Reflex
Title: Reflex
Author: 79_percent
Rating: PG-13
Form: One-shot
Fandom: DBSG
Pairing: YoonJae
Genre: Fluff
Summary: In which YunHo is jealous, JaeJoong is mad and ChangMin is the No. 1 YoonJae fan.
A/N:
- Lots of referrals to 2006 KBS Music Festival and "A Goose's Dream" performance.
- Especially for JaeJoong's birthday!! It's JaeHo because it's for JaeJoong. <3
- Dedicated to hushed_rose for helping me get back my muse. lol~ I'm still trying to get around that idea you gave. ^^
Reflex
"It's all conditioned."
ChangMin looked around the house warily as he took a moment off from staring at his computer screen.
YunHo-hyung was sitting quietly at one corner of the house, pretending to read a nameless book that he would usually not even bother to pick up while listening to the MP3 player that he had snatched roughly from ChangMin earlier in the afternoon. JaeJoong-hyung was sitting at the dining table, brooding over something that he could somewhat pinpoint, looking at how the oldest of them five kept looking stealing short, guilty glances over at the only source of the dark aura in the whole house.
Sighing at his predicament, ChangMin could not help but grumble at his other two hyung-deul who had left him alone in the house (to have some quality time alone somewhere he guessed) to deal with the two lovebirds in cold war.
Speaking of which, the youngest member of Dong Bang Shin Gi threw a baleful glare at the topic title of the website he was staring at, would not have happened if not for the blasted KBS Music Festival they had just attended the day before.
"Jae7en spotted - again!" ChangMin read softly, his tone a little rueful and mocking. Stealing another glance at the duo outside, he muttered under his breath, "Whoever made this headline should see how they usually are before making those comments."
But then, again, ChangMin sighed as he scrolled through the thread, read those little commentaries by Jae7en supporters and skimmed through the captures taken of that "A Goose's Dream" performance, on second thought, he could not entirely blame those fans for JaeJoong-hyung did seem to keep looking at Se7en's direction. The fact that he ignored most of Eru's "advances" only to give Se7en a dazzling smile did not help at all. And curse whoever arranged them two to both wear white suits. If only it was anyone else but Se7en, ChangMin thought sullenly as he snuck another peek at his alleged parents in the band, maybe the situation would not be this bad.
After that X-Man episode, in which there were a lot, and he meant truckloads, of jealous episodes from his band-appa, and a lot of unintentional Jae7en scenes from his band-umma, it was a known, yet unspoken, fact within the household that Jung YunHo held a grudge against this particular singer named Choi Dong Wook. ChangMin could actually empathise with JaeJoong-hyung, to be honest, he could not help it if everyone likes to be in physical contact with someone like JaeJoong. Even he enjoyed being around the oldest member of the group a lot, for his presence alone gave that sense of security; somehow this particular hyung of his always made his presence valued, and his company appreciated. Maybe it was just that aura that JaeJoong-hyung seem to exude, especially from his eyes ChangMin added silently, when people managed to break through that glacier-like barrier around him.
But, this theory did not seem to hold in front of YunHo-hyung. Not that his leader was some possessive lover- alright, fine, YunHo-hyung *is* possessive, but not that possessive till the extent that he would just lock JaeJoong-hyung in his room and not allow anyone else to lay a finger, or an eye even, at his alleged wife.
"Heh, maybe he would if he could," he muttered, clicking at another picture, another evidence of the supposed Jae7en moment in that same performance, where they both exchanged smiles.
Maybe after both X-Man and this Music Festival, finally YunHo-hyung let his jealousy took over his whole being.
And the fact that he had been ignoring JaeJoong-hyung for more than three hours straight was enough to make him conclude that it was definitely not a small matter. If JaeJoong-hyung kept thinking of ways of how to make YunHo-hyung talk to him, and not contemplating of anything else, there was no chance that he would have his dinner settled. ChangMin suppressed the want to wail at that thought. His dinner...
With a sullen pout as he skimmed through another batch of pictures, he mumbled, "I'm hungry..."
"ChangMin-ah, what do you want to eat?"
ChangMin looked up at the question he had been waiting from that same voice he had been anticipating since lunch only to find JaeJoong leaning against the door frame to his work-room.
"Hyung," the youngest brightened. "Is YunHo-hyung talking now?"
At the question, JaeJoong's smile fell only to sigh, absently puffing air into his cheek, a habit he picked up from YoungSaeng-hyung ChangMin noticed, a habit that make his JaeJoong-hyung look even more adorable than he already was. Maybe he should do it in front of YunHo-hyung, and see if their leader could resist pinching those cheeks.
At the slight shake of head he earned from JaeJoong, ChangMin let his chair slide nearer to the silent figure before pulling another chair, motioning for the older of the two to sit.
"But, hyung, seriously, it does look like a very Jae7en moment..." ChangMin started, trying to approach the subject as subtly as he could.
"Does it really?"
"Yeah, I mean, you kept looking to your-"
"Left, yes, I know. I kept looking to my left." JaeJoong interrupted; a hint of frustration in his voice.
ChangMin blinked at the sudden outbreak.
"But I always look to my left, why can't he understand?"
At that moment, ChangMin thought JaeJoong-hyung was more than ready to tear his hair out of his scalp.
"What about looking to your left?"
JaeJoong gave ChangMin a slight raise of his eyebrow. "I thought you know," he declared.
He did? ChangMin gave a clueless look. No, he didn’t.
"It's a reflex, ChangMin," JaeJoong explained.
"Reflex?" What has reflex got to do with looking to one's left?
"It's a conditioned reflex," JaeJoong half-chuckled at ChangMin's perturbed expression, gently ruffling the younger boy's brown mass of hair. "I'm just conditioned that way to look to my left whenever I'm not alone on stage."
"Conditioned reflex?" ChangMin parroted. He could only link conditioned reflex to Pavlov and the classical conditioning learning theory from his psychology class back in high school, what would that have to do with this?!
"Don’t think so much," JaeJoong's gentle voice entered his hearing, breaking his train of thoughts. "It's not good to have this frown engraved on your forehead like that."
ChangMin could not help but smile when JaeJoong tapped the space on his forehead between his eyes playfully.
"Come on, let's eat."
"Wha- what about YunHo-hyung?" ChangMin asked frantically when he saw JaeJoong-hyung rise from his seat.
"That vinegar jar..." He barely heard JaeJoong mutter under his breath, before continuing in a louder voice, "He will eat when he wants to, don't worry."
ChangMin could only sigh at the response. “Looks like JaeJoong-hyung is mad as well now...”
True enough, throughout the whole dinner, JaeJoong-hyung did not look even once at the still-sulking YunHo-hyung. The only thing his band-umma said before disappearing to his room was, "If you want to eat, eat. If not, scram. I don't want to care about you anymore."
After that seemingly quiet yet disturbing click of their bedroom door, ChangMin shot YunHo a worried look.
"Hyung," he started in between his mouthful of rice. "Aren't you going to eat?"
YunHo looked like he was in deep thought.
"If you're not I'm going to eat everything."
His band-appa gave him a glare.
ChangMin pouted. "JaeJoong-hyung especially kept some for you," he admitted, pointing at the microwave. "He told me to make sure you eat."
YunHo seemed torn.
"He doesn't want you to have gastric pains..."
YunHo picked himself up from his moaning corner and collected his food.
"Hyung, are you still not going to talk to JaeJoong-hyung?" ChangMin asked, stuffing himself with another spoonful of rice.
"No," was the short answer he got in between YunHo's chewing of his food.
"No, you're not going to talk to him, or no, you're not not going to talk to him?"
YunHo gave him a perturbed frown. "I will talk to him; what makes you think I can stand not talking to him?"
"Well, you have been ignoring him."
"..."
ChangMin almost chuckled at the abrupt silence he earned. Taking a slow sip of his soup, he added, "I did ask JaeJoong-hyung why, though."
"Why what?" YunHo looked up, absently picking some food and putting them on ChangMin's bowl. "Are YooChun and JunSu coming back tonight?"
"They said not for dinner but they'll be back before midnight," ChangMin answered, happily munching on his beef. "This is good!"
After a thoughtful nod, YunHo repeated his question, "Why what, ChangMin-ah?"
"What 'why what', hyung?"
YunHo could feel a large droplet of sweat forming at his temple. This youngest member of his band- he could really forget almost everything if it was about food.
"What did you ask JaeJoong?"
"Oh, that," ChangMin motioned to pick another piece of beef, only to find a pair of metal chopsticks preventing him from doing so. With a deep frown, ChangMin followed the chopsticks, up the hand and arm only to find YunHo's face attached to the culprit's head.
"Hyung~" He whined.
"Answer me first before you forget."
"I asked JaeJoong-hyung why Jae7en," ChangMin grumbled, wrestling his own chopsticks from the evil clutches of YunHo-hyung's chopsticks, releasing a big piece of succulent meat together with it. He smiled triumphantly.
"Why Jae7en?!" YunHo repeated, an incredulous expression on his well-sculpted face.
"Uhuh," ChangMin nodded. "Jae7en." He quickly rescued himself another batch of meat before YunHo-hyung had any chance to react.
"And what did JaeJoong say?"
"I don't know." ChangMin blinked when YunHo's chopsticks once again prevented him from picking his loot. He looked up and gave his leader a pitiful look. "Hyung~"
"You don't know?"
ChangMin recognised the dangerous tone. "I don't understand what JaeJoong-hyung was talking," ChangMin reasoned as he tried to wrestle his chopsticks away, to no avail. "YunHo-hyung, let me eat!"
"What did he say?"
"He said it's a reflex."
YunHo blinked. At the momentary shock, in which YunHo let his power fall, ChangMin quickly rescued his chopsticks and pulled the dish-plate closer to himself.
"Reflex?"
At ChangMin's nod, YunHo could only blink in confusion. "It's a reflex for him to look at Se7en?"
"No, no, no," ChangMin paused mid-munch as he tried to rectify that statement. "He said it's a reflex for him to look to his left."
"Oh..."
When ChangMin looked up from his food, YunHo-hyung seemed to be in deep thought.
"But why would it be a reflex for him to look to his left?"
The youngest shrugged. "I don't know. JaeJoong-hyung only said that he's just conditioned that way to look to his left whenever he's not alone on stage," he repeated word-by-word, hoping it could make more sense. When ChangMin found that his mind would not work to its optimum in the presence of JaeJoong-hyung's culinary products, he decided he should just finish his dinner before trying to solve this enigma regarding JaeJoong-hyung and his (weird) conditioned reflex.
"He said that?"
"Uhuh," ChangMin nodded. "Quoted word for word."
Then there was this eerie silence in which YunHo stopped his eating and ChangMin was more than happy to devour whatever it was left on the table.
"ChangMin-ah," YunHo's voice came, it felt almost surreal as if YunHo was talking to himself within his random pits of thoughts. "Who's always on JaeJoong's left when he's on stage?"
ChangMin blinked. "Always? Isn't it me?"
"And who's beside you on your left?"
"Hyung, what are you talking about, isn't it-" ChangMin paused abruptly as his eyes widened in realisation. Now everything made sense!
The next moment, he found YunHo-hyung leaving his seat in lightning speed and making a mad dash towards somewhere in the house. He guessed it would be their bedroom. He alternated his gaze between the dark corridor and the dining table with its glorious food.
"Tsk, looks like I'm stuck with the dishes tonight," ChangMin grumbled as he picked his chopsticks again and resumed his very much interrupted dinner.
JaeJoong wafted out of unconsciousness when he heard the soft opening of the door. Before he could react to it, however, he heard the door close and following that, a big, dark shadow flew across the room only to envelop him in a giant bear hug.
"Jung- Jung YunHo, I can't breathe!" He protested.
The arms only loosened to let a dark-brown head nuzzle against the slightly exposed skin on his neck.
"Willing to talk to me now?" He asked; his miffed tone carried a hint of relief.
"Mianhae," YunHo's voice wafted from the back of his ears.
JaeJoong sighed, shifting a little so his form would not be squashed flat like a pancake beneath YunHo's.
"YunHo-yah, there's really nothing between me and Se7en-hyung," JaeJoong tried to explain, his hand wandered to YunHo's hair.
"I know."
JaeJoong pouted as he pushed YunHo away from him. Well, he tried to anyway, but YunHo's arms seemed to be stuck on his physique with some sort of invisible super glue.
"You don't believe me," he asserted.
"Why didn't you tell me?" was the only response he got.
"Tell you what?"
"That it's a reflex for you."
"Would you even listen to me if I do tell y- HOW THE HELL DID YOU KNOW THAT?!"
Now JaeJoong was frantically trying to escape from YunHo's clutch. It felt as if the biggest secret in his whole life was spilled right in front of him, right before the only person he vowed not to leak to.
"Who told you that?" JaeJoong's voice was a hopeless mixture of fear and embarrassment all muddled together.
"ChangMin-"
"SHIM CHANGMIN!!!!"
Meanwhile, the youngest of them all, who was doing the dishes in the kitchen, sneezed as he thought he heard the loud howling wind outside the window carried his name.
"It's getting really chilly tonight," he mumbled, turning off the tap. "I hope there's enough blankets in my work room."
"Joongie-yah."
"Wh-what?" JaeJoong half-snapped; his mind miles and miles away in his own cerebral recesses.
What should he do now that YunHo knows? That was so embarrassing! It was not as if he was proud of having that reflex. Sometimes it took him a whole lot of self control, sometimes all the self-control that he could muster in this twenty years of life, not to turn and look at this undeniably handsome figure that was his boyfriend whenever they were on stage for fear of getting caught on camera. But sometimes he just could not help but do it.
It was not his fault that his eyes would just stray to find one particular figure no matter where they were. It was not that he wanted to be that obvious; it was a reflex he had acquired even without him knowing. And by the time he knew it, there was no way to de-condition himself.
He thought he could finally get rid of that reflex in that one performance in which he had to sing without YunHo on the same stage. He thought he could, but when he found that his head would just automatically turn to the left, rather than right, even without him knowing, he could not help but give a frustrated smile. Alas, to everyone else, it seemed like he was giving Se7en (Why not Seung Gi, he pondered) a dazzling, killer smile. Thus, the misunderstanding.
"Joongie-yah," YunHo's voice broke his concentration; it was full of mirth and affection.
"What?"
"You're so cute."
When JaeJoong felt himself heating up, he was grateful for the darkness of the room.
"Come, give YunHo-oppa a kiss," YunHo commanded, puckering his lips.
"No, YunHo, stop fooling around," came the feeble protest from the figure beneath him.
"Aww, JaeJoongie, come on, I said I'm sorry," YunHo coaxed, a slight curve playing at the corner of his lips. "I didn't know you're that conditioned to look at me whenever you're on stage."
"Damn it, Jung YunHo, you don't have to spat that right in front of me." There and then, JaeJoong was more than ready to belief that he was even redder than those blood-crimson tomatoes lying on the kitchen counter.
YunHo paused for a moment, stealing the opportunity to take in the squirming JaeJoong in his arms, before a huge grin appeared on his mischievous face; it was a grin that rivalled Cheshire the cat, it was a grin that made JaeJoong's heart flutter at the bad premonition it was emitting.
"JaeJoongie," the younger of the two started in a sing-song voice, pushing one finger playfully against JaeJoong's flushed cheek. "You're blushing."
Frustrated at being caught, JaeJoong protested even harder only to have YunHo's arms sliding around his waist, interlocking his fingers behind his back.
"YunHo, what are you doing? ChangMin will come in!"
"I'm not doing anything, and ChangMin won't come in."
"Why wouldn't ChangMin-" JaeJoong felt the ominous feeling escalating deep within his mind. "CHANGMIN!!!" Save me~
Then there was a soft knock before ChangMin's voice floated.
"JaeJoong-hyung, mianhae, if I go in, YunHo-hyung said he would let his Hap Ki Do skills talk to me for the rest of the week.”
JaeJoong turned to give YunHo an accusing glare before he heard a soft, yet evident maniacal laughter ringing along the corridor outside.
Then it was YunHo's turn to chuckle.
"I didn’t say that.” YunHo defended himself before adding promptly, “Don't try to escape."
JaeJoong heaved a resigned sigh, knowing there's no one else to help him run away now.
"I won't do anything, I promise." YunHo planted a gentle kiss on the older boy's forehead as he spoke slowly, almost lovingly. "I'm just marvelled at your conditioned reflex."
When he detected the slight hint of laughter veiled beneath those words, JaeJoong pinched YunHo's cheeks mercilessly.
"Shut up! If not I'll make sure there are a lot more other Jae-related pairings running around," he grumbled.
YunHo ducked his head and tightened his embrace at the feeble threat, biting his lips to evade his quivering snicker. His JaeJoong is just so adorable, he thought.
"Saranghae, JaeJoong-ah," he whispered, letting his voice brush against those ears, melting that frown, inducing that smile he had grown to adore.
"Pfft, you only know how to use that when I'm mad." Grumble, grumble, mumble.
YunHo let his grin widen when, despite the harsh complaint, JaeJoong finally returned his embrace. He's so, so cute, he told himself as he relished the presence of his boyfriend within his arms.
The last thing YunHo remembered out of their exchange that night was JaeJoong's lips gently brushing against his, and that same soothing voice telling him that he loved him too.
"Reflex"
[ E N D ]
~ * ~
Footnote:
Pavlov & the Classical Conditioning Theory : Behaviour is shaped through association of a new stimulus to an old one that provokes a "natural response" (reflex).
I wrote this a few days ago when I'm still in midst of exams (This just proves a step further that I sleep, eat, study, breathe JaeHo.... *cackles*) so it might be a little gibberish from the stress overload. lol~ Happy 21st birthday, JaeJoong! ^^ And, to make a point, I have nothing against Se7en. I just love JaeHo too much for my own good. XD;;; Hope you enjoyed that~ Comment please? Thanks for reading!
hugz,
althea
Author: 79_percent
Rating: PG-13
Form: One-shot
Fandom: DBSG
Pairing: YoonJae
Genre: Fluff
Summary: In which YunHo is jealous, JaeJoong is mad and ChangMin is the No. 1 YoonJae fan.
A/N:
- Lots of referrals to 2006 KBS Music Festival and "A Goose's Dream" performance.
- Especially for JaeJoong's birthday!! It's JaeHo because it's for JaeJoong. <3
- Dedicated to hushed_rose for helping me get back my muse. lol~ I'm still trying to get around that idea you gave. ^^
Reflex
"It's all conditioned."
ChangMin looked around the house warily as he took a moment off from staring at his computer screen.
YunHo-hyung was sitting quietly at one corner of the house, pretending to read a nameless book that he would usually not even bother to pick up while listening to the MP3 player that he had snatched roughly from ChangMin earlier in the afternoon. JaeJoong-hyung was sitting at the dining table, brooding over something that he could somewhat pinpoint, looking at how the oldest of them five kept looking stealing short, guilty glances over at the only source of the dark aura in the whole house.
Sighing at his predicament, ChangMin could not help but grumble at his other two hyung-deul who had left him alone in the house (to have some quality time alone somewhere he guessed) to deal with the two lovebirds in cold war.
Speaking of which, the youngest member of Dong Bang Shin Gi threw a baleful glare at the topic title of the website he was staring at, would not have happened if not for the blasted KBS Music Festival they had just attended the day before.
"Jae7en spotted - again!" ChangMin read softly, his tone a little rueful and mocking. Stealing another glance at the duo outside, he muttered under his breath, "Whoever made this headline should see how they usually are before making those comments."
But then, again, ChangMin sighed as he scrolled through the thread, read those little commentaries by Jae7en supporters and skimmed through the captures taken of that "A Goose's Dream" performance, on second thought, he could not entirely blame those fans for JaeJoong-hyung did seem to keep looking at Se7en's direction. The fact that he ignored most of Eru's "advances" only to give Se7en a dazzling smile did not help at all. And curse whoever arranged them two to both wear white suits. If only it was anyone else but Se7en, ChangMin thought sullenly as he snuck another peek at his alleged parents in the band, maybe the situation would not be this bad.
After that X-Man episode, in which there were a lot, and he meant truckloads, of jealous episodes from his band-appa, and a lot of unintentional Jae7en scenes from his band-umma, it was a known, yet unspoken, fact within the household that Jung YunHo held a grudge against this particular singer named Choi Dong Wook. ChangMin could actually empathise with JaeJoong-hyung, to be honest, he could not help it if everyone likes to be in physical contact with someone like JaeJoong. Even he enjoyed being around the oldest member of the group a lot, for his presence alone gave that sense of security; somehow this particular hyung of his always made his presence valued, and his company appreciated. Maybe it was just that aura that JaeJoong-hyung seem to exude, especially from his eyes ChangMin added silently, when people managed to break through that glacier-like barrier around him.
But, this theory did not seem to hold in front of YunHo-hyung. Not that his leader was some possessive lover- alright, fine, YunHo-hyung *is* possessive, but not that possessive till the extent that he would just lock JaeJoong-hyung in his room and not allow anyone else to lay a finger, or an eye even, at his alleged wife.
"Heh, maybe he would if he could," he muttered, clicking at another picture, another evidence of the supposed Jae7en moment in that same performance, where they both exchanged smiles.
Maybe after both X-Man and this Music Festival, finally YunHo-hyung let his jealousy took over his whole being.
And the fact that he had been ignoring JaeJoong-hyung for more than three hours straight was enough to make him conclude that it was definitely not a small matter. If JaeJoong-hyung kept thinking of ways of how to make YunHo-hyung talk to him, and not contemplating of anything else, there was no chance that he would have his dinner settled. ChangMin suppressed the want to wail at that thought. His dinner...
With a sullen pout as he skimmed through another batch of pictures, he mumbled, "I'm hungry..."
"ChangMin-ah, what do you want to eat?"
ChangMin looked up at the question he had been waiting from that same voice he had been anticipating since lunch only to find JaeJoong leaning against the door frame to his work-room.
"Hyung," the youngest brightened. "Is YunHo-hyung talking now?"
At the question, JaeJoong's smile fell only to sigh, absently puffing air into his cheek, a habit he picked up from YoungSaeng-hyung ChangMin noticed, a habit that make his JaeJoong-hyung look even more adorable than he already was. Maybe he should do it in front of YunHo-hyung, and see if their leader could resist pinching those cheeks.
At the slight shake of head he earned from JaeJoong, ChangMin let his chair slide nearer to the silent figure before pulling another chair, motioning for the older of the two to sit.
"But, hyung, seriously, it does look like a very Jae7en moment..." ChangMin started, trying to approach the subject as subtly as he could.
"Does it really?"
"Yeah, I mean, you kept looking to your-"
"Left, yes, I know. I kept looking to my left." JaeJoong interrupted; a hint of frustration in his voice.
ChangMin blinked at the sudden outbreak.
"But I always look to my left, why can't he understand?"
At that moment, ChangMin thought JaeJoong-hyung was more than ready to tear his hair out of his scalp.
"What about looking to your left?"
JaeJoong gave ChangMin a slight raise of his eyebrow. "I thought you know," he declared.
He did? ChangMin gave a clueless look. No, he didn’t.
"It's a reflex, ChangMin," JaeJoong explained.
"Reflex?" What has reflex got to do with looking to one's left?
"It's a conditioned reflex," JaeJoong half-chuckled at ChangMin's perturbed expression, gently ruffling the younger boy's brown mass of hair. "I'm just conditioned that way to look to my left whenever I'm not alone on stage."
"Conditioned reflex?" ChangMin parroted. He could only link conditioned reflex to Pavlov and the classical conditioning learning theory from his psychology class back in high school, what would that have to do with this?!
"Don’t think so much," JaeJoong's gentle voice entered his hearing, breaking his train of thoughts. "It's not good to have this frown engraved on your forehead like that."
ChangMin could not help but smile when JaeJoong tapped the space on his forehead between his eyes playfully.
"Come on, let's eat."
"Wha- what about YunHo-hyung?" ChangMin asked frantically when he saw JaeJoong-hyung rise from his seat.
"That vinegar jar..." He barely heard JaeJoong mutter under his breath, before continuing in a louder voice, "He will eat when he wants to, don't worry."
ChangMin could only sigh at the response. “Looks like JaeJoong-hyung is mad as well now...”
True enough, throughout the whole dinner, JaeJoong-hyung did not look even once at the still-sulking YunHo-hyung. The only thing his band-umma said before disappearing to his room was, "If you want to eat, eat. If not, scram. I don't want to care about you anymore."
After that seemingly quiet yet disturbing click of their bedroom door, ChangMin shot YunHo a worried look.
"Hyung," he started in between his mouthful of rice. "Aren't you going to eat?"
YunHo looked like he was in deep thought.
"If you're not I'm going to eat everything."
His band-appa gave him a glare.
ChangMin pouted. "JaeJoong-hyung especially kept some for you," he admitted, pointing at the microwave. "He told me to make sure you eat."
YunHo seemed torn.
"He doesn't want you to have gastric pains..."
YunHo picked himself up from his moaning corner and collected his food.
"Hyung, are you still not going to talk to JaeJoong-hyung?" ChangMin asked, stuffing himself with another spoonful of rice.
"No," was the short answer he got in between YunHo's chewing of his food.
"No, you're not going to talk to him, or no, you're not not going to talk to him?"
YunHo gave him a perturbed frown. "I will talk to him; what makes you think I can stand not talking to him?"
"Well, you have been ignoring him."
"..."
ChangMin almost chuckled at the abrupt silence he earned. Taking a slow sip of his soup, he added, "I did ask JaeJoong-hyung why, though."
"Why what?" YunHo looked up, absently picking some food and putting them on ChangMin's bowl. "Are YooChun and JunSu coming back tonight?"
"They said not for dinner but they'll be back before midnight," ChangMin answered, happily munching on his beef. "This is good!"
After a thoughtful nod, YunHo repeated his question, "Why what, ChangMin-ah?"
"What 'why what', hyung?"
YunHo could feel a large droplet of sweat forming at his temple. This youngest member of his band- he could really forget almost everything if it was about food.
"What did you ask JaeJoong?"
"Oh, that," ChangMin motioned to pick another piece of beef, only to find a pair of metal chopsticks preventing him from doing so. With a deep frown, ChangMin followed the chopsticks, up the hand and arm only to find YunHo's face attached to the culprit's head.
"Hyung~" He whined.
"Answer me first before you forget."
"I asked JaeJoong-hyung why Jae7en," ChangMin grumbled, wrestling his own chopsticks from the evil clutches of YunHo-hyung's chopsticks, releasing a big piece of succulent meat together with it. He smiled triumphantly.
"Why Jae7en?!" YunHo repeated, an incredulous expression on his well-sculpted face.
"Uhuh," ChangMin nodded. "Jae7en." He quickly rescued himself another batch of meat before YunHo-hyung had any chance to react.
"And what did JaeJoong say?"
"I don't know." ChangMin blinked when YunHo's chopsticks once again prevented him from picking his loot. He looked up and gave his leader a pitiful look. "Hyung~"
"You don't know?"
ChangMin recognised the dangerous tone. "I don't understand what JaeJoong-hyung was talking," ChangMin reasoned as he tried to wrestle his chopsticks away, to no avail. "YunHo-hyung, let me eat!"
"What did he say?"
"He said it's a reflex."
YunHo blinked. At the momentary shock, in which YunHo let his power fall, ChangMin quickly rescued his chopsticks and pulled the dish-plate closer to himself.
"Reflex?"
At ChangMin's nod, YunHo could only blink in confusion. "It's a reflex for him to look at Se7en?"
"No, no, no," ChangMin paused mid-munch as he tried to rectify that statement. "He said it's a reflex for him to look to his left."
"Oh..."
When ChangMin looked up from his food, YunHo-hyung seemed to be in deep thought.
"But why would it be a reflex for him to look to his left?"
The youngest shrugged. "I don't know. JaeJoong-hyung only said that he's just conditioned that way to look to his left whenever he's not alone on stage," he repeated word-by-word, hoping it could make more sense. When ChangMin found that his mind would not work to its optimum in the presence of JaeJoong-hyung's culinary products, he decided he should just finish his dinner before trying to solve this enigma regarding JaeJoong-hyung and his (weird) conditioned reflex.
"He said that?"
"Uhuh," ChangMin nodded. "Quoted word for word."
Then there was this eerie silence in which YunHo stopped his eating and ChangMin was more than happy to devour whatever it was left on the table.
"ChangMin-ah," YunHo's voice came, it felt almost surreal as if YunHo was talking to himself within his random pits of thoughts. "Who's always on JaeJoong's left when he's on stage?"
ChangMin blinked. "Always? Isn't it me?"
"And who's beside you on your left?"
"Hyung, what are you talking about, isn't it-" ChangMin paused abruptly as his eyes widened in realisation. Now everything made sense!
The next moment, he found YunHo-hyung leaving his seat in lightning speed and making a mad dash towards somewhere in the house. He guessed it would be their bedroom. He alternated his gaze between the dark corridor and the dining table with its glorious food.
"Tsk, looks like I'm stuck with the dishes tonight," ChangMin grumbled as he picked his chopsticks again and resumed his very much interrupted dinner.
JaeJoong wafted out of unconsciousness when he heard the soft opening of the door. Before he could react to it, however, he heard the door close and following that, a big, dark shadow flew across the room only to envelop him in a giant bear hug.
"Jung- Jung YunHo, I can't breathe!" He protested.
The arms only loosened to let a dark-brown head nuzzle against the slightly exposed skin on his neck.
"Willing to talk to me now?" He asked; his miffed tone carried a hint of relief.
"Mianhae," YunHo's voice wafted from the back of his ears.
JaeJoong sighed, shifting a little so his form would not be squashed flat like a pancake beneath YunHo's.
"YunHo-yah, there's really nothing between me and Se7en-hyung," JaeJoong tried to explain, his hand wandered to YunHo's hair.
"I know."
JaeJoong pouted as he pushed YunHo away from him. Well, he tried to anyway, but YunHo's arms seemed to be stuck on his physique with some sort of invisible super glue.
"You don't believe me," he asserted.
"Why didn't you tell me?" was the only response he got.
"Tell you what?"
"That it's a reflex for you."
"Would you even listen to me if I do tell y- HOW THE HELL DID YOU KNOW THAT?!"
Now JaeJoong was frantically trying to escape from YunHo's clutch. It felt as if the biggest secret in his whole life was spilled right in front of him, right before the only person he vowed not to leak to.
"Who told you that?" JaeJoong's voice was a hopeless mixture of fear and embarrassment all muddled together.
"ChangMin-"
"SHIM CHANGMIN!!!!"
Meanwhile, the youngest of them all, who was doing the dishes in the kitchen, sneezed as he thought he heard the loud howling wind outside the window carried his name.
"It's getting really chilly tonight," he mumbled, turning off the tap. "I hope there's enough blankets in my work room."
"Joongie-yah."
"Wh-what?" JaeJoong half-snapped; his mind miles and miles away in his own cerebral recesses.
What should he do now that YunHo knows? That was so embarrassing! It was not as if he was proud of having that reflex. Sometimes it took him a whole lot of self control, sometimes all the self-control that he could muster in this twenty years of life, not to turn and look at this undeniably handsome figure that was his boyfriend whenever they were on stage for fear of getting caught on camera. But sometimes he just could not help but do it.
It was not his fault that his eyes would just stray to find one particular figure no matter where they were. It was not that he wanted to be that obvious; it was a reflex he had acquired even without him knowing. And by the time he knew it, there was no way to de-condition himself.
He thought he could finally get rid of that reflex in that one performance in which he had to sing without YunHo on the same stage. He thought he could, but when he found that his head would just automatically turn to the left, rather than right, even without him knowing, he could not help but give a frustrated smile. Alas, to everyone else, it seemed like he was giving Se7en (Why not Seung Gi, he pondered) a dazzling, killer smile. Thus, the misunderstanding.
"Joongie-yah," YunHo's voice broke his concentration; it was full of mirth and affection.
"What?"
"You're so cute."
When JaeJoong felt himself heating up, he was grateful for the darkness of the room.
"Come, give YunHo-oppa a kiss," YunHo commanded, puckering his lips.
"No, YunHo, stop fooling around," came the feeble protest from the figure beneath him.
"Aww, JaeJoongie, come on, I said I'm sorry," YunHo coaxed, a slight curve playing at the corner of his lips. "I didn't know you're that conditioned to look at me whenever you're on stage."
"Damn it, Jung YunHo, you don't have to spat that right in front of me." There and then, JaeJoong was more than ready to belief that he was even redder than those blood-crimson tomatoes lying on the kitchen counter.
YunHo paused for a moment, stealing the opportunity to take in the squirming JaeJoong in his arms, before a huge grin appeared on his mischievous face; it was a grin that rivalled Cheshire the cat, it was a grin that made JaeJoong's heart flutter at the bad premonition it was emitting.
"JaeJoongie," the younger of the two started in a sing-song voice, pushing one finger playfully against JaeJoong's flushed cheek. "You're blushing."
Frustrated at being caught, JaeJoong protested even harder only to have YunHo's arms sliding around his waist, interlocking his fingers behind his back.
"YunHo, what are you doing? ChangMin will come in!"
"I'm not doing anything, and ChangMin won't come in."
"Why wouldn't ChangMin-" JaeJoong felt the ominous feeling escalating deep within his mind. "CHANGMIN!!!" Save me~
Then there was a soft knock before ChangMin's voice floated.
"JaeJoong-hyung, mianhae, if I go in, YunHo-hyung said he would let his Hap Ki Do skills talk to me for the rest of the week.”
JaeJoong turned to give YunHo an accusing glare before he heard a soft, yet evident maniacal laughter ringing along the corridor outside.
Then it was YunHo's turn to chuckle.
"I didn’t say that.” YunHo defended himself before adding promptly, “Don't try to escape."
JaeJoong heaved a resigned sigh, knowing there's no one else to help him run away now.
"I won't do anything, I promise." YunHo planted a gentle kiss on the older boy's forehead as he spoke slowly, almost lovingly. "I'm just marvelled at your conditioned reflex."
When he detected the slight hint of laughter veiled beneath those words, JaeJoong pinched YunHo's cheeks mercilessly.
"Shut up! If not I'll make sure there are a lot more other Jae-related pairings running around," he grumbled.
YunHo ducked his head and tightened his embrace at the feeble threat, biting his lips to evade his quivering snicker. His JaeJoong is just so adorable, he thought.
"Saranghae, JaeJoong-ah," he whispered, letting his voice brush against those ears, melting that frown, inducing that smile he had grown to adore.
"Pfft, you only know how to use that when I'm mad." Grumble, grumble, mumble.
YunHo let his grin widen when, despite the harsh complaint, JaeJoong finally returned his embrace. He's so, so cute, he told himself as he relished the presence of his boyfriend within his arms.
The last thing YunHo remembered out of their exchange that night was JaeJoong's lips gently brushing against his, and that same soothing voice telling him that he loved him too.
"Reflex"
[ E N D ]
~ * ~
Footnote:
Pavlov & the Classical Conditioning Theory : Behaviour is shaped through association of a new stimulus to an old one that provokes a "natural response" (reflex).
I wrote this a few days ago when I'm still in midst of exams (This just proves a step further that I sleep, eat, study, breathe JaeHo.... *cackles*) so it might be a little gibberish from the stress overload. lol~ Happy 21st birthday, JaeJoong! ^^ And, to make a point, I have nothing against Se7en. I just love JaeHo too much for my own good. XD;;; Hope you enjoyed that~ Comment please? Thanks for reading!
hugz,
althea