[12:15 PM] 

"So where did you want to start?" Jaejoong asked.

"You didn't have a plan set up already?"

Gyuri stood on the sidewalk in front of her apartment complex talking to Jaejoong who was leaning on his car. It was Saturday, the day when Jaejoong would have been on a date with Younha.

"Nope. How about we just spend the day at your apartment?" he asked smiling.

"No."

"But I like home dates."

"This isn't a date, this is a power lunch."

"So you just want to talk business?"

"No. Okay, so this is an interview." she said, "I ask the questions and you answer. Okay?"

"Okay, Gyul." Jae replied.

Gyuri was surprised to hear him call her that. It was the nickname her father had called her as a child. Did her mom tell him that?

"Oh!" Jae exclaimed as a thought hit him, "I know a good place to start."

---

They drove for a while and arrived at a school.

"What is this?" Gyuri said getting out of the car to stand next to Jaejoong.

"My old elementary school."

"You went to a private elementary?"

"Yeah."

"I forget, your family is rich isn't it?"

"We have money." he said trying to move off of the topic.

Gyuri's family wasn't poor but they definitely didn't have even half of what Jaejoong's family had. His great grandfather had built himself an empire with products for family homes. It started off small enough but became huge within time. Jaejoong was the reluctant heir, it was something he didn't like discussing.

"So this is where you went..." Gyuri said getting closer to the school.

"Wanna look around?"

"Inside?"

"Yeah, it should be open today. They have special classes on Saturdays. Come on." He grabbed her hand lightly.

Gyuri followed.

They walked into the school and Gyuri recalled her own elementary. They didn't look so different. The label was just fancier.

Walking down the narrow hall, Gyuri stopped in front of a row of pictures. They were old. Maybe Jaejoong was amongst the smiling faces.

"Looking for me?" He asked, watching her look closely at the picture.

"Yeah, but I have no idea what you looked like as a child." The fact made Gyuri feel melancholy.

"That reminds me, you were really cute as a child." Jaejoong said recalling the pictures her mother had shared with him.

"So unfair." she muttered, thinking of how he knew so much about her.

"Come on, I'll show you." Still holding her hand Jaejoong began leading her to another area.

They walked up the steps and passed a few open classes.

"Are those the special classes?" Gyuri asked.

"Yeah."

"Did you take them?"

"I had to. It's for second language learning exceleration."

As they passed the second class they were stopped.

"What are you two doing?" a man asked approaching them.

Gyuri instinctively tried to pull her hand out of Jaejoong's.

"Hello, director Lee." Jaejoong replied, holding Gyuri's hand tightly.

"Oh, Mr. Kim." the man said getting closer to the pair.

"The library is still open right?" Jaejoong asked.

"Of course, did you want to see the renovations we made thanks to the last donation from your family?"

"I just wanted to show Gyuri here my old school pictures."

"Ah, yes those are available in the records keeping section. Please allow me to you."

"We'll be fine. Thank you."

Jaejoong began walking again pulling Gyuri behind him.

"If you want me to answer your questions today don't let go. Okay?" 

Gyuri reluctantly nodded.

Jaejoong opened the doors to the library.

The moment they walked in Gyuri had forgotten that it was an elementary school, it was an impressive site. 

While she stared at the rows and walls of books, Jaejoong tugged on her hand. "It's over here."

They walked over to the record keeping section of the library. 

Gyuri tried to walk ahead of him and start looking through the books but he pulled her back reminding her not to let go of his hands.

"Really?" she questioned.

"Yeah, really." 

"Your hand is sweaty." She lied, just wanting him to let go.

"Fine." Without letting go of her right hand he reached for her left hand and held it. He then let her right hand go.

"You're ridiculous." 

He smiled. 

"So how am I supposed to find your old pictures?" she asked.

"Together. We should start here."

They walked over to a wall filled with books. Gyuri started looking through the books but holding Jae's hand was getting in the way. 

"Seriously, I can't do anything holding your hand."

Jaejoong sighed and closed the distance between them. Gyuri backed off. With each step he took closer she took one away. She knew what he was trying to do. 

"Stop it." she demanded. 

"Stop what?" he asked, taking another step. 

"Stop coming closer. Let go of my hand." 

Jaejoong pulled on her hand hard, causing Gyuri to fall forward. Instead of kissing her, he wrapped his other hand around her back and held her.

"Just for a moment. Stay like this." He held her in silence.

Gyuri felt the same feeling as she had before, he was still warm, light and safe.

"If you keep doing things like this, I'll go crazy." Gyuri said still being held. 

"Good."

He let her go and she moved away from him. She felt even more driven to know more about him. Jaejoong watched her look through the books with a determined look on her face. He smiled.

"Aren't you going to help me?" Gyuri asked, seeing Jaejoong stand idly.

"No, I like watching you."

"Help out." She demanded as she pulled out an old yearbook. "This is the year you were here right?" 

He looked as she held the book out. "That's it."

Gyuri flipped through the book, she wanted to see what he looked like, to know if he played any sports, if he did any extra activities, she wanted to just know more.

She scanned every page and stopped when her eyes fell upon the image of a small boy with short hair, sharp kind eyes and the same full lips. Beneath the photo it read "Kim Jaejoong"  She smiled. He looked the same, the only thing missing was a smile. She grabbed for two more books and found him again, he still wasn't smiling. She wondered what the young boy in the picture was like. She looked up from the book, the boy in the pictures stood before her as a man. 

"I found you." Gyuri said to him, "You look the same. What were you like at this age?"

"I was a serious child."

"Serious?" That would explain the lack of a smile.

"I was, very different than I am now." He walked over to a table and sat down, Gyuri followed and stood beside him.

"Did you participate in any extra activities? Like sports?" she questioned. 

"I really liked soccer but... I didn't play for a long time."

"Why?"

"I had to have my priorities."

Gyuri saw his face grow dark. "Our lives were really different weren't they?" she asked. 

He looked up and smiled at her. "From what I know, they were definitely different."

Gyuri was witnessing another side of Jaejoong. He looked pitiful, his smile was forced and sad, it was too unsettling. Gyuri wanted to know more but if it meant seeing him this way she would stop. She put the book on the table and put her hand on his shoulder. "Wanna go eat?"

"Yeah."

She grabbed his hand and lead him back outside.

"I'll eat where ever you want." she told him.

"I know what I want." He told her as he got into the car.

"Okay, let's go."

---

"A street market?" Gyuri questioned as he parked the car. 

"I want a homemade meal."

"You mean I?"

"Yeah, I'll buy the ingredients, you cook them up!" He opened her door and helped her out. 

"Okay, so what did you want?" She'd make him lunch, it wasn't too much to ask for. She was also just relieved to see him act normal, no forced smile.

"I want Dak galbi and banchan"

"Dak Galbi!?"

"Do you know how to cook it?" he asked.

"Yeah but, it takes time."

"That's okay, we can make it a late lunch date." 

Gyuri nodded.

"Let's go then." he said as he took Gyuri's hand. 

---

They were halfway done with the ingredient list, talking about food they liked when the same particular ringtone began to play. Jaejoong let go of Gyuri's hand and went to retrieve his phone.

That ringtone. Who was that person he was so quick to talk with? He never mentioned them but they were the reason he left her that night. She was starting to dislike that ringtone.

Jaejoong answered the phone and walked away. Gyuri, a little upset, walked off in her own direction holding some bags filled with ingredients. She wasn't paying attention to what was directly in front of her and hit someone.

"Sorry." she automatically said as she bowed in apology.

"Gyuri?" the voice asked.

She looked up to see a man holding a couple of bags of his own. "Hyukjae?"

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