As the sun rose slowly in the east and the birds of early spring sang their gentle morning melody, Yunho sat quietly on his living room sofa and sipped his coffee.  Wincing softly as the ever-persistent throbbing in his head continued to remind him of his foolish behavior the night before, Yunho shook his head at how stupid he had acted. He never really wanted to overdo it last night but after all the hard work he and Jaejoong had put into preparing for his next comeback, he finally just wanted to let loose and have some fun. After the taping at the television studio, he and Jaejoong met up with Junsu and Yoochun at one of their favorite bars and had an intimate celebration party with just the four of them. After hours and hours of talking, eating, singing, goofing around, and drinking, the party broke up around three in the morning when Junsu soberly declared “I’ve had enough of all this foolishness.”

After putting Yoochun in a taxi, Junsu dropped Yunho and Jaejoong off at Yunho’s house declaring that since they were the two drunkest of the bunch, that they had to take care of each other for the night. Yunho still couldn’t remember how the two of them actually managed to make it up to his apartment in one piece or how he managed to make it to his own bed, when he clearly remembered passing out on the bathroom floor. “Jae must have put me to bed.” giggled Yunho softly as he took another sip of his coffee.

This morning felt unusually calm and serene to Yunho. He would never admit it openly but his apartment never really seemed like home to him. Perhaps it was simply because he had only been living there for a few years or maybe it was more so the fact that for the last ten years he had lived alone. His apartment always felt so empty when he was there. It felt as if it was missing something really important but today it seemed bright and inviting. Yunho loved this feeling. He had spent his entire career never really trusting anyone and in doing so rarely had guests over to his home.  Letting someone into his private space, to him, was the epitome of trust and until he met Jaejoong, he had never really felt such an intense feeling of trust in anyone -save for Yoochun.  It took years before Yunho even trusted Junsu enough to allow him access to his private space, but with Jaejoong, it had only taken a few weeks. He was still astounded that he could trust Jaejoong so easily and so quickly.

Taking another sip of his coffee, Yunho glanced down the hallway towards the guest room and sighed softly with a contented smile.

“I wonder if he’s awake yet?” questioned Yunho to himself.

Putting down his cup on the nearby table, Yunho stood up slowly and made his way down the hallway towards his guest bedroom. Coming to the door, he leaned in and listened carefully for any sign that perhaps Jaejoong was awake, but heard nothing. He slowly turned the door handle and opened the door as quietly as he could. Scanning the room for any signs of him, Yunho walked in and stopped as his eyes fell upon Jaejoong sleeping peacefully among the plush white bedding of the king-sized four-post bed near the large window covered with white satin curtains. Walking softly across the room to his bedside, Yunho sat down carefully and watched Jaejoong sleeping with a smile on his face. “He looks happy.” thought Yunho as he reached out and brushed Jaejoong’s rebellious bangs from his face.

 “He looks like an angel when he sleeps.” whispered Yunho.

Yunho couldn’t bring himself to wake Jaejoong as he watched him sleep so soundly. He sat quietly and thought about how wonderful the last few months had been with Jaejoong by his side. He never realized how lonely he had been until Jaejoong entered his life. The more time they spent together, the more Yunho missed having him with him when they were apart from one another. It was so wonderful to have him in his life that when Yunho thought of Jaejoong not being there ever crossed his mind, he immediately felt afraid and depressed. It was if, without even know it, Jaejoong had secretly become the most important person in his world to him. As the thought of them having to separate someday crossed his mind, Yunho closed his eyes and grimaced. “He can never leave me.” thought Yunho as he felt a gentle and familiar touch on his thigh. Looking up to see Jaejoong’s beautiful brown eyes looking back at him, Yunho smiled brightly.

“Good morning Yunnie.” whispered Jaejoong.

“Good morning.” answered Yunho as he placed his hand on Jaejoong’s and squeezed it gently “Did you sleep well?”

“Yes.” answered Jaejoong “You’re up early.”

“For once.” giggled Yunho “You should get up now, we have a busy day ahead of us.”

“But we’re on vacation.” whined Jaejoong like a child as he pulled the blanket over his head.

“If you want your surprise,” laughed Yunho coyly “you need to get moving.”

“Surprise?” questioned Jaejoong childishly as he quickly pulled the blanket down and sat up in the bed with a huge smile on his face. “What surprise?”

“Tell me.” begged Jaejoong playfully.

“Not yet.” laughed Yunho “Get up and get cleaned up first.”

“Please?” Jaejoong pleaded in defeated tone.

“No.” answered Yunho as he playfully pushed Jaejoong back on the bed, jumped up to his feet, and ran across the room to the bedroom door.

“No surprise till you gets out of bed!” giggled Yunho as he stuck out his tongue at Jaejoong and walked out of the room laughing boisterously.

“Meany!” retorted Jaejoong playfully.

Yunho walked into the living room, grabbed his now cold cup of coffee and headed towards the kitchen with a mischievous smile plastered across his face. Setting out in an attempt to make breakfast for him and Jaejoong, Yunho opened the refrigerator door just as he heard the shower turn on in the guest bathroom.

Jaejoong sighed softly as the rush of warm water from the shower cascaded gently down his sore muscles. Last night was the most fun he had experienced in a really long time and he really enjoyed spending it with Yunho. To Jaejoong, spending time with Yunho was the highlight of any day. They always seemed in synch with one another and when they were together it was as if they were truly meant to be in each other’s lives. To Jaejoong, everything just felt right with the world when they were together. When Jaejoong was simply just Yunho’s fan, he had always wondered what Yunho was really like when he was out with his friends, what he was like when there were no cameras or fans in his face, and last night Jaejoong finally got to see the fun-loving Yunho he had always wanted to meet.

As his mind reminisced over all the foolishness of the night before, he couldn’t help but laugh as he remembered how badly Yunho’s singing was when he was drunk.  “If his fans ever heard him like that, they’d die.” laughed Jaejoong as he dropped his head under the shower’s downpour.

Moments later the smile that appeared on Jaejoong’s face suddenly disappeared as a memory from the night before flashed across his mine. “I’m so stupid.” grumbled Jaejoong as the memory of his own disgraceful behavior came back to him. Sometime during the evening, Jaejoong decided to sing and dedicate a song to Yunho. After searching through three song books, he finally found a song he knew all the words to and decided to sing it. At the time, it never registered to Jaejoong that the song he had chosen was considered to be one of the most romantic ballads in Korean history. Only after he had finished the song, and saw the awkwardness plastered across everyone’s faces, did he realize how big of a mistake he had really made. He never meant it the way everyone took it. He had only wanted to sing a song for his dearest and closest friend but his choice ended up being extremely inappropriate.  “I’m never drinking around Yunho again.” grumbled Jaejoong as he hit himself on the head in disappointment.  “What was I thinking?”

“I should apologize.” sighed Jaejoong as he turned off the shower and stepped out onto the cold bathroom floor.

Toweling off quickly, Jaejoong immediately dug through his backpack that he luckily had the foresight to pack with extra clothes yesterday morning, and pulled out a pair of black jeans and a white cotton shirt. After getting dressed, brushing his teeth, and fixing his hair, Jaejoong packed everything back in his bag and walked back into the bedroom. As he made it back to the bed, Jaejoong suddenly dropped his bag on the floor as the smell of smoke wafted passed his nose. As the smoke alarm immediately sounded seconds later, Jaejoong ran out of the room and down the hallway as a sense of panic and fear washed over him. 

“Yunnie?” screamed Jaejoong as he entered the smoke-filled living room “Where are you?”

“In the kitchen.” coughed Yunho.

Jaejoong ran over to the balcony doors and flung them open as fast as he could to let the smoke out and turned to see Yunho frowning down at the stove. Sighing as the realization of what happened, Jaejoong made his way to Yunho’s side.

“I burned it.” sniffled Yunho disappointingly “I’m so useless.”

“No you’re not.” smiled Jaejoong reassuringly as he waved the smoke from his face, grabbed the smoking pan, and threw it in the sink. After turning on the water, Jaejoong looked up at Yunho and laughed softly “It’s alright, don’t cry.”

“But…” sniffled Yunho “It’s ruined.”

“It’s alright Yunnie. I’ll clean this up and make us a delicious breakfast instead.” smiled Jaejoong “Why don’t you just calm down and go wait in the living room.”

“But…” sniffled Yunho as a tear streaked down his cheek.

“Don’t cry. It’s really ok.” giggled Jaejoong.

 “Go on.” smiled Jaejoong as he pointed towards the living room “I got this.”

“Alright.” sighed Yunho with a defeated tone.

Yunho skulked out of the kitchen with his head hung down in shame. His brilliant plan to surprise Jaejoong with a homemade breakfast had totally gone up in smoke, literally. He had totally ruined it and now he felt terrible. He wanted this day to be absolutely perfect. He wanted to sit Jaejoong down to a wonderful breakfast, made by him, and surprise Jaejoong with the plans he had made for their vacation. As Yunho plopped down on the sofa, he leaned back, closed his eyes and cursed himself for his failure. “I’m so useless.” mumbled Yunho softly.

“No you’re not!” answered Jaejoong seconds later, causing Yunho to quickly open his eyes.

“Stop saying that.” scowled Jaejoong softly as he looked down at Yunho “You know better than to talk down about yourself around me.”

“Sorry.” answered Yunho.

“Here’s your coffee.” added Jaejoong as he gently placed the cup on the table beside Yunho before he turned and headed back to the kitchen.

As Yunho watched Jaejoong disappear back into the kitchen, he couldn’t help but release a small giggle. Jaejoong always knew the right thing to say to cheer Yunho up whenever he felt down on himself. He was still disappointed that he ruined the surprise but he was even more grateful that Jaejoong didn’t scold him for doing something that they both knew he was terrible at. Yunho never could cook well. He was the only friend Jaejoong ever knew that was a master at burning water. He really had no idea what possessed him to cook for Jaejoong but all he knew was that he really wanted to do something special for his dearest friend.

As Yunho took a sip of his coffee, a heavenly smell emanated from the kitchen and wafted passed his nose, making his stomach growl loudly.  “That smells so good.” sighed Yunho seconds before he realized that this was the very first time Jaejoong had ever cooked for him.

“Jae, do you need any help?” questioned Yunho loudly.

“No!” laughed Jaejoong “Stay put. It will be done in a few minutes.”

Yunho leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes. He really hadn’t slept well last night and even after three cups of coffee, he was still exhausted. Letting his exhaustion over take him, Yunho dosed off and slept for a little while until he felt a hand land gently on his shoulder and give him a slight shake.

“Breakfast is ready.” said Jaejoong lovingly as Yunho opened his eyes and looked up at him.

Yunho got up and followed Jaejoong to the dining room table and stood in awe at the small feast that elegantly lie before him.

“Wow this looks amazing!” said Yunho fully surprised.

As Yunho sat down at the table, he couldn’t believe what his eyes were seeing. In just a short amount of time, Jaejoong had whipped up a beautiful breakfast that smelled just heavenly. He had always wondered how well Jaejoong could cook, since Junsu always praised him about it, and now he was finally going to get to try it firsthand. As the excitement began to grow, Yunho took a spoonful of soup, tasted it, and scowled.

“What’s with that look?” questioned Jaejoong in a concerned tone “Does it taste bad?”

“No, it’s delicious.” answered Yunho.

“Then what’s wrong?” asked Jaejoong.

“It’s just…” started Yunho “I wanted to cook for you.”

“You’re still on about that?” questioned Jaejoong coyly “Don’t think of it as you failed. Instead think of it as you gave me the opportunity to apologize.”

“Apologize?” asked Yunho surprised “Apologize for what?”

“Last night.” sighed Jaejoong.

“Oh, the song?” laughed Yunho.

“We were both drunk and did stupid things last night.” admitted Yunho “Don’t worry about it.”

“Alright.” agreed Jaejoong.

“Let’s hurry up and finish eating. We still have a very busy day ahead of us.” said Yunho with a smile.

“You keep saying that.” grumbled Jaejoong “What are you up to?”

“It’s your surprise.” laughed Yunho “Do you want it now?”

“Yes!” exclaimed Jaejoong as his face lit up like a child on Christmas morning.

“You sure?” questioned Yunho mischievously.

“Yes, please.” answered Jaejoong with a tinge of pleading in his voice.

“Ok.” laughed Yunho “We’re going to the beach!”

“The beach?” squealed Jaejoong “I haven’t been to the beach in years!”

“But…” mumbled Jaejoong “I don’t have any extra clothes with me.”

At that moment, the door bell rang. Yunho immediately stood up and walked to the door. As he opened the door, he looked back at Jaejoong and said “Don’t worry we’ve got you covered.” just as Yoochun and Junsu walked in.

“I hope this is enough.” laughed Junsu as he tossed the bag he was carrying at Jaejoong “I stopped by your place and packed some clothes for you.”

“Are we ready to go?” questioned Yoochun eagerly.

“We’re all going?” asked Jaejoong.

“Yes!” answered Junsu as he glanced down at the food on the table “So hurry up and eat. The beach is so totally calling my name!”