“It’s a little too far for my liking, but I know it’s what you want,” Ji Yong said as he parked the car on the side of small road which was bordered on both sides by high walls. The street was deadly quiet, only the sound of leaves rustling and dogs barking a couple of blocks away could be heard, but then again it was already late. From the shape of the gate alone I already got excited. He listened to me, despite our slight disagreements on the matter in the end he really cared about what I wanted. I opened the old wooden door, and with a large creak it began to reveal a small courtyard nestled in front of a petite Korean traditional house. The porch lights were dimmed a little, giving the place an antique nuance that I loved. From the walls and roof, I knew at once that this was the original structure, but despite the old architecture it was clean and polished. Everything just felt so homey; so right.

“This is what I’ve been looking for,” I said, simply amazed. “This is exactly it.”

“Wait until you get inside, it gets even better.” Concealed behind a traditional exterior was a more modernly designed house, complete with rather minimalist features that played around with the same overall wood patterns. We stepped onto a cool timber floor which spread out to all the rooms save for the kitchen in the left wing.

“I’ve always wanted to slide my doors open,” I muttered as I walked into my future bedroom.

“Ri Ah, if that’s all you wanted out of this you could’ve saved me a whole lot of trouble,” Ji Yong said, sighing. Obviously deep down inside he still wasn’t happy about all of this. I walked over to him and gave Ji Yong a hug to reassure him that everything would be alright. To be honest, as much as I loved living with him I felt as if I was slowly relying on him way too much. This past week my whole life had just revolved around Ji Yong’s, and I was scared of losing control. I needed my own space, just for a little while.

“No, I like this.”

“But we’re getting married anyway.”

“But we haven’t gotten married yet,” I reminded him. “Patience is a virtue, darling.”

“I got it, I got it.” I laughed a little when I saw a slight pout on his face in the corner of my eye. “But now what am I supposed to look at when I wake up?” he asked.

“Ah, give me your phone babe.” A thought suddenly came into my mind. “Come here.” I the camera and pulled Ji Yong closer to me so that our faces were touching. I could feel him smile and right before I clicked capture I turned my head to kiss him lovingly on the cheek. It was a perfect picture for a perfect moment.

“It’s not half as good as the real thing but it’ll have to do.”

“Lame,” Ji Yong said as he took back his phone.

“I love you, you know that right?” I reminded him. Ji Yong looked at me and let out a sigh but still managed to give me a soft smile.

“I know.” He took my hand in his and then led me out of the house into the cool night air.

On the drive back home Ji Yong received a call and was busy answering to whoever was on the other line for the entire ride. I didn’t mind, if anything it took a little of the guilt I had inside of me. He’s been there for me with every beck and call ever since I’ve been here that I felt as if I was taking up so much of his work time. When the time did come for him to go to YG, Ji Yong had ensured that he was home by exactly five o’clock at night tired, but happy. He always walked through the door just grinning from ear to ear and I was reminded once again what I came here for. I wanted to be happy with him.

“Come and meet my parents next weekend. My sister said she would be there as well,” Ji Yong said. I hadn’t realized he had finished his call.

“Oh my god. This can’t be happening. I’ve been so caught up with everything that I completely forgot about your parents.” I banged my head on the dashboard in disbelief. That was the first thing I should’ve done the moment I landed here; so much for making a good impression. “And they had to find out about me through the news as well.”

“Don’t worry, they understand Ri Ah.” I was just so speechless that I could only groan. I didn’t know whether to look forward to this weekend, finally meeting the people that my beloved called family, or to completely dread it.

“And we have to tell them we’re getting married too!” I exclaimed. I’m dreading it, I decided, I’m absolutely dreading it. I would even dislike having a daughter-in-law like me.

“They already love you, and they can’t wait to meet you,” Ji Yong said reassuringly. “Trust me.”

The sound of the phone ringing once more interrupted our conversation and he pressed the button on his Bluetooth to answer it. It was an invitation for another launching party of some type in a couple of days, another expected guest appearance from the country’s most loved composer, producer and artist. There was an image that I envisioned in my head of the life that Ji Yong was living in Korea but there are just times I become so overwhelmed with the person he was. How could I ever keep up with him?

Ji Yong and I had decided to keep our engagement on the down low for a while; this wasn’t the time to rush anything when we were just settling down into a new life. I still wore the ring though. I had promised to never take it off until our wedding day where we would both wear golden wedding bands and could finally be called husband and wife. And on this beautiful Monday where I found myself inside an empty conference room inside one of Korea’s conglomerate companies, it seemed as if it was a day which was so impossible and surreal. I had come to a decision to find myself a position in their human resources department. It wasn’t what I wanted, but I had to settle for second best. Things can’t always be perfect and this was all part of the sacrifice.

“Erika-ssi?” A gentleman not much older than Ji Yong walked into the room with a file in his hand, presumably filled with my resume. I could tell from his posture, the way he talked and the gestures he made that this was a confident man, someone who knew his superiority and was not afraid to flaunt it; maybe a little too much. Yes, I thought to myself, I believe I was meeting my very first chaebol’s* son. I stood up to shake his hand and plastered on my usual polite smile.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, thank you for calling me back,” I said.

“Well it appears we had a good reason to call you back. You have exceptional credentials here with a master’s degree from Oxford, your research, your experience. Our company could use your skills, so what do you say to working for us?”

“I look forward to it.”

Everything moved rather quickly from there. I was introduced to the entire department and I was left to do what I had expected to do, make profiles and write reports. The first week was a struggle, I wasn’t going to lie. This just wasn’t what I was meant to do, I wanted to meet people and help them grow, not talk to disgruntled employees complaining about pay.

“I am not lying to you, he literally recited entire math equations to the wage and retirement he was entitled to and compared it to what his co-workers got. I’m a psychologist, not an accountant,” I whined. Ji Yong had half his headphones attached to his ear, the other listening to my incessant ranting.

“So what did you tell him?” he asked.

“That he came to wrong department and I dragged him over to finance.”

“I am so glad I work in music. Come have a look at this.” Ji Yong took out an album, possibly fresh from print, with a ‘T’ marked in front. It was Young Bae oppa’s.

“This is what’s coming out tomorrow?”

“The music video as well, they decided to use your shots you know.” I looked at him in surprise.

“Are you serious!?”

“That okay…right?” I nodded, maybe a little too much.

“Of course that’s okay. It’s just, it’s so weird. I’m actually in a music video and Young Bae oppa’s no less.”

“How’s that as a silver lining for a bad week? You’re entitled to an actress’ pay as well.” He handed me a small envelope with a cheque inside.

“Can I treat you to dinner with it, or are you going to be all ‘I’m a man’ about it as usual?” Ji Yong reached up and messed up my hair a little from where he was sitting.

“Fine, but I want to eat jajangmyun** tonight.” I knew what he was doing. Since Ji Yong never wanted me to waste my money on himhe chose basically the most common meal Seoul had to offer; deliverable to your doorstep. 

*chaebol is the term used to refer to rich men, usually millionares and owner's of conglomerate companies

**jajangmyun is black bean noodles

AN: Next update on the 13/10/12. Again, sorry for the long breaks between chapters, there's just so much to do. Thanks again everyone and enjoy!!