------Jooli------

“You know what? I think I should really help you get together with Jaejoong. It’s so obvious that you two like each other.” Victoria smiled at me. The two of us were eating breakfast in Victoria’s room. She made scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and sausages. It tasted a lot better than the ones in restaurants because the ingredients that she used were all low-fat and not as oily as the ones that were served at the restaurant.

“What?! No! That’s ridiculous!” I exclaimed and waved my hands in front of my face like a mad woman. I did not like that idea of Victoria talking to Jaejoong about how I feel. Things would be so awkward.

“Why? It is so obvious he likes you! Can’t you tell?” Victoria asked before she put a forkful of eggs in .

“But what if he rejects me? What if he actually doesn’t like me? I mean, he’s always like this with girls! He’s a playboy, remember?” I said with frustration. I didn’t want to be another one of those girls he played with and would throw away after he got tired of them. If it meant that Jaejoong would be my first boyfriend, I want him to be a serious one. Being one of those ty girls who got dumped after a little while was not my thing.

“Jaejoong may be a bit of a playboy, but he’s got a nice heart. Plus, I can tell that he really cares about you. When I was still attending Oxford, I remembered him being really suave and charming with the girls. He treated them like princess, but they never lasted very long. It’s different for you though. He made fun of you and would always tease you. I’m positive that he looks at you differently.” Victoria was so confident. I wanted to believe her, but it was just too hard. I’ve seen too many broken hearts and I’ve watched too many dramas and movies. Every girl wished for a perfect first love.

“He probably just treats me like a little sister!” I pouted. I wanted to believe her, but things never go the right way for me.

“I doubt that. Seriously Jooli, you have to believe me! Stop being so paranoid and face the good side of things. You’ll never be able to find true love if you don’t believe!” Victoria tried to knock some sense into me.

“I don’t know… I’m kind of skeptical about this. I don’t think right now is the time for dating. After all, I am starting school soon.” I rubbed the back of my neck.

“Fine. Yunho told me that they have an end of the summer party every year for the staff and the VIP guests. I think that would be the perfect time for him to confess to you. Better yet, you should confess to him.” She winked at me.

“Me confessing to Jaejoong?! No way! Guys are supposed to be the ones who confess first.” I complained.

“Hey! Did you know that 80% of guys want girls to make the first move?” She exclaimed.

“Well did you know that 95% of girls want guys to make the first move?” I shot back. Victoria stared at me for a second before talking again.

“Whatever! That doesn’t matter. The point is, I’m going to get the two of you together before the summer ends! That leaves me with only three weeks.” She exclaimed and punched the air with a confident look.

“I’m pretty sure he doesn’t like me.” I mumbled and continued to eat the rest of my breakfast. I sat there as I ate my breakfast while Victoria kept on going how perfect Jaejoong and I would be if we were together. I would just roll my eyes and laugh at her expressions. To be honest, I started to imagine myself with Jaejoong, but I didn’t tell Victoria because she would definitely do something weird.

After about another forty minutes of Victoria’s Jaejoong talk, we finally finished washing the dishes and cleaning up the room. Victoria was supposed to meet up with Yunho to a meeting with some party planners. They needed to discuss things about the end of the summer party. Before I left Victoria’s room, I thanked and hugged her.

“I had lots of fun.” I said with a smile.

“Same here. I think we should do that another night. We have to make sure that Jina is here and the two guys are not.” She laughed.

“Definitely.” I laughed. I said good-bye and went towards the elevator as Victoria shut her door so she could get ready. When I walked into the elevator, I pressed the down button, but just as the door was about to shut, I heard someone shout.

“Hold up!” A male voice boomed down the hall. I quickly pressed the open button and waited for the person to reach the elevator. When I saw who it was, my face turned pink.

“Oh, hey. Thanks for waiting.” Jaejoong smiled at me as he got in. He was looking dashing in a pair of faded blue Levi jeans, white collared shirt with a muscle tank underneath, and a pair of black leather loafers. The clothing looked very casual, but on Jaejoong, it looked amazing.

“Hey, no problem.” I responded with a small smile. It had gotten kind of awkward because of what happened the night before. It was all thanks to Yunho and Victoria.

“How” The two of us said at the same time. I looked at him and laughed. He laughed too. It was that distinct laugh and smile that made me fall for him.

“You go first.” I said to him after our laughing died.

“I was just going to ask you how the rest of your night went.” He said.

“It was pretty good. We had a pretty intense girl talk. It was just like any other sleepover party with girls. Other than the stupid horror movie, I think everything else was good. I’m glad I didn’t have any nightmares after watching that stupid movie.” I chuckled.

“Yeah? That’s good.  Maybe I shouldn’t have brought horror movies. I thought you would be okay with them, since you seem like such a tomboy.” He smirked at me.

“Hey! I’m a girl too.” I punched his arm with enough force to make him stumble.

“Fine, fine. But hey, I have to go to a meeting with Yunho right now. Why don’t we have dinner or something later?” He asked me to dinner once again. He acted like nothing happened yesterday after the movie. In a way, I was kind of glad that he didn’t mention anything about it, or else things would get a bit awkward because I wouldn’t know what to say, but a part of me was kind of disappointed that he didn’t admit his feelings to me. Honestly, if he confessed to me right at the spot, I would probably tell him my feelings too. Even though I kept telling Victoria that I wasn’t really ready for a relationship, I had to admit that I had a strong attraction towards Jaejoong. I’ve never felt so attracted to someone so strongly before. I wanted to be in love, just like all the other girls in the world.

“Yeah, sure. Just call me.” I said to him as the door to the elevator opened. I got off on my floor. I turned around to wave at Jaejoong who waved back before going to my room with a little smile and a little tingling feeling inside.

For the entire morning and part of the afternoon, I was stuck in my room with nothing to do. I was just surfing the internet because Jaejoong hadn’t called me yet and Jina was at work. Jaejoong was probably still at the meeting with Victoria and Yunho. The meeting must have been very important since they talked for over three hours.

“Is the party that hard to prepare?” I asked myself as I jumped onto my bed. Even the computer didn’t wash away my boredom. I felt that the only times when I’m not bored are when I’m with Jaejoong. He made every second of my life so entertaining and exciting. I felt so happy when I was with him. I did feel the same way when I was out with Jina or Victoria, but Jaejoong made me feel different. I missed him when he wasn’t with me and I would think about him constantly throughout the day.

Just as I was about to shut my eyes to take a nap, I heard my cell phone vibrating. Thinking it was Jaejoong, I pressed the talk button.

“Jaejoong?!” I asked without looking at the caller ID. I couldn’t figure out why anyways else would call me at that time. Jina was at work and Victoria would probably be with Yunho after the meeting ended.

“Jaejoong? Who’s Jaejoong?” The familiar voice asked. It was my mother.

“Mom! Oh my god. Hi Mom!” I exclaimed with joy, trying to pretend I didn’t hear what she said. My parents weren’t very strict on the dating rules, but they don’t like me dating the boy if they don’t like him. My mom wanted a guy who was intelligent and has a good job that can afford to raise a family. My dad wanted someone who was trustworthy, loyal, and respectful.

“It’s good to hear from you too sweetie, but who is Jaejoong? Did you meet a boy without telling your parents?” She switched back to the topic. I was always too busy to call my parents, so my only option of keeping in contact with them was by emails. I never told them about Yunho or Jaejoong because I was afraid they would have a spazz attack about boys and their hormones. My parents were really awkward when it came to talking about boys. They would always get too embarrassed and they would end up getting my aunt, which is my father’s sister, to talk to me about it.

“Oh… He’s just a friend I met here.” I replied trying to sound calm, but the inside of my heart was beating like crazy.

“Just a friend?” My mom questioned me.

“Just a friend Mom. Don’t worry. He’s a nice guy, so you and dad don’t have to worry about me.” I assured her.

“Honey, I could tell that he isn’t just a friend when you picked up the phone and shouted his name. He’s more than a friend, isn’t he?” My mom asked. She didn’t sound mad or upset. I couldn’t tell what she was feeling, so I decided to tell the truth.

“He’s actually… a guy that I like Mom. A guy who I like a lot.” I admitted.

“A guy you like a lot? Is it the same when you told me you really liked that boy called Nick back in high school?” She asked. Nick was one of my crushes back in my first year of high school, before I met Yunho. He was the school’s number one guy. Not only was he good looking and good at sports. He was also really smart, respectful, and the nicest guy at the school. He was nothing like those stupid popular jocks. He was friends with everyone. And when I said everyone, it included the nerds, the jocks, the cheerleaders, the loners, the drama freaks, and the average ones.

“No mom, that’s different. Nick was just a little crush. Sure, I liked him, but my feelings for Jaejoong are so much more. I feel so different. I’ve never felt like this before. You know that feeling when your heart feels empty when you don’t see the person you love? That’s how I feel when I don’t see Jaejoong. I don’t know what to do mom.” I confessed my feelings to my mother. It felt nice to say everything to someone without denying the fact that I was falling for Jaejoong.

“My god. My little angel is growing up.” My mother said with astonishment.

“Is that a good thing? I thought you didn’t like the idea of me dating.” I asked with hesitation in my voice.

“Well, not necessarily. Like any parents, your father and I would like to meet the man before anything happens. We want you in good hands. I just never thought that you would grow up so fast. It feels like time just goes by in a blink of an eye.” My mom started to sound teary. I had to stop the conversation before she got any further with her talk about boys, growing up, getting married, and starting a family of my own. It wasn’t that I didn’t like talking to my mom about stuff like that. It was just that things would get really emotional and I just wasn’t really ready to get all emotional about things like that. I planned to save that for my wedding day.

“Mom, I’m still the little girl you knew. It’s not like I will change just because I’ve fallen for a guy.” I laughed to ease the intensity.

“I know. I’m happy for you. Really, I am. And I hope that you will be happy with whatever happens in the end. What do you plan on doing? Summer is ending and you’ll have to go to school. Do you really want to have a relationship right now? Long distant relationships don’t work out.” My mom said.

“I forgot to mention that he also goes to Oxford. He’s my senior, so that means I’ll be able to see him all the time since he also lives on campus.” I replied with a soft chuckle.

“Really?! That means he’s going to have a bright future ahead of him. I think I like this guy already Jooli. You have to show him to me and your father sometime. I would really like to meet him.” My mom said. I could tell that she had a smile on her face, approving Jaejoong’s existence.

“Mom… that would be really awkward. We’re not dating. We’re just friends.” I replied.

“Well, you’re just friends now, but who knows. Maybe by the end of the summer, you’ll be more than just friends.” She replied.

“Mom…” I groaned and laughed.

“Okay fine. I’ll stop with those remarks, but let me tell you one more thing. If you really do like him and you can sense that he likes you too, don’t ruin the chance. Go ahead and grab it or else you might end up regretting for the rest of your life.” She gave me a serious advice that I’ve heard many times in dramas and movies.

“I’ll try…” I replied with a small smile even though she couldn’t see it.

The rest of the time, we talked about how our summer was and what was happening at home. We talked for over an hour. My room was filled with the sound of laughter as my mom told me about my father’s funny life at home without me. Even though I was thousands of miles away from them, after the phone talk with my mom, I felt like I was right at home.

After we said good-bye, I shut my phone and placed it back on my table. I was staring at the ceiling with a little smile, thanks to our little talking session. I had totally forgotten about my dinner with Jaejoong until my phone started to ring again.

“Hey.” I said with a little of excitement in my voice.

[Hey Jooli. I don’t think I can have dinner with you tonight. The meeting will be going on for the rest of the day and it will end really late.]

“Oh really? It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” I replied with a bit of disappointment. I was looking forward to seeing him again.

[Sorry Jooli. I’ll make it up to you somehow. I have to go back to the meeting now.]

“Ok. I’ll talk to you later. Bye” I said and got off the phone with a frown on my face.

With the dinner cancelled, I decided to just eat dinner by myself at the restaurant. But, the entire time I was eating, I couldn’t help but think of Jaejoong. Even before I fell asleep I had him on my mind. His face kept on appearing in my head like I was craving for him.

“Jooli, you are like a lovesick puppy.” I groaned to myself before turning out the lights.

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