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[law!verse] Of Cleaning and Bad Men
Jaejoong woke rather abruptly to screaming. It took him a second to realize that it was Seungyon.
“Wha-“ Yunho half rose from the bed; Jaejoong was already out the door, blowing past Changmin who was blinking thickly from his doorway, baseball bat in hand.
Seungyon was wrapped in his blankets, curled on his bed, his pillows already wet from snot and tears.
“Hey. Seungie, what is it?”
Jaejoong wasn’t sure what his nephew muttered as he threw his arms around Jaejoong’s neck, so Jaejoong just held Seungyon tight, rocking him until his breathing evened out. The bathroom was a few steps away and Jaejoong wet a face cloth wiped at his cheeks, deciding not to mind as Seungyon blew his nose in it. Jaejoong was thankful that it wasn’t his shirt.
“Dreamt she wasn’t coming back,” Seungyon whispered, sniffing a little as Jaejoong handed him a proper tissue. “Car crash.”
Jaejoong didn’t have to ask who “she” was.
“You’re mother’s flying home tomorrow,” Jaejoong said quietly, “So that’s just silly.”
Seungyon released a shaky breath and Jaejoong picked him up, neither of them complaining that Seungyon was ten and shouldn’t really be picked up and carried anywhere.
“Want to sleep with us?” Jaejoong asked, walking towards his bedroom without waiting for an answer.
Yunho was half awake, fitting around them both easily, landing clumsy kisses on both their foreheads before falling back to sleep. Jaejoong swallowed slightly as he remembered Yuho’s fury the day before, the way he had raged about his case being false and having no leads whatsoever about who it was that had fed him the lies. Jaejoong had never seen him so upset and he never wanted to again.
Seungyon settled in between Yunho and Jaejoong, snuggling into their warmth, his uncle smoothing away the fear in his heart.
Jaejoong found Yunho’s hand that was resting over Seungyon and linked fingers with it, watching Seungyon fall asleep.
“Jaejoong?” Seungyon murmured.
“What?”
“Thank you for taking such good care of us.”
Jaejoong leant his head a little and kissed Seungyon’s forehead. “Love you,” he whispered.
“I love you too,” Seungyon replied.
~~~~
Yunho woke to kisses landing somewhat sloppily on his face. He was about to tell Jaejoong to leave him alone when he heard a little giggle that sounded too high to be his boyfriend. He cracked an eye open and saw Ha Neul on the bed beside him, grinning voraciously.
"Jaejae says get up or else!" She announced cheerily.
"I suppose he told you to use any means possible," Yunho grumbled.
Ha Neul's smile widened, obviously very happy about the power bestowed upon her.
"I don't really want to right now," Yunho said, and pulled Ha Neul closer, trapping her in his arms. The last thing he wanted to do was get out of bed and face the mess that had become his life. He just wanted to stay in bed and sleep, preferably with Jaejoong.
"You're gonna be in trouble," Ha Neul wriggled uselessly.
"No I won't," Yunho mumbled, and fell back to sleep.
He next woke to something fluffy hitting his head lightly.
"Up! Up!"
Yunho did not consider a pillow wielding Sun Hea to be much of a threat. He had no idea where Ha Neul went, so he reached out and cuddled Sun Hea like he had her sister. Because she was two, Sun Hea was immediately distracted and she wrapped her little arms around Yunho's neck.
"Good girl," Yunho murmured, and he fell asleep to Sun Hea's gentle breathing.
He wasn't sure how long his respite lasted but the next thing he heard was a gentle clearing of a throat. Seungyon stood uncertainly next to the bed looking decidedly nervous. "Jaejoong says: 'Jung Yunho get your lazy ass of out of bed right this second or there will be hell to pay.'"
"Did he really tell you to say ass and hell or are you paraphrasing?"
Seungyon paled slightly. "Um..."
"If you leave me alone I won't tell," Yunho shifted in the sheets as Sun Hea mumbled dreamily.
"Okay," Seungyon said, "Sleep well."
Yunho congratulated himself on knowing all three of the children so well and fell asleep smiling.
"Jung. Yunho."
A part of him reacted immediately to the displeased voice and his mind scrambled for a million excuses. The other part of him very logically argued that his boyfriend could not order him out of bed that easily. The latter won out.
"Come lay with me," Yunho mumbled, reaching out blindly for Jaejoong.
"If you please, Professor, I would really appreciate your help downstairs."
Yunho made sure that Sun Hea was no longer near him before yanking Jaejoong down on top of him.
"Yunho!"
"Five minutes," Yunho mumbled into Jaejoong's neck, "Five minutes then I promise to do whatever you ask without complaint."
"I'm going to count."
"S'fine," Yunho felt accomplished. Apparently he could still get people to do what he wanted. It was a wonderful realization.
"Love you," Yunho murmured, finding skin to touch, "Love you so much,"
"Sap," Jaejoong returned, but his mouth was smiling when Yunho successfully managed to kiss it. "You are so going to pay for letting me deal with house full of kids all by myself."
"Three is not a house full, you've done it all summer."
"Three plus Changmin and Yejin. That equals a house full."
Yunho pulled away, finally awake. "Why is Yejin here?"
"Changmin."
Yunho raised an eyebrow.
"Don't ask him about it. He'll bite you."
"Did he bite you? Tell me where; I'll kiss it."
Jaejoong shoved him. "Nice try. Get up. It's been more than five minutes."
"Has not."
"Do not add to the number of kids I have to deal with right now, oh Pouter Extraordinaire. I need another sensible head."
"Where's Yoochun?"
"Moving his stuff into Junsu's dorm room and then going to pick up my sister at the airport. Besides which, when they’re together and don’t have to be responsible, they aren’t exactly sensible.”
Yunho sighed. "Make it up to me later?"
Jaejoong sniffed. "What's to make up? You're the one that's not listening to me."
He seemed terribly unaffected by the whole thing but the small smile shot over his shoulder told Yunho that, yes, he would be rewarded later for his troubles. That, the professor thought, would have gotten him out of bed a long time ago.
~~~~~
After pulling on a t-shirt and some sweats that Yunho was sure Jaejoong would cut into rags given the opportunity, the professor trudged his way downstairs. There was mug of coffee sitting on the countertop for him, still steaming.
"You're my hero," Yunho said, grabbing the mug with one arm and using his other to wrap around Jaejoong's middle.
"I'm cleaning," Jaejoong pointed out, trying to move his arm.
"I'm loving," Yunho responded and proceeded to sip his caffeine over Jaejoong's shoulder.
"Pfft, this is not loving. This is annoying."
Yunho set the coffee cup down, holding Jaejoong tight in both arms. "Allow me to demonstrate the difference between loving and annoying."
"Yunho," Jaejoong warned, but he was screeching as Yunho blew gently into his ear, tickling his sides- "Okay," he gasped, "Okay, loving. I get it."
"No," Yunho corrected, "That was annoying."
He turned Jaejoong around and kissed him soundly, only pulling away after Jaejoong moaned quietly against his mouth. "That's loving."
"Loving," Jaejoong nodded faintly, closing his eyes, letting Yunho run fingers through his hair, “Differences have been noted, professor.”
“I hope you payed close attention. There will be a test later.”
Jaejoong chuckled into another kiss.
"Keep the kitchen a PG area, please and thank you," Changmin's voice said from the doorway.
"Kissing is a PG activity," Jaejoong pouted, and to as if to prove his lover's statement correct, Yunho leant in to kiss the offending frown quickly. "See? PG."
"Kissing while moaning throatily is not PG," Changmin said.
"I wasn't moaning!" Jaejoong protested and Yunho coughed into his hand. "Was I?"
"A little," Yunho grinned, and then added, "It was nice," as Jaejoong shot him a dark look.
"Is your stuff all packed?" Jaejoong asked, going back to his stovetop scrubbing. Changmin leant against the door frame.
"Yes. Yoochun just called me; he and Junsu are at the airport."
Yunho hoisted himself up onto the newly scoured counter, claiming his coffee once more. "Why didn't he call Jaejoong?"
"Well, he thought you'd be too busy to answer your phone," Changmin said, "Although, I highly doubt he thought you'd be busy with each other."
Jaejoong turned to glare at his friend.
"I'm just saying," Changmin defended.
"Well don't. If you have free time then you can start cleaning the bathroom."
"I don’t,” Changmin said, "I'm going to take Sun Hea and go pick out balloons."
Yunho downed the rest of his drink, "How about you go clean the bathroom and I'll take Sun Hea out. That way, you get to stay here with Yejin."
Changmin's face was thunderous at best, though Yunho could almost detect a hidden glimmer of hope in his student's eyes. Or was it happiness?
"Fine," Changmin said, "Sun Hea's currently throwing her clothes around her room. Have fun."
Yunho chuckled as he pictured the mess. He rinsed his mug out and put it into the dishwater, earning him an angry hiss from Jaejoong.
"You couldn't take five seconds to wash it and put it away?"
Yunho kissed his temple and Jaejoong snorted.
The professor pulled on some actual clothes before venturing into Sun Hea's bedroom. Yejin was following Sun Hea around, trying to pick up the clothes the little girl threw. Sun Hea just kept throwing clothes and Yunho stared in wonderment, trying to think of where she had managed to get so many outfits.
The answer came easily. Jaejoong.
"Sun Hea," he said, sounding more amused than he did stern.
Yejin looked terribly relieved and smiled at him.
"What are you doing, honey? You and I have to go buy some decorations."
"Dress!" Sun Hea insisted, emptying another drawer.
Yunho knew the one she meant. "Jaejoong's washing it right now, you need to find something else to wear."
"No," Sun Hea pouted, but she had stopped walking around her room and now stood in the middle of her created chaos looking very sad.
"What about your other pink dress? I think that one looks really good on you. Junsu really likes it to."
"Su likes it?" She asked, cocking her head.
"And Changmin," Yunho added, hoping that if he mentioned both of her favorites she might be more easily persuaded.
She chewed her bottom lip for a bit before nodding, "Kay."
"Now we have to find it, help me pick up-" he trailed off as Sun Hea skipped over to her bed and pulled out the pink dress she had worn to Ha Neul's recital. "And of course you know exactly where you threw it," Yunho grumbled.
Sun Hea beamed.
"You need to pick up this danger zone you made before we go anywhere."
It turned out that Sun Hea was something of a little dictator when it came to her clothes. Fifteen minutes into trying to understand her directions, Jaejoong appeared in the doorway. "What is going on in here? You should have left already.”
"Ask her," Yunho said, from behind a mountain of unfolded shirts.
"Sun Hea," Jaejoong said severely, "We just cleaned this morning, why is it a mess again?"
"Su likes it!" Sun Hea held up the pink fabric hopefully.
"I put that out on your bed for you to change into earlier. There was no reason for you to empty your closets."
Sun Hea kept her very innocent expression. Jaejoong shut his eyes momentarily looking slightly frustrated and Yunho wondered if he could use that as an excuse for more loving. “Get dressed, and then when you get back we’re going to clean this again so your mother doesn’t have a fit. And we’re going to make a rule about how many clothes you can take out in a day.”
“No rules,” Sun Hea said, squinching up her nose, “Yuck.”
“Well, you’ve obviously proven that you need one. Now get dressed.”
Yunho gave a mental sigh as Sun Hea sulked while allowing him to slide on her dress. “You can go help Changmin,” Yunho told Yejin, “He’s cleaning the bathrooms. Supposedly. You’re even welcome to yell at him if he isn’t.”
“Okay,” Yejin said, grinning.
~~~~~
Jaejoong heard Sun Hea babbling as she came down the stairs, held securely in Yunho’s arms. He looked up as they came into the kitchen; he wasn’t sure if he should be offended or not when she didn’t immediately stretch out her arms for him.
“She’s mad at you,” Yunho informed him.
“Rules,” Sun Hea said moodily.
“Well if you’re good when you’re out and if you listen to me properly when you get back, maybe they won’t happen,” Jaejoong tapped her nose, “Okay?”
“Softie,” Yunho scoffed.
“I didn’t hear you helping me earlier. I bet you cozied right up to her, didn’t he?” Jaejoong shot Sun Hea a look. She nodded sagely, like she understood perfectly.
Jaejoong kissed Yunho’s frown. “The store down the street has some balloons and streamers. You should be able to find some pink ones there.”
“Pink!”
Yunho sighed and nodded. Jaejoong held back a giggle as he heard Yunho say, “One pair of shoes, Sun Hea, you can’t wear two pairs at a time.”
After hearing the door shut, Jaejoong went back to sweeping under cupboard overhangs that he had neglected all summer (because as much as he nagged everyone else about it, he hated cleaning.) He had about two minutes of peace before Seungyon came barreling into the kitchen holding a stack of books in front of him. It looked precarious and Jaejoong’s brain was immediately filled with several unpleasant outcomes of his nephew’s running.
“Tell Ha Neul she can’t throw them away!”
“What?” Jaejoong asked.
“She said you told her to clean and she started throwing my books away! Tell her she can’t!”
Jaejoong held back his frustrated sigh and walked upstairs. Ha Neul was indeed trying to fit not just books, but most of Seungyon’s possessions into his miniature trash can. “Ha Neul. Sweetie. What are you doing?”
“Cleaning,” Ha Neul said determinedly, attempting to pull Seungyon’s lamp from his desk. “It’s all gross.”
Jaejoong noted that Seungyon’s stuffed animals remained untouched. “Ha Neul, just because you don’t like it, it doesn’t mean that Seungyon disli- Ha Neul!” Jaejoong saw the lamp teeter dangerously and just managed to pull her out of it’s path before hit the floor and shattered.
Ha Neul thankfully did not shriek; Jaejoong’s ear was very glad.
He stepped around the sharp pieces, “You are not allowed to clean his room, Ha Neul.”
He heard a whimper. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to break it.”
“Oh- sweetie, I didn’t...I’m not mad at you for breaking it, okay? But you can’t throw people’s possessions away without asking them first. Seungyon likes all those things.”
“Okay,” she said quietly.
“Did you already clean your room, pick up all your clothes?”
She nodded against her shoulder as she walked down the stairs. “Why don’t you go see if Changmin and Yejin need help?”
“They don’t like me,” Ha Neul stated.
“What? Of course they like you. Why would you say that?”
“They don’t pay any ‘tention to me. They just sneak glances at each other.”
Jaejoong couldn’t hold back a laugh. “Well, you can tell both of them that I said that they’re to listen to you, okay? They’re not allowed to make goo-goo eyes at each other. You go make sure they’re cleaning properly. And by cleaning I don’t mean throwing away things you don’t like.”
Ha Neul pouted for a minute and then nodded, “Okay. What are goo-goo eyes?”
“Ask Changmin,” Jaejoong whispered, wishing desperately he could see the look on his friend’s face as he tried to maneuver out of answering the question, “And tell him he’s gonna be in big trouble if he doesn’t give you an answer.”
Already high on her power trip, Ha Neul marched towards the bathroom. On his way to clean up the mess with broom and dustpan, Jaejoong did a little dance, inwardly, as he heard Changmin’s choked exclamations from the bathroom. Oh how he was going to miss the kids.
The doorbell rang before he could even start to pick up the pieces of the broken lamp.
“I got it!” Seungyon shouted and something told Jaejoong that maybe that wasn’t the best idea.
Having learned to trust this strange instinct that had developed over the summer, he dropped his broom and catapulted down the stairs, almost smacking into Yejin who was following Seungyon curiously. “Seungyon don’t-“
But he had, and Jaejoong stopped mid-dash as Yejin’s cousin stepped into the mudroom. Seungyon jumped back a couple paces, somehow sensing, perhaps due to Jaejoong’s yelling, that he had just done a very stupid thing.
“Hi Yejinnie,” He said sweetly.
Jaejoong’s mouth went dry for a second as he heard Yejin squeak; he glanced behind him and saw Yejin gripping onto Seungyon tightly.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Jaejoong growled.
There was a bump and a swear from the general direction of the bathroom and Jaejoong shifted in time to see Changmin leap out of the doorframe looking positively ferocious. Yejin hid behind his back immediately. Seungyon didn’t move, looking positively terrified. Apparently he had deduced more of the situation than Jaejoong had thought.
“I went to the doctor’s house but no one was there, can I come in?”
“No,” Jaejoong and Changmin said simultaneously.
“How courteous.”
“You are not welcome in his house, get out,” Changmin said, tightening his grip on Yejin’s arms that were around his middle.
“Yejinnie we miss you, we want you back,” the man said, ignoring Changmin, “Please come back with me.”
“No,” Yejin said, her chin trembling.
“Come on,” the man continued, stepping forward, “Your mother’s so upset.”
I’ll bet she is, Jaejoong thought viciously, stepping in man’s path. “You’re not wanted; you’re trespassing. I suggest you leave before I yell for the police officers that are outside right now.”
The man’s gaze slid up and down Jaejoong’s body. Jaejoong wasn’t sure if he was being sized up or looked at like a piece of meat. Either way he did not appreciate it and he wanted to punch the man in the face even more. He wished that Yunho hadn’t gone to buy decorations.
“Yejin,” the man said, and Jaejoong did not like the man’s tone. At all.
“The door is behind you,” Jaejoong said in his best icy lawyer voice.
Scowling the man retreated. “This isn’t over. We’ll get you back.”
Jaejoong locked the door firmly behind him, making a mental note to yell at the officers outside later on before turning back to Yejin who had already collapsed into tears. Changmin staggered a little from the weight of her before deciding to plop down onto the floor.
“I’m sorry,” Seungyon whispered, “I’m sorry I let him in.”
“It’s not your fault,” Jaejoong said, patting his head, “Don’t worry about it, okay?”
Seungyon nodded, though he still looked skeptical.
“Go keep an eye on Ha Neul for me?” Jaejoong asked, realizing that she had been unsupervised for a small period of time.
The boy sniffed, wiping his face, and walked away, calling out to Ha Neul quietly.
Jaejoong sunk down to the ground and soothed Yejin’s back while she sobbed into Changmin’s shoulder. Jaejoong pretended not to notice the tears in Changmin’s eyes; there were some things that were not okay to remember for the sake of teasing. When Yejin started to have a hard time breathing, Jaejoong started to worry. “Hey,” he whispered, “No one’s going to take you away. I promise.”
The sight of her broke his heart. Her confidence that had appeared in class had long since shattered and he didn’t envy Leeteuk or Kangin the job of whispering it back into her every night. “Do you want me to call Leeteuk?” he asked quietly and was slightly relieved when she managed to nod. He felt no jealousy as he stood to call his friend. She needed someone like Leeteuk and Jaejoong suspected that she was also good for the pediatrician.
He tried their home first and was pleasantly surprised when Kangin picked up the phone. It didn’t take him long to learn that they had actually been home and seen the cousin approaching the house. They had called the police but the man had left before anything could be done. Jaejoong hung up with promises of very fast driving ringing in his ear.
He was on his way back to the pile of Yejin Changmin Tears on the floor when he heard a key in the lock and Yunho walked in with Sun Hea perched on his shoulders, bag held in his hand. “Why is the door lo-” He took in the sight of Yejin sobbing and Changmin patting her back and Jaejoong looking ready to kill something before asking, “What happened?”
“Unwanted visitor.”
Yunho set down the bag and lifted Sun Hea from his shoulders and onto the floor. “Why she sad?” Sun Hea asked, immediately running to Jaejoong.
He met Yunho’s eyes over her head and said softly, “A very bad man came and scared her.”
“You yell at him?” Sun Hea asked seriously.
“I did,” Jaejoong said, holding her tight as Yunho bent down to whisper to Yejin, “I gave him a good talking-to.”
“Gone for good,” Sun Hea said, and Jaejoong imagined she probably did think his lectures could banish anyone.
“She’s hyperventilating,” Changmin said, and Jaejoong decided that even if Kangin was speeding he was still going to call Leeteuk. “God, Yejin, calm down, please breathe. Stop scaring me,” Changmin pulled her closer, “Please breathe, Yejinnie, slowly.”
Jaejoong almost cried with relief as Seungyon walked back into the room carrying a petrified Ha Neul. “Sun Hea go and stand with your brother,” Jaejoong directed, and the little girl took off, clutching tightly at her brother’s leg.
“Jaejoong? We’re almost there.”
“Leeteuk, she’s hyperventilating, tell me what to do becauseshesgoingtostopbreathingsoon.”
“Put the phone up to her ear so I can talk to her. And Kangin’s going to call Yunho to tell him what to do.”
Jaejoong was slightly calmed at the sound of Leeteuk’s professional voice. He heard Leeteuk say hyperventilation to Kangin and by the time Jaejoong held the phone to Yejin’s ear, Yunho was listening intently to Kangin’s instructions.
Yejin was clutching at Changmin’s shirt as she tried to breathe and cry and scream all at the same time. Changmin had started singing and in a minute, under whatever Leeteuk was whispering to her and Yunho’s gentle directions for breathing, she started to get lungfuls of air.
It was only another five minutes before Leeteuk burst in through the door and pushed everyone out of the way as he yanked Yejin close to him and Kangin. She calmed in a matter of moments and Jaejoong was sure this time that he was crying tears of relief.
~~~~
Fifteen minutes after Leeteuk’s arrival and Yejin was laying in Changmin’s former bed with Leeteuk wrapped around her and Kangin close by, monitoring her condition (or so he said, Jaejoong was more inclined that it was due to his overprotective tendencies.) Yunho had paced for the entire time, clearly deep in thought.
“Okay,” he finally said, “Come on, I need some support.”
“What?” Jaejoong asked.
Yunho pulled him into the bedroom and then crouched beside the bed, stroking Yejin’s hair before whispering “Yejin, I need you to listen to me for a minute, okay? Seriously.”
Yejin nodded.
“If...if you are okay with it, I can go down the station and get a restraining order on all your family members.”
“It’s a good idea,” Leeteuk said into her ear, “This can’t keep happening, Yejin.”
“But,” Yunho said, “You’re going to have to file a complaint, an accusation. You need to tell the police what’s happening.”
Her lip started to tremble and Jaejoong could sense another panic attack coming on. “Yunho...”
“You don’t have to be frightened,” Yunho soothed, “There’s nothing scary about it. In fact, I can tell them as your lawyer, but you have to write it out and sign it. Can you do that?”
“I...” Yejin started, “I don’t...want to be so troublesome.”
“You’re not,” Yunho said, “You’re not at all. There’s nothing I’d rather be doing than helping you. I want to see the people that hurt you put behind bars. I can do that if you’ll let me.”
“We all want to help you,” Leeteuk whispered.
Jaejoong walked closer to the bed and wrapped his arms around Yunho, saying, “You’ve got the best lawyer in Seoul offering you his services for free, Yejin. And you’ve got all of us to keep you safe. I’d say it’s a pretty good deal.”
Yejin looked around the room. “Okay,” she whispered finally, and Jaejoong wanted to scream for joy, “you can do it.”
~~~~~~~~
Yeah. So. No excuses for how long this took me. Sorry.
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