Jaejoong was more than tired by the time he found himself back at the apartment. It hadn't been a particularly long day, as far as university was concerned, and with a shortened commute, that was even less so. Although the last few days had been pretty eventful in Jaejoong's life.

He'd gotten out of his tutorial a little earlier than expected, so he though that today would probably be as good a day as any to go and collect his remaining school work from his old apartment. After all, he had told Yunho that he would be doing something that afternoon, so that he wouldn't need to rush home and let him in.

Besides he definitely needed that work for his class the next day; he was already behind in Calculus, and that was with a full set of notes. He had been pondering whether or not he should just drop the subject entirely and be done with it.

He'd asked his old best friend Yoochun about it several times over the course of the semester, but he couldn't exactly say he was satisfied with the response that he had received. Yoochun said “a real man finishes what he starts. You're enrolled in the subject, you should see it through to the end.”

Jaejoong hated the reference to what real men do. Jaejoong has never managed to live up to the expectations of real men, as far as anyone else was concerned. The way it was going right now, he wasn't even sure that he would be able to just finish this unit and then bow out gracefully. Given the circumstances, Yoochun's advice proved difficult to accept.

He knew Yoochun was supposed to have class now, so what better time to go round his apartment. Jaejoong wasn't sure what would happen if they were to see one another again, so soon after their fight. He half-wished that Yoochun would be there, would tell him he took it back and for him to come home. Jaejoong couldn't say that he would necessarily go, even if that did happen though. The words had been spoken, and they had already hurt him a lot. Knowing that he'd been thrown out for appearing to have crossed the boundaries, he wasn't sure he could ever feel comfortable back there again.

Still, he wasn't sure whether or not he really felt comfortable with Yunho either. Hadn't he kicked Jaejoong out of his life, once before? If he was expected to give Yunho a second chance, shouldn't Yoochun get the same? Would Yoochun even want another chance? For that matter, would Yunho?

Jaejoong had groaned at his thoughts, and progressed into his old apartment, using the same key he'd used for the last year. The familiar sights and smells of the place, made his heart lurch in recognition, but he forced the prickling, burning behind his eyes to go away. He wasn't going to let something like this continue to hurt him; to play with his feelings.

He distractedly tore through his old bedroom, trying to find the few things he required so that he could leave. His ears were trained on the sounds within the apartment; fearing that he'd hear the rattle of the front door being opened, as Yoochun returned home from his own classes. Jaejoong couldn't even tell if he was scared to run into Yoochun, or hopeful that he would. Perhaps he was both.

He managed to find the work he was looking for, and a few other items he needed that he'd forgotten about until he'd set his eyes on them again. He guessed he was ready to go. It seemed so strange, when he'd move in last year, he thought he would be here for years to come, and now he was leaving it all behind. This was his first real room. It wasn't in his parents house; it was his. He'd filled it with his own meagre possessions, and bought more, now that he had space of his own. But he was leaving almost all of them behind.

He wasn't too sure what he was going to do about all of his stuff. It had been less than 24 hours since he'd been kicked out. He had only been able to take with him the things that he could carry. Everything else was still here, in this room, waiting for him, just as they had every other day since he first moved in. He knew he would have to leave it all here, probably going with him round to Yunho's place later on, and anything that wouldn't fit, or that Yunho wouldn't allow him to keep, he would have to put into storage, or throw away.

Whole chunks of his recent life were going to disappear from sight. Just like when his iTunes deletes his songs without telling him. It would be months before he'd realise some of these things were no longer there, but there would be a dull ache; a reminder that he was no longer whole; that parts of who he is; who he was, have been discarded along the way.

He was so absorbed in his melancholic thoughts that the slam of the front door didn't even register to him. He wasn't even aware Yoochun was home, until the other boy realised that there was someone in Jaejoong's old room. He'd left the door closed after he kicked the other boy out the previous evening. He hadn't wanted to have to look at anything that reminded him of the other boy after what had just happened.

Now the door was open. He figured Jaejoong would be dropping by at some point. He'd left almost all of his worldly possessions in the room, and Yoochun couldn't say he was so heartless that he'd considered throwing them away last night.

Yoochun had stepped into the doorway, observing what the other man was doing. He noticed the small pile of stuff on the bed before Jaejoong, and he frowned slightly, though Jaejoong couldn't see it. The other boy, dreamy as always was just standing there, staring out into nothing, while he thought about everything that was happening.

Yoochun rolled his eyes. He didn't know how it was possible for someone like Jaejoong to always manage to drift through life like he does. One look at Jaejoong told him that he hadn't spent the night on the streets. He could only assume that meant he had been at Yunho's place.

Yoochun had heard Jaejoong speak about the other man several times, but he knew they weren't friends. Jaejoong would never tell him why, and in a way he liked that about him. Jaejoong had this cold aura, telling people to stay away. He was so mysterious; and wouldn't ever really enlighten anyone about what was going on in his life, as far as Yoochun could tell. Sure he had his childish, girly, whiny moments, but most of the time he was a cool loner sort of person. But always one with this dreamy, far off gaze that told anyone who bothered to look at him, that he wasn't really there. That nothing that was going on in the real world really meant much to him.

People like that could never handle themselves; they always had to rely on other people to keep the reality side of things in check. The mere fact that Jaejoong had a licence was in and of itself, amusing. Someone like him being entrusted to care for several tonnes of metal, just didn't seem to make sense. Yoochun would never have trusted Jaejoong to take care of a rabbit.

“Is that all you're taking?” he questioned, aware how snide his comment probably sounded to Jaejoong. He knew that the other man hadn't known that he was there, but Jaejoong repressed the urge to shudder, in surprise. His heart raced, but he allowed himself to slip back in, underneath the edges of his mask, perfect personality reforming. “For the moment, yes.” he answered coolly, not trusting himself to lock eyes with Yoochun at the moment.

Jaejoong was well aware that the hold he had over his own emotions could be quite tenuous. Normally he was a crybaby and would burst into tears at a moments notice. He wouldn't give Yoochun the satisfaction of knowing that he'd gotten to him; that he'd hurt him.

“What do you mean, for the moment?” he queried, eyes narrowing at Jaejoong's back, annoyed that the other man seemed so stoic. He may not have done this because he wanted to hurt Jaejoong per se, but that didn't mean that he wanted him to be completely unfazed by it either. Perhaps that was just the danger of hurting a day dreamy person; they might never even realise that you're doing it. Shame.

Knowing that he couldn't pull off his next words properly without facing Yoochun, Jaejoong turned towards the other man, raising one eyebrow in an almost disdainful display “And how am I to get rid of all of my stuff now? I haven't even been gone for a day!”

Yoochun rolled his eyes again, arms crossed in distaste, the last thing he'd wanted was for Jaejoong to keep that attitude of his. “It doesn't matter how long you've been gone, you need to get your stuff out of my apartment.” he issued.

Jaejoong sneered, lip curling in dislike for the man before him, “And how long are you giving me to move it all?” he queried, sounding disinterested, as though he didn't care what Yoochun was going to answer him with.

“You have the weekend. Anything left behind I will throw away.” he answered, turning to leave, before tossing as an after thought over his shoulder, “And I'm changing the locks too.” before he left.

Jaejoong groaned to himself, despite being glad that Yoochun had left. There was no way he could move all of this stuff on his own. He didn't really have any friends at the university as it was, he didn't have anyone he could call to help him. He knew his family would offer to help, but it was going to be right at the last minute. Knowing his sisters, they'd probably booked up this weekend weeks ago.

He could already tell that he wasn't really going to have any choice but to ask Yunho. He had no idea what the other boy did on the weekends, if he did anything at all, but he would more than likely be Jaejoong's only hope.

Gathering those items he needed most urgently, Jaejoong had stormed out of the apartment, as quickly as he could. He might have been nostalgic while he was alone; he may even have been hoping just a little bit that Yoochun might regret everything, and beg him to come back. But after that display, he knew he shouldn't hold his breath.

His explanations had meant nothing to the other boy, nor did his apologies or his promises to do better in the future. Yoochun had decided he didn't want Jaejoong in his life anymore, and that was that.

He made his way back to Yunho's apartment leisurely, not sure how long he'd stayed in Yoochun's apartment. All the way there he couldn't help thinking about the fact that he'd just been ditched by his best friend. The hopeful thought made it into his mind that perhaps Yoochun just felt uncomfortable living together; maybe he still wanted to be friends at university.

He laughed bitterly to himself when the idea first popped into his mind, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't dislodge it. Some tiny, hopeful part of him was convinced there was a possibility he hadn't had an important person walk out of his life again. Probably the same part that would melt a little at the familiarity of Yunho's presence, after such a long separation.

That was how Jaejoong found himself waiting out the front of Yunho's apartment. He'd tried knocking but it had gotten him no where. He knew he had Yunho's cellphone number stored in his phone, but he didn't really want to call him. It felt too intimate; too private to do so. Besides, if he was inside, Yunho probably wouldn't answer it; too distracted by a movie, or his laptop, or his iPod or who knows what else he had in there.

He leaned against the wall, waiting though his agitation had drained away, only to be replaced with tiredness. He wasn't made so strong that he could sort out such turbulent periods in his own life. Faced with so much, so quickly, he couldn't help feeling his mask slipping, just aching to be left alone, so he could remove it entirely.

He pulled his own phone out, wondering if he hadn't been at Yoochun's apartment for long enough; that Yunho was still in class. He wasn't exactly sure what he would do if that were the case, not really wanting to go anywhere in public at the moment, but found he was relieved of the duty of finding something to do, by the knowledge that it was 3:40. Yunho should have been home about ten minutes ago, Jaejoong reasoned.

He sighed, realising he was being held up by something, which prompted his thoughts once more. Did Yunho do something on campus? Was he involved in any clubs? Could he have been meeting friends? Was it to do with that key getting cut? He couldn't be sure. But it just reminded him how little he actually knew about the man he was living with. In the old days he'd known everything there was to know about the other boy, but times had changed. They'd both grown up since the days Jaejoong could recall so vividly where he and Yunho were together.

In the old days, Yunho would have helped Jaejoong out at a moments notice. From what Jaejoong had noticed, Yunho was still so much the same boy he'd been back then that he guessed, he would probably do the same now. Yunho always was a helper.

His query wasn't so much regarding whether Yunho would or would not help, but about whether he could or could not help. Would the umpteen million things Jaejoong didn't know Yunho liked now interfere with his weekend, preventing him from assisting Jaejoong? He couldn't say he'd be surprised if that turned out to be the case, but the thought disappointed him.

Jaejoong knew that he could blame that feeling on that sentimental side of him, but his hand crafted persona warned him not to be so open. Yunho had waltzed out of Jaejoong's life once before, nothing would stop him from doing the same again, if the mood took him.

Yunho wasn't interested in sticking around. He couldn't even be sure if Yunho did want to be friends again.

It was then that Jaejoong heard the ding of the lift. He hadn't heard it since he started waiting about half an hour ago. That same sentimental spot he'd been trying to discipline leapt up in hope that it would be Yunho. He was so tired, that when the familiar, smiling face of Yunho came into view, he actually attempted to return his grin. He may have failed at smiling, but the very attempt seemed to put a bit of a sparkle into Yunho's eyes.

It was then that Jaejoong looked down, and realised he had returned with several bags, he couldn't recall the younger boy carrying when he'd left the apartment that morning. “Sorry, sorry. I didn't think it'd take that long, I swear.” he informed the older boy, who just nodded his head slightly.

Yunho let them both into the apartment, and before he could say another word, Jaejoong was off. He couldn't say he was surprised at the cold welcome, but Yunho still felt a bit hurt by it. In the old days, Yunho was always greeted by a massive grin on the other boy's pretty face. He supposed he should just be grateful that Jaejoong had given him that tired little half-smile when he stepped out of the lift. But he had thought that maybe that was Jaejoong's way of saying he wanted to start things over between them.

Wishful thinking.