Chapter 8
There was hesitation in her movements and uncertainty in her smiles. She kept on fidgeting and fiddling with her hands. Her expressions looked strained. It was obvious that there was something bothering her and, whatever it was, nothing comforted her, not even the words of some of the members who had noticed.

“Let’s take a break,” Jin Ri, who had been observing quietly, announced. She watched as Jessica breathed a sigh of relief and walked away from the set, setting herself beside Heechul, who had visited the set and was playing with his phone. The older male took one look at her and immediately pocketed his phone.

“How did the pictures look?” Taeyeon asked, taking a seat in front of the computers. She began flicking through them, making a face whenever an ugly photo (in her opinion) was shown.

“It’s good,” Jin Ri answered absently, still watching Jessica and Heechul talk.

“Jin,” Keiji called, getting her attention. He had a sandwich and a drink in his hands, both of which he was handing to her. “You should get something to eat. You haven’t eaten since this morning.” Jin Ri looked at him then exchanged at look with Taeyeon. The SNSD leader raised an eyebrow then turned her attention back to the computer screen.

Jin Ri, as much as she didn’t want to do it, had drawn a line between her and Keiji. She and Kyuhyun had fought too much about him that she was starting to get scared of what it was doing to them. They never used to fight so much in the past. They had issues with regards to being apart for so long; issues about time—about not spending as much time as they would want to with each other; issues about Jin Ri’s job, where she gets lots of offers from male models even when they know she’s married; issues about Kyuhyun’s job. They fight just about anything these days and Keiji just added fuel to the fire. As much as she hated to admit it, her friendship with Keiji just put an added strain to their marriage. She wanted nothing more than to help fix things and so she decided that she was going to put some distance between her and Keiji.

But, despite this, there was only so much she could do. He was a part of her staff after all, something that really annoyed Kyuhyun to no end. But there was nothing she could do about it. Keiji was an asset to her team. He had a good eye and had the talent for photography. But her friendship with him was almost restricted to work already. She never accepted any of his invites to go out, even when it was with other people. This greatly surprised Keiji because he wasn’t sure what he had done to deserve such treatment because she never bothered to explain it to him. She hadn’t felt the need to.

Jin Ri merely smiled at Keiji and shook her head. “Thanks,” she said. “Kyuhyun and I are going out to eat after the shoot.”

“Are you sure?” Keiji pressed, frowning. “The shoot’s ending in an hour or two. Maybe you should get a snack.”

“I’m fine,” Jin Ri confirmed. “You guys should take a break.” She glanced at the other staff members.

“Okay then,” Keiji said, the frown even more evident from his face and left the studio with the other staff members.

“He’s really slow, isn’t he?” Taeyeon commented when he was out of earshot.

Jin Ri merely chuckled then glanced back at Jessica. She was leaning against Heechul, who seemed to be whispering some words to her. She kept on nodding and looked more and more comforted as he continued talking.

“Hey, is everything okay with Jessica?” Jin Ri asked Taeyeon, turning to sit beside her.

This made Taeyeon looked away from the computer screen. “Why do you ask?” she wanted to know, her eyes trained on the second eldest member of the group.

“She’s seems uncomfortable,” Jin Ri remarked. “It comes out in the photos.” To show her what she meant, she sifted through the photos and showed the ones where Jessica was a part of. Said girl did look uncomfortable and strained.

“She’s just dealing with some stuff,” Taeyeon finally answered. “If you want to know about it… I suggest you ask her.” She then turned her attention back to the computer screen and started going through the photos again.

“So there is something going on?” Jin Ri pressed, looking concerned. She and Jessica had gotten close, but after the whole incident with Keiji, they just stopped talking like before for some reason.

Taeyeon merely shrugged without even looking at her. Jin Ri turned her attention back to Jessica. She was on her feet and was making her way out of the studio, probably to go to the bathroom. After a couple of seconds, Jin Ri excused herself and followed after the girl. She just wanted to make sure she was okay and that she would be able to continue with the shoot properly.

She was about to turn the corner to the hallway where the bathrooms where situated when she heard Jessica’s voice.

And Keiji’s.

Jin Ri frowned in a bit of a confusion. She knew that the two had met, but the way they were talking… it seemed like they knew each other more than they let on. She listened to the conversation, feeling more and more surprised as they talked. Was that really the Keiji that she knew, she couldn’t help but ask herself. He seemed so much more aggressive and it was obvious that Jessica hated being anywhere near him. But she didn’t get to hear anything else because she went back to the studio before she got caught.

“Princess!” Kyuhyun called across the studio, where he was having a chat with Heechul and Yoona. He excused himself from the two and hurried over to her.

“Hey,” Jin Ri said, smiling brightly as he gave her a kiss. “How was your meeting?”

“Good,” he eagerly answered. “I have a lot to tell you.”

“I look forward to it,” she stated, grinning.

Her smile faltered when Jessica walked in the studio, followed by Keiji shortly after. The break was over and the SNSD members started going to the set with the staff setting up once more.

“We’ll take solo shots now,” Jin Ri announced, reaching for the camera that one of the staff members handed her. She gave a smile to her husband, who had moved back to let her work properly.

The girls started playing rock-paper-scissors to pick the order of who would be photographed. Everyone watched in amusement as they had fun playing their game. Jessica got picked first. She walked to the set and started fluffing her hair with the help of the stylist.

Heechul was about to say something when he noticed Jessica taking a step back when Keiji approached the set to fix the props when Jin Ri beat him to it.

“I just remembered that there are some photos that need editing and sorting in the office,” Jin Ri told him when he had approached her. “Would you mind doing it?”

“Of course,” Keiji eagerly responded, glancing at Kyuhyun, who was watching them. They hadn’t been talking much for the past few months. He could only guess that he was feeling threatened. The thought made him want to smile. He turned to go back to the set when Jin Ri called him again.

“I meant you do it now,” Jin Ri stated, smiling. “That should be submitted this afternoon.”

“Oh, but the shoot…” Keiji gestured to the set.

“We can manage,” Jin Ri assured him. “Thank you.”

Keiji frowned, but did as he was told. Jin Ri walked to the set after the stylist was done fixing her hair and make-up. She smiled at Jessica and lightly touched her arm.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Jessica looked at her, clearly surprised. “Yes,” she answered. She glanced at Heechul, who merely shrugged, when Jin Ri went back to her original position and started taking the photos.

~ * ~

“Are you sure it’s okay for you to be out like this?”

Kyuhyun’s nod could barely be noticed underneath all the layers of clothing he had on himself. His “summer” outfit consisted of a suit jacket on top of his shirt, a scarf that covered his neck and mouth and a beanie and a pair of sunglasses. He felt hot, but he couldn’t risk being recognized in broad daylight, especially when he was out with a girl that wasn’t his wife.

“I’m fine,” he answered, waving his hand dismissively, even though sweat was trickling down his neck. He picked up the menu. “What’s good here?” he then asked Hyo Sun. They met up over lunch. He had managed to get out of his schedule earlier than expected and he called her to keep his promise of meeting up with her.

“Everything’s good here,” Hyo Sun assured him, picking up the menu as well.

After they had finished ordering, they went on to catch up on all the years of friendship that they had lost.

“Why did you leave school so suddenly back then?” Kyuhyun asked after they had talked about all their high school classmates and batch mates.

“Why do you ask?” was her short response.

He stared at her through his dark shades as if she was being ridiculous. “Don’t I have a right to ask? We were together one moment and then not together another moment,” he elaborated. “And you left school without telling me or anyone else for that matter. I was worried.”

“Were you?” she pressed.

“Are you seriously asking that?” he asked, frowning even if she couldn’t really see his expression. “What kind of person did you think I was?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know,” she answered. “I was just asking. I never really did know how you felt when I left.”

“Let me tell you then,” he recalled. “I remember being hurt and being really worried when you stopped showing up in school and found out that you had left town as well.” He paused to wait for her to say anything. When she didn’t, he went on to ask, “Where did you go?”

“Europe,” she replied simply. “It’s hard to explain just what happened—it’s complicated, but I needed to get away. My family was going through some stuff.” She shrugged if off. “It was a long time ago,” she continued because she knew he was going to ask what those “stuff” were. “So…” she went on, changing the topic, “tell me about your wife. Jin Ri, is it?”

She watched as Kyuhyun’s eyes and expression brightened up just by hearing his wife’s name. He seemed to beam with pride and happiness as he started to talk about her and how they had met.

“Can’t believe she fell for your charms,” Hyo Sun teased as he finished talking about their first encounter.

“What can I say, I’m naturally charming,” Kyuhyun boasted, shrugging with a smirk on his face.

“Right,” Hyo Sun snickered.

“Hey,” he retorted then smiled teasingly. “If I remember correctly, you fell for my charms, too.”

She rolled her eyes, but there was a pink tinge that appeared on her cheeks, which satisfied him. “We were in high school. I didn’t know any better,” she defended herself.

“If you say so,” he responded in a singsong voice, showing her that he didn’t believe her.

Hyo Sun smiled as Kyuhyun went on sharing stuff about s, how he felt like they were really his brothers because of all the time they had spent together, how he felt like he couldn’t go on in the industry if they weren’t by his side. He then went on to tell her how lucky he was that he has them and how even luckier he was that he found Jin Ri, who was so understanding of everything that’s happening with him and his life.

“Hey, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” she suddenly said, interrupting him as if suddenly remembering something. “Do you remember…In Jung?” She intently looked at him, expectantly waiting for his answer.

Kyuhyun looked startled at the question. He looked back at her for a couple of seconds, as if studying her.

“Did you know In Jung?” he slowly asked.

She imperceptibly nodded. “We were partners for some paper.”

There was a silence, one that two old friends could only understand and maybe deserve. It was true that they hadn’t seen each other in over 10 years, but there was a lot of history even if that history consisted of only a year of moments together. In Jung was a part of that history.

“Did you go to…I didn’t,” he stammered, trying to find the right words to say and explain how he felt. Going back to those times wasn’t always a happy experience. It wasn’t all happy times back then.

“I wasn’t here,” she reminded him, looking away and biting her lip. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Have you ever visited…?”

He sighed and shook his head. “After all that I did to her, I didn’t feel like I had the right to,” he told her. “But I should have.” He let out a breath. “In fact, I should. I should.”

“She was important to you, wasn’t she?” she then asked, her eyes never leaving him, the tone in her voice a mixture of anticipation and desperation. It made Kyuhyun curious.

“She was my best friend,” he declared without hesitation. “She was my only friend in the beginning. And I…” He shook his head and trailed away. “I never got the chance to make it up to her.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered almost inaudibly.

He looked at her. “It’s not your fault,” he said.

“I’m still sorry,” she replied.

“Me too,” he went on, shaking his head once more. “I shouldn’t have stopped talking to her so suddenly. I really didn’t mean to. She meant a lot to me.”

A sudden light filled her eyes. “How do you mean?”

“Just…” He half smiled, half smirked. “Let’s talk about something else. Let’s talk about you,” he gestured towards her. “What have you been up to? What kind of work do you do?”

She gazed at him for a while then smiled. “I’m an actress.”

~ * ~

Kyuhyun reached for Jin Ri’s hand. She was resting her head on the headrest of her seat and looking out of the window. Squeezing his hand, she turned to him and smiled. They were in Kyuhyun’s car, driving to a place she didn’t know where. All he told her when she asked was that it was a surprise.

“Everything okay?” he asked, lifting her hands to his lips for a kiss. They had woken up earlier than usual that day, despite not having any schedules. Because, as much as he wanted to spend the whole day in bed with her, there was something else he wanted to do, something he wanted to do for her.

“You woke me up at dawn, Kyu,” she reminded him, chuckling a bit. When Kyu woke her up, it was still dark, the sun still not having risen. It felt like she had only started to sleep. Ever since Kyuhyun stopped doing promotions in Japan and had come home, their bedroom activities had intensified. It was like they were both trying to make up for lost time. Although there were no complaints on her part, it made her very tired.

“I know you’d rather stay in bed and cuddle… among other things,” he snickered, giving her a knowing smirk. “But—.”

“Other things being sleep,” she emphasized, interrupting him.

“Oh yeah? Then how come you don’t sleep every time we’re in bed?” he teased.

“Because you never let me sleep,” she countered, rolling her eyes at him.

“I don’t hear you complaining,” he stated in almost a singsong voice. He chuckled when she shot him a glare. “You know I find you glaring really attractive. I think you’re the only girl I know who looks beautiful no matter what face she makes,” he told her, placing his lips on her knuckles once more.

“I could name a lot of celebrities who look beautiful no matter what face they make,” she thoughtfully said, untangling her hand from his to tuck her hair behind her ear.

Suddenly, Kyuhyun kind of swerved the car to the side of the road, pulling over. Jin Ri sat up and looked around as if expecting a policeman walking towards their car to talk to them. When there was no one and when she was sure there wasn’t any accident on the road, she turned to her husband, who was looking at her.

“Why did you stop?” she asked. “Is everything okay? Are you feeling sleepy?”

Without warning, he leaned towards her side of the car and pressed his lips against hers. “You are the most beautiful girl to me,” he earnestly declared, kissing her once more. “Please don’t think otherwise. I love you,” he whispered, giving her another kiss.

“You’re seducing me, aren’t you?” she accused him when they pulled away for air.

“Can’t a guy kiss his wife anymore?” he defended himself. “Also, we’re on the side of the road. What kind of guy do you think I am?”

“Words are just words,” she knowingly responded, giving a pointed look at his hand, which was on her lap. When he merely snickered, she rolled her eyes and initiated a kiss this time. “Later, okay? Besides, don’t we have to go somewhere?”

“Fine,” he kind of grumbled, going back to his seat and starting to drive. “I’ll hold on to that later.”

A couple of minutes later, they pulled over in front of a house with high, brick walls and a black gate*. They both got out of the car. Kyuhyun walked to the gate and immediately rang the doorbell, while Jin Ri stared at the house, wondering whose house it was.

The gate opened and a middle-aged woman stepped out, greeting them with a bow and a warm smile.

“Kyuhyun,” she greeted. When Kyuhyun smiled and nodded, she continued, “It’s nice to see you again.” She stepped back inside and opened the gate wider to let them in, showing steps, leading up to the house’s front door. On the left side of the steps was a big lawn lined with trees and flowers.

“Thank you for accommodating us,” Kyuhyun sincerely said as they stepped inside the house. “This is my wife, Jin Ri.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Jin Ri greeted, bowing politely.

“It’s nice to meet you, too, dear,” Min Kung responded warmly. “Finally.”

“You have a beautiful home,” she added. The house was big and spacious but felt restful. Min Kung merely smiled at her and exchanged a look with Kyuhyun.

Min Kung and Kyuhyun then started discussing something, which Jin Ri assumed was something to do with his family, guessing that Min Kung was a friend of his mom’s. Deciding that she didn’t want ton bother them, she excused herself and stepped out onto the patio, connected to the lawn.

It was big and just lovely. She could only imagine how many barbeque parties and events with friends and family had taken place there, with kids running around and playing. Looking around the living room earlier, she noticed how the place seemed brand new, like no one had lived in it yet. It seemed to her that Min Kung and her family were very tidy people or they don’t actually stay there very often and just had someone clean the place all the time.

After a while, Min Kung decided to show them around the house since Jin Ri seemed so interested in it. The house had nine bedrooms and four bathrooms with the lot the size of 6,840 sq. ft. The floors were wooden, the walls white and clean and the rooms airy. The master’s bedroom had a balcony, overlooking the lawn.

Jin Ri leaned against the balcony railing as Min Kyung left them for a while to answer a phone call. Kyuhyun joined her, wrapping his arms around her waist, making her back rest against his chest.

Kissing her head, he quietly asked, “What do you think?”

“It’s beautiful here,” she remarked, sighing contentedly. “It makes me think that we should start looking for our own home.”

“What do you say about this being our home?” he then asked, surprising her.

She straightened up and turned around to face him. “Are you being serious?”

He chuckled and kissed her forehead. “I want the best for you, the best for us,” he told her. “This is the best that I found.”

“But Kyu,” she hesitated, looking around. “Nine bedrooms, really? Can we afford this?” She had no doubts that she would love the house to be theirs. But it was so sudden and it was too big for the two of them.

“Are you really worried about money?” he asked, looking at her. He knew that she wasn’t really concerned about that. “You’re not the only one who has money, you know,” he teased.

“Kyu,” she lightly chided. “I just… nine bedrooms? What are we going to do with all of the space? There’s just the two of us.” She glanced around the big lawn. They could easily lose each other with the size of the house. And she didn’t really like the thought that they could hide from each other in their own house.

“Well the reason for this house is because it isn’t just going to be the two of us. Not for long, anyway,” he countered, smiling at her.

Jin Ri stared at him. Her heart beat fast in her chest as she realized what Kyuhyun was telling her. It seemed he had more plans for them than she had thought. He had been so busy with his career that she never realized that he looked that far ahead.

“I was thinking,” he slowly began, encircling her waist with his arms and pulling her closer to him, “that I want lots of kids, like a soccer team or a baseball team, at the very least, a basketball team.”

“You’re kidding!” she exclaimed, her eyes widening. “That’s five to 11 children!”

“I know,” he confirmed, grinning and giving her a peck on the lips. “I just told you… I want lots of kids.” He smiled as she just continued staring at him. “Are you ready to start our family, princess?”

“Are you sure?” she asked uncertainly. She knew how swamped he was with work and she didn’t want to start a family that they wouldn’t be able to take care of together.

“I’m sure about everything about you and about us,” was his answer. “I’m sure that I want to start a family with you sooner than later.” He looked into her eyes to make her feel that he was sincere about everything that he said. “I really want to do this, princess. Let’s start a new chapter in our marriage.”

She turned around in his arms and looked down at the huge lawn. All of a sudden it was filled with little Kyuhyuns and little Jin Ris running around, playing and fighting with each other. She had never said it aloud, but she had always wanted to have kids already. She wanted the feeling of being a mother, like Angie was. It was one of the reasons why she was always babysitting for them. She wanted kids of her own. She wanted kids with Kyuhyun, the love of her life.

“Princess?” Kyuhyun whispered in her ear, tightening his hold on her and kissing the side of her head. “If you need more time to think about it…”

“No,” Jin Ri suddenly said, interrupting him. She turned around faced him again, lacing her arms around his neck. “Let’s do it. Let's get this house. Let’s have kids. I want to have kids with you.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, suddenly the one who was uncertain. He hated pressuring her into anything. “We can wait.”

“I don’t want to wait,” she assured him. “I want to have kids with you now.”

“Now?” he responded, smirking. His hand was immediately under her shirt, teasing her skin. She slapped his arm and he withdrew his hand, laughing. “I’m kidding.” He cupped her face with one hand and kissed her fully. “I’m happy that we’re doing this. I’m happy that we’re doing it now.”

“Well if we’re going to create our own soccer team, we have to get started, don’t we?”

Jin Ri giggled as Kyuhyun carried her, her legs wrapping around his waist, both laughing heartily.



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*To those interested, this is my basis for the house: CLICK