Do you know what I don't like about horror movies?
They make you into a tragic blubbering glob of Scooby Von Shaggy Doo?
Do NOT!
Do you remember middle school? Do you remember how much you pissed me off when we watched the first Evil Dead movie on video and you kept turning it off every five minutes?
That's a lie.
And it was supposed to be scary-fun, not scary-SCARY!
It was scary-SCARY. What are you talking about?
And don't let me start with THE RING.
AAAAAhhhh don't mention that movie! I'm going to cut you off my friends list on Facebook if you do.
And yet you were the one who insisted on watching Twilight how many years ago?
You call it a horror movie? It was romance!
Eeewwww. I was going to unfriend you the very next day but thought better of it.
At least we stopped at Twilight.
Yeah because you found another thing to obsess over.
Please don't call Harry Potter fanfics a 'thing'. It is a weirdly wonderful world of strange and beautiful things.
You even made a fanfic about a squid loving spider.
I mean, seriously, they are called Aragog and the giant squid. And what can be the testament of the greatest and truest love of all if not for the ancient giant squid which lived in the deep embrace of the cold lake that found love with a spider which lived in the darkest part of the dark forest. Really! Have some respect.
Sigh… anyway… your horror movie…
Yes. I don't like how the female characters are almost always turning into spineless simpering mess, who needs rescuing by their hero.
Yeah, that's like almost all Hollywood movies.
But more so on horror movies.
And?
And I feel like I'm turning into one of those spineless simpering mess... Jan Di, what should I do…..
Oh Ga Eul…. Honey, please don't say that.

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'I think you and I need a little break.'

Ga Eul and Yi Jeong were sitting at the porridge shop for dinner. She insisted on stopping by before going back home after her release from the hospital for the old time sake. She missed 'Master', her and JanDi's former boss, and she missed Master's delicious cooking. The shop was bigger now, a far cry from how it used to be, with another level added to the shop. Master only really cooked one or two days a week now that he opened another franchise in another suburb. The rest were done by his employees. Today was, however, his special one day a week, and the first thing Ga Eul did when she arrived was greeted him and gave a small hug before ordering a bowl of abalone soup for Yi Jeong and a bowl of pumpkin for her. Master gave her his most endearing smile but glared at Yi jeong, as if he was the one responsible to steal Ga Eul from him.

They took the table closest to the window.

'Do you remember this place? You said I was a country bumpkin so many years ago,' she said to Yi Jeong as they waited for their soup to arrive.
'I was a horrible little snot.' He smiled at her. 'A remarkably handsome one, though.'
'A gracious one as well, I see.' She narrowed her eyes and pointedly looked at him, her arms folded on the table in front of her.
'Exactly how you liked it.' He raised one eyebrow, his smirk deepened.

Ga Eul didn't know what to say to that and pretended to not listen, relieved when master came out at last with their order.

She didn't stay long in the hospital, as it turned out. There was no outright physical damage like broken bones or even scratches on her body, but the emergency doctor advised her to stay overnight just in case. He did inform her, however, that there might be some visible bruises on her body and face forming in the next few days from the impact. On Jan Di's insistence, they performed a full check up to determine whether she suffered a head injury from the accident.

Yi Jeong stayed with her all night even though she tried to convince him to just leave her alone. She didn't want to be his 'responsibility' was a word she said to him. To which he curtly said that she was wrong, she was never just a 'responsibility' to him. It baffled her. Wasn't that essentially what he had said during the dinner party at Woo Bin's house? That he felt responsible for her?

She was deep in thought, playing with the spoon in her bowl, barely eating the pumpkin soup in front of her, when Yi Jeong reached out and gingerly touching her face.

'Hmm?' she startled and looked up.

He was looking at her with serious expression. 'You have bruises here.' his strong and callous fingers softly traced her temple, brushing a few strands of hair off her face. 'And here, and here,' he continued on tracing down her cheek, her jaw, and finally the contour of her chin. Ga Eul swallowed with much difficulty. Her breath shallow, her heart hammering loudly in her ear, this was the stuff straight from her imagination oh so many years ago whenever she pictured him in her mind. In her opinion, Yi Jeong, or any of the members of F4 really, should have come with a dangerous warning tag. A mere touch from him and she was left like a puddle of melted ice cream in a hot sunny day.

She grabbed his hand and kept it away from her face.
'Don't do that please,' she almost hissed.
'Does it hurt?' he misunderstood the cause as to why Ga Eul pushed his hand away.
'No, it's fine. It's just a little bit sore,' She gave a small smile and resumed her eating.

He took a deep sigh and leaned back on his chair, his arms folded on his chest. Ga Eul marveled at how good he looked even after spending a night at the hospital with her, still wearing the same clothes he had worn yesterday. His white shirt wrinkled under his dark grey suit, and he had abandoned his tie altogether. How could someone look so good without even try, she mused. The world is never fair indeed.

'I think you and I need a little break. What do you think?' he said all of a sudden.
'Do you mean a break from each other?' she asked. Why, that had been her intention all along, but it still stung coming from him.
He rolled his eyes. 'No silly.' He paused. 'We need a holiday. How about we leave Seoul for now? Let the police, and Woo Bin, handle this, and we get away for a while.'
'But….'
'What happened last night just didn't make sense to me Ga Eul,' he frowned and changed his position. 'It scared me. I obviously don't want to let you go anywhere alone anymore, and really, I think it's safer for us to just keep a distance from this city, at least for a while. Say yes please.'

It's too funny, she thought, these circumstances that brought them together. Why couldn't it happen years ago, when her expectation was still up there in the sky, rather than bittered by the passing time.

She pulled out a piece of paper napkin from its plastic container and absent-mindedly played with it while thinking about Yi Jeong's offer.
'I'm a little busy in the office now.'

'You can bring your computer and do your work while we're away,' he countered. 'Come on Ga Eul. This has blown out of proportion, this, whatever we're dealing with now. It is not just some small and insignificant matter anymore. You know that yourself. I would never forgive myself if ever something like this happened to you again.'

'But I haven't talked to my superior.'
'I will talk to her if need be. But she will understand. Right?''I suppose.' She reluctantly agreed. Even though her boss was strict on her work ethic, she was not someone who couldn't see reason, especially when it had something to do with one's life.
'OK, I will talk to her.'
'Good.' Yi Jeong wiped his mouth and hand after finishing his food. 'Where do you wanna go?'
She shrugged her shoulders. 'I don't care.'
'Hot weather or cold weather?'

She felt a small smile tugged her lips. Is this how they decide on holidays, the F4? Not counting the fund available, obviously.

'A little cooler will be good,' she said.

He nodded. 'Yeah, I need to cool down myself.' He finished his drink and took a large bank note from his wallet. 'Come on, we need to pack.'

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There's something so inherently interesting with the way the world worked. It's amusing to her how, in almost every case, expectation always seemed to trump reality. But then there were times, not often, obviously, where the expectation held no candle to the reality she's facing. Like now.

Ga Eul stood outside in her thickest coat; scarves and gloves covered her skin from the blowing wind. Light snow had started to fall, gracing the ground with its pure soft whiteness. She tilted her head upward, welcoming the cold on her face. See, when she said she would like to go somewhere cool, she was thinking about mountain resorts just close by to Seoul, somewhere in Gangwon-do province, perhaps. Not all the way to freaking New Zealand. Then again, the last time she had gone with F4 guys and Jan Di was to New Caledonia for a weekend away. Nobody said they did things half assed.

She was ready to go back inside when the automatic door behind her opened and Yi Jeong came out looking rather please with himself. She eyed him curiously.

'What's up?' she asked him. 'You look happy.'
'I might have a surprise for you.' He grinned at her like a little boy.
'What kind of surprise?'
'Well it's not going to be a surprise if I tell you now, is it?'
She rolled her eyes to heaven.
'You surprised me enough by taking me all the way here, Yi Jeong Sunbae,' she said. 'Another one might just kill me from over excitement,' she was proud to keep her tone dry.
'I can assure you, Ga Eul, so far, the one who almost died from over excitement was definitely not you,' he answered dryly.
'What does it suppose to mean?'
'Oh nothing,' he started walking and offered her his arm. 'Let's have a walk before dinner.'

They huddled closely together as they slowly made their way to the lake.

'It's beautiful,' she said, admiring the dark water in front of them.
'It's even more beautiful in the morning.'

They stood there in silence, content to not speak a word, as if the mere sound of their voice would pop the magical bubble they were in. The pouring snow, though, forced them to retreat back inside the warm room.

They decided to stay in for dinner, ordering room service menu at Yi Jeong's room instead of bracing the snowy weather to the many restaurants nearby. He had them stayed at a couple of penthouse suites next to each other (of course he would), with view overlooking the lake. It boggled her mind how people could spend their money so carelessly when she had to save for a year for a back packing holidays (and even then she had to rearrange her plan since the money had gone now to fix her now useless car).

She came to his room, dressed in simple white t-shirt and skinny jeans with sandals and no accessories. She kept her long hair in simple ponytail with minimal make up. How else would people dress for holiday when they weren't even venturing outside the hotel, she reasoned. The door was opened on her first knock.

'Uh, hello?' she stuttered, a little bit unsure. 'We are staying in for dinner, right?'
'Erm, yes. You said you didn't want to go out again tonight. Come on in.'

She took in his appearance. Yi jeong looked as stylish as ever. He was wearing a fancy dark grey sweater over black pants with a pair of brown loafers to complement the look.

'Should I, should I change my clothes first?' she mumbled.
'Why?' he frowned at her. 'You look beautiful.'
Now, Ga Eul knew that was a blatant lie if she had ever heard one.
'How come you always look so…so…' she searched for the right word, 'so put together all the time. It makes everyone around you feel so inadequate.' She looked down to see her t-shirt and sandals. 'I feel like I need a stylist 24/7 just to keep up with you.'

He laughed at her. 'Is that your way to say that I look really good right now?'

She smiled at him.

'I supposed so. Yes, Yi jeong Sunbae, you look really good right now.'
He winked at her and led her to the dining table.
'You're lucky,' he said. 'The food had just arrived.'

Dinner was lovely. They both had racks of lamb, which Yi jeong said was properly New Zealand since they couldn't eat their national icon, the kiwi.

For once, Ga Eul felt happy, and she wondered why. Was it because of the holiday? Because they were so far, far away from Seoul and the problems that had been plaguing them? Everything seemed more light-hearted to her, the first time in weeks.

After dinner they moved to the couch and watched current affair on TV.
'Doesn't this remind you of our last dinner together?' Yi Jeong said as he poured a glass of wine for her.
'Does it?' she accepted the big wine glass he offered her.
'You don't remember what happened?'
'Should I?' she dreaded what was coming. Did she pass out last time?

Yi Jeong smiled at her but said nothing. Instead he took a big sip from his glass, put it on the coffee table and reached for the remote. 'This is boring,' he said. 'Do you want to watch anything else?'

She shook her head, letting him surfed the channels for a while until he found the sport channel. So typically male, she wanted to laugh.

'Can I ask you something?' Yi Jeong suddenly turned his attention to her.
'Yes?'
He was silent for a while.
'Why did you avoid me, Ga Eul?' he said at last. 'I know that you did. You still do.' He continued as she started to protest. 'Do you really hate me?'
'What?' she felt her jaw went slack.
'That's what you said last time.'
"What? When did I…'
'You really don't remember?' Yi Jeong slid over to sit next to her.

Ga Eul felt her heart stopped beating.

'You don't remember this?' his fingers touching her face. She swallowed hard, her whole body was strangely frozen and yet on fire.

Softly Yi Jeong removed the wine glass from her trembling hand and put it away. 'You really don't remember?' his face was only inches away; she could feel his breath on her face. 'What about this?' she closed her eyes when his lips at last landed softly on hers.

He kissed like how she thought he would. Softly, tenderly, but at the same time possessive, passionate, unyielding. She marveled at the softness of his lips, the familiarity of it. She felt like they had done it so many times before. He held her close as her mouth opened and he seek entrance. She felt an electric jolt as their tongues met; and all her hazy memory came rushing back to her.

'Oh my God,' she quickly pushed him away; her hand flew to cover her mouth. 'I.. I…'

She shook her head when Yi Jeong tried to reach for her hand.

'I feel so embarrassed right now,' her voice shaking. 'Just, please don't, I'm so sorry, I need to go back to my room.' she stood up and started to walk backward, her calf hit the sharp corner of the coffee table but she didn't care.

'Ga Eul, please stay honey,' Yi Jeong started after her. But she shook her head again and quickly walked away. This was the most embarrassing moment in her life. Oh God, Oh God, Oh God.

She opened the door to her room, closed it and stood there for a long time, not bothered to put her room card on the main power switch. After a while she weakly leaned back against the wall and let her body collapsed on the floor. She sat there hugging her knees, feeling the cool air in the still dark room, while her face burned like fire. She remembered climbing onto Yi Jeong's lap, almost dry-humping him, kissing him like a…., like a…, like how she always wanted to kiss him. Oh God, she cringed and balked at the memory. Did she really say to him how she hated him? That was not true and yet not totally untrue, she sighed. This was beyond horrendous. On the scale of 1 to 10, 1 being knock your head on the window sill and 10 being accidently roast your own nuts, this was, well, this was accidently roast your own nuts right after knocking your head on the window and stabbing your toe in the process. And set the room on fire.

She was still sitting there in the dark, burying her face between her knees, when there's a knock on the door. She waited until there's another knock before she forced herself to move from her position and opened the door.

'Hi.' His voice as calm as ever.
'Hi.' Her reply came in a small voice.
'Can I come in?'
She hesitated for a while before opened the door wider to let him in.

They stood there in the dark not talking. After a while Yi Jeong took her hand into his. He traced the lines on her palm gently, like a fortune teller trying to read her life, slowly moving his thumb on her skin. Her heart raced a million beats a minute as she felt his warmth on her clammy skin.

She never felt more aroused than right this moment and at the same time it scared her to bits.

'Do you want to talk?' he said softly.
'Not really,' she almost whispered.
'OK.' He paused. 'Shall we just go to bed for now and try again tomorrow?'
'As long as you go to your own bed.'

He laughed at that.

'Come here, Ga Eul,' he said, one hand still holding her hand while the other reached for her waist, pulling her body to his embrace. He kissed her hair and forehead, softly gave little pecks on her nose, her eyebrows, her eyes. He tilted her chin to have better access to her lips. When at last he properly kissed her (again), she couldn't think about anything else other than him. And her. Here. Together in this room.

He kissed her for a long time, until she felt the world stopped on its axis, and time stood still.

When he pulled away, it was to say good night.

'I'll see you tomorrow for breakfast,' he said, hand on the door.
'Yeah,' her voice almost unheard.
'Good night.'
'Good night.'
He gave her another peck on the lips and closed the door.

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