… I was so happy. Yi Jung sunbae never failed to surprise me. Last night was wonderful. I never taught that he would bring me to a skating rink. It was really fun and again he impressed me with those fireworks. They are like stars in the sky. Oh, how I wish I could stay here…BUT… My condition, well you know my heart sometimes it hurts, sometimes not. You know chingu, what’s ironic is, whenever I’m with Yi Jung sunbae, my heart doesn’t hurt. Instead it’s full of joy… Well, I guess I had to admit, anyways, I’ll be telling you this in the long run… I, CHU GA EUL, am in love with SO YI JUNG, ha ha ha. Don’t tell him okay it’s written on that stupid contract. Now, I wonder why I came up with that in the first place. Well that’s for our best interest, right? Haha… till next time.

Love,

Ga Eul

Two weeks had passed. All these times, the two have fulfilled the contract. They’ve been dating thrice a week. And each time they went out it was filled with fun and surprises. Ga Eul has kept an account of her life since she learnt about her disease. She had been recording her activities in her journal. And of course this includes her dates with Yi Jung. It was their latest date that Ga Eul finally concluded that she is undoubtedly in love with the Casanova. It took her several sleepless nights and countless discussion before coming up with a conclusion.

Yi Jung was again busy sitting at the balcony of his tree house. He was pretty much occupied in watching the busy passers by. He was enjoying surveying the students chat and greets each other. From time to time he will waive at his fan girls who are so determined in catching his attention. And then from the corner of his eyes, he spotted someone familiar, and strangely he suddenly felt his heart beating faster, he was puzzled. So he instantly followed her every movement.

As for her daily routine, the young lady was busy making her way to the University Library to return the previously borrowed books. She was in her uniform with her pink jacket on top and her hair was adorned with her red ribbon. She was busy balancing the book, when she suddenly slips. The book she was holding suddenly becomes wiggly.

Yi Jung instantly saw the situation. He immediately stood up and with a worry stricken face. He suddenly felt out of air. On the other hand, Ga Eul was busy catching the books and almost tripped completely, but luckily she regained her balance on time. These of course earned a sigh of relief on Yi Jung’s part. He even chuckled on how silly he felt. Ga Eul was only going to fall it’s not as dangerous as it looks and why so worried, Yi Jung debated on himself. He shook his head and lay down on the chair. He continued to gaze at the country bumpkin who composed herself and made her way to the library. He chuckled to himself for feeling so fool during that situation. But it was a confusing feeling for him. He never thought he cared this much for her. In fact, he never thought, he would care for any woman anymore. He rubbed his temple in his frustration for feeling like this. He suddenly heard her voice. He went inside his tree house and saw their images when he first asked Ga Eul to come inside his tree house. Imagination suddenly came alive.

“Yi Jung sunbae, I never taught that you have your studio here. I taught this tree house was only filled with arts and furnitures… But, WOW, this is definitely marvelous.” She stated with full admiration.

“Ahm, Thank you Ga Eul yang and I’m glad you liked it. Well, as you see, this is my sanctuary. I designed it just as the way I am. The room itself was made simple and I personally made those crafts.” He said proudly while watching her explore the studio.

He watched her inspecting every detail of the room with awe and appreciation. He observed her inspecting at the ceramics he made with so much admiration. He watched her happily looking at the pictures on his table. There were four picture frames on his table. She saw F4’s childhood picture. She immediately chuckled upon seeing how cute they are even at their young age. She noticed Jun Pyo with his curly perm. The she noticed that the next child was Ji Hoo, he was holding his violin. Woo Bin, was the one wearing jacket with gloved hands, as if ready to fight. But out of all four, one child really caught her attention. He’s the child with a lopsided grin and cute little dimples. Instantly she saw him and knew that he was Yi Jung.

The next photo she took was F4’s university picture. She saw them wearing a uniform. She found that really nice and beautiful. Then the next photo was again, F4’s picture with their signature clothing style. She chuckled silently. She thought these guys can really pull off any clothing they wore. And then, she froze suddenly. The last photo was taken when Yi Jung was a bit younger. He was smiling happily with a young girl by his side. She doesn’t often see this reaction on Yi Jung. With Ga Eul nervous hands, she took the picture and closely looked at it. She felt a sudden pang on her heart but it is not like the usual pain she felt with her illness. She breathed deeply and gazed at the picture once again with sad eyes.

Yi Jung saw her looking at the pictures. He was enjoying watching her smiling, pouting, and then she became sad. He walked towards her and was shocked that Ga Eul was looking at his photo with Eun Jae. He immediately grabbed the photo and threw it on the box near the table. He was confused with his feelings. He suddenly felt that Ga Eul should not see that and that’s why he’s so eager to take it away. He forgot to keep it after he heard the news from her. Ga Eul was flabbergasted with his sunbae reaction.

“Mianhae… I-I just saw it there. I…I didn’t… mean to upset you.” She immediately bowed down to apologize but she also felt a sudden pain on her heart.

“A-aniyo, it’s not like that…” He felt embarrassed by his actions upon seeing Ga Eul’s sad and apologetic face. This of course confused his feelings. Yi Jung accompanied her to the bench and offered her tea. There was a silence for awhile. He glanced once again at his photo with Eun Jae in the box until Yi Jung broke the deafening silence. He was hesitant at first but it seems that there was a sudden need to explain it to her. He was wondering why he can be so open to her. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath before opening his mouth.

“Ahm, she… she… was my childhood friend…” He paused looking at Ga Eul who remained silent and just nodded her head. He took that as a cue to go on. He again drew another deep breath and spoke in a calm manner.

“My brother, Eun Jae and I had been friends since we were young. She was our playmate and friend. She was also fond of pottery.” He halted briefly and then there was silence again but this time Ga Eul stood up and took the photo from the files on the box. She looked at the picture and brushed her fingers across it.

“She… she is lovely.” She stopped and looked at Yi Jung and contemplated whether she would voice out her thoughts. On the other hand Yi Jung was thinking deeply and was seriously reminiscing his days with Eun Jae.

“You really look happy together…” She showed him the picture which pulled Yi Jung from his reverie. She suddenly felt her heart being stabbed for the nth time. The pain is getting serious, but she brushed it off and breath slowly to relax her.

Yi Jung on the other hand, was busy looking on the picture to notice Ga Eul’s sudden uneasiness and breathing pattern. He took the photo from Ga Eul and caressed the picture slowly.

“Hmm, you see she’s more than a friend… I… I mean she was my confidante. She helped me a lot whenever I got problems at my family. She was my pillar of support. She encourages me with my art and cheers me up when I’m sad…” He said sadly while staring at their photo. Ga Eul was silent again but the pain she felt was increasing. She grabbed her chest as if to protect and stop her heart from hurting. She wants to learn about this Eun Jae who seems to be Yi Jung’s love that is what she concluded. She must see this through the end.

“This photo was actually taken when this tree house was done.” He looks around and smiled lazily. He imagined his effort in perfecting the tree house studio in order to impress Eun Jae who loves pottery and scenic view that is why he made this studio in a tree. He wants to surprise her but what happened was one of the most shocking events in his life. Slowly the smile turned into a frown. He remembered like it was yesterday but the pain he always feel whenever he recalls the scene was no longer that intense. He sighed and took Ga Eul’s hand as if to draw strength from it. He suddenly felt the coldness of her hand and looked at the pale Ga Eul. He suddenly felt tense and with query eyes he stated.

“Ga Eul yang are you okay? Kwenchana?” He placed his both hands on her shoulder to face him.

“Yes sunbae, I guess the heat slowly affected me.” She grabbed her tea cup and drank it. With renewed strength she faced Yi Jung once again and asked her about Eun Jae. She was so determined to know about her that it hid her true condition.

“What happened to Eun Jae unnie? Where is she now?” She bit her lower lip as to mask the pain that is slowly eating her up.

Yi Jung sighed as a relief, knowing that she was fine but he was still uncertain about it. She still looks pale and with those puppy eyes… well he just can’t keep her waiting so he relayed to her what happened on that day in this studio.

Yi Jung told her that Eun Jae was important to him. However, he did not mention that he was his first love but that what he’s pertaining with his statements. He told her that he built the tree house because Eun Jae told him once that she wants to have a studio that has the view of nature. So out of impulse he built this studio.

When the studio was done he summoned Eun Jae to see the studio. Eun Jae was so happy to see the studio, it was beautiful and the sceneries were breathtaking and that would definitely inspire them in their art.

Yi Jung had planned this all along that once he had shown Eun Jae about the studio he’s going to profess his love for her. So he executed his plan and that caused a shock on Eun Jae’s part. She was stunned by the sudden interest of Yi Jung on her but she immediately brushed it off in order to straighten things out. She thanked him about the studio and apologized to him that she cannot return the love he wanted. For her he was more like a younger brother. Surely she loves him but not that on an intimate side. She explained that his brother was the one she loves. She apologized to him that they didn’t tell him about their relationship. Yi Jung was astounded by the news. His brother and his first love were on a relationship.

His thoughts were cut off when she explained to him that they didn’t plan on keeping it from him and that they will soon tell him. She eventually told him their plans of going abroad and apologized again for being secretive.

Yi Jung sighed once again and unconsciously grabbed Ga Eul’s hand before continuing. He explained how they left him alone with the burden of his family problems and a broken heart which lead to his Casanova ways. Ga Eul gently squeezed his hands as a form of support once he saw the pain crossing Yi Jung face. Yi Jung noticed the simple gesture and slowly a smile was seen on his face.

He explained to her that everything was fine now. He told her that he was now happy for the both of them. He sighed as realization dawned on him. He had accepted it long time ago but he only made it clear today. He was really happy for his brother and soon to be sister-in-law. They were engaged when they called him last time.

“You know, I am really happy for the both of them. I guess I mistook Eun Jae’s affection to me. She was right. She’s a breeze that I mistook for air…” After stating that he looked at Ga Eul who was still looking at him seriously as if studying every features he have. He suddenly became anxious when he saw her still pale looking and falling to him.

He caught Ga Eul and found her unconscious. Fear and panic suddenly crept on him. He turned pale instantly. He tried to shake Ga Eul to wake her up but it didn’t work. He suddenly felt out of air. He called his F3 friends for help and then carried Ga Eul once his senses returned. He brought Ga Eul to the clinic and keeps on pestering Dr. Lee.

The F3 came along with Jandi. They were all disturbed by Yi Jung’s face. He was so distressed and pacing outside the clinic the whole time. Jandi should be happy about the looks he sees on Yi Jung but given the situation she could not bother. She was more concerned with Ga Eul’s condition. She had stayed inside the clinic with Dr. Lee to monitor Ga Eul.

The three gentlemen tried to calm their friend but to no avail. He was still anxious about her country bumpkin’s condition. Jandi went outside and Yi Jung rushed to her immediately followed by the three.

“How was she? Is she alright? What happened to her? Is she sick? Tell me Jandi… What happened to her? And ---” He stated in one breathing. His chest was fast moving in a rise and fall motion but was cut off by his friend.

Jun Pyo glared at his friend and pushed Jandi behind him. “Yah So Yi Jung! How can she probably answer you, when you keep on going! YOU PABO!!! I’m --” Jandi pulled her behind to stop Jun Pyo before things get worse.

“Mianhe, Jandi ah, I was just worried and you see…” He said apologetically and bowed down but was raised up by Jandi.

“It’s okay sunbae. She’s fine now. Thank you for your effort. She… She was just… affected with the climate. She’s awake now. She wanted to see you.” With that, Jandi grabbed Jun Pyo and patted Yi Jung’s shoulder. The rest of the group bid goodbye to Yi Jung and asked him to give their “get well soon” remarks to Ga Eul.

Upon hearing those words, Yi Jung sighed and was relieved. He went inside the clinic and bowed to Dr. Lee who motioned him to go to the infirmary room. He saw Ga Eul sitting on the bed. He suddenly rushed to her and hugged her tightly. Ga Eul was dumbfounded by his actions.

Yi Jung placed his forehead on hers and stared at her eyes. He suddenly felt that he regained his air. He realized that Eun Jae was right. He closed his eyes and then his face slowly went down. His lips touched hers. It was their first sweet and innocent kiss. He slowly looked at her and smiled then turned serious again.

“Don’t EVER scare me like that again! Araso?” Yi Jung said while intently looking at her brown orbs as it became clear with the unshed tears. Yi Jung didn’t wait any longer for her to answer. He cupped both her cheeks and started kissing her once again. This time the kiss was full of yearning and it lasted for who knows how long.

Yi Jung smiled at the thought of them kissing. He suddenly touched his lips as if feeling the warmth they shared. He was so happy. The strong breeze suddenly brushed his hair and smirked. He saw Ga Eul waving at him walking towards his tree house. He waved at her and signaled Ga Eul to wait for him below the tree house. His smile became much bigger as he realized something from the past.

Yi Jung promised himself that he would only show his tree house to his air. Yes, he told himself after Eun Jae left that the next person that will see his studio would be his air. He chuckled lightly as he confessed to himself that a cute country bumpkin was his AIR.