JASMINE'S POV

"Jas, hurry up! You'll be late for school."

I finished my tall glass of hot chocolate as Appa handed me my lunch.

"Your Yoochun-oppa will drive you to school."

I looked at the smiling angel that's my Appa's best friend standing by the kitchen entrance.

"Let's go now, Jas, or you'll be late...again." Yoochun-oppa glared at Junsu-oppa as he stressed the last word.

"What?" Junsu-oppa mumbled as he dug in his big bowl of cereals.

I laughed while the other two men rolled their eyes.

I kissed Appa and Junsu-oppa and followed Yoochun-oppa to his car. He really is my Appa's best best friend. He's very trustworthy and honest and he's the one who helped taking care of Appa when he was lost.

"Oppa, I heard someone calling last night. Who is it?" I asked.

"So, you heard it?

"Well, I've caught only a few words from your conversation.

"Don't think about it, Jasmine." He always use my full name when the topic is really serious. "You're only 10 years old. You shouldn't be involved in such heavy matters."

"But ~"

"Jasmine, drop it. You'll know about it later, anyway. So, just wait a little while, okay?"

I just nodded, still, deep in thoughts.

We stopped in front of the school. My friends chatting so happily as they waited for me by the entrance to the main building. I quickly kissed Yoochun-oppa and went out of the car.

The rest of the day passed out in a blur. It's kind of repetitive, actually, 'cause all the lessons are already taught to me by Junsu-oppa last summer -- the only impressive thing about him according to Appa and Yoochun-oppa. I was really happy when the school bell finally rang at 3:00 p.m. signaling the end of a boring day of classes. But, instead of heading home, I hurriedly went to the gym locker room to change for my cheering practice. I'm the cheerleader for the elementary cheering squad and we're now only finalizing the routines for the upcoming cheer dance competition which will already be in two weeks.

My curfew is until 6:00 p.m and the practice finished at 4:30 so my friends and I have quite a plenty of time to spare. We changed back to our daily uniforms and went to the nearby ice cream parlor that has always been the hang-out place of my group of friends. As they chatted about the happenings in school and during practice, my mind drifted back to the conversation I've had with Yoochun-oppa this morning. Suddenly, I felt really worried.

YOOCHUN'S POV

"Junsu, stop being too jumpy," Jaejoong-hyung commanded so coldly as he settled himself on the couch in front of the blank TV screen.

I sat on the arm rest of the couch Jaejoong-hyung is sitting on as I fumbled with my car keys. The three of us are expecting some new house mates today. They're our old friends: Yunho and Changmin. Our manager, Mike (a Korean-American guy), called telling us that he's just gonna drop the two on his way to the building. I looked at the grandfather clock behind the white grand piano which is atop a six-inch platform at the corner of the living room. It's only 5:00, still early.

~Ding-dong~

As expected, the doorbell's sound echoed in the big, white house. My breathing hitched when we heard the doorbell for the second time. Junsu immediately went to my side and we both looked at Jaejoong-hyung. He didn't move an inch nor showed any expression. He only stared blankly at the lifeless TV, cross-legged. An action that he have already mastered for the last three years.

I finally took the courage to walk to the foyer and open the massive door for them. Junsu tagging along behind me. I opened the doors and saw Mike with Yunho and Changmin (or HoMin as what people are already calling them these days) with unsure expressions on their faces.

"Mike..." Junsu smiled at our manager.

"Yah! Jun! Micky! What took you so long?" He complained -- in full english -- as he pushed his two companions to enter the house.

Just like the first time Jaejoong-hyung brought us here, Yunho and Changmin are also amazed at how beautiful the house is.

"We were busy chatting," Junsu explained -- also in English -- then turned to the two as he spoke Korean, "for the meantime, you can leave your bags with Trixie-ahjumma and she will be the one to keep it in your room. You two will be sharing the same room."

At that exact moment, a middle-aged lady appeared from the kitchen and took the bags of the two. She grinned at me and winked, whispering "good luck" before going back to her work in the kitchen. She's Jaejoong-hyung's auntie and she's been taking care of him ever since he was a baby.

I stood their watching Junsu talk with Mike as HoMin's eyes wandered around the house. I felt a twinge of pain when I looked their faces and just decided to continue fumbling with my keys.

"So, where is owner of this humble home?" Mike asked.

From the corner of my eye, I swear I saw HoMin's eyes landed on me.

I pointed to the living room and said, "He's there."

Junsu tried to smile at them a bit to ease the tension and they, too, did the same. Junsu lead the way to where Jaejong-hyung is. As expected, he's still in the same sitting position that he is the way we left him a while ago. The only difference is that his eyes are closed which means he's concentrating on easing his temper.

I felt a nudge on my hip. I turned my head to the side and saw Junsu, standing so close behind me, motioning me to speak to Jaejoong-hyung. Somehow, my hands started to sweat.

"Hyung~" I called in almost a whisper and immediately stopped as he just replied with a really heavy sigh. I looked back at Junsu and the rest as my vision started to blur from tears. And fear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PREVIEW

"Do you hate us that much that you can't even look at us?!"

"You have no right to tell him that!"

"You're crying again."

"I'm starting to regret everything I've done."

"Maybe, we shouldn't have met."

a/n: This is quite a long chapter 1 everyone. Hope you like it, though. Please leave comments. And I'm sorry if I ever have incorrect spelling and grammar. Thank you!