Author's notes: Okay, I have to admit - I started this new document on a spur of the 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 at 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 49: Interlude: Christmas Break, Part 1
Location: Seongbuk district, Seongbuk-dong. Outside So family home, 13th December 2009, Sunday, 2pm.
Stepping out of his family home, So Yi Jeong couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief. He was here this afternoon for a lunch appointment with his grandfather, So Yoon Hee, to speak about his relationship with Chu Ga Eul. Honestly, before the conversation with his grandfather, he was apprehensive at best. His apprehensiveness mostly stems from the fact that he had no idea if his grandfather would be accepting of his decision to date Ga Eul.
[Flashback to an hour ago…]
Stepping foot into his family home was never an easy task, and considering the number of times, he was summoned back home following his mother's latest suicidal episode. It's only natural for the Korean Casanova of F4 to procrastinate over the idea of entering his childhood home. Still, Yi Jeong knows - his grandfather is expecting him this afternoon, and thus, it would be best for him to cease his procrastination act and get moving to avoid making his grandfather wait for too long.
Yi Jeong had just stepped through the front door of the house when he came face-to-face with the figure of his mother. For a while, neither spoke and simply stare at one another in silence. Just when Yi Jeong thought his mother was going to make another typical request of him to check in with his philandering father that's very likely to darken his mood for the rest of the day, the personal assistant of his grandfather arrives on-site.
"Young Master Yi Jeong, this way, please. Old master is waiting for you in the dining area of his personal wing." The personal assistant of his grandfather begins, his voice snapping Yi Jeong's focus away from his conflicting thoughts concerning his mother and onto his purpose of visiting his family home, this afternoon.
"Right, do excuse me for the moment. I have a lunch appointment to keep with grandfather, this afternoon." Yi Jeong said, turning away from the figure of his mother. Of course, he didn't bother to say anything about visiting his mother after his lunch appointment with his grandfather. Because he has no intention of doing so, his mother wouldn't get the idea and thus would believe otherwise. And if he said something of that sort, chances are his mother is going to throw a fit if he didn't show up for a visit after his lunch appointment with his grandfather. And so, Yi Jeong decided that the best thing to do is to not say anything about sparing a moment of his time today for his mother.
"..."
"Madam, weren't you saying that you wish to go for a walk outside today?" The caretaker in charge of taking care of Yi Jeong's mother could be heard saying, as Yi Jeong himself headed further into the house towards the direction of his grandfather's wing of the estate.
The So family house is a single-story detached family home built on a plot of land which is about 3/4 the size of the Yoon family home, with a floor plan of a U-shape layout. Upon entering through the front door of the house is the main communal wing comprising the kitchen and the guest bathroom, also in the main wing is a fairly decent-sized room which is currently empty but was previously the main living room space. To the left of the house is the wing designated and reserved for Yi Jeong's parents' usage, whereas on the right of the house is the wing reserved exclusively for his grandfather's use.
Both wings come with their own cozy little sitting room area in combination with a designated dining nook area, as well as the bedrooms. There are a total of five bedrooms in the house, with three of them situated on the left wing of the house and the remaining two bedrooms tucked away on the right wing of the house. Of the five bedrooms, two of them were rooms that come with their own en-suite bath facility. Needless to say, these rooms went to Yi Jeong's parents and grandparents, respectively. Back in the days whereby Yi Jeong's parents were still keeping up with the 'happy family' facade, Yi Jeong and his brother resided on the left wing of the house together with their parents while his grandparents stays on the right-wing of the house. The extra bedroom was utilized as a guest bedroom for any visiting guests that would be staying overnight.
But when the relationship of Yi Jeong's parents begins to deteriorate and the 'happy family' facade was being chipped away with each passing day, there was a shift in the rooms allocation plan. First of all, his grandparents moved both Yi Jeong and his elder brother, Ii-Hyun out of the left-wing of the house and into the right wing's only remaining bedroom. So, from that point, until Ii-Hyun left the family after a disagreement with So Yoon Hee, Yi Jeong was sharing a bedroom with his elder brother. Of course, after his brother left the family, Yi Jeong ended up getting the entire room for his own use. Later, when Yi Jeong's father left home completely causing his mother's mental well-being to take a turn for the worst, a full-time caretaker was employed to look after his mother 24/7. Nowadays, the two extra bedrooms on the left wing which used to be Yi Jeong, and his estranged brother's rooms are being occupied by the caretaker team of his mother.
Coming back to the present, So Yi Jeong managed to rid his mind of his childhood memories as he arrived at a stop at the dining area of his grandfather's wing of the house.
"Grandfather." Yi Jeong greeted the founder of the Woo Sung Museum, respectfully.
"Yi Jeong, sit. We can talk after finishing lunch." So Yoon Hee nodded in acknowledgment of his grandson's greeting, and once Yi Jeong took his seat at the table - the man signaled to his personal assistant that lunch could now be served.
The personal assistant of So Yoon Hee nodded and stepped out of the area, heading for the communal wing where the kitchen is located. While there are housekeepers and service staff employed in the service of the So family, they aren't here 24/7 unlike the maids employed in the service of the Gu family. The staff employed in the service of the So family kept to a routine 8 hours shift work, on a rotating shift basis kind of like the medical crew employed in a hospital setting. The only staffs who stay here on a 24/7 basis are the members of the caretaker team that are devoted to the care of attending to Yi Jeong's suicidal mother.
Unlike the Gu family who actually have a chef employed in their service, the So family doesn't have a proper cook employed to serve the family. Therefore, there is a roster in place for kitchen duty at the So family. And since more than half the members of the family weren't usually at home, whoever was assigned with kitchen duty for the day would be in charge of not just the preparation of the three meals for the members of the family but also for the rest of the staffs working for the So family. Anyway, since Yi Jeong is taking lunch with his grandfather this afternoon, it only makes sense that the food served for lunch is based on a menu suitable for the elderly.
It didn't take long for the personal assistant of So Yoon Hee to return to the dining area with two food trays in hand. On the food tray are the dishes served for lunch, this afternoon. As the food tray was set down in front of Yi Jeong, the Korean Casanova took a quick glance at the tray to get an idea of the lunch menu for the day. Sitting on the tray was a small bowl of steamed rice, paired with a small plate of stir-fried beef with chili, a small bowl of Korean soybean paste tofu soup, a bowl containing a single medium-sized fully-peeled tangerine, and a small plate of the Kimchi.
Since So Yoon Hee had said earlier that they would speak after lunch, the entire lunch session was carried out in relative silence. After lunch, they moved on to take a seat in the sitting area of the wing for the chat to be carried out. As they settled down on the sofa couch in the sitting area of the right-wing of the house that was designated exclusively for the use of So Yoon Hee, the old man instructed his personal assistant to leave them momentarily and stand guard at the sliding door that separates the right-wing from the rest of the house.
Given how his daughter-in-law was deemed fit enough to be up and about for the day, So Yoon Hee would prefer not to have his chat with his grandson interrupted, this afternoon. And then, following the departing of his personal assistant, So Yoon Hee finally shifted his focus onto the figure of his grandson and named successor - Yi Jeong.
Upon feeling his grandfather's eyes, Yi Jeong knows that it was now time for the chat concerning his relationship with Ga Eul to begin. Only, it seems his grandfather wasn't in too much of a rush to speak. Instead, the man spends several minutes staring at him in silence as though trying to get a read on his thoughts.
"...Grandfather, is there a reason why you kept looking at me with an assessing gaze as though you were busy studying a fine piece of artwork?" Finally, Yi Jeong caved into the pressure of his grandfather's assessing gaze and took the initiative in breaking the silence.
"Well… I was trying to get a read on how serious you were in this current relationship you had going with Ms. Chu Ga Eul is all." So Yoon Hee responded, still keeping an assessing gaze on the figure of his grandson who has an infamous playboy reputation.
"...I assured you, grandfather. I wouldn't have introduced her to you as my girlfriend if I weren't serious about this relationship I had going with her." Yi Jeong sighed inwardly as he answered while wondering if his reputation as the Korean Casanova was doing him more harm than good since his grandfather appears to have trouble taking his words at face value.
"Hmm… and how long have this relationship been going on between the two of you?" So Yoon Hee had a contemplative look in his eyes as he directed his next query to his grandson, who appears somewhat resigned and exasperated by his earlier comment.
"Officially, we got together sometime in late August, so it's about 3-4 months now. Unofficially, we have been dating for slightly more than 7 months. As for the reason why there's both an official and unofficial record, well… according to Woo Bin, I was in denial of my own developing feelings towards Ga Eul for some time." Yi Jeong confessed to his grandfather while trying to hide his embarrassment over the matter by averting his eyes from his shrewd grandfather.
"... I see." So Yoon Hee nodded in acceptance of his grandson's words concerning the months of denial before the relationship was made official. Taking into account the underlying fear of commitment on his grandson's part, a direct result of the toxic relationship between his son and his daughter-in-law… the old man could understand why his grandson would be in denial at the initial stage of a relationship.
As So Yoon Hee was stuck in a contemplative mood thinking about what to do next, Yi Jeong was quietly studying the demeanor of his grandfather on his part. A part of Yi Jeong was apprehensive about what his grandfather would do now that it was made clear that he was genuinely serious in this relationship he had going with Ga Eul. Just when he was about to muster up his courage and ask after his grandfather's thoughts on his relationship with Ga Eul, the silence was once again broken by his shrewd grandfather.
"Yi Jeong, I'm going to ask you something which I expect you to give me an honest answer. As you know, I'm getting on my age. The fact that I've skipped over your father and named you as my successor meant that you're going to take over the management of the museum and the role of being the head of the family after my passing. As the head of the So family, the responsibilities and duties you would have to shoulder wouldn't be easy. As such, it's also expected for your future significant half to handle a portion of these duties and responsibilities alongside you. So, what I would like to know from you now is - are you certain that Ms. Chu Ga Eul is the destined one for you in life?" So Yoon Hee started as he fixated a stern gaze upon his grandson.
"... do I need to give you an answer on this, right away?" So Yi Jeong asks his grandfather in return because he was certain of his devotion and feelings towards Ga Eul. He had to admit that he hasn't thought that far ahead in life just yet, so this question coming from his grandfather now was something he can't provide a firm response, immediately and therefore would prefer to have some time to consider his response.
"Of course not, you may have time to think it over." So Yoon Hee responded, knowing full well that this is a question that can't be answered without thorough consideration.
"Right… and when do I have to get back to you with an answer to that question?" So Yi Jeong hesitated for a second before putting forth his inquiry to the head of his family, his grandfather.
"As soon as possible, given the complexities in the duties and responsibilities that come with the role of being the matriarch of the family - there's a lot of things that need to be taught to Ms. Chu Ga Eul, if you decided that she's the one you wished to have in your life, moving forward. Usually, these things ought to be imparted to the new matriarch by the previous matriarch of the family. However, seeing as your mother isn't capable of handling the role of the matriarch for our family thus far, and your grandmother has since passed on - it would befall on me to impart this knowledge to whomever you had chosen to stand by your side for the remaining of your life. But it is a fact that I'm getting old in my age, and probably wouldn't be hanging around forever and therefore, such knowledge must be taught to Ms. Chu Ga Eul as soon as possible. Thus, I beseech you to not take too much time in getting back to me on the answer to my previous question. Until then, you can rest assured that I would not be approaching your girlfriend anytime soon." So Yoon Hee deadpans to his obviously uneasy grandson.
It took Yi Jeong quite a bit of time to register the fact that his grandfather doesn't seem to have any issues with him dating Ga Eul. Seeing as his grandfather only mentioned that there are certain things that Ga Eul is expected to learn, if he did decides that Ga Eul is who he wishes to have by his side when the time comes for him to settle down with a family. In other words, his grandfather might eventually choose to approach Ga Eul to impart that knowledge to the girl but is definitely not going to be an obstacle between them in their relationship.
"...does that means that you aren't against the idea of us dating then?" Floundering for words, it took the Korean Casanova some time to come up with a response to his grandfather's remark about his relationship with Chu Ga Eul.
"Why would I object to the idea of the two of you dating?" So Yoon Hee threw his grandson and named heir an odd look as he furrowed his brows on reflex.
"...because Ga Eul isn't exactly someone from the upper echelon like we are?" Yi Jeong responded with the first thought that sprang to the front of his mind.
"True, but she's not exactly a commoner who understands nothing of our society, either. Your mother comes from a respectable and well-to-do family, and at first glance, she seems to be well-suited for the role of the matriarch for our family. But look how it turns out for our family in the end? Taking into account your father's philandering ways and your own reputation as the Korean Casanova, I thought whoever ends up as the next matriarch for our family ought to be someone who can handle stomaching the news and scandal featured on the local tabloids, regularly." So Yoon Hee pointed out objectively to his grandson.
"..."
[End of Flashback]
A buzz coming from the pocket of his suit informs Yi Jeong that he has an incoming text message on his mobile, and needless to say, the vibration of his phone had also jarred the Korean Casanova out from his thoughts.
A quick look at the home screen of his phone informed Yi Jeong that the message was from his girlfriend, a certain country bumpkin going by the name of Chu Ga Eul.
A private message between Chu Ga Eul and So Yi Jeong, 13th December 2009, Sunday, 2.15pm
Ga Eul: Hey, Yi Jeong-sunbae. How did your lunch with your grandfather go? ^_^
Yi Jeong: The lunch itself was fine, though I did cross paths briefly with my mother when I arrived for the lunch appointment with my grandfather. Thankfully, today seems to be a good day for her since she didn't go hysteric on me upon noticing my presence. How about you?
Ga Eul: Me? Well, today isn't the tennis game day - so, I'm free to do my own things during the day and just have to remember to pop over to the Sakuraba residence this evening for dinner. Since it's Shuichi's turn to host the weekly dinner this week.
Yi Jeong: I see, and what did you do to occupy your time for the earlier part of today?
Ga Eul: I went for the last knitting lesson at the local community club just now, and then went for lunch alone in a nearby cafe. Now, I'm doing some shopping in the Myeong-Dong district.
PS: Would you like to join us for dinner tonight?
Yi Jeong: I'll get back to you on the dinner invitation later, for now, I have a meeting with the F3 at the clubhouse.
Ga Eul: I see. Sure, just buzz me before 6pm if you intend to join us for the dinner session at Shuichi's place. So, I can inform the helper working for the Sakuraba family to prep up some extra serving of the food served for tonight's dinner. *Smiley Emoji*
Yi Jeong: Of course. I'll keep you updated on that front.
Tucking his mobile phone away after the end of the chat message with his beloved country bumpkin, So Yi Jeong headed straight for his orange lotus parked outside the gate leading to the house. After climbing into the vehicle and settling behind the steering wheel of the car, the Korean Casanova wasted no time in leaving the vicinity to go search for his fellow friends who has made plans to meet up and chilled out at the private clubhouse of the F4 situated in the Shinhwa Country Club.
Location: F4 Private Clubhouse, Shinhwa Country Club. 13th December 2009, Sunday, 3.30pm
"Yo, Yi Jeong." Song Woo Bin was the first to notice the arrival of Yi Jeong, and so, he's the first to greet the presence of the Korean Casanova. Yoon Ji Hoo, on the other hand, has been busying himself with something else and thus hasn't been paying much attention to the surrounding. Henceforth, he had only noticed the arrival of the Korean Casanova after Woo Bin did.
Glancing towards the direction of the entrance of the clubhouse, Yoon Ji Hoo nodded as he acknowledge the arrival of the Korean Casanova nonchalantly. "Yi Jeong."
"Woo Bin, Ji Hoo. So, care to enlighten me on the reason behind today's meet-up?" The Korean Casanova started as he crossed the threshold of the clubhouse to join his two friends on the sofa couch placed in the room. With the leader of the F4 out of town, it's rare for the rest of the members to meet up without valid reasons.
While Yi Jeong does meet up with Woo Bin and Ji Hoo every now and then, it has always been on a separate basis. And usually, those meet-ups were instigated by Woo Bin for a nightcap during the late evening, or by him who needs a dining companion on days whereby his girlfriend isn't available to meet him for dinner. Henceforth, the fact that a meeting for the F4 has been arranged sans Jun Pyo this afternoon was intriguing.
"Well… a few things. First, to catch up for a bit, it's been at least a month since we get to sit down for a chat. Secondly, the Christmas season is coming which also translated to the socializing season has arrived… and thus, we have to decide which event to attend and which event to skip out upon. In the past, we can simply skip out on the events that weren't hosted by our own families using the excuse of Jun Pyo monopolizing our time for a Christmas getaway. This year though, I doubt the same excuse could be utilized seeing as Jun Pyo is out of town." Song Woo Bin responded as he responded to the query from his Casanova friend.
"I see…" Yi Jeong nodded before flicking his gaze over to the silent figure of Yoon Ji Hoo, as he tried to figure out what his auburn-haired friend was doing. Initially, he had thought that it was the music scores that Ji Hoo was busy going through since this wouldn't be the first time the guy attempted to improvise a piece of music in the F4 clubhouse. However, upon taking a good look at the papers his auburn-haired friend was going through… Yi Jeong realized that it wasn't the music scores but several sets of the mock test papers which his friend is busy marking.
"Ji Hoo, are those the mock test papers available in the market?" Yi Jeong found the corners of his lips twitching uncontrollably as he inquires.
Yoon Ji Hoo nodded without shifting his eyes away from the papers as he responded. "Indeed."
"... I've thought to ask earlier but it keeps slipping my mind. These mock test papers you're going through… they aren't yours, are they?" Song Woo Bin then shifted his attention away from his Casanova friend to land upon the figure of Yoon Ji Hoo.
"Yes and no." Yoon Ji Hoo answered, causing the Don Juan of F4 to stare at him in bewilderment.
"Huh?" Song Woo Bin blinked incomprehensibly at his auburn-haired friend, before seeking further clarification from the guy. "What kind of response was that? How could it be both yes and no?"
"To put it simply, these mock tests belong to me as I'm the one who purchased them but at the same time, they are not mine because Geum Jan Di is the one who will be completing them." Yoon Ji Hoo eventually explained the reason why he had these many mock test papers with him, this afternoon, to his two friends.
"...wait, why are you going through them if they're supposed to be completed by Geum Jan Di?" The Korean Casanova furrowed his brows in confusion as he voiced his doubt aloud to his auburn-haired friend.
"Simple. I'm trying to decide which paper to get Geum Jan Di to complete first." Yoon Ji Hoo shrugged his response nonchalantly.
"Huh? Hold up a sec, was that what you've been doing over the past month? Busy tutoring the Wonder Woman of Korea?" It took a moment for the Don Juan of F4 to come to a realization of what his auburn-haired friend has been doing over the past month, and when he did - Song Woo Bin couldn't help but blurt out in disbelief.
"Indeed." Yoon Ji Hoo nodded firmly in response to his Don Juan friend's disbelieving words, before directing a question of his own to the mafia heir. "Is the notion of me tutoring Geum Jan Di so hard for you to believe?"
"...erm no… not exactly. I just wasn't expecting you to continue with the tutoring session even after you had obviously gotten her caught up with the rest of her classmates' progress following her return from the Macau trip." Song Woo Bin admitted eventually, after all, Ji Hoo has the habit of not concerning himself with other people's business. But it seems this habit of his doesn't apply to Geum Jan Di, since he always made it an exception for that girl.
Unlike Woo Bin, Yi Jeong wasn't in the least surprised by his auburn-haired friend's decision to tutor Geum Jan Di as he had already heard of that bit of information from his girlfriend, who had, in turn, heard of the tutoring session from Geum Jan Di personally. Still, the fact that Ji Hoo went to the extent of procuring mock test papers from the bookstores for Geum Jan Di went beyond what Yi Jeong was expecting.
"How much longer do you intend to keep up with the tutoring session?" The Korean Casanova then inquires as he focused his gaze on the figure of Yoon Ji Hoo.
"Until the time comes for Geum Jan Di to sit through the year-end examinations, I supposed. Besides, I made a promise to help her in achieving her newfound goal, and tutoring her in her studies is the only thing I could think of, to help her achieve her end goal of meeting the minimum requirement for entry into the medical school." Yoon Ji Hoo answered casually with a shrug of his shoulders.
"..."
Silence reigned, as neither the Don Juan nor the Korean Casanova knows what to say in response to Geum Jan Di's newfound goal of entering medical school. In the end, the Don Juan of F4 managed to swallow his words of deeming the end goal of Geum Jan Di - mission impossible and instead just clapped the shoulder of his auburn-haired friend as a motion of silent encouragement. So Yi Jeong, on the other hand, simply shrugged and took a sip from the can of Espresso he had purchased minutes ago from the vending machine placed across the hall from the clubhouse where the lift lobby of the country club is situated.
Deciding to steer the topic of conversation away from Geum Jan Di's goal of becoming a doctor, Song Woo Bin then directed his gaze onto his Casanova friend as he inquires. "So, how did the talk with your grandfather go? That's where you were earlier, right?"
"...it went relatively well, I supposed. At least, he didn't react too negatively to my decision to date Ga Eul." Yi Jeong shrugged as he thought back to his earlier conversation with his grandfather after lunch, at his own family home. Not in the mood to give his friend the full details of his conversation with his grandfather, the Korean Casanova opted to give his Don Juan friend the bare minimum information by keeping the entire recount of his lunch appointment with his grandfather vague.
"See! I told you there's nothing for you to worry about, your grandfather isn't the witch. He's not going to do anything too drastic." Song Woo Bin declared triumphantly, once again poking fun at his Casanova friend's obvious unease over the past week before the talk took place between So Yoon Hee and Yi Jeong.
"Fine, so I was worrying for nothing. Can you please drop the subject already? Anyway, I have a dinner appointment to keep and thus don't have all the time to spare hanging out here with you guys. Therefore, could you get to the point of today's meet-up already?" So Yi Jeong let out a huff of annoyance as he directed his words at his Don Juan friend.
"Okay, fine. I shan't deter your plans to join the E3 and Ga Eul-yang for dinner later. Now, out of curiosity, how many invitations have you guys received for the Christmas season by this point?" Song Woo Bin shrugged as he comply with the wishes of his Casanova friend, and brought on the main topic of discussion for today's meet-up.
"Not a lot on my part, but I reckon that's because the majority of the official invitation for events were still addressed to my grandfather at present since I've yet to officially succeed in the family business. Either way, the official invitation I've received to my name at present only comprises of the annual Christmas Gala event organized and hosted by the Shinhwa Group on Christmas Eve as well as the fund-raising event hosted by the Su Am Group on boxing day. As for the private Christmas parties invitations, those are plenty but as usual… I intend to ignore it all. Of course, exceptions would be made if an invitation were to be extended my way by the members of the E3." The Korean Casanova shrugged his response easily enough.
"I see… and you, Ji Hoo?" The mafia heir nodded before steering his gaze upon the figure of his auburn-haired friend for a response.
"Me? As per the norm, aside from the event hosted by the Su Am Group and the Shinhwa Group - I had no intention to turn up at other socializing events." Yoon Ji Hoo stated in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, after all, he wasn't too much of a fan when it comes down to socializing.
"... and just how exactly are you guys going to ignore the other invitations? Because I'm at a loss of how to turn down those invitations without Jun Pyo being around for me to pull the usual 'my time for the upcoming Xmas break is being monopolized by Jun Pyo' card - this time around." Song Woo Bin then asks as he split his attention evenly between his two friends.
Yi Jeong and Ji Hoo shared a look among themselves before shrugging in unison. Neither of them was in a hurry to answer the question, but their silence only serves to aggravate the mafia heir. Just before the Don Juan of F4 loses his cool and snaps, the Korean Casanova finally took it upon himself to enlighten his friend about how to turn down those private party invitations.
"Well, first of all, let it be known to the rest of them that the Christmas break only lasted 3 days. Secondly, made it clear to them that your schedule for the Xmas break is already fully packed and thus have no more time to attend their event. Most people would simply take your words for it and leave the matter alone but some might wish to pry into the matter deeper. And for these people, you could simply let them know that you would be hanging out with us for the bulk of the time on Xmas Eve since that's when the Xmas Gala event hosted by the Shinhwa Group would be held. And on Xmas, the day has been reserved for your family which I'm sure your mother had something planned on that day. It might not be your ideal way of occupying your time, but it beats the idea of having to attend events hosted by others that you had no obligations of attending either. Last but not least, on boxing day - there's the fundraising event hosted by the Su Am Group to attend. Of course, you can also fit in an appointment or two involving your family business associates. After all, not everyone gets the boxing day off from work." So Yi Jeong commented, as he gave his Don Juan friend a few pointers on how to turn down the parties' invitations which his friend had no interest in attending.
"..."
Location: Shinosaki Family Home in Shiodome residential area, Minato ward of Tokyo, Japan. 16th December 2009, Wednesday, 7pm.
Sitting in front of his personal computer in the bedroom of his family home, a decent size two-story single-family home with three bedrooms situated in the southern extension of the Shiodome area where the residential neighborhood of the area is located - Shinosaki Izumi is busy planning the itinerary for his impending winter break from school.
Unlike the summer break which lasted for a total of six weeks, the winter break only lasted a single week that usually took place from Christmas Eve to New Year's Day. Since the break only lasted for a single week, there aren't a lot of places the heir to the Shinosaki Bed&Breakfast inn could consider for a getaway trip. Especially since he needed to be in town for the New Year's day since that's when the extended members of his family would be coming by for a visit from all over the country.
Line Messenger - Group Chat with buddies [Saionji Ichiro, Takahashi Shuuhei, and Isshiki Masashi]
Izumi: Guys, what are you guys planning to do for this upcoming winter break?
Ichiro: Hmm… that's a good question, I haven't given much thought to the subject yet.
Shuuhei: Personally, 4 days out of the week, I'm working. Xmas season is always busy for my family group business, after all.
Masashi: I'm working too, it's tough being a celebrity. Izumi, what brought this question on anyway?
Izumi: Well… I'm debating whether I ought to plan for a quick getaway trip.
Ichiro: Ah…I see you and your traveling habits. So, where do you have in mind to visit now? Given that the break is only a week, it can't be anywhere too far out.
Izumi: I'm thinking Taiwan or South Korea, but I haven't actually decided yet. Any good suggestions?
Shuuhei: Both are logical options given their distance from Japan. Personally, I preferred Taiwan… but that might simply be due to my underlying desire to avoid any awkwardness with the illegitimate heiress of the Miyazawa Group.
Izumi: … right.
Deciding that he couldn't get any better ideas from his group of friends, Shinosaki Izumi decides to compose an email to the Korean girl he had gotten acquainted with a few months ago in Melbourne, Australia.
To: Sunny [Insert Email Address, Naver]
From: Izumi [Insert Email Address, Yahoo Japan]
Hi Sunny,
How are you doing? Winter break is coming up, how do you intend to spend them? Speaking of Winter break, my school is going into the winter break in a week and I'm thinking of going on a quick getaway trip. I'm leaning towards the option of visiting Taiwan or South Korea, but not exactly sure what I could actually do if I'm visiting the above-mentioned places solo. Have you got any ideas on what I could do if I'm to visit the above-mentioned places alone?
PS: Please include recommendations of the accommodations if possible, I'm looking for mid-range accommodations. *Sheepish Emoji*
Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Regards,
Izumi
With the email sent, Shinosaki Izumi closed off his email app installed on his mobile device and shifted his attention back to his own class assignments. He figured the email response would take a while longer to come in since there's no guarantee that his Korean friend would be able to compose an immediate response to his email, judging by the present time. After all, unless it's an email account designated for work purposes - nobody makes it a habit to check the email once every hour.
As it turns out, Izumi's speculation is quite accurate because he didn't receive an email response until the following morning around 7am. Sunny seems to make it a personal habit to check her personal email account twice a day, once before bedtime and once early in the morning. And though she did go through the content of the email from Shinosaki Izumi the night before, she didn't have it in her to compose an immediate response and so, she waited until morning before sitting down to compose the reply on her personal computer.
In Sunny's email response to Shinosaki Izumi, she first returns the greetings and the sentiment of the well-wishes to her new friend made on her solo trip to Melbourne, Australia last Summer. And then, she informs the Shinosaki heir that she doesn't exactly have a plan for the upcoming Xmas break since it's a short break lasting only up to 3 days and that her school's winter break only begins at end of January, after their mid-term examinations. Sunny then went on to confess that she has nothing constructive to say in regards to the city of Taiwan as she has never visited that place before. And thus, she focused her advice and recommendations solely on South Korea. To begin with, she inquires the Shinosaki heir about which city in South Korea he intends to visit, as well as his intended period for the visit to take place so she could make arrangements on her side to bring him around the city.
Of course, she had also provided a list of the scenic and infamous tourist spots in some of the major cities in South Korea for the consideration of the Shinosaki heir but emphasized that she could only provide more detailed recommendations upon knowing for certain which area the guy is planning on visiting. After checking through her email response and finding that nothing is amiss, Sunny sent off the email response and shut down her personal computer before heading out to join her family for breakfast.
Over the next two days, Shinosaki Izumi was corresponding with Sunny over the email to discuss the possible destinations of his getaway trip to South Korea. In the end, Shinosaki Izumi decided to dedicate his first trip to South Korea by making the city of Seoul his intended destination. This decision was made after taking into consideration of his limited knowledge of the language of Korean, as well as the fact that Sunny wasn't able to play tour guide to him in other parts of Korea, outside of Seoul, on short notice.
Decision made, the Shinosaki heir started the preparations for his getaway trip to Seoul, South Korea. For starters, he begins by checking on the price of the air tickets and the pricing for the accommodations based on the list provided for his reference and consideration by Sunny. And once he had his plane tickets and accommodations booked, he went on to inform his family about his getaway trip to Seoul as well as keep his group of friends updated on his whereabouts during the winter break in case they need to get in contact with him while he's out of town. Last but not least, he also make sure to drop an email to Sunny informing the girl of his date of arrival in Seoul, so the girl would be able to make the arrangement on her side to show him around the city.
While Shinosaki Izumi is making travel plans to visit Seoul, over in the states, Lee Dong-Min was busy making plans for his cousin to oversee the operations of his family hotel group in his absence as his proxy figure. As for the operations and management of the Shinhwa Group, he simply handed the role over to his mother-in-law who's in Washington DC for the attendance of the Xmas Gala event hosted by the US branch office of the Shinhwa Group.
The head office of the Shinhwa Group based in the US is situated in Washington DC, but the Malloy Hotel Group owned by the Lee family in the states is based in New York. As such, Lee Dong-Min and his wife, Gu Jun Hee usually oversee the running of the Shinhwa Group business from New York where they resided. However, if Kang Hee-Soo happens to be in town, she usually headed straight for Washington DC as that's where the head office for the Shinhwa Group in the United States of America is situated. Now, although the Malloy Hotel Group and the Shinhwa Group are now affiliated because of his marriage to the heiress of the Shinhwa Group. The Shinhwa Group didn't exactly acquire the Malloy Hotel Group, and so, both hotel groups kept their management procedures separately. Gu Jun Hee might be fine with allowing Lee Dong-Min to oversee the running of the Shinhwa Group in her absence as her proxy, and likewise, Lee Dong-Min has no issues with his wife overseeing the day-to-day operations of his family hotel group business… it's another thing when it comes down to letting Kang Hee-Soo runs the show in his absence. After having seen how his mother-in-law often goes behind the back of his father-in-law when it comes down to the running of the family business, he thought it better to have his cousin runs his family hotel business in his absence.
It has been weeks since the Shinhwa heiress returns to Seoul to clean up the mess created by her brother, Gu Jun Pyo and Lee Dong-Min was at his limits of being apart from his wife. And thus, after some serious contemplation, he decided to swing by Seoul personally to check in on his wife. Especially since his wife is in a delicate condition as of present, and so, promptly upon receiving the news of Kang Hee-Soo's impending arrival in the states, he begins to make plans for his own travel out of the country to visit his wife in Seoul.
Intending to surprise his wife, Lee Dong-Min mentions nothing about his impending arrival in Seoul to Gu Jun Hee during their routine chat over the video call every other day. Thus, when Gu Jun Hee arrives back home from her routine visit to the hospital on the evening of the 20th of December, the weekend before Christmas, she was genuinely surprised by the sight of her husband waiting for her in her childhood family home.
Location: Gu Family Home in Pyeongchang-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. 20th December 2009, Sunday, 7pm
"Dong-Min, when did you get here?" Gu Jun Hee started, surprise evident in her tone as she moved forward to greet her husband with an embrace.
"About 2-3 hours ago, how have you been?" Lee Dong-Min inquires his wife back in return as he embraces his wife in a form of greeting. The baby bump wasn't quite visible on his wife's slender form yet, but he could still feel the existence of the minuscule bump when he caught his wife in an embrace. One of the most obvious signs of his wife's delicate condition is the slight thickening of her waist, but to someone who has no knowledge of his wife's delicate condition - they would simply assume that his wife had put on a bit of the weight around the middle.
"I'm well, and before you asked - the baby's fine too. But if it would set your mind at ease, I have a prenatal check scheduled tomorrow at the hospital. Would you like to join me for the appointment?" Gu Jun Hee suggested as she stepped out of her husband's embrace, so she could set down her things in the sitting area of her bedroom suite.
"Do you even need to ask? Of course, I'll join you for the prenatal appointment." Lee Dong-Min responded without a moment of hesitation, before changing the subject of conversation to his wife's primary reason for visiting Seoul. "So, how did the cleaning up process go? Did you manage to clean up Jun Pyo's mess?"
"... if that's your way of asking whether or not I've met Jan Di, then I'll have to say. Yes - I've met her and spoken to her at length. For a start, I'd apologized to her about Jun Pyo's antics and treatment of her while she was in Macau. At the same time, I've engineered several encounters between her and my father in the hospital thus far. Granted, their first encounter was completely unplanned. It's only because they had their first encounter by chance that I decided to create further opportunities for them to meet in the hospital after seeking cooperation from several members of my father's team of caretakers." Gu Jun Hee responded as she made her way into her walk-in closet to get a change of her attire.
"I see… " Lee Dong-Min nodded as he took a seat on the couch in the sitting area of his wife's room while waiting for his wife to finish changing her clothes.
Meanwhile, over in Macau, the moment the heiress of the JK Group received confirmed information about Kang Hee-Soo's departure for Washington DC, she promptly let out a cheer before reaching for her mobile phone to give her favorite person - a certain Don Juan of F4 a quick call.
Location: Song family home, Woo Bin's bedroom suite. Sunday, 20th December 2009, 9pm
Song Woo Bin was in the process of finalizing his thesis paper on the present economy for one of his business course modules when he receives an incoming call from the heiress of the JK Group, on his personal mobile.
"Yes, Jae-Kyung? What can I do for you this evening?" The Ii-Shin heir started as he picks up the call on his mobile, as he steers his attention momentarily away from his thesis paper. While he could technically set his phone on speaker, hands-free mode to continue editing his thesis paper, he decided against the notion. Mostly because there's no guarantee that one of his little sisters wouldn't barge into his room without warning, and due to the existing political union arrangement between Jun Pyo and Jae-Kyung… the last thing the mafia heir needed was for the situation to grow even more complicated.
While he still isn't sure of his feelings towards the heiress of the JK Group at present, Woo Bin knows enough to gather that Jae-Kyung wasn't like the typical girls that he had allowed to hang around his person. Since he wasn't Yi Jeong and doesn't exactly have fear towards commitment in general - he wasn't in denial of the fact that he does feel some form of attraction towards the Jae-Kyung in general. Only, the Ii-Shin heir wasn't certain of the degree of attraction he had for the girl, since they have only gotten acquainted with each other for about six months.
Either way, Woo Bin knows that his mother and his maternal grandparents are very eager for him to settle down with a stable partner. So, if it becomes known to either one of them that he has been in constant contact with a respectable young lady - there's no telling what they might do with the information. And so, to avoid the possibility of his little sisters barging into his room uninvited and overhearing the snippets of his conversation with Jae-Kyung… Woo Bin decides to forgo the idea of having the call on speaker mode.
"Your friend's mother is flying out to Washington DC tonight, which means I get to have the next five days or so, free. The first thing I would like to do is to hit the pubs/bars for some happy hours, so please provide me with a list of such nightlife establishments that I could safely party the night away." Jae-Kyung cheerfully declared into the phone on her end of the line.
"Well… for a start, you might want to consider the Sky 21 Restaurant and Bar, situated in the AIA tower. It offers rooftop seating, where you would get a good view of the dazzling skyline of the Macau city. Moreover, Victor, my cousin is a VIP member of the bar - so, if you were to visit the bar with him around as an escort. Nobody would dare to mess with you. Alternatively, the bars in the Sau Paulo area are also a good choice. If memory serves me correctly, the Ma family owns a couple of the quaint bars in that area. For the fancier bars in high-end hotels, the mention of Jun Pyo's name would have more influence than my name." Song Woo Bin responded before adding the last bit as an afterthought.
"Nay… I have had enough of spending time in places which the Shinhwa Group holds a fair amount of sway over, and is in a bit of an adventurous mood, to be honest. So, I would prefer to move out from the influence area of the Shinhwa Group. Do you have any good suggestions on where I could explore within Macau that's outside of the Shinhwa Group influence?" Jae-Kyung responded with a pout as she dragged her pillow over to her chest despite knowing full well that her conversation partner wouldn't be able to notice her pouting look as this is just a simple voice call as opposed to a video call.
"Hmm… the area in the Cotai district of Macau is mostly under the influence of the Shinhwa Group, the Ii-Shin Group, or rather the Ma family are better established in the older areas of the city such as the main island of Macau, and the Taipa village of Macau. Have you gotten the chance to visit Cunha street in Taipa yet?" Woo Bin inquires as to the memory of the girl complaining about not being able to visit Cunha street came to the forefront of his mind.
"Not yet. I did manage to visit the red market though." Jae-Kyung responded as she thought back to the trip taken to the red market sometime last week after the Don Juan of F4 seeks the young owner of the Shinhwa Group out for a personal favor. Granted, while she was exploring the red market under the escort of her own team of bodyguards; the newly-minted owner of the Shinhwa Group had taken to hole up in a nearby coffee shop with his own team of bodyguards stationed outside the coffee shop while waiting for her to be done with her shopping in the area.
"In that case, why don't you consider going for a stay-cation in the Taipa district of Macau? The Grandview Hotel is having a local stay-cation package, I would send you the link to their corporate website shortly. As for the things you could do in Taipa, well… visiting Cunha street is one of them, definitely. Other than that, there are quite a few photo spots in the Taipa village, if you aren't sure where these photo spots are, feel free to check with the locals. I could perhaps make an arrangement for a local guide to be arranged if necessary, but I doubt you would need such a guide since you would very much prefer to indulge your adventurous vibe by exploring the village on your own." Song Woo Bin commented wryly as he shares with the heiress of the JK Group about the type of things she could do if she intends to heed his words of advice by taking up a stay-cation package in the Taipa district of Macau.
Jae-Kyung couldn't help it, she grinned at the sound of the Don Juan's words over the phone. "You're right when you say that I have no need for a local guide to be arranged and that I would prefer the idea of indulging my adventurous trait by exploring the Taipa district entirely on my own. But I'm interested to know more about the Grandview hotel stay-cation package though, so please forward me the relevant information via the text later. Based on the current timing, even if I were to book the stay-cation package, I'm likely only able to check out the Taipa district from the following day onward. So, for now, I guess I'll take you up on the option of visiting the Sky 21 bar at the AIA Tower. While on the subject, care to assist me in arranging my escort for this evening's bar visit? I doubt your friend would be keen to spend his evening out partying with me in a bar setting. I'm sure, he's yearning for a respite from having to spend time in my presence as well, given our reluctance with the political union arrangement."
"Of course, I'll get down to the arrangement right away. I would buzz you with a text once everything has been arranged with my cousin on my end. Take care, and enjoy your night of freedom away from the surveillance of the witch." Woo Bin responded as his tone took on a jovial vibe before he took it upon himself to end the call, so he could establish contact with his cousin based in Macau.
The topic of what the JK Group heiress and Jun Pyo do with their time during the period Kang Hee-Soo is away from Macau aside, back in Seoul, So Yi Jeong was busy finalizing his plans for the impending Christmas break.
Tentatively speaking, Yi Jeong would be splitting his time on Xmas eve between his estranged brother - So Ii-Hyun, his girlfriend - Chu Ga Eul, and his friends from F4. First, he would be meeting his estranged brother for breakfast/brunch before his brother is due to open the cafe for business in the Itaewon district. Now, it should be noted that Yi Jeong originally planned to spare a few hours on Xmas day itself for his estranged elder sibling; but because Ii-Hyun had cited that he has already made plans with his college friends on Xmas day… Yi Jeong decided to tweak his plan with his brother, by shifting it to the morning on Xmas eve instead.
The Korean Casanova had planned for a 3-hours block for his time to be spent with his elder brother on Xmas eve, outside of having breakfast/brunch - he intends to bring Ii-Hyun to the local cemetery to pay a visit to their late grandmother. Due to the underlying conflicts between their grandfather - So Yoon Hee and his estranged elder brother, Ii-Hyun hasn't gotten a chance to show up for their grandmother's funeral at the point of the burial ceremony. And because Ii-Hyun had expressed his regret for not being able to attend their grandmother's funeral a couple of weeks ago, which is coincidentally the death anniversary of their grandmother - Yi Jeong had suggested bringing his estranged brother to the cemetery for his brother to pay respects to their late grandmother.
Afterward, Yi Jeong had plans to meet up with his girlfriend - Ga Eul, for an afternoon home movie date in the comfort of his own pottery studio, followed by a shopping trip to the infamous shopping district of Gangnam, and grabbing an early dinner in one of the high-end restaurants in the area before calling it a day and send his girlfriend home. And then, following this, the Korean Casanova would then make his way to meet up with Ji Hoo and Woo Bin, before making their way to attend the Xmas Gala event hosted by the Shinhwa Group. That was Yi Jeong's original plan, only a meeting with Jun Pyo's elder sister some days ago had resulted in the need for him to tweak his original plan slightly. The reason is - that Jun Pyo's sister had decided to extend an invitation to his beloved country bumpkin beau to attend the Xmas Gala event hosted by the Shinhwa Group, this year. And so, instead of sending his girlfriend home after their early dinner - he would be meeting up with the F3 with Ga Eul in tow, and later show up at the Xmas Gala event together.
With the new plan for Xmas eve finalized in mind, Yi Jeong had to think about how to break the news to his girlfriend about her being invited to the Shinhwa Xmas Gala event. While he could simply shove the invitation card meant for his girlfriend to the country bumpkin and told Ga Eul to show up at the event with no explanation given, he doubts that's the most appropriate way to go about things. After all, he isn't Jun Pyo… thus, he figured the best way to do this is to take the honest approach. In other words, he would have to inform his girlfriend that Jun Pyo's sister is the one organizing the Xmas gala event this year, and she wanted to meet Ga Eul again, hence the decision to invite Ga Eul to the Xmas Gala event.
Decision made, Yi Jeong then set aside the rest of his plans for the impending Christmas break and focus on the completion of his latest thesis paper for school. He's in no rush to contact his girlfriend about the invitation his girlfriend had received from the Shinhwa heiress just yet, seeing as he would be meeting up with Ga Eul for their routine dinner dates over the next two days in consecutive order. So, he figured he could break the news to Ga Eul then.
Location: So Yi Jeong's pottery studio, 22nd December 2009, Tuesday, 7pm
"Yi Jeong-sunbae, dinner's ready." Chu Ga Eul calls out for the attention of her Casanova beau once she was done preparing their dinner for the day over the electric stove-top in the kitchenette of the pottery studio.
"Coming!" Yi Jeong calls out from the inside of his bedroom as he finished up the editing of his thesis paper on his personal computer before putting it away as he stood to make his way back out to join his girlfriend for dinner.
Dinner for the day is the infamous Army Stew, as the reason why out of the vast variety of recipes Ga Eul has under her belt - army stew was decided for today's dinner. The reason is quite simple actually. To put it simply, Ga Eul wanted to try out the electric stove range in the kitchenette of the pottery studio to check if it was still functional. And since there's only a single pot available for use in the kitchenette of the pottery studio, their dinner needs to be something that could be prepared within a single pot.
And so, Ga Eul, after checking with her Casanova beau to find no objections on his part to her suggested dinner menu - decides to make army stew for dinner, this particular evening. For that purpose alone, she had to make sure to swing by the supermarket before popping over to the pottery studio for the preparation of the dinner meal.
"So, this is the infamous army stew." Yi Jeong commented as he took a seat at the table picked out by his girlfriend to be utilized as the dining table for this evening.
"Yep, is this your first time having the dish?" Chu Ga Eul inquires as she placed a bowl of the army stew in front of her Casanova beau alongside the cutlery, before returning to the stove to dish out a portion of the same dish for her own consumption.
"This is indeed my first time eating the army stew, which is expected in hindsight. After all, the army stew isn't available on the menu served in the cafeteria of Shinhwa High, to begin with. Moreover, going by the list of ingredients you had brought in for the preparation of this particular dish, I gathered enough to surmise that the army stew is a dish whipped up with an assorted range of convenience food which really isn't common for the kitchen team working for the Gu family, or any of our families from the F4." The Korean Casanova nodded in agreement as he went on to explain the reason why he had never had the dish - army stew before today, to his beloved girlfriend.
"Ah… I see, well then, you ought to try it out at least once in that case. Come on, let's eat up before the food gets cold." Chu Ga Eul responded with a beaming smile. Knowing full well of her Casanova beau's incapability to whip up a decent meal in the kitchen domain, Ga Eul wasn't in the least surprised to hear of her boyfriend's ignorance of the dish - army stew in general. Even if her boyfriend did stock up quite a bit of instant noodles bowl in his kitchenette cabinet before she took it upon herself to swing by with nutritious homemade meals for her beloved Yi Jeong-sunbae thrice a week.
"This is surprisingly good. I didn't know instant noodles could be made to taste this good." Yi Jeong commented towards the end of the meal. Then again, considering his lack of culinary skills in general… the instant noodles he had kept in his kitchenette storage are usually the cup/bowl package as compared to the packet version of the instant noodles.
"Yes, well… the trick to enhance the taste of the instant noodles is to prepare your own soup base as opposed to relying on the seasoning packet that comes with the store-bought package. Of course, the rest of the ingredients make a vast difference in the taste of the dish as compared to the typical bowl of instant noodles too." Chu Ga Eul explained smilingly, pleased with the positive comments she had received from her Casanova beau towards the army stew she had whipped up for their dinner, this evening.
"Hmm…" So Yi Jeong nodded musingly to the explanation provided by his girlfriend, as his mind drifted off towards the question put forth by his grandfather to him, about two weeks ago in regards to whether or not, he had determined Ga Eul to be his destined life partner. To date, he has yet to provide his grandfather with a formal response to the query but now… he believes he had found the answer to the question. Perhaps, it's about time he got back to his grandfather on the subject…but that can wait until the Xmas season is over. Speaking of Xmas, that reminds him that he has yet to inform his girlfriend about the invitation to the Shinhwa Group Xmas Gala event which Ga Eul had been invited to attend.
Yi Jeong's initial plan was to bring up the subject over dinner last night, but then the plan was scrapped and shelved at the last minute when Ga Eul informs him of an impromptu change in their dinner plans, the day before. Not that they didn't get to meet for dinner yesterday, in fact, their plan to have dinner together still proceeded as planned. The only difference lies in the fact that instead of having dinner in his pottery studio, he was invited to have dinner at his girlfriend's place of residence. As for the reason why such an impromptu change was necessary, well… long story short, Ga Eul's mother was off for an overnight work trip to Jeju Island while her adoptive parent - Chu Su-Won, had to clock some overtime hours at the Shinhwa Telco.
As such, Ga Eul was held responsible for the care of her little brother, Chu Jung-Min, last night. Therefore, she isn't able to pop by the pottery studio after she was done prepping up dinner for her brother. So, in the end, it was decided that Yi Jeong was to swing by the Chu family home for dinner instead. And since dinner last night was taken in the presence of Chu Jung-Min, Yi Jeong decided to shelve his plans of inviting Ga Eul to the Shinhwa Group hosted Xmas Gala Event on behalf of Jun Pyo's elder sister - Gu Jun Hee.
And though, that was Yi Jeong's first encounter with Ga Eul's half-sibling from her mother's side of the family… the Korean Casanova had to admit that it's a tad easier to cope with Chu Jung-Min's observation as opposed to the scrutiny coming from the Miyazawa heir. Albeit, the presence of Chu Jung-Min at the dinner table last night did make it a tad difficult for him to hold a private conversation with his beloved country bumpkin. As such, he had to shelve the plan of informing his girlfriend about Jun Pyo's sister inviting her to attend the Xmas Gala event hosted by the Shinhwa Group.
Either way, due to the Xmas Gala event being only days away from now. The Korean Casanova knows that he couldn't delay further on the subject. Therefore, leaving his girlfriend alone to clean up after their meal - the potter of F4 headed back to his bedroom in the pottery studio to retrieve the invitation card for the Shinhwa Group hosted Xmas Gala event addressed to his beloved girlfriend. The invitation card addressed to Ga Eul was handed over to him alongside his own invitation to the event personally by the Shinhwa heiress, approximately a week ago, when the F3 was invited over to the Gu family home for tea after school ended for the day.
[Flashback to one week ago…]
Location: Gu Family Home, 15th December 2009, Tuesday, 4pm
Entering the Gu family home, Yi Jeong was shown to the living room area by butler Lee without delay. And upon arriving at the living room of the house, the Korean Casanova realized that he was the last person to arrive for the tea session hosted by the heiress of the Shinhwa Group.
"Apologies for being late. My previous class had the misfortune of overrunning." So Yi Jeong started, as he meet eyes with the occupants within the living room of the house after he was being shown into the room.
"That's fine, Yi Jeong. Do take a seat." Gu Jun Hee responded as she gestured towards the empty seat in the living room of her family home.
With the arrival of the Korean Casanova, the tea service was officially served out to the guests and the host by butler Lee, who is the head butler for the Gu family. The tea service prepared by butler Lee comprises a pot of Earl Grey and a dish of Madeleine.
"Thank you, butler Lee." Nodding towards the butler in appreciation, Gu Jun Hee then turns her gaze upon the three young men seated in the living room of her childhood family home.
"Yi Jeong, Ji Hoo, Woo Bin - first of all, thank you for accepting my invitation for tea." Gu Jun Hee began, looking the three young men in the eyes with gratitude.
The three young men return a smile of their own as they shifted their gaze onto the figure of Gu Jun Hee.
"Don't mention it, Jun Hee-noona. And don't mind me asking but what exactly brought you back into the country?" Song Woo Bin responded to the words of the Shinhwa heiress jovially, while his two friends zero in their curious gaze onto the figure of Gu Jun Hee in the wake of Woo Bin's query.
"Ah…well, I guess one of my main reason for being back in the country is to clean up Jun Pyo's mess. Speaking of the mess he created… I apologized for his distant disposition towards you guys in Macau." Gu Jun Hee then said as she apologized to the F3 for her brother's attitude towards them during their visit to Macau, last month.
"Noona, it's fine. You don't have to apologize to us on his behalf. Besides, I had already taken out my frustration towards him with a punch on the day we finally get to meet in Macau." So Yi Jeong hurried to respond, the words came tumbling forth from his lips almost immediately after the Shinhwa heiress apologized to them on behalf of their friend, Jun Pyo, who's still in Macau, at present.
"I know, I've heard. Speaking of which, I ought to thank you for giving him that punch." Gu Jun Hee nodded towards the Korean Casanova as she commented.
"Huh? Thank me? Why?" To say Yi Jeong was feeling baffled is an understatement, of all things he'd been expecting - being thanked by the Shinhwa heiress for punching her brother was definitely not part of the reaction he was expecting.
"Simple, that punch of yours managed to wake him up somewhat. Previously, he was burying his head in the sand as he ignores the problems that existed by thinking that those problems don't exist if he ignores them long enough. He thought he could avoid dealing with things that he had absolutely no clues about how to resolve by ignoring their existence, altogether. But the sheer fact that you guys managed to engineer a meeting between all of you, despite his blatant dismissal of all your attempts to reach him while in Macau thought him that avoidance isn't the way to go about things. Furthermore, during that meeting - the more he tried to avoid speaking of Jan Di, the more you guys starts bringing up Jan Di's name in the conversation only serves to remind him that avoiding the subject doesn't change the fact that the issue is still there waiting for him to resolve. That punch from you only serves to wake him up to the reality of things. So, thank you because if it hasn't been for the punch you sent him on that day, he probably wouldn't want to listen to the words of advice I have for him on the subject, afterward." Gu Jun Hee then said, focusing her eyes on the figure of So Yi Jeong as she states her point.
The F3 shared a look among themselves before shrugging and turning back to the figure of Gu Jun Hee, and then Song Woo Bin took it upon himself to ask. "Noona, surely - you didn't invite us here today for tea simply to apologize to us on Jun Pyo's behalf, did you?"
"Oh… no, definitely not. Apologizing to you boys on behalf of Jun Pyo is only part of the reason why I'd decided to invite you guys over for tea." Gu Jun Hee responded, and then promptly flicked her gaze over to the figure of butler Lee as she held her hands out for something.
The F3 watched on in silence as butler Lee retrieved a stack of postcard size envelopes from the inside of his coat and handed them over to the Shinhwa heiress. And then, Gu Jun Hee took the stack of postcard size envelopes and started handing them out to the three of them.
"Oh…" Realization dawns on the trio when they open up their respective envelopes to find an invitation card for the annual Xmas Gala event hosted by the Shinhwa Group. In the past, their invitations to the event were usually hand-delivered by Jun Pyo in school while they were hanging out in the F4 private lounge, and Jun Pyo was never this formal when he delivered the invitations to them.
Then again, with Jun Pyo out of town this year, it seems like the Shinhwa heiress has taken over the duty of sending out the invitation cards to the guests invited to the event. Gu Jun Hee probably thought that it was a tad too impersonal for their invitations to be delivered by random strangers and thus decided to hand-deliver their invitations to them with her own hands. And since they aren't schoolmates, it's difficult for the Shinhwa heiress to deliver their invitations to them in the same way that Jun Pyo tends to do, and thus had opted to host an informal tea session for them so she could deliver the invitations to them, at the same time instead of making separate trips to see them at their respective place of residence.
Jun Hee waited for a few minutes until the boys are done reading the invitation cards, before speaking up again. She first focused her gaze on the figure of So Yi Jeong and said. "Yi Jeong, would you mind handing this invitation to Ga Eul on my behalf?"
"...You're inviting Ga Eul to the event as well?" The Korean Casanova started as his eyes widen slightly as a tinge of surprise colored his tone.
"Yes, it's been some time since I get to see Ga Eul in person. But unlike Jan Di, I don't exactly have a valid reason to seek her out in person for a chat. The only thing I could think of meeting her in person is to invite her to the gala event. A separate invitation would be sent out to the Miyazawa Group and with her identity of being the illegitimate heiress to the Miyazawa Group now out in the open. There's no reason why I can't extend an invitation to her, proper." Gu Jun Hee responded as she handed the invitation card addressed to Chu Ga Eul over to the Korean Casanova.
"I see… I'll ensure that the invitation card reaches her in no time." So Yi Jeong answered as he took the invitation card addressed to Ga Eul from the outstretched hands of the Shinhwa heiress.
"Thank you, Yi Jeong." Gu Jun Hee nodded and then shifted her eyes towards the figure of Yoon Ji Hoo. "Ji Hoo, I would love to invite Jan Di as well but her commoner status makes it a tad difficult for me to extend an invitation to her properly. So, maybe you can check with her if she's keen to attend the event as a 'plus-one'."
"Sure, I'll check with her to see if she's keen to attend the event." Yoon Ji Hoo answered politely, inwardly though he was doubting the possibility of talking Geum Jan Di into attending the Xmas Gala event hosted by the Shinhwa Group. He could already envision the number of excuses the girl would come up with, to turn down the verbal invitation to attend the event. These excuses range from the lack of the proper attire to the discomfit she might experience while being surrounded by people from the upper echelon. Hmm… maybe he could consider using Chu Ga Eul's attendance of the event as Yi Jeong's date to tempt Geum Jan Di into attending the event? - Yoon Ji Hoo thought as he mulled over the subject of how to get Geum Jan Di's agreement and consent to attend the event as his 'plus-one'.
[End of flashback]
Upon retrieving the invitation card meant for his girlfriend from his bedroom, Yi Jeong was in no rush to hand the invitation to Ga Eul. Instead, he was content to simply observe the scene of his girlfriend bustling about his kitchenette, cleaning up after their meal from behind. The Korean Casanova waited until Ga Eul was done drying her hands with a dry hand towel on the kitchenette countertop after washing up the dishes in the sink before he ventured forward with the invitation card in hand as he hands it over to his beau.
"What's this?" Chu Ga Eul prompted, staring at the envelope held out to her by her Casanova beau in bewilderment.
"An invitation to the annual Xmas Gala event held by the Shinhwa Group." Yi Jeong responded as he held the invitation card out to his girlfriend.
"...and?" Ga Eul prompted, waiting for further elaboration to come from her Casanova beau.
"This is your copy of the invitation card." So Yi Jeong responded, and upon noticing the baffled look on his girlfriend's face - he added as an afterthought. "Jun Pyo's sister is the organizer for this year's Xmas Gala event, which meant she gets the ultimate say on the finalized guests list. And she wanted you to be present for the event, and hence the invitation."
"I see… and is there a reason why she decides to send me a physical invitation card instead of simply inviting me to the event verbally?" Chu Ga Eul inquires as she finally took hold of the invitation card held out to her by her Casanova beau with a contemplating look clouding her features.
"Well… for one, she isn't aware of the fact that we're now a couple officially and hence there's no guarantee that I would attend the event with you as my 'plus-one'. And then, taking into consideration of my past habit of attending the event alone, she decided the best way to ensure your attendance for the event is to send you an invitation separately." So Yi Jeong shrugged in response, he didn't bother to explain why Jun Pyo's elder sister had given Ga Eul's invitation card to him figuring that his girlfriend is smart enough to work out why without the need for him to elaborate.
Sure enough, Ga Eul didn't question her boyfriend why the Shinhwa heiress decided to have Yi Jeong-sunbae deliver the invitation card to her. Gu Jun Hee probably had learned from the other members of F4 about how it has always been Yi Jeong-sunbae that liaise with her and therefore thought that Yi Jeong-sunbae would be the best person to hand-deliver the invitation card to the Xmas Gala event to her. So, nodding slowly in acceptance of the fact that her plans for the upcoming Xmas break would need to be adjusted - Chu Ga Eul tucks away the invitation card to the Xmas Gala event hosted by the Shinhwa Group away into her red clutch.
"Speaking of Christmas, are you available on Xmas day itself?" Chu Ga Eul then shifted her gaze towards her Casanova beau and asks.
"You're going to be a tad more precise with your question. I thought we already have plans to meet on Christmas day for dinner?" The Korean Casanova raised an eyebrow in question as he directed his words to his beloved country bumpkin.
"...I know, and I'm not asking this because I have the intention to change our Christmas plans. I'm asking you this question because my aunt wanted to hold a Christmas luncheon gathering at her place, and wish to extend an invitation for you to join us. It's a private event comprising mainly the members of E3 and my family. Originally, I was thinking of heading to the event by myself and meeting you at a later time for our own Christmas celebration. But it seems after you made an appearance at the dinner gathering that took place at Shuichi's place on the 13th of December, you had caught the interest of my aunt. So, she wished for me to invite you to the Christmas lunch gathering. You don't have to give me an answer right away, but do think it over and get back to me on the subject within the next 48 hours since Christmas is just approximately 72 hours away from now." Chu Ga Eul responded as she explains to her Casanova beau, the reason why she was asking if the Korean Casanova had time to spare on Christmas day itself, at this time.
"I see… thank you for your kind consideration. I do need a bit of time to think on the subject, I'll be sure to get back to you on the matter within the next 48 hours. As for now, why don't we go out for an evening stroll? We haven't got around to completing the after-meal exercise routine for today yet." So Yi Jeong commented as he steers the topic of conversation away from the Christmas plans, and brought up the matter of their overdue after-meal stroll for this evening to his girlfriend's attention.
"Of course. Let's get a move on, in that case." Chu Ga Eul nodded in consent to her boyfriend's suggestion of going for a walk in the vicinity of the pottery studio with ease. That has been her original idea when she was done the washing up the dishes in the kitchenette's sink, only she got side-tracked when her boyfriend handed her the invitation card to the Xmas Gala event hosted by the Shinhwa Group, and from there - her focus had completely been steered towards the subject of their plans for the upcoming Xmas break.
~TBC~
Chapter's Notes:
Apologies for taking double the time for this chapter, but RL is throwing a wrench in my writing plans. Either way, I hope all of you enjoy Chapter 49. So, in this chapter, I had more or less covered the characters' plans for Xmas.
I had a fair bit of Woo-bin and Jae-Kyung interactions through a phone call in this chapter, a scene featuring Yi Jeong's chat with his grandfather, that I've finally managed to cover… ^^; Also, in this chapter, Shinosaki Izumi whom Sunny first met in Australia, Melbourne made a cameo. Finally, I ended the chapter with plenty of SoEul interactions.
Tentatively speaking, I have plans to cover the Xmas Gala event hosted by the Shinhwa Group, and incorporate a scene between Sunny and Shinosaki Izumi in the next chapter as well. Depending on how well my ideas flow are, I might be able to wrap up the Christmas break interlude within 3 chapters… but no guarantee, I don't want to jinx myself further =_=;
That's all for now, see you next update ^_^;