Scent of an Angel

          It was almost the end of summer break. Yunho and his friends Changmin, Junsu and Yoochun were out in the plaza just hanging around while checking girls out--again. They were looking at a particular group of girls who were definitely senior students judging from their aura—Changmin said and from their bodies—Yoochun said. They were from a high school near theirs.

          Yoochun was saying that the best girl there was the one with the smooth skin. He said just loved the feel of satiny skin against his fingers. And if she had a body to match he would be in heaven. Well Junsu begged to differ. Junsu said that the girl with the white pony tail gave the aura of intelligence; he liked girls with a good head on their shoulders. It was good to have a smart girlfriend than a twit who couldn’t decide what color of eye shadow she should use that would match her lip color. Yoochun vehemently disagreed and it was the start of their argument.

          “Yah! That’s what girls do. Are you saying that you don’t like beautiful girls? You’re a hypocrite.” Yoochun countered as Junsu mentioned why he preferred smart girls.

          “Of course I like attractive girls. But what I’m saying is that they should not just be beautiful, they should have at least substance. That substance is her attraction.” Junsu said, his eyes still trained on the girl he noticed earlier.

          Yoochun was still not letting it go, “I don’t believe you! And I don’t like smart- girls. They scare me. Don’t they scare you Changmin?” he asked the youngest in the group who was also looking at the girls with glazed eyes.

          Changmin just shrugged, not really looking at his hyungs. “It doesn’t matter if she’s beautiful or smart. As long as she could cook really tasty dishes for me. I’d even marry her.”

          Yoochun and Junsu looked at him disbelievingly. Changmin really only cared about food. Noticing that Yunho was not joining in their conversation, Junsu elbowed the eldest to get his attention.

          “What about you Yunho-ah. Who do you think is the best girl?”

          Yunho looked at Junsu and thought of an answer. He was not really looking at any particular girl. In fact he was distracted most of the day because he dreamed the dream that he had been having since he was small. It was a dream of a certain girl too.

Since Junsu asked him a question, he thought his ideal girl would be a strong one.

          “I like a strong girl.” He finally said.

          Changmin’s brows shot up. “Why would you need a strong girl? It should be the man who’s strong in the relationship.”

          Smiling a little, Yunho answered, “Because I need to be guided with a firm hand sometimes. And…I think I like a girl who smells like vanilla.” When Yunho said this, he had a far-away look on his face.

          His friends looked at him like he grew horns on his head. Yunho knew that they wouldn’t understand him. It wasn’t something that he tells his friends all the time. He liked the smell of vanilla because it was the scent that he smelled from the girl who saved him in the past.

          When Yunho was in third grade in elementary, he was really crazy about baseball. He was even the team captain of the kids’ baseball in his small community. Because he was the strongest and the fastest, most of the kids looked up to him and idolized him. It was one day of their practice matches when Yunho had met the girl who changed his life.

          Their team was playing against the toughest team of another community one sunny afternoon. Yunho and his team mates were beating their opponent. It was the last few minutes down the game and his team wanted to finish it soon. He rallied up his boys and motioned for their last play. He was the next batter so he had to finish it off with a flourish. He exchanged looks with his teammates that spoke volumes. They knew this play well. They had practiced it for a long time so when Yunho lifted his bat, all s knew that he would finish the game.

          He concentrated on the pitcher’s moves. He knew that this team has a reputation of playing dirty but he didn’t mind since this would expose his boys to different characters of teams. Yunho was very careful of every move that he made. He also heard another thing about this team they were against; aside from playing dirty they were also bullies. He has heard a rumor that once when they lost, the team members started to beat the members of the other team. He was not really sure of this, but they had to be careful. So when the pitcher gave a signal to his team mate, Yunho didn’t stray his eyes away from the ball.

          In one swift motion, he saw the ball in the air aimed directly towards his face. He ducked in time and watched the ball hit the gloved hand of the umpire. As the ball was tossed back to the pitcher, a sharp glint in the eyes of the members around Yunho warned him that something distasteful might happen. He also tried to warn s but they all seemed to be so into the game to notice something amiss. The pitcher once again readied for the next pitch. This time Yunho was ready, as the ball flew to the air, he never looked away from it. His eyes focused on the flying object and when he calculated that it was at the right height and angle, he swung his bat with all his might and sent the ball flying towards the field. The other team players attempted to catch his ball but Yunho didn’t really care. He was running fast around the diamond. When he reached their base and saw they were saved, a celebration ensued. All of s were jumping and down with joy as if they won the title for a junior league baseball.

          Their celebration was cut short however when a boy from his team was grabbed from behind by a boy from the other team. The leader of the other team was furious at their loss and approached Yunho menacingly.

          “You cheated us! You did something to that last ball! Say it!” the boy shouted at Yunho who just stood on quietly.

          “We didn’t cheat. We won fair and square.”

          The other boy smirked; his eyes had a dangerous light. “I say you did. So what will we do now?”

          Yunho’s members were stirring. It wasn’t a good idea to fight so he motioned them to relax. He stepped forward and looked at the other team’s leader. “We didn’t cheat so let go of SukJae. He didn’t do anything to you.” He turned his head a bit to find SukJae being held fast by one of the bigger boys. His teammate was a bit weak so he could see the boy struggling to get free but he couldn’t budge the guy holding him.

          “There’s only one way to settle this.” The boy said and he punched Yunho head on. He quickly moved away but another punch was thrown in his direction. As he ducked to avoid the guy’s punches, he became aware that his team mates were also being attacked by the other boys left and right. He wanted to leap over to where they were to help them but he couldn’t even make a move away from this big burly kid.

Because he was distracted with concern he wasn’t able to jump away from one of the punches given him very quickly. He was caught under his chin which knocked him to the ground. It was like having had a collision with a train. As he rolled on the ground in pain, he could hear s being beaten out of their wits by the other boys. He started to get up but he was again punched one more time, then another came and another. The pain he felt doubled because he couldn’t do anything for his friends.

As blackness was threatening to consume him, he suddenly became aware of a certain change in the sound of commotion he could hear around him. It was as if the grunts and groans he was hearing earlier had ceased. He wasn’t sure but it was like another person came to trash their opponents earlier. Yunho tried to open his eyes but they were puffed with bruises. He knew they would not heal that easily given the amount of pain he was feeling. He cracked one eye open and saw that all the boys from the other team were writhing on the ground. Some of them were scurrying away from the scene as if they were so afraid of someone. That puzzled him. Who in the right mind would have the guts to fight with these bullies on his own? He couldn’t even feel half of his face from all the punches he took.

It was then that he saw a silhouette in his line of vision. The said person was short, and from the looks of it, Yunho could see that the person was frail. He could make out longish hair but he couldn’t see the face. The sun was directly behind the said person so most of his or her features were obscured. The shadow leaned down to him and soft vanilla scent wafted to his nose. It was then that he knew that the person was a girl. She turned around and Yunho saw her profile. She was perfect. He couldn’t really reconcile a girl beating an entire team of bullies but he didn’t care. He was in love with this angel.

He saw that the girl was moving her lips, she was clearly saying something to him but he couldn’t understand because his tired and bruised body was begging for sleep. The last thing he remembered was the girl’s small smile. As his eyes drooped, he didn’t hear the girl call him by his name. All he recalled was the scent of vanilla in the late afternoon sun.

A tap on his shoulder was felt and Yunho turned his head to look. A finger poked his cheek when he did the motion.

“Got ya! We’re gonna go to Yoochun’s now. He said his mom will make some ddeokbokki. Do you wanna come or do you wanna stay here all day?” It was Changmin. He was now on his feet walking towards the other two boys who were waiting for Yunho.

Yunho mentally shook his head; he was always having dreams of that girl. Especially these days. He smiled at Changmin and stood up. As he stepped forward towards his friends, he breathed in and a smell suddenly assailed his senses. Whipping around, he surveyed his surroundings to look for that person whom he knew has the smell of sweet vanilla. He switched his eyes to each person in the vicinity, his heart thudding fast. He knew that he would see her today; he just had to open his eyes. After scanning all the possible places and faces his eyes could reach, Yunho still hadn’t found it. He almost followed a tall girl who went passed him because he thought she smelled like vanilla. An arm stopped him and Yunho was jolted back to reality. He looked at Yoochun’s face and he could see that his friends were staring at him like he was crazy. He smiled reluctantly at them before letting him be led towards the way to Yoochun’s house.

At that moment, Jaejoong looked back at the retreating figure of Jung Yunho. He smiled a little as he saw the man looking frantically for someone. That someone was him. And he knew that in no time at all their roads would cross again.

///

In the next few days, Yunho was tortured by the constant fleeting sense that the girl he was looking for was just near him. He didn’t know what else to do, he felt as if someone was making fun of him. His friends weren’t saying anything but he knew that they were thinking that maybe he was getting loose screws in the head. He sighed. He couldn’t really help it. He was determined to find that girl no matter what. He busied himself with his duty for now.

It was just one week away from the opening of classes so all of the seniors were called to clean their classrooms. Everybody was busy with chores delegated to them. And since Yunho was the class president, he had the responsibility of supervising his fellow classmates. He approached one female classmate who was having a difficult time reaching up some shelves. He extended his arm and grabbed whatever it was reaching for and gave it to her. The girl looked at him gratefully and smiled shyly. Yunho sighed inwardly; he knew the girl had a crush on him. But he couldn’t really entertain another girl in his life. Not when he knew that he had to find the girl who saved him before. He believed that he would find her really soon.

He moved away from the girl and proceeded to check on the other students; he peeked outside their classroom because he didn’t see his vice-president around. As Yunho took a few steps away from their classroom and out into the corridor, he suddenly stood stock still. His nose wasn’t lying, he was sure he smelled vanilla again. His feet moved on their own accord and followed the trail of the sweet odor. Students were walking on the corridor so Yunho had no choice but to twist to get past them without crashing into anyone. His nose led him to a room in the far end of the corridor.

The room was dimly lit. Yunho was surprised anyone was there at all. It was the room that most students stay away from and was mostly unused. He didn’t really know why. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw a lone figure sitting in a chair in the far end of the classroom. He saw that it was a boy; he was bent on reading a book. Yunho’s brows furrowed. He was suddenly not sure if he followed the scent right. He must have missed something; he was sure that he was led to this room by the scent. So he was a puzzled that he was looking at a boy instead of a girl.

 The boy looked up from reading, finally noticing him by the door way. With the faint light, Yunho could make out dark hair and white skin. The afternoon light didn’t help him see what the boy looked like.

“Yes? Is there anything you need?” the voice was a bit deep, Yunho mused. Maybe he would just ask if the guy saw a girl pass by the room. That was his intention but before he could speak however, the boy stood up as he closed his book with a loud sound. He walked over to Yunho and stopped in front of him. Yunho had a clear view of his features. Small face was framed in short dark hair. His eyes glittered in the late afternoon, his lips shaped into a small smile. It made his face pretty.

Yunho could only stare. He opened his lips to speak but closed it again when he couldn’t form a single sentence. All his coherent thought flew above his head and just continued on staring. He had never seen a boy look so beautiful. He was so beautiful he could pass as a girl. The boy also stared at him and his smile grew a bit wider, a flicker of recognition crossed his features but Yunho was not sure if he read the right expression because the boy immediately turned his head. When he looked up again, his features were schooled.

“I think I’ll be leaving now. If you’re looking for someone, better look closely.” The beautiful boy said and then went past him. As the boy went on his way, Yunho’s body shook. His eyes widened in surprise. He looked at the boy’s retreating back and couldn’t believe what just happened. As the boy went past him, Yunho had the opportunity to get a whiff of the sweetest vanilla.

///

Yunho became more flustered after the meeting with the mysterious boy in the classroom. He wanted to know him, wanted to know his name, wanted to know if what he was thinking was right. Yunho really got confused after he smelled the vanilla scent form the boy. He knew it was possible that the boy just smelled the same with the girl who saved him but he couldn’t dismiss the feeling nagging his thoughts. It was just too timely. The moment he was looking for the girl, he found the beautiful boy. ‘Stop saying he’s beautiful for god’s sake!’ his mind shouted. But he knew that it was true, for the boy really was beautiful. More beautiful than all the girls in his class in fact. Yunho struggled to clear his mind.

Yunho thought again, if he was in his school, that means he was a student there right? He knew that he would see the boy again when school starts so his anticipation built. His anxiety escalated when he remembered that school starts in two days.

“Yah Yunho-ah! Let’s go to the computer shop. I bet I can take you out in War Craft now!” it was Junsu’s high pitched voice that shook him out of his reverie.

He and his friends were hanging out his house. His three friends lounging around his balcony while eating his mom’s famous samgeupsal. They were using up the time before school starts. He knew they couldn’t do this anymore when classes start because they were seniors. All hard work in studies was required to pass the national exams. Yunho slightly winced at the thought of all the future study groups and numerous cram schools. A time out now was very precious to them so Yunho thought a day in the computer shops was a very good idea.

He looked at Junsu and jokingly replied, “Really? Do you have the skills to beat me?”

Junsu stared at him, his eyes glittering with sudden mischief. “Of course! You’re talking to a master here. Isn’t that right Yoochun-ah?”

The one called just nodded. Yoochun was busy stuffing his mouth with samgeupsal to give a proper answer. It was Changmin who answered for him.

“Yeah right hyung. Yoochun-hyung and I beat you thrice the other time we went playing. Some master you are.” He said with a smirk.

Red crept into Junsu’s cheeks, showing embarrassment. “Yah! I lost on purpose.” He turned to Yunho then said pleadingly, “Let’s just go. I want to go somewhere. C’mon!” Junsu stood up and bounced away from the room.

Without any more prodding, they went. The computer shop was littered with people. A lot were teenagers like them; most were playing video games just like what they came for. Yunho asked the owner for four units. Because there were a lot of gamers, there were only three left. Yunho, Yoochun and Changmin quickly made a dash to the three units leaving Junsu to gape at them. The three of them were laughing at the way they outwitted Junsu who was fuming in one corner of the shop. Yunho looked over his shoulder to motion for Junsu to come. The younger one just pouted. The three of them threw a fit of giggles again. They elbowed each other to get anyone of them to give way for Junsu. Yunho said he would just wait for his turn; he stood up and went over to where Junsu was.

As he was talking to the younger boy however, a slight commotion was heard. When they looked they saw that a group of boys were standing over Changmin and Yoochun. Some of the gamers also moved away and hurriedly went out of the store. There was trouble brewing and they didn’t want to be there when it happened. Yunho’s brows knotted. His eyes flickered to the owner of the store; he looked like he was scared. After a few seconds, the man left in a hurry. Yunho sighed in resignation. He knew he had to help out his friends; there was no one there to do it but him. He went back to them and was able to catch some of what the other boys were saying.

“—you guys are so noisy. You almost burst our eardrums with your useless cackling.” A guy was saying to his two very surprised friends.

Yunho cleared his throat to get the men’s attention and stepped forward. He put on a tight smile on his face then gestured towards his friends, “Is there a problem? Are my friends causing trouble?” Changmin and Yoochun were both bewildered by the assault, they kept quiet.

The man who answered seemed to be the leader of the group. “These are your friends? Oh yeah, you were with them. If you don’t remember, you were very loud earlier like you owned the store.” He looked around his friends in confirmation and they nodded in agreement. “We don’t like it. You made us lose because of your noise. Tell me what you’re gonna do about it.”

Yunho in his breath; this is like dejavu for him. He knew there was going to be a fight. He just knew it. As he mentally prepared himself to launch a counter attack if the need ever arose, the door of the shop opened and the very scared owner went it, he opened the door wider for his companion and Yunho’s eyes grew wide. It was him! The vanilla scented guy from days before. He couldn’t believe it. As Yunho’s eyes roamed over the boy, he saw that he was more beautiful under proper lighting. He struggled to remember what was happening before the boy arrived. He was distracted by the boy’s appearance.

But what happened next was even more unbelievable for Yunho. The moment the guy arrived, the bullies moved away from them as if they were afraid of him. And not just afraid, they were terrified.

“What are you doing here? What did I tell you before?” came a very calm voice. It was enough to make the biggest of the bullies to tremble.

“I-I’m sorry J-Jaejoong. I thought this w-was not included in your part of town…we w-will be leaving now. S-Sorry again. Let’s go!” The bunch of bullies suddenly scampered away like they couldn’t move fast enough. Yunho and his friends looked at the guy called Jaejoong in awe. They didn’t know that this mere slip of a boy was feared. The store owner smiled wobbly as he sighed in relief before turning to Jaejoong.

“Jaejoong-ah, thanks for this. I just don’t know how to stop those guys from causing trouble. But I’m glad you’re back. You could use your black belt in taekwondo again.” The man was truly thankful to Jaejoong. He just smiled a bit and Yunho heard a louder thump of his heart. He put his hand on his chest as if to stop his heart from beating too loudly.

“It’s nothing samcheo, just call me whenever you need me.” As the man was talking he kept on glancing at a very flustered Yunho. The latter found it hard to look at Jaejoong, he didn’t know why but he seemed very familiar. Something about him made him remember something, he just couldn’t place it. Yunho was shaken off from his thoughts when his friends talked at the same time. They thanked Jaejoong and before Yunho could even react, the store owner, Jaejoong’s uncle, was leading them to a door connected to his house. Yunho heard something about having something to eat as his friends left. Then it was just he and Jaejoong in the room.

Yunho felt an uncomfortable silence envelope the room, he searched for something to say and just came up with only a thank you.

“Thanks for today. I didn’t know that those guys would cause trouble. I—“

“Well, I see that you’ve grown up to be handsome. And at least this time you got to say thank you and you didn’t faint like the last time.”

Yunho gaped at the guy in front of him. What was he talking about? Last time? When did he ever get to meet him? He was confused.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Have we met before?”

Jaejoong just smiled at his confusion and moved closer to Yunho, “Think. This has happened to you before. You were beaten black and blue by a group of baseball players.” As he Jaejoong moved close, the scent of vanilla floated around Yunho. “Do you remember now?”

Whipping his head about, Yunho’s eyes collided with Jaejoong’s confident ones. “Y-You’re the one who saved us? The one who…but I thought you were a girl!” Yunho’s voice raised an octave higher. His surprise was clearly written on his face.

Jaejoong couldn’t resist a playful smile to show on his lips. “It’s because you didn’t look at me really well. But that could be easily remedied. Are you looking at me closely Jung Yunho?”

Yunho could just nod slowly; Jaejoong’s face was just mere inches away from his face. He could feel Jaejoong’s hot breath fanning his cheek. Before he could think of something to say he felt soft lips touch his own. His eyes widened in surprise, he tried to move away but Jaejoong suddenly grabbed his waist and embraced him tightly. Yunho’s eyes closed as he let himself feel the sensation of Jaejoong’s mouth. His breath caught in his throat as Jaejoong’s lips moved over his own. The scent of vanilla wafted through his nostrils as he breathed in. Yunho felt as if he was drowning. But as soon as the kiss started, it ended as fast for him too. He was suddenly being pushed away. He looked at Jaejoong dazedly and saw that the guy was just as breathless as he was. He didn’t say anything to Yunho but just looked at him hard. After some seconds, Jaejoong left behind a very flustered and bothered Yunho.

An unfocused and weary Yunho went to school on the first day of school. He couldn’t focus because of a certain person. He couldn’t focus because that certain person gave him a kiss. His very first kiss in fact. His cheeks reddened as he remembered those lips, unconsciously his fingertips grazed his lower lip. It was as if he could still taste Jaejoong. He was so disoriented that he didn’t notice that their teacher was saying something in class.

“We have a new student today. He just transferred from Gangnam. Be nice to him okay?” The class murmured an affirmative and the said student walked in the classroom. A chorus of chatter fluttered to Yunho’s ears, it momentarily broke his reverie and gave a quick scan of this new student that was causing a stir.

The moment he looked up his eyes saw Jaejoong’s beautiful face. He experienced the same fluttering in his heart. His ears blocked all sounds and he could just watch as Jaejoong moved forward to him. Some semblance of reason returned when Yoochun poked his side. He saw Junsu and Changmin giving him weird looks.

“Please take care of Kim Jaejoong from now on Yunho-ah. I trust you can do that.” His teacher questioned softly. Yunho could nod. Then his teacher turned to Jaejoong, “You’ll be assisted by our class president Jung Yunho. You can have the seat beside him.” 

Yunho looked on as Jaejoong seated himself beside him and gave him a smile. Finished with all the introductions, the teacher started the class. But Yunho was not listening. He didn’t notice it but a small smile could be seen on his lips. The scent of vanilla softly drifted towards him, surrounding him with its fragrance. He just found his angel.

END