Annyoung yeppeun readers ^^

I'm sorry this update is later than usual, but better late than never, right?

Anyway, this is another long chapter, so I hope you'll all like it :D

Onward!

Previous Chapter:

It was Jin Ki’s turn, and he pondered for a moment before speaking.

“I’m thankful for patience.”

Everyone was curious to what he was talking about, and tried to get him to answer, but he refused to budge. They finally gave up and went to me.

“I’m thankful for the answers I’ve found.”

My response held the same ambiguity Jin Ki’s had, and they all tried to get an answer out of me too. Jin Ki and I just looked at each other, understanding each other. Finally, Jin Ki just proposed a toast for everyone to settle down.

“To the best MT yet! Gambe!”

And everyone toasted as well, laughing into the night on this thankful day.

Korean Vocabulary:

Gejimal: You're lying

Keu rae deul: Still Ex: Still, it's not...

Chincharu: Really

Pabo: Fool, stupid

After Thanksgiving, we spent two more days at camp before going home on Saturday afternoon.   We were all in the same seating arrangements, except this time, Ji Eun and Jun Ki were sitting together, while Hye Mi and Ha Ni sat behind them, gossiping.  I was wondering what was going on between them.  I would have to ask Ji Eun later.

I didn’t know how exhausted I was until I got on the bus and fell asleep.  I was trying to finish the novel I had started, but ended up drifting off to sleep.  When I woke up again, the time read 2:45 pm. Looking outside the windows, I saw we were stuck in traffic. Sighing, I blinked my eyes as I realized what position I was in. 

My novel, was in the seat pocket in front of me, and on top of my torso laid Jin Ki’s jacket.  My head had also fallen on to his shoulder while I slept, and for what I felt right now, it seemed like his head was on mine, but then in a couple of minutes, I felt his head shift over to his left side onto the head rest.  Waiting for him to stop moving, I slowly lifted my head off his shoulder and slid his jacket down to my lap.  I smoothed out my hair slightly before stretching and looking around the bus.  It seemed that most of the people were sleeping, so I guess I would have to keep quiet.

Spying my bag near my feet, I decided to write a journal entry.  Shuffling through it quietly, I finally found the journal and a pen to write with.  Settling back into my seat, I opened to a fresh page and wrote.

Dear Journal,                                                                                                                                                                             11/26/11

            I’m on the bus going back to Seoul and home sweet home.  It was a nice week and I got to spend some quality time with friends. I wonder how Umma and Appa spent their Chuseok.  I guess I’ll find out when I get home.

            Jin Ki is sleeping in the seat next to me as the bus slugglishly makes its way through the traffic. From the looks of it, I don’t think we’ll be home until 4, but that’s okay.  I’m fine with sleeping a little bit more.  I do feel a bit bad though.  It’s getting cold and Jin Ki sacrificed his jacket for me (I had fallen asleep when he did that, and didn’t know until now).  It was a sweet gesture though.

            Also, I’ve grown a lot closer to Jin Ki now.  He’s come clean about his past, and honestly, I’m a little shocked.  He has such a deep past, and when I say that, it just means that he has a lot on his plate.  Before, whenever I mentioned it, he would put it off, saying he wasn’t comfortable with talking about it and promised me that he would tell me soon.  Now I know why he was so hesitant to talk about it.  I won’t mention it here of course, since that would be a violation of his privacy, but the main point is that I’m glad I was finally able to be someone he could confide in. 

            He also mentioned that his parents might not approve of me…I hope I’ll be able to change their minds, if, and when I meet them.  Jin Ki doesn’t have to worry, because he has completely won over and charmed my parents, especially after rescuing me from my incident and showcasing his magnificent cooking skills a couple of weeks ago.

            Oh, looks like Jin Ki is waking up. I’ll end this entry here, but I’ll write again soon.

Kang Yun Hee

I closed my journal as Jin Ki stirred awake, slowly opening his eyes and blinking them as he stretched and yawned.  When he was awake, he look over to see me looking at him and smiled, leaning in to peck my lips.

“Did you have a nice nap?” he asked me.

“I did, as a matter of fact.  I had a nice pillow and a warm jacket as a blanket.  Thank you for that.”

He grinned.

“Anything for my girl.”

“But aren’t you cold?”

“Nope, not with you next to me.”

I stared at him and then looked at his arms, seeing slight goosebumps.

“Geojimal.  You have goosebumps.”

“That’s because you’re not leaning on me anymore.  I was fine before…”

“Sure…anyway, put this back on.  I really don’t need it, since I have a jacket of my own.”

“But I really don’t need it.”

I glared at him, but he wouldn’t budge.  Sighing, I pushed up the arm rests in the middle of us and scooted closer to him. Then, after draping his jacket over the both of us, I leaned on him and hook my arm through his.

“Is this okay?”

“Of course it is.  We had a compromise.  I’m using my jacket, and I have you to warm me up.”

I grinned as I rolled my eyes.

“By the way, were you writing in your journal?”

“Yeah.  The traffic made the bus virtually motionless, so I thought it would be a good time to write, without all the bumps and turns.”

“I see.”

“Of course you do.”

“Yeah, I actually don’t.”

“I know.  I was just playing along.”

“What did you write about?”

“Just what we did during camp, stuff like that.”

“Elaborate?”

“How we got closer, and my feelings on that.  I didn’t reveal anything, so don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried about that.  You’d be the last person for me to worry about that happening.”

“Keu rae deul, I just wanted to let you know.”

“Arasso.”

Then, all of a sudden, a random thought flew into my head.  Jin Ki said his father divorced, right? Then why did he use the term parents after he told me that?  Did his father get remarried?”

“Jin Ki.”

“Mm?”

“You know what you told me, about your father?”

“Yes, what about it?”

“Did he get married again? You used the term parents after telling me about him.”

“Yes.”

“Oh.  Do you like the new mom?”

“She’s better, amazingly.”

“Chincharu?”

“Yes. When appa married her, she had to deal with my stubbornness.  One day, she just came into my room and gave me a talk.  She said that she knew I would not like her because of what happened in the past with my real mom, and that she probably wasn’t going to be the best substitute, but she was going to try everyday to get my approval. After that, she walked out of my room.”

“So when did you approve of her?”

“Right after she left.  It kind of made me give a sense of respect to her.  I definitely wasn’t treating her nicely, but she had the guts and tenacity to confront me.  Everything’s okay now.”

“Where you still apprehensive about love after that?”

“Yes. I respected her, and appreciated the fact that she was making my father happy, but there was this feeling in the back of my head that something would happen again, so I ddin’t dare let my walls down.”

“So, what made you let your walls down for me?”

I had asked him a similar question in the past (on our first date at the beach, where I asked him why he decided to help me), and I wondered if he would be able to answer my question now.

“Hmm, what did make me let my walls down?”

“You still don’t know?”

“No, I do, but I’m not sure what to pinpoint in on exactly.”

“How so?”

“For a first, you weren’t swooning over me.”

“That sounds so much like a drama…”

“I guess, but really.  I had some idea about how attractive I was, but you were the first to treat me like a normal person, like looks weren’t everything to like in a person.”

“You’re wrong there.”

“I am?”

“I was swooning over you, even if just a little bit.  I just never showed it, because I didn’t want to look like a pabo.”

“Oh, well.  Either way, that was what got me interested.”

“What next?”

“When we got assigned partners for the Psychology Project.  I was loathing the project, because I knew that which ever girl I was paired with would fawn over me, and I didn’t want to deal with the over excessive attention. When I brusquely told you that I didn’t want to do the project but sleep instead, you didn’t bother me.  You didn’t even get sad.  On the contrary, you got mad.  If it were any other girl, they would have burst out crying.  The fact that you got mad made me learn that you had more dignity and pride than other girls.”

“Wow.  I never knew you noticed that.  I just thought you had gone to sleep.”

“I can be quite perceptive.”

“I see,” I said wryly before chuckling softly. “So, aside those, was there anything else?”

“The fact that when you got hurt, you refused to have help from me.”

“Well, in my mind set then, after you told me that you didn’t want to do the project, I just wanted to avoid you to save the both of us trouble.  It surprised me that you were helping me, and I just wanted to finish things quickly so you wouldn’t be burdened.”

“That’s what I liked.  Well, I didn’t know you did it for that reason, but I liked how you didn’t want to take pity from other people.  You showed that you had the strength to take care of yourself, and that you weren’t dependent on anyone.”

“Wow, and to think you couldn’t answer that question when I asked you it on our first date.  Did it take you that long to figure it out?”

“You asked me that on our first date?”

“Well, not in that exact wording, but essentially, I asked why you helped me when I was on the floor.   In a round about way, I was wondering why you wre even bothering with me.”

“Well, I guess I answered it.  I helped you because I liked you.”

“I know that now.  Anyway, was there anything else?”

“Well, it didn’t hurt that you were cute.”

I blushed as he said those words.  He’s told me that I was beautiful before, but that was in a joking manner.  He’s never said it seriously before.

“You thought I was cute?”

“Of course.  It’s not like you’re unattractive.”

I turned to him and scrutinized him.’

“Are you sure you’re just not saying that to be nice?”

He gave me a look, as if to say that I was insulting him.

“Yun Hee ya, I wouldn’t just say that to be nice.  You know how my personality is, don’t you?”

I nodded.  He did have a point.

“Well, in that case, thank you.  I appreciate you telling me that.”

“You had better.  I don’t say it just to anyone.”

“Arasso.”

There was a bit of silence as the bus trudged on.  Thankfully, the traffic was clearing up. Suddenly, Jin Ki spoke up.

“What made you like me?”

“I guess I don’t get to hear those answers for nothing, huh?’

I felt Jin Ki grin on my head.

“Nope.”

“Let me think for a second.”

“Arasso.”

I pondered as he waited.  What was the first thing that drew me into Jin Ki? It was a little superficial, but it was because of his looks.  That was what made me pay attention to him.

“Well, you’re not exactly bad looking.”

“Is that a round about way of saying you were attracted to my looks?”

“Yes.  I mean, you are considered the school’s kinka.  Besides, it didn’t hurt to pay attention once in awhile, even if there was almost a permanent frown on your face.”

“Was I really that depressing back then?”

“Yeah. You were labled as the schools ice prince after all.  And then rumors of you being gay spread too.”

“I wonder who started that one…”

“I don’t know, but either way, I guess that’s how I paid attention to you first.”

“What was next?’

“Your intelligence.”

“Really now?”

“Yes, really.  You know how handsome/beautiful people are stereotyped with being dumb? Well, you were an exception to that.”

“Aren’t you a little shallow?’

I blushed as I smacked his chest.

“We are talking about the time when I didn’t even talk to you.  All I could do was look and examine, okay?”

“Arasso, arasso.  Jeez, that hurt…”

“I didn’t even hit you that hard.”

“Yes you did.”

“No I didn’t.”

“Yes you did, and anyway, what else?”

“The fact that you changed.”

“What do you mean?”

“You were the ice prince after all.  I was surprised when you chose to help me when I was on the floor that day.”

“Really?”

“Yes, it showed me that you really had another side to you.  Although I didn’t know why you showed a cold exterior to everyone else, with that gesture, you showed me that you had a caring interior.  I guess that was what drew me in.”

“Well, you know how caring I can be now, don’t you?”

I felt him kiss my crown softly and smiled.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Anything else?”

“The moment you said you wanted to do the project.”

“Why is that?”

“I don’t know really.  You gave me a risky situation, and I took it on. You made me break out of my shell I guess, and I welcomed it.”

“Risky?”

“Well, when you said that you wanted to do the project, I do recall the line ‘It’s not like you’re going to fall in love with me, right?’, so I think it would have been risky for me to take the leap of faith.”

“I said that?”

“Yes you did.”

“How come I don’t remember it.”

“You have bad memory.”

“Yah! I have better memory than you.”

“Apparently not about things concerning past converstions.”

There was a silence as he tried to remember what I had told him. 

“Yeah, I still don’t remember it.”

“Well, anyway, you did say that, and I decided to do the project as well.  You do remember how reluctant I was to get into it, right?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Well, that was what attracted me.  You made me do something I would have never done before on my own.”

“And what is that?”

“Get into a relationship.”

“Well, I’m glad I did that.  It sure has made my life better in numerous ways.”

I smiled and nodded.

“Mine too.”

Well, I hope you liked that heart to heart conversation between Yun Hee and Jin Ki.

They've certainly become a lot closer now after the trip, eh? ^^

Anyway, just as a hint to what the next chapter is, think of what important event is happening next week.

Got it yet? That's what's the next chapter is going to be about.

If you don't get it, then don't worry ^^

Anyway, I hope you all have a nice week and stay healthy!

Annyoung!

Comment and Subscribe!

<3 WinterRose

rialoves: Let's hope that JIn Ki's father will come to like him.

amyra961: Yeah, let's hope that nothing else happens to them.

Shizine19: It would be great if Yun Hee didn't have any problems with Jin Ki, wouldn't it :/

pResTige: I'm glad you think their relationship is mature.  That was what I was going for ^^ and there shouldn't be too much drama xD

Zimraphel: You heard right. DBSK is coming up.  I hope you'll like it when they make their entrance into the story!

Vengeance: I'm not surprised you think  that.  Hee Mi was the person who hurt Yun Hee in the first place.

ForeverInLove: Lol.  Tennis rackets are the perfect weapons against evil popular queenkas.

ke_xin: Yes, it is a relief that Jun Ki is free of Hee Mi's evil clutches ^^

Iheartlife: I hope you liked this update ^^

jay_rose: How'd you like this chapter? I hope you'll like the upcoming chapter (did you guess what it was going to be about yet?)

bloopingshining: It is quite surprising Hee Mi used to be nice.  But then again, time does go on, and people change.  It's inevitable.

onsangtae: I have to admit, I was super surprised and pleased with your comment.  It's probably the longest one that I've ever received ^^ First of all, welcome to my story, and it's great that you've taken such a liking to it.  I'm glad to be able to create stories that people like to read.  It was also nice to know your feelings about the characters and feelings on the story plot.  You really read for 2 hours straight? O.O You have gained my utmost respect (was it that good? xD).  Hopefully, you'll continue to like this story and give my other stories a try as well.  Hopefully you'll like them just as much as you like this one. I'll see you in the next update!