Summary - To Jeno, Haechan was his entire world. Whenever Jeno was struggling, it was Haechan that saved him. But now, when it's Heachan that needs saving, Jeno is helpless.
Warnings - a little bit of gun activity and violence at the end
Author's Note - thank you to @remiilurai for helping me with the fic!
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray," a sweet voice sang, filling the dark and dusty room with a sense of warmth.
"Yo, Jeno! Where are you, dude?"
"Go away. I'm not in the mood to talk now, Haechan."
"Oh, come on. You love me, you need me, you miss me."
"No, I don't. Get lost, man."
"Fine. Then, I love you."
"A horrible decision, really."
The boy with the chocolate brown hair, who Jeno dearly called Hyuck, walked in the dark, to the corner of the room, to find a lump of blankets.
"Found you!" Haechan cried, jumping on the lump, receiving a shout and a kick to the legs.
"You know you can't escape me, right?"
"I'm a trained killer, Hyuck. I think I can escape you if wanted to."
Jeno was tired. Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally and even spiritually, even though he didn't believe in God. He's always thought, if we believe in a good God, then why is there so much evil in the world? But now was not the time for deep philosophical thinking. He needed to cut off Haechan. He didn't want to, but he needed to. For his own safety.
He loved him. He loved him to bits. It was Haechan that brought light into his life. It was him that saved Jeno from himself. Haechan, for him, was his angel.
"Hey, sunshine. You're awfully quiet."
That snapped Jeno out of his thoughts.
"Huh? What?"
"You blanked out there for a second, Jen. I almost hit you with a pillow."
"Yeah, sorry about that, was just thinking about something."
"Hey, you're my bestie, you're my little ball of sunshine, you can count on this bad boy for anything, bro."
"Call me that again and you won't feel the sun on your skin again, Haechan."
No sooner did the words leave his mouth, Haechan jumped on him and proceeded to hug him and tickle him. God, did he love this idiot.
Jeno met Haechan when he was 9. After being hit for bringing home a stray cat, Jeno had run away with his new little friend and bumped straight into Haechan. Being his extroverted self, Haechan introduced himself, asked Jeno his name and then took him to his home. Haechan's home was Jeno's true home. It was his safe space. That day Jeno left his cat there and went back every day with the excuse of having to take care of the cat.
Haechan was always there for him. Haechan stayed. He never left Jeno, no matter his ups or downs. He was consistent, in his friendship, love and support. Haechan was his rock, his anchor, he was as Haechan called himself his 'platonic soulmate'.
Being a part of a gang was not Jeno's idea. It was his Dad's. His Dad who bet his son to work as a killer when he had nothing else to bet on. His Dad who made it impossible for Jeno to pay off the debts without continuing to be a killer. In Jeno's gloomy and misty life, Haechan was a ray of sunshine and of hope. Haechan was Jeno's family. The only family that mattered to him. To Jeno, DNA doesn't make family, love does, trust does and support does.
Haechan had saved Jeno multiple times. He saved Jeno from addiction, from killing himself, from his anger, from his sadness, from everything that was him.
Now, it was Jeno's turn to save him.
"Jenoooooo. Jenooo. Jeno!"
"What?"
"Nothing, you just zoned out there for a second again."
"Don't you have something useful to go instead of annoying me, Hyuck?"
"Nah, man. Annoying you is useful. It makes you wanna kill me and you know me, I like that kinda attention."
"Don't say that, you don't know what you're talking about."
"Well, anyways, I actually do have some work to attend to, gotta go annoy Renjun into giving me the notes from yesterday's class. I won't be sleeping over for the next two days, by the way, Mom's scared I'm gonna fail my exams, but because I know that you can't live without me, I'll try sneaking out! Bye, Jen! See you!"
"Goodbye, Hyuck"
This was it. Haechan wouldn't be over for two nights. He could leave town. He could make Haechan safe. This was it.
In the next 12 hours, Jeno packed all his belongings, cut all his relations and sold his apartment. Jeno had just finished one of the biggest jobs he had ever taken. He knew that they would come for him, for his family and the only family he cared for was Haechan. So he had to distance himself from Haechan, for his own safety. He should, he must.
Jeno moved five cities, just to be safe. He believed that the more far he moved, the more safe Haechan would be. And he knew that Hacehan wouldn't look for him. He had done this a lot of times. Haechan was pretty used to this by now. Sure, Jeno had never moved five cities before, but these people were some of the worst and Haechan needed to be safe. It was his duty to protect him after all that Haechan did for him. He just had to wait for a month and then he could take Haechan away, to a new place, to live as normal people, to get a house, a job, to have a regular order at the coffee shop, to have neighbours, to find love, to raise a family, all by Haechan at his side. The city had moved to was perfect for that. He had rented a cabin by the river, in the outskirts of the city, for the month. It was this beautiful place with a garden and a swing and everything. He could already imagine leading a perfect life there.
Jeno took an entire day setting up the cabin. As soon as he finished up, he hit the hay for that well deserved sleep. For the next day, Jeno had planned a few things, like going to the coffeeshop and introducing himself, buying flowers for the house and plants and tools for the garden. He was ready to finally relax.
Drinking his freshly rewed coffee, Jeno strolled up the hill to his cabin, stopping here and there, to pick wild flowers. On reaching the cabin, he stopped to find his keys, but stopped upon hearing a creak from inside. It's an old cabin, Jeno thought, the floorwork must be acting up.
No sooner had he stepped into the cabin, his vision went black.
After a few minutes, which for Jeno felt like hours, he woke up, with a pounding headache and blood fallind down his face. He panicked. His anxiety rose. He tensed. There's no way. They couldn't have found him so fast. He was so careful, so, so careful. Then, how?
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Prince, himself"
Jeno knew that voice. All those horrible memories flooded back. He wanted to run, run from this man who made him into the monster that he was today. He wanted to be as far from his father as possible.
"Well, son? Nothing to tell your dear old father after all these year?"
"Get lost again, will you?" Jeno spat.
"Hmm. Not the response I expected, but maybe this may encourage you a bit. Bring him!"
There was a shuffle. Two men entered. One wore all black, but the other. The other had converse with the sun drawn on them. No, he didn't know about Haechan. How could he? No, God, plase, no. No.
"Haechan, was it, kid?"
"Not your freaking business, Grandpa. Jen, who is this clown? He's been talking shit for hours."
Jeno couldn't muster up his courage to face Haechan. He knew what was coming. He couldn't find his voice.
"It's, it's him, Hyuck, it's him"
"Hyuck? Really? God, you're just like your mother, so emotional, so full of feelings."
"Please don't hurt him, I'll do anything, please, just please, leave him alone."
"Oh, Jeno, you should have thought about the consequences of killing my business partner, then. Do you know how much I lost? Because of your foolishness? Your greed for money? I told you to join my gang so many times, yet you didn't and now here we are."
"Jen, what's he talking about?"
"Oh, it's nothing you need to worry about, kid. It's father son business. Now, Jeno, I'm going t show you the consequences for your actions. Your stupidity already killed your mother, now you friend, too. Now that he'll be gone, too. Why don't you come work for me. Maybe, I'll even pay you back for all the debts. What say, huh?"
"Not a chance, you filthy piece of shit! You think you can just waltz back into his life and make him do your bidding, well, I've got news for you"
"Agh, you've got quit mouth on you kid, I don't like it. Do it."
As soon as the door was closed behind Jeno's dad, the man on Haechan's left pulled out a gun, shooting Haechan in the stomach, right where it should kill him.
"NOOOOOOOO! PLEASE, GOD, NO, NOT HIM, PLEASE! HYUCK! HUCK!"
The man threw the gun to the side, and untied Jeno, making him run to his friend, taking him in his arms.
"Boss wants an answer in 10"
The two men closed the doors behind them. Jeno couldn't see straight. It was his fault. All his fault, Haechan was injured, he couldn't help him. It was all him. It was always him.
"Hey, Jen" croaked Haechan, trying to sit himself up straight.
"Hyuck, I'm sorry. It's my fault. I'm sorry. I'm sorry"
"Yo, I love you, man. I've always loved you and I will always love you, okay? You're my little ball of sunshine, you're my best friend, man"
"Yeah, I love you, too"
"Finally! I've been waiting for years for you to say that. Now be a good friend and sing me a song, Jen"
"Huck, no, I'm sorry, this is because of me. I shouldn't have talked to you. I should've moved more far. It's my fault you're like this."
"Hey, you and I both know that it isn't your fault, my time's over, that's all. Now, sing me a song, I don't want to die like this, it's not a very good story to tell, sing me our song, Jen, one last time"
Jeno couldn't, but he wanted to, he wanted to sing that song, that song that he so closely associated with Haechan. He wanted to sing it for the last time.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away"
Jeno sang, he sang his heart out, he sang for his friend, for the only person who loved him.
"The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms
When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
So I hung my head and cried"
Haechan had a smile on his face. His eyes were closing, but he still hummed to the song. Jeno took the gun in his hands. The humming stopped. He put the gun to his chest, right where the heart should be.
Summary - Mark Lee is just another college student who wishes that his Sunday goes according to plan, but what happens when he disappears in a cloud of blood red smoke?
Genre - Mythology
Warning - None, except bad jokes
Normal Sundays do not end up with you being in the midst of demons and wild creatures, but hey you're Mark Lee, normal is just not your cup of tea.
Sundays were Mark's favorite. Sundays were everything he was not - calm, collected, peaceful, stress-free. As usual he woke up at 4am, did his morning routine, almost slipped on Haechan's discarded clothes and left home to be done with his new song before the weekend gets over.
Humming his new song, Mark strolled the streets, on his way to the studio. He expected to do a lot of things today:
1. Finish the new song
2. Buy a new notebook (after Haechan spilt coffee on the last one)
3. Pick up his guitar from the shop (which Haechan should have payed for)
4. Submit his assignments
5. Actually get eight hours of sleep (probably not possible because someone keeps shouting and smashing keyboards at 3 in the morning!!!!!)
Wow, Haechan was a menace, but unfortunately there’s nobody else other than his childhood best friend to split the bills with. If there was something not included in his schedule, it was to be whisked away in smoke by a couple of teenagers.
In the middle of the streets of New York, Mark started turning into smoke. Not just regular, white, dustless smoke, but a blood red one.
He shouted, cried and screamed for help, but the pedestrians just walked through him, like he wasn't there.
Mark evaporated into the air and traveled as nothing more than just atoms and molecules into the depths of the earth. It was all too much for him. Like seriously? Does sleep deprivation really make you hallucinate this much? No, right? But, who knows? Maybe he should Google it.
After about what felt like a milli-second, Mark became human again, in the middle of a red, endless dessert.
Looking around, Mark slapped his face once, twice, thrice. Yet, he didn't wake up.
"Dude, why am I not waking up?" Mark questioned, slapping his face a couple more times.
"That's gonna bruise after some time," said a voice he didn't recognise.
Mark looked around, searching for the owner of that meek voice.
"You'll need to apply some ointment on that," said a short boy with impish features who emerged from the shadows.
"Hi, I'm Renjun, sorry for summoning you"
"Yeah, sorry for summoning you, we didn't know what else to do" said a taller boy with flaming orange hair and a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, what the heck?"Mark questioned
"Where am I? Why am I here? Who are you? What do you mean summoned? And what is that foul smell?"
"Could you go slower, we're not fluent in human language, yet" said a tall, muscular guy with spotless white hair.
"Yeah, what he said" voiced two new boys, one who was tall, lean and had pink hair and a boyish charm and the other, who was shyer, taller and looked like he hadn't eaten for days.
"Excuse me, can you wake me up? I've got a lot to do and I'm not wasting my time hallucinating. Hellooo, God?" Mark called out, looking up, thinking that God was up there somewhere saying "This is what you get when you don't sleep"
"Is this a good time to tell you that God kind of went on vacation, he won't be back till the spring fest."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA,VERY FUNNY!!" Mark laughed, "Now , if we could speed it up a bit, I would like to wake back up"
"I don't think he understands us,"said the shy one.
"You’re Mark, right?" asked the orange haired boy
"If you're going with my English name, then yeah..."
“Great, you just need to help us with this programming and then you'll be sent back“
"You're kidding, right? 'Cause computers and I don't go anywhere near each other, I don't even know how to shop online, bro!" Mark exclaimed.
"You are Mark from facebook, right"
"Excuse me? No, how would I be Mark Zuckerberg? I'm not even American, dude!"
"Huh?" they all collectively said together.
"Just a minute please" they said and disappeared into thin air.
What was with the obsession with disappearing into the air lately?
"Sooooo" they said, reappearing.
"So?" started Mark.
"We may or may not have accidentally mistaken you for someone else and we can't send you back."
"Sorry for the trouble, but hey we can be friends," said the shortest one.
"Yeah, I'm Chenle, son of Hermes," introduced the boy with green hair.
"Hi! Jaemin, son of Aphrodite. Welcome to the club, dude!" Said the pink-haired boy excitedly.
"Nice to meet you, I’m Jisung, son of Hermes," the shy one mumbled.
"I'm Renjun, son of Athena, Goddess of wisdom and warfare, and that's Jeno, son of Ares, God of War," said the shortest one.
"Well, I'm Mark Lee, a college student who survives on a lot of caffeine and watermelons. Nice to formally meet you, I guess?" Questioned Mark with raised eyebrows.
"So, is there any way you can teach us about programming?" asked Jeno, who Mark assumed must be their brawns.
"Yeah, if you have fulfilled the purpose we called you here for, then you're free to go, that's how the magic works" explained Renjun, who obviously was the brains.
"Well, I might know someone who's currently studying programming in college"
"Really? If he can help us out, then you both would probably be free to go"
"Let's summon him now, what's his name?"
"Lee Haechan," smirked Mark, knowing that this would be enough for all the times Haechan stabbed him in the back and annoyed the living daylights out of him.
