A blare of shrill alarm woke the sleeping figure. Making him string curses, colourfully wrapped in a scowl. Tapping the alarm off, none to gently the sleepy man carded his sleep mused hair, unraveling the knots done from a whole night of tossing, turning and re-living his childhood...

Two small figures of boys coloured his vision yet again. The smaller one was wrapped in the other’s embrace. Protected from the harsh realities of a breathing life and just float in a world where there’s just them and everyoneelse are but spectators of their beautifully written stage. Where they control where they fall, where they cry and even when they die.

All in perfect order.

 Perfect life, perfect endings... just perfect everything.

The taller hug the shaking figure, while all the while making cooing sounds trying to make his ddongsaeng feel better. Because then, the only thing that a 12 years old could do was to just wipe those tears away, because the blows were not his to take, the blood was not his to drain.  So the least he could do, was to  provide the warmth to glue the other’s heart together because physiques heal but heart remains broken long after you’ve healed, long after the curtains were drawn. Cracking in the deafening silence of innocent wonderment more than mere resentment where ‘Sorry’ is never enough and ‘it’s your fault you demon child’ is but a passing remark of a beautiful day, on daily basis.

“sshhh..Changmin-ah...stop crying ok? Nono..shhh...Yunho hyung’s here..shhh...stop crying okay?” the taller of the two had resorted to rubbing soothing circles onto the others back.

The one called Changmin was then seen trying to contain his sobs, shaking through his short skinny limbs.

“Changmin-ah you don’t love hyung anymore? Why are you crying?” Yunho played the guilt card, cause he knew, how Changmin is big on trust and loyalty, while he himself was trying to contain his own pool of tears from breaking.

 Yunho thought of his ddongsaeng’s fate. ‘why must it be him? Why must it be his cute innocent ddongsaeng. The ddongsaeng that thinks he doesn’t get to see Santa  because he killed a troop of ants when he fell down. The ddongsaeng that cried when he was bitten by a dog. Not because he was hurt but  more of the fact that the dog was.Seeing the unhealthy state of the clumped up hair of the, Terrier.’ This was his ddongsaeng, who’d instantly smile every time he saw flickers of sadness in others’, hoping that maybe his smile would lift their spirits up, stop the tears.

 And it always did.At least to him...

His ddongsaeng , eight years old, Shim Changmin to him, twelve years old Jung Yunho, is a fallen angel, but not because he’s turned evil or that he is now tainted, but more of the fact that he is now an angel living in a human’s life. A life where you don’t get up to the smiling sunshines but the groaning thuds of  drunken limbs beating the smile away, drowning the laughter deep.

 Drained and dry.

 Changmin who heard his hyung ask, him shook his head slowly, while still tucked under yunho’s chin and an indignant sound of protest rising from his dry throats.Unconciously wiping his snot on Yunho’s polo.

“....hdfbjgnfj..aniya hyungssshh..”

The movement pulled Yunho’s lips upward. The sight warming his heart more. ‘ His ddongsaeng was not lost. Still the same person. Still the same Changmin..’

And just like that Yunho found himself tying fast a tight promise..”Changmin-ah don’t worry. I’ll protect you. Hyung’ll protect. I promise.” The resonance of determination rhytming fast to his heart beat.’cause you’re all that i have Changmin-ah...cause you’re all that i have...’

The twelve years old tightened his grip around the eight years old.

“I promise...I promise...I’ll take care of you...I’ll stay by you..”

The sound of snoozed alarm cut through Yunho’s memory. A memory that kept him grounded to his past and tied him closely to his present.’ A need to protect , a promise to fulfill..’

“Aissssh...” irritated of his now lower than normal mood, Yunho threw his blankets aside and step towards his joined bathroom, starting his morning routine before he could think of his schedule for the day. Frustrated toothbrushing and a cold hard shower to  wake him off to the reality that he was in then. Where he was no 12 years old, worrying only of seeing his ddongsaeng and nothing more,now he finds time to do that at every break time he has ; breakfast,branch,lunch,tea,dinner,supper and most importantly , everytime he wakes up from a much needed rest ,sleep,nap.

_______

Yunho stepped into the proximity of his office, that consist of a dustbin-turned-desk whatnot with all those loose notes strewn atop, a rotating chair that also serves as  coat hanger and a bursting cupboard with the doors opened, not able to contain the content in any other manner.

Stepping towards his computer, Yunho caught sight of an irregularly shaped object at the side of the monitor.

Black and dull, but carries a deeper meaning than all of those numbers scribbled in his messy handwritings.

A promise drawn.....

“Hyungie!!! What do you mean you’re moving? Don’t you love your Minnie anymore? Why are you leaving me?” eight years old Changmin was seen gripping tight his bestfriend’s shirt tightly while trying to stop himself from outright sobbing himself.

“...wh..what?? no Minnie-ah...it’s not that...i have to follow my family cause daddy’s being tranferred and i’m too young to live on my own...and of course i love my cute ddongsaeng... but uri Minnie is not cute when he is crying so maybe ...”

“no!!! Okok..i’ll stop crying...” a pout decorated the younger’s face while trying to abruptly stop his sniffs.

“..hehe..omo uri Minnie is the cutest boy eva!!!”

“....but hyung...who’s going to hold Minnie when I’m sad? Who’s going to listen to minnie talking about  those evil kids that stoned Mandoongie?.”

Changmin lowered his gaze and softly added..”who’s going to protect Minnie from appa?”

“Changmin-ah..Minnie...your a big boy right? I know you are. You can do this...just come here whenever you feel lonely okay? Because this tree is me..and when i’m no longer here, it’ll protect you for me..just lean on it and it’ll be okay...i promise...everything will be just fine...promise.Okay?!”

“........”

“and i’ll come back okay! I won’t stay away for too long cause i need my dose of cute ddongsaeng so i’ll come back ..eventually i will and then i’ll take you away..okay..just wait for me till then...and we’ll be together again before you know it..”

“promise?..”hopeful stare cut through Yunho’s jaded resolution of leaving Changmin and following his new adopted family.

“i promise Minnie..i promise..”

“owh..hurm...ok Minnie big boy so okay...i’ll wait..just..just don’t forget your way ok hyung? Don’t forget you way back..” a whirl of emotion crach through Yunho again ‘i’ll come back Minnie just..just wait...and i’ll be here..’.

“of course i won’t Minnie! You’re my home anyway..and no one forgets their home...just like how Yoochun hyung never forgot Junsu hyung...i’ll never forget you!..promise..” Yunho gathered Changmin again, in his hold.

“pinky swear hyung?” Changmin held up his small finger towards yunho.

“Yes Minnie pinky swear..” Yunho quickly intertwined their little  fingers together....’pinky swear..’

Yunho’s orbs glistened slightly when Changmin held up a weird looking object infront of his face while saying..

“Then hyung would you keep this then?”

“what’s this Minnie?”

“Hyung don’t you remember? it’s my lucky charm! Remember when i wish so hard for you to win your soccer tournament?..and..and when it was your final exam ??and ..and when you broke your Miss Maria’s vase ?...hehe” Changmin giggled slightly remembering his hyung’s terrified face after sucessfully kicking their principal’s precious vase.

“...of course i know what it is Minnie, but why are you giving it to me?” scrunching his brows slightly Yunho eyed his ddongsaeng.

“it’s for you Hyung...it’s me ! Cause i have this tree to go to when i miss you, so you can keep this as me when you miss me okay?”

“...but...but Minnie that’s your lucky charm...i can’t take it..” frowning slightly yunho tried to subtlely push it back into Changmin’s hand.

“but i want you too!! Do you want to forget me hyung?”

“no..errr..nono..okay...i guess i’ll just keep it until i come back ..then i can give it back to you right..” not wanting to agitate his ddongsaeng Yunho  took the weirdly-shaped-chipped-off-marble-stone and hastily put it in his short’s pocket.

“yup! When you come back you can give it back ok hyung..”

Yunho noded silently immersing himself in his promise..’ i just need to come back...i promise..’

And that was the last time they heard from each other, as the next few days Yunho was too busy running errands listed by his mother, to meet Changmin.

And the day he was supposed to move, he tried waiting for Changmin at their tree but noone came but a few  giggling girls trying to catch his attention. By the end of the day, he left with a heavy heart and a heavier promise to come back..

End of flashback...

Teet.............................

A shrill alarm woke him up from his daydream, a past time that he seem to always do lately, starting from around five years ago when he first caught sight of his Minnie again.

Flashback...

Changmin was then a semi droid.Yes, a semi droid because he was still breathing. With every breath, his lungs were still expanding , his heart was still thumping, though now his bones were of a kind of lightweight metal instead of marrows and periosteums and his brain, his central system? Well it was what really made him semi droid because though he was still attached to his brain, it was not the only commanding unit that his body obeys. At least not with the presence of a small motherboard, inserted carefully in the sulcus of his cerebrum.

So that now instead of only listening to his own internal debates of ‘what not’ and ‘what should’, now he is abiding to external instructions, a circuit that links him to the outside world , in more ways than before.

The first time they met again after years of remembering each other solely based on their memories of a blooming cherry tree, carved down bark and days of just playing tag with each other, was when Yunho was presented with him,his Changmin.His childhood friend, the one person where he finds love and protection; only to lose it mere seconds later.Because he failed to protect the other, thus he shouldn’t be protected, a simple equation of balance yet it unbalanced the life of a Twenty five years old Jung Yunho, bad.

Changmin was the military’s first successful product. Well at least successful enough for them to be able to attempt in  correcting their mistakes and analyze them, rather than having to dump drained remains of cut limbs and exposed inner velvets of a once living person.

Changmin was a success only with tiny little glitch. He could tolerate extreme conditions, carry out high level of combat skills only through a programme they’ve uploaded to the motherboard loaded in folds of his brain , speak multiple different languages mere seconds after hearing it once and many more that one could ever expect from a droid, a perfect outworldly creation of mankind but there was just a tiny glitch then, Everytime he was in the process of receiving any sent informations or instructions from the external centres, controlled by those white clad men, he would blackout.

Yes, literally and figuratively he would......

a/n- this is the first part..:))

enjoy ....jjah and this is for chilispicy huhu but I'm really sorry to disappoint you...:((