“Hey, good morning.” Haejin sent off a genuine smile, despite the horror in Siyoung’s face in front of her. Jaejoong, who was also witnessing the palpable fear taking over Siyoung’s form, once again mentally applauded Haejin for her self-control.

“How come you’re already in the kitchen at this time, maknae-yah? Oooh, don’t tell me you’re a psychic! You must’ve guessed we were coming!”” Junsu chirped in steady decibel and high pitch.

“Junsu-yah! Could you please tone down a little?” Haejin requested just a tad above whisper. Siyoung was still wincing from the brutal throbbing in her head—something Haejin could totally relate to.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Why are we whispering though?” the vibrant-red haired singer immediately dropped his voice.

Haejin chuckled. “You don’t have to whisper, just tone down a little. Siyoung is… not feeling really well.” She was determined to eliminate the word hangover from her vocabulary for a while.

To her—concealed—surprise, the look on Junsu’s face immediately turned into what she’d describe as knowing. It seemed this particular issue was not quite a secret like she’d thought. The only clueless one apparently happened to be the person of interest himself.

“Well, since you both are here, let’s go greet the chief,” Jaejoong said before an awkward silence ensued—Junsu was quick to play along—to which Siyoung mouthed her silent thank you to the blonde. He smiled, gave Haejin a light brush on the back, and left with the guys.

Once the kitchen was clear from their presence, none made a sound nor moved. Haejin let Siyoung took the time she needed to pull herself together. She silently watched as her sister standing with eyes closed, inhaling so deeply as if her life depended on it, and letting it out in one long, somber sigh.

When she opened her eyes, Haejin could see the failed hopes, unrequited feelings, and she dreaded them. Haejin was used to the compassionate, lively eyes of Siyoung, but now they were dull. And those pain were something Haejin understood perhaps too well.

Siyoung’s voice broke her out of her reverie.

“I’m going to take a shower,” then the eldest left.

Haejin sighed tiredly. As she was bringing the cup of peppermint tea to the dining room, she could already picture how the breakfast would turn out. Another awkward, silent breakfast, for sure. She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of quick steps descending the stairs.

Expectedly, Jaeyeon’s voice followed after. “Haejin-ah! Please tell me they are not here.”

Haejin gave her one look and Jaeyeon could already guess what had happened. “Oh no… How was she? Did they talk?”

“No, Jaejoong was quick to take them out of here. They’re probably in the Chief’s office right now.”

Jaeyeon groaned. “It’s going to be another graveyard. Can’t we just have some peace?” The woman dropped her weight on one chair.

“My sentiments exactly,” Haejin mumbled loud enough for her sister to hear. “Let’s just hope Siyoung can hold herself together, and not beg him to stay or anything.”

“Oh, come on,” Jaeyeon groaned exasperatedly. “We of all people know damn well that she is going to do precisely that. She’s a—”

“—hopeless romantic. Yes, I know that,” Haejin sounded defeated as she laid her head back.

“When did it all start anyway?” The youngest sat straight back again, her face a mixture of confusion and annoyance. “For all we know they had one golf match and one farewell talk which, if I might add, didn’t look so promising. What kind of divine intervention has taken place, really?”

Jaeyeon would have found Haejin’s sass funny if things had been different. To be honest, she also wondered the same thing.

The two sisters couldn’t dwell in their anxiety for too long though, because collective footsteps and distinct voices were coming. They straightened up in their respective seats and quickly jumped into a random, much lighter topic.

“Good morning, girls,” Chief greeted in between his chats with the guys. From the slight strain in his voice, both Jaeyeon and Haejin guessed that Chief had figured out.

Since they weren’t expecting JYJ to come, the table had been set as usual: Chief on the head of the table, with Siyoung—who still hadn’t showed up—and Jaeyeon on his left and Haejin on his right. The two bandmates looked at Yoochun, silently telling him to do whatever he thought was right. It was a small gesture of unconditional support they gave to one another, and it would be a beautiful thing to see if not for the situation they were in.

With grim etched on his face—which didn’t go unnoticed by Haejin—Yoochun took the seat on the right side next to Jaejoong’s seat. It was the exact seating order like the first breakfast they had together those months ago.

It was until two housekeepers came and gathered everyone’s order when Siyoung joined the breakfast. She was back to her feminine, pretty appearance. Her hair that was longer had just gotten re-dyed, dazzling red tumbled to her back just a few inched above the waist.

“Good morning everyone,” she greeted with a smile. Her eyes regarded the two men sitting next to her sisters who in return gave her friendly smiles.

Then she looked at the one on the far end of the table. “Good morning, Yoochun-ssi,” she greeted—though it sounded more like a question—and it seemed like everybody else was holding their breaths.

“Uh, good morning,” came the stuttered answer, as Yoochun clearly didn’t see it coming. Siyoung’s face lit up in a split second only with that single reply… but fell just as quick when she wanted to engage another conversation but Yoochun shut her out completely.

At that very second, Haejin could swear she wanted nothing more than to punch him in the face and scream bloody murder at him for being such an . But when she turned to glare at him, that grim on his face again caught her off guard. He looked as good as grieving.

Her train of thoughts was interrupted by the housekeepers bringing their meals. “Now, enjoy your meal,” Chief said to ease up the tension a little—very little.

As the awkward breakfast went on with only the sound of spoons and forks meeting plates, Haejin’s thoughts were not silent at all. She was sure something was wrong. And she was going to find out what the hell it was.

♦♦♦

“Alright then, I’m going to leave you now. Have a good rest,” Haejin said after escorting the three to their mansion and checking everything was set before leaving.

Jaejoong took the room downstairs this time, since he got the upstairs before. Yoochun and Junsu said their thank you and moved to take their things to the second floor—at the same time sparing themselves a lovesick version of their hyung.

As cliché as it could be, it seemed fate had—finally—decided to help. Something from Yoochun’s hold fell to the floor. A gym towel, actually. Haejin was quick to notice and about to call Yoochun when the sight of the piece of fabric made her stop dead on her tracks. She approached the said thing tentatively, needing to have a better look—a confirmation.

And, bingo. Of course she had seen this before, she thought as she picked it up.

“Yoochun-ah,” she called. The name holder turned lightly, only to find the small token of memories in the hands of someone he didn’t wish to find it.

The horror on his face was more than enough confirmation for Haejin to know that it was exactly what she thought it was: the gym towel she bought as a birthday present for Siyoung.

“What the hell is going on, Park Yoochun?” she snapped at him. “Do you have any idea how miserable she is because of you? She thinks you don’t share the same feelings!”

The grim was all over his face now, very much like the one he had earlier, and it almost softened her. Almost.

“I know, calm down, Haejin-ah. Please know that it’s killing me too. I want to be with your sister more than she does,” he tried to explain, the pain in his eyes was too real to be a lie.

“Well, your actions lately make it damn hard to believe,” Haejin crossed both arms on her front, but her voice was not as loud anymore.

“I don’t want her to be in danger! I can’t, more than anything not because of me,” he raked his fingers through his hair exasperatedly.

Jaejoong came behind her and said her name in low voice, asking her understanding for his brother. It worked almost instantly, as her shoulder eased under his hand and if the situation weren’t so gloomy he would be marveled on how her muscles seemed to heed his requests, despite the owner didn’t realize that.

Junsu took a few stairs down until he was on the same level with Yoochun. The youngest only took the duffle bag from his hand and went back up wordlessly, another form of support Haejin always found amazing. She sighed.

She approached Yoochun and held out the gym towel to him. “I guess you have a very good reason to do what you did. I won’t ask any further,” she said gently when his confused eyes directed at her.

He took it silently. Haejin patted his arm and smiled softly. As she turned to leave, Yoochun stopped her. “Haejin-ah, would you have a drink?”

The lady raised her eyebrows, genuinely worried for him. But he looked pretty sure as he turned to his hyung, silently asking if he was okay with it. Without a second to give it a thought Jaejoong nodded. So Yoochun led her to leave the mansion after silently thanking his hyung with a tap on the shoulder.

♦♦♦

The two friends sat with a glass of scotch and another of gin and tonic to accompany them, for a slight comfort, for a small escape when the conversation got too heavy. It’d been some time of silence, but Haejin didn’t push and just sat there. For that, Yoochun thanked her, he thought.

“When we were about to leave this mansion,” he finally made a voice, a low one, “I had realized that your sister meant a lot to me. So I followed my heart and continued to spend time with her. It went well, very well, until…”

He took a long, deep breath.

“Until one day, my longtime friend came from America. She said she wanted to meet – don’t give me that look. It’s nothing like that, she’s purely a friend,” Yoochun fought the urge to roll his eyes at her judging eyes. Haejin raised her hands in surrender, though she looked not a bit guilty. His reputation with females wasn’t quite helpful.

Yoochun chuckled at her, then went on. “So we met. I picked a new place, booked it way past rush hours. You know what happened?”

Haejin saw his jaw tightened, his face turned sour and angry all at once. His voice was thick of anger and disgust when he spoke.

“Someone threw a bucket of chemical liquid at her.”

Haejin’s eyes bulged out but still she didn’t make any sound.

“Good thing she wore a thick jacket and covered her head. The damned thing only ruined the jacket and a bit of her t-shirt,” Yoochun drank a large amount of his scotch at the end of his sentence.

“I didn’t tell a single soul I was meeting her, Haejin-ah. I picked that place in a spur of the moment. I didn’t even know she was coming here at all before she called!” His voice was raised unintentionally as frustration surged within him for the umpteenth time.

“Then you decided to cut everything off with my sister.” It was a statement—or a comprehension—not a question.

“Of course I did. She was the first thing that came into my mind. I know it will be damn hard to do, but it’s better than having her harmed because of me.”

Yoochun had turned his head to her, raw emotions emanating from his eyes. Haejin was stunned to say the least, at the same time felt for him. She let him have some time to recollect himself. Beside him, she stayed silent, taking another swig of her drink.

“Yoochun-ah, can I ask you something? Pure curiosity,” she said when he looked somewhat better.

“Shoot.”

“I don’t remember seeing you and Siyoung… spending time together quite often when you were here. Then the next thing I know, she looks like the lights have been out of her because she’s missing you and now, I found out that the sentiments are mutual.” She looked incredulous. “What did I miss?”

Yoochun chuckled. “Well, I’m not claiming to be the most demonstrative either,” a smile almost reached his eyes, “But it all started after we played golf. Things went up and down the hill from there.”

Haejin came to understand. Yoochun pointed at the fabric still in her hand while smiling sadly, “It was when she lent me that.”

“How is she?” She could hear the longing in his voice.

“Not any better than you.”

Few moments passed before he drained his scotch. “She will be. She’ll get over it,” he said, sounding like he was convincing himself.

“Or she won’t,” Haejin said looking at him. She then gave his arm a gentle squeeze before walking out of the lounge.
 

Here comes the new chapter! A bit Yoochun-ish, after 30 or more about Jaejoong :p
I hope you can enjoy it all the same. And I want to thank EfaRifa and qualcuno for subscribing. Sending warm hugs to both of you!
And I'm also sending dozens of hugs and hearts to you who comment frequently, and still loving this story.
Of course, thank you also for reading, dear readers. Ciao! :*