Yunho looked down. Jaejoong’s eyes were closed. He was asleep. For a moment, he gazed at that gentle face. Jae’s lips, always a blushing shade of rose, were slightly parted, an endearing quality he had when he slept. Yunho looked at his brother’s eyes, closed, dark eyelashes resting on his fair skin. And Yunho thought, as he had many times before, if a painter were to see Jaejoong right now, he would be quick to bring out his brushes and canvas to try and capture this scene.

Asleep, Jae was something out of this world. In slumber, Jae seemed to return to the special world he had been born of. A world where people walk with a moonlight glow upon their skin. A world where voices are soft so as not to interrupt the dreams that are coming true. This was the neverland Jae belonged to; this was the land, second star to the right and straight on to a morning, where Jae returned to every time he slept.

Gently, Yunho placed his hand on the fair cheek, away some of the hair that had fallen over Jae’s eye. And suddenly, Yunho wanted to move; a prick, a pang, flickered in his heart.

“Jae,” he said, a little harsher than he meant to, “Wake up.”

The dark lashes fluttered open and Jaejoong looked up, his dark brown eyes very wide, like a new born doe. And with that look, so innocent, so trusting, he gazed at Yunho, not talking.

A painful lump welled up in Yunho’s throat. And with a hard swallow, he said, “Jae, you need to get up. I have to dinner ready and I know Mrs. Morton gave you something on the piano to practice and you have to wash up.”

But Jaejoong did not seem to hear exactly what his brother had said. His head was cocked prettily to one side and he seemed very intent upon Yunho’s face. It was several moments before he said anything.

“Yunho? Do you think-” Jae paused.

“Do I think what, Jae?”

“Do you think,” Jae began again, reaching his hand towards Yunho’s face, ”Do you think I’ll ever grow up and be as handsome as you?”

Yunho caught Jae’s hand in his own and tried to meet his brother’s gaze. But the painful lump in his throat returned and that pang in his heart seemed to be growing. Yunho looked away. He couldn’t look at Jaejoong and answer him.

“Yea, Jae. I think you’ll be real handsome.”

A smile, if Yunho had seen it, spread over Jae’s face. And, happily, he popped up to do as Yunho asked.

*Given that Yunho had listened to and read extensively on all the types of food allergies those in his brother’s condition were potentially subject to, he considered himself lucky that when he cooked, he did not have to consider what Jaejoong could or could not have. Jae ate anything.

Yet, at the same time, dinnertime had its peculiarities. For one thing, no matter what dinner was that night, Jae absolutely had to have kiwi with his meal. Ever since he was little, Jae would not touch his food unless a small dish of kiwi was placed next to his plate. Given that kiwi was not a fruit to be had year round, in all the years, Yunho went through some considerable difficulty procuring this little fuzzy fruit. Of course, now, he was wiser and just had a small crate of kiwi delivered, from an Internet supplier, every two weeks. True, it was expensive. But-Jae wouldn’t eat otherwise.

Another rather interesting habit Jaejoong had when it came time to eat was the way he arranged his food on his plate. Yunho often joked to himself that his brother was, in the very truest sense of the word, a compartmental eater. None of the foods on Jae’s plate could be touching one another. The rice couldn’t touch the vegetables and the meat could not touch the rice. Jae’s food was put in little piles. He ate it that way as well. Usually, he started with the meat and worked his way clockwise around the plate. Of course, if one of the foods should happen to be a favorite, no matter what, Jae ate that last, as it was special.

While Yunho was still cooking, he heard Jae turn on the water in the shower to wash up. Before dinner, it was Jae’s job to make sure he had done three things: homework/piano, make his bed, and take a shower. Yunho listened to the sound of the water running, wondering if Jae had actually gotten into the shower yet, or if he was playing in the steam that, by now, must be filling the bathroom.

Yet, right as he was about to call out, the phone rang. With one hand stirring the rice in the pot, Yunho reached out with the other to answer.

Yoochun’s voice was on the other end. Over the years, the two had given up saying hello to each other on the phone. Yoochun knew that Yunho always answered the house phone and Yunho knew that Yoochun never waited for him to say hello. Between them, sometimes, it was a joke.

“Hey,” began Yoochun on the other end,” Do you need anything? I’m in town, I could swing by.”

“No, I’m good. I went shopping earlier. Oh, hey! Thanks for taking Jae to school today. Was he okay?”

“Oh sure. He was a good guy about it. He always is.”

“He told me you yelled at him about jumping off the stairs.”

Yoochun laughed. “Oh, yea! I did.” A pause. “How are you, Yunho? Everything okay?”

“You mean with Jae? Yea. It’s okay. My darling girlfriend is mad at me again, though.”

Yunho heard Yoochun snort on the other end, “Mad about what?”

With a sort of chuckle, Yunho replied, “I don’t know. I guess I’m not as devoted as I should be. I-”

Yunho stopped short as he heard a resounding scream come from upstairs.

“Yunhoooo!” Cried Jae from inside the bathroom.

“Jae? What’s wrong,” asked Yunho, dropping the phone on the counter, feeling an unnatural sensation rise within him.

“It huuuurrrrrtsssss!”

Soap. Jae had soap in his eye. Yunho sighed. As tragic as Jae sounded right now, this was not the first time the soap-in-the-eye drama had played. Relieved, Yunho sighed.

“Jae, just lean back. Let the water wash it out. Don’t open your eye.” He paused to listen for a response. “Jae? Is it out?”

“Yea,” came the weak sounding response.

Turning to the phone, still laying on the counter, Yunho heard Yoochun laughing from the other end. And, with his heart finally climbing back down in his chest where it belonged, Yunho couldn’t help but smile as well. Yet he smiled, not so much at how charming the escapade had been, as Yoochun considered it. He smiled in relief that something worse had not happened.