[FIC] Love Me Twice (… because I just can’t let you go) [17/??]
~Chapter Seventeen~
Junsu woke up to coldness on either side of him. He slowly sat up from the pillows he was sprawled on top of and noticed Yoochun was nowhere to be found. At first, he was a bit saddened, but when Junsu’s eyes landed on a note taped to the island in the kitchen, all his worries slowly drifted away.
‘Sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up, but trust me when I say I already got my morning kiss from you before leaving…’
Junsu paused for a minute as his hand subconsciously rose to touch his lips. A smile slowly crept upon them as he continued, ‘Anyways, there was an emergency at work and they needed me to come in as soon as possible. I shouldn’t be gone for too long. I’ll give you a call at around lunch time. Love, Yoochun~’
Junsu re-read the note before crumbling it in his hands and throwing it out in the trash. He walked over to the bathroom to freshen up a little before proceeding back to the kitchen and preparing himself a cup of coffee. As the beans brewed in the machine, Junsu drummed his finger on the edge of the counter, bringing a delightful tune to his ears. He decided on whether to give Yoochun a call and let him know he was leaving soon or simply waiting for the other to call first. In the end, Junsu settled for calling him.
After a few rings, he picked up, “Hey, what’s up?”
“Hm, nothing much. What are you doing now?”
“Work” he answered in an annoyed tone. “It’s taking longer than I expected.”
“I figured since its passed noon when you said you’d call.”
There was a slight pause, “sorry” he murmured.
Junsu chuckled, “its ok. But anyways, I was wondering if you’re up for some company.”
“When? Now?”
“Yup.”
“And … you’d be my company?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Alone?”
“Absolutely.”
Yoochun sighed, “Sounds tempting, but I have a meeting to attend in another hour.”
“Then that gives us plenty of time” he smirked on the other line. “If I speed on the road I could make it there within 25 minutes, plus the time it takes to reach your office. That leaves us with 15 minutes, minus the time you need to take to prepare for your meeting and walk over to the conference room.”
“Seems like you put a lot of thought into your analysis.”
“I like the thrill of being caught any minute, don’t you?”
“Well, now that you mention it …”
“Wait for me; I’ll be there in 25 minutes.”
Yoochun smiled as he hung up the phone and thought that maybe a little stress relief from work wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
*~*~*~*~*~*
“I found him!” Na Young shouted which caught JaeJoong completely by surprise as his back was turned towards her.
He’d been standing at the balcony that overlooked the neighborhood for quite some time now, thinking about various things over and over again in his head. Yunho tagged right behind Na Young and looked at JaeJoong through the double doors skeptically.
“What are you doing? Its freezing out here, you shouldn’t be standing there for too long.”
“I was just about to come in” he smiled at the two reassuringly.
“Are you ok?” Yunho questioned as he watched JaeJoong shut the doors closed and lock them.
“Yeah, I just needed some fresh air is all.”
“Let’s go eat” their little girl announced and grabbed JaeJoong’s hand, ushering him towards the door. “Appa and I made breakfast together so it tastes really good.”
JaeJoong chuckled at her and allowed her to take the lead for them. From behind, Yunho snaked his hand around JaeJoong’s waist, as if wanting to know the truth of why he was really standing out in the balcony all this time. JaeJoong brushed his feelings of guilt away and put on a fake smile for the two instead.
The truth was, ever since Changmin had spoken to him the other day and told him that he was leaving Korea soon, it made JaeJoong feel bad in a way. He began wondering if he was the reason for Changmin’s sudden departure of if he had been planning this for a while now.
JaeJoong didn’t hate Changmin. Hate was too strong a word to describe his feeling towards him. He just wasn’t that big a fan of him mainly because he loved Yunho too and tried to take away the only thing that had meaning in his life, besides Na Young and Junsu that is. To be exact, JaeJoong felt hurt by Changmin’s actions, and if time allowed it, he wanted to make things right between them before he was to leave for Paris.
“Jae?”
He snapped his attention back to Yunho who looked at him concerned, “did you hear what I said?”
“I’m sorry; I spaced out for a minute, what was that?”
Yunho stared at him for a few seconds longer which caused JaeJoong to feel slightly embarrassed and glanced in the opposite direction.
“Are you tired from last night? Is that it?"
“No.”
“Then are you sure you’re alright, because -”
“I’m fine, really” he stated firmly.
“I know what will make you feel better” Na Young chimed, “a kiss!”
She carefully stood up on her seat, leaned over in JaeJoong’s direction, and planted a big, wet kiss on his cheek. He laughed and poked her sides once she sat back down again, causing her to laugh as well.
“See, I told you that would make you all better. My kisses always make things better.”
“They most certainly do” JaeJoong agreed.
He then began eating and conversing with Na Young, explaining to her about starting school soon and informing her on all the things she’ll experience once she begins the spring semester.
Yunho on the other hand paid close attention to JaeJoong as he talked. Something about him was certainly off, and he was beginning to think that JaeJoong was having second thoughts about going back to him, or worse, regretting everything they did the night before. He shook the idea out of his head and tried to ignore the new ones that kept entering his mind. He tried, but didn’t succeed.
Yunho then made up his mind to confront JaeJoong about this once they put Na Young down for her nap. He needed to know what was wrong, because if something was bothering JaeJoong, deep down, it bothered him also.
*~*~*~*~*~*
“It’s about time you got here. What took you so long?”
“Traffic” Junsu mumbled quickly before greeting Yoochun with his lips pressed against his own.
“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you?”
“Like it’s my fault you work so far from your own apartment. This would’ve been much easier had you woken me up before you left for work.”
“I said it was an emergency, there was no time then.”
“Then don’t complain if we don’t get things done before you go off to your meeting.”
Yoochun glanced down at his wristwatch, “We only have 5 minutes before the conference starts.”
“That doesn’t give us much time” Junsu whispered.
They both stood there silently, disheartened by the fact that they would have to wait even longer to be confined in each other’s embrace.
“Then … I guess I’ll see you later back at the apartment after your finished” he told Yoochun wearily.
“You know, I don’t have to go. I can skip it just this once and -”
Junsu shook his head at him, “its better that you go.”
“But … I want you more than anything else right now. I … I love you.”
Junsu walked closer to him and kissed him once more, “I love you too, more than you can imagine, but I also love the fact that you take your job seriously enough to commit to whatever it is you do. Don’t throw it away because of me.”
“Fine, I’ll go, but first, you have to promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?” Junsu asked him curiously.
“When my meeting is done, I need to see that you’re still here. After all, we still have some ‘unfinished business’ to take care of” he winked at him.
Junsu felt his face flush and turned away from him embarrassed, “I won’t go anywhere” he murmured.
“Good, because after our ‘unfinished business’ is taken care of, I have another surprise for you.”
He wrapped his arms around Junsu’s waist, pulling him close enough to gently nibble on the smooth skin right below his chin. Junsu drew out a long, shuddered breath as Yoochun compressed his body up against a wall, his knee forcefully pushing Junsu’s legs apart. Yoochun brought his knee up slowly to nudge against Junsu’s growing bulge in his skin-fitted jeans, causing him to bite back a moan when he felt a rush of warmth increasing in that specific area.
Junsu held on to Yoochun’s shoulders for support, steadying himself with the remaining senses he had left in him. His hands reached out to fondle one of Junsu’s nipples underneath his shirt and pressed another chaste kiss on his lips. When the clock on the other side of the room caught his attention, Yoochun reluctantly let go of Junsu’s frail body.
“I guess we’ll continue this later.”
Junsu only nodded as a response and watched as Yoochun scurried across the room for his suitcase and exit through the office doors without looking back once.
*~*~*~*~*~*
It felt like hours to Yunho before Na Young finally fell back asleep. After all, she had woken up extra early that morning to ‘prepare’ breakfast for the three of them. He was finally able to be alone with Jae, and the best part of it all was there was nothing that could distract either of them from sitting down and having another heart to heart talk.
“Hey Jae, can we talk for a minute?” Yunho asked him casually.
“Sure, what’s up?”
He paused for a moment, “I was just wondering if you were, you know, feeling alright?”
He nodded, “yeah, I’m fine.”
Yunho stalled for a little while before asking his next question, “That’s good, because for a while it seemed like you were a little … upset. Are you?”
JaeJoong glanced away from him then and played with his fingers on his lap. His actions only gave Yunho more of a reason to believe that his speculations about him before had been right. JaeJoong told him last night that he had no regrets, but maybe his feelings about that suddenly changed overnight. There really was no way of telling what JaeJoong was capable of thinking or doing ever since that happened.
“Upset isn’t exactly how I would describe it, more like apologetic.”
Ouch, Yunho thought. This was definitely worse than he had anticipated.
“That bad?”
“Well, I mean, I do feel a little bad about what happened, but for some reason I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“What’s there to feel bad about?” Yunho inquired.
“Don’t take it the wrong way, but I feel like what happened before was all my fault. I mean, I didn’t mean for him to leave because of me.”
Yunho looked up at him completely lost, “wait … who’s him?”
“Changmin. Isn’t that what we’re talking about here?”
“Changmin? Where does he come into all this?”
“I’m saying I haven’t been feeling all that great since this morning because I’ve been thinking about what Changmin said to me the other day about leaving to go back to Paris soon.”
Yunho stared at JaeJoong wide-eyed then, unable to say anything. “W-what do you mean he’s leaving?”
“… Didn’t you know?” JaeJoong asked back.
Yunho shook his head. “This is the first time I’m hearing all this. When did Changmin tell you he was leaving?”
“A few days ago when he met with me to talk.”
“Did he say when he was going back?”
JaeJoong shook his head, “I wanted to ask, but he left before I could get another word in. I sort of feel guilty because I think the reason he’s leaving is because he knows that I don’t like him being here … or so he thinks.”
“He’s leaving … without saying goodbye …”
“I’m actually surprised you didn’t know about this.”
“I haven’t spoken to him for a while now. For some reason he’s not answering any of my calls” Yunho whispered.
“Then … you don’t think …”
Yunho and JaeJoong stared at one another for a long time, both thinking the same thoughts.
What if Changmin had already left for Paris without a word, silently walking out of their lives forever?
In a single motion, Yunho flipped his cell phone opened and punched in Changmin’s number; however, he was directed towards the answering machine once again. He agitatedly closed his phone way before the beeping sound came on and turned to face JaeJoong.
“Jae, if you love me, then you need to understand that I need to see Changmin regardless of everything that’s happened. I need you to trust me now when I say I have to do this one last thing before he leaves Seoul. I’m not sure when we’ll see each other again, or if we ever will, and if that’s the case then I have to see Changmin before -”
JaeJoong put his hand up to stop him, “go ahead, I trust you. And if you happen to catch him before he leaves, tell him I said I’m really, truly sorry for everything and that he’s welcomed here anytime.”
Yunho smiled warmly at him before pecking his cheek and hastily exiting the front door in time to catch up with his friend. As he started his car up and raced through the highway, he thought back on their last conversation they had a few weeks back.
“Forget everything I said before … I-I need you’re help.”
“Yunho, are you sure?”
He nodded, regardless of whether the other could see him or not.
“Please Min; I feel like I don’t have any other choice left.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll do whatever I can to help; actually, I think I already know what we can do.”
“Will it work?”
“I’ll do as much as I can to make it work, but the rest is up to Jae and you to decide where to go from there.”
“… Let’s do it. What do you have in mind?”
“Well, I can talk to Jae for you and explain everything to him about what’s happened these past couple weeks. I’ll make him understand, and once he does I guarantee he’ll go back to you in a second as soon as all his doubts and misunderstandings are cleared.”
Yunho remained quiet on the other line for a long time. “That won’t work.”
“It will, believe me.”
“Min, no.”
“Why not?”
“What if you confuse him even more? What if Jae’s still not convinced and won’t return?”
“He will Yunho, don’t worry. I firmly believe he’ll go back to you. But I need you to trust me and allow me to talk to him, just for five minutes at least?”
Yunho though this through. He had to admit, if he allowed Changmin to see Jae again, he was practically risking everything, but what other choice did he have really?
“Fine, but as soon as your finished you need to call me back and tell me how he took it all, deal?”
“Deal.”
Yunho quickly ran the back of his hand along his soaked cheeks from the tears he was silently shedding. ‘Stupid! Leaving wasn’t part of the plan, and if it was you should’ve told me first!’
He pulled up by the bar Changmin had taken him to before to play billiards with him and his other friends. Once inside, he spotted Donghae and Kyuhyun on the far end of the room rounding up another game. He quickly jogged over to them and noticed the surprised expressions on their faces to see him again after such a long time.
“Hey” they greeted.
“Hey, listen, I don’t have much time, where’s Changmin?”
The two glanced at each other uneasily before turning back to Yunho.
“He’s at Incheon Airport. His plane to Paris takes off in 45 minutes” Donghae informed.
His heart stopped for a mere few seconds before muttering ‘thanks’ to them and quickly moving back to his car. Incheon Airport was a good 30 minutes away. Yunho would be lucky if he made it in time to see Changmin off.
*~*~*~*~*~*
The door to Yoochun’s office swung open as Yoochun himself walked briskly into the room. Junsu watched him with a smile as he approached closer and stood up abruptly to embrace him.
“I’m not even going to lie to you, the whole time I was in there I kept saying to myself that I regret coming in here in the first place.”
Junsu chuckled at him and flicked his head with his fingers, “that’s because your mind is always in the gutter. You get distracted way too easily.”
“Maybe what I need the most is a distraction from work.”
Junsu blushed and gazed in the opposite direction.
“Ready to get that ‘unfinished business’ taken care of?” Yoochun smirked.
“I thought you’d never ask. Are we going back to your apartment?”
He shook his head, “That'll take too long. Maybe we’ll try something a bit different today.”
“Should I be worried?”
“No, but don’t expect too much moving space.”
“Then I’m going to take it as a yes.”
Yoochun smiled as he placed his arm around his shoulders, leading him down the stairs towards the parking lot. “I can assure you this will be unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before.”
“Wait, you left your car keys on the desk in your office” Junsu told him as they were halfway there.
“Trust me, we won’t be needing those.”
*~*~*~*~*~*
“Yunho’s going to kill me when he finds out” Changmin murmured to himself as he sat in the waiting area to board his plane. He bought a sandwich from one of the stands and munched on it to pass time.
There was a reason why he’d been ignoring Yunho’s calls, and that was because he was too ashamed to face him again. It was bad enough he caused problems between him and JaeJoong, but almost pushing them for a divorce was just too much. If that had really happened, he knew he would never forgive himself for doing that to his best friend.
Changmin thought Yunho and him were better off forgetting each other anyways. He’ll admit that meeting each other again had to be fate, but remaining friends was as far as fate would take them. He kept telling himself that they were definitely other guys out there that would make it worth his wild; after all, good things come to those who are patient.
A woman’s voice came on over the intercom calling everyone to board the international flight to Paris now. Changmin quickly wrapped his sandwich up and stuffed it in his coat pocket. He rolled his suitcase over to the line and waited for his turn to board the plane. By the looks of it, Changmin figured it might take a while considering all the people that stood in front of him already.
He didn’t know why he had this unsure feeling in his heart, as if leaving for Paris now wasn’t the right thing to do. He kept turning back, hoping deep down that Yunho would get his message and walk through the doors right this minute to see him off. A huge part of Changmin wanted to see him again, but the other half felt like he wasn’t ready.
What he was ready for was embracing a new future that had many new things to offer, including a shot at love.
---
A/N: Ok, here’s another long (maybe slightly boring) chapter^^ Sorry it took so long for me to post this, but I had a lot of things to take care of regarding school and family life. Lately, things for me have been so all over the place, but anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter :D And more will definitely come soon~ ♥