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 31: An interlude, part 4 - Bangkok, Tokyo, Aussie & Seoul!
Location: Bangkok, Thailand. 4th July 2009, Saturday evening, 8pm
Song Woo Bin's first impression of the heiress of the JK Group was - daring. Despite having lodged in the same hotel and arrived in Bangkok on the same day, they hasn't really got a chance to get acquainted with one another until the evening of the 4th of July 2009. The night before the Ii-Shin Construction heir was due to return to Seoul.
As to how exactly they had ended up getting acquainted with one another. Well… it started mostly from a snippet of conversation or rather an argument between the heiress of the JK Group and her bodyguard, which the Ii-Shin heir had the misfortune to overhear. The argument between the two of them began as the heiress of the JK Group declared that she wanted to visit one of the infamous nightlife entertainment spots of Bangkok, which her bodyguard promptly refuted on the basis that - the red-light district was not for young, respectable ladies like the heiress of the JK Group to be patronizing.
"But Chen… words has it that the ladyboys could only be found in the Nana Plaza." Ha Jae-Kyung argued, trying to plead her case with her bodyguard to let her explore the infamous nightlife entertainment spot in Bangkok, Thailand.
"Young Mistress, places like the Nana Plaza could be really shady. And young lady like yourself really shouldn't be patronizing such venues without an escort." Chen, the ever-responsible bodyguard of Ha Jae-Kyung pointed out objectively to the stubborn heiress of the JK Group.
"You are here, aren't you? Surely, you could be my escort around the place?" Ha Jae-Kyung refused to be talked out from the notion of patronizing the Nana Plaza.
"With all due respect, you ought to know that I'm not a fan of such establishments and the rowdiness of such establishments never fails to bring on a migraine in me. Should I know that you intend to hit the bars and visit places like the Nana Plaza, I should have called in my elder brother to escort you around on this impromptu trip around South East Asia - to begin with." Chen deadpans to her young mistress with an unimpressed look in her eyes.
"Well… if you really don't want to join me on my trip to the Nana Plaza, I supposed I can't force you… In that case, I guess I'll just have to risk it and visit the Nana Plaza on my own." Ha Jae-Kyung commented as she stood from the sofa couch placed in the lobby of the Shinhwa Hotel in Bangkok, ready to leave.
"Young Mistress, whoever said you could visit such establishments alone?" Chen started, as she gripped onto the hand of the heiress of the JK Group, refusing to budge on the issue.
Woo Bin supposed he must have snorted aloud at the sight or something because he soon found the eyes of the JK Group heiress zeroing in on his person. The moment he noticed the girl's eyes lighting up, he started to feel a sense of dread hanging over his head. Sure enough, the next moment, he found his arms being taken forcibly by the unknown young lady.
"Ah-ha! Chen, here - I found my escort." Ha Jae-Kyung grinned in triumph as she declares. And then, turning towards the stupefied-looking Song Woo Bin, the heiress of the JK Group flashes him a bright grin and comments. "Being the infamous Don Juan of F4, surely you wouldn't turn down my request to tour the Nana Plaza - would you?"
"..." Flicking his gaze between the unknown young lady and her bodyguard, Song Woo Bin found himself agreeing reluctantly to the idea of playing escort to the unknown young lady who had his hands in a tight grip that he had trouble freeing himself from, without resorting to the use of brute force. Still, not wanting to tarnish his reputation of being the perfect ladies' man - Song Woo Bin had hoped to resolve this unforeseen matter civilly. And thus, when he realized that there isn't a viable way for him to wriggle out of the situation - he had resigned himself to the idea of playing escort to this unknown young lady.
"See, Chen - he agreed. So, would you let me visit the Nana Plaza now?" Ha Jae-Kyung then shifted her eyes back to her disapproving bodyguard with a triumphant grin playing on her lips.
"Fine." Chen huffed in exasperation, as she shifted her eyes onto the figure of Song Woo Bin and commented in an apologetic tone of voice. "I apologized for the inconvenience my young mistress must have caused you, Mr. Song. Still, I beseech you to play the role of being a dutiful escort to her this evening on her trip to the infamous red-light district of Bangkok."
"Of course." Song Woo Bin nodded his agreement to the words of the stern-looking female bodyguard of the unknown young lady, as he inwardly wonders how the unknown girl even knows of his reputation of being the Don Juan of F4? Given that the F4 isn't so famous, that people who don't reside in Seoul know of them.
Woo Bin wasn't wrong when he presumed that most people who don't stay in Seoul had no idea of his Don Juan reputation unless specifically pointed out by someone. And the heiress of the JK Group had indeed not known of his Don Juan reputation if she hasn't had the opportunity to overhear a couple of young ladies' gossiping conversation earlier on in the day. Jae-Kyung has been seated at the table next to a group of young Korean ladies vacationing in Bangkok, Thailand for the summer earlier this morning in the in-house restaurant of the Shinhwa Hotel in Bangkok.
Anyway, she was only half-listening to the gossiping conversations from the table next to her when one of the girls suddenly squealed aloud about the Don Juan of F4 being in the hotel, and what she would give for the guy to look in her direction. Out of curiosity, Jae-Kyung had followed the squealing girl's line of sight and found herself landing her eyes upon the figure of Song Woo Bin stepping foot into the restaurant, and being shown to a private dining area with his team of bodyguards surrounding him.
Anyway, it was through the few young ladies' conversations that the heiress of the JK Group, garnered that the Don Juan of the F4 was well-known for his reputation of being a ladies' man with utmost patience. And that unlike his counterpart - the Korean Casanova of F4, he seldom turn away a lady in need of assistance. And that was, ultimately, the reason why Jae-Kyung decided to rope the guy forcibly into playing escort for her this evening, at the infamous nightlife establishment of Bangkok - Nana Plaza.
"I don't understand, why on earth would you want to visit a place like this?" Song Woo Bin feels dreadful as he escorted the heiress of the JK Group into one of the three infamous red-light districts of Bangkok - Nana Plaza.
Nana Plaza - is a plaza filled up with plenty of go-go bars, where tourists could easily pick up bar girls for a bar-fine ranging from 500 to 1000 Thai baht. And while the heir of the Ii-Shin Construction did patronize several go-go bars over the past few days, this was the first time he was visiting such an establishment playing escort to a wilful young lady who went to the extent of disguising herself in man's garb simply because she's curious about the 'lady-boys'. As for the girl's decision to disguise himself as a male tourist, her reason was that it's mostly the men that patronize the red-light district and she didn't want to be mistaken as a freelance hooker that ply the street outside the Nana Plaza and henceforth her disguise attempt.
For a while, the Don Juan of F4 contemplates telling the girl straight-out that nobody is going to be fooled by her disguising gears but then, thought better of it. The last thing he wants is to stand outside the Nana Plaza having a discussion with the girl about why her disguise wasn't working. It's awkward enough for him to play escort for someone unfamiliar in the red-light district on foreign land, and he didn't wish to prolong the awkwardness if possible. The sooner the girl's curiosity on the 'lady-boys' was sated, the earlier they could head back to the hotel and release him officially from this 'escort' duty that was forcibly foisted on his person.
"Curiosity, I guess. You don't see trans very often in real life, but in Bangkok - it seems it's not that difficult to find a trans walking around. I've heard from a friend of mine in the UK who visited the country a few years ago, that lady-boys tend to hang around in this area and if I'm so curious about seeing a lady-boy, then I ought to visit the area in person at least once." Ha Jae-Kyung explains with a shrug, obviously not feeling guilty about having rope the Don Juan of F4 forcibly into the role of her escort for this evening.
"Speaking of curiosity, how on earth did you come to know about me and my reputation of being the Don Juan of F4? I'm quite certain that the F4 isn't well-known to the extent that people outside of Korea will know our faces at first glance. While on the subject, it didn't seem fair that only you are aware of my identity whereas I still have no idea of your name." Song Woo Bin commented as he directed a pointed look at the girl he had reluctantly agreed to escort around the nightlife establishment - Nana Plaza in Bangkok, Thailand.
"Oh, of course, the F4 isn't famous to that extent. To be honest, I don't even know what the acronym F4 stands for. I wouldn't have known of you if I hasn't had the opportunity to overhear a few Korean ladies vacationing in Bangkok talking about the Don Juan of F4 being in town. And because they had kind of squealed in response when you entered the hotel's in-house restaurant with your bodyguards in tow earlier this morning, it kind of left me with a strong impression which brings me to rope you into playing escort for me this evening. Anyway, I'm Ha Jae-Kyung - the heiress to the JK Group currently based in the UK." Jae-Kyung finally remembered to provide the Don Juan of F4 with a self-introduction of her identity, as she continues to flick her eyes curiously around trying to see if she could tell which bar-girl is a legit female and which one of the bar-girl is actually a lady-boy.
"Right, well… you already know me as the Don Juan of F4, as well as my name. Nonetheless, I believe a formal introduction is in order. I'm Song Woo Bin, the heir to the Ii-Shin Construction Group." Woo Bin then introduced himself officially to the heiress of the JK Group as he held out a hand for the girl to shake.
"Nice to meet your acquaintance." Ha Jae-Kyung took hold of the extended hand of the Don Juan of F4 and gave it a firm shake, before letting go and continuing to eye her surrounding with unbidden curiosity.
"...Stop looking around at the bar-girls with that curious look of yours. If you want to see how a lady-boy looks like, then you'd best follow me. There's a couple of lady-boy go-go bars on the second floor of the plaza, there, you can ogle them all you like. I'm sure some of them would even be open to the idea of chatting with you on the subject." Song Woo Bin deadpans to the curious heiress of the JK Group, as he led them towards a bar named - Chili situated on the second floor of the plaza.
The hour spent in the lady-boy go-go bar in Nana Plaza was really a drag for the Don Juan of F4, because as far as bars are concerned - he actually prefers bars with authentic ladies for company. The fact that he's playing escort to the wilful heiress of the JK Group meant he isn't allowed to leave the girl alone in such a sleazy establishment. And so, he sat through several rounds of drinks and holds idle conversations in English with the lady-boy employees at the bar while keeping an eye out on the heiress who seems to be having fun chatting with a lady-boy.
When the heiress of the JK Group finally expressed her intention to leave the establishment, Song Woo Bin wasted no time in leaving and dragging the girl behind him as he left the bar. He only allowed himself to heave a sigh of relief once they fully stepped out from the Nana Plaza. "Alright, you've satisfied your curiosity - can we go back to the hotel now? Honestly, I'm due to depart Bangkok tomorrow morning - but because of you, I had to make some last-minute adjustments to my original plan. So, I would really prefer to call it a day and head back to the hotel to rest…" The Don Juan of F4 then turns towards the figure of Ha Jae-Kyung and made his demands known.
"Alright… I got it. Fine, we'll head back to the hotel and then I'll release you officially from your escort duty in front of my bodyguard. That's what you're after, isn't it? Anyway, thanks for escorting me around the plaza and for being extremely patient with me while I get my curiosity sated." Ha Jae-Kyung flashes a beaming smile of gratitude towards the Don Juan of F4 before flagging down a cab and hopped into the vehicle with the Don Juan of F4, climbing in after her when the vehicle came to a stop in front of them on the roadside outside of the Nana Plaza district.
The moment Song Woo Bin arrived back at the hotel and following his official release from playing escort to the heiress of the JK Group - the first thing he did was to call up his chartered flight crew to push back the timing of his departure from Bangkok tomorrow morning by two hours. Mostly because his original intention was to pop by the Siam Paragon, a group of malls in the central Bangkok district for some last-minute shopping errand.
His mother had told him to get a list of things back for her from Bangkok, which he hasn't gotten around to doing. Of course, he might as well grab a bottle of wine for Yi Jeong as a souvenir while at it, since he's always breaking into his friend's liquor collection. That has been his original plan for this evening, only he ended up getting roped in by the wilful heiress of the JK Group to play escort for her at one of the three infamous red-light districts in Bangkok.
His last thought before falling asleep was to hope that nothing would go awry with his new plans, and he hopes that he wouldn't have the misfortune of running into the heiress of the JK Group, the following morning. Which, he thankfully didn't meet the girl again when morning comes around. So, he was able to carry out his adjusted plans accordingly. Still, it didn't mean that his encounter with the heiress of the JK Group was a one-off occurrence because he would later run into the girl again in Macau by chance.
Location: Tokyo, Japan. 5th July 2009, Sunday morning, 8am
On the morning of 5th July, the day which Chu Ga Eul had reserved the entirety of her time for a certain Korean Casanova for sightseeing purposes woke up fairly early in the morning, to doll herself up in front of her mirror in preparation for the meet-up with the potter of F4. After all, it's unthinkable for a Japanese lady regardless of age to step out of their residential place without dolling up. So, taking into consideration the fact that she's meeting up with the guy she is romantically invested in - all the more reason for her to doll herself up properly.
Given that quite a lot of walking is required based on her planned itinerary for today's sightseeing trip around Tokyo, Chu Ga Eul decided to go smart casual. Forgoing the options of dresses and skirts in her limited summer collection of clothes she had brought along with her from Seoul, or recently purchased from the various shopping malls in Tokyo under the persuasion of her half-sibling, Miyuki, and her cousin, Misaki.
Ga Eul opted for a pink V-neck short sleeves top and complete the look with a pair of denim jeans. For her footwear, she went with the white and pink sports shoes from the Nike collection for ladies. Finally, she made a grab for her multipurpose tote bag from Bellroy, put in her wallet, apartment unit keys, a bottle of water, and her mobile phone. With that, she's ready to go - of course, she didn't forget to include in her tote bag a small cosmetic pouch holding the basics of her cosmetic make-up kit lest she needs to reapply her make-up midway through the sightseeing tour around Tokyo with the Korean Casanova. She was about to step out of the apartment when she sighted the Nikon camera sitting on the coffee table, and with a shrug, she decided she might as well bring it along with her on the sightseeing trip. Who knows? Maybe the Korean Casanova might be amenable to the idea of taking a couple of pictures for her/with her?
Arriving at a stop in front of the Shinhwa Hotel in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan - Chu Ga Eul took a moment to inspect her appearance through the compact hand-mirror she had with her before stepping into the lobby of the hotel. The moment she entered through the entrance of the hotel building, it didn't take her long to locate the familiar figure of So Yi Jeong seated on the sofa couch in the lobby of the hotel, obviously waiting for her arrival.
"Yi Jeong-sunbae, sorry to keep you waiting. I'm not late for our breakfast appointment, am I?" Chu Ga Eul began, her voice drawing the Korean Casanova away from whatever thoughts that has been keeping him occupied this morning.
Looking up at the sound of his name being called out, So Yi Jeong flashes a warm smile to the approaching figure of Chu Ga Eul as he stood to welcome the girl's arrival. "Good morning, Ga Eul. No worries, you aren't late. I'm the one who's early, our breakfast appointment is scheduled at 8am and you're right on time actually. Here, I've bought you a little something as a souvenir from my trip to the Tochigi Prefecture." The Korean Casanova commented as he handed over the box of strawberry-flavored Kit-Kats to the country bumpkin while stamping down his urge to greet the girl with an embrace and a kiss on the cheeks. After all, it's not as though they haven't met up for ages… given the fact that they have only just met up for dinner a couple of days ago. Besides, he didn't want to startle the country bumpkin with his sudden show of affections just yet.
"Oh, thank you." Chu Ga Eul accepted the offered chocolates with a bright cheery grin and promptly dropped them into her tote bag. It's a good thing that she had thought it prudent to bring a tote bag along with her for the sightseeing trip she had planned for the Korean Casanova today, how else is she going to fit the box of chocolates in her usual purse?!
Ga Eul's closet in her bedroom of the Shinagawa apartment unit didn't hold a lot of her attires, given that she only spend 1.5 months out of the entire year in Japan. So, outside of the selected summer yukata that she tends to wear for the festival, for instance, the Mitama Matsuri during mid-July and the Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival taking place on the last Saturday in July. Most of the attires stashed away in the wardrobe of her bedroom in Shinagawa, Tokyo is mostly comfortably loungewear from the Uniqlo collections. For the rest of her outfits, she usually packed them and bring them over from Seoul and later brought them back with her when she returns home to Korea.
Likewise, it was the same for her bags. To meet the different needs and occasions, Ga Eul usually packed with her a multipurpose tote bag alongside her purse/clutch whenever she travel to Japan for her summer holidays. For this year's summer trip, she brought with her a total of four different bags.
One of which is her carry-on backpack, which also serves as her carry-on baggage. The remaining three bags she has in her suitcase is a cloth sling bag, which she had utilized on her first day in town when she headed out for lunch with her half-siblings. The second bag is her purse/clutch bag which she had utilized while attending the social functions Miyazawa nee Takahashi Midori has in mind to send her out on, with her half-sister Miyuki. And the third bag she brought with her to Japan this year was her multipurpose tote bag that she purchased a couple of years ago via online platforms.
Today, as she's planning to bring the Korean Casanova around for sightseeing purposes - she had brought along not just her mobile phone but also her Nikon camera. As such a purse/clutch wouldn't be too useful for the occasion, and the cloth sling bag doesn't match her outfit for the day. Thus, she had opted to utilize the use of her multipurpose tote bag instead.
Breakfast that was served at the in-house restaurant at the Shinhwa hotel - Shinagawa is in the continental style, which is good - since it means Ga Eul gets to decide what to eat from the buffet selection. Meanwhile, So Yi Jeong who had already tried out the buffet breakfast several days ago, before his trip to the Tochigi Prefecture decided to opt for the a-la-carte menu. Thus, when Chu Ga Eul went on to take a look at the available breakfast choices at the buffet table - he opted to order himself a French Toast set with a cup of Espresso from the waiting staff at the restaurant for his breakfast.
"So, care to let me in on just what exactly do you have planned for the day?" The Korean Casanova inquires after Chu Ga Eul returned to the table where he was seated with a plate of breakfast selection for her own consumption.
"Well, my idea is, to begin with, the place of interest within Shinagawa before moving towards other famous tourists spot. So, the first place we are going to visit would be the Hara Museum - they have a Winter Garden exhibition going on at present. It's on the exploration of Micropop imagination in contemporary Japanese Art. After that, I'll bring you for a visit at the Epson aqua park situated within the compound of the Prince Hotel." Chu Ga Eul responded giving the Korean Casanova an outline of the plan she had put together for today's sightseeing trip around Tokyo.
"Epson Aquapark? What's that?" So Yi Jeong was confused when he heard the word park - he had assumed that it's a place surrounded by nature and horticulture, something similar to the Gotenyamanooka Park which they had visited briefly for their after-meal stroll on his first day in Japan. But then, the term aqua makes him pause momentarily.
"It's basically an aquarium operated by the Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise that partners up with the Epson Group. It's an aquarium, unlike others, due to the employment of high-tech projection mapping skills. You'll know what I mean when you see the place with your own eyes. It's hard to put it into words." Chu Ga Eul answered, enjoying the slight widening of the eyes of the Korean Casanova when he learn that the aqua park is actually an aquarium.
Not just that, most people tend to find it disbelieving that an aquarium could be housed within the grounds of a hotel. But then again, people also find it hard to believe that there's a garden with a nice waterfall right smack in the middle of several high-rise apartment buildings and two hotels. Yet, that is exactly where the Gotenyamanooka Park was situated.
"Seriously? An aquarium on the grounds of a hotel?" So Yi Jeong blinked as he digested the bit of information, now he was truly curious. How on earth was an aquarium incorporated into a hotel building plan? Later, when he arrived at the aqua park - he finally figured out how the logistics work.
To be exact, the aquarium itself is a two-story building on its' own situated next to the hotel building within the grounds of the Prince Hotel as the hotel covers a pretty large area featuring several towers featuring a cinema, bowling alley, and a shopping complex. For now, though, he was left puzzling over the matter as he had trouble envisioning the logistics of incorporating an aquarium into a hotel building from the logical aspects.
"Yes. The aquarium could be accessed from the Shinagawa JR train station as well as from the Shinagawa Prince Hotel. It's a public aquarium, so members of the public could also access it with an entrance fee of 1100 Japanese yen." Chu Ga Eul nodded in response, as she picked up her pace in finishing breakfast so they could leave for the first stop on her planned itinerary for the sightseeing trip around Tokyo.
Truth be told, So Yi Jeong is more interested in visiting the aqua park as compared to the exhibition ongoing at the Hara Museum. Mostly because his artistic talents lie in the fields of pottery and ceramics, when it comes down to arts of the other forms - he wasn't much of an expert. Ji Hoo likely would fare better in such areas, seeing as he knows practically nothing about painting nor the concept of the theory of micro pop imagination to be able to comment on any of the works being displayed in the Hara Museum, at present.
Therefore, all he did was to follow behind the lead of Chu Ga Eul around the exhibition hall and stop in front of each exhibited work for a few minutes to study the painting in silence. So, the Korean Casanova was really relieved when they came to the last painting featured in this 'winter garden' exhibition at the museum and were finally able to move on to the next stop on their itinerary.
"Ah… so, this is what you mean by the aquarium being situated in a hotel." So Yi Jeong mused aloud when they came to a stop in front of the building - Epson Aqua Park, Shinagawa.
"In my defense, I've only mentioned that the aqua park is situated in the hotel - not within the hotel building itself. So, I wasn't trying to mislead you on purpose." Chu Ga Eul responded in a wry and cheeky tone of voice, before dragging the Korean Casanova along with her as they headed towards the ticketing machine to purchase their entry tickets.
The Epson Aqua Park turns out to be quite an interesting visit. Upon entering the aquarium, a welcome space at the park's entrance greeted them with a projected image of a rainbow-colored school of fishes with the use of the projection mapping techniques, made possible with the partnering of the Epson Group. The next area they chanced upon in the aquarium was the 'magical ground' - again, made possible through the use of high technology means. It's an entertainment world created by combining various technologies, and gorgeous decorations.
The three magical grounds comprise the immersive area of 'patterns', the atrium area of 'colors', and the attraction area. The attraction area comprises of two models, the first being the 'merry-go-round dolphin party' wrapped up in LED lights and music on the wall of about 12 meters, and the 'port of pirates' where one could experience the weightless world on a huge pirate ship. But since the attractions are mostly meant for kids, which neither of them fits the bill - they were quick to move on to the next zone in the aqua park.
The next area they chanced upon is the cafe bar, dubbed the coral cafe bar based on the signage installed on the walls of the aquarium. The bar offers a variety of soft drinks, iced coffee, and bottled alcohol that the visitors could carry around as they explored the rest of the aqua park. Pausing briefly at the cafe bar, Chu Ga Eul asks if the Korean Casanova needs to get a cup of coffee from the cafe. Given that the guy hasn't had anything to drink since they departed from the in-house restaurant of the Shinhwa Hotel.
"Sure, get me a bottle of mineral water if they have it. Otherwise, iced coffee would work for me as well." So Yi Jeong mulled over the question for a few seconds before nodding his consent to the girl's suggestion of stopping by the cafe to get a drink. He would ask if the girl wanted anything to drink, except he already knew that Ga Eul had brought along a bottle of water with her in her tote bag - having seen the girl drinking out from it earlier on as they left the Hara Museum to make their way over to the Aqua Park.
And so, Chu Ga Eul proceeds to make the order with the staff stationed behind the ordering counter but when it comes down to the time for the payment to be made. It was naturally, So Yi Jeong that handed the cash over to the cashier. With his dashing good looks, it's really no wonder that it took a moment for the cashier stationed behind the cash register to recall what she's supposed to be doing - having been charmed over by the dashingly good looks of the Korean Casanova.
"..." Ga Eul had no words to describe how peculiar she was feeling at present. The sight of the cashier swooning in the presence of the Korean Casanova reminded her vividly of her own first encounter with the potter of F4. As they turn to leave the zone where the cafe is and head towards the next area of the aqua park… Ga Eul distinctively heard how wistful the cashier had sounded as the staff stationed at the cafe speculated on the nature of her relationship with the dashingly handsome young man.
Moving past the coral cafe bar, they arrived at the fourth zone of the aqua park - titled the Jellyfish rumble. Here is where the jellyfishes could be found in the exhibition tanks with the sound and lights that changed with time and season, once again made possible with the use of high technology. The Jellyfish rumble zone is also the last area featured on the first floor of the aquarium, and towards the end of the zone is where the escalator that would bring them up to the second floor of the aqua park is situated.
On the second floor of the aqua park, there's a zone titled 'little paradise' - this is a zone that contains nine aquariums that change according to the theme. Among the aquariums including the colorful tropical fish and the sharks. The wonder tube area featured an underwater tunnel about 20 meters long with natural light from the skylight. It is in this area that the world's only 'Dwarf Sawfish' is exhibited, and about 10 species of the rays are gathered here in this area. The 'Life Museum' area displayed the colorful transparent specimens that showcase the mystery of life in beauty. And then, there's the Aqua Jungle where the capybara could be found alongside the rays that live in freshwater as well as the reptiles.
The wild street is the area where the penguins, seals, and otters are gathered. The friendly square featured an outdoor plaza where mini-performances of the penguins and seals are held. Last but not least, the stadium featured a circular pool with a diameter of 25 meters that one could enjoy from 360 degrees - a dolphin performance, with the production of a water curtain that engraves various patterns and lighting that varies with the season, day and night. Needless to say, as with the typical attraction sites - the aqua park comes with its own shop selling snacks and souvenirs.
Ga Eul isn't fond of looking at the reptiles, and thus - she completely avoided the corner where the reptiles are being displayed in the Aqua Jungle. Instead, she focus the bulk of her attention on the capybara when they were passing through the Aqua Jungle section of the aquarium. It's been a long time since Ga Eul visited the aqua park, the last time she was here - was when the aqua park just opened its door for business in the year 2005. It was a family trip, with both her parents and her brother - Jung-Min around.
Upon the thought of her younger brother, Chu Ga Eul decided to pick up something for her brother back home in Seoul from the souvenir shop since she's already here. Taking into consideration of her brother's age, Ga Eul didn't get any stuffed toys but picked up stationery set with the image of the capybara imprinted for her little brother back home. For her half-siblings in Tokyo, Ga Eul picked up a bag of chocolate cookies shaped in the capybara design for Tsubasa. For Miyuki and Misaki, Ga Eul decided to get them the plush penguins. She was about to head for the cashier when she recalled her best friend back home and thus added another plush penguin to her shopping basket.
While Ga Eul was doing her own shopping in the souvenir shop, the Korean Casanova was doing his own share of browsing in the shop as well. Only, he was mainly doing window shopping and simply browsing through the items available in the souvenir shops since he doubt his best friend would be interested in any of the items sold in the souvenir shop within an aquarium or any attraction sites that's mostly targeting kids and families, to be honest.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Yi Jeong-sunbae… but I'm finally done with my purchases." Chu Ga Eul began, her voice drawing the focus of the potter away from his thoughts and onto her person.
"It's fine. I'm surprised you didn't get anything for yourself though. These are all for your younger siblings, aren't they?" So Yi Jeong commented since he had thought the girl would pick up a plush toy for herself or something, so he was mentally prepared to pay for her purchases at the cashier when she halted him and claims that all of the items she had picked up from the shop are meant for her siblings and Geum Jan Di. So, he needn't pay for them and that was, ultimately, the reason why he had stepped back and allowed the girl to make payment for the purchases on her own.
"Nah…I may be a fan of plush toys just like any other girl, but I'm not a fan of plush toys of the aquarium life - to be honest. I prefer the typical teddy bears." Chu Ga Eul admitted with a shrug, while So Yi Jeong appears thoughtful for a moment before changing the subject, altogether.
"Fair enough. So, where are we going next?" So Yi Jeong then said, turning inquiring eyes upon the figure of Chu Ga Eul since he had left the itinerary of today entirely in the hands of the girl, as per their previous agreement.
"I supposed we should break for lunch, it is slightly after noon-time now." Ga Eul responded after taking a look at the time reflected on her wristwatch.
"In that case, let's find a place to sit down for lunch then." So Yi Jeong nodded in consent to the girl's suggestion for a lunch break, and then promptly started for the direction of the exit point for the aqua park.
Upon emerging from the aqua park, it took them both a few minutes to reorient their sight to their surrounding as they adjusted their vision accordingly. The lighting was a tad dimmer in the aqua park, but the outside is still daytime as such could be alarming bright. The difference in the lighting between the inside and the outside of the aqua park took them some time to readjust their vision capability back to the norm.
"Okay, is there anything in particular that you wish to eat for lunch? There are plenty of restaurants and dining outlets in this area." Chu Ga Eul commented as she turns inquiring eyes upon the silent figure of So Yi Jeong.
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you this question? You're the one staying in this area, after all. Granted, only for the summers." So Yi Jeong commented wryly at the long-haired country bumpkin girl in response.
"...Well, if I were to take my pick… let's have the grill for lunch then." Chu Ga Eul allows her eyes to wander around the vicinity one round, before making her decision on what to eat for lunch. And since the Korean Casanova is leaving everything on her to decide, Ga Eul promptly made her way out of the grounds of the Prince Hotel and headed straight for a restaurant situated in front of the Shinagawa JR train station named - Tsubame Grill.
"Are you okay with taking lunch here or is this a tad too casual for your preference?" Chu Ga Eul inquires before pushing open the door to the restaurant. It would be rude to step into the restaurant and leave shortly after without ordering anything, and so, Ga Eul thought it best to double verify with the Korean Casanova on her lunch preference once again, before stepping foot into the grill restaurant.
"Ga Eul, like I say, I'm leaving the decision of the itinerary for today in your hands. I'm sure you wouldn't pick a restaurant that only serves food I would have trouble ingesting." Yi Jeong commented with a pleasant smile playing on his lips, and although he had never dined in such mid-price restaurants before, he's fine with giving it a try. Besides, they are in Tokyo not Seoul - right now. So, it's not like he's going to get ogled upon stepping foot in such an establishment.
And so, they took their lunch in the restaurant - Tsubame Grill. Ga Eul went straight for the order of the hamburger steak grilled set served on a hot plate with rice and iced tea. Yi Jeong ordered the same, only he opted for the hot coffee option for his drink to go with his lunch orders. Although the lunch venue and menu were picked out by Ga Eul, it was Yi Jeong that settles the payment for the lunch bill. The only thing he didn't pay so far, was the souvenirs the girl had gotten from the souvenir shop in the aqua park and that's only because Ga Eul pointed out that, the souvenirs are gifts she intends to buy for her siblings and Jan Di, so - it doesn't make sense for Yi Jeong to pay for them.
"Alright, where are we going next?" So Yi Jeong inquires, turning curious eyes upon the figure of Chu Ga Eul since he absolutely had no clues what exactly the girl has in mind for them to do, today.
"Next stop - Asakusa. So, let's head back to the parking lot of the Shinhwa Hotel - Shinagawa because we are going to require the use of your rented vehicle. That is unless you wanted to give the public train network of Japan a try?" Chu Ga Eul suggested in a cheeky manner, which only brought on an eye-roll reaction from the Korean Casanova.
"No way. I'm not even educated enough with the public train network of Seoul, what makes you think I would be able to navigate the public train network of Tokyo which is several times more complicated than the train network in Seoul?! So, come on - let's get back to the Shinhwa Hotel for the car I've rented for my use while in Japan." So Yi Jeong commented in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, as he looks at the figure of Chu Ga Eul expectantly.
After all, this is the neighborhood where the girl is staying in Japan, so she ought to be the one guiding him back to where the building of the Shinhwa Hotel - Shinagawa is situated. Because the truth is told, he wasn't exactly paying attention to where they were going earlier, and thus - he was at a loss about which direction he would need to turn to reach his lodging hotel from where they are, at present.
Chu Ga Eul took one look at the Korean Casanova's expression and had to stamp down her urge to snort in amusement. With a shake of her head, the girl started leading them back to the building of the Shinhwa Hotel in Shinagawa. She stopped upon arriving in front of the building and gestured for the Korean Casanova to take over the leading from hereon. After all, she had no idea where the guy had parked his rented vehicle in the underground parking facility of the hotel.
"I'll go and pick up the car, you can just wait here instead of following me down to the underground parking facility. It's a tad stuffy down there, so maybe you ought to remain out here and wait for me at the drop-off/pick-up point of the hotel building?" So Yi Jeong suggested before he stepped into the hotel building since the access lift to the underground parking facility of the hotel is situated within the hotel lobby.
"Sure. I'll just wait for you out here then." Chu Ga Eul nodded her consent to So Yi Jeong's suggestion, after all, it's summer - and so, she didn't want to venture into the stuffy underground parking facility unnecessarily.
Location: Asakusa, Taito Ward of Tokyo, Japan. 5th July 2009, 3pm
Asakusa is one of the main tourist spots in Tokyo, Japan. It's probably a good thing that they drive instead of hopping on the public train network to access the area, as the train station is bound to be packed with people. Given that So Yi Jeong isn't Jan Di, Ga Eul didn't bother to bring the guy around to pay a visit to the infamous Sensoji temple or its neighboring shrine for a visit. Instead, she brought him straight to the Asakusa Tourist Cultural Information Center.
Here, Ga Eul showed the potter of F4 - the various highlights of the tourist spot in Asakusa and asks if there's anywhere he would like to go for a visit. And then, she brought him up to the observation deck of the tourist information center to get a look at the entire area of the Asakusa district in one view. The building of the information center for the tourists isn't very tall itself, standing only at eight-story. Yet, because the entire Asakusa area has kept the look of the olden days whereby buildings are kept at a low height - the observation deck at the tourist information center is good enough to provide them with a good view of the entire area.
It was here that So Yi Jeong finally took out his mobile phone to take his first picture. He took two shots in total on his phone, the first being the view of the area of Asakusa from the observation deck and the second was a snapshot of Chu Ga Eul admiring the view from the deck with a cheerful disposition. And because Yi Jeong had the shutter sound of his camera app on his phone muted, Ga Eul was rather oblivious to the fact that someone had just taken a snapshot of her looking out at the view of the Asakusa area without her notice.
In Asakusa, they spend a total of two hours on activities such as visiting the underground shopping mall - Ekimise, for a feel of the retro slice of life in Tokyo. While there are quite many cheap bars, Japanese restaurants, and shops in the underground shopping mall - neither of them bother to stop for a bite because they are still quite full from their lunch taken at Tsubame Grill in Shinagawa earlier. Following the brief exploration of the underground shopping mall, they went on to check out textile culture and Ukiyo-e Art Museum in the area for a feel of the Japanese history through the viewing and the touching of the stunning collection of items housed in the textile culture and Ukiyo-e Art Museum. Finally, they hopped onto the Sumida River Cruise to discover Asakusa from a different angle.
Their last stop in Asakusa was in the Oku Asakusa, situated north of the Sensoji Temple - it's a quaint and less-crowded neighborhood in the district and also where Yi Jeong had ended up parking his rented vehicle because Ga Eul had said, it's downright impossible to find a public parking facility within the Asakusa district. Therefore, she had pointed the Korean Casanova to park his car in this part of the neighborhood.
Granted, there is not much public parking space in this part of the area as well… but Ga Eul managed to pull strings by getting Yi Jeong a parking spot for two hours in one of the lot spaces situated in the side alley of the shophouse unit that houses the Takahashi Artisan Bakery. The shophouse spans two floors in total with the first floor being the bakery, while the second-floor functions as the cafe space.
Over here, the duo spends a brief 25 minutes enjoying a cuppa while sharing a slice of New York Cheese Cake. Of course, they are using two separate forks. Neither of them is quite ready to share the use of the same fork in public, yet. The condition for Yi Jeong to park his rented vehicle in the lot space designated for the bakery-own vehicle was that they need to order something from the bakery-cafe as 'payment' for the use of the parking lot for the two hours.
"I can't help but notice that there's a bit of awkwardness between you and the guy manning the cashier downstairs. Is there something between the two of you that I ought to know of?" So Yi Jeong asks, approximately ten minutes after they had settled down at a table on the second floor of the artisan bakery cafe.
"What?" Initially, Ga Eul was bewildered by the question put forth by the Korean Casanova. It took a moment for her to catch on to the underlying meaning behind the potter's words, and when she did - she couldn't help it, she snorted aloud in response. "Yi Jeong-sunbae, you're overthinking. There is absolutely nothing going on between me and that guy downstairs manning the cashier counter. I'll have you know, there's only one guy I had ever dated briefly - and it's that scumbag going by the name of Gong Soo Pyo. As for the awkwardness between me and that guy downstairs, well… it's impossible for us to see each other and not feel awkward. After all, that guy downstairs wasn't a mere employee of the bakery but the heir to the Takahashi artisan bakery franchise chain. Given how he's a cousin of Kazuki on his mother's side of the family, and considering my relationship to Chichiue - of course, we are bound to feel awkward in each other presence."
Ga Eul paused briefly, before adding on as an afterthought. "To be honest, I fully wasn't expecting to see him here today. Especially since he wasn't here earlier when I pop in to have a quick word with the manager of this place to negotiate with him the right for you to park your rented vehicle here for a few hours, so naturally I wasn't expecting to cross paths with him upon our return from the main Asakusa district."
"I see… I apologized for overthinking on the matter." Yi Jeong eventually said as he took a sip of his cuppa.
"No worries, it's fine. You didn't know any better before, so it's only natural for you to leap to conclusions. I'm simply glad that you didn't choose to ask your question downstairs, it would only make things more awkward if you did." Chu Ga Eul waved off the matter with ease, and in a casual manner.
"Yes, well. I'm not Geum Jan Di, and I do know how to read moods. As such, I thought it best to maintain my silence on the subject until a better time to get my questions addressed." So Yi Jeong deadpans as he brought up the mention of Geum Jan Di's name to Chu Ga Eul while pointing out to the girl that he wasn't uneducated in the fields of mood-reading.
Downstairs, Takahashi Shuuhei was thinking the same thing - why did Chu Ga Eul have to show up in this particular outlet of the artisan bakery this afternoon?!
The last part of the day's sightseeing itinerary which Chu Ga Eul had planned for the Korean Casanova was a visit to the Tokyo Tower, an iconic landmark in Tokyo, Japan. The base of the tower features a four-level commercial space filled with shops, cafes, restaurants, and attraction sites for the visitors to patronize - commonly known to the public as the 'Foot-Town'.
On the first floor, it housed the aquarium gallery, a reception hall, the 400-person-capacity 'Tower Restaurant', a convenience store, and a souvenir shop. Also, located on the first floor were the elevator units that would allow the visitors to access the main observation deck at a fee. The second floor of the building was mostly a shopping and food area, it features five stand-alone restaurants as well as a food court that housed four restaurants, including the infamous fast-food chain - MCDONALDS and a Pizza-La.
The third and fourth floors of the Foot-Town building housed the main attraction sites for the visiting tourists and visitors. The third floor is home to the Guinness World Records Museum Tokyo, a museum that houses life-size figures, photo panels, and memorabilia depicting interesting records that have been authenticated by the Guinness Book. On this floor, it's also where the Tokyo Tower Wax Museum, which opened in the 1970s could be found. A hologram gallery named the Gallery DeLux, a lounge, and a few specialty stores are also located on this floor.
The fourth and top floor of the Foot-Town building situated at the base of the Tokyo Tower is where the Tokyo Trick-Eye Art Gallery is located. This gallery displays optical illusions, including paintings and objects with which their visitors could interact. And on the roof of the Foot-Town building is a small amusement area that contains several small rides and hosts live performances for children. Of course, given the fact that neither Ga Eul nor Yi Jeong is kids and they had no kids tagging along with them for the trip - it's only natural for them to give the rooftop amusement area a miss and go straight for the observation deck after exploring the souvenir shops on the first floor of the building.
They visited both observation decks and spend some time admiring the view of the city, before finally making their way down to the base of the tower to find a place for dinner. They explored the entire second floor of the 'Foot-Town' before finally settling upon a dinner session at the Tofuya Ukai, a restaurant that specialized in Tofu cuisines.
The menu served at the restaurant is adjusted seasonally according to the fresh ingredients available, and their dinner course costs them 13,500 Japanese yet each set. It certainly isn't cheap, but neither Ga Eul nor the Korean Casanova minded the price for the dinner meal - since neither of them is as budget-conscious as a certain Wonder Woman of Korea. In fact, both of them thought the food served is definitely worth the price paid. Topping it off is the tranquil and peaceful feel that the interior of the restaurant, combined with the beautiful scenic garden view offers them as they dined in a private room.
"Thank you for showing me around Tokyo, today. I have a wonderful time." So Yi Jeong commented at the end of the day after he walked the girl back to her family-owned apartment in Shinagawa, Tokyo.
"I'm glad you're satisfied with my planned itinerary for the day. What time are you leaving for Seoul, tomorrow?" Chu Ga Eul asks, as she inwardly wonders if she could fit in time to see the guy off at the airport before she carries on with whatever appointments she has made for tomorrow.
"My flight's at 10am, so… I'll need to be at the airport by 8am for the check-in procedures." The Korean Casanova responded.
"I'll see you off at the airport tomorrow then. We might as well grab breakfast at the airport while at it." Ga Eul commented, instantly making the decision to see the potter off at the airport on the following day.
Yi Jeong woke up at 6.30am on the morning he was due to depart for Seoul from Tokyo, and then promptly went on to take a morning shower. Following this, he did one last final check on his belongings to ensure that he isn't leaving anything behind. Once ascertain of the fact, the Korean Casanova went on to leave his hotel room with the card-key and his suitcase in tow, ready to proceed with the check-out procedure from his lodging hotel.
After dropping off his card-key at the hotel's reception and finalizing his check-out from the hotel, So Yi Jeong went on to the underground parking facility to retrieve his rented vehicle and drive over to the apartment building where the Chu family-owned apartment unit is situated and waited patiently for a certain country bumpkin to show up. He needn't wait long, as the girl was seen hurrying towards his rented black Toyota Corolla shortly after he had pulled up in front of the passenger drop-off point situated a few steps away from the apartment building.
"Good morning, Yi Jeong-sunbae." Chu Ga Eul greeted the Korean Casanova with a bright smile.
"Good morning, Ga Eul. Did you sleep well last night?" The Korean Casanova responded with a charming smile of his own, as he waited patiently for the girl to settle down in the side-passenger seat of the black Toyota Corolla before driving off towards the direction of the Narita International airport.
"Yes, I did. What about you? Did you manage to get in a good night's rest?" Chu Ga Eul inquires politely in return.
"I did." Yi Jeong responded as he wisely left out the bit that he slept so well that he actually woke up smiling, a residual effect of the pleasant dream he had of the girl while he was sleeping, it seems.
Having timed his traveling time from Shinagawa to the airport prior, the Korean Casanova arrived at the airport just in time to return his rented vehicle to the parking facility near the airport which was manned by a staff employed in the service of the car rental agency he had rented his vehicle from. Following this, he unloaded his baggage from the car trunk of the returned vehicle and lugged them over to the airport on his own.
Stepping foot into the public area of the airport, the Korean Casanova signal for the country bumpkin to wait for him momentarily as he went on to complete the check-in of his baggage with the check-in counter manned by the staff of the Shinhwa Air. Since he's flying first class, he needn't wait in line since not a lot of people could afford to fly first-class with Shinhwa Air. Naturally, his check-in procedure is completed in less than five minutes.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, now… shall we go find a place for our breakfast?" So Yi Jeong started, his words jolting the focus of Chu Ga Eul out from her thoughts and onto his person.
"Of course, I have the perfect cafe in mind for our breakfast this morning." Chu Ga Eul commented as she began leading the way towards the direction of the cafe - Tully's Coffee.
Breakfast meals were kept simple, with Yi Jeong settling for a cup of black coffee and a sandwich made with ham, cheese, and salad. Ga Eul, on the other hand, opted for the Uji Matcha Latte and the maple and butter pancakes for her breakfast. This time, they didn't share their food but that's because the portion of the breakfast meal wasn't large enough to be shared, to begin with.
They didn't speak verbally during breakfast, they didn't need to speak either. A wordless eye contact every now and then was enough to keep them smiling throughout breakfast. It's good that the Don Juan of F4 wasn't around to witness their dynamics this morning, else he would have plenty to comment on the subject - again.
Moments before Yi Jeong had to pass through the passport control station and the customs, he finally gave in to his inner desire and did something he had been refraining from doing since his arrival in Tokyo. The Korean Casanova reaches out and pulls the figure of Chu Ga Eul into his arms for an embrace. No doubt, his actions startled the unprepared girl momentarily as the country bumpkin stared at him with wide eyes filled up with surprise.
"Ga Eul, thank you for the lovely meals and your efforts in showing me around Tokyo. This has been a short but wonderful week for me, and I look forward to your return." So Yi Jeong whispered into the ears of the startled girl, before pressing a light kiss to the forehead of the lovely country bumpkin who's blushing red like a tomato after his impromptu act of pulling her into an embrace in public. And then, without waiting for the girl to respond - Yi Jeong pulled away from Ga Eul and turn to make his way to the passport control station at the Narita International Airport.
It took Chu Ga Eul about 15 minutes to recover her wits and stop flushing crimson at the unexpected act of being pulled into an embrace by the Korean Casanova in public. Inwardly, she's immensely thankful that the F4 isn't that well-known in Japan, and thus what the potter of F4 just did wouldn't end up trending on social media within split seconds. Though somewhat disappointed that the guy didn't stay behind to hear her response to his remarks after his impromptu behavior, Chu Ga Eul decided that she could simply drop him a message at a later timing.
Turning on her heels to leave the airport, Chu Ga Eul headed for the Keikyuu train station of the airport - intending to make her way home to her family apartment via the public train network.
[How is it possible that I've already started to miss her despite having just parted ways with her?] - The Korean Casanova thought as he made his way to the duty-free shops after the passport control area of the Narita International Airport departure hall to go in search for a souvenir for his best friend, a certain Don Juan of F4.
In the end, Yi Jeong settled on picking up a bottle of Plum liquor unique to the country of Japan as the souvenir gift for his Don Juan friend, after recalling just how much his friend likes to break into his liquor collection every so often back home in Seoul. With the final souvenir for his friend purchased, the Korean Casanova then made his way to the boarding gate and waited for the time to board his return flight to Seoul.
Given that the Korean Casanova is flying first class, he was among one of the first passengers to board the flight. The moment he settled down in his seat on the plane, he started making a checklist of the things he ought to do upon arriving back in Seoul. After this particular trip to Japan, Yi Jeong knows it's high time he started sorting out the messy situation between him, his elder brother, and his first love, Cha Eun-Jae.
[Ji Hoo's right, I shouldn't let the result of my parents' disastrous relationship affects my mindset of being in a committed relationship this much. Their union was a political union decided by grandfather, father didn't love mother at the point of their marriage. He only married her because grandfather ordered him to, thus, it's only natural that he wouldn't change his merry-making ways of life. So, really… I shouldn't have assumed that I would follow in his footsteps and shy away from the prospect of committing to a relationship.] - The Korean Casanova thought wryly to himself.
First things first, before he went ahead and confessed his love for a certain country bumpkin… there are a few things he needs to clear up first. Among them, including the need to sit down for a chat with his elder brother, So Ii-Hyun. Ideally, Yi Jeong would prefer to get things between Eun-Jae and him cleared up as soon as possible, but since he still had no idea about where Eun-Jae is, at present. Yi Jeong supposed he ought to clear up the air between him and his brother first, after that, he will move on to tackle that messed up situation between him and Eun-Jae. He wanted proper closure on that front, before beginning something new with Ga Eul.
Before Yi Jeong switched his phone into flight mode, he typed out a quick message and send it out to a certain country bumpkin before he could chicken out. The message read: 'Ga Eul, thank you for the lovely time in Tokyo and I look forward to seeing you back in Seoul. Last but not least, please be patient and wait for a little while longer.'
There isn't a need for So Yi Jeong to specify the meaning of his words in the text message, he is certain that the girl would catch on to his meaning with just one look at the text. And Chu Ga Eul indeed knows the meaning behind the latest text message she had received from the potter of F4, and this was all the confirmation that she needs to gather that her efforts at capturing the Casanova weren't in vain. Well… time is something she had on hand still, and patience is something she isn't lacking either. And so, she would wait. Now, Ga Eul could only hope that the Korean Casanova isn't going to keep her waiting for too long.
'Of course, I'll wait. Drop me a text upon your safe arrival in Seoul, just to set my mind at ease if nothing else. See you in 3 weeks.' - Ga Eul sent out the message, and tucked her phone away in her clutch bag knowing that it would take hours for her to receive a response to her recent text. After all, judging from the time - the flight bound for Seoul has likely just taken off from the Narita Airport.
Location: Sunny's family home in Myeong-Dong district, Seoul, South Korea. 6th July 2009, 2pm
While So Yi Jeong was making his way back to Seoul from Tokyo, over in Seoul - Sunny is starting to pack for her trip to Melbourne, Australia. She had finally booked her accommodation and purchased her travel insurance after checking the reviews of several beds & breakfast lodging accommodations before making her final decision on which B&B to book for her stay while in Melbourne. Her air tickets has been booked a week ago, unfortunately, she couldn't find any direct flights plying between Seoul and Melbourne, and thus - in the end, she had booked the shortest connecting flight route she could find online.
Instead of flying Shinhwa Air, she's flying Korean Air, Economy tier this time. She would then transit to Sydney for a connecting flight operated by the Qantas Airway to Melbourne, Australia. Together, the journey would take her about 14 hours to complete. Of course, both flights - Sunny went for the Economy tier seats. Given that she's traveling solo, it's up to her to decide which tier seats she's going to book for her flights as she didn't have to care about what her friends thought.
With her flights and accommodation for her Melbourne trip booked, it's time to start packing for her trip. Certain things she could pack into her suitcase first, and certain things could only wait until the last minute before being packed. She was making a checklist of the things she would need to pack for her trip when she recalled that she had yet to submit her leave application notice to her father.
The moment the realization dawns in on her, Sunny cursed aloud at her oversight. Luckily, she's interning at her own family business and so, her boss is her own parents. Else, she might be screwed since there's no guarantee for a leave application submitted this late in time to be approved by the management.
Rushing towards her study desk placed in a corner of her room, where she had left her laptop on. Sunny hurried to email her father about her intention to take the period from 12th July to 20th July 2009 off for her solo trip to Melbourne, Australia. As she's only an intern, all she needs to do is to email her boss which is her father about her intention to take time off from her internship work for her holiday trip. But she knows it would be a different protocol once she starts working in her family business officially.
With the email sent out to her father, Sunny then return to her task of packing. Given that her family is in the hospitality/hotel industry, there are no off days on weekends. Currently, Sunny's off-days from work were scheduled on a rotational basis, and it just so happens that she's off on Monday and Wednesday, this week. Her father, as the founder of the business, had no stipulated off-days from work but he tends to stay out of the offices on weekends. Likewise, for her mother, who works as the accountant for their family business.
Sunny though, had no such privilege. Henceforth, Sunny had decided to keep going in for work until the end of the week. In order not to miss work on the 11th of July, she had booked a midnight flight bound for Sydney, Australia via Korean Air scheduled to take off from Incheon International Airport at 11pm, that night instead. She figured she could sleep on the plane, and save the need for booking an extra night at her choice of lodging site.
Excluding her departing date, Sunny figured she would get to spend exactly a week in Melbourne, Australia before her return to Seoul. And then, she would return to Seoul on the 19th of July via another connecting flight between Qantas Airway and Korean Air. Since it's another connecting flight, Sunny figured she might get the following day off work as well as she likely would need to crash the moment she arrived home.
The flight from Seoul to Sydney would take about 10 hours, and then she would spend about 1 hour in the transit area of the Sydney airport before boarding the connecting flight operated by Qantas Airway to head over to Melbourne, Australia. Since Australia is ahead of Seoul for two hours, Sunny would likely land in Melbourne around 1pm, Australian time - which is just nice for her to head over to her accommodation site for the check-in process.
Later that evening, Sunny broached the topic of having her father drive her to the airport two hours before her flight at 11pm, on the 11th of July - a Saturday evening.
"Of course, I'll drive you to the airport. You are departing from Incheon right?" Park Chung-Ho double confirms, since two airports are servicing the city of Seoul. But 90% of the international flights are departing from the Incheon International Airport, only a minimal handful of airlines would depart from the Gimpo Airport these days.
"Yes, I've double-checked. My flight is taking off from the Incheon Airport." Sunny nodded in affirmation, given that Korean Air had flights serving both airports in Seoul, she had to make sure to check the airport code before booking her air tickets earlier on in the week. Thus, she is quite certain that her flight would be departing from the Incheon International Airport.
"Good." Park Chung-Ho nodded as he shifted his focus to his wife, and commented. "Thank you, dear, for cooking my favorite dishes - again."
"..." Sunny kept her head down and focused fully on ingesting her dinner, while she blatantly ignored the sight of her father whispering sweet nothings into the ears of her mother. Having seen how in love her parents are with one another, it sometimes makes Sunny wonder if she would ever meet her destined love in life or would she have to settle for a guy whom her parents would prefer for her to date and marry, at a later point in life.
At this point, Sunny was still unaware that she would end up meeting a guy who would later become the love of her life during this particular solo trip to Melbourne, Australia.
Location: Lily Sands Inn, Melbourne, Australia. 6th July 2009, 8.20pmpm [Aussie Time], 6.20pm [Tokyo/Seoul Time]
In the meantime, Shinosaki Izumi had just checked into the Lily Sands Inn situated in Melbourne, Australia for his two-weeks stay while he explored the city, solo. Lily Sands Inn is a low-key hotel with a shared kitchen facility on-site for its guest. Although, it was mentioned as a low-key boutique hotel online - Shinosaki Izumi was leaning towards the notion of the inn being a guest-house.
After all, it features only 12 rooms in total for the guests booking. The 12 rooms were span across three levels, with the ground floor housing three double rooms; six rooms on the next level, and on its' top level is where the penthouse studio and the access-assisted rooms are located. The reception and the dining room are situated in the same wing on the ground floor of the inn, while the waxing room and the three guestrooms were situated on the opposite wing of the inn.
The interior of the hotel and the rooms are decorated in neutral colors, with classic European style furnishings. Each of the rooms offered a great view to the guests, making it the best place for the guests to relax and look forward to exploring the city of Melbourne.
"Good evening, Sir. May I have your passport for the check-in procedure?" The friendly receptionist stationed behind the reception counter greeted as Shinosaki Izumi approached the counter with his suitcase in tow.
"Of course." Shinosaki Izumi nodded in response, as he dug into his backpack to pull out a clear folder where he had kept all the relevant information for this particular trip to Melbourne.
He first pulled out the email confirmation printout for his lodging arrangement to show it to the staff attending to him, before handing over his passport for verification purposes. Payment for his lodging has been made online in advance since he had the habit of booking his rooms at his choice of lodging at least two months ahead to secure the room. He likes to prepay for his lodging ahead of time, so to ensure that he would be left stranded on a foreign land without a roof over his head. Why some people prefer to book the room and pay upon arrival at the hotel - he had no idea.
"Thank you, sir. Here's your key to your assigned room, your room is on the ground floor. You should be able to locate it by following the signage along the hallway." The receptionist told the Shinosaki heir politely.
"It's okay, this is my second time staying here. So, I think I know how to find the rooms on my own." Shinosaki Izumi informed the receptionist and halted the staff from leaving her position behind the reception counter to guide him to the rooms on the ground floor of the inn.
Unlike the rooms on the upper levels whereby the guests would get an amazing view of the city through the room's windows, the rooms situated on the ground floor offers the guests the view of the neighborhood instead. This is Shinosaki Izumi's first time staying in a room on the ground floor of the inn, the last time he was here, he was with his two friends - Takahashi Shuuhei and Isshiki Masashi. As such, they booked the triple room for their stay.
Of course, they requested the arrangement for three single beds in their room as opposed to having one king bed and 1 single bed. Neither of them is fond of sharing beds with each other, no matter how close they are to each other, in terms of friendship. When it comes down to the concept of bed-sharing, they prefer to share their bed space with someone of the opposite gender. Thank you very much.
Either way, this time - the Shinosaki heir is here to explore Melbourne on his own and thus, he didn't bother to request a change in the bed size. Double bed or Queen-size bed matters not to him, and so, he sticks to the double bed assigned to the room. Since it's already 8pm in the evening - the Shinosaki heir didn't bother to head out for any exploration. Instead, he decided to lounge about in his assigned room and create his itinerary plan for the next two days. But before that, he needed to get some dinner in him.
Heading towards his backpack, the Shinosaki heir digs into the deeper end of his backpack to retrieve a nicely-wrapped cup of noodles from within. He had brought it over from Tokyo, thinking that it might come in handy for a midnight snack. Unwrapping the plastic wrapping over the cup noodles, Shinosaki Izumi brought the instant cup noodle upstairs to the kitchenette area on the second floor where it serves as the shared tea/coffee making facility to get hot water for his instant noodles dinner for this evening.
Snapping a photo of his cup noodles on his new mobile phone, he uploaded it onto his Instagram account with the hashtag - dinner of the day, new phone, new camera. Following this, he inserted the caption of 'testing out the camera function of my new phone ahead of my exploration trip tomorrow' with the photo he had taken and updated his Instagram account. Needless to say, he receives a message on his Line messenger soon after from his group of friends in Tokyo who are likely browsing through their news feed while waiting for dinner to be served.
Line Messenger: Group-Chat between Izumi, Masashi, Shuuhei and Ichiro [6th July 2009, Monday]
Shuuhei: Seriously? You are eating cup noodles for dinner on your first night in Melbourne? Is there a need for you to be this thrifty?
Izumi: FYI, I'm not being thrifty. I'm simply too lazy to head out in search of a place to get dinner. Besides, it's already dark out… as it's winter here in Aussie. Moreover, I wanted to make full use of the remaining hours for today to create my itinerary plan for the next few days. So, the cup noodles work nicely for me, this evening. I'll be sure to eat something better for the rest of my stay here in Melbourne =D
Ichiro: Oh, you're in Melbourne already? I thought you flew off only this morning?
Izumi: Yep, I managed to book the direct flight operated by JAL to Melbourne. Since it's a direct flight, it saves me the hassle of having to layover in Sydney. So, the entire flight took about 10 hours 20 minutes. I landed around 7.20pm. Clearing customs took me about 30 minutes, and the cab ride took me roughly 25 minutes. I've only checked in about 10 minutes ago ^^
Ichiro: I see. Well, enjoy your solo exploration trip in Melbourne.
Izumi: Will do. On the subject of vacation, how long has it been since you took a vacation? Ichiro
Ichiro: I think my last trip overseas was the graduation trip from high school… I haven't found the time for a vacation since Shunsuke decided to join Kazuki on the exile trip to Seoul.
Masashi: Ichiro, as I say - pop over to Seoul for a weekend getaway. You would get to meet up with your brother as well. Seoul and Tokyo are only 2.5 hours apart, via flight. A weekend getaway is entirely possible.
PS: Izumi, enjoy Melbourne! Oh and do remember to get some Manuka honey back for me. My mom and female cousin requested them as souvenirs.
Izumi: =_=; Fine. I'll bring 12 jars back. Hopefully, that's enough Manuka honey to go around.
Shuuhei: Just make sure not to overshoot the baggage weight limit. Else, you are going to have to pay for extra baggage ^^;
Izumi: I'll just cut back on my personal purchases then. No issues, the honey is more important. The ladies would kill me if I didn't get them. =_=;
Shuuhei: Ladies?
Izumi: My mother and my two aunts. All of them wanted Manuka honey, and then now Masashi requested two jars as well… and then I need to keep two jars on hand in case of some other relatives waltz in and ask for their share of the souvenirs. =_=;
Shuuhei: LMAO!
Izumi: Alright, enough chatter for now. The three minutes are up and so it's time for dinner. Ciao~
Shuuhei: Ciao~ see you in 2 weeks.
Location: Incheon International Airport, 15th July 2009, Wednesday, 10am
Gu Jun Pyo stood unmoving for a moment upon emerging out from the Incheon International Airport of South Korea, as he breathe in deeply. After two months away from Seoul, he was finally back on Korean soil. Only, he wasn't here to stay and so, he didn't bother informing anyone of his return to Seoul.
There are two reasons behind his return to Seoul, this time. First, it was to facilitate the transfer of his father's care from the hospital in Beijing to the Shinhwa hospital in Seoul. This is a decision his family has decided upon on the whole, and thus he was here to select the members for the medical team that would be despatch over to Beijing to take over the care of his father, and later transport his father from Beijing to Seoul for his future recuperating program in the Shinhwa hospital. They will likely be utilizing the use of a helicopter to transfer his father from Beijing to Seoul. Either way, this is his first duty to attend while back on Korean soil.
The second order of business would be to hold a meeting with the local shareholders, updating them on the immediate plans which the Shinhwa Group is going to take in the face of the present crisis. While the thought of contacting his girlfriend did briefly cross the mind of the Shinhwa heir, the sight of the secretary his mother had sic on him changed his mind. His mother still didn't trust him to not stray from his task at hand, and thus the reason why she had sic a team of bodyguards on him atop of Jeong Sang-Rok, her former secretary who is now assigned to assist him full-time in his new role as the youngest director for the Shinhwa Group, to date.
Yes - director. He had to step up to the role in the wake of his father's untimely collapse. And based on the doctor attending to his father in Beijing, it's very likely that his father wouldn't be capable of running the Shinhwa Group full-time in the future. And so, as the heir to the Shinhwa Group, he must step up to his role without delay.
"Young Master Jun Pyo, the vehicle is ready." Jeong Sang-Rok stepped up to inform the Shinhwa heir who's apparently deep in thoughts.
"Let's go then." Blinking twice as he snapped his focus back into the present, Gu Jun Pyo nodded and indicated for Jeong Sang-Rok to lead the way to the vehicle arranged to bring him to the Shinhwa Hospital for a meeting with the medical team put together especially for this trip to Beijing, China to repatriate his father back into Seoul for further treatment.
Although, he hasn't been in contact with his friends from F4. it didn't mean that the Shinhwa heir was completely in the dark of the recent happenings surrounding his girlfriend. Seeing as Ji Hoo, his long-time friend had taken to update him on the situation revolving around Geum Jan Di every week, without fail despite not having received any form of acknowledgment from him. Henceforth, Jun Pyo knows that his girlfriend had moved to a new neighborhood with her parents and little brother earlier on in the month. As much as the Shinhwa heir wishes to check out the new neighborhood whereby his girlfriend is currently residing with her family, he knows this isn't exactly the time for him to stray off from his purpose of coming back to Seoul.
Location: Lily Sands Inn, Melbourne, Australia. 15th July 2009, 12pm [Aussie Time]
While the Shinhwa heir has just emerged from the Incheon International Airport, over in the city of Melbourne, Australia… Sunny Park Sun Ja was caught in a bit of a dilemma. She had planned to explore the inner suburbs of Albert Park within walking distance from the boutique hotel she's lodging while in Melbourne, this afternoon. Especially, after having heard the words of several guests staying in the inn recommending the cafe - Fat Albert for the Asian food menu served in the cafe after 11am. Sunny is in the mood for a change of her lunch menu, after having eaten plenty of western food comprising of fish & chips and steaks over the past three days since her arrival in the city. However, seeing as she would only be in the city for a week and she has tons of shopping errands to run in the CBD district… she's having a bit of a dilemma in deciding whether she ought to explore Albert Park or not.
"Is there a reason why you're frowning this hard at your phone?" The sudden sound of someone speaking up from her side causes Sunny to jolt her mind out from her thoughts, as she shifted her gaze away from her phone to land on the guy who had just seated himself next to her in the dining room of the inn.
"Good afternoon, Izumi. I was under the impression you had left for your exploration trip for the day already." Sunny Park Sun Ja commented in greeting, upon recognizing the guy as her neighbor. Yes, neighbor - the guy, a Japanese guest staying in the same boutique hotel as she, was staying in the room next to her assigned room.
"I did leave at one point, but before I could enter the train station - I realized I had left behind my traveling card. Without the Myki transport card, I can't get anywhere unless I hailed a cab but even though I can afford the price for a cab ride. I didn't want to splurge unnecessarily on cabs when I could simply opt for a cheaper alternative. So, I decided to come back for my transport card. I was just about to head out again when I see you frowning at the screen of your phone. So, care to share what causes that frowning look on your face? For all you know, I might have the perfect solution to your dilemma." Shinosaki Izumi responded nonchalantly to Sunny's inquiry, having spent the bulk of his childhood around his parents who spend the bulk of their time in managing the bed & breakfast business chain of their family. It is in the Shinosaki heir's nature to offer assistance to foreigners whenever possible, and it seems this habit of his even extends to fellow guest-mates staying in the same lodging site on foreign land.
The Shinosaki heir first met the girl outside the inn at the passenger drop-off point, the girl had just alighted from the cab with her suitcase and a ton of shopping bags in tow. It didn't take long for him to realize the cause of the girl's dilemma, mostly because there's too many shopping bags and the girl only had two hands. She can't bring everything into the hotel at one go, because unlike the time when she's at the airport - there isn't a baggage cart around for her to utilize. And so, Shinosaki Izumi stepped forth and offered his assistance to the girl by helping her bring in several of her shopping bags, so she needn't risk the possibility of having her belongings sitting on the curbside thieved off by random passer-by.
Following this, he went on to help the girl bring the shopping bags over to her assigned room as there isn't a bellboy available to help with the guests' baggage at their lodging site. It goes without saying that they went on to introduce themselves to one another, as the girl thanked him sincerely for his assistance with her baggage. And later that evening, when they chanced upon each other in the shared kitchenette space - the girl went on to make him a cup of tea as repayment for his assistance earlier on in the day.
Originally, the girl had taken to address him as 'Izumi-sunbae' but he wasn't used to the term 'sunbae' being attached to his name and thus simply told the girl to call him by his given name. Despite knowing full well of the meaning behind the term - sunbae, Izumi had thought it wasn't necessary since he wasn't a senior or alumni from the school in which the girl is studying in. So, in the end, he simply told the girl to address him by his given name without any form of honorific attached to it. Likewise, he had sought permission to address Sunny by her given name which the girl had consent easily enough.
Sunny personally would prefer for Izumi to address her by her English name - Sunny, as opposed to her given name, Sun Ja because she knows the pronunciation could be a little challenging for foreigners to get it right on the first try. In addition, when Izumi first addressed her with the honorific 'san' attached to her English name, she couldn't help but cringe on reflex because it sounds too damn odd. And so, she immediately consented to the idea of having Izumi addressed her directly by her given name in exchange for her use of his given name without a moment of hesitation.
"I see… well, in response to your inquiry. I was caught in a bit of a dilemma because I had plans to explore the Albert Park community today, but then… I had quite a bit of shopping to do while in Melbourne. My friend wanted me to help bring a few items back that I know could be found in the South wharf, which I supposed I could swing by tomorrow to pick them up. However, my mother wanted me to bring home the Manuka Honey… which I wasn't sure where I could get in Melbourne. The last time I got the Manuka Honey it was in Sydney, and I got it straight at the farm during a local tour trip to Blue Mountain. It was situated at the foot of the Blue Mountain, but there's no honey farm nearby - or is there?" Sunny then shifted her inquiring gaze upon the figure of Shinosaki Izumi as she waited, since the guy has been here before - he likely knows the area better than she does.
"The closest honey farm is likely the Ambrosia Honey Farm, but that's closer to where the Chinatown of the city is located. However, if you simply need to get your hands on the Manuka Honey. You needn't buy them from the honey farm, you can just get them from the supermarket. I know the Woolworths Metro in Albert Park carries Manuka Honey for sale, so you can just check it out if you decide to go on with your plan to explore the Albert Park today." Shinosaki Izumi commented, giving Sunny his honest opinion because that's exactly where he had gotten his jars of Manuka Honey requested by his relatives back home.
They mostly communicated in English while in the inn, since they wanted the rest of the guests to be able to understand and follow their conversations during the breakfast mealtime. In private though, they would occasionally mix in a bit of their native tongue. Mostly because Sunny had mentioned that she's currently learning conversational Japanese, and would appreciate having a chance in practicing her oral skills in the language. Likewise, Shinosaki Izumi had wanted a chance to see if his Korean language skills have deteriorated, and therefore, they would occasionally speak in a mixture of English, Japanese, and Korean during private conversations outside of mealtime.
"Your Korean is pretty good actually. " Sunny remarked following the end of their conversation about where to get Manuka Honey in the area.
"Yes, well… but only in terms of verbal communication. I can't read the Korean characters, unfortunately." Shinosaki Izumi admitted, his Korean were mostly picked up from K-dramas and through the occasional communication with the guests that lodges in his family-owned inn. Some of them were kind enough to teach him a word or two that might help in a pinch.
"Ah… in that case, please stick to visiting only Seoul if you ever wish to explore South Korea. Unlike the Japanese language, Korean speech differs by region. The only thing that's uniform is the wording, so while the Korean you speak might work in Seoul… it would never work for other cities such as Busan for instance." Sunny responded and then to further prove her point, she went on to demonstrate by introducing herself in the dialect tongue that's mostly spoken in Busan.
"There, do you understand what I've just said?" Sunny prompted, already knowing what her new friend is going to say in response before even glancing his way.
"Not in the slightest. That sounds more like a dialect to me…" Shinosaki Izumi confessed, and Sunny nodded in affirmation.
"Yes, it is sort of a dialect native only to the Busan region. That's the only dialect I know, and it's only because my family was originally from Busan. Either way, my point is that the pronunciation of the words in Korean differs by region. So, if you ever intend to visit another city outside of Seoul - please learn to read the wording instead of just learning how to speak the language." Sunny remarked in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.
"I see… that's good info. I would never have known of it if you didn't mention it to me. I'll be sure to keep it in mind, perhaps I ought to enroll myself properly in a Korean language course when I'm back in Tokyo." The Shinosaki heir eventually responded, before making a move to leave the dining room of the inn for the outside. He didn't forget about his plan to visit the Flinders Street Station and Federation Square today, even if he did get side-tracked momentarily due to a conversation with Sunny in the inn when he turns back to get his transport card from his room.
As Sunny is only going to be in Melbourne for a week, she can't explore every part of the city. As such, most of the places she visited are considered the top tourist attraction sites - such as Luna Park - an amusement park located on the foreshore of Port Philip Bay in St Kilda, an inner suburb of Melbourne. Aside from the Luna Park, she had also visited the Eureka Skydeck in the Eureka Tower - the highest viewing platform in the Southern hemisphere. Of course, she didn't forget to fit in a visit to the Melbourne Aquarium, and the rest of the days she's in Melbourne, she mostly spends them shopping in the CBD district of Melbourne.
Except for her visit to the Luna Park and the Melbourne Aquarium whereby she had dragged her new friend - the Shinosaki heir, along for the trip because she needs someone to help her with the photos taking, the rest of the days - Sunny had spent exploring the city on her own. Her first day (12th of July) in Melbourne was essentially a half-day since she didn't reach Melbourne until 2pm in the afternoon, and that's only made possible because she booked a midnight flight from Seoul to Sydney, and later transit to another flight operated by the Qantas Airway to fly from Sydney to Melbourne. Her entire flight lasted about 14 hours to boot because there aren't any direct flights operating between Seoul and Melbourne. Thus, she spends her first hour upon touching down in Melbourne shopping at the airport.
And after Sunny had checked in at the hotel, with some assistance provided to her by the Shinosaki heir - she spend the rest of her evening planning the itinerary for the rest of her week in Melbourne. Her 2nd day (13th July 2009) in Melbourne was spent exploring the botanic gardens, which she truly enjoy the peaceful ambiance of the park and got plenty of photos taken on the camera of her mobile phone waiting to be uploaded when she's back in Korea.
Sunny spent her 3rd day (14th July 2009) in Melbourne visiting both the Melbourne Aquarium and the Luna Park Amusement Park. Since she had dragged her new friend along with her on her trip to both the aquarium and the Luna Park amusement park, it goes without saying that they ended up spending the entire day in each other company. Just before the sun begins to set, they managed to fit in a quick visit to the St Kilda beach for a stroll before stopping for dinner at a Japanese restaurant - Ichi Ni, in the area. Again, a suggestion - made to Sunny by the Shinosaki heir since he had patronized the restaurant on his last trip to Melbourne with his friends and found it a good place to get authentic Japanese food.
Her 4th day (15th July 2009) in Melbourne was spent exploring the inner suburbs of Albert Park within walking distance from the Lily Sands Inn where she's lodging, and shopping for Manuka Honey in the nearby supermarket - Woolworths Metro. Sunny made the decision to proceed with her original plan of exploring the suburb of Albert Park, as well as taking a walk around the Albert Park Lake with the use of the walking trail in the park - after her brief conversation with her new friend. Eventually, she did get the Manuka Honey from the Woolworths Metro Supermarket in Albert Park, mostly because she has no idea whether or not she would have time to pop by the Ambrosia Honey Farm the following day when she patronize the CBD shopping district in Melbourne. Even if the farm is relatively close to where the Chinatown of Melbourne is located, but as she says - she has no idea whether she would even patronize the Chinatown at present. Given the fact that the CBD shopping district in Melbourne covers plenty of areas that she likely wouldn't be able to explore every area within a single day. Of course, while exploring the inner suburb of the Albert Park neighborhood - Sunny didn't forget to check out the cafe - Fat Albert, highly recommended by other guests staying in the same inn as her.
Sunny spent her 5th day (16th July 2009) in Melbourne visiting the Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, Collins Street, and Bourke Street Mall - within the CBD shopping district. In the Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, Sunny spend quite a lot of her cash money shopping in the store - Cotton On, mostly for her own wardrobe. Especially, after coming to the realization that the apparel she could get from 'Cotton On' in Melbourne is way cheaper than getting it through online means since the fashion retailer doesn't have a physical store in South Korea and Japan.
And then, when she moved on to explore the shopping district on Collins Street - she patronize the store Aesop for some skincare products for her former friend - Miranda, who had requested her assistance to procure a set of the skincare products under the label through Ginger, without the need to establish contact with her. Either way, she figures since she's already bringing a Billabong windbreaker back to Seoul for Ginger, she might as well do Miranda a favor of the same nature. Although, Miranda would likely take the Aesop skincare set as a souvenir instead of paying her back the amount spent on the skincare products as opposed to Ginger's intention to pay her after she made the purchase of the Billabong windbreaker. And so, Sunny entered the retail store of Aesop with a clear idea of which skincare products she is going to get for her former friend - Miranda. Moving on, the next store she patronized is the store - Burberry, this time intend on getting something for her mother, outside of the Manuka Honey she requested for her to bring home.
Her final stop for the day was the Bourke Street Mall but she isn't there for shopping. Instead, she's there for the food - having heard that quite a few places are offering Korean BBQ in the area. While she seldom patronizes BBQ restaurants back home as she didn't particularly enjoy the notion of getting her clothes reeked of BBQ smell, it's different when she's overseas. The following day, the 17th of July brought Sunny to the neighborhood of Southbank in Melbourne. Only, she spends the bulk of her time in the South Wharf shopping district as that's where the stores, Roxy, Quiksilver, and Billabong could all be found in one spot. And here, Sunny finally made the purchase of the items her friends and Ginger had requested for her to help bring home to Seoul.
Finally, Sunny's 7th day and last full day in Melbourne was spent visiting the Queen Victoria Markets and the Block Arcade, where she picked up the last of her souvenirs for this trip and spend quite some time taking photos in the Block Arcade district. Since this was her last day in Melbourne, Sunny made sure to end her day out slightly earlier on the 18th of July, after all, she's slated for her return to Seoul on the following day via another 14 hours flight with a stopover in Sydney, again. And so, Sunny wanted to have ample time to pack her suitcase. Therefore, she had to return to the hotel by 8pm that evening so she could get a head-start on her packing task to avoid the hectic rush for a last-minute packing when morning comes around.
The following morning, before Sunny was to check out from the inn - she took her last round of breakfast with the rest of the guests lodging in the hotel at the dining room. And during this time, Sunny and the Shinosaki heir exchanged email addresses with the promise to keep in contact. Outside of exchanging email addresses with one another, the two of them also went on to follow each other on Instagram. With that, it marks the end of Sunny's solo exploration trip to Melbourne as she check out from the inn and hopped onto her hailed cab ride heading to the Melbourne Airport with her baggage in tow.
"Alright, there you go. Bon voyage, hopefully someday we will get to meet again." Shinosaki Izumi commented to Sunny with a cheerful grin after helping the girl load up the cab trunk with her suitcase. The girl arrived in Melbourne with a standard 20-inch suitcase but is now heading back to Seoul with an additional 10-inch carry-on luggage which she had purchased from the South Wharf shopping district, mere days ago.
"Thank you for your help. Do let me know if you ever decide to swing by Seoul or even Busan for a solo exploration trip, I could make time for you in my busy schedule to play tour guide for you." Sunny responded cheekily in response to the Shinosaki heir's comment before climbing into the back passenger seat of the cab she had booked to bring her to the airport this morning.
"Of course. I'll be sure to drop you an email ahead of time if I ever do decide to swing by South Korea for a solo trip. Take care, and goodbye." Shinosaki Izumi agreed easily enough, as he send off the girl with a cheerful wave.
Sunny's return flight landed in the Incheon International Airport at some ungodly hours on the 20th of July 2009, Monday. Instantly, she's relieved that she had the insight to take the day off work as well - because she is in no condition to report for work this morning. Not wanting to inconvenience her father to wake up and come over to pick her up at the airport, Sunny did the next logical thing - she headed over to the boutique hotel owned and managed by her own family business in the Incheon area and booked a night stay as a walk-in customer. Luckily, the hotel still had some rooms available - albeit, it's the most expensive room they have available. Nevertheless, given that she's the daughter of the business owner - the cost matters not to her, since she needn't even pay the full price for the room that she intends to crash for a few hours.
The six hours of undisturbed rest in the hotel room of the Park Residence Boutique Hotel in the Incheon district, does her wonders, indeed. At least, she didn't look as haggard as the point when she first stepped out from the airport.
Kakao-Talk Messenger: Group Chat of the Study Group [Sunny, Kim Nari- Creator, Jessica, Areum, Dong-Jun] - 20th July 2009, Monday, 8am
Sunny: Good morning! I'm back in Korea, now still in the Incheon district. Are you people okay for a meet-up today? Or would you prefer to receive the souvenirs from me when school resumes? I'm likely unable to take time off from work for the remaining weeks until school resumes. The week away from work likely resulted in some back-logged filing work I need to finish up at my father's office. I'm interning in my family-owned business at present, in case anyone is wondering why I'm working during the summer break. ^^;
Nari: Good morning, Sunny! ^_^ Welcome back to Korea! Did you manage to get the shoulder bag I asked for, by any chance?
Sunny: Nari, yes. I got it, alright. So, no worries. ^_^ Dong-Jun, I got the Quiksilver cap you wanted as well.
Dong-Jun: Thanks, Sunny. I'm fine meeting up later this afternoon around 4pm today.
Jessica: In that case, I'll meet up with you around the same time as well. In Myeong-Dong?
Sunny: Myeong-Dong works for me. Areum Nari, are the two of you okay to meet up at 4pm in Myeong-Dong today?
Nari: 4pm works for me, I'm not meeting my boyfriend until 6pm for dinner either way. ^^
Areum: 4pm is okay, so… we meet up at Starbucks Myeong-Dong?
Sunny: Sure, which outlet though? They have a couple of outlets in the Myeong-Dong district… ^^;
Areum: The one at 60 Myeongdong-Gil, it's the closest to where the clinic is. My mom's receptionist is out sick, I'm covering for her receptionist today. ^^; thus, I can only take an hour's break from the reception work. ^^;
Sunny: Noted. I will see all of you later this afternoon at Myeong-Dong then. For now, I'm gonna get some breakfast in me. I'm starving. ^^;
~TBC~
Chapter's notes: Darn… I didn't manage to end the interlude scenes within this chapter, so it will bleed into Chapter 32. =_=;
Anyway, I finally gave Jun Pyo a brief cameo in this chapter. I thought Gu Bon-Hyeong would eventually shift his care back into Seoul instead of staying in the hospital in Beijing, long-term. Hence, Jun Pyo came back to facilitate the transfer of his father's care from Beijing to Seoul. Actually, I'm using this idea because in one of my previous chapters, before he left for Beijing - I wasn't aware of the 6 months time difference between episodes 12 and 13, and hence, I said he only had a chance to come back to Seoul after 2 months. =_=; but when I realized there are a 6 months time difference, I had to find something to explain why he's back in Seoul after 2 months away. Thus, coming to the above-mentioned scenario of him being back for a brief period. Likely about 1-2 days before flying out to Beijing, again.
In this chapter, I had started off the scene with Woo Bin and Jae-Kyung getting acquainted in Bangkok. ^^; Jae-Kyung and her daring nature, had me thinking up a scene of her insisting on visiting the red-light district of Bangkok to satisfy her personal curiosity in the area. And thus, creating the perfect opportunity for her to get acquainted with Woo Bin. :P Let me know what you think of this idea, okay? ^^;
Following this, I had the SoEul moments in Japan XD Now, what do you people think of the SoEul in this chapter ^_^ Yi Jeong's finally getting ready to move on to the next step in his commitment to Ga Eul! So, yes - Eun Jae would be making an appearance soon enough with Ii-Hyun. Likely in chapter 32 as well ^^;
Finally, I ended the chapter with Sunny and her Aussie trip. ^_^ I sped through her itinerary but incorporated a summary of how she got acquainted with Shinosaki Izumi. Of course, they are just friends at this stage. They are secondary in my story, so I wouldn't go into the details of how they fell for one another. ^^; The focus of my story is SoEul, after all. So, it's very likely that when Sunny got together with Izumi, it would be similar to how I portray the relationship between my two OC - Nari and Jae-In, speeding through the details by summarizing it. ^^; For now though, Sunny and Izumi are simply new acquaintances to one another with a common interest in traveling, and sort of like a pen-pal via email, and Instagram followers of one another on social media.
Last but not least, having not visited Bangkok or Melbourne in person. Everything that was mentioned in this chapter, is information I had gathered through online research via Google internet search and the Wikipedia websites, and the official website for Lily Sands Inn, as well as the Maxell Aqua Park Shinagawa, formerly known as Epson Aqua Park back in 2009. Hara Museum in Shinagawa has ceased operation in 2020, but in 2009 - they are still operating.
With that said, this is the end of Chapter 31 and I'll see you again in my next update. Ciao~ ^_^
PS: My first update in the year 2022! Happy New Year, everyone! May everyone enjoy the new year holiday, as well as my story ^_^