One Hundred Roses
Title: One Hundred Roses
Author: tvfxq
Beta: muramatsu_aoi
Rating: PG 13
Genre: Fluff, Romance
Length: One-shot
Disclaimer: Any similarities to other fics, stories, movies, events, and anything else of the like are purely coincidental. Originally written for the fic exchange that took place over at jaeho_xchange
Summary: It takes a secret admirer, a breakup, and one hundred roses for Yunho to confess his feelings.
--
“I’d like to have these flowers delivered to Kim Yeji,” a voice speaks, and Yunho emerges from the door just behind the counter.
“Sure,” he says, not really looking at the customer as he grabs an order form. He leans against the edge of counter and places the order form on top, “is she your lover?” he asks casually before raising his head to have a look at the customer.
He freezes.
“God, no,” the customer replies, shaking his head and crinkling his nose, “she’s my sister. Besides, I wouldn’t give my lover daises.”
It takes a while for Yunho to stop staring, but eventually he does before he exceeds the allowable time span for looking at someone. “Right.” He blushes, and keeps quiet as he watches the customer fill out the order form.
“Here,” the customer says with a smile once he’s finished filling out the form, pushing it forward a little, “do you deliver the flowers yourself, or do you have someone else for that?”
“We have someone who delivers,” Yunho replies as he tries his best not to stare again, “but he hardly ever comes in nowadays, so I’m probably going to have to do it.”
The customer lets out a hearty laugh, and Yunho feels like he’s going to melt. “Good luck, I suppose,” he says before turning on his heel and exiting the flower shop.
When he leaves Yunho browses over the order form, and his lips curve into a big smile. “Kim Jaejoong,” he says, and his smile stretches further. He reads, and, in spite of the fact that he’s being potentially stalkeresque, notes that Jaejoong, unbelievably enough, just so happens to live right across his apartment.
Suddenly, an idea hits him, and as cheesy as it is, Yunho is determined to go through with it.
--
Yunho knocks twice on the door and waits for it to be opened. From where he stands, he hears the sound of feet shuffling, growing louder and louder until the door opens and he is greeted by the sight of Kim Jaejoong.
“Yes?” Jaejoong asks slowly, eyeing Yunho. When he sees what’s in Yunho’s hands, he cocks an eyebrow and leans against the doorframe.
Yunho almost forgets to speak. “Oh, um, delivery for Kim Jaejoong,” he raises his hands and presents Jaejoong with a single red rose; attached to the rose is a small note.
“One rose for the one day I’ve known you,” Jaejoong reads the content of the note out loud, and his lips curl into a smile. He flips the note, but finds no name. He looks at Yunho and asks, “Do you know who sent me this?”
“I do,” Yunho nods, “but that’s classified information. I’m not allowed to say.”
“Aw, that’s too bad,” Jaejoong says, but his lips still wear a smile. He reads the note again, and then his eyes widen a little bit. He pushes himself from the doorframe and points at Yunho, “Wait a minute, I know you. You’re the guy from the flower shop, aren’t you?”
“Um, yeah,” Yunho nods and blushes, happy that Jaejoong remembers him.
“Did you deliver my flowers to my sister?” Jaejoong asks, though his eyes find their way back to the rose.
“Just before I came here,” Yunho nods again, and Jaejoong’s smile stretches further.
“Thank you,” he says. He looks up at Yunho and shoots him a smile, “if ever you see the person who sent me this, tell him I said thanks.”
Yunho feels his face heating up, and he struggles to meet Jaejoong’s gaze. He smiles right back at Jaejoong - not that he can help it - and tells him, “I will.”
--
“Eleven roses for the eleven days I’ve known you”
Jaejoong decides to invite Yunho into his apartment; after all, they’ve been seeing each other for eleven consecutive days, and have been having small conversations each time. He decides it’s time to get to know Yunho a little bit more.
Inside Jaejoong’s apartment, Yunho learns a handful of things.
That Jaejoong loves to paint; that his favorite color is red, and that he has this particularly messy style of painting. It’s messy; but it’s also beautiful. He learns that Jaejoong paints on mugs and has a whole shelf of English novels, still wrapped in plastic and unread - simply because he likes the way English words look on books. Jaejoong thinks they make great decorations.
He learns that Jaejoong plays the piano and composes songs; that he already composed and completed one about colors and melodies and harmonies with his best friend, who now lives in America, some months back.
He also learns that Jaejoong has a roommate named Junsu, who has dreams of becoming a singer, but for now, settles for playing soccer for his university’s team, because it’s his passion, too.
“So, Yunho,” Junsu begins as the three of them plop down on the living room sofa, “do you live nearby?”
“Actually,” Yunho replies, rubbing the back of his neck, “I live across this apartment. I moved in two weeks ago, because it’s nearer to my school and to the flower shop,” he explains, and Junsu and Jaejoong share a look before bursting into a stream of laughter.
Yunho sits quietly and lets out an awkward laugh, wondering what is so funny. Eventually the laughing comes to a stop, and Jaejoong explains that it’s because all this time, they’d been trying to figure out who had taken the apartment. He says that their guesses were completely far off. Yunho doesn’t find it particularly funny, but he laughs anyway because he knows that it’s just one of those inside jokes that only Jaejoong and Junsu will ever understand.
Later on, Yunho finds out more things.
He finds out that he and Junsu go to the same university, and that Jaejoong goes to the one right across it. He finds that Jaejoong and Junsu were friends since high school, and that they befriended each other after their mutual friends got into a fist fight with one another. It’s a complicated story, Jaejoong tells him, and they decide to leave it at that.
“It’s getting kind of late,” Yunho says after a few hours of getting to know one another, “I guess I should go,”
“Why don’t you stay for dinner?” Jaejoong asks, and Junsu beams.
“Yeah! Jaejoong’s really good at cooking.”
Yunho opens his mouth to speak, but just as he’s about to let words come out, the doorbell rings and Junsu meanders over to answer it. When Junsu opens the door, Yunho hears him scoff, “Jaejoong, your douchebag boyfriend is here.”
“Not nice seeing you again, Junsu,” Yunho hears and Junsu rolls his eyes and walks away from the door, revealing a rather handsome man by the doorway.
Yunho glances at Jaejoong, whose face lightens up. He almost hears the sound of his heart cracking, and his heart throbs painfully in his chest. Jaejoong runs to his boyfriend and wraps his arms around his neck. Yunho quickly turns away and finds Junsu standing beside him, arms crossed.
“That’s Dohyun,” Junsu says, shaking his head in disapproval. Yunho doesn’t even want to look at Jaejoong and his boyfriend, lest his heart break more. “I’m sorry, Yunho,” Junsu sighs and looks up at him, “but Dohyun’s a jealous prick. It’ll be a disaster if you stayed here.”
Yunho smiles wanly at Junsu and says, “It’s fine. I’ll just go, then.”
“Some other time?” Junsu smiles, and Yunho nods, though he’s not sure if there will be another time.
He heads for the door, and thankfully, Jaejoong and Dohyun aren’t making any drastic public displays of affection. As he nears the door he hears Dohyun mention the roses, and he slows down.
“I think they’re sweet,” he hears Jaejoong say, and he smiles, “you don’t do anything like this for me.”
“I don’t need to do anything like that,” Dohyun says, “I’m great in bed, I doubt petty roses can ever top that.” Yunho feels like punching the guy square in the face.
“But-“
“Who’s that?” Dohyun asks all of a sudden, grabbing Jaejoong’s waist possessively. His eyes narrow when he looks at Yunho.
“Oh,” Jaejoong extricates himself from Dohyun’s hold and moves a little closer to Yunho, “this is Yunho. He’s-“
“Just leaving,” Yunho cuts in and walks past the two of them.
Jaejoong finds himself pouting, and Dohyun simply sneers.
--
“Twenty-five roses for the twenty-five days I’ve known you”
The roses keep on coming, despite everything that had happened. Though, now, Yunho knows not to expect anything.
“I wrote a song last night, after you left,” Jaejoong tells Yunho. His eyes are on the television, though he’s not really paying attention to what’s on, “it’s not yet done, though.”
“Really?” Yunho’s lips curl into a smile and he turns to face Jaejoong. He blushes a little when he realizes that his face is really close to Jaejoong’s, and that it’s just the two of them right now. Junsu has soccer practice.
“Yeah,” Jaejoong nods and he reaches for the remote and kills the television. He turns to face Yunho and his eyes light up a little, “I want you to hear it.”
“I’d love to hear it,” Yunho says, and Jaejoong hops up off the sofa. He reaches out to grip Yunho’s wrists and he pulls him to another room. In the middle of the room is a piano, and Jaejoong lets Yunho take a seat right beside him.
Jaejoong lifts the cover and places his fingers atop the keys. Yunho watches as his fingers begin to dance, like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Unconsciously he closes his eyes and lets himself be taken away by the music. Something about the piece is so distinctly Jaejoong.
When Jaejoong stops playing he asks Yunho what he thinks of it. Yunho says he loves it, and he tells Jaejoong that if the person sending him roses heard it, he would only fall more in love. Jaejoong laughs and begins to ask about the guy. Yunho says he’s really not supposed to tell.
“At least tell me what he looks like,” Jaejoong says, and Yunho pauses for a minute.
“Well, he’s tall,” Yunho begins, “and he’s very handsome, too. I don’t know, he seems like a really great guy.”
Jaejoong laughs, “That’s a very vague description,”
“I’m sorry,” Yunho laughs too, “I’m not very good at describing,”
Jaejoong smiles and begins to play again. For a while neither of them speaks, until Jaejoong says, “I want to meet him,”
“But you have a boyfriend…” Yunho says, sounding more bitter than he would have liked.
“I just want to know who he is,” Jaejoong shrugs.
“Maybe you already know him,” Yunho says, a little above a whisper. Jaejoong stops playing and turns to look at Yunho. Yunho wonders if he stupidly said too much.
At length, Jaejoong smiles and begins to play again, “That would be nice if I did.”
--
“Thirty-three roses for the thirty-three days I’ve known you”
“Yunho, do you think I’m special?” Jaejoong asks one night, while they’re out on the balcony, staring at the sky.
“Of course I think you’re special,” Yunho tells Jaejoong, “you are special.”
“Hmm…” Jaejoong hums, though he doesn’t seem convinced, “Dohyun doesn’t think so.”
Yunho scoffs and places a hand on top of Jaejoong’s shoulder, “Don’t believe him, he’s being stupid.”
Jaejoong looks at Yunho’s hand, and then he looks at Yunho. He smiles wanly, and Yunho continues, “You’re a really talented person, you’re handsome, you make friends with people easily… You’re amazing, Jaejoong. Don’t let anybody make you think otherwise.”
“Thanks, Yunho,” Jaejoong smiles, and this time, it is brighter and genuine. Yunho feels happy just seeing him smile.
--
“Forty roses for the forty days I’ve known you”
The moment Yunho steps out of the elevator, he sees Dohyun storming down the hall and into the other elevator. He wonders what he and Jaejoong fought about this time. Recently, they’ve been fighting a lot.
“Is this a bad time?” Yunho asks when he gives Jaejoong the roses. Jaejoong sniffs the roses and looks at Yunho, eyes smothered with hurt, but he says no, he needs company; especially since Junsu’s out again.
Later, Yunho finds out that they fought because of the roses. Dohyun threw a fit. Jaejoong tells him that Dohyun resents the fact that he’s accepting roses from someone else. Yunho says maybe he should tell the person who keeps sending roses to stop, but Jaejoong tells him not to. He likes the roses, despite what Dohyun thinks. Jaejoong says that although it makes him feel a little bit like a girl, he likes the feeling of being given something; something that is a sign of affection.
“Is that wrong of me?” Jaejoong asks, and Yunho shakes his head.
“No, it’s not.” He reaches out to tuck back a strand of Jaejoong’s hair and he continues, “It’s not wrong to want to feel affection, especially since you’re not receiving it from the person who’s supposed to be giving it to you.”
“He… he has his reasons, I suppose,” Jaejoong tries to defend him, “he’s like that because he’s overly jealous; which can be cute sometimes but-“
“That’s not it,” Yunho interrupts, “if it were just cute, petty jealousy it would look like something else.”
Jaejoong frowns and crosses his arms, “Are you saying that Dohyun is-“
“I’m sorry,” Yunho interrupts once more, voice just above a whisper, “it’s just that… I can treat you better.” When Jaejoong does not speak, Yunho stands up and decides it’s about time he’s left.
--
“Forty-eight roses for the forty-eight days I’ve known you”
“Oh, hey, Yunho,” Junsu greets with a smile as he opens the door, “leave the roses anywhere, Jaejoong’s out for the night.”
“He’s out?” Yunho asks as he sets the roses down near the sofa.
“Yeah,” Junsu shrugs, “he’s over at Dohyun’s.”
“Oh,” Yunho says, sounding a little more dejected than he would have liked.
--
“Fifty-three roses for the fifty-three days I’ve known you”
Jaejoong finally finishes the song he’d been composing and lets Yunho, Junsu and Dohyun hear it. It takes a while for Jaejoong to convince Dohyun not to punch the life out of Yunho for being there, though. Yunho thinks, if not for Jaejoong’s sake, he would have already defenestrated Dohyun.
When Jaejoong finishes playing, he asks Dohyun what he thinks about the song. Dohyun lifts his head from his cellphone and says it’s nothing special before texting again. Junsu rolls his eyes and Yunho says it’s wonderful. Jaejoong smiles, but the hurt in his eyes cannot be concealed. Yunho wishes he could do something about it.
--
“Sixty roses for the sixty days I’ve known you”
They’re all in the hallway; Dohyun is creating a scene, going on about something so small and so trivial. Jaejoong tries to mollify him, despite the fact that he is slowly losing his patience.
Yunho wants to do something, but Junsu tells him not to interfere.
“Why do you always have to be so unreasonable?” Dohyun shouts; his voice bouncing off the walls. “You’re always expecting something from me!”
“Dohyun-“
“You know, my ex was never like this,” Dohyun gibes, and Jaejoong finally snaps.
He grits his teeth and clenches his fists. Before Dohyun can even utter another word, his face collides with Jaejoong’s fist strongly enough for him to be pushed off balance and sent flying against the doors of the nearby elevator.
“Go to your fucking ex, then!” Jaejoong spits; his entire body shaking. But despite everything, he feels a small sense of emancipation and of fulfillment.
Dohyun stares at Jaejoong wide-eyed, wondering what the hell just happened, all the while wincing at the sharp, stinging pain shooting across his face.
Junsu approaches Jaejoong and pats his shoulder a couple of times, “You should have done this years ago,” he tells him, before directing him away from Dohyun.
Yunho stands in his place, dumbfounded; for he never expected Jaejoong to do anything like that.
However, somewhere in the midst of all the shock and the confusion, his lips curl into a smile.
--
They’re all in Jaejoong’s bedroom.
Jaejoong apologizes for what just happened. Junsu shrugs and says it was honestly about time that they broke up, “Actually, your breakup is three years overdue,” Junsu adds with a chuckle and Jaejoong smiles wanly for a moment. Yunho stays quiet.
“Aah, I don’t want to think about him anymore,” Jaejoong groans before cocooning himself in his blanket. He tells Junsu to turn on the television, that it’s showing reruns of Modern Family and that he wants to watch it, despite it being in English and not being able to understand anything. Yunho finds this weird, in a really cute way.
Junsu leaves to fetch some drinks and Yunho strokes Jaejoong’s hair until they both end up falling asleep.
--
“Sixty-six roses for the sixty-six days I’ve known you”
Jaejoong decides he wants to paint a picture of Yunho.
“Yunho, hold still!” Jaejoong commands, but he can’t help laughing. Yunho’s been standing in the same rigid position for nearly two hours, and his expression makes Jaejoong laugh.
“I can’t,” Yunho moans, “it hurts! When are you going to be finished?”
“In a minute,” Jaejoong answers, traces of laughter evident on his lips, “I just need to get your shadow right…”
“Well, you’d better hurry or else I’ll-“
“Done!” Jaejoong exclaims, and Yunho collapses onto the floor. Jaejoong laughs and moves over to where Yunho is. He extends his hand to help Yunho up, but the latter drags him down until they’re both a big lying mess on the floor.
“I almost grew roots,” Yunho chuckles, “I hope it was all worth it,”
Jaejoong laughs and elbows Yunho’s side, “Stop saying that, or I won’t let you keep the painting.”
Yunho laughs and wraps an arm and leg around Jaejoong. “What are you doing?” Jaejoong asks.
“I want to sleep,” Yunho mutters and clings closer to Jaejoong, inhaling the latter’s scent. Jaejoong smells of watermelon and paint, and it makes Yunho smile.
“On the floor?” Jaejoong laughs, and Yunho nods into Jaejoong’s arm. For a moment, they just stay that way. Yunho swears everything feels perfect.
--
“Seventy-five roses for the seventy-five days I’ve known you”
Jaejoong laughs at how many roses he’s received so far. Yunho asks why it’s funny, Jaejoong says it isn’t. He just feels happy about it. Later he asks Yunho if he talks to the person who sends him roses; Yunho says of course he does. Yunho says he talks about him a lot.
“What does he say?” Jaejoong asks, and Yunho pauses.
“Well,” Yunho begins, “he said that you make him feel like his life has purpose. That he wakes up every day with a smile on his face, because you’re the first person he thinks of in the morning. He told me that you look beautiful in the sunlight, that your skin glows and you look ethereal. That seeing you happy makes him happy. He told me that, although he probably doesn’t have a chance with you… he’s okay. Because he’s content with just seeing you smile…” Yunho trails off for a moment and blushes when he realizes he’s said too much. “Or something like that,” he adds, and Jaejoong smiles.
Jaejoong opens his mouth to speak, but just as he is about to, the door bursts open, and in comes Junsu carrying a plastic bag from the local convenience store. “I’ve got drinks!” he exclaims happily and plops down on the sofa in between the two of them.
“It’s this new kind of beer,” Junsu says as he takes out three cans from the plastic. He hands one over to Yunho, and one to Jaejoong. When he does, he receives a hard nudge to the side.
“You idiot,” Jaejoong says, though his lips are curled into a smile, “You bought root beer. This is soda.”
Yunho bursts into a stream of laughter, and Junsu just shrugs and laughs along. At least they’ve got drinks.
--
“Eighty-four roses for the eighty-four days I’ve known you,”
“Yunho, help me find it,” Jaejoong says, looking up at the star-studded sky. He holds onto the edge of the balcony and leans forward a little bit.
“Find what?”
“Cassiopeia,” Jaejoong answers, eyes still scanning the sky, “it’s supposed to look like a w.”
“Okay,” Yunho says, but he ends up staring at Jaejoong the whole time instead.
Jaejoong eventually finds Cassiopeia, no thanks to Yunho.
--
“Ninety roses for the ninety days I’ve known you”
When Yunho delivers the roses, Jaejoong notices something extra written on the note, aside from the usual sentence.
“It says, on the hundredth day, he’ll deliver the roses himself,” Jaejoong says with glee. He tells Yunho he can’t wait to finally see who his secret admirer is.
Yunho just lets out a weak smile.
--
“Ninety-nine roses for the ninety-nine days I’ve known you”
“Jaejoong, what if, when you meet the guy, you find you don’t like him?” Yunho asks, staring at the television.
“I don’t know,” Jaejoong shrugs, “at any rate, I’ll still feel thankful for all the affection he’s showered me with.”
“Hmm…” Yunho hums rather distractedly, “after this all ends, we won’t have a reason to see each other,”
“Shut up, Yunho,” Jaejoong says, hitting Yunho’s face with one of the couch pillows, “we’re friends. We don’t need a reason to see each other.”
Yunho pushes Jaejoong with his shoulder and hugs the pillow that was used to hit his face. He buries his face into it for a moment and then sighs, “But if you…” he trails off.
“If I what?” Jaejoong asks.
Yunho looks at Jaejoong and smiles wanly, “Never mind,” he says.
--
On the hundredth day, Junsu finds Jaejoong pacing around the living room as though something’s about to eat him up. He asks if it’s because he’s nervous about meeting his secret admirer. Jaejoong says it’s because Yunho’s not there yet. He says he’s worried something might have happened to Yunho.
“Geez, relax,” Junsu tells him, placing a hand over his shoulder, “maybe he’s busy working in the flower shop. Or maybe he has a class today,”
“But… he would have told me…” Jaejoong says, slightly above a whisper, “He’s not even answering my calls.” Junsu eyes him incredulously and Jaejoong says it just doesn’t feel right.
When the doorbell rings, Junsu says it’s either his admirer or Yunho. Jaejoong rushes to the door and hopes it’s the latter. As he opens the door, he sees someone come into view, and his eyes dilate a little when he sees that it’s Yunho - holding a bouquet of red roses.
“Surprise?” Yunho says, already feeling embarrassed.
“I knew it!” Junsu shouts from the back before disappearing into the kitchen.
When Junsu leaves, Yunho awkwardly stretches his arms and hands Jaejoong the bouquet. Jaejoong takes it, but does not speak. “I’m sorry for being a wuss and for waiting for one hundred days before admitting that I like you. But you had a boyfriend, and I couldn’t just reveal myself, and I didn’t want to do it immediately after the two of you had broken up because-“
Jaejoong drops the bouquet on the floor and presses his lips against Yunho’s. It’s sudden and brazen and unexpected but it feels perfect nonetheless, and when he pulls away, it’s Yunho’s turn to widen his eyes. “I was hoping it was you,” Jaejoong says, “because I liked my admirer, but then I realized that I’ve been in love with you longer than I thought. I mean, what if it wasn’t you? I’d have to break someone’s heart. Moreover, just before this, I was more eager to see you rather than my admirer; that is, before I found out he was you…” he trails off and Yunho begins to chuckle.
“You’re in love with me?” Yunho asks, a smile stretching across his face, confidence surging forth “Since when?”
Jaejoong blushes and hits Yunho in the chest, “Shut up, Yunho, you’re not supposed to tease me. You’re supposed to be sweet and sensitive, and this should be the part where you sweep me off my feet and-“
“Can I take you out for dinner?” Yunho interrupts, and Jaejoong smiles.
“Sure.”
Author: tvfxq
Beta: muramatsu_aoi
Rating: PG 13
Genre: Fluff, Romance
Length: One-shot
Disclaimer: Any similarities to other fics, stories, movies, events, and anything else of the like are purely coincidental. Originally written for the fic exchange that took place over at jaeho_xchange
Summary: It takes a secret admirer, a breakup, and one hundred roses for Yunho to confess his feelings.
--
“I’d like to have these flowers delivered to Kim Yeji,” a voice speaks, and Yunho emerges from the door just behind the counter.
“Sure,” he says, not really looking at the customer as he grabs an order form. He leans against the edge of counter and places the order form on top, “is she your lover?” he asks casually before raising his head to have a look at the customer.
He freezes.
“God, no,” the customer replies, shaking his head and crinkling his nose, “she’s my sister. Besides, I wouldn’t give my lover daises.”
It takes a while for Yunho to stop staring, but eventually he does before he exceeds the allowable time span for looking at someone. “Right.” He blushes, and keeps quiet as he watches the customer fill out the order form.
“Here,” the customer says with a smile once he’s finished filling out the form, pushing it forward a little, “do you deliver the flowers yourself, or do you have someone else for that?”
“We have someone who delivers,” Yunho replies as he tries his best not to stare again, “but he hardly ever comes in nowadays, so I’m probably going to have to do it.”
The customer lets out a hearty laugh, and Yunho feels like he’s going to melt. “Good luck, I suppose,” he says before turning on his heel and exiting the flower shop.
When he leaves Yunho browses over the order form, and his lips curve into a big smile. “Kim Jaejoong,” he says, and his smile stretches further. He reads, and, in spite of the fact that he’s being potentially stalkeresque, notes that Jaejoong, unbelievably enough, just so happens to live right across his apartment.
Suddenly, an idea hits him, and as cheesy as it is, Yunho is determined to go through with it.
--
Yunho knocks twice on the door and waits for it to be opened. From where he stands, he hears the sound of feet shuffling, growing louder and louder until the door opens and he is greeted by the sight of Kim Jaejoong.
“Yes?” Jaejoong asks slowly, eyeing Yunho. When he sees what’s in Yunho’s hands, he cocks an eyebrow and leans against the doorframe.
Yunho almost forgets to speak. “Oh, um, delivery for Kim Jaejoong,” he raises his hands and presents Jaejoong with a single red rose; attached to the rose is a small note.
“One rose for the one day I’ve known you,” Jaejoong reads the content of the note out loud, and his lips curl into a smile. He flips the note, but finds no name. He looks at Yunho and asks, “Do you know who sent me this?”
“I do,” Yunho nods, “but that’s classified information. I’m not allowed to say.”
“Aw, that’s too bad,” Jaejoong says, but his lips still wear a smile. He reads the note again, and then his eyes widen a little bit. He pushes himself from the doorframe and points at Yunho, “Wait a minute, I know you. You’re the guy from the flower shop, aren’t you?”
“Um, yeah,” Yunho nods and blushes, happy that Jaejoong remembers him.
“Did you deliver my flowers to my sister?” Jaejoong asks, though his eyes find their way back to the rose.
“Just before I came here,” Yunho nods again, and Jaejoong’s smile stretches further.
“Thank you,” he says. He looks up at Yunho and shoots him a smile, “if ever you see the person who sent me this, tell him I said thanks.”
Yunho feels his face heating up, and he struggles to meet Jaejoong’s gaze. He smiles right back at Jaejoong - not that he can help it - and tells him, “I will.”
--
“Eleven roses for the eleven days I’ve known you”
Jaejoong decides to invite Yunho into his apartment; after all, they’ve been seeing each other for eleven consecutive days, and have been having small conversations each time. He decides it’s time to get to know Yunho a little bit more.
Inside Jaejoong’s apartment, Yunho learns a handful of things.
That Jaejoong loves to paint; that his favorite color is red, and that he has this particularly messy style of painting. It’s messy; but it’s also beautiful. He learns that Jaejoong paints on mugs and has a whole shelf of English novels, still wrapped in plastic and unread - simply because he likes the way English words look on books. Jaejoong thinks they make great decorations.
He learns that Jaejoong plays the piano and composes songs; that he already composed and completed one about colors and melodies and harmonies with his best friend, who now lives in America, some months back.
He also learns that Jaejoong has a roommate named Junsu, who has dreams of becoming a singer, but for now, settles for playing soccer for his university’s team, because it’s his passion, too.
“So, Yunho,” Junsu begins as the three of them plop down on the living room sofa, “do you live nearby?”
“Actually,” Yunho replies, rubbing the back of his neck, “I live across this apartment. I moved in two weeks ago, because it’s nearer to my school and to the flower shop,” he explains, and Junsu and Jaejoong share a look before bursting into a stream of laughter.
Yunho sits quietly and lets out an awkward laugh, wondering what is so funny. Eventually the laughing comes to a stop, and Jaejoong explains that it’s because all this time, they’d been trying to figure out who had taken the apartment. He says that their guesses were completely far off. Yunho doesn’t find it particularly funny, but he laughs anyway because he knows that it’s just one of those inside jokes that only Jaejoong and Junsu will ever understand.
Later on, Yunho finds out more things.
He finds out that he and Junsu go to the same university, and that Jaejoong goes to the one right across it. He finds that Jaejoong and Junsu were friends since high school, and that they befriended each other after their mutual friends got into a fist fight with one another. It’s a complicated story, Jaejoong tells him, and they decide to leave it at that.
“It’s getting kind of late,” Yunho says after a few hours of getting to know one another, “I guess I should go,”
“Why don’t you stay for dinner?” Jaejoong asks, and Junsu beams.
“Yeah! Jaejoong’s really good at cooking.”
Yunho opens his mouth to speak, but just as he’s about to let words come out, the doorbell rings and Junsu meanders over to answer it. When Junsu opens the door, Yunho hears him scoff, “Jaejoong, your douchebag boyfriend is here.”
“Not nice seeing you again, Junsu,” Yunho hears and Junsu rolls his eyes and walks away from the door, revealing a rather handsome man by the doorway.
Yunho glances at Jaejoong, whose face lightens up. He almost hears the sound of his heart cracking, and his heart throbs painfully in his chest. Jaejoong runs to his boyfriend and wraps his arms around his neck. Yunho quickly turns away and finds Junsu standing beside him, arms crossed.
“That’s Dohyun,” Junsu says, shaking his head in disapproval. Yunho doesn’t even want to look at Jaejoong and his boyfriend, lest his heart break more. “I’m sorry, Yunho,” Junsu sighs and looks up at him, “but Dohyun’s a jealous prick. It’ll be a disaster if you stayed here.”
Yunho smiles wanly at Junsu and says, “It’s fine. I’ll just go, then.”
“Some other time?” Junsu smiles, and Yunho nods, though he’s not sure if there will be another time.
He heads for the door, and thankfully, Jaejoong and Dohyun aren’t making any drastic public displays of affection. As he nears the door he hears Dohyun mention the roses, and he slows down.
“I think they’re sweet,” he hears Jaejoong say, and he smiles, “you don’t do anything like this for me.”
“I don’t need to do anything like that,” Dohyun says, “I’m great in bed, I doubt petty roses can ever top that.” Yunho feels like punching the guy square in the face.
“But-“
“Who’s that?” Dohyun asks all of a sudden, grabbing Jaejoong’s waist possessively. His eyes narrow when he looks at Yunho.
“Oh,” Jaejoong extricates himself from Dohyun’s hold and moves a little closer to Yunho, “this is Yunho. He’s-“
“Just leaving,” Yunho cuts in and walks past the two of them.
Jaejoong finds himself pouting, and Dohyun simply sneers.
--
“Twenty-five roses for the twenty-five days I’ve known you”
The roses keep on coming, despite everything that had happened. Though, now, Yunho knows not to expect anything.
“I wrote a song last night, after you left,” Jaejoong tells Yunho. His eyes are on the television, though he’s not really paying attention to what’s on, “it’s not yet done, though.”
“Really?” Yunho’s lips curl into a smile and he turns to face Jaejoong. He blushes a little when he realizes that his face is really close to Jaejoong’s, and that it’s just the two of them right now. Junsu has soccer practice.
“Yeah,” Jaejoong nods and he reaches for the remote and kills the television. He turns to face Yunho and his eyes light up a little, “I want you to hear it.”
“I’d love to hear it,” Yunho says, and Jaejoong hops up off the sofa. He reaches out to grip Yunho’s wrists and he pulls him to another room. In the middle of the room is a piano, and Jaejoong lets Yunho take a seat right beside him.
Jaejoong lifts the cover and places his fingers atop the keys. Yunho watches as his fingers begin to dance, like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Unconsciously he closes his eyes and lets himself be taken away by the music. Something about the piece is so distinctly Jaejoong.
When Jaejoong stops playing he asks Yunho what he thinks of it. Yunho says he loves it, and he tells Jaejoong that if the person sending him roses heard it, he would only fall more in love. Jaejoong laughs and begins to ask about the guy. Yunho says he’s really not supposed to tell.
“At least tell me what he looks like,” Jaejoong says, and Yunho pauses for a minute.
“Well, he’s tall,” Yunho begins, “and he’s very handsome, too. I don’t know, he seems like a really great guy.”
Jaejoong laughs, “That’s a very vague description,”
“I’m sorry,” Yunho laughs too, “I’m not very good at describing,”
Jaejoong smiles and begins to play again. For a while neither of them speaks, until Jaejoong says, “I want to meet him,”
“But you have a boyfriend…” Yunho says, sounding more bitter than he would have liked.
“I just want to know who he is,” Jaejoong shrugs.
“Maybe you already know him,” Yunho says, a little above a whisper. Jaejoong stops playing and turns to look at Yunho. Yunho wonders if he stupidly said too much.
At length, Jaejoong smiles and begins to play again, “That would be nice if I did.”
--
“Thirty-three roses for the thirty-three days I’ve known you”
“Yunho, do you think I’m special?” Jaejoong asks one night, while they’re out on the balcony, staring at the sky.
“Of course I think you’re special,” Yunho tells Jaejoong, “you are special.”
“Hmm…” Jaejoong hums, though he doesn’t seem convinced, “Dohyun doesn’t think so.”
Yunho scoffs and places a hand on top of Jaejoong’s shoulder, “Don’t believe him, he’s being stupid.”
Jaejoong looks at Yunho’s hand, and then he looks at Yunho. He smiles wanly, and Yunho continues, “You’re a really talented person, you’re handsome, you make friends with people easily… You’re amazing, Jaejoong. Don’t let anybody make you think otherwise.”
“Thanks, Yunho,” Jaejoong smiles, and this time, it is brighter and genuine. Yunho feels happy just seeing him smile.
--
“Forty roses for the forty days I’ve known you”
The moment Yunho steps out of the elevator, he sees Dohyun storming down the hall and into the other elevator. He wonders what he and Jaejoong fought about this time. Recently, they’ve been fighting a lot.
“Is this a bad time?” Yunho asks when he gives Jaejoong the roses. Jaejoong sniffs the roses and looks at Yunho, eyes smothered with hurt, but he says no, he needs company; especially since Junsu’s out again.
Later, Yunho finds out that they fought because of the roses. Dohyun threw a fit. Jaejoong tells him that Dohyun resents the fact that he’s accepting roses from someone else. Yunho says maybe he should tell the person who keeps sending roses to stop, but Jaejoong tells him not to. He likes the roses, despite what Dohyun thinks. Jaejoong says that although it makes him feel a little bit like a girl, he likes the feeling of being given something; something that is a sign of affection.
“Is that wrong of me?” Jaejoong asks, and Yunho shakes his head.
“No, it’s not.” He reaches out to tuck back a strand of Jaejoong’s hair and he continues, “It’s not wrong to want to feel affection, especially since you’re not receiving it from the person who’s supposed to be giving it to you.”
“He… he has his reasons, I suppose,” Jaejoong tries to defend him, “he’s like that because he’s overly jealous; which can be cute sometimes but-“
“That’s not it,” Yunho interrupts, “if it were just cute, petty jealousy it would look like something else.”
Jaejoong frowns and crosses his arms, “Are you saying that Dohyun is-“
“I’m sorry,” Yunho interrupts once more, voice just above a whisper, “it’s just that… I can treat you better.” When Jaejoong does not speak, Yunho stands up and decides it’s about time he’s left.
--
“Forty-eight roses for the forty-eight days I’ve known you”
“Oh, hey, Yunho,” Junsu greets with a smile as he opens the door, “leave the roses anywhere, Jaejoong’s out for the night.”
“He’s out?” Yunho asks as he sets the roses down near the sofa.
“Yeah,” Junsu shrugs, “he’s over at Dohyun’s.”
“Oh,” Yunho says, sounding a little more dejected than he would have liked.
--
“Fifty-three roses for the fifty-three days I’ve known you”
Jaejoong finally finishes the song he’d been composing and lets Yunho, Junsu and Dohyun hear it. It takes a while for Jaejoong to convince Dohyun not to punch the life out of Yunho for being there, though. Yunho thinks, if not for Jaejoong’s sake, he would have already defenestrated Dohyun.
When Jaejoong finishes playing, he asks Dohyun what he thinks about the song. Dohyun lifts his head from his cellphone and says it’s nothing special before texting again. Junsu rolls his eyes and Yunho says it’s wonderful. Jaejoong smiles, but the hurt in his eyes cannot be concealed. Yunho wishes he could do something about it.
--
“Sixty roses for the sixty days I’ve known you”
They’re all in the hallway; Dohyun is creating a scene, going on about something so small and so trivial. Jaejoong tries to mollify him, despite the fact that he is slowly losing his patience.
Yunho wants to do something, but Junsu tells him not to interfere.
“Why do you always have to be so unreasonable?” Dohyun shouts; his voice bouncing off the walls. “You’re always expecting something from me!”
“Dohyun-“
“You know, my ex was never like this,” Dohyun gibes, and Jaejoong finally snaps.
He grits his teeth and clenches his fists. Before Dohyun can even utter another word, his face collides with Jaejoong’s fist strongly enough for him to be pushed off balance and sent flying against the doors of the nearby elevator.
“Go to your fucking ex, then!” Jaejoong spits; his entire body shaking. But despite everything, he feels a small sense of emancipation and of fulfillment.
Dohyun stares at Jaejoong wide-eyed, wondering what the hell just happened, all the while wincing at the sharp, stinging pain shooting across his face.
Junsu approaches Jaejoong and pats his shoulder a couple of times, “You should have done this years ago,” he tells him, before directing him away from Dohyun.
Yunho stands in his place, dumbfounded; for he never expected Jaejoong to do anything like that.
However, somewhere in the midst of all the shock and the confusion, his lips curl into a smile.
--
They’re all in Jaejoong’s bedroom.
Jaejoong apologizes for what just happened. Junsu shrugs and says it was honestly about time that they broke up, “Actually, your breakup is three years overdue,” Junsu adds with a chuckle and Jaejoong smiles wanly for a moment. Yunho stays quiet.
“Aah, I don’t want to think about him anymore,” Jaejoong groans before cocooning himself in his blanket. He tells Junsu to turn on the television, that it’s showing reruns of Modern Family and that he wants to watch it, despite it being in English and not being able to understand anything. Yunho finds this weird, in a really cute way.
Junsu leaves to fetch some drinks and Yunho strokes Jaejoong’s hair until they both end up falling asleep.
--
“Sixty-six roses for the sixty-six days I’ve known you”
Jaejoong decides he wants to paint a picture of Yunho.
“Yunho, hold still!” Jaejoong commands, but he can’t help laughing. Yunho’s been standing in the same rigid position for nearly two hours, and his expression makes Jaejoong laugh.
“I can’t,” Yunho moans, “it hurts! When are you going to be finished?”
“In a minute,” Jaejoong answers, traces of laughter evident on his lips, “I just need to get your shadow right…”
“Well, you’d better hurry or else I’ll-“
“Done!” Jaejoong exclaims, and Yunho collapses onto the floor. Jaejoong laughs and moves over to where Yunho is. He extends his hand to help Yunho up, but the latter drags him down until they’re both a big lying mess on the floor.
“I almost grew roots,” Yunho chuckles, “I hope it was all worth it,”
Jaejoong laughs and elbows Yunho’s side, “Stop saying that, or I won’t let you keep the painting.”
Yunho laughs and wraps an arm and leg around Jaejoong. “What are you doing?” Jaejoong asks.
“I want to sleep,” Yunho mutters and clings closer to Jaejoong, inhaling the latter’s scent. Jaejoong smells of watermelon and paint, and it makes Yunho smile.
“On the floor?” Jaejoong laughs, and Yunho nods into Jaejoong’s arm. For a moment, they just stay that way. Yunho swears everything feels perfect.
--
“Seventy-five roses for the seventy-five days I’ve known you”
Jaejoong laughs at how many roses he’s received so far. Yunho asks why it’s funny, Jaejoong says it isn’t. He just feels happy about it. Later he asks Yunho if he talks to the person who sends him roses; Yunho says of course he does. Yunho says he talks about him a lot.
“What does he say?” Jaejoong asks, and Yunho pauses.
“Well,” Yunho begins, “he said that you make him feel like his life has purpose. That he wakes up every day with a smile on his face, because you’re the first person he thinks of in the morning. He told me that you look beautiful in the sunlight, that your skin glows and you look ethereal. That seeing you happy makes him happy. He told me that, although he probably doesn’t have a chance with you… he’s okay. Because he’s content with just seeing you smile…” Yunho trails off for a moment and blushes when he realizes he’s said too much. “Or something like that,” he adds, and Jaejoong smiles.
Jaejoong opens his mouth to speak, but just as he is about to, the door bursts open, and in comes Junsu carrying a plastic bag from the local convenience store. “I’ve got drinks!” he exclaims happily and plops down on the sofa in between the two of them.
“It’s this new kind of beer,” Junsu says as he takes out three cans from the plastic. He hands one over to Yunho, and one to Jaejoong. When he does, he receives a hard nudge to the side.
“You idiot,” Jaejoong says, though his lips are curled into a smile, “You bought root beer. This is soda.”
Yunho bursts into a stream of laughter, and Junsu just shrugs and laughs along. At least they’ve got drinks.
--
“Eighty-four roses for the eighty-four days I’ve known you,”
“Yunho, help me find it,” Jaejoong says, looking up at the star-studded sky. He holds onto the edge of the balcony and leans forward a little bit.
“Find what?”
“Cassiopeia,” Jaejoong answers, eyes still scanning the sky, “it’s supposed to look like a w.”
“Okay,” Yunho says, but he ends up staring at Jaejoong the whole time instead.
Jaejoong eventually finds Cassiopeia, no thanks to Yunho.
--
“Ninety roses for the ninety days I’ve known you”
When Yunho delivers the roses, Jaejoong notices something extra written on the note, aside from the usual sentence.
“It says, on the hundredth day, he’ll deliver the roses himself,” Jaejoong says with glee. He tells Yunho he can’t wait to finally see who his secret admirer is.
Yunho just lets out a weak smile.
--
“Ninety-nine roses for the ninety-nine days I’ve known you”
“Jaejoong, what if, when you meet the guy, you find you don’t like him?” Yunho asks, staring at the television.
“I don’t know,” Jaejoong shrugs, “at any rate, I’ll still feel thankful for all the affection he’s showered me with.”
“Hmm…” Yunho hums rather distractedly, “after this all ends, we won’t have a reason to see each other,”
“Shut up, Yunho,” Jaejoong says, hitting Yunho’s face with one of the couch pillows, “we’re friends. We don’t need a reason to see each other.”
Yunho pushes Jaejoong with his shoulder and hugs the pillow that was used to hit his face. He buries his face into it for a moment and then sighs, “But if you…” he trails off.
“If I what?” Jaejoong asks.
Yunho looks at Jaejoong and smiles wanly, “Never mind,” he says.
--
On the hundredth day, Junsu finds Jaejoong pacing around the living room as though something’s about to eat him up. He asks if it’s because he’s nervous about meeting his secret admirer. Jaejoong says it’s because Yunho’s not there yet. He says he’s worried something might have happened to Yunho.
“Geez, relax,” Junsu tells him, placing a hand over his shoulder, “maybe he’s busy working in the flower shop. Or maybe he has a class today,”
“But… he would have told me…” Jaejoong says, slightly above a whisper, “He’s not even answering my calls.” Junsu eyes him incredulously and Jaejoong says it just doesn’t feel right.
When the doorbell rings, Junsu says it’s either his admirer or Yunho. Jaejoong rushes to the door and hopes it’s the latter. As he opens the door, he sees someone come into view, and his eyes dilate a little when he sees that it’s Yunho - holding a bouquet of red roses.
“Surprise?” Yunho says, already feeling embarrassed.
“I knew it!” Junsu shouts from the back before disappearing into the kitchen.
When Junsu leaves, Yunho awkwardly stretches his arms and hands Jaejoong the bouquet. Jaejoong takes it, but does not speak. “I’m sorry for being a wuss and for waiting for one hundred days before admitting that I like you. But you had a boyfriend, and I couldn’t just reveal myself, and I didn’t want to do it immediately after the two of you had broken up because-“
Jaejoong drops the bouquet on the floor and presses his lips against Yunho’s. It’s sudden and brazen and unexpected but it feels perfect nonetheless, and when he pulls away, it’s Yunho’s turn to widen his eyes. “I was hoping it was you,” Jaejoong says, “because I liked my admirer, but then I realized that I’ve been in love with you longer than I thought. I mean, what if it wasn’t you? I’d have to break someone’s heart. Moreover, just before this, I was more eager to see you rather than my admirer; that is, before I found out he was you…” he trails off and Yunho begins to chuckle.
“You’re in love with me?” Yunho asks, a smile stretching across his face, confidence surging forth “Since when?”
Jaejoong blushes and hits Yunho in the chest, “Shut up, Yunho, you’re not supposed to tease me. You’re supposed to be sweet and sensitive, and this should be the part where you sweep me off my feet and-“
“Can I take you out for dinner?” Yunho interrupts, and Jaejoong smiles.
“Sure.”