"I hate your stubborness the most, Jaejoong." Mr. Kim admitted. "Why can't you just let me handle everything and just whisk yourself towards the jewellers for an engagement ring?"

            "Father, I love the girl." Jaejoong explained. "Before anything else, her happiness comes first."

            "She would be happiest if you just tell her your true feelings."

            "Safety is a factor of happiness as well, father." Jaejoong rebutted.

            His father groaned, defeated. "Here is the folio with the information I found out about the case."

            Jaejoong took it and skimmed through it. "Hana's mother is Minji's aunty?" Jaejoong was completely stunned with this new piece of information.

            "Yes but it is quite far to investigate, I will look into that part myself." Seungheon offered. "You can do this instead." He pointed to one phrase on the paper.

            "Lee Sangwoo attended the same high school as Minji's mother." Jaejoong read aloud.

            "The school is in Seoul. It is much more convenient for you to look into this whilst you're keeping an eye out for Minji."

            Jaejoong couldn't help but smile. "Thanks, father."

            "Call me, dad." His dad said and he really meant it.

            Jaejoong's smile only grew. "Dad." He patted his father on the shoulder then dashed to his motorcycle.

            The high school was very close by. He parked at the front of the school and walked through the office door. Jaejoong was about to turn a corner but was stopped by a man in his fifties. "What are you doing here?"

            The man had a broom in his hand so Jaejoong suspected that he was the janitor. "Hello sir. My name is Kim Jaejoong." He introduced himself. "Do you remember someone by the name of..." Jaejoong searched through the paper's for Minji's mother's name. "Song Taehee."

            The man shook his head.

            "Oh wait." He searched for Minji's aunt's detail. "Kim Taehee."

            The man began to smile. "Kim Taehee was such a loving little girl."

            Hope rose up in Jaejoong. "So you do know a Kim Taehee?"

            "Yes, she was loved from everyone in this school." A sadness overtook the man. "It's too bad she was so much brighter than her sister."

            Jaejoong scanned his sheet again. "Kim Taerin?"

            "Yes. That was her name," The man outbursted. "Both of the Kim sisters excelled in academics, athletics and beauty. But Taehee had kindness that shone as bright as the sun. Taerin was quite cold and so she wasn't as popular as her younger sister." He recounted. "I think that that is why Taerin was always jealous of Taehee."

            Jaejoong put the pieces together. It could be that Minji's aunty played a part in the Song murder eight years ago. "Oh look. There's a picture of her with her friends over there." The man pointed to a glass cabinet. Jaejoong looked at the photograph. It was easy to identify Taehee in the picture. Her smile illuminated the whole picture and she really resembled Minji. They both had the same eye smile. Taehee was surrounded by two men who shared the same happy smile as her. The two boys seemed very familiar to Jaejoong but he just couldn't pin point who they were. After some time, he figured that one of them was Sangwoo. But he still didn't have a clue about the other man.

            Jaejoong decided to take a picture of the photograph, just for future reference. He had a lead now. Minji's aunty was a prime suspect for this case. Jaejoong thanked the janitor and walked around the school a bit more, in case he could find some more clues. A sudden vibration was felt from his phone. Jaejoong took it out of his pocket and opened the text message. It was a text message from Yunho. He had told Jaejoong to meet up with him. It was quite obvious that Yunho was trying to get him and Minji back together. Wherever Yunho went, Minji was sure to be with him. But Jaejoong had stuff to do. He knew now, how he was going to find Sangwoo.

                        "Where are we going, Yunho?" I asked.

            "It's a surprise." Yunho had refused to tell me where we were heading. So I just sat in the car excitedly, anticipating where our destination might be. We passed many beautiful gardens, the Namsan tower and even the Han river. But Yunho never stopped at any of those attractions. Instead, he parked at Seoul University. I gaped at the beautifully structured buildings. The whole place looked so grand, as if it was a town of its own. 

            "You wanted to come to this university, right?" Yunho reminded me, then stepped out of the car.

            I followed him. However on the first step onto the ground, I was reminded of another thing. Jaejoong also attended this university. My hand found the door handle and attempted to open the car door again and let myself in but Yunho had already locked it.

            "Minji, what's wrong?" Yunho couldn't understand the mixed emotions that were overwhelming my heart within me.

            I tensed a little, feeling strangely giddy knowing that there is a slight chance of meeting Jaejoong here. But at the same time, I wanted to get away from this place. I didn't want Jaejoong to see me. I had already survived a whole day without him and I intended to keep trying to move on.

            "Let's explore, alright?" Yunho tried to ease me. He held my hand tightly and  took a step forward but collided with a girl on her phone.

            The phone fell out of her hands from the impact. "I'm very sorry." She began but then looked up at Yunho. "Well, aren't you a yummy fellow." She commented.

            Yunho looked at the girl, puzzled. "What?"

            She eyed me and our hands that were glued to each other. "Aww, it's a shame you're taken." She complained. She picked up her phone and put it back together and the phone rang again. "Well, ciao. I hope the next hot guy I meet is actually single." She put her phone to her ear. "Okay, okay I'm going, Gongchan. You can stop being so demandin-"

            Yunho chuckled once she was out of sight. "Well that was weird."

            "I think she likes you." I snuck in a grin.

            Yunho shook it off. "It's just a fling. I bet every guy is like that when they see you, Minji."

            I blushed. What he said partially was true. You could never really fall in love with someone unless you knew something about them and that girl didn't even know Yunho's name. I remembered knowing Jaejoong for so long. I never fell for him, not until I started to interact with him more and learn more about his true nature.

            "Let's go." Yunho interrupted my thoughts.

            I only smiled at him. "Yes, let's go."

            Yunho seemed to know a lot about the university. Apparently, he would come here every year and observe the place. It was a motivation for him to work hard in his studies and get into Medicine. We found a comfortable spot in the library and started talking about the past. It was all very good, until Jaejoong started to pop up into my conversations.

            "Yunho." There was a question I was itching to ask. "Is it true that Jaejoong killed my parents?"

            Yunho's lip pursed. "Honestly, I'm not too sure." Yunho answered. "When he ran away to me, he didn't tell me anything. It seemed like there was something important he was hiding from me."

            "But why would he blame himself? I can't see him becoming a murderer, no matter how cold he used to be when he was little." I said a bit rashly.

            "Minji, Jaejoong has a strange way of thinking." Yunho grabbed my hands. "It is true that he sees himself as someone inferior. He hates himself more than anyone. That I know for sure."

            "I know that too." My voice was quite hoarse.

            "But Jaejoong will make it through. He will find light in his life, just like how Haeyoung found Minji." I looked at Yunho, utterly confused. "Jaejoong was always frustrated at you. Do you want to know why?"

            I only nodded. I really wanted to know what he thought of me when we were little kids.

            "When he wanted you dead, you seemed to want him to live." Yunho replied. "That was what was ticking him off so much about you. What do you think that means, Minji?"

            I gathered my thoughts. Jaejoong had actually appreciated my concern for him, even back when we were little kids.

            "Listen, I don't want us to keep tracing ourselves back to Jaejoong. Let's change the topic. I want to know what you did when I left." Yunho said.

            "Well, the very first thing that I did." I paused for a bit and then continued. "Was run up to Haeyoung, crying." Everything that I was talking about always seemed to lead back to Jaejoong. I didn't want it to be like this. I wanted to move on from him like he had, from me. I put my hand to head and tugged on my hair lightly.

            "Minji, don't worry about it." Yunho dropped the topic. "There's one last place I want to show you today before we leave." I followed him once again. "This is the largest lecture room on campus. You have to check it out." He took me into a modernised building which differed greatly from the traditional university buildings. Yunho led me down a flight of steps and opened a pair of plain black doors.

            The room was dimly lit and completely empty. Despite the poor lighting, I could tell that the cushioned seats were a vibrant forest green colour. The floor beneath me was made of soft black carpet. The podium in front was elevated by wooden floorboards. And behind on the far wall was a projector screen bordered by navy velvet curtains. It was massive. I found my feet dragging itself to the front row seats and planting myself down.

            Yunho sat beside me. A smile was on his lips. "We're going to come here together Minji."

            I turned to Yunho and forced a happy expression. "Yes we are." I choked a little. The truth was, I wanted it to be Jaejoong sitting next to me, saying those very words to me. But at the same time, I felt that I would be scared if it was actually him sitting next to me. I was also fearful of the idea of attending the same university as Jaejoong. As much as I wanted to see his face again, I didn't want him to see me because I knew how much he despised me.

            "Minji, I'm going to head off to the restroom for a bit." Yunho said breaking my thoughts. I nodded and he left. I looked down at my clasped hands on my lap and sighed painfully. Moving on was harder than I thought it would be. I arose from my seat and made my way up to the podium. My shoes clunked on the wooden floor. It felt strangely spacious at the very front. Maybe because I wasn't surrounded by seats.

            I turned around to face the empty seats and discovered that there was a face lurking in the dimness. It couldn't be. But I could never mistake his face for someone else's. It would have been almost impossible for anyone to recognise him from where the figure was sitting but because I had longed to see him for each second of everyday, I was sure that it was him. Jaejoong was sitting in the back row close to the exit door. And I was certain that he saw me. I took baby steps towards the man, contemplating whether I should approach him and greet him or just dart out of the door. In the end, I decided to fix my gaze on the exit door and ignore Jaejoong's very presence.

            "Minji." He stopped me in my tracks straight after I had walked past him. I told my body to walk towards the door, reach for the door and pull it open but it didn't obey me. Instead, I turned to look at the boy I craved desperately for. He smiled so sweetly at me that I thought it was but a mirage. Maybe I had lost all of my senses and this Jaejoong standing before me was just an illusion?

            Yes, that must be it. There was no way that Jaejoong was coming back to me. He had said so himself. I trembled and my emotions took control of me. "How? How do I forget you, Jaejoong?" I mourned a little at the imagery. Jaejoong's pure smile didn't falter but I couldn't help but smile at its radiant beauty. He twisted his body around to face me in his seat.

            "Don't ever forget me, Minji. Remember Kim Jaejoong and don't ever forget that you love him." His voice was so husky that my heart raced at the sound of it.

            "You're so selfish." I broke down before him. "How can you tell me to do that when you told me that I can't have you?" I wailed at him.

            "I only said that because I couldn't have you, Song Minji." Jaejoong's smile died a little but his voice was still music to my ears.

            I took a step towards him. "Don't you see?" I announced to him. "You already have me, Jaejoong. That is something that even you can't change." I reached out a hand to caress his scarred cheek. His warmth was so inviting that I just wanted to wrap my arms around him and plant a kiss on his lips. I stopped on the spot.

            Warmth? This wasn't a dream? Jaejoong was really sitting before me, smiling at me sweetly.

            No. I had to shake myself back to reality. Jaejoong didn't really want to see my face. This must be another one of his jokes. I pulled away from him, as if he was a hot coal I had accidentally touched. I had to get away before he gave me another cold stare and demand that I get out of his peaceful life again.

            So I dashed through the exit door and into someone. I looked up and felt a little more secure. "Yunho." I huffed a little. "Jaejoong is in there." I clung onto the fabric at his waist. "Let's go home before he sees me again." My words escaped my lips very quickly it was a mess of phonetic sounds.

            I must have been very anxious because Yunho quickly took my hands and led me back to the car. I calmed my heavy heart as Yunho drove us home.

            Yunho broke the silence seeing that I was more at ease. "Keep on thinking about him, Minji." 

            I looked at him, appalled. "But how would I ever get over him if I keep thinking about him?"

            "How can you not think about him at this time?" Yunho responded with a question. "Think about him until your heart no longer aches, Minji. Keep thinking about Jaejoong until your thoughts of him are so frequent that they are no longer have a pull on you. That's how you can move on."

            I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. Yunho had a point. Jaejoong was right as well. I had to keep thinking about him. There was nothing else that I could do besides wait for a day I no longer thought of him as someone important to me. 

                        Junsu woke up quite late today. It was already noon when he had finished getting dressed for the day. Another day of doing nothing. He was keen to get his holidays over and done with so Minji could return home with Yunho and attend school with him again. Hana was always going out. His mother was working day and night. It was quite lonely without anyone at home.

            Junsu decided to fetch the mail before grabbing a bite. The cold hit him like a blizzard when he opened the front door. He mustered all his strength and walked towards the post box to retrieve the mail. Among the papers was a local newspaper roll, a few important letters for his mother and a strange ivory envelope.

            Once inside, Junsu ripped opened the peculiar letter and took out a hard card. Junsu gaped at the card. It was an invitation to a formal event at Seoul for the return of Song Minji.

            In no time, Hana bursted through the door and was immediately shocked to see her brother so close by. The door was left ajar, letting chilly winds escape into the warmth of the house.

            "Junsu I have to show you something." Hana exclaimed. "I found this on Minni's desk the other day."

            "This came in the mail today." Junsu offered the invitation card to his sister and Hana gave him the newspaper in her hand, opened on a particular page.

            Both gaped at the items in their hand. Junsu was more shocked to discover the truth about Jaejoong in the article. "Who knew he was so smart."

            Hana shrugged.

            "What are you holding in your hand Hana?" Changmin appeared out of nowhere and snatched the card from her hand. "Who is Song Minji?" He asked after reading the card.

            "Well, um..." Hana stuttered. She didn't want to lie to her boyfriend but she couldn't tell him something like this. She didn't have the right to.

            "Are you hiding something from me?" Changmin asked suspiciously.

            "Hey, did you read in the newspaper the other day?" Yoochun walked up towards the trio with none other than Kimmi by his side. "Jaejoong is actually a Seoul prodigy."

            Kimmi eyed Changmin standing beside his said girlfriend. She wasn't too pleased that they were together but she didn't object to it either. She knew what Changmin was doing and she trusted him.

            "What is going on?" Yoochun suddenly realised that there was a thickened atmosphere surrounding the five of them.

            Changmin only looked at Hana. "Who is Song Minji?" He asked again.

            Hana didn't know how to respond to him so she turned nervously to her brother. Seeing Changmin angry kind of frightened her.

            Junsu sighed but decided to be honest with everyone. "Lee Minni is Song Minji." He confessed, hoping that he was doing the right thing putting his trust in them.

            "WHAT?!!" Changmin, Yoochun and Kimmi bellowed in unison.

                        Minji ran out of lecture room with the most frightened expression on her face but Jaejoong could not follow her. He was too preoccupied by the presence of another being hiding behind the curtain at the end of the lecture room.

            Jaejoong walked slowly towards the man. "So you're still stalking her, I see." He knew that if he stayed close to Minji, Sangwoo would eventually appear before her.

            "And you're still on my tail too, Kim Jaejoong." Sangwoo grinned mischievously and dashed out of sight behind the navy curtains.

            "Oh no, I'm not on your tail." Jaejoong muttered to himself cunningly. "I'm actually ahead of you." He ran after the elder man.

            Behind the lecture room, Sangwoo was cornered by two of his men.

            Sangwoo turned to the Jaejoong. "Three on one doesn't seem quite fair, don't you think?" He snarled.

            "Well, I think it's worse if I let a murderer off to take another innocent life." Jaejoong retorted and looked at his bandaged hands. "Besides, I'm not in my best shape at the moment. This is as fair as it gets, Lee Sangwoo."

            Lee Sangwoo froze at the mention of his full name. The two men took this opportunity to knock him out.

            "Take him to the most secure jail cell." Jaejoong ordered. Jaejoong remembered the grimness of Minji's eyes when he had encountered her just before she ran off. He closed his eyes and sent out a prayer to her. Please wait for me. Please, please don't ever forget me, Minji. 

Minji: Hello there!

Jaejoong: I know why you are wondering why we're here talking to you. They can hear us right?

Minji: Of course they can, Jaejoong. Anyway, the reason why we are here is because whitedreamm thought it would be nice if we could have a conversation with her fellow readers.

Jaejoong: We were basically forced. I don't know why you're doing this to us whitedreamm, we have already been through so much in the story. Why don't you just leave us alone to live our lives in peace?

Minji: Jaejoong! Can you at least be a bit cordial? These people are all here to read our story. We should be thanking them.

Jaejoong: I don't know why we should be grateful. They are being so nosy, learning about our horrible past. 

Minji: whitedreamm is working hard to write a story for them. She is spending a lot of time on this story.

Jaejoong: Well she's wasting her time. She could be trying to get into a medical school, like me. Or are you telling me that you like it when she talks about all the stuff we do?

Minji: ...

Jaejoong: You're blushing. 

Minji: Am not!

Yunho: Can you stop teasing her, Jaejoong?

Jaejoong: Girls can be so corny sometimes.

Minji: ...

Yunho: Just ignore him, Minji.

Minji: I think I shall.

Yunho: Let's get back on topic. whitedreamm sent us here for a reason guys.

Jaejoong: Forced us.

Minji: We're here to say...

Minji and Yunho: Merry Christmas to you all!

Yunho: On behalf of whitedreamm, we would like to thank you for reading this story up until this chapter.

Minji: Yes. It's already chapter 36. Apparently, there are 4 more chapters to go after this.

Jaejoong: And then we can get on with our lives.

Yunho: We really would like to know how you guys think this story will end.

Jaejoong: Hello? I'm speaking here.

Minji: That's right. We would be glad if you can comment on that below. 

Jaejoong: Minji! Speak to me.

Yunho: Do you hear anything, Minji?

Minji: No, not at all.

Jaejoong: We already said 'Merry Christmas!' Can we go now?

[silence]

Jaejoong: whitedreamm, let us go.

Minji: Not until you say 'Merry Christmas' as well Jaejoong.

Yunho: Minji, you're not supposed to talk to him.

Jaejoong: Do I really have to?

Minji: Please.

Jaejoong: What do I get in return? A hug or a kiss or...

Minji: ...

Yunho: I think I'm just going to go now.

[Yunho has left]

Jaejoong: What do I get in return, Minji?

Minji: I'm leaving as well.

Jaejoong: Wait.

Minji: Let go of me. whitedreamm says that I can leave now. You should hurry up and do as you're told or else you'd be stuck here forever.

Jaejoong: Minji, come back! 

[Minji has left]

Jaejoong: For Christ's sakes whitedreamm, why do I have to say it too?!

[dead silence]

Jaejoong: Okay, okay. Merry Christmas everyone. Be sure to finish this story. It is a wonderful piece of work. And please continue to support Minji and I throughout the whole plot. Any Yunho-Minji shippers will be eliminated by me. 

[silence]

Jaejoong: Okay, I'm sorry. Feel free to ship whoever you like. I'm just saying that you may suffer in the end because of whitedreamm's elusive ideas. Can I please go now?

[Minji and Yunho have returned]

Jaejoong: What? One more time???

Minji: One

Yunho: Two

Jaejoong (monotonously): Three

Minji and Yunho and Jaejoong: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

[Minji and Yunho and Jaejoong have left]

AN:

merry christmas. this is my gift to you

whitedreamm