“Rise and shine sleeping beauty~!” Sunghee opened the blinds of Jaejoong’s room, blinding the teenager with sunlight.

Jaejoong groaned and hid under his comforter, “Just a few more…minutes,” he trailed off sleepily.

“Aigoo, Jaejoongie! Get up, it’s past ten!”

“Go away…” He grumbled, “I wanna sleep more.”

“It’s already late! Come on, everybody’s downstairs already!” Sunghee sat on Jaejoong’s bed and patted his bum, “Wake up!”

She sighed when Jaejoong didn’t budge, “I made your favorite!”

And that seemed to have done the trick.

Sighing, Jaejoong got up groggily, “Noona, I feel horrible.”

Sunghee frowned softly and brushed away hair that was on her little brother’s face, “There, there. A splash of water and a wonderful breakfast will do the trick. Now hurry up!”

She stood up and walked toward the door, “Yunho’s getting to know you very well downstairs~”

Jaejoong whined as he forced himself up, knowing he’d better get downstairs before his sisters reveal more embarrassing things about him.

--

The Kims’ household—particularly the kitchen, was busting with noise. Women all over the place unlike regular Sundays of it just being Taeyeon, Hyori, and Jaejoong. All of Jaejoong’s seven sisters came home for remembering the day of their parents’ passing.

Last night, all but two wasn’t present but it seemed like after Jaejoong had fallen asleep they both arrived because when Jaejoong snuck his way into the kitchen table, all the seats were taken except the seat next to Yunho.

The seat was exactly in the middle too. So everyone could witness Jaejoong take his seat, and they did.

Suddenly the room grew quiet, as if the entire world paused to watch the drama of Jaejoong and Yunho unfold.

“Good morning,” Yunho greeted Jaejoong awkwardly as the other took his seat.

“Morning,” Jaejoong replied, only giving Yunho a glance.

“Are you okay?”

Jaejoong sighed and stared at the table filled with dishes then up at his sisters who were all watching intently. He gave them all a look that pleaded, ‘stop looking at us, it’s embarrassing!’

Yunho didn’t seem to notice all eyes were on them though, “Jaejoong?”

Jaejoong looked at him, “Huh?” He blinked.

Yunho stared at Jaejoong for a moment, trying to look for something in his face, then after a moment he repeated himself. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Jaejoong replied after a nano-second, hesitant to his answer. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?” he forced a smile on his face.

Yunho frowned a little, “Sorry about last night, Jaejoong.”

He glanced down at his food, “I was talking to my friend and wanted me to spend some time with them while I was waiting for you but then I saw you were talking with someone so I thought you didn’t mind…” he sighed, “But then I lost track of time and I heard—“

Jaejoong interrupted him, “No, it’s okay,” he shook his head and smiled wider, added a laugh just in case his smile wasn’t convincing enough.

“Are you sure?” Yunho pressed on, “I know Yuri can be really mean sometimes—“

“No really,” Jaejoong gritted his teeth with his lips curved into a small smile, unconsciously holding his spoon tighter. “I’m fine,” he let out a chuckle along with some of his agitation.

“—So, Yunho, are you coming with us?” Hyori glanced at the two, smiling softly at their guest.

“Um, yeah,” Yunho replied softly, “Jaejoong invited me last night—“ he blinked and remembered it was actually the other way around, but it seemed more polite that way.

Hyori smiled wider, “The more the merrier~ how do you like our Kims’ brunch special?”

Yunho turned his head and nodded as a smile spread on his face, “It’s really delicious, noona. Who made the kimchi?” he asked, looking around the table.

Sunghee sat up and raised her hand slightly, “Do you like it?” she smiled proudly, “It’s my restaurant’s famous kimchi! Of course it’s our mother’s recipe, but I tweaked it a little.” She nodded and watched Yunho chewing attentively.

Yunho took another spoonful of kimchi and rice, nodding as he chewed and gulped, “It’s really really good,” he chuckled.

“It’s one of Jaejoong’s favorites,” she smiled at Jaejoong, “Isn’t it, Joongie?”

Jaejoong nodded softly and just continued eating.

“How high school for you two?” Shinhye asked, taking a sip of her black coffee, “Lots of things due right about this time of semester, right?”

Yunho sighed, frowning a little as he thought about school, “Yeah… it’s a pain,” he chuckled. Some of the sisters laughed with him. “But we’ve only got one week left so after that, sayonara high school!”

Hyori chuckled, “Glad to be done with high school huh?”

“Aw,” Chaeyeon frowned, “Only a week left… I can’t believe our Jaejoong’s graduating high school already,” she mocked a sniff and pretended to wipe eyes.

“Tell me you guys are going to the same college!” joined in Solbi, one of the two that only arrived a few ours before. Yunho definitely remembered her, she was the one who liked to gossip.

Jaejoong stared at his noona blankly as he chewed with cheeks filled with food, “Aiiish, noona,” he whined.

Yunho glanced at Jaejoong with a soft chuckle and continued to eat.

Taeyeon sighed, pouting, “I bet Jaejoong would be really sad if you went off to another college, Yunho.”

Jaejoong threw Taeyeon a sharp glare, chewing his food properly. He cleared his throat and grabbed his empty glass before getting up to go to the fridge and get himself water.

Yunho watched Jaejoong walk away from the table. “Hmm…”Yunho sighed, “I dunno if college is right for me. I’ve received scholarships for playing football—I’m still thinking about it,” he shrugged. “But if I could, I’d follow Jaejoong,” he nodded with a chuckle.

This reply, especially the last part of it got some eyebrows rising.

“Yeah?” Taeyeon tried to hide her smirk.

“Yeah,” Yunho nodded as he continued to eat, “I really like Jaejoong.”

---

After Jaejoong’s sisters were all finished greeting their parents, it was finally Jaejoong’s turn.

“So…this is it,” Jaejoong sighed, presenting his parents to Yunho.

Jaejoong smiled softly at his parents’ grave, placing a few pieces of roses on each of their altars before taking a step back.

“Hello, Mr. And Mrs. Kim!” Junsu and Yoochun bowed politely.

Taeyeon thought Jaejoong would appreciate his friend and cousin coming along. Something about the more moral support, the better was her reasoning of why the two had to come along. Unfortunately Changmin wasn’t able to attend.

“Hi, Mr. And Mrs. Kim, it’s been a while huh?” Yunho chuckled stiffly, feeling guilty that it took him all this time to visit. He placed the bouquet of flowers on their grave and stood beside Jaejoong.

They both stood in silence; heads bowed as they prayed while Junsu and Yoochun behind them mimicked their gestures but were actually up to something else.

Junsu slightly raised his head and peaked at Yoochun who was psst-ing at him, “What?” he mouthed.

“Text,” Yoochun replied silently, taking out his phone from his pocket and pointed at the screen, “From Taeyeon noona.”

Junsu nodded, glancing at Jaejoong and Yunho just to make sure they were still praying. “And?”

Yoochun blinked, slowly raising his phone to his face to read the message when he accidentally presses a button and his phone makes a beep. Junsu widened his eyes—“Uuuuuummmm,” Yoochun hummed like a Buddhist to cover the noise.

“Uuuuummmmmmm,” Junsu followed suit, staring at Yoochun intently, giving him the ‘You clumsy moron, you’ll get our cover blown!’ expression.

Jaejoong’s eyebrows slightly scrunched together. He was obviously bothered by the unnecessary noise Junsu and Yoochun were making in the back but continued praying, ‘Umma, Appa, please excuse these buffoons, they’ve got their moments,’ Jaejoong sighed softly.

Yunho’s eyes moved under his eyelids, wondering why the other two were suddenly making sounds. He peaked at Junsu for a second before going back to asking Jaejoong’s parents for forgiveness and a second chance with Jaejoong.

TO: Yoochun
FR: Taeyeon noona

Moving on to the next phase, guys! Give Pooh and Tiger some time alone and meet me at the cemetery gate ASAP!

As soon as Yoochun read the short text, he replied—but couldn’t continue the moment his phone made another sound.

“OH LORD!” Yoochun yelled over the beep.

Junsu threw him another glare and went along with him, “OH, YOUR ALMIGHTY GOD UP IN HEAVEN!” he clasped his hands tighter, eyebrows furrowed together.

“UHH, HOW’S THE WEATHER UP THERE, OH ALMIGHTY ONE?” Yoochun replied as he pressed buttons that seem to shrink every single time he pressed another character.

Junsu cleared his throat, “OH GOD, I PRAY THAT JAEJOONG’S MOM AND DAD ARE ENJOYING ETERNAL LIFE WITH YOU.” He paused a moment, sighing softly before continuing, “PLEASE TELL THEM NOT TO WORRY ABOUT OUR DEAR JAEJOONG FOR HE IS IN GOOD HANDS,”—which Yunho nodded to, agreeing softly in a whisper.

“GREAT, BIG, ROUGH YET GENTLE HANDS THAT WILL PLEASE JAEJOONG IN WAYS HE CAN’T EVEN IMAGINE,” Yoochun interrupted Junsu, nodding softly as he texted back Taeyeon, almost half done. He paused a moment to read over what he had just typed and happened to have received another text.

“OH GOOD GOD!” Yoochun shouted.

“ALMIGHTY FATHER!” Junsu added soulfully, “PLEASE GUIDE US WELL—ESPECIALLY OUR YOOCHUN, AND FORGIVE OUR SINS FOR AT TIMES PEOPLE HAVE TO MAKE SOME WRONGS TO MAKE A RIGHT.”

All the while, Jaejoong and Yunho stood there in silence, wondering what had gotten into Yoochun and Junsu.

“OH LORD,” Junsu sighed softly, biting his lower lip as he tried to think of what to say next. “I PRAY THAT TODAY WILL BE THE DAY—THE DAY OF HAPPINESS AND SUNSHINE…AND HAPPY…TIMES.”

Junsu peaked, hoping Jaejoong and Yunho were still faced away from. He never felt so relieved to see the back of anyone’s head before.

And so Junsu continued on, “ALTHOUGH IT IS JAEJOONG’S PARENTS’ DAY OF DEATH, IT DOESN’T MEAN THIS DAY WILL ALWAYS REPRESENT GREIF AND SADNESS. IT CAN ALSO MEAN…HAPPINESS, LAUGHTER, AND…UH, HAPPY…TIMES…”

Yoochun bit his lower lip and he typed as fast as he could with his two thumbs, listening to Junsu pray out loud a few more seconds before he finished and pressed send. He let out a sigh of relief and nodded at Junsu as he slipped his phone into his pocket.

Junsu mimicked Yoochun’s sigh and gulped, quickly ending his prayer, “LORD ALMIGHTY, THANK YOU FOR BRINGING US ALL HERE SAFELY TO GREET MR. AND MRS. KIM. WE PRAY THAT THIS DAY WILL BE FILLED WITH ETERNAL HAPPINESS AND SUNSHINE, LORD. IN JESUS’ NAME WE PRAY, AMEN.”

“AMEN!” Yoochun opened his eyes, grabbed Junsu’s hand and ran off to the graveyard gate.

Jaejoong opened his eyes when he heard Junsu and Yoochun’s swift disappearance act and Yunho followed suit.

Blinking, Jaejoong turned around and raised a brow, “What just happened?”

Yunho chuckled, scratching the back of his head, “I don’t know.”

Jaejoong rolled his eyes at his cousin and friend’s usual unusual behavior and just bent down to fix his mother’s alter before his father’s.

Yunho bit his lower lip as he watched Jaejoong, thinking to himself that this was the first time they were alone since the night before. And with Jaejoong’s sisters all home for the rest of the weekend, he thought this was a pretty rare moment so he decided it was time.

He cleared his throat, “Since we’re alone… can we talk about what happened last night?”

Jaejoong froze, for more than a few seconds. His mind decided to put his body on pause to think about his response.

“Please, Jaejoong?” Yunho pleaded softly.

Jaejoong whined mentally and hoped for the best as his body regained its functions. The only positive thing he came up with was that his parents were with him. He turned to face Yunho, trying to avoid his gaze, “S-sure,” he sighed lightly, “What about last night?”

“The part when I left you and you were stuck with Yuri and some guys that were with her…” Yunho sighed, shaking his head in disappointment, “I’m really sorry, Jaejoong-ah. I was stupid to have left you last night. I should’ve known Yuri would do something like that—I mean, we’ve been dating for a while now and…” He sighed again, blinking a few times. “I—I should know this by now,” he glanced up at Jaejoong, tilting his head slightly, trying to find answers in his eyes again.

Who could avoid a gaze like that? Especially from Yunho and those eyes of his…full of emotion—Jaejoong! Put yourself together! Stop talking to yourself—you might be missing out on what he’s saying!!

Jaejoong gulped and looked up at Yunho, returning his gentle gaze.

Yunho got caught up with looking at Jaejoong that he had to blink and snap out of it, “Uhm—so,” he cleared his throat and took Jaejoong’s hands. “Will you forgive me?”

Jaejoong on the other hand, was just watching it all happen, and only remembered to blink.

Yunho blinked back, “Uh, and I promise I won’t ever leave you again. I’ll be a better friend,” he squeezed Jaejoong’s hands in a way that sent a warm gush through Jaejoong’s hands, which spread throughout his body. “A friend that you would be proud of and want to stick around till…death do us part,” Yunho let out a laugh, blushing slightly at what he just said.

Jaejoong laughed softly and smiled from ear to ear. He nodded, looking down at Yunho’s hands and held them. “Yeah,” He looked back up at him, “I’d really like that.”

Yunho smiled, “So, we’re good?”

Jaejoong nodded, laughing because he just so happy and it showed.

But before they could hug it out, Jaejoong’s phone vibrated in his pants.

“Uhm,” Jaejoong took his hand away from Yunho’s, “Just one second,” he chuckled awkwardly and answered his phone, “Hello?”

Yunho didn’t mind, he liked touching Jaejoong’s soft skin.

So while he waited for Jaejoong’s phone call to be over, he just continued holding his hand and intertwined their fingers together just to see how it felt like. He smiled to himself and let go of Jaejoong’s hand when he got off of his phone, “Who was it?”

Jaejoong sighed, suppressing his frown when he saw Yunho wasn’t holding his hand anymore, “It was Taeyeon noona, we’re going to the mall.”

“Alright,” Yunho nodded then turned around, “Goodbye Mr. And Mrs. Kim,” he bid farewell to Jaejoong’s parents, “It was nice seeing you today,” he smiled. “Please continue looking over Jaejoong, although you might not need to help him out as much since I’m here—but—I’m not saying this because I’m trying to brag or anything—just—“ and when he realized he was blabbering on, he chuckled lightly, “I hope you’re both doing well up there,” he nodded softly.

“Ready to go?” Yunho looked at Jaejoong.

He nodded, smiling in return, “Yeah, you just go ahead, I just need a few seconds.”

“Sure,” Yunho replied and walked away.

Jaejoong watched him, making sure he was of a certain distance before turning around to his parents and smiled brightly. “If those dreams were from you guys…” he thought aloud, “…Aish,” he shook his head and couldn’t help but giggle.

He took a deep breath and pressed a kiss to his hand and placed it on both of his parents’ altar, “I love you both so much, mom and dad.”

--

It turned out it was only Taeyeon, Yoochun, Junsu, Jaejoong, and Yunho who went to the mall. Everyone else just suddenly had something to do after the cemetery. And when they actually made it to the mall, it also turned out that Taeyeon took on an extra shift that day and Yoochun and Junsu just had to go to this one store because they had an insane sale going on.

“Should we come with?” Jaejoong asked, glancing at Yunho who just nodded.

“No!” Yoochun and Junsu replied unison.

“Uh—I meant,” Yoochun blinked, “You guys should enjoy yourselves!”

Junsu nodded, “Yeah!” he added, “We’re gonna be looking at manga—really boring stuff—“

“I like manga!” Yunho smiled, “I was actually—“

“Not the kind of manga you like!” Yoochun replied without letting Yunho finish, “It’s all old and boring,” he shook his head. “Not very interesting.”

Junsu nodded, “Oh—oh yeah, yup. Boring as hell,” he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

Jaejoong blinked, “So…why are you so hyped to get them?”

“Because!” Yoochun reasoned out, “I’m a collector of old manga and Junsu’sgonnahelpmesobye,” he said quickly and pulled Junsu with him, leaving the two alone.

“ENOY!” Junsu grinned, waving at them as he was dragged away by Yoochun.

Just like that, Yunho and Jaejoong were left in the middle of the mall. They paused for a moment before laughing.

“What was that?” Jaejoong chuckled softly, getting the tickles out of his system.

Yunho sighed, shrugging with a fresh smile on his face, “I…don’t know,” he laughed shortly.

“I guess it’s just you and me,” He shrugged and slipped his hands inside his jean pockets, looking around the vast mall.

Jaejoong bit his lower lip, looking everywhere else but Yunho and suddenly the atmosphere became awkward.

“So…” Yunho puffed his cheeks, rocking himself back and forth on his heels and the balls of his feet a few times.

Jaejoong sighed and pursed his lips together nervously.

“Want to go to the arcade?” Yunho offered, leaning forward and smiled.

Jaejoong turned to him, “Uhm, sure,” he replied. “Haven’t been to one in a while actually.”

Yunho smiled and wrapped an arm around Jaejoong’s neck as they started walking, “Then be prepared to get your whipped!”

Jaejoong scoffed, “Hey, don’t forget who you’re talking to, Jung Yunho.”

“Oh, right, right, Mr. Valedictorian, I’m sorry, what I meant to say was I’m gonna own your at DDR.”

“What!” Jaejoong whined, “Why that one?” he complained.

Yunho raised an eyebrow at Jaejoong and laughed, “I just blurted out a random one but seeing your kind of reaction gives me confidence, we’ll definitely play it now!”

“Yunho!” Jaejoong pouted.

The other laughed, “Your is mine~”

--

“Seriously? Boring mangas?”

“What! I was under pressure!”

Junsu scoffed, “I dunno what’s worse—that or what happened in the cemetery!”

Yoochun rolled his eyes, “Whatever, at least our mission’s going well.”

“Still! We’ve almost got our cover blown—more than once! Like—every single time!”

Yoochun sighed and stopped dragging Junsu, “It’s not like it matters,” he replied and took his beeping phone, smiling as he replied to the text message.

“Ugh, your stupid phone,” Junsu rolled his eyes at it and at Yoochun’s grin, “Why couldn’t you have put it on silent?”

“Sorry, forgot,” Yoochun shrugged.

“Whatever. So now all we gotta do is make sure they’re together right?”

“Yep.”

“Can you do that by yourself then? You can manage just following them around right?”

“What?” Yoochun looked up with a pout, stopping his tracks and looked at Junsu who was walking ahead, smiling to himself. “You’re a-a-abandoning me?”

Junsu sighed and turned around, “It’s not like you haven’t done it to me!”

“But why? Where are you going?” Yoochun frowned, glancing at his phone.

“I’m gonna go follow Taeyeon noona,” Junsu smiled again.

“Oh,” Yoochun blinked, “Alright,” he shrugged, “You go get her, tiger!”

“Thanks,” Junsu chuckled softly and continued to walk.

“Junsu-yah!” Yoochun shouted after a few seconds, they were a good few feet away from each other, but Yoochun only remembered his advice and didn’t feel like moving so he shouted it instead. “Tell her, ‘You’re beautiful but I bet you’re even more gorgeous when you take your clothes off’! That’ll totally hit the jackpot!” Yoochun laughed.

Junsu rolled his eyes and scoffed, “Go screw yourself.”

Yoochun pouted and checked his phone, “Why, I think I will. Changmin’s stuck doing chores,” he sighed. “I feel so aloooneeee,” he whined.

--

Junsu had this excited smile on his face, whistling to himself as he strolled to GAP, where Taeyeon worked part-time. He wasn’t exactly sure what his plan was when he arrived, but just the fact that he was going to see Taeyeon was enough to keep a solid smile on his face.

He was a total er for her.

For the longest time too, ever since the day Junsu first saw Taeyeon cry.

It was Jaejoong’s tenth birthday party, held on a nice, sunny yet cool day. His family threw him a backyard party and because it was Jaejoong’s folks who were throwing the party, everyone on the block was invited.

There were decorations everywhere, inside and out—streamers, cardboard cutouts of various cartoon characters, and balloons that promised a great party.

Jaejoong and a few of his sisters stood by the door, greeting their guests one by one and they would give Jaejoong their presents.

As usual, Yoochun, Junsu, and Changmin arrived together, grinning at the birthday boy as they approached him, holding their gifts separately.

“Happy birthday, Jaejoong!” they greeted him in unison.

Jaejoong grinned, “Thanks,” he chuckled at his three friends and looked behind them. “Where’s Yunho?” Jaejoong tried not to show his disappointment too much.

“Oh! He said he was running a little late,” Changmin shrugged and gave his present to Hyori then entered the house. Yoochun followed suit and pinched Jaejoong’s cheek playfully, “Don’t worry, he’ll be here.” He gave his gift to Chaeyeon, bowing at her with a polite smile.

“Yeah,” Junsu added, grinning brightly as always. “Yunho wouldn’t miss your birthday—he was really excited about the magician!”

Jaejoong just smiled softly, “Thanks, Junsu-yah.”

“No problem,” he replied before turning around to give his present to one of the sisters. The moment he laid his eyes on Taeyeon, her blooming beauty blinded him instantly.

Taeyeon just recently began wearing trainer’s bra and for the special occasion, she got her mother to let her wear lip-gloss. Although it might make too much of a difference to her appearance, Junsu noticed.

“H-h-h-hi, Taeyeon noona,” he blinked, star-struck.

She smiled at him, “Hi Junsu-yah, glad you could make it!” Taeyeon said in a slightly hurried manner and looked away, searching for someone.

Of course Junsu didn’t notice and just blushed, “Heh…” he smiled shyly, his eyes gazing down on the floor nervously “Me too…”

“I like your shirt!” Taeyeon said.

Junsu smiled and looked at his yellow polo, his mom made him wear it. “Really? My mom—“ He looked up and saw Taeyeon was actually talking to the guests that just arrived.

He blinked and pouted, staring at the living perfection that was Jaejoong’s older sister, Kim Taeyeon.

“Yah, Junsu! You’re missing out!” Yoochun shouted, gesturing for him to come out into the backyard. “Changmin’s gonna eat all the food if you don’t hurry up!”

Sighing, Junsu walked after Yoochun and joined the other boys.

After the sunset, Yunho finally arrived. He was the last guest actually and by then, they played all the games, cut the cake, opened the presents, and the magician had already left.

Junsu had a bit of a difficulty going inside to get more soda because of the string attached to his balloon snake that was tied around his wrist. He grumbled and pulled the string lower then heard Yunho arrive.

Taeyeon was the only one standing by the door then. They talked for a while and as Yunho continued to talk, Taeyeon’s expression gloomed.

Seeing that little exchange, Junsu suddenly felt a little provoked. He walked toward Yunho and started at him intently.

“Hey, Junsu,” Yunho smiled.

“Hyung,” he frowned, “What did you say to Taeyeon noona?”

Yunho blinked, “Uh—what?”

“You made her upset hyung,” Junsu’s frown transformed into a pout, “Apologize.”

Yunho shook his head, “I didn’t do anything—she asked me if I could invite some of the older guys that played on the basketball team with me. At first they said they would go…but they bailed last minute.”

“Oh…” Junsu tilted his head slightly.

“Yeah, well. I gotta go give this to Jaejoong,” Yunho referred to his present, “I’ll talk to you later, Junsu,” he said before approaching Jaejoong.

When Junsu turned around to look at Taeyeon, she was gone. Junsu widened his eyes and began searching for her. He looked for her inside the house then outside. He picked up sobbing noises when he came back in the backyard. It turned out that she was inside the empty jumper house. Junsu entered as quietly as he could but didn’t succeed very much, Taeyeon felt every footstep he made.

She sniffed and slid to one of the corners, hiding in the shadows, “What are you doing here? You suppose to be with Jaejoong and the other kids.”

Junsu squinted his eyes and tried to see her clearer, “What are you doing here?” he retorted, crawling a bit closer. “It’s not fun to jump in here all by yourself,” he looked up and all around the spacious jumper that seemed cramped with jumping kids earlier.

Taeyeon sniffed again and hugged her legs to her chest, “I don’t have to tell you anything…”

Junsu watched her and crawled to her, “Are you crying?” he asked, leaning closer. For a few seconds he saw Taeyeon’s tears under the moonlight sparkling on her cheeks. Junsu didn’t know why it made his heart skip a beat, but it did—twice.

Taeyeon held her hand up, “Don’t come any closer!”

Junsu blinked, “Why?”

“Because I said so!”

Junsu raised an eyebrow and paused, “Are you upset about something?”

It took Taeyeon a few seconds to answer, “So what if I am…” she mumbled.

“Do you want my snake balloon?” He offered and pulled the string down, showing Taeyeon his green snake attached to a thin piece of string.

She shook her head, “I don’t really like snakes.”

“What’s your favorite animal then?” Junsu asked, grabbing his snake and stared at it.

Taeyeon sighed, “Hmm… puppies,” she nodded.

“I can make that,” Junsu replied quickly and tried twisting his long balloon.

“Really?” Taeyeon sat up and watched excitedly at Junsu who seemed like he knew what he was doing.

“Uhm…--“ POP!

Taeyeon gasped and looked at Junsu, “A-are you okay?” She touched his forearm.

Junsu tightened his jaws and felt like crying, he had this expression that made Taeyeon want to laugh. But she didn't.

The balloon popping in his hand hurt a little and the balloon man was gone so he couldn’t get another one. He gulped, “Y-yeah,” he inhaled and looked at Taeyeon holding his arm.

“That …your snake’s gone. Thanks for trying anyway,” She chuckled softly.

He smiled a little after hearing her laugh. “Then…do you want cotton candy instead?” he sat up and took out a wad of cotton candy from his pocket and offered it to her.

When he saw her uncertainty, Junsu added, “Its okay, my mom washed these pants today!”

“Uhm…” Taeyeon laughed a little before taking a piece off of his hand, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Junsu smiled and ate some too.

Once Junsu’s hand was clean of cotton candy, they decided to play in the jumper a little while longer before it was taken down.

Ever since then, Junsu loved Taeyeon and hoped that one day she would feel the same about him.

“Taeyeon.”

Junsu stopped on his tracks when he heard Taeyeon’s name spoken by a man, “My Taeyeon?” He whispered to himself and hid behind a pillar.

“Leave me alone, Bum oppa—I have work to do.” Junsu gasped silently when he heard Taeyeon’s voice. He peaked at their conversation, his eyebrows scrunching together as soon as he saw the guy.

“No—“ He could heard the man grab Taeyeon, “I know you’re gonna want me back eventually, Tae. Every girl does.”

Junsu’s blood started boiling.

“No! I don’t want you back!” Taeyeon screamed and tried getting away from him but his grasp was too tight. “Let me go, Kim Bum. I don’t want to be with you anymore.”

Bum chuckled darkly and pulled her close to him, “Don’t try to—“

“Didn’t you hear her the first time?” Junsu came out of hiding and walked toward them with tightly curled fists. “She doesn’t want to be with you.”

Taeyeon widened her eyes, “Junsu? What are you doing here?”

Junsu turned to Taeyeon, “Well—I followed you, I wanted to—“

Bum laughed, “What is he, the baby you’re sitting?”

Junsu glared at the stranger as he walked toward him and tightened his fist, raising it quickly and punched him square on the face.

“!” Bum let go of Taeyeon and held his nose.

Taeyeon gasped, “Junsu—what—“

“Lets go!” Junsu grabbed her hand and pulled her away, running as fast as he could while the stranger was still recovering from the hit.

“Woah, it looked like it really hurt!” Taeyeon looked back at Bum.

Junsu chuckled softly, “Thanks,” he shook the hand he hit with nonchalantly and tried to hide the pain.

After a good five minutes of running, Bum was still hot on their track. Luckily Junsu made a sharp turn and another then slipped into a tiny corner, squishing his and Taeyeon’s body together.

“I think we lost him,” Junsu heaved.

Taeyeon nodded in agreement, panting like a dog. She waited a few seconds and realized her body was pressed against Junsu’s.

“Uhm,” she gulped, looking at him, “Why did you do that?”

Junsu didn’t know whether it was the adrenaline rush or his heart that made him kiss her.

-----
AN: how was it? ^^ Tell me what you think about it in the comments below~ they are very much appreciated <3