Jaejoong can feel his phone vibrating in his hand. Without looking at the screen, he knows that it’s his best friend, Yoochun. He ignores the call. The poor guy has been trying to call him non-stop for the past ten minutes, but Jaejoong doesn’t want to talk to him right now. It’s a terrible thing to bail out on your best friend the very last minute. But standing a bridge’s walk away from the function with anxiety growing inside, Jaejoong questions his decision of coming to the high school reunion.

He desperately wants to see him again - to see the man in person after nearly a decade of getting sporadic glimpses of him through social media and only knowing that he’s a successful prosecutor working for a governmental law firm. At the same time, he ponders on the aftermath of getting to see him and knowing of his current relationship status. He can already feel his heart ache, imagining the man with someone else. If he hears the words directly from the man, Jaejoong doesn’t think he will be able to hide his distress. Jaejoong is known for his poker face, his ability to mask his true feelings, but this time, his instinct is telling him that he won’t be able to do so this time.

Letting out a rueful sigh, Jaejoong shakes his head at himself. Even after all this time, Jaejoong still flails around like a teenager when it comes to him despite having become more confident. I’m pathetic, Jaejoong thinks to himself.

The way which they had abruptly drifted apart and stopped talking to each other during the last year of high school always bring forth a mixture of unpleasant feelings in Jaejoong. Although he doesn’t know the exact reason for their fall-out, he has an inkling that it might have been his closeness with Hankyung. When Jaejoong first realised that this might be the reason, it had made him furious because how blind could the other man be?

In the moment of anger, Jaejoong had chosen to retaliate with indifference, deliberately behaving in a way that would have the other more misunderstood instead of trying to explain. Over the years, he is still upset but there is also regret and sadness, especially when he thinks about what they could have had. That moment has already passed by and it’s too late.

If it’s too late, then what is the point of seeing him again?

He pulls out from his reverie as his phone chimes again, a message notification this time.

From: Grease chun

Jaejoong, pick up your damn phone!!! Don’t be a dog.

He lets out a sigh before dialing his friend, who picks up almost immediately.

‘What the hell Jaejoong? It’s ten past already, everyone is about to go in,’ Yoochun hissed into the phone. ‘You can’t bail out on me the last minute to deal with these fake people by myself.’

‘Is he there yet?’

‘Not yet. But Changmin said he’s running late,’ Yoochun replied. ‘How about you, Jae? When will you get here?’

‘Chun, I don’t think I can do this.’

‘Jae, we’ve been through this so many times already. You need to see him. Look, for all you know, he might be too busy catching up with everyone to even look for you. So just come to enjoy the food, and catching up with Changmin and Junsu before you call it a night.’

‘Wow, Chun. Your words are so comforting.’

‘Well, it’s rather comforting if you don’t want to talk to him, you know?’

‘I’m serious, Chun. I can’t do this.’

‘No, you can do this. You must see him to get the closure to your seven years of pining and move on. I can’t watch you going wasting your time and emotion when there are endless opportunities out there.’

‘What if it breaks my heart more instead?’’ Jaejoong mutters.

A brief moment of silence followed before a reply was heard. ‘Then I will be here for you. Please, Jae, do this for your sake.’

Jaejoong becomes silent. Yoochun’s right. He must see him. It might kill him but it will be alright because at least his best friend will be there for him.

‘Okay... I’ll see you there in five minutes, Chun.’

‘I’ll wait for you in the lobby.’

***

With apprehension dwindling like a flame inside, Jaejoong marches towards the venue, quickening his pace as he approaches the door because he can feel the growing urge to flee. It isn’t really his day, Jaejoong thinks, as he suddenly loses his footing and trips. The pain doesn’t come because a firm hand pulls his arm just before his knee hits the ground.

‘Thank you s-’ The next words die in his throat when he sees the man.

‘Yunho?’

'Clumsy as ever, Jaejoong,' the person replies with a brilliant smile on his face that Jaejoong hasn’t seen for nearly a decade.

His mind is blank at the surprise encounter and it’s only when his name is being called several times that Jaejoong becomes aware of the fact that he’s been spending a good minute staring at Yunho’s face while spacing out. The realisation causes his face to heat up.

‘Sorry.’ He turns his gaze to the floor.

‘How impolite of you! I am offended,’ Yunho jokes, before pulling Jaejoong into a tight hug. ‘When did you come back to Korea?’

‘Two weeks ago. I’m still finding my way around. Can’t recognise the streets anymore.’

‘You hadn’t come back to visit before?’

‘Studying kept me busy, and when I wasn’t studying, I was doing a few internships and part-time jobs.’

He avoids Yunho’s gaze as he replies; he was never a good liar. He isn’t really lying, at least not about it being easy. But all these years, he deliberately made sure that he always had things to keep him from going back to Korea.

Yunho hums noncommittally. ‘Let’s go in quickly, or else Changmin is going to nag about my tardiness for next few hours.’

His tone is a little exasperated at the mention of Changmin and they both know Yunho isn’t exaggerating. The reminder of their younger friend brings some sense of ease back to Jaejoong, and he snickers, ‘But you’re already late anyways.’

‘By two minutes. Come on, let’s hurry.’

Jaejoong’s rebuttal of how two minutes late is still being late doesn’t come out when Yunho grabs his hand and begins walking fast.

He stares at their intertwined hands. The familiar giddy feelings are forming in his stomach. The action confuses Jaejoong, stunning him into silence. The effect is still the same after all these years. Back then, Yunho was known to have a strange habit of holding hands with his male friends. More than often, the other person was Jaejoong for he was one of the few friends that wasn’t annoyed or bothered by Yunho’s habit.

The distance to the door is too short for them to start a proper conversation. They hear a familiar high pitch voice that belongs to one of their close friends, Junsu, before they reach the sight of three men chatting by the door. The tallest one, Changmin, stands half-facing Junsu, with a scowl as he listens to Junsu.

It’s Yoochun who spots them approaching first, his eyes immediately drawn to their hands, which are still intertwined together despite having already reached the destination. He waves at them, and the way he raises his eyebrow makes Jaejoong flustered, yet he doesn’t retract his hand. He probably should but the warmth of Yunho's hand is too irresistible.

Changmin whips his head around and glares at Yunho. Being the more excited one, Junsu walks up to them with his characteristic sunshine smile to offer both a hug. Reluctantly, Jaejoong removes his hand from Yunho’s grasp to hug Junsu.

‘It’s been so long, Jaejoong.’ He squeezes Jaejoong with a big grin. Then he turns to Yunho, and complains, ‘Yunho! You barely call me anymore.’

‘I’ve been busy lately but I did go and see your last musical. I had to leave early though so I couldn’t say hi.’

Junsu pouts at the information, ready to whine again but he is stopped by Changmin, who pushes him to the side.

‘You promised me that you wouldn’t be late, yet you arrived at 6:04. Four minutes, hyung!’

Yunho winces as Changmin growls at him. ‘I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you.’

The scene is reminiscent of a father scolding his son. Jaejoong finds it amusing that such a charismatic and strong man like Yunho is afraid of the younger man’s wrath. Yunho isn’t the only one, though, because Junsu has immediately scooted to the back where Jaejoong was standing as soon as Changmin has begun his scolding.

‘I bet you, Changmin uses that same tone with his students at uni,’ Yoochun teases from the side. Having heard that, Changmin pauses and turns to Yoochun to tell him that students who come late wouldn’t even be allowed to enter the lecture theatre in the first place.

As Jaejoong watches on, his attention slowly shifts from the conversation to Yunho. Over the years, Yunho hasn’t changed much, the only evidence of time is the crow’s feet at the ends of his eyes.

While Changmin continues his chiding, Yoochun has slid behind Jaejoong, tugging his arm and whispering to him. ‘What was that back there, Jaejoong?’

‘Nothing,’ Jaejoong replies dismissively.

‘What do you mean “nothing”? You guys were holding hands.’

‘Like we did in high school.’

Yoochun rolls his eyes. ‘ 'Cause you and him are still as close as you were in high school.’

‘You know what they say. Old habits die hard.’

Yoochun lets the subject go as Changmin stops his scolding and turns in their direction.

‘We need to go in before they start serving food,’ Changmin says, before quickly making his way into the function with his friends following behind.

As soon as they enter the venue, their old classmates immediately spot Yunho and Junsu, and begin to flock them all at once. After all these years, Yunho and Junsu still remain well-liked amongst their schoolmates. Changmin has foreseen this commotion, already moved to a more quiet corner of the room with Yoochun. Instead of following those two, Jaejoong chooses to stay close by to the crowd surrounding Yunho, watching him catch up with everyone.

His mouth curls in distaste at the sight of Hojun, who’s wrapping an arm around Yunho’s neck and leaning in too close for Jaejoong’s liking. The way which Yunho easily returns the gesture and holds his hand further aggravates Jaejoong as he realises that there was no special meaning behind their intertwined hands. The action really was just a habit.

He suspects that Yunho knows of Hojun’s feeling for him because almost everyone knew of it and with a small school like theirs, this kind of gossips got around pretty fast.

As Jaejoong watches on, he sees Boa appearing out of nowhere and jumping onto Yunho’s back. His frown deepens. Another rival. He feels the urge to march to Yunho and yank those hands off him. He’s already taken a few steps towards the crowd when he realises what he was doing. He stops dead, shocked at his unexpected behaviour. Ashamed of his lack of control, Jaejoong leaves the room to the balcony.

The gentle cold wind caresses his face the moment he steps out into the open air. He welcomes it, feeling calmed down almost instantaneously. It’s a mistake coming here, you nearly made a fool of yourself just then, Jaejoong berates himself. Back in their high school days, even when Jaejoong’s envy was at its worst, he’d never gone through with the crazy things he imagined he’d do. Envy wasn’t the only thing he felt just then; there was also a whole lot of frustration.

Back then he knew he had an equal chance with those people. But now, with what happened, he has no chance and the fact that those people could do everything that he wants to made him lost it. And this realisation makes him feel more ashamed of himself because what right does he have?

Coming here won’t help to bring closure to his one-sided love because his feelings for Yunho are still as strong as ever. In fact, coming here has only confirmed his suspicion that seeing the man again would only break his heart even more.

Adamant on leaving as soon as possible, Jaejoong decides to text Yoochun once he’s out because telling him now would only make the other feel obligated to leave with him, and despite what Yoochun said earlier Jaejoong can see that his friend is enjoying catching up with everyone.

Jaejoong tries to enter the room again as discreetly as he can, not wanting to catch any attention. His attempt is futile the moment he sees Hankyung striding towards him with Heechul by his side. Maybe he will stay a for a little bit longer. They’re one of the few high school friends that Jaejoong still stays in contact with, and he does want to catch up with them.

‘I’ve been looking for you. Turns out you were hiding from me,’ Hankyung grinned as he gave Jaejoong a light punch on his arm.

‘You guessed it right,’ Jaejoong chuckles and returns the gesture. ‘How have you two been? Still going strong, I see. When should I expect to receive a wedding invitation from you?’

‘If I say soon, will it help to keep you in the country until next year?’ Heechul says.

Hankyung jokingly shakes his head at Jaejoong. ‘You missed our engagement.’

‘Well, good news for you. I won’t miss out on your wedding because I’ve been transferred to work here for a year.’

The knowing exchange between the couple that follows his news confuses Jaejoong.

‘That’s good news for someone else, too,’ Heechul says.

‘What do you mean?’ Jaejoong frowns. Whenever Heechul is cryptic, trouble always follows suit.

Jaejoong really wants to wipe that smirk that Heechul is wearing. ‘You will know when the time comes.’

The frown on Jaejoong’s face deepens. He doesn’t press for more though, knowing it will be a futile attempt, Heechul can be quite tight-lipped when he chooses to be. The topic is dropped for good as Yoochun, Changmin and Kyuhyun join them. Eventually, Junsu finds his way to them as well, his cheerfulness further lightens up the atmosphere.

Jaejoong’s plan to leave early flies out out his mind as he finds himself enjoying the banter. However, it immediately returns to him when Yunho slides next to him. Taken back by the unexpected presence Jaejoong misses the quick smirk on Heechul’s face.

‘Prosecutor Jung has finally graced us with his presence,’ Heechul teases him. Yunho whines, as quick-witted as he is in court, in front of Heechul he rarely ever has a decent comeback. In fact, only a few people can give Heechul as good as he gives them.

Yunho eases into their flow of conversation easily, unaware of his effect of his close proximity on Jaejoong. He’s only half aware of what everyone is saying, his discomfort is growing worse but he can’t leave the function, not without everyone making a big commotion about his early departure.

‘We were searching for locations for our wedding the other night and I’m thinking of the beach,’ Hankyung says. Junsu stares at Hankyung as if he has grown an extra head.

‘You told us that your wedding is in July. It’s going to be freezing.’

‘Wear more layers,’ Heechul replies.

Jaejoong frowns. ‘More layers or not, we’re all gonna end up sick standing in the wind for an hour. Imagine spending your honeymoon in bed all day because you’re sick.’

‘We’re not going to get sick. Just wear as many layers as you need.’

Changmin makes a face before he complains, ‘We’re all going to look like sausages in our padded jackets.’

Everyone nods in agreement and Heechul begins to feel irritated.

‘Your wedding is gonna be at the top of my unforgettable wedding list,’ Yunho laughs good-naturedly, breaking the tension. Unlike everyone, Yunho’s known Heechul since primary school and is less inclined to be surprised by Heechul’s idiosyncrasies and crazy ideas.

‘As it should be,’ Hankyung winks, catching on Yunho’s intention. ‘Til when are you going to stay in Korea for, Jaejoong?’

‘Until July next year. But I might get called back early if the project finishes faster than scheduled.’

Yunho turns to him, surprise evident on his face. ‘Are you staying here for a year?’

‘My company recently opened a branch here and I got transferred to work on a project.’

‘I’m glad to hear that you’ll be around for a long time.’ His genuine smile is blinding and Jaejoong finds himself smiling back.

Not long after, a few people that were part of high school council members come and whisks Yunho and Changmin away, allowing Heechul the opportunity to about his popularity.

It was very similar to their old days, Yunho was always busy with extracurricular activities in the school council and basketball team. Many times Jaejoong had considered joining the school council just so he could have more time to be with Yunho, but in the end, priorities of his grades always won against the thoughts.

Jaejoong doesn’t get to see Yunho for the rest of the night and although feeling disappointed, he’s content with the fact that he got to see him. His heart is a little more at ease compared to the start of the night. However, he feels emotionally drained and he attributes it to his resignation that Yunho has indeed moved on.

After sometimes past nine, he excuses himself and leaves half an hour early because he has to start work early the next day. He’s glad that Yunho is not around when he bids goodbye to his friends. He doesn’t ask anyone for Yunho’s number, thinking that it’s best not keeping in contact with Yunho if he wants to start to get over his unrequited love for him. It’s a cold move since Yunho seems wanting to rekindle their friendship but Jaejoong knows that being friends now is just going to make things hard for him.

Yoochun is looking at him with worry, having noticed that Jaejoong’s smile hasn’t been reaching his eyes the whole night. He offers to drive Jaejoong home but he declines it and opts to catch the bus instead. He can tell that Yoochun is having a great time and he doesn’t want his best friend to give up his fun. Besides, Jaejoong truly does want to be alone.

Jaejoong is on his couch at home, nursing a half empty bottle of beer when his phone vibrates with a text message from an unknown number.

I didn’t get a chance to say bye to you.’

It might be very assumptious of him but Jaejoong thinks it’s highly likely that the sender is Yunho. He stares at his phone, contemplating on whether to reply or not. Although not wanting to keep in contact with Yunho, he doesn’t want to make his intention obvious. It might cause awkwardness between their mutual friends if they catch on.

Another text comes through a few minutes later.

It’s Yunho, btw. Junsu gave me your phone number.

Now Jaejoong knows who to kill for putting him into his precadiment. Stupid Junsu. He should have known, the musical actor’s always been oblivious to Jaejoong’s crush on Yunho. Even now.

After stalling for half an hour, he lets out a rather resigned sigh, picks up his phone and types back a reply, muttering curses at Junsu while doing so.

Sorry, i couldn’t find you. Didn’t want to miss my bus.

A poor excuse. One that he regrets as soon as he presses send. But Yunho is nice and he doesn’t call Jaejoong out for his lie.

It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t catch up much tonight. How about we meet up for lunch tomorrow?

Pursing his lips, he dares type another lie to reply, hoping that Yunho will give up.

Sorry, i don’t think i’ll be able to make it to lunch with you tomorrow.

Jaejoong wants to kill Yunho when he sees the next message.

Oh. That’s alright. How about another day? How about breakfast on Saturday?

Gritting his teeth, he types yes and a quick excuse to go to bed early then proceeds to throw his phone onto the bed.

This one year stay in Korea is going to be a hellish one for him.

***

After that night, Yunho continues to text Jaejoong everyday. Although Jaejoong tries to give subtle hints of not wanting to talk, it feels as though the other man is purposely ignoring it, sending text after text, asking if Jaejoong had lunch or dinner yet, what he was doing. By mid-week, Jaejoong has given up altogether with the hints. Besides the fact that Yunho is ignoring his cues, Jaejoong couldn’t help but enjoy the attention as well as talking to Yunho.

Yoochun has shaken his head in disapproval when Jaejoong told him about what’s been happening between him and Yunho. His best friend’s been sure that all of this is just going to make it harder for Jaejoong to get over Yunho and that he should stop.

At this point, he thinks he has no choice but to go along with Yunho’s determination to rekindle their friendship. While Jaejoong did harbour some hope that there may be something else other than friendship behind Yunho’s intention, he’s lost that hope the more they talk.

The way in which Yunho is so casual, texting him about everything except their big fight as though it hadn't occurred makes Jaejoong becomes more convinced that friendship is all that the other man wants. It’s as if Yunho sees it as a foolish, immature fight that doesn’t require explanation or recall. Jaejoong doesn’t want to have his theory confirmed because he certainly doesn’t see it like that.

Whilst being casual with the subjects that he talks to Jaejoong, it is obvious that Yunho’s purposely avoiding asking him about his lack of effort in keeping contact with him. And this makes Jaejoong thinks that Yunho just wants to move on from their past. And Jaejoong thinks it’s alright. So long as they don’t talk about what happened and unwrap the box of awkwardness, they can be friends.

If only I can move on as easily as him, Jaejoong sighs to himself as he sees Yunho’s message, telling him that he’s just arrived at his house. Yunho has insisted on driving Jaejoong to the cafe because he doesn't want him to walk in the freezing winter, even though it’s near noon and the temperature isn’t too bad at this time of the day.

He checks himself in the mirror one more time before he gets out of his apartment. In front of his apartment, Yunho’s leaning against his Audi, fiddling with his phone while waiting for Jaejoong. Most women can’t help but turn their head to have another look at Yunho as they walk past. Jaejoong can’t blame them for Yunho in a leather jacket and black jeans is a sure head-turner.

‘Are you trying to steal all of the women’s heart around here?’ Jaejoong teases as he approaches him.

‘What do you mean?’

‘You missed all those pretty women who were turning their heads for you because you were too busy on your phone,’ Jaejoong says.

‘Oh,’ Yunho remarks dumbly. ‘I only want one person to turn their head for me.’

His answer is rather cryptic. There is a possibility that Yunho is trying to tell him about his new love pursuit and Jaejoong definitely doesn’t want to hear about it. So Jaejoong doesn’t say anything in return and gets into the car.

He tries a safer subject this time, something that won’t sidetrack to Yunho’s love life. ‘How’s your week been? It seems like you're having a pretty good week from all the daily updates.’

‘You got that right,’ Yunho chuckles. ‘I just finished a major case last week so my superior is sort of giving me a one-week break at work. How about you?’

‘Dying at work this week. Our boss in Australia wants us to finish the artwork for their ten new products by the end of next week. And there is so much to the packaging artwork of a food product because Australia has quite many standards when it comes to packaging.’

‘I thought you spend most of your time yelling at the production staff like a hen.’

‘Excuse me,’ Jaejoong sputters, indignant about being called a hen. ‘It’s only a few times a day. Urgh, I wouldn’t have to if their supervisor manager was doing a good job. It’s only been two weeks and I’m more than sure that the whole production population hates me.’

Yunho laughs then gives a shrug. ‘You’re just doing your job. Don’t feel bad. It’s not something that can be avoided.’

‘But I want to be nice, and be liked. This is not me, you know?’

‘Mm...maybe not the yelling part but the overly fretting personality is definitely you.’

A whack on the head is immediately handed out following that statement.

‘It’s only “overly” because you can’t be bothered to do daily life tasks correctly.’ Jaejoong retorts. ‘Remember all that times that you have to re-pack your bag out in public because you forgot to zip your bag?’

‘Shush, that is the past that we don’t speak of.’

‘And also the times you nearly trip because of your shoelaces, which you should have tied together?’

‘Jaejoong,’ Yunho pouts. ‘I take back what I said. Please stop recalling my embarrassing past.’

Jaejoong laughs but he stops tormenting Yunho, who decides to switch to another subject.

The cafe they visit is the old cafe that they used to frequent to do their homework and group project after school. Knowing Yunho’s taste, Jaejoong decides to take the liberty to order for them both while Yunho’s in the toilet. It’s always same drink anyway and Yunho isn’t picky with his pastries.

‘I’ve gotten you a strawberry latte and croissant,’ Jaejoong told him as he sat down. ‘I hope your taste hasn’t changed.’

‘Nope. I was going to order that for myself, actually.’

‘Do you want a chocolate-dipped strawberry? ‘Cause if you do, we can get a sharing portion.’

‘I never say no to strawberry, Jaejoong,’ Yunho says. ‘I’ll go and order that.’

They talk about Hankyung and Heechul’s engagement party that Jaejoong’s missed out on as they eat and then move onto the topics of their friends’ whereabouts and work. After finishing the pastries and drink, they order an iced coffee and hot chocolate, both enjoying the conversation. It’s so enjoyable that Jaejoong actually thinks that maybe it is possible for him to be good friends with Yunho again.

With how they’ve been so far, Jaejoong muses about the possibility of another time like this, where they can just hang out and have fun like normal friends. But everything goes down when Yunho changes the topic.

‘Jaejoong, I actually want to talk about something else today,’ Yunho says, his voice has lost it casualty and instead, sounds quite solemn.

Jaejoong’s smile falters as he looks at him, waiting for him to continue. Despite not having an idea of what the question might be, Jaejoong’s intuition is telling him that he’s not going to like it. Such a pity to end their outing like this. ‘About what happened at the end of that year. About Hankyung and you.’

Jaejoong is silent as he anticipates for Yunho to start.

‘Why didn’t you explain to me that there was nothing that happened between you and him?’

The question throws Jaejoong off his guard, clearly not expecting Yunho to begin like this. After a few short seconds, his shock quickly transforms to anger.

He scoffs, ‘After all this time, this is what you want to ask me about what happened?’

Yunho looks at him, confused.

Fuming, Jaejoong continues, ‘How about you give me an apology first for getting mad at me and not asking me what actually happened? Do you think you deserve an explanation?’

‘I’m sorry. I should’ve asked you back then instead of throwing anger at you. I realised my mistake after you left but why did you cut all contact with me, Jaejoong? I was going mad finding ways to get in contact with you.’

‘I was thoroughly disappointed with you. We had a moment and I was so sure that you were going to ask me out that day, but what did I get? Your cold words and dismissive attitude.’

And as he speaks, the disappointment that he felt that day rushes back to him as though he was still living in that moment. They stare at each other in tense silence.

‘I don’t understand why you have to talk about what happened then if you want us to be friends again.’

‘I had to, I want to know what was it that made us miss out on the opportunity to be together.’

‘Now that you know, then what?’

When Jaejoong’s aware that he’s raised his voice and manages to get the attention of nearby tables with his outburst, he grabs his phone and storms out of the cafe. Yunho gets up immediately and chases after him.

‘Jaejoong, please don’t walk away.’ He grabs for Jaejoong’s arm. ‘Can’t we start over?’

Jaejoong stops walking and yanks his arm out of Yunho’s grasp. The cold air has helped to cool off his anger and he’s now calm enough not to raise his voice again.

‘To be honest with you, I don’t even want to be friends with you.’ His voice is dejected as he confesses to Yunho.

Yunho grabs for his hand again, panicked. ‘Why, Jaejoong?’

‘Because I haven’t moved on, unlike you. I need to move on, Yunho, and being friends is just going to make everything harder for me.’

He lets Yunho embraces his arms around him, pulling him close for a hug.

‘Jaejoong, you don’t need to move on because I haven’t. I still really like you,’ he hears Yunho says as he tightens his arms around him. ‘Can you give us the opportunity to make up for our lost time?’

Jaejoong removes himself from Yunho’s embrace. The silence is palpable as he regards Yunho warily, contemplating his decision. Jaejoong’s still angry and mad at Yunho, but as he calms down, he remembers his part in causing them to miss their chance to be together. Does it even matter anymore who’s at fault anymore?

After this whole week of getting to talk and be around Yunho again, Jaejoong finds himself falling in love with the man all over again. He’s been pining long enough and maybe he should stop being stubborn and take this chance to give himself the happiness he’s been lamenting about all these years.

‘Let’s us give it a go,’ he says, finally.

‘You’re saying yes to us being friends or something more?’ Yunho mutters, sounding unsure and timid, afraid of Jaejoong’s answer .

‘Something more.’

The answer lights up Yunho’s face. ‘Like boyfriends?

Jaejoong glowers at Yunho. ‘You’re not going to be my boyfriend by asking me like that.’

Yunho sputters before taking a few deep breaths. ‘Jaejoong, will you go out with me?’

Blushing, Jaejoong nods and almost immediately. Yunho scoops him back into his arm and holds him tightly. The way in which his happiness arrives is abrupt and it overwhelms Jaejoong. He thinks it Yunho is as overwhelmed as he is because he's holding onto him as if he never wants to let go off Jaejoong.

‘I love you, Jaejoong. I've been wanting to tell you that for a very long time,’ Yunho’s soft voice whispers into Jaejoong's hair.

With his face buried in Yunho’s neck, Jaejoong thinks that yes, this is their beginning.

end.