[dbsk ficlet] place at the table
title: place at the table
pairing: jaemin, ot5-ish
summary: it has always been set for five.
author's notes: for
jaemint's (utterly weird) prompt: 'tiramissyou', jaemin. love for my bb, and cake.
two days after dongbangshinki's farewell performance, jaejoong hopped onto a plane out of korea.
it was six months before the rest of the boys saw him again.
changmin didn't say much when jaejoong left, just the expected 'have fun' and 'see you soon'. he really didn't have much to say when everyone else parted ways either: 'call me', was his particular favorite. and when he got back to his place in seoul a month after staying home with his family, changmin figured that he'd get used to being without his brothers.
changmin reveled at the space he now had: no more waiting in line to use the bathroom, no one bothering him while reading, no one with a sugar high jumping on his bed in the middle of the night, no one stealing his food from the fridge.
the flat was what it was - his. just his. and after years of sharing things and having non-existent privacy, changmin was rather surprised that he felt a little lost in all that personal space.
yunho called regularly, telling changmin how nice it was to have the energy to focus in school. yoochun often drove up to visit, and they discussed random things, but more often than not, lyrics to the song yoochun was writing at the moment, over coffee or a round of drinks. junsu messaged every now and then, and a couple of times, invited changmin to the recording studio for a quick visit. and jaejoong kept them updated of his whereabouts through emails, phonecalls and postcards.
the schedules of the boys who were in seoul never really met, so most of the time, it was just two or three of them, and they celebrated big time when there were four.
changmin sometimes found himself staring at the empty spot at the table during their get-togethers: there had always been place for five, not less than that.
life had taken a different turn from the hectic, even grueling lifestyle of dongbangshinki - changmin now had time to sit back and do nothing. but Playstation battles with the comp were too boring, movies without a running commentary too stale, and changmin always ended up making too much ramen when there's only himself now to feed.
soon, changmin realized that he needed something to occupy him other than his work as a musician. he can only stand the philharmonic for so long - it was making music, all right, but it was so damn different. so when changmin craved for a cake one day, and couldn't find one that suited his taste, he decided he would make one for himself.
he took baking lessons from the culinary school downtown. his three hyungdeul were there for changmin's first actual cake (and there was always one or two during the trial ones - junsu thought he had gotten food poisoning after a questionable carrot cake, yoochun had battled it out with a rock-solid chocolate cake, yunho had endured a rather unusually-flavored strawberry shortcake). and the older ones pronounced changmin's tiramisu a success.
it became a habit, the four of them getting together once a week to eat a cake or pastry that changmin made (the tiramisu was a favorite, hands down). and during 'cake nights', as junsu dubbed these, changmin always found himself slicing the cake five ways - one slice always went to the fridge. nobody really talked about the fifth share. they all knew it had to be there.
on the cake night closest to yoochun's birthday, yunho received a call. where are you guys? came jaejoong's voice. yunho told jaejoong that they were all at changmin's flat. okay, bye. yunho stared at the phone in disbelief.
changmin was about to put the last slice in the fridge when the doorbell rang. yoochun answered the door with a shout.
jaejoong was back, and junsu had practically tackled him to the ground. yunho helped him up and gave him a hug.
jaejoong's face lit up even more when he looked up to see changmin, the platter of cake still in hand. that for me?
changmin smirked. jaejoong laughed and wrapped his arms around him. i missed you, too.