verse eight

“Is Junsu courting you?” Jaejoong asked, the moment Riin was safely buckled up in his sleek Mercedes Benz

The young woman in the passenger seat stared at him in disbelief. “Where did you get that idea, oppa?” she asked. Jaejoong snorted as a reply, earning an irritated glare from her. “We’re friends, just friends.”

“Men can never be friends with women, Rinie. They are either lovers or rivals – to eventually become lovers,” he said as-a-matter-of-factly.

“That’s not true, oppa. And I can prove it.”

“Oh, yeah? Try me.”

Riin enumerated a number of couples whom she knew were only friends.

You and Yeonhee unnie.

“Yeonhee isn’t a girl, so we don’t count.”

“Yeah, right!” She likes you, idiot.

Kim Jongwoon – the other big singer of JK Entertainment – and Park Shinji.

“She’s his Personal Assistant!”

“They were friends way before he became popular.”

Jung Yunho and Stephanie.

“Yah! In what planet have you been in? They’re together!”

“What? Since when?”

Oh, I know, Yoochun oppa and Lee Soojin!

“Who’s Soojin?”

“Yah!”

“Oh, the techie who helps him with his gadgets? She’s in love with him. It’s just a matter of time before they actually get together.”

Junsu and I.

It was said in a very quiet tone. Jaejoong almost missed it and if it wasn’t for the fact that Riin became silent all of a sudden, and that she busied herself with looking out of the window, Jaejoong would’ve have stopped his commentaries.

A long stretch of awkward silence ensued. It was a rare instance for them, when they don’t talk, when it gets too hard to. Jaejoong focused on the road, focused on bringing Riin home as soon as possible. There was an evident sting in his heart that he couldn’t voice out, something that even though he wanted her to know, he just couldn’t say. There were consequences in telling that he didn’t want her to face.

So Jaejoong chose to bite his tongue and control the tears that threatened to escape his heart.

He pulled up in front of the Jang Mansion and told Riin to go on in before him. She just nodded, pecked him on the cheek, and bid him good night, before getting off the car and walking up the foyer of their house.

He let out a loud groan when she closed the front door. He leaned his head on the steering wheel and let the tears fall. Why is it so hard to love someone? he asked himself. Thinking of any probable answer but finding none, he gave up on any other thoughts and got off his car, as well. Jaejoong took a deep breath before going inside the home he shared with her and their family. He climbed the grand staircase to the bedrooms and stopped in front of hers. He eyed the door for a moment, as if it would be able to know the answers to his heart’s qualms.

How about you and I, Rinie, in what category are we?



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Yeonhee watched Junsu as he watched Jaejoong’s car turn a corner and disappear from sight. Riin was in it. She smiled at her friend’s behavior, sighing softly to himself, not noticing that she was still there with him.

“Wasn’t it just a couple of weeks ago that you’re in love with me, oppa?” she asked, fishing Junsu out of his thoughtful state. “What brought about this change?”

“What in the world are you talking about, Yeonhee ah?” Junsu spat back. “And no, I wasn’t in love with you a couple of weeks ago. I’ve started to move on ever since that day you told me that it’s Jaejoong hyung you love.”

Yeonhee laughed out loud. She shook her head and told him that she was merely teasing him. “There’s nothing wrong with you liking her, you know.”

Junsu disagreed. “You don’t understand,” he said, “you just don’t understand.”

“Then make me understand, oppa. Tell me what’s stopping you from being happy ,” Yeonhee stepped closer to Junsu and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Tell me, so I can do everything in my power to help your heart.”

“It’s complicated, Yeonhee ah. I can’t even comprehend fully what’s happening to me,” Junsu replied, resting his chin on the younger one’s head.

“Try me, oppa. When have I ever let you down?” she giggled softly, placing a feather-light kiss on Junsu’s cheek. “Come on, tell me.”

Junsu hesitated a bit more. He didn’t know how to say I, but his heart longed for the verbal release. He needed to tell someone, and soon.

“I’ve already promised my heart to someone else.”