Café Bisco II Chapter 1 [1/3]
This [somewhat short] chapter............was well overdue. =w=;;; Ahhhhhhhh, but I hope my readers will enjoy it nonetheless.
(I don't think it's my best..........far from it. =___= Exams are coming and I'm REALLY starting to think I've bit off more than I can chew [as usual] LOL)
Still, here it is -- in all its horrible crappy "glory" :'] You know the drill, folks.
(Next chapter will feature more Changmin with a side of JaeSu & SHINee :'D Just saying in advance.)
- Chapter 1 -
"Time past and time future,
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.”
- T.S. Eliot
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Yunho was just finished in the bathroom, shaking the water out of his ears as he headed for the couch where his clothes were laid out for the day, when the doorbell rang.
Three quick rings; no more, no less. Yunho felt himself start grinning before he could stop him. He should have known.
“Coming!”
Today was already shaping up to be a good day.
He came to the door as soon as he pulled on a pair of pants, opening the door to a very eager - and almost redheaded Jaejoong.
“Well,” Jaejoong swayed back and forth on the balls of his feet, “it’s nice to see you got all dressed up for me.”
“Only for you,” Yunho retorted, (he saw the flash of amusement in Jaejoong’s eyes and knew the elder one had picked up on his teasing), about to retract his statement when Jaejoong’s eyes widened suddenly.
“What? Something wrong?”
“Wow.” Jaejoong breathed, reaching out to lightly touch his bare biceps. “You weren’t kidding when you said you’ve been working out.” A vague, fond smile. “It’s nice to see a bit of muscle on you.”
Yunho chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously. “Not really. I only go two times a week. Anyway, Jaejoong-ah…red hair?” Peering at the crown of Jaejoong’s hair, he couldn’t even see a hint of dark roots. “I mean, it’s a good look for you, but-”
“I know.” Jaejoong pouted, crossing his arms. “It was supposed to be auburn. I should sue the company for false advertisement!”
“More importantly, what about all those bags?” Yunho pointed to the three rolling luggage cases behind Jaejoong. “You’re not going on a trip, are you?”
To this, Jaejoong gave a soft indulgent laugh, grabbing the handles of a couple of bags and wheeling them inside, leaving Yunho to help him carry the last bag in with him.
It was a good thing Yunho knew Jaejoong had quite a bit of muscle of his own these days to boast about; otherwise, he would have thought the sight alone was strange. Then again, there was a lot about Jaejoong that may have seemed contradictory to the ordinary spectator.
For Yunho, it was just another reason why spending time with Jaejoong was enjoyable - he never knew what to expect.
“No,” silly, Jaejoong’s voice seemed to whisper an unspoken sentiment, “I’m already right where I need to be.”
It took Yunho several seconds to digest this statement. When he did, the intense need to question it only grew.
“J-Jaejoong-ah.” Yunho swallowed hard, slowly shutting the door closed behind them. “You don’t mean you-?”
Much to his surprise, Jaejoong dropped his duffel bag at his feet, bowing. As if he needed to ask for a favor. It was such a bizarre sight, to see Jaejoong’s face writ with such conflict and anxiety all at once, gentle countenance as he lifted his chin to stare straight at him.
“Yunho-yah. I need a place to live for a week. Is…” Biting down on his lower lip, Jaejoong was almost childlike, wringing his hands as he bowed again. “…Is it okay if I stay with you?”
{ Is it okay if I stay with you? }
It wasn’t until Yunho cleared his head of these sudden thoughts (wishful thinking, he told himself) that a thought suddenly came to him.
“Wait. You’re not in any kind of…trouble again, are you?”
“I know what you’re thinking - and no.” Lowering his head again. “But I would have told you that already if it was.”
Yunho sighed, giving a firm pat to the coffee table situated between his two couches.
“Let’s sit down, then.” Jaejoong obeyed at once, doe brown eyes regarding Yunho settling down next to him, obviously troubled. “Go ahead and explain the situation to me. Whenever you’re ready.”
Two unfocused blinks later, Jaejoong reached into the bag at his feet to look for something. Meanwhile, Yunho at last shrugged on his shirt that had been lying on the cushion between them. It was barely a second later that Jaejoong extracted a stark white notice paper filled with text.
“This is the situation.” Yunho took the paper from Jaejoong, scanning over the tiny print. “And before you ask, Hyunjoongie and I had no idea what this meant at first, either.” Frowning. “We’ve never even had a bug problem in our apartment before.”
A thin smile as he scanned the contents of the paper. “Dust bunnies don’t count, huh?”
“Only in your apartment, Yunho-yah.” Jaejoong returned this gesture with a wan grin of his own. “And only in your linen closet and bedroom closet.”
Yunho laughed a bit at this, handing the paper back to Jaejoong.
“Alright. I think I understand now.” Yunho watched as Jaejoong sat up straight in his seat. “Correct me if I’m wrong and let me see if I understood that unnecessarily complicated notice letter.”
Jaejoong beamed. “Okay. I’ll only correct you if you’re wrong. Got it.”
Yunho inhaled sharply, while Jaejoong waited with bated breath.
“Your apartment needs to be fumigated.” Jaejoong nodded. “And you need a place to stay for a week.” Sheepish. “Am I doing okay so far…?”
“Hyunjoong’s staying with his boyfriend,” Jaejoong quickly added. Yunho’s mouth fell open. “I know. I didn’t hear about this until a couple of days ago, either. His band mate, too.” Jaejoong made a face. “I think he’s the one that has terrible taste in men.”
“I don’t know him well enough to debate that,” Yunho admitted with a smirk, “so I’ll just stay quiet on that.”
There was a brief pause, but at least this one wasn’t uncomfortable. Yunho cleared his throat, startling Jaejoong.
“Well. Since that takes care of the question I was about to ask,” Jaejoong seemed to suddenly glow with pride at his foreknowledge, and Yunho smiled a bit at the sight, “what about Yooch-”
“Junsu-yah and Changmin-ah live with their parents,” Jaejoong interrupted him. “And Yoochun-ah has a lot of visitors coming over to his place lately.” Yunho’s eyebrows rose. “We’ll talk about that later, though. Joongie’s boyfriend - Jungmin-sshi…” His cheeks rose-dusted, “I don’t have anything against him, per se, but I really don’t want to know what he and Joongie do in their off-time, so-”
“So you want to live with me for a week.” Yunho stopped to consider this for a moment. “Or longer, if your apartment really needs to be kept empty ‘indefinitely’ like that letter said.”
Head bowed, Jaejoong folded his hands in his lap. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” was Yunho’s automatic reply. Immediately, he reached for the other male’s hands. The light brush was all it took to get Jaejoong to look at him. “It’s not that I don’t want you to live with me.” Quite the opposite. “I just want to make sure we don’t have any secrets between us.”
Jaejoong stood suddenly, eyes alight.
“Then…I’ll help you pay the rent for this month.” Yunho opened his mouth to protest, but the look on Jaejoong’s face silenced him: Jaejoong clearly wouldn’t take no for an answer. “And I’ll cook and clean for you every night, too!”
“You’re a guest, Jaejoong-ah,” Yunho gave a soft laugh, “not a live-in nanny.”
“It’s equivalent exchange,” Jaejoong offered in rejoinder, “for letting me stay here.” Then, an amendment: “I’m doing it because I want to, not because I have to.”
It was hard to argue with that. That was their mutual agreement, after all.
He smiled.
“Okay. One week of living here rent free in exchange for cooking and cleaning services when needed.” Yunho held out his hand. “Sounds like a deal to you?”
Jaejoong shook his hand, holding on much longer than necessary and knowing full well that neither of them had any complaints about this.
“Absolutely. Thank you so much, Yunho-yah.” Jaejoong beamed. “I knew you wouldn’t turn me down.”
Soon enough, Yunho discovered out why Jaejoong had been holding onto his hand so long.
He was sent tumbling forward, landing with a muffled yelp sidled up to Jaejoong, the older one’s arms wrapped tight around his waist, head cradled in the crook of his shoulder. It was an awkward position, especially for Yunho, whose long legs were now bent at an odd angle.
(It was hard to complain when Jaejoong was so close, though.)
“This’ll be the best week ever.” Jaejoong’s voice was warming - in more ways than one - ‘auburn’ strands tickling his nose and slender fingers curling around the back fabric of his shirt. “I just know it.”
And in his current position, Yunho was more than inclined to agree.
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Part 2: http://sakuranbokissx.livejournal.com/27426.html