Chapter 17

Ji Won stepped out of her car, locked its door and walked to her apartment building.

"I'll pick you up at 10am."

She couldn't remember the last time she'd fixated so much on six little words. Especially six little words that in a different context would have been perfectly non-threatening and perhaps welcome. Not that she knew if they were exactly unwelcome, either. She hadn't known what to expect when she agreed to meet Shin at the museum but now she knew she was even more confused than ever. What the hell was going on in his head? Or in hers for that matter?

She was still pondering this when she heard someone call out her name. She turned around to find Joon Young sitting on the curb.

She turned away and groaned. Did she really need this? She was stressed enough as it was. She took a deep breath and went into stealth mode. Maybe, just maybe if she pretended not to see him, he'd take the hint and go away. When she got closer to the building entrance, she picked up her pace and practically ran to it.

"Ji Won ah," she heard just as she was about to reach for the door.


"Ji Won ah! Ji Won ah! Ji Won!" he repeated loudly. "Ji Won ah, you're here! My beautiful Ji Won… Ji Won ah… Won-Won…."

One of her neighbor's gave her a weird look as he walked past her and she turned around and watched as Joon Young staggered towards her.

She shook her head in disgust and hissed. "You're drunk," she said redundantly. She took two steps back and leaned against the wall next to the door. "What do you want?" she asked, scrunching her nose. Even if she'd been in a bar, she doubted it would have reeked so much of alcohol.

Joon Young smiled brightly as she walked to her. "Wonnie, I'm so glad to see you," he said, reaching for her. She stepped aside to avoid his touch and he kept staggering till he hit the door. "Wonniebabybooboo…"

Ji Won grimaced. In the years she'd known him, she'd only seen him drunk a handful of times and never in those times had he taken to calling her ridiculous pet names. She sighed. Whatever was going on with him, it was obviously something awful and even though she didn't want to, she couldn't help but care. She lowered her voice. "Joon Young, what do you want?"

He pointed at the door. "Let's go in and talk," he said, slurring his words.

She shook her head. "Say what you want to say here."

He slumped against the door and slid down to the ground. "Wonnie…."



***

Ji Won stood over Joon Young's body sprawled across her couch. Shortly after she'd dragged him into the apartment, he'd fallen on it and passed out.

She sighed as she knelt beside his body. Why did she have to spend her evening taking care of a drunk ex? It wasn't like she had a whole bunch of things planned but babysitting Joon Young was certainly not on the agenda. She thought of calling his dad or one of his friends to pick him up but she thought better of it. Joon Young could be quite proud and if she let someone get him, she knew that he'd be very embarrassed the next morning.

She smiled to herself as she held onto his left leg and took off the shoe. How sad was it that even through all he'd put her through, she still cared about his feelings? She didn't care about him the way she had that evening she'd agreed to be his wife but they'd been together for a long time and on most of those days, he'd made her happy. Very happy. And even though things had ended badly, looking at him breathing softly, looking just like the man she'd been in love with, she was surprised to discover that she no longer regretted all the years they'd spent together. They'd made a lot of pleasant memories together and even though she could no longer treasure them close to her heart, she still couldn't help but think of them fondly, after all, as far as she was concerned, their love had been real and there was no point thinking of that love as wasted.

She stood up and grabbed the blanket she'd pulled out of the closet. And as she placed it over him, she couldn't help but notice that he looked like he'd lost at least ten pounds since she'd seen him that fateful day at the restaurant.


She grabbed a pillow, placed it under his head then stood up straight and turned around. As she walked to the kitchen to find something to eat, she realized that after all was said and done, no matter what happened in the future, above it all, she wished him a happy life.





***

Ji Won woke up to the sound of the shower running and Joon Young humming. Disoriented, she automatically smiled till she remembered what year it was and what had transpired the previous night. Joon Young thought he had far more singing talent than he actually possessed so Ji Won had woken up far too many times to the sound of him singing at the top of his lungs and apparently, that aspect of his personality still remained. She got off her bed, threw on her robe and as she walked towards her bedroom door, she slowly picked up the scent of cooked bacon. She didn't even have to open her door to know that she'd walk over to her dinning table and find two place settings and a plate of bacon and another filled with spicy scrambled eggs. It had been a Joon Young staple and apparently that was another thing about him that hadn't changed.

She walked around her bedroom at the same moment Joon Young walked out in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully.

Ji Won nodded and looked away. "Good morning to you too."

"I see you still have my towel," he said, tapping his waist.

"It's not yours," she replied walking past him.

"But I'm the only that ever uses it."

She stopped walking and turned her head. She wasn't in the mood for a trip down memory lane. "Are you sure?" she asked and after missing a beat and letting that sink in, resumed walking till she was at the dinning table.


"You didn't have to do this," she said, staring down at the table.

"It's only breakfast – no big deal. It's just like old times, don't you think?" he asked before disappearing back into the shower to get dressed.

A few minutes later, he was out and dressed in his previous day's clothing. After apologizing for his drunken behavior, he looked around the room. "I really miss this apartment," he said, walking over to Ji Won who was sitting at the dinning table staring at the untouched food. "I'm hungry." He pulled out a chair and sat down. "It's funny," he said, reaching for one of the plates, "but my eggs always taste better here."

Ji Won watched him dish himself some food and after a few moments, said, "What do you want, Joon Young?"

"You," he said, before laughing uneasily. Then the smile disappeared from his face. "I want you back, Ji Won."

She folded her arms across her chest. "You can't be serious," she hissed, looking directly into his eyes.

He looked away and picked up his fork. "I'm dead serious. Doesn't this feel like old times? Don't you want this again? We've both had our fun so let's get back together," he said before scooping some scrambled eggs into his mouth. He smiled at her as he chewed his food.


Ji Won sighed. Did he really think that his charm still worked on her? How couldn't he see something that was so obvious to her? How couldn't he see that he was wasting his time?

He kept smiling at her but when all he got back were blank stares, he dropped the act. "I lost two contracts yesterday," he suddenly said solemnly. He looked uneasy as he picked up a slice of bacon.


"I'm sorry about that."

"One moment I was in my office talking to my former client and the next moment I was sitting at your doorstep. If you asked me what happened in between, I couldn't say." He paused to take a sip of orange juice. "All these months… I've not been myself. And it's because we're not together, Ji Won."

"You left me standing at the altar, Joon Young. You didn't even bother to show up or call me. You just left me standing there and sent a message through your friend. That's why we are not together."

He lowered his eyes. "It was a mistake that I'll regret for the rest of my life. But I love you. When I saw you with that guy," he said, his voice cracking, "I was so disgusted. I couldn't believe what you'd done but now I know I pushed you to him. Now, I understand that it's all my fault." He lifted his eyelids and looked directly into her eyes. "After all this time, I still love you."

"I don't love you, though."

"Stop trying to hurt me. We were in love together, remember? So I know exactly how much you loved me and I know it's not that easy for you to forget it."

"I haven't forgotten but I don't want it anymore." She leaned back into her chair and began to rock it.


"Because of that guy?" he asked, avoiding her eyes.


"No. Because you left me standing at the altar, Joon Young."

He looked up at her face and in a small voice said, "Can't you forgive me for that?"

Ji Won didn't think the question was worthy of a response.


"If you really loved me, you'd forgive me."

"If you really loved me, you'd have married me," she countered.

"I wasn't ready then, but I'm ready now. I was too stupid to see what I was sacrificing then but now I know that I need you in my life," he said in a pleading tone. He reached across and placed his palm over her hand which was laying on the table. "Please take me back." He looked around the room and smiled. "Don't you like how this feels? Seeing you first thing in the morning.... It feels great eating next to you and seeing you with your hair all tousled up wearing a battered old t-shirt with holes in it." He chuckled. "Let's get back together."

Ji Won covered his hand with her other hand and looked him directly in the eye. "Let's not talk about this anymore, okay? I'm never getting back with you so let this discussion end here forever." She took a deep breath in then patted his hand like a teacher would do to a 2nd grader. "Why don't you finish your breakfast while I go and take a shower? And oh, I have some things for you."



***

Ji Won played with the huge square cut diamond ring between her fingers and scoffed. At one point, she'd found it exquisite but now it was bordering on gaudy. She'd initially planned on returning it along with the other things Joon Young had left in her apartment but at the last minute, had decided against it.

She realized that she might be considered petty for holding onto the ring especially as returning it would also cut any ties that she might have with him, but on the other hand, she just didn't feel that he deserved to get it back. Why should he be able to return the ring and recoup some losses for an engagement he'd broken? She didn't plan on actually doing anything with it, but for now, the ring could keep on occupying the top drawer of her dressing table. She looked at it one more time before tossing it in its usual place.


Joon Young had only just left but when she walked into her living room, she noticed that he'd forgotten to take the jacket he'd worn the previous night so she quickly picked it up, grabbed her phone and ran out of her apartment.



***



Shin stifled a yawn as he tried to find a radio station that played music that made sense. He didn't consider himself a stiff old fuddy-duddy but he sometimes wondered if the youth of today were hearing impaired.

He was still searching for a station when he noticed a figure walk out of Ji Won's building. Since he was well aware of her penchant for earliness, he'd parked outside her apartment at around 9:25 am to surprise her. When he saw that it was a man walking out, he almost looked away till he realized that there was something familiar about him. He was still racking his brain trying to come up with a connection when he saw the man answer his phone then turn around and shortly after, when he saw him run up to the woman walking out of the building with a jacket in her hand, his heart stopped.