Author’s Note: This story is set in an alternate universe, in an imaginary town and country, and during an ambiguous time period.

 

Yesterday, his grandmother’s quilt group completed their masterpiece for the autumn parade. They had refused to let Yunho and Jaejoong—who had been invited to stay over after work by his scheming grandparents—sneak a peek, telling them they would have to wait and look at it this Saturday, like everyone else.

 

His grandmother was now busy baking her famous pies. She always had a booth at the parade, and she would have one this year, too.

 

Yunho and his poppa were helping her around the kitchen when the front bell rang.

 

All three looked at each other.

 

“Who could it be?” She asked. “Did anyone invite someone over?”

 

Both men shook their heads.

 

“Well, go on and open the door, sweet-pie,” she said to Yunho, shooing him away.

 

“Alright.”

 

Wiping his hands clean on the dishrag, he walked out of the warm, heavenly kitchen, and made his way through the living room and through the short entrance hallway that led to the front door.

 

Yunho checked the peephole and was surprised at who he was looking at.

 

Opening the door, he said, “Jaejoong? What are you doing here?”

 

Jaejoong beamed at him and waved. “I’m cold. Let me in,” he said, walking passed him and into the house. “Aah, heaven!” he sighed, tilting his head back to inhale the fragrance of the house.

 

It had rained in the evening, so the temperature had lowered a bit. Under the light, Yunho could see that his cheeks were indeed a rosy color.

 

As he took off his jacket, Jaejoong said, “I texted you.”

 

Jaejoong texted a lot and Yunho ignored a lot of the text messages. 

 

“I’m helping in the kitchen.”

 

He hung his jacket on the coat hanger that was on the wall by the front door.

 

“It smells amazing in here!” Jaejoong started walking away. Yunho caught up with him.

 

“Yeah, my momma is baking, for her booth, at the parade,” he said evenly, with an air of uncertainty.

 

“I can’t wait! It’s going to be a lot of fun!” As Yunho looked at Jaejoong wondering why he was over using his interjections as if he was trying to meet a quota, the boy flashed him a gleaming smile, his teeth on display.

 

“I...guess.” He blinked at Jaejoong and said, “Hey, what are you doing here?”

 

It was not work hours and Yunho knew his grandparents hadn’t invited him over, therefore, Jaejoong’s presence was a complete mystery to Yunho.

 

He hadn’t been ignoring Jaejoong, per se, but he had been very short with him in their conversations–text, phone-calls, and in-person conversations. While it was complete talking and being with Jaejoong, Yunho was weary, and he wanted to protect himself. 

 

Though they’ve been talking for a few days now, they have yet to hang out.

 

Jaejoong laughed, ignoring the tense environment. “Why?” he said. “You don’t want me here?”

 

Yunho quickly shook his head, shoving his hands in his apron’s pockets. “No! No. I just mean…” he trailed off, shrugging.

 

“I texted you. I’m bored.”

 

Yunho was honestly flabbergasted. He had other friends, why didn’t he go hang out with them.

 

“I…Well, I…I have to help my momma out. In the kitchen. We’re baking.”

 

“Great!” Jaejoong clapped his hands, his smile getting brighter. “I’ll help.”

 

“Jaejoong–”

 

He cut him off, his smile never dimming, he said in the same high octave voice, “I just don’t want to be home alone.”

 

Yunho’s heart clutched. He gave him a pitiful look. Jaejoong didn’t appear to notice it. 

 

Walking away, Jaejoong said, “I’d rather be here with your grandparents.” 

 

Yunho was the only person uncomfortable with Jaejoong’s presence.

 

Jaejoong walked into his Yunho’s grandparents’ warm embrace and happily put on an apron.

 

Yunho decided to drop the topic of his uninvited presence at his home. He was having such a great time helping his grandmother prepare her pies that Yunho decided he might as well enjoy the night.

 

His grandparents were more happy by their renewed friendship than perhaps even Jaejoong was. 

 

During the bonfire night, given they were the only kids there, his grandparents dotted on Jaejoong so much, Yunho had felt slightly invisible. But he knew why. Jaejoong was impossibly charming, he had been here while Yunho had been away, and was so sweet to them, they could not help but return the affection.

 

Yunho hated to admit it, but he enjoyed being with Jaejoong, too. He managed to make every event a lot more fun, fulfilling, and exciting. 

 

Like how he had his grandparents laughing loudly at his jokes, and Yunho silently laughing in the background.

 

His manman gave him a side hug and a kiss on the cheek. “I’m so happy to have you back in my home.”

 

Jaejoong gave Yunho a look, before he said, “Me too. You make the best hot chocolates.”

 

She snorted. “You and your hot chocolate. Let me refill your mug.”

 

“Yes, please,” he said, holding his mug out to her with an impossibly large, satisfied grin.

 

Chuckling, she grabbed the kettle.

 

—-------

Jaejoong and Yunho were in the barn getting high.

 

Yunho was not much of a smoker, but sometimes he would join Jaejoong when they hang out like this. It was not often, but these impromptu secret meetups had been happening more frequently. 

 

Jaejoong was so needy and persistent, it was hard to always resist him.

 

They had been having these deep philosophical conversations. Jaejoong said it was their therapy–Yunho swore it was more so Jaejoong’s than his. He agreed that this was their time to get reacquainted.

 

Yunho still hadn’t issued a judgment of this new and ‘improved’ Jaejoong yet.

 

Even though they were working on patching their friendship and eradicating the time lost, and it truly felt as if those six years did not happen at all, Yunho still felt a need to keep their status as under the table as possible. 

 

They were treading on delicate ice.

 

YUnho knew any rumors that were to be resurfaced would not be good for Jaejoong’s status as Green Meadows’ High golden boy.

 

While Jaejoong might appear as if he did not care too much about the gossip and speculation, the moment kids at school started to question his uality, things would change.

 

So many years had passed and so many stories had been swapped so that no one was really sure if they had mouth to mouth action, but teenagers were nosy and mean. There was still the little question that was in the back of everyone’s mind: “Did you two really kiss?”

 

Yunho exhaled most of the smoke. He was not the biggest proponent of inhaling. In fact, he did not smoke often and had only smoked weed once before he started doing it with Jaejoong. 

 

Jaejoong said he was the same, but Yunho felt as if he had lied. Another difference between them Jaejoong wanted to erase. It irritated Yunho how much Jaejoong wanted to impress him and get him to like him. Forgive him.

 

“Did you enjoy the parade?”

 

Yunho nodded, and shook his head when Jaejoong passed him the joint. “Don’t want to smoke?” he said, smoke spilling out of his nose. “I’m feeling a little faded.” And he didn’t want to get past this nice feeling of floating and carefreeness.

 

Jaejoong laughed. “That’s the purpose.”

 

“I’m not a huge fan.”

 

“I know,” he said, hugging his knees to his chest.

 

They were silent for a moment. Jaejoong smoked, and Yunho studied the barn’s wall.

 

“Earlier,” Jaejoong started, his voice soft. He sounded vulnerable.

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Your friends were here.”

 

Yunho didn’t correct him on his label.

 

“Yeah?” Yunho looked at Jaejoong.

 

He was talking about the gang. They had come for their annual corn maze esperanza. They came to his grandparents pumpkin patch every year they said. And even though he was working, they still wanted him to be involved. They ended up taking a bunch of pictures and talking with them. Yunho felt like the group did everything together.

 

“I felt…” he dropped his head, resting his forehead on his knees, the joint drooping from between his thumb and forefingers. “Never mind.”

 

“What? We’re here for our fortnightly heart-to-heart. Go ahead.” Yunho chuckled.

 

He sniggered. “No.” He lifted his head and shook the silky strands of his hair out of his lashes. “It’s nothing. Do you have any autumn plans?”

 

Yunho blew a raspberry. “What up with you Green Meadowians and autumn?”

 

Jaejoong laughed. “We’re such a quintessential autumn town. We are autumn.”

 

They both shared a friendly, quiet chuckle.

 

“That’s true.” Yunho said in a mutter, and then he added, “No, not really. I’m just going to go along with the plans my grandparents have and…What about you?”

 

“I feel like...you must like them a lot.”

 

“Who?”

 

Jaejoong gave him that soft smile filled with a quiet sadness. “Your friends.”

 

“My grandparents are pretty great.”

 

He laughed again, and shook his head. “ You know what I mean.”

 

“I don’t.”

 

“You’re sure you don’t want a smoke?”

 

“Sure.”

 

Yunho thought that he would need it for tonight’s conversation.

 

He reached over and took it and brought it to his lips and took a drag.

 

“Are you jealous or something? Of my new friends?”

 

Jaejoong swiftly straightened his body, sitting up with his spine hard as a rod. “No,” he said, laughing. It sounded strained.

 

“Okay.”

 

Jaejoong shrugged. “Not of them. It’s just that, you guys seem to have fun together. You’re always hanging out together.”

 

“I’m getting dragged along. Like with you.”

 

His eyes twinkled. “Nope. You didn’t hang out with me at the parade.”

 

“You were hanging out with your friends. Aki.”

 

Jaejoong rolled his eyes. “I would have sacked them.”

 

“Don’t speak about your girlfriend like that.” Yunho laughed.

 

Raking his fingers through his hair, Jaejoong said, “She’s...It’s not like that.”

 

Yunho’s eyebrows jumped up, matching the motion of his heart. “It’s complicated?”

 

Jaejoong shrugged. “Pass it, please.”

 

He handed him the blunt.

 

“Very complicated, huh?”

 

“Let’s talk about you instead,” Jaejoong said with an easy smile.

 

He wasn’t budging. Yunho was more curious now than ever, but he could wait.

 

“Shoot.”

 

“Okay.” Jaejoong inhaled, and said, “Why won’t you sit with me at lunch?” 

 

Yunho looked at Jaejoong as if he was crazy and missing a nostril. 

 

“What?” he said, his voice rising. Jaejoong gave him an accusatory look. 

 

“Okay. We’re doing this. I already have a group of people I sit with.”

 

Jaejoong nodded, biting the corner of his mouth. “I know.”

 

“Is that what you’ve been wanting to ask?”

 

The serious look on Jaejoong’s face disappeared, and he smiled. “I feel like your dirty little secret,” he said in a provocative tone of voice, bumping his shoulder against Yunho’s. 

 

Yunho coughed on nothing and pushed him away. Clearing his throat, he said, “Please stop.”

 

Laughing with his mouth closed, cold, gray smoke streamed from Jaejoong’s nose. 

 

He passed Yunho the blunt. He took it and delicately put it to his lips.

 

“Hey,” Yunho said in a hoarse whisper. “We’re okay.”

 

“Yeah, I know,” Jaejoong muttered into his crossed arms, but they both knew Jaejoong wanted more and his rejection, intended and unintended, all hurt the same.

 

—----

 

“I’m so glad that I got sick,” Changmin said with a grin, pulling Yunho in for what felt like the millionth picture they’ve taken today.

 

All for the socials.

 

Soel rolled her eyes, but laughed. Lowering her phone, as she analyzed the pictures she just took, she said, “Though a little stupid of you, I am glad too.” And she winked at Yunho. “Want to see?”

 

He shook his head.

 

“Come on,” Changmin said, dragging him over to his girlfriend and grabbing the phone to look at the pictures.

 

“We look good.”

 

“Of course! I took the pictures.”

 

“I’m just handsome. Admit it,” Changmin said in a teasing tone.

 

“When do we get to the spiked apple cider?” Kimberli grumbled, rolling her eyes.

 

“It’s true what they say about friends. Who needs enemies when you have them,” Soel said ina  sing-song voice, hooking her arm through Kimberli’s. “Cheer up, buttercup.”

 

Kimberli simply grumbled and let her friend drag her to an apple tree.

 

Yunho had tried his darndest to get out of apple picking. And he had almost gotten out of it, until Changmin came down with a cold and told them he would burn down their house and put hexes on them and their great-great children if they didn’t reschedule. They took fall activities pretty seriously, Yunho realized. 

 

And then Soel and Kimberli had bumped into Yunho at the general store in town, except it hadn’t just been him, he had been with his grandparents. Like the vultures that they were, they realized their chance and had swarmed him. They didn’t mind cornering him into agreeing to hang out with them and free up his schedule so he couldn’t use the ‘work-excuse’, as Soel had referred to it, by making sure his grandparents heard of their fun, innocent, ganteel autumn activity. His grandparents refused to let him get out of it.

 

And here he was, on a lovely saturday he could have used to sleep in or do work around the farm, picking apples and posing for perfect social media pictures. 

“No one told me we would be doing more picture taking than apple picking,” Yunho commented, reaching for a low-hanging apple.

 

Kevin laughed. “We’re here for the heck of being here, not for the apples.” He palmed the apple he had just taken off the tree, rolled it over in his palm and looked up at Yunho and said, “They’re good apples, though. I take most of it home and bake pies.”

 

Yunho blinked at him, startled. “You bake?”

 

He shrugged insouciantly and looked away from Yunho. “My mom taught me. I’ll bring you a slice if you give me your apples.”

 

He laughed. “Fair trade.”

 

“Hey, slow pokes, let’s go!” Soel called them over to where she stood with Kimberli and Changmin who were beside themselves with laughter as they peered over Changmin’s phone.

 

—-----

 

Later that night, as Yunho lazily scrolled through social media, Jaejoong sent him a text.

 

Looks like you had a lot of fun today.

 

Yunho toyed with the idea of ignoring him, Jaejoong could be exhausting. And it wasn’t that Jaejoong’s personality was a lot, it was, but it was enough for Yunho.

 

Jaejoong overwhelmed Yunho because when they’re together, Yunho had to try his hardest the whole time to stay focused on not getting charmed and into Jaejoong’s orbit again. To not forget himself and make the same mistake. But he was bored and decided to reply: What do you mean?

 

Apple picking. 

 

It was okay.

 

I would have never pegged you for such a guy.

 

Yunho frowned.

 

He sent him a smiley face and wrote: that’s because you do not know me.

 

Jaejoong didn’t immediately respond. Yunho shrugged. Guess his text hit close. He couldn’t and wouldn’t baby Jaejoong’s feelings.

 

Just a little jealous that you don’t mind hanging out with your best friends, but you refuse to even sit at the farm and talk to me for three minutes–tops!

 

Yunho rolled his eyes so hard, they hurt. Jaejoong was exaggerating, still, he was hinting at something. And that something annoyed Yunho. He needed to just match his pace.

 

Forgetting our Barn Confessionals? We talk all the time, liar. Like right now! More than three minutes have passed.

 

Right! My bad.

 

He texted a smiley face.

 

Want to catch a movie with me tomorrow?

 

Yunho paused and glared at the text, and he did something he knew was mean and would really hurt Jaejoong and this precarious situation they were in, he exited out of the text-window and opened Netflix. There was a documentary he wanted to see that he had been putting off.

 

Jaejoong was jealous. That was not a secret. Yunho still didn't know how to react to his feelings. He was wearing his heart on his chest, and Yunho didn't know what to do or how to deal with it. This was not the pace he wanted to move at.

 

Jaejoong and his invite could wait.

 

 

Author’s Note: 

Hey friend, are you enjoying this story? Yes? No?

Why don't you comment down in the comment section and let me know.

I would really apreciate it! Thank you for reading.