wild_terrain | The Beacon; My Siren

Title: The Beacon; My Siren
Author: wild_terrain (ie. fi_chan)
Banner (Made beautifully by love_cassiopeia):

Chapter: [25/ ?]
Rating: MA15+
Genre: AU [FLANGST, mystery, spirituality, romance]
Summary: Philophobia… The fear of falling in love or being in love. I didn’t know such a thing existed until I met him… Kim JaeJoong was my age—a youthful 25 years—and the owner of a popular café, yet he was already known around town as the mysterious hermit who had chosen to completely withdraw from the world. How on earth could someone so young be afraid of loving others to the point of secluding themselves from all human beings? What was he afraid of? What was he hiding? I just didn’t understand it. And by that stage, the need to understand it was all I could think about... In fact, he was all I could think about…

Jung Yunho… For all of my life I had grown up away from the limelight. I couldn’t stand being noticed by anybody, and for a long time I thankfully never was. But then you came and suddenly you were everywhere – waving to me as I swept the café after closing, saying hello to me as you cycled past the bench I was sitting on, helping me carry my groceries inside whilst talking non-stop to me as if we were actually friends… Why are you always around making my heart thump erratically? Why do you even care? The more you try to explore this town, the more I need to step up and protect you from your own curiosity, because I know It is out there and I know It wants to harm you…

Trailer: CLICK TO WATCH~~

Beta = moon1084 <3

A/N: Sometimes it feels like you're always going to hear "I'm sorry" from me, but here we go again. I've been on several family holidays and, well, with our shaky fandom sometimes you need some time for yourself to get some sanity back (or to just cry), haha. But the next chapter is finally here! Let the roadtrip begin. ^__^

Yoochun’s head lolled to the side in an arch and stopped right beside my shoulder. It gave me a fright. I’d been sitting there on the train seat lost in my thoughts until Yoochun’s head swung towards me on its own accord. His body was slumped so far to the right that one wrong move could send him tipping into me or off his seat altogether.

Thank goodness he’d let me have the window seat or otherwise his head might have knocked against the window and scared any little kids peering in. Then again, it had been a long while since we’d stopped at any stations so there was no one left to peer in. Trees and rivers and mountains surrounded us and had done since the beginning. It looked both the same and different.

Hours had passed already taking us through the afternoon, yet there would still be one or two more hours to go according to Yoochun. I knew it always took Yunho a while to commute but experiencing it firsthand made it all sink in properly. He’d done this for me so many times even though he hated sitting down for too long. Was I really worth all that? Was anyone?

A peaceful warmth spread deep into my bones at the thought of him doing all that for me and always showing me a smile when he arrived. But how long could such an effort last?

And there was the problem. It was always Yunho making sacrifices to come to me. I was completely pathetic and hadn’t even been on a train before.

This morning I’d almost chickened out completely despite my bold suggestion the previous morning. We couldn’t get the morning train because Yunho’s shift wouldn’t finish until late afternoon and arriving too early would mess with our timing. The wait for the second train bound to the city after midday had burned my nerves down to mush.

Yoochun knew where Yunho worked and had looked up maps and other details, but everything else had come from Yunho’s sister. She had helped us with almost everything—Yunho’s shift time, where we could find taxis outside the station, and she had even run our visit by her parents to make sure we’d have somewhere to stay at late notice once we arrived.

All of this was done behind Yunho’s back. According to HyunAe, it had been quite easy to do. Yunho had been out at work at lot—it was apparently a fair drive from their house—and the times when he was at home he had either slept or left anyway to go to the gym.

It worried me that there was no in between—it was either sleep or exercise with him. I hope he hadn’t been lying when he said he liked having down time with me whenever he came to visit instead of the ‘exploring stuff’. It was like he had two different identities—one for each place. I knew so little about his normal routine; all I knew was what he was like with me. But the city was his reality, the place where all of his friends and family lived. I had him all to myself in my reality, but in his reality I’d just be one of the many.

I admit it, I was petrified that this spontaneous trip would show me a different reality, and one I’d struggle to adapt to. Was I even ready to see the truth—the possibility that I wasn’t really needed in Yunho’s normal life? That I was only important or needed in the context of a small town far away from his normal routine? What if there was no room for me in his normal life?

These insecurities had been eating me alive all morning. They wouldn’t leave me alone and kept biting me when things got too quiet on the train. I wish I could have been as lucky as Yoochun and fallen asleep to shut them out.

Then again, I didn’t think I was the only one nervous about this trip. Yoochun always showed a lot of bravado but I was beginning to see that he wasn’t immune to nerves either. It was the first time he was going to meet HyunAe’s parents. The difference between him and me was that the Jungs actually knew Yoochun was dating their daughter—he had to make a good impression. I was just Yunho’s friend. As long as I was polite and wasn’t troublesome, they probably wouldn’t pay much attention to me.

Would their son even pay attention to me?

I grit my teeth and rubbed at my temples. This nonstop worrying wasn’t doing me any good. I had to break the cycle of negativity somehow, but it was getting increasingly difficult now that the thoughts were there.

I tried to concentrate on the scenery outside the large train windows but it was only when Yoochun woke up from his nap that my mind was able to distance itself from anxiety.

That was until Yoochun brought up Yunho again…

“Aren’t we just the coolest boyfriends?” he asked, beaming at me as his head rested lazily against his headrest.

“Why?”

“Because!” He grinned wider, “Here we are, leaping over mountains and rivers to surprise our significant others.”

“We’re sitting on a train…”

“I meant that metaphorically. It sounds cooler,” he laughed. “Eeei! I can’t wait to be able to hold Hyunnie again instead of just hearing her voice. Long distance relationships are such a tease—don’t ever think otherwise.”

I waited patiently for him to get it out of his system. It was nice at least to know that I wasn’t just dragging Yoochun along with me—he had things to gain from this too. And it meant I wasn’t alone when it came to meeting Yunho’s parents. With Yoochun’s personality, there was more of a chance that they’d actually like us.

“And you know…” A smile snuck back onto his face. “I’m quite looking forward to seeing Yunho as well.” He chuckled at my puzzled expression. “His face is gonna be brilliant! Absolutely brilliant. Ah, I’ll probably have to give Hyunnie a blow-by-blow recount…”

I wish I shared his excitement. “Would it really be a good surprise though or a bad surprise?”

Yoochun gave me an incredulous look.

“Really…” I sighed. “This felt okay at the start but… Yoochun, I don’t want to break up his routine. I don’t want to be the spanner thrown in the works.”

Yoochun’s expression softened and he patted my thigh. “You wouldn’t be anything of the sort. From the sounds of things, it would be a healthy break for him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just…some things I’ve heard. Never mind. Really.”

“What exactly have you heard?” The longer I stared at him the guiltier he seemed.

”Erm…” His eyes drifted towards the floor before braving mine again. “Just that…HyunAe gets worried about him a bit occasionally. She talks to me sometimes about him to get my advice and hear a male opinion…”

My chest gave a little thump. “Why would she be worried about him though?”

“Just…something he does. Aish… I don’t know if it’s even right to be telling you stuff she told me in confidence.”

”Oh… Okay…” I looked away and tried to stop my mind from racing through every bad scenario. Yoochun was right; it wasn’t nice to dig into a private conversation. But if something was wrong with Yunho…

“It’s nothing big, Hyung.”

“Mm…”

He fidgeted in his chair. I could feel his eyes on me and he sounded upset when he spoke. “Oh man, and now this is gonna hang over you the whole trip and I’m the dumbass to blame. Aiiiish.” He rubbed at his head and then looked at me again. This time I braved looking at him again too. “Maybe you’ve noticed it anyway, Hyung. We could make this a think tank!” He seemed pleased with that idea. I was still unsure what to think. My heart was still racing.

“HyunAe told me about some of the things he does that might have been a bit excessive. She wanted to know if it was just a guy thing or a potential problem.”

My heart was really racing now. I wish my troubled mind had an off switch.

“Mostly she was just concerned by the amount of time he goes to the gym. Since high school, he has always gone but she said the number of times he was adamant about going increased a lot in recent years. She reckons at least five years. But she was confused because apart from the excessive working out, he didn’t seem to have a body image disorder or anything. He’s a cookie fiend for godsake,” Yoochun chuckled. “I told her that a lot of guys like to work out, especially in a profession like Yunho’s. He doesn’t need to look like a model or anything but I can bet there’d be some internal pressure for him to look as good as his mates at work. It’s kinda natural. I’m the hottest thing at Café JaDe so I don’t need to worry about those things,” Yoochun laughed and I rolled my eyes. “But I can bet there’d be some healthy competition where he works, with all those other extreme sport dudes around. Probably a breeding ground for huge egos. I don’t envy the man.”

“So you told his sister it was just normal?”

“Yup.”

The hammering in my heart would just not let up. “But…you lied to her?”

“I didn’t lie to her! It would be normal to feel some pressure. It’s just some people are more vulnerable to it than others. And that’s when it becomes excessive, if it becomes high on your priority list to exercise all the time and never eat fatty foods. But Yunho’s not like that, is he? He might be sensitive but he’s not excessive.”

“But he could become that?”

“I don’t think so, but anything is possible I guess. I asked HyunAe if it was a constant obsession with the gym or if she noticed any patterns. She said at first it was quite noticeable. He just started going a lot of our nowhere after high school—maybe four times a week instead of just once. And that continued on for a while. But…” Yoochun gave me another pat on the thigh, “She reckons he slowed down when he started meeting you every week. She stopped worrying. The only reason why she started talking to me about it now is because he started going back to his old habits this month. Does he exercise a lot when he comes to town? In general, I mean, not just recently.”

“Only when he’s stressed… Or needing to stretch his legs. Or in the mood to explore.”

Yoochun nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe that really is all it is then.”

“Huh?”

“Rather than a body image thing, maybe he just got stressed a lot when he was younger and it developed into a habit. And hey,” he grinned at me, “it’s lessening now because you’re breaking up the habit. Going to see you became a higher priority. Plus, you’re probably a natural stress reliever. He probably gets stressed, as we all do at work, and needs the gym as an outlet. HyunAe’s just a worrywart.”

“He has sounded more stressed on the phone lately,” I agreed. “He said this time of year is always busy at his work so he has to do more shifts.”

“And deal with more annoying people than usual,” Yoochun smirked. “Man, we’re good at this!” He waited for me to high-five him. “So you are going to be a healthy break for him. Which brings me back to my original point—we are the coolest boyfriends.”

I turned towards the window to hide me smile. I hoped he was right.

Outside the window, buildings started replacing the green landscape until everything became a maze of glass and concrete. There were so many people on each platform we passed and I found myself slowly shrinking back from the window. There were too many eyes looking in.

“The next stop should be ours,” Yoochun said. “Their house is several more stations away, but for Yunho’s work we’ve gotta boogie now. We’ll pay less cab charge too from this one.”

I followed Yoochun down the aisle on shaking legs after lifting down the backpack he’d leant me. At the end of the carriage, the train doors opened up to a strange new world. Somehow I stepped out into it.

There were people everywhere and I was petrified of losing sight of Yoochun in the crowd. I latched onto the end of his backpack and spent the next few minutes only concentrating on not letting go.

“Hyung, you need your train ticket out.”

I dug around in my pocket in a panic. I’d forgotten about that little thing. If I’d somehow lost it, I’d be in big trouble.

“Just let it slide into this machine and the little door things will open.”

I found my ticket and clutched onto it as I watched Yoochun walking past the barrier. It took me a moment to get it in the right way and then I was back to holding onto Yoochun’s bag. Even the exits were crowded! I could barely even take in the surroundings with all the bodies blocking every view.

Yoochun chuckled and look over his shoulder at me. “This isn’t even peak hour. Or the main station.”

How could anyone stand this? How could Yunho stand it?

Yoochun found us a taxi and lifted our bags into the boot. I felt a bit naked in a stranger’s car without any of my belongings nearby but there was nothing I could do.

I made sure to put my shoes on the little mat on the floor but when I looked over at Yoochun his feet were resting against the back of the driver’s seat. I almost had a heart attack but neither Yoochun nor the driver seemed to care about his lax etiquette.

As we swung onto the road and joined the traffic it finally sunk in that I’d be seeing Yunho soon. My nerves spread quickly until every building we passed made my heart jump harder. I didn’t know what Yunho’s work looked like so I had nothing to look out for. All the buildings we past had potential to be his and my body was on high alert. It didn’t help that looking out the window made me realise just how out of place I was.

Yoochun was barely even paying attention to what was outside his window. He flicked through the cash in his wallet as he chewed on a mint I had declined. And his legs still weren’t on the mat!

See, JaeJoong, there’s nothing to worry about. Yoochun’s here and he knows what he is doing and he isn’t worried so you shouldn’t be either.

The taxi pulled into a big car park and the engine idled. There was a multi-level building in front of us looking over the mountains in the distance. The station we had come out from had been surrounded by many buildings but there seemed to be more space here. It still felt foreign but at least it wasn’t so claustrophobic.

The click of Yoochun’s door opening brought me back to reality and I scampered out of the taxi to join him. He passed me my loaned backpack and I nervously pulled it back over my shoulders as I stared at the wide building I suppose Yunho worked in. It’s name Lee’s Sport and Recreation Center hung on the side of the building in big blue letters.

The taxi drove off and Yoochun started walking towards the entrance. I almost didn’t want to follow him. It was so big and there were going to be so many people inside.

Yoochun held the door open for me but I shook my head and waited for him to step in first. What were we supposed to do now? What if this venture ended up being a complete disaster? What if we got laughed at here?

Yoochun wandered over to the desk that sat out of the way to the left of us. Near it was a large entrance that opened up to a whole array of vibrant colors and sounds.

“Hey,” I heard Yoochun greet the lady behind the desk with that confident and deep voice of his.

She smiled at us and asked which areas we wished to buy a pass for. Apparently there were two levels of rock climbing—beginners and advanced, a pool area, and an abseiling area around the back of the building.

“No wonder this place isn’t located at the heart of the city. It wouldn’t have fit!” Yoochun joked with the lady. “But actually, the two of us,” he gestured to me with a smile, “were hoping to use the level our friend is working in today. I think that would be the beginners area?”

“Oh, I see then. What would be the name of your friend?”

“Jung Yunho.”

“Ah, yes, he’s working in Beginners today. There might be a wait though.”

“That’s fine. How much are two passes?”

“Are you members or are you just interested in a day pass?”

I passed Yoochun my wallet and peered past him at the intimidating multi-colors visible in the area behind. It looked like there were long black wires hanging from the ceiling near all the walls. The walls themselves weren’t smooth but were crafted in a way that imitated the bumps and steep diagonals of a cliff face. Little colorful knobs stuck out all over the bumpy walls for people to grip onto with their hands and shoes. I’d truly never seen anything like it. And the noise wafting over to us… It was a good noise, a happy noise, but a crowded noise too.

“A souvenir for you.” Yoochun passed me one of the yellow rectangular passes as well as the centre’s official business card.

“What do I do with these?”

“Pat it. Kiss it. Frame it.” He laughed at my unimpressed stare. “I don’t think you need to use it for anything unless someone asks to see it. Just put them in your bag. Or in your pants—the pocket of your pants, that is.”

I gave him another scathing look.

“Sorry, Hyung. Just trying to lighten you up. I haven’t seen you smile since the train.”

“I’m nervous.”

“I know.” He put his arm around my shoulder and walked with me into the throng of action.

The room was bigger than I had estimated from the front entrance. People were climbing walls at least three meters high all around me, attached to the black wires. Only one wall was free from any cords and much smaller than the rest—two meters at most. It looked much more family friendly and safer to climb.

At first I couldn’t tell the difference between the staff and ordinary people like us, but then the all black uniforms started standing out against the colorful walls. The staff nearest to me had what looked like walkie-talkies attached to their belts. They all looked so strong and sure of themselves. In their all black uniforms I couldn’t help but feel intimidated. The bag on my back was starting to feel heavy too. Yoochun and I were the only ones in the room wearing one.

I was too dumbfounded to even really distinguish one face from the other in the crowded area but Yoochun didn’t seem to be having much difficulty. Moving more to our right and across the room, he stopped and let out a sigh that almost sounded distressed. “I’m such a man…”

“Excuse me?”

“That girl over there has really nice legs. But I mean no disrespect at all to HyunAe!” he firmly added.

I saw he was referring to a group of girls who all looked younger than us. It was the beginning of winter but some of the girls had ditched the full-length jeans or workout tights for tight shorts. You could certainly see the length of their legs. Luckily the center seemed to have a bit of heat flowing through it. Mixed with the natural heat the body produces when exercising, the girls probably weren’t that cold.

“Oh my lord, he better not have heard me say that stuff about legs to you or I’m a dead man.”

I looked at Yoochun in confusion and then back at the girls. One of them moved aside to whisper something to her friend and I saw past them. Now Yoochun’s fussing all made sense. His girlfriend’s brother was with them. Out of earshot, but still there. And I couldn’t move.

I hadn’t seen his face for weeks and even now it was partially obscured as he bent to fiddle with one of the girls’ harness. But I knew it was him. The shape of his body stirred up feelings of familiarity, and on a deeper level, an almost painful yearning.

He straightened back up and part of the familiarity faded. My casually clad Yunho wasn’t there anymore—a dark-clothed professional stood in his place. The walkie-talkie attached to his belt looked almost threatening. It had looked threatening on the other staff members I had passed as well but more so on my boyfriend. He looked like the men I’d had to talk to once when I was a kid.

“Come on then,” Yoochun called, but my legs were jelly. I held onto the straps of my backpack and made small steps to catch up to Yoochun, who was walking casually over to the group in what now felt like a bold stride compared to me.

The girls were making some sort of joke because Yunho was alternating between smiling and laughing. The girl in the harness begun to climb up the wall but paused to start shrieking in a way only girls could get away with.

Some of her friends laughed at her from below, but some of the others laughed while looking at Yunho. He was just doing his job but they were looking at him in the same way I was. I hadn’t been here before but they clearly had so it was confusing that they were still staring at him like that.

“Ah, girls in their youth,” I heard Yoochun chuckle beside me. He had stopped to observe the group a little behind where they were standing. “They’re all the same. Always.” He looked back at me with a smile but I was still too confused to share in his amusement.

“There always seems to be two types of adolescents and young women. And these”—he nodded at the group—“are perfect Category As. Category As have this strange over-confidence that mixes in with blind delusions. They’ll try and flirt—with no shame I might add—with older men who are out of their range and clearly never going to be all that enticed. Well, apart from a brief appreciation of their figures,” he amended, probably recalling his own fascination with a certain pair of legs. “But they remain blind to that improbability and keep on trying; probably completely misinterpreting certain smiles and harmless flirting back as their magic working.”

He looked back at me again. “Did you not hear the part I said about delusional Category As with men who are out of their range and not gonna be interested?”

What had my face looked like for him to stress that last part?

He stepped back until he was next to me. “Their over-confidence is fascinating,” he murmured. “At what point are they able to take a step back and shed their delusions? At my old high school, hardly any Category As ever managed to grasp reality…”

I continued to hold onto the straps of my backpack as I watched on. The girls were close to encompassing Yunho, and as I learned later, it was only safety protocol that prevented a complete encircling. Even the girls who seemed to be genuinely having fun watching their friend brave the high wall would sometimes stop to watch Yunho’s movement even though he didn’t seem to be doing much with the safety rope in his hands.

The girl climbing the wall looked like she was about to retire early. The height was no match for her. “Oppa, I’m going to fall.”

“You’re not.”

My heart skipped at the sound of his voice that had been freed from a crackly phone line.

“I am! The knobs here are too small to grab onto. I’ll slip.”

“If you slip, it doesn’t matter. I’ve got you.”

“But what if you can’t catch me?”

“I wouldn’t catch you. The rope would. And the rope is locked into a secure position, so even if you did fall now, you’d be suspended.”

“I don’t trust it,” she whined.

“I assure you that the rope’s stronger than I am right now.”

The girl looked down at him. “Really? Then what are your big muscles for?”

I breathed deeply and gritted my teeth as I stared up at her. Even Yunho seemed taken aback by that one whilst Yoochun muttered an amused, “Category A” under his breath.

“To hold the rope,” Yunho calmly spoke after a moment and my eyes went back to him. Yunho could be daft a lot of the time but even he seemed to understand the awkward situation he was stuck in. “But since you don’t trust me, I’ll have to show you.” He applied extra strength to do something to the cord and then stepped back from it with his hand on his hips.

Yoochun seemed delighted beside me. “Ooh, snaps!”

“Been scarred personally by a Category As’ rejection?” I drawled, not taking my eyes off Yunho.

“Yes. That is true too. But it’s still funny,” he grinned.

“Oppa!” The girl did not sound happy with Yunho.

“Don’t be a baby, it’s totally safe!” one of her friend’s called up. She seemed impatient for her turn with Yunho and the wall.

Yunho didn’t say anything more to reassure the girl but he never stepped too far back anyway. I got the feeling it wasn’t because he didn’t trust the cord and harness, but because he respected her need for security.

Yoochun was still chuckling at the melodrama, and the girl stuck up the wall was still freaking out and yelling at Yunho, but through the noise I began to understand him perfectly. I looked up at the girl too frightened to move. She had to take the risk to see for herself that Yunho wasn’t lying. She had to respect him and his experience enough to know that he would never put her in danger with false encouragement. It would be scary but she would learn.

The intimidating black uniform and walkie-talkie faded away into unimportance. It really was him under there. Is that what a soul-to-soul recognition felt like?

My hands uncurled from my backpack’s straps and relaxed by my sides. I wanted to go and hug him. I wanted to let him know that I was here, that I was with him. Maybe a nastier side of me wanted all of them to know that too...

When the girl finally allowed herself to test the rope and let go of the wall, Yunho spoke again. “See what I mean? You’re perfectly safe so it’s okay if your grip fails you sometimes. Even the staff makes mistakes. We all need the harness.”

“Bullshit,” one of the girls on the ground laughed. “The staff do not always wear the harness. I saw your annual staff obstacle course competition thing last year.”

“Shhh!” Yunho broke into an unexpected laugh again.

“You cheater,” the girl continued to tease.

“It was only once,” Yunho grinned at her and I bit my lip.

“Yeah, once every year when you guys compete and cheat.”

“It’s not cheating when everyone else does it too.”

“Just dangerous.”

“Yes. Which is why only staff take part in that challenge, but should normally use a harness.”

“Spin doctor.”

“Tattletale.”

“Hypocrite.”

“Smart-arse.”

“Customer,” she corrected him.

“Oh yes,” Yunho grinned. “I better keep my mouth shut.”

She smiled wider and kept her gaze on him even as he turned his attention back onto the other girl to help her come back down the wall.

He was clearly outnumbered when the group of girls all tried to banter with him individually for as long as possible before another friend stole his attention. He was too nice to scold them for trying to distract him when he was doing his job. Or maybe he was enjoying it…

“Category B,” Yoochun whispered into my ear. When I looked at him it dawned on me that he was referring to me this time. “Bs are the second type of adolescents. But their vices can carry on for much longer and affect even their adult life. This type is much more quiet and astute, for they take time to listen to the world instead of charging forward into it like Category As do. They are much easier to deal with but are just as bad as Category As when it comes to delusion.

“Category Bs are deluded too far in the opposite direction. As are blind to their unattractive points and Bs are blind to their appealing points. They stay in the shadows and get left behind. Thus, the gap between A and B widens and a happy median is harder to achieve. If As shut up more and Bs spoke up more, it would be easier to find the right person for our personality.” He paused for a moment and then looked back at me. “Don’t fall back into Category B, Hyung.”

I looked away from him to find my breath. The noise and colors from other people filled my vision and I let my eyes drink it all up. I needed a break from even looking at Yunho and feeling the jealousy Yoochun clearly knew I possessed right now.

This new land was overwhelming. I already felt smaller and insignificant here more than usual. The irony was that normally I was quite happy to stay unnoticed in the back of a crowd, practically invisible. I never needed attention before. But when it came to Yunho…

I could kick myself for being so stupid. Especially for succumbing to jealousy when I knew I shouldn’t; when I’d put so much effort into preparing myself the whole train ride down to accept that I wouldn’t be the centre of Yunho’s attention in his real daily life.

Maybe it was a good thing Yunho hadn’t noticed us here. I didn’t want him to see me like this…

Some of the girls had already noticed us standing there with them, but apart from the occasional gaze that only sometimes lingered too long, they hadn’t tried talking to us. Yunho was still unaware and that meant I had time to get myself back under control.

In the time it took to give myself a few mental slaps, the girl previously struggling on the wall had made it back onto firm ground and was helping Yunho detach her from the long cord.

I don’t know if it was because I had calmed down or if it was just a coincidence that I noticed a different perspective, but as I watched Yunho helping the next girl fix her harness and attach herself to the long cord, a mask seemed to slip away. He didn’t look quite so happy anymore. Frustration and an overwhelming sense of tiredness wove a new image.

I felt ashamed. How could I get so wrapped up in feeling territorial and possessive when the man was struggling to even deal with the crowd. In his section there were only females right now, who I suspected were harder to handle than men who were more interested in personal fitness than who their instructor was. This place was a breeding ground for loud Category As—as Yoochun called them.

I was beginning to see that Yunho had meant nothing truer after all when he told me he liked doing nothing with me in town. I was quiet, the town was quiet, his head was quiet. Not having that weekly break was affecting him. For the first time since I’d stepped into the centre, I found myself leaving behind my Category B skin and actually feeling glad that I was there. There for him, not just me.

“Can you please step back, girls, for safety.” Two of them had come up behind Yunho to either cheer their friend on from a closer proximity or remind him that they still needed a turn too.

“Let the poor man breathe, yeh? It won’t be so great if an accident happens and Mr Jung gets blamed,” Yoochun called out to the group. As an offside, he leaned closer to me and said with a grin, “Sometimes girls just need to hear some extra authority from another handsome man.”

I shook my head at his exaggerated ego but was only briefly amused, for Yoochun’s loud exclamation suddenly brought everyone’s attention onto us—including Yunho’s. I could feel my cheeks heating up and the bag on my back growing heavier. And bulkier. Had it grown twice the size of me?

Yunho was frowning at us as if he couldn’t quite understand how or why Yoochun and I could be there, but then his eyes widened. I felt incredibly shy that he was staring at me like that in front of the girls. What was worse, he still wasn’t smiling.

Yoochun took control of the situation and walked up to Yunho with his hand extended. Yunho stepped away from the girl in the harness to shake his hand but his frown deepened.

“Is everything okay?” he looked from Yoochun to me and back.

“Yeah. Fine,” Yoochun shrugged. Then he wore a proud smirk. “We’re on a road-trip.”

I walked up to Yunho too with a nervous smile and nodded. I extended my hand out as well but instead of just shaking it, he took it and used the contract to pull me forward into a hug. It was a little awkward with my backpack on so it felt more like a headlock, but I was able to hold him back in pleasant surprise.

“Hey,” I softly greeted near his ear. His hair smelt so nice and his cheek was so warm. I closed my eyes to take all of it in. “Sorry for barging in when you’re busy.”

Very briefly I felt fingers stroke my hair but then he slipped out of the embrace. “No, I’m just a bit surprised. I thought something bad must have happened in town. A road-trip?”

“Mm,” I nodded. “To see how you are going.” If there weren’t so many people nearby, I might have given his arm a long pat. Or, you know, kissed him…

“I’m fine now…” he smiled and I smiled back. Now that the surprise had worn off, he seemed really happy to see me and that thought alone was enough to send me to cloud nine.

“But…you’ve got to get back to work. We’ll just wait until your shift ends to talk. It won’t be that long of a wait anyway.” I really didn’t want to talk in front of those girls anyway. It was mean of me but I didn’t want them to see the real Yunho.

“How did you…”

“Oh, you didn’t know? I have telepathy.”

“Oh, of course.” His face fell, “I wish I could show you around.”

“There’s always tomorrow.” I shrugged and looked back at Yoochun for confirmation.

“So…”

“So hurry up and work,” I chuckled and then stepped back to get out of the girls’ way.

“Ladies, is it cool with you to look out for our spot? I wanna check out the rest of this place.” Yoochun slipped his bag off and one of the girls reached out to hold it for him. Apparently our status had been raised.

“Oh but…you can’t.” Yunho looked apologetic. “We don’t really allow them in here when it’s crowded because they’re a trip hazard so—”

Yoochun silenced him with a hand and grabbed his bag back. “Turtles it is. They’re pretty light anyway. Come on, dear chum.” Yoochun flung an arm over my shoulder and led me down the rest of the room. As we walked he whispered into my ear, “Coolest boyfriend Zero-One’s phase complete and successful. Congrats for being the apple of his eye.”

“Excuse me?”

He leant in again to whisper, “When you guys were hugging, I’m pretty sure I saw him get misty-eyed. He had to close them to get under control. It was quick but I swear I didn’t see wrong.”

“Really?”

”Yahuh. I think our chosen day of intervention turned out to be impeccable.”

“Poor Yunho…”

“Nah, he’s a big boy. He can cope with a bit of work stress. It’s nice to get a break sometimes though and see the people you’ve been wanting to.”

We walked down the large room and watched how well other people were able to scale the walls. Whilst we were at it, we looked out for Eunbi and Junsu in case they were on duty too but had no luck. I did notice though that there were more females trying to climb than just Yunho’s lot. I hadn’t thought there’d be such a high interest for girls.

After taking the stairs up to the next floor, we found only men in the advanced area. They dealt with their harness and cords by themselves to scale the even bigger walls. Staff on this level only supervised the climbers from a distance.

“It would have been luckier if Yunho’s shift was on this level…” I murmured.

“Yeap. But with his personality, he’s better suited to dealing with people more personally, I suppose. He has that real knack for people. He’d be wasted up here.”

“True…” I sighed. The walls were so high up in the advanced level; it made me nervous just watching people attempt to climb up them by themselves.

I gladly walked up to the last level in the building. On this third level was a pool. From the decent amount of people in the water in winter who knew how to swim, I assumed it was a heated pool. The air was thick with the smell of chemicals but the view of mountaintops in the distance from the large glass windows that surrounded us was beautiful. Who knew such beauty existed up here.

Yoochun and I gazed out at them for a while, sipping the warm coffee we’d retrieved from the vending machines. Our bags were finally resting out of the way by our feet.

“You okay so far?” Yoochun asked.

“Yeh. Just a little…”

“Overwhelmed?”

“Yes,” I nodded with a small smile.

“It’s culture shock. Well, minus the actual going to another country aspect,” he chuckled. “You’ll get there.”

“Thanks.”

“But until you do, you have me!” He let out a girly squeal and skipped a few steps over to me and bear hugged me with force. “Oh,” he popped his head up from my shoulder, “and you have that other dude here for you as well.”

I laughed and hugged him back.

Just before Yunho’s shift ended, there was time for Yoochun to climb one of the walls with Yunho. I was more than happy just to watch from the ground as the designated bag minder. Besides, it meant I got to stand next to Yunho.

Yoochun made melodramatic whooping noises as he neared the top of the wall. He looked ridiculous with his arms and legs spread out wide but it was too late to change his position now that he’d chosen those footholds. “I’m Spiderman! Boo yeh!”

“Oh boy.” I hid my face in my palm.

Yunho looked at me and laughed.

“You should do that thing where the cord gets tightened and locked so you can’t go any further down,” I muttered.

“Ahh, I like it,” Yunho grinned and set the mechanism up. He walked away from the oblivious Yoochun and came to stand by me. He bumped his hip against mine and as always my shy but happy smile reached the surface. “So you guys said the trip down was fun?”

“Mmhmm.”

“And the café’s all good?”

“Mmhmm.” Yoochun had convinced me that it was fine to leave a lower manager of sorts in charge for a few days with a pay bonus. I guess I was too desperate to see Yunho because I agreed to that plan despite my misgivings.

“And what are your plans here on your road trip? How long will you be here for?”

I smiled at his nonchalance. Lately I could tell whenever he was using that tone as a shield. “The plans are to be around as much as possible when you’re not working. We’re here for a few days.”

“You’re not going to sightsee?” He had turned to look up at Yoochun now.

“If it’s with you.” My smile widened further as I watched him. “I forgot sometimes that even you’re shy.”

“Wha—” He turned to look at me again but his pink cheeks confirmed everything.

“Rather than a road trip, it’s really more of a Yunho and HyunAe trip,” I confessed in case he still didn’t believe me.

We had a moment then but it was broken prematurely by Yoochun’s yell of indignation. “You assholes! I could have died and you wouldn’t notice.”

“You’re not going to fall, you’re Spiderman,” I shouted back with a grin that got Yunho chuckling beside me.

“Yes, I’m not going to fall, am I? Considering I’m stuck.”

Yunho and I exchanged a look and laughed again.

“Help me, Batman!”

“I-Is he referring to me?” Yunho asked, a little bewildered.

“Yes, you!” Yoochun shouted down, reading Yunho’s body language. “You’re dressed in all black, got good gadgets, and you’re more than a little bit secretly mean.”

“Hey!”

Yunho’s mouth was open so wide I couldn’t stifle my laugh as I quickly pulled him into a side hug and squeezed his waist. “You’re really not helping your case there, Yoochunnie,” I chuckled and leant into Yunho to keep my balance.

Now that there were fewer distractions around us, I could relax and watch the way Yunho worked. He was so competent at everything he did. He had to be one of the best instructors in the room. Dare I say I was pretty excited that he was mine right now.

“I see your point and I will now grovel.”

“Go on then,” Yunho smirked and then folded his arms across his chest.

“Batman is awesome because he has his own spotlight and a freakin’ cool Batmobile. You’re just to cool for Spiderman, Yunho. Too cool. And clearly more powerful right now. So, good fellow, help a little spider in need.”

“I will lower you down and then squash you,” Yunho grinned and unlocked the wire system. I watched his arms in fascination as he did it. His dark shirt looked quite flattering on him from this angle. It covered the bulk of his muscles but you could still get a good idea of how strong he was. It wasn’t a surprise that the girls had noticed earlier. I just wish they hadn’t felt the need to say it out loud.

My arm itched to curl around his waist again and pull him into another side hug, but I would have been just as bad as those girls if I got in the way of him doing his job. Not that those girls were here to see it anymore, but I wanted to set a good example.

When Yunho’s shift ended, he grabbed his bag from the staff’s private room, handed the walkie-talkie over and said his goodbyes. Outside, his car keys jingled and he looked over at us whilst he led us over to his car. It was black and a nice size with only minimal dents near the bumper bar. “Have you guys got somewhere to stay?”

Yoochun and I exchanged a look that got each other laughing. “Actually yes, Yunho. We do,” Yoochun said and threw his bag into Yunho’s boot. “This really nice couple called the Jungs gave us permission to stay at their house, via their daughter, Princess HyunAe.”

Yunho paused by the driver’s side in surprise. “How come they never informed the prince?”

“What prince?” Yoochun asked.

I laughed and pushed him, then turned back to Yunho. “You weren’t home a lot so they never had a chance to tell you, I guess.” I didn’t want Yoochun to let it slip that we had collaborated on a surprise for him. It would sound too lame and embarrassing.

“So that’s how you guys got the timing right for my shift…”

“Bingo,” Yoochun cheerily replied before he slipped into the backseat.

I tried to push my nervousness down as I slowly got into the front seat next to Yunho. The feeling soon left though; it was far more fascinating to watch him drive and maneuver his way through the busy streets. It was at least a twenty-minute drive back to his house but I got so caught up watching him that I forgot to also look at the strange new visuals outside of my window.

“We can pick up some takeaway on the way back,” Yunho spoke as we settled into our seats in front of a red light. I felt him look at me and raised my eyes from the car in front to see what he wanted. “As far as I remember, my parents are going out after dinner for a violin recital, so we’ll pretty much have the house to ourselves.”

Sometimes I wished Yunho wasn’t so very aware of my shyness when it came to other people.

“ And my sister can probably make herself scarce. Oh, wait,” he glanced into the rear-view mirror and caught Yoochun’s eye. “I forgot. Well, you’ll be, erm…”

“I’m taking her out. She knew in advance,” he grinned back.

“Right... Of course…”

The traffic cleared up and we started moving again. He was only steering with one hand now that we had reached a more congested area, and his other hand rested between us just behind the hand brake. I bit my lip in a moment of rebellion and ran my hand down his arm. I let my hand rest near his wrist. He caught my eye and smiled gently. It was enough to convince me to leave it there until he needed two hands on the wheel again.

It felt so right to be near him again. He had changed my world. Now that I knew him, my home didn’t feel like home unless he was nearby. I could no longer handle weeks of solitude and not be bothered by it. If it meant I could have him, if it meant I could keep him by my side, I would do anything—even if it meant taking a leaf out of Category As’ book.

///TBC///

A/N: And there ends the first road trip chapter, hehe. Jae is in the city, yo! Who would have ever thought... And he hasn't even passed out yet! haha~

Hmmm, what else to say this time, what else to say... I always get a mind blank when it comes to the little end note. Would you believe me if I said it took me like five minutes just to write this paragraph? XD (I'm so tired, you'll have to forgive me. ^^;;)

I'm still replying to your comments left on the last chapter and I gotta say: wow guys, I didn't expect so many after my long-ass hiatus. Thank you so much for taking the time to write your thoughts down! (And you guys are so much better at writing your thoughts than I am if this is anything to go by, hahha.) Love you all for the support and discussions! <333