Something wet hit her face, waking her up from her otherwise dreamless sleep.

“Mmmmm…”

Her sleepy speech was answered with enthusiastic barks. Janguny was on the bed, her face as her way of waking her up.

“I want to sleep some more…” She whined at the brown dog which was looking at her attentively. “Are you hungry?”

Janguny didn’t bark. Instead, the dog nuzzled closer to her, whining.

Ah, even this baby knows something is up.

She stared at the ceiling for a moment, as the events of last night flooded her memory. Jihoon’s face – with those somber eyes and the hurt that filled his features engraved in her memory.  It pained her to know that she hurt him, but she was also proud of herself for owning up to her feelings. Things could’ve gone worse if she kept it all to herself and said yes immediately just to make Jihoon happy. What she told him last night might not cover everything – hell, she’s not even sure what the “entire thing” is, but she’s taking one step at a time.

Boosting herself up on her elbows, she sat up, momentarily orienting her gaze on the light that filtered through the bedroom curtains.

One day at a time, Jieun.

Only then did she notice the silence. She’s pretty sure Jihoon was out, or else the sound of the television could be heard, as he cooks or lounges in the living room, sipping his morning coffee. The thought that Jihoon could be avoiding him sent a heavy feeling on her stomach, but it was understandable.

She grabbed her phone from the dresser as she made her way out of the bedroom, noticing one text message – it was from the man himself.

She took a deep breath, feeling her heart pounding a little louder than usual, before checking what it said.

Jagi, I had to leave for work, sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye.

I’m going to give you the time and space you need because I don’t want you to feel burdened about what I said last night. That’s the last thing I want you to feel. Everything you said was valid, so don’t worry about it, okay?

I love you.

 Always.

Re-reading the same message twice, she had to sit down, as she thought about her response. His “I love you. Always.” both comforted and weighed her down – him being extremely understanding despite the disappointment from last night showed her just how much he deserved better than her. And it made her miss him. So much. Enough to make her rethink about asking for space. But she has to be smart about this – Jihoon is going to get hurt even more if she’d ask for him to be around while she sorts herself out. The last thing she wants is to hurt the man she loves.

Thank you, oppa. I appreciate everything - how you make me feel loved everyday and I’m sorry if I disappointed you. But we do need this space, because I don’t want to hurt you even more than I already did.

Please don’t overwork yourself, and sleep well, okay?

I love you and I miss you already.

Jihoon read her message, but he didn’t respond, and she was glad. If he’d say anything more, she’d probably burst into tears.

Before she could forget, she grabbed the shirt he wore last night and slipped it in her bag. She wanted to atleast have something of his, something to remind her of him whenever she would miss him.

***

Three weeks later..

She can feel Hanteo’s gaze on her, but she didn’t say anything. She’s aware that she’s a tad too quiet when he picked her up from her house. She had no energy to pretend that she’s okay. All she wanted to do was to get through this long overdue meeting with Zip Cinema.

“Ms. Lee, it’s so nice to see you again.”

Mr. Koreeda greeted formally with a bow. The formal speech didn’t bother her much seeing the friendly look on the director’s face.

“Same here, director. I’m excited to talk about the film.”

Mr. Eugene Lee, the producer who met them last time was also there, together with the other personnel from Zip Cinema.  Everyone took their places in the huge conference table, and the meeting soon started, facilitated by Eugene. Jieun was told about the other actors who will be part of the film, all of whom she’ll meeting during the next meetings and the table reading. Eugene also mentioned the film will have different film locations – some of which will be in Europe. As initially informed to all the actors, they will start filming in two months, and will end in 2-3 months if everything goes smoothly.

Jieun nodded, as Eugene laid out all the logistics, completely engrossed by the many things she needs to prepare for the overseas filming schedule.

“On my end, we’ve already blocked alteast six months on my schedule just to be sure, since the timeline is tentative. I think everything’s good. I look forward to doing this project with you, guys!” Jieun remarked, welcoming the slew of things to do and take care of. Any distraction is welcome to her at the moment, especially when the distraction is as enjoyable as this film role.

The men and women from the production company looked pleased, nodding their heads at what she said. A few moments later, when all the legal papers were finalized and signed, Jieun and Hanteo said their goodbyes to the team and left.

“That was fast.” Her manager said, when they were on the way to the car.

“Which one?”

“You, wanting to do t