A/N: As always, thanks for the reviews and for all you readers following this story! E and jayjayzek, I'm glad y'all liked the plot twist. Some questions won't be answered for a while though hehe...Sorry if this chapter is a bit short. Life is happening, but I am committed to updating once a week, so here goes...
In the third grade, Ga Eul had received her first kiss while playing the role of a librarian in some school play she had long forgotten the name of. The lead actor was supposed to kiss her on the cheek. That was how they had rehearsed it, but on the night of the performance, Ga Eul got so nervous about it, she turned to look at her teacher at the last moment, and the boy missed her cheek and kissed her on the lips instead. Everyone in the audience laughed, but Ga Eul cried on the way home when she realized that her first kiss had been stolen by some irritating ten-year-old in a caterpillar costume that looked more like a wilted weed.
That had been it. She'd had two rather short-lived boyfriends—including Su Pyo—and after that embarked on a two-year-long hopeless infatuation with the handsome chaebol currently seated in front of her. The one who had just kissed her. The second kiss of her life.
No, scratch that. The first real kiss of her life.
The kiss had been soft and relatively short—maybe he didn't want to alarm her—but it was nice all the same. When she opened her eyes again, his face lingered a few inches away from hers. Then he reached up with one hand and smoothed some hair back from her face, tucking the hair behind her ear.
He didn't say anything, but she could tell from the look in his eyes that he wanted to kiss her again, and as she had wanted him to kiss her for so long despite her usual shyness and reserve, she closed her eyes again and leaned in just a bit.
Then her stomach rumbled.
Very loudly.
She opened her eyes in alarm to see Yi Jeong staring back at her with a confused look on his face. Then, realizing what he had just heard, Yi Jeong slowly started laughing.
"You…That's the first time I ever got…that reaction from kissing a girl," Yi Jeong said.
"It's because I haven't eaten all day!" Ga Eul protested, covering her face with her hands.
"Hey, whose fault is that?"
Ga Eul buried her face further into her hands and groaned.
"Hey. Hey, Ga Eul-yang." Yi Jeong tugged gently on her left arm.
Ga Eul slid her hands down enough to see Yi Jeong grinning, and she half-heartedly kicked his ankle with her foot.
"Yours! Everything is your fault," she complained.
"Well, if everything is my fault," Yi Jeong said, standing up and straightening out his suit, "I guess I can't take you out to eat then."
Ga Eul crossed her arms and looked pointedly at him.
"Who says I want you to take me anywhere?"
Her stomach growled again, a bit louder this time, and she glanced away in embarrassment.
"Ga Eul-yang, I'm not making fun of you. Come on, I'll take you to one of the best restaurants in Stockholm." Yi Jeong held his hand out to her. "Let's go."
Taking his hand after hesitating a moment, she let him pull her up, but when he started pulling her toward a hallway, she stopped suddenly.
"Sunbae, I can't go dressed like this," she protested when he turned back to look at her. "I only brought clothes for the beach."
"Ga Eul-yang, will you just relax and follow me?" He started walking again, pulling her with him.
Soon, they came to an open room, which he ushered her inside.
The room Yi Jeong led her to overlooked part of the gardens. To let the sunlight filter through, sheer white curtains had been set over the windows, pulled back, and fastened with gold tassels. Against one wall rested an ornate queen-sized sleigh bed with a light green and gold bed set. Across from the bed sat a dark wood wardrobe, and on the side of the bed opposite the windows sat a huge set of matching dresser drawers with a tall mirror. Ga Eul's suitcase, Yi Jeong informed her, had already been stored away underneath the bed and her things hung up or put away into drawers. Then Yi Jeong directed her toward a walk-in closet that had been built behind the wall that the bed leaned against.
Tentatively, Ga Eul stepped inside the closet, which was almost a small room unto itself. From wall to wall, the closet had been filled with clothes: gray, black, and burgundy skater skirts; cream, tan, and gold sweaters; a pleated blouses in various colors. On the floor of the closet sat several pairs of shoes: tan peep-toe boots with short stiletto heels, flat black knee-high boots, black pumps, and sparkly white and gold tennis shoes. A small black Chanel shoulder bag hung by its gold chain on a rack of wooden coat hooks on one side of the closet. Next to the purse hung a few knit scarves and pairs of mittens clustered together. Dumbstruck, Ga Eul tentatively reached out and tugged the sleeve of a tan pea coat hanging directly in front of her, her fingers rubbing against the coat's soft silk inner lining.
"I hope you don't mind. I had some stuff picked out for you," Yi Jeong said from behind her. "It's going to get pretty cold once the sun goes down. Ah, and there's socks and leggings in one of the top dresser drawers."
Ga Eul dropped her hand and glanced around at the 'stuff' Yi Jeong had selected. Even from where she stood at the far end of the closet, she could read the labels on some of the blouses that had been spaced out, presumably to present them to their full effect: Chanel, Dior, Versace.
When she didn't say anything for a long moment, Yi Jeong continued, "I didn't know what you would like. If you don't like anything here we can—"
"A-Ani, ani." Ga Eul turned and waved her hands. "I like it."
"It?"
"Everything. I like everything." Ga Eul turned nervously back to the coat she had been fiddling with and then turned again to look at Yi Jeong.
"But Sunbae, don't you think this is a bit much? I'm only going to be here until...well, until Monday, I guess."
"A bit much for who? You or me?" Yi Jeong asked, leaning against the closet doorframe.
"Ahhh…both?"
Yi Jeong raised one eyebrow.
"I'm not allowed to spend money on my girlfriend?"
"Your w-what?"
Yi Jeong sighed and started walking out of the room like he hadn't heard her.
"Ga Eul-yang, anything I spend on you today, the museum will just make back a thousand times tomorrow."
"Sunbae," Ga Eul called after him. She followed him to the door. "Wait a minute. What do you mean, your—"
He stopped suddenly, and she nearly ran into him. Backing up slightly, she finished, "Your…girlfriend?"
In answer, Yi Jeong tousled her hair.
"You're cute," he said, dropping his hand.
"I may be cute, but when did I agree to this?" Ga Eul asked, reaching up to smooth out her hair.
Yi Jeong looked amused.
"You can say 'no' if you want."
"I can't say anything, Sunbae. You haven't even asked me yet."
Taking in Ga Eul's skeptical expression, Yi Jeong sighed again and put his hands on her shoulders. "Fine. What do I have to say? Ah, yes. Ga Eul-yang," he began, leaning in close to her.
"Yes?" Ga Eul swallowed nervously.
"Will…you…please…please..." Yi Jeong leaned in closer with each word, pausing with his face just inches from hers. Instead of kissing her like she thought he would, however, he moved to whisper something in her ear. "Please stop calling me 'Sunbae.'"
Then he let her go and stepped out of the door, shutting it behind him before Ga Eul's brain could catch up with what he had said.
"My room's just across the hall. You can knock on the door when you're ready to go," she heard Yi Jeong call out just before another door shut across the hall.
Ga Eul stood there for another long moment, still almost uncomprehending, but finally made her way over to the bed. Sitting down gingerly on the edge of the bed, Ga Eul caught a glimpse of her still-frazzled hair in the mirror and tried to smooth it out some more.
"A thousand times," Ga Eul muttered as she ran her fingers over and over a few split ends. "How do you know my size anyway?"
Suddenly, she had a rather vivid vision of Yi Jeong approaching the bed, placing one hand on either side of her and leaning over so that their faces were almost touching again.
"You really want to know that?" he said. His gaze flickered up and down suggestively, and Ga Eul stared at him, wide-eyed.
"Aniyo," she said quietly and shook her head to clear it. Collapsing onto her back, Ga Eul stared at the decorative fan hanging over her bed from the room's high ceiling.
"It's too much. Too much," she mumbled.
Please stop calling me 'Sunbae.'
Popping upright, she mussed her hair up again.
"Agh, I must still be asleep."
When she had finally washed up and dressed in a burgundy skirt, grey sweater, black leggings, and the black knee-high boots-she'd forgone the Chanel bag, as cute as it was-Yi Jeong took her to a place called Lilla Ego, reputed to be the best restaurant in Stockholm. Even abroad, Yi Jeong carried himself with an air of self-importance that didn't go unnoticed. Ga Eul bet that half of the people in the restaurant didn't know who he was, but she still felt everyone staring at them when they arrived, walked in past the large number of people in the waiting area, and promptly found themselves seated at a cozy corner table against one brick wall that ran up close to the window overlooking the street. It didn't help that after they had received their food one of the owners/head chefs came over to their table to introduce himself to Ga Eul and to inquire how satisfied they were with the food. He and Yi Jeong conversed in English for a moment, and Ga Eul had a feeling they were talking about her but had no idea what was being said.
Ga Eul wasn't entirely sure what she was eating, either—some type of lamb dish that Yi Jeong had ordered for her— but it tasted delicious. Yi Jeong ate his own dinner slowly, sipping on a mug of coffee. He wore, she noticed, the arm warmers she had given to him a long time ago. She had been surprised to see them when he escorted her out to the car. In fact, she hadn't known if he still had them or if he had ever used them. It warmed her heart to see him wearing them, especially since he had just showered her with so many presents. It had been a very small present, but she supposed it was better than nothing. Ga Eul mentally sighed as she watched Yi Jeong slowly and deliberately carve a piece of meat with his steak knife. How was she ever going to repay him for all of this? She supposed he was used to spending a lot of money on the women he went out with, but she didn't want him to think that was why she wanted to be with him.
Yi Jeong noticed Ga Eul sighing and looked up from his plate.
"Something wrong?"
Agh, had she sighed out loud?
"Oh, no, Sunbae. Everything's fine." She smiled. "The food is really good. Thank you." She slightly bowed her head.
Turning his attention back to slicing his beef, he continued, "I though I told you to stop calling me that."
"What should I call you then?" Ga Eul set her fork down on her empty plate. "Ahjussi?"
"That's very funny, Ga Eul-yang."
"Mmm…Oppa?" A memory came to her then of him walking towards her with two scantily clad women hanging off of his arm. She shook her head. "Ani." Yi Jeong stuck a piece of beef into his mouth and looked at her expectantly as he chewed. "Um, Yi Jeong?"
Yi Jeong swallowed and took another sip of his coffee.
"Yes?"
"Can I just call you Yi Jeong?"
"I don't know. Can you? You look uncomfortable. Would you feel better calling me 'Sunbae'?" Yi Jeong set his own fork onto his plate and leaned back in his chair. "You do know we never actually went to school together, don't you?"
"But you're Jan Di's Sunbae."
"Are the two of you a package deal? Is there something I need to know? Are you also Jun Pyo's girlfriend?"
"Aniyo!" Ga Eul exclaimed, perhaps a bit too loudly. A few nearby patrons turned to look at her. "Aniyo," she said quietly.
Speaking of Jun Pyo, Yi Jeong's phone started ringing at that exact moment, showing an incoming call from him. Frowning, Yi Jeong picked it up, wondering what he could possibly want at this time. It was 6:00 PM in Stockholm. Wasn't it 3:00 AM in New Caledonia?
"Hello?"
"Yi Jeong Sunbae! What are you doing with my best friend?!" Jan Di's furious voice came through the phone, and Yi Jeong, momentarily startled, pulled the phone away from his ear. Upon hearing her friend's voice, Ga Eul's eyes went wide. Jan Di continued, "Just who do you think you are, holding innocent girls hostage?! You're almost as bad as Jun Pyo!"
"Jun Pyo told you?" Yi Jeong asked, rubbing his forehead. As soon as Ga Eul left Sweden, he was going to board a plane to America and hand-deliver his thank-you to Jun Pyo for spilling that information to his overly protective girlfriend.
"So Yi Jeong, if you lay one finger on my friend, I'm going to come to Sweden and personally smash all of your precious pots with my spin-kick!"
"I'm not doing anything to your friend. She's right here. Do you want to talk to her?" Yi Jeong heard a door open and then a scuffle in the background and some indiscernible yelling. Then silence descended on the line. "Jan Di-ah? Geum Jan Di? Hello?" Yi Jeong looked back at his phone only to see that the call had ended.
"She's going to be so worried about me," Ga Eul fretted. "I better call her back." Ga Eul grabbed for his phone, but he pulled it back.
"Aniyo." He stood up and pocketed the phone. "I have a better idea." A mischievous expression lit up his face. "Ga Eul-yang, how would you like to mess with our friends a bit?"