Serendipity 奇缘

#10: 私の英雄...

He had shot down all of the targets!!!

He got a PERFECT TEN!!!

"Jaejoong.... Oh my gosh!!!! You won!!!!" I screamed and turned to look at the rest for confirmation. They looked back at me with a look of disbelief.

*DING DING DING DING DING*

"CONGRATULATIONS SIR, YOU WIN THE GRAND PRIZE OF THE CARNIVAL FOR GETTING A PERFECT TEN! HERE'S YOUR PRIZE!" the booth operator's voice was heard over the loud hailer.

He handed the HUGE teddy bear over to Jaejoong. Jaejoong took a glance at the teddy and was a bit taken aback by the size of it. He placed down the rifle at the booth and took the bear, barely going round the waist with both his hands.

"Wow.... you're earned yourself a grand prize without having to lift a finger... lucky girl..." Theo gave me a nudge and teased.

"THEO.... Stop it..." I nudged her back.

"Well you just KNOW he's going to give it to you... doncha?" Fifi teased.

"Girls!!! Stop it!!! You're making me nervous... I don't want to get my hopes up for nothing okay... He DIDN'T say he's playing the game for me alright..." I murmured.

Jaejoong struggled to hold on to the bear as he walked slowly over to me. As he walked nearer and nearer, I felt my heart race faster and faster. And I felt my face burning like a furnace...

He stopped in front of me and struggled desperately to hold on to the teddy bear, but shift it away from his face. The sight was a bit funny, and I was tickled by it, but I tried to prevent myself from laughing by biting my lips.

"Hee hee...", he laughed embarrassingly, "NOW I know what you mean by HUGE... How do you even sleep with something so huge on your bed?"

The rest turned at the word "bed" and looked at us open-mouthed.

"Hyung... You've seen Kiki's BED??!!!! You mean you've been to her room??!!!!" Micky probed in disbelief.

I was lost for words, too shocked at Micky's remark to make any response. I fumbled to try to explain.

"....erm....ah... Look...guys.... it's not like what you think okay... No such thing happened... NEVER... EVER..."

They looked at me in disbelief.

"WHAT? I just told him that I used to come to such carnivals and try this shooting booth, and I won one of this teddy bears before... That's ALL!"

"Ooooooohhhhhhhhhhh...." They chorused.

"So that's why he's trying...." U-Know probed.

"Erm... guys I think it's time we moved on to another station... Huh... Don't you think, Jaejoong?" I interrupted U-Know to try to change the subject, turning to Jaejoong to cajole for back-up assistance.

Jaejoong looked at me and smiled, then he turned to the guys.

"Hey I think it's time you let her off, alright. Stop teasing her already... Move on to the next booth..." he tilted his head to signal them to move on to another booth.

"....Oh alright... WE'LL move on... FOR NOW..." U-Know replied, and ushered the rest towards the next booth.

As I watched them move away from the booth, I gave a sign of relief.

"They're stressing you out aren't they?"

I turned to look at Jaejoong. He was tilting his head so that he could see me from behind the teddy bear. I wanted to laugh, but I looked down and bit my lips instead.

"... Yeah... A bit..." I murmured.

"Anyway, regardless of what they say... This... is for you..."

And he handed the teddy to me. I hugged the bear and popped my head from above its head to look at him.

"... Jaejoong... this ...."

"You said you wanted another one to accompany the one on your... ahem... the one you have right?"

"Yeah..."

"So... I'm giving it to you... As a... As a..."

"... As a???"

"...As a... *deep breath* token..."

"A token."

"Yeah. A token..."

"A token of???"

"... erm... just a token... that's all..."

"...Oh..."

"Anything wrong with it just being a token?"

"... No..."

"Then why do you seem disappointed with my answer..."

".... *deep breath* You know what... I guess I am... Cos I think I just might have been daydreaming the entire day and I haven't woke up yet..."

I guess his unsatisfying answer has pushed me to the limit of my patience with him. And I wasn't going to allow myself to be manipulated anymore by this "dream" that is slowly turning into a "nightmare"... I stared at him with immense determination conjured up by all of my willpower.

"Seriously, I think it's time for me to leave my dreamland and get back down to earth... Cos all this dreaming is turning into a never-ending nightmare... But don't worry, I'll take this token with me. Cos you won't be able to bring it back to Korea anyway... Please help me thank the guys for a wonderful day, and I do apologize for having to leave first... Again... Bye..."

I started walking off. Just as I walked past Jaejoong, he grabbed my arm.

"Jaejoong, I think it's time for me to go... Just let me go and let me get back to life like before... I'll just treat this as a dream that I had..."

"Kajima..." And he pulled me into his arms, making me drop the teddy from the hand he grabbed.

"Don't go... Please... I... I don't want us to part..." He hugged me tighter and tighter.

"Jaejoong... Don't be like this..." I struggled to break free from his hug.

"You know, I've been grappling about this for the whole day... It might be difficult for me to say the words right now, but I what wanna say now.... Is that.... Your love is all I need... "

My eyes widened and I dropped the teddy from my free hand. I just stood there for a moment, in his arms, letting him hug me so tightly that I almost felt I couldn't breathe. Then I felt tears slowly welling up in my eyes. I was overwhelmed by what he said, and slowly raised my arms to his waist, and hugged him back.

*sob sob*

He pulled himself apart to look at my face.

"Sorry... I made you cry again... I promise that I won't make you cry again from now on..."

He wiped away my tears with his hands, and he leaned nearer to my face.

"I'll stay true to my heart..."

And he kissed me softly on my lips.

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"No man is worth your tears, but once you find one that is, he won't make you cry."