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Summary: Four years and continents apart. What keeps Yi Jeong and Ga Eul's hope alive are the letters that they write to each other from time to time…

LOVE LETTER

IV

Ga Eul bit her lip, her pen hovering uncertainly over the paper. Should she? Perhaps not. Maybe it would frighten Yi Jeong and then she would never hear from him again. "Pabo, pabo," she muttered, tugging at her hair. Darn, another strand had fallen out. Here she was, forty-five minutes into her letter and she was still stuck at "Sunbae".

"Just tell him. What's so difficult about that? What's wrong with what you have to say?" Ga Eul wondered if she should call Jan Di and ask for her opinion but that would mean going through another "are we" or "are we not" discussion which usually left her emotionally exhausted. Part of the reason why the letters were such a comfort was because they gave both Yi Jeong and her space and time enough to adjust to each other, especially Yi Jeong.

Were there things that she shouldn't write?

Well, there was only one way to find out.

…………………………………………….

Yi Jeong stared at the clay in front of him. He wondered what he wanted to do more: create the vase he had envisioned or to smash the half-formed object until it was nothing more than a broken, pulpy mass.

Against his better judgement, he wiped his hands clean and picked up his handphone. After a few seconds of staring apprehensively at it, he forced himself to switch it back on. Only to discover that he had several messages and miscalls, all of which originated from the same number.

Why, why had she started doing this again? Why get him to call his father and ask him to return home or to stop his affairs? Why him? For so many months he had been safe from her self destructive ways and now she had started dragging him down with her again. He had tried to ignore her but she had been unusually persistent. It had already been a fortnight and she still hadn't given up.

Ripping off his apron, Yi Jeong abandoned the safety of his studio and went back into the house. He had several bottles of wine and at the moment, the idea of downing all of them at one shot was very appealing. Perhaps his mother would stop if he ended up in hospital with alcohol poisoning. Or if he died. She wouldn't be able to haunt him then.

Expertly twisting the cork out, he drank right from the bottle, focusing more on how much he could swallow rather than the rich taste. He stopped when he felt the liquid spill out from the side of his mouth. Suddenly enraged, he threw the bottle across the room, welcoming the sound of the breaking glass. He wanted to destroy something, do something, anything to expel his anger.

He had to get out of the house.

Yi Jeong was pulling out of the driveway when he caught sight of the mailbox. Maybe...just maybe…

Something akin to relief surged through him when he saw the blue envelope there, partially hidden amongst the other mail. Getting back into the car, he toyed with the idea of reading her letter now or going for a drive. Given his current mood, the former was a better idea. He needed something to distract him and if he drove now he was probably going to get into an accident.

"Sunbae,

Firstly, thank you for the photographs. It's nice to see where you work, and apparently where you get needled by your teacher as well. It's comforting, in some way, to know that we're working in the same place, sort of. I mean, since the studios are practically identical... I sound stupid don't I? Please ignore that last part.

Actually, whenever she realised that she had done something silly, she looked quite adorable. And as he had also found out, it was quite hard to ignore her.

I'm just feeling weird. It's all because I had this dream…

Dream? Now that was interesting. He'd had a few dreams too. One he was contemplating mentioning to her. The others were strictly off limits.

We went out, I'm not even sure how I got there in the dream, but in any case, you showed me around the city. We started out at the seaside actually. I remember you telling me that the university is somewhere near the sea and that on a cloudy day, it looks a bit like the coast off Jeju Island.

The term "went out" was their euphemism for "date". Had Ga Eul yang missed him so much she had dreamt up a date? Perhaps it was the wine or the need to escape, or the need to be closer to her somehow. Perhaps it was all three factors. Yi Jeong was suddenly seized by an impulse. The seaside was not so far from the rented house actually.

He was there in twenty minutes. Driving along a narrow deserted road that overlooked the cliffs, he pulled over and got out. The wind assailed him at once and he quickly slipped her letter into his pocket. It was cool on his hot skin and for the longest time, he just stood there, breathing in the sharp briny tang of the air as he watched the sea crash again and again against the rocks. Closing his eyes, he recalled driving along a deserted road on the eve of Jun Pyo's wedding, looking a girl who was walking in a field of flowers. His fingers closed over the letter protectively as he took it out of his pocket.

We sat in your car and we talked for quite some time. I can't recall what we talked about though. And then we went to eat carrot cake. Yes, so I did notice the cake but I noticed Sadie first, okay? Tell her hi for me. She's very pretty but on a good day, I think you're cuter. Marginally.

Ga Eul yang must have had her tongue firmly in cheek to write such a backhanded compliment. She had clearly been bowled over by his looks when she had first set eyes on him. On the other hand, he had only realised that she was rather pretty when he had seen her wearing that blue dress with her hair tied up. And like his male predecessors had done through the ages whenever they saw a pretty girl, he had promptly done his best to annoy her, partly to get some attention.

She had written a few more paragraphs but he wanted to save it for later. Now, he had to go drop in on a certain cat and let her know the competition was saying hi. Plus, he had a sudden craving for carrot cake.

…………………………….

It was starting to get dark when he returned. From what he could see though, his staff had cleaned up the mess he had made. Slipping off his jacket, Yi Jeong retrieved Ga Eul's letter from his pocket.

After that, we went shopping and you brought me to a bookshop. I think you must have really liked the books in there because you started pulling them off the shelves and dumping them into my arms. Kind of like what you did to me when you made me bring Jan Di to Jun Pyo sunbae's birthday party. And then I woke up.

When he had woken up, he hadn't quite realised that he wasn't in Korea. And then came that sharp sense of loss when it sunk in that he was thousands of miles away. Had she felt that too?

Anyway, that's just a little anecdote I thought I'd share with you.

Ji Hoo sunbae mentioned that you were thinking of participating in some exhibition (I didn't quite catch the name) that's supposed to be happening in a couple of months. I take it that your hand is recovering well and that your mentor, regardless of how crabby he is, actually agrees that you are ready. I have a feeling that he actually likes you a lot, no matter how he treats you.

I'm so glad that things are working out for you in Sweden. I'm looking forward to the day when you make something that you think is good enough to be displayed. As for me, I'm still working on that wrist. But I've gotten better too, at least that's what my teacher tells me (I hope he's not just consoling me).

Don't forget to send me pictures if you do take part in the exhibition yah?

Ga Eul

P.S. I found the extra potter's wheel.

He should have known that Ji Hoo would tell Ga Eul about the exhibition. For awhile, Yi Jeong sat there, immersed in his own thoughts and the thick silence that blanketed the room. Then he got up and went to the studio. Switching on the lights, he eyed the wheel and the clay that was sitting on it.

He would have to get rid of that and start from scratch. But there was something else he had to do first. Picking up his phone, Yi Jeong cleared his inbox and call log. Until the exhibition was over, he wasn't going to answer anymore of his mother's calls or read her messages.

There were more important things to do. And there was someone he didn't want to disappoint. Putting on his apron, Yi Jeong went back to work.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Hope you liked this chapter too.