| Fan Fiction |
by Micah
“I’ll…talk to you later.”
There was a short silence, telling Changmin that Junsu was confused. But he only said, “Okay. Bye.”
Changmin turned off his phone and sighed. He didn’t want to tell Junsu. He didn’t want to tell Jaejoong.
Because Changmin was in love with Kim Kibum.
At the same time, Changmin loved Junsu and Jaejoong. They were like brothers to him, the best of friends.
It was normal to want the person he loves and his best friends to get along. Deep inside, Changmin didn’t want Junsu and Jaejoong to hate Kibum. Changmin didn’t want to ruin the friendly and kind façade that his friends saw when they looked at Kibum. He didn’t want to be torn between friendship and love.
But Changmin couldn’t understand. How could he still be in love with Kibum when he’d found out that Kibum wasn’t the friendly, kind person that they all thought he was. It was in his personality to be selfish and independent, to use others to gain his own benefits. How could Changmin have fallen in love with someone like that?
His eyes wandered back to all the articles he’d found about Kibum’s past. Exactly, who is Changmin in love with? Which Kibum is he in love with?
◙◙◙◙◙
“Hello?”
“Hi, Jaejoong?”
“Hey, Kibummie! What’s up?”
“I was just wondering if Yunho is with you right now. I have some news about the experiment and I think Yunho would want to know. He’s always so happy to know that it is only a short time before he can return to his home.”
Jaejoong felt his heart slump. Yunho was happy to be able to return home? Yunho was happy to be able to return home…
“No, I haven’t seen him in a long time,” Jaejoong replied, unable to hide the sadness in his tone.
“Really? I saw him leaving the house and walking in the direction of your house. As a matter of fact, he’s been going in that direction every night…late in the night. I thought he went to see you each of those times.”
Jaejoong thought about it for a moment. “No, he wasn’t with me.”
“That’s odd. I would think that he would be spending time with you. He seems extremely curious about your relationship with Changmin.”
“My relationship with Changmin?” Jaejoong repeated, confused.
“Yes, he told me that you are a really great friend and that he feels he owes you for taking care of him. He confronted Changmin and tried to convince Changmin to give you a chance.”
Jaejoong’s hand automatically clenched tighter onto the cell phone. He didn’t know whether to hurt more because Yunho only saw him as a ‘great friend’ or that Yunho was trying to set him up with Changmin out of gratitude.
“He…he said that?”
“Jaejoong, are you okay? Did I say something wrong?” Kibum’s kind voice came from the other line.
“No, you didn’t say anything wrong. I’ll keep an eye out for him. Thanks, Kibummie.”
“Please tell him that I have good news,” Kibum began to say, but was interrupted by a cough. “…tell him I have good news for him so he should hurry back.”
Jaejoong finally noticed that Kibum’s voice was a bit raspy and he was coughing more as he spoke. “Kibummie, are you sick? I can make you some congee.”
“No, I’m fine. It’s just a small cough.”
“Small coughs can be dangerous. I’ll make you some congee tomorrow and bring over some cough drop that I highly recommend.”
“There’s no need, Jaejoong. You shouldn’t have to do that for me.”
“But I want to. It’s what friends do,” Jaejoong smiled and Kibum could tell he was smiling. “Take care, Kibummie! Have a good night sleep!”
They hung up and Jaejoong stared out his window. His mind wandered back to Yunho.
He grabbed his jacket and decided to go on a midnight walk in the park.
◙◙◙◙◙
Kibum hung up and frowned.
‘But I want to. It’s what friends do.’
Kibum knew Jaejoong was smiling a genuine smile when he said that. He didn’t want to believe that Jaejoong meant his words. He wasn’t used to it.
Sighing, he closed his eyes and leaned back into the chair.
He recalled the many times Yoochun had looked at him with friendly eyes, the many times Yunho had looked at him with respect, the many times Jaejoong would try to make him laugh, the many times Junsu had grinned at him, the many times Changmin had looked like he truly cared.
He recalled that he tried to ignore all of those.
Damn it, what have those five people done to him? Especially the tall guy with the sharp mind and keen eyes…
◙◙◙◙◙
Jaejoong skipped through the empty park. No one was around at this time of the night. It was a peaceful walk, except for the striking of lightning and the promise of rain in the near future.
He hummed and he skipped. He skipped and he hummed. Then he saw a rock and purposely stepped on it, being sure to release a yelp when he began to fall backwards.
Strong arms caught him and Jaejoong was able to balance on his own feet again.
“Is your foot hurt?” the owner of those strong arms, and concerned eyes, questioned immediately.
Jaejoong stared up into those eyes and recalled how beautiful Yunho looked on the first night that they met. Yunho had been unconscious and Jaejoong had brushed away his bangs to reveal the beautiful face, like uncovering a treasure. Yunho was a treasure, but he wasn’t Jaejoong’s treasure.
“So you really have been following me.”
The taller man frowned and turned his head to avoid eye contact. “You pretended to trip on the rock.”
“It’s not difficult to pretend.”
“I need to get back…” Yunho murmured as he turned his back to Jaejoong and took two steps.
“Don’t come back,” Jaejoong’s words made it impossible to take a third step.
“Why not?” his deep voice challenged, his back still towards the shorter male.
“Why come back?”
“I just…wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“You’re not my guardian. You don’t have to watch over me.”
“I owe you for taking care of me.”
“Is that it? Am I like Yoochun’s father? You’ve vowed your life to him because he saved your life. You can’t promise your life to me, but you’re trying to do as much as you can to make up for what I’ve done for you? Is it my fault I couldn’t meet you before Yoochun’s father did? Is it my fault that I’m more than 500 years late?”
Jaejoong didn’t know why he was reacting this way. Hell, he couldn’t even force himself to smile!
He had half hoped to be wrong when he guessed that Yunho was looking after him in the shadows. Then Yunho had really appeared and he wanted to jump the guy, hug him for an eternity and kiss him silly. But that wasn’t acceptable.
“Jaejoong…”
“I’m sorry.”
Yunho turned around to see Jaejoong’s lowered head. His platinum blond hair contrasted with the darkness of the sky.
“Sorry?”
“I’m overreacting. I shouldn’t be acting like such a drama queen…king…queen…king, whatever! King! I’m a guy! I’m a freakin’ guy! ‘Drama king’! Definitely not a ‘Drama queen’!”
“What are you saying?”
“Nothing, I’m just pissed off that I can’t pull off a cheerful façade right now. Hell, I’ve done it all my life and it’d become so easy, but at this moment, in front of you, when it matters the most, I can’t even pretend to be happy!” Jaejoong exclaimed.
“Why would you have to pretend in front of me?” Yunho murmured.
“In this world, you’re the only person that I need to pretend in front of!” the blond man suddenly shouted, raising his head to reveal the moisture in his eyes. “And yet I can’t!”
“I…I don’t…”
“You don’t understand? Let me explain!” he took in a deep breath, as if gathering courage. Then he blinked rapidly, refusing to let anymore tears form. “I don’t cry, Yunho. I don’t cry. I don’t let myself cry. I don’t believe in tears. I don’t feel pain. Do you understand? No matter what happens, I’m able to look on the bright side. I force the pain away and smile through it. Even seeing Changmin love Junsu, I could still look on the bright side, to convince myself to smile. But you! With you, I can’t even force myself to fake a smile! It’s your entire fault!” he shouted as he extended his arm to land a punch on Yunho’s chest.
Yunho didn’t budge, but Jaejoong had to pull his arm back to his chest and rub his hurting knuckles. “See? I punch you and you don’t even hurt! I’m the one hurting! It’s your entire fault!”
Yunho was speechless. The shorter man stood in front of him, quivering and trying so hard to hold in tears.
“Does this mean…?”
“It means go away and spare me! Don’t come back to me! I won’t be able to run away next time!”
Jaejoong turned the other way and ran for his life. Yunho’s legs felt like tree stumps as he stood alone in the empty park.
◙◙◙◙◙
“Yunho! Yunho! It worked! It returned unharmed!” Yoochun shouted in his face the moment he walked into the mansion. Kibum stood behind Yoochun, smiling proudly.
“What worked?” Yunho inquired.
“We did another test drive when you were gone. The subject was struck by the lightning and disappeared from our sights. We waited for another strike of lightning and when I pressed the reversal button, the robot reappeared in the compartment. I had a special camera attached to it and we only need to wait several days for the pictures to develop in order to determine if the subject had returned to the correct era,” Kibum explained.
“The robot looked the same, before and after it was transported,” Yoochun emphasized.
“So…you’ve succeeded?” Yunho turned to Kibum.