Why is he here? That’s the first thought that comes into my mind when I wake up to Ji Yong in the morning. There he lay somewhat peacefully asleep on his side of the bed as usual, with his dark brown hair splayed messily on the pillow. This man should be loathing me and cursing me yet here we are sharing the same bed; why? Then a second selfish thought appears; has he forgiven me? Maybe Ji Yong had learnt to bear with an egotistical woman’s act of putting herself before her man, of disloyalty and of running way. Then again, there’s no way. I got up and closed the curtains when Ji Yong began to wince and frown as his face was entirely doused in the morning light. With the bedroom now entirely dark, he eased back into sleep and I left him like that as I prepared his breakfast. It’s a shameless act I know, pretending to still care for him after I decided to end our relationship, but it would be the last thing I do for him. I had decided to move to a hotel until I could get an early plane ticket back to LA.

“I’m sorry. As angry as I was I shouldn’t have left you alone last night.” Ji Yong’s hoarse morning voice broke my thoughts, and I turned to see him leaning against the kitchen wall. I felt my heart twist in guilt as I heard his words. In the end, he still worries about me and puts me first. I turned off the stove and moved the omelette I was cooking onto a plate.

“Thank you for still caring,” I said, trying to fit a cheer into my words. “Sit down, I’ve made breakfast.” As we dug into our meal a heavy silence fell upon us. We’ve never shared a meal as quiet as this; I don’t even think the both of us knew what we were swallowing. None of us looked at each other either.

“I’ve thought about it Ri Ah, and I realized that you were right,” Ji Yong suddenly said. “Let’s stop this.” When I said the exact same words last night it hurt, but when they came out of Ji Yong’s mouth I could literally feel my heart just rip into tiny shreds. And all of a sudden I’m suffocating.

“What…”

“I am not going to hold you back. I have no right to. But I just need to know one thing; have you ever loved me?”

“Ji Yong…”

“Just answer the question Ri Ah.”

“I love you.”

“At least I know that much.”

“You don’t understand Ji Yong, I’ve loved you even before I met you. When I was looking at you through songs and photos, I wanted to get to know you, and when we met, I fell for you. I loved you in the beautiful months we’ve been together, and I’ll always love you even if we’re thousands and thousands of miles apart…”

“But we just met at the wrong time, huh?”

“Horrible timing,” I agreed.

“Then let’s make the most of it. If you love me then be with me Ri Ah, until one of us let’s go. When I move back to Seoul, or when you move to London, let’s go our separate ways then; a nice, clean break.”

“No way.” I shook my head. “Ji Yong-ah, there’s no way I’m doing that to you.”

“You love me right, then stay with me for a little longer.”

“It’s because I love you that I know you deserve so much better than that. We’ll just hurt even more Ji Yong.”

“I don’t care. It’s what I want and I know that you want it too. If you say that we should end everything then at least give us these few more months. You owe it to us Ri Ah.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The image of him being mine for just a little longer was so enticingly sweet, but I knew that the more time I spend with him, the bigger my love for him grows and the more it’ll hurt when all of this comes to an end. Even so, my lips have already spoken for themselves.

“Okay.” Call me a masochist, I don’t care.

“Thank you,” Ji Yong said, letting out a huge sigh of relief.

“In a few months, you’ll regret saying that Ji Yong.”

“I know.” And the both of us smiled knowing that we’ve been saved for just a little while longer.

“Just while we’re making amends, I take back all my words last night. I’m sorry; I said it out of spite.”

“You were really mean,” he said, pouting. “Remind me to never get on your bad side.”

“Said the person that walked out,” I teased back.

“Oh, right. Ok, it was both our fault.” He looked deep into my eyes and gave me a small smile. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too. I never realized how big the bed was, until you walked out and left me all alone, by myself in the middle of the night, to sleep.”

“RI Ah, how long are you going to keep on using that against me?”

“Until I get bored.” I laughed then got up from the table to start doing the dishes. This should be the way we are, smiling and teasing and just being happy; like an old married couple that’s on the verge of being sick of one another. But I honestly didn’t think I could be sick of him. I turned around and saw the muscles on his arm and back move as he placed some dishes in the top cupboard. No, there’s absolutely no way, I decided.

“I need to go to YG, there’s another meeting,” Ji Yong told me, as he walked into the closet to get changed.

“You’re not driving Ji Yong. On just two or three hours of rest you’re going to kill yourself.”

“I’ve done worse.”

“No. Take a cab or call Nam Gook oppa.” When he didn’t reply, I peered inside his walk-in closet where Ji Yong was deciding between two sunglasses. He honestly doesn’t know how to leave the house without them. After a series of taking off and putting on the same two pairs, he finally gave up and just grabbed a third.

“Hyung’s busy… I think this one is better,” he decided.

“I think you’re late.”

“I know, I know. But are you seriously making me catch a cab?”

“I’m sorry, did you want to walk?” I gave him my best ‘don’t mess with me face’ and Ji Yong obediently emptied out the car keys from his pocket. Now I really did feel like a nagging mother. He scurried over to the foyer with his sneakers, puts them on and is out the door with a quick wave. I sighed to myself in the middle of the empty apartment. Something doesn’t feel right, I thought. Ji Yong must have felt the same because I soon heard the sound of the door opening once again and suddenly I saw him march towards me. He grabbed my head in his hands then leaned forward to kiss me. It took a while for me to register that our lips were locked; but once my heart began to beat out of my chest and my thoughts grew cloudy like usual, I wrapped my arms around him and deepened the kiss. It wasn’t long before Ji Yong did what he usually did; leave me melting and breathless, and as soon as he’s had his share of me, he’s out the door once more without a word. I stood there dumbfounded and breathless, trying to register what just happened. What a bastard. But it wasn’t long before a grin crept onto my face, and I my lips where I could still taste his saliva.

It was a little later in the evening when I received a text from Ji Yong.

I owe you a date so be ready in an hour. Yes, I am driving. Yes, I have slept. No, I am not telling you where we are going.

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when I read it. What a know-it-all, this man thinks he can read my mind. I gave him a quick reply.

I’m not at home. You’ll have to find me first.

Ji Yong must have panicked, because a few seconds after I sent it, he called me.

“Where in the world did you go?” he asked, half worried and half amused.

“I honestly have no idea. I got a little too confident and now I’m lost.” When Ji Yong left I decided to escape the apartment, but now I was stuck in a place with tall buildings and highways after a bus ride and not a single person around to ask for directions. I honestly wasn’t kidding when I told Ji Yong to find me.

“Tell me what you see.”

“High rises, something like an 8-laned road, trees, and lots of bright lights.”

“Oh thank god, you’re still in Seoul at least,” Ji Yong said, although by now he was actually laughing.

“You think this is funny, huh?”

“It’s absolutely hilarious. Just don’t move Ri Ah, I’m going to track you down with the GPS.” I did as I was told and found a nice street bench to settle down on. Right now, I honestly felt like a lost dog waiting for its owner to show up, and show up Ji Yong did about half an hour later with headlights flashing and horn tooting. I could bet with my life that inside he was still cracking up at my poor, helpless state.

“Thanks.” It was all I could say when Ji Yong stopped the car in front of me, then got out to sit beside me on the bench. This was so embarrassing.

“You are one strange woman Lee Ri Ah. The things that you voluntarily choose to do…”

“I didn’t get lost on purpose.”

“You were the one you said you didn’t need a map or tourist guides.”

“But this doesn’t usually happen to me, I swear. I can find my own way home.” Ji Yong ruffled my hair a little and pulled me closer to him.

“No, I like having to rescue you.”

“I have to say, having my boyfriend appear before me with a single call isn’t so bad either. But where are we going?” Ji Yong grabbed my hand and led me to the car, safely buckling me in as well.

“I told you, I’m not telling.”

The sky had turned completely dark by the time we arrive in front of a humongous dome, somewhere in south-east Seoul where a huge sign ‘Jamsil Stadium’ hung for all the patrons to see, and boy were there patrons. Crowds and crowds of people were waiting to get inside for one of South Korea’s favourite pastimes, baseball. If I thought hanging out in Hong Dae with Ji Yong was a bad idea, coming here was clearly suicide.

“Please tell me we’re not going in there. I can’t protect you when 15,000 girls are trying to get a piece of you. In fact, I am part of that 15,000.”

“Don’t worry, I have a plan.” Ji Yong reached out in search of something in the back seat and emerged with a baseball cap, which he believed somehow had the magical ability to conceal people’s identities. I stared at him in disbelief; we are so screwed.

AN: Next chapter as promised. Enjoy, my lovely readers!