It was 7:00 a.m. the next day and Taeyeon was still sound asleep in her bed.

Jaejoong was downstairs in the kitchen eating some toast in silence. He was in deep thought of what Mrs. Lee had told him yesterday. He had no idea that Taeyeon’s parents died in a ship wreck; he also had no idea that she was afraid of swimming. If she was, then why was she near water?

“I see you’re eating your breakfast alone again.” said someone from the doorway.

Jaejoong turned to face the person and slowly nodded when he saw Mrs. Lee. She sighed and walked in to sit down in the empty stool next to him. Jaejoong set his toast down on the plate and folded his arms in front of him. “How is she?” He asked in a stern voice.

Mrs. Lee nodded. “She’s doing well. She’s still resting but the doctor said she needs it.”

“Why was she near the pool if she’s afraid of swimming?” Jaejoong questioned.

“She can be afraid of swimming, but that doesn’t mean that she can’t like the beauty of the pool or ocean.” replied Mrs. Lee in a matter-of-fact tone.

Jaejoong thought twice about her words and placed his chin onto his palm. “Are you that concerned about her?” Mrs. Lee asked with a mocking smile.

He gave Mrs. Lee a look. “I’m not concerned.”

“Well, your actions seem to differ.”

Before Jaejoong could say something smart to Mrs. Lee, there was a slight ruffling from the doorway. They two of them turned their attention to the door and spotted Taeyeon standing there playing with her fingers. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you guys were having a conversation.”

“Nonsense!” Mrs. Lee shouted which frightened Taeyeon and Jaejoong. “Come on in and let me cook you some breakfast.”

Taeyeon tried to refuse the offer but Mrs. Lee had already dragged her to the stool next to Jaejoong. He continued to sit there which brought great confusion to Taeyeon. From the way he acted towards her yesterday, she thought he would’ve left and ignored her with no hesitation.

“What would you like to eat?” Mrs. Lee asked from behind the counter.

“I can make it myself.” Taeyeon said as she was about to hop off of the stool.

“No, I have two hands that I need to put to use.” Mrs. Lee replied in a jokingly way which Taeyeon then got back up onto the stool. “So what would you like to eat?”

“Um, can I have some toast with scrambled eggs on the side?” Taeyeon asked in a soft voice. She was embarrassed to have someone make her own breakfast for her unless they were her mom. She loved her mom’s cooking.

Mrs. Lee looked up at Taeyeon and so did Jaejoong. His jaw was clenched together and Mrs. Lee quickly shot a question at Taeyeon. “What would you like on your toast?”

“I like them plain.” Taeyeon replied with a shy smile.

Apparently, her answer didn’t do her justice because Jaejoong continued to give her an uncomfortable stare.

“What would you like to drink?” Mrs. Lee asked while preparing the eggs.

“Orange juice.” replied Taeyeon.

“Do you always eat this for breakfast?” Mrs. Lee asked in return.

Taeyeon nodded. “Yes, ever since I was about five, my mother made this for me for breakfast every day.”

“I have to go.” Jaejoong interrupted. He hopped off of the stool and grabbed his coat before walking out of the house.

When he was out of sight, Mrs. Lee shook her head. “Jaejoong is going to be out almost the entire day today. Can you believe that? His father has him working so hard.”

Taeyeon gave a smile. “I guess he has to do what he has to do.”

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It was later that evening and Taeyeon had met Lina. She came over to befriend Taeyeon and they clicked right away. Taeyeon felt happy that she met someone who she could really talk to and be comfortable around now that she’s living in a new environment.

The two of them were in a room to the left of the living room. It had brown shelves full of books and in the middle of the room, there was placed a huge black grand piano.

Lina noticed Taeyeon eyeing the instrument and gently pushed her towards the piano. “Play it.”

Taeyeon looked up at Lina with wide eyes and then back down at it. She sat on the piano bench and sat up straight before softly pressing the keys. The music was so elegantly played. The melody was beautiful, but a thought occurred in Lina’s mind when she realized that it was the melody of Yiruma’s “River Flows in You”.

“This is Jaejoong and Ara’s song. She played it for him one time and he fell in love with the melody that they named it ‘their song’.”

Taeyeon stopped playing and looked up at Lina who was standing over her. “Really?”

Lina nodded but with a hint of curiosity. “Yeah, did Ara teach you the notes?”

She shook her head. “No, my dad taught me the notes to this song. When I turned 13, my dad played me this piece of music on my birthday. I fell in love with it and asked him to teach me the notes. Then when I moved in with Ara and her family, I taught the notes to her.”

An interested Lina stood there with a blank expression. “Well, I can see why you, Ara, and Jaejoong fell for this song, it’s beautiful.”

Taeyeon smiled in return and continued playing.

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The front door opened and closed in a swift movement as Jaejoong walked in. He took his shoes off but immediately came to a pause when the melody of his and Ara’s song echoed throughout the house.

He followed the sound and ended up in front of the room where Taeyeon and Lina were in. He spotted Taeyeon playing the chords but he didn’t move. He was too mesmerized by the mellifluous piano playing by Taeyeon.

It was about 10 seconds later when he forced himself to snap out of it and barged into the room. He stormed over to the piano and slammed the cover shut. “Did I give you permission to play the piano? You are forbidden to come into this room again.” He said harshly while pointing at Taeyeon.

He then walked out of the room with Lina trailing behind. “What is your problem?” She questioned.

Jaejoong turned to face her. “How in the world does she know how to play that song? She’s doing all of the things Ara used to do to torture me.”

Lina shook her head at him in shame. “You haven’t even heard her side of the story for playing that song.”

“Don’t tell me you think she’s innocent.” Jaejoong said back.

“I actually do. You want to know why?” Lina questioned, but she answered before he could reply. “Because her stories involve her parents. Why would she ever lie about her family? You lost Ara yes, but she too lost Ara. Taeyeon didn’t just suffer from what happened to Ara, but she also lost her parents. She lost the three people in her life who she cared for the most. You lost one.”

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Please don't forget to look here!

When TaeJae's World Collide

ah_thien - Thanks! And I always make Jaejoong the bad guy in the beginning..... :p

gummiebearsdelight - They will soon! You can count on it! =)

rosesone - Haha you go and do that. I hope there will be more visitors and supporters. :/

nallym - He'll get there. :)