CHAPTER 50: LOVE YOU, MR. EX-BODYGUARD

words in purple = flashback

An angelic smile was beautifully stretched across his adorable face upon seeing the sight before him. It was so breath-taking and he could not help but want to keep it as one of his lovely memories. Jongup quietly made his way to the bedroom and retreated from it with an instant camera in his hands. He slowly entered Taehyung’s room and stood at the right angle to capture the moment. He positioned the camera in front of his face as he focused his eyes in the view finder. Once satisfied, he pressed the shutter button and a sound of click was heard next. 

Jongup watched as the film emerged from the camera before he pulled it out. An image started to develop on the previous blank white sheet and he smiled his significant smile when he saw the outcome. He set the camera and the fresh still-image film down on the bed before he took out his phone and snapped a few more shots of the scene at different angles. Feeling contented with what he had in his hands, Jongup soundlessly made his way out of Taehyung’s room and slowly closed the door.

The Moon baby entered his bedroom and nonchalantly approached his study table. He put down the instant camera as his other hand reached for the thick photobook that was stacked on the bookshelf. He comfortably sat himself on the swivel chair as his hand started to move rather quickly yet carefully. He opened the photobook that held so many memories of his family and himself that he had created for almost three years ago… and it was actually his sixth photobook. He flipped to a new blank page and pasted the film on it. His right hand picked a silver gel pen and started to scribble some words on the black sheet.

“Awww… I could look at this for hours.” Jongup muttered to himself as he put the pen down on the table.

He stood up and took all photobooks on the bookshelf. With the photobooks in his hands; he slowly walked to the huge Olaf plushie situated next to the couch and settled himself down in between the plushie’s parted legs. He leaned his back against Olaf’s stuffy tummy and sighed contentedly as he finally could rest himself comfortably. He intended to spend the free peaceful couple of hours with browsing through the photobooks of his. It was his new hobby to do during his free time. He picked the first photobook and randomly flipped it and read the content.

A smile graced his lips once again as he remembered when the photo was taken. It was on the day Daehyun confessed his love to Jongup. He could not believe that Daehyun had secretly planned this with the others without his knowing. The others were actually there to witness the greatest love confession between the Moon baby and his bodyguard. All was planned by Daehyun once he knew that Jongup loved to skate.

“Forever, Jongup?” Daehyun asked again, his eyebrows arched in anticipation.

“Yeah…” Blushing, Jongup nodded his head against Daehyun’s chest. He smiled as he could feel Daehyun was now smiling after he let out a sigh of relief. Jongup was in the midst of listening to Daehyun’s fast beating heartbeat when he was suddenly being pulled away from the warm embrace so that his boyfriend could see his adorable face. He could not help but blush when the older was intensely staring at him as if wanting to confirm something. The Moon baby was determined to show that he was serious, so he tried his hard to look back into his bodyguard’s eyes. Their eyes locked for the umpteenth times and Daehyun had the courage to continue his intention.

“Do you like Taehyung, Jongup?” Daehyun suddenly asked, making the younger blinked his eyes in confusion. Somehow, the question sounded familiar to him and his body started to tremble slightly. I’m not dreaming, nope. I’m not dreaming. This is real, isn’t it?

“Y-Yes, I do like him. In fact, I love him actually.” Daehyun gave his stunning smile to Jongup before he continued his words.

“I know this is too sudden and I understand if you won’t be on the same page as me. But… just so you know, Moon Jongup. After all that we’ve been through, I know that I’ve fallen for you, and I really love you… truly, madly and deeply. And I know that you’re the one for me.” Daehyun stopped as he watched Jongup who was not blinking his eyes before him. And to top that, his eyes started to become teary again.

“I told you this is too sudden but…” Daehyun stopped again as he looked behind Jongup. The latter who was giving his full attention to his boyfriend turned his head to the back too, following the other’s action only to see the one and only little Taehyung was carefully making his way to his parents. Jongup had his eyes widened as he saw Taehyung before him. He wanted to say something but he found his voice stuck at his throat, leaving him with opening and closing his mouth for several times in disbelief.

Taehyung gave his sweet smile to Jongup as he was approaching them. He handed Daehyun a small red velvet box and the latter took it before he ruffled his son’s soft locks. Taehyung went to give Jongup’s a hug before he retreated from the ice skating rink, returning to his initial position to be with the others. Jongup was so clueless and speechless that he could only pat Taehyung’s back when the boy came to hug him. He turned to look at Daehyun back only to be greeted with the sight of his bodyguard kneeling down on one knee and his hands were carefully holding out the red box before him.

“H-Hyung…”

“Jongup-ah, I love you so much that I want you to be my Taehyungie’s mother… my other half, my wife... I want you to be mine forever. So, Moon Jongup… Will you marry me?” Daehyun gulped his saliva down nervously as he waited for Jongup’s answer.

Jongup and Daehyun locked gazes again before the younger’s face was slowly plastered with a sweet smile. The Moon baby nodded his head and answered his boyfriend’s proposal.

“Yes, hyung. I will.”

Jongup continued to flip through the photobooks. He reminisced the past as he came across a bunch of photos of his Youngjae hyung’s graduation day, LoJae’s wedding day, the birth of BangHim’s babies, Chanyeol’s and Baekhyun’s graduation day and many more. A lot of things happened throughout those years, be it sweet memories or bitter ones… Well, obviously their lives consisted of tons of sweet memories.

Three months after Youngjae graduated, the LoJae couple held their glorious wedding and that was the first time Junhong revealed who exactly his boyfriend for years, his fiancé for months and his other half for the rest of his life was to the whole world. It was a lie to say that the media did not go crazy because well, that was what actually happened once the photo of Choi Junhong’s wife appeared on the media. No one expected that the life partner of the star idol was a son of the great late businessman and a young brother of Moon Himchan, a great CEO of Moon Holdings.

Nevertheless, some of Junhong’s fans were really happy and supportive of their idol’s decision to end his solo life with the one he loved the most while some others were not really fond of his marriage. But being the Choi Junhong he was, he could care less of what people thought of him and how his marriage would affect his career as a star because all he could think was he wanted to always be with Youngjae as the latter was his everything. Their wedding photos had been the cover for some newspapers and magazines as Youngjae was sporting enough to be interviewed and shot some magnificent photos with Junhong. And their marriage life became merrier now with the presence of a 1-year-old plus Choi Sungjae.

On the other hand, the BangHim couple was blessed with two beautiful sons named Bang Minhyuk who was now nearing his three year olds and Bang Ilhoon who was only eleven months old. Himchan was still the well-known CEO of Moon Holdings despite the fact that most of his time was spent at home together with his children. He worked diligently from home and at the same time looked after his two babies with the helped of a hired babysitter named Juniel. Yongguk was busy expending his family empire and often went to China as he managed to establish a few new hotels in that foreign country. Yongguk became more responsible and mature though his habit of collecting Tigger did not stop.

Chanyeol who was head over heels for Baekhyun could not stop himself from making the latter his. After he went back to his family house in US, he told his parents about the person who made his heart stopped beating and that he wanted to make him his. The Parks were excited and they secretly went to Korea to meet Baekhyun in person. Well, of course with the help of the Moons – their beloved nephews, Mr. Park Yoochun and Changmin got to get to know Baekhyun more and they got along very well.

First time meeting Chanyeol’s parents unexpectedly without the presence of the latter, Baekhyun could not help but feel extremely nervous and almost pass out if he could not get a hold of himself. He was too shocked and kept stuttering when answering questions asked by the Parks. However, Mrs. Park was kind and so motherly that he reminded Baekhyun of his late mother and they got closer after their meeting. Baekhyun silently noted that Chanyeol inherited his mother’s height and his parents’ beautiful smile. Mr. Park was a warm-hearted person too and ever since he knew that Baekhyun had a grandmother who needed a surgery for her kidney disease, he was fast at arranging an operation for Baekhyun’s grandmother in one of his friends’ hospital in US.

Chanyeol almost had a heart attack when the Parks said they did not like Baekhyun at all and asked their son to stop contacting the latter. Chanyeol was mad when his parents gave him the most ridiculous reason as to why he should stop his feeling for the beautiful – he was poor and had nothing to be proud of. He wondered why his parents judged hard on Baekhyun physically and he could not help but let out an outburst unconsciously. Right after Chanyeol poured everything out, his father clapped his hands loudly and his mother seemed so happy that made him became more confused. It turned out that his parents were just pretending and wanted to see whether Chanyeol was being serious about this Baekhyun guy or otherwise.

Chanyeol was so happy that his parents loved Baekhyun so much and did not wait long to propose the latter to be his wife. The younger hesitated to accept Chanyeol’s proposal because the older was so damn rich compared to him who had nothing and he was afraid of what Chanyeol’s parents would think of him for accepting the proposal without thinking. So, Baekhyun took quite a long time to give his answer and once he was convinced with his heart and with the help of Daehyun’s and the Moon’s advice, he finally accepted Chanyeol and now they were happy with their 2-year-old Park Jongdae in US.

As for the KaiSoo couple, they just got married and were now on their honeymoon. There was nothing much about them as they were always sweet and happy together. Jongin was very loving and took care of Kyungsoo as the latter was the most precious person in his life. And the shocking news was that Jongin’s twin, Kim Sehun was now officially dating the great Choi Minho – the famous footballer. Well, no one had ever thought that these two could be an item but it was already written that it was their fate that they slowly fell in love with each other after spending more time together after Jongin was in relationship with Kyungsoo.

Another wave of happiness washed over KrisHan couple after they adopted Jimin as their son. A few months later, Luhan was found to be pregnant and Yifan stopped himself from travelling to Japan. He wanted to always be there for Luhan and Jimin because they had been waiting for this moment and he would not want to miss every single progress that his pregnant wife and babies made. Yifan would go to his office and always came back on time. He no longer stayed back like he used to do sometimes and when Luhan reached his seventh month pregnancy, Yifan started to work from home. The new addition to Wu family was named as Wu Minseok.

Last but not least, Jongup also found his happiness in Daehyun. After the heart surgery that Daehyun underwent three years ago, he had stopped working as waiter and only focused to his only one job: protecting Moon Jongup. Since Daehyun and Taehyung lived under the same roof as the Moons, he got to spend more time with those two precious persons in his life. Right after the love confession – the surprise event at the skating rink, Daehyun was approached by one of the popular entertainment companies due to his sweet honey voice filling up the open space during the surprise event.

It turned out that when he was doing his love confession, the founder of CK Entertainment was actually staying in the hotel and unintentionally heard Daehyun’s melodious voice. He asked one of his right hand men to find out about Daehyun and invited him to come for an audition that was held a week after. The bodyguard initially declined the invitation because he did not have any intention to become a singer but the staff persistently persuaded him to go. He was then encouraged by others, especially Jongup who supported him so he reluctantly accepted it. Daehyun was immediately being recruited as a trainee in the company but he was smart enough to actually put some conditions before he signed the recruitment agreement.

Due to his unwillingness to be a singer, his first condition was he would only do his practice at night during weekdays so that his new job would not disturb his job as Jongup’s bodyguard during the days. Secondly, he would make himself available on Saturday only and he strictly did not allow the company to put anything on his Sunday schedule as he claimed it as his day off. Sunday would be the only time he could spend quality time with his Jongup and Taehyung. Thirdly, as far as physical appearance was concerned, Daehyun could care less about it and wanted to wear an eye mask which would cover half of his face. He did not want people in the world to know who he actually was because that would be hard on him and his family. He was still a bodyguard to someone, remember? Last but not least, he would never reveal his real name and he wanted to use Hyun J. as his stage name.

Daehyun had thought enough and he would only sign the contract if and only if Mr. Cho Kyuhyun agreed to all those terms. Well, the CK Entertainment founder would definitely agree to his conditions because firstly, he knew Daehyun could really sing and secondly, the latter would obviously make money and indirectly made the company earned more profits. So after amending the contract, Daehyun signed it and he was now known as one of the best singers in Korea – the first Korean singer who had mask on his face. Nevertheless, he had so many fans and they claimed he was actually a really handsome man and adored his thick full lips. When Daehyun received his first payment, he could not believe that he managed to get that amount of money and eventually started to love his new job because it was beneficial to him. He would be able to protect and support his family in future.

A faint creak sound was produced when the bedroom door was opened. Jongup averted his gaze from looking at the photos in the photobook in hands to the now walking Daehyun. He kept silent as he watched the older entered the room with messy bed hair that was sticking out in every possible direction. Though he was looking sleepy, Jongup still found him handsome.

“Chagiya…” Daehyun called the younger with that hoarse tone of his. Jongup suppressed a grin before he answered.

“Ne?”

“Eodini?~ Mwohani?~ Neon jal jinaeni?~” Daehyun said in a sing sang tone and upon hearing that y sleepy voice of his husband, Jongup could not stop himself from letting out a giggle. Yes, his husband… they have been married for more than a year now. Following his Youngjae’s step, Jongup got married to Daehyun after he graduated from his university.

“I’m here with Olive.” And Jongup laughed after saying that. The name always brought him back to the memory whereby Daehyun gave him the huge Olaf plushie and thought its name was Olive instead of Olaf.

Daehyun made his way to his wife and casually lied his body down on the carpeted floor with his head rested on Jongup’s thigh. The Moon baby’s face was plastered with his signature smile as his hands reflectively went to his husband’s silky hair and fixed it. Daehyun formed a satisfactory smile as he closed his eyes back, enjoying Jongup’s soft touch on his hair. Jongup continued playing with his hair afterward.

“Browsing through the album again?” Daehyun asked. His arms crossed over his chest.

“Hmm, yeah. I added a new photo in it.”

“What photo?”

“You think?” Jongup played with the words and Daehyun hummed a bit, trying to guess what photo was it.

“Is it a selfie this time?” Daehyun asked again.

“Nope…” Upon hearing the answer, Daehyun slowly opened his eyes and locked his eyes with his wife. The deep stare he was giving to his other half was indirectly sending shiver down to the younger’s spine and Jongup had to bite his bottom lips, a habit he would unconsciously did whenever his heart was beating rapidly, feeling nervous. Feeling blood started to creep to his cheeks for countless of time for being stared by his own husband, Jongup immediately brought his one hand to cover Daehyun’s eyes. He would always lose whenever Daehyun stared at him directly through his eyes. The Moon baby would melt and weak when he was under his husband’s stare.

“Stop doing that, Yeobo.” Jongup shyly said. Daehyun chuckled as he grabbed Jongup’s hand that was over his eyes and brought it to his thick lips. A warm pair of lips was being pressed on the palm, precisely right at the wedding band and Jongup could no longer hide his flush face from his husband. Daehyun then laced their fingers together and placed their hands on his chest. They silently adored how perfect their hands fit together.

“I, Jung Daehyun, take you Moon Jongup, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, and hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.” After Daehyun vowed, he brought the ring that he was holding in his hand closer to Jongup’s hand and slipped it on the latter’s ring finger. They exchanged happy glance for seconds before Jongup broke the eye contact to take another ring on a tray that was being held by their happy little Taehyung.

Jongup then looked up and locked his eyes back with Daehyun. He took a breath and as calm as possible, he said his vow.

“I, Moon Jongup, take you Jung Daehyun, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, and hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.” Just like Daehyun, Jongup repeated what his partner did and slipped the ring he was holding on the older’s ring finger. They looked up together, gazing at each other lovingly, hands holding on one another tightly…

“By the power vested unto me I now proclaim you husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride.” The paster in front of them declared. The guests and family members who came and witnessed the union of Jung Daehyun and Moon Jongup roared in happiness as they applauded.

Daehyun gently pulled Jongup closer to him and brought his hands to carefully cradle his wife’s face. Jongup brought his hand to hold onto his husband’s arm as he nervously waited for Daehyun to take the next action. The older leaned forward and as soft as possible, he planted his thick full lips onto his Jongup’s, claiming what was his. Daehyun kissed Jongup so lovingly, so adoringly and if he was not on his right mind, he would not pull away and ignore all the people who were watching them.

Once they broke the kiss, Daehyun casually placed another warm kiss on Jongup’s forehead. He mumbled an ‘I love you’ right into his wife’s ear before he brought the younger closer to him as the guests and photographers were snapping picture of them. They marched out of the church and were guided to the standby limo. They headed to the nearby hotel; Yongguks’ to be exa