Life in a Photograph
The Howling - Part II: The Curse of the Full Moon
If Taemin was taken aback by Joonmyun's words, he didn't show it. As always, he was all teenage delight and bright eyes. He nodded simply at the elder and clamboured off the edge of the bed and made his way over to the box of video games and books. As he sifted through the books, he stopped on one, and made a fce before he stood and carried it over to Joonmyun.
"Here..." he held out the big leather bound book, sitting it in Joonmyun's lap. "It's.... well, there are pictures of Jongin hyung in it. I thought you might like to look at it, while he's asleep. Hyung's... kind of embarrassed over his little kid photos."
Taemin grinned much like any evil little brother was supposed to before he shuffled back over to the box and pulled out a video game. He took a few minutes to set it up and picked up the XBOX remote before making hsi way back over to the bed and sitting on the edge as the game started.
Joonmyun had expected for Taemin to at least look or sound a bit hurt, but the boy was all smiles as he moved off the bed and over to the basket of books and games that had been brought in for him. The elder had relaxed back against the chair then, knees pulled part way up to his chest, eyes trained on Jongin. Anyone else might have thought he was silly for sitting and watching the boy sleep, but Joonmyun was concerned, and he wanted to imprint the image of this Jongin into his mind before things got worse.
A few moments later, a book was placed in his lap, and Joonmyun looked up to catch that devious grin on Taemin's face before he walked away to start a video game. He looked at the book for a long moment before glancing up at Jongin and looking back down. Jongin didn't like people looking at his pictures, so Joonmyun thought that maybe he shouldn't, but he was still curious, and that curiosity got the better of him.
Under the front cover was one picture, Jongin's first baby picture, with his name and birthdate -- Kim Jongin, 14 January 1994, which meant he'd turned eighteen not too long ago. Joonmyun flipped the page, and that's where the story began. Picture after picture of baby Jongin filled the decorated pages, creating a timeline of the young boys life. Happy moments, sad moments, family gatherings, and Joonmyun's personal favorite so far, Jongin standing in the middle of the kitchen, , covered with what looked like cake batter, a very young Sunny standing in the background.
When he reached age six, the familiar woman Joonmyun had seen throughout had disappeared, and that was when he remembered that she had passed. Jongin looked less happy here, despite always having a smile on his face. From there, the pictures appeared far and in between, only important events documented, but it wasn't until he reached age sixteen that they really began tapering off. The pictures that were there showed a Jongin with a sharper edge, a more fierce look in those smiling eyes, almost the same look that Joonmyun saw now.
At the end, Joonmyun sat there with the book opened on his lap, fingers tracing over a group picture that looked recent, of Jongin, Taemin, the boys, and Sunny. It made him smile, they way they were all acting. Yunho was holding Jaejoong close, trying to kiss him as a 'digusted' looked Changmin attempted to push them away while Jongin, who had Taemin clinging to his back, was trying to pull them all in. And Sunny, being Sunny, was just watching, looking like she was trying to hold in laughter.
After a while, Joonmyun glanced up at Taemin, who was very much engrossed in his video game. Closing the book, the elder pushed himself out of the chair and padded over to the end of the bed, taking a seat next to the young boy. "Thank you," he murmured, unsure of why he was saying it, but he felt he should. Taemin had shown him something that allowed him to look into Jongin's past, to see who he had been and was, and he was grateful for that.
As rabid creatures flew at him across the screen, Taemin hummed softly, fingers tapping expertly at the buttons on the controller as Joonmyun flipped through the book. He knew later Jongin might get mad at him, but he wasn't the mean, gruff teenager that everyone thought he was, and if he and Joonmyun were going to be together for a while, he thought the elder should know that.
At the sudden dip on the mattress beside him, Taemin flinched, subsequently killing himself and those around him. Huffing a little, he paused the game on the rebirth point, and glanced up at the elder male as he spoke to him. "It's okay. I just... wanted you to see that hyung isn't a grumpy, hormonal teenager like everyone else thinks he is. I know I'm only a kid - and I know about the... turning and stuff - but I know that Jongin's as much of a kid as I am. He just... had to grow up too fast."
As if on cue, Jongin shifted a little in his sleep, lips parted in a soft groan as the first stage of the fever peaked. Taemin's eyes lifted to the clock on the wall, and he sighed softly. "The full moon will be rising in the next hour. Whatever hyung says, it's not him. So... don't take offense to any of it. He can't control Kai's voice so much in this state, but being sedated stops his body from turning."
After a moment, he looked back to his game, then glanced up at Joonmyun and passed the controller to him. "Here. Why don't you play for a bit? It's easy... use the directional buttons to move, and the A button to hit things, the B button is for jump... Just, don't let the big things hit you or you'll die..."
He smiled again, and slid off the end of the bed before disappearing into the bathroom. When he returned, Taemin carried a small bowl filled with cool water and a cloth, and he sat in the chair Joonmyun had just vacated, gently dabbing Jongin's forehead with the cloth.
Grumpy and hormonal, those weren't two words that Joonmyun would have used to describe the boy who had saved him, protected him, but he didn't know him as well as everyone else did and it wasn't likely that he ever would; he might come close, but that would still be further than those he'd grown up with. Joonmyun, a mere human, was only being taken care of, kept safe by the teenager, so he'd never be as close to Jongin as his family.
Just as Taemin fell silent, a soft groan tore the elder's attention back to Jongin, taking immediate notice that he'd shifted and was no sweating more than he had been before. It was getting worse, that much he knew, but what he didn't know was how bad it was going to get. Jongin wasn't going to turn, he'd said that -- and Taemin repeated it -- but it didn't make the elder male any less afraid.
After being given the remote, he watched the sickly boy for another moment before setting the book on the floor and turning to see if he could figure out Taemin's game. It seemed simple enough, and so long as he didn't get hit by anything, then he was okay. His first loss earned an annoyed twitch of his lips, the second earned a harsh sigh, and by the fifth, he was beyond put out and decided to turn the whole thing off before he further frustrated himself.
With a deep breath, Joonmyun shifted, turning to watch as Taemin dabbed at Jongin's forehead. "Is... is there anything I can do?" He felt helpless, maybe not as much as he had earlier in the week when his arm -- which was almost useful again -- was rendered immobile, but he still wanted something that made him feel helpful.
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