fantasy!au in which jongin takes minseok's hand and finally takes that first step to freedom

Although Jongin is the timekeeper of the city, although he is the one who rings the bell for every hour and never once misses a beat, he forgets just how long he's been locked away in the clock tower. By now, he's forgotten why he's there in the first place, why he stays, and what the punishment is for missing a beat on the bell.

It has been so long but by now, Jongin has stopped caring about the people outside- the people who locked him away. He's made a home in the solitude and finds safety in the walls of the tower. He keeps his magic to himself and finds new ways to mesmerize himself with the ice shooting from his palm, leaving small dusts of snowflakes sprinkling in the air. 

He's found ways to keep himself content and as happy as he can be when he's been locked away for so long. He doesn't need food like humans do, nor people to keep him company.

The humans have only ever hurt him. At least in the clock tower, so high above ground that the people below are small enough to be captured in his palm, no one can reach him.

No one can hurt him.

And Jongin has been content this way for sunrises upon sunsets that he's stopped tallying when the stars shine in the darkness along the walls. His sanctuary is never disturbed until on a day as any other, a minute before the bell is to toll twice for two in the afternoon, the door to his sanctuary burst open in a cloud of dust, shrouding the intruder. His entire body freezes, like he'd encased himself in ice. His heart freezes, like a misfired shot of ice blew straight through his chest. 

He inhales, and he waits.

From the cloud of dust appears a man, frantic but young in the face. He slams the door shut, taking in large gulps of air before sliding down the old wood, eyes shut in relief. He's much less menacing than Jongin had imagined the humans to be, but it doesn't detract from the thrill of excitement and confidence he can sense from the human.

And it scares him that he'll be hurt again.

When he takes a step back in fear, he catches sight of the clock and two rounds of the longer hand have already passed. He scrambles for the rope, heart caught in his throat as he tugs the rope twice.

He was late. He can't swallow around his heart in his throat nor move with his legs shaking as bad as they are. In his anxiety, he'd encased his hand in ice around the rope, and he's too nervous to undo it.

"What are you so afraid of?"

Startled by the sound, his entire body jerks back. He takes two steps away, ice cracking away around his hand.

The man finally stands up, pushes away from the door. He takes two steps forward.

Jongin feels a ghostly pain along his spine, stinging stripes being painted along his back that makes him wince. He feels the chill of ice spreading along the veins in his palm. He shuts his eyes tight and tries to stop anything else from happening, give less for the human to hurt him with, but two sharp slices down his back and a sudden whoosh of wind around him and he knows that he's revealed himself completely.

His leathery wings beat anxiously, reaching out just shy of wall to wall of the tower. The coldness in his palm builds until ice blasts forth from his hand and punches through the ceiling. 

"Hey- hey, whoa! Just calm down- I promise I won't hurt you," he says but all Jongin can hear are lies. That's what other humans had promised him- every single last one he trusted. He shoots ice from his hand, aiming for the ground before the man's feet. The man looks back at him surprised when the ice thins out to a glossy puddle.

He takes a step forward, looking Jongin straight in the eye. Jongin fires another warning blast of ice in the man's path. He continues back, trying to put distance between them until his back slams against the wall, separating the intruder from his treasures. 

The man stops, and the tension starts to build in the air, chilling. 

"Leave," Jongin says, voice foreign in his own ears. He beats his wings, sending a gust of cold, whirling air at the man's direction. "Leave!"

It does nothing to deter the intruder. "You're Kai, aren't you- the dragon that's been floating around in the legends here for years?"

Jongin remembers that name, remembers how the humans called him that years ago in hate as they took strips of leather to his back and tried to destroy him with fire. He remembers how much he hated that name- that no matter how many people he trusted to listen to him would never call him by his true name. 

He opens his palm, builds up the ice in his hand before he aims it for the intruder's feet. The ice wraps around the man's ankle, locks him in place and immobilizes him. Jongin takes the opportunity and ducks into his room away from the bell.

"Wait!" the man calls out after him, but Jongin shuts the door and finally lets himself breathe. He's safe for now, he knows the human can't hurt him.

There's a hole in the wall that separates them, and Jongin knows he'll have to go back to ring the bell thrice for three, but in the meantime, he stays by the hole and watches. The human struggles with the ice- tries pulling his foot free, scraping the ice away, blowing heat to melt the ice but none of it works. Thirty turns of the clock and the human has given up, hands red and eyes shut tight.

"Please break the ice," he calls out weakly, swaying a bit before deciding to sit on the ground. He keeps his knee bent, looking down at it sadly. Jongin doesn't understand why he feels any remorse.

He continues to watch until it's almost time for him to ring the bell. He steps back into the room, skirting along the wall to keep his distance from the human.

"I was just running away from the tax collectors," the intruder says, keeping his gaze on Jongin. "My name is Minseok."

Jongin flinches under Minseok's gaze. He keeps his lips pressed tight and wraps his shaky hands around the bell's rope. He tugs three times once three comes and then skirts back along the walls.

"I didn't mean to come here and scare you," Minseok says, voice pleading. Jongin is starting to sense the fear.

He didn't mean to scare the human either. He could never wish upon his worst enemy the fear he's felt, that he's lived in for years, let alone on a human who doesn't know him. 

He takes a wary step forward.

Minseok holds his trembling hand forward, palm up. He softens his gaze and smiles. "I promise I won't hurt you."

Jongin can feel the kindness now, the empathy that Minseok emits. He takes a few more steps forward until there's only five paces between them. Minseok doesn't move an inch, even when a wave of Jongin's hand breaks the ice around his ankle.

"Your name isn't Kai, is it?" Minseok asks. He still doesn't move.

"No," Jongin replies, feeling enough tension bleed out of him so he can fold back his wings but the tips of his fingers still tingle with ice. "Kai was the name the humans gave me in fear. I have always been Jongin."

Minseok's smile grows a little wider, eyes just slightly sparkling in wonderment. "Legends of you have been around for nearly half a century now. I didn't think you'd still live here, ringing the clock tower's bell. The town stopped sending people to guard you years ago- longer than I've been alive. I'm sure they'd thought you'd passed."

Jongin feels his heart jump into his throat. He can sense Minseok isn't lying to him. "So this means I am free?"

Minseok nods. "You've been free for years. You don't have to live in fear anymore."

Hands shaking, Jongin folds them in his lap. The cold on his fingertips have been replaced by warmth spreading along his palm. The thought of even being free, of not living in fear anymore, hits him with the weight of a train. But finally, he can breathe easy. The knots in his chest finally loosen.

He looks back at Minseok once more, ensuring once more that he isn't telling any lies. After a moment, Jongin realizes he's finally free. 

"You're welcome to stay with me if you like," Minseok offers, standing up and offering a hand to pull up Jongin as well. "I don't have a lot of money, and I'm in big trouble now with the tax collectors, but I've been dreaming of adventuring away from this small village for years. I think it'd be good for me to escape."

Minseok pushes his hand forward. "Would you like to leave with me?"

Jongin stares at Minseok's hand, stares at the door that's been isolating him for so long- the door that's put so much pain in his head that he couldn't fathom another life than the one he'd been thrown in. He exhales and finally looks Minseok in the eye.

"Take me with you," he breathes, taking Minseok's offered hand and standing. He doesn't let go, rather enjoying the warmth from Minseok. "I trust you."

With a relieved sigh, Minseok tugs Jongin's hand towards the door. "What are we waiting for then?" He puts his hand on the doorknob and swings the door open, stepping out of the room. 

Jongin looks back at the solitude he's known and finally takes the first step into freedom. He never once looks back.