“Please pick up, please,” Alice looked around her, luggage close to her. “Damnit!” Alice looked at her phone, frustrated. Why wasn’t either of them answering?! She had just arrived at Incheon Airport, and had tried calling her sister and Belle, only to get voicemail and each attempt. “See what happens when you have no plan?” she quickly went through her contacts… “Jaejoong!” she dialed and waited… and waited. Nothing. “What now…?” she looked around, Hangeul everywhere. She knew enough to not get too lost, but it was still disorienting. Just then her phone ran and she fumbled with it. “Yoboseyo?”

  “Did you call?” Jaejoong’s voice came through in English.

  “You’re available,” she breathed in relief. “My sister and her friend, you know where they are?”

  “Oh!” Jaejoong said. “I think they’re recording or rehearsing now.”

  “Ah,” Alice thought for a second. “Do you know when their schedule ends?”

  “Not till late,” he paused. “Why?”

  “I’m at Incheon Airport,” she sighed. He didn’t seem to know what happened, much to her relief.

  “Mwoh?!” came his surprised response. “Waeyo?”

  “Don’t ask,” she breathed. “I need a place to go, but I don’t know where, and my Korean isn’t that good.”

  “Don’t you know where their dorm is?” he asked no more question as to why she found herself in Korea.

  “Ani..” she tried getting occustomed to the Korean.

  “Aish,” he made a clicking noise with his tongue. “You’re lucky I’m free for a while. I’ll be here in 30.”

  “Gomawo oppa,” she hung up and went to the food court. She was hungry. “Aish, do not like McDonalds but… Um… Japanese? English?”

  “Hangeuk, yusamnida,” the guy said.

  “Um…” she looked at the menu. “Four, putakamnida.” She held u four fingers.

  “Neh!” he punched in numbers and Alice paid.

  She poked at her food, not really looking at it as she waited, keeping her mind completely blank. All she needed to do was go to her sister and Belle. Nothing more. She refused to think of anything.

  Her phone vibrated and she looked at the message.

재-오빠

Where are you?

  She typed quickly:

Food court, McDonalds

  She gingerly sipped from her soda, looking at nothing.

  “Alice!” she felt hands on her shoulders. “Food is going to get cold.”

  “Ah, how are you?” she looked up, eyes dull.

  “Seems better than you,” he sighed, concern on his face. “Kaja.”

  They walked silently to the car, Jaejoong taking her luggage. They got in and he pulled out of the airport, glancing over so often at Alice. She just looked out the window, a frown on her face. He the stereo, not being able to stand the awkward silence any longer. SHINee came on, making Alice smile when she heard Belle and Adriel. When she heard Jonghyun’s voice, she felt confusion weld up in her heart, her thoughts wondering on how she would… she shook her head. She couldn’t think about it.

  “That’s it,” Jaejoong turned and parked near the Han River. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

  “I’m just visiting my sister and friend,” Alice shrugged nonchalantly. “Is that wrong?”

  “Tch,” he turned off the engine. “I’m not taking you anywhere until you talk to me.”

  “I’m fine,” she answered coolly.

  “Yoboseyo?” Jaejoong ignored her as he answered a phone call. “Ah! Yamapi… mwoh?” He glanced over at Alice and she glared straight ahead. “Ah… No, she hasn’t contacted me yet… yeah… why?... I’ll let you know… bye.”

  “Why did you lie?” she looked over at him curiously.

  “Because I want to hear what happened from you,” he pointed it out.

  “No,” she crossed her arms.

  “Fine, I’ll call him and tell him you’re with me,” he started dialing again.

  “No!” she tried reaching for his phone.

  “Calling,” he put his phone far from her reach.

  “Fine!” she slumped in her seat in surrender.

  “Good,” he put his phone away… from her. “Talk.”

  And so Alice told him everything as he drove. He frowned as he listened, but Alice didn’t cry. She said everything in monotone, distancing herself from what she spoke of.

  “I’m on your side,” he finally said as he parked. She looked out.

  “Isn’t this the SM building?” she blinked.

  “Neh,” he shut the engine off. “They should be practicing now.”

  “Oh,” she stepped out gingerly. “Won’t I get in trouble?”

  “Ani, you’re with me,” he winked and led the way.

  “Pfft,” she rolled her eyes.

  “Yah!” he started messing up her hair. “Don’t roll your eyes at me!”

  “Noo!” she let out a giggle and ran ahead. “I can roll my eyes if I want, merhong!”

  “Come back here!” he ran after her.

  “Aniyo!” she laughed as she ran behind a trash can.

  “You’re gonna get it!” he caught her from behind and picked her up. “Gotcha!”

  “Lemme go!” she whined, laughing.

  “Never!” they were still outside the building. “You asked for it!”

  “Stooop!” she struggled.

  “Kekeke!” he laughed and spun her around, making her laugh harder.

  “Jaejoong!” she kicked out her legs.

  “Hyung?” a voice cut into their laughter. “Who is that?”

  He stopped and gently put Alice down, both slightly stumbling, dizzy from spinning. “Hey.”

  “Alice?” a girl’s voice asked, making Alice look up.

  “Adriel?” Alice’s eyes widened.

  “Is that you?” Belle stepped out from behind Taemin.

  “What are you doing here?” Onew spoke up. All of SHINee stood there, eyes wide. Jonghyun eyed Jaejoong suspiciously, and Alice with worry.

  “Alice?” Adriel stepped forward.

  “Adriel!” Alice flung herself into her sister’s arms. “I missed you!”

  “I missed you…” she stopped when she felt Alice’s body heaving. “Alie.”

  “I’m fine,” she sobbed into her sister’s arms. “I’m okay.”

  “Alice…” Adriel murmured and rubbed her sister’s back. Her sister was never one to cry much, or never showed anyone when she did. Having Alice go from laughing with Jaejoong one minute and sobbing and breaking down the next so openly, it scared her.

  The group looked at Alice in shock. She was in Korean, with Jaejoong, laughing once moment, and crying the next. They looked on with worry and didn’t know what to do. Jonghyun wanted to hold her, and had a faint idea of what caused her to be this way. Jaejoong looked at Alice before turning to the rest of the group.

  “You need to take her somewhere to calm down,” Jaejoong finally said.

  “Why were you with her hyung?” Key asked.

  “We’ve met before,” he avoided saying that it had been because of Yamaa.

  “Can we head home?” Belle looked away from Alice to the rest of SHINee.

  “Let’s go,” Onew nodded. “Hyung, does Alice have luggage?”

  “Neh,” he nodded. “I’ll get it.”

  Just then, Alice collapsed, her legs giving way, everything, the reality of what had happened crashing down on her.

  “Alice!” Jonghyun finally rushed over to help Adriel.

  “She fainted,” Belle was helping Adriel hoist Alice up. “She’s really pale. I don’t think she’s eating much for a while.”

  “I’ll carry her,” Jonghyun offered, stooping over to pick her up bridal style. Alice’s head rolled to lean on his chest, her face stained with tears. “He hurt you…”

  “Come on oppa,” Adriel tugged his arm.

  “Neh,” he walked carefully with Alice in his arms, glancing down occasionally.

  “Is that all her things?” Minho asked as Jaejoong approached.

  “Neh, this is it,” Jaejoong nodded. “Take good care of her.”

  “How do you know her?” Jonghyun stood up straight after placing Alice in the van gently.

  “Picked her up for him when I was in Japan,” Jaejoong shrugged. I’m friends with him.”

  “Hyung, why is Alice here, and why was she crying?” Taemin asked. Adriel and Belle sat with Alice, worry in their eyes. “Do you know.”

  “I do,” he looked at the girls. “But it’s not something for me to share. Leave her to the girls. I have to go.”

  “Hyung,” Jonghyun grabbed Jaejoong’s arm, stopping him. “You better not have anything to do with it behind her back.

  “Are you threatening me?” Jaejoong raised an eyebrow. “I would consider she called her sister, and Belle first. But she called me first and not you when she couldn’t get a hold of either of them.”

  “Jjong,” Key put a hand on his shoulders, and shook his head. “Now’s not the time to get jealous and testosteronnie.

  “Neh,” Jonghyun shrugged him off and got in the van.

  “Thanks for getting Alice,” Onew bowed. “We’ll take it from here.”

  Arasso,” Jaejoong glanced one more time at Alice before leaving, a frown on his face.

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

  Yamaa threw his phone towards the couch, tangling his fingers in his hair in frustration. He felt insane, lost. He couldn’t function properly. Shouji and Tauru had found him where Alice had left him, broken. The media heard of the breakdown and tried to ask questions, but he looked down, face stained with tears, as Tauru and Shouji led him away. Within four hours the news was everywhere, and the engagement off. To his relief, Maki had left his place by the time he returned.

  “Yamapi,” Tauru placed a hand on his shoulder. “You need to calm down.”

  “How?!” he snapped. “Alice is everything to me! How do I know if she’s okay if I can’t get a hold of her?!”

  “Yamapi!” Shouji snapped back. “Shut up and listen.” Yamaa sat down, startled by his anger. “Better.”

  “Fine,” Yamaa crossed his arms. “I’m all ears.”

  “Stop to think of your situation as it stands at this moment and what it could mean for Alice if she were here,” Shouji looked at Yamaa pointedly. He froze. “Everyone think you cheated on Maki, and then getting engaged while cheating. Alice won’t be able to show her face here until things clear up. And by running away to Korea, she looks innocent, but you look, in either case, like the bad guy. You two timed.”

  “But I tried breaking things off…” Yamaa mumbled.

  “Yes, but the public doesn’t know it,” Tauru stated. They don’t know everything that happened behind the scenes.”

  Just then, someone knocked and Shouji went to get it. “It’s Maki-san.”

  Yamaa looked up, “Might as well let her in.”

  “Come on in Maki-san,” Shouji opened the door and Maki stepped in.

  “Arigatou,” she bowed stiffly. “Yamapi, we need to talk.”

  “Take a seat,” he looked down at his hands.

  “You look awful she sat in the arm chair. “Gomen.”

  “Huh?” Yamaa glanced at her. “Gomen?”

  “You,” she bit her lip. “You were right.”

  “Maki?” Yamaa studied her.

  “I didn’t want to listen,” she looked down. “When I first confessed, I knew you didn’t like me. I thought you did before I did. That’s why you treated me differently than all those girls. But when I confessed, I saw the truth and I didn’t want to look foolish. And…”

  “And…?” Yamaa kept his gaze fixed on her. Tauru and Shouji stood to the side, listening.

  “I thought maybe if we dated,” she glanced up. “you could finally see me in a different light. So I pushed it, but your face towards me never changed, and I saw it. When Alice appeared, I saw something about you change, and I panicked. When people mentioned her name around you, or when you said it, your expression… I knew you liked her in ways you’ve never liked me or your ex’s. When I saw the recording of your special stage with her, the day after our date, I saw this connection between you two. And I realized she’d been the one at the Tokyo tower. That’s why you were so fixated on her and the guy.”

  “Alice was on a date with another guy?” Shouji interrupted.

  “Was it one of the guys that came along with her sister and friend from the k-pop group?” Tauru asked.

  “Jonghyun,” Yamaa spat. “She was with him, and he, he…” he clenched his hands, knowing Alice could be with him at that very moment.

  “I never imagined you two were dating gin secret,” Maki glanced away from Shouji and Tauru. “But when did it happen? And why would she be on a date with someone else, and looked like really liked him and then date you? Was she two timing you?”

  “No,” Yamaa shook his head. “She’s not like that.” And he told Maki what happened after his and Maki’s date ended. What happened before. He told her everything.

  “No wonder you look like crap,” Maki whispered. “It’s my fault. Gomen. I’ll help clear everything up. At least from my part, what happened between you and Alice from here on out is on you. But I’ll do what I can.”

  “Maki…” he was speechless.

  “Arigatou is all you need to say,” she smiled softly.

  “Arigatou gozaimasu,” he stood and bowed. “Demo, hontou ni gomenasai.”

  “Don’t do that,” she stood up. “It’s hard enough as it is. Just get some rest. I have to go and fix this.” She left silently, holding back tears. She knew what she was doing was right, but it still hurt.

  “She’s a good person,” Yamaa said after some time. The other two nodded. “I have to text and get a hold of Alice. I’m pretty sure Jaejoong lied when I spoke with him.”

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

  “Alice slowly opened her eyes, feeling disoriented. She looked around warily, not recognizing where she was. She spotted posters of SHINee and a picture of the girls and herself. That’s when she remembered. She squeezed her eyes shut, tyring ot make it go away. Something small and wet slid down her cheek, and she wiped it away roughly, opening her eyes and glared at the ceiling.

  “Now Alice,” she said to herself in Spanish. “Enough is enough.”

  She kicked her legs out over the side of the bed and sat up. She stretched, yawning like a cat. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and looked around the room more closely. She smiled. Everything screamed Adriel and Belle, making her feel warm. She stood up and saw her luggage, padded over to it and looked for a fresh change of clothes. After she changed, she peeked out the door, trying to hear anything, or anyone. She thought she heard someone, so she slipped out of the room and headed to where she heard the sound.

  “You’re up,” a head poked out in front of her. “Hungry?”

  “Yeah,” Alice nodded and followed. “Where’s everyone else?”

  “Schedule.”

  “You’re free?”

  “Yep.”

  “You can cook?”

  “Better than Taemin and Belle,” he smirked. “But Adriel made something before she left for you. Said you’d love it.”

  “Oh?” she raised an eyebrow. “What is it dino?”

  “Yah!” he puffed out his cheeks. “Oppa! Call me oppa.”

  “Give me food,” she ignored him. “I get moody if I don’t eat.”

  “And sick,” he placed something in the microwave.

  “Yeah, I haven’t eaten anything for hours,” she sat at the table. “so what did Adriel make?”

  “Food,” Jonghyun placed something in a pan.

  “Yah!” Alice jumped up. “Tell me!”

  “Just sit down,” he grabbed the plate from the microwave.

  “Fine,” she crossed her arms and looked at him crossly.

  “Here we are,” he placed a plate with red Mexican rice, steak and warm shredded corn. “Enjoy!”

  Alice’s mouth watered. “Did you already eat?”

  “No,” he sat across from her with his own plate. “I wanted to accompany you.”

  “Ah,” she looked at the food hungrily.

  “Well, what are you waiting for?” he chuckled. “Eat!”

  “Neh!” she picked up her knife and fork and dug in. “Mmm…”

  “There you go,” he smiled warmly and at his own food.

  “So good!” she liked her lips when she finished.

  “Very,” Jonghyun picked up the plates. “Anything you want to do?”

  “Let’s watch a movie!” Alice grinned. “Do you have snacks for while we watch?”

  “Ani,” he pouted, and then brightened. “Let’s go buy some!”

  “Jincha?” she bit her lip. “You’ll get spotted easily.”

  “Ani, it’s okay,” he gave her a puppy grin. “You can practice your Hangeuk.”

  “Arasso…” she ran back to the room and got a coat. “Kaja?”

  “Good,” he took her hand and led the way. “It’s really improved since I last saw you.”

  “Ah, gomawo…” she looked at their joined hands shyly. “Jjong…”

  “Oh, mian,” he apologized but didn’t let go.

  “Aigoo…” her mind started wondering to when her and… she shook her head. “You didn’t let go.”

  “Oh,” he slowly released her hand, face with a light blush. “Miahneda.”

  “Daij—kwenchana,” constricted.

  Jonghyun glanced at her, a small frown on his face. “This way!” he tugged her arm briefly and led the way to a small store. “Let’s get those snacks.”

  “Deh,” she managed to choke out. “Jjongie…”

  “Neh?” he raised an eyebrow.

  “Don’t…” she bit her lip. “Hold my hand again.”

  “Arasso,” he took her hand gently and led her into the store. “I won’t let go until you do.”

  “Gomawo,” she looked around. “I want ice cream!”

  “Arra arra,” he chuckled and headed towards the ice cream. “What kind?”

  “Chocolate!” she tugged his hand as she made her way closer to see the ice cream. “That one!”

  “Anything else?” he got a small bucket of ice cream out.

  “Chocolate chip cookies,” she thought for a second. “And sour gummy worms?”

  “Okay!” he led the way, grabbing the snacks. “We all set?”

  “Soda!” Alice exclaimed.

  “Got some at home,” he grinned. “Kaja.”

  They paid and made their way back to the dorm. They walked in silence, hands still joined, sharing the load of groceries. Once inside, they placed everything on the table and went to change into their pj’s.  Alice wore long black fussy pants and black tank top. Jonghyun came out in black sweats and a black wife-beater, blankets in arms. Once they saw how they matched, they burst out laughing. After calming down, they placed all the snacks on the small table in front of the couch, popped in a movie, and huddled under the blankets, snacking.

  “Where’s your hand?” Alice whispered half way through the movie. Their snacks almost completely gone.

  “Here,” he inched his hands towards hers under the blankets.

  “Your hand is warm,” she inched closer to him.

  “Are you feeling cold?” he looked at her in the dim light of the T.V.

  “Just a little,” she whispered.

  “Here,” he pulled her closer to him. “Better?”

  “Neh,” she placed her head on his shoulder.

  “Good,” he kept her close to him the rest of the movie.

  “They should both be asleep,” Key said as he opened the door.

  “Do you think Alice ate?” Belle asked.

  “Knowing her, yes,” Adriel sighted. “Did they forget to turn off the TV?”

  “I’m going to kill that Dino,” Onew walked towards the TV. “Woah, what do we have here?”

  “What is it hyung?” Taemin followed Onew. “They’re sleeping alright.”

  “Sh,” Minho looked at the two figures on the couch. “Should we wake them?”

  “Aish,” Adriel shook her head. Jonghyun lay on his back, and Alice was neatly curled up close to him, her head on his chest. “They have no shame.”

  “Yamaa…” Alice mumbled fitfully and Jonghyun tightened his grip on her.

  “I need to get to the bottom of this,” Adriel’s temper rose.

  “Let them sleep,” Key placed a hand gently on Adriel’s shoulder. “You and Belle have tomorrow off, so you can talk then. And Jonghyun… let him have his moment. He knows what he’s getting himself into.”

  “You know if manager-hyung finds out, he won’t be happy, right?” Minho said.

  “He won’t,” Belle said, and Taemin took her hand in support.

  “Let’s go to sleep,” Onew said with a final tone in his voice.

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

  “I lied because she looked like she was about to cry,” Jaejoong was saying to Yamaa over the phone.

  “I need to talk to her!” Yamaa said for the umpteenth time. “I already told you everything.”

  “She needs time Yamapi,” he said curtly. “Even with all that being true, you still lied to her. She trusted you and you betrayed her trust.”

  “Do you like her?” Yamaa asked suddenly.

  “Mwoh?” Jaejoong blinked, tightened his grip on the phone.

  “You and your girlfriend broke up a while ago,” Yamaa said slowly. “Do you like Alice?”

  “She’s a good person,” Jaejoong said.

  “Answer the question,” Yamaa snapped. “Do you or do you not?”

  “Neh,” Jaejoong sighed. “But don’t worry; I’m not going after her. There’s too much drama involved with all that. And I don’t like her enough to fight you and Kim Jonghyun both.”

  “How do you know…” Yamaa’s grip tightened on the phone, eyes wide. “You left her with him?”

  “Yah!” Jaejoong was surprised by Yamaa’s tone. “You know them personally?”

  “They all came to see Alice!” he snapped. “Her and that dino kissed! And she didn’t push him away…”

  “No wonder he was so pissed when he saw me,” Jaejoong mused.

  “What?” Yamaa froze.

  “Yeah,” Jaejoong shrugged to himself. “Asked me how I knew Alice, told him we’re friends, and threatened me, his hyung, that I better not have anything to do with Alice being broken.”

  “Is…” Yamaa bit his lip. “How was Alice when she saw him?”

  “Well, she rushed to Adriel and broke down crying,” Jaejoong paused. “She hadn’t eaten either, and passed out.”

  “She what?!” alarm shot through Yamaa.

  “That’s how hurt she is,” Jaejoong said, annoyed. “She might just go to that dino, as you call him.”

  “Thanks, I know where to find her,” Yamaa went to his room, throwing some clothes into a suitcase.

  “You didn’t think she’d go to her sister?” Jaejoong asked, perplexed.

  “Well yeah,” Yamaa made the flight reservation on the computer. “But I wasn’t sure if they lived with SHINee. Or if she would have gone straight there.”

  “What are you gonna do?” Jaejoong put it on speaker and typed a text.

  “Going to get Alice back,” Yamaa hung up.

  He gathered his bad and hurried out the door. Being away from Alice for a week had him nervous. He had hoped she would have replied to him, but nothing. The only thing left to do was to go to her. He felt empty without her after spending every spare moment together for such a long time. He was sure she was the one. He was a broken mess otherwise.

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

재-오빠

He knows where you are.

Says he’s coming for you.

  Alice slapped her phone on the counter and looked at the cup of noodles she was heating up. her gaze was cold and hard. The past week had been fun and relaxing. She spent most of her time alone since SHINee was busy with their schedules, but she got time to spend with members individually. She found herself forced to learn Korean faster than any other language before since she traveled Seoul alone.

  She had eventually told Adriel and Belle, along with the boys, why she was in Korean, since she was crashing at their place. They listened in silence, but eventually Adriel blew her casket, going on about how Alice could have been so stupid. How dare Yamaa li in the first place. That she wanted to give him a piece of her mind. Belle had rushed to Alice’s side, and watched with everyone as Adriel ranted. Eventually Alice burst out laughing at her sister’s tangent, causing Adriel to freeze. Alice in between giggles and sobs told Adriel to go cuddle it up with Key, not needed anyone to tell about the two. That was enough to make Adriel go beat red and simmer down.

  “You might make it explode if you keep glaring at it,”Alice whipped around and faced Onew.

  “Onew oppa,”she mumbled. “Hungry?”

  “I’m fine,”he leaned on the counter, arms crossed. “You’ve been all smiles since you told us.”

  “Is that bad?”Alice picked up the cup of noodles and grabbed chopsticks.

  “You’re a good actress,”Onew watched her closely. “But sometimes your true emotions leak out. And you stay away from Jonghyun now.”

  “What does he have to do with anything?”she slurped up the noodles.

  “That’s your closing up your broken heart,”Onew said. “And that means that you just locked up your broken hear without giving it a chance to heal.”

  “Again,”Alice put the noodles down. “Jonghyun had to do with this because...?”

  “Because you don’t want to let him in because you’re scared he’ll heal you and then break you,”Onew became impatient. “You’re feeling broken, but you don’t want to admit it.”

  “So what?!”Alice snapped. “Is it so bad to protect myself from getting hurt again?”

  “Ani, but you need to heal your heart,”Onew padded over to Alice. “Keeping yourself locked up in your own misery isn’t healthy for you. And Belle and Adriel are worried about you too.”

  “So you want me to trust Jonghyun?”Alice made her hands into fists at her sides.

  “I want you to try letting yourself heal and not remain broken,”Onew placed a hand on her shoulder. “Please?”

  “I’ll try,”she looked down.

  “Good,”he surprised her then by hugging her. “You’re not alone, aracchi?”

  “Neh,”she rested her head on his chest and sighed. “Gomawo oppa.”

  “Mm,”he hummed. “I’m hungry.”

  “Oppa!”she playfully smacked his chest. “Aigoo, want to share?”

  “Neh!” he chuckled.

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

I don't even know what to say.

But here's a long chappie for you guys!

It was 13 pages on Word.

Anyways, tell me what you all think.

I only got two comments last time OTL

So sad.

But anyways, I wanted to update before I went away for the weekend.

And just fyi, but there's 2 more chapters after this.

The last one will be on May 30th since that's the annivarsarry.

I don't know if anythingkpop (formally known as TaeminLuver) will say anything.

But please comment! Tell me what you think!

Now picscam!

I don't even *Q*

That one make me laugh.

What do you think Onew?

Some of these macros are so great XD

Yes Yamapi, think about wha tyou did.

Love this song ♥♥♥

Oh my gosh, that's my man right there

PUPPYYYYYYY!!!!!