They turn to look at another woman, slightly older but very cute and sporting a huge belly. And her reference to her ‘husband’ has Yunho’s eyes bulging out of the sockets. The last he heard, Dr Shim’s wife was still a month along. This woman looks like she’s five months pregnant with triplets (judging by the unnatural shape).

She had a radiant smile as she walked to them. “Are you breaking into Dr Shim Changmin’s office Kangho?” she asked Kangin.

“My name’s Kangin.”

“I don’t care.” And that woman even giggled while saying it. “Now don’t be such a naughty boy and go to your class.” She made shooing motions to Kangin and to the other two’s amazement, Kangin walked away confused. This bright, pink and unicorn-ish aura appears to rob normal people their ability to think.

“Thank you…” Jaejoong says softly, stepping away from Yunho once Kangin is gone.

“Is this your friend Joongie?” Dr Shim’s wife speaks informally which surprises Yunho.

“What are you wearing?” Jaejoong retorts with her question and pokes the disfigured belly under that long top.

“I’m practicing.” The older woman unceremoniously lifted her top and Yunho slapped a hand on his eyes.

“Take that off!” Jaejoong shrieked and undid the two belts holding the balled up teddy bear. “And this is mine.” Jaejoong hugs the white bear with a pout.

“All the pillows are so square.” That woman whines and swats her hand on Yunho’s face. “Open your eyes now.” And Yunho does. “Joongie, who is he? He looks nice.”

Jaejoong rolls her eyes at this woman’s tendency to call every tall male ‘nice’. “Su, meet Yunho. Yunho, this is my cousin, Shim Junsu.” Yunho blinks.

So the one Jaejoong likes is married to her cousin who raised her. Yunho mentally calls her ‘stupid’ and he must have telepathy because Jaejoong glares at him as if she heard it.

“You're Yunho? Jung Yunho?” Junsu asks and Yunho slowly nods, a little surprised at the woman’s high pitched voice. “AH! I can’t believe I’m finally meeting you. You know my husband talks about you so much, it’s like he’s your husband more than mine.”

“Err… sorry… I guess?” Yunho says, unsure of what to do with that piece of information.

“Nah! It’s okay. It’s rare for Min to take a liking to students. He sees them more as their torture victims.”

“Can’t argue that.” Yunho agrees wholeheartedly.

Junsu calls Jaejoong closer to whisper something. Yunho thinks both cousins have the habit of whispering conspicuously around him to annoy him. “He’s so nice, I would never worry about you if you date him.” Jaejoong stepped away from her cousin befuddled. She wasn’t expecting that and wants to either run away or send Junsu away. Either way, away from Junsu. “Okay! Enough chitchat!” Jaejoong breaks the conversation. “You shouldn’t be standing so much. Go to your husband. You know the way.” Jaejoong makes the same shooing motions Junsu did earlier and Yunho is now sure they are cut from the same cloth.

“Fine, but we’re having lunch later together. I’m going~” Junsu sings as she waves at the two. “Come over sometimes Yunhooo~!” Junsu said cheerily as she skipped down the hall.

Yunho waved awkwardly. Shim Junsu is unlike any woman he’s ever met, and unlike any partner one would think matches Shim Changmin and unlike any person one would think is related to Kim Jaejoong.

“Congratulations… you're the 1548th person she likes.” Jaejoong deadpans and walks away with her many things – bag, books and teddy bear.

Yunho feels Jaejoong’s touchier than usual. And her ice queen mode is on. Whatever brought it on, it’s making him curious and he decides to take a rain-check on studying Adler’s psychodynamic school.

“Why are you following me?” Jaejoong grumbles without looking at the male beside her. She’s grateful that she has her teddy friend right now, no matter how absurd it looks.

“I’m your bodyguard. What if Kangin tries something again?” Yunho answers. He’s just walking wherever she is and since they’re heading out of the department, Yunho knows Jaejoong has no intention of joining Junsu and Changmin for lunch.

“Find another body to guard. This is giving people the wrong impression.”

“If these people were as smart as us, they’d have the right impression. Thank god they aren’t.”

Yunho and Jaejoong kept bantering back and forth with Jaejoong even using her teddy as a weapon. The two were unaware of their peers watching the uncharacteristic behaviour of the two smartest, gorgeous and yet aloof students and murmuring amongst themselves.

Besides the students, there were two older people watching them too.

“Aw! She’s going to skip our lunch date again… but they’re cute together so I’ll let it pass.” Junsu is bouncing on her heels excitedly in front of the window while she observes Jaejoong strangling Yunho for getting mud on her teddy.  

Changmin comes up behind her and rests his chin on her shoulder. “She’s grown up now. You can’t force her to cling to you anymore. Which reminds me, stop breaking into her apartment. You can’t steal her things and expect her to have dinner with us when she comes to take them.”

“It’s not stealing. I gave her that teddy.” Junsu huffs.

“You’re missing the point there honey…” A normal husband would be exhausted but Changmin loves his wife’s extra-terrestrial logic. If she was normal, Changmin would’ve never loved her in the first place.

“This Yunho… does Joongie like him?” Junsu asks.

“They rarely interacted until recently.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“It does. I’m telling you they’ve not interacted together enough to see how they feel about each other.”  

“So they’re not dating?”

“Wouldn’t Joongie tell you first if she got a boyfriend?”

“Good point.” Junsu nods her head cutely. She leans closer to the window, looking wistfully at Jaejoong leaving after forcing Yunho to go back to whatever work he had. “I don’t like Joongie’s perpetual serious face. I hope they get together soon and Joongie smiles more.”

Changmin sighed internally. “You and me, both.”

~~~

Yunho had never known what a muddled brain is until today. Only his sister could do that to him.

“The dance has many chaperones. Seohyun’s mom can drive me back. So you spend your Christmas with Jaejoong-ssi.”

Like hell he will. The not letting Jihye alone in the night part. He doesn’t mean the Jaejoong part.

“Put this higher.” Yunho walked around the students on the stools putting up a banner for the Christmas party between two pillars.

He doesn’t even want to consider being in the midst of crazy classmates who are even crazier with alcohol. And the party’s in the giant auditorium of the university which means more crazy people from the other departments. He’d rather ensure his sister’s safety driving her to her high school party.

Why would he spend it with Jaejoong? It’s ridiculous for Jihye to even suggest that. He doesn’t think either would spend friendly time with their rival.

Speaking of whom…

“Su’s upset you don’t come home anymore…” Yunho heard Changmin say. He’s noticed that those two always choose such secluded locations like this corner staircase. It makes sense. Everyone thinks they’re just mentor and star student, unaware that they’ve known each other since they were children. 

“That’s not my home.”

“That’s not what you said when you spent hours in my room reading.”

Yunho never understood the extent of the relationship between Jaejoong, Changmin and Junsu, but Jaejoong appears closer to Changmin than to her own cousin. Somehow he found it disturbing.

“Anyhow, she wants you to stay over a few days for Christmas. I promise I’ll take the burden of the mood swings.” Changmin offers with a smile so gentle Yunho’s only seen him give Jaejoong.

Jaejoong though had her blank face on. “I have plans for Christmas.”

“Are you avoiding me?”

“It’s not about you…” Jaejoong sighs. “It’s not about Su either. I… have some other problems.”

“I can help.”

“It will be useless if you or someone else comes in between.”

“Nonetheless, I at least want to know what’s in your heart.” Changmin again pats Jaejoong on the head. After seeing the scene so many times, only today does Yunho feel he’s invading their privacy. “I know you don’t want to tell Su. So I’ll call you later and you're telling me everything.” The last bit had a slight stern undertone to it. Nevertheless, Changmin leans forward and plants a soft peck on Jaejoong’s head which made her blush rise on her cheeks.

Jaejoong mutely nods and Yunho sees the blush on the pale face even from the distance and he finds it’s quite becoming of her. At that moment, Yunho’s brain plays the earlier instances where he saw Jaejoong and Changmin.  With the older man, Yunho has seen her cry, weary, and even be a besotted schoolgirl. And Yunho realises, Jaejoong only allows her honest feelings show in front of this man she’s known all her life. It’s exclusive to Shim Changmin.

For that Yunho thinks Changmin is cruel and Jaejoong’s an even bigger idiot.

He’s so lost in thought, he doesn’t realise they’re conversation is over and Changmin’s walking up the stairs at the top of which Yunho’s standing dumbly.

“Hi…” Yunho flinched with Changmin’s greeting, as if he was woken from his daydreaming. Changmin simply smiled, not as gently as he does with Jaejoong nor his everyday I’m-going-to-eat-you-alive smile. It’s a regular smile, like this man’s actually normal. “Take care of her please…” he whispers when he’s shoulder to shoulder with Yunho and then continues his journey to the second floor.

Yunho slowly turns to his face to Jaejoong who’s looking up at him. Her cheeks are still rosy and she’s not wearing her ice queen mask.

“You saw…” Jaejoong simply stated when Yunho came two steps down.

“Like usual.” Yunho uses his dead tone, the one he uses to pass condescending taunts without the knowledge of the opposite party.

“You still don’t see it yet do you… why he can’t help.”

“What I see is you pretending to have brains when you're just another gullible idiot that allows herself to be stringed along by that man.”

“I told you before and you heard it now too. It’s nothing to do with him….but who am I talking to…” Jaejoong scoffed. “You don’t understand. You're still blind.” Jaejoong walked to the same stairs Yunho came from, “You claim you can see right through people but that’s the problem…you don’t look. Think about it Yunho. Other people’s help won’t matter unless you do it yourself.”

Yunho heard the clanking of heels fade away as the last line she said repeated in his head like a broken record.   

“Other people’s help won’t matter unless you do it yourself.”

“It will be useless if you or someone else comes in between.”

  Yunho harshly turned around to see Jaejoong but she wasn’t there. “Were you talking about me?”

Yunho forgot about the seminar he was heading to as he ran in the direction Jaejoong went. He doesn’t even know where she went, but it’s the second floor. She could be in the library as usual. If not, he’ll check the rooftop later.

Yunho enters the library and finds her usual booth empty. He walks through the rows of shelves hoping she’ll be somewhere among them.

“So you asked Yunho?” said person halts hearing his name from the other side of the bookshelf. Out of curiosity, he peeks through the gap between a few books and sees Jessica on the other side with four other girls who Yunho doesn’t recognise.

Jessica flips her hair and scoffs. “That nerd… he had the nerve to reject me.” Jessica doesn’t elaborate his style of rejection though.

One girl gasps. “He actually did that?”

“I know right!” Jessica supplies. “Who does he think he is? He’s such world class jerk, nobody even wants to talk to him. He should be grateful that I even asked him out. ME!” Jessica emphasised.

“Oh who knows… you might’ve dodged a bullet there Jess.” One girl snickered as she whispered conspiratorially. “He might be smaller in some areas.” And the girls snickered. Yunho briefly looked at his crotch. While he doesn’t really have a reference, he doesn’t think it’s small either.

“He might be impotent for all I care. That guy is such a loser no one likes him.” Jessica says like she’s tired and Yunho rolls his eyes at her lack of creativity describing him. She’s just as immature as Yunho pegged her to be.

“Oh that’s not true~!” one girl sings. “He is liked, by that weirdo Shim.”

“Oh~ why are all the hot men gay or weird?” one girl feigned tears.

“You forget married.”

“Married is hardly a problem.”

“I wonder if Yunho is really that smart as he claims to be.” Yunho frowned furiously at that. No one, least of all these silly girls questions his intelligence. They’d at least have to be at par with Jaejoong to come at him.

“So true! The way Shim is all ‘Yunho this and Yunho that’, it looks way to creepy.”

“And that Jaejoong too. She’s treats him like a friend or something. It’s so suspicious.”

“I’ve heard, since he joined SU he’s never had favourites and he’s all over these two since they stepped on the campus. I heard he’s even pulled some strings so they can get early doctorates just like him.”

Jessica nods thoughtfully like she’s a seasoned psychologist. “”I’m sure that Shim has some ulterior motives with those two.”

“for you to guess my motives…” The startled girls and even Yunho gasp seeing the tall figure casually standing at the end of the bookshelf with a lazy smile. “You're a hundred years too early Jung Jessica.”

The girls were sweating bullets as Dr Shim takes slow agonising steps towards them and he’s enjoying the fear in their faces. Yunho remains hidden, actual finding it admirable that Changmin can make a group of girls freeze in fear and tremble at the same time.

He looks at each girl standing around Jessica. “Aren’t you the girls who have to take Professor Yoon’s remedial classes?” the girls didn’t think twice about ditching Jessica and scramming out of there. Sitting in the boring extra classes is better than staying in the terrifying presence of a man with unique punishments.

Dr Shim gives his dooming smile to Jessica as he pulls a piece of paper from inside his leather coat. If anybody thinks the Head dres