Yunho had won. He had the people’s support and good will. All that was left for him was to ceremoniously take office tomorrow.

On the night before he would be sworn-in, he and Jaejoong just lay in the bed and stared at each other lovingly.

Jaejoong tugged at his shirt so his attention would be on what she would tell him. “I still want to teach.”

“I know. It’s your dream. But how….” Yunho became sad. He didn’t understand how she could teach when she couldn’t say anything to her students.

“I want my own school. I’ve been thinking, speech therapy is so expensive, not all can afford it like me. And then you need guidance to cope with the problems. There’s also others, like not just mute but visually and audio impaired. They need a different kind of attention than regular people. I just thought, I can teach them whatever I have learned.”

Yunho kissed her lips, “my sweet Jaejoong. you have a big heart you know that.” Yunho pulled her on top him, “you’ll get your school and I’ll help you. We all will. It’s not just your dream anymore, Joongie it’s all of ours. The same way, all of you worked for my dream.”

Jaejoong sat up and straddled Yunho’s hips. Yunho bit the inside of his cheek to supress the urge of jumping Jaejoong. She looked rather enticing sitting on top of him and she knew that.

“you know?” Yunho sat up a bit on his elbows and looked at her silently telling her to continue, “I want a baby too.”

The second those words left her lips, Jaejoong found herself thrown on the bed in a flash. A raspy sound escaped her lips at the sudden action and she stared at Yunho hovering above her.

“let’s see what we get first. Your school or your baby.” If Jaejoong had learnt anything since she dated Yunho, was to never trust the man’s smirk.

She was sure if her baby inherited his father’s traits, she’d be tortured by two smirking devils.

“Is that everything?” Yunho asked  putting the last of their bags in the car. Jaejoong shook her head making Yunho frown, “did I miss something?” Jaejoong shrugged which was cue for Yunho to think harder, “did I take the charger?...no I didn’t carry it at all… the rest of the fish for Mom… but the ice-box is inside… were we supposed to bring something back?” He asks his wife.

Jaejoong had to roll her eyes. She shook her head and then pointed behind her. Yunho peeks over her shoulder and then shrieks.

“Nononono! Don’t go there!” Yunho ran over to Changmin who was fixated on a duck waddling about the stairs underneath the deck. If the child would continue to toddle behind the duck, he’d fall in the water.  “if you beat around the bush more, he would’ve fallen in the lake.” Yunho scolded his wife as he carried Changmin like he’s a rice sack and the boy is quaking for all his worth.

“you were the one who said you’d get him and then forgot.” Jaejoong retorted.

“whatever. You're driving.” Yunho threw the keys to her and went to put Changmin in his car seat. Jaejoong tapped his shoulder while Yunho was struggling with the seatbelt. Yunho moved thinking Jaejoong was going to help him strap the baby seat to the car but Jaejoong stood there staring at him. “what?”

“no backseat driving.” Jaejoong warned and then made her way to the driver’s seat. Yunho could take as long as he wanted with securing Changmin in the car.

~~~

“that’s the truth about the President and his wife. We hope this clears the air about his relationship. Any false or malicious reports about the newly-revealed first lady or their son will be on the receiving end of defamation charges. An official statement regarding the elections will be given by the president himself on a later date. That concludes this press meet.” Heechul said with a tone of finality as the rest of the family took their leave from the dais.

As they were leaving, the reporters started firing questions trying to get that much more information from the family in the middle of this of the controversy.

“will the first lady join the campaigning?”

“what happened to the woman who hurt the first lady?”

“is the mystery woman alive? In jail?”

“what about the president’s fans?”

“where did the funds for the school come from?”

“what’s your response to the charges from Choi Dongwook against you?”

“can we have a picture of the president with the first lady?”

It was only when the family was safely escorted out of the fray that Heechul now faced the audience in full diva mode. “shush you noisy lot!” Heechul yelled that had the room silent in a beat.

“Like we said earlier, information regarding the campaign or elections will be announced by the President himself. I can proudly assure you Cassiopeia is legally funded by Jung corps. About ‘that’ woman, she’s none of our business anymore. We’ll respond to Mr Choi at the right time and right place, when he refrains from maligning the president’s family. You can get your picture only when the President and his wife approve and absolutely no pictures of baby president.” Heechul said all that in one breath and moved to leave but halted just before making her escape, “about the fangirls… it’s their life but they could do better than the dork you call President.”

While they tried to get over the shock of this sharp-tongued woman calling the President of South Korea a dork, Heechul made her way to the exit.

Until one foolhardy reporter snapped out of his daze too soon, or maybe he was still dazed. So his brain wasn’t functioning optimally and he asked the wrong question.

“Kim Heechul-ssi, is it true you’re using your husband to extract secrets of the other camp?”

That ended with Hankyung pulling a yelling, kicking, cursing Heechul away from the poor reporter.   

~~~

“AHAHAHAHA! THIS IS HILARIOUS! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Yoochun laughed boisterously. There were even tears in his eyes for good measure. He slaps the armrest in laughter making the other occupants in the room cringe at the sight.

“You laugh needs more poise…” Hyori comments while moving away the vase next to Yoochun before he knocks it in his laughing fit.

“but it is funny.” Seunghyun, who’s the one controlling the TV remote agrees as he flips through the channels that were all broadcasting the press conference, or rather a certain part of it. He’s amused too, but unlike Yoochun he knows better than to guffaw loudly when Heechul is sitting right next to him.

“Only Heechul can turn all the attention from the president to herself.” Jaejin laughs surreptitiously behind her teacup. She looks at the TV screen just when Seunghyun at stopped at the channel that had a different angle of Heechul straddling the pathetic reporter and slapping him with his own notepad while Hankyung is trying to pull her away. Not to mention the choice words from her that made Seunghyun mute the volume with Changmin in the same room.

Speaking of Changmin, Jaejin chances a glance at the toddler. He’s on the carpet, slightly away from main sitting area, having a worm’s eye view of the wall-mounted flat screen. With the way he’s giggling, clapping and bouncing in his seat, Jaejin would rather he not watch a violent Heechul even on mute.

As if hearing her thoughts, Yunho comes over and picks up Changmin. “thanks for being such a good publicist Heechul.” Yunho comments while carrying Changmin to the dining room.

“I don’t regret anything.” Heechul says while blowing on her fresh manicure she got half hour ago. she broke two nails in that tussle.

“Guys, dinner is ready.” Junsu announced. She slapped Yoochun up his head to make him snap out of it, “wash your face will you. You look like you’re crying over a bad breakup.”

“better to cry laughing than to cry… crying(?)” not thinking his comeback through made Yoochun cringe but Junsu nodded her head as if telling him she gets what he’s saying.

The family feasted on the fish Yunho and Changmin had caught at the lake. It was Jaejoong’s turn to feed Changmin today, but he was being fed by Hyori instead while Yunho fed Jaejoong. her hand has healed and she can do most things but the bandages on her fingers make it difficult to hold chopsticks. After dinner, some of the men went back to watching the news, Yoochun had some files to go over, Hyori, Junsu and Jaejoong enjoyed some tea and Jaejin was playing with Changmin.

Yunho was about to get Changmin to bathe and change him before he gets too sleepy for the bathtub but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

“Can I talk to you for a second?” Yunho looked at Heechul’s serious face staring at him. He looks at Changmin doing a cute shaking dance on whatever song the toy music box is playing and Jaejin encouragingly clapping. He figures there are other people who can tend to him. he should follow Heechul knowing that it’s rare for her to show such seriousness.

With a nod, Yunho followed Heechul to his study. Yunho closed the door and leaned his back on it, crossing his arms over his chest and one leg over the other. He waited till Heechul spoke but it looked like she was trying to read him as well.

“I give up!” Heechul groans exasperatedly, “I can’t tell what you're thinking. It was so easy to calculate your thoughts that I could plan your publicity strategy but I’m losing my touch now.”

“or you're really stressed.”

“that too.”

Yunho moves away from the door and walks to Heechul. He puts his hand on her shoulder in that whole ‘I’m-grateful-to-you-my-friend’ way. “You’ve done a lot for Jaejoong and me… even sacrificed your marriage. I can’t thank you enough.”

“don’t talk about my doomed marriage.” Heechul couldn’t get rid of her frustration even if Yunho was calmly appreciating her efforts, “I told them you would make a statement about the elections later because you didn’t tell me anything. Now I want to know what you are planning so I can think ten steps ahead. Tell me Yunho, what are you going to do?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Yunho said simply.

Heechul’s face twitched in annoyance and she let out a groan. “God! I knew it! I knew you were going to throw all my work in the garbage. An entire year of event planning, sloganeering, dealing with the press, and hearing my nagging husband… all for naught. The only good thing coming out of this is I get Hannie… I mean only for me… you guys have a world a good now. but even then, can’t this have happened sooner? So I could’ve got more of my beauty sleep. But then again, if I wasn’t your publicist I wouldn’t have hired Hannie… UUURGH! I can’t tell if it’s good or bad!”

Yunho lets Heechul vent out. She deserves to let it all out anyway. While she rambles and walks around the room, Yunho slips out. He barely closes the door softly that he’s startled by another hand on his shoulder.

“God! You scared me!” Yunho tells his wife but Jaejoong was looking at the closed door curiously. Muffled sounds of Heechul’s shrill voice yelling on top of her voice could be heard through the door and the couple even cringed hearing some thudding sound. Looks like Yunho’s books faced the diva’s temper.

“has she finally lost it?” Jaejoong asks with dread.

“she’s frustrated coz I told her there has to be a grace period before she can jump Hankyung.”

“aw! Poor thing… but it’s good you told her. Hankyung shouldn’t be a rebound right?”

“Enough about them! It’s Uknow time!” Yunho lifts Jaejoong by her waist before heading to their bedroom and despite the fact he can’t hear her whiny giggles he can see her smile and feel her breath on his cheek to hear that bright laughter from his memory.     

~~~

“Just what is he planning calling me here? In private that too!” Dongwook grumbles as he looks around the restaurant’s private booth with tinted windows in one of the Jungs’ hotels. He’s wary of any suspicious things like hidden cameras or recorders in the room. “did you make sure to have the place checked?” Dongwook looks at his cousin and scowled seeing Siwon’s inattentiveness. “Hey! Earth to Siwon!”

Siwon was jolted out his reverie by Dongwook’s loud voice. “I…uh… sorry. What were you saying?”

“Where’s your mind at?” Dongwook asked instead, a little angry that Siwon is distracted while he’s on edge about this sudden meeting Yunho called.

Siwon was quiet for a long time before he looked down showing Dongwook for the first time how emotionally stressed he is. “I got a call from my attorney today… Heechul’s attorney set up a meeting to discuss things about our pre-nup…”

At that Dongwook’s face visibly softened. He reached a hand out to place it on Siwon’s shoulder, “I’m sorry man… I know you really liked her.”

Siwon chuckles bitterly, “quite late to realise my feelings for her don’t you think? At first I thought she was useful. it was a bonus she was my kind of woman, confident, self-empowered, intelligent and a fighter… I don’t know when I fell for her… I willing to make it work but I knew she’d never be happy with me. I just knew I’m not her one…”

“I think it’s the fact you told her to leave her family for you. Really douche-y of you man.” Dongwook tried to joke to make the mood lighter and it worked because Siwon chuckled a little, “yeah, true but at least I learnt a few things for my next four marriages.”

“Dude four!? You're not getting a second one till I have my first marriage. I’m elder to you after all! Thanks to Jung I can no longer go with the single handsome president image.”

“but as it turns out he wasn’t really single.”

“yeah, but he cashed in on it didn’t he. It’s been two weeks since the news of his marriage was out but his supporters don’t dwindle. And his fangirl strength is no joke despite that. I want to be president, not an idol.” Dongwook even shudders dramatically at the thought of those wild crazy fans every time Yunho would step out. Yunho had fans from a long time ago but it wasn’t on such a big scale when the two were still students.

“that’s what you think but a young president is nothing less than an idol to them.” the two men look at the door where their host is standing for god knows how long. Yunho only smiles at them as he walks to the table one foot moving awkwardly thanks to a human koala dressed in Hamtaro sweats clinging to his leg.

Despite the rather amusing sight, the other two men revert to their natural persona before their rival. Yunho keeps to his authoritative aura too as he looks at Siwon in an unspoken yet obvious emphasis on the word ‘alone’.

“Siwon, can I talk to you for a second?” Yunho doesn’t even turn around as the voice comes from behind him. Dongwook doesn’t flinch from his staring battle but Siwon appears to be in a dilemma.

He can’t decide whether he should stay here with Dongwook or follow Heechul. A part of him doesn’t want Dongwook’s anger and rivalry to get the better of him in his absence and another part of him wants to spend some time with Heechul for who knows if she’ll want to at least remain friends with him after the divorce.

“you can go.” Siwon turns to looks at Dongwook unsurely. He knows his cousin better than anybody and if Yunho has some ploy calling them here, he doesn’t want the ill-tempered Dongwook to cause more trouble. “I’ll be fine. Trust me.” Dongwook assures with an amused expression because he knows what Siwon is thinking. “Just go.”

Without a word, Siwon leaves not before giving Yunho a challenging glare as he walked past him. it went disregarded of course but Siwon didn’t flinch when he was caught off guard by a tiny squeak of “Bye-Bye hanshum ‘jhussi”.

Siwon stepped out of the room and Heechul made sure to close it before walking down the empty corridor leading to the main restaurant. Siwon followed wordlessly.

“want to check out the bar?” Heechul’s sentence made Siwon sputter, “it’s 10 in the morning!”

Heechul turned to him and cocked an eyebrow as if saying ‘so what?’ but then she broke into a fit of chuckles, “relax. I was just kidding. The press would have a field day if they saw us together. I don’t know about you but that’s a headache I don’t want.”

Siwon agreed with a small smile. “Is there a quiet place around here?”

“well the inside restaurant is quite empty. Most people like to have the breakfast in the garden restaurant.” Heechul led them to the ambient restaurant just a few steps away from the private dining rooms.

There were two tables occupied by a few people who probably didn’t get any tables in the terrace garden. It wasn’t a big deal since they looked like some businesspeople absorbed in discussing their work. Siwon and Heechul took the table in the corner and ordered a coffee for each of them. after the waiter placed their order on the table and left, Heechul spoke, “I take it you heard from my attorney…”

“Hmm…” Siwon nods solemnly, “what’s really there to discuss? We had a prenup.”

“my parents had kept some property aside to pass on to our children… and we don’t have children.”

“so keep it? It’s your parents’ money.”

“And that big- house we both have on our names?”

“Can’t we just sell it and divide the money? I don’t think I live there again. I already checked out this apartment in Gangnam.”

“Siwon, are you trying to put of this meeting?” Heechul received silence in response that made her scowl, “you're not serious are you? After putting up with that dead-end therapy, now you decide to not see things through?”

“it’s just…” Siwon began but let out a sound of frustration, “I don’t really know anymore. I really like you but you don’t feel the same. So I want to- trust me, I’m trying really hard- to let you go. If it’s over, then it’s over. I don’t want stupid divorce hearings to remind of that fact.”

Heechul was a little stupefied at Siwon’s outburst… or was it a confession. Now she felt bad if not guilty but as he said, she’d never feel the same way about him. hesitantly, she placed her hand on his over the table. “I’m sorry… I forgot how hard this is for you…” Siwon gave her an expression which said he’s okay, “I have a suggestion. Let’s forget all the legal stuff. We can just sign the papers and divide everything equally like you said.”

“you seem eager to get it over with…” Siwon said bitterly.

“No! I didn’t mean it that way!” Heechul said quickly. This is the first time she’s trying genuinely hard not to hurt someone’s feelings. She never cares usually. “I just don’t want a bitter divorce drama to ruin things between us. While I don’t see you as a life partner, I definitely think we’d be good friends.”

That had Siwon stunned for a bit. He could only dream about that. But he couldn’t ignore their political rivalry which could come in the way of their relationship. If that could break their marriage, then a new friendship wouldn’t last. “I… I’m not sure it is possible especially since our families are each other’s opponents.”

To Siwon’s surprise, Heechul waves it off nonchalantly, “Oh don’t worry. Once the president comes to power, we don’t have to worry about taking sides anymore.”

Now Heechul’s ambiguity has Siwon wonder what’s going on with Yunho and Dongwook in the other room.

~~~

Dongwook would’ve commented how domestic he and Yunho, and even the little Hamtaro seem.

Yunho hadn’t said anything since Siwon left, well at least not to him. Yunho had been whispering in an awfully cuddly voice to get the toddler to let go of his leg. When he doesn’t succeed, he drags his feet to the food cart near the window and gets some bagels and toast from it.

Dongwook reckons the child must love eating because he let go of Yunho when he was one step away fr