TWENTY


“Ya! Don’t just jump out of nowhere!” Jae Joong hissed as soon as he found the ability to speak. His heart was still beating hard against his chest after Leetuk’s prank. In the darkness he could see the mischievous smirk on his friend’s face. The only thing that was stopping him from punching the face of Suju’s leader was the tight grip of his wife on his hand. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak when the lights suddenly and a chorus of “Surprise!” and “You should have seen your face hyung!” followed, rendering the newlyweds into another moment of stunned silence.

Dara rubbed her eyes but the figures before her haven’t disappeared. Bom, Chaerin and Minzy stood in the middle wearing excited grins. Leetuk stayed beside them while Changmin and Min Hwan towered behind the girls with slightly pink cheeks and shy smiles. Then after several seconds of silence she grinned, clapped her hands in delight and ran towards her members while dragging the confused Jae Joong along. “You told me you will film a variety show.” She accused, squinting her eyes.

Minzy grinned obviously delighted that they were able to pull the surprise without a glitch, although she admits that the horror theme was a little overboard. She was just glad and relieved that Dara was not mad. She knows how much their unni hated being scared. “Unni this is the variety show.”

Jae Joong felt Dara release his hand and felt a prickle of irritation at the soft sigh of relief from the Ft. Island’s maknae. He ignored him and chose to watch the 2NE1 girls hug each other as if they haven’t seen each other for months with a small smile. Then he shifted his gaze on the three unwanted idols. They looked back at him with nervous eyes and shy smiles. He pretended to not notice the change in Leetuk’s facial expression, from playfulness to open admiration. And the maknaes’ obvious crush on his wife.

His wife!

He loudly cleared his throat, breaking the girls’ group hug. Dara turned her attention back to him and reached for his hand which he gladly reclaimed. 

“You already met Bom.” She said gesturing towards Bom who offered him a mock salute and sunny ‘Annyeong brother in law’ with her signature out of breath voice.

“And these are Chaerin and Minzy.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you two.” He smiled.

The girls smiled back. “It’s nice to meet you too brother in law.”

When it was his turn to introduce Dara he had to bite his lips to keep from groaning in frustration. The three boys, especially Leetuk, who seem to have forgotten that his fangirls can probably skin Dara alive with the way he was behaving, pushed Changmin and Min Hwan out of the way and bowed. “Sister in law it’s so nice to meet you.” And then he looked up and was about to give Dara a big bear hug if not for Jae Joong’s quick reflex.

“Hands off.” He said with a tight smile while keeping Leetuk at a safe distance by putting his hand on the excited leader’s forehead. “I think you had too much caffeine today.” 

“I was just trying to make sister in law comfortable with me.” Leetuk reasoned as he took a step back.

Dara flashed him a small awkward smile and bowed in the direction of the maknaes, afraid that the two boys would follow Leetuk’s example. “It’s a pleasure to meet you sunbae-nims.”

Changmin and Min Hwan waved their hands in front of their faces. “Just call me by my name sister in law and the pleasure is mine.” They chorused with a bow. And then they proceeded to greet the other 2NE1 members.

While everybody was exchanging hellos she let her eyes roam around the apartment. They must be hiding them on the other room. She walked towards the room located on the far right side and took a deep breath before opening the door. Her eyes widened, her face fell and her heart froze for a split second. She turned around and called Jae Joong’s attention who was busy lecturing his dongsaeng’s for behaving improperly in front of their sister in law. “Smooch.”
He flashed the three boys a last warning stare before walking towards Dara. “What is it?”

“The whole apartment is empty.” 

His eyes widened. He immediately looked inside the room and had to stop himself from groaning. Then he walked towards the smaller room and looked inside the supposed to be comfort room but just like the living room and bedroom it was also empty. He walked out. “We don’t even have a toilet bowl.”

“What are we going to do?” She asked.

Jae Joong could only shrug his shoulders. He was starting to get seriously irritated. Was the pitch black hallway the sign of their marriage? Will they really have to undergo several hardships?

He was in the middle of his musings when the bell rang. Before anybody could react Bom answered the door and returned with the mission envelop on hand. She walked towards Dara and gave the dreaded piece of paper.

Dara sighed. “This thing is starting to worry me.” She said as she looked around her. All eyes were on her, her girls stood behind her, Jae Joong secured his spot beside his wife while the three guys chose to stay on their original spot – away from their sister in law. Dara looked at her husband before opening the mission. She took a quick glance on the paper and let out a sigh. She cleared and tried to sound calm. “To Jae Joong ♥ Dara, because you two are WGM’s special couple you will hold two important events today. First will be the moving day. And second is the housewarming. A small amount of cash is included.” Dara once again reached inside the envelop and took out a slim roll of cash. She counted the amount. “This won’t be enough to