Chapter 5

The Painter
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The fishing boat rocked softly upon the peaceful waves of the ocean. The sun shines brightly from above as the seagulls sings their usual songs filling the sky with blissfulness. It’s a day filled with beauty and warmth. Not to mention the fact that the crew has caught more fishes than they had ever caught before. There was nothing but smiles upon the ship except for one particular person who looked daze. Yunho stood by the railing of the boat deep in thoughts staring out into the horizon as he let out a sigh. This was an unusual sight for the crew. Yunho was the strict and serious type and the type to never laze around. However for the last few days, Yunho has been off in a world of his own. He doesn’t have the kind of energy he usually does when it comes to fishing. Even when the crews mess up, he didn’t scold them or yell at them like he usually does. It wasn’t until Yunho let out a second sigh did the crew started to think something is seriously wrong with Yunho.

“If you keep sighing…you are only releasing all the love from within…” spoke the boss as he stood at Yunho’s side before taking out a cigarette and light it.

Upon the word Love Yunho’s face flushed red “l-love?! W-what are you talking about?”

The boss only looked at Yunho a bit taken aback by his innocent reaction. This was the first time he had seen Yunho blushed so red that even his ear has started to turn color. Could it be that someone has finally caught the hot bachelor’s attention and capture his heart? If this is true then his daughter has no hope to become Yunho’s bride.

“So who is it?”

“Who is it what?”

“The person who was finally able to open your door of love and affection…this is the first time I had ever seen you so love sick…”

Yunho clear his throat before looking away “I-it not love…”

“ohhh….don’t forget I was once young…”

“Now that’s hard to imagine…”

His boss nudged him on the side before continuing “I have experience many relationships…I have gone through countless love…the way you act…the way you sigh…and the look in your eyes…it’s reflects love…but base on your heavy sigh…you probably haven’t confessed yet am I right?”

Yunho paused as he looked at his boss like he had suddenly transformed into a love expert.

“Even if you are right…there is no hope…”

“Never say never Yunho…if you haven’t even tried to pursue it…how will you know if it’s possible or not?”

Yunho only half smile as he lower his gaze “I don’t need to pursue it…I already know it’s impossible…”

“Then should I help you make it possible? In the old days I was quite the Casanova…all the girls will flock to my side…they will get swept off their feet every time I speak…even the tough one eventually falls to my feet…” he smiled with confident

“As lovely as it sound…I’ll pass…”

They stood there for a bit before the boss spoke “You see the ocean in front of you…how many fish do you think there are?”

“How should I know…the ocean is so big and deep…there could be over a billion fishes…”

“Let’s say out of all these billion of fishes you were able to catch a rare and beautiful fish among them…scales shine brightly and reflects beautiful colors under the sunlight…will you release it back into the ocean or will you keep it…”

Yunho begin to think “well if it’s rare and beautiful and can fetch me great amount of money then of course I’ll keep it…”

“What if other people took interest in it…will you let it go?”

“Of course not…if I catch it then it belongs to me…”

The boss only smile as he continues onto the next question “what if the fish escaped and swim right back into the ocean…what will you do then?”

“I’ll probably go after it with everything I got…” Yunho paused as he begin to understand why his boss was giving him such an odd scenario

Once the boss confirms Yunho finally understood his purpose of asking these questions, a smile spread across his face.
“You have spent 25 years working for your family…you threw away everything you love…abandon your dreams and even casted away love…but now that your siblings has grown…don’t you think it’s about time to go after what you desire?”

His boss gently pats yunho on the shoulder as he walked away. Yunho stood there as he stares out into the ocean as he begins to think of what he wanted to do. He had spent most of his life doing what he think is best for his siblings but now that he starts to think about himself he isn’t sure what he should do. How should he go after the one person who his heart has chosen to love? But most importantly, will he be able to catch the one fish who desires to swim far and explore what the ocean has to offer? An image of Jaejoong flashed before his eyes with his radiant smile and right there and then, Yunho finally made a decision

Once it became dark, the fishes were loaded up and sent for storage. Everyone was dismissed as Yunho bid farewell to the crew members before getting into his car. He started up the engine and pulled away from the parking lot. The light of the sunset reflected upon his car and his skin as the cool ocean breeze danced around him from the open window. Once he reached the small apartment the little light that is left of the sun descended behind the ocean line as darkness and shadows covered the little village. He was still contemplating of what to make for dinner when he opened the door and smelled a familiar scent. The first thing that appears in his mind was Jaejoong standing there with an apron cooking another night of wonderful feast. However as he wonders further, he came to realize its none other than his sister who has already mastered the skills she learn from jaejoong and is already making dinner.

“Welcome home Oppa…dinner will be ready soon” SooMin smiled

“I thought you were going to stay at the university today with your friend to study?”

“I finished a lot quicker than I expected so I figure I’ll make dinner since you might be too tire…”

Yunho went up to SooMin and leaned on her with a smile on his face “I’m so lucky to have such a thoughtful sister…”

“Yah…you smell like fish…go take a shower…” she shoved him away as he chuckled before walking toward the bathroom.

Both HyunAe and Geonwoo are in the Livingroom as HyunAe helped him with his homework. The TV has been turn on filling the small apartment with background noise eliminating the quietness. Like Usual HyunAe will explain the problem in a way that confuses Geonwoo and she will scold him for being an idiot. Like usual, a quiet time for homework will turn into an argument between HyunAe and Geonwoo. SooMin sigh as she turn around and shouted for them to stop fighting when her eyes wondered to the TV. Something caught her attention as the bottom of the screen has a familiar name written out. It looked like a press conference is about to commence as the room is filled with reporters. She was still trying to register what she just read as Geonwoo also caught sight of it and he immediately lights up.

“Kim Jaejoong?! It’s hyung!” he shouted happily as HyunAe also stop fighting and turn her attention to the TV.

Upon Jaejoong’s name, Yunho storm out of the bathroom with nothing more than a towel wrap around his waist with his hair still dripping wet. All of them froze in place as they watch a group of people started to enter the room and their eye widen in shock as Jaejoong appear right behind an older women dressed in a expensive suit. The first thing that went thought Yunho’s mind was why Jaejoong is on TV having a press conference? There were 4 other people among the group as they stood in front of the reporters with nothing but smiles on their faces. Multiple microphones have been placed at their table as the event started. Yunho however was more interested in jaejoong. Even on TV, he looked as beautiful as ever. It has been a few days since they last saw each other and seeing him again made Yunho realize how much he missed him. He felt his heart beating really fast just looking at Jaejoong.

“Hello everyone…thanks you so much for being here on such an important day…” a man possibly in his late 40’s stood up to speaks. He glanced toward jaejoong before turning his attention back to the front with a wide smile on his face “As you all may have already know…Kim Jaejoong went on hiatus for over a few years…he has been traveling the world…gaining new knowledge, experiences and inspiration for his art work…and after so long…I’m happy to announce his return…”

This got everyone in the room talking among themselves in total shock. But no one is as surprise as Yunho was as he stood there listening to the conference. He can’t help but felt like something is clearly wrong here. For one thing Jaejoong hated to paint for people. He clearly remembers the distasteful expression Jaejoong made talking about people who only see his painting as an object for money. Jaejoong wanted to stop painting for people, he only wanted to paint for the afterlife, give the ghost a chance to treasure their memory.  So why is it that this man before the reporters is saying that jaejoong has returned? None of it made any sense to Yunho. Was Jaejoong lying to him?

Yunho looked at the expression on Jaejong’s face. Even though he was smiling, Yunho could see how tense his body is. It’s not relaxed like how he was when he was still with them. Just what exactly is going on here?

“I should have asked for Hyung’s autograph” GeonWoo spoke with admiration

“All my classmates is going to be jealous when I told them that Jaejoong actually stayed with us for about a week…” said HyunAe

“Maybe we should have taken a photo together…” said SooMin

Even though the siblings looked excited, they did not learn of the truth about Jaejoong. They did not see what Yunho saw, they did not know the kind of things jaejoong has to go through. Unlike them, Yunho couldn’t smile, he couldn’t feel excited for Jaejoong nor could he say he’s happy. How could he feel excited like everyone else when in truth, Jaejoong is probably going through hell. Just what exactly happen after leaving here a few days ago that transpire this event?

Yunho wasn’t the only one who was confused as Jaejoong is as confuse as he is. He only remembers exiting the ferry to go look for something to eat. Next thing he knew a group

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halfbloodkiss #1
Chapter 18: Now... now... who was on her right mind to read this story at night.. holy Hephaestus! I can still feel the chill feeling I’ve felt when I read some chapter last night, and not to mention that it was also raining and imagine how the wind blow inside my window and touch my skin.. Anyways, I hope I am not late discovering this story of yours, it is beyond wonderful. The plot I have no words to say.. i thanks all the fate that they let me stumble at your work.
silverysky
#2
Chapter 18: I was so amazed with your writing. The plot, storyline and the message that youre trying to deliver to the readers are so well-written. But I really hope that you will not end your story way too rush bcs everything else is already perfect but the ending seems too rushed. Btw thank you for a great masterpiece, I'm going to read your another stories!!!
hyunietoki2891
#3
Chapter 18: I really not sure if its really just me but while reading all your fic, it seems like every final chapter i feel like im watching kdrama were every last episode are so compress. Like you always ended up like HUH?? EHHH?? THATS ALL??? Something like that. From the 1st chapter upto the 2nd to the last chapter, everything was really like your watching a suspense movie but for the last chapter was like a magic, just 1 snap of finger and it's THE END.

Hope you can add more special chapter authornim like what happen during the operation & what happened after. And..... can we have another adventure between YUNJAE couple?? Please..
31_GoddessAthena_31
#4
i read this again after reading the dragon bride
Akalun
#5
Chapter 18: This is a master piece!!! cant express my love for this cause i have to go to work but this is awesome!!
blackqueenkai
#6
Chapter 18: wow i cried a lot, this is a roller coaster chapter...
im glad yunjae are together living and loving each other for the rest of their lives....thank you for this fic mua
blackqueenkai
#7
Chapter 15: omg......wow this chapter is epic
blackqueenkai
#8
Chapter 13: im not gonna lie, i almost cried reading mrs.jung and yunho coversation...i kinda relate i dont know
blackqueenkai
#9
Chapter 11: aawwwww jae had a lover??? ehem well about mrs.jung....thats a hard and harsh situation...