The Perfect Match Chapter 22

Jan Di

Birthdays were a hassle.

Other people’s birthdays weren’t, just mine was.

After moving in with my cousins, my birthday had been the first one to come up and the other girls had insisted on throwing me a party two years in a row.

Their parties I could handle, but Jun Pyo’s party, that I wasn’t sure of.

My boyfriend tended to do everything on a grand scale.

Last week I had gotten a call from him, telling me he would make sure that this year’s birthday would be the best of my life so far.

I had asked him not to go out of his way, though he had not listened to a thing I had said to him.

And today was the day. Today I would find out what kind of ridiculousness Jun Pyo had thought of.

Hee Young, Ga Eul and Ha Ni had been enjoying my misery for the past week. I had seen those excited looks they had been trying to hide form me.

Traitors, all of them!

They had jumped ship even before I had started dating him. Whatever fight or argument we were having, they were always on his side.

Through narrowed eyes I glared at each one of them as they surrounded me at the coffee shop: “Out with it! What does Jun Pyo have planned?”

They all exchanged confused glances, their acting was good enough to convince just about anyone, but not me: “Don’t play dumb with me, guys. I’m serious, tell me what you know. Is he throwing me a surprise party where the whole school is invited? Is that it?”

God, just the thought of it freaked me out.

Ga Eul snorted: “What? No, of course he didn’t. He doesn’t want you to kill him.”

Okay, so that was not it: “What is it then? He wouldn’t tell me anything and it’s driving me crazy. He’s going to do something stupid, isn’t he? I’m sure that’s it.”

“We promised him we wouldn’t tell you Jan Di-ah.” To my surprise, Hee Young was the one to say those words. Even though she tended to take Jun Pyo’s side just like the other two, most of the time she was the least vocal about it.

“So, let me get this straight.” I let out a frustrated huff: “You’re not going to tell me, because you promised my boyfriend, even though you’re my friends?”

“We’re not telling you because we’re your friends and because we care about you.” Ha Ni replied this time: “Jun Pyo made us promise, yes, but you don’t have to worry Jan Di. He won’t do anything ridiculous, I can tell you that much. Let’s just enjoy this outing. We came here to celebrate your birthday, not argue with you.”

Ugh, she was right.

They had taken me out to have lunch and cake at the coffee shop and here I was drilling them with my never-ending questions: “Fine, you’re right. But just so you know, if Jun Pyo does something stupid you guys are at fault.”

Hee Young let out a chuckle as she tried to keep Sang Hee from smashing her face into the cake on the table: “Yeah, I’m pretty sure we can handle your wrath.”

Jun Pyo

Perfect.

Just as I was surveying the F4 lounge for one last time I got a text message from Ga Eul that they were on their way here now.

Okay, so everything was going according to the plan. Jan Di had insisted I keep her birthday party a small affair and that was exactly what I had done. It was just the girls, the rest of the F4, me and one other person.

I turned to the person next to me: “They are on their way now. Why don’t you go hide in the other room and I’ll come and get you when it’s time for the surprise, okay?”

“Okay.” The person nodded and went to one of the other rooms.

Yi Jung and Woo Bin were checking the decorations and Seung Jo was bringing in the last of the food his mother had prepared for today.

“Guys, they are almost here. Is everything ready?” I asked into the room, receiving confirming nods in return.

How would Jan Di react to this surprise?

Maybe she would be over the moon with joy.

Or maybe she would freak out and tell me to mind my own business. I could picture her saying exactly that to me, but she was my business dammit!

I didn’t know, I really didn’t and the anticipation was killing me.

I was a moment away from having a meltdown when I heard footsteps outside the entrance door. She was here…

As soon as the door opened, all of us were shouting brightly: “Surprise!”

Author

Jan Di narrowed her in suspicion, zoning in on Jun Pyo: “That’s it? Just the F4? You didn’t invite the whole school or anything like that?”

Her boyfriend approached her, hands in the air, as if declaring his innocence: “It’s not like I have death wish.” Once he reached her, his hands found her shoulders and his eyes found hers: “Although, I have to admit, there is one more surprise for you. Close your eyes and don’t open them until I say so.”

“Fine.” She grumbled, closing her eyes: “It better not be something stupid!”

Jun Pyo just chuckled as he went to the other room to fetch her big surprise.

Jan Di was nervous and getting more and more impatient while the seconds ticked by.

Finally, she heard his voice: “Hey Geum Jan Di, happy birthday!”

Opening her eyes, she was met with a sight she had not expected.

“Kang San?” Her voice held wonder and disbelief: “Is that really you?”

The little boy next to Jun Pyo dashed forward, almost tackling Jan Di to the ground: “Noona!”

She couldn’t believe this. Her Kang San was here, her little brother was right here within her arms…

Jun Pyo watched the two siblings embrace each other with a strange emotion bubbling inside of him. He knew, from what Hee Young had told him that Jan Di and Kang San hadn’t seen each other in almost three years, because he had been lost in the foster system. Apparently their grandmother, while being quite influential, still hadn’t been able to locate him, even though she had been trying to that for years now. And Jun Pyo could see how that might have happened. Even he, with the back-up of the whole Shinhwa Empire, had had a hard week trying to find his girlfriend’s little brother.

His heart ached for the pain the two siblings had endured during their separation.

He himself had an older sister. His Jun Hee noona was tough, but she doted on him nonetheless, like he was her own child. In more ways than one, she had brought him up more than their own mother.

From what little he knew, since Hee Young had refused to tell him any details, Jan Di’s situation was similar to that.

Jun Pyo saw the tears roll down her face, tears of happiness and relief.

Just seeing her like that, so happy, was worth all the trouble in the world…

A few hours later, the party had reached its end and the F4 had taken the girls home. Kang San had fallen asleep in the car on the way, exhausted from the day he had had.

The other guys had dropped the girls off and left already, only Jun Pyo remained.

They both got out of the car, rounding it to wake up Kang San.

The boy stepped out of the vehicle yawing and blurry eyed.

Jan Di smiled at him: “Kang San-ah, why don’t you go inside with the others, I’ll follow you in a minute.”

Kang San nodded: “Okay noona.” Then he turned to Jun Pyo, surprising him with quick hug and a: “Thank you hyung!” before he ran off to where the girls were waiting for him.

Jun Pyo stared after him as if he had seen an alien.

A low chuckle pulled him out of space.

His girlfriend was giggling: “Hey, are you making fun of me?”

She couldn’t hold it in anymore and broke out into a full-fledged laugh: “No, I’m sorry. This sounds so wrong. I’m not making fun of you. You just looked so cute when Kang San hugged you.”

It took her a few minutes, but she finally calmed down enough to catch her breath, her face turning serious: “Thank you Goo Jun Pyo. You brought my brother back to me and that is something I had almost given up on.” She paused, looking away and into the distance: “Our father’s a drunkard. I can’t remember a day where he was sober. He was always beating our mother and she was always throwing herself in front of us to protect us from him. She would have done just about anything to protect Kang San and me. Well, anything except for leaving him. I think I’ll never understand just why she wouldn’t leave him.”

Jun Pyo realized what she was doing, she was finally letting him in: “Sometimes that’s hard to do when you love someone, or when you think you love them.”

Jan Di shrugged, leaning back against his car: “Maybe that’s it, but who knows? Their relationship was toxic. They weren’t good for each other. In the end that’s what killed her. She was so in love with him, but he had lost the ability to feel anything. The beatings grew more and more brutal every day until he finally just killed her.”

His eyes widened in shock. Killed her? His father had killed her mother? His brain could not comprehend what kind of person would do something like that: “Tell me he didn’t get away with it.”

She shook her head: “It was three years ago and I had just turned fifteen and Kang San was only seven. I came home from school one day and he was watching TV, taking one drink after the other and all the time her dead body was right next to him. My brother was nowhere in sight and my father told me he had brought him to some orphanage. I called the police right away. He tried to stop me, but he was so drunk he could hardly stand on his own two feet. They arrested him immediately of course, but they never found Kang San. I would have probably landed in an orphanage myself. Luckily I remembered how our mother told me to contact our grandmother in case of an emergency. My mother and grandma hadn’t been on speaking terms, because my omma refused to leave my father, which means I hadn’t seen her since I was five or six, but she came right away. I was the first one to move into this house.”

Jun Pyo saw the weight being lifted off of her shoulders once she finished her story: “Is he in jail now?”

“Yes, his case was pretty much open and shut. The last time I saw him was when they were putting handcuffs on him to him to his detention cell.” Her voice was barely loud enough for him to understand what she was saying: “Now you know how ed up I am. And I am so grateful for what you did, but I just can’t help but wonder: Why would you go to such lengths for me Jun Pyo?”

Shaking his head in slight frustration, Jun Pyo stepped into her line of vision, forcing her to look at him again: “Isn’t the answer to your question kind of obvious Jan Di? I love you. I’m in love with you. Probably since that time you kicked me.”

He didn’t know what he was expecting after his confession, but this was not it.

She just stood there, staring at him: “I just told you an epic tale of how being in love killed my mother… aren’t you scared that something like that could happen to you?”

“No, I’m not scared.” He caged her in with his arms on his car: “Why would I be scared when I’m in love with you? I know everyone likes to joke around about you killing me, but we know that’s not true. You are a good and strong person and nothing like your parents. There’s no reason for me to be scared and there shouldn’t be one for you either.”

Jan Di stayed silent for a few more moments and Jun Pyo was already thinking of another speech to convince her when she raised herself on her tiptoes and took a hold of face, her lips closing over his.

They had kissed before, plenty of times; however this was the first time that she had initiated it. His surprise only lasted for a second before he lost himself in the kiss. His hands found their way to the small of her back, while hers wandered into his curly hair. They were reluctant to let go of each other, even though they could hardly breathe. At the end Jun Pyo was the one to pull away, but his hold on her didn’t waver.

Burying her face in his chest Jan Di remained in his arms and then he heard the muffled sound of her voice: “I love you too curly-fries.”

End of Chapter

Author's Note:

And here is this monstrosity of a Chapter.
I hope you enjoyed it :D

I love you guys!