Chapter 19: Devoted

(Author's note: I tried to finish it in this one chapter but it felt like I couldn't get everything in. And if that happened I felt I would be shortchanging you after that long separation. So it looks like this will be a 20 chapter story after all...) Credit to Chichan for this beautiful picture that I've borrowed for this chapter.

Jiyong sat at the foot of his bunk shining his boots for inspection that they had the following morning. On the bunk next to his three other soldiers were hunkered over a magazine. Jiyong wasn’t paying much attention until he heard the name “Sandara”, and his head instantly turned to the men and what they were saying.

“She’s a beauty,” the first soldier said. “Look at that skin. I hear she’s only nineteen.”

“Look at those lips. I’d sure like to be able to taste that mouth.”

“I wonder if she has a boyfriend?”

“I heard she’s dating Lee Minho. She did a commercial with him.”

“Lucky bastard.”

“Lee Minho? I heard it was that other guy, the one from Super Junior.”

“Didn’t she do a commercial with him as well?”

Jiyong stood up and leaned over the men to see what they were looking at. He saw a large picture of Dara in the magazine and his breath caught in his throat. It was Dara but she looked so different. So grown up now… and even more beautiful than ever.

“Where did you get that?” he asked, and the three men turned to look at him.

“Over from the rec room. Someone brought some old magazines and newspapers for us to read.”

“She’s a beauty isn’t she, Kwon?”

Jiyong remained silent. He didn’t tell them that the girl they were drooling over was his girlfriend. He turned and sat back down on his bed and continued shining his boots as he listened to their conversation.

“Hey, I knew she looked familiar! Now I remember where I saw her... She’s the one on that new drama we were watching last week! The one sergeant likes to watch!”

“That’s not her… that girl was the one from that singing group… Apink?”

“No not her… the other one! The one that plays the younger sister of the lead guy. It’s her – Sandara!”

Jiyong’s fingers paused. Dara was acting now too?

He listened in more, found out the name of the drama. That week when it was showing, he joined the rest of his unit as they sat glued to the tv. It took him only a short time to catch onto the storyline, and when Dara showed up on tv, he sat there staring at her in disbelief. It was really her. Those eyes, the smile, her voice. His lips turned up at the corners. She fit the role of bratty little sister well. Ahh, he was proud of her, what she had managed to accomplish so far in her life. She certainly had done a lot in the time he’d been gone. Watching her with the star studded cast on the drama, especially the young male actors, Jiyong suddenly couldn’t help but wonder too if other things about Dara might have changed as well. Like her feelings for him...

**

Dara parked her car and walked over to the tiny boutique shop owned by her friend Chaerin. The blond designer looked up as Dara entered and she raised her hand up in greeting.

“Dara!”

Hugs were exchanged and Chaerin led Dara to her small office at the back of the shop. “Girl I haven’t seen you in a while. I take it they’re keeping you busy?”

“We’re finishing up the drama this week. Most of my scenes are already done so I have some free time today and tomorrow. Looks like business is doing well?”

“Thanks to you, sweetie! Thanks for the endorsement at the awards show. My phones been ringing off the hook since then. If this keeps up I can probably afford to move to a bigger showroom within a year.”

“You deserve it,” Dara told her. She really did admire Chaerin’s sense of style and eye for detail. “I stopped by to see if you can design me an outfit for a special occasion.”

“Sure! What type of event is it?”

Dara smiled as she clapped her hands excitedly. “It’s Jiyong’s homecoming party. His parents are putting on a party to welcome him home and announce him as executive VP of their company. They’re holding it at the Shilla. It’ll be a formal event held at the poolside up on the roof.”

“You must be so happy! I’m looking forward to meeting Jiyong in person.”

“Well both you and Seungri will get your chance that evening because you’re both invited!”

Chaerin squealed, happy to finally be able to meet the man that made their Ssantokki happy. Dara started off as Seungri’s close friend but over the past four years she’d grown closer to her as well. She was a sweet girl and stardom hadn’t changed her a bit. The two girls got down to talking details about what Dara should wear that night for Jiyong’s homecoming party. Half an hour later she left the boutique satisfied with the initial drawing Chaerin had etched out. She still had two and a half months before the event, plenty of time to finish the dress. Dara was leaving for Japan that weekend and would be gone for a whole month for work so she was happy to get this taken care of first before she ran out of time.

Dara sat in her car a few minutes staring at a photo of Jiyong on her phone, her mood light and happy. Finally he was coming home soon.

**

Jiyong marked off another day on his calendar. He had less than six weeks left, a month and a half. Lately he couldn’t control the racing of his heart every time he thought of going home. The past 22 months had been a time of maturing for him, of discipline, and reflection on his life. He knew now more than ever what he wanted. He wanted to go home, finish his schooling, work at the family business, and marry Dara.

A few months back his parents had come to visit him for the weekend. They had stayed at a small hotel nearby and Jiyong had taken leave to spend two days with them. He was happy to see his parents doing well. He had asked briefly about Dara and his mother had said that she rarely saw Dara because she was so busy with her work but that Dara would call when she could to say hello and check on them. Dara had also sent them a beautiful bouquet of flowers on their anniversary and another on parent’s day.

His father had asked him at that time what his future plans were. Jiyong told him his intentions, including his plan on marrying Dara.

“Don’t rush into it,” his father had advised, and Jiyong had asked him why.

“Give it some time to think it over. Being a CEO has a lot of responsibilities that include your wife. You’ll need someone to be the hostess of the many company events and dinners and stand by your side.”

“Dara will fit that role,” he had assured his father, but there had been a lingering look that was shared between his father and mother.

“Don’t get us wrong, son,” his mother had said. “We love Dara, but a lot has happened since you last saw her. She's grown up and has become set in a path that she may not want to leave. The two of you need to spend some time together when you get home to see if you both still want the same thing in life.”

Jiyong hadn’t said anything after that but his parents’ advice had stayed with him. What if Dara decided that she wanted to pursue her career further? He’d encouraged her to do so in these past two years. He'd given it much thought and decided that if Dara wanted to pursue her career he would allow her to. He would hold off marriage until she was ready. As long as she loved him he would wait until she was ready to settle down and marry him.

**

Dara dropped down into her seat, her eyes glued in horror on the schedule in her hand. “No…! I can’t do this date!”

The agency had scheduled her to attend an important publicity event for her next project that had originally been scheduled in three weeks’ time. Now it was being pushed back an additional week because of an unforeseen problem, making it the same night as Jiyong’s homecoming party! To make matters worse, it meant that she would have to leave Seoul two days prior in order to sit down for a photo shoot and interviews. She wouldn’t even be home to welcome Jiyong!

“Jjangmae, can I back out of this? That weekend is really a bad time. I can’t do it that weekend. I already asked for the time off from work, they can’t schedule me on that day!”

“The agency has already committed you to the project and you’ve signed the contract. Part of the agreement is that you would be in attendance at all the major promotions. You can’t back out of this, Dara.”

“But I asked for the time off…”

“You know the agency takes precedence over requests. You can take the following week off. I’ll ask them to give you that entire week off.”

Dara dropped her face into the palms of her hands and cried.

**

Jiyong stepped out onto the platform at the train station, his duffle bag in hand and looked around. He was dressed in his military uniform still. He’d been traveling for two days now to reach home. First by bus, and then the last leg by train. He was dying to get home and see everyone.

“Jiyong!”

He turned at the familiar voice and smiled broadly as he saw Youngbae and Top walking toward him with equally happy grins. They exchanged brief hugs.

“Are you my welcoming committee?”

“Of course!” Youngbae answered. “Let’s go topside. I’ve got my car parked nearby.”

Youngbae noticed Jiyong glancing around and he knew who he was looking for. He slipped him the envelope Dara had given him to give to Jiyong.

Jiyong glanced at the writing, recognizing Dara’s penmanship. He thanked Youngbae as he opened it and read the short note inside.

“Welcome home, Jiyong. Baby, I’m sorry I can’t be there to do this in person. Visit our twitter account when you get a chance. Do you still remember the password? In case you don’t, here it is xxxxx. I love you. I’m so glad your home. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Text me once you get your phone. Yours only ~Dara.”

His heart warmed at reading her words. ‘I love you… Yours only..’

Beside him both Youngbae and Top grinned at the goofy look on his face. “Come on loverboy,” Top teased, and the three headed off.

**

Dara kept looking at the time as she waited for the photo shoot to start. Jiyong should have arrived home by now. How she wished she could be there instead of here. ‘Patience Dara’ she told herself. ‘You’ve waited all this time. You can endure a few more days.’

**

After leaving the train station Jiyong asked Youngbae to make one stop and that was to pick up a new phone and activate it. Afterwards Youngbae took him to one other destination, a place that Jiyong had asked him for help in securing. When  Jiyong had been out on his leave the time that his parents had visited several months back, he had given Youngbae a call and asked him to help him look for an apartment. Money wasn’t an issue. He knew he could continue to live at home – his mother would certainly prefer that. But Jiyong wanted his own space now. He needed that space. After sharing living quarters with his unit for the past two years he wanted space to call his own.

Youngbae had found him space in an upscale apartment building near the university as Jiyong had requested. The place came completely furnished. All Jiyong needed to do was move his clothes in, add his own personal touches, and he was set.

Jiyong looked around the apartment in approval. He loved the clean modern feel of the design. “Hey thanks, Bae. I appreciate you doing all this for me.”

“Don’t mention it. What are friends for?”

Top sat down on the couch and looked around. “I think a certain model/actress will like this place as well, don’t you think, bro?”

Jiyong smiled as he sat down opposite him in a comfortable armchair. “I hope so.”

That evening after dinner he bid his parents goodnight, hugged his mother, and then went upstairs to his room. He stopped first next door, in Joongie’s old room, and looked around. His parents had redecorated the room. Now it was a guest room but on the wall on one side hung several favorite photos of Joongie. Jiyong stood and looked at the photos, a smile on his lips as he remembered fondly his brother. Included in the photos was a copy of the one that he had kept in his room for years of him and Jaejoong.

“I miss you, Joongie,” Jiyong whispered, reaching up to lightly touch the photo.

Afterwards he made his way to his room. Here too the walls had been repainted and the floor re-carpeted but everything else looked the same as when he left. As he sat on the bed and he looked around he realized how much he had grown from the little boy he once was. Even his life as a college student prior to his leaving for military service felt almost another lifetime ago. Now he felt as if he were fixing to move onto another stage in life, one of adulthood and responsibility.

He went over to his desk that still had his old laptop on it. He smiled as he opened it up and discovered that it was still working. He’d have to pick up a new one tomorrow. Meanwhile he sat down and logged onto his and Dara’s private account to look at what she had been up to while he was gone.

It was nearly four in the morning when he finally finished looking through everything, all her photos she’d posted, all her messages to him that she had posted through the past two years. She had been devoted in her committment to him, keeping him a part of her life by sharing her thoughts with him in her posts... The tears she’d cried those first few months, her determination to be strong for him. Her excitement at the new experiences she encountered with work, her exhaustion at her schedules at times. Her thoughts upon her graduation from high school, of filming her first CF, of working with various celebrities and models. Her thrill at being cast for her first drama, her enchantment with being able to attend the film awards ceremony that Bae had accompanied her to. She had faithfully kept a video and photo diary of her experiences these past two years, ending with her entry from last night. 

‘Jiyong, in these two years I’ve tried my best to do as you asked and lived my life to the best I could. I’ve been blessed with many opportunities that I’ve taken advantage of and that I am most grateful for. I can’t wait to see you. In case you have any doubts, my heart remains yours – only yours. Always and truly yours forever, ~Dara.

Jiyong replied to her post:

‘I’ve spent all night reading every message you’ve posted since I’ve been gone. Finally, I’m able to reply. I'm sorry baby that I've been absent for so long, but I’m home now. Hurry home to me. I’m waiting impatiently for you. Yours forever ~Kwon Jiyong”