COINCIDENCE - Chapter 14
Chapter 13
The seven of them arrived at the apartment a couple of hours later, each of them slumping against each other on the couch in exhaustion.
“This is what you guys have to go through everyday? No wonder you guys get sick so often. This isn’t healthy,” huffed Adelle. The guys grunted in reply. All of the sudden, Aveline stood up abruptly, causing Changmin and Yoochun, who were using her shoulders as head cushions, to bump their heads. Yoochun had a vague de-ja-vu.
Not even bothering to apologize and ignoring the death glares sent by the two boys, she declared, “Since everyone is so tired, how about I prepare dinner?” The irritated Changmin immediately softened his expression as he joined everyone else cheer in response. Everyone except a certain self-declared mother of the group
While getting the ingredients ready in the kitchen, Jaejoong peeped into the kitchen from the doorway, slightly whimpering. Aveline turned around. She spotted the older man pouting at her with puppy dog eyes.
“What?”
“Do you need help?” He squeaked. She pretended to ponder. Aveline knew how Jaejoong felt about someone else using his kitchen. She felt a strange twinge of happiness to know that he had even allowed him into his domain but loved teasing him anyway.
“Umm…. No thanks,” She grinned widely, to his dismay.
“But I’ll be good! I’ll just be the helper! I’m a good helper. Pleaseeee?” By this time, his full form had entered the kitchen and he was making pleading motions with his whole body, complete with flailing arms. She laughed. As much as his cuteness was breaking her determination, she stood firm and used the cuteness tactic against him.
“I’m only making beef stew. It’s really easy, so I don’t need help,” and before he even had a chance to retort, she added, “Please, oppa! I want to do this for you guys.”
“But you’re the gue… wait, what did you say?”
“I want to do this for you guys?” Aveline knew exactly what he was asking for, but she loved the shocked look that adorned his perfect features.
“No, no, before that.”
“I’m making beef stew and I don’t need help?” She tried hard not to laugh as his face contorted into an expression that could be best described as constipation.
“NO!!! What did you call me? Did you just call me oppa?” He finally burst out.
“Oh, THAT. Yes I did. Is that okay?” Aveline noticed that Jaejoong no longer paid much attention to her and muttered to himself.
“What? Oh yeah, whatever…” He left the kitchen with an idiotic smile on his face, forgetting about the fact that he was leaving her alone in his precious domain. She chuckled to herself. It was amazing what power one word can do. Knowing that Jaejoong was only a year older than her, Aveline saw no need to address him formally or affectionately, which was why she simply called him by his name. Additionally, the boys took into consideration the customs in America so they did not press honorifics onto the girls. Therefore when she called him oppa, she had expected to get some kind of a shocked reaction, but nothing to the degree he displayed.
In less than thirty minutes, a delicious aroma drifted toward the living room. Changmin’s ears literally perked up like a puppy and sniffed the air around him in delight.
“Down, boy!” Yunho placed his hand in the youngest boy’s arm in a faux attempt to restrain him. Then, when he heard his own stomach growl, he grinned sheepishly. The others laughed, but the sound of laughter was soon followed by growling sounds coming from the remaining four.
“DINNER’S READY!!! Come and get it!”
“No need to tell us twice,” Yoochun got up from the couch. “OH! There goes Changmin.” And indeed, when the rest of the members plus Adelle reached the dining room, Changmin was already wolfing down his plate and looked about ready for a second helping in his already larger bowl.
“Sorry guys, I couldn’t hold him back. He growled at me.” Aveline accused. The impish Changmin grinned shamelessly. “But it’s okay! I made plenty, so dig in.”
Aveline finished setting up the table for the more civilized ones in the group and they all gulfed down her concoction, though not quite as barbaric as Changmin.
“Wow Aveline! This is really good! I didn’t know you cook so well.” Junsu complimented. Aveline smiled happily. The rest of the members also expelled a loud cheer, displaying their immense surprise and pleasure. Jaejoong, on the other hand, was not even looking at his food and seemed to be spacing out.
“Hyung! What’s wrong? Why aren’t you eating your dinner?” Yoochun commented. Aveline turned toward him.
“Is there something wrong? Do you not like it?” She asked, worried. After he finished looking at the rest of the kitchen, he focused his gaze on her.
“YOU!” Jaejoong stood up from his seat and inched toward her. Changmin twitched slightly from his position toward Aveline just in case he had to protect his now favorite person from a certain death. Soon enough, Jaejoong reached her seat. He gently made her stand, beamed at her for thirty seconds, before bursting out in happiness and squeezing the air out of her. “You kept my kitchen CLEAN!!!! No one has ever cared to clean it up before eating before. Look at it! It’s spotless. Thank you!”
Aveline was baffled by the sudden change and both she and Changmin sighed in relief before choking,
“Jaejoong-sshi… I… can’t….br...ea…the!”
“Oh! Right! Miahn!” Aveline took deep breaths, cherishing the precious oxygen entering her lungs. Silence ensued. The guys all knew that Jaejoong liked Aveline. However, he had not been one to just randomly express his happiness with a hug, let alone to a girl. If they were living in the countryside, crickets would be heard chirping. Yunho coughed to try to break the silence.
“Well, what are we waiting for? Dig in, guys!” At the mention of the recommencement of dinner, the group was rowdy once again and the awkwardness faded.
The rest of the night passed by amiably, spent with laughter, several embarrassing games of Twister, a scary display of greed by Junsu in Monopoly, and pleasant chatters during a movie they had watched so many times, Titanic. The boys started doing their imitation of the characters in the movie, complete with Yoochun doing his infamous lip-synching of Rose’s “come back” phrase.
By the time Titanic ended, Aveline and Adelle as well as Changmin, Junsu, and Yoochun, were fast asleep, tangled up in each other in positions that one assumed only contortionists or expert Twister players could accomplish. Yunho and Jaejoong gently untangled the two girls from the heap of boys and carried them effortlessly to their room, leaving the other three boys lying on the living room floor.
As they each were about to tuck the girls into bed, Aveline stirred and opened her lids. “Jaejoong?” She smiled. “Good night, oppa.” He blushed again but even before he had time to reply, she had fallen back to sleep.
“Good night” He whispered and gently brushed any stray hair away from her face. He then swiftly swept his lips across her forehead before stumbling out of the room. Yunho watched his friend act like a drunken fool with a smirk on his face. Being the leader, not very much could happen in the apartment that would pass under his nose undetected.
Seeing as everyone else beside the two of them was already asleep, Yunho used the chance to interrogate the older member in private.
“So…what’s going on between you and Aveline?” Jaejoong snapped out of his reverie and tried to shrug nonchalantly. Yunho chuckled. “Don’t try to pull that look on me. I know you well enough to notice the change in you lately. I mean we know Junsu would be obvious and he is, but you…” Yunho shook his head in amusement. Jaejoong looked sheepishly at the younger boy. This was exactly the reason why Yunho was more suitable to be the leader than he could ever be.
Jaejoong slowly trudged into the work room with Yunho eagerly following. “Am I really that obvious?” he timidly asked.
“Only a blind person can’t see it. Well, actually, Aveline and Adelle can’t quite see that you and Junsu are crazy over them… but I guess they don’t know you as the rest of us do. So, spill. What happened last night? And don’t even try to give me the whole ‘nothing-happened-we-just-woke-up-at-the-same-time’ crap. I don’t believe it.”
Jaejoong let out a loud sigh before retelling the past night’s events to his best friend. Yunho tried his best to keep from laughing but by the end of the story, he couldn’t help himself and chuckled heartily. Jaejoong grimaced.
“It’s not that funny…”
“I know… I’m sorry… but just picturing you and her on the rooftop and your face when you woke up seeing her. Not to mention how lovey dovey you are starting to act… You’re getting soft, Kim Jaejoong…” Yunho paused, putting on an unreadable expression. Jaejoong squinted, waiting for a scolding. “It suits you better.”
Surprised, he opened his eyes and looked at a widely smiling Yunho. “Wait…what? You’re not mad at me for being “out of character” from Hero Jaejoong?”
“Let’s just say that you’ve been in that character way too long. It’s time for Kim Jaejoong to shine through. You’ve been hiding the real you for so long. I think it’d be good for you and the fans will definitely like it too.” Jaejoong grinned.
“Thanks Yunho.” Yunho nodded. Then, Jaejoong came up with what he thought was a brilliant idea. “Oh… do you think I should change my image too?” Yunho looked slightly horrified.
“Maybe not THAT drastic of a change.” Yunho patted Jaejoong lightly in the arm and headed out. “I’m going to drag the others to their respective beds. Otherwise, they’re going to be sore in the morning. You coming?”
“Hmm? I’ll be there in a minute.” Yunho contemplated for a second before briefly smiling and closing their “office” door. Jaejoong was lost in thought thinking about what Yunho just told him but it soon disappeared when he heard whining from outside of the office doors. “What the…” The doors were sound-proofed. “How are these noises coming through?”
Jaejoong opened the office doors and was welcomed by a deafening sound coming from the living room. He plugged his ears to reduce the intensity but it did not help much. He entered the living room to see three grown up men, on the floor, whining and tugging on the pants of another not-that-much-older man. Yunho looked pleadingly at Jaejoong for extra help. The other three, after noticing Jaejoong’s presence, crawled to him.
“HYUNG! Yunho hyung is forcing us to clean up the living room before we go to sleep,” complained Yoochun.
“YEAH! And so I told him to do it for us because he’s already awake...” Junsu added.
“But he told us that we have to help out… since we’re already awake. But HE was the one who woke us up in the first place!” Changmin cut in hysterically, pointing menacingly at the leader. Yoochun and Junsu slowly backed away, seeing the youngest ‘innocent’ Changmin go ballistic on their two oldest hyungs.
“Well…you three ARE already awake. Maybe you can help out?” Jaejoong consoled the baby of the group with his gentle, soothing voice. Changmin gaped disbelievingly.
“You’re taking HIS side?!?!?! Over mine?!?!?! ME?”
“I’m not taking sides. I’m just saying what I think is right.” Jaejoong backed away, joining the terrified Junsu and Yoochun. Changmin advanced threateningly toward the four of them, a maniacal expression on his face. Jaejoong nudged Yunho with his elbow.
“This is all your fault, you know that? Of all the things you did, you just HAD to wake him up. You know his sleeping habits,” the oldest scolded. When it came to leadership of the group, Yunho was an expert. Unfortunately, he knew nothing of managing a family. This was when Jaejoong usually stepped in, hence, the title ‘mother’ of the group.
“I tried not to!!! But they were all so tangled up that I accidentally woke him up too. I didn’t know that he was going to be this ang…”
“What’s going on?” Adelle walked in, her hands rubbing her sleepy eyes. Trudging along behind her was an equally sleepy Aveline. Changmin whipped his head around and started toward the girls. The other members, in fear that he might scare them, try to hold him back, but it was too late. They were surprised to see how fast he could move, even when sleepy. They were even more surprised by what they heard coming out of his mouth the next second.
“NOONA!!!!” He whined, while attaching himself to Adelle. “They are bullying me! I was sleeping peacefully and then Yunho hyung woke me up and forced me into hard labor,” he sweetly babbled, batting his long eyelashes. If Yunho had been drinking water, he would undoubtedly spit it out or choke on it after hearing this.
“YAH! You made me sound like I’m enslaving you or something.” He turned to Adelle, trying to rectify the situation. “Ahni! I was merely waking him up to tell him to sleep in the room and then while he was going there to also clean up the mess in the living room.”
“Changmin… is this true?” Adelle asked, gently but firmly.
“Maybe.” The other boys shook their heads in disbelief. The Changmin they see now with Adelle looked more harmless than a puppy, a 180 degrees change from before.
“Shame on you. Now go do what Yunho said and be a good boy.” Adelle then pried his hands off of her pajama sleeve and patted him softly on his head. A funny sight, considering their huge difference in height. Changmin pouted cutely but obediently followed her instruction. “Don’t forget to apologize to your hyungs for scaring them. And brush your teeth!” Changmin turned around briefly to murmur a soft “miahn” to the awestruck members and dragged his feet slowly into the bathroom.
Silence ensued before Junsu cried out, “Whoa Adelle! You’re my hero! How did you get him to do that?” The members were surrounding the petite girl, all talking simultaneously in excitement.
“Simple. I showed him who’s boss, and I’m a girl.” Adelle simply replied. The members ponder for a second before shrugging in agreement. “Anyways, it’s late. We should all sleep now.”
“Yeah, we want to save our energy for the amusement park tomorrow,” Yunho yawned, walking away. The idea of the amusement part perked Aveline up from her sluggish state.
“We’re going to the amusement park tomorrow? Don’t you guys have work?”
“Well, we kinda took an early holiday break for the two weeks you guys are here… so aside from the really important gigs, we don’t have much work. We didn’t tell you that?” Junsu explained.
“Ohmigosh! Then what am I doing? I should be sleeping and saving my energy. GOOD NIGHT!” With that, Aveline dashed off to the bedroom to get a much needed sleep for tomorrow.
“I think I’m going to sleep too.” Yoochun patted Junsu sleepily on the back. This was soon followed by similar comments from Jaejoong. About thirty seconds later, Adelle and Junsu found themselves alone in the living room, stuck with the task of cleaning the mess from board games and the boys’ messy eating.
“Aish… how did I get into this? I was just trying to find out what the ruckus was about. I shouldn’t have come out of the room,” she cursed softly while folding the twister mat. From her peripheral vision, she saw Junsu quietly cleaning up his side of the living room while humming softly to himself. She stopped cleaning and stared at him discretely. It took a few minutes for him to notice her and looked up quizzically.
“You shouldn’t have stopped. That was a beautiful melody. What song is that?” she asked, easing herself into the comfortably couch. He followed her example.
“Ah… that was a song I was composing. It’s not complete yet. I only have the melody, no lyrics. No one was supposed to hear it yet.” A faint red shade tinted his cheeks and he avoided her eyes.
“So am I the first person to hear that?” Adelle prodded, forcing Junsu to look at her once again. He nodded shyly and they both smiled at each other. They continued to clean up, coming closer and closer toward each other.
They were not quite sure how it happened; whether it was due to their lethargy or just simply out of hormones but next thing they knew, they were both sprawled across the couch with their lips touching. Surprised and eyes wide, both immediately moved quickly away from each other. An uncomfortable silence filled the room.
“I… I have to go sleep.” Adelle stood up suddenly. Without looking at the older boy, she walked away, tears brimming in her eyes. Junsu gaped helplessly at her retreating form, unable to utter a word. He sat there for another fifteen minutes in silence, guilt, and contemplation. He then stood up, heading to the room that Adelle and Aveline shared. He trailed his fingers on the door knob and whispered softly,
“Miahn, Adelle-sshi. I never know how to act around you. But I would never try to hurt you.” He walked away and turned off all the lights, his light footsteps echoing in hallway of the apartment.
The seven of them arrived at the apartment a couple of hours later, each of them slumping against each other on the couch in exhaustion.
“This is what you guys have to go through everyday? No wonder you guys get sick so often. This isn’t healthy,” huffed Adelle. The guys grunted in reply. All of the sudden, Aveline stood up abruptly, causing Changmin and Yoochun, who were using her shoulders as head cushions, to bump their heads. Yoochun had a vague de-ja-vu.
Not even bothering to apologize and ignoring the death glares sent by the two boys, she declared, “Since everyone is so tired, how about I prepare dinner?” The irritated Changmin immediately softened his expression as he joined everyone else cheer in response. Everyone except a certain self-declared mother of the group
While getting the ingredients ready in the kitchen, Jaejoong peeped into the kitchen from the doorway, slightly whimpering. Aveline turned around. She spotted the older man pouting at her with puppy dog eyes.
“What?”
“Do you need help?” He squeaked. She pretended to ponder. Aveline knew how Jaejoong felt about someone else using his kitchen. She felt a strange twinge of happiness to know that he had even allowed him into his domain but loved teasing him anyway.
“Umm…. No thanks,” She grinned widely, to his dismay.
“But I’ll be good! I’ll just be the helper! I’m a good helper. Pleaseeee?” By this time, his full form had entered the kitchen and he was making pleading motions with his whole body, complete with flailing arms. She laughed. As much as his cuteness was breaking her determination, she stood firm and used the cuteness tactic against him.
“I’m only making beef stew. It’s really easy, so I don’t need help,” and before he even had a chance to retort, she added, “Please, oppa! I want to do this for you guys.”
“But you’re the gue… wait, what did you say?”
“I want to do this for you guys?” Aveline knew exactly what he was asking for, but she loved the shocked look that adorned his perfect features.
“No, no, before that.”
“I’m making beef stew and I don’t need help?” She tried hard not to laugh as his face contorted into an expression that could be best described as constipation.
“NO!!! What did you call me? Did you just call me oppa?” He finally burst out.
“Oh, THAT. Yes I did. Is that okay?” Aveline noticed that Jaejoong no longer paid much attention to her and muttered to himself.
“What? Oh yeah, whatever…” He left the kitchen with an idiotic smile on his face, forgetting about the fact that he was leaving her alone in his precious domain. She chuckled to herself. It was amazing what power one word can do. Knowing that Jaejoong was only a year older than her, Aveline saw no need to address him formally or affectionately, which was why she simply called him by his name. Additionally, the boys took into consideration the customs in America so they did not press honorifics onto the girls. Therefore when she called him oppa, she had expected to get some kind of a shocked reaction, but nothing to the degree he displayed.
In less than thirty minutes, a delicious aroma drifted toward the living room. Changmin’s ears literally perked up like a puppy and sniffed the air around him in delight.
“Down, boy!” Yunho placed his hand in the youngest boy’s arm in a faux attempt to restrain him. Then, when he heard his own stomach growl, he grinned sheepishly. The others laughed, but the sound of laughter was soon followed by growling sounds coming from the remaining four.
“DINNER’S READY!!! Come and get it!”
“No need to tell us twice,” Yoochun got up from the couch. “OH! There goes Changmin.” And indeed, when the rest of the members plus Adelle reached the dining room, Changmin was already wolfing down his plate and looked about ready for a second helping in his already larger bowl.
“Sorry guys, I couldn’t hold him back. He growled at me.” Aveline accused. The impish Changmin grinned shamelessly. “But it’s okay! I made plenty, so dig in.”
Aveline finished setting up the table for the more civilized ones in the group and they all gulfed down her concoction, though not quite as barbaric as Changmin.
“Wow Aveline! This is really good! I didn’t know you cook so well.” Junsu complimented. Aveline smiled happily. The rest of the members also expelled a loud cheer, displaying their immense surprise and pleasure. Jaejoong, on the other hand, was not even looking at his food and seemed to be spacing out.
“Hyung! What’s wrong? Why aren’t you eating your dinner?” Yoochun commented. Aveline turned toward him.
“Is there something wrong? Do you not like it?” She asked, worried. After he finished looking at the rest of the kitchen, he focused his gaze on her.
“YOU!” Jaejoong stood up from his seat and inched toward her. Changmin twitched slightly from his position toward Aveline just in case he had to protect his now favorite person from a certain death. Soon enough, Jaejoong reached her seat. He gently made her stand, beamed at her for thirty seconds, before bursting out in happiness and squeezing the air out of her. “You kept my kitchen CLEAN!!!! No one has ever cared to clean it up before eating before. Look at it! It’s spotless. Thank you!”
Aveline was baffled by the sudden change and both she and Changmin sighed in relief before choking,
“Jaejoong-sshi… I… can’t….br...ea…the!”
“Oh! Right! Miahn!” Aveline took deep breaths, cherishing the precious oxygen entering her lungs. Silence ensued. The guys all knew that Jaejoong liked Aveline. However, he had not been one to just randomly express his happiness with a hug, let alone to a girl. If they were living in the countryside, crickets would be heard chirping. Yunho coughed to try to break the silence.
“Well, what are we waiting for? Dig in, guys!” At the mention of the recommencement of dinner, the group was rowdy once again and the awkwardness faded.
The rest of the night passed by amiably, spent with laughter, several embarrassing games of Twister, a scary display of greed by Junsu in Monopoly, and pleasant chatters during a movie they had watched so many times, Titanic. The boys started doing their imitation of the characters in the movie, complete with Yoochun doing his infamous lip-synching of Rose’s “come back” phrase.
By the time Titanic ended, Aveline and Adelle as well as Changmin, Junsu, and Yoochun, were fast asleep, tangled up in each other in positions that one assumed only contortionists or expert Twister players could accomplish. Yunho and Jaejoong gently untangled the two girls from the heap of boys and carried them effortlessly to their room, leaving the other three boys lying on the living room floor.
As they each were about to tuck the girls into bed, Aveline stirred and opened her lids. “Jaejoong?” She smiled. “Good night, oppa.” He blushed again but even before he had time to reply, she had fallen back to sleep.
“Good night” He whispered and gently brushed any stray hair away from her face. He then swiftly swept his lips across her forehead before stumbling out of the room. Yunho watched his friend act like a drunken fool with a smirk on his face. Being the leader, not very much could happen in the apartment that would pass under his nose undetected.
Seeing as everyone else beside the two of them was already asleep, Yunho used the chance to interrogate the older member in private.
“So…what’s going on between you and Aveline?” Jaejoong snapped out of his reverie and tried to shrug nonchalantly. Yunho chuckled. “Don’t try to pull that look on me. I know you well enough to notice the change in you lately. I mean we know Junsu would be obvious and he is, but you…” Yunho shook his head in amusement. Jaejoong looked sheepishly at the younger boy. This was exactly the reason why Yunho was more suitable to be the leader than he could ever be.
Jaejoong slowly trudged into the work room with Yunho eagerly following. “Am I really that obvious?” he timidly asked.
“Only a blind person can’t see it. Well, actually, Aveline and Adelle can’t quite see that you and Junsu are crazy over them… but I guess they don’t know you as the rest of us do. So, spill. What happened last night? And don’t even try to give me the whole ‘nothing-happened-we-just-woke-up-at-the-same-time’ crap. I don’t believe it.”
Jaejoong let out a loud sigh before retelling the past night’s events to his best friend. Yunho tried his best to keep from laughing but by the end of the story, he couldn’t help himself and chuckled heartily. Jaejoong grimaced.
“It’s not that funny…”
“I know… I’m sorry… but just picturing you and her on the rooftop and your face when you woke up seeing her. Not to mention how lovey dovey you are starting to act… You’re getting soft, Kim Jaejoong…” Yunho paused, putting on an unreadable expression. Jaejoong squinted, waiting for a scolding. “It suits you better.”
Surprised, he opened his eyes and looked at a widely smiling Yunho. “Wait…what? You’re not mad at me for being “out of character” from Hero Jaejoong?”
“Let’s just say that you’ve been in that character way too long. It’s time for Kim Jaejoong to shine through. You’ve been hiding the real you for so long. I think it’d be good for you and the fans will definitely like it too.” Jaejoong grinned.
“Thanks Yunho.” Yunho nodded. Then, Jaejoong came up with what he thought was a brilliant idea. “Oh… do you think I should change my image too?” Yunho looked slightly horrified.
“Maybe not THAT drastic of a change.” Yunho patted Jaejoong lightly in the arm and headed out. “I’m going to drag the others to their respective beds. Otherwise, they’re going to be sore in the morning. You coming?”
“Hmm? I’ll be there in a minute.” Yunho contemplated for a second before briefly smiling and closing their “office” door. Jaejoong was lost in thought thinking about what Yunho just told him but it soon disappeared when he heard whining from outside of the office doors. “What the…” The doors were sound-proofed. “How are these noises coming through?”
Jaejoong opened the office doors and was welcomed by a deafening sound coming from the living room. He plugged his ears to reduce the intensity but it did not help much. He entered the living room to see three grown up men, on the floor, whining and tugging on the pants of another not-that-much-older man. Yunho looked pleadingly at Jaejoong for extra help. The other three, after noticing Jaejoong’s presence, crawled to him.
“HYUNG! Yunho hyung is forcing us to clean up the living room before we go to sleep,” complained Yoochun.
“YEAH! And so I told him to do it for us because he’s already awake...” Junsu added.
“But he told us that we have to help out… since we’re already awake. But HE was the one who woke us up in the first place!” Changmin cut in hysterically, pointing menacingly at the leader. Yoochun and Junsu slowly backed away, seeing the youngest ‘innocent’ Changmin go ballistic on their two oldest hyungs.
“Well…you three ARE already awake. Maybe you can help out?” Jaejoong consoled the baby of the group with his gentle, soothing voice. Changmin gaped disbelievingly.
“You’re taking HIS side?!?!?! Over mine?!?!?! ME?”
“I’m not taking sides. I’m just saying what I think is right.” Jaejoong backed away, joining the terrified Junsu and Yoochun. Changmin advanced threateningly toward the four of them, a maniacal expression on his face. Jaejoong nudged Yunho with his elbow.
“This is all your fault, you know that? Of all the things you did, you just HAD to wake him up. You know his sleeping habits,” the oldest scolded. When it came to leadership of the group, Yunho was an expert. Unfortunately, he knew nothing of managing a family. This was when Jaejoong usually stepped in, hence, the title ‘mother’ of the group.
“I tried not to!!! But they were all so tangled up that I accidentally woke him up too. I didn’t know that he was going to be this ang…”
“What’s going on?” Adelle walked in, her hands rubbing her sleepy eyes. Trudging along behind her was an equally sleepy Aveline. Changmin whipped his head around and started toward the girls. The other members, in fear that he might scare them, try to hold him back, but it was too late. They were surprised to see how fast he could move, even when sleepy. They were even more surprised by what they heard coming out of his mouth the next second.
“NOONA!!!!” He whined, while attaching himself to Adelle. “They are bullying me! I was sleeping peacefully and then Yunho hyung woke me up and forced me into hard labor,” he sweetly babbled, batting his long eyelashes. If Yunho had been drinking water, he would undoubtedly spit it out or choke on it after hearing this.
“YAH! You made me sound like I’m enslaving you or something.” He turned to Adelle, trying to rectify the situation. “Ahni! I was merely waking him up to tell him to sleep in the room and then while he was going there to also clean up the mess in the living room.”
“Changmin… is this true?” Adelle asked, gently but firmly.
“Maybe.” The other boys shook their heads in disbelief. The Changmin they see now with Adelle looked more harmless than a puppy, a 180 degrees change from before.
“Shame on you. Now go do what Yunho said and be a good boy.” Adelle then pried his hands off of her pajama sleeve and patted him softly on his head. A funny sight, considering their huge difference in height. Changmin pouted cutely but obediently followed her instruction. “Don’t forget to apologize to your hyungs for scaring them. And brush your teeth!” Changmin turned around briefly to murmur a soft “miahn” to the awestruck members and dragged his feet slowly into the bathroom.
Silence ensued before Junsu cried out, “Whoa Adelle! You’re my hero! How did you get him to do that?” The members were surrounding the petite girl, all talking simultaneously in excitement.
“Simple. I showed him who’s boss, and I’m a girl.” Adelle simply replied. The members ponder for a second before shrugging in agreement. “Anyways, it’s late. We should all sleep now.”
“Yeah, we want to save our energy for the amusement park tomorrow,” Yunho yawned, walking away. The idea of the amusement part perked Aveline up from her sluggish state.
“We’re going to the amusement park tomorrow? Don’t you guys have work?”
“Well, we kinda took an early holiday break for the two weeks you guys are here… so aside from the really important gigs, we don’t have much work. We didn’t tell you that?” Junsu explained.
“Ohmigosh! Then what am I doing? I should be sleeping and saving my energy. GOOD NIGHT!” With that, Aveline dashed off to the bedroom to get a much needed sleep for tomorrow.
“I think I’m going to sleep too.” Yoochun patted Junsu sleepily on the back. This was soon followed by similar comments from Jaejoong. About thirty seconds later, Adelle and Junsu found themselves alone in the living room, stuck with the task of cleaning the mess from board games and the boys’ messy eating.
“Aish… how did I get into this? I was just trying to find out what the ruckus was about. I shouldn’t have come out of the room,” she cursed softly while folding the twister mat. From her peripheral vision, she saw Junsu quietly cleaning up his side of the living room while humming softly to himself. She stopped cleaning and stared at him discretely. It took a few minutes for him to notice her and looked up quizzically.
“You shouldn’t have stopped. That was a beautiful melody. What song is that?” she asked, easing herself into the comfortably couch. He followed her example.
“Ah… that was a song I was composing. It’s not complete yet. I only have the melody, no lyrics. No one was supposed to hear it yet.” A faint red shade tinted his cheeks and he avoided her eyes.
“So am I the first person to hear that?” Adelle prodded, forcing Junsu to look at her once again. He nodded shyly and they both smiled at each other. They continued to clean up, coming closer and closer toward each other.
They were not quite sure how it happened; whether it was due to their lethargy or just simply out of hormones but next thing they knew, they were both sprawled across the couch with their lips touching. Surprised and eyes wide, both immediately moved quickly away from each other. An uncomfortable silence filled the room.
“I… I have to go sleep.” Adelle stood up suddenly. Without looking at the older boy, she walked away, tears brimming in her eyes. Junsu gaped helplessly at her retreating form, unable to utter a word. He sat there for another fifteen minutes in silence, guilt, and contemplation. He then stood up, heading to the room that Adelle and Aveline shared. He trailed his fingers on the door knob and whispered softly,
“Miahn, Adelle-sshi. I never know how to act around you. But I would never try to hurt you.” He walked away and turned off all the lights, his light footsteps echoing in hallway of the apartment.