Chapter 23

“Yun. How’s this new father going?” Jaejoong chatted cheerfully, opening the door for his best friend.

“More than you expect.” Yunho said, & grinned widely. He walked into Jaejoong’s cozy apartment & sat down on the high chair in front of Jaejoong’s mini bar.

Jaejoong followed him from behind after closing the door, “More than I expect, huh? What does it mean? I remembered last year when you came in here, you were in deep trouble, my friend.” He saw Yunho grinned again. He stood in front of him, behind the mini bar table, “What do you want to drink?” He took a glass & waited for his best friend to choose his drink.

“Some coke please.”

Jaejoong stared at him & laughed, “What is it, Yun? Did you stop drinking?”

“Yes, & stop smoking too, if you need to know.” He said, irritated with his friend’s laugh.

He took the can of coke & poured it into one glasses while he pour himself a glass of soju, “You’ve changed, buddy. You’re not the real Jung Yunho. I haven’t met you in the pubs for a long time. Our friends were asking me about you. You just disappeared since the incident last year. Look at yourself now. Man, you’re losing your charms to flirt with girls. You looked like an old boring business man.” Jaejoong couldn’t help his laughter, studying his best friend’s face & appearance.

Yunho stared at him in annoyance! “Could you stop laughing at me? I came here not to be joke at.”

Jaejoong tried hard to stop his laugh, looking at his irritated face, “I’m sorry but your short temper haven’t changed. I heard that your girl had a bad temper, too. How could both of you hold each other?”

Yunho sighed, “Go straight to the main point. What are you going to tell me? You sound so serious on the phone.” He drank his coke.

“Oh. Kwon Yuri has applied to continued her work at Seoul Cjes General Contractor. I just need to tell you that the company will employ her back.”

Yunho’s face went paled. He got off the chair as his eyes rolled in despair. Jaejoong watched his friend in puzzlement. Yunho doesn’t seem happy. He was the one who asked him to accept Yuri in the first place to work in his father’s company but now he was acting weird. He saw Yunho bewilderedly as he was pacing back & forth in front of him.

“Jae, you have to help me this time.” Yunho finally said, after thinking for a while. He saw Jaejoong knitting his thick eyebrows as he didn’t understand, “Don’t accept her.”

Jaejoong’s eyebrows rose. He stared at him in a questioning way, “But why? She has the capabilities that company needs.”

“I have my own reason. You have to listen to me.” Yunho halted in his mid-sentence, gasping for his breath.

“If she could have her requirement for her last thesis which is have to work for your father’s company, done in six months & finished her last three subjects in the next semester then it means that she will finish her study at the end of this year. It means that.” He turned his pale face to Jaejoong who was still staring at him, “She will leave me at the end of this year. I can’t let her. I can’t. Jae, you have to help me. Give me a chance to buy time to win her heart. Please, Jae.” Yunho said pleadingly.

Sighing, Jaejoong looked at him. He shook his head slightly. He finally understood what Yunho was trying to do. He wanted to delay her graduation, “Yun, but it’s not fair for her.”

“I don’t care. My son’s life is more important than her degree, career.” He said emotionally, “& my life, too.” He added, the last word weakly. He lifted his face up, looking at Jaejoong’s eyes, “She will leave me & Chunghee to start her new life with her fiance in Australia. She will marry him, Jae. I will lose her forever.” He put himself on the sofa & buried his head under his hands.

Jaejoong stepped into the living room & sat down in front of Yunho, “But you can’t force her if she doesn’t love you, Yun. It’s really unfair for her. Have you ever asked yourself about it? How about yourself? Do you really love her? Or is it just a guilty feeling because you had…”

“It’s not a guilty feeling!” Yunho yelled, at Jaejoong but then immediately gave him an apologetic look.

“Yes, it was in the beginning but it has turned to love. There is no other woman who can touch me & makes me melt liked she does. It’s true. It is how I feel. I do love her although she always scold me, insult me & hurt me all the time.” He stopped & looked at Jaejoong in the eye, “I just need time to make her love me back. I believe that she has a slight feeling towards me. I trust my heart. It is telling me that she likes me, too. I just want to develop this special feeling between us.”

“Are you sure about your feelings this time? Last time, you told me that you loved Jiyeon so much.”

Yunho sighed, “It’s true but the feeling isn’t the same. I can’t explain it to you.” He stopped & turned his eyes to the vase in front of him, “There were so many girls wherever I go. If I wanted, they wouldn’t hesitate to be my girlfriend. Although the incident made me lose my face, I still have to avoid myself from girls who chased after me.” He turned his eyes, staring at Jaejoong seriously, “I don’t want them; I don’t want Yeonnie as my wife. I only want Yuri. Now I know that I’m not in love with anyone else except for Yuri. I can’t bear to lose her.”

Jaejoong sighed again. He definitely needed a drink. Yunho smiled in gratitude, receiving another glass of coke. He gulped his drink before continuing, “I’ll tell you my little secret but don’t laugh at me.”

“What?”

“I keep her photograph in my wallet all the time beside my son’s. I know it sounds stupid liked a teenager having his first crush but I can’t help it! Her face lightened up my bad day at work.” He said, & blushed slightly. He was embarrassed. He was twenty-eight years old but he couldn’t help but act like a teenager in love.

Jaejoong was stunned in awe, “Are you crazy, Yun?”

Yunho laughed a bit, “Yes, I am. I’m crazy for her. You know, I have planned a romantic dinner next week for both of us. December five is her birthday. I’ll give her a surprise that she won’t forget for the rest of her life since I was out of town last year & I have been so busy.” He grinned widely.

Jaejoong knitted his eyebrows playfully, “What are you going to do?”

“It’s my secret. You don’t have to know.” Then he laughed when he saw Jaejoong’s irritating face, “Just wait for my good news. I could only tell you that it will be my first step to make her fall in love with me.” Yunho said firmly, full of confidence.

Taking in a deep breath, Jaejoong asked him, “So what do you want me to do? If you want me to reject her then I’m telling you, I can’t do it.”

“Please tell her to finish her last three subjects first at the university before starting work at Seoul Cjes for her thesis. It will give me time. At least, she needs another half a year to graduate. By the time, I swear that I’ll win her heart.” Yunho said confidently.

Jaejoong stared at him again. This was the real Jung Yunho. Whatever he wanted, he will never give it up, “I’ll discuss it with my father about this matter but I can’t promise you.”

Yunho nodded. He smiled at his best friend in gratefulness, “Thanks, Jae.” Taking his drink again, he asked casually, “Tell me, how is your life now?”

Finally, the day Yuri supposed to have dinner with Yunho came. Yuri was already twenty-five but she admitted that she still act childishly sometimes, especially in front of Yunho. She didn’t know why but she couldn’t help it. Yunho always make her emotion eat her up, from anger to the urge to beat him in every single thing. They liked to play games to test each other. She smiled.

Since the sun rose in the morning, Yuri had been feeling nervous. What would Yunho do tonight? He always left a big question in her head, yet an excited feeling. He must have planned to have a dinner at an expensive restaurant as usual. What if the media caught them again? She was afraid. However, her biggest fear was she didn’t have a nice dress to go with him.

“Oh, what am I going t