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quagmireisadora · 5 years ago

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[Jonghyun / Taemin] Spring Runs in My Blood (Part 1)

Rating: R-ish Warning: none (yet) Genre: soulmate au Length: ~7694 (this part)

A/N: I rarely write JongTae and I never write soulmate aus so, my gratitude to @minhoandthebabes for allowing me to indulge in both with her. Title is a reference to the poem 봄 by Yoon Dongju

------

It wasn't the timer itself but the anticipation of it going off that led Jonghyun to the cafe. Not fate, not kismet. No. It was purely nerves. That's what he told himself later on.

In all honesty, his nerves had been performing calisthenics ever since he'd hit the "three months to go" mark and they'd sat him down for an orientation at work. What to expect and what not to expect, they’d told him--expect to be surprised, pleasantly or otherwise; don't expect sex right off the bat. Everyone went through an orientation like that, he was assured. Everyone was given a full rundown on the physical and emotional changes that were to come in the following… rest of his life, really. That's the standard duration spent with a soulmate, anyway. A lifetime.

So there he was, in the cafe, definitely not predestined to be there and simply craving caffeine before an important meeting with an important client. His head was in the bulky presentation he still needed to review, not on some stupid sequence of numbers on his wrist. Definitely not on the damn numbers, because they caught him by surprise. After all, time doesn't wait. Not for clients and not for meetings.

As he was placing his order, his wrist began vibrating.

"Oh hell…" he mumbled to himself, clutching at the string of green zeros as if to hide a shameful scar. “I can’t do this right now!” he thought as his eyes roved the cafe, looking for other victims of similar misfortune, other people panicking just like him. Anyone else with a soulmate problem? he silently--desperately--called out in his mind. Anyone at all?

Taemin went there often. The wifi was great, the coffee he didn't really care about. Snacks were nice too, and the barista was hot. At least, he'd tried to get her number and she hadn't slapped him, so that was a plus. Many years later as he recounted the memory for guests, he insisted he visited the place to escape his mother's nagging and his brother's domestics.

But really, he only went there for the wifi.

When he was just about to execute a perfect KO against another player, his timer buzzed. He jumped in surprise, yelled out a shocked “shit!”, did everything he wasn't supposed to do. And sent his drink flying onto an old man in a suit.

"Yah!" the man barked indignantly. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"A-ahh…! Why'd you sit so close to me, then?" Taemin complained in response. He looked back at his computer to find he'd been defeated and that his opponent--some guy from Taipei--was sending him all kinds of trash talk in celebration. "Ahhh!" he let out another disappointed sound.

The old man stared incredulously at him. "You punk...! Do you have any idea how expensive this suit is?!" he demanded, waving his lapel wildly, drops of juice flying from the action.

"Do you have any idea how good that drink was?!" Taemin snapped back, a few other patrons within earshot snorted. "What?" Taemin replied to them too. "It was really good, OK?! Had like little bits of pineapple and everything! And now your… stupid expensive suit is drinking all of it. You should be the one sorry to me, ahjussi!"

"Oh, I'll show you sorry--" the man glowered and rolled up his sleeves.

Jonghyun rubbed a hand on his forehead. "These idiots are being too noisy…" he muttered, still looking around. "How will I find that person now?!"

"--you need to watch your tone, young man!" the ahjussi yelled.

"I'm not a young man!" Taemin fought back, then realised that was incorrect. "I mean. I'm young and I'm a man. But. No, wait--" he held his hands out in front of himself to compute the situation, but the buzzing on his arm continued to be a distraction for his already addled brain. "Ahhh this stupid stupid timer going off right now!" he slapped the place like that would help stop it.

Had Jonghyun not been eavesdropping, he wouldn't have caught that. "Wh--what?" he narrowed his eyes, walking over to the scene and addressing the young and disoriented guy. "E-excuse me?" he started.

"Wat?"

"May I see your uhm…" he gestured to the other's arm, holding his own out. "May I see it?"

Taemin looked from the offered limb to the man. "Why?"

Jonghyun rolled his eyes in exasperation and grabbed the guy's hand to compare their timers. The buzzing stopped, a sign that they really were a match. He looked around the cafe and no one else seemed to be coming forward. "You’ve got to be--! Are you really the one?" he demanded, like that made absolutely no sense.

Taemin scratched his head. "The one what?"

It was the ahjussi with the ruined suit who came to their rescue. "Oh… I see," he backed away from them, his threats dissipating. "Uhh. Congrats," he waved his hand dismissively at them and left their side.

As more people around them caught on, they started to clap, the applause growing in a wave until every single pair of eyes in the cafe was on them. Taemin’s confused face slowly split into a grin, and then he waved at the other patrons like he was some kind of celebrity.

Jonghyun, on the other hand, wanted to shrink away in shame.

A barista came over with a tray, a gift set of two matching cups and several coupons for free drinks on it. "Congratulations, sirs," she bowed to them and smiled pleasantly. "Please accept these on our behalf, and make sure to post about this wonderful coincidence on your SNS!” She gestured politely to the large glass front of the cafe. “The nearest Soulmate Depot is across the street. Please be careful on your way, and visit us again soon!"

"Waaahhh~" Taemin accepted the gifts happily. "This is all so--!"

"Unbelievable..." Jonghyun completed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "W-wait," he had a sudden thought. "Are you even eighteen?"

"Why does that matter…?" Taemin scowled before his expression lightened. "Wait, you're gay?!" he pointed a ridiculing finger at the man as he laughed, then stopped with shock in his eyes. "Wait, I'm gay?!" he touched his chest. "But… girls think I'm hot."

Jonghyun nearly swooned and fainted at the stupidity. "Please come with me," he said in a very strict and very formal tone.

"What?! Where?!" Taemin defended himself. But his arm was tugged and he was left with no choice. He packed his things, hurriedly stuffing them into a backpack, and followed the other out.

It had snowed recently. The ground was slippery and the sky overcast. Someone at Jonghyun’s office had circulated news that there was a storm coming later in the week. But considering how insane his day had been so far, he wouldn't have been shocked if the sky started spitting a blizzard down at them any minute. As they walked towards the depot, he hugged his coat closer around himself.

"How old are you?" his inquiry had an impersonal tone.

"Uhh… twenty-six?" Taemin replied, counting on his fingers. "I think?"

You think? Jonghyun wondered if this guy was on drugs. He was sure he couldn’t handle an addict for a soulmate. "Uhm. By any chance, have you completed high-school?" he continued his questions.

"Duh," the other snorted. "I'm not some. Uhh. Imbecile?" he confirmed the word with Jonghyun. "Yeah, yeah. Imbecile. I have a job and all, OK?"

"Oh. May I ask where you work?" Jonghyun stopped walking and took out his phone, held it at the ready to cross-check the information.

"Ahhh why're you asking all this stuff?!" Taemin jiggled a finger in his ear. "So annoying…"

The other grit his teeth, struggling to maintain his composure. "Sir, if we're about to spend the rest of our lives together, I'd feel more comfortable knowing all this.”

"Oh," Taemin blinked. "Fair," he shrugged. "Uhh, I mean. I said I have a job but uhm--"

Here comes the clincher, Jonghyun thought.

"Heh. See, I did have a job. But then I went to the army for two years, and then I had only two months to go on my timer and nobody would give me a job. So now," Taemin chuckled stupidly. "I'm… unemployed?"

It didn't sound as bad as Jonghyun had expected it to be. Maybe not a druggie, just a weirdo. Still bad, but maybe he could learn to live with it. "And… may I ask how you survive, sir?"

Taemin picked his nose as he answered, completely bored now. "Well, hyung found his soulmate last year. They married and get a stipend from the state. And eomma and appa… they do what they can," he said with a noncommittal shrug, getting his hand slapped away from his face by a disgusted Jonghyun.

Moving on from the place and the subject, Taemin blinked at the large blue and white sign above their heads when they’d arrived across the street from the cafe. "I've never been inside one of these…" he spoke with awe, then turned to explain to the other. "You know. Cause I didn't have a soulmate before. But. Now I do. So. Yeah."

"I gathered," Jonghyun spoke from behind gritted teeth. He was losing his patience with all this. "Let's just get this over with."

They were asked to present their wrists to a scanner each. After a series of beeps and blinking lights, the door hushed open for them. They looked around the empty hallway, its walls and ceiling and even carpeting a pristine white.

"Whoa…" Taemin let out.

Soon, a woman with a confident gait walked over and stopped before them with a bow. "Welcome to Nonhyeon Soulmate Depot! Congratulations on beginning your journey together. We hope to give you all the information you need before you can go on and make happy and wonderful memories!" she bowed again and gestured for them to go through a tall set of doors at the far end of the hallway.

They shuffled over together, and a second wrist scan later were allowed into a much larger room filled with desks and cubicles and mechanical apparatus of all kinds.

"Whoa!" Taemin gushed again.

While the place looked full, it wasn't really. Only a handful of other couples were scattered around, seated at different tables. Each was being instructed by pleasant-faced officials, pointing at pamphlets or screens, talking with exaggerated motions, directing them to their next stop.

"Whoa--" Taemin started to express his amazement a third time when he was cut off by an irate Jonghyun.

"I think we should call someone over to help.”

On cue, a woman walked over to them, her air professional but her smile tight like she wasn't impressed with what they had to offer. "Welcome," she bowed as well. "This won't take very long. We've got biometrics over there--" she began to walk, pointing to various cubicles as they passed them. "Blood test over here, general physical test over here, eyesight and hearing here, urine test in the far end over by the toilet signs. And over here--" she stopped at one point. "We'll require your national ID numbers to link you up on our database," she explained. "Standard procedure. We also have an in-house specialist providing advice on pregnancy, but you won't be needing that."

"Oh. Why not?" Taemin asked with some disappointment.

The woman turned to him with exasperation. "Because you're both men. Now, come this way please…"

As they were herded from place to place, Jonghyun was constantly shocked by the man and his ridiculously dumb questions. The officers at the HQ seemed to have a very high threshold for nonsense, but Jonghyun--not a chance. He went eagerly when they separated them for individual interrogation.

In return for his curiosity, Taemin was asked all kinds of questions too. Did he have cancer. Did anyone in his family have cancer. Was he allergic to anything, did he have any phobias, was he currently on any special medication. Was there any history of mental illness in his family, or in his own life. He tried answering as faithfully as he could, even when some of the questions were complicated. Soon, he was starting to feel uncomfortable with all the measuring and weighing and poking and prodding he was being subjected to.

But when they were finally brought to the last counter, he was told he'd get a monthly stipend of five million won with a potential for increase depending on how their relationship progressed. Taemin nearly jumped for joy, doing a little jig when they were reunited again.

"Five-mill-yun, Five-mill-yun," he sang as Jonghyun watched him, embarrassed and wanting desperately to leave. The relief he felt when a woman came up to them and said they were free to go, was unparalleled. He stormed off into the night, wishing this was all a very elaborate nightmare his hysterical brain had conjured up, and that he'd wake up laughing about it.

But, nope.

"Hey…!" Taemin chased him down, almost slipping on ice. "Hey, wait!" he called after the other, reaching him only to keel over and breathe with difficulty. "What's--what's your name, though?!"

"I am Kim Jonghyun," came the stiff reply. "And you are…?"

"Taemin. Lee Taemin," he said with a bright smile. "Sixty-fifth nephew of the great Lee… Lee uhh," he scratched his head. "What was that philosopher dude's name again…?" he asked himself before flapping his wrist to dismiss his own thoughts. "Never mind. Nice to meet you anyway," he nodded and walked beside the guy for several feet.

It was only fifteen minutes later that Taemin stopped in confusion. "Wait, wait. Am I supposed to come with you?"

Jonghyun gave him a deprecating look. "Sir. I understand we are soulmates. But right now, I have more important things to attend to. Please," he gestured back the way they’d come. "Let me be on my way."

Taemin frowned. "But… numbers," he said like that explained everything.

Jonghyun huffed tiredly. "May I have your phone?" he held his own out. When he had both devices, he passed them against each other. "There. You have my details now. May I go?"

Taemin started to nod, but then held up a finger. "W-wait. They gave me--" he fished through the pockets of his large and puffy jacket before pulling out a box of condoms and holding it as if triumphantly. "These."

Jonghyun felt his face burn. "Goodbye!" he barked and scuttled away in urgency.

"So rude…!" Taemin scowled and spun on his heel to walk in the opposite direction. Once again, he made it several steps before he stopped and rang the newly added contact on his phone.

"Yes?!" Jonghyun hissed.

"Uhh, I'm lost. Where's the nearest station?"

Jonghyun nearly burst out in tears. Why did he have to walk into that café?

------

At home, Taemin was asked eager questions by his family. Who was it? What kind of person were they? Where did they live? Were they coming to pick him up that night? Was he moving out soon? He brushed all their inquiries away like he did with anything they'd ever asked of him.

Then he returned to playing video games again.

On the other, posher side of town, Jonghyun's coworkers easily forgave him for being late. The important meeting turned into a discussion about his soulmate, major project stakeholders and clients turning into gossip mongers within the blink of an eye. Jonghyun shifted uncomfortably from the attention to his personal life, happy to finally leave the room when the meeting was adjourned.

"You're happy, though?" Jinki asked him at the end of the day.

"Hardly," Jonghyun tried to keep the whine out of his voice but couldn't help it. "He's an idiot."

Jinki chuckled. "I'm sure he's not that bad."

Little did he know that over the duration of one week, Taemin would be the direct result of ensuing disaster.

To be fair, he did nothing out of the ordinary--he spent his time sitting in front of a screen and stuffing his face with junk food. His phone rang several times, but he ignored it. His mother knocked on his door at mealtimes but he ignored that, too. His hyung finally walked in and tried to fight the game controller out of his hands, but he resisted it until he couldn't.

By the end of the third day, there were weird headaches that lasted hours--pangs that nearly blinded him with tears. Then, his stomach started to get upset, rejecting everything he ate regardless of how healthy and nourishing his mother insisted it was. His father bought a bag of red ginseng to boil for him, his sister-in-law found a good acupuncturist in the neighborhood. They did their best to ignore his stubbornness, to stop his health from failing the way it was. But every remedy every solution was accompanied by the same, very strict advice.

"You need to go be with your soulmate."

Jonghyun knew this would happen, just as he knew he would probably end up suffering the same illness. As time wore on, he felt shittier and shittier and his health got worse and worse. And although Roo’s company would usually comfort him in such times, there was no curing this with puppy tricks and silly games.

When his stomach took a break from heaving its contents, he crawled out of the bathroom and rested against whatever he could find before reaching for his phone. He texted instead of calling. “I assume your condition is just as bad as mine,” he managed to write in formal words, despite the shudder in his hands. “Please come to this location, I believe meeting may help us.”

Taemin, in a daze of sickness and pain, wrote back a “who dis” to the location pin, before rolling away and falling asleep. His phone rang frantically for a long time in response to that, but there was simply no rousing him.

Somewhere across the river, a man let out an agonized and indignant yell of annoyance.

It was several hours later that Taemin could finally gather the strength and fortitude to sit up in bed, then waddle his way out of his room. It took him a long while to stop swooning and shrug on a jacket, leaving his home to the happy encouragement of his entire family. Outside, the air was biting cold, but the sun was out for a change. It reinforced his courage to keep going--he’d feel better soon, he thought to himself. A few minutes out in the fresh air would do him well. Right?

Wrong.

In a cold sweat, hanging off the side of a pedestrian bridge, he threw up again. Walking had been a bad idea. Being outside had been a bad idea. Thinking was a bad idea, too, he realized from under the haze of his splitting headache. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and cursed loudly, answering the call.

“Where the hell are you?” Jonghyun’s impatient voice immediately berated.

“I… I don’t know where I am!” Taemin whined, looking around for signs. “Come--come get me, I’m dying!

“You’re not dying, just… just send me your location, OK? I’ll come to you.”

It took them a while to navigate around each other, sharing directions and several calls filled with colorful language. Jonghyun’s head reeled with more than his sickness, and he had to try very hard not to just give up and fall onto the side of the street himself. But they did finally manage to find each other, and to their credit, Taemin wasn’t yet comatose enough to not recognize his soulmate and latch onto him as soon as he was within arm’s reach.

Relief filled them the minute they came into contact with each other, a long and heavy sigh escaping their mouths in unison. Jonghyun brushed the dirt off of Taemin’s clothes, muttering something about lying on the sidewalk like a homeless man, and then he piled them onto a bus.

By the time they’d arrived at his apartment building, they were both walking upright again.

“Is… this a kidnapping?” Taemin shattered all hope of a civil conversation the minute he opened his mouth.

“Yes,” Jonghyun replied sarcastically. “Man kidnaps his own soulmate, of course, what a terrible and common crime. In what world would that even make sense?!” he yelled.

“Y-you could be into…” Taemin gestured wildly, even though his argument held no conviction. “Organ trafficking!” If he had any other protests to make in that line of thought, they were all invalidated when he was yanked into an elevator.

“Wait… is this your house? Are you taking us to your apartment?” he asked as they waited in the lift car. “Do you have video games?”

“No…” Jonghyun shook his head, frowning. “Why?”

The other made a disgusted face. “What kind of person doesn’t have video games…” he mumbled, pulling out his phone and switching it to game mode. A hologram appeared above his screen, accompanied by the sounds of clashing swords and grunted exclamations.

Jonghyun scoffed, then snatched the device away. “Hey--” he said sternly, putting the device out of reach of the other as a struggle ensued. “Hey, listen to me! I’m bringing you into my house because we need to spend time with each other. Do you understand? That means no video games, no sulking in different rooms, no doing our own things, OK?” he explained. “Do you understand me?”

“Yeah, yeah, stop shouting,” Taemin complained when he gave up, covering his ear and mumbling something about feisty old men. He plodded after the other when they arrived at their floor, hands deep in his pockets and eyes on the carpet. “What are we going to do then?” he pouted as Jonghyun unlocked his front door. “You don’t have video games, you don’t look like a fun guy, and--” he suddenly brightened with an idea.

“Do we fuck?”

Jonghyun let out a choked noise. “N-no!” he denied, hesitating for a minute before allowing the other into his home. “We don’t even know each other yet!”

“But I mean…” Taemin followed his host indoors. “We’re two guys, aren’t we? Are we supposed to fuck? I don’t even know how we would fuck. Do you know how we would fuck? I don’t think we can fuck. What happens if we do fuck? Do I fuck you or do you fuck me? Is fucking even legal between two guys? Are we supposed to fuck in this neighborhood--?”

“Can you!” Jonghyun whirled and covered the man’s mouth. “Stop saying fuck so much?” he hissed. “It’s… it’s making me nervous!”

Taemin frowned, but nodded. But as was in his nature, when he was let go of, he muttered a single and unnecessary “fuck” and then ran away into another room.

“What has my life come to…” Jonghyun sobbed as he watched the other clown around in his apartment, opening door after door and peeking in.

------

When he’d calmed the guy down and handed him a glass of juice, they sat across from each other in the TV lounge, studying one another--or at least, Jonghyun did the studying while Taemin simply hummed tunelessly and sipped from a curly plastic straw. We’re adults, Jonghyun thought to himself. Right? Even if he’s a moron, we’re adults, we can deal with this like adults. This is no big deal.

“So. Uhm. Since you were so enthusiastic about it. Have you uhh…” he made a vague gesture at the man’s torso. “You know. Ever explored? Down there?”

Taemin frowned as he sipped noisily. “What, you mean Australia?” he asked. “No, I’ve never even crossed the equator before. Why’re you asking about travel all of a sudden?”

Jonghyun nearly fainted. No, he realized. We’re not adults. “I’m asking about your… you know! Man things!” he gestured wildly, a jabbing action at the other's crotch.

Taemin let out a low sound of comprehension. "Right, yeah, uhh--" he scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Yeah. Sometimes. When there's. You know. Girl groups on TV and stuff," he shrugged.

"Girl groups," Jonghyun repeated to confirm. "On TV."

"Yeah, why--" Taemin pouted a little, sitting up in the armchair, feeling a little defensive. "You haven't?"

Jonghyun made a motion of the hands as if to say obviously that's a stupid thing to do, and I would never do that. "Wait, so," he started again after an awkward pause. "You… you like girls?"

Taemin scratched his forehead. "I… I've never been with one," he answered honestly. "Never been with anyone."

Jonghyun studied him at that, watched the way he sat, the way he shifted and scratched and worried his lip. Watched his nervous tics and his curious eyes. He leaned back in his chair and watched for a long time--somehow unbothered by how his staring could be perceived by the other. Somehow unconcerned with that etiquette for now.

Growing self-conscious by the minute, Taemin bounced his leg nervously as he looked around the apartment. "You live alone?" he asked before noticing the water dish in the corner. "You… you have a doggy?" he pronounced the word like a kid would.

"Hmm?" Jonghyun perked up a little at that. "You like doggies--I mean. Dogs?" he asked. "I can… I can let her out, if you're OK with them?"

Taemin’s eyes took on a gleam when he nodded eagerly. "Can I pet?"

Roo struggled in Jonghyun's arms, barking at the stranger when he walked her out. With each step she growled, baring her teeth.

Taemin's hand reach out tentatively for her to sniff. When she was satisfied he wasn't a threat she continued her barking until he giggled and offered more of his hand, scratching her neck. "Such a good girl…" he hushed. "How old?" he looked up at Jonghyun with awestruck eyes.

"Two years," the other replied with some pride.

For a while that's all Taemin did, playing with the pup, watching her perform her tricks, feeding her a treat or two, cackling gleefully when she licked his face. Jonghyun watched them with fondness, thinking this wasn't so bad after all. The man was an idiot, yes. And he had no experience with relationships, sure. But at least he wasn't some jerk. At least he wasn't an asshole--at least he wasn't a complete mismatch. That's what Jonghyun had been most afraid of.

Later that day as Roo ate, Taemin sat nearby ruffling the soft fur between her ears. "You want kids, don't you?" he asked his host.

Jonghyun was taken aback by the sudden question. "Why… what makes you say that?"

"My hyung says… he says that only people who can't have kids keep doggies now," Taemin replied.

There was a long silence between them at that, until Jonghyun broke it with an almost unintelligible, "Do you want kids?"

Taemin blinked at the other, looking to where he stood cleaning dishes. "I don't think I could afford to raise a child," he admitted.

Jonghyun took off his gloves and motioned around them at the apartment, at its large space, apparently designed for a family. "You don't have to do it alone, now. We can use both our stipends."

The other shook his head. "I want to use that money to… to help my family."

"Uhh…?" Jonghyun raised an eyebrow at that. "Isn't that money meant for us? For this relationship?" He frowned at Taemin. "Are there… does your family have financial difficulties?"

A nonchalant shrug replied. "Eomma used to work until she hurt her back and appa retired three years ago. Now hyung earns everything in a house of four, so… my stipend will help?" he reasoned. "Why. Do you--should I give that money to you?"

Jonghyun tutted. "No, of course not. But--" his frown deepened. "Why don't you get a job again?"

Taemin whined. "Like I haven't tried?!" he insisted, walking back to the armchair and falling into it with a pout. "They keep giving the job to people with more time, more freedom. Single people. People with no soulmates…" he complained. "Why is it so unfair?"

"That's… that doesn't seem right to me," Jonghyun shook his head, joining the other across the table. "Workplace equality includes people like us. We're protected by the law. You should complain about that to the--"

Taemin excitedly pointed at the other. "That's exactly what I say to them at every interview!" he nearly yelled. "... before they ask me to leave," he wilted in place.

Jonghyun thought about that. He had heard of people leaving the company before, citing an increase in responsibilities once they had a soulmate and a family to look after. He’d heard of it happening to others. But if the truth was that they were being let go in exchange for younger yet-unconnected workers with several years ahead of them before their timers ran out... if that was the truth, he suddenly felt threatened. The boss had said he was up for a promotion soon, would him meeting Taemin change that?

“What uhm...” he tried to allay his own fears by continuing to question the man. “What did you do? Before you went away for your service?”

“I... used to work as an engineer,” Taemin scratched his chin.

“E-engineer?” Jonghyun scoffed, wondering if he should cross-check the information after all. An idiot like this? And engineering? “You’re--you’re not joking, are you?” he confirmed suspiciously.

The other scowled. “No, I’m not.”

Balking, Jonghyun shifted forward in his chair. “Th-that’s...! That’s so prestigious! Why don’t you apply to get your old job back?!”

“Because they don’t want me back!” Taemin insisted. “I called, I sent my CV, I applied for internships--even when I’m not an intern anymore. And they--!” he sunk lower in his seat. “Just give me back my phone. I have a game to finish.”

“Taemin ssi,” Jonghyun said sternly. “There has to be another reason why they’re refusing. Have you ever thought of that? I mean, I still have my job,” he pointed to himself. “There has to be something else, something you’re not doing right--”

“Why did you bring me here if all you’re gonna do is lecture me?” Taemin complained.

The elder sighed. “OK... OK,” he placated. “You don’t want to talk. And I can’t leave you to play games by yourself. What else do you want to do?”

Taemin shrugged, still pouting.

“Have you... ever kissed someone?” Jonghyun inquired, receiving a shake of the head. “Would you like to try it?

Taemin looked around the apartment in confusion. “Who do I kiss?”

“Who do you think?!” Jonghyun demanded in frustration.

“Oh...” the other blinked, then widened his eyes. “Oh! Like two soulmates doing the--” he crossed his fingers together, “The thing. Oh. Yeah. Uhh... OK, then--” he sat forward excitedly, then stopped. “Wait, what am I supposed to do?”

Jonghyun couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him. He move closer, kneeling in front of the other and taking hold of his hands. They were small, he noticed. Soft, small, with a few silver rings on some of the fingers. “I’ll help you,” he assured in a kind voice.

Taemin shifted, unsure. “Do I need to do something?” he asked. “Like... do I hold my breath? Do I close my eyes? Is there a prayer I need to say? Or like a symbol I need to make or--?”

“Just...” Jonghyun held a finger to his own lips and craned in closer. He placed his palm to the side of the man’s face, feeling the hair and skin against his fingertips. The simple contact alone sent his heart into a speeding frenzy, his eyes studying the other for every shift every blink every exhale. There was so much to be read in Taemin’s expression, he realized then. So much sitting unspoken at the corner of those puffy lips, so many dreams in those trusting eyes. As the distance between their mouths narrowed to nearly nothing, he kept his gaze on the other, unfaltering until they were so close he had to let his eyes run out of focus before he blinked them shut.

The contact was so dizzying, Taemin thought he’d fall out of his seat. He’d never thought he’d be kissing a man, much less a man who was his soulmate. He’d also never imagined it would make him feel like there were fireworks going off in every inch of his body, like he lay face-first on a frying pan, the oil spitting as soon as it came in contact with his skin. He reached out for support, finding a pair of shoulders to lean against as his lungs started to burn for lack of air.

Jonghyun moved away a minute, then burst out laughing when he saw the other gasp. “You’re supposed to breathe!” he cracked up.

“How… how am I supposed to know that?!” Taemin demanded.

For once the other’s stupidity didn’t feel as stupid. “How did that feel?” Jonghyun asked, stroking his thumbs over bony knees.

“... wasn’t long enough for me to decide,” a mutter replied.

“Want to go again?”

Taemin frowned in confusion. “Go where--?” he started to ask before the lips were on him again, firmer and more insistent. He noticed more this time around. Their temperature, their softness, the way they slipped against his own mouth like. Like… he tried to compare it to something he knew but this was like nothing else. This was something that couldn’t be compared. So he held onto the strong shoulders and tried kissing back.

When Jonghyun hummed, the sound reverberated against Taemin’s cheek. He gasped once more, for more than breath this time, fingers tightening on the other’s shirt, brows knitting together, eyes squeezed shut, tongue--

The circle of Jonghyun’s arms grew tighter, bringing them closer together. He was filled with an odd sense of validation, of being complete and on the verge of unbelievable happiness. And the closer he pressed Taemin to himself, the larger the feeling became.

When they parted a second time, Taemin felt shaky. “I… I should--” he stood and fell back into his seat, knees weak and thighs trembling. He looked at the other with some shock, some fright, some confusion at the intensity of his feelings. “I’m going home,” he announced when his legs were working again, finding his phone on a table and dashing for the door.

He didn’t stop when the other protested, didn’t stop when he slipped on the stairs, didn’t stop for the traffic signals or the angry ahjussis pushing carts. He ran like there was no tomorrow, like there was a monster coming to swallow him whole if he didn’t get far away soon enough. He raced and wound through the streets, arriving at his parents’ home out of breath and maybe even a little out of his mind.

When his father let him in and asked him what he was doing back so soon, he pushed his way through and locked himself in his room. Sitting with his back to the door, hearing his chest pound in his head, feeling his breath rasp at the ends, he ignored his mother’s concerned knocking and stayed hidden.

------

The curriculum changed every few years, but when Taemin was a child schools would spend a few minutes every week instructing their students about soulmates. Some found each other as babies, their teacher had explained. Some didn’t meet until they were well into their seventies. Some had soulmates across the border while others were destined for someone on the other side of the world. It was a convoluted system that governments often debated on and countries frequently clashed over. But it always found someone for someone else--that was the guarantee people usually lived with. In this massive world filled with people and problems and prejudice, no one was ever alone.

Growing up, Taemin was used to constantly seeing people around him head to a Soulmate Depot hand in hand with strangers, or suddenly announce wedding dates. It was common for friends to stop seeing old friends, for families to be halved, for people to move across the country or even for children to be sent off to someone else’s home when their timers ran out. In the army too, he’d often hear snatches of gossip when a fellow private abruptly disappeared overnight or had to be reassigned public service positions closer to civilian sectors. Countrywide, the Ministry of Emotional Health monitored its citizens’ timers, their connections, and--it claimed--all their unique situations. Everything was controlled with an iron fist, ensuring citizens’ basic rights weren’t violated and any separations were managed quietly, without fuss or media attention. And Taemin... he’d been conditioned, over the years, to accept it all as a natural course of life. A mundane theme from his everyday. Everyone must have a soulmate, everyone must register, and everyone must try to make it work.

It was only when his best friend moved to another country and his brother brought home a bride overnight that he understood the weight, the implication of it all.

Meeting a soulmate in this sterile system, an act celebrated in media and spoken of avidly on morning talk shows--Taemin had come to expect it. What he hadn’t expected was how different the experience would be from his calculations. He’d always thought he would meet a city girl, like his hyung. That they would go on dates for a few months before marrying and settling down, living together, working together, spending the rest of their lives together like all the advertisements on TV. He’d resigned himself to something like that.

Someone like Jonghyun was not in his plans at all.

------

Over the next few days, they lived as they always had until the pain returned with a vengeance. Jonghyun tried to give the other space, tried to leave him alone. Remembering how Taemin had scampered away, he tried not to be too eager or pushy, that would only scare the guy into staying away. But the pain left him feeling as empty as his large apartment. He lay in bed sad and alone one evening, eyes on his phone, hoping for a call or a text. Anything.

In his place, Taemin distracted himself once more with games and food and drinks. He stayed in his room, watched old anime shows he’d already watched years ago, turned a blind eye to the pulsing in his rib cage. Maybe if I stay in once place the feeling will go away, he convinced himself while his health worsened. Yeah, maybe if I do other shit I won’t think about it anymore. He told himself to forget the way Jonghyun’s hands had held him, the way his breath had been warm and his tongue quick. He told himself to forget all of that--but the more he tried, the more space the memory took up in his mind.

He tried whatever he could to not think about the way his stomach turned every time his phone screen lit up with a message and it wasn’t Jonghyun. Eventually, he buried the thing under the mattress, out of sight. He pressed his hands to his ears when his mother asked him why he wasn’t going back, why he was making himself suffer. He yelled and threw a tantrum when his father reprimanded him with a “if you’re not going back, at least look for a job!”

Everything was agonizing. Everyone was an enemy. Finding himself a few blankets, he built a cocoon for his weakened body like it would protect him from the rest of the world. But when his breath shortened and his head began to split, his family couldn’t ignore him anymore.

It was finally Taesun and his annoyance that pulled him out of a pile on the floor and dragged him to their car. “You’re worrying everyone,” he scolded. “We can’t have you sitting at home acting like this. It’s making us feel on edge all the time!” He found Taemin’s phone, fought his brother away to look through the contacts and made a call.

Jonghyun pounced when he saw the number. “Taemin?! Is that you?! Where are you? Do you need me to come get you again--?!”

“Jonghyun ssi,” Taesun stopped him with a chuckle. “This is his brother.”

“Wh-why are you… is he OK? What happened?!”

“He’s with me. I’m bringing him over. He’s uhh--” he looked over at Taemin twitching in the passenger seat. “Look, I apologize for such short notice. Would it be OK if I leave him with you? It only has to be for a few days. You know. Until you two… get used to all this?”

Jonghyun blinked. “Uhh… s-sure? If he’s OK with it?”

“Well, he’s an idiot so,” Taesun laughed a little as he drove them through the narrow streets.

“He’s my idiot now,” Jonghyun murmured, getting out of bed with a groan, taking the support of walls and furniture to maneuver through the apartment.

Taesun smiled at that. “You seem like a good person. I’m not worried anymore. We’ll be there shortly,” he advised. “If you’re going through what he’s going through, please be safe until we get there.”

By the time Jonghyun made it downstairs and negotiated the lobby to arrive at the glass doors leading out, he was a sweaty shivering mess.

Parking nearby, Taesun lugged his as-good-as-comatose brother along until he saw the man sitting outside his building. “He’s all yours,” he handed the kid over when they were within earshot. “Aigoo, this kid… stubborn like you won’t believe!”

Taemin, having spent the whole drive whimpering and scratching at his arms, reached out weakly when he saw Jonghyun, his consciousness slipping away under his pain. But as soon as he was pulled into the other’s arms, he gave a long moan of relief as he clutched desperately and tried to climb onto the man like a child.

“It’s OK,” Jonghyun hushed. “You’re here now, it’s going to be OK.” He noticed the bag. “Are those his things?”

“Ah… yeah, clothes and some other stuff,” Taesun handed it over. “Please. If you need anything at all, just give me a call. Take care of each other,” he waved a hand with concern, hesitant to leave.

Jonghyun nodded and tried to wave back, walking them in and towards the elevator. He felt his strength returned little by little, felt his senses clear the longer he held Taemin in his arms. “You’re OK now,” he murmured. “You’re safe now, I’ve got you.”

Taemin shivered, burrowing into the other’s neck. “Yeah...” he managed, his mind still not entirely whole. When he heard the sound of an excited dog in the distance it only made him hold on tighter.

Jonghyun, feeling the strain of carrying the other all the way in, finally sat him down on the sofa and crouched before him like he had only days ago. “Do you need anything?” he asked. “Anything at all? Food, water…?” But his questions fell on deaf ears. The exhaustion of their time apart and the comfort of their meeting had clearly taken a heavy toll on the other. His head lolled forward as he started to fall asleep.

Taemin felt a pair of lips press against his forehead before his mind took him away.

When he awoke, he was alone, in a strange room on a strange sofa… no. Bed. He sat up in confusion. “What the…?” he began before a very adorable and very familiar doggy jumped onto him.

“Oh! Roo!” he grinned, gathering her into his arms. “Hello~” he carried her out of the room, following the smell of food. “Hmm, looks like your appa’s cooking us something nice? Isn’t he? Isn’t he, you cute little baby? Isn’t--?”

Jonghyun turned to look at him with eyebrows raised. “You like sausages?” he asked.

Taemin blinked. “Will you cut them like octopuses?” he asked, leaning against something as his giddiness still came and went in waves. “Eomma always cuts them like that for me…”

“Are you twelve?” Jonghyun ridiculed, but did as he was requested. “Your hyung seems nice,” he commented as he worked. “Poor guy looked so stressed. You’re a real troublemaker in your house, aren’t you?”

“No…!” Taemin protested, letting Roo run off and making his way to the fridge. “I just. Have a strong personality, OK?”

“Let me guess,” Jonghyun chuckled, holding the bowl of rice and sausages out to the other. “That’s something your eomma says, isn’t it?”

There was no more exchanged between them. Taemin’s appetite kicked the door in hard. He finished his bowl, took seconds and even thirds. Then he washed it all down with a bottle of juice, found yogurt and cut fruit in the fridge. Jonghyun made the mistake of leaving him alone while he showered, and when he returned all the boiled eggs and baby carrots and cheese slices were gone.

“Can we order pizza?” Taemin asked, still sitting on the floor in front of an ajar and now sad-looking fridge.

“What the fuck?!” Jonghyun balked at his raided pantry. “You even ate all the side dishes my eomma sent last week!”

“I… I was hungry!” Taemin defended.

“You ate what would’ve lasted me a month!”

“I told you I was hungry! Why don’t you pay attention? Why don’t you listen when I’m talking Why don’t you--?!” Taemin’s stomach grumbled and he clutched at it. “Ugghh so hungry…” he whined.

Jonghyun held his head in his hands.

Some time later, with a slice of pizza in one hand and his phone in the other, Taemin lounged on the living room floor as he chuckled along to stupid memes online. He entertained himself like this for a while until he noticed his host fuming at him.

“W-what?” he asked self-consciously.

“Put your phone away,” Jonghyun ordered, an edge to his voice, his face only softening when Taemin did as he was told. “Now. We’re going to spend some quality time together. And we’re going to learn to live with each other.” He patted the space next to him on the sofa. “Come here. Let’s watch a movie together. Then we’ll go out. Someplace warm. Like a cafe, OK?” he offered.

Taemin nodded slowly. “O-OK.”

#jongtae #long fic #shinee

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one-piece-dumpster-fire · 6 years ago

Note

Can I ask for a little prompt because I really like your writing ❤️ the prompt would be playing shortly after Brulee got her scar, maybe depicting her feelings and how Katakuri tries everything to make his little sister happy again. Also maybe you can add Broyé as well seeing as they are now confirmed twins 💕 thank you ~

Awwwww yes boo anything for you

Katakuri and Broyé being with Brûlée after she got her scar scenario

It was a busy day on Whole Cake Islandand the streets of Sweet City were filled with happy and gigglycitizens going on about their everyday shopping sprees andsightseeing tours. Everything seemed so joyous and perfect that theyoung boy, sprinting down the streets with tears running down hisface, stuck out like a sore thumb.

But Katakuri, second son of theCharlotte family, couldn’t care less about sticking out from the restof the crowd. He tightly held three purple-colored flower homies anda small box in his hands as he continued to run towards the center ofthe island. He ignored all of the irritated and disgusted looks thepeople in the streets gave him- he was used to that. He didn’t care.Everything around him was blurry and faded into the backgroundanyways, with only one spot remaining clear and sharp- the Chateau. WhereBrûlée was. Because of me, he thought as a new wave of tearsescaped from his eyes.

His thoughts were focussed only onwhat he would say and what he would do when he finally faced his youngersister again. But, truth to be told, he wasn’t sure if she would even want to look athim- much less forgive him. He shook of that thought. No matter what, he had to try. Let her know that hedidn’t want for any of that to happen and that he will make sure thatnothing like this will ever happen to her again.

And with that in mind, Katakuricontinued on his way, until he arrived right in front of the massivedoors that marked the entrance of his mother’s castle.

Finding his sister’s room inside thehuge Chateau was almost ridiculously easy. The soldiers thatpatrolled the hallways of the castle almost seemed to have anticipatedhis arrival and immediately pointed him towards the infirmary roomnumber 8, on the second floor.

The thought of knocking didn’t even cross his mind, andKatakuri just immediately barged into the room that currently held hisinjured, younger sister Brûlée. He was completely out of breath andhis whole body felt extremely hot, almost as if it was on fire- but the most important thing was that he stopped crying. He didn’t want his little sister tosee him in such a state, especially since he was here to try andcheer her up a bit and not make her feel even worse.

But before he even opened his mouth toannounce his presence, Katakuri spotted a second person- sittingright next to his sister’s bed, with its head buried in the blanketthat covered Brûlée’s small body.

One glance at the pink hair that wasstyled in four thick strands and Katakuri knew who the other visitorwas.

„Broyé?“

The pink haired girl lifted her headfrom her older twin sisters bed and looked over to the door, right to whereKatakuri was standing. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying andsnot was running out of her nose. „K-Katakuri nii-san?“ she asked in aweakly tone.

„What are you doing here?“ The boyblurt out in response, suprised to see another sibling in Brûlée’s room.Well, that complicated things a bit- he was counting on finding hishurt sister alone, he didn’t expect to have an audience witnessinghis attempt at an apology.

Broyé seemed a bit suprised by herbrother’s sudden question, but her shocked expression changed intoone of guilt and sadness within the blink of an eye.

„I…. Big brother Katakuri…I’m so sorry… It…it was my fault. It’s my fault that Brûlée got hurt so badly. So Iwanted to stay with her and share the pain she feels…“

And now it was Katakuri’s turn to besuprised.

„Huh…? What do you mean? Broyé,what do you mean by that?“

Oh this totally didn’t go as he hadhoped. Not only didn’t he even greet his injured sister yet, but hewas also confronting her younger twin while she was sleeping next to her. Perfect.

But Broyé just sobbed andKatakuri could tell that she did her best to fight off the tears thatwere filling her eyes again.

„Those… those people wanted to hurtme. They told me that you did bad things to them, so they wanted tobeat me up in return. But… but Brûlée, she- she jumped in frontof me and tried to tell them off… but then… one of them pulledout a knife and…“

The young girl’s voice broke as shecovered her face with her hands, trying to hide the fact that she hadstarted to cry again. Katakuri just stood in the door, the flowersand box falling to the ground as he was in complete shock because ofwhat Broyé just told him. Those damn thugs, he thought, I’ll huntthem down and kill every last one of them! I’ll make them suffer,I’ll make them regret, I’ll…

„Shut up, stupid! It wasn’t yourfault! If you wanna blame someone, then blame me!“ Katakuri felldown on his hands and knees in an apologizing manner, while facingthe ground. I messed up! Just because of me, my little sisters had to go through…

„I AM YOUR BIG BROTHER! I SHOULD HAVEPROTECTED YOU! DON’T YOU DARE EVER BLAME YOURSELF, BROYÉ!“ heshouted, not caring if anyone outside in the hallway could hear him.How could she blame herself for his mistakes?! He is the older one,he should take responsibility, he should lie in this bed instead of-„Stop it, both of you!“ -Brûlée.

Katakuri lifted his head and stared atthe bed in sheer suprise, just like Broyé. Brûlée was sitting now, three largeplaster covering the wound that was inflicted on her previouslytoday. Her eyes were soft as always, but a glint of strictness shinedthrough.

„It was no one’s fault. Not yours,Katakuri, nor yours, Broyé. So don’t blame yourselves.“ Broyésobbed again before big streams of tears escaped her eyes once more.„WAAAHHH- BRÛLÉE I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO DIEEEE…“ Theyoung one cried while wiping her wet eyes with the back of her hands.

„Stop your crying, Broyé. It’s not acute look on you. You’re still as pretty as ever, so don’t make meregret saving you by ruining your face with puffy crybaby-eyes!“

Broyé quickly nodded in response to her twins harsh tone and raisedher head again, a gleam of determination now in her eyes.

„And big brother Katakuri…“Brûlée said as she turned to him.

„Don’t doubt yourself. You’re strongand the best brother ever, and those bullies knew that. That’s whythey fear you and attacked us when you weren’t there. Don’t blameyourself. It’s not your fault. You are the perfect brother and I amso happy to have you.“

Tears rolled down Katakuri’s cheeksonce more as he locked gazes with Brûlée. There was no pain or shamein her eyes, only love and admiration. I will protect that! Katakuriswore to himself, I will never let you down again!

„Ugh… Brûlée… you’re…“fumbling to find the right words, Katakuri sucked in the snot thatwas trying to run from his nose.

A few seconds passed by in silence, butit was clear that the atmosphere in the room turned from threatening and cold into comforting andwarm. And after wiping off his tears, Katakuri also seemed to remember what hebrought with him to cheer up his sister.

„Oh! Oh yeah, I… I got you some ofyour favorite chocolate and a few flower homies. In your favoritecolor, of course. I figured you’d want some company for the lonelynights….“ Katakuri murmured while quickly pickingup the box andhomies from the ground before showing them to his sister. But, muchto his suprise, the always blabbering and singing flowers werecompletely still in his hand all of a sudden.

„Brother, I… I think you squeezedthem a bit too hard.“ Brûlée pointed at the lifeless eyes of thehomies while a small giggle escaped from Broyé. An embarassed blushsettled on Katakuri’s cheecks as he noticed his mistake and rubbedthe back of his head with his free hand.

„Oh… I’m sorry Brûlée… guess Imessed up again, huh…“

The little girl just joined in with hertwins giggle and send a warm smile Katakuri’s way.

„Don’t worry. Having my favoritesiblings here is worth much more than a bunch of talking flowers.“Katakuri sighed in relief and took a few steps towards his sister’sbed, happy that the tension from earlier was finally gone.

„Ah! I’ve got an idea!“ Brûléequickly jumped out of her bed before crawling underneath it. Hersiblings stared at her in confusion, but before they could ask whatshe was doing, the girl emerged again. With a boardgame in her handsand a gleaming smile on her face.

„Mama made this for me! It’s a gamewith living pieces! Of course I can’t play it alone though…“She gave her brother a pleading look and he instantly knew what shewas getting at.

„Well, I’m sure Broyé and I got somefreetime on our hands, right, sister?“ Katakuri asked while lookingin Broyé’s direction, whose were already filled with glee andexcitement.

„OF COURSE!!! Oh, let’s play let’splay!“

…And just like that, all the previousguilt, sadness and pain vanished from the children’s mind for a fewhours, as they enjoyed being in each other’s presence and finallybeing able to have fun together again. As for Brûlée, despite being scarred for the rest of her life, she knew that as long as she has people like Katakuri and Broyé with her, who love her no matter how she looks, there is nothing to worry about.

#one piece #charlotte katakuri #charlotte brulee #charlotte broye #op scenario #one piece scenario

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dr-m-r-ma · 6 years ago

Text

Jealousy / Lies

Part 12/20

Genre: drama, angst, romance Rating: PG-13 Group: Monsta X

In the previous chapter: Jooheon and Yoonjin have deeper conversations and when Jooheon finds out Yoonjin’s birthday through Twitter, he video calls her to say happy birthday.

Disclaimer: This is 100% fictional and my own story. It is unrelated to the actual events and real persons of Monsta X and Starship. In regards to this particular fic, I’ve created new K-Pop groups (they don’t exist) so I don’t have to study up on other people and to avoid other complications. Parts will be written in Korean with English translations. I did not major/study in English/Korean, nor was I ever strong in English/Korean grammar, so there will be grammatical mistakes. This fanfic is written in third person and past-tense for ease of writing.

“근데 왜 갑자기 오빠님이야?” (Translation: “But why are you suddenly ‘Oppa-nim?’”) I.M. asked, while suspiciously glancing between Jooheon and Yoonjin. They had just finished their second to last practice session at Yoonjin’s training room.

Yoonjin and Jooheon looked at each other before turning away shyly. I.M. raised an eyebrow and continued staring at them until Jooheon coughed and replied, “ㅇ-어, 말 놓기로 했어. 윤진씨는 아직.. 못 놓고, 그냥 오빠님이라고 부를꺼레 -- 선배님 데신.” (Translation: “O-oh yeah. I decided to talk casually to her. She still.. can’t, but she’s going to call me Oppa-nim instead of Sunbaenim.”)

I.M. glanced at Yoonjin, who nodded but stared at the ground. Tilting his head, he questioned out loud, “흠… 언제부터 그렇게 정했을까…? 나만 쏙 빼고…” (Translation: “Hmm… wonder when you guys decided that…? Leaving me out…”)

Yoonjin yelped, “그-그럼! 아이엠 오빠님이라고--” (Translation: “T-then! I’ll call you I.M. Oppa-nim--”)

“우리 동갑이잖아요. 제가 빠른 96이라서.” (Translation: “We’re the same age though. Since I’m an early ‘96.”) I.M. flatly replied. Seeing Yoonjin’s flustered expression really made him want to play a prank on Jooheon instead, so he smiled widely at Yoonjin. “그럼.. 우리 그냥 친구할까? 동갑이고 하니까.” (Translation: “Then.. should we just be friends? Since we’re the same age.”)

Jooheon pursed his lips, which revealed his dimples, and shot a glare at I.M., who completely enjoyed the moment. ‘으이구… 질투하네..’ (Translation: ‘Uh… he’s jealous…’) Yoonjin, on the other hand, profusely refused and politely said, “그렇겐 안 되죠 -- 그래도 선배님이신데!” (Translation: “I couldn’t -- you’re still a senior!”)

I.M. put up his hand at the rejection and chuckled, “그래요 그럼, 편하신대로 해요. 어차피 우리 둘이 지금 말 놓았으면 형 엄청 삐졌을 거예요.” (Translation: “Okay then, let’s do what’s more comfortable for you. If we really did talk casually now then Jooheon[-hyung] would have sulked anyway.”) A hand swiped the air near him as he bent backwards to dodge it.

“야!!” (Translation: “Hey!!”) Jooheon yelled, trying to grab I.M. Yoonjin laughed at the two, and thankfully, it seemed like she didn’t completely understand what I.M. meant. Jooheon cleared his throat before changing the subject. “아, 요즘 새 곡 만드는 중인데 한번 들어볼래?” (Translation: “Oh, I’m making a new song these days, do you want to hear?”)

“네!” (Translation: “Yes!”)

“그래.” (Translation: “Sure.”)

Yoonjin and I.M. looked at each other, and understanding Yoonjin’s confusion, I.M. said, “저도 못 들어본거에요.” (Translation: “I also haven’t heard it before.”) He flashed a questionable smile to Jooheon, who simply rolled his eyes and played the song from his phone.

The three sat down in a small triangle near the door to listen. As the beats started off the song, I.M. set aside his jokes and nodded his head to the steady beat. Jooheon nervously looked at the two, as the song that was currently playing was a completely different style from the usual Monsta X. It was a smooth and quite soft R&B song, which was opposite of their usual rough strong image. When the melody came in, I.M. nodded in approval and mumbled, “좋은데?” (Translation: “It’s good”)

Jooheon glanced at Yoonjin and was surprised to see her also nodding to the music. Her eyes were slightly glazed over, showing deep concentration, as if she was bewitched by the tune. Her arms were crossed, with her fingertips on one hand tapping against the other arm, matching to the tempo. He began to wonder if this was a good sign and opened his mouth to ask her how it was. Before he could ask, however, Yoonjin began to hum and harmonize to the melody.

“흐으으음~ 오오오~ 예” (Translation: “Hmmm~ ohhh~ yeh”)

Jooheon glanced at I.M., who also snapped out of his thoughts to stare at Yoonjin, and mouthed to the younger boy, ‘녹음해줘 녹음.’ (Translation: ‘Record it for me.’) I.M. nodded as he quietly took out his phone and recorded Yoonjin’s voice. Her voice reached high with a light feathery head voice, and then it trickled down melodically against the tune, in the most perfect way. It wasn’t how Jooheon imagined it, since he tried to make music that would mainly fit with Kihyun’s voice, but it was perfect with Yoonjin’s voice instead.

As she continued to sing along to the melody, Jooheon became more and more interested in her voice. It was different from the way she sang her songs and it was even more different from the way she sang their joint performance song. Realizing that what he had heard so far was only the tip of the iceberg, he stared at Yoonjin with wide eyes. He was fascinated by the different styles she could easily experiment with and even more so that it came naturally to her. The endless possibilities of what they could do together sparked ideas in his mind, like a bundle of sparklers going off.

“와아아아아!! 노래 진짜 잘 하던데요!” (Translation: “Waaahhh!! You’re so good at singing!”) I.M. clapped when the song ended and Yoonjin snapped out of her stupor. Jooheon also snapped out of his own thoughts, realizing he had a big fat smile on his face while staring at her.

Yoonjin hid her face with her hands and said in a muffled voice, “아.. 죄송해요… 저도 모르게 그냥 나왔어요…” (Translation: “Ah… I’m sorry… it just came out…”) Then, clasping her hands together, she leaned towards Jooheon and excitedly said, “근데 노래 진짜 좋았어요!! 저도 이런 곡 불러보고 싶은데…” (Translation: “But the song was really good!! I also want to sing a song like this…”)

Briefly looking at I.M., Jooheon cracked a smile and said, “사실은… 윤진씨 목소리가 좋아서 벌써 녹음했는데…괜찮나? 먼저 물어보고 녹음해야되는데… 너무 집중하고 잘 불러서 물어볼 타이밍 놓쳤어.” (Translation: “Actually… we already recorded your voice because it was so good… is that okay? I should have asked before recording… but I missed my timing because you were so concentrated.”)

Yoonjin gasped, covering her mouth. “헐… 진짜요?” (Translation: “omg… really?”) She looked at I.M., who sheepishly showed her his phone that was still recording. As he pressed pause, Yoonjin laughed, “뭐… 저는 괜찮은데.. 원래 기현 선배님에게 맞춰야하는거 아니에요? 제 흥얼거리는 목소리와 기현 선배님 목소리가 많이 다를텐데요…” (Translation: “Well… I’m okay… but don’t you have to match to Kihyun[-sunbaenim’s] voice? My humming voice and Kihyun[-sunbaenim’s] voice is pretty different…”)

“바꿀거지?” (Translation: “You’re gonna change it, right?”) I.M. asked.

Jooheon nodded slowly, muttering to himself, “그럼… 내 솔로곡으로 발표하면… 윤진씨 목소리 넣을수 있네!” (Translation: “Then… I’ll release it as my solo track… then I can put in her voice!”) As if a great revelation hit him, he raised his hand to Yoonjin, asking for a high-five. Despite her confused look, she hesitantly high-fived him while looking back at I.M.

I.M. simply rolled his eyes and sighed. He whined, “안 바꿀 거야?” (Translation: “You’re not going to change it?”)

It didn’t matter to Jooheon what I.M. was saying, because all he thought of as he continued high-fiving Yoonjin, was the different ways he could experiment with rapping and singing against her voice. He beamed at her, showing her his faint toothy smile and his deep wells of dimples. He could see through her eyes how excited he looked, and it almost seemed refreshing to see that look on his face again.

---------------------------------------------✿✿X✿✿ ---------------------------------------------

SeulA peeped through windows, making sure the rest of her body was well hidden by the posters taped outside. Practice should have been well over, but none of them were leaving the room. Jooheon probably knew she was nearby and wanted to make it seem like he was paying more attention to Yoonjin. She knew it would be wiser to just ignore, but she couldn’t resist the urge to find out what they were doing in the practice room.

As her eyes searched for Jooheon, she couldn’t help but frown when she found him. ‘미친…’ (Translation: ‘Crazy…’) SeulA’s eyes settled on Jooheon who looked happily at Yoonjin. They were giving each other high-fives for some reason, but the way Jooheon looked at Yoonjin made her uneasy. It made her question if he was still trying to take revenge, if he knew what he looked like currently, and if he expected her to watch him. The way his eyes twinkled and the way his dimples sank into his cheeks in a slightly different way from normal -- it was all too familiar. It was the same smile he used to give her.

--------------------------------------------- ★★★★★ ---------------------------------------------

Jooheon rapidly added the samples of Yoonjin’s voice I.M. previously recorded into the program for his new song. As he replayed the song, he couldn’t help but get the feeling that the song would be an instant hit on the charts. Playing it back and recording the program play the song, he then posted it on the fan cafe as a short teaser for the fans.

“헐...기대된답” (Translation: “omg… looking forward to it”)

“노래 찌이인짜아 좋을거같아용” (Translation: “feel like this song will be reaaaally good”)

“띵곡 필이다♡” (Translation: “feels like a masterpiece♡”)

“이목소리… 윤진인가??” (Translation: “This voice… is Yoonjin’s??”)

‘짧게 들려 줬는데 벌써 반응이 좋네!’ (Translation: ‘I only posted a short teaser and the response is already good!’) Jooheon smiled, scrolling at the fans’ excitement in their comments. Hearing her voice intertwine with bits and pieces of his rap made Jooheon smile, already thinking of more ways to showcase her voice with his songs in the future.

*Bzzt*

He looked down to find messages flowing in from his group chat with the Monsta X members.

Happy to see his members’ mostly positive feedback, Jooheon responded:

[ 2 weeks later ]

Yoonjin stretched out her arms before bowing to I.M. and Jooheon. “오늘도 감사했습니다! 마지막으로 같이 연습하는거였는데 다음주가 벌써 기대되요.” (Translation: “Thank you for today as well! Even though today is the last day of practicing together, I’m already excited for next week!”)

Jooheon smiled and said, “오늘도 잘했어. 열심히 해줘서 고마워.” (Translation: “You did well today too. Thanks for working hard.”)

“수고했어요, 윤진씨. 전 다른 스케줄이 있어서 이만 가볼게요. 다음주에 봐요!” (Translation: “Good work, Yoonjin. I have something else on my schedule so I have to leave now. See you next week!”) I.M. hurriedly rushed out. Yoonjin bowed goodbye while Jooheon looked toward the door amused.

Jooheon turned to Yoonjin and asked, “오늘 고양이들도 왔는데 보고 갈레?” (Translation: “The cats are here today -- do you want to see them before you leave?”) Just as he asked, I.M. burst back into the room.

“옛다, 고양이들.” (Translation: “Here, the cats.”) I.M. said, as he unleashed the cats onto the ground, before leaving again. He yelled a quick bye to Jooheon, “이따 봐!” (Translation: “See you later!”) and he was gone for real this time. Jooheon rolled his eyes at that, but leaned down to call Yosi and Gucci. However, he was surprised to see Yosi and Gucci run towards Yoonjin, who giggled at them running towards her instead of their owner.

She plopped down with her legs stretched out, letting Yosi climb over her legs, and picked up Gucci to cradle the cat in her arms. Gucci purred in her arms, making Yoonjin gasp. She looked up at Jooheon, and whisper-yelled, “저를 되게 좋아하나봐요!!” (Translation: “She must really like me!!”)

Jooheon pouted, momentarily put out that the cats chose Yoonjin over him. They had only seen her once on his birthday, but he couldn’t believe the cats remembered her even after almost two months had passed. His eyes widened when Yosi mewled for attention, even rolling on her back and showing her stomach. He was left empty handed in the corner while Yoonjin had her hands full trying to cradle Gucci while petting Yosi.

He sighed loudly, hoping to get some attention from the cats. Instead of the cats, Yoonjin glanced at him apologetically, making Jooheon regret sighing at all. He smiled at her, hoping she wouldn’t get the wrong idea, but she crawled over to him, making the cats follow her right away. When she got close enough, Yosi pawed at Jooheon. He instantly lit up and lifted Yosi into his arms. “요시야, 너밖에 없다!” (Translation: “Yosi, you’re the best!”)

“큭.. 하핳하하핳ㅎ” (Translation: “Pfft.. hahahaha”) Yoonjin burst out laughing, and Jooheon immediately blushed.

Burying his face into Yosi’s furry back, Jooheon mumbled, “아… 창피해…” (Translation: “Ah… embarrassing…”) He looked down at Yoonjin, who was trying to keep herself from laughing too hard. Mesmerized by her carefree laughter and the hint of cuteness coming from Gucci, he couldn’t help but stare at her from behind Yosi.

*Bzzz* *Bzzz*

Yoonjin looked up at Jooheon, and Jooheon, also surprised, quickly took out his phone from his pocket. A text from his manager alerted him to drop the cat and walk towards the door. Before opening the door and leaving, he smiled at Yoonjin and said, “매니저형이 뭐좀 봐달라고 해서 갔다 올게 -- 금방 올거니까 여기 고양이들이랑 있어!” (Translation: “My manager asked me to check something so I’ll go and come back -- I’ll be right back so you can stay here with the cats!”) With that, he ran out the door, not hearing what she had to say, and sprinted towards his manager, hoping to return soon.

‘아이씨! 30분이나 지났네!’ (Translation: ‘Damn, 30 minutes passed!’) Jooheon ran back to the practice room, hoping Yoonjin was still there and didn’t just leave the cats in the room. He peeked through the window and frowned when he didn’t even see the cats. Looking around, he made sure it was the right practice room before slowly opening the door. He poked his head inside and searched the room to find Yoonjin slouched against the mirror with both cats curled up in her lap.

His eyes widened at the sight, and he couldn’t help but take out his phone to sneak a picture. Chuckling quietly as he snapped a couple of shots, Jooheon approached her slowly. Though he was as quiet as he could be, the cats stirred awake. As soon as they saw Jooheon, they meowed at his suspicious stance. He whispered, “쉬!” (Translation: “Shh!”) but of course the cats didn’t understand him and left their nest to attack him. While they playfully swiped their paws at him, Yoonjin shifted in her sleep, shivering.

‘추위 또 타네…’ (Translation: ‘She’s feeling cold again…’) Jooheon tiptoed to Yoonjin’s side and carefully sat down next to her, making sure she wouldn’t wake up. Instantly, Yoonjin shifted closer to Jooheon, leaning her head against his shoulder. In that moment, he froze, not knowing if she was awake or not. He whispered, “깼어?” (Translation: “Are you awake?”)

Silence. He turned his head slowly, almost like a mechanical robot, and peeked down at her face. ‘아직도 자고있네.…’ (Translation: ‘Still sleeping…’) Though he knew he had a warmer body than other people’s, it was amusing to see Yoonjin react unconsciously to his body heat.

*Meow*

Jooheon looked down to see Yosi meowing at him while Gucci curled back up in Yoonjin’s lap. He stretched out his legs, letting Yosi climb up to his stomach and lay down. As he pet Yosi to sleep, he glanced back at Yoonjin. His eyes swept across, from the crown of her head to her long eyelashes. Quietly, he observed her face, noting the slightly flushed cheeks, her small and cute button nose, and her coral colored lips. As Jooheon’s gaze lingered at her lips, he quickly shook his head, as if to shake all his thoughts away. Adjusting his eyes to Yoonjin’s soft hair flowing down on her face, his eyes reached her hand at her side, in between them.

Her palm was facing up, tempting him to grasp her hand. Noticing that she was sleeping pretty deeply, Jooheon let his fingertips hover over her palm. He tensed up when his fingertips faintly touched her hand, not knowing what to do with the fuzzy feeling that overcame him. As he was trying to figure out his emotions, Yoonjin murmured softly while snuggling to Jooheon’s arm. When she tucked her head closer into the nook of his shoulder, his whole body froze again, but this time it clicked in his mind.

Smiling warmly at her sleeping face, he slid his hand over Yoonjin’s hand and interlocked his fingers over hers. He watched as her eyes fluttered open, waiting for her response nervously.

------------------------------------------- ✿✿✿✿✿ -------------------------------------------

‘엥?’ (Translation: ‘Huh?’)

Yoonjin’s eyes fluttered open, eyes blurry from sleeping too deeply, and she struggled to adjust her eyes. She took a deep breath through her nose, inhaling a light but musky scent. Startled by the scent, she turned her head and only then did she realize her face was inches away from Jooheon’s face. Instantly, she froze, becoming rigid at the close distance. Her eyes searched for answers in Jooheon’s eyes, but all they held was a sweet gaze back into her eyes. She couldn’t take her eyes off of his, as if his gaze was physically holding her still, but a warm tingling sensation sparked in her hand. She glanced down to find Jooheon’s fingers interlocked with hers. Yoonjin looked back up, even more confused than before, and her heart beat wildly when Jooheon smiled shyly.

His soft smile melted away all her confusion, but the moment Jooheon leaned forward, her heart fluttered and her mind was thrown back into chaos. His breath feathered on her lip as he gripped her hand tighter, and when Yoonjin squeezed back, he finally pressed his lips onto hers.

Her eyes shut and she could feel the fireworks going off in her head, the small campfire lighting the night, the soft waves rippling through her body, the pleasant melody playing in her ears. Was this a green light? He must have known her feelings all along, right? Needless to say, the kiss was soft, and she was captivated by the way he rubbed his thumb over her hand as he gently pressed deeper. She could feel a fever rushing up to her cheeks, but when her eyes fluttered open for a second and she saw Jooheon’s tightly closed eyes and flushed cheeks, her heart felt full.

Without breaking contact, Yoonjin turned for a more comfortable position, when she realized Gucci had woken up from her movement. Suddenly, the embarrassment of being watched by a cat overcame her and she broke away from the moment, only to be even more embarrassed when Jooheon looked at her with wide confused eyes. Yoonjin mumbled softly, “고양이가… 보고있어서…” (Translation: “The cat was… watching, so…”)

As if Gucci understood, she scampered off, waking Yosi in the process. The two cats ran off to the other side of the room, leaving Jooheon and Yoonjin alone. Jooheon chuckled at the cats, then turned to look back at Yoonjin. As soon as his soft gaze landed on her eyes again, she held her breath. Her mind started shutting down when she watched his gaze lower onto her lips, and when he cupped her cheek with his other hand, her heart tightened with part nervousness and part excitement. As Jooheon gently pulled her closer, Yoonjin squeezed his hand again, just as his soft lips reached her lips. When she reached up and held onto the hand cradling her face, their lips slowly parted and in that moment, her closed eyes saw stars gleaming brightly like jewels in the sky.

*** TBC ***

A/n: I know this is super late and overdue... so I hope the fluff makes up for it!! Savor these moments, because... the moment is coming soon :)

#jooheon fluff #jooheon fanfic #jooheon fic #changkyun #mx scenarios #monsta x scenarios #mx fic #mx fanfic #monsta x fic #monsta x fanfic #kpop fanfic #kpop fic #lies fic

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some-cookie-crumbz · 7 years ago

Text

Abandonment

Abandonment Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Pairing: Kidge Summary: Life with a newborn can be exhausting. It can also be something that stirs up ones own family troubles. Standard Disclaimer: If you read and enjoy this, please give it a like/ reblog so I know if I should write more. AN: Day 28 prompt fill! I just really wanted to write some cute, post-family reassurance.

“Calm down, buddy. It’s okay, I’ve got you,” He cooed, voice soft but scratchy still from sleep.

“Wa…Waaahhh,” Came the insightful response, warbling in volume and whine.

“It’s okay, Kaden, no need for that. Let’s stay quiet, okay? Mommy’s still sleeping-!”

“I’m not, actually, but I appreciate the attempt,” She said with a sleepy puff of laughter, turning on her side to look at him. His eyes were wide in surprise as he gently rocked the fussy infant in his arms. She shifted a bit to sit up, already going for the hook of her nursing tank top with one hand while pushing herself up with the other. “He’s probably just hungry, which makes sense. It’s been almost three hours.”

“I can just go heat up a bottle for him. Get some sleep, Pidge,” He argued gently, pausing briefly in his rocking. He winced when Kaden suddenly chimed in with a loud, short cry of distress. He looked down and resumed the swaying motions immediately. She reached over and gently tapped the lamp on her bedside table twice, so that it only emmited a low glow. “Sorry, sorry. I know you hate it when you aren’t part of the conversation, but only are the conversation.”

She laughed a bit as she tugged the left side of her nursing tank top down to expose her breast. “Just hand him here, Keith. I’m already up and it’ll be easier for him to just take straight from the tap than you having to listen to him shriek the whole time you’re making the bottle,” She insisted, holding her arms out expectantly.

With a defeated sigh, Keith shifted to sit on the bed beside her and carefully hand over their one month old son. The little guy cried even louder as he was moved, falling silent briefly as he was cradled in the crook of Pidge’s arm. “Yeah, I heard you, baby. Don’t worry, the booby bar is always open for you,” She cooed teasingly, adjusting her arm to lift Kaden closer to her.

Keith watched and chuckled as Pidge struggled to get Kaden to latch properly, the baby continuing to shove his little fist in front of his mouth every time he tried to attach to her. The little guy let out a sharp indignant squawk at Pidge after the fourth time he got his fist instead of her nipple.

“Listen, dude,” She huffed lightly, using her pinky finger on one hand to nudge his fist out of the way while the rest of that hand held her breast in place for him, “you have to work with me here. If you keep curling your fist in front of your mouth like that? Yeah, you aren’t gonna be able to get on the booby!”

“Here,” Keith said, leaning over to gently nudge the offending fist with one finger, “let me see if I can’t help out a little.” It took a bit of coaxing, but after a second, Kaden uncurled his fist. With the palm exposed, Keith prodded at it with the tip of his finger, grinning when small and chubby fingers curled around it instead. He then carefully moved his arm using the grip on his finger off to the side.

“Thank you,” Pidge sighed, exasperated, as she moved Kaden’s head back up with her arm. This time, his gaping little mouth closed around her breast, silencing him. After a small moment of readjustments, he was properly latched and suckling the milk with small, hungry grunts. “I knew there was a reason I keep you around.” She teased Keith.

He flashed a small smile and hummed quietly, turning his gaze down to their son. “It’s nice to be able to do something to help you out with him. I feel so useless sometimes, because it always seems like he needs you,” He admitted, his thumb stroking the soft skin on the top of Kaden’s hand.

“Well, he’s still really small, so it kind of figures. In the next few weeks you’ll be able to do a lot more with him, though; especially once he can go longer than two or three hours without eating,” She pointed out with a small smile. She’d done a lot of research to start preparing herself once she found out she was pregnant, to make sure they’d know what to expect with a squalling newborn around, and it showed that more times than not, newborns would tend to be clingier to their mothers. Once they gained a bit more independence around the six to eight week mark, where babies would start getting better control of head movement and figuring out facial expressions, they were less dependent on Mommy.

Keith hummed again, looking down at Kaden with pure adoration. They sat in comfortable silence for a good twenty minutes before Kaden stared to doze off, little eyes fluttering shut and mouth widening in a yawn around the nipple in his mouth. “Looks like someone is a little milk drunk,” He teased, offering to take him.

Pidge smiled as she carefully handed him over, both of them freezing when he opened his eyes wide to stare at them. They had learned that babies were very similar to dinosaurs; if you didn’t move, they couldn’t see you. Or, rather, they wouldn’t really acknowledge that they saw you. They both slowly exhaled as his little eyes dropped shut again. “This little gremlin,” She whispered playfully, pointing at the sleeping infant.

“Think I can change his diaper before I put him back in his Rock-and-Play?” He asked.

“Give it a shot. If he wakes back up, I can always put him back on the boob for a minute or two to soothe him,” She said with a small shrug as she hooked her tank top back on. She watched as he carefully settled Kaden on the small changing table, tilting her head a bit. “So, you wanna talk about what’s bothering you?”

“Nothing’s bothering me,” He said, but it was a bit too quick of a response. He carefully unpeeled the diaper and made a face, nose screwing up. “I still don’t understand how he can sleep through a diaper full of poop.”

“Little guy’s probably too tuckered out. I mean, he refused to sleep all day,” She pointed out. She leaned back to readjust her pillows a little bit before looking over at Keith again. He was just finishing up with wiping Kaden clean and had already pulled out the clean diaper for him. “Now how about you stop dodging and answer my question? You’ve been kinda huffy since we brought him home and I’d like to know why.” She insisted.

Kids had been something she and Keith had discussed often, especially once they got engaged, and agreed they both wanted. The idea of having a family to call his own had appealed to Keith and he’d been over the moon when Pidge told him she was pregnant. She’d noticed it in the first couple of days after they got home with Kaden, how Keith seemed to deflate with how much attention she had to give to their newborn. She didn’t want to think that he regretted their decision to have a family, but that was the simplist answer she could come up with, given the evidence at her disposal.

He looked at her in surprise before sighing. “It’s nothing, Pidge,”

“Don’t give me that bull. Look, if you weren’t ready to be a dad, you should have-!”

“What? No, that’s not it at all!” He argued quickly, his tone a bit too loud and frantic. They both tensed as a shrill cry came from the changing table and a set of little legs kicked in the air frantically. He turned back around, quickly getting on the fresh diaper and buttoning his onesie closed again. “I’m sorry, bud, I should have watched my volume.” He said, carefully scooping him back up and cradling him against his shoulder.

“Go ahead and bring him back to bed with you. I have an idea that I’d like to try,” She suggested.

Keith walked over and slipped under the covers, starting to offer the squirming and whining infant over to her. Instead, she shook her head and nudged him to lie down with a push to his shoulders. Once he was settled down, she carefully readjusted both her boys so that Kaden’s head rested against Keith’s chest, right above his heart, and Keith’s arm was snuggly wrapped around Kaden so he couldn’t squirm around too much. They watched as he slowly settled, his breathing leveling out to match his dad’s, and slowly his eyes closed again. She watched as violet eyes widened before shining in the low light of the bedside lamp, enamoured and awestruck. “He’s so beautiful,” He breathed softly.

She smiled and snuggled down in beside him. “”The sounds of a heartbeat can soothe a baby, since they were used to hearing the sound while in the womb. It doesn’t have to be the Mommy’s heartbeat, either,” She explained gently.

Keith tilted his head and pressed a small kiss to her head, waiting a moment before taking a deep breath. “I’m not trying to be huffy, it’s just… I don’t like leaving everything to you. I want to help out and be as involved with Kaden as possible, give you time to rest while also taking time to bond with him myself. I don’t want either of you to ever feel like I wasn’t there for you enough. I just… I’m afraid of being like Nyrus,” He confessed, sounding uneasy and uncomfortable.

That explanation actually made a lot more sense, when Pidge thought about it.

Nyrus was a high ranking special ops agent working with the Blade of Marmora and, as it turned out, was actually Keith’s birth mother. She and Keith had encountered one another by chance – being paired up on a mission involving a new type of quintessence they’d discovered – but as she reprimanded him after the mission, he’d thrown off his mask to yell back at her, she realized who he was. Initially, she refused to work with him further or explain herself to anyone. For a few months she avoided him completely before finally he cornered her for the truth, during a huge meeting with the Blade higher-ups and the Coalition and Team Voltron.

The confrontation had been a disaster, to say the least.

The two of them had gone very quickly from a shouting match to actual fisticuffs quickly, which wasn’t too terribly surprising. Keith’s temperament was something he seemed to inherit from Nyrus – being quick to insults and aggression and violence when she felt she was being attacked – and the two of them mixed about as well as ammonium chloride and chlorine gas. Questions were asked and given answers that left Keith filled with nothing but anger. “It was not an easy choice to make,” Nyrus had snarled at him, keeping him pinned beneath her by his throat while her tail thrashed violently behind her, “but I had to do what was best for the universe.”

Nyrus had been tracking the Blue Lion’s quintessence signature to assure the Blade could keep it safe from Zarkon, whom was still working to locate them all. While she had been stationed on Earth, she’d met Keith’s father, Ethan, and found herself charmed by him. He had never seemed put off by her lack of Earthling social graces – like so many others had been – and accepted her as she was. She confided in him, upon her pregnancy with Keith, about her actual heritage, due to the chance that Keith could be born with Galran features. He’d loved her regardless of that fact. But when Keith was still very young, she received word from a few other members of the Blade – long dead and their names fuzzy in her mind – that her ship was being tracked by Zarkon. Her options were to either return to the Blade, or destroy both her ship and her self to protect Earth and Blue Lion.

She had decided to take the option that she felt allowed her to do the most good.

“You could have taken us with you!” Keith had spat back, trying to pry her hand off of him.

Her ears had twitched and brow creased, leaning close to scrutinize him. “Why would I have done that? Your father had no training of proper combat or space travel. You were just a kit, too small to survive outside of our eyes. Neither of you could have served a purpose to the Blade that would have justified bringing you along,” Her tone had been bewildered by his question, as if that answer should have been completely obvious.

Pidge had seen how Keith shattered at her words and surged forward, using her bayard to forcefully hoist Nyrus off of him.

After that situation, Keith had taken a huge step back on how much work he did for the Blade, terrified of becoming an embodiment of their rationale to the same extent of his mother. He didn’t want to become so focused that he cared more for the mission objectives than his future family. It took another year before Nyrus and he encountered one another again, and things had gone… A bit more civilly. Nyrus reached out to him to apologize, explaining that it was never a matter of not loving him- she did, she insisted, loved him more than she’d loved anyone or any thing in the universe – but more a matter of what she thought was best. “Either option, you would have grown up without me. I thought that by going back to the Blade, I could at least keep you from being involved in this war. Evidently, however, that… Didn’t go as planned. I would like the chance to make amends, to be… Well, perhaps not a mother, but at least someone to you.”

And Keith, desperate to have connections with any potential family he had, had agreed. Nyrus held true to her word and worked at remaining calm and composed when they discussed certain topics. She’d been crushed when she learned of all the hardships that Keith had suffered, from his father’s young death to his being bounced from home to home, while also being proud of the things he’d accomplished. Pidge herself was still weary of Nyrus but she did her best to be civil, as she wanted to put in at least as much effort as the older female was. Nyrus had attended she and Keith’s wedding and was expected to take a small stop-in to Earth to meet her first grandson sometime soon.

Which certainly explained why Nyrus had been on Keith’s mind over the last couple of weeks.

“You know,” She said as she settled in beside him, resting her head on his shoulder and settling one arm across his stomach, “it would have to take a lot of effort on your part to be anything like Nyrus. It’s already clear that we – Kaden and I – mean more to you than anything, and I doubt you’d ever willingly leave us. And for as confrontational as you can get, I doubt you’d ever have it in you to pin Kaden down by his throat and shout at him.” The look of pure horror that he flashed at the mere inclination was enough to warrant a small chuckle from her as she nestled down with a small sigh. “And I know that me saying this doesn’t necessarily get rid of those fears in you, but I hope it at least helps a little. You’re already an amazing dad, and you’re an amazing husband, and Kaden’s going to grow up knowing how much you love him.”

“I guess it is a little silly of me to be afraid,” He mumbled, a mixture of love and gratitude softening his voice. His attention had swiveled back to the small form curled against his chest. “After all, if a situation like the one with Nyrus ever occurred with us, I don’t doubt you’d happily blow half the Blade of Marmora to Kingdom Come for even suggesting that I have more important matters than our family.”

“Half the Blade of Marmora?” She asked skeptically.

“You could certainly take them all out, but I think you’d want to make an example of them. And if you took down all of them, there would be no one to really learn from it,” He answered.

“Fair enough. Now shush your pretty little face and let’s get some sleep,” She mused, pressing a small kiss to his collarbone before closing her eyes. She felt his arm move to curl around her, pressing along her back and his hand resting on her hip, and she smiled.

Come Hell or high water, the Kogane’s were going to be inseparable.

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