Cruel Fate Chapter 11
Title: Cruel Fate
Pairings: Yunjae
Rating: PG-13 (for boy to boy pairing) to NC-17
Genre: Drama, angst, slight action, romance
Summary: Fate breaks them apart, and fate brings them back again. The Yunho that Jaejoong had known all his life changed for the worst. Will Jaejoong still love him despite of what he has become?
Warning: possible character death
Chapter 11
Jaejoong had found refuge from the heavy rain, lightning, and thunder inside a small cave deep in the forest. He was lucky enough to see the cave that wasn’t easy to spot and have shelter from the pouring rain before it became too hard. He sat on the cold and dirty ground and hugged his knees to keep himself warm. His eyes watched the millions of rain droplets that came from the dark clouds above and waited for the rain to stop.
Being inside an unknown cave on his own, Jaejoong never let his guard down. Who knew what creatures lurked inside? He forced his ears to be extra sensitive. As minutes passed, his fear heightened. The rain didn’t seem to be going away soon and it was getting dark by the minute. The cold rush of wind wasn’t any help. Things further worsened when lightning struck the dark sky and the loud thunder made itself heard.
By the time that the first roll of thunder was heard, it made Jaejoong’s fear escalate to its peak. Lightning and thunder were one of his fears, especially the sound of thunder. He tightly shut his eyes close and hugged his slightly shaking body closer. He only tried to think of happy thoughts.
“It’s okay Jaejoong. It will go away soon. Don’t worry.” Jaejoong reminded himself as he tried to keep calm by singing happy songs.
“jinagabeorin eorin sijeoren pungseon eul tago naraganeun yeppeun kkumdo kkueotji” the children’s song Balloons instantly came to his mind. But that happy song contained sadness that only Jaejoong knew.
Jaejoong was walking to the bus stop when the rain suddenly poured without any warning, making people take cover. He took cover in a nearby restaurant. It was already closed as it was already late in the night. The small restaurant’s roof was slightly extended in the front, making a small shed. He was slightly soaked from the sudden down pour and he took out his handkerchief to dry his damp hair to avoid getting sick.
The rain was so hard that Jaejoong was stuck in that spot for an hour already. He had no umbrella in hand and his phone was already out of power. Things got worse when lightning showed up, accompanied by the loud roaring of thunder. The first loud roar of thunder made Jaejoong’s heart skip a beat. Fear was slowly building up inside him. It was always like that every time there was lightning and thunder. That’s why Jaejoong hated it.
Wanting to drown away his fear, he lowered himself and was in a sitting position with his knees bended. He shut his eyes and put his hands in his ears to cover them. Another roll of thunder was heard, louder than the rest, and it made Jaejoong’s fear heighten. He was close to tears and his body was dangerously shaking. He kept his eyes tightly shut and bit his lips.
“Please..stop...stop...” Jaejoong begged and a very warm feeling engulfed his whole body.
“Jae, I’m here now. Don’t worry.” a voice said. Jaejoong slowly opened his eyes and he saw Yunho embracing his small frame.
“Yunho!” Jaejoong exclaimed as relief took over him and he flung his arms around Yunho. His fear started disappearing the moment he saw Yunho. How could he still feel fear when a man that sweet, loving, understanding, and caring was embracing him like there was no tomorrow?
“Feeling better?” Yunho asked, his arms still tightly wound around Jaejoong.
“Much better.” Jaejoong smiled. “How did you know?”
“When it started to rain and you still weren’t back, I knew that you didn’t bring an umbrella with you. And when thunder started roaring, I knew this would happen. So I went out to find you. I can’t possibly leave my precious Jae shivering with fear in this place, right?” Yunho said and breathed in Jaejoong’s scent.
Jaejoong gave a small laugh because of Yunho’s words. Yunho felt that Jaejoong was still slightly shivering and his hand travelled to Jaejoong’s back. His hand started moving up and down, making Jaejoong’s body relax and calm down. He wanted every ounce of fear to disappear from his lover’s body.
“jinagabeorin eorin sijeoren pungseon eul tago...” Yunho started singing when Jaejoong burst out laughing.
“Balloons? Yunho, I’m not a child anymore.” Jaejoong said and gave a pout.
“Why? Balloons is cute.” Yunho defended. “You want another song?”
“No, Balloons is alright.” Jaejoong said and smiled. They stayed in each other’s arms until the rain and thunder stopped. Yunho’s warmth and soothing voice made Jaejoong’s fear disappear. It if was with Yunho, Jaejoong had nothing to fear about.
But at the present time, Jaejoong couldn’t and shouldn’t count on Yunho to make his fear go away. He only had himself to rely on.
After three whole hours of the rain pouring heavily, it finally came to a stop. Jaejoong stood up and did a couple of stretches first. He gazed outside and it was already night time. The forest was very dark and it looked menacing. He contemplated first whether to leave the cave or stay until daybreak. He decided on leaving the cave and making his move on reaching the shore.
Jaejoong treaded the muddy earth, not minding if his clothes were already dirty and grimy. He walked slowly because of the darkness that surrounded him and also to not make noise. He tried hard to retrace his path earlier.
Jaejoong took another step and his right foot landed on something which made him jump in surprise.
“Oh shit!” Jaejoong shouted and quickly moved a distance away from whatever he stepped upon. He waited for it to move but nothing happened.
“Is that some kind of animal?” Jaejoong mused and moved closer to observe whatever was lying on the ground. He bent down and mustered up his courage to touch it. His slightly shaky fingers touched the surface and what he felt was skin, human skin. He moved his hands and confirmed it to be a human as he felt its contours.
Something felt weird to Jaejoong. He touched the unknown person again and realized that he/she was burning with a high fever. He was starting to panic. His hand went upwards to the person’s face and he pressed his hand on his forehead.
“He really is having a high fever. What should I do?” Jaejoong racked his brains for a plan or something when a cold rush of wind went by. The leaves of the nearby trees rustled and made the moonlight pass through, giving little light to Jaejoong. It was enough for Jaejoong to see something. His eyes widened when he finally knew who the unconscious person was. It was Yunho.
Fear once again took over Jaejoong’s body. Yes, he swore to hate Yunho, but he still had feelings for the man who threw him away. He was so worried and he didn’t know what to do. They were stuck in the middle of the forest and Yunho was unconscious and sick with fever. He didn’t know the way out and how could he nurse Yunho’s fever if they were inside the forest? Their situation made Jaejoong’s frustration heighten. He felt so useless.
“I need to find help. Yunho needs to be taken back to his manor right away.” Jaejoong said and searched Yunho for his phone. He noticed that Yunho was clutching something. He took it in his hand and realized that it was his necklace.
‘Come to think of it, why is he even here in the first place? Wait, his clothes are soaked from the rain earlier. Was he...was he looking for me?’ Jaejoong thought and felt a small tug in his heart.
“No, that’s impossible.” Jaejoong shook his head and convinced himself that the thought was really absurd. He found Yunho’s cellphone in his pocket but it was already broken because of getting wet.
Jaejoong had no other means of communication with the manor and decided that he needed to go back for help. He started to run and find the way out of the forest. He kept shouting for help while running. After a few minutes, he found himself in the main forest path. He saw a group of cars not far from his position and ran towards them.
“There he is!” one of the guards saw Jaejoong running towards their direction.
“Wait! You have to help me! Yunho is still inside the forest and he’s suffering from fever. We need to get him back in the manor!” Jaejoong explained through his heavy panting.
“Master is still inside the forest?!”
“Yes! Let’s go now!” Jaejoong shouted and started to run again, back inside the forest. Five of Yunho’s guards followed him.
Jaejoong was usually not good with directions. It greatly surprised him to easily locate Yunho’s position inside the forest even in the dark. He watched as one of the guards carried Yunho on his back. They all hurried to go back to the others. They were back in no time. The guard carried Yunho to the backseat of one of the cars. Jaejoong sat next to Yunho. The cars moved along the forest path one by one back to the manor.
The car the Yunho and Jaejoong were in entered through the gates and stopped just outside the front door of the manor. Another car was also there. Jaejoong quickly got out and watched as the guard carried Yunho inside.
“What happened to Master?” Mr. Park asked Jaejoong.
“He’s having a high fever right now.” Jaejoong answered.
“Mr. Park, what’s going on?” an old man approached the chief butler. He seemed to come out of the car that was there earlier than the one Jaejoong was in. It was Park Sawoo, Yunho’s uncle.
“Sir, Master Yunho seems to have a high fever because of being exposed for too long in the heavy rain earlier.” Mr. Park answered.
“What was he thinking? Doing something stupid like that!” Sawoo was angry and he was worried about Yunho’s condition. The three of them were still standing outside the manor. Mr. Park glanced at Jaejoong and Sawoo caught it even if it was just a second.
‘That stupid kid, not thinking of his own health just for Jaejoong.’ Sawoo thought and relaxed his tense face.
“You must be Kim Jaejoong. I’m Yunho’s uncle, Park Sawoo.” Sawoo extended his hand.
“That’s right, Sir. It’s, uhm, nice to meet you.” Jaejoong said awkwardly and shook hands with Sawoo.
“Come, let’s go inside.” Sawoo led the way and Jaejoong and Mr. Park followed.
The three of them entered the manor and quickly went to Yunho’s room in the west wing. The doctor was checking up on Yunho and the three of them waited outside. Jaejoong prayed hard for Yunho to be alright.
“I’ve already made him take medicine and he’s asleep again. His body is very weak right now so he needs plenty of rest. I also don’t want him to feel any stress to help him recover quickly. I’ll check up on him in a few hours.” the doctor said when he got out of Yunho’s room.
“Thank you doctor.” Sawoo spoke.
“Oh right. Mr. Park, can you call one of the nurses to come up here and watch over him? Mr. Jung also needs cold compress to help heat escape.” the doctor gave instructions.
“There’s no need for a nurse. I’ll take care of Yunho.” Jaejoong interrupted.
“Are you sure?” the doctor eyed Jaejoong.
“Let him, doctor.” Sawoo ordered. The doctor agreed and left them.
“I’ll ask the maids for the things you need.” Mr. Park said and left.
“Jaejoong, I’ll watch over Yunho for the mean time. You go and clean yourself first.” Sawoo said and entered Yunho’s room.
Jaejoong realized that he was very filthy. He ran to his room in the east wing of the manor and quickly took a shower and changed into clean clothes. He ran back to the west wing as quickly as he could and he knocked outside Yunho’s room. Upon hearing Sawoo’s voice, he entered the room while still catching his breath.
“There was no need for you to hurry up. Yunho won’t disappear.” Sawoo said and gave a warm smile. Jaejoong’s cheeks instantly turned red.
While Jaejoong was away, Sawoo cleaned Yunho up and changed his dirty clothes into clean ones.
“I’ll leave Yunho to you now.” Sawoo said and approached Jaejoong. “I know that you’re there to take care of him so I don’t have to worry.”
Jaejoong watched as Yunho’s uncle gave one last smile to him and then went out of the room. He took the seat beside Yunho’s bed and gazed at Yunho’s face. Yunho was very pale and his lips were very dry. His forehead and neck was slightly drenched in sweat. Jaejoong took a clean towel from the bedside table and began wiping Yunho’s forehead and neck. He then took several ice cubes and wrapped them with a towel. He began dabbing Yunho with the cold compress to lower his temperature.
After an hour of watching over Yunho, Jaejoong took the thermometer from the bedside table and checked Yunho’s body temperature. It lowered by a notch but it was still high.
“Yunho, please be alright.” Jaejoong whispered as he never tore his gaze away from Yunho’s sleeping face. In Jaejoong’s eyes, he felt that he was looking at his angel from the past. Yunho’s face held none of the coldness of the present Yunho. His face was so peaceful.
It was the first time since Yunho suddenly disappeared that Jaejoong was able to stare at Yunho’s handsome face. He was completely mesmerized by Yunho’s closed eye lids decorated by his long lashes, his perfectly sculpted nose, and his lips. Suddenly, Jaejoong felt the urge to touch Yunho’s face, even for a while. He slowly brought his hand towards Yunho’s face.
“Did you really allow yourself to be drenched in the rain just to find me?” Jaejoong asked and didn’t expect to hear an answer. He slowly caressed Yunho’s face. Just that one time, Jaejoong allowed himself to express his love for Yunho.
Jaejoong fell asleep while watching over Yunho. Exhaustion got over him and made him instantly fall into a slumber. He was still sitting beside Yunho’s bed and his head was rested on the soft mattress of Yunho’s bed.
The sun’s rays woke Jaejoong up the next day. He was about to stretch his body when he noticed that his hand was tightly holding on to Yunho’s hand. A blush crept up to Jaejoong’s cheeks and he immediately let go. He brought his hand to Yunho’s forehead. His fever had already gone down. Jaejoong checked further with the thermometer and Yunho’s temperature was back to normal.
“Thank god.” Jaejoong uttered. He was about to stand up and leave the room for a moment when he heard Yunho say something incomprehensible. He sat on the edge of Yunho’s bed and watched as Yunho’s eyes slowly fluttered open.
Yunho had slight difficulty at first with his eyesight because of sleeping for so many hours. It was blurry for a few seconds and he saw someone sitting beside him. He focused on that person and realized that it was Jaejoong. Out of instinct, Yunho instantly sat up on his bed and wrapped his arms around Jaejoong.
“Jaejoong, you’re alright!” Yunho said in relief.
‘You’re the one who’s sick Yunho. How come you’re worrying about me?’ Jaejoong thought. But Yunho’s actions made him smile.
******
I owe you guys a very big apology. I'M SO SORRY FOR THE VERY LATE UPDATE. T___T
There you go, the long awaited Yunjae moment. ^-^ hope you liked this chapter.