Chapter Text
Coming back to the present, a bit of information before we get to Shim Changmin and his adventures let’s have a look. The city is like any other Main City where you have the extraordinary billionaires playing heroes at night and the masked vigilantes. The City has its share of crime and crime fighters. It also have its own superheroes/ villains. In this super hero/ villain mix, you also have Park “Micky” Yoochun, ex-vigilante turned to peacemaker/ middle man.
Mickey, unlike his alias was very calm and collected. Even though he was shit at being a vigilante he was a very competent middle man. I mean the dude couldn’t steal an ice cream from a kid. How can he steal from an adult? His calm and laid back nature always made sure that the petty fights didn’t escalate. And often he worked with the Police to track down criminals like rapists, abusers, human traffickers etc… Even though his approach was not ideal, this deal worked well for both ends.
Yoochun’s role as middle man also extended to the heroes. Although some were reluctant to trust an ex-vigilante, when they called in times of need Yoochun didn’t hold back any help. Anything to prevent unnecessary wars and save a human life where needed. He also knew about all heroes and villains and all new initiates on both sides were informed so that no one was running around unmarked.
Which is why Shim Changmin is currently making his way to Yoochun’s condo. If Yoochun is aware of this new 17 year old hero and how he came to be. Changmin hopes Yoochun isn’t aware of Kim Jaejoong and so help him God if he does, this town will have to find another middle man for heroes and villains.
Upon entering the moderate looking room Changmin finds Yoochun sitting on one of his plush sofas reading the newspaper. Changmin’s entrance makes Yoochun look up from his newspaper and his face breaks into a small smirk.
“What are you doing here so early Shim? I thought you would be celebrating your last night’s spoils today” Yoochun drawls putting the newspaper.
Changmin drops the ID he nabbed from Jaejoong yesterday night on the coffee table in front of Yoochun and walks to the bar to pour himself a drink. When he turns around clutching the glass Yoochun’s forehead is creased in a frown, the ID clutched in his middle and forefingers.
“Why do you have an ID of a high schooler?” Yoochun asks in a suspicious tone. For all his life Shim Changmin has been a rather vindictive soul and Yoochun could never peg him for maniac or just another billionaire with too much money and time to spare. His undefeated streak of escaping the police also makes Yoochun wary of Shim Changmin most of the time.
“That, my dear Yoochun is the ID of the hero who tried to arrest me yesterday” Changmin drawls and watches Yoochun’s brows shoot to his hairline.
“What? How? I mean, what the fuck Shim? A hero? This gangly kid? Are you playing me? Do you think it’s funny?” Yoochun stands up and starts towards Changmin. “There is no way this kid is a hero. Trust me, I know my heroes.” Yoochun exhales slowly.
“Apparently not Yoochun, cause this kid here sneaked on me yesterday while I was busy. Although the attempt was hilariously juvenile. I mean come on, the cops couldn’t even catch a glimpse of me and this kid sneaks on me. Hilarious” Changmin swirls the ice cubes in his glass and glances at Yoochun.
The frown on Yoochun’s face has now taken a turn to worry as if waiting for a bomb to drop. He can’t really blame Yoochun for being concerned. If there is a dead body, it means more trouble for Yoochun. Specially if it was an innocent civilian in high school.
By now it’s clear to Changmin that Jaejoong is an entity not known to Yoochun so he puts the glass down. “I guess you should better find out more about this kid before he gets killed soon then” Changmin says to Yoochun while striding to the exit. He hears Yoochun making a phone call just as he exits the room, snapping at whoever was on the other end.
After an hour Changmin sits in his underground room with a bunch of printouts. As soon as he had got home he had done a search on Kim Jaejoong. Surprisingly there were a lot of Kim Jaejoongs and Changmin had to do a thorough sorting before getting the correct information. What surprised Changmin most was the lack of SNS activity on the kid. Also how little the kid had on him in the internet.
Leafing through the file Changmin takes the information in. Jaejoong, surprisingly or unsurprisingly has been abandoned at an orphanage when he was born. Has been cycling through the orphanages and foster homes his whole life and after a severe case of bullying had landed him in this city’s orphanage. His life on the papers makes Changmin cringe. The question is how did the kid get his powers. That’s a question to be answered later but for now Changmin digs up the address of the orphanage for a visit.
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Changmin discovers that Jaejoong has been arrested as a suspect for the robbery. It doesn’t take a genius to understand why as Changmin has left the kid unconscious at the crime sight with no ID. So Changmin makes sure that the kid has a lawyer and is at the orphanage within the next hour. And no, Changmin is not feeling guilty!
The next step directs him to dig up about the orphanage. At least the orphanage is clean and has no shady business under them so there’s that. At this point Changmin doesn’t know what he wants so he just calls it a stop with a frustrated sigh and goes on to order some food. At least that would help his dilemma.
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The matter doesn’t fade away and stays in the back of Changmin’s mind like a wad of chewed gum. Just as unpleasant too. Even though he cannot help, Changmin appoints a private eye to check on Jaejoong and has reports delivered to him every other day. So far the kid had been beaten up five times this week and it’s not even Wednesday! WHat is this kid? A magnet for trouble? It’s frustrating to watch but Changmin really doesn’t need this…. God damn it Kim Jaejoong sixth time this week and it hasn’t even been an hour.
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Changmin sighs and nudges his glasses higher. This is ridiculous and Changmin wants to groan at his own stupidity but he is a Shim and he will not… regret… drunk actions that may or may not have had him placed in Jaejoong’s school as the new Physics teacher due to the last one meeting with an unfortunate accident. Not like he was any good, what with half the class failing and the other half not attending so Changmin sighs and makes his way to the Principal’s office.
The drunken fiasco had happened in an attempt Changmin made to forget the kid and the troubles and to just move on. But being spectacularly wasted, he had made the brilliant plan of placing himself in Jaejoong’s vicinity which was not the original intent.
The morning passes on with introductions and handing overs from previous teacher. The syllabus is tolerable and nothing Changmin cannot handle. The students are a bratty lot but Changmin can always count on his glower and pissed off face to reign in a class full of prepubescent teenagers to order. Nothing he has not handled. He did face the worst villains on a daily basis.
Kim Jaejoong comes to his radar later in the week. He is quiet and to no surprise at all, friendless. Throughout the lesson he keeps to himself and takes notes as if to obliging to a rule. He is shy around the girls and it doesn’t help that he looks elfish with his pale skin and large eyes.
Changmin also observes how Jaejoong gets dragged into fights almost everyday. Whether it is to protect a classmate from a bully or help someone in need, Kim Jaejoong seems to be a saint previously unknown.
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To relieve his frustration and to clear his thoughts he goes out for a city run. His route takes him through the city for a good hour and a half. It has been a wise decision to remain away from the media giving Changmin enough cover to be less known to the public. Although he appears on the wealthy inner-circle his face doesn’t grace magazine covers like most billionaires tend to do.
Running clears Changmin’s mind and works up enough sweat for him to take a small break. The park he settles at is off from the main road and devoid any pedestrians. The street lights all gone off and the only light from the nearby houses, Changmin sits on a swing and tries to gather his thoughts.
The thing is he still doesn’t know why he is so obsessed with Jaejoong. It is definitely not romantic feelings, for heaven’s sake the kid is only seventeen. And it is not friendly feelings or any admiration. The kid tried to subdue him without any weapons and Changmin can call him a fool for trying. So what does this mean. The pondering is only broken by a small whisper right next to his ear and a sharp point on his back.
“Hey there mate, care to give me a couple o’dollars?” the voice whispers next to Changmin’s ear. “Ah ah. No turnin ‘round. Just hand me your pocket. That’s a good boy” The thief whispers. Changmin rolls while he stands up under the pretense of reaching for his wallet.
“Martin!” the shriek cuts across the park and the person behind Changmin lets out string of curses that will make Lucifer himself blush and retract the hand clutching the knife. “For fuck’s sake kid. Leave me alone” He yells trying to escape but Jaejoong is lightning fast as a result of his whatever power and on ‘Martin’ in seconds. Now that Changmin looks carefully Martin is actually clutching a piece of wood that would look similar to a knife in the dark.
“Martin, I told you to stop this” Jaejoong shouts dragging Martin towards Changmin. The kid has a bizarre outfit of a black hoodie and an ice cap and some kind of a mask. His jeans are pretty torn on the knees and the hoodie had seen better days decades ago. The mask only reveals his eyes but Changmin can see several scrapes on his hand.
Martin tries to break free but Jaejoong drags him over to Changmin. “I’m so sorry sir. Did he try to rob you? Did he take anything?” Turning to Martin he says “You better give him back whatever you took” in a glowering voice but it only comes across as a kitten growling as Changmin has seen the same kid trying to pet a kitten and pout when the cat escaped him.
“Get the fuck away from me you psycho. And stop coming after me” Martin is livid trying to break free and at one of his pushes releases him from Jaejoong’s clutch but at the same time pushes Jaejoong to trip over the swing and fall rather spectacularly on the ground. Martin takes off as fast as he can and Changmin sighs. What did exactly happen here? When Jaejoong doesn’t get up as he hoped Changmin crouches down and realises the kid has been knocked unconscious when he fell down. So Changmin lets out another sigh, takes a moment to curse at his own fate and bends down to gather the kid to take to a doctor. Jaejoong does seem to have a lot of bruises, especially on his head area. Otherwise who the hell would try to persuade a thief to stop thieving and return the snatched items. Unbelievable!