【4】

Jaejoong and Peony rejoined the others in the VIP section not too long after.

Everyone seemed to freeze in place once they saw the two of them together.

Their eyes widened at the pair that was holding hands.

Eunhyuk spilled his drink on his shirt.

“What’s going on here?” Yunho approached with a stern look upon his face.

His eyes took in the two of them with their hands interlocked then returned to Jaejoong’s face.

He gave his bestfriend a hard stare-down.

Jaejoong was trying to figure out what his friend’s problem was.

That’s when he realized that he and Peony were still holding hands.

He let go of her soft hand as soon as the comprehension came to him.

“It’s not what it looks like” he tried to explain.

But he couldn’t help noticing the skeptical looks everyone was giving him.

Peony took in the mood, not understanding what was going on.

However, she caught on that the others were getting the wrong impression.

“Jaejoong-kun, was helping me. He didn’t do anything wrong” she said.

Naomi understood what she was saying.

She told Yunho what her friend had said.

Yunho and the others looked stunned.

“Is she certain that he didn’t do anything to her?” he didn’t believe it.

Jaejoong looked thoroughly offended by his words.

“Yah! I’m not an animal!” he proclaimed.

Did his friend really think he’d take advantage of an innocent girl?

“Come on, hyung—it is you we’re talking about” Junsu said.

Jaejoong glared at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Junsu simply shrugged and said no more.

“You really didn’t do anything?” Yoochun was unbelieving.

“You didn’t touch her?” Changmin stared at him with a sideways look.

The rest of the guests looked at him the same way.

“No, I didn’t molest her!” Jaejoong protested his innocence.

Some other ert tried to attack Peony and he was the one put on trial.

His friends decided to believe him.

“Fair enough. I just had to make sure” Yunho said.

Jaejoong shook his head. “And you call yourself my bestfriend.”

But Yunho knew he was just joking.

“I didn’t mean anything by it, Jae” he patted him on the shoulder.

Peony went over to Naomi and the other girls.

She assured them once again that she was fine.

She didn’t want them to worry over her.

But she said that she was tired and wanted to leave.

Naomi nodded. “Okay. I’ll take you back to my place.”

Peony’s eyes widened. “You can’t leave your birthday party.”

It was still pretty early—only a little after midnight.

“You should stay. Jaejoong-kun can take me” Peony proposed.

Naomi looked skeptical. “Are you sure you want to be alone?”

She thought about it and realized that her friend was right.

After what happened not long ago she didn’t want to be by herself.

Her eyes went over to where Jaejoong was speaking to his male friends.

“Do you think he will let me go to his place?” Peony asked.

Naomi was taken aback by what she was suggesting.

She knew her friend wasn’t the sort of girl Jaejoong usually spent his nights with.

But after seeing how close they were before she figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

Jaejoong had a soft spot for Peony it seemed.

“Jaejoong-oppa, would it be alright if you take Peony to your place? She’s tired” she said.

Jaejoong looked stunned for a moment.

As were the other guys.

“You’re asking him to take your friend to his place…just the two of them?” Yunho was baffled.

Naomi nodded. “That’s right. I trust him to take care of her.”

Jaejoong looked over at Peony.

She was staring back at him.

“Is that what you want?” he asked her directly.

Peony nodded. “Yes, I don’t want to be here any longer.”

She felt tired from everything that she’d done that day.

“Okay then. I’ll take her with me” Jaejoong said.

His close friends looked shocked that he’d agreed.

He was taking a girl back to his place and didn’t intend to have his way with her?

That was a hard pill for them to swallow.

“Maybe we misjudged you, hyung” Kyuhyun said.

Jaejoong grinned. “Of course you did.”

They didn’t know him as well as they thought.

But then again, he had been acting out of the usual since Peony showed up.

“Are you ready to go?” he approached her.

Peony said that she was and they headed for the stairs.

She told everyone goodbye and they waved to her.

Naomi would come to fetch her at Jaejoong’s home in the morning.

She’d bring her luggage so that she could catch her flight back to Japan.

The two of them descended the stairs with Jaejoong ahead of her.

The others watched them with mystified looks on their faces.

“What just happened?” Changmin asked, not fully understanding.

Hee-Bon shook her head. “I’m as confused as you are.”

They were all left wondering if Jaejoong and Peony had hooked up.

It was a pairing none of them had seen coming.

She wasn’t like the girls he normally went for.

Jaejoong went out the front to bring his Rolls Royce Wraith to the back where Peony stood along with a big guard named Chan-moo.

It was dark and dank in the back alleyway.

Jaejoong didn’t want Peony to be out there all alone.

He came around to the back and Chan-moo opened the passenger door for Peony.

“Arigato gozaimasu” she thanked him, getting into the expensive ride.

She buckled up while the burly guard closed the door.

Then Jaejoong drove off without delay.

He had the windows up so that the chilliness of the night didn’t creep in.

Neither one of them said anything as he drove down the darkened streets.

There were still lots of people out there looking for a place to have a good time.

“Tonight (Best You Ever Had)” by John Legend played on his car stereo.

Jaejoong concentrated on steering his car to his place.

He glanced over at the pretty girl in his passenger seat.

Peony was silent as she stared out the window.

“You all righ