“At an ungodly hour of nine in the morning and you’re taking me where?” Jamie asked for the nth time in the hour since Siwon had woke her from sleep. The two of them were on Siwon’s car and driving her somewhere, waking her up early and telling her to go take a bath and ready herself because they were going somewhere urgent.

“Don’t worry too much. Everything’s fine. We are just going to meet some people.” Siwon answered, eyes on the road.

“I think I better send a message to my parents.” Jamie stated bluntly. “I should say a proper goodbye before I go missing for life. Who knows if I’m ever coming back alive?” she said.

“It’s not like that. It’s just my work mates. We got a free day and instead of strolling around and risking being mauled by fans, they thought that they should get to know you better. They really seemed to like you.” Siwon kept his eyes on the road. “Besides, Heechul hyung said he’d cast Heebum on me if I don’t bring you.” he added with a lower voice.

“The guy that looks like a girl?” Jamie frowned. “What? He’s got you on the neck or something?”

“No, it’s just that what he wants must be given to him or hell will break lose.” Siwon answered with utmost seriousness.
Jamie frowned. To her surprise, Siwon ruffled her hair like a kid, a smile on his face. “Stop it.” she protested and scooted as far away from him as the car seat would allow.

“Don’t worry about them too much. Despite being idols, we’re still normal people. You’re going to love them, I promise.” he assured, a huge grin making his dimples go off.

“You’re not trying to convert me into a fan girl, are you?” she stated with a raised brow. Siwon only laughed.

“I thought you were going to bring your wife. Who’s the kid?” Heechul asked Siwon as the latter and his companion came in through the door. He looked at the person Siwon was with, taking note that if the said person was a girl, then she had a bitterly too simple sense for fashion.

“Hyung, stop that.” Siwon frowned a bit and ushered himself in, a hand on the small of Jamie’s back. “Be nice to her, I thought you said you’d even like her more than Donghae if she cooks for you.”

“What?” Donghae piped from his position on the couch with his guitar. “Hyung, you can’t do that to me!” he whined, a pout on his face.

“Shush.” Heechul didn’t even look at Donghae, his eyes boring into Siwon’s companion. “But you looked like a girl in your wedding.” he blurted.

“Not all that wear pants are guys, so there‘s no reason for all girls to wear skirts. Stop being stereotypical.” Jamie crossed her arms.

Heechul was taken aback. Siwon was shocked and was questioning his sanity of bringing Jamie into the dorms when he bets that she was still not settled with her new life, and not to mention Heechul’s tendencies to be too outspoken at the best (worst?) times. Donghae had his attention on Jamie and was grinning.

“She totally got a point, hyung.” Donghae laughed, he didn’t even flinch when Heechul glared at him. “Hey, Jamie sshi, my name’s Lee Donghae. You can call me Hae or whatever you like.” he practically bounced off the couch and towards Jamie, slinging an arm on Siwon’s shoulder. “Can you cook? I’m hungry! Teukie hyung is out. Please, can you make some food?” he made puppy eyes.

Jamie was a bit surprised by the sudden request, but she couldn’t find the words to decline, not with those eyes, and the pleading playful smile.

Siwon just looked at Jamie, silently saying that it’s okay if she doesn’t want to.

“You do have fire alarms, right?” Jamie said and smiled after a moment.

Donghae let out an excited whoop and pushed Jamie towards the kitchen. Jamie felt strangely awkward with the sudden skinship but then shook the feeling away as Donghae made a list of what he wants to eat. Siwon kept reminding him that Jamie wasn’t their cook.

Almost an hour after, Donghae was happily gulping down a tasty stew with a happy smile. Heechul and Siwon were eating too while Jamie just sit with them, content with serving another cup of rice to whoever wants seconds, which were all three of them.

“This is good! Really, really good!” Donghae said between mouthfuls.

“Yah, where are your manners, Hae? Stop talking and eat.” Heechul reprimanded.

Jamie suppressed the urge to smile as Heechul fussed on Donghae who had managed to spill some sauce on his shirt. Heechul tried helping Donghae on cleaning his shirt off (he was only managing to spread the stain wider) and ended up being soaked with water when he accidentally knocked his glass. Siwon face palmed and throw a pleading look at Jamie.

Jamie patted Siwon’s free hand which was lying on the table before she stood and got some paper towels for both Donghae and Heechul. The two sprinted for their rooms for a change of clothes.

“Sorry for the mess.” Siwon apologized, wiping the table as Jamie put the plates on the sink. “And to think that there’s only two of them here at the moment. I’m dreading what’ll happen if the other 9 arrives.” he sighed.

“Siwon sshi, don’t do that.” Jamie said, grinning.

“Do what?”

“Sighing like you’re an old lady. And creasing your brows like that. And slumping your shoulders. You look nowhere near the Siwon I’m starting to know.” she grinned while ‘fixing’ whatever she was commenting about.

“Oh, your past the awkward touchy-touchy feeling already. Good, good.” Heechul nodded his head with a huge grin as he sauntered towards the fridge. “Oh, Jamie, if it’s not too much to ask, can you stay over and cook dinner? Everbody's comeing over but it's the cooking ahjumma's day off. No one will cook.” he said nonchalantly.

“Yah, hyung, don’t talk to her as if she’s our cook ahjumma.” Siwon whined a little.

“I’m not. So stay and cook dinner okay? Cook lots of American dishes like what you just did.” Heechul continued, giving Jamie a wan smile.

“Now you talk to her as if she’s your wife and not mine.” Siwon countered again.

“So she’s the ‘wife’ now huh?” Heechul said, complete with air quotations. “For someone who had a deal with their parents as if marriage is a business proposal, you two are sure to act weird.” he raised a brow, a grin spreading on his face.

“Yah, hyung! Stop that!”

Jamie shook her head a bit. “Alright, alright, stop talking about that anymore. We are trying to make good things out of the situation.” she stated.

“I’ll shut up if you cook.” Heechul grinned wider than that of the Cheshire cat.

“Fine.” Jamie sighed. She was hoping that she could go back to the apartment earlier to check on her applications on several schools in Seoul. But it looks like she’d be cooped up in the dorms with these guys.

“So you’re looking for a job in schools here in Seoul? Have you been accepted to any?” Jungsu asked earnestly. “Lee Hyukjae, Shin Donghee! Stop hogging the food!” he snapped at two people further down the table (said table was actually two which were connected to accommodate all of them).

Jamie glanced at the two person Jungsu was reprimanding, one a little bit chubby, another one who was smaller in size but seemed to eat even more than the first one. It’s a little bit close to 8 in the evening and Jamie had finished cooking she deemed to feed at least 20 people. Donghae, who had been chatting with her all day, had said that the other members would come home late or maybe around midnight or something, and she didn’t expect them to be around for dinner. Lucky she had made much, Donghae insisted for her to cook as if it was fiesta because when the boys do come home, they’d be hungry as if they’d been starve for days.

He was never more wrong.

“I haven’t checked my mail for responses yet. But I hope I’d have a good feedback though.” Jamie answered.

“What kind of teaching job are you looking for? Are you teaching kids?” Donghae asked.

“Ah, I would love to teach kids. But I applied to high schools mostly. It’s hard to find daycares that would want at accept a music major like me. So I applied as a music teacher on high schools.” Jamie replied. She handed a napkin to Donghae, who had managed to spill some sauce onto his shirt, yet again. “You really should be careful.”

“Ah, sorry. I’m a little bit clumsy sometimes.” Donghae said as he accepted the napkin and wiped the stain on his shirt. “I hope it would come off if washed.” he muttered.

“It would if you wash it immediately. If it sets in, it’ll stick to the fabric.” Jamie said.

“You really are a wife material.” Heechul grinned. “You can cook, can take care of a kid like Donghae, and I bet you also can clean a house with no problem. Yah, you’re really lucky, Siwon!” he teased.

“Hyung, stop it!” Siwon reprimanded, a little bit pink on the face.

Jamie just laughed a bit. “Well, that’s because I lived away from my parents since I was around twelve. I learned how to take care of myself.”

“Twelve? Aren’t you a bit young to live away from your parents?” Jungsu said.

“She got accepted into a music school abroad. She came back just three days before the wedding.” Siwon replied nonchalantly as he finished up his food.

“Oh? That’s a pretty long time.” Jungsu noted.

“It was hard, but I enjoyed my time there. My parents called almost everyday in the first few months that I was there.” Jamie laughed. “But I heard that you guys also started at a young age in the business. Must have been tough.”

“It was, but it was fun at the same time.” Jungsu replied.

“You should come to one of our practices. I bet you haven’t seen Siwonnie dance. Ah! You definitely should come!” Donghae grinned.

“You dance?” Jamie teased Siwon.

“It’s part of the job description.” Siwon grinned.

“Right, it is.” Kyuhyun agreed. “I can’t help but wonder how our Great Kim Heechul got the job. Dancing is definitely not in his personal talents.” he laughed teasingly.

“Yah! It’s not as if as you can dance that well either!” Heechul reprimanded the maknae by hitting him everywhere his hands could reach.

Everybody was laughing at the table.

“Aish! Yah, all of you stop laughing!” Heechul glared at his group mates. “Yah, why are you laughing too? Are you that good of a dancer?!” he shot at Jamie.

Jamie suppressed her giggles and put on a calm face. “I… don‘t really dance… I hate sweating.” she scrunched up her nose. “Besides, I tend to stumble on my feet so…” she shrugged.

“Really? Aish! You really should come to one of our practices. I’ll show you how to dance! You’ll enjoy it for sure!” Donghae said.

“Really? Wouldn’t I be a bother?” Jamie looked at Siwon.

“Siwon doesn’t own you even if you are married.” Heechul glared at Siwon. “Yah, bring her tomorrow, okay?”

“Why are you ordering me around, hyung? Aish!” Siwon protested.

“Just bring her! She can’t stay cooped up in your apartment! Why? Afraid that she’d see hoobaes and dongsaengs she might like?” Heechul teased.

“It’s not like that, hyung!” Siwon defended, waving his hands in front of him wildly. “She… she can like whoever she wants.” he said.

The other guys looked at Jamie and Siwon with teasing and curious eyes.

“Really?” Eunhyuk asked.

Siwon looked at the blonde member. “Yeah… it’s… it’s not as if her heart is also tied to me…” he looked at Jamie.

There was a bit of silence on the table save for the soft clinking of chopsticks and bowls of those who were eating.

“Really? So you wouldn’t mind if I say I like her?” Henry said, causing for the others to look at him suddenly. He was looking at Jamie seriously, ignoring his hyungs.

“W-what?” Siwon stammered, looking at his dongsaeng with a shocked expression.

“Well, you said that her heart isn’t tied to you. So would it be okay if I like her?” Henry replied with the same serious tone he had before.

Jamie was so shocked she couldn’t say a thing, just look at this guy, whom she easily had memorized the name because it was the only one that was actually an English name. Was he really serious?

“Yah, Henli! What are you talking about?!” Jungsu asked, trying to laugh and make a joke about what the maknae said.

Henry looked at Siwon. “So, gege, is it okay if I like her?” he asked.

Siwon was silent for a moment before answering. “Err… well, it’s your… decision. I can’t possibly stop you from liking her… can I?”

There was another awkward moment of silence as Henry held his gege’s gaze.

“Napeun nom.” Henry said in almost a whisper.

“Excuse me!?” Siwon asked, totally shocked. “Yah, Henry! How could you!” he demanded.

“She’s your wife! Even though you took the vows as if it was a business proposal, the two of you are still married! She’s just not someone who you’re living with! Aish! If I am her, I would have thrown you out the window for letting another guy blatantly try to steal me from my husband!” Henry said hotly in a stumbling Korean.

“Hey, Ms. Jamie, if he ever does this thing again, just tell me and I’ll teach him a lesson!” he said to Jamie in a hurried English.

Siwon frowned at Henry. “You were just bluffing?”

“Of course I was! I’ll never do that to you, hyung!” Henry laughed, easing the tension that surrounded the whole room.

“Aish, Mochi! I thought you were serious!” Heechul said before patting the other on the back. “You’re acting skills are really getting better.”

“Kamsahamnida, Heenim.” Henry grinned.

“But your Korean still .” Heechul added.

“Aish!” Henry protested cutely. He turned to Jamie again who had already recovered from the earlier shock. “But I am serious about what I said earlier, Ms. Jamie. If Shi-Yuan gege allows another guy to take you away from him, then just say so and I’ll teach him a lesson.”

“Thanks? I guess?” Jamie smiled tightly.

“Yah! Stop that! I won’t do that!” Siwon reprimanded.

“Well, you better, gege. Do that and I might take her for real.” Henry replied. He stood from the table and took his plate to the sink. “Anyways, I have practice. So I’ll leave first.” he said in Korean.

“Your Korean really , man.” Heechul said.

“Stop adding ‘man’ onto your sentences, gege. It sounds weird. It gives me goose bumps.” Henry replied, faking a shiver.

“Yah, you insolent little hamster!” Heechul reprimanded, hitting the maknae. Or trying anyways since the kid had made the only girl in the house as his cover. “Don’t hide behind her! Come over here, you little brat!” he added, motioning threateningly.

“Yah! You’re going to hurt her instead!” Siwon tried to stop Heechul but there was no stopping the older guy.

Jamie had her eyes wide, her arms in front of her as Heechul tried to get to Henry who was still behind her.

“You brat! You’re worse than Kyuhyun! Come over here and let me teach you a lesson!” Heechul shrieked.

“Whatever, gege! I don’t speak Korean!” Henry replied in Chinese.

Siwon finally got hold of the situation when he pulled Jamie towards him, and having Jungsu get in between Henry and Heechul just in time before the older one murdered the maknae.

“Stop acting like kids, for Pete’s sake!” Jungsu grounded wearily when Heechul was able to calm down.

Jamie just watched the three of them with a really wide grin. Who knows these supposedly idols would act like this? If she only got it in video, she’d sure it would be a hit on the net.

“Are you okay?” Siwon asked, turning Jamie here and there to check for any injuries.

“I’m fine.” Jamie replied. “Stop that!” she said when Siwon continued to check her up, much like a doctor.

Siwon stopped for a moment, brows furrowed, before he let go and cleared his throat. “Sorry. I… you’re no hurt anywhere, right?”

“No. I’m okay.” Jamie reassured.

“Well, I guess I don’t have to worry about gege letting other guys steal you. Not for the meantime anyways.” Henry grinned at Jamie.

“Quit it, Mochi.” Siwon reprimanded.

“But I have a warning to you, Jamie.” Henry ignored the older one and faced Jamie, a serious look in his face.

“A warning?” Jamie frowned curiously.

“Yeah. You must never, ever, as in not in a lifetime! Let gege sleep beside you!” Henry stated in a serious tone.

“Excuse me?!” Jamie was shocked.

“Yah! Henry Lau!” Siwon roared.

Jamie could feel the blush on her face. She looked at Siwon but immediately turned her eyes elsewhere when the latter also had looked at her. She hated being awkward with him. And their lifestyle being mentioned is making everything ten times more awkward.

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Henry laughed. “But really, Jamie, you shouldn’t let him sleep beside you, no matter what.” he added in a more serious tone. And then he grinned cutely, dimples showing as his eyes turned to slits and his cheeks puffed out. “He’s got a weird habit of squeezing anything or anyone that sleeps with him. You might wake up with broken bones in the morning.”

It took for a few seconds for Jamie to process everything Henry said. And she laughed with him.

“Alright, I’ll remember your warnings, Henry. Thank you.” she replied.

“Good. Now I’m off.” Henry said and dashed for the front door as Siwon went after him.

“Are you guys always this fun?” Jamie asked Jungsu.

“Well, we do try to balance things out. All work and no play is a pretty nasty situation to live in.” Jungsu replied.
Jamie smiled. “You’re right.”

Just then, Jamie’s phone rang and she excused herself to accept the call. She went to the balcony to accept it.

“Where’s Jamie?” Siwon asked when he was back from chasing Henry out of the dorm.

“She’s got a call.” Heechul replied.

“You really act like a husband to her, hyung. It’s weird.” Kyuhyun said.

“That’s because he is.” Sungmin pointed out.

“I know, alright. But then the whole thing is just an arrangement. But I get a different feeling to it.” Kyuhyun insisted.

“Siwon is just a gentleman, we all know that.” Sungmin replied. “And you are just making it easier for her and for you so act like this, right?” he said to Siwon.

“Huh? Oh, yeah.” Siwon replied. “I mean, we are in a weird situation enough. If we make it more complicated and fight, then we’d be in a bigger mess.” he shrugged.

“You don’t like her?” Kyuhyun prodded.

“Huh? What do you mean? Of course I like her. I don’t hate her. It wasn’t her fault that we were both tied to this-”

“I mean like ‘like’, hyung.” Kyuhyun explained. “You both know that everything is just something the two of  you were forced to do. What if one of you ended up liking the other? What are you going to do? I mean, did you even check if she had a boyfriend before she came back?”

Siwon was silent. Well? What can he say? He didn’t check if she really had a boyfriend. And she hadn’t say anything about the matter either.

“Well?” Kyuhyun prodded even more.

Whatever Siwon was about to say was cut by a loud yell from the balcony. He was gone in an instant and literally covered the distance from the kitchen to the balcony in a few steps.

“So… about the liking part… do you think you already have the answer?” Shindong asked Kyuhyun.

Kyuhyun smirked. “Not yet. But I think I have a pretty good guess.”

Siwon nearly ripped the glass doors off their hinges when he heard Jamie yell. He can’t believe how creative his mind can be at making up scenes of what happened to Jamie, one of them was she slipped off the railing and was hanging by a hand as she was falling to the ground below. It gave him goose bumps.

He was so relieved when he saw Jamie jumping up and down as she held her phone on her chest, squealing silently, a happy look on her face.

“Yah, you almost gave us a heart attack when you screamed.” Siwon called for her attention.

Jamie stopped jumping around and was surprised to see Siwon standing on the balcony with her. She calmed her expression but couldn’t help but smile widely.

“I’d like to clear it up that only Siwon was worried.” Kyuhyun butted in as he peered through Siwon’s shoulder. “What happened? You look like you swallowed the moon or something.” he grinned.

Jamie smiled even wider. “Well, I got a call from one of the schools I applied at and they said that they are much interested in hiring me. And that if I can go for an interview. But the one that called me said that the interview is just formality since the school faculty already had decided to hire me anyways.” she sighed happily. “Wow, this feeling is so awesome. I cant believe it!”

“Congratulations.” Siwon smiled.

“Thanks.” Jamie couldn’t help but to smile back.

“If the two of you keep smiling like that to each other I think I’m going to melt. So I’m leaving!” Kyuhyun said.

“Yah, Cho Kyuhyun, really!” Siwon shook his head at the back of the maknae.

Jamie ignored the comment. She was just very happy.

“So… how does it feels? You got accepted in your first work. Congratulations again.” Siwon said.

“I cant explain it. It just makes me want to jump around or something. I feel really good.” Jamie replied. “Ah, I’m really happy.”

Siwon smiled. “It’s good to know that you are starting to have the life you wanted even though things are not exactly how you want it.”

Jamie looked at Siwon. “Well, I cant say that it’s that bad of a situation either. Like I’ve said before, you’re not a bad guy. I guess you live in a complicated world, but you’re okay.” she went to the railing and took in the view of Seoul.

Siwon stood beside Jamie on the railing. “Thanks, I guess. But… there’s something Kyuhyun had made me realize just now.” he looked at Jamie and watched how her eyes twinkle with happiness as she looked at the beautiful night light of Seoul.

“What is it?”

“Well, we both know that our lives had been complicated enough since the day you came home to do the wedding. And I realized that I didn’t actually consider the fact that… you might have had some other plans… with someone else.” Siwon looked everywhere but Jamie after finishing his sentence.

Jamie looked at Siwon with a surprised expression. She grinned at how visible the pink tinge on his face was even though it was a little bit dark on the balcony. “Are you trying to know if I have a boyfriend before coming here?” she laughed.

Siwon faced Jamie with a small pout on his face. “Don’t laugh. I’m just a bit worried. Well, you are free to leave for him if you like. It’s just that we can’t have a divorce. There’s nothing I can do with that and I am sorry. If you want to live with him, then you are free. But I can’t give you the marriage. We’ll both be disowned if we have a divorce.”

Jamie laughed even more. “First of all, Choi Siwon-sshi, do you think that if I have a boyfriend that I was planning to live with for the rest of my life, is that I would come back here knowing about the pending wedding? And if I did have one, I would have had him in tow just so I wound be married to some unknown guy.”

Siwon’s brows raised high into his forehead. “You mean… you don’t have a boyfriend?”

Jamie shook her head with a smile.

Siwon sighed. “Well, that’s a relief.”

It was Jamie’s turn to raise a brow. “A relief?” she asked teasingly.

“I don’t meant it like that!” Siwon started flailing his arms in wild gestures as he explained what he meant.

Jamie just kept laughing at him. She then patted his shoulder to tell him that she understood what he had meant and then left to go inside and share her good news with the others. Siwon sighed as he watched Jungsu happily congratulated Jamie along with the others. Kyuhyun slipped into the balcony and patted his hyung on the back.

“Nice one, hyung. Very smooth on confirming that she doesn’t have a boyfriend.” Kyuhyun said before slipping into the house again with a huge Cheshire grin on his face.

“Yah, Cho Kyuhyun! You’re really…ugh!” Siwon sighed. Kyuhyun really have a way with messing with his hyung’s heads. But come to think of it, he was really nervous about asking Jamie if she really did have a boyfriend. He cant help but to think about what if she really did have one and she was planning to marry him if he ever had asked? Would he give Jamie to that guy?

He looked at Jamie’s happy face as his friends congratulated her.

“Will I give you up if someone captures your heart?” he asked into thin air. “Yeah, definitely.” he answered his own question with a small smile. “I don’t have your heart in a box, remember?” he sighed. “Ah, I’m going crazy! Cho Kyuhyun, this is all your fault! Oh, God, please help me endure more of this torment!” he looked up into the night sky.

As he look at the almost invisible stars, he can’t help but compare Jamie to them. They are definitely up there, but so out of reach. And because you’re in a bright place, seeing them clearly is almost impossible…
 

a/n: it's kind of silent in here... is it really that bad????