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

“Y’all could have waited till I ate,” he whined some more.

“We tried,” Bryan said, laughing.

Jouji slapped Jaejoong on the back. Jaejoong almost lost his balance. He gave his friend a nasty look. His smiley friend stuck his tongue out at him and dropped an arm around his neck.

Jouji was one of the most chilled and laid back people Jaejoong knew. Nothing ever shaked his composure. He was blunt in the most inoffensive ways. 

Which explained why there was a slight moment in time and space during his budding years he wrongfully fancied himself in love with Jouji, until he realized how ludicrous he was being, and also how straight Jouji was. While he shared almost everything about his nonexistent love life with his friends, he never told them about that moment. And he wanted to maintain that.

“I mean, we want to be sorry, but you chose not to eat,” Lilia said with a sweet smile.

“I didn’t,” he vehemently denied. 

“You can eat and talk on the phone,” Jouji said, pinching his friend’s cheek. 

“You do not know my parents.” 

“It was a whole sermon today,” Jiae said, laughter in her eyes, as she on her ice-cream that they had stopped to buy on their way to the mountains.

Jaejoong was now realizing his sisters had not been joking when they said Jinjoo, his third oldest sister, didn’t play when it came to building an itinerary. She filled their days with non-stop activities. They didn’t have a moment of break! Only when they were out somewhere eating lunch could they breathe peacefully.

He understood this trip to korea was big and expensive, but, dang!

“It’s a…it’s how we were raised,” Jaejoong said. “If they were to hear me chewing while they talked to me, the sermon would have lasted longer.” He shuddered at the thought. 

“That’s true,” Jinjoo said with a sympathetic nod. “I love the Kims, but gally, they know how to keep you on the phone.”

They snorted.

“Anyways, I heard that they say the water in the mountain is blessed,” Lilia said, slinging her slim arms around Jouji’s midriff.

“I hate y’all.”

“Dude, we stopped to get you food!” Jangmi snapped, kicking him. 

He evaded her swift leg and glared at her. Jangmi is the one that Jaejoong looked the most like. Wiping sweat off his forehead from under the brim of his hat, he sighed. “I see how much y’all care for me.”

“Stop with the ‘y’all’,” Jianyu laughed, enjoying his ice-cream snack. “All three of your sisters are here, there’s not much we can do to you.” Jianyu and Jouji laughed.

“They can barely break a twig,” he snorted, throwing the back of his three sisters’ a look.

“Rude!” Jiae shouted from the front and she threw her little brother the middle finger.

Jianyu smiled and cheered her on. "Exactly, Jiae, you're a goddess warrior."

"You would say that,” he bit, glowering at his friend.

Jiae turned around and gave her brother the stink-eye and said to Jianyu, "You're weird. Stop."

"Weird?" He asked, hugging his chest, his voice wobbly.

She didn't dignify his question with an answer. She turned around and went back to talking to a chuckling Jangmi.

Jianyu's crush was a clear as it was unwanted.

“You’ll are torturing me right now." Jaejoong went back to complaining. "Why the mountain?”

“Ask Jinjoo,” Jangmi said. Jiae gave her an open palm to high five. She smacked it with glee.

“If we’re here, we’re going to enjoy it,” Jinjoo snapped, rolling her eyes at her four younger siblings.

Jouji and Lilia were off in their own world, giggling in each other’s arms as they trekked up the mountain.

Jaejoong gave Jianyu a look of exasperation. He laughed and shrugged. “I am having fun,” he said.

“Of course you are, you had time to eat.”

“Have your snack,” Bryan suggested. “We stopped by the convenience store for you.”

Jaejoong groaned. “I wanted the food Grandmother made.”

“Yeah,” Bryan grinned, “It was great. I’m loving the food here.”

Jaejoong groaned again and walked away from a laughing Bryan and Jianyu.

----

At home that evening, they packed the last of their stuff. Tomorrow morning, they were going to Seoul for the remainder of their trip.

Halfway through his packing, he decided to take a quick social media break and post the pictures he took of his day on his social media accounts, focusing mainly on instagram. At night, it was even harder to ignore the mounting notifications.

Ding!

He got a notification. And then another. Facebook and WeChat.

It was hard to ignore his WeChat notifications. He knew who it would be. He only chatted with one person on that account. And that fact made it worse.

He was not sure if he was ready to read his messages.

He felt like he was being taken advantage of.

He wished he was more savvy and knew how to deal with Yunho. But there he was, not knowledgeable on how to deal with Yunho and survive this situation, because he was now overthinking every single thing he has ever said or done. 

Finally, he couldn't do it anymore, so he gave in. He was weakened due to his intense curiosity. Blood churned in his ears and his heart rate picked up as he clicked on the WeChat notification. Even his hands began to shake. His reaction startled him.

Was that excitement he felt? Did he want Yunho to keep on running after him?

There was nothing in this, he told himself.

Yunho wanted friendship, someone to talk to about his uality, and Jaejoong couldn’t give him that. He was done with him. He had to be. Jaejoong could give him nothing.

Sitting on the ground in front of the bed he was sharing with Bryan, he realized how stupid he was being. He was doing his usual overthinking for no good reason. He hated that about himself. 

Taking a deep breath, he tried to center himself. When he found that he was ready, he tapped on the inbox and read his messages that were filled with emojis—something he found hard to stop considering cute, even now that he knew the person sending these texts was not someone…something he would define as cute. On the outside, Yunho was…well, gorgeous. Being completely objective. But internally, he was still the guy that led the group of posses that harassed him all throughout high school.

He paused and shook his head. He needed to stop overthinking. 

Ding!

His messages, style of writing, it was all still…A.aime. He still felt like A.aime

He missed A.aime. He missed his friend. He missed their seamless connection. He missed their vibes. He missed how A.aime used to make him feel. He missed that feeling.

. Life really was not fair. Not at all.

He read his messages:

Yunho: Hey, I noticed that you’re online. What’s up? 

Yunho: So…….

Yunho: Not trying to harass you or anything, but I thought I’d try to reach out. Let me know if I need to stop.

Yunho: How’s your summer going? Having fun?

Jaejoong simply sat there and reread his messages. He wondered if he wanted to cut all contact. He should. He wanted to. But….

Staring at the messages, stuffed to the point of bursting with anxiousness and indecisiveness, his fingers hovered above his phone keypad, he sighed loudly and swallowed down the scream he wanted to release. His finger hurt from being in the same position for so long. They had started to cramp.

Should he answer, or should he not?

He had told him he would think about his plea for friendship, but Jaejoong had tried his best not to do that. He had been focusing on trying to enjoy spending time with his friends and family in his ancestors’ home. He didn't want to think about how his abdominal muscles tightened whenever he’d think of the name Yunho, or the messages he sent him as A.aime.

It felt wrong.

Biting his bottom lip, scratching his eyebrow, he felt as if he was sitting on pins and needles.

“What’s up?” Bryan asked, walking in the bedroom. He closed the door behind him.

“Nothing,” he said, fidgeting. 

Bryan dropped on his back on the bed. “Okay.”

Jaejoong tried to make his fingers work and type out a response. Nothing.

“You look constipated.”

“Just posting...umm…pictures on Insta.” He looked up at him. “Done packing?”

Bryan rolled his eyes. “There was not much to pack.”

Just then, there was a knock at the door. The boys shared a look.

“Come in,” Bryan said.

Jaejoong dropped his phone face down between his thighs.

Lilia peeked in. “What’s up?” She smiled and waved softly.

“Nothing. What’s up?” Jaejoong said.

“May I come in?”

They nodded. She walked in and closed the door behind her.

“Done packing?” Jaejoong asked.

She tread over to the bed and sat on the edge and crossed her legs. She smiled at Jaejoong. “Are you two having fun without me?”

“No. I welcome your presence.” Bryan said, grinning at her.

She winked at him. “I like you. A lot.”

“Thank you. It’s what most people say after meeting me." She winked. "I'm just that amazing."

Bryan nodded. They grinned at each other and the two started laughing.

“I’m so glad that we decided to do this,” she said, head tilted, legs shaking in serenity.

Jaejoong smiled at her. “Me too. I’ve missed you guys like crazy.”

“Me too. And the guys, too. It’s different without, Jae.”

“Yeah.” His stomach churned with guilt. 

“You have this whole summer to have fun together,” Bryan said.

Lilia groaned. “Too bad you’re not from Orange Grove.”

Lying on his right side, Bryan cupped his cheek and gave her a thoughtful look. “That would be nice.”

“How about you come visit us during spring break or something?”

“Definitely!” Bryan said, giving Lilia a high-five.

Jaejoong was happy to see his two precious worlds colliding in such a great way.

Just then, his grandmother walked into the room to invite them to hot tea.

“Thank you, grandma,” he said, hugging her around her strong shoulders, kissing her on her cheeks.

She was a small thin woman who’s stature belied her strength.

“Ooh. Look at the boy,” she chuckled, pulling him close to her.

He loved his grandmother and was already getting sad at the fact he had to leave her.