This chapter is dedicated to lady mitsuki (I hope it's good enough for you...*smiles).

Extra long chapter people... you're welcome. 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4 days had past since the leak and the targeted 200 articles was surprisingly within reach because the pathetic team of 3 writers, excluding the one off article contributors such as Yunho and Changmin, had about 160 articles now.

To fill up space, Yunho managed to get more companies to advertise in this month’s issue.

There was even a special segment where Blitz gave Journalism undergraduates a chance to write an article within 3 days and the top 5 submissions would have their works published in the same issue.

Investigations were going on concurrently on the leak as the small team of Blitz employees worked their asses off to produce an entire issue in a week.

Jaejoong was put in charge of the entire magazine, so he was now playing around with the sequence of the articles.

He chose to name this edition the ‘Food Issue’, because you and Changmin had gone on a tiring 2 day ‘field research’ and conducted tons of tasting sessions before you were able to provide the main article for the magazine, which covered traditional Korean cuisines, some of which you never knew existed and you were sure many readers would feel likewise too. It was the longest article you had ever written and it felt more of like producing a thesis paper on preserving the local food culture.

It was 14 pages of pure text. And with the images, it came to a whopping 25 pages.

You couldn’t believe your article would take centre stage and you weren’t in the Blitz’s writing team in the first place.

‘I just finished my local designers’ coverage, so we’ve got 165 articles now. Our page number is at 412 so far.’ Jaejoong announced.

‘The average pages Blitz magazine has is about 350,’ you said.

‘Don’t forget that March is a special month for Blitz.’

‘Right,’ you smiled.

Blitz always wanted to close the financial year with a huge issue so the person or people involved in this leak really targeted the best/worst month to go against the magazine.

‘Last year’s was 600,’ you laughed, recalling your magazine buying days when you grumbled about how heavy March issues always were.

Yoochun nodded, ‘We’re going to reach the goal soon, people! I can’t believe we managed to pull off a miracle of such epic proportions!’

‘Because there’s the fabulous me and my beautiful underlings,’ Jaejoong smirked before drinking his 15^th cup of coffee for the day.

‘You better sleep for a while, Jaejoong,’ you advised as you walked behind him to massage his shoulders, ‘We don’t want a repeat of what happened in the past when you had to go on a drip due to exhaustion.’

Jaejoong purred in satisfaction at his coffee (and perhaps also because of your massage) before replying, ‘After sending the finalized magazine mock up to the printers, we should take a couple of days off to hibernate, hmm?’

‘Yeah,’ you yawned the second you thought about your lonely bed, ‘All of us haven’t been home in days.’

Changmin nodded, ‘I miss my kitchen.’

‘Me too,’ you laughed.

‘I want to eat kimchi,’ Jaejoong giggled.

‘With rice?’ You smiled down at your boyfriend.

‘With rice.’ Jaejoong nodded.

Yoochun choked on his chewing gum.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You smiled as you filed in your final article, which was a 3-page music review into the mock up magazine file.

‘My lovely slaves, we are done!’ Jaejoong grabbed the thick black ring file and ran out of the room.

‘Where’s he going?’ You asked Yoochun.

‘Yunho needs to approve of it before sending it to get printed.’

Your legs finally gave way as you fell lifelessly onto couch in the room.

You had never felt so drained in your life. You only ate one meal a day, went for minimal toilet breaks and slept for only 2 hours per day for the entire week.

But all that sacrifice was worth it because in the end, you and the rest managed to save this month’s issue.

You had a wide smile on your face as you drifted off into slumber land.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like what Jaejoong had promised, the two of you took a couple of days off to rest.

Jaejoong decided to crash at your place during this well needed 3 days break and you were more than happy to oblige.

‘Spoil me, please,’ Jaejoong stated while you both were shopping for groceries in the supermarket.

‘How to? Buy loads of veggies?’ You rolled your eyes as you made your way to the fresh produce section.

Jaejoong nodded vehemently as he threw lettuce and carrots into the shopping cart, making you frown harder.

‘Cheapo,’ you sulked.

Jaejoong pretended not to hear you as he tossed broccoli into the trolley.

‘Well, at least veggies aren't that expensive,’ you muttered as you pushed the trolley following behind Jaejoong, who was walking while busy studying the food label at the back of a large bottle of granola.

Your blood pressure rose when Jaejoong suddenly stopped at the fruit section and placed a ridiculously overpriced imported melon from Japan into the cart.

‘GET THAT $80 BALL OF TRASH OUT OF MY ING CART!’ You bellowed at the nonchalant Jaejoong.

‘Please?’ Jaejoong fluttered those long and luscious lashes while pouting adorably at you.

– your head was now in a mess and you stupidly nodded in a trance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the grocery shopping, you called a couple of your friends from college to meet at a café to catch up.

You spent the entire afternoon updating each other on your work and personal lives. One of your buddies even got married and was already on her way to becoming a mother.

When you got home and opened the front door, you saw a pile of cushions on the floor in the middle of the livingroom with Jaejoong lying adorably on top of it.

He was muttering almost inaudibly in his sleep and you couldn’t help but giggle at how surprisingly innocent he looked. The soft looking oversized knitted sweater he had on and foetus sleeping position he was now in added on to that cuteness and you felt like a melted goop on the floor.

You approached the absolutely harmless looking creature (only applies while Jaejoong sleeps) and knelt on the floor beside the pile of cushions and your lover.

You used one hand to tuck his fringe behind his ear and you had to take a couple of seconds to catch your breath because without that hair covering his face, he looked even more gorgeous as you could now study that unfairly and generously bestowed eyelashes, his perfectly shaped nose and… and… , those sinfully plump lips that just cried ‘Attach your lips here now’, were tempting you to do just that.

Maybe you should.

You felt like some ert as you leaned downwards.

You saw Jaejoong’s eyelids flutter and you immediately drew back in surprise and landed on your poor bum.

Your short cry in pain caused Jaejoong to stir as he began to cutely rub his eyes.

Those beautiful doe eyes were now opened and they were staring right at you, causing your heart to pound so hard and fast, you swore even Jaejoong could your frantically loud heartbeats.

‘You’re… back,’ Jaejoong’s soft voice caught you off guard because you never knew he could sound so warm and… cute?

‘Y-yeah,’ you stuttered.

Jaejoong kept blinking at you with those big eyes as if prompting you to speak and Gawd, you just wanted to squish him there and then.

‘Give…’ Jaejoong continued in that ridiculously mellifluous voice, ‘Give… give me a while to recover.’

‘Recover?’ You asked in an equally soft voice, not wanting to ruin the whole mood.

‘My… mind’s in a… daze whenever… I… I wake up… so… so hold on,’ Jaejoong muttered after taking quite a while to form his sentence.

You raised you eyebrows in surprise.

‘O-okay,’ you smiled warmly at Jaejoong.

So he’s sort of vulnerable and cute when he wakes up?

Gawd, that’s such a ing turn on.

‘Jaejoong?’ You reached out to cup his face.

It took a while for him to response but he managed, ‘Hmm?’

‘You just made me fall even harder for you,’ you blushed while saying this.

Jaejoong blinked profusely before speaking, ‘You fell? Are… are you hurt?’

You laughed, ‘Oh Gawd, you’re drunk on sleep.’

Jaejoong got up slowly from the mountain of cushions and tilted his head to one side, not understanding why you were laughing so hard at his words.

He pouted, ‘It’s not… not nice to laugh… at others.’

‘Oh you cuddly and delightful Jaejoong,’ you reached out to grab Jaejoong and gave him a bone crushing hug.

You breathed in his addictive scent, which was a combination of that crazily expensive cologne, another overpriced hair product and something that came solely oozing out from his skin.

‘I wish you could be like this more often,’ you muttered as you rested your chin on his shoulder.

‘Be like what, Kimchi?’ The old Jaejoong was back and you immediately pushed him off you and scrambled backwards.

‘N-nothing,’ you shakily got up and proceeded into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

‘Why were you hugging me?’ Jaejoong was also in the kitchen now, leaning against the frame of the door, watching you amusedly as you buzzed busily around the kitchen gathering the necessary stuff to make dak galbi.

‘You want the truth?’ You gave him a quick look before looking into the kitchen cabinets, ‘I took advantage of you in your semi conscious mind. Happy?’

‘Damn,’ Jaejoong face palmed, grabbing a seat at the tiny dining table in the kitchen, ‘I thought I grew out of that already.’

‘Grew out of what?’ You asked even though you knew exactly what he was referring to.

You couldn’t help it. You were curious.

‘It’s embarrassing,’ Jaejoong shuddered, ‘Most people are the ‘angry wakers’ but that’s because they aren’t good morning people. My mom calls me the ‘cute waker’. She said I’m like a quiet drunk when I wake up, adorably dazed and silly. What’s worse is that I’ve been like that since I was a baby.’

‘Aww, Joongie actually has a cute side,’ you cooed, causing Jaejoong to pout angrily at you.  

‘Shut up!’ Jaejoong spat.

‘I’ll totally you tomorrow morning,’ you winked at Jaejoong, who gave an exasperated sigh of defeat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You didn’t Jaejoong but you did take advantage of this cute weakness of his.

‘Joongie,’ you circled your arms around his waist while you squeezed beside him on your tiny bed.

‘Yes?’ He answered you softly a couple of seconds later.

‘Don’t ever leave me,’ you said.

You hugged Jaejoong even tighter and you heard him sigh.

‘I won’t… ever… leave you.’

You smiled against his back.

‘I love you,’ you managed to entwine your fingers in his.

Was he going to answer you?

He squeezed your hand before faintly replying, ‘I… I love you more.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘Let’s do totally crazy today,’ Jaejoong announced while you were sitting on the couch reading a book.

You weren’t absorbing anything though, because the scene of this early morning kept replaying in your head.

Those words of ‘I love you more’ made you curl your toes in delight and you hid your face in the book as you squealed.

‘The ’s wrong with you this morning!?’ Jaejoong snapped, grabbing a seat beside you on the 3-seater sofa.

‘Err- nothing… not that you remember anyway,’ you bit your lip to stop yourself from giggling like a happy drunk.

Jaejoong raised an eyebrow suspiciously at you but let it go.

‘So where do you want to go then?’ You tried to distract your mind.

‘Let’s get lost.’

‘Huh!?’ You cried.

‘We’ll just take random buses and go to random places.’

‘You’re crazy.’

‘I thought we’re crazy people in the first place…’ Jaejoong muttered.

‘You’re right. Crazy people like us should do crazy stuff, let’s go.’ You walked towards the door.

‘You really are crazy! You want to go out in your pajamas?’

‘Opps!’ You ran into the bedroom to change.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘Where are we?’ You got off at the second last stop of the bus you both were taking.

‘That’s the goal!’ Jaejoong grinned as he pulled you arm towards a random direction.

You both walked for 15 minutes until you saw a beach up ahead.

‘Great, at least we won’t die of thirst,’ you rolled your eyes.

The two of you took off your shoes and childishly ran towards the shallow part of the waters to feel the cooling sensations of the waves against your feet.

‘Why did you fall in love with me?’ Jaejoong suddenly screamed while facing the sea.

You laughed and screamed back, ‘Because you’re a beautiful !’

‘Why did I fall in love with you?’

‘Because…’ you stopped and faced him, ‘Why?’

Jaejoong smirked and shouted seaward, ‘Just because!’

‘ YOU!’ You bellowed and threw your sneakers at Jaejoong, who dodged and laughed at your epic fail.

‘I’m hungry,’ Jaejoong walked back onto the beach and sat on the sand.

‘Your fault,’ you sulked and dug though your sling bag, ‘I’ve got a box of Pocky.’

He scanned the box like as if it was an object from outer space but tore it open and ripped the packaging.

‘There’s always a first for everything,’ Jaejoong bit the chocolate flavoured stick biscuit.

‘It seems that you’ve been quite open with eating all kinds of food lately,’ you deduced.

‘Just look at whom I’m always hanging out with,’ Jaejoong shot you a dirty look. 

‘Fine, blame me then,’ you sulked and rolled your eyes.

‘This is surprisingly good,’ Jaejoong smiled.

‘Bipolar ,’ you muttered with a smile on your face as well as you offered the biscuits to Jaejoong once more.

He declined and continued to watch the waves crash against the shore.

‘Jaejoong… do you really… do you really love me?’

Jaejoong turned slowly to look at you, ‘Why are you so insecure?’

‘I don’t know…’ you muttered softly, ‘I still can’t believe we’re… a couple.’

‘Why not?’ Jaejoong scooted closer to you and draped his arm around your shoulder, pulling you in towards him.

You leaned your head on his shoulder and sighed, ‘You’re so… I thought you were unreachable… something I could never attain but here you are, with me…’

Jaejoong kept quiet.

‘I always wonder if you’re actually real, that your heart belongs to me… solely to me…’ you teared.

‘Why are you crying?’ Jaejoong mused as he faced you to wipe you tears with the back of his hands.

‘Why me?’

‘Just… just because.’

You pouted.

‘I can’t explain, okay? I don’t think it can ever be accurately explained… But I know that whenever I’m with you, it just feels right, like… a perfect fit.’

You smiled.

‘I’m having goosebumps all over,’ Jaejoong shuddered and you laughed.

‘Will I have a different answer tomorrow morning?’ You muttered.

‘Huh?’ Jaejoong questioned.

‘I mean… will the sleep-drunk-you give me the same answer? Drunks supposedly speak words from the heart, so… yeah.’ You explained.

‘Feel free to try, but don’t murder me of it’s not the answer you’re looking for.’

You couldn’t help but feel a little fearful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You felt guilty as you shook Jaejoong awake.

This was the third time you were taking advantage of a not-so-fully conscious Jaejoong.

‘Y…yes?’ Jaejoong muttered, turning to look at you though cutely half lidded eyes as you knelt at his bedside.

‘I had permission from the fully conscious Jaejoong yesterday,’ you chuckled, ‘So I want to ask you now. Why do you love me?’

Jaejoong covered his mouth as he yawned and looked up at the ceiling.

You watched him blink… once, twice, thrice, before he pouted adorably as he seemed to be pondering hard about your question. He then puffed up his cheeks and bit his finger in thought.

‘Just go back to sleep, sorry for waking you up,’ you patted Jaejoong’s arm.

As you stood up to leave, Jaejoong reached out to lightly tap you to get your attention.

You turned back questioningly but sat at the side of the bed beside him.

‘Because… you’re you.’

You simply looked at him.

‘I love everything… everything about you. Your flaws, your strengths… everything. And you… you also accept me for who I am… so… that’s why… we… love each other… Right?’ Jaejoong answered in a tiny voice.

You bit your lower lip to distract yourself with the pain to stop yourself from crying.

You just nodded at him, ‘I guess you’re right.’

‘I want to… I…’ Jaejoong looked into your eyes.

You wanted to ask him to continue but you didn’t have to because his soft lips were now spilled onto your own and you whimpered.

‘Don’t doubt my love for you ever again,’ you noticed that the fully awoken Jaejoong was now speaking as he broke the kiss.

You just nodded as words failed you.

‘And just for the record,’ Jaejoong took a deep breath before continuing, ‘I love you. Hell… I love you more than my fabulous self…’

You smiled, ‘Sorry for being so silly.’

‘Now go on and prepare breakfast for me if you’re really sorry.’ Jaejoong grinned.

‘What would you like?’ You sighed, getting off the bed.

‘Kimchi!’ Jaejoong bounced on the bed like a kid high on sugar.

‘Okay,’ you walked out with Jaejoong following right behind.

You stopped in your tracks when you felt strong yet warm arms snaking around your waist and a head resting on your left shoulder.

‘I can’t prepare breakfast with you attached to me like this,’ you tried to fight from blushing.

‘Breakfast can wait… let’s just remain like this,’ Jaejoong muttered as his arms tightened protectively around you.

‘Lets.’ You nodded, leaning backwards in Jaejoong’s arms, basking in his rare display of affection towards you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~