LOVE BORN FROM LIES PART [1/3]
Title: Love Born From Lies Part [1/3]
Pairing: YunJae
Beta: kot_kendra
Word Count: 4,540 words
Rating: PG-13
Length: Triple Shot
Genre: Romance; angst; general
Summary:
Yunho has been in an online relationship with another man for the past ten months. The weird thing is, he didn’t even know about it. But now that he does, he finds that even the most awkward of situations can eventually lead to love.
NOTE: Two part hree part YJ fic. Very loosely based off of the show Catfish. Slightly nerdy Yunho, but not so obvious.
==
University student and waiter Jung Yunho was suddenly seeing stars that morning when an unfamiliar customer, a lanky man with a handsome face and curly black hair came up to him while he was serving one of his tables and asked:
“Are you Jung Yunho?”
He had nodded and smiled at the man, about to ask him where he would like to be seated, only to get a mouthful of fist into his face instead. He could vaguely remember his glasses flying off of his head at the force of the hit and the collective gasps of the stunned customers and fellow employees as they watched him fall to the floor, right on his tail bone, his head smacking the back of a wooden chair on the way down.
He reached up and grabbed his now bloody nose, moaning in pain and shock.
Before he or his fellow workers could react, the shorter man turned to leave. But not before glaring down at him with the most evil stare imaginable and spoke coldly:
“You don’t deserve him. He’s worth more than that, you asshole. I hope you rot in hell.”
And with that his assailant was gone, leaving Yunho totally confused…and writhing in pain.
==
And now here he stood, twiddling his thumbs in front of this small music store downtown, wondering how the heck he was going to explain this.
It had been a week since his encounter with a very, VERY disgruntled customer at the café and his face had still seen better days. The black eye had almost faded away but the bandage over his nose was very much evident. He had spent a couple of days afterward, trying to figure out what hell he did to deserve that punch.
He had every intention to find the bastard and straighten things out; especially since it almost cost him his job and earned him a trip to the hospital. However, he was more curious as to the reason ‘why’ he had been so ruthlessly attacked at his job.
What the HELL had he done to deserve it?!
He had wracked his brain, trying to remember any girls he had broken up with or might have hit on recently that might have enticed another man to come after him and start a fight. But he couldn’t really think of any. His last girlfriend was in his last year of high school, about three years ago, and they had ended up on good terms. Heck, they didn’t even last more than a month, so he couldn’t imagine her putting a bounty out for his head. All of his relationships, the very few that he had, had ended pretty well anyway, so as far as he knew, there were no bitter girlfriends to speak of.
Plus, he could distinctly remember his assailant mentioning a ‘he’. This truly surprised him as well. As far as he knew, he hadn’t made any enemies in the male world either. He wasn’t the typical, popular jock in high school. Quite the contrary, despite his height and build, he was more of the academic type who preferred doing long mathematical equations and only played sports in his spare time. But in general, people saw him as easy-going, likeable person. So, he couldn’t think of any male that would want to beat him up or would want to enact some of kind of revenge.
Perhaps he thought he was someone else? No, he couldn’t have. The guy clearly knew his name and even called him out. And he definitely looked angry enough to kill, like he clearly knew who his target was.
“You don’t deserve him.”
That phrase circled over and over in his head. Who was he talking about? What did he mean he didn’t deserve him? He didn’t know how “he” is! Why hell is he even bothering with it at all?!
While he had acknowledged secretly the fact that he was most likely bisexual when he was a junior in high school, he had never been with another man before. Much less had a relationship with one, and had only been attracted to a select few males in his life. He much preferred women anyway, so once again, he didn’t see how he had deserved that punch.
He pondered over this for a couple of days. Until he finally found the answer when he had coincidentally checked one of his old email addresses…
…needless to say, he had been furious with what he found there…
Apparently, one of his now-former roommate, Choi HyunBin, had somehow magically gotten a hold of the password to one of his old email addresses (one he rarely checked anymore) and, for the past ten months they were living together, had set up a profile and been sending pictures of Yunho to a popular dating website as a joke. At first it was just going to be a laugh against Yunho; to set him up on some blind date with a random girl or guy as one big joke between roommates.
But HyunBin began to want something more out of it.
He started to find some kind of sick, enjoyment in getting away with the breaking the hearts and souls of these people who had put their hearts out on their sleeves. He had kept the profile going. While most of the information that HyunBin used had been true some of it was done right ridiculous. Making Yunho into some unrealistic, fantasy man, who was a soccer and basketball star (not true), studying to become a lawyer (not true either, though he could have) and a sexy, underwear model who had traveled to Europe and South America for photoshoots (which, of course, was a huge lie) and had messaged many women and men, only to break their hearts one by one, while his friends and he laughed their butts off. He would fill their hearts full of love and then ask them out on a date and never show up. A lot of times while him and his buddies watched from another table or outside of the restaurant.
And he had been doing this for almost a year. Using HIS name, HIS personal information, and HIS photos.
He had been so livid when he had confronted HyunBin and had kicked the man out of the apartment, which he resulted in even more bruises on both of their faces and marking the end of their so-called friendship. So, yes, he was angry. Angry to the core.
But the anger wasn’t just for himself.
It had angered him more knowing that his roommate and once high school friend would do that someone. Not matter what their sexual preference was. Messing with a person’s feelings like that was unforgivable in Yunho’s eyes. And there was no way he would be to look his old roommate in the eye anymore, without being filled with disgust.
Especially with what he read in those emails…
While HyunBin and his other goonies had tricked a lot of people (both male and female) during that time, there was one email address that had been used the most. The email address was named bornfreeonekiss and he later found out through the emails just who the man’s name was:
Jaejoong. Kim Jaejoong.
His former roommate had apparently liked this one, and continued to message to him for almost the full ten months. He had read the hundreds emails and instant messages between them. The words ‘I love you’ and ‘I want to see you’ had been used quite a lot. They had even talked about meeting up, going out on dates, and even having a future together. Which only broke Yunho’s heart more, knowing that this oblivious man hadn’t known a thing, and that he was only being played. And it bothered him so much at how his photos were being used to hurt this person.
This man, Jaejoong, obviously liked him a lot. Well, “him” as in this made-up person that HyunBin created using his face and body. He had even trusted this fake “him” enough to send pictures of himself and, over time, more personal information.
And when he opened the pictures in the emails, he immediately knew why HyunBin had been interested in this man the most.
Because Kim Jaejoong was a beauty. On his screen were many pictures taken of a slender man who was about the same age as he was, with full pouty lips and large, doe-like eyes. His nose was as cute as button and his skin was pale the moonlight and looked smooth to the touch. His silky dark brown hair was short and his long bangs swooped across one side of his face and rested those adorably rounded cheeks.
By all accounts, Jaejoong was perfect. Both masculine and feminine qualities all rolled into one being. And even HyunBin, the sick freak that he was, couldn’t help but be a little interested in this man. And despite constantly claiming how he wasn’t interested in man, his roommate had continued this fake online relationship with Jaejoong for months, until just two weeks before Yunho had had his lights punched out by that curly headed assailant.
An assailant that he had immediately recognized in one of the photos Jaejoong had sent HyunBin. One of the pictures was Jaejoong and his attacker sitting side by side, and even though both smiled widely at the camera, his attacker had his arm wrapped around the smaller man protectively. Below the picture were the words:
To: uknow_yunho
From: bornfreeonekiss
Me and Chunnie!! XD My dorky soulmate (not that kind of soulmate! ^^)
Sent 10/21/12
Now, he knew why the man had come up and randomly punched him. Just a week before, HyunBin and Jaejoong had set up a date to meet and HyunBin, of course, never showed up. When Jaejoong had tried to email him, his crazy roommate had ignored him, only to reply just a couple of days after to say that he never loved Jaejoong and that it was over.
So, it did make sense. This “Chunnie” had thought he had broken his best friend’s heart. That he had lied and trampled over the beautiful man and made it him out to be a joke. A feeling that Yunho himself completely understood. Especially after seeing those pictures of Jaejoong and how sweet and honest the man was through those emails. He would have felt and done the same thing. Thus, Yunho could no longer feel any resentment towards the man at the café.
Still, it would be nice if he could at least have a chance to set the record straight.
And thus, here he was. Standing outside of Kim Jaejoong’s workplace, and not completely sure what he was going to say. He had been in awkward situations before, but nothing like this. He had no idea what to the say to the person he had supposedly been dating for the past ten months.
‘Ummm look. I know I look like the guy who broke your heart but I’m not. I just look like him. See, my ex-roommate created this whole profile using my name and address, so who you were talking to wasn’t me. I had no idea and I’ve never even talked toyou before. So all that was said and went on in the last ten months was a lie…and now, not only are you heartbroken but you’ve also been lied to. And now, I’ve just made it worse. So…yea…want to have some coffee with me sometime?’
Yunho ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Maybe it was best if Jaejoong didn’t know the truth. Maybe it would be better if he just went on believing that it had been real, even if it had ended badly. It couldn’t be any worse than finding out that the whole relationship was a hoax, was it? Wasn’t he being selfish for wanting to clear his name by telling the truth?
Yunho could have smacked himself right then. No, he wasn’t the type of person to let this go on. Kim Jaejoong deserved to know the truth. And Yunho was going to be the one to set things right.
“Well, here goes nothing,” he sighed as he pushed open the glass doors, a bell sounding off his arrival.
The second he looked up, he immediately met the wide eyes of intended target. Yunho’s breath caught his throat as he took in the pretty face, the broad shoulders, and slender waist encased in tight, long sleeved black shirt and skinny jeans. Kim Jaejoong was even more beautiful in person. With that soft skin and those plumb lips, he looked so angelic and unreal. The taller man coughed nervously, trying to ignore the rush of blood that had been sent straight to his lower region at the mere sight of this man.
‘Yup, I am definitely bi,’ he had concluded, ‘that or Kim Jaejoong is just that good-looking.’
The angelic man just stared at him, his face sheet white like he had just seen a ghost.
“Y-y-you…” Jaejoong just managed to squeak out, still trying to rid himself of the initial shock at seeing him.
Yunho’s heart skipped a beat. His voice was just as beautiful as he was.
“Your name is Kim Jaejoong, right?” He smiled gently as he walked towards the counter, trying to act ‘cool’ and unfazed by the awkwardness of this situation, “I’m sure you know my-”
His answer was met an array of flying CD cases. Luckily, some crazy part of his mind had been expecting this reaction, and he was able to just barely dodge the CDs, that were determined to slice him up. He held up his arms, trying to protect his face.
“What the hell?!” he yelled, dodging the endless amount of CDs that Jaejoong was pulling out from behind the counter.
“That should be my line, you asshole! What hell are you doing here?!” the effeminate man cursed, “GET OUT!”
Yunho ducked behind one of the CD holders, as one of the CDs whipped right passed his head like a ninja star one of those old Japanese dramas.
“Hold on! I just---hey watch it! Let me explain!!” He yelled, trying to get the other man to listen to him, before he tried to kill him.
“Let you explain?! Are you kidding me?! You already explained enough, Mr. Jung Yunho!” The man continued to fling anything he could at him, his flushed red with anger, his hair disarray, and if Yunho hadn’t been running for his life, he would have thought that he looked extremely sexy.
“LOOK I’M NOT THE PERSON YOU THINK I AM!”
“THEN WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! YOU ARE JUNG YUNHO AREN’T YOU? HAVE YOU BEEN LYING TO ME THIS WHOLE TIME. YOU JERK!”
“I AM Jung Yunho, and I know WHO you think I am! But I’m not him!” Yunho yelled, jumping out from his hiding place, hoping he could somehow make him understand.
“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!” the smaller barked as he pulled back to fling another CD at his head.
“Listen!” Yunho exclaimed, reaching out with both of his hands to grab onto Jaejoong’s shoulders, stopping the man in mid-throw. He stared into those eyes that were hazed with anger and un-fallen tears.
“I don’t want to hear it! Just go away…just go, please?”
Yunho’s heart broke once again at this, and had to prevent himself from reaching up and whipping those tears away, but he figured that would not have turned out well for him right now. Instead, his eyes desperately pleaded with man below him.
“Please just listen. Just for a second, please let me explain,” the smaller man’s teary eyes glared back at him intensely, boring into his soul, trying to find any hint of malice within him.
Jaejoong must have sense his sincerity because his body starting to relax, his expression turning from furious to lost and confused.
“Please?”
The smaller man just sighed and nodded softly, placing the CDs on the counter as a truce.
==
“And well, that’s it.”
Yunho sighed as he sat across from the beautiful store manager at a small coffee shop just across the street from the music store. He had just finished telling Jaejoong about HyunBin and how the man had used Yunho’s account and photos in order to seduce and trick other people on that website, including Jaejoong himself. That HyunBin had used all of his personal information and pictures so as not give away who he really was.
Jaejoong listened intently, silently. He never interrupted, which Yunho was grateful. But now that he was finished, he had expected Jaejoong get even more upset. To scream, to cry out, to throw things, and even start accusing him, blaming him for telling him the truth; but he didn’t. He just sat there with his arms folded, his face expressionless.
“I see,” the man finally said, his eyes now gazing out of the café window, watching the rain as it fell, “so it was all a lie.”
Yunho winced at the emotionless tone. He really felt like such a heel now, for making this man go through one more heartbreak. It was bad enough believing that the person you loved ditched and rejected you, but to find out that it was all a joke to begin with, just the play with your feelings was worse.
“Yea,” Yunho said softly, his eyes never leaving the other’s form, “I’m sorry. I wish I had caught this sooner. Then it wouldn’t have gotten this far.”
“So you didn’t know about this at all? Did you?” that lovely head snapped back at him, leering at him.
“No,” Yunho said confidently, knowing he had nothing to hide, “I just found out a couple of weeks ago. I went through my old email and found the emails you sent. That’s when I knew…”
Though, he had conveniently left out the part where Jaejoong’s best friend had punched him at work. Since the manager probably had no knowledge of it of it ever happening.
Jaejoong nodded, once again, finding the sincerity in Yunho’s eyes.
“I guess…I just…I don’t know what to say…” he whispered, clenching his folded arms close to his chest.
“It’s okay,” the taller man cooed gently, “you don’t have to say anything. I know this must be hard for you. And I’m sorry to have made it worse. I’m sure that you hate me right now for telling this to you. Looking like the guy who had hurt you and telling you this. I just, I just wanted you to know the truth. To know that I would never do something like that.”
I would never, ever do that to you…
Trying to ignore the way his chest tightened at the thought of Jaejoong hating him, Yunho suddenly found interest in staring at his full cup of now cold coffee on the table. He jumped when he felt a soft hand on his own and jerked his head up at meet Jaejoong’s warm eyes. He hoped he wasn’t the only one who felt the sudden spark of electricity that through his body the second that hand touched his.
“No, please don’t be sorry. I’m grateful that you told me,” the smaller man said, smiling shyly, “you are just as much as of a victim as I was, and still, you were willing to come and find me and tell me the truth. I am truly grateful, Yunho-shii.”
Yunho was amazed; amazed at the amount of understanding that this man before him had. It was no doubt that the man had his feisty side (noting the amount of broken CDs in the music store that moment), but in those eyes at that very moment, held a sense of wisdom and kindness that Yunho couldn’t help but admire.
“Besides, you’re the one who should hate me right now.”
The taller brunet’s eyes widen at that comment, “Wh-what? Why? You didn’t do anything wrong! Why would I hate you?!”
“Because I probably look so pathetic to you right now,” the man let out a bitter laugh and looked everywhere else but at Yunho’s face, “having a relationship with a person I never physically met. Sending him messages and pictures and telling him how I lo-liked him, and I never even met him…and now that I have, I found out that person doesn’t even know me and that it was all just one big hoax...?
Jaejoong ran his hand through his bangs and let out a long breath.
“I should have noticed something was up when you, I mean, he refused to meet up with me. He kept making up excuses for not seeing me for the longest time. At first I was suspicious. But when he kept sending those photos and calling me on the phone, hearing his voice, I just let it go. Thinking that it was just the constant traveling that kept him away. But now, I know I should’ve done more…God, it’s just so embarrassing. I must look like a total fool to you right now. Such an idiot…”
Unable to stand hearing this man put himself down like that, Yunho twisted his hand around so that Jaejoong’s hand was placed into his. He squeezed the small hand gently, turning the smaller man’s attention back to him as he spoke:
“You are NOT pathetic or a fool, Jaejoong-shii. It doesn’t matter how this happened, because you obviously liked him…or well, me, I guess. You have every right to be upset. You trusted this person, trusted that it was real. You loved him so much. I could tell in your emails” (he paused for a second to see how Jaejoong would react to knowing that he had read their emails but when the man didn’t say a word, he pressed on) “And you were lied to. It’s not your fault. So, please don’t treat yourself that way, okay?”
Yunho searched Jaejoong’s face, watching the older man chewed his lip, trying to stop the tears from coming. He obviously did not want to cry in front of Yunho and was fighting hard not to appear weak in front of him. And it only made Yunho want to hold the man even more as he watched him struggle to keep it together.
“Thank you, Yunho-shii,” Jaejoong choked out, smiling a smile that didn’t seem to reach his eyes, “you’re so nice and sweet. Even though, this must be awkward for you too. Finding out you were dating a guy you didn’t even know.”
“It’s okay. If I had to have a secret boyfriend, I’m so happy that it was you,” Yunho said with a smirked and winked seductively at the man across from him, trying to lighten the mood.
Jaejoong blushed deeply and giggled softly into his hand at that comment, which Yunho thought was just so damn adorable.
“I’m glad,” he chuckled, “and your roommate, that asshole. You said his name was HyunBin right? A Choi HyunBin?”
The taller man was rather shunned when he heard his former roommate’s full name flow from the man’s lips.
“Yes. How did you know that?”
“A guy named Choi HyunBin used to work at the music store about a year ago. When I found out he had been stealing some CDs, I fired him. I wonder if maybe he was the same guy. Is he a tall, chubby guy with blonde hair?”
Yunho nodded. Yep, that was indeed his roommate.
That really made sense as to why HyunBin had kept his relationship with Jaejoong going for a long time. He must have been thrilled to find out his old manager who had gotten him fired was on that very same site. Maybe he had even known all along and had every intention on enacting his revenge.
Just thinking it made Yunho’s blood boil with rage.
“I guess it all makes sense now…”
“The bastard.”
“I hope you socked him good when you found out.”
“Oh trust me, I did.”
“I’m glad. Is that how you got the bruises on your face? Looks like he hit you pretty hard,” the smaller man said with deep concern.
Yunho hesitated. He wasn’t going to say who it was (it being Jaejoong's best friend), but he wasn’t going to lie entirely, not to Jaejoong who had already been lied to enough, “No, I got it from a very angry customer a couple of weeks ago.”
“Oh I see. Must not have liked your service very much huh?” the man teased but did not question more.
“Yea, must not have.”
As the conversation died down, both men stared into each other’s eyes. That is when Yunho noticed that his and Jaejoong’s hands were still intertwined and had been like that for the last couple of minutes. Jaejoong finally noticed this too, and blushed cutely, before pulling his hand back. Yunho had to force back a disappointed sigh as the man’s hand left his.
“Well, I think I better go. My break is almost over,” and that with, the slender beauty step out of his chair, grabbing his umbrella and turned towards Yunho, “it was nice to finally meet you, Jung Yunho-shii. The real you. Thank you for being so kind to me.”
“N-no problem,” Yunho stammered out.
He really didn’t want Jaejoong to leave. Despite the awkwardness of the situation, he really liked being in Jaejoong’s presence. He liked hearing the man’s voice and watching his movements and expressions. And man, if he didn’t know any better, he’d say that he was totally smitten with this man. His secret online boyfriend of ten months.
As Jaejoong turned to walk out the door, Yunho called out to him: “Jaejoong-shii!”
The man turned around in surprise as Yunho walked up to him, holding out a piece of paper in his hand. Jaejoong looked down at the piece of paper, looking rather confused and unsure. Yunho rubbed the back of his head nervously, his voice slowly gaining confident as he spoke:
“I know this is kind of a weird thing to do. I know you have my email address, but I’m sure you don’t want anything to do with it now. And I just, I just want to know that you can call me any time, if you want to talk.”
He then slowly reached out and planted the piece of paper in Jaejoong’s empty hand.
“Just let me know okay?”
Jaejoong looked down at the series of numbers in his hand and placed it in his pocket.
“Thank you, I will.”
As the man turned out the door, he looked back up at the taller man and smiled: “Goodbye, Jung Yunho.”
And with that he was out the door. Yunho smiled back sadly.
“Hope to see you around, Kim Jaejoong.”
Yes, he was totally smitten. And he had hoped beyond hope that when Jaejoong had walked out of the door, that it wasn’t going to be the last time he saw the beautiful man. Because maybe, just maybe, this cruel joke that was played against both of them might turn out for the better. And they could both get through it together.
Yunho could only hope.
TBC
==
===>Part 2
Let me know what you think of the 1st part. I hope I got both YunJae emotions right in this. He is obviously distraught and upset about it, but he isn't really comfortable showing those emotions in front of Yunho. He's just found out that that the Jung Yunho he knows, is someone else and doesn't even know him or even talked to him, and might be a totally different person. And while, Jaejoong kind of knows Yunho at this point but to Yunho, he hasn't known him for long (only after reading those emails) and is more of a stranger at this point (but one that he is obviously attracted to). So, both of them aren't really sure how to react to each other. So if it seems kind of awkward, than that's why ^^
Thanks for reading :)
Pairing: YunJae
Beta: kot_kendra
Word Count: 4,540 words
Rating: PG-13
Length: Triple Shot
Genre: Romance; angst; general
Summary:
Yunho has been in an online relationship with another man for the past ten months. The weird thing is, he didn’t even know about it. But now that he does, he finds that even the most awkward of situations can eventually lead to love.
NOTE: Two part hree part YJ fic. Very loosely based off of the show Catfish. Slightly nerdy Yunho, but not so obvious.
==
University student and waiter Jung Yunho was suddenly seeing stars that morning when an unfamiliar customer, a lanky man with a handsome face and curly black hair came up to him while he was serving one of his tables and asked:
“Are you Jung Yunho?”
He had nodded and smiled at the man, about to ask him where he would like to be seated, only to get a mouthful of fist into his face instead. He could vaguely remember his glasses flying off of his head at the force of the hit and the collective gasps of the stunned customers and fellow employees as they watched him fall to the floor, right on his tail bone, his head smacking the back of a wooden chair on the way down.
He reached up and grabbed his now bloody nose, moaning in pain and shock.
Before he or his fellow workers could react, the shorter man turned to leave. But not before glaring down at him with the most evil stare imaginable and spoke coldly:
“You don’t deserve him. He’s worth more than that, you asshole. I hope you rot in hell.”
And with that his assailant was gone, leaving Yunho totally confused…and writhing in pain.
==
And now here he stood, twiddling his thumbs in front of this small music store downtown, wondering how the heck he was going to explain this.
It had been a week since his encounter with a very, VERY disgruntled customer at the café and his face had still seen better days. The black eye had almost faded away but the bandage over his nose was very much evident. He had spent a couple of days afterward, trying to figure out what hell he did to deserve that punch.
He had every intention to find the bastard and straighten things out; especially since it almost cost him his job and earned him a trip to the hospital. However, he was more curious as to the reason ‘why’ he had been so ruthlessly attacked at his job.
What the HELL had he done to deserve it?!
He had wracked his brain, trying to remember any girls he had broken up with or might have hit on recently that might have enticed another man to come after him and start a fight. But he couldn’t really think of any. His last girlfriend was in his last year of high school, about three years ago, and they had ended up on good terms. Heck, they didn’t even last more than a month, so he couldn’t imagine her putting a bounty out for his head. All of his relationships, the very few that he had, had ended pretty well anyway, so as far as he knew, there were no bitter girlfriends to speak of.
Plus, he could distinctly remember his assailant mentioning a ‘he’. This truly surprised him as well. As far as he knew, he hadn’t made any enemies in the male world either. He wasn’t the typical, popular jock in high school. Quite the contrary, despite his height and build, he was more of the academic type who preferred doing long mathematical equations and only played sports in his spare time. But in general, people saw him as easy-going, likeable person. So, he couldn’t think of any male that would want to beat him up or would want to enact some of kind of revenge.
Perhaps he thought he was someone else? No, he couldn’t have. The guy clearly knew his name and even called him out. And he definitely looked angry enough to kill, like he clearly knew who his target was.
“You don’t deserve him.”
That phrase circled over and over in his head. Who was he talking about? What did he mean he didn’t deserve him? He didn’t know how “he” is! Why hell is he even bothering with it at all?!
While he had acknowledged secretly the fact that he was most likely bisexual when he was a junior in high school, he had never been with another man before. Much less had a relationship with one, and had only been attracted to a select few males in his life. He much preferred women anyway, so once again, he didn’t see how he had deserved that punch.
He pondered over this for a couple of days. Until he finally found the answer when he had coincidentally checked one of his old email addresses…
…needless to say, he had been furious with what he found there…
Apparently, one of his now-former roommate, Choi HyunBin, had somehow magically gotten a hold of the password to one of his old email addresses (one he rarely checked anymore) and, for the past ten months they were living together, had set up a profile and been sending pictures of Yunho to a popular dating website as a joke. At first it was just going to be a laugh against Yunho; to set him up on some blind date with a random girl or guy as one big joke between roommates.
But HyunBin began to want something more out of it.
He started to find some kind of sick, enjoyment in getting away with the breaking the hearts and souls of these people who had put their hearts out on their sleeves. He had kept the profile going. While most of the information that HyunBin used had been true some of it was done right ridiculous. Making Yunho into some unrealistic, fantasy man, who was a soccer and basketball star (not true), studying to become a lawyer (not true either, though he could have) and a sexy, underwear model who had traveled to Europe and South America for photoshoots (which, of course, was a huge lie) and had messaged many women and men, only to break their hearts one by one, while his friends and he laughed their butts off. He would fill their hearts full of love and then ask them out on a date and never show up. A lot of times while him and his buddies watched from another table or outside of the restaurant.
And he had been doing this for almost a year. Using HIS name, HIS personal information, and HIS photos.
He had been so livid when he had confronted HyunBin and had kicked the man out of the apartment, which he resulted in even more bruises on both of their faces and marking the end of their so-called friendship. So, yes, he was angry. Angry to the core.
But the anger wasn’t just for himself.
It had angered him more knowing that his roommate and once high school friend would do that someone. Not matter what their sexual preference was. Messing with a person’s feelings like that was unforgivable in Yunho’s eyes. And there was no way he would be to look his old roommate in the eye anymore, without being filled with disgust.
Especially with what he read in those emails…
While HyunBin and his other goonies had tricked a lot of people (both male and female) during that time, there was one email address that had been used the most. The email address was named bornfreeonekiss and he later found out through the emails just who the man’s name was:
Jaejoong. Kim Jaejoong.
His former roommate had apparently liked this one, and continued to message to him for almost the full ten months. He had read the hundreds emails and instant messages between them. The words ‘I love you’ and ‘I want to see you’ had been used quite a lot. They had even talked about meeting up, going out on dates, and even having a future together. Which only broke Yunho’s heart more, knowing that this oblivious man hadn’t known a thing, and that he was only being played. And it bothered him so much at how his photos were being used to hurt this person.
This man, Jaejoong, obviously liked him a lot. Well, “him” as in this made-up person that HyunBin created using his face and body. He had even trusted this fake “him” enough to send pictures of himself and, over time, more personal information.
And when he opened the pictures in the emails, he immediately knew why HyunBin had been interested in this man the most.
Because Kim Jaejoong was a beauty. On his screen were many pictures taken of a slender man who was about the same age as he was, with full pouty lips and large, doe-like eyes. His nose was as cute as button and his skin was pale the moonlight and looked smooth to the touch. His silky dark brown hair was short and his long bangs swooped across one side of his face and rested those adorably rounded cheeks.
By all accounts, Jaejoong was perfect. Both masculine and feminine qualities all rolled into one being. And even HyunBin, the sick freak that he was, couldn’t help but be a little interested in this man. And despite constantly claiming how he wasn’t interested in man, his roommate had continued this fake online relationship with Jaejoong for months, until just two weeks before Yunho had had his lights punched out by that curly headed assailant.
An assailant that he had immediately recognized in one of the photos Jaejoong had sent HyunBin. One of the pictures was Jaejoong and his attacker sitting side by side, and even though both smiled widely at the camera, his attacker had his arm wrapped around the smaller man protectively. Below the picture were the words:
To: uknow_yunho
From: bornfreeonekiss
Me and Chunnie!! XD My dorky soulmate (not that kind of soulmate! ^^)
Sent 10/21/12
Now, he knew why the man had come up and randomly punched him. Just a week before, HyunBin and Jaejoong had set up a date to meet and HyunBin, of course, never showed up. When Jaejoong had tried to email him, his crazy roommate had ignored him, only to reply just a couple of days after to say that he never loved Jaejoong and that it was over.
So, it did make sense. This “Chunnie” had thought he had broken his best friend’s heart. That he had lied and trampled over the beautiful man and made it him out to be a joke. A feeling that Yunho himself completely understood. Especially after seeing those pictures of Jaejoong and how sweet and honest the man was through those emails. He would have felt and done the same thing. Thus, Yunho could no longer feel any resentment towards the man at the café.
Still, it would be nice if he could at least have a chance to set the record straight.
And thus, here he was. Standing outside of Kim Jaejoong’s workplace, and not completely sure what he was going to say. He had been in awkward situations before, but nothing like this. He had no idea what to the say to the person he had supposedly been dating for the past ten months.
‘Ummm look. I know I look like the guy who broke your heart but I’m not. I just look like him. See, my ex-roommate created this whole profile using my name and address, so who you were talking to wasn’t me. I had no idea and I’ve never even talked toyou before. So all that was said and went on in the last ten months was a lie…and now, not only are you heartbroken but you’ve also been lied to. And now, I’ve just made it worse. So…yea…want to have some coffee with me sometime?’
Yunho ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Maybe it was best if Jaejoong didn’t know the truth. Maybe it would be better if he just went on believing that it had been real, even if it had ended badly. It couldn’t be any worse than finding out that the whole relationship was a hoax, was it? Wasn’t he being selfish for wanting to clear his name by telling the truth?
Yunho could have smacked himself right then. No, he wasn’t the type of person to let this go on. Kim Jaejoong deserved to know the truth. And Yunho was going to be the one to set things right.
“Well, here goes nothing,” he sighed as he pushed open the glass doors, a bell sounding off his arrival.
The second he looked up, he immediately met the wide eyes of intended target. Yunho’s breath caught his throat as he took in the pretty face, the broad shoulders, and slender waist encased in tight, long sleeved black shirt and skinny jeans. Kim Jaejoong was even more beautiful in person. With that soft skin and those plumb lips, he looked so angelic and unreal. The taller man coughed nervously, trying to ignore the rush of blood that had been sent straight to his lower region at the mere sight of this man.
‘Yup, I am definitely bi,’ he had concluded, ‘that or Kim Jaejoong is just that good-looking.’
The angelic man just stared at him, his face sheet white like he had just seen a ghost.
“Y-y-you…” Jaejoong just managed to squeak out, still trying to rid himself of the initial shock at seeing him.
Yunho’s heart skipped a beat. His voice was just as beautiful as he was.
“Your name is Kim Jaejoong, right?” He smiled gently as he walked towards the counter, trying to act ‘cool’ and unfazed by the awkwardness of this situation, “I’m sure you know my-”
His answer was met an array of flying CD cases. Luckily, some crazy part of his mind had been expecting this reaction, and he was able to just barely dodge the CDs, that were determined to slice him up. He held up his arms, trying to protect his face.
“What the hell?!” he yelled, dodging the endless amount of CDs that Jaejoong was pulling out from behind the counter.
“That should be my line, you asshole! What hell are you doing here?!” the effeminate man cursed, “GET OUT!”
Yunho ducked behind one of the CD holders, as one of the CDs whipped right passed his head like a ninja star one of those old Japanese dramas.
“Hold on! I just---hey watch it! Let me explain!!” He yelled, trying to get the other man to listen to him, before he tried to kill him.
“Let you explain?! Are you kidding me?! You already explained enough, Mr. Jung Yunho!” The man continued to fling anything he could at him, his flushed red with anger, his hair disarray, and if Yunho hadn’t been running for his life, he would have thought that he looked extremely sexy.
“LOOK I’M NOT THE PERSON YOU THINK I AM!”
“THEN WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! YOU ARE JUNG YUNHO AREN’T YOU? HAVE YOU BEEN LYING TO ME THIS WHOLE TIME. YOU JERK!”
“I AM Jung Yunho, and I know WHO you think I am! But I’m not him!” Yunho yelled, jumping out from his hiding place, hoping he could somehow make him understand.
“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!” the smaller barked as he pulled back to fling another CD at his head.
“Listen!” Yunho exclaimed, reaching out with both of his hands to grab onto Jaejoong’s shoulders, stopping the man in mid-throw. He stared into those eyes that were hazed with anger and un-fallen tears.
“I don’t want to hear it! Just go away…just go, please?”
Yunho’s heart broke once again at this, and had to prevent himself from reaching up and whipping those tears away, but he figured that would not have turned out well for him right now. Instead, his eyes desperately pleaded with man below him.
“Please just listen. Just for a second, please let me explain,” the smaller man’s teary eyes glared back at him intensely, boring into his soul, trying to find any hint of malice within him.
Jaejoong must have sense his sincerity because his body starting to relax, his expression turning from furious to lost and confused.
“Please?”
The smaller man just sighed and nodded softly, placing the CDs on the counter as a truce.
==
“And well, that’s it.”
Yunho sighed as he sat across from the beautiful store manager at a small coffee shop just across the street from the music store. He had just finished telling Jaejoong about HyunBin and how the man had used Yunho’s account and photos in order to seduce and trick other people on that website, including Jaejoong himself. That HyunBin had used all of his personal information and pictures so as not give away who he really was.
Jaejoong listened intently, silently. He never interrupted, which Yunho was grateful. But now that he was finished, he had expected Jaejoong get even more upset. To scream, to cry out, to throw things, and even start accusing him, blaming him for telling him the truth; but he didn’t. He just sat there with his arms folded, his face expressionless.
“I see,” the man finally said, his eyes now gazing out of the café window, watching the rain as it fell, “so it was all a lie.”
Yunho winced at the emotionless tone. He really felt like such a heel now, for making this man go through one more heartbreak. It was bad enough believing that the person you loved ditched and rejected you, but to find out that it was all a joke to begin with, just the play with your feelings was worse.
“Yea,” Yunho said softly, his eyes never leaving the other’s form, “I’m sorry. I wish I had caught this sooner. Then it wouldn’t have gotten this far.”
“So you didn’t know about this at all? Did you?” that lovely head snapped back at him, leering at him.
“No,” Yunho said confidently, knowing he had nothing to hide, “I just found out a couple of weeks ago. I went through my old email and found the emails you sent. That’s when I knew…”
Though, he had conveniently left out the part where Jaejoong’s best friend had punched him at work. Since the manager probably had no knowledge of it of it ever happening.
Jaejoong nodded, once again, finding the sincerity in Yunho’s eyes.
“I guess…I just…I don’t know what to say…” he whispered, clenching his folded arms close to his chest.
“It’s okay,” the taller man cooed gently, “you don’t have to say anything. I know this must be hard for you. And I’m sorry to have made it worse. I’m sure that you hate me right now for telling this to you. Looking like the guy who had hurt you and telling you this. I just, I just wanted you to know the truth. To know that I would never do something like that.”
I would never, ever do that to you…
Trying to ignore the way his chest tightened at the thought of Jaejoong hating him, Yunho suddenly found interest in staring at his full cup of now cold coffee on the table. He jumped when he felt a soft hand on his own and jerked his head up at meet Jaejoong’s warm eyes. He hoped he wasn’t the only one who felt the sudden spark of electricity that through his body the second that hand touched his.
“No, please don’t be sorry. I’m grateful that you told me,” the smaller man said, smiling shyly, “you are just as much as of a victim as I was, and still, you were willing to come and find me and tell me the truth. I am truly grateful, Yunho-shii.”
Yunho was amazed; amazed at the amount of understanding that this man before him had. It was no doubt that the man had his feisty side (noting the amount of broken CDs in the music store that moment), but in those eyes at that very moment, held a sense of wisdom and kindness that Yunho couldn’t help but admire.
“Besides, you’re the one who should hate me right now.”
The taller brunet’s eyes widen at that comment, “Wh-what? Why? You didn’t do anything wrong! Why would I hate you?!”
“Because I probably look so pathetic to you right now,” the man let out a bitter laugh and looked everywhere else but at Yunho’s face, “having a relationship with a person I never physically met. Sending him messages and pictures and telling him how I lo-liked him, and I never even met him…and now that I have, I found out that person doesn’t even know me and that it was all just one big hoax...?
Jaejoong ran his hand through his bangs and let out a long breath.
“I should have noticed something was up when you, I mean, he refused to meet up with me. He kept making up excuses for not seeing me for the longest time. At first I was suspicious. But when he kept sending those photos and calling me on the phone, hearing his voice, I just let it go. Thinking that it was just the constant traveling that kept him away. But now, I know I should’ve done more…God, it’s just so embarrassing. I must look like a total fool to you right now. Such an idiot…”
Unable to stand hearing this man put himself down like that, Yunho twisted his hand around so that Jaejoong’s hand was placed into his. He squeezed the small hand gently, turning the smaller man’s attention back to him as he spoke:
“You are NOT pathetic or a fool, Jaejoong-shii. It doesn’t matter how this happened, because you obviously liked him…or well, me, I guess. You have every right to be upset. You trusted this person, trusted that it was real. You loved him so much. I could tell in your emails” (he paused for a second to see how Jaejoong would react to knowing that he had read their emails but when the man didn’t say a word, he pressed on) “And you were lied to. It’s not your fault. So, please don’t treat yourself that way, okay?”
Yunho searched Jaejoong’s face, watching the older man chewed his lip, trying to stop the tears from coming. He obviously did not want to cry in front of Yunho and was fighting hard not to appear weak in front of him. And it only made Yunho want to hold the man even more as he watched him struggle to keep it together.
“Thank you, Yunho-shii,” Jaejoong choked out, smiling a smile that didn’t seem to reach his eyes, “you’re so nice and sweet. Even though, this must be awkward for you too. Finding out you were dating a guy you didn’t even know.”
“It’s okay. If I had to have a secret boyfriend, I’m so happy that it was you,” Yunho said with a smirked and winked seductively at the man across from him, trying to lighten the mood.
Jaejoong blushed deeply and giggled softly into his hand at that comment, which Yunho thought was just so damn adorable.
“I’m glad,” he chuckled, “and your roommate, that asshole. You said his name was HyunBin right? A Choi HyunBin?”
The taller man was rather shunned when he heard his former roommate’s full name flow from the man’s lips.
“Yes. How did you know that?”
“A guy named Choi HyunBin used to work at the music store about a year ago. When I found out he had been stealing some CDs, I fired him. I wonder if maybe he was the same guy. Is he a tall, chubby guy with blonde hair?”
Yunho nodded. Yep, that was indeed his roommate.
That really made sense as to why HyunBin had kept his relationship with Jaejoong going for a long time. He must have been thrilled to find out his old manager who had gotten him fired was on that very same site. Maybe he had even known all along and had every intention on enacting his revenge.
Just thinking it made Yunho’s blood boil with rage.
“I guess it all makes sense now…”
“The bastard.”
“I hope you socked him good when you found out.”
“Oh trust me, I did.”
“I’m glad. Is that how you got the bruises on your face? Looks like he hit you pretty hard,” the smaller man said with deep concern.
Yunho hesitated. He wasn’t going to say who it was (it being Jaejoong's best friend), but he wasn’t going to lie entirely, not to Jaejoong who had already been lied to enough, “No, I got it from a very angry customer a couple of weeks ago.”
“Oh I see. Must not have liked your service very much huh?” the man teased but did not question more.
“Yea, must not have.”
As the conversation died down, both men stared into each other’s eyes. That is when Yunho noticed that his and Jaejoong’s hands were still intertwined and had been like that for the last couple of minutes. Jaejoong finally noticed this too, and blushed cutely, before pulling his hand back. Yunho had to force back a disappointed sigh as the man’s hand left his.
“Well, I think I better go. My break is almost over,” and that with, the slender beauty step out of his chair, grabbing his umbrella and turned towards Yunho, “it was nice to finally meet you, Jung Yunho-shii. The real you. Thank you for being so kind to me.”
“N-no problem,” Yunho stammered out.
He really didn’t want Jaejoong to leave. Despite the awkwardness of the situation, he really liked being in Jaejoong’s presence. He liked hearing the man’s voice and watching his movements and expressions. And man, if he didn’t know any better, he’d say that he was totally smitten with this man. His secret online boyfriend of ten months.
As Jaejoong turned to walk out the door, Yunho called out to him: “Jaejoong-shii!”
The man turned around in surprise as Yunho walked up to him, holding out a piece of paper in his hand. Jaejoong looked down at the piece of paper, looking rather confused and unsure. Yunho rubbed the back of his head nervously, his voice slowly gaining confident as he spoke:
“I know this is kind of a weird thing to do. I know you have my email address, but I’m sure you don’t want anything to do with it now. And I just, I just want to know that you can call me any time, if you want to talk.”
He then slowly reached out and planted the piece of paper in Jaejoong’s empty hand.
“Just let me know okay?”
Jaejoong looked down at the series of numbers in his hand and placed it in his pocket.
“Thank you, I will.”
As the man turned out the door, he looked back up at the taller man and smiled: “Goodbye, Jung Yunho.”
And with that he was out the door. Yunho smiled back sadly.
“Hope to see you around, Kim Jaejoong.”
Yes, he was totally smitten. And he had hoped beyond hope that when Jaejoong had walked out of the door, that it wasn’t going to be the last time he saw the beautiful man. Because maybe, just maybe, this cruel joke that was played against both of them might turn out for the better. And they could both get through it together.
Yunho could only hope.
TBC
==
===>Part 2
Let me know what you think of the 1st part. I hope I got both YunJae emotions right in this. He is obviously distraught and upset about it, but he isn't really comfortable showing those emotions in front of Yunho. He's just found out that that the Jung Yunho he knows, is someone else and doesn't even know him or even talked to him, and might be a totally different person. And while, Jaejoong kind of knows Yunho at this point but to Yunho, he hasn't known him for long (only after reading those emails) and is more of a stranger at this point (but one that he is obviously attracted to). So, both of them aren't really sure how to react to each other. So if it seems kind of awkward, than that's why ^^
Thanks for reading :)