A/N: Just received my pre-u results some time back and I went out to party for a few days, after which I started my uni applications! and i got unexpectedly good grades can i cry now i am so so so so beyond pleased. Anyway, here's an update, and I hope you guys enjoy it! 

Yunho stared at the bottle of water he was currently holding. This could not be happening to him, he thought. Why would this happen?
 

“Yunho-ya, is everything alright?” Jaejoong gently touched Yunho’s arm, drawing the younger out of a trance. Yunho looked startled for a moment before schooling his features to hide the feelings he was currently feeling. Nodding somewhat brusquely to Jaejoong, he stood up quickly to hide his trembling legs and headed to the room he shared with Junsu. He noted vaguely that the noise the younger three had been making had disappeared, and guessed that they were probably discussing their leader’s abnormal behaviour.

“He actually tried to demolish the fridge!” Changmin cried out softly, wanting to vent his feelings but not wanting Yunho to actually hear them.

“What did you see him doing?” Junsu questioned in wonder. Their leader couldn’t have gone off the rail, could he?

“Well, he opened it and started tossing all the food out on to the table!” Changmin continued, recounting the atrocity that he had witnessed. “Then he turned around and saw me, so he stammered out some lame excuse about cooking dinner for us.”

“Wait, what dinner?” Junsu continued asking, bewildered about the events. He was the only one though, as Jaejoong and Yoochun, who were sitting behind him on the couch, could be seen hiding their muffled laughter behind a cushion.

“Oh, that.” Changmin waved dismissively. “He actually cooked a whole table of dishes, but they were really horrible, so I threw them out.”

At this point, Yoochun was unable to contain his laughter any longer and swatted Junsu, who turned around to stare at the Yoo- to his -Su, more confused than ever.

“Oh, dear.” Yoochun composed himself and took Junsu by the shoulders. “Of course Changmin ate it all up. Regardless of what Yunho cooked, it was food after all. And how do you expect our dear maknae to keep his hands away? Good one though, Changmin.”

In the room, Yunho could hear them bickering faintly, and smiled to himself. A weak one, but a smile nonetheless. Sitting upright, he mentally berated himself for being like this. In his mind, a leader was supposed to be the protector of the group. And he was good at that, no doubt. He might not know how to do anything else right, but taking care of people was what he did best.

But she, she said I don’t care anymore. How did she come up with this conclusion? Yunho recalled the last conversation he had had with his now ex-girlfriend.

“You don’t care about me at all! I get that you’re getting famous now, but who am I to you? Just another random stranger trying to you? Just forget it ok, never mind. We’re done here, alright? Go call those sasaengs of yours baby instead ok. Just…. forget it.”

His last image of her had been her storming away in their apartment’s stairwell. Yunho had then sat down and weeped, just like in the dramas. However, unlike the dramas, he was pretty sure she would never come back. In his heart, he knew that he would definitely not end up marrying her. It would not end up with them living happily ever after. He knew that, but experiencing this was another thing altogether.

★★★★★

“Come on, once more!” Yunho placed emphasis on his words. The other band members looked at him, knowing not to retaliate. They were currently stepping on eggshells around him ever since his little episode the night before.

“Jaejoong, your feet are going in the wrong direction!” Yunho whispered softly to Jaejoong. Although he might have been through a rough night, he was not about to take it out on Jaejoong, or the other members for that matter. “Can’t you move them correctly?”

Jaejoong would not admit it to himself, but his heart clenched just slightly at Yunho’s words. Determined not to cause the group to lag behind, he chose to ignore the tingling feeling in his right leg which was going numb, instead focusing on the dance.

Suddenly, he felt as though lightning had shot up from his leg, and he could not help but topple over, allowing his face to meet with the hard wooden floor. Everything went black.

★★★★★

Jaejoong awoke to find himself facing a white ceiling. Remembering what had happened previously, he tried to peer around the bed he was lying on to get a sense of his environment. A sudden pain in his right leg and winced inadvertently. His fingers trailed down to his leg and met with thick bandages instead of flesh. Craning his head upwards, he could make out a door in the corner of the room, along with a small bedside table beside him. Wait, was he in the hospital?

Upon closer observation of the small table, he found that it contained a note that read:

Jaejoong hyung, the doctor said that visiting hours are over so we had to leave. Don't worry though, we'll be back tomorrow! And try not to move your leg around, strict orders from the doctor. Just press the bell if you wake up, the nurse'll be in to take care of you. Take care!

There was no name attached but the messy handwriting told him that Yoochun had written it. Smiling slightly, he gently placed the note on the desk and laid down on his pillow, thinking of his lovely dongsaengs. What nagged at his mind though, was the sound of Yunho reprimanding him for his dance.

The next time he opened his eyes, it was morning and Yunho and Junsu were currently seated on chairs beside his bed. He could hear them discussing about the upcoming promotions.

"... so what do we do now?"

"Can't we postpone the promotion?"

"I asked hyung about it yesterday, he told me he'd try but the chances aren't high."

"We won't promote without him, will we?"

"I hope not, Junsu-ah."

It was then Jaejoong decided he'd heard enough and awkwardly cleared his throat to gain the attention of his band members.

"Oh hey! Jaejoong hyung, you're awake!" Junsu turned his attention towards the older man lying on the hospital bed, looking as if he was ready to give him an enormous bear hug.

"Yeah...." Jaejoong's words shriveled up in his throat as Yunho turned around and gave him an intense look.

"Let me just go and get the doctor," Yoochun, who had been sitting on the couch along the wall. He took off while Changmin came forward to complain about dinner yesterday because "Jaejoong hyung, you didn't make the Kimchijjigae you prooooomised!"

Of course, everything else was forgotten when he heard what his attending doctor had to say, after kicking his band members from the room.

"So basically he's saying that you either choose the surgery that will allow you to promote with us now but will almost definitely give you problems in the future, or choose the surgery that will leave you incapacitated for six months but will definitely heal you completely?” Changmin was nearly bristling with anger as he all but spit out the last words. “That isn’t even a choice!” He continued indignantly. “How could you choose anything else but the second surgery?”

“But.. our promotions,” Jaejoong stuttered feebly, too tired to argue with their maknae.

“I agree with Changmin,” Junsu spoke up, nodding vigorously. “Hyung, your leg is definitely more important than promotions right now!”

Jaejoong lay back as the other three of s fussed over him, talking over one another to get Jaejoong to agree with them. It was actually kind of endearing in a way, Jaejoong thought to himself. But there was Yunho. Yunho had stood back the whole time, eyes looking at the floor.

Finally, when they were leaving for an interview, Yunho lingered for a few seconds in the doorway, and whispered, “I’m sorry,” so fleetingly that Jaejoong almost wondered if it had been an illusion.

★★★★★

. Ms. Refrigerator is our Changmin’s wife, ‘nuff said.

. Jokes aside, Yunho is (supposedly) not a good cook.

. Beatles Code 2, Yunho said his ex-girlfriend dumped him for neglecting her after debut. This was put here because this was the only conceivable place due to timeline issues (you'll see further on)

. I forgot where I read this, but apparently none of his band members knew about this relationship?

. Jaejoong cooks and Changmin eats. Soulfighter babies guise.

. The details about Jaejoong's surgeries are true, and ofc he did the second one in the end cause he wasn't Rising Sun-ing. ):