Round Forty-Seven


Young didn’t know if he should roll his eyes at his buddy or put his arm around him and comfort him. But as he looked at Yoong’s forlorn figure at the bar, he couldn’t help but sympathize with his buddy. Yoong was after all, a good man, despite all his flaws.

“Bro, you’re getting drunk.”

“I’m not drunk.”

“That’s what you always say when you’re drunk.”

“I’m not drunk.”

Young sighed. He did not want to get into another never-ending disagreement about Yoong’s sobriety. He simply snatched the glass away from Yoong and downed it in one gulp.

“Hey! Get your own drink! That’s mine!”

“Sharing is caring, bro.”

“I don’t care. I don’t want to care. I’m done caring,” mumbled Yoong.

“Sunny cares about you, Yoong. She was crying because of you not so long ago.”

“No one can make Im Yoong the player cry. No one.”

“Who said anything about making you cry?” Young cocked an eyebrow. Then he gasped. “Don’t tell me you cried? You cried? Like seriously cried? Because of Sunny?”

“I didn’t cry! And it wasn’t because of Sunny!”

Young couldn’t help grinning. Yoong had definitely cried over Sunny. But his initial feelings of amusement soon disappeared, and his heart went out to his buddy instead. He had never seen him cry before. This was serious, for Yoong did not cry easily and there were many instances that proved just that.

Young remembered Yoong falling out of a tree once, when he was in high school. He ended up breaking his arm and it twisted in a horrible way that made Young cringe. And as painful as the injury had been, not a drop of tear was shed by the injured boy.

Young was also there to witness Yoong going through an ugly breakup with his very first love. Yoong had loved her very much but that girl chose to leave him for his archrival—the captain of their rival school’s basketball team. Young saw how broken Yoong was after the breakup. But instead of crying over it, he led his basketball team to victory in the regional championships, beating the rival team, 98 to 88.

Yoong didn’t even cry when he found out that the girl he was about to marry at that time, was in fact sleeping with a married man for money and expensive gifts. His ex-fiancée had pulled the wool over his eyes and manipulated him into marrying her against the wishes of his family. His relationship with his family was strained because of her and he had sacrificed many other things for her as well. Yet, not a tear was shed by Yoong when the truth was finally revealed by Young and Hyun moments before the wedding. They had managed to get photographic evidence of his fiancée’s infidelity after much difficulty—she was way too careful and crafty to be caught easily—and to their surprise, he had been relatively calm about it.

Yoong cried over Sunny… Oh my gawd…

With that thought, Young decided there and then that the dispute had to end.


~~~~~


“I really need your help Sunny. Please come to Seventh Heaven now.”

Young’s plea had Sunny wondering what it was about as she drove to Seventh Heaven. She entered the place with little hassle—the bouncer was all too happy to let her in—and headed to Young’s VIP area.

“I should have known.” Sunny stood still and looked at the passed out man who was lying prostrate on the couch. “Young, I’m really not in the mood to talk about Yoong right now.”

“Sit. I need to tell you about him.”

“I don’t want to know.”

“Do you still care for him?”

Sunny bit her lip and cast her eyes down on the floor. Her silence was very telling, however.

“I know you care and he obviously cares a lot too. I just need your ears for a few minutes.”

Sunny pressed her lips together and sat down. She would listen because she knew that ultimately, things had to be worked out.

“Thank you for listening to me. Now, I’m going to tell you about this poor man who has knocked himself out because he’s miserable.”

Sunny swallowed a lump in . Hearing that Yoong was miserable made her heart palpitate and her chest had never felt more hollow.

“You should know that Yoong almost married a woman once?”

Sunny nodded.

“You know that, but you don’t know what he went through for her and because of her. Yoong didn’t use to be so possessive or jealous. He wasn’t like that before knowing her.”

Sunny sat up straight. Young had her attention now.

“This woman seduced Yoong and made him fall in love with her. She was very good at it—seduction. Quite like you, in fact. She enticed, thrilled and excited him. And when she got him, hook, line and sinker, she tore him apart with her unfaithfulness. He was devoted to her. He ignored all of our advice. Grandpa Im even threatened to cast him out of the family but he was adamant about marrying her so even Grandpa Im had to relent in the end.”

Sunny gasped upon hearing that. She remembered how intimidating Grandpa Im’s aura was and she couldn’t imagine standing up to him in that manner. Yoong must have been really in love with that woman to do that.

“But Hyun and I, we couldn’t let him marry her. He would be destroyed if that happened. She would all the money out of him and leave him. We were sure of that. So we hired the best private investigators to track her whereabouts and daily activities but she was good. Too good, in fact. Our PIs came back to us empty handed. She was a model, tall and beautiful and there were too many men around her to figure out who she was secretly sleeping with. Until one day, we struck gold. One of my girlfriends secretly told me that she had seen a video of Yoong’s fiancée in one of her friend’s home.”

“A video?” breathed Sunny.

Young nodded grimly. “A video that wasn’t suitable for children, get it?”

Sunny nodded.

“Well, I asked my girlfriend to try to get her hands on the video. She didn’t manage to get the video but she did take a screenshot of it and sent it to me. And I was right beside Yoong with the rings in my pocket when I received the picture. That’s how close we cut it.”

Sunny’s hands flew to in horror. She couldn’t imagine how badly it must have hurt Yoong to be told the truth in such horrible manner and at such a horrible time.

“All he said to her was, ‘You sl*t.’ And then he walked right out of his own wedding. That b*tch was going to chase after him but I stopped her and showed her the picture I showed him. That’s when she cried. That b*tch had the cheek to cry. Yoong didn’t even cry when it should have been him sobbing away.”

Sunny saw how fiery Young’s eyes were and felt glad suddenly. She was glad that Yoong had such a good friend in Young who was willing to do so much for him. And then she felt guilty all of a sudden. She hadn’t been all that understanding with Yoong. And to think that she had asked him if he thought she was a sl*t! Oh, that must have brought back unpleasant memories for him.

“Yoong cried over you, Sunny, and he never cries.”

Sunny looked at the knocked out man and her chest tightened at the thought of his pain and anguish. She wanted to kiss him everywhere to make him feel better. She wanted him to be strong and free from his insecurities. She wanted to renew his trust in women.

“I guess, that b*tch is the reason why Yoong is the way he is now?” Sunny held her tears back as she looked at Young.

Young nodded. “He wasn’t like that before.”

“What was he like before?”

Young smiled. “He was cool and easy-going. He had been dumped before but he always took it well. He did get jealous but it was more of the kind that had his girls giggling over. Nothing like that stupid stunt he pulled in Jeju. That b*tch really shredded his trust in women and turned him into a callous player who wouldn’t be caught wearing his heart on his sleeve.”

And that’s why he asked if I had been with Joongki…

Sunny winced a little. It still hurt to think that he had thought so lowly of her. But perhaps, she had not done enough to assure him either…

“Young, thanks.”

“You’re extremely welcome. I don’t want to see the two of you hurting. I feel like I’m getting the shorter end of the stick here. I get to see the two of you crying over each other and it’s hardly something worth rejoicing over.”

Sunny laughed. “Young…”

Young grinned cheekily. “Come on, let’s get your lover boy home.”

Sunny smiled and nodded.


~~~~~


Birds chirped outside the window and the sun casted a warm glow on the living things below it as it rose up through the sky. All was nice and peaceful. Until Yoong’s alarm clock rang thunderously.

Sunny screamed in shock and sat straight up with her hands covering her ears. She trembled and bit her lips in fear as cold sweat started to break out across her forehead. She had been lying on her side, studying Yoong’s peaceful, boyish face when the alarm clock frightened her with its sudden, loud alarm that sounded like explosions.

She heard Yoong’s flustered voice amidst the alarm.

“What? What’s happening? Wha--?”

Then, much to her relief, the alarm stopped and the warmest arms engulfed her and made her feel safe and protected.

“Sunny? What’s wrong? Why are you trembling?”

Sunny stuttered, “I-I’m a-afraid of loud noises, e-especially noises that sound like e-explosions.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that. I’ll get rid of it. You’ll never hear it again.”

“Did you change your alarm clock? I thought your alarm was that incessant ringing noise?” Sunny began to calm down. His presence was immensely comforting to her.

“I changed it, thinking that explosive sounds would wake me up better.”

There was a slight pause and Sunny saw surprise and cluelessness register in Yoong’s eyes. His mouth opened to speak but she got her words in first. “Your reaction is kind of late don’t you think?” She smiled. “I’m here because I sent you home after you passed out from drinking.”

“Y-You sent me home? Wasn’t I with Young?”

“Young called me.”

“That idiot. Why did he leave you to take care of me all by yourself?”

Sunny tilted her head to the side and smiled with twinkling eyes. “Or would you rather wake up beside Young? If that’s the case, I can get him to come over and replace me.”

Sunny had to hold back her laugh when she saw Yoong’s eyes growing big and wide. His head shook violently as he said, “No! No! I don’t mean that! Of course I’d rather have you by my side when I wake up!” Then he groaned and clutched his head.

“You shouldn’t have shaken your head so hard. You would be hung over after drinking so much last night.” Sunny his hair gently, nursing his pain in her own way.

She looked at him fondly as he lowered his eyes and asked hesitantly, “So… have you forgiven me for being an ?”

Sunny remained silent, forcing him to look up to find out why she wasn’t answering and that was when she parted her lips and took in his lips with much passion. She closed her eyes and roved her lips over his, nibbling on his lower lip. She found an opening and slipped inside him, inducing a whimper from him. Her lips curled up happily upon hearing him and she launched an even more aggressive attack on him with her lips and tongue.

She felt him returning the kiss with equal ardor and passion as his hands glided up and down her back. His arms tightened and she was squashed against his body but she didn’t mind. She missed being in his arms too much to complain. His hands were getting naughty, pulling down the straps of her tank top and she let him pull her top down, revealing her creamy cleavage, partially encased in a pink, polka dot bra with a ribbon in the middle. She heard his guttural growl and knew that he had opened his eyes to look at her. Knowing that she had that effect on him only made her feel hotter and more bothered, to the point where she was tugging and pulling at his top too.

With both of their tops removed, they parted and looked at each other. She smiled shyly, a hint of pink gracing her cheeks as he looked at her with unadulterated desire and need.

Hold on.

No. It wasn’t just that.

It was more than desire.

It was more than need.

Oh yes, it was the look of love. He loved her as much as he desired her. Could she say that his desire stemmed from his love for her? She hoped she could.

“I love you,” she whispered, “Yoongie…”

Her heart flipped when she saw his face lighting up with a bright, happy smile.

“I love you too, bunny.”

His arms engulfed her once again and she wrapped her arms and legs around him, hugging him like a koala. His lips were all over her shoulders and neck and she was squirming from the heat rising from her happy corner.

A long and deep groan startled her and she looked at him curiously. She followed his eyes down to his boxers and realized that her squirming actions had caused an uproar down below. She giggled and blew a kiss to his ever expanding bulge.

“Be good, okay? Don’t torture him.” She patted it lightly, inducing another groan from him.

“Sunny… you… you…”

Sunny merely grinned as Yoong lost the ability to speak. She knew perfectly well that her hand was the cause of it.

“Do you want to rest? You are still hung over after all.”

She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing at his look of incredulity.

“It’s just a headache. I can handle it. Bring it on, bunny.”


~~~~~


Moments later, they lay on his bed feeling utterly spent but extremely sated. Sunny snuggled into Yoong’s arms and was about to plant a kiss on a naughty spot when she gasped.

“Yoongie! What time is it? Are we late for work?”

“Yes, we are. We’re half an hour late.”

“Oh my goodness!” Sunny scrambled up and tried to find her clothes among the mess of sheets on the bed. “I need to get home to change!”

“Stay in bed with me just a little bit longer… don’t go so soon… we just made up!” Yoong whined.

“You may be the boss, but I’m just an employee. This is the professionalism that I’m talking about. I don’t want any special favours or benefits just because I’m dating you. I don’t want anyone to think that I’m someone looking for an express ticket to the riches.” Then her voice softened significantly and she cupped his face with her palms. “I’m not like her. You can rest your worries. I would never ever do anything to hurt you intentionally.”

She looked into his rapidly blinking eyes and heard him inhale sharply.

“Y-You know about her? Young must have told you, right?”

She nodded. “He told me all about your ex-fiancée.”

“Is that why you decided to forgive me?”

Sunny smiled. “Not entirely… but it is part of the reason.”

“I don’t want you to love me out of pity or forgive me because you feel sorry for me.”

Sunny squeezed his cheeks as she shook her head. “I didn’t forgive you because I feel sorry for you. And I don’t pity you. I’m forgiving you because I understand you better and I can see why you would think the way you do.”

Sunny paused briefly before asking a question.

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Then let me change the way you see women. Not every woman cheats and lies. Although, I would have to admit that with your family background, you would inevitably attract more of those kinds of women than the average guy.”

“So I’m better than average only because I’m freaking rich?”

Sunny pulled up the corners of his mouth with her fingers, erasing the pout that was on his face.

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“Do you think I’m better than average?”

Sunny grinned. “I only date stellar guys. So you must be stellar.”

“Why did you agree to date me? Why do you love me?”

His earnest eyes touched her heart and she knew that she had to answer his questions right.

“You’re charming, good looking, handsome and cute… tall, cheeky, playful and cute… smart, hardworking, ambitious and cute… honest, caring, witty and—”

“Cute!” he interrupted with a broad grin. “Why do you keep repeating the word ‘cute’?”

Sunny’s eyes glinted with mischief as she inched towards his ear and whispered, “Cute is for your cute little toy down there.” Then she leaned back and winked at him cheekily.

“Little?” Yoong was indignant. “Little? I’m by no means little! Gosh, you haven’t seen what little looks like. This,” Yoong pointed at his crotch, “is anything but little.”

“Of course I haven’t seen what little looks like. Yours is the only one I’ve seen, remember? You are the only size I know.”

And Sunny couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she saw the happiest, most boyish grin on Yoong’s face ever.


~~~~~


The news had spread, apparently. Tiffany was getting calls from her clients who were curious to know why she was no longer part of the company. And she took the opportunity to advertise a little.

“I’m planning to start up my own company.”

“Oh! That’s great! I’d love to work with you when you’re ready. I’m going to open my biggest store in the new shopping mall in town and I want it to be big.”

Tiffany laughed daintily, a laugh that she reserved for clients only. “And that’s the name of my new company, Make It Big.”

“That’s a great name. Remember to call me when you’re ready for some business.”

“I will. Thank you.”

Tiffany ended the call and smiled. This was a good start. Already more than five clients had called her upon finding out that she was no longer with her previous company. All she needed now, was a good team.


~~~~~


Meanwhile, Taeng had set off on his own little adventure. Well, it wasn’t really an adventure but it felt like one to him. He was on his way to meet Kangin who was still holding on to his peas.

He had been given an address which was in the heart of Seoul and he made his way there after checking it out on the Internet. It was a radio broadcasting station and Kangin had told him that he was a disc jockey or DJ for short. Taeng had a rough idea of where the building was and found it quite easily. He identified himself at the reception and was led up to the ninth floor where Kangin was about to record a live broadcast.

“Hi, Kangin ssi.” Taeng thought Kangin looked a lot taller than the last time he saw him.

“Taeng! There you are and just in time too. Quick, put this on.”

Taeng looked at the headphone set that Kangin was pushing into his hands and blinked. He had no idea what was going on.

“Why are you giving me these?”

“Just say that you’re my friend and talk about anything under the sun. I need to pee now!”

“Huh?”

“Be right back!”

“Kangin!” Taeng shouted at the disappearing back of Kangin and looked down at the headphone set that he was holding. Put it on? Taeng put on the headphone set and looked at the rest of the crew standing around. They didn’t look in the least surprised that Kangin would run off to pee and leave a clueless man at the helm of the radio broadcast. Does he do this a lot?

A man from the other side of the table signalled him to talk as the music faded away so he talked.

“Hello! Er… Hi… I’m Kim Taengoo but most people call me Taeng. I’m Kangin’s friend. He asked me to talk about anything under the sun while he’s off to pee. I hope he comes back soon because I don’t really know what to talk about. I’m only here to get my peas back from him. He took them with him from Jeonju, where I met him in a bar. And it was in that bar that I made up with my girlfriend, so I like that bar very much. I missed my girlfriend so much when we were apart. I missed her much more than I miss my peas now. I can’t wait to see my peas again. I hope they are alright and not dirty or anything. They hate it when I wash them because I have to hang them up to dry and I’m sure it hurts. I can almost see their smiles turning into pouts when I hang them up. But I’m extra nice to them after I take them down to make up for it. I will let them stay out of their pod for a little bit longer than usual and they like it very much. I guess, it is very stuffy inside the pod but it’s where they belong and I have to keep them safe inside.”

“AND I’M BACK!” Kangin’s voice boomed in Taeng’s headphone set. He looked up and saw Kangin giving him the thumbs up and a wink. He raised his hands to take off the set but Kangin waved his arms and stopped him from taking it off.

“That was my friend, Taeng, and I’m sure you’re very interested in finding out more about him and his peas. I’ve never seen a man so in love with peas before but it’s all good since it’s a healthy vegetable. Well, Taeng’s peas aren’t really vegetables—it’s really a plush toy—but peas are healthy, nonetheless. Rich in iron and vitamin C and really low on calories! The ultimate vegetable for a diet! We’re going for a commercial break now but when we get back, more about the peas and for those of you on your computers, you will get to see the peas ‘live’ on the radio broadcast streaming channel! Stay tuned and don’t go anywhere!”

Kangin took his headphones off and turned to Taeng, grinning widely. “You did great! You’re a natural, you know. You’re the only person who talked so much without stopping so far. All the other people who stood in for me while I peed pretty much hemmed and hawed their way through those couple of minutes. But you! You my man! You can talk!”

Taeng smiled. “I never knew that. I guess, I’m just so used to talking to my peas that I don’t really need a person in front of me to talk.”

Kangin laughed. “That must be it. You’re right.”

Taeng watched as Kangin clicked on his computer and saw his eyes opening wide.

“Taeng! Check out these messages in the chat box!”

“Huh?” Taeng leaned over to look and saw a flurry of messages asking about the peas and Taeng. A few messages even mentioned that he looked cute on the camera. “There’s a camera?” he squeaked.

Kangin laughed again. “Yes, there is. We do a radio cam on some broadcasts and today is one of those instances. Wow, I think you have fans already, Taeng!” he exclaimed as he clicked and read more messages about Taeng.

“Fans?” squeaked Taeng, “No, no, no… I don’t want to have fans. I’m scared of fans.” The only fan he could think of was Jieun and she was as scary as hell.


~~~~~


They were finally done with the radio show and walked out of the broadcasting station together.

“So, are you going back to Jeonju?”

“No, I live and work in Seoul.”

“Oh! That’s great! I was feeling kind of bad for making you come all the way to Seoul for your peas. So, what do you do for a living?”

“Well, I used to be a personal assistant but I’m jobless now.”

“You were fired?”

Taeng nodded sadly. “Fany was fired too.”

“What???”

“We worked in the same company. I was her personal assistant.”

Taeng couldn’t understand why Kangin was grinning and waggling his eyebrows at him.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Kangin snickered. “The two of you are so . Have you done it in the office?”

“Done what?”

Taeng blinked as Kangin rolled his eyes.

“! Have you two had in the office?”

Taeng gasped and shook his head violently. “NO! OF COURSE NOT!”

“Tsk… tsk… tsk…” Kangin shook his head solemnly. “Taeng, you have a lot to learn.”

“What do I need to learn?”

“How to please a woman.”

“How to please a woman???”

“Uh huh. Women will never admit it but they actually like to do it in places other than their beds.”

Taeng’s eyes grew big and round. Then he grinned widely and announced proudly, “We’ve done it at other places before!” as he recalled their escapade on the roof top of his school.

He felt proud of himself when he saw Kangin grinning at him.

“That should have been pretty exciting for the both of you.”

Taeng turned red immediately and Kangin’s hand patted his shoulder and said, “You are the man, Taeng. You are the man.”


~~~~~


“Tiffany, I heard that you were fired. What gives?”

“A mean old pr*ck decided that he wanted revenge on me so he kicked Taeng and I out of the company.”

“Revenge? For?”

Tiffany sighed. “It’s a long story but I can tell you all about it over a few bottles of soju. How about we meet at Belly Happy?”

Sunny nodded and smiled. “Sure! I’ll see you there. Mind if Yoong comes along?”

“Can’t bear to be apart even for a couple of hours? Oh, how sweet…”

Sunny heard Tiffany’s teasing tone and grinned. “We only just made up after having a series of really bad quarrels, so yeah, we want to make up for lost time.”

“Bad quarrels? Everything is resolved I hope.”

“It’s not completely resolved yet but we’re working on it.”

“That’s good to hear. You have to tell me about it too.”

“I’ll tell you about it in private.”

“Deal.”

Sunny giggled and heard Tiffany giggling too which got her giggling even more. And it was a while before the call ended.


~~~~~


Sunny knocked on Yoong’s door.

“Come in.”

She opened the door, entered the room and saw Yoong grinning at her like a little boy grinning at his favourite ice cream.

“What’s with the grin?” Sunny asked with a smile that rivaled his grin.

“And what’s with that radiant smile?”

“This smile is for you. Is that grin for me?”

“Of course it is. Just for you, Sunnybunnyhunny.”

“Sunnybunnyhunny???”

“I just thought of it. Do you like it?”

Sunny answered with a kiss on his nose and put her arms around his neck. “I like it but that wasn’t what I came in for.”

“What is it?”

“I called Tiffany’s office to ask about the state of planning for our Jeju Joy opening and was told that both Taeng and Tiffany were fired last week.”

“WHAT???”

“Calm down.” Sunny rubbed the nape of his neck and soothed his shock. “I called Tiffany and she said she’ll meet us to tell us all about it.”

“But who’s going to take over the opening of Jeju Joy? I want Tiffany to be the one handling it.”

“Me too. That’s why I want to meet her as well. If I recall correctly, our contract has a clause that requests Tiffany to be in-charge of the project. So there are several options that we will need to discuss with her.”

“Mmm, my Sunnybunnyhunny is a smartie!”

And Sunny laughed and squealed excitedly when Yoong lifted her up and kissed her soundly on the lips.


~~~~~


Yul and Jessica went around San Francisco at a leisurely pace. They visited, Union Square, Coit Tower, Alcatraz (Jessica was a little spooked in there), Palace of Fine Arts and many other places. They had gone to Fisherman’s Wharf on the second day, so they decided to visit Japantown instead.

Once they got to Japantown, Jessica brought Yul to the well-known bookstore, Kinokuniya. She browsed through several books but none of them interested her enough to make her buy them. Having had enough of looking at books, she began to look for Yul. He had wandered off to another section to look at some other books.

She spotted him in the law section and smiled knowingly. Where else could she have found him? She began to walk towards him and was just meters away from him when a woman who was dressed in a crisp white long-sleeved blouse and a black pencil skirt approached him and started talking to him.

Jessica bristled instantly. Yul is mine, woman. Get out of here already. She strutted to Yul’s side and snugged her arm around his.

“Baby, are you ready to go? I’m hungry.” She made sure that her voice was absolutely dripping with sweet, sweet honey.

She was satisfied to see that the woman looked rather uncomfortable and allowed herself a self-satisfied smirk.

“Here, you can have it. I wasn’t planning on buying it anyway.”

Jessica watched as Yul handed the book he was holding to the woman. The woman took the book politely, all the while casting furtive glances at Jessica who was making no effort to hide the dangerous sparks in her eyes.

“Thank you very much. “

“You’re welcome. It is a good law book. I’m glad that you finally found it.”

Jessica tugged at Yul’s arm and he turned to her looking a little unhappy. She felt a little unhappy that he was unhappy with her. Why would he be unhappy with her? She had every right to stamp her name all over him especially when another woman was coming on to him like that!

She felt even unhappier when Yul turned back to the woman and said, “It was nice to meet you. Take care.”

“Same here,” the woman said with a warm smile that irked the heck out of Jessica.

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Jessica tugged at Yul’s arm impatiently and dragged him out of the bookstore. She could feel the intensity of his eyes on her but she ignored it until they were out of the bookstore.

“Don’t you think you were a little rude back there?” Yul began.

“That woman was coming on to you like a flea to a dog.”

“She was only asking me if I wanted to buy the book. She wanted to buy it and had been looking for it. The copy that I was holding happened to be the last one so she had to ask me.”

“I don’t care about the lame excuses that she whipped up just to get to talk to you but I’m one hundred percent sure that she would have asked for your number if I hadn’t appeared and thwarted her plans.”

“I don’t think she was lying, Sica.”

“Yul, I’m a woman. I know women. I know that she’s thinking about how hot you are, how handsome you look and how smart you must be to be looking at law books.”

Jessica paused when Yul broke into a huge grin all of a sudden.

“Baby… I think those are your own thoughts and not hers.”

“Yul!” Jessica pouted. She had a love-hate relationship with Yul’s teasing. It was sweet and romantic at times but during times like this, she felt embarrassed and a little ridiculed.

But Yul quickly made it alright again by chuckling and pulling her chin for a quick kiss on her lips.

“Don’t pout. Let’s go for lunch. Ramen for you?”

“Ramen!” Jessica perked up at the thought of having her favourite noodles.


~~~~~


After an early dinner, they headed to the one place that everybody had to visit to get their picture taken when they were in San Francisco—the Golden Gate Bridge.

Yul was in awe. He was so stunned that his jaw dropped as he looked up at the approximately two hundred meter tall, internationally renowned bridge.

“Let’s take a walk across the bridge.” Yul held Jessica’s hand and began walking. “I can’t believe that I’m walking on the second longest suspension bridge in the US!” he gushed.

He noticed Jessica smiling to herself and nudged her. “What are you smiling at?”

Jessica met his eyes and spoke cheekily, “You.”

“Me?”

Jessica nodded her head. “You’re just like a little boy when it comes to all these things. The cable car, the steep roads, Alcatraz and now this.”

“I’m just a boy at heart.”

“You’re a big boy.”

“But don’t worry, I’ll be as manly as I can be when it comes to loving you.”

Yul draped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. He felt her arm slipping around his waist and grinned.

“Put your hand in my back pocket.”

He heard her gasp and looked at her innocently while her face turned pink. “Hmm? What’s wrong baby?”

“Yul, you’re such a byun,” said Jessica as she put her hand into his back pocket, not forgetting to squeeze his a little as she did so. “Is this what you want me to do?”

Yul’s breath hitched as she squeezed his again.

“Baby, you’re the byun one in this relationship. I only said that because I don’t want your hand to be cold.”

“Oh.”

Yul couldn’t help chuckling a little when he saw Jessica looking thoroughly embarrassed.


~~~~~


Soon, they arrived at the most popular photo-taking spot and that’s when Jessica produced a camera and asked a man for help with the photograph. She was standing next to Yul who had both of his hands in his pockets—he was feeling a little cold—when he asked her a question out of the blue while waiting for the man to get the camera ready.

“You haven’t told me what your other wish is. There’s one more wish that you want fulfilled on this trip, right?”

Jessica smiled shyly and nodded.

“What’s the other one?”

“Green meadow.”

“And what’s the meaning of it?”

Jessica giggled and said, “You’re going to find out tomorrow.”

“Alright, and once we’ve fulfilled your two wishes, you’ll have to fulfill one of mine,” said Yul, calmly and quietly.

“Huh?” Jessica looked at him in surprise and right at that moment, the flash went off and the photograph was taken.

~~~~~