“Clock struck 8 so let’s start our date! Welcome to ChinChin radio and I am your host Taeyeon.” Fake applause button was pushed and the girl continued, “It has been 24 hours since we last connected but I hope we can make some more connections today with the programming and hopefully I can give out some more advice to my love-sick audience. However firstly, let’s start off with some music to calm your anxious hearts. Again this is Taeyeon at 8 on ChinChin radio.”

“Cut! 12 minutes! 12 minutes!”

The girl sighed as she pushed back from the mic to look at her notes. It was like every night where she would listen to the helpless cries of those who want live or lost love. She was supposed to be the healing hand that would bring love to those who were desperate to have it. Yet, she was also one of those people. She had lost the love her life 4 years ago and it was 4 years ago that she begged her supervisor to let her start this program in hopes that she could find her love too. One day she hoped that her love would hear her voice over the airwaves and call in. She was always hopeful but maybe within the last year, she could see her hope dying from a flame into just the ashes. 4 years of others finding the ones they love and here she was still holding onto the remains of a memory she once had.

“5, 4, 3, 2, 1.”

“That was Lost in Love by Soshi. Now I am sure there are some viewers out there that are looking for love and are hoping to get it back or find a new love. How about we open up the lines? Caller number one you are on.”

“Oh my God Taeyeon I love you!”

Taeyeon laughed because this happened every once in a while. Of course being a radio host for 6 years had given her some fans. The first two years she cohosted a radio but then she got the chance of having her own for the past 4 years on ChinChin. Since then, she noticed that a fanclub had formed, “Thank you listener. What is it you want to find? An existing love or a new love?”

“I want you Taeyeon!”

Taeyeon laughed, “Thank you listener but I can’t offer love. Did you want to find a new love?”

“You are the love of my life!”

Taeyeon laughed before cutting the caller off, “We are going to move on to caller number two. Caller you are on.”

“I am looking for love.”

“Can you tell us your story then?”

“We were high school sweethearts but we were separated when we left for university. I went to XXX and he went to XXX. I am hoping to find him again.”

“How old are you now?”

“ Nearly 30. I still love him and think about the times we would go to the lake during the summer and the winters in Busan for the winter festivals. I can’t forget. Even if he doesn’t love me like I do him, I still want to meet him and see that he is doing well.”

“Ah wow. I can hear your love is strong for him. If listeners have any information log in and message us.” Taeyeon started reading through the user comments on her screen, “There is a girl who says that she knows the boy you are talking about. How about we line her in?”

“Hello?”

“Ah hello listener? You said you knew the boy the caller was referring to?”

“Yes it is my brother!”

“Oh my! Your brother? You must have the information the caller is looking for?”

“Yes. I know unnie. She used to take care of me well when I was in grade school.”

“Hold on listener, let me connect the caller again,” Taeyeon pushed a button to let the listener and caller talk, “Caller two you on air again. Do you remember...”

“Jiyo! Is that you?”

“Unnie!”

“Oh my God! Jiyo! I thought I would never see you again?”

“You can and will. Brother still misses you and wants to be with you.”

Some sniffles of crying could be heard on the line, “He does?”

“Yes he does.”

“If he truly does, tell him to meet me at the old theater noon tomorrow. I would wait.”

“I will unnie! I miss you so much!”

“Me too Jiyo.”

Taeyeon silenced the lines for a bit, “Wow...amazing! Love was found! Caller two I hope he shows up and you can start anew. Although time can move forward, the heart doesn’t always follow. We all are rooting for your love.”

Taeyeon looked up to the staff before leaning forward, “We are going to break for music before listening to some other stories. Stay tuned.” Taeyeon leaned back and pushed a few buttons before taking out her headphones. She walked around the small studio before opening the staff room, “Is there something to eat? I think my stomach is going to make noises when the mic goes on live again.”

A few of the staff giggled but the scriptwriter handed Taeyeon some snack cakes, “I don’t know why you don’t bring food. You always end up stealing some of mine.”

Taeyeon laughed, “Because I know you always have food Yoona and you don’t mind sharing.”

“Yah yah now get back to work.”

Taeyeon flashed her smile before scarfing down the small cake and making herself comfortable in her seat again. She started reading the script before twirling in her seat to read a few more reader comments. They were always positive with responses about how lucky that girl was to find the sister of her love. It put a smile on Taeyeon’s face when it was someone who found a lost love.

“Taeyeon 1 minute!”

Taeyeon looked up and nodded before putting her headphones back in and taking a huge gulp of water. Clearing a few more times, Taeyeon heard the staff counting down before the light lit up saying she was on air, “Welcome back to ChinChin radio with Taeyeon. We have some time for maybe two more callers.” Taeyeon looked down and pressed her call button, “Caller 3 you are on.”

“...I want to find love.”

Taeyeon smiled when she heard the shyness in the boy, “New love?”

“Well there is someone I like but I can’t get her attention.”

Taeyeon rested on her elbows, “Have you had the courage to talk to her yet?”

“N-no...I think she is too beautiful for me.”

“You are already calling it quits before anything happened. If anything, you should find what qualities you have that make you an ideal man to be with her. Self-strength is confidence. You should find you confidence so what are some good qualities you have?”

“I graduated top of my class at KST.”

“Oh so you are very smart?”

“I-I guess so.”

“What else?”

“I come to work on time.”

“Timely is great. You never want to make a girl wait. More?”

“I am not bad looking...”

Taeyeon chuckled a bit, “it seems you have a lot to offer.”

“Really?”

“Smart, timely, decent looking, and you sound genuine, I think that is a good man.”

“I really have a chance?”

“Yes. Only if you find the courage to talk to her.”

“How can I do that? She is always around other workers.”

“What is stopping you from joining in the conversation? You can make more friends in the process.”

“...It would be weird since we are from separate departments.”

“Your departments never interact?”

“...sometimes we have events together and if we need something from them.”

“What would you need from them sometimes?”

“Paper? Office supplies when we run out.”

“I think you found your conversation starter. Go ask for paper from her. Strike up a conversation. The first step to any love is the courage to have them notice you and let them know you exist. Then you need to show them that your company is something they want more of.”

“I-will try.”

“That is the spirit!” Taeyeon went to cut off the line, “How about our last caller of the night?” Taeyeon pushed a few more buttons until a call connected, “Hello caller why is it you are calling?”

“.....”

“Caller are you there?”

“.....” A few heavy breaths were heard from the other line but the line went dead again.

Taeyeon looked down at the lost call, “It seems we couldn’t connect. Since our time is limited we will end the time here with some music. Until next time, thank you for listening to ChinChin radio for a date with Taeyeon.”

Taeyeon flung off her headphones as she started thanking her staff, “Another great broadcast!”

Taeyeon laughed at her friend, “it is because you are my scriptwriter.”

Yoona laughed, “I honestly don’t know why this program needs one. You improvise everything on the spot according to the listener.”

Taeyeon put her arm around Yoona, “Aww don’t say that. Commercials and such that I have to say are just as important as helping the listeners.”

“I should have just gotten a gig in advertisement.”

Taeyeon laughed, “Then who else would be here to offer me food?”

Yoona threatened to hit Taeyeon, “I am not a food store!”

Taeyeon couldn’t hide her loud laugh, “Could have fooled me.” Knowing she upset her friend, Taeyeon dashed off before the taller girl could lay a finger on her.

----------------------------------

Taeyeon tosses her bag on the kitchen table along with her keys but she curses when the papers in her bag starts to fall out. With a heavy sigh, Taeyeon gathers her papers before she kicks her shoes off and heads to the kitchen. Immediately she opens up the fridge to find some left overs. She decides to throw the food into the microwave and let it reheat before going over to the TV and finding a news channel to watch while she has her supper.

The house was dark except for the kitchen light and the light from the TV. There was no one else home since Taeyeon was living alone in her flat. She thought on several occasions to get a roommate but that would mean she would have to share her single bedroom and it wasn’t like she didn’t get paid enough to keep up on rent herself, thus she lived alone.

Most would think with her radio personality that she would be a very outgoing person but behind the speakers she was like any normal introvert. She hardly went out due to her strange work hours and liked just coming home to watch the news right after work. It was a routine she enjoyed for the past 4 years. Of course in the past it wasn’t like this. Taeyeon used to go out a lot and meet friends but that was a long time ago. Things change.

The beeping sounds of the microwave made Taeyeon get up from the couch to get her food. She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and some chopsticks before making herself comfortable on the couch again. As she ate her food, she watched the news closely. Some would think that the news was not something a dating radio show should concern themselves about but Taeyeon saw it as valuable research. Instead of watching dramas or other TV programming, Taeyeon liked to see what the real people were going through. What struggles people in Seoul were having and seeing random glimpses of hospitality. The news was real. It showed the struggles that her listeners could be going through.

Taeyeon took one last bite of her food before she looked at the clock, “11pm...” Thinking it was too early to go to bed, Taeyeon got up to quick wash her dishes before she went over to pop a movie into her TV. It was one of her favorite movies and she could find herself watching it almost every night before bed. She found this movie in particular was the only thing that would help her sleep instead of her head wandering into unwanted thoughts.

“Love is passion, obsession, someone you can't live without. If you don't start with that, what are you going to end up with? Fall head over heels. I say find someone you can love like crazy and who'll love you the same way back. And how do you find him? Forget your head and listen to your heart. I'm not hearing any heart. Run the risk, if you get hurt, you'll come back. Because, the truth is there is no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love - well, you haven't lived a life at all. You have to try. Because if you haven't tried, you haven't lived.“

Hearing sobbing next to her, Taeyeon looked over and laughed, “You really do love this movie. It just started!”

The girl wiped her tears away before pointing at the TV, “How can you not! In this...this movie...the love was so deep and so perfect.”

Taeyeon sighed before she scooted closer to the girl so she could hold her in her arms, “That is why I am here...”

A buzzing sound from Taeyeon’s phone alarm woke her up from her slumber. She groaned when she could feel the soreness in her arms and back from spending another night on the coach. Taeyeon looked up at the TV which was just a blue screen since the movie long ended before getting up and switching it off.

--------------------------------

Taeyeon was smiling as she tapped her pen on the paper to the song that was playing. She didn’t like just playing sappy love songs but loved the upbeat and current music. Since the audience never complained about her music choice, she was allowed to play whatever she liked and today she was able to play one of her favorite upbeat songs that made her want to dance around and sing but she was at work. Professional Taeyeon.

“Taeyeon 1 minute! One more caller and wrap it up okay?”

Taeyeon signaled okay before leaning forward and waiting for her ‘on air’ sign light up. “Welcome back listeners! I am sure you were all dancing to the new song by Soshi. I think you can all guess by now that is my favorite group since I play them at least once a day.” Looking over at the comments, Taeyeon couldn’t hold back a chuckle from the comments coming in saying she was fangirling again. “Anyway we have time for one more caller tonight.” Taeyeon pressed the call button before it connected, “Hello caller, what is it you what to do? Call out your love or looking for a new person in your life?”

“Neither.” There was a strange familiarity in the voice but Taeyeon shrugged it off.

Taeyeon scratched the back of her head, “Neither? Then why is it you want to be on ChinChin caller?”

“I—I wanted to tell—say something to a person I hold dear.”

“Of course. Go ahead caller.”

“I want to tell them to stop looking for me.”

Taeyeon opened her eyes in shock, “To stop looking for you? Why is that caller?”

“Because I can’t watch them get hurt because of me anymore.”

“Care to elaborate for the other listeners?”

“Just please let me go...” and the call went dead.

Taeyeon looked up at the technicians behind the window signaling the caller hung up, “Well I am sure we are all curious to the story behind the last caller but have lost her. I am sure some of you are confused to why someone would call a love radio to say not to love, but I think that is true sacrifice. To let love go because you love them too much...I guess you could say that is the purest form of love. What are you willing to sacrifice for the love of your life? Can you find the strength to sacrifice the love itself?” Taeyeon looked up to see her script writer signaling to wrap up. “It seems like our hour has come to an end. Until next time, thank you for listening to ChinChin radio for a date with Taeyeon.”

The line was cut and the radio programming went to commercial. The tired DJ stretched a bit before thanking the staff for their hard work. However before getting up from her seat, Taeyeon pulled up her screen to look at the caller ID from the last call...why was that voice familiar?

Author's Note

Wow...I think this is the most love I have recieved for starting a new story ever. I didnt know you would be so eager for me to start a shorter story like this. I appreciate it a lot.

Also, if you don't know the movie, it is from "Meet Joe Black"...if you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it although it is like 15 years old. I must say it is one of my all time favorite performances by Brad Pitt.