Possession, Part 5
Title: Possession
Author: dreaming_col
Pairings: JaeMin, YooSu
Rating: PG
Summary: First love, not nearly so simple as you'd always dreamed it would be.
Notes: Yes, finally, part 5!! Yunho was bein' kinda stubborn, but I finally dragged the whole story out of him. (Well, this part of the whole story. We've still got a bit to go for the entire whole story.) Next part, we get back to Min, thankfully. That one should go a lot easier...
Previous: Part 1, Interlude, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Chapter 5: Plans
You decide to start off simple, not wanting to over-complicate the situation before you absolutely have to. Plan A consists of you, Yoochun, and Junsu making yourselves scarce so Jae could treat Min to a day out. It has possibilities. For what, you’re not entirely sure, but possibilities all the same.
When Changmin retreats to solitude shortly after the two get home, you turn expectantly to Jae. He shrugs. “We hung out in the park for a while, got some lunch, saw a movie. He seemed a bit more distracted than usual, but that was it.” You wonder when Jae lost the ability to read Min’s every mood, debate whether it’s just Jae being more oblivious or Changmin becoming more introverted. Either option worries you. Jaejoong can’t afford to be any more oblivious.
You move on from there to talking with Min. He’s sitting just as Yoochun said, staring out the windows. The sight stops you for a moment, not quite sure how you missed this for so long. Something in the way he looks up at you raised the image in your mind of him at 15, the first time the group (still without Yoochun then) had met. For a brief moment, the younger Changmin’s face superimposes itself over the real one.
You had noticed him growing up over the years, watched him mature and develop. You’d never really seen him changing, though. Maybe that’s why the difference in the two images leaves you nearly speechless. “Hyung?” And that single curiosity-laden word shakes you from your contemplation.
“Sorry. I must have spaced out for a second.” You drag a chair from the computer desk to sit beside him.
“Thirteen, actually, but who’s counting?” A smirk tilts his lips as mischief crinkles the corners of his eyes. The expression is both familiar and reassuring, something he’s kept with him from the beginning.
You smile back at him before reminding yourself what you originally came for. “Changmin… Has everything been okay lately?”
He blinks at you once, the question obviously catching him by surprise. “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”
Fighting the urge to forego conversation and simply shake the truth out of him, you continue with the next line you’d planned out. “It just seems like you’ve been kind of distant the last couple weeks. Distracted, really.”
“Oh.” He shifts his gaze to his hands clasped in his lap, a pensive frown creasing his forehead. “I’ve just… been thinking a lot lately. Too much, just the way you guys always said I do. I probably let it go too far. I’m sorry if it’s affected my performance.”
You shake your head. “If it were affecting that, we’d have talked about it long before now.” Pausing for a second, you debate turning this into a full confessional. “We just worry about you sometimes, Min. You’ve never really needed any of us to watch out for you, but we just can’t always help it.”
He looks up from his hands and smiles at you. (When had that shade of bitterness crept into the edges? And why are you just now noticing?) “I appreciate everything you guys do for me; I never want you to think I don’t. I’m fine, though, really. This is just… I have to work this out on my own.”
You nod, accepting but not entirely happy with the idea. Despite his lack of need for it, you’ve always felt the urge to take care of him. Something about him simply brought out the protective side in everyone around him. This time, you resign yourself to letting him fight this out on his own.
(At least until someone cries. Then all bets are off.)
You let Yoochun and Junsu in on your resolution later that night. This is not some cute little drama where the best friends get to play matchmaker. Min knows he can talk to any of you about anything at any time. Everything else is up to him. He’s a smart boy, and you’re confident in his ability to come to the right decision. Eventually.