Meet You There [16/16]
Title: Meet You There
Pairings: Jaeho, Yoosu, one-sided Jaemin
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 ran all the way from the bus-stop to the familiar red-bricked building with black-railings. He waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive, mindful of his leg, which was still in the process of healing. The minute the doors of the elevator opened he dashed inside, jabbing the fifth floor button with more force than necessary.
Fishing the keys out of the pocket of his jeans, he opened the door to his apartment hurriedly, nearly banging the door open with the same amount of force as Heechul. His mind was in a mess, but in a way, he thought, it was a good mess. At least he had memories, if only he could just piece them together further…
Where is it?
Jaejoong struggled to remember where he had kept that important item, the one that would hold the key to all his memories during the time he had been blind, the one thing that had been his sole confidante during his times of sadness and joy, the one thing that Heechul hyung always threatened to steal…
He tried to focus his thoughts; to make them line up in one straight line instead of dancing around in circles. I know it’s somewhere…come on…think…remember…
A memory flashed across his mind so suddenly that he jumped, dropping his keys and his jacket onto the floor as he raced into his bedroom. It’s there, it’s there-
One…his eyes counted the floorboards. Two. There. That one.
He felt the familiar floorboard, feeling the small crack with his fingers. That’s it. That’s the crack that I always felt for in the past.
Jaejoong shifted the loose floorboard a little to the right. And then you twist it slightly upward…
The floorboard came loose.
His heart pounded quickly as he stared down into the hole in the floor that he had just made. It worked…it’s there. It’s there. Just I remembered.
His fingers trembled slightly as he reached out towards the leather-bound book, joy covering the slight disbelief that he had felt earlier. I’m not wrong. It’s really there.
He took the book into his hands, turning it over and brushing the small amount of dust on its cover. He eagerly flipped it to the first page, smiling when he noticed how the handwriting was a little bit inconsistent and how the words were slightly lopsided…
…finally gotten the courage to start writing a diary…my doctor said it’d be good for me to face my emotions once in a while, instead of bottling everything up…though I don’t really see the point since I won’t get to actually read my entries…not without my eyesight-
…Eunhyuk’s birthday today, and I’m so happy and grateful that I could actually hear his laughter even though I can’t see his smile...Eunhyuk’s been a really great friend…
…I broke a plate today…and I cut myself on one of the broken pieces when I was trying to clear up after myself. Got the biggest scolding from Heechul hyung ever…It’s at times like these when I feel so utterly useless…I’m already eighteen years old and yet I still can’t wash dishes unsupervised-
Jaejoong smiled with a slight bitterness, remembering all the times he had spent in the darkness. How all he could see was a deep pitch black even though his eyes were wide open. He shook his head. Now was not the time for self-pity.
He flipped to the last few pages, where the more recent entries were.
…the job went fairly well, I think a few of the patrons really enjoyed my pieces, though that’s not the highlight of what happened today. A kind stranger gave me a ride home today. He said he was one of the patrons at the restaurant, and he wanted to give me a lift seeing as it was freezing outside. Jung Yunho. I don’t think I’ll forget that name in a long time, or the feeling of when my fingers touched his face…
…he came looking for me today. Jung Yunho. And he signed that silly contract of Heechul hyung’s, and asked me to go out with him. I was shocked, but I was just happy to hear his voice again, just one more time-
…just came back from visiting his house and his friends. Junsu and Yoochun. They are a funny but sweet pair, and they are very, very entertaining. Changmin’s such a…sensible dong saeng, makes you just wanna hug him. Acquired a new nickname today: BooJae. Yunho coined it when he caught me stoning on the balcony…
…first kiss. Under the mistletoe. For one moment my heart really stopped, and then suddenly every touch became so much closer…and everything seemed so much clearer to me. My only regret is not being able to see his face…
…been busy…his schedule has been so packed lately, I worry that he doesn’t have enough time to sleep. He pops by at the restaurant from time to time to have dinner with Changmin and the rest…but he doesn’t have time to come to the centre anymore. The kids really miss him- there’s no one who pushes the merry-go-round like Yunho. But restaurant and centre time aside…the both of us hardly meet anymore…just the two of us…
Memories flooded back in so fast, vivid and colourful, and when Jaejoong was finally brought back to reality, he realized that his eyes were filled with tears, some already making their way down his cheeks onto the floor. How could he have forgotten so much?
Suddenly everything made sense now: the shifty looks everyone had casted him when he said he couldn’t remember Yunho, the shocked look in Changmin’s eyes when he had asked whether they were a couple…
The hurt look in Yunho’s eyes when he had accused him of not being responsible.
Of not being responsible, and causing Changmin to fall ill.
When all this time, the sole reason why Yunho hadn’t been at his job was because of him.
The heavy weight which had been lifted off his chest earlier had returned to settle, even heavier than before. What have I done to you, Yunnie? His heart raced even faster. Oh no…I have to find you, to explain-
“Joongie?” A voice called out from the doorway. “What are you doing sitting on the floor?”
Jaejoong looked up, his eyes still wet, one lone tear sliding down his cheek. “Hyung…”
Heechul dashed towards him, dropping to his knees and taking his shoulders in both hands. “Joongie, why are you crying!?” He noticed loosened floorboard and the open diary. “Shit, Joongie, you shouldn’t be looking at this-”
“I remember hyung.”
“I’m gonna nail the floorboard down SO permanently that…” Heechul paused, tilting his head a little. “Hold on, what did you say-”
“I remember, hyung.” Jaejoong stared straight into his eyes. “Everything.”
It took Heechul a while to comprehend the words that were coming out of Jaejoong’s mouth. “You…that means you…”
“I remember. Being blind, meeting Yoochun and Junsu, and Changmin…and the accident, and pushing Young Saeng out of the way…” Tears filled his eyes involuntarily. “And I remember Yunho.”
Heechul’s eyes widened in realization. “Jaejoong…” He threw his arms around him. “Joongie…you remember! You finally remember!”
They sat on the floor hugging, and for a moment Jaejoong was content to be warm in his hyung’s embrace, until he remembered something important. He sat up straight, looking at Heechul joyfully.
“Hyung, hyung…I need to find Yunnie…to tell him that I remember, and to tell him that I still love him-”
Heechul’s face suddenly went white and he said nothing.
“….hyung…what’s wrong?”
Heechul’s mouth opened and closed a few times, before he found the words to say.
“Joongie…Yunho…h-he just flew to Japan. He’s gone there for a two-year business trip.” He looked up, his eyes half filled with shock, the other half filled with sadness. “I-I just came back from the airport…from sending him off…”
Jaejoong said nothing, and felt nothing as his diary slipped from his grasp.
~*~
Changmin had said that it was nearly impossible to find out where Yunho hyung was.
He would be touring the whole of Japan, the rural areas included, to find potential areas for business expansion, as well as to find possible food ideas for the corporation’s new line of Japanese restaurants. There was no telling when or how long Yunho would stay in one place for: he had no fixed schedule, and was free to come or change his destination at ease. There was also a chance that Yunho would be flying overseas, using Japan as a base.
And so Jaejoong had no choice.
But to wait.
~*~
Yunho settled down comfortably in his seat, grateful to have the family’s private jet to fly in. First-class was good, but what could beat having your own plane? He was glad that Aunt Jeemin hadn’t taken the plane to Paris or who-knows-where on one of her shopping trips- she had better not have, seeing as she was the one who demanded him to return for the New Year.
It hadn’t been easy for her to contact him, and Yunho admitted that he hadn’t made it any easier for anyone to contact him. Donghae (whose Japanese was considerably a whole lot better than Siwon’s) was the only one who had followed him to Japan, and even then, Yunho had stationed him in Tokyo, just in case he needed something to be done in the headquarters.
He had done everything to try to keep anyone from contacting him from Korea: he had changed his phone to a local Japanese line without telling anyone what the number was, apart from Donghae, who had been sworn to secrecy. Even Changmin had no idea how to call him. He had stopped checking his personal e-mail account deliberately, afraid that something written by his friends would cause him to become soft and fly back to Korea.
Yunho wondered vaguely if his methods had been a little too brutal. Even during his phone calls with Donghae, when something personal was brought up, he would immediately find an excuse and hang up. He hadn’t spoken to Changmin, Yoochun or Junsu for months…
…all this just to forget one person.
Which didn’t work out, in the end, anyway.
Yunho sighed. All the efforts to erase Jaejoong from his mind had failed. The months that he had spent away from home had been grueling and lonely. He had thought that maybe the harshness of his schedule would help him to forget, but it turned out that the loneliness of the trip made him think of Jaejoong even more. Many times he had found himself sitting in his hotel room alone, opening that familiar photo album, smiling at it, before putting it away guiltily, as if that one moment had thwarted what he had set out to do.
He had been planning a short trip to Fukuoka when one of Donghae’s phone calls came.
“Yeoboseyo?”
“Hyung, it’s me.”
“I know, you dork. I checked the Caller ID. What’s up?”
“Hyung, don’t kill me but you have to listen to this…”
Yunho’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not about business, is it? I’m gonna hang up-”
“WAIT YOU HAVE TO LISTEN IT’S AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM YOUR AUNT AND SHE SAID THAT IF YOU DON’T LISTEN SHE’LL PERSONALLY GO THERE TO MAKE SASHIMI OUT OF YOU!” There was a pause as Donghae thought for a while. “And she doesn’t care whether you’re a fish or not!”
Yunho smiled a little, not knowing whether to laugh or to groan. “Alright…just tell me what she wants already. I’m surprised that you didn’t reveal this number to her though.”
Donghae heaved a sigh of relief. “She did try wringing it out of me…but I told her I’d rather have her kill me than have you kill me. It’d be less painful, I think.”
Yunho laughed this time. “Alright, alright. Spill. What’s her message?”
“She wants you back for the New Year. Says it’s not right for the family to be separated when it’s a time of reunion. And she wants me to add that Changmin misses you a lot, although he doesn’t say it out loud. AND she wants me to kill you for not giving them your contact number. AND-”
“Alright!” Yunho stopped Donghae in mid-rant. “I get the main gist! She wants me back for the New Year, right?”
Yunho imagined Donghae scanning through his notes. “Yep. I cut out all the threats and the warnings…that’s what she wanted to tell you, basically.”
Yunho smiled. “Tell her I’ll be there. I promise.”
He now felt glad that he was going back: his aunt was right, the New Year was a time for reunion (or, in Changmin’s opinion, thought Yunho with a smile, a time for a whole lot of rice cake) and it would be silly to spend it by himself in Japan, especially when he had a family to return to. A short break home wouldn’t be too bad; he’d come back to Japan after that, to resume his work.
He stared out of the window. How long would it take for him to reach home?
“Good evening, sir.” A metal trolley was pushed into the aisle, and Yunho heard the sharp click of high-heeled shoes. “Would you like the fish or the chicken?”
“I would have the fi-” Yunho cut his absent-minded answer short. Hold on. I’m on MY private jet.
WHY would there be a standard meal of fish or chicken!?
A loud groan was heard, and a familiar figure rushed out from the front of the plane. “Hyung, this is a PRIVATE jet!!! There’s only ONE meal! There’s no ‘fish or chicken’!”
Junsu?
“Wait, Su, we’re not supposed to come out yet!” Another figure emerged, before rubbing his head sheepishly, realizing what he had just done. “Whoops.”
And Yoochun!
“Aaaahhhh.” A tall, handsome figure stepped out, grinning slightly. “Guess our cover’s blown, huh?”
Yunho gaped. Changmin!
Another familiar figure appeared, groaning. “Joongie…look what you’ve done! You’ve ruined everything!”
Heechul hyung?
WAIT.
…Joongie?
Yunho turned to look at the ‘air stewardess’, who was shaking her head, laughing, jet black hair falling to cover her face. “Oops. My fault. I told you that you should have scripted a few lines for me, Junsu.”
Yunho got out of his seat slowly in disbelief, turning to look at the face that he had tried so hard to forget. “Jaejoong?”
Jaejoong smiled, pushing a bit of fringe away from his face. “Hey Yunnie.”
Yunho turned around to face his hyung and his dong saengs. “Why are you all here? What’s going on?”
Changmin chuckled. “We all decided that we all missed you too much, and we couldn’t wait for you to land in Seoul…so we decided to tag along on the private jet to pick you up from Japan.” Changmin gave him a smile. “Someone, especially, was very eager to see you again.”
Yunho followed their gazes, looking behind him at the one person who was standing behind the trolley, flushing a little.
“J-Jaejoong?...” Yunho felt confused. “But why?”
“Yunnie…” Jaejoong’s voice came through quietly. “I remember.”
“Y-you what!?”
“I remember.” Jaejoong’s face lit up with a tender smile. “I remember everything.”
Yunho stared at him for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face.
Before he plunged his hand into an ice bucket that was on the trolley.
“Jung Yunho!” Jaejoong gasped, pulling his hand out of the ice bucket. “What the HELL do you think you’re doing!?”
Yunho felt as though he was lost in a daze for a moment. “Trying to make sure that I’m not dreaming. Cause if this is a dream, it’s a horrible one, and I want to wake up before I get my hopes too high up-”
Suddenly Jaejoong was in front of him, hands on his shoulders, grasping them tightly. “Yunnie. Wake up. This is real.” He took one of Yunho’s hands, placing it on his chest so that he could feel his heartbeat. “I am real.”
Yunho stood there, stunned, as he felt the strong pumping of Jaejoong’s heart through his palm. It’s true. He’s not lying. Jaejoong is in front of me, telling me that he remembers everything…he hasn’t forgotten anything, he remembers me, he remembers us…
Young Saeng peered out from behind the curtains. “What’s going on? Have they kissed yet?”
The others looked at him, annoyed. “Ssssshhhhhhhh!!!”
“Jaejoong,” Yunho’s voice rang out, loud and clear. “If you are real…”
Jaejoong nodded, urging him to continue.
“…then why are you dressed in an air stewardess’s uniform? With high heels?”
There was a loud guffaw from behind as Jaejoong blushed a scarlet red. “It’s all Yoochun’s idea!!! He said that it’d be more realistic, and that maybe if I pulled it off well enough, you wouldn’t even know the difference till we landed in Korea!”
“You did all this just to see me?”
Jaejoong felt his eyes get wet as he stared into Yunho’s, all the emotions that he had felt during the months of Yunho’s absence making themselves known. “Of course I did! You…you were gone for so long! And you didn’t even leave me a way to contact you…Donghae refused to give us the number…” A loud yelp of pain was heard as Changmin and Eunhyuk kicked Donghae simultaneously. “…and I wanted to tell you so badly, I wanted to tell you that I remembered, and that I loved you, and that I hadn’t meant to forget you-”
Jaejoong’s words were cut short as Yunho moved closer, holding both of his hands in his own, a pondering look upon his face.
“You know…” Yunho looked at him, studying his face carefully. “It feels a little weird when you’re the same height as me…with those high heels on…”
Jaejoong blinked, wiping the tears of his cheeks hastily. “It does?” He looked down. “Hold on, I’ll get rid of these…”
He removed the high heels before he stood straight once more, looking up just a fraction of an angle at Yunho’s face, not noticing how close the two of them were. “Is that better now?”
“Much better.” And with that, Yunho leaned down to kiss him. In that moment all the months of one-sided suffering and loneliness were all forgotten, Yunho’s hands finding the familiar spot on Jaejoong’s lower back and Jaejoong wrapping his hands around his neck. Finally…
There was a whirr of a camera and Yoochun studied his newly-taken Polaroid happily. “This would be worth at least a hundred, I think.”
Changmin smacked him on the head, snatching the picture and using his height advantage to keep it out of his hyung’s reach. “Oh no, this is going into GUSJA’s annual newsletter.” He smirked, pointing at the two intertwined figures. “For now, enjoy the fruits of our labour.”
“And I got this down on video, anyway.”
End of Meet You There.
A/N: Whew. ^^
First off, sorry for not answering all the comments to chapter fourteen!! Work was piling up…and my internet went slightly wonky :/ by the time I came on detox again it was a little too late to answer comments…so… ^^
AND this update was late!!! I decided to make it a double-chapter update to make up for the lateness. Heheh. I REALLY REALLY wanna thank all of those who have been commenting/reading this fic all this while. Thank you for putting up with all my nonsense and late updates and draggy angsty bits!!! Haha!! Hopefully this has been as enjoyable as AWoC.
A few things to note about these two chapters:
Jaejoong’s diary: Heechul actually mentioned it in Chapter Six of this fic. He was threatening an unconscious Jaejoong at that time (: Heechul knows where Jaejoong keeps his diary, but for once he actually respects Jaejoong’s privacy and doesn’t read it.
Young Saeng: He plays a bigger role now, doesn’t he? Credits to stolennight, who requested a more significant role for him. So actually he’s the one who helps Joongie regain his memories in the end.
Yunho: It’s actually quite impossible for someone like him to get totally shut out from his family members in Korea. First off, Changmin is definitely rich enough to send someone to hunt him down, and secondly, I don’t think it’s quite possible for a big-shot like him to just disappear with only one person knowing about his whereabouts. But for the sake of this fic, we shall just ignore that tiny bit of information, shall we?? ^^ after all jaeho still got their happy ending!
The ending: Actually this wasn’t the ending I had planned out. It was supposed to be a whole sappy meeting at the airport before Yunho left, and then Jaejoong going to Japan with Yunho. But as I wrote it out last night, my brain decided to change it and there you go :D you got the ending you see now. With Jaejoong remembering a little too late and Yunho getting himself lost in the world of ramen and natto, and then finally meeting on the private jet.
Funny how I always have so many things to say but I always forget everything when I start writing the author’s note ~_~ oh well.
No sequel planned for this series, BUT I have a new AU coming up! But that won’t happen anytime soon until the 5th of October, when my exams are over, I think. I’m hoping I can stay away from writing until then. But I really, really can’t wait to get started on the next one :D Yoosu-centric with Jaeho and well…Min. Snarky Min ^^ probably will be cross-posted at Yoosu_yongwonhi, so keep a look out for that!! *bows* sneak preview at the bottom ^-^ read it if you want to!
ALL IN ALL, thank you so much for being such great readers!!! Your comments were the things that kept me going throughout this fic! To all those who read, even if you didn’t comment, thank you for giving this fic your time!!! ^-^ Writing this has been great fun :D And so I conclude my second completed fic!
~*~
SNEAK PREVIEW BEGINS HERE
READ ONLY IF YOU WANT TO ^^
Yunho gave Yoochun a disapproving look. “Seriously, why do the two of you go at it like cats and dogs?”
Yoochun was quick to protest. “Don’t make it sound as if it’s all my fault!” He made a face. “He just gets on my nerves!”
“But maybe if you put in more effort to actually find out what he’s like…I heard from the Changmin that he’s actually quite a nice person.”
Yoochun snorted. “You’re just saying that because he’s your precious Jaejoong’s brother.”
His comment made Yunho splutter like a fish out of water. “W-wha…wha…It’s not THAT!” He paused for a moment. “MY Jaejoong!?”
Yoochun smirked. “He could very well be. In about twenty years or so, when you finally pluck up the courage to actually TALK to him.”
That effectively shut Yunho up for a few moments, and Yoochun watched his hyung in amusement as he tried to coordinate his breathing and his speech at the same time. “I-I…Maybe if you weren’t my friend and you weren’t at loggerheads with his brother, I would have more courage to talk to him!”
Yoochun frowned. “What does Kim Junsu have to do with anything?”
“Everything! How am I supposed to talk to him if my close friend hates his brother!?”
Yoochun folded his arms stubbornly. “I don’t see the link hyung. You want me to get along with Junsu just so that you can get into Jaejoong’s good books!?”
Before Yunho had a chance to reply, Leeteuk returned. “Let’s go, guys. They need us at Namsan Tower…” He rapped the driver’s window impatiently. “Kangin! KANGIN!”
“Uggghhh?”
Leeteuk gave him a look of disbelief, walking across and getting into the front passenger’s seat. “I can’t believe you! I leave you for 3 minutes and you fall asleep…”
Yoochun hopped into the back and Yunho followed suit, shutting the door. Yoochun stared out of the back window, looking at the building they were about to leave.
Hah! Kim Junsu? Not a chance in a million!
END. FOR NOW :D
~*~
Fic idea was brainstormed together with mysexyboo.
Kinda vague, wasn’t it? Heheh. ^^ This part’s probably gonna appear in the first chapter, although there may be slight changes to it. Dedications to those who manage to guess what roles they play! Though…*reads through sneak preview and scratches head* I think that’s quite difficult. I really didn’t leave any hint, I think!
COMMENTS ARE REALLY, REALLY, REALLY LOVED :D