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jeonghan loves jazz, he could be on the verge of death and he'd still long for its tunes, for every note. it would've been his dying wish, to listen to jazz. it's the thing he cherishes most in this world next to his lover, seungcheol.
like jazz, seungcheol brings him the most joy, sparks something inside him that relaxes every single part of him and provides him with warmth he never knew he needed. seungcheol is his everything. and maybe his dying wish wouldn't be just as simple as listening to jazz, perhaps it would be him and seungcheol, bodies close to each other, swaying to the sweet, sweet tune of a jazz song.
these two things are all that he needs to be at peace, the world could be damned and he'd still choose to be accompanied by his lover and his beloved music. it was all that matters to him.
like every morning, jeonghan finds himself in the tub to start his day. his body submerged in the water while a soft tune plays in the background. he likes to freshen up before facing the day ahead of him. and then there were knocks. he ignored them, of course. he knew seungcheol was downstairs anyway, he'd be the one to welcome guests if there were any.
the knocks didn't stop though. and when he heard a sudden crash from downstairs, he immediately takes the towel hanging by his side. he's not yet dried entirely when he hears another crash, and he curses.
seungcheol.
he quickly got dressed and then he's headed downstairs.
he startles awake, the rush from whatever happened in his dream still in him, making his eyes wide and his lips slightly parted. he turns to his side to see seungcheol, his lover still peaceful in his slumber. he then gets up, slowly making his way to the bathroom. as he walks inside, he tries to look for his favorite towel but it's nowhere inside the small confines of their bathroom.
he goes back to their bedroom, seeing it on his chair opposite the huge mirror installed on their wall. he doesn't remember putting it there, he'd always been particular in where he puts his things anyway.
jeonghan has been very forgetful these days.
the afternoon is uneventful, they both decided to stay in their music room, cuddling on the spacious couch while listening to a jazz rendition of a song jeonghan likes very much.
as his laughter dies down from a particular joke seungcheol made, jeonghan finds himself mesmerized by his lover, a frequent occasion if he's being honest. his hands comes up to touch seungcheol's jaw, and the other reacts to it by leaning on it, his eyes closed, letting jeonghan take his sweet time in appreciating the face of the love of his life.
after a few moments, jeonghan carefully places a loving kiss on seungcheol's chin and it brings jeonghan satisfaction, it brings him contentment. seungcheol then opens his eyes, his smile giving jeonghan that wave of warmth that only he could give.
"the chin? just the chin? are you twelve?" seungcheol teases his way of affection, eliciting an eye roll from jeonghan.
but before jeonghan could reason out, he already feels the ever so familiar soft lips of his lover, his own lips parting automatically as if inviting him in. he feels seungcheol grinning against his lips and they both laugh, realizing just how responsive jeonghan's body is to seungcheol.
they continue to share this warmth, the soft tunes still playing and slowly lulling jeonghan to sleep.
before unconsciousness completely takes over him though, jeonghan hears what seemed to be footsteps outside of the room and he becomes alert somehow. but he hears seungcheol shushing him, putting his head back onto his chest to continue his slumber.
"it's probably just those figurines, they often get knocked over." it was the last thing he heard that afternoon.
it was already dark when jeonghan woke up, he's not quite sure what time it is and the lack of any source of light is preventing him from checking it. he stands up and walks downstairs, leaving behind seungcheol in their bedroom. he decides to check those figurines seungcheol mentioned earlier, because he's sure that seungcheol didn't have the time to fix them while carrying jeonghan to their bedroom anyway.
he checks every display they have but no figurines were touched or moved. however, he notices that his favorite photo with seungcheol is nowhere to be found. it should be by the television set, it should always be there so he'll see it every time he enters the house and every time he leaves. it should be there.
panicking, jeonghan opens the drawers beside the television set to check if they were somehow misplaced there. he goes back to every single one and after the fifth drawer, he hears glass hitting the floor. the sound was from behind him, from the dining area.
jeonghan feels goosebumps all over his body. he's sure it's not seungcheol, the man sleeps like a log and wouldn't wake up until sunlight hits his skin.
jeonghan is scared. he's scared to look back at whatever or whoever caused the glass to shatter on the floor. building up his courage, he turns to look back.
all that he saw was a glimpse of what seemed like the ends of a white nightgown from behind the wall separating the living room and the dining area, making him even more scared.
without any second thoughts, jeonghan sprints towards their bedroom upstairs and jumps onto their bed, hugging seungcheol tightly.
with the sudden embrace he received, seungcheol wakes up and finds jeonghan in his arms, shaking.
"what happened?" jeonghan can hear the worry in seungcheol's voice and he only hugs him tighter.
he doesn't respond, can't seem to articulate any coherent thoughts he has. instead, he seeked for comfort in the arms of the man he loves with his whole life.
after a while, jeonghan finally speaks up, "our photo is missing. it's not by the television set."
seungcheol looks at him, a smile slowly forming on his lips. he then sees seungcheol stretch his arm towards the lamp and tugs on the switch, illuminating his side.
"it's here. didn't i tell you that i moved it?" seungcheol points at the framed picture on the bedside table and then places a firm kiss on jeonghan's forehead.
jeonghan has been really forgetful these days.
from his position in the living room, he hears a soft tune being played in their music room. jeonghan feels that terrifying feeling again. seungcheol is here by his side, deep in slumber, they've never gone to the music room since yesterday. and there's no way the vinyls would play on their own.
he approaches the room, the door slightly ajar but he still couldn't see who's inside.
with all the courage that he has left, he swings the door open and sees a little girl by the piano, her hair red and her skin pale. the girl looks back at him, mirroring his shocked expression. the girl starts screaming at him and jeonghan's eyes went even wider, his mouth opens wide but no sound came out of him. he can't seem to find his voice, he was so scared that he must've passed out because the next thing he knew, he's in seungcheol's arms again, inside the safety of their bedroom.
when seungcheol notices that he's finally awake, jeonghan feels the arms lovingly holding him embracing him tighter. as if he'd slip away, as if he'll be gone if seungcheol doesn't hold him that tight.
"are you okay?" seungcheol's voice is soft, the volume of his voice barely above a whisper.
"yes, i was just really scared, cheol." jeonghan buries his face onto seungcheol's neck, the other willingly letting him seek comfort in his embrace. he really doesn't want to talk about what happened, he's still shook from it and he doesn't want to relive it by narrating it to seungcheol. maybe some other time, jeonghan thinks.
they laid there in silence, only moving to be closer than before, their hands intertwined and not wanting to let go.
seungcheol was somewhere in the attic, probably cleaning, jeonghan assumes. he's in the study room when he hears voices outside, coming from the living room area. once again, he feels terrified. this has been going on for so long that he should be used to it but he will never get used to random noises popping put of nowhere, it will always scare him and shake him to the core.
but he listens. he really doesn't have much of a choice, he's too scared to go out and probably scare the shit out of himself on whatever he'll see anyway. so he stays there, unmoving.
"we're really sorry. we tried but this is not working out. the locked room always creeped us out."
it was a voice of a man and jeonghan feels shiver down his body. now, he really can't move.
"we understand. it will probably stay this way. no one could prolong their stay."
the voice was from a different man and jeonghan felt himself shrink in his place. it was too much. it was all too much.
then there came a new voice. it was a little girl.
"daddy, i saw him. i was so scared. i was just playing the piano and the door opened and.. and.." he hears sobbing from the other side.
suddenly, jeonghan is confused. once again, it was too much. it was overwhelming. everything is overwhelming.
before he could do anything else, he's brought back to that awful day.
he remembers how the townspeople invaded their home, how they disrespected their space by coming uninvited into their house. his eyes immediately searches for seungcheol, ignoring the shouts and things thrown at him.
he sees his lover, blood on his lips and his nose and jeonghan cries out loud for him.
he remembers how they were brought to some warehouse, how mad the people seemed, blaming them for being the curse of the town. they blamed that god hated their town for their sins, for being a couple and all that nonsense. all that jeonghan wants is to hold seungcheol, to protect him from everything that's going on. but he can't, he's weak. they were locked inside a room, tied down but able to move enough to be close to each other. they both cry themselves to sleep.
he remembers how they were left inside that warehouse, only being brought water by a group of people who were guarding them from escaping.
he remembers how in the last day of their stay in that warehouse, the group guarding them seemed to have taken pity on them and granted them one last wish before they go.
and of course, they shared this wish. jeonghan feels a teardrop escape his right eye, followed by another, until his vision was almost blurry from all the tears while his lover holds him.
he remembers as they held each other tight, swaying to a familiar tune as the temperature of the room rises. they didn't mind. all that there is, is seungcheol, jeonghan, and the music.
it dawns on him. it was not a dream. they'd been the souls not able to let go of their home. the souls still lurking in this world, still not willing to go. it may have been years but jeonghan doesn't know it. his memories are failing him. or maybe, he's fooling himself into forgetting these things. maybe seungcheol remembers.
after a few minutes, the study room's door opens, revealing his lover smiling at him.
jeonghan, relieved that seungcheol's here, throws himself at him. embracing him just like how he always does, pouring his love into every touch and contact.
"something happened again?" his lover asks, tucking away some strands of hair that have fallen onto his face.
"yeah," jeonghan's voice is quiet, "but you're here. it's fine. i'm fine."
you'll be here forever.
we'll stay here forever.
i'll always be fine.