The wine was ready. The food was appetizing. The candles were just perfect, even if they hadn’t been alight. A small bouquet of mixed flowers in pink shade filled a bowl in the middle of dining table, matching the salmon tablecloth. I had got rid of two extra dining seats by putting them temporarily in the kitchen, leaving spots only for two people.

Inside the CD player was a complete disk of our favorite love songs. One simple touch on the remote control and it would be nice. Only one thing was missing, the dessert. If he asked one, I’d like to bring him an empty saucer, empty for the food to be exact. It was a naughty little surprise I had prepared. On the saucer, there would be a black piece of cloth, long enough to be tied around his head and cover his eyes. Once his eyes were covered, I would ask him to find where I was, probably in the living room, in the kitchen, bathroom… or bed… Oh, so many opportunities…

I couldn’t hold back the grin that had been ornamenting my face all day as I stared down to the dining table gleefully. Yeah, everything was perfect for our fourth anniversary as man and wife. It was amazing how fastly time could bring us to the future that I hardly noticed it had been four years already. July 31, 2011 had been an end to another month yet the beginning of my lovely marriage life. That day, Yunho and I had stood up next to one another in front of the altar, sharing our eternal vow to love and cherish and honor our other half, witnessed by our dearest ones and God. And ever since that day, the words ‘thank you’ or ‘I love you’ had never been enough to represent how grateful I was for the life I had been sharing with him.

I had prepared myself too. After polishing myself exquisitely, I had put on one of satin night gowns Yunho had given me as my 28^th birthday present. Sleeveless, the crème gown stopped aptly right under my knees. With white flowers embroidered on the chest, it was a simple yet stunning piece, emphasizing Yunho’s sense of fashion.

I grinned once again at the text message Yunho had just sent me. ‘I can almost see how very stunning you are even from ten miles away. Must find a way to escape from here earlier,’ said the message. And I could wonder at the delicate view of my husband sitting on his big black leather CEO chair behind a dark mahogany table, with laptop and papers scattered in front of him, dressing in his black suit that always had me stunned over how handsome he was. With the loose top button of his white shirt, his tie would hang around his neck carelessly, messy yet y. Pen in one hand, he would look enthralled to his task only God knew what was going on in his beautiful mind. That was Jung Yunho, my dorky, y, amusing, yet always reliable husband.

The ring of the doorbell diverted my mind back to reality. I glanced at the clock on the living room’s wall. Ten past six. Yunho had said I could expect him at six thirty. Or maybe he had found a way to go home earlier, just like what he had mentioned in the text? I rushed to the front door to be greeted by the famous Kim Heechul and the infamous… guess who.

“Heechul-oppa! Jaejoong-oppa! What a lovely surprise!” I welcomed them with a polite bow.

“Nicky, looking well as always,” said Heechul. He added a simple squeeze on my palm when we shook hands. That was the furthest I could hope for even though we had known each other for years. Heechul was still very courteous to women, especially after he had got married. Jaejoong, in the meantime, was standing there and frowning as if that was the last thing in the world he would do. I had been always wondering what his problem was and that evening I still hadn’t found a single hint except the blunt suspicion that he was in love with my husband.

“Happy fourth anniversary, dear,” said Heechul politely, giving me his rare and adorable smile. “I’ve got something for you.”

He handed me a box wrapped with beautiful pink paper and ribbon. “It’s something my wife had prepared the other day. Not much, but I hope you two will like it. She wishes you a lovely anniversary, too.”

“You’re very nice,” I grinned widely. The box felt heavy in my hand, I wondered what was inside it. “I couldn’t thank you enough. The kids, are they doing well?” I referred to a pair of son and daughter of his.

Heechul’s face glimmered at a mention of his two lovable angels. “Oh, you won’t believe them, those little monsters!! I’d be highly surprised if I went back home and found the house in one whole piece! They’re like Shinchan and Himawari!”

“Oppa, that much?” I asked in excitement while preparing tea for three. Heechul followed me to the kitchen, helping me with the cookies and still babbling about his kids.

“…last Sunday I woke up from my nap and found the car in wet mess!! ‘We want to help Daddy washing the car!’ they said when I asked them. ‘Daddy looks tired today!’ Oh, their mother is close to having heart attack these days! And just this morning, they’ve decided that the dining room wall is to be their most favorite canvas, can you believe it??”

See? Even the cold appearance of Kim Heechul turned into all smiles and laughter when it came to his kids. His fatherly joy was obvious; even though he kept on whining and sighing about how mischievous his kids were while sipping on his tea, he couldn’t restrain the paternal grins on his face.

Only Jaejoong who seemed to be out of place as he was sitting silently in the far corner of the living room, looking but not staring to his cup of tea, didn’t even bother to touch it. Heechul followed my gaze to Jaejoong and immediately became silence.

“Jaejoong-ah, don’t you want to wish Yunho and Hyuntae happy anniversary?” asked Heechul when he had joined him on the couch. Jaejoong gave a bitter smile as a reply, a smile that couldn’t bring a tint of color to his pale face. He drowned himself on the deep contemplation of his tea again.

I looked bemusedly at Heechul, who shrugged to show he was just as puzzled as I was.

“Jaejoong-oppa, are you all right?” I asked carefully. I was still mad at him for Jiyeol’s name.

“Yes,” he answered, still as lifeless as before.

“Hey, why are you suddenly like this? Come on, Jaejoong-ah, you looked so excited just now! What’s changed you, huh?” pushed Heechul.

“Where did you two meet, by the way?” I threw another topic, hoping that I’d get a sentence from Jaejoong. He was Yunho’s best friend after all, so he was mine, too. And he had been Yunho’s best man on our wedding day.

“Oh, Jaejoong asked me to do a favor this afternoon,” Heechul turned his attention back to me, “…for you know, the proposal.”

Jaejoong frowned. He lied back to the couch and closed his eyes. “Hyung…,”

“He said before how he adores my wife’s wedding ring so he asked me to…”

“Hyung…”

“…he asked me to help him…”

“Heechul-hyung…”

“…he asked me to help him choose a ring for Dani,” Heechul ended the confession with a loud, long groan from Jaejoong.

“Heechul-hyung, I don’t wanna talk about that right now!!” The mere color left Jaejoong’s face as he gave Heechul his signature pout, to which the latter replied with there’s-no-use-of-hiding-it look.

I almost jumped off my seat when Jaejoong got to his feet, so immediately, and threw himself to the longest couch. There he lied on his stomach, sliding his head to under one of the cushions, kicking the hand of the couch with his feet.

“I can’t do it, hyung!!! No, I can’t!!” he started wailing, leaving both Heechul and I in deep shock. His voice was nothing but a grumble and yet we still managed to listen to what he said later.

“I can’t face her! What if everything didn’t go according to plan??? What if she didn’t come to the dinner I’ve prepared? What if she said no, what if she rejected me??!!”

Still gaping at him awkwardly, Heechul and I could only watch as Jaejoong got back to his feet again and started walking back and forth in our living room, biting his nails in a so-not-him style.

“I can’t do this!! I’m crazy to think I have a chance! No, I’ll end up failing! She will definitely say no!! I’m a horrible man!! We fought for several times! I’ve hurt her feeling in countless occasions!! She won’t marry me! Oh, God, what would I do if she said no??”

Slowly, I felt a need to laugh aloud. So, the fabulous Kim Jaejoong couldn’t bear the thoughts of his proposal being rejected. Ah, revenge had never been sweeter.

“But I love her so much I’d die if she left me!! Would she be impressed by the ring, the pathetic proposal I’ve prepared? No, she wouldn’t!!”

“Jaejoong-ah…,” Heechul tried to bring him back to reality while I struggled not to giggle. Such a sight to behold: Jaejoong’s normally stylish hair was tousled, his manicured nails broken, his suit in a disorder, and his face full of terror, as if he had just been asked to jump from a thirty-story building.

“I should’ve prepared the harmonica… No! Yoochun’s done it! Maybe singing? Yeah, singing! But no, Yunho’s done it too!! Or perhaps a large score board in the middle of a football match, asking her to marry me?? Impossible, Junsu’s done it!! Oh my, why did they three steal my ideas?” Jaejoong talked, gave a furious oration to be exact, to empty wall across him. I cupped a hand onto my mouth to muffle my snigger.

“Jaejoong, Jaejoong, listen!!” Heechul came in front of him with an astonishing patience, putting each hand on Jaejoong’s shoulder to fix him on his place. “Relax, will you? Everything’s gonna be all right!”

“No, hyung, it’s not!!” Jaejoong almost screamed in horror. “I know it’s not gonna be okay!! She’ll say no and she’ll leave me!”

“How could you know it when you haven’t even tried yet? Jaejoong? Yah, Kim Jaejoong, where are you going??”

Jaejoong had walked straight to the front door with Heechul behind him, trying to bring him back to his sense. I followed suit, saying nothing for I was enjoying the show too much.

“I’ll leave now,” said Jaejoong firmly. “I shall go back to the military!!”

“Wait… Wait… What??” Heechul gasped.

“You’ve heard it, hyung! I’d rather go back to military and serve my life for Republic of Korea than facing this whole scary proposal!”

Uh, oh, that wasn’t good. Heechul grabbed Jaejoong tightly on his arm. His patience slowly decreased.

“Look, Kim Jaejoong!!” he shouted, and at once, Jaejoong froze. “Listen!! I was hysterical too before asking my wife!! It’s normal!!”

“You were?” whispered Jaejoong.

“I was! But I knew I should defeat my fear, for our relationship worth much more than it! Be a real man, Jaejoong-ah! Dani loves you!! She deserves this place on your side until the very end! Don’t let your momentary distress come between both of you! Can you understand that?”

“She loves me?” Jaejoong’s words were barely audible.

“She does. Isn’t it enough of an encouragement, your love?” I finally stepped forward and stared directly to his eyes.

“Yeah, it’s enough,” mumbled Jaejoong absentmindedly.

“Good,” I replied while Heechul gave him a cheering pat on his shoulder. “Now will you excuse me?”

And I let out the most fantastic, ecstatic laughter in my whole life. Heechul joined just as loudly. We both couldn’t stop laughing looking at that face, a sheepish face of a multi-talented superstar who was head over heels over his girlfriend.

A loud ring of my phone interrupted us. Clearly, it had been ringing all the time, only I was too busy to notice. It was Yunho.

“Hyunnie-baby, where have you been? I’ve been calling again and again but you were unavailable,” Yunho’s voice was obviously relieved once I picked up the call.

“I’m really sorry, oppa, but Heechul-oppa and Jaejoong-oppa are here,” I said apologetically, mouthing ‘Yunho’ to Heechul’s quizzical look.

“Oh, are they?”

“Yeah, Heechul-oppa and I have just given a good advice to Jaejoong-oppa about the proposal. You know, he’s a bit nervous,” I grinned to amused Heechul and super-ashamed Jaejoong in front of me. Nervous was an understatement. I then glanced at the clock. It was twenty minutes to seven. “By the way, why aren’t you home yet? Are you on your way?”

“Umm, about that…,” I could visualize Yunho’s pleading face, not a good sign. Oh, no... Not the last-minute meeting again! Not in our anniversary!

“My-lovely-wife-Park-Hyuntae-please-forgive-me-but-I-won’t-be-able-for-dinner-until-at-least-nine-o’clock!!” Yunho said in one breath, leaving me hollow and severely disappointed. He tended to talk a lot, slur a lot, and increase the pace of his talking whenever he felt nervous.

“Oh,” I said briefly after what seemed to be ten full minutes of silence. I could feel my face fall; all the excitement caused by Jaejoong had gone. “Oh, w-why is that?”

“My baby, I’m really, really sorry. But there’s this board of businessmen from Japan, deciding to pay us a visit right after landing. The supporter of Yoohwan’s upcoming movie,” said Yunho, his voice trembling in anxiety.

Now don’t blame from being unable to find a word to say. It was shocking, deeply hurting. It was our first anniversary after the military service. I turned around from Heechul, who was still busy consoling Jaejoong, mainly to hide my face. I opened the door to the bathroom, stepped inside, and locked it.

But he doesn’t mean it…

“Hyunnie…? Baby, I didn’t mean to offend you. Baby, I love you.”

“So what are you guys up to, a meeting?” I asked with a high-pitched tone, so strange it didn’t sound like me.

“Yeah, I’m gonna give a brief presentation about our project. Listen, Hyuntae-ah, I know it is so last minute. It’s insane. But I promise-“

I didn’t really pay attention to the rest of his words. I think he mentioned about the sponsor’s interest for further partnership, but I didn’t really know what it meant. Or maybe I did, only I was too upset. Why, on the exact day of our fourth anniversary? It felt like there were more and more rocks on our way: Jaejoong, the inability of mine to get pregnant, the entertainment business, Jaejoong, Yunho’s mother who started questioning my capacity for Yunho, and Jaejoong, foreboding our marriage, threatening our relationship, attempting to break the trust I had laid on Yunho or vice versa.

“Mrs. Jung, are you still with me?” I couldn’t hold back the grin at the words Yunho used to address me. That was it: calling me Mrs. Jung was his secret weapon whenever he made me too disappointed. Oh, you don’t know what those two words could mean. It was either him serving breakfast for me on bed, or letting me on top and taking full control of him, or any other way that could make me feel like his boss for a whole week. Of course, it was normal for any other husbands, but Yunho was so domineering. And yet he let me to take over the game whenever I was mad.

“You know the consequences of using those words,” I said hoarsely, swallowing too loud I thought he could hear it from the other end. We were miles apart and he managed to provoke me.

“I’m fully aware of them, Mrs. Jung,” Yunho replied just as throaty, a hint that he was hoping so badly he could be by my side in a second. By my side in our bedroom, to be exact. Or maybe the living room, the couches weren’t too bad either. “I’ve done something wrong I could only hope for your kindness, Ma’am.”

“You have no idea of what I’m capable of,” I replied, aroused. “And since this is a huge mistake, I don’t think I’ll go easy.”

“Sergeant Jung Yunho is here for Your Majesty’s wishes,” he said playfully.

“Be prepared, Sergeant. We’ve got a though ride ahead.”

“Yes, Ma’am!” Yunho said. He sounded relieved, and a second later, he blurted. “Look, baby, this is so unfair. I promise this won’t happen again. Ever. Please don’t be mad at me.”

“Only with one condition,” I took his towel from mini clothesline beside me and cupped it to my nose. He smelled intoxicating.

“Anything, love, anything.”

“Think about me each second before you get home tonight,” I said, putting the towel back on its place. “I want you ready when I open the front door for you.”

“Babe, is this your idea of not going easy?” teased Yunho. “Because for sure, I’ll think about you with every beat of my heart.”

“I’m not done yet, Mr. Jung,” I cut. “When you get home, I might not allow you to touch me.” Already feeling better, I unlocked the bathroom door and stepped outside. Heechul was still advocating Jaejoong.

“But, baby...!!” Yunho started making sounds of protest.

“Hahaha, laters, love,” I hung up the phone, imagining the CEO would be grumpy and sulky in front of his colleague. I relased a breath, thinking that I might have to heat the dinner for my busy husband.

“What is it? Why isn’t he home yet?” Heechul had put his attention at me, leaving the gloomy Jaejoong on his own.

“He has a meeting with a board, the sponsor of Yoohwan’s movie,” I said, surprised that I could give Heechul a wholehearted smile. Yunho, he really knew how to handle me. I missed him even more, and there was a bittersweet feeling when I realized he wouldn’t be home anytime soon.

“Oh, dear,” Heechul frowned, giving me his rare, sympathetic look. “It’s your anniversary...”

“No worries,” I gave the man a composed gaze. On the background, Jaejoong shifted a bit, eyeing Heechul and I with interest. “I’m fine with it. He said he’ll be home in half an hour or so,” I lied. I didn’t want them to worry about me.

“Now I see why he’s madly in love with you,” grinned Heechul. “You’re a big girl.”

“Let’s just say we’ve never failed to shock each other, yet,” I smiled wryly.

Once Jaejoong and Heechul left, the bittersweet feeling had leaned more toward bitter, slowly leaving the sweet side as the clock ticked. It was seven, two more hours before Yunho could exit the meeting room in a hurry, run to the basement, and drive his machine home. God, I had to send him a message later, a reminder about safety. As much as I wanted his presence in our home, he was also my oxygen. I couldn’t live without him.

A message would do, just to let him know I was thinking about him. I searched my phone around the living area, where I thought I had left it. I found it under a pillow Jaejoong had hugged before. And then a pair of arms hugged me from behind, too, making me smile and gasp and shocked at the same time.

“Looking immensely divine, Mrs. Jung,” said the owner of those arms. He spun me around and landed a kiss, a wet, luscious, and dominating one. Relieved that he was home, glad at his compliment, I kissed him back with all I had.

“God, how I’ve missed you,” he teased my lower lip with his tongue, his hands roaming around my back, one on the line of my spine, one on my bottom.

“H-how...?” I panted a bit as he pushed away only to kiss me again, deeper than before.

“Miracle happens all the time, honey.” Yunho’s hands loosened as he eyed me admiringly. His warm palms cupped my cheeks, pulling my face closer to his. “Tell me once again, who bought you this dress?”

“You, Sir,” I grinned. “And I have thanked you a thousand times.”

“Yes, but you still owe me a lot, Ma’am,” his arm slid around my waist, his nose nuzzling the back of my ear.

“And you owe me an explanation,” I said, pushing him to get a clearer view of my husband’s beautiful face. “You said you’d get back home at nine.”

“Jaejoong arrived just before the board. He’s replacing me,” answered Yunho.

“He is not,” I gasped, looking up to Yunho’s eyes to find honesty.

“He is,” Yunho nodded. “He said he couldn’t bear your fake smile nor your lies telling him and Heechul-hyung that you were fine. He went back to the office and offered me a hand.”

And I had thought he hated me. And I had accused him for trying to steal Yunho from my hands. And all those fights, those arguments over Yunho... Suddenly, I felt like giving a Jaejoong a call to tell him how sorry I was, even if he ended up laughing or mocking. If only he wasn’t in a meeting...

Yunho lifted my chin. “Hyunnie? Hey... Don’t cry,” he whispered.

“He’s been too nice, it’s scary,” tears pooled in my eyes, obscuring Yunho’s smile.

“Trust me, he’s delighted to do this.” I giggled as Yunho pecked me softly on the lips. The lump on my throat slowly changed to a need to throw up. I cupped my hand on my mouth again, pushing Yunho harshly.

“Baby!!” he protested.

“What kind of perfume are you using? The smell... It’s strong, too strong...”

Yunho hunched to sniff each of his armpits. “Really? It’s the one you gave me this morning, your anniversary gift. The one you’ve spent two whole weeks looking for... Baby!!!”

Yunho rushed to the bathroom, following me and then holding my forehead as I bent down before the sink, throwing up over and over again.

Park Hyuntae vs. Kim Jaejoong

           2             :            ∞

=========================================================================================================================

And it ends here....

Special appearance of Kim Heechul from Super Junior.

Thanks all for this amazing journey. See you in my other fics.

P.S: Dedicating this to a best friend who's quite impatient since I haven't written her any stories with Jaejoong as lead character

P.P.S: Jaejoong is super sweet, isn't he??? Still I object when he's too close to Yunho.

P.P.P.S: As to whether Hyuntae is pregnant.... Well, I guess I'll leave it to your imagination ;)

But in case you're very much curious, find out in the last chapter of I Fall for My Brother's Brother which I'll post tomorrow.

Have a nice weekend!!!