The sunlight glistened upon the ocean waters. He rubbed his eyes as he awoke. Surveying the area, Jaejoong had expected Sung Hee to be sleeping by his side or gazing out at the coral pink ocean, but she wasn’t even present. Sung Hee? Where had she gone? He shifted his attention to his vibrating cell phone. Text message.


‘Gone somewhere. Will BBL @ your house. Sung Hee’


Jaejoong shrugged. Might as well make the most of his time. He lay on the sand and stared at the puffy cumulus clouds drifting overhead.



*****


Sung Hee cautiously approached the dimly lit room, the shadows concealing the face of her inviter. “Everything was going quite smoothly until you decided to screw it all up for me,” the person leered.

She was quiet. Evidently, her employer wasn’t pleased.

“I paid you good money to keep Jaejoong away from Tae Hee---not for you to go off and marry him. I’ve got other plans for Mr. Clueless,” the person cackled. 

“I... didn’t know. I mean, I tried... but...” she faltered. “I couldn’t say no.”

“You idiot. Course you could’ve said no. Break his heart; he deserves it.”

“No he doesn’t!” she retorted angrily.

A scoff. “And you can’t retaliate. Don’t forget that we’re under contract, Sung Hee, AND if you don’t listen to me, I can always tell him that you were and still are being paid.”

“Blackmail?” Sung Hee whispered in disbelief. That was low.

“Bingo.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Really? If I was able to kidnap your dear friend, Tae Hee, I think I’m perfectly capable of dropping a few hints. So just be a pretty little wife for the time being and wait for my instructions.”

“It was you? You abducted her? How could you?”

“Oh, I’ve done far worse things than that. You should be scared,” the person laughed maniacally and handed Sung Hee a check. “$10 thousand USD should be sufficient. Give your father my best regards. [A/N: If you missed it in Ch 22, her dad just had a costly surgery.] You are dismissed.”


*****


She wandered about the streets aimlessly, pondering over her current predicament. If she were to listen to her employer (she didn’t even know his/her name), that meant she’d be with Jaejoong... but only for a bit. She’d have to hurt him in the end. If she were to stay with Jaejoong forever, she’d be ratted out... and he’d still be hurt. It was a lose-lose situation. So whatever choice she made, it wouldn’t change anything...would it?



*****


Sung Hee knocked cautiously on the bedroom door. “Hello?” The door creaked as she pushed it open. “Jaejoong?” She glanced around. The room was dark---with meager sunlight penetrating the curtains. There was Jaejoong, hunched over a book.

He grunted an affirmation.

“What’re you doing?” she asked, sitting beside him on the bed.

He wiped a tear away. “Nothing. Just looking at baby pictures.”

“Of Tae Hee?”

“Yeah... Appa and Umma finally let me see them, after what, eighteen years? It’s kind of funny. My baby sister doesn’t even look like Tae Hee.”


“Oh.” There it was again. The jealousy. The envy. The resentment. Tae Hee. Tae Hee. Tae Hee. “...Jaejoong?”


“Huh?” He finally looked up at her.

“Do you love me?”

“...I’m trying.”

She clenched her teeth. “You aren’t...because there’s always Tae Hee in the picture. And even when she’s halfway around the world. Even when she refused to say goodbye to you. Even when---“

“Stop. I said I’m trying. Don’t push it.” He stalked away, not wanting to accept the reality that Tae Hee wasn’t his anymore.

She grabbed his arm. “Don’t PUSH IT? How can I not push it?” She muttered coldly, “Knowing that you still love your sister.”

And so Jaejoong slapped her. “Stop being an insensitive, selfish b*tch. All you know is how to be jealous---nothing more.” He slowly hobbled out of his room as he massaged his aching head.

She watched the distance grow between them. “Mianhae.”


But she wasn’t sorry. 

She was still too obsessed with winning Jaejoong’s love to notice the bruises. 


*****


Jaejoong nodded his head to the beat. It had been so long since he last went clubbing. He attempted to smile as his friends sat down.

“What brings you here, Jaejoong, on this fine fine night?” Yunho asked. 

Too fatigued to respond, he continued to sip his drink.

“Will you stop drinking?” Yoochun demanded suddenly, jerking the glass from Jaejoong’s hands.

“Huh? Why’d you do that?”

“You don’t look well. You shouldn’t have called us out....you shouldn’t be out here,” Junsu mentioned lightly.

“Then you shouldn’t have come,” Jaejoong snapped back bitterly.

“Hyung... I’ve been noticing---” Changmin began.

“You know what? If you’re not going to enjoy the night with me, then I’ll just leave.” He rose from the booth and began stomping away. He had come out to take his mind off of all his problems; instead, he had gotten a major headache. His friends weren’t helping either. 


And then it was all black.



*****



Jaejoong’s eyes slowly fluttered open. It was all white. Where was this place? Heaven? He shifted his head and saw his friends, conversing with a man. He closed his eyes.

“Doctor! Doctor! How is he?” Jaejoong smiled. Good old Junsu, always worrying for others.

The doctor hesitated. “Perhaps we should talk when he wakes up...”

Yunho grabbed his arm. “No. Tell us. What’s wrong with him?” Oh, Yunho’s charisma.

“I don’t want to know. I’m leaving.” Ah yes, Yoochun’s denial. He had suffered enough pain to last all five of them a lifetime. 

The door slammed close.


“Headaches, fatigue, bruises... all symptoms of...” And of course, Changmin, the youngest one, and his intelligence.

The doctor nodded. “All symptoms of leukemia.”

The surprise and sorrow smothered them all, leaving them speechless.

He twisted the doorknob and glanced over at the patient. “I’m sorry.” 

A tear glistened.


Jaejoong stared at the white-washed ceiling. “I don’t want to die yet.”

Junsu turned around. “You heard?”

“Your parents don’t know yet...” Yunho announced slowly.

“Don’t tell them. Not now.”

“But you have to---“ Changmin stated.

“Changmin-ah, I can’t. Not when the company is depending on me.” He sighed. 

“What about Tae Hee?” 

Everybody looked up to find Yoochun in the doorway.

“No, especially not her. She just started a new life; I don’t want to ruin it and bring her back into the past.”