“Grand reappearance?” Junsu scowled in utter disbelief, pieces of kimchi jiggae spluttering out of his mouth. “What on earth do you mean by grand reappearance?”

Jaejoong cross his arm across his chest with a grin before he shrugged, “I don’t know, I was away for a long time.  It's only normal if I goes back with a bang, right?” he grinned at Junsu expectantly.

When Junsu didn’t answer him and continues staring at him incredulously, he answers his own question, “Right~!  So yeah, don’t tell anyone I’m back yet.  I’ll go to them once the time is right myself.”

There’s silence for a minute or two, Junsu pausing mid-chew while Jaejoong’s exagerrated smile wavered.  And by then, Junsu finally understood the situation.

Lips quirking up bitterly, Junsu send his hyung a comprehensive look.  “Oh, I know what this is.  By ‘other people’, you meant him.  You don’t want him to know you’re back.  Aww, why hyung?  Did my words last night scares you off? (“I do not get scared!” Jaejoong had huffed indignantly.)   Or maybe a thing called conscience finally knocked you in the head.   Either way, too late.  I already left a message to his secretary.  He probably figured it out by now.”

Jaejoong involuntarily sigh in distress upon hearing that.  “Oh, I hope that old hag fell off the stairs and didn’t get to convey it to him or something.”

“So you are scared!” Junsu raises his brow at him. 

“I do not get scared!  I told you!  The time is just not right yet!”

“Meh, whatever.  Anyway, hyung.  I forgot to tell you something.  The old hag had already retired.  Got married to some broker, a year ago.”  The old hag they’re talking about is Yunho’s old old secretary.  She worked for the man’s father and subsequently Yunho after the latter graduates and takes the reign of the company. 

Jaejoong hated her with passion.  She was very very strict and pious.  And Jaejoong’s too tight of a skinny jeans and too revealing of V-necks were too much for her too pious self.  After Jaejoong graduated and has nothing to do, he visited Yunho in his office a lot.   And a lot of the times would he receives hateful muttering from the old lady behind the desk. 

“Silly teen think this is a night club.”

“What on earth was he thinking, poisoning my master’s mind like that.”

“Oh if only Master Pilsung is here to see what had become of his son.”

She would not say such things right in front of Jaejoong’s face, masking her abhorrence with curt professionalism instead, but she will sigh about him moodily once she is sure he has turn his back on her but is still within the hearing range.

She’s a hag like that. 

Once, Jaejoong had gotten so furious at her, he kissed Yunho in front of her very eyes.  Open-mouthed kiss, tongue and all. 

She was appalled, he can tell.  But Yunho is still there, she can’t say anything.  No, not in front of her precious Master Yunho.  Never.

Yunho had chided him after that, scolding him for scaring the old woman like that.  But the slight quirk at the corner of the other’s lips tells Jaejoong that he enjoyed the kiss.

“Oi, hyung!  Are you still listening?” Junsu waves his hand in front of his dazed brother roughly. 

Surprised, Jaejoong nodded in haste, half-annoyed and half-appalled when he realizes that he had unknowingly trace his finger across his ruby lips upon reminiscing the memorable kiss.

Junsu glowers, unconvinced.  Nevertheless, he continues the flow of the story, eyes twinkling in mischief.  “He has a new secretary now.  Young.   Unwed.  Single.”  With every word spoken, the intensity of the mischief swells in his eyes. 

It’s Jaejoong’s turn to glower.  “Oh really?” he tried to mask his unsatisfaction with indifference but Junsu knows him too well to fall for that. 

“Yes.”

“Was she pretty?”

“Hmm, her looks are fine.  She’s pretty and gentle.”

“Prettier than me?”

Junsu scanned his eyes across his hyung’s petite figure tentatively.  “Physical beauties are subjective.  One thing for sure though, she definitely has a prettier heart than yours.  Yunho hyung kept complimenting her about that as well.  Of course, she didn’t know about your existence.  Yunho hyung forbade me from telling her anything.  He says it’s better if she didn’t know.  I agree with him on that matter.”

Disregarding everything else he had heard from his brother, he trained his fiery eyes on Junsu, “I’m sorry.  But you made them sound as though they’re, oh I don’t know, like they’re dating.”

“……….”

“Junsu-“ Jaejoong warned, waiting for him to clarify about whatever it is he had just implied. 

“Hyung, can I have more of this jiggae?  And you're a liar!  You promised me pancakes!"

.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Junsu smiled to himself, heels bouncing on the floor.  The good-bye kiss his hyung just gave him still lingers on his forehead.  It had been a long time since he felt such intimate gestures, it feels good. 

Another reason for him to be this jolly early in the morning would be the blatant jealousy that practically envelop his hyung’s pretty face after they talk about Mr. Jung’s secretary.  Junsu had been lying of course, but Jaejoong didn’t need to know that.  Serve him right for doing everything he had done to them. 

“Mr. Kim?” a questioning voice says.  Junsu turns around idly, but grew tense upon seeing the owner of the voice.  It’s Mr. Jung’s secretary.  She’s standing in the bus stop in front of the apartment complex,  eyes staring at him in shock.

“Oh,” Junsu retort drily, surprised, “Ms. Lee, what a pleasant surprise.”

“It’s really you!  I thought I got the wrong person,” she laughed out loud, unaware of the slight fidgeting he’s showcasing.  Her eyes scanned the apartment complex behind them before she direct her eyes back at him, this time in curiosity, “What are you doing here?  Did you just moved in here?”

“Oh, no.  No.  I mean, I was just visiting… a friend.  Yeah, I was visiting a friend.”

She quirked her brows meaningfully at him.  “Of course.  A friend.” 

“He really is just a friend.  It’s- it’s complicated,” Junsu had sigh, before he rack his brain, eager to change the flow of the conversation.  “Anyway, what are you doing here?  Don’t tell me you live here?”

“Actually I do.  So, is that friend the emergency you talked about the day before?”  Junsu was about to sigh at her persistence about his ‘friend’ and was about to politely tell her off when he hears her dreadful gasp. 

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!  I just remembered something!  Oh my God, I think I forgot to tell Mr. Jung about your emergency.  Mr. Kim, I’m really sorry!  You see, I stepped on dog poop yesterday and I tried to wash my shoe of in the ladies, but everything, literally everything fell into the toilet bowl and-“

“Wait, so you mean you didn’t tell him about my message?” Junsu inquires, brows raised.  When he receives a timid nod from her, he sigh.  “Seems like even God is on hyung’s side,” he mutters under his breath.  God is always on his hyung’s side, he bitterly adds.  His hyung has a rotten personality, but he has an ethereal face that overpowers all of his flaws and inadequacy.  His hyung isn’t rich (their family weren’t exactly well off), but he’s got a rich heir twisted around his little thumb.  His hyung hadn’t had the grace and poise in his coordination (in fact he was the worst in the class when it comes to sports and anything alike), but he has an angelic voice that can awe even his greatest enemy.

The brittle expression on her face made him sigh before he force himself to smile.  “Never mind.  It’s okay.  You don’t have to tell him anything, now.  Turns out it wasn’t even an emergency,” Junsu had lied through gritted teeth.  “So, anything I can help you with?”

“Well, if you can give me a ride, I’d be forever thankful.  It’s too early and there’s barely any buses here.  You see my car keys fell into the toilet bowl as well so-“

“It’d be my pleasure,” Junsu cut her off with his customary angelic smile. 

She blushes under his gaze before she tuck her hair behind her ears.  “Thank you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They are in the middle of the meeting.  And his phone is bloody ringing. 

The few executives who sat near him spare him a glance, including Mr. Jung, who sat right in the head of the conference table.  Fortunately, Junsu’s colleague who is busy presenting about their department’s latest project pays no heed to the noise and continued his speech, if he hadn’t, Junsu would’ve gotten the whole conference room’s attention for sure.

He fish out the phone from his pocket.  He had never received any phone call from anyone during work before.  No friends.  No nosy family members.  He lives alone after all.  Oh wait, excuse his audacity.  He used to live alone after all.  All that taken into consideration, Junsu already has a faint idea on who the caller is without the need to even look at the screen.

He is right, for the matter.  He grit his teeth, annoyed at the sight of his brother’s number dancing across his screen.  Pressing the red button, he hoped his hyung would get the idea and would stop calling.  Whatever it is his hyung wanted to speak with him right now can be spoken during dinner tonight.

After rejecting the call, he places the phone back to his pocket and direct