Jaejoong sat down at the table, his designs littered in front of him. He stared down at them and then back at the note his father had left him.
Last chance.
He shut his eyes and breathed out slowly. It was difficult to not think of the pressure mounted on his shoulders and of the expectations that were heavily draped all over him.
Did he even want to be an architect? He felt defeated as he stared at the drafted designs on the mahogany table. He had every single resource at his disposal but had no idea what to do with it.
He had his map but no destination – he was stuck in a life he didn’t really think was his.
The sharp and clear ringing of his phone was enough to snap him out of his contemplative misery. Jaejoong fumbled through the stacks of paper and found his phone buried underneath a draft for a building renovation.
“Hello?”
“Do you want to go out tonight?” Yoochun asked on the other line, loud sounds resonating in the background. “I’ve just realized I don’t feel like drinking anymore. Let’s get a coffee.”
“It’s ten thirty.” He replied dully, although the idea of going out to get a cup of coffee was tempting him slightly.
“All the better time to get one then - Junsu told me you’re going to be busy for awhile. You should leave that apartment of yours and just go out. Come on Jaejoong, we haven’t gone out together in a week.”
Jaejoong glanced at the drafts and left the table, “Where do we meet up?” o-o-oHe entered the café and was unsurprised to see Junsu and Changmin at the table with Yoochun – he had a feeling that Yoochun had never planned on going out drinking at all and that coffee had been his original idea in the first place.
Jaejoong said nothing about his suspicions as he took the seat next to Changmin, “Hi.”
Yoochun and Changmin greeted him calmly, but Junsu could only frown at him with a disapproving look on his face. “You need to eat more.” Junsu said worriedly as he pushed his blueberry muffin toward Jaejoong, “You’re looking a little thinner than usual.”
Changmin snatched the muffin and took a bite, eliciting surprised cries from Junsu. He rolled his eyes, “He doesn’t need to eat. I’ve been here waiting for you to offer me some of this muffin for more than ten minutes and you never offered it to me.”
“You eat more than you need.” Junsu muttered as he glared at Changmin.
Yoochun pushed a mug of coffee towards Jaejoong, ignoring the bickering that had already begun between their other friends. “How are you doing lately? You haven’t been calling. I was starting to get worried about you.”
Jaejoong took hold of the mug in his hands and enjoyed the warm feeling against his cold fingers. “It’s a new firm. I have to learn to adjust to them and their work processes.” He stared down at the mug for awhile before he turned his back up to smile at his friends. “I’m doing better now.”
They all stared at him for awhile, and Jaejoong dealt mutely with the scrutiny as they tried to determine if he was telling the truth. Changmin’s eyes broke away first, and his eyes flickered with recognition of someone else in the café.
“Yunho?”
A tall man dressed in a suit approached their table with a shy grin, and Jaejoong couldn’t help but notice the intimidating aura that radiated off the man despite the bashful look on his face. The man was someone he’d never met, so Jaejoong assumed that he was someone Changmin knew from work.
“Jaejoong, this is a friend of mine.” Changmin pointed at the man, “This is Yunho.”
Yunho turned to him and held out his hand, “Hi, I’m Jung Yunho.”
“Kim Jaejoong.”
They shook hands, and an awkward air came about immediately afterwards. Luckily for Jaejoong, Changmin was acting more sociable than usual – a trait that seemed to have surfaced due to Yunho’s presence.
“Are you busy? You should sit with us.”
“I was –“
Yoochun joined Changmin on his stance and interrupted Yunho before he could offer some sort of protest or excuse. “We’re all catching up Yunho, so you should stay. I haven’t seen you in awhile as well.”
Yunho glanced at his watch, “I have to be back at the office soon to finish a few papers.”
“The papers can wait. Grab a chair.”
The moment after Yunho had sat down, the conversation became livelier and the awkward air from before disappeared immediately. The obvious respect and admiration Changmin had for Yunho was obvious as he complimented Yunho and told only good things about him while he could only share embarrassing or humiliating stories about Junsu or Yoochun.
Jaejoong could only sit and watch with a smile as he listened. He didn’t feel like talking, and he was more content to sit back and listen as Junsu, Changmin and Yoochun argued, with Yunho making small comments and quips throughout the trio’s conversation.
An hour passed, and Yunho stood up to leave.
“I really have to go, I need the papers for a meeting tomorrow.”
They protested, but he was adamant. Jaejoong glanced at his watch and decided that it was time for him to leave as well.
Yoochun noticed the gesture and placed a hand on Jaejoong’s shoulder, “I’ll drive you home later, don’t –“
“I don’t live that far.” Jaejoong argued with a frown after he’d realized that Yunho was staring at the two of them, most likely wondering why Yoochun was being so blatantly protective. “I walked here, I can walk back.”
“Do you want me to –“
“I’m not a child. I don’t need you to bring me home.” Jaejoong snapped before he could control himself. The startled look on Yunho’s face was enough to make the guilt come rushing, so he apologized immediately. “I’m sorry, I really don’t…”
“I think it’d be a good idea if I drove you home though,” Yunho pressed with a gentle smile still on his face as he acted as if Jaejoong hadn’t been completely rude less than a minute beforehand. “It’ll be quick drive, I’m sure.”
Jaejoong shook his head, “It’s unnecessary –“
“You might end up working late,” Changmin interrupted, his attention solely focused on Yunho. “Jaejoong’s really stubborn, there’s no point. We’ll just get him a cab or something.”
“Alright then.”
They all repeated their goodbyes except for Jaejoong, who was unable to look at Yunho. He felt ashamed of his behavior and couldn’t meet the other man’s eyes. He bit his lip as he recalled his outburst and glanced up only when he knew that Yunho was gone.
Changmin was the first to say anything, “I’ll call you a cab.”
The look Yoochun shot Changmin look was worried, but he and Junsu immediately avoided the topic about what had just happened with Yunho. The guilt came back, and Jaejoong’s eyes returned to the dark liquid in his mug as he wished desperately that he’d become more deserving of such patient friends. o-o-oThe weather was enjoyably sunny and bright, so Jaejoong decided to take the day off. His trip started off in a nearby gallery, before he went to the park, spotted another gallery, and then drifted off to a café close to it.
The decorations were modest and not anything particularly fancy, but he didn’t mind at all. It was a welcome change to his usual scene of intolerably cold prestigious restaurants and their overly formal atmosphere. He welcomed the change of scenery and was pleased that his day had gone so well.
His eyes took in the sights and as he looked around the room, he noticed a familiar face staring back at him. In a few seconds, he recognized the person to be Yunho.
With an unknown boldness, he left his table and approached the other man. His heartbeat slowed down a little as soon as a smile appeared on Yunho’s face, and he could feel his throat relax slightly as the words he wanted to say formed in his head.
“Do you mind if I sit with you?”
It was an innocent question, but he could hardly believe the words had come out of his mouth. He barely knew Yunho and –
“Sure.” Yunho pointed at the seat across his, “I’m not with anyone.”
Jaejoong sat down and suddenly all his previous courage evaporated immediately. They stared at each other for awhile as they both tried to think of something impressive or anything to alleviate the awkwardness of sitting through a meal with another person who was still rather unfamiliar.
“How did your meeting go?” Jaejoong asked, after he’d remembered the briefly mentioned meeting from the previous night.
“It could’ve gone better.” Yunho replied with a small frown. He glanced at a waiter that passed by before he turned his attention back to Jaejoong. “Did you order yet?”
“I did.” Jaejoong glanced down at the table before he looked back up at Yunho again. He was finding making eye contact with Yunho more difficult than he initially thought it would be. “What do you do again?”
Their food was set down, and Yunho thanked the waiter before he replied. “I’m a lawyer.” He said with his usual small smile, “What about you?”
“I’m an architect.”
“Really?” Yunho chuckled, “I wanted to be one originally but then I realized how I would never survive without any of the necessary technical and creative skills, so I shifted course.”
They began to eat, and Yunho took hold of most of the conversation after. Once again, Jaejoong was relegated to the position of listener, and he was more than grateful. The stories Yunho began to share were short, descriptive, stories of bizarre teachers and odd co-workers, and Jaejoong couldn’t help but appreciate that Yunho avoided asking him any sort of probing personal questions.
They exchanged numbers after lunch, and Jaejoong walked home with a small smile on his face. The moment he was back inside his apartment, drafts still untouched on his worktable, his phone beeped.
He took out his phone and his smile grew a little wider.
I had fun with you today. ^___^
His fingers moved quickly and on instinct as his heart drummed loudly in his chest, and the message was sent before any thoughts of hesitation could be formed.
Me too. >
Author’s Note: I was going through a struggle between posting this, or another story I have somewhat written out – but this won out since I have more planned ahead for it. About A Learning Process, the next chapter will be posted soon, I promise – definitely within this week. Anyway, back to this story – it’s going to be moving at a slower pace than the other stories I’ve posted that’s for sure. It’ll also be a bit more dramatic, and it’ll focus a lot on how Yunho & Jaejoong’s relationship affects their lives and helps them grow as people, but it’ll be more Jaejoong focused than Yunho focused. Hopefully this will get as good of a reception as my other stories, and I’d love to get feedback about the chapter. Thank you for reading!
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no subject
Date: 2011-07-10 07:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-10 08:08 am (UTC)Also, i see jaejoong's character is much more shy, which is another contribution to the slow process! haha, sorry if i'm trying to analyze too much but this preview is already killing me! (in a good way) and i somehow want to see how this story progresses :) good thing you have more written in advance and i can't wait to see the rest^^
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2011-07-10 07:53 am (UTC)i love yun here, jae shouldn't snapped at him though.. but at least yun didn't seem to mad :D
cant wait for next chapter :)
no subject
Date: 2011-07-10 09:12 am (UTC)I hope you like the next chapter, and thank you for the comment!
no subject
Date: 2011-07-10 08:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-10 09:09 am (UTC)Thank you for the comment!
no subject
Date: 2011-07-10 08:10 am (UTC)Waiting for the next update about them. Thank you
no subject
Date: 2011-07-10 09:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-10 08:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-10 09:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-10 09:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-11 01:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-10 12:25 pm (UTC)another story~~
using slower pace?? something new
looking fwd~
no subject
Date: 2011-07-11 01:15 pm (UTC)Thank you for the comment. ♥
no subject
Date: 2011-07-10 02:20 pm (UTC)why do I feel Minnie has something in mind?
nvm, update soon dear, really interesting ^^
no subject
Date: 2011-07-11 01:17 pm (UTC)Thank you for the comment! ♥
no subject
Date: 2011-07-10 04:47 pm (UTC)Sounds interesting and i totally love the plot of the story!
so real.. and the maturity of their character.. its so fresh and new.
I likeeee! ♥
no subject
Date: 2011-07-11 01:19 pm (UTC)Thank you for your lovely comment! ♥
no subject
Date: 2011-07-11 05:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-11 05:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2011-07-12 05:39 am (UTC)i'll be waiting for the next chapter :)
no subject
Date: 2011-07-15 04:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-13 06:33 am (UTC)Chunface awesome! ^^
no subject
Date: 2011-07-15 04:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-15 07:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-15 04:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-17 04:02 am (UTC)At any rate, I look forward to updates for this as well as all of your other stories. ^^
no subject
Date: 2011-07-17 05:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-19 04:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-19 04:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-20 03:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-21 09:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-26 10:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-30 05:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 09:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-01 12:08 pm (UTC)Thank you for the comment!
no subject
Date: 2011-08-16 12:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-16 01:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-02 12:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-14 01:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-20 06:26 pm (UTC)i dunno how to describe it but i think jae has a problem with his job or life??
but by the way i really like yunho character here so far,,^^
okay go to the next chapter,,!!!!^^
no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 05:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-02 08:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-16 04:13 am (UTC)about jae's insecurity about his life, especially about He had his map but no destination – he was stuck in a life he didn’t really think was his, is somehow similar to me. I hope through this fic and as you say that how Yunho & Jaejoong’s relationship affects their lives and helps them grow as people, i will get encourage too in my life and grow as better person. well, yunjae's and dbsk's story, fiction or non-fiction, always help me to be a mature person.
and yes, beside dbsk themselves, their fans, especially the fanfic authors, is really awesome to create story like this. :)
i love to read fanfics, i wish i can write one too. ^^