Closing The Distance

Chapter 1

It had been six months since HE left. Six months of agony, of misery and of longing. SHE missed his occasional visits, his frequent seductive smiles, and the warmth that coursed through her whole being by just being near him. In those six months, other than the occasional ‘newsfeed’ from the F4 on his life in Sweden, she had yet to hear anything from him. After the near ‘confession’ before he left, she had been ecstatic. But after the long months of silence, she had begun to lost hope. Where were all the daily emails or smses? Where were all the sweet nothings in the form of letters or parcels from Sweden? She felt that, with the passing of each day, she was just clinging on to the empty words that had descended from a Casanova’s mouth, no less. On second thoughts, she had probably read too much into his words when he ‘confessed’ that she would be the first person he would look for when he returned four years later. Still she, Chu GaEul, the ever romantic fool, refused to lose the last shred of hope, even as she became more and more disillusioned and disappointed with the passing of yet another day without any contact with So YiJung.

It has been six months since SHE was gone. Six months of agony, of misery and of longing. HE missed her adorable blushes, her radiant smiles and the warmth that coursed through his whole being by just being near her. In those six months, he had deliberately kept his contact with her to the bare minimal, only asking after her subtly through JunPyo (who in turn asked Jandi), afraid that his other two buddies would somehow manage to see through his nonchalant façade and spot the special place in his heart which he had reserved for his country bumpkin. He had to keep himself from seeking direct contact with her, afraid that his frequent contact was going to hinder her search for her soulmate. He knew she had a huge crush on him, but that did not mean that he was going to be her destined soulmate, as much as he would like to be. It was only fair. Which was why he had asked his men to keep frequent tabs on her before he left. And report to him only about every day. Right. So YiJung, the incurable Casanova, could hardly wait for the four years to pass, before he could keep his promise and claim the heart of his special country bumpkin, Chu GaEul.

Chapter 2

SHE sat down hard at her desk. Her mind was in a whirl. Momentarily, she jerked out of her trance and snatched the file up. Her finger traced the words ‘Sweden’ in wonder and disbelief. She pinched herself HARD. When the pain coursed through her body, she gave a silly grin. The thought of breathing the same air as HIM almost split her face into two as she gave in to the uncontrollable urge to laugh and dance around her cubicle. She, Chu GaEul, was going to Sweden. SWEDEN!!

After her graduation, GaEul had managed to find a job as an assistant at an Art Gallery. Earlier that morning, she had been summoned into the office where she was duly informed by her snotty superior, Miss Kim, that they would be making an overseas trip to Sweden to purchase some art for the gallery. Her eyes had gone wide when she heard ‘Sweden’, and with all the thoughts whirling wildly in her mind, she could hardly care less when she was given a thirty minute lecture by Miss Kim on how fortunate she was to be given this opportunity to travel overseas, and how she hoped GaEul would treasure the opportunity and not mess up the whole project with her clumsiness and absentmindedness. GaEul knew that she was under qualified for the job, but she loved Art, especially pottery, which the gallery had a collection of. She had been hired because of her knowledge of pottery (thanks to her frequent hangouts with YiJung), and while she is definitely not the most astute assistant, she has nevertheless put in a great amount of effort in her work. On her first day of work, she had been awed by Miss Kim. She looked like all the socialites she had seen at JunPyo’s birthday party, only more beautiful and more glamourous. But she soon learnt that beneath the lovely façade lies a woman who was really quite hideous. Still, being GaEul, she still showed Miss Kim due respect, despite the woman’s snobby attitude towards all the other employees.

And at this moment, GaEul wanted to hug and kiss Miss Kim for the wonderful ‘opportunity’. She could even forgive her for all the snide comments and remarks she had made on her person, clothing and taste. All along, her only hope of seeing YiJung was for him to travel back to Korea for some engagement he could not miss. She had never dreamt that one day she would be able to travel to him herself. All the longing, all the worry and all the second guessing were going to be things of the past now. She, GaEul, would be able to see for herself whether he was doing fine, whether he was missing her, and ask him why the hell had he not contacted her at all without having to probe Jandi (and hence JunPyo sunbae) not too subtly to find out. She pushed the nagging worry that she might accidentally see YiJung sunbae with Swedish girlfriends hanging around him to the back of her mind. At this moment, she only wanted to hug the knowledge that she was going to be much, much nearer him to herself, and let that silly huge grin carry her though her day.

*

“You are going to Sweden?” three voices chorused in unison. She had just broken her happy news to Jandi, WooBin sunbae and JiHoo sunbae. She nodded enthusiastically, the silly grin still plastered to her face. “Next week, I’ll be setting off!” She replied gleefully. The trio was already engaged in a heated discussion. GaEul could hardly care. No one was going to burst her bubble. The air ticket and the company’s confirmation letter were already stashed in her handbag. She was definitely going to Sweden.

Meanwhile, the trio was debating whether they should let GaEul meet YiJung. Jandi was protesting vehemently, that after six months of painstakingly keeping GaEul away from the dangerous Casanova, they were so not going to send her precious lamb to the mouth of the lion’s den again. JiHoo and WooBin, on the other hand, were all for letting GaEul go to Sweden, and were wondering why the hell they had not thought of this splendid idea before. Then JunPyo would stop pestering them about GaEul just so that he could appease YiJung. And imagine how surprised YiJung would be to see the woman he had been thinking of even before he left! Jandi was exasperated, but the two men were already thinking about how they were going to break the news to YiJung and guessing how YiJung would react to this bit of news.

“Would you be alright, GaEul? Alone in Sweden?” the argument finally died down, with Jandi being overruled. GaEul was going to Sweden to work. There was no way she could prevent GaEul from going to Sweden. “Hello, are you forgetting our dearest buddy, So YiJung? GaEul could stay with him!!” WooBin was almost beside himself, as he imagined YiJung bestowing his prized white jade figurine on him when he learnt that he Song WooBin was the mastermind behind this scheme. If looks could kill, he would have died a thousand times all over at Jandi’s hands. Oops. “No! I have accommodation provided by the Gallery.” GaEul was jolted out of her daydreams, and the thought of cohabitating with YiJung made her blush profusely.

“Sunbae, may I have his address? Please?” GaEul finally managed to get to the main point of her visit.