The Five Legends [Ch. 6]
The Five Legends
Beta: hell_angel_v2
Bandfic with Yunho/Jaejoong and some slight Yoochun/Junsu
AU/Romance/Drama
6/?
PG-13
Summary: In the Korean music business, there were five young men who were called the future of Korea’s music. Although only in their early twenties, they already were rising legends ready to take over the world. In fact, Japan, Korea, and most of Asia were under their spell already, and all that remained was the Western world. However, due to the language barrier, most believed that they wouldn’t be able to take over the Western music scene. But due to the plan of one man, the five men came together to become not five separate legends, but to form one myth, one legend, which would one day, be able to rule the world’s music and go down in history.
Prologue&Chapter 1 | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five
Chapter Six
“Ugh… I’m so tired…” Jaejoong groaned as he fell onto the couch. It was the end of another exhausting day where he and the rest of his band members had to meet up with Chunhee-shii, then go to the dance studio to practice coordinating with everyone, then after a lunch break, they had to complete the schedule Hansook-shii gave them until a certain time late at night.
Jaejoong wasn’t used to such an exhausting schedule. Back when he was solo, he didn’t have to dance as much, he didn’t have to wait as long, he didn’t have to practice singing as much. Now, with band members, he had to learn his part in the dancing choreography while learning the other members’ steps as well. And whenever a member missed a step, the entire group had to start all over from the beginning. The same thing happened with singing. Whenever a member sang the wrong note or forgot the lyrics, the entire group had to sing the entire song again.
It didn’t help that a week ago when they first met their dance coach he had practically made a fool of himself. Everyone else had been able to learn the dance coach’s given steps in half an hour and perform the moves flawlessly, but it was only Jaejoong who wasn’t able to learn them. Worse, he had completely forgotten most of the steps in the time it took for him to walk in front of everyone.
In Jaejoong’s mind, this week was one of the worst he had ever experienced. He would gladly use any chance he had to rewind the week and relive it over. But right as he thought that, some memories from the past week filled his mind. Those memories were of good times when he and the rest of the members were able to bond, to grow closer.
Suddenly, hands fell on his shoulders and began to knead them. Jaejoong didn’t know who it was, but he knew that those hands were working magic on his sore muscles.
He sighed and leaned more into those strong, capable hands. “Ah… this feels so good. Don’t stop, please,” he murmured.
The man behind him chuckled softly. “Alright, if you say so,” said Yunho softly.
Jaejoong stiffened. “…Yunho?” he asked.
“Yes?”
“Why are you massaging my shoulders?”
“Because I noticed that you were moving a bit stiffly,” said Yunho in surprise. “I thought you would like someone to massage you.”
“And how would you know?” asked Jaejoong sarcastically. “It’s not like you would know how a sore body is like.”
“What are you talking about? Of course I would know how your body is like right now!” exclaimed Yunho.
Jaejoong scoffed. “Right.”
Yunho’s hands became rigid as his voice hardened. “What’s this about, Jaejoong?”
Jaejoong pushed Yunho’s hands away before he answered. “Nothing. Nothing at all.” He stood up and started to walk away. Before he could take two steps, Yunho had grabbed him by the elbow and had pulled him to a stop.
“Don’t walk away from me! I’m just trying to find out what’s bothering you!”
“Stop ordering me around, leader-shii,” Jaejoong hissed. He pushed Yunho’s hand off of his arm. “I’m not Yoochun or Junsu who’s going to obey your every wish and command.”
Yunho gaped surprise. “Is that what this is about? You’re angry about me being the leader?”
Jaejoong laughed bitterly. “Of course not. Why should I be angry about that? After all, I wouldn’t be as good a leader as you would.”
Yunho flinched. “I’m sorry. I just… I didn’t become leader voluntarily, you know. I thought that you would become leader since you’re the oldest.”
“But I’m not. Sooman-shii picked you instead of me.”
Yunho started to speak, “Jaejoong, I-”
Jaejoong cut him off. “Just forget it. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” He walked away from Yunho, ignoring Yunho’s voice asking him to stop.
After he was out of Yunho’s sight, he fell against the wall, trying to hold in his tears.
~*~
“Yunho-hyung? What’s wrong?” asked Yoochun hesitantly. He had walked into the living room a few minutes after Yunho’s and Jaejoong’s fight and he saw Yunho, sitting on the couch, holding his head.
“Nothing, Chunnie,” said Yunho. He looked at Yoochun and tried to give him a smile. The resulting smile didn’t fool Yoochun.
“Hyung, if you’re going to call me Chunnie, then that means you’ve accepted me as a friend. If you’ve accepted me as a friend, then that means I have a right to make sure you’re okay, to make sure everything’s alright,” Yoochun informed him.
Yunho sighed and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. “It’s just… Jaejoong. He seemed like he was upset at not being chosen as the leader.”
Yoochun absorbed the information. “Of course he would be, hyung. It was always understood that the oldest of the group would be the leader,” he said gently. “But did you just notice it?”
Yunho shook his head. “No, I noticed it a while ago. I’ve also suspected that he thought this way some time ago. I just never knew he felt so bitter about it.”
“Just give him some time, hyung. I don’t think Jaejoong-hyung’s the type of person who holds a grudge for long.”
~*~
Another week passed. To all spectators, Yunho and Jaejoong were still the best of friends, laughing together, spending time together. But as soon as the camera was shut off, and they were alone, silence, a cold and tense silence, fell over them. Jaejoong’s grudge was only apparent to the members of DongBangShinKi, no one else, not even Hansook, could tell that something was wrong.
Yoochun, Junsu, and Changmin had all tried their best to reform Jaejoong’s and Yunho’s friendship, but their efforts had been ignored by Jaejoong.
Yunho, over the past week, slowly felt his patience start to thin. His frustration grew day by day until even in front of the camera it was obvious that something was wrong with him. Everyone asked what was wrong, from staff to manager to Sooman-shii, but he wouldn’t tell them what was wrong. It was his own problem, and he wouldn’t let other people try to help. He would just wait until one day Jaejoong was alone, and he would try to talk to him again.
Jaejoong, on the other hand, felt his anger slowly begin to dissipate. It was hard work trying to hold a grudge against Yunho, especially since he saw how well he led the band over the past week. Now that his anger was gone, he wasn’t sure what he should say to Yunho. The memory of his outburst kept him from going up to him and apologizing. He didn’t know how he should even begin…
~*~
Music pulsed in the dance studio. Six men, five young, one middle-aged, were inside, dancing to the beat of the music. The middle-aged man was on the side of the room observing the five young men and occasionally giving out commands.
“That’s not the move you’re supposed to do, Yoochun-shii! Jaejoong-shii, wave your arm higher! Changmin-shii, move a little more to the right! You’re about to hit Yunho-shii!”
His commands were immediately carried out by Yoochun, Jaejoong, and Changmin to the best of their abilities. To Junsu and Yunho, nothing was said. In the instructor’s mind, they were among the best dancers he had seen and taught in a while. He was especially fond of Yunho. He tended to use Yunho as an example to Yoochun, Jaejoong, Changmin, and even Junsu once in a while.
Sweat from their exertions covered their bodies and dampened their hair. They had been practicing their newest routine for two hours each day for the past three days. So far, only Junsu and Yunho had gotten the routine perfectly; everyone else still made mistakes once in a while.
“Alright!” barked the instructor. “That’s enough for today!” At his words, the five men relaxed, particularly Jaejoong as he was the one who usually made the most mistakes.
“Jaejoong-shii,” the instructor began, “You must practice outside of practice hours if you want to learn the routine perfectly. If you need help, ask either Junsu-shii or Yunho-shii. They are the only ones I trust to teach you the routine without any mishaps happening.”
Jaejoong nodded wearily. He was exhausted, and he didn’t want to dance anymore today. But he knew the only way he’ll finish learning the routine was through more practice. “Guys, go shower first,” he called to his band mates. “I’ll stay in here for a little while longer.”
They nodded as they trudged to the shower stalls. He stared at them wistfully, wishing that he was with them as they went to shower away their sweat. Sighing, he walked over to the boom box to restart the music.
He danced, again and again, until he was sure the moves were perfect. He collapsed against one of the mirrored walls and closed his eyes, trying to conserve his energy.
Suddenly, a cold can of soda was pressed against his cheek. He jumped, startled at the iciness. He saw Yunho holding the can and a towel, looking fresh from his shower.
“Here,” said Yunho gruffly. “I thought that you might need something cold to drink and a towel.” He held out the items to Jaejoong.
Jaejoong accepted them. “Thank you,” he said hesitantly.
Yunho shrugged. “No problem.” He sat down beside Jaejoong and stared at the floor.
Silence fell over them, but it wasn’t the same type of silence that had hung over them the past week. It was a comfortable silence, a companionable silence.
“Do you want me to help you with the dance moves?” Yunho offered.
Jaejoong wavered. He didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of Yunho, but at the same time, he wanted to be certain if the moves he’d been practicing were correct in order to avoid having to stay late again. “Okay,” he said.
He stood up and moved to play the music again.
~*~
Yunho observed Jaejoong as he danced. He couldn’t help but smile ruefully at the man’s stiff movements. But even though he moved stiffly, there was still a grace to the movements that drew him in. He got up and moved to Jaejoong’s side.
“When you do this move,” he began, reaching his hands to help position Jaejoong’s body, “push your hips a little more to the left.” His hands fell to Jaejoong’s hips to move them to the left. He felt him jerk in surprise. “What’s wrong?” Yunho asked in surprise.
“Nothing,” Jaejoong mumbled. His cheeks were flushed.
Strange, thought Yunho, why is Jaejoong’s face so red? I thought he had already cooled down… Wait. Could it be…? His eyes slid down to where his hands were currently holding Jaejoong’s hips. “Ah!” exclaimed Yunho, immediately dropping his hands, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to put my hands there! I-” he spluttered.
“It’s alright,” laughed Jaejoong. He turned around to face Yunho. He opened his mouth and tried to speak, but nothing came out. “I-” He closed his mouth again.
“Yes?” asked Yunho, bemused.
Jaejoong opened his mouth and tried again. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry for what I said a week earlier.”
Yunho stared at him. “What?” Jaejoong asked defensively.
Yunho blinked. “Uh… I thought I would’ve had to kidnap you or something in order to make you talk to me again.”
Jaejoong felt his mouth curl up in amusement. “What?” he laughed. “Kidnap me? Where were you going to take me?”
“I don’t know,” replied Yunho, his own smile forming. “I would’ve thought of something.”
“Right,” teased Jaejoong. “Are you sure that’s not just your ego talking? Or maybe it’s just your leader side coming out again,” he chuckled. At the mention of Yunho being the leader, he fell silent, wondering what Yunho would say.
Yunho was silent for a few moments. “Jaejoong, I want you to know something,” he began. “I want you to know that I didn’t want to be the leader. I was really surprised when Sooman-shii picked me as the leader. I thought that you would’ve been the leader as you’re the oldest. But-”
Jaejoong cut him off. “I don’t care anymore, Yunho. Over the past week, I’ve been observing you and how you interact with everyone, from the members to the staff to our manager. I’ve noticed that you really do make a good leader, and nothing I say would be able to make you less of one. And as long as you don’t pull that slightly overbearing leader attitude with me, I could really care less if I was the leader.”
Yunho had started to smile long before Jaejoong had finished speaking. “I’m glad,” he whispered. He reached out and pulled him into a hug. He noticed that even though Jaejoong was all sweaty, he still managed to retain the smell that was purely Jaejoong.
“Y-Yunho?” Jaejoong’s voice was muffled by Yunho’s shoulder. “What are you doing?” Even though he asked what Yunho was doing, he made no move to push him away. Instead, his hands unconsciously clenched on Yunho’s back, pulling him even closer.
“Ah, sorry. I was just so happy, I couldn’t resist myself,” said Yunho, smiling brilliantly down at him.
Jaejoong smiled as well, glad that the load on his shoulders was finally taken off. He took a hold of Yunho’s wrist and led him out of the studio. “Come on,” he said lightly, “I need to go shower off all this sweat. I’m sure that everyone’s hungry by now, especially Changmin.”
As Jaejoong led him out of the room, Yunho couldn’t help but glance down at the hand encircling his wrist. He didn’t know why, but having this man’s hand around his own felt right. He was suddenly sure that if Jaejoong abruptly took his hand away, he would feel bereft of his warmth.
~*~
“Where is Yunho-hyung?” groaned Changmin. “I’m starving… and didn’t he say that he was only checking up on Jaejoong-hyung and that he’ll be right back?”
“It’s okay,” said Junsu affectionately, “I’m sure that Yunho-hyung’s helping Jaejoong-hyung out right now with his dance moves.”
Yoochun laughed. “Or maybe Yunho-hyung trying to talk to Jaejoong-hyung.”
Junsu reached over to place his arm on Yoochun’s shoulder. “How did you know about their fight so early, Chunnie? Changmin and I only found out around four days ago.”
Yoochun just smiled. “I just walked in at a wrong time and saw Yunho-hyung all frustrated.”
Right then and there, Yunho and Jaejoong walked in, chattering. Jaejoong’s hand was still around Yunho’s wrist, and they took no notice of the three men standing there waiting for them. They kept walking and eventually, they walked out of sight.
“Did you see that?” asked Junsu, amazed. “There wasn’t even a hint of their fight!”
Changmin just grinned and said, “Leave it Yunho-hyung to fix what’s wrong!”
~*~
After what happened in the dance studio, spectators noticed that Jaejoong and Yunho started to stick together like glue. Whenever there was a break, it could always be noted that they were together, either talking or doing something else. Other times, they would be with their band members, joking around. The spectators also noticed that the touching between them grew more and more. Soon, the sight of Jaejoong’s platinum blonde hair and Yunho’s black hair close together became a common sight, and if one was seen without the other, it could always be counted on that within minutes, the other person would be seen.
Chapter Seven
Beta: hell_angel_v2
Bandfic with Yunho/Jaejoong and some slight Yoochun/Junsu
AU/Romance/Drama
6/?
PG-13
Summary: In the Korean music business, there were five young men who were called the future of Korea’s music. Although only in their early twenties, they already were rising legends ready to take over the world. In fact, Japan, Korea, and most of Asia were under their spell already, and all that remained was the Western world. However, due to the language barrier, most believed that they wouldn’t be able to take over the Western music scene. But due to the plan of one man, the five men came together to become not five separate legends, but to form one myth, one legend, which would one day, be able to rule the world’s music and go down in history.
Prologue&Chapter 1 | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five
Chapter Six
“Ugh… I’m so tired…” Jaejoong groaned as he fell onto the couch. It was the end of another exhausting day where he and the rest of his band members had to meet up with Chunhee-shii, then go to the dance studio to practice coordinating with everyone, then after a lunch break, they had to complete the schedule Hansook-shii gave them until a certain time late at night.
Jaejoong wasn’t used to such an exhausting schedule. Back when he was solo, he didn’t have to dance as much, he didn’t have to wait as long, he didn’t have to practice singing as much. Now, with band members, he had to learn his part in the dancing choreography while learning the other members’ steps as well. And whenever a member missed a step, the entire group had to start all over from the beginning. The same thing happened with singing. Whenever a member sang the wrong note or forgot the lyrics, the entire group had to sing the entire song again.
It didn’t help that a week ago when they first met their dance coach he had practically made a fool of himself. Everyone else had been able to learn the dance coach’s given steps in half an hour and perform the moves flawlessly, but it was only Jaejoong who wasn’t able to learn them. Worse, he had completely forgotten most of the steps in the time it took for him to walk in front of everyone.
In Jaejoong’s mind, this week was one of the worst he had ever experienced. He would gladly use any chance he had to rewind the week and relive it over. But right as he thought that, some memories from the past week filled his mind. Those memories were of good times when he and the rest of the members were able to bond, to grow closer.
Suddenly, hands fell on his shoulders and began to knead them. Jaejoong didn’t know who it was, but he knew that those hands were working magic on his sore muscles.
He sighed and leaned more into those strong, capable hands. “Ah… this feels so good. Don’t stop, please,” he murmured.
The man behind him chuckled softly. “Alright, if you say so,” said Yunho softly.
Jaejoong stiffened. “…Yunho?” he asked.
“Yes?”
“Why are you massaging my shoulders?”
“Because I noticed that you were moving a bit stiffly,” said Yunho in surprise. “I thought you would like someone to massage you.”
“And how would you know?” asked Jaejoong sarcastically. “It’s not like you would know how a sore body is like.”
“What are you talking about? Of course I would know how your body is like right now!” exclaimed Yunho.
Jaejoong scoffed. “Right.”
Yunho’s hands became rigid as his voice hardened. “What’s this about, Jaejoong?”
Jaejoong pushed Yunho’s hands away before he answered. “Nothing. Nothing at all.” He stood up and started to walk away. Before he could take two steps, Yunho had grabbed him by the elbow and had pulled him to a stop.
“Don’t walk away from me! I’m just trying to find out what’s bothering you!”
“Stop ordering me around, leader-shii,” Jaejoong hissed. He pushed Yunho’s hand off of his arm. “I’m not Yoochun or Junsu who’s going to obey your every wish and command.”
Yunho gaped surprise. “Is that what this is about? You’re angry about me being the leader?”
Jaejoong laughed bitterly. “Of course not. Why should I be angry about that? After all, I wouldn’t be as good a leader as you would.”
Yunho flinched. “I’m sorry. I just… I didn’t become leader voluntarily, you know. I thought that you would become leader since you’re the oldest.”
“But I’m not. Sooman-shii picked you instead of me.”
Yunho started to speak, “Jaejoong, I-”
Jaejoong cut him off. “Just forget it. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” He walked away from Yunho, ignoring Yunho’s voice asking him to stop.
After he was out of Yunho’s sight, he fell against the wall, trying to hold in his tears.
~*~
“Yunho-hyung? What’s wrong?” asked Yoochun hesitantly. He had walked into the living room a few minutes after Yunho’s and Jaejoong’s fight and he saw Yunho, sitting on the couch, holding his head.
“Nothing, Chunnie,” said Yunho. He looked at Yoochun and tried to give him a smile. The resulting smile didn’t fool Yoochun.
“Hyung, if you’re going to call me Chunnie, then that means you’ve accepted me as a friend. If you’ve accepted me as a friend, then that means I have a right to make sure you’re okay, to make sure everything’s alright,” Yoochun informed him.
Yunho sighed and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. “It’s just… Jaejoong. He seemed like he was upset at not being chosen as the leader.”
Yoochun absorbed the information. “Of course he would be, hyung. It was always understood that the oldest of the group would be the leader,” he said gently. “But did you just notice it?”
Yunho shook his head. “No, I noticed it a while ago. I’ve also suspected that he thought this way some time ago. I just never knew he felt so bitter about it.”
“Just give him some time, hyung. I don’t think Jaejoong-hyung’s the type of person who holds a grudge for long.”
~*~
Another week passed. To all spectators, Yunho and Jaejoong were still the best of friends, laughing together, spending time together. But as soon as the camera was shut off, and they were alone, silence, a cold and tense silence, fell over them. Jaejoong’s grudge was only apparent to the members of DongBangShinKi, no one else, not even Hansook, could tell that something was wrong.
Yoochun, Junsu, and Changmin had all tried their best to reform Jaejoong’s and Yunho’s friendship, but their efforts had been ignored by Jaejoong.
Yunho, over the past week, slowly felt his patience start to thin. His frustration grew day by day until even in front of the camera it was obvious that something was wrong with him. Everyone asked what was wrong, from staff to manager to Sooman-shii, but he wouldn’t tell them what was wrong. It was his own problem, and he wouldn’t let other people try to help. He would just wait until one day Jaejoong was alone, and he would try to talk to him again.
Jaejoong, on the other hand, felt his anger slowly begin to dissipate. It was hard work trying to hold a grudge against Yunho, especially since he saw how well he led the band over the past week. Now that his anger was gone, he wasn’t sure what he should say to Yunho. The memory of his outburst kept him from going up to him and apologizing. He didn’t know how he should even begin…
~*~
Music pulsed in the dance studio. Six men, five young, one middle-aged, were inside, dancing to the beat of the music. The middle-aged man was on the side of the room observing the five young men and occasionally giving out commands.
“That’s not the move you’re supposed to do, Yoochun-shii! Jaejoong-shii, wave your arm higher! Changmin-shii, move a little more to the right! You’re about to hit Yunho-shii!”
His commands were immediately carried out by Yoochun, Jaejoong, and Changmin to the best of their abilities. To Junsu and Yunho, nothing was said. In the instructor’s mind, they were among the best dancers he had seen and taught in a while. He was especially fond of Yunho. He tended to use Yunho as an example to Yoochun, Jaejoong, Changmin, and even Junsu once in a while.
Sweat from their exertions covered their bodies and dampened their hair. They had been practicing their newest routine for two hours each day for the past three days. So far, only Junsu and Yunho had gotten the routine perfectly; everyone else still made mistakes once in a while.
“Alright!” barked the instructor. “That’s enough for today!” At his words, the five men relaxed, particularly Jaejoong as he was the one who usually made the most mistakes.
“Jaejoong-shii,” the instructor began, “You must practice outside of practice hours if you want to learn the routine perfectly. If you need help, ask either Junsu-shii or Yunho-shii. They are the only ones I trust to teach you the routine without any mishaps happening.”
Jaejoong nodded wearily. He was exhausted, and he didn’t want to dance anymore today. But he knew the only way he’ll finish learning the routine was through more practice. “Guys, go shower first,” he called to his band mates. “I’ll stay in here for a little while longer.”
They nodded as they trudged to the shower stalls. He stared at them wistfully, wishing that he was with them as they went to shower away their sweat. Sighing, he walked over to the boom box to restart the music.
He danced, again and again, until he was sure the moves were perfect. He collapsed against one of the mirrored walls and closed his eyes, trying to conserve his energy.
Suddenly, a cold can of soda was pressed against his cheek. He jumped, startled at the iciness. He saw Yunho holding the can and a towel, looking fresh from his shower.
“Here,” said Yunho gruffly. “I thought that you might need something cold to drink and a towel.” He held out the items to Jaejoong.
Jaejoong accepted them. “Thank you,” he said hesitantly.
Yunho shrugged. “No problem.” He sat down beside Jaejoong and stared at the floor.
Silence fell over them, but it wasn’t the same type of silence that had hung over them the past week. It was a comfortable silence, a companionable silence.
“Do you want me to help you with the dance moves?” Yunho offered.
Jaejoong wavered. He didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of Yunho, but at the same time, he wanted to be certain if the moves he’d been practicing were correct in order to avoid having to stay late again. “Okay,” he said.
He stood up and moved to play the music again.
~*~
Yunho observed Jaejoong as he danced. He couldn’t help but smile ruefully at the man’s stiff movements. But even though he moved stiffly, there was still a grace to the movements that drew him in. He got up and moved to Jaejoong’s side.
“When you do this move,” he began, reaching his hands to help position Jaejoong’s body, “push your hips a little more to the left.” His hands fell to Jaejoong’s hips to move them to the left. He felt him jerk in surprise. “What’s wrong?” Yunho asked in surprise.
“Nothing,” Jaejoong mumbled. His cheeks were flushed.
Strange, thought Yunho, why is Jaejoong’s face so red? I thought he had already cooled down… Wait. Could it be…? His eyes slid down to where his hands were currently holding Jaejoong’s hips. “Ah!” exclaimed Yunho, immediately dropping his hands, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to put my hands there! I-” he spluttered.
“It’s alright,” laughed Jaejoong. He turned around to face Yunho. He opened his mouth and tried to speak, but nothing came out. “I-” He closed his mouth again.
“Yes?” asked Yunho, bemused.
Jaejoong opened his mouth and tried again. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry for what I said a week earlier.”
Yunho stared at him. “What?” Jaejoong asked defensively.
Yunho blinked. “Uh… I thought I would’ve had to kidnap you or something in order to make you talk to me again.”
Jaejoong felt his mouth curl up in amusement. “What?” he laughed. “Kidnap me? Where were you going to take me?”
“I don’t know,” replied Yunho, his own smile forming. “I would’ve thought of something.”
“Right,” teased Jaejoong. “Are you sure that’s not just your ego talking? Or maybe it’s just your leader side coming out again,” he chuckled. At the mention of Yunho being the leader, he fell silent, wondering what Yunho would say.
Yunho was silent for a few moments. “Jaejoong, I want you to know something,” he began. “I want you to know that I didn’t want to be the leader. I was really surprised when Sooman-shii picked me as the leader. I thought that you would’ve been the leader as you’re the oldest. But-”
Jaejoong cut him off. “I don’t care anymore, Yunho. Over the past week, I’ve been observing you and how you interact with everyone, from the members to the staff to our manager. I’ve noticed that you really do make a good leader, and nothing I say would be able to make you less of one. And as long as you don’t pull that slightly overbearing leader attitude with me, I could really care less if I was the leader.”
Yunho had started to smile long before Jaejoong had finished speaking. “I’m glad,” he whispered. He reached out and pulled him into a hug. He noticed that even though Jaejoong was all sweaty, he still managed to retain the smell that was purely Jaejoong.
“Y-Yunho?” Jaejoong’s voice was muffled by Yunho’s shoulder. “What are you doing?” Even though he asked what Yunho was doing, he made no move to push him away. Instead, his hands unconsciously clenched on Yunho’s back, pulling him even closer.
“Ah, sorry. I was just so happy, I couldn’t resist myself,” said Yunho, smiling brilliantly down at him.
Jaejoong smiled as well, glad that the load on his shoulders was finally taken off. He took a hold of Yunho’s wrist and led him out of the studio. “Come on,” he said lightly, “I need to go shower off all this sweat. I’m sure that everyone’s hungry by now, especially Changmin.”
As Jaejoong led him out of the room, Yunho couldn’t help but glance down at the hand encircling his wrist. He didn’t know why, but having this man’s hand around his own felt right. He was suddenly sure that if Jaejoong abruptly took his hand away, he would feel bereft of his warmth.
~*~
“Where is Yunho-hyung?” groaned Changmin. “I’m starving… and didn’t he say that he was only checking up on Jaejoong-hyung and that he’ll be right back?”
“It’s okay,” said Junsu affectionately, “I’m sure that Yunho-hyung’s helping Jaejoong-hyung out right now with his dance moves.”
Yoochun laughed. “Or maybe Yunho-hyung trying to talk to Jaejoong-hyung.”
Junsu reached over to place his arm on Yoochun’s shoulder. “How did you know about their fight so early, Chunnie? Changmin and I only found out around four days ago.”
Yoochun just smiled. “I just walked in at a wrong time and saw Yunho-hyung all frustrated.”
Right then and there, Yunho and Jaejoong walked in, chattering. Jaejoong’s hand was still around Yunho’s wrist, and they took no notice of the three men standing there waiting for them. They kept walking and eventually, they walked out of sight.
“Did you see that?” asked Junsu, amazed. “There wasn’t even a hint of their fight!”
Changmin just grinned and said, “Leave it Yunho-hyung to fix what’s wrong!”
~*~
After what happened in the dance studio, spectators noticed that Jaejoong and Yunho started to stick together like glue. Whenever there was a break, it could always be noted that they were together, either talking or doing something else. Other times, they would be with their band members, joking around. The spectators also noticed that the touching between them grew more and more. Soon, the sight of Jaejoong’s platinum blonde hair and Yunho’s black hair close together became a common sight, and if one was seen without the other, it could always be counted on that within minutes, the other person would be seen.
Chapter Seven