So sorry for the late update! Been busy over the weekend and writer's block hit me. :(
I hope everyone will like this chapter. The Jun & Yana fanatics will like this. XD And for those who haven't read the Jun & Yana fic, you'll get to see how they are as a couple in this chapter. And of course, Sho and Sophie are present! XD
Don''t forget to tell me your thoughts!! XD
As always, my fics are unbeta-ed so do tell me if there are some errors. Comments, reactions, suggestions and criticisms are gladly welcomed. Happy reading!! :D
Chapter Nine: If You Love Someone, Set Them Free
Sakurai Sho is already getting accustomed with this modest home. It’s only been two days since he started staying here but he already feels at home. Sophie’s house is rather small for someone he thought a daughter of a rich family.
Three steps from the front door is a small kitchen and a two -seat dining table, five steps from there is the living room with dark-stained hardwood floor, cream-colored walls, big windows fronting the Eiffel Tower and soft curtains. On the left side is the only bedroom in the house, there’s nothing much in there, just a double size bed, piles and shelves of books and a small study table.
Her house is so much smaller than his penthouse apartment in Tokyo but he didn’t feel this at home on any other house besides his parents’ home, maybe because the atmosphere in this house makes him nostalgic. From how it appears, it’s evident that a university student is living here. The scatter of books and review materials, the stack of packed meals inside the small refrigerator and the amount of junk food on the pantry, how everything looks messy and unorganized, it reminds him of his university days.
“Are you sure you’re comfortable in there?” Sophie appeared on her bedroom door as Sho gets ready to sleep on her living room couch. “You can sleep here.” She points inside the room.
Sho smiled shyly. “I snore, you know.” He closes in, took her hand and played with his. “Really loud and annoying as what the other members say.”
“Yeah… I think I heard you last night.” Sophie grinned slightly as Sho dropped his head in embarrassment. “I’m okay with that.” She tilted his head up and smiled brightly at him.
She’s been trying her hardest to bring back the old her, the carefree and happy Sophie he met and he’s glad to see that she’s giving her best to give it to him. It gives him hope that she’s, somehow, trying to keep their relationship as much as he do.
As they continue to play with their hands, Sophie pulled him inside her room and he can’t do anything but obey. Sho closed the door behind and joined her in the soft and comfortable bed. She suddenly snuggles to him, resting her head on his chest and draping her arms around his waist.
“What is your family like, Sho?” She asked, not moving an inch from his body.
“Why do you want to know?” He replied, gently rubbing his hand on her back.
“I just want to. You never talk about them.” She said. Her voice is soft, as if she’ll fall asleep any minute from now.
“Well…” Sho started. “I’m the eldest son. I have a sister who is five years younger, she’s working as a newscaster and brother who is thirteen years younger.”
“Thirteen years younger? That’s quite an age gap.”
“Yeah, it is. That’s why sometimes I don’t get him. His generation is different from mine.” Sho laughed gently.
“Your parents?” Sophie continued asking.
“My father works for the government and my mother is a university lecturer.”
“Your father is in the government?” Sophie suddenly raised her head up to look at him and she nodded nonchalantly. “What is his position?” she asked.
Sho laughed at how she seemed too interested in his father’s position in the government. “His title is quite long and to be honest, don’t quite remember his exact position but he works for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication, he’s a Director General in one of its branches.”
Sophie nodded once and she seems too amused at her recent discovery.
“Why?” Sho asked, seeing how she suddenly turned fascinated upon mentioning his father.
“Nothing.” Sophie shakes her head and went back to resting on his chest. “He sounds like an intimidating person.”
Sho laughs. “He’s not. He may look like it but he’s not that intimidating. You don’t have to be intimidated by him, you’re a politics major, I think my father will like you.”
Being intimidated by his family isn’t really that big of a problem, it’s the fact that his father works for the Japanese government gives her another big problem to worry about.
“What does your father do, Sophie?” Sho asked, seeing that the room suddenly became quiet.
“My father?” She repeated. “Family business…” She said, her voice is barely heard.
“And your mother?”
“She helps my father.” She answered, silently wishing that he’ll stop asking questions about her family.
Questions about what her parents do for a living are the hardest question anyone can ever ask her. She’ll always answer the same, that they run a family business and wouldn’t dig deeper into it. It’s easier that way, rather than saying what they really do.
“Hey…” Sho tilt her chin up to look at her face. “I’m been wondering about this one thing…”
Sophie suddenly feels nervous at what his next words may be.
“I know you wanted to be called Sophie but…”
She knew it. It is her name this time.
“It’s Sayumi.” She answered without hesitation. “Yoshida Sayumi.”
She prepared for this moment to come, the moment when he would ask her about her real name.
“Sayumi?” He repeated. “That’s a really pretty name.”
“It is. It’s very classy and old-fashioned. My mother liked it so much.” She chuckled. “But since I started living in Europe, people would find it weird to have such name so one classmate of mine suggested changing my name into something western and we came up with Sophie.”
Sho smiled as she pulls her closer to him. “Should I start calling you Sayumi then?” He grinned.
“No.” She declined right away. “No one calls me Sayumi anymore.”
“Even your family?”
“Well, they do but they are an exception. And it’s not even Sayumi, they call me Yumi or worse, they love calling me Yumi-chan.”
“Yumi-chan then.” Sho giggled.
“No.” She lay on top of him and puts a finger in his lips. “Remember what I told you before? I’m just Sophie, a normal twenty-one year old girl from Paris.”
Sho steals a quick kiss before pulling her back into a cuddle. “Okay, Sophie, it is.” He smiled, running his fingers over her hair as she slowly tried to sleep on his chest.
“Goodnight, Sophie.” Sho mumbled quietly, still running a hand on her head as if cradling her to sleep.
“Goodnight, Sho.” She replied, almost sleepily as he smiled and slowly closed his eyes to sleep.
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The four Arashi members landed safely in Tokyo, it was only four in the morning and their managers are kind enough to pick them up and bring them back to their homes. Their managers also reminded them that they have a meeting with Johnny-san at ten in the morning, before they all go back to their respective jobs.
They expected the meeting since the day Johnny-san talked to them and they were preparing on what to say and what not to say to the old man. They decided that they would leave Sophie out of it and let Sho tell everything about her.
As the rest all went straight to their house to sleep and prepare for a new day of work, Matsumoto Jun asked his manager to drop him to a different place.
He impatiently taps his foot on the ground as he waits for the elevator to go up.
9…10…11… and finally, it reaches to 12 as he hurriedly went out of the lift as he pulls his luggage and stops at the far end door of the hallway.
He pulls a key and opens the door. The familiar scent welcomes him and he’s glad that he’s finally home. He puts his luggage on the living room and quickly walks to the bedroom and saw her sleeping soundly in the bed.
He smiles as he leans on the wall and watches her tossing and turning on the bed. She’s always been chaotic when sleeping, she would kick him most of the time and there were even moments when she would fall on the bed and he would wake up with the sound of her falling and they would laugh about it for the next few hours.
Jun slowly walks over the bed and lay beside her, inserting his hand on her waist and hugging her tightly. Finally, he was able to touch her again, he longed for this moment for the past fifteen days.
He sweeps off her hair to look at her face and he smiled upon seeing the beauty in front of him. They’ve been together for almost two years but there was never a day when he wasn’t mesmerized by her beautiful face.
He slowly reaches in closer, gently brushing his lips on her and that’s when she slowly woke up.
Yana’s eyes lit up upon seeing Jun beside her and then she smiled brightly, pulling him in for a tight and warm embrace.
“You didn’t tell me you’d come straight here.” Yana said after they separated from that long hug.
“It’s wouldn’t be a surprise if I tell you.” Jun reasoned out. They both sat up on the bed, their hands are tangled together.
“I hate surprises.” Yana pouted playfully.
Jun just chuckled. “Two years of being together tells me otherwise. You love every surprise I gave you.”
She laughs as Jun inches closer for a kiss.
“Hey…” Jun took her hand. “I need your help about something.” He suddenly turned serious.
“My help? About what?”
Jun gave her a piece of paper from his jeans pocket and she took it with a confused look on her face.
“Sophie’s letter.” Jun said and Yana even got more confused. “Just read it.”
Yana slowly unfolded the letter and started reading. Jun remained quiet the entire time, waiting for her to finish it.
After she reads and folded it back, there’s this troubled look on her face and if only Jun can see his reaction after the first time he reads that letter, he’ll probably have that exact look on his face.
“Say something.” Jun laughs tensely as he pinched her cheeks.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m not involved in this.”
“From the point of view of someone who’s not involved, what can you say?” Jun asked again.
Yana sighed deeply. “You know that I’m not very good with this kind of things, Jun. Love troubles and all.”
Jun took her hand and squeezed it gently. “I know but we went through some struggles too right? And you write a lot love songs these days, I’m sure you have improve your skills on love advice… I just need someone’s opinion on this one, I can’t ask the other members because I think Sophie doesn’t want them know about that letter.”
“Okay.” Yana finally gives in. “But first, what is your reaction after you read this?”
Jun creases his eyebrows. “Guilt. If I wasn’t too hard on her maybe she wouldn’t resort to that decision.”
“So you think it’s your fault that she’s breaking up with Sho-kun?”
“Yeah, I think a big part of the reason is me. I said some harsh words about her. If I could just stop her from breaking his heart…”
Yana shakes her head. “I don’t think it’s your fault and I’m not saying that because you’re my boyfriend and I wanted to make you feel better.” She laughs as she pinches his cheeks. “Maybe you provoked her, maybe you scared her but love makes you strong, it makes you fight for yourself and for that person you love…If there’s one thing that I learned from you the past two years that is to never give up on the people you love. I almost did but you never gave up on me even once and since then I promised to fight for you no matter what.”
Jun smiled seeing Yana talking so confidently about love. “Maybe she’s scared, just like you two years ago…”
“Maybe she’s scared but she’s not scared of love like me. She’s scared about something else.” Yana said meaningfully. “She’s scared about that little secret of hers leaking out.”
Jun leans back on the head rest of the bed and sighed. “I wonder what that secret is… Why is she keeping her identity and why is she so afraid of us finding it out…”
“Well, maybe she’s right…” Yana sits close to him. “Maybe she’s protecting Sho-kun. Maybe her real identity will put Sho-kun in danger and breaking up with him is the only way to make him safe…”
“Maybe you’re getting too fascinated into your ideas, Yana.” Jun laughs and pulls her in his arms. “You watch too many dramas.”
Yana laughs and brushes off her wild ideas. “Kidding aside, I think every relationship differs from the other. Ours is different from theirs and we can never compare. For us, not giving up and fighting for each other is the best way but for them, if they fight for their love, many people will be affected. You know what they say…If you love someone, set them free. If they come back, it’s yours but if they don’t-”
“It was never yours to begin with.” Jun joins her in ending the famous quote.
“So should I not stop her and respect her decision?” Jun asked sadly.
“She decided it herself and from how her letter appears she stands firmly on her decision.” Yana softly said. “Look, Jun, I told you, I’m not very good with love advice but I think, it’s what’s best for them. For now. If only she’ll start being honest to him then it’ll be a different story. If only she shared her secret then we understand where she’s coming from and why she’s doing this… But we don’t. And now, I think, Sho-kun’s better off without her.”
“But Sho-san will be really heartbroken once he comes back, he loves her like her never loved anyone before…” Jun said sadly.
“Then be his friend, just like what Sophie asked you to do. Make him happy, make him see the world without her… I’m here to help you with that.” Yana offered and Jun smiled.
“Do you know how much I love you?” He wrapped his arms around her waist and wiggled his nose on hers.
“I actually do. You always tell me.” Yana grinned widely as Jun pushed his lips on hers, melting her with his gentle and affectionate touch.
“Now, where are my gifts from Paris?” She beamed as they pulled from the kiss and Jun laughs.
“My luggage only contains your checklist, you know that?” Jun stood up from the bed and she followed along to the living room. “And there are some in Aiba-kun’s luggage too!”
As the sun slowly peaks from the morning sky, Jun and Yana unpacked his luggage happily, lazing around the living room and munching on French macarons before they start their long day of work.
Jun is only glad of one thing, that is to be back home in the arms of the girl he loves so much and he felt lucky, because he knows that Yana will never leave his side ever.
*I was thinking of making a fic for each member and it'll be like a continuation of every fic. Just like how this is a continuation of A Beautiful Mess (Jun & Yana) and then after this another continuation with Nino as focus and so on. Did you guys get it? *bricks myself for being terrible at making a point*
And then, after I write about all the members' love stories, I'll make a one-shot (or a two-shot or even three XD) with all their girls and how they are two or three years later? XD Ahh, I'm getting excited. LOL. XDD
I already have a brief outline for NinoXOC and a head start for OhnoXOC. Nothing yet on Aiba but I'm sure it'll be OC too (because I only write OC fics. :p) I was thinking of making a fic based on their song "Kaze" just because the lyrics is so nice and it'll be a very good fanfic. So maybe the AibaXOC is based on Kaze?? :)))
IDK, I was just thinking about this idea a few nights ago and I got excited and I needed someone to share my excitement with. Haha. So what do you think about this idea of mine? :)
Don't forget to share me your thoughts!!! ^_^