Chapter 10 “BBQ Party”



“Sound system, light, microphone…”

“Checked…”

“Ticket and seat…”

“Fully-booked…”

“Song and dance step…”

“Already remembered everything…”

“Good!” the five men cheered as the preparation for their concert finally finished. It took few weeks of hectic schedule and everything was ready now. They should give thumps up for themselves.

“All that left is the last rehearsal,” Yunho spoke,” Since the concert will be in another two days for Seoul World Cup Stadium, we should rest today and do it tomorrow. Do you guys agree?” 

“Absolutely!” Junsu spoke,” My arm is so tired!”

“And I’m hungry!” the maknae claimed.

“Alright, since it would be a big night for us, I would suggest BBQ,” Yoochun said.

“Great idea!” Jaejoong agreed,” I’ll buy the ingredients!”

“I’m coming with you Jae,” Yunho spoke as the other three decided to prepare the stove and everything on Jae’s terrace.

---


“Jae…Isn’t it too much?” Yunho asked at the tons of food Jae put inside the trolley. It was indeed too much till Yunho having hard time to push it.

“Do you forget how much Min would eat?” Jaejoong smiled,” He’s king of food after all…”

They were in the nearest supermarket from Jae’s house. It wasn’t that crowded and was a nice place to buy nice food. Jaejoong always bought almost every food he cooked there.

Approaching the cashier, Yunho couldn’t walk straight. The pile of food was blocking his sight, luckily Jaejoong helped him.

“It has been a long time, hasn’t it?” Jae spoke,” Since we last shopped together…”

“Yeah,” Yunho agreed,” I think it was when we were buying our headphone at the music store…Around 2 years ago huh?”

“Time passed quickly, didn’t it?” Jae smiled as they finally reached the cashier. It took them more than five minutes to pay everything and took them to Yunho’s car.

“OK,” Yunho spoke as he closed his car baggage, hardly,” I’m glad it would fit, I thought I wouldn’t be able to close it…”

“Come on! The other must be waiting,” Jae said as both of them went inside the car. Yunho the engine and drove outside the parking lot. They turned left and stopped when the traffic turned red.

“Yunho ah,” Jaejoong called.

“What’s it, Boo?” Yunho played with the nickname he had never used for so long. 

Jae smiled.

“Well then, Yunnie…” Jaejoong tagged along,” Seriously, don’t you feel nervous at all? I mean…It’s our comeback concert after a long time…”

“Of course I’m nervous, Jae,” Yunho said,” Don’t you?”

Jae nodded.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be just fine. The five of us will be just fine because we have prepared everything well, haven’t we?” Yunho gave an ensuring smile.

“Yeah,” Jaejoong smiled back.

The rest of the journey ended up in silence. Finally, they reached Jae’s house. Yunho turned the engine down and just before he opened his car door, he heard the older one spoke,” Take care of them when I’m gone, OK?”

It took a few seconds before Yunho could digest what he heard, he turned back to Jae’s seat just to find out the lead vocalist already got out from the car. Jae was taking the shopping bag from the baggage.

“Jae,” Yunho called as he got out from the car,” What did you mean?”

“What?” Jaejoong asked with his innocent face.

“Well, the thing you just said inside the car,” Yunho explained, somehow he knew it was not something good.

“I said nothing,” Jae said with convincing voice,” I think you should rest Yunho ah, you’re even hearing things now…”

Yunho was certain he was not hearing things, but maybe Jaejoong was right. He might be just too tired. Deciding to ignore the unpleasant feeling, Yunho helped Jaejoong to bring the food inside.

Just when they took the first step inside, Changmin greeted them with face full of smile and took the precious food to the table. Junsu and Yoochun were there too, preparing the fire.

“I’ll need two people on the stove, one with me in the kitchen, one decorating the table,” Jaejoong spoke.

“I’ll be with Jaejoong hyung in the kitchen,” Yoochun who was choking because the smoke said.

“Eh? Not fair,” Junsu whined because he couldn’t stand the heat of the stove.

“Alright, Junchan, you could prepare the table,” Jaejoong spoke,” Yunho and Changmin, your task is the stove…”

“Alright…” Yunho agreed without a complaint, what a thoughtful leader.

“But…I want to decorate the tab---“ Changmin couldn’t finished his sentence.

“The food will go inside your tummy as you’re decorating, that’s why no,” Jaejoong spoke in stern voice.

They did what their ‘Umma’ told them too. It was an easy task for all of them, except Changmin, who wanted to eat as soon as possible. Yoochun and Jaejoong were cutting the ingredients in the kitchen, and then they gave it to Yunho and Changmin, to cook it. Lastly, Junsu took the cooked delicious-food-in-Changmin-eyes to the table.

“Jae hyung, why did you buy this much?” Yoochun complained a bit because it seemed he would never finish cutting.

“Well, it’s a big ‘night’ for us! And Changmin will be very starving,” Jae smiled as he enjoyed cutting the ingredients.

The word ‘night’ brought back question to Yoochun’s mind, he remembered the night he was drunk and found Jaejoong in pain. He was about to ask Jaejoong about it, but then…

“Hyung, how much longer should we cook and wait?” Changmin’s voice echoed,” I’m starving…”

Jae smiled,” Well, then, I guess that’s enough for now, let’s eat!”

“Yey!” all of them cheered, except Yoochun. Yoochun was indeed curious. Not only that, he thought, Jaejoong was hiding something from all of them. He was not Jaejoong’s soulmate for nothing after all. He knew Jaejoong’s behavior better than any of them.

“Chunnie, come on!” Junsu spoke as five of them sat on the table, enjoying the food.

Yoochun nodded slightly as he ate what he was given. The other certainly realized that Yoochun was deep in thought.

“Chun ah, what’s wrong?” Yunho was the one who asked first.

“Um…nothing,” Yoochun decided to put the thought off for now,” I just can’t believe that we finally can have a concert together again…”

“Yeah, I never thought of this,” Yunho agreed,” All thanks to our Jaejoongie…”

“Ehh?” Jaejoong was shocked.

“Jaejoong hyung was the one who brought us back together after all!” the dolphin agreed.

“Thhhaaats…Rigghtt!” Changmin spoke with a mouthful of food.

“Guys….” Jae smiled as he felt the tears started to fill his eyes. He couldn’t believe it himself that he could bring them this far, together once again.

“Jae hyung is going to cry!” Yoochun teased.

“Like you’re not!” Junsu teased Yoochun back.

“I’m not crying!” Yoochun fought back.

“But almost…” Yunho joined.

“Cannn…weee…jussttt eaat?” the maknae suggested, the others ended up laughing.

“Didd I saayyy something wroongg?” Changmin was confused.

---


That night, the five of them ended up sleeping together with stomach-full. It was a fantastic BBQ party ever! Changmin and Junsu accompanied the guest room as Yoochun slept inside Jae’s room.

“Jae, you should use the bed today,” the leader-sshi spoke, Jaejoong nodded. He indeed feel tired inside, he didn’t know why, maybe…Just maybe, his body has weakened.

As he landed his exhausted body on the bed, he realized Yoochun was not sleeping, but staring at him.

“What’s wrong?” Jaejoong asked.

“Hyung ah…Are you OK?” Yoochun was worried. He could see some blackness below Jae’s eyes even though the main vocalist should already have enough sleep these days.

“I’m fine,” Jaejoong smiled,” Go to sleep; tomorrow will be a tiring and fun day!”

“…Right,” Yoochun agreed, he just couldn’t resist his sleepiness anymore. About his curiousness, he would ask Jaejoong tomorrow, he decided. Even most possibly, he would forget about it the next morning.