There was someone he had to meet. Jaejoong strode to school the morning after with both fists clenched by his side, his jaw set in a grim line. He felt ill-at-ease leaving Changmin all alone in the hostel room, but he had insisted for Jaejoong to go to school without him.

"Don't you worry about me, Jae-hyung! I can take care of myself. Plus, this time round you really have to tutor me."

Today however, classes were not on his list of top priorities for turning up in school.

The classroom, as usual, buzzed with activities. Sungmin raised a hand to acknowledge Jaejoong but was deftly ignored.

His eyes laid fiercely upon another, after glancing to his disappointment at Yunho's unoccupied desk. In three steps he was at the back of the class, wrapping his fingers around the collar on Shiwon's shirt till his knuckles turned white. Around him, Yesung, Dong Hae and Taguchi stood up abruptly in a display of displeasure. Surprised by Jaejoong's sudden outburst, Yoochun and Junsu were on their feet ready to back up their best buddy. The room was so silent that a single pin drop would have been amplified tenfold.

“Come out with me.” Tension heightened as Jaejoong’s steely voice broke the momentary silence.

Shiwon calmly stood up till he was eye to eye with Jaejoong.

“Get your filthy hand off me first.”

Jaejoong pulled his hand away coolly before turning on his heels to exit the classroom. Shiwon made a gesture to the rest to calm down as he trudged his way a few steps after. Silence ensued long after the pair had disappeared.

“Should we follow them?” A worried Junsu asked.

Yoochun placed a hand on Junsu’s shoulder and stroked in reassurance, before responding with a firm shake of his head.

~*~*~*~

The topmost floor revealed an open-space where Changmin and Jaejoong had hung out for privacy every now and then. He led the way till they approached a fenced balcony overlooking the massive school field six floors below them.

Back facing Shiwon, Jaejoong came right out front with his words. “Your leader’s gonna come for us anytime now, right?”

He heard a laugh from the man behind him. “Of course I told my leader everything I could. I had to introduce you to him. But naturally he’s more interested in the other one who came bursting in after you.”

Jaejoong whirled around to face Shiwon who had a detestable smirk on his face.

Shiwon leaned back with folded hands, tilting his head to the left as he watched, amusedly, Jaejoong’s expression turning from calm to befuddlement, and then back to being composed.

“What do you all want with Changmin? He’s but a new boy who hasn’t offended any of you in any way.”

Another laugh. Fury bubbled in Jaejoong, threatening to erupt in uncontrolled aggression but he needed to keep his cool right now. Shiwon held the key to many of his unanswered doubts.

“Tell that to our leader,” he shifted his weight to the right foot, “Well, I suggest you stay away from Changmin if you wanna stay out of trouble.”

“Why? Changmin is innocent. I saw your transaction. I barged in and started the fight. I should be the one you guys are after, not Changmin.”

Shiwon cocked his head the other way. “You still don’t know, do you?”

“Don’t know about what.”

Shiwon sneered. “If Changmin has kept this from you, maybe you aren’t that important to him. Perhaps Yunho will be able to fill you in.”

Yunho? “What has Yunho got to do with anything? And where is he now? Is your leader employing him in some dirty transaction too?”

“Just ask Yunho. After all, you two were lovers once. He’s visiting his mother’s grave in Cheju. And no worries, my leader ain’t Yunho’s leader.” Having satisfied Jaejoong’s questions, Shiwon felt that he had revealed enough, and winked before he turned to leave.

His mother’s grave? Mrs Jung…is dead? How long…and how is Yunho linked to Changmin? Jaejoong ran a tongue over his lips, fruitlessly running these thoughts through his head. 

~*~*~*~

At midday, Jaejoong walked out in the middle of chemistry class much to the teacher’s annoyance. The uneasiness that had bugged him since morning had to be assuaged. He had to make sure Changmin was alright. He rode to the hostel, weaving his way through the heavy midday traffic. 

The hostel was quiet, too quiet, even with whirring car engines and annoying horn beeps in the background.

An unfamiliar sense of panic filled Jaejoong as his steps quickened towards the hostel lobby. The sight before him confirmed his sense of unease.

“Kawa-san!” he flew to the body of the hostel care-taker who was lying face-down, unconscious. He turned her over gently and saw that her face was bruised, and a deep gash on her thighs indicated that the attackers were armed.

“Kawa-san,” he repeated, softly patting the elderly lady’s cheeks. Her eyes slowly fluttered open.

“Kawa-san, you alright?” He helped her sit upright while his other hand fumbled to dial for the ambulance.

Kawa-san struggled to open her mouth, forming words that Jaejoong could not comprehend. She was trying desperately to tell him something. He leaned in to catch her faint words.

“Attackers…black suits…unregistered visitors so I stopped…them….” Jaejoong nodded, urging her to go on. 

“One of them…tall, brown hair…muscular boy…Kikokushijo…student…one of them…”

“A student! Do you know his name?” One of the students had attacked Kawa-san, damn it!

Kawa-san shook her head, unable to recall the name. Is it Yunho? Please don’t let it be Yunho. But Jaejoong had a feeling his conjecture might be spot on.

Suddenly, her eyes widened, as if recalling a horrifying memory. She began shaking her head, arms trashing wildly against her side.

“What’s wrong?!”

“Ch…ch…”

Oh no. He remembered why he was here.

“Ch…Changmin! Changmin…” Her eyes rolled back in her head, revealing the whites, as she fell limply back in Jaejoong’s arms. Outside, the urgent ambulance sirens rang out. 

As paramedics rushed in, Jaejoong dashed upstairs as fast as his legs could take him, towards the room he was so familiar with.

Damn it damn it damn it, he cursed under his breath.

From afar, he saw that the door was wide open. 

A trail of blood led from where he was standing, to the entrance of Changmin’s room.

~*~*~*~*~
end of chapter 11

MORE ♥JAEMIN-EVER-AFTERs :DD





A/N: Sorry for the long absence X| School's killing me. I hoped the update was good, I wrote this out on paper XD
Thanks for reading! Comments are loved:DD *hugs.

The wondeful first picture above is taken from the awesome new DAILY JAEMIN PICS COMMUNITY</a></font></b></a>jaeminaday :D
And the awesome jaemin icons were made by </a></font></b></a>jaemint ! ♥