Faded Curtains~

A purple hue that is highly in tune to its surroundings. Sees through the various layers easily. An individual radiating this color demonstrates psychic prowess.

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I can't sleep. 

No, I can't...I can't. I keep tossing and turning in this comforter, choked by anxiety, torn with worry. Moving won't make me comfortable, and shifting will only make me remember him in my mind. The sheets are boiling hot...the bed is  a slow-cooking fire machine that wants to make me as uncomfortable as possible. Every time I close my eyes I see panicked red, pained maroon, blood...blood. No, stop it, Jungkook. Don't think like that.

But Leo is hurt! Logan Raisman's frantic search for the medical team affirmed that much. Leo got injured in practice, probably because his mind was distracted. Why would they force him into practice so soon after his mother's death? That's cruel...a perfect way to make him get hurt. Every coach here knows focus is the key to excellence...without it, poor performances ensue, and injuries follow.

Fuck his stupid temporary coach! He was put here to help prevent Leo from getting hurt, not to exacerbate his pain! What have I done? 

If Leo's father had stayed...

If I hadn't kept Leo in Phoenix when he should have gone to Brazil...

"No...no, it's not my fault!"

I leap out of bed, tossing the sheets violently across the stuffy dorm room. They plop against the wall, sagging against themselves. I shake my head, denying my involvement in Leo's pain. How was I supposed to know all of this would happen? How was I supposed to prevent this from happening?

There was no way I could have known...could I have? Am I reaching out for excuses because I know I could have helped him? Leo could be perfectly fine right now if I'd paid more attention to his auric changes...noted the discrepancies in his layers and-

"Shut up! Shut up!" 

I scratch aggressively at my face, pacing the room. I shuffle over to the window, lunge towards the kitchen, then circle the kitchen chair, walk back around to the bed...pacing constantly with the negative thoughts vibrating in my head. 

The clock on the nightstand reads 3:13 AM, a sign of a sleepless night thus far. How am I supposed to sleep? No matter what I do, what I think, Leo's sitting there crying in the corner of my mind. He's telling me not to worry, that it's not my fault, but that's what makes this whole situation so much more sad. 

Leo would never blame me in his heart, but I know how involved my hand was in the matter. I realize how my actions affected him...

I recognize the role of choices on a much deeper level than ordinary people...I fucking SEE choice with my power! I see people's choices reflected in their auras, their colorful clouds of truth. I see the choices in myself, in the blackness surrounding my stomach. I'm sacrificing food for my performance, and Leo...

Leo has sacrificed so much already. 

No more. I'm sick of it. I need to see him, to apologize for getting his father in trouble. I need to apologize for holding him back at camp...

And I need to apologize for making Leo fall in love with me. 

No, Jungkook! What are you saying? Don't feel guilty for love, never...never.

I need to see Leo.

A quick glance at the door is disheartening. Kan's motion sensor camera is still set up with its accurate point focused on the doorway, waiting for someone to leave. There's no way I can go through the door without setting the sensor off and possibly losing my spot in the Olympics. 

So how am I supposed to go see Leo? I promised him, yet I have no phone to contact him, no hole in the wall to peep through.

"Fuck! What do I do? What do I—oh!"

The window.

I can get to him by using the window. His room is located right next to mine...if I cannot use the door to leave and see him, I'll have to climb out the window. I don't care if I have to scale a wall in the dark or risk falling three stories, his aura is calling out for me. I have to go. I'm used to heights and good at hanging onto bars. I'll make it, and I'll do it for him.

I won't fall.

No more unfortunate events. I won't fall.

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Jungkook hangs midair, his shirtless body swinging with nothing under him except for the second story balcony. 

Unlike gymnastics, this level of stunt brings a higher level of adrenaline to his body than what he's used to. No mats are present to catch him if his messes up, no coaches are there to give him advice of where to place his next hand...no fans linger nearby to cheer him on, and no judges sit close to bicker about his form. 

Only the 3 AM Phoenix air and the distant sounds of the city rumble into his ears are there for him. A soft breeze tosses his black locks back. 

Fueled with determination, Jungkook scoots along the building's outer ledge, hanging on with all of his strength. Leo's window is only a few yards from his, and there is plenty of room for his hands to grab onto. In the distance, crickets, cars, and hooting night owls urge him onward. 

He hopes no one down in the parking lot stops to study the side of the apartment complex at three in the morning, or they might see an Olympic gymnast scaling the wall for a surreptitious escape.

Hand over hand, Jungkook completes the trek after a few minutes, sighing when his arms release the wall to take a break. His feet stand on Leo's window perch, and he hunches down so his entire figure covers the glass pane. The quarter moon glints against the glass, reflecting into Jungkook's eyes. He tries to squint against the window to see inside, but it proves too difficult.

Is Leo even in there? What if he isn't, and his building climbing was for nothing?

The thought reminds him of Coach Kan's words. 

"If you visit him, count yourself out of a coach to the Olympics. You're either all in or all out, Jeon."

Jungkook never thought about the fact that he could be risking it all. He only went with his impulse, and it panned out...for the most part. 

Now slightly dubious about his action, the Korean sits waiting on Leonardo Costa's window perch three stories above the ground, without a shirt on and without a solid plan in his mind. Should he knock on the glass? What if Leo doesn't want to see him? What if the Brazilian turns him away, sends him back to room 333 where he'll lay awake the rest of the night? Would Leo do that?

Jungkook can't afford to think about that now, not with an abyss below him.

He raises his fist to the cool window pane, about to knock. 

But the window opens before he can.

Soon, hands wrap around him, pulling him through the opening into the building. He groans as tight arms crush him in a safe vice, lifting him down onto the floor of dorm room 334 with the utmost care. The warmth he feels radiating from those arms is so melting, so rewarding that Jungkook can't even speak before tears prick the edges of his eyes. He's waited so long to be in these arms again.

"Leo." He whispers, latching onto the Brazilian under the dim light of the crescent moon. "Leo..."

"Jungkook." Leo's voice is raspy, a throaty, torn garble in the pitch blackness of night. "I couldn't sleep without you, and...why did you climb through the window?"

The gentleness of the reunion now cut short, Jungkook pulls himself out of Leo's grip. He can't really see Leo's face, save for a few outlined facial features. He sees a brush of stubbly cheeks, a sharp nose, frowning lips, all dusted a dim white from the moon. He can't see Leo's aura in the darkness, only senses his sorrow in the air between them.

"I had to see you Leo, I had to risk it, Kan threatened to pull me out of the Olympics if I saw you again, there's a motion sensor camera by the door and...and you're injured!" Jungkook spots the bandages wrapped around Leo's ankle. "You're hurt, oh no! Leo, I'm so sorry...this is all my fault...and, and I didn't know that telling on your father would be so difficult and I'm so, so sorry about your mother, Leo...I know you saw the video I sent, but I want to say it again...I'm sorry about your mother...and I'm sorry for holding you back in Phoenix when you should have gone to Brazil, I'm sorry for spoiling your training...I'm even sorry you fell in love with-"

Leo interrupts Jungkook's apology by smashing his lips against the Korean's, gripping intensely at bare, shaking shoulders. Not expecting the kiss, Jungkook's back hits the wall behind him and his hands automatically rise up to weave desperately through Leo's hair. Their lips mesh against the soft wind pouring inside room 334 from the night sky, the hooting owl now chanting a low tune of anguish against the moonlit sky. As they kiss, tears slip out of Jungkook's eyes for the amount of vicarious agony he feels from Leo's pained body. When they separate, Leo's hands wipe the tears off his cheeks, and his lower lip trembles against Jungkook's.

"Don't cry, Jungkook. Please...I've cried enough these last two days. I don't want to cry any more..." Leo cradles Jungkook's face with focused hands, pressing gentle kisses to the other's chin, cheeks, and nose.

"I'm sorry, Leo." Jungkook stares at the Brazilian's wrapped ankle. "Are you okay? What happened? How did you get the injury-"

"Come to bed, I'll explain everything." Leo gently grips his hand, drawing Jungkook away from the open window. "I'm so tired. Let's lie down."

Jungkook follows orders, shuffling in the dimly lit room. He's careful not to step on the many clothes and objects scattering the floor, but it's so messy inside the area that it's difficult not to. As he dodges the objects, Leo clears the bed of everything, pushing pillows, blankets, and his water bottle onto the floor. It's clear Leo wants nothing to come between them, no object or white lie or worry to interrupt their honest conversation. The Olympics are next week—nothing can be spared from this conversation...their final conversation before the big day.

Once Jungkook's body touches the bed, he curls next to Leo's warm body, holding onto the Brazilian's bare chest and intertwining their legs in an instant. Leo snuggles close, sighing as they get comfortable while facing each other. A brief moment passes in silence, both gymnasts soaking in each other's presence, before Leo speaks up again.

"It's hardly an injury. I rolled my ankle on my parallel bars dismount. If my father was coaching, he'd tell me to shake it off and keep going. But since I have Logan Raisman as a coach, the injury was bad enough to call the medical team in. I told him I was fine, that my ankle would just be sore a few days. I told him I'd be fine before the Olympics." Leo stares down at the tape wrapping around his ankle. "I'm not really hurt. Don't worry."

"Thank goodness." Jungkook grips Leo's arm with relief coursing through his veins. Leo isn't hurt. Leo is still going to compete. "But what about your...father?"

Leo averts his gaze, resting his palm against Jungkook's side and tapping a rhythm out against ribs. "My father. What about him?"

"You defended him when the Board tried to remove him...Snowden told me."

Leo bites the inside of his cheek. "Right. He's still my father...and even if I hate him sometimes, he's my coach..."

Jungkook sits up slightly, feeling guilt worm into his stomach. "Leo, I'm sorry for telling on your father...I'm sorry for breaking the promise not to tell, but...the marks on you...the abuse...Leo, you didn't deserve any of it. But still, I should have asked you before-"

"No. You did the right thing." Leo lays his head so that his forehead nearly touches Jungkook's. "I...I'm happy that someone finally caught him. I hated having him as a coach. The pressure of winning made my father into a different man. I was so used to getting hit after a while..."

"But not anymore." Jungkook nudges his nose against Leo's, breathing against the Brazilian's parted lips. "Not anymore. You don't have to deal with his abusive training. Maybe he'll learn his lesson and treat you better-"

"No. He won't learn." Leo's voice shakes, an airy reveal of his thoughts. "The only thing he cared about more than me winning the Olympics was my mother. He thought the gold medal would go to her if I won it, but now that won't happen. He blames me for her death, since he said me being away for so long stressed her out. I know it's not true...I think he likes to blame me for everything."

"It's not your fault, Leo. It never was."

Jungkook's lips gently brush against Leo's, a passionate, tranquil kiss of assurance. Under the moonlight, with their bodies molded together, Leo and Jungkook kiss without reservation, steadily expressing their strong feelings for each other. In room 334, with their mouths connected, the two leading competitors in men's gymnastics compete in the toughest event in life: loving against the odds.  South Korea would hate to discover its lead gymnast associating with the number one gymnast of Brazil, and Leo's father would probably kill Jungkook if he knew what they did together...many times. 

The world doesn't want them together, and yet they're here, after scaling buildings, hiding in bathrooms, and sacrificing their freedoms. They're here after weeks of training, days of talking, nights of love-making, and dark hours of reprimanding by tough coaches.

Leo makes no move to go further than kissing and neither does Jungkook. At three in the morning, both gymnasts are exhausted, Leo from the sorrow of his mother's passing, and Jungkook from the doubt and starvation over the last week.

Eventually, Leo separates their lips. He blinks at the Korean, his lashes wrought with light tear droplets. He stares intensely into Jungkook's large, brown eyes.

"Jungkook?"

"Yes, Leo?"

A pause.

"You...know." 

Leo brushes a soft finger to the outline of Jungkook's ribs. "You know, Jungkook. So much."

"I love you too, Leo." Jungkook smiles despite their circumstances, happy that Leo used the code word 'know' from their bathroom rendezvous, when he'd first used it to confess his love to Leo. He watches Leo's finger outline his chest, chuckling lightly. "I didn't think it was possible to love someone so fast, but we're aura tied."

Leo snorts. "We're what?"

"We're meant to be, like in the movies you watch." Jungkook closes his eyes, letting his fatigue lead him down the path of sleep. Leo grins sadly.

"It makes sense." Leo presses kisses to Jungkook's neck and collarbones, his loose tears falling into the dip of Jungkook's throat. "If we're meant to be...my mother would be happy. So happy. She'd love you...she wouldn't mind that you were a boy and she wouldn't care that you were my competitor. She'd love you for being you, for sending such a nice video to me...and understanding me. I wish she was still here. I d-didn't get to say goodbye to her Jungkook...I didn't..."

"I know." Jungkook pulls Leo's head into his chest, cradling the sobbing Brazilian. 

"I know, Leo."

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note from authAURA~

greetings my friends,

faded curtain is a color of the psychic prowess! i expect all of you to be master auric readers at the end of this story...which is coming very soon. have you been practicing? like any muscle, it takes practice. you can search how to do it on any website, and practice the exercises there, if you'd like! i'd recommend it for any of you spiritual people out there~

anygay, have a lovely one.

izzy.

RINGS! I can't even imagine how hard rings have to be...the grip is so awkward and balancing those strength moves is so difficult! if I wanted to do those moves I'd have to strength train for years...and even then I wouldn't be able to :( 

GO LEO!