SS21- Sorry for the long absence. We've both been very busy. I've been working on a new chaptered story but I won't be publishing it until it's complete so that I don't have second doubts about my plot because of some comments. I was traveling last week and didn't have Internet for a few days. I wrote this chapter on my phone during a flight. So it may seem hurried because I couldn't type freely on the phone. Hope you guys enjoy it nonetheless.

For as long as Jaejoong could remember, every couple has a thing. Her parents do, her aunt and uncle do, even all those couples on screen do.

She noticed that couples have this thing like an informal custom.

She first realized it when she was six. Her Imo made heart-shaped cookies and Junsu whined that she wouldn't let her have any. They did get to eat it though, after Samchon came home. Jaejoong being the observant girl she is, noticed there were occasions Yoona would bake heart-shaped treats exclusively for Seunggi.

Then she realized her parents had a thing too. One day she wanted to follow her mother to her show. Heechul was so excited; she dressed her six-year-old princess in a blue denim and peach satin dress.

Jaejoong remembers standing all done up in her mother's spacious closet while Heechul looked for a matching accessory. Her mother had a massive jewellery collection and 95% of it was from her father. There were all kinds of jewellery, big or small, with different stones and metals. There was no price range either. From Tiffany and Bvlgari to trinkets from street markets from around the world.

The only thing consistent among them is that "they are all as beautiful as Kim Heechul" or so her daddy would say.

When her mother put a pink and gold necklace around her while gushing about how her father missed a flight to buy it, Jaejoong hoped that when she finds her special someone, they'd have a thing too.

Of course she didn't count on her 'the one' being Jung Yunho. Sure he's amazing, and sweet, and kind and an adorable dork. But he's dense.

They're both hopeless romantics but on different levels. He just doesn't realize they don't have a thing.

Even greaseball Yoochun sends notes with cheesy pickup lines for Junsu with flowers. Jaejoong actually discovered Junsu has a diary where she tucks each note with the date and occasion. Dammit! Why can't Yunho do something cheesy like that?

Don't get her wrong. Jaejoong has taken initiative to start a thing.

~~~

Jaejoong chewed her lip anxiously as she waited outside the gym. Yunho was practicing with his basketball buddies since 6 in the morning. She came to school early so she could give him the cupcakes she made last night. They were chocolate with strawberry, Yunho's favourite.

She knows he'll like them. But the longer she waits, the more nervous she gets. They're not official after all and Yunho is in no way obligated to accept her handmade present. But she hopes that when they do get together, they'd look back on this random memory and want to relive it.

That thought alone gave her butterflies and she couldn't take it anymore. She might as well go in instead of wait for him to be done. She calls him first and he answers after a few rings. "Hi Boo.'' Jaejoong giggled at that nickname. She never understood how he came up with it.

''Hi...are you free? For like five minutes.''

''Yeah. We got a 15 minute break right now. Come on in.''

''Okay.'' Jaejoong hung up and pocketed her phone. Taking a deep breath, she inspected the Tupperware box once before she entered the gym timidly.

Three guys were playing around on the court while the rest were catching their breaths in one side of the gym. Jaejoong couldn't spot Yunho though. But she did see Yoochun waving at her.

She walked towards him hoping he'd help her find Yunho. But the careless girl she is, she walked right across the court. Yoochun's eyes widened comically large and he made frantic gestures at her before he found his voice. ''WATCH OUT!"

Jaejoong's steps halted at his shout. But before she could make sense of it, she felt a force hit the side of her head and she fell, hitting her head on the floor, hard. And everyhting went black.

The next thing she knew, she woke up four hours later in the infirmary with a concussion. Yunho was holding an ice pack to her head and her hand.

Junsu sat on the chair near the window. On her lap sat a cracked Tupperware box sticky on the outside from chocolate icing and strawberry juice.

~~~

 Jaejoong sneaked into Yunho's room as if his mom doesn't know she's here. But this is something that had to be a surprise for him.

Taking a cue from Yoochun, she wrote a cheesy note about how special he is to her. She's going to leave it in Yunho's book. She knows he's going to a party for one of his college buddy's birthday. He'd be here after dinner time and she plans to leave before he comes back.

Jaejoong looked around his desk to decide which book would make a good hiding place. She almost considered leaving it on the desk but then it could be easily found that way. She has this fantasy where he finds the note during class and would spend the entire time blushing over it.

She contained a squeal at that imagery and got to business. His binder looked like the best spot and she put the Hello Kitty envelope in between the messy pages. She had just shut the binder when the door opened.

"Jae?" She was startled by that voice. She thought it would be Leeteuk. Why would Yunho come home so early? Yunho poked his head in through the door's opening and looked around till his eyes landed on his girlfriend. ''Hi!" he grinned, stepping in and closing the door behind him, "Mom said you were here. You should've called. I would've come over sooner.''

Jaejoong shook her head, "n-no. I just came to invite your parents to Junsu's first concert. She's going to open for Sechskies and she's too preoccupied to invite anyone herself.''

''That's cool. We'll be there.'' he walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Giving her a sweet peck, he nuzzled her cheek. ''You smell so nice.'' She giggled at the ticklish feeling, ''what are you doing home so early? You said you're going to be partying all night.''

''Mmm... Got bored. Ditched those idiots.'' Yunho shrugged lightly and rested his forehead against hers, ''the rest of my evening is free and class is cancelled for tomorrow aaaand, if you ask, maybe dad won't drag me to work tomorrow.''

 Jaejoong laughed and nodded. ''Fine. I'll stay over." Yunho let her go to cheer happily, ''Let's go to that Japanese restaurant we went last time. I just need to change into something warmer.''

"I'm going to call Mama and let her know.'' Yunho nodded and slipped inside his closet. When he was out of sight, she checked if her note was hidden and sighed. Guess she'll have to wait for whenever Yunho finds it.

A little disappointed, she went to the balcony to call her mother. Heechul gave her permission to stay the night at the Jungs but not before she ranted for 15 minutes. When she stepped back inside, Yunho had already changed and was busy with something.

From the looks of it, it was a pink envelope he was ripping up and throwing in the bin near his desk. For a moment she thought it was her letter. But she's sure she can't see the Hello Kitty holding a heart print scattered around the envelope. Heck! She knows Yunho would figure something with Hello Kitty is Jaejoong’s signature.

Yunho realized her presence and grimaced, "hey... I uh... Didn't want you to see this.'' Yunho said while putting a stray bit of paper on the floor into the bin. ''Someone's been leaving confession notes in my desk every day.''

Oh...so it wasn't hers. That's great...but now she's jealous. ''Everyday?'' she couldn't keep the displeasure out of her voice.

''For two weeks!" Yunho said equally exasperated, " I hate this kind of thing. It's so cowardly you know.''

Jaejoong stiffened at his words. ''c-cowardly?"

“Well…yeah… at least to me… leaving me notes like this isn’t going to get you what you want. If they spoke face-to-face, I’d at least be able to let them down easy. Putting your feelings on a paper just looks insincere to me.” He pushed the bin under his desk with a grimace, “Actually… that girl who left me the notes was at the party. I turned her down as politely as I could. But she was not willing to understand and kept going on about how can I not get her feelings after all those letters.” He sighed and waved it off, “Never mind. I left the party and it won’t be hard to avoid her at the university either. Let’s go.” He smiled brightly, grabbing his car keys and heading to the door not noticing Jaejoong’s tense emotions.

She snapped out of it fast and plastered what she hopes is a normal expression. “You go ahead. I’ll just use the bathroom first.”

“Yeah. Just wait at the front door.” Yunho left her in the room completely unaware of what’s going through her mind.

When she was sure he was gone, Jaejoong dived for his desk. She was so frantic, she shook the binder upside down to let the envelope fall along with a couple of sticky notes. She just stuffed the post-its back into the binder.

She couldn’t care less as long as the envelope is on her mind. She stared at the note forlornly and thought about how silly it was. It’s not cowardly and Yunho wouldn’t throw away a note from her. But she only realized now how insincere it was of her that she searched for some lame lines to write in a note online and scribbled them in. it’s not even her honest feelings.

Deciding this was for the better, she’d put in some more effort the next time, Jaejoong crumpled the envelope and stuffed it in her bag.

~~~

Jaejoong swayed back and forth in anticipation waiting outside a cafe. She almost forgot her dizzy spells of late when Yunho called her. He's been so busy that she's barely spoken to him in weeks.

That's why she didn't mind he asked her to a date on half an hour’s notice after taking an off from work. She’s really happy that they are able to spend today together.

Unknown to everyone but just Yunho and Jaejoong, today is the anniversary of the day they became official after Yunho's post-game confession in high school. Nobody realizes it because they were an unofficial couple for so long before that.

Deep inside, she's hoping they'd find a thing special for this day.

 She was mentally planning things they could do today when she sees that familiar Mercedes rolled to a stop in front of her. Her dizziness was at the back of her mind when Yunho stepped out looking oh so handsome in that Gucci suit.

He jogged around his car to get to her and wrapped his arms around her tight, “Hiii~! Sorry I’m late. That boring meeting went too long.” She wasn’t even listening but he doesn’t need to know that. She just conveyed her longing in a kiss.

 “that was nice.” Yunho spoke against her lips, “do you want to catch that movie or should we continue this in a more private place?”

“first, movie.” Jaejoong gives him a promising grin that makes him smirk. He released her for a moment and she didn’t like the feeling. He noticed it naturally, and held his hand up in apology, “give me a second.” He opened the passenger side of his car and pulled out a bouquet of red roses.

Jaejoong doesn’t know what came over her. She has no preference for flowers. She loves all kinds. But the sight of those roses made her weirdly repulsed. The sickening feeling looking at those roses bubbled in her stomach and was making its way up.

“For you.” Yunho held the bouquet in front of her with a wide grin. But his smile faltered when she didn’t show any enthusiasm.

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