something about you: chapter 2
something about you: chapter 2
yunho ♥ jaejoong | yoochun ♥ junsu | kibum ♥ minho | jonghyun ♥ minho
AU | pg-13 | romance | angst | drama | comedy
[ one]
--
Two - Hello Again;
“Kiki, stop looking in the mirror like that!”
“Don’t call me Kiki at school, idiot! People will think I’m a girl!”
“Then stop acting like one!”
“What’s wrong with wanting to look good, huh? I don’t want to look like you!”
“I’m handsome as it is, but I don’t need to check it every minute like you do! Sheeshh, how could we share the same womb for 9 months? You’re so annoying!”
“You’re the one who’s annoying!”
“At least I’m not the girly one! Hahaha!”
“I hate you.”, Kibum pouted, at loss of a smartass reply.
“See? Even the way you pout is girly KiKi!”, Jonghyun laughed at his twin, as they were taking their books from their side-by-side lockers. Kibum stuck his tongue out at his brother, before closing the locker with a loud ‘bang’, which made a taller guy next to him jumped in surprise.
“Wohoo Kibum-sshi…no need to be so mad so early in the morning…”, Minho drawled on nonchalantly, one brow shooting up as he glanced over the twins. Jonghyun grinned happily as he recognized his best friend who towered behind Kibum, welcoming him with a cheery ‘Yo!’, while his brother had turned pale, blood rushing away from his face as he stared wide-eyed at Jonghyun, back still facing Minho.
Jonghyun scrunched his brows together as he looked at Kibum.
“Kiki, what’s wrong with you?”, he asked, a bit concern. Kibum blinked a few times, still not moving. Minho, who had finished fishing out his books from his own locker, moved to Jonghyun’s side after hearing what he had said. One hand carelessly poking Kibum’s cheek, he smiled charmingly,
“Daydreaming huh, Kibum-sshi?”
Kibum felt his face turned red and he quickly turned his gaze aside. He spotted Jinki walking past them, and instantly called out to the guy, running to leave Jonghyun and Minho standing there, bewildered of what had just happened.
Minho chuckled after a while, nudging Jonghyun away by the elbow.
“I swear if I didn’t already know that your brother likes that Jin-kid, I would be pretty sure that he has a crush on me.”
Jonghyun gulped nervously, before chuckling back as his reply. He felt his heart bleed a little guilt from Minho’s statement, but he cannot do anything, can he? It was not like he was the one feeding the idea to Minho, it was more like Minho concluding that on his own, with very few subtle hints from him.
Jonghyun glanced back at his twin brother as he walked away with Minho. Kibum was with Jinki near the guy’s locker, Jinki seemingly chattering away something in a mixture of broken Korean and English that he could not really figure out what. Kibum seemed to listen attentively, although Jonghyun could feel, more than see, Kibum’s eyes following each step that he and Minho took.
Jonghyun bit on his lower lips, his teeth grounding painfully on the flesh. It was a selfish thing to do, he knew that. But the weird thing was, he could not even figure out why he did what he did.
--
Jaejoong leaned over the lunch table and took an uninvited bite into Junsu’s sandwich, which made the other guy yelped in protest. Junsu smacked Jaejoong’s head with his free hand, and Jaejoong pouted, rubbing on his head.
“Aishh, Junsu-ah…no need to be so violent…It’s just a bite!”
“A bite into my precious egg sandwich that my mom made!”
“Sharing is caring, you know?”, Jaejoong said softly, making puppy-eyed face at Junsu. Junsu sighed deeply, before surrendering his sandwich to Jaejoong.
“You should ask first then. It’s not like I won’t share.”
Jaejoong just laughed, before pinching Junsu’s cheek. The guy’s brows bunched together, forehead rippling with confusion and lips pouting.
“You want this or not?”
“Hahaha. I’m just kidding, Junsu-ah…you’re so easy to tease, do you know that?”
Junsu pouted even more and corrected the glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose.
“You’re just like Yoochun. Always teasing me. I’m not a toy, okay?”
Jaejoong sat back on his seat, looking around.
“Speaking of the devil, where is he? He’s not joining us today?”
“He has a piano trial later this evening. He’s in the music room right now, practicing I guess. Hmmm. I wonder if he’s had his lunch yet...”, Junsu muttered softly, more to himself. Jaejoong smiled, knowing that Junsu was worrying about their best friend. He was worried too, since Yoochun has this terrible habit of shutting himself from the world when he is with his music, and would sometimes forget that he is a human that needs to rest and eat. Jaejoong sighed, before putting a hand on Junsu’s hand.
“Do you want to go and check on him? We have some time to kill before your next class, and I’m already finished for the day.”, Jaejoong implored, smiling with his eyes. Junsu’s face lit up, a huge grin cracking up on his face.
“Okay! We should stop by at the cafeteria first and get him some croissants and coffee, he would love those!”, Junsu chirped, already standing up. Brushing off the dirt stuck on his black jeans, he was practically jumping up and down as he waited for Jaejoong to gather his things and clear their lunch table.
“Aishh, Jaejoong-ah! No need to do that! The cleaner will do it later!”
“It doesn’t hurt to clean up a little! This is all your mess okay?”
“You’re really an ajumma, Jaejoong-ah! Hurry up!”
“Okay, okay!”, Jaejoong sighed as he loaded his books in his arms and followed Junsu, who was half-hopping and half-running towards the cafeteria. He was holding about nine rather heavy books, and was panting a little to keep pace with Junsu. He frowned slightly at his friend, who did not have even the slightest conscience to help him with his books.
Junsu opened the cafeteria glass door, before getting in and letting the door swung to close, totally forgetting about Jaejoong who was trailing behind. Jaejoong thought Junsu would hold the door for him, but the door came swinging in his face quicker before he realized that it was not the case. He ended up stumbling backward, into a stranger’s arms. His heavy books fell down on his feet and he screamed in pain, a bit of tears escaping shamelessly at the corner of his eyes.
“Are you okay?”, the stranger’s voice was gentle and full of concern, but Jaejoong could not even register those in his head, who was full of unsaid expletives and murderous daggers specially dedicated to Junsu, his so-called best friend. The stranger held him close by waist as he tried to balance himself again. Jaejoong turned around at the touch, his cheeks blushing furiously when he realized that the stranger holding him was none other than the infamous Jung Yunho.
Hello, again...
Yunho’s hands were still on Jaejoong’s waist, both openly stared at each other, their expression indecipherable. Jaejoong’s eyes glued on Yunho’s, before Yunho suddenly bit his plump lower lips, and Jaejoong’s eyes sneakily traveled down to look at that, his own mouth gaping for a second at what he saw. All the pain that he felt just now flew out into a state of nonexistence.
Finally registering what he was doing, Jaejoong turned away and quickly pulled himself out of Yunho’s embrace, kneeling down to pick his littering books. So much for a good second impression, Jaejoong thought to himself.
Yunho looked on as Jaejoong nervously gathered his books, one hand resting on his quick-beating heart. Did he saw it right?
Jaejoong was staring at my lips…
Yunho smacked himself inside, for even starting to think about it.
He knelt down beside Jaejoong and began helping the guy with the rest of his books. Jaejoong uttered gentle ‘thank you’s, as Yunho handed him his books one by one.
“You are so clumsy. You shouldn’t carry so many books, you might injure yourself and others.”, Yunho commented mindlessly, the words finding their way out of his mouth before he could even think about it. He flinched a bit, because this was definitely out of his character.
Jung Yunho never started a small talk with anybody. Jung Yunho never needed to make small talk to anybody. Jung Yunho was safe in his own protected world, and he never liked to step outside it, extending unnecessary words to anyone.
Hell. What has this Kim Jaejoong do to me?
As a punishment, Jaejoong smiled sweetly at him, and Yunho could feel a coming of a headache instantly at the back of his eyes.
“Thank you for your concern, Yunho-sshi. I’m sorry I bumped onto you just now.”, his voice was even sweeter, as judged by Yunho’s biased and deluded ears. Deep inside, he swore Jaejoong was putting some kind of a spell over him, as he could not help but utter a sincere ‘No worries’ to the guy.
Jaejoong stood up, balancing the nine books back in his arms. Yunho jumped on his feet too, and immediately reached out to take five of the books from Jaejoong, choosing not to hear Jaejoong’s objection.
“I’ll help you with these. I don’t want you to injure innocent people along your way.”, Yunho shrugged out his words. Inside, he could not believe how he could even said those things, and damn it, Jung Yunho, do you even realize you sounded like you are flirting with the guy?
Jaejoong chuckled, his flushed cheeks a sight too delicious to look at. He threw a grateful look at Yunho, before gesturing towards the cafeteria entrance. As if on cue, Junsu opened the cafeteria door, holding a paper bag and a cup of hot coffee, and instantly scolded Jaejoong,
“Yahh! What took you so long?”
Jaejoong swore if he was a cannibal, he would have eaten Junsu raw there and then, with or without chili sauce.
“You! Why didn’t you hold the door for me? You let it close on my face, you know!”, Jaejoong hissed out. Yunho could not help but smiled when Junsu’s face turned into one who was guilt-stricken, his brows gluing together in a worried little rainbow.
“Re..Really? Ah…I’m sorry, Jaejoong-ah…I..I was rushing to get the croissants before they are sold out. Jaejoong-ah…are you mad at me?”, Junsu asked softly, his eyes blinking rapidly as he genuinely begged for forgiveness. Jaejoong knew Junsu’s expression was not made-up, his friend was really a true honest soul who could not lie even if his life depended on it. Jaejoong sighed deeply, before tilting his head towards Yunho.
“You should ask forgiveness from Yunho-sshi, Junsuyah…I fell on him because of you.”, he said half-jokingly. Junsu looked at Yunho and began apologizing profusely, bowing his head a tad too many times. Yunho practically had to convince Junsu that it was alright, to stop the guy from apologizing.
Jaejoong eyed the steaming coffee and paper bag in Junsu’s hand, his smile thinning worryingly. He had planned to ask Junsu to help him with the books, but now, it was obvious that the guy could not help. Yunho, who noticed Jaejoong’s worried expression, instantly said,
“Where are you heading? I can help you carry these books until we get there.”, before regretting the words that came tumbling so easily out between his two lips. Yunho frowned, mentally reprimanding his lack of control over his verbal skills today.
Why am I being so nice towards him?
Jaejoong’s eyes lit up like Christmas lights at Yunho’s offer. He opened his mouth to reply, but Junsu butted in excitedly,
“To the music department. We are seeing a friend there. Do you know Park Yoochun? He plays the piano at last year's Christmas charity dinner. He’s very talented, he even compose his own songs. Sometimes he let me sings to it, but he always complains that my voice is too high-pitched for his songs. Aishh, that guy…he doesn’t know how to appreciate natural talent. He’s currently placed second in national piano competition, but I believe he will take the lead soon. He should have won the last time, but he was sick then, so he could not perform his best. He is so stubborn, that’s why he got sick so easily. But he’s still the best pianist I’ve ever known. So do you know Park Yoochun?”
Yunho shook his head signaling a ‘no’ after hearing Junsu’s lengthy explanation. Jaejoong had to bite the inside of his mouth to stop from laughing when he saw Junsu’s jaw almost drop to the ground in disbelief.
--
Jinki huffed as he shoved his books into his backpack, muttering a variety of English expletives ranging from human anatomy to a rated sexual activity. He shot a glance at a laughing duo, the taller one making a stupid gesture copied from a famous comedian and making the shorter one almost stumbling backwards guffawing. He shrugged. He did not even understand what would be so funny about wriggling idiotic move like that.
He hated high school, hated his teachers, hated his classmates, hated Korea, hated his parents for moving back here, hated being alone and out of place, hated feeling like an alien among stupid homosapiens. He found himself out of sync since he first came back to Korea four months ago, and he was yet to get his feet in balance yet.
And today, he had to stay back for detention with the other three, which added up to his annoyance.
“Hey Jin, finished packing?”, a soft voice disrupted his thought, and he turned instantly and was met by a smile from Kim Kibum, his one and only friend in the school. His lips quirked upward to form an awkward grin as he replied a simple ‘Yea’. He felt a pang of guilt for Kibum. The guy had been sent to detention because of him, because he had fought back for Jinki when the other two had teased him during Science.
Okay, so there was a kind soul among the stupid crowd. But then, Kim Kibum was almost too kind and sweet to function properly as a boy, and Jinki could not help but feel embarrassed when people started whistling and wooing every time they walked together. The pretty boy seemed nonchalant to the teasing, perhaps already getting used to the cruel stupidity of the mass, but he was not.
“Let’s walk together to the gate, yes?”
Jinki felt his heart sinking in guilt, again. Kibum was being his nice self, for God’s sake he was the only one in the entire school who even bothered about his existence, so why was he being a jerk and thinking about how uncool it was to walk with a feminine-looking boy? Honestly, Kibum should be the one feeling such reluctance, Jinki knew he was not the best companion anyone would want to be seen with.
Thus, he nodded as his conscience won the battle with his ego. Grabbing his backpack, Jinki followed Kibum out of class, but not before the annoying duo caught up with them first, the taller one slinking a hand across his shoulders.
“Yo Jin-kid! Whatcha up to, man?”, Minho teased in haphazard English. Jinki rolled his eyes.
Why do everyone always think I talk like a pot-high hip hop pimp?
Kibum looked at the two with scared eyes. Not again. Minho just got to be a pain in the ass sometimes…he thought inside before Minho winked at him and that made him rushed out of the class like a fleeing bug.
“None. Of. Your. Business.”, Jinki suddenly shot back in perfectly enunciated English, pushing Minho’s hand off his shoulder and began strutting out of the class, following Kibum.
“Yo man! Relax!”, Minho shouted, annoyed that he was being pushed away like that. It was just a harmless teasing, and plus, he did not know how to approach the ever-elusive ex-American. English was not really his strong point, scoring on average a C- in tests.
Jonghyun snickered, before patting his friend’s back as they sent the two with their eyes.
“Aishhh, you bothered their date, that’s why he’s so angry with you.”
Minho laughed finally, brushing his hair back with his hand. “You’re right, Jonghyun…”
Jonghyun cocked his head to the side as he asked, grinning wide,
“Karaoke, what say you?”
Minho moved his lips as he thought for a few seconds. He glanced down at his watch once, smiled when he saw it showed 4.30 p.m, still very early before he needs to get back home for dinner with his brothers.
His brothers…Yunho-hyung…Taeminnie…school…pick-up…and his eyes widened dramatically,
“Holy shit! My hyung is going to kill me!!!!”, he screamed as he ran fast out of the class, leaving Jonghyun blinking cluelessly.
--
An hour before…
The clock at the main hall of the music department struck its big hand between number 3 and 4, and its’ little hand at 6, as Jaejoong and Junsu proceeded to lean against a wall outside the music room, their bags and books slumped carelessly on the floor near them. They had come here to give Yoochun his lunch, but instead, they were shooed out of the room by a very angry Yoochun, who insisted that they should not disturb him when he was at his ‘best music mind’, whatever that means, and that they would have to wait for him outside for at least another 30 minutes for him to gather his thoughts. Junsu looked down at his shuffling feet, sighing deeply and was openly disappointed. Jaejoong patted his friend’s shoulder, offering an empathetic look.
Yunho, on the other hand, was standing rather awkwardly in front of the two guys, hands fidgeting at the side, not exactly understanding why he was still here with the two.
Jaejoong smiled thinly at Yunho, before saying apologetically,
“I’m sorry, Yunho-sshi…to drag you into this. Yoochun is not like that usually, but I guess he’s just stressed up, what with the piano trial coming on…”
Yunho just nodded pensively, still trying hard to think why he has not moved his feet away from the spot he was standing now when he was sure as hell he do not have a plausible reason to be there.
Jaejoong looked at Yunho curiously, noting the frown that the man had on his forehead. He waved a hand in front of Yunho, but Yunho did not budge, seemingly lost in his own thought, eyes focusing at a point past Jaejoong’s head. Jaejoong then looked at Junsu’s forlorn face, the usual smile missing as he stared at the cup of now-warm coffee and the croissants-filled paper bag with too much undeserved attention.
Jaejoong smiled toothily as an idea struck in his head. He grabbed Yunho’s shoulder and pushed him to lean on the wall where he was leaning on a few minutes ago, much to Yunho’s surprise, before wriggling himself in between Yunho and Junsu. Jaejoong chuckled when Junsu growled a protest, and Yunho looked on apologetically at Junsu, himself seemingly failing to conjure up an angry retort towards the smiling Jaejoong.
“You guys should introduce yourself properly to each other.”, Jaejoong suggested suddenly, looking at Yunho and Junsu on his sides, momentarily forgetting that he and Yunho have not yet had a proper introduction to each other.
Junsu glanced at Yunho, and Yunho glanced back at him, before they both shared an uneasy smile. Extending a hand towards one another, they introduced themselves,
“Kim Junsu. Food science.”
“Jung Yunho. Business.”
“You and Jaejoong are classmates?”
Jaejoong nodded eagerly, and smiled as wide as he could. Yunho just nodded, a little amuse at Jaejoong’s expression.
“Sadly, we never really talked, right Yunho-sshi? It’s such a pity…we could have been friends a long time ago…”, Jaejoong said thoughtfully, eyes drooping a bit. Yunho gulped down a nervous saliva, not knowing how to reply to Jaejoong’s remark.
“I guess…we just…never got around to talking.”, he finally choked out, somewhat feeling guilty that he had thought badly of Jaejoong before, remembering well what had happened a few days ago in front of the dean’s office. Jaejoong eyed him from underneath fluttering lashes, before a too-sweet smile was thrown in his way, almost knocking a breath out of Yunho’s lungs.
“We should find time to talk now, yes? It’s what friends do right?”, Jaejoong implored, hopeful and innocent.
“We are friends?”, Yunho stupidly replied.
“Of course we are. At the very least, we are classmates, right?”, Jaejoong said back, biting his lips as a blush tainted his cheeks welcomingly.
Yunho nodded. The word ‘friends’ had somehow seem foreign to him for quite some times now, and he was surprised that he had been missing it.
Junsu butted in, feeling left out in the conversation,
“I can be your friend too, Yunho-sshi! Although we are not in the same class…but we can have lunch together! It would be so much fun! We could go to soccer matches together! Picnic! Or maybe go to the beach? I want to swim in the sea!”
Jaejoong laughed at Junsu’s cheery remarks, relieved that Junsu was not sad about Yoochun anymore. Yunho smiled widely, the first real smile he had thrown out in their presence.
So maybe there are some of the rich guys who are not bastards…Yunho thought to himself. Thank God he had asked Minho to pick Taemin from school today, so he actually has some time to kill with his new friends before he had to go home and cook dinner, and prepare for work afterward.
-
Just minutes before that…
The teacher held out a card with an English word written on it in front of Taemin, trying to gauge the boy’s attention by making whistling sound. Taemin’s head turned at the sound, his smile mischievous and his eyes crooked a bit.
The teacher pronounced the English word, - ‘family’ - syllable by syllable. She asked Taemin to say the word back to her, but instead of enunciating the taught word to the teacher, Taemin said,
“Yunho. Binho. Yunho. Binho. Yunho. Binho. Yunho. Binho. Yunho. Binho…”
The teacher sighed a little, but smiled nonetheless.
“You really love your brothers, don’t you Taemin?”
Taemin grinned out his reply, still repeating his brothers’ names like a prayer, hands busily lining up the letter blocks neatly along his table. His eyes wandered around the classroom, they were not many people in the special class, only about 7 students with a teacher aide for each of them. His eyes drooped a little when he could not find his Yunho or Binho among the small crowd.
The teacher held Taemin’s hand to grab his attention back, “Do you want to read a storybook now, Taemin?”
Taemin nodded, taking out a book from under his desk, before trying his hardest to read aloud, face crunching when he could not said a word or a sentence properly. He huffed in frustration, before throwing the book towards the teacher.
“Taemin-ah…we will stop here, okay? Now let’s put your book in your bag, it’s nearly 3 p.m. You know what 3 p.m. means right? Time to go home.”, the teacher said gently.
“Time to go home!”, Taemin repeated the teacher’s words excitedly, his eyes shining as he stood up, shoving the books in his bag. The teacher managed to hold him just as he was about to bolt out of the classroom.
“Who’s picking you up?”, the teacher asked the boy concernedly.
Taemin tilted his head, trying to recall. He finally nodded, as Minho’s words from this morning tumbled in his mind, when they were at the school entrance.
“Wait here until I come, Minnie. Don’t go anywhere.”
Taemin replied smilingly to the teacher, one finger pointing to his own face, “Binho. Binho… come… pick… me.”
The teacher let the boy go, as the boy ran out of the room towards the school entrance. There were crowds rushing about him, but he did not care about them as he searched for that one face he knew. Standing loyally by a pot of flower near the glass door, he began rocking his body away, waiting and waiting and waiting.
--[TBC]
yunho ♥ jaejoong | yoochun ♥ junsu | kibum ♥ minho | jonghyun ♥ minho
AU | pg-13 | romance | angst | drama | comedy
[ one]
--
Two - Hello Again;
“Kiki, stop looking in the mirror like that!”
“Don’t call me Kiki at school, idiot! People will think I’m a girl!”
“Then stop acting like one!”
“What’s wrong with wanting to look good, huh? I don’t want to look like you!”
“I’m handsome as it is, but I don’t need to check it every minute like you do! Sheeshh, how could we share the same womb for 9 months? You’re so annoying!”
“You’re the one who’s annoying!”
“At least I’m not the girly one! Hahaha!”
“I hate you.”, Kibum pouted, at loss of a smartass reply.
“See? Even the way you pout is girly KiKi!”, Jonghyun laughed at his twin, as they were taking their books from their side-by-side lockers. Kibum stuck his tongue out at his brother, before closing the locker with a loud ‘bang’, which made a taller guy next to him jumped in surprise.
“Wohoo Kibum-sshi…no need to be so mad so early in the morning…”, Minho drawled on nonchalantly, one brow shooting up as he glanced over the twins. Jonghyun grinned happily as he recognized his best friend who towered behind Kibum, welcoming him with a cheery ‘Yo!’, while his brother had turned pale, blood rushing away from his face as he stared wide-eyed at Jonghyun, back still facing Minho.
Jonghyun scrunched his brows together as he looked at Kibum.
“Kiki, what’s wrong with you?”, he asked, a bit concern. Kibum blinked a few times, still not moving. Minho, who had finished fishing out his books from his own locker, moved to Jonghyun’s side after hearing what he had said. One hand carelessly poking Kibum’s cheek, he smiled charmingly,
“Daydreaming huh, Kibum-sshi?”
Kibum felt his face turned red and he quickly turned his gaze aside. He spotted Jinki walking past them, and instantly called out to the guy, running to leave Jonghyun and Minho standing there, bewildered of what had just happened.
Minho chuckled after a while, nudging Jonghyun away by the elbow.
“I swear if I didn’t already know that your brother likes that Jin-kid, I would be pretty sure that he has a crush on me.”
Jonghyun gulped nervously, before chuckling back as his reply. He felt his heart bleed a little guilt from Minho’s statement, but he cannot do anything, can he? It was not like he was the one feeding the idea to Minho, it was more like Minho concluding that on his own, with very few subtle hints from him.
Jonghyun glanced back at his twin brother as he walked away with Minho. Kibum was with Jinki near the guy’s locker, Jinki seemingly chattering away something in a mixture of broken Korean and English that he could not really figure out what. Kibum seemed to listen attentively, although Jonghyun could feel, more than see, Kibum’s eyes following each step that he and Minho took.
Jonghyun bit on his lower lips, his teeth grounding painfully on the flesh. It was a selfish thing to do, he knew that. But the weird thing was, he could not even figure out why he did what he did.
--
Jaejoong leaned over the lunch table and took an uninvited bite into Junsu’s sandwich, which made the other guy yelped in protest. Junsu smacked Jaejoong’s head with his free hand, and Jaejoong pouted, rubbing on his head.
“Aishh, Junsu-ah…no need to be so violent…It’s just a bite!”
“A bite into my precious egg sandwich that my mom made!”
“Sharing is caring, you know?”, Jaejoong said softly, making puppy-eyed face at Junsu. Junsu sighed deeply, before surrendering his sandwich to Jaejoong.
“You should ask first then. It’s not like I won’t share.”
Jaejoong just laughed, before pinching Junsu’s cheek. The guy’s brows bunched together, forehead rippling with confusion and lips pouting.
“You want this or not?”
“Hahaha. I’m just kidding, Junsu-ah…you’re so easy to tease, do you know that?”
Junsu pouted even more and corrected the glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose.
“You’re just like Yoochun. Always teasing me. I’m not a toy, okay?”
Jaejoong sat back on his seat, looking around.
“Speaking of the devil, where is he? He’s not joining us today?”
“He has a piano trial later this evening. He’s in the music room right now, practicing I guess. Hmmm. I wonder if he’s had his lunch yet...”, Junsu muttered softly, more to himself. Jaejoong smiled, knowing that Junsu was worrying about their best friend. He was worried too, since Yoochun has this terrible habit of shutting himself from the world when he is with his music, and would sometimes forget that he is a human that needs to rest and eat. Jaejoong sighed, before putting a hand on Junsu’s hand.
“Do you want to go and check on him? We have some time to kill before your next class, and I’m already finished for the day.”, Jaejoong implored, smiling with his eyes. Junsu’s face lit up, a huge grin cracking up on his face.
“Okay! We should stop by at the cafeteria first and get him some croissants and coffee, he would love those!”, Junsu chirped, already standing up. Brushing off the dirt stuck on his black jeans, he was practically jumping up and down as he waited for Jaejoong to gather his things and clear their lunch table.
“Aishh, Jaejoong-ah! No need to do that! The cleaner will do it later!”
“It doesn’t hurt to clean up a little! This is all your mess okay?”
“You’re really an ajumma, Jaejoong-ah! Hurry up!”
“Okay, okay!”, Jaejoong sighed as he loaded his books in his arms and followed Junsu, who was half-hopping and half-running towards the cafeteria. He was holding about nine rather heavy books, and was panting a little to keep pace with Junsu. He frowned slightly at his friend, who did not have even the slightest conscience to help him with his books.
Junsu opened the cafeteria glass door, before getting in and letting the door swung to close, totally forgetting about Jaejoong who was trailing behind. Jaejoong thought Junsu would hold the door for him, but the door came swinging in his face quicker before he realized that it was not the case. He ended up stumbling backward, into a stranger’s arms. His heavy books fell down on his feet and he screamed in pain, a bit of tears escaping shamelessly at the corner of his eyes.
“Are you okay?”, the stranger’s voice was gentle and full of concern, but Jaejoong could not even register those in his head, who was full of unsaid expletives and murderous daggers specially dedicated to Junsu, his so-called best friend. The stranger held him close by waist as he tried to balance himself again. Jaejoong turned around at the touch, his cheeks blushing furiously when he realized that the stranger holding him was none other than the infamous Jung Yunho.
Hello, again...
Yunho’s hands were still on Jaejoong’s waist, both openly stared at each other, their expression indecipherable. Jaejoong’s eyes glued on Yunho’s, before Yunho suddenly bit his plump lower lips, and Jaejoong’s eyes sneakily traveled down to look at that, his own mouth gaping for a second at what he saw. All the pain that he felt just now flew out into a state of nonexistence.
Finally registering what he was doing, Jaejoong turned away and quickly pulled himself out of Yunho’s embrace, kneeling down to pick his littering books. So much for a good second impression, Jaejoong thought to himself.
Yunho looked on as Jaejoong nervously gathered his books, one hand resting on his quick-beating heart. Did he saw it right?
Jaejoong was staring at my lips…
Yunho smacked himself inside, for even starting to think about it.
He knelt down beside Jaejoong and began helping the guy with the rest of his books. Jaejoong uttered gentle ‘thank you’s, as Yunho handed him his books one by one.
“You are so clumsy. You shouldn’t carry so many books, you might injure yourself and others.”, Yunho commented mindlessly, the words finding their way out of his mouth before he could even think about it. He flinched a bit, because this was definitely out of his character.
Jung Yunho never started a small talk with anybody. Jung Yunho never needed to make small talk to anybody. Jung Yunho was safe in his own protected world, and he never liked to step outside it, extending unnecessary words to anyone.
Hell. What has this Kim Jaejoong do to me?
As a punishment, Jaejoong smiled sweetly at him, and Yunho could feel a coming of a headache instantly at the back of his eyes.
“Thank you for your concern, Yunho-sshi. I’m sorry I bumped onto you just now.”, his voice was even sweeter, as judged by Yunho’s biased and deluded ears. Deep inside, he swore Jaejoong was putting some kind of a spell over him, as he could not help but utter a sincere ‘No worries’ to the guy.
Jaejoong stood up, balancing the nine books back in his arms. Yunho jumped on his feet too, and immediately reached out to take five of the books from Jaejoong, choosing not to hear Jaejoong’s objection.
“I’ll help you with these. I don’t want you to injure innocent people along your way.”, Yunho shrugged out his words. Inside, he could not believe how he could even said those things, and damn it, Jung Yunho, do you even realize you sounded like you are flirting with the guy?
Jaejoong chuckled, his flushed cheeks a sight too delicious to look at. He threw a grateful look at Yunho, before gesturing towards the cafeteria entrance. As if on cue, Junsu opened the cafeteria door, holding a paper bag and a cup of hot coffee, and instantly scolded Jaejoong,
“Yahh! What took you so long?”
Jaejoong swore if he was a cannibal, he would have eaten Junsu raw there and then, with or without chili sauce.
“You! Why didn’t you hold the door for me? You let it close on my face, you know!”, Jaejoong hissed out. Yunho could not help but smiled when Junsu’s face turned into one who was guilt-stricken, his brows gluing together in a worried little rainbow.
“Re..Really? Ah…I’m sorry, Jaejoong-ah…I..I was rushing to get the croissants before they are sold out. Jaejoong-ah…are you mad at me?”, Junsu asked softly, his eyes blinking rapidly as he genuinely begged for forgiveness. Jaejoong knew Junsu’s expression was not made-up, his friend was really a true honest soul who could not lie even if his life depended on it. Jaejoong sighed deeply, before tilting his head towards Yunho.
“You should ask forgiveness from Yunho-sshi, Junsuyah…I fell on him because of you.”, he said half-jokingly. Junsu looked at Yunho and began apologizing profusely, bowing his head a tad too many times. Yunho practically had to convince Junsu that it was alright, to stop the guy from apologizing.
Jaejoong eyed the steaming coffee and paper bag in Junsu’s hand, his smile thinning worryingly. He had planned to ask Junsu to help him with the books, but now, it was obvious that the guy could not help. Yunho, who noticed Jaejoong’s worried expression, instantly said,
“Where are you heading? I can help you carry these books until we get there.”, before regretting the words that came tumbling so easily out between his two lips. Yunho frowned, mentally reprimanding his lack of control over his verbal skills today.
Why am I being so nice towards him?
Jaejoong’s eyes lit up like Christmas lights at Yunho’s offer. He opened his mouth to reply, but Junsu butted in excitedly,
“To the music department. We are seeing a friend there. Do you know Park Yoochun? He plays the piano at last year's Christmas charity dinner. He’s very talented, he even compose his own songs. Sometimes he let me sings to it, but he always complains that my voice is too high-pitched for his songs. Aishh, that guy…he doesn’t know how to appreciate natural talent. He’s currently placed second in national piano competition, but I believe he will take the lead soon. He should have won the last time, but he was sick then, so he could not perform his best. He is so stubborn, that’s why he got sick so easily. But he’s still the best pianist I’ve ever known. So do you know Park Yoochun?”
Yunho shook his head signaling a ‘no’ after hearing Junsu’s lengthy explanation. Jaejoong had to bite the inside of his mouth to stop from laughing when he saw Junsu’s jaw almost drop to the ground in disbelief.
--
Jinki huffed as he shoved his books into his backpack, muttering a variety of English expletives ranging from human anatomy to a rated sexual activity. He shot a glance at a laughing duo, the taller one making a stupid gesture copied from a famous comedian and making the shorter one almost stumbling backwards guffawing. He shrugged. He did not even understand what would be so funny about wriggling idiotic move like that.
He hated high school, hated his teachers, hated his classmates, hated Korea, hated his parents for moving back here, hated being alone and out of place, hated feeling like an alien among stupid homosapiens. He found himself out of sync since he first came back to Korea four months ago, and he was yet to get his feet in balance yet.
And today, he had to stay back for detention with the other three, which added up to his annoyance.
“Hey Jin, finished packing?”, a soft voice disrupted his thought, and he turned instantly and was met by a smile from Kim Kibum, his one and only friend in the school. His lips quirked upward to form an awkward grin as he replied a simple ‘Yea’. He felt a pang of guilt for Kibum. The guy had been sent to detention because of him, because he had fought back for Jinki when the other two had teased him during Science.
Okay, so there was a kind soul among the stupid crowd. But then, Kim Kibum was almost too kind and sweet to function properly as a boy, and Jinki could not help but feel embarrassed when people started whistling and wooing every time they walked together. The pretty boy seemed nonchalant to the teasing, perhaps already getting used to the cruel stupidity of the mass, but he was not.
“Let’s walk together to the gate, yes?”
Jinki felt his heart sinking in guilt, again. Kibum was being his nice self, for God’s sake he was the only one in the entire school who even bothered about his existence, so why was he being a jerk and thinking about how uncool it was to walk with a feminine-looking boy? Honestly, Kibum should be the one feeling such reluctance, Jinki knew he was not the best companion anyone would want to be seen with.
Thus, he nodded as his conscience won the battle with his ego. Grabbing his backpack, Jinki followed Kibum out of class, but not before the annoying duo caught up with them first, the taller one slinking a hand across his shoulders.
“Yo Jin-kid! Whatcha up to, man?”, Minho teased in haphazard English. Jinki rolled his eyes.
Why do everyone always think I talk like a pot-high hip hop pimp?
Kibum looked at the two with scared eyes. Not again. Minho just got to be a pain in the ass sometimes…he thought inside before Minho winked at him and that made him rushed out of the class like a fleeing bug.
“None. Of. Your. Business.”, Jinki suddenly shot back in perfectly enunciated English, pushing Minho’s hand off his shoulder and began strutting out of the class, following Kibum.
“Yo man! Relax!”, Minho shouted, annoyed that he was being pushed away like that. It was just a harmless teasing, and plus, he did not know how to approach the ever-elusive ex-American. English was not really his strong point, scoring on average a C- in tests.
Jonghyun snickered, before patting his friend’s back as they sent the two with their eyes.
“Aishhh, you bothered their date, that’s why he’s so angry with you.”
Minho laughed finally, brushing his hair back with his hand. “You’re right, Jonghyun…”
Jonghyun cocked his head to the side as he asked, grinning wide,
“Karaoke, what say you?”
Minho moved his lips as he thought for a few seconds. He glanced down at his watch once, smiled when he saw it showed 4.30 p.m, still very early before he needs to get back home for dinner with his brothers.
His brothers…Yunho-hyung…Taeminnie…school…pick-up…and his eyes widened dramatically,
“Holy shit! My hyung is going to kill me!!!!”, he screamed as he ran fast out of the class, leaving Jonghyun blinking cluelessly.
--
An hour before…
The clock at the main hall of the music department struck its big hand between number 3 and 4, and its’ little hand at 6, as Jaejoong and Junsu proceeded to lean against a wall outside the music room, their bags and books slumped carelessly on the floor near them. They had come here to give Yoochun his lunch, but instead, they were shooed out of the room by a very angry Yoochun, who insisted that they should not disturb him when he was at his ‘best music mind’, whatever that means, and that they would have to wait for him outside for at least another 30 minutes for him to gather his thoughts. Junsu looked down at his shuffling feet, sighing deeply and was openly disappointed. Jaejoong patted his friend’s shoulder, offering an empathetic look.
Yunho, on the other hand, was standing rather awkwardly in front of the two guys, hands fidgeting at the side, not exactly understanding why he was still here with the two.
Jaejoong smiled thinly at Yunho, before saying apologetically,
“I’m sorry, Yunho-sshi…to drag you into this. Yoochun is not like that usually, but I guess he’s just stressed up, what with the piano trial coming on…”
Yunho just nodded pensively, still trying hard to think why he has not moved his feet away from the spot he was standing now when he was sure as hell he do not have a plausible reason to be there.
Jaejoong looked at Yunho curiously, noting the frown that the man had on his forehead. He waved a hand in front of Yunho, but Yunho did not budge, seemingly lost in his own thought, eyes focusing at a point past Jaejoong’s head. Jaejoong then looked at Junsu’s forlorn face, the usual smile missing as he stared at the cup of now-warm coffee and the croissants-filled paper bag with too much undeserved attention.
Jaejoong smiled toothily as an idea struck in his head. He grabbed Yunho’s shoulder and pushed him to lean on the wall where he was leaning on a few minutes ago, much to Yunho’s surprise, before wriggling himself in between Yunho and Junsu. Jaejoong chuckled when Junsu growled a protest, and Yunho looked on apologetically at Junsu, himself seemingly failing to conjure up an angry retort towards the smiling Jaejoong.
“You guys should introduce yourself properly to each other.”, Jaejoong suggested suddenly, looking at Yunho and Junsu on his sides, momentarily forgetting that he and Yunho have not yet had a proper introduction to each other.
Junsu glanced at Yunho, and Yunho glanced back at him, before they both shared an uneasy smile. Extending a hand towards one another, they introduced themselves,
“Kim Junsu. Food science.”
“Jung Yunho. Business.”
“You and Jaejoong are classmates?”
Jaejoong nodded eagerly, and smiled as wide as he could. Yunho just nodded, a little amuse at Jaejoong’s expression.
“Sadly, we never really talked, right Yunho-sshi? It’s such a pity…we could have been friends a long time ago…”, Jaejoong said thoughtfully, eyes drooping a bit. Yunho gulped down a nervous saliva, not knowing how to reply to Jaejoong’s remark.
“I guess…we just…never got around to talking.”, he finally choked out, somewhat feeling guilty that he had thought badly of Jaejoong before, remembering well what had happened a few days ago in front of the dean’s office. Jaejoong eyed him from underneath fluttering lashes, before a too-sweet smile was thrown in his way, almost knocking a breath out of Yunho’s lungs.
“We should find time to talk now, yes? It’s what friends do right?”, Jaejoong implored, hopeful and innocent.
“We are friends?”, Yunho stupidly replied.
“Of course we are. At the very least, we are classmates, right?”, Jaejoong said back, biting his lips as a blush tainted his cheeks welcomingly.
Yunho nodded. The word ‘friends’ had somehow seem foreign to him for quite some times now, and he was surprised that he had been missing it.
Junsu butted in, feeling left out in the conversation,
“I can be your friend too, Yunho-sshi! Although we are not in the same class…but we can have lunch together! It would be so much fun! We could go to soccer matches together! Picnic! Or maybe go to the beach? I want to swim in the sea!”
Jaejoong laughed at Junsu’s cheery remarks, relieved that Junsu was not sad about Yoochun anymore. Yunho smiled widely, the first real smile he had thrown out in their presence.
So maybe there are some of the rich guys who are not bastards…Yunho thought to himself. Thank God he had asked Minho to pick Taemin from school today, so he actually has some time to kill with his new friends before he had to go home and cook dinner, and prepare for work afterward.
-
Just minutes before that…
The teacher held out a card with an English word written on it in front of Taemin, trying to gauge the boy’s attention by making whistling sound. Taemin’s head turned at the sound, his smile mischievous and his eyes crooked a bit.
The teacher pronounced the English word, - ‘family’ - syllable by syllable. She asked Taemin to say the word back to her, but instead of enunciating the taught word to the teacher, Taemin said,
“Yunho. Binho. Yunho. Binho. Yunho. Binho. Yunho. Binho. Yunho. Binho…”
The teacher sighed a little, but smiled nonetheless.
“You really love your brothers, don’t you Taemin?”
Taemin grinned out his reply, still repeating his brothers’ names like a prayer, hands busily lining up the letter blocks neatly along his table. His eyes wandered around the classroom, they were not many people in the special class, only about 7 students with a teacher aide for each of them. His eyes drooped a little when he could not find his Yunho or Binho among the small crowd.
The teacher held Taemin’s hand to grab his attention back, “Do you want to read a storybook now, Taemin?”
Taemin nodded, taking out a book from under his desk, before trying his hardest to read aloud, face crunching when he could not said a word or a sentence properly. He huffed in frustration, before throwing the book towards the teacher.
“Taemin-ah…we will stop here, okay? Now let’s put your book in your bag, it’s nearly 3 p.m. You know what 3 p.m. means right? Time to go home.”, the teacher said gently.
“Time to go home!”, Taemin repeated the teacher’s words excitedly, his eyes shining as he stood up, shoving the books in his bag. The teacher managed to hold him just as he was about to bolt out of the classroom.
“Who’s picking you up?”, the teacher asked the boy concernedly.
Taemin tilted his head, trying to recall. He finally nodded, as Minho’s words from this morning tumbled in his mind, when they were at the school entrance.
“Wait here until I come, Minnie. Don’t go anywhere.”
Taemin replied smilingly to the teacher, one finger pointing to his own face, “Binho. Binho… come… pick… me.”
The teacher let the boy go, as the boy ran out of the room towards the school entrance. There were crowds rushing about him, but he did not care about them as he searched for that one face he knew. Standing loyally by a pot of flower near the glass door, he began rocking his body away, waiting and waiting and waiting.
--[TBC]