DSBK Fic #1.3: Anata no Memory Chapter 3
Title : Anata no Memory(chaptered)
Parts: Chapter 3/?
Pairing : [DBSK Fandom] JaeChun at prologue. Oh wait, don't run away! JaeHo, of course.
Rating : PG, drama, AU
Author : Randix
Disclaimer : No, the boys belong to themselves. I'm just a poor writer.
Summary : /AU/ How on earth will Yunho and Jae Joong find themselves together, when JaeChun has a pretty much perfect relationship? And if Yunho, a workaholic doctor, is not interested in Jae Joong, a music teacher, in the first place?
But Yunho finds himself taking care of Jae Joong for Yoochun, who has been whisked away to America for his studies, especially with Jae Joong having to deal with a rare kind of health disorder.
Comments: Comments are lovely. They're food. Feed me? =) And because I love you all for reading, the more detailed Yoosu will come in the next chapters. <3
Chapter 1: But Jae Joong thought, Yunho has a pretty smile.
Chapter 2: Hi, I'm YoungWoong Jae Joong. Let's . . . . make good memories from now on
Chapter Three
To: Mr. YoungWoong Jae Joong
From: Amazon Korea
Date: Jun 30, 2007 7:13 PM
Subject: Confirmation for Order No. 347294
Mailed-by: mail.amazon.co.kr
Dear Valued Customer,
We are pleased to inform you that your purchased items (order # 347294) has been delivered to the intended recipient on June 30, 2007.
Details are as follows:
Item Name: Dong Bang Shin Ki Limited Edition Choosey Lover
Item Number: 347294
Quantity: 1
Date purchased: June 25, 2007
Total price: $19.98
Purchase price: $10.99
Shipping cost: $ 8.99
Amazon points earned: 10
Shipping details are as follows:
Date shipped: June 30, 2007
Recipient: YoungWoong Junsu
Address:
110 Madison Hall # 5800
Berkeley, CA 94720-5800
Date received: July 1, 2007 est. time 5:27 p.m.
Delivery confirmation #: 454852
We thank you for your patronage, and we look forward to serving you again soon!
Best Regards,
Amazon Korea
----------------------------------------------------------
To: YoungWoong JJ
From: Junsu
Details: 8:20 am(16 hours ago)
Date: July 2, 2007
Subject: T_T Hyung!
Mailed-by: mail.berkeley.edu
OMG OMG JOONGIE HYUNGIE! Sarangsarangsarangsaranghae! <3 I got it, I got it! I thought you weren't serious T_T This is the best NONbirthday gift to me ever joongiehyungie! The cover's sooo shiny. So I was having this really crappy day at school, and when I went home someone was standing at the door and it's the Amazon man and he gave me the box and I was like what the hell and then WOOOOW. I love you hyung!!!!! They have music stores here that have international artists but there's no DBSK but now I have a copyyaaaaaaay!
I love you Hyungie! Now I'm really really happy. XD And since you're the bestest ever hyung in the world I'll try to start getting along with Yoochun. Maybe I'll take him out to snacks after this email, before he manages to chew off his nails in front of the TV. He's not looking so happy right now, and he has this really weird habit of biting his nails O_O why does he do that? >.< Is that, like, you eating tubs of ice cream when you're pissed?
I'm doing fine so far, classes keep me busy. I get a little homesick sometimes, and your boyfriend is not helping because he's moping. But I found this Korean students organization so I'm cool, and we're gonna play soccer this weekend! I miss home! I really hope Mom's not crying so much >.< Sometimes I don't wanna call home because she'll end up crying again. I'm fine~!
Bye Joongie, I'll email you a longer one later! Say hello to everyone for me, and don't forget to record the Hanyeon soccer game this weekend. T_T HYUNG WHAT WILL I DO WITHOUT YOU HYUNG? You’re the bestest ever.
Love you,
Cute Junsu
----------------------------------------------------------
To: YoungWoong JJ
From: Junsu
Details 8:30 am (16 hours ago)
Date: Jul 2, 2007
Subject: T_T Hyung!
Mailed-by: mail.berkeley.edu
NO, I changed my mind. That jerk! He spilled coke on the floor and he used my favorite soccer shirt to wipe it I was supposed to wear that shirt this weekend and now I have to wash it again and THAT JERKKK!!! And he thought it was a RAAG I'm going to kill him but you won't kill me because you love me more. - Junsu
+ + + + +
Jae Joong opened his eyes, stared up at his white ceiling. Morning, it was already morning, 7:30 in the morning to be exact, because his digital alarm clock was already singing “good morning, good morning!” and will be doing so for the next thirty seconds.
29, 28, 27 . . . . 15, 14, 13 . . . . 9, 8, 7. . . . 3, 2, 1.
Jae Joong lifted his left arm.
Up without effort, straight to a vertical position. Then he lifted his right arm, effortlessly as he did with the other. A little smile curved his lips. Okay, let’s try this. Breathing deeply, without dropping his arms, he lifted his left leg.
Up. No effort. He smiled, as the Pikachu prints in his blanket stared back at him, hanging from his raised leg. Then with another breath, he raised his right leg.
Up. Vertical, effortlessly. Another Pikachu print stared back at him.
“GOOD MORNING WORLD!” Jae Joong jumped up from his bed and ran to his table, almost knocking over his chair in the process. Grabbing his blue marker, he hopped - yes, he hopped - to his huge calendar hanging on the door of his closet, and put another X over the today’s date. Jae Joong took a step back and looked at his calendar. Five x’s for you, Jae Joong! I told you there’s nothing wrong with you!
Jae Joong had to admit he was more than alarmed with what happened to him a few nights ago, when his muscles gave up on him and he couldn’t move them, and he ended up sleeping on the floor instead. He was too tired to panic or wonder why he was suddenly immobile, but with the amount of all-nighters he’d been pulling these past few nights, plus the fact that his appetite hasn’t been well without Yoochun around, he once thought that dropping dead wasn’t a very remote possibility.
He woke up the next morning feeling a little sore from sleeping on the floor, but his legs and arms were okay again that he seriously wondered if he was just dreaming of being immobile the previous night.
That’s not to say that little incident didn’t bother him. So he made a little arrangement. If anything like that occurs once again, if there is any one time - even for a second - that he will be unable to move his arms or legs for the next five days since his little mishap, he will go see a doctor.
And today is the 5th day. And that’s 5 X marks on his calendar too. Not even a single incident. Every morning for the past five days he’d do that little lifting and stretching exercise when he wakes up, just to check if something is amiss with his movements. But nada, none, nil. Maa, Jae Joong, he told himself as he stared at himself in the mirror while brushing his teeth, nothing’s wrong with you, see! There’s no reason to see a doctor -
Oh wait, didn’t I promise Yunho-ah? He stared at his reflection in the mirror, bubbly froth in his mouth. I promised Yunho-ah I’ll go for check-up, but . . .
Yunho-ah. It still amazes Jae Joong every time he thinks about how he had been bumping into Yoochun’s brother more during these past few days than during his 22 years combined. And he wasn’t sure how to feel about it. There was this weird part of him that would want to drag Yunho out of his office and go. . . somewhere. Just somewhere, anywhere but his white-washed office walls and stack of papers and his swivel chair.
It wasn’t very difficult to differentiate Yoochun and Yunho, he thought. Where Yoochun offered ready, warm smiles, Jae Joong felt that it would take more effort to see Yunho’s smile, and somehow it bothered him. It was like he was always tense, always on guard. Jae Joong wouldn’t be surprised if one day he’d see Yoochun’s brother with visible energy crackling all around him, being tense as he was right now. On the other hand, there was this weird part of him that didn’t want to see Yunho that often, although he couldn’t understand why.
Maybe he reminded Jae Joong too much of Yoochun?
“Your brother Yunho,” Jae Joong said as he went out of the bathroom, and settled down the floor in front of his bedside table, where Yoochun’s - and his - favorite picture was, “is cute, but I think he’s lonely. Maybe we should’ve hung out with him more often when we were younger. Come to think of it, why didn’t we really hang out with him that much before?”
Jae Joong scratched his brow, then his eyes lit up. “Oh right, we were the school delinquents!” He laughed softly, remembering how he and Yoochun would jump over the South - the most unguarded - gate of their school to cut classes and ride their bikes by the river all afternoon (He won’t be able to forget that place, it was where their first “accidental” kiss happened, after all.).
Then he frowned once more, “But I think he really needs more friends. What do you think, Chunnie?” He poked Yoochun’s cheek in the picture, and smiled to himself. “I miss you.”
He got up, swiping one long finger gently over Yoochun’s face in the picture, and proceeded to rummage through his closet. He has some time today - the whole day, as a matter of fact. Today was a school holiday, at least for the elementary kids.
Last night before he went to sleep he had already planned out his day: do grocery in the morning, bike by the Hanyeon river, eat ice cream on his and Yoochun’s favorite bench, go to the bank to pay his bills, go home and do his lesson plans, and last but not the least, email Junsu to try not to kill Yoochun.
Really, he wondered why those two never got along. Come to think of it, when they were back here, even if Yoochun teased the hell out of Junsu, the other boy would just . . . oh right, leave the room or ignore them both. Maa, Jae Joong hadn’t really thought about it until now.
Having decided on what to wear for that day, he took another look at his calendar with the 5 Xs, and another bright smile broke out on his face. Then he marched over to his desk and pulled out his Things to Do list. Grabbing a pen, he added, “Call Yunho-ah.” He’ll have a lot of time in the grocery today to think of how to say that there really was no need for a check-up. Smirking, he added, “Tell Chunnie to stop bothering his brother.”
Satisfied, he folded the paper and inserted it into his coat’s pocket.
Today is going to be a nice day.
+ + + + +
“ . . . ng Geum, Inhwan, Seulie. . . .Heebon . . . Woongie . .Minjae. . . Siwon . . . and Ha-chul.” Jae Joong looked at the packs of chocolates in his basket, mentally counting the number of pieces so that each of his 22 students will get one after their scheduled group activity next week. Bribing the kids with food always did the trick, and they’d actively participate on the games knowing that the winner of the activity will get 3 prizes more - chocolate bars, in this case - than the rest of the class. Certain that the three bags of Snickers were more than enough, he walked towards the centre aisle and looked from left to right, trying to remember which direction the houseware section was.
Jae Joong walked past the grocery shelves, a little annoyed that there were so many people at that time of the day, on a weekday no less. But the large “SALE” signs all over the store explained the sheer number, and the box of chamomile tea that he got himself was already among the last three boxes in the shelf. The aisles were wide, but he even bumped into some people more than twice. Jae Joong picked up his steps; the queue at the cashier was getting longer by the minute, and he’d have to hurry up if he want to get the next grocery item on his list. Not that a lot of people buy it but still -
“Aish,” Jae Joong sighed in relief, immediately grabbing the hamtaro lunch box in front of him. He fought the urge to jump up in relief, but this was the last hamtaro lunch box in the shelf, after all! Grabbing his list from his coat’s pocket and a pen, he wrote, “Tell Yunho-ah he could have that lunch box.”
Seriously, he felt embarrassed for having to ask for it again, but he was a little weird when it comes to his hamtaro stuff. But since he could buy another now, he could let that lunchbox go. Consider it as a friendship gift, Jae Joong nodded to himself. I wonder how he liked the food -?
“Mama -“
He looked to his left, and saw a boy - about 8-years old - pointing to the hamtaro lunch box on his hands, the boy’s other hand tugging at the end of his mother’s blouse. He looked up with wide bright eyes at Jae Joong, “Mama -“
Jae Joong was torn between crying and giving the lunch box to the boy. He closed his eyes for a minute, the wheels on his head turning 100 miles per hour. God, I gave my lunch to my officemate the other day because he forgot his wallet, and the other day I helped an old woman crossed the street, and the day before that I cooked for Aunt Chae because she was sick because her children weren’t around and I helped Mom with the laundry and bought Junsu some CDs and please God it’s bad to count the good things you did but can I just have this lunchbox instead of the kid please just this once?
Jae Joong wished that when he opens his eyes the boy would disappear but, that’s not very nice, is it? Oh man, what’s the point, he’ll end up giving the lunchbox away anyway, his conscience wouldn’t be able to -
“Sungie,” the boy’s mother began, bowing at Jae Joong before turning her kid around. “That’s for younger kids, let’s go find you another one. Maybe he’s someone’s daddy.”
“Daddy?” Jae Joong heard the kid ask as he followed his mother away, “Mama, I thought she was a nuna.”
“MWO?” Jae Joong’s eyes widened, stopping himself from hurling the lunch box towards someone, or something. He was very kind, but when it comes to things like that, he has his limits - oh wait, can he really blame the boy? He was wearing a pink sweatshirt after all. But he liked this sweatshirt! And Yoochun has always said he looked really good in pink -
His phone began to ring that familiar tune, and he had to rummage through his body bag with both hands before finding that damn mobile phone, which happened to have placed itself on the very bottom. The name CHUNNIE BAYBEH blinked on the screen; the phone was on its second round of ringing -
“Chunnie?” He heard someone speaking in the background, but he couldn’t make out any of the words. “Chunnie-ah? Sorry, can you speak louder, I can’t hear you.” Then he heard more garbled words, drowned by the noise of the supermarket.
“Chunnie baby, speak louder. I’m outside and I can’t hear you,” Jae Joong said, a little scared that Yoochun might think there was something wrong with the line and just drop the call. Not when he really wanted to hear his lover’s voice. He walked to the end of the aisle, towards the back row of shelves, hoping that the noise will go down somehow - “Chunnie?”
“Joongie?” Pause. “Can you hear me now?”
“CHUNNIE!”
“Hi, Joongie.”
Jae Joong frowned. Yoochun didn’t sound very well. “Chunnie, what’s wrong? Are you sick?”
Pause. “I MISS YOU BABY!” It was a very loud whine, followed by sniffling. Then Yoochun sneezed. “I’m sick. Can you come over here and tuck me to bed?”
Jae Joong opened his mouth, then closed it again, unsure of what to say. He bit his lip, trying not to sound too depressed. He really wanted to run to Yoochun and take care of him. “I’m sorry, Chunnie. But it’ll take me some time to get a ticket and fly all the way there. You know what, Junsu-sshi can make a nice chicken soup, maybe you can ask him -“
“Did I tell you that he left me again and took the car to school and I had to take the bus again and it was raining like crazy?” Yoochun sneezed again. Then sniffled. “All because I thought his shirt was a . . . not a shirt. Where are you? What’s that noise?”
“Errands.” Jae Joong answered. “I’m in the supermark - “
“Saranghae, YoungWoong Jae Joong.”
Okay, that was really random. But Jae Joong couldn’t help but smile, the heat suddenly pooling in his cheeks. “Nado saranghae, Yoochun. What was that for?”
He could imagine Yoochun smiling as the other spoke, “I don’t know. I just felt like saying that.” Pause. “Well, actually, I was just thinking that, you know, maybe . . . .”
“Yes?”
“You remember your last email to me? Yeah, the one where you said it was “hitting on you”?” Yoochun chuckled, “You said something about . . . well it was actually me who said something about getting. . . you . . .,” pause. “Aish. Forget it. Next time.”
“Chunnie-ah,” Jae Joong pouted, and he wished his boyfriend would see it. “What is it? You know you can tell me.”
Yoochun laughed a little, although his voice still sounded hoarse. “Tomorrow. I’ll tell you tomorrow. Is that okay? If I say anymore I’d probably think about you whole day and there goes my time for studying. I have my dreaded make-up exam on accounting tomorrow.”
Oh. Make-up. Maybe that’s why Junsu said Yoochun was depressed; he must’ve failed his exams. Jae Joong sighed; there was no way to get Yoochun to talk if the latter didn’t really want to. “Okay. Call me tomorrow? Get well, Chunnie. I miss you. Drink a lot of water and then you can -”
“I love you Jae Joong.”
Jae Joong smiled once more, one hand touching his cheek and feeling the heat there. “Ah -“
“Okay, okay, I’ll end the call before I make you faint from all that blood rush,” came Yoochun’s smug reply. After a few more goodbyes (In four different languages: Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese), and a brief argument as to who’s going to put the phone down, finally they ended the call at the same time. Jae Joong had to stand still for a few moments and will his blood circulation to return to normal.
Until he felt like something was missing.
His shopping cart! Jae Joong looked down the aisle, and sighed in relief when he saw his cart on the floor in front of the houseware shelf - where he remembered leaving it before he went towards the back to hear Yoochun’s call better. He reached it in a few steps, grabbed it and made his way to the nearest cashier, and then he’d be done -
Jae Joong stopped. And looked at his basket.
No Hamtaro lunchbox.
+ + + + +
His Hamtaro lunchbox was gone! Gone, disappeared. Jae Joong’s eyes frantically darted towards the shelf where he got it, but it was also empty. It was like it didn’t exist in the first place. He wondered if he was just daydreaming when he thought he got the last hamtaro lunch box available. But then it was so real, there was even this boy who thought -
“Aish!” Jae Joong groaned to himself, slapping his forehead. What, did the boy come back while he was busy with Yoochun’s call, and got the lunchbox from his cart? That wasn’t very good manners! Jae Joong would’ve given the lunch box to him anyway, if he asked! He looked around him, trying to see the mother and her child, but this was almost a next to impossible task with the amount of shoppers at that place. He went down the centre aisle, determined to find HIS lunchbox. Plus, his teacher instincts were kicking in. Should he go left, or right?
Or, Jae Joong’s eyes lit up as he saw the growing queue at the cashier, he could first start with checking the baskets of the people already lined up. Who knows, maybe the mother and the boy were already on their way to paying. It would save him time, if he’d just wait there -
Not wasting another moment, Jae Joong started with one of the four long queues, walking alongside the people already lined up, his eyes trained at each basket. This could be very interesting, Jae Joong began to think, after he saw several boxes of condoms on a basket of a grandmother, bottles of bathroom cleaner on the basket of an obviously disgruntled mother (Jae Joong wondered how she’ll exactly all use that), and women’s personal care products on the basket of a guy. But really, he shouldn’t be enjoying this! He was here to look for -
One queue done and no hamtaro lunch box.
He proceeded to the next queue, walked from the last person until the first of the line, not bothering to look at the faces of the shoppers anymore, his eyes just trained on their baskets on the floor. Nope, no hamtaro lunch box. Two down.
Next queue. Baskets, more baskets of grocery products. No hamtaro lunchbox. Jae Joong was close to screaming his head off.
Fourth queue, last line. If he didn’t find the mother and her child there, there was a 50% chance they were still around shopping, and another 50% chance that they were already done with their purchases and were already out of the supermarket. Maybe he should start running around the grocery now, since he was almost at the end of the fourth line anyway, near the cashier.
Basket, full of grocery products, no lunch box.
Next basket, corned beef, laundry detergent, baby diapers, no lunchbox.
Next basket, bottles of wine, ice cream, apples, chamomile tea, no lunchbox.
Next basket, hamtaro lunchbox.
Next basket, hand towels, cans of pineapple juice -
Jae Joong backtracked, his eyes at the basket immediately next in line to the cashier. Hamtaro!
Without thinking for another second, he bowed low towards the mother, closing his eyes and clasping his hands together, “I’m sorry, but please, can I just buy the hamtaro lunch box from you, if you like? I really, really, really,” he emphasized each word, “need the lunchbox. If you want, you can have it for a much higher price -“
Jae Joong looked up. His words died on his throat.
“Yah.” Yunho nodded towards him, looking a little confused and at the same time embarrassed, as some people were already looking at them. “Jae Joong-ah.”
+ + + + +
“Yunho-ah.” He said, totally shocked. He was expecting to see the mother and her child, not Jung Yunho lined up there, looking like he hasn’t slept a wink, and pulling out cash from his pocket to pay already for HIS hamtaro lunch box - the doctor’s ONLY purchase. “What - what - “
“I wasn’t expecting you here.” Yunho told him, reflecting his own thoughts, as he grabbed the grocery bag and started walking. His voice sounded hoarse. “Good morning. What a surprise.”
“Hi. Um. . . “ Jae Joong finally got his tongue working, still dumbstruck at the sudden turn of events. He pointed towards Yunho’s grocery bag. “Sorry. . . to ask you this, but. . . . I know this is weird, but,” he paused then looked at Yunho straight in the eye, “Can I just buy the hamtaro lunch box from you?”
Yunho looked at him like he just confessed to murder. He looked at his bag, then back to Jae Joong. “Sorry, Jae Joong-ah. I need this as well. I’m sure you can buy another one somewhere else.”
Jae Joong held on to the other boy’s wrist just as the latter was about to walk away. His eyes shone with fierce determination. The next supermarket he knew that carried the same brand of lunchboxes was still a 2-hour train ride away. “I’ll buy it from you. At TWICE the price.”
“Jae Joong-ah,” Yunho said softly, biting back a yawn. “You can’t buy this from me, okay?”
“THRICE THE PRICE!” Boy, wasn’t he desperate.
Yunho shook his head sleepily, then squinted to check his watch. He looked like he wasn’t even listening to the ranting boy in front of him. “I need to get going already. I’ll see you around, right?”
“But . . . but. . . . .you . . you. . .you can’t need it as much!” Jae Joong suddenly blurted out, running after Yunho, as the other already has made his way out of the grocery and into the parking lot. What were the chances that he and Yunho would want the same lunchbox? This wasn’t happening!
“Wait! Yunho-ah.” He stopped by what seemed to be Yunho’s car, as the latter was already fixing some things at the backseat. “I was -“
“Alright. Take it.”
“Ha?”
Yunho emerged from the car and held the lunchbox towards Jae Joong, who just stood there, dumbfounded. He repeated again, “Take it.”
Jae Joong took the offered item, not totally understanding what was going on. First Yunho said no even when he offered it for a higher price, now he was giving practically giving it to Jae Joong FOR FREE. He could only stand there, speechless, as Yunho walked towards him. He placed the one Jae Joong sent to the hospital on the other boy’s arms.
Jae Joong thought he heard the doctor mutter something along the lines of, “Aish, there goes my plan.” But he wasn’t so sure. Yunho’s voice snapped him out of his reverie. “Well, that saves me from gift-wrapping it.”
Jae Joong blinked. Gift?
“Aish, I’m . . .I’m not really good at this.” Yunho rubbed the back of his neck, as he stood in front of Jae Joong. He didn’t know if the pink on Yunho’s cheeks was because of lack of sleep, or was he blushing?
“But. . . the food. . .was good.” Yunho said, and it took some time for Jae Joong to fully understand what he was talking about. “Especially the seafood. So . . . . thank you. I didn’t know what to give you but you seemed so. . . . close with your hamtaro lunch box so I thought. . .” Yunho’s eyes went wide, “Oh sorry, there’s still the price tag, but it’s not like you don’t know how much it costs, right?”
“Uh.” Jae Joong looked at the lunchboxes in his arms, nodding dumbly.
Yunho yawned, then immediately covered his mouth. He looked really plastered, Jae Joong thought. “Oops, sorry. That was impolite. But uh, I really should get going, it’s almost 10:00.” He went to the driver’s seat, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. “Can I take you out? I mean,” Yunho paused, as if trying to process exactly what he said, “Aish, wrong. I mean, can I take you home?”
“Are you sure you can drive Yunho-ah?” Jae Joong laughed; the other boy really looked pitiful. He wished that Yunho didn’t have any operations today, because he might just be sued for malpractice. He pointed towards the bike stands of the grocery anyway, indicating that he bought his own ride.
“Ah,” Yunho covered another yawn with both hands, “So, I’ll see you soon Jae Joong-ah! For your check-up? You said this week.”
“Um,” Jae Joong stared at the other boy, wondering how exactly to say it without sounding really rude; he was breaking an arranged meeting after all. And when he saw the lunchbox in his hands, he felt guiltier than ever. He could see it now: Yoochun will never stop bothering Yunho even if Jae Joong talked to his boyfriend, and he didn’t want to be another cause of the doctor’s stress, more than what Yunho was experiencing right now. But still, there really wasn’t anything wrong with him . . .
Briefly he wondered what was keeping Yunho so stressed out lately. And he surely didn’t want to add to that. Okay, so maybe he didn’t have to say no right now. Maybe some other day. Jae Joong smiled, “I’ll . . .I’ll try.”
Now, he wasn’t entirely lying. He said he’ll TRY, after all.
He raised his new lunchbox, raised his voice a little so Yunho could hear him over the sound of the car’s engine. “Thanks again, Yunho-ah.”
Jae Joong saw Yunho make a little bow of acknowledgement, flash a small sleepy smile and drove off. Then he just stood there, watched as the car disappeared from his sight. Suddenly, a weird thought occurred to him: even though Yunho looked ridiculously sleepy, his eyes nearly closed, his smile, no matter how small, was still really pretty.
“Aish,” he said, then grabbed his list of things to do from his bag, totally annoyed with himself. He took his pen, and with a heavy heart scribbled on his paper:
Eat ice cream. Go visit the hospital. TODAY.
+ + + + +
Jae Joong didn’t like hospitals.
The last time he was here was when he was 10, about 15 years ago. It was one rainy July Monday. Several doctors and nurses took his father away on a stretcher, unconscious, and they were trying to attach tubes into his body, while some doctors took his mother away into a room, talking about medical stuff he didn’t understand a thing about. All that he understood that day was that he had to take care of Junsu, shouldn’t let him out of his sight even for a second. Hospitals had a lot of people, and it was easy to get lost in its halls. They had stayed in one of the benches along the hallway. He had wanted to cry, but Junsu was crying too - Umma! Hyung! Appa stopped breathing! He was just giving me a piggyback ride when we fell and he’s not breathing! HYUUUNGGG! - and Jae Joong thought he had to be strong for the both of them.
He remembered holding Junsu’s hand until his brother fell asleep. And he fell asleep too. When he woke up, his mother was beside them. And she didn’t have to say a word to make him understand. Hospitals had a lot of people, and it was easy to get lost in its halls.
His father wasn’t coming back.
“Yes, are you looking for someone?” A female voice broke his train of thoughts, and Jae Joong found himself looking at one of the nurses, who was looking at him in confusion.
He shook his head.
“Oh, okay.” The nurse smiled. “But do you mind, Sir? You’re standing in the middle of the doorway.”
“Ah, sorry.” He had been too caught up with his thoughts that he didn’t notice that he hadn’t fully stepped inside the hospital; he was just standing on the doorway, and on the centre, no less. He continued walking, trying to remember the room number of Yunho. He had called him earlier to inform him that he was dropping by, to which the doctor responded very happily. And when he heard Yunho laugh softly on the other end of the line Jae Joong thought he really made the right decision. Nevertheless, the sooner he could get out of there, the better.
“So, you came.” Yunho jogged towards him, coming down from a flight of stairs to his left. Surprisingly, he looked very much awake, and Jae Joong wondered how many cups of coffee he had to take. “I’m glad.”
“Mianhe,” He bowed apologetically. “I know you’re a busy person, so I’ll be a very obedient patient. I will not ask any questions. This should keep Chunnie off your back now.”
Yunho looked at him, confused, but he smiled anyway. “It’s really quick, just some tests, about 5 to 6 of them, then that’s it.” He gestured towards the hallway to their left, “This way, Jae Joong-ah.”
Jae Joong followed, falling in step with Yunho. For a while he was pressured to make small talk, but the air in the hospital seemed to suffocate him, and he was getting disoriented with the amount of movement in the hallways. But then again, there really was no need to make small talk, no need to worry that he was being a boring companion. Besides, every now and then Yunho would be greeted by a nurse or a patient.
For someone very quiet and reserved, Jae Joong thought that Yunho was a rather popular doctor. He thought it was because Yunho exceeded this protective kind of appeal, and it was something that drew people towards him. Maybe that was why he first perceived Yunho to be always on his guard, always tense - because he was exuding a lot of his “protective” self. Being around him gave patients a sense of safety, and Jae Joong saw it in the eyes of the little girl that Yunho took into his arms for a couple of minutes, in the eyes of the old woman in the wheelchair, in the eyes of the pregnant woman waiting outside one of the offices, in the eyes of the nurse - Oh wait, the eyes of the nurse. Oh, that was a different story.
She was undressing Yunho with her eyes, and it beats any kind of xray machine in the planet. Of course Jae Joong knows that look. (After all, he had done that a million times to Yoochun.) He couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought.
“What are you laughing about?” Yunho suddenly queried.
“Oh, nothing.” He removed his hand from his mouth so that Yunho could hear him better, “It’s just that, that nurse,” he pointed his thumb towards where they came from, “is giving you that look.”
“What look?” Yunho asked.
“That look!”
“What, what that look I don’t -“
“The look.” Jae Joong stopped, then turned to Yunho. Suddenly he was at a loss for words. He didn’t know exactly how to explain it, except that the first time he did that to Yoochun he ended up not being able to walk for a few days. But that is something he won’t tell anybody, even if his life depended on it. He shook his head instead, “It’s a different kind of look, and you’d know it’s different because . . . it’s like. . . “
He tried to remember how he does it with Yoochun. Oh, right. To achieve maximum effect, he’d look at him, make intense eye contact. Then, Jae Joong would start undressing him in his mind. He’d start with Yoochun’s coat, off with it. Then he’s left with the long-sleeved shirt and his pants. Next will be the tie, and the tie will fall on the floor, and the top button of the sleeved shirt will be a little open, exposing Yoochun’s collarbones, and Jae Joong’s imaginary fingers will slowly unfasten each button, slowly, slowly, and he will slide it off Yoochun’s smooth arms, let it fall on the floor. Then his fingers will find the belt, unfasten it, throw in a long deep kiss to distract Yoochun, who likes to put in enough struggle to make it interesting . . . Ah, Chunnie. . . With Yoochun, foreplay was just as good as -
“ - Joong-ah?”
“Hmm?” Jae Joong turned to the voice calling him, still stuck in his daydream -
- until he started wondering why Yunho was looking so uncomfortable, and his face was so red, and he looked like he had an apple stuck on his throat. The sentence, “I won’t even ask what you’re thinking about” hung heavily in the air. Finally Jae Joong put two and two together, and suddenly he wished the ground would open up and swallow him. He turned on his heels and started walking, “Uh, what were we talking about? Never mind.”
He didn’t know which was worse - the fact that Yunho caught him in the middle of Chunnie-daydreaming, or the possibility that he was too caught up in his undressing of Chunnie in his head that to an observer, it would look like he was undressing Yunho with his eyes. He was standing in front of him after all! Then, he realized that he had stuck out his tongue too! Oh dammit, what was he trying to do -
“JUNG YUNHO!”
Jae Joong looked up to see another doctor walking towards them, never been more relieved in his entire life for the totally welcomed disturbance. Suddenly, he remembered that this was the same doctor whom he met when he was first on Yunho’s office, worrying about his nose that wasn’t broken in the first place. Dr. Song! The shorter doctor, in his mid-40s, reached them and tapped Yunho none-too-gently on the shoulder.
“Yunho-ah! Why are you doing this to me?” Dr. Song began, after acknowledging Jae Joong’s presence with a small bow, “Don’t you know that I’ve been dreaming of that precious gim-bahp*,” He looked at Yunho with pleading eyes, “It’s been days but I still remember how smooth it felt on my mouth, how tasty, each grain bursting with flavour. . and LOVE! I sleep thinking about it, I wake up and I still taste it on my -“
“Hyung, maybe because you haven’t brushed your teeth.” It was high-time that Yunho shoot down his godfather’s dramatic antics anyway.
Dr. Song ignored him, his eyes dreamy. “Why, won’t you tell me who she is, where you met her? Oh, mysterious magical gim-bahp cook of the hamtaro lunch box . . “ He spared a glance at Jae Joong, as if to express his sentiments to the boy. He shook his head, “Yes, like your lunch bo - LIKE YOUR LUNCH BOX!”
Jae Joong flashed a smile, then looked at Yunho, who was already green with embarrassment. “Uh, hi?”
“Is it you?” Dr. Song asked in wonder, his eyes wide. Suddenly, he took Jae Joong’s hand on his own, “Is it you, the mysterious magical gim-bahp cook of the hamtaro lunch -“
“Hyung, stop it already!” Yunho hissed, then shook his head. “This is Jae Joong, and yes, he was the one who cooked the lunch you were talking about. Happy? No, he’s not on a cooking business so drop the idea of take-out or delivery. He’s a teacher, and can you please stop squeezing his hands already?” He tried to peel his godfather’s fingers one by one, from Jae Joong’s own.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir.” Jae Joong said politely, but his cheeks were flustered. He really feels happy when people complement his cooking, especially since he had come a long way from burning noodles, or their very own kitchen. It took him some minutes to realize that the other doctor had been talking about the lunch he cooked for Yunho earlier, a little surprised that someone else was able to taste it too. For a moment he wondered if -
“He stole a gim-bahp, actually. I didn’t give him any.” Yunho said, as if reading his mind.
“Oh, where are my manners?” Dr. Song immediately sobered up, and stood straight in front of Jae Joong. “Hi, I’m Hyuk Lee Song, Jung Yunho’s godfather. I’m pleased to meet you. . .?”
“YoungWoong Jae Joong.” Jae Joong said, taking the extended hand of the doctor and shaking it firmly.
“Ah, Jae Joongie,” Dr. Song nodded smiling, as if pleased with himself. “Yah, Yunho.” He looked at Yunho, “I made a mistake last time. I changed my mind. Now I say, marry HIM. Marry HIM now.”
Jae Joong almost bit his tongue.
“HYUNG!” Yunho reprimanded, his tone a little bit higher. It was obvious that he was trying to mask his embarrassment with more than a little amount of aggressiveness. He looked at Jae Joong, mouthing a sorry, then looked back at Dr. Song. “Hyung, Jae Joong is WITH Yoochun. They’re. . .together.”
Trying to stifle his laughter, Jae Joong looked at Dr. Song and nodded, affirming what the older Jung said.
“Together?” Dr. Song asked, then a look of realization dawned upon him after a few seconds. He smiled at Jae Joong. “It’s Chunnie, then! What a lucky boy. Oh wait, does that boy still work up a cyclone with his temper? I remember, when he was younger, he got into this real bad fight with one of the neighbour’s kids just because of a pancake. And then, the neighbour’s kid - well, we all know kids are impulsive, right? - tried to hit Chunnie with the first thing he could get his hands on - and he was holding a spoon!”
Jae Joong's eyes widened. He didn’t know that. Perhaps it happened such a long time ago? He knew that Yoochun really had a bad temper, but with all those years of being together - from friends to lovers, they managed to keep their fights into a minimum. Even Aunt Eun Seun, Chunnie’s mother, would tell Jae Joong how he had magically tempered Yoochun’s defensive streak.
“But!” Dr. Song continued, “Good thing his Yunho-hyung was there and saw what that boy was about to do! So the boy got mad at him instead and tsk, hit HIM instead. See the scar right there?” He pointed at a long faded line near Yunho’s left eye. About half an inch long, it wasn't easily visible, but it was there. “That’s a blunt spoon handle for you.”
Jae Joong looked at Yunho, but the latter suddenly found something interesting on the floor, trying to avoid his gaze. He looked at the scar. That is going to last forever, he thought. And for something he didn’t even do. Suddenly he felt the urge the embrace the doctor, but he quickly squished it. But his fingers seemed to have a life of their own, and before he knew it, he had already reached out to touch Yunho’s face . . . . He got this for Yoochun -
Yunho jumped when his fingers and his face made contact, and he immediately withdrew his hand. “Sorry, I -“
“Eh? Hyung, that was such a long time ago, I don’t even remember it anymore.” Yunho said immediately, suddenly looking uncomfortable. He turned to Jae Joong, “Don’t listen to him very much; he has this knack for making me appear like some knight in shining armor.”
“Whatever do you mean? That really happened!” Dr. Song said, his tone a little reprimanding. “And Yunnie, if I don’t have that knack, you’d probably end up getting married when you’re 100!”
The older doctor shook his head, a little defensive. He turned to Jae Joong, “Anyway, I do hope Chunnie’s treating you well. Oh, but he’s in America right now, isn’t he? Well Jae Joongie, just in case you ever feel lonely, there’s always Yunnie -“
“HYUNG!” Yunho said, clearly not amused anymore. Jae Joong caught his frown, but he was probably holding back primarily because this was his hyung, his godfather after all. He felt Yunho’s hand fingeres around his arm, urging him to continue walking, “We’re going now, Dr. Song. See you later. And it’s Mr. YoungWoong for you!”
Jae Joong bowed a goodbye to the other doctor, still trying to hide his amusement but clearly failed. He heard Yunho muttering under his breath, but all he caught was, “Sorry, he’s really annoying sometimes. Please, please ignore him. Please.”
“Eh?” He looked at Yunho, “It’s okay. He’s funny. And he likes you a lot.”
“Right.”
Jae Joong wanted to ask if it hurt when the neighbour’s kid hit him, but he had a feeling Yunho wouldn’t tell him the truth, anyway. He just looked like the type to. . .hide things like that. They turned right at the end of the hallway, walked a few more steps, and stopped in front of a door.
“We’re here. All tests will be done here, so it’s really fast.” Yunho gestured for Jae Joong to come inside. He found himself in another hallway, with rooms on each side with glass walls, containing different medical machines and apparatus. Although he said he wouldn’t ask questions, Jae Joong wondered for a moment why his physical check-up would require all that much. And was that a CT scan? He only saw one of those in the movies, and he thought it was kinda cool, but still. . .
He’s not going to ask . .he’s not going to ask . . . .
“YoungWoong Jae Joong?” A female doctor emerged from the door at the end of the hallway, and she bowed an acknowledgement to Yunho before turning back to her new patient. “Dr. Lee. This way please.”
Jae Joong looked at Yunho, who just stood by the end of the hallway. He couldn’t help but smile when Yunho suddenly made a peace sign, pointed to the spot he was standing, and said, “I’ll be right here.”
He went inside.
+ + + + +
THIS DRAFT EMAIL HAS BEEN SAVED on Jul 2, 2007 11:04 PM
To: cute_junsu
From: Joongie
Details 11:04 pm(30 mins ago)
Date: Jul 2, 2007
Subject: RE: T_T Hyung!
Mailed-by: mail.chil.edu.kr
Junsu,
I’m glad you liked your CD. You SOO owe me $30 for that. ^_^v
I heard it’s rainy back there, try not to catch a cold. You know how bad it gets when you do. Hey, you know what? I went to have some physical check-up today and I remembered you! You remember that blood-donation drive that you were required to do on 3rd year, and you dragged me along just because . . . you knew you were going to faint and someone had to bring you home? ^_^v I won’t tease you about it anymore. Because today I sat there and watched as they filled a plastic container with my blood. Hmm, well I guess that was the worst part of it.
After that, they just took X-rays of me with the CAT scan (they even got an xray of my foot. I mean, how weird is that?) and I was just glad I didn’t fall asleep. Then we went to this room with bars and they just asked me to raise them with my arms and legs. Like pretty much the same stuff you do when you warm-up for your soccer games, except that, well the bars were connected to a computer. It’s some kind of muscle testing, I think. But I think it’s kinda overdone. I mean, I’m just having some headaches these past few days, and though there was this one time when I couldn’t move my legs and arms but still, I think it was overdone. Glad it’s over now, though.
Ne, Junsu-sshi . . . I really don’t know how to say this, but I hope you and Yoochun start being friends. You only got each other, and I can’t just bear the thought of you guys biting each other’s throats. I want the two of you back here WHOLE, okay? Don’t worry, I’m telling Yoochun to cut down on being a “jerk”, like you say he is. Well, it’s just that. . .I think he’s more homesick than you are. I know, I know, he’s your hyung, but yeah, sometimes he doesn’t act like his age. XD
Yes, he bites his nails when his anxious. Can you please watch out for that dangerous habit of his? I don’t want him coming home with less than ten fingers. If you manage to do that, you get a Dong Bang photobook. How’s that? And can you please give him some of your magical noodle soup? If you do, I forgive you for leaving him AGAIN and driving to school on your own. (Yes, I know about that.)
Please do this for your hyung? :) Besides, I promise I’d record Hanyeon soccer games already. Please?
Take care, Junnie. Tell me all about your soccer game this weekend, send pictures if you can. I'm glad you're making friends there! Me. . .Hmm, I think I'm making a new friend back here but I'm not so sure. ^_^;; I'll tell you about it in another email. XD
Mom and I miss you a lot; suddenly it’s so quiet around the house, there are no dolphin wake-up calls in the morning anymore. (I’ve resorted back to my trusty old alarm clock, which always happens to ring 15 minutes later than when it’s scheduled to.) I miss you barging in my bedroom and waking me up, lol.
What would you do without me? Sheesh, how sad is that? XD
Love, Joongie
P.S. Stop calling me HYUNGIE, it sounds weird!
P.S. II. Did the Coke stain the shirt? Try putting any clear shampoo on the stain, cover it with salt, and leave it like that overnight. Then wash it the next day. That should do the trick. (See? What did I tell you about trying to laundry your own clothes when you were still here?)
---------------------------------------------------------------
THIS IS A COPY OF THE EMAIL YOU SENT on Jul 2, 2007 11:54 PM to cute_junsu with the following details:
To: cute_junsu
From: Joongie
Details 11:54 pm(50 mins ago)
Date: Jul 2, 2007
Subject: RE: T_T Hyung!
Mailed-by: mail.chil.edu.kr
Junsu,
I’m glad you liked your CD. Oh, by the way, you SOO owe me $30 for that. ^_^v
I heard it’s rainy back there, try not to catch a cold. You know how bad it gets when you do. Hey, you know what? I went to have some physical check-up today and I remembered you! You remember that blood-donation drive that you were required to do on 3rd year, and you dragged me along just because . . . you knew you were going to faint and someone had to bring you home? ^_^v Anyway, I’m fine, nothing wrong with me whatsoever!
Ne, Junsu-sshi . . . I really don’t know how to say this, but I hope you and Yoochun start being friends. You only got each other, and I can’t just bear the thought of you guys biting each other’s throats. I want the two of you back here WHOLE, okay? Don’t worry, I’m telling Yoochun as well to cut back on being a “jerk”, like you say he is. Well, it’s just that. . .I think he’s more homesick than you are. I know, I know, he’s your hyung, but yeah, sometimes he doesn’t act like his age. XD
Yes, he bites his nails when his anxious. Can you please watch out for that dangerous habit of his? I don’t want him coming home with less than ten fingers. If you manage to do that, you get a Dong Bang photobook. How’s that? And can you please give him some of your magical noodle soup? If you do, I forgive you for leaving him AGAIN and driving to school on your own. (Yes, I know about that.)
Please do this for your hyung? :) Besides, I’ve recorded your Hanyeon games already.
Please?
Take care, Junnie. Tell me all about your soccer game this weekend, send pictures if you can. Mom and I miss you a lot; suddenly it’s so quiet around the house, there are no dolphin wake-up calls in the morning anymore. (I’ve resorted back to my trusty old alarm clock, which always happens to ring 15 minutes later than when it’s scheduled to.) I miss you barging in my bedroom and waking me up, lol.
What would you do without me? Sheesh, how sad is that? XD
Love, Joongie
P.S. Stop calling me HYUNGIE, it sounds weird!
P.S. II. Did the Coke stain the shirt? Try putting any clear shampoo on the stain, cover it with salt, and leave it like that overnight. Then wash it the next day. That should do the trick. (See? What did I tell you about trying to laundry your own clothes when you were still here?)
TBC
Author's Notes
1. *sigh* I don't know what to feel for this chapter. I feel like I didn't write it really well *bangs head on desk* How frustrating. XD Sorry if it disappointed anybody. :(
2. Gim-bahp is like the Korean version of the Japanese sushi roll, although they used meat and vegetables, not raw fish.
3. Comments are love. <3
4. I seriously need a beta. T_T
Parts: Chapter 3/?
Pairing : [DBSK Fandom] JaeChun at prologue. Oh wait, don't run away! JaeHo, of course.
Rating : PG, drama, AU
Author : Randix
Disclaimer : No, the boys belong to themselves. I'm just a poor writer.
Summary : /AU/ How on earth will Yunho and Jae Joong find themselves together, when JaeChun has a pretty much perfect relationship? And if Yunho, a workaholic doctor, is not interested in Jae Joong, a music teacher, in the first place?
But Yunho finds himself taking care of Jae Joong for Yoochun, who has been whisked away to America for his studies, especially with Jae Joong having to deal with a rare kind of health disorder.
Comments: Comments are lovely. They're food. Feed me? =) And because I love you all for reading, the more detailed Yoosu will come in the next chapters. <3
Chapter 1: But Jae Joong thought, Yunho has a pretty smile.
Chapter 2: Hi, I'm YoungWoong Jae Joong. Let's . . . . make good memories from now on
Chapter Three
To: Mr. YoungWoong Jae Joong
From: Amazon Korea
Date: Jun 30, 2007 7:13 PM
Subject: Confirmation for Order No. 347294
Mailed-by: mail.amazon.co.kr
Dear Valued Customer,
We are pleased to inform you that your purchased items (order # 347294) has been delivered to the intended recipient on June 30, 2007.
Details are as follows:
Item Name: Dong Bang Shin Ki Limited Edition Choosey Lover
Item Number: 347294
Quantity: 1
Date purchased: June 25, 2007
Total price: $19.98
Purchase price: $10.99
Shipping cost: $ 8.99
Amazon points earned: 10
Shipping details are as follows:
Date shipped: June 30, 2007
Recipient: YoungWoong Junsu
Address:
110 Madison Hall # 5800
Berkeley, CA 94720-5800
Date received: July 1, 2007 est. time 5:27 p.m.
Delivery confirmation #: 454852
We thank you for your patronage, and we look forward to serving you again soon!
Best Regards,
Amazon Korea
----------------------------------------------------------
To: YoungWoong JJ
From: Junsu
Details: 8:20 am(16 hours ago)
Date: July 2, 2007
Subject: T_T Hyung!
Mailed-by: mail.berkeley.edu
OMG OMG JOONGIE HYUNGIE! Sarangsarangsarangsaranghae! <3 I got it, I got it! I thought you weren't serious T_T This is the best NONbirthday gift to me ever joongiehyungie! The cover's sooo shiny. So I was having this really crappy day at school, and when I went home someone was standing at the door and it's the Amazon man and he gave me the box and I was like what the hell and then WOOOOW. I love you hyung!!!!! They have music stores here that have international artists but there's no DBSK but now I have a copyyaaaaaaay!
I love you Hyungie! Now I'm really really happy. XD And since you're the bestest ever hyung in the world I'll try to start getting along with Yoochun. Maybe I'll take him out to snacks after this email, before he manages to chew off his nails in front of the TV. He's not looking so happy right now, and he has this really weird habit of biting his nails O_O why does he do that? >.< Is that, like, you eating tubs of ice cream when you're pissed?
I'm doing fine so far, classes keep me busy. I get a little homesick sometimes, and your boyfriend is not helping because he's moping. But I found this Korean students organization so I'm cool, and we're gonna play soccer this weekend! I miss home! I really hope Mom's not crying so much >.< Sometimes I don't wanna call home because she'll end up crying again. I'm fine~!
Bye Joongie, I'll email you a longer one later! Say hello to everyone for me, and don't forget to record the Hanyeon soccer game this weekend. T_T HYUNG WHAT WILL I DO WITHOUT YOU HYUNG? You’re the bestest ever.
Love you,
Cute Junsu
----------------------------------------------------------
To: YoungWoong JJ
From: Junsu
Details 8:30 am (16 hours ago)
Date: Jul 2, 2007
Subject: T_T Hyung!
Mailed-by: mail.berkeley.edu
NO, I changed my mind. That jerk! He spilled coke on the floor and he used my favorite soccer shirt to wipe it I was supposed to wear that shirt this weekend and now I have to wash it again and THAT JERKKK!!! And he thought it was a RAAG I'm going to kill him but you won't kill me because you love me more. - Junsu
+ + + + +
Jae Joong opened his eyes, stared up at his white ceiling. Morning, it was already morning, 7:30 in the morning to be exact, because his digital alarm clock was already singing “good morning, good morning!” and will be doing so for the next thirty seconds.
29, 28, 27 . . . . 15, 14, 13 . . . . 9, 8, 7. . . . 3, 2, 1.
Jae Joong lifted his left arm.
Up without effort, straight to a vertical position. Then he lifted his right arm, effortlessly as he did with the other. A little smile curved his lips. Okay, let’s try this. Breathing deeply, without dropping his arms, he lifted his left leg.
Up. No effort. He smiled, as the Pikachu prints in his blanket stared back at him, hanging from his raised leg. Then with another breath, he raised his right leg.
Up. Vertical, effortlessly. Another Pikachu print stared back at him.
“GOOD MORNING WORLD!” Jae Joong jumped up from his bed and ran to his table, almost knocking over his chair in the process. Grabbing his blue marker, he hopped - yes, he hopped - to his huge calendar hanging on the door of his closet, and put another X over the today’s date. Jae Joong took a step back and looked at his calendar. Five x’s for you, Jae Joong! I told you there’s nothing wrong with you!
Jae Joong had to admit he was more than alarmed with what happened to him a few nights ago, when his muscles gave up on him and he couldn’t move them, and he ended up sleeping on the floor instead. He was too tired to panic or wonder why he was suddenly immobile, but with the amount of all-nighters he’d been pulling these past few nights, plus the fact that his appetite hasn’t been well without Yoochun around, he once thought that dropping dead wasn’t a very remote possibility.
He woke up the next morning feeling a little sore from sleeping on the floor, but his legs and arms were okay again that he seriously wondered if he was just dreaming of being immobile the previous night.
That’s not to say that little incident didn’t bother him. So he made a little arrangement. If anything like that occurs once again, if there is any one time - even for a second - that he will be unable to move his arms or legs for the next five days since his little mishap, he will go see a doctor.
And today is the 5th day. And that’s 5 X marks on his calendar too. Not even a single incident. Every morning for the past five days he’d do that little lifting and stretching exercise when he wakes up, just to check if something is amiss with his movements. But nada, none, nil. Maa, Jae Joong, he told himself as he stared at himself in the mirror while brushing his teeth, nothing’s wrong with you, see! There’s no reason to see a doctor -
Oh wait, didn’t I promise Yunho-ah? He stared at his reflection in the mirror, bubbly froth in his mouth. I promised Yunho-ah I’ll go for check-up, but . . .
Yunho-ah. It still amazes Jae Joong every time he thinks about how he had been bumping into Yoochun’s brother more during these past few days than during his 22 years combined. And he wasn’t sure how to feel about it. There was this weird part of him that would want to drag Yunho out of his office and go. . . somewhere. Just somewhere, anywhere but his white-washed office walls and stack of papers and his swivel chair.
It wasn’t very difficult to differentiate Yoochun and Yunho, he thought. Where Yoochun offered ready, warm smiles, Jae Joong felt that it would take more effort to see Yunho’s smile, and somehow it bothered him. It was like he was always tense, always on guard. Jae Joong wouldn’t be surprised if one day he’d see Yoochun’s brother with visible energy crackling all around him, being tense as he was right now. On the other hand, there was this weird part of him that didn’t want to see Yunho that often, although he couldn’t understand why.
Maybe he reminded Jae Joong too much of Yoochun?
“Your brother Yunho,” Jae Joong said as he went out of the bathroom, and settled down the floor in front of his bedside table, where Yoochun’s - and his - favorite picture was, “is cute, but I think he’s lonely. Maybe we should’ve hung out with him more often when we were younger. Come to think of it, why didn’t we really hang out with him that much before?”
Jae Joong scratched his brow, then his eyes lit up. “Oh right, we were the school delinquents!” He laughed softly, remembering how he and Yoochun would jump over the South - the most unguarded - gate of their school to cut classes and ride their bikes by the river all afternoon (He won’t be able to forget that place, it was where their first “accidental” kiss happened, after all.).
Then he frowned once more, “But I think he really needs more friends. What do you think, Chunnie?” He poked Yoochun’s cheek in the picture, and smiled to himself. “I miss you.”
He got up, swiping one long finger gently over Yoochun’s face in the picture, and proceeded to rummage through his closet. He has some time today - the whole day, as a matter of fact. Today was a school holiday, at least for the elementary kids.
Last night before he went to sleep he had already planned out his day: do grocery in the morning, bike by the Hanyeon river, eat ice cream on his and Yoochun’s favorite bench, go to the bank to pay his bills, go home and do his lesson plans, and last but not the least, email Junsu to try not to kill Yoochun.
Really, he wondered why those two never got along. Come to think of it, when they were back here, even if Yoochun teased the hell out of Junsu, the other boy would just . . . oh right, leave the room or ignore them both. Maa, Jae Joong hadn’t really thought about it until now.
Having decided on what to wear for that day, he took another look at his calendar with the 5 Xs, and another bright smile broke out on his face. Then he marched over to his desk and pulled out his Things to Do list. Grabbing a pen, he added, “Call Yunho-ah.” He’ll have a lot of time in the grocery today to think of how to say that there really was no need for a check-up. Smirking, he added, “Tell Chunnie to stop bothering his brother.”
Satisfied, he folded the paper and inserted it into his coat’s pocket.
Today is going to be a nice day.
+ + + + +
“ . . . ng Geum, Inhwan, Seulie. . . .Heebon . . . Woongie . .Minjae. . . Siwon . . . and Ha-chul.” Jae Joong looked at the packs of chocolates in his basket, mentally counting the number of pieces so that each of his 22 students will get one after their scheduled group activity next week. Bribing the kids with food always did the trick, and they’d actively participate on the games knowing that the winner of the activity will get 3 prizes more - chocolate bars, in this case - than the rest of the class. Certain that the three bags of Snickers were more than enough, he walked towards the centre aisle and looked from left to right, trying to remember which direction the houseware section was.
Jae Joong walked past the grocery shelves, a little annoyed that there were so many people at that time of the day, on a weekday no less. But the large “SALE” signs all over the store explained the sheer number, and the box of chamomile tea that he got himself was already among the last three boxes in the shelf. The aisles were wide, but he even bumped into some people more than twice. Jae Joong picked up his steps; the queue at the cashier was getting longer by the minute, and he’d have to hurry up if he want to get the next grocery item on his list. Not that a lot of people buy it but still -
“Aish,” Jae Joong sighed in relief, immediately grabbing the hamtaro lunch box in front of him. He fought the urge to jump up in relief, but this was the last hamtaro lunch box in the shelf, after all! Grabbing his list from his coat’s pocket and a pen, he wrote, “Tell Yunho-ah he could have that lunch box.”
Seriously, he felt embarrassed for having to ask for it again, but he was a little weird when it comes to his hamtaro stuff. But since he could buy another now, he could let that lunchbox go. Consider it as a friendship gift, Jae Joong nodded to himself. I wonder how he liked the food -?
“Mama -“
He looked to his left, and saw a boy - about 8-years old - pointing to the hamtaro lunch box on his hands, the boy’s other hand tugging at the end of his mother’s blouse. He looked up with wide bright eyes at Jae Joong, “Mama -“
Jae Joong was torn between crying and giving the lunch box to the boy. He closed his eyes for a minute, the wheels on his head turning 100 miles per hour. God, I gave my lunch to my officemate the other day because he forgot his wallet, and the other day I helped an old woman crossed the street, and the day before that I cooked for Aunt Chae because she was sick because her children weren’t around and I helped Mom with the laundry and bought Junsu some CDs and please God it’s bad to count the good things you did but can I just have this lunchbox instead of the kid please just this once?
Jae Joong wished that when he opens his eyes the boy would disappear but, that’s not very nice, is it? Oh man, what’s the point, he’ll end up giving the lunchbox away anyway, his conscience wouldn’t be able to -
“Sungie,” the boy’s mother began, bowing at Jae Joong before turning her kid around. “That’s for younger kids, let’s go find you another one. Maybe he’s someone’s daddy.”
“Daddy?” Jae Joong heard the kid ask as he followed his mother away, “Mama, I thought she was a nuna.”
“MWO?” Jae Joong’s eyes widened, stopping himself from hurling the lunch box towards someone, or something. He was very kind, but when it comes to things like that, he has his limits - oh wait, can he really blame the boy? He was wearing a pink sweatshirt after all. But he liked this sweatshirt! And Yoochun has always said he looked really good in pink -
His phone began to ring that familiar tune, and he had to rummage through his body bag with both hands before finding that damn mobile phone, which happened to have placed itself on the very bottom. The name CHUNNIE BAYBEH blinked on the screen; the phone was on its second round of ringing -
“Chunnie?” He heard someone speaking in the background, but he couldn’t make out any of the words. “Chunnie-ah? Sorry, can you speak louder, I can’t hear you.” Then he heard more garbled words, drowned by the noise of the supermarket.
“Chunnie baby, speak louder. I’m outside and I can’t hear you,” Jae Joong said, a little scared that Yoochun might think there was something wrong with the line and just drop the call. Not when he really wanted to hear his lover’s voice. He walked to the end of the aisle, towards the back row of shelves, hoping that the noise will go down somehow - “Chunnie?”
“Joongie?” Pause. “Can you hear me now?”
“CHUNNIE!”
“Hi, Joongie.”
Jae Joong frowned. Yoochun didn’t sound very well. “Chunnie, what’s wrong? Are you sick?”
Pause. “I MISS YOU BABY!” It was a very loud whine, followed by sniffling. Then Yoochun sneezed. “I’m sick. Can you come over here and tuck me to bed?”
Jae Joong opened his mouth, then closed it again, unsure of what to say. He bit his lip, trying not to sound too depressed. He really wanted to run to Yoochun and take care of him. “I’m sorry, Chunnie. But it’ll take me some time to get a ticket and fly all the way there. You know what, Junsu-sshi can make a nice chicken soup, maybe you can ask him -“
“Did I tell you that he left me again and took the car to school and I had to take the bus again and it was raining like crazy?” Yoochun sneezed again. Then sniffled. “All because I thought his shirt was a . . . not a shirt. Where are you? What’s that noise?”
“Errands.” Jae Joong answered. “I’m in the supermark - “
“Saranghae, YoungWoong Jae Joong.”
Okay, that was really random. But Jae Joong couldn’t help but smile, the heat suddenly pooling in his cheeks. “Nado saranghae, Yoochun. What was that for?”
He could imagine Yoochun smiling as the other spoke, “I don’t know. I just felt like saying that.” Pause. “Well, actually, I was just thinking that, you know, maybe . . . .”
“Yes?”
“You remember your last email to me? Yeah, the one where you said it was “hitting on you”?” Yoochun chuckled, “You said something about . . . well it was actually me who said something about getting. . . you . . .,” pause. “Aish. Forget it. Next time.”
“Chunnie-ah,” Jae Joong pouted, and he wished his boyfriend would see it. “What is it? You know you can tell me.”
Yoochun laughed a little, although his voice still sounded hoarse. “Tomorrow. I’ll tell you tomorrow. Is that okay? If I say anymore I’d probably think about you whole day and there goes my time for studying. I have my dreaded make-up exam on accounting tomorrow.”
Oh. Make-up. Maybe that’s why Junsu said Yoochun was depressed; he must’ve failed his exams. Jae Joong sighed; there was no way to get Yoochun to talk if the latter didn’t really want to. “Okay. Call me tomorrow? Get well, Chunnie. I miss you. Drink a lot of water and then you can -”
“I love you Jae Joong.”
Jae Joong smiled once more, one hand touching his cheek and feeling the heat there. “Ah -“
“Okay, okay, I’ll end the call before I make you faint from all that blood rush,” came Yoochun’s smug reply. After a few more goodbyes (In four different languages: Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese), and a brief argument as to who’s going to put the phone down, finally they ended the call at the same time. Jae Joong had to stand still for a few moments and will his blood circulation to return to normal.
Until he felt like something was missing.
His shopping cart! Jae Joong looked down the aisle, and sighed in relief when he saw his cart on the floor in front of the houseware shelf - where he remembered leaving it before he went towards the back to hear Yoochun’s call better. He reached it in a few steps, grabbed it and made his way to the nearest cashier, and then he’d be done -
Jae Joong stopped. And looked at his basket.
No Hamtaro lunchbox.
+ + + + +
His Hamtaro lunchbox was gone! Gone, disappeared. Jae Joong’s eyes frantically darted towards the shelf where he got it, but it was also empty. It was like it didn’t exist in the first place. He wondered if he was just daydreaming when he thought he got the last hamtaro lunch box available. But then it was so real, there was even this boy who thought -
“Aish!” Jae Joong groaned to himself, slapping his forehead. What, did the boy come back while he was busy with Yoochun’s call, and got the lunchbox from his cart? That wasn’t very good manners! Jae Joong would’ve given the lunch box to him anyway, if he asked! He looked around him, trying to see the mother and her child, but this was almost a next to impossible task with the amount of shoppers at that place. He went down the centre aisle, determined to find HIS lunchbox. Plus, his teacher instincts were kicking in. Should he go left, or right?
Or, Jae Joong’s eyes lit up as he saw the growing queue at the cashier, he could first start with checking the baskets of the people already lined up. Who knows, maybe the mother and the boy were already on their way to paying. It would save him time, if he’d just wait there -
Not wasting another moment, Jae Joong started with one of the four long queues, walking alongside the people already lined up, his eyes trained at each basket. This could be very interesting, Jae Joong began to think, after he saw several boxes of condoms on a basket of a grandmother, bottles of bathroom cleaner on the basket of an obviously disgruntled mother (Jae Joong wondered how she’ll exactly all use that), and women’s personal care products on the basket of a guy. But really, he shouldn’t be enjoying this! He was here to look for -
One queue done and no hamtaro lunch box.
He proceeded to the next queue, walked from the last person until the first of the line, not bothering to look at the faces of the shoppers anymore, his eyes just trained on their baskets on the floor. Nope, no hamtaro lunch box. Two down.
Next queue. Baskets, more baskets of grocery products. No hamtaro lunchbox. Jae Joong was close to screaming his head off.
Fourth queue, last line. If he didn’t find the mother and her child there, there was a 50% chance they were still around shopping, and another 50% chance that they were already done with their purchases and were already out of the supermarket. Maybe he should start running around the grocery now, since he was almost at the end of the fourth line anyway, near the cashier.
Basket, full of grocery products, no lunch box.
Next basket, corned beef, laundry detergent, baby diapers, no lunchbox.
Next basket, bottles of wine, ice cream, apples, chamomile tea, no lunchbox.
Next basket, hamtaro lunchbox.
Next basket, hand towels, cans of pineapple juice -
Jae Joong backtracked, his eyes at the basket immediately next in line to the cashier. Hamtaro!
Without thinking for another second, he bowed low towards the mother, closing his eyes and clasping his hands together, “I’m sorry, but please, can I just buy the hamtaro lunch box from you, if you like? I really, really, really,” he emphasized each word, “need the lunchbox. If you want, you can have it for a much higher price -“
Jae Joong looked up. His words died on his throat.
“Yah.” Yunho nodded towards him, looking a little confused and at the same time embarrassed, as some people were already looking at them. “Jae Joong-ah.”
+ + + + +
“Yunho-ah.” He said, totally shocked. He was expecting to see the mother and her child, not Jung Yunho lined up there, looking like he hasn’t slept a wink, and pulling out cash from his pocket to pay already for HIS hamtaro lunch box - the doctor’s ONLY purchase. “What - what - “
“I wasn’t expecting you here.” Yunho told him, reflecting his own thoughts, as he grabbed the grocery bag and started walking. His voice sounded hoarse. “Good morning. What a surprise.”
“Hi. Um. . . “ Jae Joong finally got his tongue working, still dumbstruck at the sudden turn of events. He pointed towards Yunho’s grocery bag. “Sorry. . . to ask you this, but. . . . I know this is weird, but,” he paused then looked at Yunho straight in the eye, “Can I just buy the hamtaro lunch box from you?”
Yunho looked at him like he just confessed to murder. He looked at his bag, then back to Jae Joong. “Sorry, Jae Joong-ah. I need this as well. I’m sure you can buy another one somewhere else.”
Jae Joong held on to the other boy’s wrist just as the latter was about to walk away. His eyes shone with fierce determination. The next supermarket he knew that carried the same brand of lunchboxes was still a 2-hour train ride away. “I’ll buy it from you. At TWICE the price.”
“Jae Joong-ah,” Yunho said softly, biting back a yawn. “You can’t buy this from me, okay?”
“THRICE THE PRICE!” Boy, wasn’t he desperate.
Yunho shook his head sleepily, then squinted to check his watch. He looked like he wasn’t even listening to the ranting boy in front of him. “I need to get going already. I’ll see you around, right?”
“But . . . but. . . . .you . . you. . .you can’t need it as much!” Jae Joong suddenly blurted out, running after Yunho, as the other already has made his way out of the grocery and into the parking lot. What were the chances that he and Yunho would want the same lunchbox? This wasn’t happening!
“Wait! Yunho-ah.” He stopped by what seemed to be Yunho’s car, as the latter was already fixing some things at the backseat. “I was -“
“Alright. Take it.”
“Ha?”
Yunho emerged from the car and held the lunchbox towards Jae Joong, who just stood there, dumbfounded. He repeated again, “Take it.”
Jae Joong took the offered item, not totally understanding what was going on. First Yunho said no even when he offered it for a higher price, now he was giving practically giving it to Jae Joong FOR FREE. He could only stand there, speechless, as Yunho walked towards him. He placed the one Jae Joong sent to the hospital on the other boy’s arms.
Jae Joong thought he heard the doctor mutter something along the lines of, “Aish, there goes my plan.” But he wasn’t so sure. Yunho’s voice snapped him out of his reverie. “Well, that saves me from gift-wrapping it.”
Jae Joong blinked. Gift?
“Aish, I’m . . .I’m not really good at this.” Yunho rubbed the back of his neck, as he stood in front of Jae Joong. He didn’t know if the pink on Yunho’s cheeks was because of lack of sleep, or was he blushing?
“But. . . the food. . .was good.” Yunho said, and it took some time for Jae Joong to fully understand what he was talking about. “Especially the seafood. So . . . . thank you. I didn’t know what to give you but you seemed so. . . . close with your hamtaro lunch box so I thought. . .” Yunho’s eyes went wide, “Oh sorry, there’s still the price tag, but it’s not like you don’t know how much it costs, right?”
“Uh.” Jae Joong looked at the lunchboxes in his arms, nodding dumbly.
Yunho yawned, then immediately covered his mouth. He looked really plastered, Jae Joong thought. “Oops, sorry. That was impolite. But uh, I really should get going, it’s almost 10:00.” He went to the driver’s seat, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. “Can I take you out? I mean,” Yunho paused, as if trying to process exactly what he said, “Aish, wrong. I mean, can I take you home?”
“Are you sure you can drive Yunho-ah?” Jae Joong laughed; the other boy really looked pitiful. He wished that Yunho didn’t have any operations today, because he might just be sued for malpractice. He pointed towards the bike stands of the grocery anyway, indicating that he bought his own ride.
“Ah,” Yunho covered another yawn with both hands, “So, I’ll see you soon Jae Joong-ah! For your check-up? You said this week.”
“Um,” Jae Joong stared at the other boy, wondering how exactly to say it without sounding really rude; he was breaking an arranged meeting after all. And when he saw the lunchbox in his hands, he felt guiltier than ever. He could see it now: Yoochun will never stop bothering Yunho even if Jae Joong talked to his boyfriend, and he didn’t want to be another cause of the doctor’s stress, more than what Yunho was experiencing right now. But still, there really wasn’t anything wrong with him . . .
Briefly he wondered what was keeping Yunho so stressed out lately. And he surely didn’t want to add to that. Okay, so maybe he didn’t have to say no right now. Maybe some other day. Jae Joong smiled, “I’ll . . .I’ll try.”
Now, he wasn’t entirely lying. He said he’ll TRY, after all.
He raised his new lunchbox, raised his voice a little so Yunho could hear him over the sound of the car’s engine. “Thanks again, Yunho-ah.”
Jae Joong saw Yunho make a little bow of acknowledgement, flash a small sleepy smile and drove off. Then he just stood there, watched as the car disappeared from his sight. Suddenly, a weird thought occurred to him: even though Yunho looked ridiculously sleepy, his eyes nearly closed, his smile, no matter how small, was still really pretty.
“Aish,” he said, then grabbed his list of things to do from his bag, totally annoyed with himself. He took his pen, and with a heavy heart scribbled on his paper:
Eat ice cream. Go visit the hospital. TODAY.
+ + + + +
Jae Joong didn’t like hospitals.
The last time he was here was when he was 10, about 15 years ago. It was one rainy July Monday. Several doctors and nurses took his father away on a stretcher, unconscious, and they were trying to attach tubes into his body, while some doctors took his mother away into a room, talking about medical stuff he didn’t understand a thing about. All that he understood that day was that he had to take care of Junsu, shouldn’t let him out of his sight even for a second. Hospitals had a lot of people, and it was easy to get lost in its halls. They had stayed in one of the benches along the hallway. He had wanted to cry, but Junsu was crying too - Umma! Hyung! Appa stopped breathing! He was just giving me a piggyback ride when we fell and he’s not breathing! HYUUUNGGG! - and Jae Joong thought he had to be strong for the both of them.
He remembered holding Junsu’s hand until his brother fell asleep. And he fell asleep too. When he woke up, his mother was beside them. And she didn’t have to say a word to make him understand. Hospitals had a lot of people, and it was easy to get lost in its halls.
His father wasn’t coming back.
“Yes, are you looking for someone?” A female voice broke his train of thoughts, and Jae Joong found himself looking at one of the nurses, who was looking at him in confusion.
He shook his head.
“Oh, okay.” The nurse smiled. “But do you mind, Sir? You’re standing in the middle of the doorway.”
“Ah, sorry.” He had been too caught up with his thoughts that he didn’t notice that he hadn’t fully stepped inside the hospital; he was just standing on the doorway, and on the centre, no less. He continued walking, trying to remember the room number of Yunho. He had called him earlier to inform him that he was dropping by, to which the doctor responded very happily. And when he heard Yunho laugh softly on the other end of the line Jae Joong thought he really made the right decision. Nevertheless, the sooner he could get out of there, the better.
“So, you came.” Yunho jogged towards him, coming down from a flight of stairs to his left. Surprisingly, he looked very much awake, and Jae Joong wondered how many cups of coffee he had to take. “I’m glad.”
“Mianhe,” He bowed apologetically. “I know you’re a busy person, so I’ll be a very obedient patient. I will not ask any questions. This should keep Chunnie off your back now.”
Yunho looked at him, confused, but he smiled anyway. “It’s really quick, just some tests, about 5 to 6 of them, then that’s it.” He gestured towards the hallway to their left, “This way, Jae Joong-ah.”
Jae Joong followed, falling in step with Yunho. For a while he was pressured to make small talk, but the air in the hospital seemed to suffocate him, and he was getting disoriented with the amount of movement in the hallways. But then again, there really was no need to make small talk, no need to worry that he was being a boring companion. Besides, every now and then Yunho would be greeted by a nurse or a patient.
For someone very quiet and reserved, Jae Joong thought that Yunho was a rather popular doctor. He thought it was because Yunho exceeded this protective kind of appeal, and it was something that drew people towards him. Maybe that was why he first perceived Yunho to be always on his guard, always tense - because he was exuding a lot of his “protective” self. Being around him gave patients a sense of safety, and Jae Joong saw it in the eyes of the little girl that Yunho took into his arms for a couple of minutes, in the eyes of the old woman in the wheelchair, in the eyes of the pregnant woman waiting outside one of the offices, in the eyes of the nurse - Oh wait, the eyes of the nurse. Oh, that was a different story.
She was undressing Yunho with her eyes, and it beats any kind of xray machine in the planet. Of course Jae Joong knows that look. (After all, he had done that a million times to Yoochun.) He couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought.
“What are you laughing about?” Yunho suddenly queried.
“Oh, nothing.” He removed his hand from his mouth so that Yunho could hear him better, “It’s just that, that nurse,” he pointed his thumb towards where they came from, “is giving you that look.”
“What look?” Yunho asked.
“That look!”
“What, what that look I don’t -“
“The look.” Jae Joong stopped, then turned to Yunho. Suddenly he was at a loss for words. He didn’t know exactly how to explain it, except that the first time he did that to Yoochun he ended up not being able to walk for a few days. But that is something he won’t tell anybody, even if his life depended on it. He shook his head instead, “It’s a different kind of look, and you’d know it’s different because . . . it’s like. . . “
He tried to remember how he does it with Yoochun. Oh, right. To achieve maximum effect, he’d look at him, make intense eye contact. Then, Jae Joong would start undressing him in his mind. He’d start with Yoochun’s coat, off with it. Then he’s left with the long-sleeved shirt and his pants. Next will be the tie, and the tie will fall on the floor, and the top button of the sleeved shirt will be a little open, exposing Yoochun’s collarbones, and Jae Joong’s imaginary fingers will slowly unfasten each button, slowly, slowly, and he will slide it off Yoochun’s smooth arms, let it fall on the floor. Then his fingers will find the belt, unfasten it, throw in a long deep kiss to distract Yoochun, who likes to put in enough struggle to make it interesting . . . Ah, Chunnie. . . With Yoochun, foreplay was just as good as -
“ - Joong-ah?”
“Hmm?” Jae Joong turned to the voice calling him, still stuck in his daydream -
- until he started wondering why Yunho was looking so uncomfortable, and his face was so red, and he looked like he had an apple stuck on his throat. The sentence, “I won’t even ask what you’re thinking about” hung heavily in the air. Finally Jae Joong put two and two together, and suddenly he wished the ground would open up and swallow him. He turned on his heels and started walking, “Uh, what were we talking about? Never mind.”
He didn’t know which was worse - the fact that Yunho caught him in the middle of Chunnie-daydreaming, or the possibility that he was too caught up in his undressing of Chunnie in his head that to an observer, it would look like he was undressing Yunho with his eyes. He was standing in front of him after all! Then, he realized that he had stuck out his tongue too! Oh dammit, what was he trying to do -
“JUNG YUNHO!”
Jae Joong looked up to see another doctor walking towards them, never been more relieved in his entire life for the totally welcomed disturbance. Suddenly, he remembered that this was the same doctor whom he met when he was first on Yunho’s office, worrying about his nose that wasn’t broken in the first place. Dr. Song! The shorter doctor, in his mid-40s, reached them and tapped Yunho none-too-gently on the shoulder.
“Yunho-ah! Why are you doing this to me?” Dr. Song began, after acknowledging Jae Joong’s presence with a small bow, “Don’t you know that I’ve been dreaming of that precious gim-bahp*,” He looked at Yunho with pleading eyes, “It’s been days but I still remember how smooth it felt on my mouth, how tasty, each grain bursting with flavour. . and LOVE! I sleep thinking about it, I wake up and I still taste it on my -“
“Hyung, maybe because you haven’t brushed your teeth.” It was high-time that Yunho shoot down his godfather’s dramatic antics anyway.
Dr. Song ignored him, his eyes dreamy. “Why, won’t you tell me who she is, where you met her? Oh, mysterious magical gim-bahp cook of the hamtaro lunch box . . “ He spared a glance at Jae Joong, as if to express his sentiments to the boy. He shook his head, “Yes, like your lunch bo - LIKE YOUR LUNCH BOX!”
Jae Joong flashed a smile, then looked at Yunho, who was already green with embarrassment. “Uh, hi?”
“Is it you?” Dr. Song asked in wonder, his eyes wide. Suddenly, he took Jae Joong’s hand on his own, “Is it you, the mysterious magical gim-bahp cook of the hamtaro lunch -“
“Hyung, stop it already!” Yunho hissed, then shook his head. “This is Jae Joong, and yes, he was the one who cooked the lunch you were talking about. Happy? No, he’s not on a cooking business so drop the idea of take-out or delivery. He’s a teacher, and can you please stop squeezing his hands already?” He tried to peel his godfather’s fingers one by one, from Jae Joong’s own.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir.” Jae Joong said politely, but his cheeks were flustered. He really feels happy when people complement his cooking, especially since he had come a long way from burning noodles, or their very own kitchen. It took him some minutes to realize that the other doctor had been talking about the lunch he cooked for Yunho earlier, a little surprised that someone else was able to taste it too. For a moment he wondered if -
“He stole a gim-bahp, actually. I didn’t give him any.” Yunho said, as if reading his mind.
“Oh, where are my manners?” Dr. Song immediately sobered up, and stood straight in front of Jae Joong. “Hi, I’m Hyuk Lee Song, Jung Yunho’s godfather. I’m pleased to meet you. . .?”
“YoungWoong Jae Joong.” Jae Joong said, taking the extended hand of the doctor and shaking it firmly.
“Ah, Jae Joongie,” Dr. Song nodded smiling, as if pleased with himself. “Yah, Yunho.” He looked at Yunho, “I made a mistake last time. I changed my mind. Now I say, marry HIM. Marry HIM now.”
Jae Joong almost bit his tongue.
“HYUNG!” Yunho reprimanded, his tone a little bit higher. It was obvious that he was trying to mask his embarrassment with more than a little amount of aggressiveness. He looked at Jae Joong, mouthing a sorry, then looked back at Dr. Song. “Hyung, Jae Joong is WITH Yoochun. They’re. . .together.”
Trying to stifle his laughter, Jae Joong looked at Dr. Song and nodded, affirming what the older Jung said.
“Together?” Dr. Song asked, then a look of realization dawned upon him after a few seconds. He smiled at Jae Joong. “It’s Chunnie, then! What a lucky boy. Oh wait, does that boy still work up a cyclone with his temper? I remember, when he was younger, he got into this real bad fight with one of the neighbour’s kids just because of a pancake. And then, the neighbour’s kid - well, we all know kids are impulsive, right? - tried to hit Chunnie with the first thing he could get his hands on - and he was holding a spoon!”
Jae Joong's eyes widened. He didn’t know that. Perhaps it happened such a long time ago? He knew that Yoochun really had a bad temper, but with all those years of being together - from friends to lovers, they managed to keep their fights into a minimum. Even Aunt Eun Seun, Chunnie’s mother, would tell Jae Joong how he had magically tempered Yoochun’s defensive streak.
“But!” Dr. Song continued, “Good thing his Yunho-hyung was there and saw what that boy was about to do! So the boy got mad at him instead and tsk, hit HIM instead. See the scar right there?” He pointed at a long faded line near Yunho’s left eye. About half an inch long, it wasn't easily visible, but it was there. “That’s a blunt spoon handle for you.”
Jae Joong looked at Yunho, but the latter suddenly found something interesting on the floor, trying to avoid his gaze. He looked at the scar. That is going to last forever, he thought. And for something he didn’t even do. Suddenly he felt the urge the embrace the doctor, but he quickly squished it. But his fingers seemed to have a life of their own, and before he knew it, he had already reached out to touch Yunho’s face . . . . He got this for Yoochun -
Yunho jumped when his fingers and his face made contact, and he immediately withdrew his hand. “Sorry, I -“
“Eh? Hyung, that was such a long time ago, I don’t even remember it anymore.” Yunho said immediately, suddenly looking uncomfortable. He turned to Jae Joong, “Don’t listen to him very much; he has this knack for making me appear like some knight in shining armor.”
“Whatever do you mean? That really happened!” Dr. Song said, his tone a little reprimanding. “And Yunnie, if I don’t have that knack, you’d probably end up getting married when you’re 100!”
The older doctor shook his head, a little defensive. He turned to Jae Joong, “Anyway, I do hope Chunnie’s treating you well. Oh, but he’s in America right now, isn’t he? Well Jae Joongie, just in case you ever feel lonely, there’s always Yunnie -“
“HYUNG!” Yunho said, clearly not amused anymore. Jae Joong caught his frown, but he was probably holding back primarily because this was his hyung, his godfather after all. He felt Yunho’s hand fingeres around his arm, urging him to continue walking, “We’re going now, Dr. Song. See you later. And it’s Mr. YoungWoong for you!”
Jae Joong bowed a goodbye to the other doctor, still trying to hide his amusement but clearly failed. He heard Yunho muttering under his breath, but all he caught was, “Sorry, he’s really annoying sometimes. Please, please ignore him. Please.”
“Eh?” He looked at Yunho, “It’s okay. He’s funny. And he likes you a lot.”
“Right.”
Jae Joong wanted to ask if it hurt when the neighbour’s kid hit him, but he had a feeling Yunho wouldn’t tell him the truth, anyway. He just looked like the type to. . .hide things like that. They turned right at the end of the hallway, walked a few more steps, and stopped in front of a door.
“We’re here. All tests will be done here, so it’s really fast.” Yunho gestured for Jae Joong to come inside. He found himself in another hallway, with rooms on each side with glass walls, containing different medical machines and apparatus. Although he said he wouldn’t ask questions, Jae Joong wondered for a moment why his physical check-up would require all that much. And was that a CT scan? He only saw one of those in the movies, and he thought it was kinda cool, but still. . .
He’s not going to ask . .he’s not going to ask . . . .
“YoungWoong Jae Joong?” A female doctor emerged from the door at the end of the hallway, and she bowed an acknowledgement to Yunho before turning back to her new patient. “Dr. Lee. This way please.”
Jae Joong looked at Yunho, who just stood by the end of the hallway. He couldn’t help but smile when Yunho suddenly made a peace sign, pointed to the spot he was standing, and said, “I’ll be right here.”
He went inside.
+ + + + +
THIS DRAFT EMAIL HAS BEEN SAVED on Jul 2, 2007 11:04 PM
To: cute_junsu
From: Joongie
Details 11:04 pm(30 mins ago)
Date: Jul 2, 2007
Subject: RE: T_T Hyung!
Mailed-by: mail.chil.edu.kr
Junsu,
I’m glad you liked your CD. You SOO owe me $30 for that. ^_^v
I heard it’s rainy back there, try not to catch a cold. You know how bad it gets when you do. Hey, you know what? I went to have some physical check-up today and I remembered you! You remember that blood-donation drive that you were required to do on 3rd year, and you dragged me along just because . . . you knew you were going to faint and someone had to bring you home? ^_^v I won’t tease you about it anymore. Because today I sat there and watched as they filled a plastic container with my blood. Hmm, well I guess that was the worst part of it.
After that, they just took X-rays of me with the CAT scan (they even got an xray of my foot. I mean, how weird is that?) and I was just glad I didn’t fall asleep. Then we went to this room with bars and they just asked me to raise them with my arms and legs. Like pretty much the same stuff you do when you warm-up for your soccer games, except that, well the bars were connected to a computer. It’s some kind of muscle testing, I think. But I think it’s kinda overdone. I mean, I’m just having some headaches these past few days, and though there was this one time when I couldn’t move my legs and arms but still, I think it was overdone. Glad it’s over now, though.
Ne, Junsu-sshi . . . I really don’t know how to say this, but I hope you and Yoochun start being friends. You only got each other, and I can’t just bear the thought of you guys biting each other’s throats. I want the two of you back here WHOLE, okay? Don’t worry, I’m telling Yoochun to cut down on being a “jerk”, like you say he is. Well, it’s just that. . .I think he’s more homesick than you are. I know, I know, he’s your hyung, but yeah, sometimes he doesn’t act like his age. XD
Yes, he bites his nails when his anxious. Can you please watch out for that dangerous habit of his? I don’t want him coming home with less than ten fingers. If you manage to do that, you get a Dong Bang photobook. How’s that? And can you please give him some of your magical noodle soup? If you do, I forgive you for leaving him AGAIN and driving to school on your own. (Yes, I know about that.)
Please do this for your hyung? :) Besides, I promise I’d record Hanyeon soccer games already. Please?
Take care, Junnie. Tell me all about your soccer game this weekend, send pictures if you can. I'm glad you're making friends there! Me. . .Hmm, I think I'm making a new friend back here but I'm not so sure. ^_^;; I'll tell you about it in another email. XD
Mom and I miss you a lot; suddenly it’s so quiet around the house, there are no dolphin wake-up calls in the morning anymore. (I’ve resorted back to my trusty old alarm clock, which always happens to ring 15 minutes later than when it’s scheduled to.) I miss you barging in my bedroom and waking me up, lol.
What would you do without me? Sheesh, how sad is that? XD
Love, Joongie
P.S. Stop calling me HYUNGIE, it sounds weird!
P.S. II. Did the Coke stain the shirt? Try putting any clear shampoo on the stain, cover it with salt, and leave it like that overnight. Then wash it the next day. That should do the trick. (See? What did I tell you about trying to laundry your own clothes when you were still here?)
---------------------------------------------------------------
THIS IS A COPY OF THE EMAIL YOU SENT on Jul 2, 2007 11:54 PM to cute_junsu with the following details:
To: cute_junsu
From: Joongie
Details 11:54 pm(50 mins ago)
Date: Jul 2, 2007
Subject: RE: T_T Hyung!
Mailed-by: mail.chil.edu.kr
Junsu,
I’m glad you liked your CD. Oh, by the way, you SOO owe me $30 for that. ^_^v
I heard it’s rainy back there, try not to catch a cold. You know how bad it gets when you do. Hey, you know what? I went to have some physical check-up today and I remembered you! You remember that blood-donation drive that you were required to do on 3rd year, and you dragged me along just because . . . you knew you were going to faint and someone had to bring you home? ^_^v Anyway, I’m fine, nothing wrong with me whatsoever!
Ne, Junsu-sshi . . . I really don’t know how to say this, but I hope you and Yoochun start being friends. You only got each other, and I can’t just bear the thought of you guys biting each other’s throats. I want the two of you back here WHOLE, okay? Don’t worry, I’m telling Yoochun as well to cut back on being a “jerk”, like you say he is. Well, it’s just that. . .I think he’s more homesick than you are. I know, I know, he’s your hyung, but yeah, sometimes he doesn’t act like his age. XD
Yes, he bites his nails when his anxious. Can you please watch out for that dangerous habit of his? I don’t want him coming home with less than ten fingers. If you manage to do that, you get a Dong Bang photobook. How’s that? And can you please give him some of your magical noodle soup? If you do, I forgive you for leaving him AGAIN and driving to school on your own. (Yes, I know about that.)
Please do this for your hyung? :) Besides, I’ve recorded your Hanyeon games already.
Please?
Take care, Junnie. Tell me all about your soccer game this weekend, send pictures if you can. Mom and I miss you a lot; suddenly it’s so quiet around the house, there are no dolphin wake-up calls in the morning anymore. (I’ve resorted back to my trusty old alarm clock, which always happens to ring 15 minutes later than when it’s scheduled to.) I miss you barging in my bedroom and waking me up, lol.
What would you do without me? Sheesh, how sad is that? XD
Love, Joongie
P.S. Stop calling me HYUNGIE, it sounds weird!
P.S. II. Did the Coke stain the shirt? Try putting any clear shampoo on the stain, cover it with salt, and leave it like that overnight. Then wash it the next day. That should do the trick. (See? What did I tell you about trying to laundry your own clothes when you were still here?)
TBC
Author's Notes
1. *sigh* I don't know what to feel for this chapter. I feel like I didn't write it really well *bangs head on desk* How frustrating. XD Sorry if it disappointed anybody. :(
2. Gim-bahp is like the Korean version of the Japanese sushi roll, although they used meat and vegetables, not raw fish.
3. Comments are love. <3
4. I seriously need a beta. T_T