“Sweet dreams” those were his last words to me before he left. Oh, and did I mention that it was accompanied by his trademark killer smile? Like, how am I supposed to sleep after THAT, huh?!?

I must’ve been sitting there, mooning about it for some time when my cell phone alerted me to an SMS. It was from Elly, my boss in Manila, informing me of a conference call at seven the next evening.

Well, that sort of put me back to Earth from mooning over Siwon’s goodnight greeting. I mean, what’s there to moon about? Sure, maybe he was flirting a bit, but that’s basically second nature to him. And he probably just did it to make amends for offending me and to make sure I help him practice his English. Come on, Rain! The guy is five years younger than you! Get a grip!

Not that scolding myself that way helped with my peace of mind. I still tossed and turned before I fell asleep, and woke up looking like a mess. Then, there’s the dilemma of what to wear. I’m not a flashy dresser and on any other day, I wouldn’t care if my clothes don’t match or my shirt is ragged. My job is to blend in the background, not stand out, so, clothes are a minor issue for me.

But today is no ordinary day. I will be going around in public with no other than Choi Siwon! Of course, we would be very careful not to be recognized by his fans, but in case one or two would see us, I wouldn’t want to look to shabby as to be mistaken for his maid, or too flashy as to be thought of as a girlfriend.

Ah, enough of that, it’s not like I have a lot of choice. I decided on a pair of black jeans and a red top. For contingency purposes, I picked up a white cardigan, just in case it gets cold. After my shower, I got dressed and put on some lipgloss, just so I won’t look like a bloodless cadaver.

I was thinking about what to have for breakfast when my doorbell rang. What now? It’s eight thirty, Siwon’ll be here in half an hour and I haven’t eaten yet. I don’t want my tummy grumbling in his presence! I opened my door, and there he is!

Siwon is leaning against the doorjamb, a rakish smile on his face. He’s wearing black jeans as well, and a white shirt. With a red sweater tied loosely around his broad shoulders. I couldn’t help but laugh.

Siwon: (~Face falling as he came in~) What? What’s so funny? Do I have dirt on my face?

Me: No! It’s not that. Our clothes! Your sweater is the exact shade of red as my top, and I actually have a white cardigan with me. We look weird. Wait a bit, okay? I’m gonna change into something else. (~And I went to the bedroom~)

Siwon: (~Following me to the bedroom, but of course, being a gentleman, he stayed outside the door and just held it so it won’t close~) What? No! Why should you? We look cute.

Me: We look like we’re wearing a couple outfit. It’s cheesy.

Siwon: So, what if we are, and what if it is? We are a couple!

Me: What?

Siwon: (~Is he blushing?~)I mean, there’s two of us today. Isn’t that a couple? Please don’t change your clothes. I like it.

Me: Okay, if you’re cool about looking cheesy, so am I. But if anybody sees us, I don’t know who you are! Ha ha! Why are you early anyway? I haven’t had breakfast yet.

Siwon: (~hesitating a bit~) I…ah…I thought we can have breakfast together, if it’s okay with you.

Me: (~ah, so, he didn’t want to cook breakfast! Okay~) No problem. Let’s go to the kitchen, then. We can start the day by conversing in English while I cook.

Siwon: Okay, if you’re willing to get a headache this early…

Me: (~Starting the English practice~)Bring it on, kiddo!

And from this point on, Siwon starts speaking in heavily-accented English, but his grammar is pretty good, though. I’m totally impressed.

Siwon: Ah, please don’t call me “kiddo” I am not a child.

Me: Well, I am much older than you. And you refuse to call me “noona”.

Siwon: You said you don’t mind if I call you by your first name. And besides, we’re speaking English. There’s no English equivalent for “noona”.

Me: (~putting a plate of toast, eggs and ham in front of him.~)Hmmm..point taken. So, what’s the plan for today?

Siwon: (~Pouring us both coffee. He’s such a gentleman, he wouldn’t let me do all the work!~) I thought we’d go to the Hanok village first. It’s a nice place to start. Then, maybe we should walk around the neighboring streets, they’re so representative of Seoul. Then, how about some samgyeopsal for lunch?

Me: Sounds great to me! But if we’ll be walking around, aren’t you afraid of being mobbed?

Siwon: Ah, I rarely get mobbed in Korea. My fans are usually the mature types who would even ask permission before taking photos. Donghae and Kyuhyun..well, they get mobbed a lot! So, then, in the afternoon, I was thinking we should go to COEX Aquarium, if you’re interested. Then we could go to Namsan and take the cable car. There’s a great view from the top.

Me: Wow, a well-thought of plan, indeed. I’m impressed, Mr.Choi! You’ll make a great tour guide.

Siwon: I can be your guide anytime. All you have to do is ask.(~He picks up both our plates and heads for the sink~)

Me: Hey, leave that alone! What are you doing?

Siwon: I’m washing the dishes. You said we’ll get pests if we leave things dirty.

Me: I did?

Siwon: Uh-huh, yesterday. You said you “really, really have to clean ‘it’ up”, that we’ll get pests if you don’t.

Me: (~Ah, I remember now, it was when I didn’t want to look at him~) Wow, sharp memory!

Siwon: I remember everything you say to me.

Me: Good for you, then! Get out of here! I wash my own dishes!

Siwon: (~Not budging~) I’ve already started. Go put on your make up or whatever.

Me: I don’t usually put make-up on..but you’re probably right, we can’t afford you being seen with a hag…be right back!

Siwon: Oh, wait! That’s not what I meant! You look great..I mean, you look fine. I just thought maybe you were going to…

Me: Oh, I only put it on for company functions or dates. I’m cool. Let me just go check my purse if I left anything. Thanks for washing the dishes!

Siwon: (~Sad expression? Whispering to himself~) Oh, company functions and dates. What do you call this, then?

+++++

And so, the most delightful day of my 28 years went by…almost too quickly for my taste. But still, each detail has been etched in my memory as if burnt there by a hot brand.

The way Siwon is so different in real-life from Super Junior’s Siwon. He’s not quiet at all. He talks a lot…and I mean, in torrents. Every detail of each place we visited was narrated to me in his rapidly-improving English. He’ll pause and raise his eyebrows at me enquiringly if he has doubts about his pronunciation.

He even took selca photos of the two of us, and some photos of me. I took some photos of him of course. Even the Siwon in these photos is different, I guess. There are no contrived smiles or well-poised poses. He tends to make funny faces when he knows his picture is being taken, and almost all the photos have him pouting like a bee-stung Angelina Jolie for the camera.

One delightfully familiar thing that is similar about this Siwon is the gestures. The man certainly makes a lot of them, and yes, they are automatic to him and they are hilarious. When most people would simply point things out with one hand, he would be using both hands, palms up as if he was Vanna White presenting a bonus prize in Wheel Of Fortune.

We were having lunch and he was teaching me how to wrap samgyeopsal in lettuce leaf and eat the huge bunch when I couldn’t stand it anymore, and I laughed out. VERY LOUDLY.

Siwon: (~Puzzled look on his face~) What did I do now?

Me: Nothing, I just thought..wow, you’re quite a chatterbox!

Siwon: Ah, am I being too noisy? I just thought you might find me boring if I don’t talk. I’ll stop.

Me: No, don’t! I like it. It’s just that I was surprised, pleasantly so. And I was imagining an effective way to shut you up if you got too noisy.

Siwon: (~Putting down the lettuce leaf and leaning closer to me~) What? It’s usually a kiss!

Me: (~What is he doing? People might see us!! I leaned backwards~) Where did THAT idea come from? Of course not!

Siwon: (~Picking up the lettuce again~) Oh, too bad. What then?

Me: Tie up both your hands. You cannot speak without waving your hands about like an orchestra conductor.

Siwon: (~Raising his right eyebrow rakishly at me~) Oh, yeah? And I can shut you up effectively right now, too! (~Leaning close to me…very close~)

Me: (~Getting nervous now, I couldn’t really move~) What? I mean… how?

Siwon: This….(~And he puts the lettuce-wrapped pork in my mouth~) See…that’s effective!

(~He then wipes at my chin…with his fingers!~)

“Ahhhmm..excuse us for a minute,please?” we hear somebody say from  the next table.

When we turned our heads, we saw an elderly couple, probably American tourists looking at us. Siwon was signaling desperately at me to answer and I pointed at the food in my mouth.

Siwon: (~Uncomfortably~) Yes?

Older Man: I was just wondering if you can translate this for us. We know basic Korean but we can’t really read Hangul. (~He handed Siwon a piece of paper, Siwon kindly read the message, first in Hangul, then translated it into English~)

Older man: Oh, thank you!

Siwon: You’re very much welcome, sir.

Older lady: You and your girlfriend make such a lovely couple.

Siwon: Oh, yes, we do don’t we, Honey? (~He looks at me~)

I kicked his foot under the table.

Older man: Well, we better get going now. Thanks again!

Older lady: (~putting a hand on my shoulder and leaning a bit closer~) Hold on to your young man, he’s a keeper!

Siwon: (~Winking at me~) Oh, she knows that!

I was just about ready to kill him then! I couldn’t do anything because I was having trouble chewing the HUGE amount of food in my mouth.

Me: (~As soon as I managed to swallow the food and take a sip of water~) Oh, you are soooo dead, my friend!

Siwon: (~Feigning innocence~) What? You were the one who started the talk about shutting people up! I just didn’t want to argue with that nice couple.

Me: Yeah! And pray that they don’t know who you are and that nobody else heard it. Otherwise I lose my job. Let’s go! We have places to see. (~And I stood up to leave~)

Siwon: (~Reluctantly following me~) Ah, yes. The job. How can I forget?

++++

And the rest of the day was just like that. Fun and exciting. I learned a lot of things about Seoul and more importantly, I learned more things about him. The afternoon was spent at the COEX Aquarium, then, although our original plan was to take the Namsan Cable Car, the afternoon rain changed our plan and we simply wandered around the museum.

I like museums well enough, but an entire afternoon in one would usually bore me to death, Siwon’s enthusiasm is quite contagious, though, and before we know it, it was six o’ clock.

Me: Hey, we better head back!

Siwon: It’s only six. Why don’t we go see a movie?

Me: Ah, I can’t. I’m expecting a call from Manila at seven.

Siwon: Oh, okay. How about a quick dinner, then?

Me: I would love to, really, but I have to go. You don’t have to drive me back, though. I can take a cab. Go watch a movie or something…

Siwon: No, of course not! I’m driving you back. Come on!

On the drive back, he was a bit quiet, probably tired. So was I, I guess, because I really can’t think of anything to say. I had fun, but to tell him so would make the day seem like a date, which, of course, it wasn’t. It was our English Lesson Day.

We were still quiet when we got off the elevator on the 8^th floor. Siwon, ever the gentleman, took my access key from my hand and unlocked my door for me. I opened the door and turned around to thank him when I noticed that he was leaning close..a bit too close really.

Me: (~Feeling like the pit of my stomach has dropped to my feet~) Siwon????

Siwon: (~Still leaning ever closer~) Rain…

Okay! Sorry for cutting this one short right at this point. I’m not even sure if they’ll kiss. It certainly wasn’t in my plan when I started the chapter. Just let me get my spazzing out of my system (Yeah,I’m weird that way, I spazz about my own stories especially if it includes Siwon), then I’ll get to work on the next one. Any suggestions or comments? Feel free to post!