"You don't love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear." - Oscar Wilde

Chapter 11

"Did you miss me?" Ji Hoo grinned from ear to ear as he walked towards his longtime friend. "Because I sure did miss you."

Rui's head bobbed up and down and the horse whinnied excitedly as it saw Ji Hoo approach.

"Sorry I haven't been around much," he said, as he gently stroked Rui's white mane. "Life has been hectic lately. Oh, but I had a patient from Japan the other day and his name was Rui too! He was a sweet little boy. He wasn't feeling well so his mother brought him to the hospital. Turns out he just had the common cold so I told his mom how to take care of him and sent him home to rest." Rui nudged him playfully and Ji Hoo laughed as he gently touched his forehead to Rui's nose. "I missed you too. I'm going to be a married man soon, you know? I get to spend the rest of my life with the woman I love. It's going to be real busy the next few weeks but don't worry, we'll still come visit you."

"Do you always tell him your life story?" A voice called out behind him.

Ji Hoo turned towards the voice and his eyes widened. "Hey! What are you doing here?"

"I came to visit my best friend." Jae Kyung grinned.

Ji Hoo was taken aback by her reply. Sure, they became closer when he visited them in the United States, but it wasn't what you could classify as best friends. They hadn't even spoken since then, other than the text message Jae Kyung sent him announcing she and Jun Pyo were coming to Seoul for a visit.

Jae Kyung seemed to notice his slight surprise. "Aigoo... did you think I was talking about you? I mean, I like you and all, but we're not quite at the best friend level yet." She looked amused as she pointed a few stalls to the right of Rui. "I have a horse here too. I figured she must be missing me."

Ah, Ji Hoo breathed a sigh of relief. Okay, that makes sense now.

She took a few steps towards the stall, looked admiringly at the excited horse inside it, and beamed. "Ji Hoo, meet my best friend." She grabbed a brush and started stroking the beautiful black thoroughbred mare. "Her name's Sushi."

Ji Hoo raised an eyebrow. "You named your horse Sushi?"

Jae Kyung laughed. "Why not?" Her face brightened as she looked at her horse. "She was a gift from my father when I was young. I've always wanted to have a pet named Sushi, but I wasn't allowed to have a dog or a cat. Not even a goldfish. So when my father gave me a horse and told me it was the only pet I'd ever have, I knew exactly what to name her." She wrapped her arms around the horse's neck. "I've missed you, my friend." She raised her chin at Ji Hoo. "Sushi's a pretty fast runner. Don't judge a horse by its name."

Ji Hoo raised his hands in the air. "Hey, I never said she wasn't. She's a beautiful horse."

"And what can your unicorn do?" Jae Kyung teased, but there was no malice in her voice.

Ji Hoo's mouth dropped open. Did she just call Rui a unicorn?

"Rui's a pretty good runner too." Ji Hoo had won many races on Rui.

Come to think of it, he'd only ever lost that one time to Jun Pyo. Sometimes, he still wondered how Jun Pyo beat him at that race.

"Care to go for a quick run?" Jae Kyung challenged.

Ji Hoo hesitated for a few seconds. He hadn't raced Rui in a while. Could his horse still handle it? He looked at the white stallion and whispered. "What do you think? Do you want to go for a run?"

The horse seemed to understand him. He whinnied and bobbed his head up and down, scratching the ground with his front left hoof.

Ji Hoo laughed. "Okay, okay, we'll go." He looked at Jae Kyung, who was saddling her horse with the help of one of the workers.

"We're in." Then he paused, reconsidering. "But only for a quick run. We'll have to walk with them for a bit just to give them some rest."

He heard no arguments from Jae Kyung. She simply nodded her head. Her horse wasn't that young anymore, either. She knew not to ride her too hard.

Ji Hoo carefully saddled Rui, whispering comforting words to it as he did so. His heart raced excitedly. He hadn't done this in a while. Rui made a light snorting sound, indicating that he was also excited about this.

"Ready?" Jae Kyung asked, from atop her saddle.

"Ready." Ji Hoo grinned, as he led Rui outside.

…

They started at a slow trot, which turned into a steady canter, and after a few minutes, once they were sure the horses were ready, went on to a full gallop.

The fresh air greeted Ji Hoo with a cool embrace. He closed his eyes and smiled, savoring the feel of the air on his face.

Jae Kyung squealed in delight – it was obvious she had missed this too.

I wish I could do this every day, Ji Hoo thought. He felt so free, so exhilarated, as he rode.

They slowed down to a walk after a few minutes, each horse walking steadily side by side.

"So, how do you feel about this whole meeting thing?" Jae Kyung asked.

Ji Hoo knew she was talking about the meeting taking place at Namsan Tower that very moment.

"I grew up with him, you know." He said, instead of answering her question.

The gravel path they were on had been evenly graded. There were some mature trees scattered around, and to their right was a steep drop lined with rocks.

"I can't cut Jun Pyo out of my life. And I can't forbid... no, I won't forbid Jan Di from talking to him. I can't deny the fact that they have a history together. But Jun Pyo is like a brother to me. And if I want Jun Pyo to be a part of my life, and I do, I have to expect that the two of them will talk and see each other, whether it's now or sometime in the future."

"You're not worried?"

When Ji Hoo didn't answer, Jae Kyung continued. "You must trust her a lot."

Ji Hoo gave her a sad smile. "If I can't trust her, then I have no business being with her."

He stopped and got off Rui. Taking a piece of carrot from the saddle bag, he fed it to Rui, who swallowed it in one gulp. The horse nudged him excitedly, asking for more. Ji Hoo laughed and grabbed another piece and fed it to him.

"That's the last one for now, okay?" He said, as he stroked Rui's mane.

Jae Kyung got off her horse and reached for her saddlebag. She took out two apples and gave one to Sushi. She went to Rui and held the apple up on her palm. Rui gobbled it up excitedly and sniffed Jae Kyung's palm for more. She laughed at this.

"I wish I could be as brave as you," Jae Kyung said, as they started leading the horses back to the stables.

"You were brave enough to let go of Jun Pyo back then," Ji Hoo reminded her.

She smiled bitterly. "He was never mine to begin with. You can't really lose what you never had." She heaved a deep, heavy sigh. "I don't know what I want anymore."

"Anything worth having is worth waiting for, so don't rush things." Ji Hoo advised. "It won't be easy. There will be times when you'll feel like giving up. But when it finally happens, I guarantee you it will be worth it."

"You know, Jun Pyo's really lucky he has you guys," Jae Kyung said. "At least he grew up with friends. We travelled so much when I was little I didn't get a chance to make friends." She gave a bitter laugh. "Chen was pretty much the closest friend I had growing up. And let me tell you, she can be quite scary when she's mad."

Ji Hoo didn't doubt that at all, having met Chen, Jae Kyung's personal bodyguard.

"A lot of people envy us for what we have." Jae Kyung continued. "Money, fame, status. What they don't realize is we often envy them for what they have: family, friends, freedom. The world is funny, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I guess it is."

Jae Kyung was quiet for a few minutes. Then she turned towards Ji Hoo. "Can I ask you something personal?"

Ji Hoo nodded.

"How did you know Jan Di was eventually going to pick you?"

He gave her a crooked grin. "I didn't."

"So you waited all that time not knowing?" She laughed to herself. "I don't think I could ever be that patient. Or hopeful." She cocked her head to the side. "What would you have done if she hadn't picked you?"

"The same thing I have always done." This time his smile had a hint of sadness to it. "Be there for her. Be a friend. To both of them."

"Even if you loved her?"

"Especially because I loved her." Ji Hoo stopped to give Rui a drink of water. Jae Kyung decided it was a good idea and gave Sushi one too. The horses drank eagerly, and then started nibbling on the grass in the ground around them. They decided to let the horses nibble for a few minutes.

"I'd prepared myself for that, you know. I knew that she loved him and that she'd probably always look at me as a friend. But the thing is, it didn't matter to me if she loved me or not. What mattered is I loved her. And because I loved her, I vowed to make her smile, to make her happy – whether or not I'm the reason for it."

Jae Kyung was nonplussed. She opened her mouth to say something but Rui started nudging Ji Hoo, pushing him forward.

"You want to go back now?" Ji Hoo asked his horse, as he stroked its nose. To her he said, "We should probably head back. I told Jan Di I'd come pick her up when they're done."

She simply nodded and followed him, still in awe. What I wouldn't give for someone to love me like that, she thought.

...

"Oh yeah, Mister Rogers says hi, by the way." Jae Kyung grinned, as they walked towards the stables.

Ji Hoo remembered the nice old security guard at Jun Pyo's New York building. "Tell him I said hello also. He was nice." Weird, but nice.

Jae Kyung's smile widened. "You got quite a fan club growing there."

"Huh?" Ji Hoo was confused.

Jae Kyung pulled out her phone and brought up a Facebook page. "See here," she pointed, and Ji Hoo's eyes widened as he recognized his awkwardly smiling face. "Apparently, you're a K-Pop star."

He couldn't help but laugh at that. Him? A K-Pop star? What would Jan Di think of that? What would his friends think of that? They'd probably make fun of him.

"You really made his day, you know? He keeps bragging to people that he met a celebrity. AND he created a Facebook page just so he could show people." Jae Kyung started laughing, playfully giving Ji Hoo a push. "You should see how livid Jun Pyo was when he found out! He was all like, 'He should be asking me for MY autograph!'"

They both laughed hysterically at this, an image of a red-faced Jun Pyo flashing in their minds. They were so busy laughing they didn't notice two people staring at them looking non-too impressed.

Jun Pyo and Jan Di stood at the entrance with their arms crossed in front of them. Their brows were knitted together and their mouths were set in a straight line. If Ji Hoo and Jae Kyung were paying closer attention, they'd probably see a small hint of jealousy registered on their faces.

Ji Hoo and Jae Kyung stopped in their tracks.

"You guys look like twins!" Jae Kyung observed. She glanced at Ji Hoo and saw his face light up.

He looks at her like she's the best thing in the world, Jae Kyung thought, enviously.

Ji Hoo walked towards Jan Di, with Rui in tow. "Were you waiting long?"

"No, not really." She uncrossed her arms and beamed at him, slight jealousy completely forgotten.

"You should have called me to come get you."

She shook her head. "Jun Pyo offered to drop me off and I thought you needed some more time with Rui."

"Thank you." Ji Hoo said, as Rui excitedly nudged Jan Di. Jan Di giggled and patted Rui's head. "Rui says thanks too."

He turned to Jun Pyo. "Thanks for dropping her off."

"I had time." Jun Pyo answered. He turned to Jae Kyung.

"What are you doing here, Monkey?" Jun Pyo asked.

"Grocery shopping, what else?" She replied, and saw him scowl. "Hey, you're the one who asked the obvious."

She turned to Ji Hoo and Jan Di. "I'm starving. Let's go get something to eat. I know a place close by and I've been dreaming about their Samgyeopsal* since we got here."

Ji Hoo looked uncertainly at Jan Di. He didn't know how Jan Di's meeting with Jun Pyo went. He could only guess that since Jun Pyo dropped her off, it must not have been too bad. He wanted to talk to her about it though.

She gave his hand a little squeeze. Then she smiled at Jae Kyung. "We'd love to come, unnie." She was still full from lunch, but found herself unable to say no to Jae Kyung's request.

"Great!" Jae Kyung hooked her arm on Jan Di's and the two girls walked ahead while Jun Pyo gave Ji Hoo a dumbfounded look.

Déjà vu? His face seemed to say.

Ji Hoo shrugged. I guess we'll have to see.

...

Author's Note: *Samgyeopsal consists of grilled slices of pork belly meat that are not marinated or seasoned. They are commonly dipped in seasoning made of salt and pepper mixed in sesame seed oil, and then wrapped in lettuce along with grilled slices of garlic, grilled slices of onion, shredded green onions, and kimchi. I had it in Korea and it was delicious!