Chapter 31

June slung one of Jaejoong's arms over her shoulder & dragged him to the door. Just as she was about to leave, a voice pierced the air & stopped her in her tracks, "Kim Jaejoong. You look like a dead dog. You are coming home with me tonight."

June turned around & came face to face with Hyoyeon. Although slightly buzzed, Hyoyeon was still relatively sober & quite awake with a stern face, shaking her finger at her older brother, "You keep partying & I will bring this dead dog home to show my mom." She whispered to June, as she took Jaejoong's arm.

"Okay, thanks. I will see you at the office tomorrow." June reluctantly handed him over & walked back into the club, cursing under her breath. Outside the club, Jaejoong walked unsteadily towards the edge of the sidewalk, clinging onto Hyoyeon's arm. She was about to pull him towards her blue mini cooper when all of a sudden, he lurched forward & threw up all over the ground, with some of his puke hitting her prada high-heel leather ankle boot.

"Ah, you little monster!" Hyoyeon shrieked loudly, as Jaejoong continued to empty out his stomach's contents beside her. She quickly pulled out some tissues from her navy gucci bright diamante small leather bag & wiped her shoes then contemplated over whether she should wipe his mouth with the same tissue. She decided to be nice & took out a clean tissue to wipe his face while sticking her tongue out & scolding him at the same time. During the ride home, she couldn't stop thinking of ways to get back at him for puking on her shoes.

‘Hmmm, too bad mom & dad are on a holiday or else they would be able to give him a real scolding.’ She thought to herself. Jaejoong was fast asleep in the passenger seat, totally oblivious to his sister's plotting. When she got home, Hyoyeon called all the servants to pulled Jaejoong out of her car & up to his old room; he was too heavy for her to lift & she had had enough of his drunken mumbling.

"I miss you, Yuri." He would say as the people dragged him into his bedroom & plopped him onto the bed. They changed him into some old pajamas & left him to sleep. After her shower, Hyoyeon sneaked into Jaejoong's room & opened his closet. She took out a set of his old uniforms, placing them on the chair at the foot of his bed & snickered softly.

The next morning, Jaejoong woke up with a massive headache. He looked around & found himself in his old room, ‘Wait a minute. How did I end up here?’ He wondered. Just then, the door burst open & Hyoyeon jumped in, wearing her school uniform with glasses & her hair straighten, "Oppa. You are late for school. Get up." She giggled & then rushed back outside, slamming the door behind her, "What?" Jaejoong dragged his into the bathroom & washed up, then slowly put on his uniform.

Something didn't feel quite right. He wandered downstairs & saw Hyoyeon sitting at the dining table, eating breakfast, "What are you waiting for? The first bell is going to ring in thirty-five minutes." She said, between bites. Jaejoong was even more dazed & confused. He furrowed his brow & looked at Hyoyeon strangely but she just kept eating. He sat down across from her & picked up his fork, getting ready to take a bite of his breakfast.

"Wait a second. We don't go to school anymore. I'm married now. I don't even live here." He suddenly came to the realization that Hyoyeon was playing a big joke on him. Hyoyeon burst out laughing, almost choking on her glass of milk, "Ha. It took you this long to wake up? I thought I had have to take you to school today." She hugged her aching sides & tried to contain her laughter, "It's not funny, you brat! I seriously thought I was like traveling back in time or something. I'm going to kill you." He threatened to chase her around the house & grab her hair.

"Well, I had to get you back for throwing up on me last night!" She screamed, while running away. She stuck her tongue out once again, & ran into the living room, "Hmmm, speaking of last night, what happened? How did I end up here?" Jaejoong stopped chasing Hyoyeon & thought back to last night, "I really can't remember." He scratched his head & settled onto the couch.

In a quick eight minutes, Hyoyeon gave him the entire recap of last night, not sparing the details about her shoes & almost wiping his mouth with the tissue that she used to clean her shoes with. She also didn't forget to mention about his mumbling as the servants were putting him to bed, "I'm really, really, really sorry about your shoes. I will buy you a new pair. Just promise you won't ever play a trick like that on me again." He truly felt bad for putting his sister through all the trouble & making her take care of him when it should have been the other way around.

Hyoyeon laughed to herself, "Okay, I will just play another trick on you next time." "Hey. I mean it." He pushed her lightly, "Okay, okay I promise. Anyway, if you miss Yuri that much, why don't you give her a call & just tell her yourself?" Hyoyeon got up & went back to finishing her breakfast while Jaejoong sat by the phone & thought about what to say to Yuri.

The phone rang repeatedly but it was left unanswered. Three minutes later, Yuri rushed out of the bathroom with a towel around her wet hair & water dripping everywhere. She picked up her phone & saw that she had missed five calls, all from the same number. Just then, the phone rang again, in her hands.

"Hello?"

"Yuri. Where were you? Why didn't you answer the phone? What are you doing?" Jaejoong immediately bombarded her with questions, "I was in the shower. What's wrong? Is it urgent?" "No, not really. I just really wanted to hear your voice & to tell you that I miss you."

"Aw, I miss you too, but it's been a long day & I have a meeting early next morning so I think I should be going to bed." She stifled a yawn, "Oh yeah, it's night time for you over there. Okay, I won't keep you up then. Good night, Yuri."

"Good night." She hung up & walked back to her room while Jaejoong held onto the phone on the other line. He wanted to blow her a kiss over the phone or better yet, to kiss her for real. Too bad his schedule kept him busy or else, he would take some time off & fly over to London to see her.

The snow fell softly over the bustling city. Yuri stood by the window & watched the little flakes twirl in the wind before they settled on the grass, ‘I wish Oppa was here so we can play in the snow just like on our honeymoon.’ She thought back fondly to the memories of the time they spent together, nearly two years ago.

It has almost been three year. Two year has passed since they stood at the altar & made vows of loving, honouring & cherishing each other forever. So many ups & downs had happened in their journey together. Even though they were halfway around the world, Yuri didn’t forget about their anniversary & she had spent days shopping for the perfect gift. She finally found it & sent it via airmail back home to him.

She had been in London for three months now. They hadn’t seen each other for three months & she was beginning to get used to the solitude. Coming home to an empty house every day, talking to the four walls of her bedroom, listening to the silence of vacant rooms. Sometimes, she questioned herself on her decision. Was it the right thing to do? To come to London & leave everything behind? Leaving behind all the memories, bitter & sweet, of her & Jaejoong?

Hyoyeon was coming for a business meeting in a week so that would give them some girl time to catch up with each other's lives & also, give her a chance to catch up on Jaejoong's life. She would stay up & wonder about him, wondering if he missed her, wondering if he thought of her. Sometimes, when she was on the phone with Jaejoong, discussing the progress of the project, she would have the urge to ask him, to show him that she cares but each time she would be too afraid to break the barrier between them, the barrier that she had set up, the time & distance barrier that she had asked for, in order for her to heal her wounds.

Was she punishing herself again, forcing herself to withdraw from Jaejoong & his warmth, depriving herself of his touch? Yuri rubbed her sore temples & sat down on her couch. She picked up the mug of hot chocolate from the coffee table & sipped it slowly, relishing the sweet, thick taste on her tongue, almost as sweet as Jaejoong's kisses, kisses that she hadn't tasted for so long.

"Hyoyeon. Jaejoong is here to see you." Mrs. Kim called to her daughter, but no reply came from Hyoyeon's room. After a few minutes, she decided to open the door & to her dismay, she found her daughter lying in bed, pale & sick, "Can't talk." Hyoyeon pointed to & croaked. Within a minute, a thermometer was shoved in & Mrs. Kim was giving her a scolding about not taking better care of herself.

"Now, what are we going to do about that meeting? We told Yuri that you had arrive in London by tomorrow night. Argh." She paced around the room impatiently, then pulled the thermometer out of Hyoyeon's mouth & looked at it intently, "Aigoo, eighty-three degrees celsius. Young lady. You are staying in bed for the next few days." "But mom." Hyoyeon tried to protests but hurtled too much to talk. After giving Hyoyeon some antibiotics & putting her to sleep, Mrs. Kim went downstairs to discuss the situation with Jaejoong.

Although he was alarmed to hear of his sister's condition, Jaejoong realized that this was an opportunity for him to go find Yuri in London, "Besides, mom." He added eagerly, "It's almost our three year anniversary & I also want to spend Christmas with her, too." Mrs. Kim looked at her son & smiled. This was definitely a good chance for him & Yuri to work things out again. Jaejoong immediately bought tickets to go to London & packed his bags, not forgetting the delicately wrapped present he had prepared for Yuri.

Yuri tiredly unlocked the door to her house. She instantly snapped awake when she heard someone or something in the kitchen. A burglar? No, why would a burglar be in her kitchen? ‘It must be Hyoyeon. Oh, she should have called first.’ Yuri thought to herself, "Hyoyeon, is that you?" She wandered into the kitchen.

The aroma of a pie baking in the oven drifted to her nose & automatically watered. When she got to the kitchen, her eyes widened in shock & her jaw dropped to the floor. Jaejoong stood at the stove in her blue apron, stir frying their dinner. He heard her footsteps & turned around. His voice was caught in his throat when he saw her. Three months had transformed Yuri into an even more beautiful & elegant woman.

His instinct was to open up his arms & pull Yuri into a tight hug & when he did so, he was disappointed to see that Yuri took a step forward but held back when she got closer. His eyes were begging, pleading her to come closer, "Aw, I miss you too, Oppa, but." Her eyes traveled down his body & she couldn't help but grinned. Jaejoong looked down & realized that he was completely covered in flour & different sauces.

"Oops. I guess you don't want to hug a." Before he could think of the word, he found that Yuri had rushed up to him & thrown herself onto his flour covered body, holding him tightly, "What did you do to my apron & kitchen?" Her muffled voice came from somewhere within his chest. She looked up at him & stuck her tongue out, "You even got flour on your face. You messy pig." She ran to the bathroom & brought back a damp towel. Reaching up, she lovingly wiped away the spots of flour off of his forehead, nose & cheeks. Then her eyes traveled down to his lips.

They were full & luscious, slightly parted, as if anticipating a kiss. Her heart skipped a beat & she felt her stomach fluttering. The more she stared, the more nervous she felt. Memories of those lips on her body flooded her mind. Their first kiss at the studio, their first real kiss during the wedding, the endless times they have locked lips, the loving way he kissed her forehead, nose & cheeks, the way he teased & tickled her by kissing her ear & neck & those very, very special kisses he kissed her when they were making love, everything replayed again, & again, in her mind & she found that she was craving for him, literally.

She looked up at him, into his eyes & saw the love in them. She leaned forward slowly & closed her eyes. Slowly, Jaejoong moved closer & closer, bending down to her height & inhaling softly. Their lips were so close that a beam of light could hardly pass through. Just as they were going to succumb to their desire, the oven timer went off. Their eyes flew open & they sprung apart as Jaejoong quickly went to turn off the oven. Yuri stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to think or do, "Dinner's almost ready. Why don't you go take a shower & freshen up?" He ushered her out of the kitchen & he went back to cooking.

Despite the fact that Jaejoong had turned her kitchen upside down, Yuri decided that it was all worth it since he had cooked her one of the best meals she had eaten in her life, "I called you so many times before I came but your answering machine was full & I couldn't get through to your mobile. I wanted to tell you that Hyoyeon was sick & that I had be coming but I guess it's good to give you a surprises, don't you think so?" He said, over dinner, "The batteries died. I was too busy to put them in the charger this morning. Oppa, why are you staring at me?" Yuri put down her spoon & fork & looked at him. She realized that everytime she looked up, Jaejoong was always staring at her, as if afraid that she was going to disappear any minute, "I just missed seeing your face so much."

For the rest of the evening, he still wouldn’t take his eyes off of her. While they were in the kitchen, washing dishes, side by side at the sink, he longed to wrap his arms around her waist, trapping her in his embrace. There were many nights when they washed dishes together like that, with his chin resting on her shoulder, their hands brushing against each other in the soapy water. The chore had always taken such a long time, due to the fact that it was interrupted by their kissing sessions, ‘If only things were still like before.’ Jaejoong thought to himself. However, he had faith that this was a chance for him to rekindle the fire of their love.

He settled down next to her in the living room after his shower & whispered into her ear, "Do you remember what day today is?" Yuri turned her attention away from the tv & looked up at him, "Of course, Oppa. How could I forget? It's our three year anniversary." He was grinning from ear to ear, she still remembered, as he handed her the gift that he had so carefully prepared. As she tore away the paper, her eyes lit up & she squealed in glee, "Wow, this is the best gift ever. Thank you." In her hand was a box with their wedding photo on the cover, the one where Jaejoong was kissing her, "Five thousand pieces? How am I ever going to have time to put it all together?" She put down the box & hugged him, "Well, that's what I'm here for. Happy anniversary, Yuri." He couldn't help himself but placed a kiss on her cheek.

When he found that she didn't pull away, he kissed her again, this time, letting his lips linger on the corner of . His nose brushed lightly with hers & he pulled her closer to his body. Without another moment of hesitation, he captured her lips with his & the two of them finally gave into their longings. The kiss was soft & sweet, full of emotion & passion. Slowly, their lips parted & Yuri let him journey into , tasting her & nibbling on her lips gently. All the love & desire that he was forced to hold back for such a long time finally erupted in their kiss.

Jaejoong gently leaned down, urging Yuri to rest her head on the sofa & lie down slightly. He shifted his weight onto her body & deepened the kiss. Yuri kissed him back eagerly while smiling to herself & enjoying the way his hands danced on her body. For the rest of the night, they remained on the couch & just kissed & kissed & kissed & kissed.