Jaejoong’s POV

We immediately go to her house to get her passport. Good thing, my passport is there too. I left it there the last time I arrived from Taiwan.

With nothing but money and passport, we drive to the airport. Holding each other’s hand we walk towards the ticket counter.

It’s past midnight so the airport is somehow empty. The counter attendant seems to recognize us. With a smile on her face, she greets us.

            “Welcome. What can I help you with?” she asks.

            “Hi. Uh… I would like to book an international flight.” I say.

            “To where, sir?”

            “To anywhere…as long as we can depart right away.”

It’s like an unplanned get away trip. It suddenly pops in my head. I would like to go somewhere far with Athena. Somewhere far from all the problems….somewhere far to have worries.

The attendant has the surprised look but then I think she realized the situation.

            “How about Athens, Greece?” she suggests.

I look at Athena. She smile and nods.

            “We have a flight at 1 am so you only have to wait for ten minutes.”

            “We’ll take it. Business class.”

She processes the tickets.

            “Have you been to Greece?” I ask Athena.

            “Nope…how about you?”

            “Same.”

It will be the first time for us to visit Greece. I think it’s a good thing to go to an unfamiliar place together. Surely, we’ll have an exciting and memorable time.

            “Here are your tickets….Enjoy your trip together.” The attendant hands over the tickets.

            “Thank you..” Athena says to her.

            “Always be strong.” She says back to her.

We find it nice to meet someone who gives support.

_____________________________________________________________________

Athena’s POV

The airplane finally took off. From the window, I look at Jaejoong beside me when he grabs my hand. He interlocks our fingers together. His smile calms me. I don’t want to think about what consequences we’ll face after this….I only want to cherish every single moment with him.

I lean my head in his shoulder and close my eyes.

The flight was for almost thirteen hours but finally we arrived.

The weather is great but first, we have to look for a place to stay. We settle for a small inn. We didn’t waste time and we head out for some shopping. The inn ajusshi told us a place where we can shop for cheap clothes.

I browse at the clothes on the racks.

            “Why don’t we do it like this…I will choose your clothes and you’ll choose mine?” he suggests.

            “Okay….” I move to the men clothing and browse. It will be my first time to dress up a man.

I pick some white V-neck cotton t-shirts for him because they suit him. I also get some jeans, hooded shirts, long sleeves, male cardigans, and a leather jacket.

            “I think I got too many…” but I stop after I see the clothes he chose.

There is a hill of clothes next to him.

            “Isn’t that too much?” I ask him

He has the awkward smile as he scratch the back of his neck.

            “I think they will all look good on you..” he says.

I give him the clothes I chose and approach the hill of clothes. I choose only a few from it.

            “Chincha….you really are a spender….”  I comment while shaking my head.

Also, we get some couple get-ups.

Then we go to the next store for some socks and underwear. Of course we buy them individually. After having bags and shoes, we go back to the inn.

_____________________________________________________________________

The next day, we tour around the Athens. We go to Acropolis and visit some temples.

            “Most of the temples here are dedicated to their patroness Athena…” Jaejoong says.

It is pretty obvious since the city is named after the goddess.

            “Stand there, I’ll take your photo.” He says bringing out the camera we bought.

I stand next to Athena’s statue.

            “The Goddess Athena and real-life Athena meet…” he says as he takes a shot.

            “I think she’s a pretty lady….” I say looking at the statue.

            “But I prefer this Athena..” he says pinching my cheek lightly.

            “By the way, how did you ended up with that name?” he asks as we walk.

            “Chairman Ahn came up with it. Ae stands for love while Young means forever….Ae Young sounds so girly to me so I asked him to give me a new name to use. According to him, the goddess Athena symbolizes courage and independence…Also, I like her among all the goddesses so to have the same name as her...that time, I had a great feeling about it so I go with that name.”

            “Ah….so you were really named after her….she really blessed you because you managed to be strong and independent like her.”

The next places we visit are the Parthenon and the National Garden. We had lunch at the Syntagma Square where our inn is nearby. We also stroll along the neighbourhood of Anafiotika. The picturesque whitewashed houses and narrow alleys are really fascinating.

_____________________________________________________________________

Jaejoong’s POV

I my phone. I got a lot of messages and missed calls from manager hyung, Yoochun, Junsu, and even noona.

Athena and I decided to turn off our phones so we won’t be disturbed. We have to make this trip a joyful one and not to think about the problems we left in Korea.

            “Call them at least…I’m sure they are worried.” Athena says.

I look at her.

            “I already sent Ms. Go a message….I told her where we are and not to worry. Then I switch it off again.” She adds.

I nod and go to the terrace. I dial Yoochun’s number.

            “Hyung! What’s happening?” he sounds worried.

            “I’m fine…don’t worry.”

            “We can’t contact you….Athena also disappeared…are you together?”

            “Yes. She’s here with me.”

            “So you two finally got back together?”

            “Hm.”

            “Hyung! Manager hyung thinks that you already eloped with Athena sshi…Where are you?” I hear Junsu’s voice in the line. He’s with Yoochun then.

            “We are here in Greece.”

            “G-Greece?! How the hell you end up there?” Yoochun asks.

            “I’ll explain to you once we returned.”

            “When will you go back?”

            “I don’t know yet…I’m sorry but please cover for me while I’m not around…”

          “Of course….don’t worry about us here….we’ll tell manager hyung for you. So, this is a vacation, not eloping?”

            “No…we didn’t elope. We just want to get away from all the negative things for a while and have some fresh air.”

            “Jaejoong hyung, I’m suddenly jealous….I want to go on a vacation with Hae Won too!” Junsu says.

I chuckle.

            “I’m sorry…” I repeat. I don’t want to cause trouble for them.

            “Don’t be….as long as we know you’re okay…..”

After that call, I go back inside. Athena is preparing the bed.

            “Who did you call?” she asks.

            “I talked to Yoochun and Junsu.”

            “Is everything fine?”

            “Hm.”

We go to bed together. We still have a lot of things to do tomorrow.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next morning, I took her for a drive. In our top down car, the fresh air is whipping pass our faces. Athena smiles at me as the wind blows her hair. I hold her hand…..I feel so happy and contented.

We hike the Samaria Gorge. A lot of tourists are there and it’s fun to meet other people too. Though it’s tiring, it’s still enjoyable. The view from the top is really spectacular. This is the first time, Athena and I hike a mountain together.

For the fourth day, we go to the island of Santorini. We tour around and meet some locals. They are friendly and we had a nice time together. It’s a different feeling because we are able to stroll freely like this without people bothering us……it’s far different from Korea.

Then for the fifth and sixth day, we spend it here in Myrtos Beach. The scenery is even better than the pictures. Words are not enough to describe how stunning the place is…..Athena and I love the beach. The water is crystal clear and the sand is white.

I chose to wear my beach shorts and gray sleeveless top. I pick up my sunglass and almost drop it when I see Athena. She’s wearing a knitted halter bikini tops paired with a long sarong of the same aqua blue color tied around her waist. She also let her tousled hair down and put on a cowboy style straw hat. I know that there are ier bikinis out there but still, I find her really attractive and y with her beach style.

            “Aherm…..shall we go now?” she voices out. She probably noticed my reaction.

I blink my eyes.

            “Y-yes…”

We enjoy the sun. We take a dip in the refreshing sea and play along the waves in jet skis. We also tried parasailing and yachting. When we return from yachting, there is a beach party so we party the night out. We enjoy the night just like the other tourists and locals here.

_____________________________________________________________________

Athena’s POV

I was busy roasting the marshmallow in the bonfire in front of me when Jaejoong arrives and sits next to me. We share the blanket he brought from our hotel room.

            “Are you cold?” he asks.

I shook my head lightly.

            “It’s warm….” I say tapping the blanket he put around us. “Let’s stay for a few minutes more.”

            “Okay.”

            “Here…” I feed him the s’mores I made.

This is our last night here in Greece because before the sun rise, we’ll return to Athens and fly back to Korea. Tomorrow, we will return to our daily lives….we have to face the situation we ran from.

            “Are you happy?”

I smile at him and nod.

            “Very…” I reply. “How about you?”

            “Me too…”

Inside our blanket, he wraps his right arm around my shoulder.

            “We’ll be back to Korea by tomorrow.” He whispers.

            “Yeah…”

            “We are stronger, right?” he asks.

            “Hm.” I agree.

It is now clear to me that leaving him won’t make it better. We love and need each other so we have to stay together no matter what.

            “Thank you.” I say looking at him.

            “For what?”

            “For being patient….for loving me unconditionally….and for all these great memories we made.”

I will bring back with me all of the sweet memories we had here in this vacation.

            “This new memory we made together, I’ll never forget it….” He says. With his other hand, he tucks my hair to the back of my ear. “I will do everything….just don’t leave me by myself again, okay?” he says looking in my eyes.

            “No, I won’t do that again….I promise.” I answer.

He crosses the small distance between our faces and claims my lips. As usual, his kiss is sweet and warm. My heart flutters.

            “I love you…” he whispers. His voice is filled with love like his kiss.

            “It’s you and me, Jae….Always.”

_____________________________________________________________________

Yoochun’s POV

I receive a MMS from Jaejoong hyung.

We’ll be back in Korea by tomorrow!

He also sent a picture with that. He and Athena sshi are sporting matching smiles….behind them is a beautiful beach.

            “He really wants to make us jealous…” I mutter.

He went on a sudden trip to Greece with Athena. Some speculations are drawn by the reporters since they couldn’t see the two for the past week. The two agencies didn’t spill any details of their whereabouts.

            “Oh….they look cute! It seems like they enjoy their vacation.” Park Ha says when she peeks at the phone in my hand.

I’m currently here in her house just like we usually do when seeing each other.

            “Yeah….they’ll be back by tomorrow.”

            “I see…”

            “That was a sudden decision….Should we do that too?”

            “What?”

            “Just go somewhere….leave everything….pick up our passport and just leave.”

She smiles.

            “How about your work?” she asks.

            “Well…..not to think about that…after all, that’s the purpose of that sudden get-away right?”

            “I’m sure you’ll get scolded once we return….you’d put your schedules on hold…”

            “Yeah…but at least I get to spend time with you..”

            “Okay….if ever, where will we go?” she asks.

I put my arm around her shoulder and we lean back to the sofa to imagine the ideal situation.

            “Hmmm…..Where to? A place where nobody knows us…”

            “Antartica.” She says.

            “Antartica?! Why there?!”

            “I’m sure nobody knows you there….” She smiles jokingly.

            “Yeah but we’ll see nothing but ice and penguins there. No, I don’t want that place….”

We think again.

            “How about Maldives? I’ve been there once….it’s really beautiful there like a paradise…”

            “I only see it in pictures…” she says.

            “Imagine the beautiful beach….there’s nobody else in there but you and me….then you wear a y bikini….” I say smiling to myself.

She pinches my ear.

            “Aww!!!”

            “Your imagination is going far Mr. Park…..” she says giving a warning look.

            “Wh-what? What did I do?”

Park Ha removes my arm around her.

            “Tsk….tsk….tsk…” she shook her head while looking at me.

The doorbell rang.

            “The food delivery is here…I’ll get it.” She says and attends the door.

The phone rang but then the call is transferred to the voice mail.

            “Park Ha, it’s me. Are you really trying my patience?” I hear a voice of an angry woman. My eyebrow furrows. Is Park Ha involved in a dispute? I don’t think I know any so I continue to listen.  “How’s the assignment I gave you about Park Yoochun? I told you to tail him around for me right? Don’t tell me you are going to disobey me? You are testing my patient....You know me, Park Ha…..It won’t be pleasant to be on my bad side…..I will surely let them know that it is you who exposed the Athena-Jaejoong relationship!” the call ended up that way.

For a few seconds I was surprised by what I just heard then after I feel anger. I grit my teeth and clench my fist tightly. I couldn’t believe with I just found out.

            “Who called?” Park Ha asks with the food in her hands.

I turn to her.

            “You….Are you one of them?” I ask.

She only looks at me.

            “Are you a sasaeng?!” I yell.