Chapter 3

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Jung Soojung was back at her house in fifteen minutes and burst through the door, running up her stairs into her study, booting up the laptop impatiently. Running on adrenaline alone, she finished three scenes, going so far as to rewrite other chapters and fiddle around with certain phrases until she was completely satisfied.

It had been five hours since she had started writing, she realized with a start as she glanced up the clock. Finally acknowledging the rumbling in her stomach and the ache in her wrist, not to mention the soreness throughout her body, she saved her work and trooped downstairs into the kitchen for a much-needed snack. She took a hot shower, a shorter one than normal, but refreshing all the same, before returning to her study, plopping herself down on her comfortable chair, and going back to the book.

Soojung typed continuously for the next ten hours, fuelled by inspiration and the uncontrollable urge to write, not taking notice of the time. When she finally stopped, exhausted, her wrists and back aching, she had almost completed the novel.

Getting up, she trudged tiredly into the kitchen, thanking her lucky stars that she had leftovers in the fridge, and hence did not need to cook. Heating the leftovers in the microwave, she stumbled into the living room, gasping when she noticed her message system blinking.

She had completely forgotten about Jessica! Cursing a mile a minute, she grabbed her phone and dialed her sister immediately.

"Hello."

"Unnie! It's me, Soojung. I'm so sorry-"

"Soojung-ah! Good God. I called you, like, three times today. Did you get in late?" she asked worriedly.

"No, I was home in the morning, but I turned the ringer off. I was writing," Soojung explained.

"Oh! Managed to overcome your block, then?" Jessica asked, a teasing note in her voice.

"God, yes! I've been writing for the last fifteen hours, unnie. And I'm almost done," Soojung breathed.

"Fifteen hours! Yah Jung Soojung! That's just like you. Have you eaten?"

"Yeah, a snack in the morning, and I'm heating leftovers now. Unnie, did you manage to get back okay last night?"

"Yeah, I got Wu Yi Fan to come pick me up because the bartender said I'd drunk too much to even remember how to get the door open."

Soojung laughed.

"And how did your night go, Soojung-ah?" Jessica's voice was sly, and Soojung immediately went on guard.

"It was fine."

"Really? Because I seem to recall you leaving with a certain tall, dark haired and handsome man," Jessica teased.

Soojung groaned. Busted! "Yes, yes, I did leave with Myungsoo," she admitted.

Jessica squealed. "Oh my God! Did you have ?! Did you? Did you?! Tell me before I spontaneously combust!"

"Unnie! A lady never tells."

"Oh, bull!"

Soojung laughed. "Yeah, yeah, we had , and it was great. No, it was better than great. He killed my writer's block, that's how great it was."

Jessica squealed again.

Soojung heard the microwave beep, signaling that her food was ready.

"Unnie, I should go. I want to eat, and finish the book. I think I'm going to be able to hand it in early. Definitely a Christmas release. Lizzy Unnie will be thrilled."

They hung up, and Soojung quickly ate before deciding that she ought to head to bed instead of continuing her writing. She was incredibly tired, and welcomed the soft covers with relief.

The next few days sped by similarly, with Soojung spending most of her time typing away at her laptop. Her meal cycle was completely thrown off, she ate only when she couldn't stand the growling of her stomach, and when she did, it was a quick meal so she could get back to writing.

At the end of the week though, Soojung breezed through the large glass doors of SM Publishing, riding the elevator to her publisher's plush office, ignoring the calls of the harried secretary and tossing a CD down on Lizzy's desk.

"I'm done. Early too. Merry Christmas, Lizzy unnie." She smirked, throwing herself down on one of Lizzy's ultra-comfy armchairs.

Lizzy let out a gruff start of surprise and picked the disc up, feeding it into her computer.

"Wow, you got over your block huh?"

"Yep."

"And how did you manage that, may I ask?"

"You may. It just came to me, as these things usually do," Soojung said lightly, not wishing to go into any details at all. She got up, brushing her hands on her jeans.

"I'm going to head out. Call me when you're done reading, and all that."

Soojung headed straight to her car and drove to her parent's house. She needed a weekend of rest, and food. Lots of it.

Lizzy called on Monday morning just as Soojung was heading back into Seoul.

"I'm driving," Soojung said as she fixed her bluetooth headset connect to her phone.

"Jung Soojung! I mean Krystal Jung! You are a genius! An absolute genius! This is your best yet. My are drenched just from reading the first chapter."

Soojung laughed. "Thanks, unnie. How were the other chapters, though?"

"Fantastic. I had to trap my husband in for a night of and more . You're an aphrodisiac, Krystal. I tell you, my are drenched!"

"Great. When are we looking for publishing?"

"Christmas release, and I know you will want to head back home for Christmas, but I'm going to need some promotional book signings at the usual places, a week before, I think."

"Lizzy unnie!"

"Krystal, come on. Please. You're gorgeous, you're y, the housewives will want to be you and the men will want you, and you will sell more books!"

"Unnie, seriously. You know I really don't like these book signings."

"I've got a present for you if you do."

"Unnie, I don't care for your present."

Lizzy huffed, and Soojung grinned.

"Fine, it's the publishing house's present. You're going to get it whether or not you want it, plus you're going to get a raise too, judging by the projected numbers for the book sales I'm looking at."

Soojung's interest was piqued. "How many books?"

"I'm not going to tell you, and you will never find out, unless you agree to the book signings. And I'm also going to throw in a personal assistant on the days to answer to your every whim and fancy. And, wait for this one, NYU called me."

Soojung gasped. "NYU called you?! Lizzy Unnie!"

"Yes, agree to the book signings."

"Unnie, what did NYU say? Why the hell are they not calling me directly?"

"Agree to the book signings, and I sent an email to them at the start of your sabbatical, stating that all future points of contact would be through me."

That sneaky woman!

"Unnie!"

"Agree to the book signings."

Soojung huffed, knowing she was defeated. "Fine, fine, I'll do the book signings."

"Great! Sit tight, go enjoy yourself with your man, or whatever, and I'll call you soon."

Lizzy hung up, and for the first time in a week, Soojung's mind drifted back to Myungsoo. She knew she could possibly turn up at his house, and talk to him, but she was rather embarrassed. What if he didn't care to see her, or worse, if he thought she was bad in bed? What if he had already forgotten about her? She wouldn't be able to stand the humiliation.

No, it was better that she stayed away. Still, she couldn't help but wonder if he had thought about her at all.

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Jung Soojung spent the next few weeks taking coco out for long walks, cooking gourmet meals, buying even more DVDs, and generally relaxing. Lizzy had finally told her that NYU wanted her in on an annual guest lecture series, and she had accepted immediately. Whether or not she was going to go back to NYU full-time next year remained to be seen, but Soojung was starting to have other ideas. She loved lecturing, but there was so much more that could be done with European history.

She'd jotted down a couple of ideas for subsequent romance novels, but she was also gravitating towards writing some journal articles about Korean history. She had been published before. Her Master's thesis, as well as two other articles she had written for college, had been submitted to well-known Arts history journals by her mentors, and subsequently picked up.

She was young, she reasoned. Her whole life was ahead of her. She could take her time, she thought as she headed to bed early. Lizzy was coming by the next morning to pick her up personally for the first book signing.

Soojung was doing a series of three book signings starting on the first day of her book's release. Lizzy had wanted five, Soojung had wanted only one, and in the end, they had haggled and come to a compromise.

Now, standing inside a back office at SM Publishing, Soojung scowled as she spied Lizzy walking towards her, dressed as usual in a black pantsuit.

"Are you ready?" Lizzy asked as she got within hearing range.

"Yeah, yeah," Soojung grumbled.

"Where's Yano, your assistant?" Lizzy barked, looking around. Soojung hid a smile. Yano was a sweet kid, interning at the publishing house in his first year of college, a rather impressive feat, but he was scared less of Lizzy.

Soojung had sent him off for coffee and chocolate cake, two things she absolutely loved, telling him to return at 9:30; Lizzy would have left by then. He had smiled gratefully and scurried off.

"I sent him off on an errand. He should be back soon," Soojung said lightly.

Lizzy nodded. "Good, good. Alright, I'm leaving. I'll be back in two hours, that's when you're wrapping up. The press kit we sent out to Borders and the other bookstores was amazing, you've got a line up front." Soojung grinned.

Soojung fought a grimace.

"You look good, by the way," Lizzy said gruffly. "Glad to know you've learnt how to dress up," she added.

"Hey, just because I live in jeans and tees does not mean I don't know how to dress up if the occasion calls for it." Soojung laughed. She'd decided on a simple white blouse navy blue skirt, pairing it with black stocking and heels. Her thick, wavy hair had been left down because she had been in a hurry that morning.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm off, see you later." Lizzy left, walking away briskly. Soojung slouched in her seat. She really hated book signings. She glanced at her bare wrist, before nodding in realization. Oh yeah, she had deliberately left her watch on her dresser that morning, knowing that she would have been glancing at her wrist every five seconds if she had worn the watch.

Yano popped his head inside the office then. "Is the Busan ahjumma here?" he whispered.

Soojung grinned, suitably cheered. "She just left."

"I come bearing gifts."

Yano brandished a Grande cup of Starbucks coffee, and an accompanying box that surely had a slice of chocolate mud cake in it.

"Ooh, yummy," Soojung said, reaching for the cake, when an official staff came in.

"Ms. Jung, we're ready for you now. If you'll come with us."

Soojung sighed. "Keep the cake, I'll have it later," she told Yano, taking just the cup of coffee from him.

"Well, let's go then. Let's get this over with," she breathed, plastering a small smile on her face as she followed the Borders official, Yano dutifully following behind her.

There were some cheers when she walked onto the little podium, and Soojung cracked a tight smile. As usual, there was a table set up, with chairs, and next to the podium was a large easel with a picture of her book and her face, proudly declaring that it was a book signing.

Soojung barely glanced at the easel, instead looking out into the line that had formed. She took her seat and took a large gulp of coffee, and then turned to Yano.

"Your job today is to keep me in a cheery mood. That's all I ask of you," she ordered, quirking slightly.

"Yes, ma'am. Cheery mood, coming right up," Yano grinned She smiled, and then, it started. The first fan dashed up to her excitedly, making Soojung feel very glad there was a table between them.

"Ms. Krystal Jung! You have no idea how much I adored your first book! And I can't wait to read this one!"

"Thank you," Soojung said, smiling as she took the book, opening it and quickly signing her name with a flourish before returning the book back to the middle-aged lady.

"Hope you enjoy this one," she said.

Time flew by, and faces began to bleed into each other. Very quickly, Soojung settled into a routine, sign the book, look up to smile and return the book, sign the next book, look up to smile and return the book. She would have been bored to tears if it hadn't been for Yano, who kept commenting on this-and-that through the side of his mouth, causing her to laugh now and again with his funny quips on the people who came up to her.

"Ms. Jung, she looked like she wanted to crawl inside you and become you," Yano said, shuddering, after Soojung had smiled at a particular rabid fan.

"Gross, Yano," Soojung said quietly as she signed the next book, before looking up to smile at the young lady.

"There you go."

Two hours later, Lizzy rescued her, running her back to her home.

"Same time, same place, tomorrow. Don't even think of running," she ordered, before driving off.

It was slightly easier the next day. Yano was waiting with coffee and cake, and this time, Soojung managed to finish the rich dessert before the bookstore official came to collect her.

It always surprised her how people really got into the books. It pleased her greatly, actually, to know that there were people, lots of people, who actually loved her books, even though she was simply a romance author. When she voiced this softly to Yano, his eyes widened.

"Don't you know that the romance genre is actually the most successful genre? Seriously, your work is every bit as successful, and good too to be called the next Jayne Rylon."

"Thanks Yano."

"I read your latest one last night." Yano coughed. Soojung glanced at Yano out of the corner of her eye, noticing that he appeared rather uncomfortable.

"Well?" she prodded, wanting to know what he thought of it.

"It's very, uh, passionate," he muttered.

Her lips quirked as she bit back a smile, and then another rabid fan appeared.

"Oh my god, your book is like, so, like, awesome! I read it last night, and like, wow!"

Soojung signed the book before looking up at the girl. She looked to be in high-school, and Soojung smiled.

"Thank you, I'm glad you liked it." She watched the girl dash off to join her giggling group of friends, and they promptly started squealing. Laughing, Soojung turned back to the desk, there was another book sitting there. Opening it, she began to scrawl her signature on it.

"I've been waiting in line to see you for the past half hour."

The voice was a low, deep timbre and Soojung automatically smiled, looking up, only to squeak in horror and draw back immediately, feeling flushed.

Kim  Myungsoo!

"My cousin is a big fan of you, by the way," Myungsoo commented. His mouth was quirked in amusement, and he looked incredibly gorgeous in his black suit, eventhough his tie was a little loose, it looks like he just got home from work. His hair was neater than she remembered though, and memories of the both of them together fluttered to the surface.

"Oh. Oh," she stuttered. She nervously played with her pen, waiting for him to leave, or do something, like kiss her. Oh yeah. Kiss her.

"So there I was, walking past my favorite bookstore, when I saw the display windows publicizing this huge author's latest book. Imagine my surprise when I looked at the photos and saw the same beautiful woman who had run out on me, on a fine morning such as this, one month ago."

Myungsoo gasped next to her, and Soojung would have as well, but she could only think about how he had called her beautiful. He thought she was beautiful? She smiled softly, tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear bashfully.

"I, uh, I -"

"Hey mister, you're taking too much time!"

Soojung bit her lip, looking over Myungsoo to see a large, blonde woman waving her book at her. Myungsoo turned around as well, but Yano stood up, striding over to her.

"I'm sorry guys, but Ms. Krystal Jung is taking a ten-minute break," he called out at the top of his voice. He quickly turned around, ignoring the murmurs in the crowd, and strode back to Soojung, grasping her arm and hauling her up from her chair.

"Yano, what are you doing?" Soojung cried.

"You, follow me," he ordered Myungsoo, as he tugged Soojung towards the back office. He shoved her gently inside.

"I'll be back in ten minutes, okay?" he said sweetly, grinning at her as she swore at him, but before she could inflict any physical damage, Myungsoo entered the office.

"Thanks," he told Myungsoo, and Myungsoo simply grinned before shutting the door behind him.

Blast it! Now it was just her and Kim Myungsoo, and although she knew she should be feeling nervous and upset at this unexpected turn of events, all she felt was heat pooling in her belly. She was almost breathless, in fact, as she looked up at Myungsoo. She had backed away to perch herself on the edge of the desk, but he had come to stand just before her, and she could feel the heat radiating off him.

"I read the book," he said, showing her the book. "Well, not all of it. I read some of it while standing in line," he amended, smiling.

"Oh," she breathed, smoothing her skirt over her thighs.

"There was this scene in there, you know, the first time Sena meets Shiwoo, that sounded oddly familiar, though," he commented lightly to her novel, his brown eyes twinkling playfully.

"Oh." Could she not say anything else?! Seriously, woman!

Soojung straightened, gathering her wits. "Well, I suppose I was rather, well, inspired," she said.

Myungsoo grinned. "How did you manage to write a bestselling romance, well, two now, I suppose, whilst being a , Krystal Jung?" he asked then, and Soojung in a breath.

"I prefer Soojung and 'that' is a secret. Okay?"

"That. Is a secret," she repeated, poking him in his chest. "I will not have you going out there and humiliating me – mmph!"

Myungsoo had just kissed her lightly on her lips. He drew back, his smile firmly in place, and she stared at him in surprise. He inched closer, placing his arms on either side of her on the desk, effectively trapping her. Her eyes grew wide, her lips parted, and she felt her entire body heat up. Suddenly the sheer cream blouse she'd worn seemed too tight.

Myungsoo turned his hazel gaze onto her parted lips, and she shut immediately, causing him to shift his gaze back to her eyes.

"Can I take you out for lunch after you're done with the book-signing Soojung-ssi?" he asked, his voice husky.

"Wh – what?" Soojung stuttered, surprise flooding her features. Myungsoo's mouth turned up in amusement, but a moment later, he frowned.

"Why did you leave?" he asked, almost petulantly.

"I thought you wouldn't care," Soojung murmured, "and later, that you'd have forgotten about me," she added, biting her lip, feeling discomfited.

"Well then, you ought to know that I tried looking for you at the Irish bar several times, and tried Googling you by typing Soojung and Literature Arts into the search field, only I didn't know your full name or pen name and there are several hundred Soojung related."

Soojung laughed despite herself. "It's Jung Soojung," she told him. "And Krystal Jung is my pen name"

"I know now. There are ten posters out there with your pen name and face on them."

They were inches apart from each other now. Soojung was pressed up against him, and his arms were tight around her waist.

"You haven't answered my first question."

"Myungsoo."

"Yes, Soojung?"

"My answer will be yes to any question you ask."

With that, she closed the gap between them, pressing her lips to his in a sweet kiss that quickly turned passionate. When they broke apart, breathing heavily, Myungsoo raised an eyebrow at her.

"If that's the case, I'm just going to try my luck here. After I take you out for lunch later, can I take you out for dinner tonight, and again the next night, the night after that, again again and again?"

Soojung gaped at him. "Are you serious?"

"I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't."

"Then, well, you know my answer."

They clashed again in a flurry of lips and tongue, breaking apart only when Yano burst in on them.

"Oops, sorry," he said, smiling widely, not looking sorry at all.

"I'd better go," Soojung said, pulling herself away from Myungsoo with difficulty.

She paused at the doorway, turning back to him.

"Will you... Will you wait?"

"Of course I will."

Her smile was huge, her black eyes sparkling, and she rushed back to Myungsoo to kiss him soundly on the lips. He laughed, bringing his arms up around her.

"Krystal Jung-ssi!" Yano called, impatient.

"Oh, yes, okay, yes, coming," she stuttered, smiling at Myungsoo before turning around and dashing out. Only greeted by a flashlight and suddenly her surrounding was changing.

Jung Soojung opened her eyes. She clutched her head finally realizing what happened. It was just a dream.

“Ughh, what a wonderful dream”