May 18, 2017

Seoul, South Korea

“JiHyun, will you go out with me?”

Ji Chang Wook looked at his reflection and frowned. Was that too casual?

“Nam Ji Hyun, I love you.”

No, saying it all of a sudden like that would scare any girl. He needed to take that down a notch.

“JiHyun-i, let's start hanging out.”

Worse. That sounded like him calling up his buddies.

Ji Chang Wook rubbed his forehead in frustration. He was an actor, and you’d think he would have perfected the simple act of communication. However, as he watched himself in the mirror, it didn’t seem like any of this was working right.

Tomorrow night would be the first time in a while they were scheduled to wrap up filming early and he meant to take advantage of it. He was going to take JiHyun out to a nice dinner, get some fancy wine; and then he was going to do it.

He was going to confess.

He had messaged her earlier to see if she had plans:

[EmperorJi87] : what are you doing tomorrow night?

[hyunihyuniiii_917]: ice cream, pjs & sleep

Which wasn’t a bad idea. But not exactly what he had in mind. (Later down the road though, he’d be very open for a night with ice cream & pjs. And sleeping. In any order)

[EmperorJi87] : want to get dinner?

[hyunihyuniiii_917]: Ok. You’re buying, Oraboeni? Kamsahamnida

[EmperorJi87] : …. hah, we’re just going to the ramyun stall then

[hyunihyuniiii_917]: Ha. ha. You and your ramyun.

[EmperorJi87] : meet me after filming?

[hyunihyuniiii_917]: sounds great :)

[EmperorJi87] : good night then

[hyunihyuniiii_917]: night, Oppa

Chang Wook had laid his phone down. His fingers felt like typing more, not wanting the conversation to end. But what else could you say after good night?

He hadn’t been able to rest after that, even though he knew he had another early morning scheduled. He found himself pacing back and forth, nervous about tomorrow.

On one hand, he felt hopeful that JiHyun could be open to liking him as more than a friend. They got along together so well. They were comfortable together like old friends yet their chemistry on set was sizzling. He was having a hard time sometimes thinking deep, pure thoughts around her.

On the other hand, he’d seen on-set romances fail miserably. Some actors/actresses were quite famous for falling for their co-stars. It was a side-effect of immersing yourself into the script and story. Sometimes you became the character and what they went through and feel would seem real to you.

Until the magic faded away and you realized the actual person opposite you was not the make-believe one.

He’d never had that problem before; falling for a co-star. Then again he wasn’t a romanticist. And anyhow, he was pretty damn sure it was Nam Ji Hyun he wanted, not Eun Bong Hee.

What he was worried about was whether JiHyun would think it was the script and the heat of the moment that was affecting him. After all, everyone knew he was about to enlist in the military.

He glanced at the piece of mail that had arrived earlier that week. It was the letter with his enlistment date and details which made the entire thing official.

August 14.

Just three more months left to go. Not a lot of time for romance.

Was he crazy for wanting this? Would she think he was crazy?

Maybe he shouldn’t be asking this of her.

As a soldier he would rarely have time off and barely any phone calls. No cell phone. No computer. Friends had told him if he did have a chance to make a call he’d be given three minutes at most. More if he earned merit and seniority. But still, for the first 100 days he could not leave the base. Most people celebrated 100 days of being together. But with him, there would be no ‘together’.

Three months left. 92 days. They would be apart longer than they would spend time together.

Was it selfish, to make a girl wait for him?

Chang Wook flung himself on his bed. The old doubts surfacing again. Dawn approached slowly while he lay there sleepless.