Secret of the Autumn

by xiaoj

[AU] Chu Ga Eul has always been a country bumpkin in the eyes of the F4. Especially so, in the case of So Yi Jeong, the renowned Korean Casanova. But what if… Chu Ga Eul wasn't really a country bumpkin, nor was she the ordinary commoner friend of Geum Jan Di that everyone thought her out to be? And this secret side of hers was revealed unintentionally to the Korean Casanova of F4,

33. Chapter 33

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 33 - Time Flies, Jan Di's Trip to Macau - Part 1

Location: Porridge Shop, 7th November 2009, Saturday, 2pm

Geum Jan Di was wiping the tables in the porridge shop when the news came over on TV reporting about the updates concerning the 'crisis of the Shinhwa Group'. Without intention to, Geum Jan Di found her focus and attention shifted away from her task at hand to land on the TV screen.

Geum Jan Di only snapped her focus back to the present, when she found the TV unit is switched off by her childhood friend.

"...Ga Eul, why did you switch off the TV?" Geum Jan Di turns towards her childhood friend and inquires.

"To get your attention, what else?! Seriously though, it's been six months to date. You still haven't heard anything from Jun Pyo-sunbae?" Chu Ga Eul sighed as she turns to regard her childhood friend with concern.

"Yeah… there are still no words from him." Geum Jan Di sighed aloud, while a part of her does feel like messaging her boyfriend and demanding an update but she always chickens out, at the last minute. Besides, there's no guarantee that her message would reach her boyfriend directly. Having known of how her boyfriend had ever gotten his phone confiscated by his mother before, Jan Di had thought the lack of communication from her boyfriend might be due to his phone being out of his reach, at present.

As for the idea of approaching Ji Hoo-sunbae on the matter, well… Jan Di thought her former prince charming seems pretty busy juggling between his classes in the Medical school of Shinhwa University and pursuing a professional qualification in music conducting at the same time that she didn't want to inconvenience the guy.

"I get that you didn't want to inconvenience Ji Hoo-sunbae on the matter, but what about the other two members of F4? Have you checked in with them on whether or not they have received any words from Jun Pyo-sunbae?" Chu Ga Eul stamped down the urge to roll her eyes at her childhood friend, as she brought up the next logical question that came to her mind to the depressed-looking Geum Jan Di.

"...Erm… no. I didn't check in with them, with them having graduated. It's not exactly easy for me to cross paths with them on campus… and having seen how busy Ji Hoo-sunbae was, I'm sure they are quite busy themselves." Geum Jan Di responded as she tried to avoid cringing under the flat stare given to her by her childhood friend.

"Honestly, Jan Di… just because they've graduated and you don't get to see them on campus as easily as before. There's something called a mobile phone, and I'm sure you have all their numbers stored on your phone. Why haven't you ever thought of messaging or calling them up to ask a question that has been eating at you for ages, I have no clues?!" With an exasperated roll of her eyes, Chu Ga Eul took it upon herself to message a certain Casanova of F4 to ask the question on behalf of her childhood friend.

[Busy… I can't say for certain when it comes down to Woo Bin-sunbae, but Yi Jeong-sunbae schedule I'm quite familiar with by this point. Yes, he's busy with his pottery projects and doing his duty as the heir to the Woo Sung Museum. His schoolwork from college, on the other hand, doesn't seem to take up much of his time, given how he still had time to join Woo Bin-sunbae at the club for their happy hours monthly. Well, at least, it isn't every other day now… so, an improvement - no doubt.] Chu Ga Eul thought inwardly to herself as she typed out the message to the Korean Casanova on her phone.

A private message between Chu Ga Eul and So Yi Jeong, 7th November 2009, Saturday, 2.30pm

Ga Eul: I hope I'm not interrupting you amid something important. But since Jan Di didn't seem willing to ask you guys the question herself, I'll ask on her behalf instead. *Roll Eyes Emoji* Has Jun Pyo-sunbae contacted you guys (anyone of you) recently?

Yi Jeong: And here I thought, this was a message from you inquiring after my lunch session with my estranged elder brother. Anyway, no - you're not interrupting me amid anything important. I'm just touring the cafe of my brother, the cafe's finally opening its door for business tomorrow - officially.

PS: In response to your inquiry about Jun Pyo, nope - he hasn't been in contact with either of us too. Ji Hoo says he has been reading the messages sent to his phone, just not replying to them for some unfathomable reasons. Nobody knows what is going through his mind, unfortunately.

Ga Eul: I see… so, how did your lunch with your brother go? While on the subject, what did you have for lunch?

PS: Oh, so tomorrow's the official opening date for his cafe? Speaking of, where's his cafe located? I might swing by to patronize the cafe tomorrow. No worries, I'll make sure to behave like a typical normal customer when I patronize his cafe. I know you aren't ready to acknowledge our 'relationship' in the open yet. ^_^

Yi Jeong: Overall, it went fine… considering that we had gotten the bulk of the awkward conversations out of the way during our brunch meet-up back in August. So, during our recent meet-up… we are usually talking about his cafe business. Anyway, the main reason for our meet-up today is for him to show me the fully renovated cafe and our lunch today is a pasta dish - Pasta Carbonara. He made it himself in the kitchen area of his cafe and claims that it would eventually be on the menu for his cafe, once he had the budget to get in extra help. For now, his cafe is only serving coffees/tea which he would be preparing on his own, and cake slices he had ordered in from a third-party supplier.

PS: I know you wouldn't give away anything about us even if you were to patronize his cafe tomorrow. I have faith in your acting skills. Well, his cafe is situated in the Itaewon area [insert location map & address].

Ga Eul: Thanks for having faith in my acting skills. ^_^

PS: How did you find his culinary skills?

Yi Jeong: It was decent but I prefer your recipe of the same pasta dish though.

Ga Eul: I'm flattered to hear that ^_^

Yi Jeong: I'm not trying to butter you up, I do love your cooking.

Ga Eul: I know. ^_^ Alright, a customer just came in - I'll see you later this evening for dinner.

Yi Jeong: Of course. Where should I pick you up?

Ga Eul: Su Am Arts Center, as usual. I might be working today, but I knocked off in about an hour. After that, I'll be at the arts center for my piano class.

Yi Jeong: Good to know. So, I'll pick you up at 5.30pm?

Ga Eul: 5.30pm works for me, see you at the lobby of the arts center then. ^_^

The customer that came into the shop was none other than that odd old man who started patronizing the porridge shop shortly before Jun Pyo-sunbae left Seoul. The first time the old man came by - he requested for Noodles in Black Bean Sauce in a porridge shop. The second time he came by, he ordered hot spicy fish soup. Subsequently, he came by a few more times but every single time his orders were never the porridge. It was always something that has absolutely nothing to do with porridge, but miraculously - the master at the porridge shop was always able to deliver the order to the old man's table.

This afternoon, it was the same thing. Bom Choon-Sik, who has been napping on the table suddenly jolted awake and fled into the kitchen after hearing the sound of the old man lamenting aloud.

"What on earth is wrong with this restaurant? Why is the cook napping openly in the restaurant?!"

"... Grandpa, what do you feel like having today?" Geum Jan Di plastered a smile on her lips as she ventured forward to serve their odd regular customer.

"Sinseollo!" The old man responded.

"Sin…what?" Geum Jan Di had trouble pronouncing the name of the dish, as a look of confusion crossed her features briefly. A quick look in Ga Eul's direction informed her that her friend is equally lost, and so, she shifted her attention back towards the old man who never ordered a porridge dish while patronizing the porridge shop.

"Sorry, care to repeat that again? I'm afraid I didn't catch it earlier." Geum Jan Di plastered on a polite smile as she addressed their odd regular customer.

"Sinseollo! Seriously, what is wrong with the youngsters' lack of knowledge these days? Never mind, I'm sure the cook knows what I want." The old man repeated and huffed in annoyance when both the young ladies working in the restaurant still appears confused by his orders, but the sight of Bom Choon-Sik leaping into actions in the kitchen informed the aged Yoon Seok Young, the former president of the country that his order is being prepared in the kitchen of the restaurant.

"..."

While Chu Ga Eul and Geum Jan Di shared a look of bewilderment among themselves, not recognizing the name of the dish. Bom Choon-Sik had already leaped into actions in the kitchen, the dish Sinseollo basically refers to the Royal Hot Pot - an elaborated dish of meat and vegetables cooked in a rich broth, which is served in a silver vessel with a hole in the center, where hot embers are placed to keep the dish hot throughout the meal.

Sure enough, about thirty minutes later, Geum Jan Di was waved over to the kitchen to collect the food tray meant for their odd but regular customer. Setting the food tray onto the table in front of the old man, the two girls gathered once again in a corner to observe the dish ordered by the old man. Every single time, the old man came by - they were treated to the sight of how talented their master actually was. But if the master has so many culinary skills at his disposal, why did he choose to open a porridge shop instead of a proper restaurant? They would have gotten in a lot more customers if it's a proper restaurant instead of a shop that solely sells porridge. Unfortunately, though, this is a question only the master would have the answer to, and neither of them wanted to bring it up to the master since it wasn't anything of their concern.

While the old man ingested the food served to his table, both Geum Jan Di and Chu Ga Eul are studying the old man's ingestion speed. Bemusedly, the old man always polishes off the dish without wasting a single drop, and yet when asked for his feedback - he would always claim that it wasn't quite up to standard yet. The only reason he had finished eating everything is that it would be a sin to waste food.

This time around, it was no exception. But this time, he had also left behind a cryptic remark for Geum Jan Di to ponder on. Something about Jan Di resembling a lotus that grows out from the mud, which baffled both Jan Di and Ga Eul to no end.

"Jan Di, he isn't the type to say things without a valid reason. So, it might be best for you to start thinking on his remarks." Bom Choon-Sik, the master of the porridge shop commented as he turns to clean up the kitchen in preparation for the next potential customer.

"What? Master, if you know the meaning - just tell us!" Chu Ga Eul pressed on as she starts hounding her employer for an explanation, but the master of the porridge shop refuses to share anything further. Thus, Geum Jan Di was found mulling over the remark repeatedly in her mind over the next few days.

None of the girls noticed that an old newspaper clipping had fallen out from the scrapbook the master of the porridge shop had been flipping through earlier. On the newspaper clipping, it features a report of the former president of Korea, the grandfather of Yoon Ji Hoo with a head chef that looks eerily like the master of the porridge shop. If the girls had noticed the newspaper clippings they might have come to a logical conclusion about the identity of the mysterious odd customer of theirs, but they didn't - and so, they remain none the wiser about just who exactly was the odd regular customers of their porridge shop.

Location: Su Am Arts Center Lobby, 7th November 2009, Saturday, 5.25pm

So Yi Jeong stood near the reception counter of the Su Am Arts Center waiting for a certain country bumpkin to emerge from her piano class, with a flower bouquet of orange roses in his hands. It wasn't quite the red roses yet, but it is definitely a step up from the usual pink roses he had been gifting the girl on their various meet-ups. And the orange roses is kind of a subtler way to say - I love you, which he hopes the country bumpkin would be able to catch on to the underlying meaning behind his decision to gift her the orange roses this afternoon.

When Chu Ga Eul came out from the music classroom after the end of her piano lesson this afternoon, the first thing she noticed wasn't the Korean Casanova waiting for her in the lobby. Instead, it was an advertisement hiring cleaners for the arts center that was being pinned up on the notice board along the corridor way. Recalling how her childhood friend's mother is still looking for a new part-time position, Ga Eul thought she might as well take a photo of the advertisement and forward it to Jan Di shortly. Who knows? Maybe, Jan Di might be able to persuade her mother to give the job a try? Even though, the arts center is definitely not within their current residential neighborhood.

Only after she had taken the photo on her mobile phone that Ga Eul finally take note of the presence of a certain Casanova waiting for her at the lobby of the arts center. Miraculously enough, the guy wasn't flirting with the receptionist in an attempt to kill time, this time around. Instead, the guy had appears somewhat nervous(?) for some unfathomable reasons.

[Was it just me, or is Yi Jeong-Sunbae appearing nervous for some reason?] Chu Ga Eul couldn't help but wonder inwardly to herself, despite how she prided herself for her capability at reading the expressions of the Korean Casanova - she can't say she would get it right at 100%. Regardless, Chu Ga Eul proceeds to head towards the waiting figure of So Yi Jeong with a bright cheerful disposition.

"Yi Jeong-Sunbae. I apologize for the delay, have you been waiting long?" Chu Ga Eul begins as she came to a stop in front of the infamous Korean Casanova of F4.

"It's fine, Ga Eul. A gentleman always must wait for the arrival of the lady. Here, this is for you." So Yi Jeong responded as he handed over the bouquet of fresh orange roses to the girl, as he kept a keen eye out on the country bumpkin's reaction to the new choice of the colored roses bestowed upon her this afternoon.

"Thank You." Chu Ga Eul answered automatically as she reaches out to accept the flower bouquet, originally she was expecting the flowers to be pink. Since that seems to be the latest trend, after having received a month's worth of yellow roses from the guy. But when she landed her eyes to look at the flowers received this afternoon, Ga Eul couldn't help the widening of her smile upon the sight of the orange roses.

"Oh… these roses are absolutely lovely. Although, I have to ask… is this your way of telling me that we are now official? After all, the subtle meaning behind these roses isn't lost on me. Unlike the typical girls, I do know the meaning of most flowers given that I was nearly forced to study flora art at one point." Chu Ga Eul commented as she allows the Korean Casanova to lead her out of the arts center and towards where he had parked his vehicle for the day.

"It could be, I supposed. And I'm glad you are aware of the meaning of these roses, because unlike Jun Pyo - I'm not exactly the type that could shout out his feelings towards your friend for the entire world to know. The idea of commitment and love still daunts me to an extent, but for you - I'm willing to try." The Korean Casanova responded as he held the door to his orange lotus open for Chu Ga Eul to enter.

"The fact that you're willing to try is good enough for me. Thank you, and where are we going for dinner tonight?" Chu Ga Eul smiles cheerfully in response, as she directed her next query to the potter of F4.

Inwardly, Ga Eul was thinking that the orange roses would suffice this time - but she hopes one of these days, soon - the colors of the roses would change from orange to red. Orange roses might share a similar meaning with the red roses, but the meaning is too subtle. By gifting her orange roses, it means the Korean Casanova is ready to make the thing between them official but wasn't ready for their relationship to be announced publicly to their friends and relatives.

The notion of being in an underground relationship with the Korean Casanova is fine for Ga Eul at present. Given the fact that she already knows she's in for a long haul when she had her eyes set upon catching the Casanova, besides sneaking around behind the backs of their family and friends while keeping their relationship under wraps sounds like a fun and thrilling experience for a while. Although it might get tiring after some time, for now, Ga Eul is willing to humor the potter of F4 and went along with his whims at keeping their relationship under the radar.

After all, it's already a vast improvement for the Korean Casanova to make things official between them given how much he had feared the idea of being committed to a relationship thus far. And so, as long as he's willing to admit to her that they do have a relationship going on, instead of dancing around the topic like before… Ga Eul had no issues leaving things be for now, as she continues to be patient and waits for the day the potter of F4 is willing to announce their relationship in public.

Dinner this evening was taken in a fine dining restaurant in the central district of Seoul, and Ga Eul was glad that the restaurant didn't instill an iron-clad policy on their dress code. Otherwise, she highly doubt what she wore this afternoon would warrant her entry into the restaurant threshold.

"Don't worry, if there is indeed an iron-clad dress code instilled. I would have brought you shopping right after leaving the arts center." So Yi Jeong commented teasingly at Chu Ga Eul as they were being led into the restaurant and towards the dining booth he had reserved ahead for their dinner meal.

"..."

While Chu Ga Eul and So Yi Jeong were enjoying their dinner in a fine dining restaurant in the central district of Seoul, providing them with a good view of the Deoksugung Palace; Geum Jan Di was helping her mother out in the kitchen prepping up their family dinner in the kitchen of their new rented place of residence.

Dinner for the Geum family comprises of the main staple - steamed rice, completes with a tiny portion of a pan-fried fish broken up into parts manually after the fish has been fried, along with the side dish of homemade Kimchi - the same batch which the Shinhwa heir had his fair share of contributing earlier on in the year. And finally, a bland vegetable soup made with the leftover vegetables from the market place which the stall vendor nearly threw away because they aren't good enough to be sold to a potential customer. Jan Di's mother was able to bargain for a low price for the nearly discarded vegetables for their dinner meal this evening, during the visit to the marketplace early this morning.

The soup is bland because Na Gong-Joo wasn't willing to put more than a dash of salt into the soup broth, which is understandable given how tight their family finance is - at present. They are practically living on Jan Di's paycheck from the porridge shop at present, given that Jan Di had quit her other two part-time when she was busy preparing for the year-end exams back in May, and later because of moving house to another neighborhood.

As for Geum Ii-Bong's paycheck from his convenience store part-time job, the paycheck went straight into the rental for their new apartment unit. So, what their family had on hand to spare now is the 200,000 Korean Won deposit they had gotten back from their previous landlord when they moved out from their old place of residence to their new rented apartment unit in Samseon-dong, Seongbuk district.

It was during the task of scooping up the rice for their family and serving it onto the respective bowls when Jan Di inquires into the status of her mother's job-hunt in the neighborhood.

"Eomma, how is your job hunt going?" Geum Jan Di inquires nonchalantly, as though she was simply checking in on the matter because the thought just sprang to mind.

"Not good. Neither of the shops nearby had wanted extra help, your app had mentioned he could ask his store supervisor to see if they wanted additional help but I waved off his suggestion. I'm not so keen on a job that would require me to work shift work and carry heavy things all year round." Na Gong-Joo told her daughter somewhat dejectedly.

"Hmm… Ga Eul send me a notice about a job advertisement today. It says that the Su Am Arts Center is looking for part-time cleaners, the hourly pay rate isn't too bad. Would you be keen to give it a try? I know, the arts center isn't exactly within the neighborhood but it's only two stations away via train… so, it should still work for you. If you're interested, I'll get Ga Eul to print out the advertisement for you tomorrow." Jan Di commented as she suggested casually to her mother about the job advertisement her childhood friend had chanced upon while at the arts center.

"No need to trouble Ga Eul to print out a copy of the advertisement, you can just copy down the key details for me on a piece of paper. I will think about it tonight." Na Gong-Joo responded to her daughter's comment with the promise of considering the idea over the night.

"Excellent, I'll go and jot down the details for you now." Geum Jan Di beams as she rushes out of the kitchen towards the bedroom which she now shares with her younger brother to get a pen and paper to jot down the details of the hiring ad for her mother's perusal later tonight.

"..."

In the end, Na Gong-Joo was lured in by the good hourly pay rate offered for the position and thus, decided to give the job opportunity a try by heading over to the arts center for a walk-in-interview. Because Jan Di was the only one in their family with a mobile phone at present, when Na Gong-Joo filled in her job application form - it has been the contact number of her daughter that she filled in. They had a land-line subscription with the telco when they still had their laundry business, but when they wind up the laundry business - they terminated the land-line subscription with the telco at the same time, as a means to cut down on unnecessary cost.

Location: Geum family home, apartment in Seongbuk district, Samseon neighborhood. 11th November 2009, Wednesday, 5.45pm

Geum Jan Di was helping out her mother in the production of a cat plush toy, a handicraft work her mother had taken on freelance to supplement the family income while on the job-hunt period when her younger brother suddenly brought up the mention of her boyfriend's name.

"Noona, don't you think this cat plush resembles Jun Pyo Hyung-nim? Especially with this hair attached to the plush head." Geum Kang San commented as he turns the cat plush he had in his hands towards the direction of Geum Jan Di, to ask for his sister's opinion.

"... Ya! Kang San, stop talking nonsense." Na Gong-Joo snapped, knowing how the mention of the absent Shinhwa heir's name is only bound to send her daughter into a depressing mood.

"Exactly, Kang San. There is no way that Young Master Jun Pyo would resemble the cat if he really had to resemble something - it would definitely be the tiger." Geum Ii-Bong commented then, as he starts fooling around with his son for a moment trying to distract Jan Di from her melancholy mood.

Allowing a small smile to tug at the corner of her lips, Geum Jan Di was about to say something when she winced instead feeling the familiar sense of twinge on her back. Noticing the wincing look on Jan Di's face, Geum Kang San couldn't help but ask in concern. "Noona, is your back hurting again?"

Given that the two siblings now shared the same bedroom, Kang San can't miss out on the telling signs of how the pain in the back has been bugging his elder sister for over a month now. At first, the pain only occurs after his sister had carried a heavy load… but recently it seems to be acting up more frequently. He was about to suggest for his sister to visit the doctor when a groaning sound from his mother distracted him from his thoughts.

"Eomma?" Kang San shifted his attention over to his mother, only to find his mother cradling her neck as she lamented aloud.

"Back pain is nothing, I'm having pain absolutely everywhere. All of these bending over, and the never-ending chores are causing my body to ache all over. At least, Jan Di can still go for a swim while in school to loosen up her stiff muscles. Me, on the other hand, had no such privileges." Na Gong-Joo complained aloud as she starts rubbing her stiff shoulders and neck.

"Kang San, shall we help out your mother in loosening up her stiff muscles?!" Geum Ii-Bong suggested to his son with a grinning look, and then the father and son promptly started waiting on the figure of Na Gong-Joo succumbing to her whims as she bosses them around.

Geum Jan Di smiles as she took in the sight of her father and brother keeping her bossy mother entertained. Carrying the cat plush she had in her hands, Jan Di brought the plush with her back into the bedroom she is sharing with Kang San. Thinking about how Kang San had compared the looks of the plush to her absent boyfriend, Geum Jan Di reaches into the top drawer of her desk where she had kept the necklace given to her by her absent boyfriend. Putting the necklace onto the cat plush, Geum Jan Di poked the face of the cat treating it as a replacement for her absent boyfriend as she lamented and complained about the lack of contact from the Shinhwa heir.

"Honestly, what is it with the lack of messages from you? It isn't as though dropping me a simple text would take up far too much of your time, could it?" Geum Jan Di pouted as she give the cat plush a good punch while imagining it as the face of her absent boyfriend. And then, she reaches for her mobile phone to take another look at the last message she had received from the absent Shinhwa heir. It was at this precise moment that her phone suddenly blare to life, and being caught off-guard, Geum Jan Di nearly dropped her phone. Thankfully, her quick reflex saves her phone from the fact of falling onto the hard ground.

A quick look at the Caller-ID informed her that it wasn't a number she was familiar with, but since her number is currently being utilized by her entire family as the main form of contact - Jan Di didn't choose to ignore the call but opt to pick up the call instead.

"Hello?" Geum Jan Di said into the phone receiver as she answered the incoming call from the unknown caller.

"Are you Na Gong-Joo?" The unknown caller on the other end of the line inquires.

"Erm… no, I'm her daughter actually." Geum Jan Di responded somewhat awkwardly.

"Ah… in that case, can you inform her that she has been selected for the cleaner job at the arts center?" The unknown caller from the other end of the line commented, causing Geum Jan Di to gasp in surprise.

"Seriously? She got the job?" Geum Jan Di asks, double-verifying the information with the unknown caller on her end.

"Yes." The unknown caller in charge of contacting Na Gong-Joo responded in affirmation.

"Please wait, I think you should convey the information to her directly. I might accidentally leave out certain details if you opt to leave a message for her through me." Geum Jan Di hurried to say before the caller could hang up on her, as she rushes back out to the living room of the apartment in excitement.

"Eomma! You got the job!" Geum Jan Di literally squealed in excitement as she handed the phone over to her mother, but Na Gong-Joo was in a bit of a shell-shocked stance to actually react and so, in the end, it was Geum Ii-Bong that took over the answering of the call and noted down the relevant information concerning the reporting time for the next day.

"Sorry, I think my wife is a bit too stunned by the revelation about her getting the job. I'm her husband, Geum Ii-Bong. You can leave a message behind for her, I'll be sure to convey it to her shortly." Geum Ii-Bong said into the phone receiver as he took over the phone from the extended hand of his daughter.

"Right, we would like to have her report in tomorrow at 8am for a briefing of what her job entails as well as to collect the uniforms of our janitors." The unknown caller told Geum Ii-Bong in an unfazed manner over the phone.

"Yes, sure. Tomorrow at 8am. I will let her know. Thank you." Geum Ii-Bong responded before finally ending the call.

"Wife, you heard that? Tomorrow at 8am, you're to report to the arts center admin office. Someone - likely your supervisor would meet you there for a briefing, and bring you to collect the uniforms from the HR department." Geum Ii-Bong then turns to his wife and repeated the instructions he had gotten off from the caller from before.

"Yes! I heard it alright!" Na Gong-Joo beams in response as she leaps up from her sitting position in front of the coffee table of their living room space to engulf her husband in a hug of enthusiasm. Likewise, Jan Di and Kang San rejoice in the exact same manner as they cheered over the success of their mother finally having found a job with a stable income.

Meanwhile, over at the Yoon family home - Yoon Ji Hoo had just received a call from the HR manager at the Su Am Arts Center about his instructions being fulfilled and that the new vacancy on their janitor team has been filled up by the applicant - Na Gong-Joo.

"Thank you, manager. But make sure they don't find out about my interference on this matter." Yoon Ji Hoo told the HR manager over the phone, as he thanked the man for heeding his words to give the position to Na Gong-Joo over other job-seekers that had come in for the walk-in-interview.

"No worries, I'll make sure that your interference in the hiring procedure this time remains a secret from the rest of the department." The HR manager of Su Am Arts Center responded to the words coming from the heir to the Su Am Group.

As the auburn-haired member ended the call with the HR manager of the arts center, the news on the TV unit started to report an update concerning the Shinhwa Group, once again. This time, it was the name of his long-time friend's mother that was being mentioned on-screen by the media instead of his friend's name. However, that still didn't stop Ji Hoo from speculating on the various reasons why his friend hasn't been establishing contact with them, and Geum Jan Di over the past six months.

The last contact they had received from Jun Pyo was dated back in May, a day before they graduated from Shinhwa High. Since then, they haven't heard a word from the absent Shinhwa heir… could it be that their friend had his mobile phone taken away by the witch, again? Yoon Ji Hoo couldn't help but wonder inwardly to himself as he stared at the figure of Kang Hee Soo who was addressing a group of media people in Beijing, China on TV.

Location: Shinhwa Academy, High School Division Academic Building. 12th November 2009, Thursday, 11.30am

When Chu Ga Eul noticed her childhood friend - Geum Jan Di flexing her shoulder in school on the following day during lunch break. She couldn't help but direct a query towards her childhood friend, "Jan Di… did you pull or strain your muscle again?"

"Huh? Oh… yeah, I think so… but it's fine, I just have to ease off my swimming activity for a few days and it would go away on its own." Geum Jan Di responded to Ga Eul, not giving this constant and frequent strain of pain in the muscles of her shoulders much thought.

Chu Ga Eul appears skeptical but knows that she can't force her friend to go to a doctor if her friend is unwilling to do so. And so, she decided to file it away for now and made it a point to bring it up to the auburn-haired member of F4, the next time she sees the guy in person at the arts center. Thank goodness, Yoon Ji Hoo has the habit of visiting the arts center every other day for one reason or another. Otherwise, it is going to be very difficult to catch hold of the guy and not rouse the suspicion of her childhood friend.

With that particular thought in mind, Chu Ga Eul parted ways with her childhood friend and headed back towards her own classroom when lunch break came to an end. Even though, Ga Eul is now in the same class as Sunny alongside Areum and Jessica. She didn't exactly interact with them outside of the necessity, she kept her friends' circle tight. After all, Ga Eul isn't exactly a social butterfly and hence didn't see the need to befriend each and everyone that she crosses paths with. Either way, Ga Eul mostly spends her lunch break with either Jan Di or Hyo Rin but mostly Jan Di, these days since the F4 has graduated and her friend had no one else to spend a lunch break with. Hyo Rin, at least, could join her own friend - Ha Na or the E3 for lunch.

A private message between Chu Ga Eul and So Yi Jeong, 12th November 2009, Thursday afternoon, 12pm.

Ga Eul: Yi Jeong-sunbae, remember to take your lunch on time. Are you lunching alone or with your friends?

Yi Jeong: Hmm… I'm likely to lunch alone today, with all of us in different faculty across the tertiary department. It's a tad hard to meet up for lunch since everyone seems to be having a free period and lunch break at different timings. I just got out of class and am now going on my lunch break, but the medical school has their lunch break at 1pm, I believe. As for the business students, well…their lunch starts at 11.30am, if my memory serves me correctly.

Ga Eul: Interesting. Alright, enjoy your solo lunch. ^_^ I'll see you tonight for dinner.

Yi Jeong: Of course, do text me after you ended your ballet class. I will go and pick you up for dinner.

Ga Eul: Ah… so, we are dining out today?

Yi Jeong: Hyung recommended a restaurant that serves authentic Vietnamese food, he claims. I was wondering if you would like to give it a try.

Ga Eul: That sounds lovely. By the way, I'm glad that you are back on speaking terms with your estranged brother. ^_^

PS: My next class is about to begin, see you later this evening. ^_^

Yi Jeong: See you later.

Tucking away his mobile phone, the Korean Casanova of F4 made his way towards the students' cafeteria of the tertiary department to check out the menu catering to the tertiary students. Unlike the students' cafeteria of the high school department, the cafeteria in the tertiary department has a lot more variety of food choices. The layout of the cafeteria reminded him of a food court, whereby there's a mesh of different food vendors selling cuisines of different regions. For instance, the cafeteria actually has a stall that caters to both Japanese and Korean set meals which are definitely new to Yi Jeong.

As far as Yi Jeong is aware, the students' cafeterias in the high school division are mostly geared towards the western menu. Given that there's a salad bar, sandwich bar, and a beverage bar - which is why 80% of the time, Ga Eul had opted to bring in her own lunch to school because she isn't a fan of the western menu. It's okay to indulge in a western menu once in a while, but not every single day. Making a mental note to share this little tidbit of information with his girlfriend when he meets up with the girl, later on, this evening - So Yi Jeong continues on with his exploration of the cafeteria in the tertiary department of the Shinhwa Academy.

"Yo! Yi Jeong, if you're looking for an available table to take your lunch. You can have mine, we are just about to finish up and leave either way." So Yi Jeong had just purchased his own food from the vendor selling noodles and was looking for an available table to sit down for his lunch when he heard the familiar sound of his best friend calling out for his attention.

"Woo Bin, glad to see that you'd managed to expand your social circle with ease, this time around." So Yi Jeong commented as he carried his food tray with him towards where his Don Juan friend of F4 was seated in the cafeteria with two unknown guys, probably some new acquaintances of his childhood friend from the same business course.

"Yes, well… the joys and pleasure of networking. Anyway, we're just leaving - so you can have the table." Song Woo Bin commented as he pushes back his chair at the cafeteria, preparing to leave for the exit of the food court with his two newly acquainted classmates.

Location: Inside Miyazawa Kazuki's black Lexus, 12th November 2009, Thursday, 2.30pm

Although, Ga Eul had known it's only a matter of time before Kazuki would come to realize that she has something going on with the Casanova of F4. She wasn't expecting it to happen mere days after the Korean Casanova had admitted to her that he's in love with her and that they are indeed in a relationship, albeit - an underground relationship. Henceforth, when Kazuki inquires her on what exactly is going on between her and a certain Casanova of F4 - Chu Ga Eul was rendered effectively speechless by her half-brother's demand.

"Erm… what was that again?" Chu Ga Eul blinked, turning towards her side where her half-brother sat behind the steering wheel of the black Lexus as she prompted for the guy to repeat his words from before.

"... I asked to know, what exactly is going on between you and the Korean Casanova? Don't think I haven't noticed, despite how Shuichi had tried to cover for you when you vanish off for an hour or two during our Sundays' activities at the Shinhwa Country Club. You were off meeting So Yi Jeong of F4, weren't you? Just what exactly were you doing with him during that few hours?" Miyazawa Kazuki deadpans as he zeroes in his flat gaze upon the speechless figure of his half-sister - Chu Ga Eul, as he pulled his black Lexus to a stop at a traffic junction as the traffic signal changes to red for the vehicles and green for the pedestrians.

"I won't deny that I sort of vanishes off for an hour or two during our routine Sundays' activities. But how on earth did you come to the conclusion that I was with Yi Jeong-sunbae?" Chu Ga Eul couldn't help but inquire Kazuki in response, neither denying nor admitting to the words of her half-sibling.

"I overheard some female staff on duty at the country club's reception counter about how the Korean Casanova of F4 has shown up at the country club without the Don Juan of F4 in tow and put things together. So, dear sister of mine… care to come clean with me now?" Miyazawa Kazuki commented dryly at Ga Eul in response.

"...Fine, you were right. I was sneaking off to meet up with Yi Jeong-sunbae at the F4 clubhouse. As for what we were doing during that few hours, we were having tea in the clubhouse." Ga Eul responded, attempting to downplay the nature of her relationship with So Yi Jeong of F4, lest Kazuki decided to overreact while still driving her to the arts center.

"You expect me to believe that you two were simply having tea in the F4 clubhouse for two hours, every single week?" Miyazawa Kazuki raised an eyebrow up at his half-sister in skepticism, as he remarked drily.

"Believe it or not, we were indeed having tea. Of course, we might have chit-chat for a bit while taking tea together. I have been fishing information about the tertiary department of Shinhwa Academy out from him." Thinking quick on her feet, Ga Eul managed to find something plausible to fend off her half-sibling curiosity into the reason behind her constant meet-up with the Korean Casanova.

Given how the potter of F4 wasn't ready to announce their relationship publicly to their friends and family, Ga Eul thought she needs to give the Korean Casanova ample warning in advance before coming clean to her half-sibling about them being involved in a relationship. After all, knowing Kazuki - he would definitely be paying the Korean Casanova a visit soon after finding out about the nature of their relationship. And the last thing Ga Eul wanted is for the Korean Casanova to be caught off-guard by her half-brother's confrontation.

"..." Upon Ga Eul's comment about meeting up with the Korean Casanova to fish out information about the tertiary department of the Shinhwa Academy, though the Miyazawa heir remains unconvinced… he didn't pry deeper into the subject. Of course, he's certain that his sister has definitely chatted with the Korean Casanova about the tertiary department of the Shinhwa Academy to an extent - it certainly wasn't everything that had taken place during those meet-ups Ga Eul had with that guy after sneaking off from their routine Sundays' activities. But since Ga Eul isn't keen on sharing further details with him now, Kazuki supposed he could afford to wait for a few more days. He has confidence that his sister wouldn't be keeping those details away from his knowledge for long… eventually, Ga Eul is going to come clean to him.

Pulling up his black Lexus in front of the Su Am Arts Center, Miyazawa Kazuki commented to his half-sister nonchalantly. "Ga Eul, I'll let you off the hook now but that didn't mean I've been fooled over by your earlier attempt at glossing over the subject. I'm sure you know that I only have your best interests at heart, so… I hoped the next time we had a conversation on this particular subject, you would come clean to me without me having to fish the information out from you."

"...I know. Alright, thanks for the ride. And Kazuki, can you soften your attitude towards the girls who came to you with a love confession instead of making them cry every single time? I don't see Shuichi making the girls that confessed to him cry when he turns them down, but you, on the other hand…" Chu Ga Eul couldn't help but comment as she ready herself to alight from the black Lexus that belongs to her half brother - the Miyazawa heir.

"..."

Location: Su Am Arts Center, 12th November 2009, Thursday afternoon, 3.30pm

It was completely by chance that Ga Eul chanced upon the sight of her friend's mother in the arts center, while she had been the one to inform Jan Di about the job opportunity. She hasn't been following up on the issue, and henceforth, it wasn't until she chanced upon the figure of her friend's mother cleaning the glass panel staircase railing of the arts center that she realized that Jan Di had convinced her mother to give the job opportunity a try, and had gotten the job, in the end.

Ga Eul was about to call out for the attention of her friend's mother for a brief word as she has some time to spare before she needs to report to the dance studio for her ballet class when she noticed the woman missing a step on the staircase and was about to fall. A gasp of horror escaped Ga Eul as she started wondering what she's going to have to say to her childhood friend about her mother's incident at work when the figure of Yoon Ji Hoo swoop in and save the day.

The auburn-haired heir of the Su Am Group had just finished conducting an orchestra practice in the Su Am Concert Hall situated on the second floor of the arts center and was coming down the stairs when he noticed the cleaner working on cleaning the glass railings of the staircase missed a step and stumbled. Reacting purely by instincts, the auburn-haired member of F4 reaches out to catch the cleaner on duty to prevent the mishap of the cleaner meeting with a workplace incident. He waited until the cleaner calmed down from the fright and opened her eyes to check her surroundings before inquiring.

"Are you alright?"

Na Gong-Joo was mentally prepared to feel the impact of rolling off the stairs and hitting the ground, hell, she was already dreading the cost of the medical bills when she realized that she's not hurting anywhere on her body. Only after realizing that she didn't feel hurt anywhere on her body, Na Gong-Joo finally dare to open her eyes to give her surroundings a cursory scan. The first thing she noticed upon opening her eyes was the face of a handsome young man staring straight at her with a look of concern.

[What a handsome young man…] Na Gong-Joo thought, it wasn't until she noticed the young man's lips moving that she realized that she was being spoken to.

"Are you alright?" Yoon Ji Hoo repeated his question for the second time around, with utmost patience as the lady cleaner still seem a tad out of sort.

"Ah… yes, I'm fine. Thank you." Na Gong-Joo who had finally registered the words of the handsome young man that had saved her from the terrible fate of falling off the stairs on her first day of work at the arts center responded in a daze-like manner.

"Good. Be a tad more careful, the next time around." Yoon Ji Hoo commented as he finally let go of the lady cleaner once the woman had planted her feet back firmly down on the ground, and isn't at any risk of falling over, again.

"Of course. Thank you." Na Gong-Joo nodded at the handsome young man in response.

"..." Chu Ga Eul who had witnessed the entire scene felt the corners of her lips twitching on reflex, as she inwardly wonders how her friend would feel knowing that her mother had been mesmerized by the auburn-haired member of F4, just like Jan Di did, initially. Luckily, Na Gong-Joo was purely admiring the handsome features of Yoon Ji Hoo as she knew the guy was too young for her. As such, when she heard the sound of her husband calling out for her attention - her focus was promptly pulled away from her thoughts and back into the present.

Looking at the figure of her husband, Na Gong-Joo commented. "What brought you over? Weren't you supposed to be at work?"

"I am at work, it's my tea-break hours now. I volunteered to get tea for everyone so, I could afford to leave the store for a while. I was in the area when I recalled that today's your first day of work at the arts center, so I thought to swing by for a quick look. Anyway, what were you thinking with that dreamy look on your face?" Geum Ii-Bong remarked, holding up the take-out bag from a nearby cafe to his wife as the evidence of him being given time off from work to grab a tea for his supervisor and colleagues.

Forgoing the idea of eavesdropping on the conversation between the parents of her childhood friend, Chu Ga Eul decided to approach the figure of Yoon Ji Hoo for a brief chat, instead. Of course, given the fact that she didn't know the auburn-haired member of F4 too well… their topic of conversation mostly revolves around her childhood friend - Geum Jan Di.

"Good afternoon, Ji Hoo-sunbae." Chu Ga Eul greeted the auburn-haired member of F4 with a pleasant smile playing on her lips, as she approached.

"Good afternoon, Ga Eul-yang. Here for your ballet class, I presumed?" Yoon Ji Hoo greeted the long-haired friend of Geum Jan Di cordially as he acknowledged the girl's presence.

"Yes. But can I take up a moment of your time, if you don't mind?" Chu Ga Eul began, after checking on the time reflected on her wristwatch and arriving at the conclusion that she does still have time for a quick conversation with the auburn-haired member of F4.

The reason why Ga Eul thought to approach the auburn-haired member of F4 with the request about getting Jan Di to the doctor now is that she knows it would be difficult to approach the guy with such a request while on school grounds. Not simply because the guy is now in the tertiary department and thus making it a tad inconvenient for her to approach, but more because of the fact that Jan Di would be incredibly suspicious of her actions if she were to approach the places where the auburn-haired member of F4 tends to frequent on campus.

Of course, there's also an alternative way to meet up with the auburn-haired member of F4 on campus grounds if absolutely necessary. All she needs to do is to approach a certain Casanova of F4 and seek the former's help in facilitating such a meeting between her and Yoon Ji Hoo of F4, and it could be done as easy as saying 'ABC'. Only, that would mean sharing with the potter of F4 about Jan Di's issue with the recurring shoulder pain before such a meeting could be arranged - which Ga Eul is reluctant to do. That would be a breach of her friend's trust in her, it's already bad enough that she's going behind Jan Di's back to approach Yoon Ji Hoo of F4 on the matter. To share this bit of information with So Yi Jeong of F4 as well, would be too much.

Luckily for Ga Eul, due to her weekly classes at the Su Am Arts Center - she was given plenty of chances to witness the auburn-haired member of F4 around the vicinity. As such, all she needs to do is to catch hold of the young man before he disappears around the corner and the task could easily be accomplished.

"Sure, I believed I do have a few minutes to spare. So, what is this regarding?" Yoon Ji Hoo nodded his consent to stopping for a brief chat with the girl. Inwardly, he's curious to hear what the girl had to say to him. Either way, he figured it's either the girl is halting him to speak to him about her best friend - Geum Jan Di, or providing him with feedback in regards to the areas where the arts center needs to improve on. Whatever the subject the girl intends to speak with him about, it certainly can't be about a certain Casanova friend of his - since Ga Eul always bring such topics straight to Woo Bin when required.

"I'm not sure if you'd noticed, but Jan Di seems to be having recurring issues with a pain in her shoulders. I noticed it shortly after my return from Japan and asks her about it. She fends me off by claiming that she pulled a muscle, but I'm not exactly buying it. Her brother had let it slip to me when she wasn't looking that she has been experiencing pain in her shoulder and back for some time now, even when she wasn't swimming it seems. I tried to talk her into going to the doctor, but she's reluctant to heed my words of advice. Knowing her, she might be concerned about the medical costs of visiting the doctor at the hospital… so, I was hoping that maybe you could speak to her about it?" Chu Ga Eul commented as she speaks her mind in front of the auburn-haired member of F4.

"...I'm not quite sure if she's going to heed my words on this subject as well. Of course, I had noticed her recurring episodes of suffering from shoulder and back pain. I told her to go to the doctor as well, but based on what I've just heard - it seems she hasn't gone to the doctor yet." Yoon Ji Hoo had an unimpressed look clouding his features upon the end of Ga Eul's words.

"...Well, in that case, I suggest you drag her off to the hospital forcibly. That way, she wouldn't be able to wriggle out from the option of visiting a doctor for her pain issues." Chu Ga Eul couldn't help it, she openly rolls her eyes - this time around. Leave it to her childhood friend to attempt to hoodwink the auburn-haired member of F4 into believing that she would go to the doctor on her own, at a later timing.

"I'll think about it. Thank you for bringing the matter up to my attention." Yoon Ji Hoo of F4 commented eventually to the figure of Chu Ga Eul, who seems to be waiting around for his response on the subject.

"Good. I'll leave you to come up with a way to bring Jan Di to the doctor for her shoulder pain then." Satisfied that she had gotten the response she wanted from the auburn-haired member of F4, Chu Ga Eul finally headed off to the direction where the dance studio of the arts center is located for her scheduled ballet lessons.

Location: Shinhwa Academy Aquatic Center, 13th November 2009, Friday, 2.30pm

Geum Jan Di was swimming in the pool of the school's aquatic center after classes ended for the day, as per her usual routine when she needn't report for duty at the porridge shop right away. The first lap around the pool is not so bad, except for the fact that she felt she couldn't swim as fast as she could as compared to the time she was training for the internal competition between the F4 to decide on her fate, following the fiasco of being caught red-handed by the Shinhwa heir during the kissing act between her and Ji Hoo-sunbae when they were vacationing in New Caledonia.

The second lap Geum Jan Di swim in the pool brought on a phantom twinge in her shoulder which she still could ignore, and continue on with her swim. However, when she attempted to swim her third lap - the pain came on strong and abrupt causing her to stop mid-swim to flex her shoulder in the water. She tried another two laps before deciding that perhaps it was time to call it a day, because the pain in her shoulder isn't lessening - if anything, the pain seems to worsen instead of lessening.

[How odd… I thought swimming is supposed to help loosen up the tight muscles from overworking?] - Geum Jan Di frowned as she thought inwardly to herself, the notion that her backache and shoulder ache isn't due to her working long hours at her part-time job didn't even occur to her.

She was just about to get out of the pool when the figure of Yoon Ji Hoo entered the aquatic center. The sight of the auburn-haired member of F4 brought on a smile onto the face of Geum Jan Di, as she greeted her former prince charming cheerfully. "Ji Hoo-sunbae!"

"Getting up already?" Yoon Ji Hoo directed a beaming smile towards the girl in the pool as he inquires while reaching out a hand to assist the girl from getting out from the pool.

"Yes, I was thinking about calling it a day when you walked in." Geum Jan Di beams in response, as she reaches out with her right hand to allow the auburn-haired member of F4 to pull her out from the pool. For a moment, she had literally forgotten about the fact that her shoulders on both sides were throbbing with pain until the pain came on sharply when Yoon Ji Hoo tried to pull her out of the pool with a strong grip.

"Aargh…" Unable to help it, Geum Jan Di yelped aloud in pain as a wincing look overtook her features.

"... You still haven't been to the doctor?" Yoon Ji Hoo stated in a flat tone of voice, looking very much unimpressed over the realization that the girl hasn't delivered on her promise to go to the doctor after he had pointed out the fact that she needed to get her shoulder looked at by a professional medical expert.

"... I've gone, the doctor said it's nothing." Geum Jan Di attempted to hoodwink her way through, only this time - Yoon Ji Hoo wasn't in the least fooled by her attempt to downplay the situation. So, the auburn-haired young man plastered a stern expression on his face as he ordered for the girl he adores to get out from the pool and get changed immediately.

Shortly after the girl appeared in front of him fully changed out of her swimming gear, Yoon Ji Hoo took a page out from his long-time friend's example by dragging the girl off in a forceful manner towards the parking lot where he had parked his white lotus.

"What are you waiting for? Get in and fasten the seatbelt." Yoon Ji Hoo deadpans at the stumped-looking girl who was staring at his white lotus as though this is the first time she had seen his four-wheel vehicle.

"Erm… Ji Hoo-sunbae, what happens to your motorbike?" Geum Jan Di asks stupidly.

"Nothing happens to it, I left it sitting in my garage for today." Yoon Ji Hoo stamps down the urge to roll his eyes as he answered the girl's question.

"Right… and you'd gotten over your crippling fear for driving then?" Geum Jan Di asks as she finally climbs into the side passenger seat of the white lotus that belongs to the auburn-haired member of F4, which she had only seen but hasn't ridden in it before until now.

"...I've gotten over that irrational fear of mine towards driving since that car race on the racing tracks of the tertiary department." Yoon Ji Hoo finally rolls his eyes this time, and upon sighting the gobsmacked look on Geum Jan Di's face from the corner of his eyes… the auburn-haired member of F4 couldn't help it, he snorted.

"If you'd gotten over your irrational fear of driving since then, why were you still traveling around on your motorbike all this time?" Geum Jan Di couldn't help but inquire with a stupefied look on her face.

"Force of habit, I supposed." Yoon Ji Hoo shrugged and waited patiently until the girl had fastened up her seatbelt before igniting the engine to his white lotus.

"Erm… where are we going?" Geum Jan Di couldn't help but ask when the white lotus swerved out of the school's compound.

"Su Am Arts Center." Yoon Ji Hoo responded, while his original intention was to cart the girl off to the hospital for a check-up on her shoulders with a specialist. He thought the hospital might not be able to accommodate his impromptu request, after all, he isn't Jun Pyo and thus, had no right to boss the medical team employed in the service of the Shinhwa Hospital around. Thus, the auburn-haired member of F4 decided to book an appointment with the specialist at the hospital before he even brought Geum Jan Di in for the check-up. Therefore, he decided to bring the girl over to the arts center for a tour instead.

"So, what are we doing here?" Geum Jan Di couldn't help but inquire when she followed the auburn-haired member of F4 into the arts center.

"I'm giving you a tour of the arts center, you haven't been here in person before - right? Besides, don't you want to know the working environment of your mother? I've heard that she had got the cleaner job from the HR manager, earlier today." Yoon Ji Hoo commented nonchalantly, acting as though he had only just gotten the bit of information about Geum Jan Di's mother being employed in the service of the arts center from the hiring manager when in actuality, he was the one that engineered for Geum Jan Di's mother to be hired for the position. Because if one were to get down to the bottom, Su Am normally hires only full-time staff. The employment of the part-time staff is rare and usually outsourced to external parties. To hire a part-time staff directly is a first for the arts center.

And so, Geum Jan Di found herself being given a tour around the arts center and even explored the washroom of the arts center for a bit. Because her mother is scheduled for the day shift today, Geum Jan Di didn't get to witness the sight of her mother at work in the arts center. Following the end of the tour of the arts center, Yoon Ji Hoo went on to bring Geum Jan Di to the recital studio - a smaller capacity performing hall in the arts center.

"Come with me." Yoon Ji Hoo said, beckoning for Geum Jan Di to follow his lead into the recital studio. Once they are inside the recital studio, Yoon Ji Hoo had shepherd Geum Jan Di up onto the stage of the performing hall where a white grand piano was situated in the center of the stage with a comfy-looking armchair placed a few steps away. In front of the armchair, was the presence of a video camera fixated on a tripod stand.

Pushing the girl down onto the armchair, Yoon Ji Hoo went on to switch on the power to the video camera as he told the puzzled-looking girl.

"Go on, face the camera and say whatever is on your mind. Anything you wish to convey to Jun Pyo, you can say it to the camera. I know it's a tad hard for us to get into contact with him since graduation, but there is a way to get a video over to him. His elder sister had offered to send video footage from us over to Jun Pyo when she pops over to China, next weekend. She would be stopping over in Korea briefly, and that's when we could get the videotape over to her so she could bring it over to China for Jun Pyo. According to her, Jun Pyo had literally no access to his phone outside of the few minutes each day because the witch had Jeong Sang-Rok, the secretary she had sic on Jun Pyo to do routine screening of his calls by keeping hold of Jun Pyo's mobile nearly 24/7." Yoon Ji Hoo encouragingly told Geum Jan Di.

Geum Jan Di, meanwhile, simply appeared gobsmacked by the comments of the auburn-haired member from F4. A slightly panicked look crossed the features of Geum Jan Di's face momentarily as she fretted about what to do under the present circumstance. "...Even if you tell me this now, it's a bit hard for me to come up with things to say - on such short notice."

"Relax and just say whatever is on your mind. This is a video recording, we can always edit the footage later to remove the unnecessary portion of the video." Yoon Ji Hoo told Geum Jan Di in an encouraging tone of voice.

"..." Realizing that Yoon Ji Hoo isn't going to change his mind about getting her to record a message for her absent boyfriend via the video camera, Geum Jan Di resigned herself to find something to say to her boyfriend via the screen.

"Erm… Gu Jun Pyo, can you hear me? Right… I've been thinking about you a lot since you left. Funnily enough, all the things I found myself remembering about you were us fighting over something. Even though, all I could remember was our fights… the ironic thing is that I often found myself smiling despite the negative images that sprang to mind upon the thought of you. So, really… when are you coming back to fight with me again?" Geum Jan Di told the camera screen, plastering a smile onto her face even as she wiped off the tears that threatens to fall from the corner of her eyes with the sleeves of her jacket not even trying to be discreet about it.

Yoon Ji Hoo, upon noticing Geum Jan Di's sudden sorrow in the face of the video recording shifted his position on the piano bench. Originally, he was back-facing the piano and observing the girl from his seated position on the piano bench. Now though, he had his back against the girl and is playing a little tune on the piano.

It took Geum Jan Di a moment to calm herself down, and when she did calm down - instead of facing the video camera again, she decide to head over to the piano to join the auburn-haired member of F4. Recognizing the tune played on the piano as a beginner piece the guy had taught her briefly in the school's concert hall over the past few occasions when she chanced upon the guy after classes ended for the day - she decided to pitch in and play a part of the tune that she remembered with her right hand. They continue the piano playing of that same tune for another few minutes before stopping, and Yoon Ji Hoo offered to bring Geum Jan Di out for dinner before sending her home.

Location: So Yi Jeong's Pottery Studio, 13th November 2009, Friday evening, 7pm

Entering the pottery studio with the food carrier bag in tow, Chu Ga Eul was about to announce her arrival when she noticed the sight of the potter of F4 working diligently on the sculpting of a new urn in the making over the potter's wheel with the tune of J. - Air on G String playing in the background. Immediately, the notion of announcing her arrival was discarded by Chu Ga Eul as she stood in the doorway admiring the sight of her secret beau working away on the crafting of the new urn - likely a new pottery project which he had been commissioned to create. After all, urns or vases of this gigantic sizing aren't something the Korean Casanova would create out of the blue. It's not as if he had the space to display it within his pottery studio, and that's why Ga Eul dares to label the project So Yi Jeong is presently working on as a commissioned project.

While Chu Ga Eul stood by to observe her love interest working on the sculpting of the urn in silence, So Yi Jeong who appears to be focusing on his work already knows of the girl's arrival at his pottery studio without glancing up. Mostly because the Korean Casanova could feel it, the feeling of someone observing him unmoving from a distance. Taking into consideration of the limited number of people on his routine visitors' list, and the current timing - it didn't take the Korean Casanova too long to determine the identity of his silent observer.

The only reason why Yi Jeong didn't react to the country bumpkin's arrival at his pottery studio was that he wanted to finish tweaking the part he was working on - for the urn before shifting his focus to his silent observer. The moment, Yi Jeong was done tweaking the portion where he wanted to tweak on the urn that's crafting in process… he wasted no time in picking up the remote control to his music player to turn off the classical music CD playing in the background.

"I've been told multiple times that the sight of me working away on the pottery wheel could be rather mesmerizing to the ladies. And most of them claim to fall for me after witnessing that particular side of me… so, out of curiosity… did witnessing me working on the urn makes you fall for me all over again?" So Yi Jeong begins, as he raised his eyes up to meet the blushing figure of Chu Ga Eul from his position in front of his pottery wheel.

"Yi Jeong-sunbae! Why must you always tease me so?!" Chu Ga Eul flushed red in the face as she pouted her response at the Korean Casanova, and her secret beau.

Secret because not many people know of them dating officially at this point. Outside from a handful of people - the rest of their friends and family had no idea that they had made things official between them. Rather, they had no idea that the Korean Casanova of F4 had finally decided to stop running from his feelings and makes Chu Ga Eul his official girlfriend, effectively from the beginning of this month.

"Come on, Ga Eul. My ego needs some buttering up, so…would you be kind to humor me? I haven't had any ladies friend of mine visiting the studio since I make things official between us, and while I haven't exactly stopped going clubbing - I've minimized the duration of my clubbing activities from every other day to once a month, for only an hour since. I think I'm due for some rewards for my good performance, don't you think?" So Yi Jeong flashed his charming dimpled smile towards the blushing figure of Chu Ga Eul as he commented, knowing full well that Ga Eul always had trouble resisting the charms of his dimpled smile.

"...that's so unfair, Yi Jeong-sunbae! You know I always had difficulty resisting that dimpled smile of yours." Chu Ga Eul pouted in response, setting down the food carrier bag onto one of the tables situated near the doorway of the pottery studio as she turns to regard the owner of the studio with a somewhat exasperated look. In the end, she decided to humor the guy since it's apparent that So Yi Jeong isn't going to budge on the matter without hearing what he wanted to hear from her. So, with an exasperated huff of breath - Chu Ga Eul remarked.

"Yes, I admitted. I was just as mesmerized by the sight of you working diligently on that new urn you were sculpting on the wheel earlier, so your ladies' acquaintance wasn't lying when they claims that anyone who chanced upon that earlier scene would fall for you because that side of you was indeed charming. There, I've said it. Was that what you wanted to hear from me?"

"Hmm… passable, I supposed. Out of curiosity, do you still believe in the concept of soulmates?" Yi Jeong had no idea why he decided to bring the topic of soulmates up for discussion again, given that he didn't particularly believe in that concept.

"...Of course, I still do. While on the subject, what exactly brought this on?" Chu Ga Eul sighed as she shifted her determined eyes upon the figure of the Korean Casanova, and meet eyes with the guy as she tried to get a good read on what her potter boyfriend is thinking about now.

"Curiosity, I supposed. Given how strong your belief in the concept of soulmate is…what makes you decide to pursue your interest in me? Certainly, you aren't thinking that I might be your destined soulmate - are you?" So Yi Jeong commented with a shrug, as he regards the figure of Chu Ga Eul with unbidden curiosity lurking in his eyes. Despite his tendency to scoff at the mention of soulmates, Yi Jeong still wants to know if Ga Eul truly believes him to be her destined soulmate in life.

"...Yi Jeong-sunbae. There's a saying that goes - the more vehemently one denies something, it just means that they are simply afraid that something is true. As such, with how strongly you're against the concept of soulmates… it's starting to make me think that somewhere deep down in you - you do believe it. Only, for some reason, you're afraid of finding out that soulmates truly exist. Anyway, I figured that's enough food for your thoughts at present. Coming back to my reason for pursuing my interest in you, well… I guess I just didn't want to regret it later on in life. So, I wanted to at least try and give the attraction between us a chance. While there is always a chance of my efforts would be wasted, but judging from the present circumstances - I'm glad I decided to act upon my heart's desires and pursue my interest in you. Wouldn't you agree? As for whether or not you're my destined soulmate in life, only time would tell - isn't it?" Chu Ga Eul was silent for a moment, before deciding to speak her mind on the subject. And then, she pretty much left the guy alone to his thoughts while she ventured into the kitchenette area with the food carrier bag she had brought along with her to the pottery studio and prepare to reheat the food for their dinner meal.

With all that time delayed between her silent observing of the potter of F4 working on his latest commissioned project, and then their random conversation on the concept of soulmates - the food which had been warm when she arrived had definitely gone cold. Thank goodness, she had managed to talk the guy into investing in a multifunctional oven unit for his kitchenette - else, she might have to find some alternative ways to reheat the food for their dinner meal.

"..." For a while, So Yi Jeong didn't respond because he finds himself at a loss for words. How many times has it been now? For him to be rendered speechless by the country bumpkin? Honestly, he had lost count. The Korean Casanova was jolted back to the plane of living when his stomach started to rumble upon the smell of food coming from the kitchenette area of his pottery studio.

Blinking twice as he scanned his surrounding, Yi Jeong realized that he must have zoned out after Ga Eul's statement about him fearing the existence of soulmates to be true. Because the country bumpkin is now no longer standing near the doorway of his pottery studio and instead is reheating something in the multifunctional oven unit she had persuaded him into buying shortly before his official graduation from Shinhwa High.

"The food smells great, so… what's for dinner tonight?" The Korean Casanova inquires as he headed towards the kitchenette area of his pottery studio intending to make them some tea to enjoy along with the food brought over by the country bumpkin, this evening.

"Spicy Pork Bulgogi Rice Bowl and Seafood Pancake. I'm using your oven to reheat the seafood pancake. I would love to reheat the rice bowl as well… but unfortunately, you have no steamer unit nor any pots for me to utilize in your kitchenette. So, I guess we will just have to wait for the oven to be done heating the pancake before I could switch it out with the rice bowl." Chu Ga Eul commented and if she's surprised by the lack of negative vibes emitting off the person of the Korean Casanova after what she had said before, she didn't show it. Instead, she simply took it in stride and shifted her position somewhat so the owner of the pottery studio could access the electric water kettle to boil up some water for the preparation of their tea beverage.

"That's fine, we can have the pancake as an appetizer while waiting for the rice bowl to be done with the reheating in the oven." So Yi Jeong shrugged easily in response, he didn't mind the delay in the serving of his dinner meal. Heck, if it weren't for Chu Ga Eul's consistent supervision of his meals intake - he probably would have skipped through dinner today. Considering how focused he has been on that commissioned project when the girl waltzed into his pottery studio earlier.

While waiting for the timer of the oven to go off, so the pancake could be served and the rice bowl could be popped into the appliance to be heated up. Chu Ga Eul decided to hold an idle chit-chat session with her love interest, of course, she makes sure to steer clear of any potential taboo topic of the Korean Casanova.

"I assumed, there's still no word from Jun Pyo-sunbae?" Chu Ga Eul began while watching the Korean Casanova prepare the tea for their consumption shortly from her position near the oven unit in the kitchenette area.

"Hmm… yes. According to Jun Hee-noona, the witch had one of her secretaries assisting Jun Pyo in his new role and instructed the secretary to be holding on to Jun Pyo's mobile on his behalf. So, these days, Jun Pyo was only given access to his phone for a mere 30 minutes and that's during lunch break. Given how he needed to feed himself and check through the messages accumulated in his mobile phone's inbox… it's really no wonder that he had no time to reply to the messages. Still, Ji Hoo thinks it's good enough that the messages we'd sent him have all been read through." The potter of F4 responded, allowing the newly brewed tea to steep for a few more minutes before readying the tea to be served.

"Poor Jun Pyo-sunbae. I can't imagine how it's like to be only given access to a phone for 30 minutes each day." Chu Ga Eul commented suppressing a shudder upon the thought of not having her mobile phone with her 24/7.

"How's Geum Jan Di coping with the absence of Jun Pyo?" So Yi Jeong inquires, asking his girlfriend about how the Wonder Woman of Korea is coping with the lack of contact from his friend.

"Not very well, I dare say. Luckily, her family financial woes kept the bulk of her attention focused on resolving crisis after crisis rather than focusing on the lack of contact from Jun Pyo-sunbae." Chu Ga Eul shrugged in response, as she swapped the dishes heating in the oven from the pancake to the rice bowl and then reset the timer to heat up the main dish for today's dinner.

"Alright, the pancake's ready. Shall we get the dinner table set up?" In an attempt to steer the topic of conversation away from her childhood friend, lest she accidentally let it slip to her secret beau about Jan Di's recurring episodes of pain in the back where she had shielded the Shinhwa heir from being smashed head-on by a chair… Chu Ga Eul decided to divert the focus of the Korean Casanova onto the task of assisting her in getting the dinner table set up.

Tables definitely aren't lacking in the pottery studio, only most of the tables were cluttered up with either finished or unfinished pottery projects that really aren't functional as a dining space. And so, by claiming to get the dinner table set up - Ga Eul is actually telling the potter of F4 to clear out one of his tables in the pottery studio and makes it suitable to be used as a dining space.

They had just seated down for dinner when the Korean Casanova decided to bring up a subject that he had spent half the previous night mulling over. "About what you said yesterday when we were having our dinner at the Vietnamese restaurant in Mapo district… I think it's fine for you to come clean to your brother about the nature of our relationship. It isn't as though he's going to broadcast the information to the public, and you're right that you should come clean to him than having him find things out through alternative means."

"That's relieving to know, seeing as I really don't think he buys into the whole - 'I'm meeting up with you on Sundays at the F4 Clubhouse to find out more about the tertiary department of Shinhwa Academy' excuse, to be honest. But are you sure it's okay for me to come clean to him about the nature of our relationship? He might be tempted to confront you in person, to have a chat with you - you know?" Chu Ga Eul couldn't help but point out objectively to the potter of F4, in the wake of receiving clearance to come clean to her half-sibling about her being in a relationship with the infamous Korean Casanova.

"I'm well aware of that possibility, but I gathered that - a meeting with him to have a brief chat in person is inevitable. It's only a matter of time, and because I'm likely to be vetted by all your parents eventually… the earlier I could get the meeting with your overprotective brother out of the way, the better. Besides, with how he intends to avoid too much interaction with us - the F4, in general. The worse he could do is to give me the typical warning message that entails bodily harm if I dared to hurt you, or make you cry." The Korean Casanova commented drily at Chu Ga Eul in response, already envisioning the type of conversation the Miyazawa heir is likely to have with him - should the guy decide to approach him for a brief chat in person.

"Well… if it's any consolation to you, I'm older than him by 6 months. So, technically, he's the younger brother, not the older brother. Henceforth, if he dares try to pull rank with you - feel free to remind him of the fact that you're older than him in age, and that you're dating his elder sister, not younger sister. That would remind him of the fact that he doesn't really get a say over who I'm dating, at the end of the day." Chu Ga Eul responded as she directed a wry smile towards the Korean Casanova who seems to find the entire notion of having to deal with her overprotective brother - a dread.

"Thanks for the tips in dealing with the Miyazawa heir. I'll be sure to keep it in mind if he does show up in front of me requesting for a chat in person." So Yi Jeong bestowed a smile towards the figure of Chu Ga Eul, before shifting his full focus onto the food sitting in front of him. He had tried the seafood pancake earlier and finds it satisfactory but between the seafood pancake and the Kimchi pancake which he had the opportunity to try out on a previous occasion - he still prefers the Kimchi pancake. But since both pancakes are prepped up by Ga Eul personally, he isn't going to pick favorites.

Between the two of them, they managed to finish up the seafood pancake brought over by Ga Eul, this evening. The spicy pork bulgogi rice bowl though, because Ga Eul had packed an extra big serving in the food container earlier. Despite Ga Eul having eaten a portion alongside Yi Jeong this evening, there's still leftover in the food container brought over by Ga Eul earlier on. And so, Chu Ga Eul decided to keep the leftover portion of the spicy pork bulgogi rice bowl away in the cube fridge situated in the kitchenette area of the pottery studio for the Korean Casanova to heat it up for breakfast, the next day.

After the meal, Chu Ga Eul went on to wash up the utensils used in the kitchenette's sink while leaving Yi Jeong to do as he pleased. Between the option of returning to his unfinished pottery project, and offering his assistance to the country bumpkin - the Korean Casanova picked the latter.

"Is there anything I could do to help you out in your dish-washing task?" So Yi Jeong started as he inches closer to where the country bumpkin stood in his kitchenette.

"Hmm… well, if you insist on helping - take a dry dish rag and help in wiping dry the dishes manually. Usually, I would leave the dishes out to dry naturally on the dish drying rack… but unfortunately, your drying rack is too small to hold everything I'd utilized for today's dinner meal." Chu Ga Eul eventually said as she informed the Korean Casanova who had expressed his inclination to be of assistance to her, in her current dish-washing task.

"Of course." Yi Jeong agreed readily as he retrieved a dry dish rag from its' storage compartment in his kitchenette counter, and start wiping dry the dishes that his girlfriend had handed over to him for drying after it had been washed thoroughly in the sink with soap and later rinsed off with the clean tap water.

Whatever Song Woo Bin was expecting to find when he pops by his friend's pottery studio, it certainly wasn't a purely domestic scene between his friend - Yi Jeong, and Chu Ga Eul. And yet, this was exactly what the Don Juan of F4 had ended up intruding upon when he arrives at his friend's pottery studio.

"...wow, this is unexpected." The Don Juan of F4 couldn't help but exclaim as he made his presence known to the two occupants of the pottery studio with his remark.

"What is unexpected, Woo Bin-sunbae?" Chu Ga Eul was the first to react, as she turns to check on the new visitor to the pottery studio.

"The fact that Yi Jeong was voluntarily doing housework? Or was it because of the fact that the two of you appear so domestic and at ease with each other presence nearby that if I didn't know any better, I would have thought have been living in sin behind everyone's back?" The Don Juan of F4 commented cheekily in response.

"..." Upon the comment of 'living in sin' coming from the Don Juan of F4, Chu Ga Eul went beet red on reflex as she promptly started shaking her head at the other notorious playboy of F4 as she emphasized. "We are most definitely not living in sin behind everyone's back! Woo Bin-sunbae!"

"I know, I meant it as a joke. Really, Ga Eul-yang… don't get yourself so worked up over a mindless comment on my part. I just meant to point out that the two of you are really chummy and comfortable in each other's presence." Song Woo Bin hurried to pacify the agitated girl, lest his friend decided to blame him for stressing out Chu Ga Eul unnecessarily later.

"Ya! Woo Bin, I'll have you know - I am quite capable of handling household chores without help. My grandfather wouldn't have consented to the idea of me living full-time in the pottery studio if I hasn't proved to be capable of being self-reliant." So Yi Jeong sounded offended as he threw his friend a look of annoyance in response.

"Yes, you're self-reliant and you're capable of spring-cleaning this place on your own. That, I believed. But dish-washing, that's definitely a big 'No' in my books. After all, that kitchenette of yours is just for show… at least, it was until Ga Eul-yang comes along." Song Woo Bin pointed out to his friend in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"Alright, Yi Jeong-sunbae. I'll handle the rest of the dish-washing and drying tasks on my own. You'd best go and see what Woo Bin-sunbae wants from you. I doubt you would be fine leaving him alone to his own device in your pottery studio while you took a leave of absence to send me home later." Chu Ga Eul said, signaling for the potter of F4 to go and attend to his friend's needs for the time being after she had calmed down significantly from the effects of that mindless remark which the Don Juan of F4 had brought on.

As it turns out, the Don Juan of F4 is here to borrow a car charger for the mobile phone from Yi Jeong as his own car charger has been misplaced by one of his younger sisters and he hasn't had time to locate it at home. At first, he thought of doing without the car charger but when he realized that his mobile phone is running on less than half the battery power - he thought it prudent to swing by and borrow his friend's car charger for his use. Of course, there is also the option of getting a new one - but that would mean heading out to the shopping district but considering that he's already running late for a dinner appointment with a potential client - he thought it best to simply borrow the car charger from his friend and be on his way, as soon as possible.

"... You'd best return it to me in school tomorrow." So Yi Jeong rolls his eyes at his best friend upon hearing the request of his friend needing to borrow his car charger for the mobile phone. Given that he only owns one of these chargers, he had to head out to where he parked his orange lotus to retrieve it from the car to lend it to his friend.

"Definitely. I'll make sure to return it to you without a scratch on it. Speaking of, the two of you look quite chummy earlier. Are things official between the two of you yet?" Song Woo Bin couldn't help but pry into the subject of his friend's love-life concerning a certain country bumpkin, after getting his hands on the car charger lend to him by his best friend.

"Gees… you never give up, do you? Fine, in response to your inquiry - we are sort of official. Happy?" So Yi Jeong rolls his eyes at his Don Juan friend, exasperation apparent on his features.

"What do you mean by sort of official? It's either you're official, or you're not." Song Woo Bin deadpans as he shifted flat penetrating eyes upon the figure of his Casanova friend.

"... Fine, we are official. I used the term sort of because we aren't announcing the nature of our relationship to everyone just yet. Presently, only a handful of people knows that we're dating and it's on a 'need-to-know' basis." So Yi Jeong huffed in annoyance as he elaborated further on his earlier response to his friend.

"And just who exactly is on the 'need-to-know' list?" Song Woo Bin prompted, raising an eyebrow questioningly at his friend. Given how he had only gotten the information after prying into the subject minutes ago, it's obvious that he wasn't the first to know of his friend's decision to make things official with the lovely Chu Ga Eul.

"Sakuraba Shuichi for certain. Given how I've literally taken over his right as Ga Eul's primary chauffeur these days, it's only natural for him to be the first to know of my decision to make things official with Ga Eul. Of course, I'm not the one who updated him on the change in our relationship status - that's all Ga Eul's doing. She's usually the one that cancels on him in favor of meeting up with me." So Yi Jeong responded flatly at his curious friend while hoping that his friend would drop the subject already.

"Okay, so now the two of you are basically in an underground relationship? Is that what you're implying?" Song Woo Bin commented as he allows a whistling sound to escape from his lips, he was about to say more when he noticed the unimpressed look on his friend's face.

"I thought you're supposed to be rushing off for a meeting with a potential client? Are you sure you want to continue standing here to gossip about my relationship with Ga Eul?" So Yi Jeong gritted out, his expression one of utmost annoyance.

"Right… I'd better go. I'll catch up with you on another day. Enjoy your evening with Ga Eul-yang." Song Woo Bin remarked to his friend with a suggestive grin, as he headed towards where he had left his yellow lotus parked with the car charger he had borrowed from his friend in hand.

"..."

As annoyed as Yi Jeong was with his friend, the moment he returns to the pottery studio - the first thing he did was wipe the look of annoyance off his face as he rejoins his girlfriend in the kitchenette area of the studio.

"What are you doing?" Yi Jeong couldn't help but inquire when he noticed his girlfriend shifting around the items in his cube fridge.

"Hmm… I'm trying to ascertain for myself, the items that have been stashed off-handed into your cube fridge over the past few days while I'm here. Ah-ha! Found it! I knew I bought it the other day, but I can't find it in the fridge at home… so, I was thinking if I had stashed it away in your fridge by mistake. Turns out, I'm right." Chu Ga Eul beams when she finally located the bag of egg tofu she had bought a few days ago at the supermarket before dropping by to bring the Korean Casanova his dinner for the day and accidentally packed it away in the guy's fridge instead of bringing it home with her.

"And what's that in the bag that you've stashed away in my cube fridge by mistake?" The Korean Casanova inquires in a bemused tone of voice.

"Egg tofu for my Chinese cuisine menu for the E3, on this coming Sunday. It's my turn to host the weekly dinner session, and hence my turn to cook." Chu Ga Eul explains, and upon noticing the envious look on her boyfriend's face - she added as an afterthought. "No worries, I'll make sure to prep up a Chinese cuisine menu for you in time. Just not this week… let them be the guinea pig and tried out the dish first."

"Alright then. I supposed I could live with the idea of them being used as a guinea pig for your new culinary menu. Speaking of, would you like to join me for a walk around the neighborhood for the after-meal exercise?" Yi Jeong suggested, upon realizing that between dealing with Woo Bin's impromptu visit and the earlier dish-drying task… he hasn't exactly exercised after his dinner meal today, yet.

"Of course. Just let me keep this in the cooler bag, in case I forgot to bring it home with me later." Chu Ga Eul commented as she retrieved a cooler bag from one of the storage compartments of his kitchenette counter causing the Korean Casanova to widen his eyes in surprise. Since when did he own such an item in his kitchenette? Or was this yet another item left behind by the girl on her last visit to his pottery studio?

"No hurry, I need to get a quick change of clothes as well. I could hardly head out for the evening stroll dressed in my work attire." So Yi Jeong commented after a quick assessment of his current attire and promptly made a beeline for the direction of his room for a change of his clothes.

"Don't mind me asking, but where did the cooler bag come from? I truly doubt I own anything like that in my inventory…" So Yi Jeong started when he locked up the gate to his pottery studio as they left to go on their evening stroll in the neighborhood.

"The cooler's bag mine, I left it here the other day when I brought in the Tiramisu cake which my appa made for you to try out - remember?" Ga Eul reminded the Korean Casanova about how the cooler bag came into existence in his kitchenette's storage compartment.

"Ah…speaking of that Tiramisu, Hyung tried it the other day. He came by for a visit wanting to see the remodeled pottery studio for himself after I let it slip to him that I'm now living in the studio. Anyway, he praised the patisserie that makes the Tiramisu and expressed interest in bringing in some of these tiramisus to sell at his cafe." Yi Jeong commented nonchalantly after being reminded of that Tiramisu which Ga Eul had brought over for his tasting claiming that it's a new recipe tried out by her adoptive parent.

"Really? Well, I'm sure appa would be happy to hear that. Although, I'm not quite sure he would agree to the idea of supplying your brother's cafe with his homemade Tiramisu cake. These days, he tends to bake only for special occasions." Ga Eul beamed in response to the positive feedback garnered from the So siblings concerning her adoptive parent's latest experiment on the modification made to the typical Tiramisu recipe.

"I know, hence I didn't promise him anything. Just that I'll help to feedback his comment to the baker." Yi Jeong answered in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

After the stroll in the neighborhood, they headed back to the pottery studio for Ga Eul to pick up her belongings, and for Yi Jeong to send Ga Eul back home in one of his vehicles. Between the lotus and the Lexus, Yi Jeong eventually settled for the red Lexus. After all, he had no intention to patronize a club today.

~TBC~

Chapter's notes:

I wanted to end the chapter with SoEul, so… ^^;

Okay, first things first - we are finally onto the scenes of episode 13 ^_^ The first part of it, at least.

I've made a few modifications to my version of the events as compared to the original drama, details as follows:

First up, in the drama - Geum Jan Di family is still staying in their original apartment, but in mine - they had moved. I think the difference stems from the fact that I was under the impression that both the laundry shop and the apartment unit were rented from someone, that's my concept of the shophouse unit. It only occurs to me that they can own the residential quarters but rent the shop space downstairs if both units aren't sharing a single entrance/exit point. Either way, what's done is done - I'm too lazy to change anything by now, given how far into the story I've already gone into. And so, let's just take it as one of my modifications made to the story. ^^;

The second thing I'd changed, while re-watching episode 13 on Netflix. Ji Hoo used the term, after the funeral it's hard to get into contact with Jun Pyo. Which got me thinking, did Jun Pyo's father die in the show? It wasn't clearly indicated, but in other versions of the Boys Over Flowers universe - Domyouji's father didn't appear in the story at all, but there isn't an indication that the man died either way. So, in my version of the story - Jun Pyo's father isn't dead, just in recovery and early retirement. As to the reason why it's hard to get into contact with Jun Pyo in my story, well… we have the witch to blame for it ^_^;

Third, SoEul got together - officially! Which never happens in the show! So, naturally - I had to modify the scene featured in episode 13 [first half] to suit my story. Hence, I kept the scene more or less intact but enhance it with my own twist. Ga Eul's a frequent visitor to the pottery studio in my story, so she's there with dinner for Yi Jeong and not to seek the guy out for a chat about Jun Pyo and Jan Di. XD

I've thought hard and long about whether to incorporate the original conversation between them into my scene, but in the end, opt for a half-half. The topic of soulmates did come up, but without mentioning Jun Pyo and Jan Di in that part of the conversation. In the original drama, Ga Eul left the pottery studio after saying her piece about Yi Jeong's inner beliefs which Yi Jeong was speechless at first, and later after Ga Eul left - he shakes his head in amusement. Of course, that didn't happen in my version of the event - they are already together, after all, :D

Anyway, what do you think of the SoEul scenes in this chapter? And the modifications made to the SoEul scene from the original drama? Let me know, alright?

PS: In the drama, it gives off the feeling that Jan Di has never met the F3 in person over the 6months time skip which is ridiculous. And so, in my version - while she didn't meet Yi Jeong nor Woo Bin in person during the 6 months, she did occasionally meet Ji Hoo on campus. And I also explain why she didn't think to inquire the F3 for updates on the absent Shinhwa heir and to find out why there's no contact from Jun Pyo thus far.

And in the 6 months, Ga Eul definitely met up plenty with Yi Jeong. Even during the time while she's off in Tokyo,Japan :P Yi Jeong flew over to visit her, after all, XD So, with how close they are by this point, it's only natural for Ga Eul to know Yi Jeong's schedule by heart. Likewise, it should be the same for Yi Jeong - he likely memorized Ga Eul's schedule by this point.

So, either way, instead of grumbling about the F3 to Jan Di. Ga Eul decided to ask Yi Jeong on behalf of Jan Di whether Jun Pyo has contacted the F3. This is yet another change I had made to the original drama scenes to fit my own story ^_^

Updates would be back on track, currently going at twice per week ^^; I'm aiming for thrice, but it's a tad hard right now. So, make do with twice per week updates - okay?