Bittersweet
Title: Bittersweet
Length: One-shot
Pairing: JaeHo
Rating: PG-13 (for language and... man-handling? Min-handling. Yeah.)
Summary: All Yunho wanted was a quick breakfast on a rainy day. What he got was much worse.
A/N: ....Actually, I don't have anything to say. Huh. Enjoy!
Yunho wrestled his umbrella away from the pull of the wind. Raindrops struck his face like bullets.
"Stupid fucking rain." he muttered. Clearly, he'd been listening to his roomate Changmin too much; his vocabulary was disintegrating in every puddle he stepped in. Along with his positive disposition.
He sighed with relief when his favorite bakery came into view. The bell on the door jingled as he wiped his feet on the 'Welcome Home' mat. He never understood why Minhae had decided to put that there. But his opinion didn't matter. It was her bakery, and she could do what she wanted (as she often reminded him). He dropped his umbrella in the stand by the corner- one of Minhae's more convenient ideas- and approached the counter. A light brown head of hair was barely visible.
"Hey, baby. Got anything sweet for me today?" Yunho asked, obviously joking. Both he and Minhae knew he wasn't exactly interested in girls. The head popped up and spoke.
"This is a bakery. Everything is sweet here."
"Aah!" Yunho jumped back at the sight of a man's face staring back at him. "Minhae... what have you done to yourself?"
The stranger rolled his eyes and flicked Yunho on the nose. "I'm not Minhae, dummy. I was born this way."
"Oh," Yunho sighed, felling embarrassed and relieved at the same time. "Well then, who are you?"
"I'm Jaejoong, Minhae's cousin. She's out of town, so I'm watching the store for her."
"Oh." Yunho repeated. "I knew that."
Jaejoong just smiled and let out a small laugh. For some reason, that sound echoed through Yunho's ears longer than it should have. He took a second to study the stranger's face. He was very pretty, for a man. He had delicate features, which gave him a look of innocence and vulnerability. His brown locks lightly brushed his jawline as his mouth moved.
Wait. Mouth moving... was he talking?
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Yunho asked.
"I said, can I take your order?"
"Uh, yeah. I'll have a bagel and a large black coffee."
"I thought you said you wanted something sweet?" Jaejoong teased, grinning at him. Yunho's heart nearly exploded. He quickly regained his composure and threw it right back at him.
"Fine. Put sprinkles in the coffee too." he added sarcastically.
"Yes, sir. Coming right up."
As Jaejoong prepared his order, Yunho stood there, trying to think of a way to start a conversation. Where was he from? Was he in college? What did he do on weekends? Was it raining, or what?! Anything to allow him to speak to him just a little longer. He suddenly found himself wishing that Changmin were there to be his personal wingman. But as they say, you don't know what you've got until it catches a cold. He was contemplating faking an emergency and high-tailing it when a steaming cup of coffee appeared below his nose, accompanied by a lightly toasted bagel smothered in cream cheese.
"How did you know how I take my bagel?" Yunho asked him. Jaejoong simply smiled.
"Will you be paying in cash or credit?"
"Cash." Yunho muttered. He handed him the money and took his breakfast to his usual table. He sipped his coffee and nearly choked on something small and hard. No way, he thought, pulling a spoon from the metal holder behind him. He scooped bits of color out of the cup. Sprinkles. Smartass.
He glared at Jaejoong, who just smiled back. Yunho spread his newspaper out on the table. He was determined to ignore the attractive stranger.
Every few minutes, he would steal a glance at Jaejoong. He was caught every time by Jaejoong smiling and staring at him. In fact, that was all he did the entire time. And no matter how pretty he was, that still scared Yunho a bit. What scared him more was the dull calm that was slowly spreading through his body. Within minutes, he was incredibly tired and all his muscles ached. He texted Changmin to beg for a ride, as well as blame him for his cold being contagious. As soon as the message was sent, his eyes fell shut. The last thing he remembered was his head hitting the table.
*
Changmin entered the bakery, wet and sneezing. "Stupid, dumb Yunho. If I end up with the flu, it'll be your... Yunho?" He looked around, but didn't see his hyung anywhere. Or anyone, for that matter.
"Sir, I'll have to ask you not to yell in my bakery." Jaejoong appeared behind the counter.
"Sorry," Changmin mumbled. "I was just looking for my friend."
"The only person who's been here all morning left a few minutes ago." Jaejoong told him.
"Oh..." Changmin sighed, silently cursing his hyung. He turned to look at Jaejoong. "Who are you, anyway?"
"I'm Minhae's cousin, Jaejoong." he said, smiling. Changmin nodded, then let out a string of sneezes.
"Aw, are you sick?" Jaejoong asked, sounding like a mother talking to her child.
"Y-Yeah, a little..." Changmin responded. Jaejoong shuffled him over to a table and made him sit down.
"I'll bring you some soup."
"You have soup in a bakery?" Changmin asked, coughing. Jaejoong simply gave him that sweet smile of his and ran off to the kitchen. Changmin closed his eyes, resting his head in his hands. He was beginning to doze off, when he heard a dull knocking sound. He lifted his head and looked around. He could hear water running in the kitchen, but otherwise there were no signs of life in the bakery other than himself. But still, the knocking persisted. He got up and began searching for it. It seemed to be coming from a door marked 'Employees Only' on the opposite side of the bakery. Changmin stared at the kitchen door for a second, waiting to make sure Jaejoong couldn't see him. He slowly inched towards the source of the knocking and tried the knob. It stuck a couple times, like it hadn't been used in a while, but opened none the less. Changmin snuck inside and closed the door. The small room was pitch dark, but he could swear he heard breathing.
"...Hello?"
"Who's there?" the voice sounded tired, but familiar.
"Hyung?"
"Ch...Changmin?"
Before Changmin could answer, a pair of arms squeezed him.
"Oh, Changminnie, thank goodness you're here! You've got to get me out of here."
"What's going on? Why are you in here in the dark?"
"That guy put me in here!"
"Who, Jaejoong? He seems nice..."
"Well, he's not!" Yunho snapped at him. "He drugged my coffee and threw me in here, and who knows what else he's planning to do to me?!"
"Yunho, calm down! Now, think for a second. If you were drugged, how do you even know he was the one that put you in here?"
"There was no one else here! You and I are the only two people who've been here all day!"
"Yeah, but maybe--"
The door swung open, and Jaejoong stood staring at them. "Oh, there you are. I see you found your friend."
Changmin looked at Yunho and nodded.
"That's good. Can I talk to you for just a moment?" Jaejoong asked.
Changmin's mind began reeling in panic. "I-I-I... B-But what about--" Jaejoong grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him out of the room. The door slammed shut, leaving Yunho alone in the dark again.
"Let go of me!" Changmin tried to push him away, but Jaejoong slammed him into the wall.
"You are going to leave, and you are not going to tell anyone about what you saw here. Is that understood?"
"N-No! I'm not leaving without my friend!"
Jaejoong tightened his grip. "Is. That. Understood?" He glared into Changmin's eyes.
Changmin gulped. "...Yes."
"Changmin-ah!" Yunho screamed, pounding on the door. Jaejoong ignored him and escorted Changmin to the door.
"You get home out of this rain, okay? I hope you feel better soon!"
"Yeah, thanks..." Changmin said, sniffling. He walked to his car as Jaejoong locked the door and flipped the sign to 'closed'. As soon as the car was started, Changmin drove straight to the police station. He tried to explain to them what had happened, but all they did was laugh at him. He left and went back to his car, trying not to panic. Maybe he'll be okay, he thought to himself. He went back to their shared apartment and looked for Yunho's address book. He found Minhae's number and called her.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Minhae! Where are you?!"
"Changmin? Uh, I'm on my way home, I've been out of town for a couple days. Is everything okay?"
"No! I think your cousin is trying to abduct Yunho!"
"Cousin? What are you talking about?"
"Jaejoong! The one you left in charge of the bakery!"
"Changmin... I don't have a cousin Jaejoong."
*
The next morning, Minhae unlocked the bakery and turned on the lights. "See? It was locked while I was gone, there's no way anyone could've--"
"Yunho!" Changmin yelled. He ran to the other side of the bakery, but the 'Employees Only' door was gone. He pressed his hands against the wall. "I shouldn't have left him here."
"Changmin, I'm sure he's fine. Maybe you just had a bad dream or something." Minhae assured him.
Changmin nodded. "Yeah, that must be it."
"Come sit down, and I'll bring you a piece of my famous chocolate cheesecake."
Changmin did as he was told, and Minhae went to get the cake. A few minutes later, the bell above the door jingled, and two people walked in. Changmin sprang from his seat and grabbed one of the two.
"Yunho! Thank God you're okay!"
Yunho laughed and hugged him back. "Of course I'm okay, I was only gone for one day!"
"Don't worry, I took good care of him." a voice laughed. Changmin turned and saw Jaejoong smiling at him.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Changmin asked, glaring.
"Changmin, be nice!" Yunho told him. "This is Jaejoong, he helped me when my car broke down."
"But... no! He locked you in a room, and..."
Jaejoong let out a hollow chuckle. "I would never do such a thing! Keep talking like that, and you'll end up in the crazy house." Yunho and Minhae laughed, but Jaejoong was staring straight at Changmin.
"Right... just kidding." he said, laughing nervously. He sat silently and ate his cheesecake.
Length: One-shot
Pairing: JaeHo
Rating: PG-13 (for language and... man-handling? Min-handling. Yeah.)
Summary: All Yunho wanted was a quick breakfast on a rainy day. What he got was much worse.
A/N: ....Actually, I don't have anything to say. Huh. Enjoy!
Yunho wrestled his umbrella away from the pull of the wind. Raindrops struck his face like bullets.
"Stupid fucking rain." he muttered. Clearly, he'd been listening to his roomate Changmin too much; his vocabulary was disintegrating in every puddle he stepped in. Along with his positive disposition.
He sighed with relief when his favorite bakery came into view. The bell on the door jingled as he wiped his feet on the 'Welcome Home' mat. He never understood why Minhae had decided to put that there. But his opinion didn't matter. It was her bakery, and she could do what she wanted (as she often reminded him). He dropped his umbrella in the stand by the corner- one of Minhae's more convenient ideas- and approached the counter. A light brown head of hair was barely visible.
"Hey, baby. Got anything sweet for me today?" Yunho asked, obviously joking. Both he and Minhae knew he wasn't exactly interested in girls. The head popped up and spoke.
"This is a bakery. Everything is sweet here."
"Aah!" Yunho jumped back at the sight of a man's face staring back at him. "Minhae... what have you done to yourself?"
The stranger rolled his eyes and flicked Yunho on the nose. "I'm not Minhae, dummy. I was born this way."
"Oh," Yunho sighed, felling embarrassed and relieved at the same time. "Well then, who are you?"
"I'm Jaejoong, Minhae's cousin. She's out of town, so I'm watching the store for her."
"Oh." Yunho repeated. "I knew that."
Jaejoong just smiled and let out a small laugh. For some reason, that sound echoed through Yunho's ears longer than it should have. He took a second to study the stranger's face. He was very pretty, for a man. He had delicate features, which gave him a look of innocence and vulnerability. His brown locks lightly brushed his jawline as his mouth moved.
Wait. Mouth moving... was he talking?
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Yunho asked.
"I said, can I take your order?"
"Uh, yeah. I'll have a bagel and a large black coffee."
"I thought you said you wanted something sweet?" Jaejoong teased, grinning at him. Yunho's heart nearly exploded. He quickly regained his composure and threw it right back at him.
"Fine. Put sprinkles in the coffee too." he added sarcastically.
"Yes, sir. Coming right up."
As Jaejoong prepared his order, Yunho stood there, trying to think of a way to start a conversation. Where was he from? Was he in college? What did he do on weekends? Was it raining, or what?! Anything to allow him to speak to him just a little longer. He suddenly found himself wishing that Changmin were there to be his personal wingman. But as they say, you don't know what you've got until it catches a cold. He was contemplating faking an emergency and high-tailing it when a steaming cup of coffee appeared below his nose, accompanied by a lightly toasted bagel smothered in cream cheese.
"How did you know how I take my bagel?" Yunho asked him. Jaejoong simply smiled.
"Will you be paying in cash or credit?"
"Cash." Yunho muttered. He handed him the money and took his breakfast to his usual table. He sipped his coffee and nearly choked on something small and hard. No way, he thought, pulling a spoon from the metal holder behind him. He scooped bits of color out of the cup. Sprinkles. Smartass.
He glared at Jaejoong, who just smiled back. Yunho spread his newspaper out on the table. He was determined to ignore the attractive stranger.
Every few minutes, he would steal a glance at Jaejoong. He was caught every time by Jaejoong smiling and staring at him. In fact, that was all he did the entire time. And no matter how pretty he was, that still scared Yunho a bit. What scared him more was the dull calm that was slowly spreading through his body. Within minutes, he was incredibly tired and all his muscles ached. He texted Changmin to beg for a ride, as well as blame him for his cold being contagious. As soon as the message was sent, his eyes fell shut. The last thing he remembered was his head hitting the table.
*
Changmin entered the bakery, wet and sneezing. "Stupid, dumb Yunho. If I end up with the flu, it'll be your... Yunho?" He looked around, but didn't see his hyung anywhere. Or anyone, for that matter.
"Sir, I'll have to ask you not to yell in my bakery." Jaejoong appeared behind the counter.
"Sorry," Changmin mumbled. "I was just looking for my friend."
"The only person who's been here all morning left a few minutes ago." Jaejoong told him.
"Oh..." Changmin sighed, silently cursing his hyung. He turned to look at Jaejoong. "Who are you, anyway?"
"I'm Minhae's cousin, Jaejoong." he said, smiling. Changmin nodded, then let out a string of sneezes.
"Aw, are you sick?" Jaejoong asked, sounding like a mother talking to her child.
"Y-Yeah, a little..." Changmin responded. Jaejoong shuffled him over to a table and made him sit down.
"I'll bring you some soup."
"You have soup in a bakery?" Changmin asked, coughing. Jaejoong simply gave him that sweet smile of his and ran off to the kitchen. Changmin closed his eyes, resting his head in his hands. He was beginning to doze off, when he heard a dull knocking sound. He lifted his head and looked around. He could hear water running in the kitchen, but otherwise there were no signs of life in the bakery other than himself. But still, the knocking persisted. He got up and began searching for it. It seemed to be coming from a door marked 'Employees Only' on the opposite side of the bakery. Changmin stared at the kitchen door for a second, waiting to make sure Jaejoong couldn't see him. He slowly inched towards the source of the knocking and tried the knob. It stuck a couple times, like it hadn't been used in a while, but opened none the less. Changmin snuck inside and closed the door. The small room was pitch dark, but he could swear he heard breathing.
"...Hello?"
"Who's there?" the voice sounded tired, but familiar.
"Hyung?"
"Ch...Changmin?"
Before Changmin could answer, a pair of arms squeezed him.
"Oh, Changminnie, thank goodness you're here! You've got to get me out of here."
"What's going on? Why are you in here in the dark?"
"That guy put me in here!"
"Who, Jaejoong? He seems nice..."
"Well, he's not!" Yunho snapped at him. "He drugged my coffee and threw me in here, and who knows what else he's planning to do to me?!"
"Yunho, calm down! Now, think for a second. If you were drugged, how do you even know he was the one that put you in here?"
"There was no one else here! You and I are the only two people who've been here all day!"
"Yeah, but maybe--"
The door swung open, and Jaejoong stood staring at them. "Oh, there you are. I see you found your friend."
Changmin looked at Yunho and nodded.
"That's good. Can I talk to you for just a moment?" Jaejoong asked.
Changmin's mind began reeling in panic. "I-I-I... B-But what about--" Jaejoong grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him out of the room. The door slammed shut, leaving Yunho alone in the dark again.
"Let go of me!" Changmin tried to push him away, but Jaejoong slammed him into the wall.
"You are going to leave, and you are not going to tell anyone about what you saw here. Is that understood?"
"N-No! I'm not leaving without my friend!"
Jaejoong tightened his grip. "Is. That. Understood?" He glared into Changmin's eyes.
Changmin gulped. "...Yes."
"Changmin-ah!" Yunho screamed, pounding on the door. Jaejoong ignored him and escorted Changmin to the door.
"You get home out of this rain, okay? I hope you feel better soon!"
"Yeah, thanks..." Changmin said, sniffling. He walked to his car as Jaejoong locked the door and flipped the sign to 'closed'. As soon as the car was started, Changmin drove straight to the police station. He tried to explain to them what had happened, but all they did was laugh at him. He left and went back to his car, trying not to panic. Maybe he'll be okay, he thought to himself. He went back to their shared apartment and looked for Yunho's address book. He found Minhae's number and called her.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Minhae! Where are you?!"
"Changmin? Uh, I'm on my way home, I've been out of town for a couple days. Is everything okay?"
"No! I think your cousin is trying to abduct Yunho!"
"Cousin? What are you talking about?"
"Jaejoong! The one you left in charge of the bakery!"
"Changmin... I don't have a cousin Jaejoong."
*
The next morning, Minhae unlocked the bakery and turned on the lights. "See? It was locked while I was gone, there's no way anyone could've--"
"Yunho!" Changmin yelled. He ran to the other side of the bakery, but the 'Employees Only' door was gone. He pressed his hands against the wall. "I shouldn't have left him here."
"Changmin, I'm sure he's fine. Maybe you just had a bad dream or something." Minhae assured him.
Changmin nodded. "Yeah, that must be it."
"Come sit down, and I'll bring you a piece of my famous chocolate cheesecake."
Changmin did as he was told, and Minhae went to get the cake. A few minutes later, the bell above the door jingled, and two people walked in. Changmin sprang from his seat and grabbed one of the two.
"Yunho! Thank God you're okay!"
Yunho laughed and hugged him back. "Of course I'm okay, I was only gone for one day!"
"Don't worry, I took good care of him." a voice laughed. Changmin turned and saw Jaejoong smiling at him.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Changmin asked, glaring.
"Changmin, be nice!" Yunho told him. "This is Jaejoong, he helped me when my car broke down."
"But... no! He locked you in a room, and..."
Jaejoong let out a hollow chuckle. "I would never do such a thing! Keep talking like that, and you'll end up in the crazy house." Yunho and Minhae laughed, but Jaejoong was staring straight at Changmin.
"Right... just kidding." he said, laughing nervously. He sat silently and ate his cheesecake.