Work Text:
Preface
She barely could see anything. The raindrops keep getting into her eyes despite her constant effort to keep them away. The rough scratch of the asphalts is hindering her already cramped limbs from moving forward.
The drifting in-and-out moments of consciousness warning her to not even think about stopping, ‘keep running’ it would say whenever she remotely thinks about taking a break from the run.
She knows that much. She had woken up in a room where all corners were white and the blinding light was fixated right into her eyes which did so little to orient her thoughts on her whereabouts. She remembers the only things she could hear were the rapid pounding of her own heartbeat and the ragged breathing accompanied by the fear of something horrible was going to happen to her.
When she hears a vehicle approaching her, she begins to panic harder. Back in that bright room, she had tried so hard to pry open the steel door that her fingernails were ripped in ways that only papers would. Her tired limbs screaming at her to take a break, she really couldn’t. Even when she keeps her head down, the two beaming lights of the vehicle’s headlights cast their presence as if mocking her of her measly escape.
She begins to sob, her chest painfully constricts with each sharp intake of her breath. The howling wind and the chilling rain do nothing to comfort her either. The current misery has turned her life upside down. She just wanted to have a nice weekend getaway at Jeju. Now she is running hysterically away from her captor.
“Miss!? You alright?” Someone from the vehicle yells at her.
Her brain registers the owner to it and before she could stop it, she turns to look at the person.
“Oh my god… please help me… please” She begs, the relief that washes over her body feels more refreshing than the cool rain of the night.
Finally, she is saved.
BODY OF MISSING TOURIST FOUND
NUMBER OF VISITORS DROPPED SIGNIFICANTLY
JEJU ORCHARDS TO BEGIN HARVARD SEASON EARLIER
Kyungsoo scrolls through his news feeds on Naver. The usual eye-catching color of the website making him flinch, partly because he is up in an ungodly hour. That’s what he gets for deciding to help out his family during his rare vacation. Their family orchard like many others on the island is participating in the early harvest of Jeju’s most famous citruses.
Kyungsoo doesn’t drive, in Seoul at least. He doesn’t have the patience nor the time to use his energy among the soul-draining and traffic law disobeying metropolitans. Despite his multiple attempts to refuse to be the destined truck driver for the orchard, his grandmother wouldn’t budge. So now he is stuck in an intersection where he is supposed to turn, being blocked by a herd of goats. Usually, he would see Bomi herd them away from the road but today, the Australian shepherd dog is nowhere to be found.
He glances around at the familiar landscape of the area. There is a narrow dirt road on the right side of the main drive. Today a detour wouldn’t hurt, he thinks. The Do orchard is located in the further part of the Jeju city, at the edge of entering Seogwipo city. This simply means it is almost 4 hours back to back drive from their orchard to the Dongmun market. He waits a bit for the clever canine to run springing back and move the goats down the side of the road. The stillness of the early morning and its dew brings complete silence and bone-deep chill into the confined space inside his truck.
He flinches when his phone vibrates in his palm. When he looks down, it is a short text from his uncle that the orchard gate is left open for him. Kyungsoo has argued multiple times that it is dangerous to not lock the gate to which his relatives would brush off with a laugh, saying the families that live around the area know each other too well to do anything harmful. Kyungsoo wants to protest, with a recent worrisome number of missing tourists and the latest news about a dead body turning up on the shore, the matter shouldn’t be taken so lightly.
With the upcoming election just around the corner, Kyungsoo expected the Jeju Province Council to do something reassuring to ensure the residents for the safety of the island but in his short stay of 2 weekends on the main island, he has yet to hear about any sort of measures being conducted regarding the missing people. He now hopes that the news about the dead girl could trigger some sort of response mechanism from the indifferent government officials.
The thought itself bothers him to no end and with no sign of Bomi, he opts to take the detour for the day. He sure hopes it will not further deter his drive, he doesn’t want to be so lectured so early in the morning.
Kyungsoo begins to rev up the engine and begrudgingly drives down the truck off the main asphalt road. The creaking of the empty wooden crates from the back of his truck unnerving him, he hopes that they will not fall over each other from the seemingly bumpy ride he is about to take them to.
He shakes his head a bit and rubs at his tired eyes. If he sees a silhouette of a person standing very still at the far corner of the dirt road, he pretends it is just his sleep-deprived brain doing tricks on him.
🚚
The perks of being a photographer’s muse are nonexistent, Jongin has learned it the hard way. He wasn’t young like a naive little teenager when he met Kevin but he was stupid. He surely will admit that. Initially, he was very much attracted to the Korean-American for his liberated thoughts and straightforwardness but later to his utter disappointment that his boyfriend is one of those kids from the valley who ‘ find ’ themselves in Europe every summer, cosplaying as poor people with their parent’s credit card.
With the last effort to save their dying romance, Jongin agrees to go to Jeju with Kevin for his ‘ noir ’ photography project. Jongin knows shit about photography but he owns a mirror so he knows that he’s goddamn gorgeous. So what if he has earned a considerable following in Instagram with Kevin’s artistic shots and in gratitude, he hopes for their dysfunctional relationship to work.
Yet two weeks on the island, Kevin hasn’t even touched the camera but always disappears during the day, doing god knows what. So, Jongin has befriended the neighboring farm’s dog, Bomi, by the sheer amount of times he has to seek her for entertainment. He should have listened to Sehun’s bitching about his horrible taste in men but he was too enamored by the talented photographer if only Kevin decides to take his ‘talent’ seriously. Not that he will outright complain about the free lodging and doting from the man, but the passive-aggressive comments he would throw Jongin’s way was getting on his nerves. So what if he had thrown the pot he was scrubbing at Kevin and what if he felt utmost delight when he saw Kevin’s shocked face instead of his usual shit-eating grin.
The last thing he shouted at Kevin was also a satisfying yell of, “Get a real job! You spineless moron!” Finally, he had stood up for himself as he grabbed his parka and phone off the kitchen counter. Unfortunately, his adrenaline pumped brain has failed to register that it is way too early in the morning for him to make a dramatic exit out of the cabin and did a cinematic walk outside.
But since the day of rapid endings has already picked up its agenda as Jongin is briskly and rather angrily walking outside, his phone chimes a similar tune. He begrudgingly opens the text to see not only one but two photos of Kevin holding his bruising forehead, followed by a few explicit threats about suing Jongin. He scoffs at the incoming phone call but declines it and sends a message instead.
[We are done and sue me when your daddy updates your big boy card]
He types the text out swiftly and blocks his ex’s number for good.
He ignores the creepy sound of the surrounding greeneries so he brushes them away to the back of his mind and power walks down the path. He knows there is an orchard nearby from when he visited it during his first arrival on the island. The morning air is crisp so his lungs appreciate it greatly. He could barely see further than a few feet forward because of the thick mist enveloping the surroundings.
Jongin doesn’t know if his sense of hearing is being heightened because of the adrenaline or its paranoia of all his childhood demons crawling out of his bed to haunt him. Something is rushing towards him and then it collides into his back with its claws.
He yelps and falls face-flat into the dirty mud, he hears a heavy pant and a very wet tongue licking at the side of his face. Jongin laughs uncontrollably, feeling like a child all over again. He hurdles the excited canine from his back as he kneads his knuckles into Bomi’s thick coat. She has dirtied his parka to a good degree but he couldn’t really find it in him to scold her.
“What are you doing here, sweet girl?” He questions her as if the dog would miraculously reply to his inquiry. Bomi just stares up at him with her beady eyes.
Jongin knows for a fact that there is also a family farm near the orchard that has livestock that Bomi has to herd in the morning. He has once or twice met the very dependable dog managing flocks of sheep or goats on his morning runs. He looks around but to his surprise, there is nothing following her around. He tries to feel around the little doggy tag on her collar but fails to find anything attached to it. Without a number, it is no brainer that he cannot call the owners to come to pick up their dog. Then he notices that his phone battery is running dangerously low so he just shoves it into the front pocket on his parka.
Since he has nothing else to do for an unannounced time so he might as well take Bomi back home. Thankfully, the morning dew is slowly dissipating into the thin atmosphere. It is the stillness of the quiet morning that makes all of his nerves on edge. He can hear it coming. The crunch of pebbles and dead leaves under slow-moving wheels, that’s when he sees it. Two beaming headlights of a truck as it slowly descends the low slope of the dirt road.
Jongin contemplates a bit, it will take him an hour or more to walk to the orchard. He needs someone to take him and Bomi back. His mind is screaming at him to not stupidly hitchhiked at the unknown vehicle but he counter argues that he is not in the mid-western U.S during the 70s. Besides the local guide has assured him that everyone in the little town knows everyone for something harmful to happen to him.
🚚
The further he drives down the dirt road, the silhouette of the person gets clearer and even a small hunch-over shadow is resting at its feet. Kyungsoo stares, feeling his heart pick up and the grip he has on the steering wheel tightens. Then he hears it, a loud bark breaking the tranquility of the morning. He stops the truck, puzzled by the canine running towards his truck. He rolls down the window to peer down at the dog now standing in her hind legs to support herself on the truck’s door. Bomi?
Kyungsoo chuckles. Silly dog. No wonder there is a herd of goats nearby. If he could get her to go back on the road to get the goats off the road, he will be on his merry way. He opens the door, cursing internally at the wet mud that squelches under his rubber boots.
“Hi”
Kyungsoo jumps like a cat spotting cucumber. He clambers back into the truck and promptly locks the door. He jumps again after someone knocks softly on the car window.
“Hello! I swear I am not someone suspicious!” That someone yells from outside. Kyungsoo bites his lips. What kind of situation has he ended up in? He keys in the engine, but a pair of hands slam hard on the hood of the truck.
Kyungsoo flinches as he stares at the figure standing in front of the truck. He finally takes a good look at the person. He is quite tall as his torso is clear for view and his hips are almost in line with the truck’s bonnet. The blue parka the person is wearing is smeared with mud and the stranger has removed the hood from his head. His brown hair is in a tousled mess and the stranger is adorning a perpetual pout on his rather handsome face. Kyungsoo eyes him suspiciously but Bomi is happily wagging her tail beside the mud-smeared stranger.
He removes the key but doesn’t get off the truck and rolls down the window. The stranger’s face lights up and he rushes up to the window. The stranger props his elbows on the window’s rim to prevent Kyungsoo from rolling the car window up.
“Hey, I am Jongin. Can I hitch a ride with you? Just to the Do Orchard, please,” the stranger requests blatantly right from the start. Kyungsoo blinks owlishly at him. He glances from the stranger called Jongin and the happy pup beside him. Bomi isn’t much of a friendly dog but judging from the way she stays nonchalantly beside the stranger is quite a sight. Kyungsoo knows that it is rather stupid to trust a dog but he is not as heartless as he looks to leave someone alone in the middle of a dirt road.
He sighs and unlocks the other side of the car. He cocks his head to signal the stranger to come in. The stranger looks happier than he was two seconds ago and jogged to the side, cutely.
When the stranger is about to climb in, Kyungsoo moves his palm right in front of the man’s face. “Take that off,” he requests but the stranger’s eyes grow comically wide. The tips of his ears are reddening and Kyungsoo is equally flustered by his reaction.
“I mean that parka! It’s dirty. I don’t want it smearing my car seats,” Kyungsoo protests with a pout and fixes his gaze to the front.
The stranger lets out a soft chuckle, he obliges the request quietly and climbs inside the truck and buckles himself in. Kyungsoo clears his throat and gets ready to back the truck up to the main road.
“Wait! What about Bomi? Are we leaving her here?” The stranger asks in a rush, his tone laced with worry. Kyungsoo turns to look at him and the stranger is plucking his phone on the portable charger plugged into the truck’s cigarette lighter. Kyungsoo frowns at him.
“No. She can go back to herd the goats off the road,” Kyungsoo answers simply, already seeing the dog trotting back on the road when he glances at the rearview mirror.
“Wait!” The stranger yells again. Kyungsoo slams the brake on instinct which is a mistake because he has forgotten to buckle himself back into his seat. When he almost lunches into the windshield but a strong forearm brackets his chest to his seat on time.
“Mister, can you please stop doing that?” Kyungsoo whines at the stranger as he feels a headache forming in his temple.
“I am sorry,” the stranger apologizes, “You haven’t told me your name yet or where you will be taking me.”
Kyungsoo blinks at the stranger. Is this man stupid? He vaguely recalls the stranger introducing himself as ‘Jongin’. He levels his gaze with the man’s imploring eyes.
“Kyungsoo. I am Kyungsoo. And I will be dropping you off at the orchard like you asked,” he emphasizes, “there is a bus station right outside, the earliest bus comes at 6 a.m.” The man named Jongin still hasn’t diverted his eyes from Kyungsoo’s face. He feels warm under the man’s honey brown eyes.
“I am Jongin, in case you haven’t heard it,” Jongin says, “Thank you for taking me on a ride.”
“Um, can you move your hand now?” Kyungsoo grits out uncomfortably, Jongin’s forearm is still free-real-estate-ing on his chest. When Jongin removes it, Kyungsoo pretends to not hear him mutter ‘cute’ under his breath.
Kyungsoo has smoothly backed up the truck on the main road, the road is still void of any other vehicles.
🚚
They have been on the road for almost 30 minutes now. Kyungsoo hasn’t uttered a single word at Jongin. The taller male squirms a bit, bored out of his mind. His phone is charging at a snail pace and he has nothing else to do. The landscape rarely changes its shade as all he could see the blurring shades of green. Jongin crosses his legs and uncrosses them just as fast as he did.
Kyungsoo heaves a sigh, he gives Jongin an impatient look then he fixes his eyes back on the road again. Jongin unconsciously studies the other male’s side profile, the dainty slope of his cute nose and the cascading long dark lashes making him look pretty. And those luscious full lips, he wonders if they feel as soft as they look.
“So you work for the Dos?” Jongin asks, he couldn’t help himself, it was painfully quiet in the truck that he needed to speak. Kyungsoo makes a non-committable hum.
“No. I am just helping them out,” Kyungsoo answers with a half-truth, “What are you here for? For vacation?”
Jongin is pleasantly surprised by the other’s willingness to continue their conversation.
“Yes and no. It’s complicated,” Jongin feels his mouth running dry and deciding whether he should answer Kyungsoo’s question or not. The incident with his ex is still souring his mood.
The other just hums to Jongin’s vague answer and still focuses his attention on the road. “Say don’t you think there are fewer tourists around here?” Jongin questions again.
“This area isn’t as popular as the inner part of Jeju since it is closer to Seogwipo and only locals travel around here,” Kyungsoo answers patiently. Jongin feels warm from just listening to the other male’s deep soulful voice.
“So you are a local I assume,” Jongin questions hopefully.
“I suppose. I was born and raised here,” Kyungsoo answers swiftly, “So I assume you are a city boy?”
Is that a teasing tone he heard? Jongin tries not to get his hopes up. It’s just been less than an hour since his last relationship ended. He shouldn’t be jumping on another one so fast.
“I am not from here, as you can tell. I am from Seoul. Came here for vacation,” Jongin replies just enough. He supposes he shouldn’t tell Kyungsoo about his failed romance endeavors. Yet.
“I see,” Kyungsoo says politely. Jongin somehow really wants to impress the other male, he will be damned if he didn’t leave the drive without Kyungsoo’s number on his phone.
“Um, so what do you actually do? Since you said you are just helping them out? Are you a student?” Jongin rumbles on, judging from Kyungsoo’s round and soft cheeks, the other male could still be a student helping out his family. If his hunch is right, he might be a Do.
Kyungsoo chuckles softly, his lithe form shaking from the rumble of his chest. Jongin stares a little too hard. Kyungsoo glances at him momentarily. “Aren’t you a curious one?” He teases Jongin. Jongin grins at him boyishly.
“I am not a student. That I can tell you. You ask awfully lots of questions for someone who hasn’t told me anything aside from your name,” Kyungsoo levels with him, Jongin feels warm all over again.
“To tell you the truth, it is quite embarrassing why I even came here in the first place,” Jongin answers, “I came here with my boyfriend for his work vacation.”
He waits for Kyungsoo’s reaction but to his disappointment, the other male’s face remains neutral. “Mind if I ask why are you in the middle of the dirt road?” Kyungsoo says with a whisper. Jongin looks back at him hopefully, he doesn’t know why he is feeling all sorts of emotions from meeting the other male just literally minutes ago.
“I may or may not have hit him with a pot. He’s...he’s not dead or anything. I just broke up with him,” Jongin rushes out. To which Kyungsoo barks out a hearty laugh out loud, Jongin looks at him fondly.
“Kim Jongin-ssi, by chance you stayed at the Kangs' villa?” Kyungsoo asks between his laughs. Jongin nods a little too happily. “How did you know that?” He asks immediately.
“There are only two villas around this area and Jungs' villa has been closed for months,” Kyungsoo answers easily.
“Um… you mean the stone cabin on the south bank? The Jungs'?” Jongin asks unsurely. Kyungsoo turns and frowns at him but he nods at the question.
“That villa has someone staying over… there is always a car coming in and out of it,” Jongin wonders out loud. Kyungsoo hums in thought yet his heartbeats quicken, tightening his chest uncomfortably.
🚚
Kyungsoo steals a glance at Jongin. The Jung villa has been closed for a while now. He’s not quite certain but it hasn’t been accepting guests since he came back here to help out which was exactly two weeks ago. He glances over at Jongin again, contemplating if it is rude to ask the question or not. But he braces himself and asks the other male anyway.
“Um, when will you go back?”
“Ah, it’s been two weeks so I might go back in a day or two,” Jongin replies sadly. Kyungsoo gulps. The timeline matches a little too well to his liking so instead of continuing, he fumbles with the radio, getting a puzzled look from Jongin but the latter doesn’t question him why.
He fidgets with the screen but not many channels are open yet since they are still up at ass o’clock. After glancing at the digital clock, Kyungsoo sighs out, he will get scolded by his grandparents for being late and he still has an hour more to reach the orchard.
Suddenly a soft palm wraps around his wrist, stopping him from pushing the poor display screen. Kyungsoo will be damned since he is not looking at the road anymore but trapped in the swirling honey brown eyes. “Let me,” Jongin speaks, “ you need to keep your eyes on the road,” he finishes with a chuckle.
Kyungsoo can feel his face burning with heat as he snatches his hand away from the other male’s hold. From the corner of his eyes, he can see Jongin plugging off his phone from the charging port and with a ping his Bluetooth is connected.
“What kind of music do you like?” Jongin questions him but without looking up from seemingly browsing through his music gallery. Kyungsoo unconsciously palms at his own phone inside his pant’s pocket.
“Anything that isn’t K-pop”
“Ha.Ha. Very funny”
Kyungsoo smiles instead of retorting. The other male gawks at him from the side.
“No…. guess I can’t play Fright anymore,” Jongin says with a soft whine. Kyungsoo turns to look at him, he notices that the other male looks younger when he pouts like that.
“How old are you?”
“25”
“I’m 26. Alright, dongsaeng play something else,” Kyungsoo chides playfully. He ignores the other male muttering how Kyungsoo looks more like a dongsaeng to him.
However, Jongin takes no time to play something suitable for them both and even got him humming along to the melody of the soft tune. “It’s strange,” Jongin comments out of nowhere.
“What is?” Kyungsoo questions back nonchalantly.
“There are no cars except us. Look around,” Jongin peers out from the window. Well, Kyungsoo is perfectly aware of that. He is already used to the scene, he has been getting up this devil’s hour for the past two weeks now. There is no other orchard except theirs that move the fruits this early in the morning. His grandparents don’t like waiting around much to start the day, much to Kyungsoo’s dismay.
“You know, truck drivers are included in one of the most dangerous professions around the world,” the other male adds, still turning his back on Kyungsoo.
“Good thing, I work part-time,” Kyungsoo snorts, he doesn’t see where this conversation is going. “Hyung, you ought to be careful… what if I am a serial killer,” Jongin continues, he couldn’t see the former’s expression but from the way he speaks it contains nothing sinister, Kyungsoo hopes.
“In that case, I could be a serial killer too,” Kyungsoo retorts, ignoring the thumping in his chest. The other male laughs out loud at his statement, making him frown. “Hyung, you jumped back to your truck when you saw me, I highly doubt that,” Jongin confronts, now turning back to face Kyungsoo. He momentarily stares at Kyungsoo’s side profile before turning his gaze to the road.
“I have never seen daybreak before,” Jongin comments, leaning forward on the dashboard, his lean and long torso easily propping him on it. Kyungsoo looks beyond the asphalt road, the slowly rising sun is coloring the sky in a soft salmon hue. That is the beauty of daybreak, each day is different depending on where you are on the island, the view is unlike the other parallel to it.
“You know, if you look from the south bank, it looks more uh….rom- I mean beautiful,” he clears his throat, slightly embarrassed from his almost choice of words. Seemingly catching on to his poor attempt, Jongin smiles at him encouragingly.
“What use is it looking romantic when you have no one to see it with,” Jongin whispers. Kyungsoo from the time he woke up, just wishes to reach the orchard and get his work over and done with but now he kinda wants their drive to be a little longer. It is truly too bad, once he turns the curb, they will be reaching the orchard.
They keep silent until the old iron gate creaks open for the truck to enter. Kyungsoo couldn’t even care to look at his pissed off grandpa.
🏡
Jongin looks at Kyungsoo pitifully as he gets his ear pulled by a grumpy old man. He couldn’t even get the chance to ask the other male for his number. He awkwardly shuffles his feet until the old man finishes berating Kyungsoo for being late, he would have intervened if the older didn’t stop him from even uttering a word.
He looks around, the Do orchard is bigger than what they let people see from outside. Once you get into the compound, the field of tangerine and all other citruses almost covers the area. Like Kyungsoo has told me, he saw the bus station right outside the gate. Void of people since it is still early, maybe an hour before the first bus arrives.
While he is sulking, Kyungsoo walks to his side. He smiles at the older but frowns when he sees how red the other male’s ears look from being pulled hard. He leans down to inspect it more and it gets redder the closer he looks. He gently cups the ear and blows on it like his mother used to do whenever he slipped and scraped his knees. He doesn’t know if it works for Kyungsoo’s ear though.
The other male obnoxiously clears his throat, waking Jongin out of his stupor. “It’s alright,” Kyungsoo whispers as he gently pries Jongin’s hand from his ear. The older is blushing, his pale cheeks tinging with pink much like the daybreak they just saw.
“I-uh…” Jongin stutters, looking from left to right, anywhere besides the older’s face. The grumpy old man is glaring at him from the corner so he begrudgingly turns his face to Kyungsoo’s instead.
“I...umm… see you around then”
“Wait! It’s cold. You can wait inside,” Kyungsoo offers, Jongin notices that he hasn’t let go of his hands yet. “Really?” he beams at the older, “I don’t want to bother you anym-” Before he could finish the sentence, Kyungsoo shakes his head.
He glances around to see if the grumpy old man is still around. He still is but is now joined by a seemingly sweet-looking old lady. She beckons Kyungsoo to come to her so Jongin has to let go of the older’s hand reluctantly.
When the little old lady flicks her wrist to his direction, Jongin has to point at himself to confirm if she is calling him or not. He jogs a bit to not look overeager but fails because the old man glares at him as soon as he reaches them.
“Soosoo told me you stayed at Kang's villa? You know the bus only goes there once a day. You might need to wait until evening to get back there,” she informs him with a smile. Kyungsoo seems to be surprised by that new piece of information as well because his big round eyes bug out cutely.
“You can rest in the guesthouse until the bus comes,” she sweetly offers, before Jongin could say anything, she interrupts herself, “or our Soosoo can drive you back.”
“But Kyungja has to deliver the crates,” the grandpa argues, crushing Jongin’s hope.
“Well yes but we have Woojin coming in today so he can drive instead,” she counters with a smile. Jongin feels like a ping-pong being batted from side to side.
“We have one truck! How will we send him back and deliver the darn fruits,” the grandpa doesn’t back down.
“Silly. Soosoo can accompany this nice young man until the truck comes back. You both,” she explains as if it is the simplest thing to do. She gently pats Kyungsoo on his back, “take him to the guesthouse and rest up,” and beckons them to get on with it.
Jongin bows at the elderly couple and follows after Kyungsoo who is now walking away to lead him to the guest house. He cannot believe his luck.
He happily hops along with the scattered cobblestones on the ground. The birds are chirping from the dozen nests hidden inside the lush branches from the trees surrounding them.
Kyungsoo leads him to a small cottage on the opposite side of the big wooden lodge which seems like where the elderly Do stay. It looks like a small restaurant or cafe with a few tables with chairs flipped on their tops. Kyungsoo opens the little door for Jongin to go inside the cozy little house. The doorframe is a bit low for his height so he has to lean down a bit to get inside.
The smell of fresh pine is what he notices first, the place is so organized as if no one has ever lived here before. From the minimal furniture to a few books stacked neatly on top of the dresses, nothing seems to be out of ordinary. There is also a little wooden reclining chair, a small make-shift fireplace, and the plush bed in the center.
“Make yourself at home,” Kyungsoo gestures awkwardly, Jongin chuckles at the older’s cute behavior. When the older prepares to leave, Jongin brazenly pulls his forearm in a firm grip.
“Where are you going,” he almost breathes the words into the older’s mouth from how close he has pulled Kyungsoo to him. Kyungsoo avoids eye contact, Jongin can see his barely visible Adam’s apple moving. “I need to go outside to bring something for you to drink,” he excuses, Jongin scans the room to find a small mini-fridge tucked away in the corner.
Kyungsoo follows his gaze and blushes from Jongin finding out his bluff. “Stay a bit,” Jongin requests, daring to caress the older’s wrist with his thumb. He can feel tiny goosebumps rising on Kyungsoo’s skin from his slight touch. Kyungsoo squeaks out a cute okay.
Jongin decides to sit on the edge of the bed and pats the space to his side for Kyungsoo to sit down. The older obediently sits beside him despite trying to stay not too close. Jongin could feel his eyelids shutting from not having a wink of sleep and the comforting heat from the older is further encouraging it. Kyungsoo fidgets with his green vest, Jongin can see beads of sweat gathering on the older’s temple.
He pulls out the handkerchief, he always carries to dab at the little beads away. Kyungsoo looks up at him in awe but comments nothing on how affectionate he is being right now. “Do you want water?” Kyungsoo questions rather breathlessly. Feeling his throat parched and notices he hasn’t drunk or eaten anything since last night, he lets Kyungsoo go to bring him something.
He gulps down the whole water bottle in one go and lets out a huge blissful sigh from how satisfied his throat feels now. Kyungsoo chuckles softly from the side.
“Um, I have an oversize t-shirt in the dresser but I don't think any of my pants would fit you. That is if you want to change,” Kyungsoo sweetly offers.
“Are you suggesting that I stink?” Jongin fakes an offended face while clutching his chest. Kyungsoo barks out a loud laugh, his face morphing into a delightful shape; making Jongin want to pinch the soft-looking cheeks.
“Maybe. You muddy kid,” Kyungsoo challenges, his brown eyes glinting with mischief. He yelps in surprise when Jongin tackles him playfully. He squirms and wiggles as Jongin tries to tickle him relentlessly, breaking into cute giggles when Jongin succeeds.
From the fit of giggles taking away any sort of strength out of his limbs, he surrenders through the gasps of air he manages to get through from Jongin’s tickle attack.
Jongin stops as Kyungsoo lays limply on the bed catching his breath. His lithe shoulders moving up and down as his chest bringing in enough oxygen from their play-fight. Kyungsoo finds himself being caged between Jongin’s arms and the soft mattress. He blushes profusely in realization.
But he doesn’t move away when Jongin leans down, their lips brushing minutely against each other. None of them look away either, trapped in each other’s gazes with eyes that are pleading and requesting. Jongin looks from the older’s eyes to his soft thick lips, barely able to control himself from kissing the life out of the older. When he sees the small nod of approval, that Kyugnsoo wants him too, his heart beats like it’s ready to jump out of his chest.
Kyungsoo brings his palms up to hold Jongin’s head gently as he guides the younger’s lips to his own. The first press of their lips brings sparks through their bodies, their veins coming alive with the electrifying kiss. Jongin lowers his body as Kyungsoo parts his thighs to slot the younger between them, pressing impossibly closer to his body.
Without his arms straining to keep his body up, Jongin moves his palms to feel along the pliant body under him. He continues to press soft and close-mouthed kisses on Kyungsoo’s plush lips. Their breath mingles, body temperature rising in the cool cabin. With each brush and caress of Jongin’s hands, Kyungsoo would let out soft little gasps.
Being encouraged by the other’s receptiveness, Jongin tentatively swipes his tongue over the seam of Kyungsoo’s lips. His beautiful eyes widen in surprise but he remains pliant and lets Jongin’s tongue explore his warm cavern. Jongin impatiently reaches to get the shirt off his back and immediately sucks the older’s pink tongue back into his mouth.
Kyungsoo brings his hands up to clutch softly at Jongin’s tense shoulders, his lithe fingers squeezing in motions with how deep Jongin is kissing him. He could barely breathe. Jongin zips down the ugly green vest off of Kyungsoo and proceeds to bunch up the thin white t-shirt around the older’s armpits. All Jongin sees is the unblemished pale skin ready to be ravished by him. He palms around the slightly meaty area around the older’s chest, making Kyungsoo let out all sorts of noises. He gives wet smooches on the dusty pink nipples and snorts when they both poke up in attention. Kyungsoo whines and tries to hide his face with his palms.
Jongin is having none of that, he grabs the hands just in time and kisses the older’s nose in apology. “I-I am sensitive there,” Kyungsoo mutters, turning his face away from Jongin’s lingering gaze. Jonign lets go of the older’s hands to roam his hands around the soft body, when he reaches for the hem of Kyungsoo’s pants, he looks up for permission. The older male just timidly nods. The easy give of the baggy pants lets Jongin feel the smooth glide of the skin underneath.
He gropes the delicious fat around Kyungsoo’s thighs, palms moving up and down the sensitive and softer inner part. He pulls Kyungsoo from his small waist down to line the older’s hips with his pelvis. Even the slightest friction on his groin makes him needier so he pulls the tight briefs off of Kyungsoo. The older is flushing from head to toe, his much tinier body dwarfed by Jongin’s relatively bigger frame.
He kisses the older a few more times as he peels off his jeans along with his underwear. Their naked bodies completely flush to each other, Kyungsoo’s sensitive nipples brushing against his sweat-slick skin. “Lube?” He questions, getting a little impatient from just rutting against each other. Kyungsoo fumbles with the bedside drawer to produce an almost half-emptied bottle.
The older male leans up with his elbows when Jongin sits on his shins to squeeze out a generous amount of sleek liquid all over his hand. “That’s- a lot,” Kyungsoo mutters, eying Jongin with half-lidded eyes as the younger crawls back to him. “I like it...,” Jongin kisses his temple and whispers, “extra wet.”
Then sudden cold and slippery fingers wrap themselves around Kyungsoo’s hardened cock, gliding its journey in slow upward strokes. Kyungsoo keens loud and needy, clutching his fingers back on to Jongin’s shoulders. The younger returns to slot himself between Kyungsoo’s open thighs. He lets go of the older’s cock making Kyungsoo whines at him. Instead, he grabs the other male’s hand, spreading the lube vigorously between fingers and guiding back to his own throbbing length.
Jongin’s is way above average, his velvety flesh gliding smoothly with every one of Kyungsoo’s downward strokes. The younger moans and groans into his ears, encouraging him to go faster, his hands moving in frantic motions. Kyungsoo couldn’t focus since all he could feel, smell, see or taste are all consumed by one entity that is Jongin. The younger no longer touches his weeping wet cock, instead, his long fingers are minutely pressing on his rim. Kyungsoo turns to look at Jongin, who has been burying his face into the crook of his neck, inhaling all of Kyungsoo’s scent.
And with one push of the fingertip, Jongin sinks his index finger till his knuckle presses against Kyungsoo’s ass. When he crooks it upward on the slide-out, Kyungsoo heaves, and his back bows into a beautiful arch. With a wet squelching noise, the pliant hole lets him put his second finger in smoothly. The older male stops moving his hand, just gripping Jongin’s cock loosely in his tiny hand.
“Hyung, you are so…. so wet and soft,” Jongin nips at Kyungsoo’s collar bones, making him whimper in embarrassment. Soon, Jongin inserts three of his fingers knuckle deep into the wet giving hole. His movement becomes constricting and he cannot scissors around the wet passage as much he likes.
“Please...Jongin please….just put it in,” Kyungsoo begs, his eyes brimming with tears. Jongin takes a sharp inhale as he strokes his cock with more lube, dripping and mixing with his own precome. Kyungsoo feels lightheaded from the intense smell of sex alone. The younger lines himself up, teasing the winking hole by just pushing the tip of his length. Kyungsoo huffs and punches him in the shoulder lightly when Jongin moves to slide out his cock.
“Don’t you dare…” Kyungsoo hisses but his tone flutters at the end because Jongin thrusts in all of a sudden. Jongin groans from the frantic squeeze of the older’s muscles. He rearranges their limbs so that Kyungsoo’s legs are now wrapped around his neck, almost folding the older in half. He would have cooed at the older’s wide-eyed look if he didn't feel his dick is about to explode from the overwhelming heat.
He stays unmoving, letting Kyungsoo get used to his length as he takes in slow breaths to calm himself down. His pelvis is drenched with precum, lube and all other kinds of fluids, he rather not says out loud. With even the slightest movement, Kyungsoo’s inside would pulsate and squeeze hard, holding on his cock as if its life depended on it. “Move….please,” The older whimpers, his peachy cheeks glistening and those full lips are bitten red like cherries.
Jongin spreads his knees further to experimentally thrust in, the pleasure ripples into his body from his cock dragging along the older’s insides. He grinds into the sleek hole, taking in shuddering breaths as the next thrust feels so much better than the one before. So he tries to pick up his pace, Kyungsoo encouraging him with small hitches of moans. He hugs on to the thick thighs to punch more into Kyungsoo, wanting to mold the older’s inside into the shape of his cock. His thoughts would have embarrassed him if he wasn’t so drunk in sex.
Both of their bodies are heated and slicked with sweat, Jongin moves one of Kyungsoo’s legs down onto the sheets, pining it over with his own thigh. He leans in to give Kyungsoo a lingering kiss. The older could barely respond because Jongin wouldn’t let up his speed even though the kiss is so sweet and slow.
Kyungsoo drags his fingernails to his biceps, making him slow down from punching himself into the older’s wet hole. The older meekly pushes Jongin off and holds on to the base of the younger’s dick. Albeit confused and frustrated, Jongin complies and pulls out, granting him the pleasure of seeing the older’s rim rosy and slightly stretched from the brutal fucking. Kyungsoo flips himself over, his stomach now pressed onto the wrinkled sheets as he buries his face into the down pillow.
He pushes his hips up in the air, his small waist arching to present his ass for Jongin. Jongin feels winded in the guts from the obscene view in front. He hurriedly moves forward to line up again when Kyungsoo lets out an impatient huff.
He knew he wouldn’t last long, so from the get-go he puts on a fast pace, gripping tightly on Kyungsoo’s waist. He hotly mouths onto the shell of Kyungsoo’s ear, whispering filthy shit and laughing smugly when the older whimpers at him to stop. Kyungsoo clutches onto his forearms when he leans forward to cages the older into his arms. His chest presses flushed against Kyungsoo’s back. The older tries to move his hips upward in every thrust from Jongin but cutely fails from the younger’s unforgiving strength alone.
“I am cumming,” Kyungsoo yelps when Jongin hits that spot inside him.
“Me too, me too,” Jongin blubbers, hastily sliding his hand to wrap around Kyungsoo’s weeping dick.
When Kyungsoo comes, his body goes rigid first as waves of orgasm blasts through his body then his limbs lose their strength, making him go limp on the mattress. Jongin’s hip flutters as frantically chases his orgasm, the older’s inside milking him by clenching at his cock rhythmically. Jongin comes into the condom with a long ragged groan as he presses his body onto the smaller male.
He mindlessly licks Kyungsoo's nape then drags his tongue to kiss at the corner of the older’s mouth. Kyungsoo wordlessly returns his kisses, just slow push and pull of lips and tongues.
He slides his body beside Kyungsoo to not crush the smaller anymore as Kyungsoo immediately hugs onto his side. “Wow… that was hot as fuck!” Jongin exclaims in disbelief.
Kyungsoo punches him in his chest not so gently and whines a low shut-up as he blushes.
🏡
A distance howl startles Kyungsoo awake. He rubs at his eyes to adjust to the absolute darkness of the room. His limbs are as heavy as lead and his backside has a throbbing ache when he sits up from the mattress. The only source of light is from the little gap between his two black-out curtains.
He stretches like a cat, feeling satisfied when his joints pop with each pull. Despite the dull pain, he feels refreshed. His sleep idle mind suddenly wakes when his hands bump into a soft thigh from his side. He almost yelps in shock and just barely makes it shut himself up with his palm.
He is no longer dressed in his morning attire and is now in a simple t-shirt and a clean boxer. Memories from a few hours ago come rushing back, making him blush like a virgin. He must have passed out after the best sex he has ever had in a while. Jongin has cleaned him up thoroughly because he doesn’t feel any sort of gooey substance sliding down between his legs.
The younger is still sound asleep, his lips puckering in a cute pout as he smooches his face into the pillow. He is dressed in the oversize t-shirt that Kyungsoo mentioned he could change into but on Jongin, the t-shirt fits perfectly.
Kyungsoo pulls the blanket over the younger’s shoulder as he scoops to the side to reach for his phone on the nightstand. He heaves a relieved breath when his battery isn’t as drained as he thought it would be.
It has been bugging him since this morning so he scrolls up the Naver newsfeed to see if there is a new update about the body they found this morning. When he finds nothing, he goes into the local news site instead and ends up with a new video updated just an hour ago. He tries to reach for his discarded pants on the floor to pull out his earphones. After he succeeds, he plugs it in so that he won’t wake Jongin. Stilling and not even daring to move when Jongin groans in his sleep.
_
The authorities have confirmed the identity of the body, discovered in the Western bank of the island two nights ago. Ms. K, a university student from H* University in Seoul had gone missing since the 3rd week of last month. Jeju Police have informed the news stations that there is a high probability that cases of missing tourists could be linked to the current homicide of Ms.K. The autopsy report addresses the cause of death as asphyxiation by strangulation with ligature marks found on the victim’s body. Furthermore, the investigation reports that they have yet to determine the crime scene as they speculate the body was moved…
_
His mind races a thousand-mile the more he listens to the presenter. His intuition was right, there was indeed something off with the rising cases of missing tourists. Not to mention, all of them were solo travelers visiting Jeju in the offseason. He checks the weather report beginning from three weeks prior when the first missing case was reported. Then he matches the time with the reports of tidal fluctuations around the main island. The more he searches, the more he is convinced that the victims were most likely kidnapped at the Southern bank where the Jeju Warm Current begins as it circulates in clockwise movement around the island.
Although it is getting late into the evening, he decides to tell his thoughts to his grandparents. Grandpa knows someone from the city hall so hopefully, he will listen to his speculations. The prospect of missing people winding up dead is already an unpleasant thought, not to make himself more upset, he wonders what would happen to Jongin if he wasn’t the one who picked him up on the road this morning. He half-mindedly wants to send a strongly worded letter of complaint to the Jeju Province Council but remembering he no longer is a resident registered on the island to file that complaint.
He tiptoes out of the bed and tries to hop into his pants to not disturb Jongin from his sleep but to his dismay, Jongin wakes with a loud groan as he pats over Kyungsoo’s side of the bed. Unlike him, Jongin searches for his hand and when he finds it, he squeezes it gently.
Kyungsoo blushes at the intimate gesture but doesn’t remove his hand from Jongin’s grasp. “Where are you going?” Jongin questions groggily, moving up to sit up cutely, looking too much like a bear waking up from hibernation.
“I need to go to the main house a bit, have something to tell grandpa,” he answers to which Jongin cutely nods in understanding as he stretches his long body, revealing his well-sculpted abs. Kyungsoo averts his eyes, flushing red at the memories of how shameless he acted just a few hours ago. He flips open the small lamp on the nightstand while Jongin flops back on his stomach to laze around on his bed.
“I think you should stay the night,” Kyungsoo suggests. Jongin immediately stops from rolling on his sheets as he whips his head so fast toward Kyungsoo’s direction. He fears the younger might get whiplash from how fast he turns his head. He understands the look on the younger’s face as it fills with hope yet hesitant if he is misinterpreting Kyungsoo’s kindness.
Before Kyungsoo could speak, Jongin rushed to stand in front of him. His tall physique looms over Kyungsoo in a minute. “I don’t want this to be a one-time thing,” Jongin admits quietly, avoiding eye-contact with him. A sudden wave of fondness takes over his body so he surges forward to kiss tenderly on the younger’s pouty lips. “Neither do I,” he whispers into the younger’s mouth. Jongin beams at him, his boyish grins sending butterflies into Kyungsoo’s stomach.
“Better yet, I want you to stay here until you go back to Seoul,” he suggests, leaving out the fact that Jongin can’t go back to stay with his ex at the villa anyway.
“You don’t think your grandpa would mind?” Jongin questions sheepishly. Kyungsoo laughs, of course, his grandpa would mind but from the interaction with his grandma this morning, Jongin is already favored by her so he guesses it is quite alright. So he shakes his head a bit, making Jongin excited like a puppy.
“I need to get my stuff from the villa then. It’s not much. I just bring a piece of luggage,” Jongin mutters and moves to wear his jeans scattered on the floor. “Wait! Can you get it tomorrow?” Kyungsoo rushes out, not wanting Jongin to go out at this time, although the sun is yet to set.
“He can be quite temperamental. I already blocked his number so he must be fuming. I need to salvage my things before he goes berserk,” Jongin jokes but his tone worries Kyungsoo a bit. “Besides, your grandma said I can take the bus to the villa so you can pick me up when I’m done,” Jongin continues, flipping the duvet and blankets around to look for his phone.
“I think it’s better if I drive you there and wait for you,” Kyungsoo offers, “ and I think you left your phone in the truck, we can get it later.”
“Why are you so adamant about driving me there? Aren’t you sore?” Jongin says rather slyly, eyeing him up and down which makes him blush. Then the younger slides up to him with quick steps, holding on his waist in a firm grip.
“I am sore, no thanks to you,” Kyungsoo admits bashfully, “I just don’t want you to go out alone at this hour.”
“Oh… my knight in shining armor!” Jongin teases him but stops when he pinches the younger’s side. “But tell me hyung, why are you so worried?” The younger wouldn’t let go as he boops his nose like Kyungsoo is some kid.
Kyungsoo huffs and stubbornly refuses to let Jongin touch his nose but he gives up when the younger peppers so many kisses on his face that he giggles in defeat. He bites his lower lip and contemplates if he should tell Jongin about the actual frightening reasons why he wouldn’t let Jongin go out alone. When the younger male peers into his eyes, he decides he should let Jongin know.
He explains carefully in detail from the beginning, not omitting anything like the odd number of missing tourists, how the Jung’s villa has been vacant but Jongin seeing people staying there and his new findings of the suspected whereabouts and then the possible crime scene of the recent homicide. Jongin listens to his words attentively, not even interrupting once even when his frown deepens with the more details Kyungsoo reveals.
“How do you know all that?” Jongin questions slowly, leveling his gaze with Kyungsoo’s.
“I have been worried so I have been looking around the cases myself,” Kyungsoo admits quietly, recalling how much he warns his grandparents and the neighbors to be more aware of their surroundings but getting ignored and called paranoid.
“No, well, yes… but I mean how did you know how to look at these details? Like how the currents move and the possible crime scenes,” Jongin inquires curiously.
“It’s really not that difficult. The press has been hounding the police for weeks now and there are always new articles on the internet so if you are curious enough, you can dig around easily,” Kyungsoo explains thoroughly, “and I used to help my dad out when he went on fishing trips along the island. We need to know the waves so that we can decide what time is best to catch what fish. It’s a learned trait for an island boy like me.”
“I think it’s better if I go now,” Jongin chews on his lips in thought, “Don’t you think we should warn him too?” Kyungsoo never actually thinks about that. Not that he has any bad feelings about Jongin’s ex but judging on what he’s been finding out it is better if they tell him as well. So he nods solemnly, Jongin squeezes his hands in return.
Jongin is already waiting for him in his sedan when he comes out of the elderly couple’s house. He informs them about bringing Jongin’s things and the latter will be staying with them until he goes back to Seoul. His grandma has told them to better use Kyungsoo’s car instead of the truck since it hasn’t been back yet from the evening delivery. Lucky for them, Woojin has brought Jongin’s phone, the one that he forgot to bring in the first play.
Despite him arguing with Jongin to let him drive, the younger insisted that it is in their best interest that Kyungsoo should only sit prettily beside him. From that get-go, Kyungsoo has realized that he will let Jongin get away with so many things he rarely ignores.
Jongin is a cute chatterbox, he doesn’t mind him rumbling about things that happen around the younger’s office or when he bugs Kyungsoo about what type of customers he usually meets in his line of work. So he jokingly tells Jongin that he rather works in retail like Jongin than do meetings with corporate representatives to which the younger retorts in horror that Kyungsoo is a masochist and should never step near the hell hole that is retail. Or whatever any of that sort means.
He finds himself endeared by Jongin as the minute passes by, he even ignores the beautiful sun setting in front of the road and just stares at the younger’s breathtaking profile.
“Like what you see?” Jongin teases, expecting Kyungsoo to get flustered like usual but to his surprise, Kyungsoo answers with an honest, “Very. The view is wonderful.”
Before they know it, Jongin is turning his signal lights on to drive through the old road that will lead to the villa. On the furthest South bank of the island, they have a wide area with a cliff where divers used to take tourists around for summer activities.
Locals never dive around that area, since they know only in high tides that it is safe to go dive. But most visitors only come in the usual vacation season so cliff diving is popular with them in general. The Kangs’ and the Jungs’ have built villas close to each other so when families or a large group of people come to visit, they could have a place to stay closer to that area.
Although he hears for sure that the Jungs’ no longer rent the place since it is a hassle trying to keep a proper caretaker. Kyungsoo hopes Jongin is wrong about seeing cars coming in and out of the place.
“Hey I will be right back,” Jongin is already outside the car when his mind focuses back to real-time.
“Be careful, call me if you need any help,” he yells at the younger and getting wave at by him as Jongin walks over the cobblestone road until he walks up to the Kangs’ villa door front.
What is with these people and not keeping their gates locked? Kyungsoo looks around and notices that the two villas are built closer than he thought. There is only a long fence of high shrubbery, properly maintained in the Kangs’ side while the Jungs’ side looks out of order with branches protruding out and about.
Jongin has parked the sedan a little on the entrance so he decides to drive it a little bit closer to the villa, in his right mind to not walk outside since the sun has already set and the only lights are the dim streetlights from the road outside.
He scoots his butt over the auto gear, groaning as he finally realizes how sore he actually is. He yelps painfully when he digs into something hard instead of the firm car seat, When he moves to grab the object, it vibrates in two consecutive chimes.
Jongin has left his phone again as the iPhone chimes over and over with new notifications. Kyungsoo squints at the device, the blue light piercing into his eyes and unable to make out the words immediately. When he adjusts to it, it’s from the device security system notifying Jongin that someone has logged into his cloud a few minutes ago.
Kyungsoo snorts. What is Jongin even doing, trying to log in to his account from his laptop maybe? The younger might be trying to find his phone again. But his heart beats irregularly as more notifications chime in as he holds the device. More requests to log into all sorts of Jongin’s devices, someone is deleting everything from the younger’s cloud system.
However, it was the last one that got him running into the house, a picture of Jongin looking into his laptop cam and some shadowy thing hovering over him. Kyungsoo doesn’t know if he should thank the younger for connecting all his digital devices or should he cried because the stupid kid keeps screwing up his passcode and something dangerous is going to happen to him.
He really couldn’t care how much his slippers slapped hard over the concrete driveway as he ran down to the front door. Jongin has left it open so there is no hero in action movie stunts about breaking windows and stuff.
He looks around, to just find the eerie quietness of the living room. Grey sofas are facing the open kitchen with dirty countertops and half-opened pizza boxes. Kyungsoo leans his head over the tiny hallway, it is dimly lit so he fears something or someone might jump him if he is not careful. He grabs the mop shoved in the corner between the fridge and the wall as he tip-toes into the hallway.
There are two doors down the hall and one of them has its door jarred open as light spilled into the wall adjacent to it. Kyungsoo pokes at the door, making it creak open. He peers into it with the mop in front so that he can beat whatever lunges at him just in case. To his relief, he finds nothing but an empty room.
It looks like a normal bedroom with a king-size unmade bed in the middle. There are clothes haphazardly thrown into a grey suitcase, it hasn’t even zipped up yet. Kyungsoo closes the door behind him and leans down to read the little name tag poking out. Kim J it says. He gulps down. Where the hell is Jongin?
Suddenly he sees blinking light under the suitcase so he shoves it to the side to see a MacBook hidden under it. There is a large dent on its corner and sometimes red that he sure doesn’t hope blood is evident on that said corner. He inspects it closer and wants to cry since the stain is indeed blood. “Oh God, oh god,” he murmurs.
The laptop stops blinking as he calms himself down. Telling himself to think as he looks around the room like a maniac. To see better he throws open the blackout curtains just to find a glass sliding door locked in place. He looks beyond it to find out where it leads as he comes face to face with the backyard of the Jungs’ driveway.
He recalls Jongin saying something about seeing someone coming in and out of the villa. Maybe it’s because Jongin’s room is facing the driveway. He slams open the sliding door and his slippers squelch into the ground. He looks down and it is just soft mud from this afternoon drizzle.
Kyungsoo thanks every being that ever existed that the rain has given him enough clue to where he should go. There are clear footprints of very large boots leading toward the Jungs’ villa. He walks around the trail to not step on it just in case. He has been so focused only on the footprints that he doesn’t even notice he has reached the end of the mud trail where he finds one large handprint as well.
Then the trail was all messed up with traces of something being dragged across the mud. He holds his breath, he could care less about tampering with the evidence or whatever the hell that is important to police. He runs and runs until the mud trail disappears onto the concrete ground where the footprint stopped appearing and there he faces the steel door of the Jungs’ garage door.
In the moment of clarity, he knows he has to call the police, there are stations all around the island. It would only take a few minutes for them to get here. However, he opts out not to do it because if and only if the culprit could still be there, the police siren could warn them to make their escape. He couldn’t let that happen. The garage looks like it has been kicked open with hinges coming off at the side.
Kyungsoo just follows the barely-there footprint and meets with another hallway. He takes in slow and steady breaths, fearing if he breathes too loud, things would go from bad to worse. Then a loud thunk of something dropping, no, being kicked into the ground startled him but he jumped to the source of the sound. His slippers slapping the polished floor of the hallway.
And there he sees it, a foot poking out of a door, he rushes to inspect but ends up sobbing when he immediately realizes who it belongs to. Someone has jammed Jongin’s feet to close the heavy steel door inside this goddamn building.
He sticks the mop in the slight gap to pull it open as much as he could. The door opens with an ominous creak. Jongin is lying on his stomach unconscious. His visible side of the face is bruising with purple and the back of his head is matted with something wet. Kyungsoo shakenly crawls to feel around the area and realizes it is blood.
He takes out his phone, barely trying to put a word to word when he hears the loud thunk again. Kyungsoo looks up to where the sound is coming from and he was so shocked that he isn’t aware of another person being strapped tight to all corners of a steel table.
The person struggles and struggles to free themselves off the restraints bound so tight to all of their limbs. Kyungsoo takes off his light jacket to cushion Jongin’s head from the cold floor as he swiftly moves to free the person strapped on the table.
The captive is also gagged and blindfolded as well. He couldn’t remove the ropes as well as he thought since the person keeps struggling and yelling in muted shouts through the cloth gag.
With no other options to do and to not let Jongin bleed to death, he yanks off the person’s mouth gag. When the captive is about to shout with all their lungs out, he shushes them swiftly.
“Hey...hey don’t be scared. Alright, I am here to help you,” he begs her , his frantic mind soon realizing it is a girl as he presses his palm onto her mouth. He pities her but he cannot think with a screaming person around him.
She moves her eyes around and visibly shakes when she sees unconscious Jongin lying on the floor. Kyungsoo kneels to cradle Jongin’s head back on his thigh as he tries his best to not cry.
“I am going to call the police now, okay. We will be alright,” he faintly reassures and begins to sob when he sees Jongin twitching his eyes open.
“Hello, this is 112. What is your emergency?” The other line connects.
🏡
Six months later,
Kyungsoo still thinks flowers are a bit too overrated since this is the fifth hospital visit that he keeps seeing the patient’s vase filled with white roses and get-well-soon cards. He always brings fresh fruits for Ji-eun to eat. The poor girl probably is sick of the hospital goops they dare call food.
He waits at the usual spot for Ji-eun from her physical rehabilitation. Her legs were shattered and it was a miracle that she could still walk after all the things she went through. Her memories from the time she got kidnapped till she was kept captive were all fuzzy blur of unpleasant series. The doctor has told him that patients with traumatic incidents like that tend to suppress those memories as a defense mechanism.
He is already very grateful that she remembers both him and Jongin and even testified against the court. When the police found a body shoved inside the locker where the kidnapper kept Ji-eun, and it is identified as Jongin’s ex-boyfriend Kevin, Jongin became a primary suspect.
Kyungsoo remembered being furious as the prosecutor for hammering the recently recovered Jongin on the stand. Three of Jongin’s ribs were broken from being kicked brutally when he went unconscious. He also had stitched up his head and his left ankle still hurt in some days. Jongin insisted that he doesn’t remember any of it so Kyungsoo never hounds him about it.
Today Jongin couldn’t come to visit Ji-eun like how they both usually do. He stays silent in his own thoughts and not noticing Ji-eun walking towards him.
“Hey…. I didn’t know you would come today”
“How could I not? I promised I would visit every Thursdays”
She smiles at him slowly as she sits on the edge of the bed when Kyungsoo moves to help her, she just waves him off.
“Any news about the case?”
Kyungsoo shakes his head solemnly. It is already a routine that she asks about it. The first few months, detectives and the reporters hound her about everything she could tell them about the case. She tries her best but nothing new comes off it. Now the investigation has gone on a halt but Kyungsoo doesn’t have the heart to tell her the truth.
“Good,” she comments, “I want to forget about all of it already.”
“You know I keep on having these dreams,” she continues, looking past Kyungsoo and staring at the window on his back.
“The one I told you about. The guy that drove me back to that...that place. I always thought it was him . I keep telling the police that I am not crazy enough to get in a car with my kidnapper but along the way, I believe their words over my own,” she speaks, still looking beyond Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo keeps silent, listening to her attentively.
“Even this morning I dreamt about him. How I felt so safe around him that I willingly got in his car and let him drive me back,” she trails off into the distance. Kyungsoo looks at pitifully, he heaves a sigh. He is the only one who believed her that there are two people involved in these kidnappings.
The missing tourists are still yet not found so are the kidnappers.
“You should rest. It’s been a long day,” Kyungsoo notes as he helps her lay on her bed. She smiles at him sweetly, “Say hi to Jongin for me.” He nods in reply.
Kyungsoo slowly walks down the stairs, thinking all on its own. He still doesn’t drive in Seoul. His grandparents have now closed the orchard for half a year now. It has been long since he moved in with Jongin to the younger’s apartment.
He supposes he should buy some take out on the way home. But still couldn’t decide what he should order. He jumps like a cat when a car honks him back to reality.
He looks back to glare at the culprit but to find his boyfriend grinning at him behind the wheels. “I told you not to drive, didn’t I?” Kyungsoo chides gently but still slides inside the passenger seat anyway.
Jongin kisses him on the cheek and moves to buckle him up securely.
“You should be more careful, hyung, what if I am a serial killer,” Jongin says with a serious face. Kyungsoo shakes his head in disbelief.
“Just so you know, I could be one too,” Kyungsoo retorts sarcastically.
__FIN__