Finding the Perfect Moment (The Don't Bring Chocolates Remix) [DBSK; yunho/jaejoong]
Title: Finding the Perfect Moment (The Don't Bring Chocolates Remix)
Author: x-voracity
Summary: Yunho finds out some things can wait.
Rating: G
Fandom: DBSK
Title, Author and URL of original story: Future Present by kitsuneyujji
"Chocolates!" Jaejoong takes the box from Yunho excitedly. "These look expensive."
"Yeah, I wanted to share them with--"
"Hey guys! Yunho bought us chocolates!"
"No, I --" Yunho watched in horror as everyone in the dance studio comes over to take a piece from the box.
When the crowd disperses, there's Jaejoong in the same spot he was sitting at before, blinking. "Aww, no more."
"No more?" Yunho looks forlornly at the empty box in Jaejoong's hands. "But I wanted you to have some."
Jaejoong smiles at him. "Hey, don't worry about it." He motions for Yunho to come closer, patting the spot on the floor next to him. "I wouldn't have liked it anyway. I don't eat sweet things."
Yunho plops himself down next to Jaejoong, lips fighting a pout.
“That was really nice of you, to get everyone a treat.”
He laughs nervously, scratching the back of his head. “Yeah, well you know, everyone’s been working so hard.” Yunho peeks over at Jaejoong. “So… what do you like to eat?”
Jaejoong smirks. “Find me the spiciest ramyun in a 3 block radius.”
Halfway through lunch, Yunho gets a text message from Heechul: can i come bac to the room or will u b sucking some srs face? He almost chokes on his food and has to blame it on the spice to play it off when Jaejoong asks if he's alright.
the plan didn’t work.
ur a loser.
hyung :(((
wut happened?
He didn't know the chocolates were for him.
....and he shared them with everyone.
.......HAHAHA. brightest crayon, kim jaejoong
"Hey, who are you texting?" Jaejoong leans across the table, trying to peek at Yunho's phone.
Yunho panics, pressing his phone to his chest and waving a hand in front of him. "Heechul.”
“It’s rude to ignore your dinner date,” Jaejoong says and crosses his arms in front of his chest, smirking at Yunho.
“He just asked me about room stuff."
"Oooh," Jaejoong answers and wiggles his eyebrows at Yunho. He leans in, head propped up in his hands, seemingly very interested. "Room stuff."
"Yeah... the keys."
"Are you two... you know,” Jaejoong seems to think that stuffing more food in his mouth will be an effective way of stopping himself from laughing. Yunho doesn’t think he’s ever seen someone try to not spit food out so adorably.
"We? No! No, we're just. Not that."
Jaejoong laughs, with his chopsticks still in his mouth, teeth biting down on them as he smiles around them. "It's just that you were all like this." Jaejoong clutches his chest where his heart would be.
"I was not." Yunho shakes his head and fights the pout that he feels coming on.
"You were. And I'm insightful about these things." Jaejoong points at his head. "I have 8 sisters."
"I'm not a girl." Okay, pouting.
"Right now you are!"
"Does that mean this is a real date?"
"Jung Yunho!"
"What?"
"Are you trying to get me to pay?"
"Four seasons!"
"Conquering Korean music charts all year `round!"
"If you two baboons keep embarrassing us no one will ever buy our CD."
"How can anyone resist this hot summer Kangin?"
Yunho laughs as Heechul scowls at them, even though it's ignored as Jaejoong and Kangin exchange compliments. "They're just really happy about this."
"Hey you think I don't know? Who else but this face could be your spring?" Heechul says accompanied by a bunch of flowery hand movements under his face. Kangin immediately takes the chance to suggest that Heechul be fall since his face looks like it's rotting.
As Jaejoong watches on, he does something that Yunho can only describe as a giggle. He walks over, throws an arm over Yunho's shoulder, and sighs. "We're going to be stuck together for a long time."
"You make it sound so terrible."
"I guess it isn't all bad. I like you enough," Jaejoong says childishly, tightening his hold.
Yunho stares down at him, thinking all he needs is more time for Jaejoong to like him more than enough. "Hey Jaejoong-"
"Hey, punk. Yunho's going home with me." Yunho almost goes red with how suggestive Heechul's words sound.
Jaejoong, however, seems unfazed and even amused. He squeezes Yunho's shoulder before letting go. "Okay you two lovebirds have fun," Jaejoong teases, laughing with Kangin as they walk in the direction of their apartments. Yunho waves, watching them go off.
"Look at you, staring like a lost puppy."
"What?" Yunho pouts, kicking the sidewalk under him. "Not lost."
"An abandoned puppy then." Heechul throws an arm over Yunho's shoulders and makes him start walking him. "Come on, I'll buy you all the dog food you want."
"Jaejoong's cute, like a puppy" Yunho mumbles happily, laughing when Heechul looks like he's about to throw up on him.
"Jaejoong's a sneaky little cockroach," Heechul corrects.
"Sneaky?"
"You agree he's a cockroach?"
"Why is he sneaky?" Yunho peers over curiously.
Heechul digs a hand into his pocket and searches, taking out a piece of paper and hands it over to Yunho. On it, it says: Who's hamburger is this? I don't know but I'm eating it ^____^v Jaejoong.
Yunho laughs and can't help the big smile that grows and stays on his face. "He's so considerate. That's really cute."
"You can keep it. Seriously I'm about to throw up, how do you even keep your cool around him?"
Yunho hugs the note and puts it in his pocket before catching up with Heechul. "Hyung, don't worry. You're still my favorite."
"Then you can buy me that burger your loverboy owes me."
Yunho wonders if Jaejoong knows that his tongue sticks out whenever he's concentrating. By how hard Jaejoong is staring at his feet it's obvious that he doesn't see it, but does he feel it? He just wished Jaejoong were more aware of it so that he could stop staring at it through the mirror and stop wondering how Jaejoong keeps it so clean and pink.
“Do you ever think of the future?”
Yunho looks over, smirking, and punches Heechul's arm. "Sorry, hyung, but I just don't feel that way about you."
Heechul is sure to give his a few flailing slaps of his own. "Hey smartass, you know what I mean. You can't stare at his gracefulness over there for the rest of your life."
As if on cue, Jaejoong trips over his left foot, and then his right one, and then his left one again. Yunho's quick to stand up, ready to help, but Jaejoong somehow regains his balance. He straightens up slowly as if the world were moving under him. "Dancing is dangerous!"
"Of course it's dangerous when you just throw your limbs everywhere." Heechul does a demonstration of how Jaejoong dances for all of them, and Yunho can't help but laugh because though it's a lot like what Jaejoong calls dancing, it's got the obvious Heechul flare to it.
"Yah, hyung, maybe you should be the one helping Jaejoong with his dance moves," Kangin suggests with a chuckle, patting Heechul's shoulder. "Then Yunho and I can grab something to eat."
"No way am I staying here. I'm starving. Yunho, you help him, you're the youngest."
"Hyung!" Before Yunho can object Heechul's already pulling Kangin out the door, yapping on about how the other boy owes him lunch from last week.
"I really don't think I can take another step," Jaejoong says when the door closes, sitting down against the wall.
Yunho squats down in front of him, tugging on his pant leg. "Yeah, but we've got to get this routine down by Monday."
"I know, I know."
Yunho doesn't know if Jaejoong's really as annoyed as he sounds because of the smile on his face. He watches as Jaejoong stretches his legs out, trying to touch his toes.
"I'm just exhausted."
"You'll be even more exhausted when we're famous," Yunho says with a smile. "Are you going to complain about it then?"
Jaejoong laughs. "Then I'll pay for super extreme super amazing body massage. Or a body double!"
"You're going to have someone else dance for you?"
"It's totally a good idea. Then I can save all my energy for the singing."
Yunho shakes his head, way too amused and used to all of Jaejoong's crazy ideas and scoots over to sit next to the other boy. "Jaejoong I never knew you had such a good head on your shoulders."
"Or... I could save money and you could give me free massages." Jaejoong goes ahead and rests his head on Yunho's shoulder. He tries to fight a yawn and talk, only to end up doing some combination of both, “I know your massages are the best.”
"Are you really that tired?" Yunho doesn't move his body, just looking down at the head on his shoulder. "How late did you work yesterday?"
"Not too late."
Yunho pats Jaejoong's head. "Alright we'll take a break. Only a short one though."
"You're so easy to convince," Jaejoong chuckles.
Yunho pouts indignantly. "Only for 30 minutes. Then we're going to pick it up again."
"Okay, okay." Jaejoong turns to squeeze him in a half-hug. "You're the best."
Yunho can already tell that Jaejoong knows he's going to get to nap for more than 30 minutes. He takes the opportunity to take pictures of Jaejoong drooling on his shoulder though, making sure to save and password lock them on his phone. He looks over at Jaejoong's sleeping face. "When you get a cell phone, this is going to be your caller ID image, okay?"
Jaejoong kind of nods in his sleep, and Yunho decides that's consent enough.
"Four Seasons isn't going to happen." Heechul tosses his bag on the floor and plops himself on the bottom bunk that belongs to Yunho.
"What?" Yunho looks over, wondering what had happened to put Heechul in one of his moods. "Look, if this is about that last practice..."
"It's not." Heechul tosses around in the bed, trying to get comfortable, putting his feet on Yunho's pillow, and Yunho makes sure to write a little mental reminder about changing his pillowcase before sleeping tonight. He watches on quietly as Heechul fusses on his bed, finally reaching behind him to pull a stuffed animal out of the way. "It's your little loverboy Jaejoong. He's ditching."
Yunho catches his Bambi plush as it flies towards him, petting it afterward as if to soothe it. "He wouldn't," he says almost to himself. No, Jaejoong would never do that to them, to this group. Jaejoong's loyal.
"Well, he did." Heechul seems to have finally found a comfortable position on his bed, looking up with his hands behind his head. "They offered him some other position in another group. And he took it."
Yunho looks into Bambi's eyes, trying to think of an excuse. "Jaejoong wouldn't do that, not without talking to us. Did you hear this from him? Because maybe it's just a rumor. You know how stuff like this is always heard around the company."
"It's final. They're going to debut him within a year." Heechul sighs, sounding uncharacteristically resigned. Yunho knows he's probably thinking about how long he'll have to wait for another good thing like Four Seasons to happen to him again, and Yunho can't say he's not thinking the same thing.
"You're sure?"
"Yeah. I think Junsu's in it too."
"So it's going to be a singing group?"
"I don't know what it's going to be, but it'll be nothing without us."
Yunho's smile is bittersweet. He knows that there's no bite behind Heechul's words. They sit in silence for a moment, and Yunho knows that they're both thinking about the future. He's spent way too much money to go back home now, especially when he had to practically beg his father to come here. And there's still that one thing.
"Your cell phone," Heechul mumbles from the bed, under the blanket and facing the wall.
Yunho reaches into his pocket, heart jumping just a little bit when he sees a drooling Jaejoong on his screen. "It's Jaejoong."
"Good. You talk to him."
Yunho puts his phone down on the table, letting it go to voicemail first, and hugs Bambi instead.
"Don't be a chicken. Better confess now before he becomes famous and forgets about you."
Yunho pouts and thinks that Jaejoong would never forget about him. He takes the call outside, kicking the sidewalk while it rings, waiting for Jaejoong to pick up, hoping he didn't send the wrong message by not answering the first time.
"Yunho?"
"Jaejoong! Hi."
"Hi." Yunho feels like he can hear Jaejoong's smile through the phone, and can't help the butterflies he feels in his stomach. "Yunho, are you there?"
"Yeah. I'm here. You called?" Yunho pulls off casual really well but he knows he can't fool Jaejoong.
"Yeah, did you listen to my voicemail?"
"Ah, no. I just called when I saw the missed call."
"Yunho, they put me in a group."
"Yeah, I heard," Yunho pauses, biting his thumb nervously. "Congratulations," he says both because he's really happy for Jaejoong and because he doesn't want to ask Jaejoong to not leave him.
Jaejoong laughs over the phone, which makes Yunho even more nervous, wondering if he had let anything slip. "Thanks, but you're in too."
"What?"
"Yeah, they're going to tell you later today when you go in. But I wanted to be the first."
"Ah." Yunho blinks, not knowing what else to say. A million things go through his head: his debut, his debut with Jaejoong, what to tell Heechul, who else is in this group. It’s only when he hears Jaejoong talking away excitedly on the other line that he realizes he’s zoned out.
"Yunho?"
"Ah?"
Jaejoong chuckles. "Congratulations."
"Ah, thanks."
"I guess I was right when I said we'd be stuck together for a long, long time."
Yunho finds himself smiling. "We're a lucky pair."
"You and me, Yunho."
Yunho makes sure he pulls the phone away just in case his squealing can't be contained.
"I think it's break time! No more dancing until Changmin arrives," Jaejoong yells, leaning against the wall for a few seconds before sliding down to sit.
Yunho frowns but agrees after seeing everyone else's faces and finding himself out of breath too. He goes over and sits next to Jaejoong, grabbing a bottle of water from his bag and handing it over. "Tired?" he asks kind of just to start conversation. Jaejoong seems to sense it and doesn't answer him, catching his breath and gulping down his water, staring ahead where Junsu and Yoochun are still standing.
"Yunho." Jaejoong motions him to move closer and cups his hand around his mouth to whisper, but really all he does is laugh quietly into Yunho's ear, much to Yunho's dismay.
"What, what?"
Finally, Jaejoong manages, "Doesn't the new kid remind you of Heechul? That's his third flowery shirt this week."
Yunho smirks and bites on his lip, trying not to laugh when he notices Yoochun looking over their way. He ruffles Jaejoong's hair and pushes him over. "Yah, yah, yah," he tries to say sternly, though it doesn't really have that effect, especially when Jaejoong just lies down over on the floor, still laughing.
"Hi," Jaejoong smiles and waves at Yoochun, which promptly makes the other boy stop staring, wave back, and then resume his conversation with Junsu. "See? I'm nice."
"We have to work with him, Jaejoong. Don't make things harder."
"Hey, you don't have to tell me," Jaejoong sits up and rests his chin on Yunho's shoulder. "Watch, Yoochun and I will be best friends."
Yunho smirks, looking at Jaejoong and watching as his head seems to pop up and down as he talks. "You're everyone's best friend,” he says not just to be smart but because he realized years ago that Jaejoong’s got a knack for making people feel special, maybe even more special than they really are.
"Not Junsu's," Jaejoong laughs and points over where Junsu is trying to teach Yoochun a small part of the dance routine. "I'm still working on him."
Yunho grabs his hand, pulling it back to their sides and hiding it between them. "Stop pointing, they'll think we're mean."
"They already think I'm mean." Jaejoong pouts. "You don't think I'm mean, do you?"
Yunho pouts back at him. "Don't make that face!"
Jaejoong shows that he has no intention of stopping.
Yunho lets go of Jaejoong's hand and crosses his arms, huffing and not willing to give in. "No no no!"
He wins the pouty cute contest when Jaejoong laughs and imitates him. "Hey, so tell me how to get Junsu to like me."
"How would I know?" Yunho brushes his shirt, trying to straighten himself up.
"Junsu adores you."
Yunho looks over at Jaejoong, surprised by the tone he used. Jaejoong pouts, pulling his knees up to his chest and resting his chin on them. He elbows Jaejoong lightly to get his attention again. "It looks like you're glaring at him."
"Worked with everyone else."
Yunho snorts. "Junsu's the type that won't talk to you if he thinks you hate him. He's not Heechul."
"Junsu will love talking to me, soon enough."
"You talk too much for him to even start to talk."
"Junsu!" Jaejoong calls out across the room, waiting for a response.
Yunho laughs nervously when Junsu doesn't respond but just continues to play with his phone. "I think he's busy."
"I think he's trying to ignore me."
Yunho pokes Jaejoong's side, "I think it's impossible to ignore you."
"Apparently that kid does the impossible."
Poke, poke, poke. "Everyone likes you, Jaejoong."
"You're not everyone, Yunho," Jaejoong teases, tickling under Yunho's chin before he stands up and welcomes Changmin to 'Yunho's torture chamber', insisting it’s a million times worse than that math class he just came from.
"So what do you think about Jaejoong?"
"He sings pretty well, why?" Junsu looks up from his bowl of noodles, chewing and waiting for Yunho to answer.
Yunho waves his hands in front of him. "No reason, no reason. Just wanted to know that everyone was getting along."
"Why wouldn't we be?"
"Oh, nothing, nothing," Yunho forces more of his food into his mouth to keep himself from saying anything else, not wanting to give Jaejoong's worries away. Junsu eyes him suspiciously and Yunho thinks that maybe he's been read. But that isn't so bad, because maybe Junsu will tell him why he doesn't talk to Jaejoong and he could fix this whole issue. If there is an issue, he thinks, because a lot of him still believes that this hate Jaejoong feels is all is his imagination.
"Where's Jaejoong anyway?" Junsu breaks the silence.
"Eating with Changmin. I think he lost a bet and has to buy him lunch."
Junsu laughs and Yunho looks up, surprised, blinking with his chopsticks still in his mouth. "I don't think Jaejoong minds. He says Changmin's his favorite member."
"Really?"
"Really."
Yunho hums as he takes another bite, thinking.
"Hyung?"
"Hm?"
Junsu laughs at him. "Don't worry, you're my favorite."
"Junsu, don't make fun of me."
"Alright, alright. Don't act all cute. You have a leader image to protect."
"You should worry about yourself, sexy-luxury."
Junsu claps. "You don't have to worry about me. You should be telling Jaejoong to work on his mysterious charisma. He talks too much."
Yunho laughs with Junsu, knowing all too well that Junsu's right. "Hey, he nice to Jaejoong, alright? He's not your new Donghae," Yunho reminds him, remembering the time Junsu and Hyukjae teased the other boy to the point of crying, not that he thought Jaejoong would cry. Jaejoong’s strong and manly and cute and smiley. "We've been in a lot of groups together. He's like my lucky partner."
"Funny."
"What?"
"Well," Junsu starts, putting his bowl and chopsticks down as when he finishes his bowl. "Jaejoong told me to help you guys out. Because you and him are unlucky together."
"Unlucky?"
"That's what he said. That whatever group you're with fails or something."
"Oh," Yunho says, pouting around a mouthful of noodles.
"But I don't think he minds that either," Junsu smirks at him, kicking him lightly under the desk.
"Yunho."
"Hm?"
"Can't sleep."
"Me either."
"We're debuting tomorrow."
"I know," Yunho says, tossing over in his bed to face Jaejoong's.
"Hi, Bambi," Jaejoong laughs as he waves at the stuffed animal. All Yunho can think is that Jaejoong has really cute bedhead hair.
"Jaejoong, this is gonna last."
"That's why you're my favorite, Yunho. You're the optimist."
Yunho pauses, a bit surprised. "Thought Changmin was the favorite."
Jaejoong chuckles, pulling the blanket up to cover himself more. "All the members are my favorite, dummy."
So that's how it is.
"Goodnight, leader."
"Goodnight."
so u didn't even try?
no :( I'm scared.
wut makes u think he doesn't like u?
jaejoong likes everyone. i just don't know if he likes me more.
problem: you just want jaejoong to like you. jaejoong wants everyone to like him.
They stand backstage, and Yunho wonders if everyone's else heart is trying to rip a way of our their chests like his is doing. He gulps as the music dies down and the MCs start introducing them. 'We're Dong Bang Shin Ki, us five. This is really happening', he thinks. And from the looks he's getting from the other four, they're thinking similarly.
Jaejoong's bouncing next to him, heels to toes, heels to toes. He seems to notice Yunho staring and looks up, smiling back. He nudges Yunho in the stomach. "Don't worry, if this doesn't work out, we'll try another group together," he jokes.
Yunho watches as they walk in line onto the stage and thinks, 'Yeah, I have plenty of time to figure this out'.
Author: x-voracity
Summary: Yunho finds out some things can wait.
Rating: G
Fandom: DBSK
Title, Author and URL of original story: Future Present by kitsuneyujji
"Chocolates!" Jaejoong takes the box from Yunho excitedly. "These look expensive."
"Yeah, I wanted to share them with--"
"Hey guys! Yunho bought us chocolates!"
"No, I --" Yunho watched in horror as everyone in the dance studio comes over to take a piece from the box.
When the crowd disperses, there's Jaejoong in the same spot he was sitting at before, blinking. "Aww, no more."
"No more?" Yunho looks forlornly at the empty box in Jaejoong's hands. "But I wanted you to have some."
Jaejoong smiles at him. "Hey, don't worry about it." He motions for Yunho to come closer, patting the spot on the floor next to him. "I wouldn't have liked it anyway. I don't eat sweet things."
Yunho plops himself down next to Jaejoong, lips fighting a pout.
“That was really nice of you, to get everyone a treat.”
He laughs nervously, scratching the back of his head. “Yeah, well you know, everyone’s been working so hard.” Yunho peeks over at Jaejoong. “So… what do you like to eat?”
Jaejoong smirks. “Find me the spiciest ramyun in a 3 block radius.”
Halfway through lunch, Yunho gets a text message from Heechul: can i come bac to the room or will u b sucking some srs face? He almost chokes on his food and has to blame it on the spice to play it off when Jaejoong asks if he's alright.
the plan didn’t work.
ur a loser.
hyung :(((
wut happened?
He didn't know the chocolates were for him.
....and he shared them with everyone.
.......HAHAHA. brightest crayon, kim jaejoong
"Hey, who are you texting?" Jaejoong leans across the table, trying to peek at Yunho's phone.
Yunho panics, pressing his phone to his chest and waving a hand in front of him. "Heechul.”
“It’s rude to ignore your dinner date,” Jaejoong says and crosses his arms in front of his chest, smirking at Yunho.
“He just asked me about room stuff."
"Oooh," Jaejoong answers and wiggles his eyebrows at Yunho. He leans in, head propped up in his hands, seemingly very interested. "Room stuff."
"Yeah... the keys."
"Are you two... you know,” Jaejoong seems to think that stuffing more food in his mouth will be an effective way of stopping himself from laughing. Yunho doesn’t think he’s ever seen someone try to not spit food out so adorably.
"We? No! No, we're just. Not that."
Jaejoong laughs, with his chopsticks still in his mouth, teeth biting down on them as he smiles around them. "It's just that you were all like this." Jaejoong clutches his chest where his heart would be.
"I was not." Yunho shakes his head and fights the pout that he feels coming on.
"You were. And I'm insightful about these things." Jaejoong points at his head. "I have 8 sisters."
"I'm not a girl." Okay, pouting.
"Right now you are!"
"Does that mean this is a real date?"
"Jung Yunho!"
"What?"
"Are you trying to get me to pay?"
"Four seasons!"
"Conquering Korean music charts all year `round!"
"If you two baboons keep embarrassing us no one will ever buy our CD."
"How can anyone resist this hot summer Kangin?"
Yunho laughs as Heechul scowls at them, even though it's ignored as Jaejoong and Kangin exchange compliments. "They're just really happy about this."
"Hey you think I don't know? Who else but this face could be your spring?" Heechul says accompanied by a bunch of flowery hand movements under his face. Kangin immediately takes the chance to suggest that Heechul be fall since his face looks like it's rotting.
As Jaejoong watches on, he does something that Yunho can only describe as a giggle. He walks over, throws an arm over Yunho's shoulder, and sighs. "We're going to be stuck together for a long time."
"You make it sound so terrible."
"I guess it isn't all bad. I like you enough," Jaejoong says childishly, tightening his hold.
Yunho stares down at him, thinking all he needs is more time for Jaejoong to like him more than enough. "Hey Jaejoong-"
"Hey, punk. Yunho's going home with me." Yunho almost goes red with how suggestive Heechul's words sound.
Jaejoong, however, seems unfazed and even amused. He squeezes Yunho's shoulder before letting go. "Okay you two lovebirds have fun," Jaejoong teases, laughing with Kangin as they walk in the direction of their apartments. Yunho waves, watching them go off.
"Look at you, staring like a lost puppy."
"What?" Yunho pouts, kicking the sidewalk under him. "Not lost."
"An abandoned puppy then." Heechul throws an arm over Yunho's shoulders and makes him start walking him. "Come on, I'll buy you all the dog food you want."
"Jaejoong's cute, like a puppy" Yunho mumbles happily, laughing when Heechul looks like he's about to throw up on him.
"Jaejoong's a sneaky little cockroach," Heechul corrects.
"Sneaky?"
"You agree he's a cockroach?"
"Why is he sneaky?" Yunho peers over curiously.
Heechul digs a hand into his pocket and searches, taking out a piece of paper and hands it over to Yunho. On it, it says: Who's hamburger is this? I don't know but I'm eating it ^____^v Jaejoong.
Yunho laughs and can't help the big smile that grows and stays on his face. "He's so considerate. That's really cute."
"You can keep it. Seriously I'm about to throw up, how do you even keep your cool around him?"
Yunho hugs the note and puts it in his pocket before catching up with Heechul. "Hyung, don't worry. You're still my favorite."
"Then you can buy me that burger your loverboy owes me."
Yunho wonders if Jaejoong knows that his tongue sticks out whenever he's concentrating. By how hard Jaejoong is staring at his feet it's obvious that he doesn't see it, but does he feel it? He just wished Jaejoong were more aware of it so that he could stop staring at it through the mirror and stop wondering how Jaejoong keeps it so clean and pink.
“Do you ever think of the future?”
Yunho looks over, smirking, and punches Heechul's arm. "Sorry, hyung, but I just don't feel that way about you."
Heechul is sure to give his a few flailing slaps of his own. "Hey smartass, you know what I mean. You can't stare at his gracefulness over there for the rest of your life."
As if on cue, Jaejoong trips over his left foot, and then his right one, and then his left one again. Yunho's quick to stand up, ready to help, but Jaejoong somehow regains his balance. He straightens up slowly as if the world were moving under him. "Dancing is dangerous!"
"Of course it's dangerous when you just throw your limbs everywhere." Heechul does a demonstration of how Jaejoong dances for all of them, and Yunho can't help but laugh because though it's a lot like what Jaejoong calls dancing, it's got the obvious Heechul flare to it.
"Yah, hyung, maybe you should be the one helping Jaejoong with his dance moves," Kangin suggests with a chuckle, patting Heechul's shoulder. "Then Yunho and I can grab something to eat."
"No way am I staying here. I'm starving. Yunho, you help him, you're the youngest."
"Hyung!" Before Yunho can object Heechul's already pulling Kangin out the door, yapping on about how the other boy owes him lunch from last week.
"I really don't think I can take another step," Jaejoong says when the door closes, sitting down against the wall.
Yunho squats down in front of him, tugging on his pant leg. "Yeah, but we've got to get this routine down by Monday."
"I know, I know."
Yunho doesn't know if Jaejoong's really as annoyed as he sounds because of the smile on his face. He watches as Jaejoong stretches his legs out, trying to touch his toes.
"I'm just exhausted."
"You'll be even more exhausted when we're famous," Yunho says with a smile. "Are you going to complain about it then?"
Jaejoong laughs. "Then I'll pay for super extreme super amazing body massage. Or a body double!"
"You're going to have someone else dance for you?"
"It's totally a good idea. Then I can save all my energy for the singing."
Yunho shakes his head, way too amused and used to all of Jaejoong's crazy ideas and scoots over to sit next to the other boy. "Jaejoong I never knew you had such a good head on your shoulders."
"Or... I could save money and you could give me free massages." Jaejoong goes ahead and rests his head on Yunho's shoulder. He tries to fight a yawn and talk, only to end up doing some combination of both, “I know your massages are the best.”
"Are you really that tired?" Yunho doesn't move his body, just looking down at the head on his shoulder. "How late did you work yesterday?"
"Not too late."
Yunho pats Jaejoong's head. "Alright we'll take a break. Only a short one though."
"You're so easy to convince," Jaejoong chuckles.
Yunho pouts indignantly. "Only for 30 minutes. Then we're going to pick it up again."
"Okay, okay." Jaejoong turns to squeeze him in a half-hug. "You're the best."
Yunho can already tell that Jaejoong knows he's going to get to nap for more than 30 minutes. He takes the opportunity to take pictures of Jaejoong drooling on his shoulder though, making sure to save and password lock them on his phone. He looks over at Jaejoong's sleeping face. "When you get a cell phone, this is going to be your caller ID image, okay?"
Jaejoong kind of nods in his sleep, and Yunho decides that's consent enough.
"Four Seasons isn't going to happen." Heechul tosses his bag on the floor and plops himself on the bottom bunk that belongs to Yunho.
"What?" Yunho looks over, wondering what had happened to put Heechul in one of his moods. "Look, if this is about that last practice..."
"It's not." Heechul tosses around in the bed, trying to get comfortable, putting his feet on Yunho's pillow, and Yunho makes sure to write a little mental reminder about changing his pillowcase before sleeping tonight. He watches on quietly as Heechul fusses on his bed, finally reaching behind him to pull a stuffed animal out of the way. "It's your little loverboy Jaejoong. He's ditching."
Yunho catches his Bambi plush as it flies towards him, petting it afterward as if to soothe it. "He wouldn't," he says almost to himself. No, Jaejoong would never do that to them, to this group. Jaejoong's loyal.
"Well, he did." Heechul seems to have finally found a comfortable position on his bed, looking up with his hands behind his head. "They offered him some other position in another group. And he took it."
Yunho looks into Bambi's eyes, trying to think of an excuse. "Jaejoong wouldn't do that, not without talking to us. Did you hear this from him? Because maybe it's just a rumor. You know how stuff like this is always heard around the company."
"It's final. They're going to debut him within a year." Heechul sighs, sounding uncharacteristically resigned. Yunho knows he's probably thinking about how long he'll have to wait for another good thing like Four Seasons to happen to him again, and Yunho can't say he's not thinking the same thing.
"You're sure?"
"Yeah. I think Junsu's in it too."
"So it's going to be a singing group?"
"I don't know what it's going to be, but it'll be nothing without us."
Yunho's smile is bittersweet. He knows that there's no bite behind Heechul's words. They sit in silence for a moment, and Yunho knows that they're both thinking about the future. He's spent way too much money to go back home now, especially when he had to practically beg his father to come here. And there's still that one thing.
"Your cell phone," Heechul mumbles from the bed, under the blanket and facing the wall.
Yunho reaches into his pocket, heart jumping just a little bit when he sees a drooling Jaejoong on his screen. "It's Jaejoong."
"Good. You talk to him."
Yunho puts his phone down on the table, letting it go to voicemail first, and hugs Bambi instead.
"Don't be a chicken. Better confess now before he becomes famous and forgets about you."
Yunho pouts and thinks that Jaejoong would never forget about him. He takes the call outside, kicking the sidewalk while it rings, waiting for Jaejoong to pick up, hoping he didn't send the wrong message by not answering the first time.
"Yunho?"
"Jaejoong! Hi."
"Hi." Yunho feels like he can hear Jaejoong's smile through the phone, and can't help the butterflies he feels in his stomach. "Yunho, are you there?"
"Yeah. I'm here. You called?" Yunho pulls off casual really well but he knows he can't fool Jaejoong.
"Yeah, did you listen to my voicemail?"
"Ah, no. I just called when I saw the missed call."
"Yunho, they put me in a group."
"Yeah, I heard," Yunho pauses, biting his thumb nervously. "Congratulations," he says both because he's really happy for Jaejoong and because he doesn't want to ask Jaejoong to not leave him.
Jaejoong laughs over the phone, which makes Yunho even more nervous, wondering if he had let anything slip. "Thanks, but you're in too."
"What?"
"Yeah, they're going to tell you later today when you go in. But I wanted to be the first."
"Ah." Yunho blinks, not knowing what else to say. A million things go through his head: his debut, his debut with Jaejoong, what to tell Heechul, who else is in this group. It’s only when he hears Jaejoong talking away excitedly on the other line that he realizes he’s zoned out.
"Yunho?"
"Ah?"
Jaejoong chuckles. "Congratulations."
"Ah, thanks."
"I guess I was right when I said we'd be stuck together for a long, long time."
Yunho finds himself smiling. "We're a lucky pair."
"You and me, Yunho."
Yunho makes sure he pulls the phone away just in case his squealing can't be contained.
"I think it's break time! No more dancing until Changmin arrives," Jaejoong yells, leaning against the wall for a few seconds before sliding down to sit.
Yunho frowns but agrees after seeing everyone else's faces and finding himself out of breath too. He goes over and sits next to Jaejoong, grabbing a bottle of water from his bag and handing it over. "Tired?" he asks kind of just to start conversation. Jaejoong seems to sense it and doesn't answer him, catching his breath and gulping down his water, staring ahead where Junsu and Yoochun are still standing.
"Yunho." Jaejoong motions him to move closer and cups his hand around his mouth to whisper, but really all he does is laugh quietly into Yunho's ear, much to Yunho's dismay.
"What, what?"
Finally, Jaejoong manages, "Doesn't the new kid remind you of Heechul? That's his third flowery shirt this week."
Yunho smirks and bites on his lip, trying not to laugh when he notices Yoochun looking over their way. He ruffles Jaejoong's hair and pushes him over. "Yah, yah, yah," he tries to say sternly, though it doesn't really have that effect, especially when Jaejoong just lies down over on the floor, still laughing.
"Hi," Jaejoong smiles and waves at Yoochun, which promptly makes the other boy stop staring, wave back, and then resume his conversation with Junsu. "See? I'm nice."
"We have to work with him, Jaejoong. Don't make things harder."
"Hey, you don't have to tell me," Jaejoong sits up and rests his chin on Yunho's shoulder. "Watch, Yoochun and I will be best friends."
Yunho smirks, looking at Jaejoong and watching as his head seems to pop up and down as he talks. "You're everyone's best friend,” he says not just to be smart but because he realized years ago that Jaejoong’s got a knack for making people feel special, maybe even more special than they really are.
"Not Junsu's," Jaejoong laughs and points over where Junsu is trying to teach Yoochun a small part of the dance routine. "I'm still working on him."
Yunho grabs his hand, pulling it back to their sides and hiding it between them. "Stop pointing, they'll think we're mean."
"They already think I'm mean." Jaejoong pouts. "You don't think I'm mean, do you?"
Yunho pouts back at him. "Don't make that face!"
Jaejoong shows that he has no intention of stopping.
Yunho lets go of Jaejoong's hand and crosses his arms, huffing and not willing to give in. "No no no!"
He wins the pouty cute contest when Jaejoong laughs and imitates him. "Hey, so tell me how to get Junsu to like me."
"How would I know?" Yunho brushes his shirt, trying to straighten himself up.
"Junsu adores you."
Yunho looks over at Jaejoong, surprised by the tone he used. Jaejoong pouts, pulling his knees up to his chest and resting his chin on them. He elbows Jaejoong lightly to get his attention again. "It looks like you're glaring at him."
"Worked with everyone else."
Yunho snorts. "Junsu's the type that won't talk to you if he thinks you hate him. He's not Heechul."
"Junsu will love talking to me, soon enough."
"You talk too much for him to even start to talk."
"Junsu!" Jaejoong calls out across the room, waiting for a response.
Yunho laughs nervously when Junsu doesn't respond but just continues to play with his phone. "I think he's busy."
"I think he's trying to ignore me."
Yunho pokes Jaejoong's side, "I think it's impossible to ignore you."
"Apparently that kid does the impossible."
Poke, poke, poke. "Everyone likes you, Jaejoong."
"You're not everyone, Yunho," Jaejoong teases, tickling under Yunho's chin before he stands up and welcomes Changmin to 'Yunho's torture chamber', insisting it’s a million times worse than that math class he just came from.
"So what do you think about Jaejoong?"
"He sings pretty well, why?" Junsu looks up from his bowl of noodles, chewing and waiting for Yunho to answer.
Yunho waves his hands in front of him. "No reason, no reason. Just wanted to know that everyone was getting along."
"Why wouldn't we be?"
"Oh, nothing, nothing," Yunho forces more of his food into his mouth to keep himself from saying anything else, not wanting to give Jaejoong's worries away. Junsu eyes him suspiciously and Yunho thinks that maybe he's been read. But that isn't so bad, because maybe Junsu will tell him why he doesn't talk to Jaejoong and he could fix this whole issue. If there is an issue, he thinks, because a lot of him still believes that this hate Jaejoong feels is all is his imagination.
"Where's Jaejoong anyway?" Junsu breaks the silence.
"Eating with Changmin. I think he lost a bet and has to buy him lunch."
Junsu laughs and Yunho looks up, surprised, blinking with his chopsticks still in his mouth. "I don't think Jaejoong minds. He says Changmin's his favorite member."
"Really?"
"Really."
Yunho hums as he takes another bite, thinking.
"Hyung?"
"Hm?"
Junsu laughs at him. "Don't worry, you're my favorite."
"Junsu, don't make fun of me."
"Alright, alright. Don't act all cute. You have a leader image to protect."
"You should worry about yourself, sexy-luxury."
Junsu claps. "You don't have to worry about me. You should be telling Jaejoong to work on his mysterious charisma. He talks too much."
Yunho laughs with Junsu, knowing all too well that Junsu's right. "Hey, he nice to Jaejoong, alright? He's not your new Donghae," Yunho reminds him, remembering the time Junsu and Hyukjae teased the other boy to the point of crying, not that he thought Jaejoong would cry. Jaejoong’s strong and manly and cute and smiley. "We've been in a lot of groups together. He's like my lucky partner."
"Funny."
"What?"
"Well," Junsu starts, putting his bowl and chopsticks down as when he finishes his bowl. "Jaejoong told me to help you guys out. Because you and him are unlucky together."
"Unlucky?"
"That's what he said. That whatever group you're with fails or something."
"Oh," Yunho says, pouting around a mouthful of noodles.
"But I don't think he minds that either," Junsu smirks at him, kicking him lightly under the desk.
"Yunho."
"Hm?"
"Can't sleep."
"Me either."
"We're debuting tomorrow."
"I know," Yunho says, tossing over in his bed to face Jaejoong's.
"Hi, Bambi," Jaejoong laughs as he waves at the stuffed animal. All Yunho can think is that Jaejoong has really cute bedhead hair.
"Jaejoong, this is gonna last."
"That's why you're my favorite, Yunho. You're the optimist."
Yunho pauses, a bit surprised. "Thought Changmin was the favorite."
Jaejoong chuckles, pulling the blanket up to cover himself more. "All the members are my favorite, dummy."
So that's how it is.
"Goodnight, leader."
"Goodnight."
so u didn't even try?
no :( I'm scared.
wut makes u think he doesn't like u?
jaejoong likes everyone. i just don't know if he likes me more.
problem: you just want jaejoong to like you. jaejoong wants everyone to like him.
They stand backstage, and Yunho wonders if everyone's else heart is trying to rip a way of our their chests like his is doing. He gulps as the music dies down and the MCs start introducing them. 'We're Dong Bang Shin Ki, us five. This is really happening', he thinks. And from the looks he's getting from the other four, they're thinking similarly.
Jaejoong's bouncing next to him, heels to toes, heels to toes. He seems to notice Yunho staring and looks up, smiling back. He nudges Yunho in the stomach. "Don't worry, if this doesn't work out, we'll try another group together," he jokes.
Yunho watches as they walk in line onto the stage and thinks, 'Yeah, I have plenty of time to figure this out'.