Hi everyone! :3

Someone suggested that I post this story here at FF, a feat that I haven't done for the longest time which is why it took me a while to get things going again (my old FF account's password left my memory already). Anyway, I've already posted this to other sites: Soeul Archive, Winglin and Livejournal so I've already gotten quite a few readers/reviews from those various sites but I figured there's nothing wrong with posting it at the FF archives. I'm such a self-pimp, aren't I?


Only One Person

Chapter One: To See You

He came back a better person for her. But, does she want him back?

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.

So Yi Jeong never thought that the plane ride home would be even more torturous than the four years he spent in Sweden away from his friends and from all things familiar.

As he sat in his luxurious seat in the first class, he could not help but be anxious at the thought of seeing everyone again. Or more specifically, seeing her again. He sighed, remembering the day they 'broke up' at the Namsan stairs. She gave him quite a shock that day; he visited her to tell her things that he had come to realise – that maybe he liked hanging out with her, that somehow her gesture regarding the matter that was Eun Jae had touched him deeply, that there was a small possibility that he cared for her in a 'not as friends only way', that he was perhaps willing to give them a shot – but all these got stuck in his throat and never saw the light of day when he heard her say,

"I'm not going to chase after you anymore, sunbae."

Somehow, those few choice words hit him so hard that he stayed rooted on the spot, unable to do anything else other than stare at her retreating back. The sound her heels made as it came in contact with the steps reverberated through him, scaring him. He had never felt that much…pain and anguish before; not even after his failed first love, not even when he injured his hand, not even after all of his family drama. It was a feeling like no other, as if a mighty hand crushed his chest, making it too difficult to breathe, to live.

She was right, he really was a coward.

He never fought for what he truly wanted, nay, needed, because he was afraid of getting hurt. He never truly pursued anything worth fighting for because he didn't want to come back defeated. He manipulated people's feelings because he was afraid that letting someone in would make him vulnerable. He was a child, no, he was less than that. A child would chase after what he yearned for knowing that if he did not, he would end up in tears. Yi Jeong never even so much as tried - until that day.

"When I return, I'll come find you first. I mean, if you haven't found your soulmate by then."

A promise is a promise.

"Can I get you anything, sir?" The flight attendant asked, the smile on her face far too wide to be considered normal.

"I'm perfectly contented at the moment, thank you," Yi Jeong replied, flashing a smile of his own.

* * *

His flight landed at the Incheon Airport a little over lunchtime. To say that he was hungry would be an understatement. He took only a couple or so bites of the gourmet meal that the plane had provided for him; he really was that nervous.

Yi Jeong could not remember any other time where he had been so worried about meeting a girl. Well, Chu Ga Eul was no ordinary girl. Of that, he was sure of. From that fateful day that he dragged her from the porridge shop to his studio, he knew that he was dealing with someone different. It was unnerving to say the least; utterly frustrating and fascinating at the same time. He wondered now if that was what Jun Pyo felt too when he first encountered Geum Jan Di. The thought of Gu Jun Pyo and him having similar thoughts about a girl was enough to elicit a small chuckle from him.

Now back to business, he said to himself as he went to check his phone for the address that he had slyly asked his fellow F4, Song Woo Bin, to look up for him a few weeks back. He had called him from Sweden and nonchalantly enquired, in a most casual manner, if his friend knew where Ga Eul worked.

"She works at Shinhwa Kindergarden for now but I think she's aiming for the High School, possibly even the University if she could finish the necessary credits required, by the end of the year."

"Ga Eul's a teacher?" Yi Jeong had plunged on, again using his most uninterested voice. "I thought she wanted to pursue pottery, like me." Call it pride but he just had to add that last bit.

"Well…" Woo Bin paused, teasing him. Clearly, the unconcerned tone he was using did not work on the perceptive Don Juan.

"Well what?"

"She gave up on pottery about two years after you left…"

"Oh," It was the only response that he could come up with. Did that mean that she gave up on him as well? He unconsciously gripped his phone tighter at the thought.

"It was more like, how should I say this," Woo Bin continued, "temporarily letting it be and trying out new interests."

"Oh." Yi Jeong cursed himself inwardly. Just how many times would he use 'oh' as an answer for that conversation, he thought darkly. Woo Bin's reply was clear enough to him. Ga Eul has not yet given up on him but she was not particularly waiting earnestly for him either. He was not sure what hurt more – her not waiting at all or her waiting but not quite.

"She delved into painting and I must say, she's rather good at it," his friend continued, knowing that his message had gone across. "Jan Di, you know she's good at sketching too, right? She told Jun Pyo about Ga Eul's untapped talent so Mister Shinhwa together with Jun Hee noona decided to sponsor Ga Eul's education at an expensive art school and in return, because you do know that she would refuse such help, honestly, it's no wonder she and Jan Di are the best of friends, she worked part time at the Shinhwa hospital where Ji Hoo and Jan Di's doing their internship, accompanying kids from the cancer ward."

"O-", he stopped himself before he used that offending word yet again. "It sounds like she has everything now." No matter how he tried to look at it, Ga Eul's life was currently at that perfect place where So Yi Jeong was no longer needed. Or wanted.

"I wouldn't say everything, bro." He smiled as his friend lapsed back into his own 'term of endearment'. "True, she's pretty happy and contented right now but…"

"When are you coming back?"

The question caught him off guard. True, he had planned on returning, really soon if he may add, but he was not about to divulge that information to his best friend because Woo Bin can be very talkative at times. Telling him his plans pretty much equated to telling Jun Pyo; telling Jun Pyo meant that Jan Di would know in seconds, and what Jan Di knows, Ga Eul knows too. Where would his element of surprise go with that? Telling Ji Hoo on the other hand would be a different story – it would be like telling a brick wall a secret. No one would be able to squeeze the truth out of him. Yeah, he might just tell Ji Hoo his next move.

"I don't know," Yi Jeong replied in a dead serious voice. "It sounds like everyone's doing great so far even without me…" He purposefully trailed off.

"Don't be a sissy, bro! What is F4 if there are only three of us here? Well, technically there are only two of us since Jun Pyo's still not here either but since he just called to say that he'd be back in a month's time, we can circumvent the fact that there really are just two of the F4 here in Korea. Think about it, okay. Think about coming back."

"Okay."