I Dare You to Break Me. [9/??]
Title: I Dare You to Break Me.
Summary: It’s been two years since Jaejoong and Yunho have broken up. Yunho’s trying to move on but one day, his world turns upside down as a certain blonde comes knocking to his door with luggage and plans to move back in with him.
Disclaimer: I WANT to own them.
Pairing: YunJae
Genre: Romance, Angst , AU, Smut
Rating: R (for now.)
Length: 9/??
Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8
I Dare You to Break Me
Chapter 9
“Jihye tried to kill herself”
For a moment both of them stared at the floor.
Jaejoong bit his lips as he remembered the look on Yunho’s face. He’d never seen him like that; he would never have imagined it.
Of course it was normal to be sad. To be devastated. To go insane for a second. But Jaejoong knew Yunho was better than this.
Even if a lot of things have changed, he knew Yunho was still strong. And maybe, just like everyone else, he had the right to lose himself. But Jaejoong knew it was time he finally got up.
As much as he didn’t understand him, as much as he wanted to be mad at Yunho, he was rooting for him. Watching the other man so broken just felt wrong and maybe even painful.
He felt frustrated. Where was the Yunho he knew? The one that would stand up when he was down? The one who always had it all together?
“Yunho…”
No response.
“Yunho, I know this is hard but you have to get up.”
“…”
“Yunho! What the hell are you doing? Your sister needs you right now. Let’s go to the hospital.” At a burst of bravery and maybe impatience, Jaejoong stood up and looked at Yunho with stern eyes.
He didn’t need pity right now. He needed motivation.
“Yunho!”
The other only stared at him.
“Yunho get up!”
“Yun--”
Before he finished his name, Yunho took his hand and nodded.
“Let’s go.” He said, finally getting away from the haze of helplessness.
Maybe just maybe, Jaejoong still knew him best.
---
Jaejoong stared at small LED screen of the elevator as the numbers flickered from floor to floor. He was worried of what they’d be facing. Jihye tried to kill herself, that’s all he knew. He was afraid to see her; he would never have imagined such a bright, sweet girl to be so broken.
Yunho had not told him any details on her attempted suicide; he wondered if Yunho even knew any more than him.
“If I had answered her calls maybe she wouldn’t have done this.”
Jaejoong broke away from the numbers and looked intently at Yunho. He pitied him. God, Yunho was one messed up man, but no one deserved having their family taken away.
Jaejoong would know; he had just lost a mother.
He reached out to Yunho’s hand to squeeze it, to his surprise, just as he was about to let go, the other held his hand even tighter.
This was the closest they had been in two years, both emotionally and physically.
Yunho had to admit, it was soothing. He couldn’t quite figure out whether it was Jaejoong’s warmth giving him comfort or if it was the simple fact that someone was there for him.
Maybe, maybe it was Jaejoong. He almost forgot how much ease Jaejoong could give him.
A part of Yunho wished to just stay inside that elevator longer. To let the presence of Jaejoong soothe him until he was ready. But that would be impossible, because the world never waited until he was ready, the world never waited until they were ready.
Alas the doors slid open; they were about to face what they feared, what they knew would break both their hearts.
Dear Jihye, why did you do this?
---
Jaejoong was left in the room, watching over Jihye, as Yunho talked to the doctor outside.
The girl was still sleeping, fortunately she was stable, but Jaejoong couldn’t help but frown at the bandages and scratches on her body. She was hurting, but the hurt she felt inside must have been greater for her to prefer this kind of physical pain.
Apparently, she had tried running her car against the wall of her office parking space. It was insane.
Jaejoong couldn’t help but feel guilty because while he was sitting there holding Jihye’s hand, all that was playing inside his head was how almost automatically Yunho let go of his hand when they ran into Mr. Jung in the hospital corridor.
Why was Yunho in such a deep spell under his father? Jaejoong hadn’t even come as a lover; he was just a concerned friend. They were not doing anything wrong, he held Yunho’s hands to comfort him and nothing else.
“I wouldn’t have done this if you weren’t here, please don’t let go.”
Yunho had said that before they stepped out of the elevator, yet at the sight of his father, Yunho was the first to immediately take his hand away. Jaejoong couldn’t understand. This man made Yunho miserable, hell, he made Jihye miserable; why did Yunho’s loyalty still lie with him?
Jaejoong almost jumped off his seat as the door opened. He immediately stood up to meet Yunho as he walked in.
“What did the doctor say?”
“Well, nothing but a few scratches from the glass and a broken arm. And..her..the..the baby she’s carrying is fine, although the doctors would still have to keep a close watch, she had bumped her head quite hard too...”
Jaejoong bit his lips not knowing what to say. Should he act surprised? Wouldn’t that be deceiving Yunho? Should he admit he knew?
“She told you didn’t she?”
Jaejoong looked up at him with surprise, but soon nodded.
“She didn’t trust me. She didn’t trust her own brother.”
“Yunho..I…” He wanted to say the right words, but really, he couldn’t find anything to say.
“Ah! And so my OTP reunites!” A hoarse but familiar voice stole the two men’s attention. They immediately turned to Jihye who had just woken up; a small smile was on her face.
Yunho immediately rushed to her. “Jihye!”
“Are you okay? Does anything hurt? Do you want me to call the nurse?” Yunho kissed the back of her hand, worry was all over his face but Jihye only let a small laugh.
“Oppa~ You’re being too paranoid.” She kissed Yunho’s cheek, and then turned to the man watching them. “Jae-oppa. I'm glad you’re here too. Can you please tell my brother to stop worrying?”
Jaejoong didn’t get to react as Yunho ignored Jihye’s words and cradled her head as he carefully sat down on her hospital bed. “Jihye, don’t you ever do that again.” He was on the verge of crying.
Suddenly Jihye’s expression had changed, seriousness filled her face, tears were forming and threatening to fall off her eyes.
“I’m sorry…” Her voice cracked as she buried her head against Yunho’s chest.
Jaejoong felt like he was intruding a private moment so he walked out of the room. From the viewing window ,he looked at the siblings, hugging each other, talking, crying. He couldn’t help but feel a little bit out of place in the situation, of course he was simply being a good friend, but being so closely tied to the Jung families lives again didn’t seem so right anymore.
However a part of him also wished he could be more than just a concerned friend. He would never really admit it, but Yunho and Jihye were two of the people he cared most about in the world, he wanted to be there for them, not only at times like these, but every moment he could. Maybe he didn’t love Yunho anymore, or maybe Jihye would never become some sister in law but it never changed the fact that he was protective of them.
…but he shouldn’t. He couldn’t. A Kim Jaejoong was never meant to be a part of the Jungs’ lives. Yunho’s father didn’t favor it. Yunho had stopped fighting for it. And the world simply didn’t allow it.
---
Yunho stepped out of the room to look for Jaejoong as Jihye requested. He could still feel himself shaking from the long talk he had with his sister.
It was regretful that it took as far as her attempting suicide for the two of them to finally sit down, talk and listen to each other.
Yunho blamed himself; he had been too clouded with his own opinions…the past, that he couldn’t see through his sister. If he had been the same brother he was a few years back, this would never had happened.
Everything seemed to be going fast at the moment. There were so many things he had to understand. He didn’t know where to start, he still couldn’t get over the fact that Jihye tried to kill herself, let alone her being pregnant...let alone, again, her attempting to kill herself while being pregnant. Yet, even with so much to absorb, he had to move quickly, he had to talk to his father, he had to know what she and her boyfriend are planning he had to make sure she was safe, he had to make sure the baby was safe, he had to take care of the hospital bills...he had to…he had to…he had to do so much.
He took a deep breath as he found Jaejoong sitting quietly with a cup of coffee in his hands. “Jae…”
The pale man’s eyes met his. He looked so tired too. He shouldn’t be. He shouldn’t have even been dragged into this.
“Jihye wants to see you…”
Jaejoong merely nodded and stood up, throwing his plastic cup in the nearest trash can. He squeezed Yunho’s shoulders as he passed him.
When Jaejoong entered the room, Jihye had a smile on her face, however her eyes were still red from crying.
“My bastard brother made me cry.” She said, half laughing and crying as she wiped her eyes.
“He didn’t scold you, did he?”
“No no…he was kind enough not to..although, he should have had…”
“Jihye…”
“Oppa, thank you for not telling…”
“I told you, you could trust me.”
She patted her hand on the space on her bed. Jaejoong sat down and held her just as Yunho had earlier.
“Jae…can I trust you to take care of my brother too? I know it’s a huge burden, but he’s…so…broken right now. He needs you.”
“Jihye I don’t…”
“Ahh~ they say we can never see our true selves through a mirror! My bastard brother wouldn’t be able to see himself through anything! Which is why people like you and I are here for him. But I cannot help him right now, since I am the cause of his pain.” She paused a little bit, her eyes filled with regret and hurt. “…but you are more than capable of doing that…”
Jaejoong didn’t really know how to answer, he wasn’t really in the position to take care of Yunho.
“Please be patient with my brother. You are too good for him. And he is only going to be a good enough person deserving of you if you allow him to be with you…He is only at his best with you.”
Taken aback by her words, Jaejoong only replied with a small whisper of. “I’ll try…”
The girl let out a soft giggle. And silence filled them.
“Jae oppa, can we talk about good things for a change?”
Jaejoong smiled at her and carefully but playfully shuffled her hair. “Sure what do you want to talk about…?”
“Baby names~”
“Baby names e? If they’re twins we can call them Luke and Lea.”
“Huh?”
“From Star wars. A friend of mine likes that!”
“I don’t want them to be named after aliens!”
“Ha! They aren’t aliens…you see…In the story there was this...” Jihye smiled as she watched Jaejoong talk, oh how she prayed Jaejoong would never leave their side again.
----
It was already around midnight when Yunho and Jaejoong arrived at home. Although they had cleaned up a little bit before they left for the hospital, the place was still in a mess. Both of them were too tired to do any chores for the night; it would have to wait until tomorrow.
Yunho had been quiet the whole time; Jaejoong even had to drive home because he still seemed to be so out of it.
“Why don’t you take a shower first? I’ll make you a cup of hot cocoa okay?”
Yunho only nodded and the two of them separated. Jaejoong to the kitchen, Yunho to the bathroom.
After fixing up the cup of cocoa, Jaejoong waited for about 30 minutes in the living room, but Yunho hadn’t come out. A part of him was worried. Yunho never took that long.
He waited for ten more minutes before he finally decided to check up on him. He pressed his ear to the door, only to hear the sound of running water. He knocked and waited for a response but no one answered.
“Yunho..?” He waited again but no answer. "Yunho.." He said a bit louder, but still no response.
A million things were running through his head. Could Yunho be stupid enough to attempt something crazy like his sister? He felt anxious, every moment passing that he didn't know what Yunho was doing was eating him up. "Yunho for the love of God! Yunho!"
Finally he decided to take things into his own hands. He turned the doorknob only to realize it wasn't locked. He froze for a while.
He felt his heart pounding as he took a deep breath and pushed the door open. As the view became clearer he saw Yunho through the shower glass, still fully clothed, with water running down him.
“YUNHO! What are you doing! Get out of there!”
He grabbed a towel and tried to pull him out, but Yunho didn’t make a move. Jaejoong’s skin felt prickles as the cold water from the shower tapped his skin.
“Yunho, the water is freezing, get out of there! You’re going to get sick.”
No reaction, just as he was earlier.
“Jung Yunho!”
Jaejoong felt like a mother taking care of her 13 year old son.
“Yunho!”
It didn’t leave Jaejoong with a choice but step in the shower cubicle. He turned the knobs to make the cold water warmer and just as he was about to pull away he felt Yunho’s hand grab his arm.
“Jaejoongie” Oh God. Those eyes. Those pleading eyes. “Jaejoongie…I don’t want to be broken anymore.”
It had been such a long time since he heard that soft voice, such a long time since he looked into those eyes. “Jaejoongie, help me. Fix me.”
---
A/N: Oh. My. God. It’s been so long since I updated. I think, I might have changed my writing style since so much time had past. I’m so sorry for the inconsistencies. My mind had evolved, whilst this fic had stayed where it was. T__T
I hope you guys still remember this. For those who waited, I can never thank you enough. For those who are just reading, thank you for giving this a try. Thank yoooooou! And I am so sorry it took so long to update.