Chapter 4: O N E W

Right in front of me, was an adorable man, who had black eyes which sparkled with cheeriness. He had thick eyebrows and his face was one of those charming artistes on television. His skin was rather fair and he did have a slim build.

“Hello, nice to meet you. I am Onew and I bet you are Jace.” He spoke in a gentle and soothing voice which seemed to have a calming effect on the listeners.

“Jace Shim Yeon,” I offered a handshake and I thought that with his sweet voice, he would be a brilliant deejay.

“Jace Shim Yeon… This is a very special name. Jace Shim Yeon… Can I call you by your full name?” He beamed at me and his eyes became slits.

Somehow, I was reminded of Jin Ki.

Also, the image of Onew grinning was registered into my mind and could not be erased.

He was really adorable.

“Up to you,” I suddenly fell in love with my full name though I knew it would be simpler if he had just called me Jace. The way my name came out of Onew’s lips and in his voice sounded just so right.

“Right, now I sound like an idiot who is so desperate to fall in love. Must be the magic fabric …” I thought as I settled onto the seat next to him.

“Work, Jace Shim Yeon, work!” I instructed myself to not get distracted by my new lovable partner.

“Good afternoon, everyone! We are starting a new programme today and let’s welcome my new partner, Onew!” I introduced Onew over the microphone to the listeners. Onew briefly introduced himself and we moved onto the new section of telling our listeners a meaningful saying.

“Today, we would like to share with all of you a very meaningful saying from Lewis B. Smedes.” I announced.

Onew then continued smoothly, in his unique and comforting voice, “Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future.”

“Right! This saying is telling all of us that sometimes, unpleasant events will unfold in our lives and we know we will never forget it. However, instead of sinking in despair over these unhappy events, we should learn to accept the facts and let go of the misery. We should convert our misery into our new source of strength and motivation to face other similar unlikable events which are bound to happen in life.” I explained seriously.

I truly realised the deep truth within the saying and would like to share my thoughts with the listeners.

Acceptance is a lesson that we all have to learn.

Jin Ki’s accident was the most undesirable event that happened to me and I had to learn to accept it and let go of the pain. I would never want to follow in Mdm Kim’s footsteps as that ending would be too sad.

“Next on, we will be playing two inspirational songs that I love a lot. I believe all of you will like them too. They are ‘Be Strong’ by Delta Goodrem and ‘My Heart Will Go On’ by Celine Dion.” Onew stated clearly. The songs were played.

I switched off the microphone and sighed. Then, I felt a light pat on my shoulder. I looked up and Onew’s brown eyes bored into mine.

His eyes revealed encouragement; and his smile was reassuring and heartening. I smiled in return and my sudden sorrow disappeared into the air when I spotted the black shirt behind Onew’s purple jacket.

On the black shirt, the word “LOVE” was boldly shown, since it was in white, which contrasted against the black colour of the shirt. In addition, the word “LOVE” was capitalized and were in three different fonts.

“Right! The magic fabric works wonders! Abracadabra!” I murmured as I quickly shut my eyes, attempting to shove away the images of Onew and I being in love.

Onew was eyeing me in a queer way as well.

With his eyes full of concern and in his amazingly pleasant voice, Onew asked me, “Are you alright?”

I could only nod my head. For the rest of the day, we worked together happily and realised that we had rather good chemistry. After work, Onew invited kindly for me to have dinner with him and I agreed without hesitation.

Declining his offer to send me home, I chose to stroll home alone, thinking that a good long walk might be just what I needed to clear my mind. However, Onew had insisted that I would have to call him when I reached home safely. In other words, we exchanged numbers, which meant more contact and chances for further development.

“Did you find your Prince Charming?” This was Jin Ki’s first greeting to me after I returned home. I ignored him and called Onew. Obviously, Jin Ki would be there, daringly and blatantly eavesdropping on our conversation. In fact, he tried to make me say some words to Onew subconsciously, since I was grappling with my conversations with both Onew on the phone and Jin Ki’s spirit in my room.

Here were some snippets of the conversations:

“Yeon, can you translate Saranghae for me?” Jin Ki loved watching Korean dramas and listening to Korean songs. Having taken a course for the Korean language for beginners, I was Jin Ki’s translator.

“I love you. How many times must I tell you that?” I replied Jin Ki in a frustrated tone, forgetting that I was still on the phone with Onew. Jin Ki’s laughter was loud and piercing to my ears. I smacked my forehead for falling into his trap.

“Sorry! That was just a drama and I was simply repeating the lines!” I hastily came up with an excuse for my words to Onew. Luckily, he did not comment much.

“Jace Shim Yeon! Chant the magic chant now! Quick!” Jin Ki ordered me again.

I rolled my eyes and refused to do so. In return, I received a chilly cold wind which sent the purple fabric right onto my face.

“Right!” I groaned and Onew replied me in a cheery tone, “You seem to love saying the word ‘right’, don’t you?”

“Right!” I replied again. I bet I must have sounded like a stupid and silly fool to Onew.

“Abracadabra!” I then mumbled under my breath, hoping that Onew would not hear it.

“Abracadabra!” Onew repeated the magic chant and my head drooped down like a withering flower. Now, Onew must have thought that I was some weird deejay who practiced unbelievable and maybe evil magic. I sighed. Onew and I continued to chat for another hour and then we ended the call.

“This Onew guy must have been rather adorable to be able to keep Jace Shim Yeon talking for one hour and ten minutes. In addition, he is able to make Jace Shim Yeon doubt herself and keep making some stupid assumptions.” Jin Ki mocked at me.

“Aish! Lee Jin Ki, you were the one who had forced me to activate the magic fabric!”

“But falling in love with someone cannot be forced. I merely helped you to get your affinity to seek you in the shortest time available. In the end, whether you two will become a couple and true loves, will depend on your own choices and his decisions. I did not force you to fall in love; you fell for him out of your own accord.”

“I do not love him. Onew is just a very special and new partner. We just need to familiarize so that we can work well…”

“Right, and after you two are familiar with each other, you will understand each other and then you will realise that he is important to you and vice versa. After the realization, you two will discover that you two have been in love and you have been seeking for each other. You two will become the destined true loves and live happily ever after …”

For once, Jin Ki’s words sounded so alluring and wonderful.

I was imagining the fairytale ending for Onew and me; though I was uncertain of my feelings for him. After all, I had just met him once and we knew each other for less than a day. However, sometimes, feelings are really unpredictable…

Soon, I slept soundly, with the purple fabric lying under my head on my soft pillow.

In my heart, I could not wait for the next day to come.

I was looking forward to work.

Or, in actual fact, I was looking forward to meeting him.

Him – Onew.

My very special new partner.

-

=D

happy birthday to onew! saengil chuckhae! i hope i didnt spell wrongly. because i saw it on the web. =]

hope you all will be happy always! =] hahas. did you notice that the url of this story has FM. i mean, FM is like the radio station thing. like 98.7 FM all these. lol. i know i am random. :p

i think i am going mad soon. wahas.

th1rd3ye