Jin Woon blinked his eyes.

"Mo..mo..what?"

"Aish, never mind!" was Jiyeon's irritable reply. Just then, her cellphone rang, and she answered the call. Her chauffer was waiting outside, and so, Jiyeon threw some cash to the table, then hurriedly said.

"That's my payment for the latte..and keep the change."

***

"Molotov cocktail?"

Jin Woon looked the meaning of the word in the internet. His fear couldn't hide his surprise. Someone had just given Jiyeon a death threat, but neither he nor she knew who that person was.

He leaned back on his chair and placed his hands around his head. Blinking while looking at the screen, he couldn't stop thinking about Jiyeon. She was one odd chick: a rich man's daughter who would do lots of reckless things that might ruin her reputation. Jiyeon could look like a goddess when she stands on a pedestal, adorned by the camera. But when she starts to open , or act behind the scenes, she loses her poise. Jin Woon suddenly found himself smiling. He had had his shares of flirting with girls who were like Jiyeon: rich, beautiful and poised, with manners and intelligence to boot. Though Nicole wasn't part of the elite, she had manners and intelligence. Plus, she had that certain cuteness that Jin Woon couldn't seem to resist. Yet, here comes Jiyeon. Whatever she was defied the normal kind. Yong Hwa had told Jin Woon earlier that Jiyeon had asked what's so wrong with being odd or radical. For Jin Woon, it could be wrong for a girl not to fit in with her peers. But now, he saw Jiyeon in a different light. Whatever she had done for him, he couldn't grasp nor understand. Someone had speculated that Jiyeon was a taekwondo black belter based on the kick she made when she attacked Jin Woon. And it was the same guts and strength that made Jiyeon grabbed him when he was about to be hit by the flower pot, and made her chase after his would-be killer.

Jin Woon shook his head. "There's no way you're gonna fall in love with that wench," he berated himself.

***

"Jiyeonnie, mianhe.." Suzy called Jiyeon one Friday morning.

"Wae?"

"I can't go with you to Mungyeong...my halabeoji from my appa's side suddenly passed away last night, and we're already heading for Incheon...mianhe, Jiyeon. This is so late notice."

"Ani..don't aplogize, Suzy-ya. It's all right. And condolence...I'm so sorry to hear about your halabeoji. It's okay, I can go there myself."

"Jinjja? Ahh...gomawo, Jiyeonnie...gomawo..."

After Jiyeon clicked her phone closed, she looked at her bag. She cringed her face as she looked at Mopi, who also looked back at her with that mocking eyes of his.

"Pshh...Mopi, don't look at me like that. You're not being helpful."

"Meow."

"Aish, I wish you could help me pack up my clothes. What now? Suzy's not coming with me! Aish, I guess I'll have to go alone then." She said as she glared at her cat. But Mopi didn't seemed threatened. He continued staring at Jiyeon, then went down her bed to go outside.

***

Jiyeon arrived at four-thirty in the afternoon. She had asked her eomma for the direction leading to her old house, and Jiyeon had her map ready. Her knapsack hung heavily behind her back. But Jiyeon was wanting to get away from the bustling city life. And much as she wanted to go to her appa's rich estate, she hated the idea of meeting her abominable cousins who envied and hated her guts.

Arriving at her eomma's house, she found the house clean. It was in contrast to that one she had seen eleven years ago. She learned that her eomma hired a new housekeeper after the old one retired. The zealous housekeeper made it a point to come every other day to keep the house clean. Yet, she also very shrewd, and she reported to her mistress the days she came and the time she spent cleaning, so that eomma gave her a fixed monthly salary instead of her daily wage.

Jiyeon sat on a couch. It wasn't as well-off like her room couch, but it did well. She then decided to look around the house, inspecting every nook and room. Feeling satisfied, she decided to go outside and go find some fast food chain nearby.

Walking along the patchy, dusty road, Jiyeon suddenly stopped. Coming her way was a guy familiar to her. The guy was carrying his duffel bag at his back. He was listening to his IPod as he walked under the heat of the sun. Jiyeon smiled. Running towards the guy, she suddenly sprang to him and gave him a hug. They almost fell, and the guy choked.

"Jin Woon Oppa!"

"Yah! You're killing me! Get off me!"

When Jiyeon released her grasp, Jin Woon held his neck. "You could break my neck, did you know that?"

Jiyeon pouted. "Ehhhh...Oppa, you could be soooooo killjoy! Hey, did you follow me all the way here?"

"M..mwoh?" Jin Woon asked as he took the earpiece off his right ear. "Me? Follow you? Yah, Jiyeon, for your information, I lived here. The Jung brothers USED to live her in Mungyeong."

"Jinjja???? Ohhhhhhh..I'm so lucky!"

"Don't ever think of making me your chaperon here," Jin Woon warned as he started to walk away. "Maybe you're the one following me."

"Ya, how would I know you lived here? For your information, Mr. Rockstar-wannabe, my eomma grew up here. And I just came here to clear my mind."

"Whatever, Wench." Jin Woon started to walk. But Jiyeon grabbed his arm.

"Where to?"

"Where else? I'm going home."

"Can I come with you?"

Jin Woon suddenly stopped and turned to Jiyeon. By now, the rays of the sun was behind her. It formed an outline around her, making her appear like a deity, making her hair appear brown. Jin Woon was blinded by the light, yet she seemed to block off some of the rays.

"Jiyeon, I now remembered you to be that pest who used to ask us if you could come play with us way back then. Of course not, you can't come with me."

"Why not?" she asked. Her voice had suddenly grown serious. She was suddenly happy to know that Jin Woon would at least tour her around, yet he didn't want anything to do with her.

"Because I'm tired and hungry. I want to sleep."

"Well, if your hungry, we could go grab a bite...go to some fastfood chains here."

Jin Woon's face cringed. "Fastfood? Jiyeon, don't be ignorant. This is not Seoul or Busan or Daegu. This is Mungyeong..Mungyeong. You should've known better. If you don't know how to cook, you shouldn't have come here in the first place. Better yet, you could have asked your cook to teach you how."

Jiyeon released her hands from Jin Woon's arm. Then she nodded.

"Mm. I know I'm ignorant. But travelling like this unprepared is also a challenge for me."

"Man, not only are you ignorant. You're also naive! Aish..come with me. I'll teach you how to cook."

In delight, Jiyeon suddenly hugged Jin Woon again.

"And don't hug me! You know how townspeople are. They usually spread gossips you don't like to hear."

And so, Jiyeon followed Jin Woon to his house.

***

Jin Woon taught Jiyeon how to cook rice with a rice cooker. She took down notes on how many cups to prepare for two people, how the water is washed, how high the water would be so that the rice would not be undercooked. He also taught her how to operate the rice cooker. He also taught her how to cook scrambled eggs (that was what Jin Woon had wanted to eat because he was so tired). In exchange, Jiyeon was to wash the dishes, she said. Jin Woon's eyebrows furrowed when she mentioned that.

"I bet you don't even know how to scrub the dirt off the plates and the pans."

"I do know. I actually watched the maid as she washes the dishes, so you can trust me on this." Jiyeon said.

They ate dinner silently. After Jiyeon washed the dishes, Jin Woon inspected the plates, pans and utensils to see if the princess had really done it well. He smiled and patted her shoulder for a job well done.

Jiyeon left a little after eight, but before she left, Jin Woon told her to come the next day at seven in the morning.

"Is that an invitation?" she asked him.

"You could say that again. But then, you'll be coming with me. We'll go to the market to buy food for meals. How long will you be staying here?"

"I'll be leaving on Sunday at noon time."

"Good. Let's go back to Seoul together at that day and time then."

"Arrasseo. Good night, Oppa."

"Good night, Princess."