Chapter 5
Luck. In general, there’s good luck and then there’s bad luck. But in Jin Ri’s life, it didn’t seem like bad luck existed most of the time. Sure, there was the death of her parents, her pregnancy and miscarriage then there was the dramatic first part of her love story with her now husband. But, all in all, if she was to take a look at her whole life, luck had always been on her side.

After her parents had died, her uncle immediately took her in and treated her like one of his own. The sons and daughter of her uncle, her cousins, treated her like their own sister without any hesitations. Those things, in themselves, were blessings already, but they showered her with the same life that they had been living for years. She had been given her own apartment at the luxurious I-Park in Samseong-dong and had been gifted her own car almost immediately after being shifted into such life. Her uncle let her study in the best schools locally and abroad so she could pursue her dreams. No obligations were asked of her for the most part of her life with them. Even when her uncle had forced her to marry because of business, although she was hurt with what he asked of her, in the end he didn’t allow her to go through with the wedding.

As for her and Shin Jae, her childhood best friend, even though their friendship had turned sour somewhere, caused by him falling in love with her and getting her pregnant and being manipulated by her uncle to force her into marriage, they had managed to remain friends. Although Shin Jae had decided to forgo attending her wedding with Kyuhyun, he had visited them as soon as they had gotten back from Korea. He then introduced his girlfriend to them, seemingly very happy with how his life had turned out. Once in a while, the two friends met each other, sometimes with Sun Young, for a cup of coffee just to catch up on things.

The one thing that made Jin Ri believe in good luck was Kyuhyun. Despite all the not-so-good things and the bad decisions she had done in her life, somehow—she didn’t really know how or why—she still managed to deserve someone like him. She didn’t really know who he was when they first talked, she wasn’t really one to involve herself in entertainment news, but there was just something about him that made her want to speak to him first, even if that comment was something as lame as “Don’t you get tired of staring at such a small screen all the time?” Their relationship had quickly progressed and in five months, they were romantically together. She’d thought back then that maybe it was too quick and too soon, but she was just so drawn to him, so attracted to everything about him, that she just didn’t care. And despite everything that happened between them, all the drama and tears, she would always think that he was worth it. He was worth all the heartache and pain she had garnered with her family. If given the choice to redo everything, she wouldn’t. She didn’t want to risk losing him.

“I’m starting to think Kyuhyun’s put a spell on you. I mean, with you staring at him like that…” Sun Young remarked in amusement as she watched her cousin stop staring at Kyuhyun, who was talking to Mong Koo, and turn her at her. She chuckled as Jin Ri blushed when she repeated what she had just said. “You are so in love with him,” she stated, shaking her head.

They were in the Chung Mansion study, having a nightcap, after having dinner with the whole family. The three brothers, Jin Ri’s older male cousins, Sung Ki, Yung Ho and Jae Sun, were all gathered on one side of the room, while her uncle, Il Sung and Kyuhyun were on one side, discussing something.

“I could say the same about you and Il Sung oppa,” Jin Ri shot back, smiling at her comment. She couldn’t very well deny something that was so true. She was very much in love with Kyuhyun. Nothing would change that.

“At least I’m not obvious about it,” Sun Young retorted.

“What are you talking about? When it comes to public displays of affection, you two are king and queen,” Jin Ri scoffed.

“Well then stop trying to dethrone us,” Sun Young claimed. “Whenever I talk to Hyukjae oppa, he always complains about you guys. They always get concerned about you.”

Jin Ri laughed. “I shouldn’t be the one you should be talking to about that. It’s always Kyuhyun’s fault,” she defended herself. “Sometimes I feel like I should hire bodyguards to protect myself from him.”

“Oh please, you like it when he attacks you,” Sun Young snickered, rolling her eyes at her cousin. “I know I like it when Sungie does.”

“Oh goodness, please don’t share the details of your love life with me,” Jin Ri begged, putting her hands up to cover her ears.

Sun Young laughed at her cousin’s reaction then she gave her an affectionate and concerned smile. “Seriously, though, Ri, the members worry about you,” she stated, changing the topic. “Are you sure you’re alright with what happened?”

“I’m fine,” Jin Ri said at once, waving a hand dismissively. “I knew things like this would happen. Fans are just being protective of their idol.”

“Fans are protective, but it doesn’t give them any right to hurt you,” Sun Young gently countered. “I really wish you would take this more seriously. What if something happened? What if you reached the hospital too late?”

“But I didn’t,” Jin Ri reminded her. “Keiji brought me there on time.” That very incident just showed how lucky she was. She couldn’t help but be grateful to Keiji for being there. If he hadn’t come over, no one would be around to bring her to the hospital.

“Still. Who is Keiji anyway?” Sun Young questioned. “How come you’ve never mentioned him to me?” When she arrived at the hospital at the call of Zhoumi, she had been surprised to find an unfamiliar male attending to her cousin.

“I told you, I met him in Japan,” was Jin Ri’s vague answer. “Kyuhyun and I are friends with him so I don’t really get why everyone’s becoming so suspicious. Plus, he brought me to the hospital. Shouldn’t you guys be thankful towards him?”

Sun Young just looked at her friend for a while. There was something off about how she became so defensive of Keiji, but she decided not to say anything about it. “So… Kyuhyun’s new song…” she changed to subject, smirking. “Hot Times, huh?”

Jin Ri visibly blushed. Kyuhyun had penned a song for SM The Ballad, entitled Hot Times, without her knowing it. She had only found out when she saw the album and when they had started performing it. Her husband had told her, with a sly wink, that he had written it with her in mind. It was such a y song that she couldn’t even begin to imagine what he must have been thinking while writing it.

“It’s just a song,” Jin Ri muttered lamely. She shot her cousin a look and childishly poked her tongue out at her. “You and Il Sung oppa are still king and queen when it comes to couply stuff. When are you two getting married anyway?”

It was meant to be a teasing question. But when Jin Ri met Sun Young’s eyes, she covered , which let out a gasp.

“Sun, you didn’t…” Jin Ri began in shock.

Sun Young smiled, a twinkle in her eye that made Jin Ri curious. “What if I we did?” She had to suppress her laughter when Jin Ri just continued staring at her.

After opening and closing , being at a loss as to what to say, Jin Ri finally asked, “Are you being serious? You and Il Sung oppa…?”

Sun Young smiled brightly and nodded. “After your wedding, we talked about it, about our plans and we just decided not to wait anymore. We got married as soon as we got back to Korea from China,” she relayed. Before Jin Ri could reply, she put up a finger to her lips. “But you can’t say anything. I still haven’t gotten around to telling my brothers, let alone appa. I don’t know if they’ll take it well.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? You could have at least told me, you know,” Jin Ri said as an after thought, frowning a bit. “I would’ve appreciated being there and being your maid of honor.”

“Even if you weren’t there, you still are my maid of honor,” Sun Young dismissively stated.

Jin Ri glanced at Il Sung, who was now alone with Kyuhyun. Her uncle seemed to have excused himself and had left the room. The two males were now talking amongst themselves. She couldn’t help but think how it was about time that the two had gotten married. They’d been together since they were in high school. She’d always thought they would get married right after they graduated from college, but they didn’t.

“Why did you even decide to wait so long?” Jin Ri then inquired. She couldn’t even wait one year to marry Kyuhyun. She couldn’t imagine waiting for over five years.

Sun Young shrugged. “I just wanted to wait for the right time. We wanted to both be stable and just be sure,” she shared. “Seeing you get married was all it took for us to know that we both wanted to be as well.”

“I wonder what appa and the oppas are going to say when they find out,” Jin Ri mused, glancing at her male cousins. Sung Ki and Yung Ho were seemingly discussing something. Jae Sun was just listening to his hyungs. “It’s been a couple of months,” Jin Ri reminded her. “You can’t wait forever.” She paused when her cousin sighed and glanced at her husband. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. I mean, he did allow me and Kyuhyun to marry. He likes Il Sung oppa.”

“I’ll talk to Sungie about it,” Sun Young finally stated. “Maybe we should have told everyone as soon as we did it.” She turned to her cousin as she realized the time that had passed. “I’m sorry for not telling you.”

Jin Ri just smiled at her and shook her head. “Does it feel any different? I mean you guys have been together for so long. Has anything changed?”

Sun Young paused to think about it then she turned to her cousin with a smile. “I think being married just made things a bit more exciting,” she shared. “And, well, we’ve started living together way before we got married, but this time seems different somehow.” She gave a small giggle. “Everything just seems more exciting, doing simple things together, being together all the time…”

“I know what you mean,” Jin Ri piped in. “Oh my god,” she suddenly exclaimed in a hushed tone, leaning closer to her cousin. “We’re married women.”

The two girls giggled.

~ * ~

“You’re now officially abeonim’s favorite,” Il Sung teased Kyuhyun, patting his shoulder after Mong Koo had excused himself to attend to a business call. “Congratulations!”

Kyuhyun merely chuckled and shook his head. Earlier, they had been discussing Korea’s economy and he had seemed to impress him with the knowledge that he had. He had really brushed up on things business and politics because he didn’t want Jin Ri’s uncle to think that he was just all about show business and performing. Of course he knew that being a performer isn’t something that would last forever, which was why he continued learning new things here and there.

“I don’t think one conversation about politics is going to impress him so easily,” Kyuhyun commented, glancing at his wife who was smiling like crazy at something that her cousin had said.

Il Sung chuckled. “I’m not just talking about tonight,” he corrected him. “Talk about every week of political and business conversations. Be careful. He just might hire you for his company.”

“I don’t think he would do that,” Kyuhyun said, shaking his head. “He knows where Ri and I stand regarding that one, not that it’s not an honor if he does ask me.” He glanced towards his wife again. She and Sun Young were giggling like a bunch of little girls. “Hey,” he said, changing the subject. “Do you know what’s going on over there?”

Il Sung followed his line of sight and merely chuckled, turning his attention back to Kyuhyun, who was still watching them. “I wouldn’t know since I’m right here with you. But,” he continued when the younger male made a face at him, “I suspect that Sun Young’s already told your wife about our marriage.”

“I see,” Kyuhyun responded with a nod. “That would make sens—.” He stopped in the middle of his sentence when he realized what he had just said and drowned in a coughing fit. Il Sung unhelpfully slapped his back. “Sorry,” he weakly continued when he’d recovered for a bit. “I thought I heard you say—.”

“You heard correctly,” Il Sung told him, not bothering to let him finish. He gave Sun Young and Jin Ri a wink when he saw the two giving them a curious look. Turning back to the stunned man across from him, he chuckled. “We got married a week after you guys did,” he shared in a quiet voice. “We haven’t told anyone yet.”

“Why are you telling me?” Kyuhyun asked after he had found his voice. Although he and Il Sung had become close, it was still a surprise that he chose to tell him about this secret.

Il Sung shrugged. “Because our wives are best friends,” he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “And because Riri’s one of my best friend’s too.”

Kyuhyun smiled at him in appreciation. “Congratulations then,” he offered, shaking his hand. “About time.” He chuckled.

“Thanks,” Il Sung responded with a grin, shaking his hand back. “So there’s actually something I wanted to talk to you about.” Kyuhyun looked at him expectedly. “How’s Ri with the whole fan attack thing? I would ask her but she hates it when I ask her about such things.”

“She doesn’t like talking about it with me too,” Kyuhyun muttered with a sigh. Every time he brought it up, she would just dismiss the topic or accuse him of blaming himself for what happened. “I assure you I’m being more careful. I’ve talked to security in I-Park. We would have to give a little bit of our privacy up until we get to look for our own home.”

“Good to know. All mail should really be filtered, doesn’t matter from whom it’s from,” Il Sung responded, looking thoughtful. He shrugged. “Jae Sun and I have sorted through the fan mail. It’s mostly your run of the mill mail. Lots of love confessions.” He chuckled. “I don’t know how you managed to go without a girlfriend with all the attractive girls pushing themselves at you.” Along with the letters sent were a lot of photos of the senders.

“Girlfriends are hard to maintain,” Kyuhyun admitted. “Dating was easier.”

“So is having a wife, apparently,” Il Sung remarked amusedly.

“Yeah, well, it’s Jin Ri,” Kyuhyun stated, clearing his throat, looking a bit shy. He made a face as Il Sung began teasing him as he got his phone out of his pocket, which started vibrating. He gave a small smile when he saw that it was Yesung who was calling him. He excused himself and stood a bit farther away from Il Sung to answer the call. “Hyung, why are you calling so late—what?” He looked up and looked at Jin Ri, who met his eyes at the same time. He grinned and then replied briefly, “We’ll be right there.”

“Something wrong?” Yung Ho asked, hearing the conversation. Sung Ki and Jae Sun were both looking at him expectantly as well.

“Angie noona’s about to give birth!” Kyuhyun announced happily.

~ * ~

“I think you should go and talk to Jungsoo oppa,” Jin Ri quietly suggested to Kyuhyun, who was seated beside her, tugging on his arm as she saw the Super Junior leader stop pacing around to bury his face in his hands. Donghae was already trying to calm him down, but it didn’t seem like it was working.

They had hurried to the hospital after Yesung informed them that Angie had just been rushed there. When they arrived, most of the members were already there, save for Eunhyuk and Ryeowook, who had subbed for Leeteuk midway through Sukira so that the elder could leave to attend to his wife. It was Siwon and Heechul, who were both nearby when Angie called Leeteuk, who had rushed her to the hospital. Right after the radio show, Eunhyuk and Ryeowook went straight there to give their support. Currently, all the boys, save Hangeng and Henry, were all present, along with Nari, Taeyeon and some family members. Everyone made sure that they were able to be there to give support.

There wasn’t that big of a complication in Angie’s giving birth, but the doctors still advised that Leeteuk not be in the delivery room since he was bordering on hysterical even before she actually started giving birth. Each of the boys had taken turns in calming their hyung down. It was currently Donghae’s turn and it didn’t seem like he was any more successful than the others since the older male stood up and had started pacing around again.

“Kyu,” she urged her husband. “I’ll go and get tea to help calm him down.”

“Hyung,” Kyuhyun called Heechul, nodding towards his wife.

“Kyu, you don’t have to—,” she began, but Heechul had already stood up to accompany her. She shot her husband a look, to which he merely smiled at. Ever since getting poisoned, Kyuhyun had created new rules. All mail would have to go through him first after I-Park’s security had thoroughly checked it, not caring whether their privacy would suffer a bit. She wasn’t allowed to go anywhere alone, which meant that she was always with her cousins or the members. Sometimes it really annoyed her to the point that they ended up fighting about it.

“Come on, I don’t mind,” Heechul assured her, giving an amused look to their magnae. “It’d be nice to walk around for a bit and stop watching Teukie self-combust.” He linked his arm with her and went on their way.

As they had turned to another hallway towards the cafeteria, he unlinked his arms from hers and put it around her shoulders instead. He hadn’t gotten the chance to talk to her separately since he’d been so busy recently with variety show recordings and his radio show. He’d been trying to squeeze in as much work as he could because he was leaving for the required two-year military service in June, which was only two months away. The incident that had happened made him worry even more about the people he was to leave behind.

“What are you thinking about, oppa?” she asked, wrapping an arm around his waist.

“Stuff,” he vaguely answered. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something actually.” He watched as she asked for tea from the saleslady and waited until he had her attention.

“About what?” she asked, looking at him as she waited for the lady to bring the tea.

Heechul opened his mouth to respond and explain when an unwelcome guest had arrived. He narrowed his eyes as Jin Ri and Kyuhyun’s so-called friend, as he named him, approached them with a surprised smile on his face.

“Jin! Heechul-ssi,” Keiji greeted with a polite bow. “What are you guys doing here?”

Before Jin Ri could answer, Heechul shot back, “What are you doing here?”

Jin Ri frowned at her oppa’s tone. “Is everything okay? Is anyone in your family sick?” she amended.

Keiji shook his head. “I just accompanied my sister for her check-up,” he relayed. “Well, I’d better get going. I just came to get some water. See you soon.” He bowed at them and hurriedly left.

“Oppa, I think you scared him,” Jin Ri lightly teased as she paid for the tea and went on their way.

“Rightfully so,” Heechul huffed, putting his arm around her once again as they headed back. “Anyway, he’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”

~ * ~

“Sorry we had to leave so soon,” Kyuhyun apologized to his wife as they got out of the car and walked towards the elevators to go up to their apartment on the 17th floor.

Shortly after Angie giving birth to a healthy and rather handsome baby boy, as well as a lovely baby girl--twins!, the couple had to leave as Kyuhyun still had to fix some things and get some rest before his flight to Japan later that day.

“Don’t apologize, dear,” Jin Ri shushed him, taking his hand in hers as they walked in the elevator. She was about to press the 17th floor button when he beat her to it by pressing the roof deck button instead. “Why are we going up to the roof deck?” she asked, giving him a curious look.

“Have you ever been up there?” he asked, ignoring her question as he leaned back on the wall. He pulled her to him so that she was resting against his chest, his arms wrapped around her.

“No,” she slowly replied, suddenly wondering why she hadn’t ever thought of checking it out. She was supposed to be the one who was a fan of good views.

“I just thought that this would be a good time to do that,” he remarked, giving her a kiss on the back of her head.

She turned her head to attempt to look at him. “You have a flight in a couple of hours. You haven’t slept in over a day,” she reminded him worriedly. “I suspect you won’t be getting any rest as soon as you land in Japan either.”

He turned her around so she was properly facing him. Touching her chin with his forefinger and thumb and tilting her face towards his, he leaned forward and caught her lips in a kiss. He smiled when he felt her pressing herself against him and eagerly kissing him back. When they pulled away, she shot him a slanted look.

“You did that on purpose,” she accused, pointing a finger at him.

“Works every time,” he snickered. Slowly and teasingly, he closed the gap between their faces once more, his lips ghosting over hers. Her eyes fluttered shut as she expected his kiss. “I like reminding myself that my wife is very much attracted to me,” he breathed on her lips before kissing it again.

She gripped his arms as he expertly moved his lips against hers. She knew that he knew exactly just how to please her, how to make her want him (even more than she usually did). When he pulled away from her, he smiled triumphantly as he watched his wife with her eyes still closed, her lips pink and glossy from their lip-lock.

“Can we do that again?” she whispered, her eyes finally flickering open.

“Oh but we’re here,” he innocently stated, pushing her away just as the elevator signaled that they had reached the roof deck.

“Tease,” she grumbled walking out after him.

As soon as she did, she stopped in her tracks.

The roof deck was beautifully lit up with pretty white lights. It was like the stars had been pulled from the sky to light up the whole place. On top of that, the place was filled with the prettiest daisies she had ever seen. She stood there, just looking around, shocked and not knowing what to do or what to say.

“Well?” Kyuhyun, who was watching her the whole time, prodded her, a smile on his face.

“How…?” she asked, blinking as she turned to him.

He beamed. “I have ways. I am Asia’s biggest Hallyu star after all,” he proudly declared.

She didn’t even have the sense to roll her eyes at such a conceited comment. “But the flowers…” Daisies were the closest thing she had to a favorite flower. Even then, she didn’t think she’d ever told Kyuhyun this.

He walked over to her. “Now, now, what kind of husband would I be if I didn’t know such a detail about my wife?” He smiled as she gave him a wistful look. “Come here,” he gently commanded, pulling her to him in a dancing position. “I’m going to miss you. I brought you here because we won’t be able to watch the sunrise together for a while and I just thought that it’s something we should do before I leave.” His stay in Japan was originally only going to be for a couple of days, but it was just extended to a month and, with her job, among other things, she wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to fly and see him there.

“I love you,” she returned, lifting her head up and standing on tiptoe to kiss him. “You’re my sun, making me happy and always shining. So just come back to me and everything will be fine.”

“Hey,” he whined. “I was supposed to say that you’re my sun.” He pouted. “Since when did you become as cheesy as me?”

She giggled. “Ever since I became your wife. This is all your fault, you dummy.”

He smiled like a little kid at this then sighed, shaking his head. “I really am going to miss you,” he repeated, suddenly looking sad.

“What are you worried about?” she asked, sensing something else from him. “It’s not like we haven’t been away from each other for periods of time.” She watched as he looked away for a bit before meeting her eyes.

He shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “I just feel like I don’t want to be away from you. Not at this time, anyway. It’s just… with what’s happened and me being away, I just want to be here to protect you.” He paused and frowned at what he said. “I’m being silly, aren’t I?”

She lightly touched his cheek, comforting him. “I’ll be fine. I’m sure your hyungs will always be with me, as per your orders,” she teased. When he frowned even more, she continued, “I don’t want to be away from you either,” she echoed his thoughts. “But you’ll be back and I’ll be here waiting.”

“Really?” he asked, a cute hopeful look on his face. “Just like how I’ve always waited for you?”

She chuckled. “Like I told you before, it’s time I do my part.”

“Okay,” he rejoiced, satisfied, wrapping his arms around her waist. “I won’t make you wait long.”