(no subject)
Title: A Man and His Tiger (Or is it the other way around?)
Length: one-shot
Author: Li Youhan (Razra_Eizel)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: romance, humor, fluff
Pairing: Yunjae, other side pairings
Summary: Jaejoong, Yoochun, Junsu, Changmin and Hayoung are veterinary students. Going with Hayoung’s suggestion, they decided to take a short vacation in a small cabin at the top of a mountain for a get together before their last semester. Little did they know that there would be more to it than just a simple vacation, causing Changmin to constantly wonder why they still take everything the snake Hayoung said at face value
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything
A/N: based on a plunny (http://jaeho-plot.livejournal.com/157402.html) by chocolick :D thanks again for letting me adopt this one, hun :3
To those who have read ‘Love is Blind and Oblivious’, they will know of my OCs, Go Hayoung and Cho Yonghwa :D they will make an appearance again here, with hopefully similar character, which should be good news to those who enjoyed having ‘Lord Voldemin’ squirm xD
At first, I was hesitant to adopt this plunny, but after the last one, and the birth of Hayoung, there are a couple of scenes that I saw playing in my mind, and so I decided to write this :D hopefully it will be as entertaining as the last one, if not more
Anyway, onto the story~ enjoy! And don’t forget to leave a comment :D
Misc: I'm still behind in the contest, so anyone who hasn't voted for me yet and would vote for me, please click HERE and vote :3
Part One - Up to the Mountains
The Seoul National University is famous for many things. It has the best Faculty of Medicine, as well as Law and Business, and Commerce too. They have excellent on-campus accommodation for students who live far away, and the facilities as well as the amenities were excellent too. It has the most extensive library, only second in place to the national library.
But the school and its facilities wasn’t the main focus.
One of the faculties in the university was the veterinary science. Let it be said that most Koreans think of their pets as part of their family, and not simply animals to be bred and sold for money. They would let their pets sit in the same seats, and not lock them up in cages all the time.
They would also pay a lot of money for their pets, and that was why there had always been, and probably always would be, a lot of people interested in taking that particular course.
Enough back story for now. Our focus on this story is a group of friends who took this particular course. They had met at the beginning of the course, and had become quick friends. Their friendship grew and developed-two of them even found themselves dating now, and they knew what was happening with each other.
The only girl in the group, Go Hayoung, wasn’t someone to be underestimated. Her other girl friends baby her because of her petite stature and innocent, baby face. The boys fawned over her until one day she came with a boy they had never seen before and she claimed he was her boyfriend, and that they better step back if they still value their lives.
The four, however, knew better than that. She was a cunning girl, who wouldn’t stop at anything until she got exactly what she wanted, while making people think that it was fate or coincidence that made things happen. She was the evil mastermind behind the happening of the Yoosu couple, and only Changmin knew of that fact. The Yoosu couple remained oblivious, thinking they got together because they were meant to be, and Jaejoong remained ignorant.
When Hayoung first came with Yonghwa, who wasn’t even a student of their university, Changmin’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He waited to see if they would last, and was strangely pleased to know that they did. At least if Hayoung ever needed to bare her fangs again, he could feed Yonghwa to the venomous serpent.
After all, he seemed to have some sort of immunity to the poison.
And although he looked pleasant all the time, all smiles and warm tones, he had the fierceness of a lion. One that would not hesitate to rip anyone to shreds if they ever have any indecent intentions towards Hayoung.
Not that she needed any protecting. If Yonghwa wasn’t around, she would probably tear those people to shreds herself.
The fact that she was their friend made the four eternally grateful, because they never, ever wanted to be on the receiving end of the terror. She might be a snake, but she was strangely loyal to her friends, and every time she plotted against them, it was mostly for their own good.
Which made Yonghwa tease her about secretly being a noble lion.
And got him days of cold indifference and baleful glares from the snake.
Never let it be said that he learned his lesson even then. Teasing Hayoung was still his favourite pastime, and the four opted to simply watch from afar. It was amusing, but they didn’t dare to do it themselves.
And that, dear readers, was exactly why Changmin wondered why they never questioned anything that she said, no matter how innocent sounding.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
“Hey all,” Hayoung greeted as she walked into the townhouse they shared. They had met at the start because they were sharing the same house for on-campus accommodation. Yonghwa was following behind her, his arms burdened by numerous plastic bags.
“Hey,” Jaejoong said, looking up from the magazine he was reading. “You were out grocery-shopping? Why didn’t you bring the others along?”
“They fuss too much, especially about the brand of cereals to buy,” Hayoung said easily, plopping down on a couch while Yonghwa went on to the kitchen and began unpacking. He was over so often that he practically lived in that house already.
Hayoung had only said that Yonghwa had nowhere to go. At first he only came for a couple of hours. Lately he only went home for a couple of hours. No one would be surprised if he suddenly moved in and they didn’t notice.
“So, where are we going?” Hayoung asked easily as she picked up a travel magazine and began flipping through it.
It was the break between their first and second semester of the year, and the five had a tradition of going somewhere for a vacation on all breaks, although the length of their stays varied. Hayoung had been insistent that this time they stayed a bit longer, because this would be the last break they would be together, as their next semester was also their last.
“Do you have somewhere in mind?” Junsu asked.
“Actually, I do,” Hayoung said as she closed the magazine. “Remember that cabin on the mountains we visited?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s a nice place,” Yoochun said. “The locals are nice too.”
“Well, since Jae didn’t tag along with us that time, why don’t we go there again?” Hayoung suggested. “Then we would all experience that place. And I like the hot spring too.”
“Sure,” Junsu agreed. “It’ll be nice.”
Changmin stared suspiciously at Hayoung. Everything she suggested was usually plausible, reasonable, and would benefit one of the four. That was exactly why he couldn’t tell whether she was truly suggesting something or was in the middle of manipulating them into doing something.
And if he even suggested that she was doing it, he would have her fangs buried deep in his flesh before he could even scream for help.
Not that he would ever scream. It was too girly for him.
“Something wrong, Minnie?” Hayoung asked as she smiled sweetly at him.
“No, no, of course not,” Changmin said quickly. He hated that nickname. And that saccharine sweet smile she used whenever she was trying to calm her prey down before going in for the kill.
“Don’t scare him,” Yonghwa scolded as he sat down beside Hayoung and pulled her up so she was sitting on his lap, and Changmin felt like he could bow down to him in gratefulness.
“I’m not scaring him,” Hayoung protested as she pouted petulantly, then turned to look at Changmin. “Right?”
“Right, of course not,” Yonghwa said disbelievingly. “So you all are going to the cabin?”
“Yes,” Hayoung answered, beaming. “Are you staying for dinner today?”
“Does that translate to ‘will you stay and cook for us so Jaejoong can have a rest’?” Jaejoong asked.
Yonghwa laughed. “Whatever my little cub wants.”
“I told you I’ll never be noble like you,” Hayoung said as she stuck her tongue out at him and pinched his side. “But yeah, stay. I need to talk to you later.”
Yonghwa stared at her, then nodded dutifully. “Of course.”
Even when Hayoung was having a hissy fit, Yonghwa still treated her like a queen. Jaejoong had jokingly said he wanted someone like Yonghwa too, and Junsu had asked Yoochun why he couldn’t be more like Yonghwa. Changmin had decided to stay celibate until they graduated for fear his lover would compare him to the suicidal lion too.
“What are we having for dinner then?” Junsu asked.
“What I feel like cooking,” Yonghwa answered with a smile. “Well, I’ll leave you to plan for your trip then.”
“Uh-huh,” Hayoung said. “Do you want to come along?”
“Nah, it’s fine,” Yonghwa said, shaking his head. “It’s your quality time together, I don’t want to intrude.”
“You’re not intruding,” Yoochun said. “Or we would have shouted intruder now.”
“What he said,” Hayoung said. “Well, tell me if you change your mind. The hot spring is truly brilliant. And you need to look after me so I don’t prune up too badly and transform into a grandma.”
Yonghwa laughed. “I’ll think about it,” he said, then walked to the kitchen to start preparing dinner.
He took a long time preparing dinner because it was never all main courses. Yonghwa had this quirk of always preparing five-course meals. He would first have starters, then appetizers, then two main courses, and finally a dessert.
Changmin suspected it had something to do with the fact that whenever the two were on a date, instead of going to a fancy restaurant, they would stay at home and Yonghwa would prepare the fancy dinner. Complete with wine and all.
“He’s spoiling you rotten,” Changmin pointed out.
“Good thing I can never be spoiled enough, yes?” Hayoung asked as she chuckled.
Changmin raised an eyebrow, but wisely decided to keep silent.
“I’ll call the cabin and make the reservation,” Hayoung offered. “When should we go?”
“Two days from now is alright,” Jaejoong said. “It shouldn’t be too crowded there too.”
“Alright,” Hayoung agreed. “How long will we be staying?”
“A week or two,” Junsu said. “The lodging is cheap and I like to visit the village. We could stay longer there.”
“True,” Yoochun agreed. “Book the cabin for two weeks then. They’ll let us end it early if we have to go back, right?”
“Yeah, but we have to pay the cancellation fee,” Hayoung said. “Well, alright, two weeks it is then. You guys better start packing now. We’ll leave early morning the day after tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
“Yonghwa,” Hayoung called as she walked into her bedroom, and frowned when she saw Yonghwa lounging on her bed, hogging all the space and the blanket. “Hey, where am I supposed to sleep, the couch?”
“You always sleep on top of me anyway,” Yonghwa mumbled as he craned his neck to look at her. “I don’t see why this is a problem.”
Hayoung glared at him, but Yonghwa ignored it and closed his eyes again.
“What were you going to say?” Yonghwa asked as he sat up, then patted on the now free space beside him.
Hayoung kept glaring at him, but walked over and sat down beside him.
“You know that if people know we’ve been sleeping in the same bed they will have a fit, right?”
“Yeah, but they should also know that you’re a noble idiot who won’t even touch me inappropriately.”
“Right, right. So?”
“When was the last time you talked to Yunho?” Hayoung asked as she nestled herself on top of Yonghwa, causing him to snort, and causing her in turn to hit him. Hard.
“Well,” Yonghwa started, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “I went up there early last week, so it’s about two weeks ago.”
“And he’s been complaining about his loneliness?” Hayoung asked as she lifted an eyebrow at him. “Really? Or were you just exaggerating things?”
“You know I don’t do that,” Yonghwa said as he put on a fake hurt look. “You’re the drama queen, not me.”
The ensuing tickle fight lasted for about five minutes before Yonghwa screamed in surrender and fell off the bed.
“Did you complain about loneliness too back then?” Hayoung asked as she stared down at Yonghwa from her perch still on top of the bed. “Do you all complain about loneliness? Or is it just him?”
“I don’t remember,” Yonghwa said, smiling sappily at her. “It’s been so long since I last felt lonely.”
“You are such a sap,” Hayoung grumbled but helped Yonghwa back up onto the bed. “You should come to the cabin too.”
“Yes, but I don’t want to intrude,” Yonghwa repeated.
“Do you remember how we first met?” Hayoung asked slowly, tracing patterns along Yonghwa’s chest, and occasionally stopping to place her hand on top of his heart, feeling the faint pulse under her palm.
Yonghwa frowned.
“Exactly,” Hayoung said, looking up at him with a smirk. “What if it happens again?”
Yonghwa let out a beastly growl. “I’m going then.”
“Good,” Hayoung said, resting her cheek on top of his heart now, listening to the rhythmic beating of his heart. “We’re sharing a room.”
Yonghwa chuckled. “You always get what you want, don’t you?”
“It runs in the family,” Hayoung replied as she yawned cutely.
Yonghwa smiled contently and wrapped an arm loosely around her shoulders. “Sleep, baby,” he mumbled, burying his face in her hair.
Ever since they met, Yonghwa had become very protective of her, and when he had proven his trustworthiness to her, she began acting less and less guarded around him. Hayoung was actually a very sweet and nice girl, but an incident long ago when she was nearly kidnapped and raped by someone she had trusted caused her to become suspicious and wary around everyone.
The first time they met, Yonghwa had saved Hayoung’s life. She felt indebted to him, and they got to know each other. Yonghwa was loyal and proud. He would rather die than betray someone’s trust, especially those he cared for. He valued honour more than his own life. They had gotten to tell each other stories of their lives, and Yonghwa had actually gone to give the one who had broken her trust a good beating.
The day after the incident, her father had approved of Yonghwa, and the next day they were dating.
To him, it was a privilege to see the usually guarded and sly girl so defenceless and... cute.
Of course, she would probably give him a black eye if he used the adjective to describe her right to her face.
“Will you still be here in the morning?” Hayoung asked, her eyes only half-open.
Yonghwa’s smile widened. “As long as you will have me.”
Hayoung beamed at him and rose up to press a soft kiss on his lips. “Lucky me to have found a loyal, noble lion, eh?”
Yonghwa grinned. “Is that why you’re trying to find Jaejoong one of us?”
“You can say that,” Hayoung said. “It’ll do them good.”
“I’m sure.”
“I’m always right.”
“Whatever you say, baby.”
“It’s true.”
“I know.”
“Stop being so bloody condescending, Cho.”
“Same goes to you, Go,” Yonghwa replied with a wide grin.
“Go to sleep.”
“Alright.”
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
“So you’re coming after all,” Changmin commented as he stared at Yonghwa who was dragging his own and Hayoung’s bags up to the cabin. “Good for us, I suppose.”
Yonghwa laughed. “You really don’t have to fear her,” he said. “She’s cute.”
“What did you say?” Hayoung asked as she narrowed her eyes at him.
“You’re precious,” Yonghwa replied as he stole a quick kiss from Hayoung. “And have good taste. Who picked this cabin the first time?”
“Are you talking about my taste in lodging or in men?” Hayoung asked with a grin. “Because I wasn’t the one who picked this cabin.”
“You weren’t? Really?” Yonghwa asked, scrunching his nose up. “You’re always so anal about your appearance.”
“That’s because you’re always sloppy, so I have to be extra attentive to these things,” Hayoung scoffed, then reached forward and straightened the lapel of Yonghwa’s shirt. “See? You would be kicked out from a party if you turn up like this.”
“So, who picked this place out?” Yonghwa asked, changing the subject.
“Me!” Junsu exclaimed as he laughed. “I have good taste in lodging, don’t I?”
“You do,” Jaejoong said. “This is really nice. Why didn’t I come along with you guys that time?”
“Family gathering?” Junsu asked.
“Have you ever heard of rhetoric questions?” Changmin asked, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Rhetoric questions? What’s that?”
Changmin groaned. “Nevermind.”
The cabin was built like a townhouse, with two stories. The front door led to a short hallway, then the living room. A bathroom, the laundry, and the kitchen connected to the dining room were on the first floor. The second floor only had bedrooms and another bathroom. There were four bedrooms in the house, although they weren’t that big.
When they first came, they all had their own room. This time, only Changmin and Jaejoong had their own rooms.
“I picked a lodging higher up the mountain over there,” Hayoung said, motioning at the other mountain visible from where they were. “But I don’t regret staying here that time.”
Yonghwa grinned at her. “You’re becoming sappy too.”
“Your bad influence,” Hayoung said as she stuck her tongue out. “Alright, let’s unpack for now, and we can head down to the village for some grocery shopping later.”
“Are we going to the hot spring today?” Junsu asked excitedly.
“If we have time, yes,” Jaejoong said. “For now, we should focus on unpacking and stocking the pantry.”
“I agree,” Changmin added. “We can leave the hot spring for tomorrow if we don’t have time today.”
“Come on Yonghwa,” Hayoung said, tugging at his elbow. “I want to go to the hot spring tonight.”
The six walked the rest of the way up to the cabin, and spent the afternoon unpacking. Then two hours before sunset, they headed down to the local village for some grocery shopping.
“Oh, Hayoung-ah,” the elderly woman who owned the bakery greeted when she saw Hayoung walking with the others. “Yonghwa is here too, I see.”
“Yeah, I can’t leave her alone,” Yonghwa said as he chuckled.
The woman laughed. “Come, come. I’ve just put some more dinner rolls in the oven. Would you like some, dearie?”
“Sure,” Hayoung said with a wide smile.
“Do they know Hayoung?” Jaejoong whispered to Changmin as he watched the exchange. The elderly woman acted like her grandmother.
“No,” Changmin said. “Well, I don’t know how but they seem to take a liking to Hayoung ever since that time. They’re just that eccentric, I think.”
“What time?” Jaejoong asked again.
“A lion saved her in the woods,” Junsu replied. “The woods near our cabin is dangerous because of the bears, but the locals say there are a pack of animals that protect people who accidentally wander around that territory. Maybe the lion is part of that pack.”
“What I don’t understand is why they acted like Hayoung is the one who saved the lion instead,” Yoochun butted in. “I mean, I overheard some of the locals speaking, and apparently they honour those animals that have been protecting their village since a long time ago.”
“Yes, well, you’re just jealous that she gets to see one of those animals and then get treated nicely,” Junsu said as he laughed. “But really, the locals are always nice. Sometimes you don’t even realize they’re treating her specially.”
“Actually, she did help the lion,” Changmin spoke up. “I saw it after the lion had chased the bear away. It had a long gash on its right side from the bear’s claw. Hayoung treated the wound.”
“I see,” Yoochun mumbled. “Well, that explains it then.”
“Or maybe they’re nicer to Hayoung because she looks like someone’s granddaughter,” Jaejoong suggested as he laughed.
“What are you guys talking about?” Hayoung asked as he walked back to where they were. “Don’t you know that men aren’t supposed to gossip?”
“We’re not gossiping,” Junsu protested. “We’re just discussing some things.”
“Of course,” Hayoung stared at him dubiously.
“It’s true,” Junsu insisted. “Anyway, have you got the rolls?”
“No, but they’ll be done in half an hour or so,” Hayoung said. “Mrs. Kim asked to come back later. So we’ll have to do some other shopping first.”
“Alright, let’s go then,” Jaejoong said. “I’ll make dinner tonight.”
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
After they were done with the grocery shopping, Hayoung, Yonghwa, Changmin and Yoochun went on to get the dinner rolls from the bakery and to get some snacks while Jaejoong and Junsu returned to the cabin to start dinner preparation. On the way back, they passed the woods the five were talking about earlier, and Jaejoong paused when he saw a flash of dark orange.
“What is it?” Junsu asked when he noticed that Jaejoong had paused.
“I think I saw something there,” Jaejoong said, pointing at the place where he had seen it. “Something like a tiger.”
“Well, it could be one of the animals protecting the woods,” Junsu said as he shrugged. “They won’t hurt us, so don’t worry.”
“Yeah,” Jaejoong mumbled. He cast another glance at the woods, but didn’t see anything, so he followed Junsu up to the cabin. He didn’t notice the golden feline eyes watching him as soon as he had his back turned.
Dinner had been quick because Junsu was excited to go to the hot spring. As it was still seven by the time they were finished, the six headed out to the small pool of hot water nestled between the trees. It was natural, so they changed their clothes in their cabin before heading out. The female’s pool was located five minutes away, and Yonghwa said he would accompany Hayoung there.
“Don’t do anything we won’t do,” Yoochun said teasingly as Hayoung and Yonghwa waved goodbye at them.
“I wish he would do a couple of things that you will do,” Hayoung replied with an equally sly grin, and Junsu blushed while Yoochun choked on his own spit.
“Come, don’t tease them,” Yonghwa chided. “Well, enjoy! Don’t wait up for us.”
“Is it safe to leave them be?” Jaejoong asked.
“Oh, calm down,” Yoochun said. “If it weren’t Yonghwa, I’d be worried.”
“Yeah, you know it took her nearly a year to convince him not to wait until they’re married to kiss her,” Junsu added as he laughed. “Yonghwa is like one of those more traditional men.”
“It’s flattering, though,” Jaejoong said. “To know that your boyfriend doesn’t only want you for your body.”
“Yeah,” Junsu said with a grin. “You’ll find someone like him too, hyung, don’t worry.”
“Why are you so sure?” Jaejoong asked curiously.
“Because Chun is like that as well,” Junsu said. “And Min too.”
Jaejoong laughed. “I see,” he said, not bothering to say that Junsu’s logic was most probably flawed. However, he desperately wanted to believe it true.
End of Part One
That's it for part one :D I hate the fact that the spacing of LJ is now double-spaced. Anyone knows how to fix it??? I'll be eternally grateful :P