Title: Shifting Fortunes 18/19
Rating: NC -17
Pairings: Yunho/Jaejoong, Yoochun/Junsu, Changmin/Fic OC, Past!Jaejoong/Heechul, Eunhyuk/Donghae, Kyuhyun/Sungmin, Yesung/Ryeowook, ninja!Leeteuk/Kangin
Disclaimer: If I owned them, I'd make them act this out.
Summary: Jaejoong was raised in riches. Yunho has struggled most of his life just to keep food in his stomach. Jaejoong leaves his family and ends up working beside Yunho at a farm in the mountains. In a world of uncertainties, what is Jaejoong willing to give up in order to have everything?
A/N: Anything in italics is the present day, and then the fic goes back in time.
Part 18:
Yunho's Last Chance
Poster credit goes to
sahmin I love you, my Failverto! ♥♥♥
YUNHO
The girl’s eyes widened.
Yunho smiled. “Yes, I’m serious,” he said before she could ask. “Go.”
The girl clutched the coveted blue paper in her hand, gathered up her purse and bolted down the stairs.
Yunho settled into the vacated seat. He leaned back and tried to ignore the excited chatter around him.
One week before …
Yunho smiled at the picture from Changmin’s wedding. It was easier to remember that day. And their last day by the river. He could remember the way the sun had come through the trees and speckled Jae’s body with shadows. He could remember Jae’s laughter. He couldn’t remember the feel of Jae’s skin, the taste of his mouth. How different would they be now that Jae was back to being pampered again?
Yunho laid back. He let all the thoughts and images of Jae flow through his mind. For the first time in a long time, they made him smile. He remembered the first time they had sex. Jae had been incredibly nervous, and now that Yunho thought about it; Jae had been a bit surprised at the preparation, like he’d never been slowly driven mad with three fingers stretching him open. He came without Yunho even touching him. Yunho had assumed that it had just been a long time since Jae had had sex, not that the only other person in life had been abusing him.
Another wave of anger at Heechul spread through him.
And you’re just going to let him win? Let Jae go? You love him. Aren’t you supposed to fight for him, not turn pussy at the first sign of trouble? Shit, Yunho, you’re acting like he cheated on you. And you know he didn’t.
Yunho sighed. No, Jae didn’t. All Jae did was love him.
Jae had only written him twice since his impromptu visit up to the farm, but Yunho read both letters. The first one was long, paragraph after paragraph of never letting him go, never loving anyone else, even if Yunho didn’t love him anymore.
Incredibly sappy, but it at least eased Yunho’s heart a bit. He’d never meant for Jae to leave thinking that Yunho didn’t love him. Yoochun had just come in so suddenly, and then Jae was gone. And he’d been left with a voice screaming to run after him, but a body unable to move.
He looked at the picture again. And then at the blue ticket sitting on his chest. A single sheet of paper lay next to it with the words: Just in case I’m still allowed to love you.
The contents of the second letter.
Yunho had tried to write Jae back, probably started and threw away fifty attempts at writing down what he wanted to say, but he couldn’t.
The door opened, and Yoochun entered. He paused, stared at Yunho for a moment and then came and sat on the bed.
“The fact that you haven’t ripped that ticket up is a pretty strong indication that there are feelings there. I know that he hurt you, but I also know that you know that it wasn’t his fault. Why are you holding on to this pain when you don’t have to?”
“But what if-”
“‘What if’ is a dangerous game.”
After a moment of silence, Yoochun whispered, “Stop fighting with yourself, Yunho. Love is unpredictable. There’s always going to be the ‘what if’, but the difference is that you understand that, take it and embrace it, and then spend every day with him like it’s going to be your last day together. Seriously, if you want to play the ‘what if’ game, do it this way. What if Jae gets hit by a bus today and dies? What if he gets cancer and doesn’t tell you and we don’t find out about his death until Yesung writes us a letter? What if-”
“Okay, I get it.”
“If either of those things happen, and you haven’t told Jae how you feel, then you’ll be a mess. You really want the last words you ever said to him to be angry?”
“No.”
Yoochun stood. “I know you’re tired of hearing me talk. And Junsu talk. And Leeteuk talk. I promise that we won’t bother you about this anymore. If you decide to go, then we’ll support you. If you decide not to go, we’ll support you.”
“Thanks, Chunnie. I’ll go.”
Yoochun turned and smirked. “I know.”
-----
Yunho paced the train car. God, how again did Yoochun and Leeteuk make this sound like a good idea?
Damn them both.
He knew he was bothering the other passengers, but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t sit still. He’d try and then just be up again to pace the walkway. After the third hour on the train, a voice said, “God, just sit down.”
Yunho looked over at a girl. She was young and pretty, and in her lap was Jaejoong’s CD.
“You like Hero?” he said.
She smiled. “Yeah. He’s hot, and man, his voice is so pretty.”
“Yeah. Are you going to his concert?”
“If I can talk to my mom into it. Are you?”
“Yeah, tomorrow night.”
“Lucky.”
Without an invitation, he sat next to her. She raised her eyebrows, but didn’t tell him to move. “So what are you so nervous about?”
Yunho scoffed. “I’m meeting a friend and, well the last time we talked, we argued and it feels like our friendship is deteriorating, and that hurts.”
“But you’re meeting,” she said. “That must mean you don’t want the friendship to end, and if you don’t want it to, then it won’t. My dad always says that when you want something, you should do whatever it is to get it. If you don’t, then you didn’t really want it in the first place.”
Yunho thought about that. “Guess you’ll be going to Jae’s concert then?”
The girl smiled, and then frowned. “Jae?” Her eyes widened and she whispered, “Do you know Kim Jaejoong?”
Yunho smiled. “We all have secrets, don’t we?” he replied but pulled his VIP ticket from his pocket.
Her mouth gaped open. “Holy-wait. Is he the friend you’re fighting with?”
Yunho was glad he was expecting the question. He managed to keep his smile. “No. How can you fight with Jae?”
“I know, right? He’s so amazing.” The girl sighed. “Can you get his autograph for me?”
Yunho laughed. “Sure.”
The girl wrote down her name and address. She gave Yunho her CD case to have Jae sign. It wasn’t until Yunho went back to his seat that he thought of how incredibly trusting and foolish this Kelly girl was. Well, he guessed when you were obsessed with something, logic and caution went away. Logic was definitely gone on how he’d been treating Jae, and Yunho admitted that he was obsessed with the other man.
He waved to Kelly on the platform and then dug a piece of paper from his pocket. He read the address, and then hailed a cab.
The cab got caught in traffic. As the minutes ticked by and the brake lights flashed, Yunho’s nerves shot up. It had been Junsu’s idea for him to go the night before, so he could talk to Jae before the concert. He had a sinking suspicion that he and Yesung planned it though, since as soon as he agreed to it, Junsu said Yesung would be waiting for him.
The cab finally arrived. Yunho climbed out, paid him and then looked for Yesung. All he saw were fangirls.
A man exited the building. All the girls looked over and then frowned and looked back to their phones.
He was older, probably a manager and he headed straight for Yunho. “Are you Yunho?”
“Yeah.”
“Follow me.”
The man went back to the door. He covered the pin pad with his hands and entered the code. He smiled. “Have to cover it. Those fangirls are sneaky with their zoom in cameras. We have to change the code every other week.”
He led Yunho to an elevator, hit the number ten and then it was quiet. Yunho stared at the ceiling, trying to control his breathing.
The elevator door slid open. At the only door in the hallway, he entered another code, there was a beep, and he lifted the latch.
“He’s here, Yesung.”
Yunho entered the room. Everything was very clean. Clean lines, wood floors and cabinents. He slid his shoes off and added them to the pile at the door. Lots of shoes.
He bowed to Yesung, but the other man gave him a hug. “Welcome. Come on in. You remember Ryeowook?”
Yunho said hello, and Ryeowook grinned.
“That’s Shindong. Shindong this is Yunho.”
The man that came up to him was a bit on the larger side, but in no way fat. His hair was cropped close to his head, but spiked up and chunky.
He smiled widely at Yunho. “It’s good to finally meet you. Jae talks about you all the time.” Shindong looked him up and down. “I guess you’re good looking, but by the way Jae talks about you, one would think you were Michelangelo’s David in the flesh, but I’m straight, so what do I know?”
Yunho smiled.
“Yunho, I’m so glad you decided to come,” Ryeowook said. “Jae is going to flip.”
“Where is he?”
Yesung made a face. “Those friends of his dragged him to a club. Not Heechul. Just Eunhae. I had to make excuses why I wasn’t going, but we can go if you want to see him sooner.”
“I don’t know. I mean, a club isn’t the best place to talk to someone.”
Yesung smirked. “No, but it is the best place when talking isn’t the best option.”
“What do you mean?”
“You can say all the words you want, but I think throwing him up against a wall and kissing him would get your point across.”
Yunho laughed. “Probably.”
Yesung turned to the others. “You want to go?”
Ryeowook shook his head. “No thanks.”
“I’ve got to be at the station early,” Shindong said, “so I better not.”
“Okay. We’ll be back later.”
Yesung took Yunho’s bag and set it on a chair. He led the way to the elevator. He hit the button for the basement. “This club is really exclusive. I mean, you’ll get in because you’re with me, but it’s off limits to anyone the bartender doesn’t know. It’s right down the alley, so no fangirls can get in, or even find it.”
The doors opened. They went through the garage to a back metal door and slipped outside.
“And if we get drunk, we can just walk home,” Yesung said with a grin.
The club was less than five minutes away. A bouncer stood at the door. Yesung greeted him and then said, “This is Yunho. He’s friends with Jae.”
The bouncer nodded and opened the door.
It took a moment for Yunho’s eyes to adjust to the sudden flickering lights of the club. The dance music wasn’t too loud, and there were only a few people dancing. His eyes scanned the room.
He spotted Donghae first, since he was facing him. Yunho only assumed that it was Eunhyuk whose body was bent with his face in Donghae’s lap. And based on Donghae’s perfectly content expression, Yunho had a pretty good idea what Eunhyuk was doing.
All he saw was Jae’s strong profile. He looked tense, but he was smiling at least.
Someone else leaned across the table.
Heechul.
“Fuck,” Yesung said when he saw Heechul.
The swirling lights from the dance floor illuminated the table for just a moment. Heechul had his hand on Jae’s knee.
Yunho couldn’t breath. His vision swam. He backpedaled. A hostess opened the door for him. He staggered outside, breathing in the cool night air. He didn’t know where to go, what to do. How was he supposed to keep doing this when every time he saw Jae it looked like he was with Heechul?
Yesung was beside him. “I swear I didn’t know he was here. Let me go back in and get Jae.”
“No,” Yunho said and shook his head.
“Look, he doesn’t like Heechul.”
“Everyone keeps telling me that, but my eyes see differently. I can’t keep doing this.”
Yunho started walking, but Yesung grabbed his arm. “This way.”
Yesung was blessedly silent on the way back to his apartment. Yunho probably would have snapped at him had he said anything.
Ryeowook and Shindong were surprised when they walked back through the door.
“What happened?’ Ryeowook asked and stood up.
Yesung waved him silent. Yunho grabbed his bag and headed for the door.
“Come to the concert,” Yesung said.
“No. I’m done with this.”
“Trust me. Come to the concert. This is all just circumstantial and you know it. You’re not stupid, Yunho. I know it’s hard, but try to take your heart out of this and listen. I’ve known Jae for a year now, and never once, I promise you, has he ever done anything with anyone. You don’t know the ways of the entertainment world, but he could have had whoever he wanted. There are girls and guys on call just to service us if we want them. The managers stopped offering, because Jae always refused. When Eunhae and Heechul started coming around, Jae was never, ever alone with Heechul. He wouldn’t even let Heechul in the apartment if he was here by himself. After his debut, when Heechul went in that bathroom, both Siwon and I tried to stop him. And then after you left, Heechul tried to kiss him and Jae smacked him and threatened to kick his ass if he didn’t leave. He doesn’t want Heechul.”
Yunho sighed and waved a hand at him. “I know, I know. I just … ”
“Come to the concert,” Yesung said.
“Maybe.”
Yunho left. He hit the elevator button. Tears started falling half way down, and continued when he left the building. He walked, in no particular direction, looking for a hotel.
Part 19:
Jaejoong's Last Chance Part 17:
Jaejoong's HeartbreakPart 16:
Yunho's HeartbreakPart 15:
Jaejoong's DecisionPart 14:
Yunho's DecisionPart 13:
A Series of LettersPart 12:
Yunho's GoodbyePart 11:
Jaejoong's OpportunityPart 10:
Yunho's Second Taste of LuxuryPart 9:
Jaejoong's InvitationPart 8:
Yunho's First Taste of LuxuryPart 7:
Jaejoong's ConfessionPart 6:
Yunho's Culture ShockPart 5:
Jaejoong's PastPart 4:
Yunho's SanctuaryPart 3:
Jaejoong's New LifePart 2:
Yunho's New RoommatePart 1:
Jaejoong's Predicament.