Edit: Not a new chapter, this the second half of 'After Busan'

—December 2018 —

Ji-hyun loved her time in Europe. Even more so than Korea because she never once needed to be aware of fans who would want her signature or to take a picture. It would be different if she travelled with orabeoni. She guessed that he had devoted fans in Europe as well who would take pictures and post them online before either of them knew what had happened. Nevertheless, she made little notes about places they could travel. Solvenia and Italy would be fun to revisit. But since he liked warm weather, she picked up a travel guide for Spain and started marking up places to eat and visit. The next time she went to the salon, she handed the parcel to Eonnie.

‘Send this next time? Eonnie? Please!!!’

‘Oh! you haven’t sent him a book in a while. What is this one? Should I read it?’

‘No. Just my travel guide for Italy,’ Ji-hyun lied. ‘He wanted to look at it.’

‘Aish. That boy hates cold weather but you still managed to get him interested in visiting in December.’

‘They have summer in Europe too you know.’

‘That boy wants tropical. I’ve never known him to choose to travel anywhere that wasn’t hot for his vacation. All he wants to do is sit by a pool and eat and drink and ride his motorbike.’

‘Nothing wrong with that.’

‘You two are so different. I can’t stop but think that sometimes you are too different. Then I see you together and it looks natural. Anyway. What do you want to do with your hair this time?’

‘I want to cut it off. But not right now. I have some CFs to shoot and they want me to have long hair.’

‘Cut it off!!! Why!’

‘Urgh. It has been three years! Do you know how horrible it is when you have hair this thick? And after last summer? No. I want to get rid of it. I want the cool breeze on my neck. I want to go to Busan, eat seafood next to the beach, and feel the breeze on the back of my neck.’

‘Fine. If that is what you want.’

‘Thank you eonnie.’ 

— February 2019 —

Chang-wook sat back against the chair in the break room. They had just announced a series of Encore performances for the musical. He looked at the message he was about to send her.

Jiji. They are doing more performances for the musical. Would you come? The Noonas said they will come. Maybe you can come together?

Just hit send, he told himself.

It is a secret, she responded almost immediately, as if she had been waiting for him to message her, you aren’t meant to know… but we are coming. Please try and act surprised. I didn’t want you to be disappointed like last time so I am telling you. But the Eonnies made me promise that it was a secret. 

His heart stopped. She was coming. She didn’t want him to be disappointed so she was spoiling the surprise. It wasn’t spoiled of course. He didn’t know which night it would be. He begged Chi-gu to tell him but his manager kept his mouth shut. Not a single slip up except to say that it would be in March. 

‘Hey, Ji Chang-wook! Mail.’ Chang-wook looked up and reached out to catch the parcel thrown at him. Inside was one of Jiji’s books. A travel guide of Spain. The note: Orabeoni, what do you think of these places? There seems to be a lot of tasty seafood in Spain. Maybe we can have some seafood soon.

She had just asked him on a date… It was a date in Spain and half-way around the world but what did that matter when he had already planned their trip there. October would be perfect. The weather wouldn’t be hot but also it wouldn’t be cold. An ideal balance for them.

He woke up the next morning to the Korean Entertainment Industry engulfed in the biggest scandal it had ever faced. The Burning Sun scandal had emerged and all of the celebrities in the army were contacted by their agencies frantically asking whether their stars were related to Burning Sun in any way possible. Chang-wook was horrified that he recognised some of the names that were beginning to appear in the media. None of them were his close friends and he hadn’t met many of them but he knew that his friends would sometimes hang out at hotels with the people involved. Nevertheless he was able to tell his company that no he wasn’t part of it. There was nothing to worry about.

A couple of weeks later, one of the production staff pulled him aside. He had a couple of guests who would like to meet him after the show and did he want them to set aside one of the dressings rooms for a more private meet-up. 

‘Yes. Uh, and maybe just bring them straight there. If it is who I think it is they will want to keep the visit private.’

The staff member shrugged. A couple of the idols had been like that too. They didn't want all the chaos of having their famous friends walking about backstage greeting the cast and crew. They were there to support a friend or family member not greet the world. 

He went back to the dorm whistling his favourite song, 101 Reasons Why I Like You. Then to make everything better, waiting for him on his bed was a new book. This time wrapped in plain brown paper with her familiar handwriting, Ji Chang-wook, actor-nim.

—March 2019—

On March 12th, Ji-hyun met with her eonnies at a small cafe before the show. Chi-gu had sent a message that they should wait until being told to slip in right before curtain went up. Ji-hyun laughed. It was the first time that she was being treated like a big celebrity whose movements had to be carefully planned and monitored. 

The show was captivating. Every time he sang, she felt her heart pound. I must get him to sing to me more, she decided.

Afterwards, they slipped out before the bows. Ji-hyun wished she could stay and clap for him but they had been told that to make the process work smoothly anyone visiting backstage would leave before the bows. Not being able to clap was mitigated when she had the chance to take a picture with her eonnies in front of the cast poster which they hadn’t had time to do before the show. 

Eventually, they got ushered backstage to a small changing room full of costumes and makeup tables. She walked over to inspect the costumes but they seem to be from a different production. The makeup tables are also empty as if they haven’t been used in a while. 

‘It is weird, isn’t it, being in a theatre changing room,’ She said to no one in particular. 

Suddenly the door opened and there he was with a big smile on his face, still in his costume and makeup. 

‘You made it!’ He said as if he was worried they wouldn’t come. ‘I’ll just be a few minutes. I need to take my make up...’

‘Don’t be silly! Stay. I like the makeup’ Stylist eonnie said. They posed for a few pictures of him in makeup before he insisted on leaving to change.

It happened so quickly that she could barely take a moment to believe they were actually in the same room again. 

—

Chang-wook’s heart was threatening to jump out of his chest. She looked adorable with her new hair cut. It framed her face perfectly. He admittedly missed her long hair but she would grow it out again. He stripped down and thought about what to wear. She still had her coat on. Maybe just a t-shirt and jeans, something super casual. But that wouldn’t make the right impression. So he grabbed a black jumper and pulled that on along with a pair of dark jeans. He grabbed his bag and headed backstage. There he ran into a few of the other fans who had been given backstage access that night. He took some photographs but always his mind was on Ji-hyun and how quickly he could once again be in the same room as her.

But when he stood outside the changing room, he began to feel a little uncertain of how to proceed. This moment had been building in his imagination was now emerging into reality. Would she find it as easy as before? Would they still click? Sure they’d been writing letters and those books! But what if… No. He stopped himself. Busan. Nothing would take Busan away from him. Her steadfastness that her feelings wouldn’t change.

When he opened the door she is alone. 

‘They went to say hi to the others,’ she explained before he had a chance to ask. 

He smiled because there was his Ji-hyun leaning against the table facing him. Her coat was draped over the back of the chair and underneath was something ier than he could have imagined. He knew she wouldn’t think she looked y but there was no other way to describe her. She wore a very loose button-down shirt that draped over every curve. It was ed much lower than it needed to be which kept distracting him and she had tucked it into a simple black skirt with thick black tights underneath and pristine white trainers. 

‘You were great,’ she said since he didn’t seem capable of rational thought. 

‘You are gorgeous,’ he managed to get out. He hesitated before he crossed over and tentatively took her hands in his. Anything more might send them down a route that he would regret. Because she deserved better than a spare dressing room. The delicate way he approached their first meeting since Busan when he had been so passionate made her giggle. His heart skipped a beat. She was still able to make his heart skip a beat. 

‘Did you like the last book?’ She asked.

‘I haven’t had time to read it. I’ve been sent some scripts.  It isn’t exactly the best date but would you...’

‘I’d love to’ she replied. They settled on the small sofa along one wall and he watched as she read through the first episodes of the three scripts he had chosen. He followed each expression, each smile, and finally her familiar, full-throated laugh. 

‘These are both good. This one is a little cliche. Which do you want?’ she asked.

‘You’ he whispered and snuck a quick kiss from her warm lips. She pulled back preventing him from stealing another kiss. It reminded him of their first kiss in the drama as she searched his eyes hunting for something, though he didn’t know what. 

‘I believe you’ she smiled and pulled him in for a deep kiss. They stayed like that for a minute that stretched into two, then five. But a short knock on the door dragged them out of their moment. 

They broke off the kiss but didn’t move from the sofa. Stylist-noona walked in and smiled saying she needed to go home but that Ji-hyun didn’t. 

‘Just call your manager and he will pick you up,’ she advised.

‘Thanks.’

‘Noona is going to go now…’ the older woman twinkled at them before leaving them once again alone. Ji-hyun straightened her top but as she was about to put her hair in order she remembered something and jumped up rushing to the bank of mirrors. 

‘What are you doing?’ Chang-wook asked. He walked up behind her and bent down to see what she was looking at.

‘Nothing,’ but Ji-hyun’s smile said something else. He was about to ask what it was when she turned into his arms and said.‘I think the space one would be a great challenge. But it will mean more physical work. Do you want that?’

He was taken by surprise. The last thing he had been thinking about, the thing he wanted to be thinking about was not what his next project was. But he saw her pointing towards the door which had been left ajar by his well-meaning noona.

‘You’re right. But doing a roco seems lazy... and I don’t know who the lead actress will be,’ he said. He brought his hands up to play with her hair. She needs to grow it out again, he pouted to himself. Of course, it was adorable but he wanted to sink his fingers into her hair again. He leant forward to kiss her but Ji-hyun reached up and put a hand over his mouth. She gave him a cheeky smile but refused to budge.

‘Oppa! Don’t worry about that! Worry about what you want for the first project! Look you will have a 19year old son. Imagine being your age and finding out your son is barely ten years younger than you! That doesn’t sound lazy to me.‘

—

The next day in the dorm the actors from the musical were using Chang-wook was busy reading one of Ji-hyun’s books. The last was still carefully wrapped up. Waiting for the last few weeks of service.

‘Hey, Hyung!’ Kang Ha-Nuel was standing in the door. ‘Why didn’t you tell me that Ji-hyun was here?’

‘Uh. She came to see me they said… Also, you weren’t performing that night…’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘There are rules about visiting.’ 

‘Backstage? No, there aren’t.’

’How did you know she was here?’

‘I was in the theatre and I saw her leaving. We greeted each other but she said she had to go. You two… be more careful, hyung.’ 

Chang-wook felt his face flush. Since starring in the musical together Ha-neul had kept teasing him about being the only person to have kissed both him and Ji-hyun. 

‘Honestly, I complained a lot to Ji-hyun-ah about it. Since when did she start kissing more big-name stars than me? I thought I would always have that over her. I mean Park Hyung-Sik and Seo-In-guk-sshi was pretty bad, I thought. But then you kissed her.’

‘Do you want to continue being a pretty boy? Or should I let my fist and your face become friends?’

‘Hyung! Relax. Trust me, and I say this from experience, nothing tops kissing you… hahahahahahahah’ Ha-neul bent over double with laughter at the look on Chang-wook’s face.

--

Not even two weeks later, Chang-wook woke up to the worst news any celebrity could have at this moment in the Korean entertainment industry. An old photograph of him with one of the main Burning Sun investors had surfaced. Suddenly people are pulling up pictures of him with the guys he used to ride his motorbike with and speculating about his involvement—what had he been doing hanging out with people like that, his fans asked. His company called desperate to hear his side of the story and the next day the news agency was forced to apologise. During the rush to clarify the situation, it didn't cross his mind to find out what she thought or even reassure her. The accusations were so false that they were preposterous, ridiculous even. So he wasn’t prepared for her phone call.

‘It isn’t true is it?’ she asked. Her voice sounded stiff and a little tearful.

‘What isn’t true?’ He tried to think about what she could be talking about. Had his ex said something? About the time he had drunkenly kissed another girl as a dare. He was 22 at the time and stupid. ‘What isn’t true, Jiji? Tell me…’

‘The scandal. You… you weren’t participating…’

‘Nam Ji-hyun, Jagiya. I would never do those things. It makes me sick to my stomach to even think about it. It makes me mad. I would break every bone in the body if someone did that to you.’

‘But you go out to clubs.’

‘Yes.’

‘And you…’ she couldn’t say it.

‘Yes, when I was much younger. Ten years ago. I probably said things, even did things that I am not proud of.’

‘Thank you oppa. I have to go.’

‘Wait! I need you to know…’

‘I know. Oppa, stay healthy.’ 

The line went dead. There had been doubt in her voice. Not a lot but enough, even a hint was enough. And like that he realised that something had gone terribly, terribly wrong. It might even mean that he had lost her forever.