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,

41. Chapter 41

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 41 - Time flies, Jan Di's Trip to Macau, Part 9 (Final)!

Location: Pathway leading up to Min's family home, Santo Antonio, Macau Peninsula. 25th November 2009, Wednesday, 8.30pm

"Thank you." Yoon Ji Hoo and Geum Jan Di were walking back towards the villa house belonging to Min's family when they suddenly blurted out words of thanks to one another.

Turning towards one another in surprise, both of them snorted aloud in amusement as they continue their walk towards the villa house ahead. Suddenly, there was a cracking sound and Geum Jan Di stumbled momentarily and if it weren't for Yoon Ji Hoo's quick reflex - she probably would have fallen.

"Are you okay?" Yoon Ji Hoo asks, reaching out to grab the hand of Geum Jan Di to prevent the girl from stumbling and falling.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you. The heels of my shoes broke off, I guess that its' way of telling me that it has gotten sick of Macau." Geum Jan Di joked in response as she tried to see if she could trudge back to the villa house in her current malfunctioning shoes since the house is simply up ahead. Eventually, though, she decided it's a lost cause and she might as well walk barefoot back.

"Wait… this isn't working, I think I have to take them off." Geum Jan Di mutters aloud as she stopped momentarily to remove her shoes from her person and attempted to walk the rest of the way barefoot. Once she has fully removed the shoes from both her feet, Geum Jan Di commented with a smile as she said to the auburn-haired member of F4. "Alright, I'm done. Let's go."

"Come, get onto my back, I'll piggyback you for the rest of the journey." Yoon Ji Hoo squatted down in front of Geum Jan Di then and offered his back to the girl.

"Eh?" Geum Jan Di hesitated over the idea of being given a piggyback by the auburn-haired member of F4, but eventually, she caved to the offer because when compared to being piggyback the entire trip back to his friend's house… the idea of being carried back to the house ahead in her former prince charming arms is more daunting and awkward for her.

"Thank you." Geum Jan Di commented when she finally climbed onto the back of Yoon Ji Hoo, before inquiring on the reason why the guy was thanking her earlier.

"Well… today's the first time I get to earn money on my own with my own capabilities. Ever since getting to know you, there has been a lot of first-time experiences for me. So, thank you." Yoon Ji Hoo responded appreciatively to the girl on his back.

Gu Jun Pyo has to say, the sight of Geum Jan Di being piggybacked by his long-time friend was a sight that pricks at him like a thorn in the flesh. For a while, he was tempted to rush out in an attempt to confront them but then the remembrance of his mother's thinly veiled threats halted his desires to do as he pleased. And so, he simply remained seated in the back passenger seat of the black sedan as he observed the sight unfolding in front of his eyes, in silence.

"Young Master, should we go now?" Jeong Sang-Rok inquires from his position behind the wheel of the black sedan.

"Wait for just a little while longer." Gu Jun Pyo responded as he continue looking out at the house ahead in silence, he waited until the lights from the house completely doused out before closing his eyes and signaling for his head secretary that they can finally leave.

Inside the house, Min blinked in a stupefied manner as he took in the sight of his friend piggybacking Geum Jan Di into his house. "What happens?"

"The heels to her shoes broke while we are on our way back since there's only about five minutes worth of distance - I decided to piggyback her for the remaining journey so she needn't risk getting her feet injured by walking barefoot." Yoon Ji Hoo responded in a matter-of-fact tone of voice as he finally set down Geum Jan Di now that they were indoor.

"Thank you. Is there a pair of indoor slippers which I can use?" Geum Jan Di inquires while flicking her inquiring gaze towards the owner of the house.

"Try the third cabinet in the entranceway, there might be some disposable slippers that my parents brought home from their overseas trip stashed in there somewhere," Min answered as he pointed the girl to look into his family's shoes cabinetry. Following the instructions of Min, Geum Jan Di located a pair of disposable slippers imprinted with the wording and logo of - Shangri-La Hotel, on the plastic wrapping of the slippers.

"Thank you, I don't suppose you have any shoe gum around here - do you?" Geum Jan Di asks next, sounding a little sheepish. Given that she only had a single pair of shoes with her when she travel from Seoul to Macau, she would need to somehow re-attach the broken heel of her shoes back together to make her way back to Seoul, tomorrow.

"... do I appear to be the type who repairs damaged shoes rather than throw them out and change a new pair once they're no longer functional?" Min asks Geum Jan Di back in response, sounding absolutely incredulous at the girl's brainless inquiry.

"...right, sorry that I'd ask a stupid question. Do you at least have some scotch tape lying around, in that case?" Geum Jan Di then went for the next best alternative, while Min and Yoon Ji Hoo shared a look among themselves that's both incredulous and disbelieving.

"You aren't thinking about taping the broken heel to the shoe and hoped it would miraculously sustain until you reached home, are you?" Min uttered disbelievingly at the girl who his auburn-haired friend has developed a liking for, he had seen people who are thrifty but not to this extent, though.

"..." Geum Jan Di had no words to rebuke Min's remarks because that is exactly what she was thinking of doing.

"Is that the only pair of shoes you have with you while on this trip?" Yoon Ji Hoo then flicked his questioning gaze upon the figure of Geum Jan Di as he voiced his doubt across to the girl.

With cheeks flushing pink, Geum Jan Di nodded docilely in response to her former prince charming. As Min spluttered over the girl's admission of owning only a single pair of shoes while on an overseas trip, he couldn't help but mutters aloud in exasperation. "Honestly, who the hell travel without a spare pair of shoes these days? Always be prepared for the unexpected and plan for contingencies, isn't that the number one motto when it comes down to traveling?"

"Alright, enough - Min. Do me a favor and shut up!" Yoon Ji Hoo, upon sighting the embarrassed look on Geum Jan Di, interjected at this point to put a stop to his friend's exasperated mutterings. Inwardly, he was all the more certain about buying Geum Jan Di the pair of shoes she found to her liking at the Shinhwa Hotel Mall tomorrow before they set off for Seoul. In the meantime, let her try to repair her shoes with scotch tape.

"Min, where do you keep the scotch tape usually?" Yoon Ji Hoo asks, turning questioning eyes upon the figure of his Chinese friend.

"...upstairs, in the second drawer of my study desk." Min rolls his eyes in response as he provided his auburn-haired friend with the storage location of the craft supplies.

Later on, after sending Geum Jan Di off to bed with the scotch tape for her to work on repairing the heel to her shoe. Min and Ji Hoo lingered on behind in the living room for a while, flicking his gaze towards the kitchen momentarily. Min decides to broach the subject of the dinner meal with his auburn-haired friend, "so… have you two managed to take your dinner before coming back? If you didn't, there's still some leftover from dinner that I could reheat for the two of you."

"Yes, we did take our dinner before coming back. While on the subject, have you seen my wallet anywhere?" Yoon Ji Hoo answered offhandedly before recalling to ask his friend if Min has seen his wallet anywhere in the house.

"...Yes, you left it on the balcony." Min shrugged as he handed the wallet over casually without giving it away that it has been him who had nicked it from the auburn-haired member of F4, earlier. While Min was curious about just how exactly Ji Hoo had managed to settle his dinner meal outside without having his wallet on him, Min decided not to pry into the subject lest it clues Ji Hoo in on the fact that it was him that had nicked the wallet from Ji Hoo earlier.

"... right." If Ji Hoo finds his friend's behavior suspicious, he certainly didn't comment on it. Instead, he simply took the wallet back from his friend and tucked it back into the back pocket of his pants without questions.

Location: Pousada de Coloane, Macau. 25th November 2009, Wednesday, 9pm

While Gu Jun Pyo was seated in the back passenger seat of a black sedan silently watching the house which he had just seen the woman he loves being piggybacked into by his long-time friend. The heiress of the JK Group was busy dealing with a call from her mother on the mobile phone of her bodyguard, Chen, in the hotel room she had booked for her stay with the beach hotel - Pousada de Coloane, situated on the Cheoc-van beach of Macau.

"Young Mistress, a call for you from the madam," Chen said as she approached the heiress of the JK Group with her mobile device in hand.

"..." Jae-Kyung sighed as she set aside her own mobile device where she has been busy uploading the pictures she had taken in Coloane of Macau to her Instagram account for the time being, in favor of attending to the call from her mother. Leave it to her mother to find a way of reaching her by calling Chen instead of her mobile directly.

"Yes, mom?" Jae-Kyung greeted her mother in false cheer as she took the mobile phone offered to her by her bodyguard and placed it by the side of her ear.

"Young lady, we have been exceptionally patient with you lately but this ends now. Wherever you are, I want you to get your arse back to Macau Peninsula by tomorrow afternoon. Do you hear me?! It's embarrassing that we have to keep apologizing to the representatives of the Shinhwa Group and reschedule the meeting time and time, again. While you enjoyed your freedom, have you spare a thought for your father and me?!" Jang Bongseon, the mother of Jae-Kyung and the matriarch of the family that owns the JK Group addressed her daughter in a displeasing tone of voice over the phone.

"...mom, is the family under financial duress?" Jae-Kyung sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose wearily as she cut straight to the point and voiced her query across to her displeased mother.

"No, what on earth makes you think that our finance isn't doing too well?" Jang Bongseon blinked uncomprehendingly upon the query coming from her only daughter.

"Then why are you and dad so adamant about getting me to attend the meeting with the representatives from Shinhwa Group? Contrary to what you may think, I'm not so dumb to neglect the fact that the new owner of the Shinhwa Group is a young man of my age. If it's simply to talk business, there isn't a need for me to be present for the meeting. The fact that you two keep on rescheduling the meeting and insisted for me to be present sounds extremely fishy to me, it reminded me eerily of a match-making scene from some modern era drama. And the two of you know how I detested the notion of a political union, I recalled being exceptionally vocal about it at one point in the past when the subject came up for discussion. And if my memory serves me correctly, the two of you relented and promise that when the time comes, I'll be given the right to pick someone for myself from a pool of qualified candidates that meet with a certain set of criteria." Jae-Kyung objectively responded to her mother, while stamping down the urge to scream into the phone out of sheer frustration.

"..." For a while, Jang Bongseon didn't respond. Inwardly, she was resisting the urge to groan aloud in annoyance. Why did her daughter's memory have to be this outstanding? That discussion took place when her daughter was a mere 12-years-old, to think the girl still remembers it to this day whereas she had already forgotten all about it? Why did that particular topic even come up for discussion then? Was it because of a TV show they were watching or was it because of something else? Darn… she truly can't recall, but what matters now is that she needs to placate her upset daughter and coax the girl back to Macau Peninsula. Therefore, taking in a deep breath, Jang Bongseon finally calmly addressed her daughter.

"Jae-Kyung, I know you're upset. Neither I nor your father has forgotten about your aversion to the idea of a political union, but let it be known that it's the other party who is keen on the idea. It wouldn't do for your father and me, to turn them down without obliging their request to have you present for a meeting with them first. So, can you please show up for at least one single meeting with them tomorrow afternoon? After that, we can discuss the matter again in private - if you truly aren't interested in that young man, your father and I, would then be able to turn down the offer of a political union without damaging the potential business deal in the discussion." Jang Bongseon told her daughter calmly and reasonably, she left out any mention about how her daughter might find the young man appealing in time. Mostly because she didn't want to risk her daughter from fleeing out of Macau at this point.

"...fine! I'll try to get back to Macau Peninsula on time for the meeting." Jae-Kyung huffed in response, still sounding a tad annoyed but at least, she had finally agreed to show up for the meeting with the representatives from the Shinhwa Group.

Throwing the gadget back to her bodyguard at the end of the call, Jae-Kyung yelled into the pillow to vent off her annoyance at the situation in general. For a moment, the heiress of the JK Group thought of calling up a certain Don Juan of F4 to rant for a few minutes to vent off some of her stress but then she recalled that the guy has set off for Zhuhai earlier on this afternoon to source for new construction materials suppliers. And so, she settled for the idea of messaging the guy to take her mind off the impending meeting with the representatives from the Shinhwa Group, instead.

A private message between Jae-Kyung and Woo Bin, 25th November 2009, Wednesday, 9.45pm

Jae-Kyung: Hey! Free for a chat?

Woo Bin: Hello to you, too. If you don't mind a delay in text response on my part, I'm okay with chatting with you.

Jae-Kyung: I don't mind a delay in between responses on your part. Are you in Zhuhai now? How's the task of sourcing for new suppliers coming along?

Woo Bin: Yes, I'm in Zhuhai now. I haven't quite started on the search for new materials suppliers yet, given that I've only reached the city about 1-2 hours ago. What's up? I'm certain you didn't text me to ask about this mundane topic that isn't interesting to you, in the least.

Jae-Kyung: Gees… funny how well you had my personality figured out when we are acquainted for less than 6 months and yet my own parents who knew me their entire lives thought it prudent to arrange a political union meeting with their business associates despite knowing full well of my aversion to the idea. *Upset Emoji*

Woo Bin: … I thought political unions are kind of a norm among families of the upper society in general?

Jae-Kyung: It is, but they promised that they would allow me to pick my own husband when the time comes from a pool of candidates that meets a certain set of criteria instead of forcing me to marry someone that would prove beneficial to the family business, on the whole. *Frowning Emoji*

PS: How old are you?

Woo Bin: … I'm 21, going 22 next Feb. Why?

Jae-Kyung: I'm 21 as well… your parents aren't pressuring you to get settle down yet?

Woo Bin: No…it's my grandparents who are rushing for me to settle down, but they aren't going to force me into a political union as far as I know. Although they might pressure me to attend match-making sessions every now and then, there are no obligations on my part to actually settle down with the girls they are trying their best to introduce to me.

Jae-Kyung: That's good, I supposed. At least, it sounds way better than my circumstances at present. *Pouting Emoji*

Woo Bin: Well… there's nothing I could do to help you in that aspect. Perhaps, you should go to the meeting with an open mind? And if after the meeting you truly find the guy unpleasant, maybe you can feedback your opinion to your parents, again? Surely, the other party wouldn't insist on a political union between the two of you if you're unwilling?

Jae-Kyung: One could hope, I supposed. Alright, I shan't disturb you further. Thanks for the chat, goodnight.

Woo Bin: Goodnight.

The thought of asking the heiress of JK Group about who she's supposed to be meeting under the insistence of her parents didn't even occur to Woo Bin. If he did have the sense to ask the girl at some point of the girl's rant to him, perhaps things wouldn't end up so complicated for all of them several months down the road.

Location: Santo Antonio, Macau. Villa House of Min's family. 26th November 2009, Thursday, 7.30am

Geum Jan Di woke to the feel of a full bladder at 7.30am and promptly went downstairs to the ground floor to use the bathroom facility. Maybe it's because she wasn't quite awake in the mind yet, either way, what happened was that she had neglected to lock the door to the bathroom facility when she starts to use the toilet.

Yoon Ji Hoo, on the other hand, has been up since 6.30am and was fully awake by this point in time. Now, it should be noted that there is a total of three bathrooms in this house, their location includes a half-bath in the basement where the underground parking facility of the house is located. A full bathroom facility on the ground floor, and another full bathroom situated in the master suite on the top floor of the house. While there is an option for Ji Hoo to utilize the bathroom in the basement of the house, he thought the bathroom on the ground floor is closer to his location.

And since he was outside the house earlier, he hasn't seen Geum Jan Di entering the facility. Therefore, he was completely oblivious to the fact that the bathroom is being occupied by the girl he likes. Moreover, when he approached the bathroom and reached for the doorknob - it turns easily indicating that the door isn't locked on the inside. Henceforth, it wasn't until he opens up the door to find Geum Jan Di sitting on the toilet bowl that he realized that the bathroom was being occupied.

Remaining rooted to the spot as he stared at the figure seated on the toilet bowl, but most importantly he noted the polka dot underwear which Geum Jan Di was wearing on her person. It took him about a few seconds to realize that he ought to get out of here while he still can, and so he mutters aloud to the occupant within the bathroom apologetically. "I apologized… but the door isn't locked so…"

Geum Jan Di thought it strange that she was hearing the voice of her former prince charming at first, it wasn't until she lifted her eyes up and happen to meet eyes with the awkward-looking Yoon Ji Hoo that she realized that she wasn't hallucinating and that it was truly the auburn-haired member of F4 standing in the doorway. At first, she didn't think much of it - having conveniently forgotten where she was until she heard the awkward apology from Yoon Ji Hoo and the mention of how he wasn't expecting that the facility is being occupied as the door wasn't locked from the inside… that the full realization of the situation finally dawns in on her.

Flickering her gaze downward to where the gaze of her former prince charming had lingered on earlier, Geum Jan Di finally allowed herself to scream aloud in horror. Inwardly, she was berating herself repeatedly in the mind for not locking the door. How is she going to look her former prince charming in the face now that the guy has walked in on her using the facility in the bathroom?! Not only that, Yoon Ji Hoo had seen her underwear which is something that not even Gu Jun Pyo was given the liberty to see when they were trapped in the snowstorm in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.

"...what's with that screaming?" Min inquires, having returned to the house after his morning jog around the neighborhood as part of his morning exercise routine.

"..." Yoon Ji Hoo had no idea how to explain the situation, but as Geum Jan Di's screaming fit continues on in the bathroom. The auburn-haired member felt the awkwardness leaving him as the hilarity of the situation starts setting in. And so, he told his friend - Min, with a straight face that Geum Jan Di forgot to lock the door to the bathroom and he wasn't aware that she was using the facility and thus walked in on her using the toilet. So, now Geum Jan Di is probably screaming from the mortification as the realization of what happened has finally dawned on her.

"Sorry, come again? I think I misheard you, she forgot to lock the door and you walked in on her when she's using the facility? What's the big deal…? It's not as if you walked in on her when she's in the shower and end up seeing her naked. She was sitting on the toilet bowl, right? The most you see would be her underwear… I could understand how mortified and embarrassed she would feel in the wake of having you walked in on her, but… it's not as if you get to see any important regions on her person." Min was rather incredulous by the happening that took place in his family home, this morning.

Upon Min's words, Geum Jan Di who was creating a ruckus in the bathroom fell silent. And then, she promptly dash out of the washroom and made a beeline for the guest room. This time, she locks herself in the guest room and started crying in hysterics.

While inwardly Geum Jan Di understand that Min was right, Yoon Ji Hoo probably didn't get a view of anything else outside of her polka dots underwear but still… this was beyond mortifying for her to handle. Why did she forget where she was?! Why did she not lock the door when she knows she is sharing the bathroom with other occupants of the house?! The more she dwell on the matter, the more upset she became. And so, her crying intensifies.

"... how long do you think she's going to coop herself in the room?" Min inquires after he was done getting breakfast ready for them all in his family's kitchen, only to find that Geum Jan Di was still nowhere in sight.

"We should go ahead and eat first, just keep her portion aside and cover it with a food cover to keep the flies away. I reckon she's too embarrassed to come out and meet us after what happens earlier. I'll coax her out later, maybe when we both leave the house - she would be more open to the idea of emerging from the guest room. By the way, do you have a memo note and pen which I could borrow?" Yoon Ji Hoo pondered for a second before turning towards his friend - Min and asking.

"Yes, I'll get them for you," Min responded and headed back into the kitchen to sift through one of the storage drawer compartments, where he knows his mother often kept such items in. Emerging from the kitchen with the requested items in hand, he handed them over to his auburn-haired friend and waited to see what his friend intends to do with the items.

Yoon Ji Hoo took the offered items and went on to pen down a simple note in Korean with the message - Memory Deleted ^^ and stick it to the transparent food cover lid, that was being utilized to keep the houseflies away from Geum Jan Di's portion of the breakfast.

"..." Min who had a fair bit of understanding with the language Korean found the message rather silly, inwardly he wonders if Geum Jan Di would really believe something like this being possible. As far as he knows, Ji Hoo has an excellent memory. Certainly, it's not that easy to forget something he had seen this recently - right?

"Not a word from you, Min. This is simply a tactic to calm her down, and since she's gullible enough to believe your words of being sick. It's worth a try, isn't it? Come on, let's eat up before the food gets cold." Yoon Ji Hoo commented as he shifted his focus to his breakfast plate, while Min allowed a bright grin to form on his lips. Finally, after the entirety of yesterday trying to get some alone time with Ji Hoo to no avail, his wish ended up being fulfilled this morning due to the girl's embarrassment at meeting them after the toilet incident.

When the two of them were done ingesting their breakfast meal, Yoon Ji Hoo waited for about half an hour before getting up and headed upstairs to try and coax the distressed girl out to have breakfast. Min, who was following him from behind, was having difficulty stifling his laughter and hilarity over the entire situation.

"Come on, Geum Jan Di… open up." Yoon Ji Hoo calls out for the attention of the girl as he knocks on the door to the guest room of the house.

Upon the sound of his voice, it seems the crying intensify further in the room. Outside, Min was clutching at his stomach as he tried to suppress his laughter from erupting at Geum Jan Di's exaggerated reaction.

Yoon Ji Hoo found the entire situation between hilarity and exasperation, Min's reactions have him nearly breaking out in hilarious laughter of his own at times but for the benefits of Geum Jan Di's mortification - he had tried to suppress his amusement over the situation.

"It's fine if you don't wish to see me, I'm heading out to do something now. So, please come on out and have your breakfast. It's not good to skip breakfast." Yoon Ji Hoo remarked as he continues knocking on the door, before grabbing Min alongside him as they made their way back downstairs.

His Chinese friend - Min had a music chamber performance schedule for today, and so, Ji Hoo send him off with the chauffeur serving Min's family before moving on to explore the nearby area hoping the Geum Jan Di would calm down significantly during this period. More importantly, he hoped that the girl would emerge from the guest room to sit down for a proper meal with him away from the house for a little while.

Yoon Ji Hoo first took a walk around the neighborhood, before recalling the pair of shoes that Geum Jan Di desires at the mall. The desire to buy Geum Jan Di something with the money he had earned with his own hands was strong, and so, after checking that he did have the amount on hand - as well as his wallet in case, he need any additional cash for the purchase. Yoon Ji Hoo hailed a cab from the road to take him to the Shinhwa Hotel Mall.

Back inside the villa house, Geum Jan Di finally emerged from within the guest room of the house after some time. She spend a minute outside the doorway that leads to the guest room she has been using as her bedroom last night to listen out for any signs of life within the house. Satisfied that the entire house is engulfed in silence, Geum Jan Di finally allowed herself to venture downstairs.

Upon arriving downstairs, she found herself staring at a tray of food comprising of croissant rolls, sunny-side-up fried egg, bacon, ham, and sausage that's been covered up by a transparent food cover. And then, towards the right side of the food tray, there's a glass of juice covered by a cover lid to keep out flies from approaching. Most importantly, she found a memo note sticking to the plastic cover of the breakfast plate with the message in familiar handwriting that she knows belongs to her former prince charming - Memory Deleted. ^^

Upon the sight of the message, Geum Jan Di couldn't help it. She grinned as she felt the gloomy cloud hovering over the top of her head dispersing into thin air. Of course, she doubted that her former prince charming is really capable of forgetting what he had seen earlier but the sheer fact that he's willing to leave her a message that says so, meant that he wouldn't be revealing the types of underwear she's using to anyone else.

While Yoon Ji Hoo went to the departmental store at the Shinhwa Hotel Mall in search of the pair of shoes which Geum Jan Di has taken a liking the last time they were here, Gu Jun Pyo was amid a meeting with his mother and the other investors and shareholders of the ongoing World Class Resort project. They were listening to the latest development progress at the world-class resort when Jeong Sang-Rok entered the conference room with a folder in hand pretending that there was an urgent document that requires the signature of Jun Pyo.

When Gu Jun Pyo flipped open the folder, what met his eyes was a memo note written with the message - departure to Seoul at 18.00pm. The message was the information which Gu Jun Pyo has instructed for Jeong Sang-Rok to find out discreetly, the flight information for his long-time friend, Ji Hoo, and the woman he loves - Geum Jan Di. Glancing towards his mother discreetly, Gu Jun Pyo signed his name below the memo note message and flipped the folder closed before handing it over to his secretary to bring it out of the conference room. And then, he chanced a quick look at his wristwatch discreetly hoping that he would have enough time to make it to the airport later.

Meanwhile, it took Yoon Ji Hoo a bit of time at the mall to locate the exact pair of shoes because the display position for the shoes has been shifted to another corner of the shop. Still, when Yoon Ji Hoo landed his eyes on the shoes, he was glad to see that the shoes on display are the exact sizing for Geum Jan Di. Unlike Gu Jun Pyo, who has absolutely no clues of the shoe sizing of the woman he loves - Yoon Ji Hoo was another matter, entirely. His attentiveness to these details allows him to figure out the exact sizing of Geum Jan Di's shoe size without the need to have the girl around to try out the shoes to know that they will definitely fit.

Of course, it also helps that just the night before - he had piggy-back the girl back to his friend's house and Geum Jan Di was holding on to her malfunctioning shoes the entire way in a dangling position that allows him to confirm his speculation about the girl's shoe size. Bringing the pair of shoes to the cashier counter to ring up the sales, Yoon Ji Hoo paid for the shoes with the exact amount of cash he had on his person. With the shoes purchased, Yoon Ji Hoo made his way back to the entrance of the mall intending to head his way back to his friend's house to see if Geum Jan Di had heeded his words and emerged from hiding.

Location: Shinhwa Hotel's Lounge, Macau. 26th November 2009, Thursday, 3pm

It was 2pm when the meeting with the shareholders and the investors for the world-class resort finally ended. Gu Jun Pyo was about to leave the conference room when his mother calls for his attention.

"Jun Pyo, please join me for lunch." Kang Hee-Soo started, halting her son in his attempt to leave the conference room.

"..." Seeing no way he could shun the lunch session with his witch of a mother, Gu Jun Pyo sighed inwardly as he obliged the request of his mother and followed the woman over to a high-end restaurant situated in the mall attached to the hotel.

Gu Jun Pyo's plan to leave after lunch was foiled by his mother, yet again when they received words from the representative of the JK Group that their daughter is back from her beach getaway trip to the Coloane district of Macau. Seated next to his mother in the Shinhwa Hotel's lounge as they waited for the heiress of the JK Group to show up, Jun Pyo finds himself having difficulty focusing on the current topic of discussion.

"It's been really hard to meet Jae-Kyung in person." Kang Hee-Soo commented to the owners of the JK Group seated opposite them in the lounge.

"Yes, and I apologized for the repeated rescheduling of the meeting. That girl is always on the move, never staying put in one place so it's a little hard trying to arrange for her to meet up with you." Ha Dae-Jung, the director of the JK Group, and the father of Jae-Kyung responded in an apologetic tone of voice.

"It's alright. Nothing is more important than having the two youngsters meet in person. For that purpose alone, the repeated rescheduling of the meeting isn't an issue." Kang Hee-Soo smiles in response, inwardly thinking that once the young lady is officially engaged to her son - she would be speaking to the young lady about her constant traveling habits. But for now, the young lady still isn't her responsibility to lecture.

"Isn't that right, Jun Pyo?" Kang Hee-Soo prompted, and when she receives no response from her son. Kang Hee-Soo raised her voice slightly to call the name of her son, this time in full. "Gu Jun Pyo."

Blinking once then twice, Gu Jun Pyo snapped his focus back to the present and shifted his eyes towards his mother who shoot him a look that tell him to give some form of response to the owners of the JK Group.

"...yeah, that's right." Gu Jun Pyo found himself nodding along in agreement despite not having a single clue about what was being said earlier. What he does know though is that if he didn't go along with his mother's words, there would be no chance of him leaving for the airport later. Still, with each passing minute and no signs of the heiress from the JK Group… Gu Jun Pyo found himself getting restless as the time starts to approach the scheduled time for Geum Jan Di and his long-time friend to depart Macau for Seoul.

Just when Jun Pyo was about to lose his patience and abruptly take his leave from the lounge, he could race off to the airport to see the woman he loves before she left Macau with Ji Hoo, completely disregarding the warning words of his mother. His head secretary - Jeong Sang-Rok entered the lounge and proclaimed to his mother that the Singapore office needs his presence immediately.

Kang Hee-Soo shoots Jeong Sang-Rok a look of annoyance as she demanded, "what is it so urgent that it couldn't wait? We are amid an important meeting, right now."

"...the prime minister…" Jeong Sang-Rok cited the first thing that pops into mind, and while Kang Hee-Soo was still upset; she can't exactly tell the prime minister of a country to scram off. Not when the Shinhwa Group still wishes to continue doing business in that country. The director of the JK Group though was a tad more understanding, and he nodded his approval to Gu Jun Pyo citing that he ought to leave for Singapore without delay.

"There's no helping for such things, official business always comes first. So, go on young man. I'm sure there would be other chances for you to meet that wayward daughter of mine." Ha Dae-Jung told Gu Jun Pyo accommodatingly.

"Thank you, and I apologized for the abrupt departure." Gu Jun Pyo managed to comment, before rising from his seat to leave the lounge with his head-secretary following him from behind. Neither of them spoke until they were safely tucked away in the black sedan car that serves as Jun Pyo's main form of transport these days.

"... the Singapore office doesn't exactly need me urgently, right?" Gu Jun Pyo begins when he's settled in the back passenger seat of the black sedan, while Jeong Sang-Rok settled behind the driver's seat as they made their way to the International Airport of Macao.

"Erm… no, that's just an excuse for you to head for the direction of the airport without rousing suspicion from the madam." Jeong Sang-Rok answered evenly, as he steers the black sedan onto the road that leads towards the direction of the airport in Macau.

"Right… and the matter about the prime minister wanting to meet with me?" Gu Jun Pyo continues to prompt, so he would have a better idea of how to respond if his mother were to inquire him on the situation at a later point in time.

"Of course, there's no such meeting but the prime minister of the country did check into the Shinhwa Hotel in Singapore for an ASEAN leaders meeting. So, if we truly wish to reinforce the story fed to the madam… it might be good for you to fly out to Singapore for a brief meeting with the prime minister of Singapore before coming back to Macau after you meet with Miss. Geum Jan Di, of course." Jeong Sang-Rok informed Gu Jun Pyo in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"...fine. You have the shoes ready, right/" Gu Jun Pyo inquires as he closed his eyes briefly for a shut-eye to rest his weary eyes for a moment.

"Definitely. The shoes have been fully gift-wrap and are now sitting in the trunk of the car." Jeong Sang-Rok responded glancing at the reflection of Gu Jun Pyo through the rear-view mirror of the car.

While Gu Jun Pyo sets off for the airport, the heiress of the JK Group was just arriving at a stop in front of the Shinhwa Hotel in Macau. After informing the guards stationed at the entrance of the hotel meant for VIP use, Jae-Kyung was ushered into the lounge where she found her parents seated opposite the acting director of the Shinhwa Group. The director and owner of the Shinhwa Group, though, was nowhere in sight.

"Madam, Miss. Jae-Kyung is here." The secretary of Kang Hee-Soo entered the room first, before signaling for Jae-Kyung to enter the lounge as he announced her arrival officially to the occupants within.

"Welcome to Shinhwa Hotel. I'm so glad to finally meet you, Jae-Kyung." Kang Hee-Soo cursed the inopportune timing of the girl's arrival if only the girl was able to reach a few minutes before. Her son would at least be able to meet the girl briefly before having to leave for Singapore to attend to a matter of urgency. Still, what happened had happened and therefore, there's no point crying over spilled milk.

"Jae-Kyung dear, come here. This is Madam Kang, the acting director of the Shinhwa Group. If you can show up a tad earlier, you would be able to meet her son as well. Regardless, what matters is that you're finally here. We are just going to have to reschedule your meeting with him to a later time." Ha Dae-Jung started as he beckons for his daughter to join him at his side, after sensing the tension in the air between his wife and daughter when they meet eyes.

Heeding the words of her father, Jae-Kyung headed towards where her father sat and took a seat at the arm-rest of her father's chair. Her casual behavior causes Kang Hee-Soo's left eyebrow to twitch momentarily before recovering and signaling for another chair to be added to the table so the girl could sit next to her father.

"Thank you, Madam Kang." Jae-Kyung flashed a bright smile at Kang Hee-Soo before continuing to share her sightseeing experiences in the Coloane district of Macau with her father.

"..."

"Jae-Kyung, sit down and greet Madam Kang properly. I know you're eager to share your traveling experiences with your father, the two of you can do so later this evening." Jang Bongseon pinched the bridge of her nose in weariness as she addressed her wilful daughter in a reprimanding tone of voice.

"Oh no… that isn't possible, I'm leaving this evening at 6pm for Zhuhai. There are a few sites that I wanted to visit over there." Jae-Kyung was tempted to pull out the excuse of meeting her boyfriend in Zhuhai in an attempt to ruin whatever plans her parents have for her with the owner of the Shinhwa Group, but then she thought it might be best to run her plans across the Don Juan of F4 before attempting anything of this sort. After all, they are not really in a relationship… and she didn't exactly want to rope the Don Juan of F4 into the mess that she's embroiled in, at present. So, she changed her mind of using Song Woo Bin's existence as a means to deter her parents' plan of involving her in a political union with the Shinhwa Group.

"... Zhuhai? What's next? Are you going to tell me you wanted to visit Beijing next?" Jang Bongseon had to take several deep breaths to calm her boiling temper at her daughter's words.

"Yes, how'd you guess? I wanted to visit the Tiananmen in Beijing, too." Jae-Kyung grinned at her mother, knowing full well that her mother's blood pressure is likely on the rise with her latest statement.

"Bongseon, don't get too worked up. Our daughter enjoys traveling, surely, you can understand her passion given how much you enjoy traveling yourself at a younger age?" Ha Dae-Jung butted in then, putting a stop to an argument before it even started between his wife and daughter.

Turning towards Kang Hee-Soo, Jang Bongseon directed an apologetic look towards the acting director of the Shinhwa Group as she begins. "Sorry for cutting this meeting short, but either way, as you mentioned before - it's more important for the two youngsters to meet. And since only Jae-Kyung is here today, it's a little pointless for us to continue this meeting this afternoon. We'll reschedule and come back to you on the next possible date for the meeting. For now, we have some family disputes to settle."

With that said, Jang Bongseon turns towards her husband and daughter as she demanded. "The two of you, come with me now!"

"Oops!" Jae-Kyung stuck her tongue out in a playful manner as she met eyes with her father behind her mother's back.

With a shake of his head, Ha Dae-Jung hurried up front to catch up with his agitated wife as he starts to clean up the mess created by his beloved daughter's willfulness, once again. Jae-Kyung, meanwhile, hurried towards the direction where her bodyguard - Chen stood waiting for her with her baggage and hailed a cab towards the International Airport of Macao.

Of course, there isn't a direct flight plying between Zhuhai and Macau since the distance is too short to require a flight to serve between the two cities. No, Jae-Kyung is heading to the airport first because she wanted to stop by the currency changer at the airport to exchange the MOP for RMB. Unlike the city of Macau, whereby both the MOP and the HKD are accepted widely in the community - Zhuhai only accepted RMB as their only form of currency. As such, Jae-Kyung needs to exchange her cash for some RMB because how else is she going to shop in Zhuhai without the relevant currencies at hand. After all, not all vendors would accept cards payment.

Location: International Airport of Macao, Thursday, 26th November 2009, 5pm

Standing at the check-in counter for Shinhwa Air in the airport of Macau, Geum Jan Di waited patiently for Yoon Ji Hoo of F4 to be done with the procurement of the air ticket for them. She's surprised that the quick fix she had applied to her shoe managed to last her until now. Somehow, the heel that she had attached to the damaged shoe with scotch tape didn't give way the entire time from the entrance of the airport to her current position in the airport.

She didn't do much walking in her faulty shoes when they were leaving the house of Ji Hoo-sunbae's friend. Since transportation has been arranged to bring them from the house directly to the airport. So, other than the short distance that requires her to actually walk in her faulty shoes were from the entranceway of the house to the back passenger seat of the car, and later from the passenger drop-off point outside the airport to the check-in counter where they are now.

"Here, your air ticket." Yoon Ji Hoo remarked as he handed the passport and the air ticket he had procured for the girl over when he was done with the check-in procedures for them both at the counter of Shinhwa Airline.

Geum Jan Di took one look at the air ticket and promptly gasped aloud in shock, "First-class?! Ji Hoo-sunbae, I'm fine with the normal seat. Can you please exchange this for a normal seat for me?"

"...normal seat?" Yoon Ji Hoo blinked in confusion for a moment, before he tried asking. "By any chance, are you referring to the economy when you mentioned the term normal?"

"Yes." Geum Jan Di nodded earnestly in response to her former prince charming.

"... my legs are too long, so the economy seats aren't going to work for me." Yoon Ji Hoo answered in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, as he walked on ahead and towards the seating area of the airport so the girl could actually sit down while waiting for the time for them to pass through the passport control section of the airport.

Geum Jan Di stared after the departing figure of Yoon Ji Hoo for a moment before nodding in agreement that the auburn-haired member of F4 does have long legs, still… she couldn't help but mutters that she didn't exactly have to sit with Yoon Ji Hoo on their return flight though. She's completely fine with flying back on an economy seat, while the guy travels in the first-class seat cabin. Then again, on second thought, the guy probably wouldn't want her to sit alone on the return flight and so, she shrugged and followed Yoon Ji Hoo towards a seating area in the public area of the airport to wait for their time to report to the designated departure gate for their return flight home.

"I'm going to the washroom, do you want to wait for me here or would you like to visit the washroom as well?" Yoon Ji Hoo started, directing his query to Geum Jan Di after they arrived at one of the public seating areas within the airport.

"It's fine, I'll wait for you here." Geum Jan Di smiles at the auburn-haired member of F4 in response, even though the mention of washroom coming from the guy still caused her to cringe inwardly at the sheer reminder of what happened earlier this morning at Min's house. She was quick to dismiss the thought while reminding herself that she shouldn't dwell so much on that trivial incident that Yoon Ji Hoo is bound to forget with time.

"Alright, I'll go to the washroom on my own then. Please stay here and don't move an inch, okay? Since you don't have a functional phone on you at present, you should refrain from moving about on your own. I really do not wish to explain to Ga Eul-yang upon returning to Seoul, that I managed to lose track of her childhood friend in the airport." Yoon Ji Hoo commented in a jesting manner, causing Geum Jan Di to giggle amusingly in response to his exaggerated comment.

"Don't worry, Ji Hoo-sunbae. I give you my word that I'll not move an inch from my current spot. So, go on ahead and visit the washroom." Geum Jan Di told the auburn-haired member of F4 smilingly as she shooed him towards the direction where the washroom are located.

Seated down on a chair in the seating area alone while waiting for Yoon Ji Hoo to return from his visit to the washroom, Geum Jan Di found herself retrieving the necklace gifted to her by Gu Jun Pyo from the front zipper compartment of her backpack as she started to think about her failed relationship, again. Heartbreak isn't something that could be forgotten within a matter of days, while she appears mostly fine during the day when she spends time around others. It's a completely different thing when she's left alone to her thoughts, ever since the depressing meeting she had with Gu Jun Pyo in Venetian Macau… there have been nights whereby she found herself waking up in tears, despite trying her best to not think about Gu Jun Pyo when she retires for the night.

Hearing the approaching footsteps heading towards her, Geum Jan Di hurried to stash the necklace into the front zipper compartment of her backpack and shifted her focus onto the approaching figure of Yoon Ji Hoo, instead. The first thing Yoon Ji Hoo did upon arriving at a stop in front of Geum Jan Di was to set his white backpack down onto the floor as he knelt in front of the girl.

Staring at Yoon Ji Hoo in bewilderment, Geum Jan Di watched silently as the guy unzipped the main zipper compartment of his backpack to retrieve a shoebox from within. Setting the shoebox down in front of Geum Jan Di, Yoon Ji Hoo removed the cover of the shoebox to reveal the pair of shoes within that causes Geum Jan Di to widen her eyes in surprise.

"Isn't this… how?" Geum Jan Di gaped at Yoon Ji Hoo in surprise as the guy began to remove the damaged pair of shoes from her feet, and put on the new pair of shoes for her.

"While you might not have mentioned anything about the shoes, I assumed you'd taken a liking to it since you did spend some time admiring it before following me out of the store that day. So, when the heel of your shoe broke last night… it got me thinking about getting you something that you might like from the money that I've managed to earn with my own hands for the first time ever. And that's when the shoes came to the forefront of my mind, so while you were hiding away in the guest room earlier today… I pop by the mall to get them for you. Do you like it?" Yoon Ji Hoo asks when he's done putting on the shoes for Geum Jan Di.

Geum Jan Di smiles in response and was about to reply to the question from her former prince charming when another set of approaching footsteps draws her attention away. Turning towards where the second set of footsteps approached, Geum Jan Di found herself stumped silent by the sudden appearance of her ex-boyfriend(?) If she could still hold her tears at bay earlier, now she's having difficulty doing so. The impact of thinking about the guy while staring at the necklace he had gifted her at an earlier point in time, and the impact of coming face-to-face with the guy are completely different, after all.

Following the direction of Geum Jan Di's gaze, the auburn-haired member of F4 found himself staring at the figure of his long-time friend. His first thought was his friend finally decided to show up, but why now and not yesterday morning? If it weren't for Min's insistence for him to stay on for another day in Macau, they would have been back in Seoul by now. So, why did it take his friend more than 24 hours to show up in front of them? Knowing that the presence of his friend would only serve to agonize Geum Jan Di at present, Yoon Ji Hoo made a move to stand and act as a barricade between Jun Pyo and the girl.

"Why did you come?" Yoon Ji Hoo stepped in the way of Gu Jun Pyo, halting his long-time friend from approaching Geum Jan Di as he demanded to know the reason behind his friend's reason to show up at the airport, this evening.

"I don't have to explain myself to you, Yoon Ji Hoo!" Gu Jun Pyo gritted out at his long-time friend in annoyance.

"I'm asking you what the hell do you think you're doing by showing up here, at this point? Do you think that after what you'd done, I'm going to let you approach her again?" Yoon Ji Hoo demanded as he addressed his long-time friend with an unreadable look in his eyes.

"Yoon Ji Hoo, stand back." Gu Jun Pyo willed himself to be calm, as he once again requested for his long-time friend to back off.

"No. I let her go because you're my friend, and I've given you multiple chances before and yet look at how it turns out. So, I'm not going to stand back and allow you the chance to hurt her, again." Yoon Ji Hoo responded as he continue to put himself between his friend and Geum Jan Di like a barrier.

"Ya! Yoon Ji Hoo!" Finally losing his cool, Gu Jun Pyo found himself sending his friend to the ground with a punch as his self-control snapped.

Geum Jan Di could hardly believe the scene that's unfolding in front of her, which is uncannily similar to the time a fight broke out between them in New Caledonia. Only this time, the circumstances differ a great deal. Deciding that she ought to put a stop to the brawl between the two of them before the situation worsen further, Geum Jan Di finally spoke her first word since the arrival of Gu Jun Pyo at the airport.

"Enough!" Geum Jan Di calls out, halting Gu Jun Pyo mid-act in his attempt to deliver another punch towards Yoon Ji Hoo. Keeping her eyes straight on the figure of Gu Jun Pyo, Geum Jan Di allowed the tears to well up in her eyes as she addressed the newly-minted owner of the Shinhwa Group.

"Why are you here? Did you come here to say something?" Geum Jan Di demanded to know what exactly brought Gu Jun Pyo over to the airport in front of her, this evening? And when the guy didn't respond, either because he had no idea why he was even here to begin with or that he just couldn't put his thoughts into words - Geum Jan Di finds that she didn't have it in her to care further. Her heart hurts simply from the sight of the guy that she could feel it breaking all over again just by being in the presence of Gu Jun Pyo. And so, she swallowed a lump in her throat as she told Gu Jun Pyo in a flat tone of voice.

"Fine… I'll go." Geum Jan Di commented as she crosses over to where Yoon Ji Hoo sat on the ground after being punched in the face by her ex-boyfriend, to help the guy up. And then, she didn't spare Gu Jun Pyo a second glance and promptly turn on her heels to head for the direction of the departure gate with Yoon Ji Hoo following her from behind. Before Yoon Ji Hoo completely turn to follow Geum Jan Di to the departure gate, he directed one last warning look in his long-time friend's direction.

Gu Jun Pyo found himself slumping to the ground in defeat after Geum Jan Di left for the departure gate without a backward glance in his direction. It wasn't his intention to hit Ji Hoo earlier, but the sight of Ji Hoo being this chummy with Geum Jan Di is truly difficult for him to stomach. Furthermore, he had arrived at the airport to find Ji Hop gifting the woman he loves with the shoes he had purchased to gift to the girl but simply wasn't fast enough to do so before Ji Hoo did was truly an eyesore for him to handle. So, when Ji Hoo attempts to deter him from approaching Geum Jan Di - he loses it. His sense of self-control snapped and he forgot himself for a moment. Throw in the fact that Ji Hoo simply had to say those things that could only push his buttons, it's really no wonder that his temper gets the best of him.

Jeong Sang-Rok arrived with the gift-wrapped shoebox a tad too late, it would appear. Upon his arrival, Geum Jan Di and Yoon Ji Hoo were no longer in sight while Gu Jun Pyo was seen slumping on the ground looking defeated for all purposes and reasons. Assuming that they didn't manage to arrive on time to catch the duo before they crossed the passport control section, Jeong Sang-Rok placed the gift-wrapped shoe box onto the empty seat closest to his reach and brought Gu Jun Pyo into his arms and comfort the young man just like old times. He had done this plenty of times, first when the young master had just been rescued from the kidnapper when he was a child and later when young mistress Jun Hee got married.

"Come on, young master. Let's get up and go somewhere private." Jeong Sang-Rok started as he coaxed his young employer off the ground and towards the direction of the airport lounge, where the young man can finally break down in peace. It wouldn't do for Gu Jun Pyo to be seen breaking down in the public area of the airport, after all. And things could get messy if words were to reach the ears of Kang Hee-Soo if someone thought it prudent to report Gu Jun Pyo's unnatural behavior in the airport to the woman.

Shortly after they departed from the site, the heiress of the JK Group - Jae-Kyung who was at the airport to exchange her MOP for RMB got curious about the abandoned gift package sitting on the empty seat in the airport. Picking up the package, she first glanced about the place trying to locate its owner - thinking that someone must have forgotten it behind when they made a rush for the boarding gate. But when she finds nobody within sighting range that could possibly be the owner of the package, her curiosity gets the best of her as she lifted up the gift package to take a look at its content.

The moment she uncover the lid of the gift box, she found herself staring at the pair of shoes that she wanted to get but wasn't able to because a weirdo had purchased the only pair of shoes in her sizing several days ago, at the Shinhwa Hotel Mall. A quick check on the shoe sizing tells her that the shoes sitting in the gift box happen to be just her size.

[Well… finders, keepers. Whoever left this behind likely isn't going to come back for it, so…I might as well keep them for myself.] - Jae-Kyung grinned satisfactorily as she hugged the gift-box in hand as she lugged her baggage towards the exit of the airport, to head over to the taxi stand where she would proceed to hail a cab to bring her to the city of Zhuhai.

Meanwhile, seated outside the waiting area at the designated boarding gate of their return flight. Geum Jan Di took a moment to survey the face of Yoon Ji Hoo for any signs of 'damage' from that punch delivered to him by her ex-boyfriend, with the auburn-haired member of F4 observing her actions in blatant amusement. "Are you quite done with your inspection check yet?" Yoon Ji Hoo eventually put a stop to Geum Jan Di's assessing look on his face by speaking up.

"...well, since you can still joke around. I'm going to assume that no permanent damage had been delivered from the punch earlier." Geum Jan Di deadpans at her former prince charming as she turns her body so she is now facing the front, instead of the face of the auburn-haired member of F4.

"As I've told you before, I'm fine. Jun Pyo didn't do much damage this time." Yoon Ji Hoo sighed as he reassured Geum Jan Di that getting hit by his long-time friend wasn't a big deal for him. At least, compared to the time in New Caledonia - he would have the rest of their friends on his side since he wasn't the one in the wrong - this time. Jun Pyo, on the other hand, though…

The thought of Jun Pyo causes Ji Hoo to feel the start of a migraine, judging from his friend's reaction to his words earlier - it's obvious that his friend isn't over Geum Jan Di for certain. But he remains true to his words of not going to stand back and let the girl gets hurt from Jun Pyo's actions again. So, either Jun Pyo gets his shit together and his affairs under control, Ji Hoo isn't going to let Jun Pyo crosses path with Geum Jan Di - again. As for acting on his inner desires and trying to woo Geum Jan Di's affection, well… as tempting as the thought is, Ji Hoo knows he can't do that until Geum Jan Di was truly over Jun Pyo.

Location: Zhuhai, China. 26th November 2009, 6pm

A taxi ride from the airport of Macau to the city of Zhuhai only lasted 20 minutes, Jae-Kyung allows a bright grin to form on her lips as alighted from the taxi with her bodyguard in tow. Pulling out her mobile phone to drop a certain Don Juan a text message informing the guy of her arrival and ask for some good recommendations of the lodging site in the city of Zhuhai, the heiress of the JK Group stood on the sidewalk where the taxi had dropped her off and waited patiently for the reply from the Don Juan of F4 to come in.

A private message between Jae-Kyung and Woo Bin, 26th November 2009, 6.05pm

Jae-Kyung: Evening, Prince Song! I'm in Zhuhai now, care to share with me your recommendations for the hotels in the city?

Woo Bin: … I thought you were supposed to attend a match-making session under your parents' insistence in Macau, today?

Jae-Kyung: The guy has something urgent to attend to and left before I even arrived at the meeting. Since the guy isn't around, mom suggested postponing the meeting again. But I did meet the guy's mother though, and I'm not sure if I like her going by the first impression. Anyway, enough about my so-called match-making session… I demand you to recommend me some good hotels for lodging in the city! Oh, and please - not the Shinhwa Hotel.

Woo Bin: …right, alright. Let's see… renowned hotels, excluding Shinhwa … Intercontinental Zhuhai, Sheraton Zhuhai, Crowne Plaza, Fairfield by Marriott, Hyatt Place, Hyatt Regency, and The Zhuhai are all reputable hotels that you may want to consider lodging with. My suggestion though is for you to pick a hotel close to the places that you would like to visit in the city.

Jae-Kyung: Hmm… where are you lodging? Also, where's the nightlife entertainment spot in this city?

Woo Bin: … Intercontinental Zhuhai is where I'm lodging. As for the nightlife entertainment spot in this city, well… Gongbei has a bar street, a street with high-end bars with indoor/outdoor seating with live music. There's also an underground shopping complex in the area…

Jae-Kyung: Excellent, and which of the hotels you recommended is in the Gongbei district?

Woo Bin: … Intercontinental Zhuhai…

Jae-Kyung: ^_^ Thanks, see you shortly!

Ending the text exchange, Jae-Kyung turns to her bodyguard and declared. "Destination decided - we are going to lodge at the Intercontinental Zhuhai."

"..." Song Woo Bin, meanwhile, stared at the screen of his mobile phone with blatant disbelief. Don't tell me, she's heading over now and intend to rope me into playing escort for her at the bar street tonight?

It wasn't exactly too difficult for Jae-Kyung to get a suite room with the Intercontinental Zhuhai, mostly because suite rooms are more expensive when compared to the standard executive rooms. As such, most travelers when doing hotel bookings tends to go for the affordable options first. But for people as rich as the heiress of the JK Group, the room rates isn't really important to them and so, she booked the first available room she found on the official website of the hotel while on the way over in another local cab.

After checking into the suite room, Jae-Kyung spend a moment surveying the interior of her room before she decided to ask the Don Juan of F4 out for a drink.

A private message between Jae-Kyung and Woo Bin, 26th November 2009, Thursday, 6.50pm

Jae-Kyung: Just finished checking in. ^_^ The room looks comfy, so thanks for your recommendation.

PS: Care to join me for dinner? The Char Bar & Grill serves cocktails and fine wines, it says on their brochures.

Woo Bin: … Sure, I'll join you for dinner and a drink afterward but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to play escort to you if you intend to check out the bar street tonight. I'm due for an early day tomorrow.

Jae-Kyung: It's fine, let me know when you're available to check out the bar street with me ^_^ I'm not in any rush. I have other sites that I wanted to go sightseeing around too :D

PS: How long are you going to stay in Zhuhai?

Woo Bin: Excluding today, I'm staying in Zhuhai for another two more days. I'm set to depart for Seoul on the morning of the 29th of November.

Jae-Kyung: I see… any possibility to spare me your time for one of the days? We can explore Bar Street and checked out the underground shopping center. ^_^

Woo Bin: I'll see what I can do. What time should I meet you for dinner?

Jae-Kyung: Hmm… it's already 6.50pm, how about 7.30pm?

Woo Bin: Sure. I'll meet you at 7.30pm inside the steakhouse then.

Jae-Kyung: Great! See you there ^_^

Location: Woo Sung Museum, 26th November 2009, Thursday, 7pm [Seoul Time]

During the time whereby Geum Jan Di and Yoon Ji Hoo has just boarded their return flight bound for Seoul, South Korea in the International Airport of Macau… Chu Ga Eul had just arrived at the entrance to the Woo Sung Museum with the food carrier bag in hand. As per the routine, the security guard on duty took one look at Chu Ga Eul and her food carrier bag, wasted no time in waving her into the building.

"Young master Yi Jeong's in the multipurpose room, I'm sure you know where it is by now. So, go on ahead young miss, and deliver his dinner to him." The guard told Chu Ga Eul in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"Thank you." Ga Eul calls out in response as she headed straight in the direction of the multipurpose room of the museum, without taking any detours along the way.

Arriving at a stop outside the multipurpose room, Chu Ga Eul took a moment to peek in at the hard-at-work Casanova beau of hers, before knocking on the door to announce her arrival to her boyfriend. So Yi Jeong, on the other hand, was flipping back and forth through the pages of a business proposal from an overseas antique dealer requesting for the museum to buy over a set of the antique vase collection from the Ming Dynasty because he's looking to wind up his business and didn't want to simply donate the collection to the museums in his own country because he had spent a fortune in procuring the items. So, now… Yi Jeong's task is to gauge the quoted price and see if it matches up to the valuation of the items, of course, before accepting the deal - they would probably have to send in someone to determine the authenticity of the items before they would agree to buy over the entire vase collection.

Either way, the constant studying of the numerical figures is giving him a bit of a headache and so, the timely arrival of his beloved country bumpkin with a homemade dinner meal for him is truly a godsend in his opinion.

"Ga Eul, when did you get here? Was it dinner time already?" Yi Jeong started upon looking up at the sound of knocking coming from the doorway of the multipurpose room where he was working out since he had no proper office space in the museum yet.

"I got here about five minutes ago, and yes. Seeing as it's already 7pm, I would think it's dinnertime." Chu Ga Eul commented in a matter-of-fact tone of voice as she set down the food carrier bag onto the empty spot of the table where her boyfriend was working on his paperwork for the museum.

"Really? It's already 7pm? Shit…I've completely lost track of time." So Yi Jeong mutters aloud, wondering if it's too late for him to drop off the rest of the files that he has already finished going through back at the admin office after dinner.

"Well… losing track of time meant that you're very focused on your work. I'm sure nobody is going to blame you for resulting in their little overtime work, this evening. Come on, settle down and eat. And where are the documents you intend to drop off at the admin office? I'll bring them over to save them from having to delay their knock-off time because you haven't sent the relevant paperwork back to the admin office for filing." Chu Ga Eul commented as she volunteers herself for the task of delivering the done paperwork to the admin office of the museum.

"You'll do that for me?" Yi Jeong appears surprised for a moment, as he flipped the folder of documents he was studying earlier closed so he could enjoy his dinner meal in peace.

"Yes, I'll do that for you. Come on, your dinner awaits." Ga Eul stated firmly in response, as she start bringing out the food containers from the inside of the carrier bag she had brought in with her earlier.

"So, what's for dinner tonight?" Yi Jeong inquires as he glanced at the two-tier lunchbox with anticipation, swallowing his saliva as he thought of all the delicious meals his lovely girlfriend had prepped up for him before.

"I made Katsudon for you today. The food in both the upper and lower tier of the lunchbox is exactly the same. Feel free to pick one for yourself, and leave the other tier for me. I haven't had my dinner yet. I was running a bit late today as my ballet class kind of overrun and eats into my usual food preparation time." Chu Ga Eul explains, as she retrieved the portable cutlery sets from the inside of the food carrier bag and hand over a set to the Korean Casanova.

"Hmm… smells good. I don't suppose you brought me any miso soup, by any chance?" Yi Jeong inquires, purely out of curiosity.

"No, not today. Do you want it? Miso soup, I mean… if you want to have it served along with any Japanese menu. Let me know, I'll make sure to prepare some for you." Chu Ga Eul blinked at her boyfriend in response.

"Lovely, I have yet to try your miso soup… and I'm looking forward to trying it in the future." Yi Jeong commented with a smile at his girlfriend before focusing his full attention on his own dinner. In response to the words from the Korean Casanova, Chu Ga Eul found herself flushing pink in the cheeks. And in an attempt to avoid further blushing on her part, Ga Eul decided to cool off her flaming cheeks by making that promised trip to the admin office of the museum now. So, reaching out for the stack of documents on the left side of the table - Chu Ga Eul plucked them off the table and rushes out of the multipurpose room before her boyfriend could say otherwise.

Now usually, outsiders aren't allowed anywhere near the admin office of the museum. But because Ga Eul was always coming around to deliver food to the heir of the museum, her presence was more or less overlooked by the staff of the museum. Still, it was rare for her to be seen approaching this part of the building and so, immediately upon noticing her approach - the staff who is still hanging around at the admin office rushes out to meet her.

"Good evening, Miss. The admin office is out of bounds to outsiders." The staff who rushes out to meet her started, only to fall silent at the stack of documents held in the hands of Ga Eul.

"Good evening, I assumed that you work in the admin office? In that case, please bring this stack of documents in and locked up the place. You are free to leave once you had locked up the office, Yi Jeong-sunbae apologized for delaying the return of these documents. Apparently, he had lost track of time while looking through them." Chu Ga Eul commented as she directed her words to the stupefied-looking administrative staff employed in the service of the museum.

Ga Eul didn't loiter around after handing the documents over to the admin staff working in the admin office. Instead, she promptly turn on her heels and headed back towards the direction where she came from - the multipurpose room where it serves as the heir's makeshift office space when he's in the museum.

"You're back." So Yi Jeong remarked when he heard the sound of rapid footsteps approaching the doorway of his makeshift office.

"Yes, I'm back." Chu Ga Eul nodded in response.

"Did you manage to find the admin office without losing your way?" Yi Jeong inquires, his girlfriend was too quick. He hasn't even sent her off to the admin office with the directions and an authorization note from him to access that part of the building and she's already gone with the documents that need to be returned to the admin office.

"Of course, I did manage to reach the admin office with no mishaps. While there wasn't any signage guiding me along the way, some of the staff on duty who's still around are kind enough to point me towards the direction of the admin office after taking one look at the stack of documents I'm holding in my hands." Chu Ga Eul explained smilingly as she took a seat at the table where her boyfriend sat, and reached for the upper-tier lunchbox which has yet to be uncovered. It seems her boyfriend had decided to leave her the upper tier while he picks to eat out from the lower tier of the lunchbox.

"Sorry for not waiting until you return before eating, but I'm too hungry to wait." Yi Jeong commented upon noticing the look from his girlfriend zeroing in on the gaping hole where he had dug in his spoon and took a bite out of it before Ga Eul's return from the errand to the admin office.

"It's fine. I'm glad you find the product of my culinary attempt so hard to resist that you simply had to try them out at the earliest moment." Ga Eul remarked with a smirk, as she uncovered the lid to her share of the dinner and start eating soon after.

It took them an entire thirty minutes to finish the Katsudon (Japanese Pork Cutlet Rice with egg), and once Ga Eul has packed everything away in her food carrier bag. They went on their routine walk around the museum, and as per the norm, Yi Jeong left his girlfriend to decide which exhibition hall they should take a walk through this evening.

"Exhibition hall 1? Are you sure? That's a permanent exhibition, meaning it would always be around. I'm giving you a choice to take a peek at the exhibition for free, are you sure you don't want to try out the limited season exhibitions?" So Yi Jeong raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend as he questions the decision Ga Eul has made, this evening.

"Yes. Exhibition hall 1 is an exhibition on the history of pottery, isn't it? I'm curious to learn about the history of pottery this evening, so would you please show me the exhibition and give me a free lesson on the topic while at it?" Chu Ga Eul voiced her reason across to her boyfriend as she insisted on touring the first exhibition hall they came across on their walk, this particular evening.

"Well… if you insisted. Alright, we shall tour the exhibition hall 1 as per your request." So Yi Jeong commented as he pushes the door to the mentioned exhibition hall open and held it open for his girlfriend to enter the hall after him.

Since it's an exhibition on the history of the art itself, there wasn't a lot of masterpiece on display. Instead, most of the exhibition hall features framed writings on the wall of the hall depicting the origins of pottery art in South Korea. Renowned names of the historic pottery artists were being mentioned in the depiction as well. For masterpieces that the museum was able to get their hands on that's produced by this historic pottery artist, it would be placed on display in lockable glass holders of different sizes custom-fitted especially for the masterpiece on showcase. For items that they weren't able to procure, an illustration of the piece would be framed to the wall for the public general knowledge.

The first official encounter between Ga Eul and the grandfather of her Casanova beau came on unexpectedly. And it took place this very evening within the exhibition hall where her boyfriend was showing her under her insistence. Too accustomed to the feel of her hand being held by her boyfriend these days, Ga Eul only realized something was amiss when she felt her hand being abruptly let go by her Casanova beau. That was soon followed by the sound of her boyfriend greeting someone 'Grandfather'.

Blinking twice, Ga Eul steered her attention away from the writings framed to the wall of the exhibition hall to the front where she sighted an imposing figure looking in their direction. So Yoon Hee looks exactly the same in the photo featured in the newspaper a few years back, other than the addition of some more lines to his aged face. He was, exactly what Ga Eul had expected in terms of outer appearance.

"Good evening, Yi Jeong." So Yoon Hee greeted his grandson cordially, before shifting his gaze towards his grandson's lady friend and commenting neutrally. "And, is this the girl that always comes by with food for you so you wouldn't end up skipping meals while rushing through your paperwork?"

"Yes… grandfather." Yi Jeong nodded as he responded honestly to his grandfather's query.

"I thought so, too. By any chance, Yi Jeong… are you going to introduce us formally or am I expected to carry out a self-introduction to your lady friend?" So Yoon Hee remarked next, causing the Korean Casanova of F4 to appear flustered for a bit.

"Right… my apologies for not having thought of it earlier. Grandfather, meet Chu Ga Eul. She's my… girlfriend." So Yi Jeong eventually introduced Ga Eul as such, for a while he had contemplated whether he should introduce the family background of his girlfriend but then thought it a tad redundant since his grandfather likely already knows of Ga Eul's family background by this point.

And while the potter did wonder if he should just introduce Ga Eul as a friend or to introduce her formally to his grandfather as his girlfriend… he decided to go with the latter after realizing his grandfather is too shrewd to be fooled. Yi Jeong has no doubt that his grandfather had noticed them before they notice him in the exhibition hall. So, having seen how they were holding hands and behaving towards each other as they toured the exhibition hall… trying to fool his shrewd grandfather into the idea that they weren't a couple seems like a fool's errand in Yi Jeong's opinion and so, he decides to come clean to his grandfather on the nature of his relationship with Ga Eul.

Turning towards his girlfriend who's staring at him with a wide-eyed look of surprise, Yi Jeong commented. "Ga Eul, meet my grandfather."

Quickly wiping the look of surprise away from her face, Chu Ga Eul turns to face the owner of the Woo Sung Museum with a polite disposition as she greeted the man with a respectful bow. "Good evening, sir."

"Good evening, Miss. I thanked you for your continuous effort in the correction of my grandson's unhealthy lifestyle habits. Perhaps, we could sit down for tea sometime shortly. Have a good evening ahead, and I hope you find this evening's tour enriching." So Yoon Hee nodded to the figure of Chu Ga Eul in a cordial manner, before taking his leave from the exhibition hall. He's not so much of an idiot that he couldn't sense the fact that his presence is causing the two youngsters to feel discomfit.

While So Yoon Hee didn't miss the way his grandson had introduced the girl to him, he didn't want to acknowledge the fact yet. Not that the old man had anything against the lovely young lady by the name of Chu Ga Eul, but it's simply a matter of his grandson's notorious playboy reputation being too impressionable on him. Therefore, until So Yoon Hee had the opportunity to hold an in-depth discussion with his grandson to find out for certain how serious his grandson is about this relationship with Chu Ga Eul, he is not going to invite the girl for a tea session with him anytime soon. Of course, should he ends up inviting the girl to join him for tea - it isn't necessarily going to be a bad thing. At the same time, it likely isn't going to be a one-off event either. How else is he going to be able to scrutinize and study the young lady handpicked by his heir as a future life partner to see if the young lady would be able to match up to the expectations that come with the role of the matriarch of the So family, in future?

Ideally, So Yoon Hee would prefer the idea of picking his grandson's future half personally but his last attempt at doing so had ended up in a disaster. And no, he isn't referring to his eldest grandson's rebellious act. He's actually referring to his own son's toxic relationship with his daughter-in-law. The bride that his wife and he had agreed upon, and handpicked for their only son - So Hyeon Seop turns out to be a disappointment. Not only had his daughter-in-law fail to take on the role and responsibility expected of the matriarch of the family, but the woman whom his son had married under the approval of both him and his wife had also ended up, bringing in toxic air into the family. In hindsight, So Yoon Hee supposed the blame would have to lay on him instead of his philanderer son. Because he was the one who had ordered his son to marry the woman that was handpicked by him from a pool of suitable candidates. His son, Hyeon Seop had agreed because there isn't anyone that his son was romantically interested in, then.

His daughter-in-law was the daughter of an old family friend and had appeared to meet both his and his wife's expectations of what they would want in a bride for his son from all angles, at first glance. Only, neither he nor his wife had taken the time to actually spend extra time in the presence of their 'ideal' daughter-in-law outside of the few meetings they've had before the wedding took place between their son - So Hyeon Seop and the daughter of their family friend. So, neither of them knew of their daughter-in-law's fragile mentality and suspicious nature… not until she married their son with their blessings.

Now, it should be noted that his son - Hyeon Seop hasn't always been a philanderer but one thing So Yoon Hee couldn't dispute against would be his son's habitual flirting antics when in the presence of young ladies that looks attractive from the general perspective. Before his son had obeyed his words in settling down with the bride decided by him and his wife, Hyeon Seop had been dating around with other girls who didn't quite meet their expectations for what they are looking for in their ideal daughter-in-law. And those girls that his son dated before getting hitched while also prone to jealousy fit from time to time whenever he was caught flirting with another woman. They had never quite reacted as strongly and as negatively as the young woman who So Yoon Hee and his wife had handpicked for their son to be the new matriarch of their family.

While his son did try and make an effort to make things work for a while with the young woman So Yoon Hee and his wife had decided for their son to produce two children between them, his daughter-in-law's suspicious nature fails to mellow down in time and instead only grows to become more unbearable with each passing day. There hasn't been a single day that passed them by that their once 'ideal' daughter-in-law hasn't hurl accusing words towards their son for cheating on her, and her source of evidence comes from the news printed on the tabloid papers which is rather ridiculous. Since there has been more than one occasion whereby the pictures featured in the tabloid weren't anything discriminating in particular.

The men in their family have always been groomed from young in the ways of being a gentleman in the presence of the ladies. And so, it wasn't really all that rare for them to be sighted escorting a lady around in social functions organized by a fellow acquaintance. Therefore, So Yoon Hee really has trouble understanding why his daughter-in-law always overreacted when his son was captured on-screen with a lady companion. Not even his wife reacted negatively to this extent when he was caught on camera once by a tabloid reporter with a young lady linking arms with him as they entered a function hall in Vienna. And that young lady didn't have any blood relations to him, but in his son's situation - Hyeon Seop was simply escorting a female cousin from his wife's family to a party event and had the misfortune of being caught on the camera lens of a tabloid reporter.

Yet when that particular picture got featured in that month's issue of the tabloid news, his daughter-in-law went on to blow a gasket and started accusing his son of cheating. It took his son shouting back at his daughter-in-law that he isn't into incest to get his daughter-in-law to shut up, and drop the subject, altogether. Thankfully, that day, his wife had taken both his grandsons out for a shopping trip and so, they aren't around to witness the first shouting match between his son and his daughter-in-law. From that point onward, things between Hyeon Seop and his daughter-in-law worsen with each passing day. Never would there be a day whereby his son wasn't being accused of cheating, and his daughter-in-law went to the extent of checking his son's attire for any scent of feminine perfume or lipstick stain. There had been multiple occasions whereby his daughter-in-law tried to access his son's call log and messages on the mobile phone to see if there were any communications between his son and some unknown ladies' acquaintance.

Family dinner used to be a thing, but it stopped happening when he had to spend the entire dinner session diffusing tensions between his son and his daughter-in-law. It would always begin with his daughter-in-law asking of the reason behind his son's delay in coming home from work. And when his son responded that he was meeting up with some friends, his daughter-in-law would go on to press for the details of these friends including if there were any ladies among the friends that his son is meeting up with. These dinner sessions were originally meant for a time for the family to bond and share light-hearted stories of how their day had been, but his daughter-in-law somehow managed to turn these dinner sessions into an interrogation session to pry out every little detail of his son's personal schedule. If at any point, his son clams up or opted not to respond to his daughter-in-law, his daughter-in-law would start insulating that Hyeon Seop must have been meeting up with another woman behind her back. And that would, in turn, bring on yet another shouting match between them.

Shortly after Yi Jeong turns five, his son - Hyeon Seop's patience with their daughter-in-law finally reached the breaking point. So, his son went on to take on a full-time job position offered to him by the National University of Seoul and stop coming home entirely. A few weeks afterward, scandalous news of his son being seen entering a hotel with a hot lady in his arms was featured on the news. It was from that point onward that his son became a true philanderer.

When So Yoon Hee summoned his son over to the museum to inquire on the matter, his son had cited since his wife is always accusing him of cheating on her - he might as well actually cheated rather than dealing with her baseless accusations daily for no valid reasons. Following this, his daughter-in-law has ended up giving in to her fragile mentality and started to alternate between hysteria and suicidal on a daily routine.

Either way, because of this particular experience… So Yoon Hee had learned to take on a more mellow approach to the romantic relationships of his two grandsons. While Ii-Hyun, wasn't as talented as Yi Jeong in the pottery aspects, Yoon Hee wasn't so biased that he completely ignored his first grandson in favor of nurturing the talents he had seen in Yi Jeong. So, when his wife who was still alive then spoke to him about Ii-Hyun's interest in the daughter of their neighbor - the Cha family. He was fully accepting of the fact and even toyed with the idea of proposing a union between Ii-Hyun and Eun-Jae with the Cha couple who are the owners of the local automobile business. Even though, he wasn't all that confident in Eun-Jae's capability to take on the role of the matriarch for their family… but since he had already decided that Yi Jeong was going to be his heir, Ii-Hyun's wife need not be someone who met all his expectations since the role of the matriarch for the family ultimately would go to Yi Jeong's wife and not Ii-Hyun.

Still, what So Yoon Hee wasn't expecting was for Ii-Hyun to turn down the suggestion and brought up the mention of wishing to leave the family to craft out a path on his own. And so, in a fit of anger - he ended up disowning Ii-Hyun from the family and cut off all forms of financial support for the boy. Naturally, his wife isn't agreeable to his decision and they had a major dispute over the subject. As a proud man, So Yoon Hee wasn't going to apologize to his disowned grandson for his temper getting the best of him and so, he simply maintain his silence when his wife decided to go behind his back to finance Ii-Hyun's education fee and provide the boy with some form of financial support on the sly. Today, even though, he has yet to meet up with Ii-Hyun to date… he has his eyes and ears open for any news that concerns the boy just as he still has people reporting to him regularly about the happenings about his philandering son.

Coming back to the subject of Yi Jeong's romantic life, he would need to summon Yi Jeong in for a talk about Yi Jeong's relationship with Chu Ga Eul. If Yi Jeong is truly invested in the girl, Yoon Hee would then kick-start his plan to invite the girl in for a regular tea session so he could form an opinion of the girl for himself. Naturally, he also has a couple of questions he would like to put forth to the girl as a form of the integrity test. Depending on how the girl reacted to his 'test', So Yoon Hee may or may not give his blessings and approval to the relationship between Yi Jeong and the girl.

"Sir, we have arrived." The sound of the chauffeur speaking up from the front of the car brought So Yoon Hee's thoughts to a halt, as he refocused his attention back to the present.

Stepping out from the sedan car he was riding in, So Yoon Hee made his way into his family home situated in the peaceful village of Seongbuk-dong, in the Seongbuk district of Seoul. When crossing the threshold of the house, he paused momentarily to listen out for any sounds coming from the side of the wing where his daughter-in-law and son supposedly resided. Of course, now it's only his daughter-in-law who's residing in that part of the wing since his son hasn't been home for ages, preferring to stay in that one-bedroom apartment unit near the National University of Seoul, where his son currently works as an assistant professor for the faculty of fine arts - sculpting department.

Satisfied that there wasn't any sound of things breaking or shrieking coming from his daughter-in-law's wing, So Yoon Hee continues on to his own wing in the house to enjoy the rare moment of peace.

Back in the exhibition hall, Chu Ga Eul turns to face her boyfriend with an expression that's a cross between disbelief and curiosity. "I've to say, I'm quite surprised with the way you choose to introduce me to your grandfather. I was under the impression that you wish to keep our relationship under wraps for some time."

Yi Jeong sighed aloud as he pulled Chu Ga Eul into his embrace briefly as he responded in a tone with an underlying tone of worry. "I know, and believe me when I said - it wasn't my intention to come clean to him on the nature of our relationship so abruptly. But then, you don't know him as well as I do. He's quite shrewd in his observation skills, and I seriously doubt that he would believe us to be simply friends after having observed the way we were interacting when we entered the exhibition hall."

"I see… and care to share with me what is worrying you at the moment?" Ga Eul prompted as she made no attempts to extract her person from the embrace of her boyfriend.

"You." So Yi Jeong answered with a melancholic sigh.

"Me? What is there for you to worry about me?" Chu Ga Eul sounded bewildered as she asks her worried boyfriend in return.

"To be exact, I'm worried because I don't know what my grandfather is going to do now that he's aware of the nature of our relationship. And you know how much I hated for things to be outside of my control." Yi Jeong eventually admitted to his girlfriend, his tone a cross between annoyance and concern.

"Yi Jeong-sunbae, do me a favor and don't worry too much about things that have yet to happen. Your grandfather might be shrewd in his observation, but I'm equally astute when it comes down to making observations of my own. Now, listen to me - I don't think your grandfather is going to do anything to me at present. You know your own reputation… so, I think he isn't going to do anything to me until he actually finds out for certain of the level of interest you have in me. Moreover, you'd said it yourself before - your grandfather isn't Jun Pyo-sunbae's mother. So, I hardly think he's going to try and bribe me into leaving you. That's what you're worried about - the possibility of me leaving you, isn't it?" Chu Ga Eul commented in a reassuring tone of voice, before bringing up the reason behind her boyfriend's underlying concern.

"...I supposed I am indeed concerned about the possibility of you leaving me. So, would you?" So Yi Jeong inquires tightening his embracing hold on his girlfriend, and glad that the girl isn't able to see his expression.

"If that's your way of asking if I would leave you if your grandfather attempted to bribe me, my answer is no. But I honestly doubt that he would try to bribe me with money in an attempt to make me leave you if he were to disapprove of us being together. I mean, I'm not exactly a commoner. While the house owned by my parents isn't very big in size, it's still a single-family home. In addition, I'm not just a daughter of the Chu family but also the illegitimate daughter of Miyazawa Hideaki, the owner of the largest F&B Group in Japan whose influence in Korea is growing by the day. And therefore money is something I'm not lacking, so I'm sure whatever he tries to do with me - it wouldn't be bribery." Ga Eul sighed as she leaned her head against the top of her boyfriend's shoulder blade as she responded to the words of her suddenly not-so-confident boyfriend.

Upon Ga Eul's response, So Yi Jeong finally allowed himself to breathe easier. The unexpected meeting with his grandfather in the exhibition hall must have thrown him off momentarily, how else would he fret over the possibility of his grandfather resorting to the same way of handling things as Jun Pyo's mother did. Ga Eul's situation is completely different from Geum Jan Di, likewise, his grandfather's influence is not as powerful as Jun Pyo's family. So, really…there isn't a need for him to worry this much.

"Now, if you are done composing yourself. Can we move on and finished up with the tour?" Chu Ga Eul spoke up jolting the focus of her boyfriend back to the present.

"Right… let's carry on with the tour." So Yi Jeong blinked and remarked once his focus was drawn back to the present.

~TBC~

Chapter's notes:

Yay! Chapter 41 marks the end of the Macau Trip Arc, and we are entering a new arc soon. ^_^

Okay, first things first… the first half of this chapter covers the event in episode 15 (first portion), up until the airport scene. The rest of the chapters are completely original contents of mine.

The first original scene comprises of Jae-Kyung and her mother's interaction on the phone while she's still at Coloane, for her beach getaway. And then, I have a brief chat conversation scene between Woo Bin and Jae-Kyung.

I have made a few modifications to the scenes from the original drama, in the drama, Jae-Kyung parents mentioned that they've received news that she's back from Hong Kong (perhaps that's why she was at the airport to pick up the abandoned shoes) but in my story, she has already been to Hong Kong before heading to Macau. It doesn't make sense for her to go to Hong Kong again, and so - I stick to my beach getaway setting. And she arrived to meet Jun Pyo's mom, Jun Pyo left moments earlier under the guise of needing to rush to Singapore for a meeting with the prime minister ^^;

On that note, I doubt the PM of my country reads fan-fiction. ^^; but I swear, I was just following the translation in the original drama. ^^; It's not my intention to bring up the mention of Singapore's PM in that part of the story On that note, the dialogue between Jun Pyo and his secretary in the car while rushing to the airport is also an original scene of mine. ^^;

And… Jae-Kyung rushes off to Zhuhai after the meeting with Jun Pyo's mommy ^^ which brought on another scene between Jae-Kyung and Woo Bin on the phone. And the reason why Jae-Kyung was in the airport with her baggage in tow, now becomes the visit to the money changer in the airport ^^; The visiting visa for Zhuhai usually last for about 3 days and isn't extendable, which make sense for Woo Bin to stay in Zhuhai for only 3 days. ^^; he reached earlier that morning, and Jae-Kyung arrived in Zhuhai in the evening on the same day. ^^;

I would not be covering the events of what Woo Bin and Jae-Kyung did in Zhuhai, so if any of such scenes were to occur in the later chapter, it would be through the use of a flashback scene if there need to be a detailed mention of their interactions in Zhuhai. Otherwise, it would simply be mentioned in passing without the full details of their meeting.

Moving on, the next original scene is between the SoEul. Apologies, Eun-Jae hasn't appeared yet… at least, not in front of SoEul. We all know she's in contact with Ii-Hyun on the sly for now :P Okay, Yi Jeong's grandfather made an official appearance in the story. Previously, he was always only mentioned in passing but today he had actual screen time and dialogue of his own. ^_^;

Finally, after giving a background story to Jun Pyo's parents and a brief outline of a story for Woo Bin's parents… I've finally tackled the background of Yi Jeong's parents. Ji Hoo's parents are non-existent in the story since neither of them is alive for the need to actually had a background or sort for them. ^^; Of course, the story of Yi Jeong's parents was told from the POV of his grandfather…

The drama portrayed Yi Jeong's father as a philanderer and that Yi Jeong's mom was always hysterical and suicidal due to his father's actions. However, I was thinking - certainly, his father wasn't always a philanderer. Something must have triggered his father's philandering ways of life… and there have been many takes on why Yi Jeong's father is like this. Most of what I've read always goes for the - So Hyeon Seop's marriage with his wife was arranged by his father, So Yoon Hee and Hyeon Seop held no love for his wife. The woman he loves was forced to leave him by So Yoon Hee's interference and without the woman, he loves in his life, Hyeon Seop begins to give up and waste his days away by leading the lifestyle of a philanderer. His wife, on the other hand, loves him too much and so, couldn't tolerate his philandering ways.

Anyway, I don't want to follow that particular setting. And so, I came up with this version of the events. Yi Jeong's father apparently got sick and tired of his wife's never-ending accusations of him cheating on her and decided that he might as well really cheat on her to deserve those insults/accusations she's always hurling in his direction. The suicidal whims of Yi Jeong's mother probably begin when Yi Jeong's father stops coming home altogether to get away from his wife who's always in hysteria over one reason or another.

Right, so… enough of my rambling, but I truly think that Woo Bin's mother is the only normal mother excluding Ji Hoo's mother among the parents of the F4. Jun Pyo's mother is too career-minded that her children think her incapable of knowing 'love'. Yi Jeong's mother, on the other hand, was ruled completely by her love for Yi Jeong's father and she ended up neglecting the fact that she's a mother, and still has her sons to think of. In which case, I really think - after Yi Jeong's mother, Yi Jeong's grandfather would prefer to have a granddaughter-in-law who can be logical, level-headed but also capable of love for the family on the whole, rather than just focusing on one individual.

Okay, this is the end of my lengthy chapter notes. I hope everyone has enjoyed reading this chapter. Ciao for now, and see you next time!