The Stranger

He felt long slender fingers grasp underneath his jaw, tilting his head up to the taller man’s gaze.

“Do you want to live?” Jinki could see the other man’s lips moving, but the ringing in his ears prevented him from hearing the other man clearly. “I said, do you want to live?” the stranger repeated.

Jinki read the man’s bow-shaped lips as the other forcefully said the words. Jinki looked back to the burning building collapsing behind them, felt the flames at the edges of his vision, and turned back to the feline-eyed man, “Yes.”

The other man nodded briskly. “Then come with me,” phrased as a suggestion when his fingers gripping tightly into Jinki’s upper arms said anything but.

Jinki felt the cold air brush past him, his legs heavy, but moving of their own accord with the stranger’s “help,” until they approached a motorcycle parked around the next corner that Jinki hadn’t noticed before. The stranger picked Jinki up and sat him on the back, the other’s long finger grazing his cheek for the fraction too long as he helped Jinki put on his helmet, his gaze a tad too intense given the situation. The stranger quickly shook his head as if he was the one with the one with the ringing ears and turned away from Jinki to face forward, but not before grabbing Jinki’s arms to wrap around his own waist.

Jinki was grateful for the strong back he was now pressed against, his helmeted head resting on the other man’s shoulder. A sob snuck up on him and then another, soon uncontrollable sobs were wracking out of his small frame.  It was all too much, it had been all too much.

The motorcycle slowed down, the engine sputtering to a stop, as they approached their destination, wherever that was Jinki thought. A little while ago, Jinki had stopped sobbing and he finally raised his head to look up at the buildings and roads they roared past.  They had moved from downtown and Jinki didn’t recognize the empty dirt road they were now on. He could see old buildings in the distance with boarded up windows, but he hadn’t seen another person he realized since they left the city.  He didn’t know how much time had passed. Minutes, hours? He had been crying a long time, okay? And… he may have fallen asleep on the stranger’s comfortable back.

The stranger extended his leg to put down the kickstand and pointed to his shoulder. Jinki was confused for a moment. He looked at the stranger’s shoulder intensely and then realized that the stranger wanted him to hold onto his shoulder to dismount the bike. Jinki dismounted the bike rather awkwardly, pitching forward a bit, but the stranger’s solid frame didn’t budge. The stranger swung his long leg, much more gracefully than Jinki had, to dismount as well and took a step towards him, his hands moving towards Jinki. 

Jinki took an instinctive step backwards, then felt extremely foolish as the stranger’s hands moved quickly before he could move away to unbuckle the chin strap to his helmet. Jinki held his breath as the stranger’s hand touched underneath his chin. Jinki nodded his thanks when the stranger removed his helmet for him and looked away awkwardly.

The stranger removed his own helmet next and Jinki could study his face now. Tousled dark hair framed the stranger’s face and piercing intelligent eyes looked back at him. The stranger had high cheekbones, a gracefully sloped nose, and a full mouth shaped like a bow. A scar in his right eyebrow marred his otherwise perfect features, but only enhanced his attractiveness. Jinki wondered if the scar was real or intentional since it was situated perfectly in the center of the eyebrow, like a cut-out, and the remaining hair framed the scar like a border. The scar added an element of danger and arrogance to the man’s face. Jinki thought that the stranger was the most beautiful man he had ever seen.

Jinki was brought back to the present when the stranger opened his mouth to speak.

“Didn’t anyone ever teach you not to stare, Jinki?”

Jinki’s cheeks went red and his lips formed an automatic apologetic smile.

Wait—

“How do you know my name?” Jinki said slowly.

“I-I… will explain everything when we’re inside.” the stranger looked away quickly.

“And I’m supposed to just trust you?” Jinki squinted his eyes suspiciously at the stranger.

“Well, can you feel how hot it is now? In a couple hours the heat in this valley will be hotter than hell and you may not have noticed but we are miles and miles away from anyone else.”

Jinki looked around hesitantly, confirming the rise in temperature even in the short time they had been standing still and looked into distance, verifying their remote location.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

He decided to trust whatever he had seen in the stranger’s face when he had gotten on the back of the stranger’s motorcycle. The stranger was a bit touchy, but he hadn’t done anything untrustworthy yet.

They move towards a nondescript building, an old factory perhaps, gray walls with high windows.

They should really hire an interior designer.

Kibum didn’t know how he would tell Jinki. How did someone start a conversation like that? His heart had leapt out of chest when he saw the scared look on Jinki’s face when the building exploded behind him. For Kibum, time had stopped as he watched all his hopes and dreams disappear behinds a fiery debris cloud. There was no way to know if those hopes and dreams had vanished in an instant, snuffed out like a flame or if by the gods’ mercy, Jinki was okay. He couldn’t remember running to Jinki, his legs bringing him to Jinki without a thought. The relief he felt when he realized that Jinki was okay, rattled and worse for wear, but ultimately okay, had been hard to hide on his face. He wanted to pull Jinki into his arms and hold him, tell him that everything was going to be okay, but he couldn’t.

Not yet.

Because to Jinki, Kibum was just a stranger.

Next Chapter Preview:

They are there all the time, watching and waiting. The flash of movement you catch in the corner of your eye as you turn your head. The thought that you try to disregard, chalking it up to your brain’s inability to process visual stimuli fast enough. Because as your heart leaps into your chest and your whole body clenches, you gather up the courage to look, turning your head behind you, you find nothing there. You breathe a sigh of relief, shaking your head for your foolishness and continue on your way.

But little do you know that the ominous feeling in the pit of your stomach is not just your imagination or a trick of the brain. No, you have every reason to be afraid because… they are real and they are watching.

In fact… they are watching you now.