| Fan Fiction |
by Micah
“So what’s bothering you?”
Yoochun went ahead to tell Junsu about what he had discovered about Kibum, from his intelligence to his accomplishments.
“Yeah, that guy really is a genius. Changmin told me about him. Apparently, his parents died when he was really young and he took over the family business. Then he expanded the business with investments in creating new products that were very marketable. Man, if only I was that smart and rich,” Junsu sighed. “I’d give anything to be in his place.”
“Why would you want to be him when you can be yourself?” Yoochun blurted out. He wasn’t really sure what he meant by that.
Junsu wondered if Yoochun meant that he liked Junsu just the way Junsu was. No way! Junsu shook the thought away and decided to change the subject.
“So what’s bothering you?” he repeated.
“I wonder if we can ask him for help. Perhaps he can help Yunho and me return to the past.”
“You think so?” Junsu bit his lower lips as he stopped at a red light.
“There is no doubt that he believes in Time Traveling and he most certainly will not think that Yunho and I are mentally ill.”
Junsu chuckled, knowing Yoochun was making reference to Changmin. “You’ll have to forgive him. Changmin has always been like that.”
“I do not blame him. I still find it hard to believe sometimes.”
“Well, we’re almost home so we can talk to Yunho and the others about it to see what they think.”
“That was what I thought too; that it was best to talk to the four of you before I tell Kibum.”
Junsu had to smile at that. “Great minds think alike!” he cheered.
◙◙◙◙◙
“Don’t you have something snarky to say about this?” Jaejoong turned to Changmin. Junsu and Yoochun (mostly Junsu) had just finished informing them about Kibum and his experiments.
“What is there for me to say?” Changmin raised an eyebrow at him.
“Oh, good, you’re going to shut up for once.”
“So we only need to discuss this matter with Yunho and see if he agrees. Where did you say he was?” Yoochun spoke before another argument could begin.
“He went to the park. Something about practicing,” Jaejoong answered.
“I’m sure Yunho would agree to help. He wants to go back too, doesn’t he?” Junsu analyzed.
Changmin was still silent. He still refused to believe in this ‘Time Travel’ theory. The reason he hadn’t confronted Kim Kibum about his setup that day in the parking lot was because Changmin had better ideas. He wanted to let Kim Kibum persuade Yoochun into the experiment; he wanted Kim Kibum to prove that Yoochun and Yunho were not from the ancient past and it was just some weird mental disease.
But Changmin was confused. Why did Kim Kibum not just tell Yoochun that he wanted to use Yoochun for his experiment? Why go through a stack of his files and let Yoochun ‘coincidentally’ see the ‘Time Travel’ file? Why not propose a plan, propose money to Yoochun and persuade him to agree? This couldn’t quite explain why he had set up that whole scene in the parking lot either.
Kim Kibum was, indeed, a confusing man.
“I was helping him change the bandage on his hand earlier today,” Jaejoong’s words interrupted Changmin’s train of thought. “And might I add, he’s a big Meany. He refused to let me draw on the bandage. I mean, I promised to stop drawing ‘Bambi’ on it.”
“What’s the latest movie you’ve been watching?” Junsu inquired.
“Cinderella. Why?”
“No wonder. Did you start calling him ‘Prince Charming’ instead of ‘Bambi’?” Junsu raised an eyebrow at him.
“No, his most current nickname is ‘Cinderfella’,” Jaejoong spoke as if he was serious. Junsu burst into a laugh while Yoochun looked confused.
“Back to the point, Jaejoong,” Changmin reminded.
“Oh, right, anyway, the point is: why was his hand injured? What was happening before you two were swept up by the tornado and sent here?” Jaejoong questioned, remembering the few facts that Yoochun had once told him about.
“I was the one who injured him,” Yoochun revealed.
The other three were shocked. “Does that have something to do with why he wanted to kill you that day?” Junsu asked.
“He was not trying to kill me,” Yoochun reminded. “He only wanted to capture me.”
“Why?” Jaejoong continued.
“It is a long story. My parents had set me up to marry the daughter of the magistrate. I ran away and Yunho—he works for my father—was sent to take me back. We were in a fight when the storm happened,” Yoochun explained.
Changmin was silent, unwilling to believe the story. Junsu and Jaejoong were ‘oooh-ing’ and ‘ahhh-ing’ with amazement in their eyes.
“So arranged marriages did happen a lot back then?” Junsu inquired.
“Unfortunately so,” Yoochun replied. Changmin didn’t like that Junsu was ogling Yoochun as if he had a halo on his head. It didn’t bother him that Jaejoong was doing the same.
“So have you ever met the girl? Is she pretty?” Junsu asked again.
Yoochun took a few silent seconds to recall the girl’s face. Without any emotion on his face, he answered, “Beautiful.”
Changmin noticed that Junsu didn’t like that answer.
“So your parents didn’t care that they were forcing you to marry someone you don’t love?” he asked another question.
Yoochun’s eyes lowered. This time, he couldn’t hide the sadness on his expression. It was apparent that the question made him uncomfortable.
Junsu felt guilty. Yoochun probably had a bad relationship with his parents and Junsu’s question had triggered that memory. But he must still really love his parents if he wanted to return home so badly.
“Sorry,” Junsu apologized.
Yoochun raised his head to look at Junsu, his eyes soft as if comforting Junsu (telling him to not feel guilty). “No need to apologize.”
Junsu smiled and Changmin noted that he’d never seen Junsu with that smile before. It was a different smile. It was cheesy and sweet and it gave Changmin goosebumps.
Changmin wondered if Jaejoong noticed this subtle interaction between Junsu and Yoochun. Obviously not, since Jaejoong was busy with a Sudoku. Where did that come from anyway?
Changmin decided to take matters into his own hands, faking a cough again. It seemed necessary to do that a lot lately.
“Junsu, can you make me a sandwich? I’m hungry.”
“Huh?” Junsu turned to him as if he had (for a second there) forgotten Changmin’s existence in the room. “Oh, sure.”
The man in white and pink jumped up from his seat and disappeared into the kitchen. Changmin noticed that Yoochun had his eyes on Junsu the whole time.
“Yoochun,” Changmin spoke to gain the other man’s attention.
“Yes?” Yoochun turned to him with a curious smile.
“How are you adjusting to all the new stuff?” he spoke in a friendly tone.
“I am adjusting well. Junsu has taught me a lot.”
“Has he introduced you to pictures?”
“Oh, yes, those rectangular sheets encased in a frame. He showed me some that were in his reading room and his bedroom.”
“In his bedroom?” Changmin was shocked. Junsu had allowed Yoochun into his bedroom? That wasn’t normal.
“Yes,” Yoochun replied, confused about why Changmin looked so shocked. He turned to see if Jaejoong could undo his confusion, but the shorter man was in his own corner (or his own world), staring at a piece of paper and tapping a pen against his cheek.
“Is there…a certain picture that you particularly like?”
Yoochun considered the question. “I suppose my favorite would be the one on his bedside.”
“What is it a picture of?” Changmin inquired, bothered that he did not know.
“A picture of Junsu when he was a baby,” Yoochun informed.
Changmin glanced into the kitchen. It was a good thing that Junsu was so untalented that it took him forever just to make a sandwich. Times like these, Changmin was thankful that Jaejoong spoiled Junsu too much.
“I have a favorite picture as well,” Changmin kept the friendly smile on his lips as he reached into his pocket to uncover his wallet. “Here it is.”
Yoochun gladly took a glance at the picture in the wallet. He became confused as soon as he saw the picture.
There was Changmin, who looked younger than he did now. He was wearing a tuxedo, like always, and his head was tilted so that he leaned close to the person beside him. The person beside him…was Junsu. Yoochun was sure that it was Junsu, but while Changmin looked younger, Junsu looked…older.
“When was this picture taken?” Yoochun inquired.
“This was from our high school days, nearly ten years ago,” Changmin informed proudly. He wondered if Yoochun got his hint.
“Impossible, Junsu has white hair.”
“What? I do?” Junsu’s high squeak was heard. He stuffed the plate of one overstuffed sandwich into Changmin’s hands and ran to the mirror that hung against the wall near the door. Junsu had not liked the mirror when Jaejoong insisted on putting it there for decoration, but at this moment, he was thankful for it.
“No, Junsu, you don’t,” Changmin calmed him.
“But Yoochun said I did,” Junsu looked like a sad child who’d just had his lollipop taken away. He didn’t know why he’d suddenly become so self-conscious about his hair.
“It’s not white hair,” Changmin explained to Yoochun. “Junsu dyed his hair platinum blond in high school. Look closely and you will see that his hair is slightly yellow.”
“‘Dyed’?” Yoochun blinked.
“Yes, it is the process in which certain substances are put into our hair to change its natural color,” Changmin defined.
“Oh,” Yoochun had a thoughtful expression on his face as he embraced the new information. Interesting…
“So I don’t have white hair?” Junsu’s hand was still running through his own hair.
Changmin chuckled at how cute he looked. “No, you don’t,” he assured.