This story is an entry for Kawaiilove's Creative Ecstasy Writing Contest!

Prompt: "Two Hearts Beating For the Same Rhythm"

For once, the city was silent. Everything was still except for Hangeng's ragged breathing. Adrenaline still ran through his veins as he peered around the corner. He cursed underneath his breath. His base was on the other side, a good 100 km away, and he had run out ammunition. 

He resisted the urge to sink down the wall. His commanders had warned him about this, and he had followed their advice for two years. Two years for nothing. Not only was he sacrificing himself, but Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu. If the SM army caught him, they would make him confess. They would prove that no one could leave and be successful as a renegade. 

He suddenly realized he wasn't alone. He turned to see a SM soldier approaching him. "Damn it," he growled and got into a defensive position. At least he knew taekwondo and wasn't completely useless. 

Suddenly the soldier stopped. Instead, the soldier just seemed to gazing at him, scrutinizing him.

"What?" Hangeng demanded, his question a whiplash in the silence. "Why are you just standing there?"

The soldier remained silent.

Hangeng laughed, a combination of a cackle and a sob. "Look, stop trying to pretend. I know you guys have been looking for me. Just take me right now. But know this-" He lifted a finger, somehow steady as he swallowed the feeling of defeat. "You guys can torture as much as you want, but you'll never make me say anything. I won't betray my colleagues. You will kill me before I say anything."

"Gege..."

Hangeng's eyes widened. "Zh-zhang Liyin?" Suddenly he realized it was her brown doe eyes looking at him through her mask.

She lifted her gun. "I'm sorry, Gege," she said in her husky voice. 

Before Hangeng replied, there was the sound of a gunshot. He felt a pain in his shoulder. Suddenly he felt the sensation of falling, flailing in a neverending darkness.

-

"Hangeng? Can you hear me?"

He groaned, feeling fatigue in every limb of his body.

"HANGENG!"

His eyes snapped open to welcome a blurry of color. He blinked, and slowly his vision focused. Zhang Liyin's face hovered over his, worried.

He bared his teeth. "You-!" He struggled to stand up until to realize his hands were tied behind him. 

"Shh!" She covered his mouth. "Just listen to me, okay?"

Hangeng went still, but accusation still shone in his eyes.

"No one knows you're here except me." She looked over her shoulder for a second. "This is a really old SM base. Do you recongnize it?"

He looked around as visions came to him. Coming here, not speaking the language, practicing hip hop until late at night with his stomach growling, covered in sweat. 

Zhang Liyin had started to untie the knots in his hands. "There's a helicopter outside. I'm supposed to go on it to go visit my family, to go back home."

Home. Home, where everyone spoke the same language as they did. Home, where names of their favorite foods, food they grew up eating, were shouted from street vendors.  Home, where they weren't outcasts.

"It's all been arranged. You're going back."

Hangeng blinked. "What?"

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Desperation creeped into her voice. "You were always here for your dream, but you wished that you could do that at home. I've seen it in your eyes. When SM granted your wishes and you went back as part of Super Junior M, you only wanted more each time." She gripped his hand, helping him up. "Now I'm giving that to you. Please take it."

"Liyin-"

"Shh!" They both froze to hear footsteps. "They're coming!" Liyin hissed, pushing him out of the door. "I'm so stupid! I forgot to take off the tracker."

Hangeng's mind raced to comprehend what was going on. All SM soldiers had trackers, but he had managed to destroy his. And now Liyin was trying to help him. All of it didn't make sense, yet it was happening.

She pushed him through the open door of the helicopter. Once he was inside, she fumbled into a pocket and drew out a folded piece of paper. "Here. Read it. Tell everyone back home I miss them and I'll see them soon."

"Zhang-"

She shut the door in his face. The driver started barking out orders at him, telling him to buckle in and put on the pair of the headphones next to him. 

Zhang Liyin watched the helicopter take off inside the base. It swiftly rose in the air. 

"Zhang Liyin!" She turned to see Siwon Choi running over. "What happened?" He looked at the same direction. "Who stole your helicopter ride?"

"Hangeng." She looked back at the sky. She could barely make out the small dot. She barely noted that Siwon was barking orders into his radio as tears ran down her face. She put her hand to her heart and felt it beating. Gege, don't forget me.

Hangeng watched the buildings grow smaller for a few minutes, until he could barely pick out individual ones. He looked into his hands, where Zhang Liyin's note lay inside.

He unfolded to see her familiar handwriting in Chinese characters. "Hangeng." Tears formed in his eyes. How long had it been since he saw his name handwritten in Chinese?

"Hangeng,

You may wonder why I stay at SM. Why don't I run away with you? After all, we have the same dream, singing and dancing on the stage with the language we grew up speaking. But I can't. It's not only us who long for home. What about Victoria and Zhou Mi? SM just got many talented recruits from China. No, I will not let SM prosecute them, all look at them as traitors. They do not yet hear the call of home as strongly as we do. They will not be blamed for our longing.

When you get back, you will find my family waiting. Tell them I couldn't come, but I will see them by new year. I hope you will see me at that time too. By that time, I will be waiting in the shadows, waiting for a good time to leave when I seem insignificant once more.

Do not forget me. Do not forget that it's not only your dream, but mine as well.

Zhang Liyin."

Now the tears flowed freely down his cheeks. How could he have been so selfish? There were other people, more than he probably could count, who wished they were him. 

Then there was Zhang Liyin. She had given up her opportunity just for him. Who knew what would happen to her now?

He felt his arm. His pulse beat steadily. The same Chinese blood running through his veins as in hers. The same dream flowing through their minds, yet here he was, taking her opening and fulfilling it.

Two Hearts Beating For the Same Rhythm, for the Same Dream, for the Same Home.

[A/N] Hey guys! I hope you like this, although it still doesn't deal with the familiar theme I established before. I'm just not in a fluffy mode right now sorry -.- 

Anyway please comment and tell me how you liked it! I know it's a contest entry, but your reaction and thoughts mean more than what happens ^_^

See ya guys soon!