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[law!verse] Rumors, Lies, and More Kisses
"The Dean wants to have lunch."
Yunho's chopsticks paused half way to his mouth. "What?"
"I invited him over. He'll be here at noon."
Yunho put his chopsticks down and stared at Jaejoong. "I'm feeling a little incredulous. Why would you invite him here?"
"I'm sure he suspects something," Jaejoong said reasonably, "So I figure, what better way to dissuade him than have him here? Yes?"
"No," Yunho hoped he looked stern, but he wasn't banking on it, not if Jaejoong's You Know I'm Right stare was any indication.
"You said it yourself," Jaejoong argued, "I lost my roommate and you offered me a place to stay. It's all terribly convenient. And you're not teaching anymore."
"Yes, but Jaejoong, it's the Dean."
"Don't worry," Jaejoong patted the top of Yunho's head as he meandered towards the shower, "I'll make something really yummy."
Yunho groaned. He should not have taught Jaejoong to argue so effectively.
~~~~
Yunho hoped that his smile was genuine when he opened up his apartment door to a rather prim looking Dean.
"I hope I'm not intruding too much. I was a little surprised when Jaejoong-ssi invited me to your apartment."
"You and I both," Yunho confided, "I suppose that's when I get for trying to be kind. Ever since I told him he could stay here he's taken over everything."
Yunho could almost hear Jaejoong smoldering from the kitchen and it made him smirk. "Come in. I've discovered that Jaejoong cooks, I think you'll like enjoy his lunch."
"Thank you."
Yunho had to congratulate himself slightly because he had ben able to effectively convince Jaejoong that they had to do a little bit of acting. A little bit of "this is still kind of awkward because we're student/teacher" acting plus a small hint of formal language. Yunho hoped that maybe the Dean wouldn't look too far into it.
Oh, and no tours of the apartment. The one bedroom with one bed that's very obviously been slept in by two people would totally blow their cover.
"Hi!"
Yunho couldn't begin to fathom how Jaejoong managed to sound like Junsu on too much sugar.
"I'm so glad you didn't mind coming here. It's been so crazy and it's so much easier to just throw something together than get ready to go out, you know?"
Yunho decided that maybe Jaejoong was acting a bit more like Heechul than Junsu.
"Um...right," The Dean said, looking a little flustered.
We should have added, "Don't act gay," onto our list. Not that Jaejoong had ever been flamboyant (at least overtly) but this...this was a little odd.
"Don't mind him," Yunho said, guiding the Dean into the living room, "I learned the hard way that he likes to have sugar in the morning with his caffeine IV. It makes him a little neurotic at points."
The lunch was dull. Well, not dull. Just full of Jaejoong falling back into his freshman self, and talking the Dean's ear off.
"So," Yunho finally pressed, "Why exactly are you here."
The Dean finished swallowing a bite of his meal (which he had praised Jaejoong for profusely) and set his chopsticks down. "Two reasons," he said.
Yunho watched out of the corner of his eye as Jaejoong shifted and the former professor held back a grin as Jaejoong nonchalantly linked the tips of their fingers together under the table.
"The first...I don't mean to be offensive, but there have been some rumors and...I hope you understand, I just need to make sure that they are nothing but rumors."
"Rumors?" Jaejoong asked.
"Well...several people have seen the two of you...together. Out, doing things." Yunho tried not to laugh at how awkward the Dean looked. "You have to understand, I don't necessarily believe them, but with the two of you living together...people think you're dating," he finally stated in a rush, "and as Dean I have to uphold the school's reputation and the rumors really would do nothing for it, or you," a pointed stare was given to Yunho, "if they were true."
Jaejoong had Yunho's hand in a death grip, despite the calm and serene mask etched onto his features.
"I completely understand," Yunho started, and he did. They both did, because if they didn't, they wouldn't be trying to hide it.
"So...you're not?" the Dean asked.
"We're not," Jaejoong replied, a little too fiercely.
"It's just terribly convenient," Yunho said, and rattled off their list of excuses (Changmin, internship, money,) which the Dean seemed to buy.
"I'm relieved," the Dean said and Yunho felt himself breathe again, "I trust you and I'm glad it's not true."
The words stung more than Yunho would have liked.
"What was the second thing you had to ask?"
The Dean seemed a bit more relaxed now and Yunho released Jaejoong's hand, thinking that it couldn't possibly get any worse.
"I've come to tell you that I'm resigning."
Yunho blinked. "You're...resigning as Dean?"
"I've been offered a position in a company that I intend on taking. I've really...lost interest in what I'm doing. I guess you could say I'm having something of a mid-life crisis."
"Oh. Um."
"You're wondering why I'm telling you. I think you should apply to be my replacement."
Yunho suddenly wished that he hadn't let go of Jaejoong's hand.
"Well," Jaejoong breathed out, "I wasn't expecting that."
"You were expecting something else?"
"Hoping," Jaejoong corrected, "I wondered if maybe you wanted to talk about Sangmi."
"Sangmi?" The Dean looked very confused. "Who is that?"
Yunho blinked again.
"Oh" Jaejoong laughed, in the I am not at all amused way.
“A student of yours?”
Yunho realized that he had lost his voice. Temporarily.
“She handed me papers a week ago with your signature on it,” Jaejoong continued, and Yunho could sense the storm brewing in his boyfriend’s brain, “I let her take the final and I passed her lousy ass and-“
“Jaejoong,” Yunho interrupted gently.
“What...what did I sign?” The Dean asked.
“No one came to speak with you about cheating?”
“Cheating?” The Dean frowned, “No, definitely not. There was someone cheating?”
“Oh my God,” Jaejoong groaned, “I passed her, I passed her and she lied through her teeth. Again.”
“It sounds like you have a story to share with me,” the Dean said, leaning back against the chair.
~~~~
The Dean stayed far too long in Yunho’s opinion, but he at least heard the whole story. He left promising to look into the matter and let them know what he found. It wasn’t until the Dean had left, and Jaejoong had collapsed on the couch that Yunho realized how exhausted he was. It was like the Dean was some sort of vacuum that had sucked out all of the lawyer’s energy.
"That wasn't as bad as it could have been," Yunho mumbled in Jaejoong's shoulder, after laying himself over his former student.
"He was nice," Jaejoong agreed, running his hand through Yunho’s hair, "Except for when he said the bit about being glad that we're not together. That made me want to punch him."
"Good thing you didn’t.”
Yunho's eyelids drooped and he decided that he wanted to dream about kissing Jaejoong because he was too tired to move his head and do it in real life. Maybe when he woke up he would--that, and some other things.
"Nap on the bed, not on me," Jaejoong muttered into his ear, poking at Yunho's side.
"No." Yunho would have pouted if he had the energy.
"Yes," Jaejoong insisted, "Yunho, get up right now or I will not cook you any food."
"We've had this argument before, Jaejoong. You can't refuse anyone food. Or anything, actually," Yunho added, insinuating something else entirely.
"Oh really?" Jaejoong asked, and Yunho thought that maybe he should have just kept his mouth shut.
"Um..."
"Nap on bed," Jaejoong ordered again, and this time Yunho allowed himself to be pulled up and pushed towards the bedroom, "You're so difficult sometimes."
Yunho tried to form a coherent response, but it was lost as he felt a mattress beneath him, and blankets pulled over him. His last thought, as he felt Jaejoong snuggle in next to him, was that as usual, his boyfriend was right. The couch was best utilized as a cuddling device, not a bed.
~~~~
Jaejoong woke fuzzily to Yunho's apartment phone ringing by his ear. Their apartment phone, Jaejoong belatedly remembered and he smiled blearily as his hand reached out in an attempt to answer before the answering machine did.
"'Lo?" He mumbled, feeling Yunho trail sleepy kisses down his neck.
There was a sound of someone crying on the other end of the line and Jaejoong's drowsiness disappeared as he recognized the voice.
"Yejin? Yejin, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
The blubbering continued and Jaejoong struggled with the bed sheets for a minute as he hopped around and tried to find some clothing, Yunho looking very concerned as he pulled on clothes of his own.
"Dance," Jaejoong finally heard, "They won't let me dance."
"What? What do you mean?"
"The studio," Yejin's breath hitched, "They said they couldn't allow me to continue dancing or teaching or..."
Jaejoong suddenly feared that Yejin might start hyperventilating again. "Yejin, honey, breathe. Where are you?"
"C-cafe. Cafe across from the studio."
"Stay there, I'm coming to get you."
"Leeteuk and Kangin...they're both working." She sounded a little bit more composed.
"I can go get them. Do you want them? Did you call Changmin? Why don't you talk to him until I get there. I can't bring this phone with me."
"Okay," Yejin whispered.
"If he doesn't pick up, call Yunho, alright?"
"Kay," the tears sounded like they had stopped.
"I'll be right there."
"What was that?" Yunho asked, before Jaejoong had placed the phone back on it's base.
"The studio won't let her dance."
"What?"
"We need to have a chat with her family," Jaejoong said, making his way out of the room and swiping keys off of the countertop, "I'll bet you anything that they're behind this."
"We should talk with the dance studio first."
"As long as we talk to someone. Are you coming or not?"
~~~~
Changmin had been in Starbucks, savoring the last time he was going to order a coffee in Korean, when Yejin had called. He didn't know what sort of providence had led him to be so close to her studio, but he hadn’t hesitated to leave the long line he was standing in and run the five blocks to the cafe.
She was sniffling in a corner seat, spinning a hot cup of liquid that was steaming her glasses. Changmin had never seen her wear glasses, not even when he was tutoring her. He thought they looked adorable, even with her puffy eyes and red nose.
"Are those new?" he asked, reaching out and touching them ever so gently.
She looked up, startled a little bit, and then smiled half heartedly. "Yeah. Leeteuk took me out yesterday when he discovered that I couldn't read signs while driving unless I squinted."
"They're cute." Changmin slid in beside her, nudging at her hip until she moved to make room for him.
"Everything's much clearer," Yejin nodded, "It's nice."
"Why didn't you have them before?"
"My family didn’t think I needed them."
"I don't know why I even bothered to ask," Changmin slipped arm around her shoulder and held his breath until she folded into him.
"Jaejoong's coming to get me," she murmured.
Changmin sighed, "You really do think of them as parents, don't you? You totally called him before you called me, I'm so upset."
Yejin smiled and leaned into him further; Changmin was glad she realized that he was teasing. It was a step, to be sure.
"I'm glad you know you can call them," he said, squeezing her shoulder, "That makes me happy."
She smiled up at him and then went back to her drink (steaming a lot less now,) and Changmin willed himself not to kiss her again.
“You’re staring,” she whispered.
“You’re beautiful,” he replied, thinking, screw it, and he lowered his head to kiss her. He was sure it was the smartest decision he ever made.
"Oh good, you're already here."
Changmin jerked away from Yejin to see Jaejoong and Yunho sliding into the booth, both of them grinning.
"Did you get glasses?" Yunho asked, as both Yejin and Changmin blushed furiously
"Leeteuk."
"She didn't have them before," Changmin said, before his former professor could ask.
"For reading? Or long distance?" Jaejoong asked.
"Long distance."
"Yejin," Yunho sat back and surreptitiously sliding his hand into Jaejoong's, "When you were in class, could you read the board?"
Changmin glanced down, quickly, hoping that if he looked fast enough he wouldn't want to ravish her face. Or something like it.
She was biting her lip, hands folded in her lap and Changmin looked away, cursing inwardly as he saw the twinkle in Jaejoong's eye.
"You couldn't read it?" Yunho guessed. "Yejin, honey, why didn't you tell me?"
"Don't...don't call me that," she whispered.
"Call you what?" Yunho asked.
"Honey?" Changmin guessed, and wondered if he she minded when he called her sweetie.
"He called me that," Yejin mumbled into her cup, and Changmin felt slightly guilty as she downed half the liquid in one gulp.
"Okay," Jaejoong said, "You have to work on communication. Tell us when you don't like things, tell us when we can help you."
"She did call you," Changmin pointed out.
"I know," Jaejoong reached across the table and grasped Yejin's hand, "No more honey," he promised, "Anything else?"
She shook her head.
"Then tell me what happened."
Yejin let out a sigh, and leaned back. Changmin almost choked on his own spit when she reached up to grasp at his fingers; he didn't have to look to know that Jaejoong was grinning. Or maybe he was glaring. Changmin peeked; Jaejoong smirked. Fuck.
"I went in to see if I could teach," she started out, "They didn't look happy to see me at all. And the artistic director pulled me into her office and said that they didn't want me to take lessons or teach there again."
Changmin reached around Yejin for a napkin as her eyes started welling up, pointedly ignoring that his face landed in her hair, "Here," he muttered, trying to erase the scent from his mind.
"She said they didn't need me, and that I was better off doing something else with my life. It...hurt. I thought I was a good dancer. Not the best, but I thought..."
She dissolved into tears and Changmin very decidedly thought, screw Jaejoong, and put his other arm around her. "You are," he affirmed, "You are a good dancer."
"Doesn't make sense," she mumbled against his shirt.
"I'm not going to jump to conclusions," Yunho said, "But it's probably your family."
Yejin sighed, pulling away from Changmin and reaching for another napkin. "I wouldn't put it past them." She let out a breath and put her head on her arms. "I'm tired of this," she said.
"Don't give in," Jaejoong said gently, reaching out to stroke her hair, "We'll find a way to make it work."
"I want to make it work. You do too much for me."
"Don't be silly," Yunho pushed away her cup and saucer so his hands could come to rest on her as well, "I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't want to, Yejin. None of us would. I'm going to go talk to the director, do you want to come?"
Yejin raised her head an inch. "I don't think she wants to see me."
There was a twinkle in Yunho's eyes and Changmin waited for Yejin to catch the professor's meaning.
"Oh," she finally said, and Yunho smiled.
"I don't mind doing this for you, Yejin," Yunho reiterated, "Stay here with Changmin, have another cup of hot chocolate, or whatever that is, and Jaejoong and I will be right back. Okay?"
"Okay."
~~~~
Jaejoong voted for immediate storming of Yejin's house when Yunho was (easily) able to extract from the dance studio that they had indeed been threatened (blackmailed, Jaejoong insisted) into denying Yejin teaching and lessons.
"We just really need to talk to them. Like honestly, this plus Sangmi's forging the Dean's signature--I'm sick of it."
"I know," Yunho fought the urge to loop an arm around his boyfriend. "We need to plan this out, though. I'm not going to charge in with guns blazing without proof in my hands."
"Then let's go," Jaejoong urged.
Yunho couldn't hold back a grin as they got back into the car.
"I told you this was going to turn into a case."
~~~~
Jaejoong called Changmin with orders to bring Yejin back to Yunho’s apartment (he had to correct himself mid-sentence--our apartment--making Yunho grin maniacally) and as soon as the two of them got there, set them up at the kitchen table.
“You need to write out a statement,” Jaejoong started.
“For what?”
“Against your family,” Jaejoong placed a pad of paper and ballpoint pen in front of her, his mind already set in it’s lawyer mode.
"Why can't you just use the other statement?" Yejin asked, "The one I wrote out for the restraining order?'
"You didn't talk about everything that happened. We need to know when it started, how many times it happened," as Jaejoong listed off what she needed to talk about in her statement she grew more and more panicked, and he finally stopped when Changmin thunked him over the head.
"You're being insensitive," he said, “I’ll take care of this, go cook us dinner.”
“I’m not insensitive!”
“Jaejoong, let him do it.”
Jaejoong turned and glared at Yunho who had appeared in the doorway.
“Dinner,” Yunho pointed.
“Do not think that because I moved in you can order me around like I’m your wife!”
“I would never think that,” Yunho replied, “Let them write it out, Jae.”
There was an underlying message hidden in his words and Jaejoong let out a sigh. “Okay. Sorry,” he added, patting Yejin’s head, “I didn’t mean to freak you out.”
He hoping that Yunho would follow him into the kitchen. The lawyer did.
“What-“ Jaejoong started, but Yunho kissed him before the sentence could form.
“You’re too angry,” Yunho whispered, “You’re far, far too angry to think about how Yejin feels, writing all that down. Let Changmin take her through it, Jae, he’ll get what we need and comfort her simultaneously. Okay?”
Jaejoong let out a breath. “Okay,” he agreed.
“Make something spicy,” Yunho whispered, “that will make you feel better.”
Jaejoong kissed Yunho one more time, slowly, before pulling away, a smile blooming on his face.
“I’m going to shower.”
Jaejoong started humming under his breath as Yunho walked away. He snagged the water he needed just before he heard Yunho turn the shower on, and started pulling out the ingredients he needed.
He cooked mindlessly, trying not to think too hard about the low murmuring voices he heard from the dining room punctuated by the occasional sniffle. He heard the shower turn off and he grinned, thinking that it would be an excellent moment to surprise a naked Yunho.
But then the phone rang, and Jaejoong cursed softly, sure that he sounded slightly upset when he answered.
"Are you sure her name was Sangmi?"
Jaejoong blinked, tongue frozen on his lower lip.
"Hello?" The Dean. That was the Dean's voice.
"Oh. Sorry. Um, what did you say?" Because I thought you said-
"Are you sure that your student's name was Son Sangmi?"
Yeah that.
"Positive. I have rosters."
"Well, they're wrong. There is no student by that name here."
Jaejoong looked around desperately for Yunho, but ssaw no one. "Yunho!"
"Jaejoong-ssi, are you absolutely, positively sure that was her name?"
"Yes, of course I'm-" and then Jaejoong actually thought about it. Really, with everything that had happened, he wasn't too sure of anything anymore.
"Jaejoong?"
For the first time in his life, the sight of Yunho wrapped in a towel did not distract Jaejoong from his thought process. Well, at least not completely.
"Rosters. Where are the summer class rosters?"
Yunho frowned, toweling his hair. "At my office in a pile somewhere?"
"Get dressed," Jaejoong ordered, and then into the phone, said, "We're coming to the school. We'll figure it out."
"I'll meet you at your office," the Dean said, and then ended the call.
"What's up?" Yunho asked.
"Sangmi." Jaejoong muttered, "Apparently, there is no Son Sangmi registered at the school."
"There's not--what?"
"She doesn't go to SNU."
"But rosters, grades," Yunho started.
"I don't know," Jaejoong shrugged, "Get dressed."
"Shit," Yunho enunciated carefully, and Jaejoong thought the expletive described the situation perfectly.
~~~~~~
Everyone wash your hands and stay healthy!! My sister came down with the swine flu :/ But, since we like...own a small pharmacy/health food store due to our other health problems she's actually pulled thro pretty well.
I guess if you have the flu now, then it's swine, because the other flu hasn't fully matured or something. :/ So everyone stay healthy!
Anyway...I just realized there is like...no yoosu in this at all. :( sorry. they are coming. they're having far too much breaking in their new dorm room to call jaejoong and find out what's going on....yet *evil laugh*
<3
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