Meet You There [4/?]
Title: Meet You There
Pairings: Jaeho, Yoosu
Length: Chapter fic
Author: rainbowpebbles
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama, Humour, Fluff, Angst (not in any particular order)
Summary: Sequel to A World of Colour. Who said that the road after the first kiss would ever be smooth?
In this chapter: Everything falls down.
The rich smell of the ramen soup base filled the small yet spacious-looking room. A certain 21-year old to resist the urge to breathe in deeply.
Vice-presidents should have their own personal assistants, thought Changmin to himself. That way, the assistants can do all the talking while the vice-presidents get to pig out on ramen.
It made things worse when the owner of the well-known ramen shop, an obaa-san who had taken a liking to Changmin, had offered to refill his bowl with no excess charge.
Changmin sat stiffly, nodding to his Japanese hosts as they encouraged him to try more of the food. Control, control. Pigging out is not good. Pigging out is not good. You’re gonna freak out the guests. You cannot consume 8 bowls of ramen and 20 plates of the nice-smelling gyoza. Think business. Think business.
And just when he thought he had his thoughts under control, the plate of garlic fried rice on the table just seemed to sing out to him.
Changmin groaned inwardly.
Oh for the love of sashimi…
ERGH!! STOP. THINKING. FOOD.
He kicked his leg against the table leg in an attempt to restrain his traitorous thoughts.
Ramen-udon-soba-teppanyaki-oden-maki-tempura-takoyaki-sushi-bento-katsudon…
His eyebrow twitched.
Why didn’t he pick a better person to accompany him to Japan? The selected dork knew not a single word of Japanese except the simple greetings and “Please forgive me. I’m an idiot.”
Okay, so maybe Siwon didn’t really know the actual meaning of the latter phrase.
But it was fun watching him spout it to every Japanese person he met.
Changmin sighed, shifting uncomfortably with his legs crossed, bum on the tatami mat below him. The entire day had been spent with a small bit of walking, a large amount of time being chauffeured around and polite Japanese flying all over the place.
Not exactly his idea of fun.
Changmin had never seemed particularly adventurous when compared to his hyungs. It was impossible to be: not when his hyungs were constantly doing stupid things like digging the backyard for dinosaur bones.
His was often the voice of reason in the circle of friends, being the most mature although he was the youngest in terms of age. Sometimes Changmin wondered when his hyungs would finally grow up so he could grow young. If there was such a thing.
And here he was stuck in a dinner appointment. Bye bye Tokyo Disneyland.
Changmin suddenly felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out discreetly out of his pocket, looking at the screen while holding it under the table.
Donghae?
Changmin frowned. He had specifically told Donghae not to call him unless it was an emergency. Like if he died or if Yunho was throwing a temper tantrum.
It had better be serious.
Changmin excused himself, turning his body to face sideways while he answered the call.
“Yeoboseyo?”
Changmin listened for a while.
What he heard made his eyes widen.
~*~
Siwon woke up from his day-dreaming as a middle-aged lady, decked out neatly in a kimono, walked past him. She bowed slightly, a tray with a teapot in her hands, and greeted him.
He bowed awkwardly, his tall frame bending forward.
“Sumimasen. Watashi wa baka desu.” (A/N: If you don’t know what this means, you weren’t paying attention to Changmin’s thoughts earlier ^-^)
Somehow the greeting didn’t garner the reaction that Siwon was looking for.
The older woman gave him an odd look, and her lips pursed together as if she was trying not to laugh. She slid the door to the room open, bowing slightly to Siwon before entering the room.
There was something wrong with the phrase that Changmin had taught him, Siwon was sure of it. He had tried it on a bunch of Japanese school girls on the street, and they had burst out laughing, screaming something like “Hawaii” or “Kawaii” of some sort before they forced him to take pictures with them using their camera phones.
Now…if only he could figure out what the phrase actually meant…
Something to do with Hawaii?
Pineapples? Or maybe he was declaring that he liked wearing grass skirts?
Siwon frowned. Trying to figure out what went through the mind of Shim Changmin was more difficult than he thought.
Just as he was about to delve deeper into his thoughts, the door slid open again and Changmin emerged.
“We’re going back to Korea.”
And the expression in Changmin’s eyes told Siwon that there was no shit about it.
He reached into his pocket for his phone.
Within an hour and a half, the private jet left Tokyo, bound for Seoul .
~*~
Yunho ran down the corridor, thoughts flying faster past him than the bewildered patients in their hospital gowns. Behind him, Donghae fought hard to keep up, calling Yunho’s name in a vain attempt to get him to slow down.
Finally, he saw familiar faces.
Two people sat on the grey plastic seats outside the operating theatre. Eunhyuk was crying; badly. Tears flowed continuously down his face, his hands coming up occasionally to swipe them away. His eyes were all red from crying, although he made no noise except for a few small whimpers that were made even more obvious because of the quietness of the hospital.
And Heechul; Heechul sat there, still as a stone, oblivious to the crying dong saeng beside him, unmoving; with no expression on his pretty face. His head was low, his eyes looking at the ground, fingers tightly interlocked.
The red light above the operating theatre was still painfully lit.
Yunho breathed deeply, trying to calm down his rapidly beating heart.
“Is he…is…Jaejoong…”
Eunhyuk’s crying seemed to get worse and he hiccupped, covering both eyes with his hands. Donghae quickly rushed over to sit beside him, rubbing one hand in soothing circles on his back, his own eyes slightly wet.
Heechul’s grip on his own fingers became tighter, the digits turning white from the lack of blood circulation.
Yunho’s heart pounded heavily in his ears, and his thoughts drifted to the worst scenario.
What if…what if…
The door to the operating theatre suddenly opened, emitting a tired looking doctor in scrubs. Heechul immediately looked up, though he remained seated, eyes studying the doctor’s expression intensely. Yunho decided to take the initiative to speak.
“Doctor? How…how is he?”
The doctor looked up. “And you are?”
“Yunho. Jung Yunho. I’m his boyfriend. Is he alright?”
“Well…he’s lost a lot of blood…”
“What?”
The doctor sighed and elaborated further.
“The patient experienced a deep impact to his skull…and he fractured three of his ribs, one of which has pierced his left lung…we’re currently trying to drain the lung free of blood…but we need to replenish the blood that he’s lost. Currently our hospital has not received our weekly stock of blood packets yet, and we’re running a little low…therefore I need to ask if anyone is willing to donate blood to help the patient.”
Yunho stepped forward, opening his mouth to volunteer his blood when he was interrupted by Heechul’s eerily calm voice.
“Where were you?”
“…what?”
“I asked: where were you.”
“I was in…I was in my office and-”
“WHERE WERE YOU!?”
Yunho’s eyes widened as he watched Heechul stand to face him.
“Where were you when he needed you these few weeks!? When he missed you so much he would carry his cell phone everywhere in case you called, even when he was in the shower? When he told me he had been having such a hard time explaining to Eun Bi and the rest of the kids about your absence? When he…” Heechul’s voice trembled. “…when he asked me to develop a picture of you to put in his wallet even though he couldn’t SEE it!?”
Yunho swallowed thickly.
He didn’t know…
He tried to remember the last time he saw Jae. Searching his memories for the last time he had seen that smile, heard that laugh…
His thoughts whirled faster and faster, spinning out of control with no one to hold them back.
Joongie…Joongie…
It’s all my fault…
“I’m…I’m sorr-”
Heechul’s eyes flashed, his mouth curling into a feral snarl.
“Don’t even BEGIN to say you’re sorry! Don’t give me any of that cra-”
“Hyung…” Eunhyuk’s broken voice suddenly cried out. “Hyung…please…don’t argue now…”
The doctor who had been watching the whole scene unfold in front of him, nodded and agreed. “Your friend is right. This is not the time to argue! We have a life at stake here. Mr. Kim has yet to pass the danger zone and he needs blood urgently.”
Yunho stepped forward. “Take my blood, doctor! I’ll donate it all to him, no matter how much he needs.”
Heechul snarled. “You get away! What have you done for Jaejoong’s good? Nothing!” He turned to the doctor. “Take mine, don’t bother about him.”
Yunho gasped, shocked. “Hyung!”
“DON’T CALL ME HYUNG!”
The doctor quickly raised his hands, trying to keep the both of them calm. “Gentlemen, settle down. Before I can take any of your blood, I need to check that your blood types match Mr. Kim’s. Are any of you an O?”
It took a while for the information to register in Yunho’s mind. “N…No. I’m an A.”
Heechul slumped back into his chair. “I’m an AB.”
The doctor turned to Donghae and Eunhyuk, who both shook their heads.
“Okay then. I’m going to have to phone the nearest hospital to get them to send the blood over…”
“I’ll donate.”
Five heads whipped around to see a young man around their age standing there, his face pale. Yunho noticed that his hands were trembling slightly.
The doctor was quick to question him. “Are you an O?”
The man nodded. The doctor sighed in relief.
“Okay, there’s no time to waste, can you quickly proceed with me…”
Something hit Yunho. “You look very familiar.” He thought for a few seconds. “Aren’t you the regular patron at Sky Garden? You’re always sitting at the table near the wall.”
If it were possible, the man paled further, shaking his head, making his fringe flop over his face. But his fringe wasn’t enough to cover his guilty expression.
That expression didn’t escape Heechul. And something clicked.
“Was it you?”
“W-wha…”
Heechul turned away from Yunho to face the stranger. “Was it you!?”
“What are you talking abo-”
“Were you Jaejoong’s stalker!? The one who caused him to get knocked down by the car!? You must have done something to distract him!! Joongie has always been careful while crossing roads: he would never dash into the path of oncoming cars if someone hadn’t distracted him!” Heechul’s rage was unstoppable now. “WAS IT YOU!?”
…stalker?
Joongie had a…a stalker?
Yunho’s world suddenly became picture without sound.
He watched blankly as the doctor quickly led the stranger away; watched as Donghae held Heechul back; watched as Eunhyuk pleaded to Heechul through his tears. He watched as Yoochun arrived quickly at the scene, helping Donghae to restrain the hysterical man; watched as Junsu quickly ran to Eunhyuk, wrapping his arms around the shaking man to comfort him.
And Yunho just stood there, dumbfounded.
Then he turned to look at the doors of the operating theatre.
Joongie…
Joongie…
What have I done?
If I had been there…none of this would have happened…
I’m sorry. I’m sorry.
Please don’t leave me…
Don’t.
~*~
The first thing that Jaejoong realized was that he could see.
Okay, so maybe this doesn’t count. He thought to himself. Seeing in your own dream sequence is not really that great.
The second thing that Jaejoong realized was that he was standing in the Association for the Blind. He didn’t really know what the place actually looked like: he had never seen the place ever since he became blind, but it was exactly as he had imagined it in his mind.
And currently he was standing the playground.
The swings creaked slightly, being blown gently by the wind. And that same wind carried the scent of the pretty pink flowers that were planted at the side. Jaejoong looked around for any sign of people.
“Eun Bi? Seung Woong?” He turned, searching the playground for the children. “Anyone?”
The place was deserted.
O-kayyyyy…
He continued to wander until he was in the small garden next to the playground. There he saw the benches; the benches where he had sat with Yunho once, telling him about what had happened in his life. He smiled, grinning at the sweet memory.
But…
Yunho’s face was a blank.
Figures it would be that way. Jaejoong thought to himself. I haven’t actually seen him before.
He continued wandering into the centre itself, where he saw the empty reception and the empty corridors.
“Youngah-noona!”
All that answered him was silence.
Weird. There should be a rule that dream sequences have to have some people. What’s the point in wandering around in an empty place by yourself?
And then he heard music.
The music drew him to the music room, where he had spent many afternoons trying to get the children to find enjoyment in songs and rhythm.
He entered the room.
And on the piano bench sat the most beautiful lady that Jaejoong ever had the chance of seeing.
“Mom…”
She opened her arms and smiled. “Jaejoong…”
He ran quickly and was enveloped in her warm embrace, and suddenly he was laughing and crying all at the same time.
“Why are you here?”
She smiled. “I wanted you to play our song again.”
He tilted his head slightly, puzzled. “But weren’t you playing it just now?”
She smiled and nodded. “But I wanted to hear my Joongie play it.” She released Jaejoong slightly. “You would do it, wouldn’t you?”
He nodded enthusiastically. “Of course!”
She shifted a bit to the end of the piano bench to let Jaejoong occupy the centre of the bench. “Do you remember the first time I taught you to play the piano?”
“I wouldn’t forget it.”
“Good. Find that feeling and play the song.”
He nodded and smiled, placing his fingers gently on the keyboard. Just as he was about to begin, his mother interrupted him.
“Wait. I want you to close your eyes.”
“…close my eyes?”
She smiled warmly. “Yes, Joongie. Close your eyes and let the music take you away.”
Let the music…take me…away.
And he did.
End of chapter four.
A/N: whooh. This chapter was a bit tough to write!! I’m not that accustomed to writing drama-ish stuff. Hope it was ok ^-^
Oh yeah, and Siwon appears!! XDD
Sorry for the slight delay!! I had actually hoped that I could post last Friday, but I didn’t manage to start writing until Sunday (which was yesterday for me) and even then, I got stuck half-way -_-‘’’ but thankfully everything went smoothly today, and I finished it!! sorry if it sucks though :/ I couldn’t really grasp the emotions really well. And the last dream sequence thingy was a last minute add-in.
Last week of school this week! And then I’ll be having a one month holiday. So you guys can expect a lot more, regular updates. Haha.
Any mistakes/spelling errors/things that don’t make sense: please feel free to point them out!! My brain fails me at times, and the auto spell-check in my head can break down, especially at night ^______^
Comments are much loved!!