Save Me (Part 4a)
Title: Save Me
Author: VampireMadonna
Pairing: YunJae
Rating: PG-13
Length: Undetermined
Summary: Kim Jaejoong is on the run from his crazed ex-husband and Lieutenant Jung Yunho is the only one standing between him and an uncertain fate. Will Yunho be his savior...or will his rescue come too late?
Jaejoong sat at the kitchen table, watching his little girl as she colored outside the lines of the figures in her book. She was cute, presenting a sweet picture with her hair in pigtails and pink ribbons, and her lack of skill was adorable but though he mumbled a reply whenever she spoke to him, his mind was miles away.
Frankly, it had been miles away for weeks because he’d left it there, back in the hotel where he and Yunho had spent one hot, sweaty, gloriously long night of explosive passion together.
Sighing, he rested his chin on top of his folded arms where they lay on the table.
He’d been doing a lot of sighing recently, he realized. Every time he thought about that night, it would come out. He wasn’t sure why. They weren’t sighs of distress, far from it. If anything, they were sighs of…well, longing.
He hadn’t been with anyone in a long time. Even before the incident, before he’d given his husband the ultimatum to get help or get out, he and Daniel had stopped being intimate. It had become difficult for him to be aroused by the prospect of coupling with his husband when he never knew what or who he would wake up to on any given day. How could he want someone who he felt like he didn’t even know? It was one of those areas that had been seriously affected by Daniel’s illness. Even after the divorce, after he’d returned to Korea and his latest move to the country, sex and lust were the furthest things from his mind. He was completely focused on keeping his daughter safe and being as good a father to her as he possibly could given their unusual circumstances.
No, sex, or the lack thereof, had definitely not been an issue…until Jung Yunho entered the picture, that is.
His attraction to Yunho was not immediate. That first day when he’d walked into the police station, he’d been out of his mind with worry, wondering if Daniel was just on their heels. By the time he’d calmed down and Yunho had gotten the entire story out of him, he’d noticed that he was a kind man, and he couldn’t help acknowledging that he was handsome, but that had been the end of it. It was like seeing someone on the street: he noticed his attractiveness but it was an absent, passing thought. On their second meeting, however, when Yunho had brought him and Maya home, he’d been able to talk to him some more on the drive home, get a feel for the man behind the badge, and he’d started noticing more things about Yunho. Like the cute mole on his lip; his long, lean legs; the lithe way he moved for someone as tall as he was.
By the time they’d started exchanging witty text messages and Yunho’s phone calls had increased and became more personal and less businesslike, he’d admitted to himself that there was an attraction there, and he knew it was mutual because Yunho’s signals were coming through loud and clear, but he didn’t acknowledge it, suppressed it even, because Maya was and would always be his first and main concern. Even when he’d acknowledged that Daniel didn’t consider her part of his objective, which pained him when he thought of all the time they’d spent as a family, when he’d thought they were a family, his worry for her didn’t ease. If Daniel had loved her as much as he did, then he might have tried to take her from him, but since he didn’t love or care for her, he might use her to get back at him or to lure him out into the open. He couldn’t bear it if anything happened to his princess. She was all he lived for. Without her…
He shook the thought away. Nothing and no one would ever take her from him. It was a personal promise, one that he would lay his life on the line to keep.
As would Yunho.
Sighing, he burrowed further into his folded arms. There he went again. He had to get out of this…this funk, if it could even be called that. A funk was usually something bad but he couldn’t find it in him to regret what had happened between him and Yunho. They were both consenting adults, single and unattached, and they’d had every right to explore their mutual attraction or whatever you called the raging storm of lust that had swept over them.
Whenever he thought about that night, he could still feel Yunho’s hands and mouth on him as if it were yesterday instead of three weeks ago. To say that Yunho had left an impression was an understatement. Daniel hadn’t been his first but when he’d married, he’d thought he’d be his last. Didn’t everyone? No one went into marriage expecting it to come to an end. But the way his had left no room for him to wonder if there’d be anyone after. Protecting his daughter superseded everything else. So he was more than a little alarmed to find his skin turning red and heat spreading through his blood as he remembered Yunho’s mouth traversing the peaks and valleys of his body.
Yunho had been a thorough lover.
Jaejoong was pretty sure that he [Yunho] now knew his body as well as he did. Maybe even better. He’d pushed him to the edge time and time again, challenging his body to see just how much it could take, if it could withstand the intensity of their lovemaking. There’d been very little talking. Who needed words when actions spoke louder? After the episode in the shower, they’d stumbled out into the bedroom, wet and dripping, and he’d had barely a second to take a breath before Yunho dragged him down to the bed and started devouring him all over again. That was honestly what it felt like: being devoured. Yunho was just…everywhere. The longest reprieve they’d had was maybe a half hour. He’d managed to doze off, exhausted and completely replete, but came fully awake when Yunho started kissing his way down his body again.
Even when the sun rose, they were still going at it.
When the alarm went off at 7:00am, they took turns taking a shower, had a silent breakfast and Yunho left to go to his apartment to clean up before his shift started. At the door, on the way out, he’d given Jae this look that seared his soul with the heat of it and kissed him goodbye. That kiss was probably his favorite part of the entire event. It was soft and gentle with just a touch of reverence, as if Yunho was saying “thank you”. Thanks weren’t needed, however, as Jaejoong felt like he’d received far more than he’d given because although he’d been distracted and more than a little hot and bothered ever since, he also felt more alive than he had in ages and that was something that he could never repay Yunho for.
Not that I wouldn’t mind trying, he thought.
“Daddy?”
Jaejoong raised his head and looked at his daughter’s curious face. “Hmm?”
“Why do you keep making that noise?”
He cocked a brow. “What noise?”
“Like this.”
Jaejoong watched as Maya scrunched up her pretty little face, somehow managing to effect a tiresome expression, and made a sound that was scarily close to what he’d been hearing coming out of his own throat the past three weeks.
Geezus!
“Like that,” Maya said, smiling triumphantly, completely unaware of her father’s embarrassed shock.
“Um…” He cleared his throat. “Daddy’s just a little…stressed at the moment.”
Maya’s smile slipped. Jaejoong was sure that she had no idea what “stressed” meant but perhaps she was smart enough to realize that it wasn’t a good thing. After all they’d been through, it was hardly surprising.
Forcing a smile to soothe her fears, he reached across the table and gently stroked her cheek. “Don’t worry, sweetie. Daddy is fine. How can he not be when he has the prettiest little angel in the entire world for a daughter?” he added, tweaking her nose affectionately.
Maya giggled adorably.
Dropping his hand, Jaejoong asked, “What shall we have for dinner tonight? Anything my girl wants.”
Maya’s face scrunched up again, but this time it was because she was deep in thought as she seriously considered her father’s question.
“Mmm… Spaghetti.”
Jaejoong sighed internally. He was rather hoping she’d be a normal child for once and ask for pizza or a hamburger, something ridiculously unhealthy that he could go out and buy instead of having to cook, but his child had never been normal. It just made her that much more lovable in his eyes.
“Spaghetti it is,” he announced as he stood, his mind already going over the ingredients he would need for their meal.
“Daddy?”
Jaejoong stopped and looked down at his daughter. “Yes?”
“Are we going to the city?” Maya asked as she returned to her coloring book.
Jaejoong stilled. “I guess we may need to soon. Why do you ask?”
“Are we going to see that policeman?” she asked without looking up.
Were they? He hadn’t really thought about it.
Okay, that was a lie. He’d thought about nothing else, but not going to the police station per se, merely seeing Yunho again. He’d had several mini episodes of erotic daydreams. And perhaps a few lengthier dreams at night. It was only natural, he supposed. After all these years of his carnal desires being dormant, they were finally awakened. And truth be told, although his sex life with Daniel had been more than satisfactory during the good times, Yunho was an entirely different kind of lover and he was excited by the thought of further exploring what flamed between them. He wouldn’t insult his marriage or the man he’d loved by saying that Yunho was a better lover. He was just…different. Being with him, from what he’d experienced so far at least, was nothing like being with Daniel, and it shouldn’t be. They were two completely different people.
“Daddy?”
Maya’s voice brought him back to the topic at hand.
“I don’t know, honey,” he answered honestly.
He wanted to see Yunho, but not under the circumstances that he had on his previous trips to the city. He wanted to see him without Daniel playing any part in their coming together. They hadn’t met since their hotel rendezvous but they had spoken often, somehow always managing to avoid the proverbial elephant in the room. Talking about it over the phone probably wasn’t a good idea anyway. Maya was always nearby on his end and he had no idea who was with Yunho at any given time.
“We’ll see,” he finally said. Out of curiosity, he asked, “Do you want to see him?”
Maya didn’t answer for a few moments so he thought she hadn’t heard him but before he could ask again, she said, “He’s nice. He makes Daddy smile.”
And now that made him smile.
Could his daughter be any more perfect?
Five days later…
“Daddy, look!”
Jaejoong turned around to see what Maya was pointing at, chuckling when his eye caught sight of a purple stuffed elephant. He didn’t know what her obsession with the animal was but it was cute. Everything about her was cute, or maybe he was just biased.
Well, he thought, her birthday’s coming up soon.
He made a mental note to check back with the store to see if they would have any in stock when her birthday rolled around. He didn’t want to buy her gift too early, just in case she saw something else that she wanted. She wasn’t a fickle little girl and didn’t ask for much but she could still change her mind.
“I see it,” he said. And that was all she needed, he thought, as she continued leading him through the mall.
They’d already settled their bills and although he’d been nervous to the stomach when he’d stopped by the post office to check his mail, he’d been pleasantly surprised to find nothing from Daniel. The tension had immediately drained out of his body.
“Daddy, look!”
The same time Jaejoong raised his eyes to see where his daughter was pointing this time, a low voice spoke.
“Hello Jaejoong.”
“Yunho,” he gasped, eyes popping out of their sockets.
Smiling, Yunho closed the distance between them. He knelt in front of Maya and took her hand.
“Hello, Maya. You look lovely today.”
Blushing, Maya shifted so she could half-hide behind her father while still keeping her eyes on Yunho.
“Hello.”
Chuckling, Yunho stood and met Jaejoong’s gaze. “What brings you to the city?”
“The usual,” Jaejoong said, voice husky as thoughts of the last time he’d set eyes on this man came rushing back.
Yunho’s eyes turned serious, the question in them obvious.
“No,” Jaejoong assured him. “There was nothing this time, thankfully. Though I have to wonder if I shouldn’t be more worried instead of relieved.”
Yunho’s smile returned full force. “Don’t jinx it, Jaejoong-ah.”
Both men froze, surprised by Yunho’s informal affection.
Breaking the silence, Jaejoong cleared his throat and asked, “What are you doing here?”
“Well, it’s lunch time if you haven’t noticed. There’s a place upstairs in the food court that I really love. I was working on a case nearby and snuck off for a quick bite.”
“Oh, okay.”
Yunho cocked his head to the side. “Want to join me?”
Jaejoong tried, and failed, to suppress a blush. “Well, actually, we were just going for ice-cream. We…”
“Yunho!”
Yunho turned at the sound of his name, a huge smile spreading across his face when he saw his old partner.
“Sonny.”
“Hey man.”
The two embraced briefly, slapping each other on the back.
Remembering that he wasn’t alone, Yunho said, “This is Jaejoong. And his beautiful little girl, Maya. Jaejoong, Sonny here used to be my partner.”
Jaejoong shook Sonny’s hand, warming to him when he smiled down at Maya and gave her hand a gentle shake too.
“What brings you here?” Sonny asked. “I thought you’d be chained to your desk, like usual.”
Yunho rolled his eyes. “Even us slaves are allowed to eat. How’s the wife?”
“Daddy,” Maya whined, tugging Jaejoong’s hand impatiently.
“Okay, okay. We’ll be back,” he said to Yunho and Sonny with an apologetic smile before allowing his daughter to drag him off.
“Cute kid,” Sonny commented.
“She is, isn’t she?”
“Giving you ideas?” Sonny asked cheekily, poking Yunho suggestively in the ribs.
Yunho playfully swatted at his hands. “Better me than you. We don’t need any more Sonny Chungs running around the place. Oh, but it’s too late now isn’t it?”
Sonny laughed good-naturedly. “It is indeed.”
“How is the little rug-rat anyway?”
“Doing great,” Sonny replied proudly. “We’ll be celebrating his 1st birthday next month.”
“Time sure does fly,” Yunho mused. “It seems like just yesterday I was emptying my life’s savings to buy you two a wedding present. Or three, I should say. Leave it to you to do the wife and kid deal in reverse.”
Sonny grinned unabashedly. “And what about you? You seem suspiciously chippy. Thinking about settling down? I’d heard a rumor about an unbelievably beautiful man coming into the station to see you a couple of times. I thought they had to be mistaken. How could a man possibly be beautiful? Now I see what they’re talking about. It’s him isn’t it? Has to be. If I wasn’t secure in my heterosexuality, I might be a little worried. He’s certainly mesmerizing, I’ll say that much. So are you? Thinking about making a move?” He cocked a brow. “Or have you already?” he amended, knowing his long time friend as well as he did.
Yunho ignored the heat that sprang to his cheeks. He was hesitant to reply but felt like he needed to and went with the safest answer.
“There’s…nothing. I’m working on his case, that’s all. Just a cop and someone who needs my help.”
Sonny’s eyes shifted to a spot just behind Yunho and he turned to see Jaejoong standing completely still, an unreadable expression on his lovely face. His heart skipped a beat.
“Jaejoong.”
Jaejoong held Maya’s hand tightly as they made their way back to Yunho and Sonny.
His little girl was now deeply absorbed in a chocolate ice-cream cone, and he struggled to consume his own ice-cream sandwich as it started melting in his hand. He’d briefly pondered whether to buy something for Yunho as well. He didn’t know what flavor he liked but it would be rude not to so he’d bought another ice-cream sandwich. And then a third when he remembered Sonny.
Yunho and Sonny were exactly where he’d left them and he reached them just in time to hear:
“There’s…nothing. I’m working on his case, that’s all. Just a cop and someone who needs my help.”
Later he would regret his reaction but in that moment, with his stomach sinking and some unknown feeling spreading throughout his chest, he couldn’t help himself.
“Jaejoong.”
Not even Yunho’s surprised expression gave him pause.
“We’d better get going,” Jaejoong said in clipped tones. “It’s a long ride back.”
“Jaejoong, wait, I…”
Jaejoong ignored Yunho, shifting his gaze to Sonny. “It was nice meeting you.” His eyes flitted back to Yunho, hardening slightly. “Goodbye, Yunho.”
And without another word or backward glance, he strode off, his hand tightening slightly around Maya’s tiny wrist. Perhaps sensing her father’s emotional turmoil, she said nothing and followed along obediently.
By the time they landed on the train platform in their town and hailed a taxi to the house, Jaejoong was mentally black and blue from the beating he’d given himself.
He knew he had overreacted but there was nothing he could do about it now. He’d made an ass of himself in front of Yunho and his friend and he might not get the opportunity to apologize for a while. Although, knowing Yunho as he thought he did, he would probably call soon to find out if they had made it home safely. If nothing else, his righteousness could always be counted on.
He didn’t know what came over him but when he’d heard Yunho say that there was nothing between them, his mind flashed back to the rapturous night/morning they’d spent together. How could he call that nothing?, he’d thought. In hindsight, however, Yunho was a cop and if his friend was one too, maybe he was just protecting them both by downplaying what had occurred between them. Yunho could get into serious trouble if it was ever exposed. Jaejoong usually kept that in mind but his emotions had out-run common sense this time.
Sighing, he paid the taxi driver when he pulled up in front of his house and ushered his sleepy daughter out of the car. As soon as she set foot on their front walk, she seemed to come to life, racing towards the front door. Only when he reached the door himself did he notice two things.
The door, which he was 100% sure he’d locked, was open.
And Maya had just run inside without him.
Part b
Author: VampireMadonna
Pairing: YunJae
Rating: PG-13
Length: Undetermined
Summary: Kim Jaejoong is on the run from his crazed ex-husband and Lieutenant Jung Yunho is the only one standing between him and an uncertain fate. Will Yunho be his savior...or will his rescue come too late?
Jaejoong sat at the kitchen table, watching his little girl as she colored outside the lines of the figures in her book. She was cute, presenting a sweet picture with her hair in pigtails and pink ribbons, and her lack of skill was adorable but though he mumbled a reply whenever she spoke to him, his mind was miles away.
Frankly, it had been miles away for weeks because he’d left it there, back in the hotel where he and Yunho had spent one hot, sweaty, gloriously long night of explosive passion together.
Sighing, he rested his chin on top of his folded arms where they lay on the table.
He’d been doing a lot of sighing recently, he realized. Every time he thought about that night, it would come out. He wasn’t sure why. They weren’t sighs of distress, far from it. If anything, they were sighs of…well, longing.
He hadn’t been with anyone in a long time. Even before the incident, before he’d given his husband the ultimatum to get help or get out, he and Daniel had stopped being intimate. It had become difficult for him to be aroused by the prospect of coupling with his husband when he never knew what or who he would wake up to on any given day. How could he want someone who he felt like he didn’t even know? It was one of those areas that had been seriously affected by Daniel’s illness. Even after the divorce, after he’d returned to Korea and his latest move to the country, sex and lust were the furthest things from his mind. He was completely focused on keeping his daughter safe and being as good a father to her as he possibly could given their unusual circumstances.
No, sex, or the lack thereof, had definitely not been an issue…until Jung Yunho entered the picture, that is.
His attraction to Yunho was not immediate. That first day when he’d walked into the police station, he’d been out of his mind with worry, wondering if Daniel was just on their heels. By the time he’d calmed down and Yunho had gotten the entire story out of him, he’d noticed that he was a kind man, and he couldn’t help acknowledging that he was handsome, but that had been the end of it. It was like seeing someone on the street: he noticed his attractiveness but it was an absent, passing thought. On their second meeting, however, when Yunho had brought him and Maya home, he’d been able to talk to him some more on the drive home, get a feel for the man behind the badge, and he’d started noticing more things about Yunho. Like the cute mole on his lip; his long, lean legs; the lithe way he moved for someone as tall as he was.
By the time they’d started exchanging witty text messages and Yunho’s phone calls had increased and became more personal and less businesslike, he’d admitted to himself that there was an attraction there, and he knew it was mutual because Yunho’s signals were coming through loud and clear, but he didn’t acknowledge it, suppressed it even, because Maya was and would always be his first and main concern. Even when he’d acknowledged that Daniel didn’t consider her part of his objective, which pained him when he thought of all the time they’d spent as a family, when he’d thought they were a family, his worry for her didn’t ease. If Daniel had loved her as much as he did, then he might have tried to take her from him, but since he didn’t love or care for her, he might use her to get back at him or to lure him out into the open. He couldn’t bear it if anything happened to his princess. She was all he lived for. Without her…
He shook the thought away. Nothing and no one would ever take her from him. It was a personal promise, one that he would lay his life on the line to keep.
As would Yunho.
Sighing, he burrowed further into his folded arms. There he went again. He had to get out of this…this funk, if it could even be called that. A funk was usually something bad but he couldn’t find it in him to regret what had happened between him and Yunho. They were both consenting adults, single and unattached, and they’d had every right to explore their mutual attraction or whatever you called the raging storm of lust that had swept over them.
Whenever he thought about that night, he could still feel Yunho’s hands and mouth on him as if it were yesterday instead of three weeks ago. To say that Yunho had left an impression was an understatement. Daniel hadn’t been his first but when he’d married, he’d thought he’d be his last. Didn’t everyone? No one went into marriage expecting it to come to an end. But the way his had left no room for him to wonder if there’d be anyone after. Protecting his daughter superseded everything else. So he was more than a little alarmed to find his skin turning red and heat spreading through his blood as he remembered Yunho’s mouth traversing the peaks and valleys of his body.
Yunho had been a thorough lover.
Jaejoong was pretty sure that he [Yunho] now knew his body as well as he did. Maybe even better. He’d pushed him to the edge time and time again, challenging his body to see just how much it could take, if it could withstand the intensity of their lovemaking. There’d been very little talking. Who needed words when actions spoke louder? After the episode in the shower, they’d stumbled out into the bedroom, wet and dripping, and he’d had barely a second to take a breath before Yunho dragged him down to the bed and started devouring him all over again. That was honestly what it felt like: being devoured. Yunho was just…everywhere. The longest reprieve they’d had was maybe a half hour. He’d managed to doze off, exhausted and completely replete, but came fully awake when Yunho started kissing his way down his body again.
Even when the sun rose, they were still going at it.
When the alarm went off at 7:00am, they took turns taking a shower, had a silent breakfast and Yunho left to go to his apartment to clean up before his shift started. At the door, on the way out, he’d given Jae this look that seared his soul with the heat of it and kissed him goodbye. That kiss was probably his favorite part of the entire event. It was soft and gentle with just a touch of reverence, as if Yunho was saying “thank you”. Thanks weren’t needed, however, as Jaejoong felt like he’d received far more than he’d given because although he’d been distracted and more than a little hot and bothered ever since, he also felt more alive than he had in ages and that was something that he could never repay Yunho for.
Not that I wouldn’t mind trying, he thought.
“Daddy?”
Jaejoong raised his head and looked at his daughter’s curious face. “Hmm?”
“Why do you keep making that noise?”
He cocked a brow. “What noise?”
“Like this.”
Jaejoong watched as Maya scrunched up her pretty little face, somehow managing to effect a tiresome expression, and made a sound that was scarily close to what he’d been hearing coming out of his own throat the past three weeks.
Geezus!
“Like that,” Maya said, smiling triumphantly, completely unaware of her father’s embarrassed shock.
“Um…” He cleared his throat. “Daddy’s just a little…stressed at the moment.”
Maya’s smile slipped. Jaejoong was sure that she had no idea what “stressed” meant but perhaps she was smart enough to realize that it wasn’t a good thing. After all they’d been through, it was hardly surprising.
Forcing a smile to soothe her fears, he reached across the table and gently stroked her cheek. “Don’t worry, sweetie. Daddy is fine. How can he not be when he has the prettiest little angel in the entire world for a daughter?” he added, tweaking her nose affectionately.
Maya giggled adorably.
Dropping his hand, Jaejoong asked, “What shall we have for dinner tonight? Anything my girl wants.”
Maya’s face scrunched up again, but this time it was because she was deep in thought as she seriously considered her father’s question.
“Mmm… Spaghetti.”
Jaejoong sighed internally. He was rather hoping she’d be a normal child for once and ask for pizza or a hamburger, something ridiculously unhealthy that he could go out and buy instead of having to cook, but his child had never been normal. It just made her that much more lovable in his eyes.
“Spaghetti it is,” he announced as he stood, his mind already going over the ingredients he would need for their meal.
“Daddy?”
Jaejoong stopped and looked down at his daughter. “Yes?”
“Are we going to the city?” Maya asked as she returned to her coloring book.
Jaejoong stilled. “I guess we may need to soon. Why do you ask?”
“Are we going to see that policeman?” she asked without looking up.
Were they? He hadn’t really thought about it.
Okay, that was a lie. He’d thought about nothing else, but not going to the police station per se, merely seeing Yunho again. He’d had several mini episodes of erotic daydreams. And perhaps a few lengthier dreams at night. It was only natural, he supposed. After all these years of his carnal desires being dormant, they were finally awakened. And truth be told, although his sex life with Daniel had been more than satisfactory during the good times, Yunho was an entirely different kind of lover and he was excited by the thought of further exploring what flamed between them. He wouldn’t insult his marriage or the man he’d loved by saying that Yunho was a better lover. He was just…different. Being with him, from what he’d experienced so far at least, was nothing like being with Daniel, and it shouldn’t be. They were two completely different people.
“Daddy?”
Maya’s voice brought him back to the topic at hand.
“I don’t know, honey,” he answered honestly.
He wanted to see Yunho, but not under the circumstances that he had on his previous trips to the city. He wanted to see him without Daniel playing any part in their coming together. They hadn’t met since their hotel rendezvous but they had spoken often, somehow always managing to avoid the proverbial elephant in the room. Talking about it over the phone probably wasn’t a good idea anyway. Maya was always nearby on his end and he had no idea who was with Yunho at any given time.
“We’ll see,” he finally said. Out of curiosity, he asked, “Do you want to see him?”
Maya didn’t answer for a few moments so he thought she hadn’t heard him but before he could ask again, she said, “He’s nice. He makes Daddy smile.”
And now that made him smile.
Could his daughter be any more perfect?
Five days later…
“Daddy, look!”
Jaejoong turned around to see what Maya was pointing at, chuckling when his eye caught sight of a purple stuffed elephant. He didn’t know what her obsession with the animal was but it was cute. Everything about her was cute, or maybe he was just biased.
Well, he thought, her birthday’s coming up soon.
He made a mental note to check back with the store to see if they would have any in stock when her birthday rolled around. He didn’t want to buy her gift too early, just in case she saw something else that she wanted. She wasn’t a fickle little girl and didn’t ask for much but she could still change her mind.
“I see it,” he said. And that was all she needed, he thought, as she continued leading him through the mall.
They’d already settled their bills and although he’d been nervous to the stomach when he’d stopped by the post office to check his mail, he’d been pleasantly surprised to find nothing from Daniel. The tension had immediately drained out of his body.
“Daddy, look!”
The same time Jaejoong raised his eyes to see where his daughter was pointing this time, a low voice spoke.
“Hello Jaejoong.”
“Yunho,” he gasped, eyes popping out of their sockets.
Smiling, Yunho closed the distance between them. He knelt in front of Maya and took her hand.
“Hello, Maya. You look lovely today.”
Blushing, Maya shifted so she could half-hide behind her father while still keeping her eyes on Yunho.
“Hello.”
Chuckling, Yunho stood and met Jaejoong’s gaze. “What brings you to the city?”
“The usual,” Jaejoong said, voice husky as thoughts of the last time he’d set eyes on this man came rushing back.
Yunho’s eyes turned serious, the question in them obvious.
“No,” Jaejoong assured him. “There was nothing this time, thankfully. Though I have to wonder if I shouldn’t be more worried instead of relieved.”
Yunho’s smile returned full force. “Don’t jinx it, Jaejoong-ah.”
Both men froze, surprised by Yunho’s informal affection.
Breaking the silence, Jaejoong cleared his throat and asked, “What are you doing here?”
“Well, it’s lunch time if you haven’t noticed. There’s a place upstairs in the food court that I really love. I was working on a case nearby and snuck off for a quick bite.”
“Oh, okay.”
Yunho cocked his head to the side. “Want to join me?”
Jaejoong tried, and failed, to suppress a blush. “Well, actually, we were just going for ice-cream. We…”
“Yunho!”
Yunho turned at the sound of his name, a huge smile spreading across his face when he saw his old partner.
“Sonny.”
“Hey man.”
The two embraced briefly, slapping each other on the back.
Remembering that he wasn’t alone, Yunho said, “This is Jaejoong. And his beautiful little girl, Maya. Jaejoong, Sonny here used to be my partner.”
Jaejoong shook Sonny’s hand, warming to him when he smiled down at Maya and gave her hand a gentle shake too.
“What brings you here?” Sonny asked. “I thought you’d be chained to your desk, like usual.”
Yunho rolled his eyes. “Even us slaves are allowed to eat. How’s the wife?”
“Daddy,” Maya whined, tugging Jaejoong’s hand impatiently.
“Okay, okay. We’ll be back,” he said to Yunho and Sonny with an apologetic smile before allowing his daughter to drag him off.
“Cute kid,” Sonny commented.
“She is, isn’t she?”
“Giving you ideas?” Sonny asked cheekily, poking Yunho suggestively in the ribs.
Yunho playfully swatted at his hands. “Better me than you. We don’t need any more Sonny Chungs running around the place. Oh, but it’s too late now isn’t it?”
Sonny laughed good-naturedly. “It is indeed.”
“How is the little rug-rat anyway?”
“Doing great,” Sonny replied proudly. “We’ll be celebrating his 1st birthday next month.”
“Time sure does fly,” Yunho mused. “It seems like just yesterday I was emptying my life’s savings to buy you two a wedding present. Or three, I should say. Leave it to you to do the wife and kid deal in reverse.”
Sonny grinned unabashedly. “And what about you? You seem suspiciously chippy. Thinking about settling down? I’d heard a rumor about an unbelievably beautiful man coming into the station to see you a couple of times. I thought they had to be mistaken. How could a man possibly be beautiful? Now I see what they’re talking about. It’s him isn’t it? Has to be. If I wasn’t secure in my heterosexuality, I might be a little worried. He’s certainly mesmerizing, I’ll say that much. So are you? Thinking about making a move?” He cocked a brow. “Or have you already?” he amended, knowing his long time friend as well as he did.
Yunho ignored the heat that sprang to his cheeks. He was hesitant to reply but felt like he needed to and went with the safest answer.
“There’s…nothing. I’m working on his case, that’s all. Just a cop and someone who needs my help.”
Sonny’s eyes shifted to a spot just behind Yunho and he turned to see Jaejoong standing completely still, an unreadable expression on his lovely face. His heart skipped a beat.
“Jaejoong.”
Jaejoong held Maya’s hand tightly as they made their way back to Yunho and Sonny.
His little girl was now deeply absorbed in a chocolate ice-cream cone, and he struggled to consume his own ice-cream sandwich as it started melting in his hand. He’d briefly pondered whether to buy something for Yunho as well. He didn’t know what flavor he liked but it would be rude not to so he’d bought another ice-cream sandwich. And then a third when he remembered Sonny.
Yunho and Sonny were exactly where he’d left them and he reached them just in time to hear:
“There’s…nothing. I’m working on his case, that’s all. Just a cop and someone who needs my help.”
Later he would regret his reaction but in that moment, with his stomach sinking and some unknown feeling spreading throughout his chest, he couldn’t help himself.
“Jaejoong.”
Not even Yunho’s surprised expression gave him pause.
“We’d better get going,” Jaejoong said in clipped tones. “It’s a long ride back.”
“Jaejoong, wait, I…”
Jaejoong ignored Yunho, shifting his gaze to Sonny. “It was nice meeting you.” His eyes flitted back to Yunho, hardening slightly. “Goodbye, Yunho.”
And without another word or backward glance, he strode off, his hand tightening slightly around Maya’s tiny wrist. Perhaps sensing her father’s emotional turmoil, she said nothing and followed along obediently.
By the time they landed on the train platform in their town and hailed a taxi to the house, Jaejoong was mentally black and blue from the beating he’d given himself.
He knew he had overreacted but there was nothing he could do about it now. He’d made an ass of himself in front of Yunho and his friend and he might not get the opportunity to apologize for a while. Although, knowing Yunho as he thought he did, he would probably call soon to find out if they had made it home safely. If nothing else, his righteousness could always be counted on.
He didn’t know what came over him but when he’d heard Yunho say that there was nothing between them, his mind flashed back to the rapturous night/morning they’d spent together. How could he call that nothing?, he’d thought. In hindsight, however, Yunho was a cop and if his friend was one too, maybe he was just protecting them both by downplaying what had occurred between them. Yunho could get into serious trouble if it was ever exposed. Jaejoong usually kept that in mind but his emotions had out-run common sense this time.
Sighing, he paid the taxi driver when he pulled up in front of his house and ushered his sleepy daughter out of the car. As soon as she set foot on their front walk, she seemed to come to life, racing towards the front door. Only when he reached the door himself did he notice two things.
The door, which he was 100% sure he’d locked, was open.
And Maya had just run inside without him.
Part b