On The Red Couch (SMM Universe) YunJae: Chapter Twelve
Title: On The Red Couch
Pairing: YunJae (with some YooSu and Min7en)
Chapter: Twelve
Chapter Rating: R
Genre: Slash/Relationship
Author: wedspawn
Part One: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Se7en, 8, 9, 10, 11
Part Two: 12, 13 (Extremely Mature Content), 14, 15, 16, Comments Regarding Storyline , Se7enteen, 18, 19, 20, 21 (Lemon)
Part Three: 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, Twenty-Se7en (LEMON), 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 (LEMON), 33, 34, 35, 36, Thirty-Se7en, 38, 39, 40 (Final)
Summary: Hot Korean boys. Sex. Dancing and some angry words. Not necessarily in that order. Not necessarily in each section. Final Book in SMM series.
Beginning Part 2: Tarnished Angels Timeline End of Chapter Four
The scandal never hit them, although there were small ripples of splatter along the company walls. Within a week, the members were moved, apologies given to them from a small man that couldn’t seem to stop bowing and inquiries sent about their health. More circumspect entreaties were sent, tiny questions about how Kimura treated them. Yunho handled the matter with a guileless innocence and a reassurance that no, none of the members had been tainted by the predatory monster.
He wasn’t going to give Kimura the satisfaction of having Jaejoong’s name spread around as his leftovers.
Two days after Kimura quit as their manager, rumours broke through the company’s silence when the police came to take him into custody. Apologies were made, discussions of compensation ran rampant behind closed doors and in the midst of all the chaos, the members found themselves in a new, larger apartment closer to central Tokyo.
The move was quick, happening while they were practicing and only Yoochun was awake in the van when it made what he thought was a wrong turn. Their new manager reassured the shouting baritone of their destination, only having to repeat himself when the others woke to shush the young man for disturbing their sleep. A quick ride up in the elevator and the five men found themselves in a modern window-rich apartment, its wide balcony overlooking a small park.
“The company thought it best if you… all of you…” Shizu, their handling manager bowed deeply, opening doors to show the members the apartment. His Korean wasn’t as fluent as Kimura’s but his manner was gentle, a softer touch that Junsu approved of first. “We thought it would be better if you had more room and were…away from where there were difficulties.”
“Thank you,” Yunho returned the genuflection, dipping deeper to show his respect and gratitude. The others mimicked the leader, each bobbing several times as they walked around the place.
Familiar items were arranged among new things, their wide red couch sat adjacent to two patterned crimson love seats, a wide screen television taking up the opposite wall. The kitchen was stocked, pots and pans dangling from a rack against the wall and a walk in pantry made Min’s mouth water when he poked his head inside to check out the store room.
“I live in this building,” Shizu continued, nonchalantly opening another door to a bathroom. “My partner and I… we are two floors below you if you need anything. I’ve left my number on the list next to the phone and there is also a packet of take out menus where the company has an account. The information is all next to the phone.”
“I like to cook,” Jaejoong offered, checking out the contents of the freezer.
“I just like to eat,” Min said, coming out of the pantry with a bag of shrimp chips. There was a brief tussle over the snack as Junsu and Yoochun pounced on their youngest, wrestling to steal the bag away.
Yunho rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry, Shizu-san. They are…children sometimes.”
“Sometimes?” Jae poked his head out from under the butcher block island.
“Nearly always,” Yunho agreed. “Thank you. Very much.”
“Your things are in the dining room. Please forgive the staff if they’ve mingled your items. It was…” Shizu chose his words carefully, smoothing his hair. “Difficult. It was difficult to tell what things belonged to which person.”
“That’s because Jaejoong owns everything and lets us borrow what we need,” Yoochun returned to the kitchen, having liberated a single chip from Min’s bag. The sounds of shouting came from the hallway and then a yowl from Junsu. “I think Susu-ah is losing.”
“Yunho-ah,” Min shouted. “Come here!”
“You better see what he wants,” Jae ducked a punch from Yoochun, stepping to the side. “Stop that or I’ll find a wooden spoon or something to crack your head open with. We can make soup out of the rice you’re using for a brain.”
Changmin stood in the hallway, his long body leaving a dual shadow on the polished wood floor. Two streamers of lights hung from the high ceiling, a soft blue glow hitting a tall, pebble-glass window at the end of the hall. Motioning for Yunho to come to a closed door, he peeked over the leader’s shoulder, checking to see who followed.
“Where’s Susu-ah?” Yunho craned his neck to peer into one of the bedrooms. It was empty, save a sleek bedroom suite of pale oak. “There’s only one bed in here.”
“That’s probably mine,” Min replied. “It’s bigger than the small beds but…never mind, hyung, just look in here.”
Changmin opened the door across the hall from the opened room, swinging it wide open. “This is what I wanted you to see.”
The bedroom was large, nearly double the size of the room three of them shared in the old apartment. Painted a soft cream, it drank in the light from a bank of windows, the floor’s sheen reflecting the clouds. Empty black bookcases waited for books and CDs and two glass topped desks sat on opposite walls, room enough for a wide array of electronics. A stereo sat on a high Queen Anne table, its speaker wires hidden behind the walls to four speakers set at the ceiling’s far corners. An open door revealed a walk in closet while another led to a bathroom.
But Yunho could only stare at the king-sized bed that dominated the middle of the room.
“There’s…only one bed in here.”
“Yeah,” Min said softly. “The other room has two double beds which Junsu is going to push together. He wants that room because it has less windows. He thinks he can keep the room warmer if Chunnie-ah has fewer windows to open. I didn’t want to tell him about flow dynamics. I’ll let him figure it out.”
“What…There’s only one bed,” Yunho gulped, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Oh God, Jaejoong…”
“Hasn’t seen it yet,” The young man replied. “Shizu thinks the two of you are sleeping together. Or someone does. Most of your things are in the closet over there. Joongie’s too. My stuff’s in the dining room with the hyenas’, although I think a few of my books made it into here. I’ll have to go look.”
“There’s only one bed,” Yunho repeated. “One. Bed.”
“Your powers of observation amaze me, hyung. Soon you will be telling me that water is wet and lemons are sour,” Changmin drawled. “More importantly, what are we going to do with only one bed in here?”
“Shizu…”
“Knows.” Min nodded. “Probably everyone knows. Kimura might have even been told to keep you two apart and now with this…thing… happening, they probably think it’s better if you two are happy. Happy people are quiet people.”
“You think someone told Kimura to do that to Je Je?”
“No.” Changmin’s mouth pressed thin and he shook his head emphatically. “No, I think that was his own sickness but he could have been told to keep you two…quiet. He just decided to use it to break you two apart.”
“Well, he did a good job,” Yunho complained. The bed loomed large in the space, probably taking up more room in his mind than it actually did but all the singer could see was an expanse of blood-red linens and pillows. “Jaejoong and I aren’t…”
“Yeah, I know,” Min nodded. “I still am eating fast food, remember? No stew for Min. No bulgogi. No bibimbap. Not even refrigerator kim chi which takes…what?... half an hour to make. We all know you’re not sleeping together.”
“You’re not to tall to break into two, you know.”
“See? It’s that grumpiness. That Yunnie-ah is not getting loving from Jae grumpiness I talked about.”
“What am I going to do?” He couldn’t stop staring at the bed, pristine miles of soft red. Jaejoong’s pale skin and dark hair would gleam on the colour and Yunho cleared his throat, wishing he could scrub the image from his mind.
“Do about what?”
“I… have to go unpack,” Changmin gave the singer a wide innocent smile, ducking around Jae. “I … um .. have to go find a place for everything.”
“What…?” Jae had to move quickly avoid being run over. Stepping into the room, he jostled Yunho, hitting him with his elbow. “Where is he going so fast? Oh…shit!”
He’d seen the bed, Yunho groaned. The massive bed that their manager probably expected them to share, unless the room was meant for Yoochun and Junsu but he doubted it, not with their belongings stacked up in the closet.
“There’s… only one bed,” Jae said, walking around the mattress Yunho secretly thought was as large as a lake. “Shizu must think…”
“That we’re… lovers,” The leader finished for him.
“Yeah,” He murmured, trailing his fingers over his mouth. “That.”
“We can ask him for two beds if you want,” Yunho suggested suddenly then winced at the twinge of pain in Jaejoong’s eyes. “Boo, I don’t know what to do here. I wasn’t planning on this. I didn’t know.”
“No, none of us did.”
“No, we didn’t.” He walked over to the bed, sitting on its edge. The comforter was as soft as it looked, velvet smooth beneath his hands. The image of Jae returned, this time with the lanky singer naked and moaning underneath him. “Je Je…”
“I miss you, Yunnie.” The young man nestled up against the bed, straddling the other’s legs. He remained standing and placed his hands on Yunho’s shoulders.
Jaejoong knew where to touch the other man, knew the spots that ached after a long day of dancing. No matter how much stretching Yunho did, his right shoulder ached and seized up. Jaejoong’s long fingers were perfect for digging out the knot of muscles balled up along the bone. A kiss on the juncture of Yunho’s neck would bring a moan and a bite to his collarbone usually prompted him to grab Jaejoong by the waist, flip him over onto the bed and kiss him until they panted for air.
It had been a long time since Jaejoong panted for air.
“I miss you too,” Yunho said, palming Jae’s waist. The singer was skinnier than he liked, a product of the increased regime Kimura dictated as revenge and the sparse meals they snuck in when they had time. The lean muscle he’d built up in the gym was eaten away by his frenetic activities and Yunho frowned at the jut of bone visible under Jae’s skin. He’d grown too slender for his jeans to stay up properly and they slid down his hips, caught on the rise of Jae’s ass.
“Can we try this… again?” Jae stroked Yunho’s face with the back of his hand, grinning at the burr of a slight beard. “Not…”
“Not picking up where we left off,” The leader leaned forward and kissed the wink of gold in Jae’s navel. It tasted of spice and sweet, a hint of salt from the heat in the van. “But rebuilding us…”
“Starting over…sort of,” Jaejoong agreed. “Can you…share a bed with me? Until we… If we…?”
“If I can’t, then I’ll switch with Min,” He replied, working the ring between his lips. “But not because I’m giving up on us…”
“But because we need… room. I don’t want this to be about…just sex, Yunnie-ah,” The singer sighed, kissing the other man’s ear, laughing when Yunho wiggled away and rubbed at the side of his head.
Keeping his other hand on the man’s hip, Yunho tilted his chin up, staring at the other man’s pretty face. “I don’t either. I think… we need to learn how to be around each other again. We’ve been trapped in this nightmare for too long. It’s about time we both spent our time in bed… talking. Like we used to.”
“Yes,” Jae murmured, stealing a kiss from Yunho’s mouth. “We can kiss though, right?”
“Kissing.” Yunho bit at Jae’s full mouth. “Would. Be. Nice.”
He stole one for each word, loving the feel of the other man on his lips and under his hands. There were no shadows lurking in the hall. No ghosts haunting the space between them. The only thing keeping them apart was hard words and scabbed over emotional wounds, both easily overcome. Jaejoong deepened the final kiss, turning nice into sweet then to a heated eroticism Yunho didn’t want to break free from.
“Hey,” Yoochun popped his head into the room, his eyes widening at the sight of the bed. “Whoa, that thing is huge!”
Yunho shifted, pulling at the tightness across his crotch, trying to hide his arousal before realizing Yoochun was talking about the bed. “Um… yeah.”
“So you two are…” Yoochun gulped when Jaejoong yanked away from Yunho and grabbed his arm, jerking him back towards the door. “Ouch… you’re going to leave bruises.”
“I’m going to leave one on your head if you don’t…” Jae growled then closed his mouth in resignation when Junsu walked in.
“You should see our room…” Junsu whistled low at the sight of the bed. The tenor dove for the mattress, laughing as he bounced on his belly. “Ours isn’t that big and we’ve got two beds pushed together.”
Yunho met Jaejoong’s sigh of surrender with his own, rolling his eyes when Yoochun joined his lover, the pair using the broad bed as a trampoline. Shrugging, he stood, holding his hand out to Jaejoong and winked. “All we’re missing is Min.”
“Min would never jump on the bed,” Jaejoong glanced up. “He’s too serious and besides… I think he’s too tall. He’d bonk his head on the ceiling.”
#
It was later when the apartment fell silent. Yoochun allowed himself to be lured away by the promise of a movie and food with Junsu wheedling a promise that they would actually watch the show instead of studying each other’s mouths. Extracting a solemn vow, Chunnie hooked his arm around Junsu’s waist and they left, bidding Yunho a good night.
The leader shook his head, guessing the promise would be broken before the previews ended before going back to digging through the boxes he’d dragged into the main living area. He’d already set up the game system, looping the wires through the back of the credenza so no one would trip on them. Briefly, he considered the couch as an alternative bed but the thought of spending the night without Jae within reach saddened the depths of his heart.
A breeze hit the sweat on his brow, a lifting cool coming from the open patio door. Glancing at the few boxes remaining, Yunho stood and dusted off his hands. A minute later and with a cold beer in hand, he headed out to the balcony and into the rain drenched night.
“Yunnie-ah?” Jaejoong padded out of the bedroom he would share with the leader. “Have you seen my Must Listen CD?”
The living room was empty, the glass door to the rear balcony left open enough to let a soft wind lift up the sheer curtains. Pulling back the panel, he poked his head out, grinning at the sight of his lover standing against the railing, the gentle rain soaking into Yunho’s thin t-shirt.
“Come here.” Yunho held his hand out, the drops striking his open palm. “Come stand by me.”
“If someone sees…” Jaejoong murmured, dropping his eyes.
He couldn’t believe he still felt shy around the man who knew him the best, the one who made him smile down into his soul. Under Yunho’s fingers and mouth, he saw the heavens and knew he’d grown with the touch of Yunho’s love.
The shyness was still something Jaejoong couldn’t quite shake.
Yunho liked it. He would miss the delicate blush on his lover’s face once the last of Jaejoong’s hidden scars healed over. Yunho also knew that nothing would match the joy in his heart on the day that Jae turned to him and knew that he was loved, without question and without reserve.
That day couldn’t come soon enough for Yunho, despite his fondness of the blush in his Boo’s cheeks.
Jaejoong took Yunho’s hand, weaving his fingers with his lover’s. The rain’s icy bite made him gasp, his stomach muscles involuntarily twisting inwards. “Yunnie-ah, it’s cold.”
“Give it time. It’ll warm up.” Yunho pulled Jaejoong over, cradling the other man in front of him, wrapping his arms around his lover’s waist. “Or better yet, let me warm you up.”
They stood against one another, hidden from the outside world behind a veil of rain and a curtain of faceless buildings. No one knew where they lived and the placement of the balcony gave them enough privacy to watch the city lights around them. Yunho treasured the balcony. Jaejoong was fond of the amorous feelings it seemed to dredge up when Yunho stood on it.
“What were you saying?” Yunho murmured against Jaejoong’s neck, licking at the small birthmark along Jae’s jaw.
“I can’t find one of my CDs.”
“Are you sure it’s your CD?” The other man teased. Jaejoong seemed to have a loose grip on ownership where things were concerned. He and the others had adjusted to Jae’s innocent avarice. They just knew that if they couldn’t find something, chances were good that it was in Jae’s possession.
“Yes.” Jae’s pout begged for a kiss and Yunho complied, sucking on the other’s lower lip, leaving behind a dimple of bite marks. “It’s one of Se7en’s. He signed it for me.”
“Ah, that son of a bitch.” Yunho’s tone was flat, lacking any real heat but the sentiment was still there.
“Yunnie-ah.”
“What?” The other man shrugged, nonchalant in his disregard. “He’s a bastard.”
“He’s not that bad.” Jae shook his head. “He’s fun. You just don’t like him…”
“I don’t like him because his hands wander where they shouldn’t,” Yunho replied, tightening his arms around his lover’s waist. “I don’t have to like him. He’s got nothing to do with us. Hell, he’s not even in our stable.”
“He’s a friend.” Jaejoong leaned his head back, resting against Yunho’s shoulder. He stroked at his lover’s wrists, running his hands over Yunho’s sinewy forearms.
“I think Min might have it.” Yunho cocked his head, watching a seabird arc through the steel grey sky, circling about as it looked for food or a safe place to land. “I saw him with a stack of CDs earlier.”
“I’m worried about our Minnie-ah,” Jae sighed. “He’s been quiet lately.”
“How can you tell?” Yunho made a face at Jae’s mocking snarl. “He’s fine. I think he’s worried about falling behind in Japanese.”
“How can he fall behind?” The singer scoffed. “He’s farther ahead of any of us. He’s stupid sometimes.”
“He is a lot like you, actually.” Yunho was ready for Jae’s skeptical look. “He is.”
“How?”
“Changmin lacks self-confidence, even though he is very good at whatever he wants to do,” Yunho replied. “He works hard. And while you two have different personalities, you only open up when you’re around someone you trust not to hurt you.”
“You think things out too much,” Jaejoong complained, frowning slightly. “Minnie-ah is… smart. So smart.”
“You are too,” The leader whispered into Jae’s ear. “Just in different ways. Both of you are stubborn and won’t give up if you have your teeth into something. He just, thank God, not as tumbled around as you.”
“No,” Jae agreed with a nod. Whispering under his breath, just loud enough for Yunho and the wind to hear. “I’m glad about that. He’s not…”
“As bruised,” Yunho finished, leaning around to kiss Jaejoong’s succulent mouth. “But you’re healing and well, our Minnie-ah is probably getting to the point when he’s looking to be bruised.”
“The phone calls.” Jae’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t think those are from his mother, do you?”
“Not unless his mother calls at two in the morning and makes Min’s voice drop low,” Yunho admitted. The phone calls were worrisome and for all of Min’s innocent protests, he didn’t believe he was speaking to relatives or friends from home. “Last night, I heard him when I went for some li hing mui for my throat. He was in the living room. I guess he didn’t want any of us to overhear.”
“What was he saying?” Jae turned in Yunho’s arms, curious. “Did you hear anything?”
“Jaejoong!” Yunho shook his head. “Privacy. He gives it to us. We should give it to him.”
“Aish.” Jae twisted until he rested once more against the railing, pretending to be mildly disgusted at his lover. He knew who kept Changmin up late at night and made the younger man blush in the darkness. “You are worthless. I’ll have to get Junsu to listen in.”
“He should have his secrets if he wants them.”
“Minnie-ah can have his secrets.” Jaejoong said. “I just want to know them too.”
It wasn’t much of a lie. Not certainly one that would damn him, Jaejoong though. He did want to know Min’s secrets. In this case, he simply already knew. And had sworn not to tell the man who would rip Se7en apart if he knew as well.
“Leave him be, Jaejoong.” Yunho sighed, cradling his lover closer. “Let’s go inside and get you out of these wet clothes. You’re too cold. I want to warm you up more.”