Secret of the Autumn

by xiaoj

[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,

29. Chapter 29

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 29 - An Interlude, Part 2: The F4 Graduates & Ga Eul's 'Special' gift to Yi Jeong

Location: New York, Lee Family Residence, Thursday, 14th May 2009, 6am [New York Time], 7pm [Beijing Time]

Lee Dong-Min, the son-in-law to Gu Bon-Hyeong and Kang Hee Soo, husband to the Shinhwa heiress - Gu Jun Hee, finally found time to give his wife currently in Beijing, an update on the situation in New York after being back in the country for about three days. As there's no direct commercial flight between Beijing and New York, and the private jet of Shinhwa Group is not available at the point he left Beijing for New York… he had to book a commercial flight from the Cathay Pacific Airway, and transit in Hong Kong. With the stopover in Hong Kong, his entire trip from Beijing to New York lasted nearly 24 hours in total.

Throw in the fact that there's a 13 hours' time difference between the two countries, the first thing Lee Dong Min did upon arriving back in New York was to head back to his own family home situated in Manhattan to crash for a few hours before he drags himself out of bed and head into the corporate office belonging to the Shinhwa Group with the authorization from his wife, to place the manager from the accounts department who had embezzled the company's funds for his personal use on a suspension order.

Ideally, the manager who had embezzled the company's funds ought to be terminated from the company's service with immediate effect. However, neither his wife nor he has the power to terminate someone from the company's service, directly. The only person that could sack the manager from his job is the director, or the assistant director - in this case, refers to the lady president for the Shinhwa Group.

Given the fact that he left Beijing ahead of his mother-in-law's arrival from Seoul, suspending the manager from his job is the only thing he could do. Of course, that was about three days ago. The official termination notice ought to have reached the suspended manager by this point since Dong-Min is certain that his wife would have gotten his mother-in-law to issue the official termination notice to the manager who had embezzled the company funds for his personal use, shortly after his mother-in-law arrives in Beijing.

Regardless, that isn't anything he ought to concern himself with. Either way, with the authorization letter from his wife assigning him as her proxy while she's out of town - Lee Dong-Min started sorting through the mess brought up to the management team's attention during this external audit process. The first thing he had to do is to determine the total amount of company funds that the suspended accounts manager had embezzled for his personal use, and report it to his wife.

After all, Lee Dong-Min wasn't a legit employee for the Shinhwa Group - he had his own hotel business to run in the states, even though his hotel business is now a subsidiary to the Shinhwa Group following his marriage to his wife. Still, they kept their own management of the hotel groups apart and as the CEO to the Malloy Hotel Group, he gets to decide everything that goes on within his own hotel business and only needs to report to the Shinhwa Group about their business performance once a year during the annual general meeting session.

So, while usually, he tends to avoid poking his hands into the internal affairs of the Shinhwa Group - the situation is a tad different this time. And desperate times call for desperate measures.

A video-call session between Lee Dong-Min and Gu Jun Hee, 14th May 2009, Thursday.

Dong-Min: Dear, are you okay to talk? I need to update you on the situation back here in the states. But I could call you another time if now isn't a convenient time for you.

Jun Hee: It's fine. Go ahead, only Jun Pyo is here - and I think he needs to hear this with his own ears to get an actual feel of how bad it really is for the Shinhwa Group at present.

Dong-Min: Alright then… based on the reports I had received over the past few days, a preliminary investigation into the suspended accounts manager offense included the following: misappropriation of company funds of up to 10,000 US Dollars per month over the past 27 months, the total amount of money he had misused totals up to 270,000 US Dollars. Aside from the above-mentioned offense, he had also committed the crime of forgery by forging payment transactions to a bogus supplier which is actually issued to his own bank account several bank checks of 5,000 US Dollars every month over the last two years.

So, in total, he had embezzled and misused the company funds of up to 390,000 US Dollars until he was caught in the act, red-handed by the external audit team engaged by your father to conduct a thorough audit check on the figures reported by the accounting department in the states. 390,000 US Dollars might not be a lot, but when converted into Korean Won - the figure is quite astounding. Since depending on the conversion rate, it could go up to nearly 500 million, I think that's why your father collapsed from shock after hearing the reports from the audit team.

Jun Pyo: … No wonder, Appa has a heart attack. 390,000 US Dollars is literally half the liquidity cash flow to ensure that everyone's salary would be paid on time until the money from the next business deal comes in.

Jun Hee: Indeed, throw in the fact that Eomma had just injected the funding of 1.5 million US Dollars into the World Class Resort project. It's no wonder, Appa's blood pressure sky-rocket in the wake of the discovery of a managerial staff embezzling the company funds for his personal use.

His blood pressure is already bordering on high, after discovering that Eomma had gone against his decision to sign that World Class Resort business deal…behind his back. And then, he had to hear of the information that someone in the accounts department had been embezzling the company funds for personal gains on the sly without anyone flagging it to his attention, he had to find out by engaging a team of external auditors to audit the figures reported by the accounts department. I'm simply thankful that he didn't burst a vein on the spot and send himself into a stroke.

Jun Pyo: Noona… I hardly think suffering a heart attack brought on by his sky-rocketing blood pressure is better than suffering from the ailment of a stroke though.

Jun Hee: Jun Pyo, at least, with a heart attack - he might be frail upon regaining consciousness but he would still be able to speak coherently. Stroke patients tend to lose control of the body muscles, and coherent speech ability.

Jun Pyo: …

Dong-Min: Right, anyway. I'll send you the soft copy of the reports via email later, then you can bring the matter up to your mother's attention and see what should be done. I'll await your further instructions on this end, for now - I need to check in with my own hotel business. I've been prioritizing the Shinhwa Group affairs for the past few days, and it's about time I go and inspect my own hotel business lest my employees start to slack in their work performance.

Jun Hee: Of course. Sorry for dumping the extra workload on you.

Dong-Min: It's fine, dear. It's my job as your husband to support you in times of trouble. And dear, go to bed early if you can. I'm saying this now because I know you can't hit me from that far, you look kind of dreadful now.

With that, Lee Dong-Min wasted no time in cutting off the video call on his end, leaving Gu Jun Hee to fume at his remarks from her room in the Shinhwa Hotel in Beijing.

"Ouch~ Noona, why on earth are you pinching me when it's your husband that annoys you!" Gu Jun Pyo yelped when he felt the sensation of being pinched on the arms by his annoyed-looking elder sister.

"Well, your brother-in-law isn't around for me to hit for his smart-aleck remarks. So, you'll do nicely as his replacement for the time being. Just be glad that I'm only pinching you, not hitting you on the head. You need all the brain cells you have in your skull during this period, so I won't risk making you any dumber than you already are." Gu Jun Hee declared as she continues to pinch her younger brother for venting her annoyance at her husband's brutal but honest remarks.

The heiress of the Shinhwa Group didn't need her husband's smart-aleck remark to know that she looks dreadful. Given how few hours she had been sleeping since her father's collapse, it would simply be a miracle if she still looks as radiant as always. To top it off, she still had to educate her oblivious brother in the area of running the family business while her mother took over the decision-making for the ongoing projects her father had been dealing with before his collapse.

The written papers for the year-end examinations of Shinhwa High would be taking place between the 20th to the 22nd of May. Despite, being overseas - the Shinhwa heir wasn't exempted from the sitting of the year-end papers. Because without sitting for the year-end written papers, he would not be able to receive his graduation certification from high school, which simply is not acceptable in the eyes of the lady president of the Shinhwa Group. Still, with the collapse of Gu Bon-Hyeong in Beijing, there is simply no way for Gu Jun Pyo, the heir to return to Korea simply to sit for the year-end examinations.

As such, a special arrangement has been made for the Shinhwa heir to sit for his year-end written paper from the director's office of the Shinhwa Hotel in Beijing, while the rest of his friends took their papers in the private classroom of F4 in the Shinhwa Academy.

Since the Shinhwa heir wasn't exempted from the year-end exams written papers, the next few days found Gu Jun Pyo spending every waking hour studying. The Shinhwa heir would first begin his day seated at the breakfast table in his suite listening to his mother and his sister discussing the type of actions they would be taking against the manager that had embezzled the company funds for his personal use. After breakfast, his mother would go on to meet up with various business clients reassuring them that the ongoing business projects would not be affected by the collapse of his father.

Whereas, he would be dragged off to the director's office in the Shinhwa Hotel of Beijing, to start his work for the day with his sister guiding him through the finer points of how to go about managing the staff and the business, on the whole. And when Jun Pyo expressed that his mind is starting to go fuzzy from all the complicated details in the lesson given to him by his sister, Gu Jun Hee would allow him to go on a few hours of study break in preparation for his upcoming year-end exams written papers. This is also when the Shinhwa heir found himself studying for his upcoming written paper with the E-copy of the textbook materials his sister had managed to procure for him through some unknown means since he didn't have the mindset to bring his textbook along when he left Seoul for Beijing, last weekend.

Meanwhile, back in Seoul, the rest of the members from F4 are busy preparing for their last written papers to be submitted for the final grading before their formal graduation from high school and prepared for a new page in their education life - entering college. Among the F3 in Seoul at present, Song Woo Bin is the only one that is truly focusing his entire energy on revising his class notes. So much so, that he actually stayed away from the nightlife entertainment spots for a week as he tried to cramp in as much textbook knowledge as he could into his mind in preparation for the upcoming written papers due to begin on the following Wednesday, 20th of May 2009.

Yoon Ji Hoo of F4, meanwhile, had taken up the task of tutoring Geum Jan Di in the preparation for the girl's year-end exams due to begin on the same day as his own final written papers. And since the family home of Geum Jan Di was hardly conducive for studying, Yoon Ji Hoo had brought the girl over to his family home after classes ended for the day to have their 1-to-1 private tutoring session, in the living room of his Hanok style family home.

So Yi Jeong, on the other hand, is splitting his attention between his own revision and doing his duty to the Woo Sung Museum. Despite the attention split, he dares to say he's doing a pretty good job of keeping up with both his duties. And during this period, a certain country bumpkin has been swinging by more often with homemade meals for him whenever dinner hours come by.

Both Geum Jan Di and Chu Ga Eul have been given the week off by their employer at the porridge shop to focus on their school exams, it seems. Without the need to work, Chu Ga Eul who has a tad more time at her disposal as compared to Geum Jan Di naturally spends more time prepping up nutritious meals for a certain busy potter of F4, in the kitchen of her own family home.

Location: So Yi Jeong's Pottery Studio, 18th May 2009, Monday, 6pm

Pushing open the door that leads to the inside of the pottery studio belonging to a certain Korean Casanova, Chu Ga Eul feels completely at ease as she calls out to the owner of the studio announcing her arrival naturally as though she was returning home. Only, except for the term ', I'm home, the words that spill forth when she enters the pottery studio is 'I'm here.

"Welcome, make yourself comfortable. I'll be out shortly. And what's for dinner tonight?" So Yi Jeong calls out from the back of the studio, where his bedroom is located. He was busy making himself presentable before showing his face in front of the country bumpkin, given that he had only just exited from the shower - mere minutes before Chu Ga Eul arrives.

"I made a beef casserole. Don't worry, I didn't bring the entire dish over. So, it's just a portion of what I'd prepped up for my family tonight." Chu Ga Eul answered before hurrying to clarify that she didn't bring the entire casserole dish with her from her family home.

The inconvenience of bringing the entire casserole dish over to the pottery studio via public transport aside, it isn't as though they could finish the entire casserole on their own. The pot she had used to make the beef casserole this evening could serve a family of five, and still have extra for supper. So, no - she didn't bring the whole pot over; instead, she only packed away roughly 1/3 of the content from the casserole dish while leaving the remaining 2/3 in the pot for her parents and her younger brother. The leftover would likely be served at breakfast the next day, saving her parents time to whip up a breakfast meal when they're busy getting ready for work.

Even the 1/3 portion of the beef casserole she had brought over to the pottery studio is still too big a serving for both of them to finish eating for a single meal, as such, Ga Eul kept a portion aside in the food storage container she had brought along with her and tucked it away into the cube fridge of the Korean Casanova, with a memo note attached to the food container on the cover lid.

The note reads: 'For your breakfast tomorrow. I know, you do not have a microwave oven in your kitchenette, but I know there's one such appliance in the F4 private lounge in school. You can use that to heat up the leftover casserole for your breakfast meal.'

Following this, Ga Eul went on to set a reminder on her own mobile phone to remind her to remind the Korean Casanova about the leftover beef casserole in the fridge the following morning when she's due to send the guy the breakfast meal reminder text.

"The food smells great, thank you. But really, you shouldn't have gone to the trouble of making me dinner every evening for this week. I am quite capable of feeding myself, you know?" So Yi Jeong commented when he finally emerged from the bedroom of his pottery studio to meet up with the country bumpkin out front, where he usually utilized as his workspace.

"I know I don't have to, but I wanted to. Besides, knowing you… who tends to neglect to eat to finish up a project on hand. I thought it necessary to bring you ready-made food than have you grab a bite on your own. Instant cup noodles aren't considered a proper meal, but it's probably the only food you have stocked in your pantry when you're too busy to step out from your pottery studio for a meal. Moreover, that's likely the only thing you know how to prepare on your own without assistance. Given the fact that to cook instant cup noodles, all you need is to boil water, pour it in, and wait for 3 minutes." Chu Ga Eul remarked in a matter-of-fact tone of voice as she gave the Korean Casanova a flat stare look that gives off the vibe that she wasn't impressed by the guy's previous response of being capable to feed himself.

"..." Yi Jeong had no words, inwardly he was cursing his best friend for selling him out to the girl without his knowing, again. Still, the potter of F4 couldn't help but feel warm at the thought of having the girl he had grown to cherish, fussed over him in such a caring manner. The thought of confessing his growing feelings for the girl, right this moment, was strong but he managed to stamp it down. There are still things he needed to clear up before he could make the lovely Chu Ga Eul his official girlfriend.

[Soon… Ga Eul, just a little while longer…] Yi Jeong thought as he sat down at the table while watching the figure of Chu Ga Eul bustling around his kitchenette space to get the cutlery ready so, his dinner could be served on time.

"So, are you ready for the year-end exams?" The Korean Casanova inquires, when Chu Ga Eul finally settled down in the seat opposite from him at one of the tables, he had in his pottery studio.

"I believe so. Given that I'm on a bogus scholarship scheme, I don't actually have to ensure a certain level of grades to continue to have my school fees sponsored. Still, I have confidence that I'll be out of Class D by the time the new school year begins." Chu Ga Eul responded confidently to the inquiry coming from the potter of F4.

"I see, is there a class you are actually aiming to get in?" The potter of F4 went on to inquire, as he took a bite of the beef casserole prepared by the country bumpkin in her own home and brought it over for his consumption, this evening.

"Either C or B, I guess." Ga Eul shrugged; she didn't want to get into the A-Class because she didn't wish to be subjected to a comparison of the grades with her half-sibling at every turn.

"Oh...not the top elite class?" So Yi Jeong raised his eyebrow slightly in surprise upon hearing the girl's response.

"Nope, that would be too stressful. Moreover, I do not wish for the others to compare my grades against Kazuki's grades whenever a class test or exams is coming our way." Chu Ga Eul deadpans at the potter in response, before digging into her own share of the beef casserole. Ever since the potter had commented about feeling awkward with her staring at him while he ate, Ga Eul had taken to take a lighter share of the meal back home and then coming over to have a second round of her dinner meal with the potter of F4.

It goes without saying that when it comes down for her to leave, Yi Jeong had promptly set aside his task at hand to send the girl home in his car.

"You aren't using the lotus today?" Chu Ga Eul couldn't help but inquire when she was led towards the direction where the Korean Casanova had parked his red Lexus instead of the orange lotus when he offered to send her home in his vehicle.

"Not today, the orange lotus is too recognizable. And people are bound to expect me in the clubs tonight if I'm driving the lotus around. Given that I still had a couple of things to do at present, I don't exactly have the time to swing by the club for an hour after dropping you off at your home. Thus, I figured it best to use the red Lexus instead. Less distinctive, and recognizable. Outside of my own friends, not many people know of its existence in my garage yet." The Korean Casanova went on to explain to the country bumpkin why he wasn't driving her home in his orange lotus, this evening.

"I see… but you do know that you're not obliged to send me home every time. I can easily head home on the public transport." Chu Ga Eul commented as she climbed into the side passenger seat of the red Lexus with her food carrier bag in hand.

"I know, but it goes against my self-imposed code of honor to allow you to head home without an escort. Besides, I do need a break from all that studying and working. I don't mind working long hours on a new project of mine when it comes down to the pottery creation, but the paperwork I had to do for the museum is always a chore." So Yi Jeong smiled charmingly at Chu Ga Eul as he commented in a wry tone of voice.

"Ah…I see." Nodding understandingly as a look of realization dawns in on Ga Eul, the long-haired girl didn't comment further on the subject and simply sat back, to enjoy the free ride home in the red Lexus belonging to the Korean Casanova.

Location: Shinhwa Academy, Class 2D, 25th May 2009, Monday, 11am

Between dealing with the abrupt departure of her boyfriend, to burning mid-night oil through the night to revise her class notes and sitting through the 1-to-1 private tutoring session with Yoon Ji Hoo of F4, and finally sitting down to take the year-end exams written papers. Geum Jan Di literally had no time to take note of the happenings that go about in the class, and thus, it wasn't until the year-end exams session came to an end that she finally noticed something odd in her class.

"Jan Di? Is anything the matter?" Chu Ga Eul prompted when she noticed her childhood friend looking a tad dumbfounded while standing at the doorway of their classroom with a somewhat confused expression clouding her features.

"Ga Eul ah, since when did the annoying trio becomes the annoying duo?" Geum Jan Di inquires, her eyes still flicking between the figures of Ginger and Miranda who was heading off towards the direction of the students' cafeteria, and Sunny, who seems to be heading for the rooftop of the academic building with a lunch bag in hand. While on the subject, since when did Sunny start bringing in her own lunch? Wasn't Sunny a frequent patron at the school's cafeteria?

"...It has already been a week, and you are telling me that you've only just noticed the fact?" Chu Ga Eul couldn't help but ask her childhood friend in a disbelieving tone of voice.

"A week? … I must have been more preoccupied than I thought if I had missed out on something this obvious till now. Any idea why the trio went their separate ways?" Geum Jan Di prompted, shifting curious eyes upon the figure of her childhood friend for an answer.

"Contrary to what you may think, I do not have the answers to everything, Jan Di. But as far as I know, there have been no open disputes between the trio, they just seem to grow apart naturally. Either way, there's no need for you to concern yourself over the possibility of Sunny being alone because I know, she isn't taking lunch on the rooftop on her own. Over the past weeks, she had gotten to befriend someone from the next class, and these days, she tends to spend her lunchtime and after-school hours with that new friend of hers." Chu Ga Eul said as she dragged her childhood friend, Jan Di off towards the direction of the F4 private lounge.

"And you know this, because?" Geum Jan Di prompted, wondering how on earth her childhood friend had learned of Sunny having a new friend after pulling away from Ginger and Miranda.

"I know because Nari told me. Apparently, the new friend of Sunny happens to be Nari's childhood friend. As such, Nari has also befriended Sunny since they are attending the same study group on weekends, these days." Chu Ga Eul told her childhood friend, Geum Jan Di, in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"Right… and how's Nari these days?" Geum Jan Di inquires, a look of sheepishness crossing her features momentarily.

Unlike Ga Eul, Geum Jan Di doesn't make it a habit to keep in contact with most of her classmates from Seoul High School. Mostly because she didn't know them well enough to classify them as her friends, and Jan Di has no time to waste on pointless socializing and thus, didn't make it a point to remain in contact with her former classmates/schoolmates. Heck, she doesn't even show up at the gatherings hosted by members of her former class after graduation. Ga Eul, at least, does show up for such events once in a while. Henceforth, it's really no wonder that Jan Di was absolutely clueless about the latest happenings in Nari's life.

"She's doing fine and is getting along splendidly with Sunny. It would seem, but then again, I've always thought they have a lot more common interest between them than with me. I'm not much of a gossip, but Sunny definitely gossips and Nari loves to gossip. So, I'm glad Nari had found someone she could unload her gossips news onto, sparing my ears for the foreseeable future. Oh, as for the new development in Nari's life… well, it would seem that she is now involved in a relationship with a guy from our school." Chu Ga Eul then commented, causing her childhood friend to turn wide shocking eyes onto her person.

"What?!"

"Jan Di, please… there you go overreacting, again. Mind you, while a majority of the students in Shinhwa Academy are indeed heir and heiress to some business corporations out there. Not all of them belong to the same level as the F4, and trust me - Nari wouldn't have agreed to date someone out of her league. Her boyfriend is a member of the elite class of our school year. And no, it isn't the E3… but a friend of the E3. Park Jae-In, is the guy Nari's dating at present, and family, as far as I know, falls under the middle-income group. His father works for the Korea branch of the Miyazawa F&B Group as an HR manager, his mother is working freelance but I'm not sure what she's doing on a freelance basis. Either way, none of his parents are going to take an issue with Nari's commoner status." Chu Ga Eul deadpans at her overreacting childhood friend, she knows she has to spell things out clearly for Jan Di. Otherwise, she wouldn't put it across Jan Di to pay Nari a visit out of the blue, attempting to persuade Nari into thinking twice about the notion of dating a rich boy, by quoting her own experience as an example.

This is yet another reason why Ga Eul still hasn't quite dared to let it slip to her friend about the 'thing' she had going on with a certain Casanova of F4. Yes, there is indeed something going on between her and the potter of F4, and they both know it. Just that neither of them wanted to come outright and put a label on whatever thing they had going on between them at present. Ga Eul knows the potter isn't ready for that step yet, so she is willing to wait. She knows her plan to 'capture the Casanova' is progressing smoothly because she could sense the change in the potter's lifestyle habits, one fine example would be the cutting back of the clubbing activities.

Either way, Ga Eul's simply glad that her childhood friend could be unusually dense in certain aspects. After all, the 'thing' she had going with the potter of F4 was quite obvious to the members of the F4, including the absent Shinhwa heir. Heck, even her own cousin - Sakuraba Shuichi knew of the so-called relationship between her and the Korean Casanova for some time now. And it seems, Saionji Shunsuke of the E3 had come to notice it recently too. Now, only her childhood friend and her half-sibling still remain oblivious to the 'thing' she had going on with So Yi Jeong of F4. Inwardly, Ga Eul is speculating - between Jan Di and Kazuki, who will be the first to catch on to the underlying mutual attraction between the Korean Casanova and her?

While Ga Eul and Jan Di went on to take their lunch with the F3 in the F4 private lounge on the grounds of the Shinhwa Academy, Sunny was meeting up with Areum for lunch on the rooftop of the academic building belonging to the high-school division. Although, there weren't any benches situated on the rooftop since nobody would have anticipated someone using the rooftop for a lunching spot when the building was first built. It was no matter, Areum managed to improvise by pulling out a picnic cloth and setting it down onto the ground for them to seat themselves without the risk of getting their uniform skirts dirty.

"Where's Jessica?" Sunny couldn't help but inquires, usually, the honey-blonde-haired Korean-American girl is always around to ensure that Sunny isn't trying to take advantage of Areum. So, the fact that she didn't see the girl around was a miracle by itself.

"Ah… she's having lunch with Dong-Jun today," Areum responded as she tried to stifle the urge to giggle upon remembering the look on Dong-Jun's face when he came and corner Jessica during lunch break.

Dong-Jun had the look of a neglected lover when he came over to corner Jessica once the bell signal for the lunch break sounded. Areum thought the guy must have bolted out from his own classroom and raced over to the doorway of their classroom, simply for the sake of catching hold of Jessica before the girl could leave with Areum for lunch elsewhere. And Areum upon sighting how Dong-Jun had cornered her best friend in school, promptly seized the opportunity to escape under Jessica's scrutiny to head off for lunch with Sunny at the designated meet-up spot. Of course, in the process, Areum didn't forget to bring with her - her lunchbox and the picnic cloth she had brought from home as a makeshift sitting mat since there weren't any benches on the rooftop of the academic building for them to seat themselves while having lunch.

"Hmm… are they dating?" Sunny finally found the opportunity to ask, the question has been on her mind for two weeks now. She had thought those two were dating on the day she got acquainted with them but didn't really get the chance to verify her thought with Areum or Nari, since those two are constantly within earshot. And then, because Jessica always makes sure to hang around Areum even when they are hanging out at the library - there is no opportunity for Sunny to ask Areum for verification on the matter. Now that Jessica is finally not around, it's only natural for Sunny to seize the opportunity to ask the nagging question on her mind.

"Oh…so, you'd noticed? I was wondering if you would notice this little detail, because as far as I know - they haven't exactly announced the nature of their relationship to their family and friends yet. I only realized it a couple of weeks ago, when I walked in on them making out in my family's kitchen during our study group lunch break. We didn't go out but ordered food delivery that day, and those two were voluntarily helping out by retrieving the cutlery set from the kitchen as I was busy sorting through the delivered food and assigned the arrived food to the respective members for the study group. When I realized they are taking a bit too long to collect the cutlery, I went over to the kitchen to check in on their progress. Imagine my utter shock when I walked in on them french-kissing each other in my family's kitchen." Areum rolls her eyes upon the remembrance of that image she had walked in upon, and that was how she came to realize that her two friends has been dating under her nose without her knowledge for weeks.

"It must have been awkward," Sunny commented bemusedly as she tried to envision the scene in her mind.

"It is awkward, I yelped at the sight of it which then bring Nari running over to check things out herself. That's when she found out about their relationship as well, only she wasn't startled by the discovery. If anything, Nari appears rather amused and she told them to get a room if they want to make out, instead of doing it in the kitchen of my home." Areum commented drily at Sunny, as she took out her own lunch box after noticing Sunny had already uncovered the lid to her petite-size two-tier lunchbox.

"I see… so when Dong-Jun was late for the study group two weeks ago and claimed his previous appointment overruns… was he actually out on a date with Jessica then? I mean, they did arrive only fifteen minutes apart from one another…" Sunny remarked, after taking a moment to recall the arriving sequence of those two during the study group session she had been invited to join about two weekends ago.

"No idea, I didn't think to ask Jessica about it. Whatever they do with each other outside my home is their own freedom, as long as they don't make out with one another in my family home - I'm good." Areum commented with a shrug, before steering the conversation subject away from Jessica's relationship with Baek Dong-Jun, and onto the approaching summer break.

"So, what are you planning to do - this summer?" Areum inquires, as she digs into her own lunch. Nothing fanciful, it's just a single-tier lunchbox with compartments. The bigger half portion contains the main staple - white rice, and the two smaller compartments holding her side dishes of a vegetable dish and a meat dish. She had with her a separate container holding the after-food dessert, or fruit in this case.

"Hmm… other than helping my father out in the family business, I'm thinking of continuing with my exploring of the country - Australia. I went there for a solo trip last year, but I had only explored the city of Sydney. This year, I wanted to explore another part of Australia. What about you? Have you got any substantial plans about how to spend your summer this year, yet?" Sunny confessed her summer solo holiday plans to her new friend with ease, before proceeding to inquire after her new friend's summer vacation plans.

"Outside of attending Dong-Jun's birthday party at a chalet somewhere, no plans have been set in stone yet. But if my parents, either one of them can take a break for a recharge from work - I might join them wherever they wish to go, even if it's just to a neighboring city or island. It's been ages since I went on a vacation trip with my parents, ever since they started their own business… they've been so busy with work that they can't exactly take long holiday breaks. My last memory of traveling out of the country was when I was five, and my parents took me to the Disneyland theme park in the states." Areum told Sunny in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

And while a part of Areum does envy Sunny for being able to go on a holiday, she wasn't going to try the same. Mostly because Areum isn't daring enough to try visiting a foreign country on her own, but maybe… if Jessica has plans to visit her hometown this Summer… she could ask if she could tag along? Exploring orange county with Jessica around doesn't seem like a bad idea to spend her summer this year, either way, she ought to bring the subject up to Jessica at a later time. Areum thought as she continues digging into her own lunch while allowing the rest of the lunch break to lapse in comforting silence between Sunny and herself while eating on the picnic cloth at the rooftop of their school's academic building.

Location: Porridge Shop, 25th May 2009, Monday, 3pm

Chu Ga Eul was cleaning the glass screen windows of the porridge shop with the glass cleaner and a piece of cloth in hand when her childhood friend who was wiping the tables a few steps away from her suddenly begin to speak.

"Ga Eul ah, do you still have any remaining cocoa powder from Valentine's Day?" Geum Jan Di inquires, as she toys with the idea of baking some sweet treats for a certain auburn-haired member of F4 to show her appreciation for the 1-to-1 private tutoring session the guy had given her over the past week to assist her in the preparation for the school exams.

"Yes, I do have some cocoa powder remaining. Why do you ask?" Chu Ga Eul answered her childhood friend's query with ease, as she wonders inwardly why her friend had brought up the mention of the cocoa powder at this timing.

"Well… the F4 are graduating, and I thought of making Ji Hoo-sunbae a little something to show my appreciation for what he had done to help me out in the preparation of the year-end exams. I know I won't be able to answer most questions on the test papers if he hasn't been giving me 1-to-1 private tuition over the entirety of last week." Geum Jan Di responded after a moment of hesitation.

"I see… I'll pass you the cocoa powder tomorrow at school then." Chu Ga Eul responded, agreeing to let her childhood friend have her remaining cocoa powder. She could always get a new batch of cocoa powder when Christmas comes around.

[Graduation… I wonder what I should gift Yi Jeong-sunbae as a graduation gift?] - The long-haired girl thought, mulling over the subject. Originally, Ga Eul didn't even think of gifting the Korean Casanova anything in celebration of his graduation from high school since she already has the habit of gifting him things at random timings. But now that her childhood friend mentioned wanting to gift the auburn-haired member of F4 a token of gratitude, that could also double up as a graduation gift… the notion of gifting a graduation gift to the potter of F4 finally crosses the mind of Chu Ga Eul.

So, it was with that thought in mind that brought her to openly inquire the Korean Casanova on the subject of what he would like to receive from her on his graduation day, during their routine text message later in the evening.

A private message between Chu Ga Eul and So Yi Jeong, 25th May 2009, Monday, 6pm

Ga Eul: A tad early today, but well. As usual, remember to grab your dinner meal by 7pm. And after eating, do remember to go on a stroll or something - at least 30 minutes.

Yi Jeong: Noted, and while your message to remind me about grabbing dinner did come in a tad earlier today. I'm glad your text came in before I get started on another pottery project, I haven't even realized that it's 6pm already.

Ga Eul: Good. Make sure you eat a proper meal, and I'm not referring to those Nongshim instant noodles bowls you have stored in your pantry. =_=;

Yi Jeong: Right… I'll just head out to the cafe at the cross junction and grab something simple for dinner then.

Ga Eul: While at it, you might as well grab your breakfast meal for tomorrow from the cafe, or if you prefer the artisan bakery - it's also fine. At least, that will save you time from having to grab breakfast along the way to school. Wait, is there even a need for you to turn up in school tomorrow? After all, your finals have been sat for… and now, it's just waiting for the results to be out as well as the graduation ceremony to be held.

PS: When's the graduation ceremony, by the way?

Yi Jeong: The graduation ceremony is taking place on Friday, at 10am at the Shinhwa Assembly Hall. And before you ask, no… Jun Pyo isn't coming back for the graduation ceremony as well. He would have his graduation certificate mailed out to his present location, it seems. And you're right, there isn't much of a need for us to turn up in school… but we are still going to school, even if the only thing we are doing is to loiter and waste our time hanging around in the private lounge.

Ga Eul: I see… and how did you know about Jun Pyo-sunbae's absence from the upcoming graduation ceremony? Did he contact you by any chance?

Yi Jeong: No, he didn't contact me nor the others, as far as I know. As for how I came about the above-mentioned information, well… I overheard the staff at the school's admin office talking about it when I swing by the office to pick up the course application form for the university department.

Ga Eul: Ah… I see. So, which faculty are you applying for? Faculty of Arts or Business?

PS: Is there anything you would like to receive from me on your graduation day?

Yi Jeong: Faculty of Arts - Fine Arts program is likely the program I'll be enrolling in, I might mix in a few elective modules from the business school as and when necessary. Assuming if I were to remain within Korea for the entirety of my college education, at the end of the four-year undergrad course, I'll go on to pursue the additional two-years master course in arts management. After all, Woo Sung Museum is both a business and an art organization. So, as compared to the typical business management - the arts management course might be a better fit in the long run.

Ga Eul: I see, that does sound logical. Speaking of which, you had yet to answer my question about your graduation gift.

Yi Jeong: I thought you always have plenty of ideas about what to gift me on random occasions?

Ga Eul: The only thing I could think of that relates to graduation is either a flower bouquet, which I don't think is a suitable gift for a guy. The other thing I could think of is to bake a cake to celebrate your graduation from high school, but that seems a tad too common. So, I'm asking you now if there's anything special you would like to receive from me. ^^;

Yi Jeong: Hmm… something special, well… in that case, can I request to get a front-row seat to your figure-skating performance?

Ga Eul: A figure-skating performance from me? That's what you want to receive from me on your graduation day?

Yi Jeong: Yes.

Ga Eul: Well… if you can get us the use of the school's skating rink, doesn't matter which rink - and secure it that no one else would be privy to the performance. I wouldn't mind performing something for you on your graduation day. *Blushing Emoji*

Yi Jeong: Really? Well, you had best keep your promise because I'll definitely get us the use of the ice-skating rink in school, on my graduation day. I might not be Jun Pyo, but I'm also a member of the F4.

Ga Eul: In that case, I really ought to practice for a bit before performing in front of you on that day. No worries, I won't forget to bring you dinner for the next few days while preparing for the performance. Although, there's no guarantee that the food would be 100% homemade by yours truly since I'm likely preoccupied with the task of practicing my figure-skating stunts in preparation for the performance you requested to watch. ^_^

Yi Jeong: Of course. I completely understand your desire to fit in time for private practice before the actual show. And though, I will miss the chance to eat your homemade meals, I wouldn't mind takeouts from the eateries outside, once in a while.

Ga Eul: Excellent. Alright, go on and grab your dinner. I'm about to go on my dinner break with Jan Di at the porridge shop as well. ^_^

Location: Shinhwa Academy, F4 Private Lounge & Classroom, 29th May 2009, Friday, 8.30am

"Yi Jeong, you're damn early today. And what on earth are you doing here in our private classroom? We no longer need to attend classes anymore, remember? Today's our graduation day!" Song Woo Bin commented when he stepped into the private classroom of F4 that's situated one floor above their private lounge in the academy to find his potter friend staring out from the window of their classroom in deep thoughts.

"Well, I guess I'm feeling nostalgic. What about you? What are you doing here this early? The graduation ceremony doesn't begin until 10am." So Yi Jeong throws back at his Don Juan friend, as he shifted his eyes away from the view of the school grounds and onto the figure of his best friend - Song Woo Bin.

"Same as you, I'm here because I'm in a mood to take a walk down the memory lane." Song Woo Bin shrugged casually in response with a grin plastered on his lips, as he moved forward to join his Casanova friend at the window. As his eyes landed upon the table that belongs to a certain Shinhwa heir, the Don Juan of F4 couldn't help but wonder aloud.

"What do you reckon Jun Pyo is doing now?"

"Busy learning the ropes of his family business, what else?" So Yi Jeong deadpans, their absent leader had finally regained his logical sense of mind to drop them a quick text yesterday night after vanishing off the planet for three entire weeks.

And the text message wasn't anything unexpected, it was simply informing them of something they had already expected and known to occur. Apparently, the Shinhwa heir wouldn't be able to return to Seoul for the graduation ceremony and thus, he would have his graduation certificate mailed over to his present location - which is Beijing, China.

"Ah… talk about the family business, my father has asked for me to start my internship at Ii-Shin Construction full-time next week. There goes my freedom… and I blamed Sunny for it." Song Woo Bin suddenly commented out of the blue, drawing the eyes of the Korean Casanova onto his person quizzically.

"Why are you blaming your father's decision to start your internship at your family business on the heiress to the boutique hotel group - Park Enterprise?" To say the potter of F4 is baffled is an understatement. It's not as though the girl had the right to tell Woo Bin's father what to do, so why on earth is his friend blaming the girl for his father's own decision?

"Because that is exactly what Sunny is doing at her family business this Summer, and my father thought I shouldn't lose out to a mere girl when I'm a year ahead of her in school. So, because of her - I'm due for a premature start of my internship at my family business. Henceforth, I totally blame her for being the cause of my premature misery." Song Woo Bin declared dryly at his fellow playboy friend, who might no longer be a playboy soon.

After all, his fellow Casanova friend hasn't been visiting any clubs over the past two weeks. Of course, being busy with the heir's duty and responsibility to the Woo Sung Museum plays a significant part in his friend's withdrawal from the clubbing activities, but Woo Bin thought it might also be his friend's conscious effort in cutting down his clubbing activities that play a significant part in the Korean Casanova's recent vanishing from the nightlife entertainment spots.

"... And how on earth did your father chance upon that particular detail concerning Sunny's summer plans to intern at her family business? Aren't you the one taking tea with her bi-weekly to talk blueprint plans?" So Yi Jeong couldn't help but inquires, looking rather bewildered by the information unloaded upon him by his best friend moments earlier.

"Long story short, Sunny was over at the job-site checking in on the revamping work progress and my father decided to conduct an impromptu site visit trip to the job site. The two of them crosses paths briefly at the entrance to the building, and out of politeness - chatted briefly before parting ways. Apparently, that was when my father came to know of Sunny's internship at her family business this Summer and thus, decided to come home and ordered me to begin my internship without delay." Song Woo Bin sighed aloud as he proceeds to share with his best friend the reason why Sunny is the culprit behind his premature loss of freedom.

"..."

As the time started to approach 10am, the Shinhwa Assembly Hall started to get crowded with students. Aside from the students that sat at the front half of the hall are graduating students waiting to receive their graduation certificate from the school's principal, the students seated at the back end of the hall are purely there as audiences to witness the graduation ceremony of the F4. Granted, only the F3 are going to be around in person - but still, given that this is the last chance for the female population of the Shinhwa High students to be able to witness the members of F4 at an up-close angle… pretty much, every female student in Shinhwa High is present for the ceremony.

"So, Jan Di… what did you end up making for Ji Hoo-sunbae?" Chu Ga Eul whispered next to the ear of her childhood friend as she voiced her query across to her friend - Geum Jan Di.

"Cookies. At first, I wanted to bake him a cake… but I realized that I didn't have enough eggs and flour to bake a mini-cake. So, I decided to make cookies instead. Thanks for the cocoa powder, by the way. They are a great help." Geum Jan Di told her childhood friend in response, flashing a smile of gratitude towards Ga Eul before shifting her eyes back to the front of the hall.

After all, the ceremony was about to begin and the members of F4 are going to be the first students to be awarded their graduation certificates by the school's principal. Seated some distance away from Ga Eul and Jan Di, are the members of the former annoying trio, now renamed the annoying duo - Ginger and Miranda. Needless to say, they are busy whispering among themselves about how dashingly handsome the three members of F4 were looking this morning.

Seated towards the very far back of the hall was Sunny with her new friend, Areum alongside Jessica and her boyfriend, Baek Dong-Jun. It took Jessica a total of two weeks before she decided that Sunny was indeed an 'okay' person when away from the influence of Ginger and Miranda. Without the duo around, it seems Sunny wasn't that intolerable. Given that Sunny is now part of her friend group, Jessica thought it prudent to find out a little more about Sunny's personality. And since they are attending the graduation ceremony for the graduating students this morning, and the F4 sans a certain Shinhwa heir is present for the event - the Korean-American girl decided to ask about Sunny's interest in the flower-boys group, seeing as Sunny together with Ginger and Miranda were part of the fan-girls belonging to the fan-club of F4, on campus.

"So…Sunny, who's your favorite member within the F4? You were part of their fan club, weren't you?" Jessica prompted nonchalantly, as she flicked her gaze towards the direction of the F3 who had just entered the assembly hall and immediately garnered a ton of squealing reactions from their fan-girls.

"... Well, if I have to literally pick one - it would have to be the Don Juan of F4." Sunny was silent for a few seconds before she shrugged and answered Jessica's inquiry. It's not as though her admiration of the Don Juan of F4 was an unknown secret, Ginger and Miranda know that she admires Song Woo Bin since day 1 of her encounter with him on campus grounds.

"That's surprising, I would have thought you would mention either the name of the Shinhwa heir or the Su Am heir." Jessica eventually said, after spending a moment to digest the response from Sunny.

"Nah… neither of them are my type. I prefer guys with a friendlier disposition, which neither the Shinhwa heir nor the Su Am heir fits the bill." Sunny then commented, splitting her focus between Jessica who's addressing her, and the stage of the hall where the members of F4 are getting ready to collect their graduation certificate from the principal after a formal handshake with the man.

Jessica was about to ask Sunny yet another question when she was interrupted by Areum as her friend decided to pick that timing to speak to Sunny. "Talking about Ginger and Miranda, are they really alright with you choosing to spend time with us instead of them?" Areum inquires, curiosity coloring her tone.

"It's fine, I rather sit through Jessica's Q&A session rather than sit through Miranda's complaints session. To be honest, I'm rather fed-up with Miranda's consistent insulation of me dating the Don Juan of F4, which is completely untrue. Sure, we talk and meet up for tea bi-weekly but the bulk of our conversation revolves around business. I've repeated and emphasized the little detail multiple times to her, yet Miranda is still stuck in her own thinking that I have the Don Juan of F4 in my bag. So, now I'm giving up on correcting her assumption. It's pointless trying to correct her because she's downright delusional." Sunny deadpans in response to Areum's inquiry about her distancing from the annoying duo.

"I see, but that didn't exactly answer my question. How did they take your decision to distance yourself from them?" Areum commented to Sunny with a sympathetic look, but her attention wasn't diverted elsewhere. She was still set on finding out how the annoying trio reacted to Sunny's decision to cut them off.

"Frankly speaking, Miranda's ecstatic, because that means she would get Ginger's attention all to herself. She hasn't been fond of Ginger befriending me in the first place, as for Ginger… well, she hasn't shown any outward negative reaction so I'll take it as a good sign that there will be no drama from my decision to cut them off from my social circle." Sunny shrugged, as she finally addressed Areum's inquiry about Ginger and Miranda's reactions to her distancing act.

Ginger personally is fine with Sunny's decision to stop mingling with them, as long as Sunny doesn't suddenly pretend they didn't exist or pretend to be strangers with them. As long as the girl is willing to acknowledge their presence with a nod of acknowledgment while passing by them in the school hallways, and keep up with the polite facade in public - Ginger is surprisingly alright with the idea of not being on the top of Sunny's friends' list. She would have reacted negatively if Sunny tried to pretend about not knowing them, but since Sunny didn't go to that extent - Ginger is fine leaving things be and allowing their friendship to fade off without causing a scene.

And although the new class register has yet to be announced - based on the results, Ginger dare says that Sunny would no longer be her classmate in the coming school year. Likewise, the same to go for Chu Ga Eul, that girl's result is even better than Sunny. So, it goes without saying that Chu Ga Eul would be leaving the D class for the next school year as well. Unfortunately for her though, Geum Jan Di is likely around to stay as her classmate for the following year. But at least, there's still Miranda around to keep her company - Ginger thought, as she clapped along with the rest of the school population when Yoon Ji Hoo of F4 stepped forward to collect his graduation certificate from the school's principal.

Location: Shinhwa Academy, F4 Private Lounge, 29th May 2009, Friday, 11am

"Ji Hoo, there's only you? Where's Yi Jeong?" Song Woo Bin inquires after he had successfully disentangled himself from his mob of fan-girls surrounding him as they congrats him for his graduation from Shinhwa High.

"He's off somewhere with Ga Eul-yang." Yoon Ji Hoo responded as he toyed with the bag of chocolate chips cookies he had received moments ago from Geum Jan Di as a token of appreciation for the help he had provided her with, over the past weeks in preparation for the school year-end exams. Of course, it's also her congratulatory gift to him for his graduation from high school.

"Right… and what's that in your hands?" Song Woo Bin went towards the cube fridge in the lounge to get himself a drink, as he inquires about the item his auburn-haired friend was toying around in his hands over his shoulders, casually.

"Ah… these are chocolate chips cookies that Geum Jan Di gave me earlier. My so-called graduation gift from her, it seems." Yoon Ji Hoo responded with a smile donning his lips.

"... Homemade, I assumed." Song Woo Bin then proceeds to take a good look at the packaging of the cookies, before nodding as he draws his conclusion.

"Yes, I believe so." Yoon Ji Hoo nodded in response to his Don Juan friend's remark about the cookies being homemade.

"Jun Pyo is going to be so jealous when he learns of his girlfriend bestowing you with homemade cookies, and he has no share of it." The Don Juan of F4 commented with a smirk.

"Well, he had no one to blame but himself. Certainly, you can't expect Geum Jan Di to airmail him a batch of her homemade cookies, can you?" Yoon Ji Hoo deadpans to his smirking friend, as they poked fun about how the absent Shinhwa heir is missing out on Geum Jan Di's rare show of culinary skills. Correction, perhaps the better terms would be baking skills in this case.

Over in Beijing, the Shinhwa heir suddenly let out a sneeze in the middle of a meeting with his mother and sister, as they discussed the next steps to take in addressing the multiple inquiries coming from the media about the health condition of his still unconscious father. How much information are they willing to let slip to the media is the main topic of discussion. And the Shinhwa heir was about to share his opinion when he suddenly let out a sneeze instead.

"Jun Pyo, are you alright? You aren't coming down with flu, are you?" Gu Jun Hee started, frowning as she stood to fuss over her younger brother.

"I'm fine, Noona. It's just an itch in the nose, I'm sure I'm not coming down with anything… for all I know, it's just my friends mouthing off about me back in Seoul. After all, today's graduation day and I'm not around to attend the ceremony. Likely my name has been brought up for discussion…" Gu Jun Pyo was quick to fend off his elder sister's fussing acts, but he did agree to take a short break to visit the washroom. The sudden bout of sneezing fit had caused him a moment of distraction rendering his mind a complete blank, so a break is necessary for him to reorganize his thoughts on the subject of discussion.

Back in Seoul, the missing potter of F4 and Chu Ga Eul are now standing at the entrance to the ice-hockey rink housed on the second floor of the ice-skating facility on the grounds of Shinhwa Academy.

"Alright, as you can see, there's nobody else around except for us. Are you ready to deliver on your promise to me?" So Yi Jeong started, turning his eyes upon the figure of Chu Ga Eul as he voiced his query across to the country bumpkin of his eyes.

"Of course, I am going to deliver on my promise. But you're going to have to give me a moment because I'll need some time to get myself changed into my skating gears first." Chu Ga Eul responded as she took the carrier bag she had with her, towards the direction of the changing room for the hockey players.

If the Korean Casanova thought it was strange for Chu Ga Eul to head for the changing room, he didn't comment on it. Somehow he had a feeling that when the girl mentioned the need to get herself changed into her skating gears, she wasn't simply referring to switching out her school shoes with her ice-skating footwear. And so, the Korean Casanova settled down on the front row seat at the gallery and waited patiently for the girl to reemerge from the changing room.

True enough, when Chu Ga Eul finally reemerges from the changing room - she was dressed up in a long-sleeved skating dress in yellow, complete with her white skates. As she made her way towards the Korean Casanova who was seated on the front row seat of the spectators' stand, she briefly wondered how the guy is going to react when he finally noticed her attire. As she could no longer fit in her old figure skating costume, she had ended up getting a new attire through the means of online shopping. Needless to say, to ensure speedy delivery of her new figure-skating attire, she had to pay a higher shipping rate but it would be worth it if her attire combined with her performance later could be rendered a certain Casanova completely speechless.

"Yi Jeong-sunbae, sorry to keep you waiting. Now, can you hold on to the carrier bag for me?" Chu Ga Eul started, her voice jolting the Korean Casanova who was zoning out back onto the plane of living.

So Yi Jeong glances over to the country bumpkin, and promptly forgot what he was about to say. Chu Ga Eul had her hair fixed up in a bun style, which was rare. The girl tends to leave her hair down or have it up in the style of a simple ponytail. This is the first time the potter of F4 gets to see the girl with her hair styled up in a bun, not only that, the yellow dress was way shorter than the kind of dress he had recalled ever seeing the girl dressed up in. Not to mention, the dress is also kind of body-hugging and thus, allowing him a perfect view of the girl's body shape.

"Yi Jeong-sunbae?" Chu Ga Eul tilted her head slightly to the side, as she prompted to shake the guy out from his stupor-like mode.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to zone out on you. So, what was it that you were saying earlier?" So Yi Jeong hurried to respond, feigning nonchalance. Chu Ga Eul, on the other hand, was quite amused by his dumbfounded look earlier. Not that, she's going to tell him that, of course. Truth be told, she kind of enjoyed the fact that every time she dressed up in a style that differs from her usual attire - she would successfully render the eloquent Korean Casanova into a state of dumbfounding silence.

"I asked if you could help to take care of my stuff, I didn't want to leave it unattended in the changing room." Chu Ga Eul responded as she set down her carrier bag on the empty seat next to the Korean Casanova at the spectators' stand.

"Of course, I will take care of your belongings for you." So Yi Jeong flashes his charming smile at Chu Ga Eul, as he agreed to the girl's request to help take care of her belongings while she proceed to deliver her promised 'special' graduation gift to him.

"Good, now are you ready for your graduation gift? Mind you, my dress attire might be newly purchased… but I'm not performing anything new. It's too short a time frame to have a new choreography planned out, so… what I'm performing today for you is basically a repeat of my short program which I performed years ago when I participated in the intermediate figure skating tournament under the amateur category." Chu Ga Eul commented then, giving the Korean Casanova a brief outline of what she's going to perform without going into the specific details. It's not as though the guy is going to be able to comprehend all the jargon that only the figure skaters would understand.

To be honest, Ga Eul was mentally prepared to skate without any music in the background. After all, she didn't have the mindset to bring along a music player for the occasion… but she was saved from having to skate without music when her cousin, Sakuraba Shuichi poked his head into the ice hockey rink.

"I know that this place is currently being reserved for private usage, but I thought you might need the music player so… I decided to invite myself over for your performance. You wouldn't mind, would you?" Sakuraba Shuichi commented, directing his words towards the figure of Chu Ga Eul, his cousin.

"As long as you made yourself useful, I'll pardon you for barging in uninvited." Chu Ga Eul deadpans at her cousin, as she promptly went into her standby position in the center of the ice-hockey rink.

"Good, and you wouldn't mind - too, right?" Sakuraba Shuichi then turns towards the Korean Casanova of F4 and inquires.

"I have no objections to your presence in here if Ga Eul had no objections. After all, she's the one who requested to ensure that nobody would be around to see the performance. Thus, my decision to book the rink exclusively for the hour." So Yi Jeong responded to the bespectacled member of E3.

"Excellent, given that I'm here to help her out with the music for her performance. I doubt she's going to have any objections to my presence here, this afternoon. Besides, it isn't as though I've not seen her at her worst…" Sakuraba Shuichi allowed his voice to fade off, upon receiving the warning look directed his way by his cousin who obviously didn't want him to go spilling the beans of how many times she had screwed up over the past few days while trying to replicate her past performance perfectly.

It's weird to skate on an ice-hockey rink, Ga Eul surmised. First of all, the size of the rink is smaller than the ice-skating rink used for figure-skating. Likely because of the fixture of the goal post planted on both ends of the rink, for the hockey games. Still, it's doable - since this is an informal performance.

When the music came on - it was the sound of the song 'River flows in You' composed and performed by the infamous South-Korean pianist, Yiruma. And with the start of the music, Ga Eul went into a sequence of steps around the rink first. The first set of jumps she did was the double-triple Salchow combination, the successful execution of the Salchow jumps combination had Ga Eul heaved a sigh of relief inwardly. After all, she had lost her momentum mid-jump in the practice round two days ago, but luckily… today she managed the double-triple Salchow jumps combination without losing her momentum mid-action.

Following the double-triple Salchow jumps combination, Ga Eul glided around the rink for another few seconds using her steps sequence before going into the preparation for the execution of a triple toe-loop jump. The toe-loop jump was followed by a double-flip jump, before ending with the double Axel jump. At the end of the sequence of the jump, Ga Eul came to her favorite part of the choreography - the spins combination. Because the spins are the part that reminded her the most of her ballet training, she started off the spins combination with the camel spin and later straighten her posture back up to perform the upright spin. At the end of the spins combination, she ended her performance with yet another sequence of steps before going into her ending position on the ice as the music came to an end.

"...I thought it was supposed to be a double-flip, triple-axel combination? You did a double-flip, double-axel instead." Sakuraba Shuichi commented as his cousin's performance came to an end.

"I know, but I have a feeling I'll fall if I execute the triple axel, so I axe the last rotation and made it into a double axel instead. Besides, I'm not skating for the ISU grading, so who cares if I didn't incorporate the triple axel into my program?!" Chu Ga Eul commented cheekily to her bespectacled cousin, before making a shooing motion to dismiss her cousin from sight.

"... Fine, no need to shoo me off. I know when I've overstayed my welcome." Sakuraba Shuichi rolls his eyes in response when he noticed the shooing motion directed his way by his cousin.

Once Sakuraba Shuichi took his leave from the ice hockey rink, Chu Ga Eul finally shifted her focus and attention onto the figure of So Yi Jeong and inquires cheekily. "So, what do you think of the graduation gift I have given to you this afternoon?"

"Beautiful. Other than that, I had no other words to describe your performance. If it weren't for the conversation between you and Sakuraba, I probably wouldn't even have noticed that your performance wasn't performed according to the official standards stipulated by the ISU." So Yi Jeong eventually said, after he managed to regain his speech ability.

"Yes well… but that's because you aren't looking at my performance from a professional skater's point of view, which Shuichi definitely is. Hence, he pinpoint the tweaks I've made to the program… either way, I'm glad I managed to pull it off without screwing up during the performance. It's been years since I performed a full program from the beginning to the end, I've been slacking a lot in the figure-skating area." Chu Ga Eul sighed as she thought back on the hassle she had to go through.

First, she had to revise an old choreography of her past performance because it's definitely easier to replicate and make modifications to an old choreography than to come up with a completely new choreography on short notice. After all, she only had days to prepare for today's performance, not months like the time when she was still participating in the competition. Luckily, Shuichi had kept all her past competitions videos and just so happens, to have them with him in Seoul. Otherwise, it will be a tad more troublesome for Ga Eul to gain access to her last official participation in a competition to find a decent skate routine she could use for her performance, today.

"Oh… well, in that case, I apologized for the inconvenience caused. But you can't blame me for being curious… after all, I didn't know a lot of people around me who actually do figure skating. So, when I heard that you used to do figure skating… I've been wanting to see you in action on the ice, at least once." Yi Jeong commented as he apologized sincerely to the girl for the inconvenience his request had brought. But in his defense, it had been the girl who had first asked him what he wish to receive on his graduation day.

"It's fine, I'm not blaming you. Anyway, as long as you did enjoy my performance… all the hassle I'd gone through to replicate my past performance is worth it, in the end." Chu Ga Eul shrugged as she turns towards the Korean Casanova with a beaming smile.

"Thank you for your lovely performance. And to repay you for your efforts made in pulling off that lovely performance from before, please allow me to take you out for dinner tonight." The Korean Casanova begins, flashing his charming dimpled smile that he knows the girl had trouble resisting towards Chu Ga Eul.

"Of course. I'll see you for dinner tonight then. For now, I need to get changed and head back out to locate Jan Di. She's likely wondering where I was by now, and you had your group lunch session with Woo Bin-sunbae and Ji Hoo-sunbae to attend, right?" Chu Ga Eul beams in response at the Korean Casanova, as she took her carrier bag from the empty seat next to the potter of F4 and headed back towards the changing room to get herself changed back into her school uniform.

Not wanting for the Wonder Woman of Korea to know of his secretive meeting with Chu Ga Eul in the building that housed the school's ice-skating rinks, So Yi Jeong waited for a full twenty minutes before he stepped out from the building. By then, Chu Ga Eul was no longer in the area. With ideas swimming around in his mind about where to bring the girl out for dinner tonight, the potter of F4 headed back towards the F4 private lounge to meet up with his friends for their lunch session.

Meanwhile, Chu Ga Eul had met up with her childhood friend - Geum Jan Di, in front of their school-assigned lockers.

"Ga Eul, where have you been?" Geum Jan Di exclaimed as soon as her eyes landed on the figure of her childhood friend heading towards her way from the other end of the school hallway.

"I'm over at the rink." Chu Ga Eul responded evenly to her childhood friend's inquiry, her face betraying no signs of her thoughts. Technically, she didn't lie - she was indeed at the school's ice-skating rink, she just didn't specify which rink she's at, and with whom she was hanging out.

Naturally, for Geum Jan Di - the moment she heard the mention of the ice-skating rink coming out from her childhood friend's lips. She had automatically assumed that her friend was off at the rink with the E3, after all, those guys tend to hang out at the school's ice-skating rink outside of mealtime and class time. The notion of her best friend has spent the past hour in the school's ice-hockey rink, performing a past skate routine for a certain Korean Casanova of F4 had never once crossed Geum Jan Di's mind.

Therefore, when several months down the road… when she first learn of Ga Eul going out on a date with the Korean Casanova, she overreacted. Of course, upon the discovery that the date was 'staged' and that her friend had been out with the Korean Casanova more times she could count before that particular 'staged' date occurs - Geum Jan Di was all the more shelled-shocked. So, it actually took her weeks to confront her childhood friend about just what exactly was going on between her friend and the Korean Casanova. However, that's a story for later. Now, the Wonder Woman of Korea is still blissfully unaware of her childhood friend's involvement with the infamous Korean Casanova of F4.

"Jan Di, since there are no classes today and Summer break will begin officially from this weekend onward. The new school term doesn't begin until 1st August, technically… why don't we head out for lunch? My treat." Chu Ga Eul suggested to her childhood friend cheerfully.

"And where do you intend for us to take our lunch then?" Geum Jan Di inquires, if it's in the past - she might be hesitant about having her friend buy her lunch so often. Now that she knew how rich her friend actually is, she no longer has many reservations when it comes down to allowing her friend to buy her a meal every so often.

"I'm thinking the Miya's Cafe or the MZ Kitchen, that way, you needn't help me save money by ordering the cheapest item on the menu." Chu Ga Eul deadpans at her childhood friend, already figuring out the mentality of her friend.

"Is there any of those outlets in the area where the porridge shop is? I kind of have to report for work earlier today." Geum Jan Di ponders for a second, before revealing her afternoon plans to her friend. She had once again, increased her working hours at the porridge shop part-time job to make up for the time she had taken off during the previous two weeks for the school year-end exams.

"... Of course, in that case, MZ Kitchen is out. They only have two outlets at present, one in the Mapo district and the other in the Gangnam district. So, I guess, we would be taking lunch at the Miya's Cafe - which means, the Italian menu for lunch today." Chu Ga Eul commented without even having the need to think on the subject, seeing as she's quite familiar with the location of each and every Miya's Cafe outlet within the city of Seoul, having patronized them all at least once since they entered the Korean market, a decade ago.

While Miya's Cafe did offer a range of menus for their catering selection, but food that's being served in the Cafe mostly revolved around the Italian menu. And since she's already going Italian for lunch, Ga Eul decided to drop a text message to a certain Casanova who promised to take her out for dinner tonight - to avoid picking an Italian restaurant for their dinner appointment.

A private message between Chu Ga Eul and So Yi Jeong, 29th May 2009, Friday, 1pm

Ga Eul: No worry, this is not a lunch reminder text message given that I know you're meeting Woo Bin-sunbae and Ji Hoo-sunbae for lunch. I just want to request that we avoid Italian food for dinner tonight, because Jan Di and I would be having lunch at Miya's Cafe shortly. ^^;

Yi Jeong: Noted, I'll make sure to pick a restaurant that isn't Italian. Speaking of dinner, is it okay for me to pick you up at 6.30pm?

Ga Eul: 6.30pm is fine. ^_^

Yi Jeong: Good. I'll see you at 6.30pm, this evening then.

Ga Eul: See you. ^_^

Anyway, during the lunch session, Ga Eul took with her childhood friend to the Miya's Cafe outlet close to where the porridge shop owned by Bom Choon-Sik is situated… she didn't bring up the mention of the Shinhwa heir's name. Instead, what Ga Eul choose to speak with her childhood friend over lunch this afternoon, relates more to the pressing issue of her friend's family relocation progress. She wasn't short-memory enough to forget about the fact that her friend's family lease with their present landlord to continue occupying the residential quarters above their shuttered laundry shop would expire by July, this year. Given that, it's now the end of May… her friend's family is down to the last one month to find themselves a new place of residence to rent.

"Jan Di ah, don't mind me inquiring… but how is the apartment search going on your parents' end?" Ga Eul prompted after she collected her own food tray from the food collection counter and joined her friend at the table tucked away in a corner of the cafe that wasn't anywhere near the window.

"On the subject, my parents are saying that we might have to move away from our current neighborhood. Our current landlord had the habit of talking to his acquaintance, and thus most of them in our current neighborhood knows of how we had once offended the management of the Shinhwa Group, causing our laundry shop to shutter. Henceforth, based on the property agent recount - it's not likely that we would be able to rent a place within our budget in the same community." Geum Jan Di explains to her friend, about why there hasn't been much progress on the front about her family's relocation to another place of residence.

"Okay, what's your uptake about moving out from your current neighborhood?" Chu Ga Eul inquires, there must be something that causes obstacles for their family's apartment search. So, it's either they are reluctant to change the neighborhood or they have a preferred location where they want to reside, or it could simply be due to the money issue.

"Seriously, I'm fine with changing the neighborhood. And I'm completely fine with not residing near the school. We all know how expensive the apartments, especially family-sized apartments cost in the neighborhood closest to the Shinhwa Academy. But my Appa seems to have the mindset that if we need to move out of our current neighborhood, then we might as well move closer to where the Shinhwa Academy is. My eomma, on the other hand, wanted to stay close to where we are staying right now because it would be more convenient for her to travel to the bathhouse for her part-time job. Kang San's only request was for our new place of residence to be situated in a convenient neighborhood with direct access to trains, and buses that would allow him to commute to school on his own." Geum Jan Di sighed aloud as she finally let it slip to her childhood friend about the different expectations from her family members that are posing a challenge to their property agent in finding them a suitable place to rent for their next 'home'.

"Jan Di, I think you need to sit down with your parents and tell them straight in their face to be realistic. First, have them list out their budget and their preferred neighborhood, and the expectation they would want for your new family residence. Following this, give your property agent a call and let him know of the above-mentioned crucial information. Don't just rely on one single agent, contact a few more - if you do not know who to call up, I suggest you give Nari a call. Her father works in the property market, so I'm certain he will be able to provide some form of assistance. While at it, tell your parents that they can't expect that the apartments found for your family by the agents would check all their boxes. And then, they can go for the apartment viewing before making a final decision - but in the end, it's a give and takes approach." Chu Ga Eul flat-out told her childhood friend that her friend needs to give her parents a reality check.

"Ga Eul, you really don't mince your words - do you?" Geum Jan Di winced at the intensity behind her friend's blunt words of advice, as she commented wryly.

"Not to insult your parents, but Jan Di… your parents are the kind that needs a harsh blow to their head to wake them up. They seemed to be under the impression that because you're the girlfriend of Jun Pyo-sunbae, the world would revolve itself around them by presenting to them the best solution under the present circumstance. Sadly, that isn't the way reality works. Especially, since you're only Jun Pyo-sunbae's girlfriend, not his wife. In addition, his mother isn't all that approving of your relationship with him even. Under these circumstances, there is just no way, that people would go out of the way to accommodate your parents' wishful thinking of getting a bigger size apartment, in an upscale neighborhood that's conveniently situated in the district where the Shinhwa Academy is located at a pricing that's within their budget." Chu Ga Eul deadpans to her childhood friend, not bothering to sugarcoat her words.

"You're right, Ga Eul. Time is ticking with each passing second, and I think I know what I should do now." Geum Jan Di nodded, making the resolution to sit down with her parents for a chat about their family apartment's search by tonight, if possible.

After all, the search for an apartment could be rather time-consuming… and if they didn't want to end up homeless by the time the lease fully expires. They really need to secure a new place of residence over the next one month, preferably. After all, the new leasing contract needed to be signed and payment need to be made before they could actually move into their new place of residence. So, the earlier they decided on an apartment unit for their impending move, the better.

Location: Outside Chu's Family Residence, Songpa District, Seoul. 29th May 2009, Friday, 6.30pm

True to Ga Eul's expectation, the Korean Casanova did show up on her doorstep in his orange lotus. And when he stepped out of the car, he had with him a flower bouquet in his hands which he handed over to her shortly after arriving at a stop in front of her person. Of course, it isn't a bouquet of red roses - but it's still roses, only in the shade of yellow - which symbolize friendship.

"Thank you for the flowers, Yi Jeong-sunbae. So… where exactly are we going for dinner, this evening?" Chu Ga Eul accepted the yellow roses with grace as she inquires, her expression one of serenity - giving no signs of the slight disappointment she had felt when she noticed that the roses are still yellow. Then again, it's still a vast improvement from the sunflowers bouquet she had received from the guy, the first time around when he starts the routine of gifting her flower bouquet. And although, both the yellow roses and the sunflowers meant the same thing in essence - Ga Eul still prefers to receive yellow roses as opposed to sunflowers.

"I have two options for you, so where exactly are we going for dinner lies with your ultimate decision of whether you wanted Asian cuisines or Western cuisines today. We'll do French if you opted for western cuisines, Thai if you decide to pick Asian cuisines for tonight's dinner." So Yi Jeong responded, as he settled back behind the driver's wheel of his orange lotus.

"Given the options, I'll pick Thai food over French any day." Chu Ga Eul commented somewhat cheekily at the Korean Casanova.

"As I've expected, and so, I've gone ahead and made a reservation at 7pm at the Thai restaurant we had patronized a few weeks ago." The Korean Casanova smirked in response, as he steers his orange lotus towards the shortest route that will bring them from the Songpa district, where the Chu family home is situated to the Gangnam district where the Thai restaurant they would be visiting for dinner tonight is located.

"Why bother to let me choose when you already know I'm bound to pick Thai food over French cuisines, to begin with?" Chu Ga Eul couldn't help but ask the Korean Casanova in bewilderment. Considering that the guy has already booked them a table at the Thai restaurant, it's obvious that he already knows which option she is going to pick… so, why did he bother to ask her that earlier query?

"Hmm… although, I'm quite confident that you would pick Thai over French… I can't afford to be over-confident too, in particular, since Woo Bin did mention something about girls are often fickle-minded. What they like one second, they might detest the next… and so… I thought it best to play safe, and asks for your opinion first." So Yi Jeong shrugged in response, quoting something he had heard from his best friend several months ago to the country bumpkin.

"...Well, I'm not like most girls." Chu Ga Eul commented dryly at the Korean Casanova in response.

"Of course, I'll make sure to keep that in mind. So, when are you setting off for your Japan trip? You are heading over there this Summer, as well - right?" So Yi Jeong inquires, using the time they are still on the way towards the restaurant to ask the nagging question he had on his mind for days.

"Hmm… I'm leaving for Tokyo, on the 15th of June and wouldn't be back until the end of July. So, in total, I'll be spending 1.5 months in Japan." Chu Ga Eul responded with ease, she didn't bother asking the Korean Casanova why he would want to know of her date of departure to Japan, this summer.

"I see…is your family joining you on your summer trip to Japan, this year?" The Korean Casanova continues to ask, trying to make it seems as though he was just making small conversations so the journey towards their dining venue wouldn't be engulfed in silence. When in actuality, he was asking Chu Ga Eul these questions because he wanted to satisfy his personal curiosity for one, and secondly - he had plans to visit the girl while she's in Japan, this summer.

For that purpose alone, Yi Jeong had sort of agreed to take on a freelance work trip to Japan. Someone working at the Mashiko Pottery Cooperative Selling Centre in the Tochigi Prefecture, situated 2.5 hours train ride away from Tokyo had dropped the potter of F4 an invitation to host a 3-days workshop session to speak to the local high-school students about the contemporary ceramic and pottery creation. Although, giving lectures and lessons on pottery and ceramic creations seems to be something his father has more experience in doing - Yi Jeong believed he could do the same if he wishes to.

Of course, in Seoul, unless he was ordered to conduct a workshop session by his grandfather - he tends to avoid giving such lectures because it reminded him a tad too much of his father's work as a professor at the National University of Seoul. But in Japan, though… he wouldn't mind delivering such lectures on an ad-hoc basis, especially in the summer if it would provide him with a valid excuse for visiting a certain country bumpkin who has the tradition of spending summers in Tokyo, Japan.

"Not for this year, Eomma is too busy with her work to leave Seoul for the time being. And Appa didn't want to leave Eomma alone in Seoul, and Jung Min wanted to stay with both Appa and Eomma. So, I'm on my own this year… which is completely fine, I'm no longer 5-years-old. I can handle traveling alone on a flight to Tokyo, and if Kazuki could survive staying in Seoul alone without domestic aid for the past year… I'm sure I can handle staying in Tokyo alone in my family-owned apartment for a mere 1.5 months." Chu Ga Eul stated in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"I see… and where exactly is your family apartment located in Tokyo if you don't mind me asking? I'm due to host a workshop in the Tochigi Prefecture, and I might swing by Tokyo before or after the Tochigi trip. And if I'm in the area, I might pop by to pay you a visit." The Korean Casanova commented, flashing his charming smile towards the direction of the country bumpkin.

"Really? You're going to host a workshop event in the Tochigi Prefecture? When is that going to be?" Chu Ga Eul blinked, turning towards the Korean Casanova with unbidden interest shining through her eyes.

"In the summer for certain, but I'm not sure when exactly in the summer is the workshop going to take place. I'm still waiting for the organizers for the event to send me the relevant details." So Yi Jeong responded as he steers his orange lotus into the multi-story parking facility situated in the building next to the Thai restaurant. They would have to walk their way over to the Thai restaurant since the building that housed the restaurant doesn't come with its own commercial parking facility.

"I see, well… just drop me a text message ahead of time if you are going to be swinging by for a visit. Since I'm likely to be spending the bulk of my time while in Tokyo with Miyuki and Misaki. As for my residential address in Japan, I'll send you the details later tonight via text." Chu Ga Eul commented as she stepped out of the orange lotus after the Korean Casanova had opened the side passenger door for her.

"Of course." So Yi Jeong nodded, agreeing to the girl's request of dropping her a text in advance - should he decide to swing by for a visit while he's in Japan.

"Reservation for two under the name - So Yi Jeong." The Korean Casanova told the waiter stationed at the entrance of the restaurant, upon their arrival.

It goes without saying that the name - So Yi Jeong was so recognizable that the waiter didn't even need to double-check for the name on the list of reservations made for this evening. Simply hearing the name was enough for the waiter to direct his colleague over to lead the Korean Casanova and his dining companion for this evening to the table he had reserved for the occasion.

By this point, Ga Eul was no longer surprised that the Korean Casanova actually booked them a private dining booth when he mentioned having made a reservation for a table for them in the restaurant. After all, that guy was part of the F4 - of course, he wouldn't be caught dining in the public zone of the restaurant. It can be quite a discomfiting experience to dine under the scrutiny of so many people… it's one thing if they were in another country, where people don't really know who the F4 is, but in Seoul… there's literally nobody who doesn't know the names to the members of F4.

Handing a copy of the menu over to Chu Ga Eul, the Korean Casanova begins. "So, have you given any thought about what you want to order for dinner - today?"

"Yes, actually. I wanted to order the pineapple fried rice. For some reason, I'm in a mood for pineapple fried rice. You?" Chu Ga Eul then glances over to the Korean Casanova for a response.

"I'm going for the Seafood Pad Thai." So Yi Jeong responded deciding to order his usual order while patronizing this particular restaurant.

"Are you open to the idea of adding some side orders for sharing?" Chu Ga Eul inquires, glancing over to the Korean Casanova questioningly. She didn't want to assume that the guy would be okay with the idea, simply because he didn't object to the notion of food sharing the last time they visited the restaurant together.

"Of course, Ga Eul. You ought to know by now that I'm always willing to bend my rules for you." The potter of F4 smiled his response at the country bumpkin and wasn't in the least surprised by the blushing reaction he had garnered in the girl. After all, he knows very well that the girl always finds his dimpled smile irresistible.

"Thank you, Yi Jeong-sunbae." The country bumpkin beams in response at the Korean Casanova, before turning her attention to the awaiting waiter standing by their table waiting to take their orders, still.

"In that case, add on the prawn omelet, the green mango salad, and the clear Tom Yum Seafood Soup." Chu Ga Eul then turns towards the waiter to place her additional orders.

Since the green mango salad and the soup falls under the starters category on the menu, they are among the first dishes to be served. The prawn omelet follows soon after before the main dish was brought over to their table by the serving staff on duty at the restaurant. Needless to say, before digging into the meal - Chu Ga Eul who loves to take photos of absolutely everything, went on to take a photo of the dishes served and uploaded it onto her Instagram account and tagged it 'TGIF' & 'Yummy Thai Food' before setting aside her phone in favor of the actual task of eating.

Just like any other guys, So Yi Jeong also finds the idea of the girls' common habit of taking photos of the food and sharing it on social media platforms incomprehensible. Only, he didn't voice his incomprehension aloud lest he risks drawing ire from the girl seated opposite him in the restaurant. So, while Chu Ga Eul was busy taking photos of the dishes they had ordered for dinner this evening with her mobile phone - he was busy observing the girl discreetly with a fond look he wasn't aware he was showing in his eyes.

"Alright, I'm done. We could start digging in now." The sound of Chu Ga Eul's voice announcing that she's done with her photo-taking of the dishes, snapped the focus of the Korean Casanova away from the girl and onto the dishes served on their dining table, this evening. Looking at the number of dishes on the table, the potter of F4 had a feeling that a shopping trip in the nearby shopping belt is necessary after the meal. Otherwise, he would feel too bloated to drive after the meal with Chu Ga Eul came to an end, this evening.

The shopping trip in the Shinhwa departmental store, following the end of their dinner appointment, was originally meant to be a window-shopping trip. What happens in the end though, wasn't him buying anything for the girl but that he ended up buying a microwave oven for his kitchenette in his pottery studio, under the country bumpkin's insistence.

"Why is it necessary for me to own a microwave oven?" So Yi Jeong couldn't help but press Chu Ga Eul for an explanation when he detected the underlying hint from the girl genuinely suggesting for him to purchase such an electrical appliance for his kitchenette area. Especially since the girl knows he can't cook, the electrical stove installed on his kitchenette countertop is mostly for show. It has never been utilized before since its installation.

"Because that way, it will make things easier for you when there's a need to reheat whatever food I decided to bring over to your studio for your meals. I don't exactly have time to swing by your place three times a day, at stipulated mealtime - you know?" Chu Ga Eul commented wryly in response to the inquiry coming from the potter of F4. Seeing as the guy does know how to operate a microwave oven, based on the recount she had heard from a certain Don Juan of F4 - the last time they dine together in the F4 private lounge, as a group during lunch break.

"Are you trying to tell me that you would be including my breakfast and lunch for the following day when you decide to swing by with food for my dinner - the next time around?" So Yi Jeong raised an eyebrow up at the figure of Chu Ga Eul questioningly, at the end of the girl's comments.

"Well… I'm not discounting the possibility of your statement." Chu Ga Eul flushes momentarily as she averted her eyes away from the inquiring gaze from the Korean Casanova. And then, she went on to focus her full attention on the task of picking out a microwave oven that would fit in the kitchenette space of the pottery studio from the range of microwave ovens available for selection in the kitchen appliances section of the Shinhwa departmental store.

Behind the figure of Chu Ga Eul, the potter of F4 simply shakes his head with a fond smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he allows the girl to do as he pleased and picked out a microwave oven for his kitchenette space. Besides, the girl does bring up a valid point - owning a microwave oven has its own merits. Not only it would allow him to heat up whatever food the country bumpkin had prepped up for him and left in his fridge overnight, for his next day's consumption… it will also allow him to enjoy warm and soft croissants he had picked up from the convenience store for his breakfast, as though they were freshly baked from the oven.

~TBC~

Chapter's notes: This is part 2 of the interlude chapter, and I made sure to pack it with lots of SoEul! There's more SoEul to come in the next chapter, which is part 3 of the interlude. Either way, what do you think of this chapter of original contents? Let me know, okay?

I dedicated the beginning of this chapter to the Gu family, giving the husband of Jun Hee some screen time. He didn't even appear in the original drama, and all we know is that Jun Hee was married off to the heir of some hotel tycoon business group through the annoying trio ramblings. But I figured Gu Bon-Hyeong's collapse is a big thing, and as the son-in-law, he couldn't exactly stay out of the picture fully and hence the creation of his character, and the scene featured in the first part of this chapter.

From the second scene onward, most of the scenes are focused on SoEul with Shuichi given a cameo scene in the figure-skating portion of the chapter. The music used for Ga Eul's figure-skating is 'River flows in You by Yiruma. There are plenty of videos featuring figure-skating using that music on Youtube, so… if you need a reference video to have a feel of how Ga Eul's performance is like - feel free to use either one as reference materials.

Jan Di appears briefly in this chapter as well, and most of her scenes have to do with Ga Eul. Likewise, for Sunny - she was given some screen-time too. The first scene features a lunch scene on the rooftop with Areum, and the second scene involves a conversation with Areum and Jessica during the graduation ceremony.

Woo Bin was allocated two separate screen-time in this chapter, the first is a conversation with Yi Jeong before the graduation ceremony. The second is a conversation scene with Ji Hoo after the graduation scene.

Last but not least, there are going to be time-skips from this chapter to the next chapter for certain. In this chapter, the events took place in May. But in the next chapter, time-skips would be happening more often. It would jump from June to July in the blink of an eye since I'm trying to keep to my plan of having only three interlude chapters to bridge the events of episodes 12 and 13 together. *Cross fingers and hoped everything went smoothly.*

That's all for now, ciao~ Happy Boxing Day!