The next day, Jungsoo gathered all the members and the managers on the 12th floor dorm for a dinner. He told Ryeowook not to cook that night because he got it covered. He bought wines in the afternoon and then ordered pizzas and pastas for dinner. The sudden generosity from Jungsoo made them wondering, of course. And it turned out that Jungsoo wanted to talk to them after dinner.

When the dinner finished, they were all enjoying the wines that Jungsoo bought. That was when Jungsoo told them about his plan. He was planning to get married with Cheonsa and he wanted their permission to marry her.

Some of the members and managers were shocked, but no one took his plan as a bad thing. They supported his decision, fortunately for him. The other members could be in trouble as well when Jungsoo had to reveal about the marriage to the world, so he apologized to them before hand. But the members said it was all right and he didn’t have to apologize.

After receiving members’ supports and encourages, the next day, Jungsoo went to his parents house straight after he finished recording. He hadn’t visited his parents house after the quarreling at the restaurant the other day, he didn’t even contact them or receiving their calls. Jungsoo was avoiding his family.

That afternoon, his mother was the only one present in their house. Their son’s arrival was unexpected, so they were quite surprised when they found Jungsoo standing on their porch.

“Oh, it’s you, Son.” Jungsoo’s mother opened the door for him. She was keeping her expression steady but it was obvious that she was glad to see her son. Jungsoo gave her a peck on her cheek and then walked inside the house. His mother locked the door behind them.

“What brought you here?”

“Mom, did Cheonsa change her phone numbers?” Jungsoo asked as he sat on the couch in the living room. He didn’t plan to beat around the bush anymore and went straight to the point.

“Cheonsa? You mean Baek Cheonsa? Why do you still concern about her?” She sounded upset.

“Yes, Baek Cheonsa. Please Mom, just answer me. Did she change her phone number? Because I can’t reach her phone.”

“Of course you can’t reach her phone, that’s the reason why she changed her phone numbers. So she could get rid of you.”

Jungsoo’s eyebrows pulled together. “Ouch, Mom. That hurts.”

“No one wants to keep in touch with the guy who had rejected her. I’m wondering why you still try to reach her.”

“Just tell me her numbers, Mom. Then I’ll leave.”

“What makes you think I have her numbers? Her mother just told me that she changed her numbers, but she didn’t tell me the new one, obviously.”

“You talked to her mom?”

Mrs. Park rolled her eyes. “Of course I talk to her. We’re still friends, even though Cheonsa had cut the marriage deal, we’re still in good friendship.”

“Cheonsa cut what?!”

“Cheonsa cut the marriage deal. She said she doesn’t want to marry you anymore. She came to this house the other day and apologized to me and your father.”

Jungsoo couldn’t believe what he just heard. He didn’t expect this at all but then he remembered Cheonsa’s crying face. She was hurt badly that day but he never thought that she would cut the marriage deal.

Mrs. Park studied Jungsoo’s face and she felt bad to him. She was upset with his son but his expression was so miserable, it hurt her to see him like that.

“Jungsoo, honey. What’s wrong with you? Don’t you disagree to marry her?”

“I did. But right now... I don’t know...” He swallowed hard and his eyes started glistening. “I... I love her, Mom. But I messed up.”

“Oh, my God, Jungsoo...” Mrs. Park reached his hand and squeezed it. “What did you do Son, why did you end up like this...”

Jungsoo ran his hands over his face, then rested his elbows on his knees and looked down. He watched as a single tear fell from his eye and dropped to the floor beneath his feet. “I messed up, Mom. I hurt her, that’s why she doesn’t want to marry me anymore. I didn’t realize it at first but I love her. What.., what should I do now?”

Mrs. Park leaned forward and tapped his shoulder. He turned and looked at her, seeing tears in her eyes. “Go to her, my Son. Go to her and then you fight for her. Beg her forgiveness if you’ve done something wrong to her.” She leaned towards him and smiled between her tears. “The thought of confronting her probably terrifies you. It terrifies every man. But you don’t do it for yourself. You do it for the people you love more than yourself.”

************************9

“That was a great dinner, Cheonsa. I think I need to hit the gym tomorrow morning.”

Cheonsa held the door open further to let him out. She chuckled. “Jaehyunah, I’ve told you that you don’t need to hit the gym, you have great abs.”

The tall guy in front of her grinned as he rubbed his abs. “Well yeah, but you made me ate two bowls of rice. Let’s just hope the abs won’t leave me very soon, okay.”

“I guess you’re right. You need to hit the gym tomorrow. I need that abs, for real.”

He laughed and then ruffled her hair. “Okay, babe. I need to go now. It’s getting late and your neighbors probably start gossiping about us if I don’t go home any moment.”

“Okay, then.” She tipped on her toes and they exchanged pecks on the cheek and a little hug. “See you in two days.”

As soon as Cheonsa released the hug, she saw someone stepped out from the lift and turned left toward her apartment. He freezed when he saw Cheonsa and her friend standing in her apartment door. Their eyes met.

He held her captive under his gaze for several seconds until his eyes diverted and landed on Jaehyun. She glanced at Jaehyun, who looked at her and arched an eyebrow. He could apparently tell something’s up.

“Babe, who’s this?” He asked.

Jungsoo felt anger rising inside of him as he heard the way Jaehyun talked to Cheonsa. He approached them and Cheonsa could tell that he was misjudging the situation.

“Tell me he’s not your boyfriend.” Jungsoo said between his teeth.

“None of your business, Jungsoo-ssi.” Tension was rolling off her and she didn’t even look at his eyes.

Jungsoo turned to Jaehyun. “Are you her boyfriend?”

“Jungsoo-ssi!” Cheonsa exclaimed before Jaehyun could answer him. “He is a good friend of mine, though it’s none of your business.”

“Friends? I just saw you two kissed and hugged.”

Cheonsa felt like she wanted to scream but it got in when her eyes met him. She gritted her teeth and stared at him, hard. Then she yelled at him.

“Whether he’s my boyfriend or not I don’t think it matters to you! You don’t have any right to judge about what goes on in my life. Don’t give me the look like I just betrayed you by letting a man in to my apartment. That’s what you did, not me!”

His eyes narrowed and his breaths were coming hard and fast. He opened his mouth and about to retort but Jaehyun cut him. “Wait, wait, wait. I think you misunderstand.”

“What?”

“I’m not Cheonsa’s boyfriend. You misunderstand. I’m one of her best friends and I’m also going to be his photo model.”

“But.. But..” Jungsoo stammered on his words. He looked at Jaehyun who was grinning at him and Cheonsa who was crossing her arms on her chest and refused to look at him. “But I saw you two hugging and kissing. And.. and you called her babe..”

Jaehyun laughed. “Oh dear, believe me we’re not boyfriend-girlfriend. That’s impossible!” Jungsoo looked at him, confused. “She doesn’t attract me, really. If I have to be honest, I’m more attract to you, Honey.”

Jungsoo didn’t get what he meant at first. He tried to grab the information and once he got it, his mouth fell open and he blushed. “Oh, you meant.. I... I guess I’m wrong. Are you.. err... You meant you’re not attracted to woman?”

Jaehyun winked and Jungsoo could feel goose bumps all over his body. “Hell yeah, I’m only attract to hot guys like you.”

Cheonsa saw as Jungsoo cringed and shifted nervously on his feet. She wanted to stay mad but he amused her. “Jaehyunah, you can’t flirt with him. He’s not like you. Or so I guess.”

“I’m perfectly straight!” Jungsoo immediately confirmed.

“Oh, I know about that already. The scary look that you gave me when you misunderstood me as her boyfriend proves us that you’re perfectly straight, okay.” Jaehyun waved his hand at him.

“I’m sorry I scowled at you. I just... can’t stand the fact that she has a boyfriend.”

Everyone fell in silent. Cheonsa wasn’t smiling anymore and Jaehyun saw a frown replaced her smile. He knew it was time for him to go, so he respectfully excused himself.

“Well, I gotta go right now.” He said, walking past Cheonsa and Jungsoo. “See you guys.”

They watched him walking away and waited for him until he got inside the lift before they talked. Cheonsa was the first one who broke the ice.

“What brought you here?” She asked, her voice sounded cold.

“I want to talk to you, can I come in?”

She glared at him and didn’t say a single word. After several seconds, she sighed and walked inside the apartment. “Come in.” She said without looking at him.

Jungsoo followed her inside and closed the door behind her. She led him to the living room and fell onto the couch. Jungsoo sat on the couch across from her.

“Why are you here?” Cheonsa asked, looking down to the floor.

“Wait, he said he’s going to be your model. Did you start being a photographer?” He asked back. It was clear in his tone that he was pleased that Cheonsa was finally doing something that she really loved.

Cheonsa looked at him with irritated eyes and the smile on Jungsoo’s face fell. But she answered him. “Well yeah, my parents finally found out about my dream to become a photographer, thanks to you, we talked a lot about it and they thought since I’m fiancé-less now, I can do anything I want. At least until they find another man who wants to marry me.”

Jungsoo winced at Cheonsa’s tone. She sounded so angry. “Cheonsa,” He whispered. “I’m sorry.” That was the sentence that Jungsoo wanted the most to say to her. But Cheonsa showed no expression.

“What for?”

“For hurting you, for everything.”

Cheonsa scoffed. She looked so cynical. Jungsoo was like facing a thin cold wall; it was hard for him to get through her.  “How are you Jungsoo-ssi? Are you doing well?”

“Why are you using formal speech again to me? I don’t like it. I’ve told you, you can use banmal to me now.” Cheonsa raised an eyebrow at him. “Call me oppa, okay?” He said with a cheerful tone, trying to melt down the tense. But he failed.

Cheonsa showed him an empty look. “What are you doing here, really?”

His smile fell. “I just want to clear a misunderstanding between us, Cheonsa.”

“What misunderstanding, Jungsoo-ssi, really? You think I was imagining things?”

Jungsoo breathed deep and then sighed. “What you saw the other night at my dorm was half true and half wrong. I was drunk the night before with the members and yes, it was true that the girl came to our dorm because I took her home with us. But you were wrong if you think I had with her.”

Cheonsa opened to talk but Jungsoo cut her before she could even talk. “Listen to me first until I finished.” Cheonsa shut her lips so he continued. “I was too drunk; I didn’t even remember how that girl could approach me in the first place. But I assure you, nothing happened between me and that girl. I was too drunk to even ask her name and once I got into my room, I immediately passed out. Donghae and Kyuhyun witnessed everything. You can ask them.”

“They were your friends, of course they defend you.”

“Donghae is a very bad liar. You ask him then you’ll know if he lies.” He told her. “I’ll be honest with you. That night I purposely got drunk because of you. I was lost. I was angry with my parents, I didn’t want to obey their order and it hurt me when you didn’t take my hand and follow my decision. I was confused and angry so I got drunk. But I never betray you, Cheonsa. It was a misunderstanding, believe me.”

Cheonsa was drawn in her thoughts for a while but then she shook her head. “What’s the point of telling me this now? Everything has passed, even though you’re saying the truth right now, it’s not important anymore.”

“It is important.”

“Not it’s not. Because I’m nobody to you now. The marriage deal is off now, what a relief for you, huh?”

“You’re wrong, Cheonsa. This is important because I want to start all over again. I want to renew our marriage deal.” Cheonsa just stared at him in disbelief. “I know I’ve hurt you, I refused to get married to you and I was oblivious with my own feelings toward you. That’s because I always think myself as an idol, as Super Junior leader. I always think that I have a responsible to protect my group and getting married is one of those things that will add problem to my group.”

He inhaled and then sighed. “It took me everything I had to convince myself that I wasn’t falling for you. Every time I was around you, everything that I felt frightened me. But whenever we’re together, there were moments when I didn’t care about Super Junior, about my celebrity title, about my pride, because being with you worth every risk that would happen.”

He got up then took a seat right next to her. His hand found hers, and he held it tight. “The night when you left me in the dorm,” he said. “The night when you cried? It broke my heart really bad. The days when you were away, it was like a breaking point for me. It was when you were away from me that I finally realized that I need to be with you.”

Cheonsa didn’t say anything and just stared at him. But her hard expression had melted and her eyes started glistening. She bit her lips to prevent herself from crying.

“I love you, Cheonsa. For God’s sake, I fall in love with you.”

A tear escape her eyes and soon tears cascade down her cheeks. Chuckling, Jungsoo wiped them away, even though he got his eyes glistening tears as well.

“Tell me what’s inside your mind right now.” He said as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled them to him. She fell to his chest and grabbed a hold of his shirt, squeezing her eyes as she felt his lips pressed against her hair.

“What about the marriage deal?”

He lifted her away from his chest so he could see her face-to-face and then his hand met her cheek. “I haven’t bought the ring yet so I can’t propose to you now. But if I ask you to marry me, will you say yes?”

Cheonsa stared at him with bewildered eyes. “You want to marry me?” She asked, disbelieved was in her voice.

“Baek Cheonsa, one thing that I want the most, besides kissing you right now, is to marry you.” He answered with a smile. “This is not the real proposal. But for now please, answer me. If I ask you to marry me, will you say yes?”

Cheonsa couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. Her face was b in tears. She didn’t have to say yes. Her tears and her laugh said it for her.

Jungsoo pulled her to his embrace again. His arms tightened around her as he felt her shoulder shaking from crying. His lips met the top of her head, and he inhaled as he kissed her head. They stayed silent in that position for a while until Cheonsa spoke up.

“I love you..” She muttered between his chests.

Jungsoo pulled back and found her staring at him with so much love and appreciation, it made his chest hurt. It wasn’t hurting from pain, but because it never felt that full. Full of happiness.

He exhaled a soft breath and leaned down slowly, gently pressing his lips to hers. He kissed her tenderly, with so much affection and unspoken promises that told her that she was his, and he was hers.