owned_by_a_cat | Saranghae | Pt. 25 Industrious (Reply)

Title: Saranghae

Part 25: Industrious

Jaejoong was no stranger to hard work and frantic activity. He was no stranger to seeing Yunho and Changmin immersed in work either. But he could honestly say that he'd never seen them like this.

Junsu had commandeered one side of the large sectional sofa to look for links between any known kidnap victims and Jaejoong. It had seemed sensible enough to start with Jae, a) because he'd been the first to voice the idea and b) because he wasn't showing any reluctance to let Junsu dig around in his private life and financial affairs. As usual, the blond hacker lay on his stomach, laptop propped open in front of him. How he could type at breakneck speed in that awkward position, Jae couldn't fathom. But type he did.

Yoochun had settled on the floor next to him, knees bent and back resting in the vee of the sectional. He was compiling a list of all artists under contract to PlayREx and the other two agencies that were part-owned by the company.

He passed pages of notes to Yunho and Changmin, who had taken over the large dining table. They had borrowed the A0 flipchart Jaejoong kept in his studio to map out stage sets to augment the rolls of paper they'd used to cover the table. And why Changmin carried rolls of wallpaper in his car in the first place was a secret Jaejoong wasn't going to enquire into too closely.

Boxes of coloured markers and a tower of post-it notes joined the mayhem and the next time Jae poked his head into the living room, the dining table was a web of neat rows of names and not so neat coloured lines connecting them this way and that.

He loaded the coffee table beside the four busy men with plates of snacks, added jugs of juice, water, coke and a large thermos of coffee and then disappeared into his studio. There was no point in hanging around those four when they were too engrossed to even talk. And after the previous night and this morning's revelations, Jaejoong felt the need to write music.

Soft music and angry music and music full of hurt and betrayal. His mind couldn't settle on any one thing for the longest time and soon, his workroom floor was as much a mess of piles of paper with coloured scribbles as the living room where the other four worked.

He sometimes got like this, his mind going down six tracks at once, hopping from rail to rail, from phrase to phrase, blending harmonies in ways the lyrics never intended and often… far too often for Jaejoong's liking… producing a song that caught his mood like a blow to the gut.

Today wasn't a day like this. Today was a day where disappointment and hurt unbalanced the whole edifice, when discordance cut through each song like the slash of a knife. Jaejoong changed tracks and instruments, trying to force the harmonies together, but his guitar wasn't any more cooperative than the piano had been. He was too horrified by what had been done to them all to focus on anything but hurt.

"Shhh." A warm breath on his cheek, soft lips on his ear and arms snaking securely around his waist stopped the frantic dash of his fingers, if not the wailing in his mind. "I could hear the storm you're brewing from the living room," Yunho hummed. "And while it sounds as exciting as Oblivious, you really don't need to make yourself suffer the consequences before they befall." The guitar was taken from his grip and set aside, and then Jae found himself in Yunho's lap with Yunho's arms back around his waist.

"We have no proof yet that PlayREx did anything," Yunho soothed. His lips teased the soft skin behind Jae's ear until Jaejoong pulled his head away.

"Then why do I feel so guilty?"

The arms holding him tightened a little, almost as if Yunho was afraid that Jae would try to escape. One hand slid upwards until Yunho's palm could rub softly, slowly over Jae's chest. The other hand teased the small strip of skin above the edge of Jae's waistband. "You shouldn't. Feel guilty that is. I get that you love your fans. And, of course you hate the thought that they'd been threatened just because they loved your music."

"Yeah. I do."

"I know. But feeling guilty or getting riled isn't helping." Yunho's hands grew more intent. Fingertips grazed pebbling nipples and a broad palm cupped Jae's crotch and squeezed until the rock star gasped in Yunho's hold. "It's not helping us figure anything out. And it's not helping you write the music you want to write."

"I know," Jae sighed and arched into the touch, looking for more. He'd been looking for a way to distract his mind from all the negativity and Yunho's hands were magic. They raised a wave of arousal thick enough to blot out even dread and guilt. And with a low, husky groan, Jae let himself fall.

"Shhhh… not one sound," Yunho cautioned, amused. "…unless you want an audience?"

"Spoilsport," Jae huffed, a heartbeat before Yunho's hand came up to cradle his jaw and turn his head so his lips could muffle further sounds. They fought for dominance, tongues clashing and breaths coming unevenly. The angle was awkward and Yunho finally slipped one hand under Jaejoong's thighs and hefted him around until he sat sideways on Yunho's lap.

"That's much better," Yunho breathed against the lush, kiss-swollen mouth. "Easy access to all the interesting bits."

"And are you gonna do anything useful with that knowledge?"

The pop of a button and the soft sound of a zipper being pulled answered him. Then Yunho's lips were back on his, Yunho's hands got busy and Jaejoong let the man kiss him senseless and play his body like an instrument, his mind focused on nothing but pleasure and staying silent.

***

Things were too new between them for once to be enough. And Yunho might have thought that he could just calm Jae down with a quick hand job and then return to his sheets of names and coloured lines, but by the time Jaejoong was a sobbing, writhing mess in his arms, he knew he'd miscalculated.

The sight was too enticing and his sudden need for the slender rock star grew to a point where denial was painfully impossible. Jae grinding his backside against Yunho's crotch while he bucked into Yunho's fist only made matters worse. It also made Yunho eternally grateful to the person who had decided that Jaejoong's workroom needed to have a couch. Because Jaejoong looked simply edible spread out naked on the chocolate-coloured upholstery.

The pale skin across his shoulders bore the marks of Yunho's possession and there were faint, finger-shaped bruises on one hip, but Kim Jaejoong made one hot, delicious picture. Even more so when he tucked his legs under, rose on his knees and looked over his shoulder at Yunho.

"Are you waiting for a written invitation or have you lost the instructions?"

The bare-handed slap echoed around the workroom. Yunho froze in shock, but he should have known that Jae had better awareness than that. Before any sound could escape, he'd buried his face in the couch cushions. His body shook with the need to keep quiet, but he succeeded.

Yunho draped himself over the enticing form, momentarily confused when only his hands felt soft skin. Then Jae's body heat seeped through the fabric of his jeans and shirt and he chuckled. "You're making me lose my mind, Jae."

"Now you know how I feel," the rock star grumbled, mouth barely out of the cushions.

"All I wanted to do was smooth you down a little so you'd stop composing that war cry of yours. And now look at us…"

"Yeah, look at us. I'm more than a little hot and bothered and all you do is talk!"

"I didn't want to—"

"Yunho! Fuck me, okay? Right now. Nothing is wrong. You want me. I want you. Just… get on with it. We can take our time and fool around when it's dark outside."

"Bossy," Yunho murmured, but he got himself into position without further argument. Moments later he bit his lower lip ragged to keep in the moan that wanted to break free. Taking Jae like this, fully dressed while Jae was all skin, was…unbelievably sexy.

He wrapped himself around his lover, buried his face in Jaejoong's neck and whispered nonsense with what little breath he had left. His strokes were deep and urgent, need spiralling out of control when Jae pushed back against him. With his face in the cushions and Yunho's weight on his back Jaejoong could barely breathe, but judging by the white knuckles and fierce shivers that shook his frame this only seemed to add to his arousal.

"More," he hissed, turning his head for a moment to snatch a kiss. "Yunho, more."

Yunho was beyond thought. Wrapped around Jaejoong, he snapped his hips over and over. The muted scuff of denim against skin mingled with the rhythmic jingling of Yunho's belt buckle until there was nothing in his world but heat and Jaejoong and more heat and… free fall.

He left Jae, cleaned up and dressed, drowsing on the couch. And while he got three raised eyebrows on his return to the living room, he was spared any comments he might have had to answer.

***

By dinnertime, soulful ballads and complicated harmonies could be heard from Jae's workroom and Junsu had uncovered a trail of money leading from PlayREx to an account with Jaejoong's name on it.

By that point, nobody was surprised about either result.

"The setup is very neat," the blond explained to the other three, "but completely pointless."

"Why pointless?"

"Because Jae has no access to the account and I can prove that conclusively enough that it will stand up in court. Also, I can trace the money in the account to PlayREx main accounts office, right here in Seoul. Maybe… maybe I should return it with compliments," he suggested thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, most people know that the PlayREx president dotes on his daughters and grandchildren. It'd be the work of moments to relabel the account without leaving footprints."

"Junsu, that's unethical."

"Is it?"

"They're innocent."

"How do you know?" Junsu asked, perfectly serious, looking up at Yunho. Changmin and Yoochun were huddled over a chart they'd spread across the dining table and both were careful not to look up or draw Junsu's attention. "You're making assumptions and basing your decisions on those. Do you realise that?"

Yunho took a deep breath and went to find coffee for them all. He was growing hungry, but he didn't want to disturb Jae while he seemed have found inspiration to work. And he needed a few moments to think. Junsu's and his moral codes didn't overlap and he'd learned years ago that his friend's way of looking at events was often very different than his own. It had taken time, but he'd learned not to discount anything Junsu said out of hand, even if his first instinctive reaction was to do so.

Junsu was still busy typing when he came back, having found not just fresh coffee, but also a large plate of almond croissants that Jae had left in a padded box on the kitchen counter.

"We agreed we'd not endanger anyone uninvolved in the investigation," he said calmly as he set the plate down beside Junsu's laptop and waved to Changmin and Yoochun to come and join them. "The president's daughters are not involved."

"We don't know that." Junsu's voice was equally calm. "Because we haven't checked. Right now, it's about as likely that one of the three cooked up the whole scheme and blackmailed daddy into executing it. We haven't checked, so we don't know."

"Okay, I agree with that. But since we haven't checked, it's equally possible that they are totally innocent, so adding their names to suspect accounts would be unfair."

Junsu took the mug and reached for a croissant. "You're no fun at all."

"I know. I'm the boring fart who makes sure your lackadaisical attitude doesn't get you in hot water." Yunho took a bite from his own croissant and smiled. "I'll tell you what. If you can prove who created that account implicating Jae, I let you put their name on it. How's that?"

Fully in accord, they grinned co-conspirator's grins at each other, happy to ignore the gagging sounds from the other side of the room.