Note: BOYxBOY Fic. Please Exit if Offended.

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"Stuck...in the past, in the present, in the future, in love."

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Main Characters:

Park Yoochun

Kim Junsu

Minor Characters:

Kim Jaejoong

Jung Yunho

Shim Changmin

Kim Kibum

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“I will not go back.”

“Then you leave me no choice.”

In the blink of an eye, both men had uncovered their swords.

The man in blue made the first attack. He leapt towards the man in green, sword directed at the man’s arm. He aimed for the arm, because the injury would not kill, it would only temporarily immobilize.

The man in green took one step back and easily dodged the attack. He raised his own sword to push away the other man’s weapon. With the flick of his wrist, he aimed the tip of his own weapon at the other man’s leg.

The man in blue jumped up to avoid the hit, flipping to land behind the man in green. As the tip of his foot landed on the rocky ground, he turned his whole body around to aim his sword at the other man’s neck.

The other man, had too, turned around and extended his sword, aiming for his opponent’s neck.

Both froze in place, arms extended; cold metal against their collars.

“Do not force me to hurt you,” the man in blue said.

The man in green showed no expression. He pressed the sword up and forward.

The man in blue’s eyes widened by the sudden movement and he followed his instincts to press his sword forward. His own sword sliced off several strands of the other man’s flowing, long hair.

The other man’s sword removed the piece of blue cloth that had been tied in the taller man’s hair.

Eyes glared, silence remained as the blue cloth began to drop to the ground. But it never landed next to its owner’s feet. Instead, the gust of wind kept it in midair.

Both men raised their heads to the sky, sensing danger. The clouds were moving together, forming a collection of gray and black. The wind blew harder and each had to take a step backwards to avoid falling.

The man in green took this opportunity to run.

His feet were barely touching the rocky ground as he ran. Without turning his head, he knew that the other man was following at the same speed.

“Stop!”

He kept running.

Then it happened. His hair was blown out of his eyes to allow him to see the incoming tornado.

He felt the hand that grabbed onto his arm and turned his head to see the blue sleeve of the man who refused to let go.

“Release…” he was about to command, but it became hard to breathe.

He felt his body being pushed backwards and could no longer feel the ground beneath his sole. Pressure was against his chest and it took effort to capture air. He saw his surrounding spin for as long as forever and had to close his eyes to avoid dizziness.

Still, he refused to be caught. He refused to go back, go back and be stuck in the life that he despised.

He forced his eyes open and turned to the man who still had a firm grip on his arm. Using what energy he had, the man in green pulled out a dagger from his belt and slashed the stubborn hand.

He heard the gasp of pain, felt the freedom of his arm. He saw the man being swept away in the blink of an eye and both bodies were spinning uncontrollably in midair.

What was going on?

Then he heard the sound of lightening and his whole body ached for only a short moment before going numb.

The last thing he heard was the other man crying his name, “Yoochun!”

Chapter 1

Stranger

“Hello?”

“Where are you?”

“At a convenient store.”

“Buying a lottery ticket again?”

“Of course, same numbers, same order. I’m going to win this time. I can feel it.”

“Oh, please, you’ve been saying that ever since you were old enough to purchase those.”

“And I won’t say it anymore after today. I’ll win and I won’t have to work anymore.”

“Having problems at work again?”

“I’m being assigned to protect Changmin because I only know self-defense and not martial arts. What kind of bull is that, right? My boss is a…”

“What? Shim Changmin? You’re going to be his bodyguard? That means you’ll be spending a lot of time with him!”

“Jaejoong, shut up. You’re supposed to listen to me talk crap about my boss.”

“It’s just another one of his schemes, Su-ie! Don’t do it!”

Kim Junsu grimaced at the nickname. “I don’t have a choice…unless I win the lottery.”

“I’ll go think of a way to fix this and rescue you from Shim Changmin! Don’t worry!” Jaejoong spoke in a dramatic voice. Then he hung up and Junsu was left to sigh at his cell phone.

After leaving the convenient store, Junsu walked across the streets to the flower shop. It was his parent’s anniversary today so, like every year, he would visit them with flowers.

It was a long drive, up in the mountains, in a somewhat isolated area. The land was used as a cemetery so there were no buildings around it, just tall grasses and a lot of dirt.

“Appa, Umma, I bought your favorite flowers again. Hope you two are happy up there with each other. Share the happiness. Bless me with the luck to win the lottery, okay?” Junsu joked like he always did. Funny how he’d cried for weeks when his parents died in the vehicle accident, but after all these years, he could ignore the pain.

Life moves on. No use in being stuck in the past.

“Okay, I’m off. I gotta go home and wait for the lottery numbers to be announced on T.V. Remember to bless me with the luck!”

Junsu stood up from his kneeling position in front of the gravestones and began to walk away. He had hiked up to the mountains where the cemetery was located because it would have been impossible for his vehicle to make it up there.

As he walked, he had to zip up his jacket because the breeze was blowing harder. His ears heard the sound of wheezing wind and the beep of his car being unlocked. Then he felt the hand on his right shoulder and nearly jumped out of his skin!

Without turning around, he used his left hand to grab onto the mystery hand in order to pull the criminal forward. He bent his right arm to connect his elbow to the other person’s ribs. He’d learned this in self-defense…but it wouldn’t work this time.

He felt the other person easily pull the mystery hand back and Junsu was flipped around to face his attacker. The 26 year-old-man’s eyes were wide one second and tightly shut in the next second. He fell to his knees and clasped both hands together as if praying…no, he really was praying.

“Please, don’t hurt me! I’ve never killed anyone! I’m too young to die! Don’t take me with you!” he rambled on and on. “If you’re lonely down there, then just tell me your name and I’ll burn some money to you! Please, don’t hurt me!”

“I am not dead,” the deep voice was heard over the wheezing wind.

Still kneeling and his clasped hands in front of him, Junsu raised his head slightly and opened one eye.

He looked at the…thing that stood in front of him. Okay, maybe the attacker wasn’t a ‘thing’. He was a ‘man’. But his long, long black hair (covering nearly half of his face) made him look like a ghost. Add to that, he was wearing a mixed layer of black and dark green clothes with boots. He had a belt around his waist and attached to that belt was…a sheath with a sword in it?

He looked like one of those characters from an ancient film.

“You’re…you’re human?” Junsu stammered.

The man nodded.

Feeling like the biggest idiot in the world, Junsu stood up. He was embarrassed and angry. “Ya! What the hell is wrong with you? Why’d you scare me like that?”

“I had no intention to frighten you,” the man spoke in monotone.

“Then what do you want? And why are you dressed like that? Is there a movie shoot going on?” Junsu questioned as his head wandered, looking around to find the camera crew. He didn’t see anyone else.

“I do not understand what you are saying,” the man began. “I should be the one to question your clothing and hair and…what is this large object behind you?”

Junsu turned around to see his car. “You mean my car?”

“‘Car’?” he pronounced the word as if it were new to him.

“Did you escape from an asylum or something? Don’t think I’ll help you!” Junsu raised his arms and bent his legs slightly to form a defense pose. Yet at the same time, he knew that his self-defense skills wouldn’t be able to protect him from this stranger.

Junsu had been a bodyguard for many years. It wasn’t easy to sneak up on him without him knowing, but this stranger had accomplished just that.

“What is an…‘as-sai-lam’?” the stranger asked, and he looked like he meant his words.

“Stop acting stupid. I’m not going to fall for it.”

Junsu saw the stranger raise his hand and took a step back, but bumped into his own car. Then he saw that the stranger did not raise his hand to attack Junsu; he had raised his hand to touch his own head, as if his head was in pain.

Just then, Junsu received a call on his cell phone and the song ‘Survivor’ began to play. He saw the stranger leap back in a defense pose, his wide eyes meeting Junsu’s eyes.

“Calm down, it’s just my phone,” Junsu said as he retrieved the object from his pocket. It freaked him out that the stranger was looking at his cell phone with shock and awe, like he’d never seen a cell phone before. “Hello? No, I’m still at the cemetery. I ran into a crazy guy and…what? Say that again. Say that again. One more time. Are you serious?”

Every cuss word in the book spilled from Junsu’s lips and the stranger stopped staring at the cell phone, only to stare at Junsu and his weird language. The cell phone dropped from Junsu’s shaking hands and the stranger’s eyes followed the abandoned object.

When he looked up, the stranger saw Junsu reaching into his pocket and uncovering a small piece of paper. The stranger’s brows furrowed in confusion when Junsu repeatedly kissed the piece of paper.

“What are you doing?”

Junsu’s eyes were suddenly shiny and looking at the stranger. A huge grin on his lips, he cheered, “I won! After all these years of buying the same numbers, I’ve finally won!”

He leapt forward and embraced the stranger while jumping up and down as if celebrating with a best friend. Then, out of shear happiness, he kissed the stranger on the cheek. The stranger’s eyes widened and pushed Junsu backwards. It was an effortless movement of his hands, but the strength in the simple gesture caught Junsu off-guard.

Junsu felt the pressure on his chest and then felt his legs give up. He fell backwards and the back of his head hit the door of his car. His flailing hand hit the side mirror and the pain caused his fingers to flex. The wheezing wind blew the lottery ticket out of his hand!

“No!” Junsu shouted as he watched the piece of small paper being blown away. The stranger’s head rose as well to follow the piece of paper. “Get that back for me!”

Junsu’s jaws dropped when the stranger leaped into the air and uncovered his sword. His eyes were keen as he concentrated on his target. In the next second, the tip of the sword sliced into the middle of the lottery ticket and remained attached to it. All that happened before he landed gracefully onto the ground!

Was this a dream? But Junsu didn’t remember falling asleep!

His lottery ticket!

Junsu pushed himself off the ground and ran to the stranger. He wanted to make a grab for the sword, but realized that it wasn’t one of those fake swords used in movies. It was real!

“Give me back my ticket!” Junsu demanded.

“This piece of paper is very important to you?” the stranger asked in that same boring tone.

“It’s my life! Now give it back!”

Junsu’s jaws dropped once again as the stranger skillfully returned his sword to the sheath, the lottery ticket still attached to it! The lottery ticket was now inside the sheath! What if it was ripped or crumbled? How was he supposed to get the money without the ticket?

“What the hell are you doing?”

“I will return your ‘life’ to you if you will promise to help me,” the man spoke.

“Okay! Okay! I promise to help you! Just give it back to me!” Junsu lied. No way was he going to stay around this weirdo any longer. He’ll get his ticket and run for his life.

The stranger opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it. His brows turned into a frown.

“What are you doing? Give me back the ticket,” Junsu said.

“My head…” the stranger murmured.

“What?”

Junsu was a bit frightened by the sudden emotion of pain that overtook the man’s half-covered face. The next thing he knew, the stranger had fallen over in unconsciousness; back flat on the ground.

Woohoo!

Junsu ran over to the stranger and observed him closely. “Ya! Stop faking it! I’m not carrying you!”

He kicked the stranger lightly, but got no response. Then Junsu knelt down and got a better look at the stranger.

Junsu poked his cheek several times and still got no response. Curious, he lightly brushed the heavy bangs away from the stranger’s face.

“Hmm…not bad,” Junsu complimented. Oh, who was he kidding? The guy was hot! Too bad he was such a weirdo.

The lottery ticket!

Junsu immediately made a grab for his sword and stood up with it. He tried to pull the sword out of the sheath. It wouldn’t come out.

Mumbling a curse, Junsu tried again. The sword wouldn’t come out! Was there a secret button or something? Junsu couldn’t find it.

How was he supposed to get his lottery ticket back? The money! All that money!

Junsu frowned and looked down at the unconscious man.

How was he supposed to get his lottery ticket back? By keeping his damn promise!

Chapter 2

Threats

First, he saw the strange surrounding of solid white walls and oddly shaped objects.

Second, he felt the ropes around his body: tying his arms behind his back, tying his ankles tightly side by side.

Third, he heard the squeak, “Aha!”

Park Yoochun could not hide the shock in his eyes, but he did not allow his eyes to widen. His expression remained frozen as he eyed the man who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Meanwhile, the man was smirking and giving him an evil glare. This amused Yoochun.

“Finally, awake? Don’t try to free yourself, I’ve got you all tied up with death knots on those ropes! I used to be a Boy Scout, after all!”

Yoochun didn’t know what a ‘Boy Scout’ was, but figured it must be something amazing for the man to be boasting about it.

Yoochun couldn’t quite understand why the man’s clothes were so…odd. They were not only in the form of unfamiliar designs, but they were also in bright colors. What kind of man would wear a combination of pink and white clothing?

“Now,” he began again as he pulled an odd looking dagger out from somewhere and swayed it back and forth in front of Yoochun’s eyes. “Tell me how to get your sword out of that sheath or I’ll poke you with this.”

‘Poke’? With a dagger? What kind of man would use such language…and as a threat?

Yoochun’s expression remained the same: no emotions at all. That seemed to annoy his captor.

“Fine, not afraid of death? How about I draw pictures on your face with the tip of this knife? You won’t be pretty anymore!” he threatened.

‘Pretty’? A man didn’t need to be ‘pretty’. What kind of threat was that?

Yoochun still didn’t show any physical responses, nor did he speak a word. He didn’t have a reason to. Instead, he concentrated on releasing himself from the ropes…unknown to his captor.

His captor was frowning, the frown made his features less…feminine.

“Fine, not afraid of that either? Then I’ll do something that will make you very, very afraid!” he said, pausing to wait for a frightened response from Yoochun. No response. “Don’t make me resort to my last resort! You’ll regret it!”

Yoochun blinked once, but his cool expression did not change. Almost…

“If you don’t start talking then I’m going to rape you!”

‘Rape’? That was his ‘last resort’? Ridiculous! A man and a man could never…

Yoochun’s expression finally changed (his eyes widening) when his captor jumped forward and was lying right on top of him! Those soft lips landed on his own lips and Yoochun released the burst of energy that he had been concentrating on gathering. The knots were forced apart and the ropes fell limply onto the floor.

With more strength than the average person, Yoochun easily pushed his captor away and raised himself up into a standing position.

Now he stood tall, staring down at his fallen captor who was rubbing at his rear. Yoochun didn’t know what kind of clothing the man was wearing, but the piece that covered his lower body was obviously too small in size.

“What the…the rope…how did you…?”

“Where is my sword?” Yoochun interrupted his stammering. He watched with cool eyes as the man in white and pink stood up in front of him.

“If I give it to you, will you give me back my lottery ticket?”

Yoochun’s eyes showed that he had no idea what this ‘lottery ticket’ was.

“The paper! The paper that’s stuck in your sheath! I need it!” the man reminded Yoochun.

“I promised to return it to you if you promised to assist me. Since you have broken your promise and even resorting to threats to obtain your belonging…then I do not see a reason for me to keep my promise. I do not respect people who use threats to have their way.”

“Okay! Okay! I’m sorry! I’ll help you!”

“You are not trustworthy.”

“That’s not news to me,” the man rolled his eyes. “Now, please, just give me the paper!”

“After I elicit some information from you.”

“Okay, okay, take a seat. You question, I answer. Then you give me the paper.”

The man sat down and Yoochun followed. The seat was odd, but then, so was everything else in his surrounding.

“Where am I?”

“My house.”

This place was a house? But those solid walls and the door…the door didn’t seem capable of sliding and the walls were not made of wood. What were they made out of?

“What country is this?”

“South Korea.”

“Why do you say ‘South’?”

“Because there’s a North and a South,” the man replied, looking at Yoochun like he was looking at the stupidest person on Earth.

“No, there is only one Korea.”

“That ended in the 1900s. Man, you must have failed history class.”

“1900s? What are you speaking of? It is currently the year 1504.”

Yoochun watched the man’s jaw drop, his eyes traveled from Yoochun’s eyes to his boots, then back up.

“Look, after much thought, I’ve come to a conclusion. You’re a supporting actor, or a cameo, in a movie. You somehow wandered off during the shoot and your crew left without you.”

Yoochun couldn’t understand what ‘cameo’ or ‘movie’ meant. “What are you saying?”

“And I’ve concluded something else. You probably tripped and fell on your head. That’s why you’ve gone crazy and think that you’re from the ancient times.”

“Crazy?” Yoochun murmured.

“At first I thought you’d escaped from an asylum…but that wouldn’t explain your clothes and sword,” the man continued to talk.

There was that word, ‘asylum’, again. What did it mean?

“I am not crazy. I was…” he paused to recollect the events of earlier. “I was running away. Then there was a storm, causing a mysterious spiral shaped…”

“A tornado?” the man offered.

“I do not know. I had never seen it in my life…until then. It swept me off my feet and then…the lightning. I was struck by lightning.”

“That’s not possible. You’d be dead!”

“I thought the same. I lost consciousness and thought I would die. But then I woke up, feeling like I had only taken a short nap,” Yoochun explained. The man wasn’t just looking at him like he was stupid; he looked at him like Yoochun was really crazy. “I woke up in a field, surrounded by tall grass. My head was in pain, but I was able to move. I walked and walked and then I saw large metal object.”

“You mean my car?”

“‘Car’?”

“Okay! Stop creeping me out! You’re a good actor! I admit!” the man exclaimed.

“I am not an actor, nor am I insane,” Yoochun assured in his deep voice.

“It’s easier to believe that you’re insane than to believe that you were struck by lightning and managed to travel into the future…er…the present…er…whatever!”

“Travel into the future?”

“Stop it! Time travel isn’t possible! Is this some kind of prank? Is there a hidden camera somewhere?” the man started turning from left to right as if searching for something.

Yoochun had never heard the word ‘prank’ or ‘camera’ before. What did they mean?

“What year is it?”

“2009, you dork.”

Yoochun’s eyes wandered his surrounding. Was it possible that he had traveled into the future? But...how?

“It is not 1504?”

“Stop being a creep! You look nothing like you’re over 500 years old! I’ve been pranked! I get it! Now where’s the camera?”

“What is a ‘camera’?”

“Stop it!” the man squealed. Yoochun found the noise amusing.

“I am not acting. I was born in 1479,” Yoochun spoke in a serious tone.

The other man sighed with exaggeration. “Okay, fine! So you were struck by lightning and traveled into the future! I believe you! How about giving me that paper so I can go get the money and then I’ll hire someone to help you return to the past?”

“You believe that I came from the past?”

“I don’t see any other explanation,” the man replied. Somehow, Yoochun felt as if the man was speaking false words.

“And it is possible for you to hire someone to return me to the past?”

“Do you want to return to the past? I tell you, you’ll miss out on a lot of good stuff.”

“Good stuff?”

“Yeah, hamburgers and cell phones and already matched clothes on mannequins and all that stuff,” the man said. He eyed Yoochun carefully to see if Yoochun would show any sign that he knew what the man was talking about.

Yoochun only showed the sign of confusion. He had never heard of ‘hamburgers’, ‘cell phones’, or ‘mannequins’.

“No, I am sure that I want to return to my own time,” Yoochun replied.

“Okay then, I’ll go get the sword,” the man stood up and walked into what looked like a hallway.

Yoochun remained sitting, allowing his eyes to wander. Everything seemed so strange. Was he really in the future? What else could explain this phenomenon?

Yoochun returned his eyes to the hallway when he heard the sound of barking and the stranger’s squeaky voice shouting, “Get back in, boy! Sit, sit! I said sit! Stop it!”

‘Boy’? Was there another person in there? But the barking…

The stranger reappeared with his sword, but there was no one else following him.

“Here, take out your sword,” the man shoved Yoochun’s sword in his face. Yoochun easily took it, his curious eyes taking a quick glance towards the hallway again. “Hurry!”

Chapter 3

Fragments

“Hurry!”

“May I have some water?” Yoochun inquired.

“Aish! Fine, I’ll go get it. You take out the sword!” the man exclaimed as he stood up and disappeared into what seemed like another room.

Yoochun looked down at his sword and easily removed it from its sheath.

“Yes!” he heard the cheer as the stranger came back with a glass of water. Yoochun removed the piece of paper from the tip of his sword and handed it to the man, trading it in for the glass of water.

Was it a glass of water? The item containing the water looked…weird to Yoochun’s eyes. Is this what a ‘cup’ would look like in the future? With a handle and pictures of a curved fish?

Yoochun took a drink of water while the other man was having a celebration with the piece of paper. Yoochun couldn’t understand why.

He set the water onto the small table in front of him and moved to return his sword to the sheath.

That’s when it all happened.

Whatever creature it was in the room had somehow managed to open the door and ran out into the living room. Yoochun instincts sent him into a defense mode as he yielded his sword at the creature. It was big, black, and barking.

Yoochun wondered if it was a dog or a wolf. Either way, it looked menacing.

It charged at Yoochun and he automatically attacked. The stranger leapt for his hand and prevented the sword from striking the creature. “No! You can’t kill it!”

“Such a creature will be harmful to humans,” Yoochun spoke, remembering an experience he once had when he was a child. He had been lost in a forest and a wolf had attacked him.

“No! It…”

The stranger was cut off as Yoochun tried to attack the creature again, both running around and breaking all the glass in the living room.

In the process of trying to stop Yoochun, the stranger was pushed around. In the shape of horrified confusion, the furry, black animal leapt at the man in pink and at the same time, Yoochun kicked the table in order to stop the creature in its path. The glass of water tipped and the liquid covered the floor.

The man in pink gasped and saw the sword coming down on the barking animal. “No!” he shouted as he raised his hands to stop the sword. Then his eyes widened in fear as the sword nearly made contact with his hands, possibly chopping off both of his hands. The ticket in his hand was dropped as he froze in horror.

Fortunately, Yoochun was skillful enough to stop the sword in time, before it drew blood or sliced off any hands.

Unfortunately, the ticket landed in the pool of water.

“My ticket!” the stranger shouted as he tried to grab for the ticket. He slipped on the pool of water and started staggering forward. He could have balanced himself if he would just lay his foot down, but refused to do so because he feared that he would step on the already wet ticket.

But Yoochun wasn’t afraid to put his feet down to gain balance. He made a short leap, caught a slim waist in his arm and…his boot landed right on top of the already wet paper.

Yoochun didn’t notice the paper. His body was slightly leaned forward, the stranger’s body close to his and…Yoochun realized that he’d never been this close to another man before.

“Let go!” the stranger shouted and pushed him away. Yoochun blinked and returned to reality. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the big, black, barking creature was suddenly in the corner, calm and sleeping.

But the man in pink was kneeling at his feet.

“You do not need to bow. I understand your gratitude,” Yoochun said as he looked down at the top of the man’s oddly short hair.

Then the man looked up and he saw wet, angry eyes. “Gratitude? You think I’m thankful to you for catching me? Move your foot!”

Confused, Yoochun lifted his right foot.

“The other foot!”

Yoochun lifted his left foot and finally, he realized that he had destroyed the piece of paper. Half of it was on the bottom of his boot while the other half was a blob on the floor.

The man pulled at Yoochun’s foot and scraped off the remains from his boot, cuddling the fragments in his hands. Yoochun noted that his head was low again and his shoulders were shaking as he knelt.

Then he heard the sob.

“It…was a piece of paper,” Yoochun tried.

“It was worth more than one million won!” the man in pink cried. “Do you understand? Money! Think of all that money!”

“I am afraid that I do not understand. Money to me…is like floating clouds. It can come and go.”

“But floating clouds to me is like a life line! I only want money to come, not go! Especially this much money!” the man shouted.

Yoochun was never good at dealing with crying girls, but he’d never had to deal with crying men. Men aren’t supposed to cry.

“Men bleed, we do not cry,” he said.

“Bite me!” the stranger hissed.

“Pardon?” Yoochun questioned, not quite understanding that statement. Why did he want to be bitten?

“Shut up! Just shut up! I hate you! I can’t believe this! I could have been so rich, so happy! My poor baby! My poor, poor baby!” he sobbed, cradling the wet remains of his ‘baby’.

How do you deal with grown, crying men?

“You are in hysteria. Perhaps it is best if you rest.”

“Wh…?”

Before he could finish, Yoochun had struck a pressure point on his neck. The man lost consciousness and Yoochun knelt down to catch him.

It felt awkward to carry a man, but Yoochun lifted him up anyway. It was awkward how the man’s pink contrasted with the dark colors of his own clothes.

Yoochun wandered into the hallway and looked through each door to figure out which one was the bedroom. In the first room, he saw a large, brown table with a flat square sitting vertical on it. A lot of things that Yoochun guessed to be books lied on the tall table.

There were some other things on the desk that Yoochun had never seen before. He saw a smaller object that held a reflection of the man in pink, smiling at Yoochun. But in this rectangular object, the man wore blue. How was it possible that the man was contained in the rectangular object…and still be unconscious in Yoochun’s arms? Was it a painted portrait? If so…then the artist must be a true master to make the portrait look so real!

Drawing his attention away, Yoochun reminded himself that he needed to settle the unconscious man.

He walked out of the odd room and to the one that was across from it.

This one was definitely different. The light through a small window that was high up on one wall allowed light to shine into the room.

There was a large mirror and a table with a concave; it was white and shiny and looked like a huge bowl. Over it was a silver object that looked ever so foreign. Next to the table was something that looked like a white, shiny bowl too, but larger and with a large hole in the middle. What was this thing?

Starting to feel the strain in his arms, Yoochun reminded himself of his goal again. He turned his head to see the rectangular white object, the largest object in the good. It was long and indented, with four sides shielding a large opening in the middle. The large opening was big enough to fit a person.

Was this what a bed would look like in the future?

Was this a bed? There were curtains to cover it too. But what was the use of the silver objects hanging off the wall?

It didn’t matter. There was no use trying to find answers that he did not know.

Yoochun laid the unconscious man into the long, white object. Where was the blanket?

He looked around and saw the pink, fluffy cloth hanging on the wall. He retrieved it to lay it over the sleeping man, who was curled up into a ball. Was that how blankets would look in the future?

Sighing, Yoochun exited the room. He saw two more doors down the hallway, but decided that he wouldn’t visit them. It would only bring him more confusion.

Instead, he walked back into the larger room and settled on the large seat that he had woken up on. The furry, black creature was still cuddled up in the corner.

Maybe not all wolves were bad. But then…what happened in history to change the image of a wolf, to make a man take a wolf into his home and try to protect it?

Yoochun sighed again. He felt like he’d only taken a short nap…but had missed out on over 500 years of events.

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Junsu felt the ache in his neck and the soreness on his body. Man, it felt like he was sleeping on a really hard surface, but that wouldn’t be right. His bed was soft and comfy and…his bed was not what he was sleeping on.

Junsu opened his eyes and looked at his surrounding. Was he in the bathroom?

It was dark, which meant that the sun was no longer out and it was nighttime (which explained why no sunlight was shining into the bathroom). In the dark, Junsu climbed out of the tub and found the light switch.

He was indeed in the bathroom and was sleeping in the tub!

How?

Did he get drunk and stumble his way in here? But then…Junsu didn’t drink alcohol!

Then he recalled what had happened before he had fallen asleep…or rather, was knocked unconscious. The man with the long hair and half covered face who claimed to be from the ancient past. The winning of the lottery! The ruining of the lottery ticket!

Did it all happen or was it just all a bad dream?

Junsu heard the barking from outside and recalled that he was dog-sitting for Eunhyuk…and the man from the past was trying to kill the dog…which led to the killing of his happily-ever-after (also known as ‘the lottery ticket’).

Junsu quickly ran out to the living room, hoping that the mystery man wouldn’t be there and it was all just a horrible dream (except the part about winning the lottery). It wasn’t a horrible dream.

He saw the man sitting on his couch, back straight and legs apart, his hands resting on his knees. His hair still covered half of his face, but Junsu could see his expression. Apparently, he’d flipped the table back into place and had collected the torn remains of the ticket to place on the coffee table. He now sat there, concentration on his face, staring at his lame attempt to put the ticket back together.

Junsu suddenly found it hard to be pissed off at the stranger. But he wouldn’t admit that.

“Ya! Why are you doing?” he interrupted rudely.

“My name is not ‘Ya’. It is ‘Park Yoochun’,” he spoke in that monotone of his.

Junsu realized that he’d known the man for more than half a day and had just now learned his name. How ridiculous. “Well, Park Yoochun, what are you doing?”

Chapter 4

Friends

“Well, Park Yoochun, what are you doing?”

“I attempted to revive this paper that you called your ‘life’ and ‘baby’. Forgive me more failing,” he bowed his head a little and Junsu almost found it cute.

Junsu eyed the pile of nothing and sighed. His heart ached for all the money. But then, Park Yoochun was just trying to save Junsu from falling.

“It can’t be revived,” Junsu murmured sadly.

“What can I do to repay you?”

“Money is all I can think of.”

Junsu stood there with his arms crossed and head tilted. He watched the man reach into his belt to uncover a tiny black pouch. “This is all I have, but I doubt it will be useful to you in this era.”

Junsu gladly took the bag and uncovered the contents. He found coins with letters on them and a square cut out from the middle…like a donut. It couldn’t be used now, but if these were really from the ancient times and not some movie prop that the crazy man had came up with, then Junsu could probably sell it to a museum and get a load out of it.

“Don’t think you can get off the hook with just these!”

“‘Off the hook’? What ‘hook’?”

Junsu mentally slapped himself. Right, the guy was ‘from the past’. He couldn’t understand modern language. “You still owe me. I have no idea what we can do about your situation. I’ll take you to meet my two best friends tomorrow and see if they can come up with any ideas. Meanwhile, you’ll be working for me to pay off your debt!”

Park Yoochun glanced at the pile of waste on the table, and then turned his eyes back to Junsu. “Very well, it is only fair.”

Junsu silently patted himself on the back. How awesome, a free servant! That kind of, sort of made up for the lottery ticket…but only a little.

“Clean up this mess in this room and then go clean the bathroom.”

Park Yoochun stood up and prepared to pick up the mess that he and the furry, black creature had created earlier. Junsu settled on the comfy couch to watch.

“Oh, by the way, my name is Kim Junsu.”

◙◙◙◙◙

Junsu walked into the restaurant with Yoochun following him. The hostess, after staring at Yoochun for a little too long, brought them to a table.

“Kim Junsu, these clothes make me feel ill at ease,” Yoochun whispered after the hostess walked away. He was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. Junsu had made him tie his long hair into a pony-tail that lied against his nape, but the bangs remained to cover half of his face.

“It’s better than what you were wearing. Besides, you look fine. Not as handsome as me, but you’re still okay.”

Junsu thought he saw Yoochun raise an eyebrow at his statement.

“The shirt fits well,” Yoochun commented.

“What about the pants?”

“There is room to spare,” he looked down at the pants, turning his head slightly to eye the area of his butt. Definitely room to spare.

Junsu felt slightly offended. What was that supposed to mean? Was the guy saying that Junsu had a large butt?

Junsu didn’t have time to frown upon Yoochun. Jaejoong interrupted.

They watched as the man with black hair and a beautiful face stomped through the kitchen door and over to a pair of customers. His outfit made it obvious to everyone (except Yoochun, who’d never seen such article of clothing) that he was the head chef of the restaurant.

He was waving a spatula around as he shouted at the customers, “If you’re not going to enjoy the food with a smile then get out! Life is too short for me to watch you people eat and look crappy at the same time! There are people on the other side of the world who can’t even eat!”

Customers around them were staring with wide eyes and open mouths. After listening to the lecture, they quickly went back to eating and making sure they looked happy as they enjoyed their meals. The pair of customers who were being yelled at did the same, smiling wider with every bite.

“What is happening?” Yoochun inquired.

“That’s Jaejoong. He’s the chef here. He’s always yelling at customers who don’t look happy when they’re eating,” Junsu explained. “His principle is that every meal should be experienced with a smile.”

“Does he own this…restaurant?”

“Nope, but his skills are so good that the owner won’t fire him and people continuously return to eat his food…no matter how much they hate his lecturing.”

“Amazing,” Yoochun murmured. Everywhere he looked, he saw people smiling as they conversed and ate.

Then his eyes landed in a nearby table in the corner where a man sat alone. The man was young and he didn’t look like he was happily enjoying his meal. Only him.

Junsu noticed this man as well.

Jaejoong appeared at their table and was about to ask about Yoochun, but Junsu spoke first, “Why don’t you go yell at that guy over there? He’s looking depressed while eating your food.”

Jaejoong looked over at the corner and then back at Junsu. “He comes here every week and sits at that same table for hours. I’ve yelled at him five times, but he doesn’t give a care. I made an exception for him. I guess you can say we have this silent, mutual agreement between us. Besides, he’s a good tipper.”

“Why does that matter? You don’t get any of the tips. The waiters and waitress get the tips.”

“I’m happy to see them happy when they receive the tips from him,” Jaejoong replied. He turned his eyes on Yoochun. “Now why don’t you tell me who this is?”

“Oh, right, this is Park Yoochun,” Junsu introduced. “This is my friend, Kim Jaejoong.”

“Nice to meet you,” Jaejoong extended his hand to Yoochun. Yoochun looked at his hand in confusion.

“You’re supposed to shake his hand,” Junsu explained. Yoochun didn’t move, unsure of the gesture.

“That’s okay,” Jaejoong smiled. “Nice hair, by the way.”

“Are you on break right now?” Junsu interrupted while Yoochun was left to ponder the compliment. All his life, he’d encountered men who complimented each other’s women, sword, skills, but never hair.

“I can be on break anytime for you, Su-ie,” Jaejoong grinned sweetly at Junsu. Yoochun noticed that Junsu shivered a little.

Then they heard the voice of a new member, “He hates that name.”

Yoochun looked up at the tall man who had joined their table. While he did not get the feeling that he needed to raise his defense towards Jaejoong, Yoochun suddenly felt that he should beware of this new stranger.

“Well, ‘Junsu’ is too boring,” Jaejoong made a mocking face at the tallest man.

“It’s his real name,” the man retorted with annoyance.

“Stop arguing! I called you here to help me solve a problem,” Junsu cut in.

“What is it? And who is he?” the tallest man eyed Yoochun.

“His name is Park Yoochun. Park Yoochun, this is Shim Changmin.”

“Don’t offer a handshake; you’ll confuse the poor guy!” Jaejoong whispered to Changmin.

“Stop being awkward,” Changmin lectured as he raised his hand to Yoochun. Yoochun only stared at the extended hand.

“See?” Jaejoong chirped.

“He doesn’t understand handshakes. They didn’t have handshakes in the ancient times,” Junsu sighed. Jaejoong and Changmin looked at him as if he’d grown a third head.

“What?” they chorused.

Junsu went ahead to explain everything to them.

Fifteen minutes later…

“Are you kidding me?” Changmin raised an eyebrow. “There’s no such thing as time…”

“Wow! That’s amazing!” Jaejoong gasped. “I’ve always wanted to travel in time!”

“Stop being ridiculous! There’s no such thing as time travel!” Changmin lectured the pouting Jaejoong. Yoochun continued to watch in silence.

“That’s what I thought too, but the more time I spend with him, the more I’m starting to believe. His clothes, the real sword, the ancient money…and you should have seen his face when I taught him how to do chores! Last night was the worst night of my life! I’m lucky he didn’t ruin any of my machines or furniture! He thought the bathroom was a bedroom! And when I taught him how to use the toilet and how to shower…”

“You showered him?” the two exclaimed in jealous tones. People around them gave them weird looks.

“No! I just explained the set up to the bathroom. Thankfully, he’s a quick learner. We walked here from my apartment because I don’t know how he’ll react to being in a car…and I thought it’d be a good idea to let him walk through the streets to get used to it.”

That meant Junsu believed that Yoochun was from the ancient past.

Jaejoong and Changmin looked at Yoochun, who still sat there silently.

“So what are you going to do?” Jaejoong questioned.

“What are WE going to do? I expect you two to help.”

“Of course, I’ll help you, Su-ie,” Jaejoong showed off that sweet grin again while Junsu and Changmin cringed. Yoochun found it amusing.

“I’ll hire a good psychiatrist. The doctor will figure out whether he’s crazy or lying,” Changmin said. He refused to believe that time travel was possible. It didn’t fit into the logics of life.

“I am not insane, nor am I lying,” Yoochun finally spoke.

“He speaks!” Jaejoong cheered. “And what a nice voice you have.”

Again, Yoochun didn’t know how to react to the compliment about his voice. So he chose to speak to the other man, “I am not insane, nor am I lying.”

“We’ll see about that,” Changmin met Yoochun’s eyes as if challenging him.

Junsu buried his face in his palm and sighed. Jaejoong was rambling about Changmin being too logical and was weird for not believing in time travel.

The four did not notice that their conversation had a fifth listener.

Chapter 5

Saved

“Why did you request Junsu to be your bodyguard?” Jaejoong’s eyes had turned into slits as he tried to ‘stare down’ the tall Changmin.

The four of them had waited until Jaejoong’s shift had ended before leaving the restaurant.

“I am not childish like that,” Changmin brushed him off. “I received a threat note and my parents became worried. They know that I’d be comfortable with Junsu so they requested him.”

“That makes sense,” Junsu nodded.

“You believe him?” Jaejoong exclaimed.

“It’s not in Changmin’s personality to do something like that,” Junsu replied. Yoochun found himself silently observing the three friends.

“Junsu knows me best,” Changmin said. “I would not use such dirty tricks to woo Junsu.”

Yoochun wondered what ‘woo’ meant. He looked at Junsu and saw him rolling his eyes.

Jaejoong was still glaring. “Are you suggesting that I use dirty tricks?”

“Yes,” the tall man replied. Jaejoong still glared, but Changmin didn’t look at all frightened. “You shamelessly asked Yoochun for his bracelet. Why should I believe that you will not shamelessly use dirty tricks to woo Junsu?”

“How is that ‘shameless’? I liked his bracelet, so I complimented it! Yoochun is nice, unlike you, and was willing to give it to me!” Jaejoong protested, waving the bracelet in front of Changmin’s face and creating a melodious sound with the piece of jewelry.

“Yes, I do not mind,” Yoochun said, hoping to stop this argument.

Junsu knew better. “Don’t even try to stop them. They argue more than they eat rice,” he told Yoochun.

Yoochun was curious about why they bickered so much, but then, he couldn’t understand most of the things they said. If Yoochun was crazy, he would have thought that they were fighting over…well, over Junsu.

But that’s ridiculous. Why would two men be battling for the heart of…another man?

“Stop picking fights with me. We’ve wasted enough time waiting for you to get off work. Now we need to figure out what we’re going to do about Yoochun,” Changmin finally ended it. Yoochun noticed that Changmin was always the one who ended the fights.

“Thank goodness!” Junsu cheered. “So what do we do now?”

“Let’s go back to your place and talk. I’ll make us all a nice dinner!” Jaejoong grinned. “What do you like to eat, Yoochunnie?”

Yoochun was amused by the nickname while Junsu and Changmin cringed. “Anything is okay,” Yoochun managed to answer.

“Come on, I’ll drive,” Changmin offered.

“‘Drive’?” Yoochun inquired.

“Yeah, we’ll show you something new. Come on,” Jaejoong grinned as they began to walk away from the restaurant. “That tall thing is called a parking lot.”

Changmin walked with his back straight and head high. Junsu was poking away at his cell phone while Yoochun watched with curious eyes. Jaejoong was skipping.

They eventually got to the parking lot across the street and Yoochun was amazed by all those large metals he saw, all lined up neatly in rows. He’d seen a lot of those moving in lines when they had walked from Junsu’s home to the restaurant. Yoochun remembered that Junsu had called those objects ‘cars’.

Jaejoong was already waiting next to a large, red car while the other three walked slowly towards him.

Yoochun’s ears perked when he heard footsteps on the other side of the large parking lot. He turned his head to see a man walking to another car. Yoochun recognized him as the man who sat in the corner in the restaurant. He’d left a short amount of time before the four of them had left the restaurant.

“Hey, isn’t that…” Junsu began.

His question was cut off when they saw the large, white van drive towards the lonely man and nearly ran into him! The vehicle came to a sudden stop, causing the screeching of tires. The door slid open and three masked men ran out of the car. They grabbed for the lonely man, who struggled to free himself.

All four of them reacted, running towards the attackers and the stranger. But a masked man held a gun to the stranger’s head, am arm wrapped tightly around his neck. Changmin, Junsu, and Jaejoong didn’t move. Yoochun stopped as well, wondering why the other three had frozen.

“Don’t move or I’ll shoot him!” the masked man threatened.

‘Shoot him’? Yoochun couldn’t understand how. He did not see any bows or arrows.

“Okay, calm down,” Junsu said.

“Put your hands behind your head and lie face down!” another masked man ordered. Junsu, Jaejoong, and Changmin shared glances and slowly raised their hands behind their heads. The position was supposed to make it more difficult for them to stand back up and run after the kidnappers. Yoochun still couldn’t understand.

He looked at Junsu and his eyes asked, ‘What are you doing?’

Junsu’s eyes replied, ‘Do as he says.’

“Hurry!” the masked man shouted, pushing the gun into the stranger’s temple and making him flinch.

Junsu, Jaejoong, and Changmin started to get on their knees. Yoochun was still confused. He eyed the black object that the masked man was holding against the victim’s head. Was that a weapon? Yoochun had never seen such a weapon before.

He just knew that the stranger was in trouble and needed to be saved.

So he took action. Before anyone could blink, Yoochun swiftly kicked the black object out of the kidnapper’s hand. All eyes widened in shock, but no one could catch up to the incredible speed of movements as Yoochun threw punches and kicks.

“Wow,” Jaejoong and Junsu chorused. Changmin’s mouth wasn’t hanging open, but his eyes showed amazement.

The three masked men quickly scurried into the white van with their new injuries. Yoochun was about to run after them, but the captive suddenly grabbed onto his arm.

“There’s no use in running after them,” the stranger spoke. Snapping out of their shock, the other three quickly ran to Yoochun and the stranger.

“That was awesome!” Jaejoong cheered, staring at Yoochun as if he was wearing a cape and tight underwear with the symbol of a huge ‘S’ on his chest.

“I told you his skills are real!” Junsu boasted.

“That does not mean he is from the ancient past,” Changmin assured. Deciding to concentrate on the most important topic, he turned to look at the stranger, “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, thank you,” he replied.

“You seem awfully calm for someone who’d almost been kidnapped,” Changmin pointed out.

The stranger didn’t bother to answer him. Instead, he looked at Yoochun. “What is your name?”

“Park Yoochun,” he replied.

“Kim Kibum, nice to meet you,” the shorter man smiled. Changmin was the only one who noticed that he did not extend his hand to Yoochun.

Changmin was also the only one who recognized the name. “No wonder you look so calm. You must be used to being attacked.”

“What?” Junsu looked back and forth from Changmin to Kibum.

“Kim Kibum, twenty-three years old, child prodigy, heir of the third richest family in South Korea,” Changmin easily informed, eyes on Kibum, daring the shorter man to deny the truth.

Kibum didn’t react. He kept his eyes on Yoochun, who had turned around to pick up the black weapon that he had kicked out of the kidnapper’s hand.

“You know him?” Jaejoong asked Changmin. “Why didn’t you say so when you saw him sitting in the corner of the restaurant?”

“I only know his name. Not many people know the face that goes with the famous name,” Changmin replied.

“Wow, you’re so mysterious!” Jaejoong smiled at Kibum.

“What are you doing?” Junsu asked Yoochun, who was examining the gun. “Put that on safety or you’ll…”

His breath caught and his eyes widened when Yoochun innocently pointed the gun at Junsu’s face.

“That’s dangerous!” Changmin exclaimed, stepping between Junsu and the gun.

“The masked man held it like this,” Yoochun examined, his eyes on the gun and making sure he was holding it just like the masked man had. “Is this a weapon?”

“It’s called a ‘gun’,” Jaejoong quickly reached over to take the gun from Yoochun. “It’s really dangerous so to prevent you from shooting Su-ie on accident, I’ll just take it from you and…”

BOOM!

Kibum and Yoochun jumped from the shock. Junsu covered his ears and clenched his eyes together. Changmin wrapped his arms protectively around Junsu. Jaejoong had accidentally fired a shot at the ceiling when he took the gun from Yoochun.

“How do you put this on safety?” Jaejoong exclaimed, his hand extended and frozen in front of him. His heart had nearly jumped out of his chest.

“Give me that!” Junsu quickly took the gun and put it on safety.

“Oh, Su-ie, that was so scary! You know I’m too gentle to be playing with guns,” Jaejoong extended his arms to capture Junsu into an embrace. Changmin stepped right in between him and Junsu. Jaejoong glared at Changmin again.

Yoochun was as confused as ever. Kibum cleared his throat to gain Yoochun’s attention.

“So, Yoochun, what do you do?” Kibum inquired with a friendly smile.

“He’s jobless right now,” Junsu answered for him. Then he turned to Changmin and Jaejoong, “Which reminds me, I still need to find him a job so that he can pay off his debt.”

“Would you be interested in being my personal bodyguard then?”

“What?” Junsu and Jaejoong chorused.

Changmin didn’t look surprised. The twenty-three years old prodigy was known for having a weird personality.

“‘Bodyguard’?”

“I’ve been trying to find the perfect person to protect me. I pay a good salary and you’ll like the benefits.”

Junsu could see money signs in his eyes when he heard ‘salary’.

“I am afraid you will have to find another person. I…” Yoochun wanted to tell Kibum that he was from the past and did not know a thing about the modern world.

“He’ll do it! But he can’t start until a week later,” Junsu cut in. “Salary is negotiable.”

Kibum looked at Junsu, then at Yoochun’s confused face. He returned his eyes to Junsu and smiled, “A week sounds good. Here is my business card.”

With that, the young man walked to his vehicle and drove off, leaving the four standing in the parking lot.

“What just happened?” Jaejoong scratched his cheek with an index finger.

“Kim Kibum just hired Yoochun,” Changmin said.

“What does this all mean?” Yoochun inquired.

“It means you have a job! I’m your manager. I’ll handle everything for you. In the next week, I’ll teach you everything about being a bodyguard!” Junsu rambled. His eyes were shining. “This is amazing! The money! Think of the salary! This would be the perfect job!”

“A job? But I will not be staying here for long. You promised to help me return to my time,” Yoochun pointed out. Jaejoong’s lips pouted at the thought of losing his new friend. Changmin rolled his eyes, still refusing to believe that Yoochun was from the past.

“You can just quit when that day comes! Meanwhile, you still owe me money! Let’s go home and get started!” Junsu cheered, hands clapping and lips grinning. He began to sing, “Money, money, money! I love money!”

Chapter 6

Bandage

“Money, money, money! I love money!” Jaejoong mimicked Junsu’s high notes, swinging his hand to mix in the beautiful chime of the bracelet with the lyrics.

He was hoping to cook a nice dinner for Junsu tonight, but the younger man had shooed Jaejoong and Changmin away. He said that he had a lot to teach Yoochun tonight.

At least Yoochun was a quick learner, so it shouldn’t be too much stress and trouble for Junsu.

Jaejoong sighed and knelt down to pick up the empty potato chip bag. He walked to a trash can and placed the piece of abandoned trash in. Then he continued to walk.

His lime green colored watch read 1:28 a.m.

But really, this was the best time to be taking a walk in the park. No one was around and the feeling was…unexplainably awesome. ‘Unexplainable’. That’s a good word to describe it.

Jaejoong smiled and continued to swing his arms as he walked. The sound of the bracelet’s chimes graced his ears again…and then he heard the THUMP!

Others would have been frightened, afraid that it was a robber or a murderer. That thought didn’t bother to cross Jaejoong’s mind. He turned around to where the sound came from.

The bright moon and stars allowed him to see the tree and the body lying lifeless on the grass.

Hmm…interesting.

Jaejoong picked up a long branch along the way and was quickly by the body’s side. The person was lying on his back; he had a bad sense of fashion, long black hair covering his face, and plenty of dry blood on his hand. There was a wound on his hand.

“Hello?” Jaejoong questioned. He poked the man’s leg with the long branch. No reaction.

Jaejoong knelt down and got a better look at the man. He brushed away the hair in his face to reveal a beautiful facade. It was almost like…uncovering a treasure. How fun and exciting!

Jaejoong poked at his cheeks. No reaction. He pinched the same smooth cheeks. No reaction.

But his skin was definitely hot. Touching his forehead, Jaejoong concluded that the stranger had a fever. Looking at his bloody hand, Jaejoong saw that his wound was infected.

“Hey! Hey!” he shook the man. “Are you dead? Can I put antibiotic on your hand?”

Finally, his head begin to move. Jaejoong had the urge to brush away the furrow on his brows as the stranger squint his eyes. Those eyes finally opened, just a little and Jaejoong leaned over him so that they were face to face. He hoped his huge grin would make the stranger feel a little better.

“Can you hear me? Can I take you home with me? How many fingers am I holding up?” Jaejoong held his hand over the man’s eyes, the bracelet on his hand chimed.

But those eyes didn’t look at his hand; they just kept staring at Jaejoong. And then they closed again, the stranger losing consciousness again.

“Okay, I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ then.”

◙◙◙◙◙

.

Yunho’s eyes began to flutter open. In his mind, he recalled an image of a beautiful girl. It was the face of a goddess that he had seen before falling into darkness…but was it a dream or was it real?

“I’m a little teapot, short and stout. Here is my handle, here is my spout,” he heard a striking male voice sing. Was it singing? What language was it?

Yunho tried to move his body. That was when he noticed the lump of cloth that surrounded his hand. His fingers were barely visible under the huge ball of white! Even more, there were black marks on the cloth…drawings…but drawings of what? Yunho couldn’t tell.

Then he heard a not-so-gentle voice shout, “No! No! No!”

Yunho used his uninjured arm to push himself into a sitting position, taking in the odd surrounding. Where was he?

He remembered. He’d woken up on a bed of grass, alone in the forest. He’d walked and walked and eventually arrived that what seemed like a town with buildings. Only those buildings were oddly shaped, incredibly tall and people were oddly dressed. And there were so many things that Yunho had never seen in his life.

What had happened? Did he land in another country? Which country? How was it possible?

He’d brushed the thoughts aside, ignoring the people who gave him weird looks. His mission was to find Yoochun and take him back home. And that would be all Yunho cared about.

After a long, whole day of searching, he began to feel the strength of the illness he had been trying so hard to ignore. His body felt cold one moment and then hot the next. The wound on his hand burned and at one point, he felt the urge to vomit. Even more, he was too hungry and too thirsty to continue to search. Yet he didn’t ask anyone for help.

Eventually, Yunho found a place of trees and grass. He easily settled on top of a large tree, hiding behind the leaves and watching the oddly dressed people playing nearby. There were children and adults. They had short hair, they wore form fitting clothes, they spoke of things that Yunho could not understand.

Yunho eventually fell asleep and woke up to a full moon. He heard a familiar chime and remembered his mission.

Still feeling the fatigue, Yunho had leapt from the tree, barely able to balance. He followed the sound of the familiar chime and saw the back of a person. No one else was around, just that person.

The person wore the bracelet, but Yunho was sure that the person was not Yoochun. The person was shorter, wore odd-looking clothes, had short hair, and looked all too vivacious to be Yoochun. But the person wore Yoochun’s bracelet. So Yunho followed the person, expecting to be led to Yoochun.

But after so long, he could not hold up against the infection of his wound or the fever that burned his body. Hating himself for being so weak, Yunho felt himself losing the battle to unconsciousness. Darkness took over.

“Aiya! No milk either? Darn it!” the not-so-gentle voice shouted again. Yunho saw a brighter light through the rectangular opening. Was the person in there? Was it the person he had been following?

But if that person was important enough for Yoochun to give up his bracelet, then that person may not be willing to inform Yunho of Yoochun’s location. The person may even try to stop Yunho from catching Yoochun.

And Yunho did not feel comfortable interacting with another person.

He heard footsteps and knew that the person was coming towards him…wherever he was. Hearing the blowing wind, seeing the moon shine through the open window, Yunho stood up and leapt out of the window.

He heard the unique voice say, “Where’d he go?”

◙◙◙◙◙

“We put this in our ear so that we can communicate with each other,” Junsu informed as he carefully placed the small piece of technology into Yoochun’s ear. “This cord is connected to it and this piece right here is where you talk into. Are you catching on? Do you want to write this down?”

“This is a lot of information. I think I should write it down.”

Junsu easily pulled out a notepad and a pencil from under the coffee table. “Here you go.”

Yoochun looked at it strangely. “I…only know how to write with a brush.”

“Oh,” Junsu blinked, mentally slapping himself. “This is called a ‘pencil’. It’s better because we don’t need ink and if we make a mistake, we can erase it with this piece on the other end. This is called an eraser. Here, I’ll teach you how to hold it.”

Junsu used both of his hands to hold onto Yoochun’s hand, teaching him the proper way to hold a pencil. A voice in the back of his head noted how smooth Yoochun’s hand was.

Yoochun caught on quickly and began to jot down notes about all the technology Junsu was introducing him to. Junsu couldn’t really read what he was writing, considering it was characters of the ancient time. But he had to admit that Yoochun had a great talent in drawing the equipments to go with his notes.

“Okay, next, this is a gun. As you learned from Jaejoong earlier, it’s very dangerous if you don’t know how to handle it.”

“I will not need it. All I need is my sword.”

“No, you’ll need this.”

“I trust my sword,” Yoochun assured. Junsu noted that he had an awesome voice, but the guy was too monotonous.

“Okay, we’ll lean about this one later then. With your skills, you won’t need it anyway,” Junsu looked through his kit to see if he was missing anything. Then an idea hit him. “Hey! You can teach me some fighting skills too! That’ll make me more marketable and my boss won’t give me measly jobs to follow!”

“Pardon?”

Yoochun couldn’t quite understand why Junsu wanted to be ‘marketable’.

“Just promise to teach me some of your skills.”

“I am not a good teacher,” Yoochun turned his head to look down at his notes. His bangs fell over his face again and Junsu wanted to brush it away.

“Oh, come on! You owe me! You ruined my paper!” Junsu reminded. Yoochun remembered. And that was probably why he finally agreed. Not quite because Junsu was giving him the cutest, cheesiest puppy eyes in the world.

◙◙◙◙◙

Junsu call said that they would be going to the biggest ‘park’ in the city today. Yoochun followed silently, but did take notice of his surrounding. More exposure, more confusion, more interest.

At the same time, Yoochun also paid attention to the other people they were with.

“I thought you were supposed to be my bodyguard. Why am I the one following you around instead?” Changmin said to Junsu.

Yoochun noted that the tall man was wearing the similar matching clothes that he wore yesterday, except it was a different color. And yesterday, the long piece of cloth that was around his neck (which extended to lie against the middle of his chest) was red; today, it was blue. The clothes that Changmin wore were different from the ones Junsu and Jaejoong wore. The clothes that Changmin wore…gave off a feeling of maturity and professionalism.

“You’re the CEO of your own company. You can afford to not work today,” Junsu brushed him off. Yoochun wondered what ‘CEO’ meant. “Besides, I need to train. You want me to learn new skills, don’t you?”

“Well, yes, I suppose. It will help advance your career in order to secure your future,” Changmin replied.

“I might get more important jobs, meaning more money!” Junsu grinned happily, eyes shining at the thought of money. Yoochun couldn’t understand his love for money either.

“You’ll be the next Superman!” Jaejoong cheered, throwing punches in the air.

Changmin raised an eyebrow at him. “And why are you here?”

Chapter 7

Nickname

“You’ll be the next Superman!” Jaejoong cheered, throwing punches in the air.

Changmin raised an eyebrow at him. “And why are you here?”

“I’m off today,” Jaejoong retorted with attitude.

“You are not.”

“I called in sick!”

“You don’t look sick.”

“You wouldn’t know because you’re insensitive like that,” Jaejoong stuck his tongue out at Changmin.

“You’re too immature. You’re always switching jobs or getting fired for your out-of-this-world antics. You have no steady career. Your future is a blur.”

“Okay, Umma, I know that you have your whole life organized and planned out,” Jaejoong rolled his eyes. Yoochun wondered why he called Changmin ‘Umma’ and with such a mocking tone. “But you know what you need to do? Lay off the work and live for the present.”

“Why don’t you think for the future before you take action in the present?” Changmin retorted.

Yoochun glanced at Junsu, who shrugged with an expression that said, ‘It’s just another argument.’

“Live for the present! This is why you would bore Su-ie to death,” Jaejoong said.

“Bore to death? At least we won’t be living on an unsteady, unplanned life!” Changmin countered. Yoochun couldn’t understand what Junsu had to do with this conversation.

Then he felt Junsu’s hand on his arm, pulling him away from the two bickering friends.

“You…” Jaejoong began.

“This conversation is over. Where did Junsu and Yoochun go?”

Both turned their heads to see Junsu and Yoochun standing too far away from them. Yoochun was beginning to instruct Junsu on the basics.

Jaejoong and Changmin began to walk towards the two, but could only take two steps. They felt a strange gust of wind caused by the speedy movement of an object…or rather, a person. A person had appeared out of nowhere and ran past them at the speed of light.

Jaejoong suddenly hugged Changmin tightly and shouted, “Ghost!”

“There are no such things as ghosts!” Changmin exclaimed, trying to push Jaejoong away. He stopped trying when he heard the sound of Junsu’s gasp, looking up just in time to see Yoochun pushing Junsu away.

In that same second, the person (who Jaejoong had claimed as a ‘ghost’) was aiming an attack at Yoochun. After pushing Junsu away (for his own safety), Yoochun took a step backward to dodge the tip of a sword.

Changmin got a better look at the attacker, noting his long hair, ancient clothes, and his sword. What was this, a joke?

They ran to pick Junsu up from the ground and watched with wide eyes at the battle. Everyone else in the large park had also stopped to watch, confusion painting their faces.

“That’s Bambi!” Jaejoong eventually recognized.

“‘Bambi’?” Junsu and Changmin looked at him like he was crazy. They wondered if they’d ever get used to his randomness.

“Yeah, ‘Bambi’ is pretty and cute. The movie was beautiful too. I’ve just recently re-watched it,” Jaejoong informed casually. Junsu and Changmin shared eye contact.

Jaejoong was known to be one who lived in the present and only cared for the present. Another thing about him was that he liked giving people nicknames. Most times, those nicknames would have an association with the current events in his life. Unfortunately for the guy who was trying to kill Yoochun, ‘Bambi’ the movie was a current event.

“He’s trying to kill Yoochun! How can you think he’s pretty and cute?” Changmin, the ever rational one, protested.

“Hey, they’re my eyes. I’ll see what I want!”

“Stop arguing and figure out how to help Yoochun!” Junsu shouted.

All three turned their attentions back to the fight. Kids were starting to cheer and some adults thought it was a show for a park event while others searched for a camera crew.

Yoochun jumped up to avoid the sword that aimed for his legs. He flipped forward and made an attempt to run.

His attacker easily turned around and grabbed onto Yoochun’s shoulder to turn him around. Even before he was face to face with his attacker, Yoochun already knew his next move. His right hand reached out to land a punch, which was easily dodged. While his attacker leaned back to dodge the punch, Yoochun took the distracted opportunity to strike at the hand that held the sword.

The strike caused pain and his attacker released the sword. Yoochun made a grab for the sword, but his hand was kicked away. The sword returned to its owner’s hand.

Yoochun tried to grab for the heavily bandaged hand, remembering that he had slashed it with his own dagger that faithful day. But his attacker saw his intention and slid his arm forward so that Yoochun’s hand could only grab onto his elbow.

Yoochun made use of it, grabbing tightly onto the attacker’s elbow. He grabbed the attacker’s other arm and tangled his own arms so that they were trapped into a lock, both standing close (face to face), but unable to move (unable to attack).

“Stop this,” Yoochun warned, eyes continuing to battle. Yet at the same time, he saw fatigue in Yunho’s eyes. As a matter of fact, Yoochun noticed the flush of his cheeks and noted that Yunho’s skin was heated.

“You must agree to return.”

“Yunho, look at our surrounding! We cannot return home.”

Yunho’s eyes shifted to take in his surrounding. “We will find a way. I just need to guarantee that you will not be able to run away.”

“You can have me tied down for as long as you want, but we will not be able to return home. This is no longer our era. This is the future.”

Suspicion and confusion glazed Yunho’s eyes. From the corner of his view, he saw three people running towards them.

“Yoohoo! Bambi! Remember me?” one of them waved.

Yunho recognized the voice and recognized the face…but did not know that the remembered face belonged to the remembered voice. The voice from that night belonged to a man in the other room…but Yunho remembered the face as belonging to a goddess.

It didn’t matter. His mission mattered.

He flicked his wrist to throw the sword up into the air to create a distraction. With a surge of energy, he released his arms from Yoochun’s locking constrain. The palm of his hand struck Yoochun’s chest and sent the younger man falling backwards.

Yunho easily caught his sword and aimed it at the fallen man on the ground. Yoochun would have felt the cold steel against his collarbone if he wasn’t wearing the T-shirt that looked strange to Yunho’s eyes.

The three had seen the life threatening sword and were frozen in place. They didn’t notice that Yoochun wasn’t trying very hard to fight for his ‘life’.

“Don’t kill him! He still owes me money!” the one wearing pink shouted.

“Yunho, listen to me, we are not able to return home. It is the year 2009. Why do you think our surrounding is so different, so foreign?” Yoochun spoke.

Changmin and Junsu noticed that people were gathering to form a crowd. They also got a good look at the attacker’s bandaged hand. It was so thick that it almost looked like a cast. ‘Bambi’ was written all over it with Jaejoong’s pathetic attempt to draw a deer surrounded by pretty flowers.

“Why don’t you put the sword down and we’ll find a place to talk?” Junsu told the attacker.

“I promise we won’t hurt you,” Jaejoong added, gaining Yunho’s attention. “You remember me don’t you? I was on my walk last night and saw you in this same park. You were sick and your wound was infected so I brought you home to help you bandage it up.”

“You brought a stranger home, just like that?” Changmin questioned.

“Why not?” Jaejoong inquired innocently. Changmin rolled his eyes and turned away.

“I thank you for your kindness,” Yunho said. “But I am on a mission and I must bring him home.”

“Home is more than 500 years away,” Junsu informed. “Put the sword down and we’ll explain. That looks pretty dangerous.”

“He will not kill me,” Yoochun assured.

“It would be simple if I could,” Yunho retorted. Yoochun began to stand up and Yunho followed his movement with the sword, the sword still against his neck. “I cannot kill you, but I am allowed to injure.”

“Of course,” Yoochun retorted with bitterness in his voice, “Even better if you could disable my fighting skills.”

Junsu, Jaejoong, and Changmin sensed a deeper reason behind that statement and Yoochun’s tone.

“If you’re not here to kill Yoochun, then why…?” Junsu began.

“Can we find a more private place to talk?” Changmin interrupted, sensing the crowd moving in closer when they saw that the man with the sword was not violent enough to kill.

“I promise not to run this time. Follow us to Junsu’s home and we will talk,” Yoochun assured Yunho.

Junsu, Jaejoong, and Changmin did not expect Yunho to agree, to believe in Yoochun’s promise. In this day and age, who believed in promises anymore? Every man and woman in the modern life break promises.

But to their surprise, Yunho returned his sword to his sheath. He believed Yoochun’s words?

He believed Yoochun’s words. Yunho knew that Yoochun was a man of his words. Yoochun had never told Yunho that he would not run away before, because he always had the intention to escape. But now that he promised not to, Yunho would trust him. A true man kept his promises; it had something to do with pride and honor.

The modern men had a difficult time understanding this. Not all, but most.

◙◙◙◙◙

“Impossible,” Yunho said.

“I agree,” Changmin supported.

“There is no other way to explain it,” Yoochun assured.

Silence took over. Yunho’s eyes wandered Junsu’s living room. Yoochun’s eyes remained on Yunho. Junsu looked back and forth from the two and Jaejoong’s head followed in sequence. Changmin’s eyes examined all four of them, his eyes rolling when he got to Jaejoong.

“If there is a way to travel here, then there must be a way to return,” Yunho finally spoke.

“Yes, I believe so as well. Junsu promises to help me find a way,” Yoochun explained.

“How?” Yunho’s dark eyes were on Junsu; it kind of scared Junsu.

“Um…I’m still trying to figure that out.”

“I’ll be helping too!” Jaejoong cut in, waving a little and grinning a lot.

Chapter 8

Plans

“I’ll be helping too!” Jaejoong cut in, waving a little and grinning a lot.

Junsu wanted to laugh when Jaejoong’s awkwardness placed a confused expression on Yunho’s face. Throughout the whole explanation, Yunho had been expressionless and Junsu had thought that he wasn’t capable of emotion.

“Until we figure out a way to get you two back into the past, you’ll just have to get used to the modern life for now,” Junsu began. “I’m teaching Yoochun the basic necessities and, blame it on a miracle, Yoochun managed to get a job as a bodyguard. I’m training him for that too.”

Yunho turned his eyes to Yoochun. His face was deprived of emotion again, but Yoochun seemed to understand his silent question.

“I am in debt at the moment,” Yoochun answered.

“I guess you could stay here with me…” Junsu offered. Secretly, he wondered if he could find a job for Yunho too and ‘help’ manage his salary.

“But Su-ie, you only have one guestroom and Yoochunnie is already staying in there,” Jaejoong interrupted.

Changmin’s hand was unconsciously straightened his blue tie as he glanced over to see if Yunho cringed or looked confused by the nicknames. If he did, it didn’t show on his face.

“I do not require a room,” Yunho informed.

“No, no, you need a room to rest in. You look like you still have that fever. You can stay at my house! I live pretty close to Su-ie so we can come over every day!” Jaejoong persuaded.

“You’re only creating an excuse to come to Junsu’s home everyday,” Changmin’s voice was heard.

“Bite me!” Jaejoong hissed at him.

Yunho and Yoochun wondered why the weird man would want to be ‘bitten’. It was Yoochun’s second time hearing the phrase, but he still couldn’t understand it. It was Yunho’s first time hearing the phrase, but he didn’t think he would ever understand it…nor did he think he would ever understand the future human race.

The wheels in Junsu’s brain began to turn. Having Yunho live with Jaejoong would mean less responsibility for Junsu. If they found Yunho a job like Yoochun, then Junsu could most likely talk Jaejoong into letting Junsu manage Yunho’s salary and all that other good stuff. He’d save money on water and electricity too!

“Okay then!” Junsu interrupted Jaejoong and Changmin’s bickering. “Yunho can stay with Jaejoong while Yoochun stays with me. This week we’ll concentrate on teaching them the basics and…”

Jaejoong raised his hand as if he was in a classroom.

“What?”

“Besides teaching them all that new stuff, can we change their looks too?”

Yunho and Yoochun looked at Jaejoong, then at each other. They definitely looked different from the modern men, especially Yunho (who still wore his own clothes).

Changmin glanced at his watch, “It is still early. Let’s go buy them some clothes.”

“Are you paying?” Junsu was first to react.

Changmin sighed at Junsu’s greed, but still smiled at his cuteness. “Yes.”

“Let’s go then!” Junsu shouted. Yunho and Yoochun still sat calmly, not quite knowing how to react.

“Wait!” Jaejoong shouted even louder.

“What?” Changmin raised an eyebrow at him.

Jaejoong jumped out of his seat and shimmied around the coffee table to stand in front of Yunho. “Have you eaten? You need to eat before I give you some medicine for your fever. You ran off before I could give it to you last night. Why did you run off anyway?”

“Stop nagging the man!” Changmin lectured.

Yunho blinked as he stared into Jaejoong’s eyes, but his face did not show any emotion. He wondered silently: how could he have mistaken this man for a goddess?

“I will be fine,” he said.

“Have you eaten since you woke up in the grass?” Yoochun inquired. The others could see that Yoochun was concerned about Yunho’s health. What exactly was the relationship between them?

“I do not need to eat. If there is a task we should accomplish now, then we should focus on that task first,” Yunho assured.

“You’re always like this. You can go for days without eating, but it’s bad for you,” Yoochun protested. Junsu and Changmin shared glances. ‘Always like this?’ Just a while ago they were fighting, but now it sounded like they’d known each other since forever.

“You don’t eat for days? That’s horrible! Horrible! I can’t believe this! Su-ie, hold me, I might faint,” Jaejoong turned to Junsu. Junsu stood up from his seat to hold up the ‘fainting’ Jaejoong.

Changmin rolled his eyes. “You’re scaring them.”

“No, no, you go out and buy them some clothes. I’m going to stuff him until he gains ten pounds.”

“I do not…” Yunho began.

“Don’t do it. Don’t argue with Jaejoong about eating. It’s dangerous,” Junsu warned.

Yunho looked from one man to another. He decided to just keep quiet. He was too confused to think and Jaejoong was right, his body was still battling the fever. The rush of adrenaline was over and the fever was hitting him harder than before.

“I can predict his size. We’ll let him stay here and rest. The three of us can go pick up some clothes while Jaejoong cooks,” Changmin organized.

“What? You and Yoochun go! Su-ie needs to help me!” Jaejoong exclaimed.

“You never need help when you cook. Let’s get going!”

Changmin grabbed Junsu’s arm and pulled him out of the apartment. Junsu had grabbed onto Yoochun to make him follow. Yunho remained sitting on the couch, looking to his side to see Jaejoong pout.

When the door closed, Jaejoong turned his attention to Yunho. “I’ll be right back!”

Yunho watched the shorter man disappear through a rectangular opening in the solid walls. He soon reappeared with a glass of water and two small objects on his palm. Yunho did not know what those two pink objects were.

“Here, drink these. These are okay to drink on an empty stomach.”

“Thank you, but I have no need…”

“Do you want me to feed it to you?”

“No, I do not…”

“Then take it! It’s medicine. It will help with your fever. If you don’t drink it, then I won’t be happy. Are you going to hurt my feelings?” he pouted again, eyes moist and looking like a lost puppy.

Yunho always thought he was the cold type, all too good at hiding his emotions and uncaring about other people’s feelings. Yet at this moment, he wondered why he was reacting to those pleading eyes.

And Jaejoong was standing so close that Yunho only saw his head, not his body. He remembered when he had mistaken Jaejoong for a girl, a beautiful girl.

Not possible.

Confused, Yunho accepted the medicine.

He was amazed at how quick Jaejoong’s expression changed. His eyes were no longer moist and his lips were grinning. “Just throw them back and gulp down the water to swallow! Then lie down to sleep. The food will be done when you wake up!”

Yunho watched Jaejoong disappear through the rectangular opening again.

He made a note to himself: he had better keep his guard up when Jaejoong was around.

◙◙◙◙◙

“This one, this one, and this one. This one looks good too,” Junsu counted off as he pulled piece after piece off the racks.

“Junsu, don’t go crazy,” Changmin’s calm voice interrupted. Right, Jaejoong was the one who always spoiled Junsu while Changmin was the rational one who kept Junsu on track.

“Okay, this is enough then. Here are some pants that are slightly longer. You go try them on and we’ll know if it’ll fit Yunho,” Junsu placed a pile in Changmin’s arms and a pile in Yoochun’s arms.

They were pushed into individual rooms and tried on each article of clothing…with some trouble from Yoochun.

“I will not wear this,” he held up the pile that he had separated from his stack.

“Why not?” Junsu demanded.

“The color is not suiting,” Yoochun replied. “Do not purchase such colors for Yunho either. He will not wear them.”

“Why not? Pink is cute!” Junsu exclaimed. They’d had this argument before. Junsu had leant Yoochun some clothes to pick from this morning and Yoochun picked one of the rare shirts that was not a bright or pastel color.

“Junsu, don’t push it on him,” Changmin said.

“Fine, then we’ll go with the boring dark colors. Green, blue, black; green, blue, black; yuck,” he mumbled as he walked off to pick out more clothes.

“Don’t mind him,” Changmin told Yoochun.

“Thank you for understanding. We are not accustomed to wearing such…feminine colors,” Yoochun looked at a pink shirt in dismay.

“This doesn’t mean I believe that you’re from the past,” Changmin pointed out.

“Sometimes, I am not so sure of it myself,” Yoochun revealed before walking back into the fitting room to figure out how to wear the button up shirt.

Changmin watched the door close. He wouldn’t believe in time travel. He’ll figure out a reason for this. Perhaps it was a rare mental disease. He shook his head with a sigh, also disappearing into a changing room.

An hour later, all clothes were picked and purchased. They walked out of the building with six bags. Junsu easily shoved them all towards Yoochun, “Here, I picked out all the clothes, Changmin paid, so you carry them.”

Yoochun silently agreed and tried to juggle all the bags. Junsu looked proud (that he had a servant) and Changmin was about to offer to help, but felt a strike to the back of his head. Junsu was hit on the back of his head too.

“Ya! What the…?” Junsu began to shout, rubbing the back of his head. Changmin turned around to see who had hit him.

“How dare you two? Two men making a girl carry their bags for them!” one elderly woman lectured. She was the one who had struck Changmin’s head.

“Such a disgrace!” the elderly woman who had hit Junsu added.

“What are you two talking about?” Junsu exclaimed at the two women.

“You two men, especially you, so tall,” she pointed an evil finger at Changmin, “making this poor girl carry all your shopping bags!”

“What?” Junsu’s mouth dropped in shock as he looked at Yoochun (whose face was slightly covered by bangs and slightly covered by the many bags he was juggling).

“And you! You shoved all those bags at the poor girl!” the old woman slapped the back of his head again.

“That’s not a girl,” Changmin explained, understanding what was going on.

“Not a girl?” both elderly women chorused as they moved in closer to get a better look at Yoochun. One woman moved the bags aside while the other brushed Yoochun’s bangs away.

Yoochun had no idea how to react, only standing there in confusion.

“Oh, she’s a man,” one said to the other, hand suddenly patting Yoochun’s chest. Junsu wanted to laugh at the look on Yoochun’s face. Yoochun was too polite to be screaming and pushing the ladies away.

“Very sorry,” they quickly apologized to Junsu and Changmin before rushing away quickly.

Changmin chuckled in disbelief while Junsu burst into a laugh. “We’re going to get your hair cut tomorrow, girl,” he patted a very confused Yoochun’s chest (above the heart) while laughing.

Chapter 9

Cuts

“Did you sleep well last night?” Changmin asked politely as they ate breakfast. Jaejoong had made an American breakfast and while Yunho and Yoochun were not familiar with it, they still found it tasty.

“I peeked in and saw him sleeping on the floor!” Jaejoong’s voice was heard before Yunho could reply.

“Why would you peek in on him? That’s creepy,” Changmin exclaimed.

“I wanted to make sure he was comfy,” Jaejoong defended.

“Why were you on the floor?” Yoochun spoke to end the new born argument. Junsu wondered when Yoochun would ever learn that it was useless to make such attempts.

“I was not familiar with the bed,” Yunho replied, face and voice void of emotion.

“Why is that?” Junsu inquired, taking a bite from his toast.

“I grew up sleeping in trees and grounds,” he simply replied and the finality in his voice made it clear that he did not want to talk anymore about himself.

“Wow, so those scenarios in movies are real? How awesome!” Jaejoong giggled. Changmin rolled his eyes.

“Let’s talk about where we’ll take them for the haircuts!” Junsu said as he unconsciously picked up Yoochun’s piece of toast and began to spread jelly on it. It seemed natural..

Jaejoong made a pouting face as he scooted his own plate of toast towards Junsu. Without even a thought, Junsu spread jelly on Jaejoong’s toast as well. It was as if his caring gestures were not in his control or he didn’t even notice that they were caring gestures. Changmin noticed all this and smiled to himself.

“Nowhere that will have a lot of people. I don’t know how they’ll react,” Changmin replied.

While Junsu was spreading jelly on Jaejoong’s toast, Jaejoong reached over to decorate Changmin and Yunho’s toasts.

“You say it like we are crazy foreigners,” Yoochun raised an eyebrow at him.

“Aren’t you?” Changmin returned.

“Just foreigners,” Yoochun assured. Not ‘crazy’.

“We’ll go to the nearest one then. It’s family owned and the price is low,” Junsu smiled at the thought of saving money.

They quickly finished up the breakfast and were soon in Changmin’s car. Jaejoong had headed off to work so he did not join (making Changmin quite thankful).

Changmin and Junsu were grateful that Yoochun and Yunho were the quiet type and no matter how freaked out they were by modern technology, they didn’t show any outrageous reactions.

When they got to the barber shop, it was nice to see that there were no other customers, only two people who worked in the shop. Changmin and Junsu did not miss the invisible wall of defense that Yoochun and Yunho had created when they entered the shop, eyes wandering and wary. The owner and his employee did, however, express shock at the sight of Yoochun and Yunho’s long, long hair.

“Are you sure you want to cut all this? It would be…such a waste!” the oldest man in the shop exaggerated. Yoochun and Yunho had been pushed into the seats next to each other.

“We want it short and modern,” Changmin explained.

“Especially him, cut it real short,” Junsu pointed at Yoochun. Yoochun’s eyes questioned, but then recalled the events of last night (when he was mistaken for a girl).

The man in the white shirt nodded as he examined Yoochun and Yunho’s features. “I know what to do,” he said as he reached into his pocket to uncover his scissor.

Yoochun’s eyes widened and Yunho’s hand twitched, just a bit. Changmin and Junsu shared nervous glances.

Changmin and Junsu winced when Yoochun’s hand automatically rose to knock the scissor out of the man’s hand. They couldn’t blame him; the barber looked creepy as he was ‘snippity-snipping’ the scissor at his two customers.

“What the…?” the barber exclaimed in shock.

“Calm down! He’s not going to hurt you,” Junsu stood in front of Yoochun and grabbed both of his hands to keep them on the chair’s handles. Then he looked over at the barber, “Cut it quick.”

The old man nodded and picked up his scissor.

Yoochun felt himself panic. Junsu had spent last nice convincing him to get his hair cut. It just didn’t fit into this modern world. Junsu assured him that his hair would grow back by the time he returned to the past. That made Yoochun wonder how long it would take for them to figure out a way back home…but he didn’t hold hopes that it would be any time soon (unfortunately). And he’d easily given in to Junsu’s persuasion; because Junsu brought up the lottery ticket and because…well…because Yoochun felt that he could trust Junsu’s words.

Yoochun fidgeted a bit when he felt the man’s hand on his hair. Junsu felt his hands move and his grip tightened over Yoochun’s hands. Changmin was standing to the side, ready to help Junsu if Yoochun were to go crazy. Yunho sat there watching silently.

“Just concentrate on something else,” Junsu suggested.

And so Yoochun did. He concentrated on the person standing in front of him; hands chaining him down, face awfully close. He could smell Junsu’s shampoo and that made Yoochun uncomfortable. His head didn’t move, but his eyes traveled Junsu’s face.

Yoochun’s eyes moved from Junsu’s short hair to his right ear, pass his cheek, down to his chin, up to his defined lips, continuing to his cute nose, and…ending on his eyes. He found that Junsu’s eyes were staring back into his own and they stayed like that. Yoochun felt himself searching Junsu’s eyes, but didn’t know what he wanted to find.

Junsu wondered what the crap he, himself, was doing.

They heard Changmin’s loud, fake cough and finally blinked. Junsu turned his head to look at Changmin, seeing that Yunho had turned to look at the tall man as well. Yoochun didn’t move his head, but his eyes were also on Changmin.

Changmin coolly turned his eyes to the door, acting casual, as if he didn’t fake the cough to cut off the extensive eye contact.

“You two lucked out. If Jaejoong was here, he’d have suggested really horrible cuts,” the tall man said, making conversation to end the awkward atmosphere.

“As horrible as the cut he gave you in middle school?” Junsu teased. Changmin grimaced at the memory.

Yoochun would have heard the snipping of his hair if he wasn’t so concentrated on listening to Junsu’s laugh.

“That was more than ten years ago. Leave it in the past and never talk about it again,” Changmin requested.

Yoochun looked past Junsu to see Yunho’s reflection in the mirror. Yunho’s eyes looked like he wanted to ask a question, but he most likely wouldn’t voice his curiosity. So Yoochun did, “Why did you let him cut your hair?”

Changmin didn’t seem to like that question. Junsu answered for him, “Because best friends let best friends cut their hairs.”

“Best friends?” Yoochun asked. It was hard to imagine that Changmin and Jaejoong were ‘best friends’.

“It was the past. Humans have their eyes in front so that we can look ahead…towards the future,” Changmin replied. His expression said that he didn’t want to talk about Jaejoong anymore.

“Done!” the barber announced. Junsu released Yoochun’s hands and stood back to have a good look at his hair. Yoochun glanced down at his hands for a quick second. Changmin noticed.

“A bowl cut?” Junsu’s mouth dropped. It was a bowl cut, but with a more unique style on the front. There were still bangs covering one eye, giving Yoochun a mysterious look.

“You wanted modern. This style is a hit right now. Blame it on that one boy band,” the barber informed.

“Now for you…” the man walked over to Yunho. Yunho’s expression was cold, threatening to punch the man if he gave Yunho a bowl cut. The man gulped and Changmin couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You can keep his hair longer,” Changmin began to talk to the barber about Yunho’s hair.

“Do you like it?” Junsu knelt down next to Yoochun’s chair and looked up at him.

“At least he kept my bangs,” Yoochun sighed. His eyes looked down at the mass of hair on the ground and his eyes saddened.

“Don’t worry, it’ll grow back real fast,” Junsu patted his shoulder. “At least now I won’t be slapped by random ladies on the street. We still need to go buy you uniforms for your job.”

“Uniforms?”

“Yeah, you see what Changmin is always wearing? Those are called tuxedos. As a bodyguard, you’ll need to wear those.”

“I am curious. Why does Changmin always wear those?” Yoochun inquired, glancing over at the tall man who was still directing the barber about Yunho’s hair.

“He’s a businessman and businessmen wear tuxedos. It’s professional. But Changmin actually isn’t normal. He wears them even when he’s not at work. I don’t know why,” Junsu poked a finger at his own cheek and pondered the topic.

“Interesting,” Yoochun nodded.

Soon, the barber was done with Yunho’s hair. It wasn’t long, but nor was it too short. There were heavy bangs, but it did not cover his eyes. Yunho didn’t really like it, but he did not say a word about it.

◙◙◙◙◙

“Your legs are shaking,” Changmin pointed out as he uncovered a tissue to dab the sweat on Junsu’s forehead.

“I realize,” Junsu grumbled as he glared at the other two men who were sparring in front of him. Yunho and Yoochun were looking all cool, practicing their fighting skills with each other while Junsu was stuck to the side. He was standing there, knees bent and thighs parallel to the ground. A book balanced on top of his head.

Kids and parents walking by were laughing at him like he was a clown.

“Why are you doing this again?” Changmin inquired.

“Something about learning to be patient and working my leg muscles,” Junsu mumbled.

“Do you want some water?” Changmin offered. “It’s best to keep hydrated.”

“No, I’ll be fine.”

Junsu sighed and stared ahead at Yunho and Yoochun. Correction: his eyes were on Yoochun most of the time.

Changmin noticed and faked another cough. “You sure about the water, Junsu?” he said, recapturing the shorter man’s attention.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. How is that investigation about you threat note going?” Junsu brought up a new topic, hoping it would distract him from the pain in his legs.

Chapter 10

Pool

“Huh? Oh, yeah. How is that investigation about you threat note going?” Junsu brought up a new topic, hoping it would distract him from the pain in his legs.

“The police are still looking. No clues from the note. It’s probably just a false alarm,” Changmin shrugged.

“Do you have any suspects? Any recent or old enemies?”

“Only Jaejoong,” Changmin replied.

“Jaejoong isn’t your enemy,” Junsu rolled his eyes.

“If he really isn’t the reason that you and I are still single, then I suppose he isn’t my enemy.”

Junsu sighed. “Changmin…”

“I’ll never understand you,” Changmin sighed. Junsu wondered why he was suddenly bringing this topic up.

“I thought we were done with this topic long ago.”

“You can’t avoid it forever.”

“I…”

“I really don’t understand. Our friends from high school always wondered why you never got together with me when my family is filthy rich.”

Junsu chuckled. “That’s like asking why someone like you would be in love with me.”

“Unexplainable?”

“Yes.”

“No…”

Junsu tipped his head slightly and the book fell off. Yoochun heard it and was by his side immediately, ending the conversation.

Junsu smiled innocently and Changmin shook his head with a sigh.

◙◙◙◙◙

“I have a meeting tomorrow morning from seven to ten,” Changmin reminded. Junsu was his bodyguard, but Changmin was the one who had been following him around in the past few days.

“Oh, right!” Junsu gasped.

“Don’t worry, Su-ie, I’ll watch Yoochun and Yunho during that time,” Jaejoong said as he walked out of the kitchen.

“Don’t you have work?”

“I quit the job already,” he shrugged casually.

“Again?” Changmin and Junsu chorused.

“Yep! I need change. Don’t worry, Su-ie, a friend already found me a job at another restaurant,” Jaejoong smiled.

“Which one?” Junsu inquired.

“I think it’s called ‘Timeless’.”

“What? But that restaurant has been going down the gutter since…since it opened!” Changmin exclaimed. “The building was a bad investment in the first place and the owner fails at decision making.”

“That’s why I agreed to work there,” Jaejoong informed.

“What?”

“You don’t understand. Go back to reading your encyclopedia or whatever it is you do for fun,” Jaejoong brushed him off. It was true. Changmin never understood Jaejoong…not anymore, anyway.

“Is dinner ready?” Junsu asked.

“Yep!” Jaejoong grinned at him. “I saved you the two chicken legs!”

“That’s the best part! You’re amazing!” Junsu cheered as they clapped their hands and giggled like schoolgirls.

“I will go inform Yoochun and Yunho,” Changmin sighed as he stood up to walk to the guestroom that Yoochun had been occupying for nearly a week now.

As he walked closer, he heard Yunho’s voice saying, “At the least…you have the desire to return to our era.”

Yoochun’s voice replied, “We both wish to return, but for different reasons.”

They were both alone in the room, and yet they still spoke like they’re really from the ancient past? Then Changmin could only conclude that they weren’t liars…they were simply crazy. Because ‘time travel’ went against all logic.

He knocked on the door. “Yoochun, Yunho, dinner is ready.”

The door opened and the two men walked out. They thanked Changmin and followed him out to the kitchen. The three men froze in their steps at the sight before them.

Junsu had a chicken leg stuffed in his mouth, ready to take a bite. The awkward thing was that Jaejoong was holding the chicken leg and feeding it to Junsu.

“Can this be anymore awkward?” Changmin raised an eyebrow.

“You’re just jealous!” Jaejoong retorted while Junsu was busy chewing. Changmin and Jaejoong jumped into another argument while Junsu grabbed the chicken leg from Jaejoong and continued to munch, innocent eyes staring back and forth between his two friends.

Yoochun and Yunho shared glances. They couldn’t understand what Changmin would be ‘jealous’ of.

◙◙◙◙◙

“This, my friends, is a pool! I would have taken you guys to the beach, but Junsu made me promise not to do anything outrageous,” Jaejoong pouted.

Once Junsu and Changmin had left, Jaejoong had handed Yoochun and Yunho a set of clothing comprised of a white T-shirt and flowery swimming shorts. They were not comfortable with the swimming trunks at first, but slowly realized that it wasn’t too bad.

Now as they stood at the entrance of the pool, they still did not understand why someone would go swimming when it was freezing cold outside. Still, that didn’t stop them from following Jaejoong towards the water, to stand at the edge of the pool.

But when three girls, in bikinis, popped up from under the water, Yoochun and Yunho stopped walking. They quickly turned around, away from the water, and lowered their heads.

“What’s wrong?” Jaejoong inquired.

Yoochun and Yunho shared glances and then looked back towards the entrance to see more bikini clad girls and guys with only swimming trunks on walk in.

“This…this is inappropriate,” Yunho spoke, eyes lowered again.

“What are you talking about?” Jaejoong walked over to stand in front of them.

“The…females…their clothes,” Yoochun pointed out.

“Huh? Those are called bikinis. It’s what girls wear when they go swimming. That’s normal.”

It was the cold season so there were not many girls walking around the streets wearing skimpy clothes. Yoochun and Yunho did not even know of skimpy clothes or that girls were allowed to bare that much skin. But now, seeing girls in bikinis, they questioned the status of women in the modern time.

“But...” Yoochun began.

“I do not know how to swim. It is best that I return home. You two enjoy your swim,” Yunho spoke with finality as he began to walk away.

“Wait…” Jaejoong began.

By this time, more and more people had entered the pool. Unfortunately, most of them were immature teens running about and playing ‘push each other into the water’.

A group of five teens (three girls and two guys) were running towards Yoochun, Yunho, and Jaejoong. Just as Yunho took a step forward, two of the girls bumped into him and he froze at the skin contact. The two teenage boys tried to push each other into the water and ended up shoving Jaejoong.

Jaejoong slipped and slid towards Yunho, pushing the shocked man backwards and into the water. The group of five teens continued to chase each other to another area of the pool while Yoochun and Jaejoong stared in shock at the water (the area that Yunho had fallen into).

They waited for Yunho to resurface, but didn’t see him. “Uh…didn’t he say that he doesn’t know how to swim?” Jaejoong rubbed his chin.

“Is the water that deep?” Yoochun’s eyes widened at Jaejoong. He was sure that people on the other side of the pool were standing on their feet.

Jaejoong stepped forward slightly to look at the number marked on the side of the pool. No wonder most of the people were on the other end of the pool. “Yes, we’re on the deepest end.”

“Save him!” Yoochun shouted. Other people stared with wide eyes at the shouting man with an awkwardly attractive bowl cut.

“Oh, right,” Jaejoong jumped into the water. People began to gather when they realized that a man may have drowned.

Jaejoong soon resurfaced with an unconscious Yunho, who Yoochun easily pulled up and settled onto the cold tiles.

“Yunho! Yunho!” Yoochun shook the older man, but got no response.

“Is he okay?” someone in the surrounding crowd inquired.

“Wow, he’s hot,” a female voice commented. Yunho’s white T-shirt was soaked and sticking tightly to his toned body. The same had happened to Jaejoong and it was hard to tell who the girls were drooling over.

“Give him mouth-to-mouth!” another person shouted.

Yoochun looked up at the voice and had to wonder, “‘Mouth-to-mouth’?”

Then he heard girls gasping and claiming to faint. His head immediately turned back to look at Yunho…to see Jaejoong kissing him!

Too shocked to speak, he continued to watch. Jaejoong had a hand on Yunho’s chin to keep his mouth open and his other hand was pinching Yunho’s nose. His mouth covered Yunho’s for a few seconds before leaving it, and then the process was repeated again.

Yoochun blinked and didn’t know if he should be shocked by this…‘kissing’ or worried to death that his good friend might…well, die. If his good friend didn’t die, then Jaejoong might die when Yunho finds out about…

“Ouch!” Jaejoong exclaimed when Yunho’s eyes suddenly popped open and his hand pushed Jaejoong away roughly. Yunho had woken up at the exact same time that Jaejoong’s mouth had been over his!

Yoochun saw the humiliation and anger in Yunho’s eyes and quickly laid both hands on his shoulders to calm him down. “Are you okay?”

“What are you doing?” Yunho demanded of Jaejoong.

“Saving your life!” Jaejoong shouted. “And you shove me like that? Hmph!”

Yoochun looked up at the crowd that was giving the three men awkward looks. “Let us return home first,” he suggested.

Jaejoong stood up and gave Yunho another “Hmph!” before stomping off. Yoochun and Yunho silently followed.

Chapter 11

Work

“You took them to a pool and Yunho nearly drowned?” Junsu exclaimed.

“I knew it was a bad idea to leave them alone with you,” Changmin spoke calmly.

“I was just trying to teach them more about the modern time! And I saved his life! You act like I’m a criminal!” Jaejoong defended.

Yoochun and Yunho were sitting to the side, silent. Yunho no longer glared at Jaejoong, after Changmin and Junsu had explained to them what CPR was.

“Don’t do anything like that again,” Junsu sighed.

“You’re angry at me too?” Jaejoong questioned, hurt in his eyes.

“Jaejoong, it’s just…you should have known better,” Junsu began.

“You’re an imbecile,” Changmin insulted.

“And you’re siding with Changmin? You’re not supposed to side with either of us when we argue!” Jaejoong protested.

“He’ll side with the right side,” Changmin retorted.

Jaejoong glared at him. Then he stood up from the sofa and declared, “Fine! No dinner for any of you tonight!”

The other four men watched as he stomped out of the apartment. Silence lasted for a minute.

“Perhaps we should go after him,” Yoochun spoke.

“No, he’s just being childish. He needs to learn to think of the consequences to his actions,” Changmin explained.

“Jaejoong has a thing for leaping before he looks,” Junsu sighed again. “I’ll order take-out for tonight and Changmin can drop Yunho off at Jaejoong’s house afterwards.”

Yunho sat there watching as Junsu went to make a phone call and Changmin followed him. Yoochun excused himself to the restroom.

Yunho stared at the door that Jaejoong had walked out of. There was a weird feeling in his stomach that he couldn’t explain.

◙◙◙◙◙

Yunho rarely left the guestroom in the middle of the night. He would hear Jaejoong shuffling about and would even lock the door.

Yunho was rarely afraid of anything or anyone. It was awkward that this man, shorter and skinnier than him, would make him feel…fear. What was he afraid of? Why was he afraid? Yunho didn’t know.

Maybe he wasn’t afraid. Maybe he was just uncomfortable around the shorter man. That was why Yunho avoided him. Yes, it wasn’t ‘fear’. It couldn’t be ‘fear’. It was just…‘discomfort’ and ‘unfamiliarity’.

But he’d step out of that comfort zone tonight. Around one in the morning, he heard the door of the house open and knew that Jaejoong was back from his walk in the park. Yunho exited his own room and found Jaejoong in the kitchen.

The man, who looked so fragile to Yunho, was standing at the kitchen counter. He was pouring some tiny, brown spheres into a bowl. Following the solid substance was a white liquid. That was when Jaejoong realized his presence.

“Are you hungry?” he looked at Yunho.

Yunho wondered about his words. What should he say? Then he realized that he only had two words to offer.

“Thank you.”

Jaejoong blinked, a bit shocked. “For what?”

“For saving my life and…I apologize for causing Junsu and Changmin to doubt your maturity. Please do not be angry at them.”

“Oh, they doubt my maturity all the time! And I could never be angry at Su-ie either, but I’m always angry at Changmin, so it doesn’t matter. Don’t worry about it,” Jaejoong chuckled as he picked up the bowl and stuffed a spoonful of the content into his mouth.

Yunho heard the crunching and found himself curious about this late night meal. Jaejoong noticed.

“You want to try some? This is the best food to eat at this time. It’s a late, late second dinner,” he grinned.

“What is it?” Yunho took another step closer to the counter.

“We call it ‘cereal’. You mix in milk and eat it. Best food in the world. This one is my favorite,” Jaejoong began to explain as he prepared a bowl for Yunho. “There are a lot of different types of cereal. This one is called ‘Cocoa Puffs’.”

“‘Cocoa…Puffs’?” Yunho tried to pronounce.

“No, no, you have to say it like me. ‘Cocoa Puffs’,” Jaejoong repeated, puffing his cheeks as he said the second word in the name.

Yunho found it childish and embarrassing. Puffing his cheeks for the sake of a food’s name? Yunho would never have done that in the past, but he felt like he was obligated to follow Jaejoong’s orders. The guilt of making Jaejoong angrily stomp out of Junsu’s house was still there.

“‘Cocoa Puffs’,” Yunho repeated, attempting to puff his cheeks this time. It wasn’t easy.

“Close enough. You just need to practice,” Jaejoong smiled as he slid the bowl across the counter. “Here, try it.”

“Thank you,” he bowed his head and accepted the meal. The first bite tasted foreign and weird. As a matter of fact, he did not want a second bite. Yunho did not like stepping out of his comfort zone and accepting change (or anything new). But the hopeful look Jaejoong was giving him made Yunho take a second bite.

The second bite was better. The third bite even better.

It certainly must be because Yunho was getting used to the taste. It certainly wasn’t because he was staring at Jaejoong’s smile as he took every bite.

◙◙◙◙◙

Junsu was staring for three seconds too long and with too much twinkling in his eyes when Yoochun walked out of his room, looking suave in a tuxedo. Changmin noticed.

“Wow, you look good!” Junsu complimented as he jumped up from his seat to stand next to Yoochun. Something about the way Junsu was standing bothered Changmin.

Junsu had his hands behind his back, his chest thrust forward as if to expose his heart and his legs…one was straight while the other bent (one foot flat on the ground while the other balanced on his toes). He looked like one of those school girls who were trying to impress their crush. Changmin noticed.

Jaejoong noticed to, but he obviously didn’t see the underlying reason for Junsu’s actions. “For some reason, I’m picturing Su-ie in a school girl uniform when he stands like that,” Jaejoong whispered to Changmin.

Changmin rolled his eyes.

“Okay, let’s get going!” Junsu announced.

He, Changmin and Yoochun headed off to Kim Kibum’s estate while Jaejoong and Yunho stayed home. As promised, Yoochun was to report to work in a week.

“We’re here to see Mr. Kim,” Junsu told the butler.

“This way, please,” the old man guided. They were led into a beautiful mansion with high quality designs and decoration.

Junsu’s eyes were glowing as his eyes wandered. Changmin sighed with a smile, ready to tug at Junsu’s arm to return him to reality (because this was something that Changmin was used to doing: snapping Junsu out of his day dreams). But this time, before Changmin could tug, Yoochun had already done it in his place.

“Nice to see you again,” the familiar voice greeted them. Standing in the living room, the three men raised their head to see the owner of the mansion walk down the stairs.

They shared formal greetings and the butler soon left them alone in the living room.

“Um…is it okay if Yoochun tours your house, just to familiarize Yoochun with it in order to better protect you?” Junsu requested. He’s taught Yoochun plenty about modern technology in the house, but he was sure that Kim Kibum’s mansion would consist of things that Junsu’s house did not have (meaning Yoochun would not know what it was).

“Feel free,” Kibum replied.

“Uh…I’ll go with him,” Junsu added as he grabbed Yoochun’s hand and led him away from the living room.

Kibum watched them leave and when they were out of sight, he turned his attention to the remaining man in the living room. That remaining man was giving him an amused look.

“Care for a drink?” Kibum offered.

“Care to feed my curiosity?” Changmin inquired.

“Curiosity killed the cat.”

“I’m not a cat,” Changmin retorted. He was amused. “I’m rather interested in why you would set up the scene in the parking lot.”

“Scene?” Kibum played stupid.

“Not many people know the face that goes with your famous name. The chances of someone knowing what you look like and attempting to kidnap you is…slim.”

“Slim doesn’t mean impossible.”

“Is that your way of admitting that you’d set it up?” Changmin raised an eyebrow.

“I’m admitting to nothing,” Kibum replied with a polite smile, amused that this man had seen through his setup.

“You don’t have to voice your admission. Your smile says it all.”

“A smile is too easily faked to be considered evidence.”

“You’d set up the kidnapping to acquire our attention. The events that followed were enough to give you an excuse to hire Yoochun. I’m sure you’d heard enough of our conversation in the restaurant to know that Junsu is enticed by money and Yoochun may be from the ancient past.”

“Are you accusing me of eavesdropping, Mr. Shim?” he dared with a charming smile.

“I’m accusing you of many things.”

“Yet I won’t be admitting to any of it.”

“You didn’t offer to shake Yoochun’s hand when you introduced yourself to him. I’m sure you knew that he would only stare at your hand in confusion, which is why you avoided the common gesture. You believe he’s from the past and you’re interested. Searching for a guinea pig for your latest experiment?”

Kibum released a sarcastic chuckle and turned his eyes away from Changmin. The man annoyed him, yet amused him at the same time.

“Oh my God, this place is so amazing!” Junsu’s shouting interrupted the conversation. He was jumping up and down with excitement while Yoochun followed calmly behind him. When the giddy man began to run down the stairs, his excitement got the best of him and he tripped.

Changmin jumped up from his seat in fear. Kibum’s head rose in shock. Junsu gasped and covered his face with both hands, bracing himself for the fall. Yoochun easily leapt to wrap an arm around Junsu’s waist to prevent him from falling.

They stood in the middle of the stairs, Yoochun’s arm around Junsu’s waist. Junsu had lowered his hands to cover half of his face while his eyes were free to look into Yoochun’s eyes.

Changmin released one of his fake coughs and Yoochun immediately released Junsu. Standing on his own feet and a good distance away from Yoochun, Junsu murmured, “Thank you.”

Yoochun nodded in acknowledgement. Changmin was frowning. Kibum noticed.

Chapter 12

Discoveries

“Junsu, let’s go.”

“Hold on,” he turned around to run back to the door where Yoochun and Kibum stood. He told Yoochun, “Remember to eat on time.”

Yoochun nodded. Junsu smiled and turned back to run the couple of steps back to Changmin’s side. They walked a couple steps further from the mansion door when Junsu stopped.

“Wait, wait, one more thing,” Junsu told Changmin. He ran back to the door, where Yoochun and Kibum still stood. “You remember how to use the cell phone right? Just call me if you need anything.”

They didn’t notice that Kibum did not look confused when Junsu spoke as if Yoochun had never used a cell phone in his life.

Yoochun nodded again. Junsu smiled and turned back to run the added couple of steps back to Changmin’s side. They walked a couple more steps further when Junsu stopped again.

“Junsu,” Changmin lectured.

“One more thing!” Junsu assured as he ran back to Yoochun.

“Yes?” Yoochun smiled a little at the panting Junsu.

“Uh…” Junsu paused to think. “Drink a lot of water.”

Yoochun nodded. Kibum was watching with an amused expression, especially when he saw the annoyance on Changmin’s brows.

“Junsu, let’s go. You’re acting like a mother hen! Yoochun will be fine,” Changmin shouted.

“Okay, okay!” Junsu retorted. He smiled at Yoochun and waved, “Bye.”

Kibum noticed that Junsu only gave him a small bow instead of the smile and the cute wave before Junsu ran towards Changmin again.

Then, a couple steps later…

“Wait…”

“Kim Junsu!” Changmin exclaimed.

“One last thing!” Junsu pleaded. He turned around and was happy to see that Yoochun still stood at the door, watching them leave. Junsu knew Changmin would call him a ‘mother hen’ again if he ran back so he just formed a ‘megaphone’ with his hands and shouted loudly, “Remember to wash your hands before you eat and after you use the bathroom!”

Yoochun’s eyes widened and from the corner of his eyes, he saw Kibum trying to hold in a laugh. Yoochun’s face turned a shade of red.

“That’s enough!” Changmin grabbed Junsu’s hand and dragged him away.

Yoochun stood at the door until they were out of sight. For some reason, he felt a sense of loss. This was the same feeling he had experienced that day when Junsu had left him alone with Jaejoong and Yunho for Changmin’s meeting.

“Your friend cares very much for you,” Kibum’s voice drew his attention.

Yoochun turned to look at the shorter man. He nodded, “Yes, he does.”

“I have some paperwork to take care of. Care to join me in my office?” the shorter man invited. Yoochun nodded and followed.

Fifteen minutes later, Kibum was sitting behind his desk signing checks that were to be donated to charity. Yoochun was standing on the side of the desk, back straight and hands behind his back. He looked like a statue (especially since he hadn’t moved in the last ten minutes).

“There is no need to be so formal. Take a seat, Yoochun.”

“Thank you, Mr. Kim,” Yoochun bowed a little.

“Call me Kibum. You don’t mind me calling you by your first name, do you?”

“No, of course not,” Yoochun replied as he took a seat across from Kibum. Kibum had placed his silver pen down and was leaning casually into the chair.

“So tell me about yourself.”

Yoochun wondered what he could tell Kibum. That he was from the ancient past? That he was more than 500 years old? That he’d never had a job in his whole life?

No, Junsu told him not to mention anything about traveling from the past. That would scare the man or he may fire Yoochun for being ‘crazy’. But it wasn’t as if Yoochun was desperate for the job. He didn’t care.

Junsu cared, for the money. So Yoochun had to care, because he owed Junsu money…and possibly because Yoochun liked seeing how happy Junsu was when he thought about the large sum of money that came from the job.

“I am curious about why you would hire me when you only know my name,” Yoochun spoke. This was considered ‘something about yourself’.

Kibum shrugged casually. “I grew up with controlling parents. I like taking my life into my own hands so I do things that seem out of the ordinary to other people. I move on instinct and I only trust my instincts. My intuition told me that you would be able to protect me…along with your proven skills that were presented to me that day in the parking lot.”

Yoochun nodded. He believed that; because he was like that. He had rebelled against his parents as well.

“Are you not afraid that I am not reliable or that I am a thief?”

“If you were, you wouldn’t be asking me that question. And as I said, I trust my instincts,” Kibum smiled a friendly smile.

“Thank you,” Yoochun bowed his head slightly. “For believing that I am capable.”

“You can thank me by proving that you are capable and worth my trust.”

Yoochun nodded.

“What else are you curious about, Yoochun?”

Yoochun blinked, his eyes subtly wandering the large office. When Yoochun and Junsu had toured Kibum’s home, they had seen technology that even Junsu did not recognize (but Junsu had claimed that they were extremely ‘high-tech’ items).

“What is it you do, Kibum, if you do not mind me asking?”

“I don’t mind at all,” he was still smiling with charm. Yoochun noted that the man looked too young and innocent to be in a professional tuxedo and releasing such a strong aura of control and power. His smile was very friendly and quite soothing for the tense nerves. It was a dangerous talent.

“I challenge logic. I’ve been creating inventions to defy logic since I was twelve. I sponsor, as well as take part in, many scientific experiments to generate anything that anyone calls ‘impossible’.”

That caught Yoochun’s attention. The ‘impossible’? Changmin was always calling ‘Time Travel’ impossible.

Changmin had called Kibum a child prodigy, had confirmed Kibum’s extraordinary intelligence. So Yoochun had to wonder if Kibum would be able to help Yunho and him return to the past.

For the rest of the day, Kibum went ahead and shared some of his works with Yoochun. He explained facts thoroughly and each fact amazed Yoochun even more. As if by coincidence, one of the many experiments that Kibum showed Yoochun involved ‘Time Travel’.

“This file…” Yoochun saw a sheet of paper with calligraphy that he recognized. It was calligraphy from his time.

“That file has been put away for a while. At one point, I had concentrated on trying to prove that Time Travel is possible. Unfortunately, my research ended when all possible efforts failed,” Kibum explained.

“You…believe that Time Travel is possible?” Yoochun inquired curiously.

“Yes, I believe in the impossible. A person who won’t believe in the impossible will not be able to overcome it. This file has been put away for a while now, but I hope to recover it one day.”

Yoochun nodded as he stared down at the stack of papers, finding more sheets with calligraphy that he could read. There were paintings that he recognized were from his era, the artist, the style, the texture of the paper.

He wanted to ask Kibum some more questions, but he wasn’t sure. And before he knew it, time was up.

“Oh, it’s ten. I believe we agreed that your hours would be from seven in the morning to ten at night. You can leave now.”

Yoochun was still looking through the stacks of paper in the file labeled ‘Time Travel’. He kept staring at the calligraphy, the paintings and was reminded of how much he missed…

“Yoochun?”

Yoochun blinked and looked up at Kibum. “Sorry,” Yoochun apologized for ignoring Kibum’s words.

“Do you need a ride home? I can have my chauffer take you. See it as being part of the job benefits,” Kibum smiled.

Yoochun was sure that if he asked, Kibum would help. If he revealed the truth, Kibum would believe.

But still, Yoochun wanted to return home and talk this through with Junsu and Yunho…Yunho and Junsu. Yunho’s agreement being the most important, of course.

“No, Junsu said that he will be picking me up at ten,” Yoochun looked at the watch on his wrist. He’d spent a whole day learning how to recognize numbers and tell time. Junsu had spent that whole day by his side.

“Very well then, I have some more work to attend to. See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Yoochun unwillingly returned the file to Kibum and stood up to leave. Just as the butler let him out of the mansion, Junsu’s car pulled up in front of it.

“Hey!” Junsu got out of the car to open the door for Yoochun.

“Thank you,” Yoochun smiled as he got into the passenger seat.

“I’m slightly late because I had to drop Changmin off at his house first,” Junsu explained.

“You were just in time.”

Junsu ran back to settle in the driver’s seat. He reached over to buckle Yoochun’s seatbelt and then buckled his own. “So how was your first day?”

“It went well. We spent most of the time looking through his works and he taught me a lot.”

“Did you eat on time?”

“Yes, his chef is very talented,” Yoochun replied. Junsu noticed that there was something bothering Yoochun.

“What’s bothering you?”

“Bothering me?” Yoochun looked at him, wondering how he knew.

“Do you not like the job? You can always find another one, you know?”

Yoochun was shocked that Junsu would say that. Wasn’t it Junsu who had once told him that he should feel blessed because, in this day and age, it was difficult to find such a high paying job with such great benefits?

“No, I enjoy spending time with Kibum,” Yoochun assured, hoping that answer would wipe the frown away from Junsu’s brows.

It didn’t. Junsu was still frowning. Why?

Chapter 13

Picture

Junsu wondered why he was still frowning. Junsu wondered why he even suggested that Yoochun could quit such a high paying job! Was he insane? No, not insane; just slightly bothered that Yoochun enjoyed ‘spending time’ with Kim Kibum.

“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.

Chapter 14

Platinum

“Oh, okay, I’ll go get you some orange juice to go with that sandwich. You want some orange juice, Yoochun?” Junsu smiled (too sweetly) at Yoochun.

“Yes, please,” Yoochun replied, not noticing that the smile was extra sweet. He obviously didn’t get Changmin’s hint.

“You like orange juice?” Changmin pulled Yoochun’s eyes away from Junsu’s disappearing back again.

“Yes, Junsu introduced me to it and I took a liking for it.”

“That’s…nice,” Changmin murmured.

“So, why is that your favorite picture?” Yoochun inquired, making friendly conversation.

Changmin blinked and looked at the picture in his wallet. “It symbolizes our long lasting relationship and…I take a liking to platinum blond hair.”

Yoochun wondered if modern people used ‘relationship’ as a synonym of ‘friendship’. After all, it wasn’t possible for two people of the same gender to have a ‘love relationship.’

Changmin was still staring at the picture, remembering that he never liked hair dye. But then Junsu had showed up that faithful day to class with platinum blond hair and Changmin had no choice, but to like it. Because of Junsu.

Both did not notice that Jaejoong had abandoned the Sudoku and was just doodling on the corner of the paper.

◙◙◙◙◙

“We’ll be attaching these to certain areas on your bodies. This will allow us to gather information about your body to see if there is anything out of the ordinary. There will also be a thorough physical examination. It’s okay if you don’t understand what’s going on. There will be experts instructing you along the way and feel free to ask questions,” Kibum explained to the two men in front of him.

Yoochun had informed Yunho about Kibum last night and Yunho, too, considered it a good idea to take advantage of Kibum’s assistance. The four of them (Yoochun, Yunho, Junsu, and Changmin) had arrived at Kibum’s mansion the next morning to discuss the matter with him.

As expected, Kibum did not doubt their words. However, it bothered Changmin that Kim Kibum did not look overly excited to be able to continue this experiment that had been put away for so long. He agreed to help, but made no promises. Yoochun, Yunho, and Junsu were the ones who thanked him. He did not thank them for giving him this opportunity to reopen this ‘case’. But then, he was so rich and had so many other inventions in the work that he probably didn’t care too much.

Now, later in the day they sat in a room filled with buzzing machines and guys in white robes were sticking circles onto their chests. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary to be shirtless around a group of guys, but for Yoochun, it was slightly uncomfortable when Junsu poked at a freckle on his chest.

Junsu stood to the side while Kibum and his two employees in lab coats were hooking Yoochun and Yunho to the machines. Then he noticed that Changmin was not by his side.

Junsu walked out of the room to see Changmin outside, on the phone.

“Okay, but do me a favor and do not tell anyone about it yet. Just hold off until I tell you,” he spoke into the phone. “Thank you, good-bye.”

He hung up the phone and Junsu walked to his side. “Do you need to go back to your office?”

“No, that was just my friend. He’s the policeman in charge of investigating my threat note.”

“They found out who wrote it?”

“Yes, it was just an old employee being idiotic because I fired him. Nothing dangerous.”

“So…does that mean my boss will be closing your case and I’ll have to report to his office for another case?” Junsu inquired.

Changmin tilted his head slightly as he smiled at Junsu’s subtle pout. “I told my friend to not reveal the information yet and pretend that he still hasn’t found the culprit. That means I will still need you as my bodyguard.”

Junsu’s eyes widened as he stared at Changmin. “Really? But…I thought you always went by the rules. You’re really going to keep me on your case?”

“I’ve always played by the rules and that doesn’t seem to be getting me anywhere. I suppose I need to break some rules and make some changes before I lose any chances with you.”

“Changmin…” Junsu looked troubled.

“I broke my own rule by following you around for the past week when you’re the bodyguard who should be trailing me. But I guess you were too distracted by Yoochun…and Yunho to notice,” Changmin paused for three seconds too long before adding ‘and Yunho’.

Junsu frowned at that. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means I’m willing to break rules for you,” the taller man replied.

“No, you’re saying that I’m…”

That was when Junsu’s cell phone rang. He uncovered it from his pocket and looked at the caller ID. Just as he was about to flip the phone open, Changmin’s hand covered it, the cell phone nestled between their hands.

“Junsu, everything I do, I do for your own good. I’m willing to do anything for you because I love you,” he spoke, his eyes serious and Junsu was almost afraid to continue staring into his eyes.

“What’s wrong with you today?” Junsu frowned.

Changmin smiled. “Nothing is wrong. Answer your phone.”

He removed his hand and walked pass Junsu to reenter the lab room.

Junsu scratched the side of his head in confusion. Then he quickly answered his phone.

“Hello?”

“Su-ie!”

“What’s up, Jaejoong?” Junsu voiced, but he actually wanted to ask ‘Do you know what’s wrong with Changmin today?’

But there was no point in asking. Jaejoong wouldn’t know what was wrong with Changmin. He stopped knowing years ago when Junsu had come between Jaejoong and Changmin’s friendship.

“Just wanted to tell you that I won’t be able to make it back for dinner so just have Changmin drop Yunho off later tonight.”

“Wait, why? Weren’t you supposed to come here after work? How was your first day at work?” Junsu questioned.

“It was great. I have something to do after work. Gotta go, Su-ie. Love you, bye!”

◙◙◙◙◙

Changmin dropped Yunho off and when he entered the house, he noted that Jaejoong was not home. He had not seen Jaejoong all day because the beautiful man had headed out the doors early for work.

Uh…‘man’. Just ‘man’. Not ‘beautiful man,’ Yunho reminded himself.

He turned on the lights and realized that today was an awkward day. It wasn’t because he was introduced to Kim Kibum, because he had been hooked up to a buzzing machine, because he had to pee into a cup, or because of whatever else. It was an awkward day because he hadn’t heard Jaejoong’s voice or seen any of his weird antics. It just wasn’t normal for Yunho to go a day without looking at Jaejoong as if the man was the weirdest creature on Earth.

Yunho wondered why he felt this way.

He wasn’t one to mind anyone’s business, but his own. Yet Kim Jaejoong brought out all curiosity in him.

He wasn’t one to step out of his comfort zone and talk to anyone except Yoochun (because he’d grown up with Yoochun). Yet Kim Jaejoong had evoked more words from Yunho than any other stranger when they would sit in the kitchen in the middle of the night for the ‘late, late second dinner.’

It was simply because Kim Jaejoong was different from anyone Yunho has ever met. That was the reason, simple…and uncertain.

“I’m home!” he heard the voice from outside and found himself running out of his room.

But Yunho stopped himself in time. He stood in the middle of the hallway, angry at himself for reacting like that and calming his nerves. Then, casually and coolly, with eyes of indifference, he walked the rest of the way to the living room.

He couldn’t act calm and indifferent when he saw Jaejoong.

“What happened to you?” Yunho blurted out as his wide eyes remained on Jaejoong’s hair.

“Do you like it? It’s called platinum blond,” Jaejoong fidgeted with his bangs.

“But…how? Are you…secretly a martial artist too? Which sect are you learning from? Who is the powerful master that you are learning from?” Yunho interrogated.

“What? No, no, I don’t know martial arts. I’m not under any sect or cult or whatever either. All that weird martial-arts-skill stuff isn’t what turned my hair from black to…”

“…white.”

“It’s not ‘white’. It’s platinum blond.”

“Platinum blond?” Yunho pronounced carefully.

Jaejoong had taken off his shoes and walked to sit on the couch. “Yep. I went to get it done after work today. It took a little longer than I expected, but the people at the shop were willing to close late to get it finished for me. Do you like it?”

“Is there a reason why you went to…get that done to your hair?”

Jaejoong’s expression said that there was a reason, but he would lie about it, “Nope, no reason except that I felt like it.”

Yunho wanted to push further, to know why Jaejoong was lying. He didn’t know why he felt like Jaejoong was lying, but he felt it.

But he didn’t push further. He always spoke with finality in his tone, never telling the others anything about himself. So he had no right to be forcing Jaejoong to open up to him.

It was only fair; even if it bothered Yunho to no end.

◙◙◙◙◙

“Give me your money!”

“No! Please! We barely make enough to cover our expenses!”

“That’s your problem!” the large, bearded man grabbed onto the skinnier man’s shirt and lifted him off the floor.

Junsu sighed as he and Yoochun walked pass that scene. A bully was demanding ‘territory money’ from the store owner next to the little restaurant they were at.

The shopkeeper handed them the take-away food that Junsu had ordered. Junsu paid and checked the change that the shopkeeper returned to him. When he had the food and the correct change, he tugged at Yoochun’s arm, “Let’s go, Yoochun. Yunho’s in the car waiting. We need to get you two to Kibum so I can head off to Changmin’s place. He has a meeting today.”

Yoochun didn’t budge. Junsu saw that he was watching the bullying.

“From the end of the street, I have heard the bully’s voice, demanding money from every shop in his path,” Yoochun spoke in that deep voice of his.

“That’s how it is in this area. The only reason I come is because the food here is awesome,” Junsu explained.

“Why is it allowed to continue?” Yoochun said again, his eyes still watching the scene in the shop.

“We…we don’t have the money. Please, just give us another day,” the skinny store owner begged the large bully.

“Because the police haven’t caught him yet and because he’s a giant. No one will stand up to…”

Junsu was wrong. Yoochun, who looked puny compared to the bully, would stand up to him. Junsu was throwing cuss words in his mind as he wondered if he should follow Yoochun or find something to knock him out with.

Chapter 15

Hospital

Yoochun, who looked puny compared to the bully, would stand up to him. Junsu was throwing cuss words in his mind as he wondered if he should follow Yoochun or find something to knock him out with.

Junsu frowned and quickly grabbed onto Yoochun before he could reach the bully. “Let’s go already! We’re going to be late! Our salary gets deducted if we’re late! Yoochun!”

Yoochun turned his head sharply and frightened Junsu with his angry eyes. Junsu froze in place, releasing Yoochun’s arm. He’d never seen Yoochun angry (at him) before, and that scared Junsu. ‘Scared’…and something else.

And because Junsu had released his arm, Yoochun continued to take confident steps to confront the bully.

“What do you want, Shrimp?” the bully glared at the shorter man who had laid a hand on his shoulder.

Yoochun didn’t have to say a word. The bully began to feel a weird pressure on his shoulder (where Yoochun’s hand laid). Yoochun’s fingers curled and the sound of cackling bones could be heard along with the bully’s cry of pain. The store owner was released from the bully’s grip.

The larger man grew angry and used his other arm to swing a punch at Yoochun. Yoochun took a step backward and grabbed the bully’s shirt to throw him out of the store. Others gathered to watch the man with the incredible strength and even more incredible courage.

“Who are you?” the bully, on the ground with an arm that he couldn’t feel, glared up at Yoochun’s cold eyes.

“You are not worthy of my name, just as you are not worthy of using anyone else’s money. Do not let me see you hurting others again or I guarantee you that your arm will be the least of your worries,” Yoochun spoke in a powerful voice that Junsu didn’t know he was capable of.

Still glaring, the bully scampered away. The crowd clapped, but Yoochun did not bathe in the glory. He was too modest.

Meanwhile, Junsu ran to Yoochun’s side and patted his back. “Good job!”

Junsu didn’t like the unforgiving emotion in Yoochun’s eyes. His smile faded and his hand stopped touching Yoochun’s back. What was wrong?

“Yunho is waiting,” Yoochun spoke in the monotone voice he had used when they first met. Junsu thought that Yoochun had warmed up enough to him in the past weeks, enough for Yoochun to easily show emotion (instead of using that same boring, cold tone) to Junsu.

He was really angry at Junsu.

Why?

Junsu didn’t have time to ask. They suddenly noticed the crowd parting like the Red Sea and suddenly a batch of buff, large bullies were standing in front of them.

“This is why I told you to mind your own business!” Junsu shouted at Yoochun as he grabbed Yoochun’s hand, ready to run.

Yoochun wouldn’t run. He flung Junsu’s hand away, not caring if the younger man fell backwards onto his rear. The crowd went crazy and scurried back into their shops (locking the doors) to protect themselves and their customers. Of course, they still peaked through to see what would happen between the foreigner and the mob.

Yoochun met his challenge and knocked out the first dozen bullies who charged at him. When the other bullies had seen how skillful Yoochun was, they resorted to using weapons (knives, hammers, sticks, etc.). Junsu was hiding in a safe place that still allowed him to see Yoochun. He immediately dialed the emergency number to call for the police.

Then he saw the one weapon that Yoochun could not see, would not be able to dodge from.

There was the expensively clothed man standing behind the mob. From his clothes and his expression, Junsu could guess that he was probably the leader of the gang. And he wasn’t a happy leader. He looked incredibly pissed off because if this one man (Yoochun) could defeat all his men like this, how was the leader supposed to maintain his pride and respect in the illegal industry? So he was going to use dirty tricks…more specifically, his gun.

Junsu tried to think of something, anything. He couldn’t fight as well as Yoochun and he didn’t have his gun on him. The police weren’t there yet. Junsu didn’t want to get hurt. He didn’t want to die either. What if the bullet hit him? He was too young and too hot to die. Yoochun was too young (based on his looks) and too hot to die too.

His ears picked out Yoochun’s groan of pain from all the others and looked up to see the ambush. There were too many bullies and some had managed to land their weapons (thankfully not their knives) on Yoochun!

Junsu took in a deep breath and mumbled a quick prayer. He jumped out of his hiding place and was ready to use all the moves he had learned in self-defense class (which wasn’t much, compared to Yoochun’s skills). These bullies didn’t seem like ordinary bullies either. They had some skills of their own.

But Junsu tried not to think about that. He released a battle cry and charged for whoever and whatever. He just needed to hold off until the police got…

Junsu’s train of thought was cut off by the pain he felt from three punches and maybe two kicks.

“Junsu!” he heard Yoochun’s voice.

Junsu felt himself drop to the ground (on his knees) after a third kick was sent to his stomach, his eyes were squinting as he raised his head to see Yoochun push away the men who were attacking Junsu. From this angle, Yoochun looked ever so heroic and was fighting even better than before. Did adrenaline push him to be that good or was it because he was angry that those men had hurt Junsu?

Fewer and fewer bullies were standing and that worried Junsu even more. He turned his eyes to the gang’s leader and saw the bitter anger. Then he saw the raising of the gun.

“Yoochun! He has a gun!” Junsu shouted even though a punch to his chest made it hard to breathe.

Yoochun knocked another two out with a flying kick and stylishly landed on his feet. Yoochun turned to search for the ‘he’ who had the gun, but before he could settle his eyes on the gang leader, Yoochun heard the sound of a released bullet.

Junsu heard the sound of police siren, a released bullet, and his own scream. “Yoochun!”

The bullet pierced into Yoochun’s upper arm, causing a small splatter of blood. The impact caused a shocked Yoochun to clench his fists and his knee slightly bent as if ready to fall. But he wouldn’t fall. He regained his balance and knocked out the remaining three bullies who surrounded him.

The rest (including the gang leader) had already disappeared when they heard the sound of the police siren. Junsu ignored his own aches and ran to Yoochun’s side immediately.

“Oh, my God! Your arm! He shot your arm! You’re bleeding!” Junsu grabbed at Yoochun’s arm to examine the wound.

“Stop shaking my arm!” Yoochun exclaimed, pain in his eyes. “Do you think I am not in enough pain?”

Junsu gasped and raised his hands innocently (releasing Yoochun’s arm). “I didn’t shake your arm!” he defended, but then he looked at his own hands and saw that they were shaking on their own. He was so scared that he couldn’t even control his shaking hands. As a matter of fact, his whole body shook and shivered, especially at the sight of Yoochun’s blood.

It was amazing that he could still think logically and understand that a shot to the arm won’t kill Yoochun. But just because he wasn’t going crazy didn’t mean he didn’t care (too much) about Yoochun. And that is why Junsu should earn a gold star for not falling into hysteria at this moment.

◙◙◙◙◙

Yoochun found it amusing how doctors in the modern time dressed. He had been shocked when he was seated into what those uniformed men called a ‘wheelchair’ and was pushed into this place that was called a ‘hospital’. It was large and filled with many people, a lot of them wearing white clothing.

He had so many questions, but kept his mouth shut the whole time. He was transferred onto a bed and instructed to lie down. Amazement graced his eyes when Yoochun found that two women in white clothing were able to easily push the bed around. Were they extremely strong or was the bed another amazing invention of the modern century?

Yoochun didn’t ask. He wasn’t comfortable with these strangers and he refused to talk to Junsu.

So he did all he could to hide the fear, the confusion, the questions as he was pushed into a room with dim lights.

“The doctor will be in really soon. She’ll give you a shot that will put you to sleep before performing surgery to remove the bullet from your arm,” one woman who had pushed him into the dim room explained.

‘Doctor’? ‘She’? A female doctor? Wow.

To be polite, Yoochun nodded with a smile. The woman smiled back and then walked away. Yoochun had the urge to look around the room, but decided it was best to keep his eyes closed before his surrounding could confuse him even more. After all, he didn’t have Junsu by his side to explain everything to him.

The female doctor arrived soon after and Yoochun opened his tired eyes to look up at her. His wound was hurting, but the police had done something to prevent it from bleeding. Still, Yoochun couldn’t help but feel tired.

“Mr. Park, can you hear me?” the female doctor smiled down at him.

Yoochun wondered how she knew his last name. Junsu probably told her.

“Yes,” Yoochun managed to nod. He continued to stare at the female doctor. She looked so young and caring. The way she looked at him gave him a sense of…familiarity.

She began to explain the procedure to Yoochun and he could only pretend to understand. At least she warned him about the prick of the needle so that he did not jump up in hysteria when it entered his skin.

His body began to go numb and he could feel fatigue conquer his senses. The last thing he saw was the beautiful doctor smiling kindly at him, “Go ahead and sleep. You’ll be all better when you wake up.”

The last thing Yoochun remembered thinking about was of how much the doctor reminded him of the bride he was supposed to marry. But not as beautiful, not as sweet, not perfect.

◙◙◙◙◙

“Wow,” Jaejoong voiced after Junsu had finished telling the story of ‘Nosy Yoochun’.

“I told him to mind his own business! But no! He had to be nosy about it!” Junsu complained. His story-telling took longer than it should because he had spent half of the time complaining about how idiot/nosy/immature/stupid/etc. Yoochun was.

Junsu sat between Jaejoong and Changmin on one side of the hospital bed. Yunho and Kibum sat on the other side.

“You could have at least told Cinderfella! He sat in the car waiting for hours! Good thing we got him a cell phone! I knew it was a good thing that I put my name first on his speed-dial!” Jaejoong exclaimed. Changmin rolled his eyes. Yunho closed his eyes and released a sigh. Kibum raised his eyebrow.

‘Cinderfella?’

“I know, I know, but the police rushed us onto the ambulance. I completely forgot. Sorry, Yunho,” Junsu sent apologetic eyes towards the quiet man.

“I understand,” Yunho spoke. His voice was void of emotions, but his eyes said that he forgave.

“Do you need to be hospitalized?” Changmin changed the topic, looking at Junsu with worried eyes. He didn’t like seeing the bruises on pale skin.

“No, I should be fine,” Junsu replied.

“How long will Yoochun need to be hospitalized?” Kibum inquired. Changmin’s suspicious eyes shot towards Kibum. Kibum knew, but ignored his eyes.

“No longer than a week. The surgery went well,” Junsu answered. “But he’s not worth pitying. It’s his fault for being nosy.”

They heard a cough from the person on the bed. Yunho and Junsu stood up immediately to stand closer to the bed.

“How are you feeling?” Yunho inquired. Jaejoong smiled at how soft Yunho’s expression was when he looked down at Yoochun.

“The injury is a minor role to what you have inflicted on me in the past,” Yoochun’s hoarse voice joked.

Junsu was frowning. Yunho was standing over him, but so was Junsu. But Yoochun only looked at Yunho!

Chapter 16

Fight

“Well, at least he still knows how to joke. Let’s go,” Junsu grabbed Jaejoong’s arm. He took one step and expected Yoochun to call him back. Yoochun didn’t.

“Can I have some water?” Yoochun coughed. Kibum stood up to pour him some water.

Junsu frowned even more.

“Are we going to go buy food and have a picnic in here? That’ll be fun!” Jaejoong grinned. Changmin rolled his eyes.

“Sorry for making you wait in the car,” Yoochun was talking to Yunho after thanking Kibum for the water.

“Su-ie, you’re hurting me,” Jaejoong pointed at the tight grip Junsu had on his arm.

Still frowning, Junsu released Jaejoong’s arm and stomped back over to Yoochun. “That’s it? You’re just going to apologize to Yunho? What about us? You scared the life out of us because you wouldn’t mind your own business! And look at my bruises!”

Yoochun’s eyes were cold as he looked at Junsu. “I did not ask you to help, nor did I expect you to.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You had no intention to help the weak storekeeper. I did not expect you to have the courage to assist me either.”

“Now you’re calling me a coward?” Junsu exclaimed. His shouting was a contrast to Yoochun’s calm, cool voice.

“I do not know how else to describe you.”

Junsu’s eyes widened with anger. “It’s called minding your own business! I don’t know how it worked in the ancient past, but it’s the modern time now! You mind your own business and let the authorities take care of the problems!”

“If the authorities were doing their job, we would not have experienced the scene. The weak need to be helped,” Yoochun argued.

“You helped him, all right, and then got hurt in the process! If you’re not capable then you shouldn’t have helped in the first place,” Junsu glared.

“At least I tried.”

“You tried and failed. That’s worse than not trying! That gang leader is still roaming and who knows if they’ll continue what they’ve always been doing!”

“Actually, the police said that they are interrogating the gang members that Yoochun had knocked unconscious in attempt to find the gang leader. The police will also be keeping a more stringent watch on the area,” Changmin informed.

Kibum looked at Changmin with amusement. He was speaking with facts, but Kibum was shocked that he wasn’t being biased towards Junsu (since those facts would benefit Yoochun’s argument).

“See?” Yoochun exclaimed.

“That…that means the police are doing their job! You still should have stayed out of it! Now we have to visit you in the hospital and the hospital bill is a lot of money too!”

No one missed the flicker of anger in Yoochun’s eyes. “That’s it isn’t it? Money! You don’t want to pay those bills then don’t! You don’t want to be bothered to come visit me, then don’t do that either!”

Everyone was shocked by his outburst, even Junsu. But Junsu clenched his fist and pretended to not be scared. He held his chin up and tried to look confident. “Who are you to be throwing a tantrum at me? You still owe me money!”

“Why is it always money with you? Can you not think of anything else? Even when we were watching the storekeeper being bullied, you could only think about being late for work and having a deduction on your paycheck!”

“Why can’t I be greedy? Money is dependant and reliable! It’s reality! I don’t know how it worked in your time, but in this day and age, you can’t survive without money! We have bills to pay! Open your eyes; you’re in the modern times now! You can’t go around being heroic without thinking about consequences!”

“Like Robin Hood?” Jaejoong peeped. He shut up when Junsu and Yoochun glared at him. Changmin rolled his eyes while Kibum and Yunho remained silent. They couldn’t understand why Yoochun and Junsu were so angry.

“I can only pray for the day when I can return to my own time,” Yoochun retorted.

Junsu felt like he’d been slapped. So what was Yoochun saying? That Junsu made him want to return to his time? That he couldn’t stand being around Junsu anymore?

Well, fine, then, but Kim Junsu will have the last word!

“I can’t wait till Kibum finds a way to send you back, the sooner the better!” Junsu shouted loudly before running out of the hospital room.

◙◙◙◙◙

“Why are you so angry?” Jaejoong had a confused frown on his brows as he tapped his cheek with an index finger. The three were sitting on a bench outside the hospital.

“Because he’s an idiot. He deserves to be yelled at so he won’t go doing something stupid again,” Junsu retorted, still in a bad mood.

“Yoochun is like that. He’s courageous and selfless so you can’t blame him for wanting to help,” Changmin reasoned.

“You guys didn’t see the fight scene! You guys didn’t see that guy pointing the gun at him! What if the bullet didn’t hit his arm? What if…what if it hit…” Junsu bit his lower lip and didn’t even want to say it. He didn’t want to imagine it.

Changmin’s eyes were observing Junsu closely, but the shorter man was drowning too deep in his frustration to notice.

But then, Changmin wasn’t sure. What was Junsu drowning in? Frustration? Anger? Fear?

Love?

“But we’re all friends. We should love each other,” Jaejoong pouted. “Don’t be mad at him.”

“I don’t love him! I hate him! If he didn’t ruin my lottery ticket, I’d be rich! If he didn’t owe me money, I wouldn’t even bother to keep him around!”

“You don’t mean that,” Jaejoong said.

“I mean every word.”

“But you don’t mean every sentence. You never mean anything you say when you’re angry,” the blond man said. He looked over at Changmin. “Don’t you have anything to say about this?”

Changmin looked at Jaejoong, then at Junsu. Then he turned back to Jaejoong. “Why did you get your hair dyed? It looks weird.”

Jaejoong wanted so much to say, ‘You noticed?’

But instead, he said, “I’ll do what I like! We’re trying to calm Junsu right now.”

“We can’t calm him. Let ‘Time’ do it. I’m sure Junsu can’t hate Yoochun for very long.”

Junsu glared at him. “Want to bet?”

“No, because you’ll pretend to be angry at him for the sake of the bet. Come on; let’s go get you something to eat. You haven’t eaten since this morning. It’s not good for you.”

“Where are we going?” Jaejoong grinned.

“How about that restaurant down the street? They have the best Mandu,” Changmin suggested.

“Okay!” Jaejoong readily agreed.

At the restaurant, Jaejoong and Changmin each ordered a platter of Mandu. Junsu ordered three.

“Are you sure you want three platters? One platter comes with a lot,” Changmin informed.

“I’m starving and you said that the Mandu is good,” Junsu replied.

The food came quick and they each finished a platter.

“I’m so full,” Jaejoong leaned back into the chair and rubbed his tummy.

“I told you, you wouldn’t be able to finish that,” Changmin pointed at Junsu’s second and third platter that he hadn’t even touched.

“Box it and take it to the hospital for Yunho and Kibum. We shouldn’t waste food,” Junsu tried to layer his voice with indifference, as if he hadn’t planned this all along.

“Only for Cinderfella and Kibummie?” Jaejoong asked.

“Yeah,” Junsu frowned. He waved for a waitress and asked for a box. He remembered to ask for a small container of hot sauce too, mentioning it three times to make sure the waitress didn’t forget.

“Yunho doesn’t eat spicy stuff,” Jaejoong pointed out.

“Well…then…they can throw it away. Or maybe Kibum likes hot sauce. You don’t know if he doesn’t,” Junsu stammered.

“You don’t know if he does either,” Changmin pointed out.

“Then they can throw it away!” Junsu pouted. His expression threatened to throw his fist around if either of the two said anymore.

Changmin glanced at his watch and saw that it was eight o’clock. Kibum had mentioned that he would be leaving the hospital at seven-thirty. But it was probably best to not mention this to Junsu.

Besides, Junsu probably already knew, seeing that he was glancing at his watch with an approving nod.

◙◙◙◙◙

“There are two orders,” Jaejoong placed the bag on the table. “Kibum is gone?”

“He left around seven-thirty for a meeting,” Yunho informed.

“Oh, then that’s perfect! One for Cinderfella and one for Yoochunie. Here’s hot sauce for you, Yoochunnie.”

“Thank you, Jaejoong,” Yoochun smiled at him.

“Su-ie ordered the hot sauce for you. He nagged the waitress to remember,” Jaejoong pointed out.

Yoochun’s smile faded as he looked at the container of red sauce.

“Yoochunie, we’re all friends. I still don’t understand why you’re angry at him or why he’s angry at you, but friends should love each other,” Jaejoong placed a hand on Yoochun’s shoulder. He almost looked like a little kid asking his parents to stop fighting.

Yoochun sighed. “Thank you, Jaejoong.”

“You owe Su-ie a ‘thank you’. I need to go now before that evil Changmin drives off without me.”

“Do you want me to walk you down there?” Yunho offered, not knowing why he would do that.

“You don’t have to do that. I’m not a girl!” Jaejoong laughed. “Good-night, guys. Call me if you need anything…or…call Su-ie first.”

He made a failed attempt to wink and skipped out of the room. Yunho’s eyes followed until the blond man turned the corner.

No, definitely not a girl.

“Yunho?”

“Hmm?” the older man turned his eyes to the man on the bed.

“Eat, you are probably starving.”

“Yoochun, why are you angry at Junsu anyway?” Yunho felt the need to ask.

Chapter 17

Gifts

“Yoochun, why are you angry at Junsu anyway?” Yunho felt the need to ask.

“Because he is a coward.”

“Is that the reason?”

“Do you think it is not the reason?” Yoochun raised an eyebrow at him.

“I think that is the root, but not the entity of why you are angry.”

“Root?”

“I suspect you are angry at Junsu for ruining the good image that you have of him in your...mind.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“We create images of people in our own mind. The one you created of Junsu was one of kindness, happiness, and close to perfection.”

“‘Close to perfection’?”

“‘Close’ and not quite ‘perfect’ because you would only create a completely ‘perfect’ image for someone you’re in love with. You told me that once.”

“Right, I did,” Yoochun murmured. Then he frowned, “What are you trying to say?”

“Men of our time grew up being taught that being a coward is a sin. A man is less than a dog when he is a coward. Being a coward is a flaw. Junsu, refusing to help that storekeeper, created this flaw in the close to perfect image that you had created of him in your mind,” Yunho explained. “You are disappointed that he is flawed because you so desperately wanted to hang onto the close to perfect image of him.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that you care very much for him.”

“You mean I love him?” Yoochun’s eyes widened.

“As a friend or a brother, yes. It would be ridiculous to say that you are in love with him as a lover. That is not possible, after all,” Yunho pointed out.

“Yes, ridiculous and impossible,” Yoochun nodded in agreement.

“So now that you know the true reason why you are angry at him, how about apologizing? He did buy you Mandu and remembered the hot sauce.”

Yoochun sighed and looked at the cell phone Yunho was handing him. “Do you think he will forgive me for being angry at him for a ridiculous reason?”

“It is not a ridiculous reason. Even a child will cry when he/she realizes that his/her hero has flaws.”

“He is not my hero.”

Yunho smiled a little. “No, he is more than that.”

◙◙◙◙◙

“He refuses to pick up.”

“Still?”

It was already the next morning and Yoochun had spent most of last night trying to call Junsu. While Yunho tried to sleep on the couch in the room, Yoochun stayed up the whole night staring at his cell phone.

“This modern technology that they use, ‘Caller ID’, it can be useful, but it can be a flaw as well,” Yoochun frowned at the cell phone in his hand.

“The modern time and our ancient time have many differences. I do not think one is better than the other though.”

Yoochun nodded. He looked outside and realized that there was no Sun. For some reason, that made him think of Junsu’s smile…or the lack of it.

“How are you feeling?”

Yoochun and Yunho turned their heads to see Kibum.

“Good morning, Kibum.”

Kibum nodded and smiled. “How is your arm?”

“The doctor said that I am recovering fast. She gave me the choice of leaving today or tomorrow,” Yoochun explained.

“Which do you prefer? Just let me know and I’ll have my assistant take care of the bill and the paperwork for you.”

“Thank you,” Yoochun smiled at the kind man. “Please promise to deduct the money from my salary.”

“There is no need.”

“I insist,” Yoochun pleaded.

Kibum smiled. “Okay then.”

He made a quick phone call before informing the two that all will be ready soon. “Shall I call Junsu to have him come pick you up?”

Yoochun looked down sadly. “I am afraid he is still angry at me.”

“Are you the one at fault in this fight?” Kibum wondered.

“There is no saying who is at fault. In the end, I just do not want this to ruin our friendship,” Yoochun explained.

Kibum nodded. “How do you plan to get back on his good side? It would be a pity to see you lose this friendship.”

“Can you help me?”

Kibum glanced at his watch. “I have a meeting with several professionals to discuss your experiment. How about I give you your paycheck in advance and you decide on what you can buy Junsu to make him smile again?”

The way Kibum spoke, it seemed like Junsu wouldn’t be smiling at all as long as the fight continued. Yoochun wondered if the fight would mean that much to Junsu.

“Thank you very much, Kibum, but it will not be necessary. We do have money on us,” Yoochun replied.

“Really?”

“Yes, I know Junsu seems greedy, but he is not as bad as you think. He made sure Yunho and I each had a cell phone and money and a piece of paper with the house address on it just in case we get lost,” Yoochun informed with a proud smile.

Kibum’s calm eyes were on Yoochun’s smile before a small smirk form on his own lips. “My apologies for misunderstanding him then. I need to go now. My assistant will be here to inform you as soon as you are able to leave.”

Yoochun and Yunho bowed with gratitude and watched as the younger man left.

“How do you plan to ask for forgiveness?” Yunho inquired.

“Kibum suggested buying him something. What can I buy him?”

“Let’s call Jaejoong for help,” Yunho suggested. He hadn’t seen Jaejoong all day, most probably because the blond man was at work. It would be nice to hear his voice though.

“Good idea,” Yoochun reached for the cell phone on the desk.

Yunho immediately volunteered, “I will call him for you.”

Before Yoochun could reply, Yunho was already listening to the first ring.

◙◙◙◙◙

“This is amazing!”

“We’ve never been this busy since…forever!”

“Hurry and clean that table so we can seat another costumer!”

“Your order is ready!”

The ‘Timeless Restaurant’ staff was running all over the place, shocked that there was a line of people standing outside the restaurant to eat.

Jaejoong was in the kitchen cooking and cooking and finally heard his cell phone ring.

“Hello? Cinderfella? What’s wrong? Wait, I can’t hear you. Wait, wait, hold on.”

All Jaejoong could hear was the clattering of cooking equipments and people shouting. He finished up two more platters and laid them out on a plate. Seeing that everyone was too busy to take the platters out to the designated table on the ticket, he decided to do it.

When he walked out of the kitchen, he could hear Yunho’s voice from the other line. “Okay, what’s up?”

“‘What’s up?’” Yunho repeated in a confused voice. Then, in an uncertain tone, he replied, “Um…the sun?”

Jaejoong giggled and customers stared at him. He ignored the stares and found the designated table to put the two platters on it. “Enjoy!” he told the customers before walking off.

“Jaejoong, what are you doing out here? There are orders that you need to cook!” his boss exclaimed.

“Quick phone call, boss,” he flashed his signature grin. His boss sighed and ran off to clean a table or two.

“What’s wrong, Cinderfella?” Jaejoong grinned, all too brightly, as he spoke into the phone. Eavesdroppers were confused by the nickname and even more, why the man was grinning when the other person on the other line couldn’t even see it. “What? You want to know what to buy Junsu to ask him for forgiveness? Oh, Yoochun wants to know…”

“Jaejoong! Orders!” someone shouted from the kitchen.

Unable to think under pressure, Jaejoong’s eyes wandered. He saw a corner table where a couple sat. The guy presented the girl with flowers and a box of chocolate and the girl was grinning like crazy.

“Flowers and chocolate,” Jaejoong quickly replied to Yunho. “I have to go now. I’ll talk to you later, Cinderfella.”

“Thank you, Jaejoong,” was Yunho’s last words, but he did not hang up. He was waiting for Jaejoong to hang up. Jaejoong was reluctant.

But he hung up anyway.

Chapter 18

Together

“Where is my cell phone? I can’t find my cell phone!” Junsu shouted angrily. As if he wasn’t frustrated enough by the fact that he couldn’t think of a reason…an excuse to go see Yoochun, now he couldn’t find his cell phone!

He picked up the home phone to call his cell phone. No pick up. He called Changmin.

“Changmin! Changmin! I can’t find my cell phone! What do I do?”

“Junsu, calm down. It broke during yesterday’s fist fight, remember?”

[F.l.a.s.h.b.a.c.k]

“Get some sleep, you’re tired,” Changmin smiled softly at the shorter man who’d thrown himself onto the sofa. “Don’t worry about coming to my house tomorrow either.”

“I’m going to really feel these bruises tomorrow,” Junsu groaned.

Changmin sat down next to him and helped him take off his jacket. Then those same hands settled on his shoulders to help relax his tense muscles.

“How is that?”

“Perfect,” Junsu grinned as he began to fold his jacket. That was when the object in the pocket fell out.

“What is it?” Changmin inquired, still massaging Junsu’s shoulders.

“My cell phone,” Junsu pouted, opening the phone and seeing no reaction. “Certified: Dead.”

Changmin laughed at Junsu’s pout. “Must have broken during the fist fight.”

“Now I have to buy another one. I got this one for a good price too! Hmph, stupid Yoochun.”

[E.n.d.F.l.a.s.h.b.a.c.k]

“Oh, right, I forgot,” Junsu scratched the side of his head with an index finger.

“Are you okay, Junsu?”

“Yes, yes, perfectly fine. The bruises aren’t hurting as much either. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay, I’ll stop by later. Bye.”

Changmin waited for Junsu to hang up. When he did, Junsu landed back on the couch and sighed. What was wrong with him?

Stupid Yoochun.

His eyes were beginning to close when the entrance door opened. He nearly jumped out of his skin, thinking it was a robber. Talk about being tense.

It was Stupid Yoochun. It was Yoochun with a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolate!

“Hello,” Yoochun greeted as he closed the door behind him, still standing at the door.

Junsu stood up from the couch and looked him up and down, eyes settling on Yoochun’s wounded arm a little longer. “What are you doing?”

“These…are for you,” Yoochun took several steps closer to present him with the flowers and chocolate.

“Wh…what…I…but…this…why…I mean…you…” Junsu stammered as he accepted the gifts.

“Just say ‘Thank you, I forgive you.’”

“Uh…Thank you, I forgive you,” Junsu repeated dumbly.

Yoochun smiled and Junsu felt even dumber. “Thank you.”

Yoochun sat down on the couch and Junsu sat down next to him. He wasn’t sure of what to say. He wasn’t sure what these gifts really meant.

“I find it awkward that flowers and this candy called ‘chocolate’ is what friends give to each other in the modern time,” he spoke.

“What?” Junsu’s mouth dropped open.

“In the ancient time, when men want to make peace with our friends, we treat them to alcohol and a grand meal.”

Friends? He thought friends gave each other flowers and chocolates?

“Oh,” Junsu murmured, looking down at the flowers.

“I hope you like those. Yunho and I had to ask many people for directions to locate a place to purchase these.”

“Oh,” Junsu murmured again, unsure of why he felt…disappointed.

“For some reason, when I saw this combination, I thought they would be used by a man to apologize to his woman. It just seemed more appropriate, but I guess my views are quite narrowed compared to people of the modern time,” Yoochun continued.

“Yeah, people are more…open these days,” Junsu mumbled. So open that yeah, it could be considered normal for a friend to present another friend with flowers and chocolate.

“Still, I do not think what I did was wrong,” he said, eyes on the ceiling. He was sitting, legs a certain angle apart and back perfectly straight. Didn’t he get tired of that strict, manly posture?

“So you would do it again?” Junsu exclaimed, hands clenching the stems of the bouquet.

“Yes,” Yoochun spoke in his cool voice.

“Look, why don’t you just promise me that if there is a next time, you’ll run when I tell you to run?” Junsu suggested.

“I cannot make that promise,” the other man replied truthfully.

Junsu puffed his cheeks as he stared at Yoochun’s side view. He wanted to continue to argue, continue to be angry…or maybe he didn’t.

“Fine, we’ll just have this fight again when it happens again,” he declared.

In a tired, but satisfied voice, Yoochun replied, “Very well.”

◙◙◙◙◙

“What is this?”

“Chocolate, you want some?”

“You don’t like chocolate,” Changmin pointed out.

Junsu sighed and stared at the beautifully wrapped box. “I know. Yoochun got it for me to make peace between us.”

“Yoochun?”

“Yeah, we’re friends again. So when he looked tired, I tucked the poor guy in and he’s probably snoring away right now,” Junsu’s eyes moved to glance into the hallway and wished he could see into the guestroom from the living room.

Changmin didn’t like that Junsu looked…depressed.

“I bought you something.”

Even that didn’t make Junsu’s eyes light up. “Hmm?” he turned to Changmin with tired eyes.

Changmin smiled and presented Junsu with a box. He opened it to reveal the latest cell phone model and it was even his favorite color!

“Wow, you shouldn’t have!” Junsu finally grinned.

“You lost your cell phone while trying to help Yoochun. You deserve this,” Changmin tilted his head slightly, happy to see Junsu smile again.

“Thanks, Changmin! You’re awesome! I love this!” the older man cheered as he slipped the chip in and began testing out the cell phone. Changmin not only had the chip prepared, but had inputted the entire necessary address book for Junsu. After all, they had the same friends.

Changmin, ever so prepared and caring and reliable.

Changmin, so unlike Stupid Yoochun.

“I’m going to go get something to drink. You want something?”

“Orange juice,” Junsu smiled in request. Changmin chuckled and stood up from the couch to walk into the kitchen.

He found some ripe oranges on the table so instead of pouring Junsu some store bought juice; he decided to take a little longer to squeeze fresh orange juice for the love of his life.

When he walked back out into the kitchen with the drinks, his heart broke. The cell phone was neglected on the table while Junsu was staring at the T.V. and munching on the chocolate.

◙◙◙◙◙

“Where’s Su-ie? Isn’t he supposed to follow you everywhere you go?” Jaejoong stood on his tip toes to look past Changmin’s shoulder. Changmin sighed and easily walked right into Jaejoong’s home.

“He’s with Yunho and Yoochun at Kim Kibum’s home.”

“Really? They made up? Good! Poor baby must have been scared to death for Yoochunnie’s life. I should bake him some…”

“How can you not notice?” Changmin interrupted.

Jaejoong blinked. “What?”

“How can you not notice that Junsu is in love with Park Yoochun? Aren’t you the least bit jealous?”

Jaejoong blinked again. Then he remembered that he had to be jealous.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. They’re just really good friends.”

Between ‘Jealousy’ and ‘Denial’, Jaejoong was better at ‘Denial’.

“No, you’re just really blind.”

“Do you want to pick a fight?” Jaejoong’s eyes turned into glaring slits.

“Stop being oblivious, Jaejoong. Kim Junsu is in love with Park Yoochun. We can’t let that happen!”

Jaejoong looked down at the beanie he had taken off when he saw Changmin through the peeping hole. He’d taken the hat off to show off his platinum blond hair.

“What do we do then?”

“As much as I hate to say this, we have to work together to make sure he doesn’t fall any deeper than he already has.”

“Work together?”

“For God’s sake, Junsu ate the chocolate that Yoochun bought him! Junsu hates chocolate!” Changmin exclaimed. Jaejoong blinked, wondering if he’d ever seen Changmin so…crazy before.

“You’re right. It is tough enough I have to deal with you. Yoochunnie will only make it more difficult for me,” Jaejoong rubbed his chin and frowned.

Changmin rolled his eyes.

“So we need to keep them apart until Kibummie finds a way to send Yoochunnie and Cinderfella back?” Jaejoong observed.

Changmin sighed. “I still refuse to believe that they’re from the past. I just know that whatever Kim Kibum comes up with, we’ll have to figure out a way to manipulate it into a reason to make Yoochun leave Junsu.”

And they couldn’t make it obvious that they were the masterminds behind it…because Junsu would only hate them.

“Does Su-ie know that he’s in love with Yoochunnie? I mean, love can be blinding,” Jaejoong murmured.

“I don’t think so and I’m not sure if Yoochun returns his feelings. But it would be best if Junsu continues to be blind to his love for Yoochun.”

Chapter 19

Test

“You’ve learned a lot from this era, haven’t you?” Yunho inquired after Yoochun had finished explaining what new and interesting stuff he’d learn from Kibum this morning.

“Yes, a lot. It is very interesting,” Yoochun replied with a smile, slightly distracted as he stretched his neck to peek out into the garden. While he and Yunho were sitting in Kibum’s large living room, Junsu and Jaejoong were running around in the garden doing…what were they doing anyway?

“Interesting enough to make you want to stay?” Yunho asked another question, his eyes following Yoochun’s eyes, except his eyes were on Jaejoong.

Yunho couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow when Jaejoong suddenly jumped onto Junsu’s back and forced the younger man to give him a piggyback ride. Junsu pretended to cringe at the weight, but still carried Jaejoong as he ran around the garden.

Yoochun’s eyes had stopped stalking and were now looking down at his own hands.

”Yoochun, is it worth it to give up a whole forest for one tree?” another question.

“It depends on the person. I am the type who will give up a whole forest for one tree. Why do you ask? Do you want to stay in this era?”

“I do not know,” Yunho murmured.

“Because of Jaejoong?” Yoochun had noticed Yunho’s eyes on the two childish men, but he wasn’t sure about which of the two.

“No…I...if I were to stay…it would be for…for Junsu…” Yunho stammered for the first time in a long time.

“Junsu? You’d stay for Junsu? Why?” Yoochun cut him off with wide threatening eyes. He had no idea why, but the thought of maybe Yunho was also staring at Junsu...annoyed Yoochun.

Yunho was shocked by his outburst as well. The older man felt the need to quickly explain, “I wanted to say: I’d stay for Junsu, for Changmin, for Kibum, as well as Jaejoong. They’ve become my good friends.”

Yunho had listed Junsu first and Jaejoong last…wanting to make it seem like Jaejoong didn’t matter the most.

Neither could understand why they felt what they were feeling. They were acting like they were…well, denying love. But that couldn’t be possible. A man could never fall in love with another man.

So what was this emotion that involved caring too much, so much that it created jealousy and possessiveness?

“True, they’ve become very good friends to us,” Yoochun agreed. ‘Friendship’, that was the answer.

“You agree, but you’re not one to give up love for friendship,” Yunho pointed out.

“No, I’m the idiot who would give up a whole forest for a single tree,” Yoochun smiled sadly.

“Then does this mean you will return to your home with me after Kibum has found a way?”

“Yunho, my home is your home,” Yoochun paused. “But that place you called my home is neither mine nor your home.”

“What do you mean it is not your home? Your family lives there. It can be simple, Yoochun. Return home, marry Yoona, and live happily ever after. Simple.”

Yoochun’s eyes were suspicious as he looked at Yunho. When had his friend begun to believe in ‘happily-ever-after’?

“It could be simple, but simplicity does not mean happiness, Yunho.”

“Listen to me, Yoochun. Marry her. You will be happy, your parents will be happy, her parents will be happy.”

“She will not be happy,” Yoochun’s eyes were sad, but Yunho did not look away.

“One person can sacrifice for the happiness of five.”

“No,” Yoochun sighed again. “If she is not happy, then I cannot be happy either. That is love.”

“Is it?” Yunho questioned.

“The difference between me and you is that you are not a hopeless romantic.”

◙◙◙◙◙

“Having fun, Mr. Shim?”

Changmin’s eyes widened when he heard Kim Kibum’s voice and turned around to see the shorter man’s smirk. Both were standing at the top of the stairs, looking down at the two conversing men in the downstairs living room. From there, they could also see Junsu and Jaejoong running around like children in the garden.

“Do you have fun sneaking up on people?” Changmin retorted.

“It is certainly not as heinous of a crime as eavesdropping.”

“Do you not have better things to do?” Changmin frowned.

“My meeting just ended and I was about to inform Yoochun and Yunho about my recent findings.”

“You found that they’re actually suffering a mental disease and are not really from the past?” the taller man tested.

“I never doubted their mental state in the first place. Why do you still refuse to believe?”

“It’s all against logic.”

“Logic is crap.”

Changmin was shocked that Kibum would use such an informal word. “Blunt and vulgar, that’s not like you.”

“You wouldn’t know,” Kibum replied, his expression cool and calm throughout the whole debate.

“Then you would know nothing of why I’m eavesdropping either,” Changmin countered.

“Jealousy.”

Changmin frowned even more. “You’re nosy.”

“No, just blunt,” Kibum smirked. It seemed that the taller man wasn’t in the best state to debate today. As much as Kibum wanted to continue, he had to remember that there were more important tasks on hand.

◙◙◙◙◙

“Where are we?” Junsu inquired as his eyes wandered the large field. It was close to ten at night and the six of them were gathered in the middle of an empty field.

“Will we get shot for trespassing?” Changmin observed.

“Is it hunting season?” Jaejoong gasped. Changmin and Junsu rolled their eyes.

“Don’t worry, my company owns this land. It has been isolated specifically for my experiments,” Kibum explained. Yoochun and Yunho were silent as they followed behind.

“Why are we here at this time of the night, especially when the clouds warn of a storm?” Changmin, ever so logical, questioned. His eyes stared up at the dark sky; stars were barely visible (if visible at all).

“I checked the weather. There will be a storm tonight and plenty of lightning,” Kibum informed.

“Lightning?” Junsu and Jaejoong gulped, zipping up their jackets all the way to their chin. Then Junsu reached over to zip up Yoochun’s jacket while Jaejoong zipped up Yunho’s jacket. Changmin and Kibum were wearing jackets with buttons.

“Only the shock of lightning is powerful enough to run the machine,” Kibum simplified.

“Machine?” Junsu wondered out loud as his eyes searched. His eyes found.

Not too far away was a huge machine, too technical to understand, but just as awesome to stare at. “Wow, I thought these only existed in movies!” Jaejoong gasped again.

“You look like a tourist,” Changmin frowned.

“Are you trying to pick a fight again?” Jaejoong glared.

“This machine will bring us back?” Yoochun spoke to interrupt the fight. Junsu stared at the machine and felt the urge to destroy it.

“There are still many tests to be done, but I promised to keep you informed throughout the experiment. So with this perfect weather, I decided to show you a test drive of the machine,” Kibum answered.

“‘Test drive’?” Yunho inquired.

“Yes, I will be testing this machine on a subject. There will be cameras attached to it and if it returns safely with pictures of the correct time period then we will know that the machine is safe. The cameras are programmed to capture pictures between certain intervals of time.”

Kibum went ahead to explain details about the machine, but they could only understand half of what he said. He spoke logically, but Changmin still refused to believe, standing a safe distance away. Jaejoong had grabbed onto Junsu with one arm and Yunho with the other, tugging them close to his sides to keep himself warm. Yoochun stood closest to Kibum, trying his best to understand half of what the younger man was saying.

Eventually, Kibum finished with, “Any questions?”

Junsu raised his hand, tugging away from Jaejoong (who was left to cling onto Yunho) to step forward. He now stood next to Yoochun.

“Yes, Junsu?”

“What will you be testing it on? And where are your helpers?”

“There is no need for them. I am capable of controlling the machine on my own,” Kibum assured. The others didn’t doubt that since he was a kid genius, but Changmin was suspicious. Why were there no other people around?

“And the subject?” Yoochun asked.

“It will be a robotic rabbit I created many years ago,” Kibum revealed. “All of my technology is waterproof so there is no need to worry about possible rain.”

“‘Robotic’?”

“It means that the rabbit is not real. It’s made up of technology stuff, but can function in similar ways to a normal rabbit,” Junsu voluntarily explained.

Yoochun smiled to thank him and Junsu automatically smiled back. Changmin noticed and frowned. Kibum noticed and smirked.

The six of them stepped closer to the machine and spent a minute or two examining it (except Changmin, of course). Kibum walked over to him with a mocking smile.

“Not liking what you see?” the shorter man challenged.

“Not at all,” Changmin’s voice was sarcastic. The only reason he was here in the first place was because he wanted to stick to Junsu.

Kibum continued to smirk as he walked away. Changmin was sure that the shorter man was not talking about the machine. His question was definitely directed to Changmin’s ability to see the abnormal interaction between Junsu and Yoochun.

No, Changmin did not like what he was seeing…at all.

A minute later, everything was set and the robotic rabbit was in place. The five stood back while Kibum stood inside a safe compartment near the machine that would allow him to control the buttons.

“Wait, wait!” Jaejoong suddenly shouted.

“What?” Junsu and Changmin chorused while the others just turned their eyes to the blond man.

“Can I name it?” Jaejoong smiled pleadingly at Kibum.

Chapter 20

Scheme

“Can I name it?” Jaejoong smiled pleadingly at Kibum.

“What?” Changmin exclaimed.

“What would you name it?” Kibum shouted from the compartment. His hands skillfully prepared the machine without even looking at the buttons.

“Hmm…‘Mickey’!” Jaejoong announced.

“That’s a Mouse!” Changmin protested.

“So?” Jaejoong rebelled.

Changmin rolled his eyes. “Forget it.”

Kibum smiled with amusement and turned his eyes to the machine. Junsu whispered a quick explanation to Yoochun and Yunho about ‘Mickey the Mouse’ being a cartoon and Jaejoong was probably watching one of its movies in this recent week.

Kibum raised a hand to signal for the five to take two more steps back. He covered his ears and ran through several safety steps before signaling the ‘okay’.

The five stood shoulder to shoulder, from left to right: Yunho, Jaejoong, Junsu, Changmin, Yoochun.

A metal rod was uncovered and extended high up into the sky. The storm was brewing with thunder and wind. A shock of lightning struck the rod and they all heard the boom.

“Here it goes!” Jaejoong and Junsu gasped as they covered their ears and closed their eyes. Yoochun, Yunho, and Changmin had their eyes open as they watched the whole event.

A bright light was released from the other side of the machine where ‘Mickey’ had been situated with its metallic outside and wired insides. Following the BOOM of the lightning was the BLAST of an explosion.

They all gasped as Kibum tore away a wire to quickly shut down the whole machine, to end the electrifying affect. He rushed out of the compartment and ran to where the rabbit had turned into black chunks. The others were by his side immediately, looking down at the failed…and ‘dead’ subject.

“Mickey!” Jaejoong latched onto the closest person (Yunho) and mourned. No tears, just a lot of anguish muffling.

“If that had been a real rabbit, it’d be dead,” Changmin stated.

“If that had been a real rabbit, it’d probably be crispy and edible,” Junsu observed.

“That could have been us,” Yoochun gulped.

“Rest in peace,” Yunho sighed as his hand unconsciously soothed Jaejoong’s back.

“And this is why we run many test drives before we use it on a real person,” Kibum explained, not at all concerned for the destroyed robot. If he could build it when he was ten then building another one tomorrow wouldn’t be a problem at all. “My apologies, but there seems to be many more work to perform.”

“But you are close,” Changmin quickly said, capturing everyone’s suspicious attention. Did this mean Changmin was finally willing to believe in Time Travel?

“Pardon?” Kibum questioned.

“You are quite close to success. It is a critical time in the experiment. Wouldn’t it be more convenient if Yoochun and Yunho moved in to live with you so that they may follow along in the project?” Changmin spoke like a professor as everyone listened to his logic.

Kibum would have protested, but…

“Have Yoochun and Yunho move out?” Junsu and Jaejoong chorused before Kibum could speak.

“I believe they would feel safer if they follow through every detail of the experiment…unless they don’t mind turning into crisps,” Changmin reasoned.

“True,” Kibum agreed. He turned to Yoochun and Yunho, “It is your choice. My home is always open to your acceptance.”

Yoochun and Yunho shared eye contact. Junsu was staring at Yoochun, waiting for him to make the decision, but restrained himself from saying anything. Jaejoong wasn’t afraid to speak though.

“Now wait a minute…” Jaejoong began.

Changmin grabbed his wrist and Jaejoong shut up. The taller man quickly whispered in his ear, “Do you not want to keep Yoochun away from Junsu?”

The others watched in confusion at the interaction, except for Kibum. Kibum was amused.

“I think it’s a great idea!” Jaejoong suddenly clapped. “You two don’t want to end up like poor Mickey.”

Yoochun and Yunho turned to look at the rabbit named ‘Mickey’. True, they didn’t want to end up like that pile of…thing.

But they didn’t really want to leave…

“It’s set then! We’ll help you move all your belongings tomorrow,” Changmin confirmed.

◙◙◙◙◙

“Is it really necessary to make them move?”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“No,” Jaejoong looked down in defeat.

“I was eavesdropping on Yoochun and Yunho. They were talking about going back. Yoochun wanted to go back,” Changmin informed. They had excused themselves to the kitchen while the others were in the living room. “That makes it easy for us because that means Yoochun doesn’t return Junsu’s feelings.”

Jaejoong raised his head to meet the taller man’s eyes. “What about Cinderfella?”

“He seemed a bit reluctant to leave,” Changmin spoke. He seemed less concerned and tense as he spoke about Yunho (because his reason for making Yoochun and Yunho move in with Kibum was targeted towards separating Junsu and Yoochun…not separating Jaejoong and Yunho). He didn’t care about what went on between Jaejoong and Yunho.

“Why?” Jaejoong found himself curious.

“It sounded like Yunho is in love with you,” Changmin shrugged as he looked into the fridge for a drink.

Jaejoong stared at his back with a frown. “And?”

“I don’t think he sees it himself,” Changmin added. Definitely not the response Jaejoong was looking for.

“Maybe you’re wrong. Maybe Cinderfella isn’t in love with me. Maybe Su-e isn’t in love with Yoochunie. How can someone like you be able to tell that one person is in love with another when you can’t even see that someone is in love with you?” the blond man blurted out. He slapped a hand over his mouth.

Changmin closed the fridge and turned to look at Jaejoong. “What? Who?”

“Uh…uh…Kibum!” Jaejoong stammered.

“What?” Changmin’s eyes widened.

“Did I hear my name?”

Both turned with wide eyes to see the shorter man walk into the kitchen.

“Uh…Changmin was appreciating your kitchen. Wow, look at the time. It’s almost midnight. We better get home. Bye!”

Changmin and Kibum watched as Jaejoong ran out of the kitchen. When he was out of sight, Kibum turned to the taller man with an amused expression, “Your friend is quite interesting.”

“He’s not my friend,” Changmin retorted in a dull voice.

“An ‘enemy’ perhaps?”

“By any other name, I still need to put up with him,” Changmin drawled.

One corner of Kibum’s lips lifted. “By any other name, you still need to work with him to keep Junsu away from Yoochun.”

“It’s for the best,” the taller man sighed. He wasn’t shocked that Kibum knew.

“The best for who?” the shorter man challenged.

“When you love someone, you want to protect them. I’m trying to protect Junsu from being hurt when Yoochun leaves.”

“When you love someone, you want them for yourself. You could very well be trying to eliminate a love rival,” Kibum pointed out.

“I love Junsu,” Changmin spoke in an assuring voice, his eyes on Kibum to search for a jealous reaction. Jaejoong’s words kept ringing in his ears. Kibum was in love with him?

“I don’t doubt that,” Kibum replied with a tilt of his head. No other emotion except the usual amused one. “I admire true love. Do not worry about me interrupting your plan.”

“You’ll help us separate Junsu and Yoochun?” Changmin was shocked.

Kibum shrugged with indifference as he casually answered, “Anything for love.”

“What?” Changmin thought he heard wrong. Did Kibum just say that he’d do anything to help Changmin because he was in love with Changmin?

“I was there when you were eavesdropping, remember? Yoochun has the woman that he loves back home. It looks like true love to me so I plan to help him return,” Kibum paused. Then he turned to leave, “Wish me luck, Mr. Shim.”

Changmin was left to stand alone in the kitchen.

So Kibum was talking about Yoochun’s love for his fiancée. But who was to say that he was not implying his love for Changmin? Heck, he probably doesn’t even love Changmin! Jaejoong was probably messing with Changmin.

Stupid Jaejoong.

◙◙◙◙◙

Jaejoong tipped the box of cereal over and watched specks of crumb fall out. He looked into the box with one open eye and informed, “Hmm, there’s no more.”

Yunho looked down at the last two bowls. “I suppose it is a good way to end it,” his deep voice followed a sigh.

“End what?” Jaejoong blinked.

“This is our last cereal gathering,” Yunho pointed out, his eyes on Jaejoong to see if the man shared his depression.

Jaejoong’s eyes looked up for a moment as if he was thinking. Then he shrugged, “That’s a good name for it. ‘Cereal Gathering,’” he repeated the name, as if testing it on his tongue.

Yunho looked down in disappointment. Jaejoong had become such a good friend that Yunho really didn’t want to leave. But it wasn’t as if he was going far. He was only moving to Kibum’s home, not like he was going back to his own home…in the past…even farther away…impossibly far…

“Cinderfella?” Jaejoong mumbled his name, cheeks puffed by the spoonful of cereal in his mouth.

“Thank you,” was all he could say.

“For what?”

Yunho fiddled with the spoon, swirling the cereal around. “For being a good friend.”

Jaejoong smiled. “You don’t hate me for giving you weird nicknames?”

Chapter 21

Possible

“You don’t hate me for giving you weird nicknames?”

“No, of course not,” Yunho spoke in a low voice. He hated the nicknames, but didn’t hate the person who gave them to him.

“Ha! I knew it! Su-ie and Changmin keep telling me to stop before you beat me up for it. I told them you like the names! Just wait till I see Changmin tomorrow! I’ll tell him that you confirmed that you like the nicknames!” the blond man released a powerful laugh that lasted three seconds before returning to munch on cereal.

Why was he so weird?

But that was the last question on Yunho’s mind.

“Why do you give everyone nicknames, but never Changmin?”

Yunho did not miss the stopping of Jaejoong’s chewing jaw. It lasted two seconds and anyone else would have missed it.

“I don’t like him, I really don’t,” Jaejoong responded. It didn’t seem like he was informing the ‘fact’ to Yunho. It seemed more like…a defense, a lie, a voice to cover up a silent lie.

But what lie? Why lie? What is this relationship between Jaejoong and Changmin?

“You do not hate him,” Yunho spoke in his dull voice again.

Jaejoong cringed like a little kid. “You can tell?”

“I can see, but I cannot understand. You do not hate him. Why do you argue with him all the time?”

“Because I love him and he doesn’t love me,” Jaejoong sighed, poking at a cereal.

Yunho blinked. Did he hear that right?

“Pardon? I…may have misheard. It almost seems like you are saying that you are…in love with Changmin…in…a loving kind of way. I mean, love as in…between a man and a woman. But…that is not possible. You two are…both men. Unless…one of you is a woman in disguise…” Yunho stammered. The modern time was so different; he wouldn’t be surprised if people of the time were able to find a way to disguise their gender so well. Somehow, he had a small wish that maybe Jaejoong was the woman in disguise. It’s possible…

“It’s possible,” Jaejoong laughed. He’d forgotten that Yunho was from the ancient past. Same gender love was forbidden or perhaps even unknown of back then.

Jaejoong was surprised that he could so easily blurt out this truth to Yunho. Maybe because it was during their ‘Cereal Gathering’ and it was always easier to talk during this gathering. Maybe because he knew Yunho would keep this secret. Maybe Jaejoong had held the secret in for so long that he was finally so tired that he needed to tell someone else.

Either way, Jaejoong felt that he could trust Yunho.

“Possible…that you are a woman in disguise?” Yunho inquired with wide eyes.

Jaejoong laughed and his eyes turned into slits. “No, silly! It’s possible for two people of the same gender to fall in love with each other and actually be together.”

“What?”

Jaejoong laughed again. “I understand, it must be very hard for you to accept. You probably grew up with parents telling you that it’s forbidden and evil and all that good stuff.”

Yunho’s eyes lowered down to his bowl. “I grew up without parents.”

Jaejoong stopped laughing. He didn’t know that. Most of the ‘Cereal Gatherings’ had him talking about himself and Yunho talking a little about himself; his favorite color, favorite food, but nothing that was actually really personal…like his family.

“Tell me more,” Jaejoong smiled and Yunho felt his heart thump. The smile was so…warm and caring and loving.

“I do not have parents. I wandered the streets, stealing food to survive. Fortunately, Yoochun’s father took me in. He took me in as a servant and I did everything he told me to. I worked hard because I did not want to be abandoned again and he provided a place for me to stay as well as three meals a day,” Yunho informed.

They were sitting across from each other like usual, but Jaejoong had gotten off his chair and walked over to stand next to Yunho, who still remained sitting. “That’s how you became such good friends with Yoochun?”

“I would constantly peek when Yoochun was being taught martial arts or when he was being taught to read and write. His father eventually caught me and I thought he would kick me out for not minding my own business or if he thought I was being lazy for ignoring my chores. I was a servant after all,” Yunho sighed. “He did not kick me out. As a matter of fact, he allowed me to become Yoochun’s personal servant and even a classmate. I was able to learn with him.”

“Wow, he must be a really great person.”

“No, not quite. He has three wives and five sons, Yoochun being the middle child. Yoochun’s biological mother died when he was born. His step-mother does not treat him well, nor does Yoochun get along with his siblings. A year following his mother’s death, Yoochun’s father found out that she had had an affair with another man…”

Jaejoong gasped. “That means Yoochun isn’t his son?”

Yunho nodded sadly. “But Master kept that a secret, not wanting to stain his family’s reputation. Still, his attitude towards Yoochun changed. Yoochun was only twelve at the time, but his father was telling him how much he was hated for being a failure. No matter how many times Yoochun succeeded, even doing better than his siblings in school, his father never approved.”

“Does Yoochun know?”

“He found out when he was fourteen, after suffering for two years in attempt to regain his father’s heart. After finding out and being threatened to keep quiet about the truth, he gave up on his family. He rebelled and became distant from his family.”

“Do you hate them?”

“I cannot hate his father. I owe my life to him. That is why…when his father sent me to capture Yoochun—to bring him back for the wedding—I followed his orders.”

“You didn’t want to,” Jaejoong murmured, his hand had unconsciously moved up to touch the ends of Yunho’s soft hair. Yunho head was still down, staring at the mushy cereal.

“I did. Yoochun loves Yoona. His parents were using him to gain her family’s name and wealth, but Yoochun loves Yoona. He would have wanted to marry her.”

They were quiet for a short moment before it dawned on Jaejoong. A small smile touched his lips, “Yoochun ran away to make himself look like the bad person. He was giving Yoona an easy way out of the marriage.”

“He wanted to give her a chance to marry the one that she truly loved.”

“But then…if he cannot be with her and if he is unhappy with his family, why does he want to go back?”

“Because Yoochun is an idiot and a hopeless romantic. He wouldn’t marry her, but he plans to be her guardian, to watch over her and maybe even help her marry the one she loves.”

“Isn’t that painful?”

Yunho raised his head to meet Jaejoong’s eyes. “Of all people, I think you would understand his willingness to sacrifice and endure.”

Jaejoong turned his head away to cut the eye contact. His eyes landed on Yunho’s hair; the right side was still neat and in place, but the left side was all over the place. He looked at his own hand that was playing with Yunho’s hair.

“Oh, shoot, I messed up your hair. Let me go get a comb and I’ll fix it for you!”

Jaejoong disappeared for a quick minute before reappearing with several versions of a comb/brush and some other hair styling equipments.

“Now it is your turn to talk. Explain to me with…situation about you, Changmin, and Junsu,” Yunho proposed.

“Why don’t you just finish the cereal while I do your hair? This, my friend, is a blow-dryer. It’s too loud to talk over,” Jaejoong grinned.

“But…”

“I can’t tell you everything tonight. I need to leave you with questions so you’ll come back for more ‘Cereal Gatherings’,” the blond man declared. “Now hold still. Don’t worry, I’m good with hair. You should have seen my Barbie and Ken dolls from when I was a kid. They all had the coolest hair!”

“Barbie and Ken?”

Jaejoong explained to Yunho what ‘Barbie and Ken’ were. Then turned on the loud blow-dryer and got right to work.

Yunho ate a spoonful of cereal and sat there wondering: Could he ever accept that two people of the same gender could be in a love relationship? It was so awkward, so outrageous, so…not the traditional ‘Barbie and Ken’.

◙◙◙◙◙

“Are we having another fight and I was not informed?”

Junsu stopped scrubbing the kitchen counter and threw a deadly glare at the man who stood at the kitchen’s entrance. “You face looks like it needs to be scrubbed.”

Yoochun raised a hand to touch his cheeks. “But I just finished showering.”

Junsu rolled his eyes and returned to fiercely scrubbing the counter. If it wasn’t solid, good quality marble, the smooth surface may have turned into uneven etches.

“Go to sleep. You need to wake up early to pack tomorrow.”

“I have little to pack. It should be a simple move.”

Junsu suddenly slammed the scrubber onto the counter and turned to glare at Yoochun, hands on his hips and looking pissed off. “What is that supposed to mean? That you have nothing else you want to take with you except a few sets of clothes? If the move is so simple then why don’t you spend some time at Kibum’s, then move to Changmin’s, then move to Jaejoong’s. Better yet, move to the moon!”

“Are your words coherent to your own ears?” Yoochun raised an eyebrow at him.

“No!” Junsu huffed before shimmying to another area of the kitchen in search of something to clean. When he couldn’t find anything simple enough, he decided to target the living room; too bad walking out of the kitchen involved walking pass Yoochun.

“What is wrong, Junsu?” Yoochun grabbed his elbow.

“Nothing,” Junsu grumbled, but he did not pull his arm away.

“Are you angry at me?”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No!”

“No?”

“Yes!”

“Why?”

Junsu frowned and finally pulled his arm out of Yoochun’s hold. “None of your business!”

“How is it not my business when I happen to be the root of your anger?”

“Because I said so!”

“Junsu, stop it. You are acting like an unreasonable wife who is angry at her husband.”

Junsu gasped. “What?”

Chapter 22

Ugly

“What?”

“Is that not what unreasonable female companions do? They get angry at their other half and expect the man to know why when she does not even give a single hint…and then get angrier when he fails.”

“Is that a view from the ancient times?” Junsu challenged.

“Yes, is it not a view of the present?”

“In the present, females and males do it when they’re in a relationship.”

“I have learned that views from my time and the present are quite different. I may not accept these…new views, but I suppose I will not be here long enough to need to accept them.”

Junsu frowned. He was talking about leaving, going back to his time, and not even caring that he was abandoning Junsu…er…Junsu, Jaejoong, Changmin, and Kibum…all his…friends.

Then Junsu sighed. One of those ‘views’ that Yoochun was talking about was probably same gender relationships. Did he know about those?

“I’m going to sleep,” he walked pass Yoochun, noticing the brush of their arms.

“Why are you angry at me?” Yoochun shouted after him.

“Figure it out,” Junsu shouted back. Then he added, “I’ll get angrier if you fail!”

Yoochun was confused. He crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head slightly. Definitely confused.

Either way, he felt sorry for the girl who would be Junsu’s future-other-half.

Now why did that thought bother him so?

Frowning, still contemplating, Yoochun walked to his own room. His fingers tapped at his scalp, even feeling the urge to tug some hair out, but…he still felt confused.

◙◙◙◙◙

Being a skilled martial artist, Yoochun easily woke at the small click of his door being opened. His body was in defense mode, but he remained ‘sleeping,’ waiting for the intruder’s next move.

Was it a thief? Was Junsu safe? He would kill all intruders if they so much as frighten Junsu!

“Yoochun,” he heard the whisper.

Yoochun opened his eyes to see Junsu looked over him. “Junsu? What is it? Why are you still awake?”

The clock read 2:25 a.m.

“The…the lightning and storm. It…scares me, especially when it’s so much louder in my room. Do you…mind?” Junsu lifted the large stuff animal to allow Yoochun a better view of it.

“What is that ugly thing?” Yoochun exclaimed.

Junsu frowned. “It’s a dolphin! And it’s not ugly!”

“Oh, I have never seen such a…fish?” It looked like some sort of fish to Yoochun.

Junsu nodded. “Now move,” he ordered.

“Did I say that I do not mind?” Yoochun pretended.

Junsu glared. “Don’t be a jerk!”

“Stop acting like you are my unreasonable wife. I will agree to share my bed if you tell me why you were angry at me.”

Junsu blushed a little and was thankful for the darkness of the room. Was he really acting like an unreasonable wife?

“Remember how Jaejoong cooked a chicken for dinner at Kibum’s house?” he decided on a lie.

“Yes.”

“There were only two chicken legs. Changmin, that pig, ate one. You ate the other one, the one that I wanted!”

Yoochun’s mouth dropped. “You were angry at me for something that measly?”

“Measly? It was a chicken leg, my absolute favorite!” Junsu pouted.

Yoochun laughed and Junsu cursed the sudden boom of lightning for drowning the beautiful sound. But Junsu remembered to yelp and clutch tighter onto his dolphin, as if afraid of the boom.

Yoochun lifted his blanket and moved over to make room for Junsu. Yoochun didn’t mind. He’s shared a bed with Yunho before and when he was sent off to school, he shared a long bed with his classmates. It was normal for two people of the same gender, two friends, to share a bed.

But it wasn’t normal to have his heart skip a beat when Junsu made contact with his arm. Junsu shifted and ended up with his back towards Yoochun. Yoochun turned to his side so that his back was parallel to Junsu’s back.

He clenched his eyes shut; trying to ignore that weird churn in his stomach and the suddenly remembered fact that Junsu was not afraid of lightning…at least he wasn’t when they had been outside for the machine’s test drive.

◙◙◙◙◙

Yoochun felt awkward. He lied perfectly straight on his back with eyes staring instantly at the ceiling. His arms were on his sides and his legs were just slightly spread, maybe at a 10 degree angle. Whatever angle it was, it was enough for Junsu to fit his leg in between.

Junsu was on his side with one leg draped over one of Yoochun’s leg. His arm was laid out across Yoochun’s chest and the dolphin rested on Yoochun’s stomach. Most importantly, his head was tilted up and resting on Yoochun’s shoulder.

Yoochun’s eyes wandered every inch of the rectangular ceiling for the eighth time since he’d woken up to the awkward position. He tried to concentrate on the ugly dolphin that lied on his stomach. The keyword is ‘tried’.

Yoochun had shared beds with several male friends before, but this one was the first one he knew who slept with a stuff animal and slept with such…rude manners. Even worse, Yoochun was feeling an itch on his neck where Junsu’s hair tickled.

But he couldn’t move. That would wake Junsu.

But the itch was…unbearable. Maybe if he used his other arm…and reached over…to scratch…with a finger tip…

Yoochun quickly dropped his arm back to place when he felt Junsu move. The younger man’s hold on Yoochun’s leg and chest tightened as he snuggled closer. Yoochun’s whole body tensed even more than it already was.

Too close, too close, too close…

Then Junsu’s head moved, his cheek rubbing against Yoochun’s shoulder. Yoochun lowered his eyes without moving his head and saw those plump lips moving.

“Umma,” the younger man murmured.

Yoochun’s jaw dropped and he felt…felt…this really horrible feeling. Junsu thought Yoochun was his mother!

Looking back down at Junsu’s sleepy face, he saw the half open eyes staring at him. “Umma?” he repeated in a confused, sleepy voice.

“No,” Yoochun grumbled in reply. He was a little disappointed for some reason, just a little; a little disappointed and some other emotions.

At his reply, Junsu’s eyes became wide open and he pulled away from Yoochun to sit up on the bed. “Yoochun! I am so sorry!”

“You have no reason to be sorry,” Yoochun replied in a dull tone, picking the dolphin off his stomach and handing it back to Junsu. “Just take this ugly thing away from me.”

“It’s not ugly!” Junsu protested, hugging the dolphin close to his chest.

“It is ugly in my eyes. We hold different views, there is no point in trying to push each other’s view on the other,” Yoochun explained as he too shifted to sit up.

“No! Not ugly!” Junsu continued.

“I think it is ugly. It is okay for our opinions to be different,” the older man spoke maturely, but at the same time, knew that he was purposely picking a fight.

“No! Apologize!” Junsu was falling right into the trap.

“To an ugly thing like that? Are you insane?” Yoochun exclaimed.

“Apologize!” Junsu shoved the dolphin into Yoochun’s face.

“No! It is ugly and that is that. I refuse to change my opinion. A true man will not be fazed by pressure.”

“I’m not pressuring you, I’m threatening you! You better apologize or…or…”

“Or what?”

“I was going to threaten to kick you out, but since you’re moving out anyway, then I won’t bother. Hurry up and pack all your stuff. I’m going to drive you to Kibum’s place and then I still need to get to work. The sooner you’re out of here, the better!” Junsu shouted on the top of his lungs before jumping off the bed and running out of the room.

Yoochun sat there in confusion. He was aiming to pick a fight wasn’t he? Well, he got it. But he didn’t like it.

Why was he stupid enough to pick a fight again? He didn’t know. Did it have something to do with Yoochun being angry at Junsu for hugging him and thinking he was Junsu’s mother? Possible…but possible for what reason? Oh, yes, the reason that Yoochun was a man. He could not be mistaken for a woman, much less a mother! That was a strike to his pride and honor.

Yes, that was the reason.

What other reason could there be? Perhaps that Yoochun was angry because he didn’t want Junsu to be hugging him and thinking he was Junsu’s mother. Perhaps Yoochun wanted Junsu to be hugging him and thinking he was Junsu’s…Junsu’s what? Lover? No! Impossible! Ridiculous! Forbidden! Unreal!

Yoochun eventually ran out of words so he got off the bed to start packing. Maybe the fight would make it easier for him to leave.

◙◙◙◙◙

Junsu dipped his whole body underwater and came up when he ran out of air. What a great way to start the morning…and yet at the same time, it was such a horrible way to start the day.

He’d woken up, warm and feeling like he’d had the best sleep in years. He’d snuggled closer to the warmth, dreaming it was Yoochun. Then he felt the block of warmth tense and realized that it WAS Yoochun!

Thinking quick so that he wouldn’t traumatize the poor guy, Junsu pretended to fake hallucination. He called Yoochun ‘Umma’! Of all things, he could only think of ‘Umma’! But that was better than calling him ‘Yoochun’…and letting him know that Junsu had been dreaming about him!

Junsu was dreaming about Yoochun! What did this mean?

And then he’d purposely thrown a tantrum when Yoochun called Xiah (the dolphin) ugly. But then, his Umma had given Xiah to Junsu when he was six so Xiah was special to him. It was normal for Junsu to be angry at Yoochun for calling the special gift ‘ugly’.

It didn’t help that Yoochun kept talking about how different their views were and that he didn’t have to accept modern views because he wouldn’t be here long enough. ‘Here’, in the present, where Junsu was.

It was normal for Junsu to be angry at Yoochun. It was easy too. If he was angry then it wouldn’t be difficult when Yoochun would officially move to Kibum’s mansion.

Junsu sighed and picked up the rubber ducky that was sitting on the edge of the tub.

“Why am I so angry?” he whined to the yellow squeaker. Junsu tried to think of an answer. He tried. He continued to try. Then he finally got it: he was in love with Park Yoochun!

Chapter 23

Breakfast

Junsu tried to think of an answer. He tried. He continued to try. Then he finally got it: he was in love with Park Yoochun!

What else could it be? What else could explain the jealousy Junsu felt when Yoochun spoke about how great of a friend (just a friend) Yunho was, how much he liked spending time with Kibum (because he could learn so much), how he was being forced to marry someone he didn’t even love?

What else could it be? What else could explain the possessiveness Junsu felt when a stranger on the street would stare at Yoochun? What else could explain the excessive effort Junsu put into picking out Yoochun’s clothes, fixing his hair, spreading jam on his toast? Jaejoong used to be the one fussing over Junsu’s clothes, hair, and meals. Junsu never fussed about it himself…for himself or for anyone else.

What else could it be? Most importantly, what else could explain the happiness Junsu felt when Yoochun was around? Just a simple smile he wanted to capture on camera, a laugh he wanted to set as his ringtone, and all that cheesy stuff. That idiot, Park Yoochun, made Junsu think the cheesiest things and yet he loved every second of it.

Why?

Because he was hopelessly in love with that idiot.

That idiot, Park Yoochun.

Junsu turned the ducky towards himself and squeezed it. In a squeaky voice, he spoke for the yellow ducky, “You’re the idiot. You’re the one who’s in love with him.”

Junsu frowned and forced the rubber toy under the water to drown the evil, truthful thing. Then he released a distressed groan and drowned himself.

◙◙◙◙◙

“What is this?”

“It’s called ‘cereal’. Jaejoong isn’t here to make breakfast and I’m too lazy to cook,” Junsu explained in a grouchy voice.

“Are you still angry at me for calling your fish ‘ugly’?”

“It’s a ‘dolphin’ and it is not ugly!”

Yoochun shook his head and sighed. He picked up a spoonful of the brown spheres and tasted cereal for the first time. It was sweet and the white liquid tasted weird. It wasn’t amazingly good, but it wasn’t terribly bad either.

Junsu sat across from him, munching on his own bowl. He was stuffing spoonful after spoonful into his mouth like it was a punishment. His brows were frowning.

Yoochun considered apologizing and admitting that the fish…the dolphin was cute. But didn’t he want Junsu to be angry at him so that he could be angry at Junsu? Why did he want to be angry at Junsu again? Oh, right, so he wouldn’t feel so upset about leaving this good friend.

During the process of packing and showering, he’d gotten over the annoyance of Junsu calling him ‘Umma’. Being able to think clearer now, Yoochun mentally slapped himself for such thoughts.

He was only moving to Kibum’s house. It wasn’t that far away and he could still see Junsu everyday. Why did he expect it to be difficult to move out?

The doorbell rang and Junsu ran out of his seat to go get it. Seconds later, Yoochun heard the voices of Jaejoong and Changmin bickering.

The three followed Junsu to the dining table. The blond man and the tall man sent Yoochun a quick greeting before continuing to bicker.

“What is wrong with calling him ‘Happy’?”

“Stop giving him nicknames already!”

“He likes it!”

“He’s being polite. Do you not see the irony of calling Yunho ‘Happy’? It’s almost as bad as ‘Cinderfella’ and ‘Bambi’,” Changmin protested.

“But ‘Happy’ is my favorite dwarf in ‘Snow White’!” Jaejoong exclaimed childishly.

Changmin said something in retort, but Yoochun didn’t hear. He glanced over at Junsu who had returned to his seat to finish his bowl of cereal. Then Yunho started talking to Yoochun, as if he didn’t know that he was the subject of Changmin and Jaejoong’s argument. “What are you eating?”

“Cereal,” Yoochun answered. He was about to explain the substance to Yunho, but it didn’t seem necessary after all.

“Why are you eating cereal for breakfast?”

Junsu stopped stuffing his face to look up at Yunho. Changmin and Jaejoong stopped arguing. Changmin was also looking at Yunho with a confused expression as well. Jaejoong ran off to make himself a bowl of breakfast.

“What do you mean? It is breakfast food,” Junsu said.

“I thought it was…dinner food,” Yunho revealed.

“Dinner food?” Junsu and Changmin chorused. Their confusion was dispersed when Jaejoong appeared with a huge bowl of cereal.

“I owe you a box of Cocoa Puffs, Su-ie,” Jaejoong quickly said before feeding himself another spoonful.

“How can you love cereal that much?” Changmin questioned.

“Cereal comes second after my love for Su-ie,” Jaejoong countered as he sat down in the chair next to Junsu. Changmin rolled his eyes and Yoochun saw Yunho glancing at Changmin.

The way Yunho looked at Changmin made Yoochun feel like Yunho knew something that he didn’t.

“What did you do to make Yunho think that cereal is dinner food?” Junsu asked.

“I’ll bet it’s because Jaejoong has a habit of eating cereal in the middle of the night,” Changmin recalled. “He’s been doing that since we were kids.”

“You used to do it with me during our sleepovers.”

“It happened so often that it got me sick of cereal. I’m still not eating cereal till this day!”

“That’s your problem,” Jaejoong countered.

Silently, Yunho thought, ‘It is possible to get sick of eating too much cereal?’

Junsu, Yoochun, and Yunho remained quiet as they continued to bicker about the pros and cons of eating cereal. Neither of the three tried to cut in. The longer they argued, the longer it would be before someone brought up the fact that they should be moving Yunho and Yoochun’s belongings to Kibum’s house.

◙◙◙◙◙

“What’s up, Su-ie?” Jaejoong threw himself on Junsu’s bed and grabbed for a pillow to hug.

“I have a problem,” Junsu started.

“I charge one box of Cocoa Puffs per hour…maybe two boxes since I need to feed Happy too,” the blond man joked. When the other man didn’t laugh at his joke (or Yunho’s new nickname), Jaejoong’s lips puckered into a pout.

“Anyway,” Junsu sat down on the bed next to Jaejoong’s laying form. “I think I’m in love with Yoochun.”

Jaejoong’s mouth dropped open and he stared at Junsu. Boy, Changmin won’t like this.

“Well, now that you’ve told me, when are you going to tell Changmin? Rejection and pain should be equal among us!” Jaejoong announced.

Junsu rolled his eyes. “Stop pretending. The reason I’m running to you for advice and not him, the ever so logical and smart Changmin, is because you aren’t in love with me.”

“Should I be offended right now?”

“Yes.”

But he wasn’t offended. He was surprised and slightly amused. “How did you…? I mean, even Changmin can’t tell!”

“It’s not easy to trick Changmin, but since you’re his childhood best friend, you’re capable. Sometimes, I wish you weren’t able to lie to him,” Junsu looked down at his own hands.

“In the beginning, when he confessed to you, did you reject him because you knew that I’m in love with him?” Jaejoong had to wonder.

“No, I didn’t know at first. You’re a good liar. I really thought you were in love with me too, but after two months, seeing that you had more interest in picking fights with him when he had more interest in talking to me…I started to catch on,” the younger man revealed. “I caught on slowly, but after so many years, I’m almost certain.”

“So you really don’t love Changmin?”

“No, I only see him as a good friend. I didn’t want to lead him on either, but I couldn’t exactly stop him. You know how he is, when he’s set on something, he remains loyal to it.”

“He’s remained loyal to his love for you,” Jaejoong sighed. Junsu wasn’t used to seeing Jaejoong like this even though he’d known that this depressed Jaejoong was the true Jaejoong, the one who was always hidden (suffocated) behind the laughs and jokes.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s no one’s fault. We can’t control this kind of stuff,” Jaejoong shrugged, putting on that carefree attitude again. “I’ve gotten used to it, really. It’s not like I lose sleep or I sit in the corner and cry. That’s too dramatic for my taste.”

Junsu smiled. “Yes, you’re stronger and tougher than that. It takes a lot to do what you’ve done.”

“I know, right? I could have plotted a way to murder you or at least give you diarrhea for a week, but I ended up pretending to love you.”

“Pretending?”

“Okay, fine, I really do love you. Will you marry me?” Jaejoong batted his eyelashes, looking ever so pretty.

Junsu chuckled. “Let’s see the diamond ring first.”

Jaejoong pushed himself up into a sitting position and wrapped an arm around Junsu’s shoulder. “I do thank you though, for staying away from him even when the jerk is filthy rich.”

“I know! Imagine how rich I could be now! If I dated him, he’d have spoiled me with riches! It’s your entire fault that I’m still in a rat hole.”

Jaejoong laughed. “Rat holes can be fun…depending on who’s in it with you.”

Junsu sighed as he listened to the other man’s laughter. “I remember the days when I used to analyze your laughs to see if they were real or fake. It used to hurt to watch you pretend.”

“It doesn’t hurt now?”

“I’ve gotten used to it and…you seemed happy to be lying to yourself. I didn’t want to ruin that for you too.”

“Su-ie, it’s really okay. It did hurt in the beginning, but I’m okay now. I’m used to it and I still see him everyday.”

“You know, I purposely stay out of it when you two are talking,” Junsu informed.

“We don’t talk. We bicker, but that’s okay. I tell myself that if I pick fights often with him, then it might balance out the amount of time he thinks of you and the time he thinks of me.”

“But when he thinks about you, it’s associated with annoyance and strangeness.”

“That’s okay too.”

“Really?”

“As long as I’m somewhere in his heart. When you hate someone, that means the person reside in your heart too, you know? Not exactly the ‘good’ side of the heart, but still the heart.”

Chapter 24

Yes

“As long as I’m somewhere in his heart. When you hate someone, that means the person reside in your heart too, you know? Not exactly the ‘good’ side of the heart, but still the heart.”

“Jaejoong, I don’t think Changmin hates you.”

“Well, he certainly doesn’t love me.”

Junsu wished he could tell Jaejoong otherwise…but it would only be a lie.

“So now that you see how much of an expert I am when it comes to love, are you happy you can come to me rather than that ‘logical and smart’ jerk?”

Junsu chuckled. “Yes, very much.”

“So let’s hear it. Who, what, when, and where?”

“Yoochun, love, this morning, and in the bathroom.”

“You guys did it in the bathroom?” Jaejoong shouted. Junsu quickly covered his mouth and was thankful that the others were in the living room doing whatever.

“No! ‘Who’? Yoochun. ‘What’? I’m in love with him. ‘When’? Just realized it this morning. ‘Where’? I figured it out when I was taking a bubble bath.”

“Oh, so you haven’t made a move on him,” Jaejoong concluded.

“Jaejoong, he’s from the ancient past. Homosexuality was forbidden, if not unknown. I can’t just tell him that I’m in love with him! So…I’m kind of hoping that I’m just confusing myself and I’m not actually in love with him.”

“Is it possible to not know if you’re in love with someone?”

“Very possible,” Junsu assured.

“Okay, how do you plan to figure out if you’re really in love with him?”

“I don’t know…by comparing me and him with you and Yunho.”

“What do Happy and I have to do with this?” the blond man blinked.

“Let’s me ask you some questions.”

“Is that an extra box of Cocoa Puffs?”

“I’m going to go broke because of cereal! My life is extremely lame!” Junsu exclaimed.

“It is indeed,” Jaejoong laughed. “Now ask away.”

“Do you make it a priority to pick out Yunho’s clothes and do his hair for him every single day?”

“Yes, otherwise he’d only wear black clothes and hats. He says that hats are one of the best inventions ever.”

“Do you feel a weird feeling when you see him shirtless?”

“Well, who wouldn’t? Yunho has amazing biceps and abs. I accidentally walked in on him once when he was getting out of the shower and let me tell you, he’s got…”

“Jaejoong! Let’s stick to simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers,” Junsu requested.

Jaejoong shrugged. “Your loss.”

Junsu rolled his eyes. He asked several more questions along the lines of ‘Do you wonder where he is when he’s not with you?’ and ‘Do you feel uncomfortable if you go for more than one hour without seeing him or hearing his voice?’

Jaejoong answered ‘yes’ to all of them, but he couldn’t quite explain to Junsu that, ‘Yes, because he is from another era so it’s natural to worry about him getting lost in large city’. Junsu just kept interrupting with, ‘One word answer is enough,’ afraid that Jaejoong would jump into another topic about Yunho’s uh…abs.

“You’ve asked so many questions already. Have you come to a conclusion?” Jaejoong yawned as he stretched out onto the bed.

Junsu rubbed his chin. “Yes, yes, that must be it. You answered ‘yes’ to all my questions, meaning you feel the same way towards Yunho as I feel towards Yoochun. Then that can only mean one thing…”

“What’s that?” Jaejoong curled into a ball, hugging Xiah the dolphin as his eyes watered from the yawn.

“It means that I’m not in love with Yoochun! It’s just a really tight friendship…like what you feel towards Yunho!”

Jaejoong yawned again, not bothering to cover his mouth this time. In a sleepy voice, he joked, “Or it could mean that I’m in love with Yunho.”

Jaejoong laughed softly at his own joke before dozing off to sleep. Junsu sat there watching the sleeping man with a shocked expression.

So which was it?

Junsu is actually NOT in love with Yoochun or Jaejoong is actually in love with Yunho?

He had no idea! The man he was paying Cocoa Puffs to help him was asleep!

◙◙◙◙◙

“Where’s Jaejoong?”

“He’s sleeping,” Junsu informed. “Did he not sleep last night?”

“We…stayed up a bit late last night,” Yunho revealed.

“Did he make you do something weird?” Changmin inquired. “Dance, bake, play board games?”

“No, we just talked.”

Junsu couldn’t help but glance at Changmin to see if he could catch a sign of jealousy. In a way, he wished that Changmin’s feelings had changed over time. It didn’t look like it.

“Let him sleep then. His shift is later in the day anyway. We can start moving Yoochun’s belongings to my car.”

The three tallest men moved quickly while Junsu lagged a little with the small luggage that he was responsible for. Eventually, Yoochun’s belongings were in the car and a note was taped on the door for Jaejoong to see.

The drive to Kibum’s house was quiet. Changmin was concentrating on the road. Yoochun and Junsu were stealing glances at each other. Yunho was still pondering about how he felt towards same gender relationships. It’d been bothering him since last night, but who could Yunho talk to about this? Yoochun…Yoochun wouldn’t understand. Heck, Yunho couldn’t even understand it himself.

Late last night, twisting and turning in his bed, Yunho considered it best to not think about this odd possibility of male and male relationship. He told himself that he would be going back to his era and there was no point in forcing himself to accept this view. Then he’d gone to sleep, only to dream of Jaejoong.

Waking up the next morning, he continued to keep to himself, pondering the issue.

“You’ve been quiet today, is something wrong?” Yoochun finally spoke, recalling how quiet Yunho was when they were sitting in the living room (when Junsu had dragged Jaejoong into his room to ‘talk business’).

“Yes, perfectly fine,” Yunho lied.

“You must be thinking about returning home,” Changmin began.

“Since when did you start to believe in Time Travel, Changmin?” Junsu interrogated.

“All because of you, Junsu,” Changmin replied with a small, sweet smile.

Yunho’s ears perked. So that was why Changmin and Jaejoong were always arguing! Changmin and Junsu are like Jaejoong, they…are in love with someone of the same gender. So Changmin must be in love with Junsu and if Jaejoong is in love with Changmin, that means Jaejoong had been pretending to be in love with Junsu. Yunho’s heart ached for Jaejoong.

Yoochun’s ears perked too, but he still could not figure out why Changmin was so sweet and loving towards Junsu. From the beginning, Yoochun had labeled it as a really special friendship, because there was no other reason Yoochun could think of…one that would make sense anyway.

“Cheesy,” was all Junsu could think of to reply as he stole a quick glance at the confused Yoochun.

Yoochun pushed the thought away and continued to stare out the window. He’d miss this when he returned to the ancient times. Sitting in the car, watching blurred sceneries pass by…it just wouldn’t be the same to experience this when riding on a horse.

◙◙◙◙◙

Changmin was in the garden, waiting for Yunho and Yoochun to unpack. His plan was to gather everyone in the living room and casually start a conversation. That conversation would eventually lead into Yoochun revealing the real reason why he wanted to return to the past: because he had a girl he loved.

“You sure have a lot of time on your hands for a successful CEO,” Kibum appeared out of nowhere, but then…it was his house.

“‘Successful’ is the keyword. Besides, my constant presence is critical at this moment in time.”

“There’s always a ‘moment in time’ for everything. I suppose this ‘moment’ is the moment that will determine whether you will lose the love of your life,” the shorter man smirked.

Changmin was shocked by his own reaction. He didn’t have the urge to argue back, he had the urge to wonder if Kibum was shielding a bit of jealousy behind that smirk.

“What do you know about love?” the taller man challenged.

“Nothing,” Kibum easily replied. “But it seems we are equal in that area.”

“I assure you, we are not equal in that area.”

“Is that so? I suppose you know for sure who the love of your life is, that everything you do for him, you do it because you love him…not as a best friend but as a lover? I suppose you can say that when you love someone, you know that it is not blurred by friendship, by loyalty, by pride, or even by vengeance?”

“What are you trying to say?” Changmin frowned.

Kibum smiled and it annoyed Changmin even more, but he kept staring at those curved lips. “Nothing, Mr. Shim, I was just bored. Your confusion is my entertainment.”

The shorter man turned to walk away, but stopped after three steps.

“By the way, Mr. Shim, why do you always wear suits?”

Changmin glanced down at the outfit he was wearing today. Holding up his chin, he casually replied, “I’d rather not answer. Your unanswered inquiries are my entertainment.”

The shorter man grinned, taking away a bit of the maturity that he always displayed. “My inquiries about you are my source of entertainment as well. It keeps me coming back to exchange words with you.”

Changmin stood in the garden, watching Kibum walk into the mansion.

Exchange words? Is that really all they’re exchanging?

Chapter 25

Hands

Changmin mentally slapped himself. They were finally gathered in the living room with Kibum explaining changes in the experiment to everyone. When the young prodigy was finished, it was the perfect time for Changmin to put his plan through. But he’d forgotten, too busy paying attention to Kibum’s every move.

Every time he saw Kibum, Jaejoong’s words would hit him. Kibum was in love with Changmin. Kibum was in love with Changmin? Really?

Changmin watched Kibum’s every move, analyzing the two smiles and three seconds of eye contact between him and Kibum. He tried to read those signs, to see if Jaejoong’s words were true.

But then he remembered to ask himself, why did he care? Because it bothered him that he had completely missed it. Changmin liked to think that he was aware of everything that went on around him. Yes, that was the reason. Oh! And another reason could be because Changmin wanted to know if Kibum may suddenly become so jealous that he’d either hurt Junsu…or try to put Junsu and Yoochun together. Yes, another fantastic reason!

That was all that went through Changmin’s mind throughout the whole ‘meeting’. So when it finally ended, he’d completely forgotten about his plan.

Thankfully, Kibum brought it up.

“So we’ll run another test drive and this one seems very likely to succeed since we were able to figure out the problems from the last test drive,” he explained. Yunho and Yoochun were paying close attention while Junsu looked tired.

“Are you able to estimate a day when we will be able to return?” Yoochun inquired. Clearly, Junsu did not like that question. Oddly, Changmin did not notice.

“I’m estimating less than a month’s time. My men work fast and I have the resources. Is there a reason you are so eager to return? Do you mind that I ask?” Kibum inquired with a friendly smile, as if just making casual conversation.

“For your parents? Do you want to return because of your parents?” Junsu suddenly spoke. That was when Changmin finally snapped out of it and remembered his plan.

Kibum noticed because he turned to give Changmin a secret wink. Kibum was carrying out his plan for him!

“No, my parents…died long ago,” Yoochun replied. Yunho blinked and looked down at his own hands.

“But…didn’t you say that your parents were forcing you to marry someone you didn’t love?” Junsu recalled.

“My biological parents are deceased,” Yoochun clarified. “The people who had set me up for marriage wanted to use me to gain prosperity. I have no emotional connections with them.”

“Sorry,” Junsu murmured.

Yoochun smiled at him. “There is no need to apologize.”

“Well, then, you don’t really have to return! I mean, those parents aren’t worth it and look here, you have so many of us here. We’re your friends. Jaejoong would make a really good mother, if you want!” Junsu grinned.

Changmin raised an eyebrow at that. Yunho imagined Jaejoong as a ‘mother’ and felt…weird. Kibum was amused.

“Yes, Yoochun, why not stay? Unless you have another purpose to return. Do you…have someone you love?” Kibum hinted. Changmin scratched the side of his head with an index finger and wondered why he was letting Kibum do his work for him.

“You have someone you love back home?” Junsu questioned, trying not to look hurt.

Yoochun looked down at his hands and murmured, “Yes…someone I love.”

Changmin and Kibum didn’t miss the disappointment and hurt in Junsu’s expression. He was losing hope. The problem was that Changmin didn’t feel happy, he felt…like he was the devil’s father.

Yunho looked at Yoochun, who had his head down and eyes on his own hands. Then Yunho turned to see Junsu’s expression. Why did he look that way? Was it because…because this ‘same gender relationship’ thing has made Junsu fall in love with Yoochun? What caused this phenomenon? Yunho knew that Yoochun was only interested in the opposite sex.

So…this ‘same gender relationship’ thing didn’t require both sides to be attracted to the same gender? This was so…confusing!

“Who…who is it?” Junsu continued to ask with a forced smile.

Yoochun continued to fidget with his hands as a small smile graced his lips. “Her name is Yoona. She’s…the one I was being forced to marry.”

Junsu blinked in confusion. “W…what?”

“I’m hungry, let’s go visit Jaejoong and catch dinner there,” Changmin suddenly jumped in. Kibum turned to him in shock. Why was he stopping Yoochun from continuing?

“No, wait, you were supposed to marry her? Then why did you run away? Why did Yunho have to go catch you?” Junsu exclaimed.

“She loved another, but I knew that she wouldn’t be able to run away from the marriage. So I did it. It was better for me to harm my family’s name than to have her ruin her family’s reputation. I ran away that day to avoid the marriage. I planned to disappear from the town for a while. When the searching for me would end, I had planned to return to find her, to try to help her.”

“Help her?”

“Her family refused to let her marry the man she loved because he was poor. He was poor, but he was a scholar, he was a good man. His only fault is that he loved his father too much, but his father was a gambling addict. I planned to return and help him, whatever way I could, until he could gain the Magistrate’s approval and be able to marry Yoona.”

Junsu bit his lips, eyes on Yoochun the whole time. He didn’t care if the other three were staring at him. Junsu was too busy staring at the man who still had his head down, bangs covering his eyes, a small smile on his lips as he recalled memories of the girl that he loved.

“You’re an idiot. She doesn’t love you. The best you could do for her was run away. That’s all you have to do. You shouldn’t have to go back. You shouldn’t have to go back and help her get together with another guy! You idiot!” Junsu shouted as he stood up from the couch.

Changmin wanted to stand up and calm Junsu, but Kibum grabbed onto Changmin’s hand, stopping him. Yunho watched in silence.

Yoochun finally raised his head to see Junsu. “What?”

“You don’t have to go back! You think you’re being all heroic, defying your parents and then going back to help her? What are you expecting? She’ll see how great you are and get together with you?”

“Why are you so angry?” Yoochun demanded, standing up to meet Junsu’s eyes.

“Because you’re an idiot! Oh, Mr. Sacrificial, so amazing! Puke! Barf! Eww!” Junsu made disgusted faces with every word.

“Now you’re just being immature!”

“So? At least I’m not being an idiot!”

“How am I an idiot?” Yoochun defended.

“How are you NOT an idiot? You’re putting yourself through pain, sacrificing yourself for someone who doesn’t love you!”

“I’m putting myself through pain, sacrificing myself for someone I love! That’s what matters!”

“Idiot!”

“Stop it!”

Changmin tried to stand up again, feeling the need to stop them. He couldn’t stand seeing Junsu like this. But Kibum still held onto his hand, keeping him in his seat. Yunho had no idea what to do.

“Bull! Those people who say ‘Oh, I’ll be happy if the one I love is happy, even if we’re not together,’ those people need to be kicked in the butt!”

“It’s called being selfless! You wouldn’t know because you’re so selfish!” Yoochun countered. “It’s called true love! You wouldn’t know what it is!”

“You don’t know what true love is either! You don’t know. I don’t know. No one knows! So people need to stop acting like they know!” Junsu shouted.

“What is wrong with you today? Why do you keep picking fights?”

“What is wrong with you? Why do you want to go back to your time simply for a girl who doesn’t love you? Sacrificing for love is old school! Look ahead! Move forward and go find the one that you’re meant to love! Stop being stuck in the past!”

Changmin looked from Junsu to Yoochun. He looked down at the smaller hand that was holding onto his own. He looked up at the owner of the smaller hand. Kibum had his eyes on Yoochun.

This was the scene Changmin had imagined. Junsu was supposed to find out, but he wasn’t supposed to react like this. Kibum was not supposed to be the one stirring up trouble in Changmin’s place. Changmin was not supposed to feel this guilty from the pain on Junsu’s expression…because Junsu wasn’t supposed to hurt this much.

Changmin had underestimated Junsu’s feelings for Yoochun, he’s underestimated Kibum’s role in this, and he’d underestimated himself.

“Who are you to be telling me this?” Yoochun countered. “When it comes to being friends, Yunho is above you on the list. You are not my sibling and definitely not my parent. You have no right to be telling me how to run my love life!”

“Fine, then I shouldn’t be wasting my time caring about you! I hope Kibum sends you back, as soon as possible!”

Junsu ran out of the mansion and Yoochun was left to stand in the center of the large living room. Changmin, Kibum, and Yunho remained sitting, staring up at the frowning Yoochun.

“What just happened?” Yunho finally broke the silence.

“I don’t know,” Yoochun grumbled before running upstairs to his new room.

◙◙◙◙◙

“What just happened?” Changmin demanded roughly when he and Kibum were alone in Kibum’s office.

“You were a witness,” Kibum reminded.

“You did that on purpose. You wanted Junsu to find out about Yoochun’s fiancée,” the taller man spoke the obvious.

“I did it for you,” Kibum spoke softly, eyes on Changmin.

Changmin felt his anger (or whatever it was) disperse. He began to feel guilty for practically shouting at Kibum. Then he felt his heart beat faster than normal at the unreadable emotion in Kibum’s eyes.

“I…”

“It is what you had planned, isn’t it? It’s better to let Junsu see it now than later. It will hurt less and if Yoochun is kept in the unknown, he won’t feel any obligations. Now is your chance to go comfort Junsu,” Kibum said.

Changmin blinked. Did Kibum really mean that? Did it hurt him to have to help Changmin separate Yoochun and Junsu? Did it hurt him to tell Changmin to go comfort Junsu?

“Kibum…”

“I still have work to do. Good-bye, Mr. Shim,” the shorter man spoke in a firm voice.

Changmin sighed. “Thank you,” was all he could think of to say before walking out of the office.

He was close to the stairs when he realized that he did not have his cell phone on him. He had a vague memory of setting the cell phone on the coffee table in the living room…but it’s possible that he’d dropped it in Kibum’s office. So he walked back to the office, even though he was 80% sure that his cell phone was in the living room.

The door was still slightly open, just like he had left it. But when Changmin walked in, Kibum was no longer there. The odd thing was, Changmin had not heard Kibum walk out and…the stairs weren’t too far from the office. Could the shorter man have walked out without Changmin noticing?

Changmin walked around the large office. What if he ended up finding a heart-broken prodigy crying in a corner of the office? Okay, that didn’t fit Kibum, but you never know. Love does wonders.

“Kibum?” Changmin tried. No answer, no sobs or shuffling.

The tall man stopped at the expensive desk and saw a gold pen lying in the middle of it. He imagined Kibum’s hand holding the pen and couldn’t help but look down at his own hand (the one Kibum had been holding during Junsu and Yoochun’s argument).

Changmin stood there, looking dazed as he stared at his hand and recalled the softness of Kibum’s hand.

“Changmin?”

Chapter 26

Knew

Changmin nearly jumped out of his own skin when he heard the voice. His head shot up to see the owner of the voice standing at the entrance. “Yunho…”

“Is something wrong with your hand?” the other tall man inquired.

“No, nothing is wrong,” Changmin quickly replied, moving his hand behind his back…as if he was hiding something.

“May I have a word with you?”

Changmin wondered why, but his expression did not show it. “Sure, let’s go outside. It would be rude to occupy Kibum’s office.”

Yunho nodded in agreement. The two walked silently downstairs and out into the garden.

“What is it?”

Changmin expected Yunho to say something about Yoochun. Heck, the quiet man probably knew that Changmin and Kibum had purposely pushed Yoochun into talking about Yoona. He was quiet, but Changmin didn’t doubt that Jung Yunho was a smart man.

But the quiet man’s next words made Changmin question his own intelligence.

“You and Jaejoong used to be the best of friend, am I correct?”

“Yes,” Changmin answered. Junsu must have told Yunho that.

“Then do you not think it is a pity to lose such a precious friendship to love?” Yunho inquired.

Changmin concluded that Yunho knew.

“Yunho, the precious friendship was not lost to my love for Junsu; it was lost when Jaejoong fell in love with me.”

Yunho’s eyes widened slightly. “You knew?”

“He was extremely drunk and singing his love for me, but obviously doesn’t remember anything from that night,” Changmin shrugged.

“Why ignore it?”

“What choice did I have? The day I found out, I immediately confessed my love to Junsu. I was hoping Jaejoong would choose to keep his love for me hidden and he would eventually stop loving me. But, being unpredictable as always, he decided to pretend to be in love with Junsu. I couldn’t go telling the world that he was doing all that because he was in love with me. Even after his fake confession to Junsu, I didn’t want to reveal that he was actually in love with me. I hoped that he would one day understand my love for Junsu and can finally let go,” Changmin explained. “If we don’t confront each other about his love for me, there is still hope that we can return to being friends.”

“All along, you hoped for Jaejoong to stop loving you,” Yunho murmured.

“I’ve been patient. I really want to save out friendship. Once he gets over the illusion that he is in love with me, then he can easily pretend to let go of Junsu. There won’t be any awkwardness for any of us.”

“You had it all planned, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” Changmin replied confidently.

“Too bad you miscalculated one matter.”

“What?”

“You don’t control the future, therefore not everything will always go as you plan,” Yunho’s words felt like a slap to the face, like attempts to wake Changmin up.

“What are you trying to say?”

“You think you can control life, you think you can control love, you think you can control the future. You’re wrong. Life, love, and the future are not meant to be planned. How could you be so sure that Jaejoong’s love for you is in illusion? Perhaps your love for Junsu is the illusion.”

“No!” Changmin cut in.

“Your plan is to wait until Jaejoong lets go. You think that once he lets go, Junsu will be able to fall in love with you. But what if Junsu isn’t even the one you are meant to be with?”

“You don’t know that!”

“Neither do you!” Yunho raised his voice for the first time. “You’re so used to planning everything, being in control. So when things are out of your control, you panic. You fear and you try to turn everything back into how you planned it, how you expected it. You’re not a psychic, Changmin. Besides, it’s not always a good thing to be able to predict the future.”

Changmin frowned. “Why are you saying all this?”

“Jaejoong told me that he’s in love with you and I saw the pain in his eyes when he spoke those words.”

Changmin was shocked. Jaejoong had told Yunho? Yunho? When Jaejoong would never tell anyone any of his secrets? There were even secrets that he did not tell Changmin when they were still the best of friends. But this secret, that Changmin was sure topped the list for one of Jaejoong’s biggest secrets, was told to Yunho?

What was Yunho’s status in Jaejoong’s heart?

“You mean…it wasn’t Junsu who told you?” Changmin tried to clarify.

“Junsu knows?” Yunho returned.

“I’m sure Junsu has figured it out by now. I thought…he told you.”

“No, Jaejoong told me,” Yunho paused. “But that doesn’t matter.”

Changmin rolled his eyes. Like hell it doesn’t.

Then he recalled the time when he had eavesdropped on Yoochun and Yunho.

“Why are you doing all this? Are you trying to talk me into giving Jaejoong a chance? I’m sure he explained to you about same gender relationships. Are you in love with him?”

“No! Of course not! I am still unable to accept that such a phenomenon is possible,” Yunho frowned and looked away.

“Does Yoochun know about it too?”

“If he does, he did not find out from me. It confuses me still and Yoochun already has enough confusion on his shoulders. Besides, we will be leaving in less than a month, what is the point of learning to accept this view?”

“You’re really going to leave?” Changmin had to ask.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Yunho returned his eyes to meet Changmin’s eyes. “But I owe Jaejoong a lot. I have made my attempt to repay him by trying to talk some sense into you.”

“You’re a fool. Why should I give him a chance when I have no feelings for him?”

“Why wait on Junsu when he has no feelings for you?” Yunho retorted. When Changmin was silent, he continued, “Don’t you understand? The situation that you are in with Junsu…is the same situation Jaejoong is in with you.”

“Then what do you expect me to do? Give Jaejoong a chance?”

“Give yourself and Jaejoong a chance.”

“Then what? What if it fails? Imagine the awkwardness that would always be between us. We won’t be able to be friends anymore! I don’t want to lose him forever!”

“So this has become a race to see whose love will last? What if Jaejoong’s love for you never fades?”

“It will.”

“How are you so sure?”

Changmin ran a frustrated hand through is thick hair. It was the first time Yunho saw Changmin with messy hair; it was always so neat and tamed. “It’s not possible to force someone to fall in love with you and it’s not possible to force yourself to fall in love with someone. That’s why we’re all so damn miserable right now!”

“Or perhaps we’re miserable because we’re blinded to who we truly love,” Yunho spoke. Was he still trying to hint that Changmin was blind to the fact that Changmin was actually in love with Jaejoong?

“Forget it, Yunho. You win. I don’t know what else to say to you. I’m confused and I feel like knocking myself out. Have a great rest of the day,” Changmin spoke with finality before turning to leave.

Yunho stood in the garden, watching the younger man leave.

Changmin had asked him whether he was in love with Jaejoong…

Was he? Had he become a victim of this ‘phenomenon’? Was it why it had become so easy for him to accept same gender relationship? Did he WANT to accept it because it would simplify this problem, because it would mean one less obstacle between him and Jaejoong?

What did one less obstacle matter? The greatest obstacle of all still stood in the way: Jaejoong’s love for Changmin.

◙◙◙◙◙

“He’s straight and he already has a girl he loves,” Junsu murmured before muffling his shout of agony into the pillow.

“I went to work for five hours and all that happened?” Jaejoong sat next to Junsu, listening to his good friend vent.

“What do I do? I just threw a stupid tantrum like that without thinking! How am I supposed to keep it a secret that I’m in love with him?”

“Good question,” Jaejoong rubbed his chin.

“Help me!”

“You could…stay away from him,” Jaejoong suggested.

“Stay away?” Junsu pouted. He didn’t like that idea. But it seemed logical.

“If you stay away from him, you won’t be triggered to say anything you’ll regret. It’s a good idea, considering how much of a blabber mouth you could be.”

Junsu didn’t have the energy to feel offended. “I guess, but it’s going to be so hard.”

“I don’t know what else you can do. If you just stay away, then you won’t blurt it out and…”

“…and maybe staying away from him will make the feeling fade. Maybe it’s just a crush or infatuation and it’ll go away when I stop seeing him.”

“If that’s what you want to think,” the blond man shrugged.

“It’s what I have to think,” Junsu sighed. “But it’s going to be so hard!”

Jaejoong watched the younger man suffocate himself miserably in the pillow. “How about this? I’ll do it with you. We’ll both stay away from Kibum’s house together. It’ll be my way of supporting you and it’s easier to do things when you’re not alone.”

“Really? But won’t you miss Yunho?”

“Oh, please, Su-ie, it’s not like I’m in love with Yunho. Plus, we can continue to send Changmin over and he can report to us.”

“How do we keep sending Changmin over without us?”

“He’ll probably put up a fight, but we’ll figure something out.”

Chapter 27

Inform

“Changmin said that Junsu approached him and said that Changmin no longer needed to hire Junsu as a bodyguard. So he is on another ‘case’ and protecting another millionaire,” Yunho spoke in a dull tone.

“Changmin said that Jaejoong is busy picking up shifts because the other cook was fired,” Yoochun reacted in the same tone.

They sighed unanimously.

“I do not understand,” Yunho murmured.

“Neither do I. Why did he have to throw a tantrum like that? What was he so upset about?” Yoochun inquired as his eyes wandered the ceiling.

“Restaurants have closing times too. Why does Jaejoong not visit when he is not working?” Yunho questioned as he wiped the edge of his sword with a cloth.

“Perhaps Junsu is right. I am stupid for making sacrifices when Yoona only sees me as a friend, but why can’t he understand that stupidity is a part of being in love?” Yoochun tilted his head slightly as his eyes remained on a corner of the ceiling.

“Is Jaejoong angry at me? Did he find out that I talked to Changmin?” Yunho sighed at his reflection on the shiny blade.

Yoochun blinked and turned his head to look at Yunho. “What are you talking about? You are supposed to be listening to me talk about Junsu.”

Yunho blinked. “I thought you were supposed to listen to me talk about Jaejoong.”

“Jaejoong?”

“Junsu has not visited in the past three days because he is angry at you, but I do not understand why Jaejoong has not visited.”

“Oh,” Yoochun mumbled.

“Yoochun-ah, do you miss Junsu?”

“Well…yes. I would miss you too if I do not see you for three days…and if I knew that you were angry at me.”

“Are Junsu and I of the same status in your heart?”

Yoochun raised a confused eyebrow. “Is that a trick question?”

Yunho shook his head and sighed. “Never mind.”

After a moment of silence, Yoochun spoke again, “Do you think I should buy him flowers and chocolate again?”

Yunho stopped wiping the blade of his sword and did not move for several seconds. Then he tilted his head and met Yoochun’s eyes, “Yoochun, would your love for Yoona ever fade?”

Yoochun blinked. “Well…no, because it is true love.”

“But…why would the Heavens make her your true love if you are not able to be with her?”

“Remember when we were younger and I told you about a book I read? It included a poem about how humans are each born with only half of a soul.”

“Yes, I recall.”

“The poet suggested that one heart is the match for only one other. I no longer agree. It seems that it does not take one soul to fit one other. Life is not fair like that. Some of us are just not meant to have an ‘other half’.”

“Yes, the reality of life is that there will be people who will never find their true love,” Yunho paused. “Or if they do find their true love, there is no rule that he or she will return the love.”

“It seems I hold that fate. I hope you do not share the same destiny.”

◙◙◙◙◙

“How is he? Did he ask about me? Is he eating three meals a day? Does he look thinner?”

“Su-ie, stop bombarding him with questions,” Jaejoong pried Junsu away from Changmin.

“He didn’t ask. I walked in; they greeted me and then went back to playing chess.”

“Kibum taught them how to play chess?” Jaejoong chirped.

“Who cares?” Junsu exclaimed.

“Kibum asked instead and I told him that you’re back on the job and Jaejoong is picking up extra shifts,” Changmin continued.

“And?”

“They continued to play chess,” the tallest man finished dully.

Junsu’s eyes turned into slits and he glared at nothing in particular. “Idiot,” he mumbled.

“You’re giving yourself away, Su-ie,” Jaejoong patted his shoulder. “You’re supposed to be forgetting about him, not going crazy.”

“You’re right, you’re right,” Junsu breathed to calm his nerves. “No more thinking about him. No more. I’ll go make you guys something to eat.”

Hands twisting the ends of his black (yes, black) T-shirt, Junsu stomped into the kitchen. Changmin and Jaejoong remained in the living room.

“So he realized he’s in love with Yoochun, huh?” Changmin spoke in a casual tone.

“Yeah,” Jaejoong replied. He was the one who ordered Changmin to visit Kibum’s mansion everyday and make reports to them, claiming that Junsu and Yoochun were in another stupid fight. Jaejoong didn’t mention anything about Junsu realizing that he was in love with Yoochun, but Jaejoong was sure that Changmin was smart enough to figure it out on his own.

“How easy would it be for me to transfer false information back and forth in order to destroy his love for Yoochun?” Changmin inquired.

“Su-ie may appreciate it. He realizes he’s in love with Yoochunnie, but he also realizes that Yoochunnie is straight and in love with some girl in the past. Man, talk about having your heart stuck in the past…” Jaejoong grumbled.

“It’s best to not allow the heart to be stuck in the past and wait for the impossible,” Changmin pointed out.

Jaejoong looked into his eyes and couldn’t help, but wonder if there was another meaning to his words. Then he decided to change the subject, “You aren’t going to go crazy? You were the one afraid of Su-ie figuring out that he loves Yoochunnie.”

“Why would I need to go crazy? Yoochun does not return Junsu’s loves.”

“True,” Jaejoong said. “Next question, why did you so easily agree to play messenger? I expected you to put up a fight, but you’ve been on time with the news in the past three days.”

“Like I said, it would be easy to transfer false information and destroy his love for Yoochun,” Changmin replied, yet he knew his words did not feel like the truth.

“Was it false news when you said that all they cared about was beating each other at chess?” Jaejoong asked, referring to the earlier information Changmin had presented to them.

“No, that was not false news. They really did not ask.”

“Happy didn’t say anything at all?”

“No,” Changmin shook his head.

“Oh, okay, then, let’s go see which of Yoochunnie’s favorite dishes Su-ie has cooked up for us,” the blond man jumped up from his seat and skipped into the kitchen.

◙◙◙◙◙

Kibum stared through the window and into the beautiful blue sky. He recalled the events of the past days when Shim Changmin would come to the mansion. Kibum was pretty sure that he came to check up on Yoochun and Yunho…based on orders/requests by Junsu and Jaejoong.

Odd that Changmin would only speak few sentences to the two and did not even follow them when they excused themselves to spar in the garden or return to their rooms. As a matter of fact, Changmin would stay in the living room with Kibum and they would debate about nothing.

Even more odd was that Kibum enjoyed wasting his time on useless debates with Shim Changmin.

Then he recalled the day when Changmin had been in this office, looking angry that Kibum had purposely led Yoochun into talking about his fiancée in front of Junsu. It worried Kibum that he could no longer use Changmin to interrupt the love that was blooming between Kim Junsu and Park Yoochun.

Kibum didn’t like to worry, just like he didn’t like to depend on other people.

The knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. He turned the chair around to greet Yoochun, “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” Yoochun smiled as he walked in to take a seat in front of the large desk.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, thank you,” Yoochun smiled. “Yunho is still sleeping though. He seems to be waking up later than usual these days…as if he does not sleep at night.”

“Perhaps he is worried about the experiment. We are at a critical point,” Kibum suggested.

“Perhaps,” Yoochun nodded. “Did you have something about the experiment you want to talk to me about?”

“We are housemates and I do hope you see me as a friend. It does not always have to be business talk between us,” Kibum pointed out.

Yoochun grinned. “Yes, I agree. I am honored to be your friend. You are welcome to talk to me about anything, your troubles or your joys. It’s what friends are for. Treat me like you would treat your other friends.”

Kibum felt a hit on his defense and lowered his eyes to avoid seeing the warm friendliness in Yoochun’s eyes. “I…have no other friends,” he heard himself say.

Yoochun’s smile faded, not expecting those words. “You have us,” he smiled sincerely at the man sitting across the large desk.

Kibum saw the genuine smile and forced himself to look away, like he’d always done since the day he became acquainted with the five men. “Friendship is not a priority on my wish list.”

“Kibum…” Yoochun began.

“Yoochun,” Kibum interrupted. He had a purpose today and the result would not involve Yoochun dissecting his façade. “I see you as a friend, which is why I am so eager to accomplish this project. I realize that you are in love with Yoona and I admire the strength of your love.”

Yoochun smiled lightly. “Thank you.”

“The others, especially Junsu, may think you are an idiot for making such sacrifices, but they do not understand that you truly love her,” Kibum paused and Yoochun nodded, his eyes slightly sad at the mention of Junsu.

“I wish he would just understand and accept my decision,” Yoochun sighed. “We are friends after all.”

“Some decisions are not meant to be accepted or understood,” Kibum spoke. “For example, did you know that in this modern time, there exist same gender relationships?”

“Pardon?” Yoochun blinked in confusion.

Chapter 28

Date

“You heard me correctly. In this era, same gender relationships are one of the most debatable issues of society. Some people accept this, others do not.”

“Same gender relationships? It did not even exist as an issue during my time,” Yoochun pointed out.

“Yes, I am aware. What do you think about this issue, Yoochun?” Kibum spoke casually.

Yoochun thought about it and eventually answered, “I do not know if I would accept it. It is so foreign to me and it feels…wrong. Love is supposed to be between a man and a woman. It’s what I grew up knowing.”

Yoochun was too deep in his thoughts to notice the smirk on Kibum’s lips. “Yes, it is a difficult issue.”

Then Yoochun raised his head to look at the younger man. “Is there…a reason you bring this up to me?”

“You’re a smart man. Don’t tell me you do not notice that this topic connects to why Changmin and Jaejoong are always arguing over Junsu.”

Yoochun felt like the biggest idiot in the world. “I…I’ve noticed and I once thought…perhaps…but then, I did not know that same gender relationships were possible. It was certainly unheard of during my time so I had to assume that it was just an irregular kind of…friendship.”

“It’s easier for some people to accept while others may never accept this. I’m sure you won’t discriminate them base on this and would remain their friend.”

“Yes, of course,” Yoochun immediately replied. He cherished each and every friend he’d made during his short stay in the modern era.

“While I’m at it, I should inform you of one other secret,” Kibum spoke in a serious tone. “As your friend, I do not feel that you should be kept in the dark.”

“What is it?”

“While Changmin and Jaejoong are fighting over Junsu, it seems that Junsu has fallen in love with you,” the younger man informed with sincere eyes.

Yoochun felt a wave of emotions wash over him. He could only grasp onto confusion. “What? No! How is that possible? I mean, I am not…I do not like…love people of the same gender.”

“It’s not exactly necessary,” Kibum explained.

“But…I’ve only…I see him as a friend. It…can be quite normal for people to misunderstand friendship for love. There is a thin line between friendship and love. Perhaps he is mistaking his feelings…”

Kibum sighed and Yoochun turned his eyes to him, as if asking for help. “You’re my friend, Yoochun. Junsu is my friend as well. I grew up without friends and am very thankful to have met the five of you. I do not want any of you to be hurt.”

Yoochun nodded. “I do not want to hurt Junsu.”

“Then perhaps the best way is to return to your era. Staying, allowing him to see you every day, but knowing you won’t be able to return his feelings, it will hurt him even more,” Kibum’s eyes were sad.

“You mean…when I’m gone, he will be able to move on?”

“Yes.”

Yoochun thought, he thought hard. But he couldn’t think straight. Nothing made sense and everything didn’t make sense.

“You’re right, you’re right,” he mumbled. “I…I need to go…rest. Thank you, Kibum, thank you.”

“There’s no need to thank me, Yoochun hyung.”

◙◙◙◙◙

“Junsu, are you okay?”

Junsu removed the headphones from his ears and looked at Changmin. “I’m listening to a really good song. It’s called ‘Day of Peace’.”

“And?” Changmin inquired, knowing there was more. Junsu had been looking so depressed in the past week that it made Changmin’s heart clench. Sometimes, Changmin wished he was lying when he continuously (on a day to day basis) told Junsu and Jaejoong that neither Yoochun nor Yunho had asked questions about them.

“You’re off today. I’m on vacation. Jaejoong’s on shift all day. Let’s go on a date.”

Changmin felt his jaw drop. He knew he was off today. He knew that Junsu had asked for vacation after closing Changmin’s case. He knew Jaejoong was going to be working all day. He did not know that Junsu would be the one to suggest a date in this lifetime.

“What?”

Junsu smiled and that seemed to hurt Changmin even more, because the smile refused to reach his eyes. “In ‘Day of Peace,’ there is a line in the lyrics, ‘Go out with the person that likes you, Even if they're stupid and foolish, Put up with it just for today,’” he explained. “So after dragging this out for so long, don’t you think we should put an end to it? Let’s go on a date, give each other a chance.”

“Give each other a chance?”

“Give you a chance to make me believe that I’m meant to love you. Give me a chance to make you believe that you’re not meant to love me,” Junsu said.

“O…okay,” was all the taller man could say. He wasn’t sure if he was happy or not.

◙◙◙◙◙

That night, Changmin walked Junsu to the door and both stood facing each other.

“It was a really perfect date,” Junsu smiled.

Changmin nodded. “Perfect dinner…”

“Perfect movie,” the older man added with a smile.

“Perfect weather,” the younger man continued with curved lips.

“Perfect walk in the park.”

“Yes, perfect date,” Changmin murmured.

“Now you just top it off by giving me a kiss good night.”

Changmin blinked twice as he watched Junsu’s eyes close. His lips puckered and he leaned towards the taller man. Changmin felt himself frightened and leaning back until they both heard the crack of his back bone.

“What was that?” Junsu gasped, eyes opened.

“My back,” Changmin groaned in pain.

Junsu realized that he was practically bowing at a 90 degrees angle and leaning over Changmin, whose back was almost bent at a 90 degrees angle. “Oh, shoot!” he exclaimed as he tried to pull the younger man forward.

Changmin shouted in pain at the sudden movement and felt even more pain on his back. Now he was leaning forward like an old man and unable to move.

“Oops, too much. I’ll pull you back a little,” Junsu said as he laid a hand on Changmin’s shoulder and pushed him back the other way.

“N…” Changmin wanted to protest, but was shut up by the pain.

“How’s that?” Junsu asked when Changmin was standing perfectly straight.

Changmin expected to be crying out in pain, but twisted slightly to test his back. It felt…fine.

“It’s okay now, thanks,” he released a breath of relief.

“Wow, I’m good. I should be a doctor,” Junsu grinned.

“No!” Changmin exclaimed. “For the sake of the innocent, do not ever become a doctor.”

Junsu’s lower lip jutted into a pout. “That hurts.”

“It’s the truth,” Changmin laughed, the same laugh from the old days.

Junsu shrugged. “I suppose it doesn’t hurt as much as your rejection.”

“Rejection?” Changmin blinked in confusion.

“You refused to kiss me,” the shorter man pointed out.

“Uh…well, I just…I don’t think it’s…appropriate to kiss on the first date,” Changmin finished his sentence quickly.

“Or you just didn’t want to kiss me,” Junsu suggested.

Changmin sighed in defeated, “Or I just didn’t want to kiss you.”

He expected Junsu to smile, to feel relieved. This date was complete and in the end, it became a chance for Junsu to prove that Changmin was not meant to love him.

So imagine Changmin’s shock when he raised his eyes to see Junsu glaring at him and grabbing at his tie.

“You spent all these years wooing me and now you refuse to kiss me? You no longer love me, is that true? Why? What happened? Did you fall in love with someone else? Who is he? I’m going to plot his murder or give him diarrhea!”

“W…what? I thought…I thought you’d be relieved!” Changmin stammered.

“Relieved? I was expecting you to make me fall in love with you on this date!” Junsu exclaimed.

Changmin frowned. “You’re just using me to make yourself forget Yoochun!”

“You got that right!”

Changmin rolled his eyes. “You’re wrinkling my tie.”

“You deserve it.”

“I don’t deserve to be used as Yoochun’s replacement.”

Junsu rolled his eyes and released Changmin’s tie. “So when did you figure out you’re no longer in love with me?”

“When I realized that you look very unattractive with the closed eyes and puckered lips.”

Junsu glared at him. “And who would look attractive with closed eyes and puckered lips?”

Changmin thought about it. He answered, “Not you.”

Junsu grabbed his tie again and pulled him down so that they were eye to eye. “Who is it?”

Changmin thought about it. “I think…I think it…might be…Kibum.”

“You think? You’re not sure? When is Shim Changmin ever unsure about something?”

“Shut up.”

“This is interesting,” Junsu released the tie and rubbed his chin. “No wonder you didn’t put up a fight when we told you to go to Kibum’s mansion everyday to play messenger.”

Changmin wondered if he should tell Junsu that for the past week, each day that he’d been to the mansion, he spoke about ten words to Yoochun and Yunho. After those ten words, the two would go practice their martial arts in the garden or hide in their rooms while Changmin and Kibum debated about stupid issues; Changmin tried to use each conversation (or argument) to learn more about Kibum, but he also tried to act like he didn’t care at all about the shorter man.

◙◙◙◙◙

Credits: I stole the 'date' idea and the song by Epik High from -jsjsjs-

^____^

Chapter 29

Irritating

“You knew, didn’t you?”

“I was just guessing when I suggested the date, but once the date started, I was pretty sure,” Junsu paused when he saw the taller man’s confused expression. “Changmin, the date sucked. You were bored and made no attempt to change my heart. You kept talking about how Kibum suggested this restaurant or Kibum would have liked the sci-fi movie. I didn’t know you were that close to him.”

“I’m not.”

“And yet you noticed what his favorite food is and you noticed that he likes sci-fi.”

“Didn’t you notice? I’m sure I’m not the only one.”

“No, I didn’t notice. I had no reason to notice,” Junsu retorted.

“And I do?”

“Because you think you’re in love with him.”

“You think?”

“I know you’re in love with him,” Junsu assured. “I don’t know how he feels about you though.”

“Jaejoong said he has a crush on me,” Changmin recalled, unable to hide a proud smile.

“Jaejoong…” Junsu murmured.

“Junsu,” Changmin cut him off. “I was supposed to be your mole in this past week and keep an eye on Yoochun for you, but I didn’t do any of that. I went to Kibum’s house to see him, to talk to him. I pick fights and try to draw him into revealing more about himself to me. It didn’t work.”

“It didn’t work? What do you mean? But you know what food he likes and that he likes sci-fi movies.”

“But everything I know about him is stuff that I observed on my own. He never told me with his own voice. Hell, the guy not only doesn’t tell me things, he tries to keep himself from opening up to me. That makes it difficult.”

“So…” Junsu couldn’t figure out what to say.

“So I think Jaejoong was just covering up his own ass when he told me that Kibum has a crush on me,” Changmin finished.

Junsu’s eyes widened. “You knew?”

“Why are you guys so shocked by this? I am, after all, intelligent and observant,” the tall man reminded.

“‘You guys’? Who else?”

“Yunho reacted the same way when I revealed to him that I knew about Jaejoong’s feelings.”

“Yunho knows?” Junsu’s widened a little more, to the limit.

“Jaejoong told him,” Changmin revealed.

Junsu’s mouth dropped to make up for his inability to widen his eyes any further. “If my eyes weren’t so small, they’d be wider than they are now.”

“I realize that, fish eyes,” Changmin rolled his eyes. “Oh, the good old high school days when Jaejoong and I would munch on goldfish shape crackers.”

Junsu frowned. “I remember. You two idiots would hold a fish up to your eyes and run around yelling, ‘I’m Junsu!’”

Changmin laughed at the memory. “He started it.”

“You miss that, don’t you?”

Changmin’s smile faded and he looked down sadly. “Yes, yes, I do. We used to have so much fun.”

“We can still have a lot of fun in the future,” Junsu smiled.

“How? I no longer love you, but it’s not because I’m in love with him. I…hell, I still can’t believe I’m in love with Kibum. How long have I known him?”

“Does it matter?”

“I don’t know. What if I’m just mistaking it for love? Maybe it’s because Jaejoong brought up the idea that Kibum has a crush on me so I’m getting mixed feelings.”

Junsu sighed. “It’s so hard to tell when it’s true love.”

Changmin nodded. “So what do I do?”

Junsu was silent for a moment before offering, “Want to listen to ‘Day of Peace’?”

◙◙◙◙◙

“How many days has it been?”

“I lost count,” Jaejoong replied. “But stay strong, Su-ie! Stay strong!”

“Maybe I should go back to work so I don’t mope around the house all the time,” Junsu grumbled.

“But didn’t you ask for a month’s worth of vacation?”

“Yeah, imagine my boss’ shock when I turned in the form. He said it was about time I use up all my saved vacation.”

“It’s better to have you on vacation than to work when you can’t concentrate.”

Junsu sighed. “I know.”

“It takes time, Su-ie,” Jaejoong patted his back.

“It’s easier for you to say. You’re staying away from friends. I’m staying away from someone I’m in love with,” Junsu pouted.

Jaejoong’s eyes lowered. Really? Then why did this plan to stay away irritate (hurt) Jaejoong as much as it irritated (hurt) Junsu?

◙◙◙◙◙

Junsu glanced at his watch. Changmin had finally worked up the courage to ask Jaejoong out for an official date. At this time, they were probably at the movie. This gave Junsu a chance to sneak out and…

“Junsu?”

Junsu nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the voice. He stopped sneaking around in the bushes and greeted Kibum, “H…hi, Kibum.”

“What are you doing out here?” Kibum inquired. “Do you want to come in?”

Junsu’s hands were rubbing nervously behind his back as he glanced at the mansion. He’d been pacing outside the entrance for twenty minutes already.

“Um…well, I…I don’t think…I mean…”

“Are you here to see Yoochun?”

“N…no, I’m here to see…to see Yunho and you. Jaejoong and Changmin are on a date, that’s why I came alone…I mean, I came alone…er…I mean…how’s the experiment going?”

Kibum pretend to not hear ‘Jaejoong and Changmin are on a date’. Junsu was probably using it to explain why he was sneaking around the mansion on his own without his two best friends…so Kibum wouldn’t know that he came to the mansion without Jaejoong and Changmin knowing.

“Very well, we found the glitches and are in the process of fixing them. It should be ready for another test drive in several days and success seems to be close.”

“Oh,” Junsu looked down with disappointment. “I bet Yoochun is happy to hear that.”

“Yes, Yoochun was very happy when I told him. It makes me proud to be able to help him, especially since he seems to be missing his fiancée more and more each day. I walked by his room the other day to hear him calling her name in his sleep,” Kibum revealed as if he did not notice the hurt on Junsu’s expression.

“Oh, that’s nice. Tell Yunho…and Yoochun that I said ‘Hi’. I need to get back to work now. I was just…uh…passing by on my way to my next job. Good bye.”

Kibum watched Junsu walk off and wondered if he should be feeling bad for lying. But he only did his best to shake away the guilt and walked into the mansion. He was good at not caring about other people’s feelings…it just bothered him that it was more difficult to not care when it came to the five people that he’d met two months, three days, and fifteen hours ago.

◙◙◙◙◙

“How was your date yesterday?”

Changmin blinked in shock. “You knew?”

“Junsu came by yesterday and told me,” Kibum shrugged with indifference.

Changmin wasn’t sure if he should concentrate on figuring out if Kibum was jealous or if he should concentrate on the fact that Junsu had came to the mansion behind his and Jaejoong’s back.

Kibum picked for him by continuing with the topic, “He was sneaking around as if he wasn’t supposed to be at my mansion.”

“He’s trying to stay away from Yoochun.”

“It’s what you want, isn’t it?”

Changmin sighed. “No, not anymore.”

“Not anymore?” Kibum spoke in a voice that hinted too much annoyance. This shocked Changmin.

“Yes,” the taller man replied, stunned and a bit disappointed that Kibum did not look happy by the news.

“What do you mean ‘not anymore’? You want Junsu’s love for Yoochun to fade. Why give up now?”

“You did say that you wanted to help me separate Junsu and Yoochun. I thank you for that, but I should tell you that there is no need to do that anymore. We shouldn’t cause trouble between them anymore.”

Kibum turned his eyes away for a moment, as if contemplating his next words.

Changmin noted the slight trouble in his barely frowning brows. Why was Kibum troubled?

In the beginning, Changmin had thought that Kibum was helping him separate Junsu and Yoochun because he wanted to help Changmin. Changmin though Kibum was in love with him and was willing to sacrifice himself to help Changmin win Junsu back. But now…Changmin wasn’t so sure if that was Kibum’s intention.

“You’re right. We shouldn’t stop Junsu from loving Yoochun,” he finally spoke and those words confused Changmin even more.

“Yoochun has no emotional ties with his parents and his fiancée doesn’t even return his love. Maybe it’s best if he stays here. Yunho has no reason to return either so maybe you should just give up on the time machine,” the taller man tested his hypothesis.

“No!” Kibum suddenly reacted, but quickly collected himself. “I mean, it would be cruel of us to separate Junsu from Yoochun. But wouldn’t it be cruel to purposely give up on my experiment and separate Yoochun from Yoona? He loves his fiancée, not Junsu. He does not even believe in same gender relationships. We cannot force it on him.”

Changmin was stunned for a moment by Kibum’s lost of composure. But the shorter man had easily put up his façade again.

“If we send Yoochun back, we know that he won’t have any hope with Yoona. But if you’d purposely tell them that your experiment fails and that you have no other way, we can make him stay. At least if he stays, there is some hope of him and Junsu getting together.”

Chapter 30

Realizing

“Why?” Kibum simply asked. Changmin knew that he was asking.

“Junsu and I went on a date. From that date, we determined that we are only meant to be friends. My loves for him has faded,” Changmin took this opportunity to inform. “But he’s still my best friend. I want him to be happy. Just give up on your experiment and send Yoochun back to live with Junsu.”

“A date? You can make such a determination from a simple date? Isn’t that a bit ridiculous?”

“Yes, we can,” Changmin assured. “We gave each other a chance and tested our feelings. We finally sat down and talked about it. A person can’t be blind forever.”

“Then what about your date with Jaejoong? Did you conclude that you could love him?”

“No, he concluded that he no longer loves me,” Changmin felt proud to inform. He wanted to hint that there were no more obstacles, but Kibum didn’t seem to be catching the hint.

“This is why you don’t want me to continue with the experiment. You don’t want me to send neither Yoochun nor Yunho back.”

“They’ll find happiness here…with Junsu…”

“…and Jaejoong. He’s in love with Yunho, isn’t he?”

“He could open up to Yunho when he never could to me. I know there’s something between them. They just need to realize it. If it’s true love, Yunho and Yoochun won’t care about gender or time.”

“What if it’s not true love? What if…what Yoochun has for Yoona is true love? If I send Yoochun back, maybe one day, Yoona will realize that she loves Yoochun?”

“No one will know,” Changmin murmured.

“The possibilities of the future are endless. You’ve always been one to look into the future.”

Changmin was happy for a second, knowing that Kibum noticed his habit.

“I don’t know anymore,” the taller man spoke. He still couldn’t figure out what went on in Kibum’s mind and in Kibum’s heart.

“I respect your need to help your friend, but you must respect my views as well. I will continue with my experiment, but if Yoochun and Yunho are to refuse, if they are to tell me that they no longer want to return to the past, then I will stop.”

Changmin nodded in agreement.

◙◙◙◙◙

Jaejoong walked into the kitchen and sighed. He recalled the events of yesterday, the date he was on with Changmin. It was so fun. He’d been so happy when Changmin asked…although just minutes before he was shocked and afraid to death because Changmin had revealed that he knew about Jaejoong’s hidden love for him.

It was a simple movie and then dinner. Then Jaejoong had demanded to do something outrageous so they went to the amusement park to ride on the most horrifying and the most childish rides. Changmin had wanted to throw a fit when Jaejoong dragged him onto the merry-go-round.

It was a fun date. It was just like old times.

And like the old times…it was like when they were the best of friends.

Jaejoong hadn’t enjoyed the date as if he was going out with a boyfriend or a lover. He’d enjoyed it as if he was going out with the best friend that he missed so much.

[F.l.a.s.h.b.a.c.k]

“I miss hanging out with you like this. It’s like…missing an older brother and wanting to cry when we’re united.”

“Older brother? I’m younger than you by two years!” Changmin exclaimed.

“But you act and look older. Deal with it, older brother,” Jaejoong made a face and stuck out his tongue.

“No way. I act older, but I do not look older.”

“Yes, you do.”

“Do not!”

“Do too!”

“That’s enough.”

“Fine.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment before Changmin asked, “So who is it?”

“What?”

“Who did you fall out of love with me for?”

“No one, I just…got sick of waiting for you so I stopped being infatuated with you. I guess I just kept thinking I was in love with you because it seemed like a good excuse to argue with you and I liked thinking that I’m so amazing for being able to make sacrifices for love. And I’m like you. I like to think that when I love someone, I’m faithful forever.”

“So we do have something in common after all?”

“Just our fear of being disloyal,” the blond man replied.

“And there really isn’t someone else who has taken my place in your heart?”

“No, not at all! Stop trying to act like you know everything!”

“I do know everything!”

Jaejoong rolled his eyes. “You know everything about being egotistic. Now go home. I need to rest.”

“It’s the end of the date. No good night kiss?”

“You get a good night kiss if there’s going to be a second date,” Jaejoong paused. “There won’t be. You’re a horrible date.”

“Oh, please, at least I don’t embarrass my date!”

They continued to bicker like good, old friends.

[E.n.d.F.l.a.s.h.b.a.ck]

Smiling, Jaejoong reached for the box of cereal. But his appetite just didn’t allow it, like all the nights since Yunho had left. There didn’t seem to be a reason to eat cereal in the middle of the night anymore.

So he just poured himself a glass of milk and sat on the kitchen counter. Through the kitchen window, he could stare out into the stars.

He missed Yunho.

That wasn’t so hard to admit. It was just hard to admit WHY he missed Yunho. In the first couple of days, it had been, ‘I miss him because he’s such a good friend, a great listener, and the other half of the Cereal Gathering’.

After those first couple of days, it began to get frustrating. Jaejoong kept reminding himself that he was supposed to comfort Junsu and remind Junsu that he had to stay away from Kibum’s mansion, to stay away from Yoochun. But Jaejoong had begun to do that fewer and fewer times as the days passed. He would only sit there in silence and mope with Junsu next to him.

Talk about being stupid. Why did he promise Junsu to stay away from Kibum’s mansion with him anyway?

Junsu needed to stay away from Yoochun so he could fall out of love with Yoochun.

Jaejoong didn’t need that.

Jaejoong looked down at his glass of milk and sighed away. Who was he kidding? He didn’t need to stay away from the mansion so he could fall out of love with Yoochun…but Jaejoong would guess that he probably needed to stay away from the mansion so he could fall out of love with Yunho.

Crap!

He was in love with Yunho?

Jaejoong looked at his surrounding, eyes lingering on the spot that Yunho always sat at during their Cereal Gatherings.

Oh, well, at least he’d figure this out in the kitchen. It beats figuring it out while in the bathroom (so unromantic).

◙◙◙◙◙

“Are you feeling well? Do you want me to call for a doctor?” Kibum offered kindly, leaning into the black leather chair.

“No, I am feeling perfectly well,” Yunho smiled with gratitude as he sat across from Kibum.

“It just worries us that you sleep in late so often these days,” Kibum explained, pretending like he didn’t know that Yunho snuck out every night. Kibum guessed that he went to Jaejoong’s home every night. Kibum also guessed that Yunho only stood in the shadows and Jaejoong did not know about his nightly visits. If Jaejoong knew and if Yunho was spending quality time with Jaejoong, Yunho would not continue to look so depressed every day.

“I am just tired,” Yunho simply replied.

Kibum nodded as if he understood. He glanced at the door and noted that Yoochun was in the shower.

“I’ve noticed that you all seem depressed lately. Perhaps if you voiced your concerns, like Changmin, you would feel better,” the younger man suggested.

Yunho’s eyes grew attentive. “Changmin? He spoke to you?”

“Yes, we’ve had many conversations lately,” Kibum nodded.

Yunho would believe this. Changmin was always with Kibum when he came to the mansion, practically ignoring Yunho and Yoochun. It made Yunho wonder if Jaejoong and Junsu had really sent Changmin to keep an eye on him and Yoochun. He was beginning to doubt that Jaejoong and Junsu cared that much…and it hurt.

“What did he say?” Yunho was hesitant to ask.

Kibum hid a smile. He would be delighted to make Yunho ask question after question because he knew that Yunho was not one to enjoy voicing his curiosities. But Kibum was smarter than that. Making Yunho ask him questions and testing the taller man’s patients would only make the man suspect Kibum’s true intentions.

“Yesterday, we were having a casual conversation about Junsu. Jaejoong came into the topic and he revealed to me the difficult…relationship between them,” the younger man paused, making sure Yunho was still paying attention. “He told me that he was confused and feeling helpless. He said that he missed the friendship he had with Jaejoong…back then…before Junsu had come between them. Then he told me that you confronted, about Jaejoong having been in love with him this whole time.”

“Yes, I did,” Yunho murmured. He tried to hide the hurt and jealousy.

“He told me that after your confrontation, he began to think about the matter. He’d been avoiding the truth about Jaejoong’s love for so long, but after you spoke to him about it, he began to truly think about it.”

“Did he…have a conclusion?”

“He told me that he’ll give Jaejoong a chance. He told me that maybe, just maybe, he was blind this whole time and he may be in love with Jaejoong.”

Yunho felt like someone had punched his guts. This was what he wanted, wasn’t it? For Changmin to give Jaejoong a chance? Then why did it hurt so much?

“He really said that? He thinks he might be in love with Jaejoong after all? But…it’s so sudden! How would he know?”

“No one really knows. Love is like that. It can happen in a second or it can grow over time. It can be obvious or it can be subtle…sometimes so subtle that it takes a third person, the bystander with the clear eyes, to point it out. Changmin should thank you for confronting him,” Kibum paused, eyes on Yunho’s expression the whole time. “Jaejoong would thank you too.”

Yunho’s eyes were now on his hands. “Yes, Jaejoong would thank me.”

Jaejoong would only feel ‘gratitude’ towards Yunho. He certainly wouldn’t feel ‘love’.

Chapter 31

Facade

“Changmin should thank you for confronting him,” Kibum paused, eyes on Yunho’s expression the whole time. “Jaejoong would thank you too.”

Yunho’s eyes were now on his hands. “Yes, Jaejoong would thank me.”

Jaejoong would only feel ‘gratitude’ towards Yunho. He certainly wouldn’t feel ‘love’.

The two turned their heads when they heard the knock at the door.

Kibum’s eyes widened when he saw Changmin’s angry stare. When Yunho saw Changmin, he felt the familiar urge to ask about Jaejoong, but he restrained.

“Hi, Changmin, you’re early today,” Yunho smiled at him.

“Yes, too early,” Kibum mumbled quietly, eyes wary.

“Yunho, do you mind if I talk to Kibum…in private?” the tall man in the tuxedo requested.

Yunho knew something was wrong, but didn’t question it. He nodded and stood up to walk out of the office. Changmin closed the door behind him.

Kibum rebuilt his façade and leaned back casually into his chair.

“What was that?” Changmin demanded.

“What was what?” Kibum played stupid.

“You made Yunho believe that Jaejoong and I are a pair.”

“Aren’t you?” the shorter man tilted his head as he looked up at his angry opponent.

“I specifically told you yesterday that Jaejoong and I are only friends, only friends,” Changmin emphasized. “Did you not hear me or do you not remember?”

“I heard you and I remember,” the shorter man replied in monotone.

“Then why?” Changmin demanded. He stared into the other man’s eyes and it finally dawned on him. After tossing and turning in his bed all night, he finally figured it out. His eyes widened and he felt his knees go weak. “You’re trying to make Yunho let go of Jaejoong. If I’m not wrong, then you’ve probably already approached Yoochun and manipulated him into believing that he only loves Yoona.”

“Isn’t it a pain sometimes to be too smart?” Kibum murmured, maintaining eye contact with the standing man.

“You’re trying to cut off all reasons for Yunho and Yoochun to want to stay!”

“True,” the man in the seat easily replied. “I told you that I would stop the experiment if Yunho and Yoochun both say that they do not wish to return to their era. I did not say that I would not manipulate their decisions.”

Changmin’s eyes grew angry. He was so angry, so angry that Kibum was not the protagonist that Changmin had thought he was, had wanted him to be.

“Are you that heartless? Junsu loves Yoochun! Yunho loves Jaejoong! I have a guess that Jaejoong loves Yunho too! But you’re trying to break them apart! I thought you had good intentions, I thought that you wanted to help me. But I was wrong…”

“Very wrong,” Kibum agreed. His calm tone was a contrast to Changmin’s angry one.

Kibum had looked into the eyes of people he’d used, of people he’d betrayed before. He just couldn’t figure out why it was so much harder when he looked into Changmin’s eyes. He couldn’t figure out why he found himself afraid to look into Changmin’s eyes.

The dry chuckle from Changmin felt like a squeeze to his heart, but Kibum didn’t show it. It scared him too, but he wouldn’t show that either.

“I’m so stupid. I thought you were helping me, but you were using me. You were helping yourself,” Changmin mumbled as he ran a hand through his neatly combed hair. “Now I understand. Everything clicks. You’re not the person we all thought you were.”

“I never said I was,” Kibum retorted, same cool tone.

That kidnapping skit in the parking lot, the coincident in letting Yoochun find out that you had experimented with Time Travel…you wanted us to come beg you for help. You didn’t want to go to Yunho and Yoochun and beg them to let you use them in your experiment. You didn’t want to let them control you; you wanted them to feel like they were the ones depending on you.”

“I do not depend on people,” Kibum stated the obvious. It was a rule. No exceptions.

“That explains why you didn’t have helpers that night we did the test drive,” Changmin recalled. Then he remembered all the other times throughout the experiment when Kibum would actually have assistants…but every time, those assistants would be different people. “You refuse to depend on anyone; you refuse to trust anyone.”

“Do you feel smart to be able to figure that out?” his voice dripped sarcasm.

“Why? Did something happen when you were a child?” Changmin inquired. He wanted to know; he wanted to heal whatever wound Kibum had. He wished there was a reason to why Kibum wasn’t the protagonist that he wanted him to be.

“It’s none of your business, Mr. Shim,” he suddenly spoke in an icy tone.

“It doesn’t have to be like this Kibum. We’re all friends to you.”

“I don’t need friends.”

“Because being someone’s friend allows the person to control your emotions. Friends are there for you to depend on, for you to trust,” Changmin paused. In a disappointed voice, he added, “But you’ve given that up long ago.”

Kibum couldn’t stand it anymore. He turned his head to look away, unable to look into Changmin’s eyes. The guy could almost read him like a book, and so easily too. This frightened Kibum.

“I’m not going to end my experiment for anyone.”

“But it doesn’t have to be Yoochun and Yunho…”

“No, it has to be. I couldn’t find anything different about their physical being, but there has to be something special about them. I just don’t have the technology to find the abnormality, but I know there is something special about their structure. It has to be them. Any other normal person would die from the intensity of being struck by lightning. They survived it.”

“Stop drowning yourself in your work! Friends are more important…”

“I only have my work and it is all I can depend on.”

“You can depend on me…” Changmin paused and quickly said, “…and everyone else.”

Kibum still refused to look up. He’d always been able to look people in the eye without showing any emotion. Why was it so hard this time? Why did the disgust in Changmin’s eyes bother him so much?

“Forget it, Mr. Shim. I’m not stopping for anyone.”

“Then you leave me no choice. I’ll tell Yunho…”

“You can tell Yunho the truth. You can bring Yunho and Jaejoong together, but there’s still Yoochun. I told Yoochun about Junsu’s infatuation and Yoochun told me that he could never accept homosexuality. He loves Yoona.”

“He doesn’t have a future with Yoona. At least if he stayed, he’ll have a chance with Junsu!”

“Do you really want Yoochun to stand in front of Junsu and tell him that he will never love Junsu the way he loves Yoona?” Kibum challenged. “Wouldn’t that hurt more than to let Junsu continue to think that Yoochun doesn’t know? Wouldn’t Junsu want Yoochun to at least see him as a friend and not someone to avoid?”

Changmin was speechless. He felt so…numb and hurt right now.

“Kibum…”

“Yoochun has said that he wants to go through with this. You and Junsu would be selfish to go behind his back and convince me to abandon the experiment.”

“And are you not selfish?”

“I am selfish,” Kibum easily sliced into Changmin’s accusation, finally working up the courage to meet Changmin’s eyes.

“I won’t let you do this. I’ll convince them…”

“Then do it,” Kibum dared. “Just remember: it’s always easier to convince someone that the one they love does NOT return their affection. It’s a lot harder to convince them otherwise.”

◙◙◙◙◙

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Utterly stupid.

How come Changmin didn’t see this coming? He’d always wondered why Kibum had set up that kidnapping scene in the parking lot. He’d always wondered why Kibum didn’t simply approach Yoochun and Yunho and asked them to assist him in his experiment. Now he understood.

It was just who Kim Kibum really was. He was a selfish jerk who didn’t believe in trust or compassion, who didn’t believe in friendship or love. But could Changmin really blame him for building a metal wall between himself and the rest of the world?

Changmin’s eyes wandered back to the computer screen. He’d been locked in his office and scanning the internet for the past two hours.

Kibum’s parents had died when he was young. He’d been thrown into the business world, a battle field. There had been a fiasco at that time, Changmin remembered. Shareholders, the people who were supposedly friends of Kibum’s parents, had tried to take over the companies that the Kim family owned. Kibum had fought through them, protecting his parents’ properties. He did it on his own and it all followed immediately after his parents’ death. He was only a young teenage who had just lost his parents too.

Changmin stopped reading the article and leaned back into his chair.

What could he do?

He could confront Yunho and verify if Jaejoong returned Yunho’s feelings. If they were in love with each other, then Changmin could easily bring them together. Yunho would stay with Jaejoong. Yunho didn’t have a reason to return to his era…except for Yoochun. Would Yunho let Yoochun return on his own? Would he choose his friendship with Yoochun over his love for Jaejoong?

Yoochun was the obstacle, the mountain in the middle of the road.

Did Yoochun really love Yoona? Did he love Junsu? Would he ever be able to love Junsu? Should Changmin tell Junsu about Kibum’s plan and they could work together to change Yoochun’s mind?

Grinding his teeth and running both hands through his hair, Changmin released a roar of anguish. What was he supposed to do?

That was when his phone chose to ring.

“Hello?”

“Changmin? Where are you?”

“I’m…at work.”

“Oh,” Junsu paused on the other line. Changmin knew why he was calling. “Changmin, it’s six-thirty.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t go to Kibum’s house today. I…have a lot of work,” he lied. Changmin was supposed to be at Junsu’s house at six every day to tell him and Jaejoong about his daily visits to Kibum’s mansion.

“Oh, okay. I won’t bother you then.”

“Wait, Junsu,” Changmin stopped him from hanging up. It was on the tip of his tongue. He could tell Junsu about Kibum’s true identity, that he was using Yoochun and Yunho. Changmin could tell Junsu that Kibum was manipulating Yoochun’s thoughts; give Junsu hope that he could convince Yoochun to stay.

But Changmin didn’t want to.

“What is it?”

Chapter 32

Cry

“What is it?”

“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.

Chapter 33

Secret

“So…you’ve succeeded?” Yunho turned to Kibum.

“We won’t know until the pictures come out in several days. It is a specialized camera so the photos need extra work to be prepared.”

Yunho felt his heart ache. Should he be happy?

Yoochun looked happy.

So should Yunho go confess to Jaejoong or return home with Yoochun?

“This is so exciting! After so much work, we’re finally getting some pleasing results. It’s a miracle!” Yoochun grinned. Was he happy that hard work had paid off or was he happy about being able to go home?

“Yunho? Aren’t you excited?” Kibum asked.

“Yes, of course. I just…did not know how to react.”

◙◙◙◙◙

Yoochun got sick of staring at the wall so he decided to make a 180 degree turn on the bed. He nearly stopped breathing when he saw Yunho sitting on the other side of his bed looking down at him.

“Yunho! What are you doing?” Yoochun gasped, scared out of his wits.

“You’re out of practice…or are you getting old? You didn’t even notice when I entered your room.”

“I haven’t slept well in the past three days. It’s normal for my senses to be dull…especially when it’s this time of the night...or day. Why are you in my room?”

Yunho released a dramatic sigh and Yoochun had to wonder if he learned that from Jaejoong. The taller man stood up from the little chair next to Yoochun’s bed and moved to sit next to Yoochun, causing the side of the bed to sink slightly from his weight.

“I have a dilemma.”

“Okay…” Yoochun’s eyes shifted, suddenly feeling awkward and noticing how little distance there was between him and his best friend.

“Did you know that same gender relationships are possible in this era?” the older man suddenly asked, staring at Yoochun with soft eyes.

Yoochun suddenly felt the urge to pull his blanket up and clutched a fistful of the soft material over his chest. “Kibum told me.”

“So you knew?” Yunho’s eyes widened. It was as if he was grateful that he didn’t have to be the one explaining it to Yoochun.

“Y…yes,” Yoochun stammered, moving back a little bit to put more distance between them.

But Yunho moved in and crushed Yoochun’s measly attempt.

They’d been closer than this in the past. Heck, they swam shirtless together and shared beds when they were younger. But with this new found idea that same gender relationships were possible (and Yunho seemed to know a lot about it), Yoochun was beginning to worry about his…um…safety.

“Yoochun-ah, I have to be honest…” Yunho’s eyes were serious and staring into Yoochun’s eyes as he began to lean closer.

“Wh…what is it?” Yoochun wanted to slap himself for asking as he shifted backwards until his back hit the wall on the other side of the bed.

“I think…” Yunho began, eyes shifting to the door and then back to look into Yoochun’s eyes. His voice lowered into a whisper, “I think…I’m in love with a friend who is of the same gend…”

His words were cut off when Yoochun’s fist connected with his jaw. Before Yunho could react, Yoochun had thrown the blanket over his head and was ready to jump over him to escape. Just as Yoochun was about to make his leap, Yunho reached out and grabbed his ankle. Another arm wrapped around Yoochun’s waist and he was wrestled back down onto the bed.

Yunho heard Yoochun mumble a curse word, “Fork!” which he probably learned from Junsu.

“What are you doing?” Yunho hissed.

Yoochun tried to escape again, but Yunho slammed him back onto the bed and jumped on top of him. Only the bulk of the blanket was between them and Yoochun was frightened to death.

“Yunho, listen to me, I’m…I’m sorry. I’m not…I can’t…I don’t…not you…it’s…”

“What are you trying to say? And what in the world is ‘Fork’ supposed to mean? Isn’t it a utensil for eating?”

“I…I don’t know. Junsu used to say it a lot when he was angry, or shocked, or…scared.”

Yunho was silent for a moment as he observed Yoochun’s shifting eyes. He could practically hear the wheels turning in Yoochun’s head as the younger man tried to find a way to escape.

“You’re scared?”

“A little bit?”

“Why?”

“My best friend just confessed his love for me and is attempting to rape me. Wouldn’t you be scared?” Yoochun exclaimed.

Yunho looked down and realized their position. He was on top of Yoochun, hands pinning the younger man’s wrists on each side of his head with only the blanket between them.

“What do you mean rape? We used to wrestle like this all the time!”

“Yeah, but that was before I found out that same gender relationships are possible!”

Yunho rolled his eyes and climbed off the bed to sit on the chair. “You are being ridiculous and I did not confess my love for you. I do not even have that type of feeling for you.”

Yoochun blinked, feeling incredibly stupid. “What? But you said…”

“I said ‘I’m in love with a friend.’ ‘A friend’, you are more like my ‘brother’.”

Yoochun sat up and looked down at the blanket. He easily pushed it to a corner of the bed and sat on the side of the bed with his legs crossed, sitting Indian-style. “So who is it then?”

“Take a guess.”

“Jaejoong?”

“So you’re not blind after all,” Yunho drawled.

“When did you learn to be sarcastic?”

“Jaejoong,” Yunho simply answered.

Yoochun rolled his eyes. “So…you’re really in love with him? You’re okay with it? I mean…”

“I know. It bothered me at first too…a lot. But having to go through the whole whirlwind of confusion to understand it and accept it…is a lot less painful than to spend days without seeing Jaejoong.”

Yoochun looked down his hands. “How long did it take you to figure out that you’re…in love with Jaejoong?”

“Too long,” Yunho sighed. “I thought he was in love with Changmin this whole time. The truth is…the reason I wake up so late these days is because I’ve been visiting him at night, although I stay in the shadows.”

“I guessed that much,” Yoochun said.

Yunho’s eyes shifted to the close door for a second before standing up from the chair and settling down on the bed again. Yoochun now understood that Yunho had leaned in so closer earlier and was whispering because he had a secret to tell.

“Yoochun, I went to visit Jaejoong earlier and he discovered that I had been following him. He…he revealed to me that he’s…also in love with me.”

Yoochun blinked. It was an awkward though, imagining Yunho and Jaejoong as a couple. But he was happy for his friends. “Good, isn’t that what you’d want?”

“The problem is that Kibum had told me that Changmin and Jaejoong are together,” Yunho whispered.

Yoochun’s brows furrowed slightly. “You mean…”

“Why would he tell me that? It’s as if he wanted me to continue to misunderstand.”

“Maybe he doesn’t know that you love Jaejoong or that Jaejoong is actually in love with you or…”

“I wonder if there’s anything that Kim Kibum doesn’t know,” Yunho’s voice was cold.

“No, Kibum isn’t like that.”

“I understand. You are closer to him than I am.”

“I know Kibum doesn’t open up to us. I feel that it’s hard for him. When I first got to know him, it was like…it was like when I first met you.”

Yunho blinked and raised his head to meet Yoochun’s eyes. “Me?”

Yoochun nodded with a smile. “When we first met, you were distant. You rarely talked and your emotions were always in controlled. It was always hard to figure out what you were thinking or feeling. Other people would have thought you were cold and arrogant…or what Junsu would call ‘Stuck up’.”

“But you’re not like those other people,” Yunho murmured, remembering how thankful he was to have Yoochun by his side. Their relationship didn’t have to be explained. It was as if they were closer than blood related brothers.

“You were aloof, but I felt that you were only trying to protect yourself. You act tough, but on the inside, you’re just a…how do I say it? In Jaejoong’s words, you’re just a ‘squishy teddy bear’.”

Yunho smiled a little and Yoochun knew that he truly loved Jaejoong. If anyone else were to call Yunho a ‘squishy teddy bear’, the person would become a squished human being.

“You get the same feeling with Kibum?”

Yoochun nodded. “He seems aloof and he rarely talks about himself, but I know he has a kind heart. It takes time for him to learn to trust us, but I know it’s possible. It’s a matter of time.”

“But do you have that time?” Yunho didn’t allow himself to meet Yoochun’s eyes.

Yoochun understood why.

“Yunho-ah, the dilemma you bring up to me is why Kibum had lied to you. The problem you’re willing to talk to me about is whether we should trust Kibum, but…that’s not what bothers you the most. The true dilemma that is bothering you...is whether you want to stay here with Jaejoong or go back with me.”

Yunho’s brows furrowed at Yoochun’s soft tone. “Humans go through life always wanting what they can’t have, being blinded to what they really need. As if that was not problematic enough…”

Yoochun chuckled lightly. “It becomes even more of a disaster when you’re blinded to what you really want along with what you really need.”

“Yoochun…”

“Yunho, I understand. I’ve had you for so many years already. Jaejoong is the one who should have you for the other half of your life. You’ll be happier here. Don’t think that you need to return with me.”

“But…I’ll miss you,” Yunho murmured. Those were difficult words for him. “Can’t you stay too? Yoona already has someone else.”

Chapter 34

Trial

“Can’t you stay too? Yoona already has someone else.”

Yoochun sighed and lowered his head. “Wouldn’t it be nice if the machine could bring us back and forth?”

It was a rhetorical question. They both knew it wasn’t possible. The time machine used lightning to function and Kibum had said that it couldn’t be healthy for the physical body. And if they were able to return to their era, Kibum wouldn’t be there and the machine wouldn’t be there. The chances of returning were too slim to calculate.

“Yoochun, you still want to return? You seemed…really happy when you told me about the machine’s success.”

Yoochun turned his head to stare out the window. “I was happy, but I think…I was happier for Kibum.”

“You really care for him,” Yunho couldn’t help but smile. It was just who Park Yoochun was.

“At first it was because he reminded me of you, but then…I started to realize that under his façade, he’s weaker than you. He’s still so young, but he’s rich and so mature. I feel like…he was deprived of a childhood and that makes me feel even more empathy towards him.”

“You’ve always been soft.”

“I always paid close attention when he explained information to us. I could see that it meant a lot to him to have someone who cared. Eventually, he didn’t just instruct me on the experiment. He became willing to share detailed information about his other experiments with me. There’s always that sparkle in his eyes when he spoke. He reminded me of a child who was proudly showing off. There is still that bit of immaturity buried inside.”

“I’m sorry that I didn’t notice,” Yunho sighed.

Yoochun smiled. “It’s difficult because Kibum also makes an effort to prevent it.”

“Then you must have had to pay a lot of attention to notice so much,” Yunho murmured. Then his curiosity peaked, “Could that have…distracted you from other things?”

Yunho was obviously trying to hint at something.

“Apparently so, since Kibum had to be the one to inform me of Junsu’s…feelings for me,” Yoochun sighed.

Yunho blinked in shock. “He told you that as well?”

Yoochun nodded.

“How do you…feel about it?”

Yoochun sighed. “I do not know how to ‘feel’ about it. I am so confused. It…it’s so hard to accept.”

Yunho looked out the window to see that the sun was beginning to rise. “I should get back to my room. Keep thinking it through, Yoochun.”

“Stop thinking for once, Yunho. Stay here, stay with Jaejoong.”

Yunho only forced a smile before turning his back to Yoochun. Before closing the door, he whispered, “You did not accept Junsu’s love when Kibum told you…but realize that you did not reject either.”

◙◙◙◙◙

Kibum stared at the birthday card in his hand. It was the most precious birthday gift he’d ever received, this simple card that his grandmother had spent hours picking out and had graced with her beautiful handwriting.

His grandmother was the only one who truly cared. His parents threw him huge birthday parties and their butt-kissing friends had showered him with expensive, meaningless gifts. But they didn’t care. It was all for show.

But at least Kibum had one gift to look forward to every year…that is, until his grandmother died when he was seven.

No birthday after that mattered. Because no one was there to truly care.

So Kibum had told himself that he didn’t need it. He didn’t need anyone to care, anyone to step beyond the superficial skits and schemes.

It worked well for more than a decade. But then these five people had to come tumbling into his life (two were even from the ancient past, what were the chances of that?) and reminded him of how much he craved to have true friends.

Kibum had always been able to look into someone’s eyes and tell if they truly cared or if they were just kissing up to him. It bothered him that he continuously saw the treasure in the eyes of these five people.

He recalled all the conversations he’d had with those five people, especially the certain annoying, tall man who always wore a tux.

He recalled the time he had overheard Jaejoong telling Changmin that Kibum had a crush on him (most likely because Jaejoong was trying to cover his own truth).

He recalled the time he had first touched the tall man’s hand. The amount of self-control he had to use to act like it was the most casual action shocked and scared Kibum.

He recalled the minutes after that fight between Yoochun and Junsu (that Kibum had caused), the minutes after he had touched Changmin’s hand. They ended up in his office, this office.

He’d told Changmin to go comfort Junsu and he acted (was he acting?) hurt. After the tall man had left, Kibum had disappeared into a secret office to concentrate on some kind of experiment.

He’d seen Changmin walk back into the office and felt the urge to walk out of the secret office, but managed to refrain. He couldn’t let anyone know about the secret compartment.

Through a hidden camera, Kibum watched Changmin wander his public office to search for him. Kibum saw Changmin standing next to his desk and staring at his hand, the hand that Kibum had held. He was looking at it as if…as if it was some kind of phenomenon.

Kibum recalled staring at his own hand and remembering the feel of the other man’s hand. Heck, he was looking at his hand now and didn’t like that he couldn’t recall every detail of touching Changmin’s hand.

He heard the ringing of the doorbell and easily picked up a remote. He aimed it at the screen on his desk and it turned off to show him who was standing at his front door.

It was Junsu.

Junsu, who smiled genuinely at Kibum. Junsu, who Kibum had looked down on; believing that he would somehow try to pry easy money out of Kibum. But then Kibum had found out that Junsu wasn’t the greedy monster…like the other people Kibum had grown up with.

Junsu, who Kibum was trying to keep away from Yoochun so that Yoochun would not want to pull out of the experiment.

Hell, Kibum had not slept last night. He knew something was wrong when Yunho returned to the mansion. He had eavesdropped when Yunho snuck to Yoochun’s room. He’d heard everything.

Yoochun had persuaded Yunho to pull out of the experiment. Yoochun was Kibum’s only hope now. Yet the child prodigy only watched in silence as his butler called for Yoochun. Yoochun, shifting awkwardly as he stood in front of Junsu, still looked genuinely happy to see Junsu.

“Hi, it’s been a while,” Yoochun said.

“Are you busy today? I want to take you out,” Junsu got straight to the point.

“Out?” Yoochun’s hands were rubbing nervously behind his back.

“Yeah, I want to take you out on a date.”

Kibum was slightly shocked, but he wondered if Jaejoong had told Junsu about the immense progress in the experiment. Knowing that Yoochun could be leaving any day now, did Junsu decide to take action? Why wasn’t Kibum stopping this?

“A date?”

“A date is…it’s what we modern people call an event when two…two friends go out and do fun things together,” the slightly shorter man lied.

“Really?” Yoochun believed him. “Two friends?”

“Yep, so can you go?”

“Sure,” Yoochun replied slowly. “Let me go tell Kibum and Yunho.”

Kibum turned off the screen and felt an itch in his throat. He covered his mouth to muffle a cough, recalling how concerned Jaejoong had been about this small cough.

He waited for Yoochun to knock on his office door.

“Come in.”

The door opened and Yoochun walked in. Junsu followed. “Hi, Kibum!” Junsu greeted with a grin that could light up any room.

“Hello, Junsu, it’s good to see you again,” Kibum found himself smiling in return.

“Kibum, I was wondering if you need me to be with you for anything today. If not then I was going to go out with Junsu, we’re going to go on a d…”

“Jaejoong said you were coughing. How are you feeling?” Junsu quickly interrupted, not wanting Yoochun to say ‘date’ and end up having Kibum tell him what a ‘date’ really was.

“It’s just seasonal allergies,” Kibum replied, concluding that he had been right. Junsu had spoken to Jaejoong today to find out about the Time Machine’s progress.

“Oh, okay. So, are you going to need Yoochun around today? Yunho’s skills are just as good so he can fit in for Yoochun as your bodyguard,” Junsu said, hoping to cover all reasons that may prevent Yoochun from leaving the house.

Kibum knew that he should make up an excuse, any excuse to keep Yoochun and Junsu apart.

Instead he kept remembering, recalling. So he said, “No, I won’t be leaving the mansion today.”

Kibum didn’t miss the joy in Yoochun’s eyes when Junsu broke into a huge grin and did a little cheer with his hands.

Trying not to hate himself, Kibum added, “You won’t have to worry about the experiment either. We have nothing else to do except wait for the photos to develop. Once they come out, we’ll be able to prove that the Time Machine works.”

Kibum and Yoochun missed Junsu’s faltered grin at the reminder that Yoochun could be returning to his own home soon.

◙◙◙◙◙

Junsu was silent as he drove. This was it.

After talking to Jaejoong earlier today and finding out that Kibum had called Jaejoong, asking him to ‘tell Yunho’ about the immense progress in the Time Machine, Junsu had decided to take action.

He’d take Yoochun out on a date to…to move that he was not truly in love with Yoochun. It worked between him and Changmin, it worked between Changmin and Jaejoong. Let’s see if it’ll work between Junsu and Yoochun.

Junsu had thought that he only feared one thing: that the date would prove that he was truly in love with Yoochun.

Now, he began to see that he had another fear: that the date would prove that he was not truly in love with Yoochun.

How is that even possible?

“Junsu?”

Junsu smiled and replied, “We’re going to go watch a movie in the theater. Then we’ll go eat dinner and end the date with a walk on the beach.”

“Theater?” Yoochun pronounced carefully.

Junsu smiled sadly as he recalled the first day they had met. Junsu had demanded to know where the camera crew was and Yoochun had asked him what a ‘camera’ was. He’d pronounced ‘camera’ carefully as well.

“You’ll see when we get there. You’ve had lunch, right?” he asked, trying to make conversation.

“Yes,” Yoochun paused. “Have you?”

Junsu had happy to know he cared. He recalled the time Changmin had called him a ‘mother hen’ for making sure that Yoochun ate three meals and two snacks a day. “Yes.”

Chapter 35

Possible

Silence again. Neither knew what to say. Junsu snuck peaks to see Yoochun staring out the window, as if wanting to memorize everything he saw. A slight pout reached Junsu’s lips, wishing Yoochun would look at him.

What bothered Junsu even more was that the silence was not uncomfortably awkward. It was okay to sit in silence with Yoochun. It was comforting enough to know that he was there. Could this mean…?

No, of course not. Junsu could sit in comfortable silence with Jaejoong and Changmin too because they were his best friends. Maybe Yoochun was like Jaejoong and Changmin.

Nodding in approval of the excuse, he returned to concentrating on the road.

Ten minutes later, they were at the movie theater.

“It’s like watching T.V. at home, but the screen is bigger and the sound is clearer and the atmosphere is better. So do you feel like watching?”

“You decide,” Yoochun smiled politely. Junsu silently cursed Yoochun for being so oblivious to the power of his simple smile.

“Let’s watch a horror movie,” Junsu suggested. He was picking the same movie that he and Changmin had watched on their date together.

A voice in the back of his head said that repeating everything from the date with Changmin may yield the same results at the end of the date. It was more like wishful thinking.

“Okay,” Yoochun smiled that smile again and Junsu mentally slapped himself. He shouldn’t be feeling like the luckiest idiot on Earth just because Park Yoochun was smiling at him, and only him.

Junsu bought tickets and popcorn. Changmin had paid more attention to eating the most popcorn than actually enjoying the movie with Junsu. Maybe Yoochun would be the same.

“I’m warning you, I get frightened easily.”

Yoochun laughed and Junsu wanted to melt. “That’s okay, you can close your eyes and I will tell you when it is safe to open them.”

Junsu smiled weakly; while in his mind, he cursed at Yoochun for being so sweet. Why couldn’t he be like Changmin and say, ‘Wimp’?

Maybe he didn’t know words like ‘Wimp’.

The lights turned off and the movie began.

Twenty minutes in, Junsu noted that Yoochun had glanced at him five times and asked him twice if he needed to close his eyes. The older man was definitely not paying more attention to eating the most popcorn.

So twenty-five minutes in, they came to a scene that even a little kid wouldn’t be frightened of. Junsu recalled how Yoochun disapproved of a man being cowardly so he picked that scene to play his part.

Junsu’s hands rose to cover his face as he leaned closer towards Yoochun. He was watching the movie through the slits between his fingers and Yoochun was giving him a weird look. Was he seriously afraid of this scene, which may be the least frightening scene in the whole movie?

Junsu released an ‘Eep!’ and grabbed onto Yoochun’s jacket, burying his face in Yoochun’s chest. Yoochun had to sit forward and turn his body to adjust to the position. People who sat around them were giving them weird looks.

“Junsu,” Yoochun whispered.

Junsu closed his eyes and waited for the insult, waited for Yoochun to call him a stupid coward and push him away. Yoochun probably didn’t know the word ‘Wimp,’ but Junsu was sure that he knew ‘Coward’.

“Would you like to leave? If this movie is too frightening for you, we can leave,” he whispered in that dreamy voice.

Junsu’s hands automatically released Yoochun’s jacket and he leaned back into his own chair. In a rude tone, he said, “Pass the popcorn.”

Confused, Yoochun passed the popcorn and leaned back into his own chair. What just happened?

Junsu frowned and stuffed his face with popcorn. This wasn’t working out. Yoochun was being too perfect. Well, maybe not too perfect, but he was acting too much like Junsu’s ideal type. What the heck was Junsu’s ideal type anyway?

Frowning some more, he continued to stuff his face. Then he heard a moan from the seat in front of them and stopped eating. His eyes darted to look at Yoochun, who looked like he was in complete shock.

The movie jumped to a morning scene and the light allowed Junsu and Yoochun to see the couple who sat in front of them, making out like there was no tomorrow. Junsu’s eyes darted to Yoochun again, who was now staring at the ceiling with an uncomfortable expression.

Without a word, Junsu grabbed Yoochun’s hand and pulled him out of the theater. Once they were outside, Junsu told himself that he could let go of Yoochun’s hand. He tried to convince himself that it felt the same when Changmin had held his hand. It didn’t.

“We can go catch an early dinner,” Junsu said, expecting Yoochun to pull his hand away.

“Catch?”

“Er…that means to get. We can go eat an early dinner,” he spoke more formally.

“Okay,” Yoochun nodded as they began to walk to the parking lot, hand in hand.

Junsu wondered if Yoochun noticed. He sure didn’t look like he noticed since his eyes were busy looking both ways before crossing the street. But after they crossed the street, he made it clear that he noticed.

“Junsu?” Yoochun paused. “It is normal for two friends to hold hands in this era?”

Junsu gulped. “Y…yes?”

Yoochun nodded slowly. “Okay, let’s hurry. I am actually getting hungry.”

Junsu’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped. He felt like a dummy as Yoochun dragged him towards the car. Wait, was he the dummy or was Yoochun the dummy?

“Wait.”

“Hmm?” Yoochun stopped running and Junsu couldn’t stop in time. His body slammed into Yoochun’s body and he almost fell backwards. Yoochun managed to keep him standing, because their hands were still connected!

“A good restaurant is nearby so we could just walk.”

Junsu didn’t expect Yoochun to agree. Changmin sure didn’t. He’d claimed to be too hungry to walk, and it was illogical to walk when there was plenty of gas in the car and valet parking at the restaurant.

“Okay,” Yoochun agreed.

Junsu’s jaw dropped for the 10th time that day and wondered how this date could be so wrong…yet so right.

So they walked, hand in hand, towards the restaurant. There was that comfortable silence again, the soothing silence.

Bad, bad, bad. It was like…eating ten bags of BBQ flavored potato chips in one sitting. They tasted good, but they were bad, bad, bad for the body. Yoochun was bad for Junsu’s heart.

They eventually got to the restaurant. Junsu finally untangled his hand from Yoochun’s hand because they were seated at a table for two and had to sit across from each other.

Junsu made their orders and they made idle conversation about the interior of the restaurant. Junsu reminded himself to avoid certain topics that could ruin the date. But then, didn’t he want to ruin this perfect date?

“What happened to the dog that was at your house when I first arrived?”

“Eunhyuk, he’s the dog’s owner, said that he won’t ever let me watch his dog again when he’s on vacation.”

“Why is that?” Yoochun inquired.

“Something about his dog being traumatized.”

“I’m sorry,” Yoochun murmured, guessing that it was his fault for chasing after the dog with his sword.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m thankful. I don’t like watching his dog. It’s just that I owe him for saving my butt once during one of our jobs,” Junsu replied as he munched.

Yoochun nodded. “So no matter how much you disliked the creature, you still took care of it.”

“If I don’t, Eunhyuk will just keep bringing up the fact that I owe him,” Junsu said with a laugh.

Yoochun wasn’t exactly laughing. “Debts should be properly paid off…” he murmured.

Junsu stopped eating and realized where this conversation was going. “Yoochun…”

“I still owe you money, don’t I?”

Junsu silently replied, ‘You owe me more than that, handsome.’

Out loud, he answered, “Don’t worry about it. Kibum’s assistant has been sending your paychecks to me every month.”

Except he stopped cashing in the recent checks because money was too easily mixed up, but the checks had Yoochun’s name on them.

“It surely must not be enough to cover my debt in destroying your ticket,” Yoochun pointed out.

Junsu frowned. He didn’t need Yoochun to decide to stay longer just to pay off his debt. If he wasn’t going to stay at all, then why stay longer, why make Junsu hurt longer?

He didn’t want Yoochun to stay because he needed to pay off his debt. He wanted Yoochun to stay because…because he loved Junsu.

But that wasn’t possible, was it? The probability of that happening was like…the probability of having someone come tell them that tonight’s dinner will be completely free of charge! Impossible.

“Junsu?”

“Huh?” Junsu blinked out of his thoughts. How could Yoochun look so cool and reply with a sexy ‘Hmm?’ while Junsu felt like an idiot who could only blurt out ‘Huh?’

“That man over there is staring at you,” Yoochun pointed out with a slight frown on his brows.

Curious, Junsu turned around to see who was staring.

“Siwon!” he greeted with a wave as the stranger walked over to their table.

Yoochun watched as Junsu stood up to share a hug with the newcomer.

“I thought my eyes were playing a trick on me. Since when did you start to put your career down long enough to start dating?”

Junsu rolled his eyes as they both took a seat. “This is my friend Yoochun. Yoochun, this is Siwon.”

“Nice to meet you,” Siwon extended his hand to Yoochun. Yoochun politely smiled and shook his hand.

Junsu recalled the times when a handshake would confuse cute Yoochunnie.

“So how’s Jaejoong doing?”

“Still jumping from job to job, reviving restaurant after restaurant,” Junsu informed.

Siwon laughed and Yoochun had to admit that the man had really cute dimples, but he wasn’t going to voice his thoughts.

“I’ll have to call him out sometimes. I’m working as head chef at a five star hotel right now. It’s all thanks to you and Jaejoong for motivating me back in college.”

“It’s your own hard work.”

“No, I owe you two big time. This meal is on me, okay?”

Yoochun looked up and expected Junsu to protest, but Junsu looked like he was in shock. So Yoochun quickly said, “No, that’s okay.”

“Please, let me pay. I owe Junsu and see it as a gift from me to you, a new friend to a new friend,” Siwon smiled. “You can treat me next time!”

Yoochun smiled. He found it difficult to dislike this man, but couldn’t quite understand why he’d wanted to hate this new friend in the first place. “Okay!”

“I have to run. Heechul is going to twist my ear off if I’m late to pick him up for our date. Bye!”

Siwon left.

Yoochun sat there wondering if friends twisted each other’s ears if they were late for just a date.

Junsu still couldn’t believe that the possibility of dinner being completely free of charge was…possible.

Chapter 36

Drown

Please Read:

I'm sorry for being so slow with the updates and even more sorry that I haven't replied to your comments. I'm going to post these first and then come back to post some more within the next two days. I'll have replies to go along with the next batch of updates too (so I'll understand if you want to hold off on your comments until the next batch).

The reason I've been slow is because my parents are out of town for a month so I'm picking up on paying bills and babysitting and all that 'fun' stuff. Among other things, an aunt was in a car accident and since she does not speak English well enough, I've become responsible for helping (dealing with the insurance company and driving her around to whereever she needs until she gets a new car).

I know, it's none of your business, but I felt like I should explain to show that I do care about this story and your opinions. Some of you may care, others would not. That's okay.

And I realize Cheesiness only works when it's DBSK, so I'll end here before this note becomes too cheesy. Thank you very much. :D Have a great day.

◙◙◙◙◙

“Did you like the beach when you were a child?”

“The first time I went to the beach was when I was seven. I fell in love with it faster than I fell in love with money,” Junsu laughed. “But my parents never took me back after that. My father’s business started to struggle and it was always work, work, and more work.”

“Sorry,” Yoochun whispered.

Junsu smiled. They were walking along the beach now. The younger man had been lost in his own thoughts after Siwon had left, but Yoochun made casual conversation to pull Junsu back. Junsu chose to push the thought of Yoochun possibly returning his feelings…and just wanted to enjoy the rest of the night.

“What about you? What did you like to do when you were a kid?”

“I liked to pick fights with Yunho,” Yunho chuckled.

“You and Yunho are really close,” Junsu pointed out with envy.

“Yes, he is no less than a brother to me. As a matter of fact, he’s probably the only family member I have left,” Yoochun smiled at their childhood memories. “My father was strict. He did not want me to befriend anyone who was of the lower or middle class, but I could not get along with the snobby children of the upper class. I was lucky that Yunho was there…although we couldn’t openly play with each other around my parents.”

Junsu looked down at his feet and the sand reminded him of Jaejoong. Jaejoong loved to build sandcastles. Junsu and Changmin loved to laugh at Jaejoong’s fail attempts building sandcastles.

Speaking of Yunho reminded Junsu of Jaejoong.

“I’m sure Yunho cares for you as much as you care for him. You can definitely count on him to make sacrifices for you,” Junsu murmured.

Yoochun turned his head to look at the man who was walking next to him. Junsu’s head was lowered.

They continued to walk in silence. After two minutes, Yoochun finally said, “I regret that Yunho cares for me too much. Our relationship has become an obstacle in a possible…a beautiful, romantic novel between Yunho and Jaejoong.”

Junsu stopped walking and raised his head. He was shocked for a moment, but then told himself that he shouldn’t be too shocked. Yunho probably told Yoochun everything.

“You think it’s okay for Yunho and Jaejoong…?”

“I won’t lie. The idea still makes me wary and brings slight discomfort along with plenty of confusion,” Yoochun spoke carefully. He watched Junsu’s head lower again to hide the disappointment and hurt on his pretty face. “It’s okay though, if it’s true love. I haven’t seen Jaejoong in a long time so I cannot judge, but I know that Yunho truly loves Jaejoong.”

“Jaejoong truly loves Yunho,” Junsu assured. Silently, he thought, ‘Just like how I’m hopelessly, truly in love with you, you idiot!’

Junsu clenched his fist. This conversation has to end before it gets out of hand, before Junsu begins to gain more hope that he and Yoochun could end with a happily-ever-after.

“Junsu, are you okay?”

“So, about that Time Machine…” Junsu raised his head to show off his fake smile.

Yoochun realized that he could tell that Junsu’s smile was false. Yoochun realized that he didn’t like the fake smile. It almost…hurt. Why?

“I told Yunho that he does not have to return with me and that he should stay here with Jaejoong,” Yoochun felt the need to inform. He searched for a reaction from Junsu, but didn’t know what reaction he was looking for.

“That’s nice! So when will you be leaving? I’ll try to clear my schedule so I can be there to see you off!” Junsu smiled widely, speaking loudly.

Talking about the Machine was better than talking about Yunho and Jaejoong…for various reasons.

Yoochun blinked and felt confused. He explained the progress of the machine to Junsu, who was nodding and smiling as if he was grasping onto every word. “So as soon as those photos come out and prove that the machine works…”

“Then you can return!” Junsu finished with a grin. “That’s awesome! Kibum is such a genius! You know what would be perfect? It would be perfect if Kibum and Changmin were to get together! They’re both geniuses and Kibum would make Changmin’s life miserable!”

Yoochun nodded, but he couldn’t make himself smile and laugh like Junsu was doing.

“Junsu…”

“Take off your shoes and roll up your pants. Let’s walk into the water!” the younger man spoke as he began to peel off his own socks.

Yoochun blinked again, but followed the instructions. Junsu found it cute that Yoochun didn’t like wearing socks.

With their belongings (shoes, socks, cell phone, etc.) piled on the sand, Junsu dragged Yoochun towards the water. Yoochun looked down at their connected hands and thought, ‘We’re holding hands again.’

Junsu started to squeal about how cold the water was as he jumped up and down, causing splatters on himself and on Yoochun.

“Be careful,” Yoochun warned, not wanting to see the other man get hurt.

“I’m not that clums…” Junsu couldn’t finish his sentence because he stepped on something hard and fell backwards, into the water.

“Junsu!” Yoochun gasped as he dragged the other man up and out of the water. “Are you okay?”

“I’m embarrassed,” Junsu pouted, dragging his palm over his face to wipe away some of the water.

Yoochun laughed and Junsu liked…no, loved the sound. The light of the moon reflect in his mischievous eyes and he extended his arms to push Yoochun. Unfortunately, being the skilled martial artist, Yoochun had sensed the danger and turned his body to avoid the attacking hands. Junsu’s hands pushed air and, this time, he fell face-first into the water.

Yoochun laughed even harder, holding onto his stomach and didn’t even reach out to help Junsu this time.

Junsu glared, of course, and pretended that he wasn’t looking at the most beautiful image in the world: the handsome man laughing his heart out under the light of the gorgeous moon.

He was soaked all the way down to his underwear and his clothes felt heavy and clingy…and Yoochun would pay.

The man was distracted and practically in tears because he found Junsu’s clumsiness and fail to be THAT funny. Good.

Junsu stood up from his fall and along the way, swept up a wave of water to hit Yoochun in the face. Yoochun closed his eyes and mouth to avoid the water. When he reopened his eyes, Junsu was jumping towards him and had tackled him into the water.

Both were now in the water and struggling to keep the other person underwater. Junsu squealed and laughed and tried to run, but the grinning Yoochun caught him. Yoochun pushed Junsu underwater and gently held him down. It was a bias, light hold so Junsu could easily come back out any second now.

But Junsu suddenly stopped struggling and did not stand back up.

Feeling his heart clench, Yoochun gripped harder onto Junsu’s shoulders and pulled him back up. Junsu was drenched from head to toe as he leaned against Yoochun, droplets of water leaving the ends of his hair and gliding down his smooth cheeks. “Junsu! This is not something to joke about!”

No reaction.

Beginning to panic, Yoochun slipped his other arm under Junsu’s knees and carried him to shore. “Junsu! Open your eyes! Don’t joke about this!”

He laid Junsu down into the sand and looked around to see if there were other people around. He needed help. He was panicking and it was so hard to stay calm and collected!

“Help! Anyone?” he shouted.

Breathing hard and feeling his heart beat a-mile-a-minute, Yoochun returned to Junsu’s side. He shook the unconscious man, “Junsu!”

It couldn’t have been the water, could it? But didn’t Junsu know how to swim? Wait, did Junsu know how to swim? Yoochun didn’t know! Damn it, Yoochun didn’t know! It was something so simple about Junsu, and yet Yoochun didn’t know!

Yoochun only knew that Yunho didn’t know how to swim…and…when Yunho drowned, Jaejoong had…had saved him!

Without the clear mind to wonder if Junsu was (or was not) unconscious from drowning, Yoochun tried to remember how Jaejoong had saved Yunho. Junsu and Changmin had explained the process to him and Yunho after that incident.

Kneeling, Yoochun leaned over so that his face was close to Junsu’s face. He placed two fingers under Junsu’s chin and could only hope that he was doing this right.

Junsu felt the hand on his chin and could smell Yoochun’s shampoo, felt Yoochun’s breath on his cheek. Junsu told himself to stop with this joke and get up, get up before Yoochun’s lip met his and…

Their lips met. His mouth was closed. Yoochun’s mouth was closed. Yoochun was failing at giving Junsu CPR…but the guy certainly did not fail in giving Junsu the best memory of his life.

Yoochun was fidgeting and shaking when he lifted his head. He was doing something wrong. He just knew it, but he couldn’t remember…

He ran frustrating hands through his wet hair and tried to remember the specific instructions, but it was so hard to remember when he was freaking out!

“Junsu! I’m sorry! I can’t remember! Please, wake up! I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have forced you under the water!” Yoochun shouted as he picked Junsu up and hugged the unconscious man’s head and shoulders.

Junsu could hear Yoochun’s rapid heartbeat and he wanted to cry. He didn’t want this moment to end, but knew that he had to wake up eventually. Dreams weren’t meant to last.

“Yoochun?” he murmured.

Yoochun gasped and pulled away enough to see Junsu’s face. Junsu pulled out of his arm and sat up on his own, wrapping his arms around himself and keeping a safe distant from Yoochun.

“You’re okay?” Yoochun gapped.

“You fail at CPR,” Junsu joked.

Yoochun blinked. “What?”

“I guess I can’t depend on you to save me if I really drowned,” the younger man chuckled lightly.

“You really were pretending?” Yoochun inquired in a soft voice. Then he shouted, “I was worried to death! My heart nearly jumped out! How can you be so immature?”

“It was just a joke,” Junsu murmured. He wouldn’t raise his head to look at Yoochun. Maybe it was best if Yoochun was angry at him.

Chapter 37

Kidnapped

Why was this so familiar? Trying to use anger to mask the affection again? Like the previous times when he had picked fights with Yoochun?

It was so tiring.

“A joke? Death is not something to joke about! Yoona did this once when we were young and I was almost crying! Men aren’t supposed to cry! They shed blood, but they do not shed tears!”

Yoochun’s voice cracked and Junsu looked up to see that he was crying. “Yoochun…”

“She was eight. I was ten. I almost cried! Almost!” Yoochun blurted out. Even when he was young, he refused to cry. Now that he was older, he really shouldn’t be crying.

Yet he was crying now. Not ‘almost’. He really was crying.

Junsu couldn’t understand. He was afraid to understand.

“Yoochun…”

Yoochun continued to lecture. “We’re not kids anymore! You should know better than to joke about this stuff! And you…”

“Am I more important than her…in your heart?” Junsu’s voice was soft and quiet, compared to Yoochun’s loud lecturing.

But Yoochun’s voice dispersed the moment Junsu asked his question.

Yoochun blinked. He felt…so many emotions. He felt scared, confused, shocked, and so much more. Somewhere in that ‘so much more,’ Yoochun thought he saw ‘happiness’.

His cell phone decided to ring at that moment and Yoochun grasped onto the opportunity. He leapt towards their pile of belongings and grabbed the cell phone. “Hello?”

Junsu sat there in silence. Did he just have the guts to ask that question?

“What?” Yoochun exclaimed. Junsu’s head raised to see his beautifully confused expression distort into one of fear and anxiety. “We’ll be as soon as we can!”

Yoochun turned off the phone and grabbed for their shoes.

“What’s wrong?”

“Put these on, quick!” Yoochun ordered as he slipped his own shoes on. Junsu had just finished putting his socks on when Yoochun finished; so while Junsu stumbled to put on his right shoes, Yoochun moved to slip the left shoes on for the younger man.

“Yoochun, what’s wrong?” Junsu repeated when they were standing and Yoochun was dragging him along by the hand.

“We have to get back to the mansion. Jaejoong has been injured and Kibum has been kidnapped.”

◙◙◙◙◙

Changmin was pacing back and forth in the room, frustration on his brows and a frustrated hand running through his mass of hair. Yoochun and Junsu sat side by side on chairs, heads swinging back and forth to follow Changmin’s movement.

Jaejoong, sitting on the bed, was rubbing an egg against the bruise on his forehead and watching as Yunho massaged the bruise on his forearm. Yunho’s eyes were focused on Jaejoong’s bruise, applying enough strength to disperse the clot of blood, but not so much strength that it would hurt Jaejoong.

“Why did he leave the house without Yunho anyway? Why did he leave without any of his bodyguards or even his chauffer?” Changmin grumbled.

“Jaejoong, what exactly happened?” Junsu inquired as he turned his eyes to Jaejoong. For a quick second, he glanced at Yunho’s concentrated expression. He didn’t miss the slight pain in Yunho’s expression. The fact that Yunho was hurting mentally because Jaejoong had been hurt physically…brought a small smile to Junsu’s heart.

Jaejoong forced himself to turn away from Yunho and looked over at Junsu and Yoochun. “I was at work…”

[F.l.a.s.h.b.a.c.k]

“Kibummie!” Jaejoong smiled when he saw the other man walk into ‘Timeless’.

“Hello, Jaejoong,” Kibum smiled

“Come in and have a seat,” Jaejoong took his hand and led him to a table in the corner, without Kibum even having to request it.

Kibum looked at their connected hands and wanted to smile. The others, even Junsu, never touched Kibum because they could tell that he wouldn’t like it. Jaejoong was the only one who either could not tell or just didn’t care.

“Thank you,” he murmured as Jaejoong placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed him down onto the chair.

“What do you want to eat? Are you still coughing? I’ll make you some congee!”

“Congee is on the menu?” Kibum inquired.

“Only for you!” Jaejoong grinned proudly. Kibum felt the urge to call him ‘hyung’.

“Jaejoong…” he began.

“Hmm?”

“Jaejoong! You’ve got an order!” someone shouted from the kitchen.

“I’ll be right back, Kibummie. I’ll ask Heebon to serve you. She’s a great waitress.”

Kibum nodded with a polite smile. He watched Jaejoong walk into the kitchen, stopping only to talk to a girl with braided pig-tails. The girl walked over to Kibum’s table right away.

“Hello, sir. My name is Heebon and I’ll be your waitress for today. Your name isn’t really ‘Kibummie’ is it?” she smiled brightly.

Kibum smiled in return. “No, it’s just ‘Kibum’.”

“I thought so. Jaejoong and his nicknames,” she shook her head with a sigh, but was still smiling. “So what can I get you to drink?”

“I’ll take some black coffee.”

“Umm…” Heebon bit her lower lips and her eyes shifted to the window, as if wanting to make a comment about his choice of drink.

“You want to tell me that it’s too late in the day for coffee,” Kibum spoke, not exactly asking a question.

“How did you know?” she looked at him with wide eyes.

“It’s okay. Coffee doesn’t keep me awake,” he simply replied.

“Okay then! I’ll be right back!”

She skipped off and Kibum had to wonder why he had explained that to her. Heck, he couldn’t even understand why he even had a conversation with a waitress. It wasn’t normal. Jaejoong, who was peeking out from the kitchen, noticed this and smiled.

She returned shortly with his coffee, telling him, “Jaejoong oppa said he knows what you want to order so I don’t have to ask you. He’ll be out with it soon. Just let me know if you need anything else.”

“Thank you, Heebon,” Kibum bowed his head slightly to be polite. This wasn’t normal either.

Heebon smiled even wider and tilted her head slightly as well, “You’re welcome!”

She skipped off again and Kibum was about to take a sip from his coffee. That was when Jaejoong walked out of the kitchen yelling, “Boss, I’m on break!”

An older man sitting at the cashier counter replied with an ‘Okay’ sign. Jaejoong came running to Kibum’s table and sat down. He laid a tray of food in front of Kibum.

“Here you go,” he grinned.

Kibum was shocked. The food not only smelt like Heaven, it looked too pretty to eat. On one plate, Jaejoong had even used some of the food to form a happy face. There was even a glass of ice water on the tray.

“I don’t know if I can finish all this,” Kibum confessed.

“You have too. Look at how skinny you are!” Jaejoong exclaimed as he reached over to grab Kibum’s mug of coffee. “Eat up, eat up.”

Kibum nodded and picked up the chopsticks. He really didn’t want to ruin the happy face so he decided to dig into another dish first. At the same time, Jaejoong was adding other ingredients (that had also been on the tray) to his coffee.

“This is delicious,” he automatically complimented, too distracted to even realize that Jaejoong was messing with his mug.

Jaejoong grinned as he swirled the spoon in the mug. “Your coffee is done too,” he slid the mug back over to Kibum.

Kibum saw the brown liquid and immediately protested, “That’s okay. I’ll just have water.”

“Have you ever had coffee with milk and chocolate?”

“No, I don’t…”

“Then try it.”

“It’s okay, I only drink…”

“Please?” Jaejoong pouted and Kibum wondered when his defense had gotten so weak.

“Okay,” he surrendered and took a sip from the coffee. When he removed the mug from his lips, Jaejoong started to cracking up. “What is it?”

“You’ve got a foamy mustache!” Jaejoong giggled as he reached over with a napkin to wipe away the foam.

Kibum felt his heart warm at the gesture and wondered why he didn’t get embarrassed or angry instead. “Thank you.”

“No need,” Jaejoong replied with a grin.

Kibum looked down at the food because he was beginning to feel too guilty to look at Jaejoong. Why did Jaejoong have to treat him so well? Almost like a best friend, a brother…family.

“Jaejoong,” Kibum suddenly spoke in a low tone.

Jaejoong grew seriously immediately. “Is something wrong? Is the food too spicy? I’m so sorry! I tend to get carried away…”

“No, no, the food is perfect. You’re perfect. You should never apologize to me. I don’t deserve it.”

“Kibummie, is something wrong? You can tell me. Friends share worries and fears.”

“I grew up learning that friends only share riches and happiness,” Kibum whispered, head low.

“Then those aren’t friends at all. It must have been hard for you when you were growing up, being so smart and rich. But it’s all okay now Kibummie. You have us, all of us.”

Did he? Didn’t he already lose Changmin’s friendship and trust? Wasn’t he plotting to send Yoochun and Yunho away? Sending them away would make Junsu and Jaejoong hate him too. Then he’d be left with no friends again.

“Jaejoong…hyung,” he strained to speak the second word. He’d never used it before. Jaejoong seemed to know because he grinned happily. “Do you trust people easily?”

Jaejoong was confused by the question, but still answered, “I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. I want to think I can be friends with everyone.”

“What if someone betrays you? What if he uses the friendship against you, to hurt you?”

Chapter 38

Watch

“What if someone betrays you? What if he uses the friendship against you, to hurt you?”

“It’s happened before…and it hurt. But just because you’ve been lied to before, it doesn’t mean you have to give up on trusting anyone else.”

“Aren’t you afraid of getting hurt again?”

“I am. I’m afraid of getting hurt, but it’s a part of life. If you want the happiness, you have to put up with the sadness. Happiness happens because of sadness, just as sadness happens because there is happiness.”

Kibum considered the words, the meaning behind them. Now he felt even guiltier than he did before.

“Jaejoong…hyung,” Kibum began, actually getting use to the address. “Can I ask you another question?”

“Of course!”

“Why do you give everyone nicknames, except Changmin?”

Kibum saw one of Jaejoong’s eyebrows raise and didn’t miss the slight amusement in his eyes. “Well, I used to have nicknames for him, lots of nicknames. They change overtime. But when he confessed to Junsu and we became rivals, I stopped using nicknames on him.”

“Why?”

“I’ll tell you while you keep eating.”

Kibum chuckled. He nodded and continued to eat.

“I give people nicknames to feel closer to them. It means the person and I are good friends. But I was supposedly fighting with him for Junsu, so we were love rivals. I didn’t want to give him a nickname and make it seem like I still want to be close friends with him,” Jaejoong paused. “What else do you want to know about that tuxedo wearing Stick?”

Kibum covered his mouth with his hands because it would be impolite to grin while he had food in his mouth. He quickly swallowed the food before asking, “What nicknames did you have for him in the past?”

Jaejoong’s eyes looked as if they were shining. He knew Kibum was asking because he wanted to know more about Changmin, which made Jaejoong quite satisfied. Instead of pointing that out, the blond man said, “You want to know so you can make fun of him, right?”

Kibum thought about it. Why did he want Jaejoong to tell him more about Changmin?

He wasn’t sure, so he answered, “Yes.”

Jaejoong grinned. “Great! I love all people who can make him miserable. Hmm…let’s see. I called him ‘Penguin’ for a while back in middle school.”

“‘Penguin’?” Kibum found himself asking with a mouth full of rice. Then he quickly covered his mouth and looked embarrassed by his ill-manners.

Jaejoong laughed at how cute he was. “Yeah, starting in middle school, he kept wearing tuxedos…and that’s excluding school uniforms. We’d be hanging out after school and he’d still be wearing a tuxedo. I swear, the guy has all the tuxedos in the world, a collection of them!”

Jaejoong continued to unravel his list of nicknames, slipping in personal information about Changmin every chance he got. Kibum struggled to eat and laugh at the same time.

It may very well be the happiness meal he’d had in a very long time.

[E.n.d.F.l.a.s.h.b.a.c.k]

“You told him all that about me?” Changmin exclaimed with a flustered face.

“Why not?” Jaejoong questioned innocently. “He asked, remember?”

Changmin stopped looking angry that his personal information had been exposed to Kibum. He blinked once, twice, and then murmured, “Oh.”

Kibum had asked, which probably…most likely, mean that he…cared?

“Can we worry about Jaejoong embarrassing you in front of Kibum later?” Junsu interrupted.

“Right! Right! What happened afterwards?” Changmin quickly asked.

During this whole time, Yunho had silently finished massaging Jaejoong’s arm. He had moved this chair to sit in front of Jaejoong and had lifted Jaejoong’s leg onto his lap to massage the bruise on the blond man’s calf. No one spoke a word about it, as if it was the most casual thing in the world. Jaejoong did try not to coo at his sweetness though.

“Anyway, so my break ended and I had to get back to work. It started getting busy so I couldn’t talk to him for the rest of the night. He just continued to sit there like he used to do at the other restaurant that I worked at.”

Yoochun, Junsu, and Changmin recalled the first time they had seen Kibum.

“He waited for you?”

“Yeah, he sat there until the restaurant closed. He tipped Heebon a huge amount too! She wanted me to help her get his number because she thought he was really hot and smart…”

“Make sure she understands that he’s only interested in me,” Changmin cut in.

“Oh, please,” Junsu rolled his eyes.

Yoochun concluded that Kibum was also one of the people who were interested in a companion of the same gender. A lot of people in this era probably were. Why was it a debatable issue anyway?

Yunho was still busy hating the injury on Jaejoong’s leg.

“Continue, please,” Yoochun requested.

“Okay, so we left together…”

[F.l.a.s.h.b.a.c.k]

“Where’s your car? Or your chauffer?”

“I came here in a taxi.”

“Oh, but isn’t that…not safe for you?”

“It should be okay.”

The two were walking side by side to the end of the street. It was easier to catch a cab there. It was late, the street was empty and shops were closed.

“Do you watch cartoons? You should watch Disney movies! They’re the best things in the world!”

“Really? Which do you recommend the most?”

“There’s too much: Bambi, Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven…”

Before Jaejoong could finish, they heard the screeching of a stopping van. Both turned to see the door slide open and a bunch of masked men came running out.

“Run!” Kibum grabbed Jaejoong’s arm and pulled him away.

Both ran as fast as their legs could carry them, until Jaejoong started to feel his legs go weak. It’d been so busy tonight that he didn’t even have time to eat dinner!

“I…I can’t. You go. They want to catch you. Go!” the blond man tried to breathe as he fell onto the ground. “Go!”

Kibum looked behind them to see the masked men catching up. He released Jaejoong’s hand and started to run.

He ran and he ran. He heard Jaejoong’s cry of pain and turned to see the men kicking his friend. Some of them were beating Jaejoong up; others were still running after Kibum.

So Kibum quickly turned back ahead and ran, turning the corner and continued to run. Even when he was out of earshot, he could still imagine Jaejoong’s painful groans. So he turned another corner, and then another corner, and took a shortcut into a small, dirty ally.

He eventually circled his way back to where Jaejoong had fallen. He found a stick in the ally and chose it as his weapon. Breathing hard and struggling to stand on his hurting legs, he charged for the group who were still hurting Jaejoong.

Kibum managed to land several hits and the masked men had to retrieve in defense. It was hopeless to fight any further, especially when the men who had been chasing Kibum had found their way through the ally.

“Jaejoong,” Kibum dropped the stick and knelt down to touch his friend’s shoulder.

Jaejoong strained to raise his arms and grabbed onto Kibum, hugging the younger man tightly. To the masked men, it looked like the blond man was frightened and only hugging the black hair man for comfort. They did not hear Jaejoong whispering, “Take my watch, take my watch,” to Kibum.

“Get him!” one of the masked men shouted.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” Kibum murmured.

Two men grabbed Kibum, one on each side and tried to pull him away. Jaejoong’s left hand refused to let go of Kibum’s hand. Kibum was still confused, but struggled out of the masked men’s grip to hold onto Jaejoong’s left wrist with both of his own hands. His hands got a better hold of Jaejoong’s lime green watch.

The masked men grew angry and gripped harder onto Kibum to pull him away. Kibum could see that he had to unclasp the watch in order to remove it, but he couldn’t do that. So he tugged harder, even if it hurt Jaejoong’s hand.

Jaejoong’s body was pulled and slid on the rough, ground before another masked man moved to grab onto him. The masked man pulled Jaejoong’s arm away from Kibum and the blond man had to bite his lower lips, drawing blood, when the watch left his wrist.

Kibum felt his heart ache as he gripped tightly on the lime green watch in his hands.

The masked man kicked Jaejoong in the stomach.

“Don’t hurt him!” Kibum shouted.

“Who would have thought? Mr. Kim Kibum would come running back for the life of another,” the same masked man mocked.

“Let him go, please,” Jaejoong begged, holding onto his stomach.

“I don’t care how you do it, but convince his assistant or whoever to prepare a large sum of money. We’ll contact you soon. If you dare notify the police then we’ll kill him and I promise you, you will experience more pain than you already have,” the same masked man ordered, kicking Jaejoong’s stomach once more.

“Stop!” Kibum shouted, his eyes beginning to moisten.

The masked man made a gesture with his hands and Kibum was dragged into the van.

Jaejoong was breathing hard as his eyes strained to see the license’s plate. He couldn’t see it. But that’s okay.

[E.n.d.F.l.a.s.h.b.a.c.k]

Yunho was bandaging Jaejoong’s left hand. Jaejoong tried not to wince because he knew it would make Yunho feel even worse.

“I’m okay,” Jaejoong murmured, eyes on Yunho. He was so quiet, too quiet.

Yunho looked up into Jaejoong’s eyes for three seconds before lowering his head again to finish on the bandage.

“Why the watch?” Changmin inquired.

“It’s the lime green one,” Jaejoong informed. “You two remember it, don’t you?”

Junsu nodded. “The one that you spent your whole month’s salary on and we yelled at you for being so irrational.”

“The one that you bought because it has a lot of cool, but useless functions…and because it was lime green,” Changmin added.

Chapter 39

Eavesdropper

“One of its useless functions includes a tracking device,” Jaejoong finished.

“A tracking device?” Yoochun asked.

Jaejoong nodded. “That means if Kibum has the watch, then all I have to do is go home and find the manual and the GPS thing.”

“GPS thing?”

“Junsu will explain that to you later,” Changmin interrupted. “Let’s go to your house so you can find the stuff.”

“Okay,” Jaejoong was about to stand up, but Yunho’s gentle hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“No,” Yunho’s voice was finally heard.

“What do you mean ‘no’?” Changmin demanded.

“You’re worried about Kibum, then you have to know how worried I am about Jaejoong. He needs to get to the hos…hospital and he needs to eat. He hasn’t eaten dinner,” Yunho’s eyes dared Changmin to protest.

“I’ll be fine. On my way here, the taxi driver had insisted on taking me to the hospital, but I told him that I need to get here. I don’t need to go to the hospital,” Jaejoong informed.

“Then you’ll eat. Changmin and Junsu can go to your house to search,” Yunho turned his eyes to Jaejoong. Looking into his eyes, Jaejoong couldn’t bring himself to protest.

“He’s right,” Yoochun assisted. “Jaejoong needs to rest…or at least, eat.”

Changmin sighed. “I understand. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Jaejoong comforted.

“Junsu, let’s get to Jaejoong’s house,” Changmin said. Then he noticed that Junsu wasn’t paying attention. “Junsu?”

Junsu turned his eyes to Changmin and placed an index finger over his own lips, signaling for everyone to be quiet. It was almost eerie as the five stood/sat in Yunho’s room.

“I just remembered. Jaejoong bought the watch two years ago. When he bought it, I tested the tracking device out with him…for fun. But I accidentally dropped it and it broke. Since we didn’t think we’d ever use it, we didn’t bother to get it replaced,” Junsu explained.

“What?” Jaejoong mouthed.

Junsu tapped his lips with his index finger. His eyes told them all to ‘play along.’

Changmin understood first. “Damn it! So it’s no use whether Kibum has the watch or not!”

Yoochun understood as well. “Then what do we do now? Call the authority?”

“The kidnappers said that they will kill Kibummie if we call the police,” Jaejoong reminded.

Junsu’s eyes shifted and he spoke casually, but clearly, “Then we can’t call the police. No matter what, we can’t.”

The others voiced their agreements immediately.

Junsu kept his eyes on the mirror that hung in the bedroom for decoration. From where he sat, he could see the door’s reflection in the mirror. From the slit of the slightly opened door, Junsu could see the shadow of a sixth presence.

After they had all voiced their assurance of not calling the police, Junsu saw the eavesdropper’s shadow move. The footsteps were silent, but the shadow was gone.

“The person’s gone,” Junsu informed as the others continued to play their role.

“Who is it?” Changmin asked.

“I wish I knew,” Junsu replied as he walked over to the door. He skillfully peaked out to make sure that the coast was now clear.

He should have done this in the first place, but they had been too freaked out by the news. They’d rushed back to the mansion to have Changmin waiting for them at the front door. He told them that Yunho had rushed Jaejoong upstairs and led Yoochun and Junsu to the guest room that Yunho had been staying in.

“The person heard everything,” Yoochun voiced their concern. “That’s why you suddenly spoke about the GPS being broken.”

Junsu nodded as he walked back to sit in the chair next to Yoochun. “It’s almost midnight. Is the mansion usually this empty at this time?”

“Yes, the butler and the chauffer generally leave at ten. The cook leaves after dinner and the maids only come to perform their chores in the afternoon,” Yoochun explained. “Kibum didn’t like having people around and this house has the security devices he needs to protect himself.”

“Then who could the eavesdropper be?” Junsu wondered.

“The butler?” Yunho suggested.

“Or the chauffer,” Changmin guessed.

“We don’t know for sure, but at least Kibum is safe for now. As long as they think that we can’t track them and that we won’t call the police, then he’s safe,” Junsu assured. “Yunho, tuck Jaejoong into bed and let him rest. Yoochun, go see if you can make Jaejoong something to eat. Changmin, go home.”

“What?”

“Go home and make it seem like you’re too depressed to do anything, but mope around your house. Then secretly find a way to sneak out and go to Jaejoong’s house to find the GPS. We can’t let them see any of us going back to Jaejoong’s house. That would risk letting them think that we lied about the GPS.”

“What will you do?” Yoochun asked with concern.

“I’m going to try to get a hold of my friend. He’s a police…”

“We said that we aren’t going to contact the police!” Changmin cut in.

“We have to!” Junsu countered.

“Kibum’s life is on the line! And they said they’ll hurt Jaejoong too!” Changmin protested.

“We can’t do this on our own!” Junsu exclaimed.

“We have the tracking device. We have Yunho and Yoochun! We can do this!” Changmin persuaded.

“They don’t have experience even if they have the skills. We need the police.”

“No!”

“Changmin, you’ve always been the logical one. You’d always be the first one to call the police for help. Don’t change now!”

“Screw logic!”

“Changmin!”

Changmin frowned and clenched his fists. He couldn’t think straight. Hell, he didn’t care if Kibum was a heartless son of a gun. He was in love with the guy and it was driving him crazy!

“You’re right. You’re right. I shouldn’t be like this. But Junsu, please, please be careful. Don’t let the kidnappers know. Please,” the youngest begged.

Junsu nodded. “I’ll do everything I can to bring him back safely. Concentrate on what you have to do. We can’t screw up. We can’t afford to screw up.”

◙◙◙◙◙

“Happy, I hope you’ve spent the last hour staring at my whole face and not just the bruises.”

“You should be sleeping.”

“I can’t sleep when I open my eyes every ten minutes to see you sitting there like a stone and just staring at me,” Jaejoong sighed as he tried to sit up. Yunho was immediately by his side to help him, putting up the pillow so Jaejoong could lean on the headboard.

“It has become a phobia to leave your side,” he returned to sit on the chair next to the bed.

“Can you move the chair closer? It’s not fair that you can see me, but I can’t see you. The moonlight isn’t hitting you when you sit there.”

“Sorry,” the older man murmured as he pulled the chair closer to the side of his bed. They sat in silence.

“So…” Jaejoong began.

“Sorry,” Yunho spoke again.

“For what?”

“For preventing you from sleeping. For Yoochun’s bad cooking. For not being there when you were attacked. For being a coward and running away. For…”

“Yoochun’s cooking wasn’t that bad,” Jaejoong chirped.

Yunho’s mouth blinked. “Is that all you have to say?”

“What do you want me to say?”

“You could start by yelling at me or physically beating me.”

“I tried hitting you before. I ended up hurting myself,” Jaejoong drawled.

“I’ll try to act like your punches hurt this time.”

Jaejoong smiled at the fact that Yunho would do that. Yunho, with the manly pride, wouldn’t even flinch when Yoochun would land a powerful punch during their sparring sessions.

“It still wouldn’t work. Hurting you still means hurting myself.”

“Then you should understand how painful it was for me to see you when you walked through the door,” Yunho lifted his hand towards Jaejoong’s bruised cheek, but didn’t touch. He was afraid a touch would break the precious beauty.

“No, I don’t think I could understand your pain. Seeing these injuries, you’re not hurting as much as me. You’re hurting more than me,” Jaejoong paused. He took Yunho’s hand and led it to touch his own cheek. “It’s called ‘love’, Yunho. You’re in love with me.”

“I know,” Yunho smiled, and what a beautiful smile it was. Jaejoong wondered if it was possible for such a simple gesture to heal his injuries.

“But you also love Yoochun,” Jaejoong murmured sadly.

“He’s my only family,” Yunho sighed. His fingers gently caressing the blond man’s cheek.

“Now you have me. Maybe…maybe we can try to get Yoochun to stay too.”

Yunho’s eyes shifted to the clock. “Go to sleep. We’ll talk later.”

“Want to join me?”

Chapter 40

Over

A/N:This story is disastrously long. I hope no one minds all the posts and I hope that reading it all in one go won't make the ending feel rushed (although it probably is. xD)

Talk to you again at the end of the story! ^__^

“Want to join me?”

“Um…”

“If you’re in the same bed with me, you’ll know that I’m safe and sound without having to sit there staring at me. It gets creepy after an hour,” Jaejoong pointed out a-matter-of-factly.

Yunho blushed as he climbed onto the other side of the bed (so Jaejoong wouldn’t have to move). Jaejoong grinned at Yunho’s red face.

He helped Jaejoong lie back down and pulled the blanket up to cover his body. Then he slid under the blanket as well, body straight and arms to his side, not touching the man next to him.

Jaejoong frowned and decided to make the move. As much as it hurt to move, he shifted onto his side and draped his arm over Yunho’s chest. He felt Yunho tense and had to ask, “How are you doing? Still breathing?”

Jaejoong was lying on his side so he got a view of the side of Yunho’s head. Yunho looked like he was in the military, with his head turned forward and staring up at the ceiling. He wasn’t even blinking. At least he nodded.

Holding in a laugh, Jaejoong moved to drape his leg over one of Yunho’s legs. The other guy tensed up even more (if that was possible).

“How are you feeling?”

“Okay,” Yunho peeped, sounding like he was hitting a high-note.

“Breathe,” Jaejoong suggested. Yunho began to breathe again.

After several minutes of silence, his body began to relax. By eight minutes, Jaejoong was too tired. He snuggled closer and leaned his head on Yunho’s shoulder.

“You’ll get used to it,” the blond man murmured sleepily.

“I know,” Yunho smiled. Then he added, “Jaejoong, don’t call me ‘Yunho’. It’s weird.”

Eyes closed, Jaejoong cuddled closer and smiled. “I know.”

◙◙◙◙◙

“We’ll all be spending a week at Mr. Shim’s cabin. Mr. Kim is there right now and he told me to inform you that you do not have to work this week,” Yoochun told the butler and the chauffer. “Everyone is off for the week, actually, but they will still be getting their salary.”

“Is Mr. Kim all right?” the chauffer inquired. “He did not require me to drive him yesterday. Did he come home safely?”

“Yes, he did. There is nothing to worry about,” Yoochun assured with a smile.

“There is no need to worry. He is only vacationing for a week with his friends,” the butler told the chauffer with a proud smile.

The chauffer nodded. “We hope the six of you enjoy your time then.”

“Thank you.”

Yoochun left, leaving the two employees to their own conversation.

“You do not think it is weird that Mr. Kim would disappear for a week with those five men?” one of those said.

“The truth is, I am happy for him. It makes me glad to see that Mr. Kim is finally able to find such good friends who truly care for him…and whom he is willing to trust,” the other replied.

◙◙◙◙◙

Kibum felt the slight pain as the masked men threw him into the corner of the abandoned warehouse. The place smelt like a dumb and spider webs loitered. He gripped tighter onto the lime green watch.

“Hey, should we take that watch from him?”

“We could probably sell it for some money.”

“Why are you going to waste pathetic time trying to sell a watch when we’re going to be rich once the bastard’s friend hands over the money?”

Kibum held the watch against his chest. His friend. How was Jaejoong doing? Was he terribly hurt? Did someone see him and rescue him from the streets? Was he in the hospital right now?

Did the others know? Yunho must be hurting so much because of Jaejoong’s injuries.

Were Changmin, or even Yoochun and Junsu, worried about Kibum? Had Changmin told the others about how horrible of person Kibum really was? Would Changmin tell them not to save Kibum?

No, because Changmin wasn’t like that. He was too kind, too sweet, too perfect. Too perfect for Kibum.

Kibum didn’t want them to risk their lives to save him. He wasn’t worth it.

But at the same time, he wanted to be saved. He wanted time. He wanted to make up for his wrong doings. He wanted a chance with Shim Changmin.

He held the lime green watch against his heart. It almost felt as if his friends were there to support him, to remind him to not be scared.

But Kibum guessed that it wasn’t the reason Jaejoong had been so persistent in making Kibum painfully tear the watch off his wrist.

◙◙◙◙◙

The police were working fast. They had to. If Junsu was correct and that the eavesdropper had been an accomplice of the kidnappers, then now was the time when the kidnappers were most relaxed. They wouldn’t suspect this early ambush.

Junsu had gotten a hold of Kangin last night. This morning, Jaejoong received a call from the kidnappers demanding for more than half of Kibum’s entire fortune. It was near evening and they were prepared to ambush the kidnappers, all thanks to Jaejoong’s GPS.

“Stay here. We will take care of everything.”

“I provided all the clues. I should be able to go.”

“You are a bodyguard, not a policeman.”

“But Kangin…”

“Stop whining, Kim.”

Junsu frowned and shut his mouth. He watched as Kangin gave instructions and directed his crew out of the police station.

Changmin, Jaejoong, Yunho, and Yoochun had been silent as well. They didn’t bother to protest because they knew Junsu wouldn’t settle for a rejection either. When Kangin and his team were gone, the four immediately surrounded Junsu.

“What do we do?”

“We break some rules,” Junsu smirked. The police had taken the tracking device and Kangin had taken the piece of paper that Junsu had written the address on. The location wasn’t familiar so Kangin had a professional check it out. He refused to give Junsu the information that the professional had found.

“If you remember the address, we can find it online,” Changmin suggested.

“There’s a faster way,” Junsu said as he removed his tie and unbuttoned the top two buttons on his dress shirt. There was one person left in the department while Kangin and his crew were all gone. “Just stay here.”

The four stood outside the department and watched through the large window. Junsu strutted towards the desk of the only person left: Kangin’s female assistant.

“What is he doing?” Yunho inquired because Yoochun was too shocked.

“Breaking rules,” Changmin drawled as they watched Junsu flirt with the police woman.

“Are women allowed to be that touchy in this era?” Yoochun finally found his voice. He was frowning.

If Changmin wasn’t worried about Kibum, he’d be smiling. “She’s known to have no shame. Junsu is frightened to death every time he sees her.”

Junsu still managed to fake laughter and look charismatic as the girl touched his arm, his back, and lowered towards his…

“She’s touching his butt!” Yoochun exclaimed.

“But he got the information,” Jaejoong pointed out as the girl’s other hand presented Junsu with a piece of paper.

Yoochun would never hit a girl, but he sure wanted to right now. She had her lips puckered and aimed at Junsu’s sexier lips. Junsu quickly turned his head so that she kissed his cheek. Then he sang, “Good-bye” and ran out.

“Let’s go!” he rushed. The other three smiled at the fact that Junsu got the directions to the location. Yoochun continued to frown.

◙◙◙◙◙

By the time the five made their way to the location, the police had already taken action. They were met with what looked like a scene from a movie. A crowd of policemen and policewomen surrounded the kidnapper and his hostage.

“All your men have been caught. Release the hostage and drop the gun,” Kangin ordered, gun raised and ready to shoot.

The five remained a safe distant away, but were able to see the man who had an arm around Kibum’s neck and a gun pointed at his head.

“Kibum!” Changmin gasped and was ready to run into the scene. Junsu held him back.

“Don’t,” Junsu ordered as Yoochun helped him drag Changmin away. They found a hiding place (behind trees) near the scene and watched as Kangin continued to negotiate with the kidnapper.

“What are you doing? We have to go help him! Look at how frightened Kibum is!” Changmin exclaimed.

“We won’t be able to save him if we just run in like that. He has a gun! Don’t worry, he won’t hurt Kibum because he still needs a hostage to keep himself safe,” Junsu retorted.

“Then what do we do?” Jaejoong murmured. Yunho squeezed his hand and encouraged him to not worry too much; it wasn’t good for his injuries.

“We use the oldest trick in the book,” Junsu began. He turned to Yoochun and Yunho to start giving out directions.

Two minutes later, when the police had dropped their guns and were buying time by pretending to call for a car that the kidnapper had requested, Yoochun and Yunho were ready to take action.

“Be careful, he has a gun,” Jaejoong laid a kiss on Yunho’s forehead to wish him luck. Changmin, Yoochun, and Junsu’s mouths dropped. Yunho blushed.

Yoochun suddenly had the urge to look at Junsu.

“Be careful,” was all Junsu said. “Now get moving, before anything happens to Kibum and Changmin starts flipping out again.”

Changmin frowned and the two got moving.

The three remained in the hiding place and watched, hearts thumping and palms sweating.

Kangin was just getting off the phone and shouting to the kidnapper, “The car is being prepared. We need time.”

“I want it within the next ten minutes or I’ll…I’ll shoot!” the kidnapper pressed the tip of the gun into Kibum’s temple. Changmin clenched his fists when he saw the pain on Kibum’s bruised face.

“No!” Kangin shouted. “You need to give us time. We…”

Before he could say anymore, all heads turned to see two figures that seemed to have leapt out of a tree. The best part was that the kidnapper was distracted; Kibum wasn’t because Kibum knew who the intruders were.

The police were about to raise their guns out of shock, but Kangin was able to recognize the two and ordered his men to hold the fire.

Yunho caused the distraction and Yoochun took the opportunity. Yunho attacked the kidnapper while Yoochun saved Kibum.

With lightning speed, Yunho used one hand to push Kibum away and the other hand to grab the kidnapper’s arm. His hand slid down the kidnapper’s arm to apply pressure to the kidnapper’s wrist, forcing the kidnapper to loosen his grip on the gun. The gun began to drop and Yunho kicked it away.

Yoochun wrapped an arm around Kibum and pulled the weak man away from the fight.

The kidnapper tried to land punches and kicks on Yunho, but failed miserable. A strike to the back of his neck sent him into unconsciousness.

It was over.

Chapter 41

Unsure

Changmin was the first to appear from the hiding place as he ran to Yoochun and Kibum. Junsu was slower because he had to help the injured Jaejoong.

Changmin whacked Yoochun’s arm away from Kibum’s waist and supported the shorter man by himself. “Are you okay? Did they hit you? Those sons of a…”

“Changmin,” Jaejoong cut in.

“I’m okay,” Kibum smiled. “Just in need of some of Jaejoong’s cooking.”

Jaejoong smiled and moved to hug Kibum. Changmin cut that short though. Jaejoong had to mumble something about ‘Possessive jerk’ and stepped back to stand with Yunho.

“What the hell was that?” Kangin demanded as he walked over to the group of six.

“That was called doing your job for you,” Junsu retorted.

“I hate your sharp tongue, Kim,” the sergeant frowned.

“Right, I love you too,” Junsu spoke in a sarcastic voice.

Yoochun couldn’t understand that so he frowned. Junsu loved Kangin? He didn’t like that…even if it was said in a sarcastic tone.

In the background, his crew was taking the kidnappers away. Others prepared to take Kibum to the hospital, with Changmin refusing to leave his side.

“Not bad; you moved faster than any of us could follow with our eyes,” Kangin said to Yunho after Kibum and Changmin were driven away in the emergency vehicle.

“Thank you,” Yunho bowed politely.

“Ever thought about joining the police force? We could always use your skills.”

Yunho blinked as he looked at Junsu, then Yoochun, and finally Jaejoong.

“You’d be able to save many people,” Yoochun smiled encouragingly. Junsu turned his eyes to steal a glance at Yoochun.

“What do you think?” Yunho asked Jaejoong.

“Well, I can make enough to support both of us, but we can’t have you lounging around the house all the time. Besides, if you get a job, then we’ll have extra money to go on vacations and maybe even support kids,” Jaejoong replied.

Yoochun and Yunho’s eyes turned into large circles.

“What? You’re going to tell me that men can have children in this era too?” Yunho blurted out.

“What?” Kangin was confused.

Jaejoong started to laugh. Yoochun still looked confused while Junsu was still eyeing him.

◙◙◙◙◙

Kibum slowly opened his eyes and felt like something was missing. He moved his sore arm to touch his wrist and panicked when he couldn’t feel the watch around his wrist. Ignoring the pain in his body, he shot up from his lying position.

He had apparently frightened the man who had been sleeping in the chair next to his hospital bed.

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” Changmin exclaimed.

“Nothing, nothing!” Kibum tried to calm him. “I’m sorry for waking you.”

“Did you need something? Water? Food?”

Kibum felt his heart flutter at the worry and care in Changmin’s eyes. “No, I’m fine. I just…what happened to the watch?”

“They had to take it off you when they were doing the x-rays. I demanded they check your whole body for broken bones. The watch is right here,” he uncovered the watch from his pocket.

Kibum recalled being slightly conscious during the examination. He took the watch from Changmin and cradled it in his hands.

“Kibum, it worries me when you look at the watch like that.”

Kibum looked up at Changmin, liking the way the taller man said his name. “Why? This watch saved my life, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, but the watch belongs to Jaejoong. Here, stare at this,” Changmin took the lime green watch from Kibum and replaced it with his own expensive, silver watch.

“But I like lime green.”

“I’ll go buy a green one for myself later then.”

A smile graced Kibum’s lips and Changmin became less worried about the bruises.

“Thank you,” the injured man whispered.

“It’s good to see your smile,” Changmin tilted his head cutely as he continued to stare shamelessly.

“It’ll be nice to see you smile too.”

Changmin smiled. He sat back down in the chair, but pulled it closer to the bed. “Are you hungry? I can go get you some food. Those bastards didn’t feed you, did they?”

“I’m sure these tubes are giving me back the nutrients I need,” Kibum replied. He felt guilty when Changmin stared sadly at the tubes connected to his arm.

“Go back to sleep, you need the rest.”

“It was my uncle,” Kibum blurted out. Changmin blinked and stared at him in shock.

“What?”

Kibum took a deep breath and stared down at the silver watch in his hands. “The kidnapper was my uncle, my last family member. He…he was part of the group who had tried to take my parents’ properties from me when my parents died. I fought back and sent him into bankruptcy. He was put in jail for embezzlement and fraud. When he got out of the jail, his first thought was to hurt me. He’s my last family member.”

Changmin felt his heart clench at the pain in Kibum’s tone. He stood up and wrapped his arms around the shorter man. “It’s okay.”

“They planned to kill me after they got the money because I’d found out their identities. My own uncle,” Kibum laughed bitterly.

Changmin recalled the last time he had seen Kibum, when they had fought. If Kibum had died, that would have been their last moment together. A fight. A lifetime regret.

“It’s okay,” Changmin murmured again, except he was saying it to comfort himself more than to comfort Kibum.

“I even found out that it was my chauffer who had betrayed me. He’d been working for my parents since I was born. He watched me grow up and would play with me when I was a child. But he betrayed me too, believing that my uncle would share the ransom money with him.”

“Never again. No more betrayals,” Changmin whispered, hugging tighter, but was careful not to hurt him. He was like a fragile piece of glass that Changmin was afraid to break.

“It’s okay,” Kibum rested his bruised chin against the front of Changmin’s suit. “I told myself that it’s okay. My last family member kidnapped me and my chauffer betrayed me, but I told myself that it’s okay. I told myself that I still have Jaejoong, Yoochun, Yunho, Jun…”

Changmin released a loud ‘Ahem’ and Kibum smiled against the material of his jacket.

“I told myself that I still have you, Jaejoong, Yoochun, Yunho, and Junsu,” Kibum rephrased.

Changmin smiled satisfyingly. “Yes, you still have all of us.”

“I’m sorry for making you worry.”

“It’s okay. Just rest now.”

Kibum nodded and Changmin reluctantly released him. The taller man gently tucked the injured man back under the blanket. The fatigue was still evident.

Kibum closed his eyes and Changmin knew that he’d never get sick of staring at this angel. With a bit of hesitation, he laid a kiss on Kibum’s forehead.

The tired man did not open his eyes, but he still smiled. For the first time in a long time, he fell asleep with a smile on his lips and feeling like he possessed all the love in the world.

◙◙◙◙◙

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

Silence.

“Are you…um…here alone?”

“Yeah, Jaejoong took Yunho to register for a job as a police. They said they’d come visit Kibum later today.”

Junsu nodded.

Awkward silence.

“Are you two going to keep standing out there?” Changmin’s voice came from inside the hospital room.

Feeling embarrassed, the two walked in, freezing for a moment when their shoulders touched.

“Kibum, how are you doing?” Junsu stammered.

“I’m feeling well. I owe my life to all of you,” Kibum replied with a smile.

“I should thank you. I enjoyed seeing Changmin freak out,” Junsu joked. Changmin glared. Yoochun stared at Junsu’s grin.

“Kangin was in here this morning for a testimony. There’s no question about where those kidnappers will end up,” Changmin informed.

“Good,” Yoochun and Junsu said at the same time. They glanced awkwardly at each other. It’d obviously been another sleepless night last night.

“I’m sorry. I need to get going to my next job. I’ll come visit again later.”

“It’s okay. Thank you for stopping by,” Kibum spoke genuinely.

Junsu smiled and was about to leave. He ran back in to give Kibum a quick hug before departing again.

Changmin and Kibum saw the longing in Yoochun’s expression as Junsu disappeared around the corner.

Changmin glanced back at Kibum. He had an important question to ask Yoochun, but he still wasn’t sure if it should be discussed in front of Kibum. They’d talked about a lot this morning, but they had both purposely avoided the topic about Yoochun and Kibum’s experiment.

Changmin still wasn’t sure…

Chapter 42

Success

“To Kibum!” Jaejoong shouted as they all raised their glasses of orange juice.

“This is almost pathetic,” Changmin mumbled.

“What? I think orange juice looks good in champagne glasses,” Jaejoong defended.

“Only you,” Changmin rolled his eyes.

“Shut up.”

“You always tell me to shut up when you know you’re going to lose an argument.”

“And don’t you steal that strategy from me.”

“That’s not a strategy!”

“Can we eat?” Kibum interrupted their bickering.

“Yes, of course, what do you want to eat?”

“Stop acting like a motherly hen,” Junsu teased.

“Funny,” Changmin threw a sarcastic expression at him. “I’ll spoil Kibum and you go back to spoiling Yoochun.”

No one missed the uncomfortable tension between Junsu and Yoochun.

“Shut up,” Junsu frowned.

“Junsu…” Yoochun began. Junsu had been avoiding him in the last couple of days when Kibum was in the hospital. Now that they had gathered for this celebration, he was going to take the chance to talk…

“Sir,” Kibum’s butler interrupted.

“Yes?” Kibum turned to the elderly man.

“Your staff sent this to you several days ago,” he handed Kibum a large folder.

The pictures. Junsu lowered his head and walked away from Yoochun. Yoochun, Changmin, Jaejoong, and Yunho stared at the folder.

“Thank you,” Kibum took the folder. He told the other five, “I’ll be right back.”

Kibum placed his glass of orange juice down and walked upstairs. Changmin watched him disappear from their sight and felt his gut twist. Was Kibum still going to try to send Yoochun back?

Junsu twirled his champagne glass (filled with orange juice) as he stood at the back door, staring out at the garden. Yunho and Jaejoong looked at him with concern.

Yoochun had his head lowered. He should talk to Junsu, but the experiment…he’d be disappointing Kibum. Kibum had worked so hard for this. But Junsu...

Fork! Yoochun felt his head hurt. What was he trying to think? What was he thinking about trying? Wait, what?

His thoughts were interrupted when Yunho first excused himself to go back to his room to ‘get something’. Then Junsu excused himself to go use an upstairs bathroom, running off before Changmin could point out that there was a bathroom downstairs.

Yoochun, Jaejoong and Changmin sat in awkward silence in the living room.

◙◙◙◙◙

“It worked.”

Kibum nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Yunho’s voice. He had been looking at the pictures, but it was no excuse. Yunho was too good a martial artist to NOT be able to walk in without Kibum noticing.

“Yes, the machine worked,” Kibum slid the pictures back into the folder.

“Then what are you going to do?” Yunho inquired.

“I’d like to know too.”

Kibum’s eyes widened when Junsu walked into his office. Yunho wasn’t surprised that Junsu had followed.

“What do you want me to do?” Kibum murmured.

Neither spoke for a moment. Then Yunho turned to Junsu, “He’s my best friend. I’m obligated to tell him.”

“He doesn’t have to know,” Kibum immediately interrupted, shocking the other two. “I failed. The machine doesn’t work. It’s okay.”

Yunho turned from Kibum to Junsu. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to tell him.”

Junsu sighed. “I wouldn’t stop you. He should know.”

“Junsu…” Kibum began.

“He deserves to know,” Junsu said before turning around to walk out of the office.

Kibum frowned at Yunho. “Why would you tell Yoochun?”

Yunho smiled. “Because he would be happy to know that you were able to succeed. Your success is important to him because he sees how important it is to you.”

“Junsu is more important to him.”

“He still needs to figure that out,” Yunho sighed. “The other reason to why I’d tell him…is because I know it won’t make a difference.”

◙◙◙◙◙

Yoochun, Jaejoong, and Changmin raised their heads when they saw Yunho and Kibum walking back downstairs. Junsu was still nowhere in sight.

Without a word, Kibum moved to sit down next to Yoochun while Yunho took a seat next to Jaejoong, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Yoochun,” Kibum began. He saw the mixture of emotion in Yoochun’s eyes. “It worked. The experiment was a success.”

Yoochun looked like he was being torn between a smile and a frown; Heaven and Hell. But the misery was more abundant than the happiness.

The news didn’t make him happy like he expected. He felt his gut twist, but his heart hurt.

“Congratulations,” he forced a smile.

“Are you mistaken? Maybe it…” Changmin tried.

“Maybe…” Jaejoong tried to help.

“It worked,” Yunho interrupted. Then he added, “But it doesn’t matter.”

Changmin and Jaejoong blinked in confusion. Kibum held up the folder that was in his hand and made a ceremony of ripping the pictures into distorted squares.

“Kibum!” Yoochun gasped.

“Thank you, Yoochun. You’ve done so much for me already. You’ve helped me with this experiment. You’ve given me the courage when I was in doubt. I’d always envied the relationship you had with Yunho and it makes me happy to know that you care for me as much as you care for Yunho,” Kibum smiled as he looked over at Yunho’s proud grin. “You’ve done enough. It’s about time I return your kindness.”

“But, don’t you…I mean…” Yoochun stammered.

“Even if we go through with it, at the last minute when you’re strapped to the machine, you’ll start regretting. You’ll regret even before it happens and I have to add that it would be dangerous for you to try to break out of those straps,” Kibum interrupted. “Not that I mind if you break the machine, because I plan to destroy it.”

“Where’s Junsu? He has to be here for this!” Changmin exclaimed.

“Did he pass out in the bathroom?” Jaejoong shouted as he shot up from his seat, nearly whacking Yunho’s head with his big movement. Of course, it was Yunho’s fault for sitting so close.

“We can leave that for Yoochun to figure out,” Kibum smiled.

“Go save him from the toilet, Yoochunnie!” Jaejoong cheered.

Yoochun still felt so confused. Kibum was right. Even if he cared/loved/pitied Kibum enough to be willing to go through with the experiment, he’d still end up regretting it. Because in the end, at the end of the day, he only wanted to be with Junsu.

He was in love with Junsu! What did it matter that they were love men? What did it matter what other people thought? It wasn’t as if he had loving parents to return to. It wasn’t as if he was still in love with Yoona.

Now that he knew he was, for sure, able to return home, he didn’t want to! As a matter of fact, he wanted the machine destroyed!

He was in love with Junsu. He is in love with Junsu.

It felt forkin’ good to admit it!

He shot up from his seat and ran upstairs.

Jaejoong leaned into Yunho’s arm and smiled. “I’m so proud of him, all grown up and willing to admit his sexual orientation.”

Yunho smiled and rubbed Jaejoong’s bicep to comfort the shorter man. He found it cute that Jaejoong reminded him of a mother who was sending her child off to school.

On the other hand, Kibum and Changmin were more normal. Changmin embraced Kibum and thanked him. Kibum said, ‘You’re welcome.’

◙◙◙◙◙

Yoochun had just run past Kibum’s office to make his way to the closest public bathroom. That was when he saw Junsu sneaking out of his room, looking shock and guilty because he’d been caught red-handed.

“What were you doing in my room?” Yoochun walked over to him.

“I…um…I…was looking for the bathroom. I…um…thought this was…I mean…wrong room?”

Silence.

Finally, “It’s a bit creepy.”

“I’m not being creepy! I swear! I just…I just wanted to find something small and unimportant to you. I mean, I just wanted something to remember you by. The lottery ticket’s debris is long gone. I’d expect you to want to take your ancient clothes and sword back with you. I tried to steal the bracelet you gave to Jaejoong from him, but he caught me and refused to let me have the bracelet.”

“Junsu…”

“And yes, I still have that bag of ancient money you gave me. I’m thankful I was too lazy to sell it to the museum when you first gave it to me. But…it doesn’t feel like enough. Money is so impersonal and…not something special. I was hoping you’d have another bracelet I could steal and…oh, God, I sound like a creep!”

He covered his face with his hands and felt like finding a hole to bury his head in. And because his face was buried in his hands, he didn’t see Yoochun smile.

“You pull off ‘creepy’ very well,” he decided to say.

Junsu uncovered his shocked face and stared at Yoochun. “What?”

Chapter 43

Three

“I have this bracelet,” Yoochun began as he took off the beads from his wrist. He slipped it onto Junsu’s wrist and continued, “But this bracelet is pretty old and probably not even worth a penny of this era.”

“Huh?”

“As I recall, I’m still heavily in debt to you,” he smiled at the dumbfound man.

“Uh…yes?” Junsu was still confused. Was he imagining this? Was he going crazy?

Could dreams happen when a person wasn’t sleeping?

“I don’t like to leave debts unpaid. I guess I’ll have to stay until I pay them all off.”

It dawned on him. It wasn’t a dream.

“You mean…you…I…Finally!” Junsu shouted as he wrapped his arms around Yoochun and hugged him tightly. It was a wonder the other man didn’t hear bones cracking.

“I’m sorry for being so dumb,” Yoochun murmured as he returned the hug. At the same time, he tried to breathe properly.

“You’re incredibly stupid. Your head is as thick as a log and denial is definitely a disease for you. We’ll have to find a way to cure that. It doesn’t look like an easy task either, but that’s okay…”

“Because we have all the time in the world.”

Junsu grinned and Yoochun felt him nod. “Yes, yes, all the time in the world because you know what? It’s going to take you a lifetime to make up for what you caused me to lose.”

Yoochun pulled away slightly to make it easier to breathe and so he could look at Junsu’s expression. “Really? How much was the lottery ticket worth? It’ll take more than a lifetime to be able to pay back all the money I caused you to lose?”

“No, you’d probably be able to pay back all the money you caused me to lose in about five years if you keep working for Kibum. Meanwhile, you won’t be able to pay off your other debt.”

Yoochun blinked in confusion. He was always confused ever since he arrived in this era, but Junsu thought he looked very adorable when he was confused. Very lovable and adorkable, actually.

“I have another debt? What else did I cause you to lose?”

Junsu grinned wider at the thought of causing more ‘Yoochun’s famous confused expression’ in the future. “My heart.”

Yoochun opened his mouth to argue, but then the words finally registered. “Oh.”

“Yep!”

“Wait, doesn’t it even out because you stole my heart as well?”

“Are you not happy about being in debt to me?” Junsu pouted.

“No, of course not. If a debt will attach me to you for life, then so be it!”

“I love you!” Junsu cheered as he embraced Yoochun again.

“I love you too,” Yoochun spoke slowly, testing the words on his tongue. It felt awkward at first, but in a good way.

“Oh, God, I’m going to puke,” they heard Changmin’s voice.

“Su-ie! I’m so happy for you!” Jaejoong ran to pry Junsu off of Yoochun.

“I’m happy too!” Junsu giggled as they hugged each other and jumped up and down in the middle of the hallway.

“Are you doing that on purpose to make me puke?” Changmin exclaimed.

“The bathroom is over there,” Kibum pointed out.

“You’re handling this very well,” Yunho patted Yoochun’s shoulder.

“It’s about time, huh?” Yoochun drawled.

“Yeah, I was wondering when you’d stop being an idiot.”

“Hey, it’s harder than it looks!” Yoochun defended.

“I guess you’re forgiven. This moment wouldn’t be as satisfying if you hadn’t strung the suspense on for this long,” Yunho sighed.

Yoochun made a ‘I guess so’ expression as he wrapped on arm around Kibum’s shoulders and another around Yunho’s shoulders. The three watched as Jaejoong and Junsu continued to jump around Changmin in attempt to make him ill.

◙◙◙◙◙

“It all worked out…and so perfectly too,” Yunho said before inserting a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

“It’s not a happily ever after though,” Jaejoong replied as he poured his own bowl of late, late dinner.

“What do you mean? Isn’t this a happily-ever-after like in those cartoons you watch?”

“Don’t you ever wonder what happens after the ‘happily-ever-after’ in a movie? I mean, Cinderella got together with her prince in the first movie. In the second one, they got married. But what happened afterwards? I’m sure they had fights as a married couple and what about their children?”

“You’re confusing me again,” the older man fed himself another spoonful of the cold meal. But then, he was ready to spend the rest of his life being confused by this beauty.

“I mean that there’s still the other half of our life to live. We’re together, but there’s no guarantee that it’s a happily ever after until the day we die.”

“Do you doubt our relationship?” Yunho began to worry.

“Life isn’t a written story or a scripted movie. It’s not like you know this certain couple will have a happily-ever-after because the audience is following the story because this certain couple is the main characters.”

“Why are you being so…depressing?”

“I was watching ‘Bambi’ again and I stopped on the part where his mother died,” the blond man confessed.

“No wonder,” Yunho rolled his eyes. Jaejoong most likely didn’t have the time to finish the movie and had stopped at that exact part.

“I’ll spend the rest of my life having these cereal gatherings with you and we’ll talk about what happens in our own happily-ever-after. We’ll eventually reach a time in our life that you can label ‘happily-ever-after’…or we can go finish watching ‘Bambi’ so you can stop being depressed.”

“Okay!”

Yunho laughed when Jaejoong picked up his bowl and rushed into the living room to start the movie.

“Hurry up, Yunniebear!”

“‘Yunniebear’?” Yunho inquired as he settled on the couch. “What movie is that from?”

“Our movie.”

“Interesting.”

Jaejoong grinned and plopped down next to Yunho. He glanced at the clock to realize that it was pretty late. “You’ll probably fall asleep during the movie. So I’ll do this while you’re still awake.”

“Huh?”

Jaejoong laid a loud kiss on Yunho’s lips and grinned, “I love you.”

Yunho blushed and smiled happily while Jaejoong turned back to the T.V. It was becoming a routine for Jaejoong to do that every night before they went to sleep. Yunho had stopped tensing up, but he really needed to work on his blushing…not that it mattered.

They were already on their way to their own happily-ever-after.

◙◙◙◙◙

Kibum looked up from his blueprint when Changmin walked into his secret office.

“Finally found it?” he raised an eyebrow at the taller man.

“Took me an hour,” Changmin retorted. He had to go through every inch of Kibum’s office to find the hidden switch to open the entrance to this secret office.

Then he noticed that Kibum was looking disapprovingly at his clothes: a T-shirt and a pair of slacks.

“Didn’t I agree to today’s date because you agreed to not wear a suit?”

“I’m not wearing a suit!” Changmin defended.

“That’s not what it looks like from afar!” Kibum protested.

It was true. Changmin was wearing black (or really dark blue) jeans. His T-shirt wasn’t too big or too small. The problem with it was that it was designed to look like a form fitting tuxedo. The imprints included a vest and a tie.

“But it still isn’t a suit.”

“You’re hopeless,” Kibum sighed with a smile.

Changmin laughed as he wandered the office. “Woah, is this a robot? Another one of your cool inventions?”

“Yes, it can perform nearly any task you can think of.”

“Then why isn’t it out in the market? Don’t you want people to know about it?”

“No, I’d rather not. The human race is lazy enough. I don’t want to be an accomplice in the downfall of the human race.”

Changmin chuckled at Kibum’s sarcastic tone. “So I guess this robot needs to be kept secret, huh?”

“Yes, so I may need to kill you to prevent this secret from leaking out.”

“Or you could just marry me.”

“What?” Kibum was caught off guard by that. His hands began to fidget so he dropped the pen.

“I don’t betray my spouse so I’ll definitely keep this secret for you. It saves you the work of having to cover my murder too,” Changmin grinned, but his anxiety was still apparent. He looked cute.

Kibum decided to mess with him a little longer, even if he wanted oh-so-much to jump into the other man’s embrace.

“Wouldn’t it be more logical to date for several years before marriage? It’s only been three months.”

“Would it be logical to be stupid enough to give you time to run away from me? No, it’ll be more logical to tie you down with a ring.”

“Is that so?”

“Very so.”

“If you say so, Mr. Shim.”

“I would like it if you’re so compliant even after the marriage, Mrs. Shim.”

“Why am I ‘Mrs. Shim’? Why can’t you be ‘Mrs. Kim’?”

Chapter 44

Stuck

“Why am I ‘Mrs. Shim’? Why can’t you be ‘Mrs. Kim’?”

“Because I’m taller.”

“Is that your stupid logic?”

“Yes.”

“Screw logic.”

“You cannot ‘screw logic’,” Changmin tsked.

“I can if ‘logic’ happens to be your nickname,” Kibum smirked.

“Oh, that’s a good one. Then screw away, Mrs. Shim,” he grinned greasily.

“It’s Mr. Kim,” Kibum corrected.

“Are you going to be childish about it now?”

“I learn from Jaejoong.”

“If I don’t have to owe him for life for bringing us together, I’d ship him to the other side of the Earth…or send him away with your Time Machine.”

“The machine is forever gone. Sucks for you.”

“Right, my life sucks because I have to put up with all five of you weird people.”

Kibum smiled as he stood up and walked around the desk to wrap his arms around Changmin’s waist. “I suppose I can make your life more miserable by marrying you.”

Changmin easily rested his arms on Kibum’s shoulders. “I wouldn’t mind.”

They stood in each other’s embrace for a moment of sweet silence, until Kibum decided to show off something else that he learned from Jaejoong (the ability to ruin a romantic moment), “Seriously, stop with the tuxedos.”

◙◙◙◙◙

“I really can’t believe it. Changmin, the ever so logical jerk, is getting married with someone he’d only dated for three months.”

“We should be happy for him.”

“Oh, I’m happy all right. Kibum will definitely make his life miserable. I hear he’s setting only one rule for their wedding: no one is allowed to wear a tuxedo.”

Yoochun laughed and Junsu liked that he could feel the laughter as he leaned his cheek against Yoochun’s chest.

“I guess Changmin is stuck then.”

Junsu smiled. They were both lying on the beach as the sun began to set. Yoochun had his arms crossed behind his head while Junsu used his chest as a pillow.

“I suppose we all get stuck at some point in our life…or several points.”

“What do you mean?” Yoochun asked.

“I was just thinking about this the other day. You know, just being stuck.”

“I’m still confused.”

Junsu laughed. “You’re always confused.”

“I blame you.”

“I blame me too.”

“Keep talking.”

Junsu looked up to see that Yoochun had closed his eyes. He smiled and returned to the previously comfortable position.

“Being stuck. I figured: Kibum and you and Yunho were stuck in the past for a while.”

“Yunho and I were stuck in the future,” Yoochun pointed out.

“Physically, yes. But I’m talking about mentally. Kibum was held back by his fear of being betrayed and hurt, by memories of his past. He was stuck in the past and couldn’t let go. Same for you and Yunho. You two were set to return to your time because you were stuck in the past, believing that it was where you two belong. Yoona was your past. Yunho’s need to repay your father was his past. You know…stuck.”

“The three of us are no longer stuck,” Yoochun murmured proudly.

Junsu grinned. “Thank goodness for that.”

“What about Jaejoong and Changmin?”

“I figured that Jaejoong used to be too stuck in the present. He’d always do things without thinking. Like when he’d give nicknames based on the movie he was currently obsessed with. Changmin was always saying that he needs to think before he leaps.”

“Good point,” Yoochun yawned. “What about Changmin?”

“Hmm…I would say that he used to be stuck in the future. He always thought about the future. Everything he did was ‘for the future’. He couldn’t live in the present and enjoy the moment. Jaejoong was always saying that he needs to ‘live for the present’.”

“Hmm…interesting,” Yoochun hummed. “What about you? Where were you stuck in?”

Junsu supported himself on his elbow so that he could look down at Yoochun’s closed eyes. “Why are we having this conversation when you don’t even understand what I’m saying?”

“Because I like the sound of your voice.”

Junsu opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it. He could only grin like an idiot at Yoochun’s sugary, sweet words. “Oh.”

“Keep talking.”

Still grinning like an idiot, Junsu lied back down so that his ear rested above Yoochun’s heart. “Hmm…let me think about this. Where was I stuck in? Um…actually, the question should be ‘Where am I still stuck in?’.”

“Still?” Yoochun opened his eyes to see the top of Junsu’s head.

“Yep, I’m still stuck.”

“When the rest of us have already become unstuck? I mean, Kibum, Yunho and I have let go of the past. Changmin is starting to stop thinking about the future only. Jaejoong is starting to plan out his and Yunho’s future. How can you still be stuck after all we’ve been through? “

Junsu tilted his neck so that he could see Yoochun’s face. “I’m still stuck, and frankly, I don’t want to be unstuck.”

“Do you make it a hobby to confuse me?”

“Yes,” the younger man replied as he turned his head back to the sunset.

“Explain.”

“I’m stuck in love. I’m hopelessly in love with you. Would you want me to be unstuck from that?”

Yoochun was no longer confused. He was grinning. “Good point.”

“Yep, but now I’m starting to wonder: is it still considered ‘stuck’ if it’s relating to a good thing? I mean, I love being in love with you, so it’s not a bad thing…but when people say ‘stuck,’ it’s usually associated with something bad. You know what I mean? Yoochun?”

Junsu looked up again. Yoochun was asleep…

“Smart idiot,” Junsu laughed as he moved to plant a kiss on Yoochun’s lips. When he slid back down to rest his head on Yoochun’s chest, he missed the smile that formed on his boyfriend’s lips.

Yoochun was ‘asleep’…because it beat having to listen to more of Junsu’s theories and suffer more confusion.

Apparently, Junsu knew because he continued to bring up another one of his weird theories about why the line on the horizon looked almost purple as the sun continued to set.

Author's Note

Thank you to each and every one of you who supported this story. Thank you for your feedbacks in helping me improve and allowing me to make friends with fellow Yoosu/Yunjae/Minfood/DBSK lovers!

Please recall that I do read all the messages you guys leave at the END of a story. I just don't reply because I don't expect anyone to come back to read a reply (esp. since I stop updating and you won't be notified if the author doesn't update). If I get lucky enough to talk to you guys again, I'd be happy to reply to you in Micah8 (I'm not mistaken, I do mean 8). ^_^

Again, thanks for reading!

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