A/N: Hi, everyone! I am so, so, so sorry for not updating this for about 3 months now. I'm a bad author, I know it T_T

I swear, I had the first half of this chapter finished months ago, but God... I just couldn't find the "inspiration" to finish it. I was hit by a really long case of writer's block with all my stories, to be honest. Or I can also just be honest and say that my "writing mood" was killed.

Anyway, assuming I still have any readers left for this story, here's the next chapter.

Sorry again, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. I made it long and eventful to make up for the long wait? :)

“I miss you! How much longer are you planning to continue this?! It’s been forever since you started this plan!”

“Boo, it’s barely been two months,” Yunho sighed wearily.

Every time he and Jaejoong got a chance to speak in private, which was very rare nowadays since Yunho was always with Erin, the secret couple had just been spending their time “discussing” their current situation.

And sure, it’s only been about six and a half weeks since Yunho and Erin “got together”, but every passing day had felt like a thousand years instead for Jaejoong. It tore Jaejoong’s heart every time he saw Yunho and Erin hug. And kiss. And smile sweetly at each other. And spend most of their free time together.

And it hurt Jaejoong even more when he thought about how when it was with him that Yunho was doing these exact same things, it always had to be in situations where not even a single soul was anywhere near them. But, when it came to Erin now, Yunho went all out with the ‘public’ part of ‘PDA’. Even Erin sometimes looked a bit embarrassed with how affectionate Yunho was towards her in front of others.

Of course, Jaejoong knew that Yunho was especially making sure that everybody saw how “affectionate” he was towards Erin, because the whole point of his plan was to leave his father having no doubts that he was straight, after all.

But even if Jaejoong knew that it was all just a show, it still hurt to see.

Because seeing Erin and Yunho as a couple seemed to taunt him with the very thing he wanted with Yunho. For their relationship to be public. For them not be hidden anymore. Yet it was starting to seem to Jaejoong that this might be something that he could never have with Yunho.

Because Jaejoong wasn’t a girl.

Sure, Yunho loves him, but since he wasn’t a girl, he couldn’t be someone that Yunho would proudly show-off to everyone and announce to the world as his.

And now here he was, “talking” with Yunho by their lockers in a deserted hallway after school, trying to figure out whether he should act on his understanding-secret-lover side or his I-am-hurting-like-hell-right-now-with-what-you’re-doing side.

“I miss you, Yunnie,” Jaejoong whispered brokenly, his eyes starting to tear up.

Yunho, who had been looking a bit annoyed a while ago, softened up at this. “I know, Joongie. Believe me, I miss you, too. So, so much…”

“You spend too much time with her,” Jaejoong pouted.

This had Yunho rolling his eyes again. “I’m not spending ‘too much’ time with Erin, Boo. I’m spending just enough time with her. I mean, she’s my girlfriend, after all.”

“And I’m your boyfriend! The real person you’re actually in a relationship with!” Jaejoong couldn’t help but retort childishly.

Well, it was childish in Yunho’s eyes, at least.

“You know that situation we’re in right now, Joongie,” Yunho sighed exasperatedly, rubbing his face with his hand roughly. “To everyone else, I’m really in a relationship with Erin instead, and I need to maintain that image. You know that there can be no room for doubt…”

“Yunnie, you know how much I don’t like this ‘situation’…” Jaejoong’s voice cracked. He was unable to stop his emotions, his pain, from letting themselves known in his voice.

“I know, Boo. But just give it more time…”

“How much longer, exactly?!”

“As long as necessary.”

“What kind of answer is that?!” Jaejoong demanded. Because it sounded to him like Yunho was just giving vague time limits that would just keep him hanging. He wouldn’t even give a definite time period of how long he was planning to go on with his ‘brilliant’ plan!

“Jae, I need to keep up appearances, and-!”

“Yunho oppa!”

Yunho broke off abruptly as Erin suddenly appeared behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and giving him a back hug.

“Erin,” Yunho greeted her, putting on a sweet and tender smile on his face that just made Jaejoong’s heart shatter all over again. Even if he knew that Yunho was just faking it, it still hurt him badly to see Yunho looking at someone else that way.

“Oppa, I’ve been looking for you! You said we were going somewhere special after school today, and-“ Erin then noticed that Jaejoong was also there.

“Oh, hi, Jaejoong oppa!” Erin smiled brightly at Jaejoong as she removed her arms from Yunho and made to stand beside him so that she could face Jaejoong properly.

Jaejoong did his best to smile genuinely back at her. After all, as he constantly reminded himself, none of the hurt that he was feeling because of this situation was her fault. Erin was much as a victim of this as Jaejoong was, if not more.

“Hi, Erin,” Jaejoong said. “I haven’t had the chance to talk to you in a while. Yunho’s been keeping you all to himself lately…”

Yunho shot Jaejoong a warning look at that, but Erin didn’t notice this and she just laughed easily. “You can always just hang out with us anytime, you know that, right, oppa?”

‘Not bloody likely,’ Jaejoong thought to himself. He didn’t really fancy having to watch how lovey-dovey they were any more than he had to. He just wasn’t a masochist that way.

Of course, he couldn’t really tell Erin that, so he just smiled at her blandly.

“What were you two doing here, anyway?” Erin continued, asking Yunho and Jaejoong. “Almost everybody’s out of the school building already.”

That had Yunho and Jaejoong looking at each other uneasily. Then, they both started at the same time.

“I was just helping Yunho-“

“Jaejoong was just finishing-“

Yunho and Jaejoong both trailed off at the weirded out look that Erin was giving them.

“Okaaay…” she said skeptically. Then, it seemed like something just clicked in her brain. “Oh! I’m sorry, I just interrupted something, didn’t I? When I arrived? I’m so sorry!” Erin apologized.

“It’s okay,” Yunho said quickly. “What Jaejoong and I were talking about wasn’t anything important.”

Jaejoong wanted to hit Yunho and at him for saying that their previous conversation wasn’t important, and if Erin wasn’t with them right now, he totally would have. Of course, he knew why Yunho was just saying that to Erin, but still…

Erin shook her head at Yunho. “It’s okay, oppa. I’ll leave you two to have your ‘guy talk’ and all that. You need to spend time with Jaejoong oppa, too, after all, since he’s your best friend. I’ll just wait for you outside by the front gates, okay?”

“Okay,” Yunho sighed. Then, he smiled sweetly at her and cooed, “You’re the most understanding girlfriend ever, you know.”

Jaejoong felt nauseous and wanted to vomit at this.

But then, Yunho pressed another long, searing kiss on Erin’s mouth.

Right in front of Jaejoong.

Again.

And Jaejoong went from feeling sick to feeling brokenhearted.

Again.

When Yunho finally let her go, Erin was quite red on the face. “Uhm, er- o-okay, then. I’ll see you later, Yunho oppa,” she managed to stutter out, flushed from Yunho’s kiss. “See you around, too, Jaejoong oppa,” she added, giving Jaejoong a small smile, before she turned around to leave the two of them alone again.

The moment Erin’s back was out of sight, Jaejoong turned to Yunho with pain quite obvious in his eyes.

“Please don’t give me that look, Boo…” Yunho sighed heavily, knowing what Jaejoong was silently trying to tell him. He looked around quickly to make absolutely sure that no one else was there, before he rubbed his hands on Jaejoong’s arms in an attempt to comfort him.

“I’ll look at you how ever I feel like looking at you! Must you really keep on kissing her like that in front of me!” Jaejoong hissed, trying to stop the tears welling in his eyes from actually flowing down his cheeks.

“Jae, I keep telling you that it will look suspicious if I don’t kiss my own girlfriend,” Yunho said, exasperated once again. It looks like they were back to arguing about this again, doesn’t it?

“Suspicious, my ! And if you really have to kiss her, must it always be that way?! It looked like you were about to her face off! And you most certainly don’t have to do it in front of me! I’m hurting enough as it is! And…”

Yunho just rolled his eyes as Jaejoong carried on ranting at him. Dealing with a hurt and jealous Kim Jaejoong was something that Yunho wasn’t particularly fond of doing.

After Erin had left her boyfriend and his best friend to talk, she headed off to stand by the front gate to wait for Yunho there. She had only been waiting alone for a few minutes when she heard her name being squealed from behind her.

“Erin! Erin! ERIN!”

Erin turned around to see Junsu running up to her, all smiles and followed closely by her best friend Changmin.

“Hi, guys!” she greeted them happily. As much as she was happy that she was finally with the person she had been crushing on for so long, she was also feeling a bit regretful and quite a lot guilty that she hadn’t been spending that much time with her own friends anymore.

“What are you two up to?” Erin asked as they reached her.

“Oh, I was just about to head off straight home. We have that big quiz on Math tomorrow, and I really need to study, since the lesson’s really hard,” Junsu said, an extremely worried look replacing his previously happy one.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll do fine,” she immediately tried to reassure her duckbutt friend. “And if you don’t, I’m sure I’ll be there failing along with you, anyway,” she added with a wry smile.

“Speaking of that Math quiz, do you want to go to the ice cream parlor now or just meet up with me there later?” Changmin asked her.

It had been their tradition since forever that whenever they would have a quiz in Math, they would go to the ice cream parlor in their neighborhood to study. And, of course, to have lots of ice cream treats, so they would at least have something to enjoy and their brains won’t explode from all the numbers and equations.

Erin’s heart sank a bit at her best friend’s question. Oh, dear.

“Erm, Min… I-I can’t exactly… go with you to study this time…” she mumbled quietly, looking away from Changmin.

“What?!” Changmin and Junsu said in unison, both of them very shocked.

“But you always go with Changmin! No matter what!” Junsu pointed out. Going to the ice cream parlor to study for Math was one of those special things that Erin and Changmin shared. Always. Even if it was storming. Even if one of them had to sneak out because they had been grounded and had to stay at home. Even if there was important group meeting that they had to skip. Neither of them had ever failed to keep up with their tradition.

So, Junsu couldn’t understand why Erin was suddenly saying she couldn’t go. What was going on?

“I’m so sorry, Min… it’s just that… well, your brother told me we were going somewhere after classes today,” she explained apologetically. “That’s why I was standing here, actually. I’m waiting for him.”

‘So, that’s why,’ both Changmin and Junsu thought.

“You’re going out with Yunho hyung today? But what about our Math quiz? Aren’t you going to study for it?” Junsu asked, concerned. Also, he chose to ask about this instead of focusing on the fact that Erin was breaking her tradition with her best friend to be with her boyfriend. He thought it would be much less awkward this way.

“I’m going to study later tonight whe