Chance [Part 1]
Title: Chance [Part 1]
Author: Sum3r
Pairing: JaeMin
Rating: PG-13 (dude, I know, under NC-17?!)
Disclaimer: Plot is mine. Characters aren’t.
Beta'd by: smexxium (luv u bb <3)
Summary: Chance - A force assumed to cause events that cannot be foreseen or controlled. In Changmin’s perfect world, he never imagined to run over a bicycle. He never really imagined Jaejoong in it either.
[A/N]: Because I find chance meetings interesting ^^!
[8:00 AM - Monday Morning]
Beep. Beep. Beep
Changmin’s already well awake before his alarm sounds, way ahead of schedule as he brushes his perfect, white teeth; stares at himself in the mirror for a second before he spits out the toothpaste, the sensation leaving an acidic taste in his mouth.
[8:20 AM]
Changmin stares at his closet, towel around his waist as he decided the color of his tie.
Red? Or Burgundy?
[8:35 AM]
Changmin waits in his car, newspaper open in front of him as his chauffeur gets him his daily coffee. Black, was his ritual, with no sugar, and no milk. He has a full twenty-five minutes before his work starts, but as he is used to the sound of his alarm clock, he is used to arriving early.
His chauffeur slips in easily, handing Changmin his coffee before he starts the car, confidence rolling off of him through his everyday routine.
[8:42 AM]
The car jerks to a stop, throwing Changmin head forward as his coffee slips all over his shirt, dripping from his cup, sliding into his fingers.
He stares at it unbelievably, blinking at the obvious fact that there was coffee on his shirt and that he might be late.
“-Sir? Sir?”
Changmin turns his puzzled eyes to his anxious driver, disbelief written all over his face. He has never, in his twenty-four years of living, been late to anything; not to his pre-school, his sport games, fieldtrips, work, nothing.
“There’s been an accident-I think we might have hit someone, hold on sir, just hold on-” And the next thing Changmin knows, the chauffeur is gone, and there was still coffee on his shirt.
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The boy laughed, all smiles and embarrassed grins at the driver. Changmin saw them through the windshield, and almost immediately opened the door, sliding out his long legs with questions in his mind and an irritated air around him. He pursed his lips, eyes going flat as he reached the boy, and realized, with a start, that he might have been no more than a couple of years older then himself.
He saw the wreckage of the bike before the boy can hide it, and the boy smiled awkwardly, his laugh loud against Changmin’s usual, well-kept silence. Unsure of what to say to someone completely different from him, as seen from his cast-off jeans and old shirt, Changmin kept his silence, wincing at the boy’s occasional outburst of nervous laugh.
“-It’s all right, really. I’m fine, had my helmet on and everything.” The boy smiled, and Changmin didn’t know why, but he winched anyway. He reached into his suit pocket and took out his card, giving a look to his driver to stop the incessant bowing and apologizing.
“Here’s my card.” The boy turned quiet, accepting Changmin’s card with both hands, eyes dropping to stare at it. “I’ll pay for all damages, as well as any other priorities.” He turned his wrist, catching the time from his watch, and mentally sighed. “I’ll be leaving now, but do call me for the compensation.”
The boy continued to stare at the card, and as he looked up, Changmin froze, all thoughts of reaching work, or maybe making it on time disappearing in an instant. The boy is angry, with rage flashing from his eyes and stiff shoulders, holding the card from white-knuckled fingers and shaking hands.
When he spoke, it was tight-lipped and slowly, as if he was holding himself back. He stared directly at Changmin, the younger boy frozen under the older’s gaze. “I apologize, but I don’t need your money, or your compensation. Thank you for the offer but no.” The last word is loud and clear and Changmin simply stared at the older boy, lost for words, coffee dripping down his shirt.
He gave a curt nod, comprehending but not understanding, and motioned for his driver to follow him. The driver bowed to the older boy once more time before returning back to the card, Changmin closing the door with a loud SLAM as they pulled back from the street, sliding back into the main road.
Jaejoong turned back to his bike, bending down to pick up the wreckage when he slipped the card into his back pocket, forgetting momentarily that he wanted to throw it away.
The secretary was on the phone when Changmin entered his office, the rest of the staff busy with filing papers, and typing word spreads, and phones ringing continuously, the atmosphere a busy, chaotic event.
“-Yes, of course, we definitely will. Our policy is-” The secretary stopped talking as she looked up and saw her boss, losing her train of thought completely and blinking at him owlishly. Slowly the rest of the staff stopped as well, watching their boss as he walked up to his main secretary, the place dead silent in a matter of seconds.
“Mr. Shim?” asked his secretary weakly, surprised as she groped for words, glancing at the clock that clearly read 9:10 with eyes that flickered down at his coffee shirt over and over again. “Is something the matter?”
There’s a moment of silence, as Changmin just stared at her without seeing at her, but after a second he snapped back in attention, face collected as usual. He nodded to her before turning away, “Please iron the spare shirt I have in the closet,” he said, opening his office door and slamming it shut behind him.
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[8:47 - Tuesday]
Shit, shit, shit. Jaejoong hurried through his apartment, searching here and there for his clothes. His room was a mess, clothes thrown everywhere, clean laundry mixed in with the dirty, bedspread loose and nearly falling over the bed as the older boy shuffled through it, struggling to find a clean pair of boxers.
I know I washed a few of them, and they should be here, but where the fuck are they? Jaejoong glanced at the clock and cursed again, profanities stringing themselves out of his mouth as he slipped on his shirt, nearly falling forward as he tripped over his stack of manga, dvds crashing onto the floor nearby. Late, I’m going to fucking late today too. And it wasn’t as if he could hurry anyway, since he no longer had his bike and had to walk to work.
He found his boxers underneath his iPod, his porn magazine, his favorite book, and a picture of Song Hye-Go, sighing with relief as he yanked them out, causing a small piece of paper to flutter out and fall onto the floor. He glanced at it as he pulled his jeans up, sliding them over his hips with his keys in his mouth, finger quickly zipping himself up.
He crouched down, hands on knees and slowly picked the card and turned it over, head titled to the side in confusion.
SHIM CHANGMIN
Head Director
XXX-XXX-XXX
Didn’t I…? Jaejoong stared at the card with thoughtful eyes, what was the chance I’d find this again? While organized at work, the older boy couldn’t find anything in his apartment if it was a choice between live and death; months would go by before Jaejoong would end up stepping on or coming across something he wanted weeks back and now no longer needed it.
“I’ll pay for all damages, as well as any other priorities.”
Jaejoong chewed at his bottom lip as he continued to thoughtfully stare at the card, teeth biting skin. Time was ticking away, time he could have spent making to work on time, but something made Jaejoong stop and think it over, almost as if he hit a wall and skidded into a stop, thinking of all the ways to get over it.
Should I?
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[5:06 PM - Wednesday]
Changmin waited patiently at one of the café booths, eyes flickering ever so often at his watch as his fingers curled around the cup, staring through the window broodingly. He was surprised when his secretary sent in the call, mouth falling open as the other man had simply given him a time and place where they should meet.
I guess he needed the money after all…? A fleeting thought that he should just run away crossed Chagnmin’s mind, but the next thing he knew, the older man slid in front of him, a small smile on his face as he panted slightly.
“S-Sorry-” He wheezed out, chest heaving, “f-for being so late.” Changmin mutely shook his head, eyes falling down to his coffee cup. He already had his coffee this morning and never really drank a second cup in the same day before, but Changmin began to feel that this was only the beginning of the possibilities.
Silence descended as Changmin fidgeted slightly, fingers scratching the handle. “So,” he said, breaking the silence as continued to look down at the table, “how much do you need for…another bicycle?” Jaejoong started at him over the rip of his coffee cup, eyes easily catching the nervous shift of his body.
There was something about him, Jaejoong thought as he watched the younger boy, something so careful and perfect that, that it itched him, made him curious and interested.
“What…” said the older boy, completely disregarding Changmin’s previous question, “what’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?” He tone was mildly curious and as the younger boy blinked up at him in surprise, Jaejoong kept his gaze steady, raising an eyebrow as Changmin kept his silence.
“Craziest thing I’ve done?” repeated Changmin blankly, lips moving but no sound coming out as he tried to think of something to say, “Uh…”
“Come on, there has to be something you have different in your life, something drastic, or life-altering, or even some secret kink that you always-”
“-My ties.”
Jaejoong paused, blinking, as he put down his cup with a loud thud on the table. He had been excepting something big, something that made sense and would balance out Changmin’s black and white world, something like owning crazy socks or some weird hobby like collecting girls’ panties.
“Your what?” echoed Jaejoong, still blinking. He wasn’t sure if he heard right.
Changmin waved his hands idly in the air, slightly blushing. “Something different in my life right? That’s what you said? Well…” The younger boy pointedly looked away from the older boy, “I wear different colored ties, like red, or burgundy….”
Either this kid’s lying or-
“About the bike…” said Changmin slowly, trying to bring the conversation to point as he fiddled with the handle again. Jaejoong wasn’t a cruel person, really, but something in this man made him want to tease him, almost as if he was picking on him, an older bully to a younger brother just starting school and really should, he really shouldn’t say it, but as Changmin said those words, he automatically blurted out,
“It was my grandpa’s.” It really wasn’t, it was just another bike he bought for fifty-five thousand won* over at Ebay, but the words were out before he could take then back. And as Changmin looked up in surprise, Jaejoong nearly winched before continuing, not really knowing why, but acting upon it regardless. “It was his favorite bicycle, and he wanted to have it to share it with my special someone…” Oh God, it sounded so unbelievable to his own ears that it was impossible that another would so readily believe it-
“I’m so sorry!” Changmin was looking at him with a face full of distress and shock that Jaejoong just stared at him, lost for words. The younger boy reached out unconsciously, slipping a hand over Jaejoong’s before continuing, “I’m so sorry-It’s was your grandfather’s and now it cant even be repaired-I should go myself, pay respects to him and-”
Jaejoong glanced down at their hands and overturned his, catching Changmin’s lean hand with his own.
“Have you ever gone sky diving?” asked Jaejoong, cutting off Changmin’s voice in mid-speech. Changmin froze, blinking slowly before reply.
“Sky diving?” he asked, face full of confusion. There was supposed to be a point to this conversation, a start and an end, but the way it was going, the way it kept changing, Changmin was thrown off balance.
“I always wanted to do it, you know, and my grandpa always encouraged me.” Which wasn’t much of a lie since his grandpa did encourage him, but then again, his grandpa also told him to travel the world, and have as many lovers as possible and to never give up porn.
Changmin opened his mouth wordlessly before snapping it back shut. When he opened his mouth again, he said tentatively, “You want to go…sky diving?”
Jaejoong picked up the cup, smiling as he pressed it against his lips, eyes dancing. “By the way,” he said, voice amused, “my name is Kim Jaejoong.”
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[Go to Part Two >>]