Because Tomorrow Comes - Epilogue
Title: Because Tomorrow Comes - Epilogue
Author: Marakeshsparrow
Rating: M
Pairing: YunJae
Genre: Drama, Romance, Angst
Warning: This is a work of fiction. I own nothing and do not claim to have any knowledge to real life events. This is how reality played out in my brain, but again it is FICTION.
Summary: Kim Jaejoong and Jung Yunho struggle to move on from the past. After the break-up of the super group TVXQ, they are haunted by memories, regrets, and loss. But there is no escaping the future and no way to return to the days of old. Will they be able to come to terms with their present and learn how to move forward without each other?
Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 part 1 | Chapter 12 part 2 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 part 1 | Chapter 19 part 2 | Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 | Chapter 22
Korean terms:
Hyung = older brother, a term used for older male friends, not only blood relations
Dongsaeng = younger sibling
Aigoo = a word used to show frustration. The Korean equivalent of "aw man!" or "geez."
Epilogue
December 2014 - Tokyo
Changmin had been a bit hesitant when Yunho told him about the plans to meet up with the three former members.
“Why now?” He’d asked his hyung.
“Because we’re all going to have to start enlisting soon-except you of course.”
Changmin shrugged; he couldn’t help it if he was younger than the rest of them (though he’d actually considered enlisting alongside the older member, he just hadn’t shared that information yet).
“Wouldn’t you like to see them before we’re all out of commission for two years? Besides, they’re in Japan right now touring, so it won’t be hard to meet up.”
Changmin sighed. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see them-sure, he’d been really angry for a while, but that had long passed. Honestly, he enjoyed being in a two-person group. It gave him more freedom and control than when he’d been one of five, so he didn’t hold any grudges. But it seemed like whenever Yunho had anything to do with Jaejoong he got all bent out of shape.
The year before, after that last time he’d stayed out all night with Jaejoong, he wasn’t himself for days, walking around sighing and moping-he thought he’d even heard him crying once in his room. He’d known it was a bad idea to see him, and was mad that his hyung went against his advice and done exactly what he feared he’d do.
To be fair though, once he’d found his way out of his funk, he’d seemed brighter and more energetic that he had in years. Changmin was happy he’d finally been able to find a way back to himself. And now he wanted to walk back into the lion’s den-again!
Would Yunho ever be able to break free from Kim Jaejoong’s spell?
But despite his reservations he’d agreed; he always ended up going along with his older friend. He didn’t know how to say no-how could he when he was so clearly excited about this reunion?
They had decided it would be held at Jaejoong’s house in Tokyo. It would be hard to have them all over at Yunho and Changmin’s without Avex catching wind and it would be impossible to do in public without causing an uproar.
So they had set a date when they’d both be in Tokyo at the same time. JYJ had just performed in Osaka as part of their recent dome tour, and he and Yunho were getting ready for a new Japanese release so were also spending time at home base before the demands of the end of year music shows called them back to Seoul.
Finally the day was upon them. Yunho had gone out of his way to find them soju, a whole box. Changmin had to admit he was excited by that prospect. He hadn’t had soju in a while and was missing its familiar burn.
“Aren’t you going to bring something?” Yunho asked his dongsaeng.
“I’m bringing myself. The greatest gift I can give.”
Yunho chuckled. “You’re such a smartass.”
They drove to Jaejoong’s place in the car Yunho kept in Japan. As they rode up the elevator, he could tell his hyung was getting nervous. He kept dancing from foot to foot and breathing out heavy sighs.
“Are you ok?” he asked-he had to admit, he was a little nervous too and Yunho was just making it worse.
“I’m fine.” He smiled at the younger man. “I’m just excited.”
Changmin raised an eyebrow. Sure, excited. Excited to let all the skeletons out of the closet and deal with the bones that scattered everywhere. He couldn’t wait.
They walked up to Jaejoong’s door. Yunho set the box of soju on the floor and took a deep breath.
“This seems familiar,” he said to himself.
“Does it?” Changmin asked, confused.
Yunho didn’t answer. He reached out and rang the doorbell. Changmin thought he could hear a commotion inside-loud voices chattering noisily-and he had to smile despite his nerves. They were at the right place all right.
Abruptly, the door opened to reveal Jaejoong. He was in ripped jeans and a t-shirt, his hair dirty blonde and messy. He grinned brightly.
“Yunho!” he called out and practically threw himself at the tall leader, wrapping him in a snug embrace.
Changmin took a step back in surprise-he hadn’t expected that.
Jaejoong released him, smiling up at Yunho.
“I’m so glad to see you.”
Yunho laughed bashfully and looked down, at a loss for words. Changmin thought he saw him blush. What was going on here?
“And you!” Jaejoong turned his attention fully towards the youngest. “My Changminie.”
He wrapped his arms around him, hugging him tightly. Changmin felt warmth wash over him and couldn’t help but let out a laugh of his own. He realized suddenly that he was incredibly happy to see this lunatic. He’d expected things to be awkward, but leave it to Jaejoong to bulldoze through the formalities.
“All right, all right.” Changmin tried to gently pry the older man’s arms off him.
Jaejoong released him, frowning playfully. He hit him on the arm.
“Yah, Changmin-ah-you’re going to deny this hyung the pleasure of hugging his dongsaeng?”
“Yes,” he answered quickly and all three men laughed.
Jaejoong stepped back, holding the door open.
“Come in. Come in.” He waved them inside.
Yunho stooped to pick up the box he’d brought along.
“Ooo! What did you bring?” The host asked when he saw the package.
Yunho smirked. “We can’t have a reunion without soju.”
Jaejoong’s eyes went wide with delight.
“Woww~ Yunho. You’re a genius. Guess what we have to drink?” he called into the living room as they entered the large open space.
Changmin felt an overwhelming wave of nostalgia wash over him as he caught sight of Yoochun and Junsu. They stood up, smiling. They were older than what Changmin remembered, but they looked good-healthy. He was glad.
“Well look what the cat dragged in,” Yoochun moved to Changmin, throwing his arms around him and smacking him on the back affectionately.
Changmin chuckled and hugged him back. Yoochun grinned at his younger friend and then switched to Yunho.
“I can’t believe it’s been so long.” The JYJ member shook his head and then clung tightly to their former leader.
“Too long,” Yunho amended.
Meanwhile Junsu had appeared before the youngest.
“Changmin-ah.”
“Junsu.”
The shorter man was quiet for a moment, almost serious, and then his face broke into a grin and he embraced Changmin warmly.
“I’ve missed you, you little asshole,” Junsu confessed as he hugged him. Changmin had to admit he felt the same.
“Aww! You’re all so cute, I just want to wrap you all up in a big group hug.” Jaejoong’s voice broke through the reunion and Changmin shook his head.
“Please don’t.”
They all cracked up at that and Jaejoong waggled his finger at him like an ahjumma scolding a school kid.
“Aigoo-you’re the same as always.”
“You love it though.”
Jaejoong laughed brightly. “Don’t ever change.”
After they’d gotten their hugs and initial greetings out of the way, Jaejoong led them to the dining room where he had a large array of food set out. Yoochun turned on some music and they got down to business-serious eating, drinking and some reminiscing.
They fell back into their old dynamics; it was truly remarkable how easy it was to be around them, how it felt like nothing had changed despite the hardships they had all gone through. Changmin had been afraid it would be tense and painful, but it felt just like getting together with old friends.
The five men chatted about their glory days, joking and laughing as they recounted those old times. Yoochun reminded Junsu about the time he’d dropped a fan’s necklace down her cleavage and they all got a kick out of it, going around bringing up some of his more embarrassing gaffs.
“Why do you always pick on me?” He complained, though he couldn’t keep the good humor out of his voice. “It’s not like you all never embarrassed yourselves. What about the time Changmin fell asleep on that radio show?”
“That was one time,” he defended. He’d almost forgotten about that; he’d never been fully able to live that down.
They continued to indulge and tease one another, enjoying their time gathering. As the amount of food slowly began to shrink, the drinking slowly increased-they had already drained eight bottles of soju and were working their way to finishing number nine.
“I saw you’ve just been finishing up a tour,” Yunho brought up, taking another shot and chasing it with some beer.
They were all well on their way to tipsy (minus Junsu) and the good humor was fairly high. Changmin had to say he was pleased; Yunho had been right to tell him he shouldn’t worry-even between those two there hadn’t been a hint of awkwardness. In fact, the two eldest seemed to be getting along swimmingly. What exactly had happened between them? Was there something going on he wasn’t aware of?
“Yeah, we’ve only got a few more shows in Japan,” Junsu explained. Though he wasn’t a drinker, he was also in high spirits.
Changmin gave a chuckle, feeling his snarky side building up and unable to control it.
“What was the Korean leg called? Return of the King? Very original.”
The three JYJ members glanced at each other and laughed a bit uncomfortably.
Jaejoong shrugged. “Well…you know, we thought-”
“I like it.” Yunho suddenly spoke up. They all turned in his direction. He smiled. “It felt like a shout-out. I like reminding the fans of the old days.”
“The good ol’ days,” Jaejoong murmured, seeming suddenly far away. He and Yunho locked eyes.
Changmin glanced from the two to Yoochun and Junsu. They shared a knowing, yet perplexed glance. What was going on between their hyungs?
Jaejoong looked around the table, as if suddenly aware there were other people around. He smiled, sheepish.
“Let’s all move into the living room. I’ve got some fruit I was going to cut up. Yoochun-ah, can you show the way?”
*****
Yoochun grabbed a couple more bottles of soju and their glasses with Changmin’s assistance and they moved into the living room while Jaejoong hung back in the kitchen to prep and peel the fruit.
He was glad things were going so well-he’d been a little unsure about bringing all five of them together, mainly because he was worried about his sensitive hyung.
“Will you be ok?” He’d asked him earlier that week when they’d first been planning this get together. They had just finished the Osaka leg of their Ichigo Ichie tour and had planned to spend some time in Tokyo before they headed on to Fukuoka.
Jaejoong smiled warmly. They had taken the Shinkansen bullet train, wanting to have a low-key trip back to the capital.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about it so much.”
“I mean-it’s been a while since you two have seen each other. And from what you told me, the last time was pretty intense.”
“True. But we’ve been keeping in touch. Everything between us is ok now.”
“You’ve been keeping in touch? Since when? How did I not know about this?”
His hyung had simply patted him on the knee, giving a secretive smirk.
“Some things I’ve got to keep to myself.”
He had been a bit suspicious by the older man’s guarded behavior, wondering why he wouldn’t just tell him the whole truth. Though he had shared a bit about the night the previous spring when Yunho had come to see him and Yoochun was glad to hear they’d been able to talk and come to some kind of good terms. Ever since Jaejoong had seemed lighter, less burdened by their schedules and work.
In their first few years together as JYJ Jaejoong hadn’t been himself; he’d been moody, easily shaken up, easily stressed-he honestly hadn’t seen much difference from the manic Jaejoong he’d watched in their last year together as TVXQ. He’d asked himself several times if they’d done the right thing.
He could remember the day Jaejoong suggested they file lawsuits against the company so clearly. They’d been getting close to finishing up their Secret Code tour and everything had been wearing thin; Jaejoong had seemed particularly out of sorts-he hadn’t said anything, but Yoochun could tell something must have happened between him and Yunho hyung. It wasn’t until they’d gone out drinking one night that the lead singer opened up completely, telling him how the long-time lovers had broken up.
That night the two friends both discussed how things had become nearly unbearable, how life within the group and the demands of their job weren’t worth the stress anymore. How they had to find a way to either make some changes or break free.
Yoochun had known that a part of Jaejoong’s decision and unhappiness was related to the strife he’d been experiencing with Yunho, but even without that extra element he’d felt things had to change. The next morning they’d approached Junsu and found out he’d already been having similar thoughts. None of them discussed the reasons for not including Yunho and Changmin in this decision-they only followed Jaejoong’s lead, feeling a kind of allegiance to their gentle (and heartbroken) hyung.
But now they were all together and things were better than he could have expected. Despite the bitterness that had once existed between the two sides, they were enjoying their time together, reveling in the connection they still shared as friends. Yoochun had thought that connection was lost, but it seemed their bond was too strong to hold onto hard feelings once they were in each other’s company.
And now Jaejoongie hyung and Yunho seemed…different. What was it? He couldn’t quite put his finger on what he was picking up. They were surprisingly pleasant with each other, almost attentive. The five men’s reunion was truly nostalgic, for a variety of reasons.
“Yah-Yoochun-ah. Go get your iPod and turn the music back on,” Junsu suddenly commanded, then turned back to the discussion he was having with Changmin about the K League pre-season playoff that had just happened in Changwon.
He shook his head at his bossy friend in amusement and stood, walking back into the dining room to grab the iPod they had hooked up to the sound system Jaejoong installed specifically for that room.
As he unhooked it from the adaptor cord, he heard laughter coming from the kitchen. He suddenly realized that Yunho had slipped away when he’d been distracted by his own thoughts sitting in the living room. Again he felt an amusing rush of suspicion and he crept to the entrance that connected the two rooms, peeking around the side of the doorframe.
What he saw somehow surprised him and didn’t surprise him all at the same time. Yunho hyung stood closely behind Jaejoong as he peeled and cut up fruit, leaning over his shoulder, his face close to the other man’s ear as he whispered something. They looked incredibly cozy-intimate.
Jaejoong smirked and gave the taller man a flirty sidelong glance.
“Stop, or I’m going to cut myself.” He chuckled again and then Yunho placed a hand on his hip, turning his face towards Jaejoong’s neck and planting a kiss on his skin.
Yoochun’s eyes grew wide and he quickly turned away from the sight. Did he really just see that? Did that mean they were…
He heard footsteps coming towards him and he quickly moved back into the living room. He fumbled with the iPod, trying to set it up and act like he hadn’t just seen what he’d seen. Why was he perpetually catching those two going at it?
“I’ve got dessert!” Jaejoong exclaimed, appearing before them with Yunho at his side.
He set the tray down on the coffee table and took a seat on the floor. Yunho perched himself on the edge of the nearby armchair, adjacent to Jaejoong-not too close, but not too far either. Yoochun narrowed his eyes at the pair, smirking. Were they trying to fool them all? They should know it was almost impossible to fool Park Yoochun; he’d always been aware of their connection, as far back as he could remember he had picked up on it. It didn’t take a brain surgeon to be able to see they were more than just friends.
He put on some mellow EDM and claimed a spot across from Jaejoong. Changmin and Junsu dug in to the assortment of specialty fruits seemingly oblivious to the energy wafting off their two hyungs.
“Finally we get to eat the fruit you promised,” Yoochun said to the older JYJ member, purposely deciding to toe the line. “I thought you’d fallen asleep back there or something. What took you so long?”
Jaejoong blinked, giving Yoochun a wide-eyed innocent look and plopped a strawberry in his mouth.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I think I prepped all this pretty quickly.”
Yoochun raised an eyebrow, realizing Jaejoong wasn’t going to take the bait. His hyung snuck a glance at Yunho and the other man smiled. Yoochun shook his head in disbelief; he couldn’t believe these two, they were far too obvious-seriously crazy.
“Yah, yah, yah,” Changmin suddenly disrupted things and set about pouring them each a shot of soju. “Let’s have a toast. You too, Junsu hyung.”
“No, I don’t wanna.” He tried to cover his glass, but Changmin poured around him.
“Come on. It’s just one. It won’t kill you.”
The youngest set down the bottle and then held up his shot glass, turning to Yunho.
“Hyung, what should we toast to?”
Yunho pursed his lips in thought. After a moment he smiled and held up his shot. The JYJ members followed suit.
“To the happy days to come.”
Again he looked at Jaejoong and the two smiled sappily at each other. Yoochun fought the urge to just come out and spill the beans, forcing them both to be honest about what was going on in front of everyone, but he held his tongue. He figured it was their business-though he wanted to cause trouble so badly.
“To happy days to come!” They all chimed in and tossed back their drinks.
“Yuck!” Junsu grimaced, reaching for a slice of pear to cover the flavor of the liquor.
“Oh, you’re such a wimp,” Changmin chuckled, refilling his own glass.
“I don’t see how you guys like that stuff,” he continued to complain and they all laughed.
The five men fell back into a comfortable rhythm, snacking on the sweet fruits and drinking late into the night. It was a happy reunion, a blissful slice of nostalgia as they enjoyed their camaraderie. Yoochun looked around at the four other faces he knew so well, though it had been a while since he’d seen two of them up close and personal. Still he felt good-hopeful.
He was confident that there would be happy times to come; he felt it in his bones.
The End.
A/N: Thank you all so much for reading and commenting. I really appreciated how invested everyone was in this story--it seriously took over my life for over a year. Siiiighhh... I'm sad to see it end. I've said that several times. I guess we'll meet again with the sequel? Much love and appreciation. <3 <3 Marakeshsparrow