FICLET; Picking up after you
Picking up after you ; JaeMin
roselit @ paperside
fluff, slight romance
G (one badword though :x) ; 981w.
Changmin's there for every time Jaejoong slips.
A/N: An extremely late birthday gift for mrsedjack. Please accept my 2-months-late fail and drown in 981 words of absurdly fluffy fluff, Jenny. ♥
____________________
It isn’t like Jaejoong to be forgetful or to misplace things; his uncanny sense of organization makes little room for negligence. It’s a trait that often spurs envy in the other members’ eyes, particularly when a favorite hat goes missing or when a cell phone ends up in the wrong pocket.
But even perfection has its limits, and sometimes, there’s a slip. It rarely happens, but when the stress of schedules and the strain of late-night rehearsal puts a little more fatigue onto Jaejoong’s shoulders, Changmin makes sure his eyes linger a bit longer on the older man, even when the others have looked away.
Call it concern, call it infatuation, perhaps love-in-process, but it’s nothing short of affection. Changmin likes to think he knows what it is, but he refuses to put it into words (he’s always been better with actions).
So when Jaejoong accidentally leaves his skull-imprinted beanie in the restaurant chair after dinner one evening, Changmin takes it for him and hurries after, taps him on the shoulder, hyung, you forgot this. Jaejoong turns and reaches to take the knitted hat, the relief apparent despite the surprise on his face.
“Oh, thanks.”
“Sometimes, I don’t understand your fashion sense,” Changmin remarks offhandedly, pretending he’s not still thinking about how Jaejoong’s fingers brushed his when he grabbed the beanie.
Jaejoong breaks into a grin, overshadowing the tired lines in his face. “You don’t think I look badass with this?”
Changmin simply scoffs and keeps walking, determined not to let the older man see the smile mirrored on his own lips.
Early evening finds Jaejoong at his desk in the workroom, music sheets and inkless pens strewn across the surface in front of him. Over an hour of staring, and he thinks he needs a break and scoots his chair back. He glances on and around his work area, lifts papers and opens drawers, until he stops to wrack his memory in confusion.
“Where could it be,” he muses to himself, just a little distraught. It’s his favorite one; he can’t lose it-that would be near illegal.
Changmin appears at the door, “Want some watermelon, hyung?” and lifts a bowl of it in offering.
“Have you seen my iPod?”
“Which one?” Changmin asks around a mouthful, gushing in his mouth.
“The black one. It’s got all my favorite songs on it.”
“Is this it?” the younger man questions and produces a shiny black device from his pocket.
Jaejoong’s by the door in an instant and takes it from Changmin, an unmistakable look of happiness on the older man’s face. “Yes! Where did you find it?”
“Kitchen,” comes the response, around another mouthful of watermelon. “You left it on the counter.”
Jaejoong gratefully thanks Changmin and picks a juicy piece from his bowl, and as he puts it into his mouth, Changmin turns and starts back towards his room.
“You need new music, though,” he calls over his shoulder, grinning when he hears Jaejoong’s blatant sound of disagreement.
Changmin thinks Jaejoong has too many ‘favorite things’ because the next evening, the older man’s nearly turning the apartment upside down and inside out, yelling, “Have any of you guys seen my favorite pen?” and Changmin admits it’s borderline comical.
Junsu says he hasn’t seen it, his eyes glued to the laptop screen and mouse clicking furiously at a computer game; he can’t be bothered to be frustrated, even after Jaejoong asks him three times. Yoochun’s in the workroom, one hand over the keyboard and the other scrawling notes on composition paper, and after Jaejoong snatches the pen from his fingers and returns it, Yoochun shakes his head and goes back to composing. Yunho’s still at the studio practicing last-minute routines, but that doesn’t prevent Jaejoong from rummaging through the leader’s room, just in case, only to come up with nothing.
He starts for Changmin’s room, but the younger man beats him first and emerges before he gets to the door. They stop in the hallway and stare at each other for a moment, and then comes Jaejoong’s inevitable question.
“Have you seen my favorite pen?”
Changmin bites the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing, then lifts a sleek black, silver-embellished ballpoint. “This?”
Jaejoong retrieves it from Changmin and breathes a sigh of relief. “God, I’m glad you found it.”
“You’ve been leaving things everywhere lately,” the younger man says, watching as Jaejoong twirls the writing utensil in his hand.
The other man doesn’t grace his statement with a reply and says instead, “I need this pen; I use it the most when I write songs. Lucky pen, I guess,” and laughs.
Changmin’s lips curl upward into a smile in spite of himself, and he holds out his hand, trying not to grin cheekily but failing outright. Jaejoong glances at Changmin’s hand, then gives him a confused look.
“What do I get?” Changmin asks, eyes never leaving his hyung’s face.
Jaejoong contemplates for a moment before a grin blooms across his lips. “Close your eyes.”
Changmin reluctantly does as he’s told, and Jaejoong promptly steps forward, takes Changmin’s hand, and draws something into his palm. The younger man starts to open his eyes, just as Jaejoong curls his fingers closed. Changmin blinks as Jaejoong keeps his own hands clasped around his fist, and before he realizes it, the other man’s leaning forward and whispering into his ear.
“Keep it.”
And with that, Jaejoong withdraws and leaves, grinning his way back to the workroom. Changmin watches him go, and once he’s left alone in the hallway, he looks down and opens his hand.
There’s a lopsided, not-quite-perfect heart etched in the middle of his palm in black ink. Changmin laughs, his smile lingering as he glances to the workroom door that Jaejoong had disappeared through.
“Silly hyung.”
Call it concern, call it infatuation, perhaps love-in-process, but it’s nothing short of affection.
____________________
A/N: I think I might overdo it when it comes to fluff. :'D
Comments are appreciated, as always. ♥
roselit @ paperside
fluff, slight romance
G (one badword though :x) ; 981w.
Changmin's there for every time Jaejoong slips.
A/N: An extremely late birthday gift for mrsedjack. Please accept my 2-months-late fail and drown in 981 words of absurdly fluffy fluff, Jenny. ♥
____________________
It isn’t like Jaejoong to be forgetful or to misplace things; his uncanny sense of organization makes little room for negligence. It’s a trait that often spurs envy in the other members’ eyes, particularly when a favorite hat goes missing or when a cell phone ends up in the wrong pocket.
But even perfection has its limits, and sometimes, there’s a slip. It rarely happens, but when the stress of schedules and the strain of late-night rehearsal puts a little more fatigue onto Jaejoong’s shoulders, Changmin makes sure his eyes linger a bit longer on the older man, even when the others have looked away.
Call it concern, call it infatuation, perhaps love-in-process, but it’s nothing short of affection. Changmin likes to think he knows what it is, but he refuses to put it into words (he’s always been better with actions).
So when Jaejoong accidentally leaves his skull-imprinted beanie in the restaurant chair after dinner one evening, Changmin takes it for him and hurries after, taps him on the shoulder, hyung, you forgot this. Jaejoong turns and reaches to take the knitted hat, the relief apparent despite the surprise on his face.
“Oh, thanks.”
“Sometimes, I don’t understand your fashion sense,” Changmin remarks offhandedly, pretending he’s not still thinking about how Jaejoong’s fingers brushed his when he grabbed the beanie.
Jaejoong breaks into a grin, overshadowing the tired lines in his face. “You don’t think I look badass with this?”
Changmin simply scoffs and keeps walking, determined not to let the older man see the smile mirrored on his own lips.
Early evening finds Jaejoong at his desk in the workroom, music sheets and inkless pens strewn across the surface in front of him. Over an hour of staring, and he thinks he needs a break and scoots his chair back. He glances on and around his work area, lifts papers and opens drawers, until he stops to wrack his memory in confusion.
“Where could it be,” he muses to himself, just a little distraught. It’s his favorite one; he can’t lose it-that would be near illegal.
Changmin appears at the door, “Want some watermelon, hyung?” and lifts a bowl of it in offering.
“Have you seen my iPod?”
“Which one?” Changmin asks around a mouthful, gushing in his mouth.
“The black one. It’s got all my favorite songs on it.”
“Is this it?” the younger man questions and produces a shiny black device from his pocket.
Jaejoong’s by the door in an instant and takes it from Changmin, an unmistakable look of happiness on the older man’s face. “Yes! Where did you find it?”
“Kitchen,” comes the response, around another mouthful of watermelon. “You left it on the counter.”
Jaejoong gratefully thanks Changmin and picks a juicy piece from his bowl, and as he puts it into his mouth, Changmin turns and starts back towards his room.
“You need new music, though,” he calls over his shoulder, grinning when he hears Jaejoong’s blatant sound of disagreement.
Changmin thinks Jaejoong has too many ‘favorite things’ because the next evening, the older man’s nearly turning the apartment upside down and inside out, yelling, “Have any of you guys seen my favorite pen?” and Changmin admits it’s borderline comical.
Junsu says he hasn’t seen it, his eyes glued to the laptop screen and mouse clicking furiously at a computer game; he can’t be bothered to be frustrated, even after Jaejoong asks him three times. Yoochun’s in the workroom, one hand over the keyboard and the other scrawling notes on composition paper, and after Jaejoong snatches the pen from his fingers and returns it, Yoochun shakes his head and goes back to composing. Yunho’s still at the studio practicing last-minute routines, but that doesn’t prevent Jaejoong from rummaging through the leader’s room, just in case, only to come up with nothing.
He starts for Changmin’s room, but the younger man beats him first and emerges before he gets to the door. They stop in the hallway and stare at each other for a moment, and then comes Jaejoong’s inevitable question.
“Have you seen my favorite pen?”
Changmin bites the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing, then lifts a sleek black, silver-embellished ballpoint. “This?”
Jaejoong retrieves it from Changmin and breathes a sigh of relief. “God, I’m glad you found it.”
“You’ve been leaving things everywhere lately,” the younger man says, watching as Jaejoong twirls the writing utensil in his hand.
The other man doesn’t grace his statement with a reply and says instead, “I need this pen; I use it the most when I write songs. Lucky pen, I guess,” and laughs.
Changmin’s lips curl upward into a smile in spite of himself, and he holds out his hand, trying not to grin cheekily but failing outright. Jaejoong glances at Changmin’s hand, then gives him a confused look.
“What do I get?” Changmin asks, eyes never leaving his hyung’s face.
Jaejoong contemplates for a moment before a grin blooms across his lips. “Close your eyes.”
Changmin reluctantly does as he’s told, and Jaejoong promptly steps forward, takes Changmin’s hand, and draws something into his palm. The younger man starts to open his eyes, just as Jaejoong curls his fingers closed. Changmin blinks as Jaejoong keeps his own hands clasped around his fist, and before he realizes it, the other man’s leaning forward and whispering into his ear.
“Keep it.”
And with that, Jaejoong withdraws and leaves, grinning his way back to the workroom. Changmin watches him go, and once he’s left alone in the hallway, he looks down and opens his hand.
There’s a lopsided, not-quite-perfect heart etched in the middle of his palm in black ink. Changmin laughs, his smile lingering as he glances to the workroom door that Jaejoong had disappeared through.
“Silly hyung.”
Call it concern, call it infatuation, perhaps love-in-process, but it’s nothing short of affection.
____________________
A/N: I think I might overdo it when it comes to fluff. :'D
Comments are appreciated, as always. ♥