A/N: Hey all! Back from a work-related hiatus to do an OT5 prompt for Chusna Hopefully I can still continue to write some more after this, I miss my Yunjae shippers! Enjoy~

 

HOME IS WHERE LOVE IS WAITING

 

“I’d just like to say,” Jaejoong said, setting the oven temperature with one hand and stirring the kimchi jjigae boiling on the stove top with the other, “that you guys didn’t do this for me when I was discharged.”

 

“Yes, hyung,” Changmin said drily. “And where exactly were we when that happened?”

 

“Still in service,” he grumbled. “But you could have at least called a florist so I had something from you guys when I got back.”

 

“Don’t act like your other friends didn’t throw a party for you, we’ve all seen the Instagram pictures,” Yoochun said, tying the bottom of the balloon he’d blown up into a neat bow. “Besides, it’s not like you threw a special party for Yunho hyung when he got out.”

 

“Something else probably got thrown at hyung,” Changmin snorted.

 

“Jaejoong hyung’s body.”

 

“At a record breaking velocity.”

 

“Oh, shut up,” Jaejoong said. Not that it wasn’t true.

 

Even though he was whining, Jaejoong was excited at the prospect of the party they were still preparing for. It had been his idea to throw Junsu a surprise Congrats-On-Your-Discharge bash, which had taken a full month of secret planning with Junho to set in place. Junho had scored them the key to Junsu’s house so they could sneak in to decorate before Junsu arrived back from his graduation ceremony and early afternoon party with his family members. He and Yoochun had originally been scheduled to meet Junsu directly at the base (“Think of the photo-op!” one of their managers had said), but he’d wanted to arrange something more private. Something where Changmin and Yunho could also be free to come.

 

“Where is Yunho, anyways?” Jaejoong asked, double checking the stove temperature. He had a lot of different food items cooking at once, but he couldn’t actually trust anyone else to help. Yoochun and Changmin were both on balloon and decoration duty, and he was already worried enough as it was that they’d break something on his watch.

 

Right on a cue, he heard a crash from the TV room. “He’s in there,” Changmin said, helpfully.

 

“Well, go check on him! And let him know if he breaks anything, I swear to God—“

 

“He’ll be soundly punished, got it, got it.” Changmin tossed a balloon pump at Yoochun. “Take care of this, will you?”

 

“So he says as if I haven’t blown up about 75% of the balloons in this room without the pump, which he’s been hogging,” Yoochun grumbled when Changmin was out of earshot.

 

“You let him get away with it,” Jaejoong pointed out.

 

“Yeah, well. Being pushed around by military personnel was nothing like being pushed around by Changmin. I kinda missed it.”

 

“Masochist.”

 

“You are the absolute last person on this planet I want to hear that coming from.”

 

Jaejoong smiled and shook his head. “It will be good to have everyone back, though. It feels like I’ve been out for ages, and now we’re finally going to all be together again.”

 

“Junsu always was the one getting left behind.”

 

“He probably wanted to get rid of all of us so he could hang out with his girlfriend.”

 

Yoochun snorted. “Well. He doesn’t get to tonight. He can thank us for that later.”

 

“It’ll be worth it. Have you ever met a woman who could cook as well as me?”

 

“Will you kill me if I say yes?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Then no. I haven’t.”

 

Yunho poked his head into the room. “I moved the couch.”

 

“Did you also break the couch?” Jaejoong asked, setting down his spoon.

 

“Um. My hand slipped. Couch is fine. I don’t recommend trying to move it with one person next time.”

 

“You tried to move his massive leather couch by yourself?”

 

“I was the only one you put on furniture duty.”

 

“That didn’t mean you weren’t allowed to ask anyone for help.” Jaejoong shook his head in amazement. “Seriously.”

 

Yunho shrugged indifferently then sidled up next to him at the kitchen. “Smells good.”

 

“Of course. I made it.”

 

“Am I allowed to sample?”

 

“No.”

 

Yunho wrapped his arms around Jaejoong’s back, snuggling his face into the crook of his neck. “Please?”

 

“No…”

 

A kiss was added this time. “Pretty please?”

 

“Say yes to him before I vomit,” Changmin commented, reentering the room. 

 

Jaejoong sighed, digging his spoon into the stew and passing it to Yunho. Yunho slurped it up, letting out a satisfied hum. That was one thing about Yunho—no matter how annoying his begging for food got, at least he was extremely complimentary when he received it.

 

“This is too good for Junsu,” Yunho said. “We should eat it all before he gets here.”

 

“After all that cafeteria issued food he’s been eating?” Yoochun asked. “Harsh.”

 

“He’s already getting a cake. Does he need all this, too? Especially since he’s already having brunch before coming this evening.”

 

“Let the poor kid live a little,” Jaejoong advised.

 

“You didn’t do this for me when I was discharged.”

 

“No. But I’m pretty sure what I gave you was much better.”

 

“Point taken.” He gave Jaejoong’s midsection a squeeze before letting go.

 

“If we really want to get into the Junsu celebration spirit, instead of eating his kimchi jjigae, we could always do something do something like put a for sale sign in front of his house,” Yoochun suggested. “With a big SOLD sticker on it.”

 

“Or just TP it,” Changmin snickered. “And put a termite sticker infestation sticker on the door.”

 

“With Junsu, it would probably just be enough to leap out and shriek 'surprise,'” Yunho said. “That would freak him out plenty.”

 

“KYAAA!” Yoochun yelled, mimicking his dolphin scream. They all laughed.

 

“I miss that scream,” Jaejoong said fondly. “And that stupid laugh of his.”

 

“Me too.”

 

“He’ll be here soon,” Changmin said, pointing to the stove clock. “We should finish setting up.”

 

“Too bad you gave me the balloon pump,” Yoochun said, sticking out his tongue. “Get blowing, Changmin-ah.”

 

Changmin muttered something under his breath, sounding vaguely like wouldn’t you like that?, but actually got to work for once.

 

Jaejoong turned down the temperature on the jjigae, and took the rice he’d been preparing in the cooker out so he could start preparing the rest of the ingredients to the bibimbap he was making. “Cake’s finished in the oven, could you get it out?” he asked Yunho. “And please, don’t touch the cake itself. I don’t want it going weird on me.”

 

“What could I possibly do to it between here and the counter?” Yunho asked, sounding wounded.

 

“Honestly, I don’t want to know.”

 

Yunho rolled his eyes, but did as Jaejoong asked. The kitchen was now filled with a myriad of scents, and even though the cake normally wouldn’t have worked along the sharp smell of the kimchi jjigae and the egg Jaejoong was frying for the bibimbap, somehow it worked. It was a warm, toasty scent, the scent of being at home and together with loved ones to share a rich meal. Yunho thought that would an extra important thing to Junsu, who’d left this house behind for almost two years. When they’d first turned to key to go in, it had been empty and quiet, almost stale smelling from lack of use, but now it was filled and aromatic, a home worth going back to.

 

Jaejoong pulled out white frosting and got to work covering the cake, adding chilled strawberries around the border for good measure. A huge pool of balloons were now covering Changmin and Yoochun’s feet.

 

“Think this is enough?” Changmin asked.

 

“Try getting all of those in the TV room and see how much space they fill,” Jaejoong suggested. “We’ll need some room to walk around, of course, but the room should be colorful.”

 

Changmin and Yoochun noisily began shepherding the balloons into the next room over, kicking them with their feet and swiping them with their hands until they were all in the TV room. It made a horrible racket of latex scrunching, on top of the two of them bickering as they always did about who had done more work in getting them ready, so Jaejoong was relieved when they finally made it out and the kitchen was quiet all over again.

 

“Want a strawberry?” Jaejoong asked, turning to Yunho.

 

“What, you’re actually offering?”

 

“There are plenty here. Can’t fit them all on the cake.” He swiped one through the white cream and pressed it against Yunho’s lips. Yunho bit down on it, chewing slowly.

 

“Thanks,” he said. “I’ve still got a weakness for those.”

 

“Of course you do,” Jaejoong said. “I like it that you keep your old weaknesses.”

 

“Are you calling yourself an ‘old weakness’?” Yunho laughed. “You’re not that old.”

 

“Comparatively speaking. When I look at our debut stuff, I look like I’m ten. I’ve been around you for a while, if you think about it. Other people may have gotten tired by now.”

 

“I’m not other people.” He put a hand on Jaejoong’s waist. “Besides, I don’t see you half as much as I want to. Even during our service…”

 

Jaejoong grinned. “You have to admit, though, the times we did see each other were pretty legendary.”

 

“The documented or undocumented times?”

 

“Both.”

 

“Well. I aim to please.” He leaned down and kissed Jaejoong’s upturned lips. “You’re not a weakness, though.”

 

“Sure about that?”

 

“Jaejoongie has always been my strength. Being around each other for a long time doesn’t change that.”

 

“Hmmm.” Jaejoong lingered in his embrace a little longer. It was always a marvel to him that they had met so young and grown up so much in the time that had passed since then, but could still be like this, still in love and true to who they had been in their hearts, but most of all together. Every moment of having that be true felt like a small miracle, and all it needed was Junsu finally rejoining them for it to be complete.

 

In the next room over, Changmin and Yoochun were scattering balloons around the floor.

 

“Think it’s enough?” Changmin asked.

 

“For Jaejoong hyung, no,” Yoochun said. “But hell if I’m going back in the kitchen. He’s probably making out with Yunho hyung right now.”

 

“Typical.”

 

“If you’re jealous, we could…”

 

Changmin grabbed a stray balloon and rubbed it against Yoochun’s hair, snorting as the dark strands shot up from the static electricity. “Good sign, hyung. Your hair is pretty much back.”

 

“Yeah, well. I left a long time before Junsu did.” He rubbed a hand through Changmin’s slightly shorter hair. “You, too.”

 

“Junsu hyung is slow.”

 

“Mmm.” Even short, Changmin’s hair was soft, so soft that once Yoochun’s fingers were tangled in it, he didn’t want to let it go. It was like the hair of a dog, a dog that a high risk of biting you back for it.

 

But this time, Changmin didn’t. It wasn’t often, but sometimes he would go still like this, eyes closing and head leaning back, becoming their precious youngest again, even though they were old enough to where those small distinctions between them were becoming even smaller. He wasn’t little anymore; it had been years since he had been, and Yoochun already knew everything that existed under the cotton fabric of his shirt, the monster on stage he had become even before leaving for his mandatory service. But all the same, he was still the same stubborn kid underneath it all. He was someone who always did as he pleased, but that somehow made it all the more special that he’d chosen to mend fences when things had gotten rough, all the way up to this moment right now.

 

“If that’s all you’re going to do, I’m going to turn the TV on,” Changmin said, eyes opening and quickly sidestepping Yoochun’s grasp.

 

“Wait, Minnie—” Yoochun followed him to the couch Yunho had pushed against the wall. “I was working up to it!”

 

“I got bored.” He turned the channel to a variety station and began watching, ignoring Yoochun’s repeated attempts to steer his face in his direction.

 

“Is that the TV I hear?” Jaejoong asked, poking his head into the room. “Aren’t you guys supposed to be setting up?

 

“Doesn’t it look set up?” Changmin said, waving his hands.

 

“But what about getting ready to give Junsu a surprise on his entrance?”

 

“He’s taking too long.”

 

Jaejoong glanced at his phone. The most recent text from Junho said they were still at the family celebration. “True enough. I probably finished the food way too early.”

 

“It’ll keep,” Yunho said, following in after him. “Your stuff tastes just as good heated up, too.” He collapsed on the other side of the couch from Yoochun and Changmin, patting the space beside him for Jaejoong.

 

Jaejoong shrugged. They’d been on their feet all day, so they deserved a little rest. He slid onto the couch, resting his head against Yunho’s shoulder, closing his eyes to the sound of laughter on the TV, which would soon be replaced by something more beautiful, the laughter of the five of them.

 

0o0

 

“Wow,” Junsu said, yawning into his hand. “I knew the family missed me, but not that much. Any reason why you’re speeding?”

 

“Running late,” Junho muttered under his breath.

 

“For what?”

 

“What? Oh, nothing. I thought you’d want to get back, and all. It’s been a long day.”

 

“Yeah. But I don’t mind. It’s good to be back.” He leaned his head onto the headrest, taking a deep breath. It hadn’t been that long since his last leave, but it amazed him all over again how sprawling the city was. You got used to living in an insular community, but it was exciting to be back in thick of the things. He felt bad that Yoochun and Jaejoong had been on schedule and couldn’t come to see him—he hadn’t even thought yet about what Yunho and Changmin would be up to, but assumed they would be making up for lost time in Japan for certain money-grubbers—but pretty soon he would be back on schedule, too, and they’d all see each other again.

 

Junho turned into his driveway and parked in the front. “Here we are,” Junho said. “Enjoy yourself.”

 

“Doing what?” Junsu asked, yawning.

 

“I don’t know. Bathing. Eating. Sleeping. Whatever. Just enjoy yourself.”

 

“All right. Will do.”

 

He made his way through the door, blinking in surprise. All the lights inside were on, and he could hear the TV running from somewhere in the back of the house. He thought about the possibility of intruders for a moment, but it didn’t add up. Who would attempt to break into his house and just sit there watching TV? He’d be more likely to find a saesang fan in his bedroom, rolling in his underwear.

 

He peeled off his shoes and stepped into the kitchen. Dishes were set out on the counter—kimchi jjigae, bibimbap, and the all the accompanying sides laid out in their little bowls, plus a strawberry cake to boot—and discarded a little ways away was a balloon pump and baggie with a handful of uninflated balloons still left inside it.

 

“Huh,” Junsu said, smiling. He braced himself for four faces bursting into the kitchen, screaming “SURPRISE!” but even after waiting a few minutes, no one came. Moreover, he couldn’t even hear signs of them whispering or even talking, in case they hadn’t heard him come in. There was only the TV droning with the news in the background.

 

Junsu tiptoed into the next room and almost burst out laughing at what he found. In the middle of an ocean of red balloons on the floor, his four members were sitting on the couch, sleeping. Changmin was on one side, his head fallen onto Yoochun’s shoulder and covering half of his face with his hair, and on the other side, Jaejoong was drooling onto Yunho’s chest. Yunho’s head was thrown back, mouth partially open, sleeping in that disturbing way he had where it was hard to even tell he was asleep or not but for the soft snores coming from him.

 

Chuckling as quietly as he could, Junsu grabbed the remote and shut the TV off, then went to dim the lights. Changmin stirred a little in his sleep but didn’t wake up, and though Junsu wanted to do nothing more than hug all of them and tell them how much he missed them, he was a little grateful that none of their eyes opened. He left the room for a moment, going up to his bedroom and grabbing a thick blanket from his bed before returning. The four of them had left a space in between, the space they always left whenever one of them was missing, a place that was always waiting for him to step back into it. A place that was even better home than the one they’d gotten ready for him with their balloons and cakes.

 

He slipped into the space, fitting neatly between Yoochun and Jaejoong, and threw the blanket across their legs. It was a celebration enough just to be back beside them where he belonged, closing his eyes to the sound of soft snoring and deep, even breaths, knowing that he was, at long last, home.