Second Chances (Epilogue)
Title: Second Chances
Author: VampireMadonna
Pairing: Main: YunJae; Secondary: JaeMin, HoMin
Rating: PG-13
Length: Chaptered
Summary: After Changmin's death, how are Jae and Yunho going to cope with their grief and their increasing attraction to each other?
{C}{C}{C}{C}
The sun was high overhead, the grass green and lush, except for where it had been trimmed along the cobblestone walkways.
Jaejoong watched the trees sway in the distance and took a deep breath of fresh air. If he didn’t look down, it was easy to forget where he was. But as he reached his destination, he did look down and an almost unbearable sadness swamped him. The hand holding his tightened and he was grateful for the comfort it offered.
It was the anniversary of Changmin’s funeral. It might seem odd, he knew: most people visited their loved ones on the anniversary of their death. Yunho and Changmin’s family had, as was expected, and so did they, but they’d come back on this day because this was the day that they’d let him go. He’d still been real to him, alive in some way, even after death. It was when he’d been put into the ground that the reality of his death had truly set in. For them, that was the day that he’d really died.
“Oh, Minnie…” He hiccupped as tears clogged his throat.
He didn’t know what to say. There was no unfinished business now.
He and Yunho had been back in South Korea for over a month now and they couldn’t be happier. There was nothing more he could possibly ask for. He was sure that Yunho felt the same. And Min…this was what he’d wanted for them, wasn’t it? So he couldn’t feel bad or sad. He missed his friend, not a day went by that he didn’t, but it wasn’t an aching pain like it had been once upon a time. He’d had a lifetime of memories with Changmin and he couldn’t be more grateful for them.
Yunho looked down at Changmin’s headstone, feeling the same calm that he’d felt the last time he’d been there. It was like a string had been cut: whatever had been tethering them together had broken that day. He would always love Changmin but he didn’t need that love to survive anymore. In a way, Jae’s love had healed him, had made him whole. Jaejoong would never replace Changmin, he’d simply carved his own place in Yunho’s heart.
“I brought you these,” Jaejoong said, placing a bouquet of violets on the base of the headstone next to the framed photograph of Yunho and Min. “I hope you like them. I know you were never that into flowers but…they’re purple.”
The two stood in silent reflection, both thinking about their dearly departed and the unique connection they’d each had with him. They didn’t need to speak their words aloud: they were sure that Changmin knew how loved he’d been.
Jaejoong couldn’t contain his emotions, however. Something about being in a cemetery just made him feel like crying.
Slipping his arm around Jaejoong’s waist, Yunho pulled him into his side and kissed the top of his head.
“Let’s go.”
As Yunho started to lead him away, Jaejoong resisted for just a second, his eyes glued to Changmin’s name on the headstone. When Yunho tugged again, he let himself be led, curling into his side, absorbing comfort from the arm that tightened around his waist.
“Goodbye, Min-ah,” he whispered.
“Goodbye Princess...”
Changmin watched them go, smiling at the perfect picture they made.
He'd been sure that they’d work things out but he breathed a sigh of relief anyway. It was nice to be right, even in death.
As the picture faded, he closed his eyes and waited.
If this was his purpose, to see the two people he’d left behind find their way to each other, then his work was done.
Time, immeasurable as it was in this place, dragged on until he opened his eyes again in disbelief.
“Seriously? Even after all of that?”
Was there more? But what more could there possibly be? Jaejoong and Yunho were together, they were happy: that was the only unfinished business he’d left behind.
Sighing softly, he glanced down at Jiji. He was still staring at the spot where the image had been. Was this his fate? A lifetime with a cat that hated him?
He stooped down next to said cat. “Jiji-ah… Truce?”
Jiji turned his head and looked at him through baleful eyes. They were expressionless, as far as animals’ eyes went. For a minute he thought Jiji meant to ignore him as he usually did. But just as he started to rise, Jiji leapt up into his arms.
“Heyyy,” he cooed, stroking his back slowly. The cat purred, the first sound he’d ever heard come from him. “Maybe it won’t be so bad after all, eh?” He looked around, peering into the surrounding darkness. “Why don’t we take a walk?” he suggested, realizing for the first time that he’d been in that same spot for a year. It didn’t feel that long, of course, but he knew, from his visitors, that a year had passed since his death.
Taking one cautious step after another, he started walking into the unknown, talking to and stroking Jiji to abate the small stab of fear, the first he’d felt since he’d arrived, that assailed him.
“What do you think we’ll find? Do you think there’s anyone else here? Shall we call out to them? Hellooooooo? Anyone there? No one’s answering Jiji, I guess it’s just us. Where do you think this leads to?”
As he continued on, Changmin didn’t notice that his voice grew fainter and fainter, his corporeal form fading until there was nothing left but the darkness that swallowed him.
The End.
A/N: Thank you all for coming along on this journey with me. Who can believe it’s already been a year? Some of you have been with me from the beginning, some jumped aboard along the way. I’ve made friends here, lost friends there, and still made new ones. Whoever’s stuck it out 'til the end with me, thank you for your time and encouragement. Hopefully 2012 will see us through to the end of another great fic (am I tooting my own horn here? ><’), as long as the aliens don’t come for us that is! Lol
Anyway, I love you guys. Hope you enjoyed your time with me and I’ll see you next year.
Author: VampireMadonna
Pairing: Main: YunJae; Secondary: JaeMin, HoMin
Rating: PG-13
Length: Chaptered
Summary: After Changmin's death, how are Jae and Yunho going to cope with their grief and their increasing attraction to each other?
{C}{C}{C}{C}
The sun was high overhead, the grass green and lush, except for where it had been trimmed along the cobblestone walkways.
Jaejoong watched the trees sway in the distance and took a deep breath of fresh air. If he didn’t look down, it was easy to forget where he was. But as he reached his destination, he did look down and an almost unbearable sadness swamped him. The hand holding his tightened and he was grateful for the comfort it offered.
It was the anniversary of Changmin’s funeral. It might seem odd, he knew: most people visited their loved ones on the anniversary of their death. Yunho and Changmin’s family had, as was expected, and so did they, but they’d come back on this day because this was the day that they’d let him go. He’d still been real to him, alive in some way, even after death. It was when he’d been put into the ground that the reality of his death had truly set in. For them, that was the day that he’d really died.
“Oh, Minnie…” He hiccupped as tears clogged his throat.
He didn’t know what to say. There was no unfinished business now.
He and Yunho had been back in South Korea for over a month now and they couldn’t be happier. There was nothing more he could possibly ask for. He was sure that Yunho felt the same. And Min…this was what he’d wanted for them, wasn’t it? So he couldn’t feel bad or sad. He missed his friend, not a day went by that he didn’t, but it wasn’t an aching pain like it had been once upon a time. He’d had a lifetime of memories with Changmin and he couldn’t be more grateful for them.
Yunho looked down at Changmin’s headstone, feeling the same calm that he’d felt the last time he’d been there. It was like a string had been cut: whatever had been tethering them together had broken that day. He would always love Changmin but he didn’t need that love to survive anymore. In a way, Jae’s love had healed him, had made him whole. Jaejoong would never replace Changmin, he’d simply carved his own place in Yunho’s heart.
“I brought you these,” Jaejoong said, placing a bouquet of violets on the base of the headstone next to the framed photograph of Yunho and Min. “I hope you like them. I know you were never that into flowers but…they’re purple.”
The two stood in silent reflection, both thinking about their dearly departed and the unique connection they’d each had with him. They didn’t need to speak their words aloud: they were sure that Changmin knew how loved he’d been.
Jaejoong couldn’t contain his emotions, however. Something about being in a cemetery just made him feel like crying.
Slipping his arm around Jaejoong’s waist, Yunho pulled him into his side and kissed the top of his head.
“Let’s go.”
As Yunho started to lead him away, Jaejoong resisted for just a second, his eyes glued to Changmin’s name on the headstone. When Yunho tugged again, he let himself be led, curling into his side, absorbing comfort from the arm that tightened around his waist.
“Goodbye, Min-ah,” he whispered.
“Goodbye Princess...”
Changmin watched them go, smiling at the perfect picture they made.
He'd been sure that they’d work things out but he breathed a sigh of relief anyway. It was nice to be right, even in death.
As the picture faded, he closed his eyes and waited.
If this was his purpose, to see the two people he’d left behind find their way to each other, then his work was done.
Time, immeasurable as it was in this place, dragged on until he opened his eyes again in disbelief.
“Seriously? Even after all of that?”
Was there more? But what more could there possibly be? Jaejoong and Yunho were together, they were happy: that was the only unfinished business he’d left behind.
Sighing softly, he glanced down at Jiji. He was still staring at the spot where the image had been. Was this his fate? A lifetime with a cat that hated him?
He stooped down next to said cat. “Jiji-ah… Truce?”
Jiji turned his head and looked at him through baleful eyes. They were expressionless, as far as animals’ eyes went. For a minute he thought Jiji meant to ignore him as he usually did. But just as he started to rise, Jiji leapt up into his arms.
“Heyyy,” he cooed, stroking his back slowly. The cat purred, the first sound he’d ever heard come from him. “Maybe it won’t be so bad after all, eh?” He looked around, peering into the surrounding darkness. “Why don’t we take a walk?” he suggested, realizing for the first time that he’d been in that same spot for a year. It didn’t feel that long, of course, but he knew, from his visitors, that a year had passed since his death.
Taking one cautious step after another, he started walking into the unknown, talking to and stroking Jiji to abate the small stab of fear, the first he’d felt since he’d arrived, that assailed him.
“What do you think we’ll find? Do you think there’s anyone else here? Shall we call out to them? Hellooooooo? Anyone there? No one’s answering Jiji, I guess it’s just us. Where do you think this leads to?”
As he continued on, Changmin didn’t notice that his voice grew fainter and fainter, his corporeal form fading until there was nothing left but the darkness that swallowed him.
The End.
A/N: Thank you all for coming along on this journey with me. Who can believe it’s already been a year? Some of you have been with me from the beginning, some jumped aboard along the way. I’ve made friends here, lost friends there, and still made new ones. Whoever’s stuck it out 'til the end with me, thank you for your time and encouragement. Hopefully 2012 will see us through to the end of another great fic (am I tooting my own horn here? ><’), as long as the aliens don’t come for us that is! Lol
Anyway, I love you guys. Hope you enjoyed your time with me and I’ll see you next year.