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Summary: After he "accepts" her Valentine's Day gift, Ga Eul receives a call from Yi Jeong the next night.
Extra Notes: Based on Episodes 10 and 11.
VALENTINE'S DAY
Yi Jeong smiled vaguely at something that Min Hee said. He knew he didn't have to reply, not with the way the cousins chattered amongst themselves. All he had to do was look like he was paying attention from time to time. Besides, it wasn't his brains that they were interested in either. The only thing they wanted was the attention they got from sleeping with someone as wealthy and famous as he was. All he wanted to do was use them and then brag to Woo Bin. Two girls in one night and cousins at that. He smirked. Prince Song would turn green with envy.
Speaking of green… Yi Jeong was startled to see someone waiting for him at the entrance of his studio. Her pale skin looked startlingly pure against the deep emerald of her coat and she looked adorable with that furry white cap on her head. 'Like a little girl lost,' he thought, thinking about a poem he had read a long time ago. Most girls looked like idiots but Ga Eul managed to pull off the look and then some. But what drew him most were her eyes: large, dark and panicked. They flitted from one girl to the next and then back to him. Realisation dawned in them, as did some disapproval and a lot of embarrassment, and he knew what was running through her mind before she said anything.
"Ga Eul yang, what are you doing here?" he asked casually even though he knew what the answer was. She stammered, unsure of what to say and he felt a perverse pleasure in putting her on the spot. He knew what had happened and he was punishing her for it. Hadn't he made it clear it was all an act?
"Yi Jeong-ssi, she must be here to give you chocolates," Min Hee drawled while clinging to his arm.
'As though that wasn't clear enough.' Yi Jeong fought the urge to roll his eyes and sigh. He needed to keep the mask up for Ga Eul. She had to know about his reputation as a playboy and just because he played knight in shining armour to her damsel in distress, she shouldn't have any delusions about him. "Is today Valentine's Day?" he asked, managing to sound both dismissive and amused at once.
His only reply was a quiet silence; he hated the way she looked at him with those eyes that showed how vulnerable she was, how much his words hurt her. It made him feel like the cad he was.
"Look at her nose," Mi Young said. "It's all red! She must have been waiting for such a long time."
It took quite a lot for a woman to surprise him but Mi Young actually sounded sorry for Ga Eul. Didn't she mind sharing him with someone else other than her cousin? Or maybe that was just her kinky streak talking; the more the merrier.
Ga Eul couldn't have looked more miserable than she had on that day when she had been crying her heart out on the steps. The last thing she would want is to stay here a moment longer. But because he needed to drive into her head that he could be nothing to her, and also because a part of him didn't want to see her gone so soon, he asked her to come in for tea.
As he expected, she looked completely horrified by his offer. "No thank you," she shook her head frantically. "I'm fine. I should be leaving—"
He was probably never going to see her again if she ran away now. Luckily though, Min Hee and Mi Young were smart enough at least to take his cue. In a chorus of coos and firm shoves, they pushed Ga Eul through the door that he held open. As she brushed past him, he smelled a faint peach scent; it was probably her shampoo.
When he turned, his gaze fell on the small mountain of presents that was piled up on his work table. As always, the gifts were lavish, beautifully wrapped in sleek boxes with shiny ribbons. Yi Jeong picked up one with an exquisite red bow and smirked. He could never remember who the presents came from; he barely remembered the names of the women he flirted and slept with. Dropping it on top of the pile, he grinned at Min Hee and Mi Young since Ga Eul seemed to prefer examining the ground to looking at him. "I'll make you some tea."
As he readied the cups and teapot, Yi Jeong studied the women in his studio from beneath his lashes. While the cousins gazed around at his studio and whispered amongst themselves, Ga Eul was looking at the presents. Then, she looked down at the bag she was carrying and when she looked up again, there was such an expression of sadness on her face that his hands stilled. She was embarrassed by her gift, he realised and something clenched in his chest. He infinitely preferred a smiling Ga Eul, a Ga Eul who looked at wonderment and delight at her reflection in the mirror, oblivious to his own stunned reaction. Even spunky Ga Eul who ran away from him and made her distaste known was preferably to this sad fragile girl. And he had made her this way tonight. Not some jerk ex-boyfriend who had cheated on her.
"You can leave your chocolate there," he said. A second later, he realised how callous that sounded, as though hers was just one more present on top of the pile. And he knew the same thought had flashed through her mind as well.
She turned to leave, but then stopped and for a moment, Yi Jeong thought she was going to listen. "Please excuse me." Her voice was firm and controlled, her bow polite. A sense of déjà vu swept over him and he fought back a smile. Sweet Ga Eul yang to whom manners came first no matter how she was feeling. It was the same quirk that had brought her storming back to his table, that made her drink his tea and then storm out again. "I hate country bumpkins like that," he had grumbled to Woo Bin. Still, he had remembered her far more clearly than any other girl in a long time.
Just before she turned away, he caught a glimpse of her face, a shimmer of tears the moment her composure cracked. The door swung shut as she left and Yi Jeong froze for a moment. He was Casanova; he didn't chase after women, especially women who left him. That was an especial sore point. But he could not let her go this way. And despite his rising disbelief at his own actions, in spite of the fact that Min Hee and Mi Young were staring at him goggle-eyed, Yi Jeong ran after her.
The sense of desperation felt familiar and for some reason, he could not help but think of Eun Jae and the night he had chased after her as well. "But this is different," he told himself even as he looked around for Ga Eul. "It doesn't mean the same thing."
Catching sight of her, Yi Jeong forced old memories away even as he sped up after the fleeing girl. Reaching out, he grasped her by the shoulder and pulled her back, almost into his embrace. When he realised what he was doing, Yi Jeong backed up immediately, putting at least an arm's length between them. And now that she was here and they were alone, Yi Jeong realised how unexplainable his actions were, even to himself. What was it about this girl that affected him so? Alarm bells were ringing in his head and something told him that he had to stay away from her if he wanted his heart to remain uninvolved.
She would not turn around to face him fully and when she asked him to let her go, Yi Jeong realised he was still holding onto her. Immediately he withdrew his hand and silence settled between them. He knew she was waiting for him to say something, to make sense of this situation.
There was only one way he knew and that was what he fell back upon. The only other way would have been to show his concern and he would not let that happen. It would ruin everything. So in spite of the pain he knew it would cause her, he opened his mouth and sighed loudly. "You naïve girls can be such a bother."
To her credit, she did not turn around and hit him. She didn't even run. She just stood there and took everything he said, listened to him speak to her in such a condescending tone about her forgetting that it was all just a pretence. He kept what he really wanted to say buried inside. 'This is for your own good Ga Eul yang. You can't afford to think of me as a good guy; I won't lie to you that way.'
So there was no good reason why he should feel so awful for having spoken to her thus. Doing the only thing he could think of to console both of them, Yi Jeong reached down and took the bag from her. "I'll keep this until you find that special someone you believe in," he said quietly. Even if he did not believe that there was a soulmate for him, he found himself hoping that she would find hers. "Thank you, Ga Eul yang."
Shooting her a classic Casanova grin, Yi Jeong walked off, exhaling into the cold night air. Please don't cry, he mouthed silently as he approached the entrance of his studio. If he heard her crying he would walk right back and undo everything he had just done. Stopping outside the door, he watched her as she stood there, as she lifted her hands to wipe away the tears he knew were on her cheeks. To his immense relief, she lifted her head, straightened her spine and walked away. 'That's my girl,' he thought proudly. She hadn't forgotten everything he had taught her.
Glancing down at the bag in his hands, Yi Jeong smiled. When Ga Eul met her soulmate, that man could have all of her affection. But for now, he was the one who had her chocolates. And unlike the other presents on his table, he fully intended to keep this one.