The Demon Next Door

35

Jongin wanted to tell his guard that he was pushing him a bit too roughly to the visitor's room, but speaking seemed too difficult the effort. He hadn't eaten anything today; he was weak, and was going to spend his breath on someone more important.

He had a feeling it wasn't Mr. Byun this time. Jongin forced a spring into his step, livelihood slowly returning as they came closer and closer to the open, awaiting door at the end of the hall.

Jongin peeked inside even before he and his guard reached it. A joyous sigh escaped its way out of his lips. The loss of a breath almost made him pass out, but he was too busy to even notice.

Kyungsoo stood up at the opposite end of the table, beaming like he was a lighthouse. He began to make his way around, only to stop when the guard holding Jongin back gave him a glare that spelled nothing but doom.

"Be happy for this opportunity, Kim Jongin." The guard shoved the prisoner down into his chair and secured him down tightly with handcuffs. "This kid annoyed the hell out of the department supervisors before they allowed this. You have an hour."

Kyungsoo returned to his seat as the guard shut the door. He wiggled around, shifting into three thousand different positions, unable to sit still. Jongin smiled at him from the other side of the table.

Yesterday, they were talking to one another behind glass. Now, they were in the same room, seeing each other in the flesh. Jongin wondered just how persuasive Kyungsoo got when speaking with the supervisors.

He looked at Kyungsoo dead-on. The other was so cute sitting there... His cheeks were flushing a rosy pink as if they were meeting for the very first time again. His teeth bit into his bottom lip like he was a shy cookie once more.

"Hey!"

"Good morning, egghead."

Kyungsoo let out a gentle coo, and Jongin chuckled. He studied Kyungsoo carefully, and noticed that the older was, with the speed of molasses, scooting his chair closer and closer to Jongin at the other end.

"Are you going to school today?"

"It's Saturday, Jongin!" Kyungsoo laughed. "So no. We had a council meeting scheduled today, but I canceled. This was much more important."

"How did you get them to let you do this? I mean, only Mr. Byun ever visits me in here."

"A lot of tears," Kyungsoo replied. "And my father...he strongly requested it. Shocked me."

Jongin raised a brow. "I'm shocked, too. But it doesn't matter. I'm just glad you're here, and so close."

They had a moment of silence, save for Kyungsoo's chair's legs screeching as they skid across the tiled floor. He didn't stop until they were elbow-to-elbow. Jongin peered at the camera watching them overhead. Hopefully, the surveyors were too busy to notice he and Kyungsoo had such proximity.

Kyungsoo threw his arms around Jongin without a moment's hesitation. Oh God. Jongin automatically melted. Not having been held by those arms for so long had driven him insane, and to be in them again made his heart flutter.

Kyungsoo was so warm. The temperature beat the freezing air in his cell. Jongin leaned forward, pressing his chest to his boyfriend, closing his eyes as he allowed himself to burn in the embrace.

And while he enjoyed it, Kyungsoo was utterly terrified. Jongin didn't feel like a human. He seemed too cold to be alive, and his tendency to skip the prison meals had created him into a jumble of bones and paper-thin flesh.

Kyungsoo held him tight, afraid that if he let go, Jongin would simply fall apart. How could anyone allow this? Maybe Jongin had done some horrible things in the past, but to let him wither away without proper care... Kyungsoo fumed.