♥

I find Jong-In inside my bedroom, sitting on my bed and wearing his usual angry expression.

Apparently I made him wait on me for too long, never mind that he was the one who barged into my room without telling me.

I am getting used to his presence, but seeing him actually invading my personal space is something I have not foreseen, because he has made it pretty clear that he...dislikes me. I thought he wouldn’t dare coming to my house because he is disgusted by the idea that I am engaged to him.

“I have been waiting for you,” he grumbles at me as I give him a wide-eye stare. Rina, my personal assistant, has told me that they couldn’t control Jong-In the moment they opened the mansion’s doors for him. He acted as if he haven't seen a single person at all as he marched to my bedroom, a trail of panicked assistants anxiously telling him that he is not allowed to go to my room without my permission. When my entire staff had shown no signs of stopping, Jong-In turned to them and threatened,

“I will fire every one of you if you don’t get out of my sight! I am betrothed to the young miss, so leave me alone!”

“I don’t like you throwing around the engagement card to scare my assistants away,” I inform him of his tantrum again as I walk across the room to get to my dresser. Grabbing a brush, I begin fixing my hair as I stare evenly at him through the mirror, adding, “and I hope this is the last time you impose yourself in my room. It’s irritating.”

“It’s irritating,” Jong In mimics me in a high-pitched, whiny voice. He then rolls his eyes at me and says, “Anyway, it’s not like your room is padlocked, so what’s the big deal?”

“That’s why I have my staff,” I point out. “to make sure that my room is free of unwelcomed guests.”

“Hah! That’s pretty rich coming from you,” Jong In retorts. “Unwelcomed? Like I specifically asked my mother to let me marry you!”

I angrily put my brush back on top of my dresser, turning around to face my future husband-slash-tormentor. “What the hell do you want from me today, Jong In?”

“Get dressed,” he says simply, lying down on my bed as if he owned it. “Let’s go out.”

“Like a date?” My voice comes out a little excited, but Jong In doesn’t seem to notice, fortunately. Nevertheless, I still mask my excitement with a cough and a no-nonsense voice. “Um, I mean, what for?”

“For a date,” he answers as if he hadn't caught my question earlier. “with me.”

“Oh.” I look back at the mirror to check myself. I am wearing my favorite floral sundress, and the way it compliments my body and complexion makes me want to not change my outfit anymore. “Can’t I just wear what I’m wearing now?”

Jong In sits up and looks at me, and the way he scrutinizes my dress and how it looks on me suddenly makes me feel self-conscious. “No,” he finally says after a minute of examining me, “go get changed.”

“Why?” I inquire, curious as to why he wants to see me in another outfit. “Don’t I look good now?”

“You look like a doll,” He states, and I brighten at this. But then he dampens my little happy mood by saying, “Pretty, but too dainty. How can you have fun wearing a floral sundress?”

“What?” I ask incredulously, slightly offended that he doesn’t appreciate how my favorite sundress compliments me. “Too dainty? you, I won’t change into another dress!”

My cold tone quickly makes him lose his patience. “Watch your language, Minji!”

“Watch your manners, Jong In!”

“Oh my goodness,” He lies down on my bed again with a soft thud. “We’re fighting again!”

“Yeah, well you started it!” I can already feel Rina and the others overhearing my voice outside my room, but the embarrassment of it doesn’t settle inside me because of Jong In. “I will wear what I want!”

“Fine.” To my surprise, Jong In immediately concedes, making me raise an eyebrow. “Wear that sundress. I don’t care.”

“Thank you.” I pick up a tube of lip gloss, open it and letting it swipe a sheen of color on my lips. “I’ll be done in a minute. What are we going to do?”

------------

Jong In said that we can do whatever I wanted to do. I wanted to learn how to fly a kite, but surprises of surprises, he doesn’t know how to do it, either.

Still, we stay in the park, holding colorful kites that are softly hitting the grass as we try to find a good spot for flying.

“Minji,” Jong In calls my name in a slightly exasperated tone, “Finding an open space doesn’t matter if there are no winds to carry these kites up.”

I look up at the blue sky and see thin feathers of clouds idly floating in it. They dance slowly in my eyes, as if the lack of wind is making them dizzy as well. Jong In is right, but I am not one to give up easily.

“Maybe if we wait?”

I can feel that he doesn’t really approve of my idea, but he says nothing and sits on the grass instead with his kite next to him. I spend a few more minutes staring up the sky, but then my legs begin to hurt, so I dejectedly sit beside him. The kites look wonderful, it would have been pretty to see them flying.

“At least it’s not so hot,” He murmurs as I let my kite rest by my side. “We can just stay here and hang.”

“But I really want to learn how to fly a kite.”

“Yeah, well, but there’s no wind at all. Next time, let’s do it.”

“I thought I would look cute flying a kite in my floral sundress.”

My comment makes him laugh for a good minute, making me wonder why he found my remark funny. “Minji, Minji, Minji.”

“What?” The smile playing on his lips is kind of infectious, that I find myself already smiling back at him before I can even stop myself. “It’s a waste that I’m wearing my favorite sundress but couldn’t look cute in it while doing something like say, flying a kite. Or enjoying a picnic. Damn, I wish we brought food with us.”

“True,” He simply agrees as he begin lying on the grass, head resting on his arms. “a picnic would have been better now that I think about it.”

“This is the second time that you agreed with me.” I say. “Why are you so nice today?”

Jong In only sighs at this, and that small action opens another side of him that I haven’t seen before; he is watching the clouds move in a leisurely manner above him, and while he looks peaceful and calm, his face is tinged with melancholia -- he is pensive, almost brooding, and that alone somewhat explains why he’s not bothering to argue with me today.

He is...lonely? Perhaps, and the reason behind it makes me wonder. I wonder what’s stopping him from being his usual self today, I wonder if there is something that's happened --

“Jina is on a date with Sehun today,” He puts an end to my musings as if they were spelled out in the sky for him to see. “I wonder if she’s having a good time.”

I say nothing at this. Of course Jong In’s occasional quietness always has something to do with Jina. I slowly let my body feel the grass beneath me, my eyes looking at the picture-perfect blue and white above us. Suddenly his loneliness sweeps my whole being, consuming me and making me feel guilty.

Had it not been for the Lady and my parents, Jong In would have been spending time with Jina now.  

“I’m sorry,” I whisper softly to myself, but Jong In hears it.

“Don’t feel bad,” He whispers back. “I was the one who went to your house...”

The sadness engulfs me completely and before I realize it, my voice breaks into a low hum; first carrying a few notes, then a tune, until words start forming themselves from my lips;

whenever you miss me, think of me,

don’t ever hesitate;

don’t you ever think it’s wrong,

even if everything seems too late.

it’s not goodbye, so put your fears away,

don’t think that just because

I’m not here, I’m never going back.
For I will, yes I will and I’ll stay.

“What’s that song?” Jong In’s voice cuts through my song and I close my lips, a little embarrassed for letting him listen to me.

“Why did you stop?” He presses, and I force my eyes shut, my cheeks turning red.

I have never sung in the presence of another person before. Even my parents have not been aware that I do. Maybe except for Rina, but she's always pretended to not have heard me every time she’s with me.

“Sing some more,” He demands, and I can already feel my eyes water even if they're closed. I could feel Jong In now looking closely at me. When I don't open my eyes to meet his concerned ones, his voice grows soft as he says,

“I didn’t mean to scare you. There’s something in the way you sing, Minji. I just think you have a pretty nice voice. Don’t cry.”

“I’m not going to cry,” My voice breaks, but I try my best to steady it for his sake. I don’t want to add to his problems. “I just caught off guard, that is all.”

“Sorry,” He says again, and I feel him lie down again, this time a bit closer to me. “I was just surprised that you can sing. You don’t look like you do.”

“Jong In!” My eyes snap open as I turn to glare at him. “Do you think I don’t have any talents?”

“Ah, you’re back!” He answers with a grin. “Well, I mean, we only met just a few weeks ago. Two weeks to be exact.”

“Well, I can sing so get over it,” I snap at him. I immediately notice the harshness in my voice however, so I softly add, “Sorry. Anyway, how about you? I’d like to know your talents other than throwing tantrums and treating most people like sh*t.”

“Hey,” he starts, but chooses to answer my question (minus the side comment) instead. “um. I can play the piano and the guitar.”

“Those aren’t talents, they’re skills. You know, something that we can learn and improve on through constant practice. I know how to play the piano and the guitar too, by the way.”

“Fine,” He says, a hint of irritation coloring his voice. “I can speak Latin, English, Japanese, German and a little bit of Mandarin and Cantonese.”

“Laughing at you for including a dead language, but okay. Impressive.”

“I can dance.”

“Hm,” I consider this for a moment. “I’d like to see that. Because while dancing can be taught, not everyone who learns it have natural grace and flow.”

He jerks up at this, stands on his feet, and grabs my hand, pulling me to stand up as well. I let out a small cry as he pulls me forward, and the sudden change of position makes me feel a little dizzy.

“I can show you right now.”

“Ok Jong In, except we don’t have music playing!”

“People born with natural grace and flow don’t need music to compliment their movements, okay?”

I shoot him a dirty look, and as if to agree with me, the sky begins to darken as well.

“The sky thinks otherwise,” I tell him. “It’s going to rain, the sky doesn’t want to see you dance!”

“Eh, but you do right? Who cares what the damn sky thinks!”

The sky responds by pouring big fat drops of water on us. It begins to rain, completely drenching the two of us in minutes. This doesn’t dampen Jong In’s mood however; in fact the continuous stream of water from above has increased his enthusiasm. He cages me in his arms, his body swaying to the music of the rain, his laughter, and my cries of protests.

“Jong In!” I screech, trying my best to break free from his hold. “Stop!”

He laughs, twirls me around as if he's heard nothing. It’s strange how our random dancing is effectively proving his talent to me. Most of all, it is surprising how happy he looks when he dances, even if the dance itself lacks understandable choreography.

My wandering mind gives him the chance to lift me up, and the suspension makes me yelp at first; I am about to demand him to stop his madness and put me down, but his laughter has stopped me from doing so.

“Don’t be scared!” He yells cheerfully. “I won’t drop you!”

“Ok!” I yell back, now fully feeling the drops of rain and gusts of wind on my skin. He turns both of us around, whizzing past the wet grass, the swaying trees, the empty benches. I savor the sensation of the falling rain and his hands on my hips and will myself to throw my inhibitions; I laugh along with Jong In, lips saying random things that's seemingly made us livelier, like we didn't want to stop.

“Having fun up there?” Jong In asks, and at first I assume he’s being sarcastic, but he isn’t -- his face looks too happy to be annoyed with what we’re doing. Still, I begin to worry about him for he's been carrying me for quite some time now.

“Yes,” I admit, breathless from all the laughing. “but you can put me down, I get it. You can dance and carry girls well while doing it. I’m impressed.”

He grins at me and does what I asked.

“Ugh, my dress is ruined,” I joke, because in real life I could care less with how soiled my clothes would be after this. “and I thought I can put it to good use by looking cute!”

“But you did,” He says with a smile. “You looked different when I let you dance a few feet above the grass!”

“Different as in...cute?”

Jong In purses his lips, but the smile doesn't leave He then grabs my hand and says, “Come on, we might get sick if we stay longer. My mother will be furious, and err, maybe your parents and your staff.”

I nod at him and let him lead the way, happy that despite the failure to fly kites and the bad weather, we have been able to end the day on a good note.

Or maybe not.

Jong In suddenly stops  just as we turn around to leave, his hand suddenly dropping mine.

“Jina,” He whispers.

I lift my chin up to see Jina standing a few feet from us, her eyes glued to the two of us. It is raining hard, but her clothes remain dry.

Of course.

She is standing under an umbrella...held by none other than Jong In’s best friend.

Sehun.