Whispered Lullaby: Chapter 3
i. story by: hydraheiress
ii. pairing: yunjae, yoosumin (kind of)
iii. genre: romance, drama, fluff, humor, highschool, fantasy
iv. length: 3/18
v. rating: nc-17
vi: warnings: hinted incest, mention of drug overdose, character death, sexual content
vii. summary: To Jaejoong, Appa Yunho was his everything. But what if circumstances one day will force his father to leave his side?
viii. chapters: [1] | [2] |
chapter three
Yunho crumpled the note in his hand, fist connecting with Yoochun’s desk as he exploded in anger. “What the hell are they playing at?”
“Yunho, I know Youngwoong’s your lover but there’s no need for dramatics.” Yoochun replied, sharp gaze darting to him before going back to assembling his guns. Yunho nearly spluttered at his boss’ blunt accusation. The denial was on the tip of his tongue but Yoochun’s next words were enough to shut him up. “I have a surveillance system installed in my office without my men’s knowledge Jung. I take it you already know what I mean.”
The gun’s cylinder slid in with a soft click. Yoochun raised the revolver at eye level, aiming at an unseen enemy before deeming it acceptable. After securing the hammer, he shoved the gun inside his waistband holster. He picked two more backups, thrusting them in his chest holster, left and right consecutively before tossing Yunho an extra.
“I have a bad feeling about this.” Yunho pointed out, catching the offered gun with ease, not bothering to clarify the other man’s assumptions. They were already caught defiling the very desk their leader worked on everyday. More importantly, Youngwoong was in danger and getting him back safe and sound should be their utmost priority.
Yoochun’s fingers threaded through his hair. Even though he tried to hide it and he mostly came off nonchalant, Yunho could tell just how worried he was. He undoubtedly had a soft spot for the enchanting blonde. “I know that Yunho, but this is Youngwoong and I can’t,” he trailed off, near-silent curses escaping him, his control slipping. “I shouldn’t have sent him there.”
Yunho forced a smile. “He might look fragile, but he’s tough boss. He’s gonna be fine.” he assured, though he wasn’t certain just who he was trying to assure more, Yoochun or himself.
Youngwoong’s last assigned job was to gather information about the Harimao gang. The wankers had been stealing their clients as of late and it was pissing Yoochun off. He wanted answers as to why all of a sudden his contacts were now doing business negotiations with their competition and so he sent Youngwoong to snoop around. He was good at what he did or Yoochun wouldn’t even think of sending him out. Youngwoong had an impeccable track record, but it would seem that for some reason he screwed up and as a result the Harimao had captured him.
They drove to the location the note indicated. It didn’t sit well with Yunho that they didn’t bring back up, but according to his boss, the ones that called from the opposing gang insisted that they come alone or Youngwoong was going to be their plaything. Yoochun heard the blonde yelling and cursing in the background, the sounds of struggle not leaving much to the imagination of what the enemy intended to do.
Once Yoochun was done telling him the contents of the short phone call, Yunho developed the strongest urge to rip apart the bastards piece by piece. His entire frame shook from both fear and rage, thoughts racing back to Jaejoong. The blonde resembled his son too much. The very idea that some a-hole was touching Youngwoong in a sexual manner was confusing his paternal instincts all over again. He couldn’t even begin to describe how furious he was feeling when he thought of the kind of attention Jaejoong was surely gonna be getting once he grows up because of his looks.
"We're here." Yoochun said, cocking the gun in his hand. Yunho killed the engine before going out of the vehicle at the same time.
“Doesn’t seem like anyone’s around." Yunho turned his head from side to side, eyes alert, gaze sweeping the corners of the abandoned warehouse, gun poised. Yoochun was in a similar stance beside him.
“Just don’t let your guard down.” Yoochun ordered quietly.
They ventured deeper, body tense, making sure they covered each other’s backs. The nagging feeling of wrongness gnawed at Yunho’s gut. Alarm bells began ringing in his head when silence continued to welcome them.
It was too quiet.
“Mmghh…”
Both men’s heads snapped towards the sound. Making haste, they followed the groaning voice and soon their gazes landed on Youngwoong who was bound to a chair, gagged.
Yunho quickly knelt before him, hands making swift work of untying the knot around the blonde’s head. “Woong ah? Woong ah, can you hear me?” He tilted the other’s face, renewed fear and apprehension igniting in his chest upon the sight that met him.
“Yun… get out of here.” Youngwoong’s voice was so low and disoriented that Yunho didn’t quite catch his words.
“Don’t worry you’re gonna be fine. Hang in there.” Yunho caressed his pale cheeks in hopes that it could give him some form of comfort. He tore his gaze from the other’s bloodshot red, dazes eyes and went about releasing him from his bonds. His mind raced with methods of torture that he could use on the fucking bastards that dare put the blonde in such a state as soon as he got his hands on them. “Chun. He’s drugged. We need to get him to the hospital quick. I think they OD’ed him.”
Yoochun rushed to his side and reached for Youngwoong. He stretched his eyelids and examined his irises, curses immediately flying out of his mouth. “Damn motherfucking bastards I’m gonna fucking kill them.”
Tucking away his gun, Yunho lifted the blonde and secured him in his arms. He rose to his feet and turned to his boss. His eyes widened, words dying on his lips when he saw the opened attaché cases and gun cases displayed. “What..?”
“Shit. This is a fucking set-up.” Yoochun looked to be on the throes of exploding as Yunho eyed the illegal weapons and drug paraphernalia’s, a sense of dread creeping up in his mind. Without warning, several armed men suddenly filed into the warehouse coming in from different directions. Cops. In less than a minute, they were surrounded.
Yunho could only stare in shocked silence; his son’s smiling face flashing before his eyes. The promise of jail time pounded at the forefront of his mind, rendering him in a frozen stupor. His worst fears were coming to life and as much as he wanted to escape, he knew it would be a futile attempt. He would only end up dead if he fought back.
But even so, he couldn’t go to jail. He couldn’t leave Jaejoong.
“Drop your weapon!” One of the authorities commanded, guns aimed gingerly at them. Beside him, Yoochun cursed once again hands in the air in a form of surrender before slowly tossing his gun to the ground. One of the police officers twisted his arms behind his back, handcuffing him.
“You’ve got it all wrong. This is not-“ A hard punch square to the face had Yoochun shutting up. His head whipped to the side from the force of the impact, blood forming on the corner of his mouth. He darkly glared at the officer.
“Park Yoochun aka Micky, Leader of the White Fang Gang and his right hand man, Jung Yunho.” The officer who must be the one leading the raid spoke, an ugly sneer present on his face. “We’ve been watching your faction for a long time and know exactly what kind of business you’re running Park. The second we received the tip of a drug and weapons exchange tonight, we didn’t waste any time to catch you on the act.” He gestured around them, looking absolutely pleased with himself. “You’re surrounded by evidence. There’s no way you’re going to get out of this one.”
The feeling of rough hands landing on his frame as they tried to pry Youngwoong from his body pulled Yunho from his stupor. "It's not what you think." He watched the blond's moaning form that was already in the hands of the police’s medic team being steered away. His troubles over the thought of going to jail were momentarily forgotten as he looked in stark worry over the writhing friend sometimes lover. “Please, get him to the hospital first. He’s gonna die if you don’t give him medical attention.” He felt the cold bite of the handcuffs around his wrists and the missing presence of his guns as they were confiscated from his holster, yet his eyes remained on Youngwoong.
“Seems to be drug overdose Chief. I would reckon judging from the dilation of the pupils, the drug’s been in his system for nearly twelve hours.” One of the medical personnel said in a rush as he stood by the head police’s side after examining the body. “He’s been drugged for too long, we can’t exactly be certain if he’d live through this or not.”
“What- what do you mean?” Yunho asked wide-eyed, voice shaking from the sudden information.
Yoochun suddenly screamed beside him, for the first time showing signs of struggling as he glared heatedly at the medic, spit flying in all directions as he raged about his best friend’s life. “What the hell are you talking about? He can’t fucking die you hear me?! What the hell are you just standing there for? Go fucking bring him to the fucking hospital!”
“Easy now Mr. Park. We wouldn’t want to add assault in your list of crimes now would we?” The head officer said as he directed both of them a baleful glare. “He’ll get his medical attention. But frankly, I couldn’t care less if he dies. Kim Youngwoong, White Fang Gang’s second in command. That’s just one less drug trafficking scumbag off my list.”
With a simple gesture from the Chief, Yoochun and Yunho were led to one of the police cars; the cops assigned to guard them nearly shoving them in the backseat as soon as the car doors opened. “I’m a fucking idiot!” Yoochun growled, his temper not getting any better. “I felt it in my gut that something was off, but I didn’t listen. Fuck this!”
“Will Youngwoong be alright?” Yunho wasn’t in the mood for giving out assurances anymore. He was the one right now badly needing the assurance that everything was gonna turn out a-okay. “Yoochun, what if he-?”
“Don’t you dare say it Yunho.” Yoochun threatened before clutching his face in his hands, appearing completely distraught. “He’s not gonna die. You said so yourself. He’s tough.”
Yunho kept his silence for the duration of the ride to the police department. Yoochun didn’t seem like in the talking mood either. Looking out the police car’s window, Yunho dreaded the moment when his son will see him as a criminal for the first time. He didn't think he would be able to handle it if Jaejoong decided to hate him once he realized that his appa was one of the bad men in the world. Yunho closed his eyes and fervently wished for everything to turn out alright.
The fates didn’t seem to agree with him however.
**
"Appa!" The seven-year old was about to run straight to his father the moment he caught sight of him inside the police station, but his mother held him back and there were people trying to block his way.
"It's not safe for you to be close to that man kid." One of the police officers told him with a shake of his head. Jaejoong blinked up at the adult, confused. What was the old ahjussi talking about?
"I want my appa!" Jaejoong pressed on indignantly, lower lip protruding into a pout. They had to go home now. It was almost sleep time and appa promised that they could sleep in the same bed tonight. "We're going home and you're being a mean ahjussi." He looked up at his mother, shooting her with wide, pleading eyes. "Umma, why is he being mean? I wanna go home with appa already."
"Officer. Please, just for a while." Ara looked down at her son, gently ruffling the tufts of his dark hair. Jaejoong blinked when the grown-ups started talking. "You have to understand. Our son doesn't understand what's going on. He just wants to see his father." She choked on her last words causing the officer to look at her in pity.
"Mrs. Jung. Your husband is a dangerous man."
"I was already made aware." Ara replied, her determined gaze boring into the man's own. She was the picture of a woman whose world was about to crumble but was still gingerly holding onto the edges just so she wouldn't crash and burn. "But please believe me when I say that Yunho has been nothing but a wonderful father. He'll never hurt his son. Just a few minutes. That's all we need."
Taking in the red-rimmed eyes and the barely-holding on expression marring Ara's features, with a resigned sigh, the officer nodded and started leading the way. He didn't enjoy making women cry.
"Alright, follow me."
**
The moment Ara stepped into the interrogation room, a hard slap to the face was what instantly welcomed his cheek. Massaging the sore spot, Yunho briefly looked at her then down at his son's shocked expression. "I deserved that." he murmured despondently.
"Umma! What did you do that for?!" Jaejoong shrieked, sounding absolutely angry for her actions. He stood in front of his father then glared at his mother. "You're mean!"
"Joongie. Don't be mad at umma. Appa deserved it." Yunho tried to smile as he squatted down. He turned Jaejoong around before cupping his baby boy's cheeks lovingly in his cuffed hands. "Umma's just mad cause appa was late. I'm sorry baby. I said I was gonna come home soon, but I wasn't able to."
Jaejoong shook his head and touched the hands on his cheek. "It's okay appa. I'm not mad." he said, before opening his arms and wrapping them possessively around his father's neck. "Let's just go home. Yunnie-bear is feeling lonely now without us there."
He would've hugged him back if not only for the handcuffs currently trapping his wrists. Yunho tried hard not to cry. "I- I can't baby."
"Why not?" Jaejoong whined, looking at him with positively big doe-eyes the moment he pulled back. "Are you still going to work?" he asked, worrying his bottom lip.
Yunho met Ara's gaze for a moment. He felt relief with the understanding he saw in her eyes. Jaejoong was too young to know and Yunho knew that it would absolutely crush him if he found out the truth. He could tell that Ara was far from happy finding out what he did for a living, but it was also clear that she didn't want to risk breaking their son's heart.
Ara tipped her head in a nod at her husband. She was livid and overwhelmed with worry, not only for his impending time spent in prison, but moreso about her twin brother's life, yet even so, protecting Jaejoong's innocence was her utmost priority at the moment. She wasn't the type to win the Mother of the Year award, but she still loves her son, no matter how much pain it causes her whenever she sees his face, always serving as a living reminder of her past and her lies. The least she could do for Yunho, to whom she's lied to the most, was for his son to not end up hating him.
"Appa has to work faraway baby." Ara supplied, curling her hands around Jaejoong's small shoulders as she stooped down to his height. "Jae ah, appa will have to leave us for a while."
Silence stretched between them as Jaejoong tried to process the words.
As soon as her statement registered inside the boy's young mind, Jaejoong's lower lip quivered menacingly as thick, fat droplets of tears welled up and trickled down his plump cheeks. ""But why? Why does appa have to leave? Umma. I don't want him to leave!" he looked to his father and buried his face onto his neck, sobbing pitifully. "No, no. I don't want you to leave! Appa, don't leave Joongie!"
A lone tear rolled down Yunho's cheek, his voice breaking. "I'm sorry baby but I have to."
"No! Appa, don't go!" Jaejoong persisted as he hugged his neck tighter. When Ara tried prying him off Yunho's body, the little boy resorted to screaming. "Umma! No, I don't want appa to go. Tell him to go home with us. Please tell him to come home!"
The misery in his son's voice as he wailed louder, pleading and begging for him to stay finally caused for the floodgates to open. Yunho tried to stifle his sobs but to no avail. "I love you so much." He peppered his son's face with kisses while wiping the torrents of tears that streamed down his reddened cheeks. "Joongie. I'll always think about you." With each word coming out of his mouth, the harder it was to breath. "Appa loves you so much. I love you baby. I'll come back soon. I promise I'll come back."
But Jaejoong was too engulfed in his grief to hear a word. The boy's cries brought the attention of the officers inside the station. Several authority figures filed into the room and Yunho who hasn't shown any struggle ever since this nightmare began, thrashed within the three officers' hold as they held him back at the same time that two armed men began hauling his son out of the interrogation room.
Ara who couldn't take watching the heartbreaking scene anymore, walked out.
Jaejoong's arms kept reaching out to him, snot and tears messing up his beautiful face as he was dragged away. "Andwe! I want my appa! Appa! Let go! Appa!" he continued to scream, sounding absolutely broken.
"Please, don't hurt him. He's just a child!" Yunho yelled at the authorities, tears cascading down his face as he watched his son's tear-stained cheeks. The door was closed shut and there was once again complete silence yet the sound of Jaejoong's cries continued to echo in his mind. He was abruptly let go and pushed towards the only chair in the room, his chest connecting harshly against the steel table.
Getting up to his feet, he scrambled for the door. Yunho screamed in despair upon finding it locked. His fist connected with the concrete wall over and over until it was smeared with his blood. Yet he couldn't care less. The pain in the self-inflicted wound was nothing compared to the excruciating pain currently crushing his heart. Eventually, he sagged down to the floor, sobs wracking his whole frame. With his head hanging in between his shaking shoulders, he thought of the future; of Jaejoong's future and the painful truth of how he couldn't be a part of it.
**
Ten Years Later
"Jung Jaejoong, how many times do I have to tell you this school has a no smoking policy?!" Mr. Hwang, the disciplinarian yelled angrily, stalking towards said student with every intention to yank the cigarette from his mouth.
With a smirk, the raven-haired teen side-stepped him and blocked his path with a foot. The teacher spluttered, caught by surprise by the sudden move and stumbled towards the ground face first. Sounds of boisterous laughter erupted as Jaejoong's friends high-fived him one after the other.
"Awesome!" Choi Seunghyun hollered, bumping chests with his best friend whose smirk was still in place. He turned to Daesung, another friend and held out an open hand. "Pay up bitch. I won that bet."
With a groan, Daesung fished bills from his pockets and reluctantly handed the amount to Seunghyun. "Fuck it. I actually thought he wouldn't dare get into Hwang-seonsaengnim's bad side." Looking at their leader, he scowled. "You should have at least pretended to give a shit Joongie-" When Jaejoong's eyes turned icy cold, Daesung gulped and immediately rephrased. "I mean, Jae. That was my whole week's allowance."
"I'm not the one making stupid bets am I Dae?" Jaejoong said with an eyeroll.
"Still, a little bit of sympathy won't kill you." Daesung complained.
Seunghyun looked positively beaming as he counted the money in his hand. "Oh, yeah. Arcade shop here I come."
Daesung irritably groaned. Looking up from his PSP, Seungri merely rolled his eyes at Seunghyun, mumbling idiot under his breath.
"Jung.Jae.Joong." came the disciplinarian's furious voice yet again.
Hands in his pockets and cigarette still stuck in between his lips, Jaejoong sighed and side-glanced at the fuming man who was already up on his feet shooting mental daggers at the lot of them. But he wasn't phased in the least bit. Well at least he wasn't, the other four however looked about to bolt.
"Uh-oh. Have a nice life man. We'll be sure to attend your funeral." Taeyang, another member of his circle of friends, slapped him good-naturedly on the shoulder before making a run for it.
Daesung, Seungri and Seunghyun scrambled after him.
"Yah! You brats come back-"
Pulling the cancer stick off his lips, Jaejoong covered a hand to his mouth and made an exaggerated gesture of yawning. He looked smugly at the teacher whose eyes could almost shoot laser beams as a barrage of colorful curses flew out of his mouth. Jaejoong yawned again. "Is that the best you can do seonsaengnim?" Smirking, he resumed puffing his cigarette before blowing chains of smoke straight onto the disciplinarian's face, completely uncaring about rules and stupid adults who implemented them.
Come late afternoon and he found himself once again in detention.
Detention after class was now a daily routine and Jaejoong quite enjoyed the time spent in the almost empty classroom as he dozed off to sleep. It was almost perfect, the peace and quiet surrounding him, until he began hearing hushed whispers and mumblings about his father behind his back yet again. It was no longer a surprise when he came home with a bruised cheek and a split lip.
"I'm home." he called out, a tired sigh escaping him as his mother greeted him by the door.
The worried and disapproving frown creasing her forehead at the sight of his rumpled state and the litany of lecture she let out afterwards had gotten so redundant he almost felt like his day wouldn't be complete without it. After she was done letting out steam, it was then that he would find himself in the arms of his mother, her strained sobs and tears dampening his uniform jacket.
Eventually she pulled back, wiped her eyes and forced a smile on her face. "Dinner's ready. You go wash up so we can eat together."
He's noticed it for some time now how she couldn't seem to fully look at his face, but he didn't bother to ask why. Nodding, he went to the bathroom and slowly divested himself of his school uniform. A small, almost haunted smile spread across his face as he traced the bruises littered across his chest down to the flat of his stomach; some fresh and some on the way to full recovery. However, the smile fell from his lips when he glanced up at his face, his hands clenching at the sight of his reflection.
Self-disgust resurfaced in the open again.
He immediately looked to the side before he managed to break the bathroom mirror. Jaejoong cursed under his breath, eyes slipping shut as his fist connected with the sink.
This was how he lived his life.
Growing up, he was always the center of bullying, reduced to nothing but a blubbering mess of tears. Children taunted him, kept calling his father a criminal of which word at such a young age he didn't know the meaning of. Adults looked at him as if he was the devil's spawn with their cold and accusing stares. He used to always cry for endless nights, begging for his father to come home. He would always talk to his teddy, Yunniebear, hoping, wishing that his appa would feel how much he longed for his touch. He blindly trusted his words when he said that whenever he touched Yunniebear, he would feel it too. It was only years after, did he finally understood that it was yet another lie, just like everything else that he's lied about as to what kind of a man he exactly was.
When his Uncle Youngwoong died after three years of being slaved to a coma, ever since then, his mother never mentioned his father's name again. He used to bombard her with questions on when he will be back from work until one night she was like a bomb that detonated. Amidst her sobs, she told him that his father was a criminal; an evil bastard; that he was the reason why his Uncle died. She put all the blame on him. Words had kept rushing out of her mouth that even though he didn't want to hear any more of it, she continued on, her tears never stopping.
When he was old enough to understand what the last memory he had of seeing his father at the police station meant back when he was only seven years old, he didn't know what to make of his life anymore. He tried hard to hate his father and for the most part, he was able to hate the bastard, yet he knew deep in his heart that his love for him, the memories that he had of him, would always be stronger, holding him back from hating the man completely.
It wasn't long before when he began to fight back the kids that bullied him. With every insult they hurtled at his father, he learned to throw a fist, to deliver a kick, to bash heads in and not give a fuck about what anyone says or thinks until he could no longer remember just when fighting became his life.
He knew he was breaking his mother's heart, but there was nothing he could do to the pain that was also slowly killing him inside. He hated himself so much because even after hearing everything about the real Jung Yunho, for the criminal he truly was, he still continued to plague his thoughts. It was absolutely insane, but he could never find it in his heart to stop loving him. In fact it was the contrary.
Jaejoong didn't know when he became the kind of sick bastard that society would readily stone to death, but it was already too late when he realized just up to what extent did he love his father. After all the years that passed, the love he felt that was supposed to be innocent, something that should have remained filial; he managed to turn it into something hateful, something frowned upon.
It was a feeling that he couldn't share with anyone else let alone his mother- because Jung Jaejoong was inlove with his own flesh and blood, his father, Jung Yunho.
Next
--
A/N: Ohohohoho. I do like a badboy!Jae. LOL at poor Daesung. Jae doesn't want anyone calling him Joongie because only Appa!Yun can call him that D; Sorry for the late update on Project Yunho, I'm almost halfway done with the next chappie =D Comment please? T__T It's food for the soul DDDD; I'm not begging or anything but you know as a writer it would really be appreciated to receive feedback from the story that's been painstakingly written down with time and effort D; It does help in making a writer to strive harder in updating. A few sentences won't take much of your time DDDD;