Byeonchi aneul sarangeuro jikyeo jweo (Protect me with an unchanged love)
Shiseon sogeseo mareun piryo eopseo (Looking in your eyes, no words are needed)

- Into the New World, SNSD/Girls Generation

Would you consent to this heart of mine (Iruhn naui maeum huhrakhaejullae?)
For a lifetime I’ll be by your side, I do (Pyuhngsaeng gyuhte isseulge (I do))

- Marry U, Super Junior

Disclaimer: This chapter highlights Donghae and Jessica's close relationship with each other, and with their favorite hyung Kim Heechul. Remember, ninety percent of this is purely fictional. (Although, I wish it wasn't). Hope you enjoy! 

PS. Italics are thoughts. 

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[3rd week of October 2017, FALL]

“Wah!” Kim Heechul exclaimed with wide eyes, pleasantly surprised by the guests.

Two figures walked inside the room. A woman with long brown hair, her fringe above her eyes, and a signature white blouse and red skirt with red flats. A man beside her with short black hair was carrying a backpack, and was also sporting a white polo shirt with a red tie and beige pants with white shoes.

“We’re doomed! We’re doomed!” Heechul exclaimed in a joking manner. The brothers asked why, and he replied, “They don’t talk much..” Donghae and Jessica laughed at the attack. 

Heechul continued, “Donghae never talked much even before he enlisted, while Jessica doesn’t like to talk period. Aigoo~ what to do?” Though, he was just saying these things to help them out, and the pair understood, because Donghae answered, “Aniyo, we’re actually very chatty when we’re together.” He said while pointing to Jessica and him. “Even more so when Heechul hyung’s here.”

“I see. We’ll wait for that.” Kang Hodong replied. “Now, introduce yourselves please.”

“Yes, hello! I’m Jessica from Soshi school, enjoying the Summer Storm in my life!” Jessica introduced herself, slightly embarrassed from how cheesy it sounded. Nonetheless, she was smiling - her eyes bright.

“Hello. I’m a man like the sea, Super Junior Donghae.” Donghae introduced himself just as it is. Even after all this years, he’s still nervous doing variety shows. ‘Well, at least both of us can help each other out.’ He thought, referring to his partner beside him.

“Yah, you two! So this is what you’ve been hiding.” Heechul told them off, standing up to ruffle their hair.

“Aish, oppa! My hair!” “Ah hyung, stop it!” The guests complained, trying to knock off Heechul’s hands from their heads.

“Eh? What do you mean ‘this is what you’ve been hiding?’” Min Kyunghoon asked, curious and fishing for answers.

Donghae and Jessica tensed, nervous that they would find out, but Heechul smoothly answered, “Their guesting on the show. I’m closest with these two since trainee days - they are my favorite dongsaengs - and they didn’t bother to tell me about this.” The pair relaxed. ‘Thank God for Heechul oppa/hyung’s skills’ they thought.

Then he suddenly turned around and said, “Yah, is this how you treat your favorite oppa and hyung?!”

The pair only laughed, knowing he was joking.

“Jessica-ah, when the rest of your members came here, they told us you couldn’t come because of your health…” Kang Hodong said.

“Ah yea. Since the comeback had two songs to commemorate our 10 years in the industry, I guess my body couldn’t take it anymore. I’m anemic, you see, and once, I was rushed to the hospital because of fatigue and overworking. I didn’t want my health getting in the way of my career so I mellowed down on the power of my movements for our choreography.” Jessica explained, hoping that her absence during that time didn’t cause too much issues.

“Sica-ah, that doesn’t really answer Hodong hyung's question.” Donghae piped up beside her.

“I wasn’t done explaining yet, babo.” Jessica turned to Donghae and sticked her tongue out. “Merong~”

Donghae only chuckled and replied, “Okay okay, sheesh.”

The brothers noticed this interaction and was starting to be put-off by the closeness of the two. It’s the type of closeness different from an oppa and his dongsaeng. It’s different from Heechul and Taeyeon closeness.

Lee Soogeun was about to dig another hole, but Jessica continued before he could. “After the last day of filming All Night’s music video, I fainted right after the director said ‘cut!’ The members rushed me to the hospital. The doctor diagnosed it was fatigue again and stress.”

“Ah, I see. Too bad, but you’re okay now, right?” Kang Hodong asked.

“Yes, much better, thank you.” She thanked him.

“Sorry, but Donghae-ssi, I couldn’t help but notice that your hand was smoothening out her hair…” Lee Sangmin pointed out from the back, his suspicions slipping by each word.

Jessica was surprised on hearing Sangmin’s observation. She didn’t feel any weight on her head. Then again, she felt relaxed as she was explaining her reason. 

“It’s a habit.” Donghae shortly replied. Then he turned to Jessica, “Aish~ I’m not really good at this! Even after all these years, I still get nervous!”

“Aigoo~ it’s okay, Hae.” Jessica replied in English, smoothening out his hair and patting his pouting face. ‘What am I going to do with this fish face?’ She thought, endeared by her partner. “You just got released two months ago anyway.”

“Excuse me, but…are you two dating?” See Janghoon dropped the bomb. His eyes glinted with deep interest. It’s impossible if they aren’t. Their actions explain that they are.

The pair quickly replied, “Aniyo~”

“Ehhh…” The brothers exclaimed in disbelief, except Heechul.

“Yah Heechul-ah, are they dating or not?” Min Kyunghoon asked.

“No, they’re not, even though they appear to be. They’ve been like that since trainee days.” Heechul replied while looking at Kyunghoon straight in the eyes to prove he’s not lying. Then he gave his dongsaengs a meaningful look.

The brothers were surprised but nonetheless, they accepted the answer. Heechul doesn’t lie, even at his own expense. Heck, he reveals everything! ‘That’s why he’s a psycho.’ They thought.

“Anyway, you two haven’t officially enrolled yet! Where are your application forms?” Lee Soogeun asked.

“Ah yes. Wait…” Donghae reached out the applications in his backpack and handed them to the small hyung.

Soogeun began to read. “Name: Lee Donghae (“Oh he wrote his real name!”), Nickname: Bada, Special talent: composes songs, guitar, and soccer…(“Wah, soccer, really?”).

“Is that why your hair is cut short?” Kim Youngchul asked.

“Bwoya~ he just became a civilian two months ago! Were you not listening?” Heechul told him off.

“Ah maja maja, josonghabnida!”

Donghae nodded his head and replied, “Ne~ I enlisted 2 years ago, on my birthday, and got released this August.”

“Donghae-ssi, do you really play soccer?” Lee Sangmin asked him, surprised.

 “Yes, I used to play varsity for my school back then. It was actually my dream before I became an idol. I still practice now and then if I have the time or if I’m having trouble composing songs.” Donghae humbly replied.

“Daebakk! Now we have two athletes in the room!” Lee Sangmin exclaimed, referring to Seo Janghoon.

“Actually, it’s three. Jessica played too.” Heechul inserted the small bit of information.

The brothers were surprised. “Really, Jessica-ssi?!” Kang Hodong asked.

Jessica nodded and replied, “Ne, though it’s not old news. Donghae oppa and I used to play a lot back in the day.” She smiled at the nostalgia and looked at Donghae as the memories flooded her mind. He smiled back in return.

“Donghae composes songs? Daebakk! What were the songs you composed?” Kim Youngchul ignored the look passed between the two, and asked Donghae, fascinated by his talent.

“Ne~ I composed some songs like ‘Y, Loving You, Haru, Shirt, among others. And there are also songs which I only wrote the lyrics like ‘I Am’ and ‘ Beautiful’. There were a lot of people who helped me a lot though so I can’t take all the credit.” Donghae humbly elaborated.

“Donghae’s currently composing another one actually.” Heechul commented.

“Ne, with the help of Eunhyuk. It’s a ballad for our upcoming album.” He replied.

“What’s the title and can you sing a few lines?” Min Kyunghoon suggested.

“Ah ne.” Donghae coughed to warm up his voice and began to sing.

“Idaero bicheoreom gaji mayo Oh

nan oneuldo ireoke jeokshyeojin

jeojeun heunjeokdeul sogeseo geudaereul chatgetjyo.”

“It’s not done yet though.” He said, feeling shy.

“Wah! We’ll definitely wait for that.” Kang Hodong affirmed.

Moving on, Lee Soogeun looked through Jessica’s application form and read, “Name: Jessica Jung, Nickname: Maomao, Special talent: Sleeping for a long period of time (Everyone laughed at this) and designing.”

“Oh~ she didn’t indicate soccer!” Seo Janghoon commented.

“She indicated designing…Ah! Of course, Jessica has her own fashion business, isn’t that right?” Lee Soogeun asked.

“Ne~ It’s called Blanc & Eclare.”

“Wah! Jessica’s really amazing. I’ve seen some celebrities wearing your brand! Actually, there’s a list.” Lee Soogeun began to read, “Park Minyoung, Girl’s Day Minah, TWICE, B1A4, Big Bang’s Seungri, f(x)’s Krystal and Amber…”

“My members and Super Junior oppas too actually. We just had a photoshoot yesterday…omo~ can I say this? It’s not even out to the public yet.” Jessica widened her eyes at the realization.

“It’s okay, Jessica-ah. Heechul exposes things all the time without consent and he never gets in trouble.” Min Kyunghoon snarked. Everyone laughed at the accuracy.

After she was done laughing, she continued, “Anyway, we had a photoshoot yesterday with my members and SuJu oppas. They’re modeling my latest fall collection, actually. I hope you’ll enjoy it.”

Donghae clapped loudly making Jessica jump in surprise. “Bwoya~” She nudged him on the side. He only laughed in reply.

“Aigoo~ This has got to be the longest introduction yet.” Kang Hodong commented.

“Maja. One and a half hour has passed.” Min Kyunghoon affirmed.

[ASKING QUESTIONS TIME!]

“Okay, I’ll go first.” Jessica told them, her cue cards in front of her. “Aigoo~ Eotteokke..” She coughed and proceeded to ask her first question. “Okay, first: I have received several confessions from fans several times. This happens especially in fan meets and fan signing events. However, there is one fan confession that really stuck with me cause it was so unexpected. Why is this?”

“Jeongdab! The fan shouted, “Jessica-nuna, saranghae!” Kim Youngchul started off his guess.

“Ddaeng! That’s too ordinary! But you’re close. The fan did shout.” Jessica went over to Youngchul, whom moved to very back of the room, and smacked him with the hammer.

“Too ordinary?” Heechul wondered and asked her as she was going back to the front, “Jeongdab! The fan danced to one of your songs and confessed like, “This is my kind of wonderland~ This is my kind of wonderland~ Jessica-nuna, I’m your number one fan! Saranghae!” Heechul busted out dancing enthusiastically.

Jessica covered to contain her laughter. “Aniyo~”. She smacked his head.

Donghae, sitting on Youngchul’s usual seat, wondered which incident. ‘Ah~ she told me a lot of these things…’ He thought as he tried to recall previous stories.

“The fan shouted, so he must be far away…” Lee Sangmin said outloud.

“Ani. The fan was near me, like a an arm away.” Jessica answered.

“Ah!!” Donghae suddenly exclaimed and laughed. ‘It was that incident.’ He continued to chuckle at the thought. “Sica-yah! Was it that one?”

Jessica looked at him and blushed suddenly. “Eo~ Yah! Joyonghi. I want them to guess!”

The brothers, including Heechul, were confused and continued to wonder.

“Bwoya~ Did he hug you or something?” Heechul guessed.

“Eo!” Jessica eyed Heechul, surprised at his close answer. “Really close! There was skinship involved!!”

“Omo~ jinjja?! A fan hugged the Jessica Jung!” Kang Hodong exclaimed.

“Geunde…it wasn't a male fan though.” Jessica admitted.

“ !! ” The brothers eyes widened.

“Though, I guess that’s not a surprise. Jessica has a lot of female fans. It’s actually well-known that Jessica has the most fangirls while Yoona has the most fanboys.” Heechul stated, has already gotten over his shock.

The brothers continued to guess. It went on for fifteen minutes until Seo Janghoon shyly said, “Jeongdab! She…confessed saying how much she loves you then she suddenly gave you a kiss then hugged you.”

“…Jeongdab.” And at this, Seo Janghoon stood up to do his usual thing when he gets the right answer while Donghae began chuckling on his seat.

The brothers were surprised once more. “Omo~ Jessica-yah, the fan really kissed you?” Kang Hodong questioned.

Jessica only nodded, ignoring her partner’s amusement, and began to explain the whole story. “It was during my ‘With Love, J’ fan meet in China. I was signing my albums, and a female fan was next holding a rose. She gave me the rose and confessed on how much she adores me. I was touched, but I was surprised on what she did next. She grabbed my face and kissed me on the lips for a second then hugged me. I couldn’t move. My brain stopped working like, ‘what just happened?’”

“What did the fan say after?” Lee Soogeun asked, not knowing what else to say.

“I don’t kn