Sixty-Nine

"I'm going to miss you both!" Jaehyeon mused and threw his arms out, proceeding to pull both Yeojun and I into a tight hug. Yeojun was just about to open the door when he got pulled back and I was in the middle of wearing my shoes, dropping my left shoe when I got dragged into the hug. "Jun-ah~ Jeongwoo-ya~"

"Hyung!" Yeojun tapped the arm around his neck. "That hurts!"

I had gotten squished between the both of them so all I could do was grunt into Jaehyeon's chest.

Hanseol rolled his eyes, standing behind Jaehyeon. "You behave like such an old man sometimes…"

"Shut up. I'm sad. I just adore my Dongsaengs that much." He pouted and loosened his hold a little.

"You'll kill us with your love one day." Yeojun laughed now that he was more comfortable. I too hugged him back. "We'll see you next Monday anyway. It's okay, Hyung. You can go spoil your Han Seulbi in the meantime."

"You don't need to tell me that." He chuckled.

"I feel bad for that poor kid." Hanseol commented which Jaehyeon chose to ignore. He let go of us after that.

"Take care of yourselves."

"You too. Hanseol-ah, you too. Don't miss us too much." I gave him a finger-heart and grinned. This got him to look away in abashment.

"A-Ah. Go safely."

"Let's go." Yeojun took my hand in one hand and picked up his luggage with the other. "We'll see you soon, Hyungs."

"See you." Jaehyeon waved and they saw us out the door after I had worn my shoes properly again.

Changmin had given me a call when he arrived downstairs. He had pulled up on the roadside. The windows were tinted but we could tell that the big black car out front belonged to him without needing to even confirm.

"A Hyundai Tucson?" Yeojun whistled. "I thought that he would get a smaller car- a sedan maybe."

"I had thought so too." I narrowed my eyes at the driver's side window as we approached it, getting the feeling that he was watching. The window was rolled down immediately after and Changmin laughed. "What was that look for?"

It's a little creepy how I could just tell that he was watching. "Fancy car, Hyung."

"We have long drives coming up. I thought that it would be better to get a comfortable car." He shrugged. "If I can afford it, why not?"

"This will be fun to drive down to Daegu in." Yeojun nodded enthusiastically. "Ah. I wish I could have gone with you."

"Too bad." Changmin just smiled.

"We'll split the cost." I stated.

Changmin popped the boot open and looked at me. "We'll talk about that later."

Okay then.

Yeojun and I loaded our luggage into the boot and then got into the car- me taking shotgun and Yeojun in the back.

"Did your brother text you?" I looked back to ask Yeojun as we began driving.

"Yes. He said that he would meet us at the entrance."

"Is he already there?"

"Should be. He had said that he wanted to eat something so he should finish eating by the time we get there."

"Okay. We won't be long anyway." I turned to face forward again.

I caught Changmin glance at me briefly before asking, "How was the party?"

"It was good. We got back to the dorm really late though."

"Yup. It was around 02:30 am by the time we returned." Yeojun added.

"02:30?" Changmin asked in surprise.

"Yes. The venue was a little far off. The commute took time. I'll… give you all the details later, Hyung." I patted his arm.

"Okay." He nodded with a small smile.

We were just a minute or so off from our agreed time. I had met Yeojun's elder brother before and despite the fact that he was not as skinny as he was before, I managed to recognise him. I got out of the car wearing my cap and mask, just as Yeojun was, to help him with his luggage and to greet his brother. We exchanged pleasantries for about a minute before I decided to say goodbye to Yeojun.

"Okay, Hyung." Yeojun hugged me. "I'll see you on Monday. Have fun with Changmin Sunbae. And, next time, we'll go somewhere."

"Yup. Take care, Jun-ah." I ruffled up his hair and returned the hug. "See you soon. Love you."

"Love you." He returned and let go to stand beside his smiling elder brother.

"We'll leave now." I smiled and offered them a bow before getting into the car again and shutting the door. As Changmin began driving, I waved to them once more and settled into my seat with a heavy sigh.

Saying goodbye like this reminded me that we were really going on a break.

"Lonely?" Changmin asked after a few moments of silence.

"A little." I nodded. "Also tired from the late party and all the last minute business. Do you mind if I snooze for a bit, Hyung?" I turned in towards him, still nestled comfortably into my seat.

"Of course not. Sleep, if you want to." He replied, eyes still on the road. "Although it's not much of a drive till there, you can sleep till we arrive."

"Mm." I watched him as he concentrated on the road, one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the gearstick. "You look good."

"Huh?" He let out a laugh. "I do?"

"Yes." I nodded, burning the image into my mind. Then I imitated his hands and put on a straight face, focusing on him as he was focusing on the road. "You look really cool when you're concentrating on driving like this."

"Mhm?" He sat up straighter, a smile escaping his resistance to it.

"Mhm." I had been forcing myself to stay awake till Yeojun left but the moving vehicle was just too much for me to win against. "I'm sorry for being such bad company when you're driving."

"It's okay." He pressed a palm to my cheek. "Sleep well, Jeongwoo-ya."

"Mm. Wake me up whenever, if you want to." This setting reminded me of that time during the promotions for 'For Old Times' Sake' when Changmin and I had slept off in the van on the way to DayBreak, holding each other's hands. It was calming.

Unfortunately, he needed both hands for driving.

"Okay." He agreed. "Now, sleep."

I closed my eyes. I was aware of the movement of the car for only a few minutes longer.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It did not feel like much of a slumber but my watch told me that it had been about an hour when Changmin finally woke me up. "We're here."

I took a deep breath and stretched a little, straining to open my eyes. Then, I noticed the trees outside and the quaint house nestled among them in front of our car. There was an unfamiliar man standing by the open door whom I squinted to see properly. "Who is that?"

"The caretaker." Changmin replied and undid my seatbelt for me before opening the car door. "He'll leave after showing us in."

Oh. Good.

"Moon-ssi had told me that everything's already been stocked for a week so we won't have to step out at all unless we want to." He smiled at me and got out of the car.

He looked like he did not want to go out at all.

I shook my head and got out of the car, stretching again for the sake of my back and limbs, then followed Changmin towards the caretaker who bowed politely and spoke pleasantly. "I've been waiting for you, Yoo-ssi, Choi-ssi. I hope it wasn't too difficult to find your way here."

"It wasn't." Changmin replied. "It was a rather pleasant drive."

And I had missed all of it. "Thank you for being here to meet us."

"My pleasure." He motioned towards the house. "I'll show you around and leave once you have settled in. Lunch has already been prepared so you can rest for a while today."

This was top-class hospitality. Then again, we could not have expected anything less from Moon Jisung-ssi and his associates.

The house wasn't extravagant in size. It was a compact two-bedroom haven cosily tucked away where the rest of the world wouldn't look. Entering the front door, we were greeted by a full brick-glass wall with patterns of only green visible through it. To the right was the plush living room, complete with a seventy-two-inch wall-mounted TV, 7.1 home theatre sound system and a fireplace, beside the comfortable looking white couches. Beyond that were two doors that led into the bedrooms. The master bedroom was on the left and the large glass doors that led out to the pool area was within the master bedroom. The room on the right was smaller but furnished just as lavishly. It had a cosy little balcony that opened out to the forest. Both the rooms had attached bathrooms.

From the entrance, to the left was the open kitchen, all in white and grey, an island counter with tall stools and the six-seater wooden dining table and chairs. There was a sauna beyond the pool area too. What really won me over, however, was the unseeming little patio outside that was hidden among the trees and overlooked a steep slope that allowed you to breathe, close your eyes and contemplate life.

"I believe Moon Jisung-ssi has already given you my number. If there is anything you may need, please feel free to call me. I can even do some shopping for you, if you do not want to be seen in town."

It was obvious that this man had been working with celebrities for a long time. I quite liked him.

"Yes. Thank you so much, Chae-ssi." I bowed to him. Changmin too ducked his head at him, standing to my left at the entryway.

"My pleasure." He smiled. "And feel free to walk around. This is a private property so no one will be on it other than you. I will inform you via lan phone if I am coming up here for any reason." He bowed. "I hope you enjoy your stay."

"Thank you." Changmin said and took a step closer to me.

Chae-ssi smiled once again, bowed and turned to leave. Changmin reached for the door to shut it and just as I was turning away from the closing door, his right arm snaked around my waist.

Oh?

As soon as the lock on the door had fallen in place, he pulled me in to back me up against the door, his left hand resting on it by his elbow and his right still around my waist. He then grinned at me slyly. "I finally get you all to myself."

Eager much? "How long have you been waiting to do this?" I smirked, enjoying his display of impatient affection.

"Since I had to walk away from you at that hotel months ago." He said and pressed his lips to my jaw. He then silently locked eyes with me, allowing a moment to pass, before kissing me, his left hand holding me by the side of my neck now. His eagerness was laid bare in the way that he kissed me.

It wasn't just him though. I had missed him too. And I was determined to show it.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pulled him closer still, banishing the gap between our bodies. Then, I lightly bit his lower lip.

"Nn." He pulled back and looked at me in amusement. "What was that for?"

I shrugged. "Felt like it."

"You felt like biting? You haven't done that before." He laughed and ran a thumb along my lips.

I opened my mouth to bite his thumb but he saved it just in time. "I might do it again." I pulled him into another kiss.

"Mm. You-" He returned to showering me with long passionate kisses.

By the time we had parted from each other, albeit not having wanted to, we were both breathless. We had only just arrived and we hadn't even moved past the entryway after getting into the house by ourselves. Besides, Chae-ssi had shown us that lunch had been prepared and already laid out for us.

We could continue this later.