A Sparkly Encounter (A JongKey Fanfic)

A Sparkly Encounter (A JongKey Fanfic) FORTY-SEVEN

“I’ll pick you up at seven,” JongHyun’s mother said as he stepped out of the van.

            He nodded and left quietly. It was early afternoon so the store was still open. He could see Key talking to a young girl through the wide window. It was the cherry on top to what was already a relatively good day. There was just something about that guy’s glittering smile…

            He travelled up the stairs passing Onew on his way up. The older boy patted his shoulder lightly before joining the work area below.

            The still apartment gave JongHyun time to think about how he was going to deal with his mother. She would surely be bringing him somewhere where common jeans were not accepted.

            It wouldn’t matter, though… He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to stay long enough to find out. He had his fight or flight instinct waging war inside of him. The latter was winning over.

            He had to leave town. It was exactly like he had done back when he’d fought with his father, which meant it couldn’t be that bad. He had to leave. He had to leave. He had to leave.

            Stomping towards his bedroom JongHyun nabbed the first bag he saw. He shoved it full of the first belongings he touched

            Get out, get out, get out, his brain screamed at him.

            Without noticing the tears ran down JongHyun’s cheeks. The look on that person’s face right before the collision and that awful, dark time he’d spent in jail… He’d been trying so hard to distance himself from all of that…

            Grabbing an old t-shirt he stuffed it in with all his other belongings. Key was the last thing on his mind until that point. Remembering the tender kiss they’d shared earlier that day made him hesitate. He didn’t want to leave behind Key…

            A dim light lit a path through his fears and for a few minutes he seriously contemplated unpacking his bag.

            “Hyung! I made some food for you if you’re hungry! It’s in the fridge – yah… What’s wrong?”

            Speak of the angel.    

            JongHyun quickly swabbed at his tears. He refused to let Key see him so fallen apart again.

            “Nothing…” he mumbled without much conviction.

            “You’re crying,” Key stated. His eyes moved over the half packed bag spread out on his bed and panic struck him like a thousand volts of electricity. “Where are you going?”

            “Nowhere… Anywhere… I don’t know…” JongHyun stuttered.

            “You’re leaving?”

            “I-I don’t know anymore!”

            Key bit his lip at the raised voice and moved cautiously into the room. In hopes of muffling their conversation from the people downstairs he shut the door. Now they were boxed in and JongHyun wouldn’t be able to leave until he was completely exhausted of answers.

            “JongHyun hyung… What’s going on?” Key asked.

            The older male paced to his bed and then back again. While he did he ran his fingers through his hair, spiking up the already dishevelled do. Hiccups shook his body as his sobs came at him with a vengeful rage.

            Key waited with a patience he never knew he possessed. His heart itched with pain at the sight he was witnessing. To know that there was nothing he could do for the moment to aid his boyfriend was absolutely torturous. It felt even worse than when he’d been beaten to a pulp by MinHo. At least when he’d been lying battered and bruised he knew he could be fixed. With this, there was no knowing what would happen.

            Suddenly, Key felt himself being squeezed in a constricting embrace. His arms stood pinned to his side as JongHyun clung to him like a leech feasting for the final time. Salt water stained the pink cotton fabric of his work uniform as he bawled to him.

            Key couldn’t quite understand the muffled sentences JongHyun was blubbering but he listened nonetheless. Somehow he managed to free his arms from their restraints and captured JongHyun in the biggest bear hug he could muster.

            “It’s okay…” he kept whispering into his ear whilst planting kisses all over his sweet smelling hair.

            Time ticked by lazily. In the moment Key could care less about how much time had passed. The world could have been ending and all he would care about is whether JongHyun was okay or not.

            “Sorry…” the trembling boy whispered. It was the first coherent word he’d been able to mutter since Key had barged in on him.

            “It’s fine,” Key brushed off. As subtly as he could he started inching them towards the bed so he could at least take the stress of standing off of his partner.

            “What’s going on, though?” he asked softly when succeeding in relocating them onto the mattress.

            JongHyun ripped tissue out of a tipped box on his nightstand, wanting to buy some time. Thoughts were storming in his cranium, piling up like snow did on those awful winter days. And no matter how hard he tried to shovel he just couldn’t discern the pavement from the frozen flakes of water.

            “M-mu mom…” he started off shakily. “She wants to have dinner… To talk…” His fingers picks hastily at the imaginary lint balls coating his duvet. The flurry of snow continued blowing in his head. Soon he would need a snowplough to come and haul away the mountains closing him in.

            “What’s so bad about that?” Key asked.

            “I ran away for a reason Key… I-I don’t want to go back… I can’t… Not after what’s happened…”

            “JongHyun…” Key whispered, grasping his hand. Honorifics were dropped as he prepared to utter the serious words in his head. “You can’t keep running away from your past…”

            “I know…”

            “The more you avoid it the more it’ll haunt you…”

            “So you need to shower and get ready to have that dinner with your mother. It’s been a year since this has all happened, hyung… It’s time to make things right once and for all…”

            “I know…”

            Key swallowed past the lump gluing itself in his throat. He swiped his tongue over his lips quickly before expressing the one thing that had been scaring him since he’d stepped through the door.

            “Please don’t go, okay? Don’t leave me…” he begged, embarrassed to even say the words.          

            His lips were suddenly invaded with another pair. The kiss lasted a mere two seconds maybe but it eased Key’s mind of all his worries.

            “Baby, you’re the only thing keeping me here” JongHyun said.

----

This will probably be the last update for a couple weeks about as I am leaving for China in 3 days. Please keep supporting me while I'm away and pray for my safe return!

Hwaiting!