owned_by_a_cat | Saranghae

Title: Saranghae
Author: owned_by_a_cat
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: YunJae/JaeHo, Sidepairing: YooSu
Genre: Suspense, AU, Angst, Romance, Fluff, Chaptered
Warning: none at present
Summary: What happens when Yunho and Changmin run a security company and are hired to look after rock god Kim Jaejoong

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Part 7: Fight

Yunho scowled at his tablet. Beside him on the table were several rows of neatly arranged yellow post-it notes. About half were filled with Yunho's tiny writing, the others with a wide, relaxed scrawl that looked to Changmin as if it could be Junsu's. Another one with a fetish for Post-it notes, great! Changmin had grown used to post-its appearing in the oddest of places, like the bathroom or down the back of his polo shirts. He no longer startled when they fell out of his slippers, or when he spotted a couple in the cutlery drawer or the limousine's engine bay. But to imagine another post-it fetishist in his life was pushing his boundaries more than a little.

"Still no news on the stalker?"

"No," Yunho waved a hand at the post-it army on the table. "Junsu's hoping to work out who leaked Jae's number, so we can have a few words."

"Tell him to work faster. I'd like to have words too, preferably before the tour ends."

"Why?"

Changmin rolled his eyes. "Because it's more difficult to spot and take down a stalker when he's back on his home turf," he explained the obvious to the unenlightened. "There'll be too many people with perfectly legitimate reasons to be around him. And you know that anyway, so stop winding me up."

His friend didn't say anything at first, just scrolled faster and faster through the text he was reading on his tablet. Until he straightened up and threw the tablet onto the table. "Well, he's a piece of work!"

"Who is?"

"Yin Tae Hoon."

"The media tycoon?"

Yunho's reply was swallowed by a growl and Changmin tried very hard not to laugh while he stretched out beside Yunho on the sofa. His best friend might be determined to be the most perfect professional in the world, but that didn't mean he could hide from Changmin that he was falling in love with the charismatic rock star they were guarding.

Or that he minded sharing.

For the last two days—ever since the media tycoon's secretary had contacted Jaejoong's manager with a dinner invitation—Yunho had been like a bear with a sore tooth, snapping at everyone in his vicinity. Everyone, except for Jaejoong that is. Though if Changmin read the signs correctly, that would change very shortly seeing how anxiously Jae's manager had been hovering around the star.

"Where is he and who's on shift?" Yunho demanded to know, reaching for the second tablet to type something into an open chat window.

"At the stadium," Changmin answered amicably. "Sound checks, then dance rehearsal. Kyu's team is looking after him. With a reminder," he added before Yunho could say anything, "to keep him in bottled water and apple juice. Now tell me why you're vetting Jaejoong's dinner dates."

"The guy's a creep."

"That would explain it," Changmin deadpanned, ducking out of the way when Yunho tried to slap the back of his head.

"He is," Yunho maintained. "Just look: rumours upon rumours about violent behaviour, applications for restraining orders that are suddenly withdrawn, complaints where the complainant disappears, or claims to misremember, or claims to have made a mistake, police reports that go missing. It's scary."

And, of course, Yunho's agitation had nothing to do with Jaejoong having been invited to dinner with the man. "Show me," he requested and skimmed through the documents Yunho had collated. Some were highly classified and Changmin scowled at court stamps and police seals. "You're not supposed to do that," he chided gently.

"I know. But compared to letting Jae walk into a trap…"

"You don't think he's the stalker, do you?"

"No, actually, I don't. Not anymore. But he's still a creep and if I can stop Jae I will."

"I don't think it's Jae you need to worry about here, Yun. His manager is the one pushing the issue, so I'm thinking the company wants the connection, wants to make use of the man's infatuation for—" Changmin bit his lip and almost swore at his silly rookie mistake, wishing he could take the words back. He'd managed to calm Yunho only to put his foot right back on the sore spot. In the worst possible way, too.

The expected explosion wasn't long in coming.

"He's not going. That's final."

***

Jaejoong was sweaty and sore after hours of sound checks and dance rehearsals. His feet hurt, his back hurt and there was a bruise as big as a dessert plate developing on his hip from where he'd tripped and hit the stage. One moment of inattention, and so much pain. He stretched gingerly, wondering if he could persuade the dance coach into giving him a massage. Or maybe Changmin, who was equally good at loosening muscles grown too tight from working to hard.

"Jaejoong-sshi," his manager began cautiously, handing him a bottle of water and taking a step out of immediate projectile range—as if Jaejoong had ever been that rude in his life. "Are you going to accept Yin Tae Hoon's dinner invitation? It would be polite to let him know one way or the other."

"You will not go to dinner with that creep." Yunho ordered from the back of the stage.

And what was he suddenly doing here?

Jaejoong turned from his frowning manager to confront his equally frowning security chief. "When did you get here?" he smiled, intent to defuse the standoff. "I thought you were staying in the hotel."

"I'm paid to be where you are," Yunho started and then shrugged. "Kyu's shift is over. He's needed back here later when the fans start arriving for the show, so they're going off to catch a few hours sleep. I'm afraid you're saddled with me for a while."

Just the thought of a mattress made Jaejoong yawn widely enough to crack his jaw. "Great idea," he mumbled and turned towards the back of the stage and the corridor that led to the dressing rooms, not at all surprised when both Yunho and his manager tagged along behind him.

"What shall I tell Yin Tae Hoon?" the question came again and Jaejoong wondered why the man was pushing when it was clear it wouldn't get him anywhere as long as Yunho stood glowering in the doorway. It wasn't that Jaejoong wanted to have dinner with some media mogul, but he'd been in the business long enough to understand how it worked. Letting Tae Hoon take him to dinner and letting Tae Hoon be seen taking Jaejoong to dinner would translate into favours further down the line. Whether they were favours for Jaejoong or favours for the company that managed his career ultimately mattered little. A favour was a favour and Kim Jaejoong the rock star was a commodity, a prize to be passed around and drooled over.

Which didn't mean he had to disregard Yunho's professional concerns. The man had been hired to keep Jae safe, so ignoring his warnings seemed stupid. Provided, of course, they were warnings and concerns rather than just shapeless rants.

"Why are you objecting to Yin Tae Hoon taking me to dinner?" Jae asked, hitching one hip up onto his dressing table and wiping sweat from his face.

"He's a creep."

"Yeah. So?"

"So, you're not going out with him."

Yunho sounded like a broken record. A stupid broken record at that. And he wouldn't even answer Jaejoong's question. Unless… Unless Yin Tae Hoon was nothing more than an excuse, and all Yunho wanted was the power to boss a rock star around. Jaejoong tried to keep the sadness out of his eyes. "It's not as if I'm going on a date, ne? That…I might stop if you asked me. But this is work. He's powerful in media circles. Influential." Jaejoong repeated what his manager had said.

"If I wanted a parrot I would have bought one," Yunho snapped.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"I heard you," Jae pulled the sweaty t-shirt over his head, for once not caring how he looked or whether Yunho was paying attention. He was tired, he was hot and he had a concert to prepare for. The last thing he needed was a row over something he hadn't even chosen to do. "Yin Tae Hoon has asked for this," he said slowly. "Which means he owes us. Having someone like Tae Hoon on our side is a good thing for everyone. Therefore, I'm going."

If possible, Yunho's scowl grew even darker. His lips mashed together into a hard, straight line and his eyes were full of anger. "You are impossible, you know? You never listen."

Jaejoong shrugged and gathered a towel and clean clothes to go shower. "Well, you never say anything."

***

Yunho had attended every single concert on the six-month-long tour. He'd seen Jaejoong perform when the singer was riding a wave of triumph after his album went platinum, when he was exhausted after hours of delayed flights, even when he had a cold and barely a voice to sing with.

He'd never seen the star like this.

Kim Jaejoong stalked the boards like an angry tiger, each movement edged with precisely controlled aggression, each gesture a sharp slash. He belted out song after song, voice rising over the screams of the fans. Heartbreak, defiance and anger spilled into the night and set the stadium atmosphere on fire. And the fans went crazy, caught and held in the emotion that poured from the stage.

Halfway through the concert, the heavens opened as if in answer to the music. Sheets of rain pelted down, soaking stadium and audience in moments. Great clouds of steam rose from the tightly packed crowd. A few unprotected stage lights popped and in the midst of a billow of steam and a shower of sparks, Kim Jaejoong sang of the agony of unrequited love, his eyes tightly closed and his voice an anthem to pain.

His performance held the crowd spellbound for long moments after the end of the last song. Then pandemonium reigned.

Yunho had a blanket and bottled water waiting when Jaejoong stumbled backwards off the stage and slumped against the wall. He wrapped the fabric around the shivering, wrung-out singer and pressed the water bottle into his hand.

"That was… true rock star magic," Yunho breathed reverently, keeping his arm around Jaejoong's shoulders.

"Whatever." Jae slipped out of his hold. He pushed away from the wall and pulled the blanket up so it covered his head. Then he turned towards his dressing room leaving Yunho standing in the crowded space, too shocked to move.

"Well, well, well," Changmin said when he joined Yunho a moment later and dragged him out of the way of the stage hands beginning cleanup. "I would say you earned that."

Part 8: Someone That You're With

A/N:Are you still reading? Leave me a note if you want me to continue posting updates.... wouldn't wanna bore you ;-)