"Are you planning to get everyone drunk?”

“No. I just want them to loosen up and have fun.”

“I doubt their definition of fun is the same as yours. Not because you can hold your alcohol well doesn’t mean they can, too.”

“Don’t be such a spoilsport. Just help me.” Pointedly ignoring his groaning friend, he barks orders at the staff unloading the numerous cases of alcohol from his car to the reception venue. Not more than two hours ago, his only son tied the knot with the love of his life. Seeing his son happy makes his heart swell with happiness. Finally, his baby boy would get to have his happy ending although he keeps on telling the boy it really is just the beginning.

“Excuse me, mister. Are you lonely?”

He jumps in surprise, the glass of alcohol he’s nursing almost slipping out of his hands. “You scared me, kid.” Said kid chuckles and takes the liberty to occupy the vacant seat beside him.

“I won’t say I’m sorry because I’m really not.” Yunho stares at the blunt kid who is grinning at him. “You’re Yoochun hyung’s father, am I right? My name is Jaejoong and I’m Kim Chilhyun’s son.”

“Yes, I’m aware. You are talking to me because?” He really isn’t being rude. He just wants to know why this young man is suddenly talking to him. He hasn’t even noticed him until now.

“I’ve been watching you the whole night.” He frowns at the revelation. Did he just gain a stalker? He doesn’t like stalkers, specially at his age. And besides, he doesn’t see a reason why this boy would follow him around. “You didn’t answer my question earlier. Are you lonely?”

Knowing that the boy won’t let him have his peace, he places the glass on the table and focuses on the newcomer. He usually shoos away whoever disturbs his alone time but this young man is showing an interest in him for a reason he has yet to find out. “What are you going to do if I am?”

Jaejoong shrugs, propping his elbows on the table and stares at Yunho. “I don’t like seeing people lonely. It makes me sad. I don’t get lonely most of the time but when I do, I hate it. It’s such a terrible feeling. You must be feeling horrible now, right mister? I bet you are. Which is why I’m here…I’m no expert but I want to make you happy. I feel like I should. Not sure how exactly I could do that but I will and you must give me a chance to try.”

Yunho chuckles. “That’s cute, but no thanks. I need no one’s help. I’m perfectly fine thank you very much. Now run along, your daddy must be looking for you.”

“I’m not a kid.”

“Sure you aren’t.”

“You’re treating me like one.”

He raised a brow. “Oh, was I?”

“Yes you were!” Jaejoong says with a huff. “For your information, I’m already twenty one. Ha! See, very legal. Not a kid at all.” he sticks his tongue out at Yunho who just rolls his eyes at him.

“Yeah, and adults do that? Real mature.”

Yunho gapes in surprise when Jaejoong slaps his arm playfully. Are they already that close to inflict physical pain on each other? The kid barely knows him and he’s already a target of his slapping spree. He grabs the offending hand and flicks the younger man’s forehead before he could even stop himself. “Stop. That hurts.”

Jaejoong looks at him with a pout decorating his face as he rubs his reddening forehead. “Did you have to hit me?”

“Right back at you.”

“Mom was right when she said you’re grumpy.”

He frowns. “Your mom knows who I am? I don’t even know who she is. Why does everyone know me when I don’t eve—“

“Not my real mom, silly! I was talking about my stepmom, Boa.”

“Ah…” he nods in understanding. “Her. Well she’s not a saint herself. Damn woman needs to learn how to keep her thoughts to herself.”

“Do you hate her?”

Good question.

But no, he doesn’t.

There’s no such thing as perfection, Yunho knows that. But that didn’t stop him from thinking that maybe, possibly, he’d get to have his perfectmarried life. It wasn’t entirely impossible if his wife would help him achieve that level of perfection he wanted.

It’s not that she didn’t help him. She tried but came to realize that she’d rather have an imperfect life than live a perfect one which is a little too boring for her taste. And so, she left him.

“Should I take your silence as a yes?”

The soft voice interrupts his train of thoughts. “No,” he finally replies. “No I don’t hate her. I never did.”

“Well you looked like you loathe her. Should I tell her about it?”

He looks at the young man in incredulity. “I’d rather you shut your big mouth.”

“It’s big? Is my mouth that big? I’ve been told that it’s cute and small. Look!” Before Yunho could even ask what he’s going to do, Jaejoong is right in front of his face, mouth wide open. “See it’s not that big. I don’t think even a sausage could fit in here.” The seemingly shameless young man adds and unceremoniously puts three fingers in his mouth. Yunho could only gape. When he has recovered from his initial shock, he looks around, sighing in relief when no one seems to be paying attention to them.

What is this kid doing?Does he not know how lewd that looks?

“Jaejoong stop that!” he hisses, grabbing the boy’s wrist as he pulls the digits off his mouth. Clueless, Jaejoong stares at him and asks what his problem is. “You don’t have to prove anything. Your mouth is whatever you want it to be.”

“Speaking of mouths,” Jaejoong beams. “You’ve been doing nothing but drink all night. I haven’t seen you touch food and if you want to be happy, you have to eat. Happy tummy equals to happy self. We’re going to eat and you’re not going to say no. I’ll feed you if I have to.”

Needless to say, Yunho is forced into eating afraid to make a scene if he refuses and Jaejoong straddles him just so he could shove food in his very uncooperative mouth. From the few minutes that he’s known Jaejoong, he could already tell that he’s not one to mind making a scene in front of hundreds of people as long as he gets what he wants.

What have I gotten myself into?





“Where’s your shadow?” asks Donghae in amusement as he takes a seat beside the scoffing Yunho who redirects him to the seat across his, explaining that Jaejoong would very much appreciate it if he didn’t take his spot, thank you very much. “Oh, so he claimed you now?”

“The seat, Donghae, not me.”

Donghae shrugs. “Same thing. So where’s he?”

“Dunno. Boa dragged him somewhere.”

“So…”

“So? Come on Hae, don’t look at me like that. Don’t tell me…oh no no no, you have got to be kidding me. He’s a kid, for goodness’ sake! A kid. He’s practically half my age. Maybe more.” Yunho says rather defensively, earning a grin from his best friend. “No seriously, stop looking at me like that. I’m no e.”

“Who’s a pedo?” both guys turn their heads at the newcomer. Kim Chilhyun is looking at them in genuine curiosity, waiting for his question to be answered. Yunho freezes in his seat for a couple of minutes before forcing himself to relax. What would Chilhyun say if he finds out that his son is the topic of their discussion? He would most likely not be pleased and Yunho could see himself sporting a black eye the next time he goes to work. He’s not going to blame Chilhyun for it though. He’d do the same if Jaejoong is his son.

Jaejoong…as his son…he could only snort at that.

Shuddering at the seemingly disturbing thought, he shakes his head and lets out a soft smile at his ex-wife’s boyfriend. “Donghae’s just being stupid, don’t mind him. Why don’t you sit with us?” he offers. Chilhyun, though, politely rejects the offer.

“I won’t be long. I was just going to ask, has my son been bothering you?”

Yunho chooses to pay no attention to the snickering Donghae and shakes his head, the soft smile still plastered on his face. “I was actually having a good time with hi—“

“See, daddy, even he agrees I wasn’t being bothersome.” interrupts Jaejoong, almost startling all the adults. A pout decorates his face and Yunho couldn’t be too sure if it’s the most adorable things he’s ever seen his entire life. Maybe not but right now, he doesn’t really care. He takes his spot beside Yunho and crosses his arms on his chest as he playfully glares at his confused father. “I swear I was just trying to be friendly! I figured Yunho could use some company. It looked like he needed it.”

As much as he wants to protest and say that he’s not as lame as Jaejoong’s making him out to be, he couldn’t even in the father-son moment. And so he watches, and watches some more while the tandem bicker. “…and that’s uncle Yunho to you.” he hears Chilhyun say ever so calmly.

“It’s no big deal.” Yunho finds himself saying. “He’s apparently decided that we’re already on first name basis. Who am I to say no to that?” Part of the reason why he said such thing is because he knows that if he doesn’t disrupt their squabble, it’d lead to an actual argument and he wants the rest of his night to be peaceful. And besides, a friend calling him uncle makes him want to cringe. He supposes he could refer to Jaejoong as his friend now.

His newfound friend beams at him. “I knew I like you for a reason.”

He could only sigh. Why do I give in to him so easily?


(“Unfortunately for him, his best friend thinks his life is a big fat joke. “You’re not even together and you’re already whipped. What more if—“

“Shut it, Donghae.”)




“So about our date…”

Yunho’s head snaps up, eyes wide as saucers. “What date?” The way Jaejoong frowns and looks hurt is giving him a feeling that he shouldn’t have asked.

“Don’t be stupid. I did say I like you and I’m sure you won’t let me cling to you like a leech if you don’t like me too. So now I declare that we’re dating.”

Yunho splutters, choking on his own saliva. “Jaejoong…” he trails off. “You can’t be serious about that. You and I, it’s just not going to happen.” he says with finality, not wanting to launch into his  speech. Even if there’s no such issue, no matter how much they’re crazy for each other— that is, if they are – it still would be wrong if they start dating. He is Jaejoong’s stepmom’s ex-husband. That alone is wrong on so many levels. Other than that, they have only known each other for what, two hours? Everything is happening too fast for his brain to comprehend.

And he tells Jaejoong that.

“What is there to comprehend?” Jaejoong replies with a huff. “I like you, you like me. End of story.”

“Right. End of story. We shall have no more talk about this.”

“Yunho…”

“When did I ever say I like you?”

“Well, you didn’t, but I—“

“Exactly. I didn’t, so don’t assume.”

“Wow. That actually hurts.”

Yunho sighs. He doesn’t want to hurt his feelings, or even hurt him in any way but at the same time he doesn’t want Jaejoong to think that he's okay with all this because he’s not. If Jaejoong wants a fling then he could go look for someone else because at Yunho’s age, it’s either he remains single or get a partner for life. He just doesn’t do flings. Not anymore.

Thing is, there is something that worries him. What if Jaejoong convinces himself that Yunho feels something for him when doesn’t?

Feelings.

Not even a day of knowing each other and there are already feelings involved.

Great. Just fantastic.
Flatout rejecting Jaejoong seemed like the best thing to do, but seeing the boy’s furrowed eyebrows and pouty lips (which he may or may not want to kiss) are making him want to change his mind. No, he cannot let that happen. He has to be firm with his decision.

“If we do start exclusively dating, are you going to tell your dad and Boa about it?” Jaejoong’s silence is enough answer for him. “I thought so. You see, you don’t want them knowing about us because you’re scared. You know they’d be against the relationship. Knowing Boa, she’d call me a cradle snatcher. And I’ve had enough of her calling me names. You know, what I want in a relationship is stability.” he explains. “I’m way past the stage where I’d go for anything— flings, one night stands and whatnot. I need someone who would stay with me until I am no longer breathing. Someone who’d be with me through thick and thin. I don’t need a stressful relationship, Jaejoong. I want you to know that.”

“…okay.”

“What?” If anything, he expects Jaejoong to back out as soon as he talked about how serious he is when it comes to relationships. To make it worse, Jaejoong doesn’t sound like he’s only agreeing just for the sake of agreeing. “You’re insane to want this. You’re young. There are a lot of girls…guys out there. Fun people.”

“They’re not you. I like you, Yunho. What part of that don’t you understand? If you want my parents to know, I’d tell them. Not now but I will, eventually. You can trust me on that.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“Say, you don’t go to your friends’ weddings and approach their dads, eh?”

Jaejoong breaks the tension with a slap on his arm. He probably has a thing for slapping, Yunho thinks. “I’m not a . You just happened to catch my attention.”

“I never thought of you as that. You said it yourself. Just…think about it, okay? If you’re dead serious about this…this thing we’re going to have, tell me.” And with that, he ruffles the young man’s hair and walks off to the direction of his drunken son who is apparently having the time of his life on top of a table. “Well someone wasn’t able to stop him.” he says as he stands beside Junko, his son’s wife.

Junko smiles at him, shaking her head. “It’s his day. I should let him have his fun.”

He chuckles. “Then I suppose you’re having fun watching him make a fool of himself.”

“That might just be right.”

With a smile, Yunho envelopes his beaming daughter-in-law in a tight hug. “I know you will, but take care of Yoochun, hmm? I trust that you’re going to make him happy.”

“Yes dad, you can trust me.”

“And I’m expecting a honeymoon baby.” he says with a chuckle. Junko’s lack of response causes him to pull away and break the hug. He examines her, confused at the somber expression she’s sporting. “Did I say something wrong?”

His voice snaps her out of her reverie. “Ah, no. I’m fine. I just…yeah, I’m fine.” If he thinks it’s obvious that she’s lying, he doesn’t say anything about it. Instead, he just nods and lets it go.