Chapter 11

“Yuri, are you sure you are going to marry that playboy?” Leeteuk sipped his coffee & contemplated what’s Yuri’s reaction going to be. He shook his head in discontent & tried again, “Yuri, Jaejoong is a playboy & playboy can’t be trusted. I don’t want to see you get hurt.” He groaned & pushed his long, slender fingers through his short brown hair in frustration. For once, he couldn’t predict how Yuri would react to his words. He jumped in fright when someone tapped his shoulder. A tinkling laugh floated from behind him. He turned around smiling, recognizing that sound of joy anywhere & gave her a brief hug, “Yuri, you are unusually late. What’s up?”

“I have just sold the house I have been redecorating for a few months. So, today’s my treat. Order anything you want. As long as you don’t buy the whole cafe.” Yuri chuckled & looked at Leeteuk. It only took her a second to detect the strain in his eyes; even though he tried to hide it, they were too much of close friends for her not to notice. Her eyes softened a little bit, “Leeteuk Oppa, what’s wrong?”

“Yuri.” Leeteuk hesitated, wondering whether he should express his concern or not.

Yuri smiled; she could guess what was in Leeteuk’s mind. To be more accurate who, “Its about Jaejoong, huh?” She asked. Leeteuk nodded slowly, “Yuri, I don’t know if you know this fact or not but he’s a playboy. From what I have heard, he’s a very accomplished playboy. Too many hearts were broken & I got it from a trustworthy source. I’m afraid that you would fall in his clutch & get hurt someday.”

Yuri nodded lightly, “Was. He was a playboy. Not anymore. Oppa, I trust him. We have been together for almost a year & he never gave me any causes to doubt him. Sure, we have had fights now & again, but it’s never involved another girl. Our last fight even involved certain marks on his neck given by a guy.”

Leeteuk burst out laughing, “You gave him hell about that, didn’t you?!”

Yuri grinned impishly, “I thought the hickeys were put there by some girls. I was so mad. Then he said Hyukjae put them there.”

Leeteuk continued her words, “& you must have thought he was gay & went from mad to furious.”

Laughing in delight, Yuri grabbed Leeteuk’s hand & swung them around, “I was so angry that I was ready to squash him like a bug but his cringing expression stopped me. Then when he denied he’s gay, I thought he’s...you know, flexible.”

“You didn’t?” Leeteuk widened his eyes in astonishment.

“I actually did.” Yuri chuckled & said in a more serious tone, “When he explained it all, I’m amazed at myself that I didn’t even have a speck of doubt that what he said was true & you know how hard it is for me to trust people but you have got to trust me on this, Oppa. My gut feelings & brain tells me that he had never deliberately hurt me. He had cut himself first before he had scratch me.”

Leeteuk shook his head in resignation & gave her a small smile. Yuri had always been a determined girl. Whatever she wanted, she got. Whatever she had said, she would never take back. It seemed like she hadn’t really changed all these years. He squeezed Yuri’s hand in understanding & went on in a lighter mood, “So, tell me all the details about the hickeys.”

Jaejoong was just leaving his office to get ready for his rehearsal dinner when he saw his secretary arguing with a young woman. He approached them as he got curious why his usually serene secretary would argue with anyone. To his surprises, he saw Jessica, his ex-girlfriend, shouting harsh words to his secretary. Upon seeing Jaejoong, Jessica’s eyes swam in tears as she ran to hug him.

“Oppa, please, I need to talk to you privately?” She sobbed.

Jaejoong looked at his secretary in apology & led Jessica to his office.

“Why are you here?” Jaejoong asked coldly. Jessica had dumped him a year ago for Sehun, a far wealthier guy. His pride was injured because no girl had ever dumped him before. They had broken up for a week when he met Yuri on the plane.

Jessica dried her tears & looked at Jaejoong with eyes full of sorrow, “Oppa, I have been looking all over for you. I heard you are getting married tomorrow & there’s something you need to know.” She paused & wipe her cheeks to dry them off a little. Sniveling a little bit, she dropped the bomb, “I was pregnant when I broke up with you. I didn’t know about it until much later. The stress got to me when I couldn’t find you & I really didn’t want to raise the baby all by myself. I wasn’t ready. I had no job, no money & no one to turn to. The pressure got so overwhelming that I had a miscarriage. The doctor had to perform a surgery but it didn’t go very well. He said...He said that I could never have a baby again.” She sobbed uncontrollably, “I tried to look for you; I did but I couldn’t find you anywhere. If only you were there.”

Jaejoong was perplexed; he felt as if someone had opened his head & took out his brain. He stared at Jessica as if she was an alien from Mars, “But...But you dumped me for Sehun. Where was Sehun?” He said haltingly, “Sehun dumped me when he knew about the baby but I don’t blame him. I almost went crazy with panic & sorrow when I couldn’t find you, even more so after the miscarriage & when the doctor told me that I could never have children again.” She was weeping loudly by then & couldn’t talk anymore. She just gave Jaejoong a paper she fished out from her pocket. The paper was from a doctor stating that Jessica could never have children again. Her womb had to be removed to save her life.

Jaejoong closed his eyes. He was consumed with grief & guilt, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He whispered. Jessica ran to him & hugged him tightly, weeping onto his shoulder. Tears gushed from her eyes, wetting Jaejoong’s black traveler pinpoint solid buttondown collar dress shirt but her eyes shone with victory & smugness.

“It’s okay, Oppa. At least you are here now. We could start all over again.”

“No.” Jaejoong shook his head & looked into her eyes, “I love Yuri & we are getting married tomorrow. I will do anything to ease your pain but I can’t leave Yuri.”

Droplets of tears fell prettily from her eyes. She said brokenly, “I see. Then all I ask of you is to call off your wedding.” Seeing Jaejoong’s immovable expression, she let some more tears trickled down, “At least for now. Help me relieve my pain first. Afterwards, when you get married, your happiness would be whole & I promise you, after that, I won’t disturb you anymore. Please? Promise me.”

Jaejoong stayed silent, not knowing what to do or what to say in this kind of situation. Suddenly, he heard Jessica gasping for breaths. He looked up only to see Jessica falling onto the floor. He reached her body in time & patted her cheeks urgently as he called out her name. She weakly pointed to her navy cream stripe dana buchman danny purse & tried to talk. Jaejoong grabbed her purse & saw a bottle of pills. He fished a pill out & gave it to Jessica. She swallowed the pill & closed her eyes. A minute later, her eyes opened & she smiled faintly, “I don’t want to tell you about this because I don’t want you to pity me but it seems like I have no choice.” She took in a gasping breath & said softly, “I have a heart condition. If I got too exhausted or under too much pressure, my heart would stop beating. The doctor said that to stabilize my condition, I have to lead a quiet life. That’s why I asked you to call off your wedding & help me overcome my grief. If I could manage that, I could have a peaceful life & I wouldn’t have this attack anymore. Could you promise me, Oppa?”

Jaejoong sighed & nodded reluctantly, “I promise. I will help you. Don’t worry.” Jessica hugged him & smiled with satisfaction.

The wedding rehearsal was held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel where the wedding reception would take place the next day. The dimly lit ballroom was decorated flawlessly with fresh flowers, candles & silk. Elegantly dressed waiters held trays full of flutes of champagne. Even more elegant guests mingled around the room, congratulating the happy couple. The atmosphere was one of very happy, elegant & romantic. Except for the groom-to-be. Jaejoong stood by Yuri’s side in the center of the room with a flute of champagne in his hand. He seemed to be enjoying the gathering but his mind was far away.

He felt very uneasy like he intentionally hid something from Yuri. He reassured himself but the uneasiness that he felt didn’t even lessen one bit. Squirming a little, he glanced a little, wondering whether Yuri could sense his nervousness.

Aware of Jaejoong’s glances at her, Yuri took hold of his hand firmly. She was amusingly thought, ‘Ah, Oppa’s nervous. Probably he had a serious case of wedding jitter.’ She took a sip from her glass & asked Jaejoong teasingly, “Are you nervous? Wedding jitters? You are not going to jilt me at the altar tomorrow, are you?” Jaejoong forced on a smile & kissed her cheek, whispering “I had rather be shot dead.” Yuri gave him a beaming smile & went to fill her glass. Jaejoong sighed & tried to talk himself out of feeling guilty, ‘It’s not like I’m cheating on her. Jessica is the past. I’m only helping her bury the past & move on with life & it has nothing to do with Yuri. Everything would be alright. I have no reason to be guilty. Maybe just like Yuri said, it’s only wedding jitters.’ But a sense of foreboding stayed with him all night.

The bells rang loudly into the air as if to announce to everyone the joyous occasion about to take place inside the small church. The pews were filled with guests who became silent the minute they heard the bell. One of the guests, a delicately built girl with a pretty diamond-shaped face, sat on the back row & smiled maliciously, eager to play her part in the wedding.

At the front, near the altar, the priest held his bible & smiled faintly, looking forward to performing the union of two people in love. Jaejoong, who was very edgy just a moment before, broke into a smile when he heard the piano began playing. He quickly looked up at the door as if he couldn’t bear to miss even a second of his wedding.

Minseo, Yoona’s daughter, walked bouncily while throwing red rose petals along the way. Behind her, Tiffany, who looked stunning in her blue a-line/princess halter knee-length chiffon satin bridesmaid dress with ruffle bow, came through the door & smiled as she caught sight of the groom’s anxious, yet ecstatic face. She came to the front of the altar & then moved to the opposite side of Hyukjae. They looked at each other & smiled in greeting. Tiffany’s smile was blinding as she was fantasizing what her wedding would be like. Hyukjae, in contrast, was smiling uneasily because he could guess what Tiffany was thinking at the moment. On the second row sat Yoona who couldn’t stop smiling, happy that one of her best friends would tie the knot with the man she loved. Beside her, Leeteuk sat still, expressionless. Inwardly, his heart was torn between feeling happy for Yuri & heartbroken for himself.

Suddenly, the song stopped playing. All the guests stood up. Through the door, came a man & bride. The man was dressed in superbly tailored blue-black suit. Although the hair on his temples were gray, his face still showed traces of youth. On his face was an unmistakable joy for he had waited for this moment like forever. Yuri was wearing Tiffany & Yoona’s latest creation with a two-tier elbow bridal veil with beaded edge covering her face. Her hair was let loose with a garland of flowers on top. Almost no jewelry could be seen on her but she already looked stunning without them. Hanging on her neck was the necklace with the single teardrop pearl in the center. Yuri, holding onto her father’s arm, walked slowly down the aisle. Her smile never left her pinkish orange lips, the same way the sparkles never stopped twinkling in her eyes.

When she reached the front of the church, her father gave her hand to Jaejoong & said in a whisper, “I’m giving you my princess’ hand in marriage. Never ever disappoint her or make her unhappy or you will have to answer to me.” Jaejoong nodded in reply, took Yuri’s hand & whispered in greetings, “Hello, my love. You took my breath away.” They grinned at each other in remembrance & together, they turned to face the priest, “Dearly beloved.”

Soon it was almost over. After both said I do, the priest looked up to the guests before him & said, “If there is any reason why these two couldn’t join in holy matrimony, please speak up now or forever hold your peace.” The minute silent was suddenly broken by a sound of distress, “No, you can’t! Oppa, you promised me! You promised me!” A young woman from the back row wailed & ran up to the altar, “You promised you had call off your wedding!” She cried forlornly, “How could you, Oppa?! How could you after what you did to me?!” Suddenly, she fell down in the middle of the aisle, gasping for breath.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

new story starring jung yunho & tiffany hwang will be coming up soon ^^

- butt3rflyl0v3r