Chapitre Deux

>Check Yes, Juliet<

MinNeul

She was standing in front of the door, trying so hard not to jump up and down, as that would make the person who was at the other side of the door curious of what was happening outside his home. She was clenching her fists as she kept grinning, her smile reaching her ears. MinNeul definitely could not contain her excitement as she giggled like a seven year old being rewarded with a toy or candies.

She’d missed him so much that it was driving her crazy these past months, more than she missed her favorite rice cake stall. How could she not? This was the person who she wanted to take off with, to foreign corners of the world. He was there each time she needed a helping hand, he listened to all of her stories, no matter how many times she repeated them, and he made it a point that her problem was his problem, her tears were his tears, and her happiness was his happiness.

They’d been together for five years and were separated for miles for a few years, but they managed to endure the time difference, they made do with only talking on the phone or Skype, and the once in a while visits. Sometimes when they were both busy, they wouldn’t get to hear from each other for a few weeks, but even that didn’t affect their relationship as distance gave them a reason to love harder.

In the end, distance meant so little when someone meant so much more.

She finally raised her hand, ready to press the doorbell and to see his reaction the minute he saw her again after years. MinNeul knew very well that he was home, after having checked with one of his friends beforehand.

She pressed the doorbell then, waiting impatiently for the door to be opened with a huge grin on her face. Seeing his face on Skype wouldn’t be the same as seeing him right in front of her eyes. She wondered whether he’d changed somehow.

MinNeul heard footsteps approaching the door and her heart pounded so hard. Even after years of being in a relationship with him, he still made her heart jackhammer at her ribs, which was one of the effects he still had on her.

The doorknob turned, finally revealing the one person MinNeul had been dying to see. Her eyes glittered with joy as she locked her gaze with his shocked ones, and within a heartbeat, she threw her arms around him, feeling as if the whole world was on her side.

“JongIn!” He was just as how the last she saw him, only that his hair had grown a tad longer but she couldn’t be bothered about that.

JongIn was astounded with what just happened, obviously, and it took him a moment to register the whole thing before hugging his girlfriend back. Well, he wasn’t the one to blame. Understandably, he didn’t expect to see his girlfriend at the front door after waking up from bed.

“M-MinNeul? What are you doing here?” He asked, finally able to get some words out of his mouth. He extricated himself from the hug to get a better view of her, to confirm that this definitely was MinNeul in front of him, and that he was not dreaming.

“I am not dreaming, am I?” He asked, and MinNeul laughed at his confused face. “No, you’re not. I really am home!” She said cheerfully, and JongIn still looked at her with a perplexed face. Silently, she couldn’t help but to feel a tad bit sad as she’d hoped for him to be more enthusiastic to see her, but she couldn’t blame him for reacting the way he did. MinNeul really did surprise him and he wasn’t expecting to see her so soon.

And the fact that he just woke up didn’t help either. JongIn must’ve been drowsy still that he couldn’t process what was going on. MinNeul chuckled at that and smoothened his messy hair. “You just woke up, didn’t you? No wonder you looked so dazed and confused. Sorry for surprising you like this, I felt like doing it.” She said apologetically, and felt relieved after seeing JongIn’s smile finally.

“Oh, I was surprised, all right.” He replied. “When did you arrive? I thought I will only get to see you for another two months.”

“Nah, I made that up. The real intention was to surprise you really.” She said with a mischievous smile. “You know how much I love to surprise people.”

JongIn nodded at that. “Yeah, I do know that. I’m happy that you’re home, I really am, but I hope that you won’t do this again next time. Under some circumstances, I might not respond too nicely to this kind of surprise, if I had a bad night previously.” His smile slowly faded and there was a sharp edge in his voice, making MinNeul felt a huge pang in her heart.

She felt guilty all of a sudden, and had she known, she wouldn’t have wanted to surprise JongIn like this. He was right, anyway. Sometimes he’d get so tired after coming home from work late at night that surprises like this might be the last thing he ever wanted. And she’d woken him up too, so she’d disturbed his sleep just now, basically.

“I’m sorry, JongIn.” She said. “I forgot how tough your work at the office could be at times. I was just too ecstatic to see you again that it slipped my mind.” Deep down, she tried to shove away the disappointment she was feeling.

This was definitely not the kind of reunion she had in mind when she saw JongIn again, but she knew better now. Not everyone would take shocks like this lightly. Just because her brother freaked out, screamed, and laughed when he saw her again didn’t mean JongIn would react like that, even if he loved her very much.

JongIn saw the regret in MinNeul’s eyes and immediately felt bad for her. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair, before rubbing his tired face. It came out harsher than he intended, and he didn’t want to ruin their first meeting again after so long.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it in a bad way.” He apologized, feeling completely guilt-ridden. “I was just too stunned to see you here and last night I had a lot of work to do. But don’t worry about it now, come on inside.” He opened the door wider for her with a huge beam, and MinNeul smiled back straight away, knowing that he wasn’t angry with her.

“I missed coming here.” MinNeul said, looking around while JongIn went to his room to take a quick shower and dressed. Her eyes wandered and caught the sight of their pictures together, which were at the same place as she remembered them last.

The dining table where the two of them used to have dinner together was still at the same place, as well as the sofa she’d picked out for him. The clock she gave JongIn when he first moved was still here too, and she just felt very delighted to see that JongIn hadn’t changed anything with his place. Everything was just the way they were.

“Well, as you can see, everything is still the same.” JongIn said, putting on a jacket while smiling at her. “I couldn’t change anything because most of the stuffs here remind me of you. I don’t have the heart to alter a thing.”

“Awe.” MinNeul said. “Don’t be so sweet, JongIn, or you’ll get diabetes.”

JongIn burst out laughing and shook his head. “The same old you.”

“The same old me. So, where are we going?”

“Who said anything about going anywhere?” JongIn asked, raising an eyebrow while crossing his arms. MinNeul blew a raspberry and mirrored his action. “You’re dressed up very nicely right now. I don’t suppose you’re being all dolled up just to watch re-runs of CSI right. I know my brother would.”

JongIn chuckled again at her remarks and shook his head again. This girl always had answers for everything, and that was why having conversations with her was never a bore. You would never know what would come out of .

“Okay, fine, you caught me. Let’s get going then.” He finally said, raising his hands as if giving in.

MinNeul rushed towards the front door to put on her shoes and waited for JongIn. He’d received a text and had to text back a reply.

“All good?” She asked as he walked towards her after finished texting. JongIn nodded his head and after putting on his own shoes, he walked the two of them out. MinNeul took his hand and said, “Okay, just in case you don’t know where we should go, I could give some ideas.”

JongIn looked at her and said, “Well, I do have a plan actually. I meant it for when you come back, which is supposed to be two more months, but since you’re here already, might as well.” He gripped her hand and led the way. Instead of taking his car as they normally would, he decided to walk that day. That would give them more time to catch up with each other.

MinNeul decided not to ask where JongIn was taking her, since he’d planned the whole thing so she chose to wait and see. JongIn had never disappointed her, as far as surprises were concerned. The first place JongIn took MinNeul was close to her heart, and she would always remember the event that occurred at that very place. It was the place where she first met JongIn.

“Do you still remember where we are?” JongIn asked once they’d arrived at Namsan Botanical Garden. MinNeul looked around and laughed. “Of course I do! I’ll be damned if I don’t.”

JongIn chuckled as he pondered that fateful day, five years ago. Both he and MinNeul had been younger, and he would forever be thankf