Chapter 15
Connections
Jaejoong woke up feeling satiated, his body pleasantly tired. He moved with a smile to the warmth next to him hoping to find Lydia’s sleeping form only to jump when his eyes met Yunho instead.
He pulled the blanket to cover himself and looked around feeling lost. Slowly he remembered the night before. And what he had decided to do in desperation for not knowing what else he could do to help Yunho. His breathing calmed after a few moments.
Jaejoong tried to move his body a little and realised he was ok. Tired but ok. Actually, he felt… satisfied; exactly how he felt after really good . He studied his friend’s face. The tall man was sleeping peacefully, a hint of a smile on his lips. Gone was the haunting look.
The memories of their night together started to flood Jaejoong’s mind. He blushed at the way he behaved. Sarah had told him his body would probably take over but he had never expected that it could be like that. That reaction only meant that indeed he liked both men and women. That much like Lydia was his Linked One, so was Yunho. Like his childhood friend kept insisting.
It was a strange and unsettling realisation, especially because his heart still only thought of Yunho as his best friend, even after having spent the night together. Jaejoong sat against the headboard and tried to decide what to do next. However, there wasn’t much that he could do. He may not think of Yunho as his Linked One but he could no longer deny the evidences. And most importantly, Yunho needed him. Needed him desperately. And satisfying that need, at least the physical aspect of it, wasn’t the big sacrifice he had feared. Jaejoong sighed sadly. He couldn’t do much more but he could do this. At least one purple cycle in every few cycles he could spend it with Yunho.
…
Yunho welcomed the hard work he had ahead of him. He needed to prepare a diplomatic mission to the several colonies. It was something that had been delayed for far too long. Lots of negotiations needed to be updated and it was best to do that with the right people and not over spread out tedious correspondence or long distance talks. He was confident he could handle it. After all, in a way he had dealt with difficult personalities all his life and in the last orange cycles all his specific preparation had been towards work in the diplomacy field even if he hadn’t dared hope for the position that he gained in the end.
The tall young man looked around himself with an undisguised sense of self-satisfaction. He was feeling happier than he expected, under the straining circumstances. Jaejoong had not exactly said it out loud but he knew very well that his Linked One still only viewed him as a friend. However, the physical proximity had indeed helped a lot. More than Yunho had expected it might. He was once again able to focus on more than his despair that Jaejoong wouldn’t accept him.
Now he had hope. Hope that eventually he might have more than a body in his bed and a ghost of his friend. It had been strange to recognize over the last purple cycles that their friendship was too strained. In fact, the older man practically avoided him when possible even if he would show up at his house every few days and allow Yunho to take him to bed.
Yunho sighed and pulled his hair. It was unsettling how much Jaejoong’s body easily responded to the slightest touch. He could see how his Linked One tried to fight it and how he so easily failed. It just made him surer of how much they could, should be happy together. That stubbornness was manifesting itself in a damaging way in their friendship. They had a hard time talking. Being alone became awkward. Even with their friends around Jaejoong never seemed able to fully relax.
The timing for the diplomatic mission which in other circumstances would have been an unbearable pain, now seemed like a much welcomed gift.
…
Changmin was silent. His job as head of security meant he had to help prepare the next diplomatic mission to the finest detail. But there was much about it that did not concern him. Whatever Yunho was now discussing about some mining rights and the importation of some medical supplies meant nothing to him. The colony Yunho was referring to was one of the less technologically advanced ones and any security risk it might pose fitted much more under Junsu’s field of expertise than his own.
His interest had been otherwise engaged for quite some time. Yoochun was enthusiastically going over the spaceships they had that could endure the long journey and any possible modifications needed. He would be smiling at the other man’s happy face if he had not started to suspect that Yoochun was in very high danger of wanting to join the mission himself. Changmin was still trying to decide what he thought about that.
One ancient Earth day was equivalent to one Purple sun cycle. All the colonies still measured time in that old fashioned 24 hour scheme or very close to it, in some cases completely ignoring the planets unique solar cycles. Lhara was rather lucky in that aspect since the Purple Sun worked with their internal clock set long along to a distant yellow star. Then came the Blue Sun. One Blue cycle was about a month. And then their Orange Moon took one year to travel around their planet.
Changmin glared at the papers and screens in front of him. The diplomatic mission between all the colonies the way Yunho intended would never take less than half an Orange cycle. If Yoochun decided he should go…
…
Jaejoong was dozing off. Or trying to. He was tired after an entire day flying with Sailor and meeting with different dragons to start preparing everything for the next adulthood ceremony in four orange cycles. His mind however was still too ecstatic to rest. It was becoming easier to interact mentally with the dragons. That just ended up reminding him how he still could not do it with Lydia.
Worst was that tonight happened to be one of those nights when she had to stay away, the distance too great to be worth the travel. And he was too tired for a long talk on their bracelets so they had just talked for a little while and now he was all alone in his big bed.
As the night progressed Jaejoong found himself staying awake, unable to sleep. And inevitably his thoughts ended up going over his relationship with Yunho. It still amazed him how he reacted more and more to the between them. It was light years away from the sacrifice he had expected he would have to endure for the benefit of his childhood friend. Now, sometimes, he even caught himself anticipating the one day of the week he had stipulated for Yunho.
Jaejoong went as far as trying to imagine how it would be like if he hadn’t lost The Connection. Would the three of them sleep on the same bed? Yunho and Lydia talked very little, they were just… acquaintances. But that was because of the current situation. How different could things have been?
An image suddenly flashed in his mind. His inside Lydia, her s pressed against his chest, his hands holding her buttocks, their mouths kissing. But the pace would be determined by Yunho’s buried deep inside of him, the strong chest against his back, large hands on his hips, a mouth on his neck. Jaejoong shook his head in a hurry, trying to chase away the confusing image. He couldn’t believe he would ever agree to something like that, even under The Connection effects. However, he reluctantly also couldn’t help but wonder how strong an that would be.
…
Life had fallen into a routine. Jaejoong knew that Junsu and Sarah still tried very hard to find him a solution but there was nothing so far. Still he felt at peace, as much as he could be. It was rather awkward being near Yunho. He could not fully relax even when it was just the five of them riding horses across the prairie. He knew and saw that Yunho was not happy that their friendship was somehow on hold but Jaejoong had no idea how to fix that. And he was feeling a little guilty that he was almost relived to find about the diplomatic mission.
…
Yoochun was in deep trouble. He knew it. He had seen it coming miles away. In a way he had gotten himself in this mess of his own free will. He had tried for as long as possible to hide from Changmin that he was going on the mission. He would never trust anyone else to be in charge. Actually, there was no one else that could do the job. In terms of sheer logistics it would be unviable to send the people necessary to replace him. No one else could fly the spaceship and keep it running the way he could. It would also take a ridiculous amount of time to train people to replace him. Not to mention how much longer the trip would end up becoming.
Changmin had somehow decided he did not care one cent about all that. And Yoochun could only blame himself for how much his Linked One was angry. He knew, he just knew he should have talked to Changmin about this a lot sooner. He knew the younger man suspected it. How could he not when he was present to every reunion.
Yoochun thought that another big problem was that Changmin could not go. His first priority was to the safety of the colony and unlike Yoochun, he had the personnel to send on the mission.
He sighed feeling frustrated, torn and yet surprisingly happy. He was stupidly happy that Changmin was so obviously upset that they would stay away for so long.
…
Junsu shook his head and sighed. His friends seemed to enjoy drama. He was rather pleased that he and Sarah were getting along much better. In fact, they were dating according to her. He quite liked dating since it involved a lot of spending time together, especially the part about all the kissing.
A lot of Chosen Ones would be taking the opportunity to return to their own colonies, some just to visit like Sarah, and others permanently. The Lhara Chosen Ones destined to the different colonies were also going. On the return trip, they would bring back the Lhara Chosen Ones who wanted to return and bring the ones from the other colonies that were intended to spend some time in Lhara.
Junsu looked over his notes to make sure he had everything. He was not the more experienced doctor off course, but he was one of the more qualified and he was looking forward to all the knowledge he would acquire. Having Sarah accompany was going to make everything especially stimulating because they loved challenging each other.
A knock on his table woke him up from his musings.
“Knock, knock.”
“Hi, Sarah. Are you done for today?”
“Yes. Mira is already waiting outside.”
Outside, Junsu jumped to the dragon’s neck and then used his arm to pull Sarah up into his lap. He gave a soft kiss on her blushing cheek and they took off.
Sarah leant back into Junsu’s chest and smiled at how comfortable she felt in his arms. It still sometimes felt like some dream that she could be with Junsu like this. A very sweet dream.
…
Yunho spent a lot of time flying on his dragon whenever possible.
Blur was amazing making him believe that the time apart would help him with Jaejoong.
…
The day when the ship was to leave arrived. Sarah didn’t need to help out with anything so she just sat around the platform and watched the final rush.
The last ones to say goodbyes were the group of five friends. Parents and siblings hugged Yunho, Yoochun and Junsu. Then they moved to the screens that would allow everyone to see the ship fly off.
Off to the side, Changmin waited. He was obviously trying to reign in his temper. Fortunately he had been occupied with his own responsibilities until recently. Sarah shook her head. The stubborn man just glared at Yoochun who was trying to say proper goodbyes. Yoochun gave a deep sad sigh and she feared he would just leave like that. Changmin seemed to fear the same. His face paled for a moment. Then Yoochun grabbed the taller man and just kissed him silly. To everyone’s surprise, Changmin was left speechless and flustered while a smirking Yoochun turned and left for the ship. Sarah hide her pleased smile behind her hands. She found their relationship rather amusing at times.
Then the only one left out on the platform was Yunho with an expectant look. Junsu even came back out to call him and Sarah.
Finally Jaejoong showed up, Lydia behind him. Yunho took a deep breath and smiled. Jaejoong smiled back and hugged his friend.
Sarah approached Yunho and the two entered the ship, its huge doors closing after them.
Big screens on Lhara and inside the ship showed them moving further and further away. The ship became undistinguishable against the darkness and the stars. The screens on the ship showed Lhara becoming smaller for longer but eventually even the big planet was visible no more.
…
OBS: Did not forget this one. Need the story to move along in time so nothing much happens on this chapter.
He pulled the blanket to cover himself and looked around feeling lost. Slowly he remembered the night before. And what he had decided to do in desperation for not knowing what else he could do to help Yunho. His breathing calmed after a few moments.
Jaejoong tried to move his body a little and realised he was ok. Tired but ok. Actually, he felt… satisfied; exactly how he felt after really good . He studied his friend’s face. The tall man was sleeping peacefully, a hint of a smile on his lips. Gone was the haunting look.
The memories of their night together started to flood Jaejoong’s mind. He blushed at the way he behaved. Sarah had told him his body would probably take over but he had never expected that it could be like that. That reaction only meant that indeed he liked both men and women. That much like Lydia was his Linked One, so was Yunho. Like his childhood friend kept insisting.
It was a strange and unsettling realisation, especially because his heart still only thought of Yunho as his best friend, even after having spent the night together. Jaejoong sat against the headboard and tried to decide what to do next. However, there wasn’t much that he could do. He may not think of Yunho as his Linked One but he could no longer deny the evidences. And most importantly, Yunho needed him. Needed him desperately. And satisfying that need, at least the physical aspect of it, wasn’t the big sacrifice he had feared. Jaejoong sighed sadly. He couldn’t do much more but he could do this. At least one purple cycle in every few cycles he could spend it with Yunho.
…
Yunho welcomed the hard work he had ahead of him. He needed to prepare a diplomatic mission to the several colonies. It was something that had been delayed for far too long. Lots of negotiations needed to be updated and it was best to do that with the right people and not over spread out tedious correspondence or long distance talks. He was confident he could handle it. After all, in a way he had dealt with difficult personalities all his life and in the last orange cycles all his specific preparation had been towards work in the diplomacy field even if he hadn’t dared hope for the position that he gained in the end.
The tall young man looked around himself with an undisguised sense of self-satisfaction. He was feeling happier than he expected, under the straining circumstances. Jaejoong had not exactly said it out loud but he knew very well that his Linked One still only viewed him as a friend. However, the physical proximity had indeed helped a lot. More than Yunho had expected it might. He was once again able to focus on more than his despair that Jaejoong wouldn’t accept him.
Now he had hope. Hope that eventually he might have more than a body in his bed and a ghost of his friend. It had been strange to recognize over the last purple cycles that their friendship was too strained. In fact, the older man practically avoided him when possible even if he would show up at his house every few days and allow Yunho to take him to bed.
Yunho sighed and pulled his hair. It was unsettling how much Jaejoong’s body easily responded to the slightest touch. He could see how his Linked One tried to fight it and how he so easily failed. It just made him surer of how much they could, should be happy together. That stubbornness was manifesting itself in a damaging way in their friendship. They had a hard time talking. Being alone became awkward. Even with their friends around Jaejoong never seemed able to fully relax.
The timing for the diplomatic mission which in other circumstances would have been an unbearable pain, now seemed like a much welcomed gift.
…
Changmin was silent. His job as head of security meant he had to help prepare the next diplomatic mission to the finest detail. But there was much about it that did not concern him. Whatever Yunho was now discussing about some mining rights and the importation of some medical supplies meant nothing to him. The colony Yunho was referring to was one of the less technologically advanced ones and any security risk it might pose fitted much more under Junsu’s field of expertise than his own.
His interest had been otherwise engaged for quite some time. Yoochun was enthusiastically going over the spaceships they had that could endure the long journey and any possible modifications needed. He would be smiling at the other man’s happy face if he had not started to suspect that Yoochun was in very high danger of wanting to join the mission himself. Changmin was still trying to decide what he thought about that.
One ancient Earth day was equivalent to one Purple sun cycle. All the colonies still measured time in that old fashioned 24 hour scheme or very close to it, in some cases completely ignoring the planets unique solar cycles. Lhara was rather lucky in that aspect since the Purple Sun worked with their internal clock set long along to a distant yellow star. Then came the Blue Sun. One Blue cycle was about a month. And then their Orange Moon took one year to travel around their planet.
Changmin glared at the papers and screens in front of him. The diplomatic mission between all the colonies the way Yunho intended would never take less than half an Orange cycle. If Yoochun decided he should go…
…
Jaejoong was dozing off. Or trying to. He was tired after an entire day flying with Sailor and meeting with different dragons to start preparing everything for the next adulthood ceremony in four orange cycles. His mind however was still too ecstatic to rest. It was becoming easier to interact mentally with the dragons. That just ended up reminding him how he still could not do it with Lydia.
Worst was that tonight happened to be one of those nights when she had to stay away, the distance too great to be worth the travel. And he was too tired for a long talk on their bracelets so they had just talked for a little while and now he was all alone in his big bed.
As the night progressed Jaejoong found himself staying awake, unable to sleep. And inevitably his thoughts ended up going over his relationship with Yunho. It still amazed him how he reacted more and more to the between them. It was light years away from the sacrifice he had expected he would have to endure for the benefit of his childhood friend. Now, sometimes, he even caught himself anticipating the one day of the week he had stipulated for Yunho.
Jaejoong went as far as trying to imagine how it would be like if he hadn’t lost The Connection. Would the three of them sleep on the same bed? Yunho and Lydia talked very little, they were just… acquaintances. But that was because of the current situation. How different could things have been?
An image suddenly flashed in his mind. His inside Lydia, her s pressed against his chest, his hands holding her buttocks, their mouths kissing. But the pace would be determined by Yunho’s buried deep inside of him, the strong chest against his back, large hands on his hips, a mouth on his neck. Jaejoong shook his head in a hurry, trying to chase away the confusing image. He couldn’t believe he would ever agree to something like that, even under The Connection effects. However, he reluctantly also couldn’t help but wonder how strong an that would be.
…
Life had fallen into a routine. Jaejoong knew that Junsu and Sarah still tried very hard to find him a solution but there was nothing so far. Still he felt at peace, as much as he could be. It was rather awkward being near Yunho. He could not fully relax even when it was just the five of them riding horses across the prairie. He knew and saw that Yunho was not happy that their friendship was somehow on hold but Jaejoong had no idea how to fix that. And he was feeling a little guilty that he was almost relived to find about the diplomatic mission.
…
Yoochun was in deep trouble. He knew it. He had seen it coming miles away. In a way he had gotten himself in this mess of his own free will. He had tried for as long as possible to hide from Changmin that he was going on the mission. He would never trust anyone else to be in charge. Actually, there was no one else that could do the job. In terms of sheer logistics it would be unviable to send the people necessary to replace him. No one else could fly the spaceship and keep it running the way he could. It would also take a ridiculous amount of time to train people to replace him. Not to mention how much longer the trip would end up becoming.
Changmin had somehow decided he did not care one cent about all that. And Yoochun could only blame himself for how much his Linked One was angry. He knew, he just knew he should have talked to Changmin about this a lot sooner. He knew the younger man suspected it. How could he not when he was present to every reunion.
Yoochun thought that another big problem was that Changmin could not go. His first priority was to the safety of the colony and unlike Yoochun, he had the personnel to send on the mission.
He sighed feeling frustrated, torn and yet surprisingly happy. He was stupidly happy that Changmin was so obviously upset that they would stay away for so long.
…
Junsu shook his head and sighed. His friends seemed to enjoy drama. He was rather pleased that he and Sarah were getting along much better. In fact, they were dating according to her. He quite liked dating since it involved a lot of spending time together, especially the part about all the kissing.
A lot of Chosen Ones would be taking the opportunity to return to their own colonies, some just to visit like Sarah, and others permanently. The Lhara Chosen Ones destined to the different colonies were also going. On the return trip, they would bring back the Lhara Chosen Ones who wanted to return and bring the ones from the other colonies that were intended to spend some time in Lhara.
Junsu looked over his notes to make sure he had everything. He was not the more experienced doctor off course, but he was one of the more qualified and he was looking forward to all the knowledge he would acquire. Having Sarah accompany was going to make everything especially stimulating because they loved challenging each other.
A knock on his table woke him up from his musings.
“Knock, knock.”
“Hi, Sarah. Are you done for today?”
“Yes. Mira is already waiting outside.”
Outside, Junsu jumped to the dragon’s neck and then used his arm to pull Sarah up into his lap. He gave a soft kiss on her blushing cheek and they took off.
Sarah leant back into Junsu’s chest and smiled at how comfortable she felt in his arms. It still sometimes felt like some dream that she could be with Junsu like this. A very sweet dream.
…
Yunho spent a lot of time flying on his dragon whenever possible.
Blur was amazing making him believe that the time apart would help him with Jaejoong.
…
The day when the ship was to leave arrived. Sarah didn’t need to help out with anything so she just sat around the platform and watched the final rush.
The last ones to say goodbyes were the group of five friends. Parents and siblings hugged Yunho, Yoochun and Junsu. Then they moved to the screens that would allow everyone to see the ship fly off.
Off to the side, Changmin waited. He was obviously trying to reign in his temper. Fortunately he had been occupied with his own responsibilities until recently. Sarah shook her head. The stubborn man just glared at Yoochun who was trying to say proper goodbyes. Yoochun gave a deep sad sigh and she feared he would just leave like that. Changmin seemed to fear the same. His face paled for a moment. Then Yoochun grabbed the taller man and just kissed him silly. To everyone’s surprise, Changmin was left speechless and flustered while a smirking Yoochun turned and left for the ship. Sarah hide her pleased smile behind her hands. She found their relationship rather amusing at times.
Then the only one left out on the platform was Yunho with an expectant look. Junsu even came back out to call him and Sarah.
Finally Jaejoong showed up, Lydia behind him. Yunho took a deep breath and smiled. Jaejoong smiled back and hugged his friend.
Sarah approached Yunho and the two entered the ship, its huge doors closing after them.
Big screens on Lhara and inside the ship showed them moving further and further away. The ship became undistinguishable against the darkness and the stars. The screens on the ship showed Lhara becoming smaller for longer but eventually even the big planet was visible no more.
…
OBS: Did not forget this one. Need the story to move along in time so nothing much happens on this chapter.
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