Can't Say... (I Love You) ©

Chapter 16: Running After You

2008-07-30T23:30:00.002+08:00

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, and just as I was about to reach him, he noticed my presence. He picked up his speed, though not running, and I had to run faster to catch up with him.

“Jeong Hoon-ah…” I called out to him as I gasped for air. “Jeong Hoon-ah…”

As soon as I was near enough, I reached out to grab his shoulder, trying to still him.

“Let go,” he said.

He was still upset since his tone was harsh.

“Can’t we talk?” I asked him.

“I have nothing to say to you,” he said.

“Please…” I said, and grabbed onto his arm.

He stopped walking and stood there motionless, not turning to look at me.

“Mianhae…” I said.

“You realize how pointless your apology is?” he said.

“I know you’re not ready to forgive me now, but I need to say it,” I said.

“Right… all for your peace of mind, eh?” he said.

“Look at me,” I said, and he just stood there, as if he didn’t hear me. “Look at me,” I repeated, and moved to stand in front of him.

There were tears in his eyes. None had fallen, but his eyes were shining with tears threatening to fall. He’d sounded so cruel and emotionless, but in actual fact, he was hurting.

“Mianhae,” I said, and hugged him, my own tears starting to fall.

I held him tight, just in case he tried to push me off, but to my surprise, he gave in, and put his arms around me.

“I’m sorry,” I said in English, as I pulled away.

He didn’t reply, but lifted his hand to stroke my cheek.

“Please… say something…” I pleaded.

“I need to go,” he said; his voice hoarse.

“You’re leaving the island?”

“Skye will take you home,” he said as he gently pushed me away. “I need to be alone.”

“Will I see you tomorrow?” I asked in desperation.

My greatest fear now was that he would just disappear from my life.

“I’ll call you when I’m ready,” he said.

I bit my lip, not knowing what reply would be appropriate at this point.

“Just give me some time,” he said, and I nodded mutely.

I turned around, not wanting to watch him leave again. As his footsteps in the sand grew softer, I started walking myself, in the opposite direction.

“Where have you been?” Skye asked as soon as I reappeared on the site.

“I saw Jeong Hoon,” I said.

“Where?” he asked, looking around as if Jeong Hoon were nearby.

“He left. He asked you to take me home tonight.”

“Aishii…”

“Do you think he’ll just keep avoiding me after today?” I asked Skye.

“I don’t know,” he sighed. “I’ll talk to him once we get back. For now, you need to focus,” he said as he grabbed my shoulders and shook me lightly. “Look alive!” he said dramatically, and I couldn’t help but smile.

“Araso…” I said.

We focused on covering the event for the rest of the day. We interviewed artistes, the crew and did several video interviews that were going to be uploaded onto our magazine’s website.

“Thank you for your time,” I said to Wang Lee Hom as we wrapped up the last video interview.

“No problem,” he smiled. “I need to prepare for my performance now,” he said as he got up from the bench where we’d been sitting for the past 15 minutes for the interview.

“Break a leg,” I said, and he smiled in acknowledgement.

“Phew…” Skye breathed as he sat down next to me.

He’d been playing the role of camera man for the whole afternoon while I interviewed the celebrities. We may be editors of our sections, but in actual fact, we were also journalists since our company wasn’t that big. They would usually send us editors to the international events while the juniors got to cover the local events.

“I need to pee,” Skye said, and he left me there on the bench alone.

I sat there alone for awhile, and inevitably started thinking about last night. I dreamt about it last night… that kiss with Jae Joong. It made me feel guiltier when I woke up this morning. Maybe Jeong Hoon was right; I had an obsession to quell.

“Neo honjaseo?” Jae Joong said, and came to sit beside me.

Speak of the devil…

“My colleague went to the toilet,” I said, trying to sound indifferent.

“Hwanaseo?” he asked me.

“Why are you speaking plainly to me now?” I asked him.

“After yesterday night…”

“You don’t feel the need to be polite anymore…” I finished for him.

“I think you’ve misunderstood me,” he said.

“What is there to misunderstand? You did what you did,” I said. “Unless you want to explain why you did it?”

“I don’t think I can,” he laughed softly.

“Why? It was all some kind of entertainment for you, wasn’t it?” I said. “Is that why you have no explanation?”

“Don’t make it sound as if you meant nothing to me,” he said. “I don’t kiss girls for fun.”

“You hardly know me,” I said.

“You hardly know me too, and you returned my kiss,” he said.

“It’s different,” I said.

“How? Enlighten me.”

“I seem to remember that I was the one who asked first. Why did you do it?”

“I was attracted to you, good enough?”

“Fine… I was infatuated with you,” I replied. “Happy now?”

“A little,” he smiled.

I’d almost forgotten that he had habit of making lame jokes, sometimes at the most inopportune times.

“Don’t you need to rehearse?” I asked him.

“It’s our break time now,” he said.

“Does Yun Ho know you’re here?”

“He doesn’t own me. I don’t need to tell him everything.”

“You told him about us,” I pointed out.

“That was cos I needed advice,” he said.

“I’m sure his advice didn’t include you coming to speak to me now. If anything, he would prefer it if you and I didn’t speak at all.”

“I’ll speak to whoever I want,” he said.

“You’re wasting your time here, Jae Joong-shi,” I said. “You’ll fly off tomorrow, and we will never meet again.”

“Not while you’re in this business. We’ll definitely meet again,” he said.

“Are you giving me a preview now? Is TVXQ coming back to Singapore again?”

“We will… soon,” he said.

“Stop… stop…” I said, as I held my hands up. “Why are we still having this conversation? Jae Joong-shi… I think you should get back to your band. Unless you don’t mind me putting everything you say on print, you’d better stop talking to me.”

“Can you stop with the ‘Jae Joong-shi’?” he said.

“You don’t need to hear it if you’re not talking to me,” I said.

“I was just checking to see if you’re alright,” he said.

“And if I’m not? Are you gonna take me with you, back to Korea?” I said. “That would be a fan fiction come true…”

“You don’t need to be sarcastic,” he said. “It’s unbecoming.”

“Weren’t you attracted to me? Doesn’t that mean that whatever I do, you’d still be attracted?”

I glared at him as I spoke, and not once did he break our eye contact. His face broke into a smile when I was done.

“It’s really funny…” he said.

“What is?” I said, starting to get annoyed.

Did he think that I was some kind of joke?

“I actually still find you attractive, despite the sarcasm,” he laughed.

I rolled my eyes at him. I’m beginning to wonder what I saw in him when I watched all those videos online. I stood up, intending to walk away, but he pulled me back down.

“I’m sorry…” he said. “Chongmal mianhae,” he said. “I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.”

“You never asked. You didn’t bother to check. You just assumed that I was single and saving myself for you.”

“I apologize for not asking. I apologize for causing the misunderstanding between you and your boyfriend. Chinshimhaeyo…”

He sounded sincere this time, and I felt my anger dissipate a little.

“What if my boyfriend dumps me for good?” I asked. “Would you take responsibility for me then?”

His eyes widened for a moment, then he realized that I was attempting to make a joke.

“Just call me,” he smiled. “I’ll be sure to take responsibility.”

I shoved him gently on the shoulder, and he took my hand and held it.

Chapter 15: Say It Isn't So

2008-07-23T14:16:00.002+08:00

“You wouldn’t dare!” I said, aghast.

“I just caught my girlfriend cheating on me. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t hit you right now!” he yelled at me.

I was very aware of what I had done. I knew that it was wrong for me to have participated in that kiss, let alone allow Jae Joong to kiss me. It was a situation that I wasn’t in control of, and now… I had no idea how to fix it.

“Listen to me…” I said.

“No!” he snapped.

“It was an accident,” I said.

“Sure… he accidentally wrapped his arms around you. He accidentally landed his lips on yours,” Jeong Hoon said sarcastically. “And if my eyes were working… you accidentally kissed him back.”

“Jeong Hoon…” I said his name, not knowing what else to say.

“Jeong Hoon,” he mimicked me. “Is that all you’ve got to say?” he said, his tone still harsh.

“Mianhae,” I said softly.

“Sorry?” he shouted. “I don’t think you even understand the meaning of the word.”

By now, everyone was staring at us, but I could hardly tell him to pipe down since I was the source of his anger.

“It was… I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

“You let it happen, Sierra,” he said.

His face was flushed, and he was breathing heavily from his anger. I didn’t know what else to say or do. All I wanted to do was to hug him, and cry, and apologize until he forgave me, but I realized that this time, it wasn’t as simple as all our past fall outs.

“When is this obsession of yours going to end? Did you do it to quell your fantasies?”

“That’s a low blow, Jeong Hoon,” I said softly.

“Is it? Then tell me… why? Why the hell did you kiss that…”

“Sir,” a man in a suit came to stand beside us. “Madam… Can you please take your argument outside? You’re upsetting the other guests.”

“It’s alright,” he said. “I’m leaving,” and he walked away.

“Are you alright, madam?” the hotel staff asked me.

“Yes,” I said; my eyes fixed on Jeong Hoon’s back as he walked towards the door.

As the door closed behind him, a single tear rolled down my cheek. What had I just done? Jeong Hoon was real and TVXQ was probably going to disappear out of my life forever after tomorrow’s event. Why did allow Jae Joong to do this to me? I must have been mad.

I walked listlessly back to the hotel room, threw myself into bed and cried myself to sleep. I didn’t even bother to change or remove my make up, and this was how Skye found me the next morning.

I was awoken the next morning by the insistent ringing of the doorbell. My head felt like it had cracked in two, and my eyes were glued shut by the makeup and tears. I kicked off the covers and fumbled my way to the door with the support of the wall.

“Damn!” Skye exclaimed the moment I opened the door. “What happened to you?”

“What do you think?” I mumbled and walked back to the bed to hide under the covers.

“Is it true? Did you really kiss that pretty boy in front of Jeong Hoon?” he asked me.

“He told you?” I groaned.

“He called me last night and insisted that I meet him for a drink. I was up till 3am, listening to him bitch about you,” he said.

“It was a stupid mistake,” I wailed into the pillow.

“Stupid is an understatement,” he said as he came to sit on the bed, next to my hunched figure.

“What else can I say?” I said as I turned over to lie on my back, the covers still pulled over my head.

“You could apologize to Jeong Hoon, for start,” he said.

“You think that all it’s going to take is an apology?” I asked as I flipped open the covers.

My eyes had finally unglued themselves because my tears had started again and diluted the crust that had formed from the night before.

“Of course it’s not that simple, but you need to do something,” he said.

“He wanted to hit me,” I said, sitting up.

“I would hit anyone who betrayed me,” he said.

“Even a woman?”

“If I were that upset…” he contemplated for a moment. “Jeong Hoon wouldn’t hit you. He just said it because he was angry.”

“I know,” I sighed.

“Hey,” Skye suddenly said. “Don’t you need to get to the concert site?”

“Shit!” I cursed and jumped off the bed.

“I’ll wait for you in the lobby,” he called out and left the room while I was digging through my bag for something to wear.

Skye was supposed to accompany me while I covered the concert tonight. With this whole fiasco hanging on my mind, I’m beginning to doubt if I had the ability to focus on the task I had for the day.

“You clean up nice,” Skye attempted to joke when I met him in the lobby. “Don’t you need to eat?”

“I’m fine,” I said. “I’ll grab a bite later.”

“Okay,” he said, and we started walking to Siloso beach, there the concert would be held tonight.

The concert area was abuzz with activity when we arrived. The stage and lights were already up and they were doing some testing while some of the performers were rehearsing on it.

“So where’s the pretty boy?” Skye asked as he looked around us.

“I don’t think they’re here yet,” I said.

I’d spoken too soon…

“Sierra!” Yun Ho called out and waved as he walked towards me and Skye.

“This isn’t the one, is it?” Skye asked.

“No… shut up about it already,” I hissed at him.

“Fine… I’m gonna go search for Bada,” he said. “Have fun…”

“Was that your colleague?” Yun Ho asked as he approached me.

“Ne,” I replied.

“You look pale,” he said. “Have you eaten?”

I shook my head.

“Come with me,” he said, and I followed obediently.

There was something about Yun Ho’s presence that made you just want to follow his orders. You’ll feel that you’re in good hands when you’re with him. I supposed this is why he was the leader of TVXQ.

“Wait here,” he said, as we neared the area where most of the performers were sitting around, waiting for their turn to perform.

He grabbed a sandwich and a pack of soya bean drink from the buffet table while I waited in the shadows of a tree, then walked back towards me. He took me by my elbow and led me to a bench nearby, then sat me down. I watched as he unwrapped the sandwich, rolled the film up into a ball and put it into his pocket before he handed the sandwich to me.

“Mokja…” he said.

I took the sandwich from him, and took a bite. I hadn’t realized that I was actually hungry until now, and quickly finished the rest of the sandwich.

“You were hungry,” he laughed softly as he handed me the drink.

“I was just feeling a little under the weather,” I said as I inserted the straw into the packet.

“Jae Joong told me what happened,” he said.

“Did he have to tell you about it?” I said as I sipped the drink.

“He was worried that he might have caused some trouble,” Yun Ho said.

“My boyfriend’s not gonna take the story to the press, if that’s what he’s worried about,” I said. “He’s not such a person… but he might still wanna beat Jae Joong up.”

“What happened… exactly?” Yun Ho asked.

“I think you should ask Jae Joong. I’ll admit that I reciprocated his actions, but he initiated it.”

“He initiated it… the kiss,” he said.

“Ne,” I said.

“That boy…”

“I’m beginning to see why you call him that,” I said.

“The tropical heat has gotten to his brains,” he said.

“It’s easy for him…” I said.

“Huh?”

“You guys are gonna fly back tomorrow, and it’ll be the end of the headache. I’ll need to find my boyfriend, face him, and try to get him to forgive me.”

“Do you want to be forgiven?” he asked me.

“What do you mean?”

“There must be a reason why you let it happen,” he said.

“I let it happen?” I said incredulously.

“Didn’t you?” he asked as he looked at me.

I met his eyes, and I saw the answer in them. He was right. I let it happen. Perhaps, subconsciously, I wanted it to happen. But I didn’t want to believe it. This isn’t me. I would never knowingly hurt Jeong Hoon. What I thought was just a harmless opportunity to live part of my fantasy had backfired. Is this what I wanted? Why did I do it?

“Hyung,” Jun Su called out from behind us. “We’re on.”

“Coming,” he answered. “I’ll talk to you in a bit. You should eat more if you’re hungry. You need your strength.”

“Thank you for your concern,” I said as I took another sip of my drink.

“No problem. See you in a bit,” he said, and he got up and left.

I leant back on the bench and stared straight ahead for a few minutes. When I’d finally collected my thoughts, I stood up, and decided that I had to get to work. I had no time to dwell on the mess I’d created today. As I stood up, I saw a familiar figure walking along the beach.

“Jeong Hoon,” his name escaped my lips, and I started running towards him.

Chapter 14: Awakening

2008-07-16T15:54:00.001+08:00

“Ne?” I turned back to look at him.

“You shouldn’t walk back alone,” he said.

“I’m fine,” I smiled.

“I should walk you back…

“You don’t have to,” I said.

“I have something to tell you,” he said. “Please allow me to walk you back.”

“If you wish,” I said.

I said my goodbyes to Eru and the rest of TVXQ.

“Leaving so soon?” Eru said.

“Ne… I still have to compile the interviews I did today, before bed,” I complained.

“Ah… and here we thought that a reporter’s job was easy,” he winked.

“Bye, Sierra-shi,” Chang Min said. “We’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Ne,” I smiled. “Have a good night’s rest. You’ll need to conquer Singapore and the world tomorrow.”

“Ne…” he laughed.

“Bye,” Yoo Chun said, and shook my hand. “It was nice seeing you again.”

“Likewise,” I said. “Where’s Jun Su?”

“He went to the little boys’ room,” Yoo Chun said.

“Okay…” I laughed. “Tell him I said goodbye.”

“We’ll do that,” Yun Ho said to me; smiling warmly. “Good night.”

“Good night,” I smiled back at him.

“Did you have fun?” Jae Joong asked me as we entered the elevator.

“Ne,” I said.

“With Yun Ho?” he asked.

“We just talked,” I said.

“For an hour?” he said.

“Is there a problem with that?”

“You just met him today,” he said.

“And you just met me today,” I pointed out.

“That’s…” he started, and bit his lip.

“I know that it was your idea to invite me,” I said as we walked out of the elevator. “And you told me that Eru-shi and TVXQ invited me.”

“Yun Ho told you?” he said incredulously.

“He was only telling me the truth,” I said.

“He should stand by me,” he said. “He shouldn’t go around telling people stuff like that.”

“Like what?” I said. “That Hero Jae Joong of TVXQ goes around picking up fan girls?”

“Aisshiii…” he swore, and quickened his pace.

“My hotel is that way,” I said as I tugged lightly on his sleeve.

“Mianhaeyo,” he said, and we turned to continue walking in the right direction.

“I don’t randomly pick up girls,” he said, after awhile.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I know you don’t.”

“Thank god,” he smiled.

“But your reputation does precede you,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“Your fans do think that you’re not as innocent as your image seems. They actually believe you have a very naughty side,” I said; and smiled.

“And my past just keeps haunting me,” he smiled.

“We all have out pasts. It’s just whether or not it’s worth someone else digging it up.”

“True,” he said. “The price of stardom,” he sighed.

“Look on the bright side,” I said. “At least you have no trouble getting the girls you want.”

“I don’t always get the girls I want,” he said. “It doesn’t always work.”

“What doesn’t?”

“The fame,” he laughed, and I laughed with him.

“Find me a girl who wouldn’t want to do indecent stuff with you, and I can probably find you 10 who would,” I said.

“You can’t be serious,” he said. “I’m not that popular.”

“You are,” I said. “Even though it’s kind of hard to believe,” I teased.

“Coming from a fan… I guess I should learn to believe in my fans,” he grinned.

“You’re exactly what I’d expected you to be,” I said.

“What did you expect me to be?”

“I think you have a disease,” I said.

“Disease?”

“Wangja pyeong,” I giggled, and he covered his face with his hands, as if mortified.

We talked a bit more, and finally came to my hotel lobby.

“Thanks for walking me back,” I said, as soon as we walked into a more secluded corner in the lobby so as to not draw attention to him.

“No problem,” he smiled. “I enjoyed the walk.”

“Thank you for inviting me tonight. It’s a dream come true,” I said.

“I wasn’t sure,” he said. “But from the way you were looking at us when Eru hyung introduced you to us, I could sense that you were a fan.”

“It could be your ego working overtime,” I joked, and he laughed; covering his mouth as he did, like he always does.

“Maybe,” he smiled. “At least it worked.”

“Worked?”

“Nothing…” he said. “I’m just marveling how well I could spot my fans.”

“I’m not specifically your fan. I do dedicate an extra percentage to you, but I am first and foremost a TVXQ fan,” I smiled.

“That’s very thoughtful of you; putting my band’s needs before mine,” he said.

“Thank you,” I said. “I try.”

“Keep up the good work,” he said, and pumped his fist, “Hwaiting!”

“Ne…” I laughed. “Chalga,” I said.

“Chalja,” he replied.

I turned to walk away, and all of a sudden, he grabbed my arm and pulled me into his embrace.

“Jae Joong,” I whispered.

My brain was in shock, and all I could do was say his name.

“You’re speaking plainly now?” he said, and pulled away slightly to look at my face.

“I…”

Before I could say another word, he covered my mouth with his, and started kissing me.

I allowed him to tighten his arms around me as we kissed. Yes… I returned the kiss. I was in heaven. This was beyond my dreams… kissing the man of my dreams… and yet, a thousand thoughts rushed through my brain at that moment. ‘Why was he doing this? God, he can really kiss… I’m gonna be killed by his fans. Why me?’ Then the final thought came. The most important one; the shocker… ‘Omigod… Jeong Hoon!’

“Jeong Hoon,” I gasped as I pushed Jae Joong off me.

“Jeong Hoon?” he said. “What Jeong Hoon?”

As if repeating a person’s name could effectively summon him, there he was, standing 10 feet away, staring at me and Jae Joong.

“My boyfriend,” I said, my voice filled with guilt as Jeong Hoon started walking toward us.

“What?” he said as he whipped around. “You never said you had a boyfriend,” he whispered urgently.

“You never asked,” I said.

As soon as he got to us, Jeong Hoon grabbed Jae Joong by the shoulders and pushed him further away from me and swung a fist at Jae Joong. Jae Joong caught it on time and pushed him away.

“No!” I shouted and hugged Jeong Hoon, trying to keep him away from Jae Joong.

“Let me go!” he shouted, and added a string of vulgarities in Korean, as he struggled against me.

“No, Jeong Hoon,” I said. “He’s gonna be on stage tomorrow. You can’t hit him.”

“Who gives a rat’s ass?!” he shouted and tried to push me away.

“Go, Jae Joong,” I shouted, as I held onto Jeong Hoon desperately. “Ka!”

Jae Joong quickly turned and left, and as soon as he got out of the building, I let got of Jeong Hoon. He tried to follow, but I grabbed onto his arm.

“Let me go,” he said sternly.

“No,” I said. “Andwae.”

“Don’t make me hit you,” he said.

Chapter 13: And It's Still A Dream

2008-06-26T22:12:00.003+08:00

We stood there in silence for awhile; him at the balcony, enjoying the breeze, and me, 5 feet behind him, staring at his back.

“Jae Joong-shi,” I finally called out. “Did you want to talk to me?”

“Ani,” he said. “You’re supposed to continue your story.”

“Story?”

“The one you were about to tell me at the beach, before Jun Su came and called me away,” he said as he turned and smiled.

“Oh… that story,” I said nervously. “It’s nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Opseumnida,” I smiled.

“And here I thought I was on to something,” he sighed.

I laughed softly at his faked disappointment.

“Anything I can do to make you feel better?” I asked him.

“Hmm…” he contemplated for a moment. “I think I need a drink,” he said as he walked over and sat on the bed.

“I’ll get us some drinks,” I smiled, and I left the room.

I walked out of the room, and immediately bumped into a tall figure.

“Choesonghamnida,” he said, and I looked up.

“It’s alright, Yun Ho-shi,” I smiled.

“Hello Sierra-shi. Nice to see you here,” he said.

“Same here,” I replied.

“Have you by any chance seen Jae Joong?” he asked me as he scanned the crowd.

“He’s in the room,” I said.

“The room?” he repeated after me.

“Yes. He was in the room with me. I’m going to get him and me a drink. Do you want one?”

“Yes, please. Komawoyo,” he smiled, and disappeared into the room before I could ask him what drink he wanted.

I went to the chiller and picked up 2 cans of beer for them and a can of Coke for myself. As I opened the door, I could hear a heated argument between Jae Joong and Yun Ho. I couldn’t help but stand there, and try to pick up what they were debating about, and I didn’t want to barge in since I didn’t want to interrupt.

“You just met her today,” Yun Ho said.

“Are you telling me all this because you like her yourself?” Jae Joong said.

“Don’t be mad. I don’t pick up reporters.”

“So what is your problem?”

“I don’t think it’s wise for you to get involved, even if it’s just one night,” Yun Ho said. “She might feature the whole escapade on the next issue of her magazine.”

“Look at her, Yun Ho,” Jae Joong said. “She’s so obviously a fan, and even if she isn’t, she should be aware of the consequences of kissing and telling after an affair with a member of TVXQ.”

“Fine… since you’re so adamant,” he replied, and walked towards the door.

Before I could pretend I was just walking in, Yun Ho had swung the door open and caught me standing there.

“How long have you been listening?” he asked me.

“Just for awhile,” I said.

“How much did you understand?” he asked.

“Just some,” I lied.

“Come with me,” he said, and this time, it was his turn to drag me across the room.

Here I was, in my blue sundress and white wedges, being dragged across a suite towards the door by U-Know Yun Ho. Was he going to kick me out?

He opened the door, and instead of shoving me out and shutting the door, like I’d expected, he walked out himself, still dragging me along.

“Yun Ho-shi,” I voiced out. “Where are you taking me?”

“We need to talk,” he said.

If you’re wondering, he sounded very curt when talking to me, but he was using polite speech in Korean all the time, indicating respect for me since we hardly knew each other.

We got into the elevator, and he hit the button for the top floor. We rode the lift in silence, and as we neared the top, he realized that I had been carrying the 3 cans of drinks all this time.

“Choesonghaeyo,” he said, and took the 2 cans of beer from me. “Your hands must have been freezing.

“Anieyo,” I smiled. “Kwaench’anayo.”

We got to the top floor, but it wasn’t the end of the journey. He opened the fire escape door and we walked up a flight of stairs before we came to the top of the building. Yun Ho walked towards the edge, and put the 2 cans on beer on the parapet. I walked towards him and put my can of drink beside the beers.

“Yun Ho-shi,” I said, and he cut me off.

“Jae Joong invited you tonight?” he said; his hands on the parapet, but his head turned to look at me.

“He said that it was TVXQ and Eru-shi who invited me,” I said.

“Hah… he probably convinced Eru hyung himself,” he said softly, as he turned away. “That boy needs to grow up.”

“He’s older than you,” I said.

“1 month is a very small difference,” he said. “He should’ve consulted me before he invited you, since I am the leader.”

“I guess,” I said.

“So are you a fan? Or are you here for a scoop?”

“I’m definitely not here for a scoop,” I said.

“Then you’re a fan?” he asked; looking at me expectantly

I kept silent for awhile; contemplating if it were wise to reveal that me, a 24 year old woman, no longer a girl, was infatuated with a Korean boy band whose members were the same age as my younger sister.

“I…” I hesitated.

“It’s okay,” he sighed. “As long as you’re not here for a scoop, I don’t care why you’re here. I just don’t want any harm to come to our band.”

“I have no such intentions,” I said.

“Good,” he said.

He picked up a beer and opened it.

“Beer?” he asked me, as he held it out to me.

“No thanks,” I said. “I don’t drink.”

I picked up the can of Coke and opened it, then took a sip as he took a sip from his beer.

“So… Sierra-shi,” he said. “Who are you?”

“Huh?”

“Who are you?” he repeated.

“A reporter?”

“I don’t mean your profession. I was asking about you, as a person. What is your purpose here tonight? What role did you expect to play when you came here tonight? I know I said I didn’t care, but I’m still curious.”

“Nothing,” I said. “I was just here to get to know people.”

“That simple, huh?” he said. “How old are you?”

“24,” I said.

“3 years older than me?”

“Technically, since I was born in December, and you’re born in February, we’re more like 2 years apart instead of 3,” I said.

“So you’re a fan,” he smiled, as he took another sip of his beer.

“Why do you say that?” I asked; blinking at him.

“Only a fan would remember my birthday like that, and usually reporters tend to assume I’m the oldest in the band since I’m the leader,” he said.

He sounded a little smug, having made the discovery, and yet there was lightness in his tone, indicating that he found the situation amusing.

“Okay…” I sighed. “You got me.”

“Is it so hard to admit?” he asked.

“It hurts my credibility as a journalist,” I smiled.

“I see,” he smiled back. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell a soul that you’ve got a crush on us.”

“Well,” I said. “It’s not so serious with the whole band. I’ve got it worse for Jae Joong,” I admitted.

“He’s popular with the overseas fans,” Yun Ho smiled.

“You’re my 2nd choice,” I said, as I pat his back lightly, in an effort to console him.

“Am I never?” he laughed.

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” I joked, and we laughed together at my little joke.

“So…” he asked me. “Why am I always 2nd choice?”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged.

“Is it because I don’t act cute as often as Jae Joong does?”

“Maybe it’s the man boobs,” I joked, and he winced.

“You’re definitely a fan. How do I know you’re not the stalker kind,” he said.

“You don’t,” I winked.

“Aishii…” he said, then laughed. “Your Korean is pretty good.”

“I doubled up my studying time the moment I realized that I would be covering this event. I took a crash course as well,” I smiled.

“Not bad…” he laughed.

“So does Jae Joong do this often?” I asked.

“What?”

“Pick up fan girls,” I said.

“Not really. Just the ones he really likes,” he said.

“I’m flattered,” I said.

“And he had to pick a reporter this time,” he sighed.

“I’m not here to write an exposé,” I said.

“I didn’t know that until I spoke to you,” he said.

“So now you know?”

“Yes,” he said.

We stayed there for a long time, chatting and joking. An hour soon passed, and we decided to make our way back to the party in case people starting wondering where we are and possibly gossiping about our disappearance.

When we got back to the suite, I approached Jae Joong to inform him I was leaving.

“So soon?” he said, looking a teensy bit disappointed.

“I need to prepare to cover the concert tomorrow. I’ll see you on the site,” I said. “Thank you for inviting me tonight.”

“No problem,” he said.

“I’ll leave now,” I said. “Annyeonghikyeseyo,” I added with a small bow before turning to leave.

“I’ll walk you back,” he said, suddenly.

Chapter 12: It's A Dream

2008-06-26T21:34:00.001+08:00

“Jae Joong-shi,” I said; my voice quivered.

“Annyeong,” he smiled briefly, then turned to face the sea.

“Your band,” I said. “They’re not with you?”

“Ani… they’re having drinks at the bar. I wanted to take a quiet stroll.”

“I see.”

“So do you feel better now?”

“Huh?”

“You were screaming. People usually want to scream when they’re stressed.”

“Haha…” I laughed nervously.

“Something private?” he said.

“Not so,” I replied.

“But you’re not willing to tell me.”

“Anieyo…” I said. “I just…”

“If it’s too embarrassing, you don’t need to tell me.”

He was speaking slowly in Korean, with a smattering of English. It was actually nice of him for making the effort to ensure that I could understand what he was saying.

“Ani… it’s not a big deal,” I said.

“Really? So I’m gonna get to hear the story?”

This was Kim Jae Joong I was talking to. The Hero Jae Joong that every Jae Joong fan had ever drooled about. Here I was, having this odd conversation with him, when any self-respecting fan would’ve gotten an autograph and groped him a little by now.

“Hyung!” I heard a Jun Su call out. You can’t mistake that voice.

Jae Joong turned and waited for Jun Su to amble close enough to speak.

“We’re leaving,” he said. “Come on…” then he noticed me, “Hello Sierra-shi!”

“Hi,” I smiled.

“Ppalli…” he reminded Jae Joong, who waved him off. “Bye Sierra-shi!” he called out and waved as he walked off towards the group that was waiting at the entrance of the bar, some distance away.

“I’ll see you tonight?” Jae Joong said.

“Tonight?”

“There’s a small party at our apartment. We’d like you to come,” he said.

“We?”

“TVXQ and Eru hyung,” he said.

“Am I the only reporter invited?”

“Ne…” he said.

“Really? Why?”

“Cos we like you?” he smiled.

“Ah…” I smiled back.

“I trust it’ll be off the record?”

“Of course,” I smiled.

“Choa. Our assistant will send the address to your room. See you then,” he said, and started walking off.

I often heard of and seen Jae Joong being silly and shooting his mouth off on shows, but never once did he act like that today. Perhaps it was because he was on foreign soil. Then again, it was refreshing to see that he actually had a serious side to him.

I’d been so engrossed with talking to Jae Joong that I hadn’t even noticed that the sun had set.

“Shit…” I muttered to myself as I rush to the restaurant I was meeting Jeong Hoon for dinner.

“Right on time,” Jeong Hoon teased, as soon as I sat down.

“I got caught up…” I explained.

“By TVXQ?” he said, and obviously meant it as a joke.

“Erm… yea…” I replied, and he stared at me.

“You’re joking…” he said.

“Nope,” I said smugly as the waiter laid the napkin on my lap for me.

“How were you caught up by TVXQ?” he asked.

“I was talking to Jae Joong,” I started.

“Jae Joong!” he said, his voice went one pitch higher than the norm.

“He came to me after the interviews and asked me to join them at their private party tonight,” I elaborated as I read the menu.

“You don’t even know them,” he pointed out.

“Erm… I know them, they don’t know me,” I said.

“Your order, madam?” the waiter prompted.

“I’ll have the grilled salmon,” I informed the waiter and he nodded before leaving.

“You know their TV personalities. Not their real personalities,” Jeong Hoon said, continuing the debate.

“Is there a problem with that?”

“You’re going to attend a party at the room of a whole bunch of guys you hardly know,” he attempted to reason.

“I’m sure there are girls there… like the assistants, or even Bada.”

“And if there aren’t?” he asked. “You’re taking me with you.”

“I can’t do that,” I said.

“Wae?”

“They didn’t say I could bring a partner, and I have no way of asking.”

“I don’t think 1 person extra will make a difference,” he argued.

“No… it’s rude.”

“So you’re going to run off to a private party and chuck me at the hotel room for the rest of the night?”

“No… how can you say that? I’ll just pop by, linger, then leave.”

“Hah!” he exclaimed. “You speak as if you’re visiting your relatives or something. This is TVXQ, remember? Your loves… you’re hardly going to spend 15 minutes there and run.”

“You’re being paranoid, Kim Jeong Hoon.”

“No, I’m not,” he said.

Just then, my salmon arrived.

“I’d like to eat now. Can we continue this conversation after I’ve refueled?” I said, as I looked at him expectantly.

He sighed, looked at me, looked at his plate, then back at me, and finally, he just shut up and ate.

15 minutes of silence later, I’d finished eating. Jeong Hoon had finished eating awhile ago and was nursing a glass of wine as he sulked.

“Ya…” I said affectionately as I reached across the table to hold his free hand. “Waegeurae?”

“Waegeurae?!” he exclaimed as he stared at me. “You asked me to shut up and leave you alone, and you’re asking me this?”

“I was in a good mood, and you were nagging and nagging and nagging…” I said.

“That’s because you’re about to do something idiotic,” he said.

“What is so idiotic about going to a party?”

“You don’t know them!” he said in exasperation.

“I’ll get to know them,” I said.

“You know… this is so typical of you,” he said, wiping his mouth with his napkin and throwing it on the table. “I take the day off for you, and end up spending the entire day alone.”

“I won’t be long…”

“Sure… keep telling yourself that,” he said, then he stood up and left the table.

I was shocked speechless by Jeong Hoon’s sudden outburst. I didn’t know what to do, and I couldn’t find my voice to call him back. I can’t imagine why he’d been so unreasonable lately; first with Min Woo, and now with TVXQ.

I went back to the hotel room after dinner. Good thing Jeong Hoon had requested to leave an extra key at the counter for me when he’d checked in earlier. I got up to the room, and I wasn’t surprised to find it empty. He knew I would come to the room to shower, and made sure he wasn’t there when I came back.

I stripped off cardigan and tank top, and walked into the bathroom. I stared at the mirror for a moment. My makeup was almost melting off from the tropical heat, and my hair was a little out of place. I sighed and started removing my makeup. After I was done, I went into the shower.

It was almost 9pm when I’d finished putting on my makeup. I surveyed myself in the mirror. The blue summer dress I wore complemented my fair skin, and I had a pair of white 2-inch high wedges to complement the whole outfit. I wrote Jeong Hoon a short note, picked up my white clutch, and left the room.

By the time I got there, the party was already in full swing. As I had expected, it was a mix of men and women, unlike what Jeong Hoon had imagined. Chang Min opened the door for me, and grinned broadly as I walked in.

“Shoes,” he said, and I was almost fooled into taking off my shoes had I not first looked at his feet.

“Nice try,” I smiled.

“Haha… been trying this the whole night,” he laughed.

“So this is the most happening spot on Sentosa tonight?” I asked as he lead me into the spacious suite.

“Could be,” he shrugged.

“Everyone’s here,” I said.

“Yea…” he said.

“Over here,” Eru waved us over as we neared the group.

“Annyeong,” I greeted as I got near them.

“Sierra-shi,” Yoo Chun said. “Are you sure you’re not Korean?”

“Yoo Chun-shi… stop buttering me up,” I giggled.

“Yea…” Jun Su said. “She’s much better than most of the Korean girls we’ve met around here.”

“I heard that!” Bada said as she walked up to our little group which consisted of Eru, Jun Su, Yoo Chun and Chang Min.

Jun Su and Yoo Chun pretended to be afraid and hid behind me when Bada came.

“You two…” she said as she pointed at the both of them. “You’d bad mouth your countrymen just to score with a foreigner?”

“Ani… we’re just telling the truth,” Yoo Chun said.

“Are you saying I’m no better then?” she asked.

“Nuna… we simply can’t compare you with any girl around here… you are the Princess of the Sea… how can we compare you to any earthling,” Chang Min said.

“Really…” she raised an eyebrow at him.

“The only one comparable to you is the Prince of the Sea,” Jun Su chuckled, and then he and Chang Min high-fived.

“You brats…” she said, pretending to be livid.

I stood there, trying very hard not to laugh at their exchange.

“And who might your lady friend here be?” she asked.

“Sierra-imnida,” I said, and held out my hand.

“Bada-imnida,” she said and shook my hand. “Didn’t you interview me this afternoon?”

“Yes I did,” I said.

“Nice to see you again. I didn’t think anyone from the press would be here tonight.”

“We invited her,” Eru said.

“I see,” she smiled.

“There you are,” someone suddenly said, and grabbed my arm. “I’m borrowing Sierra-shi,” he added as he dragged me off.

I was hauled a good 10 feet away from the group before I realized who it was.

“Jae Joong-shi,” I called out his name. “Where are you taking me?”

“Don’t you feel it’s noisy in here?” he said as he brought me into one of the rooms, and then opened the door to its balcony.

“Ah… chot’a…” he said as he inhaled the sea breeze.

It was 2nd time today, alone with Jae Joong. Why does it seem as if he has some profound interest in me?

Chapter 11: Closing In

2008-06-18T03:21:00.002+08:00

It was the morning before the concert on Siloso Beach. I’d hardly slept the night before, and when I woke up that morning, I could’ve been a bit paranoid, but I believe that dark circles were actually forming under my eyes.

“Danae…” I called out to my sister as I knocked on her door.

“What?” came her muffled reply.

“I need to borrow your concealer,” I said.

I stood there tapping my feet impatiently for almost a minute before she finally opened the door. Her long hair was disheveled, and her eyes were practically glued shut.

“Can you please get your own makeup?” she grumbled as she tossed the concealer at me and closed her door.

I put my makeup on in a hurry. Jeong Hoon was picking me and taking me to Sentosa. He’d taken the day off.

“Chunbihae?” he said as I put on my seatbelt.

“Ne!” I said happily, as I put on my sunglasses. “Let’s go!”

I was actually surprised that Jeong Hoon would be so supportive. I thought that he would refuse to have anything to do with me meeting TVXQ, and here he is, driving me to Sentosa where they are.

“What are you going to while I’m meeting my boyfriends?” I teased.

“I could meet up with my girlfriends,” he turned to face me, and gave me a cheeky smile.

“You do that,” I said, and crossed my arms.

I looked straight on at the road ahead, and stayed silent for awhile.

“Ya…” he finally broke the silence.

I pretended not to hear him.

“Ya…” he said and grabbed my hand.

“Mwo?”

“I won’t meet them,” he said.

“Who?”

“My girlfriends,” he said, and squeezed my hand.

I laughed, and smacked his thigh.

“You’re still insisting they exist then?” I said.

“Mind you,” he said. “They do…”

“Araso…” I said.

We got there, and I had to rush to Coastes, near Siloso Beach. They’d sectioned off an area at the bar, since it was still daytime. Reporters would be brought in one by one to interview the different singers who were performing tonight.

I was in such a rush so as to not miss my first interview; I ran face first into some guy’s shoulder.

“Sorry, sorry,” I said quickly, and moved back.

“Kwaen…” he started. “It’s okay,” he said with heavily accented English.

I looked up to see who it was, and nearly fainted from shock.

“Are you okay?” he asked me.

“Yes,” I quickly recovered. “Yes,” I repeated.

“Reporter?” he said, and pointed at my badge.

“Yes,” I said. “Kija.”

“You speak Korean?” he asked

“Very little,” I smiled.

“Okay…” he laughed. “I’m Eru.”

“Yes, I know,” I smiled.

“You know?” he said, in astonishment.

“I should,” I said. “Since I’m here to interview you.”

“Ah, yes… the interview,” he smiled. “Shall we?” he said and gestured towards the entrance of the bar.

“Okay,” I smiled. And we walked in together.

We walked in and the place was overrun with reporters and singers. Some of the singers were already being interviewed. There were some doing video interviews in a much more secluded corner. After the bouncer verified my pass, he let me in and walked towards the coordinator.

“I’m from ‘Hot!’. May I know who I’m interviewing now?” I asked.

“Sierra… you’re interviewing Eru,” she said. “He just arrived.”

She gestured to the corner where he was already seated. There was someone beside him, which I presumed was the translator.

“Thanks,” I said, and went over.

“Annyeong haseyo,” I said when I got to the table.

“Annyeong haseyo,” he stood up and held out his hand.

“I’m Sierra,” I said.

“Ah… I knew I forgot something,” he said. “I forgot to ask for your name earlier.”

“You won’t remember it for long,” I smiled. “You’re going to meet dozens of reporters in the next few hours, and you won’t be able to remember my name by the end of the day.”

“Trust me,” he said. “I would remember.”

He turned to speak to the translator briefly. She nodded and left the table.

“And here I was wondering why you needed a translator,” I said. “You’ve lived and studied in America, haven’t you?”

“Yes,” he smiled. “I suppose the organizers didn’t know.”

“I guess,” I smiled.

“Shall we begin?” he said.

“Sure,” I said.

We spoke for a good 20 minutes before it was time for the next reporter to take over.

“Thank you for your time, Eru-shi,” I said.

“No problem,” he smiled. “I’ll see you around?” he said.

“I’ll be around,” I said.

“Hyung!” a couple of familiar voices called out just as I was leaving the table.

“You guys are late,” Eru said in Korean.

“There was a jam,” a very familiar voice said.

I turned around and there they were, TVXQ.

“Looks like you got the good one before us,” Yoo Chun joked.

“Sierra-shi,” Eru said. “I supposed you know who these guys are,” he said.

“Yes,” I smiled. “Annyeong haseyo,” I said, and gave a little bow.

“Oh! She speaks Korean?” Chang Min exclaimed.

“A little,” Eru said.

“Are you interviewing us?” Jun Su asked, his voice filled with interest.

“Ne,” I replied.

“Now?” Chang Min asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I need to check my schedule,” I said as I looked at the sheet the coordinator had given me.

“Which magazine are you from?” Yun Ho asked.

“Hot!” I said.

“Ah…” they all said together.

“Your table’s this way,” their assistant came up to inform them.

“And I’ll see you in a few hours,” I said, as I gestured to my schedule.

“Great,” Yoo Chun said.

“See you later,” Yun Ho added.

Jae Joong didn’t speak the whole time, but he did smile as they were leaving.

About 2 hours later, I finally came to TVXQ’s table.

“Annyeong haseyo,” I bowed.

“Hey…” Yoo Chun said. “Sit down.”

“How’s everybody?” I asked as I took out my notebook.

“Fine,” the 5 of them chorused.

“Ah, you’re speaking now,” I smiled at Yun Ho & Jae Joong.

“Me?” Yun Ho said.

He’s as adorable as I’d always imagined him to be.

“Jae Joong shi,” I smiled and gestured toward him and Jae Joong.

“They are shy,” Jun Su said.

Their English may be a bit limited, but they definitely didn’t have a problem making small conversations.

“I bet they are,” I said, and I flipped my notebook to the page where I had written down the questions I’d wanted to ask them.

In 20 minutes, it was over. I’d managed to control myself and not drool over TVXQ while getting them to answer my questions.

“Will we see you again, Sierra-shi?” Chang Min asked.

“Probably at the concert. Why?” I replied.

“You’re the only reporter today who seems to know some Korean. We’re feeling a bit left out around here with everyone speaking English and Chinese.”

“But don’t you speak some Chinese?” I asked him.

“We speak very little Chinese,” Jun Su said. “If you know we speak Chinese, you probably know how good we are at it,” he grinned.

“Your English is passable,” I smiled. “I can understand you.”

“Ahem,” the next reporter cleared her throat.

“Shillaehamnida,” I said. “I’ll speak to you again when I have the chance since the next reporter is waiting.”

“Okay,” Yoo Chun said, and they bowed. I bowed back and moved away from their table.

I was at breaking point by the time I ended my interview with Wang Lee Hom, who was the last on my list. I was hyperventilating when I walked out of the bar. I had just met TVXQ, and I wasn’t even allowed to scream. I took a brisk walk towards the beach, and as soon as I neared the surf, I screamed as loud as I could.

“Feel better now?” I heard someone say.

I turned around, and there stood a very good reason for me to scream again.

Chapter 10: I See

2007-08-11T00:43:00.001+08:00

The weekend soon came, and I’ve survived yet another 5 working days. Shin Hee, Jeong Hoon’s cousin, had gone back to Seoul, and I had him to myself for the weekend.

“What do you want to do?” he asked me, as soon as I got into his car.

“Shopping?”

“What’s new…” he sighed, but smiled as he did.

“Eat?”

“So we shop and eat?”

“Ne,” I said as I started fiddling with the radio in his car.

I ejected his Eru CD and replaced it with FTTS, immediately skipping the first 2 songs so that ‘Namjadapgeh’ played.

“Do you mind?” he said jokingly.

“Not at all,” I smiled sweetly, and I started to sing along to FTTS.

When the chorus began, Jeong Hoon started singing along too. If I’ve never mentioned this, Jeong Hoon had a beautiful voice. It was a waste he was never signed by a record company. With his good looks and that voice, he could’ve garnered a market in Singapore for the Korean music industry.

We wove through the weekend jam at Orchard Road and ended up at Wisma Atria. It was our usual haunt, and the place that I shopped at the most since I was too lazy to go elsewhere. Sometimes we’d go to Raffles’ City because I wanted to have crepe at Out of the Pan, by the central fountain in the building.

“Brunch first?” he asked me, and I nodded as we got out of his car.

We met up in front of his car and I put my arm around his waist as he clicked the button on his car remote to lock the doors.

“Kaja,” he said, and he gave me a quick kiss on the lips.

We had lunch at Sushi Tei, which was situated on the Takashimaya side of the Ngee Ann City building, and then, we browsed through most of the shops in the basement area of Wisma Atria. I’d spent at least 20 minutes in each shop, flipping through the blouses, pants and skirts and trying on every pair of shoe I thought looked cute, each time asking Jeong Hoon if it looked good on me.

“Igo?” I asked him as I modeled a pair of strappy sandals.

“Don’t you think it looks a little uncomfortable? Shouldn’t you walk around in them before you decide?” he said.

This was one of the reason Jeong Hoon was a dream boyfriend. He would accompany me patiently as I browsed through the shops, even when he knew I wasn’t going to buy anything, and he’d have the right comment or opinion for any question I asked. In return, I’d accompany him when he browsed through the men’s sections or shops.

Jeong Hoon was image conscious, but he wasn’t exactly metrosexual either. There would be days where I wish he’d put more effort when dressing up, but most of the time, he never disappointed me, especially when we had anywhere special to go.

“Wanna stop for a break?” he asked me when he noticed that I’d begun to lean on him when I walked.

I usually start doing that when my feet start getting tired or if they’re hurting, I’d lean on Jeong Hoon for support. That was also because I stubbornly want to walk on instead of taking a break.

“Let’s walk a bit more,” I smiled.

“1 more shop,” he said, and I nodded.

After the last shop, we walked towards Coffee Bean for a break.

“Full… as usual,” I said.

“You get a seat, I’ll get the coffee,” he said.

I was lucky enough to snag us the nice couches that were usually unavailable. I sat down as soon as the couple before me left and started sorting out the shopping bags, but was interrupted midway.

“Is this seat taken,” a male voice said.

“Yes,” I said quickly and looked up to find Min Woo standing before me.

“Hello,” he smiled. “I saw you walking in, and I just had to say hello.”

“Min Woo,” I laughed. “Well, you’ve said hello, you can go now,” I said and he pretended to leave but I grabbed his arm before he managed to walk off. “I was kidding.”

“I know,” he laughed. “So was I… where’s your boyfriend? I’d better leave before he sees me.”

“You don’t have to do that. I should introduce you to him. You might like each other,” I said.

“You’re sure he won’t shoot me?” Min Woo said.

“A fellow countryman? Why would he?” I laughed.

“He’s Korean too?” Min Woo remarked, with an eyebrow raised.

“Ne.”

“You didn’t tell me that.”

“You never asked.”

“What… was I supposed to come to you and go ‘Is your boyfriend Korean?’?”

“Yea…” I laughed.

“At least that explains why your Korean sounds almost authentic,” he said.

“It does?” I beamed.

“Almost,” he smiled, and I felt a little deflated.

“Sierra?” Jeong Hoon appeared.

“Jeong Hoon,” I smiled and stood up to intercept the tray from him.

“Annyeong haseyo,” Min Woo said as he offered his hand to Jeong Hoon.

I might have forgotten to mention to Jeong Hoon that Min Woo was Korean, so he looked a little taken aback when Min Woo spoke in Korean.

“Annyeong haseyo,” he recovered. “Jeong Hoon-imnida. Sierra-ui namja chingu,” he said.

“Min Woo-eyo,” Min Woo replied. “Sierra-ui sajangnim.”

“Okay… now we can switch back to English before you guys start saying stuff I don’t understand,” I piped in.

I’d successfully broken the tension at this point, since the both of them cracked up and started laughing.

“Is she always this funny?” Min Woo asked Jeong Hoon.

“Yea… but it does border on lame sometimes,” he smirked at me, and I pouted.

“I’ll leave you 2 to enjoy your coffee break,” Min Woo said.

“Not joining us?” I asked.

“I’ve already had my coffee,” he smiled. “And I have another appointment.”

“Alright,” I smiled.

“Annyeonghikyeseyo,” Min Woo said.

“Annyeonghikaseyo,” Jeong Hoon said.

“Wasn’t that like a very formal goodbye?” I asked Jeong Hoon as soon as Min Woo was out of earshot.

“We’re only meeting for the first time. There’s nothing wrong with being formal.”

“Right… and he’s my boss,” I said.

“Yea…” he said as he started moving our cups and cakes off the tray and he walked off for a moment to put it back at the counter.

We ate in silence for a minute or two before he spoke up.

“So that’s your boss.”

“Not my immediate superior, but yes, my boss.”

“He’s really young,” Jeong Hoon said.

“He’s about your age.”

“Really?”

“But you look very young for your age, have I told you that?” I smiled, and Jeong Hoon laughed softly.

“Yes you have,” he smiled as he reached forward to nudge my chin with his finger.

We got home close to midnight that day. We had late dinner and went to a jazz bar after that to relax and listen to some music. When I got home, the living room was dark, save for the lamp my sister had left on. She’d been going to bed really early these days. Could be because her work environment had been extra hectic recently, since her company was getting a sudden influx of projects.

Jeong Hoon and I had gotten carried away tonight since I’ll be on assignment next weekend at Sentosa. I’d been assigned to cover a huge concert on Siloso Beach. Top performers from all over Asia have been invited to participate in this event. Finally… I’m going to meet TVXQ!

Chapter 9: Maybe

2007-06-17T18:35:00.000+08:00

It was the bracelet Jeong Hoon had given me last Christmas. My hand immediately went to my wrist and it was bare. I hadn’t even noticed that it had fallen off. Thank god Jeong Hoon hadn’t noticed, or he’d have gotten pretty upset. Min Woo had actually driven all the way here to return it. That was nice of him, almost too nice of him. I’ll need to thank him personally tomorrow.

I walked into my apartment and caught my sister and Dong Wook playing footsie in front of the TV again.

“You’re pretty late tonight,” my sister remarked.

“I had to meet up with Jeong Hoon and his cousin.”

“I didn’t know he had a cousin,” she said.

“What do you know about him?” I laughed.

“Cousin?” Dong Wook said. “Shin Hee’s in town?”

“Yea, you’ve met her?” I asked him.

“She’s been here a few times,” he said.

“But I’ve never met her.”

“Before you and Jeong Hoon started dating, she came down quite often during her holidays.”

“Are you saying that he’s told her not to visit him since we started dating?”

“Could be,” he shrugged. “Having her around can be pretty tiring. So Jeong Hoon probably preferred if she didn’t come, or he’d be so stressed dealing with the both of you.”

“Am I that hard to deal with?” I said, planting a hand on my hip.

“Of course not,” he smiled sweetly.

“Aisshiii,” I laughed and I turned to walk to my room.

The next morning, I paid Min Woo a visit as soon as I dropped my bags at my desk.

“Sonbae,” I said as I knocked on his door.

“Ah, Sierra,” he greeted me. “Why are you calling me sonbae again?” he pretended to sound offended.

“Mianhada,” I smiled. “Min Woo-ssi.”

“That’s better. What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to thank you for sending my bracelet back to me. All the way to my apartment,” I said. “By the way, how did you know where I lived?”

“Let’s just say I have my ways,” he winked. “It’s no trouble. I felt like driving, so…”

“Well, thank you. It was a gift from my boyfriend, and he would’ve gone berserk if he realized I’d lost it.”

“Then I’m glad I saved you from that possible scenario,” he smiled. “So have you handed in the presentation to Karyn?”

“Nope, but I will… in a moment.”

“Tell me when you do. I’ll go with you.”

“You don’t need to, Min Woo. I can hold my own against her.”

“But I want to. I know how she discriminates against you. I don’t need to be on the same floor to know how she treats you.”

“Why are you so nice to me?” I blurted out without thinking.

I was really curious. Why is he being so nice to me out of the blue? I’d been just another employee to him up till recently, and now he even wants to fight my battles for me.

“What do you mean?” he asked me.

As he looked as me intently, waiting for my reply, I decided to just lay it out. Can’t turn back now, can I?

“You’re willing to shield me from Karyn’s bullets, you help me with my work and you drove halfway across Singapore just to deliver a bracelet I’d dropped when you could easily get your secretary to hand it back to me. Why are you so nice to me?”

“Can’t an employer be nice to his employees? I’m here to offset bosses like Karyn. Where she is unable to perform, I come in to make up for it.”

“Are you sure it’s that simple?”

“Do you have reason to believe that it isn’t?”

“I just find it hard to believe that someone in your position would care about the welfare of someone like me.”

“What kind of a person are you?”

“I’m just the editor of the entertainment section, a junior editor at that.”

“And a contributor to making this magazine sell. You’re not just anyone in my book. Don’t sell yourself short, Sierra.”

I took a deep breath, and thought about what he said for a second.

“Aren’t you gonna sit down?” he asked me.

“No, thank you. I’ll need to get going if I want to avoid giving her another reason to rant at me.”

“Just so you know,” he added, “between us… Karyn’s not staying for long?”

“She’s getting a promoted?”

“She could be transferred to our headquarters in China.”

“That would be wonderful,” I laughed.

“Sure would. And someone would have to take her place eventually,” he added, and smiled meaningfully.

“And that someone is?” I asked him.

“Work hard… and you might stand a chance,” he said, and my mouth dropped open.

I was in shock at what he had suggested. I could be a Senior Editor? Was he crazy?

“I know it seem like a huge position to be filled, but trust me, it doesn’t take much. Karyn is a fine example, and we all know you will do much better than her.”

“We?”

“Me and the other senior editors. We’re rooting for your promotion.”

I left the room with my mouth still locked in the position it was in for the past few minutes. This is big news. I’d just been promoted to my current position, how is it possible that they would want to promote me to the next?

“Where were you?” Skye popped up as soon as I sat down.

“With Min Woo,” I said.

“Oooh… it’s Min Woo now, is it? What were you doing with him?” Skye said in a suggestive voice.

“Helloo… I’m dating your friend, Jeong Hoon, remember him; tall, brown-haired, sweet guy? How can you even suggest that I am doing anything with Min Woo sonbae?”

“Hey, hey… I didn’t even say anything. I was just asking you as a concerned colleague. I thought maybe you were being lectured by him or something.”

“Have you ever heard of Min Woo sonbae lecturing someone?”

“Sure he has. You’re just not around when those incidents happened.”

“He actually lectures people? Who?”

“Karyn?”

“He’s actually told her off before?”

“Sure he did,” Skye said. “Lee Min Woo is not someone you wanna mess with. When he gets mad, you wouldn’t wanna be at the end of the firing line.”

“I never imagined him to be such a person,” I laughed.

“Don’t be fooled. He’s no pushover,” Skye said as he went back to his emails.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said as I turned back to my desk.

I picked up my files and laptop and started walking towards Karyn’s office. Min Woo joined me as I approached her door.

“Sonbae,” I said, and I stopped walking. “Min Woo,” I corrected myself when he looked at me disapprovingly. “Chintcha… I can do this on my own.”

“I want to hear what you have to say to her,” he smiled, and he walked in ahead of me.

It was another hour before we finally emerged from Karyn’s office, with us being the victor. It was actually fun having Min Woo in there with me. Whatever ideas of mine Karyn shot down because of her obvious biased attitude towards me, Min Woo would stop her and defend the idea. By the end of the meeting, Karyn looked harried and subdued.

“Thanks, Min Woo,” I said as soon as the doors of Karyn’s office were closed.

“I didn’t think that I’d hear you say that,” he smiled.

“Say what?”

“‘Thanks, Min Woo’,” he said.

“Oh… well… it’s only polite to thank someone who has just saved your ass. Don’t you think?”

“Right,” he laughed. “I’ll see you around,” he said, and he walked off.

“How was the battle with the banshee?” Skye asked me as soon as I sat down.

“We triumphed,” I said, pumping my fists in exaggeration.

“We?”

“I was on my way in, and Min Woo joined me.”

“Min Woo? You mean Lee sonbae?”

“Yep,” I said as I started clicking happily on my computer screen.

“I guess you’re his new favorite then?” he said.

“Who was his old favorite?”

“Err… Karyn?” he said. “You never noticed?”

“I’ve never noticed anything about Lee Min Woo until the past 2 days.”

“Oh well… anyway… I heard that before she was promoted, she was sort of his favorite, and protégé.”

“Until he realized she was actually a banshee.”

“Yea… she changed into the banshee she is now, as soon as she got promoted,” Skye said. “I heard he was pretty upset about it too.”

If what Skye was saying is true, then I’ve just gotten myself into the middle of the fray. It seems like Min Woo is planning to make me the new protégé, and Karyn would have caught on by now. I guess I’m in for a bumpy ride until she gets posted to China.

Chapter 8: Can I

2007-02-26T17:11:00.001+08:00

“Who was that?” Jeong Hoon asked; his tone was stiff and emotionless.

“My boss,” I replied casually.

“You were with him all night?”

“All afternoon until just now, to be exact,” I said.

“Is there something going on between the two of you?” he asked me.

“Jeong Hoon, are you crazy?” I exclaimed. “I was just working late with my boss. Why are you jumping to conclusions?”

“You sounded different when you answered the phone earlier.”

“I was working. I was trying to focus. Why are you being so unreasonable? What are you really upset about? You’re sick of me? Are you? Are you sick of us?” I asked him.

“Mian,” he said, his expression softening as soon as those words came from my mouth.

“Already I’m so tired from work and you’re giving me this crap about me having an affair. Gawd!” I exclaimed.

“Mian,” he said and he pulled me into his arms quickly, as if I were about to run away in that split second.

“Jeong Hoon,” I gasped, because he was hugging me really tightly.

“Mian,” he whispered against my hair. “I didn’t know what came over me. I was waiting for you the whole night and I just flipped when I saw you pull up in that car with that guy.”

“What’s up with Min Woo?”

“He looked like such a player. I was afraid you were really involved with him.”

“He’s a nice guy, Jeong Hoon.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“It’s okay. Stop apologizing,” I said, and I kissed him.

“Are you hungry?” he asked as we pulled apart seconds later.

“Starving,” I said.

“Let’s go in,” he said as he took my hand.

Jeong Hoon’s cousin, Shin Hee, turned out to be a sweet little girl, albeit being spoilt. At least she was polite towards me.

“Annyeong,” she said as she stood up when I approached the table.

“Annyeong,” I smiled.

“Sierra, this is Shin Hee,” Jeong Hoon introduced. “Shin Hee, naui yeoja chingu, Sierra.”

“Oppa,” she said, “I speak English you know. I can understand if you introduced her to me in English,” she added as she smiled apologetically to me.

“It’s okay, Shin Hee,” I said as I sat down. “I understand some Korean.”

“Oh good!” she said, and she started speaking excitedly in a rapid stream of Korean.

“Shin Hee,” Jeong Hoon interrupted her.

“Wae?”

“She understands some. Not all,” he laughed as she looked at me with a confused expression.

“Yea. I only know the basics.”

“That was embarrassing,” she laughed nervously.

“It’s alright. I get that all the time,” I smiled.

“What are you eating?” Jeong Hoon asked me.

“I’ll just have mushroom soup and garlic bread,” I said, and Jeong Hoon walked over to the counter to order for me. His friend owned the cafe, so most of the time, we didn’t bother to call for the waiter. There are times when we’d walk straight into the kitchen to get whatever we wanted.

“Is that how you stay so slim?” Shin Hee asked me as soon as Jeong Hoon walked away.

“Me? No… I don’t have an appetite today. I usually eat as much as, sometimes more than Jeong Hoon.”

“Chongmal?”

“Yep…”

“Then how do you stay slim? I’ve tried so many diets but I can’t seem to get rid of my baby fats,” she said sadly.

“Really? I’m sorry, can’t really relate to that, because I’ve never had baby fats,” I said, trying not to sound smug. “But there was a time when I did put on weight, and I had to control my diet and exercise like crazy to lose it.”

“Hmm… maybe I should exercise,” she said wistfully.

“I think that would be the best way.”

“What’s the best way for what?” Jeong Hoon asked as he approached the table.

“Girl talk,” I said dismissively, and Shin Hee giggled.

“Yah… you better tell me or I’m gonna leave you here,” he threatened Shin Hee.

“Leave her alone, you big bully,” I poked Jeong Hoon in the ribs, and he jumped.

“You wanna play rough, huh?” he smirked at me. “I’ll get my revenge later,” he said as he looked at me meaningfully.

“You’re sending me home and you’re taking Shin Hee home with you.”

“I’m sending Shin Hee home, and I’m coming home with you.”

“No way,”

“Yes way…”

“Your under aged cousin is sitting right in front of you, quit the sexual innuendos.”

“She’s no longer under aged in Korea.”

“This is Singapore.”

“And who said anything sexual? I’ll just hit you where it won’t show,” he grinned.

“Yah! Kim Jeong Hoon!” I exclaimed.

“Oppa! You’re so bad. I’m gonna tell your mother.”

“Tattle-tale,” he said as he stuck his tongue out at her.

“Look at you,” I laughed. “Does he always behave like a 10 year old?” I asked Shin Hee.

“Always… His mother is always asking him to find a wife and grow up.”

“Tell her I’m not getting married, ever,” he said.

“Yah! Then what about me?” I glared at him. “If this is going nowhere, I think we should end this.”

“No, no… I meant that I won’t marry the girls she’s always trying to match make me with, since I have you,” he said quickly, as he put an arm around me.

“Hmmph!” I exclaimed as I tried to shrug his arm off.

“Hajima…” he pleaded, and he turned to glare at Shin Hee who was giggling at him.

Just then the waiter approached the table to put down the bowl of soup I’ve ordered.

“Thank you,” I said as I pulled the bowl across the table, towards me.

“Shall I feed you?” Jeong Hoon asked, sweetly.

“Save it,” I said as I focused my attention onto the bowl of soup while he sulked.

“Ya… onni… can I call you onni?”

“Sure.”

“Oppa is usually the king at home. It’s so nice to see someone who’s able to overpower him,” she laughed.

“I’m still in charge, okay,” he said as he puffed up his chest indignantly.

“Sure you are,” she laughed.

“He’s usually very well behaved,” I winked. “Ne?” I said as I turned to Jeong Hoon.

“Ne,” he bowed submissively, and Shin Hee laughed again.

“Good boy,” I said, and I kissed his cheek.

Few hours later, Jeong Hoon pulled up in front of my apartment gates, and I started to unbuckle my seatbelt.

“Want me to walk you in?” he asked me.

“It’s okay,” I said as I picked up my bags. “Shin Hee’s tired. You should go home.”

“Call you later,” he said as he leaned over to kiss my cheek.

“Araso,” I smiled. “Good night.”

As I walked into the lobby, the security guard called out to me.

“Miss Sierra, someone dropped this off for you awhile ago.”

“What is it?” I asked as he handed me an envelope.

“Don’t know. But a man dropped it off awhile ago and said that you’d left it behind in his car.”

“Thanks,” I said as I stared at the enveloped, puzzled.

I ripped the envelope open as I walked into the elevator, and inside was a bracelet.

Chapter 7: For A Moment

2007-02-01T10:17:00.002+08:00

10 minutes later, I walked into Lee sonbae’s office with my files and laptop.

“Sierra,” he smiled. “Pull up a chair.”

I nodded and did as I was told.

“Lynn, can you please bring in lunch,” he said to his secretary as he held down the intercom button.

“I really don’t want to take up your time, sonbae,” I said apologetically.

“You won’t. The main reason I wanted to help you was because I wanted to know more about the project myself.”

“In that case, let’s get to work,” I smiled.

Lunch consisted of sandwiches and coffee, and after that, we buried ourselves in the project. Working with Lee sonbae turned out to be a really enjoyable experience. He wasn’t stuffy and narrow-minded like some of the other editors, who always wanted things their way. He was open to my ideas and he gave me lots of constructive criticism. I also realized that his communication skills were excellent. I have yet to receive a critique from him that I did not agree with.

We were so absorbed in our work that we’d lost track of time. It wasn’t until Lynn came to inform Lee sonbae that she was going home that we realized the time.

“Are we done?” he asked me.

“Not quite,” I replied as I continued typing.

“Then I’ll stay until we finish,” he said.

“You don’t have to, sonbae. You should go home.”

“I’ll stay,” he said firmly, and I decided not to argue.

We continued to work and out of the blue, he called my name.

“Yes,” I said, as I looked up.

“Why do you keep calling me sonbae?” he asked.

“Isn’t that what I’m supposed to call you?” I asked him.

“You know what? From now on, call me Min Woo,” he said.

“Why?”

“I think we’ve worked closely enough to be on a first name basis.”

“The other seniors will frown upon it.”

“This is an order from me,” he said in mock seriousness. “You will call me Min Woo, or you will cease to be an employee with this magazine.”

“In that case,” I said. “Min Woo it is.”

“Good… now get back to work,” he smiled.

“Yes, Min Woo,” I laughed.

My phone rang at about 8pm. It was Jeong Hoon.

“Where are you?” he asked me as soon as I picked up.

“At work,” I replied.

“Didn’t you get my message?” he asked me. I moved the phone away from my ear to look at the screen. Sure enough, there was the indicator that I had a new message.

“Sorry,” I said. “I was so busy, I didn’t hear my phone.”

“We’ve been waiting for you for the past hour. Are you coming?” he said impatiently.

“I’m still working. I’ll meet up with you guys for drinks later?”

“Whatever,” he said, and he hung up.

“Boyfriend?” Min Woo asked as I flipped my phone shut.

“Yep… and he ain’t happy,” I drawled.

“If you need to leave, just go. I’ll finish up here,” he said.

“Twaeso…” I smiled. “Is that how you say it?”

“Yep,” he laughed.

“Yea… whatever. I’m meeting him later. So let’s just try to get this finished. I don’t want to face Karyn tomorrow, unprepared.”

It was 10pm when we finally shut down our laptops and packed up.

“You need a ride?” he asked me.

“I’m fine. I’ll take a taxi home.”

“You haven’t had dinner,” he reminded me.

“Oh, right! I’m supposed to meet my annoyed boyfriend,” I giggled.

“I’ll take you to him. I insist,” he said.

“Alright. Can I just zip to the loo for a moment?” I asked.

“Go ahead. I’ll wait at the reception area for you.”

After freshening up and reapplying my lipstick, I picked up my stuff from my desk and met up with Min Woo. We walked down to the car park and stopped in front of a black BMW M6 convertible. Min Woo unlocked the doors with his remote control, and opened the passenger door for me.

“Ma’am,” he bowed a litte, and I laughed at his exaggerated act of chivalry.

He got in on the other side and started the car. As he did, the top of the convertible opened up.

“Nice car,” I said.

“This old thing?” he laughed as we pulled out of the parking lot.

As we stopped at the first traffic light, I turned toward him to ask him a question.

“Min Woo… there’s something I’ve always wanted to ask a convertible car owner,” I said.

“What is it?”

“Have you ever been pooped on by birds flying past?” I said with a dead serious look.

He burst into laughter as I tried to control mine. In the end I gave in and laughed with him.

“That’s the first time I’ve had that question. All the girls who ride in my car would usually ask questions about my paycheck, the size of my apartment, stuff like that.”

“That’s so sad,” I smiled. “They’ll probably go through life with all such little niggling trivia unanswered.”

“Yes,” he agreed.

“So… have you ever been pooped on?” I asked.

“Well… it happened once, but I wasn’t in the car. And when I’m driving, the probability of this happening would be less, since I drive real fast.”

“How fast can this thing go?” I asked him.

“You want me to show you?”

“Sure,” I said.

“Ok, hang on. I’m just gonna put the top up. Or our faces might get rearranged by the force of the wind,” he laughed.

He turned out of the main street, onto the highway, and as soon as the top was up, he started accelerating the speed of the car. The scenery by the road started to speed by, faster and faster.

“Is this fast enough?” he asked me.

“Erm… I guess…” I said. I was a little nervous now. The speed was starting to get a little too scary for me.

“I think that’s enough,” he said. “I can see you’re a little freaked out.”

“I am…” I laughed nervously.

“Alright,” he said and he slowed the car down to a cruise. He brought the top back down, then he turned on the radio. Fly to the Sky’s Namjadapgeh was playing, and he sang along.

“I like this song,” I said.

“You do?”

“I have the album at home.”

“Mine’s playing right now,” he smiled. “We have the same tastes in music.”

“What a coincidence,” I replied.

“Actually, I guess not. FTTS are pretty popular. Many people listen to them.”

“In Korea, you mean. Not in Singapore.”

“Right…”

We finally arrived at the cafe where Jeong Hoon and his cousin were waiting for me. I actually felt a little dizzy as I stepped out of the car. Too much wind in my head I suppose.

“Thanks, Min Woo,” I said.

“No problem. You’re becoming a natural at saying my name.”

“I have an innate ability with languages. So names are a piece of cake,” I said.

“Right,” he smiled. “See you tomorrow,” he said and he drove off.

As I turned around, I saw Jeong Hoon standing on the sidewalk, glaring at me. He did not look ecstatic to see me.

Chapter 6: Give Me

2007-01-18T08:35:00.001+08:00

We were in the car park in the basement of my office’s building. Jeong Hoon’s hands were on my hips as his lips roamed across my neck and down to my collar. We’d had a quick breakfast at the nearby Delifrance had ended up here right after that.

“Why did you have to wear a blouse with such a high collar today?” Jeong Hoon grumbled as he continued to kiss me.

“Cos I knew you’d want to do this?” I giggled. My blouse’s collar ended with ruffles above my collarbone and there was no way to unbutton it, save for taking off the whole blouse.

I climbed over to sit on top of Jeong Hoon, my legs straddling him from either side and I returned his kisses as he lay there in the seat, slowly dragging his hands down my back, across my butt and down to my thighs. Thank got my skirt had high slits.

“I have to go,” I whispered as I nibbled his earlobe.

“Not yet,” he groaned and guided my head so that our lips met.

“I really need to go, or Karyn will have my ass,” I said.

“Tell her… your ass is mine,” he laughed softly as he gave me another hard kiss before he pulled away.

“I don’t think she cares,” I said as I climbed back to my seat and started straightening out my outfit.

“Bitch,” he laughed.

“Yes…” I agreed as I reapplied my lipstick. “I’ll see you at lunch,” I said as I turned to look at him.

“Okay,” he smiled. I reach over to rub of some of my lipstick which has ended at the corners of his mouth.

“Love you,” I whispered.

“Saranghae,” he replied and leaned over to kiss me gently and slowly. “You’d better go before I get started again,” as he nibbled my lips before he pulled away.

“Yep,” I laughed as I opened the door.

I walked into the lobby feeling giddy from all the passion earlier. So giddy, that I didn’t notice Lee sonbae until I walked right into him. I felt myself losing balance, falling to the ground and I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the impact of it. That’s when he caught me by the waist and pulled me up. We were face to face and glued to each other from waist down. I could feel his breath fanning softly against my cheek and I blushed as soon as I realized the compromising position we were in.

“Choesonghamnida,” I said and quickly pulled away.

“No harm done,” he smiled. “Just be careful next time. Someone else might not have such quick reflexes,” he winked.

“Nae,” I bowed a little and I started walking really quickly towards the elevator. It was a little silly of me to do that in the first place, since he was going up too, and we’d definitely have to share an elevator.

“Did I scare you back there?” he asked as he fell into step beside me.

“Erm… no. Why do you say that?” I replied.

“You were running away from me,” he laughed softly.

“I was? No I wasn’t.”

“Then it must be your great enthusiasm in getting to work,” he smiled.

“Hmm?” I looked at him.

“You must be dying to get to your desk and start working,” he said.

“Oh… yea,” I smiled. This was getting a little too awkward for me. Sure I wasn’t one of his fans, but somehow, today, he’d managed to make my heart go pitter-patter. ‘It’s just the shock from almost falling!’ I told myself as I took a deep breath.

The elevator finally arrived and we descended the floors in silence. I heaved a sigh of relief when I arrived at my floor.

“See you later,” he smiled as I walked out.

“Later?” I repeated after him.

“The meeting, remember?” he smiled as the elevator doors closed.

Damn! I forgot about the meeting. I’ll have to cancel my lunch plans with Jeong Hoon today, since the meeting was a lunch meeting. I dumped my bags onto my desk and whipped out my phone to call him.

“Hello?” he answered.

“Jeong Hoon, I can’t have lunch with you and your cousin today,” I said.

“Why?”

“I have a lunch meeting.”

“Oh… dinner then?”

“I’ll call you later,” I said.

“Okay. I’ll be fine. Call me once you’re able to get off work.”

“Right! Love you,” I said. I sure used it a lot today. Must be my brain recognizing the permanence of Jeong Hoon in my life.

“Saranghae,” he said, and I could picture him smiling his sexy smile as he said it.

“Saranghae…” I heard Skye mimic as soon as I flipped my phone shut.

“Shuddup!” I said as I started to unpack my laptop from my bag.

“You sure turned him into a blob of mush,” Skye laughed. “I’ve never known Jeong Hoon to be so mushy and romantic during our school days.”

“Then I guess I’m what he’s been missing in his life,” I smiled.

“And why would you think that? The last thing a guy needs is a girl to turn him into a useless blob of mush. I’d rather stay a man and be without a woman.”

“I’ll be sure to tell your next target what you’d just said.”

“Hey… keep that between me and you. The ladies have me pegged as a sensitive male and I don’t need you ruining my rep for me.”

“Player,” I said as I turned on my laptop. Hundreds of emails popped up in my Inbox as soon as I logged on. I groaned as I started to go through them. With the concert and Fashion Week coming, I had my hands full. Mails from sponsors, event coordinators, fashion houses, I was swamped. I let out a loud sigh.

“Sighing so early in the morning?” Shoei said as he appeared beside me.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to get on track with my work,” I whined.

“Why’s that?” he asked.

“I can’t even finish clearing my emails.”

“Clearing emails? There is a way to clear them all at once.”

“How? Show me.”

“Okay,” he said as he leaned between my and my laptop. He click on one of my emails in the list, hit CTRL+A to highlight all the mail, then hovered the mouse over the delete button. Before I could scream, he clicked it and the mails started to disappear.

“Shoei!!!” I screamed and he just laughed. “What did you do?” I exclaimed as I stared at the screen in shock.

“I cleared the mails away,” he laughed.

“I meant clear in the sense of reading them. Not deleting them!”

“Chill… They’re still saved in your recycling bin,” he laughed as he started clicking around my screen and the mails reappeared. “There you go.”

“Not funny,” I said as I hit his arm.

“You really need to relax. You’re so high-strung today.”

“Gah!!! Leave me alone!” I said.

“Okay, grumpy…” he laughed as he walked away.

I worked feverishly all morning until someone tapped me on the shoulder. I looked up and saw Skye peering down at me.

“What?”

“It’s time for the meeting,” he reminded me.

“Oh…” I said as I stood up quickly and started gathering my stuff.

“What’s with you today?” Skye asked me.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re so nervous and blur.”

“I’m just… not having a good day,” I said. It was a lame excuse. I had no explanation for why I felt like that today. It certainly wasn’t a bad day, but I wasn’t sure why I felt so unsettled.

“Not a good day?” Skye smirked. “I saw you and Jeong Hoon this morning. Not a good day?” he smiled knowingly.

“Where did you see us?” I asked him.

“In the parking lot,” he coughed and winked at me.

“Omigod!” I exclaimed. “You stalker!”

“Hey… who would missed his pimped out Mitsubishi. I’d recognized the license plate and walked over cos I saw that the engine was still on. As soon as I saw what you both were up to, I turned and walked away. I’m a gentleman. I don’t stare.”

“Fine… whatever… let’s go,” I said as we walked quickly towards the conference room.

Everyone was seated and waiting when we entered.

“Sierra-shi,” Karyn’s voice grated. “You had to be fashionably late hadn’t you?”

“She should be the Fashion Editor then,” Lee sonbae joked and everyone laughed. Despite Lee sonbae’s effort to lighten the mood, Karyn didn’t look amused.

“I’m sorry, I got carried away with my emails,” I explained.

“Don’t we all,” Karyn replied. “Let’s see your presentation.”

Shoei helped me hook up my laptop to the projector and I started my presentation. As soon as I finished, I looked at the senior editors, waiting for some input and comment. Finally, Karyn spoke.

“Redo it,” she said.

“I beg your pardon?” I said. I was in shock. Did she just ask me to redo weeks of research?

“Redo everything. This is utter rubbish!” she said as she looked at me challengingly.

What had I done in my past life to deserve a boss like her?

“Yes,” I sighed and just then, Lee sonbae cut in.

“I don’t think it needs to be redone,” he said.

“Why? Don’t you think it's all nonsense?” Karyn exclaimed, surprised that Lee sonbae defended me.

“It just needs improvement. Come see me after lunch, Sierra. I’ll help you fix it,” he said.

“Well…” Karyn huffed. “In that case, it’s your call. Meeting dismissed,” she said as she got up and left the room.

I packed up my stuff as everyone else filed out of the room. Lee sonbae just sat there and looked at me.

“Sierra,” he said.

“Yes?” I replied as I looked up.

“I think we should have lunch in my office. Come over with all your materials. I’ll get my secretary to order in some lunch,” he said.

“I don’t want to inconvenience you, Lee sonbae.”

“You won’t” he smiled as he got up. “Be in my office in 20 minutes,” he smiled as he walked out of the conference room.

Chapter 5: Patch It Up

2006-12-26T10:09:00.000+08:00

“Jeong Hoon,” I exclaimed. “What are you doing?” He looked at me and his face darkened.

“Waiting for you, what do you think?” he said.

“Didn’t you say you were going home?”

“Would you forgive me if I did?” he said. I kept quite for I knew the answer to that question. He knew me well. He knew that if he wasn’t here now, I’d be pissed for the rest of the week. I opened the door and walked into the apartment without another word as he trailed after me.

“Have you eaten?” I asked him.

“Yea,” he replied curtly as he sat down on the sofa.

“I’m gonna have my dinner and I’ll be right out,” I said.

“Okay,” he said as he switched on the television.

I ate quickly and took a shower before I came back out to the living room. I didn’t think I would be able to pay attention to him while I was sweaty and grimy from my walk home from the bus stop. I walked into the living room and sat beside him, facing the television. We pretended to watch the television in silence for the next few minutes, or at least I did, and Jeong Hoon finally spoke.

“So are you going to hear me out?” he asked.

“Mm…” I murmured, not looking at him. He turned off the television and adjusted himself so that his body faced me.

“The girl who called yesterday… she’s my cousin,” he said.

“So why couldn’t you just tell me that when I asked?”

“I was panicking myself because she wasn’t supposed to be here.”

“What do you mean?”

“She sort of ran away from home,” he explained.

“How old is she?”

“She’s only 17.”

“So what are you going to do about her?”

“I’ve called her parents to inform them that she’s safe with me. I’ll let her stay a couple of days before I try to persuade her to go home.”

“And meanwhile, who’s entertaining her when you’re at work?”

“I’ve taken the day off tomorrow to bring her sight-seeing. You want to come along?”

“If you’d told me earlier, I could’ve taken the day off tomorrow. It’s too late now.”

“No problem, I’ll be fine. I can show her around myself.”

“Hey!” I exclaimed as I suddenly remembered. “If you didn’t know she was coming, why did she say that you were supposed to pick her up?”

“She sent me a text message before she boarded the plane in Korea. I didn’t see it until after her phone call that morning,” he reasoned as he took my hand. “You doubt me?”

“Mian,” I said as I leaned over into his arms and he put his arms around me. “You have to admit it was pretty sudden. Any concerned girlfriend would behave like that.”

“Mian,” he whispered and kissed my hair. “I’ll be quicker at explaining stuff the next time.”

“So where are you taking her?”

“Shopping,” he sighed. “Where else?”

“You can meet me for lunch,” I suggested. “I’d like to meet your cousin.”

“Sure,” he said. “I’ll call you when we arrive. I’ll pick you up.”

“Okay,” I smiled. I pulled away from him and stood up. “You’d better go home,” I said.

“Chasing me away?” he grinned.

“No… it’s late and you’ve not showered and stuff.”

“Araso, I’ll go now,” he smiled. “Naeil payo,” he said and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.

“Is that all I get?” I said, pretending to be annoyed. “That’s what you call a make-up kiss?”

“Mian,” he said and he pulled me to him and kissed me slowly. I put my arms around him, not caring that he’d been out the whole day and had not showered. We pulled away sometime later and I noticed his eyes looked like they were half-closed.

“Are you sleepy?” I asked him.

“Nah,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “Just felt so comfortable that I could just relax and fall asleep.”

“I make you sleepy?” I asked him.

“No,” he said, putting his arm around me and dragging me along as he walked to the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said and he kissed me again before walking off.

Danae came back an hour later, with Dong Wook in tow.

“Where did you go?” I asked her.

“We went to the opening night of this new play. Hossan Leong was hilarious!” she grinned.

“I don’t know what she sees in him,” Dong Wook sighs.

“She has weird tastes,” I replied.

“Hey… are you trying to imply that I’m weird?” Dong Wook asked me.

“Hmm… maybe you are,” I laughed as I walked into my room and closed the door.

I turned on my laptop and began my nightly ritual of scouring the internet for the latest news on TVXQ. I’m not some stalker fan, mind you. This is research… so that I will be prepared when I interview them at Sentosa. I stared at Jae Joong’s photo, the one taken for the Prince in Prague photo book. He looked mesmerizing as usual. I could drown myself in those eyes of his. How could someone look so gorgeous all the time? How could someone have that kind of intensity in his eyes all the time? I flipped my laptop shut at 11pm. Time for bed. As I snuggled against my bolster under the covers, I imagined myself hugging Jae Joong.

My phone rang and I opened one eye to peek at it. It didn’t sound like my alarm. I looked at the time on my radio clock; it’s too early for my alarm to ring.

“Hello,” I mumbled into the phone as I flipped it open.

“Sierra, you awake?” Jeong Hoon asked.

“What do you think?” I said as I yawned and stretched.

“Do you wanna go for breakfast together?” he asked. What’s up with him? Feeling guilty?

“Breakfast? We’ve never had breakfast on a week day,” I don’t get down that easily :P

“Have you forgotten?” he said.

“Forgotten what?”

“It’s been a year already.”

“A year? A year of what?”

“Gawd!!! You’re so dense in the morning,” he said, exasperated. “It’s been one year since we’ve met!”

“Oooh…” I giggled. “Mian.”

“I’m not gonna do the remembering for our next anniversary,” he complained. I could almost imagine him pouting as he said that.

“You think we're gonna last that long?” I teased.

“Yaah!! What are you getting at?”

“Mian,” I laughed. “I’ll get dressed. Come pick me in half an hour.”

“Ppali,” he said.

“Araso,” I replied and hung up.

30 minutes later, I stood at the gates of the condo’s compound waiting for Jeong Hoon. I was dressed in a feminine blouse adorned with lace and a simple pencil skirt. I decided that today since today was a special day, I was allowed a new pair of shoes. I happily unearthed my new pair of kitten-heeled ballet shoes that I bought a few weeks ago. They felt wonderfully comfortable. It pays to pay more because my feet didn’t feel pinched and I didn’t feel any blisters coming. Jeong Hoon pulled up minutes later in his pimped out Mitsubishi. I remember when he first got that car. I was wondering if I’d dated the wrong guy. I hadn’t imagined him to be like that. I thought that he’d just buy a nice, classic European car.

“Hello,” I smiled as I got in. I reached over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and turned to put on my seatbelt.

“That’s all I get?” he asked.

“You’ll get more, later,” I winked.

“I’d better,” he laughed as we pulled out onto the main road.

Chapter 4: First Craze

2006-12-16T20:54:00.000+08:00

“Sierra-shi… were you late today?” Karyn’s voice grated like nails on a blackboard.

“No, Karyn. I was on time.”

“Good. We wouldn’t want to be late on our first day as an editor.”

“Is there anything else, Karyn? I have a meeting in 10 minutes.”

“Yes, your first huge assignment,” she said as she dumped a thick file in front of me. “It’s an upcoming concert to be held on Sentosa. We expect you to cover it. You’re allowed to bring a partner.”

I flipped through the file and scanned through the artistes invited. Wang Lee Hom, Guang Liang, Wu Yue Tian, Edison Chen, Eru, Bada… and my heart stopped in my chest… TVXQ! I struggled to maintain my composure. “Erm… I’ll be sure to do a good job. Can I go now?”

“Yes,” she said and immediately turned to face her laptop.

I dashed out of her room to my cubicle. I sat down and I started to flip though the file again. Were my eyes deceiving me? Lee Hom, Guang Liang, Wu Yue Tian… I chanted in my mind as I flipped through. And there they were again, right after Bada. TVXQ! I stared at their photo; it was the one on the Version B of their 3rd album, the one where they all looked dangerous and manly. Can I scream? I want to scream with joy! And I did. Immediately, Skye’s head popped up from his cubicle.

“What’s wrong?” he asked with a shocked expression. “Did you get your period or something?”

“No!” I said, apalled. Sometimes Skye could be really crude.

“Then what is it? People are going to think you’re nuts.”

“TVXQ’s coming!!” I squealed in excitement.

“Where? Here? Our office?”

“No, silly. I’m covering the concert they’re gonna perform in.”

“Concert? Can I come? Who else is on the list of performers?”

“Your favourite, Bada,” I said and mischievously added, “I’m allowed a partner, and I’m not bringing you with me.”

“Sierra-yah…” Skye said as he came over to my cubicle. “Please take me with you! Chebal!!” he wailed and he shook my arm.

“We’ll have to see if you behave yourself for the rest of the week,” I winked.

“Aaahhh… Sierra-yah… You’re so evil.”

“What’s going on?” Shoei said he walked over.

“This girl…” Skye started.

“What about me?” I said as I batted my eyelashes.

“What’s with the screaming just now?” Shoei asked.

Just in case I’ve not described the two of them, they’re both tall and have great figures, but I’m not interested. Shoei’s a little darker than Skye since he loved to surf. Shoei reminds me of Hyde from L’arc en Ciel, the Japanese band with a hint of Takeshi Kaneshiro going on. He wears a pair of thick framed glasses to work. He’s serious to the point of being able to have a straight face, a deathly serious face, even when he was obviously cracking a joke. We’d laugh our heads off after he was done and he’d just smile. He had a mysterious smile, so it’s no wonder that he was one of the most revered guys in the office, apart from Lee Min Woo sonbae. Skye? Skye’s like part Won Bin with those eyes of his and the rest of his face fulfills the prerequisites of being a Korean pretty boy; the nose, the bone structure down to the jaw line. However, because he didn’t maintain an air of mystery about him and was almost too approachable, he wasn’t the most popular, but he still had his fair share of fans.

“Her idols are coming to town,” Skye sniffed. “So is Bada…”

“I’m going to cover a concert and TVXQ are performing in it.”

“Your dream come true,” Shoei smiled. Everyone knew about my obsession with TVXQ.

“Can you believe it?” I beamed at Shoei.

“Right, great, calm down… you’re gonna get a stroke,” he laughed.

During lunch, Jeong Hoon called while I was happily eating my pasta.

“What do you want?” I said in a surly tone as soon as I flipped the phone open.

“Sierra-yah,” he drawled sweetly, obviously trying to be cute. “You’re not still upset, are you?”

“That’s an understatement,” I said. “What do you want? I’m in the middle of lunch.”

“Will I see you tonight?” he asked.

“I thought you were busy with your fiancée from Korea,” I replied.

“She’s not my fiancée,” he said. “Stop acting like that.”

“Then who is she?” I half yelled into the phone. Several people in the restaurant started looking at me.

“Pipe down,” Shoei hissed at me and I rolled my eyes at him.

“I’ll tell you everything tonight, I just wanted to know if you had time to meet me tonight,” he said. He was starting to sound a little impatient, but I didn’t care. I was still hurt.

“Whatever,” I said and I flipped my phone shut before he could say anything.

“Can you not do that in public?” Shoei said as soon as I’d hung up on Jeong Hoon.

“Do what?” I said innocently.

“Make a scene,” Shoei said sternly. He was the kind of guy who liked to be inconspicuous and yet he possessed an aura which demanded everyone to look at him. It was truly ironic.

“I’m not making a scene,” I defended myself.

“No, you’re just making noise,” Skye snorted.

“Shuddup, Skye,” I said and made a face at him.

We were back at the office within the hour and bumped into Lee sonbae on our way up. I just keep bumping into him all day.

“Where did you guys go?” Lee sonbae asked.

“This Italian place nearby,” Skye replied.

“The one beside the Vietnamese restaurant about a block away?”

“That’s the one,” Skye smiled.

“I was there yesterday, they served great appetizers,” Lee sonbae said.

“We didn’t really have time for appetizers,” I said.

“Has Karyn been on your cases for having long lunches again?” he asked.

“Nah… we just prefer not to aggravate her,” Shoei replied.

“She’s a capable woman. She just doesn’t know how to be nice, that’s all,” Lee sonbae laughed.

“See ya, Lee sonbae,” Skye said as the elevator doors opened on our floor.

“See ya,” Shoei and I said as we waved at Lee sonbae and walked out.

It was 7pm. There was so much to do today that I’d been glued to my laptop ever since we came back from lunch.

“You’re not leaving yet?” Shoei stood beside my desk. He’d his laptop bag slung over his shoulders, ready to leave.

“In a moment,” I said as I continued to reply a mail.

“Do you want me to wait for you? I’ll walk you to your bus stop,” he offered.

“I’ll be fine. You go on ahead,” I looked up and smiled at him.

“If you say so,” he said and turned to walk off.

“Bye,” I called after him, and he raised an arm in response, without turning back.

I continued to type for another half hour, and my mobile phone rang. It was Jeong Hoon. I scowled at his caller ID before I answered.

“Wae?” I said, grumpily.

“Open up!” he said.

“What?”

“I’m at your door and I’ve been ringing the bell for ages. Are you in the shower?” he asked.

“No, I’m still at work,” I said.

“What?” he yelled and added some expletives.

“Hey! Don’t use that sort of language on me!” I yelled back at him. “You didn’t tell me what time you planned to go to my house and you didn’t bother to call before going to my house either.”

“Are you coming back?” he asked me, and he still sounded pissed.

“I’m leaving in a moment,” I replied.

“I’ll come pick you up,” he said.

“It’s gonna take you like half an hour to get here,” I complained.

“Fine! Get home yourself!” he yelled and hung up on me.

I stared at the phone. What was up with him? Was he going through hormonal changes?

I packed up and left within the next 15 minutes. It was a bit past 9pm by the time I’d gotten my takeaway dinner and reached home. As I walked out the elevator, I saw a figure crouched in front of my apartment’s door.

Chapter 3: Obsessions

2006-11-27T17:42:00.002+08:00

5 minutes later, Jeong Hoon emerged from the bathroom.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” I asked him through gritted teeth.

“Mian,” he said as he kissed me on the cheek. “I’ve no time to explain now. I’ll call you tonight,” and he walked out of my room.

I finally get the job I want, live in the apartment I want and now there is the possibility that my boyfriend is cheating on me. So much for the first day of my supposedly new life. I walked out of my room and found Danae and Dong Wook eating their cereal in front of the TV.

“Where did John Hoon run off to?” Danae asked.

“I have no idea. Some girl called and off he ran,” I sighed. “I see you’ve got the TV hooked up.”

“Dong Wook needs his weekly dose of cartoons,” Danae said and Dong Wook kicked her feet playfully.

“I’m going back to sleep,” I said and I went back to my room to lie on my bed. I couldn’t sleep. Who the hell was that girl? Why couldn’t Jeong Hoon take 1 minute to explain her to me? I decided to surf the Internet since I couldn’t get back to sleep. Thank god I had the sense to hookup my broadband before I moved in. I could never survive without the Internet. It was my source of entertainment. I would spend hours surfing on all the things that interested me. The latest clothes and accessories, the latest chick lit available and of course, the endless stream of celebrity news, especially those concerning my favorite Korean band, TVXQ!

My obsession with TVXQ began more than two years ago, when I happened to watch their performance at the MKMF awards. They were singing Tri-Angle and they were dressed in their gothic inspired outfits. The first member I noticed was U-Know Yun Ho because he was the most boyish looking of the bunch. On a trip to Hong Kong, I bought their first album and listened to it every single day. When their second album was finally released, my attention shifted to Hero Jae Joong. I’d seen him in their Japanese music video for the song My Destiny from the album Heart, Mind and Soul, which I’d bought when I found that Rising Sun was not available at that moment, and I’ve started to fall for his beautiful face. Don’t get me wrong, beautiful he may be, but he is every inch a man, in my opinion. Ever since their release of the third album last year, I’ve been continuously obsessed with every bit of information regarding their work and their lives and this obsession did not sit well with Jeong Hoon.

“They’re younger than you are!!” he once said.

“Lots of women date younger men. Besides, Jae Joong is technically only 2 years younger than I am. That’s not such a big difference,” I said defiantly.

“Yes… and their taller, they’re much more muscular, they sing better, they dance better, did I miss anything out?”

I could see he was upset and I felt a teensy bit sorry for upsetting him. I walked over and hugged him and whispered in his ear, “You missed something.”

“What?” he said in a surly tone.

“You’re here, and they’re not,” and I kissed him.

Sometimes I wonder, where does the fantasy stop and where does real life begin. Call it wishful thinking, or you can even say I’m mad. Sometimes, I’d want to meet them so much that I’d conjure up images of them in my head and I’d imagine they’re right in front of me. The closest I’ve ever been to them is at their first concert in Malaysia. Pretty sad, eh? And sometimes, I really want an opportunity to at least communicate with them, or get their attention. But I’m not brave like those girls who crowd at the airport with banners, screaming at the top of their lungs and trying to rush forward to get a glimpse or touch them. Would they really notice someone in a crowd? Or a crowd is simply a sea of faces to them. And because I don’t know enough Korean, I miss out on info only Korean fans would know; like how to post on their official site or read their special messages to Cassiopeia.

Cassiopeia… At times, it irks me when they only thank Cassiopeia whenever they made a speech. I’m not a member of their official fan club. But that sure the hell doesn’t mean that I love them any less. It just isn’t convenient to sign up here. Or maybe I just haven’t tried hard enough. Oh well, enough with the bitterness. All TVXQ fans unite! Cassiopeia or not, we have one thing in common; that is our love and support for them. How I wish I could tell them in person someday.

Jeong Hoon never called and Sunday quickly came to an end. Before I knew it, I’d spent the whole day in front of the PC amassing thousands of bytes of TVXQ photos and videos. Jeong Hoon would have a fit if he saw this, but at this moment, I couldn’t care less. He was the one who disappeared without a word. I’m not about to feel guilty for all that I’ve done today. By the time I went to bed that night, he still hadn’t called. I’m so ready to murder him.

The next morning, I woke up as soon as my alarm rang. My first day as editor of the entertainment section at ‘Hot!’ I looked at my mobile phone and sure enough, there was a message from Jeong Hoon.

‘Miss u baby! <3 CU 2nite.’

I flipped my phone shut. I wasn’t going to reply his message. After what he did yesterday, he’d better come prepared to grovel tonight. I got up and started flipping through my closet. What shall I wear today? Not too formal, not too casual. I’m an editor now. I need to exude some professionalism but not seem like I’m trying too hard. I finally decided on a pair of grey slacks, a peach colored three quarter sleeved, round-necked top with a colorful knitted vest on top. I showered quickly and got dressed. Then I started putting on my makeup. The truth is I hardly wear any makeup; apart from a dusting of loose powder, eye liner, mascara and lipstick. I prefer to look as natural as possible as opposed to caking on makeup on my face.

I walked out of my room and started to make my breakfast. Danae emerged from her room after as I was walking out the door. Her job at the recording studios was more flexible than mine. If she didn’t have an appointment in the morning, she’d usually sleep in.

“I’m leaving,” I said and closed the door. As I descended in the elevator, I hooked up my MP3 player and plugged it into my ears. Call me a traitor, but these days, FTTS is all I listen to. TVXQ are my main eye candy though. I crossed the highway which separated me from the bus stop on the other side. It was about 7:45am and there were at least 7 people already waiting at the bus stop. My bus finally arrived and I cursed when I saw that it was full. I’ll probably have to stand all the way to the office today. Standing is such a physically taxing activity at such early hours in the morning.

I reached the office one hour later. After purchasing my daily cup of latte from Coffee Bean on the ground floor, I went into the elevator and hit the button for my floor. In the elevator with me was our chief editor, Lee Min Woo. I might not have mentioned this, but ‘Hot!’ was a Korean owned magazine and it had originated from Korea. Due to that fact, most of the senior positions at ‘Hot!’ were held by Koreans such as himself. He’s only 27 year old and that’s a pretty young to be a chief editor. We keep an almost informal culture at ‘Hot!’ Therefore when we met seniors like him, we’d just call him sonbaenim (senior).

“Lee sonbaenim,” I greeted him as I entered the elevator.

“Ah, Sierra. First day as an editor, I heard,” he winked. Lee sonbaenim was always full of charisma. It didn’t hurt that he had a hot body to boot. All the girls at the office fawn over him whenever he walks by. The bolder ones are always popping into his office and asking him if he needs a drink or a snack. If they keep this up, he’s going to lose his fit body and the adoration of his fans.

“Ne, sonbaenim,” I acknowledged him.

“Nervous?” he asked.

“Anieyo, sonbaenim,” I replied.

“Hmm… you seem to be a one liner,” he laughed.

“Ne?”

“Every question I’ve asked you, you replied with a short sentence.”

“Mianhamnida,” I said.

“There you go again,” he laughed. “Do I scare you?”

“Anieyo, sonbaenim.”

“Well, you’d better learn to speak in longer sentences. You seem so different today, compared to the girl I saw during the presentation last week. It was your great communication skills that got you this position. So be sure to use it well,” he smiled and oozed with charisma as he did.

“Erm… actually, the reason I have not much to say is because I’ve not had my morning coffee,” I smiled as I held up my cup.

“Oh! I see. I don’t blame you. On a bad day, I’ll need my second cup before I can think straight.”

“This is me,” I said as the elevator doors opened. Lee sonbaenim’s office is on the floor above mine.

“I’ll see you around,” he smiled and waved as the elevator doors closed, the kind of wave where he only stuck out his index and middle finger.

“Was that Lee sonbaenim?” the receptionist on my floor squealed as soon as I turned around.

“Yes, it’s him,” I rolled my eyes. Groupies…

“You got to ride in the same elevator as he did!!! How lucky are you? I bet you’ll have a great day today,” she continued squealing.

“Right…” I drawled as I walked in. As soon as I put my bag down on my desk, Skye popped up from the cubicle behind me.

“Yo!” he said.

“Stop popping up like that,” I glared at him. “I almost spilled my latte.”

“Mian,” he smiled. “So how was your weekend?”

“Don’t ask,” I said as I started to toss the files on my desk aside to make room for my coffee and laptop.

“Aah… lovers’ quarrel,” Skye laughed.

“It’s all your fault,” I pointed at him.

“And why is it my fault?” he asked, pretending to look hurt.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. You introduced Jeong Hoon to me.”

“And you should thank me,” he said. “Isn’t he like the hottest guy you’ve ever dated?”

“I’ve dated plenty of hot guys, thank you.”

“Well… they didn’t last as long as he did, did they?” he smirked.

“Wipe that expression off your face!” I said as I sat down and turned on my laptop.

“So what happened?” he asked as he came over to lean on my table.

“Some girl called yesterday, looking for her Jeong Hoon oppa.”

“And?”

“He didn’t explain who the girl was.”

“Hmm… okay. That was wrong of him.”

“Thank you.”

“Is he planning to tell you?”

“I wouldn’t know. Why don’t you ask him?”

“I will,” Skye smiled. “Now don’t get upset or your pretty face will get wrinkled.”

“Who’s wrinkled?” a voice came from behind us. It was Shoei.

“No one,” I said as I started to scroll through my email. Shoei was one-third of our group at the office. As you might have figured, Skye and Shoei are my closest friends at work. On the first day of work, none of the girls wanted to have lunch with me and till this day, I didn’t know why. Even though they’ve warmed to me and we’re all friends now, but my lunch group and sometimes weekend party group consists of me, Skye and Shoei. Before I forget, Shoei works in our IT department, maintaining our website. He’s from Japan.

“Karyn wants to see you,” Shoei said as he picked up my latte and took a sip.

“What about?” I asked him. Karyn was one of the senior editors and bitch with a capital ‘B’.

“Maybe she wants to congratulate you on your promotion?” Skye said and he’d meant that to be funny. Karyn and I were never on good terms. Before my promotion, she was always on my case and her favorite thing to do was to publish my mistakes for all to see during departmental meetings. Lucky for us, we had another senior editor, Jae Hee, who was sane and not a bitch. She would come to our rescue most of the time.

“Sierra-shi,” Karyn sang from her office. She had this annoying high-pitched voice that made our hairs stand whenever she spoke.

“You’d better go,” Shoei said as he walked off to his cubicle.

“Coming…” I groaned and started walking to Karyn’s office like my shoes were filled with lead.

Chapter 2: First Day

2006-11-25T01:26:00.000+08:00

We were running up and down settling down boxes and unpacking the stuff we’d brought over from the flat. When we arrived earlier, we celebrated by ‘popping’ cans of Coke at the door before we opened it. Our new living room was painted in white. The rental had included furnishings; a white leather couch with a glass coffee table, a wooden TV cabinet stained in black stood opposite the couch, there was a small round dining table with a set of matching chairs, and apart from the stove and fridge, the kitchen lacked all other appliances. There was a washing room and a brand new Samsung washing machine stood in it, gleaming.

“It’s a front loader,” Danae exclaimed. “Now we have to throw away all the washing liquid we’d brought over from our old flat.” Just in case anyone is clueless, front loading washing machines need low suds washing liquid or the bubbles will leak or even flow and burst out of the machine. Top loading washing machines take any kind of washing liquid.

“Well, at least our clothes will never be ruined again,” I reminded her. Top loading washing machines are like the Tazmania Devil on Looney Tunes. They damage your clothes really fast, whereas front loading washing machines are gentle on clothes. I sound like a housewife, don’t I? Sigh… it comes from living alone and having a little sister to care for and boss around.

Once, Jeong Hoon made a remark about my motherly attitude.

“Sierra, if I needed a mother, I’d go back to Korea. Can you please act like a girlfriend?” he said. I’d been nagging him about something and it just blew his top off.

Not to be outdone, since I’d built up steam from nagging at him, I replied, “If I needed to feel like a mother, I’d adopt an orphan.”

“You’re driving me nuts, Sierra. Can't you just sit there and be quiet for a moment?” he said as he continued to type on his laptop, not even looking up when he was talking to me. We were in his apartment and he was too preoccupied with his laptop to even give me some attention.

“Fine, I’ll grant you your silence,” I said as I stood up and picked up my bag. As my hand reached the door handle, Jeong Hoon caught my waist and wrapped his arms around me, my back against the front of his body. He buried his face in my hair and inhaled.

“Kajima,” he said. “Mianhae…” My Korean wasn’t good then, and it’s still mediocre now, but I knew what he meant. It wasn’t fair that he knew my weakness. He knew that whenever he pleaded me in Korean, I’d just turn into putty. I sighed and he released me to turn me around so that I faced him.

“You’re obviously busy, we’ll just meet another day,” I said.

“Can’t you just accompany me?” he said. “It feels lonely to sit here and work alone.”

From that day onwards, I brought my laptop with me whenever I went to his place and we’d work together in the evenings.

“Be careful with that!!” I shouted at Jeong Hoon when I saw him tossing my precious poster around. I grabbed it from him and walked away.

“Sometimes, I think you love those 5 guys more than you love me,” Jeong Hoon laughed.

“Maybe I do, since they’ve never ridiculed me,” I replied as I walked around in search of the perfect spot to hang up my TVXQ poster. My new room was a little larger than my last. I had a queen sized bed with matching closets and dressing table and in the corner by the window, was my brand new workspace. After a long argument with Jeong Hoon, we came to an agreement that I would not hang the poster in my room, but I could hang it in the corridor leading to the front door.

“I’m not going to put up with 5 guys looking at me whenever I sleep over here,” he said.

“It’s just a poster,” I defended.

“It’s creepy!”

“Fine! I won’t hang it in my room.”

It was 8pm and my room had finally begun to look habitable. Before that, there were boxes and bags all over a place. Jeong Hoon had made himself useful by folding up all the empty boxes and stacking them up in a corner so that we can sell it to the ‘karang guni’. For those who don’t live in Singapore, the ‘karang guni’ what Singaporeans call people who travel around Singapore to buy or collect recycled paper, aluminum cans and even damaged electrical appliances that are salvageable.

“Annyong!” a deep voice called and a head popped in from behind our front door. It was Dong Wook. “Ya… don’t you guys lock the doors? It’s so dangerous to leave the door unlocked.”

“Jeong Hoon is here to protect us,” I giggled.

“Right,” Jeong Hoon said. “Are you underestimating my abilities?” he asked Dong Wook, pretending to be offended.

“Aniya,” he said, putting his hands to signal for a truce. “Where’s my Princess Danae?” Dong Wook asked. Sometimes he can be really corny, but he’s a good boyfriend to Danae.

“She’s in her room,” I said. “Did you bring us dinner?”

“Here,” he said as he thrust me a plastic bag with 3 boxes of chicken rice in it.

“Chicken rice?” Danae groaned as she walked out of her room.

“It was the most convenient food to takeaway,” Dong Wook reasoned.

“But I just had chicken rice yesterday,” Danae whined.

“Uh oh…” Jeong Hoon laughed. “Princess Danae is pissed.”

“Shuddup, John Hoon,” my sister snapped at him.

“Let’s eat,” I said as I pulled Jeong Hoon away. I can never leave the two of them alone. They’d always get at each other’s throats.

I opened up my box of rice and started moving all the cucumbers to Jeong Hoon’s box. I hate cucumbers. Why do they even bother to include it with chicken rice? It’s a redundant ingredient, in my opinion. Jeong Hoon automatically started eating the cucumbers, whilst drenching his chicken rice with the chilly sauce. Jeong Hoon loved spicy food; the spicier, the better. I could handle normal spicy, but I couldn’t handle the spicy he loved. That’s why I’ve never bothered to cook for him.

2 hours later, Jeong Hoon popped his head out from the attached bathroom in my room. Previously, at our old flat, my sister and I had to share a common bathroom. We now each had our own bathroom.

“Sierra, you haven’t unpacked your shampoo?”

“Oops…” I laughed and started to rummage through my toiletry bag on the bed.

“I’m starting to get cold here, hurry…” Jeong Hoon sang through the crack in the door.

“Got it!” I said as I ran to toward the bathroom door.

“You wanna come in and join me,” he asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

“Not in this lifetime,” I said and I pushed his head back into the bathroom and closed the door at his face.

I woke up the next morning feeling unusually refreshed and excited. It was my first day waking up in my dream condo. I stretched leisurely and turned to look at Jeong Hoon who was sleeping beside me. His eyelashes were so long. I couldn't resist touching them, and I did. His face scrunched up as he felt the tickling sensation when I touched his eyelashes. His eyes slowly opened and blinked a few times. This was how he woke up, or rather, how I always woke him. He yawned and stretched, then threw his arm across my body.

“Get off," I said as I tried to wriggle away. “You’re so heavy.”

“No I’m not,” he murmured as he pulled me closer and pinned me with his leg as well. I tucked my arms between my body and his as I snuggled closer. I might have had the air conditioning on a bit too cold. My feet were practically freezing off despite having duvet covering me. I tucked my feet under Jeong Hoon’s and he rubbed his feet on mine to warm them. I remember the first time we shared a bed.

“Omigod, what’s wrong with your feet?” he asked when my feet happened to touch his under the blankets.

“I’m cold, and my feet always get cold first,” I grumbled.

“Are you even a mammal?” he laughed. “Tuck your feet under mine,” he said and when I did, he started rubbing them with his, just like what he was doing without asking now.

Jeong Hoon adjusted the duvet and pulled me closer. I smiled and closed my eyes, savoring his warmth. I’ve dated guys who got cold like I did, and it wasn’t very comforting. Even though Jeong Hoon didn’t have an ounce of fat on his body, he was surprisingly huggable and he always felt warm. I could feel him kiss my forehead as I drifted back to sleep.

I woke up what felt like mere seconds later to the sound of Jeong Hoon’s mobile phone.

“Jeong Hoon,” I nudged him sleepily.

“Wae?” he mumbled.

“Your phone… shut it up.”

He sleepily reached over to grab his phone and flipped it open without looking, then he put it at my ear.

“Hello…” I groaned into the phone, thinking it must be one of our friends calling.

“Omo!!” a girlish voice squealed. “Nuguseyo?” she asked and I immediately jolted awake. I grabbed the phone from Jeong Hoon’s hand and sat up.

“Who is this?” I asked.

“Is Jeong Hoon oppa there?” the girl struggled to say in English.

“He’s sleeping,” I replied. Who was this girl? Why is she calling so early in the morning?

“But… I’m here. I’m in Singapore. Jeong Hoon oppa was supposed to come pick me,” she stammered. She sounded like she was about to cry.

“He’ll call you back,” I said and I hung up on her. I kicked Jeong Hoon hard on the leg.

“Aaahhh… wae?” he shouted.

“Some girl called for her Jeong Hoon oppa,” I said as I glared at him.

“Who?”

“Good question. Who?” I said. “Did you forget to tell me that you had a fiancée in Korea? Has she come to join you?”

Jeong Hoon sat up quickly and picked up his phone to check the last received call. “I gotta go,” he mumbled as he picked up his clothes and walked into the bathroom after checking his phone.

“Yah!!” I shouted. “You better explain yourself!!” I shouted as I threw my pillow at the bathroom door.

Chapter 1: In Vogue

2006-11-23T23:21:00.000+08:00

Aaahhhh… the sandy beaches of Bora Bora. We’re strolling along the pristine white beach hand in hand. I kick at the waves as they crash onto the beach and I giggle. I felt so giddy, so incredibly happy. He pulls me into his arms and kisses me. As we kiss, I felt myself get hotter and hotter. Kim Jae Joong… you sure know how to turn me on.

Brriiinnnnggg!!!

Images of the kiss shatters as I’m jolted awake. Oh, no!!! It was all just a dream? I grabbed the source of that annoying sound and turned it off. I rue the day I brought home that clock. It was on sale at Ikea and I had to have it.

“Listen to it!!” I said enthusiastically as I turned it on so it rang.

“You’re gonna regret it. It’s so noisy!” Danae, my sister, warned.

How right she was. But this alarm had proved useful to me a couple of times. It woke me up on time for my all important job interview, which got me this job at ‘Hot!’ magazine. Last week, it woke me up on time for my big presentation, which got me my new position as the editor of the entertainment section. ‘Hot!’ was an up and coming magazine that is slowly gaining it’s foothold in the fashion industry. Sure it isn’t Vogue or Harpers Bazaar or even Elle, but we’ve had a strong following this past year and we’re looking forward to an even better year ahead.

“Phhiiiiggggg…” I could hear Danae sing through my door. Just because I was born on the year of the pig, she has to remind me each day. Don’t get me wrong though. I think pigs are so adorable and so utterly yummy. Hehe!

“Yesss…” I said as I stretched on my mattress. As I sat up, I was struck by how bare my room looked. Where did all my furniture go? Then I remembered… we were moving today. No wonder Danae was up so early. You usually wouldn’t see her emerge from her room until the sun has reached its peak in the sky i.e. 12pm. I stood up and walked to the huge poster on the wall. 5 guys smile back at me. They’re Jae Joong, Yun Ho, Jun Su, Chang Min and Yoo Chun, otherwise known as TVXQ. “We’re moving today, guys,” I said and I unhooked the poster from my wall and rolled it up. Their poster was the last piece of item which I’d yet to pack. Apart from my bag, correction, bags of clothes, everything had been packed and moved out to the living room for the movers to take away.

I was showered and dressed in 15 minutes. We had a long day ahead of us, but today would be a validation for Danae and myself; a validation that we have arrived. We were finally moving to our dream condo D’dalvey, on 23 Dalvey Estate, (S) 259555.

For 2 years we had been working in Singapore and living in a rented HDB flat at a not-so-glam address. Now that I’d been promoted and Danae had established herself as a producer at her small but flourishing recording studio, FluffBox, we could finally afford to live at the address of our dreams. The rent was going to take up most of our paychecks, but to come home to a haven like D’dalvey would be worth every cent. Being brought up in a conservative family which valued the sanctuary of a home, we found it hard to shake the longing for beautifully decorated interiors and clean bathrooms. So the moment I was given my editor’s pay raise, we moved.

Just then, the doorbell rang. I opened the door to find Jeong Hoon at the door, posing. He was looking at the ground with one arm braced against the doorframe and from the index finger of his other hand hung a plastic bag with food in it.

“How many times do I have to tell you?” I said in mock impatience, “No… naui style aniya.”

“Good morning to you too,” he smiled and walked in.

Jeong Hoon had been my on and off boyfriend for the past year. He pulled me into a hug with his free arm and kissed my forehead.

“Hello, John Hoon… is that our breakfast?” Danae said. Jeong Hoon’s English name was John, but I’d refused to call him that since I loved the fact that he had a Korean name. Hence, the name John Hoon, which my sister had christened him out of sarcasm.

“Yes, Danae kongju (princess),” he answered as he dropped the packets of food on the table and turned back to me. “We need to talk,” he said as we walked into my room. Once inside, he pushed me onto the mattress and jumped on top of me.

“Hey, there…” he said as he played with my hair.

“Hey…” I replied, smiling. I’d met Jeong Hoon through Skye, my colleague at ‘Hot!’, during one of our group outings.

We were at the crowded hip hop section of M.O.S (Ministry of Sound), when Jeong Hoon appeared.

“Sierra,” Skye yelled in my ear. “Meet my old schoolmate from Korea, Jeong Hoon.”

“Hi,” Jeong Hoon mouthed as he gave a little wave and flashed me a megawatt smile and I nodded.

“This is Sierra,” Skye yelled into Jeong Hoon’s ear. “She’s my colleague at ‘Hot!’. The one I’ve been telling you about.”

Jeong Hoon nodded and as Skye turned away to talk to someone else, he moved up closer to me. “Wanna dance?” he said. I nodded. He grabbed my hand and we walked toward the crowded dance floor which was surrounded by a high chain-linked fence. We found a spot in the middle and he started moving. I liked the way he danced, he wasn’t flashy, but he was confident, and I followed. Two hours later, we were sitting at a café on Clarke Quay, unwinding from the loud music and smoke. I found out that Jeong Hoon had just arrived in Singapore and was now working for a huge PR/advertising firm in the business district. He spoke Korean, Japanese and English since he’d studied in the USA. He’d been schoolmates with Skye when they were in high school and they’d once formed a band together.

“He did, didn’t he? I’d figured that he’d probably have done something like that during his high school days since he was so into music. But now he’s stuck in the food and travel department,” I laughed.

“I think it’s still fine with Skye,” Jeong Hoon smiled. “He loves food as much as music. What about you? Are you in the department of your choice?”

“I’m in the entertainment department. I cover movies, concerts, new albums, you name it, I do it.”

“Looking for your big break, huh?” he smiled. “I have no doubt that it will come for you someday.”

“Thanks,” I said and smiled warmly. I was really starting to like Jeong Hoon. He was polite, friendly and engaging. But where would this go? Would he just up and move back to Korea someday? “So how long will you be staying in Singapore?” I asked him.

“For now, I’d say it’s indefinite. After arriving here, I feel like I can live here forever.”

“Won’t you miss home? The food? The people?”

“Now that I’ve met you, I don’t think I will,” he said.

*****

I traced the outline of Jeong Hoon’s face with my index finger. He was lying beside me on my mattress, looking at me with his big beautiful eyes as his hands continued to play with my hair. What was it with Koreans? If they were good looking, they were devastatingly good looking. If they were ugly, they could sure be damn minging. And Jeong Hoon has double eyelids.

*****

I’ve always complained to him that it wasn’t fair for him to have nicer eyes than I did.

“Your eyes are beautiful, Sierra. They’re so oriental,” he said as he stroked my cheek.

“But I’d love big Bambi eyes like yours. Then I can hypnotize people and always get my way,” I laughed.

“Believe me,” he said, “Big eyes bring trouble.”

“Yea… that’s why you’re dating me?” I laughed.

*****

“Phhhiiggg!!” Danae yelled. “The movers are here!!”

I sat up quickly. I’d totally forgotten about the movers and about breakfast since Jeong Hoon came.

“Go eat your breakfast,” Jeong Hoon said as he too sat up. “I’ll deal with the movers.”

We left the room and I started to wolf down my breakfast while my sister and Jeong Hoon instructed the movers. In 5 minutes, I was done eating and joined Danae and Jeong Hoon with the moving.

“Where’s Dong Wook?” I asked Danae while we were taking a break after loading the lorry.

“That good-for-nothing boyfriend,” she sulked. “He’s probably out playing tennis with his banker friends.” Danae’s boyfriend, Dong Wook, was a financial controller with a major MNC. They’d met through Jeong Hoon. “I blame John Hoon for introducing me to that slob.”

I smiled as Danae complained. Even though she gets mad at Dong Wook, whenever he appears, her face would light up and everything would be forgiven. But that’s not usually the case with Jeong Hoon and me. I’ll admit that I don’t have the best of tempers. If Jeong Hoon ever pissed me off, I’d just tell it like it is and we’d start arguing, hence, the designation of ‘on and off boyfriend’. We’d ignore each other for a week or two and then out of the blue, he’d call me and we’d just act like nothing had happened in the past weeks; as if we’d never had that argument. I’d have to give him credit though. He was always the one who made the first move after an argument. For that reason alone, I am still with him till this day.

Jeong Hoon handed me a bottle of water and some tissues. I drank thirstily and then started to dry the sweat which had been dripping down my face.

“So are we driving off soon?” he asked.

“Yep,” I said as I stood up. “You’ve got a little cobweb on you face,” I laughed and wipe it away for him.

“Ya…” he said in his adorable Korean slang. “You girls… I can’t believe how dusty and filthy your things are.”

“I’d like to see yours,” Danae said. “You couldn’t be much better, so don’t compare.”

“I’ve got a cleaner who comes in once a week,” he winked.

“Right, show off will ya. We don’t make more than 10K a month like you do,” Danae retorted as she stuck her tongue out at him.

We got into Jeong Hoon’s car and followed behind the lorry which was delivering all our belongings to our new condo. I looked back at the blocks of flats which I’ve lived in for the past 2 years as I said goodbye to my old life. I’m about to get a fresh start at the life I’ve always wanted and I had everyone that mattered beside me.

Forewords

2006-11-22T18:24:00.000+08:00

Here’s another dream of mine; to work in the fashion industry. When I was a little girl and up till today, I love my clothes. I love new clothes just like any other girl. I love looking pretty just like most girls. But to work in an industry where it's all about new clothes and looking pretty each day, that would be an ultimate dream.

Main Characters:

Sierra
Skye
Shoei
Danae
동방신기 (TVXQ)
Kim Jeong Hoon (from Goong)
Lee Dong Wook (from Arang) <-- dedicated to my sister
Fly to the Sky (FTTS) Super Junior
Lee Min Woo (Shinhwa)
Jun Jin (Shinhwa)
(and anyone I can think of to fit in the plot)