【5】
After they were finished eating in the kitchen, Jaejoong and Peony went to the living room.

Peony held a chilled can of Lotte 2% water in her hands as she followed him.

Jaejoong sat on the large wraparound leather couch first.

He had a green glass bottle of soju in his hand.

He snatched up the remote and cut on the large wide-screen television.

Immediately a rerun of a variety show came onto the screen.

Peony sat with her feet beneath her on the couch beside him.

She looked over at the adjacent sofa and saw his cat Jiji curled up over there.

But he wasn’t alone—there was a brown furry pooch lying next to him.

“Who’s that?” she asked, pointing to the pup.

Jaejoong looked to where she was pointing. 

“That’s my poodle—his name is Hiro” he told her.

Peony smiled, thinking his names for his pets were cute.

“What do you want to watch?” Jaejoong asked her.

She shrugged. “Anything is fine with me.”

Jaejoong flicked through several channels but there wasn’t anything good on.

He suddenly got an idea, fed up with looking for something to watch.

“Do you like Enka music?” he asked.

A smile spread onto Peony’s mouth then.

“I’m a big Enka lover, actually” she replied.

Jaejoong was clearly happy to hear that.

He turned the television set off but used the remote to cut on his stereo system.

Suddenly music that was distinctively Enka started to play.

Peony was silent as she listened to it.

However, the song didn’t sound familiar.

“Who is that?” she asked when it went off.

“He’s a popular Korean singer named Cho Young-pil. He sings Enka as well” he told her.

Peony was shocked, having no knowledge of any Korean singers singing Enka.

Next, Jaejoong played “Shinjuku no Onna” by Keiko Fuji.

Keiko Fuji was a famous Enka singer in Japan.

Peony smiled, knowing that song instantly.

Her parents used to play it all the time when she was younger.

“What other kind of music do you listen to?” Peony was curious.

She wanted to know everything about Jaejoong.

He had a façade that looked to be cold and uninviting but he obviously was the opposite.

He had shown her a lot of kindness in just the one night she’d known him.

Therefore she was certain that he had a warm side.

Jaejoong took a swig of his soju before answering.

“I listen to all kinds” he replied simply.

Then he switched the music to the VAMPS track “Love Addict.”

Jaejoong was a fan of J-rock and heavy metal.

Peony didn’t listen to a lot of J-rock but she did know some of the artists.

He played songs by Gackt, The Gazette and Dir En Grey.

“That was really cool” she said after the songs ended.

Then she let out a yawn, covering .

“Tsukaremaa (I’m tired)” she said, feeling slightly sluggish.

Jaejoong used the remote to turn off the stereo.

“It’s getting late—you should get to sleep” he said.

It was obvious that she was exhausted—he was tired as well.

Peony knew he was right; she had an early flight to catch back to Japan in the morning.

“Let me show you to my room” Jaejoong said, standing up.

Peony looked stunned. “We’re both sleeping in your room?”

Jaejoong shook his head. “No. I’ll take the couch tonight—you can have my bed.”

He explained that though his apartment had two rooms he used one as his music studio therefore there was only one available to sleep in. 

As his guest he would allow her to have his bed.

Her heart couldn’t help fluttering at how gentlemanly he was being.

“That’s all right. I can sleep on the couch, its fine” she assured him.

However, Jaejoong insisted that she sleep in his bed while he slept on the couch.

“The couch is more comfortable than it looks” he said with a chuckle.

Peony still didn’t feel right putting him out of his bed but she didn’t argue with him.

Instead she followed his lead to his bedroom.

It was just as spacious as she’d expected with a big comfy-looking king-sized bed.

Jaejoong turned down the covers and fluffed the pillows.

“There, you should get some good sleep tonight” he said.

He held his hand out for Peony to come over to him.

Peony’s feet were moving before she could register what she was doing.

Jaejoong took her hand and helped her climb onto his large bed.

He pulled the covers over her once she was lying on her back.

Then he went over to the closet to grab himself an extra pillow and a sheet.

“Oyasumi (good night)” he said, turning off the light.

“Oyasumi, domo arigato” Peony replied back.

Then she her side and closed her eyes.

Jaejoong shut the door only halfway before making his way back to the front room.

He cut off the light in the kitchen then went to the couch.

He put down the pillow and lay onto his back spreading the sheet on top of himself.

A yawn escaped him before he closed his eyes and tried to get some rest.

Jaejoong didn’t open his eyes—not even when he felt something furry crawl onto him.

However, he was awoken a couple hours later when he heard footsteps approaching.

When his eyes fluttered open and he looked over—he saw Peony standing there.

She stood before the couch, staring down at him.

“Jaejoong-kun” she cooed.

Jaejoong immediately sat up and rubbed his eyes.

“What’s the matter? What’s wrong?” he asked her, slightly panicked.

Peony had a pout on her face. “I had a bad dream.”

Jaejoong tried to comprehend what was going on.

She came to him because she had a nightmare?

“It’s okay” he said, rubbing her arm that was sunken into his sweater that she wore.

 But Peony was still pouting cutely. “I don’t think I can go back to sleep by myself.”

Jaejoong stared up at the pretty girl that stood before him.

What exactly did she want him to do?

He’d never brought a girl home that he hadn’t had with so this was all new to him.

“C-could you sleep in the bed with me?” Peony asked in a soft tone.

Jaejoong’s eyes widened slightly at her words.

She wanted to share the bed with him?

Had she any idea what she was asking for?

“You want me to sleep next to you?” Jaejoong asked to be sure.

He wanted to be certain this wasn’t the beginning of a wet dream.

The prospect of sharing his bed with Peony honestly got him hot.

However, he did his best to squelch his rising hormones.

But it really couldn’t be helped—she was such an attractive girl.

Any red-blooded man would kill to share a bed with her.

Peony was nodding her head in reply.

“I would feel much safer if you did” she told him.

Jaejoong swallowed; he wondered if he could be close to her without molesting her.

He’d been on his best behavior so far that night but could he keep it up?

He thought about how Yunho and Naomi entrusted him to take care of her.

Peony trusted him a great deal as well—obviously if she was asking this of him.

He didn’t want to let them down just because of his ferocious libido.

“Alright, if that’s what you want” he said, praying that he could control himself.

Peony looked relieved at his acquiescence.

She walked off to his bedroom and Jaejoong wasn’t far behind.

He left Hiro on the couch where he’d been snoozing while cuddled up with him.

Jiji was still on the adjacent sofa sleeping solo.

Peony climbed back onto his bed and undernea