| Fan Fiction |
by Micah
“Where are you?”
“At a convenient store.”
“Buying a lottery ticket again?”
“Of course, same numbers, same order. I’m going to win this time. I can feel it.”
“Oh, please, you’ve been saying that ever since you were old enough to purchase those.”
“And I won’t say it anymore after today. I’ll win and I won’t have to work anymore.”
“Having problems at work again?”
“I’m being assigned to protect Changmin because I only know self-defense and not martial arts. What kind of bull is that, right? My boss is a…”
“What? Shim Changmin? You’re going to be his bodyguard? That means you’ll be spending a lot of time with him!”
“Jaejoong, shut up. You’re supposed to listen to me talk crap about my boss.”
“It’s just another one of his schemes, Su-ie! Don’t do it!”
Kim Junsu grimaced at the nickname. “I don’t have a choice…unless I win the lottery.”
“I’ll go think of a way to fix this and rescue you from Shim Changmin! Don’t worry!” Jaejoong spoke in a dramatic voice. Then he hung up and Junsu was left to sigh at his cell phone.
After leaving the convenient store, Junsu walked across the streets to the flower shop. It was his parent’s anniversary today so, like every year, he would visit them with flowers.
It was a long drive, up in the mountains, in a somewhat isolated area. The land was used as a cemetery so there were no buildings around it, just tall grasses and a lot of dirt.
“Appa, Umma, I bought your favorite flowers again. Hope you two are happy up there with each other. Share the happiness. Bless me with the luck to win the lottery, okay?” Junsu joked like he always did. Funny how he’d cried for weeks when his parents died in the vehicle accident, but after all these years, he could ignore the pain.
Life moves on. No use in being stuck in the past.
“Okay, I’m off. I gotta go home and wait for the lottery numbers to be announced on T.V. Remember to bless me with the luck!”
Junsu stood up from his kneeling position in front of the gravestones and began to walk away. He had hiked up to the mountains where the cemetery was located because it would have been impossible for his vehicle to make it up there.
As he walked, he had to zip up his jacket because the breeze was blowing harder. His ears heard the sound of wheezing wind and the beep of his car being unlocked. Then he felt the hand on his right shoulder and nearly jumped out of his skin!
Without turning around, he used his left hand to grab onto the mystery hand in order to pull the criminal forward. He bent his right arm to connect his elbow to the other person’s ribs. He’d learned this in self-defense…but it wouldn’t work this time.
He felt the other person easily pull the mystery hand back and Junsu was flipped around to face his attacker. The 26 year-old-man’s eyes were wide one second and tightly shut in the next second. He fell to his knees and clasped both hands together as if praying…no, he really was praying.
“Please, don’t hurt me! I’ve never killed anyone! I’m too young to die! Don’t take me with you!” he rambled on and on. “If you’re lonely down there, then just tell me your name and I’ll burn some money to you! Please, don’t hurt me!”
“I am not dead,” the deep voice was heard over the wheezing wind.
Still kneeling and his clasped hands in front of him, Junsu raised his head slightly and opened one eye.
He looked at the…thing that stood in front of him. Okay, maybe the attacker wasn’t a ‘thing’. He was a ‘man’. But his long, long black hair (covering nearly half of his face) made him look like a ghost. Add to that, he was wearing a mixed layer of black and dark green clothes with boots. He had a belt around his waist and attached to that belt was…a sheath with a sword in it?
He looked like one of those characters from an ancient film.
“You’re…you’re human?” Junsu stammered.
The man nodded.
Feeling like the biggest idiot in the world, Junsu stood up. He was embarrassed and angry. “Ya! What the hell is wrong with you? Why’d you scare me like that?”
“I had no intention to frighten you,” the man spoke in monotone.
“Then what do you want? And why are you dressed like that? Is there a movie shoot going on?” Junsu questioned as his head wandered, looking around to find the camera crew. He didn’t see anyone else.
“I do not understand what you are saying,” the man began. “I should be the one to question your clothing and hair and…what is this large object behind you?”
Junsu turned around to see his car. “You mean my car?”
“‘Car’?” he pronounced the word as if it were new to him.
“Did you escape from an asylum or something? Don’t think I’ll help you!” Junsu raised his arms and bent his legs slightly to form a defense pose. Yet at the same time, he knew that his self-defense skills wouldn’t be able to protect him from this stranger.
Junsu had been a bodyguard for many years. It wasn’t easy to sneak up on him without him knowing, but this stranger had accomplished just that.
“What is an…‘as-sai-lam’?” the stranger asked, and he looked like he meant his words.
“Stop acting stupid. I’m not going to fall for it.”
Junsu saw the stranger raise his hand and took a step back, but bumped into his own car. Then he saw that the stranger did not raise his hand to attack Junsu; he had raised his hand to touch his own head, as if his head was in pain.
Just then, Junsu received a call on his cell phone and the song ‘Survivor’ began to play. He saw the stranger leap back in a defense pose, his wide eyes meeting Junsu’s eyes.
“Calm down, it’s just my phone,” Junsu said as he retrieved the object from his pocket. It freaked him out that the stranger was looking at his cell phone with shock and awe, like he’d never seen a cell phone before. “Hello? No, I’m still at the cemetery. I ran into a crazy guy and…what? Say that again. Say that again. One more time. Are you serious?”
Every cuss word in the book spilled from Junsu’s lips and the stranger stopped staring at the cell phone, only to stare at Junsu and his weird language. The cell phone dropped from Junsu’s shaking hands and the stranger’s eyes followed the abandoned object.
When he looked up, the stranger saw Junsu reaching into his pocket and uncovering a small piece of paper. The stranger’s brows furrowed in confusion when Junsu repeatedly kissed the piece of paper.
“What are you doing?”
Junsu’s eyes were suddenly shiny and looking at the stranger. A huge grin on his lips, he cheered, “I won! After all these years of buying the same numbers, I’ve finally won!”
He leapt forward and embraced the stranger while jumping up and down as if celebrating with a best friend. Then, out of shear happiness, he kissed the stranger on the cheek. The stranger’s eyes widened and pushed Junsu backwards. It was an effortless movement of his hands, but the strength in the simple gesture caught Junsu off-guard.
Junsu felt the pressure on his chest and then felt his legs give up. He fell backwards and the back of his head hit the door of his car. His flailing hand hit the side mirror and the pain caused his fingers to flex. The wheezing wind blew the lottery ticket out of his hand!
“No!” Junsu shouted as he watched the piece of small paper being blown away. The stranger’s head rose as well to follow the piece of paper. “Get that back for me!”
Junsu’s jaws dropped when the stranger leaped into the air and uncovered his sword. His eyes were keen as he concentrated on his target. In the next second, the tip of the sword sliced into the middle of the lottery ticket and remained attached to it. All that happened before he landed gracefully onto the ground!
Was this a dream? But Junsu didn’t remember falling asleep!
His lottery ticket!
Junsu pushed himself off the ground and ran to the stranger. He wanted to make a grab for the sword, but realized that it wasn’t one of those fake swords used in movies. It was real!
“Give me back my ticket!” Junsu demanded.
“This piece of paper is very important to you?” the stranger asked in that same boring tone.
“It’s my life! Now give it back!”
Junsu’s jaws dropped once again as the stranger skillfully returned his sword to the sheath, the lottery ticket still attached to it! The lottery ticket was now inside the sheath! What if it was ripped or crumbled? How was he supposed to get the money without the ticket?
“What the hell are you doing?”
“I will return your ‘life’ to you if you will promise to help me,” the man spoke.
“Okay! Okay! I promise to help you! Just give it back to me!” Junsu lied. No way was he going to stay around this weirdo any longer. He’ll get his ticket and run for his life.
The stranger opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it. His brows turned into a frown.
“What are you doing? Give me back the ticket,” Junsu said.
“My head…” the stranger murmured.
“What?”
Junsu was a bit frightened by the sudden emotion of pain that overtook the man’s half-covered face. The next thing he knew, the stranger had fallen over in unconsciousness; back flat on the ground.
Woohoo!
Junsu ran over to the stranger and observed him closely. “Ya! Stop faking it! I’m not carrying you!”
He kicked the stranger lightly, but got no response. Then Junsu knelt down and got a better look at the stranger.
Junsu poked his cheek several times and still got no response. Curious, he lightly brushed the heavy bangs away from the stranger’s face.
“Hmm…not bad,” Junsu complimented. Oh, who was he kidding? The guy was hot! Too bad he was such a weirdo.
The lottery ticket!
Junsu immediately made a grab for his sword and stood up with it. He tried to pull the sword out of the sheath. It wouldn’t come out.
Mumbling a curse, Junsu tried again. The sword wouldn’t come out! Was there a secret button or something? Junsu couldn’t find it.
How was he supposed to get his lottery ticket back? The money! All that money!
Junsu frowned and looked down at the unconscious man.
How was he supposed to get his lottery ticket back? By keeping his damn promise!