It Takes Two - Chapter 22
Author: Shriya_4
Pairing: Jaemin, Past!Yoomin, Past!Yunjae, 2U, MinSu.
Length: 22/24
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, AU, Angst, Humor, Fluff.
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Character Death (Yunho,Yoochun), Language.
Disclaimer: MINE! ALL MINE! MUHAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *gets bricked by SM, Avex and CJeS*
Summary: Yoochun and Yunho have only one goal in mind - Getting their boyfriends together. Now the only problem is that they're both dead and their boyfriends still alive. So they decide to take the matter to the dude upstairs. However, things aren't going to be that easy, especially since both Changmin and Jaejoong seem to hate each other with an almost incomprehensible virulence and still appear to remain in love with their deceased boyfriends.
Are the two boys in heaven ever going to accomplish their goal?
Chapter 22:
Changmin nearly laughed.
Or cried.
He really couldn’t tell which one of those reactions was more predominant or more suitable for the occasion, not when his heart was as numb as it was.
All he could really see was the deep rooted anger and murky sort of sorrow hardening precariously in those bright onyx eyes of his lover; eyes which had only a few hours prior held far-fetched promises of forever.
He gazed almost unwaveringly at Jaejoong, contemplating a hundred other things as the other glared back at him with a look of complete betrayal on his face, his body radiating an aura of “I knew it”, as if having just assumed from the very start that Changmin would be bound to set sail on a ship of torrid back stabbing affairs and secret moonlight escapades by the fire light.
He could have said a lot of things in retaliation to that one look. But frankly, he just didn’t give a flying fuck in hell what the other though, especially not when the other had already formed his own conclusions, depraved as they were.
Is it that easy for you to assume the worst in me, when all I have ever done is look for the best in you…?
You have no right. You have no right to look at me like I’ve done something wrong. You’ve done worse, hyung, you’ve done so much worse.
I didn’t kiss him back. I didn’t.
How could I, when you’re the only one that I’ve ever loved?
Hyung!
Trust me!
Jaejoong tore his eyes away from Changmin, disappointed, causing the latter to scoff in amused disgust, and stalked forward to pull Junsu away from the younger, keeping a firm hold on the other’s collar and tightening it with his next question.
“What the hell?!”
The younger model’s eyes widened as he saw the crazed jealousy underlining that question present itself in the other’s darkening orbs; disbelief sneaking its way into his expression as he realized that the older actually thought he was a threat to his relationship with Changmin.
He’s never going to learn, is he?
He yanked away from the suffocating hold, his apparent disgust with the display of mistrust presenting itself as he made a show of wiping his moist lips against the back of his hand, taking just a little longer in order to show the older exactly “what the hell”.
“It was just a peck. Calm your fucking tits, Jae.”
The model growled warningly him, tilting his head to the side in an act of dominance before whirling on Changmin instead, deciding that he would be easier to question, “Is he the reason why?!”
The youngest didn’t even have to pretend to be confused.
“W-what?”
“Is he the reason why?!”
“W-what t-the fuck a-are you t-talking a-about?!”
The older laughed derisively before running a hand through his hair, looking heavenward for guidance and just praying for patience, “I’m asking you if he’s the reason you’ve been pulling away from me.”
Understanding dawned on him like a slap on the face, “H-hyung, S-seriously? N-No! G-God, w-what is wrong w-with y-you?!”
Jaejoong choked, “What’s wrong with me? Oh my God, this is just rich! Let’s see, Changmin…Oh wait, I don’t know, maybe it’s the fact that I step out for like ten minutes to just think of a way to placate you and come back to find my best friend trying to maul you with his mouth and you letting him!”
Changmin suppressed the irrational spark of joy he felt when Jaejoong called Junsu his “best friend”. It proved to him that the other had indeed moved on, both on a physical and psychological level. It gave him hope that all was not lost. It showed him that the other did care.
And damn if that didn’t make him love the other a little bit more.
Changmin was once again too in love with the angry fool to hate him for not trusting him.
He’d lost to the older again.
Just like he knew he always would.
“M-Maul me? Maul m-me?! He wasn’t mauling m-me, H-hyung. T-that was barely e-even a k-kiss! Y-you walked i-in a-at the wrong t-time, okay?! And j-just F-F Y I, Hyung, h-he kissed m-me, you know, in c-case y-you w-were wondering!”
“You should have punched him in the face!”
“I w-would have i-in a-another t-two s-seconds!!”
“Two seconds too long, Asswipe!”
“B-bite m-me, B-bitch!”
“I would if you’d let me, you Prude!”
“D-drop d-dead!”
“Only if I’m taking you with me!”
Junsu smacked his palm against his forehead and leaned back against the chair in defeat, his anger at Jaejoong having long subsided through the course of the increasingly idiotic conversation.
He’d just begun to shut his eyes in exasperation when an epiphany hit him like a speeding train. He shot up from the chair, knocking it backwards, pointing a shaking finger at the older, his eyes blown wide in shock, “You knew?!”
Jaejoong smacked Changmin on his good arm before turning towards Junsu, irritated, “Knew what?”
“About his stuttering!”
Changmin froze.
The older looked at him like he’d gone mental, “Of course I knew, you idiot. The doctor told me about it the minute he figured it out. Why?”
Junsu and Changmin stared at Jaejoong, shocked, before breaking out in a babble of explanations.
“W-we t-thought-“
“That’s why he was-“
“I-I was s-scared t-that y-you w-would-“
“Reject-“
“M-Me.”
Jaejoong stared at the two of them dumbfounded, his upper lip curled in disbelief and his eyebrows raised, “What?”
The two younger ones looked at each other before asking him the question that had been plaguing both their minds.
“Why w-would h-he tell y-you a-about it?”
“Why would he even tell you?”
Jaejoong looked at them unsurely, as if gauging their mental state, “Uh, I don’t know, maybe because Min’s parents listed me as his local go to person?”
“Oh. Well. That makes things about a hundred times easier.”
“Wait a minute,” the older asked suspiciously, “What did you mean by “that’s why”? Are you telling me that you wouldn’t talk to me because of this?”
Changmin sighed unsurely and mumbled something under his breath.
“What was that?”
“I-I t-thought y-you’d b-be em-embarrassed by me and t-that y-you wouldn’t w-want m-me anym-more.”
Oh.
Oh God no.
Understanding people with the inability to speak was something Jaejoong took a lot of pride in, and Jiyul was testament to that fact; but his complete inability to see Changmin’s insecurity was a big blow to his hammered self-esteem. He gazed into the other’s warm brown eyes, pushing past the nerves of steel that the other possessed, only to see the vulnerability for what it was - a need to mean more.
“Baby,” he murmured reaching out and pulling Changmin into his arms, “Sweetheart, no. I love you. Everything about you. Why would you think I wouldn’t?”
“B-because y-you h-have a-another reason t-to m-miss Yu-Yunho-Hyung.”
“Shim Changmin, you listen to me,” Jaejoong finally said, kneeling down on to the floor beside the bed and pulling Changmin’s hands to his lips, “I screwed up, okay? Badly. I hurt you by feeding my own insecurities and I’m so sorry about that, Baby. I’m sorry I made you feel like you were never good enough, because you are. You are so much more than good enough. Sometimes, I think I don’t deserve someone as amazing as you.”
“L-Liar.”
“No. I’m serious. The way you’ve never judged me about any of my choices, despite making a lot of fun of them; the way you’ve loved Jiyul since the day I brought her home; the way you’ve stuck by my side through everything. I never saw you for what you were, but now I can’t imagine living in a world where you aren’t around. I wouldn’t survive.”
“E-Ew no. Just n-no.”
“What?”
“N-no.”
“Look. I love Jiyul with every fiber of my being, and I tell her that everyday but she can’t give me those words back. You can. And I want them. Do you hear me? I want you telling me you love me with that little stutter of yours every single day of my life. I need you to.”
“That’s d-disgusting,” Changmin said looking down at Jaejoong impishly through his lashes, “You’ve h-hit l-like this n-new low w-with your c-cheesy l-lines, Mao.”
Jaejoong grinned, burying his head into the sheets and laughing, “I hate that name.”
“Not as m-much as I h-hate y-your f-face.”
“You love my face, Bitch.”
“Nah, j-just your t-tight a-ass.”
“You’ve never had my ass and that would have hurt if you weren’t stuttering, Porky Pig.”
“A-asshole.”
“Don’t pout. Honestly the stuttering is actually pretty sexy. Gives you that whole fuck me aura.”
“Told you,” Junsu grinned, reaching his leg out and poking Changmin with a socked toe.
“Y-you know,” Changmin said, pulling the oldest up to his feet, “ for a-all t-the t-talk you g-guys have b-been d-doing, I d-don’t a-actually s-see a-any action.”
Jaejoong groaned and crawled on to the hospital bed, straddling the younger and staring down at his bright eyes, “Junsu, get out.”
“Aw, but I wanted to watch.”
“OUT!”
“Spoil sports," he muttered petulantly before laughing quietly and heading out the door, deciding to close it behind him with a soft click, in hopes of giving them their privacy.
After minutes of just standing there, he leaned back against the cold surface and let himself cry for the first time in a long time.
It hurt.
It hurt and he had every right to feel sorry for himself , well, at least until he could pick up the pieces of his heart and find someone else to make them whole again.
Xiah smiled down at him from above, sad grey eyes gazing at a sad soul.
You'll have your happily ever after soon too, little boy. Thank you for helping me make them see.
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A/N Hi guys! Well as you can probably tell with this chapter, the story's going to be coming to an end soon. Three more chapters to go (including the epilogue). I'd love for you'll to comment on it, criticize it, whatever...I just need responses!