Wow, it really has been a long time since I've posted.  I've been promising so many things, yet I haven't acted on anything.  

But, all you who have read my blog, and the explanation chapter know what I'm dealing with. After finishing college apps earlier this month, I thought things were going to lighten up.  I'm wrong, obviously, since the semester is ending and the teachers are rushing things in, especially before break and what not. I also have some family issues, and due to privacy I won't be annoucing what.  

However, I have found the time and motivation to post today, so I hope you enjoy this chapter.  It was 11 pages on word.  Idk when I'll be able to post again, but I hope you'll be patient as you have as always.  Thank you to those who have stayed.

Previous Chapter:

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Really?”

“Well, not nothing…”

“Then?”

“Just wondering how I found such a great girlfriend.”

For the millionth time tonight, I felt myself blushing, but only this time, it was because of his compliment.  I didn’t think much about myself, but hearing it from Jin Ki, and seeing it in his eyes made me feel like someone special.  Of course, I was lucky all the same being able to be with Jin Ki, and after tonight, I was glad that I finally got both of his parent’s acceptance.  Things could only look up from now on, right?

“You’re funny.”

“Hey, I try.”

And with a smirk, he leaned in and captured my lips in a kiss.  Hmm, I guess dinner wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be…

After checking the time, Jin Ki and I decided that it was getting late, and since his parents were pretty much done with the dinner, we decided that it would be best to head home.

Hunting down his father first, we went to the home office and saw the door was partly open.  Jae Min was looking over some papers at his desk, so we tapped on the door to get his attention. Looking up at us, he smiled.

“Ahh, Jin Ki, Yun Hee. How may I help you?”

“I was just heading home and wanted to say good night before doing so.”

He chuckled.

“You didn’t have to do that, but I appreciate it.  Have a nice evening Yun Hee. I can expect to see you soon, right?”

“Of course. Good night.”

“Jin Ki, you take care of her, arasso?”

“Deh abeoji.”

With a final nod, he went back to his papers, and we took that as our cue to leave.  When we went downstairs, Mrs. Lee was waiting for us.

“I heard you were going home dear?”

“Deh.  It’s getting a bit late. Thank you for having me over.  I had a wonderful time, and I hope we can do this again soon.”

“Of course.  Thank you for coming.  Have a safe drive home, you hear?”

“Deh eomonim.”

“Drive her safely Jin Ki.”

“Deh Eomoni.”

With a departing hug, she left to go rest in her room.  After gathering my things, Jin Ki and I left the house and began our journey home.

A week passed by quickly after the dinner, and it was finally the day that Yun Ho oppa had to return to the States.  We wouldn’t see him again for a couple of months, and I was a bit sad I didn’t spend as much time with him as I could.   It was January 15^th, a Sunday, and the day Oppa would be heading back to the states.  My family drove to the airport with him along with Jin Ki, and we were now currently standing before the gate. The announcer had announced Oppa’s flight and it was time for us to say our goodbyes. I watched him hug Appa and Umma first before turning to me.

“Well, I guess this is it Yun Hee ya.  I’ll be seeing you in a couple of months, yes?”

“Deh.  Annyoung Oppa.  Have a safe trip and be sure to call me when you land.”

“Arasso,” he said before pulling me into a hug.  After releasing me, he turned to Jin Ki and held up his hand.  Jin Ki smiled and shook it.

“You had better take good care of my dongsaeng Jin Ki ya.”

“Deh hyung.  I wouldn’t think of doing otherwise.”

“Keu dae.”

With a departing smile, he turned around after looking at us one last time and headed through the gate. I could feel some prickling tears in my eyes, but I held them in.  I would see him again soon.  For now, I had to prepare myself for school tomorrow, and the last day of our project.

Jin Ki came home with us and we ended up in my room pulling out our journals.  We had already taken care of our other homework, but we figured the journals should be saved for last. Sitting at my table, I flipped through the pages of my journal, and was pleasantly surprised to see how much of it was filled with words.  Albeit there were many pages left, at least I had more than half of the journal filled.  Jin Ki also found himself in a similar situation. 

Looking back at my journal, I noticed it fell on the page that I had written a list.  Frowning, I felt a bit sad that we wouldn’t do it before the project ended. Jin Ki saw my expression and looked at me with concern on his face.

“Something wrong jagiya?”

“I just wish we were able to finish this list I made.”

He looked a look and smiled, shaking his head.

“Well, you might think we haven't done everything, but that can be easily fixed.”

“How so? We’ve only done two things on there: the shopping and orphanage one.”

“Yeah, but if you remember, I took you to the beach/park on our first date.”

I huffed and had to admit he was right.

“Alright, but we still have 2 more to do.”

“And don’t forget the food we donated to the food bank before Christmas break.”

“Okay…what about the baking one?”

“Who says we can’t do it today?”

“But, we still have our journals to finish!”

“Jagiya, it’s only 1 in the afternoon.  I think we have plenty of time to finish it.  Anyway, aren’t we baking in order to finish the journal? It’s not like we’re slacking off.”

I had to admit, he did have a point, like always.  Giving in, I nodded and stood up from my desk, Jin Ki following suit.  We headed down to the kitchen and ended up standing against the counter, wondering what we wanted to make.

“Are you craving anything oppa?”

“Mmm, I’ve always wanted to try your cookies.  You’re mom said something about them when I first came over.”

“Those? I don’t think they’re that great….but if you insist.”

I walked around the kitchen taking out the necessary bowls and utensils, and then made my way to the fridge to get all the ingredients.  Once I had those ready, I donned my apron prepared to make my white chocolate macademia cookies.

“So chef, what’s next?”

“Well, I’ll need to put together the dry ingredients and then the wet ones.  After that, I’ll slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and then we’ll have dough.  Why don’t you start on the dry mix and I’ll do the wet.”

“Yes chef!”

Giggling, I began my part of the recipe while Jin Ki did his.  Once we finished doing our parts, and then mixing them together, I poured the white chocolate chips into the dough slowly as Jin Ki mixed it.  After that was done, we took turns scooping them onto the cookie sheet.  With the oven pre-heated, we popped them in and while they were baking, cleaned up the mess we had made. 

After 20 minutes had passed, we began to smell the cookies in the air.  A little while after, the timer dinged, telling us the baking time was over.  Donning my oven mitts, I opened the oven and pulled out the cookies.  Pressing them carefully with my fingers, I felt that they were firm yet soft, and seeing that the edges were golden brown, I knew the cookies were finished.  Setting them on a cooling rack, I went to look for a container we could put the cookies into. Coming back, I saw that Jin Ki had already gobbled up one of the cookies, and was now realizing the consequences of his actions, considering the cookies were still relatively hot.  Rolling my eyes, I brought him a cup of water and waited till he was fine again.

“A little impatient, are we?”

“I was getting a little hungry, and they looked really good.  You can’t really blame a guy for that.”

“Arasso, arasso. So how were they? Or were you too worried about your burning tongue to notice?”

“They were delicious, not that I ever would think otherwise.”

“Uh huh.”

“It’s true!”

I grinned and shook my head.

“Whatever you say Oppa.  Anyway, I think it’s about time as any to have a snack. Can you go get our journals? I’ll put some cookies on a plate and get some milk for us while we finish the assignment.”

Nodding, and then grabbing one more cookie, Jin Ki went to collect our journals.  Setting some cookies aside for Jin Ki to bring home, I put most of the cookies into the container.  The remaining ones I set on a plate and then poured glasses of milk to compliment the cookies.  Jin Ki was already at the kitchen table when I had finished all of this.  Bringing over our snacks, I set them down and then reached for my journal, turning to a new page.     

“Well, I guess it’s time to finish the project.”

“Yes, I suppose so.  Do you think people are going to expect us to break up tomorrow?”

Jin Ki looked up at me, surprised.

“Why do you ask that?”

“Well, we were originally only together for the project.  I don’t think anyone even knows that we’re together for real, aside from our friends anyway.”

“Well, they’re just going to be surprised tomorrow I suppose, because I am most certainly not breaking up with you.”

“I would hope not.”

“You weren’t expecting that, were you?”

“No, just stating the obvious.”

“Hmm.”

Smiling at him, I put my pencil to paper and began writing.  Looking up a little later, I saw Jin Ki had begun to write as well.

Dear Journal,                                                                                                                                                                                               1/15/12

            Well, the day has come.  Today is the last day of the project, and similarly, this will be the last entry I will make into this journal.  It’s be a long but interesting 3 months, and although it hasn’t been easy, I wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world.  Coming into this project with no relationship experience whatsoever, I think this opportunity has opened my eyes to so many things, such as dealing with problems as a couple together, being able to depend on someone, and dealing with his parents.

            Speaking of parents, I met with Jin Ki’s parents last night.  This hasn’t been the first time that we’ve met, since I met them a couple of times briefly during winter break.  However, this was my first official dinner meeting with them and it was quite nerve racking.  I don’t know how Jin Ki manages to come off looking so relaxed when he’s at my home.  For me? I was a train wreck going there.  I was worried about everything, from how I looked to how I would act.  Was this appropriate? Was this respectful? I didn’t know.  I’m just so happy Jin Ki was there to help me, and that his parents were so nice and acceptable of me.

Jae Min wasn’t as nice and accepting, I thought wryly, but I figured it wasn’t worth mentioning in my journal.  I began writing again.

            All in all, the night went well.  We had a nice dinner, had meaningful conversations, and a happy time with tea and sweets afterward.  Jin Ki’s father had work to take care of after dinner, so we left a little while after that, but not before Jin Ki showed me his music room, and played a couple of songs for me.

            Today, I looked at my to-do list and thought that it was a bit sad that I wasn’t able to complete it.  Jin Ki made a point that we had already gone to the beach/park on our first date, and that we had donated to the food bank during winter break.  I was thinking of more helping out by volunteering time to pack food, but I suppose it’s too late for that now.  Jin Ki is adamant that we’ve done that activity.  All that was left was baking, and that was exactly what we did before writing now.  We made some white chocolate macadamia cookies (I’ll remember to bring you some tomorrow). Now, I suppose it’s time for the conclusion to this journal.

            There’s something a bit sad about this project ending, but that doesn’t mean that our relationship is ending.  After all, you did tell us that you couldn’t stop us from going for real.  It’s funny how I thought that this would never happen when I started the project, yet here I am, three months into the relationship, and fiercely hoping it won’t end.  Maybe I’ll be one of the lucky ones, maybe not.  I’ll just have to wait to see what happens in the future

            I’ve certainly changed as a person, but for the better.  I used to be “by-the-book” and never really focused on anything remotely related to my feelings.  I thought love wasn’t a real thing, but something people disillusioned themselves into believing. I thought it was useless to be involved in relationships that would lead us nowhere, but now, I think very differently. After meeting Jin Ki, I’ve found someone who I can rely on, someone who I think is worth spending all these feelings on, someone who I think might possibly be someone who I can love.  That’s a big maybe, but I’m not opposed to it.  I guess love can be quite the influence on the brain.  I know I learned that during the unit, but now I wholly believe in it.

            All that’s left to say is thank you.  Thank you for assigning this project, and thank you, and of course, any high entity out there, for letting me and Jin Ki be assigned together.  Perhaps we’re the lucky ones, the ones who didn’t have to stress too much about this project, but should you do this project again, I think it’ll be a good one.

Kang Yun Hee

After I had signed my name, I closed my journal and set my pen down.  Looking up, I saw that Jin Ki had already finished writing and was nibbling at a cookie, staring out the window.

“When did you finish Oppa?”

“Not that much earlier than you.  Maybe a 5 minutes?”

“Ahh,” I said, downing the last of my milk and eating the rest of my cookie.

He looked over at me, grinning.

“So, think you’ll get an A on this?”

“Maybe.  I don’t know if I wrote enough, but I suppose we’ll see.  You?”

“No sweat.”

I sniffed and stood up, gathering our dishes and glasses before heading to the sink to rinse them off.

“Always the arrogant one.”

“Well, it was pretty much a free reign project.  She didn’t even have any guidelines written out for us.”

“I suppose.”

He stood behind me and wrapped his arms loosely around my waist while I was washing the plates.

“Come on, chill a little.”

“I am chill!”

Chuckling, he kissed me behind the ear.

“Of course you are.”

“I am.”

He simply wrapped his arms tighter around me.  There was comfortable silence that ensued, at least until his cell phone went off. Groaning, he pulled away and answered the call, speaking softly as he walked out of the kitchen.  I set the last glass to dry on the rack and followed him, gathering our journals in my arms on the way out. 

By the time I reached the living room where he had ended up, he had hung up and turned around, looking at me apologetically.

“Eomoni told me to come up now.  She’s preparing for some dinner guests and I guess she told them I would be there.”

“Dinner guests? As in business partners or something?”

“Sort of.”

I could tell he was hiding something but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Arasso.  We’re done here anyway.  I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Keu reom nyo.”

He went to my room to collect his bag quickly before coming down.  After putting on his shoes and giving me a brief kiss, he was out the door and on his way home.

Then next day, Jin Ki was there to take me to school as always.  However, the way he looked tired popped out at me.

“I’m guessing the dinner party wasn’t as great as it seemed to be.”

“You’d be right.  The parents were nice enough.”

“But?”

“But the daughters were a whole different story.”

I had a feeling of dread coming over me for some reason.  I knew it was the 21^st century, but Jin Ki did come from a high end family. It wouldn’t be too surprising if his parents had already had a girl in mind for him, a girl who was not me. 

“I should say potential daughters-in-law, however, my mother didn’t seem to find them too appealing.  I could tell by the looks she sent me when they weren’t looking.  My father didn’t seem to care, but who knows.”

“Oh.”

He cracked a smile at my expression, leaning in to kiss me before pulling back.

“Why, are you worried about your position being threatened?”

I blushed and turned toward the front, clearing my throat.

“O..oh course not! What’s there to be worried about?”

Jin Ki didn’t say anything except for a soft chuckle that escaped his lips.  He reached over to grasp my hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

“Even if it was, I would protect it with my life before they could kick you out.”

Looking over at him, I smiled and grasped his hand tighter.  It would take a lot more than something like that to separate us.  That was something I didn’t have to worry about.

Dear Journal,                                                                                                                                                                                            1/15/12

            Well, this is the last entry I suppose, and I should make the best of it.  It is my grade, and part of Yun Hee’s grade as well.  I don’t think she’d appreciate it if I was the one who brought our grade down. 

            It’s kind of funny to think about how I didn’t even want to do this project when this was assigned.  Although I was thankful I was assigned to someone like Yun Hee, I didn’t really have a desire to complete it.  There was a moment when I was sitting next to her on the first day that I thought about failing the entire project.  Of course, things change. 

            It was different being with Yun Hee.  She didn’t even pay any sort of attention to me; she was indifferent almost, except for that fact that she didn’t want to do this project either.  Somehow, our prides didn’t hold out on our grades. We ended up coming up with a compromise, but things progressed way faster than we thought it would, and here we are today, three months into a relationship that has made me so happy and giddy. It’s the little things I love.  The way we can just sit there silently without any awkwardness, the way she can light up the whole room with her presence, or the way she just smiles for no reason. Wow, that was one sappy sentence.

            I admit, I’ve changed, but I like the change.  It’s refreshing, and I’ve seen the better side of people through Yun Hee.  I wasn’t exactly sunshine and rainbows before meeting her, and I’m not that now either.  Let’s just say I’m a bit more positive and optimistic about human nature nowadays.  I know we learned about Freud and the human psyche and all, but through Yun Hee, I can really believe that things are better than they seem.  My friends always told me that I was a stick in the mud.  I haven’t heard that phrase from them in a while now, so it must be true.

            Yesterday, Yun Hee got to have dinner with my parents.  She was definitely nervous, and I had to keep reassuring her that she’d do all right.  I don’t think she heard anything I said, but just as I knew she would, Yun Hee was the epitome of a perfect girlfriend, not only being courteous and respectful of my parents, but was also brought a sense of informality into the home and relaxation.  My parents are always busy with work and are forced to behave in a stiff and formal manner.  With Yun Hee there, it seems the ice was broken and I was able to see my parents smile happily and sincerely.

            Today, we sent her brother back to school in the states and then came home to make some cookies.  It was fun to spend some time baking with her.  Actually, it’s always a fun time being with Yun Hee, and I don’t think that will ever change. Now, here we are writing our last entries in the journal.  It’s been a good and relaxing day.

            As a last thing, I’d like to say thank you for assigning this project.  This is changed me in so many ways, and I’ve met someone who I can see myself being with for a very long time. If you decide to do this project again next year, I definitely support it.  It’s a great experience that everyone can use.  Once again, thank you.

Lee Jin Ki

Yup yup, this is the end of this chapter.  Again, I hope you enjoyed it and hopefully I'll be seeing you sometime soon.

As always:

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<3 WinterRose

By the way...anyone know what that up arrow by the story title is? O.O