The SJ-M members found it difficult to laugh and eat at the same time.

Donghae looked from Sung Ah to Kyuhyun then to Sung Ah again.  What's the relationship between them? he wondered.

“You've got to be kidding me!” Zhou Mi spoke breathlessly. “You should at least know all of Super Junior's names before. We got a real-life Patrick starfish to be our assistant.” Like the others, he got tears in his eyes.

“I'm a part of the SuJu crew too,” Kyuhyun clarified, smiling crookedly. “No one briefed you about the basics of the group you're working for?” How typical of SM.

Everyone in the room looked at Sung Ah bemusedly. She curled into a ball of shame. Kyuhyun was clearly the person in the wrong, but there were too many of them!

Kyuhyun was thankful that Sung Ah was losing a battle against them. He did not want her to be furious with him over a trivial matter.

“What's that behind you?” Donghae asked Kyuhyun while the rest were still snickering. He noticed something was moving a feet away from them.

Kyuhyun began to sweat, “Um, it can be a... a rat?”

Sung Ah shrieked from her corner. That blood-curdling scream made the thing stirred even more.

Donghae walked around the guilty Kyuhyun and lifted up the futon. He cast his eyes upon the snoring Jessica, puzzled.

Kyuhyun came to their side. “She drank too much, but she's fine,” he explained to Donghae.

“I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, CHO KYUHUYN!” Donghae unexpectedly tackled the maknae.

“Break it off,” said Eunhyuk between bites. They continued to feast.

“Get off me! She's just drunk. She's still breathing!” cried Kyuhyun. He was pinned down by Donghae, suffocated.

“What did you do to her?!”

“NOTHING! Look! She's smiling in her sleep!”

Donghae ruffled Kyuhyun's hair roughly before releasing the panting man.

Donghae glared at Kyuhyun, “If I find out that you are lying,” he grabbed the orange in Ryeowook's hand, “that smart brain of yours would be like this orange.” He squished the fruit hard enough for the juice flowing out of his hand.

Kyuhyun gulped. He had never seen the kiddish Donghae this enraged in his life. Did Jessica and Donghae have something going on? I thought they are nothing but hyung and dongsaeng. He chuckled dryly at the newly found information.

The others laughed at Donghae's protectiveness towards Jessica too, everyone except Sung Ah. It was bitter to watch her protector shielding another person. She started to count how many years of his life she had missed. When Donghae had his debut stage, she had not been there cheering for him. When he had his first win, she had not been there to congratulate him. When he had been coping with his father's death, she had not been there to console him. If only she had taken his dream earnestly...

Kyuhyun watched Sung Ah stealthily walking out of their cozy world.

***

Sung Ah was too fascinated with Donghae's and Eunhyuk's modelling to perceive that someone was observing her intently.

“Are you mad at me?” Kyuhyun asked, still having his eyes gluing on her.

“About what?”

Kyuhyun sighed. She did live up to her reputation of a fish.

“Oh! I should be mad at you for lying about who you are,” said Sung Ah, momentarily tore her gawking eyes from the barely-clad men among the rose bushes, “but you turned out to be my boss.” She gave Kyuhyun a killing glare.

Kyuhyun snickered. Her single-mindedness was always entertaining to him. There were nothing in her brain besides money, music, and her dad. Sounds like another person I know, he thought.

Sung Ah's irritation was instantly replaced by something else while she watched Jessica striding towards Donghae. She lightly dabbed away the sweat from his glowing forehead. They were laughing at their inside joke, completely lost in their own world.

Kyuhyun scrutinized Sung Ah watching the smiling couple. She thinks of nothing else but money, music, her dad, and Donghae, concluded Kyuhyun.

“Someone is jealous,” Kyuhyun's words grabbed Sung Ah's attention.

“Who?” she asked a notch too loudly. “Me? Why would I be jealous of Jessica? Donghae and Jessica are perfect for each other.”

“Who said you're jealous of her? I'm the one who hates her. Look how close she is to my Donghae,” smirked Kyuhyun.

Sung Ah was baffled that she actually fell into Kyuhyun's trap! She grabbed a water bottle to give it to Eunhyuk, walking away from the devil as fast as possible.

***

Donghae sat at the back porch of the house, waiting patiently for Jessica to arrive.

She had told him that she wanted to hang out with him. She wanted to catch up with his recent news. On the other hand, Donghae was curious about what had passed between Jessica and Kyuhyun. Why had she been drunk? Why had Kyuhyun fidgeted? Tonight, he would have his answers.

“Donghae,” he turned to see the voice. “What are you doing out here?” It was Sung Ah.

“I'm waiting for someone.”

Sung Ah mustered a brave smile and asked, “Jessica?”

“Yeah, she's taking forever, as usual,” Donghae chuckled.

“You guys seem very close,” said Sung Ah nonchalantly, unwilling to betray her stirred emotions.

Donghae grinned. “We know each other for almost ten years now? I honestly lost track of the time. I don't think that's good though. It creeps me out whenever she knows what I'm thinking,” Donghae chuckled again. He looked back at Sung Ah and saw her crushed expression. “What's wrong?” asked the concerned Donghae.

Sung Ah tried to share his joy but failed miserably. She willed her tears not to fall. This was not something to cry over about!

“It's just sad how I was never really there for you, even though we were so close before,” Sung Ah blurted. “I wish I was there at your first concert. I wish I was there at your dad's funeral. I wish...” Sung Ah's voice cracked. She was jealous of Jessica. Jessica had replaced her, almost wiping her out of existence.

Donghae wrapped his arm around her. “You were there at the funeral,” said Donghae softly.

Sung Ah whipped her head around to look at him. What's he talking about?!

“I was thinking of you here and there. In my head, you told me to be the best singer in Korea. You were beating some sense into me. I was thinking the things you'd do to me.” Now Donghae stared at Sung Ah sincerely. “You are important to me too.”

Sung Ah half laughed and half cried. She buried her head on his shoulder. Her tears dampened his shirt.

With only a paper-thin wall separating Jessica from Donghae and Sung Ah, she had heard all of the things they'd said. She leaned back against the wall. She needed support for her heart had been twisted out of shape.

***

“Why are you here all by yourself? Where's Hyoyeon and Tiffany?” Kyuhyun sat on the floor next to Jessica. She had been immobile for hours already. The people outside had been long gone.

“They are with Eunhyuk and Henry.”

“That's weird. I didn't see them.”

“He didn't look for me,” said Jessica to no one in particular.

“Who?” Kyuhyun frowned upon the distressed girl. “You're talking about Donghae?”

Jessica snapped her head around to face him at the mention of the name. Kyuhyun wondered if she could recall her drunk confession.

Jessica laughed humourlessly. The sound sent chill down to Kyuhyun's spine.
 

“If you say a word about what I said last night, you're dead meat.”

Kyuhyun gulped nervously. “Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me,” he promised. Jessica looked relieved.

“You love him to death, don't you? Why don't you just tell him already? Like you did to me yesterday?” suggested Kyuhyun.

 “I said 'not a word' about yesterday! Thank God it was you, not him. I would be so embarrassed.”

“Why? You think he'd reject you?”

What he had said sent a wave of fresh pain into Jessica's heart, now that she understood he would not love her back. “Probably,” said Jessica curtly.

“Why do you think that? He cares about you a lot. Did you see how he murdered me yesterday?”

Jessica smiled, just barely. “There's someone else he cares about.”

The way Donghae looked at Sung Ah was familiar to Jessica. She had seen it when she was with him. Her tears were threatened to fall. After tonight, Jessica thought that she's not one of the kind to Donghae. She was not special to him. They were nothing more than best friends.

The puzzle pieces were coming into one for Kyuhyun. What so great about Donghae anyway? Kyuhyun thought.

“You're right. Donghae does care about Sung Ah,” Kyuhyun confirmed Jessica's theory. Her tears already escaped. “but it doesn't mean that he doesn't care about you.”

Jessica looked at him with shining eyes. Kyuhyun fought the urge to wipe her droplets away.

“You two both knew Donghae for a long time. You guys are on even ground. It's stupid to back down without putting up a fight,” Kyuhyun tried to encourage the lost soul. “Where's your determination when you work? You will win this battle for sure if you bring that passion into your love life!” He had no idea why he was involving in others' little love game. Kyuhyun was merely annoyed with people who whine and do nothing. He could not stand by and watched Jessica drowning in her own self-pity.

Jessica was speechless. 

Kyuhyun got up from his sitting position and uttered his last words, “Jessica Jung, think about what you want and go for it.” He patted her shoulder and then left her alone with her thoughts.

Authour's Note:  Is Jessica actually going to do something about her crush after all these years??  :O

Personally, I find Sung Ah's part in this chapter relateable.  What fan doesn't want to be with his/her group since the beginning? I want to go through the hardships SuJu had experienced... T.T

Sung Ah and Donghae's song would be SuJu's "Someday":

"Most of the memories have gone, slowly flowing away..

but now returning to the past

the youth and love of the past was so precious.

Someday we will meet again." <3

Jessica's song would be Suzy's "I Still Love You":

"It hurts so much that I’m the only one who feels like this.
That you aren’t looking at me."

Uff. 

What SNSD songs actually fit the story?  I'm a new fan of them so I don't really know.. >.< Comment and I'll check out the songs. ;)

Subscribe if you like the story. <3 I'd do anything to keep this going and not left it unfinished!  >.< ..

P.S. Sorry for not updating yesterday!  I was tired from xmas shopping and fell asleep. :/  I might upload another chapter tomorrow to make it up. :)