Follow this...
The Howling - Part IV: Inevitable
There was silence as Jongin watched Joonmyun, the younger reaching out a little to squeeze the elder's leg before he was climbing off the bed and moving to sit with the three elder boys. He nearly choked when he heard Joonmyun's question, but all three looked rather amused.
"Imprinting?" Yunho repeated, his lips twitching in a grin as he glanced at Jaejoong before looking back to Joonmyun. "Well, it's... You know the japanese term 'Akai Ito'? It means red thread of fate. That when we are born, we have this invisible red thread tied to our little finger, linking us to the other half of our souls, our.... hearts. We don't know who that person is until we see them, and no matter how much we fight it... we can't escape that fate--"
"That's what it's like at first... when you first hear of the bond, until... you realize that it's more than just a tie to another person. It's more than physical, it's emotional, it's spiritual..." Jaejoong continued, his hand moving to find Yunho's so he could link their fingers. "We were like you guys. We fought it - at first, I couldn't stand Yunnie. He was crude, immature... so I tried to leave. We got sick too, really sick, like you guys....so we learned to stop fighting. Once we stopped fighting, everything fell into place..."
He smiled and shook his head, glancing up at Yunho before turning back to Joonmyun. "Let the bond take you. Let it weave it's magic, it's not a chain... It's a... it's...this... here..." Shaking his head, Jaejoong leaned forward and poked Joonmyun lightly right over his heart. "Follow this... and it'll be okay."
As the two males spoke, Joonmyun listened, more attentive to them than anything else in the room, even with Jongin's presence prickling at the back of his mind. He grinned softly at the affection in their eyes when they looked at each other, truly being able to see the bond between them, but his face remained otherwise attentive, drinking in everything they told him.
Absently, Joonmyun brought his hand up to his chest where Jaejoong had poked him, fingers pressing into the flesh and muscles over his heart. That's what he had to follow, his heart, but right now his heart was torn and confused and he wasn't sure he wanted to follow; for all he knew, it would lead him to his death and he would never know until the end. But he knew he had to at least try and hope -- know -- that Jongin would be there if anything led him astray.
It was then, in that moment that it really hit him: this is where he was going to be until he died; he was going to be with Jongin, as his mate, his partner in... everything. Joonmyun knew that reality always had habits of smacking him in the face, but this was a very rough stab to the gut, and he had to take a deep breath to keep himself calm. He couldn't freak out, because what he did, how he felt, affected Jongin, and he didn't want Jongin to worry.
"I'll.... do my best," Joonmyun murmured with a less than assured nod before glancing over at Jongin. He'd made a promise to try, and so he had to, because it was the only thing that was going to keep them both alive and well.
Jaejoong smiled a little more, lifting his hand to lightly ruffle Joonmyun's hair as the boy touched his own chest where he'd poked him, and pulled back after a moment as Yunho squeezed his hand a little tighter. "Things will be okay, Joonmyun. You have people around you who've gone through this... and we're all here to look after you guys."
Yunho nodded in agreement, not before noticing the way Jongin stiffened on the bed. He squeezed Jaejoong's hand as a warning, and the other male looked up as Jongin stood. All three elder males were silent as Jongin slowly stepped over to where they sat, his fingers gently brushing Joonmyun's shoulder. He breathed out slowly as he squeezed the elder's shoulder reassuringly, a smile lifting the corners of his lips before he moved to sit down beside him.
"Are you freaking him out?" he teased, lifting his eyes to Jaejoong and Yunho as he slowly slid his hand closer to link fingers with Joonmyun, feeling an instant sense of relief at the proximity the elder offered - for a brief moment wondering if Joonmyun felt that same relief - before he stuck his tongue out at the older boys. "Jeez, don't scare him..."
Sighing a little, Jongin looked down at their hands, his free hand moving to gently trace small patterns up the boy's knuckles and wrist, trying to distract him from whatever was upsetting him.
Joonmyun shouldn't have been surprised that Jongin knew he was upset, shouldn't have been surprised that he'd come to assure him, but he still flinched slightly as fingers brushed over his shoulder. He glanced up, returning the smile to the best of his ability as Jongin sat beside him and took his hand. Almost instantly, Joonmyun curled his fingers into the younger male's.
The relief that washed over him was blissful, and he relaxed, leaning ever so slightly into Jongin and the familiar comfort he offered. He had sensed earlier when Jongin had tensed, but he was calm now, only worried that the boys had scared him.
"They're not scaring me, Jongin," Joonmyun replied quietly. "It's just... a lot to take in. But I'll be okay." He glanced at Jongin before turning back to the boys. "I just figure that the more I know the better things will be." Or, at least he hoped. "Thank you."
"Good," he murmured softly, squeezing the boy's hand a little tighter as hefelt the fingers curl into his palm. The action had him smiling, and he breathed in slowly, taking in Joonmyun's scent with him as a way of calming himself down, before he lifted his gaze to the boys. "I understand. I'm sure they don't mind you asking them anything regarding the bond... or thepack, if you'd be interested in that at all."
He trailed off after that, chewing on his lower lip in thought before he smiled and stood up. "I'm going to go get the ice cream from the bedroom... Taeminnie might like some too," he turned to the three elder males after that, giving them looks that htey all knew themeaning of. "Watch over them..."
Gently, he squeezed Joonmyun's hand gently, before he smiled. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Don't worry..."
Slowly, he pulled away from Joonmyun, instantly feeling the gap between them as he smiled at Taemin and stepped out of the room, pulling the door closed behind him.
From the moment Jongin pulled away, the moment their skin no longer made contact, an emptiness pulled at Joonmyun's chest, the same emptiness that he'd felt before, and the same one that was telling him to get up and follow the younger boy. But he stayed put, fingers digging lightly into the cushions as he ducked his head for a brief moment.
When he looked back up, he turned to the boys, and there was no doubt that the look in his eyes said he had more questions; since arriving here almost a month ago, he'd lost his ability to hide his emotions as well as he had been in the past, but around Jongin, that didn't matter. Still, he had questions, but one was more prominent than the other. Joonmyun wasn't positive that he wanted to know the truth, and it probably wasn't important, but it still worried him.
"Who hurt him?" There was a hint of fear in his eyes, but he suppressed it quickly, knowing now that Jongin would feel it, and it didn't want the younger coming back sooner than he was expected. "Who... who hurt all of you?" Joonmyun gave each of the boy's a glance, save for Taemin, because he knew what had happened again and he wasn't sure it wanted to remind him.
Okay guise! There is a new feature and I'm going to abuse the hell out of it! WOOOO!
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