"Paper Crown" [Prologue]
Title: Paper Crown [Prologue]
Pairing: Jaejoong/Yunho, Yoochun/Junsu
Genre: AU, drama/romance
Warnings: None
Summary: Sequel to Music Is My Life. It's early 2009 and Jaejoong finds himself forced to entertain a certain businessman with no intention of leaving until he finds what he's looking for.
He cracked open his eyes.
Immediately, he knew today was going to be an absolutely awful day.
First and foremost, it appeared as though he'd forgotten to close the curtains yesterday. Sunlight poured into the room, giving his room a bizarre glow that he was entirely unused to. It made his head pound and he closed his eyes again, a pained noise coming from the back of his throat.
Second, his head was pounding. This he was familiar with - men and hangovers practically went hand in hand, he always reasoned - but the pain was particularly sharp this time and he couldn't even remember why he had drank so much last night. Or whom he'd been drinking with. He figured he could always figure that part out later; they would call him demanding him to pay them back for the drinks anyway. The fact that he had forgotten his wallet at home before going out yesterday night was pretty much the only thing he could recall.
Third, the phone was ringing.
A whimper barely got past his lips as he dragged himself across his queen sized bed, arm flinging haphazardly outwards in a poor attempt to do something to stop the monstrous contraption from making him see stars.
Groping for several seconds, his fingers finally brushed the receiver and he hit the speaker button. Collapsing at the edge with his mouth right over the microphone, he grunted.
"Well, good morning to you too!"
"You better be in a lot of trouble to call me this early - "
Junsu laughed, his familiar voice floating from the speaker and Jaejoong felt his bad mood slowly ebb away. He tried to cling onto it, because there was no other way to face a cheery Kim Junsu at eight in the morning and not be adversely affected in ways that often involved being pleasant for the rest of the day.
"Can't I call you to say hi? I haven't seen you in almost two months, hyung!"
"I assumed you and your Yoochun were still on your honeymoon stage."
He could almost hear his friend blush.
"Actually I've been working on my album."
Ah, that was what he wanted to hear. A Junsu gritting his teeth, glaring indignantly at a random spot on the wall as he tried to keep his voice calm and himself collected enough to not whine into the phone.
"How's that coming along?" Too bad Jaejoong was far too nice to keep it up for long.
"Good! I'm going to start test recording some of the songs soon. I haven't finished a majority of the tracks but Yoochun said I should try to get a feel of them now - "
"Yoochun said?"
Junsu laughed. "It's been really fun working with him."
"Ah, keeping it professional in the workplace, hm?"
"Hyung!" The laughter still evident in his voice reassured Jaejoong somewhat and he rested his chin on his hands, smiling despite himself.
"As long as you're happy."
There was a short silence. "Thanks. Changmin said the same thing."
Jaejoong let that settle between them. The sad and dejected Junsu seemed like such a long ago phenomenon, as if it had all been a bad dream. As if the new, confident Junsu compelled them to see how he had grown and taken charge of his own life. There were still far more that could be fixed - his Japanese career currently on hold, for example - but Junsu was taking it one step at a time. Jaejoong was proud of him and Junsu knew it.
"Um, speaking of happiness versus feeling trapped in one's workplace and all - "
"Were we?" Jaejoong asked, amused.
"Now we are?"
"Well you're perfectly happy doing what you're doing and I'm perfectly happy doing what I'm doing and Changmin - "
"I meant something else," Junsu interrupted, and then stopped abruptly. It was clear he felt nervous and anxious about the topic and Jaejoong couldn't help the unease that bubbled up.
"What about it?"
"Well - "
"Hold on." Jaejoong moved slowly, picking up the receiver as he got up from bed. Wincing as his feet hit the cold floor, he stood up unsteadily and had to clutch at the wall to keep himself from pitching over as the blood rushed to his head.
"What's wrong?" Concern was immediately evident in his tone.
"Someone's at the door," Jaejoong explained as he slowly made his way towards it. It definitely wasn't his day. He would've tried to make himself look a little presentable, since the short style he had now required at least some preparation before he was ready to face the world, but the pounding in his head made that somewhat difficult. As did the doorbell that now rang throughout his apartment a second time.
On the way, he grabbed his wallet. Perhaps his benefactor from last night had come calling. Too damn early.
"Someone? - Wait!"
When the door swung open and when he was finally able to drag his eyes from the ground, there was a long silence. It came from the person before him, from himself, and from Junsu on the other end. Abstractly, he figured that his sudden catch of breath could probably be heard over the phone.
Jung Yunho quirked an eyebrow at him in surprise and then seemed to settle back on his feet, a resigned look on his face. "I should've expected this," he admitted, and Jaejoong's eyes narrowed.
"Kim Junsu, you have a lot of explaining to do."
Junsu sighed.
Pairing: Jaejoong/Yunho, Yoochun/Junsu
Genre: AU, drama/romance
Warnings: None
Summary: Sequel to Music Is My Life. It's early 2009 and Jaejoong finds himself forced to entertain a certain businessman with no intention of leaving until he finds what he's looking for.
He cracked open his eyes.
Immediately, he knew today was going to be an absolutely awful day.
First and foremost, it appeared as though he'd forgotten to close the curtains yesterday. Sunlight poured into the room, giving his room a bizarre glow that he was entirely unused to. It made his head pound and he closed his eyes again, a pained noise coming from the back of his throat.
Second, his head was pounding. This he was familiar with - men and hangovers practically went hand in hand, he always reasoned - but the pain was particularly sharp this time and he couldn't even remember why he had drank so much last night. Or whom he'd been drinking with. He figured he could always figure that part out later; they would call him demanding him to pay them back for the drinks anyway. The fact that he had forgotten his wallet at home before going out yesterday night was pretty much the only thing he could recall.
Third, the phone was ringing.
A whimper barely got past his lips as he dragged himself across his queen sized bed, arm flinging haphazardly outwards in a poor attempt to do something to stop the monstrous contraption from making him see stars.
Groping for several seconds, his fingers finally brushed the receiver and he hit the speaker button. Collapsing at the edge with his mouth right over the microphone, he grunted.
"Well, good morning to you too!"
"You better be in a lot of trouble to call me this early - "
Junsu laughed, his familiar voice floating from the speaker and Jaejoong felt his bad mood slowly ebb away. He tried to cling onto it, because there was no other way to face a cheery Kim Junsu at eight in the morning and not be adversely affected in ways that often involved being pleasant for the rest of the day.
"Can't I call you to say hi? I haven't seen you in almost two months, hyung!"
"I assumed you and your Yoochun were still on your honeymoon stage."
He could almost hear his friend blush.
"Actually I've been working on my album."
Ah, that was what he wanted to hear. A Junsu gritting his teeth, glaring indignantly at a random spot on the wall as he tried to keep his voice calm and himself collected enough to not whine into the phone.
"How's that coming along?" Too bad Jaejoong was far too nice to keep it up for long.
"Good! I'm going to start test recording some of the songs soon. I haven't finished a majority of the tracks but Yoochun said I should try to get a feel of them now - "
"Yoochun said?"
Junsu laughed. "It's been really fun working with him."
"Ah, keeping it professional in the workplace, hm?"
"Hyung!" The laughter still evident in his voice reassured Jaejoong somewhat and he rested his chin on his hands, smiling despite himself.
"As long as you're happy."
There was a short silence. "Thanks. Changmin said the same thing."
Jaejoong let that settle between them. The sad and dejected Junsu seemed like such a long ago phenomenon, as if it had all been a bad dream. As if the new, confident Junsu compelled them to see how he had grown and taken charge of his own life. There were still far more that could be fixed - his Japanese career currently on hold, for example - but Junsu was taking it one step at a time. Jaejoong was proud of him and Junsu knew it.
"Um, speaking of happiness versus feeling trapped in one's workplace and all - "
"Were we?" Jaejoong asked, amused.
"Now we are?"
"Well you're perfectly happy doing what you're doing and I'm perfectly happy doing what I'm doing and Changmin - "
"I meant something else," Junsu interrupted, and then stopped abruptly. It was clear he felt nervous and anxious about the topic and Jaejoong couldn't help the unease that bubbled up.
"What about it?"
"Well - "
"Hold on." Jaejoong moved slowly, picking up the receiver as he got up from bed. Wincing as his feet hit the cold floor, he stood up unsteadily and had to clutch at the wall to keep himself from pitching over as the blood rushed to his head.
"What's wrong?" Concern was immediately evident in his tone.
"Someone's at the door," Jaejoong explained as he slowly made his way towards it. It definitely wasn't his day. He would've tried to make himself look a little presentable, since the short style he had now required at least some preparation before he was ready to face the world, but the pounding in his head made that somewhat difficult. As did the doorbell that now rang throughout his apartment a second time.
On the way, he grabbed his wallet. Perhaps his benefactor from last night had come calling. Too damn early.
"Someone? - Wait!"
When the door swung open and when he was finally able to drag his eyes from the ground, there was a long silence. It came from the person before him, from himself, and from Junsu on the other end. Abstractly, he figured that his sudden catch of breath could probably be heard over the phone.
Jung Yunho quirked an eyebrow at him in surprise and then seemed to settle back on his feet, a resigned look on his face. "I should've expected this," he admitted, and Jaejoong's eyes narrowed.
"Kim Junsu, you have a lot of explaining to do."
Junsu sighed.