Part 3: May 21 - May 25, 2014
21 May 2014, Los Angeles Int'l Airport, 1:55 PM
The southwest is in the middle of another heatwave when Yoochun and Jaejoong arrive. It makes Yoochun feel like melting silly putty and he imagines himself as a glob on the sidewalk, oozing every which way through the cracks. Not even out of the airport yet and he's already having hallucinations.
"I feel like silly putty," Jaejoong sighs from beside him, unfolding sunglasses with his teeth before slipping them on. "Where's our riiiide?"
"You're in such a hurry," Yoochun replies, pushing their cart of luggage back and forth idly. Most of the bags are Jaejoong's and Yoochun just doesn't ask about how the amount of suitcases between just the two of them really doesn't seem all that much less than when there were five. "We just got here. I don't even know what time it is and you already have an itinerary besides eat and sleep?"
"Sleep?"
"Uhh, yeah," Yoochun says, his tone similar to the one he uses with Junsu when the latter is only in possession of two brain cells. "You know. That thing you do when you're tired? Did you forget about the part where we just flew 13 hours over the ocean? Or maybe not since some of us were drooling while the rest of us were being drooled upon for seven of those hours." Jaejoong doesn't seem to show any response to that. "I'm just saying. There was one-way bodily fluid exchange going on."
"You can't sleep," Jaejoong interrupts, waving off Yoochun's complaint. "We're going to Ro-Ruh - no wait, wait! I'll get it."
"Uh huh." Yoochun rests his hand over his mouth. He's not holding back a laugh, really.
"Ah! Rodeo Drive!" Jaejoong looks awfully pleased with himself.
Yoochun blinks. "... What?"
"Rodeo Drive!" Yoochun blinks again and Jaejoong returns it emphatically and it becomes a mini-blinking match for a few seconds. "Did something happen to your English skills?" Jaejoong finally says, touching his palm to Yoochun's forehead. "Look, you told me the dictionary wasn't necessary and I foolishly listened, so you're not allowed to malfunction!"
"My English skills are fine and definitely do not originate from my forehead," he answers, batting away Jaejoong's hand, "so I don't know why you're doing that, but I think yours need some work. What the hell is a rodeo?"
"Where you shop!" Jaejoong exclaims. "But you have to do it while always having Starbucks in your hand. I think it's like, against the law not to be seen with one. Do you think I'm more of an iced americano or a mocha? Would I look like I'm trying too hard if I bought the americano? Like I assume having an americano makes me more American? I really don't, you know. Maybe I should just get the mocha. Mochas are nice." Yoochun's response to all of that that is a lot like a stupefied silence and Jaejoong sighs. "Are you making fun of me or do you really not know what I'm talking about? Rodeo Drive, America Park Yoochun!"
Yoochun yawns and points at Jaejoong with a limp finger. "Again, reminding you of how you were drooling all over me during the flight, thus greatly affecting my overall amount of sleep. Obviously, your saliva has not only stained my comfy travel shirt - that you're paying the dry cleaning for, by the way - but also seeped into my bloodstream and is now poisoning my brain as we speak and disrupting my ability to think."
"You are so dumb."
Their ride pulls up before Yoochun can get in a retort and as their luggage is loaded up, Jaejoong tells him that they're still going shopping and Yoochun's still not sleeping. Because of this, on the way to the hotel, Yoochun takes great pleasure in slobbering all over Jaejoong's neck while simultaneously snoring obnoxiously into his ear.
He thinks he hears Jaejoong mutter, "You can be the lame tourist and buy the americano."
21 May 2014, Rodeo Drive, 3:23PM
Rodeo Drive ends up being ROW-dee-oh Drive and Yoochun spends the entire 20 minutes it takes for them to go from their room to outside (because Jaejoong couldn't figure out how to set the hotel safe's lock pad and then when Yoochun took over, he sort of dozed off in the middle of deciphering the directions) trying to convince Jaejoong of that.
"It is not! It's row-DAY-oh. I looked it up!" Jaejoong argues as they walk by a boutique selling manpurses that look like they're vomiting diamonds. Yoochun, of course, has to keep him from walking inside to actually consider buying one, no matter how much Jaejoong insists that the one in the middle would match that one pair of jeans he hasn't worn in three years, but only because he never had the diamond-vomiting bag to go with it.
"Hyung! How many times do I have to tell you," Yoochun insists, after he denies wanting to keep Jaejoong from achieving his dreams. "No matter how long it's been around, you can't always trust Wikipedia! People are messing with the information on there every second."
"I didn't look it up on there! Why are you so stubborn - Ew, do they still sell Lindsay Lohan leggings? Those were so six years ago."
"Hyung." Yoochun gives Jaejoong the 'your brain is straying to places I can't follow again' look. It is immediately returned by the patented 'Park Yoochun, you're a great big, greasy loser' face. He sighs, shoving a hand into his pocket. "We should just go ask someone."
Jaejoong lets out a sharp laugh. "Will you be able to stand the shame of being defeated by my superior genius?"
Giving a blank stare, Yoochun reaches towards Jaejoong's hand. "Give me your coffee. You are not allowed any caffeine ever on this trip since it clearly turns you into Junsu and, as someone who cares, I can't let you ruin your life like that." He grabs at the cup, but Jaejoong ducks and twists away, showing more grace than Yoochun's expecting.
"You're not my mother!" Jaejoong yells, running down the sidewalk, leaving Yoochun to slap a hand over his face before chasing after him.
"Yah! You're being embarrassing right now! Stop running!" They're going to get banned, Yoochun thinks as Jaejoong's laughter rings above everything else. They'll be deported and put on the government's Top 10 Most Dangerous People list because Jaejoong's clumsiness is going to kick in any second and he'll somehow cause the destruction of the entire city of Los Angeles. It's not that he doesn't have any faith in Jaejoong, because he does. It's just that that faith doesn't extend to Jaejoong's body.
When he finally catches up again, it's because Jaejoong's stopped to gape at something in a store, hand pressed up to the window like a child. "Drooling again," he informs, half-wheezing next to Jaejoong. "What is it?"
"I lied," Jaejoong tells him, grabbing Yoochun's wrist firmly and tugging him into the store. "Those jeans go with the bag."
Yoochun looks back at the window display and sees, past the smudge of Jaejoong's palm on the glass, a flash of brown before he's pulled away completely. There's something weird about it but he can't quite figure out what it is just yet.
Inside, there's a lot of giant white shelves but not a lot of things on them. Yoochun feels like he's in a room filled with vases balanced on tiny pillars, just waiting for him to slip up and cause a domino effect.
"Where did you drag us into?"
"Who cares." A woman with pale skin and hair that borders on being unnaturally red approaches them. Her legs make Yoochun think of chopsticks. Her chest makes him think of something much more buoyant. Jaejoong tugs on his sleeve. "Hey, ask her for my jeans."
The thing is, having slept only four hours in the past 32 really doesn't let him think very well, certainly not well enough to be speaking in English right off the bat. And even though he had promised Jaejoong he'd brush up on his vocabulary and grammar before they left, he hadn't really, too busy doing more important things like preparations on how to make Junsu's life horrible even while he's absent by inserting rubber butt molds into half his jeans. Among other things. That one just happened to be number one on the list.
He tries anyway with fragments that are soft around the edges as he points at the window display, then at Jaejoong. His attempt probably isn't that much better than if Jaejoong had tried himself, and the little eyebrow raise he gets from the other shows that he's not the only one who knows it.
Instead of staying near and being helpful, when asked for what size they need, Yoochun turns to find that Jaejoong's suddenly wandered all the way across the store to look at shirts. He resists calling after Jaejoong and saying something about his ungratefulness for the sake of not looking like uncultured tourists. It reminds him that he's not sure yet what he's going to do when Jaejoong starts listening to Yunho and busts out the fanny pack.
Jaejoong comes running back soon though, face gleeful and he all but jumps onto Yoochun, latching onto his arm as he whispers excitedly, "I'm right, I'm right, I'm right. I heard the girl over there on the phone say row-day-oh. Row-DAY-oh. You were wrong like a wrong thing!"
Usually, Yoochun would scoff and try to brush off his mistake, but right now he's too busy trying to decipher the weird smile on the employee's face as she glances at Jaejoong half-pasted onto him while thinking about how odd it is that the store only has female mannequins and -- oh. Suddenly he realizes something very awkward.
"Hyung," Yoochun interrupts Jaejoong, scraping him off while excusing them from the employee. He grabs Jaejoong's shoulders and walks him over towards the window display. "Do you notice anything?"
Jaejoong shrugs. "I notice my jeans."
"Yeah? What about the boobs above the jeans?"
"... Oh. That's awkward."
25 May 2014, Seoul, 1:26 PM
After one failed attempt, Changmin's ready to try again. With the recipe laid out on the table and a determined set of his jaw, Changmin gets to work. And this time, he's not going get distracted by trying to beat Junsu's high score. Changmin rolls up the sleeves of his shirt and begins to mix up another batch of pie crust dough. The flour goes up in a small white cloud as he pours it and he coughs, making a face.
"Wow, you're a real chef, now."
Changmin glares at the source of sarcasm. Junsu's standing at the doorway of the kitchen, snickering behind a hand. "Yah, I don't need your help with witty remarks. Or anything else," he says haughtily, sniffing.
"Just trying to be a cheerleader." Junsu hums, skittering closer to the plate of sliced apples and stealing a piece. Changmin can see from the clothes Junsu's wearing that he's just back from the studio, casual loose-fitting clothes. Or at least, as loose-fitting as they can be, considering Junsu's backside.
"You're missing the skirt and pom-poms," Changmin replies dryly, smacking at Junsu's hand belatedly as he closes the flour. He sets it aside (just in case there has to be a trial number three), then on impulse, flicks his flour-covered fingers at Junsu's face, flinging white specks. He grins winningly.
Junsu makes a soft, surprised sound, blinking at Changmin for a second. Then he's grinning too, a slow flash of perfect teeth. Oh- oh, this can't be good. Junsu's devious side seems to be making an appearance. "Is this a duel challenge, Mr. Chef?"
Changmin's grin morphs into a smirk and he grabs the flour again. "This isn't one of your video games, hyung," he says casually.
"Nope, but I'll still kick your ass." Junsu makes a show of cracking his knuckles before grabbing a handful of flour himself. Cocky, Changmin thinks. But the cocky ones are always the first to go down.
"We'll see." Then, with a sound that could be something like a battle cry, Changmin fists the flour and tosses it, laughs as more of the snowy-like substance poofs all over Junsu's face, clinging to his skin and giving him an odd, washed-out look.
"Ah!" Junsu let out a few tiny coughs and blindly throws his own fistful, "wait- I didn't say start yet!" He's laughing, though, which indicates he would have totally done the same if Changmin hadn't stolen his start. Junsu's blind hit isn't so blind though - Changmin didn't expect Junsu to go ahead and fling his handful, so he didn't move to take cover - and Changmin sputters, flour clinging to his lips.
"Yah, that was pretty good," he admits. Another helping of flour and he lunges, dumping his fist over the top of Junsu's head and smearing the flour all over Junsu's hair. "Not good enough, though!"
"Yah!" Junsu's sideways duck isn't so successful, but he manages to get behind Changmin after scooping some flour with his hand. "Take this!" Changmin feels the neck of his shirt pulled back and then flour sprinkling down his naked skin. He shudders a little and grimaces, the bag of flour still in his hand crinkling as he all but leaps onto Junsu's back in retaliation.
"You're going down now!" he says gleefully, upending the whole bag of flour atop Junsu's head.
Junsu obviously didn't expect Changmin to do that, spluttering for a few minutes before he bursts out laughing. "You-" he gasps breathlessly, "you cheater! I hope you get flour in your buttcrack!"
Changmin crows in victory, dancing around Junsu with a wide grin and arms raised. "High score, high score!" he says, laughing along with Junsu.
Junsu, finally recovering from his laughter, regards Changmin with mock haughtiness that makes Changmin wonder who's been learning from who all these years. "Who said we're keeping scores?"
"We don't have to, hyung," Changmin retorts smugly. "I'll automatically win every time, how's that?"
"I say you're full of it." Junsu still hasn't lost his grin. "I can Nina your Yoshimitsu's ninja ass in less than twenty seconds."
Changmin snorts and ruffles Junsu's hair, flour falling from it to his shoulders with the movement. "Shower and cleanup, and then we'll go test that theory," he says. Apple pie can wait a little longer.
"This means you have to get your apple pie right next time, though." Junsu says, hands on his hips. "I don't think we have anymore flour... oh, God. We're all going to die from poisoning on the taste test, aren't we."
Changmin's hair ruffling changes to a smack on the shoulder instantly - it's a good enough comeback, he supposes - then he tugs Junsu along. "Less talk, more shower, hyung. This stuff is nasty."
"Feeling it in your buttcrack yet?" Junsu sounds strangely cheery at the prospect.
Changmin rolls his eyes and keeps tugging.
25 May 2014, Seoul, 12:13 AM
Changmin stifles another yawn as he clacks away at the keyboard, typing up his first email to Jaejoong and Yoochun since they left. It's a little weird, but he figures he's been mope-y enough the past few days and needs to get over it. Finally giving into the yawn as it comes at him again, Changmin fails to notice Yunho until he's right over Changmin's shoulder. Changmin starts as Yunho's arm brushes him when Yunho leans over, reading his screen. "Yah, hyung," Changmin says, nudging him with said shoulder, "don't do that."
Yunho ruffles Changmin's hair and chuckles lightly. "Sorry, Changmin-ah. I thought you saw me come in."
Changmin shrugs, typing again. "Yawns tend to take up most of a person's attention span, either trying to fight it, or letting it happen," he says matter-of-factly, raising a hand to wipe at his eyes, leaking water - another thing yawns tend to cause that Changmin's not all that fond of. "Why are you reading over my shou-"
Yunho's not reading, anymore. His long fingers tap at the keys with accuracy, and Changmin raises a brow, but doesn't stop him. He even smiles a little. Jaejoong and Yoochun will probably appreciate the joint email anyway.
"Hey, are we having a group meeting without me?" Junsu exclaims as he takes position on Changmin's other side. Changmin noticed the new arrival this time - it's usually hard to miss when Junsu enters a room, actually.
"We don't have group meetings anymore, hyung," Changmin says, glad he's not claustrophobic. Junsu's leaning over and stealing the keyboard now, tongue peeking out at the corner of his lips.
Changmin's not sure, but he thinks he sees a slight tensing of Yunho's body, quick and almost unnoticeable. Then it's gone, and when Changmin looks up, Yunho's smiling. Junsu doesn't seem fazed, still typing furiously. Changmin reads what's written and smacks him, stealing the keyboard to add his two cents. Junsu gives a battle cry much like the one Changmin gave earlier in the day and shoves Changmin away - soon another war is started. Changmin can hear Yunho laughing behind them and he can't help joining in. Junsu's been laughing pretty much the whole time.
When the dust settles, there's the best email ever ready to be sent and Changmin thinks maybe this won't be so bad after all.
"Hosumin hwaiting!" Junsu says, pumping a fist. Changmin rolls his eyes and gives Junsu a loving one touch, then catches Yunho's eyes and they share an agreeing glance. 'Hwaiting', Yunho mouths, and Changmin grins, nodding.
Hwaiting. But... "We need a better name," Changmin says, reclining in his chair.
Yunho's leaning on his shoulder again, humming thoughtfully, practically in Changmin's ear. "How about we be the home team, and they can be the away team?"
"I like it!" Junsu's hearing is apparently sharper than they think, and Changmin knows Junsu won't let go of the idea once he 'likes' it.
Changmin tilts his head into Yunho's slightly, smiling. "Maybe in English, instead? I can look it up."
"That's our genius," Yunho says, ruffling Changmin's hair again.
Changmin leans forward, fingers tapping the mouse as he grabs the site he's got bookmarked with an online Korean to English dictionary. "Mmmm, found it," he says. "Home team." He pronounces the English words slowly, feeling them out. "Yeah?"
"Home team." Junsu repeats the word, pronouncing it slightly better than Changmin - Changmin's determined to work on it until he's the better at it. "H-O-M-E. It's nice."
"Home," Yunho echoes, and then in Korean again. "Yeah, it is." Changmin can hear the smile in Yunho's voice even before he glances over to see it.
"So," Yunho says after a pause, looking between the two of them. "What flour fight?"
