“Noona…..Ji eun Noona….” A 12 year old boy was nudging IU to wake up.

Slowly opening her eyes, IU got a glimpse of the bright sunlight. She suddenly woke up panicking that she might be late for her schedule. “What time is it? What time is it?!” IU grabbed her bedside clock and looked at the time, 11:49 am. Swearing she stood up and went to the bathroom; all along leaving the 12 year old in her room that was still on her bed sitting down.

She flung open her bathroom door, “Choi Junhong! Whath har you doing in a gal’s beroom?!” Storming out of the bathroom with her toothbrush still in , she started scolding the kid. “Didn’t I chell you tso newver enther Noona’s bethroom! I desert PREEVACHY and you’re a bohoy, you kenth enther anya girl’s woom or…..” Going back to the bathroom rinsing her teeth she finally said “At least with her permission you can….which I did not give you!”

The boy named Choi Junhong just stared at IU, trying to figure out the alien language she just spoke. Shrugging his shoulders he stepped out of IU’s room but then decided to go back in and tell her “Noona, it’s a Sunday, your entertainment company gave you permission to have an off day today. Your mom’s calling you down for breakfast….errr Lunch also I suppose; since you woke up so late.” Lifting his hand to salute, he gave her a wink and left the premises.

IU was left in her room bewildered by this boy’s actions. IU in the first place never had any siblings and because of that she never really understood boys either.

IU stepped out of the shower and decided to dress up today. She wanted to bring her mother out for the day since they have not been able to spend some quality time together. “Where should we go..” IU thinking allowed said, while drying her hair. Something caught her eye, the picture that was stuck on the side of her mirror, a postcard picture of Jeju Island.

Her eyes lit up “Jeju!?”

                                                                                                            ________^_______

In Jeju Island later that afternoon, IU was merrily walking by the beach with Mrs. Lee. She was just relaxing and enjoying her day off for the first time after a long time. It took a lot of convincing to get her mother here with her. Her mother did not see the logic of flying all the way here for her day off, but then her mother was glad she came. She could see that her daughter is enjoying her day relaxing. Though they we’re stopped by a few bystanders from time to time since they recognize IU.

"At least the beach was not as crowded as the other summer visits we had in the past." IU was thinking to herself.

“Ji eun ah, " Mrs. Lee said, breaking IU's thought process, "remember when we went here 2 years ago….errr…uhm….when your father passed away?” Mrs. Lee said looking at Ji eun. She saw her daughter’s relaxing smile suddenly dropped. IU just nodded.

“Even though your father was not with us we still had a good time like this, right?” Mrs. Lee continued.

“Yes, we did Omma…..” IU replied, her voice trailing off and her mind going elsewhere as well.

-FLASHBACK-

It was June 5, 2007, when IU managed to forget her grief for her father….it was because of Lee Gikwang.  She was a very young high school student and he was as well, but 3 years her senior.

Mrs. Lee arranged this mother-daughter outing in hopes of forgetting their grief. They needed to move on and look into a future. IU was already a trainee at LOEN Entertainment and so far this grief is affecting her badly, losing her chances to debut sooner.

Mrs. Lee filled up their 1 week stay with various water and sightseeing activities like hiking, wakeboarding, paragliding etc.

On their 3^rd day, IU had to stop her mother from booking them a sailing boat. Mrs. Lee was clearly exhausted and needed to rest. So, IU convinced her mother to book herself in a spa for a relaxation treatment while she explores JeJu on her own. She needed the alone time anyway, to introspect and find out if an idol career was her destined future.

She was enjoying a cup of hot coco in one of Jeju’s many cozy coffee shops when she noticed, a crowd was slowly building right across the street. Because of her curious nature she had to check what was happening. Paying for her drink, exiting the cozy coffee house, she walked towards the crowd who were in front of a Music store. A loud R & B song was playing; the crowd was continuously giving praise to the performer, who, as of the moment was on his head spinning. Getting his feet back on the floor, he started grooving exceptionally well to the music with complicated hip hop dance moves. IU was in awe watching this boy move to the music.

She had to squeeze her way through the crowd to get a better look of the performer. As she got herself in front, she saw that the boy was of average height. His baller cap that was lowered on his head completely covered half of his small face. He had a sharp nose and very thick “African-American like” lips. IU even thought he might be half African-American and half Korean. Her suspicion was getting stronger, most especially when he started singing in English with the music. He had a very distinctive ear pleasing raspy voice. IU remained rooted in place as she enjoyed his performance. She might have been even enthralled by the performance since she did not even notice that the crowd started dissipating.

The boy bent over to turn off his music player. He turned his baller cap backwards now exposing more of his face, and getting clearer vision of his surroundings. With, the corner of his left eye he noticed that there was a girl still standing there. He had immediately noticed that the girl was petite and had cute slightly chubby cheeks. She had a very innocent, almost pure-like image with her bright eyes and pigtails.

He had to wave his hand in front of her twice before she noticed her surroundings and was snapped back to reality.

“Hey! Are you lost?” The boy in front of IU said.

“I…was..” IU started stammering.

The boy then suddenly interrupted “Or……are you lost in me? I know I’m too good looking to overlook” , winking, he striked the common “good looking” move, which was the finger L under his chin.

Turning red, IU turned her face to the opposite direction and was about to leave when the boy suddenly grabbed her elbow and said “I was only kidding okay.”

Facing him, IU saw his geekish no eyes grin . "Clearly Korean." IU thought. "and a little bit of a split personality problem, since this boy can ooze beast-like charisma one minute and then a very boy next door geeky charisma the next." 

“I’m sorry, I’m Lee Gikwang.” Extending his arms for a handshake, “…and you are?”

IU was flabbergasted, he was smiling again and this time she noticed the cute smile line on his left cheek. Straightening her spine, she extended her arm to meet his handshake “I’m Lee Ji Eun and I am an aspiring singer.”

IU then knew her future was to be a singer, while Lee Gikwang knew that this girl will be in his future.

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A word from ALANYA: 

Sorry for the late update….Bian…….I got busy with starting up my own business in the field of design. Wish me luck!