[08/18/2012 1:45pm]

JiHyo

JiHyo had spent the last few days planning out how she was going to get information from each of her cast mates. She had to decide on whom she could talk to first, who would give her the most information without becoming too suspicious and how she would get closer to Gary. She knew she could rule out Ji  Suk Jin Oppa and Lee Gwang Soo because they really weren’t that close to Gary, plus Ji Suk Jin was always the last to know about anything in their group. First, she would speak with Haha because he and Gary were amazingly close and he knew how close JiHyo and Gary once were, so there would be no suspicion there if she asked about Gary’s private life. Next, she would probably speak with Jongkook Oppa but she would have to be careful because he is usually the one who is the most suspicious and his ability to read people’s intentions were amazing; it’s why he was the most formidable running man: brains and brawn. Finally, she would talk to Jaesuk Oppa, since he was the father figure of the group; everyone usually went to him for advice so there was no way he wouldn’t know about Gary’s mystery woman. And in between all of this she would be hanging out more often with Gary; who better than the source, right? She would have to do this over a prolonged period of time because it would really be suspicious if everyone realized they were being asked the same thing; it had to come as a random topic but not too random. JiHyo would have to be very subtle; so not what she was best at. JiHyo’s thoughts were interrupted by a text from Chang Ju asking her to have dinner tonight. He had just finished with his final meetings of the week and was incredibly excited to see her. JiHyo felt a little sorry towards him because all she had been thinking about the last few days, between her scheduled events and promos, was this plan for Gary. She hadn’t called or texted Chang Ju at all; she really could be a terrible girlfriend sometimes. She decided that tonight she would be the best girlfriend ever. She would actually dress up for him, wear that perfume he loved, put on makeup and grab a bottle of wine and a movie for later at his place. She had about four hours before he would finish for the day; luckily the plan was almost set so she had time to finish up, take a nap and then start getting ready.

[6:47 pm Baek Chang Ju’s Home]

JiHyo stood behind Chang Ju as he keyed in the access code for his apartment. They had just come back from this Italian restaurant that had opened up near their office building: Maggiano’s. Like usual, she ate too much but she was never too full for dessert; it was the kid in her. So on the way, they stopped at a bakery, grabbed a white chocolate and raspberry torte and a bottle of white wine and headed to Chang Ju’s apartment. She and Chang Ju had pretty similar tastes in movies so she had grabbed one of their favorites from the house before she left. Ji Hyo got settled on the couch as Chang Ju opened up the wine and cut the torte. [Gosh I’m lazy] she didn’t even bother to get up and help him with the cake; this was her bad habit, when she got really full and comfortable, she got super lazy; like a cat after a bowl of warm milk, all they want to do is sleep. Chang Ju never complained; took it all in stride, that’s why he was the perfect guy for her, so sweet. JiHyo wasn’t at the point that she was sleepy yet but she would be soon after a couple glasses of wine. She put in You Are My Sunshine (너는 내 운명) and sat back on the sofa as Chang Ju brought the wine and cake. Chang Ju grabbed a blanket from behind the sofa and JiHyo snuggled up under him as their normal movie watching custom. [This feels right] JiHyo didn’t know what she was thinking about earlier when she felt there was a lack of excitement; this was how things should be; comfortable and sweet. Chang Ju was here and this was all she needed. Watching the movie she started to notice some of the similarities between Seok-joong and Kang Gary, not in the form of intelligence but in how in love they were. Seok-joong was in complete awe of Eun Ha; despite her past, to the point that he waited two years for her to get out prison and Kang Gary said he drowned in everything his woman was. She didn’t even know people could love like that; she and Chang Ju had a comfortable love but would it ever be love that deep? [Stop it JiHyo, you’re being silly; people love differently and in different ways] JiHyo shook her head to get rid of those unwanted thoughts.

Chang Ju: “Are you alright?”

“Yae Oppa. I’m fine, it was nothing. Let’s finish the movie”. JiHyo snuggled in closer and tried to focus in on the rest of the movie. Though her body was here, her mind was once again wrapped up in her plan. Monday was less than two days away and she had to be ready. A feeling of excitement started to bubble in her stomach at the thought of beginning. Most of it was excitement but part of it she could admit to herself was that she was a little nervous at seeing Gary again. They hadn’t texted or spoken since having drinks Wednesday night so she wasn’t sure what to expect when she saw him. It was ok though; she would play it cool and get back on friendly terms with him. Though Gary was the main source, her sights were set on how she could meet up with Haha in the next two weeks. They had a playful relationship but rarely went out alone for drinks or dinner. She would have to figure something out; shouldn’t be too hard, Ha Donghoon was a pretty easy man, she said to herself with a smirk. JiHyo drank her last little bit of wine, ate her last piece of cake and laid back onto Chang Ju’s chest to finish the movie. She was one step closer to the truth; everything was falling into place.

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[08/18/2012 2:30pm]

Gary

[God this hurts. Why God, why?] Gary was in a lot of pain; more pain than he had experienced in a long time. It was such a stupid idea but it seemed like a great idea at the time. Ever since that Wednesday night he had been trying to calm his thoughts of JiHyo. He had spent so much time apart from her that now after having spent time together; he felt some of his control slipping away. He had worked too hard to control all his emotions and keep everything tucked neatly inside; he couldn’t afford to lose it now. He really was a caged animal when it came to her; it was only through being emotionally honest with himself over the last couple of months, that he realized how deep his feelings for her ran. Channeling them into his music had worked so far but after being in her presence again like that, he knew he needed to do more. She wouldn’t receive them so he would have to create another channel besides music to get it out. So what did he decide? He decided he was going to take back up boxing. So he grabbed Gil and told him that they were going back to the gym. They had been pretty lazy lately and were getting out of shape; all the ramyun and midnight snacks didn’t help matters either. They went to their old boxing gym this morning around eleven to work out. They started with some weights to warm up their muscles, then speed bag and finally some footwork exercises: jumping quickly between cones, stepping in and out of the box and finally jump rope. They had forgotten how hot it was in the gym so by the time they finished their footwork exercises Gil was completely done; he just laid out on one of the benches with a towel over his face. Gary still had a lot of pent up energy in him, so even though he was tired, he needed something else to do. He grabbed a pair of gloves lying on the floor and headed over to do some heavy bag work. As he started out slowly with jabs on the bag to get into rhythm, he began to remember some of his old boxing days. The feeling of the impact of the bag on the glove, the power precision needed to get the bag to move and the feel of punches connecting with an opponent were all a part of his love for boxing. It wasn’t about hurting the other guy, it was about moving like water; taking the energy of your opponent’s punches and returning it back to them tenfold. A couple of guys were sparring in the ring and called over to Gary asking if he wanted to join. These guys were much younger and moving with a speed Gary used to in his prime but he decided it was worth a shot; a nice way to end the workout. The pace of their sparring match started out pretty good; he definitely thought he could hang with the kid. After a couple minutes of this he realized how wrong he was; he was already sweating profusely and as he breathed heavily his throat started to burn. The pace of the kid’s punches was increasing and he wasn’t able to match it. He was aware enough to protect his face but he was taking a lot of body shots. When he wasn’t taking shots he was expending a lot of energy trying to hit the kid. He was out of shape and his footwork was nowhere near as crisp as it used to be, so there was no way he would land a good punch on the kid. No matter how bad of a beating he took, he wouldn’t go down in this round; it was this stubbornness that got him the nickname “Gae”. He had tenacity just like a dog; the word “quit” didn’t exist in his vocabulary. Finally the bell was hit and their sparring match was over. He may not have won the round but he could see he won some respect with the younger guys; despite being out of shape and older, he hung in there. That’s what fighters respect: heart.

Heart really didn’t mean that much right now, now that he was laid out on the floor too hurt to move. Gil had dropped him off at home but Gary hurt too much to make it to the bedroom. He had been lying on the floor in the living room for the last twenty minutes. He just needed to rest for a little while but now was the time for him to get up and take a bath. There was nothing better for a sore body than a hot bath. He slowly stood up, feeling those body shots even more at this particular moment. He went to the kitchen and grabbed the Epsom salt from under the sink and some white vinegar from the cabinet. He popped an aspirin, grabbed his cell off the table and made that long walk to the bathroom. He turned the water in the tub to as hot as he could stand, poured in the Epsom, vinegar, and some bubble bath, then took off his clothes. When the tub was filled to a little below neck level, he turned off the water, and slowly got in, one foot at a time. Once he could handle the full temperature of the water, he laid back and tried to forget about the pain he felt all over his body. He would ice everything once he got out but for right now he would close his eyes and relax a little, maybe even take a nap.

[The steam in the room slowly woke Gary up. He could feel the beads of sweat rolling down his forehead and could almost see the steam arising from the bathwater but the layer of bubbles covered it. He looked over to see the mirror completely fogged over from steam. He couldn’t remember how long he had been sleeping. He still felt tired and was starting to close his eyes when he heard…

*knock knock*

Gary looked to his left as the door quietly opened and there stood JiHyo leaning on the doorway. Gary couldn’t say anything but “Hey.”

“Hey.” she said wearing a white Angry Birds t-shirt and jeans.

The steam in the room was getting thicker, making ii hard for him to breathe. He looked her and asked “JiHyo?”

“Yes…?” His eyes never left hers as she walked closer to him. The steam was so thick it was almost palpable; like it almost was alive. When she got to the edge of the tub, Gary started to sit up but she put her hand on his chest and eased him back down. With one hand already in the water, she slowly started to get into the tub; left leg first, then right arm followed by her right leg.

“JiHyo what are you doing?”

“Does it really matter…?” She asked. At this point she was lying on top of him, fully clothed, nothing but bubbles and steam around them. Her clothes were completely soaked through and he hairr fell around her, part of it flowing down her shoulders and into the water. Her face was right above his looking down at him. By this time, the steam was thick to the point that he couldn’t think, all he could do was feel. And God he felt every bit of her! He didn’t care anymore at this point; he just wanted to taste her. Gary reached up and slowly cradled her face to bring it to him. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think; all that mattered was his need to taste her, to feel her lips on his. He brought her face to him, so close he could feel her breathe on his bottom lip. His eyes never leaving her, Gary moved up to meet ….]

*“neol neomuna saranghaeseo, nan TV reul kkeosseo
saebbal gan, ni ibsul
neol neomuna saranghaeseo, nan keoten eul chyeosseo
saebbal gan, ni ibsul”*

[! What was that?] Gary opened his eyes, awoken from his sleep by his cell phone ringing. It took him a second to realize he was still in his bathroom but completely alone this time. He sat up, dried his hand on his towel and picked up his cell phone sitting on carpet next to the tub. “Yae Gil, I’m fine. I was asleep, so it took me a second to pick up.” Gil asked to meet him at the studio a little later; he had some new beats he wanted Gary to check out. “Ahh Hyung, I should be there around 6:30 or 7pm. Yae, yae. Later Hyung.”

Gary put his phone down and laid back in the tub. This was not going to work; he had to find some way to get everything back under control. After one night with her, here he was as a grown man having fantasies. Of course he was physically and mentally tired from his workout earlier but it really shouldn’t have led to a fantasy that quickly. Seems he couldn’t completely shut things off if he and JiHyo were going to be around each other in a greater capacity. The best thing he could do was to put himself back into Oppa mode; chingu-oppa. That way he can safely let some of his emotion out in a way that wouldn’t confuse her or cause her to be uncomfortable. He pulled the plug in the bathtub and let the water drain out. The way he was feeling right now, the only thing he really needed was a cold shower. Gary flipped on the shower and hurriedly washed in the cold water. Once finished he dried himself off, put some icy-hot on his legs and shoulders and laid down in bed for a much needed nap before making his way to the studio later.

Make sure to leave comments everyone. They really do help me write better. Did you like it, not like it? Was it believable? Was the pace of the story too slow or too fast? Whatever you feel, write it down. All is appreciated. Thanks. Hwaiting!!