Jaejoong left Yunho's room feeling pretty proud of himself. He'd won the first battle, and head held high he pranced down the hall, turned left into the living room, and happily plopped himself down on the couch. The remote laid beside him, and he picked it up to turn on the Television.

Jaejoong tried to entertain himself with some crime show, but it only annoyed him. Probably because it was mid- and he didn't feel like catching up. So he flipped a few stations and found a cooking show. Smiling contently, he threw the remote back on the couch, not bothering to look where it landed.

Jaejoong threw random comments at the lady on the screen. "You're doing that wrong." He said angrily. "It's supposed to be diced, not sliced." She was obviously unfit to host a cooking show, in Jaejoong experienced opinion. He wasn't enjoying himself in the least, his mind still wandering to Yunho and if he'd really listened to him.

A while later, bored with watching the stupid show, Jaejoong got up to go ask Yunho what he wanted for lunch. Kind of his way of making up. Jaejoong was just too nice, he couldn't leave any sort of argument on bad terms, he'd heard it was a bad habit to get into.

He tapped on the door to Yunho's bedroom gently a few times, receiving no answer. "Yunho?" He called out in a confused voice. Jaejoong felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach and he twisted the door knob hard, swinging it open to reveal an empty room. Self comforting thoughts like ; 'He could be in the bathroom', and 'Maybe he's hiding', scampered around his head. Realization kicked in when directly across the room his eyes caught sight of the open window, and rage boiled in his blood. Such a spoiled brat.

"Dammit." Jaejoong cursed softly and stomped out of the room. Yunho had not listen to him, and Jaejoong found it astonishing that he was even surprised. He guessed the act of kindness the past day had made him believe Yunho was better than he actually was. That was a major mistake.

Yunho was just like a little kid, not listening to anybody. Doing whatever he found self pleasing. Thinking the world belongs to him, and everything must go his way. Yeah, it was all there, and it made Jaejoong furious. He went to the kitchen to get the home phone and call Mr. Jung. He ignorantly hadn't gotten Yunho's number yet.

"Hello?" A hard voice answered after a few rings. Jaejoong recognized it as the old mans.

"Mr. Jung," He said softly, and heard shuffling from the other end of the phone line. "Yunho left the house to go partying with his friends. I told him not to go but he did. Out the window when I left, and I-"

"Jaejoong." Mr. Jung stopped him in the middle of his explanation. "Talk slower. What happened?"

Jaejoong was too angry to talk slower. He tried to calm himself with deep breaths and concentrate on what he was saying. "Yunho wanted to go clubbing earlier and I told him no. I told him if he went, I was going too, and he agreed on staying. When I went to go watch T.V, he took to leaving out of his window. It was open when I went to ask what he wanted for lunch." He took a large inhale of breath and continued to explain. "I'm sorry, Mr. Jung. I thought he understood. I thought he was going to stay. I didn't know he could-"

"It's alright, boy." Mr. Jung's voice interrupted Jaejoong mid-sentence for the second time, but Jaejoong wasn't bothered any. "He's done it to me before, too."

A short, almost inaudible sigh came from Jaejoong. "I just.. I don't have his number."

"I'll call him." Mr. Jung laughed. "He probably wouldn't answer you anyway."

Jaejoong almost smiled. He would of if he wasn't so mad. "Thank you, Mr. Jung. I won't let it happen again."

"OK, I trust you." Mr. Jung answered. "I have to go now, Jaejoong."

"OK."

Jaejoong's finger pressed the end button. He placed the wireless phone back on it's receiver and tried to remain calm.

"Stupid moron." He muttered.

~~~

The smell of spices wafted through the entire house. Jaejoong smiled happily, proud of his creation. He stirred the stew a little before taking out the utensil. The sound of keys rattling caught his attention and Jaejoong turned to watch the door from the kitchen, glaring. Yunho, dressed nicely in a dark shaded pair of jeans, and a black T shirt to match, walked in with a big frown plastered on his face.

"You're home." The smaller man scoffed, turning back to his stew and stirring it again.

"You called my father." Yunho shot back. He sounded angry, no doubt he was.

Jaejoong shrugged. "You snuck out."

"Alright enough with stating the obvious." Yunho growled as he stared at Jaejoong. "Why the hell did you call my father? Do you know what he's going to do to me?"

"Chain you to a wall, and make you eat strawberry jelly out of a dead chicken's head?" Jaejoong tried, sarcastically.

An angry sigh came from the tan boy standing close to the counter. "I'm serious!" He yelled, making the smaller of the two jump from the sudden change in volume.

"It's your fault." Jaejoong accused, keeping his cool. He hummed quietly while he stood over his stew, seeming to be unbothered. Oh, but he was.

"I hate you." Yunho said in a low voice, catching Jaejoong off guard. It was laced with acid, and it made Jaejoong's stomach churn. He could feel the sincerity of Yunho's words and it felt so... cold. It almost hurt, Jaejoong had never heard kind of pure hatred direct so strongly at him. He turned around and saw tears b in Yunho's eyes.

"I hate you." Yunho repeated in a louder voice, making Jaejoong wince slightly. "I hate you, and everything's about you! I hope you die!"

Yunho stared at him for a moment longer, a long and excruciating moment before he back away from the room. Jaejoong stood, watching in a trance. He knew running after Yunho would be stupid so he didn't. But he couldn't swallow the guilt rising in his chest. Had calling Yunho's father been a bad idea? Why was Yunho crying?

Jaejoong heaved a sigh and decided to try and go talk to the boy. Though as much as he didn't want to, he felt sorry for him. He turned of the burner under his pot of stew and left the kitchen.

The walk down the hall seemed longer than it should be. The house seemed quieter than normal. Spooky. But he got to the door and knocked, though he knew it was a wasted effort. From the emotion Yunho just showed he probably had the door locked with his dresser pushed in front of it.

"Yunho." His voice almost held no volume. For one, he was nervous. Two, he was scared. And three, most of all, guilty for whatever had made Yunho cry.

Of course no answer came from the room, and for a moment, Jaejoong thought Yunho had escaped through the window again. That was a high possibility. But he heard moving from inside, and an unexpected relieved sigh left his lips.

"Yunho." He said with a louder voice. Jaejoong knocked on the door a few times.

"Go away." Yunho said, barely loud enough for Jaejoong to hear. But he did. Yunho sounded chocked. On what? Tears? Jaejoong's stomach was dying in knots.

Worry filled Jaejoong's gut entirely. "Yunho, I want to come in." He said louder. This obviously wasn't just something he could let go. Yunho wasn't one to just... cry. He realized that when he first laid eyes on the man. This had to be something a lot more serious than Jaejoong really knew if he was ready for.

Yunho was quiet for a moment, only muffled sniffles able to be heard through the wooden door. Was he crying really hard, or just man tears? Jaejoong banged on the door.

Shuffling came from the room, something heavy moved across the floor, and then surprisingly the door swung open. Yunho stood covering his eyes. "What?"

Jaejoong didn't know what to say to that. "I-I want to talk to you." He stuttered.

Yunho didn't bother answering, and walked back to his bed. He buried his shaking self under his covers and snuggled his face into the pillows. Just like a little kid. But Jaejoong's heart thumped. Wait... What?

Not sure what to do, Jaejoong walked into the room and softly shut the door behind him. He stood watching Yunho with his back pressed against the door door.

"I thought you wanted to talk." The taller boy said, muffled. It brought Jaejoong back from his trance and he cleared his throat.

"Right."

He walked to Yunho's bed and stood beside it, waiting for an invitation to sit down. It didn't come.

"Speak." Yunho barked, angry. His face was still smashed tightly against a lime green pillow, but his words were clear and straight forward. Jaejoong didn't have a lot of time before he was kicked out of the room.

"Um.." Jaejoong racked his brain for a well worded apology. He decided on something simple. "I'm sorry." He thought he heard Yunho scoff, but he wasn't sure. Wouldn't be too far-fetched if he had though. Jaejoong felt like an .

"Yunho, I don't know what your father is going to do. I'm sorry that whatever it is is making you so upset. But he asked me to straighten you out, and I can't take that for granted." Jaejoong waited for Yunho to cut in. But nothing came from him, except for maybe another scoff.

"You snuck out to go clubbing. Why?"

Yunho rose into a sitting position and stared Jaejoong dead in the eyes. His eyes were puffy and red from crying, and Jaejoong felt himself wincing at the sight. His heart thumped loudly again, almost painfully. Again?

"I didn't go to the club." Yunho said. His words were ice.

Confusion filled the space around Jaejoong and he blinked ignorantly at Yunho, coking his head to the side. "Then where did you go?" His eyes were still locked with Yunho's, and he could see sadness replacing the anger, much to Jaejoong's bittersweet surprise.

"I went to see my mom."

Jaejoong squinted his eyes, trying to decipher the information. "Why didn't you just tell me?" He asked. Wasn't that a perfectly normal thing to do. Suddenly Jaejoong was wondering why he hadn't met Yunho's mom. Where was she and why did this guy speak so sadly of her?

Yunho looked away, down at the sheets on his bed. His hands became occupied with crinkling the blankets, eyes veered as far away from Jaejoong's as they could be. "Because," He said in a low whisper. It almost sounded like he was whimpering. "I'm not allowed to see my mom."

Jaejoong frowned, his eyebrows creased. "Why?"

"Because my father doesn't like her."

"Did she do something bad?"

Yunho looked up at Jaejoong again, his eyes filled with tears. "Yeah. She died."