A Learning Process [3/?]
Title: A Learning Process
Pairing: Yunho/Jaejoong
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Humor
Summary: Jung Yunho was supposed to be the mysterious, indifferent, student council president. While he’d never stolen any minute of Kim Jaejoong’s attention before, he certainly was now.
Dedicated to miszc as a birthday present! Happy birthday! :)
Jaejoong wrinkled his nose in disgust as he watched Changmin dig into the dinner Yunho had bought for everyone in the student council. He turned away from the sight and looked down at the food he had in his hands. To be honest, he wasn’t hungry - but he hadn’t wanted to reject the food Yunho had bought for everyone.
He set it down on a table that had been moved into the auditorium before he walked over to the backstage area.
Most of the props for the assembly the next day were all prepared and set up, everything was in order, and Jaejoong assumed that the rehearsal would be ending in a few minutes.
He stuck his hands into his pockets and walked out of the backstage area in time to catch Yunho fussing over Changmin.
“You got rice on your shirt again.” Yunho muttered before flicking it away. He handed Changmin a bottle of water before the other could say anything, “I bought you this so you won’t complain while we do the final run through later.”
“Are we walking home together later?”
“Yeah, sure -“ Yunho paused and looked up. He noticed Jaejoong staring and pulled away from Changmin. He stuck his hands into his pockets, “Do you need something?”
“No.” Jaejoong replied before he walked over to where they were and sat down next to Changmin. He glanced at the taller boy that was glaring at him before he turned his attention back to Yunho and smiled. “Thanks for dinner.”
“He didn’t eat it.” Changmin cut in before Yunho could reply. He pointed at the container of food on the table, “It’s over there.”
“How do you know that’s mine?” Jaejoong argued back, “That could be -“
“I saw you put it there.” The vice president replied, “It doesn’t matter anymore though. I ate it.” He crossed his arms, “Yunho, when does his time with us end?”
“He’s with us until the term ends.” Yunho replied with a small smile directed at Changmin, “You don’t mind him, do you?”
“I like him better when his mouth is shut which is never, but -“
“Yunho!”
One of the council members ran up to them and smiled widely. She clapped her hands together excitedly, and Jaejoong frowned at her. She looked too enthusiastic, and it bothered him.
“Ara agreed to sing for the intermission.” The girl explained, “She said she’d love to, and I was thinking that it’d be nice if you two sang together! Chorale practice just ended, so she’ll be making her way over here soon. Listen to her, she has great ideas about it.”
“I don’t really -“
“Oh, she’s here!”
Jaejoong hid the smile that came onto his face the moment he noticed the irritated look that appeared on Yunho’s face. He glanced at Changmin’s face, and the other boy shared the same reaction.
“Hi.” Ara greeted, although her attention was more on Yunho than Changmin or Jaejoong. She smile got wider, but she looked shy as she inched closer to the student council president. “I was asked to sing for the intermission tomorrow.”
“It wasn’t my idea.” Yunho replied, an answer that Ara obviously didn’t want to hear since her happy expression deflated slightly. It was like Yunho took notice of the brief reaction because he instantly lightened his tone of voice, “I’m happy you agreed though.”
Jaejoong watched Yunho intently, surprised by how well the other was able to judge the reactions of other people and how to remedy any problems he’d caused.
“Yunho can’t sing with you tomorrow.” Changmin cut in before he turned around and reached for a paper that had been in a pile. He handed it to Ara, “There’s an event going on in a different school, and he’s been called to attend.”
“Oh.” Ara frowned at the paper in disappointment. She looked up at Yunho and a smile returned to her face immediately, “Well, next time then?”
“Maybe.” Yunho replied noncommittally with a shrug. He glanced at Jaejoong, “You can go home now if you want.”
“I’ll stay for a bit longer.” Jaejoong replied, “There might be something for me to do later on. You never know when you might need an extra hand.”
Yunho stared at him for a few seconds before he diverted his attention back onto the stage. He glanced at Ara, “It’d be good if you practiced for a bit - stage blocking and such, as well as a short rehearsal for your introduction. You don’t mind, do you?”
“No, I don’t.” Ara replied with her shy smile that irritated Jaejoong. He held back on glaring at her and instead diverted his attention to the more interesting and less infuriating stage prop that was to his right.
“Could you get off the stage please?”
Jaejoong blinked and noticed that Changmin had already taken a seat on one of the chairs in the front row. Yunho was looking at him expectantly, and Jaejoong was fairly sure that the student council president was holding back an amused smile as he walked away to a seat in the front row.
o-o-o
“Are you sure you’re not narcoleptic?”
Jaejoong rubbed his eyes and frowned at the vice president, who’d shoved him awake roughly. “Fuck off.” He muttered before he shoved away the other student’s hand to avoid another push.
“Come on, it’s time to go.”
Changmin tossed Jaejoong’s bag onto his lap before he walked away. Jaejoong ran a hand through his hair and got out of his seat. He slung his bag over his shoulder and walked up to Yunho.
“I’m going now.” He said irritably as he caught sight of Ara talking to the excited girl from earlier. Yunho didn’t say anything, so Jaejoong frowned. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“Bye?” Yunho offered before he took an envelope from one of the council members. He began to walk away, and Jaejoong followed after him. Yunho noticed and turned his head to look at him, “You could’ve left earlier you know.”
“I know.”
“So, why didn’t you?” Yunho asked as he placed the envelope inside his bag. He slung his bag over his shoulder and watched Jaejoong carefully. “I thought that you’d jump at the opportunity to leave early.”
“I’m full of surprises.” Jaejoong muttered dully. He turned his head, and he noticed Ara was watching them from her spot near the stage. “I’ll just -“
“Yunho!”
Changmin jogged up to them, “I need the things for the event tomorrow.” He glanced at Jaejoong, “Why are you still here?”
“Why does everyone want me to leave?”
Yunho handed Changmin a folder, “Make sure to leave a good impression of the school tomorrow. You have to behave, and make sure to leave food for the other participants. You can’t eat everything.”
“Very funny.” Changmin muttered before he added, “It’s not like the food at those events is good anyway. Everything tastes like cardboard and -“ he glanced at Jaejoong, “You’re still here.”
“I’m sorry I can’t disappear on command for you.” Jaejoong snapped before he turned his attention away from Changmin and back to Yunho. “I thought you were supposed to be going to that event tomorrow.”
Yunho blinked twice. “Oh. Well -“
“We’re both going.” Changmin answered easily. He glanced at Yunho, “Anyway, it’s not like Yunho has a singing voice to begin with. He sounds like a cat being strangled to -“
“Thank you.” Yunho muttered sarcastically before he turned his attention back to Jaejoong. “Tomorrow we’ll be having our session at the student council room again, so please meet me there. I’ll be back from the event in time to meet you.”
“Oh, okay.”
“We’re going to go now, so I’ll see you tomorrow.” Yunho finished before Jaejoong could say anything. He walked away, and once again, Jaejoong was unable to say anything in reply.
o-o-o
After a few minutes of nervous hair fixing, Jaejoong made his way to the student council room. He let out a small sigh to relieve himself of nervousness and twisted the dor knob open. When he walked into the student council room, he noted that only Changmin was present and that Yunho was nowhere to be found.
Jaejoong frowned and walked up to the vice president, “Where’s Yunho? I thought he’d be here to meet me.”
“He’s sick.” Changmin replied without bothering to look up from his paper, “I need you to give some documents to the faculty, and then make sure to come back straight here.”
The vice president got up off his chair, grabbed an envelope from a cabinet and handed it to Jaejoong, “You have to come back. If you don’t -”
“Yeah, whatever.” Jaejoong replied, effectively cutting off Changmin, before he took the envelope out of the other’s hands and left the council room to head over to the faulty room. It was a short trip, and he was there in a few minutes.
He knocked on the door and handed the envelope to the first teacher that opened the door. “These are documents from the student council -“
“Oh, I see.” The teacher replied disinterestedly as she took the envelope out of his hand. She glanced at the nearby couch, “Take a seat. There’s something I have to give in return.”
Jaejoong stepped inside the faculty room and sat down. He fiddled with his hands awkwardly as he waited for her to come back. Teachers shot him wary glances as they walked past him, but he didn’t bother to greet them or give any sort of response. He yawned and stretched his arms before he leaned back into the couch.
The teacher came back, and she handed him a new envelope. “Please give this to Changmin. I know Yunho was absent today, so please ask him to bring this over to Yunho’s house so that he can make up for all the things he’s missed today.”
Jaejoong took the envelope and was then promptly ushered out the door. He glanced down at the envelope and then glanced in the direction of the student council room.
It took less than thirty seconds for him to decide his next course of action.
He was going to Yunho’s house - he could spend time with the vice president some other day.
o-o-o
Jaejoong was glad there’d been an address printed on the envelope, or else he wouldn’t have been able to know where to go. He glanced down at the brown envelope again, fidgeted slightly, and then gathered the courage to ring the doorbell.
He waited for a few seconds before Yunho came out of his house.
They stared at each other silently for a few seconds until Jaejoong decided that it was time for him to speak. He cocked his head to the side, “Are you going to open the gate for me anytime soon?”
Yunho didn’t move away from the front door. He crossed his arms and shot Jaejoong a suspicious look. “It depends. What’s in that envelope?”
“It’s filled with the things you missed today.” Jaejoong replied, and he held it up so that Yunho could get a better view of it. Yunho approached the gate slowly, and Jaejoong raked his eyes over Yunho from head to toe. “You don’t look sick.”
Yunho faked a cough obviously and opened the gate. “I am. I’m terribly sick. I’ve had a fever the entire day, and I just got out of bed -“
“So that you could see me?” Jaejoong finished with a smirk before he handed the envelope over to Yunho.
The taller boy rolled his eyes and looked inside the envelope, “Usually the school sends Changmin over to my house.” He looked up, “You didn’t do anything to him I hope. I know you two don’t get along too well, and I heard that you beat someone up pretty badly last year.”
“That guy asked for it.” Jaejoong muttered before he realized that Yunho was looking at him intently. “Anyway, your vice president is safe. Don’t worry. He’ll be pissed at me for ditching him but -“
“So you weren’t supposed to be the one giving me this?” Yunho asked.
“Yeah.”
“I had a feeling.” Yunho commented before he turned around and began to walk back inside his house, Jaejoong following behind him. Yunho turned his head, “I didn’t invite you in.” “You didn’t ask me to leave either.” Jaejoong countered as he crossed his arms in front of his chest for effect. “Besides, I’m thirsty. You live far from school. The least you could do is offer me a glass of water.”
“Fine then - but make sure to shut the gate first.” Yunho opened the door for Jaejoong, and he entered after Jaejoong did.
The house was much bigger than his, and Jaejoong was hardly surprised. It was common knowledge that Yunho came from a rich family, his mother a doctor and his father a law firm partner, so the fact that the house was pretty much a sight from an interior decorating magazine wasn’t too much of a shock.
“No one’s home aside from you?” Jaejoong asked as he followed Yunho to the kitchen, taking time to appreciate the expensive art that decorated the pristinely white walls.
Yunho glanced back at him, “Yeah. It’s just me.” He pointed at a kitchen stool, and Jaejoong obediently sat down while Yunho proceeded over to the refrigerator and pulled out a jug of water.
“Your house is nice.” Jaejoong commented, due to a lack of anything better to say. He shifted awkwardly in his seat and brushed his hair from his face as he watched Yunho grab a glass from a cabinet. “It’s really...nice.”
Once again, an amused smile graced Yunho’s face. He set down the glass in front of Jaejoong and poured water for him. He handed him the glass and as soon as their eyes met, he replied, “Thanks.”
Jaejoong blushed, “Yeah.” He averted his eyes and cleared his throat uncomfortably before he took a sip of water, Yunho’s eyes focused solely on him.
After he set the glass down onto the marble countertop, he met Yunho’s eyes again and tilted his head, “You’re obviously not sick which means that you lied.” He commented as his index finger traced the rim of the glass, “I didn’t think you’d do something like that.”
“I spared the entire student body from my singing,” Yunho replied as he leaned across the counter, “I think you should be thanking me instead of judging me.”
“You can’t be that bad.” Jaejoong mused, “Anyway, I have something to ask you.”
“I don’t want to answer.” Yunho replied before he took the jug off the counter and headed back to the refrigerator so that he could place it back inside. “Besides, I don’t like the fact that you ask so many questions all the time. It sometimes feels like you’re interviewing me -“
“Why didn’t you just reject her?” Jaejoong asked as he rested his chin against the palm of his hand, “It’s not like there were a lot of people around that time. If you didn’t want to sing with her, you could’ve just said no and then you wouldn’t have had to fake sick today.”
“She’s...” Yunho glanced at Jaejoong and frowned. “I hate this. Why do you ask so many questions all the time? This isn’t an interview.”
“I’m studying you.” Jaejoong replied with a shrug, “The ever so interesting Jung Yunho that likes to kiss innocent Kim Jaejoong when nobody’s looking. I think I’d make a lot of money in the future if I made a biography about you.”
“I’m not interesting - nobody would buy it.”
“Oh right, I forgot. I’m supposed to be the interesting one.” Jaejoong laughed and smiled widely, “You can be the mysterious one...but wait, mysterious people are usually interesting so...you can be the smart one instead.”
Yunho returned to the area in front of Jaejoong and crossed his arms. “You talk too much.”
“You talk too little, so I’m talking enough for the both of us. Besides, what the fuck -!”
Jaejoong felt something nudge against his ankle, and in his attempt to get away from it, he fell off the kitchen stool and hit the cold tiles of the kitchen floor. He groaned in pain and rolled to his side, only for the thing that had nudged him to climb over his body.
When he looked up, his eyes met the curious blue of a Siberian Husky. It bent down and licked his face before Yunho took hold of its collar and gently led it aside. Yunho knelt down, “Are you okay?”
“Your dog is a monster like you.” Jaejoong muttered before he groaned again and rolled to his other side, only for the dog to happily trot over him so that it could nuzzle his face with its nose, “Make it stop before I lose all of my dignity.”
“Taepoong, sit.”
The dog followed obediently, its tail thumping onto the kitchen floor excitedly. Jaejoong groaned and sat up. When he glanced at Yunho, he noticed that Yunho was smiling widely and trying to hold back his laughter.
“Go ahead, laugh.” Jaejoong muttered, utterly humiliated in front of the other student as he covered his face in embarrassment. “I know you want to.”
Yunho chuckled and helped Jaejoong up, “You’re red.” He commented which only made Jaejoong turn redder. “I have something to say by the way.”
“What is it?” Jaejoong asked, biting his bottom lip as he looked up at Yunho. “If you’re going to make a comment about how I stupid I looked earlier, I’d prefer if you shoved it back up your -“
“You’ve been spending your afternoons with me for a bit more than a month now.” Yunho cut in as he pointed at a calendar to make his point clear. “I just thought you should know.”
“Well I’m more interested in -“ Taepoong nudged Jaejoong again, and he yelped in surprise, eliciting more laughter from Yunho.
“I’m glad you find me amusing.” Jaejoong muttered as he turned his eyes away from Yunho and glared at the dog that was looking up at him with interest. “Anyway, I think you owe me something.”
“I don’t owe you anything.” Yunho walked back to the kitchen counter, Taepoong following behind him, and he held up Jaejoong’s glass. “I gave you your glass of water. You should go home now and leave me alone.”
“No goodbye kiss?”
Yunho raised an eyebrow, “You’re pushing it.” He replied as he shook his head, “I’m not kissing you.”
“You didn’t mind before.”
“I mind now.”
“Even though I haven’t eaten any Skittles lately?”
“I’m not changing my mind.”
“Fine.”
“Okay.”
“I’m leaving now.”
“You know the way out.”
Jaejoong got up and began to make his way to the door. He wanted to feel unbothered by Yunho’s resistance, but he was bothered. He frowned to himself and walked a little faster so that he could sort his thoughts out away from Yunho. He opened the front door and nearly bumped into a girl.
“I’m so -“
“Who are you -“
“Jihye?”
Yunho gently brushed past Jaejoong and nudged him aside so that he could greet the girl properly. He smiled at her, “I didn’t think you’d be home so early -“
Jihye pushed past Yunho and smiled at Jaejoong, her face much friendlier than it had been seconds earlier. “Hi. I’m Yunho’s sister, Jihye.”
“Kim Jaejoong.”
“Jaejoong was just leaving.” Yunho explained before he took hold of Jaejoong’s wrist and opened the door again, “I’ll see him out. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay.” Jihye smiled at Jaejoong, “It’s not often that he brings people home. It was nice to meet you. I hope I see you again soon.”
“Yeah -“
Yunho pulled Jaejoong out of the house and shut the door behind him. Jaejoong stared up at Yunho and leaned against the door, “What?”
“Why do you keep asking questions?”
“Why do you keep avoiding them?”
They both frowned at each other. Yunho sighed and stepped back. He studied Jaejoong carefully before he spoke again, “Ask me something. I’ll answer it. You seem so determined to learn things about me, I might as well entertain you this one time.”
Jaejoong laughed, “You sound so formal.” He pushed back so that he’d get off the door and took two small steps to Yunho so that their faces were only inches apart.
He thought for a few seconds, trying to select the best question that would come in mind. Unfortunately, the moment a jealousy inspired question came into mind, he blurted it out immediately. “Who do you like better, me or Ara?”
“I knew you were the jealous type -“
“I could say the same thing for you! Don’t you remember that time you asked me about Yoochun -“
“I like you better.”
“Oh.” A pleased smile made its way across Jaejoong’s face. “Well, good.” He laughed at his own behavior and smiled at Yunho. “See. We can get along. You just have to learn to be nice.”
“I am nice.”
“Really now? I think I can vaguely remember -“
The door opened, and Jihye poked her head out. She glanced at the two of them before she focused her attention on Jaejoong, “Do you want to stay for dinner?”
“Yeah -“
“No, he’s leaving.”
Jihye frowned at her brother for being rude but didn’t say anything about it, “Fine.” She smiled at Jaejoong, “It was nice to meet you!” she said before shut the door, and Jaejoong poked Yunho’s chest with his index finger.
“What did you say about being nice?”
Yunho shrugged, “I’m not a saint.”
“Well -“
Jaejoong leaned in, determined to steal a kiss from Yunho, but before he could move any closer, a loud voice yelled his name. He turned his head, and spotted the furious vice president standing at the gate.
“Kim! You have a lot of explaining to do!”
Yunho chuckled, “Nice try at escaping Jaejoong.” He blocked Jaejoong’s view of Changmin and squeezed Jaejoong’s hand reassuringly, the gentle touch lasting for the briefest of seconds.
He felt a blush rise to his cheeks, and Yunho stepped away to make way for him to approach Changmin. As Jaejoong reluctantly approached the vice president, he felt the heat in his face disappear, but what remained was the lingering sensation of Yunho’s touch on his skin.
< >
Author’s Note: I hope this chapter was good. There’s progress in terms of Jaejoong’s feelings, so I hope you guys all like that. :) No kiss unfortunately, so I’m sorry about that. XD In other news, I accidentally deleted all my replies to the comments in the previous chapter. *facepalm* My LJ-newness makes itself apparent in situations like that. Hahaha. Anyway, so if any of you have questions from the previous chapter that you’d like to have answered again, feel free to ask it again! ;) Also, I’d love it if you guys could check out my other stories as well since they’re different in a way to this one and I’d appreciate it if you guys could give your reactions to them. My muse is still around, so I have high hopes on updating this next week. Thank you for reading, and please do leave a comment!
Pairing: Yunho/Jaejoong
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Humor
Summary: Jung Yunho was supposed to be the mysterious, indifferent, student council president. While he’d never stolen any minute of Kim Jaejoong’s attention before, he certainly was now.
Dedicated to miszc as a birthday present! Happy birthday! :)
Jaejoong wrinkled his nose in disgust as he watched Changmin dig into the dinner Yunho had bought for everyone in the student council. He turned away from the sight and looked down at the food he had in his hands. To be honest, he wasn’t hungry - but he hadn’t wanted to reject the food Yunho had bought for everyone.
He set it down on a table that had been moved into the auditorium before he walked over to the backstage area.
Most of the props for the assembly the next day were all prepared and set up, everything was in order, and Jaejoong assumed that the rehearsal would be ending in a few minutes.
He stuck his hands into his pockets and walked out of the backstage area in time to catch Yunho fussing over Changmin.
“You got rice on your shirt again.” Yunho muttered before flicking it away. He handed Changmin a bottle of water before the other could say anything, “I bought you this so you won’t complain while we do the final run through later.”
“Are we walking home together later?”
“Yeah, sure -“ Yunho paused and looked up. He noticed Jaejoong staring and pulled away from Changmin. He stuck his hands into his pockets, “Do you need something?”
“No.” Jaejoong replied before he walked over to where they were and sat down next to Changmin. He glanced at the taller boy that was glaring at him before he turned his attention back to Yunho and smiled. “Thanks for dinner.”
“He didn’t eat it.” Changmin cut in before Yunho could reply. He pointed at the container of food on the table, “It’s over there.”
“How do you know that’s mine?” Jaejoong argued back, “That could be -“
“I saw you put it there.” The vice president replied, “It doesn’t matter anymore though. I ate it.” He crossed his arms, “Yunho, when does his time with us end?”
“He’s with us until the term ends.” Yunho replied with a small smile directed at Changmin, “You don’t mind him, do you?”
“I like him better when his mouth is shut which is never, but -“
“Yunho!”
One of the council members ran up to them and smiled widely. She clapped her hands together excitedly, and Jaejoong frowned at her. She looked too enthusiastic, and it bothered him.
“Ara agreed to sing for the intermission.” The girl explained, “She said she’d love to, and I was thinking that it’d be nice if you two sang together! Chorale practice just ended, so she’ll be making her way over here soon. Listen to her, she has great ideas about it.”
“I don’t really -“
“Oh, she’s here!”
Jaejoong hid the smile that came onto his face the moment he noticed the irritated look that appeared on Yunho’s face. He glanced at Changmin’s face, and the other boy shared the same reaction.
“Hi.” Ara greeted, although her attention was more on Yunho than Changmin or Jaejoong. She smile got wider, but she looked shy as she inched closer to the student council president. “I was asked to sing for the intermission tomorrow.”
“It wasn’t my idea.” Yunho replied, an answer that Ara obviously didn’t want to hear since her happy expression deflated slightly. It was like Yunho took notice of the brief reaction because he instantly lightened his tone of voice, “I’m happy you agreed though.”
Jaejoong watched Yunho intently, surprised by how well the other was able to judge the reactions of other people and how to remedy any problems he’d caused.
“Yunho can’t sing with you tomorrow.” Changmin cut in before he turned around and reached for a paper that had been in a pile. He handed it to Ara, “There’s an event going on in a different school, and he’s been called to attend.”
“Oh.” Ara frowned at the paper in disappointment. She looked up at Yunho and a smile returned to her face immediately, “Well, next time then?”
“Maybe.” Yunho replied noncommittally with a shrug. He glanced at Jaejoong, “You can go home now if you want.”
“I’ll stay for a bit longer.” Jaejoong replied, “There might be something for me to do later on. You never know when you might need an extra hand.”
Yunho stared at him for a few seconds before he diverted his attention back onto the stage. He glanced at Ara, “It’d be good if you practiced for a bit - stage blocking and such, as well as a short rehearsal for your introduction. You don’t mind, do you?”
“No, I don’t.” Ara replied with her shy smile that irritated Jaejoong. He held back on glaring at her and instead diverted his attention to the more interesting and less infuriating stage prop that was to his right.
“Could you get off the stage please?”
Jaejoong blinked and noticed that Changmin had already taken a seat on one of the chairs in the front row. Yunho was looking at him expectantly, and Jaejoong was fairly sure that the student council president was holding back an amused smile as he walked away to a seat in the front row.
o-o-o
“Are you sure you’re not narcoleptic?”
Jaejoong rubbed his eyes and frowned at the vice president, who’d shoved him awake roughly. “Fuck off.” He muttered before he shoved away the other student’s hand to avoid another push.
“Come on, it’s time to go.”
Changmin tossed Jaejoong’s bag onto his lap before he walked away. Jaejoong ran a hand through his hair and got out of his seat. He slung his bag over his shoulder and walked up to Yunho.
“I’m going now.” He said irritably as he caught sight of Ara talking to the excited girl from earlier. Yunho didn’t say anything, so Jaejoong frowned. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“Bye?” Yunho offered before he took an envelope from one of the council members. He began to walk away, and Jaejoong followed after him. Yunho noticed and turned his head to look at him, “You could’ve left earlier you know.”
“I know.”
“So, why didn’t you?” Yunho asked as he placed the envelope inside his bag. He slung his bag over his shoulder and watched Jaejoong carefully. “I thought that you’d jump at the opportunity to leave early.”
“I’m full of surprises.” Jaejoong muttered dully. He turned his head, and he noticed Ara was watching them from her spot near the stage. “I’ll just -“
“Yunho!”
Changmin jogged up to them, “I need the things for the event tomorrow.” He glanced at Jaejoong, “Why are you still here?”
“Why does everyone want me to leave?”
Yunho handed Changmin a folder, “Make sure to leave a good impression of the school tomorrow. You have to behave, and make sure to leave food for the other participants. You can’t eat everything.”
“Very funny.” Changmin muttered before he added, “It’s not like the food at those events is good anyway. Everything tastes like cardboard and -“ he glanced at Jaejoong, “You’re still here.”
“I’m sorry I can’t disappear on command for you.” Jaejoong snapped before he turned his attention away from Changmin and back to Yunho. “I thought you were supposed to be going to that event tomorrow.”
Yunho blinked twice. “Oh. Well -“
“We’re both going.” Changmin answered easily. He glanced at Yunho, “Anyway, it’s not like Yunho has a singing voice to begin with. He sounds like a cat being strangled to -“
“Thank you.” Yunho muttered sarcastically before he turned his attention back to Jaejoong. “Tomorrow we’ll be having our session at the student council room again, so please meet me there. I’ll be back from the event in time to meet you.”
“Oh, okay.”
“We’re going to go now, so I’ll see you tomorrow.” Yunho finished before Jaejoong could say anything. He walked away, and once again, Jaejoong was unable to say anything in reply.
o-o-o
After a few minutes of nervous hair fixing, Jaejoong made his way to the student council room. He let out a small sigh to relieve himself of nervousness and twisted the dor knob open. When he walked into the student council room, he noted that only Changmin was present and that Yunho was nowhere to be found.
Jaejoong frowned and walked up to the vice president, “Where’s Yunho? I thought he’d be here to meet me.”
“He’s sick.” Changmin replied without bothering to look up from his paper, “I need you to give some documents to the faculty, and then make sure to come back straight here.”
The vice president got up off his chair, grabbed an envelope from a cabinet and handed it to Jaejoong, “You have to come back. If you don’t -”
“Yeah, whatever.” Jaejoong replied, effectively cutting off Changmin, before he took the envelope out of the other’s hands and left the council room to head over to the faulty room. It was a short trip, and he was there in a few minutes.
He knocked on the door and handed the envelope to the first teacher that opened the door. “These are documents from the student council -“
“Oh, I see.” The teacher replied disinterestedly as she took the envelope out of his hand. She glanced at the nearby couch, “Take a seat. There’s something I have to give in return.”
Jaejoong stepped inside the faculty room and sat down. He fiddled with his hands awkwardly as he waited for her to come back. Teachers shot him wary glances as they walked past him, but he didn’t bother to greet them or give any sort of response. He yawned and stretched his arms before he leaned back into the couch.
The teacher came back, and she handed him a new envelope. “Please give this to Changmin. I know Yunho was absent today, so please ask him to bring this over to Yunho’s house so that he can make up for all the things he’s missed today.”
Jaejoong took the envelope and was then promptly ushered out the door. He glanced down at the envelope and then glanced in the direction of the student council room.
It took less than thirty seconds for him to decide his next course of action.
He was going to Yunho’s house - he could spend time with the vice president some other day.
o-o-o
Jaejoong was glad there’d been an address printed on the envelope, or else he wouldn’t have been able to know where to go. He glanced down at the brown envelope again, fidgeted slightly, and then gathered the courage to ring the doorbell.
He waited for a few seconds before Yunho came out of his house.
They stared at each other silently for a few seconds until Jaejoong decided that it was time for him to speak. He cocked his head to the side, “Are you going to open the gate for me anytime soon?”
Yunho didn’t move away from the front door. He crossed his arms and shot Jaejoong a suspicious look. “It depends. What’s in that envelope?”
“It’s filled with the things you missed today.” Jaejoong replied, and he held it up so that Yunho could get a better view of it. Yunho approached the gate slowly, and Jaejoong raked his eyes over Yunho from head to toe. “You don’t look sick.”
Yunho faked a cough obviously and opened the gate. “I am. I’m terribly sick. I’ve had a fever the entire day, and I just got out of bed -“
“So that you could see me?” Jaejoong finished with a smirk before he handed the envelope over to Yunho.
The taller boy rolled his eyes and looked inside the envelope, “Usually the school sends Changmin over to my house.” He looked up, “You didn’t do anything to him I hope. I know you two don’t get along too well, and I heard that you beat someone up pretty badly last year.”
“That guy asked for it.” Jaejoong muttered before he realized that Yunho was looking at him intently. “Anyway, your vice president is safe. Don’t worry. He’ll be pissed at me for ditching him but -“
“So you weren’t supposed to be the one giving me this?” Yunho asked.
“Yeah.”
“I had a feeling.” Yunho commented before he turned around and began to walk back inside his house, Jaejoong following behind him. Yunho turned his head, “I didn’t invite you in.” “You didn’t ask me to leave either.” Jaejoong countered as he crossed his arms in front of his chest for effect. “Besides, I’m thirsty. You live far from school. The least you could do is offer me a glass of water.”
“Fine then - but make sure to shut the gate first.” Yunho opened the door for Jaejoong, and he entered after Jaejoong did.
The house was much bigger than his, and Jaejoong was hardly surprised. It was common knowledge that Yunho came from a rich family, his mother a doctor and his father a law firm partner, so the fact that the house was pretty much a sight from an interior decorating magazine wasn’t too much of a shock.
“No one’s home aside from you?” Jaejoong asked as he followed Yunho to the kitchen, taking time to appreciate the expensive art that decorated the pristinely white walls.
Yunho glanced back at him, “Yeah. It’s just me.” He pointed at a kitchen stool, and Jaejoong obediently sat down while Yunho proceeded over to the refrigerator and pulled out a jug of water.
“Your house is nice.” Jaejoong commented, due to a lack of anything better to say. He shifted awkwardly in his seat and brushed his hair from his face as he watched Yunho grab a glass from a cabinet. “It’s really...nice.”
Once again, an amused smile graced Yunho’s face. He set down the glass in front of Jaejoong and poured water for him. He handed him the glass and as soon as their eyes met, he replied, “Thanks.”
Jaejoong blushed, “Yeah.” He averted his eyes and cleared his throat uncomfortably before he took a sip of water, Yunho’s eyes focused solely on him.
After he set the glass down onto the marble countertop, he met Yunho’s eyes again and tilted his head, “You’re obviously not sick which means that you lied.” He commented as his index finger traced the rim of the glass, “I didn’t think you’d do something like that.”
“I spared the entire student body from my singing,” Yunho replied as he leaned across the counter, “I think you should be thanking me instead of judging me.”
“You can’t be that bad.” Jaejoong mused, “Anyway, I have something to ask you.”
“I don’t want to answer.” Yunho replied before he took the jug off the counter and headed back to the refrigerator so that he could place it back inside. “Besides, I don’t like the fact that you ask so many questions all the time. It sometimes feels like you’re interviewing me -“
“Why didn’t you just reject her?” Jaejoong asked as he rested his chin against the palm of his hand, “It’s not like there were a lot of people around that time. If you didn’t want to sing with her, you could’ve just said no and then you wouldn’t have had to fake sick today.”
“She’s...” Yunho glanced at Jaejoong and frowned. “I hate this. Why do you ask so many questions all the time? This isn’t an interview.”
“I’m studying you.” Jaejoong replied with a shrug, “The ever so interesting Jung Yunho that likes to kiss innocent Kim Jaejoong when nobody’s looking. I think I’d make a lot of money in the future if I made a biography about you.”
“I’m not interesting - nobody would buy it.”
“Oh right, I forgot. I’m supposed to be the interesting one.” Jaejoong laughed and smiled widely, “You can be the mysterious one...but wait, mysterious people are usually interesting so...you can be the smart one instead.”
Yunho returned to the area in front of Jaejoong and crossed his arms. “You talk too much.”
“You talk too little, so I’m talking enough for the both of us. Besides, what the fuck -!”
Jaejoong felt something nudge against his ankle, and in his attempt to get away from it, he fell off the kitchen stool and hit the cold tiles of the kitchen floor. He groaned in pain and rolled to his side, only for the thing that had nudged him to climb over his body.
When he looked up, his eyes met the curious blue of a Siberian Husky. It bent down and licked his face before Yunho took hold of its collar and gently led it aside. Yunho knelt down, “Are you okay?”
“Your dog is a monster like you.” Jaejoong muttered before he groaned again and rolled to his other side, only for the dog to happily trot over him so that it could nuzzle his face with its nose, “Make it stop before I lose all of my dignity.”
“Taepoong, sit.”
The dog followed obediently, its tail thumping onto the kitchen floor excitedly. Jaejoong groaned and sat up. When he glanced at Yunho, he noticed that Yunho was smiling widely and trying to hold back his laughter.
“Go ahead, laugh.” Jaejoong muttered, utterly humiliated in front of the other student as he covered his face in embarrassment. “I know you want to.”
Yunho chuckled and helped Jaejoong up, “You’re red.” He commented which only made Jaejoong turn redder. “I have something to say by the way.”
“What is it?” Jaejoong asked, biting his bottom lip as he looked up at Yunho. “If you’re going to make a comment about how I stupid I looked earlier, I’d prefer if you shoved it back up your -“
“You’ve been spending your afternoons with me for a bit more than a month now.” Yunho cut in as he pointed at a calendar to make his point clear. “I just thought you should know.”
“Well I’m more interested in -“ Taepoong nudged Jaejoong again, and he yelped in surprise, eliciting more laughter from Yunho.
“I’m glad you find me amusing.” Jaejoong muttered as he turned his eyes away from Yunho and glared at the dog that was looking up at him with interest. “Anyway, I think you owe me something.”
“I don’t owe you anything.” Yunho walked back to the kitchen counter, Taepoong following behind him, and he held up Jaejoong’s glass. “I gave you your glass of water. You should go home now and leave me alone.”
“No goodbye kiss?”
Yunho raised an eyebrow, “You’re pushing it.” He replied as he shook his head, “I’m not kissing you.”
“You didn’t mind before.”
“I mind now.”
“Even though I haven’t eaten any Skittles lately?”
“I’m not changing my mind.”
“Fine.”
“Okay.”
“I’m leaving now.”
“You know the way out.”
Jaejoong got up and began to make his way to the door. He wanted to feel unbothered by Yunho’s resistance, but he was bothered. He frowned to himself and walked a little faster so that he could sort his thoughts out away from Yunho. He opened the front door and nearly bumped into a girl.
“I’m so -“
“Who are you -“
“Jihye?”
Yunho gently brushed past Jaejoong and nudged him aside so that he could greet the girl properly. He smiled at her, “I didn’t think you’d be home so early -“
Jihye pushed past Yunho and smiled at Jaejoong, her face much friendlier than it had been seconds earlier. “Hi. I’m Yunho’s sister, Jihye.”
“Kim Jaejoong.”
“Jaejoong was just leaving.” Yunho explained before he took hold of Jaejoong’s wrist and opened the door again, “I’ll see him out. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay.” Jihye smiled at Jaejoong, “It’s not often that he brings people home. It was nice to meet you. I hope I see you again soon.”
“Yeah -“
Yunho pulled Jaejoong out of the house and shut the door behind him. Jaejoong stared up at Yunho and leaned against the door, “What?”
“Why do you keep asking questions?”
“Why do you keep avoiding them?”
They both frowned at each other. Yunho sighed and stepped back. He studied Jaejoong carefully before he spoke again, “Ask me something. I’ll answer it. You seem so determined to learn things about me, I might as well entertain you this one time.”
Jaejoong laughed, “You sound so formal.” He pushed back so that he’d get off the door and took two small steps to Yunho so that their faces were only inches apart.
He thought for a few seconds, trying to select the best question that would come in mind. Unfortunately, the moment a jealousy inspired question came into mind, he blurted it out immediately. “Who do you like better, me or Ara?”
“I knew you were the jealous type -“
“I could say the same thing for you! Don’t you remember that time you asked me about Yoochun -“
“I like you better.”
“Oh.” A pleased smile made its way across Jaejoong’s face. “Well, good.” He laughed at his own behavior and smiled at Yunho. “See. We can get along. You just have to learn to be nice.”
“I am nice.”
“Really now? I think I can vaguely remember -“
The door opened, and Jihye poked her head out. She glanced at the two of them before she focused her attention on Jaejoong, “Do you want to stay for dinner?”
“Yeah -“
“No, he’s leaving.”
Jihye frowned at her brother for being rude but didn’t say anything about it, “Fine.” She smiled at Jaejoong, “It was nice to meet you!” she said before shut the door, and Jaejoong poked Yunho’s chest with his index finger.
“What did you say about being nice?”
Yunho shrugged, “I’m not a saint.”
“Well -“
Jaejoong leaned in, determined to steal a kiss from Yunho, but before he could move any closer, a loud voice yelled his name. He turned his head, and spotted the furious vice president standing at the gate.
“Kim! You have a lot of explaining to do!”
Yunho chuckled, “Nice try at escaping Jaejoong.” He blocked Jaejoong’s view of Changmin and squeezed Jaejoong’s hand reassuringly, the gentle touch lasting for the briefest of seconds.
He felt a blush rise to his cheeks, and Yunho stepped away to make way for him to approach Changmin. As Jaejoong reluctantly approached the vice president, he felt the heat in his face disappear, but what remained was the lingering sensation of Yunho’s touch on his skin.
< >
Author’s Note: I hope this chapter was good. There’s progress in terms of Jaejoong’s feelings, so I hope you guys all like that. :) No kiss unfortunately, so I’m sorry about that. XD In other news, I accidentally deleted all my replies to the comments in the previous chapter. *facepalm* My LJ-newness makes itself apparent in situations like that. Hahaha. Anyway, so if any of you have questions from the previous chapter that you’d like to have answered again, feel free to ask it again! ;) Also, I’d love it if you guys could check out my other stories as well since they’re different in a way to this one and I’d appreciate it if you guys could give your reactions to them. My muse is still around, so I have high hopes on updating this next week. Thank you for reading, and please do leave a comment!