[FIC] Love Me Twice (… because I just can’t let you go) [12/??]
~Chapter Twelve~
“Thanks for coming today” Changmin murmured lowly.
“It’s nothing” Yunho retorted as he pulled up a seat opposite him.
The two sat in utter silence, the only sound present was the chit-chatting of people surrounding the café they were currently in. Changmin straightened himself up in his seat and cleared his throat momentarily before continuing.
“How’ve you been lately, I mean I haven’t seen you in like what, three weeks or so?”
“Fine I suppose” he shrugged.
“Listen, about what happened that night, I’m really sorry that things ended up getting so out of hand, and I believe there’s something you should know …"
He paused to take another deep breath and Yunho waited for him patiently to continue, looking at him with expectancy.
“There’s a reason why I came back, but aside from wanting to take a vacation and relax from work, I needed to see you. I don’t know, I guess when we met up again, I expected things to be a bit … different. I really thought you’d have given up on Jae a long time ago, but now that I see you haven’t …”
He sighed, “The reason I’m here Yunho, is because I needed to find out if we had a chance to be together in the future, but as soon as I heard you and Jae were still together, it made me angry. I had liked you a lot … I just wished I had told you all this before” he confessed.
Changmin glanced up at his expression, watching as the color in his face darkened slightly.
“I don’t mean to put you on the spot, but I thought you needed to know the real reason why I kissed you the other day. I just had to know what it felt like, at least once in my life. I understand now though that we don’t stand a chance of being together, because it’s obvious enough that your heart’s with JaeJoong.”
Yunho lowered his gaze slowly and remained quiet. His mind was a mess right now, with JaeJoong gone, his heart hurting, and Changmin’s sudden confrontation about his feelings towards him; it was all so much for him to take in right now.
Yunho shook his head to clear him of his thoughts, “Min, I’m glad you told me all this, as now it makes more sense to me why you’ve been acting so strange ever since you came, but I’m sorry that I can’t correlate your feelings also.”
The latter forced a smile, “it’s alright, I kind of expected it anyways. But even if that’s the case, I’ll be ok because life goes on still, right?”
Yunho was a bit surprised that Changmin took his dismissal so well, but why did he feel so guilty about it still? Maybe it had to do with the fact that the two had been friends for a long time, or maybe he felt condemned that Changmin had come all the way to Seoul from Paris to find out whether he was still single or not. Either way, none of his ideas made him feel any better.
“Really Yunho, thanks for taking the time out to see me today, I appreciate it a lot.”
“Yeah well, it’s not like I had anything else to take care of.”
“What do you mean? Haven’t you been taking care of Jae since he’s expecting next month?”
“Not really” he murmured, “Jae left me after finding out what we did at the club that night.”
Changmin stared at him taken aback, “I’m so sorry Yunho, this is all my fault.”
“No, there are other reasons why he left, but I guess his breaking point was after that incident took place.”
Changmin shook his head, “You two can’t end like this. I didn’t come all the way to Seoul to have you two break up because of me or whatever else the reason may be. You have to work this out with him.”
“I’m trying, but it seems like he’s serious about not wanting to have anything to do with me anymore” he sulked.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” he offered.
“I don’t think getting you involved is such a smart move. Jae kind of despises you right now, and I suspect that if you get come into this again it’ll only make things worse.”
Changmin chewed on his bottom lip hesitantly, “I understand. After all, I did give him a reason to hate me.”
“Why? What did you do?” Yunho demanded.
“W-well, I um - I sort of treated him badly by telling him about your ‘player’ past and attempted to keep you away from him” he admitted.
Yunho’s stared at him in astonishment, “Thanks Min, really” he replied sarcastically.
“I’m sorry” he apologized once more, “but at that time I was a bit jealous of the kind of life Jae was having so I wanted to throw him off guard for a while, but I never thought that he’d do something this drastic.”
Now that the truth was all coming out, he wondered whether it would be alright after all for them to continue being friends. Part of him wanted to, but the other part knew there was a lot he was putting at stake, for one, his husband and kids. Was he really going to risk losing all that just to keep in touch with a friend like Changmin?
Yunho definitely had a lot to think about on his plate.
*~*~*~*~*~*
JaeJoong and Na Young, for the most part, had gotten accustomed to living with Junsu for nearly two weeks now. Today though, was a very special day for the family - Na Young’s 5th birthday.
“Happy birthday baby” JaeJoong squealed as he gathered her in his arms and gave her a big, strong hug.
She giggled at him, enjoying all the attention she was getting, “thanks umma.”
Junsu emerged from the kitchen with a small birthday cake decorated nicely with freshly cut fruits on top along with five candles. The two brothers sang ‘happy birthday’ to the little girl and cheered for her after the song ended.
“Now make a wish and blow out the candles” Junsu instructed.
She did as he said and closed her eyes, moving her lips slightly to wish what she wanted to come true. A few seconds later, she blew out the fire and the two clapped for her again in the background.
“Time for presents” JaeJoong announced, handing her two small, neatly wrapped up gifts. She hastily took them from him and began tearing the paper off excitedly. When both presents were clear in the open, Na Young screeched in surprise and got up to hug her mother once more.
“Thank you umma, I love it!”
“I’m glad you do” he retorted, rubbing her back soothingly.
“Here you go sweetie” her uncle Junsu said handing her his own gift for her.
As she was opening up his present, Junsu shot his brother a look and mouthed, ‘two?’
JaeJoong shrugged at him, but everyone already knew that since Na Young was still considered the baby of the family she was going to be spoiled as much as her parents desired it.
“Wow, this is so pretty” she directed to Junsu’s gift and ran over to hug him as well, “thank you uncle Su.”
“You’re welcome honey. So, do you have anything special in mind you want to do for you’re birthday?” he questioned.
“I don’t care, as long as we spend it together.”
“Then I know just where we can go to spend you’re birthday” JaeJoong proclaimed.
“Where?” Na Young questioned wonderingly.
“Let’s go sight-seeing around Seoul. There are a lot of places in this city that you haven’t even seen yet, and who knows, if we’re lucky there just might be a fair opened for you to ride on fun rides.”
Her eyes widened at his expense, “then what are we waiting for, let’s go!”
Junsu chuckled at her as he grabbed his coat off the hook on the wall along with the car keys and followed the two out the door.
Junsu drove through the wide range streets of Seoul slowly in order to absorb all the beautiful sights they laid they’re eyes on. He made they’re way to Itaewon, which is located in the center of Seoul and is the home to Korea's international community. Na Young saw many foreigners there and stared in amazement at the spectacular view of the city. They then went through Insadong, which is located close to the palaces and is home to Korea's traditional arts and culture. They stopped by many art galleries there, and at Myeongdong; the three visited a restaurant to catch some lunch to fill their empty stomachs.
After lunch was over, Junsu drove passed Lotte World, but because they hadn’t booked tickets beforehand, JaeJoong promised to bring Na Young back here another day in the future.
It was getting late now, and the three were because exhausted from their trip around town. They had done so much already, but Na Young was still looking forward to their visit to the fair JaeJoong mention earlier.
They’re last stop was the N Seoul Tower. The sight below them from the very top was a spectacular view. It seemed as though they could view the whole of Asia and beyond from there. JaeJoong made a mental note to most certainly come back here after the twins were born.
Junsu suggested that they walk the streets for a while for Na Young to see exactly what this place had to offer. She stared in awe at how wonderful this day was turning out to be, and just when she thought things couldn’t get any better, they stumbled upon a fair held by the community a few feet away from the Tower.
“I wanna go there” she whined to the two men in which they decided to let her go in after all.
She rode a series of rides, from the Merry-go-Round, to a small Ferris wheel for kids her size, to the Weather Balloon.
“I want to go on that one!” she shouted over the music that was playing throughout the arena.
“Alrighty then, let’s go wait in line” JaeJoong told her as he led her to where the line began; and he and Junsu watched her from the other side of the railing.
Na Young turned back occasionally to make sure they were there watching her and turned back around to proceed further down the line until it was her turn to go.
When they made sure Na Young was safely on the ride, Junsu lightly tapped JaeJoong’s shoulder, “hyung, I think we all should go on that ride next” he said, directing towards the one that takes you all the way up and drops you.
JaeJoong shook his head, “Na Young’s too small for that.”
“Then let’s go so I can go on it.”
“Su, today’s her day, remember?”
“Well, yeah, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun as well” he argued.
“True, but only you can go on that ride.”
‘Then you’ll wait for me out front right?”
“Su” he declared his name in a warning tone.
“Come on hyung, its just one ride.”
“Even if that’s the case, there’ll be other fairs opened tomorrow and the next day and the next.”
“Yeah, but we’re only here for tonight, considering this place is like two hours from where we live. Just this once, please?” he pleaded.
JaeJoong simply shook his head, and they began to argue back and forth regarding the subject, completely obscure to the fact that the ride Na Young was currently on came to an end. The little girl came off and looked about the place for any sight of her mother and uncle. Unfortunately, she didn’t see them where they last were and wondered down the pebbled pathway to see if they had gone that way.
“Ok fine, we’ll wait for you to go on the ride” JaeJoong frowned at him.
He turned towards the ride again and noticed that another group of children had boarded the ride and Na Young was no where to be found.
“Hey Su, do you see Na Young anywhere?” JaeJoong questioned in a worried tone.
Junsu glanced about the place quickly before turning to him, “no, do you?”
Panic ceased to exist throughout JaeJoong’s body as he looked about the place frantically in search of his daughter.
“She’s not here, where did she go?” he yelled.
“O-ok, don’t worry; she probably couldn’t have gotten far anyways. Let’s split up for the time being and look for her. When one of us finds her we’ll meet back at the entrance gate, alright?”
JaeJoong nodded his head vigorously before making his way to look through the south end of the fair and Junsu moved northward to cover that area. Junsu ran through the crowded walkway, having people push him from many angles and corners. He screamed out Na Young’s name anxiously, wishing that his niece would catch sight of his voice or existence even to let him know that she was ok after all.
*~*~*~*~*~*
When Yunho arrived back home later that day, he glanced at the clock, wondering if now would be a good time to call. He slowly reached for the phone and punched in Junsu’s cell number since he figured the three would be spending it out together somewhere. He prayed during the time the phone attempted to make a connection to Junsu’s that he would at least be allowed to wish his daughter a happy birthday if they weren’t able to spend it together as a family. Yunho, however, was surprised to be greeted by a distracted Junsu on the other line.
“Sorry hyung, I can’t talk right now.”
“… Is everything alright Su?” he asked hesitantly.
Junsu stopped running to catch his breath for a moment.
“We lost Na Young” he admitted.
“What?!” he shouted, standing up from his seat. “Where are you guys?”
Junsu informed him where they were and the situation they were in as quickly as he could to get back to looking for his niece.
After hanging up, Yunho hastily changed into another clean shirt and ran off towards the fair near the Seoul Tower at the speed of light, not bothering to take along a jacket to shield him from the cold.
For the first time in how long, the only thing on his mind wasn’t JaeJoong, but making sure Na Young was safe and alive.
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A/N: I think it’s safe to say that my hiatus is over and I’ll be returning to finish up the rest of the fic! I’m super excited ‘cause I’ve arranged all the ideas for the fic in order so now all I have to do is type it up and post it here^^ The next couple of updates might be a bit slow, but I’ll try to post a new chapter each week. Btw, I hope some of you guys still remember me :)