School Daze - Chapter Eighteen
Title: School Daze
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Multiple
Summary: The darkness in the room left Yunho with impression that no one had been successful in setting foot in the apartment, but at seeing the light in Jaejoong's room, he found himself happy to be wrong.
-Chapter Eighteen-
"So you didn't have enough time to get the shot off," Teddy muttered as he casually strolled across the bleachers to where Dong Wook sat after the stadium had finally cleared out. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his baggy jeans and took up a seat next to the crest fallen soccer player. "It isn't as if it's the end of the world, man. You're still our friend. You're still Dong Wook. You're still the best damn player out of the two academies. There's no doubt about that."
The dejected soccer player, however, couldn't disagree with the boy more. It was as if he was good at nothing. Too clumsy in soccer to focus on the game and in nothing else and a helpless romantic with nothing to offer his angel except the empty promise of sin. Jaejoong's piercing gaze shouldn't have effected him as deeply as it did. How many times had they accidentally bumped into one another?
But it had.
It cut him so deeply, that a major flaw of his had been exposed without the school's even knowing.
His need for attention.
His need for his angel's attention.
It was as if he couldn't remember how he had even operated before meeting SM's angel, but his performance had been to win approval. To recieve a smile, a nod, something, just so long as that something was positive.
Dong Wook didn't dare close his eyes or allow his mind to wander for long. When it did, he could clearly see Jaejoong frown and look away while shaking his head. Disliking the performance Dong Wook had put on only for him. He had wanted to show his angel what he could do, why he truly was better than Jung Yunho, but instead, he ended up hurting his angel's roommate, which many believed to be intentional. After seeing so many darkened looks, he began to wonder himself if he had done such a dirty thing on purpose.
"Seven," Teddy spoke gently, nudging the boy, attempting to pull him from his trance like state. Though the two hadn't gotten along famously in some time, it actually pained Teddy to see the boy suffer like he was. "I feel like I'm missin' out on something, man." He paused, waiting for some sort of reaction. There was none. "Talk to me, Dong. We used to talk about everything under the sun."
Finally, since the first time Teddy had entered the field to check up on the boy, Dong Wook took in his presence, actually considering telling him the truth. Why he had frozen up. Where he had disappeared to off and on. He opened his mouth to tell him about Jaejoong, his moment of weakness, but instead he said something else, an idea he hadn't even known he'd been contemplating, "I'm thinking about quitting the team."
Teddy frowned at this and his brows knit together in concern. This couldn't possibly be Choi Dong Wook speaking, it had to be someone else playing some sort of twisted prank on him. Soccer was Dong Wook's life, the one thing that kept him from the brink of insanity when Wheesung was expelled. How could he even begin to consider such a thing? No, no.. Surely Teddy had misheard him.
The boy used his smallest finger to wipe out his ear and quickly lowered it to his side upon asking, "I'm sorry, I thought you said you might be quitting the team," He let out a small and very forced laugh, "but that has to be wrong, because that would just be plain insane if you did."
"No," Dong Wook sighed, "you heard right, man. Today proved it. I just can't hack it on the field anymore. My attention was elsewhere today."
Teddy went silent, not wanting to argue like he knew the entire soccer team and the rest of the school would. There were multiple things the boy could have said, should have said, at the moment, most of which started with him telling Dong Wook how stupid he was. Yet, he wouldn't attempt to change Dong Wook's mind, if there was genuine enough reason as to why he wanted to quit the team, then Teddy would do him the honors of accepting the fact with no arguement.
"Well, man," he began with a small sigh, "what you do is totally and completely on you and I've got your back. Just make sure you're doing what you're doing for the right reasons, and not just on the fly."
Dong Wook nodded as the boy stood to his full height and stretched slightly from having been cramped on the bleachers. "Ara," was his slow and eventual response. As Teddy began to walk away, Dong Wook caught hold of the tail of his shirt, "Ya, Teddy."
At feeling Teddy's glance on him, Dong Wook released the hold he had on the boy's shirt and glanced up at him, "I'm sorry for everything, man. Mainly for being such a pain in the ass to you." He paused, biting on his lower lip before adding, "We cool?"
Teddy smirked and toussled the soccer player's hair, "We're cool." They slapped hands. "Now if you don't start heading back to the dorms soon enough for my liking, I'm sending Ji Yong after you."
Dong Wook let out a dry laugh and nodded, feeling a slight smile on his face for the first time in what felt like years. "I hear ya, man. I'll be around soon."
With that, Teddy left Dong Wook to sort out his thoughts, though he did wonder if there were some feelings that need to be sorted out along with them. As he left the stadium, he passed by Taebin. The captain had been the one that asked Teddy to check up on Dong Wook after quite a bit of time had passed after the stadium's clearing out.
"How is he?" Taebin asked silently.
"Better," Teddy nodded. When Taebin glanced at his friend, eyes filled with questions, the boy smirked and dug his hands deeper into his pockets to hide them from the cooling air. He responded easily, "He actually apologized to me on his own. Whatever happened on the field out there made him open his eyes for the first time in a long ass time." With that said, he offered the soccer captain a light nudge and proceeded to the dormitories.
Taebin had noticed a change in Dong Wook almost immediately after the game's end. In the locker room, while the YG players cursed and swore about bad timing, Dong Wook humbly apologized to each of his teammates, even going as far as to drop to his knees and bow several times before them and the coaches.
Dong Wook clearly felt guilty about having not being able to pull of a shot. It was something that had never happened before, him freezing up and nearly choking like that, but surely it wasn't his fault. It wasn't as if he had willingly handed the game to SM.
Then the thought of Jin Hwan's bitter words after the game hit him hard.
Probably that pretty SM boy getting into his head, he had growled in a low voice so only Taebin could have heard his words. Of course, at the time, Taebin immediately dismissed the thought. The Dong Wook they all knew wasn't one for mind games, and never played into them. But now, having seen him apologize so formally and humbly to the team, having seen his so detattched and silent, raised questions in his mind.
With a small grunt of effort, Taebin proceeded to the bleachers where he hoped he would be able to locate the problem without Dong Wook's getting angry of defensive. "Choi," he began as soon as he was near enough to be heard by the boy.
Dong Wook glanced in his direction, before looking back out over the emtpy field, probably replaying the last few seconds of the game over and over in his mind, though he silently knew he could have done nothing to change the outcome. Somehow, he knew from the very beginning that he was doomed.
"Tae," he began silently, not feeling up to putting up that facade of never ending anger and hatred toward his captain. He shook his head and quiclky lowered hs gaze before turning back tward the field. "Taebin-ah," he began again, "I'm sorry. For everything."
* * *
Jaejoong hadn't waited for Yunho after the game. He had no doubt left with Changmin, Ri In and Yoochun. Junsu had sent them off without him, insisting that he should stay with the team and listen to the coach's final words for the day. Though, it truly didn't matter what the coach had to say. The fact remained, SM had beaten YG. That's all that truly mattered.
Yunho stayed behind for a bit while his team slowly drifted away from the locker room and toward the dormitories where they would no doubt be preparing for the party of a lifetime. Even though their victory had been a great one, Yunho wasn't particularly sure if he wanted to partake in the festivities. They're victory over YG wasn't a complete one, somehow, he felt as if they hadn't won anything at all.
YG had been the stronger team at the game, had proven victorious with Dong Wook on and off the field. Yunho had been playing almost the entire game and his team had made little to know true impact on the game. Their defensive plays had been weak, their offense had been backed only by lucky shots. It angered Yunho to know that it was by pure dumb luck that they had won, not by skill, passion or love for the game.
"Hyung," Junsu called out silently, putting an end to Yunho's thoughts for the time being. The boy hobbled out on his crutches, moving carefully but still rather clumbsy on the objects which were completely foreign to him. He had insisted on a wheelchair, but his injury hadn't been that serious. "Hyung, something wrong?"
As Junsu hobbled over to his captain, Yunho couldn't help but smile and gently pat the boy on the back. He made sure to be careful around him, not wanting to pat him a bit too roughly, causing him to topple over and hurt himself once again. "Susu-ah, you should have gone back with the others. I know your ankle must still be bothering you."
Junsu shook his head and beamed, "I'm alright hyung. I just wanted to wait up for you." He knew how Yunho could get after games sometimes, though he wasn't always sure why their captain could be so withdrawn after matches. With this one, he was sure he knew the cause of Yunho's unhappy demeanor. Not wanting to hit a sensative nerve, he said nothing on the subject. Should Yunho wish to discuss it, he would in due course.
"Let's head back," Yunho said with a small jerk of his head.
Yunho was extremely patient with the younger boy, stopping when necessary and keeping an even pace with him. Junsu was always so thankful for how well Yunho would treat his dongsaengs, especially himself and Changmin. Out of all the students at SM Academy, he and Changmin were truly the lucky ones, being able to room with him and all. The honor had once been Yoochun's, but now belonged to that Jaejoong.
"Hyung," Junsu began silently, electing to take a small break from his crutches to give his under arms a break. When he was sure of having Yunho's attention, he proceeded with caution, knowing he might be treading on dangerous territory. "I don't think--" he paused, wanting to tell Yunho not to trust Jaejoong, to not let his heart be fooled by this boy. "--you shouldn't--" he tried again, still stumbling over his words.
Jaejoong made his hyung happy, but in no time, he was absolutely positive that Jaejoong would be the very reason Yunho would fall into a horrid mood like the one he had fallen into after he had kicked Yoochun out and discontinued any connections with Boa. Already they had seen how upset their hyung could get over trivial things Jaejoong did, though they still weren't positive what it had been that had made Yunho so angry. What would happen if that anger became full blown and raged out of control?
All because his precious Jaejoong didn't harbor strong enough feelings toward him?
While Junsu worried what would happen should Jaejoong truly anger Yunho, he couldn't possibly tell his hyung his thoughts on the eautiful boy. There was a slight possibility of it being waaved off to one side, but there was an even stronger possibility of Yunho taking offense to the accusation against Jaejoong.
Against his Jaejoong.
"What is it, Susu-ah?"
Junsu forced a tight smile onto his face and spoke with a forced calm, "You weren't happy with the game, were you?" It wasn't what he had intended to say, not in the least bit, but it was better that bringing on some unknown storm that had the pontential to wipe him out completely. "I could tell by watching carefully that you were far from happy with the end."
Yunho nodded and frowned, "It was a really bad game for us, Junsu. We didn't come ready to play, unlike them." He shook his head and sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets, "We only won because of dumb luck."
"Did you want to impress Jaejoong-hyung?" Junsu questioned before he could even stop himself. Once the question was out, the boy bit down on his lower lip and mentally scolded himself for not being able to keep a better hold on his tongue. But the damage was done. He had brought up the one subject he hadn't intended to, all he could do was wait for a response, eager or hesitant, from his captain.
A small chuckle passed through Yunho's lips and he ran a hand over his dark hair, "It would have been nice to put on a show for him, I guess, Susu-ah." He shrugged and sighed, "I honestly can't tell you what was going through my head today. The circumstances under which we usually play were so different." He finally glanced at the younger boy, "Couldn't you tell?"
Junsu was silent for a moment, thinking back to the play time that he had gotten, trying to recreate the feel of the game, searching for any differences there might have been. "I'm drawing a blank, hyung."
Yunho nodded somewhat sadly, "I guess I would be the only one to notice it then." The knowledge he had of Jaejoong's speaking to Dong Wook was certainly something that had played heavily on his mind every minute of each quarter. Somehow, each of his thoughts had drifted him back to the day that he had seen Dong Wook and Jaejoong speaking to one another.
Even thinking about it now made Yunho's blood boil slightly.
Having gained a few minutes' rest, Junsu deemed himself able to hobble back with Yunho to the dormitories. Upon their arrival, there were a great throng of celebrating students, already pulling out stashed away bottles of alcohol and congratulating the soccer captain on a game well played.
Yoochun, who was surprisingly sober despite the amount of alcohol about, carefully whisked Junsu off. More than likely to settle the boy down, give him medicine and put some ice on that ankle. Yunho was now left alone, surrounded by SM students, still declaring that their school was the best.
They don't know a thing, Yunho thougt to himself, gently pushing through the crowd so that he might be able to get through to his room. He didn't even want to know how so many students were able to get away with drinking while still on campus, and so close to security.
Surprisingly enough, Changmin was in attendance to the party. Not celebrating the way the others did, but more so, keeping an eye on those already too drunk to walk, speak or think clearly. Fortunately Ri In was not among the incoherent. The girl could easily rival Yoochun in drunken stupidity, but had no doubt gone off with him to take care of Junsu.
One face Yunho did not see was Jaejoong's.
After delivering his excuses, Yunho managed to fight his way through his classmates and peers until he was able to reach his room. He knew it would be far from quite, espeically since SM decided to turn a blind eye on everything on this night and allow their students to celebrate in whatever way they saw fit.
The darkness in the room left Yunho with impression that no one had been successful in setting foot in the apartment, but at seeing the light in Jaejoong's room, he found himself happy to be wrong. Dropping his bag to the floor, Yunho silently advanced to the other boy's room door and knocked lightly.
Jaejoong had been lying down on his bed, listening to the soft music his computer provided. When he heard Yunho's gentle knock, he barely casted a glance, somehow knowing who it was. "You can come in, Yunho," was all that needed to be said for the time being.
Yunho did.
"Ya," Yunho began in a teasing voice, "isn't it rude not to greet your guest properly?" He smirked and crossed his arms over his chest, "Especially one that it is a high standing figure on the school soccer team."
Jaejoong couldn't help the smile that crossed over his face and rolled his eyes before sitting up in his bed and glanced at Yunho curiously, "High standing, huh?" He moved over on the bed, a small indication that Yunho could take up the space next to him if he so chose to. "What took you so long to get back after the game?"
"Oh," Yunho's teasing smirk faded gradually and he took the available seat next to Jaejoong, "I had to think about the game for a little bit, I suppose." He shrugged half heartedly, "I wasn't entirely satisfied with it."
"Dong Wook did have a good game," Jaejoong muttered absently.
Silence.
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Multiple
Summary: The darkness in the room left Yunho with impression that no one had been successful in setting foot in the apartment, but at seeing the light in Jaejoong's room, he found himself happy to be wrong.
-Chapter Eighteen-
"So you didn't have enough time to get the shot off," Teddy muttered as he casually strolled across the bleachers to where Dong Wook sat after the stadium had finally cleared out. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his baggy jeans and took up a seat next to the crest fallen soccer player. "It isn't as if it's the end of the world, man. You're still our friend. You're still Dong Wook. You're still the best damn player out of the two academies. There's no doubt about that."
The dejected soccer player, however, couldn't disagree with the boy more. It was as if he was good at nothing. Too clumsy in soccer to focus on the game and in nothing else and a helpless romantic with nothing to offer his angel except the empty promise of sin. Jaejoong's piercing gaze shouldn't have effected him as deeply as it did. How many times had they accidentally bumped into one another?
But it had.
It cut him so deeply, that a major flaw of his had been exposed without the school's even knowing.
His need for attention.
His need for his angel's attention.
It was as if he couldn't remember how he had even operated before meeting SM's angel, but his performance had been to win approval. To recieve a smile, a nod, something, just so long as that something was positive.
Dong Wook didn't dare close his eyes or allow his mind to wander for long. When it did, he could clearly see Jaejoong frown and look away while shaking his head. Disliking the performance Dong Wook had put on only for him. He had wanted to show his angel what he could do, why he truly was better than Jung Yunho, but instead, he ended up hurting his angel's roommate, which many believed to be intentional. After seeing so many darkened looks, he began to wonder himself if he had done such a dirty thing on purpose.
"Seven," Teddy spoke gently, nudging the boy, attempting to pull him from his trance like state. Though the two hadn't gotten along famously in some time, it actually pained Teddy to see the boy suffer like he was. "I feel like I'm missin' out on something, man." He paused, waiting for some sort of reaction. There was none. "Talk to me, Dong. We used to talk about everything under the sun."
Finally, since the first time Teddy had entered the field to check up on the boy, Dong Wook took in his presence, actually considering telling him the truth. Why he had frozen up. Where he had disappeared to off and on. He opened his mouth to tell him about Jaejoong, his moment of weakness, but instead he said something else, an idea he hadn't even known he'd been contemplating, "I'm thinking about quitting the team."
Teddy frowned at this and his brows knit together in concern. This couldn't possibly be Choi Dong Wook speaking, it had to be someone else playing some sort of twisted prank on him. Soccer was Dong Wook's life, the one thing that kept him from the brink of insanity when Wheesung was expelled. How could he even begin to consider such a thing? No, no.. Surely Teddy had misheard him.
The boy used his smallest finger to wipe out his ear and quickly lowered it to his side upon asking, "I'm sorry, I thought you said you might be quitting the team," He let out a small and very forced laugh, "but that has to be wrong, because that would just be plain insane if you did."
"No," Dong Wook sighed, "you heard right, man. Today proved it. I just can't hack it on the field anymore. My attention was elsewhere today."
Teddy went silent, not wanting to argue like he knew the entire soccer team and the rest of the school would. There were multiple things the boy could have said, should have said, at the moment, most of which started with him telling Dong Wook how stupid he was. Yet, he wouldn't attempt to change Dong Wook's mind, if there was genuine enough reason as to why he wanted to quit the team, then Teddy would do him the honors of accepting the fact with no arguement.
"Well, man," he began with a small sigh, "what you do is totally and completely on you and I've got your back. Just make sure you're doing what you're doing for the right reasons, and not just on the fly."
Dong Wook nodded as the boy stood to his full height and stretched slightly from having been cramped on the bleachers. "Ara," was his slow and eventual response. As Teddy began to walk away, Dong Wook caught hold of the tail of his shirt, "Ya, Teddy."
At feeling Teddy's glance on him, Dong Wook released the hold he had on the boy's shirt and glanced up at him, "I'm sorry for everything, man. Mainly for being such a pain in the ass to you." He paused, biting on his lower lip before adding, "We cool?"
Teddy smirked and toussled the soccer player's hair, "We're cool." They slapped hands. "Now if you don't start heading back to the dorms soon enough for my liking, I'm sending Ji Yong after you."
Dong Wook let out a dry laugh and nodded, feeling a slight smile on his face for the first time in what felt like years. "I hear ya, man. I'll be around soon."
With that, Teddy left Dong Wook to sort out his thoughts, though he did wonder if there were some feelings that need to be sorted out along with them. As he left the stadium, he passed by Taebin. The captain had been the one that asked Teddy to check up on Dong Wook after quite a bit of time had passed after the stadium's clearing out.
"How is he?" Taebin asked silently.
"Better," Teddy nodded. When Taebin glanced at his friend, eyes filled with questions, the boy smirked and dug his hands deeper into his pockets to hide them from the cooling air. He responded easily, "He actually apologized to me on his own. Whatever happened on the field out there made him open his eyes for the first time in a long ass time." With that said, he offered the soccer captain a light nudge and proceeded to the dormitories.
Taebin had noticed a change in Dong Wook almost immediately after the game's end. In the locker room, while the YG players cursed and swore about bad timing, Dong Wook humbly apologized to each of his teammates, even going as far as to drop to his knees and bow several times before them and the coaches.
Dong Wook clearly felt guilty about having not being able to pull of a shot. It was something that had never happened before, him freezing up and nearly choking like that, but surely it wasn't his fault. It wasn't as if he had willingly handed the game to SM.
Then the thought of Jin Hwan's bitter words after the game hit him hard.
Probably that pretty SM boy getting into his head, he had growled in a low voice so only Taebin could have heard his words. Of course, at the time, Taebin immediately dismissed the thought. The Dong Wook they all knew wasn't one for mind games, and never played into them. But now, having seen him apologize so formally and humbly to the team, having seen his so detattched and silent, raised questions in his mind.
With a small grunt of effort, Taebin proceeded to the bleachers where he hoped he would be able to locate the problem without Dong Wook's getting angry of defensive. "Choi," he began as soon as he was near enough to be heard by the boy.
Dong Wook glanced in his direction, before looking back out over the emtpy field, probably replaying the last few seconds of the game over and over in his mind, though he silently knew he could have done nothing to change the outcome. Somehow, he knew from the very beginning that he was doomed.
"Tae," he began silently, not feeling up to putting up that facade of never ending anger and hatred toward his captain. He shook his head and quiclky lowered hs gaze before turning back tward the field. "Taebin-ah," he began again, "I'm sorry. For everything."
* * *
Jaejoong hadn't waited for Yunho after the game. He had no doubt left with Changmin, Ri In and Yoochun. Junsu had sent them off without him, insisting that he should stay with the team and listen to the coach's final words for the day. Though, it truly didn't matter what the coach had to say. The fact remained, SM had beaten YG. That's all that truly mattered.
Yunho stayed behind for a bit while his team slowly drifted away from the locker room and toward the dormitories where they would no doubt be preparing for the party of a lifetime. Even though their victory had been a great one, Yunho wasn't particularly sure if he wanted to partake in the festivities. They're victory over YG wasn't a complete one, somehow, he felt as if they hadn't won anything at all.
YG had been the stronger team at the game, had proven victorious with Dong Wook on and off the field. Yunho had been playing almost the entire game and his team had made little to know true impact on the game. Their defensive plays had been weak, their offense had been backed only by lucky shots. It angered Yunho to know that it was by pure dumb luck that they had won, not by skill, passion or love for the game.
"Hyung," Junsu called out silently, putting an end to Yunho's thoughts for the time being. The boy hobbled out on his crutches, moving carefully but still rather clumbsy on the objects which were completely foreign to him. He had insisted on a wheelchair, but his injury hadn't been that serious. "Hyung, something wrong?"
As Junsu hobbled over to his captain, Yunho couldn't help but smile and gently pat the boy on the back. He made sure to be careful around him, not wanting to pat him a bit too roughly, causing him to topple over and hurt himself once again. "Susu-ah, you should have gone back with the others. I know your ankle must still be bothering you."
Junsu shook his head and beamed, "I'm alright hyung. I just wanted to wait up for you." He knew how Yunho could get after games sometimes, though he wasn't always sure why their captain could be so withdrawn after matches. With this one, he was sure he knew the cause of Yunho's unhappy demeanor. Not wanting to hit a sensative nerve, he said nothing on the subject. Should Yunho wish to discuss it, he would in due course.
"Let's head back," Yunho said with a small jerk of his head.
Yunho was extremely patient with the younger boy, stopping when necessary and keeping an even pace with him. Junsu was always so thankful for how well Yunho would treat his dongsaengs, especially himself and Changmin. Out of all the students at SM Academy, he and Changmin were truly the lucky ones, being able to room with him and all. The honor had once been Yoochun's, but now belonged to that Jaejoong.
"Hyung," Junsu began silently, electing to take a small break from his crutches to give his under arms a break. When he was sure of having Yunho's attention, he proceeded with caution, knowing he might be treading on dangerous territory. "I don't think--" he paused, wanting to tell Yunho not to trust Jaejoong, to not let his heart be fooled by this boy. "--you shouldn't--" he tried again, still stumbling over his words.
Jaejoong made his hyung happy, but in no time, he was absolutely positive that Jaejoong would be the very reason Yunho would fall into a horrid mood like the one he had fallen into after he had kicked Yoochun out and discontinued any connections with Boa. Already they had seen how upset their hyung could get over trivial things Jaejoong did, though they still weren't positive what it had been that had made Yunho so angry. What would happen if that anger became full blown and raged out of control?
All because his precious Jaejoong didn't harbor strong enough feelings toward him?
While Junsu worried what would happen should Jaejoong truly anger Yunho, he couldn't possibly tell his hyung his thoughts on the eautiful boy. There was a slight possibility of it being waaved off to one side, but there was an even stronger possibility of Yunho taking offense to the accusation against Jaejoong.
Against his Jaejoong.
"What is it, Susu-ah?"
Junsu forced a tight smile onto his face and spoke with a forced calm, "You weren't happy with the game, were you?" It wasn't what he had intended to say, not in the least bit, but it was better that bringing on some unknown storm that had the pontential to wipe him out completely. "I could tell by watching carefully that you were far from happy with the end."
Yunho nodded and frowned, "It was a really bad game for us, Junsu. We didn't come ready to play, unlike them." He shook his head and sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets, "We only won because of dumb luck."
"Did you want to impress Jaejoong-hyung?" Junsu questioned before he could even stop himself. Once the question was out, the boy bit down on his lower lip and mentally scolded himself for not being able to keep a better hold on his tongue. But the damage was done. He had brought up the one subject he hadn't intended to, all he could do was wait for a response, eager or hesitant, from his captain.
A small chuckle passed through Yunho's lips and he ran a hand over his dark hair, "It would have been nice to put on a show for him, I guess, Susu-ah." He shrugged and sighed, "I honestly can't tell you what was going through my head today. The circumstances under which we usually play were so different." He finally glanced at the younger boy, "Couldn't you tell?"
Junsu was silent for a moment, thinking back to the play time that he had gotten, trying to recreate the feel of the game, searching for any differences there might have been. "I'm drawing a blank, hyung."
Yunho nodded somewhat sadly, "I guess I would be the only one to notice it then." The knowledge he had of Jaejoong's speaking to Dong Wook was certainly something that had played heavily on his mind every minute of each quarter. Somehow, each of his thoughts had drifted him back to the day that he had seen Dong Wook and Jaejoong speaking to one another.
Even thinking about it now made Yunho's blood boil slightly.
Having gained a few minutes' rest, Junsu deemed himself able to hobble back with Yunho to the dormitories. Upon their arrival, there were a great throng of celebrating students, already pulling out stashed away bottles of alcohol and congratulating the soccer captain on a game well played.
Yoochun, who was surprisingly sober despite the amount of alcohol about, carefully whisked Junsu off. More than likely to settle the boy down, give him medicine and put some ice on that ankle. Yunho was now left alone, surrounded by SM students, still declaring that their school was the best.
They don't know a thing, Yunho thougt to himself, gently pushing through the crowd so that he might be able to get through to his room. He didn't even want to know how so many students were able to get away with drinking while still on campus, and so close to security.
Surprisingly enough, Changmin was in attendance to the party. Not celebrating the way the others did, but more so, keeping an eye on those already too drunk to walk, speak or think clearly. Fortunately Ri In was not among the incoherent. The girl could easily rival Yoochun in drunken stupidity, but had no doubt gone off with him to take care of Junsu.
One face Yunho did not see was Jaejoong's.
After delivering his excuses, Yunho managed to fight his way through his classmates and peers until he was able to reach his room. He knew it would be far from quite, espeically since SM decided to turn a blind eye on everything on this night and allow their students to celebrate in whatever way they saw fit.
The darkness in the room left Yunho with impression that no one had been successful in setting foot in the apartment, but at seeing the light in Jaejoong's room, he found himself happy to be wrong. Dropping his bag to the floor, Yunho silently advanced to the other boy's room door and knocked lightly.
Jaejoong had been lying down on his bed, listening to the soft music his computer provided. When he heard Yunho's gentle knock, he barely casted a glance, somehow knowing who it was. "You can come in, Yunho," was all that needed to be said for the time being.
Yunho did.
"Ya," Yunho began in a teasing voice, "isn't it rude not to greet your guest properly?" He smirked and crossed his arms over his chest, "Especially one that it is a high standing figure on the school soccer team."
Jaejoong couldn't help the smile that crossed over his face and rolled his eyes before sitting up in his bed and glanced at Yunho curiously, "High standing, huh?" He moved over on the bed, a small indication that Yunho could take up the space next to him if he so chose to. "What took you so long to get back after the game?"
"Oh," Yunho's teasing smirk faded gradually and he took the available seat next to Jaejoong, "I had to think about the game for a little bit, I suppose." He shrugged half heartedly, "I wasn't entirely satisfied with it."
"Dong Wook did have a good game," Jaejoong muttered absently.
Silence.