homeless - chapter seven
title homeless
pairing yunho/jaejoong
rating nc-17
genre au,romance,fluff,drama
summary When Jaejoong allowed for a homeless man to stay in his house for one night,he would've never expected for the said man to return a few days later wearing an Armani suit and having two bodyguards flanking him.
„Thank you for coming with us.“ Jessica said with a soft smile on her lips as she took a glance at the man sitting next to her.“But I'm afraid that you will have to deal with a very sulky CEO once we return."
Jaejoong chuckled."That's alright, he'll have me for himself for the rest of the day."
Jessica's smile only widened at his words before she looked right back to where Changmin was playing with some children he met a few minutes ago.
It was Sunday and Jaejoong - upon Changmin's request - was accompanying Jessica and the Jung family's little ball of sunshine on their small trip to the shopping mall where they ended up sitting on a bench by the mall's playground after buying some clothes for Changmin.
"I have to thank you."
Jaejoong tilted his head in confusion."You have already."
"No, I mean thanking you for being with my brother." Jessica let out a small chuckle upon seeing the surprise on Jaejoong's face."He has not been wholeheartedly happy ever since his fights with our father started. But when he came back home after meeting you, that certain sparkle inside his eyes was back. He has so many responsibilities to shoulder, so much burden to deal with and so many expectations to live up to. I'm glad that he can just let go of everything and allows himself to be happy when he is with you. I'm grateful that you are there to take care of him."
"I..." Jaejoong halted, his lips soon forming an almost shy smile."I love your brother. His happiness means everything to me."
Jessica nodded, not doubting his words even one bit."I know."
"Umma! Uncle Jaejae!" Changmin shouted as he ran right towards the two adults watching over him with a bright smile.
Jessica laughed and took out a handkerchief to wipe the the sweat from her son's face."Are you hungry or thirsty?"
"Minmin is thirsty, Umma." Changmin pouted, soon climbing onto his mother's lap as the young woman wrapped her arms around him and pressed a soft kiss onto Changmin's head.
"Look what uncle Jaejae got for you!" Jaejoong exclaimed excitedly as he took out a carton of Changmin's beloved strawberry milk out of the little one's rucksack, soon handing it over to Changmin.
"Thank you uncle Jaejae." Changmin smiled sweetly.
Changmin was a truly adorable boy, well-mannered and sweet-natured. He has been brought up well until now, Jaejoong could tell. And although he kind of felt sorry for Changmin that he lacked of a father to be there for him, he also believed that with a woman like Jessica as his mother and Yunho as well as Yoochun as his uncles there to raise and take care of him, Changmin was a blessed child.
He adored the little boy as if he was his own nephew and with Jessica and Yoochun there to welcome him as their brother's other half, Jaejoong felt like he already belonged to their family, the thought making him feel warm and comfortable.
Hopefully, Yunho's mother was going to adore him just as much as Yunho's siblings did.
A sudden gasp pulled him out of his reverie as he looked up to face Jessica, rather confused by how pale and shocked she seemed to be out of a sudden as she stared at something. He naturally followed her gaze and spotted a man standing not far away from them who seemed to be just as dumbfounded as Jessica was as he looked their way. Meanwhile, the man received all of Changmin's attention as well as he stared at the man with a frown, not understanding why his mother and his uncle Jaejae would find that man so interesting.
"Do you know him?" Jaejoong asked.
Jessica flinched at his question before shaking her head in response and Jaejoong accepted the answer although he somehow suspected that she was lying. Her movements then seemed rushed - frantic even - as she got a hold of the shopping bags with Changmin's clothes inside, soon getting up with Changmin in her arms.
"Let's go. I feel tired."
Jaejoong nodded and swiftly got a hold of Changmin's rucksack before he took the shopping bags from Jessica, following her as she rushed away from the playground as if she was running away from something - someone, Jaejoong corrected in his mind - and although Jaejoong was curious, he was not going to dig further into the matter unless Jessica was willing to tell him everything on her own accord.
"Umma why are we going?" Changmin pouted unhappily."Is that man bad?"
Jaejoong took a short glance over his shoulder and briefly noticed the stranger following them with his eyes.
##
The moment they arrived at Jessica's house, the young woman sent her son upstairs with a maid and told him to get ready for lunch as she and Jaejoong headed for the living room together.
"Thank you." Jessica smiled when she took the shopping bags from Jaejoong and although she tried her best to look alright, Jaejoong could tell that the incident in the shopping mall still had its impact on her."Would you like to stay over for lunch? I actually wanted to treat you to some lunch in a restaurant as a thank you but since we returned rather early..."
She didn't continue and Jaejoong gladly took the burden of talking from her as he replied.
"I'd love to join you for lunch."
The smile Jessica had on her lips afterwards was more sincere than the past one, but still shadowed by something glum."Please have a seat and make yourself comfortable, I'll have someone prepare us some tea if you don't mind."
"Not at all, thank you."
Jessica then excused herself and left the room while Jaejoong sat down on the couch and took out his cellphone to check his messages, not the least bit surprised to find several new ones from his boyfriend in his inbox.
And as he replied to all of them, he was starting to wonder whether he should tell Yunho about the strange incident. Although he was worried about Jessica, he somehow thought that it was not quite on him to talk about it with someone else.
Biting onto his bottom lip sligthly, Jaejoong stared at the screen of his phone and waited for Yunho to reply as his inner struggle got more burdensome with each passing second.
"The tea, Sir." A maid said as she placed three cups of tea onto the couch table.
"Thank you." Jaejoong smiled and watched her leave just as Jessica and Changmin walked into the living room to join him on the couch.
"Green tea!" Changmin exclaimed as he climbed onto Jaejoong's lap, the scent of the liquid filling their cups something all too familiar to him.
Jaejoong chuckled."Do you like green tea?"
"Minmin loves it lots."
"I see~" Jaejoong singsonged before his attention was on Jessica who just stared at her cup of tea quitely, not reacting to their interaction like she would've normally done.
Something seemed to bother her a lot and Jaejoong truly wished he could help.
Just then, the doorbell rang and got all of Jessica's attention as she watched how a maid rushed out of the living room to open the door for whoever was paying her a visit.
"Who could that be?" Jessica muttered.
Her question was answered a few seconds after as Yunho stepped into the room, wearing a pair of blue denim jeans and a red t-shirt Jaejoong gifted him with not long ago."I had something to do nearby and decided to stop by."
"Uncle Yunyun! Come, come! Sit with Minmin and uncle Jaejae." Changmin patted the spot next to his uncle Jaejae excitedly and caused the adults to chuckle at his utterly adorable behavior.
Yunho naturally approached his boyfriend and nephew after greeting his sister properly, soon sitting down next to Jaejoong as his nephew started to clap, seemingly pleased that his uncle was listening to him.
"Looking at where our Changminnie is sitting, I'm a little envious." Yunho pouted.
"Uncle Yunyun wanna change?" Changmin asked with a gasp, not wanting his uncle Yunyun to be mad at him for taking the space on his uncle Jaejae's lap.
"No, Minmin. It's fine." Yunho chuckled and gave his nephew a soft kiss onto his forehead."Uncle Yunyun doesn't want to switch places. For now."
Jaejoong blushed and leaned in to hide his face in Changmin's soft locks as Yunho and Jessica had a good time laughing about Yunho's slightly inappropriate joke. Gosh, his boyfriend could be such a tease sometimes. But Jaejoong was glad that Jessica was now seemingly too distracted to think about whatever bothered her until a minute ago.
A maid soon walked in to serve another cup of tea to Yunho who thanked her with a smile before leaning in to press a kiss onto his boyfriend's red cheek, obviously adoring the other's reaction to his teasing.
"So, how was shopping?" Yunho asked and straightened his posture to get a hold of his cup of tea, soon sipping onto the warm liquid carefully as he looked at his boyfriend and his sister in turns until Jessica took it upon herself to answer.
"We bought a lot of nice clothes for Changminnie before he got to play on the mall's playground."
"Oh~" Yunho smiled as he looked at his nephew."Did you have fun playing, Minmin?"
"A lot!" Changmin chirped before hopping down from Jaejoong's lap to kneel down by the couch table so he could get a hold of his own cup of tea."But then Umma, uncle Jaejae and Minmin had to go because a strange man was there."
This surely caught Yunho's attention as he placed his cup aside to look at the other two adults in the room."A strange man?"
Jessica sighed and looked over to Jaejoong who was looking right back at her with his lips pressed into a thin line, obviously wanting for Jessica herself to tell Yunho about what happened since it was an issue only she had the right to talk about.
Yunho of course didn't miss the secretive glance his boyfriend and his sister exchanged and if anything, it only managed to make him even more curious.
"It was Changwook." Jessica blurted out before digging her teeth into her bottom lip as she watched how her brother started to grimace at the mention of that particular name no one in their family ever wanted to hear about or speak out ever again.
"Why was he there?"
"I don't know. I don't think he was deliberately trying to meet us. He seemed just as shock as I was." Jessica's eyes then searched for Jaejoong's before her attention was back on her brother."I think you should tell Jaejoong ssi who Changwook is, oppa."
Yunho looked at his boyfriend who seemed rather confused now that it was Jessica and Yunho who shared an open secret he did not know about. The CEO then leaned in to whisper into Jaejoong's ear to make sure that Changmin could not hear them before giving his boyfriend the answer to his unvoiced question.
"He is Changmin's father." Those words came out in a half hiss and Jaejoong could understand his boyfriend's anger all too well.
He noticed the way his boyfriend tensed up in obvious anger which he was trying to suppress in front of Changmin who was seemingly unaware of the hatred being stirred up within Yunho and the old wounds returning to Jessica's heart once more. Changwook's re-appearance was not good. For none of them.
Not knowing what else to do, Jaejoong got a hold of Yunho's hand to carress te back of it gently. And when Yunho looked at him, he smiled the best he could as if begging for Yunho to calm down although he knew that it was going to be hard for Yunho to not explode with anger at the moment.
But Yunho did calm down, slowly and hesitantly, but he did. Taking a deep breath, Yunho leaned back and managed to give Jaejoong a faint smile when his boyfriend leaned against him and pressed a soft kiss onto his shoulder.
Jessica - despite barely being able to ignore the hurt she felt upon remembering what Changwook had done to her - smiled at the sight before stretching out her right hand to run her fingers through Changmin's hair and caused the small boy to look up at her with a smile.
'My precious baby.' Jessica thought, taking the chance of Changmin placing his cup of tea down onto the table to lift her son up onto her lap and although Changmin did not really know why his mother was suddenly hugging him so tightly, he hugged her back.
He loved his mother's hugs best. She was always so warm and gentle and she always smelled like vanilla. Changmin loved vanilla.
Jessica bit onto her bottom lip as hard as she could without hurting herself as she tried to prevent herself from crying in front of Changmin. She didn't want her son to ever witness her cry.
Jaejoong and Yunho of course noticed Jessica's struggles.
"Minmin, would you like to show uncle Jaejae the garden?" Jaejoong asked and caused Changmin to look at him with a bright smile.
The small boy then looked up at his mother."Can I, Umma?"
"Of course." Jessica replied and let her son climb down from her lap, watching him walk away with Jaejoong afterwards.
Yunho smiled at his boyfriend in great gratitude when the other looked back at him one last time before he disappeared behind the corner.
And that's when Jessica finally gave in to her pain and allowed for her tears to escape and stain her cheeks. Yunho quickly sat down next to her and pulled her into his arms.
"We won't let him get anywhere near you or Changminnie, you hear me?"
There came no answer and truthfully, Yunho didn't really expect to receive any to begin with.
##
"Is Jessica ssi alright?"
Yunho smiled at the man lying on top of him on the couch, the other's lower body trapped between Yunho's long legs."She will be fine. She had the opportunity to cry it all out thanks to you."
Jaejoong sighed and rested his head on Yunho's chest with a glum look on his face."It must've hit her hard to suddenly see him again."
"Yes." Yunho frowned."We were told that he moved away from Seoul right after leaving Jessica behind. He should've stayed wherever he was the past few years."
Jaejoong could feel his boyfriend tensing up again, the small movement clearly hinting at Yunho's returning anger. He hated to see his boyfriend all worked up like that but he knew that he would have to get used to it as long as Changwook was still an issue for them. When he returned to the living room with Changmin for lunch earlier, he did not miss the trace of sadness in Jessica's eyes nor did he miss the wild look of fury in Yunho's.
"Yunho." Jaejoong muttered."If I should be honest, I don't have much to offer to any of you in this situation beside my comfort. But I'm here. I want you to know that."
Yunho's lips curved up into a smile once more as he ran his fingers through Jaejoong's hair to play with them. He didn't need to see his boyfriend's face to know that the other was smiling. He felt it thanks to the way Jaejoong's face moved against him.
Jaejoong's heart was truly beautiful.
"I know, puppy. And I'm glad to have you."
The anger he felt rising a minute ago was now gone and Yunho knew that it was thanks to Jaejoong. The other could calm him down with the smallest gestures, something Yunho appreciated greatly especially now that the mention of only one name could get him all riled up.
##
"Where would you like to go next?" Yoochun asked with a big smile but soon found himself wearing a look of surprise on his face when Junsu sat down on the bench near them.
"Why don't we sit down for a while and have a talk?" Junsu patted the spot next to him with a smile.
Yoochun complied and sat down on the bench silently.
It was their first date and the two of them decided to have a nice walk through the park as they enjoyed some Bubble Tea and the warm feeling of the sun shining on them. But now that there was not really anything left of the park for them to discover, Yoochun actually wanted to continue their date somewhere else, not wanting for their time together to end just yet.
"Thank you for this." Junsu spoke."It has been a while since I last had this much fun."
Yoochun's heart beat faster and he found himself blushing like a teenage boy in love."I'm glad you had a good time. And I hope that we can do this again."
Junsu's smile faded at that."I'm not sure whether that would be a good idea. Don't get me wrong, I would love to go on more dates with you, but I'm sure that you know already how complicated it is to be with me. Your brother told you about everything that Jaejoong hyung said, right?"
Yoochun nodded.
"I don't want any of us to go out of this with hurt feelings and if my past relationships are anything to go by, you will be the one ending up getting hurt. And I don't want that."
"I knew what I was getting myself into the moment I decided to ask you out on a date despite what I've heard about your struggles in dating someone openly." The smile Yoochun had on his lips was so calming."I decided to give it a go anyways because I believe that you are worth it. And if you think the same of me, you should let go of your worries as well. I just want to be with you and I'm sure that when the time has come for us to worry about your parents, we will eventually figure something out together."
Junsu felt happy and he realized that it has been quite a while since he last felt so good and comfortable while being with someone. Someone who gave him the feeling that he was going to master every obstacle just fine. Someone who gave him strength.
"You wanted to head to somewhere else, right? I know a nice restaurant which serves fantastic Bibimbap." Junsu got up and pulled Yoochun up as well."And on our next date, I'll show you a nice Japanese restaurant."
Yoochun smiled and loosely held onto Junsu's hand as they walked back towards his car. And when Junsu squeezed his hand, Yoochun knew that they were going to do more than fine together.
##
"That bastard actually came back?" Yoochun hissed, the glass of wine he had planned on enjoying after his wonderful date with Junsu now completely forgotten.
"Yeah. I don't want him anywhere near Jessica any longer." Yunho replied."It almost killed her when he left. I don't think she'd be able to take it to run into him a second time."
Yoochun ruffled his hair in frustration."What are you planning to do? Find him and chase him away?"
"That's exactly what I want to do."
"Hyung-"
"Yoochun, you either support me in this or keep quiet about it in front of Jessica. I don't want to see her lose herself in depression ever again, you hear me?"
Yoochun knew that his brother wasn't able to think completely rationally right now and yes, maybe Yunho was being too extreme with his plans of wanting to chase Changwook away but he also understood Yunho. He shared his brother's sentiments. Changwook had to stay away from Jessica at all costs.
He remembered how depressed Jessica had been, living her life like a broken doll and if not for Changmin, Jessica might've done worse than drown herself in sorrow and pain.
"I'll support you. Of course I'll support you."
"Good." Yunho took a deep breath."I will hire someone to find him. And once we've found him, I'll need you to go with me and have a talk with him."
"I'll be there, hyung." Yoochun promised."But how is Jessica?"
"She was crying a lot today. But I think she will be fine as long as she won't have to face him ever again."
Yoochun pressed his lips into a thin line and shook his head in disbelief. Why did Changwook have to come back into their lives? He wanted that man gone. Jessica didn't need someone like him in her life and Changmin sure as hell didn't need a father who had no problems abandoning him years ago.
##
Truthfully, Jessica had bad feeling about coming to the mall again after what happened yesterday, but she promised her son to come back here and the little boy just happened to be in need of a present for his friend's birthday so Jessica picked him up right after kindergarten ended to make a small trip with him to the mall in hopes to not run into Changwook once again.
She felt a little silly and paranoid for looking around almost frantically sometimes as she walked around in the building with Changmin holding onto her, but who could blame her after what happened the last time she was here?
"Umma, can we get Kibummie a Gundam?"
Jessica smiled down at her son."Of course, baby."
She looked around once again, but this time around she was searching for a shop where they'd be able to buy a Gundam figure for Changmin's friend. Unfortunately, she couldn't spot any nearby and since she did not come here very often, she didn't really know where exactly which shops were.
Deciding that it was the best for her to get some reliable information about the mall, Jessica walked towards the info board a few steps away from them, gently leading Changmin towards it.
"Toys, toys, toys." Jessica muttered under her breath as she searched for the toys stores location which was most likely listed somewhere on the info board showing the mall's layout.
"Second floor." A familiar voice spoke and caused Jessica to spin around with a gasp.
"Daniel ssi."
"Hello Jessica ssi." Daniel smiled before looking at Changmin who was eyeing him suspiciously, the businessman's unwanted - for Changmin that is - interactions with his beloved uncle Jaejae still unforgotten."Hello Changmin kun."
"Hello ahjussi."
Jessica gasped."Changminnie, Daniel ssi is not that old."
But Daniel didn't seem to mind."It's fine, really."
"But-"
"It's really fine with me." Daniel assured and earned himself an apologetic smile from Jessica in return.
Changmin pouted and looked up at his mother."Umma are you mad at Minmin? Was Minmin bad?"
Crouching down to kiss her son's forehead, Jessica shook her head."No, baby. You weren't bad."
"If you don't mind, I'm going to accompany you to the toys stores."
"I don't mind, but would that really be alright?" Jessica asked as she got up."I'm sure you must be busy now that you have your position back."
"Don't worry, I have some time to spare right now. My team will handle everything just fine even without me there."
Jessica smiled, not even noticing how the nervousness and fear she felt a few minutes ago were now gone. She gestured towards the escalators.
"Then please lead the way."
And Daniel did, leading Jessica and Changmin towards the escalators where he helped Changmin to make his first step on it since the young one seemed rather unsure of when to get on it. Changmin thanked him with a smile despite the general wariness he felt towards the businessman, having been taught to always be grateful towards people who helped him.
"Were you having late lunch here?" Jessica asked as she looked at her wristwatch.
"I'm planning to." Daniel replied."I didn't have any time to eat during the actual lunch break since a few things had to be settled first so I'm having my lunch break now. Luckily, your brother is a very understanding boss. He sent me out to eat something right away when Jaejoong told him that I was busy working earlier."
"Jaejoong ssi is a sweetheart." Jessica smiled and Daniel nodded in agreement only to chuckle once he saw Changmin glaring at him.
"Changmin kun, have I done something wrong?"
"Uncle Jaejae is uncle Yunyun's sweetheart, not yours!" Changmin exclaimed and caused Jessica to look at him with a small frown.
"Changminnie."
Daniel laughed, obviously very amused."Changmin kun, I think I need to explain something to you."
When they were on the second floor, the three of them immediately stepped aside before Daniel crouched down in front of the small boy.
"I like your uncle Jaejae like a little brother. I don't like him the way your uncle likes him, so please don't be mad at me when I'm talking nicely about him, okay? I don't want to take your uncle Jaejae away from your uncle Yunyun."
Changmin's expression softened."Really?"
"Really."
"Promise?" Changmin held out his pinky finger.
"Promise." Daniel smiled and intertwined their pinky fingers with each other to seal the promise, adoring the way the boy's eyes lit up afterwards.
Jessica watched them in silence, enjoying every bit of their sweet interaction as Changmin threw himself into Daniel's arms once the older male offered him a hug as a sign of peace between them. And then, when Daniel looked up to smile at her, she strangely found herself blushing.
Daniel was a very handsome and charming man.
Straightening his posture, Daniel took Changmin's left hand into his right one."Let's go."
Jessica nodded and followed him and Changmin silently before Changmin's free hand got a hold of hers. Daniel and her exchanged a short glance upon noticing the picture Changmin unintentionally created for the public. But neither pulled away. All they did was smile at each other.
But when Jessica decided to look away from him and to the front again, she found herself regretting it.
She halted, unable to move even when Changmin tried to pull her along. Daniel noticed the look of shock in her eyes and the way she seemed to turn paler. He followed her gaze in hopes of finding out what was suddenly wrong with her only to come face to face with a man whose lips resembled Changmin's a lot.
No. It was the other way around. Changmin's lips resembled the man's a lot.
"That bad man." Changmin uttered with a frown and caused Daniel to look at him.
"Bad man?"
Changmin nodded."Last time, Minmin, Umma and uncle Jaejae had to go home because Umma saw that bad man."
Daniel frowned and stepped closer to Jessica with Changmin still trapped between them, feeling a strange sense of protectiveness rising inside of him."Shall we go to another toys store?"
But Jessica was unable to give him an answer. She barely had time to come up with one when the man she never wanted to see ever again dared to step closer and approach the people he left alone several years ago.
"Sica."
Daniel's frown deepened and he let go of Changmin to place himself in front of the little boy and Jessica."Who are you?"
The man seemed annoyed upon being blocked, but he did stop to talk."I need to talk to Sica."
Daniel briefly looked back over his shoulder and saw Jessica shaking her head in response. The situation was clear.
"She is obviously not interested in talking to you, so step back and leave."
"Who are you to forbid me to talk to her and my son?"
Daniel stared at the stranger in shock before Changmin's voice caught his attention.
"Umma. Who is he?"
Changmin was confused and frightened. He was not really able to understand the situation, but he obviously caught on that the stranger was a threat to him and his mother and he was scared. Driven by the wish for more protection, he clung onto his mother even tighter and pressed himself against her.
"Let's go." Daniel did not wait for Jessica to reply to him - seeing how she was obviously unable to do so - before placing one arm around Jessica and gently maneuvered her to turn around together with Changmin before leading them away from the stranger.
"Jessica, wait. Please give me a moment to explain everything to you."
But she did not wait.
"Stop it, Changwook. You've done enough already." Jessica hissed and if the look the man standing behind them had on his face right after was anything to go by, one could assume that he heard everything she said.
She lifted Changmin up into her arms and rushed away with Daniel right next to her and much to their delight, Changwook did not try to hold them back nor did he continue to call out for them.
"Where is your car?"
"In the parking garage." Jessica answered meekly and Daniel could tell how hard she was trying to control her voice as she spoke.
Daniel's gaze was soon on Changmin who looked rather sad. He could obviously tell that his mother was upset about something.
Daniel removed his arm from around Jessica to get a hold of Changmin's free hand."Changmin kun, do you like patbingsu?"
Changmin blinked before nodding."Minmin likes it lots."
"So after buying a toy, shall we go and have some? I will buy it for you and your Umma."
"Woah." Changmin gaped."Really?"
"Really."
And finally, Changmin's smile was back as he rambled on about how his uncle Jaejae once made patbingsu for him and he wondered whether the one in the restaurant would taste just as good.
"I hope you don't mind." Daniel said, his attention now on Jessica who looked at her son shortly before her eyes were on the man standing next to her.
"Not at all. Thank you." Jessica said."I don't know how to thank you for your kindness."
"There is something."
Jessica tilted her head."Oh?"
"Could you smile?" Daniel's own smile was almost pleading as he spoke."I think I like it best when you smile."
Jessica was stunned by the request to say the least, but she didn't even need to try hard in fulfilling it. Her lips moved on their own as they curved up into a sincere smile which had Daniel's heart beating even faster, not that he would tell her that.
##
"Waah~" Changmin gasped as he looked at the bowl of patbingsu in front of him.
It was a serving for children but still fairly big. Daniel loved how Changmin's eyes sparkled as he thanked him for the treat before finally starting to dig in enthusiastically, the tummy he claimed to be full a few minutes ago after eating some grilled chicken seeming to be empty once more. It seemed that the little boy liked food a lot and Daniel was glad that it could lift the boy's mood after the incident earlier in the mall.
As for Jessica, she still seemed a little gloomy every once in a while when she did not interact with anyone and had the opportunity to slip back into her bothersome thoughts. She didn't looked as sad as she was in the mall, but not overly happy either.
Daniel couldn't even imagine how Jessica truly felt after seeing that man again after so many years. Nothing much was revealed about what exactly happened back then, but everyone knew that Jessica was left alone with her unborn child a few years ago and the father of the baby disappeared without any trace. Many felt the need to blabber nonsense as they came up with ridiculous theories about the truth, many pitied her and many others didn't really care much.
Ji Changwook. He only knew him by name back then. And now he had a face to match all the horrible things he'd heard about that man.
It was beyond him how someone could leave his fiancé and child behind like Changwook has done and he felt newfound anger rising inside of him at the thought of what Jessica had to go through after what happened. Changmin didn't seem to be overly affected by the fact that he only had his mother and no father to take care of him and Daniel was glad that Changmin could live his life happily without having to deal with the aftermath of his parents' separation.
"You should be eating too."
Daniel looked up in surprise when he heard Jessica's voice from the other side of the table.
"Or else it will melt." Jessica gestured towards the sweet treat in front of Daniel before her attention was on Changmin as she worked on freeing her son's face from food stains.
The businessman smiled before looking down at his bowl of patbingsu, slowly starting to eat before he looked up to watch Jessica and Changmin as they smiled at each other. It was a sight he loved and wanted to protect.
It has been a while since he felt this comfortable around a woman he did not have platonic feelings for and Daniel enjoyed it. All the shy glances and smiles, the heartrace and infamous butterflies in his tummy. He missed this. He missed the feeling of falling for someone.
##
"So, I heard you and Yoochun ssi got along more than fine on your date."
Junsu raised his eyebrows."From who? I haven't said anything yet."
Jaejoong laughed as he looked at his friend who took another fried sausage out of the small plastic bag he was holding to take a bite of it.
"Yunho and Yoochun ssi had lunch together today and Yunho said that his brother kept talking about you, mentioning you during the most random times. So I assumed that your date went well since he seemed to think about you a lot. Was I wrong?"
"No you weren't."Junsu smiled."I like him. I like being with him. I really want to try and make it work, hyung."
"Make it work as in..."
"One day, I want to introduce him to my parents."
Jaejoong gasped softly and halted, ignoring the annoyed glances he received as several people crashed into him on one of the crowded sidewalks in Seoul."Su."
Junsu stopped walking as well as he led Jaejoong away from the crowd."I couldn't believe it either when I realized just how far I am willing to go. It's crazy and I can't guarantee that things will turn out the way I wish for them to. But if Yoochun ssi and I can make it through and if we can have a serious relationship, I will tell my parents about him."
Jaejoong was happy to say the least. Junsu deserved all the happiness in this world and he deserved a proper partner who would be able to strenghten him and somehow, Jaejoong got a feeling that Yoochun was about to be that someone for his friend.
"I'm glad you've found each other." Jaejoong said and received a bright smile from Junsu in return.
"Me too." Junsu uttered."Thank you, hyung. For encouraging me to give it a go."
The older man did not reply to that, only smiling as he led Junsu back onto the sidewalk where they continued their small walk along the busy streets.
##
"It's here, are you sure?" Yunho asked the man standing next to him and received a positive nod in return.
"After what happened back then with your sister, his father refused to take him back into the Ji manor." The private investigator said after taking the cigarette out of his mouth."It was not that hard to find out where he lives. His mother helped him out by renting an apartment for him under her name when he returned to Seoul last week. It's apartment 203, 3rd floor."
"I see." Yunho stared at the apartment complex in front of him."Thank you."
The private investigator nodded in recognition before making his way to his car seeing that his work was done.
Yunho then looked at Yoochun who was staring right back at him.
Not saying anything, both brothers looked back to the front and headed towards the apartment complex where they found themselves facing a locked door.
Yoochun searched for Changwook's name before pressing the doorbell of the apartment right underneath Changwook's.
"Yes?" A female voice rang through the intercom.
"I'm sorry to disturb you. I'm Ji Changwook from apartment 203, I lost my key for the front door. Could you let me in?"
Yunho shook his head at the sweet tone his brother used.
"Sure, sure."
Yoochun winked at his brother as a buzzing sound could be heard and allowed for them to push the door open.
"Thank you so much for your kindness." Yoochun called out before entering the building with Yunho right behind him.
They headed right to the elevators and pressed the button for the 3rd floor once they were inside one of the metallic boxes.
"Do you think he will open the door for us?"
"He will if he knows what's good for him." Yunho uttered.
Yoochun took a deep breath."Sometimes, you're really scary."
Yunho merely smirked at him upon hearing that comment and stepped out of the elevator wordlessly once it arrived on the 3rd floor and its doors slid open. Yoochun followed him and prayed for Changwook to open his door willingly or else Yunho might end up doing something drastic.
Apartment 203 was only a few steps away from the elevator and altough Yunho arrived there first, he did not ring the doorbell and obviously tried to avoid being seen through the door viewer, standing a few centimeters away from the door itself.
"You ring the bell and tell him that you want to talk to him. Don't let him know that I'm here."
Yoochun nodded and quickly rang the doorbell. He knew why Yunho was doing this. Changwook was scared of Yunho - always has been - and chances were that he was not going to open the door for them if he was to see Yunho standing in front of it.
Rushed steps could be heard coming closer towards the door and although the person on the other side of the wooden barricade was obviously standing right in front of it, he did not open the door.
"Changwook ssi, open the door. We need to talk."
"Are you sure that you only want to talk?"
Yoochun chuckled darkly."For someone who had the guts to leave his fiancé and child behind, you're quite the coward now. But I'm not here to harm you. But now that you are back, I need to talk to you about some things concerning Jessica and your son."
A pause.
"Alright."
Yoochun smiled in contentment and when Changwook finally opened the door for him, Yunho was quick to show himself and push Changwook further into the apartment with mild force, the other's state of shock more than convenient for him. Yoochun stepped in after his brother and closed the door from the inside.
"Yunho ssi."
"I'll make it short." Yunho said."Leave Seoul and stay away from my sister and my nephew. You shouldn't have bothered coming back. They were happy without you in their lives."
Changwook gulped."I did not come here to harm them. I came back to explain why I had to leave them behind."
"What could be left for you to explain?" Yunho's voice rang through the whole apartment as he yelled."You drove her to the point of breaking and now that she is finally living happily with her son, you come back and make her remember the worst time of her life!"
"I lied!" Changwook screamed back.
He knew that raising his voice was the only way to make Yunho listen to him. And it worked. Yunho stopped talking and simply stared at him in a mix of fury and confusion.
"I lied. I did not leave her for someone else and my feelings for her were real."
"How dare you-"
"Hyung!" Yoochun was quick to act as he stepped forward and held Yunho back before the other could aim for Changwook's face with his balled fist.
His eyes were then trained on Changwook."And you. You better not come up with more lies or else-"
"I'm not lying!" Changwook retorted."This time around, I'm not lying. I loved your sister. But then I got myself in trouble. I wanted to establish a business on my own and lent some money from people I should've never talked to. I couldn't tell my parents about it because my father would've done his damnest to prevent me from doing it. And I think it would've been better that way."
Changwook's voice started to get more strained and Yoochun could tell that he was trying his hardest not to cry. The despair in his eyes was all too obvious, but Yoochun couldn't let himself trust Changwook too easily. This man hurt his sister. Yunho's struggling lessened and caused Yoochun to let go of him, but he knew better than to stay too far away from his brother.
Yunho's mood was not really the best right now.
"The business failed and not only loan sharks but also thugs were after me. I had to get away from Jessica and my son to keep them away from danger."
"Then you should've left without telling her all those horrible things!" Yunho was furious."You could've come up with something else instead of breaking her heart like that."
"I know." Changwook was sobbing."I know but I just wanted to bring distance between us. I wanted her to hate me and I wanted her to just forget about me."
"Forget you." Yunho spat."As if she would ever be able to forget about the father of her child. Even without the wounds you've left behind, she would've been unable to forget you. You were and are still an idiot. Just stay away from her."
Yunho did not wait for Changwook to say anything in return. He turned around and headed right out of the apartment with Yoochun following him suit although the younger man could not help but throw one last glance Changwook's way before he left.
When the two brothers were inside the elevator and headed downwards, Yoochun finally spoke up.
"Do you believe him?"
Yunho sighed."I don't know. I don't really trust him."
"Me neither." Yoochun admitted."But what if he did tell the truth just now?"
Yunho didn't reply. What Changwook told them sounded plausible, foolish, but plausible. And yet Yunho couldn't trust him. He just couldn't.
##
"Yunho, what-" Jaejoong did not get to finish his sentence as Yunho pulled him into a tight hug which easily rendered him speechless.
"I'm so angry and frustrated. I need you to calm me down. I just need you."
Jaejoong's gaze softened some more as he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's neck to hug him back."It's okay. Come in."
Jaejoong pulled back to close the front door before leading his boyfriend into the living room where Yunho sat down on the couch and pulled him into his lap to hug him once again with his face resting against Jaejoong's shoulder. Jaejoong smiled and pressed a soft kiss onto Yunho's head as he slung his arms around the other once more.
The sweet gesture had Yunho looking up.
"I love you."
Jaejoong's smile widened some more and he leaned down to kiss Yunho's cheeks."I love you too."
Yunho's hold around Jaejoong tightened as his boyfriend worked on getting rid of the distance between their lips. He wanted to hold Jaejoong and never let go ever again. His presence alone was enough to make Yunho feel at ease.
"Things didn't go well at Changwook ssi's place?" Jaejoong whispered before pecking Yunho's lips.
"Meeting him only made me more upset than I was already and he was telling me and Yoochun all sorts of nonsense about why he left Jessica back then." Yunho rested his chin on Jaejoong's shoulder, unable to prevent himself from grinning when Jaejoong flinched at the contact of his stubbles with the soft skin of Jaejoong's exposed shoulder."He said that he was running away from loan sharks and thugs back then and didn't want to endanger Jessica and Changmin so he decided to cut all ties with them."
"And you don't believe him."
"I don't know. I just don't trust him. He has done too much damage in the past."
Jaejoong could understand Yunho well. Changwook betrayed not only Jessica and Changmin but also Yunho and the rest of their family, causing trust to turn into distrust with his actions and now that he was defending himself, it was more than understandable that no one could really believe him.
"How is Jessica ssi?"
"She is surprisingly doing better than I thought she would." Yunho muttered."The fact that she never faced Changwook alone must've helped her a lot. The first time around she had you and the second time around, there was Mr. Henney."
Jaejoong nodded before a small smile crept over his lips.
Yunho heard the small snicker that followed and pulled back to look at his boyfriend with raised eyebrows."What is my puppy thinking about to snicker so cutely?"
Jaejoong kissed Yunho's cheek softly."Nothing. Just some random thoughts I had. Maybe I'm watching too many sappy dramas lately."
The CEO's eyebrows remained raised and his confusion only doubled after his boyfriend's response, but in the end, he found himself smiling nevertheless as his gaze softened. Jaejoong was cute. Really, really cute.
Suddenly, Yunho could feel his phone vibrating inside his right trouser pocket and moved his leg a bit to retrieve it.
"Yoochun." Yunho said the moment he answered the call, having seen his brother's name flashing on the display of his phone a few seconds ago.
"Hyung, where are you now? Are you with Jaejoong ssi? He isn't answering his phone."
"Yes I'm with him now and I don't know why he didn't answer his phone." Yunho looked at his boyfriend and saw the other gasp.
"It ran out of battery so I left it in the bedroom to charge it." Jaejoong whispered.
"It was in his room. Do you want to talk to him?"
"No, I mean yes but not on the phone. I went to see Junsu ssi and when we hugged by the front door, his parents suddenly came and gosh please just come to my house and bring Jaejoong ssi along. Junsu ssi needs him."
"Alright, we're on the way." Yunho said before hanging up.
Jaejoong immediately got up and let Yunho hold him by his hand to lead him away from the living room."What's going on?"
"I'll explain everything to you in the car."
Jaejoong nodded and quickly grabbed the keys lying on the comode next to the front door before he put on his shoes and jacket. Turning off the lights in a hurry, Jaejoong rushed out of the house as his boyfriend seemed highly unsettled by whatever Yoochun told him before he locked the door and walked towards Yunho's car with the CEO.
pairing yunho/jaejoong
rating nc-17
genre au,romance,fluff,drama
summary When Jaejoong allowed for a homeless man to stay in his house for one night,he would've never expected for the said man to return a few days later wearing an Armani suit and having two bodyguards flanking him.
„Thank you for coming with us.“ Jessica said with a soft smile on her lips as she took a glance at the man sitting next to her.“But I'm afraid that you will have to deal with a very sulky CEO once we return."
Jaejoong chuckled."That's alright, he'll have me for himself for the rest of the day."
Jessica's smile only widened at his words before she looked right back to where Changmin was playing with some children he met a few minutes ago.
It was Sunday and Jaejoong - upon Changmin's request - was accompanying Jessica and the Jung family's little ball of sunshine on their small trip to the shopping mall where they ended up sitting on a bench by the mall's playground after buying some clothes for Changmin.
"I have to thank you."
Jaejoong tilted his head in confusion."You have already."
"No, I mean thanking you for being with my brother." Jessica let out a small chuckle upon seeing the surprise on Jaejoong's face."He has not been wholeheartedly happy ever since his fights with our father started. But when he came back home after meeting you, that certain sparkle inside his eyes was back. He has so many responsibilities to shoulder, so much burden to deal with and so many expectations to live up to. I'm glad that he can just let go of everything and allows himself to be happy when he is with you. I'm grateful that you are there to take care of him."
"I..." Jaejoong halted, his lips soon forming an almost shy smile."I love your brother. His happiness means everything to me."
Jessica nodded, not doubting his words even one bit."I know."
"Umma! Uncle Jaejae!" Changmin shouted as he ran right towards the two adults watching over him with a bright smile.
Jessica laughed and took out a handkerchief to wipe the the sweat from her son's face."Are you hungry or thirsty?"
"Minmin is thirsty, Umma." Changmin pouted, soon climbing onto his mother's lap as the young woman wrapped her arms around him and pressed a soft kiss onto Changmin's head.
"Look what uncle Jaejae got for you!" Jaejoong exclaimed excitedly as he took out a carton of Changmin's beloved strawberry milk out of the little one's rucksack, soon handing it over to Changmin.
"Thank you uncle Jaejae." Changmin smiled sweetly.
Changmin was a truly adorable boy, well-mannered and sweet-natured. He has been brought up well until now, Jaejoong could tell. And although he kind of felt sorry for Changmin that he lacked of a father to be there for him, he also believed that with a woman like Jessica as his mother and Yunho as well as Yoochun as his uncles there to raise and take care of him, Changmin was a blessed child.
He adored the little boy as if he was his own nephew and with Jessica and Yoochun there to welcome him as their brother's other half, Jaejoong felt like he already belonged to their family, the thought making him feel warm and comfortable.
Hopefully, Yunho's mother was going to adore him just as much as Yunho's siblings did.
A sudden gasp pulled him out of his reverie as he looked up to face Jessica, rather confused by how pale and shocked she seemed to be out of a sudden as she stared at something. He naturally followed her gaze and spotted a man standing not far away from them who seemed to be just as dumbfounded as Jessica was as he looked their way. Meanwhile, the man received all of Changmin's attention as well as he stared at the man with a frown, not understanding why his mother and his uncle Jaejae would find that man so interesting.
"Do you know him?" Jaejoong asked.
Jessica flinched at his question before shaking her head in response and Jaejoong accepted the answer although he somehow suspected that she was lying. Her movements then seemed rushed - frantic even - as she got a hold of the shopping bags with Changmin's clothes inside, soon getting up with Changmin in her arms.
"Let's go. I feel tired."
Jaejoong nodded and swiftly got a hold of Changmin's rucksack before he took the shopping bags from Jessica, following her as she rushed away from the playground as if she was running away from something - someone, Jaejoong corrected in his mind - and although Jaejoong was curious, he was not going to dig further into the matter unless Jessica was willing to tell him everything on her own accord.
"Umma why are we going?" Changmin pouted unhappily."Is that man bad?"
Jaejoong took a short glance over his shoulder and briefly noticed the stranger following them with his eyes.
##
The moment they arrived at Jessica's house, the young woman sent her son upstairs with a maid and told him to get ready for lunch as she and Jaejoong headed for the living room together.
"Thank you." Jessica smiled when she took the shopping bags from Jaejoong and although she tried her best to look alright, Jaejoong could tell that the incident in the shopping mall still had its impact on her."Would you like to stay over for lunch? I actually wanted to treat you to some lunch in a restaurant as a thank you but since we returned rather early..."
She didn't continue and Jaejoong gladly took the burden of talking from her as he replied.
"I'd love to join you for lunch."
The smile Jessica had on her lips afterwards was more sincere than the past one, but still shadowed by something glum."Please have a seat and make yourself comfortable, I'll have someone prepare us some tea if you don't mind."
"Not at all, thank you."
Jessica then excused herself and left the room while Jaejoong sat down on the couch and took out his cellphone to check his messages, not the least bit surprised to find several new ones from his boyfriend in his inbox.
And as he replied to all of them, he was starting to wonder whether he should tell Yunho about the strange incident. Although he was worried about Jessica, he somehow thought that it was not quite on him to talk about it with someone else.
Biting onto his bottom lip sligthly, Jaejoong stared at the screen of his phone and waited for Yunho to reply as his inner struggle got more burdensome with each passing second.
"The tea, Sir." A maid said as she placed three cups of tea onto the couch table.
"Thank you." Jaejoong smiled and watched her leave just as Jessica and Changmin walked into the living room to join him on the couch.
"Green tea!" Changmin exclaimed as he climbed onto Jaejoong's lap, the scent of the liquid filling their cups something all too familiar to him.
Jaejoong chuckled."Do you like green tea?"
"Minmin loves it lots."
"I see~" Jaejoong singsonged before his attention was on Jessica who just stared at her cup of tea quitely, not reacting to their interaction like she would've normally done.
Something seemed to bother her a lot and Jaejoong truly wished he could help.
Just then, the doorbell rang and got all of Jessica's attention as she watched how a maid rushed out of the living room to open the door for whoever was paying her a visit.
"Who could that be?" Jessica muttered.
Her question was answered a few seconds after as Yunho stepped into the room, wearing a pair of blue denim jeans and a red t-shirt Jaejoong gifted him with not long ago."I had something to do nearby and decided to stop by."
"Uncle Yunyun! Come, come! Sit with Minmin and uncle Jaejae." Changmin patted the spot next to his uncle Jaejae excitedly and caused the adults to chuckle at his utterly adorable behavior.
Yunho naturally approached his boyfriend and nephew after greeting his sister properly, soon sitting down next to Jaejoong as his nephew started to clap, seemingly pleased that his uncle was listening to him.
"Looking at where our Changminnie is sitting, I'm a little envious." Yunho pouted.
"Uncle Yunyun wanna change?" Changmin asked with a gasp, not wanting his uncle Yunyun to be mad at him for taking the space on his uncle Jaejae's lap.
"No, Minmin. It's fine." Yunho chuckled and gave his nephew a soft kiss onto his forehead."Uncle Yunyun doesn't want to switch places. For now."
Jaejoong blushed and leaned in to hide his face in Changmin's soft locks as Yunho and Jessica had a good time laughing about Yunho's slightly inappropriate joke. Gosh, his boyfriend could be such a tease sometimes. But Jaejoong was glad that Jessica was now seemingly too distracted to think about whatever bothered her until a minute ago.
A maid soon walked in to serve another cup of tea to Yunho who thanked her with a smile before leaning in to press a kiss onto his boyfriend's red cheek, obviously adoring the other's reaction to his teasing.
"So, how was shopping?" Yunho asked and straightened his posture to get a hold of his cup of tea, soon sipping onto the warm liquid carefully as he looked at his boyfriend and his sister in turns until Jessica took it upon herself to answer.
"We bought a lot of nice clothes for Changminnie before he got to play on the mall's playground."
"Oh~" Yunho smiled as he looked at his nephew."Did you have fun playing, Minmin?"
"A lot!" Changmin chirped before hopping down from Jaejoong's lap to kneel down by the couch table so he could get a hold of his own cup of tea."But then Umma, uncle Jaejae and Minmin had to go because a strange man was there."
This surely caught Yunho's attention as he placed his cup aside to look at the other two adults in the room."A strange man?"
Jessica sighed and looked over to Jaejoong who was looking right back at her with his lips pressed into a thin line, obviously wanting for Jessica herself to tell Yunho about what happened since it was an issue only she had the right to talk about.
Yunho of course didn't miss the secretive glance his boyfriend and his sister exchanged and if anything, it only managed to make him even more curious.
"It was Changwook." Jessica blurted out before digging her teeth into her bottom lip as she watched how her brother started to grimace at the mention of that particular name no one in their family ever wanted to hear about or speak out ever again.
"Why was he there?"
"I don't know. I don't think he was deliberately trying to meet us. He seemed just as shock as I was." Jessica's eyes then searched for Jaejoong's before her attention was back on her brother."I think you should tell Jaejoong ssi who Changwook is, oppa."
Yunho looked at his boyfriend who seemed rather confused now that it was Jessica and Yunho who shared an open secret he did not know about. The CEO then leaned in to whisper into Jaejoong's ear to make sure that Changmin could not hear them before giving his boyfriend the answer to his unvoiced question.
"He is Changmin's father." Those words came out in a half hiss and Jaejoong could understand his boyfriend's anger all too well.
He noticed the way his boyfriend tensed up in obvious anger which he was trying to suppress in front of Changmin who was seemingly unaware of the hatred being stirred up within Yunho and the old wounds returning to Jessica's heart once more. Changwook's re-appearance was not good. For none of them.
Not knowing what else to do, Jaejoong got a hold of Yunho's hand to carress te back of it gently. And when Yunho looked at him, he smiled the best he could as if begging for Yunho to calm down although he knew that it was going to be hard for Yunho to not explode with anger at the moment.
But Yunho did calm down, slowly and hesitantly, but he did. Taking a deep breath, Yunho leaned back and managed to give Jaejoong a faint smile when his boyfriend leaned against him and pressed a soft kiss onto his shoulder.
Jessica - despite barely being able to ignore the hurt she felt upon remembering what Changwook had done to her - smiled at the sight before stretching out her right hand to run her fingers through Changmin's hair and caused the small boy to look up at her with a smile.
'My precious baby.' Jessica thought, taking the chance of Changmin placing his cup of tea down onto the table to lift her son up onto her lap and although Changmin did not really know why his mother was suddenly hugging him so tightly, he hugged her back.
He loved his mother's hugs best. She was always so warm and gentle and she always smelled like vanilla. Changmin loved vanilla.
Jessica bit onto her bottom lip as hard as she could without hurting herself as she tried to prevent herself from crying in front of Changmin. She didn't want her son to ever witness her cry.
Jaejoong and Yunho of course noticed Jessica's struggles.
"Minmin, would you like to show uncle Jaejae the garden?" Jaejoong asked and caused Changmin to look at him with a bright smile.
The small boy then looked up at his mother."Can I, Umma?"
"Of course." Jessica replied and let her son climb down from her lap, watching him walk away with Jaejoong afterwards.
Yunho smiled at his boyfriend in great gratitude when the other looked back at him one last time before he disappeared behind the corner.
And that's when Jessica finally gave in to her pain and allowed for her tears to escape and stain her cheeks. Yunho quickly sat down next to her and pulled her into his arms.
"We won't let him get anywhere near you or Changminnie, you hear me?"
There came no answer and truthfully, Yunho didn't really expect to receive any to begin with.
##
"Is Jessica ssi alright?"
Yunho smiled at the man lying on top of him on the couch, the other's lower body trapped between Yunho's long legs."She will be fine. She had the opportunity to cry it all out thanks to you."
Jaejoong sighed and rested his head on Yunho's chest with a glum look on his face."It must've hit her hard to suddenly see him again."
"Yes." Yunho frowned."We were told that he moved away from Seoul right after leaving Jessica behind. He should've stayed wherever he was the past few years."
Jaejoong could feel his boyfriend tensing up again, the small movement clearly hinting at Yunho's returning anger. He hated to see his boyfriend all worked up like that but he knew that he would have to get used to it as long as Changwook was still an issue for them. When he returned to the living room with Changmin for lunch earlier, he did not miss the trace of sadness in Jessica's eyes nor did he miss the wild look of fury in Yunho's.
"Yunho." Jaejoong muttered."If I should be honest, I don't have much to offer to any of you in this situation beside my comfort. But I'm here. I want you to know that."
Yunho's lips curved up into a smile once more as he ran his fingers through Jaejoong's hair to play with them. He didn't need to see his boyfriend's face to know that the other was smiling. He felt it thanks to the way Jaejoong's face moved against him.
Jaejoong's heart was truly beautiful.
"I know, puppy. And I'm glad to have you."
The anger he felt rising a minute ago was now gone and Yunho knew that it was thanks to Jaejoong. The other could calm him down with the smallest gestures, something Yunho appreciated greatly especially now that the mention of only one name could get him all riled up.
##
"Where would you like to go next?" Yoochun asked with a big smile but soon found himself wearing a look of surprise on his face when Junsu sat down on the bench near them.
"Why don't we sit down for a while and have a talk?" Junsu patted the spot next to him with a smile.
Yoochun complied and sat down on the bench silently.
It was their first date and the two of them decided to have a nice walk through the park as they enjoyed some Bubble Tea and the warm feeling of the sun shining on them. But now that there was not really anything left of the park for them to discover, Yoochun actually wanted to continue their date somewhere else, not wanting for their time together to end just yet.
"Thank you for this." Junsu spoke."It has been a while since I last had this much fun."
Yoochun's heart beat faster and he found himself blushing like a teenage boy in love."I'm glad you had a good time. And I hope that we can do this again."
Junsu's smile faded at that."I'm not sure whether that would be a good idea. Don't get me wrong, I would love to go on more dates with you, but I'm sure that you know already how complicated it is to be with me. Your brother told you about everything that Jaejoong hyung said, right?"
Yoochun nodded.
"I don't want any of us to go out of this with hurt feelings and if my past relationships are anything to go by, you will be the one ending up getting hurt. And I don't want that."
"I knew what I was getting myself into the moment I decided to ask you out on a date despite what I've heard about your struggles in dating someone openly." The smile Yoochun had on his lips was so calming."I decided to give it a go anyways because I believe that you are worth it. And if you think the same of me, you should let go of your worries as well. I just want to be with you and I'm sure that when the time has come for us to worry about your parents, we will eventually figure something out together."
Junsu felt happy and he realized that it has been quite a while since he last felt so good and comfortable while being with someone. Someone who gave him the feeling that he was going to master every obstacle just fine. Someone who gave him strength.
"You wanted to head to somewhere else, right? I know a nice restaurant which serves fantastic Bibimbap." Junsu got up and pulled Yoochun up as well."And on our next date, I'll show you a nice Japanese restaurant."
Yoochun smiled and loosely held onto Junsu's hand as they walked back towards his car. And when Junsu squeezed his hand, Yoochun knew that they were going to do more than fine together.
##
"That bastard actually came back?" Yoochun hissed, the glass of wine he had planned on enjoying after his wonderful date with Junsu now completely forgotten.
"Yeah. I don't want him anywhere near Jessica any longer." Yunho replied."It almost killed her when he left. I don't think she'd be able to take it to run into him a second time."
Yoochun ruffled his hair in frustration."What are you planning to do? Find him and chase him away?"
"That's exactly what I want to do."
"Hyung-"
"Yoochun, you either support me in this or keep quiet about it in front of Jessica. I don't want to see her lose herself in depression ever again, you hear me?"
Yoochun knew that his brother wasn't able to think completely rationally right now and yes, maybe Yunho was being too extreme with his plans of wanting to chase Changwook away but he also understood Yunho. He shared his brother's sentiments. Changwook had to stay away from Jessica at all costs.
He remembered how depressed Jessica had been, living her life like a broken doll and if not for Changmin, Jessica might've done worse than drown herself in sorrow and pain.
"I'll support you. Of course I'll support you."
"Good." Yunho took a deep breath."I will hire someone to find him. And once we've found him, I'll need you to go with me and have a talk with him."
"I'll be there, hyung." Yoochun promised."But how is Jessica?"
"She was crying a lot today. But I think she will be fine as long as she won't have to face him ever again."
Yoochun pressed his lips into a thin line and shook his head in disbelief. Why did Changwook have to come back into their lives? He wanted that man gone. Jessica didn't need someone like him in her life and Changmin sure as hell didn't need a father who had no problems abandoning him years ago.
##
Truthfully, Jessica had bad feeling about coming to the mall again after what happened yesterday, but she promised her son to come back here and the little boy just happened to be in need of a present for his friend's birthday so Jessica picked him up right after kindergarten ended to make a small trip with him to the mall in hopes to not run into Changwook once again.
She felt a little silly and paranoid for looking around almost frantically sometimes as she walked around in the building with Changmin holding onto her, but who could blame her after what happened the last time she was here?
"Umma, can we get Kibummie a Gundam?"
Jessica smiled down at her son."Of course, baby."
She looked around once again, but this time around she was searching for a shop where they'd be able to buy a Gundam figure for Changmin's friend. Unfortunately, she couldn't spot any nearby and since she did not come here very often, she didn't really know where exactly which shops were.
Deciding that it was the best for her to get some reliable information about the mall, Jessica walked towards the info board a few steps away from them, gently leading Changmin towards it.
"Toys, toys, toys." Jessica muttered under her breath as she searched for the toys stores location which was most likely listed somewhere on the info board showing the mall's layout.
"Second floor." A familiar voice spoke and caused Jessica to spin around with a gasp.
"Daniel ssi."
"Hello Jessica ssi." Daniel smiled before looking at Changmin who was eyeing him suspiciously, the businessman's unwanted - for Changmin that is - interactions with his beloved uncle Jaejae still unforgotten."Hello Changmin kun."
"Hello ahjussi."
Jessica gasped."Changminnie, Daniel ssi is not that old."
But Daniel didn't seem to mind."It's fine, really."
"But-"
"It's really fine with me." Daniel assured and earned himself an apologetic smile from Jessica in return.
Changmin pouted and looked up at his mother."Umma are you mad at Minmin? Was Minmin bad?"
Crouching down to kiss her son's forehead, Jessica shook her head."No, baby. You weren't bad."
"If you don't mind, I'm going to accompany you to the toys stores."
"I don't mind, but would that really be alright?" Jessica asked as she got up."I'm sure you must be busy now that you have your position back."
"Don't worry, I have some time to spare right now. My team will handle everything just fine even without me there."
Jessica smiled, not even noticing how the nervousness and fear she felt a few minutes ago were now gone. She gestured towards the escalators.
"Then please lead the way."
And Daniel did, leading Jessica and Changmin towards the escalators where he helped Changmin to make his first step on it since the young one seemed rather unsure of when to get on it. Changmin thanked him with a smile despite the general wariness he felt towards the businessman, having been taught to always be grateful towards people who helped him.
"Were you having late lunch here?" Jessica asked as she looked at her wristwatch.
"I'm planning to." Daniel replied."I didn't have any time to eat during the actual lunch break since a few things had to be settled first so I'm having my lunch break now. Luckily, your brother is a very understanding boss. He sent me out to eat something right away when Jaejoong told him that I was busy working earlier."
"Jaejoong ssi is a sweetheart." Jessica smiled and Daniel nodded in agreement only to chuckle once he saw Changmin glaring at him.
"Changmin kun, have I done something wrong?"
"Uncle Jaejae is uncle Yunyun's sweetheart, not yours!" Changmin exclaimed and caused Jessica to look at him with a small frown.
"Changminnie."
Daniel laughed, obviously very amused."Changmin kun, I think I need to explain something to you."
When they were on the second floor, the three of them immediately stepped aside before Daniel crouched down in front of the small boy.
"I like your uncle Jaejae like a little brother. I don't like him the way your uncle likes him, so please don't be mad at me when I'm talking nicely about him, okay? I don't want to take your uncle Jaejae away from your uncle Yunyun."
Changmin's expression softened."Really?"
"Really."
"Promise?" Changmin held out his pinky finger.
"Promise." Daniel smiled and intertwined their pinky fingers with each other to seal the promise, adoring the way the boy's eyes lit up afterwards.
Jessica watched them in silence, enjoying every bit of their sweet interaction as Changmin threw himself into Daniel's arms once the older male offered him a hug as a sign of peace between them. And then, when Daniel looked up to smile at her, she strangely found herself blushing.
Daniel was a very handsome and charming man.
Straightening his posture, Daniel took Changmin's left hand into his right one."Let's go."
Jessica nodded and followed him and Changmin silently before Changmin's free hand got a hold of hers. Daniel and her exchanged a short glance upon noticing the picture Changmin unintentionally created for the public. But neither pulled away. All they did was smile at each other.
But when Jessica decided to look away from him and to the front again, she found herself regretting it.
She halted, unable to move even when Changmin tried to pull her along. Daniel noticed the look of shock in her eyes and the way she seemed to turn paler. He followed her gaze in hopes of finding out what was suddenly wrong with her only to come face to face with a man whose lips resembled Changmin's a lot.
No. It was the other way around. Changmin's lips resembled the man's a lot.
"That bad man." Changmin uttered with a frown and caused Daniel to look at him.
"Bad man?"
Changmin nodded."Last time, Minmin, Umma and uncle Jaejae had to go home because Umma saw that bad man."
Daniel frowned and stepped closer to Jessica with Changmin still trapped between them, feeling a strange sense of protectiveness rising inside of him."Shall we go to another toys store?"
But Jessica was unable to give him an answer. She barely had time to come up with one when the man she never wanted to see ever again dared to step closer and approach the people he left alone several years ago.
"Sica."
Daniel's frown deepened and he let go of Changmin to place himself in front of the little boy and Jessica."Who are you?"
The man seemed annoyed upon being blocked, but he did stop to talk."I need to talk to Sica."
Daniel briefly looked back over his shoulder and saw Jessica shaking her head in response. The situation was clear.
"She is obviously not interested in talking to you, so step back and leave."
"Who are you to forbid me to talk to her and my son?"
Daniel stared at the stranger in shock before Changmin's voice caught his attention.
"Umma. Who is he?"
Changmin was confused and frightened. He was not really able to understand the situation, but he obviously caught on that the stranger was a threat to him and his mother and he was scared. Driven by the wish for more protection, he clung onto his mother even tighter and pressed himself against her.
"Let's go." Daniel did not wait for Jessica to reply to him - seeing how she was obviously unable to do so - before placing one arm around Jessica and gently maneuvered her to turn around together with Changmin before leading them away from the stranger.
"Jessica, wait. Please give me a moment to explain everything to you."
But she did not wait.
"Stop it, Changwook. You've done enough already." Jessica hissed and if the look the man standing behind them had on his face right after was anything to go by, one could assume that he heard everything she said.
She lifted Changmin up into her arms and rushed away with Daniel right next to her and much to their delight, Changwook did not try to hold them back nor did he continue to call out for them.
"Where is your car?"
"In the parking garage." Jessica answered meekly and Daniel could tell how hard she was trying to control her voice as she spoke.
Daniel's gaze was soon on Changmin who looked rather sad. He could obviously tell that his mother was upset about something.
Daniel removed his arm from around Jessica to get a hold of Changmin's free hand."Changmin kun, do you like patbingsu?"
Changmin blinked before nodding."Minmin likes it lots."
"So after buying a toy, shall we go and have some? I will buy it for you and your Umma."
"Woah." Changmin gaped."Really?"
"Really."
And finally, Changmin's smile was back as he rambled on about how his uncle Jaejae once made patbingsu for him and he wondered whether the one in the restaurant would taste just as good.
"I hope you don't mind." Daniel said, his attention now on Jessica who looked at her son shortly before her eyes were on the man standing next to her.
"Not at all. Thank you." Jessica said."I don't know how to thank you for your kindness."
"There is something."
Jessica tilted her head."Oh?"
"Could you smile?" Daniel's own smile was almost pleading as he spoke."I think I like it best when you smile."
Jessica was stunned by the request to say the least, but she didn't even need to try hard in fulfilling it. Her lips moved on their own as they curved up into a sincere smile which had Daniel's heart beating even faster, not that he would tell her that.
##
"Waah~" Changmin gasped as he looked at the bowl of patbingsu in front of him.
It was a serving for children but still fairly big. Daniel loved how Changmin's eyes sparkled as he thanked him for the treat before finally starting to dig in enthusiastically, the tummy he claimed to be full a few minutes ago after eating some grilled chicken seeming to be empty once more. It seemed that the little boy liked food a lot and Daniel was glad that it could lift the boy's mood after the incident earlier in the mall.
As for Jessica, she still seemed a little gloomy every once in a while when she did not interact with anyone and had the opportunity to slip back into her bothersome thoughts. She didn't looked as sad as she was in the mall, but not overly happy either.
Daniel couldn't even imagine how Jessica truly felt after seeing that man again after so many years. Nothing much was revealed about what exactly happened back then, but everyone knew that Jessica was left alone with her unborn child a few years ago and the father of the baby disappeared without any trace. Many felt the need to blabber nonsense as they came up with ridiculous theories about the truth, many pitied her and many others didn't really care much.
Ji Changwook. He only knew him by name back then. And now he had a face to match all the horrible things he'd heard about that man.
It was beyond him how someone could leave his fiancé and child behind like Changwook has done and he felt newfound anger rising inside of him at the thought of what Jessica had to go through after what happened. Changmin didn't seem to be overly affected by the fact that he only had his mother and no father to take care of him and Daniel was glad that Changmin could live his life happily without having to deal with the aftermath of his parents' separation.
"You should be eating too."
Daniel looked up in surprise when he heard Jessica's voice from the other side of the table.
"Or else it will melt." Jessica gestured towards the sweet treat in front of Daniel before her attention was on Changmin as she worked on freeing her son's face from food stains.
The businessman smiled before looking down at his bowl of patbingsu, slowly starting to eat before he looked up to watch Jessica and Changmin as they smiled at each other. It was a sight he loved and wanted to protect.
It has been a while since he felt this comfortable around a woman he did not have platonic feelings for and Daniel enjoyed it. All the shy glances and smiles, the heartrace and infamous butterflies in his tummy. He missed this. He missed the feeling of falling for someone.
##
"So, I heard you and Yoochun ssi got along more than fine on your date."
Junsu raised his eyebrows."From who? I haven't said anything yet."
Jaejoong laughed as he looked at his friend who took another fried sausage out of the small plastic bag he was holding to take a bite of it.
"Yunho and Yoochun ssi had lunch together today and Yunho said that his brother kept talking about you, mentioning you during the most random times. So I assumed that your date went well since he seemed to think about you a lot. Was I wrong?"
"No you weren't."Junsu smiled."I like him. I like being with him. I really want to try and make it work, hyung."
"Make it work as in..."
"One day, I want to introduce him to my parents."
Jaejoong gasped softly and halted, ignoring the annoyed glances he received as several people crashed into him on one of the crowded sidewalks in Seoul."Su."
Junsu stopped walking as well as he led Jaejoong away from the crowd."I couldn't believe it either when I realized just how far I am willing to go. It's crazy and I can't guarantee that things will turn out the way I wish for them to. But if Yoochun ssi and I can make it through and if we can have a serious relationship, I will tell my parents about him."
Jaejoong was happy to say the least. Junsu deserved all the happiness in this world and he deserved a proper partner who would be able to strenghten him and somehow, Jaejoong got a feeling that Yoochun was about to be that someone for his friend.
"I'm glad you've found each other." Jaejoong said and received a bright smile from Junsu in return.
"Me too." Junsu uttered."Thank you, hyung. For encouraging me to give it a go."
The older man did not reply to that, only smiling as he led Junsu back onto the sidewalk where they continued their small walk along the busy streets.
##
"It's here, are you sure?" Yunho asked the man standing next to him and received a positive nod in return.
"After what happened back then with your sister, his father refused to take him back into the Ji manor." The private investigator said after taking the cigarette out of his mouth."It was not that hard to find out where he lives. His mother helped him out by renting an apartment for him under her name when he returned to Seoul last week. It's apartment 203, 3rd floor."
"I see." Yunho stared at the apartment complex in front of him."Thank you."
The private investigator nodded in recognition before making his way to his car seeing that his work was done.
Yunho then looked at Yoochun who was staring right back at him.
Not saying anything, both brothers looked back to the front and headed towards the apartment complex where they found themselves facing a locked door.
Yoochun searched for Changwook's name before pressing the doorbell of the apartment right underneath Changwook's.
"Yes?" A female voice rang through the intercom.
"I'm sorry to disturb you. I'm Ji Changwook from apartment 203, I lost my key for the front door. Could you let me in?"
Yunho shook his head at the sweet tone his brother used.
"Sure, sure."
Yoochun winked at his brother as a buzzing sound could be heard and allowed for them to push the door open.
"Thank you so much for your kindness." Yoochun called out before entering the building with Yunho right behind him.
They headed right to the elevators and pressed the button for the 3rd floor once they were inside one of the metallic boxes.
"Do you think he will open the door for us?"
"He will if he knows what's good for him." Yunho uttered.
Yoochun took a deep breath."Sometimes, you're really scary."
Yunho merely smirked at him upon hearing that comment and stepped out of the elevator wordlessly once it arrived on the 3rd floor and its doors slid open. Yoochun followed him and prayed for Changwook to open his door willingly or else Yunho might end up doing something drastic.
Apartment 203 was only a few steps away from the elevator and altough Yunho arrived there first, he did not ring the doorbell and obviously tried to avoid being seen through the door viewer, standing a few centimeters away from the door itself.
"You ring the bell and tell him that you want to talk to him. Don't let him know that I'm here."
Yoochun nodded and quickly rang the doorbell. He knew why Yunho was doing this. Changwook was scared of Yunho - always has been - and chances were that he was not going to open the door for them if he was to see Yunho standing in front of it.
Rushed steps could be heard coming closer towards the door and although the person on the other side of the wooden barricade was obviously standing right in front of it, he did not open the door.
"Changwook ssi, open the door. We need to talk."
"Are you sure that you only want to talk?"
Yoochun chuckled darkly."For someone who had the guts to leave his fiancé and child behind, you're quite the coward now. But I'm not here to harm you. But now that you are back, I need to talk to you about some things concerning Jessica and your son."
A pause.
"Alright."
Yoochun smiled in contentment and when Changwook finally opened the door for him, Yunho was quick to show himself and push Changwook further into the apartment with mild force, the other's state of shock more than convenient for him. Yoochun stepped in after his brother and closed the door from the inside.
"Yunho ssi."
"I'll make it short." Yunho said."Leave Seoul and stay away from my sister and my nephew. You shouldn't have bothered coming back. They were happy without you in their lives."
Changwook gulped."I did not come here to harm them. I came back to explain why I had to leave them behind."
"What could be left for you to explain?" Yunho's voice rang through the whole apartment as he yelled."You drove her to the point of breaking and now that she is finally living happily with her son, you come back and make her remember the worst time of her life!"
"I lied!" Changwook screamed back.
He knew that raising his voice was the only way to make Yunho listen to him. And it worked. Yunho stopped talking and simply stared at him in a mix of fury and confusion.
"I lied. I did not leave her for someone else and my feelings for her were real."
"How dare you-"
"Hyung!" Yoochun was quick to act as he stepped forward and held Yunho back before the other could aim for Changwook's face with his balled fist.
His eyes were then trained on Changwook."And you. You better not come up with more lies or else-"
"I'm not lying!" Changwook retorted."This time around, I'm not lying. I loved your sister. But then I got myself in trouble. I wanted to establish a business on my own and lent some money from people I should've never talked to. I couldn't tell my parents about it because my father would've done his damnest to prevent me from doing it. And I think it would've been better that way."
Changwook's voice started to get more strained and Yoochun could tell that he was trying his hardest not to cry. The despair in his eyes was all too obvious, but Yoochun couldn't let himself trust Changwook too easily. This man hurt his sister. Yunho's struggling lessened and caused Yoochun to let go of him, but he knew better than to stay too far away from his brother.
Yunho's mood was not really the best right now.
"The business failed and not only loan sharks but also thugs were after me. I had to get away from Jessica and my son to keep them away from danger."
"Then you should've left without telling her all those horrible things!" Yunho was furious."You could've come up with something else instead of breaking her heart like that."
"I know." Changwook was sobbing."I know but I just wanted to bring distance between us. I wanted her to hate me and I wanted her to just forget about me."
"Forget you." Yunho spat."As if she would ever be able to forget about the father of her child. Even without the wounds you've left behind, she would've been unable to forget you. You were and are still an idiot. Just stay away from her."
Yunho did not wait for Changwook to say anything in return. He turned around and headed right out of the apartment with Yoochun following him suit although the younger man could not help but throw one last glance Changwook's way before he left.
When the two brothers were inside the elevator and headed downwards, Yoochun finally spoke up.
"Do you believe him?"
Yunho sighed."I don't know. I don't really trust him."
"Me neither." Yoochun admitted."But what if he did tell the truth just now?"
Yunho didn't reply. What Changwook told them sounded plausible, foolish, but plausible. And yet Yunho couldn't trust him. He just couldn't.
##
"Yunho, what-" Jaejoong did not get to finish his sentence as Yunho pulled him into a tight hug which easily rendered him speechless.
"I'm so angry and frustrated. I need you to calm me down. I just need you."
Jaejoong's gaze softened some more as he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's neck to hug him back."It's okay. Come in."
Jaejoong pulled back to close the front door before leading his boyfriend into the living room where Yunho sat down on the couch and pulled him into his lap to hug him once again with his face resting against Jaejoong's shoulder. Jaejoong smiled and pressed a soft kiss onto Yunho's head as he slung his arms around the other once more.
The sweet gesture had Yunho looking up.
"I love you."
Jaejoong's smile widened some more and he leaned down to kiss Yunho's cheeks."I love you too."
Yunho's hold around Jaejoong tightened as his boyfriend worked on getting rid of the distance between their lips. He wanted to hold Jaejoong and never let go ever again. His presence alone was enough to make Yunho feel at ease.
"Things didn't go well at Changwook ssi's place?" Jaejoong whispered before pecking Yunho's lips.
"Meeting him only made me more upset than I was already and he was telling me and Yoochun all sorts of nonsense about why he left Jessica back then." Yunho rested his chin on Jaejoong's shoulder, unable to prevent himself from grinning when Jaejoong flinched at the contact of his stubbles with the soft skin of Jaejoong's exposed shoulder."He said that he was running away from loan sharks and thugs back then and didn't want to endanger Jessica and Changmin so he decided to cut all ties with them."
"And you don't believe him."
"I don't know. I just don't trust him. He has done too much damage in the past."
Jaejoong could understand Yunho well. Changwook betrayed not only Jessica and Changmin but also Yunho and the rest of their family, causing trust to turn into distrust with his actions and now that he was defending himself, it was more than understandable that no one could really believe him.
"How is Jessica ssi?"
"She is surprisingly doing better than I thought she would." Yunho muttered."The fact that she never faced Changwook alone must've helped her a lot. The first time around she had you and the second time around, there was Mr. Henney."
Jaejoong nodded before a small smile crept over his lips.
Yunho heard the small snicker that followed and pulled back to look at his boyfriend with raised eyebrows."What is my puppy thinking about to snicker so cutely?"
Jaejoong kissed Yunho's cheek softly."Nothing. Just some random thoughts I had. Maybe I'm watching too many sappy dramas lately."
The CEO's eyebrows remained raised and his confusion only doubled after his boyfriend's response, but in the end, he found himself smiling nevertheless as his gaze softened. Jaejoong was cute. Really, really cute.
Suddenly, Yunho could feel his phone vibrating inside his right trouser pocket and moved his leg a bit to retrieve it.
"Yoochun." Yunho said the moment he answered the call, having seen his brother's name flashing on the display of his phone a few seconds ago.
"Hyung, where are you now? Are you with Jaejoong ssi? He isn't answering his phone."
"Yes I'm with him now and I don't know why he didn't answer his phone." Yunho looked at his boyfriend and saw the other gasp.
"It ran out of battery so I left it in the bedroom to charge it." Jaejoong whispered.
"It was in his room. Do you want to talk to him?"
"No, I mean yes but not on the phone. I went to see Junsu ssi and when we hugged by the front door, his parents suddenly came and gosh please just come to my house and bring Jaejoong ssi along. Junsu ssi needs him."
"Alright, we're on the way." Yunho said before hanging up.
Jaejoong immediately got up and let Yunho hold him by his hand to lead him away from the living room."What's going on?"
"I'll explain everything to you in the car."
Jaejoong nodded and quickly grabbed the keys lying on the comode next to the front door before he put on his shoes and jacket. Turning off the lights in a hurry, Jaejoong rushed out of the house as his boyfriend seemed highly unsettled by whatever Yoochun told him before he locked the door and walked towards Yunho's car with the CEO.