Yunho stood at attention and watched as his fellow soldiers began to fill the seats in the bus. “Private Jung, I will need you to accompany your platoon on this detail. Get on the bus,” said his commanding officer.

Yunho snapped a smart salute and quickly got on the bus. The weeks since his enlistment had passed in a blur, what with getting used to living in proximity of so many men, and learning to NOT use the shower for an impromptu song and dance performance. He smiled ruefully at the memory, grateful that his comrades had taken the whole incident as a huge joke, rather than a major inconvenience. Nevertheless, it was good to be finally getting out of the training grounds and looking at sights other than the dull green walls and long open fields of the army compounds.

“Penny for your thoughts, Yunho,” smiled his bunkmate, who was sitting next to him. Yunho smiled back. “Any idea what event we’re supposed to be acting as the security guards for?”

“It’s a military band performance, that’s all I know. It should be pretty easy, it’s not like the military band would attract audiences like a TVXQ concert,” he laughed. Yunho laughed along as he basked in the warmth of the easy friendship from the man. Really, military life wasn’t so bad at all. He didn’t find the physical exercises particularly strenuous after a life spent performing concert after concert, and letters from home always kept him entertained. He especially looked forward to the letters from Changmin (Hyung, please tell me you remember to fold your clothes. Hyung, stuffing unwashed clothes under the bed is NOT an option.) Yunho smiled at the memory. He could almost hear Changmin’s voice as he recalled the words of the letter, the snarky tone hiding a deep well of love. He knew that Changmin worried about him, and did his best to calm his other half as best as he could in his replies.

Thinking about Changmin, however, made him think about his other, other half, Jaejoong. Yunho sighed. It had been a long time since he’d read the last letter he’d received from him, back when Yunho hadn’t even enlisted yet. Jaejoong had always included a letter addressed to him every time he’d written home, which would be delivered to him by one of his sisters along with a big parcel of home cooked food, but it obviously wasn’t possible when Yunho was in the army himself. Yunho stared unseeing out of the window. It would be at least another year before he could see or hear from Jaejoong again. He wasn’t very happy about it, but he knew they didn’t really have a choice. He really did wish he could look at his boyfriend’s face though.

x-----x-----x

The bus drew up to a small red building, and stopped.

“Is this the place?” asked Yunho.

“Yeah. I told you, didn’t I? Military band performances aren’t quite as keenly watched as a concert. Come on, let’s get to work.”
A few minutes later, Yunho found himself standing next to the wall facing almost exactly the centre of the stage. A few of the members of the audience had recognized him, but beyond greeting him with slightly more enthusiasm, they let him be. He bowed back a quiet acknowledgment of their greetings with a smile and then got into the position assigned to him. He had been entrusted with the duty of making sure that the performers on stage would not be disturbed by members of the audience, which seemed to be a perfectly easy task, looking at how sober the people who had come to watch the performance appeared. He settled into a watchful stance as the stage dimmed in preparation for the band and glanced at the deep brown of the beams running along the roof of the hall.

The lights came back on, and a loud gasp on the microphone brought his attention back to the stage immediately. Yunho frowned, trying to locate the source of trouble, if any, when he suddenly noticed the person holding the microphone.
Almond eyes stared into doe shaped ones.

It was Jaejoong.

Yunho felt his eyes widen in shock until they felt like they were about to pop out, earning him a small affectionate and knowing smile from the gorgeous man standing on stage. Yunho smiled back, and watched as Jaejoong greeted his small audience with as much enthusiasm as he would have greeted a 50,000 strong crowd at Tokyo Dome, and prepared to begin his performance.

x---x---x

Yunho could barely keep the smile off his face as he boarded the bus back to the army compound.

“What’s gone and made you so happy all of a sudden?” asked his bunkmate. “Not that I’m complaining, but it’s definitely noticeable.”

“Oh you know, it felt good getting out of the training ground for a while. I feel like I can succeed at anything after tonight”

“If you say so. I’m still going to kick your at rifle shooting tomorrow though.”

Yunho laughed, and turned towards the window smiling. Jaejoong and him had spent the whole concert staring into each other’s eyes as Jaejoong had sung, eyes filled with warm love and affection. No words had been necessary.