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~ 14 ~

...


"Yoochun why did you do that?" Jaejoong sniffed into his handphone receiver while pressing his face into one of his Hello Kitty plushies, letting the soft material soak up his tears. He hugged the plushie tighter for comfort and huddled into the sheets of his bed, trying to control his sobs so he could at least sound coherent over the phone. "Your.. Your brother was wrong to steal.. You shouldn't protect him.."

"Jae.. I'm sorry.."

Jaejoong closed his teary eyes and choked back a sob. "Yunho broke up with me.." He whispered.

"..."

There was a sigh following a moment of silence on the other end of the line.

"I expected as much. It's for the better, Jaejoong.. Honestly.. Jung Yunho is a dangerous man..  He-"

"Geojitmal.. You're a liar Yoochun..." Jaejoong cut him off, sobbing.

"No, listen. My brother was set up, he didn't steal anything.. He was doing too well in Jung Corp and someone, probably Yunho, framed him.." Yoochun insisted vehemently over the phone.

"Be careful Jae.. Jung Yunho's reputation isn't just talk, I've already moved my family out of Seoul.. I don't know what he'd have done to them otherwise.."

Yoochun gave a humorless dry laugh. "Needless to say, I can count myself kicked out of school and blacklisted from all entertainment companies."
 
"Bring the evidence back Yoochun.." Jaejoong pleaded tearfully. "I'll help you explain to Yunho.. That your brother was set up.."

"I can't do that.. I need to protect my brother, Jaejoong. I turned into a thief and gave up any chance I had with Junsu for this.. Yoohwan is my family, he's innocent.. Please understand.."

Despite the still painful heartache at the loss of Yunho, Jaejoong felt himself reluctantly soften towards Yoochun's argument. He himself knew how important family was. Heechul had saved Jaejoong from his wretched existence and gave him the happiest and most wonderful life he could ever imagine by taking him in and loving him as a son.

"... I understand, Yoochun-ah... You and your family.. Take care.." Jaejoong whispered in farewell before hanging up and burying his tearful face miserably into his pillow.

...

...


"Joongie... Can Appa come in?" Heechul cooed gently as he opened his cute son's room door. Hearing no response, he made his way in and crawled under the covers of Jaejoong's bed, comfortingly hugging the curled up boy's back.

"Umma...." Jaejoong turned to face Heechul and the elder Kim had a brief glimpse of his baby son's swollen red eyes and nose before his head was buried into Heechul's chest.

Heechul was startled by Jaejoong's term of endearment. Umma.. How many years had it been since he managed to get Jaejoong to call him Appa instead. For one, it had been embarrassing for a man to be called 'Umma' in public, not that Heechul cared but it led to awkward and unwanted questions on who was the father. And two, it reminded him too much of the days when Heechul was Chullie Umma to Hannie Appa, his ex-lover Hangeng.

"Don't throw Joongie away, Umma..." The smaller boy cried into Heechul's embrace and Heechul felt his heart clenching. So after all this time, his little Joongie was still harboring insecurities that he would be abandoned like he was in the past.

"I won't." Heechul affirmed and pressed a kiss on his baby son's forehead.


...


"Umma!! Don't throw Joongie away again, Umma!"

Ten years ago, a young boy said those words, crying as he ran up to Heechul and hugged his leg, clinging on to him for dear life. I'm not your mother, and I'm not a woman, Heechul was prepared to say as he squat down to be at eye level with the sobbing boy. But taking in the sight of the angelic boy's miserable face, splotches of bruises littering his otherwise snowy pale skin, the next thing that came out of Heechul's mouth as he pulled the boy into his arms, was a promise. "I won't."

He later found out that he resembled the crying boy's deceased mother, and the relatives the boy, Han Jaejoong, was staying with, had been abusing him on a regular basis. Lucky for Heechul, he happened to be somewhat in a relationship to a certain Chinese man who was next in line to some big shot mafia gang's throne, with numerous ties to both legitimate and dubious sources.

"I'm adopting this boy, get the paperwork done," were the greeting words he threw at Hangeng when he dropped by Kim Holiday Inn for yet another visit.

"Chullie.. I'm happy that you're talking to me again, but it's not that easy." The Chinese man took off his aviator sunglasses and sighed. "You can't just pick any kid off the streets, you could be charged for kidnapping. And you're still a minor, you can't adopt."

"I don't care!" Heechul hissed angrily. "Do it and I'll forget you kissed that woman."

"Look Chullie I told you before, she kissed me, I didn't-"

"Make it happen Hangeng!" Heechul cut off his explanation with an air of finality.

...

An almost sleepless week of arduous hard work and shady manipulations later, Hangeng was back at Kim Holiday Inn with a thick envelope in hand. He squat down and stared at the boy half hiding behind the waiting Heechul's legs.

"Hello little one." Hangeng smiled amiably to the shy boy. He had the cutest and most angelic face ever, except that the sight of the fading bruises on his skin was evoking a certain protective feeling in Hangeng. It was no wonder Heechul wanted to adopt him so badly. "I've just finished the paperwork. You are now Kim Heechul's legal son, Kim Jaejoong."

"I'm Hangeng, nice to meet you." He said as he held out a hand for a handshake but the boy's eyes widened and his little fingers clutched tighter onto the material of Heechul's jeans.

"Ah, it's okay," Hangeng nodded comfortingly and withdrew his hand, standing up to pass the envelope to Heechul, who snatched it over immediately and dug into its contents.

"I had to raise your age by a number of years so you'd be considered a legal adult, Chullie." The Chinese man explained to the beautiful teenager flipping through the paperwork critically. "I also created a new identity for Jaejoong and raised his age as well, so it will be harder to trace back to his original identity. His falsified school records and medical history are in the file."

At Heechul's continued silence while continuing to appraise the paperwork, Hangeng made a considerable effort not to shift uncomfortably. Was his work not satisfactory? Only this diva of a teenager could make him lose his composure like that. "Ehm.. I know it's quite a few years' jump, if you're worried about Jaejoong not being able to keep up with his schoolwork I could hire a tutor to-"

"It's perfect. Thank you Hannie."

Hangeng found himself melting at the genuine smile in the usually cold teenager's eyes.

...

In the following years, they spoiled him rotten, and slowly Jaejoong began to smile and laugh again.

They treated him like a precious baby, which largely contributed to why Jaejoong never grew out of his childishness even now. They even did his homework for him, taking him out to play when their baby Joongie complained he did not want to study, which coupled with the might had been why Jaejoong was not the smartest kid at school. Joongie might not have been the brightest crayon in the box, but he was definitely the prettiest crayon, and whoever said otherwise would have a very angry diva and protective Chinese mafia prince to deal with.

Hangeng often made special trips down to Joongie's schools to make sure no one was bullying Joongie and threaten the teachers into giving Jaejoong passing grades for his tests and exams. No one messed with Hannie Appa's baby Joongie.

Whatever their baby Joongie wanted, their baby Joongie got. A 10-tier birthday cake as tall as the hotel lobby's ceiling with life-sized icing horses, check. Ice cream for all three meals until he got sick and the doctor strongly warned against it, check. From the innocent 'Chullie Umma can you pat my back until I fall asleep', to the questionable 'Hannie Appa can I drink your soju', the answer was always 'Okay Joongie baby.'

One day, Hangeng suddenly left for China without saying goodbye. Heechul was furious and upset but had to comfort Jaejoong who was devastated about his Hannie Appa's disappearance. "You don't have a Hannie Appa anymore," he told Jaejoong. "You only have one Appa and that's me, you understand that Joongie? I will be your Appa and your Umma."

Maybe they had not been role model parents, but Heechul was certain he raised Jaejoong well. He had been wondering for some time why Jaejoong had insisted on signing up for business school; Heechul had been so certain his son's interest was in music - Joongie pushed all his homework away except for music which he always insisted on doing by himself. He later found out that Jaejoong had overheard Heechul's argument with a debt collector over payment, when Heechul was intentionally delaying repayments to keep up the illusion of Kim Holiday Inn being in financial trouble. It was no wonder why Jaejoong had suddenly stopped asking for toys and presents.

Heechul was moved beyond words at his son's sweet gesture, and allowed Jaejoong to continue thinking he was helping the failing hotel. Truthfully, Heechul had more than enough cash to prevent a takeover from Jung Corporation, but Jaejoong had been so eager to defend Kim Holiday Inn that he played along. He had even deliberately gave a stupid speech in the Jung Corp meeting so Jaejoong could shine, but his cute son hilariously echoed his absurd speech. He had thought it would be good for Jaejoong if he felt he could be useful to Heechul, but now Heechul was regretting it. It had led Jaejoong to Jung Yunho, and that idiot Jung had broken his innocent baby son's heart. 


...


"Joongie.." Heechul said while patting his darling son's back. "Don't cry anymore. Do what I say, and Jung Yunho will be begging for you to come back to him."

"Appa... Really?" Jaejoong looked up hopefully.

Heechul smirked. It was back to Appa now. This was a good sign. "Yes my cute son." He said as he tickled the now giggling Jaejoong. "And then Appa will help you test if he's sincere, if he's not you can dump him. Leave it to Appa."

"Appa!" Jaejoong said as he panted breathlessly from the tickle assault. "Tell me what to do to get Yunho back!"

"Well first.." Heechul pulled back and rubbed his chin, looking contemplative. "Revenge. You'll need a fake boyfriend to make him jealous."

Jaejoong frowned slightly. Honestly the plan was starting to sound bad to him already. "Fake boyfriend? But.."

Heechul grabbed the room phone and hit the speed dial to a certain pudgy boy's handphone number.

"Shindong!"

"Shindong?" Jaejoong gaped at Heechul who shushed him.

"Shindong! Get Choi Siwon and come to Joongie's room!"



...


Yunho stood at his suite's balcony, staring down at the neighboring Kim Holiday Inn's glowing lights in the night scenery. Jaejoong, are you still awake? Are you still crying? He wondered silently when his thoughts were interrupted by his phone ringing. His heart sank seeing the too familiar name on the caller screen.

"You screwed up, Yunho." A curt stern voice cut a stark contrast through the otherwise peaceful night.

"I know, father."

"Come back to Jung mansion at once. We'll talk more there."

Yunho knew he didn't have to say goodbye or end the call, his father would have already hung up. He his heel and walked out of the suite, cleared earlier of his and Jaejoong's personal belongings.

...


 

A/N:
Okay.. the cute thing isn't this chap... coming soon okay.. hehe.. and i know u guys miss YunJae, i do too! YunJae will be next chapter ^^

can't wait for 5th Oct TVXQ comeback stage!!!!!