It’s worth the wait.

We look high and low for the right person. We kiss a lot of frogs before finding our prince. We pray hard for the man above to give us that “someone” who will drive us crazy and mess our world in the most beautiful way. We wait and wait and wait without even getting tired. His/Her arrival can be delayed but once he/she is already in front of you and is with you, there’s nothing more you can ask for coz all you’ll feel is love and that blissful feeling of being loved in return.

Always remember, it can be late but trust me, it’s worth the wait.

“Isn’t this crazy?” Rae asked while looking up the sky while sitting on the hood of the car.

I looked at her “A bit”

She chuckled “Honestly…I’m not expecting to see you in ten years or even more….actually….I even have this feeling that once I see you or once our paths cross…you’ll have another woman in your arms already with a baby”

I pulled her close to me then wrapped my arms around her waist “Ten years….does that mean you really don’t have any plans of going back to Seoul?”

“I’m not sure if I still want to go back….I know that what I did…running away from my family and totally erasing them out of my life is really a wrong move...it breaks my heart thinking that I’m being a big problem but I just can’t let them rule my life again…you know so well how tight their grip is on my neck that made me do and obey everything that they want me to do…I want to run my life on my own without any pressure which I’m happily living now”

From the way Rae looks, I can easily tell that she’s really happy and even though I now that what she did to her family is wrong, I’m on her side for all her life she’s being locked by her parents in their world, suffocating her.

After our serious talk and reconciliation in the empty parking lot, things seem to go back to normal which is surprising for I can’t even feel a bit of awkwardness and hesitance anymore, so far from what I’m expecting.

“I’ll introduce you to the new Rae” she said with a smile then opened the door to her apartment.

Jiyong is right. Rae’s place is so small that I don’t think three to four people can fit in. I can see everything from where I’m standing but in all fairness, even if it’s small, it is so cozy.

“Welcome Hyung!” Jiyong greeted with his arms spread wide.

Katy, the cutest, wittiest and smartest little girl I’ve ever met is sleeping on the couch already.

“Oh!” Rae pointed at her in surprise “She’s sleeping” then looked at the clock.

“Why do you look so shocked?” I asked curiously.

“You heard her a while ago….she sleeps so late for a kid and when I say late…I mean late as in one in the morning or sometimes two” she answered, making me look at her in disbelief.

“Seriously?” I asked.

Jiyong gave a nod “Yeah Hyung…that’s true...she hits the sack late most of the time coz Karla is working triple jobs and there are times where her duty is up till the wee hours of the night...Katy waits for her to arrive”

“Believe it or not…Karla leaves her alone in their apartment during those times and I’ll just check on her once I arrive from the lounge bar” Rae added.

Up until now I still cannot wrap my mind up to the fact that Rae is not a pastry chef anymore but a singer already.

Not that I’m not cool with it, actually I’m really happy for at last, she’s living her dream but it’s such a loss for she has established a good name as a chef already. Oh well, I’ve got no say in this for as long as she’s happy, I’m happy as well.

“I’ll go back to the hotel now guys” Jiyong said after a while.

“Are you going with him?” Rae asked me and I shook my head.

“Aigoo….yaaaa….why do I feel like you want TOP Hyung to go already when you two are not heated up that much yet? Rae-ah…aren’t you missing his warmth? It’s actually a good night to cuddle for it’s cold and I know you’ll need him tonight for your heater is broken”

This man, he’s making us really awkward.

“What? My heater is broken?” Rae asked then checked it.

“Gosh!” she exclaimed in frustration “This !”

It made me laugh “That’s fixable”

“Can you fix it?” she asked and I just stared at her.

Jiyong burst out laughing “It’s all good Hyung…we know that you can’t get your hands dirty…actually…I think that heater break in time for it gave you two the opportunity to be so close….SKIN TO SKIN…WARMTH TO WARMTH tonight” he winked then received a smack on the head from Rae.

Being with these two without any tension feels so great for the last time we got together like this, the war between me and Jiyong is still on and Rae hasn’t figured out who she really love yet. Now we’re in harmony again for things have fallen in its right places and we know where we stand in each other’s lives already.

After teasing Rae and I non-stop, Mr. Kwon finally left, leaving the two of us and Katy in peace.

“I’ll carry her to the room” I told her when she’s about to carry the little girl from the couch.

She smiled “Alright”

“Aigoo…she’s heavy” I said, making her chuckle.

To my shock, her room has the same feel like the one in Seoul for its walls are painted red and there are lots of things scattered on the floor too. From here I can say that there are things that haven’t changed for she’s still the clumsy girl I know.

“I look so young here” I said after seeing a framed picture of mine on her vanity table.

She grabbed it from me then hid it behind her back shyly “I love this picture”

“Now I know why you’re not missing me that much” I grabbed another framed picture with a photo of us this time “You have me everywhere

She grabbed it from me again “What are you talking about? I happen to see it on my phone before and got it printed to have a souvenir of you…and me…and our…relationship”

“Blah blah blah” I teased, receiving a slap on the arm from her.

“Here I am again” I said after seeing another framed picture and all she can do is sigh.

“Don’t tell me you’ve got tons of my pictures around coz if you really have…I’m gonna go nuts” I said.

She faked a laugh “That’s just it…I swear…nothing more”

“Really?” I took a step forward, closing the gap between us.

Rae looks uncomfortable for some reason “Yaaa…why are you suddenly being distant?” I asked curiously.

“hmm…nothing” she answered without looking at me.

“Nothing” I repeated then pulled her close to me by the waist, making her shriek.

“Seunghyun…what are you doing?” she asked “Your eyes….GOSH! They’re freaking me out”

I’m used to so many people telling me that my eyes are freaking them out and they’re getting uncomfortable because of it but it’s just so new to hear it from this woman for she can stare into it for long without even feeling uneasy.

“I love you” I blurted out randomly, making her blush.

“Aigoo” I pinched her cheeks that made her shriek in protest “You’re blushing and it’s very lovely to see” I teased.

She rolled her eyes like a mean girl then sighed “I don’t usually blush coz of your cheesiness but maybe this is an exception”

To my surprise, she wrapped her arms around my neck then stared straight into my eyes “I love you too”

Before, all I wanted is to hear her to at least reply even a fake and no-feelings-at-all “I love you” for no matter what she do and how hard she force herself to say it, she just can’t spit it out and every time I get her to say it I can’t feel any sincerity, now it’s all different for the three words coming out from is filled with emotions that makes my heart melt.

And because we know that we can’t fool around coz of Katy, we just hanged out in the living room with a bottle of wine that is given by her boss for almost a year already. This brought back memories for when we’re still in Seoul, we always drink wine over chocolates, biscuits and cheese every night while talking about random stuffs.

“Jiyong told me that you keep on moving....that from New York you moved to Chicago then from there you moved here…why is that?” I asked curiously while we’re cuddling on the couch.

She sighed heavily “Well…let’s just say that a runway’s life isn’t really easy…I struggled for years before I get to where I am now…I’m telling you Seunghyun…tough times will really get the best out of you most especially when NEVER in your whole damn life have you imagined that you’ll go through such like being homeless for days and just living in a cheap motel with a bed that makes annoying noise every time you move or juggle three jobs at a time when you’re so used to bossing around…I even worked as a dog poop picker in central park just to feed myself...”

“When I moved to Chicago I thought my life’s going back to normal but I’m wrong for got tougher…especially when I screwed up big time as an assistant chef in a known hotel…I’ve never been so embarrassed …just imagine….I messed up the orders because of exhaustion and starvation coz I just got out of my freakin laundry job that take hours to finish and