To Snort Like Swans Do; jaesu (v2)
To Snort Like Swans Do; jaesu
8,118 words (!!!DDDD:)
"I've been looking for you all night!"
Jaejoong turns around to the voice and the hand on his elbow, eyeing the boy curiously. If it had been anyone else he probably would have taken that as a pick up line. He looks to his left and his right, and back to the younger man in front of him. "Who are you looking for?"
"You! You're Jaejoong, right?"
"Maybe. Why are you looking for him?"
"I'm his guardian angel!"
Jaejoong laughs, never having heard that one before. "This place is far from heaven."
"But I looked for you all night!" the boy almost screeches to be heard above the music. Jaejoong winces but he doesn't seem to notice. "I'm Junsu!"
Jaejoong has to laugh, and pats Junsu on the shoulder. "It's nice to meet you. And whatever you heard about me, it isn't true. So I'm sure you've been mistaken." He turns around, expecting the subject to be dropped and goes back to his drink.
"But I'm not! I know who you are." To Jaejoong's surprise, Junsu takes a seat next to him, swaying it side to side. "I've been--"
"I know. Looking for me all night," Jaejoong finishes for him. "Do you want a drink?"
"If it's apple juice."
"Is that a joke?"
"No," Junsu answers, tilting his head like a confused puppy dog. Jaejoong finds it kind of cute. Just a little, he promises, not a bit more than kind of, not even close to very. But more importantly, this kid's weird. He orders him a Shirley Temple.
"Hyung!"
Jaejoong turns around to the owner of the hand slapped on his shoulder. "Hey."
"Y-Yoochun!"
Jaejoong peers over suspiciously at Junsu, and then snaps his head back at Yoochun. "You did this?"
"Whoa, whoa. I didn't do anything! Who's the kid?"
"You tell me!"
"Well," Yoochun glances over, "You bought him a drink... and he's kind of cute."
"Don't play stupid."
"What? He doesn't look like your type but he's not bad."
"I'm not a kid! I'm his age!" Junsu yells, trying to interrupt their little private conversation.
"No. No you aren't. You asked for an apple juice," Jaejoong tries sternly and goes back to whispering-hissing at Yoochun, eventually batting him away with a few loud smacks.
Junsu speaks up when Jaejoong turns back around. "I can't drink on the job."
Jaejoong takes one last gulp from his glass and signals the bartender for another. "You work here?"
"I work everywhere."
Jaejoong laughs, "Oh really?"
"Yeah!" It seems like the boy thought that was a signal for conversation. "All the places you go."
His drink arrives, thank god. "All the places? Really?"
"Yeah, I see you all the time!"
"You're pretty persistent," Jaejoong smiles, leaning in.
Junsu nods happily, and it honestly weirds Jaejoong out a little. He follows Junsu's gaze out to the crowd of people.
"You're not going to dance?" Junsu asks suddenly.
"I'm not good at it. It's more of Yoochun's thing."
Junsu laugh startles him, both because he hadn't heard it before and because it's really loud. "It's definitely not Yoochun's thing. It's just something he does."
"What do you mean?"
"Look at him!"
"He's not bad."
"You're being nice."
"Like you're any better."
"I am!"
"Right," Jaejoong glances over skeptically, "That's why you're sitting here."
"I'm here for you."
Jaejoong snorts, grabbing his hand and leading him to the dance floor. "You've got some weird pick up lines, kid."
So it turns out that Junsu is definitely not a kid, dancing is definitely not Yoochun's thing, and there is no way in hell that Junsu is an angel of any kind.
Jaejoong ended up dragging Junsu home with him, if you can call ‘walking as Junsu tags along and won't let go’ dragging. Honestly he had no idea where the boy lived and didn't want a headline in the news telling the story of some young, dead, cut up into a million pieces male rest on his conscience. Besides, Junsu insisted going home with him, that that was where he belonged. Jaejoong had snorted, like he'd never heard that one before. It was when Junsu straight up passed out on his couch that Jaejoong started believing that he wasn't just someone with really bad pick up lines.
That revelation, however, did nothing to help him figure out what to do with the currently still slumbering Junsu on his couch. He's making his morning tea when there's a knock on his door. He opens the door to a snickering Yoochun.
"You dog, you dog! I saw you take him home last night."
"Yah!" Before Jaejoong even gets to start explaining he's hurried into their apartment.
"I saw you two dancing too. You never dance! How was-- Hyung!"
Jaejoong shushes him, getting worried that Junsu will wake up before he's figured out what to do.
Yoochun lowers his voice to an amused whisper, "He couldn't walk afterwards or something? Eh? Eh?"
Jaejoong rolls his eyes at Yoochun's elbow nudging. "He just kept following me! I didn't know what to do."
"He's kind of cute. Look at that sleeping face," Yoochun giggles, walks over to the couch and wiggles a finger at Junsu's sleeping form.
"Yoochun, stop it. He's going to wake up!" Jaejoong bites his lip, waving his hand frantically to tell Yoochun to move away from the couch.
Yoochun laughs and brushes him off. "Don't worry, he's fast asleep," he says and pokes Junsu's nose, snickering when Junsu scrunches it in his sleep. "Awww."
"You're such a freak. Why are you touching a stranger like that?"
"He's not a stranger, hyung. He's your guardian angel," Yoochun says, cracking up.
"Shut up."
"You've always attracted the weirdoes."
"You always attract the trannys."
"Lies! That one time--"
"Yoochunyoochunyoochun! He's waking up." Jaejoong hides frantically behind his kitchen counter, watching as Junsu stretches and rolls onto his other side.
They hold their breath for ten long seconds until they're sure Junsu is asleep.
"See, he's fine. When did you get this blanket anyway?" Yoochun lifts a corner of the blanket that Junsu is using, eyeing it suspiciously; it’s baby blue with fat little cartoon dolphins all over it.
Jaejoong hadn't noticed it until now. "It's not mine."
"Well it's not like he carried it here."
"Why would I own that?"
While Jaejoong and Yoochun get into a heated debate about who is the true owner of said baby blue blanket, Junsu sits up, peering around and rubbing his eyes awake. He observes for a few minutes, seeing as how neither of them is paying attention to him anymore.
"The blanket's mine."
Both of them turn their gaze toward Junsu, surprised.
Yoochun’s the first to speak up. "You've been here before?"
"He hasn't!"
"Yeah, a lot of times."
"Are you a stalker!?"
"Are you a stalker?"
"No! I said it yesterday! I'm his guardian angel!" Junsu reaches up and seems to be scratching his neck and back when he pulls something out suddenly, shocking Yoochun enough for him to squeak and pop back. "Look! I have an official badge."
Jaejoong walks over, squinting to read the small print. "What the hell."
"Heaven," Junsu corrects with a drowsy smile.
"What's it say, hyung?"
"Says 'Official First-Year Guardian Angel: Kim Junsu, First Assignment: Kim Jaejoong'."
Cue moment of silence.
"Where did you pull that out from?" Jaejoong finally asks, pointing at the toy-looking badge.
"My wings!" Junsu answers excitedly. "I have a notepad in there too, wrote down things about you too." He reaches back and pulls out a notepad, oblivious to the widening of eyes watching him. He shows the pad off proudly, "Look!"
Jaejoong reads it.
There are only three lines written in it:
- Likes really really really really really spicy food.
- Buys really expensive shampoo.
- Best friend Yoochun is clingy and annoying.
Yoochun peeks over Jaejoong's shoulder. "Hey!"
"This is just not true!" Jaejoong exclaims. "My shampoo is moderately priced."
Jaejoong lets Junsu stay for a day, a week, a month, a he-begins-to-lose-track-of-time. He has a guest bedroom anyway, and he rarely ever uses it. And Junsu doesn’t seem to have anywhere else to go.
Junsu always tries to make breakfast to make up for it. He says that not many people actually house their angels. Since he's stayed the fire alarmed has gone off at least 5 times, other times Jaejoong's been lucky enough to do some damage control. Damage control, however, is always made more difficult with Junsu trying to do damage control and protect Jaejoong from the dangers of the kitchen: exploding eggs, burnt (to crisps) cupcakes and the like. He begins to fear anything that has to do with Junsu and his kitchen in general.
"Junsu, Junsu! What are you doing?" Still though, every morning Junsu wakes up at the crack of dawn and gets into his kitchen.
"Making breakfast!" Junsu answers happily, flicking his spatula to flip a pancake.
Jaejoong thinks he shouldn't be surprised when the pancake slaps onto his face. It's half cooked and slides down and off his face slowly. Jaejoong's just grateful it isn't actually hot yet.
"Sorry!" Junsu rushes over, dropping the spatula, and wipes gooey batter off Jaejoong's nose.
Jaejoong blinks slowly and all he's able to see is a bright, fuzzy Junsu.
"Wait, wait! Don't open your eyes yet."
Jaejoong laughs a little at the concern in Junsu's voice, squeezing his eyes closed as Junsu swipes his fingers over them, trying to get rid of all the batter. "I'm fine."
"It's my job," Junsu insists, brushing away leftover bits and trying to get the batter in his hair.
"To almost kill me while making breakfast?"
"To take care of you!" Junsu hmphs and it makes Jaejoong want to coo at him.
"Ah, pancake facial mask, then."
"Teasing me."
"Hey, hey. You're doing a great job." He looks over Junsu's shoulder. "But I think those will have to go," he says, pointing at the half burnt pancakes still in the pan.
"Oh no!" Junsu runs over, poking and inspecting them with chopsticks. "Wasted."
After Jaejoong gets the rest of the batter out from his hair and off his face (with a lot of 'assistance' from Junsu), they spend breakfast peeling the burnt sides off of the pancakes as best they can because Jaejoong would rather eat slightly burnt pancakes than make his angel feel like he's doing a bad job.
It's a lazy Saturday. Jaejoong's hanging out in the living room on the big couch. He stretches a leg out and uses his big toe to poke Junsu, who has become engrossed in one of Jaejoong's video games. "Hey Junsu."
Junsu flinches away, biting his lip as he shoots two red bullets straight ahead, hitting a big mushroom-headed looking person. "Hey! Gross. Feet. Video game. Stop."
"Jeez, how old are you, Junsu?" Jaejoong pouts, not liking being ignored, especially not for little controllable cartoons on the television screen.
It turns out Junsu is just a year younger than him, which comes off as a shock to both of them. Junsu, apparently, was under the impression that they were the same age.
"Yah, so I'm your hyung."
"Barely."
"How could they give a guardian angel that's younger than me?"
"It's not like we're assigned to you guys at birth."
"How am I supposed to know?" Jaejoong pouts at Junsu, nudging him with his toe again until Junsu looks over and pays attention. "Hey, can I see your wings?"
Junsu hums, rolling onto his back. "Why should I show you?"
"Don't be a brat."
"They're mine! Privacy, hyung."
"You know everything about me!"
"Not yet!" Junsu flips onto his side, back facing away from Jaejoong and pulls out his notepad.
"Not fair," Jaejoong pouts, "Lemme see."
Junsu frowns, flipping through the blank pages of his notepad. "I'm not even close to knowing everything."
While Junsu's distracted, Jaejoong goes for it, tackling him and pressing him to the floor. He pokes at Junsu's back near his shoulder blades, trying to see if he could find the wings himself. "Where are they?"
Junsu squirms under him and for a second Jaejoong is worried that he's hurt the man somehow until he realizes that Junsu is actually laughing. "Hyung, ticklish!"
Jaejoong's obvious reaction is to tickle Junsu even more, shifting side to side to avoid Junsu's hands. "It's not going to stop unless you show me."
"G-Get off!" Junsu says between laughs. He starts rocking from side to side in an effort to tip Jaejoong over.
It's a surprise to the both of them when Jaejoong doesn't fall off. Jaejoong does however practically jump off when he feels his butt being groped, landing on the floor on said butt behind Junsu. The other man gets up, laughing still but now for very different reasons. One of them probably being Jaejoong's scandalized facial expression. When Jaejoong finally recovers from shock, he points a finger at him. "You're not allowed to do that!"
Junsu giggles, hands covering his mouth. "You jumped off so quickly!"
"I just want to see your wings," Jaejoong sulks.
Junsu pouts back. "Okay."
Jaejoong lights up, "Really?"
"Sure." Junsu grabs at the ends of his shirt and starts to pull it up.
"Wait, wait. Why are you doing that?"
"They're under my shirt!"
"You can't just... have them magically go through?"
Junsu raises an eyebrow at him, tossing his shirt to the side. "No? Angel wings aren't magic."
Jaejoong thinks that was probably the worst explanation of why angel wings could not pass through fabric ever. He bounces impatiently in his spot, sitting cross-legged on the floor. "Show, show, show."
Junsu turns his back to him, rolling his shoulders and stretching before glancing back at Jaejoong. "Are you drooling?"
"I'm waiting!"
Junsu laughs, closes his eyes and faces forward. Jaejoong watches as the wings appear, translucent at first and turning a more solid, feathery white. He scoots forward quietly and pokes at them, making Junsu giggle. "Tickles."
"You're ticklish everywhere."
"Pretty much," Junsu answers, looking back and smiling at him in a way that makes Jaejoong think that if this were anyone but Junsu, it would have qualified as flirting. "Well?"
"They're..." Jaejoong pauses, trying to think of another word for small, "Cutie-sized."
Jaejoong has a date, and not being one to plan ahead, he is now running around the house, stuffing various items into his bag. When Junsu asks what he's got in his bag, Jaejoong says, "Diabolical secret things." He half expects Junsu to use some kind of x-ray vision to be nosy and look into his bag. When Junsu's facial expression doesn't change, Jaejoong has to ask, "No x-ray vision?"
"What?" Junsu follows him along into the bathroom, curious still, tiptoeing and trying to sneak a peek.
"You're not going to use your x-ray vision to look into my bag?" Jaejoong walks over to the sink, going through drawers before coming across his scissors and leans close to the mirror to start snipping at his bangs, doing some last minute trimming.
"I have x-ray vision?" Junsu sounds genuinely surprised and squints his eyes at Jaejoong's bag. "I think it's broken."
"Did you ever have it?"
"No."
"Then why would you think it was broken?" Jaejoong looks over, successfully snipping the skin of his finger, yelping at the small cut.
Junsu squeaks at the thin line of blood that appears, and grabs Jaejoong's wrist, rubbing his fingers over it.
Jaejoong squirms, whines and writhes, expecting it to sting. He stops about 5 seconds later when he realizes he doesn't feel any of that, just a warming sensation in the wake of Junsu's touch. When Junsu takes his hand away, Jaejoong can see that the cut is healed. "So you can do that but not x-ray vision?"
"I've done this a lot of times before. Never tried the x-ray vision." He squints at Jaejoong's face.
"See all the guts and eyeballs and brainmush yet?"
"No. There's no brain."
"Hey!"
"I don't have x-ray vision!"
"What do you have?" Jaejoong asks as he fixes his hair, fingers brushing stray strands out of his eyes.
"Guardian angel powers."
He sighs, "I meant specifically."
"They're a secret!"
Jaejoong can't help but chuckle at the answer. "Do you have my cell phone number in that notepad of yours?" he says half-seriously.
"No."
"No? You don't have any of the most important information. Write it down." He waits for Junsu to get his pen and notepad out from his under his wings before reciting his number. "Call me at 7:30 so I can bail out if this date starts going downhill."
"Can I use your computer while I wait?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Video games!"
Junsu doesn't call. It's 7:30.
Then it's 7:45.
Jaejoong is having a horrible time. It's okay, he thinks, because maybe Junsu is in the bathroom, or cooking, or being the worst guardian angel on earth. He downs another drink, trying to drown out his date's chatter about his coin collection. Who set up this blind date anyway? Probably Yoochun, Jaejoong realizes. He opens his mouth to comment about something but is cut off, and he just knows that this date isn't going to end naturally any time soon.
Never has Jaejoong seen a man talk about himself for so long before today.
The expensive bottle of wine courtesy of his oh so fantastic amazing date slowly but steadily disappears.
His phone rings at 8:45, when he's lying down on the backseat of a taxi, giggling every time the hit a bump and the driver asks him if he's okay. "Yellow!"
"Blue!"
"Red!"
"Hyung?"
"Junsu! I'm so glad to hear from you."
"Hyung, I'm so sorry! There was this bad guy and he was really bad and it took forever to defeat him."
"A bad guy! A bad guy! Was he my date?"
"No. He was virtual."
"You were supposed to call Junsu!" He sits up, and starts talking to the driver, "You know my angel didn't call? My angel! It's his job!"
"That's rough," the guy mumbles back.
"I was just really into the game!"
"My angel doesn't even care about me!" Jaejoong pouts at the phone as if it'll make a difference. "Why don't you care?"
"I do care! I do!"
"You don't, Junsu! You don't!" He hands the phone over to the driver. "Tell him he doesn't care! Tell him to care."
"You should care," the driver says nonchalantly.
Junsu is waiting outside his apartment complex when the taxi arrives. He catches Jaejoong when the man basically falls out of the vehicle, and helps Jaejoong take his wallet out to pay the fare. "Thanks." Dragging Jaejoong into the building proves to be more difficult when Jaejoong seems intent on bumping into and hugging every single solid object they come across, including a few people. When they finally get into the elevator, Junsu mumbles something about elevators being the best invention in the world. Jaejoong laughs and corrects him, saying it's actually mirrors.
When Junsu asks why Jaejoong bursts out laughing and points to the walls of the elevators. "Your butt looks so fat in them!"
"It does not!" Junsu huffs, pulling Jaejoong out of the elevator and trying to get to the apartment as quickly as possible.
Jaejoong pushes him against the door. "Hey!"
"Stop yelling," Junsu pouts.
"It's kiss time."
"Kiss time?"
"The end of my date! You're supposed to kiss at the door!"
"I'm not your date!"
"My date sucked!"
"Sorry!"
"Junsu! Only you can make it better. You're my angel." Jaejoong juggles his keys loudly and in front of Junsu's face. "See? Playing with my keys. All the movies say you're obliged to kiss me goodbye now."
Junsu grabs the keys, trying to unlock the door and ignore him.
"My angel always ignores me!"
"Hyung, shh."
"Everyone! Everyone!"
Junsu huffs, looking around worriedly, and plants a kiss on Jaejoong's cheek. "There."
Jaejoong melts as if on cue, turning into goo, heavy goo, into Junsu's arms and lets himself be dragged into the apartment. Junsu sets him down on the floor to take off his shoes before pulling him back up to head towards the bedroom. "Junsu," he coos, "I think you have a crush on me."
"I do not!" He lowers Jaejoong into the bed, pressing his hand to Jaejoong's forehead. Jaejoong hums at the warm feeling. "Oh baby, you do."
"Whatever, go to sleep."
"Tuck me in!" Jaejoong pouts and whines, kicking at the sheets.
Junsu shakes his head, mumbling about how the Angel Agency never trained him to take care of babies.
The next morning Jaejoong wakes up hangover-free, with a Junsu asleep sitting on the floor and leaning against his bed, his hand in Jaejoong's.
He shakes his hand a little, wondering how long Junsu had been there like that.
Junsu blinks himself awake, looking around and back at Jaejoong.
"Do I get to know what's in the bag now?"
Jaejoong finds out accidentally when he checks his mail, the first time in a long time because anyone who wants to contact him knows text messaging is the best way. His mailbox throws up on him, tiny little envelopes with cartoony white wings on the back, all marked URGENT in big red letters. Upon further review he realizes that all of them are addressed to Junsu. Jaejoong looks around to check if there are any people before stuffing them all into his bag so he can read them in the privacy of his own apartment.
It turns around the letters are from "The Guardian Angel Agency", or so the envelopes say, and there is no return address, only dates stamped in the corner of each. The most recent one, sent yesterday, reads 'Final Notice'. Jaejoong's curiosity gets the best of him and he opens it. He figures it has to do with him since Junsu is his guardian angel. It wasn't like people could share one anyway, could they?
Kim Junsu,
We are sorry to inform you that you are being dismissed from the GAA because of issues with competency and secrecy as outlined in The Book of Rules. We hope this letter reaches you well as you have not responded to our previous attempts to reach you. We insist you come by our offices by next Friday to pack up your belongings or they will be discarded.
We will send an agent to remove your wings the following day.
-The Guardian Angel Agency
Jaejoong's eyes shoot up when he hears the clicking of his lock, and runs (and trips) his way to the door, holding it closed. "Junsu?"
"Yeah! Let me in!"
"No!" He mentally slaps himself. "I mean, wait! Close your eyes, I have a surprise for you."
"A surprise?!"
"Yeah, so you have to keep your eyes closed." He peeks through the peephole to check if Junsu's actually doing it.
"Okay, okay."
Jaejoong opens the door, hand immediately coming up to cover Junsu's eyes, just in case, and leads him to his bedroom.
"What kind of surprise is it?"
"An exciting one. Wait here, okay?"
Junsu huffs, throwing himself down on Jaejoong's bed, sitting impatiently. "Okay."
Jaejoong dashes back to the living room, picking up the envelopes he spilled all over the couch. He puts them in a plastic bag and throws them out into his trash can.
"Stupid! You weren't supposed to let him know that you are his guardian angel! You're just supposed to look over him!"
"I didn't know!" Junsu bites his bottom lip to refrain from pouting, brain working on a way of fixing his mistake,
"People will abuse their privileges if they know they have them. Who knows what he's going to do now that he knows you're protecting him."
"Hyukjae, what do I do, what do I do?"
Before Hyukjae can answer Jaejoong pops into the room, "Junsu! ... Okay I'm not going to ask about the guy on my fire escape."
"A friend," Junsu answers nonchalantly, obviously not seeing what was odd about the scene.
Junsu's obliviousness makes Hyukjae slap his forehead. "I'll talk to you later, 'Su," he says and jumps off the balcony to leave.
Jaejoong waits a few second, mind still lingering on the fact that someone just jumped off his fire escape. "Okay! So, Junsu. I've got a sky-diving lesson with your name on it!"
"How does that work?"
"Not literally. I just had two tickets to it because Yoochun promised he'd go with but he's chickening out. He's scared of heights."
Junsu sucks on his lower lip, thinking. "B-but I already know how to fly. I don't know if --"
"Junsu. There's a difference between flying and freefalling. I'll show you." Jaejoong insists, holding Junsu's hand and trying not to coo when Junsu tilts his head again, obviously confused and thinking.
Jaejoong gets a text message that night: Hyung! I can't believe you. :((( I thought we were on a mission to help me conquer my fear! :((( Next time reject me by phone call instead of text message. You owe me for this! :(((
They go skydiving on Wednesday. Jaejoong makes Junsu promise not to try to fly before they jump out.
About a quarter of the way down he begs Junsu to use his wings and save them.
Junsu's too busy laughing his ass off, hand squeezing around Jaejoong's.
The one kitchen activity Jaejoong trusts Junsu with is dish washing. Unfortunately for him, cleaning seems to be the thing Junsu refuses to do. Junsu tells him that he'll cook all the meals Jaejoong wants. Jaejoong kindly declines the offer and resumes washing the dishes in silence.
"What happens if you get fired?"
"Fired?"
"From the angel thing."
Junsu thinks, walking over and bumping hips with Jaejoong. "Lose my powers and -- I don't really know." He picks up a dish and starts rinsing.
"Then you're being scared about nothing."
"Not nothing! I wouldn't be able to protect you anymore."
Jaejoong laughs, ruffling Junsu's hair and getting soap suds in it. "What would I do without you?"
"Hey!" For an angel, Junsu looks pretty devious when he strikes back.
The dishes are forgotten for a while.
Saturday morning, Jaejoong wakes up on the couch with Junsu's head on his stomach. When he shifts, he can feel the wet spot caused by Junsu drooling on him. It's kind of gross but more than anything Jaejoong thinks it's endearing, and he isn't going to lie, that surprises him a bit. He finally hears the menu screen of the DVD is playing over, music looping in that annoying way that it does. He doesn't remember falling asleep during the movie last night but doesn't dwell on it, pulling the blanket wrapped around them closer and up off the floor instead. The way Junsu looks right now is surprisingly angelic and Jaejoong runs his fingers through sunlit strands, momentarily mesmerized.
The moment is interrupted though, when there's a banging on his door. Junsu smushes his face closer to Jaejoong's stomach as if he were trying to get away from the noise. Jaejoong thinks about not answering, since he doesn't know anyone who would come at this hour anywhere. He sleepily wraps his arms around Junsu, ready to fall back asleep.
There's a sudden gust of wind and Jaejoong is about to ignore it until an unrecognizable voice coughs, clearing his throat. "Jeez, can't people just open their doors?"
Jaejoong shoots up, startled, and Junsu rolls off his stomach onto the couch. "Who are you?"
The man reaches back and seemingly fishes a notepad out of thin air. "Here for Kim Junsu, job number 1215."
Then it hits Jaejoong what he's actually here for. "Wait! You can't. He's sleeping," he says, pointing at Junsu's sleeping form.
"Well wake him up," the man sighs. "Never on time."
"But he's sleeping so soundly," Jaejoong mumbles, looking down at Junsu unsurely, poking his nose a bit. "Junsu." Junsu doesn't respond, so he pokes a little harder, not actually wanting to wake him up. Junsu lazily bats his hand away, turning his head away and hiding it against the couch. "Junsu, wake up," Jaejoong whispers, biting his lip.
Junsu blinks a couple of times, looking at him confusedly, and it makes Jaejoong want to tell him to just go back to sleep and that there was no one in the room and that they weren’t' here to take his wings away.
"What?"
Jaejoong doesn't understand why his habit of thinking out loud had to kick in now. "Uhm. Nothing!"
Junsu looks around, staring at the new arrival in the room and looks back at Jaejoong. "Why is he here?"
"Uhm. There was a letter. For you. A lot of them. In my mailbox. And they were marked. And late! And you didn't see. And I didn't know-"
"Junsu, I'm here for your wings."
"But I was dong a good job! Tell him," he turns to Jaejoong for affirmation. All Jaejoong can do is look at Junsu and nod.
"He's not even supposed to know that you're his angel. Rule #1, Junsu."
"That page was ripped out of my rulebook."
"He saw your wings."
"He asked nicely!"
"That's beside the point, Junsu. I'm sorry but this is a command from the upper powers." He walks over and easily lifts Junsu off the couch.
Jaejoong's eyes widen in panic and he stands up to reach for Junsu. "Wait, don't hurt him."
"This won't hurt one bit."
Apparently guardian angels get their wings tickled off. Junsu is left on the floor, looking like he's eaten a sour grape. The man leaves with a few apologetic words.
Jaejoong shifts his weight between from leg to leg awkwardly, unsure of what to say, feeling like he's at fault. "So... at least it didn't hurt."
Junsu hugs his legs to his chest. "Was I doing a bad job?"
"What? Nonono." Jaejoong sits down in front of him, hand rubbing Junsu's back. "You were perfect."
"Don't have to lie to me."
"I'm not," Jaejoong smiles, nudging Junsu and trying to get him to look up. "I'm not, okay?" Junsu pouts at him and it makes Jaejoong laugh. He thumbs at the pout, "You look better when you smile."
"Maybe they found out about me seeing you naked."
"You what?!"
"It was just that one time! I heard noises while you were in the shower."
Jaejoong goes red.
"I peeked in to check if you were okay, that's all. You just looked tired so I left you alone."
"Oh. That's it?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Nothing!"
They sit there in the living room, talking. Truth is, Jaejoong's gotten used to having Junsu around. Jaejoong suggests that maybe Junsu could try to gain his angel job back. He’s not sure if it’s possible but he hopes so when he sees the determined, optimistic expression on Junsu’s face.
Junsu brings a box of kittens home one day. He hadn't exactly told Jaejoong about their new guests though, so Jaejoong comes back from work and finds Junsu sitting in the middle of living room, a kitten hanging on his shoulder as he rolls an orange at another. The rest are, well, everywhere.
"Junsu!"
As if on cue, all the kittens and Junsu freeze and look at him. "Hyung!"
"What are all these kittens doing here?"
"I opened a kitty day care to pay for rent."
"You don't pay rent!"
"I know. I was joking," Junsu smiles as if he's waiting for Jaejoong to laugh.
A kitten walks up to Jaejoong, rubbing itself all over his boots. Jaejoong frowns, picking the kitten up by the skin of its neck and looking sternly at it. "Don’t do that." It meows back at him. He keeps it at a distance, turning it all around and inspecting it. "It's a girl."
Junsu picks up the one on his lap, walking over and holding it up towards Jaejoong. "What about this one?"
"That's... a boy." Jaejoong answers almost suspiciously, wondering if Junsu is just trying to embarrass him. When he looks up at Junsu though, all he gets is an innocent smile. "So why are they here again?"
"There was a box of kittens outside our door."
There's no use in chastising so Jaejoong doesn't even start. He lowers the kitten enough for it to land safely and says, "We don't have enough milk."
Junsu proceeds to give him the biggest hug ever. It makes Jaejoong almost want to melt, but since he doesn't, he just makes cooing sounds and squeezes back.
The one problem Jaejoong has with the kittens is that they meow so loudly at night that he can't fall asleep. "Junsu," he groans from his bed, hoping Junsu had heard him despite his door being closed almost all the way and his face half-pressed into his pillow. "Junsu," he calls more urgently. Junsu was the one who decided that the kittens should sleep in the bedrooms and not in the living room, so obviously Jaejoong thought Junsu should be the one to keep them quiet. He drags himself out of bed, walking over to Junsu's room, and knocking. When Junsu doesn't answer, he cracks the door open, peeking in. He can see the kittens in their makeshift bed on the floor. It's basically a pile of small blankets.
He frowns over at them, and pokes Junsu's sleeping form. "Junsu, Junsu."
Junsu makes a low sound and turns over on his other side.
"Junsuuuu," Jaejoong whines, poking harder. "Your babies are calling you."
"Sleepy," Junsu mumbles so lowly Jaejoong barely catches it.
"I'm sleepy too!" Jaejoong huffs. "Make them stop!"
"Shhh," Junsu whispers and snuggles his face against his pillow, ready to fall asleep again.
Jaejoong thinks that if he isn't going to sleep soundly, neither should Junsu. So he climbs on the bed and starts jumping, or just bouncing, rather, because jumping in his fatigued state would probably make him fall off the bed. "Up, up, up."
"Hyung," Junsu whines, tugging his comforter to cover his face.
Jaejoong falls on his ass on the bed, bouncing a few times and staring incredulously. He crawls over Junsu. "Yah! I could have cracked my head open!"
Junsu sleepily reaches to Jaejoong's face and presses it to his pillow, pulling his blanket to cover him too. "Hyung, why are you shirtless?" Junsu asks nonchalantly but closes his eyes again, barely awake.
"I sleep shirtless."
"That's probably why you can't sleep. Too cold."
Jaejoong frowns. "I'm sure it's just the noise."
Junsu yawns, reaching to comb through Jaejoong's hair lazily. "They're meowing because they miss their mom-cat. Something warm to cuddle up against."
"Liar," Jaejoong accuses.
"Shh. Sleeptime." And with that, Junsu's asleep again.
Jaejoong won't admit the next morning that he fell asleep soon after.
It's a few days later when the two of them are cleaning up when he grabs his boots and realizes they're a little heavier than usual. He looks inside one of them and sees a drowsy-looking kitty, blinking up at him. "Hey little guy, what are you doing in there?" He whisper, not wanting to startle it, puts the other boot down and reaches into the leg to get it out. Grabbing it by the skin of its neck, he feels a little bad when it still looks sleepy, pawing at its own eyes. "Sorry, don't want kitty fur all in my boot."
Jaejoong drops the kitten on the couch and is about to pick up his abandoned boot when he sees another kitten already in it and yet another trying to get in. "Hey!"
Junsu's laugh makes him look up. "They like that it's furry and warm."
"They should sleep on your stomach then."
Junsu huffs, bending over to pet the kittens. "Good job guys. Do me a favor and pee in there too."
"You knew they've been going in there?"
"Every night. A couple of them."
"Junsu!"
"What? It's a good use for your moon boots."
The kitten in his left boot meows at him, and Jaejoong can't even pretend to still be mad.
He gets back from work, tired and ready to pass out, greeted by the sight of a very intrigued Junsu on the couch, staring at the television, legs tucked against his chest and black wrapped around his shoulders. Junsu looks up momentarily and holds a finger up to his lips, shushing Jaejoong and signaling him to look in the corner of the room. Jaejoong tiptoes to see over his TV, and sees the kittens sleeping in their cat bed.
He closes the door quietly and when he looks over Junsu has already refocused on the screen. "What's so interesting?"
"Swans," Junsu answers briefly. Jaejoong sits down next to him, watching two swans swim off together, cheek to cheek. "Swans mate for life, hyung. They're such romantic animals."
Jaejoong looks over and has to fight the urge to swoon at Junsu's expression of innocent fascination. He leans him, humming nonchalantly before he smushes his cheek against Junsu's. "This is romantic?"
Junsu's laughs and moves his head to rubs their cheeks together. "This is just the last part of it."
Jaejoong looks over, "Oh?” cheek still pressed against Junsu's.
"Yeah!" Junsu doesn't move away, talking a little funny with one cheek squished. "First they blow bubbles in the water at each other and they keep blowing bubbles until they're in synch. Then, then the boy swan hugs the girl swan from behind, and he holds up her head so she doesn't drown. And then they snort at each other and do the cheek thing."
Jaejoong snorts at him, making Junsu crack up almost immediately.
"You sound like a pig."
Jaejoong tries to look insulted. "I do not! I was snorting at you like a swan."
"Sounded like a pig snort to me."
That called for a tickle war.
Jaejoong looks up swan mating that night and the boy swan is definitely not hugging the girl one.
"Yah! You have to take a bath," Jaejoong scolds the kitten like it knows what he's saying, trying to hold it still and wash it in the sink. He makes sure the water is warm and is careful to only brush the fur one way while rinsing her. No matter how careful he is though, she wants to get out, and it's made clear as she scratches his hand, making him let go, and makes a run for it out of the bathroom and into the hallway, almost bumping into Junsu on the way out.
"Whoa. Where is that one going?"
"She doesn't like baths," Jaejoong explains, examining the cut. "Scratched me."
Junsu rushes over, taking Jaejoong's hand and looking at it. "It's kind of deep! You need to clean it."
"I guess. I could just rinse it--"
Junsu is already rummaging through the shelves for the rubbing alcohol and cotton.
"Junsu, it's really not necessary."
"Nonsense." Junsu dabs at his cut with an overly soaked cotton ball.
Jaejoong's jaw tightens. It stings. A lot. More than he knows it should. He manages a weak smile when Junsu looks up at him. He's thankful when it's over and watches as Junsu wraps a band aid too tight around him. Jaejoong is really grateful for his high tolerance when he looks up and sees Junsu's hopeful smile. "All better."
"Whoo!" Junsu throws his arms up in the air. "I've never taken a human first aid class, only the angel ones."
"I can tell," Jaejoong mumbles.
"Huh?"
Jaejoong smiles more genuinely. "Said you don't need your powers to take care of me."
Junsu's reaction makes Jaejoong forget about his pain momentarily.
Yoochun's coming over for dinner. Junsu isn't told why, but he is and Jaejoong insists it's nothing special, no reason in particular, he swears. Jaejoong leaves Yoochun in the living room with Junsu, asking them to play nice before going into the kitchen to finish up dinner. He still watches them out of the corner of his eye anyway, heart skipping when Yoochun leans a little too close to Junsu and Junsu doesn't seem to notice.
Conversation at the dinner table is about as casual as Jaejoong can keep it, which isn't very. He sits at the head of the table with Yoochun and Junsu on either side.
"So Junsu," Yoochun starts out smoothly, "How's living with Jaejoong?" He smiles sweetly, hand creeping over to Jaejoong's. Jaejoong almost chokes on his food when Yoochun starts caressing him.
"I like it," Junsu answers easily, picking up more food from the dishes.
"He's a really good cook," Yoochun looks at Jaejoong rather seductively. But this is Yoochun so Jaejoong gives him a What are you doing? look and Yoochun quickly flashes a Doing my thing back at him, his hand sliding along Jaejoong arm.
"Mhm," Junsu glances, looking either kind of confused or like he ate something funky. "I cook for him sometimes."
"You know how Jaejoong-hyung likes his food?"
"No, he eats whatever I cook."
"I know how Jaejoong-hyung like everything."
"Yeah?"
"Yep."
Jaejoong clears his throat. "Yoochun, can you help me get something in the kitchen?"
Yoochun blinks, doing something Jaejoong would describe as fluttering his eyelashes. "Of course," he answers and is quickly pulled into the kitchen.
"What are you doing?"
"He's so jealous! He won't even look at me."
"I think he's just really distracted by his food." Jaejoong peeks over the counter to see Junsu, still eating.
"Believe what you want, but it looks like you guys are going nowhere."
"We don't have to go anywhere. He just wants to help."
"He has no reason to help anymore. And you, I don't think I can take one more text message about him."
"It's not that much."
"It's way too much. I'm here for intervention."
"Do you guys need some help?" Junsu calls from the dinner table.
"We're good," Jaejoong calls back, opening the fridge to get some extra kimchi.
"Really good!" Yoochun gets a smack to his head.
The rest of dinner doesn't get any less awkward and Jaejoong is happy when it's over, shooing Yoochun out of his apartment with Yoochun making smoochy faces at him. He leans against the door, feeling exhausted, and closes his eyes. It surprises him when he hears the rattling of dishes. "Junsu?"
"Yeah?"
"Doing the dishes?"
"Yeah."
"You never do them," Jaejoong tries teasing.
"Yeah, but I wanted to do something nice."
Jaejoong helps with the dishes, biting his lip and not knowing what to say.
"Did Yoochun want to stay over?"
"Yeah, but I kicked him out."
"He said he'd sleep in your bed."
"Uhh, yeah. I think he was just-"
"Did you ever kiss him?"
"Come again?" Jaejoong sighs and looks at Junsu, trying to read him even though he's avoiding eye contact.
Junsu puts down the dishes, popping suds in the sink. "Did you ever kiss him?"
"Just a couple of times. It was just for-"
"But he's your best friend."
"Yeah."
"Do you kiss all your friends?"
"What? No, I don't."
"Are you just bad at saying no?"
"I can say no," Jaejoong answers, frowning, not knowing what Junsu is getting at.
"Really?" Junsu turns and looks at him. "You're not just a people pleaser?"
"N-no."
"Can you kiss me?"
"No." Jaejoong watches for Junsu's reaction. "See? Really good at saying no."
"Oh," Junsu answers after a short pause.
"Hey," Jaejoong pokes Junsu's side, trying to figure out if it was really disappointment he heard in Junsu's response. He does it again when he's ignored, "Hey."
"What?"
Maybe Jaejoong really is bad at saying no. At least to cute, sassy, ex-guardian angels.
They ended up making out of the couch, something Junsu laughs at while making out on said couch. By the tenth time Junsu laughs, Jaejoong figures he should stop feeling insulted, especially when Junsu keeps kissing him anyway.
Jaejoong can feel the fast thump-thump in Junsu's chest. "What's this?" He teases, pressing his palm on Junsu's chest.
"My shirt."
"Funny," Jaejoong laughs, staring at him.
"Staring."
"You're something to stare at."
"Gross," Junsu makes a face, sticking his tongue out, "I can't believe you just said that."
"My angel," Jaejoong coos.
"Not your angel anymore."
"After what happened on this couch, no." Jaejoong grins, "Is that okay?"
"I guess," Junsu teases before kissing Jaejoong again. "Does Yoochun really know everything you like?"
"Not everything. He was just trying to make you jealous."
"You don't hate what I cook?"
Jaejoong hums and avoids the question, "Thought you told him that I eat whatever you cook."
"You do."
"Isn't that good?" Jaejoong doesn't wait for an answer though, kissing Junsu again, grinning when the other man weaves his fingers into his hair and pulls him closer.
Junsu pulls back, mumbling against Jaejoong's lips, "Your couch is less comfy than I remember."
Jaejoong makes quick work of sitting them up and walking them over to his room, still kissing and almost tripping a few times on the way. He pushes Junsu on his bed, catching his lower lip immediately, swallowing Junsu's moan. Junsu laughs again, cupping his jaw and gently nudging him back. "Kissing is tiring."
Jaejoong tries to keep nipping at his lips anyway. "But it's so fun."
Junsu giggles and admits in a whisper, "Being jealous is even more tiring."
Jaejoong wakes up to a Junsu wiggling in his hold, and instinctively holds onto him tighter, squeezing a squeal out of the younger man.
"Hyung, I have to take care of something," Junsu tries softly, pushing at his chest, and Jaejoong suddenly realizes just what he's talking about, opening his eyes wide.
"Oh," is all Jaejoong can say because he doesn't realize if Junsu notices his problem either.
"Yeah," Junsu blushes, "Unless you want to go first."
"How about I help?"
Jaejoong strips him down to nothing but skin and shyness, taking Junsu's hands in his to stop him from covering himself. Junsu watches as Jaejoong kisses his hands, eyes locked on Jaejoong’s lips as he brushes them over bumpy knuckles. He goes slow, careful to note what makes Junsu gasp and moan. He lets Junsu ride on top and set the pace, needing to know Junsu really wants this, wants him. Junsu comes loudly, cock twitching in Jaejoong's grip, clamping down and milking an orgasm out of him.
He catches Junsu lazily as the man collapses on top of him, pressing his mouth against the side of his face, catching his breath.
Jaejoong bites his lip, listening to the sound of their breathing return to normal. "Junsu?"
"Mhm?"
"Did you, uhh, did you, like... it?"
"Mhm."
Jaejoong pulls out, rolling them onto their side and reaching for Junsu's shirt to clean them up, and gets ready to cuddle. He sees Junsu's eyes look over his shoulder though, and widen with something akin to panic. "Junsu?"
"He saw!"
Jaejoong turns around and there near his doorway is one of the kittens, just watching them curiously, and it makes him laugh. "It's no big deal." But Junsu makes a face that says he thinks different and wraps his arms around Jaejoong's neck, holding him close and pouting. Jaejoong takes advantage of the situation, hugging Junsu with a big smile on his face. And the more Junsu pouts, the more he smiles back until he finds his smile pressed against Junsu's pout, trying to kiss it away.
He curses under his breath when the doorbell rings, followed by a few knocks and Yoochun's muffled voice. "Ignore it."
Junsu smirks. "I'll get it," he says as he slips on his pants, low on his hips and teasing Jaejoong, waving mischievously as he leaves the room, laughing at Jaejoong's pout.
He cracks open the door and peeks out at Yoochun. "Yes?"
Yoochun raises an eyebrow at him. "Is Jaejoong-hyung here?"
"Yes..."
"Can I talk to him?
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because we're about to do some serious kissy kissy," Junsu replies, sticking his tongue out and closing the door in Yoochun's face. When he gets back to the room, Jaejoong's already received an excited text message with more winky faces than he'd like.
"Heyyyy," Junsu makes a stern face at kitten that's found its way up onto the bed and curled next to Jaejoong.
"You gave up your spot and he took it."
Junsu picks it up and politely drops it off the edge of the bed. "He's mine," he tells it before shooing it away.
"Yours, huh?" Jaejoong asks amusedly as Junsu crawls back in under the sheets with him.
Junsu snorts instead of really answering, rolling his eyes slightly.
It only makes Jaejoong squeeze his arms around him harder. "A romantic swan!" he practically squeals, ignoring Junsu’s insistent denial of snorting in any remotely romantic way.
8,118 words (!!!DDDD:)
"I've been looking for you all night!"
Jaejoong turns around to the voice and the hand on his elbow, eyeing the boy curiously. If it had been anyone else he probably would have taken that as a pick up line. He looks to his left and his right, and back to the younger man in front of him. "Who are you looking for?"
"You! You're Jaejoong, right?"
"Maybe. Why are you looking for him?"
"I'm his guardian angel!"
Jaejoong laughs, never having heard that one before. "This place is far from heaven."
"But I looked for you all night!" the boy almost screeches to be heard above the music. Jaejoong winces but he doesn't seem to notice. "I'm Junsu!"
Jaejoong has to laugh, and pats Junsu on the shoulder. "It's nice to meet you. And whatever you heard about me, it isn't true. So I'm sure you've been mistaken." He turns around, expecting the subject to be dropped and goes back to his drink.
"But I'm not! I know who you are." To Jaejoong's surprise, Junsu takes a seat next to him, swaying it side to side. "I've been--"
"I know. Looking for me all night," Jaejoong finishes for him. "Do you want a drink?"
"If it's apple juice."
"Is that a joke?"
"No," Junsu answers, tilting his head like a confused puppy dog. Jaejoong finds it kind of cute. Just a little, he promises, not a bit more than kind of, not even close to very. But more importantly, this kid's weird. He orders him a Shirley Temple.
"Hyung!"
Jaejoong turns around to the owner of the hand slapped on his shoulder. "Hey."
"Y-Yoochun!"
Jaejoong peers over suspiciously at Junsu, and then snaps his head back at Yoochun. "You did this?"
"Whoa, whoa. I didn't do anything! Who's the kid?"
"You tell me!"
"Well," Yoochun glances over, "You bought him a drink... and he's kind of cute."
"Don't play stupid."
"What? He doesn't look like your type but he's not bad."
"I'm not a kid! I'm his age!" Junsu yells, trying to interrupt their little private conversation.
"No. No you aren't. You asked for an apple juice," Jaejoong tries sternly and goes back to whispering-hissing at Yoochun, eventually batting him away with a few loud smacks.
Junsu speaks up when Jaejoong turns back around. "I can't drink on the job."
Jaejoong takes one last gulp from his glass and signals the bartender for another. "You work here?"
"I work everywhere."
Jaejoong laughs, "Oh really?"
"Yeah!" It seems like the boy thought that was a signal for conversation. "All the places you go."
His drink arrives, thank god. "All the places? Really?"
"Yeah, I see you all the time!"
"You're pretty persistent," Jaejoong smiles, leaning in.
Junsu nods happily, and it honestly weirds Jaejoong out a little. He follows Junsu's gaze out to the crowd of people.
"You're not going to dance?" Junsu asks suddenly.
"I'm not good at it. It's more of Yoochun's thing."
Junsu laugh startles him, both because he hadn't heard it before and because it's really loud. "It's definitely not Yoochun's thing. It's just something he does."
"What do you mean?"
"Look at him!"
"He's not bad."
"You're being nice."
"Like you're any better."
"I am!"
"Right," Jaejoong glances over skeptically, "That's why you're sitting here."
"I'm here for you."
Jaejoong snorts, grabbing his hand and leading him to the dance floor. "You've got some weird pick up lines, kid."
So it turns out that Junsu is definitely not a kid, dancing is definitely not Yoochun's thing, and there is no way in hell that Junsu is an angel of any kind.
Jaejoong ended up dragging Junsu home with him, if you can call ‘walking as Junsu tags along and won't let go’ dragging. Honestly he had no idea where the boy lived and didn't want a headline in the news telling the story of some young, dead, cut up into a million pieces male rest on his conscience. Besides, Junsu insisted going home with him, that that was where he belonged. Jaejoong had snorted, like he'd never heard that one before. It was when Junsu straight up passed out on his couch that Jaejoong started believing that he wasn't just someone with really bad pick up lines.
That revelation, however, did nothing to help him figure out what to do with the currently still slumbering Junsu on his couch. He's making his morning tea when there's a knock on his door. He opens the door to a snickering Yoochun.
"You dog, you dog! I saw you take him home last night."
"Yah!" Before Jaejoong even gets to start explaining he's hurried into their apartment.
"I saw you two dancing too. You never dance! How was-- Hyung!"
Jaejoong shushes him, getting worried that Junsu will wake up before he's figured out what to do.
Yoochun lowers his voice to an amused whisper, "He couldn't walk afterwards or something? Eh? Eh?"
Jaejoong rolls his eyes at Yoochun's elbow nudging. "He just kept following me! I didn't know what to do."
"He's kind of cute. Look at that sleeping face," Yoochun giggles, walks over to the couch and wiggles a finger at Junsu's sleeping form.
"Yoochun, stop it. He's going to wake up!" Jaejoong bites his lip, waving his hand frantically to tell Yoochun to move away from the couch.
Yoochun laughs and brushes him off. "Don't worry, he's fast asleep," he says and pokes Junsu's nose, snickering when Junsu scrunches it in his sleep. "Awww."
"You're such a freak. Why are you touching a stranger like that?"
"He's not a stranger, hyung. He's your guardian angel," Yoochun says, cracking up.
"Shut up."
"You've always attracted the weirdoes."
"You always attract the trannys."
"Lies! That one time--"
"Yoochunyoochunyoochun! He's waking up." Jaejoong hides frantically behind his kitchen counter, watching as Junsu stretches and rolls onto his other side.
They hold their breath for ten long seconds until they're sure Junsu is asleep.
"See, he's fine. When did you get this blanket anyway?" Yoochun lifts a corner of the blanket that Junsu is using, eyeing it suspiciously; it’s baby blue with fat little cartoon dolphins all over it.
Jaejoong hadn't noticed it until now. "It's not mine."
"Well it's not like he carried it here."
"Why would I own that?"
While Jaejoong and Yoochun get into a heated debate about who is the true owner of said baby blue blanket, Junsu sits up, peering around and rubbing his eyes awake. He observes for a few minutes, seeing as how neither of them is paying attention to him anymore.
"The blanket's mine."
Both of them turn their gaze toward Junsu, surprised.
Yoochun’s the first to speak up. "You've been here before?"
"He hasn't!"
"Yeah, a lot of times."
"Are you a stalker!?"
"Are you a stalker?"
"No! I said it yesterday! I'm his guardian angel!" Junsu reaches up and seems to be scratching his neck and back when he pulls something out suddenly, shocking Yoochun enough for him to squeak and pop back. "Look! I have an official badge."
Jaejoong walks over, squinting to read the small print. "What the hell."
"Heaven," Junsu corrects with a drowsy smile.
"What's it say, hyung?"
"Says 'Official First-Year Guardian Angel: Kim Junsu, First Assignment: Kim Jaejoong'."
Cue moment of silence.
"Where did you pull that out from?" Jaejoong finally asks, pointing at the toy-looking badge.
"My wings!" Junsu answers excitedly. "I have a notepad in there too, wrote down things about you too." He reaches back and pulls out a notepad, oblivious to the widening of eyes watching him. He shows the pad off proudly, "Look!"
Jaejoong reads it.
There are only three lines written in it:
- Likes really really really really really spicy food.
- Buys really expensive shampoo.
- Best friend Yoochun is clingy and annoying.
Yoochun peeks over Jaejoong's shoulder. "Hey!"
"This is just not true!" Jaejoong exclaims. "My shampoo is moderately priced."
Jaejoong lets Junsu stay for a day, a week, a month, a he-begins-to-lose-track-of-time. He has a guest bedroom anyway, and he rarely ever uses it. And Junsu doesn’t seem to have anywhere else to go.
Junsu always tries to make breakfast to make up for it. He says that not many people actually house their angels. Since he's stayed the fire alarmed has gone off at least 5 times, other times Jaejoong's been lucky enough to do some damage control. Damage control, however, is always made more difficult with Junsu trying to do damage control and protect Jaejoong from the dangers of the kitchen: exploding eggs, burnt (to crisps) cupcakes and the like. He begins to fear anything that has to do with Junsu and his kitchen in general.
"Junsu, Junsu! What are you doing?" Still though, every morning Junsu wakes up at the crack of dawn and gets into his kitchen.
"Making breakfast!" Junsu answers happily, flicking his spatula to flip a pancake.
Jaejoong thinks he shouldn't be surprised when the pancake slaps onto his face. It's half cooked and slides down and off his face slowly. Jaejoong's just grateful it isn't actually hot yet.
"Sorry!" Junsu rushes over, dropping the spatula, and wipes gooey batter off Jaejoong's nose.
Jaejoong blinks slowly and all he's able to see is a bright, fuzzy Junsu.
"Wait, wait! Don't open your eyes yet."
Jaejoong laughs a little at the concern in Junsu's voice, squeezing his eyes closed as Junsu swipes his fingers over them, trying to get rid of all the batter. "I'm fine."
"It's my job," Junsu insists, brushing away leftover bits and trying to get the batter in his hair.
"To almost kill me while making breakfast?"
"To take care of you!" Junsu hmphs and it makes Jaejoong want to coo at him.
"Ah, pancake facial mask, then."
"Teasing me."
"Hey, hey. You're doing a great job." He looks over Junsu's shoulder. "But I think those will have to go," he says, pointing at the half burnt pancakes still in the pan.
"Oh no!" Junsu runs over, poking and inspecting them with chopsticks. "Wasted."
After Jaejoong gets the rest of the batter out from his hair and off his face (with a lot of 'assistance' from Junsu), they spend breakfast peeling the burnt sides off of the pancakes as best they can because Jaejoong would rather eat slightly burnt pancakes than make his angel feel like he's doing a bad job.
It's a lazy Saturday. Jaejoong's hanging out in the living room on the big couch. He stretches a leg out and uses his big toe to poke Junsu, who has become engrossed in one of Jaejoong's video games. "Hey Junsu."
Junsu flinches away, biting his lip as he shoots two red bullets straight ahead, hitting a big mushroom-headed looking person. "Hey! Gross. Feet. Video game. Stop."
"Jeez, how old are you, Junsu?" Jaejoong pouts, not liking being ignored, especially not for little controllable cartoons on the television screen.
It turns out Junsu is just a year younger than him, which comes off as a shock to both of them. Junsu, apparently, was under the impression that they were the same age.
"Yah, so I'm your hyung."
"Barely."
"How could they give a guardian angel that's younger than me?"
"It's not like we're assigned to you guys at birth."
"How am I supposed to know?" Jaejoong pouts at Junsu, nudging him with his toe again until Junsu looks over and pays attention. "Hey, can I see your wings?"
Junsu hums, rolling onto his back. "Why should I show you?"
"Don't be a brat."
"They're mine! Privacy, hyung."
"You know everything about me!"
"Not yet!" Junsu flips onto his side, back facing away from Jaejoong and pulls out his notepad.
"Not fair," Jaejoong pouts, "Lemme see."
Junsu frowns, flipping through the blank pages of his notepad. "I'm not even close to knowing everything."
While Junsu's distracted, Jaejoong goes for it, tackling him and pressing him to the floor. He pokes at Junsu's back near his shoulder blades, trying to see if he could find the wings himself. "Where are they?"
Junsu squirms under him and for a second Jaejoong is worried that he's hurt the man somehow until he realizes that Junsu is actually laughing. "Hyung, ticklish!"
Jaejoong's obvious reaction is to tickle Junsu even more, shifting side to side to avoid Junsu's hands. "It's not going to stop unless you show me."
"G-Get off!" Junsu says between laughs. He starts rocking from side to side in an effort to tip Jaejoong over.
It's a surprise to the both of them when Jaejoong doesn't fall off. Jaejoong does however practically jump off when he feels his butt being groped, landing on the floor on said butt behind Junsu. The other man gets up, laughing still but now for very different reasons. One of them probably being Jaejoong's scandalized facial expression. When Jaejoong finally recovers from shock, he points a finger at him. "You're not allowed to do that!"
Junsu giggles, hands covering his mouth. "You jumped off so quickly!"
"I just want to see your wings," Jaejoong sulks.
Junsu pouts back. "Okay."
Jaejoong lights up, "Really?"
"Sure." Junsu grabs at the ends of his shirt and starts to pull it up.
"Wait, wait. Why are you doing that?"
"They're under my shirt!"
"You can't just... have them magically go through?"
Junsu raises an eyebrow at him, tossing his shirt to the side. "No? Angel wings aren't magic."
Jaejoong thinks that was probably the worst explanation of why angel wings could not pass through fabric ever. He bounces impatiently in his spot, sitting cross-legged on the floor. "Show, show, show."
Junsu turns his back to him, rolling his shoulders and stretching before glancing back at Jaejoong. "Are you drooling?"
"I'm waiting!"
Junsu laughs, closes his eyes and faces forward. Jaejoong watches as the wings appear, translucent at first and turning a more solid, feathery white. He scoots forward quietly and pokes at them, making Junsu giggle. "Tickles."
"You're ticklish everywhere."
"Pretty much," Junsu answers, looking back and smiling at him in a way that makes Jaejoong think that if this were anyone but Junsu, it would have qualified as flirting. "Well?"
"They're..." Jaejoong pauses, trying to think of another word for small, "Cutie-sized."
Jaejoong has a date, and not being one to plan ahead, he is now running around the house, stuffing various items into his bag. When Junsu asks what he's got in his bag, Jaejoong says, "Diabolical secret things." He half expects Junsu to use some kind of x-ray vision to be nosy and look into his bag. When Junsu's facial expression doesn't change, Jaejoong has to ask, "No x-ray vision?"
"What?" Junsu follows him along into the bathroom, curious still, tiptoeing and trying to sneak a peek.
"You're not going to use your x-ray vision to look into my bag?" Jaejoong walks over to the sink, going through drawers before coming across his scissors and leans close to the mirror to start snipping at his bangs, doing some last minute trimming.
"I have x-ray vision?" Junsu sounds genuinely surprised and squints his eyes at Jaejoong's bag. "I think it's broken."
"Did you ever have it?"
"No."
"Then why would you think it was broken?" Jaejoong looks over, successfully snipping the skin of his finger, yelping at the small cut.
Junsu squeaks at the thin line of blood that appears, and grabs Jaejoong's wrist, rubbing his fingers over it.
Jaejoong squirms, whines and writhes, expecting it to sting. He stops about 5 seconds later when he realizes he doesn't feel any of that, just a warming sensation in the wake of Junsu's touch. When Junsu takes his hand away, Jaejoong can see that the cut is healed. "So you can do that but not x-ray vision?"
"I've done this a lot of times before. Never tried the x-ray vision." He squints at Jaejoong's face.
"See all the guts and eyeballs and brainmush yet?"
"No. There's no brain."
"Hey!"
"I don't have x-ray vision!"
"What do you have?" Jaejoong asks as he fixes his hair, fingers brushing stray strands out of his eyes.
"Guardian angel powers."
He sighs, "I meant specifically."
"They're a secret!"
Jaejoong can't help but chuckle at the answer. "Do you have my cell phone number in that notepad of yours?" he says half-seriously.
"No."
"No? You don't have any of the most important information. Write it down." He waits for Junsu to get his pen and notepad out from his under his wings before reciting his number. "Call me at 7:30 so I can bail out if this date starts going downhill."
"Can I use your computer while I wait?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Video games!"
Junsu doesn't call. It's 7:30.
Then it's 7:45.
Jaejoong is having a horrible time. It's okay, he thinks, because maybe Junsu is in the bathroom, or cooking, or being the worst guardian angel on earth. He downs another drink, trying to drown out his date's chatter about his coin collection. Who set up this blind date anyway? Probably Yoochun, Jaejoong realizes. He opens his mouth to comment about something but is cut off, and he just knows that this date isn't going to end naturally any time soon.
Never has Jaejoong seen a man talk about himself for so long before today.
The expensive bottle of wine courtesy of his oh so fantastic amazing date slowly but steadily disappears.
His phone rings at 8:45, when he's lying down on the backseat of a taxi, giggling every time the hit a bump and the driver asks him if he's okay. "Yellow!"
"Blue!"
"Red!"
"Hyung?"
"Junsu! I'm so glad to hear from you."
"Hyung, I'm so sorry! There was this bad guy and he was really bad and it took forever to defeat him."
"A bad guy! A bad guy! Was he my date?"
"No. He was virtual."
"You were supposed to call Junsu!" He sits up, and starts talking to the driver, "You know my angel didn't call? My angel! It's his job!"
"That's rough," the guy mumbles back.
"I was just really into the game!"
"My angel doesn't even care about me!" Jaejoong pouts at the phone as if it'll make a difference. "Why don't you care?"
"I do care! I do!"
"You don't, Junsu! You don't!" He hands the phone over to the driver. "Tell him he doesn't care! Tell him to care."
"You should care," the driver says nonchalantly.
Junsu is waiting outside his apartment complex when the taxi arrives. He catches Jaejoong when the man basically falls out of the vehicle, and helps Jaejoong take his wallet out to pay the fare. "Thanks." Dragging Jaejoong into the building proves to be more difficult when Jaejoong seems intent on bumping into and hugging every single solid object they come across, including a few people. When they finally get into the elevator, Junsu mumbles something about elevators being the best invention in the world. Jaejoong laughs and corrects him, saying it's actually mirrors.
When Junsu asks why Jaejoong bursts out laughing and points to the walls of the elevators. "Your butt looks so fat in them!"
"It does not!" Junsu huffs, pulling Jaejoong out of the elevator and trying to get to the apartment as quickly as possible.
Jaejoong pushes him against the door. "Hey!"
"Stop yelling," Junsu pouts.
"It's kiss time."
"Kiss time?"
"The end of my date! You're supposed to kiss at the door!"
"I'm not your date!"
"My date sucked!"
"Sorry!"
"Junsu! Only you can make it better. You're my angel." Jaejoong juggles his keys loudly and in front of Junsu's face. "See? Playing with my keys. All the movies say you're obliged to kiss me goodbye now."
Junsu grabs the keys, trying to unlock the door and ignore him.
"My angel always ignores me!"
"Hyung, shh."
"Everyone! Everyone!"
Junsu huffs, looking around worriedly, and plants a kiss on Jaejoong's cheek. "There."
Jaejoong melts as if on cue, turning into goo, heavy goo, into Junsu's arms and lets himself be dragged into the apartment. Junsu sets him down on the floor to take off his shoes before pulling him back up to head towards the bedroom. "Junsu," he coos, "I think you have a crush on me."
"I do not!" He lowers Jaejoong into the bed, pressing his hand to Jaejoong's forehead. Jaejoong hums at the warm feeling. "Oh baby, you do."
"Whatever, go to sleep."
"Tuck me in!" Jaejoong pouts and whines, kicking at the sheets.
Junsu shakes his head, mumbling about how the Angel Agency never trained him to take care of babies.
The next morning Jaejoong wakes up hangover-free, with a Junsu asleep sitting on the floor and leaning against his bed, his hand in Jaejoong's.
He shakes his hand a little, wondering how long Junsu had been there like that.
Junsu blinks himself awake, looking around and back at Jaejoong.
"Do I get to know what's in the bag now?"
Jaejoong finds out accidentally when he checks his mail, the first time in a long time because anyone who wants to contact him knows text messaging is the best way. His mailbox throws up on him, tiny little envelopes with cartoony white wings on the back, all marked URGENT in big red letters. Upon further review he realizes that all of them are addressed to Junsu. Jaejoong looks around to check if there are any people before stuffing them all into his bag so he can read them in the privacy of his own apartment.
It turns around the letters are from "The Guardian Angel Agency", or so the envelopes say, and there is no return address, only dates stamped in the corner of each. The most recent one, sent yesterday, reads 'Final Notice'. Jaejoong's curiosity gets the best of him and he opens it. He figures it has to do with him since Junsu is his guardian angel. It wasn't like people could share one anyway, could they?
Kim Junsu,
We are sorry to inform you that you are being dismissed from the GAA because of issues with competency and secrecy as outlined in The Book of Rules. We hope this letter reaches you well as you have not responded to our previous attempts to reach you. We insist you come by our offices by next Friday to pack up your belongings or they will be discarded.
We will send an agent to remove your wings the following day.
-The Guardian Angel Agency
Jaejoong's eyes shoot up when he hears the clicking of his lock, and runs (and trips) his way to the door, holding it closed. "Junsu?"
"Yeah! Let me in!"
"No!" He mentally slaps himself. "I mean, wait! Close your eyes, I have a surprise for you."
"A surprise?!"
"Yeah, so you have to keep your eyes closed." He peeks through the peephole to check if Junsu's actually doing it.
"Okay, okay."
Jaejoong opens the door, hand immediately coming up to cover Junsu's eyes, just in case, and leads him to his bedroom.
"What kind of surprise is it?"
"An exciting one. Wait here, okay?"
Junsu huffs, throwing himself down on Jaejoong's bed, sitting impatiently. "Okay."
Jaejoong dashes back to the living room, picking up the envelopes he spilled all over the couch. He puts them in a plastic bag and throws them out into his trash can.
"Stupid! You weren't supposed to let him know that you are his guardian angel! You're just supposed to look over him!"
"I didn't know!" Junsu bites his bottom lip to refrain from pouting, brain working on a way of fixing his mistake,
"People will abuse their privileges if they know they have them. Who knows what he's going to do now that he knows you're protecting him."
"Hyukjae, what do I do, what do I do?"
Before Hyukjae can answer Jaejoong pops into the room, "Junsu! ... Okay I'm not going to ask about the guy on my fire escape."
"A friend," Junsu answers nonchalantly, obviously not seeing what was odd about the scene.
Junsu's obliviousness makes Hyukjae slap his forehead. "I'll talk to you later, 'Su," he says and jumps off the balcony to leave.
Jaejoong waits a few second, mind still lingering on the fact that someone just jumped off his fire escape. "Okay! So, Junsu. I've got a sky-diving lesson with your name on it!"
"How does that work?"
"Not literally. I just had two tickets to it because Yoochun promised he'd go with but he's chickening out. He's scared of heights."
Junsu sucks on his lower lip, thinking. "B-but I already know how to fly. I don't know if --"
"Junsu. There's a difference between flying and freefalling. I'll show you." Jaejoong insists, holding Junsu's hand and trying not to coo when Junsu tilts his head again, obviously confused and thinking.
Jaejoong gets a text message that night: Hyung! I can't believe you. :((( I thought we were on a mission to help me conquer my fear! :((( Next time reject me by phone call instead of text message. You owe me for this! :(((
They go skydiving on Wednesday. Jaejoong makes Junsu promise not to try to fly before they jump out.
About a quarter of the way down he begs Junsu to use his wings and save them.
Junsu's too busy laughing his ass off, hand squeezing around Jaejoong's.
The one kitchen activity Jaejoong trusts Junsu with is dish washing. Unfortunately for him, cleaning seems to be the thing Junsu refuses to do. Junsu tells him that he'll cook all the meals Jaejoong wants. Jaejoong kindly declines the offer and resumes washing the dishes in silence.
"What happens if you get fired?"
"Fired?"
"From the angel thing."
Junsu thinks, walking over and bumping hips with Jaejoong. "Lose my powers and -- I don't really know." He picks up a dish and starts rinsing.
"Then you're being scared about nothing."
"Not nothing! I wouldn't be able to protect you anymore."
Jaejoong laughs, ruffling Junsu's hair and getting soap suds in it. "What would I do without you?"
"Hey!" For an angel, Junsu looks pretty devious when he strikes back.
The dishes are forgotten for a while.
Saturday morning, Jaejoong wakes up on the couch with Junsu's head on his stomach. When he shifts, he can feel the wet spot caused by Junsu drooling on him. It's kind of gross but more than anything Jaejoong thinks it's endearing, and he isn't going to lie, that surprises him a bit. He finally hears the menu screen of the DVD is playing over, music looping in that annoying way that it does. He doesn't remember falling asleep during the movie last night but doesn't dwell on it, pulling the blanket wrapped around them closer and up off the floor instead. The way Junsu looks right now is surprisingly angelic and Jaejoong runs his fingers through sunlit strands, momentarily mesmerized.
The moment is interrupted though, when there's a banging on his door. Junsu smushes his face closer to Jaejoong's stomach as if he were trying to get away from the noise. Jaejoong thinks about not answering, since he doesn't know anyone who would come at this hour anywhere. He sleepily wraps his arms around Junsu, ready to fall back asleep.
There's a sudden gust of wind and Jaejoong is about to ignore it until an unrecognizable voice coughs, clearing his throat. "Jeez, can't people just open their doors?"
Jaejoong shoots up, startled, and Junsu rolls off his stomach onto the couch. "Who are you?"
The man reaches back and seemingly fishes a notepad out of thin air. "Here for Kim Junsu, job number 1215."
Then it hits Jaejoong what he's actually here for. "Wait! You can't. He's sleeping," he says, pointing at Junsu's sleeping form.
"Well wake him up," the man sighs. "Never on time."
"But he's sleeping so soundly," Jaejoong mumbles, looking down at Junsu unsurely, poking his nose a bit. "Junsu." Junsu doesn't respond, so he pokes a little harder, not actually wanting to wake him up. Junsu lazily bats his hand away, turning his head away and hiding it against the couch. "Junsu, wake up," Jaejoong whispers, biting his lip.
Junsu blinks a couple of times, looking at him confusedly, and it makes Jaejoong want to tell him to just go back to sleep and that there was no one in the room and that they weren’t' here to take his wings away.
"What?"
Jaejoong doesn't understand why his habit of thinking out loud had to kick in now. "Uhm. Nothing!"
Junsu looks around, staring at the new arrival in the room and looks back at Jaejoong. "Why is he here?"
"Uhm. There was a letter. For you. A lot of them. In my mailbox. And they were marked. And late! And you didn't see. And I didn't know-"
"Junsu, I'm here for your wings."
"But I was dong a good job! Tell him," he turns to Jaejoong for affirmation. All Jaejoong can do is look at Junsu and nod.
"He's not even supposed to know that you're his angel. Rule #1, Junsu."
"That page was ripped out of my rulebook."
"He saw your wings."
"He asked nicely!"
"That's beside the point, Junsu. I'm sorry but this is a command from the upper powers." He walks over and easily lifts Junsu off the couch.
Jaejoong's eyes widen in panic and he stands up to reach for Junsu. "Wait, don't hurt him."
"This won't hurt one bit."
Apparently guardian angels get their wings tickled off. Junsu is left on the floor, looking like he's eaten a sour grape. The man leaves with a few apologetic words.
Jaejoong shifts his weight between from leg to leg awkwardly, unsure of what to say, feeling like he's at fault. "So... at least it didn't hurt."
Junsu hugs his legs to his chest. "Was I doing a bad job?"
"What? Nonono." Jaejoong sits down in front of him, hand rubbing Junsu's back. "You were perfect."
"Don't have to lie to me."
"I'm not," Jaejoong smiles, nudging Junsu and trying to get him to look up. "I'm not, okay?" Junsu pouts at him and it makes Jaejoong laugh. He thumbs at the pout, "You look better when you smile."
"Maybe they found out about me seeing you naked."
"You what?!"
"It was just that one time! I heard noises while you were in the shower."
Jaejoong goes red.
"I peeked in to check if you were okay, that's all. You just looked tired so I left you alone."
"Oh. That's it?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Nothing!"
They sit there in the living room, talking. Truth is, Jaejoong's gotten used to having Junsu around. Jaejoong suggests that maybe Junsu could try to gain his angel job back. He’s not sure if it’s possible but he hopes so when he sees the determined, optimistic expression on Junsu’s face.
Junsu brings a box of kittens home one day. He hadn't exactly told Jaejoong about their new guests though, so Jaejoong comes back from work and finds Junsu sitting in the middle of living room, a kitten hanging on his shoulder as he rolls an orange at another. The rest are, well, everywhere.
"Junsu!"
As if on cue, all the kittens and Junsu freeze and look at him. "Hyung!"
"What are all these kittens doing here?"
"I opened a kitty day care to pay for rent."
"You don't pay rent!"
"I know. I was joking," Junsu smiles as if he's waiting for Jaejoong to laugh.
A kitten walks up to Jaejoong, rubbing itself all over his boots. Jaejoong frowns, picking the kitten up by the skin of its neck and looking sternly at it. "Don’t do that." It meows back at him. He keeps it at a distance, turning it all around and inspecting it. "It's a girl."
Junsu picks up the one on his lap, walking over and holding it up towards Jaejoong. "What about this one?"
"That's... a boy." Jaejoong answers almost suspiciously, wondering if Junsu is just trying to embarrass him. When he looks up at Junsu though, all he gets is an innocent smile. "So why are they here again?"
"There was a box of kittens outside our door."
There's no use in chastising so Jaejoong doesn't even start. He lowers the kitten enough for it to land safely and says, "We don't have enough milk."
Junsu proceeds to give him the biggest hug ever. It makes Jaejoong almost want to melt, but since he doesn't, he just makes cooing sounds and squeezes back.
The one problem Jaejoong has with the kittens is that they meow so loudly at night that he can't fall asleep. "Junsu," he groans from his bed, hoping Junsu had heard him despite his door being closed almost all the way and his face half-pressed into his pillow. "Junsu," he calls more urgently. Junsu was the one who decided that the kittens should sleep in the bedrooms and not in the living room, so obviously Jaejoong thought Junsu should be the one to keep them quiet. He drags himself out of bed, walking over to Junsu's room, and knocking. When Junsu doesn't answer, he cracks the door open, peeking in. He can see the kittens in their makeshift bed on the floor. It's basically a pile of small blankets.
He frowns over at them, and pokes Junsu's sleeping form. "Junsu, Junsu."
Junsu makes a low sound and turns over on his other side.
"Junsuuuu," Jaejoong whines, poking harder. "Your babies are calling you."
"Sleepy," Junsu mumbles so lowly Jaejoong barely catches it.
"I'm sleepy too!" Jaejoong huffs. "Make them stop!"
"Shhh," Junsu whispers and snuggles his face against his pillow, ready to fall asleep again.
Jaejoong thinks that if he isn't going to sleep soundly, neither should Junsu. So he climbs on the bed and starts jumping, or just bouncing, rather, because jumping in his fatigued state would probably make him fall off the bed. "Up, up, up."
"Hyung," Junsu whines, tugging his comforter to cover his face.
Jaejoong falls on his ass on the bed, bouncing a few times and staring incredulously. He crawls over Junsu. "Yah! I could have cracked my head open!"
Junsu sleepily reaches to Jaejoong's face and presses it to his pillow, pulling his blanket to cover him too. "Hyung, why are you shirtless?" Junsu asks nonchalantly but closes his eyes again, barely awake.
"I sleep shirtless."
"That's probably why you can't sleep. Too cold."
Jaejoong frowns. "I'm sure it's just the noise."
Junsu yawns, reaching to comb through Jaejoong's hair lazily. "They're meowing because they miss their mom-cat. Something warm to cuddle up against."
"Liar," Jaejoong accuses.
"Shh. Sleeptime." And with that, Junsu's asleep again.
Jaejoong won't admit the next morning that he fell asleep soon after.
It's a few days later when the two of them are cleaning up when he grabs his boots and realizes they're a little heavier than usual. He looks inside one of them and sees a drowsy-looking kitty, blinking up at him. "Hey little guy, what are you doing in there?" He whisper, not wanting to startle it, puts the other boot down and reaches into the leg to get it out. Grabbing it by the skin of its neck, he feels a little bad when it still looks sleepy, pawing at its own eyes. "Sorry, don't want kitty fur all in my boot."
Jaejoong drops the kitten on the couch and is about to pick up his abandoned boot when he sees another kitten already in it and yet another trying to get in. "Hey!"
Junsu's laugh makes him look up. "They like that it's furry and warm."
"They should sleep on your stomach then."
Junsu huffs, bending over to pet the kittens. "Good job guys. Do me a favor and pee in there too."
"You knew they've been going in there?"
"Every night. A couple of them."
"Junsu!"
"What? It's a good use for your moon boots."
The kitten in his left boot meows at him, and Jaejoong can't even pretend to still be mad.
He gets back from work, tired and ready to pass out, greeted by the sight of a very intrigued Junsu on the couch, staring at the television, legs tucked against his chest and black wrapped around his shoulders. Junsu looks up momentarily and holds a finger up to his lips, shushing Jaejoong and signaling him to look in the corner of the room. Jaejoong tiptoes to see over his TV, and sees the kittens sleeping in their cat bed.
He closes the door quietly and when he looks over Junsu has already refocused on the screen. "What's so interesting?"
"Swans," Junsu answers briefly. Jaejoong sits down next to him, watching two swans swim off together, cheek to cheek. "Swans mate for life, hyung. They're such romantic animals."
Jaejoong looks over and has to fight the urge to swoon at Junsu's expression of innocent fascination. He leans him, humming nonchalantly before he smushes his cheek against Junsu's. "This is romantic?"
Junsu's laughs and moves his head to rubs their cheeks together. "This is just the last part of it."
Jaejoong looks over, "Oh?” cheek still pressed against Junsu's.
"Yeah!" Junsu doesn't move away, talking a little funny with one cheek squished. "First they blow bubbles in the water at each other and they keep blowing bubbles until they're in synch. Then, then the boy swan hugs the girl swan from behind, and he holds up her head so she doesn't drown. And then they snort at each other and do the cheek thing."
Jaejoong snorts at him, making Junsu crack up almost immediately.
"You sound like a pig."
Jaejoong tries to look insulted. "I do not! I was snorting at you like a swan."
"Sounded like a pig snort to me."
That called for a tickle war.
Jaejoong looks up swan mating that night and the boy swan is definitely not hugging the girl one.
"Yah! You have to take a bath," Jaejoong scolds the kitten like it knows what he's saying, trying to hold it still and wash it in the sink. He makes sure the water is warm and is careful to only brush the fur one way while rinsing her. No matter how careful he is though, she wants to get out, and it's made clear as she scratches his hand, making him let go, and makes a run for it out of the bathroom and into the hallway, almost bumping into Junsu on the way out.
"Whoa. Where is that one going?"
"She doesn't like baths," Jaejoong explains, examining the cut. "Scratched me."
Junsu rushes over, taking Jaejoong's hand and looking at it. "It's kind of deep! You need to clean it."
"I guess. I could just rinse it--"
Junsu is already rummaging through the shelves for the rubbing alcohol and cotton.
"Junsu, it's really not necessary."
"Nonsense." Junsu dabs at his cut with an overly soaked cotton ball.
Jaejoong's jaw tightens. It stings. A lot. More than he knows it should. He manages a weak smile when Junsu looks up at him. He's thankful when it's over and watches as Junsu wraps a band aid too tight around him. Jaejoong is really grateful for his high tolerance when he looks up and sees Junsu's hopeful smile. "All better."
"Whoo!" Junsu throws his arms up in the air. "I've never taken a human first aid class, only the angel ones."
"I can tell," Jaejoong mumbles.
"Huh?"
Jaejoong smiles more genuinely. "Said you don't need your powers to take care of me."
Junsu's reaction makes Jaejoong forget about his pain momentarily.
Yoochun's coming over for dinner. Junsu isn't told why, but he is and Jaejoong insists it's nothing special, no reason in particular, he swears. Jaejoong leaves Yoochun in the living room with Junsu, asking them to play nice before going into the kitchen to finish up dinner. He still watches them out of the corner of his eye anyway, heart skipping when Yoochun leans a little too close to Junsu and Junsu doesn't seem to notice.
Conversation at the dinner table is about as casual as Jaejoong can keep it, which isn't very. He sits at the head of the table with Yoochun and Junsu on either side.
"So Junsu," Yoochun starts out smoothly, "How's living with Jaejoong?" He smiles sweetly, hand creeping over to Jaejoong's. Jaejoong almost chokes on his food when Yoochun starts caressing him.
"I like it," Junsu answers easily, picking up more food from the dishes.
"He's a really good cook," Yoochun looks at Jaejoong rather seductively. But this is Yoochun so Jaejoong gives him a What are you doing? look and Yoochun quickly flashes a Doing my thing back at him, his hand sliding along Jaejoong arm.
"Mhm," Junsu glances, looking either kind of confused or like he ate something funky. "I cook for him sometimes."
"You know how Jaejoong-hyung likes his food?"
"No, he eats whatever I cook."
"I know how Jaejoong-hyung like everything."
"Yeah?"
"Yep."
Jaejoong clears his throat. "Yoochun, can you help me get something in the kitchen?"
Yoochun blinks, doing something Jaejoong would describe as fluttering his eyelashes. "Of course," he answers and is quickly pulled into the kitchen.
"What are you doing?"
"He's so jealous! He won't even look at me."
"I think he's just really distracted by his food." Jaejoong peeks over the counter to see Junsu, still eating.
"Believe what you want, but it looks like you guys are going nowhere."
"We don't have to go anywhere. He just wants to help."
"He has no reason to help anymore. And you, I don't think I can take one more text message about him."
"It's not that much."
"It's way too much. I'm here for intervention."
"Do you guys need some help?" Junsu calls from the dinner table.
"We're good," Jaejoong calls back, opening the fridge to get some extra kimchi.
"Really good!" Yoochun gets a smack to his head.
The rest of dinner doesn't get any less awkward and Jaejoong is happy when it's over, shooing Yoochun out of his apartment with Yoochun making smoochy faces at him. He leans against the door, feeling exhausted, and closes his eyes. It surprises him when he hears the rattling of dishes. "Junsu?"
"Yeah?"
"Doing the dishes?"
"Yeah."
"You never do them," Jaejoong tries teasing.
"Yeah, but I wanted to do something nice."
Jaejoong helps with the dishes, biting his lip and not knowing what to say.
"Did Yoochun want to stay over?"
"Yeah, but I kicked him out."
"He said he'd sleep in your bed."
"Uhh, yeah. I think he was just-"
"Did you ever kiss him?"
"Come again?" Jaejoong sighs and looks at Junsu, trying to read him even though he's avoiding eye contact.
Junsu puts down the dishes, popping suds in the sink. "Did you ever kiss him?"
"Just a couple of times. It was just for-"
"But he's your best friend."
"Yeah."
"Do you kiss all your friends?"
"What? No, I don't."
"Are you just bad at saying no?"
"I can say no," Jaejoong answers, frowning, not knowing what Junsu is getting at.
"Really?" Junsu turns and looks at him. "You're not just a people pleaser?"
"N-no."
"Can you kiss me?"
"No." Jaejoong watches for Junsu's reaction. "See? Really good at saying no."
"Oh," Junsu answers after a short pause.
"Hey," Jaejoong pokes Junsu's side, trying to figure out if it was really disappointment he heard in Junsu's response. He does it again when he's ignored, "Hey."
"What?"
Maybe Jaejoong really is bad at saying no. At least to cute, sassy, ex-guardian angels.
They ended up making out of the couch, something Junsu laughs at while making out on said couch. By the tenth time Junsu laughs, Jaejoong figures he should stop feeling insulted, especially when Junsu keeps kissing him anyway.
Jaejoong can feel the fast thump-thump in Junsu's chest. "What's this?" He teases, pressing his palm on Junsu's chest.
"My shirt."
"Funny," Jaejoong laughs, staring at him.
"Staring."
"You're something to stare at."
"Gross," Junsu makes a face, sticking his tongue out, "I can't believe you just said that."
"My angel," Jaejoong coos.
"Not your angel anymore."
"After what happened on this couch, no." Jaejoong grins, "Is that okay?"
"I guess," Junsu teases before kissing Jaejoong again. "Does Yoochun really know everything you like?"
"Not everything. He was just trying to make you jealous."
"You don't hate what I cook?"
Jaejoong hums and avoids the question, "Thought you told him that I eat whatever you cook."
"You do."
"Isn't that good?" Jaejoong doesn't wait for an answer though, kissing Junsu again, grinning when the other man weaves his fingers into his hair and pulls him closer.
Junsu pulls back, mumbling against Jaejoong's lips, "Your couch is less comfy than I remember."
Jaejoong makes quick work of sitting them up and walking them over to his room, still kissing and almost tripping a few times on the way. He pushes Junsu on his bed, catching his lower lip immediately, swallowing Junsu's moan. Junsu laughs again, cupping his jaw and gently nudging him back. "Kissing is tiring."
Jaejoong tries to keep nipping at his lips anyway. "But it's so fun."
Junsu giggles and admits in a whisper, "Being jealous is even more tiring."
Jaejoong wakes up to a Junsu wiggling in his hold, and instinctively holds onto him tighter, squeezing a squeal out of the younger man.
"Hyung, I have to take care of something," Junsu tries softly, pushing at his chest, and Jaejoong suddenly realizes just what he's talking about, opening his eyes wide.
"Oh," is all Jaejoong can say because he doesn't realize if Junsu notices his problem either.
"Yeah," Junsu blushes, "Unless you want to go first."
"How about I help?"
Jaejoong strips him down to nothing but skin and shyness, taking Junsu's hands in his to stop him from covering himself. Junsu watches as Jaejoong kisses his hands, eyes locked on Jaejoong’s lips as he brushes them over bumpy knuckles. He goes slow, careful to note what makes Junsu gasp and moan. He lets Junsu ride on top and set the pace, needing to know Junsu really wants this, wants him. Junsu comes loudly, cock twitching in Jaejoong's grip, clamping down and milking an orgasm out of him.
He catches Junsu lazily as the man collapses on top of him, pressing his mouth against the side of his face, catching his breath.
Jaejoong bites his lip, listening to the sound of their breathing return to normal. "Junsu?"
"Mhm?"
"Did you, uhh, did you, like... it?"
"Mhm."
Jaejoong pulls out, rolling them onto their side and reaching for Junsu's shirt to clean them up, and gets ready to cuddle. He sees Junsu's eyes look over his shoulder though, and widen with something akin to panic. "Junsu?"
"He saw!"
Jaejoong turns around and there near his doorway is one of the kittens, just watching them curiously, and it makes him laugh. "It's no big deal." But Junsu makes a face that says he thinks different and wraps his arms around Jaejoong's neck, holding him close and pouting. Jaejoong takes advantage of the situation, hugging Junsu with a big smile on his face. And the more Junsu pouts, the more he smiles back until he finds his smile pressed against Junsu's pout, trying to kiss it away.
He curses under his breath when the doorbell rings, followed by a few knocks and Yoochun's muffled voice. "Ignore it."
Junsu smirks. "I'll get it," he says as he slips on his pants, low on his hips and teasing Jaejoong, waving mischievously as he leaves the room, laughing at Jaejoong's pout.
He cracks open the door and peeks out at Yoochun. "Yes?"
Yoochun raises an eyebrow at him. "Is Jaejoong-hyung here?"
"Yes..."
"Can I talk to him?
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because we're about to do some serious kissy kissy," Junsu replies, sticking his tongue out and closing the door in Yoochun's face. When he gets back to the room, Jaejoong's already received an excited text message with more winky faces than he'd like.
"Heyyyy," Junsu makes a stern face at kitten that's found its way up onto the bed and curled next to Jaejoong.
"You gave up your spot and he took it."
Junsu picks it up and politely drops it off the edge of the bed. "He's mine," he tells it before shooing it away.
"Yours, huh?" Jaejoong asks amusedly as Junsu crawls back in under the sheets with him.
Junsu snorts instead of really answering, rolling his eyes slightly.
It only makes Jaejoong squeeze his arms around him harder. "A romantic swan!" he practically squeals, ignoring Junsu’s insistent denial of snorting in any remotely romantic way.