" We're going to Bali tomorrow " Jonghyun annouced that evening during dinner, as Jessica was cutting her steak.

" By "we" you mean you and the boys right?" 

" The girls and you are coming too, there's no way I'm leaving you alone with my house. " Jonghyun realized it came out awkward. Just like this situation where he was trying to tell her how much he wanted to go on a vacation with her. Jessica looked up at him and gave him an annoyed look.

He cleared his throat. " It's possible that you burn down my kitchen.. and the fire could spread to the entire house.." he trailed off. This was hopeless. How hard was it to ask her out?! 

" I mean it's summer holiday right? And the boys had been saying that they wanted to go to Bali so I thought we should too, since they invited us along." He finished. And was satisfied with the tone that it came out. He sneaked a glance at her. Did he sounded too desperate?

" And you just assumed that I have no other plans in life so I would just be able to pack and go to Bali with you tomorrow morning without any prior notice?" Jessica answered, only to realize that she was indeed free and could actually just pack and go to Bali tomorrow.

Jonghyun shifted in his seat. Was she rejecting him now?! Had she found his eagerness too.. annoying? Because she might not like him as much as he was beginning to like her?

Jessica wiped with a napkin, supressing a smile. " Fine. Whatever. If everyone wants us to go then I guess we should"

" Okay great. I should go.. pack.. whatever. See you upstairs! " Jonghyun said abruptly, and got off the table. As soon as he was out of her sight he ran up the stairs. 

Finding his iphone, he quickly called Minho. It went to the voicemail. Great. 

" Hey so tomorrow we'll see you at the airport. I told Jessica that you guys wanted to go and invited us along so just play along that. Don't ask why i'll explain later it's complicated so just pretend that it's this way. " It was a short sentence but he realized he was almost breathless as he finished talking.

Just in case Jessica was going to ask why their friends were asking them along, he certainly didn't want her to know that it was infact him who planned this all so that they coud spend more time together.  

That night Jonghyun could hardly sleep. He was excited. This was his chance. 3 days in an island, no T.O.P. no Sekyung. Now was the time for him to win over Jessica. He was always a winner afterall.

---

“ Come on, get up, “ Jessica announced, throwing a pillow at Jonghyun. “ Things to do, places to go. You can’t spend all morning in bed. “

It was already 9 in the morning, the flight was at 12pm and yet, here Jonghyun was, all sleepy and not ready to go. Jessica on the other hand, was up so early because she was so excited that she could hardly surpress it.

Jonghyun winced and tried to curl himself into a ball. He must have slept for only an hour or two last night, because he was too excited about the trip last night that slept has seemed unattainable last night. The thought of the fun they'll have, snoggling together..

“ 15 minutes and we’re going out, “ Jessica annouced. She couldn't wait a minute longer.

“To somewhere nice?” He asked, cautiously opening his eyes. Jessica had showered already, and her perfume smelled wonderful.

“ Yeah of course its nice didn’t you choose it? “ Jessica said, pulling jonghyun by his hands to get out of bed.

About an hour later, and here they were at the airport.

The rest of their friends have arrived earlier and were now waving eagerly at them. 

--

Arriving at their hotel, Jessica jaw was dropping. Not only was the island gorgeous, but the hotel was perfect. Pretty flowers were everywhere and the fresh smell of the sea was in the air. If the lobby was already this gorgeous, she could only imagine how pretty their room must be.

Looking at Jessica who was wearing a pretty sundress, Jonghyun unconsciously broke into a smile. It seemed that all his effort organizing this didn't go to waste. She was looking very relaxed and happy and he thought she deserved that especially after all the sekyung drama that has happened lately. He felt bad that she had to go through that. Now it was time to enjoy this place, and for some reason the thought put him in an incredible mood. 

After they checked in, everyone was surprised to realize that not only Jessica and Jonghyun weren't arguing about the fact that they had to share a room, but infact that both of them had began collecting their keys and pulling their luggage up to their room together as if it was a natural thing for them to be sleeping in the same room.

" Looks like alot happen at home more than they care to tell us? ", Taeyeon joked as she urged the rest of the girls to go up to their rooms too.

Arriving in their room, Jessica was once again blown away by how gorgeous it is.

" Wow! " She said, dropping her bags on the floor as she ran towards the opened window. Fresh breeze was gushing in and the sun was beautiful. She loved the smell of it. 

Jonghyun laughed as he picked up their bags and began taking out their clothes and arranging it. How much has he changed now? Before, he couldn't even take care of himself or wanted to, and yet now, here he was, taking care of a girl?

But of course this was no ordinary girl, because this was Jessica. Someone he would always want to be around.

The rest of their afternoon were spent on the beach, playing volleyball, soccer and swimming. It was the perfect summer. Everyone was happy, it was a great time to be together. They were sharing stories and laughing about shared jokes under the hot sun, on the Bali beach as they sipped on ice blended juices.

For the first dinner, Key had taken the liberty to organize a special dinner by the beach for everyone and even took time to decorate the place himself ( with some help from hyo yeo, soo young and sunny) as he ordered everyone to go up and take a nice cold shower, wearing their best outfit down for the night.

Everyone, including Jessica, followed that instruction perfectly but Jonghyun thought she did it best because she was most stunning in her white bow dress. 

" You look nice," Jonghyun commented as Jessica adjusted her dress in the mirror. He was observing her from the bed where he sat, and he had a soft smile.

" I always look nice." Jessica smiled cheeckily back at him, noticing the unusual expression on Jonghyun's face and quickly turning back to the mirror because her heart was racing at how gorgeous he was. 

From the corner of her eyes, she could see that Jonghyun was now contemplating about something, as if there were words dangling at the tip of his lips and he wanted to say them.

" Do you wanna say something?" Jessica asked carefully.

Suddenly startled by her question, Jonghyun shook his head slightly. " No, are you ready? Let's go down." He urged her.

The feeling he felt for her was strong, was this that competitiveness inside him that wanted so badly to show TOP that he could win Jessica over? That even if he always seemed like the weaker cousin, who grew up under the shadow of the cocky TOP, he was now a changed person?

Or was he really in love with Jessica? This question now seemed extremely important to him because at this point, he felt like he needed to protect her feelings. He didn't want to play her out. He's worried that Jessica might be hurt. He didn't want her to be hurt by anything in this world, further more TOP or himself.