Su Jin wore her casual clothes. A pair of black jeans, a blouse, and high heels. She then went to the hall where her family and some close friends were waiting. When they saw her, her mother said, “What took you so long? Where is Jaejoong?” 

“Before changing my clothes, I had chat with some of the guests… He isn’t here?” 

Her mother elbowed her and hissed, “He is now your husband. You shouldn’t call him ‘He’.”

Su Jin laughed and said, “What should I call him? Oppa?”

“I’m fine with you calling me Oppa.” 

She turned and found Jaejoong, with a plain white v-neck shirt, a cardigan, and jeans. His hair was still wet from the shower. He was good-looking in his casual clothes.

She stared at him and said, “You are here?” 

“Mmm, yes.” He looked at her, with eyes challenging hers, waiting to hear what she would say about him being cool with her calling him oppa.

She noticed what he was trying to do and turned to her parents. “I think we should go or else we will be late.” They checked their watches and nodded.

After Jaejoong bid goodbye to everyone, she went up to her parents-in-law and bowed to them. She did the same with her parents. She then hugged her friends including Jay Park and Woo Bin. Then, it was time for her brother to say goodbye. She gave him a big hug and placed her head on his shoulder, burrying her face in his neck. She was crying. She sure has travelled a lot and did not spend much time with him. But this time she felt like she was leaving forever. He tightened the hug then separate from her, wiping her tears. He kissed her cheeks and forehead, “You will always be my baby. Your tears are tearing my heart apart. Jaejoong will take care of you like I do. I am sure he will. Just be good to him.” 

She nodded.

He continued, “You know that I love you. I love you so much. Keep that in mind.”

She smiled and said, “I love you too.” 

He laughed. “Save those tears for when your and legs hurt from the plane ride. It’s an 18-hour flight.”

Everyone laughed. 

At the airport, many people recognized them and some snapped pictures. But that day, Su Jin acted normal, not like a celebrity. She didn’t sign any autographs nor stopped to take any pictures with the fans. She was only focused on her hands that were locked with Jaejoong’s. She knew it was all for show. When they sat down to wait for their flight, Jaejoong started talking to his secretary on the phone. Su Jin had hoped that he would let her hand go but he didn’t.

He was so immersed in the conversation that he was oblivious to the fact that he had put his wife’s hand on his thigh and had started playing with her fingers. He was used to keeping his hands busy and playing with her fingers was doing just that. For the passengers around them, it seemed cute. But for Su Jin, it was awkward. So she cleared to make him realize what he was doing. He was too focused on his conversation so she cleared again. He looked at her, then at his hand. He immediately let go of her hand and bowed his head. He continued talking. When he finished his phone call, the only thing he said was, “Sorry.” 

When they were taking their seats in the plane, Jaejoong took off his cardigan, keeping only the white shirt on. Su Jin was looking out of the window. Then she turned to ask her husband about the layover, “Where will the-” Before she could finish her question, her eyes landed on his chest, where something caught her eyes.

He looked at her and said, “What?” 

Her finger was reaching to touch the left side of his chest. “You have a tattoo?” His shirt was white so she could see the tattoo.

He pushed her finger away. “What was the first question?”

“Oh, I wanted to know where the layover will be.”

“Atlanta.”

“What’s written here?” She said pointing at his chest.

“None of your business.” She made a face at him and turned her face towards the window. 

“When did you have the tattoo?”

“I didn’t know you were this talkative and curious,” he said while putting his earphones on and started listening to music.

She was getting mad. All she wanted to do was make him talk and get to know him better, just as she had been advised by her brother and Junsu.

Jaejoong began to feel bad. She was only trying to start a conversation. His wife reached for her bag, took out a notebook and started to draw some accessories. Even if she had handed over her rights as a director, she wanted to help her brother. After what seemed like an hour, Jaejoong looked at what she was drawing, and said, “They look great.” 

She looked at him and blinked her eyes, “Really?” 

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Thank you, I could never have imagined that one day I would be praised by Balmain’s CEO.” 

“You still don’t see me as your husband?”

She only looked at him and continued with her designs. Then, she said, “Do you want them?” pointing at the designs.

“What?” 

“You know that I’m jobless so if you want them, I can sell them to you instead of MK.”

“Are you serious right now?” 

She then laughed so hard and said, “Of course I’m joking.” 

He smiled and went back to his music. She took one of his earphones and put it in her own ear. He looked at her humming the song. He stopped her by saying, “You have an American lifestyle.” 

“I don’t understand.” 

“Your acts don’t show that you are a Korean girl. You hug everyone. You have so much skin-ship with others.”

“I’m like that with the people who are close to my heart. And don’t forget that I spend lot of time in America and Europe.”

He nodded. “I guess I should get used to it too.” She didn’t answer him so he closed his eyes, trying to sleep. 

When they arrived at their destination, the hotel manager was waiting for them. He greeted them and escorted them to the hall, where he told them in English, “It’s an honor to have you here. Thank you for choosing our resort.”

The couple smiled and Su Jin complimented the hotel manager on how beautiful the hotel was. 

“The porters are taking care of your luggage. Dinner can be ready in a few minutes. Would you like to have it now or prefer to rest a little?”

Jaejoong turned to Su Jin. “I guess we will have dinner now. My wife was sleeping so she did not get to eat on the plane.”

The manager smiled and asked again, “Would you prefer dinner served in the room?” 

Su Jin shook her head. “The restaurant will be fine.”

Once they arrived at the restaurant, some people had recognized Su Jin and started whispering. Others were businessmen who knew Jaejoong. The dinner was fine. They ate in silence except when Su Jin said, “You speak English perfectly.”

“I think that’s the least a CEO should do.” 

When they finished eating, they went to their suite.

Their clothes were no longer in their suitcases. The hotel manager had sent some ladies to hang them up in the dressing room. So all they needed to do was take a shower then rest after the long trip.

Su Jin took out her phone and started typing texts to her brother and friends. Jaejoong went to the dressing room, picked out a change of clothes and headed for the bathroom. 

Su Jin was playing with her phone and didn’t see him walking into the room. He cleared his throat and said while drying his hair with a white towel, “You can have the bathroom.”

She took a long hot shower and put on her sleep shorts and a top. When she came out of the bathroom, she couldn’t find her husband in the room until she saw a light over the balcony door and the curtain was wavering because of the breeze. 

“Oh, you are here.” He was sitting on a chair with his feet resting on the railing of the royal balcony. He turned to look at her but didn’t say anything. He just stared. 

She sat in another chair. When she saw that he was staring, she asked “What?”

“So, that’s your face when you take off your makeup.” He didn’t want to show her how much he liked her like this. He thought she only looked good with makeup on. He just realized that she doesn’t put much on, only some lipstick and eyeliner. And what he liked most is how big her eyes were. She really didn’t need eyeliner. She looked cute.

“What’s with my face? I don’t wear much makeup unless I’m shooting pictorials.”

“Nothing. I thought that you were fooling the whole world but I guess I was wrong.”

“So you are saying that I look pretty like this?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

She laughed at what he said. He took the pack of cigarettes from the table. Su Jin didn’t see it until he touched it. 

“You smoke?”

“You didn’t know?” He raised an eyebrow. She stayed silent for some minutes and then asked, “Why do you smoke?”

“The same reason as your brother.” She nodded and wondered how stressed his life must be. She then stood up to go back to the room. “Are you sleepy?”

“No, one minute. I’m coming back.” 

She came back with a small box. It was a watch box and she gave it to him. He looked at her. She said, “Open it.”

When he opened it, he found a beautiful classy watch. He really liked it. He was fond of luxurious watches and he is sure if he had seen this watch, he would have bought it. When he was about to try it, he saw the few words engraved in the back of it: 

Kim Jaejoong

By LSJ

“LSJ. Lee Su Jin, you made it for me?”

“Just for you. I wanted to thank you for all the gifts you gave me the last couple of months.”

He patted her head and thanked her. Then both turned to gaze at the beach and enjoy the sky full of stars, until Jaejoong’s words broke the comfortable silence.

“Always keep the faith.”

“Uh, always keep the faith? I don’t get it.”

He stood up and was ready to go back into the room. “You wanted to know what the tattoo said.” 

The next morning, they woke up to the sound of Jaejoong’s phone ringing. He checked the time. The caller was no one other than Yoochun.

“Good morning.”

“Hello, you are still sleeping?”

“Yeah, I don’t remember the last time I woke up at 10 am,” he said while ruffling his hair.

“You needed some rest, Mr. Workaholic.”

“Yes. Everything okay? Minju-si is fine?”

“Yes, she is. How about Su Jin-si?”

“She just woke up too.” 

“She is next to you?”

“She went to take a shower, I guess.”

"So, you are getting along.”

“Well, not bad. We talk from time to time.”

“I have a meeting now. Talk to you later. Try to enjoy your stay and get to know her more.”