60 seconds Before Christmas

For ah_niel

Pairing: Any (chose Yadong)

Prompt: 60 Seconds before Christmas

“Run!“ The voice echoed in between sterile, grey walls, as two young men tried to catch their breaths while running even faster than a second before. Sweat was prickling down their temples; skin glistening in those lights shining above them, wet hair glued to their faces and unsteady breaths escaped their mouths, as hordes of men followed them. Men dressed in white, wearing helmets with guns in hands, threatening to shoot anytime without a second thought crossing their minds.

Those two young men saw a light flashing up in front of them, signalizing that the edge of the town was coming closer and causing hope to spread across their throbbing hearts. The outside, the nature was finally surrounding them, letting small flakes of snow falling down and cooling off their burning hot skin, melting on it easily in seconds. Firs occupied in white snow, pure and innocent as they stood there in peace. The two men dropped to the ground, grabbing some snow with their hands, feeling it in every pore of their skin. A smile caressed their lips as both of them locked gazes with each other, happy to have escaped the capitol. The smile quickly dropped though, as guard noises still could be heard behind them. Turning around in shock, seeing many men in white coming on their way to the line between the capitol and nature, in a blink of an eye their feet started running again, dragging them somewhere they did not even know yet. Gunshots were fired, only hitting firs, causing them to lose snow all around them and covering the two running men.

Hoya did not know how it all came to this; all he had wanted to do was to make sure Dongwoo had a great Christmas.

“I hate it.” Dongwoo mumbled as he buried his head on Hoya’s shoulder, while clinging onto the younger man’s left arm. The latter let out a chuckle and softly the other’s dark hair.  Both of them were walking down a street, with their arms tangled, as boring, grey skyscrapers came into sight, one with a big clock on it.  “What? What do you hate, hyung?” Pouting and lifting up his gaze, Dongwoo looked at him. “Everything.” The elder complained in a whisper, waving his hand in the air. “The government took it all. The freedom, the nature, even things like Christmas is controlled by it. We have no snow, although it is winter, we have no real fresh air due to living in a dome with just one exit. Everyone and everything is the same.” Dongwoo scoffed. “And if we try to escape out of this hell hole, we get killed.” He looked at a camera right in front of their eyes, hanging above them to record everything it was able to get. “We do not even have some privacy.”

Hoya chuckled briefly, causing Dongwoo to look at him again. “You want to have privacy that much, huh?” the younger smirked and lowered his hand a little but Dongwoo just smacked his chest lightly and giggled. “You’re an idiot.”

“An idiot you still love though.”

Some weeks had passed by without any problems, although Hoya had to admit, soon they were running out of money.

The two young men had not the best well-paid jobs; they could be happy when they had enough to eat and were not forced to move out of their shabby apartment, though the simple existence of the other man was the only thing both of them really needed to live anyway.

Strolling down the street, not caring about all the cameras around him, after all he was not doing anything illegal, Hoya made his way towards a store, where he usually buys things. Gazing around, looking for the cheapest groceries he could find, the young man took a few things, calculating the prices and made his way toward the cashier before he left the place with bags in hands.

He missed the snow, the many different things the nature had to offer in general, mostly because it was fun to explore the world together with his hyung.

How they had met was rather an accident. A few years ago, when they were still teenagers, in the middle of puberty, Dongwoo had a job as a pizza deliverer and mistook Hoya’s house for another’s. They argued who of them was in wrong and seriously, Hoya thought Dongwoo was dumb at first, because the elder retorted to Hoya’s argument that the telephone did not even work yet since he just moved in, that he was the best deliverer and knew what he was doing and that Hoya really ordered 20 pizzas all for himself.  

After that, Hoya got to know that Dongwoo was going to his university as well. Years of fights, arguments, detention and whippings caused the relationship between those two strangely to become stronger and more intense than ever.

Unfortunately, the government decided to change drastically and in a blink of an eye, everything they knew was gone. Their families were shipped somewhere they did not know, because of a reason they did not know either. Everything has gone completely in a way they could not understand the least and all that was left was the love of those two young men, clinging onto each other’s hearts to make their lives worth living.

As Hoya was walking down the street, watching random people crossing his way, probably buying the last presents for Christmas, something sparkling caught his eye, causing him to approach the little thing instantly, facing it through the window. Guilt suddenly occupied his heart, clenching it tightly as he remembered that he still had no present for Dongwoo for Christmas. Knowing the other probably already got a gift for him; Hoya sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The look into his wallet did not help one bit, since only a single won was greeting his face, almost offending him in all its pure innocence.

The ring would be perfect for Dongwoo, Hoya thought and glared at the small price tag besides the object of his desire, no matter what, there was no way the younger was able to buy the present legally. Letting his eyes hover over the best present he probably could make, Hoya exhaled a gust of air and walked away, still pulling two bags of groceries  along.

Day after day went by easily, causing Christmas to come closer and closer even faster, much to Hoya’s dismay.

Since he had seen the small sparkling ring across the shop of the grocery store, it did not leave his mind even for a second. All he could think of was the ring. How it would perfectly match to Dongwoo’s outfits and how wonderfully it would decorate his strong fingers in a special way, underlining the slim and define muscles while moving. Hoya started hating himself for being so poor and having nothing to offer for the elder. Up until now his wallet did not become any fuller, he even thought, its inside became less. He often visited the shop, just to stare at the object, ruffling his hair, and leaving once again, with nothing but emptiness filling his bag.

One day before Christmas however, he decided to change that fact, no matter what. The love for Dongwoo was much stronger than the fear to be caught by the cameras with what he was going to do.

Waiting for the dawn to arise, Hoya sneaked into the dark alley besides the store, wanting to see the owner closing and leaving the place, to go home, where probably a family was greeting him happily at a full set up table, ready to eat. The young man sighed in relieve as he watched the elder flicking the key into the slot, closing the door and preventing any access to enter, before he dragged himself away from the store. Hoya watched the man disappearing into the darkness gradually and finally decided to come out of his hidden place, silently making his way to the store’s door after assuring himself, nobody was watching him. Running his fingers along the wooden knob, lightly scratching the surface, the black-haired man pulled his hand away, to let it rummage through his pocket  to find a small pin lying in there the whole time.

“Got you.” He contently mumbled under his breath, as the pin, tightly pressed around his fingers, made a flicking sound, signalizing him that the door was being opened again. Pushing the wood out of his way while a creaking noise was heard from the door, Hoya got in, immediately making his way to his destination. Upon seeing the ring placed in front of him, the young man lifted it up, eyeing the object with his intense, dark eyes before clenching it in his fist and running out of the store, shutting the door with a loud thud. He was too happy to care for anything. Too happy to even remember the cameras around him, recording his every step, recording the mistake he made just a minute ago.

The next thing he knew, three men came to their shared apartment, knocking rather loudly on their door, awaiting him with an angry grimace plastered on their faces. They warned him, threatened him to put him into jail if he would not give the ring back, but even then, Hoya refused. He refused to give back the object, which would emphasize Dongwoo’s beauty to the edge of being a pure angel living on earth.

Hoya knew he rather exaggerated, but he did not care. He had enough of being put into a cage called dome, enough of being  controlled by people called the government. Dongwoo wished for peace, freedom and love and no matter how hard it would be, Hoya wanted to offer it all to Dongwoo, because the elder was the last and only thing he cared about. Becoming angry by seeing one of the citizens rebelling against the people above them, one of the white men hit Hoya’s cheek harshly, earning a loud slapping noise from the instantly reddened skin.

A loud cry of agony escaped Hoya’s lips, causing him to grab Dongwoo’s hand in a hurry, who still stood beside him with eyes widened to their limits, and ran away quickly without looking back.

That is how it all came to the point, where men in white suits were chasing them both.

Hoya dared to take a glance behind him, only to see, they still were being followed and instantly took Dongwoo’s hand to drag him a bit quicker away from those men. The younger already noticed the other had slowed down a littler, probably already exhausted and worry was making its way to his heart, cursing himself for being so stupid. Once again, a gunshot was fired, almost hitting one of them, but only meeting the wood of some fir standing around in snow. They both looked flabbergasted at the small scratch in the tree, exhaling deep breathes due the shock of almost being killed.

Locking their gazes, understanding each other without muttering a word, they intertwined their hands and continued running away. Dongwoo did not know what the younger had done to be chased by those white men, all he knew was that it was bad in the eyes of the government. However, even though he did not have the slightest clue what it was all about; he was faithful and trusted Hoya until the end if he had to. He was sure, the younger did not harm anyone nor had bad intentions at all, just by looking into the other’s eyes. They were intense and stern, he had to admit, but if you looked closely, you could see a lot more than just that. A small sparkle of love, fear and hope glistening in the dark orbs of the younger one, showed his pure humanity within his heart.

Scared of not being able to taste the younger man’s sinful lips ever again, Dongwoo suddenly  took a hold in his running, after having looked around to assure himself the gap between them and the men was big enough. He grabbed  Hoya’s sleeve, pulling him closer and locking their lips in a sweet and soft kiss, which caused warmth to shoot through their bodies, occupying their hearts to make them skip a beat. Hoya was startled at first, feared that they will be caught in milliseconds if they will not hurry up, but as he felt Dongwoo’s lips on his own, his surrounding vanished out of his mind, only leaving the elder as the most important thing in the whole world. Hoya pulled away slightly, cupping the older one’s cheeks before pecking his lips once again.

“We have to g-“

A loud shot of a gun was deafening Dongwoo’s ears, as all he was able to see then, was crimson red, terrifying, fearful red all around him. After his blurry eyes became clearer he looked down to see a man, covered in red lying in the white, cold snow, coughing out blood and accidentally smearing it around his mouth. Dongwoo did not feel anything. His skin was numb; his eyes filled with tears, flowing down his face. The only thing left  was his heart, which was bursting into pieces with every snowflake that reached the earth.  He dropped down, embracing the blood-smeared man in front of him, pulling him onto his lap with shaky fingers, as tears continued to stroll down his cheeks , falling onto the other man’s face, which was furrowed in pain. The latter coughed and with his last left over strength, he let his left hand slowly disappear into his pocket and lifted something up, something Dongwoo had never seen before.

Suddenly a bell was ringing in his ears, too loud for Dongwoo’s liking. It signalized Christmas was about to start.

Only 60 seconds left.

“H-here.” Hoya tried to say, but it only escaped his lips as a whisper, if Dongwoo would not have been this close to the younger, he had not understood a thing at all.

Hoya held up a small package with a red ribbon decorating its surface nicely, trying to crack up a smile but it dropped immediately due the pain that shot through his chest. The shot was straight, not hitting the heart but enough to let him know he will not make it any longer than a few minutes. Looking beside Dongwoo’s head, he could see the white men approaching them both, so he hurried up. “Open i-it!” he quickly muttered as Dongwoo refused to do anything other than embracing him tightly. “O-only 40 seconds…l-left.”

Being poked in his nose with the gift, Dongwoo finally gave in and took it, opening it quickly. “You’re an idiot.” He cried aloud, as he watched a sparkle escaping the package, and now showing the ring in all its glory.

Hoya took the ring from the elder, hoping he had enough strength left, and put it onto Dongwoo’s ring finger on the right hand. He looked up, seeing his love crying and sniffling above him, making his heart once again clench in guilt, ripping it apart, not due to the pain, but rather to the fear of not seeing his most precious thing ever again. He gathered all his strength and whispered. “K-kiss me.”

Dongwoo just nodded, too shocked to do anything else, sniffled one last time and leaned down, pecking the younger one’s lips with all his heart. “Merry Christmas.” Hoya mumbled in between their kiss, as suddenly Dongwoo felt the warmth left his lips and skin becoming paler. The elder pulled away, watching the life escaping his love and making him cry even harder while shaking the dead body hysterically. Cries and screams could be heard in the forest, but they never reached other people than those white men still running after them.

Dongwoo softly laid down the dead body and looked at the ring on his finger. The small ring decorated his hand perfectly, a symbol of Hoya’s infinite love for him.

He smiled to himself as he felt a sudden pain ripping his chest apart and blood spreading out. He watched it flowing down and his smile grew.

This time those men hit the heart directly.

However, in all honesty he had to thank them.

Now Dongwoo was able to see his love again.

“Merry Christmas.” Were the last few words he whispered, before he fell down into the snow, landing right beside the love  of his life, the ringing noise of the bell never leaving his ears.

A/N: Actually I had a compleeeetely different story in my mind....but suddenly while I had class this idea popped up and I liked it, though I imagined it slightly different but that's because I can't write that well, sooo yeah -.-'
I'm sorry if the prompt did not really worked out...when I'm writing, then I'm writing and writing and in the end I don't know how it all started and will end at all >.>...still, I hope you all liked it~ (again sorry for the deaths :D)
I hope you had great Christmas days and will have an awesome start into the new year!!!:3

Visinel: OH god, it was really great!! I liked every bit of this story, thank you for writing it!! I’m really weak when it comes to angst, but this was…It’s almost like I wouldn’t want them to live in a world like that.  Good job!

(Read and edited by visinel because starlight can't deal with angst at the moment x.x Thank you bb <3)