A.N: Happy birthday to you, if you are celebrating it today. ^_^
Thank you for your reads, reviews and support. There are only a few more chapters to go through. Thank you again for being with this story. Greatly appreciate it.
Disclaimer:
I do not own all these BOF characters, but the children.
Chapter 9: After Sweden Part II
The F3 and the girls were in their private booth. They complimented Woo Bin on the job well done with the club's interior. Woo Bin proudly mentioned that some of the furniture and decorations were imported from Sweden, to inject the feel of the nightlife there.
A few shots later, Woo Bin suggested that everybody went down to the dance floor. As the owner of the club, he too wanted to get some feedback about it. All but Ji Hoo agreed, for he wanted to reserve his energy for an early procedure that he had to join in tomorrow.
The people parted as the F3 and the girls walked to the middle of the dance floor. They watched in awe and jealousy as the five started to dance. The men ogled at the two pretty commoners, while the women wished that they were in the F3s' arms.
Ga Eul was still wary of those around her but Yi Jeong told her to ignore them and just looked him in the eyes, and imagined that they were the only ones in the club. She did as told and soon Yi Jeong felt her relax and started to enjoy the dance. Still, Ga Eul was aware of flashes of cameras among the club's glittery lights. She was sure that some were taking their pictures. She could almost imagine what would come in the news tomorrow but she had to learn to live with it. This was the life of the famous F4; forever under the spotlight of the mass.
Yi Jeong excused himself to the restroom. Woo Bin immediately took his place and danced with Ga Eul, earning more harrumphs and sighs from the ladies around them. First So Yi Jeong, now Song Woo Bin? How does this girl do it? What do these F2 see in her? What is so special about her?
Yi Jeong came out of the restroom a few minutes later only to be surprised as he was blocked by two beautiful women in short, short figure-hugging dresses.
"Long time no see Sexy. We miss you. Do you miss us?"
The taller one took a step forward. She tucked some loose hair behind her left ear. She remembered that he would always go 'crazy' with that simple action. Yi Jeong swallowed hard.
"Hey Handsome, it's so stuffy in here, don't you think? Why don't we leave this place? We can make you feel more comfortable. Our usual love hotel?" The other one too, came closer as she winked at him.
Yi Jeong took three steps backward. He cleared his throat. He tried to look past these women, eyes directed to the dance floor. He did not want Ga Eul to see him like this. Thank goodness he could not see her which meant that she too could not see him, so he hoped.
The taller one glanced over her shoulder towards his line of sight. "What's wrong Yi Jeong? Are you afraid that your innocent little girl there will catch you with us?"
The other woman giggled. "But she already knows us. We've met twice. She knows who we are to you. Surely she doesn't mind sharing you with us again?"
Yi Jeong's eyes went wide as he glared at the two women in front of him, his blood boiled. If only they were not women, he would have done something physical to shut those filthy mouths up. Yi Jeong forced himself to calm down and controlled his anger.
He tried to be civil. "Bong-Cha-shii, Choon-Hee-shii. I truly regret what happened before and I'm sorry if both of you think that there was something between us. I…"
The two women laughed. "Silly Casanova. Of course there was nothing between us. What do you take us for? Stupid girls hoping for true love from a playboy? Puhleeze." Bong-Cha, the taller one with long soft curled hair had her eyes roaming his body.
Choon-Hee fluttered her eyes seductively as she tried to reach for his arm. "You know what we want, and we know what you want. I'm pretty sure that your girl there can't give you what we can. Oh! And we heard that she's a witch, a gold digger. We are doing you a favour here Sexy, saving you from her."
Yi Jeong quickly stepped aside. His face was red from anger. He pointed his index finger to them.
"Shut your mouth up! Don't ever talk about her that way! Both of you are out of your mind if you think that I will go with you! You stay away from me! Don't you dare show your face in front of me ever again! I'm warning you!" Yi Jeong rushed to his friends, leaving the two women furious.
"You'd better watch out for your little girl too, So Yi Jeong!" Choon-Hee cried, but Yi Jeong was already out of earshot.
Yi Jeong's good mood was spoiled by his encounter with those two women. Yes, they were his favourites, once upon a time. Each one of them understood the rule of being with him. No strings attached. It was strictly for pure pleasure.
When he stopped frequenting the clubs even before he went to Sweden, Bong-Cha and Choon-Hee kept calling and messaging him. He however, ignored every single one of them. To his relief, the calls and messages eventually ceased three months after he left.
When he got to his friends, he insisted that it was time to go. Tomorrow was still a work day. Everybody agreed and left, except for Woo Bin. Prince Song still had some things to check up on at the club. Jun Pyo sent Jan Di back, while Yi Jeong, Ga Eul.
"… what do you think, Yi Jeong?"
No respond. He seemed focused at the road in front, but his mind was on something else.
"When did they meet Ga Eul?" He searched his memories for those two times that Choon-Hee had mentioned. He then remembered.
Flashback
The first time was when they found Ga Eul waiting for him in front of his studio on Valentine's Day. The two women showed their pity when they saw her face red from the cold, and suggested that he invited her in. Ga Eul was surprised to see the many luxuriously wrapped boxes of different sizes on his work table from his many admirers. His two companions smirked at her, enjoying her sad expression as she compared her present and those on the table. They snickered when Ga Eul left the space in haste, but scowled as Yi Jeong went to chase for her.
When he came back in with Ga Eul's bag of Valentine's gift, the two women belittled her and her present, to which he just let them. He even told them that he could not stand a naïve girl like her. "Be kind to her for one time, and she falls for me in an instant. She's so troublesome and annoying." Yi Jeong tsk-ed at that.
The second time was at the nightclub before he cruelly offered Ga Eul to his father. He purposely brought Ga Eul to the club for what he thought was supposed to show her who he was: a cold hearted Casanova who was incapable of love. He had called for Bong-Cha and Choon-Hee to join them at the table. As he put his arms over the two women's shoulder and whispered sweet nothings in their ears, he glanced at Ga Eul who sat uncomfortably at the end of the seat. When she could not take the humiliation any longer and left, Bong-Cha and Choon-Hee smirked and exchanged some insults about Ga Eul. Again, he had let them.
End of flashback
Yi Jeong cringed at those memories. Those were among the moments that he wished that he could erase from his life. He prayed that the two women would not meet Ga Eul again.
"Yi Jeong? Are you OK?" Ga Eul softly called again.
Ga Eul's hand on his shoulder startled Yi Jeong. "What did you say? I'm sorry. I didn't catch it."
"Are you OK, Yi Jeong? You seem nervous and uneasy since we left the club." Her hand massaged his shoulder lightly.
"Would you like to share it with me?" She was concerned about him.
He parked the car in front of her house. They had already arrived. He then turned to look at her, took her hands and kissed the back of both palms.
"Ga Eul, please be careful OK? I don't want anything bad to happen to you."
"Yi Jeong?" She was surprised. "What do you mean? What bad thing? Is something bad going to happen to me? You are scaring me."
"No, no, no, no. Nothing bad is going to happen to you. I won't let it. I just… I just…" Yi Jeong let out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry if I scare you. I didn't mean to. But I do want you to be careful if the reporters or anyone come and disturb you. If you must, call me or Woo Bin as soon as possible, OK?" He searched her eyes for assurance.
Yi Jeong was really scaring her with his sudden reminder. Why was he nervous? Did something happen at the club? Did someone threaten him? Ga Eul's forehead wrinkled as she tried to recall anything unusual at the club, other than the stares and glares. Negative. She could not find any.
"OK, Ga Eul?" He asked again, this time there was a note of worry in his voice.
Ga Eul nodded and said, "OK, Yi Jeong. I will." She had already long ago had his number on her first speed dial, and Woo Bin's on her fifth.
Yi Jeong surprised her more when he embraced her tighter than usual. He then showered her face with butterfly kisses before settling on her lips. But she felt that his kiss was different this time. It was deeper and more passionate. It was also longer than usual. It was as if he did not want the kiss to end, for fear of losing her. Ga Eul could not help but wonder.
"I love you Chu Ga Eul," as he held her face.
"I love you too So Yi Jeong." She gave him a sweet peck on his lips.
He then got out of his car to open her door. He, again, embraced her tightly, whispered Saranghae Jagiya and kissed her forehead.
"Good night Yi Jeong." "Good night Jagiya."
Yi Jeong only left when Ga Eul had safely entered her house. He failed to notice a car a few meters behind his. It had followed close since the time that they left Woo Bin's club.
Ga Eul lied on her bed, ready to retire for the night. Yet, her mind kept playing Yi Jeong's rather unusual behavior earlier. There were so many whys running in her head.
Flashback
Ga Eul was right. Her phone was flooded by messages from her friends. They started to come in a few minutes after Yi Jeong's stint at the kindergarten. She did not reply any of those messages for she knew that they would still ask the same questions when she came to work tomorrow.
The next day, she just smiled and said nothing about her relationship with an F4 member with the name of So Yi Jeong, much to her friends' disappointment. They pestered her in whatever chance that they could. However, to Ga Eul's surprise, her friends too, congratulated and wished her happiness should he and she were really an item, but at the same time asked her to be careful for he was a playboy. Ga Eul's heart was touched by her friends' concerns.
Their picture at the park, however, did cause quite some havoc with her kindergarten principal, some colleagues and unexpectedly some of the children's parents too.
The principal called her in for a discussion. Mrs. Oh subtly told Ga Eul that she was not the type of person who would meddle into her staff's personal life but this one particular case was an exception for it was rare and unthinkable. It involved South Korea's famous So Yi Jeong.
Mrs. Oh did not really care if Yi Jeong wanted to come and meet Ga Eul at the kindergarten as long as he did not disturb Ga Eul's work schedule. However, she was worried about the possibilities of unwelcomed paparazzi and reporters. The children's safety was among her top priorities.
In other words, the principal would like it better if Yi Jeong did not come in too often. Ga Eul nodded. She understood Mrs. Oh's concerns and respected the older woman's opinions. She though, knew that her fiancé would not be happy if he heard about this for he had already insisted that his job description as a fiancé was to fetch her after work. And so, Ga Eul hoped that he would accept the reason and not sulk too much and for too long.
Her friends were happy for her, but the news about Ga Eul and Yi Jeong received mixed reactions from her colleagues and the children's parents. Some gave her questioning looks, some approved and some, the opposite. She was thankful for the approvals, could handle the questionings, but the disapprovals were really the ones who were testing.
She took mental note of the people whom were in this group. They were the ones whom thought that she was leeching on one of the richest young men of South Korea. They were the ones whom thought that she was a gold digger. They were the ones whom thought that she was a shameless woman who forgot about her social status.
These people were not shy at all to voice out their opinions of her, straight to her face. Within the short period of two days of their picture, she had lost count of the number of curses sent to her direction, degrading her. There too, was already a petition going around that demanded for her to quit her job. The reason? She was setting a bad example to the children. How could a loose social girl like her teach morals and values to children? The loose social girl term came because she was dating a Casanova. From the perspectives of these people, birds of the same flock fly together.
Oh how she wanted to defend her own self and retort, for she was also known for her sharp tongue and that she was not one afraid of voicing out her mind.
Yet she remembered the F4's advice: Shut out the noise. Tune off the volume. If those were too hard to do, let the vile words enter through one ear but immediately make them leave through the other. Haters would be haters no matter how hard she tried to explain. Haters only hear what they wanted to hear, see what they wanted to see, say what they wanted to say and believe what they wanted to believe.
Ga Eul did try to ignore the harsh hurtful words. Still, she too, was a normal human being with emotions. It broke her heart that they thought so low of her fiancé and her. She wished for everyone to see that Yi Jeong was not that kind of man, not anymore. She wished so hard for everybody to learn about the new wonderful man that Yi Jeong had become.
The F4 made it sounded so easy with their advice when in reality, those were the hardest to do. The F4 might had mastered the skill for they had been living under the microscope of the mass all their life, but she had not. When she could not take it anymore, Ga Eul would silently cry in her empty classroom.
Ga Eul told Yi Jeong about the mean people and their poisonous words. As much as he had anticipated something like these to happen and despite their advice to her, he could not curb his rising anger upon hearing the news. He could not care less about what people had to say about him, rather about what they did to his innocent fiancée. Her sad and hurtful expressions as she relayed the news crushed his heart. Oh his poor sweet Ga Eul.
Again, Yi Jeong pacified Ga Eul, and asked her to try her best to ignore those words... as long as no physical abuse or threats were involved. She, again, promised to try.
End of flashback
Ga Eul wondered, for the nth time tonight, why Yi Jeong was feeling nervous and uneasy. She was going to ask him about it again tomorrow.
She picked up her phone and typed 'I miss you. Thank you for being my wonderful fiancé. Saranghae. Saranghae. Saranghae. Good night Yi Jeong.'
Message sent.
Tomorrow came and Ga Eul braved herself to work. The hateful and judging stares and evil words were still afloat, but she steeled her heart. When she had to talk to them, she tried to act neutral and gave her best possible smile. She reasoned that if she continued to show them that she was unaffected by their hatred and instead be nice and well to them, they would stop with their bashing and insults. She hoped that she will succeed.
Yi Jeong came to fetch her after work. He wanted to surprise his mother. He was going to introduce his fiancée to her. Ga Eul did not have the chance to ask him about last night for Yi Jeong was so excited, telling her about his mother, father, brother, sister in law and niece, all the way to the So Mansion. He too, seemed to not remember about last night. Ga Eul told herself to keep the issue for later.
Ga Eul was nervous. She wondered aloud if his mother still remembered her from the airport four years ago when all of them sent him off. Yi Jeong did not know the answer to that question, but assured her that whether Omma remembered, Omma would definitely fall in love with his Ga Eul. Ga Eul leaned to kiss him on the cheek.
The surprise was definitely a surprise, but it was on the two lovebirds. The whole of So family was there to finally meet the one. Yi Jeong was right. Omma fell in love with Ga Eul, immediately, and the others accepted her wholeheartedly. Omma then decided on a party to officially introduced Ga Eul, her future daughter-in-law, to the whole of South Korea.
The night was among the best moments of Yi Jeong's life, and Ga Eul's too.
"Yi Jeong, thank you for tonight. Your family is all wonderful. I think I'm in love with them." They were on a swing at the playground near her house.
Yi Jeong abruptly stood up. "What? No! You can't love Hyung. He's married. I won't allow you." He made an X sign with his arms.
Ga Eul let out a small laugh and tugged his hand for him to sit down back on the swing. He was so dramatic with his respond but she knew that he was just joking.
"I mean it, Yi Jeong. They accept me even if I am just a commoner. I don't know how else to tell you on how honored I feel." Drops of tears left her eyes. She was touched by the kindness of his family.
Yi Jeong then knelt in front of her. One hand held hers and another wiped her tears away. His eyes on hers were loving and tender.
"Jagiya, you are not just a commoner. Why do you keep saying that? You are precious to me. You are Chu Ga Eul the Superwoman. You changed me when I thought that I had lost the hope and chance to be a better man, when I was at rock bottom. You came into my life and caused havoc ..." Ga Eul lightly slapped his hand, earning a grin from him. He then gave her a peck on her nose.
"... and annoyed me so much..." She slapped his hand again, a little harder this time. He grinned once more and then went serious.
"...but made me want to be that man whom my family can be proud of, and for you to be proud of." Ga Eul's tears had again, escaped.
"My family saw how I've changed, all because of you. When they look at you, they see a wonderful beautiful lady who has a loving and caring soul. They see your kindness and sincerity, Ga Eul. We are truly blessed to have you in our life. We should be the ones who should thank you."
Yi Jeong steadied her seat and leaned forward to capture her soft lips. Ga Eul immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and let happiness surrounded her in that long deep kiss.
"Ga Eul," he was first to break the kiss. She rested her head on his shoulder as they kept their embrace.
"Let's get married right now, Ga Eul." He whispered into her ear.
"Yi Jeong?" Ga Eul felt warmth crept up her face, her heart beat faster. She was thinking of the same, but a very short moment later, she told herself to be calm and think about his sudden suggestion properly and rationally.
"You are killing me Ga Eul." He finally said, and pulled back a little.
"If it weren't for your parents and my family, I would have taken you away from here, years ago. I'd take you to your favorite place where we can get married and then we can ignore the rest of the world. It would just be you and me, and our beautiful children. You drive me crazy, Ga Eul."
Ga Eul was surprised at his confession but soon understood the underlying meaning of his words, his unspoken words. Her vow to remain pure for her husband must had been hard on him. They had had this discussion and he had accepted and promised to respect the vow. Still there were moments when he struggled to keep his 'passion' at bay. Ga Eul knew because she too felt it. She too, was being tested by it. Yi Jeong was killing her too.
"Yi Jeong. Please. I love you too. It won't be long now, just another year."
He nodded and said "Just another year, just another long agonizing year. Woman, you are evil."
Ga Eul gave a sorry look as she caressed his cheek with the back of her hand.
"Shall we go back now, Mr. So Yi Jeong? You need to get ready for tomorrow."
Tomorrow was Ga Eul's turn to properly introduce Yi Jeong to her parents. Her Omma and Appa had been asking her about him since the whole frenzy began. They were worried about her.
Yi Jeong sent her home and left. For the second time, he failed to notice the same following car.
His visit to Ga Eul's house was a very pleasant and satisfying affair for Yi Jeong.
Reason number one:
Yi Jeong was a nervous wreck on his way to Ga Eul's house. He was especially nervous at the thought of meeting her Appa. He was, of course, had nothing to be nervous about, as Ga Eul had assured him time and time again that Appa was a friendly man. Appa had yet to chase away her other boy friends.
Yi Jeong's jaw dropped when he heard boy friends. "Ga Eul? Are you cheating on me? How many boyfriends do you have?" Yi Jeong only knew about that one jerk ex-boyfriend of hers, and was he not Ga Eul's fiancé now? Ga Eul laughed as he looked shocked. "My childhood male friends, silly. They came for my 6th birthday party." Yi Jeong playfully poked her cheeks repeatedly. That was the punishment for scaring him.
Yi Jeong too, was nervous as he anticipated questions with regards to his past. He was sure that they knew about that part of his life. Yi Jeong had also heard that fathers were the tougher parent to please, that fathers were always overly protective of their daughters. What would the elder Chu say about him given that specific reputation that he no longer was proud of?
As soon as he entered her house, he was welcomed by a cheerful greeting from Mrs. Chu and a single nod from Mr. Chu. Yi Jeong bowed to the elders. He gave Mrs. Chu a medium-sized basket full of mixed fresh fruits and an assortment of Korea's finest tea in a beautifully crafted wooden box. To Mr. Chu, his gifts were two hardcover books on traditional Korean kites, and a box of high quality ginseng roots. Yi Jeong remembered Ga Eul telling him about her Appa's interests. The elder Chus were touched by Yi Jeong's generous gifts. They told him that he did not have to give them anything for his presence in their humble poor home was already making them feel honored.
Ga Eul left Yi Jeong in her Appa's hands as she and Omma went to set up the table for dinner. The elder man noticed that Yi Jeong's hands were shaking a bit. He smiled inwardly as he was reminded of his first time meeting his wife's father almost three decades ago. He was also nervous.
Ga Eul was right. Mr. Chu was a friendly man, and wise. Mr. Chu led Yi Jeong on the conversation, starting with some basic ice-breaking questions about his life in Sweden, his work at the Museum and his family. Yi Jeong's nervousness vanished just after Mr. Chu's third question. The two of them then engaged on more serious topics about the country's economy, politics and all. Occasionally, Ga Eul and her Omma could hear the men broke into laughter.
When the table was ready, Ga Eul came to inform Appa and Yi Jeong.
Reason number two:
The table was full of food, all cooked by Ga Eul with a little supervision by her Omma. This was the first time that Yi Jeong tasted Ga Eul's cooking. Some instantly became his new favourites, while a few was OK and one or two could be tastier.
Yi Jeong was blunt and honest with his opinions on her food. Ga Eul's Omma responded by assuring Yi Jeong that she would help Ga Eul improve on her not-so-tasty food. Mr. Chu on the other hand teased Ga Eul by saying that all her food was not good. Ga Eul was about to launch into a debate with her Appa using Yi Jeong's positive comments to back her up, when Mr. Chu continued with "Yes, not good, because Appa can cook better." Ga Eul pretended to scold her Appa as the three people at the table laughed.
Mrs. Chu too was a very friendly person, and from what Yi Jeong observed of her, he now knew how Ga Eul got to be so spunky and vocal. She inherited them from her Omma.
The conversation at the table was laced with teases and banters between Ga Eul and her Appa. Sometimes Ga Eul would try to make Yi Jeong to be on her team when she felt that she was losing the 'battle' against Appa, to which Yi Jeong said "No. Sorry Ga Eul. I don't want to get involved." His refusal was rewarded with a pout from her. The elder Chus laughed at their daughter's respond.
Reason number three:
After dinner everybody shifted to the living room. Ga Eul made tea from Yi Jeong's gift. The tea tasted heavenly. Mr. Chu asked if Yi Jeong smoked, to which he said no. Mr. Chu too was not a smoker.
"So, Yi Jeong. We are going to be frank here."
Mr. Chu was getting into the real business. He had dropped the honorific –shii at Yi Jeong's request, rationalizing that he did not want to feel like a stranger or an acquaintance to them. The elder Chus were amazed at his bold request, and admired his bravery.
Yi Jeong cleared his throat.
"Yes, Sir." Yi Jeong glanced at Ga Eul. She looked at him and mouthed "Relax, Yi Jeong. I love you," when her eyes caught his.
"Are you really serious about our Ga Eul?"
"Yes, Sir. I am. I am very serious about Ga Eul."
"Why?" Mrs. Chu had been wondering about it ever since Ga Eul told them about her relationship with Yi Jeong, after the picture of them at the park went viral.
"Sir, Madam. I know that what I'm about say may sound like a script in any romantic drama when a man come to meet the future parents-in-law, the cliché answer."
Ga Eul held her breath for more of his answer.
"But it's true. Ga Eul is my everything. She challenges my old beliefs on love; dares me to change my perspectives on life, relationships, family, values and virtues. She teaches me to forgive people who hurt me when all I wanted to do was retaliate. She taught me the meaning of regrets. She is the most amazing lady that I've ever met."
Yi Jeong paused and looked at Ga Eul. His eyes were soft and loving as he smiled at her. Ga Eul held her tears.
"But I do have to admit, during our early days of knowing each other, she was very persistent in annoying me with her soul mate belief."
Ga Eul faked an angry face at him and held up one fist as if to punch him for saying that she was an annoyance. Her parents watched them with amusement. Yi Jeong softly laughed at her.
"I don't know how else to tell you on how serious I am about your wonderful daughter Sir, Madam. But I do definitely know this. I want to take care of her, to protect her, and to be with her in every second of my life. I love Ga Eul with all my heart, Sir, Madam."
Ga Eul was not able to contain her tears any longer. Omma who was sitting next to her took her hand and caressed it softly.
"What about your reputation, Yi Jeong?" Mr. Chu needed to know how Yi Jeong was going to protect his only daughter from the scrutiny of the media.
Yi Jeong's breath hitched. It was one of the questions that he had anticipated and dreaded but he understood the older man's concerns.
Yi Jeong nodded a few times.
"That is not a reputation that I am proud of Sir, Madam, and there is no one to blame on for it other than my old self. As much as I hated it now, I can't get rid of it as quickly as I want. But I will try my very best to show the people that I am not the same old person."
All the three Chus waited for more.
"Yes, I am not going to lie. Your family is not going to be the same after this. I am sorry that my old reputation is the cause of it. There'll be strangers, reporters, paparazzi who are going to disturb all of you, especially Ga Eul, but I hope that you can endure them. Let us all hope that the disturbance won't last long. Should they cross the line with your safety and family honor, please tell me immediately. My friends and I are going to protect you Sir, Madam. We will protect Ga Eul."
For who knew how many times already tonight, the elder Chus were impressed by Yi Jeong's sincerity, honesty, boldness, earnest and firmness with his words. Ga Eul's parents exchanged looks and smiled. He might come with a heavy baggage in the name of his old reputation as South Korea's infamous Casanova, but he too, had shown them that he would do anything to scratch that reputation out of his present and future life.
This young man in front of them was the perfect man for their only child.
"Sir, Madam. I would like to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage, Sir, Madam."
Mr. Chu and Mrs. Chu looked at each other again, then at Ga Eul who was now blushing red, and back at Yi Jeong.
"How long have you two been engaged?" Mrs. Chu could not resist asking the young man and lady.
Yi Jeong and Ga Eul's jaw dropped, making the elders smiles stretched wider. They knew? Both Yi Jeong and Ga Eul thought inwardly.
"Oh come one Sweetheart, you can't hide it from Omma and Appa." This time it was Mr. Chu. "Your ring is hard to miss, and Appa am sure that Appa did not buy that for you."
Ga Eul's jaw dropped lower, if that was even possible. She forgot to take the ring off. She was supposed to only wear the ring outside of the house.
"Omma found the necklace and earrings in your room the other day. Those are beautiful, and expensive." Mrs. Chu added more.
"Your bracelet too. I may be old, but my eyesight is still perfect." Mr. Chu gestured at Yi Jeong's bracelet, to which Yi Jeong answered with a blush.
"You two. Don't be so surprised. We were once young too." Both the elders laughed out loud at the two youngsters' reactions.
The night proceeded with more chats and Yi Jeong promising that he would find a date for his family to meet up with Ga Eul's family. They needed to discuss on the wedding details.
Yi Jeong left the Chu's home with a wide smile never leaving his sated face.
Ga Eul was walking on the sidewalk. She had two bags full of groceries on each hand. She minded her own business as she headed home from the store that was three blocks away. Sometimes, she passed by her neighbours and smiled at them. Sometimes, she felt some stares from other passers-by. When that happened, she quickened her pace.
Two blocks to reaching her house, she felt someone tailing her. Every ten seconds or so, she turned her body a little to check the people behind her but could not pinpoint on any certain said person. Still, she had a bad feeling about it. Her heart started to pound heavily, her steps became wider and her speed, faster.
She was about to reach her house gate when a hard push from behind nearly toppled her, as a tall man wearing a black hoodie sweater and a cap ran past her.
"Hey! Watch it Mister!" She yelled at him, an instinctive reaction.
Ga Eul froze when the man stopped in his track, turned around to face and glare at her. He pointed his index finger to her, then brought his finger to his throat, did the famous slit throat sign and pointed his finger to her again. He then quickly turned around and ran off.
The bags of groceries in her hands dropped to the ground.
