[Fic] Pampering for the Heartsick
Title: Pampering for the Heartsick
Pairing: Jaejoong/Changmin AU; JaeMin
Length: One-shot/ 3,093 words
Rating: PG
Genre: Fluff, Romance, slight Angst, H/C, AU
A/N: I think this takes the bait for fluffiiest thing I've EVER written. Also being the most cliched thing too I'm sure. OMG I still can't believe I wrote this~~ TAT Requested by a follower on Tumblr (original post). Figured I'd post it here too.
Jaejoong blurrily opened his eyes to the blaring sounds coming from his cell phone.
Cursing as his questing hand sends his glasses and a book flying off the nightstand, his fingers finally clasp around his ringing cell phone.
Not even bothering to look at the person calling, because he already knows who’d be calling at this ungodly hour anyway, Jaejoong answers with a gruff “What?”
An equally annoyed voice filters through the speakers and Jaejoong could have sworn he had his phone’s volume on lower than this, why was it giving him such a headache?
“Where are you hyung?! We’re going to be late for your photoshoot!”
At this, Jaejoong startles upright, only to have the pounding in his head increase tenfold. Instead of attempting an answer for his manager, he feels like more than words were going to leave his mouth if he did, he lets out a groan and slumps back into his pillows.
“Don’t tell me you went out drinking last night! You know we have a shoot today!”
Jaejoong tries to muster a glare at the phone but settles for sending negative and evil thoughts through the airwaves.
“I didn’t go out drinking, Changmin. My god, give me a little more credit than that.”
Even to his own ears, Jaejoong sounds awful.
“…did a frog crawl into your throat and die?”
Jaejoong snorts at Changmin’s unique display of concern. Best he was going to get out of his manager.
“Go away I don’t want to deal with you right now. And reschedule my shoot. I’m going to be sleeping for the rest of…eternity.”
“Very dramatic of you, Jaejoo-“
He could have cared less that he was being highly unprofessional and very out of character, but he felt like a 100 ton elephant decided to use him as a sitting stool and brought along his friends who were currently having a party in his head. He’s probably running a fever too, now that he thinks about it, considering how he actually believes he sees this all playing out in front of his eyes. Oh to hell with it all, he deserved a vacation.
~*~*~
Jaejoong didn’t remember passing out but the next time he wakes up he swears he sees his manager towering over him looking constipated.
Jaejoong blinks a few times and the form becomes less blurred.
Nope, not hallucinating….and is…is he worried?
Instead of trying to figure it out because his brain still feels like it had been kicked around like a soccer ball, he rolls over onto his side and curls up around his body pillow.
“Go away! I told you I wasn’t going in today.”
All of a sudden, he tilts forward a little as the side of the bed dips down, and a cool palm is pressed against his forehead. Jaejoong lets a soft moan escape his lips at the stark difference between his skin and of that pressing against his forehead.
Changmin coughs awkwardly before pulling his hand away.
“You look like shit.”
“Wow, thank you Changmin. What a way to make me feel better.”
Jaejoong misses the flush that appears on Changmin’s face, too busy burying his face back into his pillow.
“No, I mean….ugh, here, I brought these for you.”
Jaejoong turns over and observes as Changmin grabs a bag from beside the bed, then turning around to dump the contents out onto an empty spot on the comforter.
Jaejoong’s eyes widen at the array of medicines, supplements, and other medical supplies.
“Did you buy out the whole pharmacy Min?”
Changmin blushes, rubbing the back of his head.
“Umm, I didn’t know what to get you. And I wasn’t really sure what was wrong with you before coming here. So, I just bought whatever seemed relevant.”
Jaejoong sighs. For being such a bright young man, sometimes his manager could be so oblivious. On so many levels. But Jaejoong tries not to dwell on that fact.
He sorts through the items and picks out the things he feels would do him the most good, scooping up the others and depositing them back in the bag.
“You can return everything that’s in the bag, I don’t think I need calamine lotion. Can you also grab me a glass of water before you head out so I can take the medication?”
Jaejoong attempts to get up, but the sudden change in equilibrium and the lack of food in his system causes his world to tilt and his head to feel incredibly light.
With a soft groan, Jaejoong falls forward, preparing himself to hit his soft, comfortable mattress but instead…
“Ompfh, hyung!”
Jaejoong blinks up owlishly at Changmin, before realizing he was sprawled out all over Changmin’s lap.
“I thought you left already!” Jaejoong moves to get up, but not before patting Changmin’s chest affectionately, “I see you’ve been working out.”
“Hyung!”
“I was hoping to land on my bed, thank you. It’s much fluffier than you are.”
“I’m going to go get the water now!”
As Changmin scurries from the room, Jaejoong slumps back into his bed.
He feels miserable and hot and just all around gross. And the fact that his manager had to see him like this made Jaejoong feel even worse.
He might have a not so slight crush on his manager, but he would never admit it to anyone.
After about 5 minutes of hearing sounds of clanging and banging coming from his kitchen, at which Jaejoong has to literally restrain himself from rushing out of bed to save his precious from being possibly burnt down , Umm…I’m okay hyung, really! Don’t come, I’m good!, Changmin comes back into the room carrying a try with a bowl of microwaved soup and a tall glass of water.
Jaejoong can’t help but melt a little on the inside, and breathes a sigh of relief when he doesn’t smell anything burning.
“Here, eat this first, you don’t want to be taking pills on an empty stomach. And make sure to drink all the water. You’re supposed to keep your fluids up, right?”
The soup feels amazing going down his throat and Jaejoong quickly finishes it off before downing the water and his meds; Changmin carefully watching to make sure Jaejoong finishes everything.
“I managed to move your schedule so you have the next three days off, by then you should be in tip top shape again,” Changmin says conversationally as he moves the finished tray to another side table.
At the mention of his schedule, Jaejoong visibly deflates and the warm fuzzy feelings he was having earlier, at being pampered by Changmin, flees, leaving him feeling even more tired and dejected than before.
“Thanks Changmin. You can go now. I’ll be fine to take care of myself,” Jaejoong tiredly says, making to crawl back under his covers; ready to cover himself up with his comforter to soak his tears. Damn being sick, I get so emotional.
Changmin grabs the comforter from Jaejoong’s grasp when he sees Jaejoong’s having issues getting properly untangled to get underneath, in turn, catching a glimpse of Jaejoong’s watery eyes.
“What’s wrong hyung?”
Jaejoong grabs the blankets back from Changmin and effectively buries himself under the covers.
“You can go now. I’m fine. And I’ll be fine enough to go back into work in two days instead. So you don’t have to worry about missing any deadlines. Now can you please leave?” Before I say something stupid or actually cry.
Changmin blinks at the slightly harsh tone Jaejoong adopted.
“But, I have to take care of you!”
“You’ve done your job. You’ve looked in on me, you’ve brought me medicine. You actually went above and beyond the call of duty and made me soup. Your work here is done. I’ll be fine now.”
Jaejoong hates how emotional he’s becoming, but he really thought Changmin was there for him and not because of some obligation as his manager. Combined with how awful he is already feeling with this cold or flu or whatever it is, he’s just not in the mood to deal with it all. He just wants to sleep and forget that this ever happened. He rolls onto his side and latches onto his body pillow.
Changmin stares confusedly at Jaejoong and moves to the side of the bed, bending down so he was eye level to Jaejoong.
“Hey, Jae, what’s wrong? Why are you being like this? Does something hurt? Do you need something else?”
He moves to place the back of his palm on Jaejoong’s forehead again. As he was trying to figure out if Jaejoong was warmer than normal, he hears a soft mumble from the covers.
“What was that? I missed what you just said, I think I should go grab a cold compress, I think you’re running a fever.”
Right before Changmin makes it through the doorway, though, Jaejoong speaks up again, this time, a little louder.
“My heart hurts. And I only need you to make me feel better.”
When Changmin turns back to the bed, he notices that Jaejoong was half asleep, and instead of pressing the matter further, he continues towards the kitchen instead.
~*~*~
The next time Jaejoong wakes up, he does remember drifting off to sleep this time, and, with a horrified start, he also remembers what he said to Changmin before he passed out.
Looking towards his window, he notices that he had slept through most of the day, with evening fast approaching, not to mention that his apartment was blissfully silent.
Jaejoong was not excited to have to face Changmin when he returned to work.
With a pitiful wail, Jaejoong makes to fall onto the other side of his bed, intent on clutching onto a soft, absorbable pillow and having a mini sob session. Only, instead of falling into soft fluffiness, he again, lands into a solid, less elastic, form.
“Ompfh!”
The form below Jaejoong groans and shifts, propping itself up against the headboard.
Jaejoong scrambles to get off the moving mass, but arms come up, moving around him and effectively trapping him against a familiarly firm chest.
“We really need to stop meeting like this.”
Jaejoong snorts softly and hits Changmin’s shoulder.
“Let me go. What are you still doing here anyway?”
Jaejoong struggles again to move out of the embrace but, even though he’s feeling much better than before, he’s still pretty drained and weak. Seeing that Changmin has no intention of letting him go, Jaejoong gives up and slumps down.
“When did you get so heavy anyway?”
“Yah! You shouldn’t speak like that to your hyung. Especially your sick hyung.”
Changmin smiles slightly, happy to see Jaejoong is responding like normal to his jibes.
After a moment of silence, Changmin speaks up again.
“Now, are you going to explain the last thing you said to me before you became dead to the world again?”
Jaejoong tenses up and moves to roll away from Changmin again, but he’s being especially stubborn and doesn’t let go of the circle he has around Jaejoong.
“I…don’t remember….?”
Now it’s Changmin’s turn to give a soft snort.
“Please hyung. I know you better than that. You remembered. Now, are you going to explain? Or will I have to play detective and guess?”
Jaejoong has by now, effectively hidden his face in the nape of Changmin’s neck, releasing a shuddering breath at the question.
Gently, Changmin begins talking.
“You like me, huh?”
Feeling a soft nod, Changmin continues on.
“You really like me.”
*nod*
“And you were upset earlier…because you thought I was only taking care of you because it’s my job to look after you?”
*nod*
Changmin sighs softly.
“Hyung, I’m your manager. I look after your business affairs; your contacts and your contracts. I take care of your schedules and your appointments.”
Changmin hears sniffling coming from the left side of his ear.
“But Jaejoong, when I came to see you, I wasn’t coming as your manager. I was coming as your friend. I know I brought up business on this visit, but it was only to help ease your mind to allow you to rest and not have to worry about work.”
Changmin begins to feel some dampness on his neck and quickly brings Jaejoong forward to face him. With one hand grasping Jaejoong’s shoulder, Changmin brings the other hand up to Jaejoong’s face, wiping away the tears that had begun to fall down with his thumb.
“Shhh, hey, hey now. Why are you crying? You better not have gotten my shirt wet. This is a new shirt.”
Jaejoong chuckles slightly but that also brings a new rush of tears from his eyes. He brings up both hands, brushing away Changmin’s, and begins hastily wiping away at the new tears.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m so emotional right now. I don’t think the fevers completely gone yet. Let me just go wash my face.”
Jaejoong moves to get off the bed but is once again detained by Changmin’s arms.
“Hey, not so fast. I haven’t finished my deductions yet.”
Jaejoong struggles to get away, continuing to wipe at his face, a little bit more angrily this time.
“No, you don’t need to. I know already. I like you, but you only like me as a friend. And I shouldn’t have assumed that you weren’t here as a friend. Nor should I have assumed you were here for anything more than out of friendship. And now I’m just making a fool of myself and would really like to go wash my face and brush my teeth and you can really go now. I don’t know why you even wasted a whole day here. I’m fine. See? Fever’s all gone. My voice doesn’t sound like a croaking frog anymore. A few more hours of rest and I should be back to normal. You don’t need to be here. Now can you please let me go now?”
Changmin loosens his hold around Jaejoong, but is still unwilling to let him go completely.
“Okay, first off, stop struggling. You’re just going to tire yourself out even more and you’re still recovering. Secondly, you can go after I’ve finished and I haven’t yet. Thirdly, my whole day wasn’t wasted. I ran home after I made sure you were sleeping and grabbed a few items I knew I would need for later. I can work from a laptop, you know. And yes, while you are feeling and sounding a lot better, you are still not completely better.”
During this speech, Jaejoong slumps back into Changmin, this time with his check against Changmin’s chest.
“And that is why I also packed an overnight bag when I was at home and will be staying here until you are completely better.”
At this, Jaejoong shoots up from his slumped position, almost knocking Changmin in the chin.
“Woah! Watch it, I could have been seriously injured there.”
“What do you mean you’re staying!? No, seriously Changmin, you don’t have to. I’m fine, I can take care of myself now. Go home. I’m sure you have better things to do than to take care of a sick friend.”
“Well, isn’t that up for me to decide? What’s more of a priority? And I think your well-being should be my top priority.”
Jaejoong rolls his eyes at the playful tone Changmin was using.
“Yes, okay, well, my well-being is fine. I’m feeling great. Much better than before. So, again, your work here is done, you can go.”
Changmin brings Jaejoong back down towards his chest, taking up to softly play with Jaejoong’s hair.
“That may be true, but I’m not talking about your physical well-being. I mean, I’m here to take care of that too. But most importantly, I’ve come to learn that your heart is sick as well. And I must make sure your emotional well-being is also being tended to.”
Jaejoong wants to move out of the embrace again, but he finds the fingers carding through his hair to be too soothing and doesn’t want to disrupt that feeling. He resigns himself to his other feelings as well and the fact that Changmin now knows about said feelings. Better deal with it than pretend it’s not there, at least he’s not being a prick about it…I don’t know if that’s any better.
“But it’s not your job to take care of my emotional well-being too. I’ll be okay, I won’t let this affect our working relationship.”
“Who ever said anything about a job? My gosh Jaejoong. You’re usually much more rational than this.”
And Changmin hugs him a little tighter.
“Is this how you take care of my emotional well-being? By mildly insulting me?”
Changmin chuckles at the muffled complaint.
“Well, it seems to help get you out of your emotional slumps.”
Jaejoong huffs into Changmin’s chest.
After a beat.
“I like you too.”
Wide eyed, Jaejoong breaks away from the carding fingers to stare at Changmin’s face. Changmin stares back too, allowing Jaejoong time to detect any falsehoods in that statement.
“Are we going to spend the rest of the night staring at each other? Or can I go back to hugging you? That felt quite nice.”
At Changmin’s question, Jaejoong lurches forward and returns back to Changmin’s embrace.
“You’re not just saying this to be nice to a sick person, are you?”
“You’re not terminally ill are you?”
Jaejoong slaps Changmin’s biceps, causing Changmin to laugh.
“Of course not Jaejoong! Really, I thought you thought better of me than to think I’d lie to you about this.”
“Can you pinch then? I want to be sure I’m not still in a fever-induced hallucination.”
“You’re actually asking me to pinch you?”
Jaejoong blushes but doesn’t respond.
“I have a better idea.”
And with that, Changmin brings his hand up to Jaejoong’s chin, tilting it up towards him before leaning down to give Jaejoong a soft kiss on the lips.
Leaning back slightly, Changmin stares down at Jaejoong’s closed eyes.
“Does that feel real to you?” Changmin whispers gently.
Eyes still closed, Jaejoong responds back softly, “Very much so.”
“May I do that again?”
Jaejoong opens his eyes and gazes up at Changmin, a smile appearing on his face.
“You kind of stole the first one. Why bother asking for the second?”
Changmin grins back.
“I was trying to be a gentleman.”
Jaejoong laughs and moves to get up.
“Hey wait! I’m not done kissing you yet!”
“We can continue this in a bit. But right now, I really need to go to the bathroom.”
Pairing: Jaejoong/Changmin AU; JaeMin
Length: One-shot/ 3,093 words
Rating: PG
Genre: Fluff, Romance, slight Angst, H/C, AU
A/N: I think this takes the bait for fluffiiest thing I've EVER written. Also being the most cliched thing too I'm sure. OMG I still can't believe I wrote this~~ TAT Requested by a follower on Tumblr (original post). Figured I'd post it here too.
Jaejoong blurrily opened his eyes to the blaring sounds coming from his cell phone.
Cursing as his questing hand sends his glasses and a book flying off the nightstand, his fingers finally clasp around his ringing cell phone.
Not even bothering to look at the person calling, because he already knows who’d be calling at this ungodly hour anyway, Jaejoong answers with a gruff “What?”
An equally annoyed voice filters through the speakers and Jaejoong could have sworn he had his phone’s volume on lower than this, why was it giving him such a headache?
“Where are you hyung?! We’re going to be late for your photoshoot!”
At this, Jaejoong startles upright, only to have the pounding in his head increase tenfold. Instead of attempting an answer for his manager, he feels like more than words were going to leave his mouth if he did, he lets out a groan and slumps back into his pillows.
“Don’t tell me you went out drinking last night! You know we have a shoot today!”
Jaejoong tries to muster a glare at the phone but settles for sending negative and evil thoughts through the airwaves.
“I didn’t go out drinking, Changmin. My god, give me a little more credit than that.”
Even to his own ears, Jaejoong sounds awful.
“…did a frog crawl into your throat and die?”
Jaejoong snorts at Changmin’s unique display of concern. Best he was going to get out of his manager.
“Go away I don’t want to deal with you right now. And reschedule my shoot. I’m going to be sleeping for the rest of…eternity.”
“Very dramatic of you, Jaejoo-“
He could have cared less that he was being highly unprofessional and very out of character, but he felt like a 100 ton elephant decided to use him as a sitting stool and brought along his friends who were currently having a party in his head. He’s probably running a fever too, now that he thinks about it, considering how he actually believes he sees this all playing out in front of his eyes. Oh to hell with it all, he deserved a vacation.
~*~*~
Jaejoong didn’t remember passing out but the next time he wakes up he swears he sees his manager towering over him looking constipated.
Jaejoong blinks a few times and the form becomes less blurred.
Nope, not hallucinating….and is…is he worried?
Instead of trying to figure it out because his brain still feels like it had been kicked around like a soccer ball, he rolls over onto his side and curls up around his body pillow.
“Go away! I told you I wasn’t going in today.”
All of a sudden, he tilts forward a little as the side of the bed dips down, and a cool palm is pressed against his forehead. Jaejoong lets a soft moan escape his lips at the stark difference between his skin and of that pressing against his forehead.
Changmin coughs awkwardly before pulling his hand away.
“You look like shit.”
“Wow, thank you Changmin. What a way to make me feel better.”
Jaejoong misses the flush that appears on Changmin’s face, too busy burying his face back into his pillow.
“No, I mean….ugh, here, I brought these for you.”
Jaejoong turns over and observes as Changmin grabs a bag from beside the bed, then turning around to dump the contents out onto an empty spot on the comforter.
Jaejoong’s eyes widen at the array of medicines, supplements, and other medical supplies.
“Did you buy out the whole pharmacy Min?”
Changmin blushes, rubbing the back of his head.
“Umm, I didn’t know what to get you. And I wasn’t really sure what was wrong with you before coming here. So, I just bought whatever seemed relevant.”
Jaejoong sighs. For being such a bright young man, sometimes his manager could be so oblivious. On so many levels. But Jaejoong tries not to dwell on that fact.
He sorts through the items and picks out the things he feels would do him the most good, scooping up the others and depositing them back in the bag.
“You can return everything that’s in the bag, I don’t think I need calamine lotion. Can you also grab me a glass of water before you head out so I can take the medication?”
Jaejoong attempts to get up, but the sudden change in equilibrium and the lack of food in his system causes his world to tilt and his head to feel incredibly light.
With a soft groan, Jaejoong falls forward, preparing himself to hit his soft, comfortable mattress but instead…
“Ompfh, hyung!”
Jaejoong blinks up owlishly at Changmin, before realizing he was sprawled out all over Changmin’s lap.
“I thought you left already!” Jaejoong moves to get up, but not before patting Changmin’s chest affectionately, “I see you’ve been working out.”
“Hyung!”
“I was hoping to land on my bed, thank you. It’s much fluffier than you are.”
“I’m going to go get the water now!”
As Changmin scurries from the room, Jaejoong slumps back into his bed.
He feels miserable and hot and just all around gross. And the fact that his manager had to see him like this made Jaejoong feel even worse.
He might have a not so slight crush on his manager, but he would never admit it to anyone.
After about 5 minutes of hearing sounds of clanging and banging coming from his kitchen, at which Jaejoong has to literally restrain himself from rushing out of bed to save his precious from being possibly burnt down , Umm…I’m okay hyung, really! Don’t come, I’m good!, Changmin comes back into the room carrying a try with a bowl of microwaved soup and a tall glass of water.
Jaejoong can’t help but melt a little on the inside, and breathes a sigh of relief when he doesn’t smell anything burning.
“Here, eat this first, you don’t want to be taking pills on an empty stomach. And make sure to drink all the water. You’re supposed to keep your fluids up, right?”
The soup feels amazing going down his throat and Jaejoong quickly finishes it off before downing the water and his meds; Changmin carefully watching to make sure Jaejoong finishes everything.
“I managed to move your schedule so you have the next three days off, by then you should be in tip top shape again,” Changmin says conversationally as he moves the finished tray to another side table.
At the mention of his schedule, Jaejoong visibly deflates and the warm fuzzy feelings he was having earlier, at being pampered by Changmin, flees, leaving him feeling even more tired and dejected than before.
“Thanks Changmin. You can go now. I’ll be fine to take care of myself,” Jaejoong tiredly says, making to crawl back under his covers; ready to cover himself up with his comforter to soak his tears. Damn being sick, I get so emotional.
Changmin grabs the comforter from Jaejoong’s grasp when he sees Jaejoong’s having issues getting properly untangled to get underneath, in turn, catching a glimpse of Jaejoong’s watery eyes.
“What’s wrong hyung?”
Jaejoong grabs the blankets back from Changmin and effectively buries himself under the covers.
“You can go now. I’m fine. And I’ll be fine enough to go back into work in two days instead. So you don’t have to worry about missing any deadlines. Now can you please leave?” Before I say something stupid or actually cry.
Changmin blinks at the slightly harsh tone Jaejoong adopted.
“But, I have to take care of you!”
“You’ve done your job. You’ve looked in on me, you’ve brought me medicine. You actually went above and beyond the call of duty and made me soup. Your work here is done. I’ll be fine now.”
Jaejoong hates how emotional he’s becoming, but he really thought Changmin was there for him and not because of some obligation as his manager. Combined with how awful he is already feeling with this cold or flu or whatever it is, he’s just not in the mood to deal with it all. He just wants to sleep and forget that this ever happened. He rolls onto his side and latches onto his body pillow.
Changmin stares confusedly at Jaejoong and moves to the side of the bed, bending down so he was eye level to Jaejoong.
“Hey, Jae, what’s wrong? Why are you being like this? Does something hurt? Do you need something else?”
He moves to place the back of his palm on Jaejoong’s forehead again. As he was trying to figure out if Jaejoong was warmer than normal, he hears a soft mumble from the covers.
“What was that? I missed what you just said, I think I should go grab a cold compress, I think you’re running a fever.”
Right before Changmin makes it through the doorway, though, Jaejoong speaks up again, this time, a little louder.
“My heart hurts. And I only need you to make me feel better.”
When Changmin turns back to the bed, he notices that Jaejoong was half asleep, and instead of pressing the matter further, he continues towards the kitchen instead.
~*~*~
The next time Jaejoong wakes up, he does remember drifting off to sleep this time, and, with a horrified start, he also remembers what he said to Changmin before he passed out.
Looking towards his window, he notices that he had slept through most of the day, with evening fast approaching, not to mention that his apartment was blissfully silent.
Jaejoong was not excited to have to face Changmin when he returned to work.
With a pitiful wail, Jaejoong makes to fall onto the other side of his bed, intent on clutching onto a soft, absorbable pillow and having a mini sob session. Only, instead of falling into soft fluffiness, he again, lands into a solid, less elastic, form.
“Ompfh!”
The form below Jaejoong groans and shifts, propping itself up against the headboard.
Jaejoong scrambles to get off the moving mass, but arms come up, moving around him and effectively trapping him against a familiarly firm chest.
“We really need to stop meeting like this.”
Jaejoong snorts softly and hits Changmin’s shoulder.
“Let me go. What are you still doing here anyway?”
Jaejoong struggles again to move out of the embrace but, even though he’s feeling much better than before, he’s still pretty drained and weak. Seeing that Changmin has no intention of letting him go, Jaejoong gives up and slumps down.
“When did you get so heavy anyway?”
“Yah! You shouldn’t speak like that to your hyung. Especially your sick hyung.”
Changmin smiles slightly, happy to see Jaejoong is responding like normal to his jibes.
After a moment of silence, Changmin speaks up again.
“Now, are you going to explain the last thing you said to me before you became dead to the world again?”
Jaejoong tenses up and moves to roll away from Changmin again, but he’s being especially stubborn and doesn’t let go of the circle he has around Jaejoong.
“I…don’t remember….?”
Now it’s Changmin’s turn to give a soft snort.
“Please hyung. I know you better than that. You remembered. Now, are you going to explain? Or will I have to play detective and guess?”
Jaejoong has by now, effectively hidden his face in the nape of Changmin’s neck, releasing a shuddering breath at the question.
Gently, Changmin begins talking.
“You like me, huh?”
Feeling a soft nod, Changmin continues on.
“You really like me.”
*nod*
“And you were upset earlier…because you thought I was only taking care of you because it’s my job to look after you?”
*nod*
Changmin sighs softly.
“Hyung, I’m your manager. I look after your business affairs; your contacts and your contracts. I take care of your schedules and your appointments.”
Changmin hears sniffling coming from the left side of his ear.
“But Jaejoong, when I came to see you, I wasn’t coming as your manager. I was coming as your friend. I know I brought up business on this visit, but it was only to help ease your mind to allow you to rest and not have to worry about work.”
Changmin begins to feel some dampness on his neck and quickly brings Jaejoong forward to face him. With one hand grasping Jaejoong’s shoulder, Changmin brings the other hand up to Jaejoong’s face, wiping away the tears that had begun to fall down with his thumb.
“Shhh, hey, hey now. Why are you crying? You better not have gotten my shirt wet. This is a new shirt.”
Jaejoong chuckles slightly but that also brings a new rush of tears from his eyes. He brings up both hands, brushing away Changmin’s, and begins hastily wiping away at the new tears.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m so emotional right now. I don’t think the fevers completely gone yet. Let me just go wash my face.”
Jaejoong moves to get off the bed but is once again detained by Changmin’s arms.
“Hey, not so fast. I haven’t finished my deductions yet.”
Jaejoong struggles to get away, continuing to wipe at his face, a little bit more angrily this time.
“No, you don’t need to. I know already. I like you, but you only like me as a friend. And I shouldn’t have assumed that you weren’t here as a friend. Nor should I have assumed you were here for anything more than out of friendship. And now I’m just making a fool of myself and would really like to go wash my face and brush my teeth and you can really go now. I don’t know why you even wasted a whole day here. I’m fine. See? Fever’s all gone. My voice doesn’t sound like a croaking frog anymore. A few more hours of rest and I should be back to normal. You don’t need to be here. Now can you please let me go now?”
Changmin loosens his hold around Jaejoong, but is still unwilling to let him go completely.
“Okay, first off, stop struggling. You’re just going to tire yourself out even more and you’re still recovering. Secondly, you can go after I’ve finished and I haven’t yet. Thirdly, my whole day wasn’t wasted. I ran home after I made sure you were sleeping and grabbed a few items I knew I would need for later. I can work from a laptop, you know. And yes, while you are feeling and sounding a lot better, you are still not completely better.”
During this speech, Jaejoong slumps back into Changmin, this time with his check against Changmin’s chest.
“And that is why I also packed an overnight bag when I was at home and will be staying here until you are completely better.”
At this, Jaejoong shoots up from his slumped position, almost knocking Changmin in the chin.
“Woah! Watch it, I could have been seriously injured there.”
“What do you mean you’re staying!? No, seriously Changmin, you don’t have to. I’m fine, I can take care of myself now. Go home. I’m sure you have better things to do than to take care of a sick friend.”
“Well, isn’t that up for me to decide? What’s more of a priority? And I think your well-being should be my top priority.”
Jaejoong rolls his eyes at the playful tone Changmin was using.
“Yes, okay, well, my well-being is fine. I’m feeling great. Much better than before. So, again, your work here is done, you can go.”
Changmin brings Jaejoong back down towards his chest, taking up to softly play with Jaejoong’s hair.
“That may be true, but I’m not talking about your physical well-being. I mean, I’m here to take care of that too. But most importantly, I’ve come to learn that your heart is sick as well. And I must make sure your emotional well-being is also being tended to.”
Jaejoong wants to move out of the embrace again, but he finds the fingers carding through his hair to be too soothing and doesn’t want to disrupt that feeling. He resigns himself to his other feelings as well and the fact that Changmin now knows about said feelings. Better deal with it than pretend it’s not there, at least he’s not being a prick about it…I don’t know if that’s any better.
“But it’s not your job to take care of my emotional well-being too. I’ll be okay, I won’t let this affect our working relationship.”
“Who ever said anything about a job? My gosh Jaejoong. You’re usually much more rational than this.”
And Changmin hugs him a little tighter.
“Is this how you take care of my emotional well-being? By mildly insulting me?”
Changmin chuckles at the muffled complaint.
“Well, it seems to help get you out of your emotional slumps.”
Jaejoong huffs into Changmin’s chest.
After a beat.
“I like you too.”
Wide eyed, Jaejoong breaks away from the carding fingers to stare at Changmin’s face. Changmin stares back too, allowing Jaejoong time to detect any falsehoods in that statement.
“Are we going to spend the rest of the night staring at each other? Or can I go back to hugging you? That felt quite nice.”
At Changmin’s question, Jaejoong lurches forward and returns back to Changmin’s embrace.
“You’re not just saying this to be nice to a sick person, are you?”
“You’re not terminally ill are you?”
Jaejoong slaps Changmin’s biceps, causing Changmin to laugh.
“Of course not Jaejoong! Really, I thought you thought better of me than to think I’d lie to you about this.”
“Can you pinch then? I want to be sure I’m not still in a fever-induced hallucination.”
“You’re actually asking me to pinch you?”
Jaejoong blushes but doesn’t respond.
“I have a better idea.”
And with that, Changmin brings his hand up to Jaejoong’s chin, tilting it up towards him before leaning down to give Jaejoong a soft kiss on the lips.
Leaning back slightly, Changmin stares down at Jaejoong’s closed eyes.
“Does that feel real to you?” Changmin whispers gently.
Eyes still closed, Jaejoong responds back softly, “Very much so.”
“May I do that again?”
Jaejoong opens his eyes and gazes up at Changmin, a smile appearing on his face.
“You kind of stole the first one. Why bother asking for the second?”
Changmin grins back.
“I was trying to be a gentleman.”
Jaejoong laughs and moves to get up.
“Hey wait! I’m not done kissing you yet!”
“We can continue this in a bit. But right now, I really need to go to the bathroom.”