Dealing with Eve [revised]
Title: Dealing with Eve
Chapter: 4/?
Genre: romance, angst, humor maybe? fluff
Pairing/s: Yoosu, (there will be some Jaeho scattered throughout various chapters)
Rating: mostly PG 13, though I would say E (for everyone!) on this chapter
Warnings: none for this chapter
Disclaimer: i don't own them. O_o
Summary: Yoochun's habit of being the 'nice guy' gets him in trouble when he invites Boa, a disowned college drop-out, to take up the extra third room in the apartment he shares with his close friend Yunho. Boa desperately wants enough money to move herself out of the city and away from her family, and she is willing to do anything to get it. Can Yoochun handle the consequences?
[Note: ok so I've been on vacation (well not really, more like college tour) but here and there I've had a little free time and I had an idea for this chapter that I really wanted to write, so here it is. Given that, the chapter itself is kind of a -bleh- chapter, simply because not much happens. It's back to the length I usually do, so not very long either, but it's cute and fluffy and mostly focus' on Inhwan's relationship with yoosu (well yoochun and junsu respectively). i hope it makes you smile in the very least. -shutting up now-]
"Parky, parky, parky..." Inhwan smiled brightly as he skipped ahead of Yoochun to the gate of a small neighborhood park. It was empty today, as most children in the area were busy with Sunday church. Yoochun himself had never been really committed to religion, and as a result Inhwan knew almost nothing about it. In the very least it gave them some privacy-Inhwan getting lost in a crowd of people was one of Yoochun's greatest fears. He reached out to open the gate while Inhwan, still too short to reach the handle, waited patiently below him. As soon as the gate was open the little three-year-old hop-skipped forward again, heading for the small, plastic, brightly colored structure.
"Watch me go down the slide, Appa!" Inhwan called out, heading for the entrance to the big red slide. Yoochun wandered over to one of the benches set up surrounding the playground and sat down in view of the end of the slide. He watched Inhwan slide down it several times, giggling and smiling before running quickly back around to do it again as if it were the most entertaining thing on earth. Finally Inhwan seemed to tire of this and moved on to explore the rest of the park.
"Swings! Swings!" Yoochun smiled and walked over to the swing set where Inhwan stood, tiny hands wrapped around the metal supports as he jumped up and down, suddenly impatient.
"Alright, alright. Hang on, you want Appa to push you?" Yoochun carefully lifted Inhwan up into the seat, then started to push the swing gently back and forth.
"Faster! Faster!" Inhwan bounced and kicked his legs, not realizing this was making it more difficult. Yoochun shook his head, visions of Inhwan falling out of the swing making him hesitate.
"Ok, but not too much faster alright?" Within a few minutes Inhwan was squirming, ready to move on to the next thing.
"Appa stop!" Obediently Yoochun pulled the swing to a stop and watched Inhwan climb out of it, dangling his feet down and kicking a little as he tried to reach the ground before letting himself drop the remaining few inches. He landed and stumbled backward into a sitting position, and Yoochun felt himself tense up, but instead of crying Inhwan simply let out an almost silent 'woops' before pushing himself up and wandering away toward whatever else had caught his attention. Yoochun sighed and moved to follow after his son, but stopped when Inhwan turned and gave him a devious look. He returned the look, and watched as Inhwan took a few steps forward, then spun around to look at him. This was build up to a game of chase, that much Yoochun knew.
Each time Inhwan walked forward, Yoochun would take a few steps, then stop and pretend to not be paying attention. Finally Inhwan broke into a run, or his three-year-old attempt at a run, and Yoochun pretended to have a hard time chasing after him, following the boy in circles around the park. This continued, Inhwan hiding behind various parts of the play structure and making faces and laughing, until he suddenly tripped. He sat up, but remained on the ground, one hand cradled in the other as tears immediately started to build in his eyes.
"Appaaaaa... it huuuurts." He whined. Yoochun was at his side in an instant, frantically wondering how badly a child could hurt himself after tripping.
"Inhwan are you ok? Where does it hurt? Here, show me where it hurts." Inhwan pouted, not quite yet crying but almost, and used his left arm to hold up his right, as if the entire arm had become useless. In reality, he'd simply landed funny on one finger and bruised it.
"My finger." He said, still pouting. "I think I broked it." Yoochun looked at Inhwan's finger and let out a sigh of relief, remembering what Jaejoong had told him. 'Kids like to make a big deal out of little things to get attention. Don't worry about little cuts and scrapes, every kid gets them, just wait till he calms down and give him a Band-Aid, he'll be fine.' Right.
"It's ok Inhwan, I don't think you broked it." Inhwan looked like he was about to protest, but instead his face lit up and he leapt to his feet, having noticed a familiar figure nearby, watching them.
"Umma! Umma!" The little boy ran back to the park's gate, jumping up and down until he could reach the handle before making his way quickly over to his teacher. He seemed to have instantly forgotten his moment of pain, but held up his injury proudly for the other man to see. "Look Umma, I made a booboo." Junsu smiled as the young boy approached him but immediately set his face into a look of deep concentration, as if he was taking the whole situation very seriously.
"You made a booboo? That's not good Inhwan. Did you go see the doctor?" He took the boy's small chubby hand in his own and examined the injured appendage. Inhwan shook his head, still smiling.
"Nope. Appa says I didn't broked it." Junsu nodded smiling and looked up to nod a greeting to Yoochun as well, who had made his way somewhat more slowly out of the park and stood watching them, a content smile on his face. Something seemed to occur to Inhwan in that moment.
"Umma, umma! Can I have a Band-Aid?" Junsu looked back down.
"Oh Inhwan, I don't think you need a Band-Aid for that. Look you don't even have a cut, see?" At this Inhwan started to pout again.
"But I want a Band-Aid. What if Appa is wrong and I really did broked it? Peeease?" Junsu shook his head but started to search through his coat pockets, looking for the small box of colored Band-Aids he usually brought to work with him. The kids liked to wear them sometimes, even if they weren't actually hurt. He frowned a little when he couldn't find the box, thinking he must have left it at home.
"I don't know if I have any with me..."
"Peeeease Umma? Peeeease?" Junsu laughed a little at this.
"Inhwan its 'please', not 'pease'." The little boy didn't miss a beat.
"Pleeease?"
"Well... ah, here we go." He didn't have the box, but he did have three extras tucked away in a pocket. "Which one do you want?" He held them up for Inhwan to ponder over, meanwhile smiling apologetically at Yoochun. He didn't mean to be such a distraction from their 'bonding time'. He knew it was important for single parents.
"This one! This one!" Inhwan announced finally, holding out his finger again so that Junsu could put the colored bandage on for him. He'd chosen a red one decorated with Dalmatian puppies. Junsu put the others away and pulled off the plastic tabs, hovering the Band-Aid over Inhwan's finger.
"Right here?" Inhwan nodded and Junsu knelt down, wrapping the Band-Aid around carefully. "There, all better." He started to stand but Inhwan stopped him.
"Umma wait! You halfta kiss it." At this Junsu quirked an eyebrow, confused.
"You want me to kiss it?" Inhwan sighed, exasperated, and Junsu thought it was quite possibly the most adorable thing he'd ever seen. Probably a habit the boy picked up from being around someone else, his father maybe?
"You’ve got to kiss it better." Inhwan explained, as if that said everything. Junsu looked to Yoochun for further explanation. The man smiled awkwardly.
"I... My mom used to do it for me when I was little, so I just thought... Well it seems like it helps so..." Despite his brief embarrassment, Yoochun was beaming internally. There was nothing he enjoyed more then someone else enjoying his son, especially when it made said little boy happy. Junsu smiled, nodding in understanding. How cute, he thought absently. Leaning forward he pressed a soft kiss to the boys finger right on top of the Band-Aid.
"There all better." Inhwan beamed and Junsu stood back up. "I'll see you on Monday ok?" He ruffled Inhwan’s hair with a hand gently before nodding a goodbye to Yoochun and starting to turn away. As Yoochun watched he suddenly really didn’t want the other to leave, and before he could stop himself he impulsively called out to the young teacher.
"Junsu shi!" Junsu turned around, an expectant look on his face.
"Hmm?" Yoochun blushed faintly. He wanted… well he wasn’t sure what he wanted.
"Ah... well... I just…” He blushed as he fumbled with his words, wondering why on earth he’d even bothered to open his mouth. Why don’t you hang out with us? How stupid did that sound? Where had his courage disappeared to? Or charms for that matter? Junsu would just want to know why and then… well Yoochun had no idea why. He quickly tried to think of something appropriate to save him from having to endure another embarrassing moment. “Umm…Thank y-"
"Appa, Appa look! Ice cweam! Can we get some? Pease?" Inhwan tugged at his father's sleeve, pointing across the street at an ice cream shop that had caught his attention. The boy's eyes darted briefly in Junsu's direction, and he quickly amended. "Please?" Yoochun hesitated.
"I guess it's ok..." Instantly a huge grin spread across his son's face.
"And Umma will come too, right?" Inhwan turned his attention to the other man, not even considering that the answer might be 'no'. In his little mind, this was a statement, not a question. Junsu smiled, but debated with himself internally. He really shouldn't be interrupting their time together, since he knew Yoochun was busy a lot of the time anyway, and even though he was missing church today to run errands, it would probably be better if he went home and got some work done, but... for some reason he knew he wanted to stay. He liked Yoochun, the man tried hard to provide for his son, and he was… cute, warm. He made people feel comfortable. Junsu looked up and watched Yoochun shrug.
"Ice cream?" The other questioned, a slightly hopeful look on his face. Junsu studied the man's face for a minute. He really seemed like a good, honest guy. A good father. Oh well, Junsu thought, he did like sweets.
"Alright, but we have to make it quick ok?" Junsu directed his answer to Inhwan, suddenly feeling a bit nervous. Inhwan turned around immediately, headed toward the other end of the street, pulling his father along by the hand. As Junsu came to walk beside the two of them, he reached out and grabbed the other man's hand as well.
"Umma an Appa getting me ice cweam!" He called out in a cute, childish voice, swinging his little arms as he went. Both men blushed, looking anywhere but at each other, Junsu straight ahead, Yoochun at the ground.
"Inhwan, you shouldn't call a man Umma ok? It's disrespectful." Through his embarrassment, Yoochun was secretly pleased that Junsu had agreed to come, even if that meant he did have put up with Inhwan’s apparent issue with gender confusion. Inhwan didn't seem to understand the significance of his Appa’s statement. He simply smiled up innocently at his father.
"Appa and appa then?" Yoochun didn't know what to say to that.
--
The ice cream shop was fairly empty of people, just as the park had been. They all got ice cream, and Yoochun refused to let Junsu pay, giving the excuse that Junsu was already taking time out of his day to go with them and shouldn’t have to pay for it. Yoochun had initially ordered a small cup of chocolate ice cream, but ended up giving it to Inhwan when the young boy accidentally spilled his own. After cleaning up the mess with the ‘way too small’ napkins they had he sat across from Junsu, with Inhwan happily downing chocolate next to him. Junsu slowly licked away at his own cone of vanilla, his eyes seemingly stuck on the young man across from him.
“Do you always take him out with you on the weekends?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah most of the time. It’s good right? I just worry sometimes that maybe he doesn’t have enough fun or get to do as much as other kids. Plus I don’t usually have work on the weekends… Anyway he seems to enjoy himself.” Yoochun smiled, as he always did when he was talking about his son. Junsu nodded, glancing at the boy whose face was now creatively decorated with varying amounts of chocolate.
“Oh, I was wondering…” Yoochun started, suddenly thoughtful. Junsu looked up.
“Hmmm?”
“Well you seem to be pretty good with kids. I had some questions about some stuff that Inhwan’s been doing, but Jaejoong shi’s been pretty busy and I really don’t want to bother him about it…” He hesitated, biting his lip a little. “Maybe… could we get together some time and talk about it? I’d really appreciate the help. I’m not very good at this ‘dad’ thing.” Yoochun admitted, smiling hopefully. Junsu wasn’t sure why, but it made him more happy than it should have to think that Yoochun would trust his advice.
“Oh sure. When do you want to meet? Obviously I’m busy during the week, but I get off work around five most days…” He turned and began to rummage through his pockets. Finding a pen, he reached for one of the left over napkins and penned down his cell phone number in much the same way that Jaejoong had done when he’d first met Yoochun. Once finished, he slid the napkin across to Yoochun. “Here’s my number. Go ahead and call me whenever you like.” It took Yoochun a couple seconds to respond, because he’d suddenly gotten distracted, watching the other man. Finally he snapped out of it and shook his head a little, bringing his attention back.
“What? Oh, thanks.” Junsu smiled, and there was nothing Yoochun could do but smile back. He knew he was stretching the truth a bit, he really didn’t have many specific questions about Inhwan, though he could use any help he could get, but it would be nice to know that if he needed something Junsu would be available.
“Sure. Just give me a call.”
-end chapter 4-
(alright yea, so you kind of have to squint for the yoosu, but it's getting there! i promise more of them and less focus on Inhwan, but come on people he's so adorable i just couldn't resist. i've also altered the plot for this just a little, and i'm sorry to announce that Boa will be returning to make everyone that much more angry later, but there will be a few chapters of fluffy romance before that. and jaeho will probably show up briefly a few more times as well. hope you liked it! im trying to get back on top of updating, but i can't make any promises that you won't have to wait months for the next chapter. thanks for bearing with me! comments make the world go round!)