Part 4.

Frost

Part. 4

3.105 words.

Taeyong stood facing the crossing roads again this morning. Ten watched him from the window, swallowing hard and waiting for the other to leave, still it didn’t look like Taeyong was leaving any time soon. Actually he had a different expression on today, and he was tapping his foot as if waiting.

Ten groaned and threw himself to the ground. Taeyong was waiting for him. Ten hit the ground in annoyance. It was impossible to avoid him.

Ten walked past Taeyong who spun around and immediately followed the other to school.

“Ten we need to talk.” Taeyong said and jumped forward and turning around to face the other who kept his eyes upon the ground. Taeyong’s eyes momentarily focused on the other’s lips and he fell behind. “Hey.” He said and ran to keep up with the other.

Ten seemed to hold his breath as he waited for the light to turn green before he entered the narrow road where Johnny and his friends stood.

“Why are you ignoring me?” Taeyong cried childishly and then eyed the group of students. “Can’t we talk? Please, please!”

“Morning Ten.” Johnny greeted the other and flicked his cigarette away before walking beside Ten. Taeyong stopped for a second to stare at them.

“Wasn’t he a bully?” He asked Ten who cleared his throat and turned to smile to Johnny who was already ranting about the party. Taeyong jumped up upon the roof and froze the ground ahead of Johnny. The tall boy slid across the ground and Ten caught him before he fell.

“Wow,” Johnny gasped and got up by the support of Ten. “Didn’t see the ice.” He said and scratched his neck with a smile.

“Idiot.” Taeyong muttered and saw Ten eye him. Taeyong’s face lit up in hopes of the other noticing him, but then Ten faced Johnny.

“Lucky you that I was here.” He said and started walking again.

Johnny nodded. “What would I have done without my dear Ghost Boy?”

“Oh is that my official title now?” Ten asked and Johnny started talking again.

Taeyong sat upon the roof of the house right in front of the school and he watched the two students enter the gates.

“Party…” Taeyong said with a frown. “What party?”

Ten was fixing his shirt in the mirror, it was dark green and he pulled a leather jacket over it. He was fixing his hair when he noticed a shadow upon the floor. He sighed. Taeyong was sitting outside by his window. Ten walked across the room to pull on white basketball shoes. He sprayed a bit of perfume onto his wrists and dabbed them onto his neck right under his ear. Then he pulled on his black warm duvet jacket and headed into the cold night air.

Taeyong had been following him every day. He threw snowballs at Johnny when they were walking to school and even on the window in class. He even once stepped in Ten’s way so that Ten had to turn around and walk another way. Ten wouldn’t give in that easily.

Still he was excited to go to the party. Because of Johnny talking to him it seemed as if people thought of the Ghost Boy nickname more as a joke than something to bully him with, and he was happy about that. Taeyong walked a few steps behind him, he was humming a small tune and Ten felt comforted by the other’s presence. He just didn’t tell Taeyong that.

When Ten knocked on the door he turned around to see Taeyong draw circles in the snow. He smiled sadly, for a moment wishing that Taeyong had just been another student, maybe he would have dark hair and brown eyes. Ten sensed Taeyong would love dancing too, or well he hoped. It would all be much simpler then.

“What’s up!” Johnny said in English and Ten laughed. “Are you ready to get wasteeeed?” Johnny sing sang as he let Ten in. The boy laughed again and entered while pulling off his jacket. Johnny closed the door, leaving Taeyong at the foot of the stairs, blue eyes upon the spot where he had last seen Ten stand.

Taeyong watched the party from outside. Ten was drinking a lot of odd drinks. He was laughing and talking and Johnny was a bit touchy making Taeyong hiss curses beneath his breath. Later at night Ten suddenly stood by the window and the turned around to look outside. Taeyong stepped into the light and Ten smiled eyes meeting Taeyong’s, then he left the room.

Taeyong jumped. Ten had smiled at him, why would he do that? Taeyong looked at the window with hopeful eyes only to hear the door leading into the garden open up.

Ten stepped outside and breathed in deeply, but he didn’t look at Taeyong.

The white haired boy stepped closer, leaning to the side to catch the other’s attention. “Do you want to talk now?” He asked and Ten looked down, then he shook his head. “Do you… hate me?” Taeyong then asked and took place in front of Ten. The other looked away, sniffled and then shrugged. He was only wearing his shirt and leather jacket and Taeyong knew that he was cold.

Taeyong sighed and reached out to softly grab the other’s arm. “I never meant to harm you or your family.” He said. “I-”

Ten shook his head and shortly looked at Taeyong, he froze, eyes focused on Taeyong’s lips, then he turned to head inside again.

“Ten please…” Taeyong pleaded and held onto Ten’s arm, the other’s movements were slow and his pupils were larger than normal. Ten looked away from Taeyong with pursed lips. Taeyong sighed. “I’ll be here.” He told the other and stepped into Ten’s view, Ten looked into his eyes for a short moment. “You know what to do if you need me.” He said in a soft voice and Ten nodded. Taeyong wanted to hold onto the other but then Johnny came into the dark garden.

“Why are you out in the cold?” He asked, voice louder than normal.

Ten looked at Taeyong. “I needed some time with my ghost.” He said and Taeyong gripped Ten’s hand for a short moment, he felt the other hold onto his hand.

“Is the ghost more interesting than me?” Johnny said and wrapped an arm around Ten. Taeyong glared at the taller and raised his staff wanting nothing more than the smack the other’s head. Hard.

Ten chuckled. “It’s cold.” He said and the two turned away from Taeyong, his hand slipping out of the grasp.

“Then let’s go into the warmth.” Johnny spoke into Ten’s hair and they entered the house. Taeyong gripped his staff even tighter. He then flew up to sit upon the roof, hoping this party would end soon.

Then a group of students exited the house. Taeyong stood and looked down and amongst them he saw Ten, Johnny walking beside him with an arm wound his shoulders. Taeyong decided that he would smack the other’s head if he as much as tried to do anything more than that. He followed the group and noticed that they were heading for the park. They didn’t wear thick jackets and Taeyong didn’t like the way Ten didn’t even react to the cold.

They stopped by the frozen lake.

“Hey who’s brave enough to walk onto the ice with me?” Johnny said and spun around to face his friends, Ten laughed and the other’s gasped as Johnny stepped out onto the ice. “See it’s safe!” He said and Taeyong watched it all from afar. Johnny walked in again and then pulled Ten closer. Taeyong groaned and flew up and farther away. Then he stopped. What if Ten walked onto the ice? It wasn’t safe. It was February and he hadn’t made sure that the lake was frozen for a long time. Taeyong flew back and sat in the tree and watched Johnny take Ten with him out onto the lake. Taeyong didn’t like it at all.

Ten seemed to walk back in again and Johnny said something about him not having to be scared. Taeyong rolled his eyes and was about to mouth ‘yeah right’ when he heard a hollow sound. He sat up straight but noticed that none of the drunk students seemed to notice.

Then the ice roared and Taeyong gasped when he saw Johnny fall into the ice. Then he watched Ten run over to where Johnny had vanished and the ice below him broke away. Taeyong cried out for them.

He flew to the lake, ignoring the screams of the students. He looked into the black water. He had to go in.

He dove into the water, leaving the staff behind. The moon shone brighter and he found someone in the darkness and pulled the other up to where he could see the light come in. He dragged the boy up onto the ice and closer to ground. Then he noticed that it was Johnny. Taeyong’s eyes widened and he ran towards the hole and sprang into the water.

Where are you?

He thought and swam with all his might and then he felt the boy. He immediately headed for the surface and pulled Ten with him closer to ground. Students where already swarming Johnny. Taeyong pulled up in Ten who was as limp as a ragdoll. “Ten!” He cried and shook him. “Ten no, please! Wake up!” He slapped the other’s cold wet cheeks and then leaned down, pressing his lips to the other’s forehead. “Ten… I beg of you… don’t leave me.” He cried and then gathered the other in his arms and stood up. He turned to see Johnny look straight at him and the boy gasped. Taeyong ignored the tall boy and flew up. He had to save Ten.

The nurses screamed when a cold wet boy suddenly lied on the floor of the lobby. In a hurry they wrapped him up with dry, warm blankets and Taeyong watched them with a sinking heart. He couldn’t let the cold take Ten, it had already taken his family. He ran through the doors, for a moment leaving Ten’s side.

“Moon!” Taeyong cried outside of the hospital. “Don’t you let him die! Please!” He sobbed and covered his face with his hand. Far off in the sky he saw a golden light and he knew that Jaehyun was on his way. Taeyong ran inside again, finding Ten who was being rubbed by 4 nurses who tried to get warmth back into his body. Taeyong heard noise again and knew that Johnny had arrived there too.

Jaehyun stepped into the room, he had been running and he was panting slightly. “What happened?” He asked and walked over to Taeyong who was wiping his tears away.

“That stupid boy walked out upon the ice with that tall idiot.” Taeyong cried. “I can’t even help him.”

Jaehyun sighed. “I saw him, he was brought here in an ambulance. He’ll survive.”

“I’m going to make him slip and fall every winter, every day.” Taeyong growled as he watched the doctor take the defibrillators and press them to Ten’s chest. Ten’s body jumped up and the monitor beeped once.

“Clear!” One nurse said and the doctor repeated the same thing again. Taeyong fell to his knees and Jaehyun held him once again.

“I can’t lose him…” Taeyong sobbed and hid his face in Jaehyun’s shirt. They shocked Ten once again and Taeyong raised his eyes to look at the non-changing expression of Ten’s. Taeyong broke over at his waist as he saw the doctor but down the defibrillators and look at his watch. “No!” He cried out and fell towards Ten’s bed, grabbing his hand and gripping his shirt. “No! You can save him! Save him!” He yelled at the doctor who didn’t even react to Taeyong’s voice but instead dropped into a chair and sigh into his hands.

Taeyong buried his face in between Ten’s neck and shoulder and hated how cold the other felt. Jaehyun dropped to the ground and hid his face in his arms. The room turned cold and the most of the nurses left the room to go figure out what had happened to the unknown boy they didn’t manage to save. The doctor followed and they left Jaehyun and Taeyong alone with Ten’s body that was embraced in the moon’s light which shone in through the window.
Ten was dead.

***

Taeyong pushed himself off Ten and leaned against the side of the bed as he watched the other’s peaceful expression. He wondered if Ten had been scared, if he had been thinking of Taeyong when he was down in the cold. Taeyong barely remembered his own death, but he remembered waking up. He wished he could’ve been warmth so that he could’ve defeated the cold that took Ten away from him. He wished he could’ve done more for Ten. Taeyong closed his eyes and leaned down to press a kiss to Ten’s cold lips. He wished he could’ve loved Ten longer.

Jaehyun rose to his feet when Taeyong stepped away and started heading outside. He gazed at Ten for a short moment, wishing the other boy wouldn’t have had such an end.

Then he heard a door barge open and he immediately knew why. Taeyong.

He ran out of the room and towards the noise.

“WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!” Taeyong yelled and Jaehyun just entered to see Johnny stare at Taeyong with wide eyes. “IT’S YOUR FAULT!”

“Taeyong stop!” Jaehyun tried as he saw Johnny’s confused eyes.

Taeyong pushed past the group of friends and heard them gasp. He gripped Johnny’s shirt and pulled him closer. “He’s dead.” He growled. “You killed him!”

Johnny’s face paled visibly. “What are you saying?” He asked and the friends around Johnny frowned and shared confused looks.

“You’ll find out yourself.” Taeyong hissed and threw Johnny away from him. “I just want to let you know that you should’ve left him alone. I was there for him. He didn’t need you.” Taeyong looked at one of the friends standing there before kicking him over the shin. “And now he’s dead.” He muttered and gave Johnny one last look. “Because of your poison and stupidity.”

Taeyong left and Jaehyun watched Johnny looked down, one tear on the brim of falling. Johnny then looked up at his friends who glanced at him worriedly. “Can you go and look for Ten?” He asked and the friend nodded and quickly hurried out of the room. Jaehyun stepped aside for the person and leaned against the wall.

Johnny was still looking down, brows creasing. “It was his ghost.” He spoke and looked at the doorway where Taeyong had stormed out.

The friend slowly walked in with a pale expression. “He’s gone.” He said and Johnny’s expression contorted and he covered his mouth. The friend looked at everyone else. “No seriously. He’s gone. He was dead but now they can’t find his body.”

Jaehyun straightened and looked at the friend. “Gone?” He wondered and then watched Johnny’s hand drop.

“What?” He asked and the friend shrugged. “They wanted to take him to the morgue but he wasn’t lying in the bed.”

Jaehyun gasped. Had Taeyong…?

“WHERE IS HE?!” Taeyong yelled and Jaehyun noticed Johnny raise his head and he was about to crawl out of the bed when the friends pushed him down.

“Where are you going?” They asked and Johnny still weakly tried to go out. “Hey Johnny we know you’re still drunk so stop it.”

Jaehyun quickly ran over to find Taeyong in Ten’s room where the doctor and nurses eyed the bed with widened eyes.

“He was dead, a body can’t stand up and walk away?!” Taeyong yelled into the face of a nurse who glanced around her in confusion. Jaehyun walked forward and grabbed Taeyong’s wrist and pulled him out of the room.

Jaehyun watched Taeyong as the other slid down the wall of an empty room. He looked at the door and then reached out and locked it. “Hey one of the nurses were heading down to the morgue, I think he was just taken by someone else.”

Taeyong rubbed his face with a groan.

Jaehyun unlocked the door again. “Wait here.” He said and hurried outside. Then he saw the nurse come back from the morgue.

“He’s not there either.” She said in a trembling voice. “But I’ve found the people he was with. They can give us an explanation.”

The doctor nodded. “Let’s just say that he was brought to the morgue, maybe the nurse who took him took one of the other elevators.”

Jaehyun sighed. They seemed calm, so maybe he shouldn’t panic.

He headed back to the room and locked the door behind him before sitting down beside Taeyong who was for the moment just sitting in silence. “Another nurse has brought him to the morgue. They aren’t panicking but are more focused on how he died and what happened.”

Taeyong looked up from his hands. “That stupid tall idiot killed him!” Taeyong exclaimed and Jaehyun reached out to calm the other, he pulled Taeyong closer so that the other rested against his chest. Taeyong calmed down.

“I love you.” Jaehyun said and embraced the other tighter.

“I’ve always loved you too.” Taeyong said and re-adjusted himself against Jaehyun. Jaehyun wanted to say that Taeyong loved Ten now, but he liked to believe in the fact that Taeyong still loved him. Taeyong sat up straight and the two boys looked at each other. Jaehyun couldn’t help himself and he leaned in, closing the distance between their lips, he felt Taeyong’s trembling stop when he kissed him. Taeyong closed his eyes and Jaehyun pulled the other closer but Taeyong put a hand upon his shoulder. Jaehyun nodded and sat back against the wall, the two of them just stared a straight ahead.

“So what now?” Jaehyun asked.

Taeyong choked down a sob. “I’ll let winter end.” He said. “I can’t stay here.”

Jaehyun nodded and rubbed his chest where his heart was. “Me neither.” Both of them saw Ten’s face in front of them. For a moment Taeyong saw Ten sit opposite him with a playful smile upon his lips.

“My ghost.” He said with a chuckle and Taeyong smiled.

“I guess the roles have changed.” He said and Jaehyun looked at him before looking in the direction of where Taeyong was looking. He sighed and wrapped an arm around Taeyong. Shaking him lightly.

“You’ll be okay.”