"Marriage counseling?" I hear from behind me. "Who needs marriage counseling?" I turn, a smile spreading across my face. I see Yoon-Gi pulling off his shoes by the front door. He looks up and smiles in response. "My sister and brother in law," I say. He smirks and walks to me, pulling me into a tight hug. "I missed you today," I say. He pulls back, "Yea?" I nod, "Yea. I got pretty distracted thinking about things at the bakery. I barely got anything done." His smile meets his eyes. He looks over my head to Jung-kook and Marie. "What are you two fighting about this time?" he asks. I snort as Jung-kook narrows his eyes. "What? You two don't talk to each other. Now, what was it?" I step away. Marie hides her face and Jung-kook says quickly in Korean, "Marie is nervous about me going solo after our tour. She thinks I'll leave her for someone else. Or a fan might win me over and end up in my bed."
Yoon-Gi's smile fades. "I'm sorry, Marie. I didn't mean to poke fun," Yoon-Gi says. He walks to them and pulls Jung-kook away. "Let me talk to my little sister," he says. Jung-kook steps back a bit and Yoon-Gi takes Marie's hand. Kookie and I exchange a glance, he's still upset, but I just slightly nod and smile. He relaxes the littlest bit, but I know her worries are still upsetting him. He's trying to figure out how to fix it. Marie doesn't look at Yoon-Gi, you can tell she's embarrassed and understood exactly what Jung-kook said, even though he tried to say it quickly in Korean since she is not as fluent. I always find it funny how they try hard to speak in their native languages hoping the other might not catch everything. "Marie. Listen to me." She looks at him. "I really didn't mean to poke fun, but Kook is not going to leave you. Of course, he loves the fans, we all do, but that is different than the love he has for you. I know that you feel like you are not worthy or whatever it is you tell yourself, but it's not true." He steps back and looks at Jung-kook. "He's an asshole, I wonder why you deal with him. I mean, yea, he's handsome, but he's an ass. He can sing, but he's mean. I think you get my point."
Jung-kook snickers, "Oh yea. Cause you deserve a woman like Leigh. You are just as much of an ass as I am. Who taught me to be such an asshole?" Yoon-Gi crosses his arms, "Yea. You are right. Jung-kookie, we fucking suck." We all start laughing. I walk over to them. "And we, my sister and I, love you both regardless," I say, hugging Yoon-Gi around the waist.
I look at Marie, tears in her eyes. "You need to let this one go, child. Kookie without performing is like lungs without breath. It will never, ever matter what type of woman throws themselves at him. He loves you. He takes that love extremely serious and would never do anything to break that bond with you. This is not just trusting. This is respect. For you, for himself, for your love." I let go of Yoon-Gi and look toward Kookie, reaching my hand out for his. He looks at me and takes my hand. I pull him back to Marie and put his hand in hers. "You two are so silly. But, then again, if this is the worst of the fights you get into, I'll take it." They both smile sheepishly.
"I'm sorry, Marie," Kookie says, taking her other hand. "I shouldn't have gotten so angry." She nods, "Maybe. But I should have told you what was wrong. I am sorry I stormed out." I step back to Yoon-Gi. He puts his arm around my shoulders as I wrap one around his waist. I look up at him and smile. "You are such a good big brother to all these siblings you have chosen." He snickers. "I have too many. So many little siblings to look out for. I am surprised I do not have gray hair…oh, wait," he runs his hair through his hair, the silver locks falling into his face. His most recent choice of hair color. I laugh, "You are so weird." He looks down at me, a smile on his face. My heart feels so full when looking into his beautiful face.
He turns away, to Marie and Jung-kook, who are talking quietly to one another. "Punks, why are you still at my bar? Go, have make-up sex or whatever it is you two do after a fight, and let us go to dinner." They both flush, the effect I am sure Yoon-Gi was looking for, but they also start smiling. Marie stands, hand in hand with Jung-kook. "Thank you for your help, Sissy, Yoon-Gi," she says. I nod and Yoon-Gi slightly bows. "Yes, thank you, as always, Leigh. Thank you for never turning me away when I need someone to speak to," Jung-kook says. I smile at him. "Anytime. You know I'll always be here for you. I love you." "Dude, what am I? No thank you to me?" Yoon-Gi says. Jung-kook rolls his eyes. "Yea, hyung. Thank you for letting me chill at your bar and talk to my sister." I giggle. "Gah, that's how you speak to me? And here I thought you loved me." They smile at each other and Marie pulls Jung-kook toward the front door. "Bye," I call, cleaning up the glasses I got out and checking my phone. Just one message from Rose saying they were on the train back. I look up at Yoon-Gi, who is also checking his phone.
"How did things go that the company?" I ask, heading to put my shoes on. I hear a slight growl of frustration behind me. "Those boys. I swear, if I was that much trouble I have no idea how we were not killed in our sleep." I snicker. "From what I understand you were that much trouble." "You can't believe everything people tell you about me from the past." He says, also pulling on a pair of shoes. "I don't, but some of the stories, my Yoon-Gi, I do. They make sense." I stand and reach for his hand. "Driving or bus?" I ask. He stands and takes my hand. "Bus." I pull him out the back door and wait for him to set the alarm. "Nope, driving," I say, getting my keys from my bag and looking at him, raising my eyebrow. He response with the same. We both crouch down, getting ready to run. Whomever makes it to the car first gets their way. It's an old game we've played for a while, he started it with Rose and Nova when we first moved here. "One," he says. "Two," I reply. "Three!" we say together, a half of a heartbeat later. I bolt to the gate, pulling it open quickly, but I know he's right behind me, he has much longer legs than me. I pull the gate behind me a bit and hear him curse slightly. I run the 30 or so feet to the garage as I push the button to open the door. I turn slightly to glance behind me, but slow when I don't see anyone. It's not very dark, so I should be able to see him. I immediately get concerned, product of my past I guess. I stop, turning all the way around, "Yoon-Gi?" I call. I hear a sound behind me and see him sitting on top of my car, a smile spreads across his face.
"What the hell?" I walk up to him. "Cheater." He chuckles. "You are getting slow in your old age, woman." He jokes. I laugh. "Maybe. I am almost 50." He rolls his eyes, "Yea and you act like a child." I grab his hand and pull him off the hood of my car. "Alright you pouty baby, let's take the bus." He pulls me into a hug. "Naw, we can take the car, I just don't like to lose," he says, kissing my forehead. I close my eyes and sigh. How much I missed while rejecting my feelings. "Oh, no, parking is horrible right now." I say, remembering trying to park in the area when taking Mary there a few days ago. "The bus it is," he says and starts pulling me down the street. "Wait, your legs are longer than mine," I protest, almost losing my balance. "And I'm a klutz."
We ride the bus in silence, both of us taking turns playing with each other's fingers. The bus stop is about a block from the restaurant, but I love to walk here. "Did you reserve, already?" I ask. Tokkijung serves home-cooked style food but is almost always busy. "I did," he answers. Yoon-Gi matches his pace to mine, in no hurry to do much of anything. It will not be long before he's not going to have to time sleep, much less have a leisurely dinner with me. "Have you heard from Rose and company?" he asks as he opens the door to the restaurant for me. "Yea, I got a message they are on their way back before we left the house." We hear a greeting from the counter and Yoon-Gi waves in response. They wave us back knowing us from previous visits. We are lead downstairs to our favorite area, the basement/pub. The table waiting for us is small with two comfortable chairs stationed close together. We sit, bowing and thanking the worker who seated us.
"What are you going to get?" I ask, trying to decide if I am in the mood for a drink. Yoon-Gi leans his head on his hand and answers, "Udon, I think." I nod. "I think I'd like the Tofu Udon tonight." I look over at the bar and ponder what type of drink to order. I feel Yoon-Gi's gaze on me, so I turn to him. His gaze is pretty intense, and I find myself flushing. "What?" I ask. He smiles and keeps staring. "You're beautiful, you know that?" he says. I shake my head no and look away. "Min Yoon-Gi, what is with you?"
Just then the waitress comes up and asks for our order. Yoon-Gi orders Creamy Curry Udon and a local draft beer. I the order my Tofu Udon, a glass of water and a glass of Bokbunja. The waitress smiles and walks away to place our order. Yoon-Gi sits back and crosses his arms. "What are you planning for the 1st anniversary of the bakery?" he asks. I shouldn't be surprised that he remembered, but I am a bit. I also sit back, resting against the chair. "I emailed Kayden's cousin from the states, Erin, the one that is good at cakes? I think I will see if I can either get her to Skype help be make a recreation of the bakery or fly her in to help me herself. I figure, since the anniversary lands on a Sunday, we'd do specials throughout the weekend. I have been looking through my Grandmother's old recipes. I think I have a few directions to go." Yoon-Gi nods, "Nothing to big?" I shake my head, "No, I think I'll keep it small. But, I do need your opinion of something." I sit forward, elbows on my knees and put my hands under my chin. "What do you think about the bakery doing a lunch delivery service?"
The bartender then brings us our drinks and chats with Yoon-Gi for a few moments before heading back to the bar. We both take a sip, and he answers, "I think it might be a good thing. At least, for the area. If you get much bigger we might have to open another location on the other side," he says. I kinda choke on my drink. "Really? You think it will be that popular?" He nods. "It already is. The trainees never shut up about it, not that they can have it often." I roll my eyes at that; I hate the diets the trainees put themselves on. I understand having a healthy diet, but they put too much pressure on themselves. "I know, Leigh, I know," he says, holding up his hand. I'm pretty vocal about these diets for trainees. "But yes, I think if you start offering a delivery service another location will need to happen eventually." Our food shows up at that moment, the smell is amazing, as always.
Yoon-Gi and I eat in companionable silence; we are not a couple who speak much while eating. We both like to enjoy our food thoroughly. It's different if we are entertaining at home, but if it's us or a small grouping, we are generally pretty quiet until finish with our food.
I end up finishing my food first, I normally do not eat much, buying one meal for me normally feeds me once or twice more. I sit back, sipping my drink and checking my emails and messages. Yoon-Gi quietly finishes his food as well. He calls the bartender over and asks him to pack our food up and send it to the local shelter. Yoon-Gi grew up having to make the tough decision between walking two hours home or eating. If he ate, he couldn't take the bus home. Anytime he can give to someone who has less, he does. He has the biggest heart in such a tough exterior.
He looks over at me and raises his eyebrows, "What?" I shake my head, "Nothing." He smiles. "I'll be right back." He stands and disappears upstairs. I know he's paying the note, he doesn't like it when I do. I sit back and look around. This is the first restaurant Yoon-Gi brought me to when I finally said yes to a date. We sat at this same table — both of us so awkward. I close my eyes and let my thoughts wander…..