“Just tell us already!”

“We saw you flirting with him like—two desks away!”

“Then why do I need to tell you?”

“Aiiiish, Jaejoong! Come on! We need to know!”

“Or else we’ll—we will do something severe to Mr. Cuddle-bear!” Changmin grabbed the old teddy bear by the arm and raised it in the air where Jaejoong couldn’t reach it.

The eldest frowned, upset as he completely stopped doing his homework. “Fine fine fine! You didn’t have to bring Mr. Cuddle-bear into this!”

Junsu snickered, “Alright, Changmin!” he nudged the other, “So tell us!” he turned his eyes to Jaejoong. “What made you blush like a tomato today, Jaejoong-ah?” Changmin smirked in satisfaction, putting Jaejoong’s dear stuffed toy back in its place and listened to what he was going to say.

“Well… we just talked,” Jaejoong shrugged, looking at his two friends.

Irritated, Junsu and Changmin groaned in unison. “Details! Or else Mr.Cuddle-bear will meet Mandongie!” Changmin quickly grabbed the teddy bear again. “Yeah!” Junsu nodded frantically, his lips curving into a mischievous grin.

“Ah—fine!” Jaejoong made a face, snatching his dear stuffed toy from Changmin and held it against his chest. “He was talking about how stressed he was… and teasing me about being the valedictorian,” he glanced around the room as he spoke, recalling what had taken place earlier that day. “Then we got to talking about when we were kids and how we use to play a lot together,” he shrugged. “And he went on about how time flies and how we grew apart and that his favorite game we use to play was house because I was his wife and that he misses hanging out and—“

“Wait,” Changmin interrupted Jaejoong, blinking a few times and looked at him with squinted eyes. “He said, his favorite game was house…because?” he cocked an eyebrow; just…wanting to make sure he heard it right.

Jaejoong blinked, blushing a light tint of pink. “B-because it was fun.”

Junsu snorted, “You said because you were his wife!”

Changmin nodded, “That’s what I heard,” he snickered, shaking his head in amusement. “Do you know what this means?”

“No!” Jaejoong retorted for no reason.

Junsu and Changmin exchanged glances before turning to Jaejoong and announced, “He’s gay too!”

“What?!” Jaejoong made a face, “No—he—how can you think that he’s gay just from that? You guys are crazy,” he shook his head and tried to get back to doing his homework.

“Pfft,” Changmin rolled his eyes, “You should be happy about this!”

Junsu nodded in agreement; “It means you actually have a shot with actually going out with him, Jaejoong!” he smiled. “Isn’t that good?”

Jaejoong blinked, slowly looking up at his two friends with an unsure expression, “But—I’m not gay! Alright?” he wrinkled his nose and went back to doing his studies.

The two sighed, shaking their heads. “Ahh…all this gay talk’s making me hungry,” Changmin rubbed his stomach and got up, “Junsu, come down with me” he walked toward Jaejoong’s bedroom door.

“—hyung!” Junsu groaned, looking up at Changmin, “And why do I have to go with you?”

“So you can help me with the drinks—duh. I’m getting snacks for the three of us.”

Junsu grumbled and got up, following the younger male down the stairs, leaving Jaejoong alone.

Jaejoong sighed softly, glancing to his two friends leaving for a few minutes before going back to his home work, “I’m not gay…” he whispered to himself. “I just…admire Yunho” he blinked, “That’s all.”

Meanwhile, in the kitchen Changmin and Junsu were raiding the pantry and fridge for snacks. The two had raised brows, subtly over-hearing Jaejoong’s sister, Taeyeon, talking over the phone.

“It for Jaejoong,” Junsu sighed as he leaned against the counter, “He’s been crushing on Yunho since…forever and senior year’s almost over.” He pouted, thinking about how miserable Jaejoong’s life is.

Changmin shrugged, grabbing a few things he liked from the refrigerator then closed it. “We should help him,” he nodded, grabbing three glasses and filled them with fruit juice, “Jaejoong’s been helping us through out the years…so, I think it time that we did him a favor right?”

Junsu nodded, taking two of the glasses as he smiled, “Yeah! We should—with our brains I’m sure we can come up with something good!”

“You mean, with my brain and your…” Changmin blinked, “—whatever you’ve got we’ll work with,” he sighed. “But whatever it is that we’re planning to do, we gotta do it quick, we’ve only got one and a half weeks before prom—then graduation and we’re off to college…”

“Whatcha guys talking about~?” Taeyeon popped in the kitchen with a smile, her hand still holding onto the home phone.

Startled, Junsu jumped a step back, his eyes wide as they could become with his heart racing. He gulped, “H-hi Taeyeon noona,” he blinked, completely mesmerized. While, Changmin just sighed, shaking his head with disapproval. It wasn’t fair. His Junsu hyung was making him look like an idiot just because they were friends.

“Getting snackage,” Changmin answered, “Jaejoong said we could” he added with a grin.

“Ah,” Taeyeon nodded, pausing a moment and pursed her lips. Junsu inhaled deeply as he stared, he couldn’t help himself. She’s…so pretty…

“Is that all?” she cocked an eyebrow, “I couldn’t help but listen to your conversation about my little brother’s crush, is it?”

Changmin blinked, “You can’t really call Jaejoong your little brother… he’s taller than you, noona.”

“Oh, shut up,” she wrinkled her nose at him while Junsu nudged him. “Don’t tease Taeyeon noona like that!”

Taeyeon appreciated Junsu sticking up for her, expressing her feelings with a smile before looking back up at Changmin. “Jaejoong does have a thing for Yunho, right?”

Junsu gasped, “Noona! How…did you know?” he whispered, looking around just in case Jaejoong just happened to go down stairs. Changmin rolled his eyes, “Even a blind person can see that Jaejoong’s got a thing for Yunho—duh,” he sighed. “Ever since like—we were kids.” He paused, giving Taeyeon a funny look, “But… you’re…okay with this?” he asked in curiosity. “I’d imagine you’d be a little…shocked or something.”

Taeyeon simply shrugged, “Well, I figured he become oddly feminine or gay living with seven sisters,” she chuckled softly. “Even Hyori and Chaeyeon unnie think so,” Taeyeon nodded in a thoughtful manner.

“Oh,” Changmin blinked, turning to Junsu, “Should we let her in?”

Junsu nodded quickly in response, “The more ideas we get, the better right?”

Taeyeon did a small fist pump; glad she could be of service as a small smirk appeared on her face. “Luckily, your guys’ timing is just right.”

---

“How’s school?”

“Fine…I guess,” Jaejoong sighed, scratching the back of his head and laid back on his bed, his phone pressed against his right ear. “Noona…I…— today…”

“Did you have another dream?”

Jaejoong wrinkled his nose, frowning. There was no way out of it now. “Y-yeah…” he sighed, “And today he talked to meee” he groaned, flopping on his stomach.

“Oh. Really?” Jaejoong’s noona chuckled lightly, “That’s interesting. But first, tell me what your dream was about, Joongie-yah. Maybe noona can use it.”

Jaejoong let out another sigh, shaking his head, “Noona…seriously?”

“What! I need all the inspiration I can get—lots of manga artists do it, y’know. Japan’s filled with visionary people. Since I live here now, what the heck—I’ll hop in the bandwagon too! So!” Jaejoong could hear the bright smile on his noona’s face, “Tell me tell me t-t-t-t-tell me!”

“Shinhye noona,” Jaejoong groaned, “I don’t think talking to you about it really helps me with anything. I mean…for the past five years you’d think I’d stop having dreams about him but no, every other night it’s all about him him him him him!” He grunted in frustration.

Shinhye sighed, “Jaejoong-ah…just accept the fact that you’re interested in men, what else can your dreams tell you?”

“I partially blame you for this, just so you know.”

She laughed, “Oh? How so?”

“You guys always ganged up on me and dressed me up and talk about boys all the time! If I had just maybe one brother I wouldn’t be so messed up right now!”

“Aigoo,” she chuckled lightly, “Jaejoong-ah, that’s all Sunghee, Solbi, and Minyoung you’re talking about. I played your toy cars with you didn’t I?”

Jaejoong blinked, pausing a second, “I-I guess…but still…” he sighed.

“If you’re unsure, why don’t you try dating a girl and see how you feel? Maybe you’re having dreams about Yunho because you haven’t experienced being with a girl before—ah… that’s a great idea!” she laughed in glee, “Wait a sec!”

“Uh…ok,” Jaejoong pouted, sitting up and leaned back against the headboard. What was taking Junsu and Changmin so long?

“Have Hiroji… date a girl to get Yumeta jealous, there.—Alright, so uhm, Jaejoongie can you tell noona about your dream?”

Jaejoong groaned, “Nooona, stop using my dreams in your BL manga!”

---

Blue skies were over the three students walking on the sidewalk of the street. Jaejoong glanced back at Changmin and Junsu murmuring to each other for the nth time as they walked to school, his eyebrows scrunching together, wondering what they’re talking about. When he couldn’t take the obvious secrecy going on behind him, he turned around to the two, “Yah, what are you guys talking about?”

Junsu grinned an innocent smile, “Nothing~”

Changmin glanced at his hyung, “Yeah, nothing,” he chuckled softly, walking past his two hyung-deul. Jaejoong frowned, “If it’s about Yunho I’m going to smack you guys in the face,” he crossed his arms and began walking again.

The youngest yawned, stretching his long arms, “If you don’t have any feelings for Yunho, why are you so worked up every single time we bring him up?”

Junsu couldn’t help but smile playfully, “Yeeeah, Jaejoong.”

Jaejoong blinked, his brows creasing again, “Because you guys always tease me about him!” he hissed, not wanting any other ears to hear but Junsu’s and Changmin’s.

The three students entered the gates of Seoul High, past the metal opening; students in their uniforms populated the area. Just when Changmin was going to reply, someone called Jaejoong’s name from behind.

“Jaejoong-ah!”

Jaejoong turned around and enlarged his eyes to see Yunho running toward him slowly, smiling his handsome smile. Junsu and Changmin looked away, hiding their chuckles behind their hands, knowing that Jaejoong’s cheeks flushed to a light pink right away.

“Hey guys,” Yunho greeted the three.

“Hey Yunho,” Changmin greeted him then looked at Jaejoong, “Well uh…Junsu and I have to get to class early. We’ll see you guys later,” he smiled at Yunho then gave Jaejoong a playful wink, grabbing Junsu’s wrist—who was snickering awfully suspicious. “See ya later, Jaejoong-ah~” Junsu waved.

Jaejoong gulped, his hand clenching at his bag as he gave Yunho a soft smile. “Morning,” he greeted Yunho, trying his best to be casual and cool.

Yunho responded with a smile, “So um, I know it’s sorta out of the blue but yesterday…I had fun doing that assignment—“ he chuckled, scratching the side of his head. Jaejoong couldn’t help but stare at that, thinking it was cute. “Crazy, right? Me actually enjoying an assignment? I guess it’s all thanks to your awesome teaching skills.”

“Uh…” Jaejoong chortled lightly, “Y-yeah…” he didn’t really know how to reply. “Thanks.”

“So uhm…I was wondering, if you wanted to hang out at lunch or something? Just—y’know to catch up on each other’s lives.” Yunho pursed his lips, his hands sliding into his pant pockets, “Or…maybe after school today? Or—if you’ve got something planned maybe tomorrow…the day after tomorrow…—“ he chuckled, “Any time you’re free?”

Jaejoong gulped, and blinked a few times. “Uh—s-sure! Lunch time sounds good” he broke into an awkward smile.

“Yeah?” Yunho’s smile appeared again, “Today?”

Jaejoong nodded, “Yeah, sure. Today. Cooking club’s cancelled today so I’ve got nothing to do.” Shrugging a shoulder, Jaejoong’s lips curved into a small, quick smile.

“Great,” Yunho nodded once, beaming still. “Then…I’ll see you at lunch time, yeah?”

“Yep—“

“Yunniekins~ There you are!” Before Jaejoong could continue his sentence, Yunho’s girlfriend appeared behind him, hugging him from behind. “Yul,” he smiled to her, “Hey babe,” he chuckled, “Sorry, I was just talking with Jaejoong. He’s one of my buddies growing up.” Yunho introduced Jaejoong.

“Hi, nice to meet you, Yuri-sshi” Jaejoong smiled.

“Me too,” Yuri replied with a smile of her own, releasing Yunho from her grasp as she examined Jaejoong’s face, blinking a few times. And every time she did, her smile slowly faded.

“Hey, Yunho!” Yunho’s jock friends called Yunho from afar. “Yo!” he waved at them, “Be right there!” Yunho smiled at Jaejoong, patting him on the shoulder and pulled him for a half-hug, making Jaejoong’s heart stop. He managed to take a quick sniff of Yunho. He could have fainted, but he didn’t.

“I’ll see you later, Jaejoong.” He patted his back before wrapping his arm around Yuri’s waist and kissed her cheek, “You too cutie,” before making his way to his crew. Leaving Yuri and Jaejoong alone.

“Hm,” Yuri crossed her arms, tilting her head at Jaejoong’s pretty face. “You…look,” she squinted her eyes, “Familiar…” she bit her lower lip, “I just…can’t put my finger on it.” She sighed, eyeing him from head to toe, a small smirk on her face. “Whether I’ve seen you before or not doesn’t matter,” she decided. “All that matters is that you,” she poked Jaejoong’s chest. “Stay away from my Yunho,” she gave him a dirty stare. “Even if you guys are childhood friends, being with you will give him a bad reputation. With prom night coming up we don’t need rumors going around to make him lose being the prom king,” she explained. “No hard feelings, hope you understand.” Yuri smiled and flicked her hair at Jaejoong’s direction before walking away.

All Jaejoong could do was watch her walk further and further away from him. The happiness from Yunho asking to hang out with him gone, replaced by this sorrow from Yuri, Yunho’s girlfriend. “What did I ever do to you?” he huffed as he walked toward his first class.

---


Jaejoong stared up at the ceiling of their living room, groaning in annoyance as he recalled what happened during school. Not only did Yuri manage to bring his self-esteem but did she also cancel Yunho and Jaejoong’s lunch together by faking some sickness. “That… witch,” Jaejoong wrinkled his nose and sat up with a sigh.

“Whatever… no use complaining over spilt milk,” he nodded to himself and continued his homework.

Just then, the doorbell rang. And just when Jaejoong was on a roll— “Taeyeon noona!” he shouted, “The door!” A few seconds too late, he remembered his sister was at work. Sighing, he got up and opened the door, surprised to see Yunho.

“Hey,” he smiled, rolling his luggage in front of him.