With a slight tilt of the head, Jaejoong leaned slowly forward and ran his fingers almost lovingly under his jaw before resting his cheek in his palm and gently sliding the crystal highball glass full of ice and thirty-year-old scotch across the mahogany table at the man sitting before him with the tips of his delicate fingers.

 

The movements, slow and precise, elegant and refined, so reminiscent of the gracefulness of a noble swan and laced with a mysterious intent, seemed almost purposeful.

 

Withdrawing his hand gracefully, letting his fingers drag across the table’s surface slowly, Jaejoong smirked devilishly as Yunho took in the man before him.

 

“Jaejoong, huh?” Yunho questioned softly before flashing the man a slightly suspicious and disbelieving look.

 

“Oh...” he confirmed, blinking ever so slowly before settling his eyes on the man once more.

 

“I see...” whispered Yunho.

 

Letting his eyes fall, down Jaejoong’s visage for only a moment, Yunho scanned the beauty before him little by little before settling back on those intense golden brown eyes studiously watching him with purpose.

 

Flawless. he thought.

 

Leaning in slowly towards Yunho a little more, Jaejoong dropped his chin slightly and eyed Yunho as his devilish smirk widened softly.

 

The movement, instantly sending a surge of intrigue mixed with nervousness through Yunho’s heart and mind, was so unbelievably seductive that he couldn’t help but hold his breath.

 

Completely flawless. his mind whispered gently.

 

Coughing back the nearly dangerous echo in his mind, and the nervousness welling up in his throat, he slowly reached out for the earlier proffered glass before him and took a hesitant sip –trying to clear his mind with the burn of alcohol. As the rich and smooth liquid slid down the back of his throat, distracting him for a few seconds, Yunho quietly told himself to get it together.

 

He couldn’t just get all flustered by some strange man at their first full encounter. He couldn’t just let his emotions get the best of him. He was better than this. He wasn’t some hormone-crazed teenager. He was an adult. A man. A professional. He dealt with intense and intimidating people on a daily basis. He had never let them affect him. There was nothing special about them, and this man was no different. He could do this.

 

“Well...then...” started Yunho after clearing his throat. “Tell me something interesting, Jaejoong.”

 

“Oh...” confirmed Jaejoong with another devilish smirk.

 

“Do you normally lie to people when you first meet them?” questioned Yunho, teasing lacing his nearly accusatory tone. “Or is it just people you meet in a bar?”

 

“Lie?” questioned Jaejoong playfully, tilting his head with a slightly curious expression on his face. “I don’t lie.”

 

“You do recall telling me your name was Joon, the first time we met.” pressed Yunho as he placed his glass of scotch back on the table. “Don’t you?”

 

“I do,” replied Jaejoong.

 

“Well?” prompted Yunho knowingly.

 

“I didn’t lie,” replied Jaejoong.

 

“Technically,” he added with a faintly mischievous smile.

 

“Oh?” questioned Yunho in mock curiosity. “How do you figure?”

 

“My name is Joon,” replied Jaejoong slowly. “But it’s also Jaejoong....and in some cases, Jae...or even Joongie.”

 

“Really?” replied Yunho.

 

“Oh,” confirmed Jaejoong with a slight nod.

 

“Real name’s Jaejoong,” he explained coyly. “Friends call me Jae. Family calls me Joon or Joonie.”

 

“I see,” replied Yunho slowly.

 

“So, then,” prompted Yunho. “Su?”

 

“Junsu,” replied Jaejoong with a barely noticeable nod. “Family: cousin actually.”

 

“Ah,” nodded Yunho. “Makes sense.”

 

“Oh?” questioned Jaejoong with a mischievous look. “How do you figure?”

 

Yunho couldn’t help but scoff amusedly, within his mind, at the sound of Jaejoong throwing his words back at him like a teasingly naughty child.

 

“You favor one another,” admitted Yunho with a slight smirk.

 

“Do you think so?” pressed Jaejoong coyly.

 

“Well...” stammered Yunho a little, letting his eyes wander for a moment, before clearing his throat. “A bit, maybe.”

 

Taking a few more sips of his scotch, Yunho tried to keep his mind clear but the more he spoke with Jaejoong the more his subconscious began to wander. The way he spoke, the way he moved, and even his facial expressions, all seemed to whisper of things left unsaid. 

 

“And Joongie?” smirked Yunho, curiously, a moment later. “Who is that one reserved for? Anyone special?”

 

“No one at the moment,” smiled Jaejoong, with purposeful eyes, as he began to absentmindedly draw small circles on the table’s mahogany top with his fingertip. “But, there is...someone...I have in mind that might have that honor pretty soon.”

 

“Honor, huh?” smirked Yunho as he took another sip.

 

“Oh...” confirmed Jaejoong as he blinked his eyes slowly, and purposefully, and looked back up at Yunho once more.

 

“Well,” replied Yunho. “Whoever they might be...with your looks...they will surely be appreciative, I’m sure.”

 

“Why, Yunho,” retorted Jaejoong with a coy flash of curiosity in his eyes. “If I didn’t know any better, one would think you just complimented me.”

 

“Would that be a bad thing?” questioned Yunho, his voice immediately laced with a slight playfulness, as he lifted his glass and took another sip.

 

“I don’t know,” smiled Jaejoong, leaning a little more towards the man before him, as he let his eyes sweep Yunho’s visage. “It depends.”

 

“It depends,” repeated Yunho softly. “On what exactly?”

 

“Many things,” whispered Jaejoong almost seductively.

 

As they fell into silence for a few moments, Yunho continued to watch the beautiful bartender as he looked at him with a strangely familiar gaze. The man was enticing, entrancing. A rare beauty and unbelievably alluring.

 

“What shall I call you then?” began Yunho once more. “Jaejoong? Jae?”

 

“Which would you prefer?” he added.

 

Dropping his hand from his chin and lifting his other hand, Jaejoong rested his cheek in his opposite palm and smirked.

 

“Which would you prefer?” repeated Jaejoong questioningly with a longing whisper.

 

“That would depend on what I am to you,” retorted Yunho with a devilish smirk of his own before downing the rest of his scotch and dropping the glass back on the table before him.

 

“Jae,” answered Jaejoong. “For now,”

 

“Does that mean we’re friends, Jae?” teased Yunho leadingly.

 

“Perhaps,” Jaejoong seemed to whisper with promise. “Only time will tell.”

 

Leaning back from the table, Jaejoong tilted his head to the side slightly and let his eyes roam from Yunho’s face down to the table and back, before suddenly sliding out of his seat and standing with the sultry slinkiness of a cat on the prowl. Taking an ever so slow and determined step, Jaejoong came up alongside the edge of the table and eyed the man for a moment before dropping his hand upon the table’s surface and leaning in.

 

Yunho didn’t know what to do.

 

The man that had mysteriously appeared before him, the man that had been secretly sneaking around in his head and dreams for well over a week, was now so unbelievably close and looking at him almost appreciatively –as if he was somehow sizing Yunho up for some reason. The look in his eyes, those intense eyes, were so entrancing that to look upon them invoked the strange, yet welcoming, feeling of being pulled down further and further into a comforting abyss where none would ever wish to leave. His scent, hints of lavender and vanilla mixed with leather, wafting through the air like a heavenly aroma, was so sweet and unbelievably compelling that Yunho felt he could wallow in its preciousness for all eternity.  

 

Absolutely flawless... thought Yunho.

 

Leaning in just a little more, so there was only a small space between their faces, Jaejoong tilted his head slightly and smirked coyly.

 

Instantly a shot of pure panic flittered through Yunho’s heart. The way the man was looking at him, the closeness between them, was just too much as the flickering thought of a passionate kiss shared between them flashed through his mind. Going slightly rigid, Yunho just looked into Jaejoong’s eyes with a mix of fear and curiosity.

 

“What?” he questioned, his quiet voice shaking faintly.

 

Without a word, Jaejoong immediately flashed a completely wicked smile and pulled away. Turning, he took a step away and swept back the beautiful red curtain that had so secluded them from the rest of the bar. On instinct, without even a thought, Yunho’s hand shot out immediately and grabbed the man by the wrist. Caught off guard by the action, Jaejoong turned and looked at Yunho curiously.

 

“Are you leaving me?” questioned Yunho with a slightly confused look on his face. 

 

“You’re out,” replied Jaejoong with a smile.

 

“Out?” repeated Yunho questioningly, his heart dropping into the pit of his stomach almost automatically.

 

“Of scotch,” clarified Jaejoong with a smile, turning towards the man a little more. “I was going to get you another.”

 

“Oh,” answered Yunho, surprised by the man’s answer, as he glanced down at the table only to see the glass missing.

 

“You did want another...” prompted Jaejoong, letting go of the curtain and allowing it to fall back into place.

 

“Didn’t you?” he added, lifting his untethered hand and tittering the glass at Yunho.

 

“Oh,” confirmed Yunho as he slowly released Jaejoong’s wrist, letting the tips of his fingers linger for a second longer than most, before pulling his hand back. “Yeah.”

 

“Ok.” smiled Jaejoong. “I’ll be right back.”

 

Turning his eyes from Yunho, Jaejoong swept back the curtain and headed out of the booth’s archway slowly –suddenly pausing once more when Yunho spoke up again.

 

“As a matter of fact,” clarified Yunho with a smirk. “Why don’t you just bring the whole bottle?”

 

“And a glass for yourself,” he added with a whisper.

 

“Done.” nodded Jaejoong with a playful smile.

 

As he disappeared behind the curtain, and it fell back into its rightful place dividing the small space from the rest of the world, Yunho leaned back and let out a heavily burdened, yet bewildered, sigh.

 

“God...” he whispered in disbelief.

 

Closing his eyes, Yunho tried everything he could to stem the ecstatic thump of his quickly beating and petulant heart.

 

The world as he knew it, the lonely and boring world that he had to muddle his way through for years, had unmistakably become –in a matter of mere moments– so unbelievably mesmerizing that he could scarcely believe it.

 

When he had met Jaejoong for the first time, he felt a faint draw. More out of curiosity than of attraction, he had thought about the man frequently and wondered many things. He had wondered who he was, what he did for a living, and where he was from. Why he seemed to be so friendly, yet somehow guarded. Why he spoke to him that night at the singles mixer with an almost palpable amusement and curiosity, and yet seemed nearly apprehensive as if every word he spoke was uttered with the greatest scrutiny and care. And, why it seemed almost as if the man had something far more on his mind than just friendly conversation.

 

It was all just a little overwhelming while being fairly comforting, all at the same time.

 

While his curiosity about the man continued to build since that night, he had done his best to stem the curiousness growing within him. It had been a chance meeting, after all. A fleeting and minute moment in time. A flickering instant was lost within the blink of an eye. Insignificant and uneventful. Mysterious and not to be believed. Never to be repeated. Never to be relived or revisited. To be forgotten without a thought. Or, so he thought.

 

Now Yunho wasn’t so sure. Putting aside the strangeness of the events that had transpired to bring him back to the Wolf Moon and placing him in such an intimate and secluded place, the whole situation seemed almost too good to believe. He had come to the bar, seeking only to sate Changmin’s ever-repetitive badgering, only to once again run into the man that had somehow managed to not only peek into his very own interest but the vicarious interest of his very own best friend. And, now, here he was. Waiting for that very subject of interest to return, with the unmistakable flittering and fluttering of excitement swelling within him like a teenage girl standing in front of her high school crush.

 

It was all a little disconcerting. In all his life he had never felt so riveted, so stirred, before and he just didn’t know what to think. Jaejoong had stepped into the secluded place, seemingly out of nowhere, yet he acted as if he already knew whom he would find once he swept back that curtain for the first time. Like, he already knew that Yunho would be the VIP he would be serving all night. As if, he was not only aware but expecting it, almost knowingly. And his behavior seemed almost full of meaning. The way he moved, the slight nuances of his turning of phrases, the studious and nearly hungry looks, and even his sultry and seductive tone, all seemed as if they were done with an unmistakable, yet mysterious intent. As if he was, with every gesture and phrase, foretelling something far more taboo than anyone could imagine and whispering promises of things yet to come.

 

As a gentle ringing of a bell echoing through the quiet booth echoed through the air, Yunho looked up at the curtain to notice a familiar silhouette standing just on the other side.

 

“It’s Jaejoong,” announced the bartender. “May I enter?”

 

“Please,” smiled Yunho.

 

Stepping in quietly, a loaded silver tray in his hands, Jaejoong smiled up at Yunho before stepping up to the table and beginning to unload his delivery carefully. Grabbing the three thousand dollar bottle of thirty-year-old scotch, he placed the bottle gently on the table and then two freshly iced highball glasses before stepping toward the opposite side of the table to retake his place across from Yunho. Before he could get too far, however, Yunho’s hand once again shot out and grabbed his wrist.

 

“Is something wrong?” immediately questioned Jaejoong worriedly as he instantly looked at the table and then at Yunho’s face in curiosity. “Did I forget something?”

 

“No.” smiled Yunho, releasing his grip from Jaejoong’s wrist and flashing a coy smile.

 

“Then...what?” questioned Jaejoong.

 

Leaning back, Yunho raised his arm and rested it on top of the bench’s backrest, and gently patted the seat next to him.

 

“Why don’t you sit with me?” he questioned. “Instead?”

 

“If that is what you wish,” replied Jaejoong with an almost knowing smile.

 

“It is,” answered Yunho as he slid a little further towards the center of the crescent-shaped booth and made room for the beautiful bartender.

 

Placing the silver tray onto the bench that he had recently vacated, he turned towards Yunho and slowly slid into the seat beside him with a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. After settling into his place, precariously close to the man beside him, Jaejoong leaned forward slowly and began to pour their drinks. Watching the bartender's movements, letting his eyes follow the golden amber of the velvety scotch fall slowly in the glass and cascade down nearly sparkling cubes of ice, Yunho could feel the unmistakable pull emanating from the man at his side. It was strong, like gravity, drawing him in closer and closer. Like the inevitable pull of magnets destined to cling to one another. Unflinching, unwavering, and forever unavoidable.

 

“Jae...” called out Yunho, his voice trembling so softly that his breathily spoken word came out as a mere whisper.

 

“Yes,” replied the man as he grabbed Yunho’s glass and leaned back at just the right angle that their shoulders overlapped and grazed one another. Instinctively, Yunho’s arm fell from the back of the backrest’s top and wrapped around Jaejoong’s waist almost possessively. As if he was somehow trying to steady the man and keep him still, all at the same time.

 

“Is something wrong?” questioned Jaejoong softly, raising the glass into Yunho’s field of vision, as he looked up at the man beside him.

 

“N...no,” stammered Yunho.

 

“Good,” sighed Jaejoong, his eyes flickering something far slyer than his facial expression would suggest, as he unflinchingly settled against Yunho’s encasing arm, and tilted the glass at Yunho. “Your drink.”

 

“Thank...thank you,” stammered Yunho again, before taking the glass from Jaejoong with a smile.

 

Seemingly making sure that he would not remove him from the situation he now found himself in, Jaejoong reached out and grabbed his glass from the table without even the slightest lean. Pulling the glass to himself, he turned at looked at Yunho with a smile.

 

“To new friendships,” he prompted, tilting his glass towards the man beside him.

 

“To new friendships,” repeated Yunho with a mirthful smirk as he clinked their glasses together gently. “May they be...as eventful as they are precious.”

 

“Here’s hoping...” whispered Jaejoong, almost inaudibly, as he lifted his glass and took a gentle sip. “Here’s hoping.”