Chapter 2
“Congratulations on your Japan debut! Your song has reached number 1 on the Oricon chart,” the MC announced, while clapping his hands.

Kyuhyun smiled modestly and bowed. “Thank you. I’m very grateful to the Japanese fans that support me. I will work harder in the future.”

“What inspires you to do even better? I’m sure you have your downs, some off days when you feel like you’re too tired. What motivates you to just keep on going?” the MC then asked.

“I’m lucky to have people in my life who continue to support me and be there for me no matter what happens,” Kyuhyun vaguely answered, a somewhat secretive smile on his face.

“So you’ve recently come back from quite a long vacation, almost three months,” the MC then segued. “Can you tell us anything about that?”

Kyuhyun sat there for a while, as if debating on what to say. “I have come back from a vacation with the members and my family. It was a break we all needed. That’s all I’m going to say about that. For now at least,” he confirmed with a smile.

Pause.

Kyuhyun’s smiling expression was frozen.

Suddenly, a computer mouse flew right at the computer screen, right smack in the middle of his smiling face, scratching the screen and breaking the thrown device into pieces.

~ * ~

“What’s all the racket in here?” Kyuhyun grumbled as he walked into the kitchen, blearily rubbing one eye.

Jin Ri turned around, surprised. “Oh sorry, did I wake you?” she asked, biting her lip. “I was trying to be as quiet as I could. I’m making you breakfast,” she added.

They were back in Korea, currently staying at Jin Ri’s apartment, while they looked for a home they could call their own. Despite debuting for only two years in Japan, he had managed to convince his manager and the SME management that he could continue activities in Japan while living in Korea. He strongly presented his case because he knew how much his wife wanted to start their life together there. Japan was special to them, but Korea was their home.

She was about to turn back to cooking when she felt his arms around her middle. He turned her around to face him and gazed at her lovingly. Under his intense stare, she could already feel herself turning red.

“Please don’t do that again,” he asked of her, reaching out to tuck her hair behind her ear.

“Sorry, Kyu,” she immediately apologized. “I won’t be so loud next time.”

“I’m not talking about that,” he corrected her, shaking his head and smirking. “I’m talking about you getting out of bed without telling me and waking me.” He pulled her closer, making her body flush against his. “I want us to always wake up beside each other.”

She giggled. “If you say so,” she acquiesced, standing on tiptoe to meet her lips with his.

Jin Ri didn’t know how or when but she soon found herself pressed against the wall, her robe untied and his hands on places that, when touched by him, made her mind completely blank and made her utterly incoherent. And the way Kyuhyun was kissing her, she couldn’t even remember what she was doing before this, and why she wasn’t doing this in the first place.

“Kyuhyun,” she breathlessly tried to stop him, placing both of her hands flat on his chest, pushing (or trying to) him away. She couldn’t help but think at how Kyuhyun tried to take advantage of such graduation every chance he got. But she couldn’t exactly begrudge him for that because she wanted the same thing from him. She just couldn’t get enough of him.

Kyuhyun’s response to this was to just continue kissing her in a mind-blowing way, his arms snaking around her bare waist. Her eyes fluttered shut once more, seriously considering just letting him have his way. But the phone ringing stopped this thought.

“Kyu,” she said again, more firmly this time. “The phone. That’s probably Taeng calling to remind me of our date later.” She giggled as he gently bit her lower lip.

“The phone and Taeyeon can wait,” he bossily declared. With one movement, he scooped her in his arms and started for the bedroom. “This can’t. I can’t.” He gave her a pointed look, which made her blush and agree without any complaints.

~ * ~

“Ri!” Taeyeon screamed as soon as Jin Ri poked her head in the practice room after she had knocked. The petite SNSD leader scrambled up to her feet and rushed to hug her friend, whom she hadn’t seen for five months.

“Hey!” Jin Ri greeted, chuckling as she hugged her back.

The rest of the SNSD members got their turns hugging her. Ever since the wedding, although they hadn’t seen each other since then, they’d all gotten quite close. All the girls kept on calling her to ask how she was doing, teasing her and Kyuhyun at the same time.

“How are you guys?” Jin Ri asked after she had hugged Jessica, who clung onto her.

“Us?” Hyoyeon remarked. “How are you? How is married life?”

Jin Ri smiled, the answer being obvious. “It’s certainly different,” she shared, looking thoughtful. The girls giggled at this. It wasn’t a secret that they all dreamt of getting married and becoming a wife someday.

“How is it being married to Kyuhyun oppa?” Yoona teased.

“Hmm,” Jin Ri mused, hearing the door open and smelling a familiar scent. “It’s not really what I expected. I think I’ve gotten the short end of the stick in this marriage, actually.”

“I heard that!” Kyuhyun announced his arrival, standing behind his wife and wrapping his arms around her middle, making all the girls go aww. He turned to the SNSD members. “But she’s right. I’m the lucky one in this marriage.” The girls giggled even more.

Jin Ri rolled her eyes. “See what I mean? I got the cheesy husband.” She turned to him as the girls laughed. “I thought you had a meeting,” she said.

“I do,” he told her, pulling her aside. “It actually might take a while so I’m giving you the car keys in case you want to go somewhere with the girls.” He nodded his head towards the girls, who were all pretending not to mind them.

“Okay,” she said, taking the keys from him. “But I think I’ll hang around for a while.”

“Alright,” he said, giving her a kiss on the lips. “I’ll see you later.” He leaned towards her and whispered in her ear, “I love you.”

She giggled. “I love you, too, Kyu,” she whispered back.

“Ladies,” Kyuhyun turned to them, waving.

Once Kyuhyun left, the girls got into a frenzy about teasing Jin Ri.

“You’re so lucky, Ri,” Sooyoung gushed. “You’re married and your husband just adores you.”

“Do you two even fight at all?” Tiffany wanted to know.

“Well, no,” Jin Ri admitted, thinking about it. “So are you guys done with practice?”

“In a bit,” Taeyeon told her. “I’ll be ready in a couple of minutes.”

As the SNSD members finished their practice, Jin Ri decided to go around the company, to see the people she had worked with in the past. Her resignation wasn’t in the best of terms and wasn’t done in the nicest of ways so she thought of, maybe, fixing that somehow. Gently knocking on the door, she wondered if her previous superior was actually there.

“Come in,” a gruff voice called out.

“Seung Hun-ssi,” she greeted with a polite bow.

“Jin Ri-ssi!” Shin Seung Hun, the head of SM Entertainment’s photography team, stood up to shake her hand, looking completely surprised. “I heard about your wedding. Congratulations! It seems things have worked out, after all.” He gave her a warm smile.

“Thank you sir,” she responded, taking a seat in front of the desk.

“So what brings you here?” he asked, sitting down as well and clasping his hands in front of him as he leaned back on his seat. Jin Ri had always been one of his favorite members of his staff. She was beyond par with her photography talent and was such a joy to work with.

“Just visiting,” she explained. “Kyuhyun’s actually at a meeting and I thought of meeting with you.” She paused for a second. “I also wanted to apologize for the way I left. It wasn’t proper, the way I handled things.”

He smiled. “I think you handle it the best way you could, but I appreciate your apology,” he responded. “So what have you been up to? I’ve seen the photographs you’ve been taking in Japan. That’s some of the best work I’ve seen from you.”

“How did you even see them?” she inquired.

“It’s part of my job,” he answered with a shrug. “But, then again, Siwon keeps on sending copies to me.”

“Siwon oppa?” she echoed, looking baffled.

“That kid, aside from your husband of course and so many other people, is a big fan of your work,” he elaborated with a chuckle. “Which brings me to a question… what do you think about working here again?”

~ * ~

“So what does it feel like?” Taeyeon eagerly asked over ice cream.

“What does what feel like?” Jin Ri asked, looking at her friend in amusement.

“Being married,” Taeyeon answered. “How different is it from just being boyfriend-girlfriend?”

“Well, for one, you live together,” Jin Ri shared. “But, I guess, what’s most different about it is the fact that things aren’t just about you anymore. Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally… There’s this other person whom you could and should share everything with. You’re not alone.”

Jin Ri smiled, thinking back at the first five months they had spent as husband and wife. Although they had slept beside each other before, it was still weird waking up with him by her side everyday. They had their honeymoon in China for a week then went back to Japan. Their first three months were mostly spent staying at home, cooking food together (or her trying to stop him from burning their apartment down), and looking at their wedding photos, watching the wedding videos, just playing around, among other things. It was a pretty long break for him, considering he was supposedly still debuting in Japan, but he wanted to spend more time with her, so they just toured more of Japan together.

“Sounds like a dream,” Taeyeon observed, smiling as she watched Jin Ri go all wistful. It was obvious how very much in love she was.

“I’m sure it’s not all going to be a dream,” Jin Ri stated. “Angie unnie and I have been talking a lot and she keeps telling me how things won’t be rosy soon enough.”

“Does that scare you?” Taeyeon then asked, scooping a big chunk of ice cream and putting it in .

“I honestly don’t know what to be scared of yet,” Jin Ri admitted. “Kyuhyun and I never really fought before, except when I told him about Shin Jae and everything else related to him, as well as when my uncle was against our marriage. Kyuhyun’s pretty patient and he really takes care of me well. So, yeah, it’s all a mystery right now. But I hope that whatever happens, we’ll be able to handle it together.”

“You’re Kyuhyun and Jin Ri,” Taeyeon said dismissively. “You’ve gone through so much and yet you’re both still here, together and in love.” She giggled. “You’ll be able to handle anything.”

Jin Ri hoped she was right. At that moment, her phone beeped.

“I assume that’s prince charming?” Taeyeon remarked, watching her friend’s face brighten up.

“He just got done with his meeting,” Jin Ri relayed, chuckling at her reaction.

“Let’s go then,” Taeyeon said, standing up. “I have to get back to the dorm soon anyway.”

They returned to the company building. As they waited in the lobby, the two girls continued on chatting with each other and were later joined by Jessica. While they were doing so, someone approached them, a tall, good-looking, medium-built guy with short, black hair and wearing glasses. He had on a fit checkered polo shirt and some washed out jeans.

“Yes?” Jessica politely asked interestedly when she noticed him staring at them. The two other girls turned around to look.

Before anyone else could say anything, Jin Ri spoke, a surprised smile on her face. “Keiji!”

“You know him?” Jessica and Taeyeon chorused in surprise. They’d actually been seeing him around in the company building for the past few weeks.

“Yes,” Jin Ri shared. “I met him in one of the photography classes I took in Japan.” She had met him during the time when she was trying to get away from Kyuhyun. She had gotten lost in the building where her class was going to be held on her first day and he was kind enough to guide her to the right room.

“Iwate Keiji,” he introduced himself to Taeyeon and Jessica, bowing. The girls smiled and introduced themselves as well. “I met Jin Ri in Japan in one of my classes two years ago.”

She turned to him. “What are you doing here? Are you back for good?”

“Yes,” Keiji answered, smiling. He looked around and grinned at her. “I’ve actually just started working here last month.”

“Really?” she asked, surprised. “So you’ve finally decided to do actual photography work.”

“Yeah,” he said, nodding. “My sister finally got transferred to a school here so I can finally make money out of my hobby.” He nodded towards her necklace. “I see you’re still wearing that. Is your boyfriend around?” He knew that he was a famous singer.

“He’s just coming down from a meeting,” she told him. “And that’s not the only thing I’m wearing.” She held up her left hand, showing him her engagement and wedding rings, both on the fourth finger.

There was a narrowing of his eyes that Jessica clearly saw, but the two other girls missed. It was immediately replaced by a wide smile. “I guess congratulations are in order then,” he said.

“Thanks,” she beamed. Looking behind her, she saw that Kyuhyun had arrived. “Kyu, look who’s here! Keiji!”

“Keiji!” Kyuhyun greeted, looking surprised. He shook his hand and bowed. “What are you doing here?”

“He’s back in Korea and working here in SME,” Jin Ri shared.

“That’s good,” Kyuhyun said.

“I hear I should congratulate you,” Keiji continued, grinning at him. “Congratulations!”

“Thank you,” Kyuhyun said appreciatively. “We should all get-together for coffee some time.”

“I’m holding you to it,” Keiji joked.

“Of course,” Jin Ri confirmed. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of each other so it won’t be too hard to set a date.”

Keiji nodded. “I should get going then. I don’t want to keep you guys.” He turned to Taeyeon and Jessica. “It was nice to meet you both,” he told them. “My sister is a fan of yours.”

“Oh thank you,” Taeyeon politely responded. “Please tell her we said hi and good luck on her studies.”

“I will,” Keiji said, smiling gratefully at her kindness.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Jessica added after getting a jab on the side from Taeyeon.

Keiji said another round of goodbyes to all of them before walking out of the building. Kyuhyun entangled his fingers with Jin Ri while Taeyeon bit back a giggle at the obvious display of affection of the two.

“Where are you guys off to?” Kyuhyun asked Taeyeon and Jessica.

“Dorm,” Jessica answered, while Taeyeon nodded.

“We’re heading to our dorms in a bit,” Kyuhyun told them, more specifically at Taeyeon. “You girls might want to join us.”

Taeyeon visibly blushed at this. It really was no secret that she and Kangin were together, but every time someone brought it up, it always made her feel shy. Jessica smiled teasingly at the leader, while Jin Ri chuckled.

“I think I’ll pass,” Taeyeon finally told them, her cheeks still pink. “You guys have a lot to catch up on.”

“What she means is that she’ll see Kangin oppa later anyway so she doesn’t need to go with you,” Jessica teasingly decoded.

Kyuhyun chuckled. “If you’re sure.” He turned to his wife. “We’ll be off then.”

Jin Ri exchanged hugs with Jessica and Taeyeon then left the building with Kyuhyun. Hand-in-hand they walked to their car, oblivious to certain watchful eyes.