‘What on earth is that?’ I asked myself. The clangs and bangs of metal echoed in my head like a church bell.

“Wha! Omo!!!”

Yoochun’s deafening scream added to it all. ‘Shutupshutupshutup. For the love of God, please shut up.’ I tossed and turned under the sheets, trying to find a spot where I wouldn’t hear the cacophony of pans and screams. Pissed and sleep-deprived, I eventually had to throw my sheets and swing my legs off the bed. “I’m giving him a piece of my mind…” I mumbled as I stomped my way to the door. I knew very well that my hair was a mess. I ignored the fact that all I had on was a black tank top and boyshorts. This meant war. I had my words and my voice as weapons so that meant I did not need clothes. I went down the stairs and stormed into the kitchen.

“SHUT THE HELL UP, MICKY!”

I yelled at him causing one pan to drop on the tiled floor, spinning before it laid flat. Yoochun had this constipated look on his face. And by that I knew he was trying to suppress his laughter. “What?” I raked my hair away from my face. I felt gazes fixate on me. Eyes that burned my skin were now roaming my body from head to toe…

Oh dear God.

I whipped around and saw the rest of ‘The Guys’ gathered around the counter. “Sorry for the noise.” Junsu apologized with an uneasy smile. Shoot me. Somebody please just shoot me dead. “Hey guys…” I greeted back. I tried to sound as casual and calm as I could… but obviously failed.

“Hey to you too, Sunmi-sshi.”

An unfamiliar voice called. “Changmin?” I asked in disbelief. Seeing Shim Changmin made me think (and wish!) I was in a dream. Was this the same lanky, geek-to-the-core Changmin I once knew? Who was this I’m-taking-over-my-father’s-company-when-I’m-twenty-five, unbelievably gorgeous man before me? “Hi.” Changmin raised one hand. “Have a seat, Sunmi.” He offered me the barstool next to him. I sat down and smiled uneasily at him.

“Good morning, y.” Jaejoong startled me. He laid down a plate on the marble counter. It had the best looking eggs and bacon I have ever seen in my life. “Good morning… uhmm… Hottie?” I tried to follow on the joke. He released a small a laugh before joining me on the opposite side of the counter. He threw his arm over my shoulder making a strap of my tank top slide off. I ignored it… I relished the feeling of his warm skin against mine. “That’s my girl…” He pinched my cheek. “Hey, hey, hey! Hands off the lady, hyung.” Yoochun waved a fork in the air. “She doesn’t mind. Do you, Sunmi?” Jaejoong turned to me; our faces were only a centimeter away from touching.

“So…” The sound of paper slapping against the marble interrupted our little ‘moment’. Yunho leaned with his hands gripping on the edge of the counter. “What are we up to today?” he asked. He shot me a dirty look.

What was the about? He threw me the same death glare when Jaejoong was ‘advancing’ on me yesterday. Oh, I see… Does Yunho like Jaejoong? God, I knew it. Hot guys had to be gay as punishment for needy women. Was he mad at me for stealing away his ever-so-precious, hotter-than-hell, oh-baby-give-me-more, super able Jaejoong? Ha! Me and my stupid assumptions. (But it’s a possibility!)

“I just wanna hang out with you guys.” I suggested. “Great! Well then, I’ll be your personal driver for today, Miss Park.” Jaejoong took my hand and kissed it. I blushed. Oh, I wish it wasn’t too obvious. “I’ll take care of you.” He lifted the fallen strap back on my shoulder and smiled suggestively at me.

“!”

Everyone shot their gazes at Yunho who had just muttered the curse. Wow. He’s really mad. He returned our gazes apologetically. “I—I forgot something in the car.” He obviously lied and sped out of the kitchen to the front door. I have never seen him so angry in my life. He looked a bit uneasy though.

Oh well… that just ruined my Yunho is Gay Theory.

The Guys looked at each other then at me. A chuckle awkwardly tried to ease the atmosphere followed by my brother’s voice. “That’s nothing. Yunho hyung, he’s—uhmm—not really a morning person.” Yoochun said, hesitating before taking another spoonful into his mouth. Junsu spun in his seat to avoid my gaze. Changmin mirrored his movements. Jaejoong took his arm back and returned to the stove. He winked at me over his shoulder. I smiled in reply.

Something…

Something just isn’t right.

~*~*~

I came out of the shower and took clothes out of the closet. I thanked myself for fully unpacking last night. I bet Yoochun was too lazy to unpack and decided to turn his suitcases into a closet and a hamper. I got dressed into a plain white shirt that hugged my torso just right and a pair of dark washed jeans. It was summer. I wanted to feel comfortable under the Korean sun. I pulled my dog tags out of a drawer and wore it around my neck. After a few pats of foundation, a bit of eyeliner and mascara and a swipe of lipgloss, I made my way out of the room.

“Shut up! You don’t know , Jaejoong!”

Voices came from the living room. Out of reflex, I crouched down and held on to the banister. All I could see were The Guys from the neck down because of the ceiling. I figured out who was who by what they were wearing.

“For the first time in your life, Yunho, I actually beat you at something…”

I continued to listen even though I shouldn’t be. I could feel the heat of the argument from where I was…

“You’d stop right now if you don’t want to get hurt.”
“Typical Jung Yunho. Go ahead… hit me.”
“Yunho hyung--”
“Be quiet, Changmin. You’re not a part of this.”
“You think you can have things go the way you want them to. I won’t give her up because of a punch, Yunho.”
“I see… I see. Do you want her all that much?! Fine. Every time she shows up the whole ing world becomes a ing mess. And I’m sick of it. Ruin this friendship… it doesn’t mean anything to me anymore. Do whatever the hell you want. her, marry her… anything! I don’t’ give a damn. She’s all yours, Jaejoong.”
“Please… don’t talk about my sister that way…”

My heart sank into my stomach. I closed my eyes and opened them again with the hope of waking up from this nightmare.

What was going on?

“She—she might come down. Let’s not-- ”
“That’s better! Let her hear this! Let her know what a goddamn mess she’s made! Look at this! Just look at this!”

I got up and sped down the stairs making sure I caught their attention. I stomped on each step even though it killed my feet to do so. I deafened any further voices. I couldn’t take it anymore. This isn’t happening. I smiled at them, pretending I didn’t hear a thing.

As if they had a switch in their brains, they all put on a casual smile. If they were also pretending, I could never tell. “Ready to go, Sunmi?” Jaejoong asked. I grinned back and nodded. Who are you? Who the hell are you? He took my hand, walked with me to the door and out of the house.

In front of us were three cars parked along the driveway. He took me to a red Ford F150. I looked back and saw the others follow. Junsu and Changmin boarded a gray Mazda while Yunho and Yoochun got into a black Audi. Upon getting in the pick-up, Jaejoong immediately started the ignition. I wore my seatbelt as an excuse not to look at him. I couldn’t let him see me through…

“Nice—nice car.” I tried to sound casual. “Thanks.” He smiled. He looked as if nothing had happened. We sped away in no time. I could see the other two cars following behind us. “Where was Changmin the other day?” I wanted to start a conversation. It was the least I could do not to blow my cover. “He was at the university. He just had to get a few papers. I can’t believe he’s not a student anymore. Wow. Time really flies.” He told me. “Does that mean he’s not living with his parents anymore?” Awesome. This was going kind of well… “He lives with me.”

Holy crap.

That snapped me back to reality right there! ‘He lives with me.’??? Are you kidding me? “He… lives with you??” I asked in disbelief. Stupid mood swings. First I’m shocked, then I’m angry, then I’m imagining stuff I know would surely earn me a ticket to hell. “Yeah. We had to be house boys at the Shims’ just so he could move in. He says he couldn’t take his parents’ nagging anymore… but I think it was because he wanted to be near the place he had the most fun in.” House boys?? Damn it. Why am I having flashbacks of episodes of Desperate Housewives? A long suppressed laugh escaped my lips. “What’s so funny?” Jaejoong joined me. “Nothing, nothing. ” I lied. “Oh I see. Yes, Sunmi. I live with a man. There’s nothing wrong with that. I love Chngmin. We sleep on the same bed, we cuddle when it’s cold, we even take showers together sometimes.” He joked. “AH! Stop it!” I tried to hit his arm. I covered my face to hide my blushing face. “You’re imagining it, aren’t you? Aish, Sunmi. Hold on to your innocence!” he continued. “Oppa!!!” I whined.

“Omo. Did you just call me oppa?” Jaejoong looked at me curiously. “I did?” I made a gap between my fingers to see him more clearly. “It sounded so good. Do it again!” he jested.

This went on for fifteen more minutes. And within that span of time, I couldn’t help but slowly forgive him for ruining my day. Actually… I had no right to get mad at him. He didn’t say anything to hurt me… Yunho did. That wasn’t the only reason. It was that voice of his… those damn lips… those damn arms… that damn smile.

As I was admiring him, my phone rang.

‘Spider-pig, Spider-pig. Does whatever a Spider-pig does. Can he swing from a web? No he can’t. He’s a pig. Look oouuut… here is the Spider-piiigg.’

That’s it. I’m changing my ringtone. “Sorry.” I bit my lip as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I had to take this call. It was, after all, from my unofficial sister: Mitch Lee.

“Hey.” I greeted. Mitch screamed making me jerk away from the phone. “Easy, Mitch…” I tried to calm her. “I miss you so damn much, Sunny Sunshine!” she continued. God. I hated that pet name. “Don’t’ call me that, Mitchie. It’s like… 10am here.” I responded in English. I couldn’t let Jaejoong understand this conversation. “Okay. I’m sorry. So… How are you?” she asked. “I’m great. Really great.” I answered.

“There are a ton of hot dudes, huh?”
“You can say that…”
“Ohmygod! You’ve already got a hot dude, don’t you?!”
“No!”
“Liar…”
“I don’t have him… yet. I just—”
”You go, Sunmi! Get me one too!”
“Mitch!”
”I’ll stop. I’ll stop. Why are you speaking in English? I’m Korean too, you know!”
”I can’t let him understand me…”
“He’s nearby??”
”Yeah. Super nearby. And it’s THE him.”
”Kim-Jaejoong-the-love-of-your-life him?”
”Unfortunately, yes…”
”Omigod!!! It’s about time you got it on! Man, how long has it been? Forever? You’d better score this time!”
”I can’t.”
”And why not? C’mon! You can’t abstain that long? Plus, he’s hot! I highly doubt your ability to hold it in that long.”
”Mitch. Stop it.”
”But I’m right!”
”I hate it when you’re right.”
”That’s my baby. Hey. Talk to you soon, ‘kay? Love you!”
”Love you too! Bye!”

I ended the call. Damn Mitch Lee. She knew too much. Before I left for Korea, she made me swear it on us that I’d get ‘real action’. By that she meant a nonual/nonphysical relationship with a Korean Hot Dude. She knew about Jaejoong and my feelings for him. She knew everything about all my past relationships. She knew the exact details of my first kiss to my first ‘time’. Heck, she even knew how— “A friend?” Jaejoong asked. I snapped back to reality. “Uhmm, yeah. She misses me too much.” I replied. If only Mitch was here to see what a sight Jaejoong was. His hair seemed to glow in the sun, his toned arms were flexed as he held the steering wheel and his lips made me wish I was a Chapstick just so I could feel them. “You know what… I haven’t heard from you for four years. What have you been up to?” he asked.

Well Kim Jaejoong… I thought about you every single day, I dated lying, cheating bastards who looked less than half as good as you, I danced my off at everyday at the Jazz Club to get my mind off you and for four damn years of doing just that, I still couldn’t forget about you.

“Nothing.” I answered his question. “Really now? Come on. It’s a long ride.” He insisted.

Here we go.

::: 30 minutes later :::

“I swear to God! I really danced ALONE in front of a whole entire auditorium! IMPROMPTU!” I announced. “I know…” Jaejoong said. I looked at him quizzically. “Yoochun filmed you and sent me a copy.” He said. “HE DID?!” I asked in disbelief.

“So… do you have a boyfriend?”

‘You’re my boyfriend. You’re just not aware of it.’ I wanted to say. I answered him with a great big NO. he smiled as if the cure for cancer has just been discovered. “Well then… are you looking for one?” he asked. “’Cause if you are,” he turned to me with a suggestive smile on his face. “I’m just here.” He winked.

Dearest God….

I owe you my life… <!--Chapter end-->