Caged Heart, 002.

[7daywar]

Caged Heart
.7daywar
.I only own the plot.
.r
.In a world where only the strong survive, how do you find time for love? YunHo has devoted his life to Mixed Martial Arts and in doing so has become one of the most prominent fighters in the genre. However, Kim JaeJoong makes him re-evaluate his life goals when being with him means letting go of what he has strived for his whole life. This isn't a fight he's willing to lose, but for the first time in his life he's not sure if he wants to win it either.
author's note: ... this story may not be as difficult to write as i had originally thought.

forward: the good news is, i'm completely healed, the bad news is it's going to take awhile for me to get my regular coloring back where i was burned. i haven't been able to sleep very well, but i'm getting back into the swing of things and am glad that i was able to come out of my hiatus sooner than i thought. i'm not sure if i'm back completely, but i'm working on updates, so they will be posted whenever. there will be lots of yunjae in the next chapter, sorry for the lack of it in this one! also i don't know if i got the fighting part right, i've been trying to research the techniques and whatnot, but there's so many! @_@; i will do my best to keep them interesting!

CHAPTER 002.
Yunho was rendered speechless for one long moment before he laughed into his hand. Changmin frowned. He hadn't been joking. Yunho shook his head and met Changmin's irritated stare head on.

"You do know that I have never lost a fight, right? I don't go easy on anyone I train with, that's why I only train with professionals who know what they're in for. You're new, so you should start off with one of our lower ranked members."

"Don't take me lightly, I've been training myself since I was fifth-teen."

Yunho's care free expression turned a bit dark. "Why are you here? You don't strike me as someone who would enjoy doing something like this, even as a hobby." Changmin looked off to the side.

"There are people I need to protect." He looked back at Yunho. "I'm not new at this, so don't go easy on me."

"You're late," Junki dead-panned as Jaejoong and Junsu entered the bakery. Junsu was smiling cheerily, but Jaejoong looked as if he had slept under his bed. Junki fixed him with a worried look as he held out his apron. "What the hell is wrong with you little brother, you look like shit?"

"Fuck off," Jaejoong half-heartedly replied. "I'm going to go get everything set up." He disapeared into the kitchen area. Junki waited for the door to slide shut behind him before glancing over at Junsu who was happily tying on his own apron.

"He spent the night with Yunho didn't he?"

"Yup," Junsu answered. "I don't know what he sees in that guy, even if it is just sex, he seems really dangerous."

"Jaejoong's a dangerous guy too. He's always been screwed when it came to love."

Junsu was now setting the display cases a look of extreme concentration on his face. "Jae-ah told me that Yunho wants them to become serious. I don't know much about him, but you're really into Mixed Martial Arts, keeping a close eye on the top players, has he ever really been in a serious relationship or does his life revolve around fighting?"

Junki tapped his chin pressing his hip against the side of the counter.

"Yunho is a bit mysterious, but no doubt a rather arrogant guy. I can't say he's ever been in a really serious relationship, but he's been linked to a lot of high profile celebrity women: Bae Seul Gi, Tiffany, Go Hara... and those are just the ones he was with longer than a couple of months." Junki sighed. "He's never been linked to any guys though, so for him to be interested in Jaejoong enough to want to start a relationship with him is a bit surprising."

"He's probably not even serious, I heard he was a real heart-breaker. What if he plans on throwing Jaejoong-ah to the side just like he's done all those women he's dated?"

"You're really worried about him, huh?" Junsu nodded his head. Junki laughed and waved off Junsu's concern. "Don't have such little faith in Jaejoong-ah, he may be a bit airy but he knows how to take care of him-self. In my opinion if anyone ends this affair with their heart broken it will be Yunho, and I can't say he won't deserve it."

Junki looked toward the door and gestured for Junsu to look lively. The Haru Haru bakery was set to open in five minutes and already there was a line of customers gathered outside of the door. When he'd opened this bakery up five years ago Junki had had no idea that it would take off the way it had, but he certainly wasn't complaining. And his father thought that him going into modeling to finance his bakery had been foolish. Ha ha, in your face old man! Junki thought to him-self before rushing over to the door to open for the day.

"Are you out of your fucking mind!?" Kangin roared. Yunho gave him an aggravated stare.

"He wants to train with me and you want to see his skills, right?"

"Yes, I want to see his skills, not see him get pummeled to within an inch of life!"

"I don't know," Yunho disagreed while stretching. "He just may give me a run for my money."

A crowd had gathered around the ring. They whispered loudly to one another, all wondering who was fool enough to go against their gym's best fighter. Changmin wasn't worried though and he didn't care about the lack of faith these strangers had in him. He wouldn't have challenged Yunho if he knew he didn't at least stand a chance. His best bet toward qualifying for an official match to make some money was to show them that he was good enough an what better way than going against the champion?

Changmin's blood boiled with excitement and he actually smiled as he placed the protective gear onto his head, taking a mouth gaurd from some handsome guy with long brown hair. Changmin let out a stressed breath as he watched Yunho step languidly into the ring. He was shirtless so his muscles moved with him and distracted Changmin a little. He stretched his arms out on either side of him before raising them above his head. How was he going to go about this? There was no doubt between them, Yunho was good. He didn't just beat his opponents, he devastated them.

Changmin had no choice but to rely on his quick reflexes. He was younger so that meant he had more speed and energy than Yunho.

"Wow, he's really going to do it. This guy much be one crazy son of a bitch!" Came the voice of a heavy-set man off to the side. Changmin ignored him and focused on Yunho who was watching him with hard, alert eyes. The other man wasn't wearing any headgear and for some reason that infuriated Changmin. He was being underestimated.

Kangin walked between the two, looking a bit gruff. His gaze landed on Changmin, he shook his head then raised his left arm into the air.

"This isn't an official fight, so Yunho try to hold back." Kangin gave Changmin a grave stare. "I will stop this match at any moment if I feel that your life is in danger."

Changmin was a bit winded, but he nodded his head none the less and got into a stance, hands balled and raised to eye level, back arched. Yunho did the same, though his stance was a lot more relaxed an confident. Kangin brought his arm down and without wasting a moment Yunho came at him, jabbing quickly with his right arm toward Changmin's face.

A bit surprised Changmin barely managed to avoid it and nearly lost his balance. Yunho came at him with a left and he quickly raised his right arm to block it, the force sending him stumbling back. There was a notable rush of excitement among the other fighters watching, a few beginning to cheer Yunho on. Changmin blocked them from his mind, then searched Yunho for an opening.

Yunho was sizing him up, most likely giving him time to come up with a counter. Changmin moved forward slightly and then went for Yunho's face, the other man blocking it easily sweeping Changmin's feet out from under him. Changmin fell on his back hard; he felt a heavy weight on top of him, Yunho's forearm digging into his neck as he restrained him. Changmin tried to kick out with his feet, but Yunho had him pinned tight. With his head swimming Changmin hit the mat with the palm of his hand, Yunho released him, Kangin running back into the ring to help him up.

I told him not to go easy on me. Changmin thought sulkily to him-self as he rubbed his neck. There was most likely going to be a bruise on it later. Yunho was leaning against the ropes not really looking at him, but seemingly lost in thought. Changmin wondered what or who he was thinking about.

"That was real stupid kid, you know Yunho is trained to kill, right?" Kangin scolded him.

"It was just a practice match and I'm not a kid."

"Look..." Kangin stressed, trying to remain patient. "If you're going to go about this and put yourself into reckless danger I don't want you to be a part of this team. We're one of the top ranked gyms in the country and I don't want your stupidity to fuck that up just because you have a death wish. If you want to train, train with one of the lower-ranked, or middle-ranked fighters and leave guys like Yunho to the pros." Changmin could only nod, but on the inside he was furious.

He stepped slowly out of the ring and walked pass everyone never lifting his head up from the ground.

Jaejoong was manning the counter and daydreaming. Junsu was standing next to him taking an order, the smile on his face jovial as the middle-aged adjumma asked for two boxes of glazed donuts and a cheesecake.

"Jae, stop daydreaming and get this nice adjummas order!" Junsu demanded, poking Jaejoong in the shoulder. Jaejoong stuck his tongue out at him and went to do just that. The adjumma giggled into her hand.

"You nice boys sure are charming."

Junsu blushed and bowed to her. Jaejoong gave the adjumma her glazed donuts as well as her cheesecake and she left, the door swinging open behind her as three new customers entered. The air around Junsu immediately turned cold and Jaejoong realized why as he saw the tall, broad shouldered an slim man walk toward the counter, two women flanking him. Jaejoong decided to go stand by Junsu's side, to stop him just in case his best-friend got mad enough to throw the register at Park Yoochun, again...

"Hello Yoochun-ah, what would you like to order?" Jaejoong asked.

The way his face looked Jaejoong thought he was going to ask for a Junsu, but luckily he didn't. Jaejoong still hadn't quite figured out if the other man flirted with Junsu just because he knew it pissed him off or because he was genuinely interested in him. Jaejoong figured it was a bit of both.

"I didn't really come here to buy anything, but since I'm here I'll just order something anyway. A key lime pie and some vanilla ice cream." Jaejoong rung it up and told Junsu to go in the back to get his order, Junsu certainly didn't need to be told twice. Jaejoong focused his attention on Yoochun and the two women on either side of him. He recognized them because they were cheerleaders, who were often at the MMA fights cheering one of the fighters on. Kim HyunA and Victoria.

"Oh, congratulations on your last fight, it looked tough."

"You saw it? I don't remember seeing you there, otherwise I would have greeted you." Jaejoong shook his head.

"No, I'm not really a fan, but me and Junsu watched it on TV." He then lowered his voice to a conspiratory whisper. "When Hyukjae pinned you to the mat I thought Junsu was going to burst into tears, he was really worried about you." It was only half true. Junsu did become distressed when Hyukjae managed to get the upper hand, but that didn't stop him from yelling at the screen like a crazy person screaming at Yoochun to get his perverted ass up and win.

Yoochun looked thoughtful at hearing this. Junsu walked back out putting Yoochun's order down on the counter with a bit more force than what was necessary. Yoochun turned to the two women by his side and asked them to go wait for him in the car, he handed them the pie and ice cream to take with them. Junsu glared holes into the backs of their heads as they exited the bakery.

"You two do know I have another match coming up soon, right? I go into the finals if I win this next one."

"That's really good, does that mean you go up against Yunho?" Jaejoong wondered. Yoochun shook his head.

"If I go to the finals I have no idea who I will be up against, but this last fight before that I'll be going up against Han Geng."

"He's been doing really well," Junsu said before he could stop him-self. He looked away when Yoochun's gaze fell on him.

"Yes, he's pretty new but managed to rise quickly in the ranks. He has a lot of heart, but he won't defeat me." Yoochun then grinned. "I was wondering if you two wanted to come?"

"No way!"

"Why not!?"

Junsu just glared at him, unable to come up with a good reason as to why he didn't want to go. How embarressing would it be to say that he was afraid of seeing Yoochun get hurt? The other man would never let him live it down. No, his pride wouldn't be able to take it. Oh why did he have to fall in love with a greasy bastard like Yoochun?

"Because I don't want to."

"That's lame," Yoochun pouted. Jaejoong rolled his eyes. These two, on the rare occasions that they did run into each other, were really too childish. Jaejoong wondered if he should play match-maker between the two, the sexual tension between them was suffocating him.

"I'll be at the match to support Yunho, so it's only fair that Junsu comes to the match to support you."

"That's what all those girls are for, Yoochun has enough people cheering him on!"

"But Su-ah you don't know how much it would mean to me if you came to cheer me on. It just may give me the confidence to win if I find myself in a jam."

Junsu suddenly found him-self remembering the close call with Hyukjae and imagined Yoochun beaten to a pulp an clinging to life as Han Geng held him down and forced him to tap out. Junsu bit his bottom lip in turmoil. He'd never forgive him-self if Yoochun lost his match because of him. Yoochun would probably lose on purpose just to make him feel bad.

"Fine, but you better win!"

"I'll do you one better, if I win you go out on a date with me." Junsu's mouth fell open, his cheeks colored a furious red. Yoochun smiled at him, then closed his mouth gently running his thumb over Junsu's bottom lip.

Junsu slapped his hand away and huffed. "You're on."

Yoochun told them when and what time his match would be before leaving (oh and winking at Junsu suggestively on the way out). Junsu burrowed his hot face into Jaejoong's neck (crying about how much he hated Yoochun and he sexiness!) who rubbed his back consolingly while wondering what Yunho was doing.

Kangin threw Yunho a towel as the other man fell to the ground in exhaustion, his muscles straining. Yunho wiped at his face an neck and didn't even react when Kangin placed a water bottle next to him. He twisted the cap off and drunk half of it down in one gulp.

"I think you should watch some of his matches to get a better feel of him. I'll bring some in tomorrow so in the meantime shower and rest."

"You leaving?" Kangin rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little irritated.

"Leeteuk has been complaining about me never being at home and spending too much time with other men. It's fucking annoying, so I told him I would take him out."

Yunho laughed. "I thought the two of you had broken up?"

"We did, but I guess we're working on it. Anyway, that means I have to leave, like now. So, lock the place up for me." Kangin threw the keys at Yunho (who caught them deftly) and left him alone. Yunho let out a harsh breath and laid down on his back. He'd been thinking about Jaejoong all day so that made training not only difficult but unbearable. Yunho had to figure out some way to balance business with pleasure, otherwise he wasn't going to stand a chance against Jay Chou in the finals.

"And why hasn't he called me, it's damn near seven?" Yunho patted his shorts, then rolled his eyes. Of course, he didn't have his cell phone on him. It was in the locker room.

Yunho showerd and re-dressed before checking his phone to see if Jaejoong had called. He had an the thought made Yunho giddy. What the hell is he doing to me? I'm turning into a fucking girl. Yunho leaned his back up against the lockers and plugged in Jaejoong's number.

"Hello, Yunho?"

"Yeah boo, it's me. What are you doing?"

"I'm at work, I called you earlier but I guess you were busy."

"I was training, sorry."

"It's okay, it's not your fault." There was an awkward pause. "Are you in pain? because I can... after work..."

Yunho could tell the other man was blushing furiously and that fact made him smile.

"I've finished my training for the day so I can come by there if it's okay?"

"Uh, yes, it's fine. Did you want anything?"

"A coffee, and make it a strong one."

Changmin let out a breath before opening the door to his apartment. The bus ride home had been torture and his throat was killing him. Dongwoo, his little brother, was sitting on the couch watching TV, his long brown hair pulled back into a messy pony-tail. He turned when he heard the door open and gave Changmin a small smile.

"Hey hyung, I didn't know when you were getting back." Dongwoo then noticed the bruise on Changmin's neck and stood up. "Hyung, your neck, what happened? Did someone try to hurt you again?"

"I'm fine, this is my own fault. Have you eaten?"

Dongwoo shook his head and Changmin fixed him with a reprimanding stare before wandering into the kitchen and looking in the refrigerator in cabinets. No wonder his brother hadn't eaten, they didn't have anything to eat.

"Where the hell is Yuri? She was suppose to go grocery shopping."

As if on cue the door opened and Changmin's little sister Yuri walked in, pulling off her jacket and pausing quite dramatically when she noticed Changmin standing in the kicthen's entryway. Yuri tried to pull her jacket back on but Changmin had already noticed the bruises on her arms and was on her like white on rice.

"You were with that bastard again, weren't you?"

"Will you mind your own business, it's because of that bastard that we're not out on the streets now!"

"Guys, please don't fight." Dongwoo tried to reason as he put him-self inbetween his two fighting siblings.

"Dongwoo, go to bed this doesn't have anything to do with you." Changmin ordered not taking his gaze off of Yuri who was glaring back at him defiantly.

"I'm not a kid anymore Changmin-oppa, I can see whoever the hell I want and if you don't like that then I can just leave!"

"The hell you will, so that bastard can have you under his complete control. He's a drug dealer Yuri, do you really think he cares about you? He probably has a whole harem of women that he's fucking--"

Yuri slapped him, the tears in her eyes threatening to spill over.

"Don't you dare! Do you think I enjoy being his whore? I do this because he gives me good money and it keeps a roof over our head and Dongwoo-ah in school. You know what happened the last time I tried to leave him? He nearly killed you." The tears streamed down her cheeks now and Dongwoo was hugging her, his own throat tight and his eyes hot. Changmin was staring down at the floor, his face a blank slate. "You're working too hard oppa and just you alone won't keep us from becoming homeless. We have to think about Dongwoo-ah, this is the only way."

Yuri ran her fingers through Dongwoo's hair before pushing him away gently and rushing off to her room. Their little apartment only had two bedrooms, so Changmin slept in the living room and his brother and sister had their own room. Dongwoo wiped at his eyes before turning to look at Changmin who was rubbing at his face.

"I--I can get a job hyung? I'm not in High School anymore and I think it's time that I started doing my part to earn a living around here, to take some of the burden off of you and noona."

"You know we just want you to focus on school Dongwoo." Changmin then sighed, he suddenly had a splitting headache and too many dark thoughts on his mind. "Go to bed, I'll wake you up for school in the morning and go grocery shopping before I go to work."

Dongwoo wanted to say he could go grocery shopping after his first class, because he had a two hour grace period, but knew that Changmin wasn't in the mood to compromise. Once he was alone Changmin walked over to their beat up sofa and plopped down on it heavily, staring up at the ceiling as if it held all the answers to his problems. He wanted to become a better fighter to protect his brother and sister, as well as earn enough money so that he could get them the hell out of Seoul and Yuri away from her abusive boyfriend. It seemed like a solid plan, but after getting beaten by Yunho not even a minute into their spar he realized that it wasn't going to be as easy as he thought it would be.

Changmin had to convince Yunho that he was good enough to have a chance in the finals, it was the only way.