October 30, 2011

It was 5 in the morning and the couple was still sleeping soundly when his phone started ringing. He tilted his head and looked at the clock, and immediately ignored the phone call without even looking at the caller ID. It was a Sunday morning and it was still early; he obviously didn’t want to be bothered in his sleep. He looked at the woman lying beside him and he let out a sigh of relief upon seeing her still enjoying her slumber. He took out the batteries of his business phone and closed his eyes to continue his sleep. His other phone rang and when he was about to ignore it again, he saw the ID and it read “Khun-ddaeng”. He got out of bed and went out of their shared bedroom to take the call.

“Oh, Khun-ah, what’s with the early morning call?” He sleepily answered the phone.

“Yah, Ok TaecYeon, what do you think you were doing yesterday?!?! Hide the today’s newspapers and keep Fany away from the internet and televisions if you don’t want to get killed. Arasseo?!” Khun told him anxiously.

“Mwoh? What the hell do you mean? Wait, yesterday?! Oh God, paparazzi shots?!?!”

“Bingo! And if you haven’t seen the photos, brace yourself because there are many of them! Go check the link I sent you on your phone. I gotta go and good luck! You’d be needing it.”

“Thanks, dude. Oh God, how would I explain this?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I woke you this early so you could think and stalk. By the way, don’t be late later! Bye!”

“Okay, thanks again dude!” He hung up and continued pacing around the living room.

For about an hour, he kept on scratching the back of his head and pulling his hair out as if ideas would pop in if he does that. By 6am, the newspaper arrived and he immediately shredded them through the machine. He also hid the TV remote control so that Fany can’t watch any news programs. His only problem now was the internet; how would he mess up with the apartment building’s internet connection? More so, Fany has a 3G phone, how would he convince her not to surf the web? All of a sudden, his thoughts were interrupted when someone tapped his shoulder.

“Oppa, why are you up so early?” Fany rubbed her eyes like a little kid before she wrapped her arms on Taec’s waist.

“Oh... that... uhmm... ahhh... K-Khunnie, right... Khunnie called to tell us not to be uhh... not to be late on our lunch date with them... yup... that’s right...” He stuttered. “You also got up early, good morning babe.” He continued with a light smooch on her lips.

“Ahh, I felt cold and wanted to snuggle on you, but when I opened my eyes, you weren’t there anymore.” She explained. “Oppa, why are you sweaty?” she asked as she felt his wet tank top after tightening her hug.

“After Khunnie called, I can’t get back to sleep anymore, so uhh... I just did some push-ups... you know... to uhmm... to get these muscles back in shape.” Taec replied while awkwardly flexing his arm muscles.

“Oppa, you’re weird today.” Fany expressed as she broke the hug and went towards the sofa.

“No, I’m not.” Taec answered. He noticed Fany searching for something and his heart beat went faster. “What are you looking for?”

“The remote control. Oppa, have you seen it? I just placed it here last night. That’s weird” Fany continued searching underneath the sofa, beneath the magazines on the center table, and even outside the balcony.

“Fany-ah, stop searching and start preparing for the lunch date. Ppalli...” Taec interrupted her search.

“What are you saying? It’s 7am, oppa. The lunch date is at lunch time, five hours from now. What’s the rush?”

“Khun wanted an early lunch so we’re having brunch at 10. And you prepare so slow, you would be showering for half an hour, picking your clothes for more or less an hour, do your skin pampering for half an hour, so go and have your shower now before Khun gets angry at us.” He made reasonable excuses and lead Fany to the bathroom while hugging her by the shoulders.

“Arasseo, arasseo.” She followed his ‘orders’. “But you need to make me some coffee and toasts, I’m already hungry oppa.” He nodded as she slipped inside the shower.

He started spreading some butter on some slices of bread and placed them inside the toaster. While waiting for the toasts to be done, he called Khun and Woo for help. He also informed them that the lunch date has turned into a brunch date which irritated Woo since he just woke up and his morning schedule was ruined. However, as the best friends that they were, they agreed to help Taec clear his name at all costs.

After hanging up the call with his friends, he continued to be a good boyfriend as he made some brewed coffee and sausages to accompany Fany’s toasts. Fifteen minutes after, Fany came out of the bathroom in her robe and walked towards the dining table with breakfast prepared by her hubby. She happily ate breakfast as Taec took her turn in the showers. She then started preparing herself for the brunch date, and as Taec predicted, it took her more than an hour to get into her clothes and pamper her skin. When she had some extra time to surf the web, Taec grabbed the netbook away saying that he had important stuff to search in the web and needs to use it first. He also snatched her phone away saying that it was already time for them to leave. She got weirded out by his actions but chose to shrug it off as she followed him out of her apartment.

They arrived at the cafe around 10am and found themselves a table for six. The couple sat and waited for their friends.

“Oppa, I told you it was too early.” Fany pouted.

“No it’s not, they’re just late. They’ll be arriving soon.” Taec intertwined his fingers with hers as they continued scanning the menu.

“Good morning, guys!” Khun waved at the two as he arrived with Vic.

“Annyeong TaecYeon-ssi, annyeong Fany-ah.” Vic greeted and she exchanged hugs with Fany.

Khun sat opposite Taec while the girls sat opposite each other. The girls chatted with each other while waiting for the last couple, whereas Taec and Khun just exchanged messages with their stares, facial expressions, clearing of throats and occasional kicking underneath the table. After about ten minutes, Woo and JiEun arrived.

“Oppa, that’s unfair. You guys are sitting beside your girlfriends and I can’t even sit beside my boyfriend? Hmp!” JiEun whined and lightly hit Taec’s shoulder the second she arrived at the table. Woo, on the other hand, exchanged bro-handshakes with Khun and just admired the cute sibling bonding of the two.

“Good morning to you too, my little angel.” Taec kissed her forehead as he stood from his seat. “That’s the advantage of being early birds, my dear sister. And you need to sit beside me since I haven’t seen you for days.” Taec continued as he pulled out the chair beside his, signalling her to sit down.

They ordered their breakfast and chatted more while waiting for their food to arrive. All of a sudden...

“Yah OK TAECYEON!!!!!” Fany yelled as she slammed her hands on the table.

“Babe, what’s the matter??” Taec asked as the group was shocked with her yell.

She kept silent as her eyes started becoming watery. They looked at the direction of her gaze and found themselves looking at the television screen hung on the wall of the cafe. The screen was flashing news about Taec and his ‘scandal’ with headlines “Company executive Ok TaecYeon caught on an intimate date with not just one but two heiresses, Im YoonA of Im Textiles and Kim JaeKyung of Devil Game Consoles”

Taec sent a why-do-you-have-to-pick-a-cafe-with-a-TV-look at Khun and the latter returned a how-the-hell-would-I-know-that-there-would-be-a-TV-here?-And-don’t-you-think-it’s-about-time-you-tell-her?-look.

“You’re seriously asking?” Fany faced him with tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

“Babe, it wasn’t what you think it is. You can even ask WooYoung-ie on what happened.” He took her hands in his with a sorry look in his eyes. “Yah, WooYoung-ah!” he called for help but before Woo could explain for Taec, Fany stood from his seat.

“I wanna talk to my best friend.” She spoke and headed to a smaller table by the window. Taec just followed her like a kid who did something wrong and got caught by his mother.

“What was that?” Vic asked Khun.

“They have split personalities.” Woo gave a short and vague answer.

“Huh?” Vic asked again.

“When they just got into a relationship, Fany wanted Taec to still be her best friend and if she has problems, she can still talk to him as a best friend and not as a boyfriend. She wanted unbiased conversations so Taec needs to give her explanations or solutions from a best friend’s perspective. That way they can still keep their friendship without malice or something. In short...”

“SPLIT PERSONALITIES!” Woo and JiEun continued for Khun and they all chuckled.

With the split personalities couple...

“Oppa, I just saw my hubby in a scandal, he was with two girls and they were clinging on his arms...” she started slowly letting tears drop on her face.

“Fany-ah, maybe he didn’t mean to... maybe you should hear his side of the story...”

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