This one-shot was actually based on something I wrote a few years ago, so the characters are a little different. In this AU, Yi Jeong is more of a joker, and isn't a very serious person. Ga Eul is more of the no-nonsense kind. Also, they're both of even financial status, and Yi Jeong even has a job! You'll find out when you read on. ;)

Just a little back-track on their history in this fic: YJ and GE have been together for 2 years. They were from the same high school, where they had an on-off thing happening.

Also! The game they're playing in the fic is one called 'Absolute Balderdash', a 'bluffing' game where one has to convince the other game players that their own make believe answers to an eclectic collection of words, people, initials, films and dates are true. It's really a group game, but I made it a two-person game for this fic. I personally ADORE this game, and some of the definitions I've used in this fic were some that I'd used in previous games.

You can check it out here: ./Products/Absolute-Balderdash__

This has got a different feel from the usual BOF fics.. but it's still Soeulmates nevertheless! :)

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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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"Ga Eul-yang, it's your turn."

"Do we really have to play Balderdash now, Yi Jeong sunbae? My brain stopped functioning an hour ago."

"But you said you wanted to play this game."

"I told you I wanted to play this two weeks ago! The craving has worn off now! All I want to do now is go to sleep. It's almost midnight and I've been up since 7am… you need to send me home."

"Just a couple of rounds, Ga Eul-yang, okay? Then I'll send you back."

"Sunbae..."

"Please, please, please?"

"Don't give me your... sigh, puppy eyes."

"Ga Eul-yang..."

"Fine, but you owe me big time. And stop fluttering your eyelashes."

"Can't I have fun with my girlfriend anymore?"

"Not when she's half asleep. Yah, hands off. Don't try to take advantage."

"Not even when you look so good in…"

"Don't even think about it. Just roll the dice."

"Fine, fine. I've rolled a one."

"You've got the 'Word' category, sunbae. You need to guess the meaning of the word. Hmm okay, guess the meaning of 'lickerish'."

"Isn't that a sweet?"

"No, that's 'licorice'. This is L-I-C-K-E-R-I-S-H."

"Right, let me think. I know! It's 'The act of licking melted chocolate from my girlfriend's belly button'."

"That's gross, sunbae."

"That's romantic."

"Hardly romantic and you're hardly even close. It means 'having lustful thoughts'."

"I was fantasizing, wasn't that even…"

"Yi Jeong-ah."

"Yes, Ga Eul-yang?"

"Just zip it. Anyway, I've got three points to my total because you didn't guess the answer, and I'm in the lead by one."

"Fine, but I'll catch up. It's my turn to ask you. Roll the dice."

"I've rolled a four."

"Okay… that would be the 'Movies' category then. Guess what the movie is about just from its title. Ooh, this sounds like my kind of movie. 'Everybody Does It'."

"You're not making this up, are you, sunbae? Because if you're trying to get me to think as X-rated as you are right now…"

"It's on the card, my dear. It's a movie. Just guess whatever you want, go on."

"All that comes up is, 'a porn movie'."

"Hah! Well, well. Who's the X-rated one now?"

"I hang out with you too much, okay? And a movie with a title like that? It couldn't be anymore suggestive."

"Hasn't it ever crossed your mind that it could actually be an educational movie about pitfalls of vices like drugs or smoking? Something targeted at high school students?"

"And since when did you start getting so 'I support social justice for all', Mr. Righteous? You used to skip any assembly in high school that covered moral, social or health issues."

"Hey, don't get started with me, pumpkin. You skipped them too to hang out with me."

"Like I had a choice! Not when YOU dragged me out of the assemblies! Such a romantic way to chase a girl, sunbae; hide her in the broom closet and she'll fall in love with you. HAH. Suffocating her's more like it. Man, 7 years on and I can still smell the ammonia on your clothes. "

"I work at a chemist, so sue me! I'm perpetually drenched in that stuff. But in any case, you never complained about being in the broom closet with me. Not that I'd give you a chance to..."

"You never listened."

"You distracted me."

"Pabo. What's the answer?"

"It's a little long. But here goes: 'A man who loves his wife encourages her to be an opera singer. But he meets a glamourous singer when he organizes a concert for his wife, and she in turn, meets a man with a golden voice.'"

"What? That doesn't make sense."

"Actually, it does. Everyone does it. Everyone 'does it'. Everyone does it. Get it?"

"Whatever."

"Yes! 3 points to me and I'm back in the lead. I'm rolling the dice again… and it's a one. Hit me with your best shot."

"I will. I've got the card... okay sunbae, another word. 'Atluk'."

"At-wha?"

"Atluk. A-T-L-U-K. What does that mean?"

"That's such a strange word. They must've made it up."

"But it is a word! I've heard of it. And they can't make words up just because they feel like it. They would've had to check with at least two legitimate sources before using the word."

"Yeah, probably like their next-door neighbour and the guy that owns the grocery store down the road."

"Yi Jeong-ah. Hurry up, it's already a quarter to midnight."

"Ah, stop whining. Okay, atluk. Hmmm. Oh, I know. It's a traditional Eskimo swear word…"

Silence.

"…and of the highest degree too! You know, like when one Eskimo says to the other, 'Hey, that atluk stole my igloo!' To an Eskimo, that's akin to being stabbed in the heart twenty times over with a knife, and twisting it a few times before it's taken out."

"Sunbae, don't spout nonsense."

"Ga Eul-ah, don't be an atluk."

"Well, you can say whatever you want because it doesn't bother me, you, you… atluk times 100!"

"My Eskimo heritage takes offense."

"Sunbae, you're full blooded Korean."

"My great-great granduncle's cousin's wife is an Eskimo! So I've got at least 0.5% Eskimo blood in me."

"You've got brain freeze, that's what you've got."

"Fine, Ga Eul-ah, be that way. This is supposed to be fun, okay. Don't be such an atluk about it."

"I wouldn't be if you could be serious for once! We've known each other for 8 years, been together for 2... and you can't seem to be serious ever! Even when my grandma died, you told everyone how bad her breath smelt."

"But it did! It smelt perpetually like a bad egg sandwich!"

"It was her funeral, you dimwit! You could've at least had some semblance of respect for that! You made my aunt cry so bad when you told her!"

"I thought she could use some cheering up…"

"You think, Yi Jeong, you think? I wonder if you actually do! Gosh, what did I ever see in you? You have no sense of decency, you have no respect, and you're a joker half the time! What's wrong with you?"

"Yah, what's wrong with wanting to make you laugh, Ga Eul? You used to like it when I muck around. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you must've enjoyed it too because you laughed, and you used to join in! Weh? Where's your sense of humour now, left it at that Gong Soo Pyo's place when you broke up with him?"

"YAH! Don't bring him into this, So Yi Jeong! That was NOT. FAIR. You're not in high school anymore! We're adults now, so START ACTING LIKE ONE!"

Silence.

"An atluk is a hole in the ice that seals breathe out of."

Silence.

"Very good, sunbae. 3 points for you."

"Fine. Last game and we'll leave."

"Fine. I'll roll the dice. Three."

"Okay. Ga Eul-ah, guess the initials. 'W.Y.M.M.'."

"Gosh, this is a tough one." Pause. "Wyoming Youth Miners' Meetings?"

"Nope."

"Whitings Young Missions Movement?"

"That didn't make sense."

"It's midnight and I'm tired, okay. Last guess – Witches (and) Young Magicians' Management."

"Nope."

"Okay I give up, what is it? Umm, sunbae, why are you on the floor? I want to go back, stop playing."

"W.Y.M.M. Will you marry me?"

Pause.

"Mwoh?"

"Will you marry me, Ga Eul-yang? Saranghae. I love you and I can't see myself with anyone else but you."

Silence.

"Sunbae, this is really not the time to joke."

"I've never been more serious than this very moment. And you know I'm absolutely serious about you, even if I think everything else is a joke. You mean so much to me, Ga Eul-yang. And the fact that you've stuck with me all these years despite my idiocyncracies and my flaws, despite ME. I could never, ever think of being with anyone else, so beautiful, so kind, so patient, so loving. I want to be with you. Always."

"I-I..."

"You don't have to say anything else, Ga Eul-ah, just say yes."

"Is that really what you want to hear?"

"Of course!"

"Can I say no?"

"Umm, well, honestly I'm hoping you won't?"

Silence.

"You're making me scared, Ga Eul-ah. And my knee hurts."

"Pabo, of course I'll marry you."

"R-really?"

"Would I say anything else after all the buttering up you just did? But all that aside, you know I love you... more. Oh, just get up. Come here, give me a hug."

"I'll give you more than a hug, Mrs So-to-be."

"And I'll gladly accept your kisses any day."

"Then maybe I'll have to make a down payment for the future."

"Hey, wait - you do know you just got 3 points for that one, right? Yi Jeong-ah?"

"Yeah, I win."

"So do I, sunbae. So do I."