“Flashback VI”

Promises. As Yunho stared out the window of their SM van yet again, heading back from a broadcast where he gave half his energy for the first time in his life, he reflected on the promises he had made, kept, and broken in his lifetime. Or maybe, “not-yet-fulfilled” was the more accurate adjective. Running down the list, he smiled when he thought of one day he spent with Jaejoong. It was a day of love and freedom.

—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—

“Right, it’s this way!” Jaejoong pointed to the map and then to the left after analyzing the complex labyrinth of streets. “It’s really hard to read these English street names.” He chuckled nervously, smiling at Yunho, who, in his opinion, was being extremely patient and gracious towards him. 

On that bright spring day, TVXQ was conveniently scheduled to perform in Los Angeles for the SMTOWN Concert. The concert was only supposed to take a day, but they were there for the entire week—perfect timing for Jaejoong to buy the matching couple ring for Yunho. Also perfect timing for their next seasonal anniversary, something that they had been celebrating ever since Yunho suggested it.

“Don’t worry about it, I wouldn’t have done a much better job,” Yunho replied, taking Jaejoong’s hand in his while proceeding to walk down the bright street. Graffiti lined the walls, creating a entirely different atmosphere from which they were familiar with back in Seoul. The people around them were

Energized by his surroundings, and the warm weather, Jaejoong put more life into his steps, almost bouncing through the streets, still partially unsure of where they were going, but content just being with Yunho. Over a year ago, he wouldn’t have even dreamed of getting this great opportunity to travel to America and also buy the ring, but now that it was a reality, he didn’t want it to end. 

“Cartier here we come!” 

They had arrived at the shop, smiling, hand in hand still, to the surprise of a bored saleswoman. Incompetent in English, Jaejoong tried to show the saleswoman his ring and motioned to Yunho’s hands, ringless, while explaining in broken English how they wanted to buy the matching one. After a few minutes of awkward conversation, they finally got their point across and managed to buy the matching ring before having to leave quickly for rehearsal. But they showed off the rings unconsciously during the concert, forgetting that they had put them on before and didn’t take them off. Yunho also   had made Jaejoong another promise—to return to America and peacefully spend an entire day together, no managers, none of the other members, just the two of them.

—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—

Of course he hadn’t been able to fulfill that, what with the lawsuit and their separation, and Yunho never forgave himself for breaking that promise. When they separated, Jaejoong had insisted that it was fine, that things had a way of sorting themselves out, but Yunho was sure that Jaejoong hadn’t foreseen his accident.

No, he definitely not.

Author’s Note: This one is not based on any real-life event. Also, because I hadn’t written in a while, I wanted to write a longer one this time. Wait, drabbles probably aren’t supposed to work like that. But I’ve abandoned the idea that this is a drabble series a while ago, it’s just a story and these are just chapters. SFPM.