Chapter 6 

Jaejoong was in his apartment, diligently searching the internet for some exotic place where he could escape to and enjoy his month off from work. So far, nothing interested him. All he knew was he had to get away from the city as soon as possible. 

His head started pounding again. It always does that whenever he had ponder on the subject of Tiffany, especially Tiffany with his brother. He didn’t know what he should do. Talk to Tiffany? He would rather not see her nor talk to her again. Talk to his brother and tell him what? That the girl he’s seeing now used to be his girlfriend and she used him? Neither option sounded appealing at all. 

His phone rang, jarring his already frayed nerves. Something told him that he shouldn’t answer the call. It was either from his dad who had been insisting that he, at least, visit their company; from his step-mom who had been pushing for a family dinner; or from his brother whom he wasn’t ready to deal with yet. Or the worst possibility, it could be one of those persistent telemarketers who were always trying to sell him something and would refuses to hang up the phone but years of habit made it impossible for him to ignore the phone. 

“Kim residence.” 

“Jaejoong, this is your almost nonexistent brother that you have been ignoring.” 

Jaejoong sat down on the couch as his head started its rhythmic pounding again, “Hi Hyunjoong.” 

“Man, good thing I have a fairly healthy ego or I had be crushed! I can tell you are just oozing with excitement from hearing my voice!” Hyunjoong complained. 

“Sorry about that. I have been meaning to call you, just got sidetracked.” 'Liar.' He told himself. 

“Sidetracked? Anything interesting that I should know about? Well, a possible girlfriend?” 

Jaejoong's patience snapped, “Look, I’m kinda busy right now. Is there anything urgent you need to talk about? If not, let me give you a call back later.” 

Hyunjoong was surprised to hear his brother’s tone of voice, “Is there something wrong Hyung? Sounds like too much time off isn't agreeing with you. Is dad bugging you too much? I’m sorry for leaving and dumping the pressure on you.” 

Great, now he’s attacking his brother instead of making sure he’s doing ok after disavowing their dad and quitting his position at the company, “Sorry Hyunjoong, it’s not you.” Dare he say the cheesy line? “I just needed some space.” Well, he did end up saying it but with heartfelt sincerity. Jaejoong grimaced as his brother’s sudden burst of laughter hurt his ear, “It’s not funny.” He felt like pouting. 

“Man, I guess you really do need time off. I can’t believe you of all people, mister articulate, head of the high school debate team with an amazing array of vocabulary at your disposal, would spew such a corny line.” More laughter followed. 

Jaejoong gave up, “So, how you doing? Or rather, what have you been doing lately?” 

“I start working for another company next week. Got offered a great position, incredible salary and benefit package.” 

Jaejoong was shocked that his brother really had no intentions of working with their dad anymore, “Hyunjoong, are you busy tonight? Want to have dinner together?” 

“Glad you mentioned that. Actually, that was the reason why I called. I wanted to know if you are free tonight. Feel like having some American food?” 

“What time do you want to meet?” Jaejoong knew that he had to talk to his brother now before things got worse, “How about 7 at The Beastro? And I can’t wait to formally introduce you to Tiffany. Someone’s at the door. I gotta go. See you tonight.” 

“Wait.” But Hyunjoong had already hung up the phone. Jaejoong slowly replaced the phone back to its cradle. He closed his eyes as what felt like a herd of wild elephants started to go berserk in his head. 

Simply wonderful, it’s raining again, 'I hate...No, I detests the rain.' Jaejoong thought, as he eased his audi r8 car into the restaurant parking space. Rain always brought back memories of the night him and Tiffany broke up. He had spent the afternoon toying with the idea of canceling or just simply not showing up for the get together but he’s always had this just do it attitude. 

He mentally braced himself and plastered a smile on his face before he walked into the restaurant. He spotted her right away, even before Hyunjoong who had been watching for his arrival stood up and waved. 

“Happy to see you Hyung.” Hyunjoong grinned happily, “Hope you don’t mind but I went ahead and ordered us a pitcher of margarita.” After both of them were seated, Hyunjoong introduced, “This is Tiffany. Fany, my brother, Jaejoong.” 

“We have met before.” Jaejoong could barely make his lips move. 

“Of course, but she wasn't looking her best then.” Hyunjoong alluded to the court meeting, oblivious to the underlying current as Jaejoong and Tiffany stared at each other. 

Tiffany didn’t say anything; she sat there, drowning in memories, wondering why fate was so cruel to her. She wondered if Jaejoong was ever going to tell his brother about what happened to them in the past since it was obvious that Hyunjoong doesn’t know anything about it. 

“So, how long have you two known each other?” Jaejoong asked, after taking a gulp of the margarita. 

“Just a couple of months. I met Fany while I was doing an inspection tour in one of our laundry facilities and there she was, having a big argument with a faulty dryer that ate her shirt.” Hyunjoong chuckled at the memory before he continued, “It took me forever to get her to go out with me.” 

Jaejoong remembered how long it took him to convince Tiffany to start going out with him. It seemed that she hasn’t changed her ways, “Let me guess, you weren't only attracted to her beauty but to her innocence, too.” He flicked Tiffany a taunting look. 

“How did you know?” Hyunjoong was still jovial, “I guess we share the same taste in women.” 'You got that right.' Jaejoong thought, “So, you like Tiffany? Just look at her. There is no way that she could kill a man.” 

“Looks can be deceiving. Isn’t that, right, Tiffany?” Jaejoong addressed her directly, for the first time. 

Tiffany couldn’t stand it anymore, “Enough of this cat and mouse game. Why don’t you just tell your brother the truth? How we knew each other from Tokyo, what our relationship was. I'm sure that you are just dying to get it out of your chest.” Tiffany rushed out of the restaurant before she broke down in front of the guys. 

“What was that all...? Fany!” Hyunjoong was startled with what he just witnessed, “Jaejoong, where are you going?" “I'm going after her. Sorry Hyunjoong.” Jaejoong hurried after Tiffany, barely managing to answer his brother. 

A stunned Hyunjoong was left alone in the restaurant. He went over the entire conversation they just had. Tiffany and Jaejoong obviously knew each other from before, from Tokyo. Jaejoong had changed drastically since he returned from Tokyo. Jaejoong and Tiffany? It was starting to make senses now. For the first time in his life, Hyunjoong felt resentment towards his brother. He had always lived in his brother’s shadow, always second best but not this time, “Not this time Hyung.” Hyunjoong vowed.