Naming the Dog, Or Saying I Love You (Whale Hunting Epilogue)
Title: Naming the Dog, Or Saying I Love You
Pairing: YunJae
Length: One-shot
Genre: Romance, Angst, Fluff
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: ...quirky!Jae xD
Summary: Jaejoong deals with his issues. Yunho deals with Jaejoong. The dog... the dog has to deal with them both.
Whale Hunting: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Epilogue
A/N1: Okay so I thought I might have to define one thing: the place where Jaejoong lives, goshiwon, it’s a very typical form of cheap accommodation in Korea. If you guys have watched Yoochun’s drama Miss Ripley, he lives in that kind of place first (as Jang Miri’s neighbour). The feeling is kind of like that of a dormitory… Many college students (for example those studying for national exams and needing to be able to concentrate well) live there. There might be also random not so well off people like unemployed living there, especially in the cheapest ones… It’s just practically a very cheap place to live with an extremely tiny room, like 9-10m2, and shared bathrooms and kitchens. You might get like, free cooked rice and kimchi and stuff from there too. One of my friends said her parents liked her living there cause it has a reception, which makes it safe.
Yunho had heard the click of a lock opening very clearly, but since he knows Jaejoong loves it, he pretends not to notice the other has entered the apartment. He strains his ears, hearing the other trying to keep silent while ushering the dog towards its sleeping mat. He can hear two sets of familiar, soft footsteps; the dog’s nails rapping against the worn wooden floor followed by Jaejoong’s bare feet. There’s a moment of silence in which Yunho estimates Jaejoong has just enough to time to gesture for the dog to stay put on its bed; and then, on his way to the bedroom, Jaejoong bumps into the dining table and lets out a muffled groan. Yunho cannot help the smile creeping onto his lips, but continues faking ignorance nevertheless.
Sometimes Yunho thinks it’s as if he had given the spare key to his apartment to a child. He also thinks that if he ever made the mistake of whining about such a thing, Jaejoong would counter with the exact same accusation. Yunho is already getting his daily dose of nagging without fail, and even though some of Jaejoong’s antics are childish at best and obnoxious at worst, Yunho cannot deny he himself has his moments as well. At least Jaejoong has been very vocal about it. Yunho sure is well informed about how his habit of leaving uncapped bottles lying around, not to mention walking inside with his shoes on, reminds Jaejoong very much of a three-year-old niece of his.
He can feel Jaejoong looming in the doorway, undoubtedly peeking from behind the frame. Turning a page on his 800-page textbook relaxedly, Yunho makes sure to tuck his notes between the pages of the massive book as to not have them crumple when Jaejoong finally decides to end his prowling. Just like Yunho had expected, in just a matter of seconds, the older man lets out a hysterical holler before bouncing on the bed, landing directly on top of Yunho.
Thanks to the soft bed, Yunho doesn’t get the wind knocked out of his sails despite the heavy impact, only an impassive grunt leaving his lips when the other’s weight presses him into the mattress.
Not that he’d ever tell Jaejoong, but the very reason he had converted from lying on the living room floor while studying, to lounging on his bed, is this. For as sure as the sun rises from east, so does Jaejoong jump him every single time he enters the apartment, and Yunho has had his fair share of bruised hipbones, enough to last him a lifetime.
Jaejoong’s slender arms wind around his neck, hands not failing to stop to pull at Yunho’s nose on the way, before he buries his face into the younger man’s hair. Yunho flings the book shut and nudges it aside, placing a kiss on the white arm under his chin.
“Why hello there, baby whale,” he says, wiggling his whole body and feeling Jaejoong’s reverberating sniggers as the man lying on top of his back shakes as well because of his actions.
“You heard me coming,” comes Jaejoong’s accusatory answer, spoken into the tanned skin of Yunho’s neck.
“Don’t I always,” Yunho says, placing another chaste peck on Jaejoong’s forearm before rolling them over, lying on his back on top of Jaejoong’s stomach and chest. No matter how much Jaejoong likes to be flattened, Yunho is still not used to such feeling even after a few months. He also has no problem with complying with the other’s weird preferences, though.
Yunho stares at the ceiling peacefully, wondering if they should do a little renovation, maybe just on the paintwork that’s starting to fall off, when Jaejoong’s hands move down from his neck to grab at his chest. Yunho groans and takes hold of both of the wandering rogues, pinning them against his collarbones.
“Okay so I might have put on a little more recently but that’s your fault okay? We already reached a consensus on this!” he whines, kicking his heels against the edge of bed, making Jaejoong giggle gleefully underneath him.
“Yunho-yah, how many times do I have to tell you; my cooking is extremely healthy! I eat the same thing and do you see me gaining any, huh?”
Yunho has no answer for such an argumentation so he just huffs, releasing the misbehaving limbs that joyfully start feeling around his chest again, squeezing the protuberant flesh between innocent-looking but eager fingers.
“Do you think if we squeezed these together and took a photo from above, we could trick Changmin into thinking it’s a girl’s chest? You know, I could totally bribe him with it if I said it was Kang Sora’s,” Jaejoong ponders and Yunho really feels like bolting up and running to Jaejoong’s backpack, rummaging through it and confiscating his newly bought minidisc player. Where the man had even found such a device, Yunho has no idea; but after witnessing the contents of Jaejoong’s wardrobe change continuously, all the while remaining a bunch of rather authentic-looking 70s clothes, Yunho has given up trying to figure out Jaejoong’s resources.
After taking a deep breath and counting to ten inside his head, Yunho is ready to face the inadvertent mockery.
“And how do you suppose Changmin would ever buy your claim of having of boob shot of Kang Sora on your camera,” Yunho asks, almost ready to play along despite the accompanying groping.
“I have my connections,” Jaejoong answers simply, making Yunho snort. The older man’s hands slow down gradually and Yunho can tell he’s in deep thought again.
“You know, like, if women gain weight it always goes to their boobs. When you gain weight, why does it go to your boobs too? Why not to Commandant Jung?” he comments suddenly.
Yunho is glad he’s not facing Jaejoong right now because no matter how many times he hears it, it still makes him blush.
“God damnit Jaejoong how many times do I have to tell you not to call it that?” Yunho splutters, reaching his hands down to slap Jaejoong’s hips. The man snickers but refuses to give up his stance.
“Why not? It’s a perfect name! I always thought he was kind of assertive, maybe even…cocky.”
“Dear god, if you don’t shut up right now I’m going to name your nipples Eeny and Meeny!”
Jaejoong’s hands fly into Yunho’s hair, carding through them and tilting the younger man’s head just enough so that his lips are ghosting over the other’s ear lobes.
“That’s totally fine by me,” he whispers, and licks Yunho’s ear just the way he knows gets the other hot and bothered. Yunho groans, but he has learnt the hard way that with Jaejoong, attack is always the best form of defence. Flipping himself around, he presses his weight onto Jaejoong more effectively and sinks both of his hands into the other’s long fringe in turn, brushing it back on his forehead. Jaejoong is looking at him, a cheerful glint in his eyes as always.
“So, about my fat going down into Commandant Jung, hmm? You think you could take it any bigger, hmm?”
Jaejoong cracks up, his bright, lively laughter filling the room. Yunho can feel the man’s chest vibrating underneath him, and he doesn’t even try to fight the urge to press a few kisses on the other’s long, vulnerable neck, while Jaejoong throws his head back, laughing freely.
When Jaejoong’s laughter finally dies down into poorly repressed giggles, Yunho stops kissing his skin and wiggles slightly backwards, propping his chin between Jaejoong’s collarbones on top of his own hands splayed against the other’s chest.
“So you took the dog for a walk?” he asks, his lazy fingers scratching the other’s milky skin exposed by the opened buttons of his polo shirt.
“Mm,” Jaejoong answers, craning his neck up to see Yunho’s eyes, hands caressing up and down Yunho’s upper arms.
“Did you take the leash for a walk too?” he then continues, and Jaejoong stares at him for a split second before flopping his head back down on the pillow.
“Mm,” he answers again, but Yunho can hear from the tone he’s just being as vague as possible.
“Yes or no you little brat, or wait, don’t answer that, I already know you didn't!” he accuses, and Jaejoong chuckles slightly guiltily.
“I’m older than you, you have no right to call me a little brat,” he retorts, trying to lamely distract Yunho into a meaningless squabble.
Yunho just flicks his forehead.
“I have all the rights! But back to the original topic; you know most people think that the dog is scary! A visual shock, like Junsu says, remember? You need to take it out in a leash, Jaejoong.”
“But I feel so bad for it when I have it on a leash, it should have the right to sniff whatever it wants!” the other tries to plead weakly. Yunho feels his heart soften; he has always felt a little sorry for the dog that has to sit inside his cramped apartment for the better part of the day as well, but what can he do. Jaejoong’s place is out of the question as he only has a small box in an overcrowded goshiwon inhabited by a swarm of cramming college students, and it doesn’t allow pets in any case.
“I feel bad for it too,” Yunho agrees, “but wouldn’t you feel even worse if someone called the police and they took it away.”
Jaejoong perks up, his body tensing underneath Yunho.
“I always thought that old woman who lives in the apartment underneath yours was suspicious!” he declares loudly, one of his arms rising to flail violently around in the air. “She’s plotting against the dog! I just knew it!”
“Take it easy, Jaejoong-ah,” Yunho chuckles. “That one is a nice old lady. Gave me a big box of kimchi and other side dishes when I first moved here too.”
Jaejoong cranes his neck upwards to glare at the other once again.
“From now on, you’re only allowed to eat my mom’s kimchi, alright?” he exclaims, shaking his index finger at Yunho. “That hag’s only after your ass, okay?”
Yunho cannot help but to release a few hearty chortles. “More like my smile and my polite bows, no?” he suggests, amused. Jaejoong doesn’t approve of his view, staring him down like a threatened dog.
“Awe, our little baby whale is jealous,” Yunho coos, pressing his palms against Jaejoong’s cheeks, the other ending up with an adorable fishy face and puckered lips that make his glowering eyes look terribly out of place. Yunho finds the other’s covetous tendencies as satisfying as ever, feeling extremely accomplished even though he has done nothing to help them rise to the surface this time.
They stare at each other for a while, Jaejoong’s face squished between Yunho’s palms and his eyes harsh on the younger man’s face. No matter how much they see each other - which is pretty much everyday since Jaejoong misses him every other day, and every other day he misses the dog, which also means barging into Yunho’s apartment - the staring seems to be a permanent thing.
Disregarding of the other’s aggravation, Yunho leans forward to place a teasing peck on the other’s pursed lips. Besides having learnt to always attack, Yunho has also learnt that kisses make everything better.
“Come on baby whale, we gotta get moving soon,” he reminds Jaejoong as he releases the other and sits up next to him, giving his butt a few brisk pats for a good measure. “Yoochun and Junsu told us to be there at seven, didn’t they?”
Jaejoong looks like he’s about to jump Yunho for a second time, before he settles with showing the younger man the flatness of his pink tongue and rolling onto the other side of the bed, flopping down on the floor over the edge. He rolls on the floor towards the door, before having to align himself again to be able to crawl through it.
Yunho watches his extraordinary way of leaving the room, counting seconds until the moment, and just as he had expected, Jaejoong’s high-pitched shriek is soon echoing through the doorway. The dog has taken interest in the worm-man, Yunho muses, and stands up to go save his beau from the monstrosity that is their dog.
~0~0~0~
They are just out of the door, the dog on a leash that’s wrapped tightly around Yunho’s wrist and Jaejoong wrapped tightly under his other arm, when the older man pauses abruptly, right before they reach the elevator.
“Fuck it!” he exclaims loudly, causing Yunho to glance around the corridor, making sure there are no people witnessing the following string of curses that leaves the older man’s mouth in rapid fire.
“What now,” he asks, shaking Jaejoong’s shoulder slightly. The man continues cursing, bringing a hand up to slap his own head. Yunho seizes the hand, caressing the back of it with his thumb. Jaejoong turns his head up to look at him, eyes large and desperate.
“I forgot Junsu’s birthday present at my place! Seriously! My most adorable dongsaeng’s birthday present! And I forgot it at home! I tell you, I can remember the spot exactly, I put it right next to my, oh fuck, I must have kicked it under the bed when I got up today… What to do, what to do…”
Yunho can feel the panic rising in the other and even the dog looks concerned, whining while pawing Jaejoong’s leg in an attention-demanding manner.
“Silly whale,” he says, shaking Jaejoong some more. The other pays no heed to such manhandling, eyes unseeing as he tries to make sense of the morning’s events inside his head.
“What to do,” he sighs again, making Yunho chuckle.
“What to do? You just run home, grab the present and come straight to Jeongbanhap afterwards. I’ll go first with the dog, okay? We’ll wait for you before we start, alright?”
Jaejoong snaps out of his stupor, meeting Yunho’s smiling eyes and staring at him for a little while, dazed as always, before nodding slowly. The elevators dings, the doors opening, and the dog drags them both inside.
From his own apartment, it takes Yunho only twenty minutes by walking to Jeongbanhap, a bar that has become their little group’s regular place. After sending Jaejoong off in his bus, he starts the everyday hassle of evading scared passers-by, sending apologetic smiles and nods to every direction while people jump out of his way as if he was walking a tiger or a bear instead of a gentle Great Pyrenees dog.
The dog had long gotten used to people not exactly running to it to scratch it behind the ears, but Yunho finds it still impossible to fathom how Jaejoong manages to walk it without the leash every single time. Even if Yunho knows the dog to be an almost lame one, certainly not a threat to even a fly, he’s quite positive it would still cause a panic if he let it run free on the streets of Seoul.
His only guess is that the huge dog and the man, who looks like he comes from 40 years back in time, make up such a pair that no one even has time to get frightened from their wonder.
Fortunately they frequent Jeongbanhap so much that after a few times, and lots of pleading, the place had gotten used to the dog lying at Yunho’s feet as they drink. Yunho always tries to take it out with him as much as he can, as he spends so many hours at the university that it truly makes him feel very sorry for the dog. This time too, he arrives at the bar with the animal in tow, acknowledging the bartender first before he stalks over to the corner where they usually sit at.
“Junho’s got a date, he isn’t coming,” are the first words out of Junsu’s sour mouth and Yunho walks straight to his chair, bending down to hug the brooding man.
“Happy birthday, Junsu-yah,” he wishes from his heart, squishing the younger man against his chest, hoping to liven up his mood a little. Just as he had hoped, a slightly happier-looking Junsu emerges when he pulls back. The man bends down to pet the dog that looks extremely eager to wish its own congratulations, the way its tongue is hanging out, ready to lather with spit anyone who happens to come too close.
“Thanks, hyung,” Junsu smiles. “The visual shock is here too, huh? But not your baby whale? Where’s Jaejoong-hyung? Weren’t you coming together?”
Yunho clears his throat, still not exactly comfortable with the fact that the others had somehow found out the affectionate pet name he has been calling Jaejoong ever since their trip to the East Sea.
“Jaejoongie forgot your present at home so he had to go get it… Don’t tease him when he gets here, he was really devastated about it for no reason at all,” Yunho explains, flopping down opposite of Junsu and pulling the dog to lie at his feet, half under his chair. “Hi Changmin-ah, Yoochun-ah.”
Yoochun smiles at him, draping an arm over Junsu’s shoulders as the younger man sits back in his chair again. The youngest is sitting next to Yunho, nibbling on something that looks suspiciously like an instant cheese sausage from the convenience store.
“One thing I do not and will never understand,” the maknae states, not even bothering to face Yunho, “is how do you ever get away with calling him that. It’s just an euphemism for fat, right?”
Finding his suggestion hilarious, Yunho bursts out laughing, Yoochun joining his mirth from the other side of the table.
“Do you seriously think he’d ever let me call him fat?” he laughs, the dog’s head perking up at the sound of its owner’s bubbly laughter. “And here I thought you’ve known him longer than I have…”
“That’s exactly what I mean,” Changmin counters defensively.
“Awe, little Changmin’s still got a lot left to learn about love… Right, bubblebutt?” Yoochun comments greasily from the other side of the table. Junsu sends him a horrified glare, shedding the arm from his shoulder.
“You’re not calling me anything like that! I’m so positive ‘baby whale’ has some really cute and romantic story behind it, but you, you just want to be mean! Mr Prominent Forehead!”
Yoochun laughs but denies nothing, forcing his arm back around Junsu’s shoulders.
“Wanna drink anything, hyung?” he asks Yunho, nodding towards his own half-finished beer and the dry apple cider sitting on the table in front of Junsu.
“Nah, I promised Jaejoongie I’d wait for him,” Yunho answers, grabbing Changmin’s glass and taking a sip of his beer before the other has a chance to protest.
“Tch, you just enjoy being sober while he’s drunk, don’t you,” Changmin accuses and snatches his beer back.
“That too,” Yunho agrees readily, glad that even though the others had found out about “baby whale”, they had never learnt about the events of the barbecue night in Wonju. Yunho intended to keep it like that; and even if it meant getting teased, he definitely would admit that he enjoyed a drunken Jaejoong immensely. The other would always turn into a charmingly cute, attention-seeking creature, proclaiming his eternal love to everyone around and constantly begging Yunho for kisses - sometimes even for something more.
Yes, the horniness was also warmly welcomed.
~0~0~0~
Even though he knows Seoul and its horrific traffic jams, Yunho is starting to feel anxious. It’s getting late enough for the streets to be rather clear, and even though he gives the other ample time, Jaejoong doesn’t answer even his third text.
When the clock ticks one and a half hours after his arrival, Yunho gets up from his seat wordlessly and walks out of the noisy pub to make a call. The dog watches after him carefully, and when Changmin bends down to pet it in assurance, it hardly acknowledges the caressing hand.
Jaejoong doesn’t answer. Yunho stares at the screen of his ancient version of iPhone, not even noticing the chilliness pinching his cheeks and nibbling on his nose, making his fingers stiff and pale.
It was for this very reason Yunho had given his key to the other man in the first place. After they had gotten back to Seoul Yunho had soon learnt that Jaejoong’s habit of appearing and disappearing as he wished hadn’t been a temporary thing, reserved only for time spent travelling. In fact, Jaejoong was almost impossible to reach. Yunho had spent many hours on useless buss drives to the goshiwon where Jaejoong lived, sitting in the front lobby with the dog, waiting for the man to appear. After a few weeks, the owner had even started allowing him in the upper floors - without the dog of course - when he had somehow managed to convince them he was Jaejoong’s guardian.
He guessed it was quite telling that the guy would actually buy such a story, but it was of no use in any case. Knocking on the door of Jaejoong’s room was as good as not bothering at all; the man hardly spent any time in his little cramped box, only using it for sleeping. After Yunho had given Jaejoong his key, it had been deprived of even that purpose, usually for the better half of a week.
It was certainly easier waiting for Jaejoong to come to him than trying to find the other himself.
After their first real fight and Yunho’s persistent insistence, they had even established a rule of always informing each other if there was a change of plans or if they were going to be unavailable for a longer time. Jaejoong’s hazardous personality and Yunho’s worrywart tendencies had had the younger man waiting for Jaejoong to barge into his apartment through the front door fruitlessly, countless times. It wasn’t as if Jaejoong broke his promises or failed to meet agreements; but he often started a regular routine that had Yunho lulled into a false sense of security, before suddenly breaking his pattern of visiting, without a single warning word.
The system had been impeccable. Yunho had been entertained by Jaejoong’s countless text messages and short, informative calls, as the other took on a habit of sometimes making his movements known a little too keenly. It was alright though, as Jaejoong didn’t expect any kind of answer from Yunho, sometimes hanging up his “I’m in Suwon don’t ask why I’m not even sure myself but I’ll be back tomorrow or maybe the day after that okay Yunho-yah?” calls before the other had a chance to even breathe.
Until now.
It’s the first time since the new rule that Jaejoong has just disappeared without a word. Not answering his texts, not answering his calls, it’s all too familiar for Yunho; the other always said it was too much of a hassle, but usually Yunho had at least a vague idea of where Jaejoong was running about.
Slipping his cell phone back into his pocket, Yunho heaves the bar door open and sneaks back in. The others’ attention is on him immediately. When he reaches the table, he answers their unasked question before anyone even manages to open their mouth.
“He didn’t answer,” he says simply, flopping down, the dog sitting up to rest its head on Yunho’s knee. It whimpers quietly, sensing its owner’s unease, and Yunho sinks his fingers into the dog’s thick fur, its familiar coarseness somewhat comforting.
Yoochun looks at him behind his beer before setting his glass on the table.
“You know what, I’ll call Hyunjoong,” he says and starts fishing for his own phone. “Maybe Jaejoongie-hyung got called to work suddenly or something.”
Until this day, Yunho isn’t quite sure what Jaejoong is actually doing for a living. Most days, he just seems to get random calls from random people, a rather large amount out of whom Yunho knows barely anyone. Some days Jaejoong crawls out of bed at the crack of dawn, only to reappear with a grin on his face and a stack of new magazines, fresh from print, smelling of ink, just before nine o’clock when Yunho is leaving for university. Sometimes he sits on the floor of Yunho’s bedroom, reading through a thick booklet and piles of paper while Yunho studies, whispering to himself as if trying to learn something by heart. Other days, he comes back with a dusty face and tired knees, and even less frequently, he comes home with his face covered in thick make-up, kohl-lined eyes twinkling as he seduces Yunho into bed before dinner, reducing the younger into a needy, eager mess just at the sight of his flexing muscles and painted face.
Yunho is almost sure he has even seen one of those little yellow tour guide flags on Jaejoong’s side of the closet. He hasn’t missed the ironed white dress shirt, accompanied by a sleek black café apron either, standing out amongst his other, less modern clothes.
Yoochun is covering his other ear and his mouth in turns, trying to hear the man on the other end of the conversation inside the noisy room. Yunho watches him impatiently, Yoochun’s eyes crinkling as he laughs about something. The call is quite short, and then Yoochun turns to him, eyes apologetic.
“Hyunjoong says he hasn’t talked with Jaejoongie-hyung for a few days… He told me to call Seunghyun?” he reports, asking Yunho for his opinion.
Yunho sighs, stealing Changmin’s beer once again, but the other leaves his retort be this time. Even he can see Yunho is getting worried and lets his hyung sip on the beverage while he thinks.
“Save it,” Yunho decides finally, setting the glass on the table and leaning down to grab the dog’s leash that has been lying on the floor. “I’ll go pick him up.”
He stands up and turns towards Junsu, a regretful expression on his face.
“I’m sorry Junsu-yah, we’ll come back as soon as I find him.”
Junsu just shrugs, sending his hyung a small smile.
“It’s fine, don’t sweat it, hyung,” he says, and Yunho cannot help but to crush him into another embrace before leaving.
“Happy birthday, Junsu-yah. Jaejoongie was really looking forward to giving you your present too.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure I receive it properly,” Junsu answers with a twinkle in his eyes, before Yunho exits the bar.
The bus ride seems longer than ever before. Thankful about the late hour on a weekday, Yunho collapses onto a free seat, pulling the dog to sit between his legs so that it remains out of everyone’s way. The dog is quiet, its round brown eyes studying Yunho’s restless form with silent vigilance.
Despite his disquietude, he feels a bit of anger bubbling in the pit of his stomach. Sometimes he feels like all he does in this relationship is give and give, Jaejoong being the receiving end of all his attention and care. His rational side knows it’s not true, knows that Jaejoong has introduced him to a new way of life, a free, impulsive way full of surprises and joy; knows that he has met a lot of new people and tried a lot of new things all thanks to Jaejoong. No one had ever said that courting Jaejoong would be an easy or a simple task, and Yunho had never believed so either; but the complexity of the other is such a contrast to Yunho’s peace-loving, simple lifestyle that the two are bound to crash and burn occasionally.
Yunho has always been a man of reasonable dreams, a man with a wish for a stable, ordinary future. Sometimes he had even thought about moving back to Gwangju even though the city would probably offer less job opportunities; just because the town, smaller than Seoul, had always felt like home to him. Jaejoong is a complete turnabout in his life, but even so, Yunho definitely cannot call it a turn for worse.
However, even if his rational side is churning out all these reasons, his emotional side is burning up, combustible material running thin. He feels weary without having done anything, a feeling Jaejoong causes in him occasionally. The combination of worry and irritation is definitely not a good look on him.
Yunho walks up to Jaejoong’s goshiwon on autopilot, his feet remembering the way even when his mind is occupied with entirely different matters. Opening the door, he realises his usual obstacle when the owner greets him from the reception desk. Yunho bows his head politely and walks to a modern-looking but already slightly worn-out armchair, pulling the dog close to himself.
The owner tries to engage him in a polite conversation, asking if he’s there waiting for Kim Jaejoong-sshi even though it’s obvious, and making other equally inane questions. It’s the kind of pointless small talk that even Yunho would gladly engage in given a different situation; but as it is, he answers as curtly as possible in order to still remain mannerly. Soon the owner gives up, going back to checking his computer and shuffling papers.
Yunho keeps his eye on him, and as soon as a resident comes for the owner, dragging him somewhere with her, Yunho bolts to the stairway, quickly dragging the dog after him as he skips the stairs up.
Jaejoong’s room is in the fourth floor but Yunho has to wait until someone uses the door, letting him pass through the electric lock. The guy eyes him a little weirdly but Yunho just smiles at him pleasantly and thanks his luck when the guy makes no questions despite the dog panting at Yunho’s feet.
He heads for the door he knows to be the right one immediately, knocking on it tentatively. There is no answer so he presses his ear against the door, unable to hear anything.
“Jaejoong-ah?” he asks through the door, knowing well that the walls at the goshiwon are like paper. He knocks on the door gently again, “Baby whale? Let me in.”
Suddenly the dog lets out a miserable whimper, raising its paw to press it against the door, letting its claws rake down the painted surface.
“Jaejoong-ah, I know you’re in there. Open the door please.”
Nothing happens, but the dog continues rapping at the door, whining and turning to look at Yunho every now and then with a demanding look in its eyes, as if bidding him to open the door.
Yunho presses his lips against the door, speaking up again.
“Jaejoong-ah, open the door now. I know you’re inside. If you don’t open I’m going to go tell the owner there’s a fire starting in your room, and you know that’ll get us into trouble. First of all, it’s a lie, and secondly, I’ve got the dog with me. You know it’s not allowed.”
He’s hardly feeling angry anymore, anxiousness replacing all other emotions again.
There’s a moment of quietness until the dog suddenly stops its ministrations, making the silence truly complete.
When the doorknob finally turns and the door opens, Jaejoong’s dilated pupils appearing in the crack, the last of Yunho’s former irritation vanishes into thin air.
“Oh, Yunho-yah, come on in, come in,” Jaejoong says lightly, as if he was surprised. His voice sounds so unfamiliar and strange that Yunho wrenches the door open the same second, marching into the tiny room, the dog stopping at the door to whine at Jaejoong. It tries to stand up on its hind legs, but Yunho pulls it down by the leash. Tugging it towards himself, Yunho sits down on Jaejoong’s bed, eyes intently on the man standing in the doorway kind of awkwardly, wringing his hands.
“Close the door,” Yunho suggests softly, watching as Jaejoong nods and turns around to gently click the door shut.
When he turns around, he’s staring at the floor, not making any effort to walk towards Yunho or even to say anything.
Then Yunho notices it; a white, crumpled envelope in Jaejoong’s left fist. A fist that is shaking. In fact, Jaejoong’s both hands are shaking, not quite violently but enough for Yunho to notice it, uncontrollably it seems as Jaejoong keeps moving them, squeezing his fingers tightly together, hands clamped against each other in order to steady them.
His form is slumped, still, as if he was holding his breath. Yunho’s heart clenches, and he pushes the dog to lie down on the floor by its neck. There is barely enough space for its massive body, but it obeys immediately, eager to please, barely able to stand the tension in the room.
“Come here,” Yunho breathes out, and Jaejoong takes a few hesitant steps forward. The distance between them is barely half a metre, but it takes Jaejoong almost a minute to reach him. Jaejoong’s hands come forward, trembling more visibly in mid-air with no support, until he clenches his fingers into the front of Yunho’s hoodie. His fingers are pale, even whiter than usually, and so is his face, eyes still cast down.
Yunho hooks his fingers into the belt loops of Jaejoong’s denims and pulls him close to stand between his spread knees. Jaejoong jerks forwards, his hands tightening on Yunho’s hoodie, the envelope crinkling further. When Jaejoong is close enough, Yunho reaches a hand up, cupping Jaejoong’s face gently. The man is now shivering thoroughly, feet tapping against the floor agitatedly, hands juddering on the neckline of Yunho’s hoodie, tightening it around his neck.
Yunho strokes his thumb over Jaejoong’s cheekbone, his heart about to stop as the man he loves is standing before him, looking so defeated, so lost.
“What’s that envelope, baby whale?” Yunho asks quietly, searching for Jaejoong’s eyes but the other has closed them, his face twisting into a painful frown.
“I got it…I didn’t even open it yet… Yunho-yah, I didn’t even open it…”
“Shh, that’s fine, we can open it together later if you want to,” he answers, totally clueless as to what he’s talking about.
Jaejoong’s eyes open and dart to his, and then his self-control breaks as he collapses down on the floor, on his knees between Yunho’s legs, arms wrapping tightly around the other’s neck.
“Yunho-ya-a-ah,” he wails like small child, and Yunho can do nothing but wrap his own arms around the other tightly, trying to calm him down, shushing him as if he truly was the child he’s acting like. The dog sits up, stressed, whining pitifully and trying to bury its nose in the non-existent slit between their bodies.
“Yo-you’re never going to g-give me away, right,” Jaejoong cries into his ear, and suddenly it’s crystal clear to Yunho what this is all about.
“Shh, of course not, baby whale,” he tries to assure the other while caressing his back, squeezing him snugly against his body. “I can’t do anything if you decide to leave yourself. But I’m not giving you away, never ever.”
Jaejoong cries against his neck loudly, tears and snot smudging Yunho’s grey hoodie. It’s not pretty, and Yunho feels tears rising into his own eyes, desperately trying to keep them down as he reckons one of them needs to keep their cool right now. The walls are still as thin as if they were made of paper, and if they both start bawling like newborn babies, someone is sure to come check on them.
Such exertion soon takes its toll on Jaejoong, his cries quieting down to soft weeping. Yunho detaches Jaejoong’s face form his neck, securing it between his palms. Jaejoong’s eyes are red and swollen, even more puffy than his usual look in the mornings, and his face is red and blotchy as well, streaks of unidentifiable liquids smutching his whole face. His lips are torn form all the chewing, specks of red spotting the tender skin here and there.
Yunho pulls the sleeve of his hoodie over his palm and starts wiping Jaejoong’s face, rubbing the underside of his nose determinedly until all the gooey mucus has stuck onto the fabric, even making him blow his nose. The dog’s head comes in between them as it tries to lick Jaejoong’s face, eager to help with the cleaning, but Yunho just shoves it away softly, sparing the behind of its ears a few quick scratches. Then he leans forward to press a gentle kiss on Jaejoong’s nose tip before crushing him against his chest again, making sure his face is on the other side of his neck in order not to get it all dirty again.
“Wanna tell me about it?” he asks carefully, no too assertively in case Jaejoong is feeling too exhausted. The older man nods his head against Yunho’s neck feebly, and they clamber into Jaejoong’s small one-person bed, fitting against each other the best they can, too many limbs and too little space. Even the dog crawls in after them, placing itself over their feet despite Yunho’s objections that it’s going to get spoiled and start trying to sleep on his bed in his apartment too. Jaejoong smiles a little through his tears, and Yunho thinks it’s worth a few numb toes.
Even if it’s awkward, Yunho feels like it’s the place where he should be; pressing the other against his chest, legs haphazardly thrown on top of one another. Jaejoong is still sniffling, his frigid fingers tucked inside Yunho’s hoodie, but somehow it all seems a little better already.
He doesn’t press it, but waits until Jaejoong starts telling himself, feeling calm enough.
“I got this in today’s post, I don’t know, the moment I saw the name ‘Oh Seojin’ on this,” Jaejoong rustles the envelope still in his hand, “I- I don’t know, I think my…my parents might have given my address to her…”
“You didn’t open it yet?” Yunho confirms, carding his fingers through Jaejoong’s thick black hair.
“No, I- I couldn’t… What if she says she’s sorry Yunho-yah? What then? I would, I think I should, I think I would have to forgive her… She’s my mother after all, I think, I think that’s what sons are supposed to do…”
Yunho tightens his hold just a little, wanting to tell him there are things in this world that shouldn’t be forgiven, wanting to tell him he shouldn’t even call her his mother because she doesn’t deserve it. But he lets no such things escape his mouth; it’s not his place.
“Don’t think about it now, baby whale,” he whispers. “You don’t have to open it now. You don’t have to open it ever, if you don’t want to…”
Jaejoong pauses for a while, giving his breath time to become steadier again. His sobbing has ceased almost completely but he keeps rubbing his eyes against Yunho’s shoulder, trying to dry up the water streaming from his eyes.
“Do you want to tell me about what happened, back then…” Yunho asks softly. To be honest, he had expected them to discuss this topic months ago; but after that one moment had passed inside the car right before they had reached the East Sea, the subject had never been brought up again. Jaejoong kept being vocal about his family affairs, entertaining Yunho with random stories of his nieces and nephews all the time, but despite being so open of his adopted background, he never talked about his birth parents again.
“I was…I was pretty old,” Jaejoong starts, his voice so very quiet, but quite steady now. “I think I was around four.”
“That’s why you remember it, huh,” Yunho states, feeling Jaejoong nod against his shoulder again.
“You know, I wasn’t born in Gongju for real… But I think my parents knew my birth mother, I don’t know if they were close or what but I think they knew her.”
Yunho hums, showing Jaejoong that he’s listening. They are not looking at each other; Yunho reckons talking of such things is easier with a sense of privacy, no matter how superficial.
“You know, one day we just took the bus to another town, me and my mom, and we were walking around just normally, just like a normal, ordinary day… And I remember we were waiting at a bridge, because I got bored and started throwing rocks into the river… I asked my mom if we could go already but she just said no, that we had to wait.”
“And then, there was this really nice-looking lady walking towards us, and my mom told me that she was her friend and that she’s a nice lady and that I should show her what a big boy I am and how well I can run… And she told me to run to her so I did.”
Yunho feels the tears prickling his eyes again, as he thinks of his own family, his mother and his little sister and his deceased father. Even with the overflowing grief he remembers from his father’s death, he cannot even begin to imagine this kind of hurt, a betrayal from the very person who is your whole world.
“And the nice lady picked me up when I reached her, but when I turned around in her arms to look at my mom and show her how well I had done, she wasn’t there anymore.”
Yunho has a lot of words inside him, but none of them are coming out; he opens his mouth and closes it again, feeling like a fish out of water. He strokes Jaejoong’s hair again and again until the other’s quiet sobbing eases again.
“I don’t want to get up just yet,” Jaejoong sniffs, “I feel…depleted.”
“Let’s just not get up at all,” Yunho answers, not ceasing his caresses of Jaejoong’s hair.
“No overnight visitors allowed, Yunho-yah,” Jaejoong protests weakly, in a voice that tells Yunho the other hasn’t convinced even himself of the importance of abiding by the particular rule.
“Who the hell cares. We’ve got a scary watchdog and all.”
“No dogs allowed either.”
“Fuck everybody.”
They lie there silently for a moment, only noise coming from the dog that is squirming around, trying to find a comfortable position on the unfamiliar bed.
“What about Junsu?” Jaejoong sniffs, distressed, when he suddenly remembers why he had come back to his room in the first place. “I feel so bad for him, I totally ruined his birthday party.”
“Don’t worry, he was already in a bad mood because Junho failed to show up as well,” Yunho teases but realises immediately he had chosen the wrong manner of approach when Jaejoong releases another heart-breaking sob. “Oh baby whale, it wasn’t your fault! Come on, we’ll just go visit him tomorrow, take your present to him, I don’t know, make it up to him… I’m sure he’ll understand.”
“But still…”
“You know what we’ll do. We’ll do something he can never get from anyone else - we’ll name the dog after him!”
“After Junsu?! What are you going to call it - Bubblebutt or what?”
“No! Who do you think I am, Yoochun?!” Yunho denies, feigning hurt, but internally rejoicing that Jaejoong has regained his sense of humour. “You know how he’s been calling it a visual shock? We could just name it that.”
“Isn’t that a bit long,” Jaejoong questions, his fingers stroking along Yunho’s side inside his hoodie.
“We could just shorten it to…Vick, or something,” Yunho suggests, a pleasant shiver running up and down his spine due to the other’s touches, his stomach convulsing slightly.
“Well, I guess that’s fine… It really needs a name after all.”
To be quite honest, Yunho could find a few more things that definitely need a name; an all-consuming emotion making his whole body feel like it’s about to burst out of its seams, for instance.
“Baby whale… Jaejoong-ah,” he starts, pausing to swallow the lump threatening to rise up, coughing a few times to clear his throat. “I love you, you know that right.”
Jaejoong sighs, his body deflating like a balloon being rid of the helium inside it as he relaxes. Yunho can feel him swallow as well, and then a trembling hand comes up, soft knuckles caressing the prickly skin of Yunho’s cheek.
“Yeah. Yeah, I know. I love you too.”
The dog sneezes, pushing its nose between their firmly intertwined legs.
~0~0~0~
Yunho wakes up to incessant pulling of his nose. Feeling warm and fuzzy, he tugs Jaejoong’s body closer to himself, not wanting to fully regain his senses just yet.
“Yunho-yah…Yunho-yah,” Jaejoong whispers into his ear with a secretive, confidential tone of voice when he realises Yunho has awoken. “I think, it seems like Commandant Jung has a very important despatch to deliver.”
Yunho feels heat creep up his cheeks, immediately realising where the pleasant feeling is stemming from. He is suddenly acutely aware of the poor state of soundproofing in the building, in addition to the dog still lying at their feet.
“Oh god, don’t move,” he groans when Jaejoong wiggles his body deliberately, utterly failing at repressing his chuckles.
Besides courting Jaejoong, sleeping in the same bed with him has always been an increasingly hard task for Yunho.
A/N2: So, there it was~ First of all, dedicated to kkumkkae who helped me a whole lot with the fic :D You know what all is yours :D
Others who got things from their comments on the fic itself borrowed into the epilogue without them knowing; hattukissa for Jaejoong giving Yunho’s, umm, coughthingcough a nickname, and rojoong for “Commandant Jung” and the fishy face ;D I totally did not ask for permission to use their thoughts xD Hope you don’t mind the surprise :3
(Details regarding Jaejoong’s adoption like his biological mother’s name, and his age when it happened, are real, but the story is totally made-up of course.)
And now it’s over for real -.- ...or is it? 8)
Pairing: YunJae
Length: One-shot
Genre: Romance, Angst, Fluff
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: ...quirky!Jae xD
Summary: Jaejoong deals with his issues. Yunho deals with Jaejoong. The dog... the dog has to deal with them both.
Whale Hunting: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Epilogue
A/N1: Okay so I thought I might have to define one thing: the place where Jaejoong lives, goshiwon, it’s a very typical form of cheap accommodation in Korea. If you guys have watched Yoochun’s drama Miss Ripley, he lives in that kind of place first (as Jang Miri’s neighbour). The feeling is kind of like that of a dormitory… Many college students (for example those studying for national exams and needing to be able to concentrate well) live there. There might be also random not so well off people like unemployed living there, especially in the cheapest ones… It’s just practically a very cheap place to live with an extremely tiny room, like 9-10m2, and shared bathrooms and kitchens. You might get like, free cooked rice and kimchi and stuff from there too. One of my friends said her parents liked her living there cause it has a reception, which makes it safe.
Yunho had heard the click of a lock opening very clearly, but since he knows Jaejoong loves it, he pretends not to notice the other has entered the apartment. He strains his ears, hearing the other trying to keep silent while ushering the dog towards its sleeping mat. He can hear two sets of familiar, soft footsteps; the dog’s nails rapping against the worn wooden floor followed by Jaejoong’s bare feet. There’s a moment of silence in which Yunho estimates Jaejoong has just enough to time to gesture for the dog to stay put on its bed; and then, on his way to the bedroom, Jaejoong bumps into the dining table and lets out a muffled groan. Yunho cannot help the smile creeping onto his lips, but continues faking ignorance nevertheless.
Sometimes Yunho thinks it’s as if he had given the spare key to his apartment to a child. He also thinks that if he ever made the mistake of whining about such a thing, Jaejoong would counter with the exact same accusation. Yunho is already getting his daily dose of nagging without fail, and even though some of Jaejoong’s antics are childish at best and obnoxious at worst, Yunho cannot deny he himself has his moments as well. At least Jaejoong has been very vocal about it. Yunho sure is well informed about how his habit of leaving uncapped bottles lying around, not to mention walking inside with his shoes on, reminds Jaejoong very much of a three-year-old niece of his.
He can feel Jaejoong looming in the doorway, undoubtedly peeking from behind the frame. Turning a page on his 800-page textbook relaxedly, Yunho makes sure to tuck his notes between the pages of the massive book as to not have them crumple when Jaejoong finally decides to end his prowling. Just like Yunho had expected, in just a matter of seconds, the older man lets out a hysterical holler before bouncing on the bed, landing directly on top of Yunho.
Thanks to the soft bed, Yunho doesn’t get the wind knocked out of his sails despite the heavy impact, only an impassive grunt leaving his lips when the other’s weight presses him into the mattress.
Not that he’d ever tell Jaejoong, but the very reason he had converted from lying on the living room floor while studying, to lounging on his bed, is this. For as sure as the sun rises from east, so does Jaejoong jump him every single time he enters the apartment, and Yunho has had his fair share of bruised hipbones, enough to last him a lifetime.
Jaejoong’s slender arms wind around his neck, hands not failing to stop to pull at Yunho’s nose on the way, before he buries his face into the younger man’s hair. Yunho flings the book shut and nudges it aside, placing a kiss on the white arm under his chin.
“Why hello there, baby whale,” he says, wiggling his whole body and feeling Jaejoong’s reverberating sniggers as the man lying on top of his back shakes as well because of his actions.
“You heard me coming,” comes Jaejoong’s accusatory answer, spoken into the tanned skin of Yunho’s neck.
“Don’t I always,” Yunho says, placing another chaste peck on Jaejoong’s forearm before rolling them over, lying on his back on top of Jaejoong’s stomach and chest. No matter how much Jaejoong likes to be flattened, Yunho is still not used to such feeling even after a few months. He also has no problem with complying with the other’s weird preferences, though.
Yunho stares at the ceiling peacefully, wondering if they should do a little renovation, maybe just on the paintwork that’s starting to fall off, when Jaejoong’s hands move down from his neck to grab at his chest. Yunho groans and takes hold of both of the wandering rogues, pinning them against his collarbones.
“Okay so I might have put on a little more recently but that’s your fault okay? We already reached a consensus on this!” he whines, kicking his heels against the edge of bed, making Jaejoong giggle gleefully underneath him.
“Yunho-yah, how many times do I have to tell you; my cooking is extremely healthy! I eat the same thing and do you see me gaining any, huh?”
Yunho has no answer for such an argumentation so he just huffs, releasing the misbehaving limbs that joyfully start feeling around his chest again, squeezing the protuberant flesh between innocent-looking but eager fingers.
“Do you think if we squeezed these together and took a photo from above, we could trick Changmin into thinking it’s a girl’s chest? You know, I could totally bribe him with it if I said it was Kang Sora’s,” Jaejoong ponders and Yunho really feels like bolting up and running to Jaejoong’s backpack, rummaging through it and confiscating his newly bought minidisc player. Where the man had even found such a device, Yunho has no idea; but after witnessing the contents of Jaejoong’s wardrobe change continuously, all the while remaining a bunch of rather authentic-looking 70s clothes, Yunho has given up trying to figure out Jaejoong’s resources.
After taking a deep breath and counting to ten inside his head, Yunho is ready to face the inadvertent mockery.
“And how do you suppose Changmin would ever buy your claim of having of boob shot of Kang Sora on your camera,” Yunho asks, almost ready to play along despite the accompanying groping.
“I have my connections,” Jaejoong answers simply, making Yunho snort. The older man’s hands slow down gradually and Yunho can tell he’s in deep thought again.
“You know, like, if women gain weight it always goes to their boobs. When you gain weight, why does it go to your boobs too? Why not to Commandant Jung?” he comments suddenly.
Yunho is glad he’s not facing Jaejoong right now because no matter how many times he hears it, it still makes him blush.
“God damnit Jaejoong how many times do I have to tell you not to call it that?” Yunho splutters, reaching his hands down to slap Jaejoong’s hips. The man snickers but refuses to give up his stance.
“Why not? It’s a perfect name! I always thought he was kind of assertive, maybe even…cocky.”
“Dear god, if you don’t shut up right now I’m going to name your nipples Eeny and Meeny!”
Jaejoong’s hands fly into Yunho’s hair, carding through them and tilting the younger man’s head just enough so that his lips are ghosting over the other’s ear lobes.
“That’s totally fine by me,” he whispers, and licks Yunho’s ear just the way he knows gets the other hot and bothered. Yunho groans, but he has learnt the hard way that with Jaejoong, attack is always the best form of defence. Flipping himself around, he presses his weight onto Jaejoong more effectively and sinks both of his hands into the other’s long fringe in turn, brushing it back on his forehead. Jaejoong is looking at him, a cheerful glint in his eyes as always.
“So, about my fat going down into Commandant Jung, hmm? You think you could take it any bigger, hmm?”
Jaejoong cracks up, his bright, lively laughter filling the room. Yunho can feel the man’s chest vibrating underneath him, and he doesn’t even try to fight the urge to press a few kisses on the other’s long, vulnerable neck, while Jaejoong throws his head back, laughing freely.
When Jaejoong’s laughter finally dies down into poorly repressed giggles, Yunho stops kissing his skin and wiggles slightly backwards, propping his chin between Jaejoong’s collarbones on top of his own hands splayed against the other’s chest.
“So you took the dog for a walk?” he asks, his lazy fingers scratching the other’s milky skin exposed by the opened buttons of his polo shirt.
“Mm,” Jaejoong answers, craning his neck up to see Yunho’s eyes, hands caressing up and down Yunho’s upper arms.
“Did you take the leash for a walk too?” he then continues, and Jaejoong stares at him for a split second before flopping his head back down on the pillow.
“Mm,” he answers again, but Yunho can hear from the tone he’s just being as vague as possible.
“Yes or no you little brat, or wait, don’t answer that, I already know you didn't!” he accuses, and Jaejoong chuckles slightly guiltily.
“I’m older than you, you have no right to call me a little brat,” he retorts, trying to lamely distract Yunho into a meaningless squabble.
Yunho just flicks his forehead.
“I have all the rights! But back to the original topic; you know most people think that the dog is scary! A visual shock, like Junsu says, remember? You need to take it out in a leash, Jaejoong.”
“But I feel so bad for it when I have it on a leash, it should have the right to sniff whatever it wants!” the other tries to plead weakly. Yunho feels his heart soften; he has always felt a little sorry for the dog that has to sit inside his cramped apartment for the better part of the day as well, but what can he do. Jaejoong’s place is out of the question as he only has a small box in an overcrowded goshiwon inhabited by a swarm of cramming college students, and it doesn’t allow pets in any case.
“I feel bad for it too,” Yunho agrees, “but wouldn’t you feel even worse if someone called the police and they took it away.”
Jaejoong perks up, his body tensing underneath Yunho.
“I always thought that old woman who lives in the apartment underneath yours was suspicious!” he declares loudly, one of his arms rising to flail violently around in the air. “She’s plotting against the dog! I just knew it!”
“Take it easy, Jaejoong-ah,” Yunho chuckles. “That one is a nice old lady. Gave me a big box of kimchi and other side dishes when I first moved here too.”
Jaejoong cranes his neck upwards to glare at the other once again.
“From now on, you’re only allowed to eat my mom’s kimchi, alright?” he exclaims, shaking his index finger at Yunho. “That hag’s only after your ass, okay?”
Yunho cannot help but to release a few hearty chortles. “More like my smile and my polite bows, no?” he suggests, amused. Jaejoong doesn’t approve of his view, staring him down like a threatened dog.
“Awe, our little baby whale is jealous,” Yunho coos, pressing his palms against Jaejoong’s cheeks, the other ending up with an adorable fishy face and puckered lips that make his glowering eyes look terribly out of place. Yunho finds the other’s covetous tendencies as satisfying as ever, feeling extremely accomplished even though he has done nothing to help them rise to the surface this time.
They stare at each other for a while, Jaejoong’s face squished between Yunho’s palms and his eyes harsh on the younger man’s face. No matter how much they see each other - which is pretty much everyday since Jaejoong misses him every other day, and every other day he misses the dog, which also means barging into Yunho’s apartment - the staring seems to be a permanent thing.
Disregarding of the other’s aggravation, Yunho leans forward to place a teasing peck on the other’s pursed lips. Besides having learnt to always attack, Yunho has also learnt that kisses make everything better.
“Come on baby whale, we gotta get moving soon,” he reminds Jaejoong as he releases the other and sits up next to him, giving his butt a few brisk pats for a good measure. “Yoochun and Junsu told us to be there at seven, didn’t they?”
Jaejoong looks like he’s about to jump Yunho for a second time, before he settles with showing the younger man the flatness of his pink tongue and rolling onto the other side of the bed, flopping down on the floor over the edge. He rolls on the floor towards the door, before having to align himself again to be able to crawl through it.
Yunho watches his extraordinary way of leaving the room, counting seconds until the moment, and just as he had expected, Jaejoong’s high-pitched shriek is soon echoing through the doorway. The dog has taken interest in the worm-man, Yunho muses, and stands up to go save his beau from the monstrosity that is their dog.
~0~0~0~
They are just out of the door, the dog on a leash that’s wrapped tightly around Yunho’s wrist and Jaejoong wrapped tightly under his other arm, when the older man pauses abruptly, right before they reach the elevator.
“Fuck it!” he exclaims loudly, causing Yunho to glance around the corridor, making sure there are no people witnessing the following string of curses that leaves the older man’s mouth in rapid fire.
“What now,” he asks, shaking Jaejoong’s shoulder slightly. The man continues cursing, bringing a hand up to slap his own head. Yunho seizes the hand, caressing the back of it with his thumb. Jaejoong turns his head up to look at him, eyes large and desperate.
“I forgot Junsu’s birthday present at my place! Seriously! My most adorable dongsaeng’s birthday present! And I forgot it at home! I tell you, I can remember the spot exactly, I put it right next to my, oh fuck, I must have kicked it under the bed when I got up today… What to do, what to do…”
Yunho can feel the panic rising in the other and even the dog looks concerned, whining while pawing Jaejoong’s leg in an attention-demanding manner.
“Silly whale,” he says, shaking Jaejoong some more. The other pays no heed to such manhandling, eyes unseeing as he tries to make sense of the morning’s events inside his head.
“What to do,” he sighs again, making Yunho chuckle.
“What to do? You just run home, grab the present and come straight to Jeongbanhap afterwards. I’ll go first with the dog, okay? We’ll wait for you before we start, alright?”
Jaejoong snaps out of his stupor, meeting Yunho’s smiling eyes and staring at him for a little while, dazed as always, before nodding slowly. The elevators dings, the doors opening, and the dog drags them both inside.
From his own apartment, it takes Yunho only twenty minutes by walking to Jeongbanhap, a bar that has become their little group’s regular place. After sending Jaejoong off in his bus, he starts the everyday hassle of evading scared passers-by, sending apologetic smiles and nods to every direction while people jump out of his way as if he was walking a tiger or a bear instead of a gentle Great Pyrenees dog.
The dog had long gotten used to people not exactly running to it to scratch it behind the ears, but Yunho finds it still impossible to fathom how Jaejoong manages to walk it without the leash every single time. Even if Yunho knows the dog to be an almost lame one, certainly not a threat to even a fly, he’s quite positive it would still cause a panic if he let it run free on the streets of Seoul.
His only guess is that the huge dog and the man, who looks like he comes from 40 years back in time, make up such a pair that no one even has time to get frightened from their wonder.
Fortunately they frequent Jeongbanhap so much that after a few times, and lots of pleading, the place had gotten used to the dog lying at Yunho’s feet as they drink. Yunho always tries to take it out with him as much as he can, as he spends so many hours at the university that it truly makes him feel very sorry for the dog. This time too, he arrives at the bar with the animal in tow, acknowledging the bartender first before he stalks over to the corner where they usually sit at.
“Junho’s got a date, he isn’t coming,” are the first words out of Junsu’s sour mouth and Yunho walks straight to his chair, bending down to hug the brooding man.
“Happy birthday, Junsu-yah,” he wishes from his heart, squishing the younger man against his chest, hoping to liven up his mood a little. Just as he had hoped, a slightly happier-looking Junsu emerges when he pulls back. The man bends down to pet the dog that looks extremely eager to wish its own congratulations, the way its tongue is hanging out, ready to lather with spit anyone who happens to come too close.
“Thanks, hyung,” Junsu smiles. “The visual shock is here too, huh? But not your baby whale? Where’s Jaejoong-hyung? Weren’t you coming together?”
Yunho clears his throat, still not exactly comfortable with the fact that the others had somehow found out the affectionate pet name he has been calling Jaejoong ever since their trip to the East Sea.
“Jaejoongie forgot your present at home so he had to go get it… Don’t tease him when he gets here, he was really devastated about it for no reason at all,” Yunho explains, flopping down opposite of Junsu and pulling the dog to lie at his feet, half under his chair. “Hi Changmin-ah, Yoochun-ah.”
Yoochun smiles at him, draping an arm over Junsu’s shoulders as the younger man sits back in his chair again. The youngest is sitting next to Yunho, nibbling on something that looks suspiciously like an instant cheese sausage from the convenience store.
“One thing I do not and will never understand,” the maknae states, not even bothering to face Yunho, “is how do you ever get away with calling him that. It’s just an euphemism for fat, right?”
Finding his suggestion hilarious, Yunho bursts out laughing, Yoochun joining his mirth from the other side of the table.
“Do you seriously think he’d ever let me call him fat?” he laughs, the dog’s head perking up at the sound of its owner’s bubbly laughter. “And here I thought you’ve known him longer than I have…”
“That’s exactly what I mean,” Changmin counters defensively.
“Awe, little Changmin’s still got a lot left to learn about love… Right, bubblebutt?” Yoochun comments greasily from the other side of the table. Junsu sends him a horrified glare, shedding the arm from his shoulder.
“You’re not calling me anything like that! I’m so positive ‘baby whale’ has some really cute and romantic story behind it, but you, you just want to be mean! Mr Prominent Forehead!”
Yoochun laughs but denies nothing, forcing his arm back around Junsu’s shoulders.
“Wanna drink anything, hyung?” he asks Yunho, nodding towards his own half-finished beer and the dry apple cider sitting on the table in front of Junsu.
“Nah, I promised Jaejoongie I’d wait for him,” Yunho answers, grabbing Changmin’s glass and taking a sip of his beer before the other has a chance to protest.
“Tch, you just enjoy being sober while he’s drunk, don’t you,” Changmin accuses and snatches his beer back.
“That too,” Yunho agrees readily, glad that even though the others had found out about “baby whale”, they had never learnt about the events of the barbecue night in Wonju. Yunho intended to keep it like that; and even if it meant getting teased, he definitely would admit that he enjoyed a drunken Jaejoong immensely. The other would always turn into a charmingly cute, attention-seeking creature, proclaiming his eternal love to everyone around and constantly begging Yunho for kisses - sometimes even for something more.
Yes, the horniness was also warmly welcomed.
~0~0~0~
Even though he knows Seoul and its horrific traffic jams, Yunho is starting to feel anxious. It’s getting late enough for the streets to be rather clear, and even though he gives the other ample time, Jaejoong doesn’t answer even his third text.
When the clock ticks one and a half hours after his arrival, Yunho gets up from his seat wordlessly and walks out of the noisy pub to make a call. The dog watches after him carefully, and when Changmin bends down to pet it in assurance, it hardly acknowledges the caressing hand.
Jaejoong doesn’t answer. Yunho stares at the screen of his ancient version of iPhone, not even noticing the chilliness pinching his cheeks and nibbling on his nose, making his fingers stiff and pale.
It was for this very reason Yunho had given his key to the other man in the first place. After they had gotten back to Seoul Yunho had soon learnt that Jaejoong’s habit of appearing and disappearing as he wished hadn’t been a temporary thing, reserved only for time spent travelling. In fact, Jaejoong was almost impossible to reach. Yunho had spent many hours on useless buss drives to the goshiwon where Jaejoong lived, sitting in the front lobby with the dog, waiting for the man to appear. After a few weeks, the owner had even started allowing him in the upper floors - without the dog of course - when he had somehow managed to convince them he was Jaejoong’s guardian.
He guessed it was quite telling that the guy would actually buy such a story, but it was of no use in any case. Knocking on the door of Jaejoong’s room was as good as not bothering at all; the man hardly spent any time in his little cramped box, only using it for sleeping. After Yunho had given Jaejoong his key, it had been deprived of even that purpose, usually for the better half of a week.
It was certainly easier waiting for Jaejoong to come to him than trying to find the other himself.
After their first real fight and Yunho’s persistent insistence, they had even established a rule of always informing each other if there was a change of plans or if they were going to be unavailable for a longer time. Jaejoong’s hazardous personality and Yunho’s worrywart tendencies had had the younger man waiting for Jaejoong to barge into his apartment through the front door fruitlessly, countless times. It wasn’t as if Jaejoong broke his promises or failed to meet agreements; but he often started a regular routine that had Yunho lulled into a false sense of security, before suddenly breaking his pattern of visiting, without a single warning word.
The system had been impeccable. Yunho had been entertained by Jaejoong’s countless text messages and short, informative calls, as the other took on a habit of sometimes making his movements known a little too keenly. It was alright though, as Jaejoong didn’t expect any kind of answer from Yunho, sometimes hanging up his “I’m in Suwon don’t ask why I’m not even sure myself but I’ll be back tomorrow or maybe the day after that okay Yunho-yah?” calls before the other had a chance to even breathe.
Until now.
It’s the first time since the new rule that Jaejoong has just disappeared without a word. Not answering his texts, not answering his calls, it’s all too familiar for Yunho; the other always said it was too much of a hassle, but usually Yunho had at least a vague idea of where Jaejoong was running about.
Slipping his cell phone back into his pocket, Yunho heaves the bar door open and sneaks back in. The others’ attention is on him immediately. When he reaches the table, he answers their unasked question before anyone even manages to open their mouth.
“He didn’t answer,” he says simply, flopping down, the dog sitting up to rest its head on Yunho’s knee. It whimpers quietly, sensing its owner’s unease, and Yunho sinks his fingers into the dog’s thick fur, its familiar coarseness somewhat comforting.
Yoochun looks at him behind his beer before setting his glass on the table.
“You know what, I’ll call Hyunjoong,” he says and starts fishing for his own phone. “Maybe Jaejoongie-hyung got called to work suddenly or something.”
Until this day, Yunho isn’t quite sure what Jaejoong is actually doing for a living. Most days, he just seems to get random calls from random people, a rather large amount out of whom Yunho knows barely anyone. Some days Jaejoong crawls out of bed at the crack of dawn, only to reappear with a grin on his face and a stack of new magazines, fresh from print, smelling of ink, just before nine o’clock when Yunho is leaving for university. Sometimes he sits on the floor of Yunho’s bedroom, reading through a thick booklet and piles of paper while Yunho studies, whispering to himself as if trying to learn something by heart. Other days, he comes back with a dusty face and tired knees, and even less frequently, he comes home with his face covered in thick make-up, kohl-lined eyes twinkling as he seduces Yunho into bed before dinner, reducing the younger into a needy, eager mess just at the sight of his flexing muscles and painted face.
Yunho is almost sure he has even seen one of those little yellow tour guide flags on Jaejoong’s side of the closet. He hasn’t missed the ironed white dress shirt, accompanied by a sleek black café apron either, standing out amongst his other, less modern clothes.
Yoochun is covering his other ear and his mouth in turns, trying to hear the man on the other end of the conversation inside the noisy room. Yunho watches him impatiently, Yoochun’s eyes crinkling as he laughs about something. The call is quite short, and then Yoochun turns to him, eyes apologetic.
“Hyunjoong says he hasn’t talked with Jaejoongie-hyung for a few days… He told me to call Seunghyun?” he reports, asking Yunho for his opinion.
Yunho sighs, stealing Changmin’s beer once again, but the other leaves his retort be this time. Even he can see Yunho is getting worried and lets his hyung sip on the beverage while he thinks.
“Save it,” Yunho decides finally, setting the glass on the table and leaning down to grab the dog’s leash that has been lying on the floor. “I’ll go pick him up.”
He stands up and turns towards Junsu, a regretful expression on his face.
“I’m sorry Junsu-yah, we’ll come back as soon as I find him.”
Junsu just shrugs, sending his hyung a small smile.
“It’s fine, don’t sweat it, hyung,” he says, and Yunho cannot help but to crush him into another embrace before leaving.
“Happy birthday, Junsu-yah. Jaejoongie was really looking forward to giving you your present too.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure I receive it properly,” Junsu answers with a twinkle in his eyes, before Yunho exits the bar.
The bus ride seems longer than ever before. Thankful about the late hour on a weekday, Yunho collapses onto a free seat, pulling the dog to sit between his legs so that it remains out of everyone’s way. The dog is quiet, its round brown eyes studying Yunho’s restless form with silent vigilance.
Despite his disquietude, he feels a bit of anger bubbling in the pit of his stomach. Sometimes he feels like all he does in this relationship is give and give, Jaejoong being the receiving end of all his attention and care. His rational side knows it’s not true, knows that Jaejoong has introduced him to a new way of life, a free, impulsive way full of surprises and joy; knows that he has met a lot of new people and tried a lot of new things all thanks to Jaejoong. No one had ever said that courting Jaejoong would be an easy or a simple task, and Yunho had never believed so either; but the complexity of the other is such a contrast to Yunho’s peace-loving, simple lifestyle that the two are bound to crash and burn occasionally.
Yunho has always been a man of reasonable dreams, a man with a wish for a stable, ordinary future. Sometimes he had even thought about moving back to Gwangju even though the city would probably offer less job opportunities; just because the town, smaller than Seoul, had always felt like home to him. Jaejoong is a complete turnabout in his life, but even so, Yunho definitely cannot call it a turn for worse.
However, even if his rational side is churning out all these reasons, his emotional side is burning up, combustible material running thin. He feels weary without having done anything, a feeling Jaejoong causes in him occasionally. The combination of worry and irritation is definitely not a good look on him.
Yunho walks up to Jaejoong’s goshiwon on autopilot, his feet remembering the way even when his mind is occupied with entirely different matters. Opening the door, he realises his usual obstacle when the owner greets him from the reception desk. Yunho bows his head politely and walks to a modern-looking but already slightly worn-out armchair, pulling the dog close to himself.
The owner tries to engage him in a polite conversation, asking if he’s there waiting for Kim Jaejoong-sshi even though it’s obvious, and making other equally inane questions. It’s the kind of pointless small talk that even Yunho would gladly engage in given a different situation; but as it is, he answers as curtly as possible in order to still remain mannerly. Soon the owner gives up, going back to checking his computer and shuffling papers.
Yunho keeps his eye on him, and as soon as a resident comes for the owner, dragging him somewhere with her, Yunho bolts to the stairway, quickly dragging the dog after him as he skips the stairs up.
Jaejoong’s room is in the fourth floor but Yunho has to wait until someone uses the door, letting him pass through the electric lock. The guy eyes him a little weirdly but Yunho just smiles at him pleasantly and thanks his luck when the guy makes no questions despite the dog panting at Yunho’s feet.
He heads for the door he knows to be the right one immediately, knocking on it tentatively. There is no answer so he presses his ear against the door, unable to hear anything.
“Jaejoong-ah?” he asks through the door, knowing well that the walls at the goshiwon are like paper. He knocks on the door gently again, “Baby whale? Let me in.”
Suddenly the dog lets out a miserable whimper, raising its paw to press it against the door, letting its claws rake down the painted surface.
“Jaejoong-ah, I know you’re in there. Open the door please.”
Nothing happens, but the dog continues rapping at the door, whining and turning to look at Yunho every now and then with a demanding look in its eyes, as if bidding him to open the door.
Yunho presses his lips against the door, speaking up again.
“Jaejoong-ah, open the door now. I know you’re inside. If you don’t open I’m going to go tell the owner there’s a fire starting in your room, and you know that’ll get us into trouble. First of all, it’s a lie, and secondly, I’ve got the dog with me. You know it’s not allowed.”
He’s hardly feeling angry anymore, anxiousness replacing all other emotions again.
There’s a moment of quietness until the dog suddenly stops its ministrations, making the silence truly complete.
When the doorknob finally turns and the door opens, Jaejoong’s dilated pupils appearing in the crack, the last of Yunho’s former irritation vanishes into thin air.
“Oh, Yunho-yah, come on in, come in,” Jaejoong says lightly, as if he was surprised. His voice sounds so unfamiliar and strange that Yunho wrenches the door open the same second, marching into the tiny room, the dog stopping at the door to whine at Jaejoong. It tries to stand up on its hind legs, but Yunho pulls it down by the leash. Tugging it towards himself, Yunho sits down on Jaejoong’s bed, eyes intently on the man standing in the doorway kind of awkwardly, wringing his hands.
“Close the door,” Yunho suggests softly, watching as Jaejoong nods and turns around to gently click the door shut.
When he turns around, he’s staring at the floor, not making any effort to walk towards Yunho or even to say anything.
Then Yunho notices it; a white, crumpled envelope in Jaejoong’s left fist. A fist that is shaking. In fact, Jaejoong’s both hands are shaking, not quite violently but enough for Yunho to notice it, uncontrollably it seems as Jaejoong keeps moving them, squeezing his fingers tightly together, hands clamped against each other in order to steady them.
His form is slumped, still, as if he was holding his breath. Yunho’s heart clenches, and he pushes the dog to lie down on the floor by its neck. There is barely enough space for its massive body, but it obeys immediately, eager to please, barely able to stand the tension in the room.
“Come here,” Yunho breathes out, and Jaejoong takes a few hesitant steps forward. The distance between them is barely half a metre, but it takes Jaejoong almost a minute to reach him. Jaejoong’s hands come forward, trembling more visibly in mid-air with no support, until he clenches his fingers into the front of Yunho’s hoodie. His fingers are pale, even whiter than usually, and so is his face, eyes still cast down.
Yunho hooks his fingers into the belt loops of Jaejoong’s denims and pulls him close to stand between his spread knees. Jaejoong jerks forwards, his hands tightening on Yunho’s hoodie, the envelope crinkling further. When Jaejoong is close enough, Yunho reaches a hand up, cupping Jaejoong’s face gently. The man is now shivering thoroughly, feet tapping against the floor agitatedly, hands juddering on the neckline of Yunho’s hoodie, tightening it around his neck.
Yunho strokes his thumb over Jaejoong’s cheekbone, his heart about to stop as the man he loves is standing before him, looking so defeated, so lost.
“What’s that envelope, baby whale?” Yunho asks quietly, searching for Jaejoong’s eyes but the other has closed them, his face twisting into a painful frown.
“I got it…I didn’t even open it yet… Yunho-yah, I didn’t even open it…”
“Shh, that’s fine, we can open it together later if you want to,” he answers, totally clueless as to what he’s talking about.
Jaejoong’s eyes open and dart to his, and then his self-control breaks as he collapses down on the floor, on his knees between Yunho’s legs, arms wrapping tightly around the other’s neck.
“Yunho-ya-a-ah,” he wails like small child, and Yunho can do nothing but wrap his own arms around the other tightly, trying to calm him down, shushing him as if he truly was the child he’s acting like. The dog sits up, stressed, whining pitifully and trying to bury its nose in the non-existent slit between their bodies.
“Yo-you’re never going to g-give me away, right,” Jaejoong cries into his ear, and suddenly it’s crystal clear to Yunho what this is all about.
“Shh, of course not, baby whale,” he tries to assure the other while caressing his back, squeezing him snugly against his body. “I can’t do anything if you decide to leave yourself. But I’m not giving you away, never ever.”
Jaejoong cries against his neck loudly, tears and snot smudging Yunho’s grey hoodie. It’s not pretty, and Yunho feels tears rising into his own eyes, desperately trying to keep them down as he reckons one of them needs to keep their cool right now. The walls are still as thin as if they were made of paper, and if they both start bawling like newborn babies, someone is sure to come check on them.
Such exertion soon takes its toll on Jaejoong, his cries quieting down to soft weeping. Yunho detaches Jaejoong’s face form his neck, securing it between his palms. Jaejoong’s eyes are red and swollen, even more puffy than his usual look in the mornings, and his face is red and blotchy as well, streaks of unidentifiable liquids smutching his whole face. His lips are torn form all the chewing, specks of red spotting the tender skin here and there.
Yunho pulls the sleeve of his hoodie over his palm and starts wiping Jaejoong’s face, rubbing the underside of his nose determinedly until all the gooey mucus has stuck onto the fabric, even making him blow his nose. The dog’s head comes in between them as it tries to lick Jaejoong’s face, eager to help with the cleaning, but Yunho just shoves it away softly, sparing the behind of its ears a few quick scratches. Then he leans forward to press a gentle kiss on Jaejoong’s nose tip before crushing him against his chest again, making sure his face is on the other side of his neck in order not to get it all dirty again.
“Wanna tell me about it?” he asks carefully, no too assertively in case Jaejoong is feeling too exhausted. The older man nods his head against Yunho’s neck feebly, and they clamber into Jaejoong’s small one-person bed, fitting against each other the best they can, too many limbs and too little space. Even the dog crawls in after them, placing itself over their feet despite Yunho’s objections that it’s going to get spoiled and start trying to sleep on his bed in his apartment too. Jaejoong smiles a little through his tears, and Yunho thinks it’s worth a few numb toes.
Even if it’s awkward, Yunho feels like it’s the place where he should be; pressing the other against his chest, legs haphazardly thrown on top of one another. Jaejoong is still sniffling, his frigid fingers tucked inside Yunho’s hoodie, but somehow it all seems a little better already.
He doesn’t press it, but waits until Jaejoong starts telling himself, feeling calm enough.
“I got this in today’s post, I don’t know, the moment I saw the name ‘Oh Seojin’ on this,” Jaejoong rustles the envelope still in his hand, “I- I don’t know, I think my…my parents might have given my address to her…”
“You didn’t open it yet?” Yunho confirms, carding his fingers through Jaejoong’s thick black hair.
“No, I- I couldn’t… What if she says she’s sorry Yunho-yah? What then? I would, I think I should, I think I would have to forgive her… She’s my mother after all, I think, I think that’s what sons are supposed to do…”
Yunho tightens his hold just a little, wanting to tell him there are things in this world that shouldn’t be forgiven, wanting to tell him he shouldn’t even call her his mother because she doesn’t deserve it. But he lets no such things escape his mouth; it’s not his place.
“Don’t think about it now, baby whale,” he whispers. “You don’t have to open it now. You don’t have to open it ever, if you don’t want to…”
Jaejoong pauses for a while, giving his breath time to become steadier again. His sobbing has ceased almost completely but he keeps rubbing his eyes against Yunho’s shoulder, trying to dry up the water streaming from his eyes.
“Do you want to tell me about what happened, back then…” Yunho asks softly. To be honest, he had expected them to discuss this topic months ago; but after that one moment had passed inside the car right before they had reached the East Sea, the subject had never been brought up again. Jaejoong kept being vocal about his family affairs, entertaining Yunho with random stories of his nieces and nephews all the time, but despite being so open of his adopted background, he never talked about his birth parents again.
“I was…I was pretty old,” Jaejoong starts, his voice so very quiet, but quite steady now. “I think I was around four.”
“That’s why you remember it, huh,” Yunho states, feeling Jaejoong nod against his shoulder again.
“You know, I wasn’t born in Gongju for real… But I think my parents knew my birth mother, I don’t know if they were close or what but I think they knew her.”
Yunho hums, showing Jaejoong that he’s listening. They are not looking at each other; Yunho reckons talking of such things is easier with a sense of privacy, no matter how superficial.
“You know, one day we just took the bus to another town, me and my mom, and we were walking around just normally, just like a normal, ordinary day… And I remember we were waiting at a bridge, because I got bored and started throwing rocks into the river… I asked my mom if we could go already but she just said no, that we had to wait.”
“And then, there was this really nice-looking lady walking towards us, and my mom told me that she was her friend and that she’s a nice lady and that I should show her what a big boy I am and how well I can run… And she told me to run to her so I did.”
Yunho feels the tears prickling his eyes again, as he thinks of his own family, his mother and his little sister and his deceased father. Even with the overflowing grief he remembers from his father’s death, he cannot even begin to imagine this kind of hurt, a betrayal from the very person who is your whole world.
“And the nice lady picked me up when I reached her, but when I turned around in her arms to look at my mom and show her how well I had done, she wasn’t there anymore.”
Yunho has a lot of words inside him, but none of them are coming out; he opens his mouth and closes it again, feeling like a fish out of water. He strokes Jaejoong’s hair again and again until the other’s quiet sobbing eases again.
“I don’t want to get up just yet,” Jaejoong sniffs, “I feel…depleted.”
“Let’s just not get up at all,” Yunho answers, not ceasing his caresses of Jaejoong’s hair.
“No overnight visitors allowed, Yunho-yah,” Jaejoong protests weakly, in a voice that tells Yunho the other hasn’t convinced even himself of the importance of abiding by the particular rule.
“Who the hell cares. We’ve got a scary watchdog and all.”
“No dogs allowed either.”
“Fuck everybody.”
They lie there silently for a moment, only noise coming from the dog that is squirming around, trying to find a comfortable position on the unfamiliar bed.
“What about Junsu?” Jaejoong sniffs, distressed, when he suddenly remembers why he had come back to his room in the first place. “I feel so bad for him, I totally ruined his birthday party.”
“Don’t worry, he was already in a bad mood because Junho failed to show up as well,” Yunho teases but realises immediately he had chosen the wrong manner of approach when Jaejoong releases another heart-breaking sob. “Oh baby whale, it wasn’t your fault! Come on, we’ll just go visit him tomorrow, take your present to him, I don’t know, make it up to him… I’m sure he’ll understand.”
“But still…”
“You know what we’ll do. We’ll do something he can never get from anyone else - we’ll name the dog after him!”
“After Junsu?! What are you going to call it - Bubblebutt or what?”
“No! Who do you think I am, Yoochun?!” Yunho denies, feigning hurt, but internally rejoicing that Jaejoong has regained his sense of humour. “You know how he’s been calling it a visual shock? We could just name it that.”
“Isn’t that a bit long,” Jaejoong questions, his fingers stroking along Yunho’s side inside his hoodie.
“We could just shorten it to…Vick, or something,” Yunho suggests, a pleasant shiver running up and down his spine due to the other’s touches, his stomach convulsing slightly.
“Well, I guess that’s fine… It really needs a name after all.”
To be quite honest, Yunho could find a few more things that definitely need a name; an all-consuming emotion making his whole body feel like it’s about to burst out of its seams, for instance.
“Baby whale… Jaejoong-ah,” he starts, pausing to swallow the lump threatening to rise up, coughing a few times to clear his throat. “I love you, you know that right.”
Jaejoong sighs, his body deflating like a balloon being rid of the helium inside it as he relaxes. Yunho can feel him swallow as well, and then a trembling hand comes up, soft knuckles caressing the prickly skin of Yunho’s cheek.
“Yeah. Yeah, I know. I love you too.”
The dog sneezes, pushing its nose between their firmly intertwined legs.
~0~0~0~
Yunho wakes up to incessant pulling of his nose. Feeling warm and fuzzy, he tugs Jaejoong’s body closer to himself, not wanting to fully regain his senses just yet.
“Yunho-yah…Yunho-yah,” Jaejoong whispers into his ear with a secretive, confidential tone of voice when he realises Yunho has awoken. “I think, it seems like Commandant Jung has a very important despatch to deliver.”
Yunho feels heat creep up his cheeks, immediately realising where the pleasant feeling is stemming from. He is suddenly acutely aware of the poor state of soundproofing in the building, in addition to the dog still lying at their feet.
“Oh god, don’t move,” he groans when Jaejoong wiggles his body deliberately, utterly failing at repressing his chuckles.
Besides courting Jaejoong, sleeping in the same bed with him has always been an increasingly hard task for Yunho.
A/N2: So, there it was~ First of all, dedicated to kkumkkae who helped me a whole lot with the fic :D You know what all is yours :D
Others who got things from their comments on the fic itself borrowed into the epilogue without them knowing; hattukissa for Jaejoong giving Yunho’s, umm, coughthingcough a nickname, and rojoong for “Commandant Jung” and the fishy face ;D I totally did not ask for permission to use their thoughts xD Hope you don’t mind the surprise :3
(Details regarding Jaejoong’s adoption like his biological mother’s name, and his age when it happened, are real, but the story is totally made-up of course.)
And now it’s over for real -.- ...or is it? 8)