Chapter 29

Jaejoong was in a daze the whole day. He couldn't stop thinking of those vivid images from his dream & each time he did, a small secretive smile would dance on his lips, "What are you grinning like a fool all day?" Yuri waved a hand in front of his face. The sound of her voice snapped him out of his trance.

"I had a weird dream last night. Head kind of hurts." He couldn't find a way to explain so that she would stop giving him a strange looked. Yuri shrugged her shoulders & walked away. He watched her disappear into the bedroom & he heart yearned to call out to her.

Early morning the next day, the couple arrived at the company together & as employees saw Yuri returning to work, they all greeted her warmly & asked her about her health. Before Jaejoong stepped off the elevator on his floor, he turned to Yuri, "Wait for me to come get you after work okay?" His voice was full of love & concern. The door closed before he could hear her reply so Jaejoong just gathered his things & walked to his office.

He heard the door closing after him & a voice greeted him, "Good morning, Mr. Kim." He turned around abruptly & saw June standing at the door in a black trim merrill dress, hugging her curves & showing off her legs. His eyebrows shot up & he cleared his throat, "Good morning. Do I have any meetings planned for today?" June looked through the papers in her hand & handed him a few folders. Three meetings were scheduled with new companies & he wouldn't be free until five that day, ‘I don't have time for lunch with Yuri.’ He realized, "Thanks, June. You can go now; I will call you in if I need anything." As she sat back down into her chair, June smiled to herself. As long as she kept Jaejoong busy, he would have no time for Yuri & the longer she kept him at the office, the more time she would have to spend with him.

The day passed by quickly as Jaejoong busied himself with the long meetings. When the last one ended, he collapsed onto his chair & closed his eyes. Memories of Yuri & the times they spent in the office popped into his head. He couldn't stop smiling as he thought about the nights they spent in his office, working over time on projects before their marriage. Then memories of their passionate moments filled his head. He could almost taste the sweetness of her lips as he remembered their kiss on his couch a few months ago.

He suddenly remembered that he had promised to pick her up & oh, she had probably been waiting for a long time & was probably cranky by now. He jumped up from his seat & dashed out of the door. He was too impatient to wait for the elevator so he decided to jog up the flights of stairs instead. When he reached Yuri's floor, he stumbled into her office, loosening his st. jude floral green tie, trying to catch his breath.

Yuri was busy looking over the new offer made by Data Works when she heard husky jagged breathing from the direction of the door. She looked up & adjusted her glasses. Was that Jaejoong standing there with a red faced & drenched in sweat? "Are you alright, Jaejoong Oppa? What happened to you? Here, let me get you some water." She poured him a glass of water from the lunch room & pulled him over to her couch. He gulped down the water in one breath & laid his head back on the couch, fanning himself.

"Sorr...Sorry I'm la...late. Rus...Rushed up the...the stairs. Did you w...wait long?" He asked apologetically, "You didn't have to rush up here. I'm still finishing up my stuff. Geez, I thought you were being chased or something." She took a tissue & wiped the sweat from his brow. He opened his eyes & looked into her beautiful face hovering above his. His heart broke into pieces, knowing that if it weren’t for the accident, he would be able to pull her into her arm right now & share a moment of passion with her.

How much longer does he have to wait until he can really feel her touch again? Time will wash away her pain & soon, we can start over.’ He comforted himself with that thought. Time was the key player in this game & time seemed to be playing against Jaejoong in this round.

Days turned into weeks & weeks into months but the distance between them drifted further & further. Every morning, he walked into his office, prepared to battle the endeavors of that day & as the work load piled higher & higher, he found that he had less & less time to spend with Yuri. The meetings never seem to end & he was too busy to even notice that his schedule was getting fuller everyday.

At the end of the day, when he went upstairs to pick up Yuri, he had be too tired to even think about the stairs & would just take the elevator. Yuri was just as busy as he was & the only time they really spent together was in the car during the ride to & from work. As soon as they got home & dinner was eaten, they would retire to their respective rooms, too exhausted to think about doing anything else except sleep.

Yuri rubbed her eyes tiredly as she crawled into bed. Another day had passed & she had successfully drowned herself in work, successfully numbed herself from the pain of the memories & the knowledge of the accident, ‘What about Jaejoong Oppa?!’ Her heart called out. She sighed & pulled the blanket tighter around her body. It sure got colder these nights but she held herself back from going to see Jaejoong or from asking him to sleep in their room with her. She was the one who said she needed more time but now, not only had time become the healer but also the barrier between them.

Yuri's birthday was only eight days away & Jaejoong wanted to plan something special for her. Maybe a candle lit dinner at the beach followed by a private fireworks show would cause some sparked to fly in their currently dull & platonic relationship.

However, his busy schedule didn’t allow much time for planning & with his overtimes at the office with June almost every other night, he hardly ever saw Yuri at all. When he came home, she would already be in bed & his dinner would be sitting on the dinner table, all cold.

The emptiness of the house echoed the emptiness inside their hearts. The house that was once full of love & life was now void of those things. The occupants of the house looked as if they were void of those things, too. Work, go home, eat dinner, sleep & the cycle would continue again, the next day, for days & days & days. Both were too afraid to stop, too afraid to leave spare moments that would force them to confront each other, confront their feelings. So instead, they chose to avoid the topic altogether. During dinner one night, Jaejoong finally found his voice & had an actual conversation with Yuri, something that was other than the usual how's your day or the professional about that project.

"For your birthday next week, I invited all your friends & our families to have a barbeque at the beach. I have a really big meeting that day so I will be a little late. However, I put Hyoyeon in charge so she & Hyukjae will help set up the grill. Does that sound good to you?" He looked up at her & for the first time, he saw delight in her eyes.

"Oppa, you don't have to do all of that for me. It's only my birthday. It comes every year." She tried to convince him that it wasn't a big deal but he could see that she was excited about it, "But I want to do it. I want to see you happy & smiling, especially on your birthday, just like how you made my birthday so memorable." His voice trailed off as he remembered the party that she had planned for him on his birthday, as well as the event that took place after the party.

"Oh, thank you." She couldn't think of anything to say. She would have said, ‘I already am happy’, but that would just be a lie. The small smile on her face reassured Jaejoong & he got up to get ready for work but not before bending down to kissed her cheek.

The double glass door of the meeting room opened & Jaejoong stepped out with his client, both of them beaming brightly in content from the multi-million dollar agreement they had just made, "I will complete the second draft & send it to your secretary by the end of today." Jaejoong promised as he waved to Mr. Oba who was disappearing into the elevator. He hurried into his office, eager to finish everything off so that he could join Yuri & their friends at the beach.

Half an hour later, June rushed into his office, "Oppa, come quick. Something's wrong with the file." The two of them hovered over her computer & tried to figure out where the miscalculations originated, "I still don't get it. What happened to the data that we originally entered?" Jaejoong ran his fingers through his messy hair & sighed in frustration.

Yuri was waiting for him at the beach & he still hadn’t finished the project at hand, ‘I will give her a call.’ He thought. So he dialed her cell number & tried to think of a satisfying explanation, "Happy birthday, honey. Um...there are a few things I have to take care of at the office but don't worry, I will be there soon." "Don't worry about me. Work is more important." As much as she tried to hide it, her disappointment didn’t manage to be covered up by the feigned excitement.

After hanging up, Jaejoong was even more determined to solve the problem so that he could get to the beach earlier & not let Yuri down again. Finally, he & June were able to send the project to Mr. Oba's secretary on time. Jaejoong thought he was home free & was able to meet up with Yuri but as he was leaving, he noticed that June looked a little unsteady.

"Are you alright? You should go home & rest. It's been a long day." "I'm just a little dizzy but I will be fine in a bit. Oh, but I was wondering if you can give me a ride? My cars in the shop." June leaned against the wall & rubbed her temples. Jaejoong absolutely couldn’t refuses his cousin, especially since she had stayed overtime again, with him to finish the project.

He dropped her off at her apartment & was about to leave when he realized that she was too out of it to make it up safely. He got out of his car & gently took her arm, leading her to her flat, "Which one is the key?" He took them out of her hands & tried each one until he finally got the door open. She stumbled into the house & collapsed onto the couch.

Jaejoong set the keys on the table & went to get a blanket to cover her with. That was when he noticed how hot she was, "June. You are burning up. Where's the thermometer? Where do you keep your medicine?" He scrambled around the house, grabbing things here & there. He forced her to swallow the pills & dragged her off the couch & into her room.

"I will be okay. Just go. It's Yuri's birthday; you don't want to miss it." She waved him away & turned over, "Oh my gosh. Yuri, she must be so mad. Uh, are you sure you will be okay? If you need anything, just give me a call." "Yes, yes. Now go before it's midnight."

Jaejoong was out the door in an instant. He speed down the road & drove as fast as he could, glancing at the clock every few minutes, ‘I have only three hours left.’

The sound of the waves splashing on the shore could be heard mingling with the sound of voices & the beat of the music. The stars shone brightly in the sky & down on earth, the beach was lit up with candles & lanterns. A big group of middle-aged people were shaking their booty to the beat & having the time of their lives.

In the center of the group, the birthday girl stood amongst her friends, constantly on the look out for her husband to appear. Finally, her eyes lit up as a shadowy figure made its way through the crowd towards her. His hair was messed up, his blue burberry london woven silk tie was loose & he smelled like sweat but the sight of him brought a smile to her face.

"Happy birthday again." He whispered into her ear, & enveloped her in a big hug, "I'm sorry I'm so late. There were some problems with the project at hand & also, June had a fever so I had to stay with her for a bit." Jaejoong explained, as he handed Yuri her present. Suddenly, there was a bright flash in the air, followed by a loud bang, "What was that?" Yuri turned towards the sound & another flash blinded her.

"I hope you like it." Jaejoong said to her lovingly. The entire night sky was lit up as the fireworks exploded in the air. The bright flashes showered off into little spirals of different colours & rained down towards the water until the light died off. The group stood in awe, pointing & admiring the beautiful show, "Thank you Oppa." Yuri smiled & hugged him.

Jaejoong didn't let this chance slip so he wrapped his arms around her & hugged her back tightly. Even long after they had packed up & gone home, Jaejoong could still feel the warmth of Yuri's body that had radiated onto him, the scent of hers that was so unique, her content sigh that broadened his smile.