Rules of Court…ship
Title: Rules of Court…ship
Beta: the lovely vampcircus1
Rating: PG
Genre: Romance, crack/humour
Pairing: Yunho/Changmin
Fandom: DBSK/TVXQ/THSK
Disclaimer: Boys do not belong to me
Summary: Jung Yunho, youngest Senior Associate in the firm, passionate advocate, is sipping on his morning coffee, leaning against the wall of the elevator when a tall, handsome young man stumbles in, crashes into him and spills his coffee all over his Armani suit.
Note: This was written for entertainment with next to no research into the Korean legal system; please take it at face value. (This is also where I admit that the title makes me cry at the lameness, but at least Taguchi would approve?)
It starts like this.
Jung Yunho, youngest Senior Associate in the firm, passionate advocate, technically brilliant, a favourite amongst the Senior Partners, is sipping on his morning coffee, leaning against the wall of the elevator when a tall, handsome young man stumbles in, crashes into him and spills his coffee all over his Armani suit.
The young man’s name is Changmin, freshly admitted to the law, determined to hide the fact that his father is the Shim in Shim & Park Lawyers. Changmin is usually graceful and generally a good performer under pressure. Today is his first day at work and like the meticulous person that he is, Changmin leaves home an hour early in order to account for any unexpected traffic. What he couldn’t account for is some bird flying into the subway tunnel and causing an underground mayhem of ridiculous proportions (all the while Changmin is chanting If I get fired on my first day, I’m gonna sue you all in his head, like the good lawyer that he is).
So there they were, Yunho stumbling onto the floor of the elevator from shock and from getting scorched by hot liquid, Changmin repeating apologies again and again and attempting to wipe at Yunho’s chest with his scarf (new season Alexander McQueen, Changmin mourns briefly). And just as they are both about to raise their heads and take a good look at one another, the lights in the elevator go out.
You have got to be kidding me, Changmin thinks. He’s frozen, hovering over some stranger with a very firm chest (his hand is still against the man’s chest, albeit separated by a thin silk shirt and the material of his own scarf). Yunho on the other hand, is thinking hard about where to place his hands - currently they are just kind of suspended in mid-air. He wants to reach out, steady the man and tell him that it’s fine, and maybe pull him back a bit because Yunho can’t get up with another body pressed so close to his own. Only it’s all dark and his eyes haven’t adjusted yet and what if he accidently pokes the guy’s eye out or something? He’s pretty sure that his professional indemnity insurance doesn’t cover situations like this.
A moment later Changmin finally loses his balance and falls onto Yunho with a soft umph. Yunho’s arms automatically go around him for the catch, and then there is awkward silence.
‘eerr…um……’ Yunho says coherently.
Changmin swears.
* * *
As luck will have it, Changmin is assigned as Yunho’s junior. Yunho is ecstatic because this is the first time he’s had a junior of his own; someone who he can mentor and train and guide in the pursuit of justice. Changmin is glaring at the Partner who has just made the assignment (and who is coincidently his own father) and thinks rude thoughts in his head, because he is secretly still embarrassed about the elevator incident and besides, this Jung guy seems like a bit of an idiot from the way he keeps grinning at Changmin, all bright-eyed and stained shirt.
‘Best of luck for your first year of photocopying, I’m sorry I mean lawyer-ing,’ his father says with a look that says he’s simultaneously laughing at Changmin’s expense and resisting the urge to ruffle Changmin’s hair.
After his father leaves, it’s just him and Yunho standing there and Changmin can hear people around them whispering. Yunho has taken his suit jacket off and the ugly brown patch of drying coffee is clearly noticeable against the stark white shirt. Changmin’s own scarf is stained, not to mention his favourite Ferragamo shoes are now ruined from when he had accidently stepped into a puddle of spilled coffee in the dark elevator.
This was not the way he wanted his first day to go. And if Changmin had to blame someone, it would be the smiling idiot in front of him.
He gives Yunho a smile that clearly says: I may kill you in your sleep and Yunho’s 100-watt smile falters.
* * *
Changmin has heard horror stories of how juniors are made to do all the horrible jobs, like photocopying and sorting through mountains of material, but Yunho is actually pretty decent.
Actually, he’s really decent. Occasionally, he does ask Changmin to do mundane tasks, but he always does so with an apologetic smile. He more than makes up for it by copying Changmin in for all the correspondence and letting Changmin help with the drafting of court documents. They even discuss case strategies together, because it hadn’t take Yunho long to realise that Changmin is incredibly bright and a fast learner (and incredibly handsome and snarky) and he enjoys bouncing ideas off him.
In return Yunho finds his calendar colour coded, with reminders at 5 minute intervals telling him to get his ass to his next meeting. His files, which were originally scattered across the floor of his office, are ordered alphabetically on the shelves he had forgotten existed. Technically these are things his secretary can do, but Changmin keeps assigning her tasks like photocopying and takes to organising Yunho’s professional life himself.
Yunho gets used to working with Changmin bustling in the background, sometimes directing accusations at him along the lines of, ‘Why can’t you clean properly?!’ and ‘Didn’t I just order these documents yesterday? Why are they in a mess again?’
Sometimes they fight. Loudly. Once, his father happened to be down his end of the floor and overheard him yelling at Yunho (‘I quit, I tell you! I’m gonna quit and you’ll have to organise your own briefs and then you’ll see! Ha!’). It wasn’t exactly his most mature moment and he felt immediately bad afterwards when Yunho looked at him with big eyes and muttered, ‘I’m sorry Changmin-ah… I was on the phone and looking for a document in a hurry. I didn’t mean to mess up your hard work …’
His father had then taken him aside and asked him seriously if he wanted to be reassigned or transferred to another department. Changmin could only blink at him in confusion because he hadn’t realised how their fights appeared to onlookers. Somehow he became flustered mid-explanation, about how he really didn’t mind working with Yunho because Yunho was good at his job, actually smarter than he looked, a good mentor and well, just a good guy… yeah…
* * *
And then one day, something happens.
After months of pulling late nights together and going painstakingly through boxes and boxes of documents and potential evidence, numerous mediations where Changmin watched Yunho ruffle feathers and had his own ruffled, they were finally going to trial.
Changmin is walking behind Yunho like the good junior that he is, pulling a leather suitcase filled with their documents. He sees Yunho reach for the door to the court room and finds himself wanting to say something, do something. All of a sudden he’s getting embarrassingly emotional about this whole ordeal. He knows how much work Yunho has put into this case and how much a win would mean to him. Changmin just wants to say good luck, you’ll be fine, but then Yunho would just smile at him in that confident and brave way that he does when he feels he has to and Changmin will see right through it because he can tell from the bags under Yunho’s eyes that he probably hadn’t slept a wink the night before, and because Yunho had put on his favourite suit for luck, and it all comes together to mean that Yunho is nervous.
Before he knows what’s happening, Changmin finds himself grabbing for Yunho’s wrist and then he finds Yunho staring at him, just inches away.
‘Did I forget anything?’
Changmin smiles, because he has learned to be confident and brave too.
‘No, everything is ready,’ he says. Then he reaches for Yunho’s tie, slowly, carefully straightening it and he lets his fingers linger. What is meant to be a gesture of support turns into something else as Changmin begins to feel Yunho’s body heat seep through the thin shirt against his fingers and when their gazes meet, Yunho’s eyes are so very, very dark.
They are interrupted by a cough. ‘Excuse me, but you are blocking the entrance to the court room,’ their jerk of an opponent says with a cocky grin.
Yunho and Changmin shuffle into the court room, cheeks aflame.
They win, but Changmin doesn’t find out why (or what exactly tipped the Judge in their favour) because while the Judge is explaining his reasoning, he feels Yunho tug at his hand under the table and intertwine their fingers and he thinks it’s all a bit sappy and absurd but he can’t seem keep the smile from spreading across his face.
Beta: the lovely vampcircus1
Rating: PG
Genre: Romance, crack/humour
Pairing: Yunho/Changmin
Fandom: DBSK/TVXQ/THSK
Disclaimer: Boys do not belong to me
Summary: Jung Yunho, youngest Senior Associate in the firm, passionate advocate, is sipping on his morning coffee, leaning against the wall of the elevator when a tall, handsome young man stumbles in, crashes into him and spills his coffee all over his Armani suit.
Note: This was written for entertainment with next to no research into the Korean legal system; please take it at face value. (This is also where I admit that the title makes me cry at the lameness, but at least Taguchi would approve?)
It starts like this.
Jung Yunho, youngest Senior Associate in the firm, passionate advocate, technically brilliant, a favourite amongst the Senior Partners, is sipping on his morning coffee, leaning against the wall of the elevator when a tall, handsome young man stumbles in, crashes into him and spills his coffee all over his Armani suit.
The young man’s name is Changmin, freshly admitted to the law, determined to hide the fact that his father is the Shim in Shim & Park Lawyers. Changmin is usually graceful and generally a good performer under pressure. Today is his first day at work and like the meticulous person that he is, Changmin leaves home an hour early in order to account for any unexpected traffic. What he couldn’t account for is some bird flying into the subway tunnel and causing an underground mayhem of ridiculous proportions (all the while Changmin is chanting If I get fired on my first day, I’m gonna sue you all in his head, like the good lawyer that he is).
So there they were, Yunho stumbling onto the floor of the elevator from shock and from getting scorched by hot liquid, Changmin repeating apologies again and again and attempting to wipe at Yunho’s chest with his scarf (new season Alexander McQueen, Changmin mourns briefly). And just as they are both about to raise their heads and take a good look at one another, the lights in the elevator go out.
You have got to be kidding me, Changmin thinks. He’s frozen, hovering over some stranger with a very firm chest (his hand is still against the man’s chest, albeit separated by a thin silk shirt and the material of his own scarf). Yunho on the other hand, is thinking hard about where to place his hands - currently they are just kind of suspended in mid-air. He wants to reach out, steady the man and tell him that it’s fine, and maybe pull him back a bit because Yunho can’t get up with another body pressed so close to his own. Only it’s all dark and his eyes haven’t adjusted yet and what if he accidently pokes the guy’s eye out or something? He’s pretty sure that his professional indemnity insurance doesn’t cover situations like this.
A moment later Changmin finally loses his balance and falls onto Yunho with a soft umph. Yunho’s arms automatically go around him for the catch, and then there is awkward silence.
‘eerr…um……’ Yunho says coherently.
Changmin swears.
* * *
As luck will have it, Changmin is assigned as Yunho’s junior. Yunho is ecstatic because this is the first time he’s had a junior of his own; someone who he can mentor and train and guide in the pursuit of justice. Changmin is glaring at the Partner who has just made the assignment (and who is coincidently his own father) and thinks rude thoughts in his head, because he is secretly still embarrassed about the elevator incident and besides, this Jung guy seems like a bit of an idiot from the way he keeps grinning at Changmin, all bright-eyed and stained shirt.
‘Best of luck for your first year of photocopying, I’m sorry I mean lawyer-ing,’ his father says with a look that says he’s simultaneously laughing at Changmin’s expense and resisting the urge to ruffle Changmin’s hair.
After his father leaves, it’s just him and Yunho standing there and Changmin can hear people around them whispering. Yunho has taken his suit jacket off and the ugly brown patch of drying coffee is clearly noticeable against the stark white shirt. Changmin’s own scarf is stained, not to mention his favourite Ferragamo shoes are now ruined from when he had accidently stepped into a puddle of spilled coffee in the dark elevator.
This was not the way he wanted his first day to go. And if Changmin had to blame someone, it would be the smiling idiot in front of him.
He gives Yunho a smile that clearly says: I may kill you in your sleep and Yunho’s 100-watt smile falters.
* * *
Changmin has heard horror stories of how juniors are made to do all the horrible jobs, like photocopying and sorting through mountains of material, but Yunho is actually pretty decent.
Actually, he’s really decent. Occasionally, he does ask Changmin to do mundane tasks, but he always does so with an apologetic smile. He more than makes up for it by copying Changmin in for all the correspondence and letting Changmin help with the drafting of court documents. They even discuss case strategies together, because it hadn’t take Yunho long to realise that Changmin is incredibly bright and a fast learner (and incredibly handsome and snarky) and he enjoys bouncing ideas off him.
In return Yunho finds his calendar colour coded, with reminders at 5 minute intervals telling him to get his ass to his next meeting. His files, which were originally scattered across the floor of his office, are ordered alphabetically on the shelves he had forgotten existed. Technically these are things his secretary can do, but Changmin keeps assigning her tasks like photocopying and takes to organising Yunho’s professional life himself.
Yunho gets used to working with Changmin bustling in the background, sometimes directing accusations at him along the lines of, ‘Why can’t you clean properly?!’ and ‘Didn’t I just order these documents yesterday? Why are they in a mess again?’
Sometimes they fight. Loudly. Once, his father happened to be down his end of the floor and overheard him yelling at Yunho (‘I quit, I tell you! I’m gonna quit and you’ll have to organise your own briefs and then you’ll see! Ha!’). It wasn’t exactly his most mature moment and he felt immediately bad afterwards when Yunho looked at him with big eyes and muttered, ‘I’m sorry Changmin-ah… I was on the phone and looking for a document in a hurry. I didn’t mean to mess up your hard work …’
His father had then taken him aside and asked him seriously if he wanted to be reassigned or transferred to another department. Changmin could only blink at him in confusion because he hadn’t realised how their fights appeared to onlookers. Somehow he became flustered mid-explanation, about how he really didn’t mind working with Yunho because Yunho was good at his job, actually smarter than he looked, a good mentor and well, just a good guy… yeah…
* * *
And then one day, something happens.
After months of pulling late nights together and going painstakingly through boxes and boxes of documents and potential evidence, numerous mediations where Changmin watched Yunho ruffle feathers and had his own ruffled, they were finally going to trial.
Changmin is walking behind Yunho like the good junior that he is, pulling a leather suitcase filled with their documents. He sees Yunho reach for the door to the court room and finds himself wanting to say something, do something. All of a sudden he’s getting embarrassingly emotional about this whole ordeal. He knows how much work Yunho has put into this case and how much a win would mean to him. Changmin just wants to say good luck, you’ll be fine, but then Yunho would just smile at him in that confident and brave way that he does when he feels he has to and Changmin will see right through it because he can tell from the bags under Yunho’s eyes that he probably hadn’t slept a wink the night before, and because Yunho had put on his favourite suit for luck, and it all comes together to mean that Yunho is nervous.
Before he knows what’s happening, Changmin finds himself grabbing for Yunho’s wrist and then he finds Yunho staring at him, just inches away.
‘Did I forget anything?’
Changmin smiles, because he has learned to be confident and brave too.
‘No, everything is ready,’ he says. Then he reaches for Yunho’s tie, slowly, carefully straightening it and he lets his fingers linger. What is meant to be a gesture of support turns into something else as Changmin begins to feel Yunho’s body heat seep through the thin shirt against his fingers and when their gazes meet, Yunho’s eyes are so very, very dark.
They are interrupted by a cough. ‘Excuse me, but you are blocking the entrance to the court room,’ their jerk of an opponent says with a cocky grin.
Yunho and Changmin shuffle into the court room, cheeks aflame.
They win, but Changmin doesn’t find out why (or what exactly tipped the Judge in their favour) because while the Judge is explaining his reasoning, he feels Yunho tug at his hand under the table and intertwine their fingers and he thinks it’s all a bit sappy and absurd but he can’t seem keep the smile from spreading across his face.