He was still sleeping soundly beside me when I awoke the next morning to birds chirping and the sound of the neighbourhood wives’ chatter on the street. It felt like I haven’t seen him in such a peaceful state in so long, and I couldn’t help but smile at the angelic sight in front of me. I missed this, that much was certain. Suddenly, a frown began to emerge on his brow and the crease lines on his forehead became more defined, as if he was suffering a bad dream. Gently I pressed my finger against them and then kissed his forehead for good measure, and Ji Yong shifted his position and continued his peaceful slumber. Well, that was what I thought. As soon as I made the slightest of movement to get off the bed, I felt a hand around my waist pull me back, and before I knew it I was resting against Ji Yong’s chest.

“Where are you going?” he asked sleepily. Somehow his eyes were still closed.

“Um, nowhere?” I guessed and he smiled at my response.

“Good answer.” Ji Yong wrapped his arms and legs around me in one huge bear hug and squeezed me so tightly, causing me to just giggle.

“I love you too babe… but I can’t breathe,” I said.

“I can’t hear you. What did you say?”

“Let me go.”

“What?” he asked once again, feigning ignorance. I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face at his cuteness. Fine, I decided, I’ll let him strangle me for a little while longer, and wrapped my arms around him in return. Seeing as how happy I was, all of a sudden I’m filled with confusion as to why I agreed to live apart from him in the first place. Ah, space. That’s right. Right now that was the last thing I wanted.

“It’s a Sunday…” I told him. Ji Yong had clearly fallen back to sleep when all I received was nothing but a grunt. “Get up…” I softly started poking him in his rubs to get his attention, but to no avail. Sighing, I wriggled myself away from his grasp and then got up to make some food. He must be tired, what with yesterday and work as well; I wasn’t going to be the one to ruin his rest.

With the television on low, I ate my bibimbap* in peace. Nothing good was on, so I decided on an entertainment news program which was basically all filled with gossip. Young Bae oppa’s comeback news was on there as well, and I stopped eating when a snippet of his music video came up. I was on television for two seconds. I couldn’t help but smile a little in excitement.

“I’m hungry,” a voice suddenly spoke behind me. I patted the space on the couch next to me and he obediently sat down and rested his head on my shoulder.

“Ah,” I said, motioning for him to open his mouth. I placed a huge spoonful of bibimbap inside, and he gratefully took the entire thing in his mouth. “It’s good right? I think I’m getting better at making Korean dishes.”

“It is… but Ri Ah, bibimbap doesn’t really count as cooking.”

“I had to add sesame oil and red pepper powder and stuff. When you have to season something, it’s cooking.”

“But you bought all the side dishes from the restaurant down the road.”

“Clearly, you don’t want to eat then,” I said and then got up from the couch with my food in tow.

“Ah, sorry, sorry. No, come back Ri Ah!” Ji Yong exclaimed with a scowl on his face. He followed me to the kitchen table, where he silently sat down and looked at me eat.

“How much do you want this, on a scale of one to ten?” I asked. I was in the mood for a childish revenge today.

“The food a nine,” he said. “You, about a hundred.” I stopped what I was doing and stared at him. Ji Yong gave me a sheepish grin, and then got up to grab two cups before I had a chance to respond.

“You, come here.” I dragged him by the shirt to the bathroom, and handed him a toothbrush before putting one in my mouth. “The fun comes later.”

I’ve never seen anyone so excited when brushing their teeth.

At night we found ourselves holding hands in a movie theatre playing the latest Korean blockbusters. We didn’t really watch the movie as much as we did make out in the darkness of the cinema; anyone could have mistaken us as lovesick teenagers and not late twenty something year-olds with full time jobs. I don’t know what was with us today, the both of us felt like acting so juvenile and I couldn’t stop laughing and smiling the whole time. A part of me was glad we could let go, because what came to us the next day I would never have expected in a million years.

“Sajangnim called us yesterday and we got everything sorted for you,” the young woman, a YG staff member, said to me in her office. I was in the administration department of the company building situated on the bottom levels, where I could hear nothing but the sound of tapping on keyboards and phones ringing.

“Oh, really.” Those were the only things that I could say, as an even younger woman emerged behind her with a huge bag hanging on her shoulders.

“This is your mananger, Lee Ji Hye. Don’t be fooled by her age, she’s knows her way around the entertainment business like a forty year-old,” she said.

“Nice to meet you Erika unni,” Ji Hye said. “I’ll be under your care from now on.”

“Oh, no. I think I’m going to be the one that needs your help more,” I said and then shook her hand.

“I’d love to spend more time catching up with you, but we’ve actually got a magazine interview in two hours. I couldn’t move the schedule unni, I’m sorry. I’ll debrief you on our way there,” Ji Hye explained while dragging me out of the office and down to the car park. I said a quick thank you to the office woman and was left completely mind blown at how fast this was all going. A magazine, already!? Suddenly I have a huge headache, what on earth did I drag myself into?

We were in a black sedan, Ji Hye driving and instructing me while I was in the passenger’s seat trying to absorb everything she told me as quickly as I could.

“You’re Erika Lee and you’re from Los Angeles. You first met sajangnim from a mutual acquaintance about two years ago but you weren’t really interested in this business until you became an actress in Young Bae oppa’s music video. And unni… I don’t think you should mention Ji Yong oppa and your relationship at all.” The last sentence Ji Hye said a little more quietly. I know she didn’t want to hurt my feelings, but I get where she was coming from. If I wanted to actually make something out of this, it would be best to just be rid of any assumptions that I was closely linked with an existing icon of the music industry. I would be making a name out of myself for all the wrong reasons. That’s fine, Erika and Ji Yong can be strangers in this world but at home, Ri Ah and Ji Yong loved each other; so very much.

“Okay,” I agreed. My words must have taken her aback because Ji Hye was silent for a while.

“Wah, unni. I didn’t know you were so cool,” she said, wide-eyed.

“Really?”

“Well… you don’t show up at the company often so there are just rumours here and there. Some say you have a princess-syndrome, some say you’re some femme fatale. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what kind of character I was going to meet. But I’m glad I met someone like you unni.”

“Like me…” I sighed. How could she know how I was? “There are still a lot of things you don’t know about me.”

“We’ll work on that,” Ji Hye said, smiling. It wasn’t much, but it helped me calm my unsettled heart just a little more. My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out to see a text message from Ji Yong.

I heard you have an interview today? You’re totally freaking out inside aren’t you?

Bingo.

Just wish me luck.

I took a deep breath and tried to mentally prepare myself for whatever was coming at me.

You don’t need luck to do a great job. I love you, okay? I’ll see you soon.

He’s right, this is all up to me. This could be fun. No, I’m going to make this fun.

“Unni, we’re here,” Ji Hye said. I looked out of the car window at the tall glass building in front with the logo of the magazine stuck on the front. Here we go.

* bibimbap is a korean dish where you mix rice with a bunch of stuff. Basically it's a quick, yummy dish.

AN: New chapter! Enjoy everyone, and thanks again!