[fic] hyung, i love you [oneshot]
The stars are twinkling merrily outside the window of Yoochun's room that night, bright white against the cold black sky. But merry is hardly what Yoochun feels as he tosses and turns in his sleep, the blankets tangling around his legs.
Finally he reluctantly wakes up, rubbing his eyes to rid the haze of drowsiness. For a while he stares blankly at the ceiling, the corners of his mouth turned down in a slight frown, arms cushioning his head on the pillow. His eyebrows knit together as thoughts of the lawsuit run through his head unchecked - try as he might, he cannot stop them from being there.
So he rolls to the side, seeking the comfort that is Jaejoong, but squints in confusion when the bed is empty. He sits up, rubs his eyes again - still no Jae. So Yoochun rolls out of bed, the sheets unravelling as he battles madly to free himself. As he pads into the hallway, the light from the living room catches his eye and he makes his way towards it.
Jaejoong is sitting by himself on the couch, legs tucked up and arms around them, chin resting on one knee. He stares into space, eyes unfocused.
Yoochun hesitates. "...Hyung?"
No reply comes from the lead singer, so Yoochun calls again, a little irritated because it's about 4:30 in the morning. The thought crosses his mind, has he been sitting there all night?
Jaejoong's eyes flicker towards the motionless figure staring at him from the hallway, hair ruffled from sleep and eyes squinted. He looks away, murmuring softly, "Yoochun-ah. Need something?"
Yoochun crosses the floor to fall onto the couch beside Jaejoong, his back leaning against the armrest as he looks curiously at his best friend. "Hyung, what's up?" He peers closer in amazement as Jaejoong sits up, furiously rubbing his hand against his eyes to get rid of moisture, "Are you crying? Hyung." Yoochun is reproachful, but he settles his arm around his friend's shoulders and scoots closer, rubbing his arm reassuringly.
Jaejoong finally speaks, his voice small and unsure. "Yoochun-ah," he pauses, biting his lip, "Yoochun, I'm scared. Where are we going with this lawsuit? What will happen if we leave SM? Yoochun-ah, I don't want us to split up." His voice is hoarse and desperate. "I won't be able to stand it if we're apart." He might go crazy, not being able to take care of them and be with them everyday.
Something breaks inside Yoochun and his eyes begin to water as he listens to his friend's worries. He buries his head in Jaejoong's shoulder as he speaks, muffled, "Nothing will happen, Jaejoong. Jaejoong, we'll all be together no matter what, we're going to be okay." He says it again, to reassure himself too, because really he has no idea what will happen. "We'll be okay."
Jaejoong eventually leans into Yoochun's warmth, eyes closing and they get up together, shuffling quietly towards their room and collapsing into bed, tired both in body and mind.
The next morning Yoochun wakes up extra early to shake Junsu, Yunho, and Changmin awake - "Give Jaejoong-hyung a hug tomorrow. Tell him you love him because he needs it." He offers little explanation, leaving the three of them a little dazed and even Changmin is too confused to demand that Yoochun call him hyung first.
Jaejoong is standing in the kitchen, scrambling eggs with a small, quiet smile on his face. Changmin is in the bathroom showering, and Yunho and Yoochun are reading in their rooms. He's shovelling the eggs onto five plates for them, about half for Changmin and the other half to split amongst the other four of them when Junsu waddles into the kitchen, making a beeline for Jaejoong's waist.
He half-tackles the other man from behind in a tight hug and Jaejoong gives a little squeal when the spatula-full of egg lands with a fwap! on the counter, and then he's pouting, "Junsu-yah!" he says, annoyed because now he'll have to make even more for Changmin. Junsu won't let go and his chin is kind of sharp when suddenly, "Hyung, I love you~" Jaejoong stops wriggling abruptly in confusion.
"Junsu?"
"I love you." Junsu's voice is pouty and childish and oh so cute that Jaejoong can't help melting before wrapping his arms around Junsu's shoulders. "I love you too, Junsu-yah." Junsu steps back with a little self-satisfied smile on his face before sprinting into Yoochun's room and the door slams shut but he can still hear a shout of Yoochun-ah, I was first! I was first! Yoochun tells him to shut up. Jaejoong is still confused but he goes back to scrambling more eggs for Changmin, damn that kid's appetite.
Jaejoong is setting the plates piled with hot breakfast and cups of coffee onto the table when the other four come out of their rooms, the bathroom, down the hallway, following their noses. Jaejoong turns to face them with a smile on his face. "Breakfast's ready!" Changmin approaches him, his eyes eager and Jaejoong doesn't know why, but Changmin hugs him lightly and releases him before saying, "Thanks, hyung. Love you." Alright - now Jaejoong is very confused because Changmin is never emotional or mushy or anything but he hears the group's youngest mutter I was second triumphantly as he passes Yoochun. Yoochun smirks.
Later, the five of them are sitting on the couch before watching a movie. Yoochun suddenly jumps up because he has the best movie ever on DVD in his room and Junsu and Changmin are going off to get snacks - no movie is complete without food. Jaejoong is leaning against Yunho's side and his head is on his shoulder.
"The other three are acting so weird. Have you noticed, Yunho?" Yunho has his arm around the oldest member of the group, and he squeezes his arm in a half-hug after chuckling dryly, dropping a light kiss on Jaejoong's temple. Jaejoong turns his head to look at Yunho, now a little suspicious. "What, Yunho?"
Yunho smirks mischeviously. "Love you, Jaejoongie." Jaejoong rolls his eyes fondly as he drops his head back onto Yunho's shoulder. "Love you too, leaderssi."
Junsu and Changmin burst through the door arguing about popcorn because smartfood popcorn is the best! but Changmin disagrees, microwave popcorn tastes so much better! It's obvious that Changmin's won the battle at the supermarket because Junsu drops his load of microwaveable popcorn on the kitchen counter before giving a huffy sigh and stomping towards the couch, pouting. Changmin's grinning smugly as he shoves the popcorn into the microwave, and Yoochun's running down the hallway waving Shrek the Third above his head, an expression of ecstatic glee on his face.
The five of them sit through the movie; the popcorn is pulled back and forth until Jaejoong gets up to make a second bowl but most of it ends up on the floor anyway. The movie ends and they head to their rooms for the night. Jaejoong follows Yoochun into their room, closing the door and crosses his arms, feet spread apart and firmly on the floor. He mock-glares with a pout. "Virginia Park Yoochun, it was your plan, wasn't it!" Yoochun gives him a look of complete innocence. "What plan, hyung?"
Jaejoong's brow furrows as he tries to remember what it was he was going to accuse Yoochun of and he's gaping like a goldfish, but Yoochun's getting up off the bed to hug Jaejoong and Jaejoong can feel Yoochun smile into his neck. "I love you, Jaejoong-ah."
It's pointless, he decides, and he doesn't really mind either way, so Jaejoong hugs Yoochun too. "I love you too, Yoochun-ah."