contest entry #6 - lovebirds

[yuxo]

Title: Lovebirds
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Changmin is a determined young man who is set on attaining the goals he has set for himself, that is, until he meets Yunho and begins to find more meaning in life. But Yunho is not what he seems, and Changmin has to choose between what he logically needs in life, and what he really wants.


"It's him," Yunho almost shouts, ducking behind coffee cup and trying to be inconspicuous as a tall, young man walks into the café and orders a caramel macchiato to go. Jaejoong rolls his eyes and kicks Yunho's shin under the table. The resulting yelp thankfully doesn't draw attention to the pair.

"You've been saying that for a month! Every Thursday, we come to this café so you can see him walk in and freak out when he actually does and you're not taking this seriously, Yunho!" Jaejoong exclaims, fingers clenching around his mug of coffee. "I hate to remind you, but you don't have a lot of time left."

"I don't know if I can do this," Yunho sighs, thunking his head on the table. "What if he doesn't like me?"

Jaejoong sighs, and then frowns at the clear insecurity plastered all over his best friend's face. He reaches across the table to pat lightly on the top of Yunho's hand.

"Look," he says, tilting Yunho's chin up to look at him. "You're a great person. You're engaging and fun and really sweet. Not to mention the biggest softie I've ever met even though you don't look like one. I'm sure he'll like you. Just be yourself."

"You think so?" Yunho looks uncertain, even though Jaejoong can see that small glimmer of hope in his bright eyes.

"Trust me." Jaejoong smiles, ruffling Yunho's hair affectionately across the table. "Look, he waiting for his drink. Go up to him, ask him if he's free on Sunday afternoon for a cup of coffee."

Yunho quirks his lips in a small simper before breaking out into a bright grin. Jaejoong tilts his head in the direction of the young man and gives a thumbs-up. Yunho stands up, squares his shoulders before stepping towards the other man. Jaejoong watches with hawk-eyed interest, and then ends up slapping his palm against his forehead, shaking his head.

Yunho, in his haste and over-eagerness, has his foot caught in one of those annoying beanbags, and resultantly crashes into the same young man who's been holding his interest for a month. The hot cup of caramel macchiato gets spilled between the two of them, but mostly the other man. They both stare at each other in shock until Yunho winces when the other man scowls at him irritably and strides past him, shirt sopping-wet with sticky caramel and coffee.

"Wait!" Yunho calls out. He swallows hard when an angry glare is turned on him.

"Would you… like to have some coffee with me on Sunday?"

At that moment, Jaejoong jumps up, grabbing Yunho by the collar and pulling him out of the café through the back door. As nice and sweet and the biggest softie of a guy Yunho is, Jaejoong had obviously forgotten that his best friend happens to be the biggest klutz he knows.

❧

Jaejoong watches as Yunho paces up and down the floor at the front desk of their shop, clicking his tongue at the slightly younger man.

"You're going to be wearing a hole in my nicely tiled floor, you know."

"Sorry JaeJae, it's just that… I screwed up." Yunho throws his hands up in the air, before sitting down hard on the floor, legs splayed out.

Jaejoong spares a sympathetic glance at Yunho before greeting a customer who enters. The young lady gives Yunho an odd look before turning to Jaejoong, who hands her two thick files with tattoo designs and patterns for her to choose from.

"Yunho-yah."

"Not in the right frame of mind to tattoo anyone right now, Jaejoongie. Don't want to end up doing brainless doodles on someone's back." Yunho pouts, and sighs, and walks out of their tattoo shop, a clear slump in his shoulders as he trudges home early.

Jaejoong watches as Yunho disappears round the corner, before nodding to his customer, who has her finger positioned over one particular design.

"Wings, huh?"

"Yeah," she smiles. "On my back."

"Back story behind it? No pun intended."

"Not much, just thought they'd look pretty."

It occurs to Jaejoong that she's probably one of those teenagers who do things without really thinking it through, surveying her youthful face and still slightly plump cheeks. He decides against telling her to reconsider. He's not going to argue with a paying customer anyway. He nods again, gesturing for her to follow him to the back room.

"Right this way then."

Just as well he's got this job this time around. Tattooing wings is such a sensitive issue for Yunho right now.

❧

Kim Jaejoong meets Jung Yunho for the first time five years ago in their shared dormitory in university, the slightly younger man his new roommate and classmate in a business course. Jaejoong walks into his dorm, pulling his luggage behind him to find Yunho pacing up and down on the dormitory floor looking extremely anxious and as though he is about to collapse and have a seizure.

Jaejoong has a quick snack whipped up for them in a jiffy, which is just enough to relieve the tension and curb the awkwardness. They talk a little about themselves and Jaejoong finds himself liking Yunho already, the other man very chatty and animated and descriptive about everything. That is, until dinnertime. Yunho starts pacing up and down again, wringing his hands together and fisting hands in his hair.

"Look, Yunho, whatever it is you need to say, just say it. You pacing is making me worried," Jaejoong sighs from his side of the bed.

"It's a secret and I can't tell you but oh my god you're going to find out anyway and hate me for it and-"

"What, are you a druggie? Because if you are, I'm totally cool with it."

"No no, that's not it, it's just…" Yunho stops walking abruptly, hastily locking the dormitory door before standing in front of Jaejoong. He begins unbuttoning his shirt, and Jaejoong lets out a howl of laughter.

"Ah, you could have just said you prefer dicks to chicks, you know," Jaejoong grins, teasing and just this side of sleazy.

"That's not it!" Yunho groans. "Although I do swing that way, but that's not the point!"

He turns around and let the shirt drop of his shoulders, unbuttoning his pants to expose a full back tattoo that just disappears on the inside of his boxers. He tugs that a little lower too and Jaejoong raises a mildly unamused eyebrow.

"So… you have a tattoo on your back. A pair of wings," he deadpans. "Yunho, I have tattoos too, it's no big deal-"

"Just!" Yunho half-shouts, nearly exasperated. "Just… watch it for a couple of minutes okay."

Jaejoong nearly scoffs at the strange request, but bites the inside of his cheek instead and stares at Yunho's back.

Well, he does have a nice back… Smooth skin, toned muscles, kind of chunky around the shoulders that look good enough to bite and- Oh shit.

Something extraordinary happens and Jaejoong can't tear his eyes away from Yunho's back. Yunho's tattoo is amazing; beautifully coloured black and grey feathers covering his whole back except his spine in great detail, as though each feather had been carefully drawn in, dipping past his waistline to sit just above the cleft of his buttocks. He imagines it must be a dream, but the way his knees hurt where he has fingers digging into them tells Jaejoong that everything is so, very real.

It starts right at the tip of each wing, like skin peeling off Yunho's back, except what curls off the smooth planes of his back are real feathers, rising from the surface of his skin one by one. It progresses from the tip of the wings right to the base in a fluid upward cascade that moves as smoothly as running a thumb across pages of a paperback. It finally stops between Yunho's shoulder blades, and Jaejoong's jaw slackens and drops further when the wings move, as though Yunho's stretching them and warming up the muscles, flapping them a little and Jaejoong can actually feel the light gust from it.

The wings fold against Yunho's back, and he slowly turns around, buckling up his jeans with his eyes trained on the floor, too afraid to look at Jaejoong.

"I- I…" Jaejoong tries to say, tries to form words that wouldn't come off as rude or rejecting because that is really the last thing on his mind. He remembers Yoochun from high school, his best friend, and suddenly years worth of regrets flood his system again. Only when he sees tears drip down the tip of Yunho's nose does he finally move, reaching forward to pull his soon-to-be new best friend into an embrace, palms open and resting lightly on soft feathers, afraid to apply too much pressure in case the they would hurt.

"They're really beautiful," he whispers gently, patting the back of Yunho's hair lightly, smiling and sighing in a little relief when Yunho clings to him tight. "Can you tell me about them?"

❧

Jung Yunho is a kite, a civilisation of people who consider themselves cursed with an endosymbiotic, sentient being co-existing with them in their bodies. Nobody knows what exactly it is, except that the moment it enters one's body, life as one knows it changes forever.

Kites refer to this being as the Feather, and aptly so, because without the Feather, kites wouldn't have their wings and wing tattoos, along with enhanced vision and speed, no different from the raptor itself. Kites are either born or made; on rare occasions a male and female kite will find their mates in each other, and the Feather will continue to manifest in their children. More often than not, however, kites become who they are by transfusion of a minute amount of blood. Not just anyone can be a kite; only those that the Feather chooses as a host, or the kite chooses as a mate are suitable. For anyone else, a kite's blood is fatal.

For a kite like Yunho, he is one who had been identified as a host, and had willingly accepted, and now, with his coming of maturity approaching as he turns twenty-five, exactly five years after receiving the Feather, he must find a new host. The Feather will leave a footprint to mark his coming of age, allowing him to retain his wings and speed and vision.

If the Feather does not find a new host by the time Yunho and many other kites like him come of age, the Feather dies, and kills their host along with it.

❧

Yunho cringes and squirms a little in his small café stool. He has no idea what goes on in his best friend's head, because really, who could possibly ever willingly meet the same person who's dumped coffee on you a week ago? And yet, he finds himself peeking from between his fingers while he watches Jaejoong talk to his "coffee victim", occasionally gesturing in his direction.

In the end, he folds his arms on the table and buries his face against them, quietly awaiting his fate. As with most kites, his instincts are not as sharp in the day, but the Feather's presence is constant as ever, and Yunho knows from the tingles that run up his spine starting from his tail bone that Changmin is approaching, and the Feather recognises its new host.

But Yunho doesn't look up, not until he feels the tingles travel from his back up and around his head stopping near his forehead, a clear indicator that Changmin's already sitting in front of him, if the sound of a stool scraping against the floor wasn't already a telltale sign.

He tilts his head up back slowly and finds the young man opposite him, looking unimpressed but not entirely irritated.

"Uh…" he starts, rubbing the back of his neck in belated embarrassment from the previous week. He can see Jaejoong waving at him from the counter to say something. "I'm sorry about last week."

"I have an ugly brown stain on the front of my white pants." Yunho sees the corner of the other man's right eye twitching in annoyance and the scowl and shrinks back into the chair a little.

"I can pay for your dry cleaning," Yunho murmurs, looking and feeling really sorry. "If the stain doesn't come off I can buy you a new pair-"

"That won't be necessary, I already bought one."

Yunho's jaw drops, eyes wide in horror and he falls forward to thunk his head against the coffee table. Things are really not going according to plan and he doesn't know how to deal with it. He needs to get to know this man like his life depends on it, and it does, but it's just not happening right now. He can already feel the dread and the despondence as a result of his failure bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

"Your friend said something about wanting to make it up to me for last week. How do you plan on doing that?"

"I don't know anymore," Yunho mutters, shaking his head, shoulders slumping in defeat.

"Look," the other man says, sighing a little and giving in. "I'm in med school now, and we're having a blood donation drive on Saturday morning and we need someone to man the registration booth. If you really want to, come help me on Saturday, and maybe you can donate a bag yourself."

"Really? I could do that!" Yunho chirps, suddenly looking happier again. "Do I get to buy you coffee after that?"

"If you must," the other man rolls his eyes and deadpans. "My campus is the one down the road. Be at the foyer of the cardio building at eight in the morning and call me when you get there." He pulls a pen from his pocket and scribbles a phone number on a napkin, handing it to Yunho. "Don't be late."

"Thank you, uh…" Yunho trails off.

"Changmin. Shim Changmin." the other man says as he stands, giving Yunho a polite smile. He extends his hand.

"Jung Yunho." Yunho shakes his hand, nodding. "Thank you. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

Changmin gives a nod, before walking out of the café. Relief floods his system as he finally relaxes his shoulders and breaks out into a grin as Jaejoong claps a hand on his back.

"I take it things went well," Jaejoong laughs, hugging Yunho lightly and patting him on the back, right where his wings would be. "So what's the plan?"

Yunho relates their plans for Saturday before Jaejoong stops him abruptly.

"Wait, blood donation? Yunho-yah, you know you can't," Jaejoong reminds him urgently. "You don't know who's going to get that blood, you don't know what it will do to them."

Yunho's eyes widen in horror. What is he going to tell Changmin now?

❧

At exactly eight in the morning, Changmin phone rings in his pocket just as he's rounding the corner to the foyer. He stops short, thumb hovering over the answer button, staring.

A thought of god, he's pretty hot flashes through his mind, and he admires for a long minute the tall piece of gorgeous standing at his foyer, phone pressed to his ear.

Even though all Changmin has is a back view, he can already see how defined and well-shaped Yunho's legs are, how the thigh muscles move beneath the fabric of his skinny jeans as he shifts his weight from foot to foot, still waiting for Changmin to pick up. His waist isn't particularly small, but not that Changmin minds, as his eyes drag over a clearly tight ass, upwards towards strong, broad shoulders and muscled arms.

"Even his haircut is nice," Changmin mutters under his breath, his feet already carrying him towards the other man even though he's not ready; he hasn't organised his thoughts yet, hasn't checked his hair yet, and hasn’t turned on his brain-mouth filter yet.

"Hey, gorgeous." The words escape his mouth too soon.

Yunho whirls around and blinks in surprise, and only on seeing his stunned face does Changmin realise what he's said.

Yunho blinks again before bowing, more to hide his blush than to greet. "Uh, good morning, Changmin-sshi."

"Good morning," Changmin groans, too embarrassed to be polite anymore. "Sorry, still too early, brain's not awake yet-"

"It's okay!" Yunho squeaks, waving his hands frantically. Changmin can see the very faint tint of red on Yunho's cheeks and Changmin can't help but find that aspect rather cute and endearing. Who knew someone like Yunho could be so shy too.

Changmin forgets about his early morning failure when they reach the donation centre, Yunho having followed quietly without a word.

"Okay, you're going to sit here." Changmin points to a table and chair, empty except for a few clipboards and pens. Yunho notices a stack of papers in the box behind it.

"Most of those who donate blood have already registered, so just check their names off the list and give them a health declaration form from the box. We get walk-in donors once in a while, so just write their names down on this sheet and get them to join the queue."

Yunho nods, sitting down in the chair and twirling the pen.

"I'll let you know when lunch is. We all take a break at lunch so we close the booth then." Changmin continues, starting to walk away already.

"Where will you be?" Yunho asks.

"I'll be the one stabbing people with needles," Changmin chuckles, eyes crinkled and mismatched. Yunho laughs nervously. "Come over later and I'll get a bag from you too," Changmin smiles, walking away.

Yunho slumps in his chair. He hadn't thought about what to tell Changmin about not being able to give people blood without either killing them or turning them into a freakish bird-like human. He doesn't even have time to think of an excuse because within a few minutes, a queue forms at his registration desk and he finds himself busy right up till lunchtime when Changmin reappears.

"Hey, how's the going?"

"All right. The line doesn't seem to end though." Yunho replies, stretching a little.

"Leave it. Lunch time!" Changmin chirps. "They'll be back later." He tugs Yunho out of the chair by the wrist and half-drags the older man off his campus. It isn't until they're nearing a porridge house that Changmin realises he's been holding Yunho's hand all the way, letting go abruptly and clearing his throat, but saying nothing else.

Yunho simply looks away and pretends that does not affect him.

Changmin orders them both abalone and mushroom porridge and they eat in silence, both too hungry to think of anything else. Only when Yunho's halfway through his bowl does he look up, Changmin already finishing his and ready to order another one. Yunho's eyes widen in amazement when he does just that.

"I have a big appetite," Changmin explains, shrugging. He takes another mouthful of porridge before looking at Yunho, taking his time to admire the handsome features of his face. Sharp nose, chiselled jawline and a lush, plump bottom lip sitting below a nicely curved upper lip.

"So… What are you doing right now, Yunho-sshi?"

"Just Yunho, please." Looking up feeling pleasantly surprised. At least now he doesn't have to try too hard to get to know Changmin, especially when it seems as though Changmin wants to get to know him better too.

"I own a tattoo shop down the road from the café with Jaejoong. We're best friends from college."

"Tattoo? Doesn't seem like something you would do," Changmin raises an amused eyebrow.

Yunho laughs nervously, thinking of the very tattoo on his back that makes his life very different from anyone else's.

"We were both in business school, and we thought, why not start one together?" Yunho shrugs. Changmin nods.

Yunho manages to find out a fair bit about Changmin in their lunch hour that seems far too short, especially when he's finally got Changmin talking. One of the few things he realises about Changmin is how driven he is in terms of his goals, having done nothing but work hard right from the start to reach where he is, in one of the best medical schools here, just so he can be a neurosurgeon one day.

"But what about personal goals? I'm sure you have those too." Yunho says as they walk back towards campus. He steers them into the café first and buys two grande caramel macchiatos, handing one to Changmin.

Changmin takes a sip of the coffee and thanks Yunho for it when the older man refuses payment. He ponders a moment on Yunho's question, sighing before finally answering.

"I guess I've always wanted to live simply. Doesn't really matter if it's a small apartment or a mansion, just as long as it's with someone I love. I'm far from achieving that though."

Yunho can feel the disappointment coming off Changmin, even though a steady, determined gaze set on Changmin’s face quickly hides it. It feels almost as though Changmin is sacrificing his personal goals, his own happiness for his professional goals.

They reach the donation centre and Yunho sees a crowd gathering near his booth already. Changmin waves at him as he walks back into one of the rooms.

"Close the booth at about five. Then come in and I'll help you with your donation."

Yunho sits down calmly and handles registration again even though he'd much rather be pacing instead of fretting internally. He still doesn't know how to tell Changmin he just can't do this. He thinks back to Changmin's words, and it breaks his heart when he puts himself in Changmin's position. He would never be able to put his heart in the backseat and just forget about it.

During a lull period in registration, he takes to doodling aimlessly on a scrap piece of paper. When he finally looks up to help another person register, he forgets entire about his doodles and how he had drawn a heart with Changmin's name in it, stuffing it into his pocket.

The booth closes half an hour later and Yunho panics a little when he sees the sun setting already. He's got about half an hour to get back to his apartment.

He pokes his head into the room and sees Changmin busy with donors and frets more. He can't possibly shout across the room or call Changmin to get his attention. He does the next best thing and scribbles a note, apologising about not being able to stay and be a donor, and that he needed to be home right away. He hands the note to one of the other med students and asks her to hand it to Changmin when he's done, leaving the campus in a hurry.

The fastest way for him to get to his shared apartment with Jaejoong is to walk, but it wouldn't be nearly fast enough even if he ran, the sun already dipping below the horizon. He thinks about ducking into the tattoo shop but finds it already closed, turning into the alley next to it instead. In a matter of minutes the sun sets, and he can feel the stretch on the back of his shirt and hears it rip.

His vision becomes ten times clearer even in the dark, and he can feel the adrenaline in his veins and the urge to spread his wings and take to the skies, but instead, he crouches down next to the back door of the shop, hidden between a stack of old boxes and a trash bin and calls Jaejoong.

"Jaejoong-ah…"

"Yunho, where are you? It's already past sunset."

"At the back of the shop. I need a coat."

"I'll be right there."

When Jaejoong finally finds Yunho squashed between junk in the dark, he wraps a long trench coat over his shoulders and pulls him into a hug. He doesn't need to see it to know that Yunho'd probably spent that ten minutes waiting and crying. Every night is nothing but a reminder to Yunho that he can't ever live like a normal human again, and if he can't find a new host by the end of the year, the Feather inside him is going to die, and kill him along with it.

❧

Changmin yawns as he helps tie up the last bandage on his last donor before ushering him to the rest area. It's already half past six, and he looks around the waiting area to see if Yunho's there, feeling surprisingly disheartened that he isn't. Against his better judgement and despite their mishap-ridden first meeting, he had taken a liking to Yunho faster than he would like, finding the little quirks about the older man rather endearing.

And he had hit a nail right on Changmin's head. Up till now, Changmin had ignored his heart's needs, focusing only on getting a good education so he can get into medicine and eventually be a neurosurgeon, because that's everything his parents have told him to do, that all that is important for him is to get a good career and a good paying job, and everything else will take care of itself. But he knows, knows too well that it's too difficult for his profession and his dream to co-exist.

Suddenly, the years of broken relationships he's had come washing over him, the countless times he's been told that he never tries hard enough, never gives enough in a relationship. That he doesn't love enough, doesn't care enough, and it had left all his previous girlfriends and boyfriends emotionally drained.

Changmin is lost in his own thoughts and pouting to himself when his friend hands him a crumpled note. He reads the messy scrawl, feeling even more discouraged and dejected. Even though his mind grumbles sarcastically to himself that wow, it must have been really important to go home so quickly without even saying goodbye, his heart aches and thuds painfully in his chest. He almost angrily tosses the note into the trash, until he happens to flip it over and chances on random doodles, and among it, his name in the middle of a heart.

He can almost hear the thuds of his heart as though it's right next to his ear, and he smiles wistfully amidst the confusion, and folds the note neatly and tucks it into his wallet.

❧

"Yunho-yah!" Jaejoong yells from inside the bathroom. Yunho peeks in, looking wary, a little scared, but very much weary.

"How many times do I have to tell you to pick up your feathers in the tub?! They're clogging the hole again."

Yunho sighs, looking apologetic and helps to scoop up clumps of wet feathers in the tub.

"Sorry, Jae. I'm just really tired, that's all. It won't happen again."

Jaejoong considers his best friend with a curious tilt of his head, before collecting the lanky man into an impromptu hug on the bathroom floor, running his fingers through soft feathers as Yunho's wings shift gently to the rhythm of his breathing.

"Oh, you. I didn't mean to shout at you. Did things go okay today?"

"It was okay. I had lunch with Changmin but I didn't say goodbye before I left because the sun was already setting. I didn't even tell him why I couldn't give blood," Yunho mumbles into Jaejoong's shoulder. He likes it when Jaejoong's in the mood to coddle him.

"And how is this Changmin? Are you sure he's the right host?" Jaejoong asks quietly, petting Yunho's hair gently.

"He's really nice. He let me buy him coffee today and he's really smart too. But I feel really sad for his heart, and I'm not sure I understand why."

Jaejoong pulls away to look at his friend critically, trying to find some sort of answer in dark brown eyes.

Explain. I'm not sure I follow," he says.

"He's such a self-driven, self-motivated person. Did you know he spent the last eighteen years studying really hard just so he can get into med school and continue working hard so he can be a neurosurgeon one day? He gives everything just so he can have a successful career, but I feel like his heart is crying."

"Yunho, are you… attracted to him? The way you talk about his feelings, the way you describe them, is as though you can feel him."

"I don't know, JaeJae, I don't know." Yunho sighs yet again.

❧

Changmin meets Yunho again at the café again the following Thursday, looking amused when he finds the older man moping and staring at his cup of coffee, his effeminate-looking friend no where to be seen. He stands over the table with his coffee mug in hand, not sitting until Yunho looks up and nearly falls off his chair in shock.

"Changmin!" he squeaks.

"Is that… seat taken?" Changmin asks tentatively.

"No- no. Please sit down."

Changmin sits down and apologies when his knee bumps into Yunho's underneath their small table. He frowns when Yunho continues moping at his coffee, not paying attention to him at all.

"So… I didn't thank you properly for your help on Saturday. Thank you. We couldn't have done it without you." Changmin says softly.

"You're welcome." Comes a reply. Yunho still doesn't look up from his cup, which only makes Changmin pout. He reaches forward to slowly drag the mug away from Yunho, and only then does the older man look up, expression blank and somewhat tired.

"I was thinking… Would you be free for dinner on Saturday? My treat, as a thank you for your help."

Yunho's jaw drops, before he snaps it shut. He opens his mouth to say something again but then closes it back. Changmin takes that as a bad thing and laughs loudly, scratching the back of his head, feeling really awkward.

"Ah, I guess you're not interested but yeah it's weird for two guys to go out for dinner, it might give people the wrong idea ha-ha ha ha-"

"No, no! Dinner sounds great!" Yunho shakes his head quickly. "Actually dinner is NOT great, because I, er… I can't make it in the evening. How about lunch instead?"

"Great! Lunch is great!" Changmin almost shouts happily, feeling like his mouth is going to be permanently stuck in that stupid grin currently plastered to his face.

Yunho wants to burn. He wants to catch fire, because that's exactly how he's feeling right now. Changmin's just asked him out for lunch, and while he can feel the nerve endings on his back tingling, there is a curious way in which his stomach does a little flip-flop and his heart goes thump-a-thump irregularly and how he just wants to smile and dance around when he sees Changmin.

After a short conversation with Changmin, Yunho practically skips back to the shop, already thinking of ways he can get bribe Jaejoong into helping him choose clothes for a big date on Saturday. Jaejoong agrees without much of a bribe, finding that being able to tease Yunho for his little crush enough for him as long as he gets to hear Yunho's laughter again.

❧

Saturday comes faster than Yunho's even prepared for. He waits for Changmin at a popular eatery and occasionally looks at the glass window to check his hair. He's practically blown away when Changmin arrives, only really noticing for the first time how delicately handsome Changmin is. Big, doe eyes, sharp nose, smooth skin stretched over carved cheekbones, that pretty face sitting on a strong, lithe body and ending with long, long legs.

Changmin actually blushes when Yunho compliments his dressing, and proceeds to order everything good on the menu. They're both famished by the time the food arrives and Yunho can only gush at how good everything tastes. Conversation never ends as Yunho finds himself getting less nervous and more comfortable around Changmin, and Changmin opening up more to Yunho and revealing more about himself to Yunho than he ever has in a long time. Changmin laughs till he has tears in his eyes and Yunho not once takes his attention away from Changmin, growing more sure with each minute that his crush is more than a crush, especially when he finds himself smiling at all of Changmin's little quirks.

By the time lunch is over, they're both stuffed from a heavy meal but very much satisfied, and even though Changmin had promised to treat Yunho lunch, Yunho still offers to for it, which Changmin politely declines.

On Yunho's suggestion, they take advantage of the cool weather and stroll through the park, walking a little as lunch settles, talking about everything and anything that comes to mind.

By mid-afternoon, they find themselves sitting in the same café again, sipping tea and slipping into a comfortable silence, letting their own thoughts occupy them for a few minutes.

Yunho's thoroughly enjoyed his day. Changmin had been excellent company, always listening to him talk for minutes without stopping, never interrupting him except to laugh or nod in agreement. He almost does a happy jig in his seat at the thought that he had just gone on a real date with Changmin. He's extremely happy to have met Changmin, but the reality of his situation starts making itself known again, that the main reason he is doing this is because Changmin is the next host. He's a hundred percent sure, feeling like his skin is tingling all over with Changmin so near him.

But at the same time, a different kind of feeling is starting to become more apparent as Yunho spends more time with Changmin, a strange sensation that starts in the centre of his chest and bleeds out through the rest of him. Yunho has no idea what that feeling is, but for now, he kind of likes it.

Changmin smiles indulgently when Yunho meets his eyes and grins at him before taking another sip of tea. He's just spent two hours of lunch talking to a man about his life, talking about things he doesn't actually like to think about, but he just can't help it. Something about Yunho makes him want to spill everything and let everything go. It's really unlike himself to just buy someone he's only met a week ago a meal, have it together as though they're on a date and tell him so many things he holds deep in his heart.

And yet, Changmin finds it perfectly fine to do something like that with Yunho, and even though it scares him a little, it still makes him smile.

At about four in the afternoon, Yunho stands to leave. He gives himself at least an hour before sunset now; ample time to get home before the inevitable happens.

"I had fun today." Yunho smiles.

"Me too." Changmin smiles back.

"If you don't mind, I'd love to have lunch with you again next week."

"You have my phone number." Changmin winks. "Call me any time."

Yunho blushes, before bowing and leaving. Changmin waves goodbye as Yunho rounds a corner, grinning to himself like a fool and not bothering to stop himself. After so long, his life finally feels as though it has meaning again.

❧

As one would expect, the Saturday lunches become more frequent and turn into Sunday lunches as well and pretty soon, Yunho starts meeting Changmin at his campus to have lunch with him on his breaks in between classes.

After a long talk with his closest kite friend, Junsu, Yunho comes to the conclusion that Changmin is not only his next host, but also his mate. The more time he spends with Changmin, the more he's able to sense what the younger man is feeling, the better he is with finding the right words for the right situation. Changmin may not have declared that they're officially dating, but Yunho likes the way Changmin likes to hold his hand while they walk, always squeezing it a little occasionally when he looks over at the older man with a glimmer in his eyes.

Changmin has never felt so comfortable and light-hearted in his entire life. It's like Yunho had come and relieved him of a heavy burden and he can finally breathe easy again. It dawns on him that there's nothing he wouldn't do to keep the older man with him, and he's only half as glad that Yunho seems to enjoy being with him just as much.

But most importantly, Yunho has made him realise what he's been missing out on all these years. Relationships were never a big thing for him, and for the first time he's enjoying being in the company of someone who genuinely cares for him, and someone he finds himself caring for in return.

He supposes the older man does make things easy for him. Being handsome, dorky and cute makes Changmin want to fall in love with him over and over again every single minute.

Yunho picks up a lot on Changmin's feelings, feels how Changmin is slowly coming to terms with the fact that a career isn't everything if you don't have anyone to share your success with, and Yunho can feel Changmin's heart as though it's his own, how full and overflowing with affection Changmin's heart is for him, and the thought alone makes him feel contented and blessed, and at the same time, guilty.

All the while, he's managed to avoid meeting Changmin after sunset, and the younger man has yet to bring it up with him, but he doesn't want to lie to Changmin. Changmin trusts him so, so much, but Yunho doesn't know what Changmin will think if he finds out that Yunho isn't normal at all. He loves having Changmin with him, and the thought that Changmin would leave him if he finds out scares him so, very much.

He can only hope that Changmin will like him enough to forgive him for not telling.

❧

Confessions are always surprising, no matter how sure one's heart is, hearing those three, special words the first time can never be compared to anything in the world. It happens while they're at the same park three months after their first lunch together. Yunho's half pulling Changmin with him by the hand, hoping to reach the café before it starts raining, but when Changmin tugs his hand hard enough he effectively stops in his tracks, turning around to face the younger man.

"What's up?" Yunho asks, lacing his fingers together with Changmin's, unworried that he's standing right in Changmin's personal space at all. Changmin gives his hand a little squeeze and smiles, the same, sweet smile that Yunho has grown to love.

"I love you, Yunho."

Yunho blinks in surprise as Changmin looks away, cheeks heating and tinting with red. It takes a moment before Yunho reacts but when he does, he cradles Changmin's chin in his palm before framing his face in long fingers, gently pressing their lips together.

"I love you too, Changmin."

It happens the same way it does in the movies. When Changmin kisses him again full on the lips, a little harder, a lot more eager and plenty more desperate, it starts pouring on them, but Yunho's never felt more alive, never felt like he could fly.

❧

Sometime near the end of October, Yunho walks in to his shop on a Wednesday afternoon after lunch with Changmin to find Jaejoong busy putting up Halloween decorations.

"I see you're back from lunch." Jaejoong comments without looking at Yunho. "You can make yourself useful by helping me put those up."

"It's going to be another quiet Halloween this year." Yunho sighs, sticking paper bats silhouettes on their white walls.

"What about Changminnie?"

"He doesn't know." Yunho sighs again, slapping another bat onto the wall.

"Still? And when are you going to tell him? Yunho-yah, you know the longer you wait, the worse things are likely to be, right?"

"I know, I know! I'm just afraid that he'll hate me."

"Yunho, he loves you. And you haven't even started sleeping with him yet!" Jaejoong exclaims, but Yunho's shoulders only sag further into despondency. "Jung Yunho, listen to me. Changmin loves you. You know that. You just need to believe in yourself more."

Jaejoong hops off the stool and sees a watery smile form on Yunho's lips. He collects his best friend in a hug, half wondering how it's even possible for a grown man like Yunho to need to be cuddled and hugged so much.

❧

"Yunho-yah."

"Hmm," Yunho mumbles, staring out at the traffic outside the café. It's Thursday again, and Thursday is meet-Changmin-for-coffee day.

"You're drifting off on me."

"Mmm."

"There's a cockroach on your nose."

"Mmm."

Changmin heaves a sigh, cupping both of Yunho's cheeks before turning them back to face him. "You're so distracted today. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just thought of something…" Yunho trails off.

"Ya, I want to ask you something." Changmin pouts at his boyfriend.

"Hmm?"

"God will you stop it with the monosyllable answers? Anyway, we're having a Halloween party on Saturday night at campus. Can you come with me? I already have costume ideas, but I don't know which one is better. Yunho-yah, do you prefer vampires or werewolves or zombies?"

"Wait, what? Did you say Saturday night?" Yunho suddenly asks, jerking upright in his seat.

"Yeah I did. Are you going to be busy again on Saturday evening? You're never free in the evenings…" Changmin pouts and Yunho feels something inside him crumble despite the nagging feeling that he's in big trouble.

"I… I'll be there. I think a vampire costume will suit you best." Yunho smiles nervously before leaning forward to plant a quick kiss on Changmin's lips.

"Mmmm." Changmin smiles happily. "What are you going to wear? I was thinking… You've always reminded me of an angel, Yunho-yah. You're so kind and sweet and gentle to me, you should dress like one."

Yunho squeezes their hands together under the table, kissing Changmin again. He thinks of the black and grey feathers on the wings of his back, and shakes his head to himself.

No, Changmin-ah. The only angel I'll ever be like is a fallen one.

❧

"You need to help me, Jaejoong."

"Haven't I already been helping you? Sheesh." Jaejoong rolls his eyes from his spot at the stove, swirling the contents of the stew before tasting it.

"I know you have, and I love you like a best friend for that, but I really need an alibi for Saturday night." Yunho laments from the counter, his dark wings casting a shadow over his face, making him appear gloomier than ever. "Just tell Changmin that I'm really sick or something and I can't go with him."

"You're asking me to lie to Changmin?" Jaejoong raises an unamused eyebrow at Yunho and sees how Yunho pleads with his eyes. "Fine, but I'm not going to help you anymore until you come clean with him."

"Thanks JaeJae." Yunho moves from the counter and plants a wet kiss on Jaejoong's cheek. "What would I do without you?" He smiles, leaving Jaejoong to finish cooking dinner while Jaejoong grumbles a long mental list of things Yunho would be incapable of doing without him, starting from "falling in love with Changmin".

❧

Changmin frowns after hanging up a call from Jaejoong on Saturday afternoon, explaining that Yunho had eaten something bad for dinner and is suffering the repercussions of it. And the only reason Yunho can't go with him for his Halloween party is because Jaejoong insists he rest at home. He's a little worried about Yunho, especially since he knows Yunho doesn't have a very strong stomach and is very prone to gastric attacks.

Even though his party is only due to start at nine, he packs his costume into a duffel bag and slings it over his shoulder as he heads down to Yunho's and Jaejoong's apartment. He figures he'll spend a couple of hours there looking after Yunho and making sure he's okay before going for his party. At least his mind would be at rest and he wouldn't be worrying all night.

❧

"Ya, Yunho-yah, have you seen my phone?" Jaejoong flips up the sofa cushions and looks under the coffee table but still can't find it.

"Nope!" Yunho answers from the bedroom. "Maybe you left it in the car!"

"I'm going downstairs to check!" Jaejoong hollers back. He grabs his keys and yanks the front door of the apartment open, not bothering to lock it back. He'll only be gone for less than a minute. What could happen then?

❧

Changmin pushes open the front door, walking in, unannounced. He leaves his shoes at the doorway and looks around for the two older men, but doesn't see Jaejoong.

"Ya, Jaejoong-ah, did you manage to find your phone?" he hears Yunho ask from down the hallway and looks in that direction.

The initial thought is that Yunho doesn't seem very sick anymore, which progresses into Yunho doesn't seem very sick at all. Just as the anger about being lied to starts to build does Changmin notice something different about Yunho. Shirtless, with a large, dark something hanging over his back.

"Changmin? What are you doing here?" Yunho asks, bordering on panic as he steps out into the living room, giving Changmin a full view of his large, regal wings.

A lump forms in Changmin's throat and tears leak from his eyes out of fear, as he shakes his head back and forth, feeling an inexplicable ache in his chest, something that hurts so much it feels as though someone has stabbed him right through his heart. He can hear Yunho pleading with him, but it doesn't register, sounding like nothing more than a muffle as Yunho takes his hand and tries to tug him closer, but Changmin is pulling away, wrenching his hand out of Yunho's grip, tears streaming down his cheeks as he brings his arm up to cover his face, to hide away from Yunho. He rushes out of the apartment blindly and doesn't even notice Jaejoong, running blindly away from the person he thought he could trust.

❧

When Jaejoong almost gets bowled over by Changmin and the younger man doesn't even stop to apologise or say hi, he only has a matter of seconds to brace himself. The door creaks open as he squeeze between the gap before shutting it. Yunho's curled up on the floor, shaking uncontrollably that his wings shiver, face buried in his hands as he sobs.

Jaejoong does the best thing he can think of, and the only thing he's ever been good at doing, and collects Yunho in a warm embrace, letting Yunho curl against him on the floor as he cries and cries and doesn't stop, shaking his head and whispering unendingly for Changmin, Changmin, please come back. I'm sorry, please don't leave me, I love you, please.

Jaejoong remains quiet other than to whisper soothingly into Yunho's ear and gently ease the tension out of his wings. His "I told you so" will have to be saved for another day altogether.

❧

Changmin doesn't call Yunho back. For the first few days his phone has been ringing off the hook with Yunho trying to call him that he just decides to get himself a new phone and a new number and tosses the old one in the trash. He knows he's being stupid and wallowing in self-pity and that Yunho really does love him, but every time he thinks back to that night, the betrayal resurfaces again and he can't help but feel indignant and angry when that happens.

He had trusted Yunho with his everything, told Yunho everything about himself, never kept anything from Yunho, never done anything to make Yunho unhappy. And what had Yunho done? Lied to him, kept secrets from him, betrayed him. He should have known better, his parents were right. It's more important to focus on one goal, the most important goal, and everything else will take care of itself.

Life continues as though nothing has changed. He still goes for his classes, still studies just as hard. He asks himself countless times, for what reasons did Yunho keep the most important thing of the older man's life from him? Did he not trust Changmin at all? Did he not love Changmin? Changmin tries to reason and conclude that Yunho probably didn't, but the mere thought of that brings tears to his eyes and makes his heart ache so badly for the older man, because he knows. He knows how much Yunho loves him and he's being selfish and stupid while hurting the both of them.

And even though he still goes about the same routines, there isn't Yunho to have coffee with him on Thursdays anymore, not when he's chased the older man out of his life so badly that he doesn't even appear at the café or the tattoo shop anymore each time he passes it. He only sees Jaejoong at the front desk, but always ends up hiding because he's too ashamed to face the music from the older man.

Changmin cries himself to sleep most nights, always flipping open his phone at the odd hour in the morning wanting to call and tell Yunho he's sorry, only to remember belatedly that in a rash attempt to erase Yunho from his life, he had erased the only means of finding Yunho.

Christmas comes and Christmas goes, and Changmin finds himself alone during the festive season with nowhere to go. The tattoo shop doesn't even open anymore and he doesn't even see Jaejoong anymore. But everyday, he visits the places he would go to with Yunho; his school cafeteria on weekdays, the café on Thursdays, the first restaurant that had eaten at the first time before walking through the park back to the café, moving around mostly in a daze even though it takes a lot of effort to trudge through the heavy snow. He makes it a point to pass the tattoo shop, rounding the corner in hopes of finding it open only to be disheartened time and again.

He half wonders why he doesn't just go straight to Yunho's apartment, but deep inside he knows he's a coward, that even though he's so afraid of losing the one person who's made his life seem worth living after so long, he's too afraid to try getting it back again, in case he makes the same mistake.

❧

"Jaejoong-hyung."

Jaejoong looks up from his papers at the front desk, eyes widening in inexplicable anger that even Changmin takes a step back. In a matter of strides he crosses the front of the shop, yanks Changmin by the collar and pulls him into the back room before slamming him against the wall, both fists clenched around the lapels of his shirt.

"Listen here, and listen good, you little shit. Yunho's been waiting and waiting for you to look for him because he can't even call you anymore."

"I-"

"Shut up and listen! Yunho is dying, and it's going to be your fault unless you see him."

"Wha-What?" Changmin stammers out. "Wha-What do you mean he's dying, he was perfectly fine the last time I saw him-"

"Did you not hear me?! Yunho is dying and it's going to be your fault, your fault if you don't do anything about it!" Jaejoong cries, hot, angry tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Don't make the same mistake I did, Changmin-ah." Jaejoong shakes his head, letting go of Changmin and plopping himself onto the floor, wiping his tears with the back of his hand. "I lost one best friend like this, I can't afford to lose Yunho the same way. I love him too much to lose him like this."

Jaejoong breaks down and the rest of his words come out as sobs, and all Changmin can do is slide down to the floor, his own tears soaking up the front of his shirt.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry-" he whispers to himself, hugging his knees as he cries. The sobs dies down a little and Jaejoong crawls over to him, throwing an arm over his shoulder and pressing their foreheads together.

"We were freshmen in college when he told me. He isn't the first one I know, kites, that's what they're called. My best friend in high school was one too. I was supposed to be the next host for that being all the kites have in them, but I didn't know, neither did I try too hard to find out until it was too late."

Changmin looks up in horror, an ugly grimace painted across his features and he sobs even harder. Jaejoong smooths back his hair and cups his cheeks.

"Yunho loves you, you never needed to doubt that. He needed to know you first because you were supposed to be the next host, but he didn't expect to fall in love with you too."

"But why does it hurt so bad?" Changmin sobs, clawing at his chest, right over his heart.

"Because you feel his pain too. It's the way it is. Once you've been chosen as a host or a mate, you've been marked for life until the kite that chooses you dies." Jaejoong explains, rocking back and forth as he cradles the younger man.

"Yunho misses you," he continues. "He's already given up on living not because he can't find you. He thinks you hate him for not telling you, and it hurts him so much he just doesn't want to live any longer. He's always been afraid, afraid that you wouldn't like him, afraid that you'd be scared of him because he isn't normal, afraid that you'd leave him the moment you found out."

"But I don't hate him! I don't, I don't!" Changmin shakes his head frantically, voice thick with tears.

"I know that, Changmin-ah. But he doesn't."

❧

The past three months have been the worst, in Yunho's opinion. In the first few days all he does is call Changmin, begging into the receiver over a ring tone for Changmin to forgive him. By the end of the week, the ring tone is replaced with an emotionless, female voice telling him the number is no longer in service.

After the first night, he spends the following days curled up in bed and doesn't get up unless he needs to use the bathroom or if Jaejoong can persuade him to eat something. The only way he can tell that time hasn't stopped for him is the way his wings appear and disappear with the coming and going of night. He feels like he's stuck in a cruel time loop, when nothing changes and all he thinks and feels and yearns is Changmin.

He doesn't go back to the shop, neither does he go to the café, caging himself up at home just so that Changmin wouldn't hate him any more should they see each other. All he does is lie in bed, curled up in foetal position, feeling for Changmin. He knows by the calm, blank lull that Changmin still goes for his classes like he always does. From the small, rare occasions of hope that Changmin's frequenting their favourite places hoping to find Yunho there, and most of all from the clenching tightness in his chest, that Changmin misses him, knowing full well that the void in both their hearts can only be filled by the other.

He's never felt more lonely in winter, even though Jaejoong does his best and stays in with him for most of the days. Jaejoong always tells him that before he closed for winter, Changmin would always linger around the corner where their shop is, looking lost and confused and broken, but he never ventures into the shop. He says Yunho should meet him because they love each other, but Yunho can only shake his head stubbornly. Changmin may miss Yunho, but all Yunho can think is that Changmin probably hates him for lying and not telling him everything. Yunho would rather die than have Changmin hate him.

It's only after winter, some time in late January does Yunho feel his body deteriorating. He stops eating all together because he can no longer stomach anything without throwing up every time. When nightfall comes his body is wracked with pain, especially his wings, as though indicating that the Feather in him is also dying. His joints ache and he can barely move, telling Jaejoong to leave him alone in bed and carry on with his life.

A week before his coming of age, resigns to his fate that he's never meant to live on, never meant to fall in love with his mate, closing his eyes and counting the seconds, minutes, and hours until his body would just give in altogether.

❧

Jaejoong closes the shop early, leaving Changmin alone in the back room as he races back to his apartment. He's had enough of watching and waiting and finally, after all this time something is going to be done. He doesn't bother with his shoes, walking straight to Yunho's room to find his best friend where he's been in the last three months.

"Yunho-yah," he whispers, crouching beside the bed and brushing hair out of Yunho's face. "We're going to see for Changmin, okay? We're going to see your mate."

Jaejoong doesn't get much of a response, only a sigh that could have very well been an exhale.

"Yunho, Yunho-yah, hang in there a little more, okay? Everything's going to be all right." Jaejoong plants a soft kiss on Yunho's forehead, before wrapping his body up in a blanket and scooping him up.

In the last three months of not eating and subsequently not being able to eat, Yunho had lost so much weight that only skin and bones were left, his face gaunt and pale and bones protruding in awkward places. Jaejoong carries him carefully into the car, laying him down in the back seat before racing back to the shop, entering by the back door and locking the place up.

Changmin panics the moment he sees Yunho, collecting the frail body and hugging it to himself on the floor. His tears don't stop and all he hopes for is that Yunho can hear all his apologies and I love yous, because there's never been a time more than now that he's meant those words.

He cries harder when he can feel Yunho's pelvic bone digging into his side, and how Yunho's already small face has just gotten smaller.

Yunho stirs a little, struggling to raise his hand but eventually touches bony fingers to Changmin's cheek, gently brushing away his tears.

"Don't cry." Yunho's voice comes out as nothing but a hoarse whisper. "It hurts."

"Where, where does it hurt? Tell me, Yunho, please, I'm sorry," Changmin clutches onto Yunho's hand, keeping it pressed to his check.

Yunho reaches his other hand out and presses his fingertips to Changmin's heart.

"Here, it hurts here," he says. "And here," pointing to his own chest. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Changmin-ah."

Changmin shakes his head, pressing an urgent kiss to Yunho's chapped lips.

"It's not your fault. I was so stupid and I hurt you, Yunho.. I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. I don't want to leave you. I won't leave you again. I love you."

"Yunho," Jaejoong suddenly says, reappearing again. "Everything is ready for you."

"Changmin-ah…" Yunho murmurs against Changmin's neck. "Can you-"

"Anything for you, Yunho. Anything." Changmin repeats, planting fleeting kisses all over Yunho's faces before both he and Jaejoong help him stand on wobbly legs. With help, Yunho manages to walk over to a stool next to tattooing equipment, sitting there while Jaejoong directs Changmin to sit backwards on the chair in front of him, unbuttoning his shirt and taking it off.

Yunho picks a specially designed hypodermic needle from the counter, and injects it into his own arm and draws a syringe full. He detaches the syringe and slots it together with the tattooing needle. Changmin whimpers at the first buzz of the equipment, but Yunho leans forward to plant a kiss on his nape, angling Changmin's head to kiss him gently on the lips.

"I love you, Changmin. This going to hurt."

Yunho closes his eyes for a moment, imagining his own tattoo on his back, the feathers gradually forming again with the setting sun, and drags the needle over Changmin's skin. Changmin winces at the first touch of the needle, but grits his teeth. Yunho works on the left side of his back first, and he slowly becomes accustomed to the pain until Yunho starts to move lower, to his more sensitive lower back. He squirms a little but Jaejoong places a reassuring hand on his shoulder and offers to hold his hand.

As Yunho continues to mark Changmin, he can feel the twitch in his wings, the pain gradually disappearing, as though the Feather is satisfied with its new host. By the time Yunho finishes with the outline, Changmin has Jaejoong's hand in a death grip, painful tears trickling down his cheek for Jaejoong to mop up. He gives up trying to tolerate the pain and screams when Yunho starts filling each feather with colour.

By the time Yunho finishes every feather, Changmin's already too exhausted, slumped forward on the backrest of the chair, only semi-conscious. Yunho picks up a wet cloth from the basin and daps it on Changmin's back gently.

"Jaejoongie…" Yunho mutters as he leans forward and covers Changmin's back with his body, cradling the younger man protectively. Changmin sighs in response.

"I have a blanket here." Jaejoong smiles, waits for Yunho to fold his wings back before he drapes it over their bodies as they both fall asleep quickly.

❧

"Ya, Yunho-yah."

"Mmm."

"Say ah."

"Aaaaah…"

"Yunho-yah."

"Mmm."

"God will you stop that already?"

"No, I can't." Yunho deadpans, turning Changmin back around even as Changmin tries to feed Yunho dinner.

"No seriously, it tickles!" Changmin giggles when Yunho runs a hand through his feathers again. Yunho smiles proudly at his own masterpiece; Changmin has a perfect plumage of dark red and brown feathers, with a similar patterning to Yunho's wings.

"Are you happy?" Yunho asks, pecking Changmin gently on the cheek.

"Even though I'm no longer studying what I've been working so hard for my entire life and I'll probably have to end up working at your tattoo shop that doesn't earn very much?" Changmin teases, pretending to ponder on the question until Yunho starts stroking his feathers again. He turns to face Yunho straight on, smiling indulgently before kissing him gently on the lips.

"I'm so, very happy. I love you."

"Ya!"

Both Yunho and Changmin whirl around to turn around at a clearly displeased Jaejoong, who holds a handful of wet feathers in his hand.

"Uh, Jaejoong-ah, you're dripping on the carpet."

"Can the two of you clean up after yourselves for goodness sake! Seriously! What would the two of you do without me!"

Changmin turns to Yunho and grins.

"Should we fly away now?"

"Sounds like a plan."

Jaejoong charges at them, waving a toilet brush madly at them as Yunho and Changmin run down the hallway of the apartment to take cover in their room. Jaejoong smiles when he hears a click of a lock. He's not angry, really. Nothing could make him happier than seeing those two lovebirds happy with each other.