[SJFF] Fragments of a Memory - Chapter 1
Title: Fragments of a Memory (Sequel to Angel of Death)
Characters: Kyuhyun, OC, SJ members
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Drama
Type: Novel
Summary: Even if he may have been released from those invisible bonds tying him down, even if he has been allowed to return, what are the odds of a separation occurring once again?
Author's Notes: I'm back with the sequel ^^ Well actually, I've started this quite some time ago, but have just decided to put it up on my LiveJournal account. Won't you come with me on another journey? :D
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Chapter 01
He was seated on a random surface in the pitch black space, plain staring into the distance with his eyes devoid of emotions. A sigh, then the space next to him emitted a dim glow. Habitually, he looked into the centre of the glow, watching the person within go about her daily life.
A slight rustling came from his right seconds later, but he calmly turned towards the direction of the noise, having already sensed yet another presence moments ago. His expressions remained empty, unreadable by others who do not have the ability to do so. The man that had appeared next to him was evidently not one of those, for he had an amused smile plastered on his pale face.
"Day after day, you would sit here and stare into that thing. What do you seek to gain? What will you obtain from this pointless habit of yours?" the middle-aged man mused, observing the younger one with great interest.
The man who was seated produced a mirthless chuckle at the query. "This ability exists for a reason, does it not? I'm merely making full use of it," he replied bluntly, not really looking at the person who had just joined him at the dark space. His eyes flickered towards the glow once again when he caught sight of a slight movement from the corner of his eye.
"If I weren't so fond of you, I wouldn't have allowed you to utilise that, Kyuhyun. You're an intelligent boy. I'm sure you understand what I'm trying to say," the other man said again, his intonation drastically changing into one that commanded authority.
"I apologise for my insolence, master," Kyuhyun immediately bowed slightly at the man, not really wanting to incur his wrath. He wasn't going to push his luck too far. The latter merely scoffed slightly, before ambling towards the source of the glow, peering intently into it to see what the younger man was looking at.
It was indeed unthinkable that his master would be so lenient with him, especially after he had defied his orders and even attempted to stand in his way two months ago. Kyuhyun had initially thought that his master would punish him severely for being unable to complete what he was sent back to the living realm to do, but nothing of that sort happened. His master didn't even go back on his words, sparing a certain person's life as he had promised.
It was definitely a pleasant surprise.
Aside from that, his master had issued a notice to the other angels of death, saying that Kyuhyun was to be in charge of the realm of death whenever he couldn't be found. It essentially told everyone else that they shouldn't even think of messing around with Kyuhyun. The man didn't know why his master was giving him such authority, especially when he had disobeyed the older man on many accounts, but he wasn't complaining.
In fact, he relished in the reality that he was able to do as he pleases in the realm of death upon returning to it. The first thing he made sure he did was to make none other than Chungho's life miserable - with consent from his master, of course. His master never liked anyone messing around with his minions, even if it were amongst themselves. He had a weird stand that beings of the same kind should stick together.
As one of the angels of death who lurked around a lot when he did not have any job to complete, Kyuhyun of course knew that the otherwise was true, having seen his fair share of conflicts occurring. None of them explicitly crossed that line, at least not too obviously. There were small scuffles here and there, none of them escalating into a level dire enough that nothing can be done to stop their fights.
Obviously they kept things under wraps so well that even their master did not realise that things had happened. At least they hoped that he didn’t have any knowledge of it.
But this time, his master was highly irritated at Chungho for trying to dictate his decisions. Thus an easy permission was granted to Kyuhyun; he grasped the opportunity and made the most out of it. Suffice to say, he ensured that the other angel was nothing less than completely battered. Aside from that, Chungho was also banished to the lower ranks by his master - Kyuhyun did not have a say in it, not that he begrudged that decision at all - having to become something akin a slave to the rest.
Immature as it may sound, Kyuhyun was delighted that he was able to order the annoying prick around. In fact, he thought that Chungho was lucky to be able to preserve his life - or life after death, however one may see it. He was tempted to take Chungho's life while treating him as his personal punching bag, having been incredibly annoyed at the latter for almost ruining her trust in him.
Even if he knew that there was no way he could live with her for the rest of her life, the least that could happen was for her to preserve the memories they made together instead of a hateful image of him. That was all Kyuhyun wanted; for his little-known re-existence to be remembered well by some, although it may seem selfish of him to have such a thought. It didn't matter if he were to be the one who suffered the most this way, only being able to gaze at the people who mattered most to him through a flickering source of glow.
If anything, Kyuhyun was comforted enough at the fact that they seem to be living their lives well, without showing any signs that they were still attempting to look for him. Jungsoo and Sungmin did, if only for a little while, but they eventually gave up after several weeks of fruitless searching. On the other hand, Hyeonmin seemed to be completely resigned to the fact that he wasn't coming back. She merely held on to several articles that he had left behind, but otherwise went about her daily activities as per normal.
Somehow that thought itself cut Kyuhyun up badly deep within. It was probably a part of his selfish desires; the human emotions were too deep-seeded by the time he had returned to the realm of death. They never really left, thus bogging him down with these annoying human feelings that he'd rather be left without.
He snapped out of his thoughts when a humoured chuckle rippled from his master’s throat. “You are being ridiculous, my pet. She obviously does not hold any regards for you anymore. She’s convinced that you no longer exist in the human world,” the pale middle-aged man mused, reading Kyuhyun’s expressions and thoughts like an open book again.
Kyuhyun irately blocked his master out of his head when he could feel something searching through his mind; his master made a mistake by giving him the ability to do so. “I’d appreciate it if you would stop meddling with my thoughts, master,” he said flatly.
“If you have nothing to hide, why should you worry?” the other shot back, the scheming smile still lingering upon his lips.
“Am I just a plaything to you, master?” Kyuhyun frowned. His master definitely had ‘screwing around with Kyuhyun’ right at the top of his list of favourite things to do. It wasn’t anything that he wasn’t used to receiving, however.
“That definitely depends on how you want to perceive my actions, really,” his master shrugged nonchalantly. “I would say that this is me showing my care for you. I wouldn’t want my favourite pet to have his senses blunted because of these human emotions now, would I?”
Said pet snorted and rolled his eyes. “Please, if you do indeed care about me - or any of us, for that matter - you wouldn’t have thrown me into this mess a year ago for your amusement. Also, if you do not want my angel of death senses to be attenuated, you would’ve thought of a way to remove those emotions instead of letting them bind to my being,” he muttered dryly, this time waving a hand over the long-forgotten glow to eliminate it. By the looks of it, he didn’t have the opportunity to monitor it at all. His master wasn’t giving him the space to do so.
“Would you have preferred it if I did not send you back to the living realm? Do bear in mind that I was the one who made it possible for you to meet that girl,” the older man pointed out, causing Kyuhyun to frown again. Damn him for having a point. “Also, I’ve tried removing them, but somehow it still remains latched onto you. Can’t do anything about that for now.”
He really would’ve believed in his master’s words, had he not caught sight of that amused smirk on the latter’s face.
“Should I be rejoicing over that, or should I be weeping in sorrow?” Kyuhyun deadpanned, his tone biting.
As much as he was tempted to mock his master for the lack of emotions, he couldn’t. The man definitely had some human emotions that could be conveniently bottled up and released at his own will. That would account for the times his master blew up at some angels of death for not doing their jobs properly.
Kyuhyun was definitely counting his lucky stars for not getting embroiled in that wrath.
“It depends on how you would like to look at it, really. At least your life’s not as dull as the rest of them,” his master said again, evidently enjoying every bit of this particular moment. “That being said, it’s been two months since you came back. Aren’t you sick of watching her every move every single day?”
“No, not really,” he shook his head. “At least I know that I have something to do. You haven’t exactly given me a single job for two full months, you know. How do you expect me to stay in this boring place without something to keep me preoccupied?”
“Do you think you’re capable of killing someone - or making someone kill themselves, whichever pleases you - when you’re in full possession of human nature? I certainly don’t think so,” the older one of the pair shot back, the infuriating grin still plastered on his face. Kyuhyun made sure that his master was still blocked out of his mind before thinking about how tempted he was to wipe that smirk off his master’s face by force.
“Yeah, as if it’s my fault for refusing to let go of those emotions. I would be more than glad to be rid of them,” Kyuhyun huffed. “So do you seriously expect me to rot in the realm of death? I mean, if even you are unable to return me to the state that an angel of death should originally be in, what’s the point of keeping me here?”
“Tsk, aren’t you the least bit contented that you’re different from the rest?” his master asked, slightly annoyed. Nevertheless, absolutely no verbal response was required from his minion. The look that Kyuhyun was brandishing at him sufficed to explain everything. He sighed despondently. “This feeling of ‘love’ in humans is such a troublesome feeling to have.”
“I think this could very well be the first time that I’m wholeheartedly agreeing with your words, master,” he said, bending forward so that he could rest his elbows on his thighs. “But you would have to actually be embroiled in love to experience the full magnitude of it.”
Kyuhyun’s master scoffed at that. “Stop being mushy in front of me, or I’ll really have to go through great lengths to make sure that side of your feelings is eliminated,” he warned, though his expressions turned contemplative in the next moment.
“Are you serious about not wanting to stay here at all?” he then said after several moments of silence, causing Kyuhyun to perk up with deep interest. What was his master trying to do now?
“You know well enough what my answer would be, master,” Kyuhyun replied calmly and evenly, trying not to allow his excitement show. He didn’t want to get worked up right now only to be disappointed later. Kyuhyun had learned enough from experience to never trust in his master’s words unless it was reconfirmed time and again.
His eyes followed his master’s movements as the latter ambled towards yet another unseen surface in the dark room, before he settled down upon it. From Kyuhyun’s position, it certainly seemed as though his master was seated in mid-air. Nothing that he wasn’t used to in this realm, really; especially not when the ruler of the realm of death was concerned.
“Then allow me to strike a deal with you. You’re free to refuse right now, though. I won’t divulge the details at all if you do; but if you remain adamant in listening to what I’m about to propose, you can’t weasel yourself out of it. There’s no other choice for you but to accept this whole offer,” his master drawled lazily, feigning a yawn as he allowed Kyuhyun some time to contemplate over his words.
The younger man had his eyes narrowed at the terms that were offered to him. “What if I change my mind after hearing what you’ve put forth, master? After going through that mission you gave me last year, I’m not too sure whether I’d like to agree with everything,” Kyuhyun frowned, approaching his master with pure caution. There was no saying what the latter might do, despite his calm demeanour at this particular moment.
“I’d have to kill you,” he said as-a-matter-of-factly, as though it wasn’t a big deal for him if he ended Kyuhyun’s life just like that.
Then again, it probably wasn’t. His master could find a substitute for him with a snap of his fingers; there were probably angels of death out there who were similar in terms of abilities with Kyuhyun. He wouldn’t know, of course. Kyuhyun wasn’t one to hang out with the rest. It saved him the trouble of being friendly to the rest, and in order to avoid any form of conflicts. Other angels weren’t exactly the type of people he would want to get into a fight with, considering how none of them knew what powers the others held.
In the end, Kyuhyun heaved a sigh under the watchful eyes of his master, and steadily lifted his head up to meet the latter’s gaze. “Fine, tell me what you have in mind.”
Characters: Kyuhyun, OC, SJ members
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Drama
Type: Novel
Summary: Even if he may have been released from those invisible bonds tying him down, even if he has been allowed to return, what are the odds of a separation occurring once again?
Author's Notes: I'm back with the sequel ^^ Well actually, I've started this quite some time ago, but have just decided to put it up on my LiveJournal account. Won't you come with me on another journey? :D
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Chapter 01
He was seated on a random surface in the pitch black space, plain staring into the distance with his eyes devoid of emotions. A sigh, then the space next to him emitted a dim glow. Habitually, he looked into the centre of the glow, watching the person within go about her daily life.
A slight rustling came from his right seconds later, but he calmly turned towards the direction of the noise, having already sensed yet another presence moments ago. His expressions remained empty, unreadable by others who do not have the ability to do so. The man that had appeared next to him was evidently not one of those, for he had an amused smile plastered on his pale face.
"Day after day, you would sit here and stare into that thing. What do you seek to gain? What will you obtain from this pointless habit of yours?" the middle-aged man mused, observing the younger one with great interest.
The man who was seated produced a mirthless chuckle at the query. "This ability exists for a reason, does it not? I'm merely making full use of it," he replied bluntly, not really looking at the person who had just joined him at the dark space. His eyes flickered towards the glow once again when he caught sight of a slight movement from the corner of his eye.
"If I weren't so fond of you, I wouldn't have allowed you to utilise that, Kyuhyun. You're an intelligent boy. I'm sure you understand what I'm trying to say," the other man said again, his intonation drastically changing into one that commanded authority.
"I apologise for my insolence, master," Kyuhyun immediately bowed slightly at the man, not really wanting to incur his wrath. He wasn't going to push his luck too far. The latter merely scoffed slightly, before ambling towards the source of the glow, peering intently into it to see what the younger man was looking at.
It was indeed unthinkable that his master would be so lenient with him, especially after he had defied his orders and even attempted to stand in his way two months ago. Kyuhyun had initially thought that his master would punish him severely for being unable to complete what he was sent back to the living realm to do, but nothing of that sort happened. His master didn't even go back on his words, sparing a certain person's life as he had promised.
It was definitely a pleasant surprise.
Aside from that, his master had issued a notice to the other angels of death, saying that Kyuhyun was to be in charge of the realm of death whenever he couldn't be found. It essentially told everyone else that they shouldn't even think of messing around with Kyuhyun. The man didn't know why his master was giving him such authority, especially when he had disobeyed the older man on many accounts, but he wasn't complaining.
In fact, he relished in the reality that he was able to do as he pleases in the realm of death upon returning to it. The first thing he made sure he did was to make none other than Chungho's life miserable - with consent from his master, of course. His master never liked anyone messing around with his minions, even if it were amongst themselves. He had a weird stand that beings of the same kind should stick together.
As one of the angels of death who lurked around a lot when he did not have any job to complete, Kyuhyun of course knew that the otherwise was true, having seen his fair share of conflicts occurring. None of them explicitly crossed that line, at least not too obviously. There were small scuffles here and there, none of them escalating into a level dire enough that nothing can be done to stop their fights.
Obviously they kept things under wraps so well that even their master did not realise that things had happened. At least they hoped that he didn’t have any knowledge of it.
But this time, his master was highly irritated at Chungho for trying to dictate his decisions. Thus an easy permission was granted to Kyuhyun; he grasped the opportunity and made the most out of it. Suffice to say, he ensured that the other angel was nothing less than completely battered. Aside from that, Chungho was also banished to the lower ranks by his master - Kyuhyun did not have a say in it, not that he begrudged that decision at all - having to become something akin a slave to the rest.
Immature as it may sound, Kyuhyun was delighted that he was able to order the annoying prick around. In fact, he thought that Chungho was lucky to be able to preserve his life - or life after death, however one may see it. He was tempted to take Chungho's life while treating him as his personal punching bag, having been incredibly annoyed at the latter for almost ruining her trust in him.
Even if he knew that there was no way he could live with her for the rest of her life, the least that could happen was for her to preserve the memories they made together instead of a hateful image of him. That was all Kyuhyun wanted; for his little-known re-existence to be remembered well by some, although it may seem selfish of him to have such a thought. It didn't matter if he were to be the one who suffered the most this way, only being able to gaze at the people who mattered most to him through a flickering source of glow.
If anything, Kyuhyun was comforted enough at the fact that they seem to be living their lives well, without showing any signs that they were still attempting to look for him. Jungsoo and Sungmin did, if only for a little while, but they eventually gave up after several weeks of fruitless searching. On the other hand, Hyeonmin seemed to be completely resigned to the fact that he wasn't coming back. She merely held on to several articles that he had left behind, but otherwise went about her daily activities as per normal.
Somehow that thought itself cut Kyuhyun up badly deep within. It was probably a part of his selfish desires; the human emotions were too deep-seeded by the time he had returned to the realm of death. They never really left, thus bogging him down with these annoying human feelings that he'd rather be left without.
He snapped out of his thoughts when a humoured chuckle rippled from his master’s throat. “You are being ridiculous, my pet. She obviously does not hold any regards for you anymore. She’s convinced that you no longer exist in the human world,” the pale middle-aged man mused, reading Kyuhyun’s expressions and thoughts like an open book again.
Kyuhyun irately blocked his master out of his head when he could feel something searching through his mind; his master made a mistake by giving him the ability to do so. “I’d appreciate it if you would stop meddling with my thoughts, master,” he said flatly.
“If you have nothing to hide, why should you worry?” the other shot back, the scheming smile still lingering upon his lips.
“Am I just a plaything to you, master?” Kyuhyun frowned. His master definitely had ‘screwing around with Kyuhyun’ right at the top of his list of favourite things to do. It wasn’t anything that he wasn’t used to receiving, however.
“That definitely depends on how you want to perceive my actions, really,” his master shrugged nonchalantly. “I would say that this is me showing my care for you. I wouldn’t want my favourite pet to have his senses blunted because of these human emotions now, would I?”
Said pet snorted and rolled his eyes. “Please, if you do indeed care about me - or any of us, for that matter - you wouldn’t have thrown me into this mess a year ago for your amusement. Also, if you do not want my angel of death senses to be attenuated, you would’ve thought of a way to remove those emotions instead of letting them bind to my being,” he muttered dryly, this time waving a hand over the long-forgotten glow to eliminate it. By the looks of it, he didn’t have the opportunity to monitor it at all. His master wasn’t giving him the space to do so.
“Would you have preferred it if I did not send you back to the living realm? Do bear in mind that I was the one who made it possible for you to meet that girl,” the older man pointed out, causing Kyuhyun to frown again. Damn him for having a point. “Also, I’ve tried removing them, but somehow it still remains latched onto you. Can’t do anything about that for now.”
He really would’ve believed in his master’s words, had he not caught sight of that amused smirk on the latter’s face.
“Should I be rejoicing over that, or should I be weeping in sorrow?” Kyuhyun deadpanned, his tone biting.
As much as he was tempted to mock his master for the lack of emotions, he couldn’t. The man definitely had some human emotions that could be conveniently bottled up and released at his own will. That would account for the times his master blew up at some angels of death for not doing their jobs properly.
Kyuhyun was definitely counting his lucky stars for not getting embroiled in that wrath.
“It depends on how you would like to look at it, really. At least your life’s not as dull as the rest of them,” his master said again, evidently enjoying every bit of this particular moment. “That being said, it’s been two months since you came back. Aren’t you sick of watching her every move every single day?”
“No, not really,” he shook his head. “At least I know that I have something to do. You haven’t exactly given me a single job for two full months, you know. How do you expect me to stay in this boring place without something to keep me preoccupied?”
“Do you think you’re capable of killing someone - or making someone kill themselves, whichever pleases you - when you’re in full possession of human nature? I certainly don’t think so,” the older one of the pair shot back, the infuriating grin still plastered on his face. Kyuhyun made sure that his master was still blocked out of his mind before thinking about how tempted he was to wipe that smirk off his master’s face by force.
“Yeah, as if it’s my fault for refusing to let go of those emotions. I would be more than glad to be rid of them,” Kyuhyun huffed. “So do you seriously expect me to rot in the realm of death? I mean, if even you are unable to return me to the state that an angel of death should originally be in, what’s the point of keeping me here?”
“Tsk, aren’t you the least bit contented that you’re different from the rest?” his master asked, slightly annoyed. Nevertheless, absolutely no verbal response was required from his minion. The look that Kyuhyun was brandishing at him sufficed to explain everything. He sighed despondently. “This feeling of ‘love’ in humans is such a troublesome feeling to have.”
“I think this could very well be the first time that I’m wholeheartedly agreeing with your words, master,” he said, bending forward so that he could rest his elbows on his thighs. “But you would have to actually be embroiled in love to experience the full magnitude of it.”
Kyuhyun’s master scoffed at that. “Stop being mushy in front of me, or I’ll really have to go through great lengths to make sure that side of your feelings is eliminated,” he warned, though his expressions turned contemplative in the next moment.
“Are you serious about not wanting to stay here at all?” he then said after several moments of silence, causing Kyuhyun to perk up with deep interest. What was his master trying to do now?
“You know well enough what my answer would be, master,” Kyuhyun replied calmly and evenly, trying not to allow his excitement show. He didn’t want to get worked up right now only to be disappointed later. Kyuhyun had learned enough from experience to never trust in his master’s words unless it was reconfirmed time and again.
His eyes followed his master’s movements as the latter ambled towards yet another unseen surface in the dark room, before he settled down upon it. From Kyuhyun’s position, it certainly seemed as though his master was seated in mid-air. Nothing that he wasn’t used to in this realm, really; especially not when the ruler of the realm of death was concerned.
“Then allow me to strike a deal with you. You’re free to refuse right now, though. I won’t divulge the details at all if you do; but if you remain adamant in listening to what I’m about to propose, you can’t weasel yourself out of it. There’s no other choice for you but to accept this whole offer,” his master drawled lazily, feigning a yawn as he allowed Kyuhyun some time to contemplate over his words.
The younger man had his eyes narrowed at the terms that were offered to him. “What if I change my mind after hearing what you’ve put forth, master? After going through that mission you gave me last year, I’m not too sure whether I’d like to agree with everything,” Kyuhyun frowned, approaching his master with pure caution. There was no saying what the latter might do, despite his calm demeanour at this particular moment.
“I’d have to kill you,” he said as-a-matter-of-factly, as though it wasn’t a big deal for him if he ended Kyuhyun’s life just like that.
Then again, it probably wasn’t. His master could find a substitute for him with a snap of his fingers; there were probably angels of death out there who were similar in terms of abilities with Kyuhyun. He wouldn’t know, of course. Kyuhyun wasn’t one to hang out with the rest. It saved him the trouble of being friendly to the rest, and in order to avoid any form of conflicts. Other angels weren’t exactly the type of people he would want to get into a fight with, considering how none of them knew what powers the others held.
In the end, Kyuhyun heaved a sigh under the watchful eyes of his master, and steadily lifted his head up to meet the latter’s gaze. “Fine, tell me what you have in mind.”