Work Text:
Most of the time, Jisung would consider the night beautiful; especially midnight. For him, this seems to be the perfect time to be who you truly are. Wherever you go, you would most likely be alone. The streets are no longer filled with people’s chatter and footsteps nor cars with their honkings and engine revving. In this uninvited isolation you are free from judgement. You’re free to do whatever you want. Nobody is there to judge you anyways.
But there are times where Jisung absolutely detests it. It is nights where he needs to be someone - or something - he doesn’t want to be. Nights where he’s thankful for the emptiness in the streets, not for the peace and serenity it gives, but rather because the dark sky is perfect to act as his cloak as he moves his way into the designated location in silence.
Jisung has no right to complain anyways. Everything that led to this point was his choice. It was all set in stone ever since he shook that man’s hand. It was Jisung’s choice to accept that during most nights, he would be able to sleep in peace and be able to live the way he wanted to. No more having to struggle with groceries or rent and no more struggles with his tuition. But there would be nights where he had work.
Nights where Jisung had a target to eliminate.
When Jisung was given the name, he couldn’t believe it. There was no way someone put a target on him. There was no way Jisung could stab him or whatever gruesome way they wanted Jisung to do.
He did his best to ignore the request. He walked out the office. He turned off his cell phone and ghosted them. Jisung will not take the request no matter what.
But that was easier said than done. Especially when they can threaten Jisung with those he cares about.
So now he’s here, the pressure from the straps that held the sheathed knives on his left forearm and right ankle is what keeps Jisung’s mind grounded as he crouches down the base of the house? Mansion? Jisung doesn’t know what to call it but calling it big is definitely an understatement.
Still crouched, he walks around towards the back door, eyeing out his surroundings for any signs of being detected. When he arrives, he pulls out the lockpicks he hid by his belt buckle. His left arm grabs on to the doorknob and he freezes for a second — the door is already unlocked.
Jisung’s brows knit together in confusion and his heartbeat starts to quicken as he puts back the lockpicks where they used to be. How can the door be conveniently unlocked? Tonight out of all the days? Do they know I'm coming? Does he know I'm coming?
“No. This is just a coincidence. He doesn’t know. ” Jisung thinks to himself. Ignoring the dread and realization that starts to bubble up inside him as he slowly pushes the doors open, trying to make as little noise as possible.
When he’s inside, he is hit with a sense of familiarity. Beyond the doors was a house he’d been in for so many times, it was special. Right now, he is in the kitchen. The same kitchen where they used to cook - or attempted to cook- and ate whatever abomination they created with so much effort just trying to keep it inside their mouths.
Jisung runs his hands across the tables and cabinets as he walks through the kitchen. He sees the cabinet filled with plastic bags, something Jisung spent five minutes laughing when he found out about it. He sees the pair of cups they bought from the pottery convention they visited. They never got to use the one designed with pointy ears because you’d end up poking your eyes with said ears when you tried to drink from it. The grumbles and complaints Jisung made towards it would never be forgotten.
He walks through the kitchen with a heavy heart and reaches the living room. If seeing the kitchen hurt, then this one hurt even more. Jisung sees the table they’ve spent countless hours on when Jisung would arrive unannounced, asking for help with his calculus homework. He sees the sofa where they would sprawl across as they talked about what they were thinking of. He sees the television set that would always be turned on with a movie but no one there to watch because they were too focused on their own conversations.
He picks up the plushies on the couch and thinks. In about a few minutes from now, all of these would be nothing but memories. And that’s enough for Jisung to break. Anger builds up within him. He’s angry at The Contractor, what kind of sick fuck would put a target on the kindest, purest, and most loving person he’d ever met? He’s angry at him, he must have done something to deserve this target on his head. Something stupid which he probably hid from Jisung. The thought makes Jisung angrier.
“No more secrets my ass.” Jisung spits.
But no matter what he did, Jisung was mostly angry at himself. Angry at his own choices that lead to this. His jaw and fist clenches as he thinks of everything. He drops the plushie back on the couch and walks out of the living room. He tried to push everything down once more. As he walks up the stairs. With each step he makes, he gets closer and closer to the target - his heart gets heavier and heavier too.
With heavy steps and with time that felt like centuries had passed, he finally arrived. Now, Jisung is standing in front of the room his target is in. The only thing separating them right now is a door that feels all too familiar for him. The white - grey paint, the cat and dog stickers scattered along it, the multi-colored writings on the door made by their group of friends, and a “This room belongs to” sign board with a name written in black marker on it.
Lee Jeno.
Normally, Jisung would have knocked before he entered the room in front of him. Two knocks, wait for a second, and another knock. That was their thing. Jeno would immediately know it was Jisung behind the door whenever he heard it.
But sadly, Jeno won't be hearing the knocks tonight.
Jisung is standing right there in front of the door. All he has to do is slowly open the door, do what needs to be done, and just walk away unnoticed. It sounds so simple in its aspect but all Jisung could do was hover his hand above the doorknob as they shake in place. Is it because of fear maybe? Whatever it is, Jisung knows he has to ignore it to finish the job.
At this point Jisung's hands weren't the only ones feeling out of place. His whole body is trembling, his heart is beating so hard beneath his chest it could burst out at any moment, his forehead is covered in beads of sweat —some are even running down the side of his face— and his vision is starting to get blurry from the tears that are trying to fall again.
He quickly retracts the hovering hand and walks back a few steps to let out a furious exhale. He turns his back from the door and starts to pace back and forth. His hands rubbed across his face in frustration.
"Just fucking do it Jisung! " He screams internally. "Just go in, stab the guy, and just fucking run away. Run away.. an-and forget everything."
Jisung wants to cry. He really does. But crying won't get the job done. So with one final exhale, he stops pacing back and forth and faces the door again. He closes his eyes and reaches for the doorknob. Even if his hands are still shaking, he manages to slowly open the door; just enough for him to slide in.
When you work as an assassin or hitman or whatever it is that you want to call Jisung’s line of work, you have to stop relying on your eyesight only; You have to learn to use other senses too. Your ears and nose should pick up what normal people usually don't. Your sense of touch should be enhanced to the point where you can identify what something is with nothing but touch.
In this case, the first thing that hit Jisung as he entered the room was the smell of alcohol, not the one you drink; Jeno doesn't drink. It's the smell of those rubbing alcohol Jeno brings with him everywhere. It took Jisung a few months of visiting this room before he was able to get used to how it smells.
The next thing that Jisung notices is that the room isn't completely dark like how Jeno likes it whenever he sleeps. The lamp wasn't on but the window curtains were slightly pulled back, letting the moonlight in as it hit the edge of the bed and slightly lit up the room.
"You usually knock first whenever you come here Jisung-ah," a voice speaks up and Jisung immediately snaps his head to where it came from, "and not to mention its the middle of the night."
An inch from where the moonlight hits the edge of the bed, Jisung sees Jeno, sitting up on his bed, his back leaning on the wall behind him, and his knees by his chest. Jisung sees his white-colored hair, slightly shining from the moonlight, always as beautiful as ever. He sees h
is white shirt, covering the broad physique underneath, and his blue pajamas covered with embroidered sheeps.
Jisung sees his target.
"H-hyung.." Jisung stammers, his right hand fidgeting on the sleeves of the black hoodie he's wearing, trying to find a good excuse on why he's here in the middle of the night.
"Hi," Jeno giggles, "is there something wrong? You don't usually come here this late"
"Hyung, wh-why are you still awake? Don't you have something to do tomorrow?"
Jeno hums, "I do. I just couldn't sleep." He reaches towards the nightstand to place his phone down. "And you're ignoring my question. Is there something wrong Jisung-ah? Are you in trouble?"
Jisung knows that was such a weak attempt. Jeno is smart enough to know that. He continues to fidget with the sleeves of his hoodie. Shifting his weight here and then. He really needs to think of an excuse quickly.
"Why does it look like it's your first time in this room?" Jeno gives him an amused laugh. "You know you can sit down right?"
Jisung thought this might be a good way to buy some time to think. So he walks towards the table next to him and sits down on the chair. This might be the first time he felt uncomfortable being inside Jeno's room and it clearly shows since he hears Jeno give a deep sigh from across from him. They stay silent for a moment. Jisung tries his best to avoid eye contact by keeping his head down, looking at his hands as it fiddles with his pants.
"Yeah ok not there you idiot," Jeno grabs onto Jisung's forearm and Jisung's muscles tenses up from the sudden contact and his heartbeat goes erratic as Jeno slowly drags him to sit beside him on the bed.
When they were both seated on the bed, Jisung still tried his best to maintain distance from Jeno; but that seems to be an impossible task when Jeno immediately closes the gap between them, making Jisung lean on him as he wraps his arm around the flustered younger boy.
Jisung thinks this feels nice. It always does. Their bodies are so close together they feel the warmth radiating from each other. That feeling of safety Jisung feels whenever Jeno's arms wrap around him in a hug or from a quick cuddle will always be there. The feeling whenever Jeno unconsciously rubs wherever they land on Jisung's body. No matter how many times it happens it never fails to make him feel like a jolt of electricity passes through his veins.
It's always Lee Jeno that makes Jisung feel things. So today, Park Jisung will turn the tables.
Jisung shifts his body. He turns it around slightly so his side is now leaning along Jeno's chest. He places his left hand on Jeno's shoulder, Jisung's left arm now encasing the older boy's chest. And finally Jisung rests his head between Jeno's neck and left shoulder, where Jisung's cheek on Jeno's collarbone and his nose on the older's jugular.
"This feels good." Jisung murmurs as he nuzzles his head deeper into Jeno's neck. He could feel the other boy's muscles tightening from the sudden action. He feels Jeno's heartbeat starting to quicken its pace. He doesn't blame him though since Jisung's heart is doing the same.
It always does that whenever he's with Lee Jeno.
"Ji-jisung-ah?" from the sound of Jeno's voice he seems to be curious and hesitant to ask whatever comes next, so Jisung hums as a sign for him to go on. "Are you okay? You're making me worried right now. Please tell me what's wrong."
Jisung takes a shaky breath. He might be close to crying but no one needs to know that. "I love you hyung."
"wh-what?"
"I said, I love you”
Jisung doesn't know what possessed him to reveal his biggest secret this quickly. He managed to keep this a secret ever since that dreadful day. The day he started to see how fragile their friendship is as long as Jisung keeps on doing what he does.
A chuckle from Jeno pops him back into reality. "Why so sudden?" —Jeno continues to chuckle as he squeezes Jisung tighter into the cuddle— "I love you too dork. I've known you for like..since you were still rubbing mud on your face."
The younger boy groans in embarrassment from the sudden reminder. Thankfully Jeno doesn't get the memo behind those words so Jisung just continues snuggling up with him.
"You're not lying to me right hyung?" Jisung asks in a small voice. "Or hiding anything from me?"
"Huh? Where is this coming from? Of course not! Didn't we make that promise back then, remember? We promised that there would be no secrets between us."
Jisung remembers that promise. It's kinda hard not to when he was the one to ask Jeno in the first place. It was when Jeno graduated from highschool and was accepted to a university 30 minutes away from home. It was still in the same town but highschool sophomore Jisung was too afraid his closest friend would forget him since they won't be in the same school anymore. So after their celebratory feast of microwaved mac and cheese with tater tots at half past midnight Jisung asks Jeno to promise him; to never forget him and because they wouldn't be together that much anymore, they should never keep any secrets from each other. Jeno immediately and wholeheartedly agreed and they both set the promise in stone with their own pinky fingers tightly locked together.
"That was like 3 years ago Hyung" —Jisung gives a half-hearted giggle in response— "I'm surprised you still remember it."
"Of course I remember it! We did it under the strongest promise there is!" Jeno lifts up his pinky finger and wiggles it in front of Jisung's face.
For a moment all you could hear were the sound of both boys laughing at the gesture just now. Jisung could feel Jeno's chest rise up and down while his breath tickles the younger as their laughter continues on. But the moment is short lived because not soon after, their laughter slowly comes to a halt and they're back to the silence that clouded the room in the first place.
Jisung doesn't wait for Jeno to ask. He knows the older boy is wondering where the sudden interrogation is coming from. "Its just...its just that i've been hearing stuff about you," he lifts his head a little to look the older in the eyes, "and.....they're not nice things"
Jeno uses his free hand to cup Jisung's cheek, rubbing it soothingly with his thumb. "Hey, you know me better than them. You basically grew up with me Jisung-ah. You know who I really am right?"
Jisung could only hum and nod in return. "Besides, was it really bad? The things they said about me?" Jeno asks and Jisungs nods his head again in affirmation.
Jeno hums and tightens his grip around the younger boy. “Well if that’s the case, then I don’t think you should believe them. Whoever they are, whatever they said, I’m still the same Lee Jeno you know.” He shifts his head to give a kiss on the crown of Jisung’s head. It's a small gesture the two boys often share together.
“It just felt weird for me, Hyung. It was really hard to believe.”
“Well, let’s change the subject then, ok?”
“Okay.”
“How was your day? —aside from the whole rumors about me. Wasn’t it your P.E Class evaluation today?”
“Yeah, it went well.”
“What sport?”
“Volleyball. We won by a landslide.” Jisung tightens his grip across Jeno’s abdomen and raises his head, “would you believe me if I told you I was declared MVP?”
Jeno looks down to see Jisung looking back at him with a small prideful smile plastered on his face and from the looks of it, he may not be lying about the whole MVP thing. But Jeno thinks its too boring to give in this easily.
He looks up and pouts his lips, trying his best to look like he’s actually thinking it over. He continues this act for a few more seconds, really trying to sell it out, before he looks back and replies, “debatable, I think you’re just making that up”
looking back down at Jisung’s face, he sees that it has now transformed into furrowed eyebrows and a pout. He takes the younger boy’s hand that was wrapped around his waist and wraps his ring and index fingers around it’s wrist, “look! You’re so thin! I think I can wrap my fingers around your wrist twice! I’m even more surprised your bones didn’t break when you received the ball.”
Jisung flicks his wrist away from Jeno’s fingers and gives him a slap on the chest along with an annoyed growl. “You’re so annoying.” He continues to give Jeno a beating while the other laughs and occasionally yelps from the hits on his chest. Eventually Jisung decided that Jeno had enough bruises for tonight so he settles his arm back around the older boy's abdomen.
"how about you hyung? How was your day? I'm completely convinced its boring"
"Well you're not wrong" Jeno laughs. "nothing really happened that much? Just school and work, nothing new really. I spent half of my day in the library and the other half in Yeongdeungpo. so yeah, very boring."
Wait.
" Yeongdeungpo ? ``What were you doing in Yeongdeungpo ?"
The rhythmic rising and falling of Jisung's head from where it rested on Jeno's chest came to a halt after the question was thrown into the open. Jisung can feel Jeno's muscles tensing up like a bucket of cold water was suddenly splashed on him.
" O—oh," Jeno stutters, "I —um, kinda work there now."
"Huh?" a confused noise emerges from Jisung, "since when? what happened to that work of yours in the coffee shop downtown?"
"I left. Did I not.....tell you?"
"No... this is my first time hearing about it...since when?"
At this point Jeno has halted any movement from before. His left hand has stopped rubbing circles on Jisung's back while the other hand seems to be frozen in place. “It's been...uh—a few weeks now”
“What kind of work is it?”
“Oh it's nothing really.”
“Hyung—”
“Jisung-ah, really,” Jeno pats Jisung’s back a few times, “you don’t have to worry about it ok?”
“Yeah I know. I trust you, it's just that— Yeongdeungpo is a dangerous place, you know? I keep hearing about bad things happening there. Like people being killed or whatever.”
“I’ll be fine Jisung-ah.”
“You better be!” Jisung pushes himself up, both hands on both sides of Jeno’s torso, supporting his body as he now slightly bent over the older boy. “You better protect yourself!” He sees Jeno giving him a sad and understanding smile. He doesn’t even flinch when the older boy reaches to cup his face. “I just don’t want to lose you too Hyung.”
“Hey, hey, okay enough of that” Jeno says, pulling Jisung back into his chest in a tight hug. It takes a few shifts and turns before they’re back to the comfortable cuddling position they were a few moments ago. “I promise you Ji, no one is going to hurt me okay?”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
They stay like this for a while. Just Jisung and Jeno on a bed, bodies entangled together in a hug. The room was cold from the air conditioning but with their bodies this close together, not one of them felt any colder. Jeno’s left hand has continued the soothing rubs on Jisung’s back and a rhythmic patting on the leg, which Jisung had conveniently placed entangled with his own, with his right hand. Jisung thinks they could stay like this forever. It has been a while since they were together like this. With Jeno’s supposed new job and Jisung’s never ending pile of university work. They haven’t had the time to hang out together anymore which was very disappointing for Jisung. Even their texts had been cut short. Short replies — dry ones— would be the only thing he would receive. He doesn’t want to be selfish, it's not like they’re together or anything, but Jeno did promise to always be with Jisung whenever they have free time together.
Jisung just feels a little bit disappointed.
“Hyung, I'm serious about the whole safety thing, you know.” Jisung pipes up. The sudden statement earns a laugh from the boy he’s currently tangled with.
“You’re still not over that? Jeno is still laughing about it, “Jisung-ah, I promise you, no one is going to murder me okay? If ever they try, they’re going to taste these guns,” Jeno proceeds to let go of Jisung’s body and flexes his arms, revealing the toned muscles around it.
The room is filled with laughter, alongside the occasional snorts and cackles from Jeno (which Jisung finds absolutely endearing but is too much of a coward to tell him.) It wasn't long before comfortable silence engulfs the boys once again after they’ve settled down and the laughter has subsided. Jisung is still wrapped around his best friend and Jeno continues to rhymically pat whichever part on Jisung’s body his hand had been on. He’s comfortably lying down on a bed inside a well air-conditioned room, he’s cuddling his best friend (and the love of his life — if that still wasn’t obvious right now), and more importantly he’s isn’t burdened with anything right now. All his projects were passed and homework was already long finished.
He almost forgets that he’s here to kill Jeno.
Almost.
“Now that I think about it Jisung-ah, i think you’re the only one that could kill me”
Jisung’s heart drops and every peaceful thought he has immediately shatters upon hearing those words. His body is frozen in place and his mind is going haywire trying to comprehend what is happening.
How could he forget? He’s not here for a hangout, he’s not here to laugh and joke around, he’s not here to talk about their days, and he’s definitely not here to lay down and cuddle his best friend.
He’s here to kill Jeno. His best frie— target.
He doesn’t know what to do. His breathing has become erratic, he’s sweating like crazy, his mind is about to explode any second. His eyes are starting to blur from tears starting to break out. Jisung is effectively panicking right now.
“Ow! Ji—Jisung-ah! You’re hurting me” Jeno hisses, “why are you grabbing me like that? — Ow!”
The younger boy can’t hear him. He’s too deep into his headspace to notice his painfully-increasing grip on Jeno’s side. His head is thinking of so many ways to try and finish the job.
Jeno tries to shift and grab onto Jisung’s vice grip-like arm and tries to remove it from his body. “Jisung-ah! It hurts! Stop!” He turns to look at the younger boy and he is unsure of what is happening. Jisung is clearly not ok. His eyes are wide open, completely out of focus with tears coming out and Jeno can see that Jisung’s body is tensed up. This is not good. “Jisung-ah, please let go. It hurts.”
The Gods must have heard Jeno’s pleas because Jisung finally moves and looks up to see Jeno’s face filled with both pain and confusion.
“Please stop Jisung-ah,” Jeno squeaks
The younger boy slowly looks down, see’s his fingers tightly gripped on Jeno’s waist. His fingernails are dug deep into Jeno’s skin— deep enough for blood to draw and drip down. He gasps and quickly retracts his hand, throwing his body away from Jeno’s at the same time. He scampers away and off the bed just to land on the floor.
Jisung can see the way Jeno hisses as he inspects the wound on his waist. Trying to wipe up as much blood as he can. He sees Jeno look up and immediately feels his entire body be engulfed in guilt. Jeno must have known because he slowly maneuvers across the bed to where Jisung is frozen in place.
“Hey - hey Jisung-ah, it's ok. It’s ok” Jeno slowly approaches Jisung with his hands outstretched in front of him.
“ I’m not mad Jisung-ah” You should be, hyung.
“It's ok,” No it’s not.
“This is a small wound, it's okay! It won’t kill me,” yeah, but I will.
In what felt like years, Jeno is finally in front of Jisung. His hands still outstretched as slowly tries to grab on the crying boy. Jisung flinches from the first touch and Jeno retracts his hand to avoid scaring the boy even more. When he was sure that Jisung was somewhat calm, he tries reaching out again. Thankfully Jisung accepts the touch and allows himself to be wrapped by Jeno in a hug.
“It’s ok, it’s ok” Jeno says, giving the boy smooth rubs on his back. “We can talk about it okay? Whatever this was.”
Jisung doesn't return the hug nor does he reply, instead he digs his head on Jeno’s shoulder and continues to cry. Jeno can sense that this outburst was because of something big — too big. He has never seen Jisung like this. His breathing is shallow, his body and lower lips are shaking, shoulders trembling, his voice is wavering the more he wails, and Jeno knows the boy's eyes are red rimmed with tears. It breaks Jeno's heart seeing him like this. They grew up with each other, practically attached to each other ever since they met. And yet, with all those years together, Jeno has never seen Jisung this broken. And frankly? Jeno doesn't know what to do.
"I'm sorry."
"Shhhhh. It's ok. You don't have to talk right now ok? Let me do the talking okay?” There was no answer. Only wails, hiccups, and sniffles, coming from the crying boy. Jeno knows Jisung can hear him, so he continues, “Remember when we first met? I’m going to assume you forgot so i can continue this talk i'm about to do” Jeno chuckles.
“If you didn’t kick that ball, we wouldn’t have met Jisung-ah. You were like 7 at that time and I just turned 8. I was sitting on the sidewalk just looking at the other kids playing when a soccer ball came rolling towards me. Not soon after, this very thin, lanky, and tall kid just runs up to me and grabs the soccer ball. Do you remember what you said to me Jisung-ah? Your very first words to me?”
Jeno slightly turns his head to peek at the head currently dug into his shoulder. He could still hear sniffles and hiccups but he can see that Jisung was listening. So he continues his story and his comforting rubs on the younger’s back.
“You said, ‘you’re supposed to kick a soccer ball whenever it reaches your feet’. Imagine that? The very first thing you did when you met me was scold me. I still remember your face that day! You were trying to look mad or intimidating or whatever you wanted to show. But all I saw was this cute kid holding a soccer ball.
“Fast forward a week later, we finally got to introduce ourselves when your parents invited mine for dinner. We bickered a lot that night — well you bickered a lot— you didn’t want to share your toys with me and you kept badmouthing me.” Jeno laughs again at the memory. “But in the end, you were very bored with playing by yourself so you approached little Jeno who was just sitting on the couch watching you play.”
The crying has stopped by now, only the sniffles. So Jeno removes his hands from Jisung’s back and uses them to push them both slightly apart.
Now that they were apart, Jeno finally sees what the younger boy looks like. He was still looking down, occasionally wiping his nose with the back of his hand. Jeno cups and lifts Jisung’s face up so he could look him in the eye. He wipes off a few tears that were still threatening to fall down with his thumb and gives Jisung a quick peck on the forehead.
“ Are you feeling better now?” Jeno asks.
Jisung nods. “I'm sorry.”
“Heeey.. stop apologizing, ok?” he wraps Jisung again into a tight hug. “You don’t need to apologize Jisung-ah.”
And unlike the last time, Jisung returns the hug. He wraps his arms tightly around Jeno. grabbing on to the last bit of sanity he has left. He doesn’t know what to do if Jeno wasn’t with him right now.”
“Jisung-ah,” Jeno speaks up, “whatever you’re dealing with now, whatever you’re going through, I just want you to know that I'm here for you and I support everything you do. We grew up together. I saw you grow from being this snarky little kid to this amazing man that you are right now. I saw you win your first soccer competition, I was there when you first got that perfect score for your math exam during 7th grade, I was there for your first crush, I was there for your first breakup, I was there when you were having problems with everything. I was beside you every step of the way Jisung-ah.”
A cough from Jeno followed by a sniffle was not something Jisung expected to witness today. Jeno was crying.
“And you know what was the best part Jisung-ah?”
Jisung, head still buried between Jeno’s shoulder and neck, shakes his head.
“The best part was that you were beside me too.”
“Stop..” Jisung was able to squeak out. His throat was still dry from all the crying that he did today.
But Jeno didn’t stop. He tightens his hug and continues, “you saw me growing up too Jisung-ah. You saw me get my first spelling bee award, you were there when I won student council in 9th grade, you were there to help me stuff love letters to Na Jaemin when I was head over heels for him, you were there when—” —a sob breaks out from Jeno— “y–you...you were there when my parents left me Jisung-ah”
He remembers that day all too well. Saturday afternoon, a crying Jeno carrying a suitcase and a backpack comes knocking on Jisung’s door, crying about how his family kicked him out because they found out he liked boys. Thankfully Jisung’s parents were out of town so Jeno was able to stay for a while.
“You were there with me when I broke down, you were there for me when I started working so I can finance myself. You were with me through the darkest days of my life Jisung-ah. I cannot stress enough how thankful I am. To grow and live my life beside you Jisung-ah.”
At this point, both boys were standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by nothing but the moonlight shining from the window, hugging each other so tight they could suffocate any moment from now. Both of them were a crying mess. Both their shirts damp from each other’s tears but that was the least of their concerns right now.
“I’m so sorry for hurting you hyung.” Jisung speaks up after a while
“It's okay Jisung-ah. I'm not mad at you. I can never be mad at you.”
“Thank you hyung, for taking care of me all these times.”
“Thank you for being with me too Jisung-ah. I think it's safe to say that I'm satisfied right now. I'm happy. Very happy.”
Jisung doesn’t know how long they stay entangled together. The moon has set at the perfect angle so now the room is now fully lit by the moonlight. The sound of Jeno’s alarm clock ticking and the soft gusts of wind are the only few things that Jisung can hear. But his focus is only the soft breathing from the person he loves the most.
But not everything is made to last.
“Jisung-ah”
“Hyung?”
“This is the perfect time you know.”
Jisung holds back his tears again. “I know,” he nods.
He feels hands rub behind him. Of course he’s comforting me right now.
“Its okay Jisung-ah.”
“I’m so sorry hyung.”
And with one swift movement, Jisung unsheathes the blade hidden by his forearm, firmly grabs onto Jeno’s back with his free hand, and pushes the blade into his target best friend.
And as expected, Jeno grunts as the blade penetrates his abdomen along with a few hisses as the sharp edges slices its way deeper into him. It takes Jisung one final push for the knife to be fully sheathed within his friend.
“Please forgive me hyung.” Jisung says as he lets go of the knife —still lodged inside— and slowly adjusts his position to a much more stable position. He doesn’t want to lose his balance when Jeno can no longer stand sooner or later.
He ends up positioning himself slightly towards Jeno’s side with the older boy’s right arm slung over his shoulder and the other arm gripping into his shirt. Jisung’s own arms firmly placed around Jeno’s torso, keeping him as stable as he could. the deep and ragged breaths start to escape from the older boy. His skin starts to turn pale as he loses more and more blood.
“That hurt….mo–more than I…. expected.” Jeno chuckles but immediately winces as the sudden movement shoots pain throughout his body.
“Please….stop talking...you—you’re making it worse….for you” Jisung pleads, “I shouldn’t have done this hyun—”
Jeno’s legs had given up — His body leans down to Jisung as it threatens to limp and drop down onto the floor. Thankfully Jisung was able to catch him properly to stop him from falling.
With his grip now proper, Jisung decides to make things easier for both of them. With the weight of Jeno’s body on top of him he slowly crouches down on the floor, slowly and surely as they both go down he adjusts the older boy’s body into a much more comfortable sitting position before he sits behind him and carefully let’s the older boy lay on him.
Now, in the small moonlit room, both boys settle down on the floor. Jeno, almost in a fetal position, with his legs spread on the floor while he leans his body on Jisung’s chest. Jisung’s arm around Jeno’s waist —the side opposite from where the knife is still lodged in him.
“ta–talk to..me? Jisung-ah?” Jeno says weakly
Jisung nods, “How did you know hyung?” he asks, rubbing circles on Jeno’s waist.
“I felt it….the kni–knife” Jeno coughs, “..when we were...hu–hugging.”
Its been a few minutes now. Jeno is going to lose consciousness soon. His skin is turning white from the blood loss. His eyes are starting to feel heavy the longer this goes on. His breathing is now shallow and rapid. His wound now soaking both Jeno and Jisung’s shirt with blood.
Jeno is about to die soon.
“Ji–Jisung-ah…”
Jisung cups Jeno’s face with his free hand, slightly turning it so they can see each other face to face. It was too painful for Jisung to see Jeno like that. His eyes were starting to close and tears were flowing down from them too. These aren't the eyes that he fell in love with.
And Jisung knows it's all his fault. So he cries.
“Hyu–Hyung! Please stay! I’m sorry! Please don’t leave me!”
“Jisung-ah….”
“I shouldn’t have— I shouldn’t have done this! Hyung please….stay with me.” Jisung sobs, “I’ll stop! I’ll quit that job! I’ll find another job. Just please….stay with me hyung.”
Jeno, with the remaining strength that he has, reaches up and wipes the tears from Jisung’s eyes. “Thank you….for s–staying beside….me.”
“I’ll always be beside you okay? So please don’t leave me! I’m so sorry! I'm so sorry!” Jisung continues to cry as he places his hand on top of Jeno’s.
But all Jeno did was smile in return.
“I love you. Jisung-ah. Th–thank you...for everything.”
Jeno stops breathing. And Jisung knows it’s all his fault.