ficlet: Choices {yunho-centric}
Title: Choices
Series: none
Length: One-Shot
Author: M_K Yujji
Rating: PG
Genre: angst
Pairing/Characters: Yunho-centric, SooMan
Warnings: RPF
Disclaimer: Though real people are used as characters, this fic bears no resemblance to Real Life and these people are not owned by me.
Comments/Notes: I wish I could fit this into my list of prompts, but I can't. Which is a shame, because I still have several prompts to go. This came out of no where, really.
It's also been pointed out that I have an inconsistency issue with Korean names. By and large, when I type out a Korean name, I type it like this "SooMan". The only exceptions to this are the members of DBSK. I doubt that will ever change. "Sooman" looks very wrong to me whereas YunHo or JaeJoong just looks plain weird. No, I don't understand why I think either way. Just chalk it up to the eccentricity of my personality.
Thanks, shinigamitabris for the beta'ing.
Summary: Life is about the choices we make.
~*~*~*~
It was no surprise to anyone that when the dust finally settled and the epic battle between Dong Bang Shin Ki and SM Entertainment finally ended, all five contracts had to be re-negotiated. Whether they'd participated in the lawsuit or not, each contract was largely contingent on the others and no single contract could have stood alone as they were if the others were redone.
It wasn't until SM made the announcement that it was officially disbanding the group and that it would never put the five of them together on a stage again that real shock and disbelief hit everyone like a tsunami.
Everyone except Yunho. He'd known, when the first noises of discontent had begun to fill their changing rooms, when whispers of lawsuit had crept out in the darkness of hotel rooms, that this was how it was going to end.
He'd understood the others' points of view - shared it, even, in most things - but he'd fought long and hard to keep them from going forward for just this reason.
His family was now broken, torn apart early by a business that would have worn them down in the end regardless.
He didn't know the details of anyone else's new contract. Hadn't asked. Hadn't even wanted to.
Part of him wondered if they'd faced the same options as he did, but he rather doubted it. The other four each had a talent that could be utilized individually. Singing, song-writing, acting.... He could guess at their choices.
But Yunho was a dancer at heart and dancers only succeeded in groups.
Sighing, he pulled one of the sets of paper towards him.
“Are you sure?” There was no pressure in Lee SooMan's voice, just curiosity. Whatever anyone else said, the man had been good to Yunho more often than not and he appreciated that. “Once we get Super Junior sorted out, there will be space.”
Yunho nodded. “Yeah. I'm sure.”
He signed the paper with a steady hand despite the tremor in his heart and gave the older man a half-hearted smile as he handed it over. “Thank you. For everything.”
SooMan's smile was affectionate and warm and he used the hand Yunho held out to pull the younger man into a hug. “It's been a pleasure, Jung Yunho. It truly has.”
For a moment, Yunho allowed himself to return the hug. This was the man who'd given him a chance to realize a dream that few children ever managed to reach, the man who'd believed in him even when others had turned away.
This was the man directly responsible for six years of the most amazing roller coaster of a life and the family that - in his heart of hearts - he'd come to love more than anything or anyone else in the world.
Whatever the ending of things, Yunho would always love the man for that and he ached for another piece of fractured family that he was losing.
“Goodbye, sir.”
When he shut the office door behind him, the ring of finality gave Yunho a moment of free falling desperation. But this was a choice like any other and with every step away from the life he was giving up and into the life of unknown anonymity he was heading for, the air grew clearer and the weight on his shoulders grew lighter.
By the time he'd lost himself in the crowds swarming downtown Seoul, he knew - as he'd known the day so many years ago as he'd walked out his family's home, heading for the big city - that he'd made the right choice.
~*~*~
fin
Series: none
Length: One-Shot
Author: M_K Yujji
Rating: PG
Genre: angst
Pairing/Characters: Yunho-centric, SooMan
Warnings: RPF
Disclaimer: Though real people are used as characters, this fic bears no resemblance to Real Life and these people are not owned by me.
Comments/Notes: I wish I could fit this into my list of prompts, but I can't. Which is a shame, because I still have several prompts to go. This came out of no where, really.
It's also been pointed out that I have an inconsistency issue with Korean names. By and large, when I type out a Korean name, I type it like this "SooMan". The only exceptions to this are the members of DBSK. I doubt that will ever change. "Sooman" looks very wrong to me whereas YunHo or JaeJoong just looks plain weird. No, I don't understand why I think either way. Just chalk it up to the eccentricity of my personality.
Thanks, shinigamitabris for the beta'ing.
Summary: Life is about the choices we make.
~*~*~*~
It was no surprise to anyone that when the dust finally settled and the epic battle between Dong Bang Shin Ki and SM Entertainment finally ended, all five contracts had to be re-negotiated. Whether they'd participated in the lawsuit or not, each contract was largely contingent on the others and no single contract could have stood alone as they were if the others were redone.
It wasn't until SM made the announcement that it was officially disbanding the group and that it would never put the five of them together on a stage again that real shock and disbelief hit everyone like a tsunami.
Everyone except Yunho. He'd known, when the first noises of discontent had begun to fill their changing rooms, when whispers of lawsuit had crept out in the darkness of hotel rooms, that this was how it was going to end.
He'd understood the others' points of view - shared it, even, in most things - but he'd fought long and hard to keep them from going forward for just this reason.
His family was now broken, torn apart early by a business that would have worn them down in the end regardless.
He didn't know the details of anyone else's new contract. Hadn't asked. Hadn't even wanted to.
Part of him wondered if they'd faced the same options as he did, but he rather doubted it. The other four each had a talent that could be utilized individually. Singing, song-writing, acting.... He could guess at their choices.
But Yunho was a dancer at heart and dancers only succeeded in groups.
Sighing, he pulled one of the sets of paper towards him.
“Are you sure?” There was no pressure in Lee SooMan's voice, just curiosity. Whatever anyone else said, the man had been good to Yunho more often than not and he appreciated that. “Once we get Super Junior sorted out, there will be space.”
Yunho nodded. “Yeah. I'm sure.”
He signed the paper with a steady hand despite the tremor in his heart and gave the older man a half-hearted smile as he handed it over. “Thank you. For everything.”
SooMan's smile was affectionate and warm and he used the hand Yunho held out to pull the younger man into a hug. “It's been a pleasure, Jung Yunho. It truly has.”
For a moment, Yunho allowed himself to return the hug. This was the man who'd given him a chance to realize a dream that few children ever managed to reach, the man who'd believed in him even when others had turned away.
This was the man directly responsible for six years of the most amazing roller coaster of a life and the family that - in his heart of hearts - he'd come to love more than anything or anyone else in the world.
Whatever the ending of things, Yunho would always love the man for that and he ached for another piece of fractured family that he was losing.
“Goodbye, sir.”
When he shut the office door behind him, the ring of finality gave Yunho a moment of free falling desperation. But this was a choice like any other and with every step away from the life he was giving up and into the life of unknown anonymity he was heading for, the air grew clearer and the weight on his shoulders grew lighter.
By the time he'd lost himself in the crowds swarming downtown Seoul, he knew - as he'd known the day so many years ago as he'd walked out his family's home, heading for the big city - that he'd made the right choice.
~*~*~
fin