Chapter 15- Finale
To protect the unwilling
CHAPTER 15 (THE END)
Yuri’s eyes were opened wide yet no sound escaped her red lips. Yunho’s were closed, and pressed harder against hers. He thought to himself that this may be his only chance if she refused him, and most likely killed him with the way he forced himself on her, so he might as well enjoy it.
It wasn’t long until Yuri started to struggle. Any other day she would have escaped him easily, but her shock plus his superior strength backed her to the wall where he pressed himself to her in a way that made her head dizzy. She could feel his every muscle through their thin layers of clothing and smell his addictive cologne. He tightened his grip on her and slowly, she closed her eyes and accepted his kiss. When he felt that she was giving in, he loosened his hold and moved a hand to her hip as he deepened their kiss. She felt his smile against her lips and held back her own. ‘You do have guts then Jung Yunho.’ She thought to herself before shocking him by lacing her arms behind his neck and pulling him closer.
When they finally broke apart, they both kept silent and the only sound that either made were the small pants. After what seemed to be an eternity, Yunho finally broke the comfortable silence. “Yuri…” She held a finger to his lips and shook her head before untangling herself from him. She gave him a sad smile and walked out the door, him too numb to do anything else but stare at her retreating back.
Yuri walked down the stairs slowly, pensive. The kiss changed things, but she wouldn’t allow it to come in between her decision to not get involved with the Jung man. That is why she had to leave, the kiss clouded her mind, and she wasn’t sure if she could stay away if they continued on. When she got back to where her friends were, she quickly announced her departure and left the joint, the group either staring at her in confusion, or with an understanding yet saddened gaze. She never took notice of Yunho coming back down as well, trying to chase after her. She heard him but ignored him.
She hastened her pace towards her car and slid in at the exact moment he made it to the doorway. She spared him a last glance through the tinted mirror and drove away.
“Yuri!” he yelled and ran after the speeding car, but she never stopped, taking his heart with her, “Yuri-ah! Yuri-ah!”
“Hyung!” his three friends also ran out of the place. They had wanted to hold him back from running after her. Her own friends stepped out and watched the scene. They said nothing as they each went to their own cars. Taeyeon caught her boyfriend’s eyes and nodded. She understood that Yunho needed him more than her at the moment. She mouthed Yuri to him and got into Tiffany’s car. The two knew where Yuri was heading and were going to follow her. She needed her friends as well.
“TaeYeon-ah…”
“Yes Tiffany?”
“Do you think… that she’ll be alright?”
“Let’s pray for that. Let’s go, she needs us. I’ll call Sunny.”
“Yeah, let’s go.” Tiffany pulled out of the parking lot and drove down the same way Yuri did.
Behind them, Sooyoung and Hyoyeon’s cars were following theirs. Tonight will be like the old times, back before Joon was taken away, back when the world was still pink with shades of grey. Tonight, all six girls will be together, to comfort one of their own. And nothing, they promised themselves, nothing will get in between this bond this time around.
JaeJoong and Boa both kept out of the way. While JaeJoong and Yuri could talk about anything, he felt like it wasn’t his turn this time around. He had just found what he had been missing his whole life with Jessica, and did not want to rub it into his sister’s face. Boa simply did not have all the facts and most likely would have caused more harms than help. JaeJoong sighed before leaving, he was going to go back home tonight, and spend the rest of the night with the woman he loved. He glanced at the gathering of men in the lot, and shook his head. He wished the best for Jung Yunho and for the first time in a long while, he doubted his sister’s judgement. That man could make her happy, if only she would let him.
“Come on hyung, let’s go home.” YooChun said as Junsu and he helped their friend up. Changmin stood behind, feeling left out of the situation.
Yunho stayed silent as the car had gone out of view a while ago. He just shook his head over and over again, oblivious to his friends’ concerned glances. “Why?” he finally whispered, “Why?” He suddenly stood up, and grabbed Junsu’s forearms, “Why won’t she accept me, Junsu? Why not?”
Junsu took in a deep breath and looked at their surroundings. No one but the four of them were left, Jihoon had decided to leave go back into the venue, having left something behind. Changmin hung back a bit, letting his hyungs take care of the situation, and Junsu gently pried Yunho’s hands away from him. “Maybe you should come with me hyung… Yoochun ah, can you get Changmin home?”
“Yeah sure, take care of him, araso?” Yoochun whispered.
Junsu simply nodded, and steered Yunho towards his car. He was thankful that the two of them came after work together, so they were only using one car. “I have to show you something hyung. And don’t say anything until I’m done, I beg of you.” Yunho acquiesced silently, but looked ready to burst anytime soon.
He stayed quiet for the next 45 minutes, as Junsu drove away from the city, to where he recognized to be the Kwon mansion. He had spent hours in that place, worrying over Yuri’s fate, as she was battling the Anhs. He frowned however when Junsu didn’t drive through the tall metal gates and instead parked across the street. They both didn’t say a word as they took in the impressive architecture of the mansion. The white marble cladding, the tall double doors in a light oak, with silver hardware, all those details that made the mansion shine in the middle of the colourful flower beds and tall shrubbery. The tall pillars at the entrance, supporting an open terrace created a regal air. Honestly, when he first imagined the dwelling of the Kwons, he had imagined it much darker, nothing quite as light and open and, clean if he had to give a word. It was homier than he had expected.
“You know, Yuri hadn’t always been this cold.” Junsu said quietly and only continued on when he was sure he had the other man’s complete attention. “It was thirteen years ago when everything changed.”
“Thirteen, that must mean that she was twelve?”
“Yes hyung, but no more until I’m done. The Kwons have always been a well-established mafia. They have always been known as merciless and cruel by the underground, but within their own home… I’m sure you noticed, within their home, they are different. The biggest difference between them and the Anh is a little thing called loyalty. All the Kwons are loyal to each other, which ensured them no betrayal, they treat their men fairly, or as fairly as they could afford to.” He took a break there, gathering his thoughts, “I was only fourteen back then, but I remember my parents coming home that day. They were inexplicably somber and didn’t say a thing until I went to bed. Our rooms weren’t very far from each other and, I heard them talking… The man that they brought back that day, remember him, the broken, beaten one… That is the lost Kwon.”
‘The last Kwon?’ Yunho thought to himself. “The last Kwon, Kwon Joon, the true first son. Thirteen years ago, he was kidnapped by the Anhs, right here, in this mansion, right from the grasp of his family. From what I heard, that night, Yuri was put into the hospital, sustaining a gunshot wound that could have been fatal, with only JaeJoong hyung by her side because the attack had their mother go into labour early. That was also the night where SeoHyun was born. You see that porch; I heard that it was bloody, that it took weeks to wash away the blood stains from the white stone. Only a few Anh escaped that night, but it was enough to carry with them Kwon Joon.”
“That night, there was only the family in the mansion, they had given their staff the day off. Someone must have tipped them off because it was the only time they had done it all year. See that garden over there, I heard that the three oldest kids were playing there, when Joon saw something in the bushes, when, already well trained for their ages, Yuri and JaeJoong hyung rushed him into the arms of their mother, and JaeJoong hyung went to find their father. I remember my parents leaving the house abruptly, leaving me with the staff. The boss had called them to help but by the time they got there, the damage had been done. Yuri, hyung, and Hyungnim were the only one that was fully capable to be fighting that day. But they all felt that what they did wasn’t enough. Because that night had made their mother go into a deep depression; even though she was still the same person with her kids, Yuri and JaeJoong could see through it. The two had already distanced themselves from the family, because of that hospital thing but Yuri, more than anyone, was broken when she saw her mother’s corpse at their doorstep a few years later… The Kwon queen, as they called her before, was as good a fighter as any of us… She knew that, and decided to confront the Anh by herself… Needless to say, it didn’t end well. It was JaeJoong and Yuri who found her. She broke emotionally that day… TaeYeon once told me that Yuri wasn’t the same after that, that her eyes lost their shine, that… That she wasn’t Yuri anymore. The two eldest siblings threw themselves into their training and as soon as Yuri was legal, they moved out into an apartment of their own, where you stayed…”
Junsu leaned back into his seat and closed his eyes. “TaeYeon also told me that…”
“That what Junsu?”
“Yuri had vowed to never marry and bring any children into this world until she can be sure that they won’t be in any danger directly, that the day their family became clean, was the day she would accept love. She’s fully ready to remain single her whole life. Don’t get me wrong, she dates and she has fun, but she refuses to marry and to fall in love. She never really dates outside the network either. She’s extremely guarded with who she trusts, and that list is very short. There are her girls, her family and Jihoon hyung. You can’t blame her for not wanting you in her life Yunho, you really can’t…”
Yunho looked at his friends then back towards the mansion. He could see that some lights were still on but most were turned off. He assumed that the family must be sleeping by now, as it was 1 o’clock in the morning. He tried to imagine the scenes that Junsu told him about, but every time, he would close his eyes, trying to forget what he saw. Then what he imagined next shook him to the core, he saw Yuri laying where Junsu had described their mother to lay, her eyes lifeless and her skin pale. ‘I won’t let that happen…’ he thought, ‘I won’t…”
“How does she even know Hyung?”
“Jihoon hyung stumbled into our business very young. Hyungnim had saved your uncle’s life, many times. And he has asked nothing in return. It may sound impossible from a clan leader, but it was true. I heard that your uncle wanted to pay him back somehow and pledged his alliance to the family, I think hyung was maybe three at the time…”
“I remember Dad keeping us away from uncle’s family as much as he could. I never understood why, because Uncle seemed like a nice man.”
“I don’t think your uncle ever dealt with the darker side of things, but he offered Jihoon hyung to be trained as one of us. Hyungnim accepted because at that time, we were lacking males in the clan, in the main families at least. So he took in Jihoon hyung, and trained him alongside his most trusted advisors’ families men.”
“Not with JaeJoong? And you mentioned that Joon was the first true son.”
“JaeJoong hyung was adopted by the Kwon at age 10. At the time, he had already seen too much of the underground of Seoul, and had fit right in with the Kwon. Jihoon was around 13 14 already at the time. When they did meet, they clicked right away, but no, they didn’t always grow up together. However, Jihoon hyung did grow up around Yuri when she was born, and they were best friends for a long time before they actually started dating. He took a long time to convince her that he was worthy, to prove to her father that he was worthy, but they broke up when your uncle died and your father sent him to the States, to get him away from us. Yuri has resolved to believe that everything came to an end eventually, and she’d rather not get attached anymore.“
“Father died not too long aft-“
“Don’t hyung, we had nothing to do with your parents’ death… See hung, that’s one of the other reasons she keeps saying no to you, you might say you’re over it, but yet, you still jump to conclusions, you still judge us and her…”
“I-“
“Don’t deny it; you just did it again…”
“Yuri ah?” Tiffany whispered into the dead of the night. They were at a small beach, near the outskirts of Seoul. The girls did not know it, but they were near the Point’s End property that the siblings had purchased.
“I’m here…” She heard, as Taeyeon and she advanced toward the sitting figure. They both heard the two cars coming to a stop behind them and heard more than saw the last three of their group come out. They all grouped around their friend and sat down. Tiffany reached to put her arms around Yuri and pulled her into a hug. It wasn’t long until this became a group hug, where all six girls were kneeling together. “Talk to us Yul.” HyoYeon whispered from their place. No one moved, not even when the fine sand dug into some of their exposed knees, not when the cold got to some of them and not when Yuri finally broke down.
“I can’t do this guys, I can’t fall in love…” She sobbed into one of their shoulders. She didn’t know whose it was, just that her girls were with her now.
“Yuri…” Tiffany sighed, she understood Yuri’s stance on things, but that doesn’t mean that she agrees with it. “Yuri ah, why not give him a chance?”
“Tiffany! You know my promise; I won’t fall in love… I refuse to break it.”
“Promises are made to be broken…” Someone said from behind them, and that’s when they finally broke from each other. They were on defensive mode before even recognizing the person.
“Oppa?” Yuri called out, and the man finally stepped into the moonlight. Jung Jihoon, in all his glory, was standing there, a small smile on his face, his gaze turned up to the moon. He did not look at the six girls but continued on. “Remember how long it took for me to go out with you? How long it took for me to convince your whole household that I was good enough? Remember all those sweet promises we made each other? Those were all broken…”
“Um oppa are you trying to convince her or to dissuade her?” Sooyoung asked but TaeYeon quickly grabbed her arm, and shushed her. The eldest knew what the man wanted to do. She wanted to see where it will lead.
“Sooyoung is right oppa, what are you trying to do here?” Yuri asked her ezx, crossing her arms and refusing to wipe her tears, she will not appear weaker than she already does. “Promises are made to be broken Yul, but it doesn’t mean you can’t go and try to keep them alive. I tried my hardest to remain by your side but I couldn’t. It doesn’t mean I wanted to leave though, and the time I spent with you, Yuri, was the best time I’ve had. I would never give them up, but if we had never taken that chance, then Yuri, I would never have had the opportunity to make those memories…”
“It hurt when you left oppa, it hurts knowing that one day, he’ll leave me too.”
“Maybe but haven’t you heard that it’s better to have loved and lost then to never have loved before?”
“But I’ve lost too much already…” Yuri whispered to for her ears only. Tiffany, who heard her, pulled her into her arms again and nodded to Jihoon, they’ll take over she signed to him. He sighed and turned to leave, but said one last thing. “I’ll always love you Yuri, but Yunho… Yunho adores you, I haven’t seen him since I left, but I can see you, he adores you Yuri, and to be frank, you would be a fool to let him go.”
“Oppa?” Jessica said when she felt JaeJoong slide into his bed, and hug her. She had taken to sleeping in his bed now, and with what happened earlier today, she felt she needed his warmth even in his absence.
“Jessica, I love you.” She stopped breathing right there. She wasn’t expecting that at all. She turned her body to look at him, and seeing his outline against the moonlight, she felt her heart speed up. “JaeJoong?” She whispered, gazing deeply into his dark eyes. He didn’t say anything; he just lightly grabbed her chin and kissed her softly. She let her eyelids fluttered close, and leaned up into him. When they broke apart, she glanced up at him shyly, “Jaejoong? Do you mean it?”
“More than anything, Jung SooYeon, more than anything…” He breathed out. She smiled lightly, “then, oppa, I love you” She whispered back, laying her head on his chest. They stayed that way for the rest of the night, their breathing evening out and eventually, they fell asleep; the most peaceful they have been for a long time.
Yunho leaned back in his bed, his arms behind his head. He couldn’t sleep. Junsu had driven him back home right after their talk and he had been lying on his bed since then. He had a lot to think about.
‘Aish… What do I do?’ he thought to himself. ‘I want her, I definitely want her by my side but I don’t want to hurt her or to make her remember what she lost… Would that really mean that…? I’m not right for her?’
“I think that’s obvious cousin.” Someone said, and he sat up surprised. First, there’s someone in his room at 3 o’clock in the morning, second, he was pretty sure he thought that but then again, and last, how did he even get in here?
“Hyung? How did you get in here? No. What are you doing here?”
“I saw Junsu pull you aside. I assume he told you everything.”
“Yeah but I…”
“Don’t”
‘Why is everyone stopping me from talking today?’ the younger of the two thought.
“Yuri is very fragile, she looks strong and she is strong for the most part, but when it comes to feelings… It took me a whole year to befriend her, and just as long to earn her trust as a boyfriend. And I know you don’t want to hear about me and her, but you are going to sit through this like the man you better be. The first reason why Yuri is reluctant to date, at all, is because she’s scared of loss. All that happened with Joon has shaken her up, but her mom… That’s when she lost fate. And to be honest, when Uncle sent me away, I broke my fair share of promises to her. I had promised her to never leave her side and that we were going to grow old together… All those promises that we both knew I could not keep in this business. But we blindly fooled ourselves into thinking that we could. We both… made mistakes” he leaned against the wall, “We were both disillusioned. Yuri… took it harder than I did…”
“Th-“
“Yunho ah… You know, Yuri is… She’s not indifferent to you…”
“I know- “
“I mean she… Wait, you know?”
“I kissed her tonight, she kissed me back before running out.”
“She… aish that pabo!”
“Hey don’t call her that!” Yunho scolded. Jihoon let out a small chuckle, “you really like her don’t you?”
“I love her hyung.”
Jihoon looked at his younger cousin, and decided to give him what he himself couldn’t have. “Listen-“
‘It was the first time Yuri had slept in in forever.’ JaeJoong thought as he watched Jessica do the dishes after their considerably late breakfast. He looked at the clock, ‘ 12 o’clock… I think I should let her sleep, I haven’t even heard her come back last night.’
“Oppa?” He heard Jessica’s sweet voice call out. “I’m done.”
He smiled lightly at her and wrapped his arms around her thin waist. “How about we go out today?”
“Can we stay in? It’s getting cold outside”
JaeJoong looked out the window and saw the greenery getting less green. “As if you wish love.” They both turned when they heard the sound of heels walking towards them. Yuri stood at the door sill, dressed to go out. She was watching them with a small smile, but he could see that her eyes were sad. “I thought you were still asleep. Where are you going?”
“I’m just going shopping with the girls. I’ll probably be back around five.” He nodded, and she turned to leave, “ oh and, I promised the kids that we were going to have supper tonight, which means you have to show up Oppa, bring Jessica with you. The mansion, at six ok? You can’t refuse, bye!”
“Yuri ah!” He shouted after her, but she just waved bye as her white coat disappeared through the door.
“Oppa? Don’t you want to have supper with your family?”
“It’s not that Jessica…” He looked at her, and thought that it was fair that she knew his story. “Come, I have something to tell you.”
It took him an hour to get everything out and when he looked at her again, he could see the tears in her eyes. He quickly brought his arms around her, “Jessica?”
“It’s just… you two are so strong. I don’t know what I would have done in your shoes… I think… I think you should go tonight. Joon-ssi probably thinks you hate him and I know you don’t, at least not anymore, but… they’re family JaeJoong…”
“I guess… I guess you are right… You know what this means right?”
“What?”
“You have to come with me.”
“That’s okay! I’ve met your family before!”
“But you never ate with them all, especially not my father!”
Jessica blinked cutely for a second, before what he said registered, “Aniyo!! You can’t make me go! It’s going to be too awkward!”
“Ah Jessica, Yuri already said that you had to come, and you can’t refuse her. You just got into her good grace!”
“Ah oppa! I don’t have anything to wear to this so I can’t go!”
“Ya Sica, it’s just supper at our house, it’s not the Daesangs or anything. I’ll ask someone to help you if you really want to!”
“Aish oppa~… Fine! But I want someone to help me!”
“My father isn’t the end of the world…”
“He’s just Kwon HyukJae, one of the scariest men in Seoul”
They were interrupted by the ring of JaeJoong’s phone. He glanced at the screen briefly before answering.
“Yoboseyo?”
…
“Yeh… grand?”
…
“We do have a family supper tonight…”
…
“I don’t know…”
…
“We’ll see…” He said as he hanged up. He saw his girlfriend’s curious glance, and he just smiled.
“Let’s get you that helper shall we?”
“So today, no thinking of the Anhs, of the Jungs. Of nothing but ourselves ok?” Tiffany declared as soon as they met up at the mall entrance.
“yeh!” the girls chorused before they started laughing.
They decided that a day of pampering was what they needed after all this. They’ve decided that they’ll shop and then go to the spa before grocery shopping for Yuri’s supper tonight. The latter glanced around her and told herself that at least, she had them by her side. Her white coat bellowed behind her as they made their way into the mall, capturing the attention of all the guys there. They were indeed a sight to behold. Six beautiful girls just walked into the mall, dressed in expensive clothes, and just laughing their heads off.
Yuri was wearing a light blueblouse with her white jeans, completed with a thin brown belt around her hips, brown leather flats, her long white peacoat and her favorite dark grey Mulberry bag. She had her arms hooked with Tiffany that was wearing a red and white plaid wool coat, white blouse, blue jeans that were tucked in black riding boots and her trustee Yves Saint Laurent tote bag.
Standing next to the two were Sooyoung and Sunny. Sooyoung was wearing a fitted white and black blazer like jacket over a simple white shirt and blue skinny jeans along with a pair of gold and black hard flats and her Chanel quilted purse. Sunny was wearing a black leather jacket paired with a printed grey t-shirt, a pair of black skinny jeans tucked into her grey boots and her favorite grey Balenciaga boots.
Trailing behind were TaeYeon and HyoYeon that were giggling between themselves. TaeYeon was wearing a loose grey toned pea coat, over a colourful red, green and black sweated, white jeans and black flats. She held her black Chanel bag loosely in one hand as the other was enlaced with Hyoyeon’s. The latter was wearing a beige and orange wool sweater and black leggings under a loose brown leather jacket. Her leggings were tucked into black boots and her own Mulberry bag was hanging off her shoulders.
They spent the rest of the next three hours just wafting through the various stores and just buying as much as they wanted until they were too exhausted to move anymore. “This was fun!” HyoYeon said as they were all sitting down at the food court. “We should do it more often ladies!”
“Haha, as if we have time for this on most days!” TaeYeon retorted.
“True! But we get at least two weeks before the next assignment, boss said so I’m sure we can work something out!” Sooyoung told them. “Come on, we have spa appointments to make!”
“Ah noona, you made it.” JaeJoong said as he opened the door to Boa.
“Well it isn’t every day that Kwon JaeJoong asks for my help either. Now where’s Jessica, I haven’t seen her in a while now.”
“She’s in my room, freaking out about what to wear for tonight.”
“You told her it was just a supper right?”
“Yeah…”
“Ok…”
“Look I have something to do, can you stay with her and then drive her to the mansion after? Supper’s at 7.”
“What do you have to do?”
“You’ll see tonight, can you?”
“Yeah sure, but I don’t like all that mystery!”
“Thanks noona, you are the best! I already told her I needed to go”
With that said he grabbed his jacket and keys and left the house. Boa shook her head and locked the front door behind him. She walked deeper into the apartment and knocked on the black door. “Come in” she heard from inside. She hid her laughter when she opened the door to a scene she hadn’t seen since Yuri’s first ever date. The bed was full of clothes, and all she heard was “Too pink, too short, too long, too tight, too loose, too flashy, too dull…”
“Jessica ssi?” She finally called out. The blonde head finally peeked out of the closet and her eyes widened when she saw the woman watching her with a small smile.
“Boa ssi! What are you doing here?” She asked.
“Well, I’m the help for right now. You do realize its only supper, not a five thousand people debutante ball.”
“I know… it’s the first official supper with his father as his girlfriend though, and I don’t know what to wear, or what the dress code is, or how I should act. I mean I saw Yuri leave in jeans and blouse this morning, but how do I know she won’t change when she gets there? And I mean… everything I have is either too girly, or it’s a ballgown… and those are at my house… And… What if he thinks I’m not good enough for his son and –“
“Stop! Breathe!” Jessica stopped to stare at her, “You need to calm down sweetie, tell you what, I’ll call Yuri and ask her what she’s going to wear tonight, and how she expects you to look like. Then I’ll drive you home and get you prepped there. How about that?”
“I guess so…”
“Ok, so let me just make that call and we’ll get to it.”
It didn’t take too long for Yuri to answer.
“Hi Unnie!”
“Yuri ah, are you busy?”
“I’m just heading to the spa with the girls, why?”
“Well, you told Jae to bring his girlfriend along remember?”
“Yeah and?”
“She’s freaking out. Haha, anyways, what’s the dress code tonight?”
“Dress code? Unnie it’s just a supper!”
“I know that, well how about you tell her?”
“Um, ok, sure, get her on the phone.”
Boa looked at Jessica and simply handed her the phone. The latter was a bit hesitant before taking the phone, “Yuri-ssi?”
“I said to call me Yuri, Jessica, Yuri! Anyways, don’t worry about tonight, if you really are, just throw on a nice dress, flats and don’t go too short. Boa Unnie will help you”
“Oh, ok, thanks.”
“You’re welcomed, and don’t be nervous, we don’t bite.”
Jessica would have been much more reassured if she didn’t hear Sooyoung’s “You just go right for the kill instead.”
“Choi Sooyoung! Don’t mind her. However, good luck. I’ll see you tonight.”
“I’ll see you tonight too. Have a nice day!”
“Yeah sure, have a nice day too” Yuri said as she hanged up, her small laugh carrying through the line before she hung up.
“You are much too nervous talking to Yuri” Boa said from her position on the bed. She was going through some of the things on it, seeing if anything was good for tonight. She personally thought anything was fine but if the woman was going to make a fuss out of it.
“I…” She couldn’t help it, she had lived with the woman for months now and she had never seen her soft for a second until this week end. It’s hard to let go of old habits.
“Don’t worry, it’s a normal reaction. If you weren’t scared of her, I’d question your sense of self-preservation. But remember this though, you are JaeJoong’s girlfriend, which means, Yuri is automatically going to accept you for his sake. She’s not going to kill you.”
Jessica let out a sigh of relief that was something she needed to head obviously.
It was five thirty when Yuri arrived at her childhood home. When she entered the kitchen with her bags and two maids in tow with the other ones, she stopped at the sight of SeoHyun trying to get Yoona to whisk some sort of concoction in a glass bowl correctly but the latter just managed to whisk it out of the bowl.
“Girls?” She called out, and watched as they both turned around at the same time, the bowl falling from Yoona’s hands. Fortunately, Seohyun was quick enough to catch it and Yuri laughed a bit. Her thirteen years old sister was teaching the nineteen year old one to cook, and was cleaning up her messes. “Ok girls, step away from the food now. Let me get changed and I’ll come help you guys.”
It took her only a few minutes to come down dressed in sweats and a hoodie. She knew better than to wear white with the way this cooking thing is going. “Where’s Jiyoung?”
Yoona shrugged, “Don’t know, he left a few hours ago.”
“Ok, and Joon is in his room still?”
Seohyun nodded and told her that their brother was still weak, and would require a wheelchair for quite a bit of time. They’ll probably need someone to carry him down for supper tonight. The eldest of the three nodded slightly and sighed, she really wished for him to get better soon but she knew that was near impossible after so many years of imprisonment. It was going to take him years to be up to par with his siblings now. However, no one was comparing, they just wanted to spend time as a family. “Hey, why don’t we bring him down here, and watch us cook? I mean, he’s got to be lonely up there by himself.” Yoona suggested. The two other brightened up at the idea and Yuri called in some of the servants to help bring Joon down. When she was let into his room, she smiled at him. He was gently flipping through a photo book from before the events happened.
“Hey Joonie. Want to come down to cook with us?” Yuri asked him. After he agreed, two men helped him down the stairs to his wheelchair and wheeled him to the kitchen where the two younger sisters were already waiting for them. They had unpacked all the food already and waved happily at him.
“’Come on Joonie, you can help us cook for tonight. We’re making spicy rice cakes, kimchi stew, kimbap and some stirfry.”
Joon smiled, those were all of his favourites, she remembered. It seemed that Yuri knew what was going through his mind, and ruffled his hair gently. “Welcome home Joonie.”
For the next hour, Joon was content in just watching his sisters moving around the kitchen, helping each other out and making food for the family. They seemed like a normal family, one untouched by the cruelty of the real world. A hand landed heavily on his shoulder and he turned his head slightly to catch the fleeting expression on his father’s face. A smile, a real, genuine small from the cold man that never did.
“Appa!” Yoona called from her place, “they’re being mean!”
“I’m not being mean unnie, but you really cannot cook!”
“Ah SeoHyunnie, be nice to Yoona, you know she can’t tell one ingredient from another until it’s in her plate.” Yuri said from the stove, where she was cooking some meat.
“Unnie!” Whined Yoona, but she was laughing as well.
“Now be nice girls” their father said, “You cannot do the impossible after all”
“APPA!!!”
“You know he’s right Yoona.” Two more voices chimed from the door. Everyone turned around to see Jiyoung and JaeJoong standing there, both wearing a smirk. Yoona just pouted and went back to her task, her back turned to the rest of them. The family took one look at each other and busted out laughing. Joon smiled, this was what he had been dreaming off these last thirteen years, a happy family.
“Where’s Jessica?” Yuri asked, not seeing the klutzy blonde.
“Oh, she’s with Boa noona, she was freak-“
“-king out about what to wear. Yeah, unnie called me earlier.”
“She did?”
“Something about a dress code? Anyways, I told her it was just supper.”
The two youngest giggled at the thought of the blonde throwing clothing around while the others just smiled lightly. This was their first family supper in thirteen years, they were complete now. ‘Or almost complete…’ Jiyoung thought , ‘ someone is missing next to noona…’
Jessica arrived twenty minutes before the supper was ready to be served and she looked every bit as nervous as she felt. She saw Boa wave her goodbye and knew she was on her own this time around. She lifted her hand to ring the bell and winced when she heard the sound. ‘Oh dear, I rang the bell, what now?’ she thought.
A maid in a loose white shirt and loose black pants uniform opened the door and bowed to the Jung Princess. JaeJoong had come to meet her at the entrance, bringing her into his arms and kissed her on the forehead. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I survived your cousin, I don’t know about the rest of your family now…”
“Don’t worry, they’ll love you. Come on; come see what the girls have prepared.”
He dragged her towards what she assumed to be the kitchen from the delicious smells wafting out the open doorway. She was greeted by laughter and cheers when she stepped into the kitchen. She wasn’t expecting them to do the cooking themselves, even though she knew they cooked back in their apartment. She saw Yuri and Seohyun moving around the kitchen naturally, while catching some of Yoona’s mess at the same time, Jiyoung, their father and Joon were all sitting on the bar stools attached to the counter, a wheelchair near them. JaeJoong pulled her towards the girls and caught their attention.
“Hey Jessica unnie, you made it. You look great!” Yoona called out. “You look much better than I do right now, anyways” She continued, pointing at her sweats and t-shirt. All three girls were dressed similarly and understandably too, by the flour stains on all of them. From what? She didn’t even know as she didn’t see anything that required flour.
“Thank you, do you need help?”
“No, we’re good” Yuri called from her spot, before smiling in approval at her outfit, “You took my advice, you look great.”
Jesscia ducked her head and blushed, looking down at her outfit. She was wearing a very simple, no embellishment cream colored dress that went to just above her knees and that was clinched at her waist. It wasn’t overtly tight, just enough to make her look mature. It started right underneath her collarbone and had no sleeves. She wore a slightly darker colored cardigan over her dress and white flats. “Thanks,” She turned to their father, “Hi, I’m Jung Jessica, it’s nice to meet you.”
“I know who you are.” The father said, looking at her with critical eyes. She fought to keep her eyes levelled on him, remembering Boa telling her that he would not tolerate someone weak in his family. She saw his small nod then turned to Joon, “You must be Joon right, I’m Jaejoong’s girlfriend.”
Joon smiled at her, “it’s nice to meet you.”
“The food’s ready!” Yoona shouted from the kitchen, as she was bringing a plate to the informal dining room now.
“Hey go sit down, I’m just going to help them with the plates” JaeJoong said, pushing her towards the same direction as Yoona “and don’t worry, there’s no seating chart.” He told her with a small chuckle. She promptly blushed but walked towards the dining room anyway.
When all the food was on the table, they quickly dug in.
“This is really good!” Joon said, “Just like mom’s cooking”
JaeJoong, Yuri and their father’s expression dimmed a bit, but quickly bounced back. “I’m glad you liked it Joon” Yuri said, “after all, these are your favorites.” The family made small conversation the whole supper, and Jessica actually felt comfortable talking with the Kwon family. They weren’t as pretentious as some of the people her brother had made them have supper with, they were proud, that’s a given, but not pretentious. For the night, she forgot she was even sitting with killers.
The dinner was done and the two boys were cleaning since the girls cooked that night. “Come on Jessica, let’s go to the den.” Yuri said.
“Yeah we have some baby pictures for you.” Yoona said loudly, so her brother would hear.
“Haha right Kwon Yoona, you don’t have baby pictures of me!” He yelled back.
“No, but we got baby pictures of us with you in your teenage years!”
There was silence for a while, but then JaeJoong shot out of the kitchen and Yuri yelled before intercepting his reaching hand. “No oppa, go back to cleaning.”
“Yuri, you can’t do this to me.”
“You bet your I can Kwon JaeJoong.” Yuri said, eyes gleaming, “Go Yoona, show Jessica the pictures.”
“Yoona, listen to your oppa, I said no!” JaeJoong cried out, while trying to tug himself away from Yuri. She wasn’t having any of it though, as she dropped into a low kick, and caught him by surprise, “GO YOONA!”
Jessica let out a squeal when her arms were suddenly tugged by Yoona towards the den, “Come on!” But they abruptly stopped. “What?” Yoona let out in a low voice, looking out the window. “um Yuri unnie, you better see this.”
“Wait, I’m busy.. OPPPAA, THAT’S NOT FAIR!”
“No unnie, you really need to see this.” Yoona said again, as Jessica peeked out the window and started to laugh. Kwon HyukJae came to see what the commotion was all about and hid a smile at what he saw. Seohyun was with him, and nodded appreciatively. Jiyoung, who was done with the dishes by now, had pulled his older siblings out with him and let them see what the others were seeing. He and JaeJoong both sneaked away slowly, and headed outside.
Yuri stood there, shocked at what she was seeing. Is he serious? And... Jihoon oppa was helping him!
“Yuri-ah, I think that’s for you.” Their father said, amused at the sight. JaeJoong and Jiyoung had joined the two men outside by now. They had paved the sides of their extensive driveway with red and pink candles, and had spelt out I Love You Kwon Yuri with smaller white candles inside. Yunho was kneeling towards where their window was and holding a bouquet of red Carnations, fern leaves, yellow Cedar flowers, purple Statice Sinuatas and pink Everlastings. The three men stood behind me, sign of their blessings.
“Those flowers say a lot unnie” Seohyun whispered from the side, she was the only one of the three girls that bothered to take up the language of flowers.
“What does it say?” She softly asked.
“Red carnations are for pure love, the fern leaves mean sincerity, the little cedar flowers for strength, the Statice Sinuatas are for loyalty and the everlastings mean just that, everlasting.” Seohyun recited from memory.
“That’s a strong message” Yoona said, “I wish someone would go through that trouble for me! Not every men would bother with the languages of flower.”
“It’s more than that unnie, it means that he-”
“Accepts me for who I am.” Yuri choked out.
“He’s a good man Yuri” Kwon Hyukjae said as he looked on. He laid a hand on her shoulder and leaned towards her. “It’s time to let go, Yuri. Joon is with us, Yoona, Jiyoung and Seohyun are all safe and sound and alive and JaeJoong is happy too, you don’t have to be their mother anymore. Take a chance, this is your time. It’s time to be a sister and a daughter, it’s time to be Yuri and it’s time to enjoy your life.” She looked him in his eyes and saw nothing but love shining for her and their family. Looking at her siblings in the room, they were all nodding and Jessica stood by the window, giving her a gentle smile. “I…”
“Go my princess” her father whispered, just for her ears. Her eyes widened, he had not called her that since the kidnapping. She took one more glance at them all, and smiled. A weight was lifted off her shoulders and she ran out of the house.
The people left in the room turned to look out of the window and all smiled at the sight. Yuri had let go of her own limitations and had jumped on the kneeling man. They toppled over but kept their lips locked. The three men outside cheered loudly, loud enough for the people inside to head them. JaeJoong looked up, and winked at Jessica who smiled back. Her eyes quickly snapped open when she saw what was in his hand. She had taken the language of flowers too. He was holding a single bunch of violet, a golden band with a diamond in the center and two small sapphires on the side gleaming as it held them together. She nodded, tears falling out of her eyes. Someone gently held her forearm, “Welcome to the family.”
The End
For the meaning of the flowers used, it’s this website I used: http://www.languageofflowers.com/index.htm
Safaiaunnie: Hey guys, this is it, this is the end of To Protect the Unwilling. Wow, I didn't think I was ever going to finish this with how long I took to update but hey guys, it's done! I usually put my notes at the beginning but oh well. Have a great 2012 and thank you all for staying with me throughout this whole story! I would have never continued without all of your support, and guys. I'm going to keep writing! Here's a preview of something I've been working on. If you guys like it, I'm going to continue it and post it here.
Untitled as of now
Vampires were strong, fast, agile and virtually indestructible unless by one of their own kind. What happens when two warring vampire kingdoms try to end their feud by marrying their offspring? What happens when the Jung and the Kim forces their eldest into a bonding that neither wants. What happens when everyone else gets involved, trying to stop it?
Prologue
“Marriage?” All three Kim asked at the same time. The man sitting in the throne before them nodded solemnly. “I’m sorry my dear TaeYeon but that is the only way for us to be able to regain peace between our clans. Our heirs shall marry in due time and the mating will then follow.”
“But father,” JaeJoong started, “Isn’t this quite a bit rushed, I’m sure there are other ways to deal with this situation?”
“I’m sorry son, but this is the only way. Their heir is near the breeding age and they are pushing for it.”
JaeJoong’s head snapped as an idea came to him, “I’m older than him, I am willing to take in the elder Jung princess.”
“Oppa” Taeyeon finally said, “You can’t!”
“It does not matter TaeYeon, I only have one year left before I have to mate. It’s not likely that I find my soul mate within the year and the result would be the same, I will be bonded and mated to a dame vampire of the Elders’ choice. I will marry and mate the Jung Princess, and you will still have a century to find yours.”
“But oppa, you can’t give yourself-!”
“Children, it cannot happen. They are adamant to have TaeYeon as their daughter-in-law.”
“Do we not have any say? You can push to have Jessica as your daughter-in-law too!” JaeJoong said. Meanwhile, HyoYeon, the youngest Kim, was debating any other options out of this. The two princesses’ guards were standing at the back of the room, both were frowning as well.
“The agreement is set to be signed next week; we cannot change the treaty in such a short time.”
“You must at least try Father! I have age priority; threaten to bring them to the Elders!” JaeJoong said, while Taeyeon and HyoYeon were now holding onto his arm trying to calm him down.
The Elders were the three oldest vampires in the world, while they hold no power over the politics of their world, when they had issues to settle, vampires of the world go to the Elders for advice, and it was recommended that the seeker takes the Elders’ advice. They would also deal with the bonding and mating of any vampires that have reached their 400 years of existence.
“I will contact the Jung, but I promise nothing son.”
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