"Tell me another episode of your childhood," Chaewon had asked.

He glanced at her from the driver seat, smiling. They were on the way to a park near the suburb area. It was usually crowded on the weekend or summer, but no one really visited it on weekdays. Along the seasons, except winter, the wide area would be filled by the tall Eulalias and maiden grass. It made one of the favorite spot for celebrities to have a date, because the towering plants would hide them well from watching eyes.

Joongki fetched her up when it was still dawn. Her friend was having a birthday party the night before and she got back to her place around midnight. She was really sleepy from the lack of sleep, but didn’t have the heart to comply with his suggestion to sleep and letting him driving alone. His drama filming had begun and they hadn’t seen each other for the last two weeks. Since it was a pre-produced drama, the schedule was really packed because they wanted to make sure to deliver the best quality or work, but he did get day offs from time to time.  

“Hmmm, let me think,” he answered, despite his eyes still focusing on the empty road in front of them.

“When my sister was born, my parents were really happy because their wish to have a daughter had finally come true,” he started his story. “Both my brother and I were really cheeky as a child, but we never really caused any trouble for the family. So, my parents thought she would grow up to be really ladylike, sweet and obedient. However, she turned out to be the most mischievous out of us all,” he snorted, taking a break in between while the memories of his childhood passed in his mind.

“What did she do?” Chaewon probed for more.

“She was really talkative and sometimes it got noisy. One time in middle school, she made one of the boy cried after they had a fight. Come to think about it, maybe because she grew up with two older brothers, she turned out that way. She was the only daughter and we always gave her whatever she wanted. She really had no fear.”

Joongki laughed as he ended his story. From the side, Chaewon could see the glint in his eyes. It was one of the reasons she liked listening to him talking about his family. They looked really tight and warm. They looked like a good household.

“She had changed so much, right? She looks really feminine from the pictures you showed me.”

“Yeah. She didn’t even care about make up before. It still hit me from time to time watching her getting all dress up.”

They reached the place after going through forty minutes ride. He parked the car and they wore their hats and masks, getting ready to get out of the car.

They walked toward each other and Joongki reached out his hand, taking her into his as they walked toward the entry gate. The cold morning air greeted them and they breathed in simultaneously, enjoying the clean and fresh sensation.

“What did you do for the last two weeks?” He asked.

“Nothing much, I think I’ve told you everything though the text.”

"Did you enjoy the musical?"

“Yes, Kim Hye Ja Seonsaengnim was really wonderful. It’s impressive at how she still could do live performance at her age. As I watched it, I keep asking myself if it was me, would I be able to do it.”

Joongki smiled, squeezing her hand lightly. He knew her concerns well. Once, they had a deep talk and spilled their honest thoughts about the field of work they were in. Both of them knew there was no guarantee at all. One day, the public could turn their backs on them, or they could be forgotten, pushed aside by the new faces in the industry. But despite everything, they loved their work and agreed that the only thing they could do was to keep doing their best.

“Let’s try our best, and stay healthy. So, later, in about twenty years, I can see you in the television screen, screaming at the actor who is playing as your son-in-law.”

Chaewon chuckled.

“No, I want to be a trendy mother-in-law. We have to break that stereotypical acting of evil mother-in-law.”

“Then me too, I will play an old man who still go clubbing every night.”

She hit him lightly.

“Hey, you have to maintain your image.”

Their laughs filled the air.

They had reached the center part of the park. Sun was rising in front of them, peeking through the cloud in the sky.

"Tell me about your role. What kind of character are you playing this time?" Chaewon threw him another question as they kept walking deep into the area.

"A confident soldier who is passionate about his work and love. He is good in his field, serious but unlike the usual image of soldier, he is not rigid, even humorous."

"Hmm," Chaewon mumbled, "then, how do your character and the female character fall in love?"

Joongki turned smiling to her.

“He hit on her first. He was straightforward and smooth with his words, also sweet nonetheless. Of course she has no other choice but to fall for him."

“He kind of sound like you.”

“Are you telling me that I’m passionate about my work and love and smooth with my words, or are you telling me you have no choice but to fall for me?”

His words made her giving him a dreadful stare while he kept on smiling from ear to ear.

They were walking hand in hand, sticking close to each other. He brought her even closer and shifted his hand circling her waist into a half embrace.

“I do think that we have similarities at some point.”

Out of the blue, he placed a peck on the top of her covered head. She glared at him. The thing she realized a bit late into their relationship was he had that habit of doing random physical contact at just any moment. He could be casually giving her a hug in the middle of their conversation or kissing her just anywhere, like when he was driving or when they were doing the dishes together. It was not like she hated it, but it messed up her concentration when they were having a serious talk. Moreover, people could take pictures of it if he did it when they were outside.

“He also sounded like a playboy.”

He stopped in their tracks, looking straight into his lover’s eyes.

“Eyy, then are you implying that I appear like a playboy too?”

She shrugged her shoulders, playing innocence.

“I didn’t say anything.”

Squinting his eyes, he pulled her waist closer.

“Ya!” He raised his voice, playing along, pretending to be angry.

She bursted out laughing at his act.

His face moved closer and abruptly, she was being pecked on the lips.

It silenced her, stopping her laugh and the next second, she hit his chest hardly.

“Really! Get on your sense, we’re in the public place. What if someone see it?”

This time, he was the one laughing in turn.

“Don’t worry, there is no one around, it’s still early in the morning.”

“Still, you have to put yourself together, watch what you’re doing. We have to be careful," she told him again, sternly this time.

“Alright, understood, Ma’am.”

.

Joongki clucked in amazement after spooning the soup in front of him and taking a taste of it. He didn’t expect that small and deserted shop they chose would serve such a pleasant treat.

Following their morning walk, they stopped to have a breakfast around the area. When it came to food, they had quite similar palate. Even though they earned much from their works, but they were not the type to spend and live in luxury. They fancied their homeland food, especially the traditional dishes and home cooked food. Once, he joked that dating her cost him only a little amount, economically. They could go on without worrying about money, just if she could stop going crazy over the Korean meat.

“Discovering a good place like this accidentlly makes me feel really good,” she stated merrily.

He nodded in agreement.

“This is really good. I feel like I have to brag to Kwangsoo that I spent my morning dating and finding this place,” he said, grinning.

Chaewon stared at him momentarily before continuing to devour her food. That immature side of him kept appearing from time to time.

“Even if I told you treat Kwangsoo Oppa better, you’ll keep harassing him like that, right? Ne, ne, just do as you want.”

He smiled in triumph. He knew that she wasn’t fond of that side of him, but she was trying to understand that was just how he and his friends played around.

They continued their meal in peace, until something hit Joongki. The topic he had wanted to talk about since a while ago but kept forgetting. Suddenly, he felt annoyed.

“Chaewon-ah, how is Kwangsoo an ‘oppa’ and I am a ‘ssi’? No, wait, now that I think about it, you rarely call me anything.”

She was biting her tongue. She knew it would be a problem sooner or later. It was even later from her prediction.

“I’m sorry,” she looked at him uneasily, “it has become a habit.”

Joongki put his spoon down. The food in front of him looked bland.

“What do you mean by that? Explain to me, why is Kwangsoo has been an ‘oppa’ since the first time, but I’m not?”

Actually, in the early part of their project filming, she addressed him as an ‘oppa’ but at one moment, she just stopped and started calling him ‘Joongki-ssi’.

“Kwangsoo Oppa’s presence didn’t burden me, and he was actually a good person to be around, so there it goes. And about you…you know, it was not uncomfortable, but there was something difficult for me about dealing with you. So, I did it on purpose to keep the distance.”

His irritation was really getting to him, she could notice the corner of his mouth straining.

“Who told you to make a move on me while we were still working together? You know I don’t like to mix up my work and personal matter.” She added.

“Okay, I get it. It was then, but how about now?”

“Well, since it has become an habit, it feels strange to call you…” She paused, letting her imagination do the work, just to end up smiling awkwardly.

“Woah, really. Don’t you think you’re being really inconsiderate toward me? Really, I lost my appetite.”

Joongki rose up, intending to leave outside, but Chaewon grabbed a hold of his hand.

“Love, are you going to spend your break by sulking all day long? Please sit down, it’s not a good thing to leave the food unfinished.”

He gawked staring at the woman in front of him. She was just like an onion, he thought, giving him surprises as he look through the layers. One time, she could turn him into a jealous and senseless man, in the next moment, she had him back under her fingers.

She pulled him to sit again and he followed obediently.

“I’ll do it,” she said, holding his hand, “I’ll call you that, just give me time. Okay?”

Dear heaven, this woman had too much control over him.

“Ya, you’ll kill me someday if you keep doing that,” he muttered.

.

Author's note:

First of all, I'm sorry if some of you have seen this chapter a while ago and found that it was in different languages. I was editing the chapter and forgot to put it on the draft mode. I'm really sorry. Please do read this final version.

Another bonding and sweet moments for this update. Actually, I've written two times amount of what I'm posting right now, but I decided to cut it in half and save it for the next chapter because I'm not sure whether I can write the new part in the mean time soon.

Please do enjoy this chapter and give me your feedback. Next chapter will show you another sweet and intimate moment, and by chapter 7, the storm will come to their relationship.

Until next time ^^

Ps : thank you for everyone who subscribed and voted for this story ^^