Chapter Two – Welcome to Reality

"Yo yo yo my man." Woo Bin semi-rapped in English as he flung his arm around Yi Jeong's neck. "Are you ready to party it up tonight?"

"Sorry not tonight." Yi Jeong replied, smiling at the inanity of his statement. He sounded like one of those boring wives trying to avoid her husband's advances. "I've already got plans for this evening."

"You're meeting a girl?"

The potter gave his friend a look that clearly said 'That was a stupid question. Who else would I be meeting?'

Woo Bin just laughed as he made his way to the F4's pool table. "I'm just messing with ya. Enjoy your date."

"It's not a date." Yi Jeong clarified immediately, bringing Woo Bin to a halt as he reached for the triangle on the pool table.

The gangster prince frowned as he studied his friend. "If it's not a date, is it a business thing then?"

He shuffled awkwardly. "It's actually a punishment."

"A punishment?" Woo Bin repeated as he racked up the balls on the green felt.

Yi Jeong nodded once as he sauntered over to the pool table.

"Are you that bored with it that you have gotten into S&M?" Woo Bin said, his eyes widening, and looking rather concerned for his friend. "Damn." He moaned. "I wish you hadn't told me, I feel mentally scarred now. Bad mental images I tell ya."

Yi Jeong laugh had a horrified edge to it as he hastily corrected his friend. "It's not S&M. I'm not that far gone my friend." He waved his hands in the air as though trying to brush the notion aside. "In fact it's nothing like that at all. You can erase all those nasty ideas from your skull." He picked up a cue and broke the racked balls, sending them across the table, and knocking one into a socket. "I owe a woman an apology and spending time with her is how I have to make up for it."

Woo Bin gave a low whistle, distracting Yi Jeong and causing him to fumble his shot. "You're apologising? That's new." He took his shot at the table, also sinking a ball. "That seems even less like you, than S&M does."

"S&M?" Came Jun Pyo's questioning voice as he and Ji Hoo arrived. "What's that?"

Woo Bin and Yi Jeong exchanged a horrified look.

'No way.' Yi Jeong mouthed, looking at Woo Bin. "I'm not explaining it.'

Woo Bin scowled fiercely, which Yi Jeong shrugged off. The gangster narrowed his eyes in response, but accepted it. Yi Jeong was one of the few people who saw beyond the gangster façade and did not treat him as a friend out of fear.

Shaking his head, he addressed Jun Pyo, smirking slightly. "Sorry Jun Pyo, but we can't tell about you such things. It's not something that can be heard by virgins. Ask us this question again when you've had more experience."

"Aish, you can't be serious." Jun Pyo whined when the two pool players burst out laughing at his expression. Even Ji Hoo smiled broadly as he made his way to the stereo.

"So who are you apologising to?" Woo Bin asked turning back to Yi Jeong as music filled the air.

"Do you remember Jan Di's friend that we took with us to Caledonia?"

"What about Jan Di?" Jun Pyo interrupted, managing to look rather menacing due to the darts that he held in his hand.

"Nothing." The two pool players said at the same time.

"So why are you talking about her then?" Jun Pyo said threateningly.

"We aren't." Woo Bin replied slowly. "Yi Jeong was just telling me that he has to apologise to her friend." He turned to Yi Jeong, before casually asking. "What's her name again?"

"It's Ga Eul." The potter supplied, casually leaning against the pool table, obviously trying to look relaxed and unconcerned.

"Ah yes. I remember her." Jun Pyo said turning back to the dart board. "She is the one you stare at when you think no one's watching."

"I do not." Yi Jeong said, defensively.

"No, you do." Woo Bin stated simply, as he lined up his shot. "I've noticed it too."

Closing his eyes tightly, Yi Jeong turned to Ji Hoo who was sitting in the corner, cutting a deck of tarot cards. "Have you noticed it too?"

Ji Hoo nodded, smiling faintly. "Your eyes follow her every move and you get this far away look every time her name is mentioned."

The potter pinched the bridge of his nose, as he realised exactly how obvious he must have been if even the most socially awkward member of the F4 had noticed him staring at Jan Di's friend.

"You've got it bad for this girl. Just admit it. You need to get her out of your system." Woo Bin said poking his friend with his cue. He nodded at the table. "It's your turn man."

"Maybe I do." Yi Jeong said, sinking a ball. "But..."

"But nothing." Jun Pyo interrupted yet again. "If you like a girl, you go after her. It's as simple as that."

"I don't know." Yi Jeong said uncertainly, reluctant to take advice from Jun Pyo who's romance with Jan Di could not be labelled as anything other than 'Complicated'. "She doesn't play the game that I play. She's different from the women that I usually go for."

"Well different is probably a good thing." Woo Bin said matter-of-factly. "It just means that she won't bore you as quickly as the others do. Maybe she will last longer than a week."

His last words struck a chord in Yi Jeong. Ga Eul did have the potential to last longer than a week. The idea of spending time with her and finding out what made her so different from other woman appealed to him. However there was something in her that drew him to despite the impulse to avoid letting things go too far.

"I don't know what you are fussing about." Woo Bin continued. "It doesn't matter if she is different anyway. When it comes down to it, we both know we won't get to choose our brides anyway." He shrugged helplessly. "I say that you should get a taste of another side of life, while you can still can."

"Maybe I will." The potter said, sinking the black ball and winning the game. "I'll see how this evening goes. Who knows, she might relieve the boredom in the same way that Jan Di has."

Nervously, Ga Eul glanced at the clock behind the counter, her stomach knotting painfully in reluctant anticipation. She still had twenty minutes before her shift ended, and as time passed by she was gradually becoming more and more flustered.

As much as she told herself that this evening was not a date with Yi Jeong, she couldn't help but feel that perhaps it was to a tiny degree. After all what she had planned could be considered romantic by some people, but to Ga Eul it was her best chance of getting some sort of revenge on the potter.

Shaking her head, Ga Eul collected three bowls of seafood porridge and served them to her customers. 'No,' she thought furiously to herself, as she moved to helped Jan Di clear a table. 'It's not a date. I told Sunbae that as well.' Shoulders slumping, she realised that her evening with Yi Jeong stood no chance of becoming a date anyway, since he clearly did not want it to be one.

'That's probably for the best.' Ga Eul thought as she recalled her earlier discussion with Jan Di as to why she would only get hurt if she got involved with a playboy, who, according to Jan Di would woo her and break her heart.

Gripped with a steeling determination to control her errant thoughts and stay realistic, Ga Eul managed to focus on the tasks at hand – namely looking after customers. Usually this was an easy feat, but this evening she was pushed to the limits by a table of college students who were all unashamedly flirting with her whenever she approached their table to serve them.

As a result it came as a relief when, at exactly five o'clock, Yi Jeong entered the shop. She sent him a grateful and excited smile and hurried over to him. "I'll be with you now, just let me go get my things and set up my tables with Jan Di."

Yi Jeong watched her disappear into the back, his greeting unspoken. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he looked around the restaurant taking in the full tables and the snippets of conversation that wafted through the store.

Shortly after Ga Eul had disappeared into the kitchens, Jan Di emerged carrying a bowl of porridge on a tray. "Good evening Sunbae." She said politely once she had given the porridge to her customer.

"Good evening, Geum Jan Di." He replied smoothly, turning in her direction.

Her smile disappearing, Jan Di stalked up to him and whispered through clenched teeth. "You had better look after my friend, Sunbae. She is not someone to toy with. Don't try any of your playboy nonsense on her. Or you will have to deal with me!" She shook her fist threateningly at him. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed as she eyed him with her head tilted back. "Ga Eul told me that it's not a date and I expect you to keep your hands to yourself. Do you hear me, Sunbae?" She finished, glaring intensely at him

"I hear you loud and clear, Jan Di." He replied hiding his smile as he pretended to be intimidated.

"Good." She said firmly before marching over to a beckoning customer.

Shaking his head at the commoner who had disrupted the calm (and uneventful) lives of the famous F4, Yi Jeong impatiently took a step closer to the door, and inadvertently to the table of college students.

A round of obnoxious laughter interrupted his musings about the strange effects that commoners seemed to have on rich people. Automatically his ears tuned into their conversation.

"So are you going to ask the waitress for her number?" One of the college students asked his friend.

Yi Jeong smiled, momentarily imagining Jun Pyo's anger if he ever found out that Jan Di's customers found her attractive.

"I don't know. Where is she?" His friend replied anxiously looking round the restaurant.

"She went into the back." Came a third voice from the table. "If you can't keep track of a potential hook-up, then maybe I should be the one to get first dibs with her."

The potter glanced around the store, wondering where Jan Di had gone. However Jan Di was still out front, reciting orders to another table. This meant that the college students had obviously been talking about Ga Eul.

Yi Jeong felt a mix of emotions surge through him, including an irrational anger followed by an intense feeling of possessiveness towards Ga Eul. This combined with Woo Bin's suggestion that he take the chance to get a taste of the other side of life settled his raging thoughts into cocky determination.

As Ga Eul returned, she sent him one of her long looks that always said more than words could express. He watched her make her way to Jan Di, hug her good-bye and pause to say something in response to some whispered warning from Jan Di.

It was at that moment that one of the college students stood up, slicking back his hair and straightening his clothing as he did so. He stepped out from the table, only to be cut off as Yi Jeong stepped in front of him, preventing him from reaching Ga Eul.

"I want to collect the greeting I didn't get 'cause you were busy." He said loudly as he pulled Ga Eul into his arms. She blinked up at him, shocked by his actions. Putting his mouth by her ear, he whispered, "Just go with it."

He had the pleasure of feeling her shiver in response to his breath on her ear, as he swooped in for a kiss before she was completely aware of what was happening. For the first few seconds, Ga Eul stood as stiff as a board, completely unresponsive in his arms. Gently he pulled back, and instead of only holding his lips to hers, he softly brushed his lips over hers. Her response was instantaneous. She softened against him, her arms moving to clutch his as her body turned molten.

They broke apart as Jan Di's screech of "Sunbae!" filled the air. Reluctant to break the contact, and slightly convinced that Ga Eul would collapse if he let go, Yi Jeong left his arms around her and addressed Jan Di without looking at her. "What do you want Geum Jan Di?"

"You said you wouldn't…" she began, before Yi Jeong cut her off before she ruined the purpose of this little exhibition.

"Jan Di," He said firmly. "Your friend is in good hands and I suggest you just leave it alone."
Miraculously, Jan Di fell silent.

Taking advantage of her silence, Yi Jeong hurriedly led Ga Eul from the shop, slowing briefly to give the college students a withering glare that said 'In case you missed that scene, this woman is mine.'

The door of the congee shop had just swung closed behind them, when Ga Eul finally spoke up. "Sunbae," she croaked breathlessly. She cleared her throat quietly and tried again. "What was that for?"

Hearing the breathlessness in her voice, Yi Jeong smiled as he decided that he liked it. It would be enjoyable trying to make it possible to hear it again.

"Why did you…" Ga Eul trailed off blushing brightly when he failed to reply.

"Why did I kiss you?" He finished, smirking at her innocence.

Not trusting her voice, and blushing even redder, Ga Eul nodded.

"That table by the door was talking about you, and I didn't like what they were saying." He smirked, pleased with himself. "I don't think that they will try anything in the future, thanks to that little show that we put on. I don't think I could have done it without you."

She snorted at his last words, causing him to glance down at her. "Well duh. It would have been interesting watching you try and kiss yourself." She giggled at the thought.

"Oh you know what I meant." He said gruffly as embarrassment washed over him. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm grateful that you went with it and didn't push me away. You're a brilliant actress. You responded magnificently."

Ga Eul froze, horrified and terribly hurt by his words. The kiss that he had sprung on her, in front of everyone no less, had been incredibly sweet, as well as her first kiss. She had responded instinctually to it and now he had decided to demean it by pretending that she had been acting.

If she had been smooth and sophisticated, she would have smiled and pretended to agree with Yi Jeong.

However Ga Eul was neither of these things and sometimes, her friendship with Jan Di influenced her to do things that she normally would not do.

"I can't believe that you said that." She cried, just before slapping his face. Her anger raging, she watched him raise a hand to his cheek, pleased that she had left a mark.

"What the hell was that for?" He demanded dismayed.

"Let me tell you something So Yi Jeong." Ga Eul said, pain and anger evident in her voice. "That was my first kiss, and while I doubt that it means much to you, it did mean something to me. I won't ask you to cherish it," she spat, "but I won't let you disrespect it the way that you did either. I am not one of those loose women who you usually cavort with. Before I met you I used to think that I had standards. Now I'm not so sure."

With those last words, Ga Eul turned and walked away from him.

Yi Jeong stood stunned as he watched Ga Eul fade away into the crowd. Her parting words churned in his head, as the implications settled into place.

'My first kiss.' He should have realised that the touch of hesitancy when she first started kissing him back had been her innocence showing through, not her reluctance of kissing in public. But he had been so caught up in his own powerful and unexpected reaction to her tentative kiss that he had simply brushed the notion aside. After all, surely at her age shouldn't she have been kissed before? Hadn't she had a boyfriend, even if he had been an asshole? He must have been a complete failure as a man, to have not kissed her, Yi Jeong decided ruthlessly.

'I doubt that it means much to you.' It meant more to him than she could realise. If anything it terrified and excited him. Involving himself with Ga Eul would be a completely new experience for him just because she was new to the intimacies that he usually enjoyed with more experienced women. She had hit the hammer on the head when she had said that he spent time with easy women who were usually more experienced. In his opinion it made ending relationships less messy, since everyone involved knew that it was not anything serious. However it also made things boring. Ga Eul might be the one to add a little excitement to a dull and predictable life. She would be something new.

'I won't ask you to cherish it.' Well he wasn't sure if he could but it would be nice to. First kisses were supposed to be important. Hell, now that he thought about it he wasn't even sure if he could remember his first kiss – it had been too long ago, with too many women in between. The idea of experiencing someone's firsts with them brought a faint smile to lips. If he was going to get a taste of the other side of life he may as well do it as completely as possible. What better contrast to experience than innocence?

It was only then that he realised just how harsh his words would have seemed to an innocent like her. He cursed at his stupidity. What had happened to all his charm and skills when it came to women?

Hurrying after her, he felt the urge to punch something, ideally something that would punch him back for his thoughtlessness. He pushed his way through the crowds, hoping that she hadn't gotten too far.

He finally found her at an intersection, waiting for the lights to change so she could cross the busy road .Knowing that he would not be able to apologise for what he had done, (not that a Casanova ever apologised for kissing a girl), he fell into step with her.

"Go away." She said coldly when she noticed him standing next to her.

"I can't." He replied simply. "I still have a punishment to fulfil."

Ga Eul blinked up at him, the implication of his words slowly dawning on her. He was trying to apologise in his own pig-headed way. Smiling to herself, she nodded, accepting his apology. "You should have left when you had the chance. I'm not going to let you get away now."

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