, he couldn’t think about that. He had to keep going.
A high building loomed up in front of him and he sped up. They were behind him. Had they seen him already? Another screech echoed off the walls, and he whimpered, audibly this time. It was only a few meters, three, two…
The door opened in front of him and he burst inside, tripping over his feet and tumbling down the floor as he gasped for air. The door was pulled shut and the noise disappeared to a faint background rumble. He had made it.
“Jjun, are you okay? Talk to me!” Jaejoong’s breathy, familiar voice came. He sounded worried.
Junsu nodded, his throat hurting from the cold air it had had to suck in and his hands numb from the cold, even inside their thick gloves. “Still alive…” was all he managed to wheeze out; he was still alive.
“Idiot…”
He smiled feebly, coughed the remainders of the cold air out of his lungs and leaned into the warm embrace Jaejoong initiated. Home was no longer a place to him, but a person he returned to after a night’s worth of running and hiding. He hadn’t been close with him when his world collapsed but he was here now, breathing, and alive. These days he longed for nothing more.
“We should go,” Jaejoong whispered as he helped him up to his feet. “It seems North has activated the machines already, it’s only a matter of time before the other side reacts accordingly.”
Junsu nodded, forcing himself back up to his feet, and despite the fact that he was still out of breath, he soon took the lead. His whole body was overflowing with the adrenaline his short sprint had erupted in him still and he was afraid he would collapse completely the moment he would relax. Jaejoong would not leave him lying in the middle of the deserted warehouse, he knew that, but he wasn’t going to put it to the test.
Wind seeped through the many holes in the walls they passed walking crouched and on their guard. The building was about to fall apart, but at least it had no corpses; it had been locked off too early for that. And at least it was still standing. They did not go upstairs, they weren’t that foolish, but went for the basement, opening heavy, metal doors, locking them the moment they had snuck through. Jaejoong took out his flashlight and they proceeded down the stairs.
Deep inside the belly of the ex-shopping mall, they had built their temporary residence, filled with things they had scraped together over the past few weeks: blankets and pillows from the third floor, melted snow from outside, a gas burner and kitchen supplies from next door and medicine from abandoned houses. And something Jaejoong had been dragging with him for two weeks now but still refused to reveal.
Passing the mysterious, rectangular shaped box roughly the size of his arm Junsu took off his boots, scarf and wet coat and settled on a pillow, wrapping himself in a silvery heat blanket. He rubbed over his feet, trying to get the warmth to return to them.
“Did you find everything?” Jaejoong asked, lighting the gas burner so that Junsu could warm his hands and feet. He had to have been inside for a quite a long time already; his hair was dry and he was wearing the slightly too big for him woolly sweater Junsu had lend him when the cold weather had just started. It was a sweater he refused to wear outside out of fear of staining it, a habit he had managed to preserve despite their rough lifestyle. Junsu felt no need to ask it back; it looked good on him.
“I did.” Now that he was down here Junsu could finally catch his breath for real. They were safe here; nothing could penetrate these thick walls. And even if it could, they were three floors underground. He smiled a little as he scooted closer to the fire, warming his stiff fingers. “Those batteries of yours took me ages to find though, why did you need them anyway? Our flashlights don’t use batteries, do they?”
Jaejoong looked up at him, his dark eyes narrowing. When he had first met him Junsu had found those eyes a little intimidating, scary almost; they could turn terribly cold within matter of seconds.
“Is that why it took you so long to get back? Because you were looking for those batteries?” Jaejoong’s voice had turned colder, like it did whenever he was angry, disapproving or felt bad about something but did not want to show it. Junsu tried to smile, quickly said that hadn’t been the reason, but it was too late. Jaejoong looked down, nudged the gas burner’s temperature setter before he whispered in a monotonous voice: “You should try to catch some sleep.”
Junsu bit his lip and plucked at his blanket. He had hoped, after all the effort he went through to retrieve the final necessities they needed, he would be met with a happier Jaejoong. But he seemed far from happy, and that was his fault. The number one rule they had was never to put their lives at risk if it was unnecessary. Whatever it was Jaejoong needed that battery for, it had not been worth it. He could tell that now.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, and looked down at his hands.
The silence in between them lingered in the air like a heavy cloud, invisible but present, until he heard a rustle as Jaejoong got up to his feet. He looked up, and was met with a soft kiss. “Go to sleep,” Jaejoong whispered against his lips, the warmth back in his dark eyes as he brushed over his hair. “You look tired.”
What he really wanted was to kiss Jaejoong again, tangle his fingers in his dark hair and make him forget about all the worries of that day. But Jaejoong was right; he was tired, and when he settled back in his blankets and pillows, he fell asleep almost instantly.
---
Junsu dreamt about his high school friends, from the time before the war started, about Christmas dinner and cheesy carol songs. He had never been particularly fond of Christmas, but in his dream it was presented as all he would ever need. When he opened his eyes nostalgia burned inside his chest, and he curled up further in his blanket. He could still remember the smell the roasted turkey and cranberry sauce, see the warm Christmas tree lights flicker at the other side of frost covered windows and hear the singing and laughter of people spending their happy time together.
But that was no more.
He forced himself to sit up, the many blankets that heavily rested on top of him falling into his lap; he refused to linger on memories like this; it could only lead to depression. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked down. His watch told him he had slept for almost fourteen hours, way too long. He groaned. Why hadn’t Jaejoong awoken him?
He pushed the blankets off him, turned to see if Jaejoong was still sleeping but faltered before he even got the chance. His eyes widened; the gas burner was still in the middle of the cellar room, blue flames licking at the bottom of the pan Jaejoong had put on top of it. There was the scent of roasted chicken and something that reminded him of the sweet, nut and honey smell of Hoddeok-the last time he had eaten that seemed ages ago. But the smell wasn’t what had surprised him most. His eyes turned from Jaejoong-who was stirring his pan, unaware he had woken up already-towards the brightly lit, plastic Christmas tree behind him. Next to it the carton box he had been dragging around for days lay, opened and now empty.
“Don’t tell me we almost got ourselves killed over a Christmas tree and the batteries needed to light it,” Junsu whispered, his breath taken as he still could not believe his eyes. Jaejoong looked up, startled.
“I…” he started, looking at the tree, and then back at him, guiltily. “So it seems.”
A big, happy smile unfolded over Junsu’s lips, larger than it had been in a long time. He quickly stood up, settling closer to Jaejoong as he tried to look inside the pan. Not since he was a child he felt this happily surprised.
“No, not yet,” Jaejoong scolded, closing the lid in front of his eyes. “Don’t look! And turn around.”
Junsu glanced at him, trying to pout but the eager anticipation in his eyes was ruining it. In the end he got forced to turn around and waited, the faint smile still hovering over his lips as he began toying with the hem of his sleeve. He couldn’t believe Jaejoong, but then again, until now the man had never failed to surprise him. The thought that it was Christmas Eve tonight hadn’t even crossed his mind, but apparently Jaejoong had worked on it for weeks now.
“Okay, you can look.”
He turned back, the brightness of his smile only increasing when he got handed a plate. It was filled with nut-rice and thin slices of meat, sprinkled in dark red, sweet smelling sauce and carefully proportioned vegetables of different kinds. It was probably the biggest meal he had seen in a long time, and certainly the best. “How…” he managed to say as he accepted the utensils handed to him.
“Canned food, right seasoning and a lot of cooking skills,” Jaejoong said proudly. His good mood had returned.
“And the meat?”
“You don’t want to know.” Jaejoong smiled, almost sheepishly as he started at his food.
“Tell me.” Junsu took his first bite, moaning at the juicy sweetness mixed with subtle spice. This was better than anything he remembered ever tasting before; the long-lasting food scarcities and hunger they had to suffer in the weeks prior to finding this place only made the taste sweeter.
“Rats.”
He coughed; sputtering while Jaejoong clapped his back and laughed. “Told you, you didn’t want to know.”
“Do… Do I want to know where you found them?” Junsu managed to breathe out, looking up at Jaejoong through tear filled eyes from coughing. He took a second bite quickly to make the weird feeling disappear, and was happy to find out the taste was just as good as it had been.
“Nope.”
This time he knew better than to keep asking, and simply trusted his words for it.
Junsu smiled brightly with every bite he took, his socked foot brushing over Jaejoong’s as the other teased back. The food wasn’t much, two years ago this could’ve barely been called a teaser, but it was more than enough for his food unaccustomed stomach. Happily he sighed and leaned against Jaejoong’s shoulder the moment he had put their plates away.
“I have a present for you,” Jaejoong whispered, reaching to retrieve something from his bag.
Junsu looked up at him, at Jaejoong that hid his hands behind his back and turned to him with an almost childlike, anticipating expression on his fair face. “I didn’t get you anything though,” he said slowly, eyeing him with hesitance. If he had known Jaejoong had gone through all this trouble he would have done something in return.
“You already fixed the Christmas lights,” Jaejoong replied easily, and shifted a little closer. “Now close your eyes.”
Junsu tried to keep his face even, but eventually couldn’t, grinning as he closed his eyes and sat up straight. This guy was too cheesy for his own good. And he was too easy.
“Open your mouth.” He did, no longer doubtful. He would walk through the dangerous outside world blindfolded if it was Jaejoong guiding him.
He felt the other press against his leg, and shifted a little awkwardly, about to ask what was taking him so long when a finger brushed over his lips and slipped something inside his mouth. He opened his eyes, his mouth filling with saliva as his tongue wrapped around the candy. His eyes widened as he looked up at Jaejoong.
“Any good?” Jaejoong eyed him carefully, as if waiting for him to complain he hated caramel. He didn’t; he loved it, had always done so and Jaejoong knew this. He could only nod as he looked down and sucked on the candy.
Above their heads a loud bang got muffled through the thick walls, and he was faintly aware of Jaejoong looking up. He felt strange, painfully nostalgic to happier times yet undyingly grateful at the same time. The taste reminded him of his childhood, but also of the effort Jaejoong had gone through to retrieve it. He wanted to scold him for the pointless risks he had taken over something as useless as this, but could not quite get himself to it.
A second bang sounded and this time he looked up as well, at the ceiling, and back down when Jaejoong leaned in, cupped his cheek and pressed their lips together. He sighed, automatically wrapped his hands around Jaejoong’s neck before tilting his head. He parted his lips, only a little, and smiled when he felt Jaejoong trying to steal the candy away from him. Quickly he moved back, biting down the candy and scrunching it away with a proud expression on his face. Jaejoong stared at him almost indignantly.
“Yah,” he scolded. “Do you know how long it took me to get hold of this specific candy? You shouldn’t eat it that fast!”
Junsu kept chewing. He wanted to make a remark about how you were supposed to eat candy like this, but didn’t get the chance when Jaejoong gave him a rough, punishing shove and pushed him down the blankets. He yelped, and then laughed as Jaejoong straddled on top of him and pressed his knees in his sides.
“That’s unfair,” he complained, the franticness of his laughter dimming when Jaejoong leaned in and pecked his neck first, then his cheek, and eventually his lips. He muttered something, but froze when a loud bang made the walls shake.
In the distance one of the very few working air alarms started howling.
They held their breath, Jaejoong’s dark eyes turning ice cold within a matter of seconds. Junsu could feel his heart beat wildly through the cold hands that held his arms tightly, his eyes racing over the ceiling for any traces their lair was discovered. The second rumble that sounded was a lot more distant, fainter, and when the air alarm died down Junsu dared to look at the man on top of him again. Jaejoong was still tensed, his eyes trailing over the ceiling.
He wanted to tell him there was no need to worry, but knew that would be a lie. “Curfew almost ended,” he whispered instead, and gently pulled Jaejoong back into his arms. It would be over soon, and then the night would belong to them again.
He brushed his nose against Jaejoong’s, pecked his lips, and sighed when the other complied and kissed him without hesitation. It was deeper this time; Jaejoong’s tongue darting around his as if trying to make them both forget about what was happening outside. He wrapped his legs around the other’s slim waist, his arms tightly around his shoulders, more than eager to help him do so.
Above them faint screeches sound, exactly like the ones that had hunted him that morning, but it did not stir the same feeling of fear inside of him. Not this time. Instead he clung onto Jaejoong tighter, groaning at the friction it caused, and deepened their kiss needingly. “Jaejoongie,” he whimpered, strained, biting his lip when Jaejoong’s hand trailed lower. “Can’t we-“
Jaejoong didn’t seem to hear, too busy pulling his shirt over his head before teasingly kissing his neck and shoulders. It was mostly just that: teasing. “We’ll waste too much energy,” he whispered, his cheeks faintly flushed when he looked up and met his eyes. The golden light of the Christmas tree created warm, subtle shadows on his usually pale features and made his dark eyes twinkle welcoming. Junsu’s heart trembled at the sight of it.
“But I want it,” he said slowly, knowing all too well Jaejoong was right. “I want you…” The tender smile that appeared told him he had won, and made him wonder when he had started to fall so deeply for him. He returned it, a smile over small secrets only they shared, and quickly sat up to take off his shirt. Jaejoong stood up to turn off the fire, seeming to doubt what to do with the lights before he reached for his bag; he left them burning. From deep inside his bag he withdrew the half empty bottle of lube they kept safe there like it was their most cherished possession. In a way it was.
“Me first?” Jaejoong asked as he pulled his own shirt off swiftly, and then proceeded with his pants. His tone had changed from a soft, tender whisper to something lower, more needy.
“You first,” Junsu agreed, and stripped himself off his pants. Now that the gas burner was no longer turned on the cold creeped back into the basement area steadily, but when Jaejoong’s warm body pressed against him and he pulled the blankets over them, Junsu was no longer bothered by it.
He ignored all the sounds from outside, only focused on Jaejoong shifting in between his legs, settling against him and trailing his hands over his stomach and over his thighs. He smothered a gasp, closed his eyes when Jaejoong pulled away his underwear for him, and slipped his hand in between his thighs. It had been too long ago.
“Warn me when you’re close,” Jaejoong breathed in his ear, his voice husked and low, as he began palming his crotch with terrible slowness. The time for him to groan that he was came embarrassingly quick. They barely ever had to time to touch each other, and even in better days he had failed desperately at restraining himself. Junsu whimpered pathetically, moaned when Jaejoong forced a finger inside of him, staining the sheets with lubricant and precum. He felt him smile against his cheek.
When Jaejoong settled behind him and lifted up his legs the blankets slipped off them. The quickly cooling air brushed over his body, that was slick with sweat already, and Junsu shivered involuntarily. He pleaded Jaejoong to hurry, wrapped his arms around his back, and eventually groaned when he felt him pushinside of him.
At first there was mostly the dull pain, creeping up his spine and making him hiss whenever Jaejoong moved. But the other took his time. He darted his hands over his stomach, hips and thighs, down his length and teased his tip. The pain never completely disappeared, but in the end the pleasure took over.
Junsu reached to tangle his hands in the other’s black, damp hair, and pulled him closer. Jaejoong’s lips hovered but an inch away from him, and he tried to kiss him, but let go of this attempt when a sudden jolt of pleasure shot through him. Jaejoong was jerking him off, more and more frantically, not at all in time with his slow thrusts.
He gasped out Jaejoong’s name, barely noticing that they had stopped moving all together and closed his eyes tightly in a desperate attempt to save himself from making too much noise. His body was trembling with pleasure, and every time Jaejoong forced inside of him, every jerk he made, caused him to spiral further down. He came with a smothered gasp, gripping Jaejoong’s back, moaning softly.
He could clearly feel that Jaejoong was still inside him, but he no longer registered the pain. Jaejoong leaned in, keeping his thrusts slow as he pushed him back against the sheets and pressed their lips together. They kissed, messily but eager, interrupted by Jaejoong’s gasp and Junsu’s needy pleas for more kisses.
Seeing Jaejoong slowly lose it on top and inside of him was stillthe best feeling. Jaejoong panted heavily against his lips, his thrusts turning less steady and his trembling hands struggling to keep Junsu’s legs in place. His eyes fluttered shut, his soft, bruised lips parting. Junsu brushed over the side of his face, feeling a little love sick as Jaejoong forced their lips together and thrust inside harshly. When he came Junsu could feel it clearly inside of him. Jaejoong trembled and then stiffened in his arms, his nails digging in his shoulders.
For a moment he simply held him tightly like that.Jaejoong slowly slipped out of him, but seemed to have no inclination to move away as he lay heavily on top of him. Inside of his chest his heart pounded audibly, but apart from that everything around him had turned quiet. Curfew had ended.
When Jaejoong looked up to meet his eyes his cheeks were flushed adoringly. There was a lazy smile ghosting over his lips. It did not disappear when he leaned in and pecked his, and then settled comfortably in his arms. “We should do this more often,” he mumbled.
“Didn’t you just say it was a waste of energy?” Junsu teased before he pressed his nose in Jaejoong’s damp hair. It smelled like spices and the sex they just had.
“I changed my mind…”
He contemplated giving Jaejoong a rough shove when it became obvious he was close to falling asleep, demanding he still had his turn left, and wasn’t finished with him just yet. But something stopped him. Lovingly he brushed over Jaejoong’s hair, pulling the blankets over him as he held him close against his chest. Behind them the Christmas lights continued to glow yellow, and the faint scent of carefully prepared dinner still lingered in the air. He would wake him later.
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