Pairing: het!jongkey (gwiboon x jonghyun)

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: angst & feels

A/N: originally posted to tumblr

midnightmoonlightmusic requested: “I’ll protect you with my life” jongkey (gwiboon/jonghyun) [I lost the original prompt b/c I replied to it! Oopsies]

A/N: So… I’m sorry in advance for… well things… and hope that you enjoy this. I was somewhat inspired by the Korean film ‘Tidal Wave,’ which is on Netflix and I highly recommend to anyone who likes natural disaster emotional films. I hope you enjoy this one - it got kind of long…. 0_0

Gwiboon cried loudly as she lay on the playground, blood trickling slowly down her face from the fresh gash that cut right above her eye. Her grandmother would be so upset with her for getting hurt, especially since the 5-year-old wasn’t supposed to be at the playground alone.

As her wails grew louder at the thought of disappointing her grandmother, a young boy approached her slowly and held out a shaky hand. Gwiboon eyed him warily but was too distressed to really do anything to the slightly bigger boy. He leaned closer and awkwardly began patting her head.

“Shh, it’s okay,” he said quietly. Gwiboon would be more likely to believe him if his face weren’t so pale and he didn’t look like he was going to be sick at the sight of her blood.

“W-what do you k-know?” she sniffled, trying to sound tough but failing as pinches of pain shot across her face. The boy winced in sympathy at her obvious discomfort and moved closer so that he could gather her into his arms from her previous position on the ground. She sniffled again but felt her shaking body begin to quiet and her pain faded into a dull ache as the young boy rocked with her slightly and continued to her hair.

“I’ll protect you,” he said quietly, almost as if he was speaking to himself. Gwiboon, however, heard the words and couldn’t help but take a deep, calm breath as she felt her body relax into his hold and her eyes close. She was so content that she didn’t even hear the rising voices of concerned adults until she was wrenched away from the boy to be properly examined.

“No!” she cried, her voice once again wavering as the feeling of separation and pain took over her once again.

“Sh, I’m here. It’s okay, you’re okay.” The boy said, reaching desperately for her hand and gripping it tightly so that the adults would not separate them again.

She met his gaze and smiled sweetly at her new friend, “Thank you. I’m Gwiboon.”

The boy returned her smile, his kind face shining and causing the little girl’s heart to stutter with the beginnings of a crush. “I’m Jonghyun,” he said and moved in closer so that he was able to wrap his arm around her.

Gwiboon was content once again and couldn’t help but steal glances up at her protector even after she heard the tell-tale signs of her grandmother’s angry yet concerned voice in the distance as the woman no doubt rushed to see if Gwiboon was all right.

She sighed, breathing in the lovely earthy scent that surrounded the little boy and leaned her head on his shoulder, happy with the knowledge that even if she did receive a scolding for her little adventure to the park, it had all been worth it.

———————————————-

“Kim Jonghyun, you are crazy if you think that I am going to get into that stinky ocean water,” Gwiboon huffed, annoyed that her fiancé would even suggest such a thing.

“Babe, we live on the coast, how can you not like the ocean?” Jonghyun implored her.

The younger girl pursed her bow-shaped lips and glared at him, “Don’t you dare use those puppy eyes on me, Jong. You’re not going to win this argument. Ever.”

Jonghyun rolled his eyes but couldn’t help but smile at the cute way his fiancé tried to resist him. He knew that she loved going to the beach and would eventually cave. Instead of continuing a verbal argument, he scooped the beautiful girl up into his arms, ignoring her squawks of indignation as he ran with her into the water and pretended like he was going to drop her.

Now more worried about the water than any embarrassment from being manhandled, Gwiboon clung to his chest desperately, wrapping her legs around his slim, muscled waist as her arms found purchase around his neck. Jonghyun stopped moving, loving the feeling of Gwiboon against him, and her back soothingly.

“Gwi, you know I wouldn’t,” he said quietly against her ear. Her breath had become less steady and he was worried that he had actually gone too far. Although they had lived near the ocean their entire lives, Gwiboon had never learned how to swim and was terrified of the water.

She bit his neck in response and he gasped at the sharp sting. Laughing at her playfulness, and happy that she wasn’t truly angry, he tickled her bare waist (thank god for her love of bikinis!) causing her to squirm against him. Her legs lost their grip and she began slipping down his body so that she screamed and clutched his neck in desperation.

“Shh, hey, I’ve got you,” Jonghyun said, grabbing behind her knees and hauling her back up his body until she could once again wrap herself around him.

“Jerk,” she hissed, once again nipping at his neck.

Jonghyun only laughed at her antics, loving the easy way he could read her and just loving her, his Gwiboon, in general.

“Don’t worry, sugarplum, I’ll protect you from the big bad foot of water that we’re in,” he said, making sure that his voice was extra sweet just to piss her off a little bit more. If there was one trait he loved about his fiancé, it was her feistiness.

“Yah!” she said, now deliberately extricating herself from his hold to jump back and land squarely in the water. She kicked out splashing him right in the face. She gasped at his look of pure shock and then caught the playful glint to his eyes.

“Oh, so that’s how you wanna play, hm?” he asked before lunging for the girl. Gwiboon shrieked in delight and tried to run from him only to have his strong arms ensnare her waist and be hauled back into his hard body.

Gasping for breath through her laughter, Gwiboon pretended to struggle. After a few minutes, they both tired and Jonghyun hauled them to the shore, falling down onto the sand so that Gwiboon landed on top of him in a tangle of limbs.

The warm sun kissed their skin and Gwiboon stretched up so that she was staring into her fiancé’s loving gaze. She returned his smiled before leaning in to close the distance between them and brushed her lips lightly against his. Jonghyun hummed into the kiss, wrapping her in his arms and returning the pressure so that their lips melded together in a harmony of peace and love.

Sighing, Gwiboon broke the kiss and laid her head on Jonghyun’s chest, loving the perfect way their bodies fit together in this moment of bliss and looking forward to the many years to come where they could lay like this for hours upon hours as husband and wife.

———————————————-

“I hate you,” Gwiboon said, staring up at her husband with a cute frown on her face.

Jonghyun laughed, ruffling her hair just to irk her before grabbing her beach bag and throwing it on the boat.

“Let’s go dear, we’ve already paid the good man for the night,” he said as if nothing was wrong. Other than Gwiboon’s fear of the water, there really wasn’t anything wrong. Jonghyun had worked carefully to plan this surprise for their fifth wedding anniversary and would be damned if Gwiboon would ruin it for the both of them.

He let his irritation wash through him until he took in the silent look of worry on his lovely wife’s face. Heart melting at the slight way she was curved in on herself and the way her bottom lip was being chewed on nervously, Jonghyun moved forward until he could wrap his arms around the love of his life and whisper into her ear, “Hey, shh. You know I won’t let anything happen to you. I’ll protect you with my life.” Kissing her hair, he felt her relax into his embrace and breathed in a sigh of relief at her nonverbal communication that she was okay.

“Hey you two love birds, save that for the boat ride!” Their captain chuckled as he came aboard, clapping Jonghyun on the back before striding towards the captain’s area.

Jonghyun smiled at the man before ushering his wife below deck. The small yacht he had rented for the evening had a very romantic feel and he hoped that Gwiboon’s expensive taste would approve. He had spent hours searching online for the right boat and had worked “hard” to convince the friendly married couple and their closer friends who lived next door, Minho and Jinki, to babysit their 2-year-old son Taemin for the night. He wanted everything to be perfect for his sugarplum and hoped that all of his efforts would be worth it.

The ship’s horn blared, signaling that the boat was departing from the dock. Jonghyun smiled down at Gwiboon who returned his expression with a slight raise to her eyebrow and a challenging glint to her eyes as if to say “you just watch me enjoy this boat ride.” The look too cute to resist, Jonghyun pecked Gwiboon’s nose messily, which caused her to scrunch up her nose adorably and pout up at him as she wiped off his leftover saliva onto her hand.

“Really, Jong?”

He only chuckled as he pulled her back towards the main deck so that they could watch the shoreline disappear behind them.

–

The couple enjoyed a romantic evening filled with all of the cliché details of a movie: candlelit dinner, beautiful sunset on the water, and a cuddle session in the brisk night air. Gwiboon loved everything about this special night that her husband had prepared for them and was happy that her fear of the water was overshadowed by the warmth of being so cherished that spread from her heart throughout her body until she was drunk off of the feeling.

Feeling the yacht sway from the waves, Gwiboon stretched her limbs out on their bed, needing to ensure that there would be no unwanted cricks in the morning. She sought out Jonghyun’s warmth and curled against his side, loving the familiar feeling of being so close to him.

The boat gave an extra hard jerk, causing Gwiboon’s heart to stop momentarily in fear before the boat’s rocking returned to normal, if not a little bit shakier.

She breathed down her worries and closed her eyes, wanting to commit this perfect night to memory so that in the years to come she would always be able to recall the way she was feeling right now. The day’s excitement and activities finally caught up to her and she felt herself drift slowly into a deep, deep sleep.

–

“Babe, get up!”

“Ngh, go away,” Gwiboon batted at her husband who was annoyingly pulling on her arm.

“Now!” he yelled, lifting her off of the bed and causing her eyes to shoot open in alarm.

“Yah! Put me down, I am trying to sleep, you -crazed animal!”

She blinked sleep from her eyes as Jonghyun set her down so that she was now standing in their room. He didn’t even bother responding as he rushed to put her clothes on her from earlier. Gwiboon frowned at the sight, sleep still clouding her brain as she tried to understand why her husband was putting clothes on her, let alone gross dirty ones from yesterday. She had a whole other outfit planned for their second day aboard and she would be damned if she would wear the same thing from-

“Gwi, for God’s sake, wake up!” Jonghyun screamed, his panic-filled voice finally causing a kernel of fear to rip through her daze and sharpen her mind to take in her surroundings.

Jonghyun was dressed haphazardly, his shirt on backwards and his swimming trunks inside out, his hair messed from their love-making but also slightly damp as if it had been raining.

The boat shook around them and tilted ominously to the right, causing the couple to go flying into the wall.

“What the ?” Gwiboon shrieked, finally noticing the howling noise of the wind as the door to their room slammed open and a spray of ocean water to spurt downwards.

“There’s a storm and we have to get off the ship! Rescue’s only minutes away and we need to go! Now!” was all he said, yelling in desperation as he a life jacket onto her and strapped her in so tightly that she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to breathe.

“Jong-“ but her questions were staunched by another ominous creak from the boat and the frenzied panic of her husband shoving her up the stairs and onto the boat deck.

It was nighttime and Gwiboon could barely see anything around her, but the moon was shining just enough that she could see the size of the humongous waves that swirled around them. Fear paralyzed her body at the sight and the implication of what it meant for them on their little boat in the middle of that roiling mass of Mother Nature. Jonghyun grabbed her arm and hauled her towards the captain, who was waving his arms up at the sky with a red flare in each hand.

Gwiboon glanced up and saw a helicopter above them, the combined wind from the whirring blades and the storm stinging her eyes and forcing her to look away. She glanced to her husband as Jonghyun continued to lead her towards the captain and made sure to wrap his hand in the strap of her life jacket so that he wouldn’t lose her in the storm.

In the chaos around them, Gwiboon couldn’t help but admire the strength and determination of her husband, her Jonghyun, who remained resolute in his mission to protect her.

They had finally reached the captain, Jonghyun grasping the railing and pulling Gwiboon in front of him so that he surrounded her, a hand still wrapped tightly in her lifejacket. Just then, a large wave crashed over the deck and buffeted the couple. Gwiboon feared that it would sweep them away as the boat rocked dangerously back when the wave retracted, but Jonghyun’s firm grip on the railing and her kept them in place.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she was finally able to breathe normally, the waves at bay if only for a short time, only to have a sob wrenched from her body as she looked to their left and saw that the captain was gone.

“Oh my god,” she cried, latching onto Jonghyun’s arms so that her nails dug into his skin. She tried to loosen her grip but the thought of losing Jonghyun too caused her to look over whatever discomfort he might be feeling.

She felt Jonghyun glance up and followed his gaze, squinting to make out the shape of a rescue belt being lowered down to them from the helicopter. When it was finally within reach, Jonghyun grabbed it and pulled until there was enough slack to wrap it around them.

The two met gazes and Gwiboon leaned up in a desperate kiss to convey her feelings one last time to the love of her life – just in case. Tears seeped down her eyes as the thought crossed her mind until a loud voice came from the helicopter above them over a speaker, “Put the belt around you! Only one at a time! Hurry!”

Gwiboon’s breath caught at the words. “NO!” she screamed, her shout carried away by the howling wind. “No, Jonghyun, no!”

Her husband ignored her and stuck the belt over her head so that her arms were through it and it sat just below her .

“Hold on, Gwiboon-ah,” he shouted into her ear. “Don’t let go, do you hear me?! Don’t let go!”

Gwiboon shook her head frantically, trying to convey just how not okay she was with this decision, when her husband – the selfish, caring bastard – took a step back and waved up at the helicopter. She felt the cable tighten and fought to lean down to kiss her husband one last time.

“I love you, you jerk!” she cried, her tears and the ocean spray around them choking back her words.

He caught her gaze, his own unwavering as he mouthed the familiar, heartfelt words, “I will protect you with my life.” She cried again as she rose steadily into the air, the sight of the terrifying ocean surrounding her love too much for her to bear. Gwiboon tightened her grip on the belt that was now her lifeline, wrenching her gaze away from the horrifying sight below her to see the giant helicopter only feet above.

As she glanced back down, she gasped in horror as a large wave approached the boat and her unknowing husband, who was still staring up at her as if he had to see for himself that she made it to safety. Gwiboon cried out but it was in vain as the wave crashed over the boat and she lost sight of Jonghyun. Before she could do anything a large gust of wind smacked her in her ascent to safety, causing her to scream in fright as she swayed dangerously from side to side. 

Her grip on the belt tightened and she looked up to see that she was now inches from the landing slides. Reaching up in a desperate attempt to grab them in hopes that the rescue crew would have enough time to return below and save her husband, another strong gust of wind hit her and, already leaning towards the helicopter, knocked her straight into the unforgiving metal of the landing strips. 

Gwiboon’s head collided with the hard metal and, with one last desperate prayer for her husband, she succumbed to darkness.

———————————————-

“Mommy?”

“Shh, Taeminnie, let your mommy rest, okay.”

“But she moved! I saw her!”

“I know, Tae, but you have to-“

“NO! She’s my mommy, mine!”

A small but solid weight landed on Gwiboon’s chest and caused her to gasp in pain before the weight was removed just as quickly. Her heart clenched at the sudden loss even as her body sighed in relief.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and blinked, blinded by the brightness of her surroundings. Her vision adjusted until she could clearly see the room around her, a white, bland hospital room.

“What?” she tried asking, only to have catch at how dry it was. The sound, however small, caused a new sight to take over that of the hospital room. A young child was now right in front of her face; his large brown eyes and cute little nose scrunched in worry.

“Mommy?” the child asked softly, leaning in closer as if the proximity would shake his mother from her daze.

“T-tae?” she croaked, bringing her aching arm up until she was able to pat her son’s head.

“Mommy!” Taemin cried, once again pouncing onto his mother as tears ran down his face and he jabbered on in his child’s language, muffled by his tears and his mother’s chest.

His tiny arms wrapped around her neck tightly and Gwiboon felt her senses fully return to her and a gasp left her body.

“Jonghyun?” she said anxiously, looking up to see her neighbor Jinki staring down sadly at her.

He didn’t say a word but then again, he didn’t need to, Gwiboon had seen her husband disappear in a giant wave.

“No,” she cried, gripping her child more tightly to her chest as tears rolled down her cheeks, “NO!”

No doubt worried by his mother’s outburst, the toddler began crying even harder, too, until the two were a giant mess of tears and shaking limbs. A nurse rushed into the room at the commotion and Jinki went over to tell her what had happened.

The pair came over to Gwiboon’s bed and Jinki slowly leaned down, gently extricating the young boy from his mother so that the nurse could examine her patient.

Gwiboon’s body ached but her soul felt numb as she answered the questions of the nurse, and then the doctor, and then the coast guard and police officers that came to take a report of what had happened.

She relayed the story, not really much help as her head injury and fogginess from whatever drugs they had her on for the pain dulled her memory. As she came to the part where Jonghyun was lost, she stumbled over the words and was once again assaulted by the sight of her husband being consumed by that angry wave, lost to her forever…

“Ma’am,” one of the police officers said, lightly grabbing her hand to get her attention. Gwiboon quieted at the touch, not realizing that she had spoken the last memories aloud.

“Your husband is here, in the hospital,” he said, smiling kindly at her as the shock registered on her face. The man glanced over to her right, nodding towards another hospital bed that she had not seen before in the commotion of being reunited with her son and answering a multitude of questions. She had been so numbed by her emotions and memories of loss that she had failed to notice the one thing that meant more to her than anything in the world – her husband, alive.

She choked on a sob and wrenched herself from her bed, ignoring the concerned voices of the nurse and officer as her IV was ripped from her arm and she stumbled towards her sleeping husband.

Gwiboon flung herself onto his bed, careful to not disturb any of his tubes as she leaned down to kiss his lips and his face. She cried loudly, clutching his thin hospital gown as she allowed herself to take in the sight of her husband. Jonghyun’s head was wrapped in a white bandage and his beautiful face was marred with scratches and dry patches, no doubt caused by the sea’s rage. She cupped his cheek gently, her thumb along his cheekbone in a tender caress and reveling in the sight of her husband’s chest rising and falling as the heart monitor beeped and echoed the truth of his survival.

Tears dripped down her nose onto his face, but Gwiboon was too happy to care. Slowly, carefully, she laid down until she was flush against his side, her head resting on his shoulder so that she could feel every inhale and exhale of breath.

The nurse finally came over, checking her hand where the IV had been ripped out and tsking as she worked to bandage had been caused. Gwiboon ignored this in favor of closing her eyes and nestling further into her husband’s side, desperate for contact in any form. She heard the office whisper to the nurse, the pair retreating and finally allowing Gwiboon alone time with her love.

She felt her tears wet the spot where her head resting on Jonghyun’s shoulder and she sniffled, turning her head to wipe her nose on the rough fabric of his gown. Jonghyun shifted slightly under her at the gesture, causing her to stiffen and her eyes to desperately glance up to her husband’s face.

His eyes had cracked open slightly, his gaze unfocused and glazed over. Gwiboon’s heart quickened at the sight and she leaned up so that she was propped up on an elbow and leaning over his face, her hair forming a curtain between them and the world.

“Jonghyun-ah,” she breathed, leaning down to place a kiss on his bandaged forehead.

At her voice, his gaze sharpened and his eyes opened incrementally until she could see the beautiful brown depths that she loved so much.

He groaned, no doubt just as sore if not more so than Gwiboon was, and she couldn’t help but smile at the implication. Her Jonghyun was alive. He was here – with her – and they had survived. Somehow they had survived.

As he groaned again, he blinked and shifted until he was looking up into Gwiboon’s intensely happy gaze. Something soft and loving pierced through his haze as their eyes connected and she returned the look, leaning down to place a proper kiss on his lips before moving over to whisper into his ear, “I’ll protect you.”

The meaning of the words hung in the air between them, their own version of “I love you” that had been with them since the beginning serving as a pact of their commitment to each other.

Jonghyun smiled briefly, a look of pain crossing of his face at the action before Gwiboon allowed herself to once again sink down next to her husband and wrap an arm securely around his waist.

She let his reassuring breaths pull her into a light sleep, only interrupted by the tug of a tiny hand on her arm. Turning around, Gwiboon wrapped her son in her arms, nestling him in-between her and Jonghyun so that their little family was once again complete.