| Fan Fiction |
by Micah
With the frown that had become an all too easy expression to his brows, Yoochun made a third attempt to focus on the stacks of paper in front of him.
A knock at the door did not stop his eyes from capturing every word on the paper. Nor did the soft footsteps make him look up.
“I made you some tea and rice cake,” the new arrival spoke in a uniquely soft voice.
Yoochun did not react. He continued to read.
“I’ll leave it on the table for you. Please, remember to eat it.”
After placing the tray on a smaller table, the person exited the office. When he heard the click of the closed door, Yoochun stopped pretending to read.
He looked over at the tea and rice cake. He couldn’t recall the face of the person who had brought it in.
Yes, they’d been officially married for two days. No, Yoochun could not conjure an image of his spouse’s face.
Sure, Yoochun had taken a glare or two at his spouse on the day they had signed those awful marriage papers. But those glares did not last more than two seconds.
Yoochun could not stand looking at the face of anyone in the Kim family. To his eyes, they would forever be hideous beings with faces fogged up by greed and sin. They were people who would use money to have their ways, regardless of whether their doings would hurt other people…or ruin the once perfect love life of a once happy couple.
Pushing the painful thoughts away, Yoochun returned to work.
Two hours later, the tea and rice cake were still left untouched. Yoochun was hungry, but refused to eat something that a Kim had cooked.
He made his way downstairs to cook his own meal…for himself only.
“Money shouldn’t be a reason for taking away a student’s education. The economy is quite awful this year. Increase the amount in scholarships by two thousand and set up ten more scholarships for students to apply for. I will pay for it. No, there’s no need to credit my name. Just put it under your company’s name. Thank you, I will talk to you next time. Good-bye.”
Yoochun didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but the words easily seeped into his mind. He pretended that he had not heard a word and walked across the large living room to settle in the kitchen.
His spouse had hung up the phone and followed him into the kitchen. “Are you hungry? I can make you dinner.”
Yoochun ignored the offer as he opened the refrigerator to gather ingredients. He knew his spouse was patiently standing at the doorway, but he chose to ignore the presence.
“I’ll be in the living room if you need any help.”
Yoochun still did not turn around as he heard the footsteps fade from the kitchen.
Scholarships? Increase by two thousand? Ten more scholarships?
Was his spouse not the person that Yoochun thought he was? Was his spouse not like the cynical father who had forced Yoochun into marrying his son?
Was Yoochun wrong for hating the whole Kim family, especially his spouse, because of what his father-in-law had done to him?
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
After cooking up a simple meal that he had eaten alone in the kitchen, Yoochun grabbed his jacket and left the mansion. He wondered if he should visit a bar for a couple of hours and return home…no, return to the ‘house’ reeking of alcohol and perfume. That should throw his spouse into a fit.
But then Yoochun wondered if his spouse even had a temper. For two days, since they first met to sign the marriage agreement, Yoochun had ignored his spouse. He hadn’t spoken a word, nor shared eye contact. Yet his spouse did not yell or complain like the brat that Yoochun had expected him to be.
No, he would not go to a bar. Yoochun had his own principles. He hated the fact that he was married to someone he did not know, did not love, but he wasn’t going to go torture his body with alcohol and smoke for the sake of irritating his spouse.
So what could he do?
He certainly couldn’t do what he WANTED to do.
But he did it anyways. He called a cab and took the fifteen minute drive to the apartment that he once called his second home.
Fifteen minutes later, he’d paid the driver and was standing on the cold streets looking up at the apartment window. The lights were still on and he saw the movement of a shadow.
When Yoochun saw that his love had walked out onto the balcony—like they had used to do in the past—Yoochun quickly blended into the dark shadows to avoid being seen. But his love did not look down to find him.
Instead, his love was looking up at the sky, counting stars that they used to count together.
[F.l.a.s.h.b.a.c.k]
“Let’s count stars tonight!”
“We’d never be able to count all of them!”
“Good, then we’ll sit here in each other’s arms until we are able to count them all.”
“But that…”
“That means ‘never’. As long as we never finish counting the stars, then I’m never going to let go of you.”
“Looks like you’re stuck with me forever then!”
“Forever doesn’t sound long enough, love.”
[E.n.d.F.l.a.s.h.b.a.c.k]
But they had not lasted until forever. Because Yoochun had let go. For the sake of his family, for the sake of the company, he’d let go.
Yoochun felt his eyes moisten to match the moist that was in his love’s eyes as they stared up at the countless number of stars.
“I’m sorry,” Yoochun whispered.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
It was three in the morning. Yoochun had stood in the shadows looking up at his love for two hours before his love decided to leave the balcony. Then, because it was too late to catch a cab and because he simply didn’t want to return early, Yoochun had walked the long journey back to the mansion.
When he walked in, he saw the body lying on the expensive sofa. Unconsciously, Yoochun walked over to observe the sleeping form.
For the first time, Yoochun carefully observed his spouse’s features. He had soft features, long lashes to compliment the closed eyes, a small nose and distinct lips. His skin was smooth and flawless. He looked like an angel.
He looked nothing like his father.
He looked nothing like the spoiled brat that Yoochun had expected him to be.
As a matter of fact, Yoochun wished Kim Junsu was a spoiled brat. It would be easier to hate him. But this angel, who treated him so kindly even when Yoochun refused to acknowledge his existence, was not easy to hate.
Give him a chance, Yoochun considered.
He blinked to stop staring at the angelic face when he heard the movement. His spouse had woken up and was shifting to sit up.
“I’m sorry; I was supposed to wait on you, but I fell asleep. I…”
“Go back to your room to sleep,” Yoochun spoke in a dull tone, slightly tinged with fake annoyance. He turned to walk upstairs to the office, the same place he had slept last night.
Just as he reached the top of the stairs, the soft voice from the bottom of the stairs said, “You have a nice voice.”
Yoochun stopped walking, but did not turn to look at his spouse. Feeling surprised by the innocence in the other man’s tone and slightly dumb from the fatigue, Yoochun considerately replied, “Go to sleep.”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Yoochun walked out of the large company and into the dark streets. He’d spent his whole day there, even after all the employees were gone. He’d finished at least three day’s worth of work and eventually gave up on trying to be busy.
Seeing the lateness of the day reflecting on the clock, Yoochun felt the urge to return to his love again. He’d wanted to return to the dark shadows that he had been hiding in yesterday, but the falling rain threatened to ruin his plans.
He mumbled a curse as the rain began to fall harder. Just as he was about to take the first step out into the falling droplets, he saw the person running towards him with a large umbrella.
When the person was safely next to Yoochun, the umbrella was lifted higher to reveal the angelic smile. “Hi, I didn’t think you’d brought your umbrella today so I came to find you.”
On instinct, Yoochun wanted to thank his spouse. But he stopped himself in time and just turned away rudely. He stood there with his hands in his pockets and eyes staring ahead, looking as if he’d rather stand there and wait for the rain to stop than share an umbrella with his spouse.
“I…brought you another one so you wouldn’t have to share one with me,” he spoke again.
The older man couldn’t help but turn to look at the angelic smile with a shocked expression. His spouse handed him the already opened umbrella and signaled for him to take it. Dumbfound, Yoochun accepted the umbrella.
The slightly shorter man turned away to open up another umbrella. He took a step away from Yoochun to prevent both umbrellas from hitting each other. This left a wide gap between them.
“Are you ready to leave?” he smiled kindly at Yoochun again.
Yoochun turned away to break the two second long eye contact. Looking ahead, he began to walk out into the rain.
His spouse followed behind him, not next to him, but behind him.
There were still several cars in the streets and the parking lot was across the street from the company building. They stood on the sidewalk waiting for the red light without a word.