[fic] Unkept Secrets
title: Unkept Secrets
chapter: oneshot - Forbidden Desires #3
author: Cross (xmachina_writes)
rating: PG
genre: drama
pairings: Ni~yaxAoi (implied), AoixChangmin (past/longed for)
warnings: sex talk, swearing
disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, names of real people are being used without permission in a fictious setting.
summary: Now that Changmin is home, he still has to face the music. But what do you do when semi-anonymous becomes not-so-anonymous?
rewind: Feast of the Senses | Proposal
notes: Um, I've actually had this written for awhile now, but then Shit happened and I'd gotten all distracted with my 30emotions claim. Which is still eating up most of my spare writing time, so.... Bear with me? And hey, I'm making two fic posts in one day, so.... ;)
“There you are! Where the hell have you been, man? Yunho about snapped my head off for asking before he arsed off to the studio and Jae refuses to talk about it.”
“That's cuz it's Jae's fault I've been out so long,” Changmin said, wondering why he was blushing over something Jaejoong had done.
“So what happened?” Junsu prodded, slinging an arm around him and dragging him over to the couch. “Come on, you guys were out all night, this has to be good.”
“Jae poured hot coffee all over my clothes. No, I wasn't in them at the time, and no, I'm not telling you why I wasn't in them. Poke Jae enough and he'll tell you everything, I'm sure. Considering he can't keep a secret in a locked vault....”
“I tried that earlier,” Junsu said, pouting and not letting go. “He threw a head of cabbage at me and then threatened me with a butcher's knife!”
“Then maybe you don't really need to know,” Changmin huffed, trying not to smile at the image of Junsu being terrorized by flying vegetables.
“You have to at least tell me where you got the t-shirt, Minnie. It looks kinda cool. That's a Noh mask, right? What's it say? I can't really make it out....”
“I don't know, I didn't really look at it, it was just something to put on.”
“Minnieeeeeee!”
“I thought I heard your voice, Minnie. You should call umma and appa, or at least text them both so they know you're okay.”
“I sent appa a text already. Isn't umma here?”
“No fair distracting him, Yoochun! He's supposed to be telling me where he was last night!”
“I already told you! I'm not telling you anything, Kim Junsu!”
“You're so mean! Chunnie! Make him tell us where he was last night!”
“Look, if he doesn't want to tell you who he lost his virginity to, duckbutt, then leave him alone. He's entitled to a little privacy, you know. Besides, we've got bigger worries.”
“He lost his virginity? You lost your virginity?! How did he know that?? How did you know that?!?”
“OH MY GOD! PARK YOOCHUN! What the fuck is wrong with you!” Changmin shrieked, throwing his wadded shirt from the club at his bandmate. Wasn't life shitting on him enough without his own bandmates going around making things worse?
“See?” Yoochun said, not even bothering to duck, instead leaning on the back of the couch. “He's got the glow of the freshly sexed, can't you see it? And of course now he's shrieking like a little girl.”
“Huh, you're right. How come I didn't notice that?”
“Because you were too busy being a cabbage head. I'll bet she was a dirty girl, really showed him a wild time. I mean, look at the way he's blushing. Way better than watching some porno, right Minnie?”
“I can't believe you guys!” Changmin sputtered. “I'm leaving!”
“Oh no you're not!” the two chorused, grabbing on to him when he tried to walk away and dragging him back down onto the couch.
“Not until you've told us everything!” Yoochun declared.
“Yeah! Come on, tell your hyung. What did she look like? Was she hot? Does she have sisters? Or hot friends? Tell us everything. Especially the part about umma and the coffee!”
“Umma and coffee?” Yoochun asked, shooting Junsu a confused look around Changmin.
“Oh right, you weren't out here yet. Umma dumped coffee on Minnie's clothes. I wanna know why umma was drinking coffee while Minnie was naked.”
“Weren't you the one saying we had bigger worries than my sex life?!” Changmin protested, jabbing Yoochun in the chest. “And now all you want to talk about is what kind of girl I slept with? What the hell?”
“Well it's not every day our little baby Changminnie grows up and starts having kinky sex with nasty girls~” Yoochun crowed. The choked noise from behind them was highly inadequate warning for the book that came sailing through the air seconds later to smack into Yoochun's head.
“WHAT THE FUCK?!”
“Don't you talk about Changmin like that!” Jaejoong protested, a dark cloud of wrath clearly palpable around their eldest member. “You don't see us pushing you to tell us about your sex life all the time!”
“Goddammit, Jaejoong, did you have to hit me in the head with a fucking book?” Yoochun protested, rubbing at the spot where he'd been hit. “But fine, then YOU explain the coffee thing. And why Yunho almost tore my head off for wanting to know where Minnie was this morning. Is he still at the studio?”
“I don't know, maybe.”
“And I suppose next you'll tell me you see nothing wrong with that sentence,” the other man said, a low mutter of annoyance in his tone.
“We're not attached at the hip. He has some things he has to work out for himself,” Jaejoong replied and Changmin couldn't help noticing the stiffness in the elder's voice. So things were still a mess from last night. This was his fault, he should have done as Yunho had asked from the first....
“Jae, I ... I'm sorry. I'll go talk to appa, and -.”
“No, Min, it's all right, it's not your fault.”
“But if I hadn't -!”
“It's not that. At least, it's not just about that. Yes, it bothers him that you're not our little baby anymore, but somewhere in that thick head of his he knew that was going to happen sooner or later. He just wasn't ready for it to happen right now. Or quite like that.”
Changmin could feel his cheeks heating at the reminder of the things he'd witnessed, the things he'd experienced. Lips brushed against his cheek and he blinked, startled by the affectionate gesture.
“He'll get over it, Min,” Jae murmured, smiling up at him, and for that brief moment, it was almost like the other two weren't even there. There was such sadness in those doe soft eyes and Changmin felt stupid for thinking Yunho's anger was all about him. If not for Ni~ya, Yunho would never have allowed any of the night's events to happen and indeed their leader had nearly exploded just watching Aoi and Jaejoong. Changmin hadn't been entirely comfortable with it himself, he could only imagine what Yunho had been feeling.
“I'm sorry,” he murmured again, stealing a moment of closeness to hug Jaejoong close and to hell with what the other two thought (if they thought about it at all). “Are you sure it wouldn't be better if I talked to him?”
“Give it a little more time to sink in first. New shirt?”
“On loan. I should probably hit the showers....”
“Yeah,” Jaejoong agreed, still grinning up at him, still hugging him. “I wasn't going to say anything, but since you've brought it up ... you kinda still smell like sex.”
“Eh???”
“Yeah,” Yoochun agreed. “I really don't get how duckbutt missed it.”
“Hey!! I have a cold, okay! I can only half smell anything!”
“It's not like it's really noticeable, just ... you know, being close....”
“Oh gods....” Changmin felt like he wanted to die. How could Aoi have let him leave like this? Some sort of cruel parting joke? And to have the others talking about it so easily....
“If it makes you feel any better,” Jae murmured, “I promise not to tell them anything. About the coffee or anything else.”
“I kinda already figured you wouldn't, but thanks, umma.”
“Go shower, brat,” Jaejoong teased, tugging a forelock before stepping away from him completely. For a brief moment, he half wished he could be the things Jaejoong needed but couldn't get from Yunho. He'd need someone to teach him, but he could learn to be the sort of sadist that Ni~ya was in scene. Except he doubted it would make Yunho feel any better about it. Sigh. Pushing aside the thought, Changmin headed for the shower.
“Wait, still? What do you mean still? Jaaaaaaaeeeeee!”
Changmin smothered the urge to laugh as he locked himself away from the others. Ordinarily, he'd be worried about Jaejoong cracking under the pressure from Yoochun and Junsu, but ... umma had given his word. He was safe enough.
~*~*~
“Are you going to call them or not?”
“JESUS CHRIST!” Changmin swore, nearly jumping out of his skin at the sudden intrusion of Jaejoong's voice. The eldest member had been good to his word and after two days, Yoochun and Junsu had given up trying to get any details out of either of them. As for Yunho, well, neither Yoochun nor Junsu had felt brave enough (or suicidal enough) to try bothering their leader for details. And now, almost a week later, it seemed as if the two had happily forgotten all about it. Maybe. He hoped.
“Sorry, Min, didn't mean to scare you,” Jaejoong said, coming into the room to wrap him in a hug. “Question still stands.”
“Why would you ask something like that?” Changmin huffed, stuffing the black shirt back into his drawer as if it didn't mean anything. Because it didn't mean anything, dammit. Just a reminder of one really amazing night....
“Because you keep pulling that shirt out and staring at it. We've got that show tonight and then there's a couple more over the weekend, then we head back to Korea for I'm not sure how long. You should call them.”
“Why? It was just a one time thing, Jae. It's better to just leave things like this.”
“Min....”
“You don't call back one night stands, Jae,” Changmin muttered, slipping out of Jaejoong's arms. He should just throw away the shirt, tear up the card, put it all out of his mind. He desperately wished he could just forget about it, but he couldn't. Aoi had been so gentle with him, so kind, but what did it really matter? He needed more in his life than just kinky sex. A relationship was just going to have to wait awhile longer.
~*~*~
“So,” Aoi said, grinning at the tiny oof from his boyfriend as he plopped down half on top of him, a bowl of popcorn cradled in his hands, “what are we watching tonight?”
“Eh, just flipping through the channels right now. Figured I'd see who was on HeyHeyHey this week, though I'm not exactly expecting much. But, you know, the hosts can be pretty amusing, even if their guests aren't really that interesting otherwise.”
“You just like watching them torture pop idols, you sadist,” Aoi teased, jabbing Ni~ya in the ribs. “Just wait until they have you on for a longer segment.”
“I wouldn't hold my breath on that one if I were you,” Ni~ya shot back, snickering. “Besides, you don't th-.”
“Hey, isn't that...?”
Aoi snatched the remote from his lover's hands, hurriedly cranking up the volume. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. There was the princess and his court of four. Tohoshinki, five Korean boys with pop idol faces that he and Ni~ya had seen before.
“Holy shit, Ni. We deflowered a pop idol.”
“You were wondering why he never called back. I think you have your answer.”
Aoi simply sat there, blinking at the screen, enraptured in spite of himself. They looked so wholesome and ... well, pop idol pure, really. An illusion, of course, but it made him wonder all over again why Changmin hadn't called them back. Before, he'd just assumed that Changmin had been afraid, but now he wondered if there wasn't something more going on behind the scenes. Hearing that all five of them lived together only strengthened the growing suspicion that Yunho had something to do with the silence. As angry and disapproving as the younger man had been about every aspect ... well, it wouldn't surprise him in the least if Yunho had been actively interfering in Changmin's attempts to contact them, perhaps even going so far as to attempt to abuse his position as group leader to forbid it.
“Gimmie the phone,” Aoi declared rather abruptly.
“What?”
“Gimmie the phone!”
“Why?”
“Why do you think, dork? I have to call someone, duh. Obviously he hasn't called us because they're not letting him.”
“You don't know that, Aoi,” Ni~ya countered softly, catching his hand when he tried to reach for the phone himself. “Let it go.”
“But....”
“Let it go, kitten. You opened the door, he's chosen not to walk through it. Let it go.”
Aoi huffed and sat back. He didn't want to just let this go. He was right, he knew he was. Changmin had been so into it, so willing, so eager for it all, he couldn't believe that this silence was just the way of things. Yunho had to be interfering, it was the only explanation.
~*~*~
Changmin was supposed to be working on his homework, but he hadn't been able to focus on it properly all day. All week, really, if he was being honest with himself. They had been back in Korea less than a week and he'd already done laundry twice just so he could wear the shirt again. He didn't even know why he liked wearing it so much, it was just comfortable. Dangerous, since just the sight of it would make Yunho's entire mood darken, but there was something about feeling the soft cotton against his skin, even though it no longer carried any scent of its previous owner.
“Min?”
“Huh? Oh, hey Jae. Need something?”
“Actually, yes. Come'ere, there's something I want you to see.”
A little strange, but Changmin was willing to go along with it. His curiosity spiked even more when Jaejoong sat him down in front of his laptop.
“I was curious, so I started poking around the internet. Your new favourite shirt comes from a band, you know. Very Japanese group, kind of strange. Anyway, one link lead to another and, well....”
Jaejoong pulled up his browser window and Changman just gaped. It wasn't a very big picture, particularly not with four other people in it, but it was big enough for him recognize Aoi standing on the far left.
“Maybe ... maybe it's just...”
But he couldn't make himself believe it was just coincidence, not when he could see Aoi's name written under the picture. So ... he was in a band. Changmin wasn't entirely sure what this was supposed to mean or why Jaejoong was bringing it to his attention.
“It's definitely him, this wasn't the first place I saw him, this is just the band's homepage. They've been around for several years now, they're pretty popular both in Japan and abroad, they've even done sold-out shows in Europe. We just happened to be in Tokyo while they were taking a break in their tour.”
“Jae....”
“I did some checking, played a hunch. His boyfriend? Another rock musician, bassist for a band called Nightmare. I could bring up photographic proof of that, too, if you want.”
“Jae ... why are you doing this?”
“That shirt he gave you? Kagrra, is on the same label, they've done several shows together.”
“So?”
“So, that was a personal gift. Maybe he just grabbed the first thing in his drawer, that's not really the point. If you're not going to call him, you should at least send him back his shirt. Box it up and mail it to their fanmail address if you have to, just as long as you do.”
“Jaejoong....”
“It's the right thing to do.”
Changmin stared at the screen for another long moment before nodding and heading back to his studying. Rock stars. He supposed that made the kink a little easier to understand; the rock music scene did seem to be pretty steeped in the stuff, with all that leather and whatnot. But to have this information dumped on him just when he was coming to terms with things.... But maybe Jaejoong was right, maybe it would be better if he returned the shirt.
Tomorrow. He'd deal with it tomorrow.
chapter: oneshot - Forbidden Desires #3
author: Cross (xmachina_writes)
rating: PG
genre: drama
pairings: Ni~yaxAoi (implied), AoixChangmin (past/longed for)
warnings: sex talk, swearing
disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, names of real people are being used without permission in a fictious setting.
summary: Now that Changmin is home, he still has to face the music. But what do you do when semi-anonymous becomes not-so-anonymous?
rewind: Feast of the Senses | Proposal
notes: Um, I've actually had this written for awhile now, but then Shit happened and I'd gotten all distracted with my 30emotions claim. Which is still eating up most of my spare writing time, so.... Bear with me? And hey, I'm making two fic posts in one day, so.... ;)
“There you are! Where the hell have you been, man? Yunho about snapped my head off for asking before he arsed off to the studio and Jae refuses to talk about it.”
“That's cuz it's Jae's fault I've been out so long,” Changmin said, wondering why he was blushing over something Jaejoong had done.
“So what happened?” Junsu prodded, slinging an arm around him and dragging him over to the couch. “Come on, you guys were out all night, this has to be good.”
“Jae poured hot coffee all over my clothes. No, I wasn't in them at the time, and no, I'm not telling you why I wasn't in them. Poke Jae enough and he'll tell you everything, I'm sure. Considering he can't keep a secret in a locked vault....”
“I tried that earlier,” Junsu said, pouting and not letting go. “He threw a head of cabbage at me and then threatened me with a butcher's knife!”
“Then maybe you don't really need to know,” Changmin huffed, trying not to smile at the image of Junsu being terrorized by flying vegetables.
“You have to at least tell me where you got the t-shirt, Minnie. It looks kinda cool. That's a Noh mask, right? What's it say? I can't really make it out....”
“I don't know, I didn't really look at it, it was just something to put on.”
“Minnieeeeeee!”
“I thought I heard your voice, Minnie. You should call umma and appa, or at least text them both so they know you're okay.”
“I sent appa a text already. Isn't umma here?”
“No fair distracting him, Yoochun! He's supposed to be telling me where he was last night!”
“I already told you! I'm not telling you anything, Kim Junsu!”
“You're so mean! Chunnie! Make him tell us where he was last night!”
“Look, if he doesn't want to tell you who he lost his virginity to, duckbutt, then leave him alone. He's entitled to a little privacy, you know. Besides, we've got bigger worries.”
“He lost his virginity? You lost your virginity?! How did he know that?? How did you know that?!?”
“OH MY GOD! PARK YOOCHUN! What the fuck is wrong with you!” Changmin shrieked, throwing his wadded shirt from the club at his bandmate. Wasn't life shitting on him enough without his own bandmates going around making things worse?
“See?” Yoochun said, not even bothering to duck, instead leaning on the back of the couch. “He's got the glow of the freshly sexed, can't you see it? And of course now he's shrieking like a little girl.”
“Huh, you're right. How come I didn't notice that?”
“Because you were too busy being a cabbage head. I'll bet she was a dirty girl, really showed him a wild time. I mean, look at the way he's blushing. Way better than watching some porno, right Minnie?”
“I can't believe you guys!” Changmin sputtered. “I'm leaving!”
“Oh no you're not!” the two chorused, grabbing on to him when he tried to walk away and dragging him back down onto the couch.
“Not until you've told us everything!” Yoochun declared.
“Yeah! Come on, tell your hyung. What did she look like? Was she hot? Does she have sisters? Or hot friends? Tell us everything. Especially the part about umma and the coffee!”
“Umma and coffee?” Yoochun asked, shooting Junsu a confused look around Changmin.
“Oh right, you weren't out here yet. Umma dumped coffee on Minnie's clothes. I wanna know why umma was drinking coffee while Minnie was naked.”
“Weren't you the one saying we had bigger worries than my sex life?!” Changmin protested, jabbing Yoochun in the chest. “And now all you want to talk about is what kind of girl I slept with? What the hell?”
“Well it's not every day our little baby Changminnie grows up and starts having kinky sex with nasty girls~” Yoochun crowed. The choked noise from behind them was highly inadequate warning for the book that came sailing through the air seconds later to smack into Yoochun's head.
“WHAT THE FUCK?!”
“Don't you talk about Changmin like that!” Jaejoong protested, a dark cloud of wrath clearly palpable around their eldest member. “You don't see us pushing you to tell us about your sex life all the time!”
“Goddammit, Jaejoong, did you have to hit me in the head with a fucking book?” Yoochun protested, rubbing at the spot where he'd been hit. “But fine, then YOU explain the coffee thing. And why Yunho almost tore my head off for wanting to know where Minnie was this morning. Is he still at the studio?”
“I don't know, maybe.”
“And I suppose next you'll tell me you see nothing wrong with that sentence,” the other man said, a low mutter of annoyance in his tone.
“We're not attached at the hip. He has some things he has to work out for himself,” Jaejoong replied and Changmin couldn't help noticing the stiffness in the elder's voice. So things were still a mess from last night. This was his fault, he should have done as Yunho had asked from the first....
“Jae, I ... I'm sorry. I'll go talk to appa, and -.”
“No, Min, it's all right, it's not your fault.”
“But if I hadn't -!”
“It's not that. At least, it's not just about that. Yes, it bothers him that you're not our little baby anymore, but somewhere in that thick head of his he knew that was going to happen sooner or later. He just wasn't ready for it to happen right now. Or quite like that.”
Changmin could feel his cheeks heating at the reminder of the things he'd witnessed, the things he'd experienced. Lips brushed against his cheek and he blinked, startled by the affectionate gesture.
“He'll get over it, Min,” Jae murmured, smiling up at him, and for that brief moment, it was almost like the other two weren't even there. There was such sadness in those doe soft eyes and Changmin felt stupid for thinking Yunho's anger was all about him. If not for Ni~ya, Yunho would never have allowed any of the night's events to happen and indeed their leader had nearly exploded just watching Aoi and Jaejoong. Changmin hadn't been entirely comfortable with it himself, he could only imagine what Yunho had been feeling.
“I'm sorry,” he murmured again, stealing a moment of closeness to hug Jaejoong close and to hell with what the other two thought (if they thought about it at all). “Are you sure it wouldn't be better if I talked to him?”
“Give it a little more time to sink in first. New shirt?”
“On loan. I should probably hit the showers....”
“Yeah,” Jaejoong agreed, still grinning up at him, still hugging him. “I wasn't going to say anything, but since you've brought it up ... you kinda still smell like sex.”
“Eh???”
“Yeah,” Yoochun agreed. “I really don't get how duckbutt missed it.”
“Hey!! I have a cold, okay! I can only half smell anything!”
“It's not like it's really noticeable, just ... you know, being close....”
“Oh gods....” Changmin felt like he wanted to die. How could Aoi have let him leave like this? Some sort of cruel parting joke? And to have the others talking about it so easily....
“If it makes you feel any better,” Jae murmured, “I promise not to tell them anything. About the coffee or anything else.”
“I kinda already figured you wouldn't, but thanks, umma.”
“Go shower, brat,” Jaejoong teased, tugging a forelock before stepping away from him completely. For a brief moment, he half wished he could be the things Jaejoong needed but couldn't get from Yunho. He'd need someone to teach him, but he could learn to be the sort of sadist that Ni~ya was in scene. Except he doubted it would make Yunho feel any better about it. Sigh. Pushing aside the thought, Changmin headed for the shower.
“Wait, still? What do you mean still? Jaaaaaaaeeeeee!”
Changmin smothered the urge to laugh as he locked himself away from the others. Ordinarily, he'd be worried about Jaejoong cracking under the pressure from Yoochun and Junsu, but ... umma had given his word. He was safe enough.
~*~*~
“Are you going to call them or not?”
“JESUS CHRIST!” Changmin swore, nearly jumping out of his skin at the sudden intrusion of Jaejoong's voice. The eldest member had been good to his word and after two days, Yoochun and Junsu had given up trying to get any details out of either of them. As for Yunho, well, neither Yoochun nor Junsu had felt brave enough (or suicidal enough) to try bothering their leader for details. And now, almost a week later, it seemed as if the two had happily forgotten all about it. Maybe. He hoped.
“Sorry, Min, didn't mean to scare you,” Jaejoong said, coming into the room to wrap him in a hug. “Question still stands.”
“Why would you ask something like that?” Changmin huffed, stuffing the black shirt back into his drawer as if it didn't mean anything. Because it didn't mean anything, dammit. Just a reminder of one really amazing night....
“Because you keep pulling that shirt out and staring at it. We've got that show tonight and then there's a couple more over the weekend, then we head back to Korea for I'm not sure how long. You should call them.”
“Why? It was just a one time thing, Jae. It's better to just leave things like this.”
“Min....”
“You don't call back one night stands, Jae,” Changmin muttered, slipping out of Jaejoong's arms. He should just throw away the shirt, tear up the card, put it all out of his mind. He desperately wished he could just forget about it, but he couldn't. Aoi had been so gentle with him, so kind, but what did it really matter? He needed more in his life than just kinky sex. A relationship was just going to have to wait awhile longer.
~*~*~
“So,” Aoi said, grinning at the tiny oof from his boyfriend as he plopped down half on top of him, a bowl of popcorn cradled in his hands, “what are we watching tonight?”
“Eh, just flipping through the channels right now. Figured I'd see who was on HeyHeyHey this week, though I'm not exactly expecting much. But, you know, the hosts can be pretty amusing, even if their guests aren't really that interesting otherwise.”
“You just like watching them torture pop idols, you sadist,” Aoi teased, jabbing Ni~ya in the ribs. “Just wait until they have you on for a longer segment.”
“I wouldn't hold my breath on that one if I were you,” Ni~ya shot back, snickering. “Besides, you don't th-.”
“Hey, isn't that...?”
Aoi snatched the remote from his lover's hands, hurriedly cranking up the volume. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. There was the princess and his court of four. Tohoshinki, five Korean boys with pop idol faces that he and Ni~ya had seen before.
“Holy shit, Ni. We deflowered a pop idol.”
“You were wondering why he never called back. I think you have your answer.”
Aoi simply sat there, blinking at the screen, enraptured in spite of himself. They looked so wholesome and ... well, pop idol pure, really. An illusion, of course, but it made him wonder all over again why Changmin hadn't called them back. Before, he'd just assumed that Changmin had been afraid, but now he wondered if there wasn't something more going on behind the scenes. Hearing that all five of them lived together only strengthened the growing suspicion that Yunho had something to do with the silence. As angry and disapproving as the younger man had been about every aspect ... well, it wouldn't surprise him in the least if Yunho had been actively interfering in Changmin's attempts to contact them, perhaps even going so far as to attempt to abuse his position as group leader to forbid it.
“Gimmie the phone,” Aoi declared rather abruptly.
“What?”
“Gimmie the phone!”
“Why?”
“Why do you think, dork? I have to call someone, duh. Obviously he hasn't called us because they're not letting him.”
“You don't know that, Aoi,” Ni~ya countered softly, catching his hand when he tried to reach for the phone himself. “Let it go.”
“But....”
“Let it go, kitten. You opened the door, he's chosen not to walk through it. Let it go.”
Aoi huffed and sat back. He didn't want to just let this go. He was right, he knew he was. Changmin had been so into it, so willing, so eager for it all, he couldn't believe that this silence was just the way of things. Yunho had to be interfering, it was the only explanation.
~*~*~
Changmin was supposed to be working on his homework, but he hadn't been able to focus on it properly all day. All week, really, if he was being honest with himself. They had been back in Korea less than a week and he'd already done laundry twice just so he could wear the shirt again. He didn't even know why he liked wearing it so much, it was just comfortable. Dangerous, since just the sight of it would make Yunho's entire mood darken, but there was something about feeling the soft cotton against his skin, even though it no longer carried any scent of its previous owner.
“Min?”
“Huh? Oh, hey Jae. Need something?”
“Actually, yes. Come'ere, there's something I want you to see.”
A little strange, but Changmin was willing to go along with it. His curiosity spiked even more when Jaejoong sat him down in front of his laptop.
“I was curious, so I started poking around the internet. Your new favourite shirt comes from a band, you know. Very Japanese group, kind of strange. Anyway, one link lead to another and, well....”
Jaejoong pulled up his browser window and Changman just gaped. It wasn't a very big picture, particularly not with four other people in it, but it was big enough for him recognize Aoi standing on the far left.
“Maybe ... maybe it's just...”
But he couldn't make himself believe it was just coincidence, not when he could see Aoi's name written under the picture. So ... he was in a band. Changmin wasn't entirely sure what this was supposed to mean or why Jaejoong was bringing it to his attention.
“It's definitely him, this wasn't the first place I saw him, this is just the band's homepage. They've been around for several years now, they're pretty popular both in Japan and abroad, they've even done sold-out shows in Europe. We just happened to be in Tokyo while they were taking a break in their tour.”
“Jae....”
“I did some checking, played a hunch. His boyfriend? Another rock musician, bassist for a band called Nightmare. I could bring up photographic proof of that, too, if you want.”
“Jae ... why are you doing this?”
“That shirt he gave you? Kagrra, is on the same label, they've done several shows together.”
“So?”
“So, that was a personal gift. Maybe he just grabbed the first thing in his drawer, that's not really the point. If you're not going to call him, you should at least send him back his shirt. Box it up and mail it to their fanmail address if you have to, just as long as you do.”
“Jaejoong....”
“It's the right thing to do.”
Changmin stared at the screen for another long moment before nodding and heading back to his studying. Rock stars. He supposed that made the kink a little easier to understand; the rock music scene did seem to be pretty steeped in the stuff, with all that leather and whatnot. But to have this information dumped on him just when he was coming to terms with things.... But maybe Jaejoong was right, maybe it would be better if he returned the shirt.
Tomorrow. He'd deal with it tomorrow.