It seemed like plate upon plate upon plate of food being set onto the table was never going to stop coming. An older woman with short stature and a ready smile on her face adorned with a plaid, navy blue apron was humming as she walked back to the kitchen once again to retrieve another serving of food to put on to the dining table.

"Eyyyy, Eomma! This is too much! You're overworking yourself," Ji Chang Wook playfully protested as he hovered between the kitchen and the dining table, watching it slowly get filled up with numerous dishes and sides until the surface could almost not be seen. He was pleased to see his mother in her element but was also partially, genuinely concerned at the time-consuming and hard work his mother must have put in to make the feast being laid in front of him.

"My son that I miss so much has come back from the army! All the mothers of Korea would be do the same thing. This is normal," Chang Wook's mom called out to him from the kitchen. After scooping a ladle full of soup onto a big bowl, she cautiously exited the kitchen. Chang Wook hurried to his mother to help her set the bowl on the table.

"A mother's joy among many things, is to feed her child food that she's cooked. And I haven't been able to cook your meals in a long time! Consider this a favor for your mom that's been lonely cooking meals just for herself, ne?" Chang Wook smiled affectionately at his caring mother and gave her a hug.

"My mom, you worked hard. Thank you very, very much."

Hugging her son just a bit tighter, she felt herself tearing up at the thought of all the things that her son had to endure. Beyond the army, there were months that he would barely be in contact knowing full well he was giving his all to another project often to the neglect of his own health by not having proper meals and eating ramyun after ramyun instead. For what its worth, she wanted to show her son her love and support in as simple as preparing food for him to make him feel that she was always there for him. Though he may love his job,  she knew it must have been difficult to always keep people at a distance due to the nature of the industry he chose to be in.

Working to stop the tears from falling, she decided to take the conversation into a lighter tone by slyly remarking, "…if only my son can finally give me a daughter in law to help with the household and keep me company around the house…" At that statement, Ji Chang Wook briefly stiffened. "Didn't you have that girl you always went out with? What was her name…lemme think..I think it started with a J? J-J-"

"Ah, eomma! Now, now! I wouldn't want the food that you worked so hard on to get cold," Chang Wook hurriedly worked to change the topic at hand. He put on an exaggerated act of enthusiastically sitting down and putting on a face of awe at the feast in front of him.

She shook her head at her son and settled the topic to be brought up again for another day and sat down at the table.

In front of them was truly a feast that bring about awe. On the table laid home staples sides that ranged from a fluffy rolled egg to all kinds of seasoned vegetables (bean sprouts, spinach, radish, perilla leaves, kimchi) that were sure to renew one's health, cucumber pancake, hearty slices of bossam and a murky, meat filled soup at the center.

"Sundaeguk! Sundaeguk! Hwa~ I missed that the most!" Chang Wook beamed and already had a spoon at the ready to dig in.

.............

Ji Chang Wook sighed contentedly while rubbing his stomach. Settled comfortably on the couch with the remote on one hand and the other on his stomach, the handsome actor looked every bit of a newly released and unemployed army man lazying around in mismatched house clothes  that he was rather than what one would expect from someone who is a fashion icon, a sponsor and face of products ranging from luxury brands to face masks that millions of people go crazy over.

"Ah, I'm so full…," Ji Chang absent mindedly murmured as his concentration was on the soccer game that was airing on TV.

After his early lunch with his mother and the clean up afterwards, she had insisted on him resting whilst she went out for errands though he had suggested accompanying her. Since then, a few hours have already gone by spent watching the replayed soccer tournaments and the usually active man was starting to feel restless.

Getting up from the couch to retrieve his phone in his room, he dialed his manager's phone to see if he was available to go for a motorcycle ride around the city later in the day along with some of their other friends.

The quiet beeps of the flash sounding from the camera could be occasionally heard cutting through the music sounding in the studio.

"Good! Ji hyun-sshi, just tilt your head to the right a little bit…neh, neh. And your hands…..good, good," the photographer took a photo as he crouched in the ground to take a photo of Nam Ji Hyun in a better angle. Taking a pause to review the photos taken on the computer screen, people from Ji Hyun's styling team took the opportunity to retouch her makeup and add further volume to her tousled hair with a hairspray and a comb in hand.

Nam Ji Hyun stood from her position on the floor for her stylist to better fix herself, the trail of her off white, chiffon dress fluttering behind her. Rearranging the relaxed waves of hair strategically on top of the flower crocheted V-neck lining of her dress, the actress exuded the perfect example of simple elegance and innocence as her outfit highlighted her youthfulness and delicate features. And yet when it was time to resume the photoshoot, the versatility of Nam Ji Hyun's gaze brought out by the photographer's directing showcased an allure that wouldn't be expected from a fledgling of a former child actress. Delivering looks ranging from one of coquettish curiosity to pained longing to hesitant desire with ease, young though she may be, it could not be refuted that she was still a seasoned professional with over 10 years of experience in the industry with the control she had over her expressions.

The photographer murmured in approval as he prompted Ji Hyun to make slight changes on her poses. "Just one more...And...we're done! Good work everyone! Good work, Jihyun-sshi!"

Jihyun bowed her head humbly to everyone around her saying, "Thank you everyone! You've worked hard. Thank you," before she approached the photographer to personally thank him.

"Thank you for your care and guidance, photographer-nim."

"Thank you too, Jihyu-sshi. The photoshoot today will be for sure be a success with the quality of shots you've allowed me to take. You are truly amazing. It's going to come out great."

"Ey, photographer-nim. Anieyo. I just tried my best. Thank you for acknowledging my effort," Jihyun bashfully and humbly responded to the photographer's compliments.

"It has been an honor to work with you, I hope I can take more of your pictures in the future and oh! Good luck on your movie," the photographer shook her hands and left to further review the shots that he took.

Meanwhile, Jihyun went to go change out of the sponsored dress for the photoshoot and go back home as her schedule was done for the day.

Rambunctious laughter filled the café as Ji Chang Wook and his friends entered the place with their helmets in hand. The barista standing at the wooden counter illuminated by the metal light fixture and the letters spelling out PEACE overhang against the wall, greeted the crowd with familiarity and set out to do their usual drink orders.

They collectively passed by to head to the stairs where there was a private seating area in the upper level for the owner and his friends to hang out as they wish. The retro coffee shop by day and bar by night, Carnaby St., was the regular hangout for the handsome actor, especially on days when he went out to for a ride on his motorcycle or vespa. The vibe of the shop was stylish, bright and yet approachable with its eclectically designed British memorabilia that makes one feel like they're at the heart of London.

Everyone was settled on to the wooden table placed amidst the string lights and hanging vines upstairs as the owner of Carnaby St. brought them their drinks. With the owner joining in, they updated each other on the going-ons of their life that had been busy lately and prevented them from getting together sooner. Their conversations were boisterous and filled with teasing and jokes especially to the expense of Ji Chang Wook as his release from the army was one of the main topics to talk about. A lot of his friends had already enlisted long before he did and knew from experience the difficulty of adjusting back into society once again and wanted to ease their friend back to the way of things. It made Ji Chang Wook really appreciate his friends as he saw their efforts and love the bond they all had despite being in different working industries.

Bringing himself out of his thoughts, he tuned into the conversation to hear about Gil Bok who worked as a camera director talking about the new movie he had been busy with to Chi Gu.

"Are you guys going? I'm sure the higher-ups expect you guys to come to the VIP Premiere since Chang Wook-ah is back and he's worked with the actors of the film before."

Chang Wook looked at Chi-Gu in inquiry.

 "It's still a couple of months away so that's probably why the company hasn't confirmed with us about the scheduling quite yet," his manager responded.

"Ah okay," Ji Chang Wook said to Chi-Gu and then turned to his other side. "Hwa~ Gil Bok-hyung, this is rare for you to suddenly bring up work. That's strange."

"Yeah it is not typical of me but you guys have to watch it when it comes out! This old man's heart has been moved," Gil Bok jokingly patted his chest with a mockingly teary eyed expression, his mouth skewed in a comical manner.

The actor and his manager laughingly jeered at Gil Bok's antics.

"Oh, are you guys talking about Jihyun-ah's new movie?" Choi Tae Joon interjected into their conversation. "She was telling me about it when I happen to meet her in a café with Khun (his cat)."

"That's right. Yah~…Nam Ji Hyun-sshi," the camera director shook his head. "It's amazing. She is completely different in this one," thinking of how the young actress's role in her new film was a complete and utter departure from her roles in the past. "The set would get goosebumps in some of her scenes."

"Jihyun-ah?" Ji Chang Wook tilted his head in thought.  "I didn’t think she'd be doing another project yet. We lost contact after my first year in the army but I remember she told me she was taking a break to finish school."

Tae Joon shrugged. "I didn’t get a chance to ask her but we're probably going to see each other again in that cat café since she's a regular there so I could ask for updates."

"Oh! Jo Jae Yoon-Hyung is also part of the production by the way," Gil Bok mentioned.

"It's the same movie that you were working on? I know he mentioned he was busy with a movie that's coming out soon. I didn't know it would be the one you were also in," Tae Joon said.

"Yeah, he's not playing a bad guy this time," Gil Bok laughed. "Did you know his wife is pregnant again?

"Wow, again? Incredible," Chi Gu remarked. "I don't know how he does it..."

"Hyung! Have you seen the game last night?" Kangwoo, who had been busy talking with the Carnaby owner, Jin Su, excitedly brought up the soccer game that aired to Gil Bok and the others.

And just like that, the group got swept up by talk of their favorite sport, they fervently discussed the moves of the players and moved on from discussing work matters.

While Ji Chang Wook joined in on his friends' conversation, he couldn't help wonder at the back of his head how his lovable costar was doing and be especially curious as to what she was working on to have made his hyung react in such a way.