Author's notes: Okay, I have to admit - I started this new document on a spur of a moment. I'm not even sure if I would persevere to the end with this new idea. Either way, I was reading English Fics on the SoEul couple from the TV show Boys Over Flowers [Korean Version] and thought, perhaps I should try my hands in writing something on the couple. I had my fair share of dabbling in the ship with the Chinese language but I have never tried writing it in English before.
Summary: [AU] Chu Ga Eul has always been a country bumpkin in the eyes of the F4. Especially so, in the case of So Yi Jeong, the renowned Korean Casanova. But what if… Chu Ga Eul wasn't really a country bumpkin, nor was she the ordinary commoner friend of Geum Jan Di that everyone thought her out to be? And this secret side of hers was revealed unintentionally to the Korean Casanova of F4, how would that affect the entire story flow in the Boys over Flowers universe?
Title: Secret of the Autumn
Chapter 17 - Red Tag in the locker, again?! Part 3
Location: Shinhwa Academy, Ice-Skating Rink Building, Level 3, 12th March 2009, Thursday.
Chu Ga Eul took a seat at the spectators' area of the ice-skating rink where the members of the Shinhwa skating club are still training in progress. She had swung by the ice-skating rink this afternoon because she needs one of the boys to ferry her over to the Su Am Arts Centre for her upcoming ballet class. Ideally, she would prefer having Shuichi chauffeur her over… but ultimately, it depends on the roster the boys had worked out between themselves for this month.
Originally, Chu Ga Eul had started her ballet class because her mother insisted on her doing a dance class and a music class concurrently; instead of joining two separate music classes. And later when she expressed interest in trying out figure skating, her mother had further insisted on her continual attendance of the ballet class as most figure-skaters have a foundation in ballet dancing. The ballet background makes it easier for figure-skaters to pull off their spinning on the ice and while attempting the other stunts involved in figure-skating. So, Ga Eul obediently kept up with the classes. The habit of attending ballet lessons stuck with her, even now when she had already given up on the idea of doing competitive figure-skating.
Over the years, Ga Eul had found that she didn't like anything with competitive nature. It's fine for her to perform in front of an audience crowd every now and then, but she had a tendency to tense up and perform badly under the pressure of being graded for her performance. As such, she had sworn off the idea of participating in any figure-skating competition and music competition after having gone through it twice in her childhood years. Funnily enough, she had no issues with being graded during the music examinations though… it's the competition portion that balked her in the path.
Chu Ga Eul was happily taking a walk down the memory lane while knitting away with the needles in her hands on an auto-pilot mode when the voice of Saionji Shunsuke addressing her draws her out from her thoughts and back to the living plane. Blinking once, then twice - Chu Ga Eul turns towards the athletic member of E3 and returns the young man's words of greeting.
"Good afternoon, Shunsuke-Kun." Chu Ga Eul directed a friendly smile towards the guy as she greeted the childhood friend of her half-brother, Miyazawa Kazuki.
"So, Ga Eul-San, I've been wanting to ask since you started knitting away with those needles of yours upon arriving at the ice-skating rink. When exactly did you pick up knitting skills?" Saionji Shunsuke inquires, as he took a seat next to the girl while changing out from his skates to his sneakers seeing as he would be chauffeuring the girl to the arts center for her ballet class shortly.
"Hmm…? Not long ago, give or take about three months?" Chu Ga Eul responded, not looking away from her knitting process.
"Oh… okay, and what are you making? Is it an assignment for your knitting class or is this a self-imposed project work?" Saionji Shunsuke prompted, having observed the item Ga Eul has been working on over the past ten minutes or so, but still ended up drawing a blank. He had absolutely no clues about what the girl is knitting currently, to be honest.
"It's a bit of a self-imposed project, I'm trying to put the skills I had learned from the class to use. As for the item I'm working on… well, I'm trying to knit a pair of fingerless gloves." Chu Ga Eul responded trying her best to remain unfazed under the assessing gaze of the childhood friend of her half-brother, Kazuki.
"I see… but why did you pick this color? This doesn't seem like a color scheme you would pick for yourself though… aren't you the type who tends to go for bright color? Isn't brown a tad too dull for your liking? While on the subject, where did this sudden interest in knitting emerge from?" Saionji Shunsuke continues to prompt, as he attempted to fish around for more information to satisfy his own curiosity. Who knows? Maybe, he would be able to fish out some important information that he could dangle in front of his childhood friend as bait at a later point in time.
"I'm in the mood to learn something new, I guess? And there haven't been any new culinary classes going on at the community center that interests me recently, so, I thought I might as well pick up some new skills. As for the color choice, well… I haven't actually gone around to shop for my own knitting thread yet. What I'm using now is the leftover from the materials supplied by the knitting class instructor." Chu Ga Eul shrugged in response, not at all minding the fact that Saionji Shunsuke was trying to fish around for information concerning her new hobbies. As long as she took note of what she's constantly saying, she had nothing to fear from Shunsuke's continuous questions.
After all, Shunsuke isn't as skillful as the Korean Casanova when it comes down to the notion of fishing information out of her. The thought about the Korean Casanova nearly causes Ga Eul to flush crimson, and it took up all her self-control to maintain a mask of indifference in the presence of her brother's childhood friend.
Having stopped with the competitive skating activity some years ago, Chu Ga Eul had cut back a lot of her ice-skating classes with her personal coach who is now working exclusively with Sakuraba Shuichi, now that he's in Korea, long-term. With her attendance at the ice-skating classes no longer mandatory for every session, Chu Ga Eul was free to pursue her other areas of interest with ease. Although, every now and then, her attendance at the ice-skating class would still be required under the request of her coach… granted, 85% of such occasions is due to her coach needing her to demonstrate something to her other students, or to practice a bit of ice-dancing or pair-skating sequences with Shuichi for a change.
Anyway, when Ga Eul first cut back on her ice-skating class attendance and turns to explore other avenues of interest. The first thing she explored was to enroll herself in the local culinary classes ongoing at the community center in her neighborhood. And that is how she builds up her vast collection of culinary recipes, and train up her culinary skills. Now that she had practically exhausted all the culinary classes options available at the community center, she had to find something else to occupy her time on Sunday morning.
Eventually, between the option of yoga and knitting - she decided to opt for knitting classes. After all, yoga falls under the category of exercising but she's already living an active lifestyle with the bi-weekly tennis sports on Sunday's afternoon with the E3, and the routine daily morning jog around the vicinity of her neighborhood. So, Ga Eul decided that her Sunday morning is better spent on picking up a new skill, and therefore - knitting was chosen.
The knitting class has a total of twenty-two sessions in total, with each session lasting three hours long on Sunday morning. As for what she's going to do when the knitting classes come to an end, she has no clues yet. But she figured, she would find something else to occupy her Sunday morning when the time comes.
"Well… I hate to disturb you from your knitting process, but I thought it's about time for us to get going if you don't wish to be late for your ballet class." Saionji Shunsuke pointed out objectively, as he reminded the girl who's engrossed in the task of knitting to take note of the ticking time.
"Oh… so, you'll be the one ferrying me to the arts center today?" Chu Ga Eul blinked finally realizing the reason why the athletic member of E3 had approached her and engaged her in an idle chit-chat session, earlier.
"Indeed. Those two are going to discuss on the party attendants' list, and until they reached a consensus - I do not wish to sit in on their discussion. So, I decided to volunteer as your chauffeur for this afternoon. So, shall we get a move on?" Saionji Shunsuke commented to Chu Ga Eul with a nod of affirmation, before picking up his coat that sits on the empty chair next to the girl indicating to the girl that he's ready to leave at any time.
"... Gees, you should have just told me that instead of engaging me into an idle chit-chat session." Chu Ga Eul lamented aloud as she hurried to pack up her stuff and get herself ready to leave the ice-skating building on the Shinhwa Academy grounds. Shunsuke's only response to Ga Eul's lamenting words was to shrug and grin cheekily at the girl.
Location: Unnamed stationery shop near So Yi Jeong's pottery studio, 12th March 2009, Thursday, 5pm
While Chu Ga Eul was on her way to the Su Am Arts Centre for her ballet lesson with Saionji Shunsuke playing chauffeur for her, a certain Korean Casanova was shopping for a gift box to use for the ink-stone he intended to gift Chu Ga Eul as a return gift on the impending white valentine's day, in a stationery store located near his pottery studio. The ink-stone he was crafting is nearly complete, all that's left is to send it to the kiln for heating.
Due to time constraints, So Yi Jeong went for simplicity in terms of the design for the ink-stone he's crafting for the country bumpkin as the return gift for the obligatory chocolates he had received from the girl on valentine's day, last month. So, instead of the odd irregular shapes of the ink-stones, that's often seen on display in antique collection with complicated design pattern… he opted to craft a basic ink-stone that's rectangle in shape, smooth, and without intricate patterns.
The entire ink-stone is about 5 inches in diameter (13*7.5*2cm) and without a cover of its own, as this is the first time So Yi Jeong attempted to craft an ink-stone out of clay. He didn't quite have the confidence in crafting something too challenging in terms of the design. Therefore, he decided to forgo the notion of creating a matching cover for the ink-stone he had crafted.
The Korean Casanova's hoping that he could find a suitable gift box from the stationery store to store the ink-stone in, to make the entire gifting process easier. Else, he might have to resort to DIY a gift box on his own using cardboard pieces… but that would just take up more of his already limited time. After all, to focus fully on the crafting of the ink-stone… Yi Jeong had pushed aside the other projects he's supposed to be working on, for the moment.
The gift boxes on sale in the stationery shop mostly come in three sizings, small; medium, and large. Forgoing the small gift box, since it definitely wouldn't fit the ink-stone for certain. It took So Yi Jeong a bit of time to decide between the other sizing of the gift boxes available for sale. In the end, he went for the large size box… because he's concerned that the medium size gift box wouldn't fit as it seems a little tight-fitting in his opinion. And without the actual product at hand to test it out, the safer option would be picking the bigger sizing gift box.
[Now, what should I do with the additional space in the gift box?] - So Yi Jeong thought staring at the gift box he had picked out in hand with a pondering look on his features.
A quick look at the stationery shop notified him of the presence of a calligraphy section in the store. Having never actually patronized this particular shop until today, So Yi Jeong was naturally clueless about what this stationery shop has to offer for its' customers. Purely driven by curiosity, the Korean Casanova ventured over to the calligraphy section of the shop without much expectation only to find his eyes lighting up upon the range of calligraphy products that met his eyes.
While the shop mostly carries products that deal with western calligraphy such as fountain pens and inks, they do have a tiny portion catering to the traditional calligraphy art. Picking out an ink-stick that he deems compatible with the ink-stone he had crafted for the country bumpkin, he decided to add the ink-stick to the gift he intended to bestow upon Chu Ga Eul on the white valentine's day. On his way to the cashier to settle the payment for his purchases, the Korean Casanova recalls the girl's habit of leaving him little notes along with the gifts and decided to return the favor as well. Thus, he picks up a mini-card to go along with the gift which he intends to use for his little note to accompany his white valentine's day gift to the country bumpkin.
Unlike So Yi Jeong, it took the Shinhwa heir a little more time to come up with an idea on how to celebrate the white valentine's day with his girlfriend - Geum Jan Di.
Location: Shinhwa Academy, F4 private classroom, 13th March 2009, Friday 1.30 pm
Gu Jun Pyo spends an entire week dwelling on the ideal gift for his girlfriend on white valentine's day. Ideas come and goes over the past few days, but he always ended up discarding them for one reason or another. In the end, the only idea that wasn't discarded was the notion of bringing Geum Jan Di on a weekend trip to Hokkaido, Japan. That way, they could spend some uninterrupted time together while also allowing him to pamper his recently over-worked girlfriend.
The Shinhwa heir literally has every planned out perfectly in mind, now all he needs to do is to find some way to catch hold of his recently elusive girlfriend so he could put his plan into action. Only, the Shinhwa heir had failed to account for the fact that his girlfriend might not be able to cater to his whims because of her multiple part-time jobs' commitments.
Anyway, with the notion decided upon, Gu Jun Pyo finds himself no longer having the patience for attending class and promptly stood to leave the classroom before the final school bell even sounded to signal the end of the class. Thankfully, the school is owned by his family, and thus the lecturer though displeased by his abrupt departure from the class didn't comment on his rude behavior.
"... Where's Jun Pyo going?" So Yi Jeong looked up upon the sound of their classroom door banging close in the wake of the Shinhwa heir's abrupt departure, obviously startled.
"No idea, but knowing him... he likely had an idea in mind about how to spend the upcoming white day with Geum Jan Di. Considering how elusive Geum Jan Di has been lately, he's likely off to corner the girl before she could escape him, again." Yoon Ji Hoo answered with a shrug of his shoulders, as he starts packing up his own belongings as he prepared to leave school for the day.
"Sir, please do continue with what you were saying earlier." Song Woo Bin signaled for the lecturer to continue with the lecture while ignoring the idle conversations between his two friends.
"Thank you very much, young master, Woo Bin. Now, as I was saying…" The lecturer nodded towards the mafia prince with a look of gratitude before resuming his lecture, and his voice reminded the auburn-haired member of F4 that the class has yet to be officially dismissed.
"..." Yoon Ji Hoo wordlessly settles back down in his seat, feigning nonchalance. Deep down inside, he was wincing… mostly because it isn't like him to get distracted in class. That's mostly Jun Pyo, but then… what happen earlier was that he had zoned out and thus, conveniently forgot about the fact that classes officially ended at 2pm. There's still half an hour to go, so, it's a tad too early for him to pack up his belongings.
Meanwhile, Gu Jun Pyo arrived at the area where the lockers for the second-year students of Shinhwa High were situated, just in time, to catch hold of his recently elusive girlfriend.
"Geum Jan Di! You have been very hard to find, recently." Gu Jun Pyo started as he addressed his girlfriend in a flat tone of voice.
"... Gu Jun Pyo." Geum Jan Di greeted, averting her eyes slightly out of sheepishness. She does admit that she was a tad hard to locate these days, having increased her working hours at the porridge shop and cutting back a lot of her swimming time in the school's aquatic center.
"Come with me." The Shinhwa heir practically demanded, having no intention to speak with his girlfriend in front of gathered nosy students.
Deciding that she still have a bit of time to spare before she needs to report to the gas station for her second part-time job as today's her off day for her porridge shop job, Geum Jan Di shrugged and followed the Shinhwa heir out of the academic building.
"Wait... are we going somewhere?" Geum Jan Di halted mid-steps, refusing to move another inch when she realized that the Shinhwa heir is leading her towards the direction of his family's black Mercedes Benz.
"We are heading off to Hokkaido." The Shinhwa heir practically declared.
"Wait... Hokkaido as in Japan? Why are we going there, out of the blue?" Geum Jan Di failed to comprehend the way her boyfriend's mind works.
"We are going there to eat crabs." Gu Jun Pyo responded nonchalantly, as though it is a common occurrence for people to travel so far out to eat crabs.
"... Can't we go somewhere closer for crabs?" Geum Jan Di begins, as her mind started racing for a new excuse to provide her boyfriend with a reason why she is reluctant to travel out of town for the weekend.
"Why? What's wrong with heading to Hokkaido for crabs? It's the weekends, and as far as I know, you do not have any classes on Saturday." Gu Jun Pyo demanded, his face turning dark at the notion of his girlfriend rejecting a weekend trip with him.
The Shinhwa heir had been rather accommodating to his girlfriend's desire to prioritize earning an income to sustain her family livelihood which has been largely affected by his mother's decision thus far, but can't he even get some time alone with his girlfriend? They haven't been going out on dates over the past two weeks unless you can count the time, they spend on the Dongjak bridge after he escaped from his mother as a date.
"I kind of have plans made already." Geum Jan Di started to say, knowing that she hasn't been paying much attention to her boyfriend recently. But sometimes bread and butter are more important than love... and with her new friend's promise to introduce her to a good part-time job with a decent salary package, it's only natural that she would want to prioritize the job opportunity than to go on a date with her boyfriend which involves the actual act of leaving the country.
"What kind of plans?" The Shinhwa heir had all but demanded, trying his best not to pout at his girlfriend.
"It's... Ga Eul's birthday, today! We have a long-standing tradition of spending a girl's night at her home that we can't break. Thus, I cannot go on this weekend trip to Japan with you!" Geum Jan Di blurted out, inwardly cringing at the lies that spill forth from her lips while praying that her boyfriend wasn't aware of when exactly is her friend's birthday.
"Fine... we shall skip the weekend trip to Hokkaido this time. But you have to go out on a dinner date with me today. While on the subject, what time are you available tomorrow?" Gu Jun Pyo huffed in annoyance but didn't press on the issue – knowing full well that his girlfriend would have picked Chu Ga Eul over him, on most days.
"Tomorrow? I think I'm available for dinner... but I need to double-check. Can I get back to you on this later?" Geum Jan Di responded and this time, after ensuring that they wouldn't be leaving the country finally conceded to her boyfriend's request and climbed obediently into the back passenger seat of the black Mercedes Benz, so, they could head off for their crab feast which would serve as an early dinner for Geum Jan Di, given that she has to rush off for her job – door-to-door delivery of the evening newspaper.
"Fine, but make sure you do come back to me on the subject." Gu Jun Pyo mutters aloud, as he too, filed into the back passenger seat of the black Mercedes Benz.
Since heading to the Hokkaido for crabs isn't possible, the Shinhwa heir settles upon the idea of visiting a seafood restaurant situated within the Gangnam district for the crab feast with his girlfriend, instead. Granted, 3.30pm seems a tad too early for dinner... but the restaurant was willing to make an exception for the Shinhwa heir. Thus, they converted their high-tea menu into the dinner menu catered specially to the request of the Shinhwa heir upon Gu Jun Pyo's arrival at the restaurant with his girlfriend – Geum Jan Di, in tow.
Just as they were sitting down at the table, Geum Jan Di received an incoming text message from her newfound friend informing her that he had an upcoming photoshoot tomorrow afternoon which would run till the evening hours, and ask if she's keen to begin her job as the wardrobe assistant from the next day, onward. Despite having promised the Shinhwa heir for dinner, the next day... Geum Jan Di thought the pay-check from the assignment was too good to pass up for a dinner date with Gu Jun Pyo. Thinking that they could simply reschedule the dinner date to another day, Geum Jan Di responded to the text message she received from Lee Jae-Ha with the response that she would begin her job as the wardrobe assistant, the next day with an affirmation.
Message sent out, Geum Jan Di glances over to the figure of Gu Jun Pyo with a slightly apprehensive look as she started. "Gu Jun Pyo, about tomorrow... can we reschedule the dinner date to another day? I just received words from my boss that I'm needed at the workplace tomorrow afternoon till late evening because one of the staff is down with influenza and couldn't make it for her shift."
"... Which part-time job is that now? While on the subject, how many part-time jobs are you juggling at present?" Gu Jun Pyo took a deep breath to calm his bubbling irritation, as he demanded to know the number of jobs his girlfriend is now juggling between.
"It's at a confectionery shop near my current place of residence. The lady boss knows I'm looking for part-time, so, she decided to ask me if I'm keen to fill in for her staff who's on MC tomorrow. As for the number of jobs I'm juggling between at present, mostly it's my job at the porridge shop, and then the night shift at the gas station... as well as the evening newspaper delivery job. So, total three part-time jobs, I'm juggling between daily." Geum Jan Di responded as soon as she was able to come up with a quick but logical excuse to provide her boyfriend with. Of course, inwardly, she's hoping that her boyfriend wouldn't approach the lady boss at the confectionery shop to verify her statement, else she's doomed.
"... Woman, do you know what day is tomorrow?" Gu Jun Pyo took several deep breaths to calm his bubbling temper, once ascertain that he isn't going to start yelling at the girl – he gritted out in sheer annoyance.
"Tomorrow? What day is it? It can't be your birthday, I'm sure your birthday doesn't fall in March." Geum Jan Di inquires her boyfriend with a look of confusion clouding her features.
"... Tomorrow's the 14th of March, exactly a month from valentine's day. Commonly known as the white valentine's day, whereby the guys are supposed to reciprocate something to the girl who gifted them something on valentine's day. My original intention was to pamper you for a bit, and thus think of bringing you over to Hokkaido for a weekend away from everything. But since you are unable to go along with my whims on a last-minute basis, I was willing to compromise. Now, you are telling me that we need to reschedule our dinner plans for tomorrow? Have you ever thought about how depressing this entire situation is for me?" Gu Jun Pyo stated flatly to his girlfriend with an unimpressed look on his face.
"... Sorry, Gu Jun Pyo. How about this, instead of dinner... we meet up for breakfast tomorrow? Or we can do brunch if breakfast is too early for you? I can get Ga Eul to cover my morning shift at the porridge shop for me if this is okay for you..." Geum Jan Di, upon realizing the efforts her boyfriend had put in to celebrate the white valentine's day which she hasn't even known of its existence before today, decided to make some last-minute amendments to her schedule for the following day as well.
"Fine, we will meet up for brunch. You'd best make sure to show up for our brunch session on time. No wait, I think I'll pick you up instead." Gu Jun Pyo eventually relented, softening his stance as he addressed his guilt-ridden girlfriend.
"Sure, I'll meet you at the usual place around 9.45am?" Geum Jan Di nodded her agreement to the Shinhwa heir's decision to pick her up in her neighborhood for their brunch date, the following day.
Sometime later, after Gu Jun Pyo dropped his girlfriend off for her delivery part-time job – the Shinhwa heir recalls what his girlfriend mentioned to him about today being the birthday of Chu Ga Eul, proceeds to call up his Casanova friend with the above-mentioned information. Completely unaware that he's been conned by his girlfriend.
Location: Outside So Yi Jeong's Pottery Studio, 13th March 2009, Friday, 4pm
So Yi Jeong didn't mean to hide between the pillars of the outer walls surrounding his pottery studio when he chanced upon the figure of Chu Ga Eul hovering at the front gate of his pottery studio. But the fact is that he was completely unprepared to meet the girl today, and thus, when the girl suddenly appears in his vision range – he did the first thing that came to mind. He hides.
[... Seriously though, why am I the one hiding? This is my pottery studio, it's only natural for me to be here - right? But what is Ga Eul-yang doing here, today? I thought, the plan was to have her come by the pottery studio tomorrow?] - The Korean Casanova couldn't help but wonder inwardly to himself with a bemused look on his features.
So Yi Jeong was drawn out from his thoughts when he noticed the figure of Chu Ga Eul getting ready to leave. Now he was all the more baffled, what was the girl's reason for visiting if it weren't to look for him? He had assumed that the girl would stand outside the gate of his pottery studio and wait for him to return, but then… the girl simply turns to leave after arriving at a stop in front of his pottery studio within a minute?
It wasn't until So Yi Jeong approached the gate of his pottery studio that he realized that Chu Ga Eul didn't simply visit and leave without leaving a trace of her visit to his pottery studio. Because sitting on the front steps of the closed gate to his pottery studio was a green plaid design gift bag. The girl seems to have a penchant for plaid designs gift bags if his memory serves him correctly - the gift bag he received on valentine's day last month is also a plaid design bag, only it's yellow instead of green.
Still looking bemused, So Yi Jeong took the green plaid bag with him as he unlocked the gate and the front door to his pottery studio. Setting the green plaid design paper bag onto the table situated closest to the doorway that leads to his pottery studio, the Korean Casanova went on to remove the beige suit from his person and lay it down on the bench casually.
After going about the pottery studio one round to do a quick check on the status of his half-finished projects, and also to check in on the clay ink-stone he had crafted for Chu Ga Eul in the area where he had set it to cool off after retrieving it from the kiln earlier this morning. Satisfied with the outcome of the creation, So Yi Jeong nodded as he lifted up the ink-stone carefully and set it into the gift box he had purchased yesterday alongside the ink-stick he had picked up from the same stationery store. Deciding to leave the ribbon wrapped around the gift box for later, the Korean Casanova headed back towards the table where he had left the green plaid design paper bag left behind by a certain country bumpkin earlier to check on the content within the bag.
Upon retrieving the item from the inside of the green plaid paper bag, it took a while for the Korean Casanova to tell what it was. And when he realized that the country bumpkin had gifted him a pair of brown knitted finger-less gloves, the potter of F4 couldn't help it. He laughed. Why on earth would the girl gift him something like this, out of the blue? And then, Jun Pyo's call came in with the information of today being the birthday of the country bumpkin. That only served to bemuse the Korean Casanova further as he thought, who on earth would gift someone else a present on their own birthday?
Still, with a bright and cheery grin on his lips. So Yi Jeong thanked his friend for the information and set off for a confectionery store situated around the corner where his pottery studio is located. While at it, he also makes sure to swing by the florist to pick out a bouquet of flowers to go along with the birthday cake he had picked out from the confectionery store before heading out in search of the country bumpkin.
It didn't take the Korean Casanova long to catch up to the figure of Chu Ga Eul, given that the girl has likely traveled over to his pottery studio via the means of public transport. And since there aren't any bus stops near his pottery studio, and the nearest train station is about 25 minutes away on foot. So Yi Jeong managed to catch hold of the country bumpkin at the traffic light in front of the train station.
Holding out the cake box and dangling it in front of the long-haired girl, So Yi Jeong started with a pleasant smile as he greeted the country bumpkin. "Congrats, Ga Eul-yang! I heard it's your birthday today, so, here's a little surprise from me to you. Happy Birthday!"
Chu Ga Eul, meanwhile, was completely baffled by the act of the Korean Casanova. She had been waiting for the traffic light signal to turn green, so she could cross the road to the train station located on the opposite side of the street when her attention was drawn away by the sudden appearance of a cake box. Following the appearance of the cake box, is the familiar sound of the voice belonging to the Korean Casanova of F4 with the birthday greeting.
"...What?" Unable to help herself, Chu Ga Eul turns towards the cheerful figure of So Yi Jeong with a completely baffled look on her features.
"..." So Yi Jeong isn't an idiot, the moment he noticed the complete look of bafflement on the fact of the country bumpkin. He knew something fishy is going on, and so, he explains to the bewildered figure of Chu Ga Eul that Geum Jan Di had told his friend – Jun Pyo, that today's her birthday to avoid going on a weekend trip to Hokkaido with his childhood friend.
"I see... I'll be sure to speak to Jan Di about using me as an excuse to fend off Jun Pyo-Sunbae's whims in the future. Thank you for the cake and flower bouquet, unfortunately, today isn't my birthday. Just in case, you and your friends ended up being conned by Jan Di in the future. Please take note that my birthday falls on the 16th of April. It's okay though, I'll keep the flowers... as for the cake, well – if my memory serves me correctly, today's the birthday of my aunt Shinobu. I'll bring the cake over to her as a birthday surprise later on this evening, so your effort and money spend on surprising me today wouldn't be in vain." Chu Ga Eul commented with a bemused expression on her face, as she took the flower bouquet and the cake from the slightly awkward-looking potter.
"Right... that's a good idea, I supposed. But why did Geum Jan Di lie to Jun Pyo about your birthday being today? Certainly, with the two of you bring childhood friends – she would have known the exact date for your birthday, isn't it?" So Yi Jeong inquires with mildly furrowed brows, as he addressed the figure of Chu Ga Eul.
"I'm quite certain Jan Di is fully aware of when's my birthday. I can't say for certain that I know why she's using me as an excuse to avoid going on the Hokkaido weekend trip with Jun Pyo-sunbae, but I suspect she already has the entire weekend packed up with her ad-hoc part-time assignments. And when Jun Pyo-sunbae suggested the idea of bringing her to Hokkaido over the weekend, she panicked and cited the first plausible reason that comes to mind." Chu Ga Eul explains as she took a sniff of the aroma emitting off from the fresh flower bouquet with a happy grin on her face.
"Hmm... well, since you're already in the area. Would you like to join me back at my pottery studio for tea? We can keep the cake for your aunt if you want, I think I have some biscotti lying around in my kitchenette area that we could use as snacks to go along with the tea service. I'll drop you off back home, later." So Yi Jeong eventually decided to invite the girl back to his pottery studio with him, because he's starting to feel really awkward standing out in the street. Granted, his original idea was to take Chu Ga Eul out for dinner to celebrate her birthday with her... but since it isn't her birthday – there isn't any point to go along with his original plan. So, he decided to invite the girl back to his pottery studio for a tea break instead.
"Sure." Chu Ga Eul accepted his tea-break invitation with ease and was immensely grateful that the Korean Casanova didn't inquire into her reason for gifting him a pair of fingerless gloves. Because, truth be told, unlike her past gifts to the Korean Casanova – she didn't really have a legit reason to gift him anything, this time.
It was several minutes into their little tea session within the pottery studio that So Yi Jeong finally addressed the 'elephant in the room – a certain gift left behind by the country bumpkin about an hour ago, on the doorstep of his pottery studio.
"Ga Eul-yang, don't mind me asking but... why did you decide to gift me a pair of fingerless gloves out of the blue?" So Yi Jeong tries to appear nonchalance as he voiced his inquiry across to the girl, but inwardly he was dying of curiosity. Somehow, he highly doubts that the girl decided to leave him such a gift today because she was misled into thinking his birthday is today.
"... Actually, it's a spur of a moment thing. I was picking up knitting as a side hobby recently and thought of knitting something for the people around me. I was thinking about what to knit for you when the idea of fingerless gloves came to mind." Chu Ga Eul tried to smooth over her awkwardness upon the sound of the question coming from the Korean Casanova, by dragging the others into her self-imposed knitting project – reusing the same excuse from the valentine's day when she attempts to get the potter to accept her gift.
"I see..." So Yi Jeong mused aloud, nodding as he accepted the offered excuse given to him by the flustered-looking girl. Unlike the previous time when the girl came by to drop off the obligatory chocolates for him, this time around, the Korean Casanova could see through the girl's act of nonchalance when touching upon the reason behind her sudden desire to bestow upon him a gift. Still, believing that there are certain things best left unsaid at present, So Yi Jeong took her words at face value instead of prying deeper into the issue.
"About tomorrow... is it okay if I swing by a little later? Jan Di text me a while ago, asking for me to cover her morning shift for her at the porridge shop just now. Citing that she had a brunch date scheduled with Jun Pyo-sunbae to celebrate the white valentine's day, in compensation of her inability to go on the weekend Hokkaido trip with Jun Pyo-sunbae." Chu Ga Eul began after taking a sip of her tea to cover up her nervousness from the earlier lie, she came up with to explain her reason for gifting the Korean Casanova with the pair of fingerless gloves.
"That's fine. I don't have much planned for tomorrow, either way. You are free to drop by anytime in the afternoon, I promised I'll be here when you come by." So Yi Jeong responded with his ever-charming smile, which causes Chu Ga Eul's heart to start thumping a tad faster as a tinge of pink started to crawl up her cheeks when she met eyes with the Korean Casanova.
"Thanks. I'll text you before swinging by though, just in case, you need to step out and grab lunch or something." Chu Ga Eul responded with a lovely blush on her cheeks.
The temptation to ask the girl to bring him something for lunch, preferably homemade was strong. But the Korean Casanova managed to stamp it down before the words could even escape from him. Forcing himself to avert his gaze from the blushing girl seated across from him in his pottery studio, So Yi Jeong busied himself with the task of picking up a biscotti to occupy his mouth. Using the time, he's eating to compartmentalize his thoughts, so to avoid doing anything rash... the Korean Casanova refuses to put a name to the feeling that Chu Ga Eul often invokes in him.
Needless to say, So Yi Jeong stays true to his promise and sends the girl home in his orange lotus with the flower bouquet and birthday cake in tow. Only, the birthday cake is now a tribute to Sakuraba nee Miyazawa Shinobu instead of the birthday cake for Chu Ga Eul. Inwardly, the Korean Casanova was wondering why he hasn't had the insight to ask the country bumpkin for her birthday date before today. Because if he had inquired beforehand, he would have known that his friend had been conned upon receiving that earlier phone call from Jun Pyo. Oh well, what's done is done – no point crying over spilled milk. To avoid a similar scenario from occurring in the future, So Yi Jeong makes sure to pen down the actual birthday date of Chu Ga Eul in his personal calendar.
"Yi Jeong-sunbae, when's your birthday?" On the way towards the direction of the Chu family residence in the orange lotus, Chu Ga Eul finally mustered up her courage to ask the Korean Casanova about the nagging question in her mind.
"3rd December, why?" So Yi Jeong answered half distracted, as he was keeping the bulk of his attention on the traffic condition ahead of him.
"Hmm... nothing, just to pen it down in my calendar as a precaution and self-reminder. After all, I wouldn't put it past Jan Di to lie to me about your birthday to divert my attention elsewhere if she was desperate enough to escape from a trying conversation with me." Chu Ga Eul commented as she noted down the birthday date of So Yi Jeong in the calendar of her mobile phone for future reference.
"..."
Location: Sakuraba family residence in Seoul, 13th March 2009, Friday evening 7pm
When Sakuraba Shuichi answered the door to the apartment unit owned by his family in Seoul, he certainly wasn't expecting to see the figure of Chu Ga Eul standing outside with a cake box in hand. Blinking twice, the bespectacled young man was only drawn back to the living plane upon hearing the sound of his mother inquiring on the identity of their impromptu visitor.
"Okaasan, it's just Ga Eul." Sakuraba Shuichi calls out to his mother, as he invited the long-haired girl into his family residence in Seoul, South Korea.
The apartment belonging to the Sakuraba family is situated within the high-end district of Gangnam and comes with three bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a proper dining area for entertaining guests, and a cozier dining nook for daily meals.
"Oh, Ga Eul… it's been a long time since I met you. How have you been?" Sakuraba nee Miyazawa Shinobu, the managing director for the satellite office of Miyazawa F&B Group in Korea emerged from within the kitchen to greet her niece.
"I've been fine, thank you for asking. Aunt Shinobu. Oh, and here's a cake for your birthday. I hope you don't mind me swinging by uninvited." Chu Ga Eul began as she held up the cake box with the birthday cake picked out by a certain Casanova of F4 and showed it to her aunt.
"Oh my… you shouldn't have spent this kind of money. It's not as though I'm holding a birthday party, all I'm doing is to host a family dinner with only Kazuki and Shuichi in attendance. While on the subject, Shuichi… please call Kazuki and check on his whereabouts. And it's completely fine for you to turn up for the dinner session, the only reason I didn't invite you before was that I wasn't sure if you would be free to attend the dinner." Sakuraba Shinobu instructed her son, as she took the cake back with her to the kitchen area to keep it chilled in the fridge.
"Alright, kaasan… I'm on it." Shuichi calls back to his mother, as he reaches for his mobile phone that sits on the coffee table in the living room to give his childhood friend and cousin a call under his mother's instructions.
Miyazawa Kazuki arrived slightly after 7pm, with a bottle of champagne in hand to serve as the birthday gift for Sakuraba nee Miyazawa Shinobu. The first thing he said upon stepping over the threshold was to apologize for being late to the dinner party. "Aunt Shinobu, sorry I'm late. I forgot the legit age to purchase alcohol in Seoul is 19 years old, so I had to call up Takeda to assist in picking up the order from the wine store where I had ordered your birthday gift."
"Why didn't you ask my mother to pick up the wine for you? It was ordered under her credit card, isn't it? Since your card wouldn't have gone through with the ordering system of the store, due to your age being younger than 19 at the point of order." Chu Ga Eul asks Kazuki with a look of bewilderment on her face.
"..." Kazuki had a look that says 'darn, I forgot' - which causes both Ga Eul and Shuichi to share a look among themselves before snorting aloud at the comical expression on the face of Miyazawa Kazuki.
"Alright, that's enough idle chit-chat. Kazuki, make yourself useful and help Shuichi with the setting up of the dining table." Shinobu instructed, as she took the bottle of champagne from her nephew and bring it into the kitchen area as well. Only, instead of joining the cake brought over by Ga Eul in the fridge chiller - the bottle of champagne joins the rest of the wines collection in the wine-chiller the family had installed underneath their kitchen counter-top.
Chu Ga Eul, meanwhile, followed Shinobu into the kitchen and offered to help the woman out in getting the dinner meal ready. Since it wasn't exactly a dinner party but a family dinner session, the dishes being served at mealtime aren't that wide in variety. In fact, it resembles a typical homemade family meal served in a traditional Japanese family. The appetizer served is the steamed edamame beans, followed by the main dish that comes complete in a set with steamed rice, miso soup, and grilled mackerel fish (Saba Shioyaki). Originally, freshly-cut fruits would be served as desserts but since Ga Eul had brought along the cake for the occasion, Shinobu decided to swap out the dessert on a last-minute basis.
As Ga Eul wasn't among the invited list of guests and simply turns up at the dinner session, out of the blue. There was a bit of a hectic rush to prepare a set of dinner meals for Ga Eul, luckily the unused mackerel fish has yet to go back into the freezer, and thus there isn't a need to defrost the fish again. Still, there's a bit of a rush to marinate the fish and prepare it for grilling in the kitchen. So, when Ga Eul offers to help Shinobu out - she sends Ga Eul over to preheat the griller. After all, a griller unit that has been preheated would be able to cook the food faster, and also has a lesser chance of getting food stuck to the grill grates.
When the time comes for the dessert to be brought out, Shinobu raised an eyebrow slightly at the packaging of the cake. If her memory serves her correctly, this confectionery store mostly serves customers belonging to the high-end tier group. Their cakes depending on the sizing and design could go all the way up to 500,000 Korean Won. Hence her reason for claiming that Ga Eul shouldn't have spent much money for the sake of her birthday.
Removing the cake packaging with care, Shinobu found herself staring at a birthday cake that's 5 inches in diameter and round in shape. Not only that, the entire cake was decked out in pink with a pair of sugar-made red heels shoes atop the cake as decoration. The group of dinner attendants at the Sakuraba family residence stared at the cake wordlessly for a moment, before turning questioning eyes upon the figure of Chu Ga Eul.
Chu Ga Eul, meanwhile, felt her cheeks burning up in embarrassment as she inwardly berated herself for not having the insight to check on the cake design before bringing it over to her aunt. If she did, she probably would have an excuse readily at hand to fend off the questioning gazes from her brother and cousin.
"... You didn't pick this cake yourself, did you?" Sakuraba Shuichi asked in a bemused tone of voice as he directed his eyes upon the figure of Chu Ga Eul, who's now flushing a lovely shade of pink.
"... No, Yi Jeong-Sunbae picked out the cake." Seeing that there's no way she could avoid bringing up the mention of a certain Korean Casanova, given that everyone present on site knows that there is no way she would have picked such a cake for her aunt's birthday… Chu Ga Eul sighed as she responded with a look of resignation on her face.
"Why on earth would the Korean Casanova of F4 pick out the birthday cake for aunt Shinobu, on your behalf?" Miyazawa Kazuki inquires, his tone incredulous as he zeroes in his eyes upon the figure of his half-sister.
"He didn't pick out the cake on my behalf. He picked out this birthday cake because he was conned into believing today as my birthday when Jan Di uses me as an excuse to wriggle out from the notion of going on a weekend trip to Hokkaido with Jun Pyo-sunbae. The end result is Jun Pyo-sunbae sending Yi Jeong-sunbae over to surprise me with a birthday cake, only it wasn't my birthday… so, to not let the cake go to waste. I told him that I'm going to gift it to someone else whose birthday happens to fall on today." Chu Ga Eul explains, making sure to reiterate the entire event in a matter-of-fact tone of voice so, to avoid rousing her overprotective brother's suspicion about whatever is going on between her and the Korean Casanova of F4.
"..." Miyazawa Kazuki was speechless, part of him was tempted to approach the Shinhwa heir and inquire into the guy's penchant to send the Korean Casanova off towards the direction of his half-sister. Is the Shinhwa heir trying to play match-maker between his half-sister and the Korean Casanova on the sly? The heir of the Miyazawa F&B Group couldn't help but wonder inwardly to himself.
Thankfully, Kazuki only thought it and didn't attempt to voice his thoughts aloud. Otherwise, he would definitely receive two sets of incredulous eyes upon his person. Mostly because Ga Eul and Shuichi both know that the Shinhwa heir probably didn't think so much into the matter, when that guy decided to send the Korean Casanova off to interact with Chu Ga Eul. Most likely, the Shinhwa heir simply instructs the Korean Casanova to surprise Ga Eul this afternoon because they are already acquainted, to begin with.
"Okay… but why the red heels shoe sugar decoration atop of the cake?" Sakuraba Shuichi asks in a bemused tone of voice.
"...No idea, but I suspect it might have something to do with my preference for wearing red heels shoes around him?" Chu Ga Eul shrugged nonchalantly in response.
"I see… alright, either way… whatever the design of the cake, it doesn't change the fact that it's still edible at the end of the day. So, why don't we just cut the cake and dig in?" Sakuraba Shuichi eventually suggested, his words snapping the focus of his cousin and childhood friend back into the present.
"Good idea, son. I've heard good reviews about these confectionery-produced cakes but have never gotten a chance to try them before. Given that their pricing is a tad steep… thus far unless it's for a corporate party function, I never ordered any cakes from them for my own consumption." Sakuraba nee Miyazawa Shinobu begins, her voice bringing an end to the staring contest between Miyazawa Kazuki and Chu Ga Eul, as they shifted their attention towards her person at once.
Location: So Yi Jeong's Pottery Studio, 14th March 2009, Saturday afternoon 2pm
It was approaching 2pm in the afternoon when Chu Ga Eul finally arrived at the pottery studio of So Yi Jeong, pushing open the main door leading to the inside of the pottery studio. The long-haired girl took a moment to survey the interior trying to locate the owner of the studio when she failed to sight the presence of the Korean Casanova in her direct vision range. Chu Ga Eul pushes open the door to a wider degree so, she could enter the studio properly. Upon stepping across the threshold, Chu Ga Eul made sure to announce her arrival in a loud and clear voice informing the owner of the studio that she had arrived for their appointment.
"Yi Jeong-Sunbae, I'm here... where are you?" Chu Ga Eul calls out as she scanned her eyes rapidly around the inside of the studio, trying to locate the presence of the Korean Casanova of F4.
So Yi Jeong was at the further back end of his pottery studio, taking stock of the clay pieces he had created that's going to be sent off to the kiln for the final process of the pottery creation when he heard the sound of the country bumpkin's voice calling out for his attention.
"I'm in the further back end of the studio, just take a seat. I'll be with you, shortly." So Yi Jeong calls out to the girl from his location, inwardly thankful that he wasn't in the backyard where his pottery kiln has been set up. Else, he probably would have completely missed the sound of the country bumpkin's arrival at his studio.
While So Yi Jeong had allowed others into his pottery studio, the backyard where his pottery kiln is located was kept exclusively private. It's where he would come and sort out his thoughts while staring into the fire of the kiln as they completed the final process of his pottery art creation. It could be said that the kiln is his personal sanctuary, and thus, he never allows visitors to this part of the pottery studio.
Back out in the front area of the pottery studio, Chu Ga Eul shrugged as she took a seat at one of the tables and spend a bit of the time while the owner of the studio is preoccupied elsewhere to check on her appearance with the use of her little hand-held mirror. As she has been working in the porridge shop earlier, covering the morning half of the shift for her childhood friend who's off for a brunch date with the Shinhwa heir – Ga Eul hasn't really taken the effort to doll herself up this morning. After all, she didn't wish to bring forth a barrage of questions from her nosy childhood friend about her plans in the latter half of the day. Whatever 'thing' she had going on with the Korean Casanova of F4, she had no intention to let it slip to her childhood friend at present.
Finishing up with the stock count of the number of items that would be sent off to the kiln later on in the day, So Yi Jeong went on to his bedroom in the pottery studio intending to straighten up his appearance before heading out front to meet up with the country bumpkin.
"Good afternoon, Ga Eul-yang. I apologize for the delay; I was busy taking stock at the back. So, have you taken your lunch?" The Korean Casanova started when he emerged from the back of the pottery studio, to greet his recently arrived guest.
"It's fine, it isn't as though I've been waiting for long." Chu Ga Eul responded as she stood to greet the owner of the pottery studio.
Directing his charming smile at the girl, So Yi Jeong proceeds to the kitchenette area of his pottery studio to prepare a tea service for him and his guest. While at it, he also retrieves a box of pastries he had picked up earlier when he headed out for lunch and brought it out to the table where the country bumpkin was seated along with the tea service in hand. Setting the box of pastries down on the table, So Yi Jeong indicated for the girl to help herself to the snacks as he set about the task of pouring them both a cup of hot tea.
Inside the pastry box was a combination of freshly baked croissants, and dark chocolate muffins. And since the Korean Casanova did indicate for her to help herself to the pastries, Chu Ga Eul decided to not stand on ceremony with the guy. After all, she didn't exactly have time to grab lunch before coming over to the pottery studio. Jan Di had arrived a tad late to take over the shift at the porridge shop, likely due to the Shinhwa heir's reluctance to end their brunch date on the schedule. So, Chu Ga Eul promptly took a butter croissant from the pastry box and savour it, without delay.
While Chu Ga Eul helped herself to the pastries treats, So Yi Jeong headed towards the back of the pottery studio, again. This time, he re-emerged with a nicely wrapped gift box in hand and set it down in front of him as he retook his seat across from the long-haired girl.
"...Aren't you going to eat something yourself?" Chu Ga Eul started, feeling slightly self-conscious when the Korean Casanova took his seat across from her and observed the way she was munching away on the croissant in hand.
"It's fine, I just had lunch an hour ago. You should eat more, I bought them especially for you. After all, as you know... I'm not exactly a fan for sweet treats." So Yi Jeong responded with his ever-charming smile, enjoying the blushing effect his words managed to generate in the country bumpkin.
"Yi Jeong-Sunbae... even if I didn't have lunch before coming, I couldn't possibly finish up everything in the pastry box on my own. You bought too much." Chu Ga Eul commented with a lovely blush coloring her cheeks, but she does have to admit that the pastries are delicious and mouth-watering.
"I know, I don't expect you to finish up everything on your own. I only bought these many because I wasn't sure which is more to your preferences. Don't worry about the leftover, I can always serve the remaining pastries to Woo Bin when he pops by tonight." So Yi Jeong told the long-haired girl in a reassuring tone of voice.
"Right... and what's that?" Uncertain of how to make of the statement of the Don Juan of F4 getting her leftovers, Chu Ga Eul wasted no time is steering the conversation topic away from the pastries to the gift box sitting in front of the Korean Casanova. While she does have an inkling that the gift might have been for her, she didn't want to assume.
"This... well, this is my return gift to you for the homemade chocolates I received on valentine's day – last month." Shifting his attention to the gift box that sits in front of him, So Yi Jeong hesitated slightly before shrugging as he comes outright with the fact that he had a return gift for the girl this afternoon. And then, he slides it across the table to the long-haired girl before he could chicken out and change his mind.
"Oh... okay, erm... do you mind if I open it now?" Chu Ga Eul hurried to stuff the last bit of the croissant she had in hand into her mouth, picked up a paper napkin from her personal pocket napkin pouch, and clean her hands for a bit before reaching for the ribbon of the gift box.
Making a hand gesture for the girl to go ahead with the unwrapping of the gift, So Yi Jeong took his turn at the pastry. Only instead of the butter croissant, he opted for the dark chocolate muffin. He had always patronized this particular bakery for pastries snacks when he expected guests at his pottery studio, not only because of the bakery's close proximity to the location of his studio but also because he had taken a liking to the dark chocolate muffins the bakery sells. Only, it isn't a product they have every day in the bakery so, the potter had a tendency to buy extra when he chanced upon the muffins available for sale.
So Yi Jeong took a bite into the dark chocolate muffin while carefully observing the reaction of Chu Ga Eul to the gift from the corner of his eyes with discretion. He watched silently as the long-haired girl gingerly and carefully took apart the ribbon on the gift box, set them aside before picking up the mini-card attached to the top of the gift box cover. If the girl was surprised to find the mini-card with a personal small note from him, she definitely didn't comment on it. For a while, the Korean Casanova wonders if Chu Ga Eul is going to read his personal note to her in the card first or is she going to take a peek into the content of the gift box before shifting her focus to the note he had penned down in the attached card? Thankfully, he needn't wait for long – because, the next moment he had his answer in the form of a delightful gasp from the girl.
Between the option of reading the card and peeking into the gift box to look at its content, Chu Ga Eul eventually settled for the notion of reading the card first. The card contains a simple message written in the penmanship of the Korean Casanova, with the content:
'Ga Eul-yang, in appreciation to the lovely obligatory homemade dark chocolates you had gifted me on valentine's day. I had decided to gift you something handmade in return, that I hoped you might find useful in your daily calligraphy practices. Yours truly, So Yi Jeong.'
The sight of the message causes Ga Eul's heart to skip a beat, as she hurried to shift her attention to the gift box. This time, she wasted no time peeking into the content of the gift box. The moment she landed her eyes on the ink-stone and ink-stick that sits within the box, Ga Eul couldn't help it – she gasped in delight.
"Wow... this is definitely a surprise. Did you craft the ink-stone yourself, Yi Jeong-sunbae?" Shifting her eyes away from the ink-stone, Chu Ga Eul zeroes in her delightful gaze upon the figure of So Yi Jeong as she inquires.
"Yes, I read somewhere that ink-stone could be crafted out from clay... so, I thought I could give it a try. Because it's my first time making an ink-stone, I went for the basics. You don't mind the simplicity of the ink-stone, do you?" The Korean Casanova responded as he combed a hand through his hair to hide his flustered state of mind.
"Of course, I don't mind. And I'm glad that you gifted me with a new set of ink-stone and ink-stick, now I don't have to bring the ink-stone and ink-stick with me from Korea to Japan every summer and then bring them back again when summer came to an end. Because I can now keep a set in the apartment unit my family own in Japan permanently." Chu Ga Eul beams in delight as she responded to the words of the Korean Casanova.
"Ah... I'm glad my gift to you will be useful then." So Yi Jeong commented with a smile, as a look of relief flashed through his eyes. While he's curious about which ink-stone the country bumpkin would be bringing over to Japan permanently, he didn't pry into the subject. After all, that's a decision that would lie entirely with the girl and isn't anything he ought to concern himself with.
"Thank you, Yi Jeong-sunbae. This is indeed a thoughtful and practical return gift. Don't mind me asking, but how long did it take you to finish crafting this particular ink-stone?" Still gazing lovingly at the gift, she had received from the Korean Casanova, Chu Ga Eul couldn't resist inquiring into the amount of time taken for the potter to craft out the ink-stone personally.
"I spend an entire week working on it." So Yi Jeong responded in a matter-of-fact tone of voice but made completely no mention about how he had delayed his other projects on hand to focus solely on the creation of the ink-stone for the girl, in the process.
Upon the Korean Casanova's words, Chu Ga Eul felt her eyes widen by a notch. "That's surprisingly fast, I would have expected it to take you more than a week to complete."
"Well... the kiln was being exceptionally cooperative when I'm crafting the ink-stone. Usually, it will take more than one tries to create something usable. Considering that this is my first attempt at crafting the ink-stone, I think that's the beginner's luck at work." So Yi Jeong commented a tad wryly in response to Chu Ga Eul's surprise reaction of him spending only a week to craft out his gift for her.
"Beginner's luck, indeed." Chu Ga Eul mused aloud in response, before taking out her mobile device to snap a photo of the new ink-stone and ink-stick for memento's sake.
While Chu Ga Eul was taking tea in the presence of the Korean Casanova at the pottery studio, and receiving a return gift from So Yi Jeong of F4. Geum Jan Di was just ending her shift work at the porridge shop, and about to leave for a meet-up with her newfound friend – Lee Jae-Ha at the train station nearby, so they could set off for the photoshoot venue which her friend would be working this afternoon.
Location: Unnamed Photo-Shoot Studio, 14th March 2009, 3.30pm, Saturday
"Noona, this is the girl I was telling you about on the phone, the other day." Lee Jae-Ha said, directing his words towards a mature-looking lady who was busy bustling about the inside of the studio upon his arrival with Geum Jan Di in tow.
"Ah... I see, your girlfriend, right? Okay, leave her to me. You head on ahead to the changing room and get ready." The mature-looking lady nodded at Lee Jae-Ha in acknowledgment, took one look at Geum Jan Di before instructing for Lee Jae-Ha to leave and get ready for his photo-shoot job starting in a few minutes.
Geum Jan Di was stunned when she heard the term 'girlfriend' coming from the lips of the lady manager and promptly started panicking for a moment. Turning towards the lady, Geum Jan Di hurried to clarify that she isn't the girlfriend of Lee Jae-Ha but a senior of the guy in school.
"Whatever you say, dear." The lady manager waved off Geum Jan Di's words, dismissing them like a fly thinking that the girl's simply too shy to admit her status as the girlfriend to a model as outstanding as HAJE.
"..."
Once Lee Jae-Ha left the site, the lady who seems to be the one in charge of running things in the studio, turns towards Geum Jan Di and asks. "So, do you have any previous experience with the position of wardrobe assistant?"
"Erm... no." Geum Jan Di shakes her head negatively in response, this position is something completely new to her.
"That's okay, all you need to do is to sort through the clothing left discarded in the dressing room. Come on, follow me – I'll bring you over so, you would have a better idea of what I'm trying to say." The lady said as she beckons for Geum Jan Di to follow her to the dressing room that comes attached to the photo-shoot studio.
The door opens into a room that features a stretch of make-up stations, alongside a corner that's buried by heaps of mountainous discarded clothes which has been left unattended for hours, likely. "See that pile of clothes over there in that corner? Your job is to sort through them, and hang them up back onto the clothes rack."
"Okay... so, I just need to sort through the clothes and hang them up on the hangers? That sounds doable." Geum Jan Di nodded after verifying the instructions with the mature-looking lady manager to ensure that she didn't understand the instructions given wrongly.
"Good. I'll leave you to sort through them on your own then." The mature-looking lady nodded at Geum Jan Di before turning on her heels to leave the room, to check on another area of the photo studio.
As Geum Jan Di starts working through the mountainous heap of discarded clothes in the dressing room, Lee Jae-Ha has completely transformed himself into HAJE – the mysterious model who's recently on the rise to fame and starts on his photo-shoot job this afternoon. His job this afternoon comprises several single shots for the new fashion brand he's endorsing, as well as some group shots featuring other models affiliated with the same modeling agencies. As he was busy posing away for the pictures under the instructions of the photographer, Geum Jan Di was silently observing him from the other side of the curtain that separated the room into the dressing room and the photography site.
While Geum Jan Di look in on the scene of her newfound friend working from behind the curtains as she sneaks in a break in between the tedious task of sorting through the clothes, the Wonder Woman of Korea found herself understanding the reason behind her porridge shop employer's sudden attraction towards the model – HAJE.
HAJE – the model, looks very different from Lee Jae-Ha, the high-school student. They look so different that Jan Di often had difficulty believing the two of them to be the same person. The sudden remembrance of the pile of clothes sitting discarded in the corner of the dressing room causes Geum Jan Di to snap back to reality, as she hurried to return to her original position and continues on with the task of sorting through the clothes.
When Lee Jae-Ha entered the dressing room, he was in no hurry to speak up. Instead, he spends a moment observing Geum Jan Di from behind. And then, out of the blue, he went on to embrace Geum Jan Di from behind as he calls out for the attention of the photographer and requested for the guy to take a photo of them, together.
"Hyung, take a photo of us – together." Lee Jae-Ha calls out to the photographer, with a cheery grin. Whereas, Geum Jan Di, on the other hand, simply looks startled by the actions of her newfound friend.
Sharing a secretive look among themselves, the photographer turns towards Geum Jan Di and asks. "Would you be interested in taking part in the next photoshoot?"
"Huh?" Geum Jan Di looks absolutely bewildered, as she wonders where did this topic come out from?
"Hyung!" HAJE started, looking as though he was to object to the idea when the photographer reminded him of the fact that his partner for the next photoshoot has yet to be decided upon.
"I thought she's suitable, besides it's about time for us to take the photos for the next month's issue of the magazine. Your partner has yet to be decided yet…" The photographer commented to HAJE, before shifting his attention back to Geum Jan Di and waiting for the girl's response.
While most girls would have leaped at the chance of being able to partner up with the model - HAJE for a photoshoot, Geum Jan Di isn't like most girls and she did have her reasons for hesitating. First of all, she didn't think she has the quality to model for a magazine. Secondly, she's concerned about the reaction of the Shinhwa heir when he found out that she had lied to him about her work at a confectionery shop. However, her reservations flew out of the window when her newfound friend whispered into her ear about the paycheck that comes with participating in the photoshoot.
Sensing that Geum Jan Di is softening her resolution, HAJE strikes while the iron is still hot by consenting to the suggestion brought up by his photographer, on their behalf. Thus, Geum Jan Di found herself dolled up by the make-up artists present on site, and styled up by the fashion stylist on duty with several outfits that would fit the theme for the magazine photoshoot with HAJE.
The photoshoot ended up lasting through the night, and because she's busy partnering her newfound friend in the photo shoot for next month's issue of a certain fashion magazine. She was unable to answer phone calls on her mobile, and thus, the Shinhwa heir found himself visiting the family residence of his long-time friend - Yoon Ji Hoo, to complain about him being ignored by Geum Jan Di.
"This is so maddening, why isn't that woman picking up the calls?" Gu Jun Pyo fumed as he glared at his mobile phone with a displeased expression on his face.
"... Jun Pyo, it's only 9pm. Be a tad more patient, perhaps she's just too busy to answer your calls." Yoon Ji Hoo sighed inwardly as he took to the task of placating his agitated childhood friend, who had come over to his place to bother him because there isn't anyone else available for the Shinhwa heir to bestow his presence upon.
Both the Don Juan and the Korean Casanova have their own plans scheduled for today, while the auburn-haired member of F4 had no idea what exactly is on the itinerary plan of his Don Juan friend. He had a sneaking suspicion that his Casanova friend had reserved the bulk of today for a certain childhood friend of Geum Jan Di. It was clear as day to him that his Casanova friend feels something for Chu Ga Eul, only it seems his friend was determined to deny the fact while still going about his day-to-day lifestyle of merry-making. Inwardly, the auburn-haired member of F4 wonders what it would take for his Casanova friend to stop denying and start acting upon those feelings for Chu Ga Eul.
Sure enough, the Korean Casanova is with Chu Ga Eul. In fact, they had just had a lovely dinner in the Thai cuisine restaurant situated in the Gangnam district where So Yi Jeong tends to patronize, every now and then with one of his female acquaintances. Having tried Ga Eul's version of the Tom Yum Soup, and the spring rolls - the other day, the Korean Casanova found himself in a mood for Thai cuisines, this evening. Thus, he decided to invite the country bumpkin along to join him for dinner in the Thai cuisine restaurant, in the Gangnam district.
Dinner this evening has been quite refreshing for the Korean Casanova since this is probably the first time, he had ended up ordering food to cover the entire table and then shared them willingly with his dining companion. Usually, food isn't something he would share with his dining companions - instead, he would have insisted upon the idea of ordering their own dinner from the available menu selection. This evening though, he found himself offering to share his food with Chu Ga Eul; who seems to have difficulty deciding between which dish to order for her own consumption. So, what happens, in the end, was that he decided to order everything on the menu that interests the girl to an extent and suggested for them to share the food; so, nothing would be going to waste.
From mango salad; green curry; seafood tom yum soup to dishes like Pad Thai, pineapple fried rice; etc… they had tried it all. The end result, both of them left the restaurant two hours later with their belly full of food.
"I don't know about you, but I think I need to take a walk around the area to speed up the digestion process in my body before I could stand the idea of sitting behind the steering wheel." So Yi Jeong commented in a wry tone of voice, as he glanced over to the figure of Chu Ga Eul walking by his side as they emerged from within the Thai cuisine restaurant in Gangnam district.
"You're right, I second the idea. So…I supposed we are off to the mall for some window shopping?" Chu Ga Eul nodded in agreement to the words of the Korean Casanova, she too, is feeling the aftereffects of eating too much for dinner, this evening.
"Indeed." So Yi Jeong nodded in response, as he began leading them towards the direction of the Shinhwa mall - the closest shopping mall from their current location.
The two of them literally spend the entire hour walking about the departmental store of the Shinhwa mall, skipping out only the supermarket section situated in the basement area of the mall. They started off from the perfume and fragrance section, before moving on to explore the cosmetic corner and then moving on to the shoe department. But since their purpose of visiting the mall was to walk around aimlessly and speed up their digestion process, naturally they didn't make any purchase from their exploration of the Shinhwa mall. Needless to say, the sales representative stationed at the respective departments are sorely disappointed that they didn't get to clinch any sales commission from serving the Korean Casanova and his lady companion, this evening.
The reason why So Yi Jeong didn't attempt to buy Chu Ga Eul anything during their visit to the Shinhwa mall mainly lies in the fact that he had already gifted the girl with a return gift for valentine's day chocolates he received, the other day. The thought that he could use the excuse of gifting the girl something in return for the hand-knitted fingerless gloves he had received yesterday, didn't even occur to him until they were seated back in his orange lotus. Thinking that it would simply be too odd for him to suggest a U-turn to the mall, so soon after leaving the area. The Korean Casanova shrugged off the issue, and decide to buy the girl something on another day in return for the finger-less gloves he had received, the day before.
Back in the Yoon family residence, Gu Jun Pyo has taken to hog the queen-size bed of his long-time friend for himself as he rolls atop of it like a little restless boy. The auburn-haired member of F4, on the other hand, was content to ignore the actions of the Shinhwa heir as he focused his full attention on an orchestra performance he was watching on the TV.
It was in between the commercial break that Yoon Ji Hoo finally took notice of the advertisement on the skin-care serum endorsed by the up and rising model - HAJE, on the screen of his family TV unit. A pondering look crossed his features briefly as he tried to recall why the model seems a tad familiar looking to him?
It wasn't until in the wee hours of the morning, on the following day that the auburn-haired member of f4 was hit by the realization of why that model HAJE had seemed familiar-looking to him. Because the model HAJE reminded him of that freshman who has taken to hang around Geum Jan Di lately. Due to that guy's constant appearance near Geum Jan Di, Yoon Ji Hoo hasn't quite had an opportunity to approach the girl on his own. After all, unlike Jun Pyo who is actually dating Geum Jan Di and thus has a valid reason to approach the girl completely uncaring of what the rest of the student population might think. The same couldn't be said for Yoon Ji Hoo, because if he wasn't careful - he's going to risk invoking the ire of his long-time friend, again.
Knowing that Geum Jan Di has taken up the job of delivering newspaper (both the morning and evening edition) to the neighborhood nearby, Yoon Ji Hoo set off on his motorbike early next morning and in the process, leaving behind his long-time friend - Gu Jun Pyo to continue hogging up his queen-size bed, without a word.
Stopping his motorbike in front of Geum Jan Di, Yoon Ji Hoo completely ignored the presence of the model - HAJE, and focused his full attention upon the girlfriend of his childhood friend and spoke. "Jun Pyo was over at my place last night, lamenting over the fact that he can't compete with Ga Eul and your part-time job. I don't know if you've checked your phone for the missed calls alerts yet if you haven't. I suggest you do it soon and please - return his calls before he drives me, nutters. For now, I'll pretend I didn't see you. Have a good day ahead, Geum Jan Di."
After having said his piece, Yoon Ji Hoo wasted no time in dallying and promptly sped off on his motorbike for elsewhere leaving behind a thoughtful Geum Jan Di in his wake.
~TBC~
Chapter's notes: Alright, chapter 17 is done~ XD I skipped out on the idea of creating an original scene for Jan Di and Jun Pyo brunch date on white valentine's day because my main couple is Yi Jeong and Ga Eul XD
This chapter is fully packed with SoEul interactions/moments. And all of them are my own creations, except for the part whereby Ga Eul left the gloves on the doorstep and Yi Jeong was hiding part. XD Oh, the scene whereby Yi Jeong shows up with the cake and flower bouquet to surprise Ga Eul is from the drama, but everything else after is my own creation :D Let me know if you enjoy them, okay? :P
I truly do not know which cake Yi Jeong pick out in the original drama, it didn't show… so, I took one of the cakes I saw in that cameo flash of the fridge in the cake shop ^^; I had also taken to modify the original drama scene between Jun Pyo and Jan Di, about the going to Hokkaido for crab portion. ^^; the last portion to this chapter is obviously from the drama, it could go on… but I thought this chapter is long enough already. So, I decided to end this chapter here. ^_^
I hope you guys like the SoEul moments in this chapter, I tried my best to pack it with love and fluff :D That's all for now, see you in the next update. ^_^