J.A.E.S.U. [9 - D.A.TE.]
Title: J.A.E.S.U. (Just After Every Slut's Underwear)
Author: k_chan91
Disclaimer: ...Disclaim is not in my vocabulary 8D
Length: [9/?]
Pairings: Jaesu, Hanchul, (YooSu??? o.O)
Genre: Romantic comedy
Rating: PG-13 (Some dialogue and stuff...)
Summary: Jaejoong has always been the dumper, never the dumpee. One could call him a player, but he prefers a more accurate name. A professional. But when his latest love interest suddenly turns his back on him, he begins to question whether he's lost his game. After agreeing to a bet with his good friend Kim Heechul, Jaejoong's newest challenge is the virgin new guy, Junsu. In this new territory, can Jaejoong withhold his reputation and claim this Junsu person as his own? Will he want to let go once the bet is over?
1 - B.E.T. || 2a - H.A.T.E. || 2b - P.O.R.N. || 2c - P.L.A.N.S. || 3 - F.R.A.T. || 4 - P.L.A.Y. || 5 - G.A.M.E.S. || 6 - S.I.N.K.I.N.G. || 7 - H.Y.O.R.I. || 8a - C.H.A.S.E. || 8b - C.H.A.S.E. ||
A/N: Sorry about the wait. I'm working hard for you guys~!
A/N2: And Junsu....hah...Junsu... ^^;; I feel the need to explain his little innocent mind. He's kinda like me (Which may explain why it was so easy to form his character...;>.>) in that he's always the last one to get the dirty jokes and such. xD Junsu and I, we...we know about these things! Really! Our minds just...don't go....there immediately. xDDD (Well....at least I used to be like that...before fanfics. THANK YOU
micky_susu! >8DDDD)
A/N3: By the way.....read meh friend,
micky_susu's fics! 8D She be my friend, yo, and a new writer~ Check her out meh homies~~ <3
A/N4: And join meh community! :D There's a contest~ You know you want it~
dbkrackweens
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D.A.T.E. (Daring to Apply Trust Effectively)
"This feels like a date."
Jaejoong winced. Did Junsu have to point that out every other second? It hurt Jaejoong's pride bad enough that the other had somehow missed the whole concept of him even bothering to take him out. Did he have to treat it as if this were some kind of joke?
This was most definitely not a joke. Jaejoong had blown the rest of his monthly allowance on making this date absolutely perfect. Even had to pay Kangin to research the city on the internet for the restaurant with the most romantic passionate, pre-love-making atmosphere. Of course it had been the most expensive one.
He had even bought a bottle of cologne with a romantic sounding name just for this night. Once again. Expensive. His father would be quite surprised to see his credit card bill in due time. But Jaejoong could deal with that angry phone call if only for a moment of parental disappointment. His family was fairly well off and...at least Auntie Hyori had no control over his parents' finances. Shudder.
How could Junsu look at this place and not think, I'm so madly in love with Jaejoong. I want to have sex with him tonight. Before it's too late.
It bothered Jaejoong to no end as he watched through narrowed eyes as Junsu glanced at the twinkling chandeliers, the white gold eating utensils, the silken table covers and imported wine (Which Junsu refused to drink because he was "underaged.") and fought to hold in a half amused giggle.
Jaejoong had never gone to such lengths to get anyone in bed. Simply buying a guy a beer and giving them a good look at his plump, freshly licked lips swabbed in lust usually did the trick.
Normally, he didn't even have to buy anyone a beer. Normally, he wouldn't even have to do anything. Simply sitting there was sexy enough. All Jaejoong had to do was pick which one to take home by the end of the night.
But in those occasional cases where the target would resist for even a moment, it didn't take much. Yunho had been the biggest struggle. But he had succumbed eventually. He was nothing like this.
Jaejoong glanced at his watch. It was already getting late and Junsu was showing no signs of wanting Jaejoong's clothes off.
But he would. Sooner or later.
Trust is the name of the game tonight. Make him like you. Make him curious. Make him scream your name.
If Junsu didn't make Jaejoong scream obscenities and bang his head into a wall first.
"What makes you think that?" Jaejoong bit carefully on his tongue. Control. Don't stab him with a fork. Yet.
Junsu's face twisted from mild amusement to thoughtfulness. "Well, you took me for a stroll in the park and paid for my hotdog. Then you took me out to see a movie and paid for my popcorn. Then you took me shopping for a nice outfit so you could take me to this really fancy restaurant. I'm starting to feel guilty about your wallet. And it seems a lot like a date."
"What did you think I meant yesterday when I said I was 'taking you out?'" But all Jaejoong really wanted to ask him was, Do you want me to kill you softly or with a little more flair?
"Um, hanging out? Like going out to get ice cream or bumming around the mall?" Junsu shrugged slightly and jammed a bit of meat into his mouth.
"You didn't think I meant like...romantic?" Jaejoong inquired with forced flippancy.
"Psh. No." Junsu's face filled with light laughter. "Did you?"
"Oh. No." Jaejoong mentally stuck his nose inside his glass of expensive-looking water and inhaled deep. "Well, if what if this is date?"
"Then that would be really weird," Junsu commented casually taking a sip of water.
"How so?"
"Because I only think of you as a friend."
"Oh. Really...?" Jaejoong was having a hard time swallowing. Heechul would just love this. And he'd be even more ecstatic tomorrow when the world had Jaejoong buried alive in an underground tomb for displaying such atrocious baby pictures on the internet. "What's wrong with me?"
"Nothing." Junsu said simply. "Just I don't think I'm gay and you're..."
Jaejoong set his glass on the table and stared with what he hoped wasn't too much malice. "What?"
A light flush barely broke surface over Junsu's cheeks as he fidgeted and avoided eye contact. "A little...frisky..."
"Frisky?" Jaejoong was interested now.
"Yeah, like," Junsu pushed some imported vegetables around his plate. "Everyone...knows you..."
"So you think I'm a whore?" Jaejoong offered while Junsu seemed to have trouble breathing.
"Ah, no. More like...a geisha...?"
Jaejoong only stared.
Junsu stared at the table.
"A geisha."
"Yes..."
"Why a geisha?"
"Well, in more traditional situations they don't normally have sex with their clients. They're just really, um, fancy hosts and--you know, back in the day, geishas used to be all male, so-"
"You don't have to dumb it down for me, Japan Expert. I know what a geisha is." Jaejoong gave a Junsu a dull look and closed his lips around a spoonful of soup.
"Okay," Junsu semi-frantically scratched the back of his head. "Um, well, the geisha idea doesn't really make sense, does it?"
Jaejoong lifted an eyebrow. "What are you trying to say?"
"You're like a sex addict."
Jaejoong only stared.
Junsu blushed until both were sure he would start crying blood and then pass out.
And then Jaejoong began laughing.
Loud enough to turn enough heads of others in the restaurant to make Junsu even more uncomfortable.
"Are you always like this?" Jaejoong sputtered while gasping for a gulp of air and ice cold water.
"Like what?" Junsu said quietly with a hint of confusion.
"Like that." Jaejoong laughed again.
Tilting his head to the side, Junsu carefully eyed the other. "You're not...offended?"
"Nah," The eldest breathed deeply and looked back at Junsu with shining eyes. "I am a sex addict."
The way Junsu seemed to want to make himself a part of his chair made Jaejoong want to choke in laughter again.
"And what about what you said before?" Jaejoong gasped through a fresh chuckle.
"What about what?" Junsu blinked.
"I don't think I'm gay..." He did his best Junsu imitation with his voice forced up a few too many octaves, earning an eye roll from the other.
"What about that?"
Jaejoong leaned slightly toward the other with a hint of a challenge. "Do I have to explain it for you? Really?"
The younger man sighed lightly and sat back in his chair. "I just don't think I'm gay."
"But you don't know if you're gay?" Jaejoong pressed.
"I don't really mind gay...ness." Junsu struggled to find just the right words. Most of which were a little odd in Jaejoong's mind but he let it pass. "But I've never really felt anything for a guy before."
"What do you think about my gayness?" Jaejoong said as if he were speaking about the weather. "Does it offend you?"
The other shrugged. "It doesn't bother me. It's your lifestyle."
"And if you did?"
"Huh?" Junsu's brow wrinkled. "Did what?"
"Like a guy." An eyebrow rose.
There was a brief moment when Junsu stared up at the ceiling thoughtfully as if it held all the answers before he lowered his gaze back down to Jaejoong's. "I guess that's it."
Jaejoong only stared.
Junsu took a sip of water and stared back awaiting a response.
"You're too simple." Jaejoong sat back, not bothering to hide his disappointment while Junsu just smiled in self-satisfaction.
"What about me?" Jaejoong inquired.
"OH CRAP. I knew this was a date."
"No! No!" The black-haired elder practically spat through his caught breath. "I was just wondering."
"WHY?"
"Because," It was Jaejoong's turn to stare up at the all-knowing ceiling for answers. Any answers. "Usually people, um...guys I meet are usually more, um...you know..." And the strangest urge to swallow his own head had never been more present as Jaejoong mentally berated himself for falling over himself for this kid.
"All over you?" Junsu replied evenly.
"Yeah..." I guess that's what I mean... Jaejoong really had no idea what he meant.
"Well," Junsu began at length, palm cupping his chin. "The first time I saw you, I did think you were really pretty."
"Oh?" Jaejoong didn't even flinch at the mention of being called 'pretty' rather than 'handsome' or something else more manly. After twenty years, he was well passed used to it. But he wondered about Junsu's need to be precisely honest. It was an interesting trait.
"Yeah. But then you started dropping dirty hints at me like I was some object for you to experiment on. I hated that."
"You thought I was, what? Like, taking advantage of you?"
"Duh." Junsu said almost harshly but the kept a calm demeanor in his face. "Like you thought I was just some confused freshman you could pick your fun out of at will and then just leave on the side of the street yearning for more. I may be a confused freshman but I'm not stupid." A hint of a joking smile followed his last comment.
"Oh, it wasn't anything like that." Jaejoong flipped his hand through the air as if the topic were dust that needed to be cleared from his breathing space. "To be honest, you did look lost when I saw you, but then you looked so cute all flustered and I had to introduce myself. Guess I didn't do a very good job, huh?" The feigned sheepishness Jaejoong pasted at the end of his 'confession' surprised even him.
"Well...at least we're friends now, right?" Junsu smiled gently and suddenly Jaejoong wished he would just go ahead and put that happy smile on his cock so Hankyung could magically appear and go all paparazzi orgasmo for pictures to display to a very, very disappointed Heechul. But trust was the name of the game. As well as patience. Now was not the time. Although Jaejoong still wasn't quite sure when that time would be.
"How'd you make your friends?" Junsu asked suddenly, disrupting Jaejoong from his thoughts.
"Who?" He mentally went through his massive list of friends, acquaintances and bed buddies.
"Heechul and Changmin. They're your roommates, right? I suppose that's why you're so close to them."
Jaejoong's mouth moved on its own. And he had yet to take a sip of the wine sweating alone in the middle of the table. "I should've hated Heechul when I first met him freshman year. His prissy, superior attitude. But when he was moving into our dorm, I found out we had the same taste in movies and a lot of other things. So I guess he's one of my closest friends now."
"And Changmin?" Junsu clasped his hands together and rested his chin on his intertwined fingers.
"Well, he's a freshman like you. The dorms ran out of space so they shoved him with me and Heechul. He was so scared. Or...overwhelmed is more like it. One of the cutest human beings I've ever met in my life." A faint smile found its way around his entire face until he almost glowed. "And one of the only people I've met at this university that didn't get in by paying the school or sleeping with some influential faculty."
Junsu giggled.
"What?" Both his eyebrows shot up in a collective effort to challenge the man in front of him. "You think I'm ashamed of it? Yeah, I sucked off, like, three professors and my auntie paid the dean a good amount of money."
"No, not that." The other man shook his head with a thoughtful smile. "I just didn't expect you to use the word 'cute' without a hint of sarcasm."
"You doubt my vocabulary?"
"Ahhh..."
"You do!"
"No, no, no."
"That's one too many no's."
"That doesn't mean anything."
"It totally does! Hey, I might have boosted myself a little bit with other techniques but I'm smart. I can do math and stuff."
Junsu laughed into his near empty glass of water. "I know, I know. Tutoring you yesterday was actually pretty easy."
"Being tutored by you was actually pretty easy, too." Jaejoong muttered vaguely.
"What do you mean?"
"When I'm serious, I usually go to my friend Boa but she's been really busy this semester. And she gets pissed that I often just copy off her work. And she's scary." Junsu laughed abruptly until it almost turned into a hiccup, amusing Jaejoong to no end. "But when I go to some of my other friends...it starts to get difficult..."
"Difficult? How?"
"They just want things from me." Jaejoong drummed his fingers on the table awaiting a gust of wind to disrupt the entire restaurant and blow this conversation in another direction.
"What? Like money? Should I have charged you for last night?"
"No, no, no." Jaejoong tried and failed to ignore the possible suggestiveness of Junsu's statement.
"Hey, that's one too many no's."
Jaejoong couldn't help but laugh. He found himself doing that a lot around Junsu.
"People like Kyuhyun and Yoochun and...everyone else...want things from me." He continued seriously. "And if that's the case, I never actually get any studying done."
"I don't understand. Do you have focusing problems?"
Finally smacking his palm on the table, Jaejoong looked the other in the eye with an infinite amount of incredulity. "Do they not get laid in Japan? SEX, Junsu. They always want sex from me."
Every head within the vicinity of their table and perhaps some people just entering the restaurant on the other side of the building turned to look at Jaejoong and Junsu's table. Junsu suddenly glowed a bright red tint.
"Don't look at me like that." Jaejoong fought back a wide grin. "I'm a sex addict, remember? It's not like I don't like it. I just wish I could actually have a normal study group once in a while without it turning into an orgy. Sex could be for some other time. Like during chemistry class when I don't pay attention anyway."
Despite the few curious heads that still chose to stare towards the table with more than a little interest, Junsu let out a laugh and idly scraped circles around his empty plate with his spit-slicked fork.
"What?" Jaejoong shrugged. "I prefer learning outside the classroom. And that T.A. is too delicious not to stare at."
"That's contradictory." The other murmured thoughtfully. "You want to learn but then you want sex. It's a little hard to do both...I imagine."
"You have no idea..." Jaejoong shook his head slowly with the weight of his sexual responsibility.
"So with your looks and...skill, why do you bother with studying?" Junsu inquired. "Not that I'm encouraging you to slack off or anything. Just...curious."
"I'm human, too. I want to be things."
"Like?"
"I don't know. Something to make my mother smile." Jaejoong's mind stopped. What?
What?
Had he just said that? Never mind that he was talking about his life in general with complete openness and lack of word play and the usual games he liked to play. He'd spoken about his mother. A topic no one ever bothered to inquire about but that he liked to keep floating the back of his mind while interacting with others, anyway.
Of course he loved her. Shouldn't everyone love those who care for them and love them back fully and truly? But the thoughts he held behind a coy face and a flirting tongue--had not been expressed to even Changmin or Heechul.
Why Junsu? Why was it so easy to make such a huge slip. What...just happened?
"Your mom?" Junsu's brow furrowed slightly as he worked to grasp the information slipping recklessly from Jaejoong's lips. "Aren't you adopted?"
"Yeah." Jaejoong grunted a bit roughly. But there was no stopping now. Word vomit stops for no one. "That doesn't make her any less my mother. It's not like I ever knew my birth mother. And she's the best, so don't go around throwing 'Yo Mamma' jokes at me or you're gonna wake up with only one functioning arm somewhere on a far off island on the North Pole."
Junsu's crinkled in that now familiar smile and more laughter erupted from his curved lips. He tended to do that. Laugh.
"Okay, I promise I won't. So what do you think would make your mom smile-"
"Let's not talk about this." There was no other way. No other path to take to avoid spilling even more details about himself without sounding abrupt and uncomfortable. So Jaejoong simply avoided eye contact and scratched at a spot above his knee that didn't itch. This whole trust thing wasn't really working, was it? Maybe it was. Just...backwards.
"Okay... Let's go back to your friends." Junsu continued with almost equal abruptness and awkwardly bit his lip. "Who else are you close to? Was Yun-" And then he stopped, unsure of that slippery area of the other's life he had only recently learned bore negative feelings in Jaejoong's past. He bit his lip harder but Jaejoong only shrugged dismissively.
"Yunho was good sex. Really good sex. And he was different from the others but...it didn't work out. Too controlling." Jaejoong spat the last part with a little more heat than he had expected. Had it irritated him that much? Who knew? In the intense flurry of their previous relationship, who knew what exactly had happened and what had fallen apart. Maybe nothing was actually constructed. Who knew? For now, Jaejoong just preferred to think of it as another really, really big notch on his belt. Significant, but it's just a notch, right? "Next question, please."
"Okay, um. Anyone else?" Junsu was running out of safe zones.
"I don't know." Jaejoong rubbed the back of his neck and said the next part before he realized it. Word vomit could be the destruction of great nations. "Yoochun."
The other's eyes darted towards the table and Jaejoong watched as his Adam's apple bobbed with the force of a whole lot of spit being forced down his throat in one large gulp. "What's your, um, relationship with...Yoochun?"
"He's kind of a friend." Jaejoong commented vaguely, eyeing the other carefully. Better to tread cautiously on this subject. Or maybe that was Heechul's taunting voice which had made itself comfortable in the back of Jaejoong's mind talking. "More like a douche bag. A lot like a grease ball looking for another pair of pants to jump into."
"Did you two ever...?" Both knew that Junsu could never actually come out and say the rest of that sentence. So easily embarrassed.
"Oh, lots of times." Jaejoong said flippantly, hoping the overdose of casualty in his voice would turn the other away from his occasional friend, sometimes sex buddy and most times annoyance. "When I'm not official with anyone else, he's usually the one I go to the most. Do you know why?" He lowered his voice and leaned forward. "Because he's a horny jerk who'll stick his cock in any hole."
"How's that make you different from him?" A rising sense of irritation was present in Junsu's voice.
"I'm a premium upgrade of Yoochun." Jaejoong boasted. "I may like sex but I do it with class. I make people want me more than I want them. It's an art. Yoochun just sleeps around because he can't keep his pants on. Even when he's official with someone else. That's called cheating in my book."
"You don't cheat?" An eyebrow rose defiantly.
"I never cheat when I get my hands on a good game."
"You're pretty full of yourself."
"Heck yes, I am."
"But I don't think Yoochun could treat me like that." Junsu said defensively, never taking his slightly narrowed eyes away from Jaejoong's.
"PLEASE." Jaejoong almost scoffed. "Yoochun would love to abuse a cute little nerd like you."
"I'd never let him. I bet he'd stay if he kept expecting something that would never come."
"So you are gay." Jaejoong threw the accusation with half self-satisfaction, half amusement and half...oh who knows. Actually, he didn't know what to do with himself anymore around this kid. Let alone math.
"No. Wait..." The uneasiness caught itself in Junsu's throat as he fought to clear his mind.
Jaejoong eyed the other, waiting for a good, but presumably useless explanation.
"I...oh man." Realization dawned on Junsu's face, as well as a bright pink blush. "Do I like Yoochun? I-I knew I felt weird and giddy in his presence and there was that one time we...flirted a little...but do I...do I really...?"
A cold kind of anger swelled beneath Jaejoong's pores. How was it that Yoochun could become an annoyance when he wasn't even in the room? And why was Junsu a general blood pressure spazz attack waiting to happen whether Jaejoong cared to acknowledge his existence or not? Jaejoong blamed Heechul for the state of his life fully and wholly. He'd blame world hunger on Heechul if given enough time to work out the logistics.
"Tell me his number." Junsu said with newfound urgency. "You've got it, right?"
"No."
"Yes, you do." It was almost an accusation.
"Yeah, but I'm not giving it to you." Jaejoong lifted his chin stubbornly.
"Why not?" The other's voice rose about three octaves, turning the question into a definite whine.
"I'm not sharing with you."
"Ha! You do like me!" Junsu pointed his finger across the table.
Jaejoong dipped his voice down low. "Want me to show you just how much I like you?"
"Psh. You could show me more by getting me some dessert." Laughter suddenly cleared away the tension and Jaejoong suddenly found himself wondering how he'd even gotten there.
Who was this kid?
Nothing Jaejoong did made any sense?
"Want me to show you just how much I like you?"??? What kind of timing was that? It was so awkward and dumb, Jaejoong just wanted to shove a fork down his own windpipe and inhale deeply but Junsu matched his incompetence with an ever-present sense of romantic cluelessness that he'd laughed the whole thing off as a joke. Like this entire night.
They'd left the restaurant with Junsu offering to pay the tip since Jaejoong had paid for everything else. Jaejoong had shrugged. He'd also shrugged when he'd caught the waiter taking a nice, long, hard look at his butt as he made his way out with the younger, chatting man next to him. He couldn't bring himself to care much about anything at the moment. His life would come crashing down tomorrow anyway when the whole world got a good look at the present Heechul would leave on the internet in the form of babies, pictures and torment.
***
"Walk me to my dorm." Jaejoong mumbled with minimal interest. At least Junsu's chatter on the way back to campus had kept Jaejoong from falling into a complete depressed stupor.
"You asked me out on this date." Junsu joked. "Shouldn't you walk me home?"
"You're repaying me for all the money I spent on you tonight. And my body is more industrious than yours."
"What does that even mean?"
"Should I show you what it means?"
In front of the door to Jaejoong's dorm room, Jaejoong lost his mind. There was nothing else to lose at this point. It had to be nearing 11:59pm by now, right? Jaejoong was normally against such things as date rape, but hey. Why not one last hurrah before he sat back and let Heechul completely ruin his life?
He pressed his fingers firmly into Junsu's chest and shoved the other into the door, pressing his arms on either side of the younger man, trapping him and bringing Jaejoong's face close enough to his for him to see the hopelessness hanging clear on Jaejoong's features.
"Yoochun likes the innocent ones with unexpected experience." Jaejoong's emotionless voice rumbled well low beneath his normal conversational pitch. Rather than date rape he would make a rash attempt at another tactic. However a weak last resort. Why not use the other's sensitive point against him? If only for a moment. If only for one night for one man's pride, Jaejoong could toss Junsu closer to the enemy if it landed him closer to a brief night of passion and 'experimentation.' It was worth a shot, right?
Junsu's face was too close to his. Every dark line etched out in his chocolate brown irises lay exposed in Junsu's slightly widened eyes as they darted around Jaejoong's clear, pale face. In a moment's pause in which Jaejoong thought he would rip the kid's pants off right there in the hallway if he didn't respond soon, Junsu's pure brown eyes crinkled into a smile.
"My friend Hyukjae back in Japan was about as touchy as you. Not so much a sex addict but...touchy. That dork... I'm used to it by now so don't worry. I don't think you're weird. I'm glad you're wiling to help me but I don't think it's necessary. And I don't think I need, like...flirting lessons or something."
It shouldn't have surprised Jaejoong but it did. Junsu thought his obvious sexual advance had been an offer to teach him how to flirt. Like, verbally teaching the other how to flirt like a pro. Not how to have sex with the other man on his mind. With a slight jerk of his head, Jaejoong pulled back and shoved his hands in his pockets in resignation. Yeah. This was his life now. Better go ahead and accept it. "Yeah, but I'm a special kind of touchy. I make people believe it."
"I've noticed." Junsu punched him playfully on the arm. "And I'm glad you're so proud of yourself."
Like the professional he was, Jaejoong held the smile on his face, however fake and lifeless it may be. He considered it his trump card. Easily feigned happiness. "I'll be even more proud of myself if you make it back to your dorm from out date safe and sound without getting attacked by wild girl scouts."
This should've been easier. Trust. Jaejoong had learned in his many years of experience that it was never a difficult thing to obtain. All you needed was warmth and a smile as well as the skill to manipulate them both at will.
But Junsu...
He took it and flung back at Jaejoong. Until the older man was stinging and aching with his own fatal plummet into the sea of trust with not a life vest or boat to ease his fall.
"I'll keep a look out." Junsu saluted jokingly as he headed back down the hallway towards the stairs. He still held that same friendly smile on his face as he turned around briefly and said, "Thanks, Jaejoong."
***
So Jaejoong lay alone on his cot. It was dark. No need to shed a light on his misery. The blanket of the night was good enough.
The blood red light on Changmin's alarm clock blinked 1:14am.
He'd probably stay in bed tomorrow, too. Or should he bravely face the world head on as Heechul took his life and tossed it into the crocodile pit?
Perhaps it was a good thing Changmin was avoiding Jaejoong like a disease. He could sit alone in their room and sulk.
But as always, Heechul ruined everything.
His entrance into their shared dorm was clumsy to say the least. Drunkenly bumping the door closed behind him as he stumbled into the room and tripped over a stray textbook Jaejoong had been too upset to bother picking up earlier.
"Are you...okay?" Jaejoong sat up in his cot and watched warily as the other tried and failed miserably to lift himself up on the ladder on one side of the bunk bed. There a brief moment of truth when Jaejoong debated between laughing at his hyung's fail and catching him before he smashed his head into the floor. He chose the second, if only out of reflex.
"NO!" A thick cloud of alcohol oozed into Jaejoong's face as he trapped himself beneath Heechul's arm and drunken weight of the other as he struggled to plant the other safely on Changmin's bed. No way he was getting anywhere near Jaejoong's bed. Sheets rank with the stench of booze and sweat was definitely not an option.
"Calm down, Heechul. It's going to be alright-"
"NO IT'S NOT. He still won't sleep with me!" He rubbed his face dizzily into the younger roommate's previously neat sheets and let the tears fall in hot, giant globs.
Jaejoong sat at the edge of the bed rubbing the other's back with the support of a friend and irritable roommate. "That's no reason to-"
"I'm drunk, you insensitive jerk." Heechul spat with a hint of drool dribbling its way out of the corner of his mouth. Good call on dumping him into Changmin's bed. "I have no reason. I'm completely unreasonable. I'm reason-less. And sex-less."
"Hee-"
"What's wrong with me?" Heechul cried, throwing his arms senselessly into the air. "Doesn't he like me? I mean, it's not like he even outright says he refuses to touch me. His mind just never...goes there. He's happy just being with me. And don't get me wrong--DON'T JUDGE ME--I am, too. But I just need a little..."
An idea so hot and bright it almost scalded Jaejoong's brain formed in his mind. Too easy. "You know what will make you feel better?"
"What?"
Oh, here was a dilemma. Should Jaejoong forget everything and focus all his energy on consoling a heartbroken, horny friend or use the force of alcohol to his advantage? As Jaejoong took a good look at his friend's snot-ridden, tear-streaked, sweaty, flushed face, it wasn't hard to make a distinction between 'good decisions' and selfish butt-saving. "Making others feel better. It's scientifically proven." It wasn't a lie. Jaejoong had learned it in his previous study session with Junsu. There was so much to be learned in the world.
"Then why doesn't Hankyung let me touch his-"
"Extend the bet." Jaejoong blurted. Not desperately. More like...fervently. With much, much fervence. That wasn't exactly a word but Jaejoong hadn't studied vocabulary with Junsu.
"Huh? Bet...?" Heechul blinked dumbly.
"Remember?" His voice came out with irritation than Jaejoong would've liked. "That one you made...because you're a douche ba-- Just say you'll extend the bet, okay? You understand, right? The feeling of no one wanting you?"
Heechul's sobs grew louder. The Room Advisor would wake up and chastise them for making a racket if this continued.
"I just..." Jaejoong racked his brain for an explanation that would make sense to a mindless drunk. Anything would go, he supposed. "I'm like you. I want to make Junsu want me but... I just can't." He threw in a flavor of somber distress. "Not within this time limit. Don't force me to be like you. Let me have a chance at making love." And then he threw in a bribe. "Do this for me and I'll make breakfast for you in the morning if you don't feel like puking."
Through the tears and sobs and incoherent blabbering about ungrateful Chinese men, Jaejoong grinned maniacally at the definite nod in the other's head. Soju and heartbreak were truly a wonderful combination.
"Thanks, Heechul." Jaejoong hugged the other warmly, holding back a snicker. "You made my night. See how nice it can be to make others happy? Now, tell me all your problems."
It could've been enough for Jaejoong to just sit and listen to Heechul's many, many complaints until the alcohol drove the other into a drunken near-coma but there was nothing holding him back as he stealthily stuck a hand in Heechul's pocket, revealing the pink cell phone and deleted all incriminating photos and a few secret pictures of Jaejoong sticking out his tongue at the make-shift paparazzi in a dorkish way that should never be revealed to the public.
Just for safe measure, he found Hankyung under Heechul's contacts (Beijing Fried Rice) and texted a short little message to dispose of all evidence of Jaejoong's past currently in his possession.
Jaejoong sighed as he tossed the phone toward the corner of his dongsaeng's bed and leaned back onto the mattress. Heechul had passed out on his shoulder and there was no dislodging the other without possibly reawakening the waterfall of sorrow from the princess' drunken lips. Jaejoong could wake up awkwardly close to Heechul in the morning if it meant he could wake up to freedom with a smile.
It was over.
It was finally over.
God, thank you for inventing booze. Amen.
***
Sunday morning, Jaejoong woke to the sound of an obnoxious, never-ending hairdryer.
Heechul stood in front of the mirror, vigorously tugging at his freshly washed hair, clad in newly washed clothes devoid of the smell of alcohol and sweat and depression from the night before.
Jaejoong groggily lifted himself and rubbed his eyes to ease the harsh light penetrating through his eyelids. It should have pissed him off. It should've run anger coursing deeply through his veins that one of his roommates was an insensitive princess and the other was still MIA.
But a stupid giggle fell from his lips, earning a sneer and a glare from the other. "Want me to make breakfast for you? Or have you puked yet?"
"Why are you so happy?" Heechul shouted above the roar of hot air blowing from the device in his hand. But Jaejoong had a feeling he would have shouted despite the noise. He tended to shout when he was irritated. And hangovers were more than a tad irritating. Despite the effects that the loud noises and the bright overhead light had on the sickness hovering on his head, angrily expressing his anger in a way that prolonged his anger made Heechul feel less angry. Jaejoong still didn't get it, but he accepted it.
"I didn't have sex with Junsu." Jaejoong sang giddily, practically skipping to Heechul's side and smiling brightly.
"And that makes you happy?" Heechul muttered distractedly as he unplugged his hairdryer and turned to find his headband.
"More than you'll ever know." Jaejoong smile practically melted all over Heechul's shoulder. "And all my baby pictures are mysteriously gone."
"Yeah, I noticed that." The other said flatly. "But you're not off the hook yet."
Jaejoong chuckled arrogantly. "Last night you said the bet was O-V-E-R. Or do you not remember?"
Shoving a bright blue headband into his red hair, Heechul whipped around to give the other a hard look. "Can you not spell? The bet is not O-V-E-R. I may have been drunk and unaware of what I was agreeing to but I know what I said. And I know what you said. 'Extend the bet.' E-X-T-E-N-D. Not END and thus not O-V-E-R. That means the bet is still on, my friend.
It was cold all of a sudden.
The warmth in Jaejoong's previously overly-smiley face drained through the tips of his ears as he mentally reviewed his conversation with the other from the night before. Extend, extend....extend?
Why?
Their dorm room resided on the third floor. If Jaejoong threw himself out the window, would it kill him instantly? Or would it hurt enough to land himself in the hospital where he would just have to try to work out some kind of 'accidental' overdosage of some fatal chemical. Bleach might do the trick.
Why hadn't Jaejoong requested to 'end' the bet? Sure, maybe desperation had clouded his judgement but this was a mistake Jaejoong considered himself too good to make. But he had. One of the worst mistakes Jaejoong had made ever since his six-year-old mouth had called Auntie Hyori old at a family reunion.
In exchange for Jaejoong's ghost-like, wordless stare, Heechul smiled and wrapped an arm around the other's shoulders. "We'll just have to make up some different rules, Kim. And this time I want to be a little more involved. I'm tired of sitting by and letting Hankyung decide the speed of our relationship. I want some control, too. This may be the little boost I need to help me get things going. So it looks like me and Hankyung are going to get to play around with you and Junsu."
"What do you have in mind?" Jaejoong found it simply amazing that he even had the voice to speak. Although it was more of a raspy whisper filled with pain and anxiety.
He found himself staring at Heechul's lips as he outlined the new rules of the game Jaejoong had somehow slithered out of just long enough to land him spiraling back down at a dangerous pace.
This was real. Not a dream. Or a nightmare. As Heechul's fully tangible lips formed what would become Jaejoong's burden for the next two months, Jaejoong found himself wishing he had just let Auntie Hyori pull him out of college and shove him into military school. At least there he could screw his underlings whenever the feeling struck him.
Or eventually get shot in combat.
Chapter 10
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This was long. ^^; Oh well~
Comments are much, much love~<3
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