Chapter 13
Jin Ri flicked the lights on in the office and headed towards her cubicle. The place was devoid of any living person, the time being only 7:30 in the morning. It was in such times that she enjoyed working, when she was alone and when it was quiet. Not that she didn’t like working with other people—she loved it as well. She just found that she worked faster when it was in the this way. After all, sorting through hundreds of photos and editing the ones that got picked was no easy feat.

She unpacked her laptop and placed it on the desk, opening it immediately and turning it on. As the machine lighted up, the apple brand appearing on the screen, she placed her bag on the floor and started to sort through the envelopes that were stacked by the office secretary on her desk. There were also some notes and memos from her boss. She had proceeded to placing some of the notes on her corkboard when she noticed one note, with a handwriting that made her smile, stuck on with a blue pin.

Good morning! I just wanted to say hello before you started working. So… hello! Don’t work too hard.

See you later?

Kyu

Grinning madly, she got her phone out and dialed a familiar number.

“Good morning,” Kyuhyun greeted, immediately picking up. She could hear the smile on his face. “Can I help you?”he teasingly added.

“Oh shut up,” she replied, laughing. “I didn’t know you had work today.”

“I don’t,” he confirmed. “But manager hyung wanted to talk to me about something so I’m here. Did you just get in?”

“Yeah,” she stated, taking a seat in front of her desk. “I’m just about to work.”

“What time do you get off?”

She opened her planner and looked at her schedule. “I’m editing some photos then I have a magazine photo shoot in the afternoon.”

“With whom?”

“No celebrities,” she told him. “Just some models for a spread.”

“Male models?” he wanted to clarify.

“Does it matter?” she wondered aloud, taking a seat, the phone being held by her ear and shoulder. She typed in her password and opened the Photoshop application.

“I was just curious,” he innocently responded, clearing this throat.

She chuckled, thinking how weird he was. “What time are you going to be done with your meeting?”

“This will just take an hour or so, depending on what it is that they want to talk to me about,” he explained.

They began discussing other things totally unrelated to work. Talking on the phone became a very important part of their relationship. Whenever Kyuhyun was away for an out of town or out of the country shows, like their concerts, he always made sure that he called every single day. It became a rule of theirs that they should talk at least once a day. Their conversations were about anything and everything under the sun. Both completely enjoyed their talks, despite them being short sometimes.

This time Kyuhyun launched into one of his regular stories about his hyungs and their silliness. This time it was about how they had all gotten into a food fight because Ryeowook got so upset at Donghae, who made an unnecessary comment about the food that he had made for them, that he threw a particularly big piece of broccoli at him. Donghae, who wasn’t one to back down, immediately retaliated with the tomato he had seen lying around the counter. Yesung had taken offense at this, saying that Donghae should know better because he’s older. Yet, the turtle lover defended the eternal magnae by throwing a slice of Kimchi at the boy also known by fishy, saying that he needed some more flavor. This, in turn, resulted with Eunhyuk siding by his best friend. He threw a scoopful of rice at his hyung.

“I think he was just hurt because he thinks anchovies are some of the tastier fishes around,” Kyuhyun went on, laughing along with Jin Ri.

“Were there any green peppers around?” Jin Ri wanted to know, laughing. She suddenly burst into more laughter when she remembered how he looked when he wore that green pepper costume during their Super Show 3 concerts.

“Glad to know I amuse you,” he dryly commented. “I was a very hot green pepper, you know. You’re lucky to have me as your boyfriend.”

“I am lucky,” she agreed, grinning and nodding, despite him not being able to see her. “The hottest green pepper in the whole world,” she enthusiastically established, trying to fight back the giggles that were threatening to escape .

“Hey, I have to go,” he then said, the smile evident in his voice. “I’ll call you when I’m done.”

“Good luck on your meeting,” she sincerely wished for him.

“Hey,” he called before she could hang up.

“What?” she asked curiously.

“Are there going to be male models in your photo shoot?”

~ * ~

“You look tired,” Sun Young commented as Jin Ri dropped her bag on the floor and sat down on the couch.

“The shoot took longer than expected,” Jin Ri responded, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. One of the concepts had to be done because the magazine editor suddenly decided that it didn’t look right. Instead of having the shoot rescheduled, she had everyone rushing around everywhere, all stressed, to fix it so the shoot could be resumed. Tempers flared everywhere. She opened her eyes and turned to her cousin, who was switching the channels on the television. “What are you doing here?”

“Il Sung oppa had to cancel dinner because of some business thing,” Sun Young explained. “Oppas and friends are all busy and appa is out of town so I thought I’d hang out here.”

“You could’ve told me,” Jin Ri said. “There’s no food here.”

“I noticed,” Sun Young responded, smiling a little. “Which is why I had some delivered.” She watched some TV, making herself more comfortable on the couch, while Jin Ri closed her eyes once more. “So…. Did Kyuhyun visit you at the shoot? He called, asking where the studio was.”

Jin Ri opened her eyes and chuckled. “Yes, he did.”


The production and models were on break so Jin Ri decided to just upload the photos that she had already taken to check on what improvements she could do.

“Jin Ri-ssi,” one of the male models called, walking over, a charming smile on his face. “We’re having lunch in the waiting room. Do you want to join us?”

Jin Ri smiled politely and bowed. “Thank you for the offer, but I’m not really very hungry.”

He moved to her side and started taking a look at the photos she was looking at on the computer. “So what do you think of the shoot so far? Are we doing well?”

“Yes,” she confirmed, nodding. “You all look very good.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” he said. Suddenly, he put an arm around her waist, making her stiffen, and tried to steer her away from the computer. “Join us for lunch. I insist,” he added when she opened to protest.

But before they could walk any farther, she politely removed his arm around her waist. “I’m sorry Kwang Su-ssi,” she began. “I’m really not hungry and really have to look through this.”

“Alright.” He nodded. “How about we just grab something to eat after this then?” He gave her the most charming smile he could muster. He found that it never failed to make girls’ hearts flutter.

“Kwang Su-ssi,” she started, smiling apologetically. “This may be rude of me to say, but I have a boyfriend.” The male model had been making advances to her since the start of the shoot. He was always giving her smiles and winks and was always trying to find ways to put his arm around her when they were on short breaks. It was unnerving.

Kwang Su looked at her for a moment, as if assessing her. Jin Ri was starting to grow afraid that he might make a scene or something like that when he suddenly chuckled, surprising her. It definitely was not the reaction she expected from him.

“If you say so,” he said, still chuckling. “I’ll see you after the shoot.” He winked at her and walked back to the dressing room.

Jin Ri stared at him in disbelief. Did he actually think she would make something like that up to play hard-to-get? She shuddered at the thought. It was always the models that gave more trouble than the celebrities. Celebrities, especially the famous ones, were more concerned about their image, hence being more polite and accommodating to the staff. But the models who had no name, who were unknowns, always acted as if they were the most famous people in the world. It always resulted into some sort of trouble and this was the worst of them all. She had encountered a couple other incidents like these in the past. But none of them were as forward as he was.

She had just started to go back to work when she felt a pair of arms snake around her waist. She felt her back come into contact onto a muscled chest. She closed her eyes and counted to ten before opening them again and saying, in a much harsher way than she intended to, “Kwang Su-ssi, please stop groping me. I told you have a boyfriend.”

The arms around her waist and the man behind her stiffened. Suddenly, she felt herself being turned around to face the male. Jin Ri gasped when she found herself face-to-face with said boyfriend.

“Kyuhyun,” Jin Ri blurted out in shock. “What are you doing here?” She looked around and noticed some of the staff looking in their direction. The presence of an idol was immediately known in the premises.

“Kwang Su?” Kyuhyun repeated, an eyebrow raised. “Groping you?” He lifted his head up and started scanning the place. “Is he one of the models?”

“Yes,” she quietly answered. “It’s fine. He was just overly friendly.”

“Groping isn’t being overly friendly,” he corrected her. “It’s ual harassment.”

“Do you want to meet him?” she suddenly asked, making him bring his attention back to her at once. 

Before he could say anything, she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the dressing room. Inside, there were three male models and two female models. They were lounging around, having just finished eating lunch. They all looked up when the door opened. Kwang Su stood up and chuckled when he saw Jin Ri walk in. But the smile immediately left his face when Kyuhyun stepped in behind her.

“Kwang Su-ssi, I want you to meet Kyuhyun,” Jin Ri introduced. “My boyfriend.”

Kwang Su’s, as well as the eyes of the other male models widened. The two female models gasped in surprise and envy. Kyuhyun took a step forward and shook the hand of Kwang Su, squeezing his hand tightly as he grasped it. After exchanging bows, the model bowed once again, this time more respectfully.

“I’m sorry, sunbaenim,” Kwang Su said, his eyes on the floor.

Kyuhyun merely nodded his head, clenching his jaw in an effort not to say anything that he would regret later on. He knew that his girlfriend wouldn’t appreciate it as well if he would say anything that could be harmful to both of them in the future. Jin Ri merely smiled at him as they turned to go.

“There’s one thing I want to say,” Kyuhyun suddenly said, turning back, his eyes meeting all of the models’. Jin Ri looked at him a bit worriedly. “The information you’d just received isn’t for public consumption. So if any news of this comes out in the future, I expect the five of you to be liable.”

The five models nodded eagerly, all saying that they wouldn’t say anything to anyone. Kyuhyun and Jin Ri walked out of there quietly and headed back to the computers, with Kyuhyun smiling and greeting every staff member that they passed by.

“What happened to keeping things a secret?” Kyuhyun asked as they sat down beside each other while Jin Ri went back to work. They had agreed to keep things between them for a while. Not even Sun Young nor the members knew yet. Jin Ri, more than Kyuhyun, wanted a low profile so as not to attract any unwanted attention from the company and from the fans. 

“I’d rather be bashed by fans than have that happen to me again. At least the fans won’t get that close to me,” Jin Ri acknowledged, turning to him with a smile. “Thank you for what you did back there. I didn’t know how hot SeriousKyu was.” She giggled.

“Is that so?” he replied, raising an eyebrow in amusement. “Maybe I should do it more often.” 

“Nah, I like KidKyu better,” she joshed, chuckling.

He moved his seat closer to her and took her hand in his, smiling the wide smile that Jin Ri found she loved so much. She smiled back at him and squeezed his hand. “I have to go,” he told her regretfully. “I have to meet Seohyun to rehearse for our duet. Are you going to be okay?” Even if it didn’t seem like he was bothered, it really unsettled him that Jin Ri had to go through things like this in her line of work.

She nodded. “Thanks for dropping by! Good luck on your rehearsal!”

He stood up and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Next time, I think it would be best if you didn’t do shoots with male models,” he suggested. She looked up at him to see if he was serious. He was giving her a teasing grin. “I’m always available if you need one.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Ugh, please leave me alone, GreasyKyu.” She rolled her eyes at him and slapped his arm. “All of a sudden I feel bad for Seohyun. I really don’t know how she puts up with you.”

“Ya!” he defended himself. Then he smirked. “You put up with me and that’s all that really matters.”

She stood up and started pushing him out of the studio. “CheesyKyu is not welcome here.”

“That was not CheesyKyu,” he protested. “That was PrinceKyu!”


“I really don’t know why you won’t admit to me that you two are dating,” Sun Young told her, raising her eyebrows knowingly at her cousin, who merely looked at her. “But I’m glad you’re happy.” Jin Ri smiled and turned to the television. “So… how is he at kissing?”

“Sun Young!” Jin Ri exclaimed indignantly, straightening up on the couch. Her phone then began to ring. She smiled at the caller ID. “Hey,” she answered the call.

Sun Young rolled her eyes and yelled, “Hi Kyuhyun-ssi!”

Jin Ri laughed as she headed to her room, closing the door behind her. She sat down on the bed. “How was rehearsal?”

“Tiring. Hey, do you want to go out? It’s late, but I thought we could grab some light dinner,” he suggested. “Maybe eat by the Han river?”

“Ooh romantic,” she said, smiling a little. “Is everything okay?” She noticed how he sounded somewhat anxious about something.

He sighed. “I… yeah, everything’s fine. Anyway, I’m, downstairs, in the lobby.”

“I’ll be right down.” Jin Ri packed her phone and money in a small bag and hurried out of the apartment, yelling a quick goodbye to Sun Young. 

Kyuhyun was sitting on one of the sofas. As soon as he saw her, he stood up and smiled.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, lightly touching his cheek as he pulled her to him, his arms around her waist.

“Later,” Kyuhyun said, smiling a little. “Right now…” He cupped her face and kissed her.