chb: the boy who can't tie his shoelaces
yunho/jaejoong, yoochun/junsu
angst, romance, humour ish / pg13 / oneshot
Jaejoong is pretty determined to avoid Yunho like a plague. He has come to a decision that he is not going to talk to him at all costs. Not now, not tomorrow, not the day after tomorrow, not next week, not for a long time.


this might confuse you so i apologise in advance :) it's pretty long too


note: past is when yunho was a stud muffin until he found out about his condition. present is during the time when the couple met minseok and yoosu and everyone else. future is three years after that, when minseok is already eight years old... and the years after that.



 

 

present

 

"Move out of the way!" warns Jaejoong as he runs past people as carefully as he could to avoid bumping into them. He's terribly late and his mother just has to drop him of at least ten blocks away from school ("I'm sorry honey, my boss won't take no for an answer. I need to be there as soon as I could. I'll cook your favorite dinner to make it up to you. Take care. Love you!"). So to say, his first day of school isn't going as well as he hopes it would be.

Ignoring the burning sensation in his legs, he continues running his way up the footbridge only to slow down his tracks at the sight of a student who is standing on the railing. He has to hold his breath when the suicidal boy leans over the railing and slips. Muttering a curse, he runs towards the boy and purposely bumps into him, sending them both toppling on the ground.

Jaejoong rubs his knee -  that will soon be bruised - and glances at the boy whom he just saved from doing the unthinkable. The said boy glares at him and he could only get up and bow awkwardly. "Uhh, I... nice weather!" he blurts out unintelligently and runs away.

Being late is one thing, but getting punished for being late is another. And that . The teacher doesn't really have to send him outside so that he could raise his hands and be the laughing stock of the students loitering on the hallway. His teachers back in his hometown aren't like this. They are very nice, in fact, and they don't humiliate tardy students.

He could only curse his luck.

"Psst. You're the transferee?"

Oh yes. He isn't alone to endure the humiliation. And that, he is thankful for.

He nods. "I'm Jaejoong. You are?"

A disturbingly bright smile is sent his way. "Kim Junsu. It's nice to meet you. Where are you from?"

"Gongju."

"Why don't you have an accent?"

"Uhm," Well he certainly does not know how to answer that. Would it be embarrassing if he tells him the truth? That he practiced standard accent for weeks so no one would find a reason to make fun of him?

Junsu looks at him with his million dollar smile, obviously expecting an answer. Just as he was about to open his mouth to respond, probably tell him a lie, he feels a stinging pain on his right ear. "Who gave you two permission to talk?" And before his mind could process what is happening, the rude teacher is already beating the back of their knees with her stick. He and Junsu could only bite their lips and whimper in pain.

It is only when the teacher is satisfied with her work - pure torture for the two boys - does she go back to the classroom to continue with her lesson.

"Guess we were too loud?" Junsu says with a soft laugh, both of them rubbing their legs. "Damn it she really hits so hard."

"Is she even allowed to do that?" Jaejoong wonders out loud to which Junsu responds with a shrug.

"It's not the first time she hit me. There was a time when I..." Whatever Junsu is telling him falls deaf on his ears as the suicidal boy on the bridge walks past him and enters their classroom. It probably only means one thing.

"He's our classmate?"

Junsu stops babbling, blinks at him and then smiles, not at all offended at the fact that he was not listening to him. "His name is Jung Yunho. You do not want to mess with him."

He frowns. "Why?"

"Because... he's going to kick your ." Jaejoong blinks. "Well, not literally. But after he talks to you you'll feel like you've been kicked in the over a hundred times. He's very rude, you see."

"Has he been rude to you?"

"Oh no. That's only because I don't really talk to him. Can't risk it."

"Then how can you say that?"

"How can I not? Most people here don't like him. I suggest you stay away from him." Jaejoong nods, but doesn't really take his warning any heed.

He's only able to observe Jung Yunho when he and Junsu are allowed to go back in their room for the next class. Jung Yunho is sitting on the last row, right next to the window and he happened to be assigned to the seat right next to him. During the lesson, Junsu, who was sitting three rows in front of him, keeps on glancing at him in worry. He could only smile to assure him that no, Jung Yunho hasn't kicked his yet. Literally or figuratively.

Their English teacher, Mr. Nam, doesn't seem to be that bad. But Jaejoong realises he has misjudged him when Mr. Nam catches Jung Yunho sleeping in class and smacks his head really hard. He gasps.

Rubbing his abused head, Jung Yunho cracks an eye open and hisses at the teacher. "What the hell was that for?"

"Don't you have respect, Mr. Jung?" the furious teacher asks through gritted teeth.

Jung Yunho scoffs. "Respect is earned, not imposed. I only respect those who deserve it."

"Why you--" Mr. Nam lifts a hand, aiming at the student's cheek when said student stands up and catches his wrist before it could even meet his cheek.

"Student Rights. Section 3, Clause 6. The principal and staff must not use verbal or physical abuse on the students." Jung Yunho is dealing with the situation rather calmly, Jaejoong notes, and Mr. Nam isn't as the older man is visibly shaking, as if ready to claw his student's eyes out. "Anything else you would like to say, sonsaengnim?"

"Get out. Now!"

"Gladly."

And in a blink, Jung Yunho is out the room.

Well, Jaejoong thinks, that was cool.

Junsu thinks otherwise.

"Told you he was rude." His new friend says waving his half-eaten sandwich. It is lunch and he isn't even that hungry but Junsu just dragged him to the cafeteria giving him no chance to protest.

Jaejoong stabs a potato with his fork and shoves it in his mouth. He shakes his head. "I didn't find it rude, though. He was just defending himself."

"It was his fault in the first place." Junsu reasons out. "He shouldn't have slept in class. Although Mr. Nam should've just let him be. He's always slept in class."

"Maybe he's tired."

"Or maybe he's being arrogant."

"How so?"

"He's the top student in the class, Jaejoongah. Surely, he's just being cocky. We don't even see him study at all and yet he gets really high grades. Such a show off."

Jaejoong chuckles, throwing a potato ball at Junsu who effortlessly dodges it. "I can feel your hatred from over here."

"It's not hatred. I don't hate him. But I don't like him either."

"Doesn't seem like it though." he mumbles.

The rest of the day goes pretty well. Jaejoong did not interact with anyone else other than Junsu. Surprisingly, the other teachers are really nice, unlike the first two he encountered. They are probably just not morning people. Humming his favourite song of the week, he goes separate ways with his new friend and heads home only to, for the second time that day, stop on his tracks at the sight of Jung Yunho sitting in the middle of the street, glaring at his... shoes?

Completely ignoring Junsu's warning to not interact with the kid, he slowly approaches him, stopping just a few inches away from the odd boy. He clears his throat. "Uhm," Yunho looks up at him and frowns, as if asking him what the hell was he doing there. "I..."

"The weather is not nice." Jung Yunho replies, taking his eyes off Jaejoong.

Remembering his stupid outburst the first time they met, he suddenly feels so silly. "I wasn't really... going to say that. I just. Is... is something the matter?" There is a few minutes of silence before Jung Yunho mumbles something he does not catch. "What was that again?"

"My shoelaces are untied."

It is then that Jaejoong notices his untied shoelaces. "I don't see any problem with that. You can just tie-"

"I can't."

He frowns. "You can't?"

"That's what I said. Are you going to laugh at me?"

"As in you don't know how to tie it at all?"

"Are you deaf?!"

Shaking his head at the other's temper, he drops his bag on the ground, sits beside Jung Yunho and ties his shoelaces, bunny style. With a smile, Jaejoong stands back up. "There. You might want to stand up now. We don't want you getting hit by an oncoming car, don't we?"

Jaejoong smiles at him before turning on his heels and walks away.





He definitely has no idea why or how it happened but the next thing he knows, Jung Yunho is talking to him like they've been buddies since diapers. It is just Yunho for him now. He has been given permission from the latter that they could be on first name basis. Junsu, however, is pretty much against their friendship and keeps on scowling everytime he sees them together. After school hours, that is. They only hang out when school is over. When there are no eyes to judge them and no mouths to gossip about them.

"Were you able to finish the test?" Jaejoong asks rather worriedly as Yunho pushes the door to the rooftop open. They sit on the bench Yunho stole from the gym and he immediately snatches the cigarette hanging on Yunho's lips, throwing it on the ground. He hates it when Yunho smokes.

Yunho gives him a look but says nothing about his wasted cancer stick. "Don't I always?"

"But I saw you sleeping."

"I did sleep. Right after I finished the exam."

"Of course. Why am I even surprised."

"Did you do well?"

Jaejoong nods with a smile. "Wasn't able to study much but I think I did fine." He frowns when Yunho ruffles his hair while muttering, we'll see when the results are out.

Turns out, he did better than he expected.

It is lunch time when Junsu drags him to the bulletin board where the results are posted. For some odd reason, students keep on staring at him while whispering at each other. He does not need to ask as he knows they are talking about him. He silently wonders if someone posted pictures of him. Did he do something horrible? Is he in trouble now? All the negative thoughts fly out of his mind when he sees his name on top of the list.

He is number one?

Before he could react to the pleasant surprise, Junsu already crushes him in a tight hug. "Didn't know you had it in you! You stole Jung Yunho's spot." His ecstatic friend tells him.

Yunho's spot?

He pulls away from the hug and checks out the list again. Yunho is all the way down... to number five.

As much as he wants to talk to Yunho about the results, he's nowhere to be found. He didn't even attend his classes.

"-later?"

Junsu's voice snaps him out of his reverie. "Oh, what was it again?"

"Why were you not listening to me? As I was saying, to celebrate your success, why don't we eat out later after school?"

He nods absentmindedly, still wondering about his new friend's whereabouts.





Junsu sure is having a lovely time scoffing down his ramyun. Jaejoong stabs a piece of spicy rice cake with his toothpick when his vision lands at the awfully familiar boy outside the food stall. "Is that Yunho?" he asks before he could even stop himself. "Who's that?" he adds when he notices that Yunho is not alone.

Junsu swallows his noodles and looks at direction where Jaejoong is looking at. "There have been rumours. About him and men. Sometimes women."

"What kind of rumours?"

"You know, those kinds of rumours."

"Yunho's not that kind of person." he says, earning a scoff from the other.

"Right. You'd know that because you've been friends, for what, a week? You barely know anything about him. And I doubt he'd tell you anything. What do you even know about him, Jaejoong? That he can't tie his own shoelaces? What you know are only trivial things."

Jaejoong glances at Yunho and the man, and frowns when the old man seems to be forcing him to get in his car. Clenching his fists tight, his body took over him as he abruptly stands and runs off, leaving a stunned Junsu.

"He said he doesn't w