Chapter 18: For You

He had a sad expression on his face. I sighed. Yun Ho looked up and Jae Joong immediately changed his expression.

“Yah! Get a room,” he said to Yun Ho.

Yun Ho chuckled as he put the guitar down. He pushed me into standing position and stood up after me. He made a fuss, trying to recover from my weight on his lap.

“Ya… I have no more blood in my legs, I feel paralysed,” as he threatened to collapse on me.

I playfully stepped aside as he did.

“Ya… Sierra. You’re gonna let me fall to the ground? You’re not even gonna try to save me?” he said, pretending to be upset.

“If you fell, you would only get hurt and at least I can take care of you. But if you fell on me, I’d die, then you’d be left with nothing?” I laughed.

“Good thinking,” he said, winking. “Let’s go,” he said as he put his arm around me and pulled me out of the workroom.

We went and lay on his bed; him with his back on the bed, and me on top of him. I fiddled with his earring and he grabbed my hands.

“So are you gonna tell me what happened?” he said.

“What happened?” I said, pretending to misunderstand his question.

“Why were you careless on that day? Why did you hug your friend?”

I sighed, “I was just feeling upset.”

“Upset? Did someone bully you?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Who?” he asked, starting to get a little agitated.

“You.”

“Come on, stop kidding around. I’m asking you a serious question,” he said, in a frustrated tone.

“I was just missing you,” I lied as I looked down at his chest, unable to meet his eyes. “I was just frustrated that you were away.”

“Mian,” he said as he pushed my hair back and tucked it behind my ear. “I can’t help having all this work to do. What would I eat if I didn’t have all these jobs?”

“I know, it was stupid of me to get so upset,” I was starting to feel guilty for lying.

“I’ll make it up to you when I get back, okay?” he said as he tilted my head up by the chin. I nodded and lay my head on his chest. “Better still, I’ll make it up to you now,” he said, with a mischievous glint in his eye.

He pushed me off gently and rolled off the bed. He tiptoed to the door and locked it.

“What are you…”

“Shh…” he cut me off. “Hehehe…” he laughed sinisterly as he slowly swaggered toward the bed.

“Yun Ho… what are you doing?” I asked, anxiously.

“What I wanted to do all day…” he said, still maintaining his sinister voice as he leaned over me on the bed. His hand went to the buttons of my shirt, or rather the shirt I’d borrowed from his closet, and he started to unbutton it.

“Ya…” I said and swatted his hands away.

He pinned both my hands to the sides, and he started nuzzling my neck.

“Yun Ho… stop…” I said, breathless from the excitement he was making me feel.

“Shikkeureo…” he said as he started to rain kisses down from my neck to my chest where the shirt had been unbuttoned.

“Ya, Yun Ho… Jae Joong is still outside,” I protested.

“He doesn’t care…” Yun Ho said as he continued kissing me down the middle.

I started squirming to avoid his kisses. He stopped and stared hard at me. I smiled and pulled my hand out of his grasp to poke him in the ribs. He jumped up.

“Ya…” he said, “You asked for it…” and he started to tickle me.

I squealed and struggled as he pinned me down and tickled me. I tried to retaliate but couldn’t since his whole body was on top of mine. We were locked in the battle for sometime until finally, he collapsed on me. As our laughter died, he lay on his side and pulled me toward him into his embrace. “Pogoshipda,” he said and he kissed me on the forehead.

I snuggled closer and inhaled his scent. I’d forgotten how I missed him. He always made me smile, whether it was his sometimes girlish laughter, him laughing at his own jokes, his love for eating, his playful teasing and the way he always made my heartbeat quicken when he pulled me close. He had always been protective and loving; it was so hard to fault him for anything he does. He always did it in my best interest.

“Saranghae,” I said and I meant it. He pulled me up to face him and started kissing me. It was a gentle, playful kiss. He tugged gently at my lips with his teeth and I did the same. I licked him lightly on the upper lip and that must’ve done it for him. He pulled me closer and started to devour me. His tongue probed deep into my mouth as his hips undulated against mine. I returned his kiss and moved my hips with his. His hand slipped under the shirt and caressed my back as he held me closer. I broke my mouth away from his and started kissing him on the neck, slowly up to his ears and I licked his earlobe lightly. He inhaled sharply and reversed our positions. He knelt on the bed with my body between his legs and continued where he’d left off earlier; unbuttoning my shirt. I threw my arms above my head, as though I were stretching and closed my eyes at the feel of his fingers grazing my skin as he unbuttoned my shirt. As each button popped open, he kissed the skin it revealed.

Sometime later, we lay in the darkness of the room, naked under the sheets. He hooked his arm under my neck and around me and I had my back against his chest. His other hand gently traced the outline of my waist to my hips through the sheets. It was probably 7pm since the sky was dark. We’d been lying in the room in this position for the longest time, exhausted from our love-making. Being apart really made a difference in our sex-life. He was a little rougher than usual, but it felt exciting and pleasurable. We’d collapse from exhaustion and we’d start again just minutes after we’d stopped. It was as if this would be the last time we ever made love.

“You’re thinking about the scandal?” he asked, when he noticed I had been quiet.

“No, just thinking about us.”

“I was pretty good today, wasn’t I?” he said playfully and caressed me suggestively.

I smacked his hand, “Pyont’ae…” I said.

“Same to you,” he laughed and nuzzled my neck from behind. I laughed. I haven’t felt so happy and contented in the past week. What am I going to do when Yun Ho goes back to Japan?

“I was thinking,” he said “Perhaps I could release a statement for you.”

“What for?” I said, turning to look at him.

“To explain the situation to the fans.”

“You don’t have to do that for me, the management are already handling it.”

“But it might help if I were on your side, publicly.”

“It’ll die off, don’t worry.”

“I just want to do this for you, at least let me try. There’s no harm.” he said.

I kept silent for awhile. I’m already feeling guilt and now he’s making me feel indebted to him. “Okay…” I said.

“I’ll post a message on our website tonight,” he said happily. “I’m sure the fans will understand and we can end this nonsense.” He kissed me lightly on the nose.

We continued to lay there in silence, savoring the warmth and comfort of each other. At about 8pm, there was a knock on the door.

“Yun Ho, are you guys sleeping?” Jae Joong asked through the door.

Yun Ho sat up and turned on lights, then started putting on his boxers. I quickly picked up his shirt and put it on. He opened the door as I was buttoning the last button. Jae Joong stood there for awhile, taking in Yun Ho’s half naked body and me trying to look decent.

Jae Joong cleared his throat and said, “The guys are home, you wouldn’t believe what they’d brought with them,” he said as he turned to walk to the living room. Yun Ho trailed after him and closed the door.

“Hyung! You’re back!” I could hear Chang Min exclaim.

A few seconds later, I heard Yun Ho calling for me.

“Sierra… nawa.”

I got up and checked myself in the full-length mirror before I went out of the room. My lips were red and still a little swollen, my hair was in a mess and the shirt was very crumpled. I smoothed down my hair as much as I could before I left the room.

“Waegeurae?” I said as I walked toward the dining table. The guys were leaning over the table and there were papers spread out on it. As I approached the table, I saw that it was an article about me. The same pictures of me and Benson from yesterday were still featured prominently, this time with a different caption:

‘Sierra: He was only a friend! (Don’t we all say that?)’

I sat down on the nearest chair I could find and started to read. The article claimed that I was hiding behind SM Entertainment. It claimed that SM made the statement about Benson being my friend just to protect me and that the truth was that I did have an affair. I folded my arms on the table and buried my head in them. Why wouldn’t the world believe me? Why did they have to pick at everything I did and turn it into something so negative?

The guys came over and patted me on the back.

“It’s gonna be alright,” Jun Su said.

“Yea, it’ll die off soon enough. They just don’t have anything better to write about at the moment,” Yoo Chun said.

“Hyung, why don’t you go out and get yourself a scandal tonight?” Chang Min said to Yoo Chun, laughing, “Then they’d turn their attention away from Sierra.”

“Yah! Pabo! Don’t say stupid things! Aiissshh!!” Yoo Chun said, playfully threatening to punch Chang Min.

I smiled. “Thanks guys, but I’d prefer it if you didn’t make sacrifices for me.”

“It’s no problem, Sierra,” Chang Min continued, “I’m sure Yoo Chun would make wonderful scandal fodder.”

Everyone started laughing. Chang Min had succeeded in lightening the moment.

“Let’s not talk about this anymore,” Jae Joong said. “Jun Su, come with me. We’ll go get a takeout dinner.”

“Sure, hyung,” Jun Su said as he walked off with Jae Joong.

Yoo Chun stuffed the papers into the bin while I and Chang Min went to sit down in front of the TV.

“I’ll be in the workroom,” Yun Ho said as he caressed my cheek before he walked away.

“Yah! Hyung!” Chang Min said suddenly.

“Wae?” Yun Ho said, turning around.

“Put some pants on for god’s sake!”

“Araso…” Yun Ho laughed and went into his room.

About half an hour later, Jun Su and Jae Joong were back with dinner. They’d bought a few simple dishes and Yoo Chun had some rice cooking in the kitchen. I helped them lay out the table before I walked to the workroom to get Yun Ho.

“What are you doing?” I asked as I entered the room. He was sitting in front of his computer, reading something.

“Come here,” he said as he pulled me onto his lap and turned me to face the computer.

It was a post he’d just made on their official website:

***
Dear members of Cassiopeia,

I understand the confusion and upset you must feel on my behalf because of Sierra’s scandal. I thank you all for your concern. However, please let me assure all of you that it was a misunderstanding and that Sierra would never betray me like that. I have 100% faith in her loyalty and I hope that all of you would not blame her or be unkind to her because of untruths spread by the tabloids. I would be very sad if anything happened to her. Therefore, I hope that all of you would respect my feelings and wishes.

Komawo and I love you all.

U-Know YunHo.
***

Tears welled up in my eyes as I read his post. He trusted me 100%. If only he knew what I’d done.

“Hey…” he said, wiping my tears away, “You don’t have to be so touched. It’s just a message.”

“Komawo, Yun Ho,” I said as I turned around and buried my head on his naked shoulder. He’d put on some pants but remained shirtless.

“Kwaench’ana,” he said as he pulled me close and rubbed my back. “Uljima…”

I put my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Hmm… Probably stuck in the studio all day, recording your next album,” he smiled.

I looked up and smiled through my tears, and then I kissed him lightly on the lips. He pulled me back to him as I pulled away and kissed me back. As he deepened the kiss, we heard a knock on the door.

“You guys better come out soon, or there won’t be any food left!” Chang Min said.

“Coming…” Yun Ho said as he helped me to my feet. “Come on, can’t have you starving now. You’ll need all that energy tomorrow.”

We joined the guys and thankfully, there was still food left. I picked at my food while Yun Ho aimed to clean every plate.

“You’re not eating,” he said with his mouth full. He picked up a piece of pork and put it in my bowl. “Come on… eat.”

Chang Min and Yoo Chun cleaned up after dinner while we watched TV. Jae Joong went back to hiding in the workroom. When Chang Min and Yoo Chun were done, we decided to play a game of cards. Since the only game I knew was blackjack, they had no choice but to play it with me. The four of us sat cross-legged around the coffee table.

We were into our third game when Yoo Chun shouted at Chang Min, “Yah! Stop peeking at my cards.”

“Come on, hyung. Let’s team up. Yun Ho hyung and Sierra are teaming up against us.”

“No I’m not!” I said, defending myself.

Yun Ho whispered in my ear and I giggled, then he turned to Chang Min, “You want another card?” Yun Ho asked, smiling mischievously.

“You must have something up your sleeve,” Chang Min said as he studied Yun Ho’s expression. “I’m folding this time,” he said and put down his cards.

“I’ll have another,” Yoo Chun said and Yun Ho dealt him a card.

“Me too,” I said, and picked up my card.

“More cards?” Yun Ho asked.

“Nope,” Yoo Chun and I replied in unison.

“What do you have, Yoo Chun?” Yun Ho asked.

“An ace of spade, 3 clubs and 4 diamonds,” Yoo Chun said as he laid out his cards.

“You?” Yun Ho said, turning to me.

“10 spades, 2 diamonds and the queen of hearts,” I groaned as I laid my cards out. I’m so not good at gambling.

“What do you have?” Yoo Chun asked Yun Ho.

He smiled and laid out his cards, “King of diamonds, 5 hearts and 6 clubs.”

“I win!!” Yoo Chun yelled and Chang Min groaned.

“I could’ve won!!!” he said as he flipped his cards over. He had the queen of spades and 10 hearts.

We laughed at Chang Min as he pretended to strangled Yun Ho for deceiving him. Just then Jae Joong walked in with a worried expression on his face.

“Hyung, what’s wrong?” Yoo Chun said.

“Yun Ho, did you post that message on our website’s notice board?” he asked, his voice shaking.

“I did, what’s wrong?” Yun Ho said as he got up.

Jae Joong walked forward and grabbed Yun Ho by the collar of his shirt, “Do you know what you had just done?” he shouted.

“What did I do?!!” Yun Ho shouted in return, pushing his hands off.

“Hyung, stop it!” Yoo Chun shouted as he came to stand between the two of them.

I looked on in shock as the both of them stood there and glared at each other. Jae Joong was breathing hard and his face was filled with so much rage that you would think he was about to kill Yun Ho.