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“You know, I really hate it when they ask this question on shows and interviews.” a grimace.
“What question? ‘Where do you enjoy going on days off?’ I swear they only ask that so our fans can stalk us, and there goes our break.” Yoochun mutters darkly.
“That’s because you have that gelato place and everyone knows where it is. If you want to stop being stalked there, don’t always go there when we have breaks.”
“But Changmin-ah! I have to help out sometimes! I barely see my family as it is.”
“Then don’t complain about it. Besides, it’s not like you do anything on our days off, lazy bum.”
“No, the question I hate is ‘Who do you hang out with on days off?’ I mean they just want us to name-drop other celebrities. And then if you mention someone they know, then they are on full paparazzi attack mode. If you only say family, then they assume you’re lying.” Junsu huffs.
“You only hate that question because the only person you hang out with is your hyung. Don’t worry; no one thinks you’re lying about that. We’ve basically confirmed you have no social life anyway.” Yoochun snickers.
“Hey! I have friends!”
“Last time I checked, Eunhyuk was only one person, so you mean friend.” Changmin interjects, “Besides, you just game all the time. That’s not exactly helping you have a social life.”
Junsu pouts. “Yah! At least I’m doing something besides eating and sleeping all the time.”
“I also read and study. Of course you wouldn’t mention the reason for the obvious disparity of our intelligence.” the maknae retorts.
Yoochun, feeling sorry for Junsu, decides to change the subject, “So which question do you hate answering?”
“Personally, I hate ‘What’s it like being the youngest?’ I mean, yes you are all obviously physically older (and I prefer you all looking physically older), but I’d say mentally I’m the hyung around here.”
“So you’re mentally an ajusshi! Is that why you have to watch all those videos? No one else wants to keep you company?” Junsu sneers, thinking he finally had a brilliant come-back.
“And yet, I’m the unanimously voted Casanova in the group. What does that say about your skills, Jun-Su-Hyung?” Changmin makes sure to enunciate the last few syllables.
Junsu sputters, at a loss for words again as Changmin continues to smirk at him. “That-that’s…agh!” and he launches his pencil at the maknae, but hitting the amused Yoochun instead.
“Yah!” and more yelling and slapping ensue as the three tangle in fighting and bantering.
“I really don’t understand why they keep asking us the same question. I mean really, we’ve answered it so many times the same way, why do they keep asking?” Jaejoong blows his bangs out of his eyes.
“Which question? ‘Where do you see the group in the future?’ Because I feel like we answer that one the same way every time, ‘We will be TVXQ forever’, ‘We want to do this until we’re old’, rephrase whatever way you can.” Yunho continues answering questions on the questionnaire.
“No, although it’s true, we want to stick this out as long as we can. The one I’m talking about is ‘What type of girl do you like?’ Junsu will always answer ‘the cheerful, cute kind’; Yoochun wants ‘the motherly, nurturing kind’; Changmin will love ‘an elegant, sophisticated kind’; and you just want Jeon Jihyeon.”
“Well you always answer the same way too, although your description isn’t really a type. ‘Someone with pretty hands’ is kind of vague isn’t it? Why don’t you ever state a specific type?” Yunho asks curiously, since it’s the first time he’s thought about Jaejoong’s ambiguous answer.
“It’s just that…I don’t really believe in having a ‘type’. I mean there are characteristics that I find attractive, but they aren’t physically manifested into a ‘type’ that I can point out. I guess the closest to that would be their hands.”
“What’s so special about hands? And what do you mean you don’t believe in having a ‘type’?” eyebrow raised.
“Well, I think if you have a ‘type’, then you’re constantly dating that same ‘type’ of person. But if you think about it seriously, you wouldn’t be constantly changing partners if that person was really your ‘type’. If that person is compatible with you, you would just continue being with them. If it doesn’t work out, then you move on. However, always going after the same ‘type’ and then having it not work out, resulting in going after the same ‘type’ again, that simply says to me your ‘type’ isn’t your ‘type’ at all.”
“Huh? Wait, what? That was a bunch of confusion with the word ‘type’ thrown in there many times.” Yunho’s brow furrows as he tries to decipher Jaejoong’s logic.
“Ok, so say you see a Jeon Jihyeon in ‘My Sassy Girl’ girl, and you decide to start dating her. It doesn’t work out because…you both don’t have time to meet, so you break up. The next person that catches your eye is a Jeon Jihyeon with a personality like Kim Sunah in ‘My Lovely Sam Soon’. So you start dating, but it doesn’t work out again, so you break up. The cycle continues and you keep getting into relationships with a ‘Jeon Jihyeon type’. With me so far?”
“Yeah, I’m dating lots of ‘Jeon Jihyeon’s, which is awesome by the way.” Yunho nods in appreciation.
“Yes, but don’t you see? Your ‘Jeon Jihyeon type’ is obviously not truly compatible with you because it keeps not working out. If she was compatible, then you’d have landed in a serious long term relationship by now. Instead you keep falling for Jeon Jihyeon clones and nothing works out, which is also because Jeon Jihyeon is way out of your league.” Jaejoong gibes. “So obviously, your ‘type’ is completely incompatible with you. If so, then the ‘type’ you’re attracted to is not really the ‘type’ that’s right for you.”
“…that kind of made sense to me. I think I’ve been hanging out with you too much if your logic is starting to make sense to me!” a mock look of panic and shock crosses Yunho’s face.
Jaejoong sniffs, “That’s just you finally curing your insanity and embracing the embodiment of wisdom that’s me.” He turns his nose up, but smiles at his joke.
“Yeah, yeah. So what’s with your fetish for hands if you don’t have a ‘type’?” Yunho smirks.
“It is not a fetish! I don’t get turned on looking at hands!” Jaejoong face flushes red.
“But you always say you like pretty hands, if that’s not a fetish then what?”
“What do you think I’d say I like ugly hands? Besides, it’s the same as saying you prefer a pretty face to an ugly face.”
“Fine, so why hands? There are plenty of more obvious features to choose from.”
“Hands reflect how a person is really like. They show you what a person’s done. They bear the growth the person experiences.” Jaejoong takes one of Yunho’s hands. “Your hand is calloused from lifting weights. They hold a strength that brings warmth and security to those around you. You have lines in your palms that come from doing manual labor. It shows that you’ve worked hard to be where you are today. It shows your dedication to everything you do and the willingness to work hard when so many others would sit back and pity themselves. Your hands might be soft now, because you’ve accomplished your goals and no longer need to perform physical labor, but they will still show everything you’ve been through.”
Yunho looks at his free hand, quietly looking over his hand as Jaejoong gives his observations and interpretations of his hand. He never thought his hands were extraordinary at all. Jaejoong continues with his observations, oblivious to Yunho’s gaze on his fingers caressing the larger hand. “You even wear rings from our fans, showing how much you treasure them. You see, you can tell a lot about a person from looking at their hands.” Jaejoong moves to let go of Yunho’s hand, but Yunho captures his hand instead.
“Jaejoong-ah, you’re hands show much about you too. Your long fingers are slender from long hours of sitting in front of the piano composing. Your fingertips are smooth from constantly running your fingers over scores of music. Both show your passion for what we do. You have uneven calluses on your hands from cooking meals to feed our dongsaeng. That shows your warm, umma-like nature to take care of everyone around you. Your hands are delicate, but have a stronger grip than one would think. They embody you perfectly, a surprising inner strength and passion covered in a beautiful façade. Your hands are much more beautiful than mine could ever be.”
“Yunho-yah, you’re hands are beautiful because of all that you’ve been through, not because of what they look like.” Jaejoong wraps his fingers around Yunho’s exploring fingers. “I like your hands.” The pair spends a couple of moments looking at their linked fingers before a shout interrupts them.
They let go abruptly before smiling sheepishly at each other. “We better finish the questionnaire and join the others before they start accusing us of slacking off.” and both turn back to their questions, ignoring the tingling sensation in their fingertips.