The Last Note: The Last Run
Title: The Last Note
Genre: Romance {Yaoi}, Drama.
Characters: Yoochun, Junsu, Changmin.
Pairing: Yoochun & Junsu
Rating: PG-13
Synopsis: Yoochun is a twenty year old university student whose father owns his school. Being the richest and the best looking, his pursuers compete to beat the number of stars in the sky. However, things change when his popularity starts to decrease significantly one day, and the man finds himself both shocked and jealous.
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter Four: The last run
Finally, after much impatient anticipation, the annual Sports Meet was here.
Cheers could be heard from every corner of the stadium. Colourful banners and students in their school tee shirts covered the entire seating area.
Yoochun stared at the uncountable posters as he did his stretching.
“Woah Changmin! Look at that disgusting hot-pink banner! ‘Go Chunnie Cupcake! I LOVE YOU!’ Why do they keep thinking that I want to be related to food?!”
“Food. Is. Good. Be glad that they are even putting you in par with food,” Changmin replied with slight irritation as he tried to find his own banners.
“Stop looking. There are none for you.”
“What did you say?” Changmin pointed at a purple banner, “Look! There’s one for me!”
“Whatever.”
Changmin stared at Yoochun, elbowed him in the stomach and pouted.
“Fine, fine!” Yoochun got beaten by that pout again. Jumping up and down with his arms flinging in the air, Yoochun cheered with the least bit of enthusiasm, “Yay! Changmin has a banner~!” That of course, earned another punch from Changmin.
Yoochun burst out laughing. However, his laugh diminished almost immediately when he saw his rival walk towards him.
“Park Yoochun, I’ll be on the centre podium today. By myself.” Young Bae snickered before walking away, bumping Yoochun’s left shoulder as he left.
Changmin held Yoochun back just in time before he flung his fist onto Young Bae.
“That Dong Young Bae is getting too cocky. I’m so going to show him who’s champion today.”
“Don’t waste your energy on getting angry hyung. Let’s go check which tracks we’re on.”
The notice board was fenced by a large group of competitors and other supporters who were finding people they were rooting for.
But as soon as Yoochun and Changmin appeared, the group automatically split into two on either sides of the board to clear a path for both of them.
Yoochun paraded towards the notice board without muttering a word of thanks. On the other hand, right behind him, Changmin awkwardly smiled at the students while feeling embarrassed for his impolite hyung.
“Hyung! You are on lane two! That’s my favourite number! It’s a good omen, you are going to win today!”
Yoochun laughed at Changmin’s adorably weird theory, “Thanks. Woah Young Bae is right beside me. Good, he'll behold my winning right before his very eyes.”
“Hyung, do you really want him to lose that badly?”
Yoochun looked at Changmin and raised a brow, once again letting their chemistry communicate by themselves. Yoochun’s eyes replayed the whole event last year, how Young Bae had ‘accidentally’ pushed him off the centre podium. They were supposed to share the champion place together, of which Yoochun had even kindly saved a spot for the other. He had always been a athletic with good sportsmanship. But Young Bae had turned the unhealthy side on.
“Alright,” Changmin nodded knowingly, “Then I’ll be behind you, rooting for you, okay?”
“Thank you, Changmin.” Resting his arm over the younger man’s shoulders, they walked past the ogling students the second time to the runners’ stand.
Soon, the announcer called the runners for the hundred metre sprint in to start the first race of the day.
Young Bae and Yoochun shot each other death glares as they walked towards the track.
From the stand, Changmin closed his eyes and pressed his hands together. He wanted Yoochun to win. Or more specifically, he wanted Yoochun to be happy.
The cheers from the audience drowned Yoochun. Looking up at his supporters, he felt a sheet of encouragement raise him. He took a deep breath and bent down into starting position.
Under the scorching sun, all seven runners adjusted themselves unto the starting blocks.
‘BANG!’ As soon as the gun shot was heard, the runners took off.
Propelling himself forward, Yoochun closed his eyes. Picturing the track in his mind, he concentrated on running as straight as possible. He has done this at least a thousand times. The track, the speed and the wind against his face were all too familiar.
Cheers from the audience were blocked off. All he thought of was to run his fastest.
The crowd held their breath as the two top runners put in their all for the final meters.
Quickening his pace and widening his steps, Yoochun could have been mistaken for a gush of wind.
Finally, he crossed the finishing line. He shot his eyes open, the cheering and flapping of his banners told him he has won.
Looking back, he saw a irritated Young Bae snapping on his coach and throwing a tantrum.
“I don’t think I’ll be saving a spot for you in the centre today.” Yoochun taunted as victory filled him.
He turned back to his supporters and waved which resulted in another roar of cheers and screams.
“Congrats hyung!! That race was so exciting! You were so fast I couldn’t even see you in the last two seconds! ”
“That is such an exaggeration, but I like it!” Yoochun laughed.
“But hyung, why did you enrol yourself for so many races? Will you be able to handle it?”
“Because Young Bae is going for those races too. Don’t worry. I’ll be okay. And we better get going; the relay competition is starting soon.”
When they reached the track, they realised that one of their runners was missing. And so was their reserve. Yoochun cursed aloud. They had been practicing for months and now they had to be disqualified?
Young Bae shot a Yoochun a ‘loser’ look and Changmin could have sworn he saw fire in Yoochun’s eyes.
“Oh no, what are we going to do?” Changmin asked worriedly.
“I’ll go tell the teacher,” the runner on the second lap offered.
“We’ll go together,” Yoochun said in response, which kind of surprised the other two men.
/
“Professor Hong, we have an empty lap.”
“WHAT?! I’ll go get a runner for you all. Don’t worry, we’ll never let our school’s best relay team get disqualified. Meanwhile, wait at the tracks.”
“Thank you, Mr Hong,” Changmin said with gratitude, but the worried look on his face could not be concealed.
They were discussing all sorts of possibilities when a slim figure appeared in front of them.
“I’ll kill that bas…”
“Urm, they told me to replace the empty lap.”
“Professor Kim?!”
“Yeah, Professor Hong told me about your runners missing.”
“Yeah, those sons of…”
“Hyung, it doesn’t matter now. Our empty lap is filled.” Not wanting to hear Yoochun cuss again, Changmin hurriedly cut him off.
“But Professor, can you run with that butt of yours?”
Blushing, Junsu scratched his head embarrassedly and replied softly, “Yes I can.”
Yoochun scowled at his cheeky team mate. Somehow, he didn’t like seeing Junsu turn red, not when he wasn’t the cause of it.
Gently squeezing Junsu’s shoulder for assurance, the leader gathered his whole team round, “Alright! Come on! Let’s do our best! One, two, three! Hwaiting!”
The race started with a loud gun shot.
Changmin was the first runner. With his long legs, he had no problems surpassing the other teams. Completing the first hundred metres in record time, he passed the baton to the next runner.
Junsu’s heartbeat increased tremendously as he watched the baton come closer to himself. He clenched his fist and jogged on the spot to pace his footing.
Conversely Yoochun was watching him from afar, slightly amused by Junsu’s nervousness.
When the second runner handed the baton to him, Junsu diverted all his strength to his legs. He started sprinting towards Yoochun.
Behind him, Changmin, who was stunned by his speed, stared at the professor with wide opened eyes.
Even Yoochun couldn’t believe how fast Junsu was approaching him. His speed could have broken Yoochun’s record at the earlier sprint.
The crowd went wild and the judges dropped their jaws.
When Junsu passed the baton to the next runner, their hands touched. Being overly absorbed into the race, Yoochun had not paid attention to that moment of contact. However, it did sent Junsu’s heart thumping against his ribs, for which he did not know why.
Expectedly, Yoochun was first to cross the line. Cheers from their supporting teams filled the large stadium for the umpteenth time that day.
The four men bundled up together into a group hug. Junsu’s heart started to beat in full speed again when Yoochun rested his arm on his shoulders and pulled him closer for a tighter squeeze.
“Professor Kim! I didn’t know you could run like that!” Changmin exclaimed.
“Run like that?”
“Yeah! You were really fast! I think you were as fast as Yoochun hyung!” This was seconded by the students around them who chirped in.
Surprisingly, Yoochun did not protest at all. As much as he didn’t want anybody comparable to him, he did like the idea of having a similarity with Junsu.
As they approached the runners’ stand, they were greeted by large hordes of student supporters and teachers. Cameras clicked and pens were stuck in their faces in attempts to get their autographs.
Apparently, the newly added (and extremely popular) runner for the relay, the school’s all-time hottie and the top (also tallest and most well liked) student in school, had made such a great team that the whole school was sent into chaos when they won.
The situation got so chaotic that the disciplinary master had to chase the people away from the runners’ stand.
Finally, it was the race Yoochun had been looking forward to the whole day - the ten kilometre run.
As soon as they started, the runners started to run into the inner most lane, with Yoochun and Young Bae taking the lead.
Throughout the race, flashbacks of the previous race they had together played back in their heads; both of them using the same incident as motivation and drive.
They did not turn to look at each other once. Instead, they concentrated in running their best, and proving themselves to be champions.
Gradually increasing their speeds, their placings in the race could not be verified as they took turns to lead.
After forty minutes, the competitors were on their final round, and Young Bae was right behind Yoochun.
But when Yoochun started to increase his speed, Young Bae’s eyes widened in surprise. He had not expected Yoochun to have so much energy stashed to accelerate in the last round.
Surpassing the last runner, Yoochun grinned.
True enough, the crowd went hysterical, welcoming Yoochun who had crossed the line as champ.
The crowd was not the only ones who went hysterical. Yoochun cheered and raised his arms in the air in victory when he crossed the finishing line.
Seeing Yoochun on the podium, Changmin made note to tell him how suave he looked after the whole event. On Yoochun’s face was a smile that was the one of widest Changmin ever saw on him.
Flashlights blinded Yoochun as he stood up to receive his medal. Kissing the medal, he posed for the herd of photographers.
/
Yoochun’s joy was doubled for the next few days of school. His fans had increased exponentially since the sports meet, recruiting more ‘followers’ than there already was.
What he didn’t know was that the school management had been in total chaos. A file that contained major information of the school’s records was missing.
In the middle of classes, an announcement was made, “Good morning. All lecturers and professors, please proceed to the conference room now.”
Junsu raised his eyebrows in confusion. This kind of situation had never happened for him. Packing his things as quickly as he could, he headed towards the conference room.
“Good morning. As all of you have been informed, a very important document is stolen from the school’s document library.”
Immediately, the staffs of the school started whispering to each other.
“I have called for this meeting so that the person who has taken that document will realise the graveness of this issue and return the file back to us as soon as possible,” the principal said to the board of teachers.
“We promise not to hold charges against the person if he or she returns the document to us by this week. Otherwise, I’m afraid we will have to hand this case over to the national police. You may all return to your classes.” With that, the principal stood up to leave.
/
Junsu was walking back to class when he realised himself being eyed by every one along the corridors. Teachers were in mass discussion while students pointed at him. They were not the usual fan girl stares that Junsu was already used to. Instead they were looks of suspicion and disappointment.
It was not long before Junsu was being called to the principal’s office.
“Professor Kim, I’m sure you understand the seriousness of stealing school documents,” the principal asked as he placed his folded arms onto the table.
“Yes I do. The document has yet to be found?”
“Yes. And the school management has came to a conclusion that you have the biggest possibility of stealing it.”
“What!? Why will I do that?!” Junsu couldn’t believe what he had just heard.
“We will like to know too, Professor. This has never happened to our school in past decades. But right after you joined the school, documents have been reported missing. If it was a teacher that had been with us since long ago, why would he have done it now?”
Junsu looked at the principal in utter shock. He had no idea what the old man was trying to pinpoint, or rather he chose not to know.
“We did not blow up the issue earlier because those were trivial documents. However, this time it concerns the school’s accounts…”
“But you can’t just jump to conclusions like that! I didn’t steal the document!” Junsu suppressed a scream.
“Please return the document before lessons end today if you still wish to teach in this school,” The principal calmly stated before turning back to the stack of files waiting to be signed.
“I did not…” His words were cut off.
“You may leave now.”
Frustrated by the situation, Junsu stood up too quickly, almost knocking back a chair.
/
The final bell of the day marked the end of school. It had never sounded so vulgar to Junsu. This bell would be the last he’d ever hear in this school.
“Professor Kim!” Junsu looked up at the student’s call.
Yoochun, who had been observing Junsu for a long time, turned to look at the female student as well. He had noticed the lecturer in a distracted mood ever since he returned from the principal office.
“Professor, can I have an extension for the assignment you gave us yesterday. I won’t be able to attend school for the next…”
“You won’t have to hand in that assignment anymore,” Junsu interrupted.
The student shook her head in confusion while the professor turned to face the quietened class. With a disheartened voice, he spoke aloud, “Class, today is my last day teaching in this school. Something cropped up and I have to leave.”
Junsu sighed, “Thank you for the period I was here. I was very happy.”
‘What’s and ‘why’s rebounded in the classroom.
Yoochun clenched his fist until his knuckles turned a pale white. He couldn’t say anything; he had too many questions to choose from.
Junsu chose to ignore the commotion and continued, “Please take care of yourselves. Goodbye.”
Junsu then walked out of the classroom, leaving all his students stunned with disappointment. And one, with shock, pain and anger.
/
The path was all too familiar to him. Junsu realised that he had been going back to the piano room almost every day. It was always purely to seek comfort.
It then dawned to him that this might be the last trip he would ever make to the room. After he’d leave the school, there wouldn’t be a chance for him to go back again.
Soon, Junsu was standing outside at the music room. Opening the door, Junsu smiled when he saw another painting on the piano surface.
By then, Junsu was already used to finding new paintings each time he came into the music room. He hung the pretty masterpiece on an empty space on the wall, just like how he always did.
Walking around the room, Junsu admired the wall of the closely packed paintings. Lightly dragging his fingers over the paintings he had received ever since he started coming to the music room, Junsu felt warmness enclosing his heart.
He had once thought of hiding behind the piano one day to find out the identity of the mysterious yet lovable painter. However, he never did it since he wanted to continue enjoying surprises from the artist.
Junsu walked towards the piano. Opening the cover, he swallowed a sigh, “My last song…”
Before the professor could start playing, his cell phone started to ring...
/
AN: Hello. We absolutely love all the comments. Who knew readers could be that cute too. Anyway, big thank you to all of you for reading and commenting. They really do serve as a great encouragement to both of us. TLN is after all our first fanfic.
Oh may I take this opportunity to thank my lovely cowriter Jo as well, who has done up the info page for us. I love you Jo {I love you too, Joey! :D}. I love you readers (silent or not). Let the love go round and round and round. And square and rectangle and triangle (ooh triangle).
So, anyone noticed the poster secret yet?
//
YAY to usagi_bara who won herself a one-shot~! Are there anymore people who would like to try guessing? :D
To usagi_bara: SHH, don't tell them! xD