Chapter 18
Kyuhyun walked into the dorm, where the rest of the members were gathered for their usual Saturday dinners. He removed his shoes and jacket then went straight to the room he shared with Sungmin without even sparing a glance for his hyungs. No one even managed to say hi to him before he locked himself up again, which was what had been happening for the past couple of days. It was always work and dorm for Kyuhyun. The members weren’t really sure what he did when he was in his room, but they were sure that he wasn’t gaming. Sungmin had mentioned that whenever he would walk into their room, the magnae would just be lying down on the bed and staring at the ceiling. It was like he was trying to figure out why the ceiling was white, the pink lover had added worriedly.

“Will someone just tell us what’s going on?” Heechul demanded. They had all gone to a pictorial earlier at the company, one that Jin Ri was the main photographer for. He’d clearly witnessed how things weren’t going so well between their magnae and his girlfriend. It was strange how Kyuhyun avoided her, while the latter pretended not to notice.

Heechul grabbed Eunhyuk and Donghae by the scruffs of their shirts when the two tried to slink away. “I know you two know something,” he continued, sitting them back down on their seats. “And so do you,” he added, pointing a finger at Ryeowook, Zhoumi and Leeteuk.

“I don’t think it’s our place to say,” Zhoumi calmly answered, sighing a bit. He glanced at the closed door of Kyuhyun’s room. Trying to talk to the magnae didn’t do anything. The younger male simply shut him out by saying that he was fine and that he was just busy with his solo preparations.

“What isn’t your place to say?” Sungmin curiously asked.

“If we answered your question, hyung, we would be telling you about what happened,” Donghae pointed out, snickering. “And that would be inappropriate.”

“Ya, since when were all of you so secretive?” Heechul spat, rolling his eyes. “You,” he proceeded, glancing at their leader. “Since when were you so not eager to share things with us?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” Leeteuk explained, taking a deep breath. “I just don’t think that sharing it with everyone would help things to get better. Kyuhyun’s working hard and he’s just stressed.”

“Hyung, it’s not good to lie,” Siwon muttered. He smiled sheepishly when the three oldest hyungs glared at him.

“Did they have a fight?” Shindong then asked. He noticed how Jin Ri had been too serious during the shoot, only cracking the smallest of smiles, even when they were all trying so hard to make her laugh.

When the five boys exchanged glances, Heechul raised an eyebrow. “This is all just a stupid fight, isn’t it?” he concluded. “Why is he acting like a ten year-old and not just talk to her about it?” It was unlike Kyuhyun to not talk about things. He wondered what it was that they fought about to make him shut everyone out like what he was doing.

“Except Jin Ri getting pregnant is not simple at all,” Eunhyuk couldn’t help but defend their youngest member. He gasped and covered his mouth with both hands when he realized what he said.

As the members who knew about the whole thing shot metaphorical daggers at Eunhyuk with their eyes, Sungmin covered his mouth with both hands, Yesung choked on the water he was drinking, Shindong almost fell off of his chair and Heechul’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

“Kyuhyun got Jin Ri pregnant?” Siwon yelled, looking scandalized. Both Eunhyuk and Donghae lunged towards him to cover his mouth, accidentally tackling him to the floor in the process.

There was a couple of seconds of silence as everyone glanced towards Kyuhyun’s closed door. When they heard no movement of any sort, everyone faced each other again. But before anyone could say anything, Leeteuk stood up and silenced them even more with a look.

“First of all,” the oldest hyung began, giving a pointed look to Siwon, who was still sprawled on the floor beside Eunhyuk and Donghae, “Kyuhyun did not get Jin Ri pregnant. I would assume that everyone here knows that we’re all smart enough not to do that. But even if someone did get anyone pregnant, it gives none of us a right to judge them.” Siwon bowed his head apologetically.

“So what’s your second point?” Heechul wanted to know, looking amused at their leader’s outburst. “Are you going to tell us what happened then?”

Leeteuk sighed. He glanced at the other members and sat back down, making the EunSiHae trio take their seats as well. “We overheard Kyu and Jin’s conversation when we went to her apartment the other day,” he started. Then he went on to explain about Jin Ri’s ex-best friend/boyfriend and how she had gotten pregnant, which led to the unfortunate passing of her parents and then her engagement.

There was silence after their leader explained everything as clearly as he could. No one really knew what to say for fear of sounding judgmental or inappropriate. It truly surprised them that the Jin Ri they had grown to love and treat like a sister had such skeletons in her closet. They didn’t like her any less. But it shocked them to say the least.

“So is the kid…?” Shindong left the question hanging.

Zhoumi shook his head. “She lost the baby, after which she called the engagement off.”

This earned the group another silence. They realized that everything that had happened was probably something she wasn’t proud of, which was why she put off telling Kyuhyun about it. The whole thing made them all feel bad. Jin Ri was already family to them and having her feel like she couldn’t trust them to accept her about the whole incident pained them somehow.

“No one is to breathe a word to this to anyone,” Heechul dictated, taking over the conversation and looking each member in the eye. “Understand?” Everyone nodded. No one had any plans to make such information into conversation topics anyway.

“What can we do?” Ryeowook suddenly asked in a soft voice, glancing at his door once again.

“We’re not going to do anything,” Yesung declared before anyone could suggest anything. This earned him a lot of surprised looks from the members for he never usually told them to do anything. “I think we should let Kyuhyun handle this his own way.”

~ * ~

Jae Sun gave a satisfied nod as he surveyed the place. There were only a few customers since it was only the afternoon. He walked towards one of the waiters and quickly conversed with him about the setup of the chairs and tables, as well as the menu for the evening. After a while, the waiter left to tend to some customers. He was just about to go on to the back to fix some paperwork when the door opened and Jin Ri walked in. She surveyed the place and smiled when she saw him.

“Hey,” Jae Sun greeted, striding over to her, his arms open and ready to hug her.

“Hi,” Jin Ri greeted back, hugging him.

“To what do I owe this surprise visit?” he wanted to know, bringing her to the bar. She merely shrugged and ordered a drink from the bartender as she sat down on one of the stools. He frowned and sat down on the empty seat beside her. “Okay, what’s wrong?” He knew that she wasn’t much of a drinker.

“What, a girl can’t order a drink without having anything going wrong?” she innocently asked, looking at him, a small smile on her face.

“Not you, no,” he answered with much certainty. He watched as she got her drink from the bartender and drank half of it. “Is it Kyuhyun?”

She put the glass down on the counter and sighed, turning to him. “It’s me, oppa,” was her reply, giving him a meaningful gaze. “I told him the truth about me and Shin Jae.”

“You mean he didn’t know?” he blurted out in surprise. He frowned. “But he said…?”

“He thought he knew everything,” she clarified. “He got confused with your reactions that he asked me about it. I had to tell him.” She paused, looking thoughtful. “I should’ve told him the first time.”

“Well it’s not exactly something you share to just anyone,” he said, trying to comfort her.

“But Kyuhyun’s not just anyone,” she corrected. “He’s someone whom I should be telling everything to.” She started looking around the place for a while, observing some of the customers, then turned to him again. “I thought you said this place was hoppin’,” she commented, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s early,” he pointed out. “If you stay longer, you’ll see how cool this place is.” He looked at the gold watch strapped on his left wrist. “Yung Ho hyung’s arriving in a while. Where’s Sun?”

“She said she had to finish some reports but we’re having dinner later,” she told him. “Want to join us?”

He shook his head and gestured around. “I have to be here tonight. My manager’s taken the day off.”

Jin Ri smiled understandingly and finished her drink in a gulp. She handed a tip to the bartender and hopped off the stool. Jae Sun got off his seat and walked her to the door.

“Are you going to be okay?” he asked, putting an arm around her shoulders.

“Yes, oppa,” she assured him, standing on tiptoe and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Call me if you need anything, okay?” he called. She gave him a wave. He sighed as he watched her leave, whipping his cell phone out and dialing a number he had gotten from Sun Young.

As Jin Ri walked out of the restobar, she took a deep breath. Truthfully, she hadn’t been okay ever since Kyuhyun walked out of her apartment that day. She had been smiling and laughing around people but when she was alone, she sometimes felt like crying. Looking up at the cloudy sky, she suddenly wished it would rain already. There was nothing more she wanted to do at the moment but breathe. Her past was catching up with her and she felt suffocated.

On the way to her car, her phone started to ring. She fished it out of her pocket and frowned as she saw that it was unknown number calling her. Pressing the answer button and putting it to her ear, she cautiously answered it.

“It’s Hyukjae,” Eunhyuk’s sweet and happy tone came through the line, making Jin Ri smile. If Jin Ri had been a fan before she had even met them, he would probably be her favorite. He was just so bright and sunny all the time.

“Oppa,” she responded brightly, a spring being added to her steps. “To what do I owe this call?”

He chuckled. “Me being hungry. Wookie’s out on a schedule without leaving anything for anyone to eat. Hae’s too lazy to get off his to go out with me to get a bite—OW! Jin, hold on.” She chuckled as she heard a bit of scuffling in the background as well as yells from the two guys with an added yelling bonus from Heechul. “Hey, I’m back,”Eunhyuk returned, sounded breathless. “So are you busy? I’ll make it worth your while.”

“How can I refuse such an offer?” she said, laughing.

They decided to meet up in Cheongdam, where they hoped fewer people would come up to them if and when they do recognize him. As a precaution he had worn a hoodie and shades to lessen the probability of him being recognized and mobbed. He had even brought an extra hoodie for her so that she wouldn’t be in trouble if and when people start taking notice of them.

“I really don’t know how you guys do this,” Jin Ri mentioned as they began walking around to look for a place to eat.

Eunhyuk shrugged. “You would think that after five years, I’d be used to it,” he responded. “It’s hard, but it comes with the dream.” He looked at her. “I don’t know how you do this either. I’m surprised that you’re so cool about the whole thing.”

“Me?” she replied, looking confused.

“Your boyfriend is an idol,” he elaborated. “You can’t go out with him as much as you would want because there’s the threat of the fans and because he’s too busy most of the time.”

She smiled and shook her head. “I really can’t complain. Kyuhyun gives me a lot of his time,” she answered. “Besides, I really don’t mind not going out. Spending time with him in my apartment or in your dorm is enough for me.” He chuckled and shook his head, looking at her in disbelief. “What?”

“It amazes me how my brothers are able to find girlfriends like you,” he remarked. “I thought Nari was one of a kind until Angie noona came along. Now you.” He shook his head.

Soon, they found a secluded and quiet restaurant. After they had ordered, they resumed their conversation about Jin Ri being such an understanding girlfriend, to which she merely rolled her eyes at and said that it was just all about perspective and mindset.

“Still,” Eunhyuk stated. “If I wasn’t an idol and I had a girlfriend who was, I don’t think I could be as understanding. It’s not just about the time, too. There’s also the fact that she would have to pretend she’s single and do certain forms of fan service that I may not approve of.”

“If you love her enough, you wouldn’t mind so much, I’m sure,” Jin Ri stated mechanically, a wistful smile on her face. “You know what they say, love is enough.”

“Do you really believe that?” he inquired. She bit her lip and gave him a sheepish smile. “Then why would you say that?” he pressed, not demandingly. He was just truly curious.

“Because what may not work for me may work for you,” she explained. “There are people who believe that love is enough.” Her mind drifted off to Kyuhyun. It was becoming even clearer to her that love doesn’t solve all problems.

“Why don’t you believe that love is enough? What more is there?” he asked. He knew he was probably prying, but it was the first time he’d encountered a girl who wasn’t such a hopeless romantic.

“There’s family, friends, compatibility, chemistry, values, issues,” she enumerated effortlessly. “Love is a start, but it’s not everything.” He looked like he was thinking about the things that he said. “You seem like the type who would drop everything for love,” she mused.

“Love is the only thing that would make me give everything up,” he admitted. He became quiet for a moment, as if thinking about something. Then he lifted his eyes up and met hers. “What would you give up everything for?”

“A lifetime supply of chocolate would be good,” she gushed, her eyes crinkling in delight, changing the subject in the process. “Or maybe ice cream.”

“It would be strawberry milk for me,” he shared, grinning his gummy smile, looking dreamy all of a sudden.

“Have you ever had a girlfriend?” she then asked. He nodded. “What happened?”

He shrugged then met her eyes, a sudden realization going through him. “If love isn’t enough, then what is?”

“I honestly don’t know,” she answered thoughtfully, sighing quietly.

He gazed at her and watched as she played with the table napkin, her eyes fixated on the blue and red pattern on the edges. It looked like she was having an internal battle, obviously related to Kyuhyun. It was obvious that she missed him terribly. Suddenly, she looked at him and smiled.

“Let’s take a photo,” she then suggested, leaning down towards the bag she had brought from her car to get her digital camera.

“Why?” he asked, chuckling as he stood up and moved to the seat beside her.

“You made my day so much better, oppa,” she told him appreciatively. “I want to remember it.” She then smiled wider. “Also, I know it wasn’t your first choice to spend time with me but you still did it.”

“What are you talking about?” Eunhyuk innocently asked.

“I know Jae Sun oppa called you,” Jin Ri knowingly declared, smirking a little at his innocent pretence.

“But—but—you—,” he stammered, wondering exactly what he wanted to say. He sighed, giving in. “How did you know?”

She chuckled. “This is exactly the sort of thing that he’d do. He’s always getting other people to look out for me. Today, it’s you,” she shared. “So what did he give you in exchange?” She held up a hand to stop him from talking. “Wait, let me guess. Strawberry milk?”

“Worth a month’s supply, which I’ll probably finish off in a week,” he muttered, looking ashamed. “But it’s not like I didn’t want to do it. He just insisted that he should give me something in return.”

“I take no offence,” she assured him, still chuckling. She gave him a look, wrinkling her nose in the process. “You’re too predictable. Really, strawberry milk?” His response was merely a sheepish grin.

As Jin Ri took a look at the photos they had taken together, he thought about talking to Kyuhyun. It had been nearly two weeks since the two had talked. It was about time that someone knocked some sense into the magnae and who better to do that than him and a couple of the other members.