Jaejoong had his eyes on the orange moon and the stars, his mind blank. Sailor and Blur were flying slowly, circling the same patch of woods, waiting for Jaejoong to come out of his daze. 

Yunho was still sitting in a chair outside when the sound of huge wings reached him. He looked up and smiled at Blur who rapidly reached him.

“Hi there. Where’s your mate?”

Sailor approached then. Yunho watched him with some apprehension. When the huge purple animal landed, his eyes immediately searched for its rider. The dragon was alone. Yunho sighed, unsure if he felt relieved or disappointed. 

The dragons remain quiet but Yunho has no problems sensing how they both feel sorry for him. He almost laughs because he feels sorry for himself as well. With a sad shake of his head he gets up on Blur’s and they take off. He’s not feeling sleepy. He’d much rather spend his night flying into the distance. At least that way he can just look at the changing landscape and allow his mind to remain blank. 

From under the cover of gigantic trees, Jaejoong watches them disappear into the night. He had wanted to check on Yunho unnoticed. Sailor had been against it but he won. Now he did not know what to do exactly. 

Jaejoong walked slowly up to the cottage. Everything felt empty. He could not stop seeing Yunho in his mind. He had almost not recognized him. They knew about depression, however rare it was in Lhara. But Yunho looked much more than depressed. And it was because of him. With an anguished yell, Jaejoong took off blindly running into the trees. 

…

Junsu held Sarah carefully when he jumped down from Mira. He was now an expert at getting on and off his dragon with Sarah in his arms. He loved how well she fitted against him. Not that he would say it out loud. At least he had learned to get his body under control. Most days anyway. It was still difficult to control his reactions to having so near him. He also had no idea if he should improve his control or lose it. He wanted to improve his relationship with Sarah. Desperately wanted to take it a few steps further but was unsure how. He could not count on The Connection to guide him where Sarah was concerned. 

His forehead still smarted a bit where Changmin had hurt him. That brought back the memory of Sarah’s worried eyes on him. Before he knew it, Junsu was kissing her. 
Sarah was caught by surprise. She almost chuckled at that. She should be more than used to by now at how Junsu loved to grab her when she least expected it. She melted a little. The kiss seemed to be full of such sweetness that her heart felt like it would burst. 

Junsu stopped after a while, his eyes shining down at her. With a soft smile he turned and left. No words at all. Sarah sighed. 

-Ahhh, Junsu. You’re hopeless. What am I ever going to do with you? 

…

Sarah stood on her door step until the dragon disappeared out of sight. As she was turning to get inside she hear her name being called. 

-Jaejoong? What are you doing here?

-Hi. Can we talk?

-Sure. Off course. Are you alright? You don’t look so good.

Jaejoong sighed and silently entered the house, all the time looking a little lost and pale. Sarah fixed them some hot chocolate and waited. Jaejoong seemed to finally get his thoughts together and looked at her.

-I needed to talk to someone but… everyone has The Connection to solve everything for them. They don’t really understand how hard this is for me. Not even Lydia understands it hundred per cent. 

-And you thought of me? 

-What’s it like to grow up on Seffren?

-We grow up slowly. You get a crush on a cute boy or girl sometimes even as little kids. You grow out of it. At one point our bodies mature ually and one discovers physical attraction. People will get together. People will separate. Some are lucky and find the right person. Others never seem to stop looking. There isn’t much to help smooth relationships. One has to work on them. 

-So… for you, being with Junsu is nothing unusual?

-It isn’t and it is. I still… I don’t really know yet what is happening between us.

Jaejoong smiled at that, remembering the kiss he had witnessed. He didn’t need any explanation to understand the way Junsu and Sarah had looked at each other. He had felt like an intruder just watching such an intimate moment. 

-I think you’ll work it out. 

Sarah smiled shyly at that. 

-You and Lydia worked things out even after you lost your Connection.

-Yes but we had begun to see each other before that. And we had just met. We were going to have to adapt to each other anyway. I guess we just did it with spoken words. I remember how my sisters did under The Connection. After a little struggle in the beginning, everything else is just smooth. Looks easy. Hell, even Changmin and Yoochun…

-A bit of a surprise, huh?

-Almost greater than Yunho thinking I’m his Linked One.

-Everyone seems to think he’s right.

-I guess he must be. And that’s the problem. How do I do it?

Sarah looked at Jaejoong with a puzzled look. He got up and paced the room back and forth, growing nervous.

-Changmin and Yoochun are under the effects of The Connection. They are still fighting, still getting on each other’s nerves but The Connection pulls them together and makes it work somehow. I highly doubt they were so at ease with each other when they first found out. But… Well… I am no longer under any influence from The Connection. None at all. I do not feel attracted to other people other than Lydia and I have no idea if I would feel attracted to her if we hadn’t met before. 

-Which means you feel nothing for Yunho other friendship and you doubt you ever will.

-Yes! Yes! I… How can I… He’s my friend. That’s how I see him. I never saw him differently. Even after taking the potion I only saw my childhood friend. The one moment I realised he was looking at me differently was just one second before I fell. When I woke up… nothing. 

-But he feels it. Just like Lydia does.

-I know. However I can’t do miracles. Linked One… Oh, Lhara… If I accept him as my Linked One it involves more than just talking and spending time together. I mean… 

-You’re worried about the ual aspect?

Jaejoong blushed. Sarah blushed as well and looked away while trying to explain her opinion.

-Since you’ve taken the potion, your body is ually matured. I can only assume that if you were intended for a link with a man and a woman, that you will be attracted to both. If there is no problems with Lydia, then maybe… ah… there won’t also be any problems with Yunho…

Jaejoong blushed deeper. 

-Look, Jaejoong. I really can’t tell you what to do. I know you are placed in an impossible situation. Yunho can’t choose anyone else if you won’t have him. That’s not how it works. His mind and body will only react to you. But… well… maybe you could try at least talking with him when he returns. If Changmin and Yoochun managed to make it work, and they bickered all the time, then… 

…

Yunho had slept very little. He went to take breakfast with his family and then after it finally used his bracelet to contact Junsu. Finding out that Changmin and Yoochun were back he hurried to meet them at the town centre. 

When he got near them, Yunho froze looking ahead. Junsu had assured him no one would contact Jaejoong and indeed he was nowhere in sight. But he had been expecting them to bring their Linked Ones. Junsu was sitting with Sarah and opposite them were Yoochun and Changmin. Junsu had already told him he was with Sarah, which he found a bit odd but didn’t care to analyse much. However, what wasn’t making sense was seeing his two other friends all alone. Where were their Linked Ones?

Yoochun was the first to sense Yunho’s presence nearby. He looked around and waved at Yunho. Waking up from his surprise he hugged his friends. Immediately he saw the same kind of worried faces that his parents and his sister had been using when looking at him. He tried not to sigh. He could sense a little guilt wave from Junsu that made him aware that he had told the other two about his situation with Jaejoong.

-So, Changmin and Yoochun, where are your Linked Ones?

Yoochun seemed to blush for whatever reason making Yunho confused. Then Changmin placed his arm over Yoochun’s shoulders and smirked. 

-Guess what?

Yunho’s mouth fell open. 

…

Yunho walked back to the cottage. His head was hurting. He could not believe that Changmin and Yoochun were linked. And how effortlessly and easy they made it look. It pained him. He was happy for them but he could not help feel frustrated and angry at the universe. If Jaejoong hadn’t fallen and got hurt, they could be like that as well. It just seemed so unfair.

…

Jaejoong walked from room to room. He had talked with Lydia on their bracelets that morning. He missed her already. He was feeling confused and in need of a hug. His talk with Sarah the night before had helped him a little but now that he had made up his mind he couldn’t seem to find the courage to actually do anything.

…

Changmin and Yoochun sighed, wondering how they could possibly get away from lunch with both their parents. 

-Can’t we just say we’re on a spaceship the other side of the planet?

-I wish, Yoochun. But they know how fast spaceships fly…

-Damn it. You’re not the one who got cornered yesterday with baby questions.

-What?

If Yoochun didn’t feel so miserable he would have actually laughed at Changmin’s shocked face.

-Yes, both my cather and your mather. Their eyes were even shining. And then my own mother wanted to touch my tummy as if she actually expected to feel a baby. 

-Oh, Lhara. 

Changmin whimpered and sat on the ground, not worrying about grass stains. He was already imagining his mather cuddling him and asking him about babies, wanting to rub his belly too. He crossed his arms in a protective gesture.

-Parents… argh!

Yoochun sat down next to him. 

-Yeahhh… parents. Wait… I forgot. 

“Forgot what?”

“They bought me a house. That’s it. We’re moving today to the new house. We have to hurry up and move everything as fast as possible because we start working tomorrow. No time for a big family lunch.”

Changmin blinked at Yoochun and then smiled.

“Good to see you use your brain sometimes.”

Yoochun tried not to but his eyes still rolled a little at Changmin’s comment. He smiled back. They got up and walked ahead in a much better mood, their hands clasped together without them noticing they were doing it. 

…

Yunho was trying to doze off in a chair outside after lunch when a faint noise of hooves entered the clearing. He kept his eyes closed. Horses wandering around was a common thing. A strange feeling strangled his throat but he tried ignoring it. He did not want to think about Jaejoong or his head would start hurting again.

A shadow blocked the sun accompanied by the soft sound of footsteps. Boots on wood. His heart stopped. He knew that sound.

Slowly, very slowly, Yunho forced his eyes to open and the air to fill his lungs. In, out. His eyes showed him a familiar pair of boots. In, out. Long shapely legs in tight jeans. In, out. A thin waist leading to a muscled chest that no one would guess hide under the shirt. In, out. Broad shoulders and a long pale neck. In, out. Jaejooong looking down at him with a closed expression. In, out. 

Yunho tried to continue breathing. His eyes blinked. Now if he could only remember how to talk. His throat felt dry and he didn’t seem to get his mouth to function. 
Jaejoong felt a little trapped even if he had been the one to come all the way to see Yunho. A part of him said this should be easy. They knew each other since they still wore diapers. He took a deep breathe.

-Hi. I’m glad you’re back.

-T-thanks. Yeahh… just returned. 

Yunho got up from the chair as if he had suddenly been bitten.

-Can I get you something?

Jaejoong watched Yunho’s back as he entered the house. His eyes narrowed. Yunho was taller than him. However he looked shorter, somehow. He was hunching. And his expression. Jaejoong ruffled his hair and closed his eyes hard. Yunho looked worse up close than he had seemed at a distance. He could not stand to see him looking like that. His heart thumped in his chest. He had to do something.

…

Their talk progressed slowly and stunted. They were trying to avoid way too many things to be able to converse freely. The atmosphere was awkward and uncomfortable. They would both look at each other when the other was looking away, both of them feeling lost about what to do. 

The afternoon passed away. At some point they fell into silence and it made things easier. They looked up at the sky lost in their own thoughts but never able to ignore each other’s presence.

…

Jaejoong studied Yunho’s face and sighed in defeat. He was still not convinced but his conscience wouldn’t allow him any longer to leave his beloved friend feeling like that. With his decision made up, he silently held Yunho’s hand and softly pulled. The taller man’s eyes flew to his face, a confused question visible in their depth. Jaejoong avoided his eyes and started walking, pulling him along.

Yunho gasped when Jaejoong opened the door to his bedroom and then went dead still when he saw that his friend had closed it. Jaejoong continued avoiding his eyes as he went to stand near the bed and lifted trembling hands to his shirt and started to undo the buttons.

-Jae?

Determined eyes met Yunho’s confused ones. Jaejoong stopped his hands while he allowed Yunho to come to terms with what he had just decided. As realisation slowly dawned on the taller man that he was reading the situation correctly, his eyes changed and unconsciously the same hunger from the day Jaejoong had fell appeared in them. Yunho’s entire body became taunt, his breathing faster. 

Jaejoong forced himself to remain in the same spot and maintain eye contact, reminding himself there was no reason to panic. If he hadn’t panicked that day, they probably wouldn’t be in this mess. This was Yunho; just Yunho; the same Yunho as always. He knew better now, he understood what Yunho was feeling and his conscience pricked him again. Even at a certain distance, even without having no longer any link or connection with his childhood friend, he could almost taste the man’s need for him. Jaejoong wondered how the tall guy had been able to control himself and stay away for so long. He hated being away from Lydia, it drove him nuts even with no Connection pulling him in. How had Yunho dealt with being away? He figured he had his friend’s great sense of honour to thank for that. Any other less patient man might have demanded his rights. Jaejoong breathed deeply as if he couldn’t get enough oxygen. He was starting to understand better how much Yunho had been hurting because of him. He finally closed his eyes for a few seconds, refusing to become scared or give up. The one person whom he had always counted to be there needed him. He had to be able to do this. 

…

For Yunho, Jaejoong had always been like an open book. Right now he could tell easily that his childhood friend was planning on offering him his body as if it was some sort of sacrifice, as if that’s all he wanted from the man that was his Linked One. He wanted so much to refuse, to just turn and walk away.

He couldn’t. His entire being had been craving Jaejoong. Even if all he was going to be allowed to have was a body, to his utter shame, he couldn’t say no. The blood was flowing inside his veins so fast that Yunho was dizzy. His hands clenched and unclenched. He needed to touch, to lay claim, to take Jaejoong, to make him his Linked One. A little voice of sanity warned him that this might be his only chance and that he had to do this right to convince Jaejoong that he was really his Linked One as much as Lydia was. Yunho breathed slowly, trying to regain control of himself. Jaejoong was still watching him wearily, his hands frozen over the row of buttons.

Jaejoong watched as Yunho walked up to him in slow determined steps, always keeping eye contact. The older man swallowed nervously as soon as the taller man was close to him. They hadn’t been this close in a long time and now everything between them was different and awkward. His body shivered just from the heat that he could feel emanating from Yunho. His friend hadn’t touched him yet but he would soon. Jaejoong grew more nervous. Could he really do this?

-You can close your eyes, Jae. Relax. I won’t hurt you, I would never do that. 

Jaejoong took the opportunity and closed his eyes immediately with a small sigh of relief. Maybe not seeing anything would make things easier. He felt bad again. His best friend had been hurting and needing him, yet Yunho had put him first, while he had been selfish and feeling sorry for himself, refusing to consider things from his friend’s perspective. He had even run away from Yunho when he woke up in the hospital and his friend was no longer looking at him as he had all their lives. Jaejoong still remembered how he had suddenly become aware of Yunho’s eyes on him when he was flying. If he hadn’t fallen how different would things be? Would they be like Yoochun and Changmin? 

-It’s just me, Jaejoongie. You are my Linked One. 

The soft worried voice Jaejoong knew so well calmed him a little. Everyone kept telling him that they were a pair and should be together; that he was slowly killing Yunho by forcing him to stay away. Truthfully he couldn’t imagine being away from Lydia, even if he also no longer shared a link with her as well. However, the moment they had kissed he knew it was right and even after his fall, when he kissed her again, it was still right. Could it be the same with Yunho? Would it feel right?

…

Yunho approached carefully, a breath’s distance away of touching Jaejoong who still had his hands in the same position and opened a beautiful pair of watchful eyes on him for a few seconds before closing them again. The tall man wanted to touch his Linked One but something told him that Jaejoong would probably jump out of his own skin if he did that. He wondered again if he had the strength to turn back. Jaejoong’s smell invaded his senses and that was his answer. 

Jaejoong kept immobile, his breath stopped, waiting, dreading. Yunho tilted his head down, closing his own eyes to avoid the image of an unwilling Jaejoong and slowly lowered his lips to meet the soft ones in front of him. Yunho slowly pressed his lips against a bottom lip, just waiting. Jaejoong reacted with a little jump but managed to keep still after that. 

The tall man waited a few more seconds, simply enjoying the contact he had craved for. It felt so right, like he was finally home, finally where he belonged, finally at peace. He moved his lips softly, just feeling the shape of Jaejoong’s mouth. Unexpectedly, the shorter man let out a low whimper and opened his mouth just a little, only enough to capture Yunho’s bottom lip. That little hint of surrender tipped the tall man over the edge and he lost whatever control he still had. 

Yunho put his arms around Jaejoong, pulling the shorter man’s body against his own and hungrily devoured the delicious mouth. The little muffled sounds from Jaejoong only made Yunho hum in satisfaction, too lost in the blissful feeling of finally touching and kissing his Linked One. 

Jaejoong had a moment of panic when the tall man started to be more eager just when he was starting to relax. However, since his friend didn’t stop, he had to calm down again and try to wait until Yunho himself calmed down. Jaejoong thought that was hardly going to happen. He was starting to fully realise just how hungry for him Yunho was. It was as if the man had been starving. His guilty conscience pricked at him. It was his fault that his friend was this out of control and that they were both feeling so lost. 

…

Jaejoong tried to distract himself by taking note of every little detail. He felt incredibly small in Yunho’s arms, yet he also felt protected and safe, which was rather strange. Then he reminded himself that he had always felt like that near Yunho. He had been hugged before, just not so close and certainly he had never been aware of the other man’s body. The Connection was gone however, and, just like it happened with Lydia it was mostly his body that reacted and took notice of things. Things that would have escaped him before he had started to feel The Connection and that he couldn’t escape noticing even now that he was no longer under its effects. 

Jaejoong couldn’t avoid feeling ual awareness at having Yunho’s strong body touching him everywhere. And he had not expected that reaction. Worse, he couldn’t deny that he was starting to enjoy the desperate kisses. Yunho’s lips were so different. The bottom lip was luscious and plump; it actually felt really good to trap it between his own teeth and lips. The stubble was irritating his softer skin but the occasional scratch caused shivers to his senses. His neck complained a little due to the height difference. Still there was a big hand with long fingers on his nape and whenever those fingers moved a millimetre or changed the pressure, he almost wanted to moan.

It was only when Jaejoong realised that Yunho’s other hand had started to undo the remaining buttons that he took notice of what was happening, opening his eyes with a start. He still had his hands on his chest where he had forgotten them. His mouth apparently had developed a mind of its own because he couldn’t stop himself moving it against Yunho’s mouth. 

Every undone button sent cold air into contact with his skin but it was Yunho’s warm had grazing him that finally tore a moan from his throat.

-Oh, Lhara! Joongie, Jonngie… I can’t stop. Please don’t ask me to stop. I need you so much. 

If Jaejoong had considered saying anything, Yunho’s muffled voice and breath against his neck, the barely there scratches from the man’s stubble, and the pleading words made sure to remove any such idea from his mind. In fact, Jaejoong stopped being able to think and found himself lost to the sensations, simply putting his arms around Yunho’s shoulders in surrender. 

The taller man noticed the change and his heart sang with happiness. Carefully he moved them the few steps to the bed and laid Jaejoong softly, never leaving the man’s mouth and neck.

…





.......................................................................

/shows tongue/
I am sorry to cut away just there... just when it was getting all nice and warm and hot but...
I'm focusing on their feelings and that leaves no brain cells for an actual scene. The one with Yoomin the other day is as far as I'll get in this fic, I guess. 
I understand it's a bit frustrating. If I was reading someone else's story I'd be cursing right now.
Anyway, I really hope you girls liked the Yunjae new development. Did I surprise you?