Disoriented and anxious of the new environment he was thrown in, Jae makes his way to the school ALONE after having a fight with Junsu. But it seems fate deemed it necessary for Jae to be with someone in the surreal blur of the trip on the school bus...
(A/N: Pic is Jung Yunho as himself! I don't own the pic! :D)
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~Jae
I am so DEAD, Jae thought as he stepped inside the school bus. Ever since, Jae has been paranoid about being around a new environment but each time he was thrown into such predicament, he had his best friend Junsu around to make everything else bearable. Whatever it is that I said to Junsu, I should really make amends, it's hard enough to be new, let alone being ALONE, Jae thought to himself as he waited for the school service at the bus stop. Whatever did I say wrong to my Junsu? Jae thought just as the bus' doors flew wide open. When he got in, every single eye pierced to Jae's direction. I hate being the new kid, Jae said to himself as he walked past the aisle of corneas following him.
Who is that? Jae heard someone whisper as he settled to the back most seat to avoid the immense attention he was getting. Jae sat in the corner to be able to avoid the stares and occasional glances to be able to come up with a make-up plan with his friend Junsu. "What could have set papa Junsu off?" Jae whispered to himself and pouted.
For the next 20 minutes or so, Jae sat silently thinking, head on the floor, about his friend when suddenly the bus came to a halt. The doors swung open and suddenly, the pristine silence that governed the bus was disrupted when a frenzy of loud whispers exhausted from the girls in the front rows.
"Good morning oppa!" he heard the girls whimsically call out to the person who just got in. Giggles then erupted from the noisy women. Jae looked up and saw the boy that just got in; he was a marvel to look at. His uniform made it clear that he was athletic as it made him looke like a gorgeous model out of a magazine cover. What caught Jae off guard was the amazing pair of eyes that changed softened as they made eye contact. His eyes were a night shade of black and were pretty lovely to look at. Dang, Jae exclaimed softly. He looked at the floor guiltily when he realized he was staring at the guy longer than necessary. The whispers now grew louder as Jae heard footsteps nearing his direction. Still looking at the bus' floor, Jae felt the seat cushion pop as the seat on his left was occupied by this frenzy-inducing person. Jae then turned and faced the new comer and was caught off guard once again by the sight. Jae saw a handsome boy that was closing his eyes, and it seemed he was thinking deep about something.
Within the next 30 seconds, Jae found himself gaping at the perfection that sat beside him. "So...handsome..." Jae softly whispered.
"Excuse me?" said the boy who's eyes now locked into Jae's, seemingly examining the unsolicited remark that was supposed to be unheard.
Jae caught himself and turned his head to the window beside him as the bus started moving again. "Nothing" Jae managed to finally choke when he realized the boy was still expecting a response. "It's nothing" he said as confidently and nonchalantly as he could to hide his shame, but his face betrayed his poker face as he felt it grow hot and red.
"If it's nothing, there's no need to blush you know." the boy replied as he went back to his original position, smirking at the thought of Jae's failed experiment on spying.
What the pickles is wrong with the people here? Jae thought as he fought the urge to cover his face with his hands to hide the shame he felt now more than ever. I wish I had Junsu with me, Jae's thought trailed on as he watched the figures in the window blur by.
For the rest of the trip, Jae kept on replaying his fight with Junsu by turning his hands into hand puppets, folding them to gesture the speaking. Occasionally, Jae caught people looking at his actions, so Jae momentarily stops and pretends to look around and when he does, he is consumed by the fact that his seat mate was, like the other, eying on his unusual activity. Damn, Jae thought. Now everyone will think I'm a psycho.
Every time Jae thought of the way people looked at him, Jae couldn't resist but think of how Junsu now feels. And every time he does, he gets confused that he repeats the strange cycle of hand-puppetry-pretending-to-stop-and-thinking about his best friend. Despite all that rambling, Jae still couldn't understand why his friend got mad at him and totally bailed on him. "You're taking too long, I'm going on ahead" Jae whispered in sync with his hand gestures. Jae sighed hard and frantically wiggled his body. He stopped himself when he heard a sneer from the handsome boy beside him.
"Easy there, you might not want to destroy school property" The boy said looking at Jae who was now blushing again.
"Sorry about that" Jae said automatically, shying from the conversation.
"What's on your mind?" The boy continued. Jae could feel his heart race as both fixed eyes on each other. Jae felt so uncomfortable with what was going on.
"I..I..." Jae hesitated. He remembered what Junsu said a few years back...Never trust strangers he would say. The thought of having a fight with Junsu was scaring him.
"Come on, you can tell me. I'm not a psycho." The boy assured Jae.
"Well..." Jae started
"Oh wait, maybe I am" the boy squinted his eye and looked serious. He fixed his face so close that Jae could smell the lovely scent of his breath.
"Joking" the boy said, as his serious looks vanished and backed away, flashing an angelic smile. "You can breathe now" he continued.
Damn this boy looks so good, Jae thought, eerily relieved by the tension of the joke. Jae could hear from behind his back the warnings his mental image of Junsu was giving him but somehow, his body could not resist but reciprocate the question on hand. Jae deliberated about telling the boy his problem but was sucked into telling him as the boy flashed an even more charming look. I guess there's no harm if I just talk to one stranger, Jae thought as he started revealing his problem.
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The talk seemed to have been a little therapeutic; as the two continued their discussion on Jae's friendship and trust issues, Jae somehow was able to forget the first day jitters he had and somehow had managed to walk past the people in the aisle that used to bother him. His talk with the wonderful boy made him forget how geographically handicapped he was as they made their way to the school gate and into the schools covered walk.
Jae marveled at the school while he was walking with the boy. The school was like a common Asian high school: three big rectangular building, with two towering building to the sides of a wide center building. What set the school apart however, were the lush rows of trees that ornamented each building front. Jae could also see the thick leaves from maybe a dozen trees at the back building, although they seemed far. The school was large Jay could tell, because aside from the front grounds that he was walking in at the moment, the trees he saw at the back suggested that there was a back field or something that had been bordered by the majestic trees. From Jae's point of view, he could see that the school was well maintained as the school grounds that served as a common place at the very moment had not been littered by any leaf whatsoever.
"I guess I really just said something that made him upset, but I really don't know I haven't spoken to him about it" Jae said, refocusing on his discussion as he saw the school's grand foyer of the middle building, with staircases that forked into different paths. Jae paused as he saw all the other students that lingered on the main lobby adjacent to the grand foyer of their high school building.
Suddenly, Jae felt panic rush back as he watched that people from all the sides of the front grounds took a glance at his direction. Although most of them where more than a hundred yards away from where he and this beautiful boy were walking in, Jae could tell that they whispering among the circle of friends they were with. Jae felt paralyzed when he realized that almost all the students sprawled here and that he knew none of them, even the handsome boy he was with. Yunho must have felt that too as Jae felt him stiffen and become silent as they made their way to the entrance of the center building.
"Hey, don't worry. It'll be fine. The people here are not as bad as they look" the boy said calmly, half smiling to Jae as they arrived.
At that moment, Jae felt his heart skip a beat. Jae thought as his shoulders stiffened. "I don't know about that" Jae managed to say. "In case you haven't noticed, you're the only person who cared to talk to me this morning" he added.
Then Jae felt the boy's hand rest on his shoulders.
"Relax. They just might be ashamed at you. That's what people feel when they see such an adorable face" the boy replied, looking at Jae straight through the eyes.
Jae felt his face grow hot and bright red again. After the boy's blunt comment and friendly gesture. An awkward pause prevailed.
"Dude" Jae heard someone call from behind him, breaking the eerie feel of the moment.
"Hey!" the boy finally replied to his approaching friend. "Uhm, listen. I gotta go. See you around!" the boy said as he turned and headed to the boy who called him.
"Later..." Jae trailed as he made his way to the stairs. That was bleak, Jae said to himself. He then realized that people by the steps were talking behind him. I've only got 1 new friend among this entire people but I don't even know his name, he thought as he now made it a few steps in the plight. Jae could hear every step he took as he climbed the stairway, and even with his eyes fixed on the school map that was given to him upon enrollment, even as he tried to focus on finding his way to the administration office, he could see that all eyes were fixed at him.
Just then, a hand tugged his elbow from a few steps below. Jae turned and saw the boy, the new friend whose name he wish he knew.
"I'm sorry, I forgot. The name's Yunho, Jung Yunho" the boy said as he stretched his hand for a handshake. The school bell rang and as it did, it sent the gawking, chatting people who lingered at first rushing towards the plight of stairs, making tremendous amounts of noise; a noise too loud for a decent conversation.
"It's Jaejoong. Kim Jaejoong" Jae said, his voice modulated because of the fuss the rushing students made and stretched his hand. Then, he felt it. Jae felt a jolt just as his hand pressed Yunho's. Jae felt a spark, a connection, electricity.
"I'm sorry?" Yunho said as he inclined closer, hands still holding Jae's.
"It's Kim Jaejoong" Jae repeated as he said closer now to Yunho's ear and as he did, Jae could smell the fragrance that emanated from Yunho's crown.
"Nice to meet you" Yunho shook his hand as he whispered to Jae's ears. At that exact moment, a rushing student hit Jae square in the back, making him lose his balance. Jae started to fall to Yunho's direction. Jae closed his eyes just as he felt Yunho let go of his hand and lock his hand at the back of his shoulders, intending to cushion their fall...
"Don't worry Jae, I've got you" Yunho whispered to Jae as gravity took over and let their glued bodies fall...
"I've got you" Yunho repeated, whispering to Jae.