Café Bisco Chapter 6.5 (Part 1/3)
I finished early. ♥ So much love to all the CB readers out there -- hope you enjoy this short interlude before the "main" chapters continue :D
- Chapter 6.5 -
“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle,
and the life of the candle will not be shortened.
Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
- Buddha
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“Wait. How many beds, Yoochun?”
Yoochun quirks an eyebrow. “Three beds. Well, technically, two beds and a sofa, but…” A curious glance. “…Why? Something wrong with ‘em?”
Yunho shakes his head. “N-No, more like…I was just wondering why you have two beds here.” A beat. “You said you lived alone.”
“I do.” Yunho stares. “-But this crazy dolphin over here?” He points to Junsu plopped in front of the television, chattering on about something or another to Jaejoong. “He stays over here so often it’s like a second home for him.”
Suddenly cross, Yunho sighs, pressing his palms into the kitchen counter directly across from Yoochun. “Don’t tell me…you make him sleep on the couch when he comes over?”
“Correction, hyung.” Yoochun smirks. “I’m the one on the couch when he stays over. The extra bed’s for me.”
Silence. Then, comprehension. “Oh. I-I’m sorry, I-”
Yoochun laughs, a rich black coffee that lingers on the tongue long after it’s been tasted. “It’s okay. S’my fault. I didn’t explain.”
A sheepish grin. “I guess…”
“Yunnim!” Junsu pipes up. “Yoochunnie has movies! What do you want to watch: something funny or something action-y?”
“‘Action-y’ doesn’t exist, Junsu.” Changmin returns from the bathroom after washing his face, eyes alight and tongue sharp once again. “I’d give you a dictionary, but I wonder if you’d actually be able to read it.”
Junsu reddens, scrambling off the couch (and nearly assaulting Jaejoong with his flailing limbs). “W-Well, fine! If you don’t wanna watch a movie, Min-ah, just say so!”
“Easy, easy…” Yunho can’t help but laugh at the boys’ childish antics, pulling apart the flustered Junsu and the annoyed Changmin. “Play nice, alright? I mean, this should be like a celebration - a party! Think about it.” Jaejoong moves to the edge of the couch armrest, feet hanging above the plush carpet. “We all have jobs, we’re all working together…and we’re all friends, right?”
Changmin, suddenly abashed, looks down. “Sorry, hyung…it just kinda slipped out.”
Junsu looks up at Yunho, anxious. “Me, too! I’m sorry, Yunnim - I didn’t mean to get so mad…!”
These two really are more similar than they think, he muses, ruffling both teens’ hair. “Then let’s forget about it and go pick out a movie. Since you were the one who suggested it, Junsu, we’ll let you have the first choice.”
Junsu beams. “You’re a lot more fair than my dad, y’know that? I wish I worked with Misarang’s with you as my boss…” He drags Yoochun with him to the bedroom, waving Changmin along for good measure. “C’mon, Min-ah!” Apparently, their mankae was already forgiven. “I wanna show you those pictures we took at the festival first!”
“Ah…” Worried he would be left behind, Changmin trips on his way to follow. “…H-Hold on, hyung - wait a second…!”
Yunho flops onto the far end of the sofa with a groan, rubbing at his temples. “Honestly, kids these days…”
“If you could consider those two kids,” Jaejoong chuckles, settling on the place beside him. “Soon enough Changmin-ah’ll be taller than you…he’s already grown a couple of inches since the last time I saw him.”
Yunho’s eyes widen. “A second growth spurt?”
“Something like that.” Jaejoong smiles. “He must take after you.”
The laugh was shared this time. “Maybe,” Yunho says, “but let’s hope he doesn’t inherit my side’s teeth.” He bears a row of straight white teeth. “Porcelain veneers,” he mumbles after closing his mouth. “My parents figured it would be a lot faster and less painful than braces, but…”
“-Hurts like a bitch for the next year and a half after you get them, right?” Jaejoong sends the astonished Yunho a sympathetic smile. “I thought so, too. Almost regretted the decision completely, but I’m the type that never finishes what I start…it was a good lesson for me.”
Yunho leans back into the seat cushion. “A lesson in humility, huh…? Everyone could use that once in their life.”
Jaejoong glances toward the hallway leading to the back rooms. “I have a feeling those three weren’t going back there just to pick out movies.”
Yunho nods. “They have been in there awhile…”
“Yoochun-ah noticed it, you know.” Yunho stares. “Junsu’s eyes were still red by the time we met them at Café Bisco. I’m sure it didn’t get past either of those two.” A soft smile. “He’s probably telling them how his ‘meeting’ went as we speak…”
Yunho offers a solemn pat to Jaejoong’s shoulder. “He’ll be okay. Junsu…he’s some piece of work. Last person in the world I’d want to get upset.” A small giggle bubbles past Jaejoong’s lips. “-Well, I am! If something goes wrong, Junsu’s saintly willpower could just go SNAP - and we’d all be dead!”
“Dead-” Jaejoong gasps, falling into a short laughing fit. “-Yunho-yah, you know that sounds - that sounds ridiculous.”
An awkward shift of body weight. “I know, but…you looked a little sad yourself.” A concerned glance. “Can’t blame me for wanting to cheer you up, right?”
Jaejoong regards him with a brief, distracted nod. He knew there was something bothering the older man - and it wasn’t just Junsu. Normally, he preferred to let the other party tell him on their own terms. Jaejoong was different; even if he hadn’t known him for long, Yunho had a feeling Jaejoong was the type to hold his emotions hostage, not wanting to burden people. That was what worried Yunho the most.
He knew what would happen because he was the same way - bottling everything up inside only to eventually explode.
“Before we left the café,” Jaejoong sighed, “you all went to the car without me, remember? Manager took me back, asking me to help him with something.”
“He wanted to talk alone with you.” Yunho never lets his gaze leave Jaejoong’s downturned face. “Something happened?”
A dark chuckle. “More like something that didn’t happen.” Pause. “…He’s been trying to find out more about my biological family. Up until now, there’s been nothing that’s shown up. Han…it’s not exactly an uncommon family name.” True. Yunho wasn’t very surprised at the thought of Lee Soo-man investigating; he struck him as the ex-cop type. Maybe he had been one before taking over the café.
“-Well, he found out something yesterday. My birth father…he’s alive. He met him, even.” Jaejoong lifts his head to look at Yunho, a frown stretched across fair features. “But…he outright refused to see me.”
That’s… “No way…s-so he just doesn’t want to acknowledge you, or-?”
“Only if I’m willing to work with him.” Jaejoong draws his knees into his chest, a small bundle of black cotton and taut muscle. “And his line of work isn’t exactly clean.”
He’s never been the tactile sort - but the slope of Jaejoong’s shoulder seems to meld against him the moment he embraces the smaller man; it just feels right. Still, they’re such silly, silly thoughts.
For the time being, he pushes them aside.
“Hey.” A fond smile quirks Yunho’s mouth. “Anytime you need to talk it out, I’m here for you.” He pulls away from Jaejoong briefly to see the eldest staring back at him appreciatively. “You heard me out when I complained to you about my dad, so I owe you one for that anyway.” A thought. “-Well, this could also count toward breakfast yesterday.” Grins. “I still haven’t paid you back in full for that yet.”
“Yet,” Jaejoong titters, bringing Yunho closer for another hug. “…Thank you.” A barely audible whisper against the crook of his neck; he almost forgets to breathe. “Thank you, Yunho-yah.” Yunho feels Jaejoong’s hands clutching the back of his shirt, the swell of his cheek resting against his shoulder. “And I’m sorry I…”
“-Nothing to be sorry about.” He cuts Jaejoong off, not wanting to hear the rest. “I’d rather you let it out. Bad things happen when you keep your feelings inside - I’d know. I’m the same way.”
Jaejoong suddenly looks up, an indulgent smile displayed on his face. Yunho lets go of him, immediately missing the warmth. “What’s wrong?”
“I think,” Jaejoong intones slowly, eyes still trained on whatever was behind Yunho, “this is going to be a habit of ours. Doing this sort of thing with you watching…are you secretly a voyeur, Yoochun-ah?”
Silence. Then, comprehension. “Y-Yoochun-?!”
When Yunho whirls around, he finds Yoochun doubled over in silent hysterics, Junsu gawking at the previously embracing pair, and Changmin with a knowing smirk on his face. He should have known what was coming.
“Well.” Changmin coughs. “I figured Yoochun was just delusional, but I guess I can trust hyung with anything now.” He barely bats an eyelash when Junsu, having come to the revelation that he’d dropped the DVD boxes in his surprise, scuttles around his feet to pick up the fallen cases. “Intuition-wise, anyway.”
Yunho turns bright red, dropping his head on the armrest of the sofa. He looks back to see Jaejoong crawling over to his side, giving his back a hard clap. “Don’t bother trying to talk them out of it,” he murmurs with an amused grin. “You’ll be fighting a losing battle.”
In the aftermath of their second ‘incident,’ later into the evening (all of them gathered around Yoochun’s dining table to talk and dig into the hour-old takeout cartons they ordered at Junsu’s request), Yunho wonders why Jaejoong didn’t deny the charges placed against them. But it’s a silly thought and he’s hungry from skipping lunch.
For the time being, he pushes the spark of hope that builds in him aside.
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Part 2: http://sakuranbokissx.livejournal.com/6740.html.