These Little Ficlets

[INC] The FEZ

2010-02-05T15:00:00.002-06:00

Another incompleted fic. Yay! This one only has a prologue.

The FEZ

written by Mercy // Dec. 12, 2006

Prologue

Having just arrived to my first period class, I sat down at my desk and waited. The teacher looked up once from the papers on her desk, but payed no attention to the student with the lost expression on his face sitting in the very last row.

Nevertheless, I looked around patiently for someone to finally see that I was there.

The other kids in the classroom conversed with each other, never even glancing my way once.

Surely it must not take that long for a new foreign exchange student to be noticed...

It was miraculous when I finally heard someone ask, "Hey, who are you?"

Thinking it was the nicest person on Earth, I politely answered with my limited English, "I'm Han Young-Suk. Nice to meet you."

It wasn't until the kid opened her mouth did I realize she was probably someone I needed to avoid. "What kind of name is THAT? What the heck ARE YOU?" She placed her hands on her hips and gave me a weird look.

I truely did not understand what she had just asked me. So all I could do was ignore the questions and smile. And I did just that.

"I think someone's being a bit of a snob," another voice (probably a guy's) piped up. "Let's get him out, boys."

What are they talking about? Mostly everyone looks excited all of a sudden. Is something fun going on that I don't know of yet?

"Look at the poor kid's face," the same voice said, and laughter ran across the room. He walked over to me and jabbed a finger in my face. I scooted back, sensing that he was a bad person.

He smirked. "Meet me behind the school at 3 o'clock sharp. And don't you dare forget."

...

Wow, these American kids are aggressive.

[INC] The Fanboys

2010-02-05T14:45:00.003-06:00

Another incompleted fic. I actually really liked the idea for this fic, I just had writer's block or no time or something.

The Fanboys

written by Mercy // started August 28, 2006

Prologue

"Ohmygosh, it's Jae Joong!"

"He is sooo hot!"

"Can I have your autograph?"

"Can I take you home with me?!"

You must already know who said those mind-throbbing comments. The fangirls. I've tried to avoid them at all costs by transferring schools but they seem to be everywhere. I get enough headaches every single day hearing them scream and shout...it's an extremely good thing that I'm not famous.

Poor Jae Joong and the rest of his clique. When girls scream out his name, he doesn't ignore them (which I would do if I was him); he flashes them his biggest smile. Why? To keep his reputation high on the list where it should always belong. The girls all faint dramatically and some of them even add in high-pitched squeals. At that point, my eardrums are about ready to burst.

A lot of people only hear and know about fangirls. But have they ever thought about the opposite gender? Yes, you guessed it: fanboys.

There might not be as many fanboys as there are fangirls, but at my school, it's turning into a trend. However, it's a trend that sticks...it stays with the guys forever. Not like a FASHION trend that changes with the seasons.

I, Park Tae Won, am part of the fanboy group at my school. What we do is spaz over the "famous" girls that we like. Almost exactly like what the girls do, except we're not loud and obnoxious about it. We do everything at our private meetings. Our only nonprivate activity is stalking. Yes, we stalk too, you know. Don't let the girls take all the credit for being stalkers.

Now that I've mentioned 'stalking,' we also do something else. Wait, let me back that up. Some of the guys do something else besides stalking. I know you really want to know what they do, but I am sworn to secrecy. If I tell you and they find out, I'd be dead.

Right now I am on my way to one of our meetings. We have meetings planned for every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Today we have a Monday meeting, and I'm not looking forward to it at all.

I just have a feeling that something bad is going to happen.

Chapter One

I shortly arrived at Jae Hyuk's house, where we fanboys always hold our meetings. Jae Hyuk lives in a rich neighborhood, but the only thing "rich" about him is his house. In his family, there's only him, his older brother, and his father. His brother has been off to college for about a year now, and his father works two jobs to support the family. (Even though they have a small family, they have a whole lot of expenses.) Jae Hyuk's and his brother's mother passed away several years ago, and their father has been the only one supporting them ever since.

But man, Jae Hyuk is extremely lucky. His father is not home very much, so Jae Hyuk gets all this free time and the empty house to himself. I'm pretty sure he doesn't do anything outrageous when he's alone, though. He probably just watches TV and eats whatever he wants.

I knocked on the door using our secret knock that we came up with since the beginning. The door swung open, and I was immediately grabbed by the collar and yanked in by no one other than Jae Hyuk himself. As soon as I got inside, he let go of me and slammed the door shut.

"Why are you so pissed off today?" I asked Jae Hyuk as I brushed myself off and straightened my clothing.

Jae Hyuk laughed bitterly and sarcastically replied, "I dunno."

I decided to ignore his answer and instead asked him where the other guys were. Jae Hyuk pointed upstairs and I left him to go join the others. As I walked up the stairs, I could hear the guys shouting about something. I had a clue of what the issue was, and I bet I was 95% right.

I reached the room they were in and opened the door. Different pairs of eyes stared back at me as I looked at the guys sitting in a circle in the middle of the room.

"Tae Won, what great timing! Come over here and help us settle a matter!" Song Jin called out to me while pushing up his glasses. Don't mind him; he's a dork, so he always talks like that. He's a great guy, really. Just ignore his dorkiness and you'll discover that he's not that different from everyone else you consider "normal."

The other guys nodded their heads in agreement and started chattering their heads off again. But this time, they were all talking to me at once.

"SHUT THE H*LL UP!"

Everyone widened their eyes in shock and all looked at me. B-but I'm innocent! I didn't say that!

I suddenly felt a presence behind me and slowly turned around. Oh, it was only Jae Hyuk. My heartbeat slowed down to its normal pace. I felt relieved. Until...

Jae Hyuk ruined the moment. Again. "WHAT THE F*CK ARE YOU ALL SHOUTING ABOUT?!" he bellowed, shifting his gaze at all of us.

There was a bit of silence, where no one said anything. Then Song Jin finally broke the ice. "Who do you think deserves it, Jae Hyuk?" He held up two pictures, and after carefully studying them, it hit me who the two girls were: Kang Ha Neul and Jung Soo Young.

"What do you mean?" Jae Hyuk asked. I didn't understand Song Jin either.

Song Jin sighed. "Who should we eliminate tonight?" he explained impatiently.

"Oh," Jae Hyuk and I said at the same time. The other guys (including me) looked at Jae Hyuk, waiting for his answer. We waited and waited...it seemed forever until he finally declared, "Soo Young."

I was surprised. "Why Soo Young?" I asked him. Soo Young was a popular girl in our grade, and even though she was popular, she was really nice and kind, unlike the other popular girls. Okay, she was also a famous singer, but that's besides the point. Who said singers can't be nice?

Jae Hyuk rubbed his forehead with one hand. He seemed to be thinking of a way to tell us the reason why he chose to eliminate Soo Young; like he had a problem putting it into words or something. After a long time of us guys waiting and sweating, Jae Hyuk slowly said, "She...she turned me down yesterday." He avoided looking at us and shifted his gaze towards the floor.

My eyes bulged and my jaw dropped at the same time. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the other guys reacting the same way. Before I could ask him, Song Jin stood up from his place and questioned Jae Hyuk, "What happened between you two?"

"Yeah, what the h*ll happened?" Dae Suk, another one of the guys in the group, added in.

I watched Jae Hyuk, anticipating his answer. He wasn't the type to tell you every single detail (in fact, he hated answering questions), but we were his best friends; it would be wrong for him not to tell us.

All of a sudden the doorbell rang, piercing the silence. We automatically knew that it wasn't a Fanboy at the door. All eyes looked at Jae Hyuk with worry. My heart started bouncing off my ribcage; I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach who the person was.

Jae Hyuk stood still, clenching and unclenching his fists. His face had turned pale and he looked ridiculously like a dead vampire. I bet he had an idea of who the person at the door was, too.

"Jae Hyuk?" Song Jin asked him worriedly. He walked over to him and placed a hand on his forehead. "You're a little warm. Are you okay?" He quickly took his hand back when he saw the expression on Jae Hyuk's face.

The ringing of the doorbell ceased and for a moment we thought that the person had given up. But then we heard constant pounding on the door and knew that whoever it was was very stubborn.

I couldn't stand it anymore. They were getting on my last nerves. "I'll go get the door," I informed Jae Hyuk and the rest of the guys.

Jae Hyuk unfroze himself and stuck an arm out to block my path. "No, I will," he demanded through gritted teeth.

I shrugged, scared that if I protest, I might get punched or something worse by him. "Okay," I said carelessly, like it wasn't a big deal.

"Stay here, guys," he commanded to the rest of us, and Jae Hyuk exited the room to go downstairs.

"I wonder why he didn't tell us what happened between him and Soo Young," Song Jin whispered as we sneaked out into the hallway and peeked over the banister.

"Shh!" everyone else told him.

"I want to hear what's going on down there," I added.

"B-but--" he protested.

"Shh!" The guys managed to shut him up for good this time by placing their hands on his mouth.

I grabbed his glasses and threatened him, "If you make anymore noise, I'll break them, Song Jin."

His eyes widened but he didn't struggle to say anything. That guy knows what's good for him.

We all strained our ears to eavesdrop on the conversation downstairs between Jae Hyuk and the other person. It was hard, I tell you. They must have been whispering or something because we could barely hear them. But I did catch some parts, whether they be whole or only bits and pieces:

"I didn't mean to..."
"...stop lying."
"What makes you think..."
"Maybe you should leave..."
"...come tomorrow, will you?"
"No, I will not."
"...huge favor, Jae Hyuk."
"You disgust me. GET LOST."

The front door slammed shut. I wondered who Jae Hyuk was talking to. He was so bitter to them; he's usually not that ruthless.

It wasn't until after we had quickly crawled back into the room did it hit me that Jae Hyuk had been talking to a girl the whole time. A girl that sounded really familar. I just couldn't come up with who exactly, though. Hmm... I sifted through the hundreds of pictures that we Fanboys had taken of a whole lot of girls. Song Jin sat behind me, watching over my shoulder. I stopped at a picture of Soo Young, and a light clicked on in my head. Yes, she was the one that had came here and had a horrible conversation with Jae Hyuk. I sighed as more questions formed in my mind.

Chapter Two

Jae Hyuk came back upstairs and strolled into the room. I studied his face; he seemed indifferent. Hadn't the conversation sparked any hope in him at all? The girl of his dreams had asked a huge favor of him that sounded like she was really asking him out. So why did Jae Hyuk have a frown on his face?

"I don't get it," he said out loud to no-one in particular. We turned our heads to look at him.

Seeing that he wasn't going to continue talking anytime soon, I asked, "What don't you get?"

He shifted his eyes and looked down at the carpet. I already knew that he wouldn't answer right away, so I waited patiently until he spoke up.

"Everything," he said, not looking at any of us. As if that tells us anything,I couldn't help but think. Jae Hyuk reached over and casually picked up the pile of pictures I'd stacked in front of my Indian-style crossed legs. He shuffled through them until he found the picture he was looking for. I didn't even have to see who the girl on the picture was; I already knew it was Soo Young.

Jae Hyuk raised his head and turned to Dae Suk. "Hey, Dae Suk, can you um, open the window for me?" he asked nervously yet normally.

"Dude, it's fricken' cold out there," Dae Suk said with a scowl, but he stood up and opened the window anyway.

No one said a word as we were all too busy trying to understand what Jae Hyuk was up to. Our eyes followed him when his figure crossed the room and our bodies stood up and rushed after him when he stopped right at the window. It's unusual how curiosity can hypnotize us.

The breeze from the rushing wind outside came right at us like an invisible ocean wave. Goosebumps formed on my arms and I quickly rubbed them to feel warm again. It wasn't cold earlier so I have no clue why it is cold now.

"What are you doing, Jae Hyuk?!" I shouted as the other guys gasped in shock. He had lit up Soo Young's picture with his match and now the flames were licking up the whole thing!

He didn't reply to my question. Obviously he'd heard it, but was just ignoring it because he's a jerk like that sometimes. Instead he threw the picture out the window, and as it fell, pieces came apart and flew in different directions. It was a dumb scene, really.

Jae Hyuk turned around to face us and everyone stared back at him with open mouths or furrowed eyebrows. We still didn't understand his motive...how could we if he didn't tell us anything?

Just as I expected, he held up a hand against a few protests from the other guys and gave us his evilest smirk ever. "Don't say or ask anything," he told us. "You'll get 'the whole picture' tomorrow."

He was the only one who laughed at his lame attempt at cracking a joke.

Our meeting was over for the day. I guess you could say that it was a very boring meeting. It was probably because it was a Monday one, but think about all the past meetings we've had and how many there were. Something exciting could have happened before but you don't know about it.

I walked out of Jae Hyuk's house and was immediately greeted with a huge pair of boobs right in my face. Like seriously, what kind of girl is this tall?

I looked up slowly and saw, to my surprise, a guy. I immediately backed away and shook my head in disgust. "Gross," I muttered under my breath. Thank God the he-she didn't hear me.

"Hey, uh, is Jae Hyuk here?" the dude, or dudette, asked me.

No way could I answer the question right on the spot. "Why?" I questioned him/her. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because..." the he-she started to look embarrassed, and he/she avoided looking at me. (Not that I would want him/her to look at me, anyway.) "Because I need to speak with him," he/she finished.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, he's inside." I stepped out of the way to let the wo-man through. I watched his tall and lanky body in a pink spaghetti-strapped tank top and a pink short mini-skirt (both obviously made for females) gingerly walk to the front door of Jae Hyuk's house. Then I instantly regretted it; the food I ate for breakfast was practically jumping up my throat and ready to burst out of my mouth. I quickly looked away and gagged.

"You're gross, Tae Won," I heard someone say from behind me. It wasn't the voice of the he-she. It was a familiar girl's voice.

I whipped around and saw my sister. "What are you doing here?" I asked her, surprised.

She gave me a wide, teeth-showing smile, and flipped her hair out of her face. The breeze sure was getting wilder. Instead of answering, she grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to her. Okay, what's the big secret?

"Can I tell you at home?" she whispered, like it was something confidential.

I began laughing so hard I couldn't stop. "That's all you wanted to tell me, sis?" I asked once I finally calmed down. I still bore a huge grin on my face, my sister's serious face and her stupidity imprinted in my mind.

"No, of course not," she firmly replied. "I just can't tell you here." She looked around us suspiciously, like she was expecting someone currently eavesdropping on our conversation. My instincts made my eyes wander around our surroundings, too.

My eyes landed on a wavering bush, and I suddenly felt suspicious like my sister. But then the bush became still and I convinced myself that it was only the wind teasing me.

"Let's go home, sis," I said, turning to face my sister.

She looked at me curiously. "Is my little Tae Won-y scared?" she taunted, her (big) mouth forming a pout.

I jerked back away from her. "Don't call me your 'little Tae Won-y'," I retorted, my voice full of power. "And I'm not scared, for your information."

Seeing the hurt expression on her face, I quickly put on a small smile, and, after some bouts of resistance from her, began leading her home. Just as we turned the corner at the end of the street, we heard an ear-splitting scream from behind us that made my arm hairs stand on end. We stopped walking and turned around. What we saw made us scream too.

Or rather, we both screamed then my sister fainted. I stuck my arms out in time to catch her before she collapsed to the ground.

"Tae...Won?" Eun Ah asked groggily. She'd just woken up and had no clue where she was. She sat up in bed slowly and looked around at her surroundings. The room she was in didn't look one bit familiar. She wondered whose room it belonged to.

Just then the bedroom door opened and a tall, skinny kid entered. Now he looked familiar. Was he one of Tae Won's friends?

He smiled when he saw that she was awake. "Good, you're up. Tae Won left you here 'cause he had to go buy something at the store, but he'll be right back and you can leave with him then." He handed her a small bowl of soup and told her to sip it up. "You're probably very hungry."

Eun Ah said thank you and gently took the bowl from him. She pretended to blow at it to make it less hot until he left, and once the door closed behind him, she slurped the soup down noisily. She really was hungry. Once she finished, she wiped her mouth with her shirt sleeve and got out of bed. She left the bedroom and went out to the kitchen to return the bowl.

"Here's the bowl..." she said, as she got nearer to the kitchen. A woman appeared to get the bowl from her, but when Eun Ah got a closer look, she realized that the woman wasn't a woman; it was the same he-she that she had seen earlier and screamed then fainted about. She almost screamed again this time, but someone's hand from behind her was immediately placed over her mouth.

"Don't scream, sis," I shouted, "or you'll faint again!" I had came back to Jae Hyuk's house at the right time. I was glad to see that my sister was fine and awake; I didn't want to worry about her health any longer.

I turned to what I had recently found out was Jae Hyuk's brother (you know, the he-she). "Seung Jin, can you please go change your clothes so that my sister doesn't flip out again? I know you have some manly clothes in your closet somewhere so it shouldn't be a problem."

Seung Jin nodded his head. "Sure. This was just for a dare anyway. I'll go change right now." He left to go to his bedroom.

I let go of my sister and she whipped around to face me. "S-so he's not gay?" she asked, surprised.

"No, apparently he's straight," I replied.

Eun Ah smirked. "Let's see what he looks like as a guy. I bet he won't be even one bit good-looking." She crossed her arms and stood back to wait for Seung Jin to come back out.

I remained silent to watch my sister's reaction. Just as Seung Jin stepped into the living room, Eun Ah's eyes widened and her jaw dropped open. She turned her head around to whisper to me, "He's so hot!"

[INC] 1 Week

2010-02-05T14:42:00.003-06:00

Another incompleted fic. I only wrote a short prologue for this one. Haha.

1 Week

written by Mercy // started Sept. 7, 2006

Prologue

"Mi Hae-ah," Tae Sung had told me on the phone. "Don't get mad at me, okay?"

"Why, oppa?"

"I...I will die in one week."

O_O O_O O_O O_O O_O

I was so shocked I could not speak. "What do you mean?" I asked him slowly.

Tae Sung coughed then said, "Remember what happened ten years ago?"

I shook my head but of course he couldn't see me do it. I told him, "No, I don't think I do..."

"Come over to my house then, Mi Hae," Tae Sung said raspily. "Then I'll tell you and you'll surely remember."

[INC] Falling for a Tomboy

2010-02-05T14:36:00.003-06:00

Another incompleted fic. Yay!

Falling for a Tomboy

written by Mercy // August 10, 2006

Prologue

I was doomed since the day I was born.

Once I'd came out to life, my parents named me Lee Dung Poo. A few years later, I asked them why.

They explained that I was dark. Like shit.

It's hard to believe them. My skin's not brown like shit; I'm actually quite pale. Maybe it changed over the years. *sarcasm*

When I was a few weeks old, my mother left me on the sofa in the living room and I rolled off. I fell onto the tile floor with a thud, then started bawling my eyes out.

Everything actually went fine and dandy until I was six years old. I was playing over at my new friend's house when their dog saw me. I guess it was really hungry or something since it licked its mouth and started chasing me! I panicked and the only thing I could do was climb up my friend's tree. So I did just that! The dog couldn't climb up the tree even though it tried so many times. Eventually my friend came back from the bathroom and called their dog away.

At the age of ten, my mother asked me to light up the fireplace for her since she's scared of fire and no one else was at home. So, guess what happened?

...

You give up?

...

Okay then, loser.

I burnt my whole head of hair. On accident, I swear. Why would I do that to myself on purpose? That would be like committing suicide. *shudders* I'm too young to die.

That incident was quite a tragedy, but it was funny nevertheless. I didn't even know that my head was on fire. It wasn't until I got out of the fireplace did I notice a crinkling sound and the smell of something burning. When I turned to look at my mother, all shocked and speechless...puhahaha. The look on her face was PRICELESS. She was even more shocked and speechless than I was. If you ever need a laugh, just do something outrageous in front of my mother. Her reaction will bring you a fit of giggles (unless you're a guy; I think 'manly laughter' would fit then) that'll keep you busy laughing all day long. Guaranteed.

It took several years for my hair to grow back. I can tell you that being bald was not fun. People didn't even look at me...they avoided looking at me. They even stood plenty of yards away. They were all scared, I assure you. They probably thought I had some kind of disease or something. Just because I didn't have any hair on my head!

The most recently (well, not really) bad thing that happened to me was during the past year. I was crossing a wide street when some dude in a motorcycle came zooming down the road at me after he'd just turned a corner. To my surprise, he didn't even slow down. Don't get me wrong; I tried my best to get over to the other side quickly. But I wasn't fast enough. I got ran over by the guy, but not majorly hurt. I mean, my legs still work. The dude's condition was even worse than mine. MUCH worse.

Now here's the most MOST recently bad thing that occured to me. It took place this year, near the football field, in the not-so-wonderful month of August. However, after I gained conciousness, I realized it wasn't such a bad thing after all. It was actually a very good thing.

Maybe this is God's way of rewarding me for all of the hardships I'd been through. Let's just hope I don't ruin it for myself.

Chapter One

Another day of school had ended, and my friends and I were walking through the courtyard to the gate. We were bored out of our minds and didn't know what to do now that school was over for the day.

"Hey, you guys wanna go practice?" someone behind us suggested. We turned around to see Park Sang Ho. Sang Ho was the captain of the school's football team. He was known for his good looks and his high IQ. Even though he's too smart to be a jock, he still manages to be a nerd and a jock without any problems. I don't know how he can keep up with everything.

I looked at him, totally confused. "W-why would we wanna go practice?" I asked. I had a clue of what his answer would be already.

"We have a game tomorrow, remember?" Sang Ho shifted his gaze at all four of us. I avoided looking at him since I could feel that he was just about ready to burst with anger.

I felt ashamed that we had forgotten about the game, so I apologized for everyone as I looked down at the ground. "We're sorry, Sang Ho," I sincerely said.

The other guys nodded their heads slowly in agreement. I raised my head up to look at Sang Ho, and saw that his face expression had soften.

"It's okay," he said to our surprise. "You know about the game now, so...just forget that you had forgotten, alright? Let's go practice!"

We exchanged a group high-five. I know it's corny, but we do it all the time and it helps us get into the mood. So it's worth it.

Sang Ho motioned for us to follow him, and he led us to his car in the school parking lot. We headed straight over to the red sports car that we were positively sure was his car.

"Hey, you guys," he called out from somewhere. We turned our heads and saw him standing next to a beat-up silver sorry-excuse-for-a-car. "This is my car," he said, pointing at the ugly thing. He laughed. "That's Sang Joon's car you're standing by."

We immediately detached ourselves from the car we had been practically drooling over. Sang Joon was Sang Ho's older brother, and he was also his class president. We wouldn't want to get in trouble with him.

As we walked over to Sang Ho's unattracting car, I couldn't help but wonder, Why does Sang Ho have a car like this and his brother has a car like THAT?

I bet the other guys were thinking the same thing 'cause they looked at each other questioningly and even shared the same looks with me.

"Should we ask him?" I asked them in a whisper.

They shook their heads in unison. It's almost like they have the same minds.

I nodded my head, agreeing with them.

We gave Sang Ho huge smiles once we'd reached the spot where he had parked his car and he opened the back door for us. "Get in."

Since there were four of us, one person had to sit at the front passenger seat. And guess who it was? Lucky me. *dies* I don't want to get caught sitting in a car like this...it's embarrassing. *stabs self*

I mentally told myself to kill the guys later if I get made fun of for riding in this ugly car. It's all their fault for rushing into the back seat anyway.

Sang Ho pulled out of the parking lot and we reached the football field in no time. It's actually the community football field, not the school's. So there were other people around, of course.

The one person that caught my eye was this cute girl throwing a football back and forth with her friend. She looked really tomboy-ish, but cute nevertheless.

"DP," one of my friends said behind me. (My friends call me "DP" to avoid making me die of humiliation from my overly-embarrassing real name.) Tae Suk ruffled my hair and pulled me into a friendly headlock. "Who're you staring at?" he asked teasingly. "That granny over there?"

I pushed him away and he released me from the headlock. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion as I looked at him. "Granny? I ain't staring at no granny," I scoffed, even though I knew he was joking.

Tae Suk laughed and the other guys joined in. "I was kidding, DP. You don't have to get so mad."

"You guys, what did we come here for?" Sang Ho asked all of us, making us all feel guilty.

"We came here to practice," the guys and I answered in monotone.

There was a bit of silence where Sang Ho didn't say anything. We didn't even notice he was gone until he shouted from the field, "Come on, dudes!" He waved us over excitedly.

I looked at him in shock when I saw the other people on the field stare at him like he was a maniac. I gestured to the guys to follow me to the spot where Sang Ho was warming up on the field.

"Aish," I mumbled under my breath as we made our way over there. "He really loves attention, doesn't he?"

Good-looking people and their attention-loving nature. Makes just about anyone want to puke.

[INC] 10 Days in Hobo Territory

2010-02-05T14:25:00.003-06:00

Another incompleted fic. Yay!
About this one... I was trying to write a full-on comedy in TF-like style.

10 Days in Hobo Territory

written by Mercy // started July 21, 2006

Prologue

For all of my life, I had gotten everything I wanted. Scratch that; everything I needed. I never asked for or bought unnecessary things...what would I do to them? Let them collect dust under my bed and waste away?

Not a chance.

I may be what you call "rich," but I am not the least bit spoiled. I'm probably the only non-spoiled rich girl you've ever met, or will meet.

So in order for you to meet me, I will introduce myself.

My name is Shim Yoon Hae, and am currently eighteen years old. Some people say I look older that that, some say I look younger. I say it all depends on the way the people view me.

I have no interest in a love life. I am single and totally loving it. But I do believe that everyone has someone special out there in the world, waiting for them, looking for them...and some blessed day they will meet.

That sure sounds romantic. *sigh*

I'm babbling on too much; let's hurry up and finish my introduction.

I have two siblings that don't live in the same house I do, so whatever goes on in their lives I know nothing about.

I only hear rumors. About them, that is.

The last ones I heard were that my sister went to a club and never came back home and my brother got whipped mercilessly by his gf. -__-

I don't always believe everything I hear. Especially rumors.

Like when I was told that there was an actual Hobo Territory in our city, I didn't believe it. Furthermore, I thought it was complete rubbish.

Who knew that I would actually meet them and not get everything I needed for 10 whole days?

Chapter One

"Yoon Hae!" my grandma shouted. "Did you buy my panties for me yet?"

Oh crap. I had totally forgotten all about them!

The only thing I could do was lie. "Yes, Grandma, I did! I just forgot them at the store..." What else could I say?

Grandma smacked me on the head playfully. "How can you forget so easily like that? Go back and get them!"

I looked at her to see if she was kidding. But no, she was serious. "Grandma, it's kinda dark out!" I told her. "Do you want me to get kidnapped?"

"You won't get kidnapped if you use the moves you learned in karate--"

Yeah right. I never even paid attention in that stupid class.

"Besides, it's not even late out," Grandma finished.

I rolled my eyes, and pointed out the window. "You don't call that late?" I asked her.

"No," she simply replied. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at me expectantly.

There was no point in arguing with her now. I stood up from my desk chair. "Fine, I'll go," I said as I reached for my jacket. I put it on, and took my purse off its hook.

Grandma patted me on the head. Gah, I'm eighteen and she acts like I'm ten. "Good girl," she said. "I'll give you something when you come home."

I always look forward to hear her saying that, though. Teehee.

"Cookies?" I asked her suggestingly.

She smiled and nodded her head. "Sure, cookies," she agreed.

Yay! ^ ^

I followed her out to the living room and waved goodbye to her as I walked out the door. She waved back and closed the front door.

I walked pass the gate and it slid closed behind me. It's automatic like that, and may seem creepy to people that aren't used to it.

I started strolling to the Victoria's Secret store near us. Okay, it's not near my house that much, but it's not like it's so far I can't walk to it.

The outside breeze was somewhat chilly and I felt cold. I pulled my jacket tighter around my body as I clenched my purse tight against me with one elbow.

There were still people out, thank Goodness. I feel more secure when I'm not alone.

As I got closer to the shortcut, I felt like taking it, but I was always told that it wasn't safe. I shook my head and decided to take the long way.

Even though I call it the "long way," I reached Victoria's Secret in no time. I pulled the door open and entered the building. I was so glad they were still open.

The cashier behind the counter smiled at me warmingly. "May I help you, honey?" she asked.

I shook my head and gave her a small smile. "No, thank you."

I headed over to the section where the granny panties hung. I sifted through them and picked out five for my grandma.

I thought it over in my head. 'She gave me __ dollars, so I should have enough left over for exactly two thongs...' XD

I sidled over to the thong section, and started looking through those. I found two nice ones and were going to buy the matching bras too, but remembered that I wouldn't have enough money for them. T__T

Oh well. Maybe I'll buy them next time I go here. If there is a next time.

I went over to the counter to pay for the items. It was funny how I had the exact money to give the cashier. Surely Grandma thinks these things over before giving me her money.

The cashier and I said our goodbyes and I exited the building. I suddenly felt mischievous; I took the two thongs out of the Victoria's Secret bag and put them in my purse. Let's see if my grandma notices what happened to the rest of her money!

Yes, I know. I'm being awfully mean. But my grandma is a fun person to play with...seriously!

I started on my way home. It was really dark out NOW...I felt a nervous feeling in my stomach. It's so easy to get kidnapped at a time like this. I was starting to regret that I had listened to my grandma.

I was nearing the shortcut again. Even though it was dangerous and the trees made the area look even scarier, I decided to take that route. I mean, how "not safe" could it be? Right? Ehehheh...*shifty eyes*

I walked into the shortcut area slowly, one hand holding onto the Victoria's Secret bag tightly and the other hand clutching my purse's strap.

Suddenly, I heard a soft purr from a cat. It purred again, and I tried to figure out where it was. On the fourth purr, I spotted it: a gray Pixie Bob kitten, and it was sitting on a tree branch. It looked so cute yet so sad, and I wanted to save it.

Hey, I have a thing for cute animals, so don't give me that look. -__-

I scanned the area to make sure no one was around, and once I saw that the coast was clear, I dropped the Victoria's Secret bag and my purse onto the ground. Then I started climbing the tree.

Trees are so easy to climb. I've been climbing them since I was a toddler, so I know the jist of it. You know, doing a certain thing over and over again makes you an expert in doing it.

So yeah. I guess you can say I'm an expert at climbing trees. But that's nothing to be proud of. I wish I was an expert at math...TOT

I reached the spot where I had seen the cat and looked up (for I had been looking down the whole time) to see the cat up close.

I almost screamed from what I saw. No, I didn't see the cat dead or bleeding or anything like that.

What I saw...was people.

Chapter Two

The people weren't just regular, normal people. They were HOBOS. And did I mention that all of them were males?

I quickly jumped down from the tree, but the hobos were too fast; they got down to the ground before I did.

They grabbed my purse and the Victoria's Secret bag before I could take them.

"Hey, give them back!" I shouted, but no matter how much I pulled, their grips on my things were too strong.

Oh, how I wish I'd paid more attention in karate. T__T

The guy who had my purse opened it, and as if it was their cue, two guys ran over and got behind me. I turned around and was about to kick them, but I couldn't move. I looked down; they had tied my legs up! I tried wriggling my arms; they had knotted them together too! What were these guys? Trained hobos?

[INC] Impossible to Love

2010-02-05T14:17:00.002-06:00

Another incompleted fic. Yay!

Impossible to Love

written by Mercy // started July 27(?), 2006

Prologue

Watanabe Matsuko was a girl with incredible intelligence. No one had ever tried to compete with her; they didn't dare.

But when a new kid named Kamenashi Kazuya aka Kame entered Yokosuka High School, Matsuko's rank went down.

It wasn't because Kame had outsmarted her or stolen her rank. The reason was because Matsuko had fallen for Kame, and she didn't care about her grades anymore. All she cared about was how to impress her crush.

But now, she has to take a stand. She has to forget Kame, since he never paid her any attention in the first place. She has to change. She's decided to leave the school, and transfer over to Morioka Third High School. She also has decided to take on a new name...Watanabe Tanaka.

No way will she go down again. She will get back to the top and remain there. Her future depended on her rank.

Little did she know that boys will interfere her life once again. But will they be a postive impact, or a negative one? She will just have to find out.

Chapter One

Tanaka walked through the school halls, minding her own business. She was also trying to hide from Akanashi Jin (who was her greatest enemy for personal reasons), but no one needed to know that.

Just when she was about to turn down D hall, she heard a scream coming from E hall, which was where the dorms were. She wanted to stay out of it, but she wanted to help whoever was in trouble. What if a girl was getting raped by some vicious guys? She just HAD to help the person that was screaming!

So she crept as quickly as she could down E hall, since the students are not allowed to run, or they'll get demerits. She searched for the room where the screaming was coming from.

As she got closer to E-27, the screams became louder. She tried the doorknob: it wasn't locked. She opened the door without knocking and went in. What she saw was not what she had expected.

Kamenashi Kazuya was literally sitting on his bed and just belting out scream after scream; nothing was wrong with him. Tanaka sighed bitterly. She'd thought that she would never see him again. What was he doing here at this school? She had left her old school so that she could forget about him for good. And now here he was, at Morioka Third High School, staring back at her from where he sat on his bed.

He was also surprised. The girl standing at his dorm doorway looked exactly like this one girl who had stalked him all throughout the last school year. The only difference was that she was wearing glasses and had really dark black hair. Kame wiped his forehead. He was suddenly feeling nervous for no reason.

Tanaka turned to leave his dorm. She couldn't stand there for one more second. Seeing Kame made her want to puke. All she could think was, What the h-ll is he doing here? I thought I got rid of him out of my life!

"Stop," she heard Kame call out to her. "I need to ask you something."

Who was he to boss her around like that? She couldn't believe she ever fell for him. What a b-stard.

But Tanaka stopped in her tracks anyway. She felt curious and wanted to know what Kame needed to ask her.

Kame got off his bed and walked over to her. He stopped right in front of Tanaka and questioned, "What's your name?" in a normal tone of voice.

Tanaka tried her best to look like she was telling the truth. "Watanabe Tanaka," she answered. "Why do you want to know?"

"You look a lot like this girl I used to know," Kame said, then scratched his head. "But I guess you're not her."

Tanaka felt the words "Of course not" slip out of her mouth before she could stop them. She averted her eyes from embarrassment. "I mean, we probably just look a bit the same. I surely don't have a twin or anything like that," she said sheepishly.

Kame nodded his head slowly. "Right." After a moment of silence, he said, "I was only practicing my screaming for theater arts class. No one's in trouble. You can leave now."

"I'll be glad to," Tanaka muttered, then she quickly exited Kame's dorm and went on her way back to her's. She had totally forgotten that she was supposed to be hiding from Akanishi Jin. Because when she turned the corner (pissed like no other), who would be standing in the middle of D hall waiting for her but Akanashi Jin himself.

He had his arms crossed, and looked totally impatient and frustrated. Tanaka could sense his aura of menace, and even though she wasn't close to him, she could see the fire burning in his eyes.

She knew that if she talked to him, she would be meeting death right after. But what if she doesn't talk to him...what will happen?

Besides, why should she even listen to him blab?

Her conscience told her to run. So Tanaka ran as fast as she could in the other direction. Who cared about demerits at a time like this? She was in a crisis!

"Stop!" she heard Jin shout as he raced after her.

'Whatever.' She continued running. She sped down one hall, then headed down another. She couldn't hear any footsteps behind her anymore. She stopped and turned around.

No one in sight. She guessed she had lost him.

Tanaka slowly walked back to her dorm, keeping watch for any sign of Jin. She eventually arrived at her dorm, and got her key out of her pocket. As she unlocked the door, she felt a firm hand on her shoulder. She flipped around.

The head teacher's face was only a few inches from her's.

"Come with me, Watanabe," he commanded. "Did you think you were going to get away with running around the school like an idiot?"

She shrugged his hand off her shoulder. "It's not my fault," she informed. "Akanashi Jin was chasing me--"

The head teacher interrupted her. "Shut up. I don't need to hear your excuses. Follow me..." He turned around to head in the direction of the main office. When he didn't hear her footsteps, he whipped back around to face her. "NOW," he demanded, crossing his arms and glaring at her.

Tanaka sighed. "Fine," she mumbled, and she quickly locked her door and trailed after the head teacher.

[INC] Clean Laundry (Version 1)

2010-02-05T14:08:00.003-06:00

I always start fics and never finish them. It's horrible. But I'll be sharing them anyway.
Here's version 1 of "Clean Laundry." (Version 2 is the entry below.)

Clean Laundry (Ver. 1)

written by Mercy // started June 28, 2006

Prologue

"Why don't you get married, Su Ah? Don't tell me you're still looking for Mr. Right!" My friends never ceased to tease me when they found the opportunity.

"Aww, poor Su Ah. She's almost thirty years old but no husband in sight." Comments like these came from my family and other relatives. I'm still not sure if they were gossiping about me or pitying me. Neither of those things are good anyway.

"What's this pretty lady doing walking alone like this?" the people on the streets would say. Either to other people, to themselves, or, even sometimes, directly to me. But, the good thing was, no guy had ever tried to rape me or attack me like hungry wolves.

Even little kids talked to me about marriage. "My big brother likes you a lot! Why won't you marry him?" I would always smile sweetly at them and laugh like a girl that had just been proposed to by surprise.

No one knows why I am still living the single life. But, I will tell you, special reader, to finally let the truth out, and to also tell you a story.

I, Kim Su Ah, am scared of commitment.

You may be thinking, oh, what's the big deal, love is just a game; You fall in love, then you fall out of love, and toss the guy aside like dirty laundry. EVERYONE does it.

But you see, that's not true at all. For me, at least. When I fall in love, I fall hard. I fall so bad I cannot get back up. I can never fall out of love, thus I can never toss the guy I love aside like dirty laundry.

That was exactly what happened to me eleven years ago, when I was at the sweet and dandy age of sixteen.

Now, I am twenty-seven years old. I will tell you all about what happened when I was sixteen, so that you can understand why I am scared of commitment. Which will also explain why, at twenty-seven, I am still not married.

Chapter One

The story begins on the start of a normal morning. Not long after I had changed into my school uniform, I heard a loud beep from a car horn coming from outside. I quickly grabbed my light blue backpack off my bed and sprang out of the house, not bothering to wrap the backpack onto my shoulders.

I stepped out onto the front porch and smiled brightly at the person in the old Chevy: my grandpa. He lived in the neighborhood behind us, but he would always come by every morning to drive me to school. He flashed me a heartwarming smile and I felt my first warmth of sunshine for the new day.

I ran over to the car and opened the door to the passenger's seat. "Good morning, Grandpa!" I exclaimed as I tossed my backpack onto the back seat and sat down in the passenger's seat. I straightened my uniform and grabbed the seatbelt.

"Good morning, Su Ah. You seem so happy today. Is there something going on that I don't know about?" he asked. I thought he was being serious, so I looked at him. But he gave me his famous wink, which could only meant that he was joking. Oh, did my grandpa love to joke back then.

I grinned. "Grandpa," I teased. "You still are immature, aren't you?"

We both burst into a fit of laughter. It was quite a mix. My grandpa with his deep and throaty laugh and me with my high-pitched giggles. Yes, even at sixteen years of age, I sounded like a little girl.

After we had finished laughing, my grandpa backed out of the driveway and said, "We should get to school now. You're going to be late if we keep on dilly-daddling."

Dilly-daddling. It was my favorite word, and it still is. Grandpa liked to use it since he knew I loved that word. He would always do his best to please me. I was, after all, his only grand-daughter.

Grandpa drove me to school and dropped me off once we arrived. As I pulled my backpack on, I said, "Thank you, Grandpa! See you later!" I said those sentences every single day, but I never got tired of them.

"Bye, Su Ah!" my grandpa would always say, then he would drive away slowly as I watched him go. There never was a time that I automatically went into the school building once we arrived. I would always see him off first.

I turned around and headed into school. The breeze from the light wind tossed my semi-long hair into my face and blocked my vision. I would use my hand to push my hair back, but the strands of hair would fly back around and hit against my eyes, my cheeks, my nose, and my mouth. I got so fed up, I stopped right at the bottom of the steps up to the school and reached into my pocket for my hair scrunchie.

I was just about to tie my hair up, when I felt someone's side ram right into mine. It was a harsh shove, and the next thing I knew, I was falling down. I landed on my back with a minor thud on the ground. It didn't hurt much, and I was relieved that my head was still whole.

You're probably thinking, What the freak? Is she as skinny as a stick or what? And to answer your question, No, I wasn't as skinny as a stick. I was not as thin as I wanted myself to be, but I wasn't big either. I was average. However, I was quite weak. Weak as in I-can't-beat-up-anyone-weak. Today, I'm...let's just say, I had gained some pounds over the past eleven years. Yes, that's it.

"Yah, watch where you're going!" someone shouted. I tried to see who they were, but my vision was blurred, disabling me from viewing things clearly. I slowly sat up and rubbed my eyes with my fingers.

I felt a fist come into contact with my head. I could see better now, but I didn't bother to look up at my perpetrator. What was the use? They would only hit me even more if I stared up at them. Bullies didn't like being looked at.

"Hey, are you just gonna sit there and act like we're invisible? Apologize now!" These loud and obnoxious voices...I knew who they belonged to. The one who shouted at me before was Park Joo Mi. The one who just told me to apologize was Shim Lee Na.

Suddenly, someone pushed the girls away and lended me a hand. I hesitated--I didn't want their help. I didn't want them to help me. I was only in a small situation; something that I couldn't end right away, but if given time, I possibly could. But here this person was, wanting to help me.

There was nothing else I could do. I lightly grabbed their hand, and they pulled me up, their grasp on my hand very tight. I stood on my feet and only then did I look up, and looked at all of the people's faces. The girls who had, what can I say, bullied me had expressions of hatefulness towards me etched on their faces.

But the person who had helped me, a guy, was smiling at me, and I didn't even know who he was. Was he a new student? I'd never seen him around school before.

He opened his mouth to say something, but the school bell decided to ring, making everybody (including the girls that had bullied me) run into the school building. The loud BRRRIIIINGGG! had drowned him out; I couldn't hear what he'd just said. Since I didn't want to be late, I didn't bother to ask him. I told him "thank you" and quickly rushed into the school building. My legs were okay so I didn't find an excuse not to run.

I heard the guy shout "Hey!" behind me, but I didn't bother to turn around. What he wanted to say to me could wait until later, couldn't it?

I entered my classroom just a second before the bell rang. I almost ran smacked into the teacher.

[INC] Clean Laundry (Version 2)

2010-02-05T13:50:00.007-06:00

I always start fics and never finish them. It's horrible. But I'll be sharing them here anyway.
This is version 2 of "Clean Laundry."

Clean Laundry (Ver. 2)

a short story by Mercy // started June 28, 2006

Prologue

"Why don't you get married, Su Ah? Don't tell me you're still looking for Mr. Right!" My friends never ceased to tease me when they found the opportunity.

"Aww, poor Su Ah. She's almost thirty years old but no husband in sight." Comments like these came from my family and other relatives. I'm still not sure if they were gossiping about me or pitying me. Neither of those things are good anyway.

"What's this pretty lady doing walking alone like this?" the people on the streets would say. Either to other people, to themselves, or, even sometimes, directly to me. But, the good thing was, no guy had ever tried to rape me or attack me like hungry wolves.

Even little kids talked to me about marriage. "My big brother likes you a lot! Why won't you marry him?" I would always smile sweetly at them and laugh like a girl that had just been proposed to by surprise.

No one knows why I am still living the single life. But, I will tell you, special reader, to finally let the truth out, and to also tell you a story.

I, Kim Su Ah, am scared of commitment.

You may be thinking, oh, what's the big deal, love is just a game; You fall in love, then you fall out of love, and toss the guy aside like dirty laundry. EVERYONE does it.

But you see, that's not true at all. For me, at least. When I fall in love, I fall hard. I fall so bad I cannot get back up. I can never fall out of love, thus I can never toss the guy I love aside like dirty laundry.

That was exactly what happened to me eleven years ago, when I was at the sweet and dandy age of sixteen.

Now, I am twenty-seven years old. I will tell you all about what happened when I was sixteen, so that you can understand why I am scared of commitment. Which will also explain why, at twenty-seven, I am still not married.

Chapter One

I met him at the laundromat. It was another boring morning, with me working in the back and my mother working at the front. If my mother had never had a horrible stomachache, I would have never gotten the chance to take over her place at the front of the building.

And, I wouldn't have gotten the chance to meet him.

It was only a few minutes after my mother and I had switched spots that he showed up. Entering the laundromat was a struggle for him since his handsome arms were held tight around two baskets. I quickly ran over and offered to help him.

"Thanks," he said, as I grabbed one laundry basket and brought it over to a washing machine.

I turned around and smiled at him. "You're welcome."

He smiled back at me, then started doing the laundry. I left him alone and went back to my post. There were still some customers I needed to call. I flipped through the laundromat's offical phone book and dialed a number. "Mrs. Park?...Yes, it's me, Su Ah..."

The whole time I was speaking to the customers, my attention was on him. Yes, the guy who had came in with the two laundry baskets. It may sound like I was stalking him or something, but I was watching his every move. Why, you may ask? It was because he had caught my attention; I had never seen a guy more unique. Not to mention the fact that he was especially handsome.

"Okay. Bye, Mrs. Park," I said to the customer on the other line. I put the receiver down gently and looked up. The guy had finished putting his laundry into the washing machine and was now coming over to the counter, which I was standing behind.

He smiled at me, and I gave him a small smile back. I didn't want to seem too eager. "I'm Hyun-Shik. What's your name?" he asked me.

I felt totally ecstatic. He was asking me what my name was? This was out of the ordinary. Never had any guys asked for my name; never had any introduced themselves, even. How did this one see me?

Should I tell him my real name, or come up with a fake one? I asked myself. My mother had always told me not to talk to strangers, especially boys that paid me special attention. She'd said that you can never trust men these days. "They're malicious beasts in disguise," she would warn me over and over.

I decided to give him my real name. He looked harmless to me. "Su Ah," I replied, "nice to meet you, Hyun-Shik." I stuck my hand out for a shake.

"Su Ah," he said admiringly. "What a simple but pretty name." The corners of his lips curled into a subtle smile. He reached his hand out over the counter and took mine.

I didn't know what it was, but when our hands touched, there seemed to be some kind of connection. I could practically feel the sparks in-between our palms. It was a very special moment to me; I had never felt so "right" holding someone else's hand.

We didn't even shake hands yet. We just held the other person's hand like it was too fragile, and could easily break. It wasn't until my mother shouted, "Su Ah!" from the back of the building that our hands quickly shook and broke away.

I felt like we were being separated.

I gave him a small nod, and hurriedly made my way to the back of the laundromat. "Su Ah..." my mother groaned. "Where are you, sweetie?"

"I'm coming, Umma!" I shouted. I had heard her voice coming from her bedroom. I opened the door and poked my head in.

My mother was lying on her bed, clutching her stomach. Her face was scrunched up in pain. I entered her room and immediately rushed over to her side. "Umma, do you want me to call the doctor?" I asked her worriedly.

She shook her head. "It's okay, honey. Just go get me Advil or something and I'll be better in no time." She struggled to give me a smile, and I could feel tears coming to my eyes.

I went to her medicine cabinet and rummaged through it until I found the Advil container. It felt extremely light to me. I shook it to see if there were anymore pills left.

There were none.

I still had hope. Surely there was another pain reliever in here somewhere! I took down all of the bottles, containers...everything. I tossed them onto a pile on the floor. I took a look at every one of them. The whole time I was thinking, Pain reliever, pain reliever, pain reliever.

After I was done looking through all of the medicines, I realized something horrid. There wasn't even ONE pain reliever pill left!

I turned around to face my mother. She had been watching me the whole time. I walked over to her slowly. "Umma," I began, "you're out of pain relievers."

She shook her head in disbelief. "That's nonsense. I just bought some Advil last week." She started counting on her fingers as she thought back. "And Tylenol the week before, and Ibuprofen the week before that, and Aspirin the week before that..."

"Umma," I interrupted. I had to stop her from going on and on. When she does, she never stops. "I don't think even the doctor can help you now. We must go to the hospital." I stood up and grabbed her jacket off of her desk chair for her. "Here," I said, putting it on for her after she had sat up.

I stuck my hand out. "I'll give you a hand," I told her.

She looked up at me hesitantly. "I don't really want to go to the hospital, Su Ah." She shifted her gaze and stared at her bedsheet. "The people there scare me."

I shook her shoulders. "Umma, it's okay. You were a nurse before, remember?" I paused to let what I just said sink in. Her eyes looked at me sadly, but with hope. "You used to work at that hospital. You know what it's like, so it's going to be okay."

She then nodded her head. "Alright, let's go." She grabbed my hand and I pulled her up. We left her bedroom and walked out to the front.

It wasn't until I locked eyes with Hyun-Shik that I realized I had forgotten all about him.

Chapter Two

I had never felt more guilty. I looked away from Hyun-Shik, and led my Umma out to the morning sunlight. The quicker I got away from the problem, the better.

"Hey, Su Ah. Wait up!" I heard Hyun-Shik call after me. I whipped my head around to take one glance at him, then turned around and continued walking my mother.

I then felt a warm hand on my shoulder. "Su Ah," Hyun-Shik's voice said, "where are you taking your mother?"

The words "none of your business" escaped my mouth before I could stop them. I shook his hand off my shoulder and ignored him. I felt embarrassed for being so rude.

The Story of an Hour

2008-09-01T11:02:00.008-05:00

The Story of an Hour

written by Kate Chopin

Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.

It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing. Her husband's friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard's name leading the list of "killed." He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message.

She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept as once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her.

There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.

She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.

There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window.

She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.

She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.

There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air.

Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been.

When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.

She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial.

She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.

There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination.

And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!

"Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering.

Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhole, imploring for admission. "Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door--you will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heaven's sake open the door."

"Go away. I am not making myself ill." No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window.

Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.

She arose at length and opened the door to her sister's importunities. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. She clapsed her sister's waist, and together they descended the stairs. Richards stood waiting for them at the bottom.

Some one was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his gripsack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephine's piercing cry; at Richards' quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife.

But Richards was too late.

When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease--of joy that kills.

Beautiful Freaks

2008-06-23T11:38:00.012-05:00

Beautiful Freaks
started on April 28, 2008

Prologue

"What does that girl have that I don't?"

"A brain. Smarts..."

"A smile that lights up any room she sets foot into."

"A gentle stride."

"A kinder than kind soul."

"A big heart."

"Beautiful hair and gorgeous eyes."

They obviously don't know what they're saying.

I am so going to prove that everyone who loves her is incredibly wrong.

There's nothing this Beautiful Freak can't do.

Chapter One

September 9, 9:10 pm
School starts tomorrow. I'm psyched; literally! This school year is going to be the absolutely best ever. Know why? 'Cause yours truly is going to be...never mind. You'll find out later.
Watch out, Westbury High! Park Mi Young is coming!

Love, PMY

Ear buds carefully placed into my ears, I begin my walk to school. It's not that I don't own a chauffeur; what's the point of getting a ride or driving when Westbury High School is only a few blocks from my house? Besides, I had gained five pounds these past months. The summer sure allows plenty of time for me to eat. It was probably all those pizzas my mother had ordered. Now she, on the other hand, does not gain any weight from eating junk food. And don't even lecture me about exercise; we freakin' work out together!

"Hey, Mi Young!" I hear someone call out to me. They must have shouted really loudly because I could hear them even though my music was blasting in my ears.

I take a quick glance and immediately sigh. It's not who I was expecting it to be. Dissatisfied, I continue my stroll into the school building. I can feel a few pairs of eyes watching me, but I can care less. If they don't know how to come and speak to me, then so be it. I don't have to do the dirty work.

I stop by my locker and exchange material from my backpack for stuff in my locker. As I shut the locker closed, I feel a hand on my shoulder. A gentle yet firm grip. I know who it belongs to. I put my iPod away and hesitantly turn around to face him.

"Mi Young-ah," he begins, but I cut him off.

"You think I feel like talking to you right now?" I ask. "I already told you, I'm not ready for a new relationship. Why don't you understand that?" I start to push his hand off my shoulder, but he won't let go.

He looks at me for a split second without saying anything, then shifts his gaze and stares at the row of lockers behind me instead. "Of course I understand that. I know you need some space for the time being. But what you don't get is that...the person who doesn't understand is you."

Now I am confused. "What in the world do you mean, Jong Hyun?"

"I mean that..."

The bell for first period rings and drowns him out. I pull away from him and rush to class. He calls after me, but I ignore him. He may be hot, okay, extremely hot, but if he wants me, he isn't going to get me easily. He'll have to show me what he's made of first.

I enter my first period classroom with my head up high and a small smile on my face. Yeah, looking like a nice person is one of my tactics for this year. Now everyone, no matter how abnormal, will receive my dazzling smile and kindness. It's not until I see a new face does the grin fade away.

Honestly, this girl sure looks cute. I can’t deny that. But instead of looking at me, the guys are staring at her! What’s a girl like me supposed to do in such a situation? For a fleeting moment, I feel like I should just sit there and take it like a woman. I immediately shake that thought away. I am NOT going to let a new girl take my spot and steal all the guys! Yes, new people deserve kindness…but not when they’re like this.

Quickly cooking up a plan, I saunter over to her and before she can say anything to me, I pull out the empty seat next to her and sit down. “Hey, I’m Mi-Young. What’s your name?” I politely ask, looking her in the eye.

She blinks at me with her big brown eyes instead of replying and I can’t help but notice all the pores on her face as I wait for an answer. After I inspect her entire head, she says, “I’m Noh-Ra. Nice to meet you, Mi Young.” She smiles, and it’s hard to tell whether it’s a genuine smile or a fake one.

Just then the teacher enters the classroom and instead of just closing the door, he locks it shut. A few students in the room start freaking out and immediately grab their cell phones to text their friends, most likely to report to them that this new teacher’s a bastard, and not to bother to come to class if they’re going to be late.

I turn slightly and glance at Noh-Ra to see how she’s reacting. If she’s freaking out, no one can tell. She’s sitting incredibly calm. Behind me, I hear whispers and laughter. I place my bag onto my temporary desk and reach into it, pretending to look as if I wasn’t up to anything. “Do you mind giving me your number?” I ask Noh-Ra softly.

Her eyes narrow a little and instead of giving me her number, she questions, “Why would you want it?” in a suspicious tone.

“There’s no reason, really. I mean, you’re new so…wouldn’t you like to make some friends here?” I say.

I know that I didn’t make any sense, but Noh-Ra somehow understands me. She nods her head and writes her number down on a tiny sheet of paper she’d torn out of her notebook. She slides the paper over to me once she finishes, and I put it in my pocket, thanking her. Wholeheartedly.

“So we’re friends now?” she asks, seeming somewhat desperate.

I smile. “Yep, we’re friends now,” I reply. In my mind, I’m thinking, Yeah right, bitch.

The teacher, Mr. Kim, starts taking roll and I sit back to listen to all the names. When he calls “Kim Jong Hyun,” my eyes widen, and even though I’m curious, I try my best to be subtle as I turn to see where he’s sitting. I see him all the way in the back, near a window. I turn back around just before he catches me looking.

Immediately after the teacher calls out “Park Mi Young,” and I holler a short “Here,” a paper airplane lands on my desk. I stare at it for a moment, wondering how in the world guys in their senior year could be so childish. I pick the airplane up, and slowly open it as Noh-Ra watches me. Inside a short scribbled message says: We need to talk. Meet me after class. Even though there’s not a signature, I already know who wrote it. I crumple it up and aim for the recycle bin. The paper ball lands in perfectly.

Noh-Ra gives me a weird look but I just shrug like it was nothing special. Because really: it wasn’t. I wait until the teacher gets class started and Noh-Ra is distracted, then I pretend to pop my back by turning my body in my seat. Doing this I am able to catch a glimpse of Jong Hyun, who’s animatedly talking to the friend sitting next to him. I can’t help but wonder if he had been looking at me just a moment ago and seen me thrown his note away.

Pulling my notebook out of my bag, I ask Noh-Ra, “What are we doing?”

Noh-Ra laughs. “Stop daydreaming and open the textbook under your desk to page fifteen. We’re taking notes, so you’d better stay alert,” she snides.

I open my mouth to fire a comeback that is just dying to be spoken, but I remember how we are supposedly “friends” now and lightly bite my sharp tongue. A quick “thanks” comes out instead.

I flip to page fifteen in the textbook and open my notebook to the first blank page. Noh-Ra glances over and picks up my pen case, admiring or maybe fadmiring, how cute it looks. I roll my eyes but tell her I got it as a present from my last boyfriend.

She smirks, asking, "And what was he, like your twentieth one as well?"

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. What is wrong with this new girl? If this is how she wants to play it, sure. I'll participate.

"No," I begin, shaking my head for emphasis. "He was actually my first one as well. I'm not a slut, sorry."

Noh-Ra writes some stuff down onto her notebook. "I didn't say that you're one," she whispers, seeing the teacher pass by.

"Your tone really indicated it, though," I inform. "But we should stop and get to work, right?"

She nods. "Right. I'm sorry," she says.

I don't bother to ask her what she apologized for. Instead I begin reading the text and taking notes. By the time class ends, I'm completely finished, while Noh-Ra isn't. I smile to myself as I gather up my things.

"What class do you have next?" I ask Noh-Ra just as someone asks me from behind. I choose to ignore the voice and keep my eyes on Noh-Ra.

Noh-Ra pauses for a second, then answers, "AP English."

"Aaah, too bad. I'm heading off in the opposite direction. Do you know how to get there?"

"I'll manage," she replies, but the voice from behind me states, "I'll help you."

Noh-Ra's eyes widen and her face lits up. "Will you really?" she asks all excitedly.

"Yeah, I have AP English too, so I might as well lead the way," the guy says. Then I feel a tap on my shoulder, but I refuse to turn around. Noh-Ra glances at me, then slowly exits the classroom, Jong Hyun following behind her.

So much for the "We need to talk. Meet me after class" message he sent me. I stare after them and stick out my tongue at their backs when no one's looking.

“Eeek, Mi Young!” I hear a familiar voice squeal behind me just as I arrive at my second period class.

I whip around to see the girl. My eyes immediately light up. “Omg, it’s Sage!” Sage Doucet, my best friend since forever. She’s half-French, but considers herself a hundred percent White due to the fact that she has an awful (French) dad.

I rush toward her and she vice versa. We hug each other tightly and step back to inspect each other’s outfit. She’s decked in blue, and it looks amazing on her pale skin. Wait a minute. Pale skin? I remember her telling me over the summer that she’s going to Hawaii with her older siblings!

Forgetting what she probably thinks about my attire, I question about her vacation. She replies, “Oh, we changed our plans, at like, the last moment. Instead of Hawaii we went to…England.” She finishes with a smile.

“You have this class now, right?” I ask, pulling her into the classroom. She nods. “You must tell me all about your trip then!”

Once we’re settled inside the classroom in desks right next to each other, Sage begins gushing about how much fun she had in England and, of course, the handsome guy she met over there. But just after she finishes, her smile abruptly fades.

“What’s wrong, Sage?” I ask, worried. She doesn’t look up, but I follow the finger she points at something behind me. I slowly turn my head, trying not to be obvious. When I see him, I turn back around to face her.

Sage already has tears in her eyes. I can feel her pain like it’s my own. I grab her hands and hold them tight. “Oh Sage, have you still not gotten over him?” I question as a tear flows down her cheek. Then another. I begin to feel guilty, as if my question has caused her to cry. However, Sage lifts up one hand to quickly wipe her tears away and finally looks up.

“I haven’t gotten over him, Mi Young,” she whispers, shaking her head a little. “I’ve tried many tactics and none of them have worked.” She pauses, laughs, then says, “I’m such a loser, aren’t I.”

I frown and lightly slap her hand. “How can you say such a thing? Of course you aren’t a loser! If I hear you say that one more time, I’m going to tell him you still have feelings for him,” I threaten, crossing my arms to let her know I mean it.

“Okay, okay. I won’t say that anymore.” She manages to give me a smile. When she reaches down for her purse, I turn to sneak a peek at her ex-boyfriend. He’s now texting on his cell phone so he doesn’t see me. I stop looking before Sage can catch me.

I quickly glance at her. I know how she feels, and I just want to cry seeing her like this. I mean, Jeremy is hotter than hot, and he’s perfect for Sage. They were THE couple last school year. Everyone was envious—including me. Seriously, they were so cute together! Too bad for Sage, though, because he cheated on her with some bitch.

Right after the bell rings, the teacher stands up from her desk chair and announces, “Why don’t everyone gather your belongings and move to the sides. We’re going to start off with seating arrangements.”

Seating arrangements?! Sage and I both look at each other in shock. Hopefully she’s not going to put us in alphabetical order!

Chapter Two

Everyone gathers their stuff and moves to the sides of the classroom, looking at the teacher anxiously. To their surprise, she doesn’t inform them of how they’re being seated. She simply begins calling out names and pointing to desks.

But it doesn’t take long for the quick-minded to realize that she is putting them in alphabetical order.

“Dang it,” Sage whispers into my ear. We both know how this is going to turn out. I roll my eyes and sigh but grab Sage’s hand and squeeze it, just before Sage picks up her bag and maneuvers to her seat…right behind her ex.

The Truth About Our Love

2008-06-23T10:15:00.016-05:00

The Truth About Our Love

Author's Note
This fic contains boyxboy love, meaning Jaejoong and Yunho (thus it's called JaeHo). If you don't like these types of fics, don't read this. I'm trying to save you from any type of weird behavior (between the two main characters and such) that you might encounter if you read this fic.
But if you decide to read, I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Whatever I write is fiction, from the beginning to the very end. Also, I do not own the celebrities that I use in this story. =)

Prologue

The weekend was over, so school had began again for the week. Jaejoong hadn't had enough sleep last night, so as he sat in first period and pretended to listen to his teacher, he dozed off. His head was still upright and he was still sitting up, so his teacher didn't notice. He just lectured on without stopping by Jaejoong to wake him up.

But in life, fate never cooperates with you. The same goes for Jaejoong. He was sleeping peacefully, until he felt a paperball hit the back of his head. His head jolted back as his eyes opened quickly. He slowly turned his head around to see who had rudely interrupted his sleep.

Yunho, who sat in the next column, two seats down, looked at Jaejoong and smirked at him. Jaejoong could feel his cheeks burning, and his heart was also aflame. He actually wanted to whisper something witty but Yunho looked away, so Jaejoong turned his head back around to face the front of the classroom.

Jaejoong didn't know it, but his heart sank when Yunho looked away from him. But he also didn't know that Yunho had turned away from him only because the teacher was looking at Yunho.

What if the teacher hadn't looked at Yunho? Would he still have had his gaze on Jaejoong? No one knew the answer. Even Yunho didn't have a clue.

Chapter One

"Hey lazybutt! Wake up!" Yunho shouted. He had stopped by Jaejoong's room to wake him up, since Jaejoong could never get up on his own. But it wasn't only Jaejoong that Yunho had to wake up every morning.

Yunho went over to the next room and pounded on the door. "Rise and shine, Junsu!"

He could hear Junsu say behind the door, "I'm already awake, you idiot."

Yunho pretended he hadn't heard what Junsu had just said. He walked back to his room and retrieved his backpack off of his bed. He checked his reflection in the mirror one last time, then he locked his door and started on his short walk to the school building. Seoul University was only a block away.

He was just about to pass through the school gates when he heard someone shout, "Yunho, hold up!"

Yunho turned around and saw Jaejoong trying to catch up to him. He decided to wait for him. He leaned against the wall and pulled out his lighter and a cigarette. He put the cigarette between his lips and lit it with the lighter. He stuck his lighter back into his pocket and started his daily routine of smoking. It helped him relax and keep his head calm.

Jaejoong caught up to Yunho just then and, unsurprisingly, grabbed the cigarette and threw it onto the ground. He stamped on it with one foot and said to Yunho, "How many times have I told you to quit smoking? Why won't you listen to me?"

Yunho shrugged. Jaejoong noticed that Yunho had developed a pissed-off look on his face. Yunho turned around and walked past the school gates. Jaejoong followed him, since he had to enter the school also. Once Yunho had reached the front steps of the school building, he paused and turned his head around to face Jaejoong. "Just to let you know, that was my last cigarette."

x . x . x . x . x

It was now lunchtime, but Yunho had something else to do, so he didn't show up at the cafeteria. Jaejoong and Junsu were both curious of where Yunho was, but of course Jaejoong was the one who was actually worried. He hadn't sat down and enjoyed his lunch yet. He was too busy standing by the cafeteria entrance to keep on the watch for Yunho.

Junsu sighed. "Hey, Jaejoong! Come back in here and eat your lunch! If you don't, I'm gonna eat it!" he shouted toward Jaejoong.

Jaejoong turned around and nodded his head. "Go ahead and eat it!" he shouted back at Junsu. In his mind, he thought, What a pig.

"Boo!"

Jaejoong gasped. He whipped around and saw Kim Hee Chul, his worst enemy. "What are you doing here, bastard?" Jaejoong asked.

Hee Chul smirked. "I scared you, didn't I?"

"You wish. Now get lost," Jaejoong said demandingly.

"Ha. Who are you to tell me what to do? We're not going out yet," Hee Chul said with a grin. He wiggled his eyebrows when Jaejoong looked at him threateningly.

"Get. The fuck. Away. From me." Jaejoong lifted up his fist, ready to give Hee Chul the best punch he'll ever receive in his life.

Hee Chul squirmed and said, "I'm not scared of you. I'll come back and mess with you later." He did that eyebrow thing again, which made Jaejoong just about ready to puke. But instead, he gave Hee Chul the finger. Hee Chul just laughed and walked away.

That jerk, Jaejoong thought. Doesn't he understand that I don't like him? I don't even like him as a friend, let alone as something more.

Jaejoong felt a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Jaejoong," Junsu said. "The bell just rang."

"It did?" Jaejoong was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't even heard the bell ring.

Junsu nodded. "Didn't you hear it?" he asked, a bit surprised.

"Haha, no. I mean, yeah, I did." Jaejoong scratched his neck innocently. I don't even know why I'm lying, he thought as he looked at Junsu worriedly. Junsu can tell when I'm not telling the truth.

And Jaejoong was right. "Why are you lying to me, Jaejoong?" Junsu asked him. "We tell each other everything, remember?" Junsu sighed. "There's no reason for you to lie to me."

Jaejoong nodded his head. "I know, I know..." he said as they began to walk to class.

Thankfully, Junsu changed the subject. "Hey, I saw Hee Chul messing with you again," he pointed out. "Does he like you THAT much?" he asked Jaejoong with wide eyes.

"I don't know. Ask him," Jaejoong replied. He really didn't know the answer to Junsu's question. But even if he did, he would try to hide the fact that he knew. Junsu's nickname, was, of course, the "Gossip King".

Who was the "Gossip Queen"??? This was a question that Jaejoong had been wondering about ever since Junsu was named the "Gossip King".

Junsu wanted to know who his wife was too.

x . x . x . x . x

The class had already started 10 minutes ago when Yunho finally showed up. He walked into the classroom like he wasn't late, and even smiled at the teacher when he passed by him. The teacher didn't smile back, Jaejoong noticed, but he did look like he understood why Yunho was late. It made Jaejoong mad that he didn't know where Yunho had been until now.

Yunho sat down at his desk, and saw Jaejoong looking at him. He waved jokingly and laughed, which made Jaejoong felt like he was about to die. He laughed at Yunho's silliness to hide the fact that his cheeks were warming up.

"Mr. Kim and Mr. Jung," the teacher said threateningly.

"Sorry, sir," the guys both said at the same time.

Jaejoong looked back down at his textbook and smiled. If this isn't love, then what is it? he wondered.

"Mr. Kim, do you find something funny in the textbook that you would like to share about with the whole class?" the teacher asked from the front of the classroom. Jaejoong lifted his head up. The teacher was standing in front of his desk with his arms crossed, and he was looking right at Jaejoong. So were half of the students in the class; they all had their eyes on him. Jaejoong felt naked, but he had no idea why.

He shook his head at the teacher. "No, sir," he said.

"Then do your work and stop flirting," the teacher commanded. "Not everyone likes you, you know."

Jaejoong did not say anything back, even though he felt like he needed to. The teacher was being a total bastard. If he was Jaejoong's age...man. He would've received a big and bloody lesson from Jaejoong.

He was just glad that the teacher didn't say who he was flirting with. If the teacher had, Jaejoong would have left the classroom right then and there.

Jaejoong focused on his textbook and tried to do his work. But it was hard when he kept hearing someone whisper his name. He tried to figure out which direction it was coming from, but he was never good at that. He then felt something pointy hit his leg. He looked under his desk and saw a folded piece of paper. It was folded into the shape of an airplane, simple and easy.

Jaejoong opened up the piece of paper and read it. It said: Call me when you get home! If you don't, I'll call you myself! And you'll be sorry!
Much love xoxoxo

Jaejoong crumpled up the sheet of paper and tossed it into the nearby trashcan. He didn't care who the fuck the person who wrote the note was...he wasn't going to call anyone, except for Yunho, of course. Yunho was his, and Jaejoong wouldn't be able to survive if he didn't call Yunho at least once a day.

"Come on, bird brain, let's go." Jaejoong was shaken out of his thoughts into reality. Now who just said that? How dare they call him a "bird brain".

"Oh hi, Yunho..."

Chapter Two

"Let's go. It's time for art," Yunho said to Jaejoong. He wondered why Jaejoong had been out of this world until just now.

Jaejoong had scrambled out of his seat and was picking up his stuff until he heard what Yunho had said. He looked up at Yunho and said in horror, "It's time for art?! Oh no!!" He grabbed Yunho's shoulders and shook them. "I left my canvas at home, Yunho! What can I do?"

"Tell Ms. Kang that you left it at home. What else?" Yunho said with impatience. "Let's GO, Jaejoong. I don't wanna be late."

Jaejoong could not believe the next words that came out of his mouth. "Then go ahead and go." He bent down and pretended to fix his backpack in order to hide his face, which resembled something like a rotten tomato.

Yunho's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What?" he asked Jaejoong. He had heard him, but Yunho wanted to make sure his ears weren't playing tricks on him again.

"Go ahead and go. I'll meet you there," Jaejoong replied. He was still fussing with his backpack, not wanting to look up and allow Yunho to see his weird-looking face. Jaejoong didn't really know that his face was being weird, but he could feel his face burning and rotting at the same time. It was a horrible feeling, and Jaejoong was having a hard time coping with it. He had a big urge to go to the bathroom and puke.

Yunho nodded his head slowly, still unsure of what he should do. "I'll go to art now, but if I don't see you enter the classroom five minutes after the bell, I'm gonna go look for you." He sighed. "Okay, Jaejoong?"

"Okay," Jaejoong said as he walked out of the classroom. Yunho hadn't even noticed Jaejoong walking to the doorway. Was Yunho out of it today, too?

x . x . x . x . x

Jaejoong didn't have a clue what was wrong with him. He hurriedly walked to the bathroom and once he got inside, he tossed his backpack onto the counter and ran into a stall. He peered into the toilet as the contents of his breakfast came streaming out of his mouth. He didn't feel good at all.

Was it because of the canvas? he wondered just as he stopped puking. He was still standing there after he flushed the toilet, peering into it; his head swirling and his breathing heavy. It can't be. I cannot THROW UP over something like that. I've left stuff at home before; it's not that big of a deal.

After his breathing slowed down, he went out of the stall and walked over to a sink. He washed his mouth and wiped everything clean. He even popped a Tic-Tac into his mouth, just for good measure. He had to be careful anyway. Hee Chul liked to lay kisses onto him, and he didn't want a rumor going around that he, Kim Jaejoong, had horrible breath. He would never be able to live if that happened.

Why am I even thinking about Hee Chul at a time like this? Jaejoong asked himself. He shook his head lightly to clear his mind a bit. He lifted his arm up and looked at the time on his watch. It was three minutes after the bell. He still had time to go to class and not worry Yunho.

Jaejoong checked his reflection in the mirror one last time and rushed to art. When he arrived to class, he turned the doorknob and entered the classroom. It wasn't until he sat down did he notice that no one was in there.

Where is everyone? Jaejoong wondered. He looked around the classroom. His eyes landed onto the kite on the teacher's desk. His kite. "No wonder," he said out loud. Today was Kite day and he had forgotten all about it. He had been too distracted by other things that were more important.

Jaejoong got out of his seat and walked up to the front of the classroom to retrieve his kite off of the teacher's desk. He felt stupid for forgetting about Kite day, but as he left the classroom and went on his way to the nearest exit door, something occured to him. Yunho didn't remind him about this. How could Yunho be so careless? Jaejoong shook his head. No way. Yunho's not careless. He just forgot, Jaejoong told himself.

Once he exited the school building, he walked out to the soccer field, where he was sure that the rest of the art class was at at the moment. Jaejoong was right. As soon as he stepped onto the soccer field, he saw Yunho and his other classmates flying their kites. He walked over to Yunho as he looked up at Yunho's kite. It was in the shape of an orange skateboard and had the word VENOM written down on the side.

Jaejoong didn't know that Yunho was into skateboarding.

He took a look at his own kite. It was a gunther butterfly, filled with yellow, orange, two different shades of blue, and green colors. Jaejoong felt childish for having such a kite. It was actually made for beginners, and he wasn't a beginner at all.

He had almost reached Yunho when the art teacher, Ms. Kang, called him over. Jaejoong sighed and ran over to her. He smiled at her and said, "Yes, Ms. Kang?"

"Where were you this whole time, Mr. Kim?" Ms. Kang asked him with concern.

"I...I was in the classroom," Jaejoong replied, totally embarrassed. He looked down at the ground.

Ms. Kang laughed; not in a mean way, but in an I-understand-what-you're-talking-about way. Jaejoong looked up. Ms. Kang smiled at him. "It's okay, Mr. Kim. You can go fly your kite now. Mr. Jung has been pretty lonely during your absence. Go make him happy."

Jaejoong's cheeks flashed a bright shade of pink. He quickly turned around and headed to where Yunho was standing. I can't believe she just said that, he thought. Does she know I like him?

"Hey, Jaejoong. Where were you until now?" Yunho asked when Jaejoong joined him.

"I was in the classroom," Jaejoong said. "I didn't know that we were supposed to go out here."

Yunho smirked. "Are you that stupid? Today's Kite Day, of course we're supposed to go out here." He shook his head at Jaejoong. Jaejoong wanted to run away right then. He was too embarrassed!

He sighed and said, "You could have reminded me, you know. You always remind me things so that I don't forget. Why didn't you remind me this time?" He looked straight at Yunho.

"I forgot," Yunho simply replied. He unrolled his kite string some more and watched it go up even higher. "Besides," he began with a sideward glance at Jaejoong, "I can't remind you about everything. What are you gonna do when I get married? Who's gonna be there for you to remind you?"

Jaejoong felt his heart starting to crack. "What...what did you just say?" he asked Yunho. He had heard him, of course, but he wanted to make sure he heard correctly.

Yunho looked at Jaejoong worriedly. "Did you not hear what I said? I asked what you're gonna do when I get married...who's gonna be there for you to remind you things?" He shifted his gaze back to his kite.

"I don't know," Jaejoong said truthfully. So he had heard Yunho correctly. Jaejoong scratched his head. He wondered, Why can't Yunho just feel the same way I do? That would make everything so much easier.

He suddenly felt a presence behind him. "Baby, I was waiting for you over there! What are you doing over here with...what's-his-name?" Jaejoong knew that voice. It was Hee Chul.

He turned around. Yes, he was right, unfortunately. Jaejoong rolled his eyes and exhaled a deep and bitter sigh. He looked at Hee Chul. "What do you want?" he asked.

"What do I want?" Hee Chul laughed. "What I want, is YOU. So come over to my spot and we can have eternal bliss." Hee Chul made a really stupid-looking face, and Jaejoong wanted to punch him right in his retarded face, but he controlled his anger.

"Just shut the fuck up and go away, bastard," Jaejoong told Hee Chul. When Hee Chul didn't move a muscle, he added, "NOW."

Hee Chul harumphed and said, "Fine. I'll go. But you haven't seen the last of me." Then he stomped away.

Jaejoong shook his head at Hee Chul's retrieving back, then turned around to face Yunho again.

"Why don't you fly your kite, Jaejoong?" Yunho asked him when he saw Jaejoong admiring his kite.

"I don't want to," Jaejoong answered. "It's too embarrassing." He pointed up to Yunho's kite. "I like your kite. It's awesome."

"Really? Thanks," Yunho said. He smiled.

Suddenly, something occured to Jaejoong. "What about the canvases that were due today?" he questioned Yunho worriedly.

Yunho laughed. "They weren't due today, Jaejoong. They're due tomorrow."

Jaejoong felt like slapping Yunho right across the ~~butt~~ face.

Chapter Three

The sky outside was dark and looked like it was going to rain anytime soon, but school had ended for the day, so Yunho and Jaejoong walked back home together. Actually, Yunho was walking ahead, and Jaejoong was trailing behind him. A few minutes ago, Yunho had to drag Jaejoong out of the school building, since Jaejoong didn't want to go home. He was scared of getting a phone call from whoever that wrote the note to him. He had a clue of who it was, but he didn't want to think about it.

Jaejoong looked down at his hand. Yunho's had held it only a few moments ago. He brought his hand up and caressed it with his other hand. He could still feel Yunho's grip as if Yunho was still holding onto his hand. Ahh...

Yunho suddenly turned around and saw Jaejoong walking about ten feet behind him. "Hurry up, Jae!" he called out to Jaejoong, who seemed to be daydreaming. Yunho sighed and shook his head. If Jaejoong didn't stop daydreaming, he would make him stop.

The sky got darker and started thundering loudly, but Jaejoong didn't even notice. Yunho got anxious to get home before it started raining, so he ran back to Jaejoong and pulled his arm, which got Jaejoong out of his dreaming state. "COME ON, Jaejoong! We have to get home before it rains!!" Yunho shouted.

"It's okay, Yunho...what's a little bit of rain gonna do to you?" Jaejoong asked.

"Nothing, but...shit, let's just go home!" Yunho broke into a run. He was too tired and stressed out to wait for Jaejoong any longer.

Jaejoong stood frozen to the spot as he stared after Yunho, who was getting smaller and smaller the farther away he got from Jaejoong. He sighed dreamily. "Yunho's got a cute butt," he said softly. The rain started to pour right at that moment. Jaejoong smiled to himself and walked home, all the while thinking about Yunho's hand grabbing his.

x . x . x . x . x

"What a little biatch."

Kim Hee Chul had been standing behind a large tree, watching Yunho and Jaejoong the whole time. Once Jaejoong had left, Hee Chul crept out from behind the tree and cackled at his genius idea. "But oh well. It's alright with me. He's MY biatch, after all."

He took a look at Jaejoong's back and said, "Bye, Jae, my love. I'll see you soon." Then he turned around and began his walk home.

x . x . x . x . x

Jaejoong reached home and raised his hand up to press the doorbell. The tall, metal gates slid open and he walked in. He got to the door step and Junsu greeted him at the front door. "Hey, Jaejoong!" Junsu pulled him into a friendly guy hug. "How are you, dude? You don't look okay."

The words "I'm fine" slipped through his mouth, but in truth, Jaejoong wasn't feeling fine at all. He had the feeling people called "in love."

Jaejoong looked over Junsu's shoulder to try to find Yunho, but he couldn't spot him anywhere. His voice lowered down to a whisper when he asked Junsu where Yunho was. "He's in his room," Junsu whispered back with a slight smile.

"Okay, thanks, Junsu," Jaejoong said in his normal voice volume before heading off to Yunho's bedroom.

"Good luck," Junsu said to Jaejoong's retreating back.

Jaejoong laughed silently to himself. Junsu's too sweet, he thought. It was a good thing that Junsu knew how to keep certain secrets that they shared. If he didn't, everyone in the world would have known about Jaejoong's (supposedly) unrequited love for Yunho.

"Yunho?" Jaejoong stood outside the other's room, knocking twice and waiting for a reply.

But no reply came. "Yunho?" Jaejoong asked again. "May I come in?" he added, just in case.

Still there was no reply. Jaejoong decided to walk in without permission. He opened the door slowly, and saw to his surprise, an empty bedroom. He went in and looked around, but Yunho wasn't there. Jaejoong even checked the closet: no Yunho in sight. Where is he? Jaejoong wondered. His eyes then flickered to Yunho's window.

It was wide open.

Jaejoong ran over to it, and poked his head out. It had stopped raining, he noticed. He looked down onto the lawn, but no one was there except for the hired gardener.

He poked his head back in and scratched his neck nervously. He ran out of the bedroom and down to the living room, where Junsu was sitting on the couch with a magazine in his hands. "Junsu?" Jaejoong said.

"Yes, Jaejoong?" Junsu looked up from the magazine. Jaejoong was then able to see that Junsu had been reading ~~Playboy~~ Shojo Beat.

Jaejoong jumped right to the main problem. "Yunho's not in his room," he told Junsu.

"WHAT?!" Junsu jumped up from the couch right onto his feet, so that he was standing face to face with Jaejoong. "You must be kidding me, Jae! He was in there when I went to check up on him!" Junsu was totally not believing Jaejoong.

"I AM SERIOUS, Junsu. He's not in there. You can go check if you want," Jaejoong said.

Junsu waved his right hand as if to make Jaejoong forget about what he said. "Okay, so how did he escape?" he asked Jaejoong.

"He went right out the window," Jaejoong simply answered.

Junsu's mouth dropped open. "No way," he said. "Yunho is not that smart. He wouldn't know to use the window as his escape route."

"Of course Yunho's smart," Jaejoong quickly retorted in Yunho's defense.

"Yeah, you should know," Junsu said with a laugh. Was he being sarcastic? Or not? "How'd he even get out of the house? He can't fly," Junsu pointed out. "Did he use a rope?"

Jaejoong shook his head. "I don't know, I didn't see a rope or anything. Could he have jumped out the window?"

Suddenly, before Junsu could say something, the phone rang. "I'll get it!" Junsu said as he hurried his way over to the phone. He picked up the receiver and placed it against his right ear. "Hello?" he asked. "Oh, it's you...You want to talk to Jae? Sorry, but he's busy right now...Taking a shower...Of course not, are you crazy?...He doesn't like you. Bye." Junsu slammed the receiver down.

"Was it Hee Chul?" Jaejoong asked Junsu when he walked back into the living room.

Junsu sighed. "You bet it was. He wanted to talk to you, so I said you were busy, and he asked what you were doing, so I said you were taking a shower, then he asked if he could join you, and I said of course not, so he asked why, and I said that you don't like him, then I hung up." Junsu sat down at the couch and slid back so that his head was lying against it.

"Woah, that was a mouthful...Thanks for saving me," Jaejoong said. He wasn't surprised that Junsu wasn't breathing heavily after saying all of that. After all, Junsu WAS the "Gossip King." He could talk for hours, starting from one person to another person, and never get tired.

Jaejoong thought for a bit, then asked, "Do you want to go look for him?"

Junsu turned his head to look at Jaejoong. "For who?"

"For Yunho, of course. Who else?"

"Good." Junsu sat up and grabbed his keys out of his pocket. "I thought you were talking about Hee Chul."

"Hell no." Jaejoong shook his head at Junsu in shock. "I can't believe you would even think that, Junsu."

They exited the house and walked out to Junsu's car. Jaejoong felt excited as Junsu turned on the car's ignition. This was the start of their most adventurous quest today! Trying to find Yunho was always fun. They've done it plenty of times before...but always came home empty-handed.

Chapter Four

"Jaejoong, where do you think he is right now?" Junsu asked as the two guys were driving down a busy street. Junsu glanced at Jaejoong and noticed that the latter was too caught up in his own thoughts, while staring out the window, that he hadn't heard what Junsu had said.

Junsu thought about dropping the question, but he changed his mind. "Yah, Jaejoong," he said, louder this time. He still kept his gaze out on the road as he questioned Jaejoong again. "Where do you think Yunho is right now?"

"Oh, uh, huh?" Jaejoong seemed to snap back into reality. He looked over at Junsu with confusion written on his face.

Junsu rolled his eyes. "Did you seriously not hear a single word I said?" he asked Jaejoong, annoyed.

Jaejoong laughed nervously. "I mean, uh, of course I did...I don't know where he is right now, Junsu. Maybe partying at a club?"

"He doesn't go to those things," Junsu pointed out. "You know that, don't you?"

"No, unfortunately I don't," Jaejoong replied as he shook his head sadly. "Am I supposed to?"

Junsu didn't answer. He continued looking out of the window as he drove on. He stopped the car beside a curb and looked at Jaejoong. "Is he here?"

Jaejoong looked up at the building they were parked in front of. The neon sign at the top bared the words "The Lonely Man's Bar." He turned to Junsu. "What is this place? A bar?"

"What do you think, Jae?" Junsu said sarcastically. He was getting impatient and was also annoyed at Jaejoong. When Jaejoong didn't say anything back, Junsu took the initiative. He opened his door and got out of his car. He started walking toward the building, leaving Jaejoong behind.

"Yah! Junsu! You can't just leave me here!" Jaejoong shouted to Junsu's back. Unfortunately, Junsu didn't turn around. "Ugh..." Jaejoong whispered to himself as three girls on the sidewalk passed by him. "Stupid, little bitches. Struttin' around in barely any clothes with their teeny-tiny waists and high stiletto pumps..."

The last girl that walked by somehow happened to hear every word Jaejoong said, so she turned her head around and gave him a dirty look. Jaejoong glared right back at her. You think you're prettier than me? he mouthed. Psh, what-ev-er.

The girl couldn't believe this guy, mouthing off at her. "Bastard," she tossed in his face, and quickly walked away to join her groupees.

Ah! Jaejoong thought. How dare she cuss at me like that! He sighed. Oh well. I've been called worse, he reminded himself. He got out of Junsu's car and decided to walk into the bar. His mission was, after all, to find Yunho.

x . x . x . x . x

"Hey Junsu!" Jaejoong had just spotted Junsu in the big and crowded bar, and he was now waving wildly at him from the doorway. Junsu sighed, but he ignored the weird looks from the people around him and waved Jaejoong over.

Jaejoong tried to take in his surroundings as he made his way over to Junsu. To tell the truth, he had never been to a bar before. He had been to a club once...but he had end up regretting it. Badly. But then he also had to remind himself that it wasn't his idea in the first place. It was all because of Yunho.

I don't get it, Jaejoong thought. How can I always do whatever when it comes to Yunho? I sacrifice my feelings, my likes, and my dislikes, just so that I can be with him. Jaejoong shook his head to clear out his mind. He had already arrived to where Junsu was standing, so it would've been better to forget about his own feelings for Yunho to focus on the mission at hand.

Junsu downed the rest of his drink (whatever it was) before speaking to Jaejoong. "Have you seen Yunho at all yet?" he asked.

"No, I haven't." Jaejoong shook his head. He didn't show any signs of sadness, which made Junsu worry a bit.

"Are you okay, Jaejoong?" Junsu questioned curiously. "You don't look like your usual self."

Jaejoong's eyebrows knitted in confusion. "Really? If I don't look like my usual self, then who do you think I look like?" He smiled at Junsu secreetly. "Do I look like BoA?" he asked softly.

The two of them burst into laughter. They haven't had a good laugh for a very long time. Ever since Jaejoong started realizing that he felt different when he was around Yunho, and also when he was without him, the three guys have had trouble acting like their old selves. Especially Jaejoong. Back then, they were very friendly with each other, and Jaejoong had no problem with it. But starting when he began to develop feelings for Yunho, he couldn't stand it when all three of them joked around with each other like regular friends would. It gave him the "heebie-jeebies."

"Ha, whatever, Jaejoong," Junsu said when they had stopped laughing. "BoA can beat you any day. What made you think you look like her, eh? You're far from it."

When Jaejoong didn't say anything, Junsu added, "Very far," which earned him a punch in the arm from Jaejoong.

"Yah, shut up already. Just forget about what I said. Let's go find Yunho," Jaejoong told Junsu.

"Okay, okay." Junsu jumped off from the stool he was sitting on and followed Jaejoong to wherever he was leading.

Chapter Five

In only a few minutes, Jaejoong and Junsu spotted Yunho. They couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Yunho was sitting in a sofa chair, totally relaxed, with a girl on his lap. Not only was she sitting there, she was also snuggling against him and he was holding her against him. Jaejoong took a glance at Junsu. Based on the expression on his face, Junsu thought the girl was as fine as the sunshine. But Jaejoong's opinion was totally different. He thought the girl was a damn whore.

Junsu called out Yunho's name. When Yunho didn't show any sign of having heard him, Junsu called out a second time, but louder. Yunho turned his head this way and that, trying to find his pursuer. His eyes landed onto Jaejoong and Junsu. He realized that Junsu was the one who had called out, and Junsu was now walking quickly over to Yunho. But Jaejoong, on the otherhand...he wasn't even looking at Yunho. Yunho decided to take a note of that.

"Yunho, what are you doing here?" Junsu asked once he reached him. "And who's this fine, young lady?" Junsu just HAD to ask. How could he not?

Yunho smiled nervously. He didn't want to answer Junsu's questions, especially the first one. So he answered the second question instead. "This is Park Han Li, you guys." He included Jaejoong as to not exclude him from the conversation. However, Jaejoong still kept his gaze anywhere but at Yunho. He seemed to be deep in thought.

"Hello Han Li," Junsu said, and stuck his hand out for a shake. "I'm Junsu."

"Hi." Han Li shook Junsu's hand, making him almost flip out from shock. I can't believe this beautiful girl shook my hand! he thought after the shake. Wait until the other guys hear about this! He was already excited to tell his schoolmates.

Jaejoong glanced at Junsu in disbelief. He leaned over to whisper into Junsu's ear. "Wipe that stupid smile off of your face," he advised.

Junsu only turned and raised his eyebrows at Jaejoong, not saying anything. It wasn't like Jaejoong was expecting him to say something anyway, so he wasn't surprised.

Suddenly, Han Li turned to Yunho and asked, "You wanna go for a smoke?"

Yunho shook his head, which surprised not only Jaejoong, but also Junsu and Han Li. "You sure?" Han Li questioned him.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Yunho replied. He nodded his head for effect.

Han Li shrugged. "Okaay. I'll go by myself then." She got off of Yunho's lap and started to dig in her jeans for something. Once she got it out, Jaejoong saw that it was a pack of cigarettes. Han Li walked pass the guys and headed toward the front of the bar. It was then that Jaejoong realized that she hadn't even said ONE WORD to him. Oh well. It wasn't like he cared or anything. He didn't even want to talk to her.

Junsu faced Yunho. "Yo, who IS she? How come you never tell us anything? Spill it all out NOW!" he practically shouted at him. Other people in the bar looked at them weirdly, but all turned back around eventually.

"She's my...girlfriend," Yunho said slowly, once the people stopped looking at them. "We...we met at..." He had trouble speaking since he could feel Jaejoong staring at him intensely. Yunho's cheeks started to warm up and the hottness was making him very uncomfortable.

"Where did y'all meet?!" Junsu asked impatiently.

"Shut up, Junsu." Jaejoong finally spoke up. He had been quiet the whole time. "Stop interogatting him."

Junsu scowled. "Are you serious? He's taking forever to answer. I want to know what's going on and what HAD happened but he won't just freakin' tell me!"

Yunho stood up abruptly and grabbed Junsu's shoulders. "I tell you what I want to tell you," he said in a threatening voice. Then he practically stomped away and ran out the door. Jaejoong and Junsu could hear a loud slam as the door shut.

"What's wrong with him?" Junsu scratched his neck nervously. "Did I do something to offend him?"

"I doubt it," Jaejoong answered with confidence. "He's probably mad that Han Li actually left him here... alone."

Junsu laughed sarcastically. "Yeah. Of course. He only cares about her, because she's his girlfriend. He doesn't care about his best friends who he has been friends with since we were babies." Junsu rolled his eyes, but he knew that he and Jaejoong were right.

Yunho had changed so quickly...and all because of a girl.

x . x . x . x . x

Junsu decided to sneak out and snoop on Yunho and his girlfriend. However, Jaejoong had his worries. "What if they catch us, Junsu? We'll be doomed," he told the other.

"Don't worry, Jaejoong! 'Cause you're making ME worried too!" Junsu whispered loudly.

They reached the front of the bar and quietly opened the door. "Be very very quiet," Junsu reminded Jaejoong for the hundredth time.

"I know, I know." Jaejoong followed Junsu out the door and they proceded onto their next mission.

Chapter Six

"Look! They're over there!" Junsu whispered to Jaejoong, who was standing right behind him. Yunho and his girlfriend were standing in front of the bar talking and smoking, but they weren't alone. Hee Chul was there with them, too.

Jaejoong bopped Junsu on the head. "How can I look when you're in my way?" he whispered back. He pushed Junsu behind him gently and peeked over the wall. He gasped in shock and turned around to face Junsu. "Why's Hee Chul with them?" he asked softly. "Don't tell me Yunho doesn't hate him..."

"I don't know," Junsu said. "Maybe he doesn't MIND Hee Chul?"

"Huh." Jaejoong scowled. "I knew for a fact that he never liked Hee Chul...but, whatever."

Junsu pulled Jaejoong behind him and said, "It's time for me to look," when Jaejoong gave him a dirty look. Junsu kept his eyes and ears open as he tried to spy and eavesdrop on the three people standing in front of the bar. As for Jaejoong, he stood himself against the wall and layed his head back. What had happened inside the bar and what he'd seen earlier had caused his heart to break in two. Yunho snuggling with the girl on his lap, Yunho admitting that she was his girlfriend, Yunho not telling Junsu and him anything, and now Yunho laying his arm over the girl's shoulder and looking fairly happy while smoking and chatting. It was all too much for Jaejoong to bear. Tears sprung to his eyes, even though he had tried to hold them back. He quickly wiped them away with the back of his hand.

"Jaejoong," Junsu whispered. He poked Jaejoong on his side, but still kept peeking out from behind the wall.

"What, Junsu?" Jaejoong asked Junsu's back.

Junsu turned back around to face Jaejoong, and that was when he noticed Jaejoong's pink eyes. "Are you okay?" he questioned worriedly.

Jaejoong nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. So what were you gonna say?" He had to change the subject.

"Oh, right. You know how I was eavesdropping on them? I heard almost everything," Junsu said.

Jaejoong's eyes widened. "What'd you hear?"

"Well, I'm not sure that I should tell you..."

"Just spill it, Junsu!" Jaejoong whispered loudly.

Junsu sighed. "Okay then. Han Li and Hee Chul know each other, because somehow they are in the same "gang." So they were talking about it, how great it was and all this other crap...they were obviously trying to brainwash Yunho. All I heard about it was that this "gang" is known for their stealthy actions: they can steal anything anytime they want and never get caught. Since he looked interested, Han Li asked Yunho if he wanted to join..." Junsu looked away. "And he said yes."

x . x . x . x . x

As Jaejoong lied in bed that night, he knew that he had to do something. He had to stop Yunho from joining this so-called "gang." Which made Jaejoong start to wonder. Why did Yunho say yes? he asked himself. Has he always been interested in gangs and stuff and I just never knew?

Jaejoong sighed. Whatever, he thought. I'm getting too sleepy to think anymore. He pulled his blanket up and drifted off into a deep slumber.

x . x . x . x . x

"Jaejoong, wake up!" Jaejoong opened his eyes to see Junsu frantically shaking him. Huh? Where's Yunho?

That was exactly what Jaejoong asked Junsu. "I don't know, but he's not here AND he forgot to wake us up. Look at the clock, Jae."

Jaejoong turned his gaze toward the clock hanging on his wall. It was freakin' 9:30! Sh-t! Junsu left his bedroom to go back to his, and Jaejoong quickly jumped off of his bed. He arranged his bed neatly and started getting ready for school.

After he had gotten everything together, he and Junsu grabbed their backpacks and headed out the door. They weren't looking forward to the detention slips they'll be getting, but it was better to go to school than to miss out on anything.

It wasn't until they reached the school that it started to rain. Which was a very good thing for them, of course. Going to school drenched from head to toe was never fun...not that the guys had ever experienced anything like that, though.

"Junsu," Jaejoong began as they walked down a hallway, "do you think Yunho's here right now?"

Junsu shook his head. "I can totally bet you he isn't."

"Yeah? How much?" Jaejoong asked seriously.

"I was kidding, you loser," Junsu replied, smacking Jaejoong on the back of his head. The two of them burst out laughing.

Suddenly a teacher appeared in front of them. "Why aren't you kids in class?" the lady snarled. "Do you know what time it is?"

Jaejoong nodded his head and said, "Yes, Ma'am, we do," while Junsu plastered a toothy smile on his face and blinked his innocent eyes.

"Go to class NOW," the teacher commanded. It seemed like their little acts had helped them get away without detentions or anything from this teacher. Jaejoong and Junsu quickly bowed their heads to the lady and both ran off.

They got to the door of their classroom at the same time and almost crashed into each other. Junsu decided to walk in first and he pulled the door open. Jaejoong followed him into the room.

About twenty pairs of eyes stared at them. But the teacher was the only one who snapped. "Kim Junsu and Kim Jaejoong!" he shouted from the back of the classroom, where he was helping another student. "I thought you two weren't coming today!"

Fake astonishment, Jaejoong thought.

And he was right. "What took y'all so long? Were y'all BUSY doing something else? Something inappropriate?"

He deserves to DIE, Junsu silently fumed.

"No, sir." It wasn't Jaejoong who said this, and it wasn't Junsu either. Who had stood up to the teacher for them? Everyone in the classroom looked around, and realized that it was Yunho who had spoken. He shook his head. "I forgot to wake them up," he admitted to the whole class.

Junsu and Jaejoong turned to look at each other, as if to say, "So he is here."

"Well, I hope you remember to wake them up tomorrow," the teacher said, obviously embarrassed. He had just been "told" by a student AND he had ran out of horrible things to say.

He kept his mouth shut for the rest of the class period. He even forgot to give Jaejoong and Junsu their detention slips.

x . x . x . x . x

Once the bell rang for lunch, Yunho quickly clambered out of the classroom without even saying a simple "bye" to Jaejoong and Junsu. Jaejoong watched Yunho rush out as he pulled his backpack onto his shoulders. He felt a sense of worry as he remembered the fact that Yunho was now in a gang. He really wanted to do something to change Yunho's mind. But what could he do?

Junsu walked over to Jaejoong and put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about him," Junsu said. "He's a big boy now. He can take care of himself... He knows what's right and what's wrong."

"How are you so sure of that?" Jaejoong asked Junsu as they went on their way to lunch. "You seem like you don't care about him anymore."

"Of course I care about him," Junsu retorted. "But he's older than me, and I'm not his father. Speaking of 'father,' mine gave me a call yesterday and..."

Junsu rambled on and on about how his father had told him on the phone all about the big money he was making in the movie business. Jaejoong toned Junsu out and kept his mind fixated on what Yunho was doing at that very moment.

YUNHO'S SIDESTORY - Chapter One

I felt guilty for leaving the classroom so quickly like that. But I HAD to. Jaejoong and Junsu will never understand what I'm going through, even if I try to explain it to them. I know that we have been friends since we were babies, but that doesn't mean that we can comprehend each other's problems and issues. Mine are just too complicated.

I checked my watch as I hurriedly walked through the parking lot. 11:00. I still had ten minutes to get there. I climbed onto my motorcycle and turned on the ignition. It's time to roll, I said to myself silently. I rode out of the parking lot and zoomed into the wide, open street that bordered the front of the school.

The headquarters wasn't very far, so I arrived pretty quickly. The trick about this place was that it was a normal-looking house. It was actually the house of the gangleader, as I was told.

"Hey, my man!" someone said while I got off of my motorcycle. I turned my head around to see who it was. Kim Hee Chul.

"Yo, what's up?" I said to him. We did a little handshake and he led me into the headquarters.

Once we had entered the house, Hee Chul grabbed my wrist lightly. "Dude, be careful of what you do here. All of the officers will be watching your every move," he warned.

I nodded my head. "Okay, thanks for telling me."

"My my, who do we have here?" a loud voice boomed from nowhere. I looked up and saw a tall guy dressed in a suit stepping out from inside a hallway. "Who're you?" he asked, once he was standing right before me.

I stuttered. "I...I'm...J-J-Jung Y-Y-Yunho." Somehow this guy scared the living daylights out of me. No one has ever made me stutter before. No one.

The guy stuck his hand out for a shake. "Park Jae Hwan. Nice to meet you, Jung Yunho," he said.

I grabbed his hand lightly and shook it, but he had a very firm grip. Our handshake was tighter than I wanted it to be. Jae Hwan released my hand and stuck his hand into his pocket. He got out a pack of cigarettes and offered me one. I didn't know if I should get it or not. I glanced at Hee Chul and he nodded his head at me. So I said "thanks" and took the cigarette from Jae Hwan. I placed it in my mouth and he lit it up for me.

Jae Hwan asked Hee Chul if he wanted a cigarette, but Hee Chul shook his head. "I don't smoke much," he told Jae Hwan.

Liar, I thought. You smoke even more than I do.

Hee Chul turned to me and flashed me a threatening look as if to say, "Don't you DARE say anything."

I smirked at him. Jae Hwan had no clue what was going on, so he cleared his throat loudly to get our attention. "Do you know that I can kill you two for not taking this gang seriously?" he asked us.

I tensed up at what he said, but Hee Chul laughed bitterly. "You're not even the gangleader," he pointed out. "You're only a mere--"

"Vice President," Jae Hwan interrupted.

Hee Chul's eyes widened. "When did you become VP?" he questioned curiously. "You were 'only a mere' officer yesterday."

Jae Hwan smiled and waved his arm toward the couches in the living room. "Let's grab a seat first, and then I'll explain." He turned to me. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Yes, please. Anything will do," I replied. I tried to sound as polite as possible.

"Even beer?" Jae Hwan asked. I must have seem shocked, because Jae Hwan laughed and said, "I won't get you beer, I promise." He disappeared into the kitchen while we were settling down on the couches, and came back out with two bottles of flavored water and a can of Root Beer. He handed Hee Chul and I the bottles and he opened the can of Root Beer for himself. We all gulped down the drinks like we had been deprived of them for ages.

I swiped the back of my hand across my mouth. I don't usually do that (I have better manners) but there weren't any napkins to use.

Jae Hwan turned to Hee Chul and started his explanation with a serious look on his face. "Yong Suk stepped down from the VP spot yesterday. He told Oni-sama that he wanted to change his life. So Oni-sama let him quit, then chose me as the new VP."

I watched Jae Hwan talk but I was totally confused. Once he finished, I asked, "Who are those people?"

"Yong Suk is the old VP, obviously. You don't have to worry about knowing who he is," Jae Hwan said. "Oni-sama is the gangleader, or President, whichever you want to call him."

I was still confused. "Why is his name 'Oni-sama'? Isn't that Japanese?"

Jae Hwan nodded his head. "Yeah, it is. He's half-Japanese, so that's why he has that name. His folks named him Yoshida Oni when he was born." Jae Hwan laughed. "That name doesn't really fit him, but he has kept it. Do you get why we add '-sama' at the end?"

"Is it to show respect?"

"Yup," Jae Hwan replied. See? I'm not as stupid as Junsu thinks.

I didn't understand why I thought of Junsu at a time like this. I couldn't let my mind wander here. We're supposed to take this gang seriously.

Hee Chul broke into my thoughts. "Yunho," he said.

"Huh? Oh, I mean, yes?" I asked.

"Jae Hwan asked you a question," Hee Chul informed.

I turned to Jae Hwan, and he said to me, "Why don't we go meet Oni-sama now? You've met the VP, and I suppose it's time for you to meet the gangleader now." He saw the pained expression on my face, and he laughed. "It's okay. He doesn't bite even though he may look like he does."

Was that a joke or not? Oh well, I guess it's better to laugh. "Heh heh," I faked, not very convincingly.

Jae Hwan stood up and Hee Chul and I followed suit. We trailed after him as he led us to one of the rooms in the house. When we got there, I realized that this room was special--it had fancy double doors made of glass and wood.

My gaze lingered on the glass. It wasn't the clear kind; it was colored. There was a pattern made by the colored glass pieces. I studied the pattern hard, and even put my hand up to touch it. The pattern made a picture on the glass, and the picture was of a red flower burning in flames. Which could only mean one thing...

Chapter Seven

"Do you wanna buy lunch today or do I do it?" Junsu asked Jaejoong nervously. They had arrived at the cafeteria, and were now deciding which of the two was forking up his money today as they walked over to their usual lunch table.

Jaejoong sighed. "Let me see if I have any money on me." He grabbed his backpack off of his shoulders and flung it onto the lunch table. The backpack landed with a loud THUD. Ignoring the looks and stares of the people in the cafeteria, he reached his hand into one of his pockets and pulled out his wallet. Junsu stood beside him, silently praying that Jaejoong had some cash for both of them. It wasn't that Junsu was selfish; he actually didn't bring any money to school with him today. He had forgotten because they were in a rush in the morning. They were late because someone didn't wake them up, remember?

"Well?" Junsu questioned Jaejoong, as the latter looked at him with a sad expression on his face. "Don't tell me you didn't bring any money with you."

"I didn't," Jaejoong simply said. Junsu felt as if Jaejoong had slapped him instead of answering him. Instead of saying anything, Junsu turned away from Jaejoong so that his back was facing the other. Junsu decided that it was best he didn't tell Jaejoong off since he didn't bring any money either. He crossed his arms over his chest.

Jaejoong saw Junsu's weird and sudden behavior, and laughed as realization hit him. "You didn't bring any cash either...right, Junsu?"

Junsu mumbled a reply, but Jaejoong didn't understand him. "What?" he asked.

"You're right," Junsu said, louder this time. He felt embarrassed all of a sudden. It probably was because he was the one who never forgot his money. And now today, of all days...he had forgotten it. He had left his money at home, back in his room, under his bed, and in his little pink piggy-bank.

Fine. It's a very big pink piggy-bank. But it's not as if he has enough money to fill it to the brim. His father only sends him money once a month. That dirty, rotten, cheap, selfish...

"Hey, are you listening to me, Junsu?" Jaejoong asked, interrupting Junsu's train of thought.

Junsu laughed nervously. "You bet," he answered Jaejoong. But he didn't say it very convincingly, and Jaejoong immediately caught the fact that he was lying.

Jaejoong pulled a chair out for his friend. "Here, let's sit down for a minute," he said.

Junsu obeyed him. He shrugged his backpack off and sat down in the chair. He left his backpack lying on the ground.

"What's wrong?" Jaejoong asked Junsu after he had grabbed a chair for himself.

Nothing came out of Junsu's mouth. He only continued to look facedown at the ground as his mind was having a battle. To tell Jaejoong what's going on...or to not tell him?

"Junsu...you know you can tell me anything..." Jaejoong prodded. He knew that Junsu was an easily-persuaded person. He couldn't persuade other people very well, but anyone could persuade him. Almost anyone.

"It's nothing, Jaejoong," Junsu said, trying his best to sound convincing. "I just forgot to bring money today and I feel bad, that's all."

"But--" Jaejoong began.

"Thank you for your concern, though," Junsu interrupted before Jaejoong could finish his sentence. What Junsu had just said was very important: it meant that the conversation was over. Jaejoong didn't badger him any longer about why he was acting like that earlier, and Junsu felt very much relieved.

Jaejoong looked at his watch, and said, "We still have time to go outside and grab some food for free."

"So why don't we go? Come on, Jaejoong!" Junsu exclaimed. They grabbed their backpacks and quickly ran out of the cafeteria.

x . x . x . x . x

"Ahh, this is sooo good," Junsu said with a mouth full of bread and other contents. He chewed crazily like a hungry wolf and took another bite out of the sub sandwich.

Jaejoong's eyes widened. "Calm down, Junsu. I know you're starving, but still...chew and swallow before you eat some more."

"Are you serious? This stuff is like heaven, dude!" He pointed to Jaejoong's sandwich. "If you don't want yours, I'll eat it," he said with a cheesy smile after he had swallowed his food down.

Jaejoong stepped away from Junsu and took a bite out of his sandwich. "It's mine so I'm eating it," he confirmed.

As Jaejoong ate, he watched Junsu down his sandwich like he hadn't eaten for days. He wondered why Junsu was so hungry like this. But then he shoved that thought away. Junsu was just hungry like he always was. No big deal.

"You done yet, Jae?" Junsu asked. He had just returned from the same lady they had gotten the subs from, but he now had a water bottle in his hands.

"Yeah, I'm done." Jaejoong pressed a napkin onto his lips and wiped his mouth clean. Junsu watched him and rolled his eyes at how girly Jaejoong was.

Jaejoong tossed the napkin into a nearby trashcan. Junsu offered him the water bottle, and he gladly took it. He opened it and took a quick swig. He handed the bottle back to Junsu and said 'thanks,' in which he got a 'you're welcome' in return.

"Let's go back inside," Jaejoong told Junsu. The two guys ran as fast as their legs could carry them back into the school building, their backpacks jumping up and down against their backs.

Once they had gotten inside, they almost ran into some guy standing right at the doorway of the school. After they had said their apologies and looked up, they saw who the guy was: Yunho.

"Yunho?" Jaejoong and Junsu said at the same time. They were both shocked to see Yunho at such a weird time and place.

"Yeah," Yunho replied with a small smile. "Did you two miss me?"

YUNHO'S SIDESTORY - Chapter Two

This gang was the HanaBi* gang...the most feared gang in the city! They were a mix of Korean and Japanese, which made them twice as powerful as a regular gang. So who wouldn't fear them?

I couldn't help but feel a little scared. I mean, if this gang was the most feared gang in the city, and I was standing right inside their headquarters, why shouldn't I be scared? And the next horrible thought I had was that I had agreed to join this gang yesterday. What the hell was I thinking?

Even though I suddenly felt as if I needed to quit this gang right away before things got out of hand, I decided to keep my mouth shut until later. When Jae Hwan came back out into the hall from the room in front of us, he didn't seem to be in the mood to hear anything upsetting. Actually, he didn't seem to be in the mood to hear anything from anyone at all.

"Oni-sama is being way too cranky today," he whispered to us as he led us back to the living room. He had a pained expression on his face, like Oni-sama had said hurtful things to him or something of the sort. "Yunho, I'm afraid that you can't meet him today," Jae Hwan said, facing me.

I nodded my head but I was sort of disappointed. I had wanted to see the gangleader at least once before quitting the gang, you know? And now I can't. This makes me want to stay in the gang until I can finally see Oni-sama.

I guess I will do that.

"It's okay," I told Jae Hwan. "I'll get to see him another day, so it's not a problem."

Jae Hwan slowly nodded his head, but he was very hesitant. He had opened his mouth to say something to me, but he had closed it and only nodded his head. I wonder what he had decided not to tell me.

"Should we get going then?" Hee Chul asked.

At first, I wasn't sure who he was talking to. He had been quiet this whole time, and now, he had suddenly spoken up. It wasn't until he grabbed the sleeve of my shirt that I realized he was talking to me.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, let's go." We all headed out to the front porch of the headquarters. I turned around to face Jae Hwan to bid him goodbye, but when I saw what Hee Chul was doing, I copied him. I bowed my head to Jae Hwan like Hee Chul did and Jae Hwan bowed his head back to us. And that was it. No exchange of words or anything.

Hee Chul went over to his car, and I went over to my motorcycle. We both zoomed out of there and headed back to school.

x . x . x . x . x

I was on motorcycle, but somehow I reached the school building first. I went inside and noticed that lunchtime wasn't over yet. I wandered into the cafeteria, hoping to see Jaejoong and Junsu still eating lunch in there. But they weren't in there. I scratched my head, wondering. Where could they be?

Then suddenly an idea hit me. They were obviously outside! I ignored my growling stomach and left the cafeteria, but not soon after I had convinced myself I wasn't hungry, my stomach started to growl even more. It growled so loudly that people in the hallway were giving me looks. I sighed, and quickly headed back into the cafeteria.

I got in the lunch line and waited. It wasn't that long, so I got my food pretty quickly. Quicker than usual, anyway. I paid for the sandwich and the drink and headed out toward the front of the school building.

I was about to open the door and head outside, when I saw something that made me stop in my tracks.

Jaejoong and Junsu sharing the same water bottle.

The feeling of jealousy took over me. I had no clue why. I mean, come on. I'm not in love with neither of them. So what's this crazy, new feeling of being jealous? More exactly, being jealous of two guys. Two guys that are both my best friends.

I bit into my sandwich and suddenly didn't feel hungry anymore. I tossed it into the nearest trash can and opened up my drink. I gulped it all down...to wash away this weird feeling called jealousy.

It was at that moment that Jaejoong and Junsu started to run back into the building. They were heading right towards me, but I didn't move. I stayed put and stared at them. I watched their faces. Jaejoong looked surprised to see me even before he opened the door. Junsu didn't even realize it was me yet.

They pulled the door open, and since I was standing right behind it, they crashed into me. It wasn't a hard crash, just a bump. But it doesn't hurt to exaggerate sometimes.

"Yunho?" they both said at the same time. Jaejoong's eyes and mouth were opened wide, and Junsu's eyebrows were scrunched in confusion.

"Yeah," I told them. And trying to be funny, I added, "Did you two miss me?"

I don't think they thought it was funny at all.

*HanaBi is Japanese for FireFlower.

Chapter Eight
WARNING: Weird behavior. (That's all I'm telling! :P)

Jaejoong stared at Yunho. He couldn't believe what the other had just said. Was he trying to be funny? Well, he didn't succeed. Jaejoong wasn't laughing, and neither was Junsu. Jaejoong scratched his neck and looked down at the ground. Of course I had missed you, Jaejoong thought.

Junsu opened his mouth to say something, but it was then that the bell decided to ring, so he shut his mouth and decided to keep quiet. What he wanted to ask Yunho could wait until later.

"Let's go to class, yeah?" Yunho asked them as they all stood around looking stupid. They were also blocking other people's path from entering the school. For example, Hee Chul. He had just only opened the front door and ran in when he crashed right into Jaejoong's back. His arms immediately grabbed around Jaejoong's waist and held on tight.

Jaejoong felt himself falling because of Hee Chul's impact, but he tried his best to keep his stance as he struggled to get Hee Chul off of him. When Jaejoong finally loosened Hee Chul's grasp, he turned around and shoved Hee Chul hard on the shoulders. Hee Chul smacked right into the school's front door.

"You bastard," Jaejoong said with menace. "What have I told you time after time? I don't fuckin' like you, so get the hell away from me."

Hee Chul looked at Jaejoong dead-on with puppy-dog eyes. This trick of his worked on everyone that he had done it to before. Would it work on Jaejoong?

Of course not. "Stop going all puppy-eyed, bastard. It doesn't work on me," Jaejoong informed, scowling. "Besides, it makes you look like a pit bull."

He started to walk off to class, and motioned a hand for Yunho and Junsu to follow him. The two guys obeyed him without saying a word.

Only Junsu tossed Hee Chul a dirty look before trailing off behind Yunho.

x . x . x . x . x

The rest of the school day passed by in a blur. Jaejoong actually paid attention in his classes, but in truth, his mind was thinking about something else. He was cooking up a plan...a plan that could possibly make Yunho change his mind about being in the gang.

As he gathered his stuff and neatly put them into his backpack, he had a second thought about the plan. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea. Yunho could possibly HATE his guts after the plan came out.

Oh well, he told himself silently, pushing the second thought away and out of his mind. It's the best plan I've ever came up with.

x . x . x . x . x

"Finally, a day without rain!" Junsu exclaimed as the three guys walked home. He stuck his arms out and looked up at the sky. "I feel so free when it doesn't rain," he said dreamily. He closed his eyes and inhaled the wonderful smell of clean air.

"Junsu, watch out!" he heard someone warn. The voice sounded exactly like Jaejoong's. He felt something hard hit right against his chin. He opened his eyes. It was a stupid pole! He started rubbing his chin, trying to make it feel better.

Jaejoong and Yunho walked over to him. Jaejoong examined Junsu's chin as Yunho patted Junsu's back. "I told you to watch out," Jaejoong said, just as Yunho told Junsu, "Congratulations."

Junsu was surprised. "Congratulations? What for? Can't you see that I'm hurt, Yunho?"

Yunho laughed. "Congratulations for finally experiencing real pain without crying," he explained with a comforting smile.

Junsu looked away. He felt sudden dread. You don't know what I have experienced, he told Yunho silently. I've experienced much worse than this. Hitting a pole is not real pain. What happens back home is.

If only he could open up to his friends about his problems. But even if he could, they wouldn't be able to understand. His problems were too personal, anyway.

"Uh, Junsu...are you okay?" Jaejoong asked worriedly. He had seen Junsu looking away and the faraway look in his eyes. Junsu didn't look like he was here, even though his body was.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Junsu replied with a bright smile. He rubbed his chin. "My chin feels better too."

"Oh, okay," Jaejoong said, but he was feeling doubtful. He just knew that something was wrong with Junsu. He wasn't a mind-reader, but he had intuition, no matter how weird that sounds. You know, like why would a guy have intuition? Jaejoong wasn't a normal guy, though. Remember that.

Yunho grabbed Jaejoong's and Junsu's shoulders. "Let's go home," he told them. They started walking the rest of the way home, with Yunho in the middle and his arms over the other guys' shoulders.

x . x . x . x . x

"It's almost time for my plan to take action," Jaejoong said to himself as he laid in bed that evening. "It's such a risky plan...I don't even know if I should do it anymore."

It was then that he heard footsteps coming down the hall, and they were heading toward his room. "Oh crap, he's here!" Jaejoong whispered out loud. He started to fix his bed and straightened his clothes. He sat on his bed, waiting.

"Jae?" Yunho called, walking into Jaejoong's room. "It's time for--"

"Time for what?" Jaejoong asked in the sexiest voice he could speak in without sounding hoarse. Without looking at him, he pulled Yunho's arms into the room and led a stiff Yunho over to a wall. Jaejoong closed his arms around Yunho's muscular body and laid his head on Yunho's shoulder.

He took a great sniff. "You smell good," he said. Then the next thing he knew, he was kissing Yunho all over.

No matter how totally ridiculous and weird Yunho thought it was, he didn't even try to stop Jaejoong. To him, it felt good to be kissed by Jaejoong. And he let go of the prodding thought that he had a girlfriend. Who cared about Han Li? She doesn't have to know about this, and he could go right back to her tomorrow.

He would have to act like nothing had happened between him and Jaejoong. Which would be quite a challenge, but Yunho knew that he could overcome it.

Chapter Nine
WARNING: Weird behavior (again). Read at your own risk.

Once Jaejoong felt like he was torturing Yunho enough, he stopped kissing him. He pushed himself away from Yunho even though he secretly didn't want to.

But, to Jaejoong's surprise, Yunho gently took his arms and pulled him back. Huh? Jaejoong thought. He was really surprised. What's Yunho doing?

"Jae," Yunho said as he wrapped his arms around Jaejoong's skinny body. "Th-Thank you." Why the hell was he stuttering?

Jaejoong felt himself being suffocated by Yunho's embrace, but he could care less. "What do you mean?" he asked the other curiously. "Why are you thanking me?"

Yunho lifted a hand and used it to raise up Jaejoong's chin, so that they were staring into each other's deep, brown eyes. Yunho looked down at Jaejoong's set of twinkling eyes, and tried to tell the latter what he had meant when he told him thank you. But somehow, he just couldn't. The sorrowful eyes staring back at him were telling him to lie.

"I..." Yunho began hesitantly, but was quickly interrupted by Jaejoong.

"No, it's okay," he said. "You don't have to tell me." He paused for a second, and then said, "It might be too sad for me to hear."

Yunho silently exhaled a sigh of relief. "If that's alright with you, then...I won't tell you." The same hand that had touched Jaejoong's chin suddenly started ruffling Jaejoong's hair. Then Yunho's face inched closer to Jaejoong's. "You don't know how beautiful you are," Yunho whispered into Jaejoong's ear.

"Yun...Ho," Jaejoong protested as the other's face got closer and closer. But then his mouth was blocked by Yunho's, and he couldn't make any other sound.

"Er, Yunho?! Where are you?" they both heard Junsu call out. His footsteps got closer to Jaejoong's room. "Jaejoong? Is Yunho in your room?" He knocked on Jaejoong's door.

The two guys quickly unattached themselves from each other and straightened their clothing. "Yes," Jaejoong replied to Junsu, staring at the door. He hoped, with all of his heart, that Junsu wouldn't come in.

"Okay. I see," Junsu said, more happier than ever. He turned around and walked back to the living room to eat ramen and read more of his ShojoBeat magazine. As he sat down at the dining table, he thought, I'll give them peace and they'll give me peace.

Back in Jaejoong's room, the two guys looked at each other michieviously. They were getting more into the "game" now. But only to Yunho was this a game. To Jaejoong, this was love.

"Hey, you wanna...?" Yunho asked Jaejoong without finishing his question. He had a feeling that Jaejoong already knew what he was talking about.

Jaejoong smiled. "Sure," he said softly. He couldn't believe it. Yunho had actually asked him first! He had thought earlier that he would have to be the one who asked. He felt relieved, but not totally relieved. How could he if what he was about to do was his first step into manhood? He reached for the hem of his shirt, nervous as anything.

Yunho had already slipped out of his shirt and was about to unzip his pants when the doorbell rang. "Shit." He put his top back on as fast as he could, while Jaejoong pulled his own shirt back on him and quietly opened his bedroom door. He sneaked out and rushed into the bathroom.

He left the door open so that he could hear what was going on out front. As Jaejoong perked his ears and listened, Yunho strolled by and casually walked out to the living room. Jaejoong wished that he could be a great actor like Yunho.

"Ah, Yunho," Jaejoong could hear Junsu say. "Han Li's here to see you."

She's here?! Jaejoong wondered. What's she coming here at a time like this for? He didn't know what time it was, but he knew that it was quite late.

It suddenly got awfully quiet in the living room. Jaejoong strained his ears to listen but he couldn't hear anything. This made him mad. He had to go find out what was happening. He slipped out of the bathroom and tried to enter the living room as casually as Yunho had.

"Junsu, where are they?" Jaejoong asked. The living room was empty except for Junsu, who was sitting at the dining table enjoying a bowl of ramen and sifting through some magazine.

"I don't know," Junsu answered. "They just stepped out onto the porch, but now I don't see them anymore." He looked at Jaejoong, and he could see the worry that was creeping onto the other's face.

Jaejoong decided to open the front door and see for himself. He couldn't stand the suspense. He walked over to the door and pulled it open.

What he saw made him gasp.

Yunho and Han Li, both in Han Li's car, were full-on making out. Yunho was sitting in the backseat, while Han Li was hanging all over him. It was a disgusting sight.

"You shithead!" Jaejoong told Yunho telepathically. He ran back into the house, since he felt like he had to barf.

Junsu saw him run in with his hand over his mouth and gasped. "Jaejoong!" he shouted. He left his ramen and his magazine and quickly followed Jaejoong into the bathroom.

"Are you okay, Jaejoong?" he asked worriedly.

Jaejoong nodded his head, but let go of his hand so that puke could be released from his mouth. Junsu rolled his eyes and sighed. "Are you pregnant already?" he asked.

Chapter Ten

YUNHO'S POV

I knew that it was wrong to play with Jaejoong like that. I had led him on to think that I liked him back, even though I don't like him in that way at all. We are just friends. We have been friends since we were babies and nothing can change that. Not even the fact that Jaejoong likes me.

From the start, I had known that there was something wrong with Jaejoong. I had noticed it in the way that he looked at me, and the way he acted towards me. He was also worried about me, even more than Junsu was.

The only thing I didn't know was that he is very fiesty, and flirty too.

The way he had said "Time for what?"...sounded really flirty to me. And the way he had pulled me into his room and backed me up against a wall...was very bossy of him, but it was probably because he was getting really hyped up. Then finally, the way he had put his arms around me, sniffed me, and started laying kisses on me...told me that he'd been waiting to do this for a long time.

I gave him a chance; I fulfilled his longing. I even told him that he was beautiful and kissed him back. But that doesn't mean that I feel the same way he does.

You know how I had asked him, "Do you wanna...?" It was only because I felt like being nice to him. And, I was feeling a bit hyped up too. I couldn't help but suggest that we "get in contact." However, I knew that Jaejoong had a desire to do this. Me, I was just...like I had said, feeling a bit hyped up.

It was a good thing that we didn't actually do anything. Even though I had cursed and made it seemed like I was upset that someone had ruined our moment, I was actually very glad.

Because once I had finished with Jaejoong, Han Li wanted to be with me. And it made me feel so much more relieved to be making out with a girl again. A girl I really do love, and she also loves me back.

Once we had stopped kissing, Han Li gave me a beautiful smile. It was so beautiful, it melted my heart. It made me forget all about Jaejoong.

END OF YUNHO'S POV

x . x . x . x . x

Jaejoong didn't feel good at all. But here Junsu was, cracking jokes. Maybe he just didn't know how it felt to see the person you loved making out with someone else.

"I'm not okay, Junsu," Jaejoong said sincerely, "so stop joking around."

Junsu turned serious and got down to business. "Do you need aspirin or anything?" he asked Jaejoong. "Or, how about a glass of water?"

Jaejoong nodded his head. "A glass of water," he said as he tried to calm down his breathing. It was awfully fast.

"Okay, I'll go get it." Junsu quickly went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Jaejoong could hear Junsu fumbling around, breaking the vast silence. He straightened up from the toilet and flushed it. Then he walked over to the sink to wash his hands. Just as he finished wiping his hands dry on his towel, he turned to leave the bathroom, when he ran smack into someone standing right at the bathroom's doorway.

He looked up, and immediately looked away. "Move, Yunho."

Yunho didn't budge. "What's wrong?"

Jaejoong sighed. "I told you to move," he said, more commanding this time. He didn't feel like talking to Yunho at a time like this. He didn't even want to see him anymore. He wanted Yunho to leave him alone.

"What's wrong, Jaejoong?" Yunho asked again.

Jaejoong shoved his way past Yunho and went out to the kitchen without saying a word. If Yunho wanted to know what was wrong, well too bad for him...because Jaejoong had decided he will never tell him.

Chapter Eleven

"Jaejoong, I've got your water!" Junsu exclaimed, as he held the glass high up and walked as fast as he could to the bathroom. He didn't know that Jaejoong was on his way out.

"Aaah!" the guys both shouted. They had crashed into each other and the water from the glass had splashed on the both of them. The glass had fallen onto the floor, but at least it was plastic, so it didn't break.

Jaejoong looked down at his wet shirt and scowled. He raised his head and looked at Junsu. "Don't you ever watch where you're going?" he asked him.

"Of course I do!" Junsu shouted. "What about you?! I was holding a freakin' glass of water, and I was gonna bring it to YOU!" Junsu was mad, very mad. He was burning with anger over something so little. At least, that's what Jaejoong was thinking.

Junsu gazed down at his shirt, which was splattered with water. This shirt was a brand-new shirt. His mother had given it to him for his birthday, and he had never worn it until now. She had told him herself, "Don't wear it 'til I die, Junsu." He felt a sudden sorrowness overcome him. He pushed back the tears that were threatening to spill out of his eyes.

Jaejoong stared at Junsu with confusement. All he saw was Junsu blinking rapidly. "Junsu, do you have something in your eyes?" he asked. He inched his face closer to Junsu's and lifted his hand up to the other's face.

"No, I don't have anything in my eyes," Junsu said as he watted Jaejoong's hand away. He grabbed the glass and stood up. He quickly went back to the kitchen to refill the cup.

Jaejoong stared at Junsu's back. What's wrong with him? Jaejoong wondered. There's gotta be something he's hiding from me. Jaejoong scratched his head in thought. I'll try to find out when he goes to sleep. Jaejoong got up from the floor and went in search for paper towels.

Yunho, who was standing in the hallway, had seen everything. He saw the way Jaejoong had reached his hand over to Junsu's face. He saw the worried look on Jaejoong's face. He noticed how Jaejoong cared for Junsu so much. But none of those things made him feel jealous...he wasn't feeling jealous of them two anymore...and he knew exactly why.

x . x . x . x . x

After Junsu went to sleep, Jaejoong waited a few minutes outside his door, then opened the door as quietly as he could and sneeked in. Just as he had taken a few steps into the room, he stepped on something that sent a jolt of pain up his foot. He quickly clamped his hand over his mouth to stop from cursing out loud.

Since it was dark, he had to squint his eyes and try to see the object that had stabbed him. There, he'd spotted it: a thumbtack. What was Junsu doing with thumbtacks on the floor? Jaejoong picked it up and stuck it onto the thumb-tack board. Just so that I don't step on it again, he thought.

He closed Junsu's bedroom door and crept over to Junsu's bed. He looked at Junsu worriedly. What if he was still awake? "Junsu," Jaejoong said as he leaned over the other's body. If Junsu was still awake, then he would open his eyes or something. To Jaejoong's relief, Junsu was fast asleep.

Jaejoong crouched down and sat on his knees as he leaned in close to Junsu's innocent face. It was time to start asking questions.

"What's going on at home, Junsu?" Jaejoong whispered.

Junsu opened his mouth to answer. He seemed to be in a hypnotic state, and Jaejoong didn't even do anything to him. "My...my father's being a...a bast--I mean, a jerk." Here Junsu paused, then talked some more. "He...he's been acting differently... ever since...my mother...p-passed away." A tear trickled down the side of his face.

Jaejoong felt incredibly sorry for Junsu, and he couldn't bear to see the latter crying, but he had to keep asking questions. If he stopped, he wouldn't be able to find out what was wrong with Junsu.

"How does he act, and how does he treat you?"

"He...he acts like he doesn't care anymore. He doesn't care...about me. All he cares about...is his job. He earns money...from his job...and m-money means the w-world to him," Junsu answered.

Jaejoong continued on. "Is that why he barely ever sends you money?" he questioned Junsu slowly.

"Y-yes," Junsu confessed after a bit of silence. Another tear dropped from his closed eyes.

Jaejoong had opened his mouth to ask more questions, but suddenly he couldn't think of anything else to ask. It was like he had found out everything he needed to know already. Junsu had told him things that he would never had if he was awake.

"Goodnight, Junsu," Jaejoong said as he pulled up Junsu's blanket. He quietly walked out of Junsu's room and went into his own. He tried to make no noise as he climbed onto his bed and pulled up his covers. Before he knew it, he had fallen into a deep sleep.

x . x . x . x . x

As Yunho layed in bed that night, he couldn't bring himself to sleep. He tried counting sheeps, quietly whispering the bottles-of-beer-on-the-wall song, listening to calm music...but nothing worked. It was like he had too much caffeine in his body or something; he just couldn't go to sleep.

Just then, his cellphone rang. He grabbed it from his bedside drawer, and pulled the lid up. "Hello?" he asked into his phone.

"I love you, Yunho," Han Li's voice breathed into his ear.

"I love you too, Han Li," Yunho told her. But inside, he was feeling a bit uneasy. As they said their "good-night"s and hung up their phones, Yunho felt a sense of restlessness. He wondered why. Han Li's the reason why I'm not jealous of Jaejoong and Junsu anymore, he thought. But why do I feel as if something unexpected is going to happen?

He was worried to death.

YUNHO'S SIDESTORY - Chapter Three

"Jaejoong, Junsu, wake up!" I shouted as I banged on their doors. The next morning had arrived, and it was once again time to go to school.

I got ready before them and headed out the door. The outside air felt wonderful today. I began my walk to school as I let the breeze blow my hair. It felt extremely nice.

Just as I had almost reached the school gate, I saw Hee Chul walking towards me from the opposite direction. He held up a hand as if to say "Stop" and nodded his head. His face had a very serious expression on it. I wondered what was up.

"Hee Chul, what's with the serious face?" I asked him when he caught up to me.

Hee Chul sighed deeply. "Oni-sama wants to see you," he said softly. "I think..." he paused for a bit, then said, "I think he wants to start your initiation process."

My eyebrows gathered in confusion. "Initiation process?" I repeated. "What's that? I've never heard of anything like it."

It was a few seconds until Hee Chul finally answered my question. "That's what it is. An initiation process." I scratched my head, still confused. His answer didn't explain anything at all!

"Let's just go to the headquarters, Yunho," Hee Chul persuaded. "Then you'll find out what exactly I am talking about."

I nodded my head in agreement, but then I thought about Han Li. I asked Hee Chul, "What about Han Li? Shouldn't she come too?"

Hee Chul smirked. "She didn't want to."

x . x . x . x . x

We walked all the way to the headquarters, and when we arrived, my legs were so tired. I felt as if I couldn't walk anymore. Hee Chul, on the otherhand, was alright. He wasn't in pain. And even if he was, he wasn't showing it.

Jae Hwan was standing at the front waiting for us. We bowed to him, and we all said our greetings. Then Jae Hwan opened the front door, and we followed him inside.

We entered the living room and Jae Hwan turned to face us. "Yunho, come with me. Hee Chul, stay here," he commanded.

I trailed after Jae Hwan obeyingly. "Good luck," I heard Hee Chul whisper.

Good luck? I thought as I followed Jae Hwan into the hallway. Why would I need it?

We stopped in front of Oni-sama's door. "Go in, Yunho," Jae Hwan said without looking at me. "Oni-sama's waiting for you."

"What do I say to him?" I asked. "I mean--"

Jae Hwan nodded his head. "I know what you mean. Just talk to him like you do to me. Just be careful of what you say. Oni-sama doesn't like people who disrespect him. He never forgives them, so really watch your use of words."

"Thank you," I said, "for warning me."

A small smile crept on Jae Hwan's face, and he looked at me. "It's okay. You don't have to thank me." He sighed slowly. "In you go," he said after he opened the door for me. "Good luck."

Once again, good luck, I thought. Oni-sama must be a tough guy.

I entered Oni-sama's room, and Jae Hwan closed the door behind me. My eyes scanned the dark space surrounding me. This room was poorly lit. Maybe Oni-sama didn't like light. But even through the darkness, I could see fancy furniture and modern technology.

Suddenly, a door opened from the back of the room, and in came a tall guy with loose clothing on. He had medium-length hair and looked about my age. It felt kind of weird that I had to call him Oni-sama and give him full respect like he was many years older than me. I felt like I had been tricked.

He stuck his hand out for a shake. "I'm Yoshida Oni," he said. "It's nice to finally meet you, Jung Yunho."

I shook his hand; he had a really firm grip. "It's n-nice to meet you, t-too," I stuttered. I felt intimidated by this guy. I mean, I am tall (6'1") but this guy was even taller.

"Do you know why you're here today, Yunho?" Oni-sama asked me after we had released our hands from the handshake.

"No, I don't know why, Oni-sama," I answered politely and sincerely.

Okay, I was partially lying because Hee Chul had already told me what I was going to do at the headquarters today, but he didn't tell me what it was about. I was hoping that if I lied, Oni-sama would tell me himself.

Oni-sama scowled. "Did no one tell you? You're here for your initiation process." He paused for a bit, then explained, "You'll be fighting against us for us to test your strength and fighting abilities."

My eyes widened. I would have to fight more than one person? "Who's 'us'?" I questioned.

As if on cue, another door from the back opened. A guy that looked freakishly alike Oni-sama entered the huge room. He even wore the exact same clothing, bared the same haircut. My jaw dropped open. Did Oni-sama have a twin?

And as if he read my mind, Oni-sama answered, "Yes, I have a twin. But who do you think is the real Oni-sama? What if you had been talking to Oki-sama, the twin, all along?" It sounded like he was teasing me.

The twin that had just came into the room looked at me and smirked. "You will have to duel with us to find out who's the real Oni-sama, the gangleader."

I sighed silently. This was going to be hard. This gang's initiation process was incredibly unique; I've never heard of anything like a duel with two twin brothers. I have always heard that Oni-sama's a good fighter, but what about Oki-sama? Since they're twins, they're probably on the same level of fighting...right?

What can I do? I think I'm doomed...

Chapter Twelve

As Jaejoong and Junsu went on their way to school, Jaejoong felt extremely worried. He had many things on his mind that made him mentally sweat. For one, Junsu. What if he had been awake yesterday night when Jaejoong questioned him? Jaejoong took a quick glance at Junsu and averted his eyes again.

Jaejoong's next concern was Yunho. Why in the world did he leave the house before them? Had he been in a hurry? If so, for what? Did it have anything to do with the gang?

When Junsu let out a sigh, Jaejoong was finally out of his reverie. "Uh, Jae...," Junsu began, "do you know that we have a test today in math?"

"WHAT?!" Jaejoong exclaimed as his eyes widened. He turned to look at Junsu. "You are not fuckin' serious!"

Junsu nodded his head solemnly. "I'm serious, Jaejoong," he said. He looked down at the ground. "I'm so mad that I didn't remember to study."

Jaejoong rolled his eyes, and patted Junsu's back. "I can totally bet you'll pass without studying, Junsu." He paused, then admitted slowly, "It's me that you and I need to worry about."

"Why?" Junsu mumbled, still looking down at the cemented sidewalk.

"Heh, I..." Jaejoong started, but he was rudely interrupted by his cellphone. He reached into the pocket of his sweater and pulled his cellphone out. He placed it to his ear. "Hello?" he said into it.

Junsu was eager to hear the conversation, so he inched his ear as close to Jaejoong's phone as possible. Jaejoong pushed him away but he still returned to the same spot. He needed to know what the phone call was about!

Therefore, he strained his ear to hear the convo. It went something like this:

Jaejoong: "Hello?" (second time)
The other person: "Jaejoong, Yunho's in trouble."
Jaejoong: "What? What are you talking about?"
The other person: "Just go to XXXXX TaeHanGo Street* and you'll find out exactly what I'm talking about."

The conversation ended there. Jaejoong stashed his cellphone into his sweater pocket and furrowed his eyebrows. He seemed to be deep in thought.

"What should we do, Jae?" Junsu asked quietly from the side.

A small smile appeared on Jaejoong's face, making him look like an evil genius that just came up with a plan. "We should go there, of course," he replied.

Junsu's eyes widened. "What about the math test?"

"Yunho's more important," Jaejoong simply said, and the two guys began on their way to the aforementioned address.

x . x . x . x . x

YUNHO'S POV

It was five minutes into the initiation process. At first, the twins seemed to be going easy on me. But then their punches turned into blows and I felt seriously knocked out. I wasn't bad at fighting...heck, I was the best among my small group of friends. But when you are good at something, there is always someone better than you. I could see that right at this very moment.

The whole time we were fighting, I struggled to figure out who was who. It was even harder than I had thought.

Just then, one twin pummeled me in the stomach. As I gripped on to my hurting abdomen and coughed up blood, I took a close look at this twin's face. There was something about it that made him look different from the other twin...

"You giving up yet?" he taunted while shoving me hard on the shoulder. He smirked when I tossed him the dirtiest look ever. "I ain't scared of you," he said.

I shook my head, and released my hands from my stomach. I lunged straight at him and delivered a punch right into his stomach. Even though I was in pain, I could not give up. Giving up would make me an instant loser.

It was then that I saw the small birthmark on his face. I racked in my brain for something I had overheard before, many years ago. It was also at that period that I didn't believe that Oni-sama had a twin. (Boy, was I wrong.) Did they say Oni-sama or Oki-sama has a birthmark on his face? I wondered. Hmm...I think it was Oki-sama.

Suddenly, the other twin (maybe Oni-sama) grabbed onto my shoulders from behind and slammed me into the opposite wall. I slowly slid down until I was sitting on the floor, just like some people in action movies.

"You figured it out now, huh?" the twin that had just attacked me asked. The two of them loomed before me, making me feel like an ant being stared down at by human beings.

I coughed, and more blood flowed into my mouth. Some drops managed to escape, but I held the rest of the blood in. One droplet slid down the side of my mouth. I looked up at the twins, and could feel the blood inside me moving. It was that weird.

"Yes, I figured it out," I answered. "You're"--I pointed at the one without a birthmark on his face--"Oni-sama." He was also the same one that had slammed me into the wall. I pointed to the other twin. "And you're Oki-sama."

Oni-sama nodded his head. "Good. Now let's get you cleaned up." He held out a hand for me to grab.

I hesitantly took it, and he helped me get up. They led me to the headquarter's bathroom and left me there. I couldn't help but think, They're not too bad after all.

*not a real street or address

Chapter Thirteen

Jaejoong and Junsu arrived to the address that the person on the phone had given them. A huge but old building loomed above their heads in a vacant area. The breeze from the air was chilly so goosebumps formed on Junsu's arms. He turned to Jaejoong as he rubbed his arms and said, "You know what...I feel really cold."

"Psh, you don't think I do?" Jaejoong sarcastically asked. He hated it when it was cold. Stupid weather.

Junsu rolled his eyes and decided not to answer Jaejoong. "So. What do we do now?"

Jaejoong shrugged. "I don't know--how about we go inside?" he suggested.

"Uh..." Junsu shook his head, disagreeing. "I don't think we should." The old building seemed really intimidating. He didn't want to admit it, but yes, it scared him. There was something about it that gave him the creeps.

"Why not? What are you so freaked about? It's just a huge, old building. Nothing that can harm you," Jaejoong pointed out.

Junsu sighed. "Fine," he said hesitantly. He didn't find another reason to argue with Jaejoong.

They walked toward the building slowly and Jaejoong pulled the door open. It creaked like it hadn't been touched for years, but opened wide enough for them to get through. Junsu felt the chills coming to him again. He shuddered.

Just after they had entered the building, the door slammed shut behind them. They were left in the vast darkness. With no light, no electricity, no way to escape. They both gasped.

Jaejoong had a bad feeling about this. He wondered if the person on the phone had given them the right address...or if this was all a trap.

"I hope you're scared," a voice from somewhere in the pitch darkness suddenly said.

What the hell? Jaejoong wondered. He looked around to figure out where the voice had come from; he couldn't see anything since it was so dark. He then felt a nervous hand grasp onto his. Oh, it's Junsu. He felt relieved...

Until the voice spoke up again. "I hope you're BOTH scared," it boomed.

To Jaejoong, it sounded exactly like they were talking into a microphone and connecting it to a PA system; that was why it was so loud and a bit static-y.

Then all of a sudden, he heard Junsu gasp and start making choking noises. The grasp Junsu had on Jaejoong's hand tightened so much that Jaejoong's hand burned with pain. He used his free hand to smack Junsu's back. Maybe he was choking on his own saliva or something.

Jaejoong was the next person to gasp. He felt another hand grab his free hand and tie it around his back with his other hand. Then what he assumed was a piece of cloth was placed on his mouth and tied around his head. He tried to protest but couldn't make any noise. He felt like a useless slumbag.

Junsu was the only one able to give him comfort now. He turned his head to where he thought Junsu was standing: right by him. He could still walk, so he scooted over to his right and decided to elbow Junsu. But to his surprise, he elbowed air.

Junsu was gone.

x . x . x . x . x

YUNHO'S POV

I left the headquarter's bathroom after washing myself, and almost bumped into someone standing in the hallway. I looked up. Han Li.

What is she doing here?

She sidled up closer to me and lightly grabbed my shirt collar. She gave me a look as if to say, "Heyyy, babe," and started playing with my collar. Before I even knew it, she had pulled me into an empty room and messed with me even more in there.

I don't want to go into details, but I felt tired after all she did.

Intro

2008-06-23T10:12:00.000-05:00

This is where I'll post my longer stories (fanfics/fics). Feel free to read and leave a (nice?) comment!

&;*____Mercy