| Fan Fiction |
by Micah
“Chicken butt,” Yoochun replied in a dull tone. He was flipping through a sports magazine while Mr. Kim was listening to the radio.
“Very funny,” he drawled sarcastically. “Anyway, my birthday is just around the corner.”
“No one shamelessly reminds people of their birthday like that.”
“I do,” he retorted. “So what am I going to get? Bake me a cake, grill me another steak?”
“You’re how old and yet you’re acting so childish?”
“Good, I’m feeling younger every day. Haven’t felt this immature since…never.”
“What were you like as a child?” he was curious.
“I’m an orphan. I grew up taking care of myself with some help from the sisters at the orphanage. I can’t say I had a normal childhood…or one at all. Still, I guess I had it better than a lot of other people since I was able to go to school and even start my own business.”
Yoochun smiled because it really felt like Mr. Kim was ‘looking on the bright side’ about his childhood. But at the same time, he felt guilty for asking, telling himself that it shouldn’t be any of his business.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For asking.”
“I asked about your past. Now we’re even,” he answered easily. “But I’m not kidding. I’m blind, but I feel so much more relaxed and…happy?”
Yoochun smiled again. At least he admitted to being happy when he was around Yoochun. “I’ll sneak off to town again tomorrow morning to see what gift I can get.”
Mr. Kim grinned in the cutest childish way. He really had lightened up these past weeks. Yoochun really wanted to share his joys with him, but at the same time, he was too busy drowning in his own sorrow.
In the past few days, Yoochun was plotting a way to quit this job and leave, but he needed a good explanation. He didn’t want Mr. Kim to come looking for him and see him for the ugly reality that he really was.
■■■■■
The next morning, Yoochun forced himself to wake up extra early to drive out to town. He remembered to bring the cell phone that Mr. Kim had lent him, just in case he suddenly remembered that he needed to buy something.
As he drove (Mr. Kim had allowed him to take the SUV again!), he wondered what gift he should get.
He needed a gift that said ‘Good Friends,’ not something that said ‘I love you.’
I love you.
He loved him.
Holy Blue Dolphins, he was in love with Kim Junsu! Kim Junsu, the last person that he should be in love with!
Yoochun pushed the thought away and tried to concentrate on driving. He turned the radio up high so that the music was the only thing going through his mind. It beat hearing his own heart thump against his chest.
When he finally reached the marketplace (remember his hat and a flu mask he had picked up the last time he was in town), he walked through two gift shops before he found the perfect gift in the third shop.
It was a ceramic figure of a dolphin leaping out of the water. The wave of water added to the beauty of it, with perfect coloring and sculpting. On the bottom was a golden, rectangular piece with words engraved on it: ‘Look on the bright side.’
He remembered the first time he had told Mr. Kim to ‘look on the bright side’ and the beautiful man had frankly reminded Yoochun that he was blind. A smile graced Yoochun’s lips, behind the mask.
After he paid for the figurine and a birthday card, he left the store. The cell phone in the pocket of his khakis pants rang with a very girly ringtone.
As he searched for the phone, he wondered what Mr. Kim needed him to buy.
Then he wondered if it may be Mr. Kim’s girlfriend (ex-girlfriend?) calling because she wanted to take Mr. Kim away from Yoochun. Wait, he was never Yoochun’s in the first place.
Pushing all the thoughts away, he found the phone and answered it. “Hello?”
“Micky, come back as soon as possible! If you’re still in town, bring Changmin with you! I can see again! I don’t know if it’s temporary, but bring Changmin! If you can’t find him then don’t bother. Just make sure YOU come back as soon as possible!”
He rambled on and on, but all Yoochun could hear was ‘I can see again.’
His eye sight was back…and before Yoochun could even spend one birthday with him. He had to leave.
“Micky, are you listening? Can you hear me?”
“Y…yeah, I’ll go get Doctor Shim right now.”
“Okay, drive carefully! Remember, it’s more important that you make it back here!”
Yoochun murmured, “Okay,” before quickly hanging up. He couldn’t stand listening to the cheerfulness in his voice. Yoochun knew he should be happy for Junsu, but instead, he wanted to cry.
People around him were beginning to look at the strange man who stood rudely at the entrance of the gift shop. With the flu mask, no one had stared at him. They just assumed he was ill and Yoochun would fake a cough every once in a while if someone did stare for too long.
Why did it matter? Junsu had his sight back and he’d make Yoochun take the mask off to reveal his face. He’d recognize Yoochun and put Yoochun in jail.
But that wasn’t what scared Yoochun the most.
Junsu would see how ugly Yoochun was and he would never spare Yoochun a second glance. He didn’t want Junsu to remember him as the ugly reality.
Some people were glaring at him for blocking the entrance so he quickly walked off. He didn’t like it when strangers glared at him. If Junsu…Mr. Kim glared at him, he might die on the spot.
He was going to leave. He had to, but before that, he had some unfinished business to take care of.
Running to Doctor Shim’s clinic, he found that the doctor was busy with a patient. Yoochun informed the nurse of Mr. Kim’s condition and told her to have the doctor drive to Mr. Kim’s beach house as soon as possible.
Next, he ran back to the car and found a pen in the compartment. He carefully placed the gift wrapped ceramic figure on the passenger seat and made room to write on the card.
As he wrote his last words to Mr. Kim…Junsu, he was careful not to let any tears fall onto the card. He tried not to cry, he really did. But damn it, why was he such a wimp?
When he finished, he just sat there. He just sat there, recalling all the happy memories that he would take with him.
Mr. Kim would become Yoochun’s past and never his future. He was leaving the handsome, beautiful, cute man behind, just as he would leave his heart behind.
■■■■■
Meanwhile, Junsu was pacing around his home, even walking into Micky’s room to see if he could find any clues of what the younger man looked like. He noted that he only brought a couple pairs of clothing, a make-up kit and no pictures. There was the shattered cell phone lying on the drawer, but nothing else.
But that didn’t matter. He’d see Micky when he came back. He’d see him. He would SEE him.
The doorbell rang and Junsu practically sprang for it like a child. He’d never acted like this before, until Micky…
“Hey, hyung, glad to see me?” Changmin was grinning at him when he opened the door. Junsu looked past his best friend to search for his love.
“Where’s Micky?”
“He only left a message for me to come as soon as possible. I thought he had rushed back to see you first,” Changmin informed. Then he lifted a gift wrapped box and a card to Junsu’s face. “By the way, I found this on your doorstep.”
“Give it to me!” Junsu reached out to grab for the gift.
“Let me check your eyes first!” Changmin pulled the gift out of reach.
“Did you see my SUV in the lot?”
“I haven’t been to the lot. Now let me check your eyes!”
“Give me the present!”
“Stop being such a baby!”
Junsu slapped Changmin’s hand away from his face. “I’m going to go check the lot.”
He ran off before Changmin could stop him. Junsu walked back into the living room looking devastated. “The SUV isn’t there.”
“That means he’s still in town?” Changmin wondered. He took the gift card from the coffee table and handed it to Junsu. “Here, maybe this’ll explain everything.”
Junsu quickly ripped the envelope apart and flipped open the card. He tried to concentrate on the words, but all he could read was the large, ‘Happy Birthday.’ He looked up at Changmin with fear in his eyes, “I can’t read his writing! Why?”
“It’s nothing to worry about. You should regain full vision in a couple of days. You can’t expect to be completely recovered just like that,” he snapped his fingers.
“I don’t have a couple of days! What if someone kidnapped Micky?”
“Give it to me, I’ll read it to you,” Changmin grabbed the card from Junsu. Looking over it, he didn’t know if he wanted to read the contents to his best friend.
“What does it say?” Junsu demanded. His temper was becoming visible again, but that didn’t frighten Changmin. He would rather see anger on Junsu’s face than sorrow once he read the card out loud.
“He was just an employee so it doesn’t matter. Just know that he’s safe,” Changmin replied.
“Changmin, read me the card or I’ll punch the air out of you,” Junsu threatened.
Changmin sighed before reading, “‘Mr. Kim, Happy Birthday. I am sorry that I won’t be able to celebrate with you. On a short notice, my fiancé has arrived to take me back home. We’re getting married! Do not worry about giving me my paycheck and simply have someone throw out my belongings that are currently in your home. I’m glad you have your vision back. I’ve found the love of my life and I hope you find yours. Good wishes and happiness to you. Good-bye.”
Not ‘See you later’ or ‘See you next time.’ Simply, ‘Good-bye.’ Never to be seen again…