December, 2012

Lee Jae Mi

Ever since that day, it was like a thick, unbreakable rope had tied Jonghyun and me together. We shared something; something so sorrowful but also something that turned every feeling stronger.

By just one look at each other we knew what each other felt. A pair of wrinkles would form by Jonghyun’s eyes if he was angry or annoyed. If he was tired, he was too much man to admit it, and would try to hide it by talking a lot. If he was pure happy, he would relax completely and his eyes shone brighter than any diamond.

The rope that tied us was everlasting. Hands, knives, swords and cruel words; nothing could break us apart. Not even cancer.

For the first time in my life I experienced the feeling of euphoria. When I was with Jonghyun everything dark and cruel disappeared from my sight.

I was perfectly aware that if I turned my head, it would still be there, mocking me. But I made sure not to look neither left nor right. Just straight ahead, my lips covered with a smile, Jonghyun’s hands in mine.

Suddenly we did everything together. The other girl’s tried to tear us apart; sending Jonghyun flirting glances and showing their s all up in his face, but small annoyed wrinkles formed by Jonghyun’s eyes. Then he turned to me, and they suddenly disappeared. The wrinkles I mean.

The teachers were worried for me. My grades had gotten a lot worse lately, so they wrote a letter to my parents, telling them to talk with me about how to spend my time. My parents told me to continue what I was doing. The teachers told me I had lost focus, but I was utterly sure I finally found it.

Jonghyun’s dad didn’t like me. It wasn’t because I tore his son away from him; it wasn’t like he spent time with him anyway. It was more because I told Jonghyun to aim for his dreams and not just obey his dad.

But we were together.

Small, white wonders slowly fell from heaven, embracing the ground like a shield from all evil. The heaven was a shade of grey, but the snow made it all look magical. And all the greyness wrapped the earth in a fluffy blanket of winter.

I picked up a ball of magic and formed it with my bare hands. The coldness burned against my skin so I made it quickly.

I secretly snuck up behind Jonghyun and threw the snowball into his jacket. I aimed perfectly and watched him shriek as the cold snow ran down his spine.

“Yah!” He turned around and glared at me. “Lee - Jae - Mi”, he rasped. He evilly narrowed his eyes at me and crossed his arms.

“Did you just throw a snowball at me?” he asked me. I innocently shook my head and blinked my eyelashes at him. “Ani.”

Jonghyun smirked and then threw his arms around me before I could escape. He dropped my body onto the ground and covered my face with the snow surrounding me.

“S-stop!” I laughed and tried to get away from his grasp. He sent out a heartwarming laugh as he kept on covering my face in snow.

As Jonghyun was about to pour another dose of snow in my face he suddenly stopped. He looked at me from above as his body was hovering above mine.

The cold tips of his fingers gently brushed the last snow of my skin and he sent me a small, sweet smile.

“So pretty”, he gently said as he cupped my face. It seemed ridiculous to say something like that when he looked like he did.

The winter had settled in his face and had turned his cheeks and nose burning red. His mahogany hair was done messily, if even done, and the smile upon his lips was breathtaking. The white, snowy background made Jonghyun stand out like the sun on a cloudy day.

“So handsome”, I responded. A smile formed by Jonghyun’s eyes and he slowly bent down closer to me only to make our lips touch.

As we kissed a magical kiss, our surroundings were terribly cold but I paid no heed to them. I was too caught up in the guy above me, convincing me I was in heaven with those lips of his.

As we finally broke apart, Jonghyun got up on his legs again and reached out his hand for me. “It’s way too cold for this”, he said but didn’t look like he regretted it a single second.

Together we walked through the frosty park, the Christmas lights glistening above us. Couples, families, singles; everybody was smiling as they passed us.

Jonghyun’s warm hand protected mine from the frigid weather around us and took me into a state of safeness. We were untouchable in that moment, walking through the park.

“Jae Mi”, Jonghyun started, his voice near nervous. “We both don’t know how long time I have with you so it’s really important to me that we try almost everything together. Even if I can’t have kids with you like I want to, the least thing we can do is to live together.”

My eyes widened by his words and I hastily turned my head towards him to see if he really was kidding. “W-what?”

“I know this sounds crazy and I know it’s probably too fast and all… But my uncle has this abounded house he can’t get sold. It’s kind of old and we might need to paint and such but… It’s better than nothing, I guess. Jae Mi, please move in with me?”

It took a few seconds for me to really understand what he was asking. This was something couples that had been together for several years asked each other. Though, I didn’t doubt for even a second.

“Yes” I said, almost as I was afraid he would take it back again. “Yes!”

The 15^th of December

Kim Jonghyun

I moved the paint roller up and down the wall, my body stretching to reach the highest parts. “If only I was a bit taller”, I mumbled to myself as the white paint slowly colored the grey walls.

I looked for the stepladder but Jae Mi had already taken it. Even on top of it she was still struggling to reach the ceiling.

She frowned to herself as she looked at the white walls surrounding us. She let out a small sigh. “It looks so boring.”

“Isn’t it just normal?” I asked.

Jae Mi nodded. “Exactly. That’s the problem.”

She placed her hands on her hips and looked like she was deep in thoughts. Then a sudden grin widely spread across her lips.

She turned to me with glittering eyes. “I know what to paint!” She beamed with a sudden enthusiasm.

“Huh?” It seemed that we had moved into a territory where men were no longer able to understand the women’s way of thinking.  “What?”

Jae Mi happily hurried down the stepladder. She was gone in a swift moment and came rushing back with paint pots reaching the entire color scheme.

I raised my brows but couldn’t help but to love how crazy she was. “Are you really serious about this?” I asked in disbelief.

“Does it look like I’m joking?” She said as she dipped her paintbrush into a bright red color and painted a large curve on the ceiling. A satisfied smirk fell upon her lips as she eyed the red line breaking all the white. “Perfect.”

I gazed at Jae Mi, my jaw almost falling open, as she painted orange right under the red. I was debating with myself whether to be annoyed with her for ruining the perfect white walls or to just let it go.

“Don’t be so boring”, Jae Mi said as she finished the orange.

My eyes travelled longer down her body and I couldn’t help but notice how good her looked as she painted.

Jae Mi turned around as she noticed my stare. “Yah! What are you staring at?” said she; a white blush covering her cheeks. I sent her a sly grin. 

“ert”, Jae Mi smiled at me as she handed me a brush dipped with yellow. “Now paint.”

I hesitated once but then let the brush form a yellow curve under the orange.

Hours later we were lying on the floor together, looking up at the colorful rainbow above us. The floor around us was covered with blankets, liquorice rolls and an empty bottle of red wine.

My head was spinning slightly and I suddenly felt dizzy. Whether it was Jae Mi lying so close next to me, or it was the empty wine bottle, I was still trying to figure out.

If anyone asked if I was drunk, I would deny. The wine had nothing to do with the happiness I was feeling at that moment. In a swift moment everything just seemed so good.

“I think it came out well”, Jae Mi smiled and rested her head on my chest. I wrapped my arm around her neck and pecked her earlobe.

Jae Mi’s hair was gathered in a messy, high ponytail, and she still hadn’t removed the paint on her face. A little of red was just underneath her lashes.

“I think you came out well”, I rambled. Jae Mi furrowed her eyebrows and laughed at my weird comment. “What?”

I shook my head. “Sorry, I don’t know what the wine is doing to me.”

Jae Mi chuckled. “I told you not to bring the whole bottle. If it weren’t for you we wouldn’t have ended up here on the floor, drunk, like a pair of mad people.”

I looked at Jae Mi. Not just a quick look, but for the first time I think I really saw her. I saw how her face was shaped like a chubby heart, how her eyelashes curved into half-circles, framing her chocolate eyes. I saw how small moles pecked her neck all the way to her chin. How her pink and plump lips created a piece of heaven.

I finally saw how utterly beautiful she was.

Suddenly all the love I felt for her flushed over my body. It was like I was taken aback by her sudden beauty inside out. “, I love you.”

The alcohol running in Jae Mi’s veins only made her respond with a silly laugh.

With her head on my chest and the sweet taste of liquorice in my mouth, I just wished that we could stay under that rainbow forever. The thought of leaving Jae Mi to search for the treasure at the end of the rainbow would never occur in my mind, because I already got my treasure there, resting on my chest, breathing heavily.

Even though the curves of the rainbow were really messy, the liquorice wasn’t my favorite brand and the wine only was a cheap one on sale from the all-nighter downtown, I would never leave the place if I had a choice. With Jae Mi in my arms it seemed we could defeat anything.

“Jonghyun?” Jae Mi asked after a while of silence. “Can you get the champagne?”

I chuckled and knew I probably shouldn’t. Therefore I got up and returned with the bottle. In a quick move I swept of the top with a knife and let the foaming champagne rain over Jae Mi.

Jae Mi laughed as she desperately tried to cover herself from the froth pouring over her. I grinned and took a large sip of the bottle as I plumped down next to her again.

Jae Mi grabbed the bottle and drank as well. “I’ve never done anything like this”, she said. “Always the good girl.”

I smirked. “Well, welcome to the bad side.”

She let out a happy sigh and laid closer to me. “It almost looks like a real rainbow now.”

I laughed and kissed her lips. “You’re too drunk.”

She was silent for a moment as her fingers drew small hearts on my chest. “Jonghyun, when you picture your future, then what are you dreaming about?”

 I don’t know if it was the alcohol or simply because I loved Jae Mi too much to keep anything from her anymore, but somehow I blurted it all out. “I want to get accepted to Seoul Academy of Music.”

It was one of the finest music schools in Korea, and I knew it would take all I got to even pass the first auditions.

“Then, do you want to become an idol?” Jae Mi asked.

I shook my head. “Nah, too much glitter and glamour for me. I just want to play music.”

Jae Mi turned her head upwards so she faced me. “Then I don’t understand what you’re still doing at our university. You should just give it a shot.”

I nodded, wishing it was that simple. “It’s just that my dad won’t allow it. He said he already wasted a lot of money on my brother’s musical carrier and even though it turned out successful, he still wants to have a son to continue his company. I guess that’s me...”

Jae Mi didn’t respond but suddenly looked far away. She mumbled something so low that I didn’t catch. I didn’t ask but on the inside I wondered what had caught her up like that.

*Seoul Academy of Music is purely fiction, no wonder.