Title: Runner: Chapter Three, Tattered

[onthethruway01]

Title: Runner: Chapter Three,  Tattered

Author: onthethruway01

Length: chaptered

Rating: This chapter, rated PG

Pairings: DBSK, all 5

Genre: AU ( another place and time), friendship, angst

Summary: 5 young men dream of growing up together and being friends forever, but wishes don’t always come true.

He huddled at the exit of the tunnel, shivering as if he were cold.  In reality it was fear that made him tremble.  Not fear of the bullets that would fly overhead; death was something he faced every day; but this was different.  Today he learned that his new enemy was once an old friend.

Park Yoochun’s world had been torn apart.

“Why Changmin?” he choked on his own tears.

He took a deep breath and dried his eyes.  He thought about calling out to him, but then what good would it do?  Would Min give up his cause; would he risk his own life to cross the wire and join with him? No; he would be shot by his own men as a deserter.

Yoochun swallowed hard.  He would not call out to his friend;  he had a job to do and his personal feelings could not deter him from his duty.   He took a final puff on his inhaler and put it away.  Laying flat on his belly, he began to slither like a snake through the mud; slow and steady as if not to draw attention to himself.  He wriggled through the barbed wire; he knew every twist and turn of the fence, meandering this way and that to avoid being cut by the sharpened ends.

A flare went up and he froze;  he was at his most vulnerable when the sky was illuminated.  He looked toward his destination; the last tunnel on his run; from there he would be safe.

“Just a few feet further,” he told himself.

Bullets flew around him suddenly and he panicked; scrambling on his hands and knees he awkwardly propelled himself forward.  There was shouting on both sides and he swore he could hear a familiar voice.

“Hurry; come on.  You can make it.”

He couldn’t see; vision blurred by the mud and the darkness and his contacts stung his eyes.

“Almost there,” the voice called out to him in the black.

Yoochun blinked as the blurry shape at the entrance of the tunnel began to take shape.  A hand reached out to him and he took it; strong arms pulling him to safety just as another barrage of gunfire nipped at his heels.

His slender body shook uncontrollably; now in the embrace of one of his own he slumped; burying his face in the other man’s chest.  He regained his composure and then suddenly pushed his rescuer away.

“You stupid fuck, what the Hell are you doing here?”

Kim Jaejoong smiled.

“Nice to see you too, Chunnie-ah.”

Yoochun fumbled with his uniform pocket and pulled out his inhaler.  He puffed on it, but it was empty.

“Fuck.”

He threw it on the ground.

“You didn’t answer me,” he yelled at Jae again.

Jae shrugged his shoulders.

“Somebody has to look after you,” he said pointing to the armband that was sewn to his jacket.

Jaejoong had joined the medical corp.

“Does Junsu know you are here?”

“Of course.”

Yoochun shook his head.

“What did Junsu say?”

Jaejoong laughed.

“He called me a stupid fuck!”

Yoochun managed to crack a smile.

“I don’t suppose you have an inhaler on you?”

The medic shook his head.

“Are you hurt?” he asked his friend.

Yoochun wrinkled his brow.

“I don’t think so; not sure.  I’m kind of numb.”

Jaejoong nodded his head.

“Let’s get you back to base and make sure you are ok.  We’ll get an inhaler from Junsu.”

They crawled down the tunnel until it widened up enough for them to move freely. Eventually it ended, and they were let out into the base camp.

“I should report to the General,” Yoochun told Jae, but the medic shook his head.

“No, you need to get checked out first and get that inhaler.”

Yoochun sighed.  There was no escaping Jae; he had always been like a mother to the rest of them.

Chun bit his lip; Jae picked up on his friends nervous habit and knew something was up.

“Spit it out, Yoochun.  What’s bothering you?”

The runner took a deep breath.

“I have something to tell you and Junsu...”

The three sat in the officer’s mess; Yoochun and Jaejoong drinking shots of soju while Junsu watched.

The young doctor was in shock.

“I can’t believe it,” he spoke with great sadness.

Jaejoong looked like he was going to cry.

“Have you heard from Yunho?”

The oldest shook his head.

“He wrote to me the day he enlisted; said he was sorry.  That’s all.”

The three friends sat in silence.

Yoochun fumbled with his glass; he gulped down more soju and stood up abruptly.

“I need a smoke,” he told them.

Jae nodded; he finished his drink and followed Yoochun out of the mess hall.

The young doctor was slow to follow.  Still stunned, he shambled like a zombie after his friends.

He was tired; so very tired.

Junsu never imagined he would be on opposite sides from his friends.  War was bad enough, but this?

Every day he saw the horrors of war; he did his job; patched up the wounded and gave comfort to them.  Yet despite his skill, there were those he could not save, and he cursed himself every day for failing them.  He knew his path would lead him to be a healer, but this was not what he bargained for.  This butcher’s yard was more than he could take.

As the three stood huddled under an awning, Junsu pondered the future.  He looked at the troubled faces of his hyungs and felt a twinge of guilt.  They had always protected him, but now he felt he would have to look after them.

He was safe; would never come under gunfire at the front lines.  He worried about Yoochun’s physical health and Jaejoong’s mental state.  He wanted to take on the responsibility of being the protector now, but how could he?  He was up to his neck in wounded men.  All he could do was cheer them up; keep their minds off of the tragedy that had become their life.

“Hey,” he shouted out to them,“ my shift is over for the day.  Let’s play soccer!”

Yoochun put out his cigarette and nodded.

“Sure Su-ah, let’s play.”

Jaejoong hid his tears;  he managed to crack a smile and follow after his friends, pretending his heart wasn’t broken in two...

Changmin and Yunho sat in a secluded corner of the officer’s lounge; smoke from a small fire place wafting upwards as they shared a bottle of red wine.

“Did you see the runner?” Yunho asked him.

Changmin shook his head.

“No, it was so dark; he was too quick.

Yunho nodded.

“Yes; I’ve heard that one is like a rabbit; quick and crafty.  All runners usually are.”

Changmin sipped his wine.

“Do you know who he is?”

The fire crackled, disturbing the two officers for an instant.

Yunho shook his head.

“No, not this one.  He’s new to this sector.  All we know is that he’s one of the best and we have to catch him.”

Yunho leaned forward and changed the subject.

“What do you think of it?” he asked his junior.

The young political officer swallowed hard.

“You mean the front?”

In the flickering fire light, Yunho could see the tears as they fell down Changmin’s face.

“It’s ok Min.  Don’t be ashamed.  I was frightened too.”

Changmin took one last sip of his wine and stood up.

“I should get some rest.”

“You do that.”

The junior officer saluted his superior out of respect and left the lounge.  Once through the doors he slouched his shoulders.  Upon entering his own billet, he flung himself on his bed.  Not bothering to underdress, the young political officer cried himself to sleep.

Yunho sat alone in the lounge.  In his fingers he held the remnants of a tattered letter.  He fumbled the faded parchment for a moment then crumbled it with his strong hands.  He tossed it into the fireplace and watched it burn until the last letter, the initial “J ” was nothing more than a faded memory.

He finished the bottle of wine and nodded his head.

“Life goes on,” he told himself.

He reached for his cane and managed to stand.  He rubbed his leg and winced in pain.

Limping away he told himself a lie.

“All will be well; all will be well.”

Comments

[shinchul303.livejournal.com]

I am reading. Have greatly appreciated your Yoochun photos and art. Your second chapter here really hooked me. Hope this isn't too much of a tearjerker!

[onthethruway01.livejournal.com]

this is actually chapter 3. Have you read all of them? thanks for leaving a comment.

[shinchul303.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've read 3 and liked it as well. Your 3/2 split in this AU is intriguing. Yoochun as the athlete is unusual, though his leg muscles are quite in evidence in his non stage photos.

[onthethruway01.livejournal.com]

This idea has been floating around in my head for so long; I'm glad it's finally being written.

[be-ddelusionall.livejournal.com]

I thought there were 5 chapters of this posted ... *pouts* ...

ugh, Poor boys, separated by war

you're going to fix that, right ... right???

[onthethruway01.livejournal.com]

We'll see...

[hoka-no-koto.livejournal.com]

The battle lines are firmly drawn. Somehow I knew it would go this way. Dammit! Where's the next chapter, bby?

[onthethruway01.livejournal.com]

working on it, lol; still writing my retelling of P.R.O.U.D. at the same time and drawing, and doing housework and looking for a job and...

[kckc1289.livejournal.com]

hiya~ can i just say you're pretty brilliant for splitting up into jyj/homin. or i might pretty dumb for not expecting that, but yes reading! and it's amazing!

[onthethruway01.livejournal.com]

thanks for reading and leaving a comment!