Chapter 4: The Martyr, the Traveller, and the Battlefield

When Minho had to part ways with Taemin again, heading back to the barricade in order to defend it, Jinki sat up just in time to call out to him before he left. Minho was surprised to say the least; he didn’t expect Jinki to be able to move after seeing the damage done to his machine. But in hindsight, Changsun had said that Jinki’s will was strong, and he would most likely have the will to keep going should there be even a glimmer of hope for his mission. He turned, walking back to the bedside and helped Jinki sit up.

“I wanted to thank you properly,” he said to Minho, who actually appeared to be younger than him. Hundreds of years younger, when he really thought about it.

“There’s no need for that,” Minho assured him. “It’s what any decent person would do. Besides, you must be pretty damn important if the Time Lord gets all giddy at the mention of you and your machine.”

“Yes...I’ll have to speak with him as soon as possible. Taemin told me about your situation. I..don’t know what to say, other than I’m sorry,” Jinki bowed his head.

To his great surprise, Minho laughed. He never expected to hear someone in such a horrible situation laugh so wholeheartedly, but then again, you have to take whatever happiness you can get in such a bleak situation. Taemin smiled as he watched Minho laugh, his lover’s expression of happiness appearing to be contagious.

“What’s so funny?” Jinki asked after a time, watching as Minho’s laughter died down to a mere fit of giggling.

“I-it’s just...you’re apologizing for something that’s happening across the world!” he explained. “It’s just hilarious to me! I guess I haven’t met someone so nice before.”

“It’s just courtesy, I suppose,” Jinki shrugged. “I feel like there’s something I should be apologizing for. I mean, you’re going through so much right now, yet you still find a way to care for me and save me from being attacked by those things out there. I think that’s rather impressive, and it’s also immensely selfless. So thank you, and I’m sorry for imposing.”

“It’s really no problem,” Minho insisted, finally able to cease his laughter, though his smile never faded. “There’s something about you...maybe it’s because you’re so strange. But there’s something that just makes me believe that you’re really important, and I’m not going to let you slip through my fingers.”

And with that, he got up and left. Jinki didn’t really know what to say. Everything was spiraling out of control, and his original mission seemed to be overlapped by so many factors and worries; Jinki didn’t know how to manage it all in his head. Though he knew one thing: he couldn’t allow himself to give up. He had to keep his priorities straight, and his main priority was going to be getting back to that morning in May. He had to save Key. He had to, or else everything would be in vain.

He drank some more water that Taemin offered him, and leaned back against the bedpost. Everything was quiet until the sound of footsteps resonating from the hallway echoed into the room, and Jinki knew his anticipated visitor was coming. The steps became louder and louder, and Jinki was surprised to see Taemin bow immediately as Changsun entered the room. However, this was nothing compared to the sight of his old friend.

He was no longer young and fresh-faced. He had developing wrinkles and stubble. The years had obviously ate away at him quicker than they should have, what with the stress of everything going on in this futuristic world. He walked slowly over to the bed, then sat on the side of it and smiled at Jinki. Both men shook hands, then quickly transitioned into a hug. It felt good for both of them to finally see a familiar face after so many hardships. And while Jinki had not been out of his time for nearly as long, he still felt as it had been an eternity since he was back in his little house in 2001. Yet somehow, Key’s death in 1989 seemed like it’d happened only the day before. But then again, the thoughts of that event had eaten away at Jinki’s head so much that it was all he could think about, so naturally, it would be normal for him to feel so close to that date.

When they stopped hugging, Changsun spoke. His voice did not sound as old as he looked, which relieved Jinki. It killed him to see his friend aged so much.

“So...you did it then,” he sighed, looking Jinki over. “You look like you’ve gone through hell, Jink.”

“You don’t look much better, Chang. How-?”

“When I built my own model of the machine, something went wrong, and I ended up here, but several years before you’d arrive. I didn’t want to risk messing up further and ending up in a completely different time, so i decided to wait it out,” he explained.

“But how did you know I would end up here?”

“Well, if I remade a machine using your model, it stands to reason that you would run into the same problem, right?”

“That’s true. Though I ran into another problem beforehand,” Jinki chuckled.

“Oh?”

“Ever seen a pterodactyl in person, Chang? They sound and look like pure death.”

“Oh, man, Jink,” Changsun sighed. “Leave it to you to end up in the freaking land before time. How did you even get out of there alive?”

“Luck,” Jinki said simply.

“Well, let’s hope your luck persists,” Changsun said. “Anyway, I’d love to compare travelling stories and reminisce, but we don’t exactly have time for that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Jinki...you can’t go through with this. I know what you’re thinking: if you can just make it back to the time when Key died and save him, everything will be okay, and we’ll all live happily ever after. But that’s not how this works.”

“I don’t understand...”

“Jinki, the reason everything is like this is because the world is trying to stop you. You cannot, under any circumstances, stop Key from dying. Doing so will only result in more brutal deaths of many more people. Probably even all people!”

“Wait...so this reality has happened...because of me?”

“Yes,” Changsun said grimly. “This reality is what will happen if you stop key from dying. You will end the world, Jinki.”

“But...but...w-who the hell controls all this?”

“Who do you think? The one thing humans life in constant reverence and fear of. Angels.”

“But...angels are supposed to be benevolent.”

“They’ve never been benevolent. Humans just kiss up to them so that they’re not killed too soon. we give them a positive image and do as they wish. They create the laws, and when you stop them from getting what they want or break their rules, they punish everyone. You can’t take a soul from death if it’s destined to be dead. If you try, you’ll only end up hurting more people.”

“But I have to try!” Jinki insisted. “I can’t come this far and then give up!”

“Jinki, this is becoming a matter of saving one life, only to lose billions of others! Think of how selfish you’re being!”

Both men had become oblivious to the fact that Taemin never left the room. He listened intently and pieced everything together in his mind, starting to understand why both of them were there. He sat on the end of the bed, crossing his legs, and thought. Jinki looked at him and sighed. He was causing this...his desire to save Key...was causing this poor young man the grief and fear of possibly losing his lover. Because of Jinki, Taemin, Minho and so many other people would go through the same pain he did. He didn’t know what to do. He wanted to say it erased his desires completely, but it didn’t.

“I think...” Taemin spoke up. “If I was in your situation, and had to make the same choice...I would just want to say goodbye. Hold the person I love one last time and be able to let them go, knowing that I at least got to part with them properly. I know it sounds sad, but if I couldn’t save them, I’d at least want that. Don’t you agree?”

Changsun nodded to Taemin, then looked to Jinki. “I do. Don’t you, Jink?”

“I...I guess so,” he nodded. “If that’s the case...then I need to get to my machine, right?”

But naturally, that was easier said than done. Taemin explained to Jinki that the only way he’d be allowed anywhere outside the city is if he were to join Minho and the others in charge of defense. But even then, it would take forever to go up in rank and end up on the front lines, where Jonghyun was. However, Changsun was convinced that if he could get out there with Jinki, they would let them through. Jinki was naturally wary of this, but he really didn’t have any other options. So after a crash course rehabilitation session, Taemin gave Jinki a hug and waved goodbye. Though he didn’t let them show to the older man, Taemin couldn’t stop his tears. He didn’t know Jinki for very long, yet he felt like he was saying goodbye to an old friend. Once Changsun and Jinki had gone, Taemin went out to the balcony and sighed.

Maybe Jonghyun was right. Maybe he did need to join the real, physical battle. He would rather be with Minho when he was hurt...or worse, dying. He would want to be able to say goodbye. But could the others manage on their own? He didn’t know what to do...


The walk to the barricade was not long, and it made Jinki realize how much of the area was eaten away by an apocalypse that he caused. He sighed as he looked up at the green-tinted overcast sky. He didn’t think he’d ever seen something so heartbreaking in his life; it was a clear sign of death, and the soldiers had to fight beneath it constantly.

They were lucky to have gotten as far as they did without any trouble. According to Taemin, the outside of the barricade usually wasn’t so calm, but with the coming of the burning, acid rain, the undead creatures knew they had to turn back and seek shelter is what little of their flesh was to be able to move. Jinki and Changsun walked perhaps 20 meters away from the barricade before they were found by a young man. He couldn’t even be considered a man, actually - not by Jinki’s standards concerning age, anyway. He was probably only twelve or so, but the clear hardship that could be seen in his face and eyes proved to make him look much older.
The boy lead them farther away from the barricade and to a camp. Soldiers were sitting around fires and talking about their families, some lost, and others back in city hall where they were taken care of by Taemin. Jinki and Changsun were lead to a tent, slightly larger than the others. When they stepped inside, Minho and Jonghyun were sitting at a table and looking over a map together. Jinki didn’t need to be a war expert to know that they were planning out formation and battle strategies.

“Sir, someone is here to see you,” the boy said, and now Jinki was sure that he had to be younger than twelve. How did he get into the military?

“Thank you, Yoogeun. As you were,” Jonghyun said. Minho gave the boy a look of worry as he walked out of the tent. When he was gone, Minho turned his attention to Jinki and smiled.

“I see we were correct about you being related to the Time Lord, somehow. I’m glad you found someone you knew,” he said. “So um...what’s your plan?”

“I need to get to my machine,” Jinki answered immediately. “I need to get back to my time. It’s the only way I can possibly fix everything, including everything that’s happened here.”

“Wait, what?” Jonghyun interjected, getting up and joining the conversation. “What do you mean ‘including everything that’s happened here?’ How the hell...are you saying that you’re the one behind all of this?!”

“Jonghyun, calm down,” Changsun said sternly. “He didn’t know...”

“Wait, so if him time travelling caused all of this , how is he going to fix it by time travelling again?” Jonghyun asked.

“It’s pretty simple,” Jinki said. “Basically, the reason I made my machine was to bring someone I love back. Er...I guess you could say I was going to prevent them from dying in the first place. But doing so caused a consequence in another time, which I would inevitably be brought to so I could see the error of my actions. The solution that seems logical is to just go back to my time and live a normal life-”

“So then do it,” Jonghyun snapped.

“Shut up and listen,” Jinki’s eyes narrowed. Changsun was taken back; in all the time he’d known Lee Jinki, he’d never heard him snap at anyone like that. “If you were me, you wouldn’t want to go through all this and have your efforts be in vain. I’ve waited fifteen years to see Kibum again, and I’m not going to lose out now.”

“But if you go back to your time and he dies again...” Minho muttered.

“I know,” Jinki sighed. “I know that I’ll just end up making the machine all over again, and nothing will change. But...I think I can fix it. I don’t know how, but I know this will work. So please, I need your help. I need to get to my machine.”

“Fine,” Jonghyun nodded. “But it’ll be hard. It’s pretty far off from the camp, and to our knowledge, that area’s invested right now. We’ll need to strategize a bit more before we start throwing you in there. For now, just wait it out. Find Yoogeun and get some food. You’re gonna need all the energy you can get for when we set out.”

Changsun pointed Jinki out to Yoogeun’s tent, then headed off to find someone. It didn’t occur to Jinki that Changsun made some friends in the time he’d spent waiting, and those friends were probably out fighting whilst he waited in city hall.

Yoogeun didn’t talk much as he filled a bowl with some stew for his elder, handing it to him carefully. Jinki thanked him and dug in. He didn’t care what it tasted like; he was hungry and anything that was edible would do. Yoogeun sat next to him on the sleeping bag on the ground and sighed.

“How old are you?” Jinki asked as he finished his food and set the bowl down on the floor.

“Ten,” Yoogeun answered, his voice high and clearly young. “Gonna be eleven in a month, I think.”

“Where are your parents?”

“I don’t have any,” he shrugged. “Mama died having me, and Daddy died fighting. Minho and Taemin appa have been taking care of me for as long as I could remember.”

“They’re kind people, huh?” Jinki sighed. “But...why are you here? Why aren’t you back in the city, helping Taemin?”

Yoogeun was silent for a few moments before speaking, “I want to protect them,” he said. “They’ve risked a lot to help me, and I want to do the same for them. I’d gladly take a shot for Minho appa if it meant he’d live another day...I don’t wanna see Taemin appa cry anymore.”

“You’ve gone through a lot, haven’t you?”

“That’s a good thing,” Yoogeun said. “People don’t live very long anymore. Gotta experience what you can. Get wise with the time you have.”

“But there’s so much you’re missing out on...”

“Like what?”

“Being a kid!” Jinki said. “Whatever happened to having a childhood?”

“That’s just it,” Yoogeun said. “You don’t have one. Not anymore.”

“So that’s your plan, is it?”

“Hm?”

“You want to die a martyr...”

A/N: Here's nice, long chapter to make up for this not being updated <3

Love,

Minnie