Chapter 8: Strictly, a Family Affair.
"So," Jaejoong sniggered loudly with his hands covering his cheeks. "How was the date?"
Yunho let out a long sigh and then answered heartlessly, "Weird and tiring. She asked all these questions. It felt like I was answering a super, long survey."
"Survey? I love doing surveys!" Jaejoong clapped his hands together.
Yunho rolled his eyes and stated, "That's what she said too. I think you two can be best friends or something."
"Cool, maybe you should introduce her to me some time then," Jaejoong casually suggested as he scooped a bit of the soup with his ladle.
Not really paying attention to Jaejoong, Yunho sat in his usual dinner seat with a hand over his mouth, thinking pensively until . . . "Hey!" he suddenly jumped up. "That . . . is not a bad idea!"
"W-what?" Jaejoong puzzlingly frowned.
"Jaejoong, you're a genius! Pure genius!" Yunho leapt forward and gave Jaejoong a hug.
"Careful, careful! Burning hot ladle here!" Jaejoong uttered hopelessly with his arms extended forward.
Just as the two were in the midst of their embrace, Junsu and Changmin had walked in on them. "Oh, hyung, I didn't mean to intrude . . ." Junsu quickly shuffled away.
Changmin just snickered and whispered gently, "About time."
"SHIM CHANGMIN!" Yunho roared and chased that kid down. He hated how people, particularly Changmin, made fun of male affection. Yunho was a touchy person; he couldn't resist hiding his emotions. Changmin scurried and soon, began sprinting towards Junsu's room. Only Jaejoong was left tending the soup in the kitchen. While scooping the fat droplets from the soup, Jaejoong had a trifling grin because he was faintly nostalgic of the far away past, when he used to secretly admire a certain best friend. Childish infatuation, he concluded.
"Junsu, shut the door!" Changmin beckoned as he tumbled to the ground. Junsu, who was too busy daydreaming, sat cross-legged on his queen-sized bed. He had been occasionally spacing out these days. Even during work, his father had to pinch his ears and drag him for a few metres before Junsu could focus again. This was primarily due to his excitement and trepidation for his upcoming Sunday date with his girlfriend. He kept imagining what he would say to her and how she would respond to him. If she smiled, then he would smile back. If she . . . "JUNSU! WHY AREN'T YOU CLOSING THE DOOR? HE'S . . ." Changmin bellowed urgently, hoping that Junsu would save him.
It was too late, however.
Yunho had entered the sanctuary. He howled in an unusually cavernous voice, "SHIM CHANGMIN! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" His fist was almost about to pound Changmin's face. Changmin, who was still vulnerably lying on the ground, stared fretfully at the angered Yunho. Changmin needed to formulate a plan, yet he lacked the time to do so. He wasn't willing to apologize for a trivial joke. To Yunho, however, this was not a laughing matter for he knew that Jaejoong would be somehow hurt. Yunho didn't like it when his friends suffered.
Luckily, Yoochun stepped in and asked Changmin, "Do you want to go buy some popsicles with me?"
"I thought you would never ask, Yoochun," Changmin stood up right away and followed Yoochun to the door. "Man, you should have asked earlier."
Yoochun cautiously reminded, "And you should have just kept your mouth shut. I have to say, it was a nice scene to watch. Maybe, I should have let the short film finish. Maybe we should can—"
Changmin promptly interposed and placed his arm across Yoochun's shoulders, "Ah, hyung. Why don't we focus on what is important, you know, buying the popsicles?"
Yoochun remembered how Changmin was an intractable problem, never appreciative of saviours and only wary of adversaries. Yoochun wondered how Changmin would mature. After all, maturity was never innate; it was only cultivated with persistence and conscientiousness. Changmin frankly never cared.
After an hour, Junsu blinked a few moments and then finally asked worriedly, "Oh no! What happened to Changmin?"
After being with her, Yoochun had developed a habit of rotating his head close to the edge of his right shoulder and then reaching his hand out, every time he was walking with another friend. She used to whine about how he walked too hurriedly. At first, she had to call his name several times before he turned to see her, a meter or so, away from him and almost lost in the crowd. Then, she would mope about his inconsideration until he remembered to lovingly hold her small hand.
"Yeah, hyung," Changmin noticed Yoochun's odd behaviour. "You should really stop looking back at me. You're giving me the creeps. It makes me think you like me or something."
"Sorry," Yoochun muttered and proceeded even faster to the entrance of the grocery store. He waited for Changmin to catch up before actually walking into the store. The two went straight for the section with ice cream and popsicles. "So, what flavours do you think we should get?" Yoochun addressed with his hands in his pockets.
Changmin pressed his index finger to the temple of his forehead and replied, "Tough question, hyung. It's like choosing for your mate. Oh, but for you, choosing mates are simple. You always have an influx of women waiting for you."
It was true that Yoochun never lacked women, but he still preferred quality over quantity. Yoochun advised, "Hurry, we don't have all day."
"Yeah, I know. You don't have to remind me," Changmin furrowed his eyebrows.
Reminders were what she used to say to him. She used to tell him not to forget to do this and that. Now, he had become the reminder. He hardly dismissed any chores and even insisted to work at a faster pace. Indeed, her departure had transformed him. He wished, though, that he didn't have to change. Change meant a shift in affairs and situations; he quite enjoyed being with her. He always recalled the memories he shared with her.
No matter how swiftly he moved, he was immersed in lassitude and lethargy. Sometimes, he wondered what the meaning to his life was, and then, he would force himself to stop, to disregard. It was at that precise moment where he felt he understood why he was still living and that was to scour for an indeterminate answer.
Changmin shattered the discordance in Yoochun's mind, "I got it! We will be getting sesame, blueberry, and lime popsicles!"
Yoochun nodded, "Alright, if that's what you want."
If that was what she wanted, then he would give that to her.
Harmony.
