“Okaa-san,” Changmin greeted, pulling a chair out and sat down.

Ayumi Shim used a napkin and patted it on her lips to absorb the tea that lingered there.

“Why did you call me here for?” Changmin asked. His mother never requested to meet him when she knew he was at the headquarters. The women of the Shim family knew that work came first in all agendas.

Ayumi regarded her son. Sitting in front of her was a very handsome young man, very tall, with features resembling both her husband and her, those reasons why she loved her son so much. One loves one’s own children because those children were the mix of them and the one they love most in life. For that reason, Changmin had always been a little boy to pamper in her mind. She had never really realized how grown up he had become.

Until now.

“Changmin-san, your ojii-sama is coming next week.” She said simply.

“Oh,” Changmin blinked. His grandfather rarely went out of Japan. He even rarely went out of his own mansion. Changmin’s grandfather of the maternal side was a powerful businessman and got everything in control just by staying behind the curtains. So if he was to come to Korea, it must mean serious business.

“He comes to see you,” Changmin’s mother said. In contrast with her even, calm voice, the next piece of information came like a hit. “He is putting your name as the one inheriting most of the Japanese coglomerate.”

Changmin kept quiet.

In this one year alone, so many things had happened. Now there was this. Changmin was not ready to shoulder all the burdens that were falling on him now. While he knew how the Shim group worked, the Japanese side of his family, the Tasaki clan, had always been a mystery. They were different from the Shim group in both fields and work ethics, and Changmin was just not sure how this was happening, why his grandfather chose him to be the heir also. People might thought that being heir to a giant power group was some good thing but it was not that easy. To have the lives of so many people, the traditions, the fame of the whole family relying on you alone, these are really a lot and too much.

“Why me?” He utterred, feeling stifled.

Ayumi sipped her tea. “Your uncle Takahiro is not suited to take up the business. Then I am a woman and anyway am not familiar with business either. Ojii-san has been looking at your progress and he thinks you’re good enough. So there you are.”

“Can we do anything about it?” Changmin said with difficulty.

“Changmin-san,” Ayumi looked at her son straight in the eyes, “Is running away from responsibilities what you’ve been taught all your life?”

Changmin let out a heavy breath. In that moment, he suddenly thought of Junsu. But even this didn’t help to calm his mind. If anything, this new development only meant the distance between him and Junsu was again widened.

As if she could read Changmin’s mind, Ayumi’s voice was heard. “You and that pianist boy must be close, am I right?”

Changmin looked at her mother. “Yes,” said he, carefully.

“It was the first time you’ve brought someone to Kiku-ya.” Kiku-ya was the name of there Japanese summer house, because there were a lot of chrysanthemums there, those favorite flowers of Changmin’s okaa-san’s.

For a while after that, none of them spoke anything. Until finally Ayumi stood up. “Prepare well to greet your ojii-sama, Changmin-san. Take care.” With that, she departed. A white limousine was already outside, waiting for her.

Changmin sat at the table for a while more. His mother had mentioned Junsu. It must mean something also.

All of a sudden, Changmin felt enervated. Nevertheless, he stood up in the end, walked back to the headquarters, only a few blocks away.

Junsu was sight-reading a piano concerto, when he heard the doorbell ring. It was 11pm already, Junsu wondered who it might be.

His eyes opened widely upon seeing Changmin.

“Hey Junsu,” Changmin said with a smile on his lips, “I’m homeless now, would you pity me and take me in?”

Junsu blinked. His eyes travelled to Changmin’s hands.

It was incredible at most. No homeless person would carry around such a big bouquet of beautiful, expensive roses like Changmin was doing. “Oh, these are to bribe you,” Changmin grinned, handing Junsu the flowers. They were an armful.

“My Ilsan house was sold,” answered Changmin, gesturing to the big travel bag he had on his shoulder with the continued smile, “I’m really homeless.”

Junsu frowned. He didn’t know what Changmin meant. But Changmin knew it. He smiled secretly as he recalled what had happened in the afternoon.

“Hey Kyu,” Changmin tapped his pen on the pile of documents in front of him, mouth calling his cousin, who was sitting and read Conan in his office.

“Hmm?” answered Kyuhyun. But not really an answer.

“Do you have 1000 won there?”

Kyuhyun eyed his cousin from the corners of his eyes. Was the Shim heir implying that he had not even 1000 won?

“Quick, give me 1000 won,” urged Changmin. Kyuhyun sighed as he walked over, taking from his wallet 1000 won to give Changmin.

“There. Now you own my Ilsan apartment.”

Kyuhyun looked shocked. “What?”

“You’ve been asking me to sell it to you for years. I don’t like it anymore now so I sell it to you.”

“For 1000 won?” Kyuhyun couldn’t understand what his cousin was thinking.

“Yeah,” Changmin said easily, while signing on a paper he just got printed out. It was to say that the apartment now belonged to Cho Kyuhyun.

After all, one way or another Changmin would have to get rid of the Ilsan apartment. As long as it was there, he knew the painful memories would be there and prevent Junsu and him from getting together. But he’d rather give it to his cousin rather than to make money with it.

Plus, he needed an excuse to get close to Junsu. He realized, as small and old as it was, Junsu’s apartment was where he felt most belonged to now, because there lived the one he loved. It was the only place in which he could find comfort now.

Junsu looked at the flowers. Red roses were Changmin’s favorite flowers and the heir had excellent taste in them indeed. The flowers in Junsu’s arms were beautiful, each one was half the size of his hand, blood red and so fresh he could imagine water like blood rushing inside each of their cells.

When he was staring, Changmin walked past him to get into the apartment. “Aish, I’ve been missing this,” the heir strectched his long arms, and they almost touched the ceiling. “I’m hungry,” he whined next.

Junsu just closed the door. When he walked in, Changmin was not in the living room. Instead, Junsu heard some sounds from the kitchen, so Junsu walked towards that direction. Going in, he only saw Changmin’s long legs, as the upper part of his body was bent down as the tall man looked for something in the lower cupboards.

A minute after, Changmin took out a big pack of rice noodles. Next he rampaged the kitchen for meat and onions. “Are you hungry Junsu-ya? I’m hungry. So hungry, hungry, hungry,” the hair chanted. A minute later he put a pan on the stove. “Aish,” he exclaimed after accidentally touched the hot part on the stove.

Junsu rushed over. Forgetting he was still in the state of Cold War with Changmin, he caught the latter’s hand, examined it. He then quickly pulled Changmin to the sink and put Changmin’s finger unde the running water.

Seeing the cute frown on Junsu’s face, Changmin felt so warm, and a smile went without him knowing to his lips. “I’m fine,” he said. Despite wanting to be taken care by Junsu, he didn’t have the heart to see Junsu worry.

Junsu looked up and suddenly was caught in Changmin’s gaze. The pianist looked away, dropping Changmin’s hand down. He walked away to the stove to avoid Changmin’s eyes.

But he had barely put the chopped onions into the oil when Changmin caught his hands. “Let me,” Changmin said. “I want to do everything for you,” he added, with lower voice, some seconds later when confronted by Junsu’s questioning gaze.

Changmin smiled, turning away as he saw Junsu’s eyes sticking on him. He got to the pan and the stove to take care of the food. First pan-fried the onions, then put the chopped chicked with salt and black peppers in, then added water. When it boiled, put in the noodles and let it shimmer, until finally he put in vegetables. He didn’t forget adding chilli sauce at the end.

It was the noodle soup Junsu had made Changmin the night the heir had run away from home after defying his abeonim.

Junsu was confused. Since when had Changmin learned how to cook? And he was very exact in putting things in order and right amounth, when we’re at that.

It was like Changmin could read Junsu’s thought, because the heir said, “I learned to make it. It always reminds me of you. When you were away I made it everyday, just to pretend you were there.”

Junsu was stunned.

A minute later they were having noodles at the low table of the living room. Their black shadows were moving with them on the orangely lit walls.

At night, Changmin went to Jaejoong’s old bedroom to sleep on the futon there. But actually he couldn’t sleep. The familiar air of the apartment was all around him. But it couldn’t calm the unsettling feelings in his heart. Junsu was just a wall away from him, but Changmin knew the distance between them was much more than that. It had even just been made farther.

For a moment, Changmin feared they would never be able to overcome this distance.

End 53

Isn't this baby pretty? *cries*