Chapter 10 

Tiffany came rushing out of the room with tears of joy sparkling in her eyes, “Hyunjoong woke up. He talked to me. He’s going to be ok.” The parents rushed by her, eager to see their son. Tiffany happily stepped away from the doorway to let them thru. She glanced quizzically at Jaejoong when he didn’t move, “Aren’t you going in, too?” “I think it would be better if my parents spent some time alone with my brother.” Tiffany was surprised at Jaejoong's aloof expression. Then she smiled and approached him, “Don’t worry, everything is going to be alright now.” 

Jaejoong's self-control broke as he pulled Tiffany towards him. His mouth descended on hers, fierce and demanding. He kissed her possessively as if by doing so, he could brand her as his forever. Then he suddenly let go. 

“Jaejoong Oppa?” Tiffany looked at Jaejoong's pale, otherwise, emotionless face in confusion. 

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” He was acting as if nothing happened. 

“Something is obviously wrong. Please tell me what’s going on?” Tiffany pleaded. 

“My brother woke up because of you. He really loves you.” Jaejoong answered flatly. The ticking muscle on his cheek from clenching his jaw tightly was the only evident indication that he was going through an emotional turmoil. 

“I don’t get it. Aren’t you happy that your brother is back with us?” Jaejoong's meaning finally sank it, ‘My brother woke up because of you.’ “No, you are jumping to conclusions.” Tiffany's eyes begged Jaejoong not to do anything rash, “He just happened to wake up when I was in the room with him.” 

“I overheard your conversation.” Tiffany didn’t know what to say after hearing that, “And you know there is only one thing we can do.” Jaejoong couldn’t conceal his pain anymore. His eyes were blinking rapidly and he started swallowing compulsively. 

“No, please?” 

“Do you think we will ever find real happiness if by us being together meant causing Hyunjoong sorrow?” A lone tear fell from Jaejoong's eyes when he saw Tiffany's acceptance of the truth, “I know it won’t be too hard for you to be with my brother since you have already gone out together and we know that Hyunjoong loves you and will do anything to make you happy.” Jaejoong closed his eyes tightly, concentrating on pulling every last ounce of his strength to leave. The words finally came, so soft it was barely a whisper, “I have to go now. Please tell my parents that I will be back later to check up on Hyunjoong.” With one last look at his love, he turned around and left the hospital. 

That night, two person got their hearts broken for the second time. 

Hyunjoong had never been so happy and content with his life. His dad was finally showing him the love and approval he had been starving for. Jaejoong was back to being his older brother who had always been there for him. Tiffany was constantly at his side, catering to his every need, taking very good care of him. It never even occurred to Hyunjoong to question any of this. He had convinced himself that his mind was probably just playing tricks on him and a past relationship between his brother and his girlfriend was just a figment of his imagination. There certainly weren’t any signs to dispel this line of thinking. By some weird cosmic improbability, Jaejoong and Tiffany managed to never visit Hyunjoong at the same time and this made the situation bearable for both of them. Jaejoong was in the process of pouring his brother a glass of water when he said, “I heard that the doctor finally agreed to let you go home tomorrow.” Hyunjoong, despite of his protests, had been ordered to stay in the hospital for 5 days before the doctor was finally comfortable enough to release him. 

Hyunjoong grinned cheerfully, “You have no idea how badly I want to get out of this place. I would do anything for a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead of all these special diet restrictions I’m forced to adhere and it doesn’t help that the female nurses had been paying special attention to this cute brother of yours. Fany gets so jealous.” He chuckled and gave his brother a wink. 

Jaejoong was so jolted upon hearing Tiffany's name that he accidentally spilled water all over Hyunjoong. The two guys were frantically wiping the liquid off when Tiffany walked in. 

Hyunjoong noticed her first, “Fany, guess what the doctor said? I could go home tomorrow and my clumsy brother just gave me an unscheduled bath.” He returned his attention to drying himself again. 

Jaejoong and Tiffany didn’t hear a word he said. The look that was sent to each other was full of longing and regret and Jaejoong could barely stop himself from reaching out and caressing her face. 

Hyunjoong became conscious of the silence that greeted his enthusiastic announcement, “Fany, did you hear what I said?” He asked quizzically. 

Jaejoong bailed Tiffany out by saying, “Oh good, Tiffany is here. That means that I can leave now.” 

“Leave? But it’s still early. Why don’t you stay here and chitchat with us for a bit?” Hyunjoong coaxed. 

“I would like to do that but I have errands to run for dad. We will get a chance to chitchat some other time. I will come by tomorrow to drive you home. Bye.” Jaejoong tried to act as casually as possible, “I will see you next time Tiffany.” He said, without even looking at her as he left. 

Jaejoong made his final decision. He willingly admitted to himself that he couldn’t handle seeing Tiffany with anyone else. He called his boss, Changmin and his dad on his way home, 'Yes.' He thought, 'Everything is taken care of.' 

After coming home from visiting Hyunjoong in the hospital, Tiffany finally broke down right there in the front door, not being able to stand the ache in her heart anymore after seeing Jaejoong again. She just wanted to go back to the hospital and tell Hyunjoong about her and his brother but knowing that will causes Hyunjoong pain after he just recovered, she knows she will feel guilty for the rest of her life so she stopped herself and just cry to herself all day long until she finally fell asleep with a tear-streaked face. 

Hyunjoong was wondering why he hasn’t heard from Jaejoong. It’s been a couple of days since he was released from the hospital and he had neither seen nor hear of his brother, “Dad, have you seen Jaejoong around lately?” He asked, while they were having a family breakfast. 

“Your brother? He called the other day and apologized for having to leave and do some kind of errand out of town for the district attorney.” 

“How long is he supposed to be gone?” Hyunjoong thought that it was mighty peculiar that Jaejoong didn’t even tell him this. 

“He didn’t say.” Was all Mr. Kim said, before going back to read his morning paper. 

Hyunjoong wasn’t satisfied with the answer though. Jaejoong was supposed to be on vacation. Why would he be on assignment? He decided to call his brother’s workplace and was told, 'Mr. Kim is on an extended leave of absence' by a very curious clerk. The clerk could have just shouted, 'How come you don’t know this?!' 

He decided to call Tiffany who had started working again, “Hi honey. I was wondering if Jaejoong said anything to you about leaving town for a few days?” 

Tiffany almost dropped the phone. Jaejoong was gone? “What are you talking about?” She whispered. 

Hyunjoong told Tiffany what was going on, “Listen, I know something isn't right here. Can you take off early from work today? Let’s go to his apartment later.” Tiffany didn't need any convincing, she got off work as early as possible and off they went towards Jaejoong's apartment. 

Hyunjoong and Tiffany got the shocked of their lives when Changmin answered the door, “This is great. A welcoming committee already.” Changmin smiled as he invited them in. 

“What are you doing here? Where’s Jaejoong?” Hyunjoong was extremely worried by now. 

“Didn’t he tell you? He said he needed to do some thinking and didn’t know how long he was going to be gone. He knew I was looking for an apartment and asked if I could take over his lease for a while.” Changmin was looking at Hyunjoong and Tiffany curiously; he thought that Jaejoong was seeing Tiffany now. 

“Did he say where he was going?” Hyunjoong sat down on the couch and placed his head in his hands, “Why didn’t he even say anything to me? What am I missing here?” 

Changmin's inquisitive mind wanted to make sense of the puzzle, “Tiffany.” He addressed the pale-shocked looking girl who was still standing close to the doorway, “Tell me if I’m way out of line here but aren’t you and Jaejoong a couple? At least that was the impression I got when I saw you together that day at the cabin.” 

Hyunjoong's head snapped up. So, it wasn’t a figment of his imagination. He had been so selfishly preoccupied with his own physical and emotional well-being that he missed what had been so apparent. One look at Tiffany confirmed everything. 

“Changmin, think. Did Jaejoong give any hints at all to where he’s headed to?” Hyunjoong had to find Jaejoong. 

“I think he mentioned something about his plane leaving tonight. That’s all I can remember. Oh yeah, that’s right. He also said something about getting as close to utopia as one could on earth.” 

Hyunjoong stood up, pulled Tiffany's arm and left without a word. 

“Hyunjoong Oppa, where are we going?” Tiffany asked, the second they got into their chauffeured driven vehicle. Hyunjoong didn’t answer right away. In his mind, he could hear Jaejoong saying, 'You got to see this place. Trees, a fresh brook'. Hyunjoong wondered where the dream like words was coming from. Hyunjoong shook off the feeling of déjà vu. Did Jaejoong actually tell him that? He couldn’t remember but he knew that that’s where his brother was headed. 

“To Incheon international airport. We got to find my brother.” 

“Do you know where he’s going? Incheon international is a big airport, how would we even start looking for him in there?” 

“Don’t ask me how I know but I have a strong feeling that Jaejoong is headed for Jeju.” 

Tiffany closed her eyes as a small tremors racked through her body, 'Please Jaejoong Oppa, don’t get on that plane? Please stay with us? Please Oppa, I need you. Don’t go. Don’t leave like this. Please don’t go?' The litany in her mind continued non-stop until they reached the airport. 

They checked the departure monitor as soon as they arrived at the airport. There was only one flight heading towards Jeju. 

“Damn it! We just missed the plane.” Hyunjoong kicked a nearby garbage can, earning himself warning glares from airport security, “This is all my fault. This wouldn’t have happened if I weren’t such a selfish bastard!” He turned to Tiffany, “It’s me, isn’t it? I’m the reason why Jaejoong left. You and my brother love each other, don’t you? And you would have been with him if I wasn’t stupid enough to get shot!”

"Oppa. Oppa, listen to me. This isn't your fault. Jaejoong...Jaejoong and I wanted you to be happy. We didn't want to causes you any pain that's why we didn't tell you." 

"But are you happy though?" Hyunjoong asked, looking at Tiffany, "What?" "Are you happy? I know Jaejoong isn't happy because the girl he loves is with me, his brother, but I want to asked you, are you happy though? Being with me?" "I...I..." Tiffany started, looking away, not being able to face him, "Please Fany? Just tell me the truth?" Hyunjoong pleaded, "I...I'm sorry Oppa. I'm so sorry." Tiffany said, as tears streamed down her face, "I never meant to hurt you. I..." Before Tiffany could even finished, Hyunjoong pulled her into his arms. 

When Hyunjoong got home after dropping Tiffany off, he found his parents in the living room, watching the news, “Anything interesting going around in the world?” He feigned a relaxed smile. 

“There’s been another plane crash, dear.” Mrs. Kim noted, “I'm so glad that none of us have to travel so much anymore. It seems like there’s at least one plane going down every month.” 

“Mom.” Hyunjoong asked carefully, “Where was that plane headed to?” 

“Jeju.”