my precious baby love [part i]
my precious baby love [part i]
yunho ♥ jaejoong | yoochun ♥ junsu
AU | romance | fluff | pg | two shots | ~6, 300 words in this part
Summary: Jaejoong is a single parent to his 17 year old son, Junsu. Believing that his son is a sweet and naïve teen, he receives the surprise of his life when Junsu announces one day that he is gay. An incident in the bedroom involving the young couple forced Jae to meet Yunho, the stepfather of his son’s supposed aficionado. And who's Changmin in the story?
a/n: this is seriously mindless and without much purpose. Umm. I keep writing and writing and in the middle of the story, I lost track where I’ve started and where they’re going. So, umm, this isn’t anything serious at all. err. hope you guys still enjoy it though. and oh, part ii is in the making. :x
--
My Precious Baby Love: part i;
You're like a kitten,
The way you get so bewildered,
By straightforward words
As we hold hands,
You squeeze mine back tightly,
Unexpectedly showing affection
- Eternal, Tohoshinki
*
“What do you mean you’re gay?!”
“It means I’m attracted to men-“
“I know what gay means, Kim Junsu!”
Jaejoong paces back and forth in the small space of his kitchen, throwing disgruntled look every two seconds at his son. Junsu cowers in his seat as he bites his trembling lower lips.
“Appa…” the teen tries again, looking up puppy-eyed at his father. Jaejoong stops pacing, sighing loudly as he braces himself against the marble kitchen island.
“Junsuyah, this is not something you should joke about…“
“I’m not joking, Appa.”
“Then stop saying such nonsensical things!”
“I’m not saying nonsensical things-“
“Are you even sure you’re gay?”
“I’m sure. Appa, I can’t be surer than this.”
Jaejoong shook his head. “No, you can’t be, you can’t be. You’re not gay!”
“I am!” Junsu cries out. He continues in a whisper, his eyes teary, “Appa, I am.”
“Oh Junsu…”
He reaches a hand across the counter and timidly touches his father’s arm. “I’m really sorry. Please don’t be angry, Appa. I don’t mean to make you upset. I’m sorry. Appa, I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”
Jaejoong feels his heart crumble at Junsu’s plea. He could never say no to his only son, especially not when Junsu is looking at him like that.
“Baby, just come here.” Jaejoong says, defeated. Junsu wastes no longer than a second to walk around the counter and into Jaejoong’s arms, snuggling deep into his father’s warm embrace.
They spend the night talking about the matter until Junsu fell asleep on Jaejoong’s lap. Turned out Junsu discovered he is gay because there is this guy in his school that he really likes. Jaejoong listens without a comment, stroking the top of his son’s head as he did.
It's the first night Jaejoong couldn’t sleep a wink in seventeen years.
*
“Shim Changmin, listen to me. Listen!” Jaejoong flicks the boy’s ear to get his attention. The 15 year old boy groans, swatting Jae’s hand away in annoyance.
“What? Geez, you’re more irritating than Omma!”
Jaejoong flicks the boy’s ear again, just because. “Do not talk about my sister like that, you brat. And I’m no more irritating than you are.”
Changmin lifts a brow up and grins, “So you admit you’re irritating, Uncle.”
It’s Jaejoong who groans this time. “God. Why I even think it’s a good idea to ask for your help is beyond me.”
Changmin grins broader, “It’s because you know I’m the only one who can help without tattling on anyone else.”
Jaejoong snorts, but he’s smiling. “The only good thing about you, it seems.”
“Hey!”
Jaejoong ruffles the boy’s hair and scoops more Haagen-Dazs into the boy’s bowl. Changmin forgets he’s offended in a fraction of a second.
“So listen carefully, alright? Min, are you listening?”
Changmin grumbles a yes, mouth full of chocolatey goodness and hand spooning some more in.
“I need you to investigate who Junsu likes at school.”
“U-uh.”
“Be inconspicuous. Do not let your Junsu-hyung know you’re doing this.”
“Oh he’s going to be so angry if he knows you ask me to spy on him, Uncle.”
“That’s why I said don’t be so obvious, brat.”
“I don’t know...I’m just a boy and you know how boys can’t really keep a secret…”
Jaejoong sighs aloud, dropping his head onto the table and resisting banging against it.
“What do you want?”
Changmin grins, eyes twinkling, “Unlimited supply of ice-cream for a month. And you have to back me up when Omma’s mad at me, no question asked.”
Jaejoong lifts his head up and shoots a curious stare at Changmin.
“What did you do to make her angry?”
Changmin shakes his head and tsks, grinning like the genius he is. “No question asked, Uncle.”
“This is extortion, Shim Changmin. A crime.”
“So does invasion of privacy.”
*
“Junsu-hyung, who is the boy Uncle said you like at school?”
Jaejoong chokes on his black bean noodles as he tries to simultaneously breathe and glares at his nephew across the table. Junsu pats his father’s back, worry creasing his forehead. Changmin just grins.
“Appa, you okay?”
Jaejoong splutters some more before he is sure he’s not breathing noodles into his lungs.
“I’m okay. Just feeling murderous towards a certain 15 year old boy.”
Changmin shrugs, turning to Junsu and tugging on the older boy’s shirt sleeve.
“Hyungggggg….”
Junsu turns to him and smiles shyly, a blush marring his cheeks. “Why do you want to know?”
Changmin snuggles closer, blinking up at Junsu innocently. “Because I love you and I want you to be happy?”
Junsu ruffles the boy’s hair and pinches his cheek affectionately. Jaejoong wants to gag.
“It’s...one of my classmates.” Jaejoong swears he stops breathing from the suspense. Junsu blushes redder as he looks at both Changmin and his father. “His name is Park Yoochun.”
Changmin gasps, scandalized. “Park Yoochun? The Park Yoochun from our taekwondo team and the stepson of Jung Yunho, our Math teacher?”
“Err, yeah. That Park Yoochun.”
Jaejoong’s eyes are as wide as saucers. “You have a crush on your teacher’s stepson?”
Junsu nods guiltily. “Umm, I don’t think my feelings towards him can be considered a crush anymore, Appa. You see, a crush is when the person you like doesn’t know you like him and probably doesn’t care you like him. But the thing is, Yoochun knows I like him. And err, he kind of likes me too.”
Saucers be damned, Jaejoong’s eyes are as big as the sun this time.
“Seriously! Oh my god. You have a boyfriend and you don’t even tell me about it?”
“We’re not boyfriends yet!” Junsu rushes, holding to Jaejoong’s arm as the man begins to sway from sudden dizzy spells.
“We just knew we like each other yesterday. Yoochun and I...we decided to, umm, take things slow. We’re still in school, after all.”
“Oh heavens.”
Changmin looks on, giddy and fully interested.
“I approve, hyung. Yoochun-sunbae is great.” Changmin bites his lips and stares at Jaejoong, making sure the man looks at him before he continues. “I’m just not so sure about Mr Jung.”
Jaejoong frowns worriedly. “What do you mean?”
Changmin looks at Junsu, who looks down at his own lap.
“Umm, Mr Jung doesn’t know Yoochun’s gay.”
“Oh.”
“And we think he could be homophobic.”
“Oh?”
“And he’s probably going to kill both Yoochun and I if he knows we’re dating.”
Jaejoong stands up, furious. “No one’s going to kill my son! Over my dead body!”
Junsu looks up at his father, real concern pruning his face. “Well, err, he can probably kill you too, Appa. Mr Jung got second level black belt in Hapkido.”
Jaejoong hears Changmin sniggers in the background and gulps. The only black belt he owns is a Gucci and it has diamond studs.
*
Jaejoong swears he had never imagine he will ever be in this situation since he first knew he was going to be a father. He was only 16 when he got Junsu. It was his first sexual intercourse and he was stupid enough to not use protection when he did it. The girl, his neighbor’s daughter and two years older than Jaejoong, dumped the baby on him after she gave birth and ran from home with his other boyfriend. They were not even dating at that time.
Needless to say, his parents went batshit on him and banned him from dating anyone for the next five years in fear he would impregnate a random girl on their first date. Fertility runs deep in the family after all. He and his eight older sisters were somewhat a testament on that.
By the time he reached 21 and was allowed to date again, Junsu was five and Jaejoong has lost all the drive to meet or date anyone. Junsu became his source of love and the place he pours his endless affection. The boy is spoiled silly by Jaejoong, and it is nothing short of a wonder that Junsu grows up nicely and didn’t turn into a brat (like his younger cousin Changmin).
Junsu is Jaejoong’s pride, that’s for sure. Sweet and innocent, he is Jaejoong’s precious little baby. Well, not-so-little baby anymore. But still my baby! Jaejoong mused stubbornly.
And perhaps not-so-innocent too, he thinks sadly when he remembers what happened just now.
What kind of father has such a rotten luck to find his son half-naked and panting with another boy on top of him?
The kind whose name is Kim Jaejoong. Yup, that’s got to be him.
The nervous duo in front of him look at him expectantly, one seemingly red with embarrassment and another about to pass out from fear.
“Kim Junsu, this is not what I understand ‘taking things slow’ means.” Jaejoong starts, glaring menacingly at the other boy sitting next to his son.
“Appa, please, don’t be mad…yet. It’s not Yoochun’s fault, it’s all mine!” Junsu splutters, scooting close to Jaejoong. Jaejoong holds up his hand and Junsu stops mid-crawl. No, he will not let himself be coddled out of anger this time. Nu-uh. A father needs to be stern and makes his stance known. Oh yes he must!
“No Mr Kim, it’s all my fault. Junsu is innocent-“
“Yoochunah, shut up! Appa, don’t listen to him, it’s my fault!”
“It’s mine!”
“No, mine!”
“Junsu!”
“Yoochun!”
“Don’t be stubborn, Junsuyah!”
“Just let me handle this, Yoochunnie!”
“But it’s my fault!”
“We both know I was the one who pressed you for this!”
“But-“
“Shut up both of you!” Jaejoong yells finally. Silence rules the room as his temples throb with the oncoming headache.
He counts from one to ten and then backwards, two times. Breathing deep, Jaejoong looks at both boys with a defeated expression.
“How far did you two go? Junsu?”
His son bites his lips, looking down at the floor as he blushes.
“Kissing. And touching.”
“U-uh. Hands inside pants?”
Junsu colors a darker shade of red and Yoochun shifts uneasily on his knees. Jaejoong stifles the helpless groan lodging in his throat.
“Just thank God you boys can’t get pregnant.” Jaejoong mutters as he falls back against the couch.
“Appa…” Junsu croaks, eyes blinking worriedly at Jaejoong. “Are you angry?”
“Am I angry?” Jaejoong asks back, incredulous tone and all. “Why should I be angry? My son sneaked his boyfriend into the house and made out with said boyfriend without my knowing and why would I be angry?”
Junsu sighs, face falling and lips pouting. “You are angry.”
“Oh yes I am.” Jaejoong admits, banging his head against the couch’s arm. “I’m so angry I swear I could strangle the both of you with my bare hands.”
Yoochun pipes out from nowhere, voice shaky. “So why don’t you?”
Jaejoong can’t even start to believe the nerves of these boys. He snorts, laughing to himself. He really is a bad, sort-of-the-fail-of-the-century parent.
“Because I can’t, even if I want to.” He answers simply and honestly. He hears Junsu crawls closer, and then he is staring up into his son’s sweet face. Junsu is crying silently, tears flowing down his cheeks in steady torrents.
“Appa I love you!” Junsu professes, before he proceeds to hug Jaejoong so tight he could have cracked one or two of Jaejoong’s ribs. Someone is sobbing dramatically in the background.
Oh well, time to meet the Hapkido stepfather for a serious adults discussion.
*
Whatever Jaejoong has imagined Jung Yunho to be like is certainly not how he is like in real life. The Mathematics teacher is a man with messy just-got-out-of-bed hair and stubble along his jaw, wearing sweat pants and t-shirt, and smoking a cheap rolled up cigarette between cracked lips. To be honest, Jaejoong had imagined him to be, err, much more civilized looking.
“Mr. Jung.” Jaejoong half-bows, looking warily around the man’s office. Papers are strewn everywhere, and cigarette butts overflow from the ashtray on the man’s cluttered desk. He swears he can hear mice shuffling from a corner somewhere.
“Mr. Kim Jaejoong, right? Please have a seat.”
Jaejoong looks about the room confusedly. Where is the damned chair to sit on?
“It’s right in front of you. Just push those files to the floor. Sorry, my office is kind of messy.” Jung Yunho flashes an apologetic grin and Jaejoong smiles back to concede, but not really meaning it. This is not kind of messy. It certainly is messy.
Jaejoong lifts the files with the tips of his fingers and put them on a stack of papers on Jung Yunho’s desk, remembering with delight that he had his alcohol wipes in his manpurse.
“So…” the teacher starts, looking at Jaejoong pointedly.
“It’s about your son. And mine. Umm.”
Jung Yunho lifts a bushy brow up. “What about Yoochun? And your son is Kim Junsu from class 3-B?”
Jaejoong nods, hands clawing his own knees. “Yeah, that’s him. No one else but that one. Err. Umm, the thing is, Mr. Jung…how should I put this…”
The teacher is now looking sort of amused at Jaejoong’s obvious stuttering.
“Mr. Kim, you do realize I don’t have all day.” He states unnecessarily. Jaejoong nods like a fool.
“Ah, umm, yes. I know. Well. About the boys. They are, umm, sort of, you know, kind of dating.”
“They are dating?” the teacher repeats and Jaejoong nods again. “Dating who?”
Obviously he isn’t as smart as Jaejoong thinks Math teachers should be.
Jaejoong makes a show to sigh forlornly. “That’s why I come here to meet you, Mr. Jung. Our boys...they are...dating each other.”
Jaejoong expects Jung Yunho to kick the table or yell or probably do both simultaneously but what he didn’t expect is for Jung Yunho to simply lift both brows up and then shrugs the matter off like it isn’t as big of a deal it actually is.
“Well, they are already 17. Boys will be boys, Mr. Kim.”
Jaejoong gapes in disbelief. “W-what?”
“It’s their lives. It’s not like they are going to stop seeing each other if we tell them not to.” Yunho adds as he lights up a new cigarette, clearly nonchalant.
“I thought you’re homophobic!” Jaejoong says, indignant. Wait, is this some kind of a trick? Perhaps the boys set him up for this?
Jaejoong looks around for the hidden cameras amidst the trash.
“What are you looking for?”
“Cameras.”
“Huh?” Jung Yunho frowns at him suspiciously, “What are you up to, Mr. Kim?”
“What are you up to?”
Jaejoong pushes his chair back and stands, placing both hands on the teacher’s desk and staring straight into the man’s eyes.
“How can you be so calm about this? Our sons believe they are homosexuals and in love with each other, and you just accepted it like that? What kind of a father you are?!”
“Mr. Kim…”
“I expect you to show a proper reaction to this matter!”
“Mr. Kim, please calm down. Take a seat, please…” the teacher gestures towards the tumbled chair and narrows his eyes, “…before I make you.”
Jaejoong gulps and picks the chair up, all the while huffing moodily.
“How long have you known the boys are gay?”
“About a month or so.” Jaejoong replies and looks away.
“So I believe you already gave them a piece of your mind, but they didn’t listen to you, yes?”
Jaejoong fidgets in his seat.
“Mr. Kim?”
“Well, the thing is…no one really gave them any piece of no one’s mind. Err.”
Jung Yunho lifts his brows up again and Jaejoong find himself fighting the nasty urge to rip the lines of hair permanently off the man’s face.
“Huh.”
“Yeah.”
“So…” the teacher starts again, voice dropping low and bordering on accusatory, “…you’re asking me to be the bad guy because you don’t want to be one?”
“No!” Jaejoong denies heatedly, but wonders briefly why he can’t stand to look into Yunho’s eyes. “I mean, err, you won’t be the ‘bad guy’. You will just be…the strict father.”
Jung Yunho leans forwards, smirking like the devil.
“Why can’t you be the ‘strict father’, Mr. Kim Jaejoong?”
Jaejoong feels his cheeks getting abnormally warmer. “Because I’m not! I can’t say I don’t like them dating because I love my son and I want him to be happy with whoever he chooses!”
Jaejoong hears Jung Yunho sighs and glances at the man, only to look away again because damn, he is still staring at me with those sharp, somewhat gorgeous eyes!
“You do realize though that this conversation we are having is absolutely redundant?”
Jaejoong just pouts in reply.
“We both want our kids to be happy. We don’t care who they’re dating as long as they don’t get anyone pregnant, and chances are neither your son nor mine is going to get knocked up because they have unprotected sex with each other.”
“Mr. Jung!” Jaejoong reprimands, though inwardly he ponders how they could have jumped on a similar train of thoughts.
“Let’s drop the pretense, shall we, Mr. Kim?”
Jaejoong looks up in confusion. “Huh?”
“This isn’t as much about Yoochun and your son as it is about you, right?”
“What do you mean-“
“You’re afraid to acknowledge that your boy is all grown up. You’re scared your son is going to leave you now that he has a new man in his life.”
Jaejoong blushes, and hell no he’s not going to admit he does because he just doesn’t do blushing on a regular basis, “I-I-I’m not!”
“You’re stuttering. Very convincing.”
“I-I’m not s-stuttering!”
Jung Yunho just shakes his head in amusement. “You’re so in denial, Kim Jaejoong.”
“And you’re so presumptuous.” Jaejoong stands up and takes his manpurse from the floor, shooting an irritated glance at the man sitting across the table from him. “And extremely rude.”
He closes the door on Jung Yunho’s last remark. “Don’t forget ‘undeniably right’ as well.”
*
The next few days are filled with mundane things that Jaejoong likes - such as shopping for grocery, taking Junsu to his soccer practice and escorting the boy on his dates with Yoochun. Jaejoong has decided he’s going to chaperone the boys whenever they go out because God knows the teens will jump on each other the moment Jaejoong blinks his eyes. Someone needs to be a responsible parent now that Jaejoong knows Yoochun’s stepfather is not going to be one.
While Junsu just accepted Jaejoong’s quirk with minimal protest, his nephew Changmin finds all of these extremely hilarious.
“Uncle, you do realize you’re motherhenning Junsu-hyung, don’t you?”
“I’m not motherhenning him.” Jaejoong snorts and drinks an extra large gulp of 7Up. “This is called responsible parenting, Changmin.”
Changmin lifts a brow up. “Really? Well, kids my age called it ‘crazy obsessive parenting’.”
“Don’t do that!” Jaejoong yells as he smacks the back of the kid’s head. Changmin cries out in pain.
“What’s that for?!”
“Don’t lift your brows at me like that ever again. It’s annoying.”
“So does you coming here and finishing my 7Up.” Changmin retorts as he tries to wrestle the can from Jaejoong’s hand. “Go buy your own 7Up, uncle! Uncle! Uncleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
“You’re so noisy!”
Jaejoong neither hear nor see a man walking up to him until it is too late to do anything but gape at the tall man who is blocking the sun.
“Good to see you’re so affectionate with kids.” Jung Yunho laughs and Jaejoong finds himself having no words to reply. Damn tall, tanned skin man with gorgeous, blinding white smile. And oh, he shaves up real nice.
“Yes, I did. Thank you.”
Jaejoong frowns. “Excuse me?”
Yunho takes a seat beside Jaejoong on the bleacher without asking first. Jaejoong scoots a good two inches away and accidentally elbows Changmin in the ribs.
“Ow! Did you sharpen your elbow at night or something?!” the teen yelps, rubbing on his injured chest.
“Well, you deserved it, you little twit!”
Changmin groans, standing up and declaring defeat. “I’m out of here. You’re not only drinking all of my 7Up which I bought with my meager student allowance, you also inflict physical pain and take up all my space on the bench. Why do I have such a freak as my uncle?”
“Yah Shim Changmin!”
Yunho laughs again and Jaejoong feels the abnormal warming of his cheeks starts again. Yunho laughs like a boy, Jaejoong muses unthinkingly. It’s sort of cute.
Seconds passed with Jaejoong schooling his face to cool the fuck down and Yunho laughing on Jaejoong’s expense.
“You’re hilarious, Mr. Kim.”
“So are you.”
“Hmm?” The brow is up again. Jaejoong groans inwardly.
“Nothing.” He muttered uninterestedly. Jung Yunho chuckles and inches closer. Jaejoong scoots a further three inches away. Yunho starts to snigger louder.
“If I come any closer, will you stand up and walk away?” the man asks, leaning into Jaejoong’s personal space.
Jaejoong gulps. “Perhaps.”
“Then maybe I shouldn’t, huh?”
“Maybe.”
“Do you want me to?”
“Want you what?”
“To come closer.”
“Closer than this?”
“Yes, closer than this.”
“This is close.”
“It can get closer.”
“It can?”
“Sure. Want to try and find out?”
“Find out what?”
“How close we can get.”
“We’re close.”
“Not as close as I want us to.”
“Not as close as I want us to…” Jaejoong repeats dazedly, and continues to be dazed for a few more seconds until Jung Yunho suddenly laughs.
“What’s so funny?” Jaejoong grumbles moodily, all the while glaring at Yunho.
“You.”
“Me?”
Yunho nods, his laughter smoothing into a thoughtful smile. “You’re so fierce one second, somewhat scared the next and then adorably shy after that. Then you turn feisty again, like a Mama cat guarding her kitten.”
“Mama cat?” Jaejoong scrunches his nose in distaste at the analogy and snorts. “You can’t offend me more even if you try.”
Yunho grins. “You’re offended?”
“Of course!”
“Then you should let me buy you lunch to apologize for my rudeness.”
“Wha?”
“If lunch is inconvenient for you, how about dinner?”
Jaejoong gapes for a millisecond, before he chuckles and shakes his head. “You’re incorrigible, Mr. Jung Yunho. Do you know you sounded like you’re asking me out on a date?”
“Well, I am asking you out on a date.”
Jaejoong shoots him a suspicious glance. “Sure you are.”
“I’m serious.” Jung Yunho stares back, gaze unflinching and totally unnerving. Jaejoong shifts in his seat.
“Well, umm. Mr. Jung Yunho.” Jaejoong starts to stammer, so he bites his tongue once and will it to behave, “The thing is, I… don’t do date.”
“You don’t do date with men, you mean?”
Jaejoong shrugs, trying to act nonchalant and probably failing miserably at it. “And women. I don’t date either men or women. So yeah, umm, I don’t mean to be disrespectful or anything. I just don’t go on dates.”
“And why not?”
Jaejoong scowls, still not looking in Yunho’s direction. “You ask so many questions.”
“And you answer so little of them.”
“It’s none of your business.”
“You’re right.” Jung Yunho sounds a bit down, but Jaejoong doesn’t care, right? Yes, he doesn’t. “It’s none of my business. I don’t know why I even try.”
Someone cheers from the field, a goal scored but Jaejoong has long lost his focus on the game to keep track of the match. He’s lost in his own thoughts of Junsu, Junsu’s estranged mother, Yoochun, Jung Yunho and even his nephew Changmin. When he finally manages to steal a glance at Yunho, the man isn’t there anymore.
He is sure the guilt and disappointment he feels at the pit of his stomach is anything but normal.
*
“Junsuyah.”
Jaejoong climbs onto his son’s bed and lies on his stomach, peering into Junsu’s gameboy. Junsu smiles at his father and lets the man peep into his match with Yoochun. He’s leading by 200 points and will definitely win again like he always does.
Jaejoong sighs dejectedly and drops his head onto his folded arms. Junsu gets distracted and slams into a tree, and Yoochun drives straight towards the finishing line.
But Junsu doesn’t have time to be sad. He closes the portable console just as Yoochun’s avatar starts to boogie his win and places it on the table next to the bed.
“Appa.” Junsu wiggles his hip against his father’s until the man peeks from where he’s moping.
“Yea?”
“You okay?”
Jaejoong snuggles back into his own arms, hiding his face from Junsu. “’m awwight.”
“Huh?”
Jaejoong looks up just a fraction of a second, “I’m alright,” and returns back to his shell.
Junsu resists the urge to roll his eyes. “Yeah, I can totally see that. What’s wrong, Appa? Spill, old man.”
Jaejoong finally turns on his side as a result of Junsu’s insistent prodding, and watches Junsu with an indiscernible expression.
“Do you think I’m a good father, Junsu?”
Junsu grins widely in reply. “Of course. You’re the best father in the whole wide world.”
Jaejoong half-smiles. “You just said that because I’m your father.”
“Which is why I’m the best person to say that. No one knows how wonderful my Appa is more than I do.”
“You’re a sweet kid, Junsuyah.” Jaejoong smiles, a bit teary around the edges this time. “Sometimes I think I don’t deserve to have you as my son.”
Junsu giggles, shaking his head at his father. “You’re such a hopeless sap sometimes, Appa.”
Jaejoong continues to stare at his son, “Junsu.”
“Unn?”
“Do you miss your mother?”
Junsu stops giggling and starts frowning, “You never ask me that question before.”
“Perhaps I should. I’m sorry I didn’t, baby.”
“Appa, you’re obviously not alright. What happened?” Junsu asks worriedly, his face turning glum as he looks down guiltily. “Are you still upset about the thing that happened last week?”
Jaejoong shakes his head. “No, you and Yoochun don’t have anything to do with this. I’m just…I’ve been thinking a lot these days.”
“And?”
“And I’m wondering…maybe I should have tried to find your mother?”
“For what?”
“For you, of course. She’s your mother, after all.”
Silence charms them for a minute and stretches longer.
“If you find her, what will you do? Marry her?” Junsu asks somewhat breathlessly, breaking the stifling stillness.
“She’s probably married now.”
“If she hasn’t?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think I can marry her.”
“You love her?”
“No. I don’t.”
“I don’t love her too.”
Jaejoong gasps and Junsu sighs. The teen turns so that he lies with his back to his father’s chest and pulls the man’s arms around his body, wrapping himself with his father’s warmth.
“I’m grateful to her for carrying me in her womb for nine months and giving birth to me, but that’s just about it. Thankful is the only feeling I can summon towards her. You ask me if I miss my mother, then I will ask you back Appa, how do I miss a woman I don’t even know? You don’t even have her picture to show me.”
“I can draw her face for you if you want!”
Junsu chuckles, burrowing his face into Jaejoong’s upper arm. “Yeah, right. You couldn’t even draw Barney without making it look like a constipated duck instead of a cheerful purple dinosaur.”
“Yah, don’t belittle my drawing skills!”
“I won’t if you have any to begin with.”
Jaejoong pokes Junsu’s ribs, starting a wrestling/tickling match. Both father and son laugh breathlessly when they finally stop, the merry sounds painting colors into the lonely night.
“Appa…”
“Hnn?”
“You said you don’t love my mother. Maybe it’s time you find someone you do?”
“Someone I do?” Jaejoong grins naughtily.
“Ew, Appa, gross.” Junsu scrunches his face up in mock-disgust, but his excited giggling betrays him big time. “You know what I mean. Someone you love. Someone who can make you smile and cry and laugh all at the same time. Someone who will love you in return.”
“I don’t need-“
“Of course you do!”
“I have you and you’re enough.”
“Appa, listen.” Junsu turns to face his father, expression completely serious. “I’m going to be an adult and you’re not so young anymore. What if I move out and get married one day?”
“You are already thinking of leaving me?”
“Don’t change the subject!”
Jaejoong pouts. “You can stay with me after you get married…I don’t mind.”
“That’s not going to work. You’ll scare my husband away. No way.”
“Kim Junsu, as your father, I’m deeply offended by your unfair accusation.”
Junsu chuckles, snuggling deeper into Jaejoong’s embrace. “I just don’t want you to be lonely.”
“I’m not lonely.” Jaejoong protests, but his rebuttal lacks conviction. He knows that, Junsu knows that, and Jung Yunho obviously knows that.
You’re so in denial, Kim Jaejoong.
*
“What happened here?”
Yunho exclaims when he opens his office door and sees Jaejoong. Not only does Jaejoong come early and wait for him, the man has apparently turned the room’s chaotic state into a rather neat looking working space. Huh.
“I’m sorry, I can’t stand the mess. It’s a habit I have.” Jaejoong gestures nervously at the room. Yunho just smiles and asks the man to sit down.
“It’s a good habit.”
Jaejoong smiles and blushes bashfully. Interesting, Yunho muses.
“So what brings you here? Did Yoochun cause you or Junsu any problem?”
Jaejoong shakes his head. “No, no, Yoochun’s a good kid. Better than I’ve expected. Well, maybe that one time when he…but it’s all in the past now so it’s all good!”
Yunho chuckles. “He told me about ‘that one time’.”
Jaejoong’s eyes widen. “He told you? That’s…”
“A surprise?”
“It’s a pleasant surprise, I’d say.”
“Like you said, Yoochun’s a good kid. Only sometimes he acts without thinking, but we all do at times, huh? Well, I did smack him a good few times for forgetting his manners at someone else’s house after I knew what happened. I’m not good at this ‘father’ thing. Never does.”
Jaejoong can’t help but grin upon hearing the man’s remark. “I think you did really well for someone who said he’s not a good father.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, you’re wonderful.”
Yunho leans forward, eying Jaejoong curiously. Jaejoong tucks a stray lock behind his ear elegantly and stares back.
“Are you aware of what you’re doing, Mr. Kim?”
Jaejoong smirks, suddenly brave. “Of course I do, Mr. Jung.”
“You’re flirting.”
“I am?”
“See? That’s flirting, Mr. Kim. You’re flirting with me.”
“No, you got that wrong, Mr. Jung.” Jaejoong tsks as he hunches forward and winks. “We are flirting with each other.”
Yunho lifts a brow up and instead of getting annoyed, Jaejoong surprisingly thinks the gesture is appealing, manly and very, very sexy.
“What made you change your mind? As far as I can remember, you clearly indicated you’re not interested in dating anyone, man or woman.”
Jaejoong drops the seductive smile and opts for his genuine one. He can act, but not for long. He’s been out of the love game for so long, after all.
“Junsu said some things to me. And you did too, when we met the first time and that other day on the field. Both of you made me think of something I tried so hard for years not to.”
Yunho looks really keen to know. “And that something is?”
“I’m afraid to be alone.” Jaejoong confesses.
“So you shun everyone away because you’re scared of loneliness?”
“I do not shun-“ Jaejoong begins to protest, before he catches himself on that habit of his and stops. “Okay, I did. But I have my reasons!”
“Mr. Kim-“
“Jaejoong is fine.” Jaejoong cuts in, looking up at the man, “You can call me Jaejoong, Mr. Jung.”
“Only if you call me Yunho.”
“Okay, Yunho.”
They share a private, heart-opening, we-are-friends-and-totally-cool-now smile.
“Jaejoong, you don’t have to tell me all these if you don’t want to. I’d be happy to take you out on our date without any question asked.”
Jaejoong nods, but he’s adamant to clear things up before they proceed any further…if they do, of course.
“I know, but I just want to clarify the situation for you so that you know what you’re getting into." Jaejoong breathes deep, and exhales heavily. "I’m a man full of emotional baggage, Yunho. I have a really bad history with love."
“So have I.” Jaejoong looks up in surprise at this, but Yunho shrugs his small admission off like it means nothing. “Look, Jaejoong. We can just go out and have dinners like two friends if you want. It’s your call. I don’t want you to feel like I’m pressuring you into this, but I also don’t want you to think I’m not serious about you. The ball’s in your side of the court, Jaejoong. How we go from here is all up to you.”
“Yeah, I would like that.” Jaejoong sighs, combing his hair back. “I can do dinners with friend.”
Yunho smiles. “Then we’ll do dinners as friends.”
*
“What do you see in me?”
Jaejoong has been refraining himself from asking that question all night but the curious itch just got too much for his stubborn mouth to handle. He bites his lips and looks down into his plate of beef steak, forking the medium rare meat with an undeserved attention. The Western-style family restaurant buzzes with life in the background, but Jaejoong takes little notice of the noise.
Yunho simply grins and leans back against his chair, arms linked across broad chest.
“I don’t really know. It’s just…you have an aura about you that pulls me in, you know. It’s interesting to see how you act and react to things. Sort of entertaining.”
“Good to know I’m providing you some entertainment.” Jaejoong replies sarcastically.
Yunho laughs. “Don’t get offended, I meant it as a compliment.”
“You have a twisted way of flattering someone.”
“You’re not flattered?”
Jaejoong snorts. “Far from it.”
Yunho continues to flash that soul-eating grin of his. Jaejoong chomps on the meat a little bit harder.
“Would you be flattered if I say I asked you out because I can’t forget about you?”
Jaejoong stops chewing. And breathing.
“I would.” Jaejoong finally replies after some pressing silence.
Yunho tilts his head sideways, a genuine smile covering his lips. “Then let’s just assume I’ve said exactly that.”
Jaejoong remembers to breathe again and decides that wine glass is a great thing to hide his stupid blushing face.
“Jaejoong, may I ask you something personal?”
He nods, sipping his Pinot Noir really, really slowly.
“How long have you been separated from your wife?”
His left eyebrow hikes his forehead in surprise, and he belatedly realizes he had just caught on Jung Yunho’s infamous habit.
“Junsu’s mother and I…we were, umm, never together in the first place.” Yunho looks confused enough so Jaejoong had to continue. “It was, err, accidental. Stupidity and teenage hormone on my part, and meaningless sex on her part. She’s my neighbor’s daughter…and two years older. A senior in my school. It was my first time, I didn’t use protection and well… that’s how Junsu happened. He was a mistake.”
Jaejoong glances up just as Yunho’s about to shake his head, “But he’s my sweetest, precious, lovely, no-regret-at-all mistake!” he adds quickly in an afterthought. Yunho snickers in his 'yeah right' way that makes Jaejoong feels murderous for three seconds.
Yunho plays with the lonely carrot on his plate, looking at Jaejoong under the lashes with a speculative smirk on his lips.
“So, you’re telling me it’s been more than 17 years since you last have sex with anyone?”
Jaejoong frowns, flaming hot with embarrassment from head to toe. “Where did you derive that conclusion from? Are you saying I’m frigid?”
Yunho holds up his hands as if Jaejoong’s going to hit him, chuckling guiltily, though Jaejoong knows he’s not feeling a tiny wee bit of guilty.
“Stop twisting my words around. I’m not out to offend you here. I’m just asking an honest question.”
Jaejoong huffs and mumbles. “Your fault your questions keep rubbing me the wrong way.”
Yunho leans forward, parking his elbow on the table and taking the wine glass from Jaejoong’s death grip. He grins, lopsided and dangerously seductive. “I can rub you in all the right ways.”
Jaejoong thinks they are beyond that ‘dinners with friends’ phase. This is serious flirting with consequences, and suddenly he feels extremely nervous, like he’s about to choke on a piece of meat and die.
Fuck. Even that analogy sounds totally sexualized.
“Yunho…” Jaejoong croaks out shamefully and looks down into his now empty plate. Where have the meat gone?
He glances back up at Yunho, looking entirely puzzled and thoroughly scared.
Yunho moves back and sighs aloud, raking long, bony pretty fingers in his mop of black hair.
“I’m sorry. I said I was going to let you decide how this thing’s going between us and I’m forgetting my own words. I’m really sorry.”
“It’s okay…”
“This is not how I usually act. I guess it’s been a while since I go out with anyone…”
Jaejoong’s interest is piqued, and his nervousness goes flying out of the window.
“When was the last time you went out with someone?”
Yunho scratches his chin in thought. “I don’t know…four, five years ago? It’s with this woman my mom’s tried to set me up with…God knows she’s been trying to get me to marry again for years ever since Yoochun’s mother passed away! She finally gave up when I made no indication to ever re-marry again. Yoonji was…my first and last wife.”
Yunho looks past Jaejoong, his eyes turning somewhat glassy as he continues. “I made a promise to her to take care of Yoochun, and I’m not one to break my promises. After she went away, raising Yoochun kind of take all of my time and attention. That boy’s quite the rebel when he was younger. I don’t regret it though…he’s good now. Most time I’d forget he’s not my real son because he feels like that to me, you know.”
Jaejoong smiles as his heart steadily melts. “You’re a good guy, Yunho.”
“So I’ve been told.” Yunho chuckles and wipes his eyes with the back of his hand, lightening the somber mood. Jaejoong can’t help but grins as well.
“Don’t let your head gets too big…” Jaejoong retorts good-naturedly, and adds quickly when Yunho begins to leer, “…and quit attaching sexual innuendos to all my comments. It’s not healthy and reflects poorly on your well-educated mind.”
--[TBC]
yunho ♥ jaejoong | yoochun ♥ junsu
AU | romance | fluff | pg | two shots | ~6, 300 words in this part
Summary: Jaejoong is a single parent to his 17 year old son, Junsu. Believing that his son is a sweet and naïve teen, he receives the surprise of his life when Junsu announces one day that he is gay. An incident in the bedroom involving the young couple forced Jae to meet Yunho, the stepfather of his son’s supposed aficionado. And who's Changmin in the story?
a/n: this is seriously mindless and without much purpose. Umm. I keep writing and writing and in the middle of the story, I lost track where I’ve started and where they’re going. So, umm, this isn’t anything serious at all. err. hope you guys still enjoy it though. and oh, part ii is in the making. :x
--
My Precious Baby Love: part i;
You're like a kitten,
The way you get so bewildered,
By straightforward words
As we hold hands,
You squeeze mine back tightly,
Unexpectedly showing affection
- Eternal, Tohoshinki
*
“What do you mean you’re gay?!”
“It means I’m attracted to men-“
“I know what gay means, Kim Junsu!”
Jaejoong paces back and forth in the small space of his kitchen, throwing disgruntled look every two seconds at his son. Junsu cowers in his seat as he bites his trembling lower lips.
“Appa…” the teen tries again, looking up puppy-eyed at his father. Jaejoong stops pacing, sighing loudly as he braces himself against the marble kitchen island.
“Junsuyah, this is not something you should joke about…“
“I’m not joking, Appa.”
“Then stop saying such nonsensical things!”
“I’m not saying nonsensical things-“
“Are you even sure you’re gay?”
“I’m sure. Appa, I can’t be surer than this.”
Jaejoong shook his head. “No, you can’t be, you can’t be. You’re not gay!”
“I am!” Junsu cries out. He continues in a whisper, his eyes teary, “Appa, I am.”
“Oh Junsu…”
He reaches a hand across the counter and timidly touches his father’s arm. “I’m really sorry. Please don’t be angry, Appa. I don’t mean to make you upset. I’m sorry. Appa, I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”
Jaejoong feels his heart crumble at Junsu’s plea. He could never say no to his only son, especially not when Junsu is looking at him like that.
“Baby, just come here.” Jaejoong says, defeated. Junsu wastes no longer than a second to walk around the counter and into Jaejoong’s arms, snuggling deep into his father’s warm embrace.
They spend the night talking about the matter until Junsu fell asleep on Jaejoong’s lap. Turned out Junsu discovered he is gay because there is this guy in his school that he really likes. Jaejoong listens without a comment, stroking the top of his son’s head as he did.
It's the first night Jaejoong couldn’t sleep a wink in seventeen years.
*
“Shim Changmin, listen to me. Listen!” Jaejoong flicks the boy’s ear to get his attention. The 15 year old boy groans, swatting Jae’s hand away in annoyance.
“What? Geez, you’re more irritating than Omma!”
Jaejoong flicks the boy’s ear again, just because. “Do not talk about my sister like that, you brat. And I’m no more irritating than you are.”
Changmin lifts a brow up and grins, “So you admit you’re irritating, Uncle.”
It’s Jaejoong who groans this time. “God. Why I even think it’s a good idea to ask for your help is beyond me.”
Changmin grins broader, “It’s because you know I’m the only one who can help without tattling on anyone else.”
Jaejoong snorts, but he’s smiling. “The only good thing about you, it seems.”
“Hey!”
Jaejoong ruffles the boy’s hair and scoops more Haagen-Dazs into the boy’s bowl. Changmin forgets he’s offended in a fraction of a second.
“So listen carefully, alright? Min, are you listening?”
Changmin grumbles a yes, mouth full of chocolatey goodness and hand spooning some more in.
“I need you to investigate who Junsu likes at school.”
“U-uh.”
“Be inconspicuous. Do not let your Junsu-hyung know you’re doing this.”
“Oh he’s going to be so angry if he knows you ask me to spy on him, Uncle.”
“That’s why I said don’t be so obvious, brat.”
“I don’t know...I’m just a boy and you know how boys can’t really keep a secret…”
Jaejoong sighs aloud, dropping his head onto the table and resisting banging against it.
“What do you want?”
Changmin grins, eyes twinkling, “Unlimited supply of ice-cream for a month. And you have to back me up when Omma’s mad at me, no question asked.”
Jaejoong lifts his head up and shoots a curious stare at Changmin.
“What did you do to make her angry?”
Changmin shakes his head and tsks, grinning like the genius he is. “No question asked, Uncle.”
“This is extortion, Shim Changmin. A crime.”
“So does invasion of privacy.”
*
“Junsu-hyung, who is the boy Uncle said you like at school?”
Jaejoong chokes on his black bean noodles as he tries to simultaneously breathe and glares at his nephew across the table. Junsu pats his father’s back, worry creasing his forehead. Changmin just grins.
“Appa, you okay?”
Jaejoong splutters some more before he is sure he’s not breathing noodles into his lungs.
“I’m okay. Just feeling murderous towards a certain 15 year old boy.”
Changmin shrugs, turning to Junsu and tugging on the older boy’s shirt sleeve.
“Hyungggggg….”
Junsu turns to him and smiles shyly, a blush marring his cheeks. “Why do you want to know?”
Changmin snuggles closer, blinking up at Junsu innocently. “Because I love you and I want you to be happy?”
Junsu ruffles the boy’s hair and pinches his cheek affectionately. Jaejoong wants to gag.
“It’s...one of my classmates.” Jaejoong swears he stops breathing from the suspense. Junsu blushes redder as he looks at both Changmin and his father. “His name is Park Yoochun.”
Changmin gasps, scandalized. “Park Yoochun? The Park Yoochun from our taekwondo team and the stepson of Jung Yunho, our Math teacher?”
“Err, yeah. That Park Yoochun.”
Jaejoong’s eyes are as wide as saucers. “You have a crush on your teacher’s stepson?”
Junsu nods guiltily. “Umm, I don’t think my feelings towards him can be considered a crush anymore, Appa. You see, a crush is when the person you like doesn’t know you like him and probably doesn’t care you like him. But the thing is, Yoochun knows I like him. And err, he kind of likes me too.”
Saucers be damned, Jaejoong’s eyes are as big as the sun this time.
“Seriously! Oh my god. You have a boyfriend and you don’t even tell me about it?”
“We’re not boyfriends yet!” Junsu rushes, holding to Jaejoong’s arm as the man begins to sway from sudden dizzy spells.
“We just knew we like each other yesterday. Yoochun and I...we decided to, umm, take things slow. We’re still in school, after all.”
“Oh heavens.”
Changmin looks on, giddy and fully interested.
“I approve, hyung. Yoochun-sunbae is great.” Changmin bites his lips and stares at Jaejoong, making sure the man looks at him before he continues. “I’m just not so sure about Mr Jung.”
Jaejoong frowns worriedly. “What do you mean?”
Changmin looks at Junsu, who looks down at his own lap.
“Umm, Mr Jung doesn’t know Yoochun’s gay.”
“Oh.”
“And we think he could be homophobic.”
“Oh?”
“And he’s probably going to kill both Yoochun and I if he knows we’re dating.”
Jaejoong stands up, furious. “No one’s going to kill my son! Over my dead body!”
Junsu looks up at his father, real concern pruning his face. “Well, err, he can probably kill you too, Appa. Mr Jung got second level black belt in Hapkido.”
Jaejoong hears Changmin sniggers in the background and gulps. The only black belt he owns is a Gucci and it has diamond studs.
*
Jaejoong swears he had never imagine he will ever be in this situation since he first knew he was going to be a father. He was only 16 when he got Junsu. It was his first sexual intercourse and he was stupid enough to not use protection when he did it. The girl, his neighbor’s daughter and two years older than Jaejoong, dumped the baby on him after she gave birth and ran from home with his other boyfriend. They were not even dating at that time.
Needless to say, his parents went batshit on him and banned him from dating anyone for the next five years in fear he would impregnate a random girl on their first date. Fertility runs deep in the family after all. He and his eight older sisters were somewhat a testament on that.
By the time he reached 21 and was allowed to date again, Junsu was five and Jaejoong has lost all the drive to meet or date anyone. Junsu became his source of love and the place he pours his endless affection. The boy is spoiled silly by Jaejoong, and it is nothing short of a wonder that Junsu grows up nicely and didn’t turn into a brat (like his younger cousin Changmin).
Junsu is Jaejoong’s pride, that’s for sure. Sweet and innocent, he is Jaejoong’s precious little baby. Well, not-so-little baby anymore. But still my baby! Jaejoong mused stubbornly.
And perhaps not-so-innocent too, he thinks sadly when he remembers what happened just now.
What kind of father has such a rotten luck to find his son half-naked and panting with another boy on top of him?
The kind whose name is Kim Jaejoong. Yup, that’s got to be him.
The nervous duo in front of him look at him expectantly, one seemingly red with embarrassment and another about to pass out from fear.
“Kim Junsu, this is not what I understand ‘taking things slow’ means.” Jaejoong starts, glaring menacingly at the other boy sitting next to his son.
“Appa, please, don’t be mad…yet. It’s not Yoochun’s fault, it’s all mine!” Junsu splutters, scooting close to Jaejoong. Jaejoong holds up his hand and Junsu stops mid-crawl. No, he will not let himself be coddled out of anger this time. Nu-uh. A father needs to be stern and makes his stance known. Oh yes he must!
“No Mr Kim, it’s all my fault. Junsu is innocent-“
“Yoochunah, shut up! Appa, don’t listen to him, it’s my fault!”
“It’s mine!”
“No, mine!”
“Junsu!”
“Yoochun!”
“Don’t be stubborn, Junsuyah!”
“Just let me handle this, Yoochunnie!”
“But it’s my fault!”
“We both know I was the one who pressed you for this!”
“But-“
“Shut up both of you!” Jaejoong yells finally. Silence rules the room as his temples throb with the oncoming headache.
He counts from one to ten and then backwards, two times. Breathing deep, Jaejoong looks at both boys with a defeated expression.
“How far did you two go? Junsu?”
His son bites his lips, looking down at the floor as he blushes.
“Kissing. And touching.”
“U-uh. Hands inside pants?”
Junsu colors a darker shade of red and Yoochun shifts uneasily on his knees. Jaejoong stifles the helpless groan lodging in his throat.
“Just thank God you boys can’t get pregnant.” Jaejoong mutters as he falls back against the couch.
“Appa…” Junsu croaks, eyes blinking worriedly at Jaejoong. “Are you angry?”
“Am I angry?” Jaejoong asks back, incredulous tone and all. “Why should I be angry? My son sneaked his boyfriend into the house and made out with said boyfriend without my knowing and why would I be angry?”
Junsu sighs, face falling and lips pouting. “You are angry.”
“Oh yes I am.” Jaejoong admits, banging his head against the couch’s arm. “I’m so angry I swear I could strangle the both of you with my bare hands.”
Yoochun pipes out from nowhere, voice shaky. “So why don’t you?”
Jaejoong can’t even start to believe the nerves of these boys. He snorts, laughing to himself. He really is a bad, sort-of-the-fail-of-the-century parent.
“Because I can’t, even if I want to.” He answers simply and honestly. He hears Junsu crawls closer, and then he is staring up into his son’s sweet face. Junsu is crying silently, tears flowing down his cheeks in steady torrents.
“Appa I love you!” Junsu professes, before he proceeds to hug Jaejoong so tight he could have cracked one or two of Jaejoong’s ribs. Someone is sobbing dramatically in the background.
Oh well, time to meet the Hapkido stepfather for a serious adults discussion.
*
Whatever Jaejoong has imagined Jung Yunho to be like is certainly not how he is like in real life. The Mathematics teacher is a man with messy just-got-out-of-bed hair and stubble along his jaw, wearing sweat pants and t-shirt, and smoking a cheap rolled up cigarette between cracked lips. To be honest, Jaejoong had imagined him to be, err, much more civilized looking.
“Mr. Jung.” Jaejoong half-bows, looking warily around the man’s office. Papers are strewn everywhere, and cigarette butts overflow from the ashtray on the man’s cluttered desk. He swears he can hear mice shuffling from a corner somewhere.
“Mr. Kim Jaejoong, right? Please have a seat.”
Jaejoong looks about the room confusedly. Where is the damned chair to sit on?
“It’s right in front of you. Just push those files to the floor. Sorry, my office is kind of messy.” Jung Yunho flashes an apologetic grin and Jaejoong smiles back to concede, but not really meaning it. This is not kind of messy. It certainly is messy.
Jaejoong lifts the files with the tips of his fingers and put them on a stack of papers on Jung Yunho’s desk, remembering with delight that he had his alcohol wipes in his manpurse.
“So…” the teacher starts, looking at Jaejoong pointedly.
“It’s about your son. And mine. Umm.”
Jung Yunho lifts a bushy brow up. “What about Yoochun? And your son is Kim Junsu from class 3-B?”
Jaejoong nods, hands clawing his own knees. “Yeah, that’s him. No one else but that one. Err. Umm, the thing is, Mr. Jung…how should I put this…”
The teacher is now looking sort of amused at Jaejoong’s obvious stuttering.
“Mr. Kim, you do realize I don’t have all day.” He states unnecessarily. Jaejoong nods like a fool.
“Ah, umm, yes. I know. Well. About the boys. They are, umm, sort of, you know, kind of dating.”
“They are dating?” the teacher repeats and Jaejoong nods again. “Dating who?”
Obviously he isn’t as smart as Jaejoong thinks Math teachers should be.
Jaejoong makes a show to sigh forlornly. “That’s why I come here to meet you, Mr. Jung. Our boys...they are...dating each other.”
Jaejoong expects Jung Yunho to kick the table or yell or probably do both simultaneously but what he didn’t expect is for Jung Yunho to simply lift both brows up and then shrugs the matter off like it isn’t as big of a deal it actually is.
“Well, they are already 17. Boys will be boys, Mr. Kim.”
Jaejoong gapes in disbelief. “W-what?”
“It’s their lives. It’s not like they are going to stop seeing each other if we tell them not to.” Yunho adds as he lights up a new cigarette, clearly nonchalant.
“I thought you’re homophobic!” Jaejoong says, indignant. Wait, is this some kind of a trick? Perhaps the boys set him up for this?
Jaejoong looks around for the hidden cameras amidst the trash.
“What are you looking for?”
“Cameras.”
“Huh?” Jung Yunho frowns at him suspiciously, “What are you up to, Mr. Kim?”
“What are you up to?”
Jaejoong pushes his chair back and stands, placing both hands on the teacher’s desk and staring straight into the man’s eyes.
“How can you be so calm about this? Our sons believe they are homosexuals and in love with each other, and you just accepted it like that? What kind of a father you are?!”
“Mr. Kim…”
“I expect you to show a proper reaction to this matter!”
“Mr. Kim, please calm down. Take a seat, please…” the teacher gestures towards the tumbled chair and narrows his eyes, “…before I make you.”
Jaejoong gulps and picks the chair up, all the while huffing moodily.
“How long have you known the boys are gay?”
“About a month or so.” Jaejoong replies and looks away.
“So I believe you already gave them a piece of your mind, but they didn’t listen to you, yes?”
Jaejoong fidgets in his seat.
“Mr. Kim?”
“Well, the thing is…no one really gave them any piece of no one’s mind. Err.”
Jung Yunho lifts his brows up again and Jaejoong find himself fighting the nasty urge to rip the lines of hair permanently off the man’s face.
“Huh.”
“Yeah.”
“So…” the teacher starts again, voice dropping low and bordering on accusatory, “…you’re asking me to be the bad guy because you don’t want to be one?”
“No!” Jaejoong denies heatedly, but wonders briefly why he can’t stand to look into Yunho’s eyes. “I mean, err, you won’t be the ‘bad guy’. You will just be…the strict father.”
Jung Yunho leans forwards, smirking like the devil.
“Why can’t you be the ‘strict father’, Mr. Kim Jaejoong?”
Jaejoong feels his cheeks getting abnormally warmer. “Because I’m not! I can’t say I don’t like them dating because I love my son and I want him to be happy with whoever he chooses!”
Jaejoong hears Jung Yunho sighs and glances at the man, only to look away again because damn, he is still staring at me with those sharp, somewhat gorgeous eyes!
“You do realize though that this conversation we are having is absolutely redundant?”
Jaejoong just pouts in reply.
“We both want our kids to be happy. We don’t care who they’re dating as long as they don’t get anyone pregnant, and chances are neither your son nor mine is going to get knocked up because they have unprotected sex with each other.”
“Mr. Jung!” Jaejoong reprimands, though inwardly he ponders how they could have jumped on a similar train of thoughts.
“Let’s drop the pretense, shall we, Mr. Kim?”
Jaejoong looks up in confusion. “Huh?”
“This isn’t as much about Yoochun and your son as it is about you, right?”
“What do you mean-“
“You’re afraid to acknowledge that your boy is all grown up. You’re scared your son is going to leave you now that he has a new man in his life.”
Jaejoong blushes, and hell no he’s not going to admit he does because he just doesn’t do blushing on a regular basis, “I-I-I’m not!”
“You’re stuttering. Very convincing.”
“I-I’m not s-stuttering!”
Jung Yunho just shakes his head in amusement. “You’re so in denial, Kim Jaejoong.”
“And you’re so presumptuous.” Jaejoong stands up and takes his manpurse from the floor, shooting an irritated glance at the man sitting across the table from him. “And extremely rude.”
He closes the door on Jung Yunho’s last remark. “Don’t forget ‘undeniably right’ as well.”
*
The next few days are filled with mundane things that Jaejoong likes - such as shopping for grocery, taking Junsu to his soccer practice and escorting the boy on his dates with Yoochun. Jaejoong has decided he’s going to chaperone the boys whenever they go out because God knows the teens will jump on each other the moment Jaejoong blinks his eyes. Someone needs to be a responsible parent now that Jaejoong knows Yoochun’s stepfather is not going to be one.
While Junsu just accepted Jaejoong’s quirk with minimal protest, his nephew Changmin finds all of these extremely hilarious.
“Uncle, you do realize you’re motherhenning Junsu-hyung, don’t you?”
“I’m not motherhenning him.” Jaejoong snorts and drinks an extra large gulp of 7Up. “This is called responsible parenting, Changmin.”
Changmin lifts a brow up. “Really? Well, kids my age called it ‘crazy obsessive parenting’.”
“Don’t do that!” Jaejoong yells as he smacks the back of the kid’s head. Changmin cries out in pain.
“What’s that for?!”
“Don’t lift your brows at me like that ever again. It’s annoying.”
“So does you coming here and finishing my 7Up.” Changmin retorts as he tries to wrestle the can from Jaejoong’s hand. “Go buy your own 7Up, uncle! Uncle! Uncleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
“You’re so noisy!”
Jaejoong neither hear nor see a man walking up to him until it is too late to do anything but gape at the tall man who is blocking the sun.
“Good to see you’re so affectionate with kids.” Jung Yunho laughs and Jaejoong finds himself having no words to reply. Damn tall, tanned skin man with gorgeous, blinding white smile. And oh, he shaves up real nice.
“Yes, I did. Thank you.”
Jaejoong frowns. “Excuse me?”
Yunho takes a seat beside Jaejoong on the bleacher without asking first. Jaejoong scoots a good two inches away and accidentally elbows Changmin in the ribs.
“Ow! Did you sharpen your elbow at night or something?!” the teen yelps, rubbing on his injured chest.
“Well, you deserved it, you little twit!”
Changmin groans, standing up and declaring defeat. “I’m out of here. You’re not only drinking all of my 7Up which I bought with my meager student allowance, you also inflict physical pain and take up all my space on the bench. Why do I have such a freak as my uncle?”
“Yah Shim Changmin!”
Yunho laughs again and Jaejoong feels the abnormal warming of his cheeks starts again. Yunho laughs like a boy, Jaejoong muses unthinkingly. It’s sort of cute.
Seconds passed with Jaejoong schooling his face to cool the fuck down and Yunho laughing on Jaejoong’s expense.
“You’re hilarious, Mr. Kim.”
“So are you.”
“Hmm?” The brow is up again. Jaejoong groans inwardly.
“Nothing.” He muttered uninterestedly. Jung Yunho chuckles and inches closer. Jaejoong scoots a further three inches away. Yunho starts to snigger louder.
“If I come any closer, will you stand up and walk away?” the man asks, leaning into Jaejoong’s personal space.
Jaejoong gulps. “Perhaps.”
“Then maybe I shouldn’t, huh?”
“Maybe.”
“Do you want me to?”
“Want you what?”
“To come closer.”
“Closer than this?”
“Yes, closer than this.”
“This is close.”
“It can get closer.”
“It can?”
“Sure. Want to try and find out?”
“Find out what?”
“How close we can get.”
“We’re close.”
“Not as close as I want us to.”
“Not as close as I want us to…” Jaejoong repeats dazedly, and continues to be dazed for a few more seconds until Jung Yunho suddenly laughs.
“What’s so funny?” Jaejoong grumbles moodily, all the while glaring at Yunho.
“You.”
“Me?”
Yunho nods, his laughter smoothing into a thoughtful smile. “You’re so fierce one second, somewhat scared the next and then adorably shy after that. Then you turn feisty again, like a Mama cat guarding her kitten.”
“Mama cat?” Jaejoong scrunches his nose in distaste at the analogy and snorts. “You can’t offend me more even if you try.”
Yunho grins. “You’re offended?”
“Of course!”
“Then you should let me buy you lunch to apologize for my rudeness.”
“Wha?”
“If lunch is inconvenient for you, how about dinner?”
Jaejoong gapes for a millisecond, before he chuckles and shakes his head. “You’re incorrigible, Mr. Jung Yunho. Do you know you sounded like you’re asking me out on a date?”
“Well, I am asking you out on a date.”
Jaejoong shoots him a suspicious glance. “Sure you are.”
“I’m serious.” Jung Yunho stares back, gaze unflinching and totally unnerving. Jaejoong shifts in his seat.
“Well, umm. Mr. Jung Yunho.” Jaejoong starts to stammer, so he bites his tongue once and will it to behave, “The thing is, I… don’t do date.”
“You don’t do date with men, you mean?”
Jaejoong shrugs, trying to act nonchalant and probably failing miserably at it. “And women. I don’t date either men or women. So yeah, umm, I don’t mean to be disrespectful or anything. I just don’t go on dates.”
“And why not?”
Jaejoong scowls, still not looking in Yunho’s direction. “You ask so many questions.”
“And you answer so little of them.”
“It’s none of your business.”
“You’re right.” Jung Yunho sounds a bit down, but Jaejoong doesn’t care, right? Yes, he doesn’t. “It’s none of my business. I don’t know why I even try.”
Someone cheers from the field, a goal scored but Jaejoong has long lost his focus on the game to keep track of the match. He’s lost in his own thoughts of Junsu, Junsu’s estranged mother, Yoochun, Jung Yunho and even his nephew Changmin. When he finally manages to steal a glance at Yunho, the man isn’t there anymore.
He is sure the guilt and disappointment he feels at the pit of his stomach is anything but normal.
*
“Junsuyah.”
Jaejoong climbs onto his son’s bed and lies on his stomach, peering into Junsu’s gameboy. Junsu smiles at his father and lets the man peep into his match with Yoochun. He’s leading by 200 points and will definitely win again like he always does.
Jaejoong sighs dejectedly and drops his head onto his folded arms. Junsu gets distracted and slams into a tree, and Yoochun drives straight towards the finishing line.
But Junsu doesn’t have time to be sad. He closes the portable console just as Yoochun’s avatar starts to boogie his win and places it on the table next to the bed.
“Appa.” Junsu wiggles his hip against his father’s until the man peeks from where he’s moping.
“Yea?”
“You okay?”
Jaejoong snuggles back into his own arms, hiding his face from Junsu. “’m awwight.”
“Huh?”
Jaejoong looks up just a fraction of a second, “I’m alright,” and returns back to his shell.
Junsu resists the urge to roll his eyes. “Yeah, I can totally see that. What’s wrong, Appa? Spill, old man.”
Jaejoong finally turns on his side as a result of Junsu’s insistent prodding, and watches Junsu with an indiscernible expression.
“Do you think I’m a good father, Junsu?”
Junsu grins widely in reply. “Of course. You’re the best father in the whole wide world.”
Jaejoong half-smiles. “You just said that because I’m your father.”
“Which is why I’m the best person to say that. No one knows how wonderful my Appa is more than I do.”
“You’re a sweet kid, Junsuyah.” Jaejoong smiles, a bit teary around the edges this time. “Sometimes I think I don’t deserve to have you as my son.”
Junsu giggles, shaking his head at his father. “You’re such a hopeless sap sometimes, Appa.”
Jaejoong continues to stare at his son, “Junsu.”
“Unn?”
“Do you miss your mother?”
Junsu stops giggling and starts frowning, “You never ask me that question before.”
“Perhaps I should. I’m sorry I didn’t, baby.”
“Appa, you’re obviously not alright. What happened?” Junsu asks worriedly, his face turning glum as he looks down guiltily. “Are you still upset about the thing that happened last week?”
Jaejoong shakes his head. “No, you and Yoochun don’t have anything to do with this. I’m just…I’ve been thinking a lot these days.”
“And?”
“And I’m wondering…maybe I should have tried to find your mother?”
“For what?”
“For you, of course. She’s your mother, after all.”
Silence charms them for a minute and stretches longer.
“If you find her, what will you do? Marry her?” Junsu asks somewhat breathlessly, breaking the stifling stillness.
“She’s probably married now.”
“If she hasn’t?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think I can marry her.”
“You love her?”
“No. I don’t.”
“I don’t love her too.”
Jaejoong gasps and Junsu sighs. The teen turns so that he lies with his back to his father’s chest and pulls the man’s arms around his body, wrapping himself with his father’s warmth.
“I’m grateful to her for carrying me in her womb for nine months and giving birth to me, but that’s just about it. Thankful is the only feeling I can summon towards her. You ask me if I miss my mother, then I will ask you back Appa, how do I miss a woman I don’t even know? You don’t even have her picture to show me.”
“I can draw her face for you if you want!”
Junsu chuckles, burrowing his face into Jaejoong’s upper arm. “Yeah, right. You couldn’t even draw Barney without making it look like a constipated duck instead of a cheerful purple dinosaur.”
“Yah, don’t belittle my drawing skills!”
“I won’t if you have any to begin with.”
Jaejoong pokes Junsu’s ribs, starting a wrestling/tickling match. Both father and son laugh breathlessly when they finally stop, the merry sounds painting colors into the lonely night.
“Appa…”
“Hnn?”
“You said you don’t love my mother. Maybe it’s time you find someone you do?”
“Someone I do?” Jaejoong grins naughtily.
“Ew, Appa, gross.” Junsu scrunches his face up in mock-disgust, but his excited giggling betrays him big time. “You know what I mean. Someone you love. Someone who can make you smile and cry and laugh all at the same time. Someone who will love you in return.”
“I don’t need-“
“Of course you do!”
“I have you and you’re enough.”
“Appa, listen.” Junsu turns to face his father, expression completely serious. “I’m going to be an adult and you’re not so young anymore. What if I move out and get married one day?”
“You are already thinking of leaving me?”
“Don’t change the subject!”
Jaejoong pouts. “You can stay with me after you get married…I don’t mind.”
“That’s not going to work. You’ll scare my husband away. No way.”
“Kim Junsu, as your father, I’m deeply offended by your unfair accusation.”
Junsu chuckles, snuggling deeper into Jaejoong’s embrace. “I just don’t want you to be lonely.”
“I’m not lonely.” Jaejoong protests, but his rebuttal lacks conviction. He knows that, Junsu knows that, and Jung Yunho obviously knows that.
You’re so in denial, Kim Jaejoong.
*
“What happened here?”
Yunho exclaims when he opens his office door and sees Jaejoong. Not only does Jaejoong come early and wait for him, the man has apparently turned the room’s chaotic state into a rather neat looking working space. Huh.
“I’m sorry, I can’t stand the mess. It’s a habit I have.” Jaejoong gestures nervously at the room. Yunho just smiles and asks the man to sit down.
“It’s a good habit.”
Jaejoong smiles and blushes bashfully. Interesting, Yunho muses.
“So what brings you here? Did Yoochun cause you or Junsu any problem?”
Jaejoong shakes his head. “No, no, Yoochun’s a good kid. Better than I’ve expected. Well, maybe that one time when he…but it’s all in the past now so it’s all good!”
Yunho chuckles. “He told me about ‘that one time’.”
Jaejoong’s eyes widen. “He told you? That’s…”
“A surprise?”
“It’s a pleasant surprise, I’d say.”
“Like you said, Yoochun’s a good kid. Only sometimes he acts without thinking, but we all do at times, huh? Well, I did smack him a good few times for forgetting his manners at someone else’s house after I knew what happened. I’m not good at this ‘father’ thing. Never does.”
Jaejoong can’t help but grin upon hearing the man’s remark. “I think you did really well for someone who said he’s not a good father.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, you’re wonderful.”
Yunho leans forward, eying Jaejoong curiously. Jaejoong tucks a stray lock behind his ear elegantly and stares back.
“Are you aware of what you’re doing, Mr. Kim?”
Jaejoong smirks, suddenly brave. “Of course I do, Mr. Jung.”
“You’re flirting.”
“I am?”
“See? That’s flirting, Mr. Kim. You’re flirting with me.”
“No, you got that wrong, Mr. Jung.” Jaejoong tsks as he hunches forward and winks. “We are flirting with each other.”
Yunho lifts a brow up and instead of getting annoyed, Jaejoong surprisingly thinks the gesture is appealing, manly and very, very sexy.
“What made you change your mind? As far as I can remember, you clearly indicated you’re not interested in dating anyone, man or woman.”
Jaejoong drops the seductive smile and opts for his genuine one. He can act, but not for long. He’s been out of the love game for so long, after all.
“Junsu said some things to me. And you did too, when we met the first time and that other day on the field. Both of you made me think of something I tried so hard for years not to.”
Yunho looks really keen to know. “And that something is?”
“I’m afraid to be alone.” Jaejoong confesses.
“So you shun everyone away because you’re scared of loneliness?”
“I do not shun-“ Jaejoong begins to protest, before he catches himself on that habit of his and stops. “Okay, I did. But I have my reasons!”
“Mr. Kim-“
“Jaejoong is fine.” Jaejoong cuts in, looking up at the man, “You can call me Jaejoong, Mr. Jung.”
“Only if you call me Yunho.”
“Okay, Yunho.”
They share a private, heart-opening, we-are-friends-and-totally-cool-now smile.
“Jaejoong, you don’t have to tell me all these if you don’t want to. I’d be happy to take you out on our date without any question asked.”
Jaejoong nods, but he’s adamant to clear things up before they proceed any further…if they do, of course.
“I know, but I just want to clarify the situation for you so that you know what you’re getting into." Jaejoong breathes deep, and exhales heavily. "I’m a man full of emotional baggage, Yunho. I have a really bad history with love."
“So have I.” Jaejoong looks up in surprise at this, but Yunho shrugs his small admission off like it means nothing. “Look, Jaejoong. We can just go out and have dinners like two friends if you want. It’s your call. I don’t want you to feel like I’m pressuring you into this, but I also don’t want you to think I’m not serious about you. The ball’s in your side of the court, Jaejoong. How we go from here is all up to you.”
“Yeah, I would like that.” Jaejoong sighs, combing his hair back. “I can do dinners with friend.”
Yunho smiles. “Then we’ll do dinners as friends.”
*
“What do you see in me?”
Jaejoong has been refraining himself from asking that question all night but the curious itch just got too much for his stubborn mouth to handle. He bites his lips and looks down into his plate of beef steak, forking the medium rare meat with an undeserved attention. The Western-style family restaurant buzzes with life in the background, but Jaejoong takes little notice of the noise.
Yunho simply grins and leans back against his chair, arms linked across broad chest.
“I don’t really know. It’s just…you have an aura about you that pulls me in, you know. It’s interesting to see how you act and react to things. Sort of entertaining.”
“Good to know I’m providing you some entertainment.” Jaejoong replies sarcastically.
Yunho laughs. “Don’t get offended, I meant it as a compliment.”
“You have a twisted way of flattering someone.”
“You’re not flattered?”
Jaejoong snorts. “Far from it.”
Yunho continues to flash that soul-eating grin of his. Jaejoong chomps on the meat a little bit harder.
“Would you be flattered if I say I asked you out because I can’t forget about you?”
Jaejoong stops chewing. And breathing.
“I would.” Jaejoong finally replies after some pressing silence.
Yunho tilts his head sideways, a genuine smile covering his lips. “Then let’s just assume I’ve said exactly that.”
Jaejoong remembers to breathe again and decides that wine glass is a great thing to hide his stupid blushing face.
“Jaejoong, may I ask you something personal?”
He nods, sipping his Pinot Noir really, really slowly.
“How long have you been separated from your wife?”
His left eyebrow hikes his forehead in surprise, and he belatedly realizes he had just caught on Jung Yunho’s infamous habit.
“Junsu’s mother and I…we were, umm, never together in the first place.” Yunho looks confused enough so Jaejoong had to continue. “It was, err, accidental. Stupidity and teenage hormone on my part, and meaningless sex on her part. She’s my neighbor’s daughter…and two years older. A senior in my school. It was my first time, I didn’t use protection and well… that’s how Junsu happened. He was a mistake.”
Jaejoong glances up just as Yunho’s about to shake his head, “But he’s my sweetest, precious, lovely, no-regret-at-all mistake!” he adds quickly in an afterthought. Yunho snickers in his 'yeah right' way that makes Jaejoong feels murderous for three seconds.
Yunho plays with the lonely carrot on his plate, looking at Jaejoong under the lashes with a speculative smirk on his lips.
“So, you’re telling me it’s been more than 17 years since you last have sex with anyone?”
Jaejoong frowns, flaming hot with embarrassment from head to toe. “Where did you derive that conclusion from? Are you saying I’m frigid?”
Yunho holds up his hands as if Jaejoong’s going to hit him, chuckling guiltily, though Jaejoong knows he’s not feeling a tiny wee bit of guilty.
“Stop twisting my words around. I’m not out to offend you here. I’m just asking an honest question.”
Jaejoong huffs and mumbles. “Your fault your questions keep rubbing me the wrong way.”
Yunho leans forward, parking his elbow on the table and taking the wine glass from Jaejoong’s death grip. He grins, lopsided and dangerously seductive. “I can rub you in all the right ways.”
Jaejoong thinks they are beyond that ‘dinners with friends’ phase. This is serious flirting with consequences, and suddenly he feels extremely nervous, like he’s about to choke on a piece of meat and die.
Fuck. Even that analogy sounds totally sexualized.
“Yunho…” Jaejoong croaks out shamefully and looks down into his now empty plate. Where have the meat gone?
He glances back up at Yunho, looking entirely puzzled and thoroughly scared.
Yunho moves back and sighs aloud, raking long, bony pretty fingers in his mop of black hair.
“I’m sorry. I said I was going to let you decide how this thing’s going between us and I’m forgetting my own words. I’m really sorry.”
“It’s okay…”
“This is not how I usually act. I guess it’s been a while since I go out with anyone…”
Jaejoong’s interest is piqued, and his nervousness goes flying out of the window.
“When was the last time you went out with someone?”
Yunho scratches his chin in thought. “I don’t know…four, five years ago? It’s with this woman my mom’s tried to set me up with…God knows she’s been trying to get me to marry again for years ever since Yoochun’s mother passed away! She finally gave up when I made no indication to ever re-marry again. Yoonji was…my first and last wife.”
Yunho looks past Jaejoong, his eyes turning somewhat glassy as he continues. “I made a promise to her to take care of Yoochun, and I’m not one to break my promises. After she went away, raising Yoochun kind of take all of my time and attention. That boy’s quite the rebel when he was younger. I don’t regret it though…he’s good now. Most time I’d forget he’s not my real son because he feels like that to me, you know.”
Jaejoong smiles as his heart steadily melts. “You’re a good guy, Yunho.”
“So I’ve been told.” Yunho chuckles and wipes his eyes with the back of his hand, lightening the somber mood. Jaejoong can’t help but grins as well.
“Don’t let your head gets too big…” Jaejoong retorts good-naturedly, and adds quickly when Yunho begins to leer, “…and quit attaching sexual innuendos to all my comments. It’s not healthy and reflects poorly on your well-educated mind.”
--[TBC]