A/N: This chapter is a bit weird because, well, you'll see. :)) I wanted to get everyone off the depressing mood for a bit (I'm sure you're all tired of it) so I hope this works. Let me know what you think. I'll really appreciate your reactions. :) Thank you for all the lovely comments! I never get tired of reading them.


Chapter 25
She wasn’t really one to talk to strangers. She wasn’t that friendly. But, even so, she wasn’t someone who would ignore an elderly person asking for help. Especially if such elderly was in a hospital.

“Ahjussi, are you alright?” Jin Ri asked, bending down to help him with the few groceries that had spilled on the floor.

The old man lifted his head and his face broke out into a smile as soon as he laid eyes on her. He was probably in his late 60s or early 70s, Jin Ri thought. He was just a little bit taller than her, even when he was hunched forward, leaning on his cane. There were deep laugh lines all by his mouth and his eyes, which showed that he was most likely a cheerful person. But his eyes were sad.

“I’m okay, my child,” he hoarsely assured her. “No need to bother with an old chap like me.” He moved to leaned forward to grab a few of the canned goods that were near his feet with one hand, his other hand tightly gripping his cane for some support.

“Let me, ahjussi,” she insisted, crouching down and picking up everything and putting them into her bag as the paper bag that he had been carrying them with had ripped. “Are you bringing this to one of the rooms? Let me help you bring it there.”

The old man led her to the one of the smaller rooms on the first floor. He quietly opened the door and led her inside.

“You can put them here,” he said, tapping on the small table at the foot of the bed. He moved towards the side of the bed and gave the old lady lying down on it a kiss on the forehead. The lady stirred in her sleep, fluttering her eyes open and turning towards him. “We have a visitor,” he told her.

“Hello,” Jin Ri greeted, bowing politely.

“What’s your name?” the old man asked.

“I’m Jin Ri,” she introduced herself.

“It’s nice to meet you, Jin Ri-ssi. I’m Lee Kang Dae and this is my—,” he paused abruptly and cleared his throat, “this is Seo Woo.”

The lady stirred once more and turned her attention to her. “Hanako,” she corrected, shaking her head a bit. “My name’s Hanako.”

Jin Ri nodded with a smile. But it didn’t escape her how Kang Dae’s face fell at such a correction, although he smiled when Seo Woo-slash-Hanako turned to look at him.

“It’s nice to meet you both,” Jin Ri said, smiling warmly. She took a step back and bowed. “I think I should leave you two so that you’re both able to rest.”

“Thank you for your help, Jin Ri-ssi,” Kang Dae called to her as she moved to leave the room. “You should come by again. We’re always happy to have visitors.”

“I will,” Jin Ri promised. She bowed once more and showed herself out, closing the door behind her.

Jin Ri bit her lip as she stood out of the room. She was curious about the couple and curious about how the old lady obviously preferred to be called by her Japanese name instead of her Korean one.

As she turned to leave, she suddenly noticed the patient nameplate placed right beside the door. Eyes widening, she suddenly had more reason to go back and visit them.

~ * ~

“Are you seeing someone new?”

Everyone gathered around the table froze. The older males, Leeteuk, Hankyung, Kangin and Zhoumi all turned to Donghae, who looked at Jin Ri so seriously, shock all over their faces. Eunhyuk broke into a coughing fit, sending bits of rice all over the table. Ryeowook’s eyes widened, while Siwon frowned at his friend. Shindong merely continued eating, hoping to ignore the sudden awkward feeling around the dining table. Sungmin rolled his eyes, while Kibum just waited for Jin Ri to answer. Angie, Nari, Taeyeon and Kyoungmi either glared at or rolled their eyes at Donghae.

But before Jin Ri could even open , Eunhyuk lifted a hand and slapped the back of Donghae’s head. “Ya! How could you ask that?” he scolded.

“It’s totally inappropriate,” Zhoumi added, frowning heavily.

“It was just a question,” Donghae muttered, rubbing the back of his head, pouting.

“Why would you even ask such a thing?” Hankyung sputtered, still in shock.

“I’ve been visiting the hospital more often these past few days and Jin Ri’s always off somewhere,” Donghae complained, glancing at his sister-in-law. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I didn’t mean to sound accusing.”

Despite everyone’s reactions, Jin Ri laughed, surprising everyone even more. “I’m not offended,” she promised him and everyone. “And I’m not seeing anyone new. I would never.” She said the last sentence so sincerely that Donghae felt even more embarrassed at asking such a question.

“And Donghae hyung has overreacted yet again,” Kibum muttered, shaking his head and going back to his meal.

“Then where do you go?” Donghae pressed, ignoring Kibum and his comment.

“I’ve been visiting an old couple on the other side of the first floor,” she willingly shared with them.

“Oh,” Donghae muttered, feeling discomfited. “Sorry.” He stared at his lap and fiddled with his hands.

“That’s enough,” Leeteuk announced. He turned to Jin Ri with a smile. “Who is this old couple?”

Jin Ri hesitated a tiny bit that no one noticed, except Zhoumi, who just happened to be looking at her so closely. She immediately replaced the tiny hesitation with a bright smile. “They’re really cute,” she started to share.

As Jin Ri went on to tell them how she had met them and what they do on the days that she visits, Zhoumi, even Taeyeon, couldn’t help but notice at how Jin Ri’s eyes didn’t really seem to meet theirs. She just continued on to look at the food on her plate and just once in a while glances up vaguely. It was obvious to them that there was something she wasn’t being honest about, something she was keeping to herself.

“They do sound cute,” Angie gushed, turning towards her husband, who gave her nose a quick kiss.

“Ugh,” Eunhyuk immediately reacted. “Please get a room.”

“It was just a kiss, Hyukjae,” Leeteuk retaliated with an eye roll. “And not even on the lips.”

“Yeah,” Kangin piped in. “Besides, you’ve witnessed their other activities, haven’t you?” He laughed aloud, even when Taeyeon slapped his arm.

The members guffawed as Eunhyuk immediately bent his head down and covered his red ears. Leeteuk and Angie, meanwhile, cleared their throats, suddenly looking very interested at their empty plates.

“It’s been ages since that happened and you still haven’t forgotten about it?” Sungmin asked in the midst of giggling.

“You try it and let’s see if you’ll ever forget,” Eunhyuk shot back, red in the face. “I’d gladly trade my brain for someone else’s now.”

“I’m sure you’ll understand better once you have a girlfriend,” Zhoumi teased.

“Shut up,” Eunhyuk retorted. He pushed his plate away from him, showing that his hunger had left him. “Just because you, you, you, you and you,” he enumerated, pointing at Zhoumi, Leeteuk, Kangin, Shindong, and Ryeowook, “have relationships doesn’t mean you can all just show off whenever you want.” He crossed his arms on his chest, pouting heavily.

“Hey, when did I ever show my girlfriend off?” Zhoumi shot back, making a face. “She’s not even in the country.”

“I don’t either,” Shindong commented with a shrug.

“Why not?” Nari asked him, an eyebrow raised.

Some of the members merely snickered as Shindong cowered a bit at his girlfriend’s intense stare. But they tuned him out as soon as he started to explain what he meant.

Eunhyuk decided to ignore the couple and focused on Zhoumi instead. “But whenever Huiying* calls, you’re always ‘oooh it’s my girlfriend’,” Eunhyuk gave a perfect imitation of Zhoumi’s cheesy voice that had the members laughing so hard. “I’d say that’s showing off.” Zhoumi frowned, his cheeks pink in embarrassment.

“Aww don’t be sad, Hyuk,” Donghae comforted him, putting an arm around his shoulders. “You know you have me. We’re EunHae, remember?” He gave him a cheeky grin.

“Go away,” Eunhyuk whined like a little kid. “I don’t want to be the Eun to your Hae right now. And you have Sica so stop patronizing me!” He suddenly realized and shoved Donghae’s arm off of him and continued to sulk.

Donghae chuckled. It was too bad that Jessica wasn’t around because of a personal schedule to be able to witness Eunhyuk whining about him and her. He knew that she would’ve ended up laughing like crazy.

“I like EunHae, though. I mean, even though you do have Sica,” Jin Ri piped in, smiling at Eunhyuk and Donghae. “It’s my OTP.”

“It’s your WHAT?” a couple of the boys chorused, looking very puzzled.

“Oooh I know what that is!” Angie excitedly joined in, a big grin on her face. Her husband gave her a weird look.

“Is that girl code for something?” Hankyung asked, looking back and forth at the two girls.

“It’s fan fiction code for one true pairing,” Angie educated them, feeling proud of herself. “You know how your fans pair you guys off romantically? That’s what they call their favorite pairs. EunHae is actually very popular in the fan fiction world.” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. Being the wife of an idol made her learn so many things about the industry and that included fan fiction. In the six years that they’d been married, she’d read quite an interesting number of stories about her husband. She giggled at the thought.

Donghae and Eunhyuk stared at each other then at Jin Ri and Angie.

“I think it’s time we stop talking about this,” Eunhyuk declared seriously, shuddering. As much as Donghae was his best friend and as much as he loved him, he wasn’t going to be stuck in an OTP with him. Never in real life. Especially since Sica was practically his girlfriend.

Donghae nodded resolutely, standing up as he was done eating anyway. Jin Ri and Angie exchanged a look and quietly laughed. That definitely took care of turning the topic in a different direction.

As they all left the restaurant and walked to the parking lot to their cars, Jin Ri walked behind everyone, enjoying watching the couples and the other members have fun. They never fail to remind her of how there’s still so much of life to live, how there’s still so many things to be happy about and to be grateful for.

But she couldn’t help but look away as Leeteuk hugged Angie tighter against him and as Ryeowook and Kyoungmi, who were walking beside the oldest couple, exchanged a quick kiss.

If any one of them had a fault, it was that they made her miss Kyuhyun even more.

~ * ~

“Knock knock,” she politely but cheerful greeted, peeking through the opened door.

Lee Kang Dae looked up from the newspaper he was reading. As soon as he saw her, his face broke out into a grin. He folded his newspaper and stood up, waving for her to come in.

Jin Ri smiled widely, bringing up a basket of fruits that she had brought for them. Glancing at the bed, she looked surprised to find it empty.

“Where’s ahjumma?” Jin Ri asked curiously, putting the basket of fruits down on the small table at the foot of the bed.

“She’s with the doctor right now,” Kang Dae said. He gestured for her to take a seat on the small sofa. He smiled when she continued on looking at him curiously. “She doesn’t like it when I accompany her to doctor’s check-ups.”

“Oh,” she responded, not really knowing what else to say. “Well, I’m here to keep you company.”

“Why do you have so much time to spend with an old chap like me?” he wondered, a twinkle in his eye as he sat back down on his seat.

“Because I have nothing better to do,” she teased.

He laughed out loud and it made her smile. She had always perceived him as sad. He smiled and laughed often, but there was always that note and trace of sadness in his voice and on his features. She wondered about what could make such a man, who had lived his life with the woman he was so in love with, so sad.

“Your husband must be looking for you by now,” he reminded her.

“He’ll look for me when he wakes up,” she vaguely told him, a small smile on her face. She had told them about her husband being at the hospital. But she never quite got around to telling them the details. She was tired of telling that story.

“Ah to be young and in love,” he remarked, leaning back on his chair.

“I’d like to be like you and ahjumma, though, still in love,” she told him excitedly.

Kang Dae gave a look that confused her. He smiled a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, which were suddenly withdrawn and blank. It reminded her of that time when she had told Kyuhyun about her stupid fling with Keiji back in Japan. He had smiled at her in the exact same way that Kang Dae was smiling at the moment.

“Seo Woo and I got married right after we graduated from college,” he began, taking a deep breath and gripping his cane that was situated in between his legs. “We were young and in love. A couple of years later, we had our little boy. He grew up well. We sent him to school. We were very happy.” He smiled wistfully. “It was the life that we’d always dreamed of having together.”

She watched as he leaned his head back, closing his eyes, the smile still on his face. It was the most blissful and the sincerest smile she had seen on him in the couple of days that they she had been seeing them.

“But even happy dreams have limits,” he continued, opening his eyes once more, jolting himself back to reality.

“What happened?” she asked, concerned.

“Life,” he answered resignedly. “Growing up, we’re always told to dream and dream big because those dreams will make you happy. Well, not all dreams come true and, even if they do come true, they never last.” He leaned a bit forward and gestured towards her. “Here’s a food for thought: you can’t live on dreams. Because, eventually, they shatter and you’re left with nothing.”

“Ahjussi,” she helplessly commented.

“I lost my job a couple of years into our son’s schooling,” he explained with a tired shrug. “It put a strain to our marriage and to our family. I was never able to make things right because I couldn’t find a proper job after that and because…” He let out a breath and closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them again, they were shining with tears. “And because she left me.”

“But you’re still…”

He shook his head. “She refuses to be called by her Korean name, haven’t you noticed?” he reminded her of this glaring fact. “She got married to a Japanese businessman. They moved to Japan and I never really saw much of them for a long time.”

Jin Ri looked away as her tears fell on her cheeks. The thought of his dreams being taken away and his life shattering made her heart weep. And it scared her. She couldn’t help but think about how she was thisclose to experiencing the same thing.

“I’m sorry, my dear,” Kang Dae couldn’t help but apologize. He looked on with concern on his face as she hastily wiped her tears away. “Do you want me to continue?” She nodded. “She got cancer just a few years ago. It’s spread to every part of her body. Her husband left her and our son with nothing.”

“What’s kept you holding on for so long, ahjussi? I mean, you’re still here. You’re with her after all this time,” she sniffed.

“Love. I love her,” he simply stated. “No matter how hurt I was or how I regretted that I wasn’t able to make her happy or give her what she wanted and shattering our dreams in the process, I loved her more than I could ever love anyone else in this world. And no matter how broken I was, making her happy was something that I would always work hard for. I would do anything for her. I’ve been given this chance to have her in my life again and I took it without hesitation. I always want her to be in my life.” He smiled a little. “Now we’re with each other. We just have to wait for our son to come home.”

She bit her lip to force herself to not cry. As she lifted her face to look at him, his head was tilted to one side. He was looking at her as if he was assessing her.

“Do you think your husband’s that person?” he asked.

“Yes,” she answered without hesitation, albeit almost in a whisper. Bowing her head to hide her tears.

Yes, Kyuhyun was that person. She loved him to the point where there was no turning back. The statement clutched at her heart because it rang to true and it reverberated to every being of her body.

He shook his head and gave her a sad smile. “I am sorry,” he told her, surprising her. “He had his reasons, but I would still like to apologize because…”

“It’s not your fault, ahjussi, so please don’t,” she interrupted him immediately, knowing what he was talking about. She choked back a sob as she met his eyes again. “I should be the one apologizing.”

~ * ~

“What are we doing here?” Taeyeon asked, tugging at Jin Ri’s sleeve. Her other hand clutched Zhoumi’s.

“Yeah,” Zhoumi seconded, glancing around nervously. “Do we really need to be here for you to be able to explain things to us?”

“Yes,” Jin Ri stated firmly. She stopped walking and turned to face both of them. “You wanted to know what I’m keeping from you. Well, you’re about to find out.”

The room that they walked into was spacious. It was white, tiled and contained several metal tables and chairs. They walked to one side of the room, a certain table with a certain person as a destination.

“Well, this is certainly unexpected.”

“At this point, I’ve learned to not expect anything,” Jin Ri responded, taking a seat.

There was the slight sound of a chair’s feet scraping the tiled floor, the sound of someone leaning forward against the table. “What brings you here?”

Taeyeon and Zhoumi exchanged a worried look. Meanwhile, Jin Ri calmly placed her hands on top of the table and clasped them together. But she didn’t say anything.

The silence stretched on for a couple of seconds, putting everyone on edge.

“Why would you do this? Why would you lie to me?” she finally spoke. “And about something so important.”


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* Lin Huiying is a character from Stuck with You by eternalsnow. Yes, I know I love borrowing her characters, but I really can't help it. I love her characters so much. *coughAngiecough* ANYWAY, this is completely what I imagine will happen in Stuck with You. I am rooting for Zhoumi and Huiying so yes I'm making them a couple in this fic. :P Chrys has nothing to do with this as she is keeping her story a secret. :)) ILU, Chrys! Thank you for lending me another one of your characters! That's three now. LOL.