A/N: Some of the lines in this chapter are directly taken from Hyori’s Bed and Breakfast so I would like to thank OnDemandKorea for the subtitles. Also, I hope you guys enjoy reading this chapter – I certainly did enjoy writing it up after having serious delusional thoughts over them haha.

***

Jejudo. Jieun will be staying there for two weeks. She chooses to go there to escape. Sure, it’s funny that she chose to escape from her career by participating in a variety show (which is somehow in line with her career) but she thought it would be nice to have a change in scenery, to have a change in pace and speed from busy Seoul to relaxed Jeju.

But that’s not the only reason why she chooses to take up that gig. She really does want to get to know Jeju more. Sure, this would not be her first time to go to that island – her grandmother does live there. But she has never really done any exploring at this place. And Jiyong loves that place.

“Jieun ah, I don’t know… there’s something about Jeju that I love.” He opened up to her at that moment. This was around the time when the gig was first being offered to her – she has not yet accepted it that time but she was heavily thinking about it. As much as she loves Palette the album, she did go through a lot of stress preparing for it and promoting for it. She just wanted a break from that – a break from that scene. And Jiyong supported it. “It’s just relaxing: the scenery is beautiful, the food is good… you just learn to appreciate the simple things in life, really,” he added.

“I know. That’s what I remembered whenever I visited halmoni (grandma) over there,” she smiled, thinking about the elderly person who played such a huge role in her life. Halmoni was such a huge inspiration to her life – she even wrote a touching song with her in mind. She rested her head on his shoulder, feeling relaxed with that thought.

“You…”

“Hmmm?” she looked back at him.

“If you do end up loving Jeju and next time, if we do end up… you know, do you want to live there?” It was a big question on his part. Even though nothing was super official between them yet, he could already see a future with her. Because he knows, without a doubt, that he is seriously falling for her and that no question she could be ‘the one’.

Her heart raced for miles upon hearing those words that without any second thought, she said, “I’d love to,” her smile bigger that moment than earlier. She moved closer to him, putting her lips slowly on to his, kissing him tenderly. She let her hands roamed around his head, exploring his hairs. He pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her waist, tightening the embrace as he reciprocated that kiss.

Minutes after it ended, the love was still there. Their hearts were still beating faster as they thought back what had just happened. It really was a simple moment. No diamonds. No glitters. But they were still happy because at least at that moment, they had each other by their sides.

“Oh and Jieun ah,” he stated randomly. “Don’t forget to visit my café, you’d love it there,” he winked, knowing fully well how much she loves sweet food.

*

Jeju sure is different from Seoul. Jiyong is right. You just learned to appreciate the simple things in life when you’re there. It might be too slow for some people and it might not be the most exciting place ever, it is just perfect for her. It is just the perfect break for her.

It helps that she manages to click well with Hyori unnie and Sangsoon oppa, especially the former one. There’s something about that unnie that makes her feel like she could open up to her even though like Inna unnie, there is quite an age difference between them. Was it the familiarity in experiences that they have gone through in the entertainment industry? Was it Hyori’s friendly self? She does not know but whatever it is, they just clicked. And at some point right now, she hopes that she could have that sense of content that Hyori possesses in the future with a loving husband by her side. With Jiyong by her side.

Thinking about him still leaves her feeling the butterflies in the stomach. Her heart yearns for him. She misses him. A lot. She wonders if he is alright out there. If he is eating well out there – she knows how much he tends to skip meals whenever work is involved and she hates that about him. It makes her feel worried for him. She looks at the time now. He is probably asleep or still busy with work. Whatever it is, she hopes that he is alright right now.

Suddenly, she hears the host couple discussing about walking their dogs to the beach. Would she be joining? She heads to where they are, ready for her next duty as a worker in the bed and breakfast.

“Jieun and I will go,” says Hyori to Sangsoon. Looks like that would be her next task. She gets herself ready, putting a large straw hat on as she waits for unnie to finish getting ready.

*

“You see that concrete building at the end of that island?” Hyori points out to her while they wait to see the sun sets. “I think that’s GD’s café.”

She tries to control her expressions. Even if she is out here in Jeju, she still could not escape from him. That guy sure is ‘daebak’. “There’s a lot of people there, for sure,” she answers, feeling a sense of proud for the guy while trying to maintain her composure.

“So now that you’re married, you don’t miss like the beginning stages of dating?” she asks the unnie after they had a conversation about the beautiful sunset view and all. She is genuinely curious about their relationship and how they manage to maintain that strong bond between them.

“I do. I feel a little sad that I won’t get to have it anymore,” the unnie confesses. “What worried me the most when I got married was nothing else, just worried that I might cheat on him. My feelings change all the time, I like the beginning stages of dating. But for the past 6 years, such a thought never crossed my mind. So you need to meet someone who is above and beyond that yearning. Someone you like enough to get rid of wanting to date. Such a person exists,” she shares her wisdom to the younger one.

“But such a person might not exist for everyone.”

“That’s true. But he’ll come if you wait. And if you look around too hard to find a good guy, they never come. The good person came to me when I just worked on myself to be a better person. So travel a lot, read a lot, get a lot of experience so you can understand what’s good. That’s how you can recognize a good person when he comes.”

And that’s when Jieun truly realizes that Jiyong could be that guy for her. The breakup hurt her a lot – not saying that Kiha was a bad guy, it was nothing like that but it left her heart feeling scarred. Because of that, she was not ready to fall in love with another person after him. She was not ready to let her guards down for another person after him. What she was ready for, however, was to slowly learn to love herself. That was what Kiha hinted to her on that night (“You deserve to be happy, Jieun ah. If only you knew how much beautiful of a person  you really are.”)

So after him, she tried to learn more about herself, rediscovered who she is. What she likes, what she dislikes – basically being honest about who she is to herself and just accepts her flaws. That’s how Palette was born, both the album and the song. She was honest about herself through that album and who knew that Jiyong would appear into her life from that.

He was always someone who managed to be that significant cameo or minor character in her life but she never made much thought about it until now. He is the leader to her favorite K-Pop group, the best friend to her celebrity crush back then, one of the only persons who stood by her in that music festival – she never thought that he made that much of an impact in her life directly until now. And now, he is the guy whom she could picture having a future with if things would really work out well between them in the future.

He could be the one.