"Violette? That's a lovely name," he playfully commented, smiling at her.

Feeling proud of herself for coming up with that name within just a second or two, she chuckled in response to his compliment, "Well, thank you very much."

Walking towards the ice-cream stall together, the duo exchanged quick glances at each other as curiosity started to get hold of them individually. Although they barely knew one another, there was an intangible sense of familiarity that seemed to be in existence between the two. It may be possible that they had met each other before, or perhaps, it was just because of the intense similarity in them. Either way, it was inexplicable.

"So, what do you like to have?" Jae Joong asked, while he busily scanned the board menu.

"Uh...," she paused, looking at the list of ice-creams available, "Black Raspberry Frozen Yoghurt would do great."

"Wow, you seem to be in love with violet, uh?" He teased.

"Huh?"

He laughed, "You know, Violette and Black Raspberry kinda resemble the same color?"

"Oh, right."

Remember that you're called Violette now. She slapped herself mentally.

Sitting down on a nearby bench, they indulged themselves with their ice-creams, at the same time enjoying the cool afternoon breeze. Looking afar, they could see a young couple chasing after one another on the soft bed of sand, totally drowned in the enchantment of each other's company.

Feeling slightly awkward, BoA broke the silence between them, "Oh by the way, I haven't paid..."

"Don't bother to," Jae Joong laughed, cutting her off before she could finish her sentence, "My treat."

"But..."

"If you feel really bad, you can repay me by telling me the interesting reason for having such a lovely French name. I suppose you're not exactly Korean?"

"Well," pulling her hair to the back, BoA mentally searched for a reasonable answer before she continued, "I was actually born in uhmm Paris."

Jae Joong raised his eyebrow, surprised, "Oh wow, you're from the city of romance."

"Yeah," she laughed.

"That's really interesting...you play any instruments?"

"No...but I love writing. I did a major in Literature." She answered with glee, grinning in radiance. She had always been proud of her natural flair in Literature.

It was a pleasant surprise for Jae Joong. Being caged in that palatial mansion of the Kim's, there was never once in his life did he met anyone else who carried that same passion in the Arts. He had longed to escape from that cage; that , and he did. But one thing that he had never expected was to chance upon another pursuer of the Arts. To him, it was like finding a needle in a haystack.

"Can I hire you to make poetry for my painting?" He joked casually, however, deep down he knew he was serious about it. He had always wanted to join in hands with another Artist in the composition of Art. Now that he had this chance, he would not let it slip away.

"Do you really mean it?" BoA asked, clearly surprised at his sudden request, "I think it'll be really interesting though, I've never tried this before."

"Let's do it then!"

"Now?" She suddenly felt unprepared. It wasn't that she always needed preparation for poetry writing, but it just didn't feel like it was the right time to do so. "Why not...I'll write a poem in return for the painting I've requested from you?"

Jae Joong looked thoughtful for a moment. But soon he agreed. "Sure, that sounds fair," he chuckled.

It was never to their realization that they had grown closer to one another. As unusual as it was for BoA to draw close to a stranger she hardly knew for a day, she couldn't help but to go along with this atypical phenomenon. Her short escape from Korea was meant to be a breakaway from conformity, anyway.

Copyright Jen 2008-2011