Ji Hoo’s POV

He had been an to her; a big . And he didn’t know how to amend the mistake that he had made. ‘It was not her fault that she did not know Korean. She was just asking simple questions related to classes’, but his headache had made him snap at her because her simple questions felt like nagging back then. It was at the end of the day and Mandy was just confirming if what she had understood in the class was correct or not. He still remembered the look on her face; it was a look of hurt and disappointment. Even though she had very coolly said “You should have told me if you were uncomfortable with the arrangement. I’ll ask someone else to help me and will not bother you anymore”, it had showed in that split second before she had covered up. And he was feeling guilty as hell for that.

He was pacing in the F4 lounge when his friends came in for the emergency meeting he had called in. He had asked them to bring Jan Di and Ga Eul too, because he needed the girls’ opinion on how to mend this.

When he retold the whole incident, all of them started reprimanding him.

“Sunbae, that was a bit too harsh” said Jan Di “You should apologize to her the first thing in the morning”

“ Yah! Yoon Ji Hoo, is that the way to talk to someone?” shouted Gu Jun Pyo.

“Ji Hoo-ah, you have always been the calm one. Didn’t expect this from you bro.” said Woo Bin

“You should apologize to her and make her feel welcome to our country. She must be feeling lonely here with no friends and on top of that she doesn’t even know our language. Maybe you could take her to have lunch or give her some chocolates or something” spoke up Ga Eul.

All this time, Ga Eul was listening to all of them scold Ji Hoo for his behavior and she had already contemplated a plan to help him get an apology.

“Won’t that be overdoing it a bit Jagiya?” interjected Yi Jung.

“Yah! Try to put yourself in her position and then ask me if it is overdoing it a bit or not” pouted Ga Eul. She really felt for Mandy and thought that she needed a grand apology.

“Well you said that she might be feeling lonely here, so why not introduce her to us and then she would have some new friends” suggested Woo Bin.

Everyone agreed that this was a nice idea, but the girls still felt that Ji Hoo should give her something as a token of apology.

He would have to get creative in this one, Ji Hoo thought to himself.

Mandy’s POV

The next day in recess, she was sitting under a tree, listening to her ipod and eating an apple.

“You know that is not enough for the remainder of the day”. She looked up and saw her Korean Devdas smiling down at her, looking like an angel dressed in white from head to toe and holding some kind of box. But she held back the smile, which was slowly starting to creep on her face, when she remembered his rude behavior the day before. She just turned her face and kept on munching on her apple.

“Look, I’m sorry for what I said yesterday. Please accept these lunch boxed pancakes as a symbol of my apology” said Ji Hoo, placing a black Tiffin box in front of her.

“I cannot eat these” she started saying, but Ji Hoo interrupted her “Look I know I was an yesterday, please accept my apology, and forgive me”

“Apology was accepted when you said it the first time; it’s just that I cannot eat these pancakes”

“But why?” asked Ji Hoo

“I am a vegetarian.” After hearing this Ji Hoo burst out in laughter. Mandy also started laughing with him.

“And how did you even lunch box pancakes?” asked Mandy, continuing laughing.

“Well this is the only thing I know how to make, and it is good that you didn’t eat them because they would’ve been all soggy by now. I should’ve thought this through.” He said scratching the back of his head.

“Don’t worry; it’s the thought that counts. And it’s the first time anyone has put in such effort to apologize to me. Mostly people just give me a box of chocolates. I mean I love chocolates, who doesn’t? But they just seem as fake apologies.”

Ji Hoo was feeling very glad now to have not taken Ga Eul’s advice on chocolates.

“Well you do drink coffee, don’t you?” asked Ji Hoo, just to be sure.

She simply smiled and nodded.

“Well then let’s go. I know a great café nearby where you can also grab something to eat. Why were you not eating a proper lunch anyway?”

“I didn’t know what was what in the cafeteria menu and so didn’t know what to eat” she said weakly.

Ji Hoo looked at her expression and felt his stomach knot. He realized that Ga Eul was right in one thing, Mandy was lonely. All she needed was someone who could make her feel welcome.

“From now on eat lunch with me, I’ll tell you what you can eat and what not. Okay?” she smiled brightly at this proposition and nodded enthusiastically.

“You know, you didn’t have to do so much. I should have been more considerate regarding your health and should’ve known that you would have a hangover, considering the large amounts of scotch you were downing the night before.” She said.

“Wait, how did you know I had scotch the night before?” asked a confused Ji Hoo.

“I was there that night in the club when you drunk yourself to unconsciousness, Devdas. I even checked your pulse to ensure that you were okay.” She said, grinning like a fool.

“Oh, so that’s why you that Mona Lisa smile plastered on your face the whole day yesterday”

“Mona Lisa smile?” she asked.

“Yes, you know the I-know-something-you-don’t-know smile.”

“I didn’t know I had one” she said, truly surprised at the observation.

“Well you do. And what did you call me before? De-what?”

“Devdas”

“What does that mean?”

“What am I, an encyclopedia? Find out on your own if you are so curious.” She said getting up from her spot. She started walking towards the front gate and said turning back to Ji Hoo, who was still fixed in his spot, thinking about something, it seemed “Are you going to take me to that café or not?”

He shifted from his position and smiled at her. Then grasped her hand and led her to his car.