çĽä˝ ćŻĺ¤Šć忍 || Jonghyun x Taemin
Excitement buzzed tangibly through the air, everyone relieved and just wanting get off the damn island more than anything else in the world. They had originally come to the Home Island to escape from the horrible tragedy of the lives lost back in Korea, but they had virtually been marooned on a hot piece of sandy land, nowhere near anything resembling honest civilization, just waiting for their food supplies or toiletries to run out. Everyone had started to wonder if they would ever leave at the rate they were going, and it was with much relief that they found themselves returning to the familiar, freakish lifestyle they had all grown to love, rather than that of those on a reality TV show.
However, the feeling of being trapped had eaten away at Jonghyunâs stomach for quite some time, and he often circled the island endlessly when Taemin wasnât around to ground him (ironically). He felt like something out there was waiting for him, waiting to be fixed by him, and that they needed to get going. It settled heavily in the pit of his stomach, and it had kept him up later than he normally would stay, his arms settled heavily over his loverâs thin waist.
He had thought about speaking to Hongki and Ahyeon about getting him and Tae a tent of their own, so they could stay like this, but when he had heard that the Cirqueâs next destination was China of all places, he just couldnât bring himself to. It felt wrong, and he really didnât want to go there. Sure, Jonghyun had missed performing in front of people, and acting, but he didnât like doing it as his dog self, especially with the confirmation that he had next to no clue what his body would do next. Not to mention that his issues with strong smells and crowds had only grown worse somehow, and it made him anxious to a point where he barely felt human anymore for the discomfort his canine self felt.
It had been due to all of these things that he had asked Taemin to leave with him, though of course he never would have gone without the other. Jong would happily have suffered if it meant keeping his boyfriend by his side, but he found agreement waiting for him, and they planned their escape on the eve of the Cirqueâs departure.
That night, so glad it didnât seem suspicious, he gathered up all of his things (even though it didnât really add up to much) and pulled the bags onto his back, hoping it wouldnât all be too heavy for his boyfriend, before he went to meet him on the cliff that Tae had told him about some time before. It seemed fitting that their last moment with the Cirque would be commemorated with something that he had been waiting to do.
He had left a note for Hongki explaining that they would be flying to Shanghai themselves, though of course they werenât, but it was so they wouldnât hold the Cirque up any more than it already had been.
Reaching the cliffs took too short of a time, and he sat back to wait for Taemin, fighting off nerves and the urge to actually have them fly to Shanghai. Leaving the first real home he had in four years cut him deeply, but it was something that had to be done. And so long as Tae was coming with him, he would always be home, anyway. But he would miss everyone.
