お帰り [Welcome Home] - Chapter Twenty-Six
Title: お帰り [Welcome Home]
Authors: curionenene and yeonah
Chapter: 26/?
Fandom: SS501 + Epik High Cameos
Pairings: KyuMin, HyunSaeng
Rating: PG-16
Warning: Angst, AU
Summary: Black and white... white and black. It isn't always possible to tell what is good and what is evil; and four players in the never-ending fight for freedom would know. In a world where things are painted by shades of grey, taking a stand could mean life or death. And the struggle to be free, truly free, may tear them apart until there is nothing left but ash.
A/N: KyuJong, HyunJoong, and Tablo are played by curionenene , while JungMin, YoungSaeng, HyungJoon, Mithra and Thaestae are played by yeonah .
JungMin closed the apartment door behind them with a sigh of relief. It had taken a while to get back to their home, especially since they had to check in with the Hunter HQ after disappearing. That hadn't been pleasant in the least.
It didn't make it any easier that, now that he knew Thaestae was there, the demon was all too keen to make his opinion on the Hunters heard. It was horrible trying to keep a straight face with the demon talking in the back of his mind, especially since he'd nearly jumped out of his skin the first time Thaestae decided he wanted to be heard.
At least there hadn't been anything more than peanut gallery comments yet. He could deal with this.
Worried look on his face, KyuJong turned around, unable to wait for the bedroom as he reached up to gently caress JungMin’s face. “Are you okay? You were behaving a little strangely there…”
"Yeah, I'm fine," JungMin smiled, wrapped his arms around KyuJong's waist automatically as he moved them away from the door. "It's a little hard to concentrate with a running commentary in the back of my head."
Thanks a lot for that, by the way, he grumbled at the demon. Thaestae chuckled.
KyuJong frowned at that. He still didn’t like the idea about the demon being inside his lover, but he was a lot less vocal about it than JungMin. Still, there was something dark in the back of his head plotting ways he could get back at the demon in the meanwhile.
“Well, how about I help distract you from it?” KyuJong suggested before smirking, latching his lips onto a patch of skin just below JungMin’s neck.
Somewhat distracted, JungMin opened his mouth to reply and trailed off in a low moan, head falling back. "If you're up for the challenge," he murmured, hands slipping into the ankou's back jean pockets and pulling him close.
“Oh… always.” KyuJong smirked, tongue flicking around the patch of skin, satisfied to see it stained red. Trailing up JungMin’s delectable neck, he began nipping at the human’s strong jaw, hands sneaking past JungMin’s shirt and onto the smooth skin of his back.
Chuckling, JungMin squeezed his hands a little before removing one from KyuJong's pockets, tucking his fingers under the ankou's chin and pulling him up to press their lips together in a searing kiss, nipping at his soft lips.
KyuJong moaned, opening his mouth at the nips, tongue snaking out and flitting over JungMin’s pliable upper lip, slipping inside a small crack his found between the pink plush muscles.
JungMin responded eagerly to the tongue pressing against his lips, parting his own lips to draw KyuJong's tongue into his mouth.
It looked like there was no way they were going to stop until they were both completely satisfied, but then the human stiffened against KyuJong as he felt himself being dragged under. Hey! JungMin yelped before he was gone.
He pulled back, red eyes looking a mixture between amused and exasperated. "Do you know how weird all that feels?"
KyuJong blinked at the sudden lack of lips against his, and he stared blankly into red eyes before his brain restarted and realized that this wasn’t JungMin anymore.
Startled, he pushed back violently from Thaestae, screaming. “HOLY SHIT!”
Thaestae now looked entirely amused, any annoyance he had felt at the making out gone as he raised an eyebrow at the expression on KyuJong's face. "I thought an ankou would have a greater vocabulary than that."
“Well, excuse me, but no one has a wide vocabulary after having the life shocked out of them!” KyuJong yelled, holding a hand to his heart. “What the hell are you doing out here?!”
"Letting you know that while he may be asleep while I am in control, as much as I would like to, I have no way to do the same," Thaestae pointed out. "Making that whole scene extremely uncomfortable."
KyuJong scowled. He was tired, he was annoyed, and now, he was being denied his right to kiss his lover. Glaring at Thaestae, he folded his arms and said in a clipped and cold voice. “Well, deal with it. I’m kissing him regardless.”
"You're not right now," Thaestae stated, lips curling into a smile.
"Besides...I thought you might be interested in knowing that there are two different sets of eyes watching this apartment right now, and one of them is currently trying to activate a listening spell. Give him another five minutes and he might actually be able to get it right."
KyuJong blinked, and then turned his attention to the two hunters who were at their work. Swearing, he concentrated on re-enforcing the spells around the place, then getting work, sending spells which would interfere with the hunters’ work, making the interruptions seem like accidents.
“That may very well change.” KyuJong finally replied once he was done, turning back to glare at the demon. “Annoy me enough and I will kiss JungMin even if you are in charge.”
"I'm sure he will enjoy the idea you have been kissing him while I am in control," Thaestae mused, looking around with apparent interest. The demon had never been inside a human dwelling before, and had infinitely more curiosity in that than the relationship between the ankou and human.
KyuJong scowled at his plan of disgusting Thaestae out of this backfiring. Grumbling something about stupid demons sticking their nose where it didn’t belong, KyuJong stalked his way to the light switch, flicking it on. “I think we need to set some rules.”
"Such as?" The demon wasn't paying attention to KyuJong anymore, instead exploring the apartment. He didn't touch anything, just looked, hands clasped behind his back.
“Such as when you can come out!” KyuJong growled, his eyes flashing silver in annoyance. “That body is JungMin’s, so he should rightfully have use of it most of the time. I understand that it’s your body too now, but it was his first!”
“I’ll be fair, all right?” KyuJong sighed, trying to calm himself down. “We’ll allocate timeslots for you to come out and observe. I’m sure JungMin would be negotiable as to the amount of time and when you can come out. But certainly not while we’re in the hunter’s HQ, and certainly not when him and I are making love.”
Glancing back at KyuJong, Thaestae heard him out, expression neutral. "I'm not stupid, I am perfectly aware coming out while in the presence of hunters is a bad idea," he said with a sigh. "I will give him use of his own body the majority of the time, and communicate through him, but there may be times I will need to speak directly and I need use of his body to do that." His gaze was sharp. "I will abide by your 'rules', ankou, but only as long as I deem them relevant."
KyuJong folded his arms, and his voice stiff, he asked gruffly. “And what exactly is ‘relevant’ to you?”
"There is a sense of power in the air that is unusual for the human plane. Perhaps you haven't noticed it due to being saturated in it for so long...but I can, and it's growing." The red in the human's eyes flashed. "By relevant, I mean if a situation is stable enough without my interference...and if I do not need to say anything I believe you wouldn't want the human to hear."
“What?” KyuJong’s annoyance faded away, his eyes glowing to their full silver. “What power?”
Even as he asked, his senses flared out, and paying extra attention, he realized that the demon was right - there was a strange and unusual power around them, and it didn’t seem to come from anywhere but was… everywhere.
“…What is this?” KyuJong asked in bewilderment, casting worried eyes at Thaestae.
"If I knew, I would have spoken earlier." Thaestae sighed. "All I know is that it has been here ever since I arrived on this plane, and has nearly doubled in strength since."
Getting up, annoyance entirely forgotten, KyuJong thought that, perhaps, he should inform Tablo, Mithra and HyungJoon about this. “Well, are you going to give JungMin his body back? I need to go out.”
"I suppose it would be something of a giveaway if he were to walk down the street with red eyes, hm?" Thaestae mused, moving over to the couch before his eyes hazed over, JungMin collapsing onto the cushions rather than onto the floor.
KyuJong rushed over, gathering JungMin into his arms. “Hey, you okay?”
JungMin groaned, opening his eyes after a moment, the irises returning to their usual black. "Yeah. I wish he would warn me when he's going to do that." He wrapped his arms around KyuJong's neck.
“If he were that obedient, we wouldn’t even be in this situation.” KyuJong said meaningfully, knowing that Thaestae could hear him. “But that aside, we need to go back to the underground HQ. I just found out something important from Thaestae that I think Tablo and HyungJoon would want to hear.”
Lips quirking at the grumbling he could hear from the demon, JungMin's smile faded as the rest of KyuJong's words reached him. "What's up?" he asked, sitting up slowly and wincing. He was probably never going to get used to this.
“There's some sort of strange energy that Thaestae sensed.” KyuJong explained as he rubbed JungMin’s back. “And it was only after he told me that I sensed it too. Which is why I doubt either Tablo and HyungJoon have sensed it… it’s worrying, to say the least…”
"Strange energy?" JungMin blinked, eyes threatening to close at the hand against his back. "I guess we should tell them then...but how are we going to get to them without the hunters knowing?" He finally stood up, kissing KyuJong's mouth lightly.
“Good question.” KyuJong mulled over it as he gently kissed back. “I could go alone, pretend to be doing a chore and then pass a note to one of the messengers for them to take back to Tablo, who will no doubt tell HyungJoon as well.”
"That could work," JungMin murmured, not liking the idea of KyuJong going alone. "Do you think you'd be able to pull it off without anyone catching you?"
“Of course.” KyuJong grinned, nibbling on JungMin’s jaw. “Who do you think I am?”
Making a soft noise, JungMin smirked as he pulled KyuJong closer. "Someone who won't be leaving for anything anytime soon if he keeps that up."
Not again, Thaestae sighed.
Guessing that Thaestae would be annoyed, KyuJong grinned and snuggled into JungMin’s hold. “Well, saving the world can wait a bit.”
"Definitely." The human twined his fingers into the ankou's hair, nibbling at his lips. "Where were we? And the peanut gallery needs to be quiet," he grumbled when Thaestae started heavily protesting.
KyuJong groaned at the touch, licking his lips in anticipation. “I agree, he should start getting used to it.”
“And to answer your question…” KyuJong trailed off as he captured JungMin’s lips in his own.
JungMin smirked into the kiss before responding, one hand trailing down to hook one of KyuJong's legs around his waist. Kissing back, he pressed against the ankou's lips with his tongue.
KyuJong tightened the hold JungMin had put him in, arms wrapping around JungMin as he pulled the human down onto the couch. “Come, let’s give Thaestae an excellent example of human love making.”
"We're the best teachers for that, aren't we?" JungMin breathed, letting KyuJong pull him down. That was the end of his coherency for a long while.
*********************
“HyungJoon?” Tablo yawned, looking tired and harassed as he walked into the White Rabbit’s room. “What was so urgent that I had to come now?”
The younger man was pacing around as he waited, and obviously hadn't been resting like he was supposed to after spending all his energy on various different tasks. When he saw Tablo enter out of the corner of his eyes, he turned around, holding out a small piece of paper to Tablo.
"Read this," he said, eyes wide. "It's from KyuJong. It...I just can't believe it. How did we miss this?"
Tablo eyed HyungJoon before doing as HyungJoon wished. Then, a few seconds after, he read it again, then doubled back to make sure he had read right.
“…Crap.” Was his sole comment as he cast out a detection spell to see if this was really true.
"A fairly accurate summary," HyungJoon winced, watching Tablo. "You have to go farther than usual...it's...not hidden, but it's just so easy to miss." He rubbed his temples, exhausted. Ever since he'd received the note from a messenger, he'd pushed his energy to its limits in an attempt to find an end to the power in the air, or a source, or anything. He couldn't, and it baffled him.
"It's so engrained in everything...what could cause this, and why?"
“Your guess is as good as mine.” Tablo answered after a while, breaking off from the spell. There was a deep scowl etched into his forehead. “Damn. This definitely doesn’t mean something good.”
"No," the White Rabbit sighed, finally sitting down. "There's no end to it. And...it's growing. It's very slight, but it's definitely growing. I don't get it." He rubbed his temples. "In the morning I'll go into a trance spell and see if I can find out anything...but as of now, I can't even track a source."
“… No, I’ll do it. You get some rest.” Tablo ordered wryly, shaking his head. “We’ve been overworking you, haven’t we? Maybe tomorrow you should go hang out with that lazy partner of yours. Take a break.”
"I'm fine," HyungJoon protested. "I'll just take a...a cat nap or something." There was too much going on for him to rest. "You're starting to sound like him," the rabbit mumbled.
Tablo chuckled, reaching down to mess HyungJoon’s hair. “Well, he does make sense sometimes. But I insist that you get some rest. We’ll need you at full power if anything goes wrong, and we certainly won’t get that with you half-weaving on your feet.”
Opening his mouth again to protest, HyungJoon sighed as his shoulders slumped. Tablo was right. His energy was completely tapped out (and that took a lot considering how much he normally had), and nothing but a good long rest would replenish it. "Promise you'll get me if you find anything else out," he said, looking up at the human. "Or if anything happens."
“Wouldn’t be a party without you.” Tablo reassured, tapping HyungJoon on the back. “Well, I’ll show myself out. Make sure to get some rest.”
The rabbit grinned tiredly. "All right...” He watched Tablo for a moment, and cast out another small spell to prod at the power in the air, once again coming up with nothing.
This is definitely not good, he sighed inwardly, before flopping over onto his side on the bed and closing his eyes, out within seconds.
Tablo smiled at how fast HyungJoon had fallen asleep before he sighed, rubbing his own tired eyes. But unlike HyungJoon, he couldn’t afford to fall asleep. He was way behind work, and new things kept popping up one after another.
Still, the thought of the youngsters depending on him kept him going, and he straightened his drooping shoulders, taking a deep breathe as he walked out of HyungJoon’s room, closing the door gently behind him. “Well… let’s see what we can do about this.”
*******************
"Huh, I wasn't sure if it would still be here."
YoungSaeng smiled to see the large park he used to visit with his family; part of him had been worried it would have been demolished and taken up by apartment complexes. 15 years did a lot of things to the landscape. But here it was.
HyunJoong ran a few steps ahead of YoungSaeng, took in the sweet, strong air and smiled widely. “Wow! This place is wonderful… it’s still so pure, despite being touched by civilization…”
It was wonderful to breath in such fresh air again. And especially since there was a fresh energy in the air that HyunJoong greedily took in. Meruses absorbed spiritual energy from their surrounding, and being underground was all good, except that the energy there was made up mostly from residue energy from humans. And although there was nothing wrong with that, nothing beat the fresh energy of nature, especially one as crisp and light as the one in the park.
The felinefolk smiled widely to see HyunJoong so happy, following after him with his hands in his hoodie pockets. "It's nice to see it hasn't changed. My family used to come here a lot." He crouched down to pick up a fallen leave, twirling it around between his fingers as he followed after HyunJoong.
He couldn't remember ever just relaxing anywhere with his master. It was a foreign concept, but one he found he enjoyed.
At the mention of YoungSaeng’s family, a sad smile crossed HyunJoong's face as he remembered YoungSaeng’s story, but it disappeared the minute he turned around, grabbing YoungSaeng’s hand. “I see why you did. Come, let’s go find a nice tree to sit under!”
Blinking, YoungSaeng chuckled. "All right, all right. Which one? There's a lot." He tucked the leaf behind HyunJoong's ear with a smile as he started to walk again, enjoying the clean air.
“Hey!” HyunJoong giggled at the tickling feeling of something behind his ear, but left it there since it seemed to amuse YoungSaeng. “Hmm… how about the one up on the hill? That big one over there!”
YoungSaeng looked up to see the tree HyunJoong meant, smiling when he saw it. That tree had been there ever since he could remember... "Okay." Starting towards it, he paused, looked around for anyone who might be watching, and chuckled. "...Race you to it!" And with that he was off.
“Hey!” HyunJoong protested, dashing after YoungSaeng. “Not fair! You cheated!”
He could easily keep pace with YoungSaeng now that he could manipulate the energy he had easier with the bond. But YoungSaeng could also draw on it, and HyunJoong had no way of getting ahead. Panting the minute he reached the top of the hill, a hair behind YoungSaeng, HyunJoong pouted. “Saeeeeeeeeeeng!”
Laughing, YoungSaeng turned around, panting a little as well with a wide grin across his face. "I won," he purred happily, flopping down to sit in the grass before yelping and pushing back into a crouch when he sat on his tail yet again. That didn't work out so well since they were on a hill, the felinefolk flopping forward onto his stomach instead with an 'oof'.
“Stockpile!” HyunJoong whooped and he jumped atop YoungSaeng, squirming. “Hehe! I’ve gotcha!” He joked, burying his face into YoungSaeng’s back. “Punishment for cheating!”
YoungSaeng yelped at the weight on his back, flailing a little on his stomach. "I didn't cheat," he protested, fighting down a pout. "You were just slow."
“Was not!” HyunJoong shot back, but relented, rolling off YoungSaeng’s back and flopping beside him instead. “Mmm… because you cheated, you’ll have to sing me a song!”
Sighing a little when HyunJoong got off of him, YoungSaeng tucked his arms under his chin and blinked at the child. "Song? What kind of song?"
“Any song.” HyunJoong smiled, rolling onto his back as he stared up at the sky. “Something suitable for the atmosphere maybe?”
Unable to do the same with his tail stuck in his jeans, YoungSaeng settled for remaining on his stomach and looking out across the park. Pursing his lips as he thought, he started to sing after a moment, a half-remembered song about flying and dreams.
HyunJoong’s lips curled, his expression contended as his eyes slowly fluttered close. In the cool yet comfortable air, with crisp grass cushioning his back and YoungSaeng’s beautiful, soothing voice drifting past his ears, it was no wonder when HyunJoong had slipped into a peaceful doze.
Going through the song, YoungSaeng let his voice fade out at the end, looking over at HyunJoong. When he saw the child was asleep, a fond smile graced his face as he turned his attention back out over the park, humming softly and keeping a protective watch over his master as he slept.
He knew he would never stop treasuring moments like this.
It was about ten minutes after perhaps, that HyunJoong’s eyes suddenly flew open in surprise, and he sat up straight, staring in horror at the sky. “What the…?!”
Eyes snapping open in surprise, YoungSaeng pushed himself up onto his knees, looking at HyunJoong in confusion. "What is it?" he asked, the expression on HyunJoong's face sending shivers down his spine.
HyunJoong’s eyebrow furrowed as he slowly stood up, casting his senses to the sky and coming across that strange aura that had woken him from his sleep. “I… don’t know.”
YoungSaeng stood up as well, eyes worried. "You don't know?" He tried to see if he could sense anything that might have alarmed his master, and couldn't find anything. "What do you mean?"
“It’s just… a strange aura in the air that I’ve never felt before.” HyunJoong explained, his face turning more worried by the moment. “It’s so… vague and subtle, yet so strong at the same time. But I can’t seem to trace where it’s coming from… or what it is…”
Blinking, YoungSaeng pushed his senses again, but still couldn't come up with anything. "I can't sense anything..." But he didn't doubt HyunJoong's judgment. "Did it just appear?"
“It’s not easy to detect so I doubt you’ll be able to sense it…” HyunJoong bit his lip, before he reached across the bond and directed YoungSaeng towards it. “There. Can you feel it? It’s not new… from the looks of it, it’s been there quite a while… but I haven’t sensed it till now…”
Eyes widening slightly as he felt something reaching to him, YoungSaeng let HyunJoong guide him through the bond, showing him where to look. And now he could sense it. "Yeah..." Frowning, the felinefolk prodded at it, trying to recognize the kind of energy it was giving off. He'd never seen this type of energy anywhere before. "Why wouldn't you have sensed it before? Do you think Daniel hyung knows?"
HyunJoong chewed on his lip, beginning to pace. “I really don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t… but ever since I… became like this, Daniel hyung hasn’t been telling me a whole lot.” HyunJoong let out a frustrated sigh as he plopped onto the ground. “We’d better tell him anyway.”
"That's probably the best course of action," YoungSaeng murmured, crouching down next to him. "We can tell him when we get back. Though if it's as hard to interpret as it seems, there doesn't seem to be much we can do about it."
“You’re right…” HyunJoong sighed, reaching out for YoungSaeng’s hand and squeezing it. “Sorry for spoiling the mood.”
"It's all right," the felinefolk smiled, squeezing back lightly. "It's nothing that can be helped. Can we just...stay a few more minutes, maybe, before we go?" he murmured, wanting to have a bit more time alone with HyunJoong before diving back into the chaos.
“Course.” HyunJoong tugged YoungSaeng down to sit beside him, leaning on the felinefolk’s shoulder. “If I had it my way, we’d stay here as long as we’d like.”
Shifting to make sure he wasn't squashing his tail, YoungSaeng smiled and let HyunJoong lean against him, closing his eyes and tilting his head up towards the sky. "Same," he murmured with an inward sigh. He could stay here all day. Unfortunately, they didn't have that luxury.
He'd enjoy it as long as he possibly could.
“Ne… Saeng.” HyunJoong murmured as he looked up at the sky. “Do you think one day, we’ll be able to sit here and just look at the sky and not worry about strange auras and hunters?”
YoungSaeng glanced over at him, pondering the question as he turned his attention skywards again. "I think one day, yes," he murmured. "Hopefully that day will come soon." He looked forward to it.
“Definitely.” HyunJoong agreed, smiling as he snuggled up to YoungSaeng. “One day.”
Authors: curionenene and yeonah
Chapter: 26/?
Fandom: SS501 + Epik High Cameos
Pairings: KyuMin, HyunSaeng
Rating: PG-16
Warning: Angst, AU
Summary: Black and white... white and black. It isn't always possible to tell what is good and what is evil; and four players in the never-ending fight for freedom would know. In a world where things are painted by shades of grey, taking a stand could mean life or death. And the struggle to be free, truly free, may tear them apart until there is nothing left but ash.
A/N: KyuJong, HyunJoong, and Tablo are played by curionenene , while JungMin, YoungSaeng, HyungJoon, Mithra and Thaestae are played by yeonah .
JungMin closed the apartment door behind them with a sigh of relief. It had taken a while to get back to their home, especially since they had to check in with the Hunter HQ after disappearing. That hadn't been pleasant in the least.
It didn't make it any easier that, now that he knew Thaestae was there, the demon was all too keen to make his opinion on the Hunters heard. It was horrible trying to keep a straight face with the demon talking in the back of his mind, especially since he'd nearly jumped out of his skin the first time Thaestae decided he wanted to be heard.
At least there hadn't been anything more than peanut gallery comments yet. He could deal with this.
Worried look on his face, KyuJong turned around, unable to wait for the bedroom as he reached up to gently caress JungMin’s face. “Are you okay? You were behaving a little strangely there…”
"Yeah, I'm fine," JungMin smiled, wrapped his arms around KyuJong's waist automatically as he moved them away from the door. "It's a little hard to concentrate with a running commentary in the back of my head."
Thanks a lot for that, by the way, he grumbled at the demon. Thaestae chuckled.
KyuJong frowned at that. He still didn’t like the idea about the demon being inside his lover, but he was a lot less vocal about it than JungMin. Still, there was something dark in the back of his head plotting ways he could get back at the demon in the meanwhile.
“Well, how about I help distract you from it?” KyuJong suggested before smirking, latching his lips onto a patch of skin just below JungMin’s neck.
Somewhat distracted, JungMin opened his mouth to reply and trailed off in a low moan, head falling back. "If you're up for the challenge," he murmured, hands slipping into the ankou's back jean pockets and pulling him close.
“Oh… always.” KyuJong smirked, tongue flicking around the patch of skin, satisfied to see it stained red. Trailing up JungMin’s delectable neck, he began nipping at the human’s strong jaw, hands sneaking past JungMin’s shirt and onto the smooth skin of his back.
Chuckling, JungMin squeezed his hands a little before removing one from KyuJong's pockets, tucking his fingers under the ankou's chin and pulling him up to press their lips together in a searing kiss, nipping at his soft lips.
KyuJong moaned, opening his mouth at the nips, tongue snaking out and flitting over JungMin’s pliable upper lip, slipping inside a small crack his found between the pink plush muscles.
JungMin responded eagerly to the tongue pressing against his lips, parting his own lips to draw KyuJong's tongue into his mouth.
It looked like there was no way they were going to stop until they were both completely satisfied, but then the human stiffened against KyuJong as he felt himself being dragged under. Hey! JungMin yelped before he was gone.
He pulled back, red eyes looking a mixture between amused and exasperated. "Do you know how weird all that feels?"
KyuJong blinked at the sudden lack of lips against his, and he stared blankly into red eyes before his brain restarted and realized that this wasn’t JungMin anymore.
Startled, he pushed back violently from Thaestae, screaming. “HOLY SHIT!”
Thaestae now looked entirely amused, any annoyance he had felt at the making out gone as he raised an eyebrow at the expression on KyuJong's face. "I thought an ankou would have a greater vocabulary than that."
“Well, excuse me, but no one has a wide vocabulary after having the life shocked out of them!” KyuJong yelled, holding a hand to his heart. “What the hell are you doing out here?!”
"Letting you know that while he may be asleep while I am in control, as much as I would like to, I have no way to do the same," Thaestae pointed out. "Making that whole scene extremely uncomfortable."
KyuJong scowled. He was tired, he was annoyed, and now, he was being denied his right to kiss his lover. Glaring at Thaestae, he folded his arms and said in a clipped and cold voice. “Well, deal with it. I’m kissing him regardless.”
"You're not right now," Thaestae stated, lips curling into a smile.
"Besides...I thought you might be interested in knowing that there are two different sets of eyes watching this apartment right now, and one of them is currently trying to activate a listening spell. Give him another five minutes and he might actually be able to get it right."
KyuJong blinked, and then turned his attention to the two hunters who were at their work. Swearing, he concentrated on re-enforcing the spells around the place, then getting work, sending spells which would interfere with the hunters’ work, making the interruptions seem like accidents.
“That may very well change.” KyuJong finally replied once he was done, turning back to glare at the demon. “Annoy me enough and I will kiss JungMin even if you are in charge.”
"I'm sure he will enjoy the idea you have been kissing him while I am in control," Thaestae mused, looking around with apparent interest. The demon had never been inside a human dwelling before, and had infinitely more curiosity in that than the relationship between the ankou and human.
KyuJong scowled at his plan of disgusting Thaestae out of this backfiring. Grumbling something about stupid demons sticking their nose where it didn’t belong, KyuJong stalked his way to the light switch, flicking it on. “I think we need to set some rules.”
"Such as?" The demon wasn't paying attention to KyuJong anymore, instead exploring the apartment. He didn't touch anything, just looked, hands clasped behind his back.
“Such as when you can come out!” KyuJong growled, his eyes flashing silver in annoyance. “That body is JungMin’s, so he should rightfully have use of it most of the time. I understand that it’s your body too now, but it was his first!”
“I’ll be fair, all right?” KyuJong sighed, trying to calm himself down. “We’ll allocate timeslots for you to come out and observe. I’m sure JungMin would be negotiable as to the amount of time and when you can come out. But certainly not while we’re in the hunter’s HQ, and certainly not when him and I are making love.”
Glancing back at KyuJong, Thaestae heard him out, expression neutral. "I'm not stupid, I am perfectly aware coming out while in the presence of hunters is a bad idea," he said with a sigh. "I will give him use of his own body the majority of the time, and communicate through him, but there may be times I will need to speak directly and I need use of his body to do that." His gaze was sharp. "I will abide by your 'rules', ankou, but only as long as I deem them relevant."
KyuJong folded his arms, and his voice stiff, he asked gruffly. “And what exactly is ‘relevant’ to you?”
"There is a sense of power in the air that is unusual for the human plane. Perhaps you haven't noticed it due to being saturated in it for so long...but I can, and it's growing." The red in the human's eyes flashed. "By relevant, I mean if a situation is stable enough without my interference...and if I do not need to say anything I believe you wouldn't want the human to hear."
“What?” KyuJong’s annoyance faded away, his eyes glowing to their full silver. “What power?”
Even as he asked, his senses flared out, and paying extra attention, he realized that the demon was right - there was a strange and unusual power around them, and it didn’t seem to come from anywhere but was… everywhere.
“…What is this?” KyuJong asked in bewilderment, casting worried eyes at Thaestae.
"If I knew, I would have spoken earlier." Thaestae sighed. "All I know is that it has been here ever since I arrived on this plane, and has nearly doubled in strength since."
Getting up, annoyance entirely forgotten, KyuJong thought that, perhaps, he should inform Tablo, Mithra and HyungJoon about this. “Well, are you going to give JungMin his body back? I need to go out.”
"I suppose it would be something of a giveaway if he were to walk down the street with red eyes, hm?" Thaestae mused, moving over to the couch before his eyes hazed over, JungMin collapsing onto the cushions rather than onto the floor.
KyuJong rushed over, gathering JungMin into his arms. “Hey, you okay?”
JungMin groaned, opening his eyes after a moment, the irises returning to their usual black. "Yeah. I wish he would warn me when he's going to do that." He wrapped his arms around KyuJong's neck.
“If he were that obedient, we wouldn’t even be in this situation.” KyuJong said meaningfully, knowing that Thaestae could hear him. “But that aside, we need to go back to the underground HQ. I just found out something important from Thaestae that I think Tablo and HyungJoon would want to hear.”
Lips quirking at the grumbling he could hear from the demon, JungMin's smile faded as the rest of KyuJong's words reached him. "What's up?" he asked, sitting up slowly and wincing. He was probably never going to get used to this.
“There's some sort of strange energy that Thaestae sensed.” KyuJong explained as he rubbed JungMin’s back. “And it was only after he told me that I sensed it too. Which is why I doubt either Tablo and HyungJoon have sensed it… it’s worrying, to say the least…”
"Strange energy?" JungMin blinked, eyes threatening to close at the hand against his back. "I guess we should tell them then...but how are we going to get to them without the hunters knowing?" He finally stood up, kissing KyuJong's mouth lightly.
“Good question.” KyuJong mulled over it as he gently kissed back. “I could go alone, pretend to be doing a chore and then pass a note to one of the messengers for them to take back to Tablo, who will no doubt tell HyungJoon as well.”
"That could work," JungMin murmured, not liking the idea of KyuJong going alone. "Do you think you'd be able to pull it off without anyone catching you?"
“Of course.” KyuJong grinned, nibbling on JungMin’s jaw. “Who do you think I am?”
Making a soft noise, JungMin smirked as he pulled KyuJong closer. "Someone who won't be leaving for anything anytime soon if he keeps that up."
Not again, Thaestae sighed.
Guessing that Thaestae would be annoyed, KyuJong grinned and snuggled into JungMin’s hold. “Well, saving the world can wait a bit.”
"Definitely." The human twined his fingers into the ankou's hair, nibbling at his lips. "Where were we? And the peanut gallery needs to be quiet," he grumbled when Thaestae started heavily protesting.
KyuJong groaned at the touch, licking his lips in anticipation. “I agree, he should start getting used to it.”
“And to answer your question…” KyuJong trailed off as he captured JungMin’s lips in his own.
JungMin smirked into the kiss before responding, one hand trailing down to hook one of KyuJong's legs around his waist. Kissing back, he pressed against the ankou's lips with his tongue.
KyuJong tightened the hold JungMin had put him in, arms wrapping around JungMin as he pulled the human down onto the couch. “Come, let’s give Thaestae an excellent example of human love making.”
"We're the best teachers for that, aren't we?" JungMin breathed, letting KyuJong pull him down. That was the end of his coherency for a long while.
*********************
“HyungJoon?” Tablo yawned, looking tired and harassed as he walked into the White Rabbit’s room. “What was so urgent that I had to come now?”
The younger man was pacing around as he waited, and obviously hadn't been resting like he was supposed to after spending all his energy on various different tasks. When he saw Tablo enter out of the corner of his eyes, he turned around, holding out a small piece of paper to Tablo.
"Read this," he said, eyes wide. "It's from KyuJong. It...I just can't believe it. How did we miss this?"
Tablo eyed HyungJoon before doing as HyungJoon wished. Then, a few seconds after, he read it again, then doubled back to make sure he had read right.
“…Crap.” Was his sole comment as he cast out a detection spell to see if this was really true.
"A fairly accurate summary," HyungJoon winced, watching Tablo. "You have to go farther than usual...it's...not hidden, but it's just so easy to miss." He rubbed his temples, exhausted. Ever since he'd received the note from a messenger, he'd pushed his energy to its limits in an attempt to find an end to the power in the air, or a source, or anything. He couldn't, and it baffled him.
"It's so engrained in everything...what could cause this, and why?"
“Your guess is as good as mine.” Tablo answered after a while, breaking off from the spell. There was a deep scowl etched into his forehead. “Damn. This definitely doesn’t mean something good.”
"No," the White Rabbit sighed, finally sitting down. "There's no end to it. And...it's growing. It's very slight, but it's definitely growing. I don't get it." He rubbed his temples. "In the morning I'll go into a trance spell and see if I can find out anything...but as of now, I can't even track a source."
“… No, I’ll do it. You get some rest.” Tablo ordered wryly, shaking his head. “We’ve been overworking you, haven’t we? Maybe tomorrow you should go hang out with that lazy partner of yours. Take a break.”
"I'm fine," HyungJoon protested. "I'll just take a...a cat nap or something." There was too much going on for him to rest. "You're starting to sound like him," the rabbit mumbled.
Tablo chuckled, reaching down to mess HyungJoon’s hair. “Well, he does make sense sometimes. But I insist that you get some rest. We’ll need you at full power if anything goes wrong, and we certainly won’t get that with you half-weaving on your feet.”
Opening his mouth again to protest, HyungJoon sighed as his shoulders slumped. Tablo was right. His energy was completely tapped out (and that took a lot considering how much he normally had), and nothing but a good long rest would replenish it. "Promise you'll get me if you find anything else out," he said, looking up at the human. "Or if anything happens."
“Wouldn’t be a party without you.” Tablo reassured, tapping HyungJoon on the back. “Well, I’ll show myself out. Make sure to get some rest.”
The rabbit grinned tiredly. "All right...” He watched Tablo for a moment, and cast out another small spell to prod at the power in the air, once again coming up with nothing.
This is definitely not good, he sighed inwardly, before flopping over onto his side on the bed and closing his eyes, out within seconds.
Tablo smiled at how fast HyungJoon had fallen asleep before he sighed, rubbing his own tired eyes. But unlike HyungJoon, he couldn’t afford to fall asleep. He was way behind work, and new things kept popping up one after another.
Still, the thought of the youngsters depending on him kept him going, and he straightened his drooping shoulders, taking a deep breathe as he walked out of HyungJoon’s room, closing the door gently behind him. “Well… let’s see what we can do about this.”
*******************
"Huh, I wasn't sure if it would still be here."
YoungSaeng smiled to see the large park he used to visit with his family; part of him had been worried it would have been demolished and taken up by apartment complexes. 15 years did a lot of things to the landscape. But here it was.
HyunJoong ran a few steps ahead of YoungSaeng, took in the sweet, strong air and smiled widely. “Wow! This place is wonderful… it’s still so pure, despite being touched by civilization…”
It was wonderful to breath in such fresh air again. And especially since there was a fresh energy in the air that HyunJoong greedily took in. Meruses absorbed spiritual energy from their surrounding, and being underground was all good, except that the energy there was made up mostly from residue energy from humans. And although there was nothing wrong with that, nothing beat the fresh energy of nature, especially one as crisp and light as the one in the park.
The felinefolk smiled widely to see HyunJoong so happy, following after him with his hands in his hoodie pockets. "It's nice to see it hasn't changed. My family used to come here a lot." He crouched down to pick up a fallen leave, twirling it around between his fingers as he followed after HyunJoong.
He couldn't remember ever just relaxing anywhere with his master. It was a foreign concept, but one he found he enjoyed.
At the mention of YoungSaeng’s family, a sad smile crossed HyunJoong's face as he remembered YoungSaeng’s story, but it disappeared the minute he turned around, grabbing YoungSaeng’s hand. “I see why you did. Come, let’s go find a nice tree to sit under!”
Blinking, YoungSaeng chuckled. "All right, all right. Which one? There's a lot." He tucked the leaf behind HyunJoong's ear with a smile as he started to walk again, enjoying the clean air.
“Hey!” HyunJoong giggled at the tickling feeling of something behind his ear, but left it there since it seemed to amuse YoungSaeng. “Hmm… how about the one up on the hill? That big one over there!”
YoungSaeng looked up to see the tree HyunJoong meant, smiling when he saw it. That tree had been there ever since he could remember... "Okay." Starting towards it, he paused, looked around for anyone who might be watching, and chuckled. "...Race you to it!" And with that he was off.
“Hey!” HyunJoong protested, dashing after YoungSaeng. “Not fair! You cheated!”
He could easily keep pace with YoungSaeng now that he could manipulate the energy he had easier with the bond. But YoungSaeng could also draw on it, and HyunJoong had no way of getting ahead. Panting the minute he reached the top of the hill, a hair behind YoungSaeng, HyunJoong pouted. “Saeeeeeeeeeeng!”
Laughing, YoungSaeng turned around, panting a little as well with a wide grin across his face. "I won," he purred happily, flopping down to sit in the grass before yelping and pushing back into a crouch when he sat on his tail yet again. That didn't work out so well since they were on a hill, the felinefolk flopping forward onto his stomach instead with an 'oof'.
“Stockpile!” HyunJoong whooped and he jumped atop YoungSaeng, squirming. “Hehe! I’ve gotcha!” He joked, burying his face into YoungSaeng’s back. “Punishment for cheating!”
YoungSaeng yelped at the weight on his back, flailing a little on his stomach. "I didn't cheat," he protested, fighting down a pout. "You were just slow."
“Was not!” HyunJoong shot back, but relented, rolling off YoungSaeng’s back and flopping beside him instead. “Mmm… because you cheated, you’ll have to sing me a song!”
Sighing a little when HyunJoong got off of him, YoungSaeng tucked his arms under his chin and blinked at the child. "Song? What kind of song?"
“Any song.” HyunJoong smiled, rolling onto his back as he stared up at the sky. “Something suitable for the atmosphere maybe?”
Unable to do the same with his tail stuck in his jeans, YoungSaeng settled for remaining on his stomach and looking out across the park. Pursing his lips as he thought, he started to sing after a moment, a half-remembered song about flying and dreams.
HyunJoong’s lips curled, his expression contended as his eyes slowly fluttered close. In the cool yet comfortable air, with crisp grass cushioning his back and YoungSaeng’s beautiful, soothing voice drifting past his ears, it was no wonder when HyunJoong had slipped into a peaceful doze.
Going through the song, YoungSaeng let his voice fade out at the end, looking over at HyunJoong. When he saw the child was asleep, a fond smile graced his face as he turned his attention back out over the park, humming softly and keeping a protective watch over his master as he slept.
He knew he would never stop treasuring moments like this.
It was about ten minutes after perhaps, that HyunJoong’s eyes suddenly flew open in surprise, and he sat up straight, staring in horror at the sky. “What the…?!”
Eyes snapping open in surprise, YoungSaeng pushed himself up onto his knees, looking at HyunJoong in confusion. "What is it?" he asked, the expression on HyunJoong's face sending shivers down his spine.
HyunJoong’s eyebrow furrowed as he slowly stood up, casting his senses to the sky and coming across that strange aura that had woken him from his sleep. “I… don’t know.”
YoungSaeng stood up as well, eyes worried. "You don't know?" He tried to see if he could sense anything that might have alarmed his master, and couldn't find anything. "What do you mean?"
“It’s just… a strange aura in the air that I’ve never felt before.” HyunJoong explained, his face turning more worried by the moment. “It’s so… vague and subtle, yet so strong at the same time. But I can’t seem to trace where it’s coming from… or what it is…”
Blinking, YoungSaeng pushed his senses again, but still couldn't come up with anything. "I can't sense anything..." But he didn't doubt HyunJoong's judgment. "Did it just appear?"
“It’s not easy to detect so I doubt you’ll be able to sense it…” HyunJoong bit his lip, before he reached across the bond and directed YoungSaeng towards it. “There. Can you feel it? It’s not new… from the looks of it, it’s been there quite a while… but I haven’t sensed it till now…”
Eyes widening slightly as he felt something reaching to him, YoungSaeng let HyunJoong guide him through the bond, showing him where to look. And now he could sense it. "Yeah..." Frowning, the felinefolk prodded at it, trying to recognize the kind of energy it was giving off. He'd never seen this type of energy anywhere before. "Why wouldn't you have sensed it before? Do you think Daniel hyung knows?"
HyunJoong chewed on his lip, beginning to pace. “I really don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t… but ever since I… became like this, Daniel hyung hasn’t been telling me a whole lot.” HyunJoong let out a frustrated sigh as he plopped onto the ground. “We’d better tell him anyway.”
"That's probably the best course of action," YoungSaeng murmured, crouching down next to him. "We can tell him when we get back. Though if it's as hard to interpret as it seems, there doesn't seem to be much we can do about it."
“You’re right…” HyunJoong sighed, reaching out for YoungSaeng’s hand and squeezing it. “Sorry for spoiling the mood.”
"It's all right," the felinefolk smiled, squeezing back lightly. "It's nothing that can be helped. Can we just...stay a few more minutes, maybe, before we go?" he murmured, wanting to have a bit more time alone with HyunJoong before diving back into the chaos.
“Course.” HyunJoong tugged YoungSaeng down to sit beside him, leaning on the felinefolk’s shoulder. “If I had it my way, we’d stay here as long as we’d like.”
Shifting to make sure he wasn't squashing his tail, YoungSaeng smiled and let HyunJoong lean against him, closing his eyes and tilting his head up towards the sky. "Same," he murmured with an inward sigh. He could stay here all day. Unfortunately, they didn't have that luxury.
He'd enjoy it as long as he possibly could.
“Ne… Saeng.” HyunJoong murmured as he looked up at the sky. “Do you think one day, we’ll be able to sit here and just look at the sky and not worry about strange auras and hunters?”
YoungSaeng glanced over at him, pondering the question as he turned his attention skywards again. "I think one day, yes," he murmured. "Hopefully that day will come soon." He looked forward to it.
“Definitely.” HyunJoong agreed, smiling as he snuggled up to YoungSaeng. “One day.”