Author’s Note: This story is set in an alternate universe, in an imaginary town and country, and during an ambiguous time period.

“Mom, can we not?”

“No, dearest. Come on sweetie, I really don’t want to argue, because we hardly ever have time to talk. But, come on love. He is trying. I just wished—”

“Mom! Please.” Sighing, he realized he would have to try to reason with her. “I’ve just come back and...I already talked to dad and he said it was okay.” He continued his pacing in the living room, keeping an eye on the kitchen, where Jaejoong was making his grandmother laugh as he gave her a hand. 

He was not concerned over Jaejoong hearing him talking to his mom, but the whole thing still had him on edge. 

“So, can we drop the conversation?” He said to his mom. 

His mother paused. He could hear her inhaling on the other end of the phone. “Sweetie, I am trying here, okay?”

“Mom, I know.”

“I can’t change what has already happened, but I at least want to make sure my mistakes do not carry over into the future.”

“Mom, you don’t have anything to correct.”

She chortled. “I wished, baby.”

“Mom.” He felt choked up. “Really.” He cleared his throat. He started making another round in the living room. “I’m fine. You have nothing to apologize for; plus, like I said, I am talking to my…dad. We’re fine.”

“I know. And that makes me so, so happy.”

Scratching the side of his face, his chest tingled. Yunho cleared his throat and said, “Can we talk about happier things?”

She laughed. “We already have, pumpkin. If you won’t spend Christmas with your poppa, how about New Year's?”

She would not let it go.

He sighed loudly. “Mom, who has a family dinner on New Year’s?”

“Your family?”

He groaned. “Mom, can I spend this Holiday with my grandparents and then spend the new one with them?”

“Alternating won’t hurt, love.”

“I already talked to him.”

“It would make him happy.”

“Mom, I don’t want to say this to hurt you, but I hardly know him or his family. I just want to move at my own pace.”

She sighed. She could hear the stubborn streak in his voice and she knew her son. “Okay. But, hey, I’ve noticed you’ve started to refer to him as ‘dad’ now.”

His heart fluttered. “Ooh. Have I?”

Her laugh was giddish and happy. He loved the sound. He missed his mom. He missed his healthy, happy mom. He missed her.

Smirking, he said, “I hadn’t realized.” 

He had, because he stutters before he says it every time.

He hadn’t realized, but he supposed he had been getting much more comfortable with his dad. He was not too bad.

She was laughing. “That’s good, love. I’m glad to hear that. Hey, at least think about it, alright?”

“Mom,” he groaned softly.

-----

“You know I’m astonished, right?” Kimberli said, smirking up at Yunho. She nibbled on her steaming cinnamon roll.

It was the first Saturday of December, and it was the town’s annual winter fair. 

Yunho swore the folks of this town took every chance they got to have a fair and or a celebration. It was ridiculous, but he had found himself falling right back into it.

He frowned down at Kimberli. “Sorry?”

“Well, I was starting to think you were ashamed of us, you know?”

Holding her gaze, he started with a wide smile which soon dissolved into laughter. 

“What?” she said, wiping the lifted corners of her lip.

He shook his head. “Nothing. It’s just that he said the same thing, too.” He pointed towards Jaejoong’s back, he stood in a circle made with Soel, Changmin, and Kevin. They were standing slightly to the side of a food truck, out of the way of the queue forming. 

“Huh?” She made a contemplative expression and smiled at him when she noticed he was looking at her. 

She leaned in and whispered. “I always thought he was the nicest one of the bunch.”

“While I can’t say much about the rest of his friends, but I can say they’re not all ‘bad.’ We don’t know them and shouldn’t be too rash in our judgment.”

She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Obviously. We’re not cartoon characters; we are teenagers, though.” She shrugged and smacked her lips. 

“Guys, are you two coming?” Kevin shouted, cupping his mouth with his hands. They waved the duo over. 

——

It seemed as if everyone in the town was at the fair. 

It only made sense that Jaejoong would come across Aki.

Yunho knew it was nothing. They were friends, of course they would talk to each other. But his mouth felt dry, and he felt like a thick ball of something was rolling down his throat to firmly lodge in there and restrict his breathing.

He hated that feeling.

He was jealous.

He ripped his gaze away from them.  

He needed to stop being stupid. He needed to control these feelings. They were best friends. He wanted and needed it to remain that way.

“Hey, we’re going on some rides. Want to come along?” Changmin asked, Soel was tugging his arm to hurry.

He smiled and shook his head. “No. I have to wait for Jaejoong.”

He could hear the duo’s tinkling laughter. He almost changed his mind and followed his friends. 

Swallowing and taking some calming breaths he waved them away and tried to play on his phone and not stare at the picturesque couple.

“Hey, where’s everyone?” Jaejoong asked.

Shutting his phone off, he shoved it in his pocket. “‘Sup.”

Jaejoong smiled at him. His eyes were soft. There was this soft ache below Yunho’s stomach as he looked at him.

“Had a nice chat with Aki?”

Jaejoong giggled, and flicked his eyes away from his face. “You know what, sort of.”

“Sort of?”

“Yeah. It’s really weird, you know?”

“I don’t know.” He quickly softened his harsh tone with a smile.

“What?” Jaejoong asked, frowning.

“Nothing.
 

He was jealous. He knew Jaejoong said there was nothing going on between them, further, he shouldn’t care. But there was the faceless crush and his ever growing feeling of unease.

Jaejoong gave him a weird look, but he shrugged and continued. “I don’t remember if I told you, but we sort of had a really nice chat a few days back and I really drove it home that I wasn’t interested in her. And, I don’t know,” he shrugged, “we sort of became decent friends.”

He withheld his sigh of relief.

“Ooh, wow. You didn’t tell me.”

“She’s an okay girl, you know?”

“Yeah, I always knew.”

Jaejoong laughed and playful punched Yunho on the shoulder. “If I didn’t know, I would say you’re starting to like her.”

“I do like her.”

“Ooh, yeah?”

They playfully pushed each other back and forth, laughing as they made their ways over to the rides.