Changes and Letters (1/1)

Chapter 4 – Changes and Letters It was 5 30 in the morning and sun’s rays hasn’t fully penetrated through Jessica’s glassed window yet but it was enough to tickle her eyes and greet the sunrise. She went to the bathroom and took a nice warm shower. She then put on her uniform and cooked pancakes for breakfast. After washing the dishes, she served her mom a plate of pancakes with honey syrup and placed her medicines on the table beside her glass of water. She left a note like the usual and went out of their house at 5 minutes past 6.But she was surprised to see someone curled up beside their gate while leaning on their fence. She hesitantly went near him and tried to touch him when he all of a sudden jerked and woke up. “W-what are you doing here early in the morning?!?” She asked him shockingly.Donghae rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked at Sica with them while smiling. “Good morning, Princess!”“Hey, don’t call me that. Only Jaejoong calls me that.” She scolded him.“Then what should I call you?”“I dunno. Sica? Jess? Jessie? Hey wait a minut— why are you even here?! It’s 6 in the morning.” She asked with her face all scrunched up.“Well because Jaejoong’s princess, your prince happens to order his trusted best friend to protect you therefore I’m fetching you here to your work. Things might happen if I don’t go with you.” He said in a stern but cute tone like having a lecture.“Well—but…that’s just…ugh.” She said in defeat. “But he doesn’t even do this to me.” She pouted. Donghae suddenly pinched her nose lightly, which shocked Jessica.“Better be safe than not. Kaja? (Let’s go?)” He said while offering his arm to her. She just gave him an are-you-serious look and just walked ahead him. “Yah! Wait up!” Jessica smiled as if she just thought of something brilliant. She ran to escape from her so-called bodyguard and Donghae has no choice but to run after her. “Yah Sica! You might get in an accident or something!” He yelled from afar. Jessica didn’t mind him and instead ran faster. She was nearing the teashop when she looked back to Donghae which was now out of sight. She smiled widely at the thought that she escaped him and ran slowly this time not looking in front of her. She then accidentally bumped a little boy.“Aigoo! Sorry!” She apologized at the little boy who bumped his butt hardly on the cemented pathway and looked like he was about to cry. “Oh no no no. Please don’t cry. I’ll make it up to you.” She said lovingly with a hint of guilt. She kneeled down to the child’s level and tried to talk to him but he began crying. “Oh c’mon kid, I’m sorry. Please stop crying.” She said in a worried voice.Suddenly, Donghae came running in and he tried to grasp some air. “Aigoo, what happened here?” He asked her still panting.“Well, I, uh, bumped into him.” She said guiltily.“See, I told you things would happen if you run away from me.” He said in a serious voice that got Jessica even guiltier. He then kneeled down to the boy’s level and carried him. “Little boy, do you want something to eat?” The boy nodded and the three headed to the shop. They found Yoona fixing the tables and she was surprised to see them with a kid.“Who is he?” She asked them with concern when she saw the boy crying.“Well your unnie here bumped him because she was trying to run away from me.” Donghae answered. “Oh, do you sell ice cream here?”Yoona nodded and headed to the kitchen to prepare the treat for the little boy. Donghae placed him on the counter and tried to stop him from crying.“Shush-shush-shush. Stop crying, little boy. Hyung will not give you ice cream if you won’t stop crying.” He said as if he was a child like him. The boy stopped crying and looked at Jessica blankly.“Did you apologize already?” Donghae asked Jessica and she nodded. She then went beside the little boy and held his tiny hands.“Noona is really sorry, uh, what’s your name?”“K-kyung…*sniff*san.”“Oh, Kyungsan-ah, noona is really sorry for what happened today. Can you forgive me?” She said with aegyo. Kyungsan laughed at her aegyo and nodded cutely. Donghae smiled at the splendid and adorable sight. Jessica was playing with Kyungsan for a while with Donghae. The three looked like a happy family and Yoona saw the whole scene as she went out of the kitchen with an ice cream cone topped with rocky road ice cream. Even she can’t deny that the three looked like a family. “Order up!” She said while giving the treat to Kyungsan. “Kamsahamnida, noona!” He said with expressing an aegyo that no one could beat. The three adults gave off an “Ahwwwww” to the little Kyungsan.“Noona,” he faced Jessica, “why were you running away from your boyfriend?” He said as he pointed his finger to Donghae. The three had the same expression on their faces, shocked.“Oooh, I’m outta here.” Yoona commented and headed back to kitchen.“Oh, he’s not my boyfriend. He’s like, uhm, my bodyguard.”“Neh? But you look good together!” He commented as he licked his ice cream. Donghae felt the awkward air and cleared his throat and Jessica felt the same so she moved farther from him.“Kyungsan-ah, her boyfriend told me to be her bodyguard while he’s gone.” Donghae explained.“Oh.” The little Kyungsan replied. Just then, a mother about her late 20’s came running outside the shop and stopped when she noticed her son inside it. She hurriedly entered the shop. “Oh, Kyungsan-ah! There you are! I was worried sick about you!” She exclaimed while she took her son from where he was sitting at.“Oh, is he your son, ma’am?” Donghae asked.“Yes. Thank you for taking care of him. He just ran away from my grip in the park right across the street!”“Looks like you two are runaways.” Donghae said as he eyed Jessica and Kyungsan. Jessica punched his arm lightly and he said a fake “ouch”. Kyungsan waved at Donghae and Jessica with a pinch of sadness in his face. Both had the same face as they bid farewell to Kyungsan while walking just outside the shop. When Kyungsan and his mother safely took a cab home, the two bickering “friends” decided to go in the shop because it’ll open at about 15 minutes.Meanwhile, a petite girl who looked like she just came from the airport was watching Jessica from across the street, every move she made. And she was curious on who was the guy her brother’s girl is with. Kim Taeyeon closed her umbrella since the drizzle had just stopped and she sat on a bench as she waited for the teashop to open. “Who could that guy be?” She questioned herself.Jessica just finished arranging the tables and chairs for the customers to be at. The only thing to do now is change the closed sign to open. She went to the door after putting on her apron and flipped the sign to tell the world that their little teashop is open for business. Donghae bid goodbye to Jessica and as he headed to the door,  a petite noona entered the shop – the first customer. Donghae immediately recognized those features but he could put it out on the tip of his tongue who that noona was. On the way home, he was bothered by her identity. Who could she be? I’m sure I’ve seen her before…but where? He thought. “Good morning, Miss!” Jessica greeted her brightly as she sat down on the table on the corner of the room near the door. The cream walls and golden brown ceiling gave her a cozy feeling of the place. She smiled back at Jessica. “What would you like for this cold morning?” Jessica asked her cutely as she took out her notepad and pen.“Uhm, I’ll have a hot but mild coffee and a slice of red velvet.” She said warmly.“I’ll be right back!” Jessica then dashed off to the kitchen to give Yoona the order. As Jessica went out of the kitchen, more customers entered and the sound of chimes filled the room. She gleefully took their orders and waited for her dongsaeng to finish them up. After 5 minutes, Jessica delivered the tray to the girl sitting in the corner. She was looking outside but it seemed like she was looking beyond outside, like having a deep contemplation. “Here’s your order, Miss. Enjoy!”After Jessica left, Taeyeon thought to herself, Jaejoong surely picked the right girl. I just hope that guy earlier isn’t Jaejoong’s replacement. She looks too angelic to cheat on my brother. After consuming her cake and coffee, she headed to the counter while Jessica wasn’t looking. She took out an envelope from her bag and secretly put it on the counter before leaving.It was almost noon when Jessica finally noticed the envelope. It was clearly written there her name, Jaejoong’s handwriting. She ran to the kitchen and read the letter.Princess,         How are you? Training here is really tiring but don’t worry. Hope you stay safe and I hope Donghae’s not giving you a headache. I miss you and I love you.                                                                                               JaejoongShe hugged the paper with the fact that it’s from Jaejoong. But something struck her, who could have given this? She shrugged off the thought and went back to work. At two in the afternoon, there wasn’t much people in the teashop since it’s working hours. Jessica was just sitting there on the opposite side of the room reading a magazine when the chimes were heard again. As her natural reflex, she stood up thinking Jaejoong was there but instead, she saw a pair of fish eyes smiling at her. Those eye smiles that could melt anyone’s heart were smiling at her. “Oh, Donghae. It’s just you. I thought it was—““Jaejoong? Yeah, he told me that he usually goes here at sharp two in the afternoon.”“Well, why do you have to do it as well?”Donghae was about to answer but Jessica realized what he was about to say. “Oh right, because you promised him to protect me therefore you’re gonna what he was doing to keep an eye on me. Am I correct?” She smiled at her victory. Donghae just pouted cutely which made Jessica’s heart even race faster. Ugh, why am I being like this? She thought as she threw a dirty rag on his face while laughing softly.“Yah, this is dirty!” He said angrily and jokingly at the same time as he followed her to the kitchen. “Hey what’s this?” Donghae asked her as he picked up the letter from Jaejoong near the sink.“Just a letter from Jaejoong.” She said as she washed her hands with the cold stream of water flowing from the faucet. “But question is, I don’t know who gave that. I just found it on the counter.”“Really? I wonder who it was.”--[a/n]Chapter 4’s here! :D Thanks for the comments guys! They fuel me up. :DOooooooh, Taeyeon’s first appearance. Will they know who’s giving them Jaejoong’s letters? Taeyeon’s pretty good in hiding -O- Oh, to not get you confused, I made Taeyeon as a noona because it suits her character well here. She’s like 2 years older than Jaejoong and Hae here. And put in mind that how she looks like is just like the one in the character description in the foreword.Enjoy and thanks for reading! ^^