That night, Ji Hyo skipped her dinner and went straight to her bedroom. She had lost her appetite - mainly due to the new found relationship between Geum Ran and Jaejoong. She felt dejected being left out from the 'fun' outing, and her mind began to conclude that none of them would 'welcome' her presence as the third wheel. Maybe she should keep her distance for a while and let the two cherished their moment together. After all, Geum Ran is her best friend and her happiness is Ji Hyo's happiness too.. well, sort of.

Nonchalantly, Ji Hyo threw her body on the bed and cuddled 'Mr. Jaejoong' (the plush teddy bear) as she stared at the ceiling above her. Although the night was still young, she forced herself to sleep earlier than her usual hour, but her mind kept playing the memory from the daytime. Ji Hyo blinked her eyes a couple of times, trying to 'count sheeps' and singing herself a lullaby, of which none of these has helped her to sail in her dream. Alone in her room, she secretly wished for Geum Ran to fill in the details about her 'date' with Jaejoong, yet there was no news from that girl.

The beeping sound from her handphone made her startled and jumped up from the bed. At first she was smiling as she saw the sender ID, but slowly it faded when she read the text message from Jaejoong:

'Get yourself ready as early as 9am tomorrow. We're going to have a busy day! Meet me at the pet shop in your area. Don't be late.. arasso?'

Ji Hyo replied with a simple "Arasso!" and sent it to Jaejoong. She put away her handphone and tucked herself under the blanket in an effort to fall asleep. However, the fact that Jaejoong had asked her to come and meet him at the pet shop kept haunting her mind. "Maybe he wanted to buy something for Geum Ran.. a cat, perhaps?" Ji Hyo made an assumption knowing how much her best friend loves felines though she's more of a dog person. After debating about whether or not her assumption is correct, she finally snooze and dozed off two hours later.

The next morning, Ji Hyo woke up feeling agitated. She wasn't excited to meet Jaejoong on that day, as her mind was still cluttered with the scene between the hallyu star and her best friend. Nevertheless, she dragged her feet to the pet shop and reached there around 8:45am - arriving first at the location so she wouldn't have to listen to him nagging like an old lady. As the shop opens at 9am, Ji Hyo squatted by the roadside as she scanned around the area to search for Jaejoong. She sent a text message to inform her 'boss' of where she's at, hoping that he would be there soon.

While she was looking to her left, suddenly a cup of coffee was shoved right in front of her face. Ji Hyo was surprised to see Jaejoong smiling brightly as he invited her to drink, "An Americano for you.. just the way you like it." Hesitantly, she grabbed the hot cup from his hand and thanked the hallyu star for the treat. "Someone is in a good mood today. Anything happened that I should know about?" Ji Hyo tried to get Jaejoong to spill out the details about his date with Geum Ran, but he only scoffed at her as he drank his coffee. "Don't be flattered. It's a buy-one-free-one promotion for the coffee.. so I thought of giving the free drink to you," he made up a lie which seems to be acceptable for the lady.

Once the shop began its operation, Jaejoong instructed Ji Hyo to select one of the young animals for him to purchase. "Are you buying it for 'someone'.. as a present?" Ji Hyo abruptly asked. Casually, Jaejoong replied without showing his interest on the animals, "Sort of." "A girl?" she tried to reconfirm her assumption, to which he nonchalantly nodded. Thinking that it must be for Geum Ran, Ji Hyo picked a cute kitten with white long fur instead of a puppy. Jaejoong just made the payment at the counter, then told Ji Hyo to take the cat to his car.

"I'm taking it home before it poops in my car!" Jaejoong unlocked his vehicle and opened the door at the passenger side for Ji Hyo. She got in with the kitten in its cage, so Jaejoong helped to fasten her seat belt before he sat at the driver seat. Instead of talking to each other throughout the journey, Jaejoong just kept quiet and listened to Ji Hyo's conversation with the cat. Unwittingly, a smile appeared on his face as he adored the way she displayed her love towards the feline. "When do you plan to give this kitty to that girl?" Ji Hyo asked the moment they entered into his home.

Without taking his eyes off the cat, Jaejoong replied, "Since she can't keep it at her home.. so I guess she has to visit her pet everyday at my place."

"Mwo? So your real intention is to get that girl to visit your house every single day?" her eyes widen as she emphasized the last three words.

Jaejoong nodded and smiled proudly, "I'm a genius.. am I?"

"But who's going to take care of this poor kitty when you're not at home?" Ji Hyo became worried.

"Yaa.. you're my slave, aren't you? So it's your 'job' to take care of that thing!"

"This thing should have a name.. and by the way, I'm not going to be your slave forever!"

"But since you're the one who selected the cat.. then by default you've became the foster parent for Jaeji.. as long as it shall live!" he casually answered.

"Jaeji? That's the name for this kitty?"

"Well I've combined our name.. Jaejoong and Ji Hyo. So it's Jaeji!"

"What for?"

"To make us the official parents for Jaeji.. since it's staying at my place and you will be taking care of it while I'm not around!" Jaejoong explained flawlessly.

Taking the kitten out of its cage, Ji Hyo scowled at the hallyu star for leaving the responsibility to her without getting her agreement. She the feline's fur gently, "Oh.. poor Jaeji, you must be sad to have such a lazy 'appa' to take care of you!". "Yaa.. Jaeji's eomma! Are you trying to influence our 'child' to hate me?!" Jaejoong protested, but suddenly he felt embarrassed by his own statement. The hallyu star pretended that he didn't notice the way she stared at him, knowing that Ji Hyo must be feeling awkward due to his 'strange' choice of words.

"Mwo? Since when do you have that thing?" Ji Hyo eyes caught the basketball arcade game machine that was placed at the corner of the living room. She put down Jaeji and walked towards the machine - admiring every inch of it. "I thought of starting a new hobby.. so I bought it for my personal training. Do you know how to play that?" he acted as if he didn't know that it was Ji Hyo's favourite game machine. Slowly he approached the lady and stood behind her, then held her hands as he pretended to 'coach' Ji Hyo how to shoot the ball. "Hold the ball like this.. and when you're ready, just throw the ball into the net," he whispered to her ear, purposely drawing their body closer to each other.

Ji Hyo felt her heart was pounding faster than usual due to the sudden skinship with Jaejoong. The heat from his body has weaken her to the bone, and that caused her to miss the shot. But the lady was even more surprised when Jaejoong gently wrapped his arms around her waist and said, "I wish to do this everyday.. with you."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Your choice:

a) Jaejoong finally admitted that he has fallen for her, but Ji Hyo thought he wasn't serious about it and didn't believe his confession

b) Jaejoong tried very hard to get Ji Hyo to confess her feeling towards him, but she kept denying as she thought he was dating Geum Ran

c) Author's choice