Meet You There [7/?]
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?
Jaejoong couldn’t believe what was going on.
In fact, if he hadn’t already pinched himself discreetly under the blankets, he would have just closed his eyes and waited for the bizarre dream to end.
It was one thing to wake up to find yourself wrapped in bandages with an IV line stuck up your arm.
It was another to find out that your mom died.
“Wait.” Heechul suddenly spoke up. “You mean you can see him?” He gestured wildly at Yunho, who hadn’t moved yet.
Jaejoong stared. “Of course I can, hyung. I’m not blind.”
“Oh. Right.”
Yunho stared. Jaejoong shifted uncomfortably before he suddenly remembered an important piece of information that had just been fed to him by Heechul.
“Where’s umma? Is she really dead?”
Yunho’s mouth finally decided to co-operate with his brain. “I’m sorry, Jaejoong…but your mum died in a car accident 5 years ago. It was the same accident that actually stole your sight. You were involved in another car accident about one week ago…and well. You just regained consciousness. Together with your sight.”
Okay…Jaejoong tried to get his mind to focus on the facts that he just heard. So umma died in a car accident? How…why? I was blind for 5 years? And I got knocked down AGAIN?
What’s with me and accidents anyway?
“How old am I supposed to me now?”
“The same age as me. 24.”
“So…I lost 6 years worth of memories?”
Heechul gaped. “You mean you think you’re 18?”
Jaejoong gave him an annoyed look and winced as he felt a sharp pain in his head. “It’s not my choice, is it!?” He held a hand to his forehead, massaging it slightly.
Yunho immediately stepped forward at Jaejoong’s obvious discomfort before he stepped away slightly, uncertain.
Jaejoong eyed him warily. “Who are you anyway?”
Heechul began. “Don’t you remember him? He’s your…”
“Friend.” Yunho interrupted. “I’m one of your friends. We met at the place where you worked.”
Heechul gave Yunho a heavily confused look. “But…”
“Not now, hyung.”
Jaejoong placed the back of his hand against his forehead, trying to quell the pounding. “I’m sorry I can’t really remember who you are…it’s a bit too much to handle all at once.” He winced as his headache seemed to worsen. Yunho nearly reached out to him, before he decided to leave the room so that he wouldn’t do anything that he would regret later.
He turned. “I’ll go get a doctor. He will want to know that you’re awake.”
The last thing that Yunho saw as he shut the door was Heechul giving him a worried look and Jaejoong trying to sit up properly on the bed.
He leaned against the wall outside the ward. It’s okay…he’ll regain his memory soon. I must have faith in that. It’s best not to burden him with trying to remember me…
He’ll remember soon. I know it.
~*~
Changmin heaved a heavy sigh as he stared at the paper in front of him. Seriously…can’t these people type their documents in a bigger font? 21 is too young to be using a magnifying glass to read…He squinted.
Was it him or were the words on the paper re-arranging themselves into names of food?
He groaned inwardly. That’s what you get for skipping lunch again. He tried to stretch in his chair unsuccessfully. Man, I miss the days where I could eat eight meals a day…
His cell phone rang, its shrill tones disrupting the silence that had settled over his office hours ago. It vibrated on his table, moving in small circles, determined not to be ignored.
Changmin looked at it suspiciously.
Phone calls always didn’t seem to be good things nowadays. First he had received the phone call from Donghae while he was in Japan about Jaejoong hyung’s accident. Then he had received phone calls from the Japan office, saying that they needed his presence there urgently. And then there were phone calls from his mother, asking him whether he had more time to spare to go on a few blind dates.
What was next? Yoochun hyung calling because he accidentally pushed Junsu hyung out of the window and he didn’t know how to hide the body?
Changmin lowered his head to the level of the table, eyeing the phone while he frowned. You evil, conniving little piece of technology. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to…
The caller ID on the phone caught his attention. Heechul hyung? He grabbed the phone off the table to take a closer look. He hardly ever calls…
“Yeoboseyo?”
“Changmin-ah…”
“What is it, hyung?”
Changmin listened for a while. What he heard made him speechless.
“He did WHAT!?”
More talking.
Changmin nodded. “I’ll be right over. The rest will be there too, right? Alright hyung. I’ll see you there.”
Changmin hung up, picking up his office phone almost immediately. “Donghae hyung? Can you come in for a moment?”
A blank-faced Donghae stared at him from outside through the glass. “You know, Changmin. I still find this idea of calling each other kinda stupid, since there’s only a… well…GLASS wall in between us. Couldn’t you just wave?”
Changmin snorted. “Yes hyung, I think waving’s terribly professional.” He sighed. “We’ll talk about it another day. Could you come in for a moment, please?”
Donghae put down the phone and stepped into the office. Changmin began putting the papers on his table into neat piles.
“What is it?”
Changmin slotted a few documents back into their respective envelopes. “I need you to bring some stuff over to my house. I’ll have to rush a few of these later tonight. Or in the morning. Whichever.”
Donghae frowned. “Where are you going? From what I remembered the ‘few’ you are referring to was a whole shitload of work.”
Changmin grimaced. “I know. But something’s cropped up. Jaejoong hyung’s awake. He’s lost 5 years of his memory. He doesn’t remember Yunho hyung. And Yunho hyung is pretending that he’s totally fine with that.”
Donghae stood there, his arms folded, thinking hard. “I’m sorry. Could you start from the part where Jaejoong woke up again?”
Changmin rolled his eyes. “I thought secretaries and assistants were supposed to have sharp memories and excellent hearing.” He heaved a box from a corner of the room and began packing papers in. “In any case, you need to bring this box to the house. You can join us at the hospital later.”
Donghae frowned. “Don’t you think you should get some rest, Min-ah? You’ve been working yourself silly these past few days. You should’ve passed Yunho hyung some of the work. He’s free in the hospital, anyway.”
Changmin shook his head furiously. “No, he has too much on his mind. It’s okay, I can still handle it.”
Donghae sighed. “You’re not superman, you know. Despite what you think. I know you’re a genius, Min, but even geniuses need breaks sometimes.”
Changmin paused in his packing to look at Donghae. “I know, hyung. I’ll try to get some rest tonight, okay?” After I’ve finished all the work tonight, that is.
Donghae nodded, satisfied. “Alright. I’ll see you later then.”
“See you then. And thanks, hyung!” With that Changmin left in a great hurry, snatching his jacket off the small sofa set where he had dumped it.
Donghae sighed, glancing at the large amount of papers in the box that Changmin had left him with. Sometimes I worry about that dong saeng. His heart’s holding a party where everybody’s invited except himself.
~*~
The blinds to the ward were shut, pulled by a slightly irritated doctor, the aforementioned irritation caused by too many people trying to look in at once. The aforementioned people were now seated on plastic chairs outside the ward, each going through various stages of nail-biting and fretting.
Eunhyuk finally spoke after minutes of trying to bite off his thumbnail. “Do you think he still remembers me?”
Heechul whacked him hard on the head. “Of course he does, you twit. He thinks he’s eighteen, not eight. You met him when he was eleven, so stop worrying so much!”
Yunho remained silent, sitting on the chair while rubbing one thumb over the other. Changmin, who was seated next to him, looked at him with concern.
Yoochun whined. “How could Jaejoong hyungie not recognize meeee? I’ve known him for almost…” He began counting the fingers on his hands. “…six months!?”
Changmin rolled his eyes. Junsu smacked him with no small amount of force on the back. Yoochun whimpered. Junsu glared.
Finally the door opened and the doctor stepped out. Everyone rose/scrambled to their feet at once. The doctor raised both hands immediately, anticipating the onslaught of questions. He cleared his throat and began.
“Mr. Kim’s physical condition is improving well and his injuries seem to be recovering quite smoothly. As for his psychological condition…he only seems to remember what transpired before the first car accident he was involved in. That’s about 6 years of memories…which is a lot better than total memory loss.” He paused. “However…”
Changmin interrupted. “However what, doctor?”
The doctor continued. “I think it’s best not to force any memories on him. He’s not in a very good emotional state, considering he’s just been forced to lose his mother a second time. Not to mention that the rest of his injuries are still healing. He needs to be in a good state of mind to recover fully.”
At the doctor’s words everyone took turns to give Yunho nervous glances. The corridor fell silent.
Finally Yunho spoke. “Can we go in? To see him?”
The doctor nodded. “You may. But try not to wear him out. He still needs his rest.”
Eunhyuk, Junsu and Yoochun immediately raced into the room with Heechul following as he shook his head.
Changmin glanced at Yunho. “You okay, hyung?”
Yunho nodded stiffly. “I’m fine, Min.” He gestured to the door. “Come on, let’s go in.”
They entered the room, standing near the back because of the lack of space. The terrible three were crowded around the bed.
Eunhyuk greeted Jaejoong happily. “Hyung! You do know who I am, right?”
Jaejoong pretended to think for a moment. “Hmm. Slitty eyes, short, monkey hair…you must be that scrawny boy at school whom nobody wants to talk to!”
“HEY!!” Eunhyuk cried out indignantly. “I was POPULAR!!”
Jaejoong smiled. “So you admit that the rest of the descriptions are correct?”
Eunhyuk sat down on the chair beside the bed with a huff. “I forgot how immature you were at 18.” He quickly changed the subject when Heechul kicked his chair. “So, how are you doing?”
Jaejoong smiled a little, traces of sadness hidden between his lips. “I’m okay. Still trying to come to terms with the fact that mom isn’t here anymore. It’s kinda hard to explain it.” He thought for a while. “It’s like a part of me knew she was already gone…but a part of me can’t help but feel lost.”
The room fell silent. Jaejoong noticed this and tried to get the atmosphere back up again. He glanced at the two unfamiliar faces beside his bed.
“So, who are you two?”
Junsu introduced the both of them. “I’m Junsu and he’s Yoochun. We met you about 6 months ago, so you’d probably have no impression of us since you…well…couldn’t exactly see us.” He interlocked his fingers with Yoochun’s with uncharacteristic shyness.
Jaejoong pondered for a moment. “Junsu and Yoochun…these names sound vaguely familiar.” He glanced at their hands. “Are you two together?”
Junsu nodded and smiled. “Yep.”
Yoochun couldn’t resist the urge to butt in. “So you do sorta remember us, don’t you?” He grinned happily. “When you thought of our names did you think of suave or handsome? Or intelligent?”
Changmin muttered darkly to himself. The words "hallucination" and "mental health" were heard clearly.
Jaejoong looked slightly sheepish. “Actually…no.” He looked like he wanted to laugh. “The exact word that popped out was ‘chaotic’, actually.”
Yoosu looked absolutely speechless for words while Eunhyuk guffawed his head off, nearly toppling the whole chair over.
Junsu wailed. “Hyung!!! How could you!?”
Jaejoong shrugged, a grin on his face. “Not my fault, I swear! I’m just picking up whatever impressions I have in my brain!”
“But you shouldn’t have said it in front of him!” Junsu glared pointedly at Eunhyuk, who had rolled to the floor laughing, giving him a small kick. “Now he’s never gonna shut up for the rest of the night!” He reached down and began strangling Eunhyuk.
Changmin rolled his eyes, speaking casually. "Hyunggg~~ I'm not bailing you out for murder..."
Jaejoong laughed, a sound that was sweet to everyone’s ears. His eyes fell on the tall, young man standing at the back of the room. His presence and voice are terribly…familiar…
Who is he?
He’s…I know his name! He’s…
“Changmin.”
The room fell into a stunned silence.
Changmin sputtered. “W-What?”
Jaejoong looked at him, frowning slightly. “You’re Changmin, aren’t you?”
Changmin looked at him, astonished. “How did you know that?” He looked at Heechul. “Hyung, you didn’t mention my name, did you?”
Heechul shook his head hard. “I didn’t! I didn’t even mention Yoochun or Junsu to him!”
Everyone turned to stare at Jaejoong, who shook his head slightly as if to clear the cobwebs in his mind.
“I…I’m not sure why I can remember you. Your face and name just popped out in my mind…” He looked at Changmin. “Did I know you very well?”
Changmin shook his head slightly, moving forward. “Not particularly. You’ve known me as long as you’ve known Yoochun hyung and Junsu hyung.” He paused, confused. “Why would you remember me that clearly?”
“I don’t know.” Jaejoong touched his forehead. “It just came to me, I guess.”
“Then what about him?” Yoochun suddenly pointed to Yunho. “If you remember the rest of us then you should remember him the most.”
Jaejoong tightened his grip on his temples, feeling another pounding headache coming on. “I…I can’t remember who he is…”
Yunho immediately moved forward, concern clearly evident in his eyes. “It’s ok, Jae…you don’t have to force yourself if it’s causing you pain.” He helped Jaejoong lie back down from his sitting position. “I’m…” He took a breath. “I’m just a friend. I’m not that important. It doesn’t matter if you can’t recognize me now.”
And for the third time, the room fell into a deep silence, everyone casting looks in Yunho’s direction.
“I…” Yunho slowly backed away. “I…I have to go. I have something on now.” He reached the door. “I’ll visit you another day, BooJae. Get well soon.” He smiled a little before he opened the door and left.
Changmin ran after him immediately. “Hyung!”
The rest stayed in the ward, slightly shocked at what had happened. Jaejoong placed his hand over the top of his hair which was not covered by the bandage.
BooJae.
He called me BooJae.
~*~
Changmin ran after the familiar figure, shouting as he went, ignoring the dirty looks he got from the nurses along the way. “Hyung!” He panted slightly, feeling weak from the lack of food. (A/N: only Minnie can feel weak from missing one meal. Haha ^^) “Hyung, stop running!”
Yunho reached the staircase and he ran all five floors down, his mind lost and wandering. His feet carried him, his eyes ignoring everything that flew past him.
Changmin gritted his teeth. Damn it, Yunho hyung! If Changmin hadn’t been a tracker in his high school days, he would probably have chosen to roll down the stairs instead. It was a lot faster. Although he would’ve broken more than a few bones.
Finally Yunho reached the bottom and he ran all the way out onto the street, not bothering about whether he was running across road or pavement.
“Hyung look out!”
Changmin rushed to him and quickly pulled him off the road, the sounds of the car honking madly getting mixed with the sound of his heart thumping in his ears. “Are you MAD!? Why are you running out onto the road like that!?” He held on to Yunho tightly. “I don’t need another hyung in the hospital!” He panted, trying to catch his breath. “And I don’t want to attend any funerals, either!”
Yunho sank down onto the pavement and Changmin sat down together with him, not wanting to let go of his hyung. They sat like that for several moments, both trying to breathe normally again. Changmin hugged his hyung tightly. “Don’t scare me like that, hyung. What would mom say if she knew I let you get knocked down?”
Yunho remained silent, looking away from Changmin. It was then that Changmin noticed that Yunho was crying silently.
“Hyung…”
“He remembers everyone except me, Min.” Yunho whispered silently, a tear drop falling down his cheek. “I thought I would be fine…I thought I could be strong for him, Min. But…” He buried his face into his dong saeng’s shoulder. “He really doesn’t remember me! He remembers Yoochun, he remembers Junsu, and he remembers you so clearly, Min! Why? Why doesn’t he remember me?”
And for the first time in a long, long time, Shim Changmin had no answers to offer.
All he could do was give silent comfort, rubbing soothing circles on his hyung’s back.
In that moment, they both became younger than eighteen.
End of chapter seven.
A/N: For some reason, I nearly cried while writing the last bit. I try to keep a clear mind while writing, but I think I look quite odd when I write ^_~”’ if someone videotaped the process, they would see my face mimicking the descriptions I give to the characters. Haha!!
So this is how it’s gonna be!!! Jaejoong can remember everyone except Yunho. Hehehe. And for those wondering why Changmin is appearing so much, get used to it. Minnie’s gonna be a major character in this story (: Partly because I have an obsession a minor infatuation with him now XDDD and partly because Yoosu and the rest of the characters can’t be taken that seriously.
For those wondering where the hell the stalker has gone, don’t worry!!! Min still has his contact numbers, so he’ll be appearing when he needs to ;D (ß Yoochun’s seductive wink emoticon, for those who have read the latest chapter of Just A Cyworld Entry Away by fei_away: that fic sends me rolling to the floor in laughter ^-^)
have to thank all those who commented in the previous chappie as well!!! it's not just the number of comments that matters, but the thought that goes behind each and every one. *bows* thank you guys so much for supporting this fic!! (haha i sound like some charitable organisation...)
Oh yeah, important thing to note, I have changed a minor detail to the fic!! For those who remember everything like the back of your hand, I have changed the number of years Eunhyuk has known Jaejoong from 3 to 13. hehehe. Makes things easier, cause if Eunhyuk only knew Jaejoong for 3 years, he’d be forgotten along with the rest of them too.
edit: thanks be to erinastrid, who pointed out that there was no way that jaejoong could have seen changmin before ^-^''' my boo boo. i've tweaked and added a few sentences here and there to make it better. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Alright, I think that’s all!!! Comments are much loved <333