Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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

XIV

Yi Jeong stood patiently next to Ga Eul as she stood in front of the enormous opened refrigerator. They were currently in the kitchen and Ga Eul was doing a rather impressive job of ransacking the place. As the chef, she got to pick out the ingredients. As the assistant, he had to do the manual labour.

"Spinach," she said, handing the vegetables to him without even looking up.

Obediently, Yi Jeong took them. They had been wrapped in clear plastic, which was the only reason why he was willing to touch them. He had held the carrots by the narrow ends using his thumbs and forefingers, which had prompted Ga Eul to roll her eyes at him and call him a spoiled chaebol. "Sticks and stones, Ga Eul yang," he had replied, making three trips back to the huge island counter in the centre of the kitchen before he had finally moved all the carrots. When he finally returned to her side to find her holding out garlic and ginger to him, he had made her put them into a bowl which he then used. That caused more eye rolling and a muttered comment that he didn't quite catch but apart from that, she didn't make any more comments. Hence, he was contented to continue helping out. Besides, occasionally when she leaned down to get something from the lower compartments of the fridge, he got to admire her behind, which was exceedingly easy on the eyes, especially in those shorts.

"Fish."

"I'm not touching that."

Ga Eul pursed her lips in exasperation as she wagged the packet of frozen fillets at him. "You can carry it to the counter using the bowl."

"The bowl is not big enough for that."

"Get another bowl!"

He smiled at her and remained where he was. "You should be made to go without dinner," she muttered as she grabbed a packet of prawns with her other hand, nudged the fridge door shut and brushed past him.

Yi Jeong admired the sway of her hips as he trailed after her. For someone who had limited culinary skills, she sure was proficient. Maybe it came with working in that porridge shop. He poured himself a glass of wine and her glass of orange juice, sat down on one of the counter chairs and watched her as she worked.

She felt more than a little self-conscious with Yi Jeong watching her without saying a word. Yet, Ga Eul thought it was something that she could get used to. It felt nice to have him around, even if he was just sitting there and looking pretty. "I don't suppose you can wash the rice?"

He glanced over at the large bowl of rice that she had set next to the sink. "With what? Soap?"

Her mouth fell open and she stopped in the midst of chopping the carrots. "Sunbae!" She knew that he probably had never washed rice in his life but that didn't automatically mean he had no common sense or general knowledge. Right?

He laughed, shrugging off his jacket and quickly rolled up his sleeves. "I'm joking Ga Eul yang," he said and neatly dodged the piece of carrot that she threw at him. "Yes, I can wash the rice. I also know how to boil it but you have to tell me how much water to put in."

The next hour was spent in mostly silence. In between instructing Yi Jeong on how much water to put into the pot and how low the fire ought to be, Ga Eul sliced the ginger, crushed the garlic and forced him to cut up the spinach as she handled the prawns and fish. "It's either the vegetables or this," she said, holding up a freshly deveined prawn together with the blackish green vein she had just pulled out of it. With amusement, she noticed that he looked slightly nauseated at the sight. That had been the main reason why he had cooperated with her.

When Ga Eul was satisfied that the rest of the ingredients were cooked, she put in the prawns and fish, stirring the porridge as she adjusted the fire. "You need to put these in last of all. If not they'll be overcooked and that will make the meat dry," she said knowledgeably.

"Mm."

"You're not listening to me, are you?"

"No, not really." Yi Jeong chuckled as she scowled at him and went back to tending to the food. Apart from the fact that he was never going to need to cook for himself, it was a lot more fun just watching her as she moved around his kitchen. There was also the matter of letting her know that he had to leave tomorrow morning. He'd planned to tell her in the car but somehow it hadn't happened. She would be sad and he hated ruining the evening, or part of the evening, for her.

He was still wondering when to break the news to her when she happily announced that the food was ready. "Sunbae, I'll get the bowls and spoons. You carry this out to the coffee table in the hall."

"What?"

…………………

The porridge turned out to be as tasty as any that he had eaten in the shop and Ga Eul had commented that it might have to do with the freshness of the ingredients. "Usually I can't cook like this. My porridge is acceptable at best," she said with a small sigh.

"If you cook it, I'll eat it."

She turned to look at him, surprised, but Yi Jeong apparently found the sight of the Autobots and Decepticons suddenly riveting because he wouldn't look at her. Smiling to herself, Ga Eul spooned up the last of her porridge. Yi Jeong sunbae was so transparent at times. But so sweet too.

"However if anything happens to me, you're paying for the doctor's bill."

Then again, scratch that last thought. Ga Eul reached behind and grabbing a cushion, tossed it at him. Because he was holding his bowl in one hand and his spoon with the other, he was defenceless and she got him square on the side.

Ga Eul was grinning as she reached for another cushion, probably because she expected him to retaliate. He was going to miss this, Yi Jeong thought wistfully. Even though he enjoyed his time in Sweden for different reasons, there would always be one reason why he wanted to come back to Korea, and she was sitting in front of him on the floor. Setting his bowl aside, he picked up the cushion, staring unseeingly at the intricate pattern that adorned the cover.

"I'm leaving tomorrow morning."

She ought to have known that that was coming; she had been meaning to ask him that for some time now. But it still felt as though someone or something had sucked the breath out of her lungs. She felt so hollow inside. "What time?"

"The plane leaves at nine in the morning. I have to check in at least an hour and a half before."

A quick glance at her watch showed that it was now a quarter to seven. In twelve hours, this would all be a memory. After letting the news settle in for a few minutes, Ga Eul spoke. "Then I guess we should… we should make the most of the time left, shouldn't we?"

The tentative smile and the meaningful gleam in her eye almost brought all of Yi Jeong's brain activity to a grinding halt. Could she possibly mean…did she want to...?

Because Ga Eul yang, I'd like to spend the night with you. His own teasing remark came back to haunt him. Yi Jeong's eyes widened as Ga Eul turned around and edged up onto the sofa, those luminous dark orbs fastened on his in an unbreakable gaze as she moved in closer. He had to remind himself to keep breathing.

"It'll give you something to remember when you go back to Sweden." She continued to speak in that soft sweet honeyed tone that was threatening to turn him soft and hard in all the right places. Something to remember would be an understatement. He would probably spend his nights and waking moments fantasising about it until he could see her again.

"What do you say sunbae? Would you like to?" Her eyes were wide and earnest, and she was so close that all he had to do was lean down to kiss her, something that he wanted to do very badly indeed.

"Anything you say Ga Eul yang," he murmured. There were actually plenty of things to consider but Yi Jeong didn't want to think about those at the moment. It could wait until tomorrow morning. Right now, the only decision he was mulling over was whether he ought to use the bed upstairs or the sofa they were sitting on.

"Thank you sunbae," she whispered.

He was already lowering his face to hers, his lips less than mere inches away when she grinned. "So sunbae, would you prefer Monopoly or Risk?"

In those few moments he spent trying to process what on earth she was talking about, Ga Eul slipped away from him and walked over to the pile of board games that they had left on the huge carpet that covered the hall. "I've been told I'm quite good at both. So perhaps you might like a memory of me beating you silly at either."

His sweet, gentle and wise beyond her years Ga Eul yang was quite a little minx after all. She was paying him back for teasing her in the car, and doing so in his own coin. "Touché, Ga Eul yang," he muttered. However, he couldn't let her get away with this. He wasn't Casanova anymore, but he still had his pride to maintain.

Ga Eul's smile wavered as she noticed Yi Jeong's gaze darken. He wasn't smiling either. Maybe she had gone too far with the joke. "Sunbae?" With some alarm, she watched him rise to his feet, his smoky gaze fixed on hers. In spite of herself, Ga Eul took a step back as he started walking towards her. 'Don't be silly,' she told herself. It was Yi Jeong, he would never hurt her.

"Ga Eul yang," he drawled in a tone that could only be described as downright seductive. "If you play with fire…"

She was contemplating if she should make a run for it when he closed in on her. Ga Eul found herself hauled up against Yi Jeong. Before she could protest, he cupped her face, forcing her to look up at him. Then his mouth came down on hers, hard and demanding. Her lips parted and as their tongues touched, she wondered if that moan came from her, or him or both of them. If Yi Jeong hadn't been holding her up, she might have collapsed on the floor.

When he finally broke the kiss, she was practically clinging to him for support. "Sunbae…"

"But since you asked to play other games though, I'll settle for Monopoly. I get the car," he said, giving her a quick peck on the lips before letting her go.

Ga Eul stared at him, open mouthed even as she tried to catch her breath. "What?"

"You set out the board game. I'll be back with dessert." With that, he disappeared round the corner.

"You…" With a sigh of exasperation, she opened the box and spread out the board. She ought to have known that he would never let her get away with teasing him like that. Her face was still warm from the after-effects of his kiss. At least she would have a memory of this when he left for Sweden. Shaking her head, Ga Eul pushed away the sadness that threatened to surface. There would be time to cry tomorrow. Tonight though, would be for them.

…………….

"Don't you think we should at least clear up?" Ga Eul murmured. In spite of her words, she snuggled closer to Yi Jeong, her head tucked comfortably in the crook between his neck and shoulder. After three rounds of Monopoly, two out of which she had trounced him, and an exquisitely delicious chocolate cake, they were now curled up together on the sofa. There had been a movie playing but Yi Jeong had switched it off once it had become clear that neither of them was really watching it. She had no idea what the time was but the last she had checked, it had been past two in the morning.

"My staff can get it when they arrive tomorrow afternoon." He continued stroking her hair; it was thick and fascinatingly silky. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Yi Jeong knew he had to have it bad to be waxing lyrical about Chu Ga Eul's hair but that was something to contemplate another day. "Ga Eul yang?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you going to switch courses at university?"

She sighed softly. "Probably not, especially since I'm going to get my degree by the end of next year. I think I'll be happy as long as I can keep learning about and teaching pottery. I'll start looking at a degree in Fine Arts or maybe a teaching degree in Arts after that."

She sensed his approval even though he said nothing. "How about you sunbae? What are you going to do when you get back?"

"Finish the vase for my assignment. Catch up on whatever I've missed out in class. I'm planning to produce a collection for an exhibition early next year so I need to get working on that soon."

It was going to be another busy period for him. Silence settled between them again and oddly enough, she felt it was alright. Reaching for his hand, she pressed it against her cheek and closed her eyes.

As much as he wanted to stretch out the moment forever, Yi Jeong could feel sleep tugging at him, tempting him into closing his eyes. Ga Eul yang had probably fallen asleep earlier, judging from her slow and even breathing. Very gently, he kissed her forehead.

"I'm going to miss you so much," he whispered.

And then to his surprise, he felt her squeeze his hand. "I'm going to miss you too."

He hadn't meant for her to hear that. For a moment he felt vulnerable again but Yi Jeong brushed it aside. He would have to get used to trusting her, to learn to be comfortable with that.

"Good night Ga Eul yang."

"Good night Yi Jeong sunbae."