| Fan Fiction |
by shattered teardrops
Yi Jung had been deeply enraged by Joon Pyo’s complete reverse flip in demeanor, reasoning and behavior. Deny as he tried, hurting Jan Di was part of the reason why he flared up instantly. He had warned Joon Pyo right from the start. If he was going to hurt Jan Di in the end, he might just as well be frank with her and tell her that he wasn’t really serious with her. How could he? How could he have the nerve to just leave the girl hanging unto a mere promise? How could he have led her on?
Yi Jung was one who had cynical views on the idea of having a serious romantic relationship. However, seeing how Joon Pyo had changed when he met Jan Di, the possibility of actually having a serious relationship made him wonder if he, too, could have that same sort of connection with a woman. Someone who would actually be brave enough to scold him yet would also be sweet enough to melt away his anger and resentments.
And now that Joon Pyo had turned his back on the girl to whom he left his words of promise, Yi Jung could only grit his teeth in disgust. If he was only going to hurt her, why did he even lead her on? Wouldn’t that be too cruel? At least, with him and his girls, he had been honest to each and every one of them right from the start. No one clings and no strings attached. Simple, clean cut, no complications.
Yi Jung, Woo Bin and Ji Hoo decided to play hide and seek like they used too, only this time, Jun Pyo was not with them, and instead, they had Jan Di. Woo Bin became the ‘it’ and as he counted, the rest of them began to hide. Each one of them wore an intricately designed mask. His was silver colored with gold linings and sparkly gold glitters. Much like the Phantom, Yi Jung hid behind the mask and hid himself well.
For a brief moment, he wondered how nice it was to play hide and seek. He had always been hidden. He always kept things bottled up inside him. Would someone eventually find him? Would someone even try to bring him out of his hiding place? The one woman he had thought who would find him, never did. Would someone ever come? Yi Jung smiled acridly behind the mask as he hid from Woo Bin. Why fill himself up with hopes when in the end, he knew that his fate was to end up like his Father?
However, a thought occurred to him… Perhaps, he may remain hidden, he may remain alone… But it would be really nice to hear someone say, ‘I found you…’, wouldn’t it? Yes, Yi Jung was both a Casanova and a Phantom. The Casanova wanted someone who could catch him. The Phantom wanted someone who would find him. In order to tame So Yi Jung, two tasks were obliged to be done. However, these two tasks remained hidden. No one has really bothered to get to know him. So perhaps, he was meant to be alone.
From where he was hiding, Yi Jung had a perfectly clear view of where Ji Hoo and Jan Di were hidden. Slowly, almost warily, Yi Jung took off his mask to reveal melancholy written all over his face. He looked away, unable to continue looking at how Jan Di pitifully cried behind the mask. This was one of the things he hated the most. He had been right from the very start. People like him and the other F4 were only meant to hurt the people they love. In order not to hurt any more people, Yi Jung had decided early on, that it be best if he did not love. That was why pushing Ga Eul away was the most logical thing to do to avoid unwanted complications.
-oOo-
“Ga Eul-yang… Uh… Well…” Seung Hyun hesitantly called out and looked at Ga Eul with a hopeful expression written across his features. He was trying to ask Ga Eul out for some volunteer work in an orphanage where his Aunt worked but was doing poorly at it since he looked abashed and completely baffled.
“What is it?” She asked, her eyes were round and expectant.
“Well… I was… Uhm, I’d like to know if you’re going to be free this Sunday…” He began. For some unknown reason, he could not bring himself to meet Ga Eul’s eyes as he spoke. He looked at every possible direction except towards Ga Eul’s face and Ga Eul did not fail to see this.
“Seung Hyun!” Ga Eul called out and touched Seung Hyun’s arm which was leaning on the table, trying to calm him down. Apparently, her action caused him to be wide-eyed shocked as he stared at Ga Eul’s hand touching his arm. Seung Hyun had it bad for Ga Eul. It was quite amusing to see how one fully grown, bad-boy-looking man look so helpless and unsure of himself in front of lovely little Ga Eul. “Relax… What is it about this Sunday?” Ga Eul asked.
This time, Seung Hyun was no longer able to avoid her eyes. “Well, it’s the foundation day of the orphanage where my Aunt worked and… I was thinking that if you’re up for it, we can do some little volunteer work for the kids…” He finally explained. “It’s not a date! Just… purely volunteer work.” He later added with a tense and upturned expression on his face. Seriously, Seung Hyun needed to relax.
Ga Eul chuckled hearing his last statement. “Araso… I don’t have anything planned so I guess we could go together then.” Ga Eul smiled then stood up from the table to greet the newly arrived customers to the bakery. She didn’t see how Seung Hyun breathed out a sigh of relief as a smile finally made its way to his lips.
Sunday soon came. Seung Hyun fetched Ga Eul from their house and after which, they went to the orphanage together. Since Jan Di was still in Macau, Ga Eul still could not get in touch with her friend. Yi Jung hasn’t also called her to update her about how Jan Di was doing. She was getting worried but tried to appease herself by thinking of Yi Jung’s promise to her. She just hoped that the man kept his word or else.
As soon as Ga Eul and Seung Hyun arrived by the orphanage, Seung Hyun was soon surrounded by little kids eager to play with him. Obviously, Seung Hyun was a popular guest of the orphanage since most of the kids felt familiar with him. Ga Eul only smile at the scene she witnessed. Seung Hyun didn’t only turn out to be her savior. He was also a big brother to more than twenty kids inside the orphanage.
“Hyung! Who’s the pretty lady? Is she your girlfriend?” A little boy asked as he pointed at Ga Eul. Seung Hyun briefly looked up at Ga Eul, only for their eyes to meet. Ga Eul smiled sweetly while Seung Hyun could only smile uncomfortably. He was being a little embarrassed by the kids’ behavior but tried to act nonchalant about it.
“Uhm… Listen, everyone!” Seung Hyun intensified the volume of his voice so that the children would listen. “Uh, this is Ga Eul-sshi, she’s a classmate of mine back then… So, I asked her if she would like to visit you guys and fortunately, she agreed. She’s here to play with us now.” Seung Hyun announced. The children cheered in glee and soon after, Ga Eul found herself being introduced to lots of different children. Most of the girls clung to her and was eager to play with her.
“Noona, what do you think of Seung Hyun-hyung?” The same little boy who asked if she was Seung Hyun’s girlfriend earlier, asked another trivial question which made both Ga Eul and Seung Hyun a little uncomfortable. Upon hearing the little boy’s question, the other kids flocked around Ga Eul as well, waiting for an answer. Ga Eul smiled uncomfortably, trying to think of an appropriate answer so that the children will not misunderstand.
“Uh… Seung Hyun… He’s a nice guy. Don’t you think so?” She replied with a smile.
“So you like him?” Another follow up question from the little boy.
“Ehh…” This time, Seung Hyun found himself anticipating Ga Eul’s reply. He didn’t even make any attempt to disrupt the question. Instead, he even listened attentively. “Well, uh, Seung Hyun is my friend so… Sure, I like him.” Ga Eul’s feeble yet positive response earned the cheers of the children. If that question would have been asked to her years before, she would have, no doubt, answered a straight yes. But now, though Seung Hyun was her first love, she still couldn’t keep her mind off a certain potter. That settled fact certainly spoke its own magnanimity for itself.
“Hyung! Ga Eul-noona likes you! You have a girlfriend now!” The little boy formed a thumb up sign at Seung Hyun and grinned. The other kids joined in as well and began teasing Ga Eul and Seung Hyun. Ga Eul simply smiled while Seung Hyun was clearly affected. It was obvious from the way his face flushed crimson and how his features expressed discomfort and embarrassment.
Aside from Ga Eul and Seung Hyun, there were other volunteers who came and spent some time with the children. Tasks were divided among volunteers. Seung Hyun and Ga Eul were assigned to cook lunch. The two of them were left alone inside the kitchen to cook up something for the children as well as the volunteers. Since Ga Eul had learned how to cook from her mother and also worked on the porridge shop, she was well acquainted with cooking and what was ought to be done. She was completely in contrast to the very clueless Seung Hyun who only looked at her in awe.
“Yah, are you just going to continue staring at me like that?” Ga Eul’s voice woke Seung Hyun up from his trance, causing his face to flush a crimson hue. That was very embarrassing. But apparently, Ga Eul was too focused on her work to pay attention to the very obvious signs that Seung Hyun liked her.
“What am I supposed to do?” Seung Hyun asked.
“You can start by dicing the carrots.” Ga Eul instructed. As soon as Seung Hyun began working on the carrots, the kitchen was filled with working noise. “Uh, Seung Hyun, if you don’t mind me asking, how long have you been visiting this orphanage?” Ga Eul decided to start a conversation.
“Uh, quite a few years now… My Aunt worked here as a charity worker before. She has to take care of my little sister now so she doesn’t come by often anymore.” He replied, continuing to dice the carrots as best as he could.
“I see… No wonder those kids were so familiar with you.” By then, Ga Eul was already
Seung Hyun chuckled. “Yeah, you could say that… I guess I was the big brother they never had… That’s why I try to come by whenever I have time.”
Ga Eul smiled. “That’s really nice of you…” She complimented. Suddenly, the loud banging sound of the knife landing violently on the chopping disk caught Ga Eul’s attention. She looked at Seung Hyun and was surprised to see a look of pure shock and amazement on his face. And his hand… was bleeding without him noticing it. “Seung Hyun! You’re hand!” Ga Eul immediately pulled him up and led him to the sink to wash off hid bleeding hand with running water. His face remained passive and unresponsive though. “Aish… You should be careful when handling knives. Did you think your finger was also a carrot to have sliced it like this?” Ga Eul began ranting off.
“Can you… repeat what you said?” Seung Hyun whispered, looking intently at Ga Eul.
“I said, did you think your finger was also a carrot?” Ga Eul said without paying much attention.
“No, not that… The one about me being nice…” Seung Hyun’s face continued to be passive and expectant as he talked to Ga Eul. He didn’t seem to mind that he had just cut his finger and it was now bleeding. His eyes even looked at how Ga Eul held his hand and washed it by the sink.
“Oh, that… Well, I said it was really nice of you to keep coming here…” Ga Eul replied, still not paying much attention to how Seung Hyun looked at her. When Seung Hyun’s finger stopped bleeding, Ga Eul held it in front of her face and examined it carefully. She handled his hand with so much care that Seung Hyun didn’t seem to feel any whatsoever pain at all. Ga Eul’s touch was more than any form of medicine put together.
Ga Eul was in the position of holding Seung Hyun’s hand and examining it in front of her face when the kitchen door suddenly swung open, revealing the most unexpected person to arrive in the vicinity: the Casanova, So Yi Jung. For a moment, he was taken aback when he saw Ga Eul holding the man named TOP’s hand.
“Yi Jung…” Came Ga Eul’s soft gush the moment she saw Yi Jung. For a moment, she thought she was dreaming. “How… You’re back from Macau?” She asked.
Yi Jung nodded to hide his discomfort as he looked at Ga Eul and the man whose hand she held. Something was definitely up. Yi Jung could tell from the way TOP had looked at him sharply. “I just arrived and I thought I should… see you…” He finally found his voice upon recovering from his surprise.
“But how did you… I mean, how did you know I’m here?” Ga Eul asked.
“Well, I have a Chu Ga Eul GPS tracker.” Yi Jung said in a cold attempt for a joke, his eyes not leaving Seung Hyun. Apparently, his joke sounded cold due to his incapability of hiding his animosity towards the other man inside the room. Fueled more by the fact that the first thing he saw when he entered was Ga Eul and Seung Hyun holding hands.
“Ehh?” Ga Eul asked questioningly. GPS tracker? What was he talking about?
“I mean… That’s not important. What’s important is I came to see you…” He said. “…About Jun Pyo and Jan Di…” He quickly added.
“Uhm… I hope you don’t mind if I say this, but, can it wait until later? Seung Hyun and I still have to prepare lunch for the children and the volunteers.” Ga Eul explained, recognizing the limited time they were given to finish preparing lunch. “You could sit down and wait if you want.” She added and went back to checking Seung Hyun’s hand. She got a handy bandage from her bag and carefully bandaged Seung Hyun’s finger.
“Araso… I can wait…” Yi jung replied secretly sulking. He had come straight from the airport to see Ga Eul, hoping to tell her that he had fulfilled his promise of making sure that Jan Di was well taken care of. However, it was him who was clearly surprised. He was even appalled due to the fact that Ga Eul had brushed him aside to prioritize making lunch first with that man Seung Hyun. However, no matter how much Yi Jung secretly sulked, he kept his demeanor pleasant and deceitful as he watched Ga Eul move about inside the kitchen. She was clearly comfortable in moving about with cooking and Yi Jung was quite thankful enough to see that side of her. What hindered his simple joy, however, was a man going by the name of Seung Hyun, who assisted Ga Eul as she cooked and who threw menacing glares at him. Looks like the rivalry has begun.
To Be Continued…
- - - - - - - - - -Preview of Chapter Sixteen:”Bring on the Competition”
“Funny Bones?” Ga Eul asked. She was obviously clueless as to how the game was played and looked at Seung Hyun for help, who apparently, also shrugged since he, himself didn’t know the mechanics of the game. Instead, they listened to the charity worker who explained the whole concept of the game. Beside Ga Eul was Yi Jung who looked like he was a little uncomfortable. On his face was a charming smile and even the children were dazzled by it, however, though the children were indeed fun to be with, Yi Jung could not bring himself to sincerely smile.
“Ga Eul-noona, Funny Bones is to be played by partners, you and Seung Hyun-hyung should pair up!” A little boy spoke up, and was soon seconded by the other children. Again, Ga Eul and Seung Hyun found themselves in a pretty uncomfortable situation as they looked at each other. They didn’t notice how the smile on another man’s face suddenly wavered.
-oOo-
a/n: muhahahaha You're jealous, Yi Jung, aren't you?
-oOo-
Date Written: March18,’09
Date Posted: March21,'09