I finished ALL of my papers, and as a reward, I ordered “Only One” off of Yesasia.com, as well as their new single “Break Time”. It comes with a fifty-page photo book, which would only be better if it was one of those special edition albums that comes with an autographed photo of one of the members! I have one of Donghae from Super Junior and one of Taemin from SHINee! Taemin is my “boyfriend only in my dreams” from SHINee, so I sigh with fangirl-dom whenever I look at it.

Anyways, my thanks to all of those of subscribed and reviewed! I’m very happy that you all appreciate my writing, and I’m sorry that I make all of you wait so long. Also, I’ve been writing chapter-after-chapter of mushy, lovey-dovey stuff. The intended conflict shall arise in either the next chapter or the one after. I’m in the process of writing those, so even I’m not sure yet. I guess you devoted readers will find out when I find out! ;)

Just a warning: Although this chapter is very important in the storyline, it’s also intended to be a tearjerker. But in a good way, y’know?

…Honestly? Even I started crying as I was writing it.

-----

The next morning at breakfast, Jae Hwa and Soohyun kept exchanging glances and smiles over their meals. This, of course, didn’t go unnoticed by Kevin.

“So…” Kevin began, putting down his fork and lacing his fingers together. He put his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his laced fingers, fluttering his eyelashes at the couple. “How was the last night?”

Immediately, everyone had a reaction involving shock, except Kibum who acted like it was totally normal. Eli and Alexander choked on their scrambled eggs, Kiseop and Jae Hwa did spit-takes, Soohyun actually choked on his water, and poor Dongho’s arm was frozen in midair with his spoon still inches away from his open mouth.

“Kevin, I’m eating!” Alexander yelled, accidentally attracting the attention of the other people in the dining room. He smiled nervously and bowed apologetically. “Seriously, you couldn’t at least wait until we were in the van?” He hissed.

“I just wanted to know -”

“We didn’t have ,” Jae Hwa snapped, rubbing Soohyun’s back while he coughed. Jae Hwa looked to her other side and paled at the sight of Dongho’s scarred expression. “Kevin! Look what you did to Dongho!” She cried, carefully working the spoon out of the maknae’s hand and then waving her hand in front of his face.

“She’s right,” Soohyun said, pounding on his chest and coughing. “We did not have last night.”

“Then what did you do?” Kevin leaned forward a little more, fluttering his eyelashes.

“We cuddled,” the stated in unison.

The entire table was quiet.

“…You’re joking, right?” Kiseop asked, dropping the napkin he had used to wipe away the juice from his chin.

“Guys, we hadn’t even been dating a day,” Soohyun glared at them. He looked at his watch and then back at them. “We still haven’t been dating for a day. Our one day anniversary is at noon,” he held out his wrist and pointed at his watch.

“Kevin…” Jae Hwa began quietly, folding her napkin and placing on the table in front of her. “I want to make one thing clear,” she glared at him, and everyone at the table was dead silent. Under her fierce glare, Kevin started to sink down in his seat. “You will not, under any circumstances, talk like that in front of my family. At all.”

“Gotcha!” He squeaked, shrinking away from her.

“Just wanted to clear that up!” She chirped, smiling. She then turned to Dongho and started patting his back, concerned. “Dongho-ah, are you alright?”

--

Soohyun kept glancing at Jae Hwa during the drive to Huhae-dong. He couldn’t help but smile at her; she couldn’t sit still. She was squirming in her seat, playing with her hair, wringing her hands, or jiggling her leg. He chuckled and stopped her whenever she tried to do something, because he found it cute and entertaining.

Whenever she was squirming, he would wrap his arm around her and pull her close. When she was playing with her hair, he would grab her hand and move it away so that he could play with her hair instead. When she was wringing her hands, he would put one hand over both of hers, stopping her. When she was jiggling her leg, he would put his hand over her knee, effectively stopping her.

“Stop doing that!” She whined, squirming in her seat.

“Doing what?” He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.

“I’m nervous and fidgety, and you keep stopping me!” She whined, trying to push him away.

He laughed and hugged her tighter. “You’re so cute!” He cooed, kissing her cheek. Although she wanted to be mad at him, she couldn’t help but smile and giggle.

“Aegyo~!” Kevin gushed, leaning towards them from the Soohyun’s side, opposite from Jae Hwa.

Apparently, Jae Hwa and Soohyun always sat in the back seat. Unfortunately, there were three seats in the back, which means somebody had to sit beside the lovebirds. The guys had decided to alternate between van rides, because they knew that if one of them sat in that same place all the time, then that person would go insane.

Kevin was the only one who had been unaffected by the irritating amounts of PDA. In fact, he wouldn’t stop gushing about how cute they were. The other members were hoping that at some point the couple would become so annoyed by Kevin’s gushing that they would knock it off with the PDA. However, it seemed that their plan was backfiring because they were more annoyed by his excessive declarations of how cute the couple was than the two people in the couple themselves.

“We’re almost there!” Their manager called over his shoulder from the driver’s seat. Instantly, Jae Hwa began squirming even more in Soohyun’s arms.

“Shh…” Soohyun whispered in her ear. “Everything’s going to be fine – your family hasn’t gone anywhere, and they aren’t going anywhere soon.”

Jae Hwa relaxed a little bit and closed her eyes, taking a few deep, shaky breaths. She was quiet and a lot less fidgety for the next twenty minutes.

“Jae Hwa!” She looked up when U-Kiss’ manager called her name. “Does any of this look familiar to you?”

Jae Hwa gasped and whirled around, looking out the window. Tears started to form in her eyes as she took in the sight of the humble neighborhood that they were driving through. “All too well…” She whispered. She felt Soohyun take her hand and squeezed it.

“And this one?” The van came to a stop in front of an average Korean house.

Jae Hwa saw the numbers on the front door and a few tears escaped her eyes. Jae Hwa didn’t look away from the house through the window, releasing Soohyun’s hand so that she could fumble with the seatbelt. When it was undone, she hurried for the van door and pushed it open, not even waiting for the boys nearest to the door to open it and get out. She stumbled when her feet hit the ground, but kept running for the fence. She could hear barking from inside of the house, and more tears fell from her eyes when the front door opened and Jae Hwa saw her mother in the doorway.

“Umma!” She yelled. The woman covered in surprise, but then moved her hands to her cheeks to show her bright smile. However, instead of rushing to meet her daughter, she moved aside. Jae Hwa wondered what her mother was doing as she fumbled with the latch on the fence.

 And then she heard barking. She gasped and looked up, spotting an ivory-colored dog with light brown ears, and an even lighter stripe of brown down its back and on the tip of its tail.

“Sohee!” She sobbed, finally undoing the latch. As soon as the gate was open, she took a few steps onto the soft grass and crouched down, opening her arms. “Sohee, I’m home!” The dog barked twice and then bolted down the steps, bounded across the lawn, and launched itself into Jae Hwa’s arms at such a speed it knocked Jae Hwa onto her back.

Throughout this whole the thing, the members of U-Kiss filed out of the van and stood next to it, staring at Jae Hwa. She was sobbing and laughing at the same time, Sohee on top of her and the tears off of her face. Although she was crying, Jae Hwa managed to wrestle with Sohee so that she was beside Sohee and scratching her belly furiously. “Who’s a good doggie? Who’s been a good girl?” She said, tears still falling from her eyes. When she stopped, Sohee immediately rolled onto her stomach and sat up, and then proceeded to Jae Hwa’s face some more. Jae Hwa wrapped her arms around Sohee’s neck and buried her face there, her shoulders shaking as she cried. When she had stopped crying she leaned back and smiled at Sohee, who tilted her dark snout towards her and away the remaining rivulets of tears on her cheeks. Jae Hwa giggled and placed a kiss between Sohee’s ears, and then stood up. “Guys, come meet Sohee!” She called to them, but then held her hand out. “One at a time, and not too fast!”

“Why?” Kibum asked, but Kevin had already squealed and started bounding towards the fence.

Sohee instantly went from playful-puppy to overprotective-attack-dog. She tensed up and started growling at the approaching idol, baring her sharp teeth.

“That’s why,” Jae Hwa stated, holding out her hand to stop Kevin, who practically slid to a stop when he reached the gate. His eyes were wide with terror and he was about to run away, but Jae Hwa immediately called, “Stop! Kevin, don’t move.” Kevin, wisely enough, decided to follow her instruction. “Now, calm down and approach her slowly,” she instructed. Kevin did as he was told, and Sohee appeared to have calmed down, although she was still tense. When he was about five feet away, Jae Hwa held out her hand for him to stop. “Alright…” She murmured, moving towards him and taking his hand. She pulled him towards Sohee and slowly moved his hands towards the dogs’ nose. Kevin flinched a little bit when Sohee moved towards him a little bit and sniffed his hand. “Calm down, Kevin,” she told him.

“What’s she doing?” He whispered.

“She’s a Jindo – a type of dog that is practically born for hunting. She has a sensitive nose, which is how she recognizes me even though I’ve been gone for about three years. We spend so much time together; my smell is bound to have rubbed off on you, at least a little bit. We’re just giving her a moment to identify that smell.”

Sure enough, after sniffing his hand a few times, Sohee calmed down completely and even darted her tongue out to his hand. He squealed a little bit, and when Jae Hwa was about to tell him that it wasn’t a big deal, she realized that he was grinning. “Alright, go crazy -” She hadn’t even blinked when Kevin had crouched down beside the dog and was scratching her belly vigorously.

“That animal hardly listens to your brother, much less me. Maybe now that you’re home she’ll start doing all of those tricks that you worked so hard to teach her.” Jae Hwa looked up the steps and grinned at her mother, who was still standing in the doorway.

“Umma!” She cried, rushing up the steps and hugging her. “I missed you!”

Jae Hwa’s mother hugged her back and smiled. “I missed you, too. We can continue this after you’ve introduced Sohee to all of your friends, because otherwise she won’t let them into the house.”

Jae Hwa turned around and giggled at the sight of Kevin approaching the stairs while Sohee stood in the center of the lawn, staring at the boys who were lined up just outside of the fence. “Yeah, I’d best take care of that.”

--

“So, how’s Seoul?” Jae Hwa’s mother asked, bring a tray out to the back deck and setting it in the center of the table, where everyone could reach.

“It’s great! But it hasn’t stopped me from missing home,” Jae Hwa smiled sadly and then held out her hand. Although all of the boys had decided to sit around the table, Jae Hwa had refused. She had instead opted to sit cross-legged on the wooden deck so that Sohee could rest her head on her leg.

Soohyun took a second cup and stood, then walked over to Jae Hwa and sat down beside her, handing her the cup. Jae Hwa’s mother smiled at the couple. “Do you know who you two remind me of?” She asked.

“Who?” Jae Hwa asked, taking a sip of her tea.

“Me and your appa.” Soohyun stopped with his cup less than an inch from his lips, and Jae Hwa barely restrained a spit-take. Sohee jumped and looked up at her mistress, making a small whining sound. Jae Hwa immediately shushed her, her neck. The dog was still for a second before yawning and then resting her head on Jae Hwa’s leg once more.

“Why do you say that?” Soohyun asked, since Jae Hwa was too busy with Sohee.

“Well…” She began slowly, smiling. “I was a gardener at Hallim Park…”

Jae Hwa’s mother continued to tell them about how she had met Jae Hwa’s father when he was giving a tour of Hallim Park and a female tourist had asked what one of the flowers was called. He had been clueless, and she approached and told him that they were Camellias. Later that day, as she was leaving work, the man who would be Jae Hwa’s father chased after her and asked her to accompany him to dinner.

“… We dated for about two years, and we’ve been happily married for another twenty-two.”

“That’s a beautiful story!” Kevin cried.

Jae Hwa’s mother laughed and bowed. “Komawoyo, Kevin-ah,” she then looked around and saw that everyone was done with their tea and smiled. “Let me take your cups to the kitchen -”

“Umma, let me help!” Jae Hwa smiled and gently nudged Sohee’s head so that she could stand up and take the tray.

“Thank you! You’re just like your father and brother, always eager to help,” she laughed, opening the door for Jae Hwa.

“Speaking of appa and Bae, when are they getting home?” Jae Hwa’s voice faded as she followed her mother into the house, Sohee walking at her side.

The guys were quiet for a second until Kibum broke the silence, “Did you guys see what I just saw?”

“Jae Hwa helping her mother with the dishes?” Eli asked with a blank expression.

“No, bapo,” Soohyun said, taking the empty seat at the table. “The living, breathing picture of Jae Hwa in a little over twenty years.”

“Bwoh?” Kiseop muttered.

Kibum rolled his eyes. “When they come back, look at the two of them very carefully.”

“What struck me was when she was telling her story,” Soohyun stated, drumming his fingertips on the wooden deck.

“Bwoh?” This time it was Xander with the blank expression.

“Whenever Jae Hwa tell us stories about home, she has the same smile as her mother did when she was telling her story about her and Jae Hwa’s father,” he explained.

All of the guys made ‘ooohhh…’ faces and nodded in understanding.

--

Soohyun had lost track of time since they arrived. They had just sat out on the back deck, laughing and telling stories with Jae Hwa’s mother. They would have sat in the living room, but there’s wasn’t enough space for seven guys, two women, and a dog. Sometime in the afternoon, they heard the front door open and close, and a man’s voice yell, “We’re home!”

“We’re on the deck!” Jae Hwa’s mother called, smiling.

They heard a muffled “We?” from inside, and Jae Hwa grinned and gently nudged Sohee so that she could stand up. A man who appeared to be about the same age as Jae Hwa’s mother stepped onto the deck and looked around at the boys, thoroughly puzzled. “We have guests? Yeo -”

“Appa!” Jae Hwa squealed, rushing over towards him.

“Jae Hwa?” He gasped in surprise as his daughter latched onto him. “Jae Hwa!” He laughed and wrapped his arms around her lifting her up and swinging her back and forth. “Jae Hwa, I can’t believe it -”

“Jae Hwa?” A teenaged-male voice yelled from inside. There was running from inside and then a boy who looked hardly sixteen stumbled through the door, whipping around so fast they could hardly see what he looked like.

“Bae!” Jae Hwa grinned and opened her arms as soon as her father put her down.

The boy turned around and gasped, a wide grin blooming on his face. “Jae Hwa!” He yelled, running over and pulling her into a tight embrace. “Jae Hwa, I missed you!”

“I missed you too, Bae! Let me go so I can step back and get a good look at you!” He let go of her and she took a step back and then gaped at him in surprise. “Wow, Bae! You’ve changed!”

“That’s what happens when you go away for three years,” he smiled.

“Your posture still ,” Jae Hwa stated bluntly.

“I know,” he said, trying to straighten his shoulders, but gave up and slouched anyway.

“Grow your hair out and wear some eyeliner and you could cosplay as L from Deathnote.”

“Wouldn’t that be awesome?” He cried, throwing his arms in the air.

“It would!” She cried, mirroring his actions.

The guys didn’t know what he had looked like three years before, but the boy in front of them looked about sixteen or seventeen. He had a similar build to Dongho and would have probably been about the same height, if it weren’t for his slouching.

“And what did you do to your hair?” Jae Hwa asked with an accusatory voice, pointing at his head.

He reached up and touched the blond tips of his spiked hair. “The same thing that you did to yours,” he used the same voice, pointing at the blond tips of her long hair.

“Yah, it was their idea!” She declared, pointing at the boys around the table.

It was then that he became aware of their audience and turned to face them. If it were possible, he would have become paler. “Jae Hwa?”

“Ye?”

“You hang out with U-Kiss?”

“I’ve been working with them for almost two years. I’m dating Soohyun,” she said, pointing at Soohyun.

He stared at them with his mouth hanging open. “… You guys are awesome,” he gasped. “Holy crap, I know all of your songs and the dances and – oh, crap,” as soon as he said that his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell backwards.

“Bae!” Sohee jumped over to him and started barking in his face and it repeatedly.

His eyes fluttered open quickly and he grimaced when he was aware of Sohee’s efforts at waking him up. “Ugh, Sohee! Get off!” He saw everyone staring at them and covered his face. Because of his pale skin and short hair, a few of the guys could see his ears and neck turning red. “This is so embarrassing.”

“It happens to the best of us,” Soohyun smiled, standing up to help him.

“You are such a girl,” Jae Hwa scoffed as soon as he was standing.

Bae ignored her, instead just staring at Soohyun. “And you’re dating my sister?” He whispered in disbelief. “Holy crap, I can’t wait to tell the guys at schoo – wait, I shouldn’t,” he stopped in mid-sentence and his face went blank.

“Why?” Alexander asked, smiling at the boy’s antics.

“My girlfriend is practically in love with him,” he frowned and gestured at Dongho. “If she found out, she would dump me but keep stalking me until you guys visit again.”

“Umma told me about her over the phone once… Eun Mi?” Jae Hwa asked.

Bae grinned and nodded. “We joke about breaking up with each other for celebrities all the time, but as far as I can tell, we’re just playing around,” he chuckled and shook his head, his gelled hair not moving.

“And how long have you been dating?” Jae Hwa smiled and crossed her arms.

“Two years this December,” he smiled, holding up two fingers.

“So young~!” She cooed, reaching up to pinch his cheek.

Her gushing was interrupted by a beeping noise coming from Kibum’s pocket. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, frowning when he saw the screen. “We have to go.”

“Really?” Jae Hwa whined.

“We’ll be back in two days,” Soohyun assured her standing, up and walking over to her. He put his hands on her shoulders and leaned down to press a soft kiss against her cheek. “I promise. In the meantime, just have fun with your family -”

“Wait, what?” Jae Hwa frowned in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Soohyun grinned and scratched his head. “Did I forget to tell you that, too?” He said with a hint of sarcasm. “You deserve a lot more time with your family, so we’re going to spend tomorrow doing interviews, then the day after that we’ll do our show, and then we’ll come and get you to take you back to Seogwipo,” he explained.

“Why Seogwipo?” She asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Well, it’s the closer side of Jeju-do to the mainland.”

“Bwoh? Soohyun, I’m confused.”

“We’ll be taking a boat back to the mainland,” Kevin explained.

Jae Hwa looked over at him and saw his wide grin. She looked between each of the boys and noticed their various grins and smirks. She glanced at her parents and brother and saw that they had the same secretive smiles. “Why are we taking a boat back? Why are you all smiling like that?” her voice started to sound pitchy with nervousness.

“Well, I can’t imagine you stuffing Sohee in a crate for the plane ride back. If we take a boat, then she’s allowed out,” Soohyun winked at her.

Jae Hwa froze and fell open in shock. “Do you mean…?” Tears started to form in her eyes again.

“I know she’s not an apartment dog, but if she’s well behaved and we take her running every day, then she should be alright, shouldn’t she?”

Jae Hwa stared at him and then turned to look at her parents. “Did you know about this…?” She whispered.

“We know how much you missed Sohee, and understand that it’s best that the two of you not be separated any longer,” her father smiled.

“It was Soohyun-ah’s idea,” her mother told her, gesturing at Soohyun.

Jae Hwa whirled around to face him, tears falling from her eyes. The next thing she realized, she had jumped into his arms and wrapped hers around his neck, and then pressed her lips against his. “Saranghae,” she whispered.

Soohyun tensed in her arms, but relaxed immediately and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer so that he could kiss her back. “Saranghae,” he smiled, kissing her again.

“For the love of God, can you please do that somewhere else?” Bae yelled, covering his eyes.

“I agree with Bae-ah,” Kibum said, reached over and covering Dongho’s eyes.

“Seriously, Soohyun – we need to get going!” Kevin declared, covering his eyes.

“Alright, fine!” Soohyun groaned. He placed a gentle kiss on Jae Hwa’s forehead and stepped away from her. “I’ll see you in two days,” he assured her with a wide smile, holding up two fingers.

“Alright,” Jae Hwa giggled.

--

As U-Kiss drove away in the van, Soohyun stared absently out the window. After a moment he realized that it was awfully quiet in the van…

Too quiet.

He turned around and frowned at the guys, who were all turned in his direction and grinning evilly at him. “Bwoh?”

“Aegyo~!” Kevin squealed, then lunged over and clamped onto Soohyun in a tight hug. “You two are so cute!”

“Kevin, let go of me!”

-----

I'm sorry that my chapters are always so long! Still, I appreciate it when you all leave me such wonderful reviews! Although it's very selfish, I like praise. ^_^

NOTE: I think I forgot to say this at the beginning of the chapter:

(*addressing the photo*) I want him. I want him SO BAD...

The funny thing is that I've said this to my boyfriend - multiple times - and he just laughs. XD