pikasu
in
crosswards
paper cranes
title: paper cranes
rating: pg-13
genre: cheese and fluff, crack, romance
pairing: yunho/jaejoong
summary: Jaejoong folds a thousand paper cranes and wishes for Yunho's return. The others join in along the way to get Jaejoong into the Christmas spirit. Somehow, it all works.
A/N: this is dedicated to my lovely readers, silent readers and if-i-have-any-readers-at-all readers. you all mean so much to me. thank you! ♥
paper cranes
Jaejoong's folding his eighty fourth paper crane.
He doesn't know how it's started - this origami obsession of his. Perhaps it happened in one of the snitches of time where Yunho's not around, or when Jaejoong was bored with baking and waiting for Yunho to call. But those periods happen often, as Yunho's never here; his company had dispatched him to Japan and Yunho's supposed to work there for the entire year. In scary, scary Japan without Jaejoong.
They've established the fact that Jaejoong couldn't follow Yunho to Japan, with his bakery - the pride of his life - still in Seoul. So Jaejoong remains behind as Yunho picks up his baggages and leaves for Japan. His heart ached, and he had cried, though Yunho had told him not to. But Jaejoong already started missing Yunho even when he hasn't left, so of course he misses him more when Yunho's finally gone.
They've been dating for eight years already, and Yunho's been such a lovely, wonderful and amazing person that Jaejoong cannot help but feel so very lucky for having him in his life. Even after Yunho had left, Jaejoong still receives phone calls from him and letters, though they dwindle down over the months as Yunho's really busy in Japan. Jaejoong's okay with that though, because he understands. He understands how much Yunho's job means to him (his own meant the world to him too) and he understands how he needs to be a good boyfriend for Yunho and wait patiently till he's back in his arms once again.
But no matter how much Jaejoong understands everything, he can't stop the longing.
They say if you fold a thousand paper cranes, you can make a wish - any wish, and it'll come true. Jaejoong's planning to fold a thousand, and a thousand more if he needs to, as some kind of distraction for him in between his work life and everything else, and also to wish for Yunho's safe return. It's Christmas soon anyway, and Jaejoong's looking forward to it. Because once Christmas ends, January's going to be here real soon, and January means a new year. A new year means Yunho's coming back.
Jaejoong can't wait for Yunho to come back.
Of course, he's a little lonely, without Yunho in his life. Especially when Christmas is nearing and Jaejoong doesn't have anything to do besides bake cakes and cupcakes and cookies to sell off. He gets sick of the flour and the ovens every once in awhile, so Jaejoong takes that time and folds paper cranes too. So here he is, at his eighty-fourth paper crane in the midst of unfinished batter and sugar scattered everywhere. Jaejoong can't say he's happy, but he's content.
Jaejoong's content, but that doesn't mean that he's not lonely.
---
Junsu drops by when Jaejoong's at his three hundredth paper crane. It's just a few more days till Christmas, so Junsu brings along with him a slew of tinsels and lights and even mini Christmas trees just for decoration's sake. They spend the first half of the day talking, and munching on some cookies Jaejoong made, before carrying on with the decorations. Junsu had insisted that they had to 'pretty' Jaejoong's place. Just because he isn't planning to celebrate Christmas doesn't mean he shouldn't get into the holiday mood.
Somehow in the middle of everything, Junsu manages to entangle himself in the tinsels and trip over the lights and Jaejoong somehow spills glitter over his cookies and Junsu. Junsu's a little like a fairy now, Jaejoong notes in amusement, and flings more glitter on him just for fun. Junsu's a little miffed by this, so he pelts the cookies at Jaejoong, and soon they end up in a glitter food fight.
It obviously doesn't end well.
At least, Jaejoong thinks, his living room is indeed more dazzling than ever - it sparkles, even, with the glitter. Jaejoong just doesn't know how he's ever going to sit on the couch without getting glitter on his ass though.
“You'll have a shining ass!” Junsu says in glee when Jaejoong tells him that. “Then Yunho won't ever miss anymore when you're- ”
Jaejoong smacks Junsu hard, and huffs, though he smiles a little in amusement and flushes a deep red in embarrassment. “Shut up. Your ass is the size of an entire country, the size of China! It's huge enough without glitter to even miss it.”
“You're lying,” Junsu protests, and tackles Jaejoong to the ground. Glitter dust flies everywhere.
Jaejoong shoves Junsu over. Now, both of them shimmer. He blinks once, twice, and wonders why Junsu had said that he was lying. “Your ass is really huge,” Jaejoong finally says, and sticks his tongue out.
“No I mean, you're lying!” Junsu stares indignantly. He crosses his arms and kicks Jaejoong. “China isn't a country!”
“It's a continent,' Junsu says proudly. And Jaejoong doesn't know if he should laugh, cry, or clean up the glitter.
He settles for tickling Junsu's ass.
---
Changmin visits just as Jaejoong's folding his five-hundred and fifty-sixth paper crane. He brings in tow a box of donuts and cupcakes, that he had bought from Jaejoong's bakery. Jaejoong sees them, and rolls his eyes before sharply elbowing Changmin.
“I can bake them myself, you know,” Jaejoong says as Changmin places the box down and scoots over to Jaejoong on the couch.
“I know,” Changmin replies, and tugs on the loose locks of Jaejoong's hair idly. Jaejoong briefly glances at Changmin, and hits him on the shoulder. It doesn't take long before Changmin punches back, and then it escalates into another punching match once again. Jaejoong wins this time though, and hums a victory tune under his breath as they gather themselves.
It's a period of silence when Changmin reaches out for a cupcake and Jaejoong lies on the couch, legs splayed on Changmin's lap. He thinks about Christmas, and a pang of loneliness hits him again.
“I miss him,” Jaejoong whispers, and raises a hand to cover his eyes, as if the light's too blinding and the darkness is a comfort blanket.
He doesn't know what Changmin does next, but Jaejoong assumes that he turns around to stare at him for awhile, before taking a bite out of his cupcake. Jaejoong shuffles, and rubs his feet on the rough texture of Changmin's pants, before throwing his head back in contemplation.
“I know,” Changmin finally says after awhile. They lie there afterwards, in companionable silence. And then Jaejoong replays the scene in his head, and laughs.
Changmin's too smart for his own good after all.
---
The next time a person drops by is when Jaejoong's already on his seven-hundred and thirteenth crane. The doorbell rings and Jaejoong hears the familiar voice of Yoochun from the other side. He sighs, but a smile is already on his face at the joy of seeing his best friend, and puts the crane down neatly against the side together with the other seven-hundred and twelve cranes. Jaejoong gets up and marches hastily to the door, before Yoochun knocks it down, like the other time where Jaejoong had been so sad that he had refused to see anyone for days and Yoochun had brought a sledgehammer and literally destroyed Jaejoong's entire door. Yunho had not been pleased when Jaejoong had called to tell him about it.
What he doesn't expect though, is that Yoochun is blinding. Blindingly red and green with blinking white lights around his entire body and a pointy star hat on his head.
Jaejoong is speechless.
“Do you like it?” Yoochun asks excitedly and lifts his arms up before turning an entire round to show off his entire outfit.
“I-” Jaejoong finally manages. He barely nods his head, and opens the door wider to let Yoochun in. When Yoochun walks in, Jaejoong can practically see the amount of glitter he had slathered across his costume. He gulps.
Yoochun's practically shedding glitter by the time he reaches his couch, and Jaejoong cannot help but think about a glittery ass again. They plug in the karaoke system, and sing for awhile. It's not for a very long time though, as Jaejoong really doesn't want to disturb the neighbours. Yoochun sounds too much like a dying duck for them to continue any further. And Jaejoong doesn't want to go deaf before Yunho returns.
“Okay,” Jaejoong starts, after they properly stow away the microphones. He and stares at Yoochun as if he's gone mad and reaches out to tentatively prod the blinking lights on Yoochun. “What, the fuck are you wearing.”
“Isn't it obvious?” Yoochun rolls his eyes. “Look, I'll show you.” He digs into his pocket and brings out a switch and flicks it to the left. The lights on Yoochun start turning a deep red, and then green, and pales a little amber in between.
“Uh,” Jaejoong guesses. “You're a traffic light?”
“No,” Yoochun retorts with a flabbergasted look on his face. He touches Jaejoong's forehead, as if to check if he's doing all right. Jaejoong raises his eyebrows, and somehow, he has a very bad feeling of what's coming after.
“I'm a Christmas tree!”
And of course, the bad feeling's always right.
---
Jaejoong gets a parcel on Christmas, and when he's just done with the eight hundredth crane. It's an ordinary parcel - brown and flimsy with a stamp by the side. He doesn't think of it much, though he is a little curious just as to who would have sent it. So he opens it immediately when he settles on his couch (now covered with more glitter, thanks to Yoochun).
Inside, it's a cake decorated with white lilies and red frosting, with the words Marry Me? written in Yunho's distinct handwriting, and a small 'Merry Christmas!' at the side.
“You can marry the fuck out of Christmas,” Jaejoong mutters, though his face is stretched to an uncontrollably huge smile. “And see if I care.”
An hour later, he gets a phone call, and Jaejoong doesn't even need to check the Caller ID before knowing who it is.
“You're so impatient,” Jaejoong hums when he picks up the phone.
“I couldn't wait,” a sheepish voice rings pleasantly in his ears. Yunho's voice. The only one that he truly loves. “And it's Christmas after all so-”
“Shut up,” Jaejoong says, and smiles even wider, pressing his lips to the speaker as if it'll transfer his love over to Yunho.
“Um,” Yunho asks hesitantly. “So is that a Yes or a No?”
Jaejoong laughs, and his heart dips in glee as he shuffles his feet to rid of the glitter. “I'll tell you when you're back.” And he hangs up.
Later, Jaejoong closes his bakery and sits by the living room couch, uncaring of all the glitter there is and only focusing on folding the paper cranes, one by one, as if they'll seal up all his love for Yunho and release it when he's back.
---
The paper cranes flutter when a stray wind passes, and it briefly tickles the tips of Jaejoong's fingers, as he folds the paper into half. A few minutes later, he lets out a happy and satisfied sigh of relief when he's done with the crane. His one thousandth crane. He glances at the calendar by the side, and his heart squeezes in excitement when he catches the date once again. Then, he takes out a black marker and scrawls something on the left wing of the last crane, before tucking it safely with the other cranes. Jaejoong clasps his hands together, and whispers a few words when he's finally done.
The doorbell rings, and that's all it takes for Jaejoong to fly over and yank open the door. When he sees the person standing, right in front of him, at the doorstep, Jaejoong finally lets out all his tears of longing and happiness and sorrows and flings himself to the other's embrace.
“You're back,” Jaejoong whispers, and buries himself against the crook of Yunho's neck.
“I am,” Yunho replies shakily, as if he's too overwhelmed by happiness to speak. He brings his right hand across Jaejoong's back, and pulls them impossibly closer together. Jaejoong is tucked safely in his arms, with a smile pressed onto Yunho's shirt. And they stay like that, for a long time, just melting into each other's presence.
At the corner of the table, the thousand cranes stir gently against the breeze, as if they're flapping in satisfaction of another wish come true. The thousandth crane Jaejoong had folded rustles a little more, revealling the words Jaejoong had scrawled onto the wing, and onto his very own heart.
“Yes, yes. A million times yes”
---
A/N: I felt so spoiled by fandom/ficdom - my favourite stories had sequels and my favourite authors updated that I got so happy and decided to write this as a Christmas fic as well, though I didn't plan on doing it at first xD Thank you elly for the sort-of beta and blue for giving me oodles of inspiration! ♥
Thank you, really, to all my readers for leaving me lovely comments and bothering to read and just making me so happy all the time. A few months ago, I couldn't imagine myself writing fanfiction, and let alone posting it. But it's because of all you wonderful people that gave me courage to post more. I'm not a person with a high self-esteem, but you guys give me the strength to believe in myself more. Thank you! ♥
Merry Christmas to all of you ♥
rating: pg-13
genre: cheese and fluff, crack, romance
pairing: yunho/jaejoong
summary: Jaejoong folds a thousand paper cranes and wishes for Yunho's return. The others join in along the way to get Jaejoong into the Christmas spirit. Somehow, it all works.
A/N: this is dedicated to my lovely readers, silent readers and if-i-have-any-readers-at-all readers. you all mean so much to me. thank you! ♥
paper cranes
Jaejoong's folding his eighty fourth paper crane.
He doesn't know how it's started - this origami obsession of his. Perhaps it happened in one of the snitches of time where Yunho's not around, or when Jaejoong was bored with baking and waiting for Yunho to call. But those periods happen often, as Yunho's never here; his company had dispatched him to Japan and Yunho's supposed to work there for the entire year. In scary, scary Japan without Jaejoong.
They've established the fact that Jaejoong couldn't follow Yunho to Japan, with his bakery - the pride of his life - still in Seoul. So Jaejoong remains behind as Yunho picks up his baggages and leaves for Japan. His heart ached, and he had cried, though Yunho had told him not to. But Jaejoong already started missing Yunho even when he hasn't left, so of course he misses him more when Yunho's finally gone.
They've been dating for eight years already, and Yunho's been such a lovely, wonderful and amazing person that Jaejoong cannot help but feel so very lucky for having him in his life. Even after Yunho had left, Jaejoong still receives phone calls from him and letters, though they dwindle down over the months as Yunho's really busy in Japan. Jaejoong's okay with that though, because he understands. He understands how much Yunho's job means to him (his own meant the world to him too) and he understands how he needs to be a good boyfriend for Yunho and wait patiently till he's back in his arms once again.
But no matter how much Jaejoong understands everything, he can't stop the longing.
They say if you fold a thousand paper cranes, you can make a wish - any wish, and it'll come true. Jaejoong's planning to fold a thousand, and a thousand more if he needs to, as some kind of distraction for him in between his work life and everything else, and also to wish for Yunho's safe return. It's Christmas soon anyway, and Jaejoong's looking forward to it. Because once Christmas ends, January's going to be here real soon, and January means a new year. A new year means Yunho's coming back.
Jaejoong can't wait for Yunho to come back.
Of course, he's a little lonely, without Yunho in his life. Especially when Christmas is nearing and Jaejoong doesn't have anything to do besides bake cakes and cupcakes and cookies to sell off. He gets sick of the flour and the ovens every once in awhile, so Jaejoong takes that time and folds paper cranes too. So here he is, at his eighty-fourth paper crane in the midst of unfinished batter and sugar scattered everywhere. Jaejoong can't say he's happy, but he's content.
Jaejoong's content, but that doesn't mean that he's not lonely.
---
Junsu drops by when Jaejoong's at his three hundredth paper crane. It's just a few more days till Christmas, so Junsu brings along with him a slew of tinsels and lights and even mini Christmas trees just for decoration's sake. They spend the first half of the day talking, and munching on some cookies Jaejoong made, before carrying on with the decorations. Junsu had insisted that they had to 'pretty' Jaejoong's place. Just because he isn't planning to celebrate Christmas doesn't mean he shouldn't get into the holiday mood.
Somehow in the middle of everything, Junsu manages to entangle himself in the tinsels and trip over the lights and Jaejoong somehow spills glitter over his cookies and Junsu. Junsu's a little like a fairy now, Jaejoong notes in amusement, and flings more glitter on him just for fun. Junsu's a little miffed by this, so he pelts the cookies at Jaejoong, and soon they end up in a glitter food fight.
It obviously doesn't end well.
At least, Jaejoong thinks, his living room is indeed more dazzling than ever - it sparkles, even, with the glitter. Jaejoong just doesn't know how he's ever going to sit on the couch without getting glitter on his ass though.
“You'll have a shining ass!” Junsu says in glee when Jaejoong tells him that. “Then Yunho won't ever miss anymore when you're- ”
Jaejoong smacks Junsu hard, and huffs, though he smiles a little in amusement and flushes a deep red in embarrassment. “Shut up. Your ass is the size of an entire country, the size of China! It's huge enough without glitter to even miss it.”
“You're lying,” Junsu protests, and tackles Jaejoong to the ground. Glitter dust flies everywhere.
Jaejoong shoves Junsu over. Now, both of them shimmer. He blinks once, twice, and wonders why Junsu had said that he was lying. “Your ass is really huge,” Jaejoong finally says, and sticks his tongue out.
“No I mean, you're lying!” Junsu stares indignantly. He crosses his arms and kicks Jaejoong. “China isn't a country!”
“It's a continent,' Junsu says proudly. And Jaejoong doesn't know if he should laugh, cry, or clean up the glitter.
He settles for tickling Junsu's ass.
---
Changmin visits just as Jaejoong's folding his five-hundred and fifty-sixth paper crane. He brings in tow a box of donuts and cupcakes, that he had bought from Jaejoong's bakery. Jaejoong sees them, and rolls his eyes before sharply elbowing Changmin.
“I can bake them myself, you know,” Jaejoong says as Changmin places the box down and scoots over to Jaejoong on the couch.
“I know,” Changmin replies, and tugs on the loose locks of Jaejoong's hair idly. Jaejoong briefly glances at Changmin, and hits him on the shoulder. It doesn't take long before Changmin punches back, and then it escalates into another punching match once again. Jaejoong wins this time though, and hums a victory tune under his breath as they gather themselves.
It's a period of silence when Changmin reaches out for a cupcake and Jaejoong lies on the couch, legs splayed on Changmin's lap. He thinks about Christmas, and a pang of loneliness hits him again.
“I miss him,” Jaejoong whispers, and raises a hand to cover his eyes, as if the light's too blinding and the darkness is a comfort blanket.
He doesn't know what Changmin does next, but Jaejoong assumes that he turns around to stare at him for awhile, before taking a bite out of his cupcake. Jaejoong shuffles, and rubs his feet on the rough texture of Changmin's pants, before throwing his head back in contemplation.
“I know,” Changmin finally says after awhile. They lie there afterwards, in companionable silence. And then Jaejoong replays the scene in his head, and laughs.
Changmin's too smart for his own good after all.
---
The next time a person drops by is when Jaejoong's already on his seven-hundred and thirteenth crane. The doorbell rings and Jaejoong hears the familiar voice of Yoochun from the other side. He sighs, but a smile is already on his face at the joy of seeing his best friend, and puts the crane down neatly against the side together with the other seven-hundred and twelve cranes. Jaejoong gets up and marches hastily to the door, before Yoochun knocks it down, like the other time where Jaejoong had been so sad that he had refused to see anyone for days and Yoochun had brought a sledgehammer and literally destroyed Jaejoong's entire door. Yunho had not been pleased when Jaejoong had called to tell him about it.
What he doesn't expect though, is that Yoochun is blinding. Blindingly red and green with blinking white lights around his entire body and a pointy star hat on his head.
Jaejoong is speechless.
“Do you like it?” Yoochun asks excitedly and lifts his arms up before turning an entire round to show off his entire outfit.
“I-” Jaejoong finally manages. He barely nods his head, and opens the door wider to let Yoochun in. When Yoochun walks in, Jaejoong can practically see the amount of glitter he had slathered across his costume. He gulps.
Yoochun's practically shedding glitter by the time he reaches his couch, and Jaejoong cannot help but think about a glittery ass again. They plug in the karaoke system, and sing for awhile. It's not for a very long time though, as Jaejoong really doesn't want to disturb the neighbours. Yoochun sounds too much like a dying duck for them to continue any further. And Jaejoong doesn't want to go deaf before Yunho returns.
“Okay,” Jaejoong starts, after they properly stow away the microphones. He and stares at Yoochun as if he's gone mad and reaches out to tentatively prod the blinking lights on Yoochun. “What, the fuck are you wearing.”
“Isn't it obvious?” Yoochun rolls his eyes. “Look, I'll show you.” He digs into his pocket and brings out a switch and flicks it to the left. The lights on Yoochun start turning a deep red, and then green, and pales a little amber in between.
“Uh,” Jaejoong guesses. “You're a traffic light?”
“No,” Yoochun retorts with a flabbergasted look on his face. He touches Jaejoong's forehead, as if to check if he's doing all right. Jaejoong raises his eyebrows, and somehow, he has a very bad feeling of what's coming after.
“I'm a Christmas tree!”
And of course, the bad feeling's always right.
---
Jaejoong gets a parcel on Christmas, and when he's just done with the eight hundredth crane. It's an ordinary parcel - brown and flimsy with a stamp by the side. He doesn't think of it much, though he is a little curious just as to who would have sent it. So he opens it immediately when he settles on his couch (now covered with more glitter, thanks to Yoochun).
Inside, it's a cake decorated with white lilies and red frosting, with the words Marry Me? written in Yunho's distinct handwriting, and a small 'Merry Christmas!' at the side.
“You can marry the fuck out of Christmas,” Jaejoong mutters, though his face is stretched to an uncontrollably huge smile. “And see if I care.”
An hour later, he gets a phone call, and Jaejoong doesn't even need to check the Caller ID before knowing who it is.
“You're so impatient,” Jaejoong hums when he picks up the phone.
“I couldn't wait,” a sheepish voice rings pleasantly in his ears. Yunho's voice. The only one that he truly loves. “And it's Christmas after all so-”
“Shut up,” Jaejoong says, and smiles even wider, pressing his lips to the speaker as if it'll transfer his love over to Yunho.
“Um,” Yunho asks hesitantly. “So is that a Yes or a No?”
Jaejoong laughs, and his heart dips in glee as he shuffles his feet to rid of the glitter. “I'll tell you when you're back.” And he hangs up.
Later, Jaejoong closes his bakery and sits by the living room couch, uncaring of all the glitter there is and only focusing on folding the paper cranes, one by one, as if they'll seal up all his love for Yunho and release it when he's back.
---
The paper cranes flutter when a stray wind passes, and it briefly tickles the tips of Jaejoong's fingers, as he folds the paper into half. A few minutes later, he lets out a happy and satisfied sigh of relief when he's done with the crane. His one thousandth crane. He glances at the calendar by the side, and his heart squeezes in excitement when he catches the date once again. Then, he takes out a black marker and scrawls something on the left wing of the last crane, before tucking it safely with the other cranes. Jaejoong clasps his hands together, and whispers a few words when he's finally done.
The doorbell rings, and that's all it takes for Jaejoong to fly over and yank open the door. When he sees the person standing, right in front of him, at the doorstep, Jaejoong finally lets out all his tears of longing and happiness and sorrows and flings himself to the other's embrace.
“You're back,” Jaejoong whispers, and buries himself against the crook of Yunho's neck.
“I am,” Yunho replies shakily, as if he's too overwhelmed by happiness to speak. He brings his right hand across Jaejoong's back, and pulls them impossibly closer together. Jaejoong is tucked safely in his arms, with a smile pressed onto Yunho's shirt. And they stay like that, for a long time, just melting into each other's presence.
At the corner of the table, the thousand cranes stir gently against the breeze, as if they're flapping in satisfaction of another wish come true. The thousandth crane Jaejoong had folded rustles a little more, revealling the words Jaejoong had scrawled onto the wing, and onto his very own heart.
“Yes, yes. A million times yes”
---
A/N: I felt so spoiled by fandom/ficdom - my favourite stories had sequels and my favourite authors updated that I got so happy and decided to write this as a Christmas fic as well, though I didn't plan on doing it at first xD Thank you elly for the sort-of beta and blue for giving me oodles of inspiration! ♥
Thank you, really, to all my readers for leaving me lovely comments and bothering to read and just making me so happy all the time. A few months ago, I couldn't imagine myself writing fanfiction, and let alone posting it. But it's because of all you wonderful people that gave me courage to post more. I'm not a person with a high self-esteem, but you guys give me the strength to believe in myself more. Thank you! ♥
Merry Christmas to all of you ♥