the real miracle (yoochun/junsu)
the real miracle
yoochun + junsu
pg-13
2164 words
there's a little spring in junsu's step as he drops by store to store, gathering christmas decorations.
"you should be this enthusiastic when you're shopping for clothes" whines jaejoong, who's been dragged along for the trip.
"stop complaining" junsu chirps. "you're the one who volunteered."
"yeah. because you said we were going shopping. and when you said shopping, i thought you mean the regular kind. not shopping for a tree."
when jaejoong turns to face junsu, he finds that junsu isn't listening. junsu's eyes are glued to a certain store. and soon, a small, urgent hand is tugging at jaejoong's.
"hyung. we have to go into this one."
jaejoong rolls his eyes but doesn't resist.
§
there are paper link decorations lining the hallway. half-deflated balloons bob up and down near the coffee table. and yoochun's homemade cake looks like a floured sewer rat.
yoochun nearly tears his hair in frustration.
he had called jaejoong early on, asking, "please distract junsu for a couple of hours."
but it has become quite apparent that yoochun needs more than a few hours. he had been going for 'original' and 'thoughtful'. but 'original and thoughtful' has never looked this crappy.
yoochun's eyes shoot to the clock. it's still six. if he runs, he can make it to the bakery before they close and...
his cell phone rings. it's jaejoong.
"you will not believe what junsu got you. you lucky boy."
the text message brings yoochun to tears.
the present. he's forgotten to get junsu's present.
§
junsu's holding the bags lightly in his hands, but his palms are sweaty.
"are you sure you don't want to join us jaejoong hyung?" junsu asks for the umpteenth time.
"yes. yes, and yes. please don't make me be the third wheel just because you're nervous."
junsu can't help but feel the heat wash over his cheeks. it's true. he's feeling a bit nervous. but it's only because he's never felt so daring.
the overhead system announces the jamsil stop and jaejoong moves toward the subway train's door.
"have fun, junsu" jaejoong says with a sly smirk. "don't keep yoochun waitiing."
jaejoong slips out. but at the sound of yoochun's name, junsu wonders if he should have joined jaejoong at the christmas party. suddenly, a christmas eve spent with just one other person seems overwhelming.
but the doors shut with a whoosh. and the train departs. junsu is that much closer to yoochun's apartment. and at the thought, junsu's heart speeds up.
§
yoochun rubs his eyes for the fourth time but the sign still says closed.
"what the hell?" mutters yoochun as he bangs on the door.
but the interior is dark; the bakery is closed.
the hours are nine to seven, yoochun knows this well because it is a bakery he frequents. but when he looks again, there's a sign that says: "closed early for christmas eve".
lastly, yoochun bangs his forehead on the glass door.
§
junsu arrives and heaves a shuddering sigh.
"what's wrong with me?" he asks himself. he's feeling so giddy that his heart might jump out of his throat.
it's the first christmas eve spent together, alone. junsu wants to make it perfect.
he's brought the mini tree in hopes of decorating it together. he's also brought a little something more...
but when junsu rings the doorbell, there's no answer.
"huh, that's funny" mumbles junsu. "i told him i'd be here at seven..."
but no matter how loudly junsu knocks, there's no answer for twenty minutes. finally, junsu kicks the door but ends up stubbing his toe.
"ow."
junsu doesn't know if the tear that escapes the corner of his eye is because of the pain or the disappointment.
§
there has to be some kind of way to cut through the traffic, yoochun thinks. but the streets are jam-packed, not only with cars, but people as well.
"lots of people on dates huh?" says the taxi driver, making small talk.
but yoochun ignores the question.
"isn't there a shortcut, ahjusshi?"
"even if there was, sir, i can't even move an inch right now."
yoochun sighs. it's a fifteen minute drive to the kangnam jewelry store where yoochun's put junsu's present on hold. he's been in the taxi for a good thirty minutes.
he glances at the sidewalk. there are couples with matching scarves and rosy cheeks. and suddenly, he misses junsu too much.
"ahjusshi. sorry, but could you let me out here?"
§
it's already been an hour. and the twenty times junsu's tried yoochun's cellphone go wasted because junsu can hear yoochun's ringtone from inside his apartment.
ugly thoughts start going through junsu's head. things like, "what if he was in an accident?" or "what if he's stood me up?"
it's freezing and squatting in front of yoochun's door isn't making junsu any warmer. an idea pops into junsu's head so he gets up and walks out of the building.
§
yoochun's thirty minutes late already and he's panicking. his cellphone is gone. he stops running and goes to a pay phone to call but junsu doesn't pick up.
he calls jaejoong next but jaejoong doesn't answer either.
he doesn't have much time, so he decides it's better to keep running. he does and ends up at the jewelry store just as a clerk is locking the doors.
"i'm really sorry i'm late, but ... there's an important present i need."
§
the security guard in front of yoochun's apartment is nice enough to lend junsu a power cord, but not nice enough to lend the master key.
"against the rules, you see. sorry kid."
junsu just smiles and says, "merry christmas."
he's okay because he's got the power cord. he sets up shop in front of yoochun's apartment again. he over turns all of his shopping bags and surveys the tree.
diligently, one by one, junsu starts decorating the tree. tinsel first, then baubles and ornaments. then some pictures taken over the years...
junsu feels a little twinge of regret because he wanted to do this together, with yoochun. but junsu cheers himself at the thought of yoochun returning to the sight of the little christmas tree.
"there" junsu says and stands back. everything is complete and the tree looks lovely.
but there's no yoochun to share it with. junsu keeps staring for a while until...
"well, just one thing left do" junsu mutters to himself and gets up.
§
the hair that he'd spent hours on is in ruins. his gel is flakey and sweat plasters his bangs to his huge forehead.
the nice knit sweater that yoochun chose to wear is all stretched out from running here and there. and to top it all off, his new shoes are scuffed in every which way.
still, there isn't anything he wouldn't give to be back at his apartment on time.
yoochun ends up being two hours late. he has no cake, and he shudders at the remembrance of his pathetic christmas decorations. still, he would give anything to find junsu still waiting for him.
he's out of breath from all the running, but he still runs up the stairs to the fifth floor, where his apartment is, because the elevator takes too long. he runs down the hallway to his door, but...
everything is dark. and there's no sign of junsu.
of course, thinks yoochun. who would wait for two hours, especially for a person who doesn't even pick up his cellphone?
all the strength leaves his body, so yoochun slumps against his door. but as he does, something scrapes across his calf.
"what the..."
but before yoochun can finish, the lights flash on and there's a tree twinkling in front of him. the lights flash on and off with green and red. and there are pictures of him and junsu together adorning the little tree.
yoochun crouches to look closer.
"is this what junsu had been doing as he waited?", yoochun wonders.
yoochun starts to get teary thinking about how junsu had done this, waiting for him, and how he had eventually just left.
§
when junsu rounds the corner, he finally finds the outlet.
"here it is!" junsu squeals and hurriedly plugs the power cord in. he wants to see the tree lighted as quickly as possible so he walks briskly back toward yoochun's apartment, trying not to slip on the slick floor on the way.
when he rounds the corner again, he sees yoochun, trying to scramble back into his apartment.
"yoochun!"
yoochun turns, eyes red and hair disheveled.
"yoochun?"
§
yoochun thinks to himself, "maybe this is what people feel when they see a mirage in the desert."
because, at the end of the hall, there's junsu in a black overcoat and their matching blue scarf. his nose is red from the cold and his eyes reflect the twinkling lights of the tree outside yoochun's apartment.
he had been trying to run into his apartment to get his cellphone, to call junsu and ask him to please come back. but now, yoochun was running toward junsu and junsu was practically skipping toward him, asking "are you alright? why are you so sweaty? are you sick?"
and yoochun can suddenly feel his heart slamming against the inside of his chest.
§
if junsu was honest he'd say that yoochun, in that moment in time, looked like a slightly crazed person. the way he had locked his eyes with junsu's and was running toward him like his life depended on it.
but at that moment in time, junsu too was too happy to see yoochun was alright that he just didn't care.
but then it is winter after all.
yoochun runs a little too eagerly and slips on the ice sheeted ground. almost there, junsu tries to run forward and grab him, but they both end up on the floor, holding each other.
yoochun breaks their fall and junsu looks down at him worriedly until yoochun starts laughing.
"yoochun?"
"i'm so glad you're still here."
"me too"
"i'm sorry for being late."
"you should be."
yoochun's nose gets closer and junsu's lips curl into a smile. the cold seems a lot more bearable now. but just as yoochun's lips are about to touch junsu's, junsu remembers.
"we should get up" junsu says, pulling yoochun by the arm. "you'll catch a cold."
§
yoochun is slightly disappointed.
a kiss is the perfect end to a horrible evening. junsu is still there and waiting for him, like he'd hoped, but...
he's never wanted to kiss junsu this much before.
they walk to yoochun's apartment hand in hand. in yoochun's other hand, is junsu's present. remembering jaejoong's text, yoochun opens his mouth.
"so, i heard you got me a present."
§
junsu makes a dolphin squeal. it's half frustration and half pleasure at the sound of yoochun's greasy voice.
darn that jaejoong hyung, junsu thinks but he manages to keep his expression straight.
"so hyung told you?"
yoochun laughs. "don't pout. show me."
they reach yoochun's apartment door and junsu smirks.
"okay" junsu says, pulling yoochun close by the collar of his peacoat.
when their lips are millimeters apart, junsu whispers.
"look up."
§
there is a sprig of mistletoe on the frame of his door.
for a nanosecond, yoochun wants to let out a whoop and praise whatever higher power blessed him with junsu. but only for a nanosecond. because in the next moments, all yoochun does is wrap junsu's cheeks in his two hands and press their mouths together.
junsu's tongue shyly glides over his lower lip, then breaches. and yoochun carefully tastes the inside of junsu's mouth until they both end up gasping for a breath.
§
"hey" yoochun tells junsu after their second kiss. "i'm kind of relieved now."
"what?"
"my present is so much better."
junsu gapes. had yoochun always been this unromantic?
"really?" junsu asks, a little miffed. "what is it?"
and because junsu had thought that his idea was the best, he waits for something corny like "our love is a christmas miracle". but yoochun doesn't speak.
instead, junsu finds yoochun gently holding junsu's left hand and slipping a sparkling ring onto his fourth finger.
"be mine forever junsu-yah. please?"
§
after junsu cries a little into yoochun's chest, they finally get inside yoochun's apartment. they bring the christmas tree inside and eat cheese and bread and drink wine as they pour over each little picture on the tree.
they feed each other yoochun's ugly cake and end up finishing the whole thing.
in the morning, when junsu wakes up in yoochun's bed, they tell each other, "merry christmas" and fall back to bed for a second time.
§
"well, isn't that just a christmas miracle?" coos jaejoong when they tell him about finally getting together.
"nah" says yoochun.
"nah" says junsu.
they share a giggly smile and jaejoong rolls his eyes affectionately.
little do they know, the real christmas miracle is this: yoochun's cake actually ended up tasting pretty good.
yoochun + junsu
pg-13
2164 words
there's a little spring in junsu's step as he drops by store to store, gathering christmas decorations.
"you should be this enthusiastic when you're shopping for clothes" whines jaejoong, who's been dragged along for the trip.
"stop complaining" junsu chirps. "you're the one who volunteered."
"yeah. because you said we were going shopping. and when you said shopping, i thought you mean the regular kind. not shopping for a tree."
when jaejoong turns to face junsu, he finds that junsu isn't listening. junsu's eyes are glued to a certain store. and soon, a small, urgent hand is tugging at jaejoong's.
"hyung. we have to go into this one."
jaejoong rolls his eyes but doesn't resist.
§
there are paper link decorations lining the hallway. half-deflated balloons bob up and down near the coffee table. and yoochun's homemade cake looks like a floured sewer rat.
yoochun nearly tears his hair in frustration.
he had called jaejoong early on, asking, "please distract junsu for a couple of hours."
but it has become quite apparent that yoochun needs more than a few hours. he had been going for 'original' and 'thoughtful'. but 'original and thoughtful' has never looked this crappy.
yoochun's eyes shoot to the clock. it's still six. if he runs, he can make it to the bakery before they close and...
his cell phone rings. it's jaejoong.
"you will not believe what junsu got you. you lucky boy."
the text message brings yoochun to tears.
the present. he's forgotten to get junsu's present.
§
junsu's holding the bags lightly in his hands, but his palms are sweaty.
"are you sure you don't want to join us jaejoong hyung?" junsu asks for the umpteenth time.
"yes. yes, and yes. please don't make me be the third wheel just because you're nervous."
junsu can't help but feel the heat wash over his cheeks. it's true. he's feeling a bit nervous. but it's only because he's never felt so daring.
the overhead system announces the jamsil stop and jaejoong moves toward the subway train's door.
"have fun, junsu" jaejoong says with a sly smirk. "don't keep yoochun waitiing."
jaejoong slips out. but at the sound of yoochun's name, junsu wonders if he should have joined jaejoong at the christmas party. suddenly, a christmas eve spent with just one other person seems overwhelming.
but the doors shut with a whoosh. and the train departs. junsu is that much closer to yoochun's apartment. and at the thought, junsu's heart speeds up.
§
yoochun rubs his eyes for the fourth time but the sign still says closed.
"what the hell?" mutters yoochun as he bangs on the door.
but the interior is dark; the bakery is closed.
the hours are nine to seven, yoochun knows this well because it is a bakery he frequents. but when he looks again, there's a sign that says: "closed early for christmas eve".
lastly, yoochun bangs his forehead on the glass door.
§
junsu arrives and heaves a shuddering sigh.
"what's wrong with me?" he asks himself. he's feeling so giddy that his heart might jump out of his throat.
it's the first christmas eve spent together, alone. junsu wants to make it perfect.
he's brought the mini tree in hopes of decorating it together. he's also brought a little something more...
but when junsu rings the doorbell, there's no answer.
"huh, that's funny" mumbles junsu. "i told him i'd be here at seven..."
but no matter how loudly junsu knocks, there's no answer for twenty minutes. finally, junsu kicks the door but ends up stubbing his toe.
"ow."
junsu doesn't know if the tear that escapes the corner of his eye is because of the pain or the disappointment.
§
there has to be some kind of way to cut through the traffic, yoochun thinks. but the streets are jam-packed, not only with cars, but people as well.
"lots of people on dates huh?" says the taxi driver, making small talk.
but yoochun ignores the question.
"isn't there a shortcut, ahjusshi?"
"even if there was, sir, i can't even move an inch right now."
yoochun sighs. it's a fifteen minute drive to the kangnam jewelry store where yoochun's put junsu's present on hold. he's been in the taxi for a good thirty minutes.
he glances at the sidewalk. there are couples with matching scarves and rosy cheeks. and suddenly, he misses junsu too much.
"ahjusshi. sorry, but could you let me out here?"
§
it's already been an hour. and the twenty times junsu's tried yoochun's cellphone go wasted because junsu can hear yoochun's ringtone from inside his apartment.
ugly thoughts start going through junsu's head. things like, "what if he was in an accident?" or "what if he's stood me up?"
it's freezing and squatting in front of yoochun's door isn't making junsu any warmer. an idea pops into junsu's head so he gets up and walks out of the building.
§
yoochun's thirty minutes late already and he's panicking. his cellphone is gone. he stops running and goes to a pay phone to call but junsu doesn't pick up.
he calls jaejoong next but jaejoong doesn't answer either.
he doesn't have much time, so he decides it's better to keep running. he does and ends up at the jewelry store just as a clerk is locking the doors.
"i'm really sorry i'm late, but ... there's an important present i need."
§
the security guard in front of yoochun's apartment is nice enough to lend junsu a power cord, but not nice enough to lend the master key.
"against the rules, you see. sorry kid."
junsu just smiles and says, "merry christmas."
he's okay because he's got the power cord. he sets up shop in front of yoochun's apartment again. he over turns all of his shopping bags and surveys the tree.
diligently, one by one, junsu starts decorating the tree. tinsel first, then baubles and ornaments. then some pictures taken over the years...
junsu feels a little twinge of regret because he wanted to do this together, with yoochun. but junsu cheers himself at the thought of yoochun returning to the sight of the little christmas tree.
"there" junsu says and stands back. everything is complete and the tree looks lovely.
but there's no yoochun to share it with. junsu keeps staring for a while until...
"well, just one thing left do" junsu mutters to himself and gets up.
§
the hair that he'd spent hours on is in ruins. his gel is flakey and sweat plasters his bangs to his huge forehead.
the nice knit sweater that yoochun chose to wear is all stretched out from running here and there. and to top it all off, his new shoes are scuffed in every which way.
still, there isn't anything he wouldn't give to be back at his apartment on time.
yoochun ends up being two hours late. he has no cake, and he shudders at the remembrance of his pathetic christmas decorations. still, he would give anything to find junsu still waiting for him.
he's out of breath from all the running, but he still runs up the stairs to the fifth floor, where his apartment is, because the elevator takes too long. he runs down the hallway to his door, but...
everything is dark. and there's no sign of junsu.
of course, thinks yoochun. who would wait for two hours, especially for a person who doesn't even pick up his cellphone?
all the strength leaves his body, so yoochun slumps against his door. but as he does, something scrapes across his calf.
"what the..."
but before yoochun can finish, the lights flash on and there's a tree twinkling in front of him. the lights flash on and off with green and red. and there are pictures of him and junsu together adorning the little tree.
yoochun crouches to look closer.
"is this what junsu had been doing as he waited?", yoochun wonders.
yoochun starts to get teary thinking about how junsu had done this, waiting for him, and how he had eventually just left.
§
when junsu rounds the corner, he finally finds the outlet.
"here it is!" junsu squeals and hurriedly plugs the power cord in. he wants to see the tree lighted as quickly as possible so he walks briskly back toward yoochun's apartment, trying not to slip on the slick floor on the way.
when he rounds the corner again, he sees yoochun, trying to scramble back into his apartment.
"yoochun!"
yoochun turns, eyes red and hair disheveled.
"yoochun?"
§
yoochun thinks to himself, "maybe this is what people feel when they see a mirage in the desert."
because, at the end of the hall, there's junsu in a black overcoat and their matching blue scarf. his nose is red from the cold and his eyes reflect the twinkling lights of the tree outside yoochun's apartment.
he had been trying to run into his apartment to get his cellphone, to call junsu and ask him to please come back. but now, yoochun was running toward junsu and junsu was practically skipping toward him, asking "are you alright? why are you so sweaty? are you sick?"
and yoochun can suddenly feel his heart slamming against the inside of his chest.
§
if junsu was honest he'd say that yoochun, in that moment in time, looked like a slightly crazed person. the way he had locked his eyes with junsu's and was running toward him like his life depended on it.
but at that moment in time, junsu too was too happy to see yoochun was alright that he just didn't care.
but then it is winter after all.
yoochun runs a little too eagerly and slips on the ice sheeted ground. almost there, junsu tries to run forward and grab him, but they both end up on the floor, holding each other.
yoochun breaks their fall and junsu looks down at him worriedly until yoochun starts laughing.
"yoochun?"
"i'm so glad you're still here."
"me too"
"i'm sorry for being late."
"you should be."
yoochun's nose gets closer and junsu's lips curl into a smile. the cold seems a lot more bearable now. but just as yoochun's lips are about to touch junsu's, junsu remembers.
"we should get up" junsu says, pulling yoochun by the arm. "you'll catch a cold."
§
yoochun is slightly disappointed.
a kiss is the perfect end to a horrible evening. junsu is still there and waiting for him, like he'd hoped, but...
he's never wanted to kiss junsu this much before.
they walk to yoochun's apartment hand in hand. in yoochun's other hand, is junsu's present. remembering jaejoong's text, yoochun opens his mouth.
"so, i heard you got me a present."
§
junsu makes a dolphin squeal. it's half frustration and half pleasure at the sound of yoochun's greasy voice.
darn that jaejoong hyung, junsu thinks but he manages to keep his expression straight.
"so hyung told you?"
yoochun laughs. "don't pout. show me."
they reach yoochun's apartment door and junsu smirks.
"okay" junsu says, pulling yoochun close by the collar of his peacoat.
when their lips are millimeters apart, junsu whispers.
"look up."
§
there is a sprig of mistletoe on the frame of his door.
for a nanosecond, yoochun wants to let out a whoop and praise whatever higher power blessed him with junsu. but only for a nanosecond. because in the next moments, all yoochun does is wrap junsu's cheeks in his two hands and press their mouths together.
junsu's tongue shyly glides over his lower lip, then breaches. and yoochun carefully tastes the inside of junsu's mouth until they both end up gasping for a breath.
§
"hey" yoochun tells junsu after their second kiss. "i'm kind of relieved now."
"what?"
"my present is so much better."
junsu gapes. had yoochun always been this unromantic?
"really?" junsu asks, a little miffed. "what is it?"
and because junsu had thought that his idea was the best, he waits for something corny like "our love is a christmas miracle". but yoochun doesn't speak.
instead, junsu finds yoochun gently holding junsu's left hand and slipping a sparkling ring onto his fourth finger.
"be mine forever junsu-yah. please?"
§
after junsu cries a little into yoochun's chest, they finally get inside yoochun's apartment. they bring the christmas tree inside and eat cheese and bread and drink wine as they pour over each little picture on the tree.
they feed each other yoochun's ugly cake and end up finishing the whole thing.
in the morning, when junsu wakes up in yoochun's bed, they tell each other, "merry christmas" and fall back to bed for a second time.
§
"well, isn't that just a christmas miracle?" coos jaejoong when they tell him about finally getting together.
"nah" says yoochun.
"nah" says junsu.
they share a giggly smile and jaejoong rolls his eyes affectionately.
little do they know, the real christmas miracle is this: yoochun's cake actually ended up tasting pretty good.