(no subject)
Title: Sonata of Moonlight
Length: (3/25)
Author: Shin Seiryuu (Razra_Eizel)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: mystery, romance
Pairing: Yunjae of course
Summary: ten people were gathered in a mansion on Midnight Island, an island faraway from the coast. They were lured there by fake letters signed by Kim Jaejoong except for Kim Jaejoong himself, who came because a will came his way and said that he was to inherit the mansion, only to witness the murders committed in an attempt to create a perfect orchestra.
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything except the Ocs
A/N: I’m still on vacation so I have a lot of free time. Hopefully I’ll be able to update on a regular interval even when school starts, but I can’t promise yet. For other stories or chapters of this story, please check my journal.
Chapter Three - The Mansion and the Island
Jaejoong cleared the dishes they used for lunch and dumped them into the sink. He plugged the drain and filled the sink with water before walking back to the dining room, tilting his head slightly as he watched the nine people sitting on the dinner table looking like someone had just died.
“Now that everyone’s here, we’re going to split up and investigate this place better,” Yunho announced as soon as Jaejoong was in hearing range. “I want all of you to cooperate because this place is an unknown territory to us. There might also be a clue as to who is the sender of those letters in this place.”
The others listened intently, some quiet, some apprehensive.
“Now, I’ll mention the tasks,” Yunho stated as he took out a small notebook from his pocket. “Yoochun, Changmin and Junsu, the three of you go have a look around this mansion’s garden and backyard.”
“Right-o,” Junsu said as he mock-saluted and Changmin laughed with him while Yoochun smiled slightly at the two’s antics. They were like little kids sometimes.
“Eun Hye and Changsun, go check the rooms aside from the bedrooms on the second floor and report your findings,” Yunho commanded as Eun Hye nodded curtly, clearly unhappy at the idea of being bossed around. “Yongchui, go to the top of this mansion and try calling someone with your cell phone. Be careful not to trip.”
He then turned to Jaejoong. “Make sure you keep note of the days we spent here, and after you finished washing the dishes, I’d like you and Yuhan to check the first floor’s rooms and report your finding,” he said and Jaejoong nodded in agreement. Although Jaejoong still saw him as a competition, he was being professional.
“As for myself, I’ll go and scour the surroundings of this mansion, and hopefully get the island mapped,” he announced as he pointed at a big parchment with a pen and a ruler. “And for the only female here,” he trailed off as he looked at Hojun who looked at him expectantly. “You may do whatever you wish. Just don’t get in the ways of the others or do anything dangerous.”
Hojun snorted but agreed nonetheless. Waiting until everyone left before she walked over to Jaejoong, she smirked a little as she leaned on the counter next to Jaejoong.
“I may not talk about the case anymore, Joongie, but I’m still working on it,” Hojun said, smiling sultrily at him. “You know it’s wrong to take one’s virginity away without that person’s consent,” she added, batting her eyelashes.
Jaejoong nearly lurched as he felt the urgent need to puke. Was this girl delirious or something? He should’ve brought her to the nearest mental asylum at that time.
Yuhan glared at her and Yunho looked at her strangely, as if she had just grown a third eye. “You know full well Jaejoong didn’t do anything,” Yuhan gritted out as he restrained himself from pushing Hojun away.
“Didn’t he?” Hojun asked, the annoying smile still on her face. “We’ll see what the judge will say,” she said with a smirk before she walked out of the dining room, swaying her hips a little.
Jaejoong let out a disgruntled sigh while Yuhan rubbed his temple, willing the impending migraine away. Yunho looked at them, at the now-closed door, and back at them again before deciding that it wasn’t his business if they didn’t willingly tell him about it.
“I’ll be going now then,” Yunho announced as he walked out of the door and Jaejoong let out another sigh.
“When will that girl ever learn? Was she on drugs before I met her?” he shook his head slightly in disbelief.
“Well, the fact that she wants all of your money-not like you’re filthy rich or anything-didn’t help,” Yuhan shrugged. “Here, let me help you wash the dishes, and we can go investigate the rooms sooner.”
“Thanks,” Jaejoong smiled a little and let Yuhan help.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Yunho stopped to look at his surroundings and scribbled down on the parchment. He had studied a little about navigation when he was still a teenager, and he was glad for that. His skill at map-making wasn’t perfect, he knew that, but it was decent.
He finished making the outline for the area and moved on onto the next one, furiously scribbling with the pencil he brought with him just in case. Boy was he glad when he had come at least a little prepared.
He tapped his pencil to his chin as he looked around at the area. There was tall grass everywhere, and he knew better than venture into the area alone. Who knew if there was a deadly snake roaming around or something.
He sighed dejectedly, made a rough outline of that area, crossing it out and noting that it was inaccurate, and went onto the next area.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
“Code red alert, enemy plane is dropping wet and sticky bombs on our base! Evacuation is highly suggested!” Yuhan announced as he grinned widely at Jaejoong who threw a soapy sponge at him. He cleverly ducked and the sponge went into the sink instead. “Enemy attack redirected to a safe zone. We will proceed to cautiously examine the projectile and see if we can turn it into something less lethal.”
Jaejoong laughed out loud and splashed some water over at Yuhan while he took the sponge in one hand and let the tap water run freely, cleaning it of any suds.
“Why do I have to be the enemy?” Jaejoong protested as he tickled Yuhan’s side, drenching Yuhan’s shirt with his wet hands. The plates were still submerged in the sink, but they were all cleaned up of any food bits now.
“Because you’re the one being aggressive,” Yuhan reasoned with a grin as he tickled Jaejoong back, careful not to make him lean over the sink. Only God knows what they’ll eat with if the plates broke. Trays, perhaps?
“And you sound too happy to become the assaulted,” Jaejoong huffed as he edged away from Yuhan. He washed his hands clean and dried them up with the towel he had prepared earlier. “Go drain the water and dry up the plates. I’ll cross out number one,” he said as he looked over at a small notepad with only one sheet of paper left. There were the numbers one to seven scribbled over it, and a pen was located near it.
“Right-o,” Yuhan agreed as he pulled the plug and watched as the soapy water go down the drain before he washed the soap off of the plates with the water and dried the plates up. He saw Jaejoong crossing out number one on the pad before he replaced the pen to its rightful position. “Now, with the others gone and the first floor at our disposal, we have time to enjoy ourselves,” he started and Jaejoong raised an eyebrow at him. “That is, if you can keep your voice down long enough until we finished.”
Insert a lewd grin there, and the other sponge flew at his head.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
“Yah, look at the huge garden!” Junsu exclaimed excitedly as he ran towards the garden which was to the east of the mansion. The grass was left to grow freely, unlike the grass at the front yard which was mown neatly. Flowers and trees were planted in a beautiful pattern, and a small field lied in the center.
“I bet my dinner that he’s going to say it’s a perfect place to play soccer,” Changmin said as he and Yoochun rushed to the garden, trying to keep up with a hyper Junsu.
Changmin was not the type of people who made bets without knowing that they would win. And especially not if it was his dinner at stake.
“The field’s so huge! I bet we can play soccer here!” Junsu exclaimed next and Yoochun shook his head at Junsu’s predictable action. “Hey, is that a hawk statue?” and his short attention span.
The two stood next to him and looked at what he pointed. Near the balcony of one of the rooms on the second floor, was a huge statue of a hawk. The hawk spread its wings majestically as if it was going to take flight after it had caught its prey. The eyes were made of metal, and it glinted under the sunlight.
“That’s so cool!” Junsu squealed at the sight and rushed towards the statue. It sat atop a huge stone pillar, and he wondered for a moment as to why it was there, but decided not to question it any further. The statue fit the garden well and he thought it was a good enough reason.
“Now, now, hyung, we’re supposed to tour the garden, not gawk at the hawk,” Changmin started, but paused when he thought it didn’t sound right. “Anyway, we haven’t checked other parts of the garden.”
Junsu nodded in agreement only after he demanded that they return here after they finished going around the mansion’s garden to study the statue again, or play soccer.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Yunho looked at the apiary and sighed. Was the owner of the mansion selling honey too? There were so many bees there that his ears hurt. He also noted that there was an apple orchard down the path.
He looked at his nearly completed map. He just needed to go to the last part and draw it before he preferably take another look at the area with tall grass. Or maybe not.
He sighed and looked at his feet. Sure, he was wearing trousers and shoes, but that didn’t keep him from being scared shitless of snake bites. His childhood friend nearly died because of a snake bite and since then he had never heard anything from said friend again.
He didn’t even remember if it was a girl or a boy.
“That sounds mean,” he mumbled to himself as he drew on his parchment with ease, being extra careful not to disturb the apiary unless he was armed with a smoker first.
He continued on his way as he looked at his map apprehensively. So far, he had noted that the dock was way down the hill. The right path up the hill led to a beach and a low cliff that overlooked the sea. The left way up the hill led to the area with tall grass. Continuing the way from there, there was an apple orchard, and next to it was the apiary.
He stopped in front of an old wooden building near a cliff that overlooked the ocean as well, but it was high. The current was strong at this part and the wave crashed mercilessly at the base of the cliff. With one glance, he knew that nobody would survive if they fell down the cliff.
With a sigh, he entered the shed and noticed an old generator there. It wasn’t on at the moment, and a can full of oil was placed neatly beside it. He looked around and saw a lot of hand tools there, though some were already rusty.
“Hm, a generator,” he mumbled as he took out his parchment and completed the rough sketch of the island. Hopefully he’d find it hopeful one day.
With a satisfied smile, he walked back to the mansion, wanting nothing more than to relax at the parlor or even at the library, resting his aching feet or probably blackmailing Yoochun or Changmin into massaging them for him.
It was going to be one fine afternoon. He just knew it.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
“So, the bedrooms are off-limits. We respect privacy here,” Jaejoong stated as he looked at his notebook, where he had made a rough sketch of the mansion layout.
“Yes, and we’ve checked the kitchen, dining room and the pantry. We were there basically four to five hours a day,” Yuhan added as he looked at the map of the first floor.
“The parlor, game room and the library are connected to each other in a way,” Jaejoong pointed at the three rooms on his map. “There’s a fireplace at the parlor.”
“Mm, the game room has a pool table,” Yuhan supplied and Jaejoong nodded. “The library has a desk and a globe. A huge map of the world, which is a little unnecessary since there’s the globe already,” he paused and thought of the things that were in the library, “and shelves of books.”
“I noticed,” Jaejoong nodded. “Do you notice something strange here?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I suppose you notice it as well?” Yuhan asked back, looking around for the last time before he settled on his armchair again, leaning back as much as he could.
“Yes,” Jaejoong nodded slightly, albeit he looked rather reluctant.
“There was nothing in this house that might belong to the previous owner of this mansion,” the two said simultaneously and this time they looked dead serious, all traces of smile gone from their faces.
“At first I thought of it as strange, but then again, maybe he really didn’t want to be noticed,” Jaejoong reasoned as he closed his book with a sigh.
“He, Joongie?” Yuhan asked with a raised brow, seemingly interested at the conclusion his friend achieved.
“Yes, I suspected it because of the desk,” Jaejoong said. “No women used a desk like that. They rarely use desks anyway, but the desk looked like it was used often.”
Yuhan nodded thoughtfully at that. “I guess, when you put it like that,” he added. “What are we going to do now?”
“There’s nothing of interest on first floor,” Jaejoong shrugged again. “Let’s just wait until everyone gathers again, and maybe we can go check the second floor.”
“Yeah…,” Yuhan trailed off slightly as he looked at the fireplace. There were some coals there, ready to be lit, and he wondered if the previous owner really was dead.
Oh wait, that was Jaejoong’s uncle, not the previous owner.
A cushion was thrown his way and Yuhan barely had the time to duck before said cushion came in contact with his head. He looked at Jaejoong amusedly as the other man pursed his lips thinly.
“What is it now?” he asked, trying not to grin wide at the expression on Jaejoong’s face.
“I want to take a nap,” Jaejoong announced as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked at Yuhan expectantly.
“Really, really like a kid,” Yuhan noted to himself as he smiled slightly. “And? What does it have to do with me?” he asked.
“Yuhan…” the tone was dangerous. Almost demanding. It felt no space for protest or joking around.
“I get it,” he said as he threw his hands upwards, as if he was surrendering and he moved to sit on the left end of the couch Jaejoong was sitting on.
“Wake me up in thirty minutes,” Jaejoong ordered before he promptly lied down on the couch, his head on Yuhan’s lap.
“Will do, Your Highness,” Yuhan joked as he brushed Jaejoong’s hair out of his face. He noticed Yunho going into the parlor and looking at them, before he turned and walked towards the library through the game room instead.
Oh, this is going to be interesting.
End of Chapter Three
This is the chapter I promised. Hope you all enjoy it.
I inserted a few bad attempts at humor in this chapter, and though I abide by the rule of no pairing with OC, I can’t help but write the last scene. Argh, forgive me…