~*~

The cart rolled to a stop, its rattling across the bare concrete floor ceasing. Bend down, get the plastic cutlery out, get the container of food, check the list for the door number and confirm it. It was a barely two days in and things were already beginning to align themselves into habit.

He sighed, pausing as he leaned his head against the door. It had been a long day, and it was only half over. And he had five more years of this to go through.

He knew he shouldn’t be complaining. It could have been worse. He could have been in jail, on death-row. If he hadn’t stopped in time, if his father, against the idea of his son tainting the family name, hadn’t gotten him a good lawyer.

The breaths were getting shorter and more harried. The eyes that stared up at him more hazed, the hatred in them fading. That was good… that was good. He wanted to erase that hatred, erase it all. He was so angry, and the red that welled up as he dug his nails into flesh pleased him for some reason. Intrigued him.

It was only when he lifted a hand to it, and he tasted its coppery taste that he realized it was blood…

Startled, he shook his head, shaking out the keys in his hand to open the door. He was about to dump the food and cutlery on the table and get out when a voice stopped him in his tracks.

“Oh. Hallo there. I’ve never seen you before. Are you new?”

Turning around in surprise, he eyed the person who had spoken – the patient of this room. JungMin eyed a surprisingly pleasant face, golden brown locks and a warm smile before he realized that he was expected to reply. “S-sorry?”

“I asked if you’re new. Although, my guess is you probably are.” The man shrugged, standing up from where he’d been sitting on his bed. “There’s only so many volunteers. And they usually assign the new ones to low level cases like me.”

“Ah… well, yes. I’m new.” He mumbled, wondering if he should be conversing with a mental patient like this. The man looked pleasant and charming now, but he’d just seen yesterday, a woman who’d looked just as unassuming suddenly fly into a violent rage just because he’d accidentally dropped a spoon. Maybe he should leave before something like that happened.

“You look like you’re terrified for your life.” The man suddenly said, as if reading his thoughts. “Don’t worry. I won’t suddenly go bonkers on you. I’m not that sort of nut case. In fact, I’m not violent at all.”

“Right…” He nodded, although he didn’t believe that for one second. And he turned his eyes to glance at the door, only to start when the man was suddenly in front of him.

“I’m HyunJoong. It’s nice to meet you.” The man smiled warmly, pulling his hand up to shake. “And you are?”

“J-JungMin.” Damn. He always had that bad habit of answering things he didn’t mean to when he was surprised.

“JungMin, huh?” HyunJoong nodded thoughtfully, before grinning. “Well, it was nice to meet you. And I do hope you’ll be staying around. It’s nice to see some fresh eye-candy in this dreary place. Well… see you tomorrow!”

In all his life, JungMin had never thought that a compliment from a mental patient would have made him blush. But he did, and he made some sort of strange noise before stumbling out. He had nearly bolted from the place when he heard the sound of warm laughter coming from the room and he hastily remembered to close and lock the door.

No, he wasn’t running away. He was just… walking really fast away.

Yes, that was it.

~*~

“I’m really not going to attack you, you know.”

JungMin looked up from where he was changing the sheets before mumbling. “I know.”

“Really?” HyunJoong raised an eyebrow. “Then why are you wearing protective guards around all your vulnerable points?”

JungMin paused again, before continuing. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

HyunJoong raised an eyebrow, moving over to flop onto the bed once JungMin had tugged down the sheet. He looked up pointing at JungMin’s wrists. “Wristwatch on your left wrist, thick leather bracelet on your right, thick leather choker around your neck.”

“I… just felt like leather accessories today.” JungMin muttered, flapping at HyunJoong to move so that he could reach the pillow.

“JungMin-sshi, you’re wearing a leather vest under your uniform.” HyunJoong sounded highly amused as he handed JungMin the pillow. “If that doesn’t signal at least some serious paranoia, then I don’t know what does.”

JungMin didn’t answer, his face tight as he pulled the sheet of the pillow. “Here’s your pillow, HyunJoong-sshi. Go take a nap since you obviously have nothing better to do than to tease me.”

“I’m in a mental hospital, JungMin-sshi. Of course I have nothing better to do.” HyunJoong chuckled taking the pillow back and hugging it. He watched JungMin walk stiffly out before half musing. “Hmm… actually, there is one vital part that isn’t protected – your crotch. I wonder what that actually means.”

If JungMin was as stiff as a board before, now he was a titanium plate. And he whirled around, giving a furious glare to HyunJoong’s innocent expression before he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

He didn’t stop blushing for the rest of the day.

~*~

“No, HyunJoong-sshi. You may not hug me, glomp me, pinch me, poke me, kiss me, me or do anything else involving uncomfortable actions towards me.”

“I haven’t said… or done anything yet.” HyunJoong seemed amused, looking up from where he was sprawled on the bed, reading a magazine.

“No, but you will.” JungMin sighed, placing the food on the usual place before he frowned. “Where did you get that magazine?”

“I had a visitor this morning.” HyunJoong tilted his head. “You look surprised. Why? Most low level cases are allowed visitors you know.”

“But it’s rare.” Most low level cases who were admitted were those who had no one left to look after them. It made JungMin think. Why was HyunJoong in this place anyway? He was a little strange at time, but he certainly wasn’t crazy, at least, not that JungMin had seen.

“Rare, being the operational word, not impossible.” HyunJoong hummed thoughtfully. “You have a question to ask. Spit it out.”

JungMin had had enough encounters with HyunJoong to know that if HyunJoong wanted to know something, he wouldn’t let JungMin go until he heard it. “Well, I was just wondering why you’re in here.”

“Why are most people in a mental hospital?” HyunJoong seemed amused, turning back to his magazine.

“I mean… what sort of crazy?” JungMin frowned, “You’re definitely not the violent type or you would have attacked me already – no, glomping me doesn’t count, even if I did overreact.” HyunJoong grinned, rubbing his head, remembering where JungMin had whacked him over the head with the container of food. “And really, even if you are some sort of crazy, I don’t see why you have to be locked up in the nut house. Only those who are a danger to society or to themselves are the ones who are locked up.”

“Hmm… you make a good point.” HyunJoong rubbed his cheek before grinning at JungMin. “Why don’t you try guessing?”

“Guessing?” JungMin paused from emptying out the rubbish bin.

“Yeah. Guess why I’m in here.” HyunJoong thought for a moment. “And you’ll need motivation… If you give up and need to have me to tell you the reason I’m locked up in here… then you’ll have to let me kiss you.”

“Mmm… that sounds like a good ide- WHAT?” JungMin protested when he realized what HyunJoong said.

HyunJoong shrugged. “Well, it’s not like you won’t be able to guess it right. I didn’t figure you as stupid, JungMin-sshi.”

“I am not.” JungMin bristled. “I’ll guess why you’re here, without you telling me. And you definitely won’t be able to kiss me.”

HyunJoong chuckled. “Deal… although will I be able to do other things to you other than kissing?”

“You are incorrigible.” JungMin shook his head as he went out, closing the door and locking it behind him.

Later, when he met up with his colleague to hand over the cart and the lists, his colleague paused, giving him another look. “You seem really cheerful today, Park-sshi.”

“Oh?” JungMIn tilted his head, before smiling. “Maybe I’m just amused.”

~*~

“JungMin-sshi.”

JungMin nearly let out a yelp when the first thing he saw the minute he opened the door was HyunJoong’s nose. “H-HyunJoong-sshi?”

“May I eat you?” HyunJoong asked seriously, his lips sensually.

Most people would have been weirded out and backed away, some (a rare few) would have accepted his offer. But the only thing JungMin did was. “Oh! Oh! You have cannibalistic tendencies? That’s why you’re locked up here?”

HyunJoong blinked, before his eyebrows shot up in understanding. “…I’m seriously wondering if you were brought up in a monastery. “

“What?” JungMin blinked, bearing a strong resemblance to an owl.

“Well, I mean. Either that, or you have an extremely high resistance to ual innuendo.”

“ual innuendo? What do you – hurk.” JungMin suddenly realized exactly what HyunJoong meant and his very helpful, graphic brain had supplied him with some very sordid mental images. “HyunJoong-sshi!”

“What?” HyunJoong shrugged only to yelp when JungMin pushed him violently back. “Yah! JungMin-sshi! Hey!”

He winced when the door slammed into his face, protesting. “Wait! You haven’t given me my food yet!”

He could hear the faint sounds of a cart rattling angry away and he chuckled, turning around to face the other person in the room with an amused expression. “Oh well. At least this means we have some privacy, hmm?”

~*~

“You’re a psychopath.”

“No…”

“Sociopath?”

“No…”

“Aichnophobic?”

“That’s a good one actually, but no.”

“Ergophobic?”

“…No.”

“Sociophobic?”

“Do you really honestly think that?”

“Claustrophobic?”

“…JungMin-sshi, would a claustrophobic person really think about locking himself inside a mental hospital?”

“Well I’m sorry!” JungMin exploded in exasperation. “I’ve exhausted all the plausible explanations, so excuse me if I’m starting to resort to taking stabs in the dark.”

HyunJoong chuckled, poking JungMIn’s cheek. “Well, since you’ve exhausted all plausible explanation, maybe you should delve into the implausible.”

“You say that when you’ve just criticized my last few guesses?”

“I said implausible, not ridiculous.” HyunJoong sighed, watching JungMin ponder on his worlds for a few moments. “You know, you could always just ask me for the answer.”

JungMin snorted. “And let you kiss me? No way!”

~*~

“Argh! Alright! I give up! Tell me already!”

HyunJoong blinked blearily up at JungMin and there was a good five minutes of silence and blank staring before HyunJoong opened his mouth and uttered a single sound.

“…Huh?”

JungMin let out a small shriek of frustration. “The reason why you’re in here. Just tell me already!”

“…Oh… that.” HyunJoong stared at JungMin for a while longer. “…”

“Well?” JungMin put his hands akimbo tapping his foot while he waited.

And waited…

And… waited…

“…YAH! DID YOU JUST GO TO SLEEP WITH YOUR EYES OPEN?!”

~*~

“Ow, ow! Okay, okay. I’ll tell you already.” HyunJoong half-laughed as he finally managed to grab JungMin’s hands. “Geez, you have a vicious poke.”

Pulling his hands away, JungMin sniffled affectedly, plopping down beside the bed. “And I can’t believe you fell back asleep on me like that.”

“Technically, I hadn’t woken up yet, so I couldn’t fall back asleep.” HyunJoong pointed out before holding his hands up when JungMin gave him a pointed glare. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry I fell asleep on you.”

“Good,” JungMin huffed. “Now, tell me!”

“Alright, alright.” HyunJoong chuckled as he flopped onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. “Well, it’s pretty complicated really.”

“My shift doesn’t start till an hour later. I have time.” JungMin stated, and HyunJoong raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment on the fact that JungMin had come to work two hours before his shift just to ask HyunJoong for the reason.

“Still, I’ll summarize it for you. There’s a lot of backstory to it.” HyunJoong smiled, and JungMin noticed his eyes glazed over a little as he began to think. “Mmm… well, first things first. Do you believe in magic?”

“Magic?” JungMin looked bemused. “No. I mean, it’s all petty tricks and fancy equipment and stuff.”

“Oh.” HyunJoong looked a little put out. “Then this will be a bit hard to explain then.”

“Why?” JungMin frowned, and when HyunJoong only shrugged, he sighed in frustration. “Oh fine. Let’s just say, hypothetically, that I did believe in magic. What would you tell me?”

“That desperate, huh?” And when JungMin reached over to swat him, he grabbed the hand pulling himself up, startling the other man as he leaned in close. “Well, then. I would tell you that magic does exist, and there’s an entire underground of people who know and thrive on its existence.”

“Wha…” JungMin blinked, unconsciously scooting back. Then his eyes sharpened, and he stared at HyunJoong critically. “So you’re saying that you’re one of them?”

“Uhuh,” HyunJoong nodded. “A rather important one at that.”

“Important.”

“Yes. Important. As hard to believe that is. I have a power that is rather… troublesome to some people.”

“Troublesome.”

“Yes, to the extent that some of them are trying to get rid of me.” HyunJoong tilted his head. “You don’t believe a word of this, do you?”

“Maybe. Go on.” JungMin gestured for HyunJoong to continue, his face as blank as a slate. “What power do you have then?”

“Other than the accelerated healing abilities and superhuman strength and speed that most of us have?” HyunJoong chuckled. “I see the future in my dreams.”

“Oh? That must be useful.”

HyunJoong inclined his head. “It is. I’m the core of an organization that relies on this power. And because I usually see events that could potentially change the world for the worse, we specialize in preventing those events.”

“I see, sort of like the ‘defenders of justice’, huh?” JungMin seemed to be taking it surprisingly well.

“Well, I wouldn’t go that extent.”

“And you can see the future.”

“In a way, but actually, because of what we do, I’m more of someone who dreams of things that never were and never will be.” HyunJoong stated humbly. “However, some people haven’t exactly taken well to our cause. In fact, they’re pretty miffed that we messed up their dastardly plans.”

“Enough to want to kill you.”

“Yes. Well, okay. I think some of them want to brainwash me and make me do their bidding and what not, but essentially, you’re correct. I, for one, do not consider being slave to mind-control as living.” HyunJoong smiled, and JungMin was unsure if he was being entirely serious. “So, I’m hiding here, in this mental hospital because of that.”

“And this is a good place to hide because…?”

“Well, you wouldn’t believe it, but mental hospitals are one of the safest place for us Illustra to hide – that’s what we call ourselves, Illustra. It has security close to that of prison standards, but a lot of corrupt Illustra get thrown into regular prisons, so it’d be dangerous for me to hide there.” HyunJoong explained. “And we have rules that govern our behavior when we’re out in the open. The consequences are pretty heavy, so it protects me from most of the most dangerous assaults.”

“Uhuh…” JungMin seemed to be lost in thought. “So let me get this straight. Magic exists and there’s an underground full of people who can use it. You’re one of them and your power is to see the future. You use this power to help save the world from being destroyed by bad people. But now, these same bad people are trying to kill you, so you’re hiding it out here, in a mental hospital.”

“Yeah, pretty much.” HyunJoong nodded.

JungMin stood up abruptly then, glaring down at HyunJoong. “…I see… so that’s what it is then.”

“What it is?” HyunJoong asked hesitantly, wondering about the sudden derision in JungMin’s tone.

“What it is that got you in here: delusions of grandeur.” JungMin sneered, folding his arms.

“Oh.” HyunJoong seemed a little affronted before he slowly grinned. “Ah well, if you don’t believe it, I can’t help that. But I am telling the truth.”

JungMin snorted as he got up. “Right, and I’m a pink hippopotamus. Geez, I can’t believe you got me all worked up for nothing. Oh well, at least if I start early, maybe I can go home early .”

HyunJoong watched as JungMin moved to the door. “I still get my kiss right?”

JungMin paused. “What?”

“My kiss.” HyunJoong enunciated. “It was our deal. If you gave up and asked me to tell you, I’d get to kiss you.”

“Well, maybe I’d stick to the deal if you were telling the truth! Or at least tried to make it seem like!” JungMin huffed, looking extremely irritated as he slammed the door behind him.

HyunJoong jumped when the door slammed, wincing as he lay back down onto the bed, but extremely amused. “Oh well.” He said to himself. “Just as well he didn’t believe. I might have gotten in trouble otherwise.”

~*~

“…JungMin-sshi. Come on, stop it.”

JungMin looked up from where he was bending over the cart before straightening majestically despite the fact that he was in a placid nurse uniform. The look he sent HyunJoong could have frozen hell over twice.

“…You’re being childish you know.”

JungMin only stared at HyunJoong before moving over to the table and slamming down HyunJoong’s food with a loud thump.

HyunJoong winced. “Okay… so, you can be childish if you want to.”

JungMin rolled his eyes before making to close push the cart out and close the door.

“Yah, JungMin-sshi. You can’t stop talking to me forever!”

The door slammed with a loud bang.

~*~

But HyunJoong was right, JungMin couldn’t stop talking to HyunJoong – there was no one else to talk to in this dreary place. Most of the other patients were well… insane. And the rest of the staff mostly shunned him except when necessary. They tried to hide it, but he could tell. He didn’t blame them, they’d probably because heard bits of the reason why he’d been sent here – the worst bits.

Sighing as he stopped the cart outside HyunJoong’s door, JungMin paused a few moments, gathering his resolve before he turned the lock in the key and pushed opened the door.

“Hyun-”

The door slammed back closed in front of his face.

Blinking, JungMin tried to push open the door, only to realize that there was something or another blocking the door. “…Yah! HyunJoong-sshi! Open up!”

There was a loud sigh before the door before a voice called out. “Go away, JungMin-sshi!”

Perplexed at that, it took JungMin a while to realize that it was HyunJoong who had said it. Banging on the door again, he managed to push it open a little before it clammed shut again. “Yah, are you blocking the door with your body? Yah! HyunJoong-sshi!”

“I said go away!”

His mind suddenly went back to that women launching herself at him on his very first day and a slow realization crept through his mind. He began to repeatedly slam his body into the door, trying to force it open. “What? You’re asking me to go away when I finally decided to start talking to you?!”

There was a pause, then a grunt as JungMin managed to push the door open wider before HyunJoong managed to close it again. “…Come back tomorrow! I don’t want to talk to you today!”

There had been duty and protocol in JungMin’s actions, as well as a little fear, but something in HyunJoong’s response made JungMin see red. Frustration began to mount, and he began to pound onto the door, harder, and harder, and harder, and harder. And the more he pounded, the angrier he got, so much till his head spun and his vision blurred, spinning and spinning, the noise in his head growing louder and louder, until it was just a white noise in his head.

BAM!

HyunJoong was stunned when the door suddenly flew open, slamming into the wall. He spun around from where he was standing near the bed, taking a step forward to see what had happened, when a hand suddenly grabbed his collar.

Gasping, he stared up, eyes widening to see a furious JungMin before him. Glancing at the door and back to the other man, he stuttered out. “Y-you… the door… But how?”

But JungMin didn’t hear, his fingers tightened around HyunJoong shirt, turning his knuckles white. “What…” He breathed softly, his eyes narrowed. “Do you mean… you don’t want to talk to me today?”

HyunJoong had been through enough to know that true anger smoldered cold like JungMin’s was now. And he stayed quiet for a while, thinking of what to say that could placate JungMin when something behind them caught his eye.

“I’ll… explain everything to you if they let me, but for now, we have bigger problems.”

JungMin yelped when he was suddenly tackled down. Letting out a strangled sound of protest, he was about to grab HyunJoong again and pound the hell out of him when his eyes darted to the side, feeling a chill. And he finally realized what HyunJoong meant by ‘bigger problems’.

A black shadow, its form shifting as it stood in the middle of the room. And when he glanced, JungMin realized that spot they had been standing earlier was now a black, charred mess.

The anger in him seeped out faster than water down a drain.

“Yah… unauthorized visitors will need to be escorted out by security you know, next time you should sign in at the gate.” JungMin’s eyes shot to the side, widening to see the smirk on HyunJoong’s face as he stood up.

“You jest now, Dreamseer. But we will gain your power, sooner or later. It is only a matter of time.”

JungMin’s eyes widened at the voice projected directly in his mind, and it was too much to comprehend when HyunJoong spoke again, lifting his hand up, observing the wisps of light gathering around it. “Yeah well, when that happens, I’m pretty sure I’ll see it before you can act. And if that happens, I’m pretty sure I’ll be prepared… Like today.”

It was almost too fast to see, but the shadow lunged forward at HyunJoong just as HyunJoong threw his hand up, his hand a ball of searing light.

Everything exploded.

~*~

“So you saw nothing?”

JungMin looked up at the officer and sighed. No. He’d see this weird shadow thing in the room with HyunJoong and HyunJoong had thrown a ball of light at the shadow. “Yes, sir. I tried to open the door and when it didn’t open, I broke it down. But when that happened, there was an explosion. The next thing, I knew, I’m lying on a makeshift hospital bed and you’re asking me all these questions.”

“I see. Sorry for the trouble, Park-sshi. We’ll let you rest now.” The officer smiled, and JungMin flopped back down onto the bed, thinking it was over.

“Oh yeah, before I leave…” JungMin opened his eyes to look up at the officer again. “Just one last question. You said that you… forced open the door?”

“Broke it down.” JungMin clarified and the officer looked a little bewildered.

“How?”

“Eh?” JungMin blinked at the odd question. “Uh… well… I’m not sure. I just kept ramming into it until it opened. You know, procedure. I was worried that HyunJoong-sshi was… doing something. And I guess I was right… whatever it was he did.”

“Alright.” The officer hummed, rubbing his chin before nodding. “That’s it. Thank you for your cooperation, Park-sshi.”

“No problem.” JungMin smiled politely, watching the police officer leave so that he was alone to think about how what had just happened proved every single detail of HyunJoong’s ridiculous story about how he’d come to be in the hospital.

~*~

“Here it is, Park-sshi. The patient you are asking for has been moved to a more secure facility. Sort of expected after that incident. I heard he somehow managed to get his friends to sneak in a bomb and tried to escape using it. Figures, it’s always the ones that you don’t expect that always do these kind of things. Right, Park-sshi?”

“Huh? Yeah.” JungMin smiled a little as he handed back the records to his co-worker. After they’d found out he’d been in the explosion incident and had valiantly tried to prevent it, they’d all become much nicer to him. Not that he really cared. “Thanks.”

He couldn’t go about his daily duties, not that anyone would force him now. Instead, he went back down to HyunJoong’s room, stepping past the ‘keep out’ tape and surveyed the damage.

He stared at the scorched walls, tracing his finger over the marks. Thinking about the things he had seen and about what HyunJoong had said, he frowned. A magical community, HyunJoong hiding from bad people who wanted his power – incredible, and yet, looking at the scorch marks, knew that no explosion could have done such damage without killing him in the process, let alone leave him virtually unharmed.

But then, a magical community and a hidden one at that. HyunJoong had mentioned rules and JungMin had watched enough modern fantasy to known that all outsiders who knew would probably have some way to prevent them from telling - most likely erasing memories (JungMin didn’t want to think about the more severe option). Why hadn’t that happened to him yet?

Sighing, JungMin leaned against the wall, pressing his cheek against the cool surface and closing his eyes. Somehow, he almost wished that they would come and erase his memory, then he wouldn’t have to need to think so much about HyunJoong.

“Why so glum, JungMin-sshi?”

JungMin’s eyes snapped opened and he turned to the door to see a familiar face leaning against the frame. “HyunJoong-sshi?!”

HyunJoong grinned back, looking exactly like how he always did, even still dressed in his patient pajamas. He pushed himself off the frame, dancing away. “Come on and catch me, JungMin-sshi!”

“Hey! Wait!”

JungMin ran after HyunJoong, rushing corridor after corridor trying to case him down. But no matter how fast he ran, HyunJoong was just always out a reach – dodging behind that corner, turning the end of a corridor, pushing past a doorway.

Finally, HyunJoong stopped, and JungMin bent over, panting as he stopped in front of the other man. Gathering himself, he straightened up, only to realize that they were outside the building now, in one of the hidden alleyways between the blocks.

Distracted, JungMin jumped when HyunJoong’s face was suddenly right in front of him. “H-hyunjoong-sshi? What is it? Why are you here? Weren’t you supposed to have been moved to a more secure facility?”

Then, his eyes widened when a voice that was distinctly not HyunJoong’s came from the man’s mouth. “You aren’t very smart are you? Or very talented… I wonder what the Dreamseer sees in you. But he is interested, and that’s all that matters.”

The Dreamseer? That meant HyunJoong. What did this man mean? “Wait. Who are you?” JungMin took a step back, only to gasp when his foot sunk into the ground, a black substance crawling up his leg. “What the hell?”

“You walked into our trap so easily, little one.” JungMin turned back gasping as a cold black shadow covered his mouth and eyes. “Thank you. Now, sleep, until we need you.”

And everything turned black.

~*~

What finally woke him was an indescribable nagging feeling in his groin. Groaning, he made to stand up only to yelp when his arms jerked back, forcing him back to the ground.

“My, my, my… looks like someone’s awake.”

JungMin shook his head, trying to clear his vision. And after a while it did, revealing… a cruel pair of eyes and a sneer. Scooting backwards, his heart beating fast, JungMin stared wide-eyed as the eyes and sneer straightened up into a person. It was then that everything came flooding back to him.

“You… you kidnapped me.” He almost winced at how childish his accusing statement sounded, and the way the man’s lips curled even more didn’t add to his confidence.

“Yes, I did.” The man laughed, before he paused. “Actually, I didn’t. My boss did. We’re just looking after you until the Dreamseer comes looking for you.”

It was then that JungMin realized several things. One was that the reason why he hadn’t been able to stand up earlier was because his hands were cuffed and chained to the wall. Another was that he and the man weren’t alone – there were a whole bunch of others lounging near a table not too far away.

“Hmm… I sense that you’re uncomfortable here.” JungMin yelped when there was a hand on his crotch and he jerked away, glaring, only to gasp when the man’s form seemed to shift a bit, becoming a mass of dark shadows instead of a man.

“Well? Need me to help you take care of it?” Then, he was a man again, and JungMin snapped back, scowling at the suggestive look on the man’s face.

“I just need to use the bathroom.” JungMin shot back, struggling to his feet. “Now, do you want me to wet myself and stink the whole place up or will you uncuff me so I can go?”

“You are either very brave, or you don’t know the situation you’re in to order me about like that.” The man seemed amused and he glanced over to where the other people were seated. There seemed to be some sort of unseen communication taking place, because the next thing JungMin knew, he was being pushed forward, nearly tripping over from the unexpectedness of it.

“Well, you wanted to go potty didn’t you?” The man raised an eyebrow, already holding the chain like a dog leash in his hand. And JungMin would have wondered how the man could have moved so fast if he hadn’t linked this feat to HyunJoong’s statement about supernatural speed being something all these magical people had and the fact that he’d guessed this man was all about intimidation.

JungMin hid the fact that he was indeed intimidated. Instead, he scowled and reluctantly marched forward. He’d been tempted to ground his legs in and refuse to move, but the nagging feeling in his pants grew and as satisfying the thought of stinking up the whole place with his pee, sensibilities told him that they’d most likely clean the place up before that could happen. Plus, he didn’t fancy the thought of being chained up in soiled pants.

It was a rather long walk to the alleged bathroom. And the silence compelled JungMin to speak. “What makes you think that HyunJoong-sshi will come for me?”

The man glanced behind him, and chuckled. “I have no idea either. But apparently, he’s taken an enormous interest in you.”

JungMin had the nagging feeling that the reason the man was even relating such things to him was because he could easily afford to. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m just a helper who brought him his meals at the hospital.”

“Our seers may not have the powers of the Dreamseer, but they are accurate enough. That day of the explosion, did he not protect you?” The man smiled when JungMin fell quiet at that. “He will come. And when he does, we will catch him.”

JungMin bit his lip – such confidence that they would catch him. “Nonsense. He won’t come. If he’s as powerful as all of you say, he’ll see this and he’ll just prevent it by not coming.”

“Naïve.” The man laughed. “Even the Dreamseer knows that tangling with destiny and time is a tricky matter. He must come and wait for that opportune moment before changing it. But this time, we have calculated everything. He will fall into our hands. But, then again, explaining to you all this would be useless. You wouldn’t understand, silly little Nomada.”

JungMin didn’t understand what Nomada meant, but he knew it was an insult. But before he could retort, he gasped at the strong fingers tugging at this chin.

“Nomada and obviously of no use. I really wonder why the Dreamseer is interested in you.” The man breathed against his skin. “Maybe it’s your pretty face, although I’ve seen prettier. But the Dreamseer probably has his preferences.”

JungMin flushed angrily at that, but the next utterance the man made turned his blood cold. “It will be such fun, to see the Dreamseer willingly give up his will to save you.”

“What?” JungMin asked quietly, to which the man sneered. “We will need the Dreamseer to give his will to us so that we may use his powers as we please. And you will be a most useful tool in gaining it.”

JungMin stared as the man turned around again, tugging him forward to walk. He didn’t understand entirely what the man meant, but he did understand that he was being used to trap HyunJoong.

To kill him.

“I, for one, do not consider being slave to mind-control as living.”

“Yah, why did you stop moving?” The man frowned, turning around, only to yelp as the chain was yanked from his hand, and a swing to his jaw set him flying into the wall.

“Guh… what?” The man struggled to sit up, only to find himself pinned down by an immense force. Eyes widening, he stared at the firey red aura that burned around JungMin’s form, snarling. “You! You’re not Nomada!”

But JungMin didn’t appear to hear. His eyes glassy with smoldering anger, he slammed his fists hard into the man, again and again, even after the cuffs around his hand shattered upon impact against the man’s shoulder. Until blood flowed from the man’s broken nose, and a hard punch to his stomach sent blood flying out of the man’s mouth, splashing onto JungMin’s cheek.

‘Blood.’

JungMin suddenly stopped, his hand shaking as he reached up, touching his cheek. Pulling it back down, he gasped at the red on his fingertips, rage fading from his eyes as he stared down at the broken body under him.

Suddenly feeling like he was about to hurl, JungMin pushed himself up, running away. He’d done it again – he’d nearly killed someone. And he had no idea how it happened.

But he hadn’t taken but a few steps when there was a cold feeling around his leg, and he fell heavily to the ground. Groaning, his eyes snapped open when he heard a vicious snarl behind him and he his back to see a horrifying black shadow – similar to the one he’d seen in HyunJoong’s ward.

“You… that hurt…” The shadow rasped, its form pulsing black from irritation. And JungMin whimpered as he felt tendrils of shadow wrap around his body, the terrifying cold sapping away any strength he had. “I will make you pay for that!”

“Not if I can help it!”

There was blinding white light, and the shadow screamed pulling back its tendrils as it seared against its darkness. And JungMin felt the shadow’s hold on him retreat hastily, just in time for him to regain his strength enough to jam his hands against his ears at the ear-piercing screech the shadow made as it seemed to fold up into itself, disappearing from sight.

JungMin panted, his breath shaky as he stared at where the shadow had been, not entirely sure what had happened. So much that he didn’t hear the person come up to him, and he let out an undignified yell, swinging his arms out in retaliation when someone put a hand on his shoulder.

“Woah! Hey, hey. Calm down, it’s me.” JungMin blinked several times, staring at the very handsome man dressed in a smart dark navy-blue two piece suit.

“…Do I know you?”

The man made a face of disbelief, “Yah. Are you joking, JungMin-sshi? It’s me.”

JungMin squinted, tilting his head before his eyes widened in recognition. “HyunJoong-sshi?

“Yep. That’s me.” HyunJoong grinned. JungMin stared in disbelief – he hadn’t recognized the other man because he’d only seen him in those unflattering hospital pajamas. “Defender of justice, here to save the day. You okay, JungMin-sshi?”

HyunJoong yelped when he found himself with an armful of JungMin. Blinking when the man buried face against his neck, HyunJoong let out a soft sigh and smile, patting the other man’s back. “Hey… it’s alright now. Everything’s okay… Just let it all out…”

“…need to...”

“Sorry?” HyunJoong hummed, having missed what JungMin had said – too soft even for his ears.

“I need to go to the toilet.”

“…Eh?”

~*~

JungMin held onto the cup in his hands as if for dear life. HyunJoong had handed it to him after he’d sat JungMin in what was one of the most luxurious rooms JungMin’d ever seen before leaving, saying he just needed to deal with some things and he’d be back soon.

JungMin’s eyes darted around the sleek black furniture and tasteful decorations, sitting on the black leather couch as gingerly as he could, scared that he’d scuff the material. He wondered if this was all a dream and that he was actually in bed and in a moment the alarm would ring and he’d wake up.

“Oh, so HyunJoong wasn’t lying, he really brought you here.”

JungMin jumped, nearly dropping his cup as he looked up at the person who’d poked his head into the room. “Ah! Uhm… yeah… he did uh…”

“Oh. I’m sorry, I seem to have startled you.” The person stepped from behind the door frame, bowing. “It’s nice to meet you again, Park JungMin-sshi.”

“Again?” JungMin blinked before his eyes widened, pointing at the person. “You! You’re that police officer! The one who questioned me the day of the explosion!”

The ‘officer’ laughed sheepishly scratching his head. “Yes. I am. I’m not really an officer though, my name’s KyuJong, and I’m sort of in the clean-up team of this organization. After HyunJoong pulled that stunt in the hospital, I had to go down to clear up the loose ends.”

“Oh.” JungMin blushed, realizing that he’d been rude in pointing and quickly pulled back his hand. “Sorry.”

KyuJong shook his head to say that it was alright, moving over to sit down beside JungMin. “Well, how are you doing?”

JungMin sighed, looking into his cup. “Okay, I guess? I’m not sure. I still… can’t quite believe that what HyunJoong told me about the magic community thing and his powerful power was true.”

“Yes, you’re one of the few he’s told that know he’s not delusional.” KyuJong chuckled. “And take your time taking it in. You’ll have your entirely life to.”

JungMin blinked. “You’re not going to erase my memory or anything like that?”

“What? Oh, no.” KyuJong laughed, and somehow JungMin didn’t feel too embarrassed. Perhaps it was because it felt like KyuJong wasn’t really laughing at him, but just… laughing. “Why would we bring you all the way to HQ to erase your memories? Waste of time that would be.”

“I don’t know.” JungMin mumbled, rubbing his thumb on the porcelain of the cup. “Maybe you figured since you were going to anyway, it wouldn’t hurt to let me know a bit more?”

“Memory erasing doesn’t work like that. Memories are tricky things that can resurface with the right stimulus, so we always do it straightaway if it’s needed – the less the person knows, the better. But, we wouldn’t erase the memory of a fellow Illustra now, would we?”

JungMin’s eyebrows shot up and he gave KyuJong a strange look. “A fellow Illustra?”

“Yes, haven’t you realized? That’s how you managed to beat up a Shadow so easily like that. Hyun says that the damage you did allowed him to finish off that Shadow easily. And no regular human could ever dream of doing that.” KyuJong smiled, patting JungMin’s shoulder. “It seems that for you, anger causes your spiritual energy to overflow, otherwise, it’s usually rather stable – almost unnoticeable. What we call a Berserker.”

That made quite a bit of sense except for one thing. “I’ve gotten angry many times before this, why didn’t my… powers activate before?”

KyuJong shrugged. “Well, for a lot of people, their powers only come in naturally later in their lives if it’s not actively trained when they’re young and usually only under the right stimulus. It’s just bad luck that your powers decided to kick in when you got angry at that guy for accusing you for using your father’s influence to get that internship.”

“How did you-”

“We do a lot of work with the Nomada government.” KyuJong interrupted, smiling. “We know a lot of things. Although, I must admit, we were a bit slow this time. It took you barreling through the door for us to realize what you were.”

JungMin blinked, remembering the blinding anger that had allowed him to knock down that door. Suddenly, he realized something. “HyunJoong was standing by the bed… but he was also… blocking the door with his body to prevent me from coming in… Was that some kind of magic?”

“Uhuh. He created a Shikigami – a body double. You should have seen how his face was when he related the incident to us – apparently, the door caused an imprint into the wall, and you didn’t see, but apparently the Shikigami had been thrown back and embedded halfway into the ceiling before it vanished.” KyuJong chuckled, tickled by the memory of that.

JungMin remembered the door imprint and hole in the ceiling being mentioned in the gossip. “So that wasn’t because of the explosion.”

“No. It was you.” KyuJong confirmed. “So, it was then we knew what you were. And we were actually about to retrieve you when the Shadows acted. Sorry about that, but we had to convince the higher ups, and with HyunJoong’s little stunt, it took quite a bit of string-pulling. As you can tell, even if we save the world, we still have a hell lot of red-tape to deal with.”

JungMin rubbed his temple, feeling a little overwhelmed by the information. “Wow… okay… a lot to take in.”

“It’s alright, take your time.” JungMin jumped a little when KyuJong put his hand around him, before relaxing as the other man rubbed his back soothingly. “If you need any help, just come to me, alright?”

JungMin was about to agree when there was a cough at the door. “Ahem.”

JungMin blinked, suddenly blushing as he realized HyunJoong was standing at the door, his arms akimbo. He didn’t know why but he immediately felt guilty for allowing KyuJong to put his hands around him like that. “Uh... it’s not what you think.”

But HyunJoong wasn’t paying attention to JungMin. “Yah, KyuJong, get your pheromone-secreting hands off JungMin. He’s mine.”

While JungMin’s face exploded into red, KyuJong laughed, pulling his hands off JungMin. “I wasn’t doing anything.” KyuJong protested, although the twinkle in his eye said otherwise.

“Geez. Get out of here” HyunJoong rolled his eyes, pulling KyuJong by the arm and practically throwing him out of the door. “Oh yeah! Saeng’s looking for you. And Joon. Something about standing him up last night and uh… paperwork. Respectively. Not together.”

JungMin had just managed to get his blush to calm down when HyunJoong closed the door. “Sorry, got held up longer than I thought. Higher ups were being more nitpicky than usual. Did KyuJong try anything on you?”

JungMin shook his head. “No, he was very helpful actually. Answered a lot of my questions.”

“Are you sure? Because KyuJong might seem like a nice guy, but he’s actually quite a beast. He always manages to fool people though. It’s his power – he secretes pheromones that makes people relax around him and thus trust him easily. Willy guy.” HyunJoong nodded solemnly, at which JungMin couldn’t help but smile. Even if he now knew HyunJoong wasn’t lying, his opinion about HyunJoong being a weird idiot was still the same.

“No, he really didn’t.”

“Alright.” HyunJoong relaxed, “so… did KyuJong answer all your questions? Or did you have some more?”

JungMin was quiet for a moment, before he asked. “Who were the people who wanted to capture you.”

“I have a lot of people wanting to capture me, but if you mean the particular group that kidnapped you? They’re the Shadows. Quite a nasty bunch. Had a plan on trying to drag the entirely world into darkness about a month back that we foiled.” HyunJoong related. “Not that, all of them are bad of course. It’s just the main clan. There are quite a lot of them who don’t care about the main group. In fact, there’s a Shadow here who’s a good friend of mine. He’s nice enough, quiet and a little scary at times, but he’s a good person. In fact, the Shadows only recently went on the bad list. It’s their new leader I think. Probably bullied when he was young or something, so he wants to take revenge on the world. Or he’s just… evil. You know.”

“Okay.” Now JungMin was a little glad that KyuJong had been the one explaining most of the things to him. HyunJoong tended to babble in his explanations. “Just… one last question.”

“Mhmm?” HyunJoong smiled, nodding for JungMin to continue.

“Well, that… Shadow… the one you saved me from just earlier… he said that you were… interested in me. What did he mean?” And when HyunJoong seemed perplexed by the question, he added. “I mean, why me? Sure, we talked a bit in the hospital and joked around and stuff, but not enough that you would come down and save me yourself. I mean, it was dangerous. You could have gotten captured, and you probably could have sent someone else right? I’m not… that important or anything.”

“Hmm… you’re right. I could have sent someone down this time. I can’t always.” HyunJoong thought about it for a moment. “But you’re wrong when you said that you’re not important.”

“How so? Am I actually like, some key part of some plot to destroy the world somewhere in the future or something?”

“No,” HyunJoong gave JungMin a funny look. “It’s simple. I like you.”

JungMin’s jaw gaped. “What?”

HyunJoong raised his eyes to the heavens. “This is why I say that you were brought up in the monastery. Were my advances towards you that useless? You didn’t notice them at all?”

Of course JungMin noticed. “I thought you were just joking! And how’d you even know I was gay?”

“You had 5 boyfriends before your little incident with the law which resulted in you to do community service at the hospital. All of which ended badly because you found out they only wanted you for your body and there was a conflict of interests. You, saintly as you are, resolutely hold on to your ity for that ‘special one’.” HyunJoong grinned at JungMin’s gapping face and said in explanation. “I have friends in high places that deal with information.”

JungMin decided to forgo his imitation of a goldfish and instead tried to change the topic. “Okay… okay… so now what?”

“Now?” HyunJoong leaned back against the couch. “Well, I was hoping that you could join our organization. I mean, you need training to keep powers under control. Now that it’s activated, it’ll come up more frequently. But, you also have the option to go home after that is done. Your record will be wiped since this will be treated in court as ‘unforeseen circumstances’ and you can go back to your regular life.”

“But I could also join you in your life. Save the world, that sort of thing.” JungMin continued for HyunJoong.

“Yeah. Be a defender of justice.” HyunJoong grinned, “But we’ll need your answer before we do anything else because the paperwork is entirely different for both decisions. And you have no idea how tiresome the paperwork can be.”

“…” JungMin chewed on his lip, looking deep in thought while HyunJoong fidgeted beside him.

“HyunJoong-sshi.”

“Yes?”

“I owe you a kiss.”

“Huh?” HyunJoong blinked, thrown off course by the sudden declaration. Then he remembered the agreement he’d had with JungMin back at the hospital - what seemed like a lifetime ago. “Well, yes you do. You want to give it to me now?”

“Sure.”

And their lips met, gently at first, deepening within seconds. Hands went under shirts, teasing but not quite farther than that, and tongues clashed, each fighting for dominance, playing a careless game of catch.

Both were panting when they finally parted, breath ghosting each other’s lips.

JungMin was the first to speak up again. “Now… you owe me a kiss.”

HyunJoong’s eyebrow quirked. “How does that work? The kiss you gave me was payment for that agreement wasn’t it?”

“Yes, but now, you owe me a kiss because of all the trouble you’re getting me into. Not to mention the paperwork I’m going to have to deal with after my training.”

A slow smile crept across HyunJoong’s lips as he understood. “Ah.”

“Well?” JungMin folded his arms. “You owe me a kiss, yes?”

And HyunJoong smiled as he reached out, pulling JungMin into his arms as his hands snuck underneath JungMin’s shirt playing across the skin in a way that had the younger man shivering.

“Oh… I think I owe you… a lot more than a kiss.”

~*~

“What’s that red mark on your face, Hyun? And weren’t you with JungMin-sshi?”

HyunJoong stared grumpily at KyuJong as he entered the office, plopping down on the chair. “Don’t ask.”

“But-”

“Don’t. Ask.”

KyuJong raised an eyebrow before shrugging as if he didn’t care. But he turned to his partner then, a fetching man with stunning black eyes and soft black hair, holding out his hand. “I was right. Hyun tried to get frisky and JungMin-sshi got angry. You owe me 10, Saeng.”

“YAH! KIM KYUJONG!”

~*~

END