~Chapter 5~

Eyes

Minho’s POV~

            I bite my lip as I ride the horse in front of the carriage. That was him in the carriage—the one I use to train in the clan, Lee Taemin. It’s really strange since people of the clan call him Taesun, but Onew hyung, Jonghyun hyung, and even the strange male insist that that is his name. I always had and still am very curious about this “Lee Taemin.” He looks weak, but the clan chains him up, almost as if they’re afraid of him, he risked his life just to recruit us, and most strangely, he’s the same person that appears in my dreams. I remember the day that Key hyung saved me; I knocked out in the jail cell and saw something. I saw a man with stunning, white wings walk into the room, smiling at me. He reached his hand out and touched my face and for some reason, it was as if he was really there. His touch comforted me and I woke up. Again, a month after I came to the temple with Key hyung’s help, he appears again every time I felt like I needed to end myself and calmed me down. I wasn’t and still am not sure if I can call that a dream…

            I look behind and see Onew hyung and Jonghyun hyung riding behind the carriage, talking secretly to one another. I have an urge to go into the carriage and take a look at Taemin and see if his back has holes or something, anything, to prove that he has wings. What if he really is the winged man in my dreams? When I was watching over him when he was back in the clan for Jonghyun hyung’s and my curiosity’s sake, he looked so conflicted and sad. It made me wonder how a person with so many frustrations can make me calm down by a simple touch. I take my flute out and play the familiar song that I have learned to love, ‘Symptoms.’

Taemin’s POV~

            My eyes flutter open and immediate the aching pain overwhelms me. I wince and tighten my fist to hold back a yell. I look at my surrounding and notice I am in a moving room, probably one of the carriages I see a lot in the historical dramas…The carriage is so bumpy and my wound is moving around too much. It hurts, it hurts a lot. “Hyung,” I look to my side and see Kai looking at me with concern. “You’re awake. I-I’m sorry for hurting you hyung, so sorry.” Strange…I know him because of the flashback the charm has shown me, but how does he know me? We haven’t met in this time period yet. Why does he act like we are very close? “Hyung, I know it may seem very confusing for you. I am Kim Jongin, nicknamed Kai. We haven’t met, but I…I have an ability and I know that we are supposed to meet. You’re not from here are you? I know that you came back in time to complete a mission and I am supposed to be here to help you.” Hold up! Why are people helping me and more importantly, why does everyone have a special ability? Kai isn’t serious is he? Aigoo, he seems so different compared to his old demonic self. “I know it seems so confusing to be woken up by the one that hurt you and finding out that he’s destined to help you, but that’s the truth. I am here to help you.”

            “I believe you,” I force a smile despite the pain to comfort him. Poor Kai must think that I think he’s crazy. “Where are we going?”

            “You’re on a carriage right now and Minho hyung, Key hyung, Jonghyun hyung, and Onew hyung are outside on horses. We are on our way back to the clan.”

            “D-did you just say…No way, please, help me out of the carriage, I need to see for myself.” There’s no way all of them are here! Jonghyun hyung and Onew hyung shouldn’t be here! I thought I was the only one back in time. And Key hyung and Minho hyung are here too; they must be different in this time period…Kai nods and yells for the carriage to stop. He gets out first and carries me out bridal style. Even when I am out of the carriage, he still carries me. I’m actually glad he’s carrying me; I know that I can’t stand on my own well yet. I hear a few clicks from horse hooves and see Jonghyun hyung, Onew hyung, Key hyung, and a man with a covered face in front of me with their horses by their side. Shock and happiness overwhelms me and tears slowly flow down my face. I motion for Kai to put me down, but the minute my feet hit the ground, my knees buckle and I fall down. Luckily, Kai and the person with a face covering support me. I look at the man with the covered face and see familiar eyes. This man is Minho hyung and also the man that has always came into my room to fight me. Why is he here?

            “Taemin-ah, are you okay?” Jonghyun hyung says with a shaky voice. I can tell he’s on the verge of crying.

            “Taemin-ah, do you know how worried we were?” Onew hyung sniffs.

            “I thought I was the only one who had come here to fix things. Did you know how scared and how alone I was? I was so scared that I wouldn’t make it and ruin everything for you hyungs. And now look at me, pathetically injured and useless…I’m sorry you have to see me in this state. I know you hyungs care for me a lot.”

            “Don’t look down on yourself Taemin-ah, we all didn’t choose to come here.” Onew hyung says and embraces me with Jonghyun hyung. If I wasn’t so injured, maybe I could properly enjoy this moment. Despite the gash on my back, I feel the warmth and so much support that no injury can make me feel depressed. My hyungs are here with me.

            “Jonghyun hyung, Onew hyung, how are you guys? What has happened to you when we were separated? And…how did you meet them?” I look at Key hyung and Minho hyung.

            “It’s a very long story.” Jonghyun hyung sighs.

            “It’s okay; we still have a two day travel. How about you guys go into the carriage and talk? There’s plenty of room in there. Minho, Kai, and I will take care of your horses.” Key hyung says. I nearly cried again. Key hyung sounds just like how he did as angels. His voice is very strong but has a hint of kindness, just like when we were friends. We nod and Jonghyun hyung carries me into the carriage. Kai replaces Key hyung and controls the horses that are pulling the large carriage. Now, my hyungs and I are alone, free to tell each other about our hardships alone this past year.

            It was heartbreaking hearing my hyung’s stories. I thought I was the only one who was treated wrongly and felt helpless, but turns out, we all were. We all have cried, been mistreated, and nearly died. The most pathetic part about my year in this time period was risking my life to deliver a scroll of paper…but it was all worth it since we are now reunited as the SHINee Warriors, despite Minho hyung and Key hyung not knowing about the truth. Every once in a while, Kai would ask for us to rest and come inside the carriage. He apparently is a werewolf that has to give me his energy from his bead in order for me to stay conscious. Yes, I feel bad for using him, but he said he hurt me and he must cure me, told me he’s here to help, and hey, I’m not complaining about staying conscious. Before we realized it, we arrived in front of Heroes’ Rebellion. Things are about to get interesting…

            People cheered and congratulated me for succeeding the mission. Since I have contributed to the clan, my work hours have decreased and I am exempted from all work until I heal—not bad if you ask me. The only bad part is that I actually needed to rest! Do you know how much it hurts to have an axe slammed on your back? If it wasn’t for Kai giving me his energy and healing me quicker by the power of his bead, I probably would have died! I have been lying in bed for a week now, only leaving it to go to the bathroom, and that’s only allowed if Kai or one of my hyungs were with me in case I fainted.

            I haven’t seen Key hyung or Minho hyung, but I can’t blame them since they don’t actually know me yet. It hurts me to think of it that way. They are meant to be our friends, lovers as well, but now we are basically strangers. Even Kai, the one who used to betray the demons to help me is even more close to me than Minho hyung…but maybe it’s supposed to be like this. Being in love is too difficult and too dangerous for us. We become weak when there is someone that we must protect. During the war when we were angels, we have risked our lives and protected one another…if this time there is another war to fight in this time period, I don’t want Minho hyung to protect me. I want him to protect himself and have me protect him and Joon hyung. If there’s going to be someone that dies out of us seven, it has to be me.

            I touch the two charms on the necklaces and it replies with a glow. “Charms, how are you?” I ask the two magic objects. “Are you happy about me reuniting with my hyungs?” It glows. “I bet you are. I mean, you belong to us. I recognize you guys from the flashback. Even though there were only one of you when we were angels, I can assume you belong to us. Since I have two, Jonghyun hyung has two, and Onew hyung has one…I bet that you each belong to one of us…am I right?” It glows again. “Sweet, which one of you is mine?” The charm on the left side glows. “So you’re mine?” I chuckle. “Now who do you belong to?” I ask the charm on the right side. “Joon hyung’s?” No response. “Key hyung’s?” No response. “Minho hyung’s?” It glows brightly. “So does this mean us three hold our lover’s charm?” The charms glow again in response. “Wait, doesn’t Onew hyung only have one charm?”

            “What about me?” Onew hyung asks as he enters my room.

            “Ah, nothing, I was just talking to my charms, that’s all.” I reply and hide them inside my shirt. “Hyung, where were you the past few days?”

            “Oh, Joon was missing me so I sneaked out of the clan to meet up with him.”

            “Joon hyung was missing you? Oh don’t act like you didn’t miss him!” I giggle.

            “Yeah you got me,” he laughs. “I was trying to sound cool.”

            “Hyung, I have to meet him some time. I want to see how different he is in this time period!” I smile. Onew hyung’s expression changes into a serious look.

            “Taemin-ah, I think it’s best if you don’t. Since we all know you are the reason for him turning into a demon, I think it’s safer for him to never meet you.”

            “I-I understand hyung. It’s safer.” I nod, trying not to feel hurt. It’s almost like he’s blaming his separation with Joon hyung on me…He knows I wouldn’t hurt Joon hyung…doesn’t he?

            “How’s your back?” Jonghyun hyung enters.

            “Fine hyung, it’s healing nicely,” I reply.

            “But what’s with the long face? Something’s bothering you?”

            “Oh no, I’m just tired,” I lie.

            “Oh really? I’m sorry for bothering you then! Onew hyung, come on, let’s go and have him rest.” Jonghyun hyung smiles and pulls Onew hyung out of the room. It’s not only Minho hyung and Key hyung’s relationship that changed, all of our relationships changed…I wish everything can go back to the way it was.

Minho’s POV~

            “Hey, what are doing up here alone?” Key hyung asks as he sits down beside me on the roof. I look away from the bright moon and see his calm face.

            “I was just thinking.”

            “About..?” He asks, folding his arms. He hates it when I hide things from him.

            “About Jonghyun hyung’s and Onew hyung’s dongsaeng.”

            “Who, Lee Taemin?” He asks and I nod. “Hey, don’t work yourself up about it. Jonghyun has already apologized for blaming you. We all agreed to make the messenger get your baby cousin; we just didn’t expect it to be someone they knew.”

            “I know, but I can’t help thinking about what would happen if he died? I would hate myself for it.”

            “Why, because it’s just like how your parents nearly made you die?”

            “…yeah.” I admit after a long pause. “Maybe because I feel sorry for that kid. From what I’ve heard about him from Jonghyun hyung, he has an older brother who is very successful. His parents are rich, so they have lots of expectations for him, just like how I was. Under uncontrollable events, we both were forced to leave our home and family. And just like him, I only have my hyungs to care for me.” I say, looking at his darkened face.

            “You know I don’t like it when you talk about how depressing our lives are.” he sighs.

            “Hyung, you’re still injured!” We hear Gun Tae’s voice from below. We look down and see Taemin and him walking out of his room.

            “It’s your birthday! Come on, at least let me entertain you a bit.”

            “I can’t let you!” Gun Tae pouts while whispering loudly.

            “It’ll be fun!” Taemin smiles brightly despite his face being so pale from the injury.

            “But what if you fall on your chains and hurt your back even more?”

            “It hurts a lot, but it’s okay; I’m used to it.” Taemin nods. My eyebrows furrow as I process what he has just said. No one deserves to be used to pain… “Come on, sit down and enjoy the show.” He sits Gun Tae down and gives him a foreign object. He touches it once and immediately, music starts playing.

            “What is that?”

            “Jonghyun hyung told me that where he’s from, it’s called and iPod. It’s used to store and play music for us to hear.”

            “Wow, magical.” Key hyung replies in awe. “What’s Taemin doing?” I look down and see him moving with the music.

            “Jonghyun hyung told me that’s how they dance from where they’re from.”

            “It’s so interesting.” Key hyung smiles and watches without blinking. I watch Taemin as well. Seeing him move with the music almost tricks me into thinking he is a carefree person and forgetting that he is injured only a week ago and almost lost his life.

            “Ahh,” Taemin groans as he falls over. Key hyung and I stand up, ready to jump down and help him. “Mianhae!” He gets up slowly with a smile on his face. “I ruined the mood, didn’t I?”

            “Ani, you were great, thank you hyung.” Gun Tae hugs Taemin happily.

            “Thanks. I have a gift for you! It’s something from my time, you’ll love it!”

            “What does he mean by his ‘time’?” Key hyung looks at me.

            “I don’t know.” I shake my head. Taemin takes out something shiny and flips it. All of a sudden, a blade appears.

            “This is a pocket knife. It’s safe for you to carry around. It’s much more convenient and lighter. If you ever get bullied and your sword is out of reach, use this.”

            “Then what about you, hyung?”

            “I get hurt then I get hurt. Besides, you know the how it is. If I die, I’ll probably return to where I belong.” Taemin says.

            “And where is that?” Key hyung asks me. I shake my head, clueless as well.

            “Thank you, hyung!” Gun Tae hugs him once more.

            “I have one more thing for you.” Taemin takes out this strange object that I can’t describe in words. It has two dark pieces of something held together by something else. Taemin puts it on Gun Tae by putting the two sticks through his hair and rests it on his ear while the two things are in front of his eyes. “There are called sunglasses. I know how you are scared of sleeping at night and love taking naps in the morning, this will help you.”

            “Whoa, so dark!”

            “I know,” Taemin giggles at Gun Tae’s cuteness. “This blocks some of the sun from your eyes so it won’t bother you so you can sleep.”

            “This is just so amazing!” Gun Tae jumps.

            “Indeed,” Key hyung says while raising his eyebrow.

            “Taemin hyung, it’s time.” Kai says as he passes by the two and enter the room.

            “Well, thank you for the gifts hyung. And remember, you don’t have to ever lie to me Taemin hyung~” Gun Tae mehrongs Taemin when he says his name. Taemin has deceived everyone into thinking his name is Taesun so Gun Tae is a bit bothered by it.

            “Yes, I know. Goodnight!” Taemin waves and enters his room after Gun Tae is gone.

            “Okay, I’m curious about everything he has said and the fact that Kai goes to his room so often…I have to go check it out!” Key hyung says.

            “That’s an invasion of privacy!” I argue.

            “That’s why it’s called spying.” He snorts and lifts up pieces of the roof and reveals a hole that looks straight down into Taemin’s room. Out of curiosity, I look into the hole as well. I see Taemin taking off his shirt and reveal his bandaged body. With Kai’s help, he removes the bandages and turns, facing Kai. Kai opens his mouth and suddenly, a blue ball of light comes out and floats toward Taemin. It stops in the middle of the gap between their two faces and some of the light flows into Taemin’s mouth. Surprisingly, if I look hard enough, I can see Taemin’s wound heals slowly. The ball of light then returns into Kai’s body and he helps Taemin bandage himself once more. “W-what was that!?”

Just in case this story has confused anyone: They went back in time in their past life BEFORE they became angels and demons. They are all human now and some are monsters, but they aren't demons, just animals that lived long enough to use their power to turn human--like the gumiho. So, if Taemin or anyone in SHINee can make the future demons die the right way- dying for love and not in vain- they will turn into an angel since they all are fated to be angels or demons.

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