It had taken several hours before Junsu and Key came up with a rough idea of how they wanted to choreograph the other songs. Junsu was having the most trouble with Want Your Bite because the lyrics took on a whole different meaning for him after everything that had happened recently and he couldn't keep his face from turning red every time it played. He couldn't remember ever blushing so much in his life, and there were several instances in particular that he had in mind on which he was basing that conclusion.
He's more than happy to let Key take point on that song.
His phone goes off just as they're taking a break from filming the steps to show the rest of the group. He quickly checks the caller I.D. before taking the call.
"Hey Yuhwan, what's up," he asks by way of greeting while taking a sip from his water bottle.
"I found that temple you were talking about yesterday," he says getting straight to the point, meaning that he's probably on his break as well.
The announcement causes Junsu to choke on his water instigating a short coughing fit. He'd tried looking up Toshiya's family temple himself, but hadn't had any luck so far. It shouldn't have surprised him that Yuhwan had been able to find it so quickly because he had always been able to dig up hard to find information with little effort. "How'd you find it so fast?"
"It's tied to an unsolved missing person's report from about twelve years ago," Yuhwan explains. "Apparently, Toshiya, the oldest son of the owners just up and disappeared one day without warning. Everyone and anyone who knew him and his family said that it didn't make sense for the guy to just up and leave like that, so most believed that there must have been some sort foul play involved. Oh, and get this," he says with apparent interest in his voice, "this Toshiya guy and you have a favorite hobby in common."
Junsu is sure he already knows what it is, but asks anyway, "What's that?"
"According to his friends, Toshiya liked to spend a lot of time around Aokigahara. Plus, the temple is only a twenty minute drive from the forest, they said he usually took the bus there almost every other day. Freaky right?"
"Yeah, freaky," he says biting his lip with frown. "So, where is it?"
"I've emailed the directions and a link to the article to you."
"Thanks Yuhwan, you're the best," he says and hangs up before Yuhwan thinks to ask him why he wanted to find the temple in the first place.
He quickly pulls up his email and skims through the directions before clicking on the attached link. Yuhwan had done a good job of summing up the article, but that isn't the only thing that the link contains. Several other articles, interviews with the family and friends, Toshiya's missing person's flyer and few family photos that appeared to have been taken in front of the temple. They looked like a happy family.
He's so absorbed in looking through everything that he jumps when Key suddenly claps him on the shoulder.
"Whoa," he says taking a step back as Junsu whirls around to face him while clutching his phone to his chest. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, but I've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes. What were you looking at," he asks.
"Nothing," he says quickly while locking his phone and putting it away.
Key shoots him a look of concern, "Are you feeling okay," he asks placing his hand against Junsu's forehead, "you've seemed a little out of it all day. What's going on?"
Junsu isn't all that surprised that Key is picking up on his edgy energy. They'd known each other since their last year of high school when Key had transferred from South Korea. Key had kind of been a loner when he'd first arrived, but Junsu figured that any teenager who'd been forced to move to a different country for their senior year might feel the need to seclude themselves from others until they got over the cultural differences.
On the day they had officially met Junsu had been getting ready to head home after his club meeting when he suddenly heard music coming from inside the school. Curious, because he knew that no one stayed later than the kendo club on Fridays, he decided to go and investigate. The music led him to the music room, the door to which was slightly ajar. Peeking inside through the crack he saw a lone figure dancing along with the song that he had recognized as being an instrumental version of one of Teen Top's, though he couldn't recall the name of it. He opened the door wider as he continued to watch and ultimately recognizing the person dancing as the new transfer Key. When the song was over Junsu hadn't been able to stop himself from clapping in appreciation of Key's skill causing him to whirl around in surprise.
"Sorry," Junsu said in Korean figuring Key would have an easier time understanding him if he did. "I heard your music and came to investigate."
"You're Korean," asked Key.
"Kind of," Junsu said stepping into the room, "my parents are, they moved here shortly after getting married, but my brother and I were born and raised here, technically making us Japanese. Our parents made sure that we learned Korean as well though." Walking over to Key he held out his hand in greeting, "I'm Junsu by the way, nice to meet you."
"Key," he said tentatively shacking his hand.
"I know," he said with an easy smile, "you're all the girls' favorite topic lately. Sorry about spying on you, but you were so good that I couldn't help myself."
A blush crept across Key's face at the compliment making him avert his gaze and shove his hands into his pockets. "I'm not that good."
Junsu laughed at his modesty, "I beg to differ. That was Teen Top right? From the looks of it, you were focusing on Niel's parts if I'm not mistaken."
Key looked up in surprise at Junsu's recognition of the dance and nodded mutely in acknowledgement.
"Have you ever seen Outside Castle by H.O.T," asked a suddenly excited Junsu.
Key grinned at the question, his eyes lighting up in delight, "Who hasn't? It's only one of the best videos ever."
"I know right," he said setting down his school bag, "especially the intro. The first time I saw it I'm pretty sure my jaw almost hit the floor in awe. I won my middle school talent show with that dance."
"You dance too," Key asked in surprise while eyeing Junsu's kendo bag.
"Yeah, I've never been great at sitting still so I started dancing," he explained while pulling out his phone and pulling up the song. He hit play and sets his phone next to Key's on the old teacher's desk.
After dancing to the song so many times over the years the steps were like second nature to him as he began dance along to the song. Key stood back and watched for about the first thirty seconds of the song before joining in, his dancing quickly falling into sync with Junsu's.
From that moment on they became fast friends and Key quickly integrated himself into Junsu's close group of friends. Key managed to quickly befriend the others in the group easily, claiming that it was only because Junsu was an excellent judge of character when it came to choosing friends.
"You know you can tell me if something's bothering you," Key says squeezing his arm.
"I know," Junsu says smiling at him, "it's just been a stressful week is all."
A mischievous look enters Key's eyes at this statement, "Well in that case," he says circling his arms around Junsu's waist and pulling him close, "maybe I can help you get rid of all that stress." He kisses the spot beneath Junsu's ear, smiling when he feels him shiver in his arms.
"As tempting as that sounds," he says pulling out of Key's hold, "I'm seeing someone right now."
"Bummer," he says giving Junsu a fake pout. "It feels like forever since the last time."
This makes Junsu laugh, "It hasn't even been a full two weeks. Plus it was your idea to keep things casual between us."
Key sighs dramatically at this, "Do I know this new beau of yours?"
Junsu shakes his head no and tells him about Jaejoong.
Junsu has a dreamy look in his eyes as he talks about Jaejoong and Key can't help the small twinge of jealousy he feels towards the man. "Wow," he says mustering up a happy smile for his best friend, "he must really be something if you're already this smitten with him."
He laughs as Junsu blushes at his statement. "Have you told your brother about him yet?"
Junsu's face turns thoughtful for a moment, "I did mention him to him the night I met him, but there wasn't much to tell at that point. I doubt he remembers, but Changmin has met him and they seemed to get along well enough."
Key is silently relieved to hear this, because while Junsu is generally an excellent judge of character, Changmin is even more so, picking up on things that they all might have otherwise missed. Key himself always feels like he's walking on eggshells around the man. Then again, if wasn't so perceptive, Changmin wouldn't have been able to become a doctor as quickly as he did, finishing med school in less than half the time it would normally take a person.
Junsu leaves the studio looking over the directions on his phone, knowing that there's a bus that'll let him off pretty close to the temple, the only problem is getting to the bus station in time to catch it. He's starting to regret not having driven to the studio this morning.
"You need a lift somewhere Su," Key asks walking up behind him after having locked up the studio.
Junsu visibly brightens at the offer, "Yeah, you think you could give me a ride to the bus station?"
Key raises an eyebrow at this, "The bus station? What happened to your car?"
"I walked this morning and I don't have time to go and get it."
"Okay…," he says walking over to his car and unlocking it. He opens the passenger side door while looking at Junsu, "Well, where are you going, maybe I can drop you off there instead?"
Junsu shows him his phone with the directions to the temple pulled up on the screen.
Key's eyebrow shoots up again when he sees where Junsu is wanting to go. "Why are you wanting to go to a temple? I thought they gave you the creeps."
Junsu knows he can't tell him the real reason he's going, but he doesn't want to lie to him either. "They do, but this one belongs to the family of a friend who passed away about twelve years ago," he says settling for a half truth. "The anniversary is coming up and since we're gonna be busy for a while, I figure I'd better stop by today so I don't forget."
"Oh," Key says unsure how else to respond. Junsu had never brought this friend up before. "What was his name," he asks starting the car.
"Toshiya," Junsu says while glancing over at Key and noticing the uncomfortable look on his face. "It's fine if you just want to drop me off at the station. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."
"No, I don't mind taking you," he says quickly while merging into traffic, "but if it's all the same to you, I'll wait in the car. I wouldn't want to intrude."
"You sure?"
"Yeah," he says with a laugh. "Besides, if you took the bus and something happened, Junho would never forgive me."
"Call me when you're ready to go," Key tells Junsu as the man gets out of his car in front of the temple. "I'm going to check a little shop that we passed on the way."
"Will do," he says with a wave and shuts the passenger door.
As Key watches as he begins his ascent up the steps to the temple, feeling of uncertainty suddenly assails him. He's not sure of the cause for his sudden uneasiness, but gives himself a shake to be rid of it. It must be because of the temple, he tells himself because like Junsu, he'd never much card for them either.
He puts his car in gear and spares another glance in Junsu's direction only to spot another man walking next to him. Key hadn't seen the other man's approach, but then again, he hadn't been paying attention.
They appear to be discussing something as they make their way to the top of the stairs. He must be one of the family, he thinks because he can see the man motioning to somewhere that he can't see from his vantage point.
A tap on his passenger window brings him out of his musings. He rolls down the window without a second thought when he sees that it's a woman, who appears to be in her fifties, wearing what appears to him to be a nurse's uniform. "Can I help you?"
"I was just about to ask you the same thing," she says with a friendly smile. "I thought you might be lost."
"Oh, no," he says with a chuckle, "I just dropped off a friend."
"Well, that explains why I've seen your car before," she says nodding to herself as if in understanding. "This temple doesn't often get new visitors," she explains when she sees the confusion on his face. "I've been here almost every day for the past five years and it's always the same faces."
"Do you have a patient here," he asks unable to hide his curiosity.
She nods, a look of pity entering her eyes, "A coma patient, the poor dear. You wouldn't know it from looking at her, but she's been like that for almost thirty years now. I can only imagine what horror poor Jane must have gone through to keep her this way."
"Jane? That's an unusual name," he says. "Is she a foreigner?"
"No," the woman says looking even sadder, "that's just what we call her because that's what she is, a Jane Doe. But luckily, the Oda family, who run this temple, are kind enough to pay for her continued care."
"Why would they do that," he can't help but ask.
"I can't say for sure," she says with shrug, "but if I had to guess, it'd probably be because she suddenly showed up here right before she fell into her coma. At least, that what I was told."
Junsu can't seem to sit still as he waits for the Oda family to appear. Toshiya had told him as he'd been walking up the stairs that his family lived in a small house directly behind the temple. It was as he'd made his way around back that he'd run into Nariko, the very pregnant wife of Toshiya's younger brother Kai, and she'd brought him here to the living room to wait while she went to get them.
He thought to distract himself by looking at the photos on the wall, some of which he recognizes from the links Yuhwan sent. He'd always thought that you could learn a lot about a person by the photos they displayed.
These photos tell him that the Oda family is extremely close-knit and dedicated to the work they do in the temple. They also make him feel extremely guilty about what he had to tell them.
Turning away from the wall of memories, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath to try and calm his nerves. It wouldn't do him any good to get so worked up and then not be able to do what he came here to do.
It's as he's doing this that he begins to hear a faint beeping coming from somewhere else in the house. He tries to ignore it at first, but whether from simple curiosity or because his mind is willing to latch onto any distraction at this moment, he goes in search of the source of the sound.
He doesn't have to go very far, just down the hall from the living room in fact, it's the only room with its door open. Peeking through the doorway, he's surprised to see that the small beige room is occupied by a woman asleep in bed. The sound he'd heard coming from a machine that sits next to the bed. He immediately recognizes it as a heart monitor. He also notices a blood pressure cuff fastened around her left arm and the I.V. drip in the right.
He spots the medical chart hanging from the foot of the bed and walks over to pick it up. He knew how to read it from all those nights that Changmin had had him quiz him while he was in med school. The chart is pretty straight forward, the woman is listed as a Jane Doe and all of her vitals are normal as far as he can tell, except for the fact that she has apparently been in a coma for thirty years and barely looks like she's twenty-three. He assumes that it must a typo and if it isn't, then she must have been just a child when it happened.
He returns the chart and goes around the other side of the bed to get a better look at her. She looks small and pale, almost ashen really, but that's no surprise considering condition. With her long black hair, she reminds him of the old Yuki Onna* legends that he learned about as a child, though considering everything he knew now, he wonders if maybe aren't all legends after all.
Junsu can't quite put his finger on it, but something about the woman draws him to her. Without thinking about what he's doing he finds himself reaching out to move a stray lock of hair off her face.
HELP ME, shouts a voice inside his head as soon as his fingers make contact with her skin. The voice is so loud that he flinches and yanks his hand back.
What the hell, he thinks while he stares at the woman with a perplexing look etched on his face. He tentatively reaches his hand back out, this time touching the back of her hand.
Please help me, shouts the same voice.
Junsu's mind races as he fumbles to pull out his phone and take a picture of the woman. He needed to talk to Shou about this.
Junsu hears the front door open just as he walks back into the living room. He quickly takes a seat on the couch only to back up when Nariko and three others walk into the room. He bows in greeting as Mr. and Mrs. Oda step forward.
"I'm sorry to intrude like this," he says after introducing himself.
"Nariko said you have information on our son," Mrs. Oda says taking a seat with a resigned look on her face. Her husband's expression mirrors hers as stands next to her, his arm wrapping protectively around her shoulders.
Junsu glances down at the floor, taking a moment to gather up his courage before meeting their gaze and telling them everything that Toshiya had asked him to.
"I'm sorry," he says bowing his head when none of them respond right away, "I know that this isn't the kind of news that any family wants to hear and I can't even imagine what you must be feeling right now, but Toshiya said that it was very important that I tell you this. He's very worried about your safety."
"Thank you," says Kai, speaking up for the first time since he'd entered the room. There are tears in his eyes as he holds his wife close. "We've all known for a long time that he wasn't coming back, not alive at least, but we continued to search because we still needed answers."
"I can see why he chose to become your guardian spirit," says Mrs. Oda while smiling at him sadly.
Junsu isn't sure how to respond to that, so he remains silent, once again trying to suppress a blush for the umpteenth time today.
Junsu sits at the bottom of the stone steps waiting on Key while replay the last hour in his mind. He has mixed feelings about it all. He's glad that he was able to give them the closure they'd been looking for, but at the same time he feels guilty because of the grief that was attached to that closure.
He sighs to himself knowing that he's over thinking things and pulls out his phone again. He pulls up Jaejoong's number and hits the call button.
Jaejoong answers on the second ring, "Hey Su," he greets sounding happy and Junsu can just picture his smile.
He smiles a little in response to Jaejoong's happy tone, "Hey," he says knowing he needs to keep his conversation brief since Key could pull up any second, "I don't have much time to talk because I'm waiting on someone, but I was wondering, are you at the manor by any chance?"
"Yeah, why," he asks.
"I need to talk to Shou about something," he answers, but doesn't go into any detail. "I think this could be important. Could you guys meet somewhere in a couple of hours?"
"Sure, where," asks Jaejoong, concern creeping into his voice.
"I'll text you the address, it's a café that a couple of my friends own together."
Jaejoong quickly agrees and they hang up so Junsu can text him the address. Key pulls up just as he hits send.
*Yuki Onna prey on travelers lost in the heavy snowstorms that blanket the Japanese Alps in winter. They have an otherworldly beauty, with long black hair and piercing deep violet eyes. Their skin is ageless & as white as snow. Their bodies are as cold as ice, & a mere touch is enough to give a human a deep, unshakable chill. She feeds on human life force, sucking it from their mouths into hers with an icy breath that often freezes her victims solid. They sometimes fall for their intended prey & let them go free. Some marry humans & live happily until their husbands start to notice that they never age & inevitably discover what they really are. Most however, spend their lives hunting humans in the snow. They stay near mountain roads & prey on travelers coming & going, or break into homes & and flash-freeze all of the inhabitants during the night. –Japanese Mythology App
