|2012|

Jun Ho’s POV

“Are you okay, Jun Ho? You don’t look good,” Taec Yeon asked with concern although he startled me me by smacking my shoulder from behind without warning.

“What?” I replied him, knowing that he was not the right person to talk to.

“Eh, how could you be not okay? You’re meeting the famous Korean actress from Boys Over Flowers. Lucky you…” Taec Yeon shook his head with jealousy and nudged me teasingly, “Remember to get her number.”

I rolled my eyes at him and gave a fake punch through his stomach, “Aish.”

Arriving at the café, I was tensed and worried. Of course, I was worried about meeting her again. I had seen her acted on television. She looked prettier and more matured the last time I saw her in real life. However, the fact that I was going to be on the same television show with her made me feel like I was meeting a whole new So Eun.

Not to mention, I had to meet all of the interviewees and reporters all at the same time – with her beside me. How worse could it get?

“Come on, Lee Jun Ho. You are Lee Jun Ho of 2PM.” I chanted to myself repeatedly and noticed I was already at the entrance of the café. With mere courage, I pushed open the door and spotted all the reporters waiting for me, like I had expected.

The first thing I noticed was she was not anywhere in sight. She must be late again. That was one of her worse habits ever – forever being late and making others wait for her.

Ditching that thought, I smiled brightly and greeted everyone, including the staff of the show. I sat down as the reporters began to ask me questions officially. All of them were regarding the show itself. “How do you feel about working on ‘Music and Lyrics’? Are you going to show your talent of composing other than your only song ‘Give It To Me’?” I answered them confidently.

Suddenly, one of them asked me a question, “Do you have an ideal woman? Perhaps you want to work with in this show or just in general…”

I was stunned for a second. Her face was the first one that popped into my mind. Why was that so? I was sure I forgot about her. I was sure we were over. I rubbed off the thought from my mind and laughed nervously, “Actually, my ideal woman is not a Korean.”

“Oh, then…” The reporter probed me to continue speaking.

“My ideal woman is Scarlett Johansson.” I replied her truthfully. Yes, Scarlett Johansson’s my ideal woman – based on Hollywood celebrities.

The reported shifted her eyes and directed me to look behind me, “Why don’t you look behind to see who have heard our conversation?”

I turned around cautiously, hoping it was not the person I was thinking of. Of course, who else could it be?

I stood up and bowed at her. She bowed back politely. Our eyes met for a split second. Even though it was a short gaze, I felt the uneasiness and complexity of the atmosphere that we were feeling. It seemed like a transparent wall was keeping us away from each other but there was something pushing us forcefully together.

Luckily, this could not be felt through the eyes. Through the camera lens and watchful supervision of the staff, we were just awkward since we had just met “for the first time”. It was a relief but I dared not imagine what would happen next.

“I’m Jun Ho from 2PM.” I offered a handshake to her.

“I’m So Eun, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” She shook my hand loosely and let go within three seconds. Just three mere seconds but I could feel her hands were rougher than before. A tinge of guiltiness hit my heart for no rhyme or reason.

The reporters decided to leave us both alone while they made their leave.

Both of us continued to stand stiffly in our positions. She still had the smile on her face. I knew it was forced but there was nothing she could do. She had to smile – in front of the cameras.

I smiled back and told her to sit down beside me. She nodded and did what I say. Even a few seconds of silence would kill me but she suddenly spoke, “So Scarlett Johansson?”

She tried to tease but failed miserably. I sighed and said, “Yes, she’s… she’s great.”

So Eun’s POV

Scarlett Johansson.

He had never changed his ideal woman since before. It was reassuring to know – for some reasons I could not explain. It was a surprise he still had the same ideal woman but was it my concern?

I did not know what to say to continue in this atmosphere. Seeing him again for the first time after so many years, the feeling was so refreshing but full of tension. All of the eyes were looking at us, telling us to say something. All these eyes which had no idea about our past.

Upon realising my awkwardness, one of the reporters asked me back the same question but in a more specific way, “Then So Eun, what is your favourite male idol group?”

“Ah, of course it’s 2PM,” I laughed awkwardly and said it quickly, knowing that that was the only answer I needed to say.

“Then who is your favourite member?”

That question had caught me by surprise. I knew they would dig in further but I never thought much about it. Should I say it’s him? Should I say another member so he would not get the wrong idea?

His face was stiff and so was mine. I looked at him briefly before looking down again. I was flustered.

“Just say whatever you think. I’ll give it to you.” Jun Ho ended off when I did not answer at all. I giggled nervously and avoided his eyes. However, I swore I saw disappointment in his expression, was it?

The reporters left and we greeted each other formally.

The atmosphere was strange. All of the memories we had before kept flashing back into my mind. I tried to shrug it off but his forever childish and young-looking face had never changed. It reminded me of him many years ago. He had never changed.

“Firstly, the reason that we met up is because we have to write and compose a song, right?” Jun Ho broke the silence. I nodded in agreement. That, I was grateful for.

“If we can come up with an OST…” Jun Ho stammered slightly and finally gained the courage to initiate something, “I think it would be great if we go see the music director and producer now.”

“Yes, shall we?”

“We should go.”

“Yes, we should go.”

We both laughed when we kept repeating ourselves. It was awkward but the laughter emitted from both of us was seemingly natural.

We started walking along the streets – according to the script given. Of course, we could have taken a car together and it would be a faster way but the producers wanted to us walk like a couple. Something that I did not want to agree to.

“Umm…” Jun Ho mumbled to himself and I felt his eyes peering at me.

I scanned the surroundings to find out we went on dates along these streets before when we were just in high school. Those memories flooded back to me and they felt bittersweet. The feeling of first love and first date warmed up my heart.

I wondered curiously to myself, did he feel the same?

-

Author's Note:

Video reference below. It's really worth the watch. :)