Chapter 3

Yunho had been staying with Jaejoong for the past 5 days. Yunho didn’t have to go to the university anymore because his classes were over for all intents and purposes and he had to wait for the convocation in 3 weeks. The next day after sleeping with Jaejoong, when he woke up on Jaejoong’s bed sans clothes, Jaejoong playing the piano beautifully in the next room and the smell of pancakes permeating the air, Yunho wanted to stay.

In the brief period he’s known her, Jaejoong had understood the Yunho that only his parents had the fortune of knowing. Everyone saw him as a handsome guy who would take over his father’s law firm and become a famous attorney. Jaejoong saw him as a guy with complex emotions and no outlet for them. That’s what she did, because she couldn’t see the person physically, she saw what made the person. Back home, it was his mother who could tell Yunho’s innermost thoughts. On some level, Ara didn’t and he still found himself with her for whatever reasons.

Actually, he knew the reason, the deep subconscious reason.

Love is blind.

His parents are testimony to it. His plain jane mother had somehow managed to attract the attention of the school’s heartthrob. They dated, married and had a son and daughter who fortunately took after the father’s side of the family in looks and the mother’s side in heart. Yunho grew up with the notion that love doesn’t go by physical attraction or in the appearance of the other party. Love overlooked flaws and that was true.

But what if the flaws were not something that nurtured the relationship but destroyed it, slowly and repeatedly.

Yunho would fight with Ara and then return to her, have then fight and again repeat the cycle. He had now come to realize that he subconsciously believed that he should overlook their unsound relationship because love is simply blind. The imperfections can be disregarded and they could still love each other.

But for how long?

It was unhealthy and just wrong. The love they believe they had was an illusion.

Yunho decided that if this time he returned to Ara, it had to be because they won’t have a superficial love. No ignoring communication and burying their frustrations with .

Until he figures it out, he will bask in the light that is Kim Jaejoong.

He was enjoying it and more than he did with Ara. They didn’t have again after the first night but neither shied away from occasional kisses and touches. They would often spend time in each other’s embrace at the piano and would make out intensely later.

Today, however, Yunho was trying to calm a ball of nerves, Jaejoong’s and his own. They were packing the necessities that Jaejoong would need for her brief stay at the hospital.

“let’s cancel the surgery.” Jaejoong abruptly declared.

Yunho stared at her owlishly while holding a pair of Jaejoong’s hello kitty pyjamas and a toothbrush.

“cancel? Okay, let’s do it.” he said dumbly.

“what the hell! Yunho you're supposed to talk me out of it!” Jaejoong shrieked.

“I’m confused, are we doing this or not?”

“I don’t know.” Jaejoong said frustratedly and slumped on her bed. “I’m terrified. It’s a big thing.”

“of course it’s a big thing.” Yunho crouched beside the bed and took her hand in his, “that’s why it’s so fantastic. You will see Kim Jaejoong! Dr. Choi Siwon has come all the way from Seoul and arranged for your surgery in New York and after this you’ll see. Then you will know how handsome I really am.”

“spare me the horror!” Jaejoong quipped in a small voice.

“see, you're back to the Jaejoong I know. So are you ready for this?”

“I’m ready.”

“I’m so not ready!” Jaejoong sobbed in Junsu’s lap. She was on the hospital bed, ready to be taken into the OR any moment and she was comically wailing. She couldn’t help it though.

“don’t worry Jaejoong, Siwon is really good. I wouldn’t recommend him if he weren’t.” Yoochun patted the raven head on his girlfriend’s lap. In the brief period, Yoochun had become a very good friend of the music prodigy and Junsu had declared herself as Jaejoong’s older sister.

“but it’s so scary and nerve-wrecking, and…and terrifying and did I say scary?”

“come on Jae, I know what will cheer you up.” Yunho made Jaejoong sit up and Junsu and Yoochun followed his directions and came to the right side of Jaejoong’s sitting frame. Yunho came to her left and brought her in a one armed hug. Jaejoong barely registered a small rumble and the people beside her dispersed.

“hello! I’m still waiting for the thing that was supposed to make me feel better.” Jaejoong complained, until something was placed in her hands. She ran a hand over the paper and it felt glossy. “what is it?”

“it’s a polaroid picture. We just took a picture of the four of us.” Yunho said as he took the picture away and  placed another thing in her hands. “this is a picture diary.” He stuck the polaroid on the first page of the diary, “from now on, you're going to record every moment of your life in this. it’s my present for you. The first memory is the moment just before you finally got to see. We’ll have another one after your surgery and then of the next day and the day after that. Also when I take you to see the Statue of Liberty and when…..”

“Yunho, I get it.” Jaejoong brought the book closer and held it a