piano man
Son can you play me a melody, I’m not really sure how it goes, but it’s soft and it’s sweet and I knew it complete when I wore a younger man’s clothes...
Pairings: DB5K, bff!Teukchul, bff!Homin, slight Hanchul, slight Yunjae
Rated: PG
~
The flyer is light lilac and almost buried underneath the mess of other announcements tacked haphazardly onto the school’s bulletin board. You look over it quickly; it’s from the owners of Kiju Café down the street, a small but cozy place where you’ve often stopped for a quick coffee or pastry. They’re looking for someone who can help around, either in the kitchen or in serving customers.
You’re seventeen, fresh out of high school a year early, and you need any pay you can get to help cover the costs of your rent and schooling. So you take down the flyer after school and head towards the café after dinner with your roommate, the sounds of the bustling city surrounding you. It’s starting to get chilly outside as November sets in, and you’re eager to get into the warmth of the café.
There’s a lone customer at this hour, a handsome man with permed brown locks curled up on the couch with a cup of what smells like hot chocolate. He looks at you, looks at the flyer in your hand, and smiles knowingly, setting his cup down on the table next to him before unfolding his long legs and striding over to the doorway that leads to the kitchen. “Jungsu yah!”
Another man’s voice comes from within the kitchen, sounding faintly irritated but tinged with fondness. “Minnie, Yunho’s not here today, don’t think I’ll let you get away with everything like he does,” he mutters, wiping his hands on the towel hanging off the doorknob before flicking his dyed-orange hair out of his eyes. He must have been beautiful once, you think, taking in the wrinkles around his eyes, in sharp contrast with his bright eyes and lively voice.
He smiles when he sees you and the flyer you’re still holding. “Ah. I thought Wookie’d forgotten to put that up.” You startle at the casual way by which he refers to your piano professor, but he goes on without noticing. “You’re looking for work here?”
Sheepishly, you nod. “I haven’t really worked much before, but I can cook decently and clean tables and stuff like that. Will that be all right?”
Jungsu nods. “That’s perfect. I’ll have to talk to Yunho to see when you can start working, but if you could leave a contact number or address so I could get back to you...?” He trails off politely. You smile, feeling at ease with this seemingly young man (you know he must be at least in his forties), and leave your number with him. ‘Minnie’ smirks at you as you leave.
A few days later, you get a call from the café and begin work that afternoon.
The owners of the café, you think, are really quite eccentric characters. Jungsu is warm and motherly, but with a wild laugh and an even wilder sense of creativity.
He has an array of visitors, ranging from the infrequent Heechul, an arrogant man who spares you the briefest and coldest of glances but always hugs Jungsu with warmth, to Kyuhyun and Sungmin who visit maybe monthly as they’re quite busy with their work, to the almost-daily visitors Hyukjae and Donghae, two friends who sometimes act like lovers and sometimes like siblings with the way they squabbled pettily the first time they visit during your shift.
“I see you took over my job,” Donghae said to you, ignoring Hyukjae’s continued ranting and the raised eyebrows most of the customers were giving them. “How’s the café doing?”
You shrugged, continuing to wipe down the table that’s just been vacated. “We’re doing all right, thank you,” you said politely.
Jungsu, working at the counter, rolled his eyes when Donghae turned back to Hyukjae and picked up the argument again. “Yah, Eunhae,” he said with exasperation, and it took you a few seconds to realize that ‘Eunhae’ was his name for the two of them collectively. “Cut that out, you’re in public.”
“So?” Hyukjae demanded, seemingly forgetting about his moments-earlier bickering with Donghae in favor of pulling the other man closer by the waist. “Haven’t you learned that being in public makes no difference to us, Teukie umma?” he teased.
Jungsu shook his head at the two of them, looking remarkably like the mother that Hyukjae had just addressed him as. “Take that somewhere else, you kids,” he laughed, but made no move to shoo them away and, indeed, struck up an hour-long conversation with them. Not that you were counting or anything.
Your vocal and piano professors also drop by from time to time, hands entwined only after they step inside the café. Ryeowook is just as soft-spoken outside of the classroom as he is inside, and Jongwoon acts, if possible, even stranger in this setting than he is as a teacher. Jungsu has quiet affectionate conversations with them, and the peaceful atmosphere they bring with them lingers in the café long after they’ve left.
Whereas Jungsu is open and inviting, surrounded by the people he loves-yes, you think you can say that after watching their interactions-Yunho keeps to himself, not like Heechul does in his arrogance, but more as if he has found no one to love. Where Jungsu appears young and still almost as beautiful as he must have been in his youth, Yunho looks far older than his forty-whatever years of age judging from the informality when he and Jungsu talk. His face is handsome, like Minnie’s, but in a rugged and careworn way.
You hardly ever see him anyway; Jungsu tells you he works mostly in the office handling the finances, having absolutely no experience in cooking and no wish to work at the counter. The few times you do see him, he’s either quietly balancing out Jungsu’s wild streaks or talking to his one regular visitor, Changmin or ‘Minnie’ as they call him.
Yunho is a mystery to you, and it’s one that you actually want to figure out.
You first realize something’s strange about Yunho when Jungsu finally gives you permission to play the old piano tucked away in the back, the outside scuffed and dull but the inside perfectly in shape. Sitting down gingerly on the creaky bench, you press the yellowed ivory keys gently, forming C - D - G chords in succession, before starting one of the songs your aunt always loved to play for you whenever you came over.
Humming along as you transition from C major to D and finish with a soft D2 chord, you almost forget you have an audience until you rise gracefully as you’ve been trained by years of piano competitions and turn just in time to see Yunho standing in the doorway of the office, a single tear glittering on his cheek before he shuts the door again.
Jungsu tells you gently not to play any old songs when Yunho’s around.
“Why not?” you dare to ask, slipping on your coat as it’s the end of your shift. You want to know what Jungsu thinks of Yunho. Maybe it’ll be a clue to solving the Jung mystery, as you like to think of it.
Jungsu glances at the office door again, as if to reassure himself that it’s closed and Yunho can’t hear his lowered voice. “That song you just played, especially, it meant-it means a lot to him. It’s more than he wants to cope with.”
You blink, even more intrigued. “More than he wants to cope with?” you echo. “What do you mean by that, ahjussi?”
Jungsu sighs, running a hand through his hair as he does when he’s nervous. About what? you wonder. “Let’s just say...” he pauses, searching for words. “He’s suffered a lot, and lost a lot, and he deals with it by running away from the problem. He hates being reminded of-” He stops suddenly, as if he’s said too much.
You pounce eagerly on Jungsu’s words. “Reminded of what?”
“It’s not my place to tell you that,” Jungsu says firmly, and bids you goodnight.
You pout all the way home, but you keep trying to analyze Jungsu’s words like a real detective would analyze fibers trapped in the carpet at a crime scene. Unfortunately, it doesn’t provide any clues more than what you’ve realized already.
Unsurprisingly, it’s Changmin who provides the first missing piece months later. He comes in nearly every day with a quick “hey Jungsu” and a warm “Yunho hyung!” and you’ve grown accustomed to hearing his sharp wit around the café. The only times you ever see Yunho’s weary face brighten with a smile is when Changmin comes by.
There are a few days in February when Jungsu’s gone to China to visit Heechul and you take over the cooking briefly. One of those days, you come in silently through the back kitchen door to find Changmin and Yunho staring each other down in what’s probably the closest thing you’ll ever see to a fight between them.
“You can’t keep doing this, hyung,” Changmin murmurs quietly, his eyes trained on Yunho’s carefully blank expression.
“Doing what?” Yunho retorts, but it’s obvious he knows what Changmin’s talking about.
Changmin lets out an angry huff of breath, throwing his hands up as he turns to pace around the café. “You’re doing it again!” he almost-shouts, before his tone softens as he turns back to face the older man. “Please, hyung, I’m worried about you.”
You can see Yunho struggling not to be touched by Changmin’s words, to keep his previous stance in the argument if only out of pride, and you wonder what happened to this man to make him shy away from even such love as what Changmin has for him.
“Hyung,” Changmin says again. “Jungsu may let you do this, but I’m not going to. I need you back, you know.” He says the last two words in careful English and you wonder briefly where he could’ve learned that; you’d learned English in high school, but he obviously hadn’t. In any case, he gives you barely enough time to wonder at his strange choice of words, before he throws a clue at you. “We need you back.”
Yunho seems to deflate, collapsing into Changmin’s arms. “I’m sorry,” you hear him say. “Minnie, I’m so sorry.”
You stand awkwardly in the kitchen, hoping they don’t catch you eavesdropping.
The next time Changmin comes in and Yunho’s out of the office, you corner him, unmindful of the few customers still sitting around.
“Changmin ahjussi,” you say sweetly as you stack chairs against the wall, watching him out of the corner of your eye. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” he says, more out of surprise than anything else.
“Does Yunho ahjussi have a family?” you ask, making sure he can’t see your expression.
He freezes, gazing at you with something like shock, the sudden silence in the café broken only by Jungsu washing dishes in the kitchen. “Not...really,” he replies finally. “Why?”
You shrug, smiling politely at a couple of the customers as they leave the café. “He’s old enough to be a father. Or at least, a husband.”
Changmin smiles a little at that, though he’s staring wistfully out the window at the streaks of purple lining the horizon as the sun sets. “Yunho hyung has always wanted to be a father,” he admits softly, sounding lost in distant memory. “Even when he was seventeen he was a better father to us than some of our own.”
You frown at his words, confused. Why do you keep using the plural?
Changmin shifts uncomfortably, and you realize you must have accidentally spoken out loud. In any other circumstance, you’d welcome the realization that you’ve finally touched on something that makes smart-aleck Changmin feel uncomfortable, but this-this is just strange.
“I met Yunho hyung when I was fifteen and he was seventeen,” he tells you finally, after the last few straggling customers have left. “He practically raised me for the next fifteen or so years. There were a few others who lived with us for many years, and I’ve never gotten used to not saying we and our all the time.” He gives you a small smile. “Does that answer your question?”
You nod slowly. “I think so.”
It explains a lot about Yunho and Changmin, but not so much about Yunho himself, other than the implication of Changmin’s words that what Yunho is missing are those ‘others’ who were once like a family to him.
To your surprise, Heechul is the one who provides the next clue.
By this time you’ve successfully survived freshman year in college, and the café’s business is booming during the summer months, requiring you to work there nearly the whole day. You don’t mind, though; the ahjussi-deul and their friends that you’ve met are quite intriguing to you, and you can’t think of a better way to spend your time.
One hot afternoon in July, business is slow, probably because people don’t feel like braving the heat just to make a trip to the café. Heechul waltzes in with another man following behind him, rolling his eyes affectionately. Heechul leans across the counter. “Hey, Jungsu yah!”
Jungsu sighs, pretending to be irritated as he comes out of the kitchen. “Heenim-” he starts, but Heechul interrupts him.
“Happy birthday,” he says brightly, whipping a wrapped present out of the shopping bag the other man’s carrying.
Jungsu wrinkles his nose, but accepts the gift and the soft “happy birthday” the other man gives him. “My birthday was last week, you know that right?” Jungsu tells them as he prods the present gingerly, trying to guess at what Heechul’s given him.
“And my birthday’s tomorrow, you know that right?” Heechul mocks flippantly.
The other man nudges him gently. “Hey, Chullie, be nice,” he scolds gently in Chinese-accented Korean. Heechul scoffs, but when the other man wraps his arms around his waist, he leans into the touch willingly. You nearly drop a chair, surprised at seeing this softer side of Heechul you haven’t seen yet.
“We would’ve come by last week, honestly,” Heechul says more thoughtfully. “But plane tickets are kind of hard to get when you want a specific time frame for departure unless you buy them months in advance, and even Hankyung doesn’t plan ahead that much.”
The other man-Hankyung, you assume-kisses the back of Heechul’s neck. “I do, actually,” he remarks, smirking. “But you said we didn’t need to buy tickets so early.”
Heechul looks put out when Jungsu laughs, the sound bringing Yunho out of his office to see what’s going on.
“Heechul sshi,” he greets him with surprise, a polite smile flitting across his features. “Hankyung sshi, nice to see you both.”
Heechul and Hankyung are staying in the city for a few days, during which they practically live at the café, and Hankyung is shunted off to the kitchen to help Jungsu while Heechul and Yunho get together for some “serious catching-up talks”, Heechul claims. It takes you a while to figure out the nature of those “serious” conversations, given that they usually take place within the confines of the office, but once you get lucky and they happen to be talking in the actual café.
“Changmin came crying to me yesterday, Yunho sshi,” Heechul remarks over a glass of soju, a seemingly offhanded remark, but if there’s anything you’ve learned about the unpredictable Heechul it’s that he never says anything without trying to make a subtle point or otherwise meaning something by his words.
Yunho winces. You know he hates hearing about anything happening to Changmin. “What did he tell you?” he asks, as if he already knows what their conversation was like.
“The usual,” Heechul tells him, leaning back in his chair. “How you’re trapping yourself here, trying to hide from everyone, moping like a teenage girl-”
“He really said that?” Yunho interrupts, incredulous. He looks like he might laugh.
“Nah, I added that in,” Heechul says cheerfully, but then his expression turns somber again. “I’m serious though, Yunho sshi. Changmin says the others are asking for you and that he doesn’t want to keep lying to them about not knowing where you are.”
Yunho stares at the table, his hands clenching. Heechul seizes the opportunity to continue.
“Do you really want to keep doing this to yourself, Yunho sshi? To them? You were always strong before, for them if for nothing else. It’s pathetic that you can’t live up to your past. That you can’t face your past.” Heechul’s words are cruel and never sugar-coated, but it’s obvious he cares about Yunho and whatever it is that he’s avoiding, otherwise he wouldn’t put effort into scolding Yunho like this.
“I can’t do it,” Yunho whispers, so quietly you almost can’t hear him. “I’m not who I used to be.”
“Why?” Heechul demands. “What’s happened to change you?”
Yunho just stares at him, an expression of such utter anguish on his face that you’re surprised so few people have seen just how deep the scars run under his skin. “You know what happened to me, Heechul sshi.”
Heechul growls, slamming his glass down on the table. “Listen, Yunho,” he bites out, noticeably losing the honorific usually attached to his words. “The same fucking thing happened to me that happened to you. You remember that, don’t you? But look at me, I’m married now, and look at you, still trying to run from your problems until they build up and strangle you. Which path do you think is better?” He gives Yunho a meaningful glare
You realize you forgot to breathe.
Yunho looks at him and then suddenly gets up from the table, almost-fleeing back to the office and slamming the door. Jungsu pokes his head out worriedly, but Heechul shakes his head and Jungsu goes back to cooking.
Heechul turns and only then seems to realize that you’re standing there, mouth wide open in shock. He smiles, beckoning you over. “Sit. You look like you’re going to faint.”
“What was that all about?” you ask breathlessly, once your vocal cords and lungs figure out how to work together again.
Heechul sighs, drumming his fingers on the table. “Yunho needs a rude awakening once in a while,” he says, staring at the office door. “If you haven’t noticed, he never wants to give any thought to the problems surrounding him until they bite him in the ass.”
You’re startled into a laugh. “Jungsu ahjussi said that too. Only...nicer.”
Heechul half-smiles. “Well, that’s our Teukie umma for you, always nice and polite.”
You sit in comfortable silence for a while, before you venture another question. “Heechul ahjussi, what happened to you and Yunho ahjussi?”
Heechul stares at you, not in a bad way, just judging the intent behind your words. “Do you really want to know?”
You nod eagerly.
He ponders your question. “Let’s just say...hmm. Imagine, if you will, that you’re famous. Imagine that you can do what you love most, all the time, and you get to spend all your waking hours and sleeping hours too with the love of your life. Imagining that?” he asks kindly.
You chuckle softly, a little amazed at this image Heechul is painting in your mind; was this their life before? “Yeah. But what does this have to do with anything?”
“You’ll see,” Heechul says mysteriously. “So...you’re famous and in love, and life is great, right? Now imagine that there’s a company that has bought your talent. Most of the time, it’ll let you do what you like as long as it doesn’t interfere with company policy, but as your talent and popularity grow, you can make more and more money for the company, doesn’t it? So they control you more and more, trying to squeeze out every drop of profit they can.”
“That’s not very nice of them,” you say, frowning.
Heechul smiles fondly at you. “Still so innocent,” he mutters to himself. You don’t think you were meant to hear that comment, so you keep quiet and he goes on.
“Now, you’re pretty much okay with what this company does, because you love your career more than anything in the world except your other half. You’re willing to let the company control you, because it’s because of them that you even met your other half and the reason that you can stay with him 24/7.
“But your other half isn’t okay with this. He thinks the company tries too hard to make money, even going so far as to limit what you can do with your personal life, and he wants more freedom for himself and for the others that are in his situation. So he leaves the company. He leaves you, leaves the people who are almost like brothers to both of you, and it breaks your heart.” Heechul sighs dramatically.
You listen with interest, amazed at this whole new layer of Yunho and Heechul and life itself you never even caught a glimpse of. “So...” You try to make sense of Heechul’s words. “You said this same exact thing happened to Yunho ahjussi?”
Heechul nods. “Exactly. Except that, after my contract with the company ended, I went to China to find Hankyung again, and Yunho obviously, well...” He gestures vaguely towards the café. “He obviously hasn’t been trying to solve his problem. Problems.”
“What exactly is his problem right now?” you wonder aloud. “Is it his...other half?” The term feels foreign on your tongue. You’ve never heard anyone use it as casually as Heechul just has.
Heechul nods. “Exactly.” He’s about to go on, but someone clears his throat pointedly behind you.
“That’s enough,” Yunho says coldly. Apparently he’s been listening.
“But ahjussi-” you try to protest.
He cuts you off, staring at a point over your head. “Don’t you have work to be doing?” You feel a bit wounded that Yunho, who normally is at least polite to everyone, is acting so cold.
Jungsu brushes by you, wiping the tables, a few minutes later. “Told you he hates being reminded,” he mutters into your ear, and then walks off pretending nothing just happened.
Yunho doesn’t come out of the office for more than a week afterward. “He’s sulking,” Changmin decides, and makes no effort to get Yunho back into the world.
One evening a man about Changmin’s age comes in, shoulder-length, slightly curly black hair pulled away from his wide forehead. He stops when he sees you. “Ah, hello,” he says softly, smiling sheepishly. “I’m looking for Jung Yunho.”
“I’ll see if he’s in the office,” you reply politely, and leave the counter to knock on the office door. “Yunho ahjussi?”
There’s no reply, and you figure he’d gone home. “I’m sorry, but he’s not here,” you tell the man waiting by the counter. “He should be here tomorrow though, you could come back then.”
“Sure thing,” the man agrees, his deep voice pleasant. He’s about to leave, but then turns to face you again, a mischievous look in his eyes. “Could you tell Yunho hyung his boyfriend came by looking for him?”
Your jaw drops almost literally onto the floor as the man strolls out of the café.
Changmin nearly falls out of his chair laughing the next day when you relate the message, describing the visitor when Yunho asks. Yunho rolls his eyes, probably the most emotion you’ve seen out of him in the past year in response to something that isn’t Changmin.
“I’m going to kill him,” he grumbles, slumping back in his chair. Changmin looks oddly pleased.
The man-Yoochun, you find out, who is in no way in hell (Changmin's words) Yunho's boyfriend-comes back later that afternoon, giggling madly when Yunho glares daggers at him.
“I will murder you one of these days, I swear.”
Yoochun smiles sweetly. “I’m still your favorite dongsaeng, aren’t I?”
“Nope, that’s me,” Changmin interjects, smirking.
There’s a comfortable silence for a few minutes that for some reason brings a small smile to your face as you sweep. “Look,” Yunho says finally, almost laughing as he looks at Yoochun, “I know I said I’d punch you when I saw you again, but I’ve missed you.”
Yoochun grins briefly but then leans forward, his expression serious. “Yunho hyung, there’s something you’re not telling us.”
Yunho regards him carefully. “Is there?”
“Yoochun hyung,” Changmin warns sharply.
Yoochun either doesn’t hear him or doesn’t care. “Yunho hyung,” he starts, and you hold your breath expectantly. “Trying not to talk about Jaejoong hyung isn’t going to stop him from looking for you.”
It goes so quiet in the café that you hear a pin drop in the kitchen; probably Jungsu’s hairpin, your shocked mind thinks vaguely.
“If you’ve come here just to berate me about the past then leave,” Yunho says low and dangerous, his fingers tightening on the arm of his chair.
“Who’s going to talk to you then if I don’t?” Yoochun challenges, glancing around the café. “No one visits you but Changmin, and we all know our maknae wouldn’t dare contradict you. He worships you almost as much as Jaejoong does.”
Changmin blushes impressively and looks everywhere but at Yunho, a clear sign that Yoochun’s only speaking the truth.
“Heechul came by,” Yunho points out, but not without wincing at the mention of Jaejoong.
Yoochun shrugs. “You didn't listen to him,” he says knowingly.
“And what makes you think I’ll listen to you?” Yunho mutters.
Yoochun rolls his eyes. “Because you always do,” he says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
Changmin dares to snicker, completely impervious to the sharp glare Yunho sends his way.
“You’re wrong,” Yunho tells Yoochun abruptly, and storms back into his office. “Things have changed, Yoochun ah,” you hear him say softly, before he shuts the door.
“Is he always like this?” Yoochun whispers to a frowning Changmin.
Changmin nods, sighing. “He’s trying to deny everything that happened.”
“Idiot,” Yoochun mutters, and you can’t help but agree. From what Heechul told you, it seems like there should be no reason for Yunho to keep running away from his “other half”.
“Does he have any idea how much Jaejoong hyung’s going through even to try to find him again?” Yoochun is ranting to Changmin when you tune into their conversation again. “Doesn’t he care at all anymore about the promises we all made to each other?”
“He does,” Changmin assures him quietly. “He’s just afraid of what would happen if he doesn’t pretend he’s forgotten.”
Yoochun slumps back in his chair. “Someone slap some sense into him,” he demands, “or I will and it won’t be pretty. He’s just going to end up destroying the only hope he has left.”
“Maybe if Jaejoong came here he’d see...” Changmin offers, but the doubt in his own voice etched clearly across Yoochun’s face says otherwise.
“Like I’d let Jaejoong hyung come here and see a Yunho who’s not his Yunho,” Yoochun scoffs. “Actually, that idea’s not half-bad...”
“Don’t even think about it,” Changmin warns. “Yunho hyung wouldn’t like it and we all know that.”
“It was just an idea,” Yoochun mutters defensively.
You’re almost disappointed that school is starting again, because you get the overwhelming feeling that you’re so close to solving the mystery.
After getting settled as a college sophomore, you come back to the café, quickly falling back into your old routine. One afternoon, there’s a man talking with Changmin, their bickering sounding almost like Hyukjae and Donghae’s, you think with a small smile as you head towards the kitchen. The other man is well-built, with a round face and a loud laugh that almost rivals Jungsu’s as it echoes through the café.
“Hi,” Jungsu greets you, looking relieved. The café’s rush hour hasn’t started yet, and he bends down slightly to check the brownies baking in the oven. “Could you grab the cookbook in the office?” he asks absently.
“Sure thing,” you say, heading into the empty office. Yunho had taken off early the day before, claiming he didn’t feel well. Changmin had rolled his eyes, clearly not fooled, but had let it slide.
You’ve never actually been inside the office before; all you’d seen before were glimpses of the bland, undecorated interior. The desk is surprisingly cluttered, and you shift a few papers aside, looking for the cookbook. It’s not on the desk, but you do see a few photographs from years ago in the pile, of Yunho and Changmin and Yoochun, with two others that you don’t recognize. You wonder if those were the “others” that Changmin had been talking about, all those months ago, and replace the photographs carefully where you’d found them. Yunho probably won’t be happy if he finds out someone’s been looking through his things.
The cookbook is in the drawer, and as you take it out, a sheet of paper-a letter-falls out. It looks like it’s never been read before, judging by the way the creases are still fresh. You pick it up, looking at it curiously.
“My lovely Yunho,” it starts, “It’ll probably have been a while by the time you read this. I miss you, my love.”
You skim over the rest of the letter and look for the signature. “Kim Jaejoong,” it reads, and you feel a wave of guilt crashing over you for intruding on Yunho’s privacy like this, putting the letter back in the drawer and trying to forget about it.
Jungsu accepts the cookbook from you without noticing your discomfort, and you go back out into the café, where Changmin is still bickering with his visitor.
Suddenly, Changmin gets to his feet, his gaze having been focused on the window behind his visitor for a while. “Junsu yah, I’ll be right back,” Changmin says quietly, fighting to keep down his smirk. “Don’t move.”
Junsu looks at him strangely but follows his instructions. Changmin disappears out the door, and comes back in dragging Yunho by the arm, grinning widely. “Hyung,” he says sweetly, in a voice that you know means trouble for Yunho if he tries not to give in to whatever Changmin wants. “You have a visitor.”
“Changminnie,” Yunho sighs, “I-” His words die in his throat when he sees Junsu, turning around to look steadily at him. The childish expression of innocence on his face brings a sudden realization to you; he was one of the five in the old photographs that you’d seen on Yunho’s desk.
“Hello, hyung,” Junsu says softly.
Yunho’s successfully been shocked speechless, and after struggling to find words, he settles for hugging Junsu tightly, looking suspiciously like he’s about to cry.
“Junsu yah, I missed you so much,” he whispers finally, pulling back slightly to look over Junsu carefully. “You look so thin,” he says worriedly, pinching gently at Junsu’s arms. “Have you been eating enough? Are you working too hard?”
Changmin doubles over in silent laughter behind them, and Junsu pats Yunho’s knee. “I’m fine,” he patiently assures the older man. “What are you, my dad?”
“Of course,” Yunho says, with an expression of wide-eyed innocence that makes him look decades younger and brings a smile to your face as you wipe down the counter.
“Would that make Jaejoong hyung my mom, then?” Junsu asks teasingly, but you don’t miss the calculating look in his eyes as he watches Yunho’s reaction.
Yunho pauses for a brief moment, then smiles at Junsu. “I guess so.”
Changmin’s look of shock is priceless, and Junsu smirks at him over Yunho’s shoulder.
“Hyung,” Junsu says then, the innocent look back on his face. “Jaejoong hyung is looking for you, I think Yoochunnie told you already?”
Yunho nods, the smile disappearing from his face. “Junsu yah, how...how is...Jaejoong?”
“He’s all right,” he says, shrugging. “But he’ll be better once he sees you,” he promises.
Yunho buries his face in his hands. “I don’t know if I’m ready to see him again,” he confesses softly. Changmin lays his hand gently on Yunho’s shoulder in comfort, having taken his seat next to Yunho again.
“Jaejoong hyung never stopped loving you,” Junsu tells him quietly.
You stop listening to their conversation then to take customers’ orders, but the easy familiarity between the three of them makes you smile.
Junsu becomes almost a regular visitor, unlike Yoochun who only comes in a few times a month. If he’s not talking to Yunho, catching him up on past news, he’s bickering with Changmin, something that’s probably been going on for years seeing as how neither Yunho nor Jungsu even look up every time they start up again.
“Junsu ahjussi,” you say carefully one day, when both Changmin and Yunho are out. He looks up, questioning. “I was just wondering...about Jaejoong ahjussi?”
Junsu smiles fondly. “What exactly about him?” he chuckles. “About him and Yunho hyung?”
When you nod, he asks, “How much do you know about them?”
“Not much,” you say, sitting down across the table from him. “Heechul ahjussi told me about why Jaejoong ahjussi...left Yunho ahjussi, but that’s about all.”
Junsu looks surprised. “Well, that’s about all there is to it,” he admits. “It was shocking to say the least.” He sighs, shaking his head.
You wait patiently for him to continue.
“Yoochun and I wanted to leave the company long before we actually did anything about it. Jaejoong hyung wanted to come with us, but at the same time he knew he could never leave Yunho hyung. But I think Yunho hyung finally realized what Jaejoong hyung was giving up to stay with him, and he...more or less gave us his blessing to do what we wanted to.”
You blink, confused. “But then...didn’t you stay in contact after that?”
“We tried,” Junsu sighs. “But...the company wasn’t happy with us and forbade us from contacting Yunho hyung and Changmin. Jaejoong hyung never gave up hope that we could be reunited someday, though.”
“Why, though?” you ask daringly. “It seems like...anyone else in his situation would’ve given up that dream a long time ago.”
“Jaejoong hyung’s never been one to give up,” Junsu replies. “And...sometimes, people keep their faith in their dreams, even if they know that their dreams will never come true or that their dreams have already died, but because they are forever loyal to the memories of their dreams.”
Neither of you ever tell Yunho about this conversation.
The months are slipping by, and before you know it, spring is about to start. You arrive at the café one Sunday morning just as the sun is rising over the rooftops, having been informed beforehand by Jungsu that it’s Yunho’s birthday and they want your help with the party.
Yoochun’s sitting at the piano practicing quick rolling B major chords when you walk in, another man with dark honey-blond hair standing behind him, humming quietly. They both turn when the bell over the door tinkles to announce your arrival, and you’re struck by the beauty of the blond man, who you know, even though you’ve never met him, must be Jaejoong. He’s the last of the five from the old photographs; he’s the one Yunho always had his arm around.
Jungsu sweeps in from the kitchen to claim your attention then, but you’re not too busy setting up to hear Jaejoong’s beautiful voice ringing through the café, singing in a language you don’t understand.
Changmin hurries back in after a while outside. “Yunho hyung’s coming in a few minutes,” he reports, and Jaejoong shifts nervously. Yoochun pats him on the back, whispering something in his ear, and Jaejoong hurries off to the kitchen to hide.
Yunho is clearly touched by the amount of effort all of you have put into his birthday party, unable to stop thanking everyone. Changmin just laughs, making him sit down and be quiet so they can enjoy the party. Once Yunho’s safely seated, Changmin puts his hands over the older man’s eyes. “There’s a surprise,” he says simply when Yunho tries to get free.
Yoochun takes a seat at the piano and Jaejoong steps out of the kitchen. Yunho stiffens when he hears the piano’s melody, making as if to get up, but Changmin holds him down until Jaejoong starts singing, his clear voice echoing beautifully in the café.
Yunho takes a deep breath, and even though it’s obvious he hasn’t sung in a very long time, his deeper voice melds perfectly with Jaejoong’s. Changmin takes his hands from Yunho’s face, revealing the tears welling up in those dark topaz eyes. The song ends with a sort of wistful feel, but no one says anything yet; it feels rude to interrupt Jaejoong and Yunho looking at each other.
Finally, Yunho stands, walking slowly to Jaejoong, and gently strokes his cheek, a look of immeasurable adoration in both their eyes. Yunho leans forward slightly, and kisses Jaejoong.
Changmin and Yoochun cheer, with Junsu joining in halfhearted due to his wide smile, and Jungsu just watches them fondly.
“Thank you all so much,” Yunho says, without looking away from Jaejoong.
“Me most of all,” Yoochun chimes in cheerfully, and Changmin slaps him lightly, laughing.
“It’s so nice to see all five of you together again,” Jungsu tells them happily, and you can’t help but agree as Yoochun sits back down at the piano and begins to play soft, slow chords in G-sharp major, and you listen to them sing about stars that never leave the night sky and about keeping this dream forever.