It was drizzling when Jong Kook landed in Incheon International Airport. He made a quick detour to pick up some items from the shops in the airport before catching the subway to the city of Ji Hyo’s parent’s place.

From his window seat on the train, he looked out at the passing scenery. It felt good to be home. It felt good to be getting nearer to her at each passing moment. He wished the train could move faster because he could not wait to see her.

He knew that her injury wasn’t major and what she needed was to give her arm time to recover. Gary, Haha and Ji Hyo had all reassured him that she would be fine. However, no matter what they had said to him, he just wanted to see her. He wished he was the one who had accompanied Ji Hyo when she was hospitalised. He wished he was the one who had accompanied Ji Hyo home when she was discharged. He was grateful to Gary for his help but he wished he was the one who was there for her.

This was the first time he visited her family. Both his and Ji Hyo’s schedules had made them postponed this visit ever since and it didn’t seem appropriate to request her parents to come to Seoul to meet him. He was slightly nervous. He looked at the fruit basket that he had bought. He hoped that he would make a good impression on them. He knew it would be better if he had informed them that he would be visiting but he wanted to give her a surprise. He looked at the bouquet of sunflowers that he had bought for her. Sunflowers were bright, cheerful and livelier than white roses. Their love was pure and clear like the white roses; her smiles were like the sunflowers which brought so much joy to his life.

He never realised how much she had changed his life until this separation. She had filled an emptiness that he had never noticed before. Previously, he had not appreciated the simple joy of messaging each other with a greeting when they woke up and a blessing when they went to bed. She was the one who had been initiat these messages all these while. He had missed her so much during this trip that the first thing and the last thing that he did each day were to message her. He used to wonder what were there for him to message her about, but now he realised that “good morning” and “good night” weren’t just greetings – they had encapsulated the thousands-worded well wishes and blessings that the giver had for the receiver. Each “good morning” that he sent her contained his wishes for her to wake up feeling good and well and for her to have a smooth and safe day ahead. Every “good night” that he sent her contained his wishes for her to rest and sleep well with only good dreams to accompany her. By simply having her for him to send these messages to, it had made his life so much fuller. He held on to the clear plastic bag with her T-shirt in it. She had given him so much and too much. 

He was tired but he could not sleep. He was too anxious to see her.

It seemed as if the rain clouds had followed him. It was still raining when he reached his destination station. If things had went as planned, he would have reached her place two hours ago and perhaps he would have had dinner with her family. Unfortunately, the rain had caused a traffic accident to occur and he was caught in the traffic jam in a taxi. He ran his index finger around the rim of the watch which she had given him. With each round that his finger had made, he hoped he would be reaching her sooner.

Ji Hyo was shocked to see Jong Kook. She wanted so much to run into his arms, to lean against his muscled-chest, and to wrap her arms around his torso. He drank in the sight of her. He saw the elbow support that she was wearing and he felt a stab in his heart. He wanted so much to pull her into his arms, to hold and kiss her. Their eyes exchanged the words and emotions that they were unable to articulate. They were only one arm length apart but it seemed like they were separated by a mile. With her family around, he could only kiss her lightly on her cheek and handed her the bouquet. That light touch that they had shared only heightened the ache that they were feeling in their hearts as they wanted so much to hold each other.

Although this was the first time that her family met Jong Kook, they could recognise who he was because he was a celebrity after all. After her brother had helped to take the fruit basket from Jong Kook and placed it on the dining table, Ji Hyo introduced her parents, brother and sister to Jong Kook. There was some awkwardness among them as most of her family members, including her, were dressed in their pyjamas. Jong Kook apologized profusely for visiting at such an inappropriate timing. They exchanged pleasantries and her mother served them the fruits brought by Jong Kook. During the conversation, Ji Hyo and Jong Kook stole glances at each other. Jong Kook was polite and he answered the questions from her father respectfully. Her mother observed Jong Kook quietly. She noticed that Ji Hyo had picked certain fruits from the plate of assorted fruits and passed them to Jong Kook while she hardly ate any of it.

It was getting late. It became quite apparent that Jong Kook would be staying over for the night and this had posed a problem to his host. They did not have a spare room for their guest. Ji Hyo shared her bedroom with her sister. Luckily, her brother had gallantly offered to share his room with Jong Kook and helped everyone out of the fix. Both Ji Hyo and Jong Kook gave her brother a grateful look and he shrugged it off with a wink. He liked Jong Kook as he was influenced by Ji Hyo when he was much younger to deem Jong Kook as his idol once before.

Everyone had gone into their bedroom when Jong Kook came out from his shower. He stood outside her room for a while before he turned away. He gave a light knock on her brother’s room door and entered it. He chatted a little more with her brother and gave him some workout tips before they switched off the lights in the room. He lie on the mattress on the floor and looked at the light seeping through the gap under the room door. When the last glimpse of light went out, he closed his eyes. His body was tired and aching but he could not sleep with his thoughts filled with her.

Ji Hyo fiddled with the sunflowers while her sister teased and questioned her about Jong Kook. She answered a couple of questions from her sister before she switched off the lights to signal the end of their conversation. This was the first time he had given her some flowers other than white roses and she wondered why. It hurt her to see him being so worn out. He was not meant to be back until another week later. He had explained to her father that he needed to leave early tomorrow morning to catch another flight. The time he had spent travelling was more than the time he had with her. They had so little time left. They were so near yet so far. She wanted to talk to him more. She wanted to hug him. He was her human-sized teddy bear.

She held her phone in her hand. She was contemplating to send him a message when she saw an incoming message alert.

Can you come out of your room?

She smiled and replied the message.

Coming out now!

He was already standing outside her door when she opened it. She took his hand and led him to living room.

With the lights from the streets illuminating the living room, they looked at each other in the semi-darkness. He was the one who made the first move. She had expected him to give her a tight hug but he lifted her elbow instead. He gave it a little kiss. “I wish I could kiss it better for you,” he whispered to her. She smiled at him sweetly.

“If kissing can heal your arm, I don’t mind kissing it till my lips are swollen,” he breathed these words to her with a reddened face, for he was unaccustomed of uttering such words. She placed her finger on his lips, tracing them, and shook her head. He brought her hand to his lips. He pulled her close to him and hugged her gently, careful not to hurt her injured arm.

“You smell different,” he said softly to her. She smiled again at his remarks. She was using different shampoo and shower gel from the ones in her own house in Seoul. She was glad that he actually noticed that the scent of her shampoo and shower gel.

They pulled away from each other. He sat her down on the couch with him. He handed her a box of chocolates which she received in astonishment. He smiled at her reaction. He took the box from her and opened it. He picked a piece of chocolate and fed it to her. He took another piece and put it into his mouth. She was so surprised that hung opened. “It’s okay to have some chocolates once a while, my sweetheart.” She was even more surprised at his remarks.

She put her hand on his forehead and then she put it on her own to feel the temperature difference. He was not having fever. She wondered what had gone into him – he was eating sugary stuff that he didn’t usually eat and he was saying these honey-coated words to her. “Maybe he is too hungry,” she thought to herself.

“Are you hungry? I’ll fix you something to eat.” She had almost stood up when he pulled her back onto the seat.

“Stop fussing over me. Don’t be so good to me.” He held her two hands in his. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you when you got hurt.” On the day of the injury itself, he had already told her how worried he was when he received Gary’s messages and couldn’t reach him for more details.

She shook her head but he held it still gently with his hands on each side of her head. “Please don’t say that it’s okay. It’s not okay. I’ve promised you that I will take care of you but I wasn’t even here for you when you needed me.”

“You are here now when you should be elsewhere. It’s all that matters,” she said tenderly to him.

“Thank you for always being so understanding,” he kissed her cheek adoringly.

“I’m not always very good with my words. It’s my great fortune to have you in my life. I’m sorry if I had taken you for granted,” he kissed her other cheek. “I love you, Ji Hyo.”

While it was just an arm injury, it had made him realised how precious Ji Hyo was to him and how he neglected her over the past few months. At the back of his mind, he had a haunting thought that someone had taken care of her better than he did. He held her closer to him. He vowed silently to himself that he would never let her down.

She rested her head against his chest. Under his soothing , sleep slowly descended upon her. He gently placed her sleeping head on his lap and he caught his forty winks sitting on the couch.

Ji Hyo’s mother walked out from her bedroom after Jong Kook had left their house. She saw Ji Hyo clearing the clutter in the kitchen. She told Ji Hyo to leave the cleaning to her and to go to sleep.

Ji Hyo was reading her scripts on her bed when her mother walked into her room. Her mother sat on her bed and looked at her with a pair of motherly loving eyes. She put aside her scripts and gave her attention to her mother.

Her mother looked at her little girl, her first-born. Out of her three children, Ji Hyo had always held a special place in her heart. Ji Hyo was her most rebellious child and her most independent child. She was the one whom she had the most worries for and yet she was the one whom she trusted most.

“Ji Hyo, you may not like to hear what I’m going to say. As your mother, I’m selfish. I would want your husband to be a man who will take care of you more than you would do for him.”

Ji Hyo looked at her mother nervously. She was fearful of the words that her mother might say. She was afraid that her mother would disapprove of Jong Kook like how she did with her previous CEO boyfriend.

Her mother took Ji Hyo’s two hands and patted them fondly. “I can see that both you and Jong Kook like each other a lot. I’m happy that you found someone you love and he loves you in return.” Ji Hyo smiled lightly at her mother’s statements but she remained apprehensive.

“I’m not saying this because Jong Kook had come to our place at an inappropriate timing. I understand that he was squeezing time out from his overseas trip to make this detour to see you. He is mature, sensible and respectful. He will be someone you can depend on.” Ji Hyo looked at her mother searchingly, in anticipation for her next words.

Her mother stopped patting her hands but held onto them. “I just feel that you may love Jong Kook more than he loves you. I am not suggesting anything. I am not telling you to consider everyone who loves you. Perhaps you might want to consider Gary-ssi. I could see that you matters a lot to him.” Her mother had observed Gary’s little gestures like letting Ji Hyo walked half a step before him, how he had put her bag down with care and gentleness, and that he had turned around to take a last look at her before he went off even though she had already walked away.

“Mother, Gary and I are just friends!” Ji Hyo protested when her mother stopped her.

“Ji Hyo, as I have said, I am not suggesting anything. I’m just a selfish mother who wants my daughter to be happy. You are free to choose anyone who you think will bring you happiness. I’m confident that you would make the right choice and I will always support your choice.” Her mother got up from her bed, gave her head a light pat and left her room.

(29.09.2013)