Seoul, 14 March 2009

It's almost 6 p.m. and I'm panicking. I've been busy since early this afternoon. Let's see… I went grocery-shopping, and then when I got home, I found out that I forgot to buy a few ingredients, so I had to go back to the store. On top of everything, I shamefully failed my first try in cooking the dishes. Thankfully, now everything is almost done, even though I haven't taken a shower and I'm running late. Chop, chop, Son Ga-In! I cheer myself.

I wipe the sweats on my forehead and put all the dishes on the dining table. Today, I cooked Vietnamese food. That's right; seafood dumplings, spring rolls, some crispy skin pork salad, and of course my boyfriend's favourite: pho. The whole shebang. It's White Day, and although custom dictates that guys do things for girls on White Day, I insisted on doing something special for Ji-Yong; considering the fact he did something extraordinary last month on Valentine's Day. After everything's set, I run to the bathroom for a quick shower and fix myself up. 

I walk out of the closet, all clean and ready. It's a little past 7 p.m, and the only thing missing is Ji-Yong's presence. I hear my mobile phone vibrating on the dining table. "Hello?" "Noona! I've been calling you 5 times… I'm downstairs, come pick me up, please," Ji-Yong whines into the line, earning a smirk from me, "whatever happened to your 'I have my ways', huh?" In the past, he's always found his own ways to come up to my floor, and not once has he ever told me how. I hear him sigh forlornly, "the security guy is new, he doesn't know me so he won't let me in." That causes me to let out a mocking laugh. "Alright, now you know how I've been able to sneak up to your floor. Noona, come get me~" he resumes whining. Aigoo… how can I resist that tone? I can imagine him pouting! "Arasseo, wait there, ok?" I hang up and run out of my apartment, feeling over-excited.

I greet the security guard in the lobby. As soon as the glass door slides open, Ji-Yong jumps out of his car and runs towards me. "That dude is a pain in the ," he grumbles while hugging me. "He's just doing his job, Ji-Yong ah." He pouts and rolls his eyes. I grab his hand and lead him into the lobby. He swings his arm around my shoulders and throws a smug glare at the security guard, who smirks in response. I laugh in my head; gosh, men and their pride!

"May I say you look beautiful tonight. Did you dress up for me?" Ji-Yong says inside the elevator. I stick out my tongue, "nope. I had another guy in my apartment in earlier. He's really cute, so I wanted to look pretty for him. Also, he--" "I know you're just joking, noona, but I don't like it. Please joke about something else," he pinches my arm lightly. "Who said I was joking? I'll show you the proof later. We even took pictures together, you know. You'll see--YAH!" I yelp when he suddenly slings me over his shoulder right when the elevator door opens. My face bumps his lower back and I repeatedly hit his , "Ji-Yong ah, put me down!!!" "Stop that, noona. If my gets hurt you're going to have to take care of it," he says with a singsong voice. I swear I can see him smirk without even looking at his face. He successfully presses the code to open my apartment door and finally puts me down on the couch. 

"Wow… Where did you buy all of these? They smell sooo good!" he asks as we sit down at the dining table. I scowl at him, "buy? I didn't buy them, pabo! I cooked all of these!" "Aww, I was kidding. But you get my point, right? That's how bad I feel when you joke about other guys," he taps his finger on my nose. I roll my eyes, "whatever! Look! I almost burnt my finger when I was frying these spring rolls for you!" He grabs my hand and lightly on my finger, "there. Feel better?" I hit his arm in annoyance, "you're dirty!" I don't really like skinship, but I feel all tingly inside when he does that; it's kind of gross, but kind of sweet at the same time. 

"Are you that hungry?" I ask Ji-Yong because he's been devouring all the food without pause. He nods frantically while smiling. I chuckle, "well, slow down or else you're going to choke on the food." "This… is… so… delicious," he manages to say with a full mouth. I wonder where he got all this appetite. I mean, he looks skinny, but boy, he eats A LOT. 

He burps after gulping down 2 glassful of water, "Ji-Yong's tummy is happy!" I shake my head and laugh, "you're such a kid." He sticks out his tongue and grins, "what's for dessert, baby girl?" Baby girl? What the...? "Baby girl?" "Mm-hmm. I've decided that from now on I'm going to call you baby girl. I know that you're nickname is Baby G, so… Baby girl," he explains cheerfully. "Shireo!" I tell him, not liking the new nickname he has for me. "Ah, waeee? It's cute! A cute girl like you needs a cute nickname," he cries out like a child. He thinks I'm cute! He thinks I AM CUTE! Nobody ever tells me I'm cute. Oh God, my feelings! My heart thumps in full blast, and I feel warmth creeping up my cheeks.

"So, what's for dessert, baby girl?" he pokes my cheek. "Y-Yeh? A-Are you still hungry?" I shake the cheeky little girl's feelings off my mind. He bites his lower lip, "u-uh… Y-yeah, I-I'm still h-hungry." He has that naughty smirk on his face, teasing me because I just stuttered in front of him. Damn his sweet mouth! "Stop smiling like an idiot," I scoff. "Stop blushing like a school girl in front of her crush," he replies. Oh boy, this is embarrassing! I abruptly get up, but he pulls my waist, making me fall on his lap. I squeal loudly; shocked and bashful at the same time. I try to wriggle out of his arms, but he keeps holding me tight, "baby girl, let's just stay like this for a little while..."

Lord, oh dear Lord, please don't let him hear my heart; I chant silently. We've been sitting like this for almost 10 minutes; yes, I've been counting. My heart has been beating like drums for the same amount of time. "I know you don't like skinship, but I've been wanting to do this all day," he mumbles, his chin is nestled on my shoulder. I'll bet all my money and possessions that my face is as red as a tomato right now. Unable to think straight anymore, I stand up and grab his wrist, "let's go watch some TV."

"Aigoo… don't cry," he wipes a tear that's rolling down my cheek with his thumb. We're watching Titanic, and the screen is showing the scene where Rose is saying goodbye to Jack. "It's just so annoying! There's still room on that boat! Stupid Rose! Why didn't she take Jack with him?!" I yell while pointing at the screen. Ji-Yong chuckles, "you've got big anger for such a small figure." I choose not to respond to his remark and keep concentrating on the movie. 

"Would you take me on the boat?" I ask after the movie ends. We're eating ice cream straight from the tub. "Eh?" he raises an eyebrow. He probably didn't pay much attention to the chick flick we just finished watching. "If you were Rose and I were Jack, would you take me on the boat?" I don't know why I'm asking him such question. I just feel like it, and I'm prepared if his answer is not what I hope it would be. He flashes his signature smile, "of course I would. If there was no more room, I would push one of the other passengers off the boat so you could get on it." I giggle happily inside my head after hearing his answer. I know we've just started dating, but I feel sincerety in his words. Although it's only hypothetical, and most probably will never happen to us, but I still feel pleased that Ji-Yong would take me on the boat.

The tub of ice cream is now back in the freezer, and we're sitting on the couch. Ji-Yong is playing with my fingers, "what time do you have to go to work tomorrow?" "8:30. It's too early," I pout. He tucks my hair behind my ear, "you should be more excited for your comeback…" "I know. I just hate waking up early," I whine. "You haven't told me about the concept. What is it? I'm curious," he asks softly. It's true that I haven't told him; not because his lack of asking, but because I don't want to tell him just yet. The concept is much different from Brown Eyed Girls' previous albums; two words: fierce and y. The reason I haven't told him is because I'm nervous of what he would say. This time, there will be no more innocent Son Ga-In. "Just wait and see," I smile, hoping that he's not going to ask any further. 

"It's getting late. I guess I should get going now," he says when the clock moves past 11 p.m. "Ji-Yong ah… Do you want to stay the night?" I offer, which is immediately followed by a voice screaming inside my head. WHAT?! What the hell, Son Ga-In?! Damn, my mouth must have its own brains! 'Do you want to stay the night'? Geez, we've only been dating for a month, and I have the decency to ask him to sleep in my place? Gaaaah~ eotteokhae??? "Y-Yeh?" he looks surprised. Gosh, look at that! Even he is dumbfounded by my offer! He must be thinking that I'm such an easy girl… Umma, help!!! I cry out in silence. "U-Uh… That's not what I meant… Well, uh… Umm… Don't think about anything weird!!!" I manage to stammer out. 'Don't think about anything weird'? Congrats, Son Ga-In, you've just successfully made a fool out of yourself. I bend my head deeply down in embarrassment.

"Who said I was thinking of something weird?" he mutters playfully after a brief silence. Feeling too humiliated, I turn my body the other way so that he won't be able to see the blush on my face. I yelp when he suddenly hugs me from behind. If the couch under us could talk, it would be laughing at me in mockery right now. "I would love to stay the night," he whispers. Ok, now I'm starting to feel worried that my heart will burst any second. I swiftly get off the couch and run into the kitchen to wash the dishes. I can hear him laughing on the couch. 

"Want some help?" his voice startles me while I'm washing the dishes. "NO! Err… I mean, no, it's ok. It's almost done, anyway," I reply. I wash the dishes as fast as I can, I don't care if they're not clean. I'll wash them again tomorrow if I have to, I just can't face Ji-Yong right now. "Just letting you know, I usually sleep without any clothes on," he says while taking a bottle of water out of the fridge. The plate almost slips off my hands. I look at him with my eyes widened. "Just kidding," he winks and starts drinking. I sigh in relief inside. Alright, Kwon Ji-Yong, two can play at this game… "Really? Because I sleep , too," I utter. Right after I say that, he spurts the water in his mouth and coughs frantically. Heh, my joke must've gotten him! I laugh and wash my hands as I put the last clean dish on the rack.

I hand a him t-shirt to wear to sleep, "I still have this. Remember when you were here that morning when I was hungover?" He nods and smile, "thanks, baby girl." "Stop calling me baby girl," I whine. I'm not really keen on mushy things like that. "Nope, not gonna happen. Sorry," he grins and sprints into the bathroom. I sit on my bed and lean my back against the headboard, looking at the framed picture of me and Ji-Yong on the nightstand. We took that picture a week ago when we went to the beach. Ji-Yong comes out of the bathroom and walks towards the living room area, "nighty night, baby girl." "What are you doing?" I blurt out. Man, I don't even know how words just flew out of my mouth. Control yourself, Son Ga-In! "I'm going to sleep. Why? Do you want a goodnight kiss?" he giggles and sits on the couch.

"Uh… I thought you would sleep here," I pat my hands on the bed. My oh my, my mouth definitely has a brain of its own! "Eh?!" he looks stunned. , , , what should I say as an excuse? "Err… That's a leather couch, it won't be comfortable if you sleep there," I explain. God, please, just let him take my bad excuse… Ji-Yong gets up from the couch and walks towards my bed. "Thank you," he smiles and sits next to me. 

"I've been meaning to ask," Ji-Yong breaks the silence when we both are lying down on the bed with a pillow between our bodies. "Ask, then." He sighs, "are you close to Seul-Ong?" I furrow my eyebrows, "Seul-Ong? 2AM's Im Seul-Ong?" "Mmm. That Seul-Ong. I saw you talking to him a long time ago. You guys looked close," he says. When did he see that? I talk to Seul-Ong all the time… Which time was the one he saw? "Well, we're pretty close. We met years ago when we both were still trainees. We got friendlier after we found out we're the same age. Why?"

He sighs, not giving any response even after a few minutes. "Wae, Ji-Yong ah?" I ask again and lie on my side to face him. "Do you like him, noona?" "Eh? I like him as a friend," I tell Ji-Yong, confused by his question. Why would I like him as more than a friend? I have a boyfriend now. "Does he like you?" "N-Neh? I don't think so. We've been good friends and that's all there is to our relationship. Nothing more," I reply assuringly. I'm not really good with feelings, but… is he jealous? Jealous of Seul-Ong? 

"I wish I had met you first," he mumbles. Ah… so he really is kind of jealous, huh? I scoot closer to him and hug the pillow between us, "Ji-Yong ah, if you had met me first, then maybe you would've been in Seul-Ong's position. Is that what you want?" He turns to face me and shakes his head no. He takes my hand in his and plays with my fingers, "I just wish I could talk to you more comfortably in public, like how you did with that guy." Oh, so this is what it's about… Well, nobody knows about our relationship yet. I haven't told my unnies, not even JeA unnie, and I bet Ji-Yong hasn't told anyone, either, maybe besides Taeyang. 

"All in a good time, Ji-Yong ah," I coo at him. "But still, I just--" "When the time is right, we'll tell everyone, hmm?" I ensure him. I myself don't want to rush into things, what if we tell everyone and things start to fall apart? I think it's better if we take things slow and when we're sure, we'll come out to the world. Okay, maybe not the world, but at least to the people who are close to us. "I know we've only been going out for a month, but I really really like you, noona. And I care about you a lot. You know that, right?" he rubs the back of my hand. I smile warmly, "that makes two of us, Ji-Yong ah…" He leans his head forward and captures my lips gently. My heart beats like crazy and my breath hitches. it takes me some time before I slowly respond to his kiss. It feels… heavenly, and it feels just right. Even though I'm new to all this, and even though I'm not fond of skinship, I feel comfortable when he's kissing me, instead of having an urge to scratch his face out of feeling disrespected. 

"Happy White Day and sweet dreams, baby girl," he whispers as we both pull away from the kiss. I beam with happiness, feeling sure that I'm going to have a really sweet dream…

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Author's Note:

Couldn't resist to update! =P

Was it too mushy for you? Kekeke~ If it was, well then strap yourselves in, cos I'm taking you all to fluff land...

Also, I wanna thank you for sticking around. I know the story is sort of a slowpoke and really light, but I hope you're not bored even though there hasn't been any significant drama... yet.

See you on the next update! (Esp. those who wanted Big Bang members to make an appearance again. Oops, spoiler alert.)

Annyeong~ <3