Ji Hoo got control of his feelings and talked a lot to Mandy, on phone and on the ipad. The ipad had become his newest friend as he spent his most free time with it; most of the time on video chat with Mandy. Once on video chat, Ji Hoo had also talked to Gagan, when he gave a surprise visit to Mandy; it had gone something like this.

Flashback

“Hey Babu listen; don’t bring too many formal clothes with you, like the ones you wear usually.” Mandy said.

“But I would have to bring clothes for the wedding right?” Ji Hoo said

“No, don’t. I told you na that my designer is working on all your clothes.”

“When did you tell me this?”

“I didn’t? I remember telling this to someone”

“You must have talked to someone else in the gang”

“Oh, yeah; I told the others, but you had ran out of the room” Mandy said

“Oh” Ji Hoo said

Just then Gagan entered Mandy’s room and she looked up from the screen and a frown came on her features.

“What is it?” Ji Hoo asked when he saw Mandy’s change of expression.

“Not happy to see your hubby?” Gagan grinned at her

“You are not my hubby” Mandy stated as Gagan kissed her cheek.

“Yeah well, I will be. So why delay the inevitable?” Gagan grinned at her and then turned to the screen “Who are you?” Gagan said to Ji Hoo

“That’s my best friend” Mandy said in an irritated yet fond way; she didn’t like how Gagan always invaded her personal space but liked how he did these sweet things for her, like pooping in for a quick hello; sending her flowers now and then for no reason; and he had been a gentleman all the way.

“That doesn’t look like Niya” Gagan said. Ji Hoo was silent.

 “He’s my other best friend, Yoon Ji Hoo” she said to Gagan.

“Nice to meet you” Gagan smiled at him formally

She then turned to Ji Hoo “Babu, this is Gagan” she said gesturing to her future husband.

“Hello” Ji Hoo said weakly

“’Babu’?” Gagan said with raised eyebrows “Where’s my nickname?” he demanded

“You will get one when you deserve one; now go and pester someone else” she said smiling

“You know you love me” Gagan grinned as he got up from beside her

“In your dreams” she said rolling her eyes, smiling continuously. And then Gagan exited the room.

“He seems…… uh… nice?” Ji Hoo said in an uncertain way

“You can say whatever you want to him, I really don’t mind; probably because he deserves it.”

Ji Hoo gave a questioning look.

“What?!” Mandy asked in a defensive way

“He is your future husband you know, and still you talk about him like that?”

“Hell would freeze over before I change myself for a guy” Mandy said as a matter of fact.

“Tell me something I don’t know, but don’t your parents disapprove?”

“You are such a pabo you know; the way we carry ourselves in public is acting, the way we are together when no one is around is real; this is how we have been since we were kids.” Ji Hoo didn’t get to respond as Gagan peeped in from the doors.

“What does ‘pabo’ mean?” Gagan asked

“Yah! Why are you still here?” Mandy shouted at him

“Nowadays I can seriously not understand half of the things you say to me; there is a whole other lingo you use” Gagan said. He ignored the death glare Mandy was sending his way and sat beside her on the bed.

“These are Korean words” Mandy said with a huff.

“You learnt the language? That too in one year? Good” Gagan said, feeling impressed

“I had a good teacher” Mandy said smugly and gestured to the screen

“Pranam Gurudev” Gagan said in a teasing tone as he folded his hands in front of his forehead and bowed lightly to the screen. Gagan didn’t expect Ji Hoo to understand what he said, but Ji Hoo surprised him when he replied back “Khush raho”

“What the hell!” Gagan exclaimed “How do you know…?”

“I had a good teacher too” Ji Hoo looked at Mandy and smiled.

“We had an exchange deal; he teaches me Korean, I teach him Punjabi” Mandy explained

“But what I said was Hindi” Gagan said

This time Ji Hoo answered “We watched a lot of Hindi movies together” he said

“Those were such awesome nights!” Mandy said remembering their movie nights, held every Saturday.

“Nights?!” Gagan asked arching a brow

“I don’t think you have any right to ask for further explanation after the kind of record you have had” Mandy snapped back

“Record?” Ji Hoo asked

“Yi Jung and Woo Bin are like boys in front of this guy” Mandy said to Ji Hoo, while gesturing to Gagan. Then she explained more to him “He is a fashion photographer” Mandy said

“Oh, like Connor Mead huh?” Ji Hoo asked

“Actually yeah…” Mandy said with a thoughtful look in her eyes. She then turned to Gagan “Yah! Did you get visited by ghosts of your past girlfriends?”

“What? What are you talking about? And who is Connor Mead?” Gagan asked

“It’s a character of a Hollywood romantic comedy called Ghosts of Girlfriends Past; based on the story line of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, where the lead- Connor Mead- is a philanderer and doesn’t believe in love, but to get him on the right track, he is visited by ghost of his uncle, who put him on this path first. The lead is visited by his past girlfriends’ ghosts and then turns back to his childhood crush in the end.” Ji Hoo said

“oh, Oh, OH!” Gagan said as realization struck him. “Even though there is striking similarity in our professions and reputation, I am nothing like this character. I didn’t come to you because I was afraid that there will be no one left for me; I came because I wanted to” Gagan said, looking straight in Mandy’s eyes

“Fine, as you say” Mandy said half- heartedly

“You seriously need to work on your self esteem. I asked you to marry me because I like you; I’ll never mislead you or lie to you in such matters and you know it.” Gagan said, kissed Mandy’s forehead and left.

End of Flashback

That night Ji Hoo was not really in the best of moods.

“What’s the matter with you today, you look more down than everyday else” Harbeoji commented during dinner.

“I talked to Mandy’s future husband today” he said

“What was he like?”

“Kind of good looking” Ji Hoo said sourly

“I didn’t ask about his looks” Harbeoji smiled at him

“I don’t know; he seemed to like Mandy a lot” Ji Hoo answered

“I meant as a person”

“I didn’t talk to him that long; he just interrupted Mandy while she was talking to me on video chat, and she introduced us. But he seemed like a funny person; he would keep her happy.”

“That sweet girl deserves it” Harbeoji said

“Harbeoji?” Ji Hoo asked after a few minutes’ silence

“Yes”

“Why did you call her a lily?”

“Because she is like one” his grandfather smiled

“But how?” Ji Hoo insisted

“A lily is a very non-conventional flower, but a flower indeed. On the outside it may seem that it’s strong and independent, but like any other flower, it also needs care and love. It’s a very open flower, welcoming everyone to seek help if they want, with not many complexities to it, just a simple structure; and the fragrance is so sweet that anyone around it feels happy.”

“That is exactly like her” Ji Hoo said softly and a single tear streaked down his right cheek as he kept looking in the empty space. “She did make me happy” he added in a whisper, but then came back to the world.

“So, she asked me to ask you to come to her wedding” Ji Hoo said, turning towards his grandfather.

“I’ll try; if my health allows it, I’ll be there” Harbeoji said “But give her my best wishes, if I’m not able to go.”

This was more of a filler chapter really

and i know that you all are eager for the Mandy/Ji Hoo moments but you gotta wait a bit

Have patience people

and let me know how you like it or even if you don't

all sorts of comments are welcome ^^