Australia Day = Jaejoong’s birthday

Today is Australia Day, the day to celebrate the arrival of the first fleet, but something was even more important to me. The birthday of my forma next-door neighbour. Jaejoong Kim.

He and his parents had migrated here from Korea when Jaejoong was four. I was only one at the time, so I have been with him for most of my life.

When I was three, I was quite attached to six-year-old Jaejoong. He was the older brother I never had. He would play with me, feed me and sometimes carry me, which scared both our parents. But I only laughed, excited to have a companion to play with.

Our houses were both double story and had a balcony, which faced each other, and when I was eight, I was quite stubborn. This caused fights in my house and when I got angry, I climbed over the balcony railing and jump over. The first time I tried, I almost dislocated my shoulder, but it didn’t stop me, even after he lectured me. So Jaejoong left an old mattress for me to jump onto safety.

When I was ten, Jaejoong was about to attend high school, I cried and held onto his body and told him I didn’t want him to leave me alone in primary school. He gave me a hug and a kiss on the forehead and told me that we would always be close and to make sure it happened, every Friday night we would talk at eight.

It wasn’t until I was thirteen, I realised I had developed a crush on Jaejoong. I found myself mesmerized by his smile and his eyes. But on that Friday, Jaejoong told me he had gotten his first girlfriend. I was crushed; I told him that I had a sudden stomachache and I would talk to him next week. I quickly closed my blinds and cried myself to sleep that night. The next morning I told myself that my crush would have to go away, because he would only ever see me as a little sister.

At fourteen, I was still convincing myself that I didn’t like Jaejoong. He had broken up with his first girl friend, to my subconscious delight. But he managed to get a new one quite quickly.

At fifteen, Jaejoong was finally at his last year of high school and would be a uni student the year after, only making him that much more unobtainable for me. Jaejoong was ever so popular with the ladies; he was up to his ninth girlfriend. (I was keeping count.)

Trying for the second year in a row to forget him, I had convinced myself that the only reason I like Jaejoong was because he was the only male around my age I was talking too. So I got myself a boyfriend to try and see if that would work. To my surprise there was a cute guy in my called who had a crush on me, when he confessed I said yes right away.

That night Jaejoong and his parents came over to our house for dinner and I told him the news of me finally getting a boyfriend. I didn’t know what I expected him to say. Maybe I wanted him to be jealous, but I was being naïve. When I told him, he only patted me on the head and told me congratulations, with a smile. When they left I cried myself to sleep again. My boyfriend broke up with me a month later, he realised I didn’t love him.

Once I was sixteen, Jaejoong was finally a uni student. He was accepted into a great business college, which was only about a thirty-minute drive, so he didn’t move out of home. But that year, he began to miss our weekly talks; I’d sit by the balcony door glancing over to see if he was home yet, but he was always late. Sometimes, I would sit and wait until midnight, but he didn’t come home.

And now two years later, I had graduated from high school, dated five different boys. And was still only in love with one man. Jaejoong had moved out the previous year, to an apartment next to his university. I had also gotten accepted to the same university Jaejoong was attending. It was the best university in the country, so I couldn’t refuse the offer because of him.

I stood on the balcony over the looking the preparations for the Australia Day and birthday celebrations for the afternoon, and my eyes drifted towards balcony I hadn’t crossed over in years. The blinds haven’t been opened in ages, I missed the soothing manly voice from through the air. I saw the mattress on the floor of the balcony still here from when I was little, and I chuckled to myself at the memory of my first jump. The look on Jaejoong’s face, when I had hurt my arm, was embedded in my mind. He was worried about me. He cared about me.

Knock. Knock.

“Joanna?”

I turned around to see my mother standing in the doorway.

“Yes mum?”

“Your father and I are going next door to help the Kim’s setup. Are you coming?”

“Yeah sure,” I hadn’t heard from Jaejoong ever since he left home a year ago. I didn’t know if he was still the same man he was when he left. I didn’t know if he had a girlfriend either.

…I hope he doesn’t.

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A/N: Okay....so first part up...next one will be on the 4th of Feb (his actual birthdate). 

Happy Australia Day! Happy Birthday Jaejoong! 

aliceeyychan