Love Unexpectedly

TIFFANY – HYUNJOONG SIDESTORY

Today, then tomorrow, even when time goes by

Forever you are the gem in me

~ Ring (Tiffany, SNSD)

Her lids were closing... slowly closing and scenes were flashing in her mind like some kaleidoscope turning and turning until she settled into a particular scene. But then, she jerked when her head fell on the bag on her lap. She looked around but her lids felt heavy again. Once more, she was back in that state and the kaleidoscope was moving and moving until…

Snap.

Hyun Joong smiled to himself, finally, the woman fell asleep. It was a frustrating sight already since he could not understand what the woman wanted to be-- awake or asleep. But now, she seemed to settle in this deep slumber with that little frown on her lips. The train came into a halt with majority of the passengers alighting and only a few boarding the train. They were almost at the farthest end so it was only them who occupied that space. She seemed to have dozed off fairly deep so he settled on to his seat across her and folded his arms on his chest.

The woman was Asian but he could not tell her nationality. Noticing her almost pale face, he could only guess Chinese, Japanese or even Korean. It was a rare sight on that part so he lingered on her facade. He started closing his eyes when suddenly, the woman opened hers quite in surprise.

“Omo... ottoke...”

That was enough to make him open his eyes again and looked at the woman. So she was Korean! What a surprising coincidence. The woman smiled when she met his eyes so he just gave her a tight-lipped one and diverted his gaze towards the other corner of the train. Not being a snob, but the time told him it was not a good idea to meet and chat with a stranger. Then he watched her at the corner of his eyes fumbling over her bag, retrieving a small book which he assumed to be the Travelers' Guide for the Dumb. He disguised a cough with a laugh at his own silly thought. The woman looked at him again with eyes that suddenly made him regret doing so.

“Uhm... ahhh... ha-- hallo...?”

“Hallo....” he replied under his breath when she greeted him with that unsure accent then started flipping the pages of her book. Hyun Joong decided to just look away since he was not really in the mood for a conversation despite how interesting this woman looked.

“Es tut mir leid... uhm-- uhhh....”

“You can speak Korean,” he said in his perfect Hangeul.

“Oh gosh! You're Korean!?”

The woman's face lit up like she has won a jackpot after he spoke. He nodded as she started blabbing about why she was there-- it turned out that she happened to be lost and didn’t know where on earth the train had taken her. 'Just as I thought,' he smiled to himself then seriously asked, “What hotel is it again?”

“Oh, it's the Hilton. I'm here for a convention. I was just wandering around and decided to take the train, get off on the first stop and go back.”

She sheepishly smiled while recounting her story. He noticed that this girl has an exceptionally special eye smile he hasn't seen from anyone for a long time. He sighed. He must stop feeling this weird reaction about this chatterbox for she has just invaded the silence he actually searched for in that train. Nodding listlessly, he muttered just as she was about to finish her story, “Since you're new here, I'll just take you there.”

“Really! Oh my gosh, it isn't a bad luck taking this train after all!”

The woman clasped her hands together and with that wide grin so he just nodded, closing his eyes once again to tell her he wasn't really interested in anything else that she was about to tell him.

“But, really, I mean, it was stupid for me to come here and all but I just met a Korean. It's weird right? Of all the places in the world, we got to meet here. Oh, by the way, my name's Tiffany.”

She went on and on but he remained quiet. Maybe the message he has been trying to transmit wasn't really clear. Or this one was kinda slow. It would be rude so he decided to keep his eyes open until they get to the next stop. He could not really interpret what was happening, but her reason for being on that train was his, as well. He decided to wander too, just to pass the time and maybe reminisce the last time he was in Vienna.

It has been five years since he brought Min Je there to propose but before he could pop the magic question, she revealed her own. She was pregnant but it was not his. He scoffed with the thought. He never thought she would do that to him—how the timid and almost introverted woman could actually do that. There was nothing for him to do but to break up with her. Of course, he offered to take responsibility for something he wasn't really responsible of but it was a good thing that she said no.

That was the time he realized his feelings for her was not that deep. Thinking about it, no woman has ever made him feel what most of his friends or even his brothers called love. Maybe he has a tough heart, as how his father put it. Maybe he was not that type to get knock on his feet and fall too deep for a woman. It would surely take a strong one to break him and make him do the unthinkable. He almost laughed with the thought. As he was having those reflections to himself, the woman was chatting away.

He felt sorry for not listening though.

A few minutes later, the train stopped, much to his satisfaction, so he motioned for her that they would be on their way. The whole time they were walking towards the ticket booth and while they were waiting for the train back, the woman didn't seem to get tired of talking. She was now telling him her life story which he wasn't really paying attention to.

It was past midnight but the girl's energy didn't seem to wane. She said it was okay for her to tell him those ironies of her family's story, which he found somewhat interesting. Anyways, she might be right. Suddenly, he felt like sharing his own-- maybe his failed love story, but he chose to keep his mouth shut. Besides, she was not yet done with her own storytelling.

They took the train back to her destination with her complaining how sleepy she was and how silly she might have looked a few hours ago. It made him smile a bit but he hid it. He didn't want to get too friendly with her since he needed to be true to his 'don't get too attached’ principle. Suddenly, as they sat side-by-side on the train again, she fell quiet. He crossed his arms on his chest and waited for her next batch of stories but there came none so he ly to see her eyes shut tight.

Hyun Joong smiled. Finally, she got tired and chatted her way to sleep.

Like the first time he was watching her, her head was bowed low and he thought it would surely kill the veins on her neck to have her sleep on that awkward position so he gently pulled her towards him and let her head fall on his shoulder. It was going to be a long ride back and he wouldn't mind lending his shoulder to this amusing stranger.

~~~

He sat up and watched her as the mellow glow of the lamp shade on her side made her look like a little baby. Smiling to himself, he ran a finger on her cheek which made her move a bit so he withdrew until she settled deeply on her pillow. Bending slowly, he replaced his fingers with his lips on her cheek and kissed her softly.

“Hmmm?”

Fany mumbled and opened one eye so he brushed his lips on hers, “Nothing.” It really felt good waking up in the middle of the night finding her beside him with her arm on his stomach. “I love you...”

“I love you, too.”

There was that sweet smile drawn on her lips that he could not help but to smile himself. This amusing woman has captured his elusive heart, his mother said. What she did to him was still a mystery for him. Before, he wondered how his friends, brothers and even his father have all been so taken by the women beside them, now he was finding the answers with her.

“Go back to sleep now.”

She said that, barely opening her eyes, so he laid himself back to bed pulling her gently towards him. He almost laughed when he felt something-- her baby bump was now getting in their way.

~~~

The convention was about to start and she was late so she hurried her way and missed the elevators. Cursing out loud, Tiffany took off her stilettos and rushed down using the stairs of the emergency exit, balancing her purse, laptop bag, organizer bag and her footwear. She didn't really care of people would see her that way and, luckily, she was all alone until she reached the main floor. She almost forgot to wear them back.

Panting, she stopped by the door before finally pushing it open and found herself almost crashing to someone. “Oh! It's you!” Her face lit up seeing him, “You work here?”

“Uh, h-hi...”

He said, a little unsure, as he surveyed her from head-to-toe, avoiding her question, so she just smiled sheepishly, “Is it starting?”

“Uhm, I think we have a few minutes more.”

Maybe he was a bit shy that he bumped into her, wearing that waiter outfit, she thought, so she did not dwell on it. The uniform suited him perfectly, anyway, she noted before asking, “Can I ask a favor?”

“Yes? What is it?”

She glanced towards the room and saw her colleague waving at her so she hurriedly requested, “Can you get me a glass of water?”

“Huh? A what?”

Finally, she has proven that the poor guy was suffering from bad hearing, “Water... can you get me water?”

“Oh... uh... I think, I can...”

“Great! I will be sitting over there,” she motioned and bowed before running off.

A few moments later, he walked to her placing the glass on the table. “Thanks!” She was about to lift the glass when she noticed the dew forming outside it, “Uh, I'm so sorry...”

“Yes? Is there anything else?”

“Hmmm... can you change this one? I can't drink cold water? Throat problem,” she b