[FIC] The Prestige [5/?]
Title: The Prestige
Pairings: Jaeho, Yoosu
Length: Chaptered [5/?]
Author: uknowandiknow
Rating: PG
Genre: AU: Humour, Angst and Drama, in different dosages though
Summary: Ever since his father's death, Jung Yunho has never gone near the art of magic. What happens then when he's made to work with a magician, whose very presence not only evokes memories from his past, but also new feelings from within him?
Okay. Breathe. Run through the list again.
Hair? Check
Face? Check.
Smile? Check.
Flowers? Check.
Aye, Jung you sound like you never had a date before!
“Well technically hyung you just haven’t had a date since…university days if I’m not wrong.” Changmin’s cheeky reminder crept into his head as he recalled back to the scene before he left. “You look fine, stop fussing and get going before you’re late!” And with that he got shooed out of the house, and time found him standing outside a certain magician’s house. Pressing the doorbell, he waited.
He heard running footsteps, and then the footsteps became pounding, as though a large herd of animals were going to run through the door at any moment. He didn’t know why, but he felt himself instinctively holding his breath.
Suddenly, there was a loud “Yah! Let me open the door!” before two simultaneous “OW!s” were heard, and then the door opened to reveal a brightly smiling Kim Jaejoong. Behind him, Yunho could see both Yoochun and Junsu rubbing their foreheads, their faces masked in pain.
“Hi Yunho.” Jaejoong greeted him, slightly breathless.
“Hey...oh! These are for you.” Yunho quickly thrust the bouquet of roses that he had in his hand to Jaejoong, who gave a look of pleasant surprise.
“For the ones you gave me…” Yunho said softly, whilst looking down at the ground.
Jaejoong smiled warmly before leaning forward to give Yunho a tight hug. “They’re beautiful, thank you.” He whispered into Yunho’s ear.
“Come in while I put this somewhere.” Jaejoong turned to walk in, while pausing to give the still-in-pain Yoosu a huffy “Serves you right.”
Yunho stepped into the foyer, and cautiously asked, “Uhm, what happened?”
“Stupid Chun, why does your forehead have to be so big and hard?” Junsu rubbed his forehead, which was now slightly red in its centre and scowled slightly at his boyfriend.
“Aish Su, your head isn’t that soft either you know.” Yoochun touched the edge of his head gingerly and winced.
“Here you go, this will teach you next time to let the RIGHT person answer the door.” Jaejoong returned with two ice packs in his hand and gave them to his dongsaengs.
“Thanks hyung. By the way, where are the both of you going?” Junsu asked while accepting the ice pack, and let out a soft “Aaaaah” upon placing it on his forehead.
“The amusement park.”
“The amusement park…the amusement park…the amuseme- AH! That means cotton candy! Hyung could you get cotton candy for me please please please?” Junsu’s eyes widened in excitement, ice pack suddenly forgotten.
“Yes Su, I’ll remember. Are the both of you better?” Jaejoong asked as he wore his coat.
“Yeah we will be. Enjoy yourself!” Yoochun answered, as they walked the couple out of the door.
“Try using a hard-boiled egg if it still hurts, it’ll prevent bruising.” Yunho offered as he took Jaejoong’s hand to walk to the car. As they walked away Jaejoong turned to look back at his best friend and brother. They made quite an amusing picture to be honest, with each one holding an ice pack to their head and waving to them.
“So what did happen anyway?” Yunho asked.
“Well, let’s just say that I wasn’t the only one looking forward to seeing you today.” Jaejoong laughed softly.
Meanwhile, as they watched the couple drive off, a thought suddenly came to Junsu.
“Yah Yoochunnie! How come you never bring me to amusement parks?”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The amusement park was, well, like most amusement parks. Throngs of kids screamed as they ran past in various directions, followed by their parents who walked behind, shouting the occasional “Wait up!” and “No honey you’re too small to ride that!”
Couples ranging from teens to middle-aged adults walked around, hands held together whilst enjoying each other’s company. As Yunho walked in with Jaejoong, he couldn’t help but laugh when he saw Jaejoong’s expression of glee as he took in his surroundings, as though he couldn’t wait to get on every ride.
“Yunho-yah, have you ever been to an amusement park?” Jaejoong turned to face Yunho, who shook his head in response.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” With that, Yunho felt himself lunge forward as the whirlwind known as Jaejoong dragged him off.
And get on every ride they did. When Yunho looked back on this day he would come to realize that it was probably the first time he had so much fun in just one day, and Jaejoong was the one who spent it with him.
They began with the bumper cars, and Yunho was almost positive that Jaejoong got a kick from crashing into his car and send Yunho spinning. The first time Yunho took it to be an accident, since there were so many cars around anyway. The second, he caught the glint of mischief in Jaejoong’s eyes as the other drove away, laughing.
Well, two can play the same game.
They spent the remaining portion of the ride chasing each other around the arena.
Then there was the Viking Ship. Jaejoong chose to sit at the very last row of the ship ride, and Yunho, being the inexperienced rider followed blindly.
After the ride, Yunho thanked his parents for passing on a strong stomach to him.
When Jaejoong pulled him towards the rollercoaster, Yunho thought of refusing. But he felt his will dissolving when he saw the puppy-eyed look Jaejoong was giving him. Besides, the adventurous self in him was tweaked.
I guess one more wouldn’t hurt.
3 minutes and 47 heart-stopping seconds later, Yunho emerged from the ride, feeling slightly euphoric. Or maybe it was partly because he couldn’t feel his legs, and the numbness had spread to his brain.
Really, rollercoasters weren’t that scary after all.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Noticing Yunho’s slightly pale complexion Jaejoong suggested that they take a break to grab a bite, and went off to get some snacks while Yunho sat down at one of the benches.
“Two please.” He said to the man selling cotton candy.
When he returned however he noticed that Yunho had disappeared. Confused, he scanned around and found the man squatting in front of a young girl who looked no more than six. Smiling softly, he walked towards them.
“Can you guess which hand the coin is in?”
The girl picked his right one, and chuckling he relaxed his fist to display an empty palm.
“Mwo...where did it go? Oppa are you hiding it?”
“No…”
“Then where did it go?” She looked behind Yunho to ascertain that he wasn’t hiding anything from her.
“I don’t know…hang on…what’s this behind your ear?” Nimble hands moving quickly, Yunho procured the coin from behind the girl’s ear, and smiled upon hearing her small gasp of amazement.
“How...? Do it again please Oppa please?” She tugged at his coat.
A soft laugh from behind caused him to turn around and Yunho saw Jaejoong, holding two sticks of cotton candy, a wide grin on his face.
“Well, well, apparently someone other than me can do magic too neh?”
Yunho’s reply was interrupted by a feminine voice.
“Min-suk-ah! There you are! Where did you run off to?” A middle-aged woman appeared and walked towards the young girl.
“Umma! Oppa made a coin disappear!” Min-suk told her mother, her face still a picture of wonderment as she raised her hands to be carried by her mother.
“He did now, well young lady we ought to get back. Your father’s waiting with your brother. Don’t you dare run off next time when we’re buying food you hear me?” Flashing a grateful and apologetic smile at Yunho, Min-suk’s mother carried her away.
“Bye bye Magic-Oppa!” Min-suk turned to give Yunho a cheerful wave, her mischievous face split into a lopsided grin.
As Yunho turned back to face Jaejoong he was presented with a large cloud of cotton candy.
“Seems like you have the knack of finding lost children. I didn’t know you could perform magic.” Jaejoong quipped as fed himself a piece of candy.
“I seem to be a magnet for them, first Keith then now Min-suk,” Yunho paused to eat a piece of candy, “I learnt that coin trick from by father…the only trick I learnt from him, sadly.”
Jaejoong didn’t know why, but he felt his heart cringing when he heard Yunho.
Maybe it’s cause’ I learnt everything from his father…
He stood still for a moment, lost in thought. Sensing his silence Yunho turned around.
“Aish, let’s not talk about that. Anyway, where do you wan-” Yunho stopped mid-sentence as he looked closely at Jaejoong.
“What?” Jaejoong’s hand automatically went to his face, and he fought the urge to shrink backwards as Yunho reached forward to touch his upper lip, and when he drew back there was a small piece of cotton candy on his finger which Yunho sucked off.
“Yah Jaejoongie, you’re so cute.” Yunho chuckled and he turned to walk away, leaving Jaejoong behind with his mouth agape.
Did…did Yunho just call me cute?
“Jaejoong-ah!” Yunho’s call pulled him back to reality. He looked up to see Yunho slightly further up front, one hand sticking out in invitation and a smile on his face.
“Let’s go!”
It was as though someone burst a bubble of happiness within him, letting it wash all over. Jaejoong smiled, and running forward he took Yunho’s hand and they walked off together, thoughts about Jung Dong Han forgotten.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
If Jaejoong was made to pick a part of the date which he loved the most, he’d probably say he enjoyed the whole thing, but then of course he would recall the scene in the haunted house, and a silly smile would appear on his face.
What basically happened was this…
They, well actually Jaejoong had wanted to take the ride through the “Haunted House”, despite not being a very big fan of horror. But then again, he did want to try every ride in the park, and so they made their way in.
Halfway through the ride, however, Jaejoong was starting to curse whoever came up with the terms ‘special effects’ and ‘holograms’. The ride had started pretty okay, with the regular ghouls popping out to scare them. But as they progressed scary soon turned into very scary and then into hair-raisingly scary, (Yes this author is trying to emphasize that it was VERY SCARY) and though Jaejoong knew it was all fake he couldn’t help but feel rather frightened.
He gasped as a hand suddenly slid into his through the safety guard and he heard Yunho’s voice in the dark.
“Can I hold your hand? I’m kinda scared too.”
They ended up yelling at every monster and creature that appeared in front of them, and emerged from the ride laughing like carefree children. But what Jaejoong remembered about the ride was the thought that ran through his head the moment Yunho held his hand.
So this is what it feels like to have someone you love go through thick and thin with you.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Night had fallen, and Jaejoong suggested going on the Ferris Wheel. He had been waiting all day to ride it, and thought it would be nicer to take it at night. However, someone in some other parallel universe had decided that this was not to be so.
“It’s closed?!? How come?”
The sign “CLOSED FOR REPAIR” stared back at them in silence, as though it was quietly mocking them for their loss.
Jaejoong looked up at the magnificent steel structure above him, and sighed. It was a cloudless starry night, perfect for a ride on the Ferris Wheel.
“…and I so wanted to ride it today…” Jaejoong said softly, the disappointment evident in his voice.
Yunho was silent, his face fixed in a frown, but then his keen eyes spotted something in the distant field and his frown turned into a hopeful grin.
“Wait here Jae.”
Jaejoong was still staring at the big wheel, his huge eyes mirroring disappointment and didn’t hear him. Moving quickly, Yunho walked towards his target.
“…Why did you have to break down today of all days? Didn’t you know that I had a date with Yunho? Aish…” Jaejoong muttered to himself. He continued to stare upwards, silently scolding the metal structure. Suddenly he felt someone tugging his hand- it was Yunho.
“Come with me.” said Yunho, a huge grin on his face, slightly breathless. It was evident that he had run from where he disappeared to, and since Jaejoong didn’t notice, he was slightly puzzled.
“But where-AHH!” Jaejoong’s words were cut off as Yunho dragged him away from the Ferris Wheel.
They didn’t go very far, just slightly off the main area of the amusement park towards a small field, and Yunho’s intended destination became startling clear as they approached the centre of the field.
“Oh my goodness, Yunho…” Jaejoong felt his breath catch in his throat as he surveyed the object in front of him.
“She’s ours for the night! The ahjusshi over there will help us.” Yunho grinned broadly as he waved to an old man standing slightly further up.
It was a hot air balloon, not the modernized one with the technical gadgets and gizmos for travelling and everything else, but everything from the sandbags tied to the sides of the basket to the kerosene lamp to the large canvass of cloth that was currently towering over them, inflated to its full capacity, sang traditional yet romantic to Jaejoong.
“Come on, let’s go. The ahjusshi said that we won’t be able to travel much as his balloon doesn’t have the equipment to.”
And so, Jaejoong, who was still slightly awe-struck, found himself being guided slowly up to the waiting balloon. It was warm in the interior, the flame from the burner providing a comforting glow. As soon as they were all safely inside the basket the ahjusshi locked the flap and started untying the sandbags, and then, they were off.
The ascent was slow, but strangely peaceful. Eager to see more Jaejoong leaned against the side of the basket, Yunho beside him. They rose higher and higher, until the amusement park was no more than a miniscule picture below them, and as he looked out he saw the city of Seoul stretched out across in an array of lights, as though the stars had decided to come down to play.
Looking up he saw the inky black sky surrounding them, and it seemed as though the moon and stars were within his reach. In other words, the view before him was simply spectacular.
Turning he reached across to take Yunho’s hand, and manoeuvred himself until they were standing with Yunho holding him from behind, their hands entwined as they observed the sight in front of them.
“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Yunho whispered into his ear, and Jaejoong hummed his assent.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t ride the Ferris Wheel, I know you were looking forward to riding it.”
“It’s okay, this is even better. I wish I could stay like this forever.”
“Forever like this…with me?” Yunho teased.
“Yah! Don’t make fun of me,” Jaejoong whacked Yunho softly on the arm, before continuing, “But yeah that would be nice…” and he sighed contentedly.
They fell silent for a while, enjoying the view before them as the hot air balloon moved slowly in the air. Then Yunho spoke up.
“You know something? I’m really glad I decided to accept the job when Ji-Hoon hyung offered it to me…or else I’d never have met you.”
The old man steering at the wheel watched the two lovers standing in front of him and smiled softly.
Ahhh…young love…almost makes me want to burst out in song and dance.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Half an hour to midnight found Jaejoong and Yunho outside Jaejoong’s house, (“Junsu thinks I’m Cinderella.” Jaejoong had said) with Yunho walking Jaejoong to his door.
“Thanks for everything, I really enjoyed myself today.”
“Me too, you’re welcome.” Yunho rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, as though he didn’t know what else to say.
“Uhm…okay goodnight then.”
Suddenly feeling jumpy Yunho turned to walk back to his car, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
“See you on Monday.” And with that, Jaejoong quickly leant forward to peck Yunho on the cheek. It was chaste and sweet, but Yunho could feel his face heating up and his heartbeat quicken by a few paces.
“Goodnight Yunnie.” Jaejoong let out a small laugh and turned to walk into his house.
Yunho was still standing still outside Jaejoong’s house even after the door closed behind the latter. But slowly, very slowly, a smile started to creep onto his face.
Jaejoong just kissed me…Jaejoong just kissed me!
Grinning like a fool Yunho let out a small whoop and did a victory jig before walking back to his car.
The grin stayed on his face all the way until he reached home, where Changmin who was staying over was rudely awakened to find his cousin smiling like an idiot and blabbing incoherently about bumper cars, Viking rides, rollercoasters, haunted houses and hot air balloons.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
While Yunho was having a peaceful sleep filled with sweet dreams, someone else was awake, someone with a mission in mind.
In his cramped room, the light from the computer screen cast him in an unearthly glow, bleaching his already fair skin to a sickly colour.
Reddened eyes scanned the page displayed in front of him.
Hand shaking slightly from the lack of sleep, he clicked the option “Print”.
While waiting for the printer he leaned back in his chair and looked around him. On his right were the letters, all with the same message of rejection.
“We are sorry to inform you that you have failed to qualify…” His hands clenched at the thought of them.
Stuck around him were articles, all bearing the same context.
“M…m…ma…magic. Magic.” He struggled to pronounce it, the word that caused him to hate, to feel like a child, to want to dream.
The printer spat out the document, groaning with age, and with gloved hands he took the piece of paper and stuck it on his wall.
Tracing the characters on the paper he muttered the words softly to himself.
“K Team Media…unveils new project…Rising Magician Youngwoong Jaejoong to have…new show…”
“Youngwoong Jaejoong…Youngwoong Jaejoong…” Reciting the name to himself he clambered onto his bed and curled up, whilst still chanting the name. As sleep claimed him he whispered into the darkness.
“I will find out your secret…Youngwoong Jaejoong.”
End Chapter 5~
Author’s Notes: It’s March! I’m here! But with only one rather short chapter to offer. *hides
I know I said I’d try to write 2 chapters during my holidays but I thought very hard about Chapter 5 and realised that I should rewrite it, (and after listening to mysexyboo and rainbowpebbles) so that the Jaeho date would be included. It wasn’t easy writing this I must say, but I hope you all liked it.
So! THE BIG JAEHO DATE. I think I might’ve died from the fluff and sugar overload. I felt so cheesy writing some parts that I had to edit and re-edit many times, so here’s the final product. I think it could be better though, let me know through your comments yes? XD
And then! We have a mysterious someone who has something against Jae! More will be revealed later and so I’ll let you all keep guessing for now!
This chapter was only 8 pages long. Really short I know, so I PROMISE (cross my heart with hopes that school wont kill me) that I’ll give a longer chapter 6. Yes sireee. I think that’s about it for now, sorry again for taking so long to update.
This chapter's dedicated to the readers for being so patient with this horrible writer! Much love to you all! <3333