The Day Off

The Art of Getting By
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Saturday mornings were meant for sleeping in after a long hard week at work, and thankfully both of their schedules seemed to agree on that. 

Chang Wook wakes up to an empty house once again, the blanket she wrapped around him last night still hugging his body, the empty cup sitting by the table in front of him. He sits up and looks around the dark, warm space, and then back to his window, where a blanket of white snow was forming by his garden. He sighed to himself as he stands up, still dragging the blanket wrapped around himself as he walked to his kitchen, but to his surprise, he finds Ji Hyun sitting cross-legged by a seat, a cup of coffee in her hand as she types something on her laptop, round glasses framing her face. She looks up from her work to see him with a pout and a confused look on his face. 

"Did you sleep well?" She asked.

He nodded in response. "I didn't want to disturb you and your food, so I just made myself some coffee before I came here. I had to check up on you again just in case you get sick."

His heart warms at the young woman's words. "Yah, you didn't have to do that for me."

"Well, you did ask me that last night." She retorted, and suddenly, everything hit him like a bullet train: from the moment he waited for her on the front porch to when she took care of him from being out in the cold. His actions definitely made his cheeks turn a light shade of pink, the embarrassment settling inside him. 

"Well, I'm sorry for being clingy last night, and I'm sorry if I stayed out in the cold, even if you didn't want me to." He replied, doing a little pout as she stared at him with her eyebrows raised.

"The only reason why I didn't want you to stay out in the cold is because you get too cold too easily." She rolled his eyes at him. "Remember that time when we went out for a noraebang? And you already had...like...two sweaters on and a thermal jacket, and you were still shivering!"

"I'm sorry if my body isn't that indestructible in negative degrees!" He raised his hands up in surrender, his blanket going along with the actions, until he hides himself in a little cocoon again, still shivering like a puppy out of the water. 

"I can't believe this guy is older than me." She muttered to herself before typing something else onto her laptop, in which he slowly crept behind her to watch her as she adds a few details, but before he could get the context of what she typed, she brought down the screen of her laptop. 

"Aish! Go eat your breakfast first!" She shooed him away, bringing the bridge of her glasses back onto her nose. He complied immediately, going through his refrigerator to think of what he could cook for breakfast, and after a few moments, he was in the middle of cooking his sundubu jjigae, the smell of it making Ji Hyun stand up and help him, in which he taunted her for it. 

"Can you blame me? You're probably the only person I know that can cook sundubu jjigae just like how my mom does it." She said as she placed the rest of the ingredients into the pot, and he stirred it diligently. When they left the soup to simmer, he took the time to fry the gyoza, and she took the time to set the table for the both of them. When the food was cooked, they sat down and ate in silence, happily enjoying the food and each other's company as well.

"So, how was the date with Yumi yesterday?" She asked him, raising her head up from her bowl.

"It was nice," he shrugged. "We ate a lot from the food park."

"I'm guessing you two are going steady, hm?" She smirked, but Chang Wook didn't want to tell her that they decided to be friends just yet. 

"How about you? How did it go with Hae Joon-oppa?" He averted, raising his eyebrow at her. 

Ji Hyun knew where he was going, but she didn't want to press on it, so she decided to play as well. "It was nice. The workplace was really nice, but I tripped over a lot of times when we went to the slides."

This earned a chuckle from him, the image of her tripping over going to a slide making him smile to himself. "Are you that clumsy? I thought I was the clumsy one between the two of us."

"Ya, it was already embarrassing that Hae In-oppa was laughing at me for it. Don't rub it in." She grumbled. 

"So, you and Hae Joon..." He trailed off. "How are you guys?"

"How are you and Yumi doing?" She asked back. 

He sighed. "We're doing fine. We're good friends for now."

"Hmm..." She trailed off. "Same here."

"Do you still like him?" He asked her, but she sipped her soup as she thought of her answer. 

"I don't know, exactly." She sighed to herself, and the conversation stopped at that. When they were finally done with their meals and washed the dishes, Ji Hyun went back to her laptop and continued to type her document with utmost focus that she didn't notice the presence of the man beside her, reading through her document thoroughly.

"So she decided to trust the guy completely?" He spoke up, and the young woman jumped from his voice and brought down her laptop screen. 

"Ya! How much did you read from that?" She asked him, her nerves getting the best of her, the adrenaline still present in her body. 

"I got up to the point where she was hesitating on trusting him." He shrugged, before looking at her with an amused expression. "Ya, why won't you let me read it? Is it a new script you've been writing? Or is it the same story that I read last time?"

She sighed to herself before giving her laptop to the man beside her, and he sat down beside her to read it fully, the feeling of consciousness and nervousness settling inside her. One of Ji Hyun's many secrets is that before she moved out of her parents' house in Incheon, she actually wanted to fulfill a career in being a writer, more specifically, a scriptwriter for movies and plays alike. When she was watching a few dramas and movies before, and realized the lack of well-known female scriptwriters in the country, as well as seeing how one-dimensional the female characters were written, she wanted to change that and create something that could highlight great female characters, as well as a plot that was different from what people expected from what was shown these days. 

"It's a new one, actually." She sighed. "I scrapped the one you read before because I felt like it's going nowhere."

"Aw... I was actually wondering what would happen to So Ra if she did accept Kwang Joo's offer." He spoke as he kept reading her draft, and silence followed afterwards.

"Don't judge me, alright? The other characters are a bit underdeveloped and I still have to add more details on some things." She said as she averted her gaze from him, her cheeks flaring up with how he was examining her script. Ji Hyun was a woman that handled criticism quite well, but when it comes to people that are part of her personal circle, she feels a certain pressure on herself to the point that she gets conscious over her work. 

"This is wonderful, what are you talking about?" He looked back at her, a bewildered expression on his face. 

"Considering how you're a director and you're looking through my script right now, I think I should be a bit concerned." She retorted before trying to reach back for her laptop, but to no avail, since he moved the laptop away. He proceeded to read the script further, immediately immersed in the fate of her characters. 

"Ji Hyun, this is amazing! Why are you doubting yourself, honestly? The progress of the events and the characters look really promising, and the conflict arcs are really something. This is great!" He praised before watching Ji Hyun steal the laptop from his grasp and proceeded to type further on her laptop. 

"You're sure of it?" She said, the blush on her cheeks still flaring. "I honestly think I need to change some parts in here, but thank you for the praises."

"It's really great, Ji Hyun, honestly. It deserves the praise." He added, scooting over to her as he watched her type more onto her laptop. Despite seeing how the red flush on her cheeks is intensifying, he knew better not to taunt her for it since she hated that. He watches her close her documents and shut down her laptop completely before stopping in her tracks, her gaze still on her closed laptop. 

"What day is it today?"

"Saturday."

"I meant the date, oppa."

"It's the twelfth. Why? What is it?" He asked, a bit perplexed. 

"Oh my God!" She suddenly exclaimed before opening her laptop again. "It's today! Oh my God, it's today!"

"What is it? What's going on?" He asked once more, but when she started typing the familiar web address, it suddenly hits him. 

"The results are coming out today! Why did I forget that?" She groaned. 

It slipped from

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AND THAT'S A WRAP! Thank you guys for giving your time to read this story. I know I'm not the best writer and this isn't really a mind-blowing story, but thank you for at least reading it. I love you all ❤️

Comments

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Heartstringvb #1
Just finished reading all the chapters of. The art of getting by. It is such as lovely story... And both the character and friendship bond between them was so beautiful and well written.. After reading this i am missing updates for Art of letting go .. Eager to know how story unfolds .. Hope you get time to update it .. Will be wating for updates..on matter how long it takes.. :)
Take care!!
Heartstringvb #2
Chapter 1: How did i miss this beautiful story.. :p well i am enjoying reading it :)
Lilypad23
#3
This was such a pleasure to read! I love this pairing and your writing style was amazing author nim♡♡♡
aaigoo
#4
Chapter 29: Oh my, god!
RiestaRien
#5
Chapter 27: Aah its been a long time since ths last time i open this asianfanfic app..thank you for all.your hardwork writer nim..god bless u always ☺
ShySilver
#6
Chapter 16 : Congratulations for having finished your first novel ( ? ) Dear Author :)
Ah this last line broke my heart ! Why ? Why do I sense bitter angst for the sequel ? It’s really sad knowing that those two already suffered from their previous relationship and took time to trust someone again >_<
Khalinkikyo #7
Untill they werent..
Soooo sad
The sequel is the art of letting go
currentlyobsessed
#8
Chapter 26: That last line! "Until they weren't"! I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS hahaha

Thanks for sharing your story and I hope to read more from you soon!
Tina75 #9
Chapter 26: Love is in the air...i can feel the loved from both of them.. looking forward the sequel..thanx authornim
Cheonsa0505
#10
Chapter 27: Wow I really like this Fanfic.It makes me feel warm bonding friendship emotions love all the feeling in such an endearing way.
KUMASMIDA Authornim you are good with your work.
I am eagerly waiting for the sequel and other Mining and JiJi ff's.So Authornim Hwaiting!!!!