Two sharp raps on the door, were what dragged Jaejoong from his light dosing. It had been a very late night, and it was already morning. He groaned pulling his tired, aching body out of bed, despite internal protests.

As he dressed, he couldn't help realising, albeit quite slowly, that Yunho had woken him up. He may not really have wanted to go to university today. No, he definitely didn't feel like going to university today. But Yunho, responsible as ever, wouldn't leave him behind. Even if he had been kinda crabby last night.

He never changed.

He had made no attempts to intrude into Jaejoong's room, clearly having designated it an out-of-bounds area of the apartment now. But Jaejoong couldn't quite be sure whether that was simply a consequence of his old dislike of Jaejoong, or out of a sense of respect for Jaejoong's privacy.

He had remembered enough to bring his university bag with him the previous evening, but he hadn't thought about it enough to check if he'd brought all of his books with him. Yesterday's classes seemed so long ago now, that Jaejoong honestly couldn't recall what he'd done, so he had to actually dig through the bag to see what classes he'd had.

Apparently he had his Algebra notes and his Chemistry notes as well. But that meant that he'd left his Calculus notes back at his old apartment, with his Chinese History notes. He couldn't say he particularly minded one way or the other about his history work; it was the only class he was taking that he actually enjoyed, and there was no final exam, so he could afford to float by without them if need be. But he did need those Calculus notes, unfortunately.

It looked as though he was going to have to take a trip round to his old apartment sometime today. He couldn't afford not to have his notes when his classes for Calculus resumed the next day. The realisation that his ex-best friend had been so cold-hearted as to kick him out mid-week, seemed like an even lower blow than it had the night before.

Ready, with bag in hand, he left his bedroom to find Yunho perched on that same barstool from last night. He was intently reading a newspaper, with a cup of coffee in front of him, while he absently chewed some cereal. Of course Yunho would have to have those Western, processed breakfast foods. Jaejoong would have taken fruit if Yunho actually had any, simply in order to avoid it, but he knew such an option wasn't possible.

He sighed, resignedly seating himself at the apparently neglected kitchen table, back to Yunho, as he got himself a bowl of cereal. He bit into his first spoonful resentfully, hating how all the world seemed to be against him, and his usual dietary considerations were going to be forced to go flying out the window.

The two sat with their backs to one another, giving no indication they were even aware the other existed. He heard the constant, reliable sound of the pages of the newspaper being turned, one by one, as the other man drained them of all the information they had to provide. He covered a smile with another spoonful as he considered just how Yunho-like such an action was.

Kind, responsible Yunho. Of course he would take the time to read each article in the newspaper; wasn't it a respectable gentleman's duty to be knowledgeable about the world, the government, politics, the economy, social justice, and whatever else the paper provided? And of course, someone as mature as him would drink coffee.

Every normal university student did.

Jaejoong himself couldn't stand the stuff. He'd been told often enough and always sympathetically that coffee was an acquired taste. One that came with maturity and age. One that he clearly “wasn't ready” to embrace.

He thought that was bull.

He just didn't like the taste, or what it stood for. All the other university students simply chose to acquire the taste so that they would look mature, and they could feel like they were cool adults. He hated that they thought that drinking a stupid drink which they didn't even like, because of it's symbolic message, and the stimulating drug it contained, made them better people.

But he couldn't say that about Yunho drinking it. Yunho was mature; he was responsible. He was an adult in his mindset, if not in his lifestyle yet. It just seemed to suit him as a person; it would have been weird if he didn't drink coffee when one considered its symbolic message.

Yunho finished off the last remnants of his breakfast, and folded up the newspaper. Straight line; straight folds. His fingers both quick and precise, even in this absent minded gesture.

“I finish class around 3pm. So would you like me to let you in, or are you getting home earlier?” Yunho queried, ever practical, ever real Yunho. That same sense of familiarity welled up within him, and Jaejoong wasn't sure how well he'd be able to resist the seductively stable charm, Yunho was unknowingly exuding.

It seemed almost cruel that Jaejoong had to fashion himself into this strong, tough person (partly) because of Yunho, when all that Yunho seemed to want to do was to try and coax the old Jaejoong out. The Jaejoong that allowed himself to be pampered; protected; taken care of. Even more so, because of how appealing that old life was.

“I finish around 2 pm. But I have things to do, so I won't be home for some time.” Jaejoong informed him, tone carefully guarded. Yunho probably wasn't interested in hearing the details; the story. And even if he were, Jaejoong wasn't sure he could tell him.

The sense of familiarity and stability may have been seductive, but it didn't eradicate his memory. He hadn't forgotten that Yunho had discarded him once before for being like that; so open; so honest. He wouldn't open himself up like that again, he had learned from the first time. Particularly since he couldn't be sure of how long Yunho was going to let him stay as it was, and he'd been on nothing but his A game since he arrived.

He knew the longer he stayed, the more warm, comfortable Yunho would be able to chip away at his mask; extracting snippets of himself out from their carefully defended hiding place. So he would have to be careful to try and retain as much control over his answers as possible, otherwise Yunho would lull him into one of those false senses of security, and he didn't want to get hurt twice by the same man.

But if Yunho noticed anything about the way Jaejoong answered him, he didn't give any indication of it. “Okay then. Today should be the only day you need to worry about it.” he commented offhand, as he gathered his own possessions, and made his way to the front door.

Jaejoong bristled slightly at the way Yunho would say things like that. He always spoke like that, keeping things open-ended, inviting comment and conversation. Forcing another person to get curious, and eventually ask about whatever he'd said. It was from him that Jaejoong had devised his carefully practised new way of speaking to people when he'd first started constructing this new identity of his. To have it turned back on him like this was infuriating, even more so because he seemingly couldn't control his instinctive, natural desire to ask.

Jaejoong had long been the only one who ever got full answers out of the boy. Mostly because he was the only one to know enough that he should always ask Yunho to elaborate. Of course, it had always helped that he had been the other boy's best friend back in those days too.

“Why?” he questioned, resenting that the word flew out of his mouth so easily, without him wanting it to.

Yunho turned pleased, kind eyes on him as they made their way out of the apartment, “Because I'm planning on getting a key cut for you during my break.”

“Oh? I hadn't realised I was staying that long.” Jaejoong admitted casually, as though the thought of being thrown out by the second person in as many days didn't scare the living out of him.

“Well how long had you intended on staying?” Yunho enquired, something telling him he shouldn't take this new blasé Jaejoong at his word with a comment like that. It just wouldn't make sense. Would someone really call up an ex-friend from 3 years ago, out of the blue to ask for a place to stay, if he hadn't already tried every other friend and family member he could think of?

Jaejoong wrestled with an answer while they waited for the lift to rumble up to their floor. He shifted from side to side, trying to keep his gaze up, even as he avoided Yunho's gaze so the younger man wouldn't know that he had caught him. He tried to give his answer with pride and confidence, “Until I outstayed my welcome, I suppose.” but to both him and Yunho it came out defeated.

“Then I need to get you a key.” Yunho answered simply. His tone while friendly, clearly stating that nothing Jaejoong said would make him budge on the matter.

Jaejoong rolled his eyes, even as part of him melted a little, desiring to return to that sort of life, where he could rely on Yunho to take care of everything. He was older now; wiser. And he knew enough to know that Yunho couldn't do everything; he couldn't fix everything wrong in the world. He couldn't even fix everything going wrong in his life.

Primarily because Yunho didn't want to. Yunho may have been taking care of him for the moment but that's only because he didn't really realise that he was doing it. Yunho had to have been sick of taking care of him all the time; sick of being expected to take care of everything for him; all his problems, listen to all his tales of woe, all that sort of thing. There wasn't anything else that could have possibly managed to drive away his best friend after all.

“If you say so.” Jaejoong muttered, making sure to keep his voice free from the emotion coursing through him and the care he felt on hearing Yunho's comment.

Yunho decided that to continue the conversation along that tack would get him no closer to his goal of befriending Jaejoong. As they made their way out of the building, he could tell Jaejoong was feeling a bit anxious about where they were. This was the first time he'd seen the place in the light of day, and he had no idea where the university was in relation to the apartment.

Yunho veered off to the right, making his way down the road, with Jaejoong keeping pace with him easily. He knew he wouldn't have long; his apartment was so close to the university campus that it wasn't funny. They would only have a few streets (excluding traffic light mandated crossing times) and thus about ten minutes, before they would be joining the regular track of university commuters, into the university grounds.

Neither of them bothered to confirm what university they were going to, despite there being several universities in the city. They both knew they attended the same university; they had seen each other in the lecture theatres and tutorial rooms before, though neither would admit it. Even when they had no idea of anyone else in the room, they wouldn't dare sit with one another, nor try even so much as meeting eyes from that moment on.

“So, what degree are you in?” Yunho asked, groping for a question that he could ask that didn't seem particularly invasive into Jaejoong's personal business. Hopefully the question was in no way related to what had brought Jaejoong back to him, or else he may be forced to continue getting to know someone his age, from his university without even the most basic information about him.

Jaejoong did not tense up at the question, but nor did he relax, despite how normal, and unimaginative the question was. Surely something so common, so central to university life, should come as a bit of a tension reliever. “I'm in a combined degree. Science and Arts.” he answered, making sure to keep his answer as short as possible.

“I was wondering why I'd been seeing you around. I always find you in my Chinese history classes, and yet you always seem to be carrying around some lab manual or text book for some other class. The two things together just seemed so unusual.” Yunho commented, hoping the shared bond over Chinese history might help him regain a foothold in Jaejoong's life, a little bit faster.

But Jaejoong seemed unfazed by the comment, confirming Yunho's suspicions that Jaejoong knew they had classes together. “What can I say? I'm an unusual guy.” Jaejoong responded blandly.

“If you're such a Chinese history buff, why didn't I see you in 'Modern China' last semester?” Yunho queried, trying with all his might to keep the conversation rolling.

“Couldn't take it. Can't take extra classes, and the ones I was doing couldn't be dropped.” Jaejoong sighed.

“So what do you study in this Science degree of yours then?” Yunho questioned, curious. A few years ago, Jaejoong hated science. He wasn't too bad at maths, but one would hardly describe him as liking it. But then again, he hadn't cared much about history then either.

“At the moment I do maths and Chemistry.” Jaejoong replied, sounding disinterested by his own classes.

“So does that mean that you're taking two maths, or two Chemistry classes?” Yunho queried, knowing that Jaejoong had to be taking 4 classes.

“Two maths. Algebra and Calculus.” Jaejoong replied.

“I must say, you never came across as the Math major sort of person.” Yunho clucked, but it wasn't intended to be mean.

“Times have changed.” Jaejoong replied flatly, and Yunho knew he'd overstepped the mark. He would have to remember that, comments about back when they used to be friends, were a no-go zone.

The two of them continued walking in silence, but Jaejoong made no moves to get away from him, despite the fact they had joined the usual crowd of morning commuters to the university not long ago. Jaejoong undoubtedly knew which way to go from here, but still, he kept Yunho's pace.

“Where are you going now?” Yunho asked, the first thought to pop into his mind that seemed free of any potential attachments to their past.

For a moment he wasn't sure Jaejoong was going to answer him; that he'd annoyed him so much with his persistent questions, that he'd simply decided to ignore him from now on. But then Jaejoong's forehead developed a little crinkle, the one that told him Jaejoong was trying to recall where he was supposed to be going.

“Wednesday?” he questioned, making sure he understood his own schedule correctly. Yunho gave him a short, sharp nod in response. “Then I have a Chemistry lecture.”

“I see. I have a tutorial for Tibetan History in the Education Building.” Yunho answered, despite knowing Jaejoong hadn't asked, and probably didn't care one way or the other what Yunho had been coming into the university for.

Because of how early in the day it was, despite the sun having risen, there was a sharp nip to the breeze, and Jaejoong was able to appreciate just how close Yunho actually lived to the university. It usually took him nearly an hour to commute to the university, and back home again. But this journey would probably only take about 20 minutes.

When he thought about how early that would mean he'd be getting home on Friday, the day of his practical, he could almost have managed a shout for joy. When he considered what Yunho had said, he realised that to be able to get to the Education building, Yunho would have to walk past the Chemistry Building. Which meant Jaejoong would get a personal to his first class.

He could tell Yunho was trying hard to keep the conversation going, and in a way he wished he could help the younger man out. In the old days, whenever they talked, it would usually be Jaejoong who talked, and Yunho who listened. But by trying to constrain himself to this 'loner' type that he'd developed, he wasn't able to speak that much.

Yunho was asking because he was kind yes, but that didn't mean he was actually interested in Jaejoong. Times had changed, and they weren't friends anymore. He was just asking out of good manners.

“How long am I going to be staying with you?” Jaejoong asked, finally settling on a suitably neutral topic, that would enable him to take over the conversation as the Chemistry Building loomed into view.

“You'll be staying until you want to leave. I'm not going to kick you out.” Yunho informed him. Everything always sounded so simple whenever Yunho said it.

“I see.” was all Jaejoong could think of to say. They remained in silence for the few remaining moments of the walk, before the steps of the Chemistry Building, were within reach. Jaejoong couldn't continue walking in the same direction as Yunho anymore.

“Oh, okay, bye. Enjoy your classes.” Yunho exclaimed excitedly, as Jaejoong waved him off, never turning around or sparing Yunho a second glance. His excited smile broke down. “Well that could've gone better.” he muttered, disappointedly making his way to his tutorial.