[Step #9: stand him up dinner]

 “Nana-ssi!” the fair editor, a tan, very gay man with bright purple hair was whining with distress. “Come look at this.”

“I didn’t take these pictures,” I told him immediately, coming up behind him to look at his computer screen.

“Well, if you had taken them, I wouldn’t be having these problems. The contrast is way too much here, and my letters don’t show up right. Anything you can do?”

I sighed. Of corse there was something I could do. “Send them over to me,” I replied dejectedly, heading back towards my own computer. “Oh, and some coffee would be nice too!”

By the time I actually got home, it was almost 10 o’clock. I had re-edited several pictures, most of them not photographed by me, and I was rubbing my eyes with exhaustion. I was also starving, having had only coffee and crackers since lunch before noon.

Putting the key into the lock, I realized that the door was open, and I pushed in, slowly. Why wasn’t the door locked? Did we have a burgler?

The sight that greeted me in the kitchen almost took my breath away. My hand came up over my mouth, silencing my surprise. The dining room table was laid out neatly with fancy china. The lights were dimmed, and candles had been lit in various places around the room. There were two wine glasses on the table, and a bottle of expensive red wine. That bottle was currently half empty, in the hands of a very angry Park Jungsu.

“Do you know what time it is?” he asked, putting the bottle down rather loudly onto the table.

“It’s….10?” I replied, hanging up my coat. Leeteuk definitely seemed a little drunk.

“Why are you home so late?”

“Relax, I had work to-”

“You could have called!” Leeteuk’s thundering voice made my jump and I turned to look at him closer. I had never heard him this angry before, but he was kind of right. “You should have called, Cho Haena. We had a date tonight.”

“Look,” I said, taken back. “I’m sorry, I just-”

“I don’t care what ‘you just’,” he interrupted, standing up and turning away. “You are my fiancé; it’s about time you start acting like it. All I want for Christmas this year is for you to look at me and see me. Me, right here.”

“Jungsu, where-”

“I’m sleeping in the bedroom today,” he snapped over him shoulder. “I think it’s your turn on the couch tonight.”

I stared after him in shock as the bedroom door slammed shut. What had happened to the always happy, always cheery angel leader? The new, half drunk Park Jungsu was a little scary.

Reaching the table, I poured myself a small glass of wine, and sat down at the table. Had Leeteuk prepared all of this for me? He did have a right to be mad. I should have been more thoughtful of others, and called to tell him that work was holding me back. I was a selfish brat lately, only thinking about myself and what I want. In the refrigerator, I found the chicken dish that he must have made for me, and I heated it up. It was absolutely delicious.

I got up early the next morning, and called Jiyong, asking to meet him for coffee. He agreed, a little hesitantly, and we had a breakfast of bagels and coffee together.

“You were right,” I told him, wiping my mouth with a napkin.

“About?” He turned to look at me through his thick lashes.

“You were right about me. I was using you to hide from something, from someone,” I paused, sighing. “I’m sorry, Jiyong-ah. It’s probably best if we don’t keep going out on dates anymore.”

“Gwenchana, Nana-ya.” Jiyong reached over, giving me a pat on the shoulder. “I knew this was coming, so I just enjoyed your company instead of getting my hopes up. Oppa will get you tickets for the Big Bang comeback, okay?” He grinned, showing me his pearly white teeth. “Just keep supporting me, and I will be content.”

Terrace Crossing Apartments

9:38 AM

Location: Seoul, South Korea

When I got back to the apartment, sounds of breakfast in the making could be heard from the kitchen, and coffee smells wafted out to the entrance. I rounded the corner to find Leeteuk at the stove, making scrambled eggs.

“Annyong,” I greeted, awkwardly.

He turned to me, grinning nervously. “Where’ve you been?” He asked. I could tell he was remembering the events of the night before, of him yelling at me to take our engagement seriously.

“I…I went to talk to Jiyong,” I started. He scoffed, turning away immediately. “No, Jungsu, listen to me!” I quickly went on. “I went to tell him that I won’t be going on dates with him anymore.”

“Really?” Leeteuk turned back to me with the biggest smile on his angelic face, and I knew that I had made the right decision.

“Really,” I replied. “Because from now on, I’m only going to go on dates with my fiancé.”

[Step #10: give up because that fiancé is perfect in every way possible]

[A/N]: This story is NOT FINISHED yet :) I went on a Leeteuk binge last night, and stayed up till 1am writing this and the next chapter. Yes, now it's the end of December, so about 2 months have passed since Teuk/Nana's New York City meeting. Anyways, I've been listening to a lot of G.NA and omgggg her voice <3 her aura...I just really like her over all. Her song with Junhyung is completely stuck in my head 24/7.