gridlock, baby (2, end!)
My heart's stuck in gridlock... baby, will you be my key?
/and that's all, folks
A Yoosu romcom (help_japan) fic for oldwillow_brook :D♥
In which Yoochun is still a bit pathetic and Junsu is still a bit naïve, and they make things far more complicated than they need to be and make the people around them nauseous, but then everything gets better and there’s a happy ending. Because they’re Yoosu, and it’s a Beautiful Love.
Posting pretty much on-time, woo! Once again, the end begins pretty much where the last bit left off, so check it out here: Part o1.75 :D
“Where’re we going?”
Yoochun taps out a casual rhythm on the steering wheel as they cruise through the streets. Downtown’s a much nicer drive on the weekends, no traffic though he still takes his time; with Junsu in the passenger seat, he’s enjoying this not-really-a-joyride for all it’s worth it.
“We’re going to my office building.”
Junsu’s mouth drops open. “Seriously? Like, the headquarters of Record Label Records? We’re really going to- I mean, that’s kinda major, why are we going, why didn’t you tell me earlier, why-”
“Woah, Junsu, calm down. It’s really not that big deal. We’re just borrowing a sound studio for our usual practice.”
His nose scrunches up, confusion, maybe (probably) disappointment. “But, then-?”
“I thought it might be nice trying out some real professional equipment.”
“Your equipment isn’t professional?”
Yoochun cringes. “It is, technically. But it’s not a… professional… environment.” When Junsu doesn’t seem to get it, he adds, “There’ll be no distractions, here,” emphasis on distractions of a terrible, infuriating, parasitic nature.
“Ohhh,” Junsu says, like everything is illuminated. “Jaejoong-hyung?”
“Jaejoong-hyung,” Yooochun confirms.
Junsu bites his lip. “You don’t think he’ll follow us?” He looks over his shoulder like this might be a real, frightening possibility, and Yoochun’s heart spasms (it’s such a common feeling by now, he doesn’t even flinch- like a boss).
Instead, he chuckles darkly. “No, I know he won’t.”
Junsu turns to him with wide, curious, Why not? eyes, so when they idle at the next red light, Yoochun leans in conspiratorially.
“I happen to know for a fact that there are two people in my office building who Jaejoong does not want to see, and will do just about anything to avoid.”
“Who??”
“Hm… I probably shouldn’t say…”
“Tell me! I want to know!”
Yoochun smirks at Junsu, and the kid definitely blushes. “Ok, ok… the first is a man named Yunho-”
“U-Know Yunho? The DJ on-?”
“The very same. K-CASS has sound studios in our building, and that’s where Yunho’s show broadcasts from. He’s there almost every day, and Jaejoong won’t run the risk of running into him- let me finish, let me finish! Now, I’m about 99.9% sure that Jaejoong is seriously infatuated with Yunho, and when Jaejoong has a crush, he can get… well. Jaejoong knows he’ll probably look really uncool in front of Yunho, and you know, Jaejoong doesn’t ever want to look uncool.”
Junsu shuts his mouth and frowns, looking skeptical. “Jaejoong-hyung could never look uncool,” he mutters.
And Yoochun rolls his eyes and mutters right back, a hasty yeah right that’s quickly covered up by a loud, “And the second person… well. There’s another man, a co-worker of mine, Changmin. Changmin’s never been shy about his… ah, intentions towards Jaejoong, and I’m pretty sure Jaejoong likes him right back.”
“I thought he liked Yunho?”
“It’s complicated. But Changmin is someone Jaejoong actually knows and has a chance with- and therein lies the problem. Jaejoong is… he’s a commitment-phone, to say the least. He could get hurt, so he’d rather avoid Changmin completely, and now Changmin’s got the wrong idea…” he sighs. “Like I said, complicated. Relationships are like that.”
Junsu’s frown turns contemplative. “If you like someone-” he announces after a moment’s pause. “If you like someone, you should tell them.”
The comment’s not directed at Yoochun at all, but he finds himself on the defensive anyway. “It’s always more difficult than it seems, Junsu. You’ll understand when you’re older -you’re still young, you’ve probably never been in a serious relationship… right?” he amends, suddenly dreading the answer.
“No,” Junsu says, and Yoochun breathes a sigh of relief.
“But I have someone I like,” Junsu adds a second later, and Yoochun’s heart spasms in a way that even the bossest of bosses couldn’t ignore. His left arm jerks the wheel hard and the car swerves and they almost die, just a little bit. Fortunately Junsu doesn’t seem to notice.
In fact, he’s looking straight ahead as if nothing happened, chewing on his lip like it’s the best thing he’s ever tasted (Yoochun bets it’d be the best thing he ever tast- and no, no, bad brain).
He blurts out the first thing that comes to mind: “So, have you told this person you like them?” and no, no, no, worst brain ever.
Junsu blushes again. The effect is much less song-inducing. “Um. No.”
“Why not?” Yoochun needs to stop asking questions. He doesn’t want to know anything, because more details make it more real and god, pinch me, I need to know I’m dreaming! No? Damnit.
“Um, er,” Junsu answers. “I don’t think I should. I mean, I’m trying to- we’ve been getting really serious about the music, now, and I figure you’d want me to be professional and… focus… on the, um, music. …right?”
The kid looks at him like he holds all the answers, and Yoochun sees many choice before him. Not right! says the angel on Yoochun’s left shoulder. Follow your heart, Junsu, fly free into the arms of love! while the devil on his right rolls his eyes and says Wow, stranger-danger much? Keep the kid safe in the arms of the music, it’s best for everyone, really, and he’s a really convincing fellow, that devil of his.
Of course, that preteen girl in his head is no help, too busy sobbing omgwhhhyyyhhyhhyyy??, and Yoochun thinks, yeah, it’s really all about the music. It’s always been about the music, hasn’t it?
So, “Yes,” he says. “Yes, you should be focused on the music, not on your personal life.”
“Yeah… um. Yeah. That’s what I thought.” And maybe Junsu looks a little upset, a little dejected, but Yoochun tries his best to ignore that.
The rest of the drive is silent.
*
The studio session goes great. Yoochun is focused (completely focused), avoiding all non-music subjects and distractions, like Junsu’s new haircut and coffee break chitchat and eye contact. For once Junsu seems to be on the exact same page, going so far as to avoid talking to him about anything at all. And they do get a lot done: Junsu sings and Yoochun records and they listen, critique, and record again.
It’s great, really.
Really.
Around noon, his phone buzzes, a text from Changmin, where r u?
He ignores it, and gets another buzz, less than a minute later. i know ur in the building. i WILL find u!
Yoochun groans and taps back his reply. Don’t be absurd. I’m not at the office; I work from home Sat.
The reply is immediate. liar. i saw ur car in the garage.
He turns his phone off, cursing under his breath. No point in replying; Changmin knows he’s here and if he said he’ll find him, Changmin will hunt through every floor to track him down. Look up ‘stubborn’ on Dictionary.com and you find (adj.) Unreasonable; obstinate; fixed; resolute; stiff as wood- and yes, those are all things that apply to Changmin (even that last one, Yoochun grudgingly admits).
They make it through another recording and Junsu’s back in the booth when Changmin finally does appear, sneaking in quiet and the clapping both hands on Yoochun’s shoulder to scare the shit out of him.
“HOLY mother of- Changmin! Warn a man, will you?”
Changmin grins at him. “That’s not really the point of a surprise, is it? And my mother’s a great woman, really, but definitely no saint.”
“Ugh.”
Changmin grins wider and then turns away, taking a long, considering look at Junsu, who’s singing with utmost concentration, eyes screwed shut. “So that’s the boytoy, eh?”
“Ye-No, he’s not a boytoy,” he says, and thanks god the sound’s going one-way.
“He’s good.”
“…Thanks.”
Junsu stops singing then; he opens his eyes and immediately spots the giraffe in the room. His mouth falls open slightly as he stares at them with a wary sort of confusion. Yoochun leans forward to press the intercom button, and sighs, “Good job, Junsu. This is a coworker of mine; he just stopped in to say hi.”
Changmin waves, fingers wiggling.
Junsu tilts his head curiously. He catches Yoochun’s eye for the first time since they’ve arrived, and mouths, ‘Changmin?’
Yoochun nods and shrugs, a ‘what can you do?’ motion that Junsu somehow seems to interpret as ‘no, he’s the man I hire to punch pregnant women so as to amuse me’, because Junsu frowns darkly and turns back to the mike, starting the song again on a sharp note that sets the mike squealing. Both Yoochun and Changmin wince.
“Dude, what’s got his boxer-briefs in a twist?”
Yoochun’s first response is to ask how Changmin knows Junsu wears boxer-briefs -but then he’s thinking of Junsu in boxer-briefs, of Changmin and Junsu together in boxer-briefs, and then it’s just some nameless, faceless stranger that Junsu wants to be together with in boxer-briefs, and then a large majority of the brain cells devoted to Yoochun’s imagination begin to commit suicide, like little brain-cell lemmings.
“I’ll tell you later,” he moans, and leans forward on the intercom button again. “Let’s try that one again, Junsu.”
*
Later is a mere half-hour, when Junsu takes a bathroom break and Yoochun slumps in his comfy roller chair and Changmin looms over him, arms crossed, listening to the sad, sad story with disbelief written all over his face.
Yoochun finishes with, “…and so I told him he should focus on the music. And we… haven’t really spoken much since,” and Changmin waits for one, two, three beats of dramatic silence, before announcing solemnly:
“You are the stupidest person I know.”
“I’m your boss,” Yoochun mutters.
“Which makes it even more humiliating,” he declares. “I am ashamed to be your favorite employee.”
Yoochun glares up at him. “You’re not my favorite employee.”
“Whatever,” Changmin says, waving away Yoochun’s objections once more. And Yoochun is quite sure Changmin would have kept going, berating him as only the smuggest of smug assholes can, but at the moment the door opens and Yoochun turns to welcome Junsu, his unwitting savior, back into the room with save me please! eyes.
Alas, it isn’t Junsu at the door. It’s someone Yoochun has never met before -or at least, has never met in person, because U-Know Yunho’s 20-foot 1000-watt smile beams down on him every day on his drive to work, so Yoochun could never not recognize the guy.
“Oh, sorry,” Yunho says cheerily, and damn but his smile is just as absurdly bright as it is on that billboard. “I didn’t realize anyone was in here! Thought someone had forgotten to turn the lights off!”
His voice is as ridiculously eager, too, but in person the tone of it is a bit deeper, containing a down-to-earth quality that makes him all that much more charming. When Yunho smiles at you, you can’t help but smile back -and smile back Yoochun does, even if it feels like his muscles are being forced every millimeter of the way.
Yunho doesn’t seem to notice; he’s set his sights on Changmin, and seems quite content to keep them there. “Didn’t mean to intrude!” he adds, solely to Changmin, his smile widening and about as unsubtle as an army of streakers running through Thebigballpark Stadium.
Changmin doesn’t seem to object. “No worries. We were just taking a break…”
“Oh, that’s good,” he says, and pauses, like he’s thinking hard for an excuse to stay.
Changmin rushes to give it to him. “You’re Yunho, right? The DJ?” When Yunho nods happily he adds, “We work up with Record Label on the seventeenth floor.”
“Oh! Yeah. That’s marketing, right?” He steps into the room without pause. More pleasantries, what brings you down here and what about you? and that’s great, what a coincidence, can’t believe we’ve never crossed paths before and blah blah flirting blah that Yoochun has no problem tuning out.
He hears, at one point, Changmin mention something about, “I’ve a friend, he’s a real big fan- an autograph?” and Yunho says something like, “Sure, no problem, what’s his name-?” and Changmin gives him the name and Yunho says, “Wait, I know that-” and as much as Yoochun is suddenly very interested in knowing what’s going on there, Junsu walks back into the room and takes up all his attention.
“Hey,” he says, trying to act normal even as Junsu shuffles forward glumly.
“Hey,” he echoes. His eyes flick off the side, where Changmin and Yunho have got their heads bent together (and fuck his life, isn’t that a familiar scenario?) and Junsu’s eyes go wide. “Is that-?”
“Yep,” Yoochun says. “U-Know, Yunho.”
Together they watch the two, who seem to be stuck somewhere between sizing each other up for a catfight or jumping each other’s bones or plotting to make all men under 6' feel inadequate or Yoochun can’t possibly guess what- but in this case, ignorance is probably the best policy.
“…Jaejoong-hyung probably won’t like this.”
“No, Junsu, I don’t think he will.” And he turns to Junsu with a wry smile, completely at his own expense, and when Junsu returns it, he knows they’ve established a truce, laid the foundations for a return to normal.
“You want to try one more song?” he asks, and Junsu nods with determination. Then he pauses.
“…Can we do the new one?”
Yoochun looks up in surprise. “What new one?” They haven’t added a new song to Junsu’s repertoire in the past couple of weeks…
“The work-in-progress.”
Yoochun remains confused. The work-in-progress is what they refer to the song that Yoochun has been helping Junsu write: an original song, a bare-bones tune that needs a lot of work, even though they’ve laid a base track on the synthesizer. But Junsu can’t sing it if-
“It doesn’t have any lyrics, Junsu.”
Junsu bites his lips. “I, um. I kinda wrote some. Last week. They might not be- but after, y’know, we were playing the video game that night, and I had an idea and I just. Wrote it down.”
Yoochun doesn’t know what to say. “Oh.”
“I was gonna show you today, but, I- I’m gonna show you now. Only I, er, want to sing it.”
He’s still too stunned to say anything but, “Okay, sure. Whatever you want,” and it’s the right answer, obviously, because Junsu beams at him like the sun shining through the clouds.
Yoochun cues up the music but keeps it very low. It’ll be better that way, to get a feel for the lyrics on their own, their musicality and strength. Junsu steps into the booth and Yunho and Changmin talk away and Yoochun counts down with his fingers and-
Junsu does what he does best. He sings his heart out.
Even if I have a glamorous life,
just as I’ve seen in the movies years ago…
Yoochun’s mouth drops a little even as his eyes flutter closed, shutting out the world and focusing on the sound, letting the words settle over him, into him. They flow smoothly, genuinely, none of the cliché you’d expect from an inexperienced lyricist.
Junsu hits the chorus, and he hits it perfectly. Like he’s been singing this song all his life, like these words aren’t just words but merely the form in which the music naturally takes. On the high notes his voice trembles a bit but it’s with feeling rather than effort.
-If you are by my side,
if we are together
I can be my true self...
Even when the playful and carefree days are gone
Please stay by my side…
They mean something, these words. They aren’t just rehearsed, written spur-of-the-moment and memorized in the span of a week. Junsu sings like… like…
Like he’s already a star. Like he’s already fucking made it and knows what it takes and is going to blow them all away, again and again and again, because he’s made for this.
And Yoochun can only sit in his shadow and wonder, When the hell did this happen?
Before Junsu’s even done singing, before he opens his eyes again to the rest of the world, Yoochun feels the presence of the other two as they come up and stand behind him. One of them leans down, and Yoochun opens his eyes, not looking at them but keeping his eyes focused on Junsu.
“Changmin says you’re mentoring this kid?” Yunho asks, his voice hushed, deeper than Yoochun’s ever heard it.
“Yeah,” Yoochun says, and has to clear his voice to do it. He’s gone hoarse.
...If you really love me, the way I am,
I will be able to dream of the future-
“And you’ve signed him, right?”
“No,” Yoochun says. “He’s too new. We’ve only been training for six months. He’s not ready.”
“The hell he isn’t,” Changmin snorts.
Yunho straightens and Yoochun glances up at him. He’s staring at Junsu seriously, appraisingly. When he sees Yoochun looking, he holds his serious expression for a minute before breaking down, winking. “I gotta agree with Changmin. The kid’s amazing, serious wow-factor here. You’ve done a great job with your protégé.”
Yoochun shrugs self-consciously. “I just helped where I could, taught him the basics… I’m just a paper-pusher- an important paper-pusher,” he amends, unable to help himself, “but as for actual management…” He shrugs again.
“You willing to change that?”
“Huh?”
Yunho smiles kindly at him, looking between him and Junsu, who’s kept his eyes closed through the whole song, again. They probably should work on that-
“The kid’s not signed, you say. He doesn’t have a manager, or producer… think you could fill the role, in the meantime?”
“I don-hagk.”
Changmin claps him on the back hard enough to make Yoochun choke, the air fleeing from his lung. “Of course he is! Between his knowledge of music and the industry and the paper-pushing, he’d make a great one-man management team, don’t you think?”
He says it pointedly enough that it’s obvious it’s not Yunho he’s trying to convince. Yoochun glares at him for the slap on the back but internally (in a very, very deep-down infinitesimally small internal place), he’s grateful to his subordinate.
“Alright…” he says, to Yunho. “I guess I am.”
The DJ beams. “Great, then I can talk to you about having the kid- Junsu, is it? That’s a pretty common name, you should think about getting him a stage name, something short and snappy- all capslock, even better!- but I’d like to feature him on my radio show.”
Yoochun had thought the man was just overly friendly; he didn’t think he was insane. “What.”
“Ha, you heard me right! I have a new segment I’ve just started for new artists, I’m calling it my UP-N-UP-N-COMER’s Corner! Junsu’d be perfect for it! You polish up that song, I’ll have him sing, answer a few questions, and wham-bam, he’s got a major publicity spot before he’s even signed! That’ll be a hell of a bargaining chip when you start talking contracts with the Big Guys upstairs, U-Know?”
Then he laughs, like he’s been pleasantly surprised by his own genius. Changmin laughs with him, and Yoochun actually feels like laughing, too. He must be hysterical.
Certainly he’s shocked enough that he doesn’t even realize Junsu’s stopped singing until he turns back to the booth, and Junsu’s looking at all of them like they’ve lost their marbles. When he catches Yoochun’s eye, his eyes go wide and he says into the mike, softly, as if he could possibly to speak to Yoochun alone.
“What’dya think?”
He sounds so shy about it; Yoochun gives in to the laughter, then, loud and free, and Junsu only has a second to look hurt before Yoochun opens the intercom channel and says, “That was brilliant, Junsu, the lyrics are brilliant, you were brilliant. And guess what? You’ve just made your first break!”
Junsu’s mouth falls open. Changmin whoops and Yunho gives him an animated thumbs-up and Yoochun can’t for the life of him stop smiling.
Well, at least until they’ve talked details and settled on a basic agreement and Junsu’s in a daze and Yunho gets ready to leave. Changmin decides to leave with him, but not before smacking Yoochun one more time and whispering in his ear,
“By the way, those lyrics? They were about you. The person he likes…? I seriously hope you’re not a big enough idiot to not figure it out now.”
Two Weeks Later.
Junsu is a hit.
From the first radio broadcast-
…DJ Yunho here, and I’ve got the scoop on the BEST of the BEST new artists that U need to KNOW! It’s the next installment of our UP-N-UP-N-COMER’s Corner, and boy have I got a good one for you today! It’s Thebigcity’s own XIAH JUNSU, and there is nowhere else you’ll hear him but here! This is the kid with the golden voice, I tell you - but why doesn’t he tell you himself? Let’s hear it, Junsu-!
To the second, third, fourth-
-Welcome back, K-CASS-ians, it’s U-KNOW here with another exclusive interview with our one and only XIAH JUNSU! We’ve never had so many demands for a repeat performance, Junsu. You’ve gone from city street-dancer to city radio-star. How does it feel??
It’s incredible! Um, I can’t believe it, sometimes. But it’s incredible!
Haha, I CAN believe it, hahaHA-!
…nd now we’re switching back to the studio, where we’ve got XIAH JUNSU ready sing to you LIVE at the top of the hour! Remember, you can always go to our website, KCASS1025.com, to download a sample cut of his first single, ‘Beautiful Love’, but today he’s got a BRAND NEW NEW SONG-
Hello, Thebigcity! I’m your DJ Yunho-
-and I’m XIAH JUNSU!! WOO!
Ahahaha, Junsu, so enthusiastic!! It’s always great to have you on- our listeners can’t seem to get enough of you!! It’s been four months since you debuted on the show, time really does fly?
Waaah, it seems like so much longer!
Don’t U-KNOW it! But tell me, rumor has it you’ve finally got a contract in the works. Does this mean we’ll be getting an official single release soon-?!
And yes, Junsu’s been offered contracts by several companies, but Record Label has dibs because they also have Yoochun, and somewhere along the line they’ve become a package deal. He promised to take Junsu to the top and that’s exactly what he’s going to do -because it’s happening now and it’s happening fast. Junsu’s first break is turning into The Big Break, the one that Yoochun never got.
But he doesn’t feel bitter about it. In truth Yoochun finds he likes being Junsu’s manager-producer-person. Even more than he likes his job, even more than he likes tinkering nostalgically on his piano, and he’s not quite willing to give up his hold on that (on Junsu, but he’s gotten pretty good at this denial thing by now. And no he hasn’t made his move yet, shut up).
“Pathetic,” Jaejoong never fails to say.
And most of the time he just looks at his shoes and sighs, because he is a little pathetic.
Jaejoong has started taking pity on him, though -finally- despite the fact that he’s still pissy that Junsu’s The Big Break happened via one U-Know Yunho. Evidently Changmin and him are dating now; maybe Jaejoong can finally relate to Yoochun’s misery.
“I’m sorry,” he says, sometimes.
Jaejoong frowns and looks uncomfortable. “What are you talking about?” or “It’s not your fault,” he replies, usually.
“I’m not in love with you anymore,” Yoochun says- but only once. “Does that make it worse?”
And, just the once, Jaejoong pauses for a long time and eventually says, “No. But it doesn’t make it better.”
After that he sits them down, makes them his fancy espresso-machine coffee and extra-spicy ramen, and they’re just a little bit miserable together.
*
“-and we’ve got it! That’s it Junsu, we’re done!”
Junsu finishes the final recording for the final track on his debut studio album, and they have a party. Someone pops the cork off a bottle of champagne, and Yoochun makes a mental note to keep Junsu away from it. Alcohol goes straight to the kid’s head, one sip of the stuff and he’d be unstable as Heechul’s sexuality.
Heechul is the PR guy they assigned as Junsu’s new manager. He’s kind of evil, but Yoochun kind of likes him. He gets the job done- even now he’s off in a corner, snarking into his iPhone at someone Very Important.
The rest of the party guests are Yoochun’s old coworkers, who’ve descended down from the lofty corporate world to celebrate with them. Evidently they’re proud of him, and who would have guessed? Definitely not Yoochun. He’d been positive they all hated him. Maybe it’s just mandatory to hate your boss… but he’s not their boss anymore. He’s not the high-stressed drill-down WENUS-crunching don’t-think-outside-the-box-just-think exec anymore.
He’s a music producer. A creative director. The artistic supervisor for the vision behind Junsu’s album- and he loves it. Music is the focus of his life again, for the first time since he left university. He’d even dusted off an old song or two from his post-college repertoire, and worked them over with Junsu until they were something worth producing-
“And less angsty,” Junsu had said. “This’s like, drowning in angst. It’s so… emo.”
Yoochun gasped. “It is deep, not emo!”
Junsu had sighed, tilted his head, and stared Yoochun down until he’d been forced to concede that alright, fine, maybe Junsu was a little right. Just a little.
-And now all their hard, deep work has paid off. More champagne is popped, speeches are made. Yoochun’s never been one for public speaking, but he thinks he does a decent job of being gracious. Jaejoong makes a giant fuss of applause for him, mostly because he’s trying to show that he is happy and perfectly fine that Changmin (and by extension, Yunho) hasn’t paid any attention to him all night. No believes it.
As for Junsu… Junsu just talks and laughs, showing off that natural charm that no one can resist. He’s just being himself and they eat him and his purple zebra-striped jeggings right up. It’s almost enough to make a lesser person hate him -if it were, in fact, physically impossible to hate him.
Soon enough people start filtering out, back to the drudgery of Work. There’re few enough people that Yunho decides to give up the silent game, approaching Jaejoong with a smile. Yoochun wants to watch them -oh how he really, really does- because Jaejoong is about to go wobbly-kneed and so uncool and it will be glorious to behold, but then Junsu bounces up to him with a conspicuously too-flushed face and Yoochun groans; he’d forgotten about the champagne.
“How much have you had to drink?” he says.
Junsu sways close to him. “Just ‘nuff,” he says, voice low like he’s confessing a great secret. He sways again, his forehead dipping towards Yoochun’s chin, and Yoochun only just catches himself from taking a great sniff of Junsu’s hair. Still, a waft of some berry-scented shampoo reaches his nose, and Yoochun rolls his eyes heavenwards.
“C’n we, um, talk?” Junsu asks. “Pl’s?”
“Sure, Junsu,” he sighs, and waits for the inevitable talking to occur.
But Junsu just stares at him, frowning in that way he frowns when he wants to say something serious but isn’t quite sure how to pull it off. “I- Yoochun. I really wanna, um. I need t’tell-”
Yoochun’s long gotten used to Junsu’s odd way of talking, but something about this makes him nervous, and impatient. He frowns right back, “What?”
Junsu frowns even harder, thick lower lip coming out in promise of a full blown-pout. Junsu takes a deep breath, an “I-” of an exhale, and sways on his feet once more.
Then he says, “F’ck it,” and dives up for Yoochun’s lips.
He misses. He hits the skin right beneath Yoochun’s mouth, but reacts fast, feeling his way up to the proper place and staying there.
And somewhere in the background Yoochun will register the stunned silence, and then Heechul’s very unsurprised voice- “Well, that was completely surprising.” Followed by- “What, did you really expect me not to know? C’mon, the UST in this studio has been nauseating. Helen Keller could have seen them coming.”
And there will be more silence, something like a squawk and a choked-off laugh, but Yoochun won’t hear any of it. He’s too focused on the feel of Junsu’s lips -chapped and too-forceful and tasting like champagne bubbles- and how his own heart’s beating way too fast, and how this is probably the best thing that has happened to him, ever, ever, in the history of ever, too good to be true-
-And then he places two hands on Junsu’s shoulders to drag himself back. He pulls away breathless and wild-eyed, a stark contrast to Junsu’s almost sleepy satisfaction, hooded eyes that scream I am too pretty and innocent to know what I am doing just as much as Take advantage of me? Please?
“Junsu,” he gasps, floundering. “Are you sure?”
Junsu blinks heavily and finally lifts his eyes up from Yoochun’s lips. His frown is gone, but he makes his displeasure known anyway. “Of course I’m sure,” he says, and Yoochun notes the distinct lack of drunken slur this time around. “Aren’t you?”
Yoochun’s mouth flaps like a fish out of water. There’s never been a question of whether Yoochun has been sure, he’s loved this stupid brilliant kid ever since he saw him. He’s the one that has to be sure, because Junsu is sunshine and joy and going-to-be-famous, and Yoochun… Yoochun is old.
“You’re not that old,” Junsu says, even though Yoochun knows he didn’t say that aloud. “You’re… sophisticated, and the coolest person I know, and, and you gave me a chance when- and I really, really like you. I really like you,” he says, his voice down to a whisper. “I-”
Yoochun puts a finger to his lips- as much as he wants to kiss the life out of the kid, he’s also very conscious of the audience they still have. He might not be that old, according to Junsu, but he’s not young enough to pull off a who cares what they say! production.
Instead he smiles, to let Junsu know things are okay -better than okay- and says, “How about we have that talk, now. Maybe somewhere a little more private…?”
Junsu’s eyes double in size but he seems understand. “Ohmygod,” he says, before grinning widely, nodding, grabbing Yoochun by the wrist- “Okay, yes, um, right now- let’s go-!”
Yoochun’s taken aback by his urgency, but not in a bad way. He’s all but dragged from the studio, much to the amusement of his friends and bemusement of the few party-stragglers left.
The enormity of what’s about to happen -that they’re going to talk, they’re going to work something out together and do things ohmygod- hits him like sledgehammer, and before they leave he throws one last helpless look over his shoulder. Yunho is beaming and Changmin is smirking and Jaejoong hollers at him- “Go on! Show him your moves like Jagger!”
Yoochun’s knee-jerk reaction is to give Jaejoong the finger, but that same irritation is also just what he needed to kick that nervous ball of energy away for good -and he does, indeed, ‘go on’.
(…he shows Junsu his moves, too. But that’s a story of a different rating).
And so, just like that, they’re a them.
Sometimes, Yoochun has to admit, it isn’t so complicated after all.
Epilogue (One Day Later).
Junsu’s humming in the kitchen. He’s trying to make morning-after breakfast for them, even if his skills in the kitchen are beyond sub-par so it’s more like morning-after toast. He’s so adorably intent on it, though, even Jaejoong -who’s usually an absolute dragon when it comes to the kitchen, his beloved domain- is staying out of his way. He does nothing more than watch and wince every time Junsu spills something (how one spills so much when making toast is best left to the imagination) while he keeps Yoochun company.
“So… you two have a good night?” he leers.
Yoochun only smiles dreamily. “Yeah…”
Jaejoong makes a gagging noise. Yoochun doesn’t give a damn.
“Where did you end up going?” he asks absently. “You only got in an hour ago.”
Jaejoong coughs and blushes and mumbles, “What? No, I was nowhere. Don’t be silly. Nevermind.”
Yoochun barely hears him. He’ll care about it later, when life is less perfect.
There’s a loud crash in the kitchen followed by Junsu’s chipper, “I”LL CLEAN IT UP!” that makes Jaejoong twitch. Yoochun calls out “No problem, baby!” and keeps smiling and Jaejoong favors him with a disgruntled, “You know what? Happy-you kinda freaks me out.”
He crosses his arms on the counter and rests his chin on them, grinning up at his best friend. “It’s such a great day, isn’t?”
“Alright, that’s it,” Jaejoong says. “I’m bursting your bubble.”
He rolls his eyes fondly. “Whatever you say, Jaejoong.”
“Oh, I’ll say alright. I’ve been wanting to mock you so hard for the past 24-hours. If I have to keep it in any longer I might actually die.”
Yoochun feigns an innocent look, hoping against hope. But, alas-
“Oh come on, you can’t seriously expect me to let this go. Junsu kissed you!”
“Jaejoong-”
“-Your boytoy made the first move!”
And damnit, the bubble was gone, burst just for the sake of Jaejoong’s cruel, cruel amusement, what a horrible man he was.
“I would’ve, eventually,” Yoochun pouts.
Jaejoong scoffs. “Yeah. Right.”
“And he’s not my boytoy,” he protests, for the umpteenth and still completely pointless time.
“I DON’T MIND BEING A BOYTOY.”
Jaejoong freezes in place. Yoochun’s jaw drops.
“BUT, ER. NOW THAT YOOCHUN WORKS FOR- I MEAN, CAN I BE A BOYTOY WHEN I’M THE ONE THAT MAKES THE MONEY? ”
Jaejoong cackles gleefully and Yoochun glares -at him, not at Junsu, because Junsu is the best thing (boytoy) ever- and mutters, “Oh shut up.”
“C’mon, Yoochun, we’re all grown-ups here, right?”
“I hate you.”
And they all live happily ever after.
(Except Yoochun. But pessimism has always suited him best, and Junsu’s got enough happiness and smiles and 4-D fame for the both of them.)
[END]
started writing: 3/17/11
finished writing: 11/8/11
master list
So ends the story of how Yoochun transcended his stalker status, and so begins the true ~journey of love~ that is this failtastic version of Yoosu :D/ As I've mentioned in earlier parts, this particular 'verse really caught my inspiration, so future vignettes and a Jaejoong spin-off shall never be ruled out! (Because c'mon, Jaejoong so wants a spin-off).
This also marks the end of my dbsk help-japan fics. I have to thank oldwillow_brook again and again, as well as all the other bidders whose generosity inspired many and wonderfully fun fictions for me to write! And thanks to you all for sticking by! ♥
/and that's all, folks
A Yoosu romcom (help_japan) fic for oldwillow_brook :D♥
In which Yoochun is still a bit pathetic and Junsu is still a bit naïve, and they make things far more complicated than they need to be and make the people around them nauseous, but then everything gets better and there’s a happy ending. Because they’re Yoosu, and it’s a Beautiful Love.
Posting pretty much on-time, woo! Once again, the end begins pretty much where the last bit left off, so check it out here: Part o1.75 :D
“Where’re we going?”
Yoochun taps out a casual rhythm on the steering wheel as they cruise through the streets. Downtown’s a much nicer drive on the weekends, no traffic though he still takes his time; with Junsu in the passenger seat, he’s enjoying this not-really-a-joyride for all it’s worth it.
“We’re going to my office building.”
Junsu’s mouth drops open. “Seriously? Like, the headquarters of Record Label Records? We’re really going to- I mean, that’s kinda major, why are we going, why didn’t you tell me earlier, why-”
“Woah, Junsu, calm down. It’s really not that big deal. We’re just borrowing a sound studio for our usual practice.”
His nose scrunches up, confusion, maybe (probably) disappointment. “But, then-?”
“I thought it might be nice trying out some real professional equipment.”
“Your equipment isn’t professional?”
Yoochun cringes. “It is, technically. But it’s not a… professional… environment.” When Junsu doesn’t seem to get it, he adds, “There’ll be no distractions, here,” emphasis on distractions of a terrible, infuriating, parasitic nature.
“Ohhh,” Junsu says, like everything is illuminated. “Jaejoong-hyung?”
“Jaejoong-hyung,” Yooochun confirms.
Junsu bites his lip. “You don’t think he’ll follow us?” He looks over his shoulder like this might be a real, frightening possibility, and Yoochun’s heart spasms (it’s such a common feeling by now, he doesn’t even flinch- like a boss).
Instead, he chuckles darkly. “No, I know he won’t.”
Junsu turns to him with wide, curious, Why not? eyes, so when they idle at the next red light, Yoochun leans in conspiratorially.
“I happen to know for a fact that there are two people in my office building who Jaejoong does not want to see, and will do just about anything to avoid.”
“Who??”
“Hm… I probably shouldn’t say…”
“Tell me! I want to know!”
Yoochun smirks at Junsu, and the kid definitely blushes. “Ok, ok… the first is a man named Yunho-”
“U-Know Yunho? The DJ on-?”
“The very same. K-CASS has sound studios in our building, and that’s where Yunho’s show broadcasts from. He’s there almost every day, and Jaejoong won’t run the risk of running into him- let me finish, let me finish! Now, I’m about 99.9% sure that Jaejoong is seriously infatuated with Yunho, and when Jaejoong has a crush, he can get… well. Jaejoong knows he’ll probably look really uncool in front of Yunho, and you know, Jaejoong doesn’t ever want to look uncool.”
Junsu shuts his mouth and frowns, looking skeptical. “Jaejoong-hyung could never look uncool,” he mutters.
And Yoochun rolls his eyes and mutters right back, a hasty yeah right that’s quickly covered up by a loud, “And the second person… well. There’s another man, a co-worker of mine, Changmin. Changmin’s never been shy about his… ah, intentions towards Jaejoong, and I’m pretty sure Jaejoong likes him right back.”
“I thought he liked Yunho?”
“It’s complicated. But Changmin is someone Jaejoong actually knows and has a chance with- and therein lies the problem. Jaejoong is… he’s a commitment-phone, to say the least. He could get hurt, so he’d rather avoid Changmin completely, and now Changmin’s got the wrong idea…” he sighs. “Like I said, complicated. Relationships are like that.”
Junsu’s frown turns contemplative. “If you like someone-” he announces after a moment’s pause. “If you like someone, you should tell them.”
The comment’s not directed at Yoochun at all, but he finds himself on the defensive anyway. “It’s always more difficult than it seems, Junsu. You’ll understand when you’re older -you’re still young, you’ve probably never been in a serious relationship… right?” he amends, suddenly dreading the answer.
“No,” Junsu says, and Yoochun breathes a sigh of relief.
“But I have someone I like,” Junsu adds a second later, and Yoochun’s heart spasms in a way that even the bossest of bosses couldn’t ignore. His left arm jerks the wheel hard and the car swerves and they almost die, just a little bit. Fortunately Junsu doesn’t seem to notice.
In fact, he’s looking straight ahead as if nothing happened, chewing on his lip like it’s the best thing he’s ever tasted (Yoochun bets it’d be the best thing he ever tast- and no, no, bad brain).
He blurts out the first thing that comes to mind: “So, have you told this person you like them?” and no, no, no, worst brain ever.
Junsu blushes again. The effect is much less song-inducing. “Um. No.”
“Why not?” Yoochun needs to stop asking questions. He doesn’t want to know anything, because more details make it more real and god, pinch me, I need to know I’m dreaming! No? Damnit.
“Um, er,” Junsu answers. “I don’t think I should. I mean, I’m trying to- we’ve been getting really serious about the music, now, and I figure you’d want me to be professional and… focus… on the, um, music. …right?”
The kid looks at him like he holds all the answers, and Yoochun sees many choice before him. Not right! says the angel on Yoochun’s left shoulder. Follow your heart, Junsu, fly free into the arms of love! while the devil on his right rolls his eyes and says Wow, stranger-danger much? Keep the kid safe in the arms of the music, it’s best for everyone, really, and he’s a really convincing fellow, that devil of his.
Of course, that preteen girl in his head is no help, too busy sobbing omgwhhhyyyhhyhhyyy??, and Yoochun thinks, yeah, it’s really all about the music. It’s always been about the music, hasn’t it?
So, “Yes,” he says. “Yes, you should be focused on the music, not on your personal life.”
“Yeah… um. Yeah. That’s what I thought.” And maybe Junsu looks a little upset, a little dejected, but Yoochun tries his best to ignore that.
The rest of the drive is silent.
*
The studio session goes great. Yoochun is focused (completely focused), avoiding all non-music subjects and distractions, like Junsu’s new haircut and coffee break chitchat and eye contact. For once Junsu seems to be on the exact same page, going so far as to avoid talking to him about anything at all. And they do get a lot done: Junsu sings and Yoochun records and they listen, critique, and record again.
It’s great, really.
Really.
Around noon, his phone buzzes, a text from Changmin, where r u?
He ignores it, and gets another buzz, less than a minute later. i know ur in the building. i WILL find u!
Yoochun groans and taps back his reply. Don’t be absurd. I’m not at the office; I work from home Sat.
The reply is immediate. liar. i saw ur car in the garage.
He turns his phone off, cursing under his breath. No point in replying; Changmin knows he’s here and if he said he’ll find him, Changmin will hunt through every floor to track him down. Look up ‘stubborn’ on Dictionary.com and you find (adj.) Unreasonable; obstinate; fixed; resolute; stiff as wood- and yes, those are all things that apply to Changmin (even that last one, Yoochun grudgingly admits).
They make it through another recording and Junsu’s back in the booth when Changmin finally does appear, sneaking in quiet and the clapping both hands on Yoochun’s shoulder to scare the shit out of him.
“HOLY mother of- Changmin! Warn a man, will you?”
Changmin grins at him. “That’s not really the point of a surprise, is it? And my mother’s a great woman, really, but definitely no saint.”
“Ugh.”
Changmin grins wider and then turns away, taking a long, considering look at Junsu, who’s singing with utmost concentration, eyes screwed shut. “So that’s the boytoy, eh?”
“Ye-No, he’s not a boytoy,” he says, and thanks god the sound’s going one-way.
“He’s good.”
“…Thanks.”
Junsu stops singing then; he opens his eyes and immediately spots the giraffe in the room. His mouth falls open slightly as he stares at them with a wary sort of confusion. Yoochun leans forward to press the intercom button, and sighs, “Good job, Junsu. This is a coworker of mine; he just stopped in to say hi.”
Changmin waves, fingers wiggling.
Junsu tilts his head curiously. He catches Yoochun’s eye for the first time since they’ve arrived, and mouths, ‘Changmin?’
Yoochun nods and shrugs, a ‘what can you do?’ motion that Junsu somehow seems to interpret as ‘no, he’s the man I hire to punch pregnant women so as to amuse me’, because Junsu frowns darkly and turns back to the mike, starting the song again on a sharp note that sets the mike squealing. Both Yoochun and Changmin wince.
“Dude, what’s got his boxer-briefs in a twist?”
Yoochun’s first response is to ask how Changmin knows Junsu wears boxer-briefs -but then he’s thinking of Junsu in boxer-briefs, of Changmin and Junsu together in boxer-briefs, and then it’s just some nameless, faceless stranger that Junsu wants to be together with in boxer-briefs, and then a large majority of the brain cells devoted to Yoochun’s imagination begin to commit suicide, like little brain-cell lemmings.
“I’ll tell you later,” he moans, and leans forward on the intercom button again. “Let’s try that one again, Junsu.”
*
Later is a mere half-hour, when Junsu takes a bathroom break and Yoochun slumps in his comfy roller chair and Changmin looms over him, arms crossed, listening to the sad, sad story with disbelief written all over his face.
Yoochun finishes with, “…and so I told him he should focus on the music. And we… haven’t really spoken much since,” and Changmin waits for one, two, three beats of dramatic silence, before announcing solemnly:
“You are the stupidest person I know.”
“I’m your boss,” Yoochun mutters.
“Which makes it even more humiliating,” he declares. “I am ashamed to be your favorite employee.”
Yoochun glares up at him. “You’re not my favorite employee.”
“Whatever,” Changmin says, waving away Yoochun’s objections once more. And Yoochun is quite sure Changmin would have kept going, berating him as only the smuggest of smug assholes can, but at the moment the door opens and Yoochun turns to welcome Junsu, his unwitting savior, back into the room with save me please! eyes.
Alas, it isn’t Junsu at the door. It’s someone Yoochun has never met before -or at least, has never met in person, because U-Know Yunho’s 20-foot 1000-watt smile beams down on him every day on his drive to work, so Yoochun could never not recognize the guy.
“Oh, sorry,” Yunho says cheerily, and damn but his smile is just as absurdly bright as it is on that billboard. “I didn’t realize anyone was in here! Thought someone had forgotten to turn the lights off!”
His voice is as ridiculously eager, too, but in person the tone of it is a bit deeper, containing a down-to-earth quality that makes him all that much more charming. When Yunho smiles at you, you can’t help but smile back -and smile back Yoochun does, even if it feels like his muscles are being forced every millimeter of the way.
Yunho doesn’t seem to notice; he’s set his sights on Changmin, and seems quite content to keep them there. “Didn’t mean to intrude!” he adds, solely to Changmin, his smile widening and about as unsubtle as an army of streakers running through Thebigballpark Stadium.
Changmin doesn’t seem to object. “No worries. We were just taking a break…”
“Oh, that’s good,” he says, and pauses, like he’s thinking hard for an excuse to stay.
Changmin rushes to give it to him. “You’re Yunho, right? The DJ?” When Yunho nods happily he adds, “We work up with Record Label on the seventeenth floor.”
“Oh! Yeah. That’s marketing, right?” He steps into the room without pause. More pleasantries, what brings you down here and what about you? and that’s great, what a coincidence, can’t believe we’ve never crossed paths before and blah blah flirting blah that Yoochun has no problem tuning out.
He hears, at one point, Changmin mention something about, “I’ve a friend, he’s a real big fan- an autograph?” and Yunho says something like, “Sure, no problem, what’s his name-?” and Changmin gives him the name and Yunho says, “Wait, I know that-” and as much as Yoochun is suddenly very interested in knowing what’s going on there, Junsu walks back into the room and takes up all his attention.
“Hey,” he says, trying to act normal even as Junsu shuffles forward glumly.
“Hey,” he echoes. His eyes flick off the side, where Changmin and Yunho have got their heads bent together (and fuck his life, isn’t that a familiar scenario?) and Junsu’s eyes go wide. “Is that-?”
“Yep,” Yoochun says. “U-Know, Yunho.”
Together they watch the two, who seem to be stuck somewhere between sizing each other up for a catfight or jumping each other’s bones or plotting to make all men under 6' feel inadequate or Yoochun can’t possibly guess what- but in this case, ignorance is probably the best policy.
“…Jaejoong-hyung probably won’t like this.”
“No, Junsu, I don’t think he will.” And he turns to Junsu with a wry smile, completely at his own expense, and when Junsu returns it, he knows they’ve established a truce, laid the foundations for a return to normal.
“You want to try one more song?” he asks, and Junsu nods with determination. Then he pauses.
“…Can we do the new one?”
Yoochun looks up in surprise. “What new one?” They haven’t added a new song to Junsu’s repertoire in the past couple of weeks…
“The work-in-progress.”
Yoochun remains confused. The work-in-progress is what they refer to the song that Yoochun has been helping Junsu write: an original song, a bare-bones tune that needs a lot of work, even though they’ve laid a base track on the synthesizer. But Junsu can’t sing it if-
“It doesn’t have any lyrics, Junsu.”
Junsu bites his lips. “I, um. I kinda wrote some. Last week. They might not be- but after, y’know, we were playing the video game that night, and I had an idea and I just. Wrote it down.”
Yoochun doesn’t know what to say. “Oh.”
“I was gonna show you today, but, I- I’m gonna show you now. Only I, er, want to sing it.”
He’s still too stunned to say anything but, “Okay, sure. Whatever you want,” and it’s the right answer, obviously, because Junsu beams at him like the sun shining through the clouds.
Yoochun cues up the music but keeps it very low. It’ll be better that way, to get a feel for the lyrics on their own, their musicality and strength. Junsu steps into the booth and Yunho and Changmin talk away and Yoochun counts down with his fingers and-
Junsu does what he does best. He sings his heart out.
Even if I have a glamorous life,
just as I’ve seen in the movies years ago…
Yoochun’s mouth drops a little even as his eyes flutter closed, shutting out the world and focusing on the sound, letting the words settle over him, into him. They flow smoothly, genuinely, none of the cliché you’d expect from an inexperienced lyricist.
Junsu hits the chorus, and he hits it perfectly. Like he’s been singing this song all his life, like these words aren’t just words but merely the form in which the music naturally takes. On the high notes his voice trembles a bit but it’s with feeling rather than effort.
-If you are by my side,
if we are together
I can be my true self...
Even when the playful and carefree days are gone
Please stay by my side…
They mean something, these words. They aren’t just rehearsed, written spur-of-the-moment and memorized in the span of a week. Junsu sings like… like…
Like he’s already a star. Like he’s already fucking made it and knows what it takes and is going to blow them all away, again and again and again, because he’s made for this.
And Yoochun can only sit in his shadow and wonder, When the hell did this happen?
Before Junsu’s even done singing, before he opens his eyes again to the rest of the world, Yoochun feels the presence of the other two as they come up and stand behind him. One of them leans down, and Yoochun opens his eyes, not looking at them but keeping his eyes focused on Junsu.
“Changmin says you’re mentoring this kid?” Yunho asks, his voice hushed, deeper than Yoochun’s ever heard it.
“Yeah,” Yoochun says, and has to clear his voice to do it. He’s gone hoarse.
...If you really love me, the way I am,
I will be able to dream of the future-
“And you’ve signed him, right?”
“No,” Yoochun says. “He’s too new. We’ve only been training for six months. He’s not ready.”
“The hell he isn’t,” Changmin snorts.
Yunho straightens and Yoochun glances up at him. He’s staring at Junsu seriously, appraisingly. When he sees Yoochun looking, he holds his serious expression for a minute before breaking down, winking. “I gotta agree with Changmin. The kid’s amazing, serious wow-factor here. You’ve done a great job with your protégé.”
Yoochun shrugs self-consciously. “I just helped where I could, taught him the basics… I’m just a paper-pusher- an important paper-pusher,” he amends, unable to help himself, “but as for actual management…” He shrugs again.
“You willing to change that?”
“Huh?”
Yunho smiles kindly at him, looking between him and Junsu, who’s kept his eyes closed through the whole song, again. They probably should work on that-
“The kid’s not signed, you say. He doesn’t have a manager, or producer… think you could fill the role, in the meantime?”
“I don-hagk.”
Changmin claps him on the back hard enough to make Yoochun choke, the air fleeing from his lung. “Of course he is! Between his knowledge of music and the industry and the paper-pushing, he’d make a great one-man management team, don’t you think?”
He says it pointedly enough that it’s obvious it’s not Yunho he’s trying to convince. Yoochun glares at him for the slap on the back but internally (in a very, very deep-down infinitesimally small internal place), he’s grateful to his subordinate.
“Alright…” he says, to Yunho. “I guess I am.”
The DJ beams. “Great, then I can talk to you about having the kid- Junsu, is it? That’s a pretty common name, you should think about getting him a stage name, something short and snappy- all capslock, even better!- but I’d like to feature him on my radio show.”
Yoochun had thought the man was just overly friendly; he didn’t think he was insane. “What.”
“Ha, you heard me right! I have a new segment I’ve just started for new artists, I’m calling it my UP-N-UP-N-COMER’s Corner! Junsu’d be perfect for it! You polish up that song, I’ll have him sing, answer a few questions, and wham-bam, he’s got a major publicity spot before he’s even signed! That’ll be a hell of a bargaining chip when you start talking contracts with the Big Guys upstairs, U-Know?”
Then he laughs, like he’s been pleasantly surprised by his own genius. Changmin laughs with him, and Yoochun actually feels like laughing, too. He must be hysterical.
Certainly he’s shocked enough that he doesn’t even realize Junsu’s stopped singing until he turns back to the booth, and Junsu’s looking at all of them like they’ve lost their marbles. When he catches Yoochun’s eye, his eyes go wide and he says into the mike, softly, as if he could possibly to speak to Yoochun alone.
“What’dya think?”
He sounds so shy about it; Yoochun gives in to the laughter, then, loud and free, and Junsu only has a second to look hurt before Yoochun opens the intercom channel and says, “That was brilliant, Junsu, the lyrics are brilliant, you were brilliant. And guess what? You’ve just made your first break!”
Junsu’s mouth falls open. Changmin whoops and Yunho gives him an animated thumbs-up and Yoochun can’t for the life of him stop smiling.
Well, at least until they’ve talked details and settled on a basic agreement and Junsu’s in a daze and Yunho gets ready to leave. Changmin decides to leave with him, but not before smacking Yoochun one more time and whispering in his ear,
“By the way, those lyrics? They were about you. The person he likes…? I seriously hope you’re not a big enough idiot to not figure it out now.”
Two Weeks Later.
Junsu is a hit.
From the first radio broadcast-
…DJ Yunho here, and I’ve got the scoop on the BEST of the BEST new artists that U need to KNOW! It’s the next installment of our UP-N-UP-N-COMER’s Corner, and boy have I got a good one for you today! It’s Thebigcity’s own XIAH JUNSU, and there is nowhere else you’ll hear him but here! This is the kid with the golden voice, I tell you - but why doesn’t he tell you himself? Let’s hear it, Junsu-!
To the second, third, fourth-
-Welcome back, K-CASS-ians, it’s U-KNOW here with another exclusive interview with our one and only XIAH JUNSU! We’ve never had so many demands for a repeat performance, Junsu. You’ve gone from city street-dancer to city radio-star. How does it feel??
It’s incredible! Um, I can’t believe it, sometimes. But it’s incredible!
Haha, I CAN believe it, hahaHA-!
…nd now we’re switching back to the studio, where we’ve got XIAH JUNSU ready sing to you LIVE at the top of the hour! Remember, you can always go to our website, KCASS1025.com, to download a sample cut of his first single, ‘Beautiful Love’, but today he’s got a BRAND NEW NEW SONG-
Hello, Thebigcity! I’m your DJ Yunho-
-and I’m XIAH JUNSU!! WOO!
Ahahaha, Junsu, so enthusiastic!! It’s always great to have you on- our listeners can’t seem to get enough of you!! It’s been four months since you debuted on the show, time really does fly?
Waaah, it seems like so much longer!
Don’t U-KNOW it! But tell me, rumor has it you’ve finally got a contract in the works. Does this mean we’ll be getting an official single release soon-?!
And yes, Junsu’s been offered contracts by several companies, but Record Label has dibs because they also have Yoochun, and somewhere along the line they’ve become a package deal. He promised to take Junsu to the top and that’s exactly what he’s going to do -because it’s happening now and it’s happening fast. Junsu’s first break is turning into The Big Break, the one that Yoochun never got.
But he doesn’t feel bitter about it. In truth Yoochun finds he likes being Junsu’s manager-producer-person. Even more than he likes his job, even more than he likes tinkering nostalgically on his piano, and he’s not quite willing to give up his hold on that (on Junsu, but he’s gotten pretty good at this denial thing by now. And no he hasn’t made his move yet, shut up).
“Pathetic,” Jaejoong never fails to say.
And most of the time he just looks at his shoes and sighs, because he is a little pathetic.
Jaejoong has started taking pity on him, though -finally- despite the fact that he’s still pissy that Junsu’s The Big Break happened via one U-Know Yunho. Evidently Changmin and him are dating now; maybe Jaejoong can finally relate to Yoochun’s misery.
“I’m sorry,” he says, sometimes.
Jaejoong frowns and looks uncomfortable. “What are you talking about?” or “It’s not your fault,” he replies, usually.
“I’m not in love with you anymore,” Yoochun says- but only once. “Does that make it worse?”
And, just the once, Jaejoong pauses for a long time and eventually says, “No. But it doesn’t make it better.”
After that he sits them down, makes them his fancy espresso-machine coffee and extra-spicy ramen, and they’re just a little bit miserable together.
*
“-and we’ve got it! That’s it Junsu, we’re done!”
Junsu finishes the final recording for the final track on his debut studio album, and they have a party. Someone pops the cork off a bottle of champagne, and Yoochun makes a mental note to keep Junsu away from it. Alcohol goes straight to the kid’s head, one sip of the stuff and he’d be unstable as Heechul’s sexuality.
Heechul is the PR guy they assigned as Junsu’s new manager. He’s kind of evil, but Yoochun kind of likes him. He gets the job done- even now he’s off in a corner, snarking into his iPhone at someone Very Important.
The rest of the party guests are Yoochun’s old coworkers, who’ve descended down from the lofty corporate world to celebrate with them. Evidently they’re proud of him, and who would have guessed? Definitely not Yoochun. He’d been positive they all hated him. Maybe it’s just mandatory to hate your boss… but he’s not their boss anymore. He’s not the high-stressed drill-down WENUS-crunching don’t-think-outside-the-box-just-think exec anymore.
He’s a music producer. A creative director. The artistic supervisor for the vision behind Junsu’s album- and he loves it. Music is the focus of his life again, for the first time since he left university. He’d even dusted off an old song or two from his post-college repertoire, and worked them over with Junsu until they were something worth producing-
“And less angsty,” Junsu had said. “This’s like, drowning in angst. It’s so… emo.”
Yoochun gasped. “It is deep, not emo!”
Junsu had sighed, tilted his head, and stared Yoochun down until he’d been forced to concede that alright, fine, maybe Junsu was a little right. Just a little.
-And now all their hard, deep work has paid off. More champagne is popped, speeches are made. Yoochun’s never been one for public speaking, but he thinks he does a decent job of being gracious. Jaejoong makes a giant fuss of applause for him, mostly because he’s trying to show that he is happy and perfectly fine that Changmin (and by extension, Yunho) hasn’t paid any attention to him all night. No believes it.
As for Junsu… Junsu just talks and laughs, showing off that natural charm that no one can resist. He’s just being himself and they eat him and his purple zebra-striped jeggings right up. It’s almost enough to make a lesser person hate him -if it were, in fact, physically impossible to hate him.
Soon enough people start filtering out, back to the drudgery of Work. There’re few enough people that Yunho decides to give up the silent game, approaching Jaejoong with a smile. Yoochun wants to watch them -oh how he really, really does- because Jaejoong is about to go wobbly-kneed and so uncool and it will be glorious to behold, but then Junsu bounces up to him with a conspicuously too-flushed face and Yoochun groans; he’d forgotten about the champagne.
“How much have you had to drink?” he says.
Junsu sways close to him. “Just ‘nuff,” he says, voice low like he’s confessing a great secret. He sways again, his forehead dipping towards Yoochun’s chin, and Yoochun only just catches himself from taking a great sniff of Junsu’s hair. Still, a waft of some berry-scented shampoo reaches his nose, and Yoochun rolls his eyes heavenwards.
“C’n we, um, talk?” Junsu asks. “Pl’s?”
“Sure, Junsu,” he sighs, and waits for the inevitable talking to occur.
But Junsu just stares at him, frowning in that way he frowns when he wants to say something serious but isn’t quite sure how to pull it off. “I- Yoochun. I really wanna, um. I need t’tell-”
Yoochun’s long gotten used to Junsu’s odd way of talking, but something about this makes him nervous, and impatient. He frowns right back, “What?”
Junsu frowns even harder, thick lower lip coming out in promise of a full blown-pout. Junsu takes a deep breath, an “I-” of an exhale, and sways on his feet once more.
Then he says, “F’ck it,” and dives up for Yoochun’s lips.
He misses. He hits the skin right beneath Yoochun’s mouth, but reacts fast, feeling his way up to the proper place and staying there.
And somewhere in the background Yoochun will register the stunned silence, and then Heechul’s very unsurprised voice- “Well, that was completely surprising.” Followed by- “What, did you really expect me not to know? C’mon, the UST in this studio has been nauseating. Helen Keller could have seen them coming.”
And there will be more silence, something like a squawk and a choked-off laugh, but Yoochun won’t hear any of it. He’s too focused on the feel of Junsu’s lips -chapped and too-forceful and tasting like champagne bubbles- and how his own heart’s beating way too fast, and how this is probably the best thing that has happened to him, ever, ever, in the history of ever, too good to be true-
-And then he places two hands on Junsu’s shoulders to drag himself back. He pulls away breathless and wild-eyed, a stark contrast to Junsu’s almost sleepy satisfaction, hooded eyes that scream I am too pretty and innocent to know what I am doing just as much as Take advantage of me? Please?
“Junsu,” he gasps, floundering. “Are you sure?”
Junsu blinks heavily and finally lifts his eyes up from Yoochun’s lips. His frown is gone, but he makes his displeasure known anyway. “Of course I’m sure,” he says, and Yoochun notes the distinct lack of drunken slur this time around. “Aren’t you?”
Yoochun’s mouth flaps like a fish out of water. There’s never been a question of whether Yoochun has been sure, he’s loved this stupid brilliant kid ever since he saw him. He’s the one that has to be sure, because Junsu is sunshine and joy and going-to-be-famous, and Yoochun… Yoochun is old.
“You’re not that old,” Junsu says, even though Yoochun knows he didn’t say that aloud. “You’re… sophisticated, and the coolest person I know, and, and you gave me a chance when- and I really, really like you. I really like you,” he says, his voice down to a whisper. “I-”
Yoochun puts a finger to his lips- as much as he wants to kiss the life out of the kid, he’s also very conscious of the audience they still have. He might not be that old, according to Junsu, but he’s not young enough to pull off a who cares what they say! production.
Instead he smiles, to let Junsu know things are okay -better than okay- and says, “How about we have that talk, now. Maybe somewhere a little more private…?”
Junsu’s eyes double in size but he seems understand. “Ohmygod,” he says, before grinning widely, nodding, grabbing Yoochun by the wrist- “Okay, yes, um, right now- let’s go-!”
Yoochun’s taken aback by his urgency, but not in a bad way. He’s all but dragged from the studio, much to the amusement of his friends and bemusement of the few party-stragglers left.
The enormity of what’s about to happen -that they’re going to talk, they’re going to work something out together and do things ohmygod- hits him like sledgehammer, and before they leave he throws one last helpless look over his shoulder. Yunho is beaming and Changmin is smirking and Jaejoong hollers at him- “Go on! Show him your moves like Jagger!”
Yoochun’s knee-jerk reaction is to give Jaejoong the finger, but that same irritation is also just what he needed to kick that nervous ball of energy away for good -and he does, indeed, ‘go on’.
(…he shows Junsu his moves, too. But that’s a story of a different rating).
And so, just like that, they’re a them.
Sometimes, Yoochun has to admit, it isn’t so complicated after all.
Epilogue (One Day Later).
Junsu’s humming in the kitchen. He’s trying to make morning-after breakfast for them, even if his skills in the kitchen are beyond sub-par so it’s more like morning-after toast. He’s so adorably intent on it, though, even Jaejoong -who’s usually an absolute dragon when it comes to the kitchen, his beloved domain- is staying out of his way. He does nothing more than watch and wince every time Junsu spills something (how one spills so much when making toast is best left to the imagination) while he keeps Yoochun company.
“So… you two have a good night?” he leers.
Yoochun only smiles dreamily. “Yeah…”
Jaejoong makes a gagging noise. Yoochun doesn’t give a damn.
“Where did you end up going?” he asks absently. “You only got in an hour ago.”
Jaejoong coughs and blushes and mumbles, “What? No, I was nowhere. Don’t be silly. Nevermind.”
Yoochun barely hears him. He’ll care about it later, when life is less perfect.
There’s a loud crash in the kitchen followed by Junsu’s chipper, “I”LL CLEAN IT UP!” that makes Jaejoong twitch. Yoochun calls out “No problem, baby!” and keeps smiling and Jaejoong favors him with a disgruntled, “You know what? Happy-you kinda freaks me out.”
He crosses his arms on the counter and rests his chin on them, grinning up at his best friend. “It’s such a great day, isn’t?”
“Alright, that’s it,” Jaejoong says. “I’m bursting your bubble.”
He rolls his eyes fondly. “Whatever you say, Jaejoong.”
“Oh, I’ll say alright. I’ve been wanting to mock you so hard for the past 24-hours. If I have to keep it in any longer I might actually die.”
Yoochun feigns an innocent look, hoping against hope. But, alas-
“Oh come on, you can’t seriously expect me to let this go. Junsu kissed you!”
“Jaejoong-”
“-Your boytoy made the first move!”
And damnit, the bubble was gone, burst just for the sake of Jaejoong’s cruel, cruel amusement, what a horrible man he was.
“I would’ve, eventually,” Yoochun pouts.
Jaejoong scoffs. “Yeah. Right.”
“And he’s not my boytoy,” he protests, for the umpteenth and still completely pointless time.
“I DON’T MIND BEING A BOYTOY.”
Jaejoong freezes in place. Yoochun’s jaw drops.
“BUT, ER. NOW THAT YOOCHUN WORKS FOR- I MEAN, CAN I BE A BOYTOY WHEN I’M THE ONE THAT MAKES THE MONEY? ”
Jaejoong cackles gleefully and Yoochun glares -at him, not at Junsu, because Junsu is the best thing (boytoy) ever- and mutters, “Oh shut up.”
“C’mon, Yoochun, we’re all grown-ups here, right?”
“I hate you.”
And they all live happily ever after.
(Except Yoochun. But pessimism has always suited him best, and Junsu’s got enough happiness and smiles and 4-D fame for the both of them.)
[END]
started writing: 3/17/11
finished writing: 11/8/11
master list
So ends the story of how Yoochun transcended his stalker status, and so begins the true ~journey of love~ that is this failtastic version of Yoosu :D/ As I've mentioned in earlier parts, this particular 'verse really caught my inspiration, so future vignettes and a Jaejoong spin-off shall never be ruled out! (Because c'mon, Jaejoong so wants a spin-off).
This also marks the end of my dbsk help-japan fics. I have to thank oldwillow_brook again and again, as well as all the other bidders whose generosity inspired many and wonderfully fun fictions for me to write! And thanks to you all for sticking by! ♥