Unconditional Love 12
Title: Unconditional Love
Pairing: YunJae/JaeHo
Genre: AU, Romance, fluff and possibly slight angst
Author: DLavenie
Length: Chaptered (12/13+epilogue)
Summary: Popular Yunho, mute Jaejoong - they come from two completely different worlds. What will happen when they collide? Will there be any chemistry between them? Or will they just act like strangers to each other?
Disclaimer: This whole plot and the characters in the story do not belong to me.
Thanks to: Callie for the poster, uverjaeho for the story plot, starry1 for beta-reading chapter 4 and konnistique for beta-reading the rest. Love you guys!
Unconditional Love 12
The situation in the Music and Dance room was quite bizarre at the moment. It wasn’t only for the fact that the room was a mess or for the fact that Yunho had tried his hardest to sing a song he’d picked from a selection of songs Heechul suggested. It was also because of the hopeless teasing and playful arguments between all the members there: Yunho, Donghae, Ajoo and Heechul.
“Are you ready for it?”
Yunho spun around and looked at Donghae with a tired smile, but nevertheless, you could still see happiness radiating from behind those brown eyes. “I’m not sure if I can sing very well,” Yunho scratched his head in embarrassment. He had to admit he had never tried the path of actually singing. Up until now in his life, he could only rap.
“Well, I’ve to agree with Yunho here. His singing is pretty awful,” Heechul cut in, ignoring the glare he received from his best friend, “But I’m pretty sure, with my help,” Heechul grinned, “It will be absolutely, no problem!”
“In your dreams!” Ajoo retorted, which of course, only resulted in him getting a smack on head from Heechul. “Hyung!” Ajoo pouted. “It’s not fair! Why do I always get smacked from all of you?”
“Because you’re the youngest one here,” Donghae ruffled the hair of the boy who he had already considered to be his own blood brother.
Ajoo sulked in protest. He walked past Yunho and out of the room.
“Where are you going?” Heechul yelled, “Don’t be such a cry baby!” he teased.
“I’m going to see Jaejoong-hyung!” And just when they thought Ajoo would leave it at that, a yell of “And I’m not a cry baby!” echoed down the hall.
The protest only served to make Heechul laugh.
“Don’t tease him too much, Heechul.” Yunho stated as he downed the contents of the bottle he was holding.
“But he’s just too fun to tease!” Heechul replied, walking towards a chair near him before plopping down in it. “So, have you decided to tell Jaejoong tonight?”
Yes, tonight was the big day for them- the Music and Dance club -because tonight, they were going to hold an event as one of their club activities. They have it every year, but this year it will be more special because Jaejoong was here. Although it was their club who held this event, there was this one ‘little’ performance they didn’t tell Jaejoong about.
Yunho nodded. He was sure with his feelings. Before this, he thought it was just infatuation he had towards the young man who brought the light he lost, back into his life. Jaejoong taught him something valuable. Something he thought was impossible. Jaejoong, although he was a mute, was still very much happy, just the way he was. He didn’t complain about his imperfections and that was what made Yunho fall for him even more.
“But I’m afraid” Yunho confessed as he looked at Heechul, “I’m afraid he won’t accept me.”
Heechul smiled, fully aware of his friend’s insecurities. Even though people saw Yunho as a strong and calm person, inside, he was just as fragile as anyone else.
“But it’s okay, right? It’s better than not telling him your feelings. Who knows, perhaps he also feels the same towards you. After all, it doesn’t hurt to try, you know.”
Yunho chuckled, nodding to what his friend said. “Yes, it’s doesn’t hurt to try, but it’ll hurt when you don’t get what you want.”
"Hey, don't say something like that. You should be praying that jaejoong likes you too. After all, you already have two thumbs up from his brother and best friends," Heechul tried to suppress his laugh, "Although, I still can't believe they would ask you such questions."
Yunho chuckled. In fact, that day had already been deeply engraved into his memory. When Jaejoong's best friends, Yoochun, Junsu and Changmin had asked him questions about his relationship with Jaejoong, he couldn't help but feel slightly boogled by them. Who wouldn't be after being thrown with such interrogating questions? But he didn't have the chance to answer them when Jaejoong suddenly appeared behind them and smacked his best friends hard on the head.
Changmin was the one who had approached him later that day and asked him about Jaejoong. Yunho could see that, amongst the three, Changmin was the wise one. He had told him that it won't be easy for him to catch Jaejoong's heart.
"What do you mean?"
Changmin smiled genuinely. "Don't get me wrong. I know you don't love him. I mean... your feeling towards him isn't that kind of 'feeling' yet, right?"
Yunho nodded.
"Well, just if you do fall for him, I want you to know that it won't be easy. Hyung always think he is a burden to everyone around him, and he also thinks he shouldn't be loved." Changmin paused and sighed. "But I want hyung to be happy. I know that, even though hyung didn't tell us personally, he also wants to know how it actually feels to be in love. He is just afraid."
There was a moment of silence before Yunho spoke up.
"I promise. If I do fall for him, i will make him think otherwise. I'll prove to him that he is not a burden, that he is special in his own way. I will promise you that."
And so, that was his promise to Changmin and now, he was going to fulfil it. His thoughts were interrupted by something, or rather, a person's voice. yunho turned his head towards the source of said voice.
“That’s right, Yunho.” Donghae interrupted their conversation, “You should be more positive, don’t think of anything negative. It might affect your fate!”
“Alright, alright, I’m sorry” Yunho said, giving up, “I won’t think that way ever again.”
“That’s good.” And with that, Donghae returned back to his work- editing their songs.
“But then again, what if Jaejoong really does reject your feelings? What will you do then, Yunho?” Heechul rubbed his chin in wonder, “I assumed you’ll cry, right?”
“Yah! Kim Heechul!” A hard smack landed on Heechul’s head and to any passersby outside, muffled sounds of ‘ow! It hurts’ could be heard from within the small room.
[+++++]
Jaejoong pouted. He wasn’t in the mood to come tonight but Yunho and the others had forced him to. Even his brother joined the troop in forcing him to come. It wasn’t fair. He didn’t want to smile at them as a sign of his protest.
“You still angry?” Yunho asked. They were in Yunho’s car. Correction, he was in Yunho’s car. The others- Ajoo and Donghae were with Heechul.
No response.
“Jaejoong…” Yunho gazed at Jaejoong before fixing his eyes back on the road, “Alright, alright… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have forced you to come along but you’ll be missing out on a lot of fun if you didn’t come!” Yunho reasoned, still trying to convince Jaejoong that he hadn’t made a mistake in coming.
He stopped his car on the side of the road. It was difficult trying to communicate with Jaejoong while he was driving.
“I’m really sorry. Please forgive me?” Yunho gave his best puppy eyes with the hope to, at least, make Jaejoong smile again.
I don’t like those kinds of places. Jaejoong conveyed the message to Yunho using sign language. I’m not comfortable with it.
“I promise you’ll have fun today. It’ll be different because after all, Heechul, Donghae, Ajoo and I will be there. We won’t leave you isolated.”
Jaejoong looked at Yunho, still unsure. You promise?
Yunho nodded. “I promise.” Yunho then placed his hand over his heart like he was saying a vow. “I won’t let you leave tonight without any sweet memories.” Yunho moved his fingers onto Jaejoong’s face and gently pushed the sides of Jaejoong’s lips to curl upwards, “So smile for me, okay?”
Jaejoong slapped Yunho’s hand away. Okay. And smiled for the first time since the night begun.
“That’s better,” Yunho winked. “Did you know Jaejoong? You just made me fall even more in love with you.”
Hearing those words made Jaejoong flushed. In a flash, he smacked Yunho on the head, hard. Idiot!
“Ow…” Yunho rubbed the spot where Jaejoong had hit. His fingers went to start the engine once more. “But it’s true. I don’t lie.”
Again, a smack landed on Yunho’s poor head. Yunho pouted, but when he saw Jaejoong laugh, he unconsciously smiled too.
You have no idea what effect you have on me, Jaejoong-ah.
[+++++]
The event started with Ajoo’s performance. He sang the song Donghae wrote for him - First Kiss. It was fairly catchy and sounded just as sweet as Ajoo. Jaejoong was amused by the way Ajoo danced. Since he never had the chance to see Ajoo dance, he didn’t know his junior had a talent for dancing. Usually the boy either played the piano or sang, but never dances. So, when he danced during his performance, it gave Jaejoong quite a surprise.
Then it followed on with a performance by Donghae and Yunho with a song ‘Spokesman.’ Knowing the both of them, Jaejoong wasn’t surprised to see just how good they both were at dancing, especially Yunho. It was funny watching Donghae dance though, because Donghae has kind of a serious personality.
“How do you think of the performance so far?” Heechul who was playing MC, asked the crowd. A loud ‘Awesome’ could be heard. “Do you want more?!” Heechul yelled.
“YES!!”
“Now, we will bring you a special performance by our newest member, Kim Jaejoong!”
WHAT?! Jaejoong’s eyes widened. He thought he had already told them he didn’t want to take part in any performances! He shook his head vehemently when Heechul urged him to come onto the stage. A spotlight shone onto him. Suddenly, a shiver ran through his body. He felt nervous.
“Kim Jaejoong! Kim Jaejoong! Kim Jaejoong!” The crowd started to cheer, making Jaejoong feel even more nervous that he already was.
Shit!
“Come on, Jaejoong!”
Hesitating, Jaejoong dragged his legs up onto the stage. He looked at Heechul helplessly, trying to catch his eyes in hopes that he could save him. Instead, Heechul pushed him to the piano and sat him down in front of it.
“Just do it!” Heechul whispered before he disappeared behind the curtains.
“How is he?” Yunho immediately asked from backstage, his eyes never left Jaejoong who was still sitting frozen in the spot where Heechul left him.
“He’s very nervous,” Heechul stated. “I don’t know if he can do it.”
Donghae looked at Yunho, “Yunho, you promised me!” A glare was sent Yunho’s way.
Yunho gulped. One important thing you always have to remember when you make a deal with Donghae, was never to make him angry. “I know,” Yunho scratched his head, trying to figure out a way to salvage the soon-to-be mess he created. He didn’t have any intentions to embarrass or hurt Jaejoong; he just wanted to show his school that Jaejoong was special.
“Oh, I know!” Yunho beamed. His sudden exclamation caused Heechul, Donghae and Ajoo, who just walked in, to stare at him with puzzled eyes. “I know what I should do.”
+++___+++
Jaejoong looked around anxiously. People kept calling his name, urging him to start playing. But he couldn’t. His heart was in turmoil and he felt too nervous. He couldn’t even move his fingers to press down on the keys of the piano. What do I do now? When people started to mock and ask him to just step down from the stage, he really wanted to cry. This was not what he wanted. He didn’t even want to be here at all.
“If you can’t play, just go home!”
“A mute person will always be imperfect! Just get lost!”
A tear made its way down his cheeks. He knew he was crying. Why were they all so harsh on him? Why didn’t they understand him? He stood up abruptly, wanting to run off stage when something, or rather, someone grabbed his arms, stopping him.
Firm hands spun his body around, and a familiar face greeted him. Yunho gave him a tender smile as he wiped his tears away.
“Don’t cry,” Yunho said softly, “Come, I’ll accompany you.”
Jaejoong shook his head. He didn’t want to go back there. It was already enough to receive such mocking comments from the crowd, he didn’t want to stay until he fully broke down.
“You have to. I’ll be with you,” Yunho held Jaejoong’s hand tightly and squeezed it, giving him reassurance. “I’ll be right here with you, so don’t be bothered by them.”
Jaejoong stared at Yunho in doubt. Subconsciously, he followed Yunho back to the piano. Nervously, he let Yunho bring his fingers onto the piano keys. He looked at Yunho and when Yunho smiled back at him and uttered ‘Go on!’, he pressed the keys down softly. It was full of hesitation at first, but when he caught Yunho’s glance again and saw his friend beaming at him, he smiled too. And just like that, he felt himself brimming with confidence.
He started to play on his own accord. And the piece of music he chose to play was the same one he played when he first entered the Music and Dance room.
“That is so romantic!” Ajoo complimented on the picturesque sight of his two seniors on stage. “Yunho-hyung really loves Jaejoong-hyung, doesn’t he?”
Donghae nodded, “But I don’t know if Jaejoong knows,” He smiled. Yunho has kept his promise - and by doing so, he knew Yunho was serious about Jaejoong.
Jaejoong finished his performance off with a sad melody. He felt numb at first when there was no reaction from the audience who was watching him. They don’t like my music. But the thoughts disappeared as soon as he heard loud claps and cheers from below. He turned to see the crowd as they whistled and happily yelled “You’re a genius! Beautiful!”
He smiled. They liked it after all.
“I’ve told you before, haven’t I?” A whisper on his right made him turn his head in that direction. The smiling face of Yunho greeted him. “Congratulations.”
Jaejoong beamed again and unconsciously gave Yunho a quick hug. Thank you.
Yunho was dumbfounded for a moment, before his lips curled upwards. He ruffled Jaejoong’s hair. “Silly!” Jaejoong grinned.
“Did you like Jaejoong’s performance?” Heechul’s voice interrupted Yunho and Jaejoong’s moment.
“Yes!”
“That’s great.” Heechul said happily, he too, feeling proud. “Now, we’ll give the stage back to Yunho as he has something to share with us!” Heechul winked.
“Wait for me,” Yunho whispered to Jaejoong. Jaejoong nodded and looked for a place he could sit and watch Yunho perform. A smile formed on his face as he spotted a seat that wasn’t occupied. It was one right in front of the stage.
“This song is very special to me,” Yunho started as his eyes followed Jaejoong who had already found his seat. He gave Jaejoong a warm smile and waved. “It’s for someone I have a crush on.”
A loud ‘Wow’ and cheer could be heard from the crowd. Somehow, it made Yunho blush. He cleared his throat. “I dedicate this song to that person, and I just want you to know…” Yunho stared deep into Jaejoong’s eyes; “I love you.” Yunho smiled and began to sing.
There was something that Jaejoong couldn’t describe at the moment. His heart was beating more faster than usual. He looked around, but all the others seem preoccupied with Yunho’s performance. Am I the only one who feels it? Why was he so nervous? Why was it that when he looked at Yunho, he started to perspire? What is it with this strange feeling? He felt too confused.
When he looked up and met Yunho’s glance, it felt as if the whole world had just stopped moving; and everyone else had vanished completely, leaving only the two of them.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
His heart… it was playing with his mind again. He gulped. This cannot be. He was at a complete lost when Yunho smiled at him. This wasn’t the first time Yunho ever smiled at him, so why, why did he act like this was his first time being recognized by Yunho? This was all too weird.
And then it hit him. The moment he hadn’t expected, the moment where his eyes couldn’t see anything except for Yunho, the moment where his ears couldn’t hear anything other than Yunho’s voice and the moment where he felt his heart stop beating and his brain replay all the times he spent with Yunho, like a broken film on fast-forward.
“What? You want me to kiss you?” Yunho scooted closer to Jaejoong, trying to close their distance. But in the end, a slap to the arm was all he received.
Yunho chuckled as he watched Jaejoong pout. “You’re the one who asked for it!”
Jaejoong shook his head furiously, and mouthed. ‘I did not!’
“Then what?”
Jaejoong sighed. He took a piece of paper and wrote, ‘I said I want to eat. I’m hungry.’
“Aish! Why didn’t you tell me before. What do you want to eat?” Yunho stood up, eyes fixing on the cheerful face of Jaejoong. He smiled. “Pizza?”
Jaejoong nodded happily.
“Alright, I’ll buy it. You wait here, okay?”
Jaejoong nodded again.
Just when Yunho started to walk away, he turned around, making Jaejoong stare at him in question.
“But Jaejoong, I really did want to kiss you!” A wink accompanied his words and in return a book was thrown in his face, resulting in a laughing Yunho and a grumbling Jaejoong.
Did Yunho really mean what he said before?
“Whenever you look in my eyes, I do want to show you my love, I make up my mind to make your dreams come true, nobody can stop me from saying, I love you.” Yunho finished his song, eyes never once left Jaejoong’s. Will Jaejoong get his message?
Yunho turned, indirectly breaking the gaze on Jaejoong. He saw Heechul and Donghae giving him two thumbs up while Ajoo, on the other side of the stage, jumped up and down excitedly. They were such idiots, but it was these idiots who gave him confidence to sing the song.
“Wah! You really did it!” Heechul hugged him as soon as he went off stage, “Dude! That was brilliant! I wonder what Jaejoong’s reaction is.” Heechul winked, and then when he spotted a familiar person amongst the crowd, he gave a secretive smile, “I’ll have to take my leave now, Yunho. Sorry.”
Yunho nodded, fully understanding the reason for Heechul’s leave. His boyfriend must be here. Suddenly, he remembered Jaejoong, and Yunho finally turned on his heels and walked off quickly. He had to meet Jaejoong. This was the time for him to confess his feelings.
“Donghae!” Yunho called, when he didn’t catch any sight of Jaejoong behind the stage, even though he had already told the man to wait for him there. “Do you see Jaejoong anywhere?”
“Jaejoong?” Donghae, who was preoccupied with his guitar, looked around before he gave Yunho a shake of the head. “I don’t know. I saw him there just now when you were singing,” Donghae pointed, to the place where Jaejoong had been, over the crowd which was starting to disperse. “And then, I didn’t see him again after that. Perhaps he’s with Ajoo?”
Yunho smiled. “Thank you.” And when he was in the process of hunting down Ajoo, someone interrupted him. He knew that guy. His name was Kyunhyun, Ajoo’s friend who also happened to be Jaejoong’s friend as well.
“You’re looking for Jaejoong-hyung?”
“Yes I am. Do you, by any chance, know where he is right now?”
Kyunhyun nodded, “He already went out.”
“Out?” Yunho’s eyes widened in disbelief. Why didn’t Jaejoong inform him earlier? “Did he say where he was going?”
“He said he was going home.”
[+++++]
