ARA’S POV

     I didn’t expect Eun Hye to say what she said. To know she cared that much about me. But also…I hoped Junsu wouldn’t take offense at it. He didn’t. Instead, he looked meaningfully into my eyes and made me a promise. And I believed him. With all my heart, I believed he’d never hurt me, ever.

     He loved my idea of going to Lotte World and soon we were off, piling into Yunho and Jaejoong’s cars. Have you ever been at a place where you thought it couldn’t get any better…and then it does? I thought the night of our first date was amazing, but walking hand in hand Junsu in front of everyone, getting to know his friends, holding on to him during the rides (whether I was actually scared or not), getting ice cream, and playing games was even more fun than I ever could’ve possibly imagine. Maybe it was because I was with him. Maybe it was because I had friends all around me, laughing (something I’d never really had before). Everything Junsu said made me laugh, and he laughed with me. I laughed so much my cheeks were red and sore. I stayed close to him the whole time and he got me a teddy bear. Eun Hye was quiet and Kyung-sook just giggled a lot, like a little girl, but I could tell they were having fun too and I was glad. And I knew I had nothing to worry about. Yunho, Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Changmin were willing to accept me like I’d always been a part of them, which made me feel even better than I already did. I wanted for all of us to be like that forever.

     “These girls are good.” Yunho complimented.

Kyung-sook had finally been bold enough to speak, challenging the boys to quiz us girls on all things TVXQ. If I didn’t have the answer, Kyung-sook did, and if neither of us knew it—surprisingly—Eun Hye was there to help us out.

“Oh, I’ve got one!” Changmin raised his hand. “Which one of us likes Jeon Ji Hyun?”

Kyung-sook pointed at Yunho. “U-know.”

Yunho whacked Changmin upside the back of his head. “Yah! What kind of question is that? I’ve got a better one. Which one of us used his shoe as a cell phone?”

I covered my mouth and giggled. “Changmin.”

Changmin blushed and rubbed the back of his head.

“Do you guys have to be like that?” Yoochun said. “How about a question that doesn’t embarrass another person? Which one of us chose the number 5 for our Balloons outfits and why?”

“I think…it was Yunho, right?” I said. “But I can’t remember why…”

“Because what he does, he wants to do it as a group.” Eun Hye explained. “5 members.”

Yunho nodded and smiled.

“My turn!” Jaejoong spoke up. “I want to ask one. What happened on March 14^th?”

I grinned. “That’s an easy one! You released your Five in the Black album. Give me something harder.”

Jaejoong nudged Junsu. “She wants something harder.” He hinted.

Junsu looked at him and then at me. “What? Oh, me? Uh… Which one of us loves pork rib soup?”

I put my finger to my chin as I thought. “Pork rib soup…” That is a hard one. “I know this one…” I held up my hand when Junsu opened his mouth to give me a clue. “Don’t tell me. Is it…Cha—no… It’s Yunho.” I said finally, with confidence.

Junsu nodded and squeezed my hand. “That’s right!”

“I don’t want to answer any more questions.” I was afraid my knowledge (or my luck) would run out soon. “Why don’t you try to guess something about me?” I said to Junsu. He looked worried. “I’ll give you clues if you need it, ok? You only get three guesses. Now…what was my favorite Japanese song from you guys when it first came out?”

“Your favorite Japanese song?” He asked with upraise eyebrows. I nodded. “Ok, can I have a clue?”

“Already? You didn’t even try. Ok, let’s see…”

“Rain.” Junsu suddenly said, stopping and looking up.

“Yes, exactly.” I cocked my head and put my hands on my hips. “How did you know I was gonna say that?”

Junsu put his hand out. “No, I mean, I just felt a drop of rain.”

I looked up with him. Wow, where did those clouds come from? Crazy weather…

“Well, anyway, that was your clue.”

“That’s too easy.” Yoochun said, but I put out my hand before he could give it away.

I wanted for Junsu to guess it, but he was still looking up at the sky.

“It’s gonna rain soon.” He mumbled. He touched his hair like he was worried. “We should go inside. It wouldn’t be good if you got wet and caught a cold.” He wrapped his arm around my waist as if to lead me somewhere.

Aw, he’s worried about me! I wanted to squeal like a fangirl, but I held it in. However, behind me, Kyung-sook was stifling a fit of giggles and Eun Hye was smiling softly. I looked back up at the sky when I too felt a drop of rain hit my skin. It’s too bad this bad weather has to come and ruin such a fun day…

Once we all found our way inside a store for shelter, Junsu turned to me and smiled, whispering in my ear, “Asu Wa Kuru Kara.”

I smiled back and nodded, holding on to his arm. Then we stood at the window and watched the rain start to fall. I couldn’t think of anywhere else in the world I’d rather be. I leaned my head against his shoulder and let the sound of the rain sooth me. I could feel his relaxing.

Junsu leaned his head to sing softly and slowly in my ear so that only I could hear, “Amefuru tokiniwa kimino kasani narou. Kazefuku tokiniwa kimino kabeni narou…” (When the rain is pouring, I'll be your umbrella. When the wind is blowing, I'll be your wall…)

I closed my eyes, savoring the moment. I had wished a new life and now here I was, in a place I’d never thought possible. I wondered if it would have been possible if I had taken the initiative to go to college and move out of my parent’s house and open up to friends in the first place.

“Yah, Junsu, did you hear me?” Yunho’s voice interrupted my thoughts and I looked over at him. Had he been talking to us the whole time?

Junsu blinked. “Huh? I’m sorry.” He laughed embarrassedly and took a step away from me. “What did you say?”

“You can’t be like this all the time, Hyung.” Yoochun .

Junsu smiled bashfully and glanced at me.

“Aw, how cute!” I heard Kyung-sook whisper.

“I was saying that we should keep moving.” Yunho said. “We should be doing something while we’re waiting for rain to stop.”

Yoochun nodded in agreement and Jaejoong explained, “It’s best if we don’t stay in one place too long. Or else someone will recognize us.”

I nodded. Oh, I hadn’t thought of that before... They were right. So we made our way through the store, pretending to shop.

“Junsu.” I whispered, glancing around to make sure no one had heard me utter his name.

He didn’t turn away from the clothes he was looking at to look at me, but he made a small sound for me to go on.

“What do you like about me?” I wanted to know.

I didn’t turn either, so we were back to back when he finally answered. I couldn’t see his face, but there was a smile in his voice.

“Everything? Hm…that’s a lot. The first thing I liked about you was your eyes.”

“Even under all that smoothie stuff?”

He chuckled. “Ya, even then. And you’re cute when you’re embarrassed. It was funny how we met. When you wiped your face off, your smile was very pretty too.”

I was glad to be turned away from him when I blushed.