Warning: Yaoi (boyXboy) I wrote this as a contest entry, so it's kind of rushed haha. It's not that good, but I just wanted to share it ~~~ The Space Between Us "Life is unfair." "Get. Out." The father growls, flinging clothes and belongings from their shared room into a suitcase. The siblings, bruised and battered from their father's earlier outburst, stand quietly in the doorway, not daring to make a sound. He was not that old; it was the stress from debts and the depression from his wife's death a few months ago that made his face what it is now. His wrinkled face scowls at the brothers, and the older of the two shifts in front of the other, as if to protect him. The father thrusts the suitcase into the older brother's arms, and roughly shoves them out of the house. "Leave. I don't have the time or money to be caring for a pair of good-for-nothings." Their father grumbles, slamming the door in their faces. It is only then that the younger brother lets his tears out, crying in fear of what would happen to the two of them. "Why? Why are we the ones who have to pay for Father's debt? Why Mother? Why did she have to be killed by Father's debtors?" Himchan rants, slamming his fist into the brick wall of their home. No, scratch that--it wasn't their home anymore. Yongguk sighs, and pulls his younger brother into a hug. "Life is unfair, Channie. We just have to deal with it." Seeing that his words weren't comforting the younger, he gently pressed his lips against the younger boy's forehead, murmuring, "No matter what happens, I'll always be with you, Channie." --- The two barely got by; they had to scrimp on anything they could, and save most of their wages from doing odd jobs for strangers. No one wanted to hire two orphaned teenage boys. The most they'd do was allow them to do odd jobs around the house, and that was it. They never had a stable income; thus, the only place they could afford to live in was a small hut near a stable owned by a benevolent old couple. "Hyung, you okay? Want to take a break?" Himchan asks worriedly upon seeing Yongguk's pallid face. Yongguk merely nods in response, not wanting Himchan to worry about him. He'd been eating meagre portions of his food, wanting Himchan to be able to eat more. "Y-Yeah, I'm okay. Let's hurry up and finish this job, or we won't be able to afford dinner tonight." He smiles weakly, pushing the cabinet into the designated corner. The two help the old Mrs Park move the rest of her furniture into her new house, and, grasping their wages gleefully in their clammy hands, hurry home. "C'mon, Channie, let's take that shortcut home! You're hungry, aren't you?" Yongguk smiles his gummy smile, but Himchan hesitates. "Hyung, I don't wanna go through that alley... It's dark and creepy! What if someone kidnaps us or something?!" Himchan tugs on Yongguk's hand, pulling him away from the alley and back onto the path. "I can wait a little longer; let's just go home this way, alright?" "Oh, Channie, don't be such a wimp. Hyung'll protect you." Yongguk rolls his eyes in frustration, and Himchan meekly nods his head, not wanting to annoy him. "Okay then." Himchan hesitantly tags along behind Yongguk, and they walk through the dark alley. "Look guys, we've got a new toy." "Two new toys, to be exact." A tall, buff male steps out of the shadows, flanked by two men. Himchan steps back in fear, only to be shoved forward by another henchman. "Hyung, I'm scared..." Himchan's voice quavers in fear, and Yongguk grips his hand tighter, as if to reassure him. "What do you want?" Yongguk's voice rings out, clear and firm, and Himchan is glad that he is his older brother. "The two of you, duh." ________________________________________________________ "Leave Channie alone." Yongguk growls, before cursing himself when he realises he just gave away Himchan's name. Or, more precisely, his nickname. "Channie? His nickname, I presume?" The tallest male, evidently their leader, saunters over to Himchan, looking him up and down. With rough and callused fingers, he lifts the younger's chin, forcing him to look up at him. He surveys his face, and smirks. "Well, this 'Channie' is pretty. He's just my taste." The tall, blonde male steps back, and commands, "Get them." Immediately, his henchmen swarm onto the two, trying to bind them with ropes. Yongguk fights most of them off, but a short brunette is too fast for him, and he lands a punch on Yongguk's stomach, effectively winding him. While Yongguk struggles against the men who are binding him, the rest of the gang advance onto Himchan. Afraid of the men with their leering faces, Himchan turns and bolts, not caring where he's going--right now, all he wants to do is to escape. He runs straight into a young man, and immediately apologises, before trying to run around him, but he is too late. The gang has caught up, and Himchan cowers behind the stranger in fear. "Get out of the way." The leader with the curly blonde hair glares at the stranger. Instead of replying, the stranger swings his fist at the leader, his fist connecting with his jaw. Blood leaks from the corner of his lips and the leader snarls angrily. His henchmen rush towards the blonde stranger with metal poles and spears, but instead of using one of the old and chipped arrowheads littered around the garbage cans, he simply fights back with his bare fists, using the spears they drop to defend himself. Soon, all the henchmen are exhausted and injured, and the leader walks up to the blonde male, smirking. "Well, you've definitely improved." The blonde male's jaw clenches and he stiffens, and Himchan looks up worriedly. How could a simple sentence affect him so much, when a whole gang attacking him with weapons barely affected him? "Anyway, feel free to join us any time. We'll always welcome a good fighter like you, Jongup." "Never." Jongup snarls, his grip on the bloodied spear tightening. "My, my. Feisty, aren't you." The leader chuckles darkly, reaching out for Himchan, who backs away quickly. Jongup moves in front of him, exactly like Yongguk did, and Himchan suddenly feels that he can trust this 'Jongup'. "Leave off him, Chanyeol." "Leave off him? My, someone's found a new lover." "He is not my lover." Chanyeol ignores his statement. "Be careful of falling in love. You never know who might become the next Sunhwa." Jongup freezes, and Himchan looks up worriedly again. Who was this Sunhwa, and why did her name have such a big impact on Jongup? Eyes narrowing, Jongup punches Chanyeol hard, and Himchan gasps, startled. "Do not ever mention her again." Jongup growls, grabbing Himchan by the wrist and pulling him away. The short brunette who had winded Yongguk rushes forward to stop Jongup, but Chanyeol stops him. "Let him go, Baekhyun." Chanyeol's lips curl up into an evil smile, "I'd like to play a little game with him." ________________________________________________________ "No." "Please?" "No." "Why not?" "No means no." "You're mean." "Yeah, I am." At this, Himchan pouts, crossing his arms like a young kid throwing a tantrum. The moment the blonde male walks away, however, he immediately drops his stubborn stance and runs up to him. "Pretty please?" Himchan tugs on Jongup's long sleeve. "Let me learn from you, then I can go save Gukkie hyung!" Jongup scowls, turning around to face Himchan, "Listen, kid. I ain't gonna get embroiled in all this saving shit. You wanna save your hyung, do it yourself." Himchan pouts again, "Aww, please? Pretty please with a..." He looks around, before grabbing a stone from the ground and putting it on his head, "...rock on top?" Jongup bursts out laughing, but quickly collects himself, returning to his normal emotionless face. "That's a stone, silly." He takes the stone from Himchan's head, ruffling his hair absentmindedly, "This would make a good arrowhead, y'know." Himchan grins when his hair is ruffled, quickly running up beside Jongup and grabbing his hand. "So, can I follow you?" Jongup rolls his eyes, about to tell Himchan to get lost, when the younger quickly interrupts him. "I'll clean your whole house for you! I can cook for you, or wash the dishes, or do the laundry... I'll do anything, just please, teach me some fighting techniques!" Himchan pleads, giving the best sad puppy eyes look he can muster. Jongup thinks about this for a moment. A housemaid of sorts wouldn't be too bad, would it? Eventually, he nods. "Alright, I'll teach you. But I ain't gonna do anything more." Jongup walks away, trying to hide the smile on his face when Himchan breaks out into a happy dance. He shakes his head, as if to shake away the smile on his face. Why am I smiling for a total stranger? ________________________________________________________ Himchan looks out the window, gazing at the falling rain. It's been several years since he'd first met Jongup, and his combat skills were getting better day by day. He lets his head fall onto the window pane, and while listening to the soothing sound of the rain pit-pattering against the glass, he sighs. When was he going to be able to save Yongguk? He looks up immediately when Jongup enters the house, dripping wet. He rushes to him with a towel in his hand, quickly trying to dry him off. "Hyung, why didn't you come home earlier when the sky started turning dark?" Himchan asks worriedly, pushing Jongup into the bathroom to shower and change into a warm set of clothes. "You could have caught a cold if you'd stayed out there longer." Jongup rolls his eyes and chuckles, "Sometimes I wonder who's the older one between us two. You're so naggy." He slams the sliding door shut before Himchan has a chance to pout and reply, and the younger simply sits down, leaning against the door. "How exactly is this world we're living in?" Himchan muses, more to himself than anybody else, but Jongup answers anyway. "You think?" "Well... I think it's a world that needs love and trust to survive." Jongup scoffs, and Himchan can hear it from the other side of the door. "That's a boy's answer. There's no such thing as love or trust—it's all lies. Trust me, kid. The world is cruel." Himchan pouts at Jongup's negative answer, snapping, "You taught me not to trust, so why should I trust you and your lies?" Jongup suddenly slides the door open, and Himchan falls backwards onto the wet floor. He sits up, pouting and whining at Jongup, but the older merely walks away. Later, Himchan regrets snapping back at Jongup, for all his effort he put in the past few years were gone just like that—Jongup had retreated back into his protective shell, keeping the space between them again. ________________________________________________________ Just a little bit more, Himchan thinks. Just a little bit more and I'll be able to see Yongguk hyung again. He peeks out at the three members of the gang who had taken his brother. According to Jongup, they were called Skrull, and they moved headquarters every month to avoid anyone finding them. He'd come this close to finding their headquarters several times before, but he'd either lost them or he was discovered and had to run away. Not this time, Himchan smirks, edging around the corner and dashing after them the moment they run off towards their headquarters. "Well, well, well. Look who's here." A smug voice speaks from behind Himchan, and he whirls around, recognising the voice immediately. "Gukkie hyung!" Himchan is about to run up to him and fling his arms around him, but he notices something which makes him stop in his tracks. The tattoo of a cracked black skull with an axe on it, big and visible on Yongguk's neck, just below his jawline. "Why? Afraid of me now, Channie?" The way he says the younger boy's nickname sends shivers down the said boy's spine. "Come and join us. We'll have the power together. Nobody will dare to hurt us, especially not that bastard of a father." He smirks, "I killed him, by the way." "What happened to you?" Himchan looks up at Yongguk with disappointment and fear in his eyes. "I know you hate Father, but I never thought you'd do something like kill him..." "Well, I changed." Yongguk smirks, moving closer to Himchan, who only backs away. "Yeah. You've changed..." Himchan bites his lip, and he turns and runs away. "Hyung, he's changed..." Himchan bursts out into tears the moment Jongup asks him what was wrong. "People change, kid. You've changed from a noisy and good-for-nothing brat into who you are now." He pauses for a moment, before continuing, "People have their reasons to change. I changed too." "How so? And what was the reason for it?" Jongup looks like he was about to spill for a moment, but he quickly collects himself and curtly replies, "Well, do you think I would tell you?" "No..." Himchan pouts. "Good. I'm off to sleep." Jongup gets up, heading for bed without a single word of goodnight. ________________________________________________________ Himchan quickly runs to the old man's side, checking for any major wounds. Luckily, there are none, and he turns angrily to the gang who were beating the elderly man up, only to come face-to-face with his own brother. "Yongguk hyung? Why are you doing this?" Himchan looks up at his brother with pleading eyes. "Please, stop this... You're destroying your life." "Stop interfering with my affairs if you're not going to join us." Yongguk scowls, "Now move out of our way." "I won't! I'm not going to let you beat up an elderly man!" Himchan yells, standing firmly in front of the old man, who shakily stands up and hobbles away. "Fine. We'll just beat you then." Yongguk smirks, swinging his fist at Himchan. It connects with his jaw and Himchan stumbles slightly. Even with his years of training with Jongup, Himchan still could not fight against Yongguk and the twelve other members of Skrull, including Chanyeol, their leader. By the time they had finished fighting with him, he was an injured, bloody mess. "You had better leave now. You can't fight me." Himchan forces himself to stand up, using his sword as a sort of crutch. He stumbles forward, trying to strike Chanyeol with it, but before he can do so, a sword pierces into his abdomen. He stops, looking down, tracing the sword to Yongguk's shaking hands. "Himchan!" Jongup's agonised cry rings out, and Himchan turns towards the blonde, before collapsing weakly on the ground. Yongguk pulls the sword out of Himchan, falling to his knees in front of his younger brother. "No...Himchan...what did I do?" Tears fall from Yongguk's eyes as he repeats, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Yongguk looks down at his bloody, shaking hands. His face shows an expression of disbelief and madness, and the other twelve members of Skrull quickly run away. Yongguk picks up the sword, and stabs himself right in the heart with it. As his eyes close for the final time, he hears Himchan's soft voice, whispering "I forgive you." "No, Himchan... Don't die. Stay with me, I know you can do it." Jongup gently places Himchan's head in his lap, blinking back the tears that were threatening to fall. "You've never believed in me." Himchan smiles wryly. "I've never believed. I knew." "You've never trusted me." Himchan coughs, and blood stains his lips. "I guess I did trust you, even though I didn't know it. I still do." Tears fall from his eyes, and Himchan reaches up to wipe them away with a shaky hand. He remembers the conversation he'd had with Jongup the previous day all of a sudden. "What's the reason that you changed?" "At first it was Sunhwa. Then it was you." Jongup replies with a smile, and Himchan tears up, happy that he had finally torn down Jongup's last wall. The gap between them was finally gone. Himchan stops breathing all of a sudden, a smile still on his face, and Jongup cries his heart out. It's the first time he's ever cried like this since Sunhwa's death, and only then does he truly realise how much Himchan means to him. "You're the best thing that's ever happened in my life, Himchan." Jongup presses a chaste kiss onto Himchan's cold, unmoving lips, not even caring about the crimson blood that stains both their lips.
Good job haha I loved it but you should have made when the older brother got taken away more big and stuff. I didn't realize he was gone until the other sibling said so.
@jennete: Thank you for your comment! I did rush this, so there are some parts I glazed over. haha @Naviesa Thank you! ^^
This was like ice to emotion being burned and melted away by fire. At the start it was troubling to get into but by the end I loved it and thoroughly enjoyed reading it.