AU: Geum Jan-di never went to school at Shin Hwa.

Geum Jan-di lives in a rooftop apartment. A new neighbor, Goo Jun-pyo, recently moved into the adjacent apartment.

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Geum Jan-di was making her way up to the rooftop apartment she had called home for the last five years. It was bare but it was all she needed to live. She spent all day at school, then went to work at either the porridge shop or at the clinic of the man who had become a surrogate grandfather to her. She didn't need much because it wasn't as if she spent much time in the apartment.

She was exhausted, but the day had been exhilarating. She had taken her final exams and today marked her last day of school. Now that she had finished her final semester of medical school her dream was so close she could almost touch it. She would have a month off and then she would start her medical residency.

Life is far from perfect, Jan-di mused, but it sure it has been going my way.


Life sucks, Goo Jun-pyo thought darkly as he stood inside his rooftop apartment. How in the hell did I end up like this?

"This is entirely that witch's fault. If she hadn't proposed this ridiculous challenge I would be in my comfortable bed right now instead of this pit of a room. "

There were only two things that stopped him from throwing in the towel and conceding defeat. The first was that he was Goo Jun-pyo, His pride would never willingly let anyone triumph over him. The second reason was that if lasted these six months his mother had sworn that she would let him make his own choices and wouldn't try to force him to marry a bride of his choosing. She had been after him since he had turned twenty and he was exhausted with the effort it took to fight her.

It would save him a great deal of time and aggravation if he could stop avoiding people and places to dodge his mother's matchmaking attempts.

He stomach cramped, reminding him that he hadn't eaten all day. There was a delicious aroma coming for the rooftop apartment closest to his. For the two weeks he had been he had aching to taste the delicious smelling food that was so close.

"What kind of neighbor taunts another like this?" Jun-pyo hissed out before he grabbed a prepackaged pastry and ate it in two huge bites

"What a stingy neighbor I have." Jun-pyo peevishly snapped out, still hungry. He reached over to grab another pastry willing to suffer through the bland food to fill the hole in his stomach.


Jan-di was digging into the chicken stir-fry she made when someone knocked on her door. Getting up quickly she moved the curtain from the window in the top half of the door to check who it was.

Recognizing her friend she opened it and stood back to let her in.

Chu Ga-eul walked in, dressed to go out but with an aggravated look on her face.

"Ga-eul, didn't you have a date with that teacher?"

"Big mistake," Ga-eul blew out as she bent down to undo the strap the high heels she had forced upon her poor feet. After stepping out of her shoes, she moved easily through the small home and grabbed a plate of food for herself.

Jan-di winced sympathetically, "That bad?"

"Worse. Just because I'm only a student teacher he thought I would be grateful that I was lucky enough to go to dinner with him. He spent the entire time talking about himself, how absolutely wonderful he is and the mistake his ex-girlfriend made in dumping him."

"What an idiot."

"Tell me about it." Ga-eul said.

"He ordered for me. A salad because 'it's never too early for ladies to watch their weight'," Ga-eul mimicked as she stabbed a piece of chicken with her fork, pretending it was the twerp's face.

Jan-di forked a huge bite of food into her mouth and spoke around it, "You need to stop dating these losers, Ga-eul. Wait for someone who is worth it."

Ga-eul shook her head, "At least I'm getting out there. You haven't had a date in...what? A year?"

Jan-di shuddered, remembering that fiasco. "A year isn't long enough to forget that... disaster. "

Ga-eul looked at her friend and told her firmly, "I'm twenty-four years old and I'm ready for romance. I want to find my soulmate. I can't do that if I hole up in my room and study every minute I'm not working."

She shrugged, unaffected by her friend's words. They had had a variation of this argument for the last year, and nothing really changed. The only thing changed was the date with whom Ga-eul found dissatisfaction and what kind of food she ended up mooching from Jan-di.


Jun-pyo looked up hopefully at the knock on the door. Please let it be someone with food. Going to the door, he jerked it open and yanked the man standing across from into the apartment by the lapels of his coat.

"Song Woo-bin, please tell me you have food."

Laughing , he shook his head no and barely flinched when Jun-pyo tossed him aside to question the guy behind him.

"Yi-jung, food?"

"Hey, Jun-pyo… you should have just come out with us. I did invite you."

He looked at his apparel in disdain, "In these clothes? I can't go anywhere decent."

"Bro! We dressed like this just to visit you and you don't even notice," Woo-bin said, pointing to his clothes. Ones he bought specifically at an inexpensive store, because no one could know that Jun-pyo had rich friends. It was one of the stipulations Jun-pyo had made with the witch when she came up with the idea for the dumb wager.

"Stop teasing him," Ji-hoo said as he pushed past Yi-jung. He held out a container of food for Jun-pyo to grab. Which Jun-pyo snatched out of Ji-hoo's hands with unrestrained glee.

The F4 settle down and talked idly while they waited for Jun-pyo to finish inhaling his food. The first time they had come to visit with food, it had been an unexpected sight to see the richest heir in the country eating as if he hadn't seen food in a month but by now they were used to the sight.

After he finished Jun-pyo laid back, finally able to focus on something other than the appallingly big hole in his stomach. "Thanks guys. You're the best." Jun-pyo raised a fist in the air in a salute.

Ji-hoo curiously asked, "Are you really go to do this for another five months?"

"Five and a half months," Yi Jung corrected, entertained.

"I have to," Jun-pyo said glumly.

"You could just do what the witch wants," Yi-jung pointed out.

"Would you?" He countered. When Yi-jung stayed silent, Jun-pyo continued talking. "If I give in on this she will push me around for the rest of my life. This? Is nothing. It's worth it."

"If you say so," Yi-jung mumbled looking around the small room with disdain.

"Besides that… marrying Ha Jae Kyung would be an unbearable chore. She loathes me, and would make my life a living nightmare."

Woo-bin nodded, grinning widely as he informed his friend, "She told me yesterday that you were a cold, unfeeling bastard and if she married you, she would end up castrating you within a week."

Jun-pyo shot up and pointed a finger at his friend. "See? See what I would have to deal with? That girl is not normal. If I married her I would wring her neck before the first night is over."

"You could try being nice to her," Ji-hoo pointed out.

"Why? What if she actually wanted to marry me? That would be even worse." Jun-pyo shuddered at the thought.

"You could do worse than Ha Jae Kyung," Woo-bin insisted.

"Hey I got a great idea! Woo-bin, why don't you convince her to marry you instead. Then she can call off the wedding and the witch won't bitch about it for the rest of my life." Jun-pyo thought about what he said and chucked, "I rhymed."

He was so amused with his joke, Jun-pyo missed the eye rolls from his friends.

"No."

Annoyed at Woo-bin's response Jun-pyo threw himself back on the floor. "So what are you bringing for dinner tomorrow?"

Silence ensued.

Jun-pyo looked around at his friends as realization dawned. "Oh come on! Don't tell me you are going on vacation again!"

"Just until Monday."

He groaned. "I'll probably be dead by then."


Jan-di stood by the door while Ga-eul put her heels back on, muttering under her breath about the trials her feet are going through during her quest for a soulmate.

"I'll walk you out."

"They stood outside for a moment, chatting and enjoying the breezy night air. Tomorrow was Saturday and since Ga-eul had started student teaching she had cut back her hours at the porridge shop to just the weekends but they didn't have to be in until 11 A.M. so they were in no hurry.

Jan-di was giggling over an anecdote Ga-eul was relaying from her terrible date when they heard noises coming from the rooftop next to them. Curious she looked over at the group of three guys that had just emerged from the apartment. She wondered if one of them was the tenant that moved in about a couple weeks earlier. She hadn't seen him yet but from what she could tell he spent a lot of time moaning and groaning over every little thing. It was seriously trying her patience, especially when he carried on during her study time.

Dismissing them from her mind, she turned back to Ga-eul to hear the rest of the story.


Woo-bin whistled under his breath, and looked through the open door at Jun-pyo who was lying forlornly on his bed. "Goo Jun-pyo, why didn't you tell me that you had such fine looking women living next door?"

Jun-pyo glanced uninterestingly in that direction.

"That girl… she's evil too. She purposely taunts me with the smells of her cooking and then doesn't invite me to eat."

Ji-hoo actually laughed in his face at that. "She probably doesn't even know you want any. Don't be ridiculous Jun-pyo."

"I'm not! It's like a plan."

Ji-hoo continued laughing softly and pointed out again, "Or you could just be nice to her. Maybe if you are friendly she will cook you a meal."

Jun-pyo dismissed the suggestion as ridiculous. "Are you sure you have to go on vacation? I don't see why you can't wait five months."


It was Saturday evening and Jan-di was making her way into her apartment again. It had been a busy day at both the porridge shop and the clinic; as a result she was feeling completely worn out. Locking the door behind her, she decided to forgo dinner and just sleep. She had another full day tomorrow and she desperately needed her rest.

Quickly showering and changing into her nightclothes, she rolled out her bed and laid down. Closing her eyes, she hoped that sleep came quickly.

Thirty minutes later… she was still wide awake. And it was all his fault. The irritating neighbor that wouldn't be quiet long enough for her to drift off. She waited until she finally couldn't handle it anymore. Annoyed she got up and shoved her feet into her slippers.

Muttering under her breath about the rudeness of people she quickly crossed the walkway connecting the two buildings to pound on his door.

A snappish "What?!" came through the door.

Instead of answering, she just pounded louder waiting for him to get up and open it personally.

Evidently, he was almost as stubborn as she was because he held out for a long time. She ended up leaning against the door, trying to keep the pounding loud enough to bother him.

The door flew up and she landed in the arms of the tall man starring angrily at her.

He promptly dropped her.

"You have got to be the rudest neighbor possible!"

"Me? You have been making weird noises over here for the last hour. Not to mention every other night."

Jun-pyo continued to stare at her with disdain. "I highly doubt it is me you are hearing."

Jan-di scoffed, "right. Some other guy moved in on the same day you did and has coincidentally been moaning like a girl for the last month."

"A girl?!"

Jan-di nodded, a bit smugly.

"What about you? Pounding on my door for an hour!"

"An hour? Ten minutes. Tops." Jan-di hedged, rounding down.

Jun-pyo decided that that wasn't even worth answering.

Jan-di got up from where she was sitting on the floor; getting close to her loathsome neighbor, she poked a finger at him. "Keep it down from now on or I'll call the police and report you for disturbing the peace." For good measure, she thrust her finger forward one more time. Suddenly his stomach growled loudly, causing him to moan painfully. Startled she lowered her hand and stepped back. Looking at him in confusion she glanced at the bare room she was in. He didn't even have a hot plate. Shaking her head at the idiocy of men, she started to leave. Before she could make it to the door, she heard his stomach growl again.

Realizing that he must have been hungry this whole time, she stopped and even as she cursed herself snapped out. "Come with me."

"Why?" He asked with great suspicion, but he reluctantly followed when she left without answering. He was hopeful that there might be food where she was taking him.

Entering her apartment, he noticed that it was a similar size to his but hers was nicely decorated and cleaner. She pointed him to a small round table and quickly put a pot on the stove. She said over her shoulder, "I didn't eat tonight so I don't have anything other than ramen I can heat quickly."

Jun-pyo mouthed ramen to himself. I don't think I've ever eaten that. Soon though, the room filled with an appealing aroma and his mouth watered. The girl brought a pot and bowl to him. Placing the bowl and a pair of chopstick in front of him, she told him, "Eat quickly."

He filled his bowl and quickly brought a bite to his mouth. Hot, but so tasty. Yum.

Jan-di watched with her mouth gaped open as the man practically inhaled his food. She was so stunned at the way that he was eating that she barely noticed he had brought to pot of ramen closer to him preventing her from eating more than a mouthful. Realizing he needed the food more than she did she laid down the lid and her chopsticks softly and waited for him to finish.

After he drank the rest of the juice from the pot, he asked hopefully, "Do you have more?"

She hesitated, wanting him to leave but she unable to ignore his request. "Yes." She took the pot back up and decided to make two packages, even if he wasn't hungry enough for two she would eat whatever he didn't. Cooking quickly she returned to the table with the ramen and set it close to him.

Again, he ate quickly, and she gave herself a mental pat on the back when he ate the whole thing.

When he finished he stretched and groaned again, but instead of the pain-filled sound he was making before this time he groaned with satisfaction. Smiling lazily at her, he smoothly got to his feet and walked out of her apartment.

Stunned, Jan-di stared at the empty spot he had recently vacated and burst out with, "That jerk didn't even say thanks!"

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AN 01) I had a couple ideas for AU Ji-hoo/Jan-di stories and an AU Jun-pyo/Jan-di story. I ended up deciding to write this one because there isn't a lot of interaction going on with Jan-di/Jun-pyo is Someone Like You right now and I'm kind of bummed about it. Another reason I'm writing this now is, SLY is very heavy on the drama and this isn't going to be, there is going be light drama but this is more of fun story. This is also going to be a lot shorter than SLY is. The AU Ji-hoo/Jan-di story will probably be written after this one is done, or if I get ahead like I did with SLY after the first few chapters are written.

AN 02) I'm not sure yet if there is going to be a Yi-jung/Ga-eul romance in this story. I'll probably decide after I write chapter two.

AN 03)Hopefully no one is too confused with the differences that have occurred as a result of Jan-di not attending Shin-hwa. If anything is too confusing I hope to clear up more in later chapters.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Boys Before Flowers or Hana Yori Dango

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