The next day brought Haneul to a small courtyard on the SM grounds. She had arrived at the complex at the time Siwon had told her they would be back from a photo shoot. Unfortunately, they had been delayed by a bizarre series of incidents on set, so she was shown to a courtyard to wait. Haneul set the bag of food next to a bench, sat down, pulled a book out of her purse and began to read.

    Ten minutes later she was wrenched from Jane Austen’s England by the entrance of two men with a basketball. They had entered by a door across the courtyard and appeared to not see her, since they continued their conversation without fear of being overheard.

    “You only said that Siwon turned down a reality show. Why was that so surprising?” Jung Yunho asked Kim Jaejoong.

    “Well, when I talked to Siwon about being on We Got Married a year ago, he really wanted to be on the show. He couldn’t then though because of his Skip Beat schedule,” Jaejoong said.

    “So, people change their minds all the time,” Yunho shrugged, stealing the ball from Jaejoong and taking a shot.

    “It’s more than that,” Jaejoong said, grabbing the rebound. “When I questioned him about turning down the show, he gave me the strangest answer.”

    “I said, ‘I may be a lot of things, but I’m no bigamist,” Siwon interrupted, coming into the courtyard in time to hear Jaejoong’s revelations about him. “I suppose now is the time to explain that statement. Right, ahneh?” He gestured to Haneul, who had escaped the notice of the two “Gods of the East”.

    “Whatever you think best,” Haneul replied, coming closer to the trio, holding the bags containing the kimbap, cookies, and bottles of green tea she had brought for Super Junior and a few others.

    “Hyung-deul,” Siwon said formally. “I would like you to meet my wife, Kim Haneul.” Haneul bowed deeply while Jaejoong and Yunho gaped at her and Siwon.

    “Your wife?” Yunho finally managed to utter. “How long have you been married? How did you manage to keep the engagement a secret?”

    “Why don’t you come with us?” Haneul suggested. “Siwon-ssi is going to tell s about us. I brought plenty of food. I believe EXO is coming as well?”

    “They are,” Siwon confirmed. “We need to practice something for SMTown after we eat. If you have the time, you’re welcome to join us.” The two eldest accepted eagerly and followed the couple to Super Junior’s practice room.

    As they walked down the hallway it would be hard to judge who was more nervous, Siwon or Haneul. Siwon was worried about informing s/brothers that he had been deceiving them for four months, indeed, ever since he had been informed by his father of his impending marriage.

    At least Siwon knew that the love he and his brothers had for each other would eventually lead to their forgiving his deception. Poor Haneul had no assurances of Super Junior eventually accepting her. She knew that Siwon had a girl he’d been interested in before he had heard of their wedding .She also knew that this girl was an idol as well, although she did not know with what group. Some of Super Junior might be friends with her. So far, Donghae and Eunhyuk had been friendly enough, but…. no, she stopped her thoughts there. She sent up a prayer for fortitude and followed Siwon into the large room.

    “The food’s here,” Kangin exclaimed upon seeing the bags in Hanuel’s hands. He came over and took one of the bags. He led her to a table where she could set up the food.

    “Thank you for bringing us food, miss,” Leeteuk addressed Haneul. “Are you Siwon’s new housekeeper?”

    Haneul turned and looked at Siwon. He needed to take the lead in explaining if Super Junior would ever begin to accept their relationship. She looked in vain however for Siwon merely stared at his hyung.

    Fortunately for all involved, before the pause became too awkward Chanyeol and Sehun of EXO walked in. They looked at Haneul and exclaimed, “Noona!” Chanyeol turned and shove Sehun toward the door. “Quickly, go get Tao!” Sehun ran out the door and hurried down the hallway. “He’ll be so excited to see you, noona. Don’t worry. They weren’t far behind Sehun and I.”

    A frantic Tao entered and rushed to Haneul. “Jie Jie,” he cried and pulled her into a hug. Haneul, in turn, burst into tears the moment she felt Tao’s arms around her. “You’re here! You’re here! After two months in Korea, you’re finally here!”

    Haneul laughed through her tears. Leaning back, she took Tao’s face in her hands. She gently wiped the tears off his cheeks. “Come now, Di Di,” she said. “Don’t cry. You’re an idol now. Crying will make your eyes puffy and red. You’ll ruin your kung fu panda look.” Tao smiled with a sniff and did his best to dry his eyes.

    “Oh, I missed you,” he said and hugged her again, holding on to her as if he couldn’t bear to let her go.”

    Siwon felt that this forgetfulness of her situation as his wife had gone on long enough. With two steps he was at the side of Haneul. He grabbed her arm and yanked her harshly away from Tao. “Let go of my wife,” he hissed at Tao. The Super Junior members (except of course, Donghae and Eunhyuk) gasped.

    “You don’t deserve to call her your wife!” Tao narrowed his eyes and squared off in front of Siwon. “If it wouldn’t get me kicked out of SM, I would beat some sense into you!” At this, Chanyeol and Kris moved forward in case Tao needed to be restrained.

    “Huang ZiTao!” Haneul barked in her perfectly practiced teacher voice. “Apologize right now!” She spoke in Mandarin, the language she and Tao had used growing up.

    “Don’t want to,” Tao protested. “He doesn’t deserve an apology!”

    “He is your sunbae,” Haneul went on. “And he’s my husband. That makes him your ge. Apologize!” She crossed her arms and gave Tao “the look” (the one every good teacher has in their repertoire.

    “I will never consider him my ge unless he begins treating you better,” Tao’s eyes began to fill again. “You didn’t get a wedding ceremony, Jie Jie! No dress, no flowers, not even a ring! You were taken to the government office as soon as you stepped off the plane, signed some papers and he took you back to his house. He left the house and you unpacked and then went to sleep. That was no wedding day! Only now, two months later, does he even try to introduce you to his friends. How does he do this? By having you make them food!”

    “Oh di di,” Haneul softened. “I don’t blame him and neither should you. He married me solely for the benefit of his sister. She would have had to marry my cousin, the playboy, otherwise. He’s an idol. He should be dating someone gorgeous and glamorous. Instead, he’s stuck with me, frumpy damaged goods who gets mistaken for his housekeeper. He’s not at fault. If you must be angry at anyone, be angry at my uncle.” By the end of Haneul’s speech, Tao had backed down and had moved to put his arm around her again. EXO (the Mandarin speakers at least) also moved to stand behind and around the noona who had become close to their hearts.

    Leeteuk moved towards the group. He had only understood Siwon claiming Haneul as his wife. He could tell though, that what Tao and Haneul said to each other did not cast Siwon in a good light by the glares the members of Super Junior M sent in Siwon’s direction.

    “Why don’t we all get some of that delicious looking food and sit down to talk things through,” he sent Siwon a pointed look. “It would appear that there’s a lot of information that needs to be shared.”

    The others swiftly agreed to this plan. Home cooked food was never passed up by these busy idols. After several minutes of jockeying for the last pieces of food and for seats, the group of almost thirty men and one woman sat down. Haneul sat leaning against a wall with a blue sky and clouds as a background. Siwon was on her right and Tao on her left. Both glaring at each other whenever their eyes would meet.

    Leeteuk finally cleared his throat and turned towards Siwon. “Why don’t you go ahead and introduce your guest to us?”

    Siwon shifted uncomfortably and glanced at Haneul out of the corner of his eye. She looked nervous and uncertain, as if she wondered whether Siwon would really tell them who she was to him. “Well,” he started, “this is Kim Haneul. She’s my … wife.” Haneul kept her eyes cast down, not daring to look at any of the members of Super Junior.

    “I’ll ask the question I’m sure is on Siwon hyung’s mind,” Eunhyuk said. “How do you know Tao?”

    “That’s simple,” Haneul explained. “I lived in China with Tao-Tao’s family from the age of eight until I was sent to the U.S. for school at age eighteen.”

    “That’s all well and good,” Heechul said. “But what I want to know is, when did you two get married?”

    Siwon started to get flustered again and looked to Haneul. His eyes pleaded with her to answer this question for him. She could only assume that he could not remember the date of the wedding.

    “We were married on June 5th,” Haneul stated calmly.

    Murmurs arose among the group. “Today is August 4th,” Ryeowook spoke up. “That means tomorrow you’ll have been married for two months.”

    “If you’ve been married that long,” Kyuhyun piped up. “When did you meet?”

    Siwon cleared his throat and quietly muttered, “June 5th.” The previous murmurs grew in volume as the boys’ shock grew as well.

    “That requires some more explanation,” Leeteuk said firmly.

    Siwon nodded and began talking. He explained that they were arranged and had only talked on the phone once before the day they were married. He tried to explain why he had delayed so long in telling them but eventually faded out because he didn’t really know the reason himself.

    Soon, everyone was done eating and Haneul gathered the leftovers and utensils. “I’ll take my leave now so you all can start practicing. Thank you for your warm welcome,” she said with a bow.

    “You can’t go yet, noona/ Jie Jie!” came whines from the members of EXO. Tao even went so far as to glomp onto Haneul from behind. If she wanted to leave she’d be taking a Tao barnacle with her.

    “If you stay,” Chanyeol crooned, “we’ll perform ‘Growl’ for you.”

    “Yeah, Jie Jie,” Lay added, trying a little aegyo. “We know how much you love that dance.” The other EXO boys crowded around, even Sehun tried out his aegyo, as they saw Haneul starting to waver.

    “Just stay and we’ll go home together afterward,” Siwon said. This put any of Haneul’s doubts and worries to rest and she gave in to the boys’ entreaties. Haneul moved to a corner and made herself comfortable on the floor. EXO performed “Growl”, much to her delight and then the two groups began practicing. Once they focused on their job, the men blocked out all else. They soon forgot Haneul’s existence. For a while, she had been entertained by seeing how they perfected the choreography but eventually, watching the same routine over and over became monotonous. After making sure that none of the men in either group were paying attention to her, Haneul took her book out of her purse and began reading.

    Three hours later, the men decided to take a break. Tao made a beeline to Haneul and rested his head on her legs. They talked for about five minutes and then Tao stood up and grabbed Haneul’s hand. He glanced at Siwon and told him, “I’ll be taking MY Jie Jie to the restroom.” Tao pulled Haneul out the door before Siwon could even respond. Kris nodded at Jongin who also left after grabbing his keys and wallet. Kris waited a few minutes and then walked up to Siwon.

    “I’ve been nominated to talk to you hyung,” Kris began. “Everyone seems to think I’ll be the most level headed and calm about this whole situation.”

    Siwon merely looked at Kris and nodded, encouraging him to go on.

    “We’re all really close to Haneul noona,” Kris said, holding eye contact with Siwon. “She and Tao have Facetimed two or three times a week since he started his training at SM. It got to the point where all of us began talking to her too. She was giving us all advice, sending care packages, Christmas gifts, birthday presents. She’s been our shoulder to cry on, our encouragement, our family. She’s become everyone’s big sister.” Kris paused. “Look, we all know that you probably resent marrying noona. We just want you to know that she’s had a rough life. Marrying you is probably the best thing that’s happened to her.” Kris shook his head laughing bitterly.

    “Why is that funny?” Siwon asked, a little perturbed at Kris’s monologue and superior knowledge of Haneul.

    “I’m laughing because she considers you a perfect husband,” Kris retorted, his temper almost getting the best of him. “Her bragging list consists of the facts that you don’t hit her, you don’t yell at her, and you like her cooking. Now, you and I both know that that is a pathetic excuse for a list of husbandly virtues.”

    Siwon just turned and walked away, angrily squeezing the water bottle in his hand. He knew Kris was right but his pride and resentment were still blinding him to it. He was still fighting against the choice he had made and was still blaming Haneul for the situation.