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It was still pretty chilly for the time of the year, but TaecYeon only noticed it when he was waiting on the bus to take him to the place the company was located. He regretted leaving the house without taking his scarf with him. It only added to the slight annoyance he got from having to take the bus. It wasn’t a date, so there was no company car coming to pick him up and his own car was parked at YoonA’s and his house. He disliked the bus. For some reason there’d always be some old smelly grandpa or grandma sitting beside him, looking him up and down with admiration. This part he could handle. However, they had the habit to tell him about their lovely BitNa, JaeRi, HaNa, or whatever name their granddaughters had. He’d smile politely, but it wouldn’t stop the elderly from bickering with each other whose granddaughter was the better match for him. TaecYeon more often than not felt like a product on the market.

“Excuse me, young mister…” An elderly woman started.
‘Oh no, there we have it.’ TaecYeon thought, but smiled and paid attention to the woman.
“If you have time, could you perhaps cheer my granddaughter up a bit? She’s been a little depressed since the dead of her little brother.” The woman said, looking at TaecYeon with eyes that were filled with hope.
“I’m sorry to hear that. How long has it been since your grandson passed away?” TaecYeon avoided immediate rejection, although he knew he was going to have to disappoint the woman in the end.
“He passed away in the Winter of 1994.”
TaecYeon suppressed the urge to shake his head. This woman was either suffering from dementia or she had a really foolish granddaughter who was hopelessly stuck in the past. Either way, he was not obliged nor in the position to go and see her granddaughter.
“I’m sorry for your loss, but I can’t come and visit your granddaughter.” TaecYeon said and smiled in what he hoped was a compassionate smile.
Without any warning the woman burst into tears and buried her face into TaecYeon’s chest. Surprised by this he could only put his arms around her and give her soft pats on the back. Thus TaecYeon ended up comforting an unknown grandma for the duration of the entire bus ride.

“Did you puke and wash your front?” The ever so tactful security guard, porter and janitor in one, mister Hwang ChanSung, asked as soon as he saw TaecYeon.
“No, I hugged a crying grandma in the bus.” TaecYeon said in all honesty, but ChanSung gave him a grin full of suspicion.
“I still think the puke-story is way more credible. Perfect men can also become carsick, you know.”
“I know, but I’ve never been. Carsick, that is.” TaecYeon grinned and entered his office room.
“He is indeed perfect…” ChanSung agreed, with slightly noticeable repugnance, but TaecYeon acted like he hadn’t heard, fore he had already entered his office and was about to close the door.

A letter had been a brief understatement. On his desk lay a small box, the size of a regular photo album. It was sealed up completely with plastic. The sticker with TaecYeon’s name, the company address and Nichkhun’s name as the sender gave nothing away. TaecYeon considered asking ChanSung to open it for him as a matter of security, but just as he wanted to go out to ask, his phone buzzed again. This time it was JunSu.
“Hey bro, you received Nick’s box yet?” The other side of the line asked.
“Yeah, I did. I was just going to ask ChanSung to open it for me.” TaecYeon replied.
“DON’T!!!” JunSu screamed and TaecYeon flinched at the volume of Jun’s voice so close to his ear.
“Why? Is there something he can’t know?” TaecYeon was surprised. JunSu was the last person to keep his own things secret for other people.
“Yes, nobody at the company should know about it. I don’t know why he chose this address, but he’ll lose his job if they know what’s in our boxes. Call me when you checked yours, ‘kay?” With that JunSu hung up.

The conversation with JunSu had really sparked TaecYeon’s interest in the dangerous, but not that dangerous, contents of the box. With care he took the plastic wrapping off the box. The color of the box was a slightly pinkish white. In beautiful golden font something was written in Thai, but TaecYeon couldn’t read it. Carefully he took the lid off the box. An envelope became visible. When he took it out he saw a golden square of thick paper and underneath it were chocolates filling the rest of the box. He smiled, took one out and ate it before opening the envelope. It was a somewhat weird present from Nichkhun and TaecYeon didn’t understand what was so dangerous about this for his friend and colleague.

Only when he had seen the contents of the envelope it all became clear to him. In the envelope there was an invitation to attend the wedding between Nichkhun and his Thai fiancée Chailai, whom TaecYeon had never heard of before. Included were 2 plane tickets to Thailand and a hotel voucher for 10 days. A personally written note from Nichkhun basically begged him to attend and to bring along a partner.

It dawned on him that it would be impossible to take YoonA with him to Thailand. If he would ask her she’d know he didn’t go on a business trip to Pusan at all. Nichkhun wouldn’t have known the address to his temporary home. And TaecYeon wouldn’t have been at his office to receive the box. He’d be a liar caught red-handed. However not going wasn’t an option either. He simply couldn’t skip the wedding of one of his best friends, Nichkhun. Then there was this other obstacle; he was working for a client on contract for 3 months straight. The only solution TaecYeon could think of was to take YeoJin on a date to Thailand.
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CherryChocol8 -02.02.2013-