Chapter 22
Standing in front of the black grand piano in the middle of the stage, her fingers tinkered with the white and black keys. She smiled, as she enjoyed the echo of the sound she produced around the empty, vast studio. Deciding to play some more, she sat down on the piano bench, smoothing the skirt of her flowy white dress beneath her. She placed both of her hands on the keyboard and started playing something that was meant for him.

“Playing again?” a voice called from the right side of the stage. She merely smiled and just went on playing.

“Is this love?” Jin Ri began to sing, her fingers moving fluidly across the keys.

“I want you to feel just like me,” Kyuhyun sang with her, sitting on the space she had left for him on the piano bench.

“Is this fate?” they sang together. “I want you to feel the same about me.

Are you pleased by the happiness that has found you?
Do you dream the same dreams as me?
Do you know how much I think about you?
Do you know how much I love you?

It’s fine if there are many people in the rattling subway station.
I read and re-read the message that I had kept hidden.
Before I knew it, I had memorized it.
I still remember your hesitant facial expression when you took hold of my hand.
I laughed nonsensically.
Because of that, I longed for it even more.

Is this love?
I want you to feel just like me.
Is this fate?
I want you to feel the same about me.
I look at your back until you disappear.
Already I am longing for your smile.

Are there times when you feel afraid?
That when you wake up from a long sleep, this would all be just a dream?
Do you stay up all night praying without others knowing?
What do you think I feel?

Are you happy?
I want you to feel just like me.
Are you happy?
I want you to feel the same about me.
Are you thankful, like me, for every single day?
The days we breathe together
The days that will come and everything
Do you know it will be bright because you are with me?

Do you know how much I think about you?
Do you know how much I love you?
I’ll always love you.”

As she ended the song, he leaned towards her and kissed her on the side of her head. “I can’t believe you wrote this for me,” he murmured, his lips still against her hair. He couldn’t help but feel elated every time he remembered her singing it for him for their six-month anniversary. It was evident that she put much time and effort to it. But what got him more was the message. She loved him.

She smiled and turned her head so that they were looking at each other and his lips were almost against hers instead. “You were wonderful today,” she told him, giving him a peck on the lips.

“That’s because you’re here,” he pointed out as they stood up and she closed the piano. He had just finished performing his solo on Yoo Hee Yeol’s Sketchbook, as well as answering some questions about his declared relationship with her.

“You practically dragged me out of the apartment,” she reminded him, rolling her eyes as he took her hand in his and they made their way down the stage to go to the waiting room. “I couldn’t exactly not be here after that.”

“I dragged you out?” he retorted, looking shocked at her retort. “And here I thought, you were the one fussing over the fact that I was going to be late. You even almost forgot your purse.” He smirked when she merely poked her tongue out at him because she knew he was right.

“Yes, well, after what you did, we really were going to be late,” she pointed out, remembering the events that had transpired before they were to leave for the show. She bowed her head to keep him from seeing her blush.

He chuckled, knowing very well that her face was red. “Princess, you were the one who wanted to graduate,” he prompted, looking very pleased with himself.

“If I knew you were going to take advantage of it that way…” she trailed off.

“Oh stop complaining,” he teased, his smirking growing bigger. “I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one enjoying it.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.

“Shut up,” she shot back, not knowing what else to say. Although they had never done the deed, their physical activities had certainly intensified to a certain extent. Not that she complained. He was such a gentleman, always knowing when to stop.

It had been two months since they had decided to take their relationship to the next level. After Jin Ri’s decision to stop being afraid and to just let go, things had taken an even better turn for the both of them. Their relationship just seemed to improve all around. On top of that, both their careers had very much improved. Jin Ri got calls to do photo shoots for various magazines and brands almost everyday. Kyuhyun’s solo, which had only come out for two weeks, had shot up the charts in a matter of days, hence him having to perform it on almost all shows on all broadcast stations. But despite the busy schedules, she found the time to be with him in all his performances and he always made time to visit her in the pictorials that she did, making himself acquainted with the staff that she now handled, as well as with the models and, sometimes, celebrities.

“One of these days, I’m really going to go deaf with the conversations you two carelessly have with each other,” Eunhyuk commented, standing up from his seat when the couple walked into the waiting room. “That day’s coming soon, I believe.” He gave Jin Ri a kiss on the cheek after he hugged and congratulated Kyuhyun.

“I have to agree with him,” Sungmin confirmed, hugging both Kyuhyun and Jin Ri as well. “You two really should keep your s to yourselves.” Both boys didn’t have schedules that day and decided to give their magnae some support for one of his first solo promotions.

“We could’ve been talking about anything,” Kyuhyun said defensively.

“We’re not young and definitely not stupid to not know what you two were talking about,” Eunhyuk stated, making a face.

“Have you two eaten?” Jin Ri then asked, hoping to veer away from the embarrassing subject. She moved to one of the tables and brought out the lunch boxes that she had prepared for Kyuhyun in case he got hungry.

“I knew we made the right decision when we decided to visit Kyu,” Eunhyuk announced, rubbing his hands together and eyeing the food that she was unpacking.

“Hey, that’s mine!” Kyuhyun protested. “My girlfriend made that for me.” He grabbed the chopsticks that his hyung was holding and used it for himself.

“Your girlfriend wouldn’t have offered me some food if she didn’t mean for it to be shared,” Eunhyuk shot back. He grabbed another pair of chopsticks and started eating, ignoring the younger male’s glares.

As Eunhyuk and Kyuhyun fought over the food, both Jin Ri and Sungmin sat down on the sofa. He chuckled then glanced at her, who had some sort of wistful smile on her face. He smiled, knowing that she was so happy with their magnae, who, in turn, was in bliss as well.

“You okay with today?” Sungmin then asked, nudging her a little.

“Oh oppa,” Jin Ri responded, a bit startled. Then she smiled as she always did. “Yes,” she answered with a nod. “I think Kyuhyun handled it very well.”

“I could say the same about you,” he replied.

“Well, Kyu and I did talk about it for a long time,” she explained. “Besides, the fans already knew about us beforehand. This was just granting them the opportunity to have some of their questions answered.” 

As soon as they had agreed that they would let the fans know about them, Kyuhyun immediately went to the management and talked to them about it. The management was most definitely shocked at the revelation that one of their idols had a relationship with a member of a prominent Korean family under their noses without them knowing it. They were even more shocked at the fact that he wanted to make it public. It took about a week for the discussions to be over. Kyuhyun had mentioned to them, as part of his argument, that all his inspiration came from Jin Ri and that he wouldn’t be able to perform well with keeping his relationship with her a secret. To which they responded with “you’ve managed to perform well in the six months you’ve kept it a secret”. But in the end, management agreed. With Shindong and Nari, as well as Leeteuk and Angie’s relationships out in the open, they couldn’t very well deny Kyuhyun of the same treatment.

Fan backlash immediately started, as was expected by everyone. The management, with the help of the Chungs’ PR staff, did all they could to protect the couple. There were continuous protest rallies outside of the SM building, as well as the Super Junior dorm building. There were even rallies outside the Hyundai office after they had found out that she was the niece of the Hyundai’s chairman. There were a lot of tearful nights for Jin Ri. Even with being a part of a very public family, she had never been shown under the spotlight, much less in such a way. Kyuhyun, as well as family and friends, was always there to assure her that things would eventually die down. True enough, after a month, the fans had gotten tired of going out to the streets to voice out their hatred of their idol having a girlfriend. Up to the present, they had resorted to attacking through the Internet.

“I have to say,” Sungmin replied, shaking his head a bit. “It’s really brave, what you did.”

“Shindong oppa and Leeteuk oppa did the same thing,” Jin Ri jogged his memory. “I think Shindong oppa was even braver, proposing to Nari unnie. And romantic too.” She smiled, feeling giddy at the thought.

He merely smiled as he remembered the coded proposal that his hyung had created in their fourth album for Nari. “I’m surprised Kyuhyun didn’t directly answer that you were in the audience, considering he looked like he was going to burn a hole through you during his whole performance,” he went on. “I’m sure everyone was wondering as to who he was looking at.”

She blushed as she remembered how Kyuhyun had looked at her while he sang. Tears had threatened to spill to her cheeks as his gaze bore into hers, letting her know that he wrote it for her and only for her.


“It doesn’t matter if I’m lonely,” Kyuhyun began the song as soon as he was introduced. His eyes immediately found Jin Ri’s in the crowd. She smiled the smile that she reserved only for him.

“Whenever I think of you
A smile spreads across my face.
It doesn’t matter if I’m tired. Whenever you are happy
My heart is filled with love.

Today I might live in a harsh world again.
Even if I’m tired, when I close my eyes, I only see your image.
The dreams that are still ringing in my ears
Are leaving my side towards you.

Everyday my life is like a dream.
If we can look at each other and love each other
I’ll stand up again.

To me, the happiness of those precious memories
Will be warmer during hard times.
For me, hope is a dream that never sleeps.

Like a shadow by my side you always
Quietly come to me.
To see if I’m hurt, to see if I’m lonely everyday
With feelings of yearning, you come to me.

Even if the world makes me cry, I’m okay.
Because you are always by my side.
Like dust, will those memories change and leave?
I’ll keep smiling to ease my heart.”

Eunhyuk nudged Jin Ri. He and Sungmin had sandwiched the girl in between them. “You’re going to burst into flame,” he whispered to her. “Any minute now.” The intensity of Kyuhyun’s gaze at her was enough to have anyone curious as to who he was staring at the whole time. People, mostly fangirls, were craning their necks, all wondering if his girlfriend was in the audience.

“Everyday my life is like a dream,” Kyuhyun went on, ignoring his hyungs’ sniggers in their seats. He closed his eyes and continued to sing. Every single word of this song was for her. He wrote it for her. “If we can look at each other and love each other. I’ll stand up again.

To me, the happiness of those precious memories
Will be warmer during hard times.
For me, hope is a dream that never sleeps.

No matter how many times I stumble and fall
I’m still standing like this.
I only have one heart.
When I’m tired you become my strength.
My heart is towards you forever.

So I swallowed the hurt and grief.
I’ll only show you my smiling form.
It doesn’t even hurt now.

I’ll always hold on to the dreams I want to fulfill with you
I’ll try to call for you at the place I cannot reach
I love you with all my heart.”

The audience applauded, fangirls screaming like there was no tomorrow, while waving their Kyuhyun banners. Yoo Hee Yeol came out from backstage, clapping as well.

“That was the performance by Super Junior’s Kyuhyun,” Yoo Hee Yeol said to the microphone, smiling like he always did. He turned to the guest. “Kyuhyun-ssi, it’s nice to meet you here again on Sketchbook.”

Kyuhyun bowed. “I’m very honored to be here again.” He bowed to the audience. “Hello, I’m Super Junior’s Kyuhyun.”

When they had sat down in front of the stage, the interview part of the program commenced. Yoo Hee Yeol looked up from his cue card and smiled. “So Kyuhyun-ssi, the song you just sang, Hope Is A Dream That Never Sleeps, is a big hit right now.”

Kyuhyun smiled and bowed in appreciation as the audience started another round of applause. “I’m really thankful that it’s being received so well. This is the first song that I’ve written and composed so I’m really happy that everyone seems to like it,” he stated.

“Can you tell us something about the song? What was your inspiration for it?” Yoo Hee Yeol asked.

“This song was inspired by a very special person in my life,” Kyuhyun began, smiling a bit shyly when he found Jin Ri in the audience once more. He chuckled in embarrassment.

“Yes, you announced two months ago that you were seeing someone,” Yoo Hee Yeol confirmed, glancing at his cue card. “It’s not everyday that we have idols declaring this so openly.”

“Yes,” Kyuhyun said, nodding. “I had been seeing her for six months before we decided to let everyone know.” The audience reacted in surprise.

“That was a strange move for an idol,” Yoo Hee Yeol commented nicely.

“I really didn’t want to keep our relationship a secret,” Kyuhyun elaborated. “I didn’t want to pretend to be single. Our relationship is very important to me and I didn’t want to hide it. I also didn’t want to deceive the fans.”

“Ah how wonderful,” Yoo Hee Yeol praised. “It’s quite refreshing to see that more idols are able to express their feelings more candidly.” He looked at the viewers. “Is she here?”

Kyuhyun laughed somewhat nervously. Although the fans already knew who she was and had seen clear photos of her, she had never come out on television with him and had never given any interviews, even though she was continuously contacted for one. “She’s around,” was his only answer, gaining laughter from the crowd.

Yoo Hee Yeol chuckled, knowing fully well that she was present. He had met her earlier before the show went live. “She must be very happy, knowing that you wrote this song for her,” he remarked.

“She’s done so much for me that this is the only way I know how to let her know that I appreciate everything she’s done for me,” Kyuhyun replied.

“What has she done for you?” Yoo Hee Yeol wanted to know. “What is the one thing that you can say you appreciate the most from all the things she’s done for you?”

“It’s hard to say just one thing because there’s just so much,” Kyuhyun started to say. “She’s made me realize a lot of things about my life, about what I want to do, about seeing everything in life beautifully and positively. Her being with me, I guess, is something that I’m very much thankful for. She makes me breathe.”

Jin Ri blinked. She repeated what he just said in her head. She made him breathe. After that one time that she had pulled him to go on a walk under the rain, he had made it a habit to do so whenever he wanted to think or whenever he was feeling bad about something. But in the past couple of weeks, he had stopped doing that. She lifted her eyes to him. He looked back at her. She then realized that he had stopped doing that and just came to her, just like she came to him. They made each other breathe.

“Ah to be young and to be in love,” Yoo Hee Yeol remarked. Kyuhyun smiled. “Your other hyungs must be so jealous of you for having a girlfriend.”

“They are jealous,” Kyuhyun confirmed cheekily, glancing at Eunhyuk and Sungmin, who were both narrowing their eyes at him. “My girlfriend’s very wife-like so she takes care of me really well. She cooks deliciously and they’re all hoping to have someone like her in their lives someday as well.”

“Ah yes,” Yoo Hee Yeol responded, chuckling. “You mentioned that she’s wife-like…”

Kyuhyun immediately raised his hands up to his chest and waved as he shook his head. “I was just saying that she’s really good at taking care of people,” he immediately corrected. “Please don’t misunderstand.”

“Ah yes, don’t misunderstand,” Yoo Hee Yeol repeated, smiling a little. “Do you want to say something to her? A short message for your girlfriend.”

“Jin Ri,” Kyuhyun began, looking at her. “Thank you for being with me! I know things are hard sometimes, but we’ll get through them together. I hope to live many more years with you by my side.” He grinned shyly then turned to the host, showing that he was done with his message.

“No I love you?” Yoo Hee Yeol teased.

Instead of saying the words aloud, Kyuhyun created a heart using his hands and immediately put it down afterwards, looking embarrassed. The audience cheered, while the fangirls swooned.

Yoo Hee Yeol clapped as he chuckled. “I’m afraid Kyuhyun-ssi has to leave already. Thank you so much for being here! I hope your solo does even better in the future.”

“Thank you! It’s my pleasure being here. Thank you for having me,” Kyuhyun respectfully said, standing up and giving a bow.


“Are you done thinking about me yet?” Kyuhyun’s voice seeped into her thoughts.

She blinked then rolled her eyes when she realized that he was seated right beside her instead of Sungmin and that he was talking to her. “Right, because I was thinking about you,” she responded in sarcasm.

“Of course you were,” he knowingly stated. “You always have this look when you’re thinking of me or looking at me.”

“…I do?” She gave him a surprised look.

“Yes.” He nodded, looking pleased with himself. “You do this wistful smile then your eyes become all sparkly and such.”

“My eyes sparkle?” she repeated, wrinkling her nose.

“Ya! Stop making fun of me.” He crossed his arms on his chest and pouted.

“Ah, I’ve been wondering when KidKyu would make his appearance,” she told him teasingly, playfully poking his side. “I missed KidKyu.”

Kyuhyun gave her a look, although he knew exactly what she meant. “But you love PrinceKyu,” he pointed out. “Which is why he’s always the one present.”

Jin Ri shook her head, making his eyes widen a bit. “You’ve misunderstood me,” she pronounced.

“But I remember you specifically saying that PrinceKyu—,” he started, but stopped when she touched his arm.

“It’s not PrinceKyu that I love,” she clarified. Before he could protest, she proceeded, “It’s Kyuhyun. You don’t have to put up acts around me or show just one side of yourself to me because every part of you is who you are and that’s the person I fell in love with; PrinceKyu, KidKyu, SeriousKyu, DancingKyu, yKyu, GreasyKyu, even CheesyKyu… it’s all of you.” She paused, making sure he understood what she was saying. “I love you, Kyuhyun.”

Kyuhyun gazed at his girlfriend and wondered once again how he managed to get so lucky. Jin Ri was just so understanding, so caring and so loving. He knew that she still had her reservations and yet, it seemed that she overcame all of those for him. He leaned towards her, a hand cupping her face, and kissed her.

As Kyuhyun was just getting into the kiss, which she had begun to reciprocate, a hand latched onto his arm and pulled really hard, making him fall back. Jin Ri blinked, surprised at the loss of her boyfriend’s lips on hers.

“That’s enough kissing for the day,” Eunhyuk sternly directed, his hand still on the magnae’s arm. “Or ever.”

“You better get ready for our next schedule, Kyu,” Sungmin then reminded him, chuckling.

Kyuhyun, scowling, stood up and stalked over to his clothes. “I swear, if you guys weren’t my hyungs…” he irately muttered.

“What was that?” Eunhyuk innocently asked. All he got was an icy stare from the youngest member.

Jin Ri laughed at them. Sometimes, she really wondered how they all managed to live together for six years without killing each other. There were endless teasings and tauntings and she was sure that, to a certain point, all of them had gotten into a fistfight with each other already. She smiled once more as she heard Eunhyuk continue irritating Kyuhyun.

It was then that she felt her phone vibrate in her bag. She opened her bag and fished her phone out, thinking that it was Sun Young or one of her male cousins. They always sent some encouraging message after Kyuhyun’s performances, which they watched whenever they could. But as she looked at the message that she received and the unknown number from which it came from, the smile left her face. Her expression became one of confusion.

Jinnie was a childhood nickname. Very few people had called her that. Her cousins had called her that when they were kids. But when they all grew older, they decided that Riri was what they would call her instead. Even Sun Young hadn’t called her Jinnie in a long time. There was only one person left who knew about that nickname and used to call her as such.

“Princess, you ready to go?” Jin Ri looked up at Kyuhyun. “Are you alright?” he asked when she didn’t answer.

“Yeah,” she replied, smiling as she stood up. She returned her phone in her bag and ignored the nagging feeling that she got from the text message that she had just received.

Kyuhyun looked at her for a moment then shrugged, deciding that he merely imagined her having a panicked look on her face. He nodded and smiled, interlacing their fingers together as they left the waiting room.


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Author's Notes:
1. This is one of my most favorite chapters to write so far. Pretty long. Plus, I really enjoyed the flow and cheesiness of it. Yes, I know it's cheesy once again. I hope you all don't run to the bathroom to throw up or something. LOL.
2. Please let me know what you HONESTLY think. I'm open to constructive criticism.
3. Sorry, I've updated so soon. I couldn't help myself.
4. I hope you liked this chapter.
5. The next one's going to be a bit more exciting. It's getting boring, don't you think? Things are going too well.
6. Sorry about the lack of replies. :) I love all your comments.
7. Songs listed above are Is It Love by Park Saebyul, sung by her and KRY in Music Travel LaLaLa and Hope Is A Dream that Never Sleeps by Kyuhyun. :)