#hm13

they go out and the streets are crowded. finding their way around and through the sea of black and grey winter coats with occasional splashes of colour isn't an easy task but they manage. they keep close. they're not holding hands but they could if they only wanted - the distance between their bodies is that small.

there are passers-by rushing into and out of the crowd. there's a lone figure at the end of the road screaming something incomprehensible, something jumbled and desperate about end of the world. they see a priest in front of a big white building with small windows and red roof, people huddled around him, listening to his sermon about sinners and eternal condemnation with amused curiousity etched on their faces. 

yunho is tugging at the sleeve of changmin's winter jacket, gesturing for them to change directions and a deafening sound pierces the air, clear and shrilling and painful. close. changmin shrugs off the hold automatically, hands going up to cover his ears in a vain attempt to drown out the ringing that refuses to stop, jarring, horrid. 

he turns to his side and catches yunho midfall. (he doesn't catch him.) yunho hits the ground with a dull thud, with his fingers reaching blindly for changmin and missing barely. there's red blooming on the grey of his tshirt (his jacket unbuttoned as always), traces of red when yunho coughs. changmin's knees collide painfully with the wet, muddy pavement as he joins him, as he latches at his jacket, as he looks around wildly.

there's a man, his greying hair in disarray and his chin and cheeks unshaved. he's holding a gun, his whole body trembling as words start spilling from his lips. changmin doesn't understand them at first, too fast, too loud, too unfathomable.

we're all going to die anyway! and changmin sees red and he's halfway up, about to tear at the man's throat when his attention's redirected by a feeble whimper. yunho, there's only yunho again and god, he should call police--no--he should call an ambulance. there's so much crimson liquid seeping from the wound, turning grey almost into black.

he peels the glove from one of his hand with his teeth, presses the other to the opening, trying to staunch the bleeding. hyung, yunho, look at me, don't close your eyes, don't you dare-- he can feel his palm getting warm with the hot liquid that's seeping through, still seeping through. he fumbles with his phone, hitting the keyboard so hard his finger pads hurt. his call isn't getting through, he tries again and again. yunho, yunho, stay with me, look at me. yunho's not looking at him, yunho's not breathing but changmin doesn't care, no. he's still pressing at the wound, there's still more new blood to stain his fingers, he still hasn't managed to get anyone to pick up his call, no.

no, yunho's not breathing anymore, his hair is dirty and wet and his mouth open, his eyes are open and changmin swallows a hiccup that threatens to escape. no, yunho's not breathing anymore and his chest is red and it's all his fault and it's not true. changmin presses at the wound.

it's december 21st 2012 and the world has just ended. 

Yunho steals a glance at the man whose wrist is currently linked to his own with a steel ring of handcuffs. Shim Changmin looks...gentle. His hair is slightly too long but nicely cut and clean, his eyes are big and surrounded by barely there wrinkles caused by laughter. The corners of his mouth are slightly downturned but the overall vibe is of softness, not sadness. 

Shim Changmin was found a month ago at his house, amidst the bloody corpses that used to be his family members just several hours before. Caught literally red-handed, he was basically filthy with their blood. Later, during the investigation his finger prints were discovered on the murder weapon as well as all over the crime scene. His DNA on the victims' clothes and under their fingernails, under what was left from them.

The evidence didn't get more damning than this and coupled with Shim's refusal to speak, it's what has led him to where he's at the very moment. More precisely - to him being handcuffed to Yunho as they await his turn.

Shim Changmin's been found an irredeemable criminal and guilty of a serial murder. He doesn't look the part. Then again, Yunho muses, serial killers rarely do. The ever smiling neighbour that you used to hold pleasant conversations with, not every time you've seen one another but often enough to keep things a tad warmer than just civil. The old lady who baked the best bread. The young mother who always boasted about her children. He's seen them all and more, revolting things unbecoming of such seemingly good people and yet.

He's no exception, no. This man with a pretty face, soft quirk to his lips, hands that look as if they've never known manual labour, smooth skin and clean nails.

Yunho's wristwatch beeps once and then twice.

and yet, here they were, in their perfect disguises (that still were never enough) amongst the merry crowd. ...which actually wasn't so merry - some of these people's facial expressions were simply murderous. none of them matched changmin's own mien though. he was like a thundercloud personnified. yunho felt that if he touched him right now, he might get electrocuted. 

at least, shopping with changmin was effective? if it were only yunho, he'd spend whole hours running around, drawn by the colourful set-outs. ...maybe people were a bit right calling him a huge five-year-old. with changmin as company they stormed through the shops, ticking various positions off the painstakingly prepared beforehand by the younger man list as they bought the items. ("god, yunho, were you really planning on going without a shopping list? no wonder you always take forever at the mall.") 

miraculously, they managed to get away with no one recognising them, even though there were several close calls. back at home, they started unpacking all their purchases - or, more precisely, changmin reading the list out loud and yunho rummaging through the  bags and taking the mentioned objects out. it was all proceeding smoothly when suddenly changmin literally pounced on him and snatched away the bag he was just about to open. 

"not this one," he snapped at yunho's wide-eyed surprise, his cheeks and ears slightly... red? yunho's detective senses tingling, he concluded that there must've been some damning evidence there. his eyes met with changmin's and they held each other's gazes for a long tense moment. then yunho threw himself at changmin, succeeding in knocking both of them over. changmin sprawled on the thick, fluffy carpet of their living room with yunho's arms around his midriff. 

"damnnit, yunho, are you crazy," he hissed as the object that was to be blamed for yunho's assault lay abanoned to his left. yunho scrambled in its direction but before he could get to it, changmin wrestled him over so their positions were reversed, changmin kneeling astride yunho's chest with the bag clutched safely in his hand.

he glared. yunho pouted. changmin's expression of outrage wilted slightly as yunho sneaked a hand between their bodies and started stroking his waist gently.

after a moment he decided to finally break the silence and inquired softly, "so, what is this about? what's the big secret?" he pouted some more for the effect, his eyes all big and sad.

"...ugh, don't give me this look!" changmin thumped yunho's chest lightly with his free hand, his eyes darting to the side, marking his hesitance. finally, he deflated a bit, sighing in defeat. with a blush making its way on his face, he yanked the bag open and threw its contents out on yunho. yunho squinted at the offending object lying on his sternum, uncomprehending at first and then-- oh. 

"is this...?" he enquired quietly, trying to rein in the threatening to slip away amused chuckle.

"yes, it it, okay. it's mistletoe. go ahead, you can laugh at me now," changmin spit out, embarrassment ringing clear in his tone, visible in the redness of his cheeks. 

"i wasn't going to laugh!" yunho protested, the mirth in his voice belying his words. 

"..." changmin glowered at him some more.

"okay, so maybe i was, here, you caught me red-handed!" he conceded, which of course won him only another thump from an abashed man sitting on top of him. struck with a sudden thought, yunho reached for the forgotten by now mistletoe and extended it to changmin. when changmin just stared at his hand, he nudged him with the plant slightly and as changmin made to bat it away, he offered with a smile on his face.

"how about we use it for what i'm assuming you bought it for?"