Chapter 20
Kyuhyun stood in the door way and watched as Jin Ri played a couple of notes on the piano then stopped to erase and rewrite the notes on the music sheet propped in front of her. She bit her lip as she stared at the music sheet, looking as though the secrets of the world would appear right in front of her.

“You’re going to burn the paper if you keep on staring at it like that,” he teased, walking in with a tray of sandwiches and a glass of juice.

“Oh Kyu,” Jin Ri greeted, a smile immediately appearing on her face. He placed it on the small table beside the piano, sitting down beside her as she scooted over.

“When do I get to hear this?” he asked after he kissed her cheek. He glanced at the music sheet. But before he could go through it, she picked the papers up and placed them face down so he couldn’t read any longer.

“Soon,” was her answer, leaning towards him to kiss his lips.

“Go eat your sandwich,” he then suggested. “Then get dressed. They’ll be here in half an hour.” It was 9 o’clock in the evening. They had plans to watch a late movie and have dinner with Leeteuk, Angie* and some of the other members, whoever wanted to join them.

“Yes, appa,” she teased.

He chuckled as he stood up and bent over her, his breath grazing her lips. “Appa is reserved for our kids, princess.”

She leaned away at this, ignoring his advances of kissing her. “Our kids?”

He merely chuckled in response and gave her a peck on the lips. “Eat then get dressed,” he reminded her again.

Her eyes followed after him as he left the studio, leaving the door open. Through the doorway, she watched as he fixed the photography magazines that she had left lying around the living room, as well as the pictures she was sorting through earlier. After his solo rehearsals, he had come straight over to spend time with her and help a little bit with editing some photos, as well as cleaning the apartment.

Kyuhyun had become even sweeter and even more loving that he had been. She didn’t know how that was possible since he was practically the perfect boyfriend already. But she noticed it in the way he looked at her and the way he touched her, showing her how much he cared about her, how much he really loved her. He was really living up to all the things he had said he would do. It was like he was always letting her know that he was around and wasn’t going to leave her. His calls each day had increased in number whenever they had no time to see each other. Even then, somehow, he always found herself with Zhoumi or Eunhyuk or any one of the Super Junior members. They always said that they wanted to hang out with her, but she was pretty sure that Kyuhyun, if not her cousins, had put them up to it. It wasn’t that she minded the increase in his protectiveness over her. He wasn’t suffocating her. But she worried that he worried about her too much when there were so many other things he should be concerned about.

“You’re not eating.” She blinked and looked at him, leaning on the doorway, his arms crossed on his chest, looking like a model. “Is it the kids comment?” He snickered. “I was joking.”

She rolled her eyes. “You shouldn’t joke like that,” she rebuked lightly, standing up to take a sandwich.

“And why not?” he asked, looking amused at how flustered she seemed.

“Just because,” was all she said, taking a big bite from the sandwich and finishing the whole thing so she didn’t have to say anything more.

He pushed himself off the doorway and took a seat beside her once more. “Princess, you do know that forever would eventually lead to that, right?” he continued, smiling as he brush some bread crumbs off her cheeks.

“Kyu,” she warned.

He chuckled as he put an arm around her. Cupping her face in his hand, he looked into her eyes. “I love you,” he sighed contentedly. When all she did was return him a worried and somewhat scared look, he smiled. “You know that I’m not pressuring you. I just want you to know.” He paused. “And that kids comment was really just a joke,” he added. He knew how she felt about kids. She loved them and really did want to have her own someday, which was why she was devastated when she lost the baby two years ago. It happened when she and Shin Jae were having one of the many fights they’d been having since they got engaged. She had gotten too angry and exerted too much effort that all of a sudden she was bleeding. He really shouldn’t be bringing up kids when they weren’t even a year into the relationship.

She chuckled and lifted her face to kiss him. “I like you a lot, Cho Kyuhyun.” He smiled at her. “Can we stay in middle school for a little while longer?”

“I would love to stay in middle school with you for as long as you want,” he agreed. “But… this middle school boy,” he went on, pointing at himself, “has grown up and has realized that he loves you.”

“What can I do to make CheesyKyu stay away?” she wondered aloud.

“Princeeeeess,” he whined in the very same way he did to his hyungs when he wanted to get his way on something. “I’m serious.”

“KidKyu is more like it,” she giggled, nodding in agreement and kissing him again.

Kyuhyun didn’t allow her to pull away. He cupped her face as his other arm sneaked around her waist. It was weird, but after their fight, he found himself just even more drawn to her. He wanted to be around her all the time so he could protect her from anything and everything that could harm her. No matter what she may think, he would always think of her as perfect. She was the most important thing in his life.

They were so absorbed with each other that they hadn’t realized that an audience had already formed in the doorway. It was only when they heard Angie’s voice, scolding someone and slapping them that they realized this and pulled away. Both Jin Ri and Kyuhyun hurriedly stood up, faces red.

“We’ve been standing here for a good five minutes,” Donghae announced, a big smirk on his face. Beside him, Eunhyuk and Leeteuk snickered. Meanwhile, Angie rolled her eyes at the immaturity of the boys.

“Some timing you guys have,” Kyuhyun complained, despite feeling embarrassed at being caught.

~ * ~

At the cinema, Jin Ri volunteered to buy the tickets so that the boys could just stand on one side and be inconspicuous. Angie decided to go with her.

“You know what, I’m honestly happy that you and Kyuhyun have finally patched things up,” Angie told her as they got the tickets from the ticket booth. “He looks like he’s seeing snow everywhere.”

Jin Ri laughed in response. Everyone knew how much Kyuhyun loved snow and how much it made him happy. “Me too,” she admitted. She then gave a curious look to her. “Do you and Jungsoo oppa fight?”

“Honey, we’re not a perfect couple, no matter what the newspapers and magazines say,” Angie chuckled. “We do fight, but we choose to talk about it immediately. But that’s just us,” she reminded her. “Some couples decide to wait to make sure they’re calm before talking. But Jungsoo never yells and I don’t either so…” She shrugged.

“Excuse me.”

Angie and Jin Ri both turned to their left, where a girl of about Jin Ri’s age was standing a pen and paper in hand. The older female immediately put an arm around Jin Ri and steered her to go to her right side.

“May I help you?” Angie nicely asked, smiling.

“You’re Kang Annjie, right?” the girl asked. She then pushed the paper and pen towards her. “May I have your autograph?”

Angie nodded and took the pen and paper from her. Before she started signing however, she looked up to where Leeteuk and the boys were, hoping he was watching them. A couple more girls, as well as some guys, had spotted them and were hoping to get a signature and even a picture with her. Jin Ri was about to go and call the boys when one of the girls in the small crowd stopped her.

“Aren’t you Kyuhyun oppa’s friend?” she questioned, looking closely at her. “The one who’s been hanging out a lot with him?” Her eyes were a bit narrowed as if challenging her to deny it.

“I…” Jin Ri began, not knowing what to say. It was a shock to know that they knew her at all. She nervously glanced at Angie, who was smiling as she took a photo with one of the people in the crowd.

“She’s a friend of mine and of the boys’ as well,” Angie interrupted with a warm smile, rescuing her.

Suddenly Kyuhyun, all bundled up, was right beside her. Leeteuk was right behind him and was immediately at Angie’s side as well. Eunhyuk and Donghae thought it was best to stay where they were, which was a good idea because all of a sudden, it was pandemonium. The fans immediately recognized the youngest and oldest member of the group and started to clamor towards them for a signature and a picture. The two boys quietly obliged, giving small smiles. When, finally, a couple of security guards arrived to disperse the crowd and to allow the celebrities to be in peace, Kyuhyun put an arm around Jin Ri, leading her into the theatre, which was something that wasn’t unnoticed by the fans who were still watching.

“Are you okay?” Kyuhyun asked as they sat down, his hand gripping Jin Ri’s.

“I’m fine,” Jin Ri assured him. Although she did feel a bit shaken. How did they know about her? Were they photographed on one of the occasions that they’d been out together? She looked at Angie, who was seated beside her. The older gave her a nod of encouragement. “Kyu,” she then started, turning to him. “I think… they know me.”

Kyuhyun stilled for a second then lifted her hand to his lips. “Don’t worry about it,” he calmly told her. 

Jin Ri nodded, feeling comforted. If he wasn’t worried then there probably wasn’t anything to be concerned about. But Kyuhyun had lifted his eyes and exchanged a troubled look with Angie and Leeteuk.

~ * ~

Kyuhyun sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he felt his head ache even more. He was seated in front of his laptop, eyes closed. Ryeowook, who was passing by the room, walked in, curious as to why Kyuhyun looked like he was upset.

“Kyu, everything okay?” Ryeowook asked, putting a gentle hand on his right shoulder. The eternal magnae frowned when he didn’t get a response. Instead, Kyuhyun gestured towards the laptop screen in front of him. Ryeowook leaned on the table and looked at what the magnae was trying to show him. It didn’t take long before Ryeowook gasped a little and remarked with, “Oh. What are you going to do? Are you going to tell Jin Ri?”

“I don’t want her to get worried,” Kyuhyun sighed, finally lifted his head up to look at his friend. “This is definitely something that would do that. I saw how scared she was when fans flocked in the cinema.” He had, of course, thought about the fans when he got into a relationship with Jin Ri. But it never really occurred to him how big of a problem it could be. Even though he saw what had happened when speculation of Leeteuk and Angie’s relationship arose and when they announced it to the public, it never really sunk in to him how the fans would react. His thinking was he loved Jin Ri and the fans would love her too. Of course it wasn’t as simple as that.

The comments in the photos he had found on the Internet, some even posted on his Cyworld was evidence of how complicated such things were. Apparently, certain pictures of her with him when they were out on a couple of their dates had been circulating on the World Wide Web for a while now. There were pictures of them eating in a restaurant, walking on the sidewalk, going around the mall. It was strange because he never noticed anything during those times. The sum of the whole thing was that the fans weren’t happy. There were a lot of hateful comments directed at his girlfriend, which just angered and stressed him out. Why couldn’t they just let them live? They were people, too. He sighed once more.

Ryeowook squeezed Kyuhyun’s shoulder comfortingly. “Teukie hyung would gladly help in sorting this out, I’m sure,” he soothed him.

“What’s going on?” Leeteuk, who was passing by and heard his name, asked. He had gone down to pick Eunhyuk up. They were about to leave for a Strong Heart recording. Kyuhyun leaned back and rested his back on the chair, while Ryeowook gestured towards the laptop. After scrolling up and down the page, Leeteuk turned to the magnae, who looked frazzled. “This is normal,” he advised calmly. “Sooner or later, all of us are going to find someone and it will always be hard for the fans to accept that. I suggest you stop worrying and just tell Jin Ri about it.”

“You think I should?” Kyuhyun asked.

“It’s the best thing that you can do at this point,” Leeteuk confirmed. “It would be better if she found out about it from you. She would appreciate it and you can let her know that everything will be fine.” The magnae looked at him, searching for assurance in his eyes. “Everything will be okay, Hyunnie.”

“Hyung, things just got better between us,” Kyuhyun expressed. “This could just trigger something in her and…” He sighed. There were a lot of traumas in Jin Ri’s life and he didn’t really want to add any more to that. He also knew about how she thought about things. If things weren’t going smoothly, she would always be wondering if she was doing the right thing being in this relationship. “The fans were exactly the reason why she wanted to keep us a secret from everyone. I assured her that it wasn’t going to be a problem.”

“It’s not really a problem just yet,” Leeteuk reminded him. “The fans get mad because of a lot of things and this is just one of those. I suggest that you don’t think about it too much.”

“Kyu, Jin cares about you a lot,” Ryeowook added soothingly. “I’m sure she’ll stay by your side no matter what.”

“Just go and talk to her about it,” Leeteuk counseled. “I’ll tell Angie about this and maybe she could help you out with calming her down if needed.” He then closed the laptop shut. “And stop reading the comments. It won’t do anything to help.”

As Leeteuk walked out of the room, he couldn’t help but feel a bit alarmed about the matter at hand. The comments that the fans had left on Kyuhyun’s Cyworld weren’t pretty. In fact, it seemed worse than the ones fans had left on his page when he told them about Angie. There were very rude and downright malicious reactions. Taking a deep breath and releasing it, he just hoped that fans would move on to a newer issue and drop this one already. He worried that they would uncover all the secrets that they all now held close to their hearts, Jin Ri’s secrets.

----
*Angie is not mine, but is from the lovely eternalsnow. :)