[CHAPTERED] Boomerang's (CH.16)
Title: Boomerang's
Rating: G-PG13-R-NC17
Pairing: YunJae
Summary: What if fate wasn’t a red string, but a boomerang instead? Yunho's first memory of being in love was when he was 7 years old. Meeting Kim JaeJoong was the start of a nearly 20 year long love that spanned many separations. After being unexpectedly ripped apart at 7, they meet again 10 years later as soccer players on opposing high school teams. On a tragic night, they are pulled a part once again only to find each other 11 years later as adults working at the same hospital. This time, their new complication resides in JaeJoong's memories; or the lack there of. The complications don't stop there. Yunho's fiancé, Song Hyun Gi, is less than pleased to have Yunho's first love back in his life and will stop at will stop at nothing to keep them a part. Will the boomerang return a 4th time, or will the distance finally become too far?
CHAPTER 16 - Hurt
JaeJoong stared at the closed hotel room door with blurry eyes. He wasn’t going to cry. He was too damn angry to be sad right now. Yunho’s voice repeating the words ‘I’m engaged’ and ‘I’m still in love with you’ replayed on loop in his head like a broken record. To crush on and fantasize about someone who wasn’t your significant other was one thing. But to act on it was a completely different one. Until this moment, as far as he knew, JaeJoong had never helped another man cheat. Beyond the anger and disgust, he was so disappointed. Yunho didn’t seem like the type of man to do something so distrustful. But then again, JaeJoong didn’t truly know the man. The part of him that did know Yunho was lost, possibly forever, and he couldn’t use that help make sense out of what had just happened.
JaeJoong stepped back away from the door and sat on the edge of the large bed. His head was still spinning. The twisted knot in the pit of his stomach made him feel sick enough to make him regret eating that cake earlier. The cake he shared with Yunho while they talked for almost 3 hours about everything. 3 hours where he could have told JaeJoong he was engaged. JaeJoong shook his head in frustration as he silently cursed himself. He should have stuck with his gut when he met Yunho 4 months ago. Instead of developing feelings for him, he should have used the opportunity that they didn’t work in the same department to keep their relationship professional. But this wasn’t his fault. He couldn’t have known about Yunho being engaged unless the man had told him with his own mouth. He refused to take responsibility for something that he had no knowledge of.
The resounding ache in his chest thought differently though. He pressed the palm of his hand over his heart and inhaled. He should be flipping tables and cursing and going next door to drive his fist through Yunho’s face. But instead he was just sitting there, numb and confused. The ache in his chest began to dissolve after a few moments, but the relief was short. The scar on his forehead began to pulse hard enough to make him wince. He rubbed his fingers over the raised skin with hopes of soothing it, but it didn’t help. The pulsing was increasing, and he soon found it almost impossible to sit up. He crawled into the center of the bed and grabbed a pillow to put over his head. Squeezing his eyes closed, he started to count backwards from one hundred to help him focus on something other than pain.
When he got to 60, Yunho’s face flashed behind his closed eyes. But instead of it being the face of the man he knew today, it was younger. Bright brown eyes and a boyish grin to match lit up Yunho’s young face. And then his grin turned into a full-on smile when he called JaeJoong’s name.
JaeJoong’s eyes flew open and the image disappeared. The ache in his head had subsided, but now the one in his chest had returned. Yunho’s young face was a memory and it was the first memory that made sense to him in years. He closed his eyes again, wanting to remember more. But after 10 minutes of blankness, no more memories came. Exhausted, he turned over on his back and reached for the lamp next to the bed. He turned it off and pressed the pillow down harder over his head.
….
JaeJoong stared down into the steaming cup of coffee, willing it to make him feel less like shit. The crowded auditorium was loud and buzzing with doctors and professors from hospitals and University’s all over South Korea, but the majority of the crowd was from Seoul. He adjusted himself in his seat and let out a gentle grunt. Sleeping last night had been difficult. He would fall asleep for a couple of hours before waking up again and not being able to fall asleep again for another 40 minutes. That went on until his alarm went off at 8. The shower he took only helped enough to get him up and ready to start the day. By the second cup of coffee, he knew it was going to be a rough day.
“Anyone sitting here?” A deep voice asked JaeJoong and JaeJoong shook his head no absently and shifted over in his seat. The owner of the voice chuckled and JaeJoong instantly became more alert. Looking to his left, he found a familiar smiling face.
“Yoochun!” JaeJoong all but shouted making the other man laugh.
“Looks like you’re awake now. How are you, JJ?” JaeJoong shook his head, still shocked. He hadn’t seen his friend in nearly 10 months. When he left the family medicine doctor after helping to get his clinic started in Busan, they both became too busy to stay in touch regularly.
“I’m doing great, Chunnie. I’ve missed you. I didn’t expect to see you here.” JaeJoong replied and Yoochun shrugged.
“I wouldn’t expect to see me here either, but the clinic is doing well, and I was approached about possibly getting more funding for it if I were to offer counseling to the Seoul family medicine board about getting a similar clinic and initiative started with one of the bigger hospitals. So, I’m showing my face to let them know I’m interested.” He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “I got here this morning and I’m already annoyed with all the stuck-up jerks.” Yoochun grumbled making JaeJoong laugh. The other man was by no means your typical doctor. From his long hair to the laidback wardrobe he sported 24/7, Yoochun didn’t fit in among the stuffy doctors and surgeons that were at these types of events. But that’s what made him fun.
“Well I promise you won’t turn into a pile of goo before Sunday. It’ll be over and you’ll be back in Busan in a flash.” JaeJoong reassured as he patted Yoochun on the knee. Yoochun smirked and leaned in closer to JaeJoong.
“I’ll feel better if you hold my hand until then just to make sure.” Yoochun’s teasing voice was low and sexy. JaeJoong snorted and playfully shoved him away.
“Something tells me that your wife would take issue with that.” The other doctor sighed and leaned back in his seat and shoved his hands in the pocket of his pullover sweatshirt.
“What does she know? I had to explain to her at least once a day that you were gay when you were helping with the clinic. The woman was worrying my last nerve.” Yoochun’s disgruntled tone made JaeJoong laugh. After the shitty night he had, it was nice to be able to relax next to an old friend.
“Well if she’s really interested, tell her that you’ll both have to pursue me so that I don’t feel bad.” JaeJoong teased making Yoochun laugh.
“Deal.” Yoochun held out his hand for JaeJoong shake. JaeJoong laughed and returned the handshake.
-
Yunho picked at the food on his plate, barely paying attention to the woman talking to him. The whole day had been a waste as far as he was concerned. There had been presentations the entire morning and straight through to lunch. When he wasn’t silently replaying last night in his head, he was searching for JaeJoong in the crowd of faces. The few times he managed to find JaeJoong, the doctor was with another man with long black hair. The other man was incredibly touchy and seemed to be hanging onto every word JaeJoong spoke.
Yunho was surprised by how well he was able to keep his jealousy at bay. He didn’t have the right to be jealous before, but he certainly didn’t now.
“Dr. Jung? What do you think?” The voice calling his name snapped Yunho out of his thoughts. He blinked at the woman sitting across from him. Her lipstick red lips were pursed, and her brows were furrowed as she waited for his response. Yunho cleared his throat.
“I’m sorry. My mind was somewhere else. I think electric cardioversion should be researched for a much longer period of time before we even consider it as an option to patients with blood clots.” His answer flowed easily out of him and she seemed to like it well enough because she launched into another long-winded subject. Yunho continued to eat his lunch and tried to pay attention to her. But he was lost once again when he spotted JaeJoong across the room sitting at a table near the door with the long-haired doctor. Unlike the other tables that were filled with doctors and other conference guests, they had managed to get a table all to themselves.
Yunho glanced away but couldn’t manage to keep his gaze away for long. JaeJoong’s animated hand motions as he talked and bright smile were distracting. Yunho couldn’t help but be reminded of all the conversations they had had where Yunho had been on the receiving end of that vibrant attention. He finally looked away and sighed. The same weight that was on his chest after leaving JaeJoong last night felt even heavier. If JaeJoong never spoke to him again, he would understand. But the very idea of that made him want to dry up and disappear. Because of his own selfishness, the one thing he still ended up causing was the one thing he was tried to avoid. Now JaeJoong was going to drift away again and he was completely responsible for it this time. And now he needed to take the final leap and tell Hyun Gi starting with the beginning.
For the last 5 years, he had made it a point to not mention his past and the broken person he was after the accident. At the time he had been convinced that it was the right decision because he didn’t want to bring so much baggage into a new relationship. He had done it without anticipation of ever seeing JaeJoong again. But now he realized that had been his first mistake of many.
His cellphone vibrated in his pocket, startling him from his thoughts. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled it out to find that it was a text from Hyun Gi.
“What’s your room number?” Yunho blinked at the text dumbly. Slowly he texted back.
“8003. Why?” Yunho waited for the response. One minute later it came, and his throat closed up.
“I’m here.”
….
Yunho got off of the elevator on the floor his room was on and looked down the long hallway. Hyun Gi stood with his arms folded across his chest, his small overnight bag at his feet. He glanced up and looked at Yunho, a slow smile stretching his face. Yunho couldn’t find it in himself to smile back.
“I hope you weren’t in the middle of a session.” Hyun Gi said when Yunho got close enough. Yunho shook his head no.
“We were breaking for lunch.” Yunho said as he shifted his weight to the other foot, nervous. Hyun Gi smiled and shrugged.
“I felt bad for how pissy I was about the party. I figured we could both use some time together that wasn’t at home. This looked like a good opportunity.” Hyun Gi finished and rubbed his hand up and down Yunho’s arm. Yunho’s lip twitched in an effort to smile. His heart was beating so hard, he was worried he was going to have a mild cardiac event. He reached around Hyun Gi and keyed in the passcode to the room before picking up Hyun Gi’s bag.
“Did you fly in or drive?” He followed Hyun Gi and dropped the bag by the door. Hyun Gi kicked off his shoes and took off his sport coat. Even when he wasn’t on business, Hyun Gi was professionally dressed.
“I flew. I had to leave my car with the mechanics this weekend, so I had no other choice.” Hyun Gi said as he collapsed on the bed. He patted the empty space next to him. “Do you have enough time to lay down? I’ve missed you.” Hyun Gi asked and Yunho looked at his watch. There were 15 more minutes of lunch left before the next presentation. 15 minutes would not be enough time to say everything he needed to. He walked over and sat next to his fiancé and took his hand. They fit together perfectly but the joy that used to bring Yunho wasn’t there. The realization made him so sad.
“Not much. But we should be finished for the day by 7 so you can just chill out until then.” Yunho replied and Hyun Gi sighed.
“I guess I can get some work done and go to the spa. But first I’m going to eat.” He popped up and started putting his shoes on again. Yunho followed him to the door.
“There are a few restaurants downstairs, but the hotel food is pretty good too if you want me order you something at the front desk.” Yunho offered. Hyun Gi waved him off and headed towards the door.
“I’ll check out the restaurants.” Hyun Gi said as he pulled open the door with Yunho following him out. He nearly bumped into Hyun Gi when the other man stopped without warning in front of him. He was staring at something and Yunho followed his gaze down the towards the hallway where JaeJoong and the other doctor he had been eating with were coming from. JaeJoong’s eyes met Yunho’s before they went to Hyun Gi. Yunho closed his eyes and pressed his hand to his cramping stomach.
Hyun Gi stepped forward and began walking again. He didn’t acknowledge JaeJoong as he passed him close enough to bump shoulders with him. JaeJoong side stepped him and the doctor with him slid his arm around his waist.
“He’s just mad that you’re hotter than he is.” The man said to JaeJoong loud enough for Yunho to hear. He threw Yunho a wary glance as he and JaeJoong passed by and went into JaeJoong’s room. Yunho looked between the closed door and at Hyun Gi who was waiting for the elevator. He sighed and walked to catch up with him. Hyun Gi glared at him and angrily pressed the down button on the elevator panel.
“Wonder how many dicks he had to suck to be able to get a room next to yours.” Hyun Gi hissed. Yunho frowned.
“What is your problem with JaeJoong?” Well besides the obvious thing that Hyun Gi didn’t even know about yet. The elevator door opened and he and Yunho got on. Hyun Gi looked at him like he was stupid.
“We can stop playing games, Yunho. It’s fine.” Yunho raised his eyebrows in surprise at Hyun Gi’s answer.
“What do you mean? What’s fine?” He asked and Hyun Gi rolled his eyes at him.
“I know who he is to you. I also know that he’s the reason you’ve been walking around like a little girl with her first crush since he turned up.” Hyun answered as he stepped off the elevator when it reached the lobby. Yunho followed him numbly. He hurried to catch up to him and grabbed his arm to keep him from walking so fast.
“And how do you know that?” Yunho asked him. Hyun Gi stopped walking and turned to face Yunho.
“You won’t like my answer, so don’t worry about it. All you need to know is that I’m not letting you go, Yunho. Whatever you think you’re feeling for that man isn’t real. You’re engaged now.” Hyun Gi finished his words with a low hiss. Yunho almost wanted to step back at the venom in his eyes. These flashes of this mean spirited, and spiteful Hyun Gi were becoming more frequent and it was truly starting to anger Yunho.
“First of all, I’m not a possession, so I’d appreciate it if you not refer to me as a toy that you’re not willing to share. Second, you clearly don’t know everything because if you did then this would be a very different conversation. I’m going to head back to the conference and when I’m done tonight, we need to talk like adults.” Yunho said keeping his voice low. Hyun Gi stepped into his face, his eyes narrowed into slits.
“Fine. But keep in mind one thing: don’t break my heart, Jung Yunho. I’ll never forgive you.”
-
“Alright, so he’s kind of handsome.” Yoochun said as he plopped down on JaeJoong’s bed. JaeJoong chuckled without any humor.
“Well he’s also kind of a jerk. And his fiancé might be crazy.” JaeJoong said as he rummaged around in his overnight bag looking for a pair of jeans and a less constrictive sweater. He and Yoochun were going to ditch the rest of the presentations for the afternoon and come back for the last ones at the end of the day. Shopping and sightseeing seemed like a much better idea than being in such close proximity to Yunho in a boring setting where JaeJoong had too much time to think about the man.
“Crazy? How so?” Yoochun asked. JaeJoong went unbuttoned his shirt and replaced it with the bag turtle neck sweater before losing his dress pants and putting on the soft black skinny jeans.
“He brought his niece to me for an appointment and then asked to be recommended a cardiologist for his parents. I recommended Yunho and he pretended like he didn’t know who he was. He clearly had been spying on Yunho.” JaeJoong check his reflection in the mirror and tucked his reading glasses on top of his head. Yoochun clucked his tongue and nodded.
“That’s nuts domestic edition. But he must have known something was up and wanted to check it out.” Yoochun said and JaeJoong shrugged. He would have like to think that he wouldn’t go that far to spy on his significant other.
“Yeah well it’s whatever. I’m not going to have anything else to do with Yunho from now on anyway.” They left JaeJoong’s room and headed back to the elevators. Yoochun walked beside him and gently bumped his shoulder with JaeJoong’s.
“It’s probably for the best, but you wanna know something, JJ?” Yoochun asked and JaeJoong nodded. “You aren’t a bad judge of character. Whatever you saw in Yunho, it was for a reason. He’s probably got a really good explanation for why he was such a flaming idiot.” JaeJoong looked down at his shoes and sighed. Yoochun was probably right but JaeJoong wasn’t ready to hear the explanation no matter how good it might be.
--
A/N: I just keep pulling punches. I'm sorry. But I don't want to just put a pretty bow on this to wrap it up cleanly. We gotta have some rain before the sun right? So Hyun Gi has shown up to seemingly make peace, but he's also pulled up the curtains on Yunho and his feelings for JaeJoong. And to make matters worse, he's starting to show his true colors. He is, after all, a man that likes to get his way. That could mean trouble for YunJae. Also let's say hey to Yoochun! I must admit that my second OTP is JaeChun. I just can't help myself. But don't worry, they are just friends. JaeJoong seemed to need a little relief after the whole Yunho thing. In case you didn't remember, Yoochun is the friend from Busan that JaeJoong mentioned helping out in chapter 11 or so when he and Yunho were talking about what he was doing before he came to Seoul.
I also wanted to acknowledge something after the last chapter. I, by no means, condone cheating. If my fiancé even had it as a passing thought, I'd burn all of his possessions. I hope everyone doesn't hate Yunho too much. He truly seems to be at war with himself. But he's figuring it out, yeah? Oh and one more thing! I know I mentioned that Boomerang's is completed. It totally is. But I've been doing a lot of editing to make sure it's the best it can be. I pretty much wrote it in 3 weeks nonstop so there's some stuff that needed to be fixed and corrected. So if some chapters take a little more time to post during Sunday's and Tuesday's, that's why. ANYWHO, That's it! We'll see you Sunday for chapter 17. We closing in on the end here. Thanks again to everyone who is subscribing and commenting. I really appreciate it. Love you much! Buh-bye!