Chapter 9

Jaejoong sat in his beach chair under the umbrella, away from the glaring sun. Even though he no longer minded it, he still preferred to stay in the shade whenever possible. Yuri’s laugh drifted to him from the glistening waves. Even amid all the noise & laughter of the many people there, Jaejoong could always pick out Yuri’s. It was a beautiful, exquisite laugh, a perfect mixture between sweet maturity & girlish innocence. He couldn’t help but smile as that laugh warmed his heart. Following the laugh, Jaejoong traced it to her. Yuri was presently gaining up on Changmin with Victoria, the three running around, getting in a splash whenever possible.

Jaejoong tilted his head, focusing on her for a moment, ‘My Yuri.’ His heart whispered, even though he knew he had no right to call her that. She had on a purple raisin halter push-up bikini top & solid side-tie brief bottom, modeling her body perfectly. Her hair, Jaejoong remembered that fresh, flowery aroma, her hair swirled around her head in sparkling locks & although Jaejoong was too far away to see clearly, he could tell her eyes were dancing with joy, ‘Yuri looks exactly like an angel.’ He thought, ‘Pure & perfect.’ Jaejoong knew this was one of those scenes that would last in his memory forever.

Suddenly, Yuri glanced up from her game, saw him & waved, beckoning him to join her. Jaejoong shook his head, knowing shouting would be useless.

‘I can’t swim.’ He thought, ‘Isn’t that ironic? In all these years, I have never learnt to swim.’ But then again, old habits died hard.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn’t notice Yuri standing right in front of him, smiling, water running off her body & creating a puddle at her feet, “Let’s go, Jaejoong Oppa.” Yuri looked at him, tilting her head a bit as if she was shy, “We are all waiting for you.”

“Yuri, I don’t know how to swim.” He told her a bit defensively.

“That’s alright, you don’t need to know how to swim.” Yuri said eagerly, “The water’s not deep enough for a guy like you to drown.” She added teasingly.

Jaejoong shook his head again, giving her his sad puppy-dog face.

“Come on! Get up!” Yuri cried insistently, ignoring the face. She took his warm hands in hers & pulled him up or at least, attempted to pull him up.

Reluctantly, Jaejoong got off his , not being about to refuses her pleading eyes.

“Yay.” Yuri danced her little victory dance, waltzing around him as they made their way down to where Victoria & Changmin were waiting. Jaejoong grinned in spite of himself, ‘I guess its worth learning to swim if it makes Yuri this happy & cheerful.’

At the shore of the beach, Jaejoong cautiously stuck in his toe as if he expected it to be burnt away or something.

“Oh Oppa, you are so silly.” Yuri giggled, not realizing she was behaving like the little girl she never was.

“It’s not sulfuric acid. Come on. I will race you to Victoria. Last one there is a rotten egg.” She took off carefreely, leaving Jaejoong to splash along behind her. For the time being, Yuri forgot about her problems, her illness. She had been granted one day to taste the joy of true happiness & Yuri lived up to it, experiencing everything she had missed in the past.

“Hey, man! You came!” Changmin yelled gleefully, hiding his surprises. Here was another first. In all these years, Changmin had never been able to persuade his friend to set foot in the water, ‘Wow, what could that girl possibly make him do next?’ Changmin wondered, glancing at Yuri admiringly.

“Hi, Jaejoong Oppa!” Victoria, not being overburdened with these thoughts, yelled “But you are still dry, that’s not good! Everyone, gain up on Jaejoong!”

Jaejoong yelped with shock as the cold water hit him all at once, with enough force to make him stumble backwards. Hesitatingly, he flicked up some drops of freezing cold water with his fingers, before realizing it was nowhere near enough to beat his unmerciful friends. Hence began the longest, heaviest water fight of all time.

“Phew, I’m exhausted.” Victoria flopped onto a chair after drying herself, “& I’m turning blue.” The sun was setting, casting a prism of golden light over them but it was also getting rather chilly.

“I’m just starving.” Changmin groaned as his stomach grumbled, causing Victoria to giggle, “Food, I need food.” He mumbled dramatically.

“Me, too.” Jaejoong chimed in.

“You.” Changmin raised his thick eyebrows at Yuri who was hard at work doing something with the sand, “Victoria & I are going to buy some food so you can stay here with Jaejoong.”

“Don’t worry, we will bring you guys back a share, too.” Victoria told them, getting up & wrapping a towel tightly around herself before running after Changmin.

Jaejoong shivered, grabbing a beach towel for himself & turned to Yuri. She was building something in the sand, gently molding it into the shape she wanted. Yuri suddenly looked very vulnerable & delicate, her hair fluttering with each gust of wind.

Curious, he went over to her & saw what she was working on. It was a sand castle. Not one that was made with a crude shovel & bucket like a little child might do but a fragile, carefully carved one which gave it an impression of being spun from glass. It looked like something that only existed in the dream world & that’s exactly what it was.

Yuri felt something being draped around her shoulders & looked up, “Thanks, Oppa.” She smiled gratefully, “That’s pretty.” He commented casually, sitting down next to her.

Yuri’s cheeks turned pink at the compliment, “Thanks. I have always loved making sandcastles.” She confessed, “It feels like I’m building up my own world & I’m in charge of it.” Her voice held a bitter ring. Shaking her head, she chipped away at a column of sand until a tower began to appear.

Jaejoong shivered again, this time, it was Yuri’s cold voice that chilled his heart, “Too bad the waves will eventually wash it away.” Jaejoong murmured, almost to himself, pushing the fine sand into a pile with his foot. He was unaware that he was really continuing Yuri’s sandcastle analogy. Yuri would be with him until time caught up to her. Little did he know, it would be much sooner than he thought.

“Yeah.” Yuri said quietly, almost to herself, “But its beautiful while it lasts.” ‘Just like today.’ Yuri sighed, “But it will be erased, leaving nothing of its existence, just like it never was.” She had never had so much fun in her life & she wished this day could last.

Forever.

“Hey, Jaejoong!” Changmin hissed, pulling Jaejoong aside when he came back from getting dinner while Victoria went to give Yuri hers.

“What?” Jaejoong looked rather annoyed, his moment alone with Yuri was disrupted.

“There’s an after dark flower show at the garden of morning calm. Victoria & I passed it on our way back. Do you think Yuri will be interested?” Changmin asked in a low voice, careful so that Yuri wouldn’t hear.

Jaejoong felt a stir of excitement as he thought about it & was also genuinely touched over Changmin’s concern. Nobody but his best friend would go to such length to help him, “What do you think?” He looked at Changmin, seeking an opinion from the more experienced.

“Man, Yuri works in your floral shop.” Changmin rolled his eyes in pretend exasperation.

“Oh, right.” Jaejoong smiled sheepishly.

“So, Oppa, where are you taking me?” Yuri asked, smiling in anticipation.

“You will see.” Jaejoong had told Yuri he was going to take her somewhere special. He had been surprised that Yuri didn’t question him any further & how she trusted him completely, “We should be close.” Jaejoong said. Changmin’s purple audi honked as he passed by. He had discreetly told Jaejoong that he & Victoria wouldn’t be joining them. Yuri waved, grinning, hitting Jaejoong’s arm in the process. The car swiveled slightly.

“Hey. Easy there.” Jaejoong chuckled, steering the car with Yuri’s crazy waving & Changmin giving him the thumbs-up sign.

“Oh, sorry Oppa.” Yuri giggled, looking very unrepentant.

Jaejoong pretended to scowl, although he couldn’t stop smiling long enough to do it. It seemed the cornered of his lips just didn’t behave the way he wanted them to when his thoughts were on Yuri, “You will be very sorry indeed if we crash because of you, young lady.”

“Hey. Who are you to call me young...wow, this is beautiful.” Yuri breathed as they pulled into the garden of morning calm. There were fragrant blossoms everywhere until Yuri thought she was drowning in a sea of petals. The darkness was pierced by multicolored lights that showered the displayed flowers with glory. People mulled around every display as other strolled down the romantic moonlit path, hand in hand. In the distance, a violinist could be heard, coaxing a soft, sweet melody from the instrument.

“This is amazing.” Yuri breathed in the smell of sweet flowers as they made their way inside the gate.

“You like it?” Jaejoong asked shyly, when they stopped in front of the first display.

“I have never seen anything like this before.” Yuri said, turning to him.

“I have never seen anyone like you.” Jaejoong restrained himself from saying. This habit had been growing on him, causing him to feel more & more frustrated by the minute, ‘Why can’t I express how I feel about her?’ The answer came almost immediately, ‘Because she doesn’t feel that way about you, !’ That very thought made Jaejoong want to grimace.

They strolled down the path, enjoying the calm, peaceful night, “Hey, what’s that?” Yuri wanted to know, pointing to a crowd in front of a large makeshift stage. She had always loved the large groups of people. It held some sort of comradeship that Yuri had always missed.

Jaejoong shrugged as they made their way through the crowd then had to struggle to keep from bursting into laughter as he saw what was going on. A group of people were acting out Shakespeares, Romeo & Juliet, apparently to honor this beautiful flower event. Jaejoong wasn’t an expert in acting but he could see that these people had no talent whatsoever, “Oh, happy dagger, this is thy sheath.” Juliet proclaimed in what was supposed to be a romantic voice. She was obviously not affected by the moonlight.

“She sounded like a rusty saw.” Yuri giggled, covering with her hands to muffle the noise. Juliet the dagger into her body & what had an uncanny resemblance to ketchup spewed everywhere & spattered everyone within the vicinity with blood. The crowd roared with laughter.

“Ew!” Yuri squealed, as flecks of ketchup landed on her oval-shaped face.

“Come on.” Jaejoong chuckled, beckoning as they attempted to make their way out of the tight crowd, aware they were disturbing the attentive crowd around them with their giggles, “Yuri!” He whispered loudly, as they got separated in the mob of people, “Ugh.” She groaned, fighting her way back to him. Jaejoong reached out & took a firm hold of her hand.

“Phew.” Yuri sighed as they managed to break free, “I would never have guessed so many people liked this...uh, can you call it a play?”

Jaejoong chuckled.

“What?” Yuri glanced at him curiously.

“Besides the fact that we all got splattered on with blood, you mean? I was just thinking about how different Shakespeare’s language is.” Jaejoong glanced at her innocently.

Yuri raised her delicately thick, straight eyebrows in further question.

“Like, where am I ever going to talk like that in the shop? Am I supposed to say, ‘Oh, where art thou, my three & a half foot shovel’?”

Yuri immediately cracked up at Jaejoong’s comical recitation, “Oppa!” She chided, gasping for air.

Worried, Jaejoong patted her back, “I’m sorry.” He apologized, looking at her uncertainly from under thick eyebrows.

‘Wow, I never realized how cute he looks when he’s puzzled.’ Yuri thought, ‘Hey! One day out & you have already lost yourself control?!’ Her conscience yelled. Quickly, she pulled away, not even realizing they had been holding hands ever since they left the play, it had just felt so natural.

“Hang on.” Something caught Jaejoong’s attention as he strode off, “Don’t worry, I will be right back.” He called, over his shoulder, “Don’t go anywhere.”

“What?” Yuri started, but it was too late, Jaejoong was gone already.

“Here Yuri, this is for you.” Jaejoong reappeared suddenly, shyly holding out a bouquet of pink roses. Yuri looked down, eyes fluttering, away from Jaejoong’s intense gaze that he seemed to have reserved just for her, “Oppa. I...I don’t know what to say.” She stammered.

“Thanks for coming here with me today.” He said softly, voice dropping several notches as he reached out to brush the hair away from her face.

That simple sentence melted Yuri’s self-resolve, ‘It’s still that enchanted day.’ She thought, ‘Cinderella’s spell hadn’t been broken. Yet.’ Accepting the flowers, she stepped into Jaejoong’s embrace, burying her face in his chest so he couldn’t see her shining eyes, “Thank you, Oppa.”

Jaejoong wrapped strong arms around her, feeling as if his heart would burst from so much emotion. The human heart was never meant for such surging feelings that he felt for this goddess. He held Yuri tightly, wishing he never needed to let go. Wishing time would stop at this second.

Forever.

“You still have a dab of ketchup on your face.” Jaejoong tenderly wiped it off with gentle fingers. He was very close & Yuri suddenly found it hard to breathe.

Slowly, Jaejoong lowered his head, hair tickling Yuri’s forehead. His lips brushed against hers & looked uncertainly into her eyes, asking her silently if she would allow him to continue. Yuri’s eyes were clouded with undeniable desire. Jaejoong’s soft, moist lips found hers again, & Yuri moaned in pleasure. A responding sound was heard from him as he deepened the kiss, tongue caressing her lips teasingly. His hands began inching slowly down her body. Horrified, Yuri pushed him away, the beautiful moment broken as everything suddenly came crashing back down on her. After all, she was only pretending to be cinderella, “Op...Oppa.” She stammered, unsure of what to say. How to say it.

He didn’t quite understand what was wrong. He knew something was bothering her but he also knew this wasn’t the right time to inquire, “Shhh, it’s alright.” Jaejoong said softly, pulling her against him again, but gently this time. If she said no, he wasn’t going to try to change her mind, not to mention, they were in public. Yuri sighed, her panicky moment was over & gone with. She inhaled the scent of Jaejoong’s cologne with every breath she took. It felt so safe here, with Jaejoong’s strong arms around her, protecting her. She felt like she belonged, as if they were two pieces of a puzzle that fitted together perfectly. Right now, there was no tomorrow, no future to look out for. There was only her & Jaejoong.