Chapter 11

“Come, let’s dig in.” Shin invites Eunhye to start eating the Samgytang that was served in the little Korean eatery five minutes away from home.

“I’d picked out the bones.” Shin pushed the clay pot to Eunhye and smiled at her.

Eunhye is feeling all giddy with what has happened just half an hour ago.



** flash back **


“Hey, what is so funny?” Eunhye sulks.

“Nothing…” Shin continues laughing and then when he finally stopped, he signaled Eunhye to come near with his hand, which Eunhye obediently did.

Shin bends over and carefully pick out the little bit of tissue stuck to her left cheek near her mouth. Eunhye was a little taken aback… is he getting too comfortable with her or simply doesn’t know how he should observe the personal space between people… always so touchy with those around him? Maybe its because of his living in the States before… but he’s back in Korea now he should know to follow the culture. Shin could have told her and she could have removed it herself…. Eunhye complains in her heart but……. she couldn’t stop the fluttering in her heart as she froze in her seat!

“Close your eyes and don’t move, Shin-chan” Shin picks up a fresh piece of tissue and started wiping the tails of her eye brows and her temple.

“Shin-chan?” Eunhye shut her eyes closed, full of embarrassment now…. And so afraid to see the smirk on Shin’s face… she had used brow pencils to fill in her eye brows that morning… gosh… she must have smudged them when dabbing the tissues on her face just now… why must she always embarrass herself before him?! Tissue bits stuck on her face and now smudged eyebrows?!

As Shin goes about gently cleaning up Eunhye’s brows, he studies Eunhye’s face and features, lovely as they are, and for a while, he just stared at her pouting lips….

Sensing Shin has stopped cleaning her forehead, Eunhye opened her eyes to find Shin staring down at her… Eunhye remains frozen in her seat.

After ten seconds of silence, Shin finally spoke.

“Eunhye…”

“Yeeessss… Shin-goon…”

“Has anyone said you are very attractive?”

Eunhye could only stare back at Shin, at a total lost for words.

“I’m attracted to you. Deeply attracted.” Shin finally confessed.

“Shin-goon… I’m truly flattered…but I think we should keep our relationship at a professional level… you are the boss and I’m your assistant….”

“Are you rejecting me now?” Shin’s voice became lower than his usual speaking tone and Eunhye could sense his disappointment. She wonders what could she say to Shin to get her safely out of this situation. Even though she’s attracted to him as well… Eunhye is not confident of herself to believe that Shin is not pulling her leg.

“No… I mean… we hardly know each other… its barely a week since I started working with you…”

“So… you are not rejecting me… but the time length of our knowing each other is a concern to you?”

“Yeah.. sort of… and I wouldn’t want to make the same mistake twice.”

“But I have known you long enough! And, I’m not Ko Jun Kang, Eunhye..”

“Ko Jun Kang… you know Jun Kang ssi? How did you know him? How are you related to him?” Eunhye is surprised that Shin knows her former boyfriend, her first-love liar boyfriend. Eunhye sounded excited instead of shock. It came as a relief to Shin as he didn’t know how to tell her about them before.

“Eunhye… you had really forgotten about me didn’t you?” A smile finally came back to Shin’s face.

“Do I know you before this?” Eunhye asked back, twitching her now cleaned eyebrows.

“Where did we meet? How come I have no memory of you?” Eunhye continues to probe, determined to find out the story behind them – the two of them.

“Jun Kang is my buddy in high school… yes, we attended the same high school. You and me. And of course, Jun Kang.”

“On one of the community days, our classes happened to be assigned to visit the same orphanage, that’s when I first met you, but I guess I wasn’t every girl’s dream guy, nobody took notice of me, and I was so skinny back then, haha~”

“Oh!! Really?! All the girls must regret it once you release your album.” Eunhye flashed her toothy grin smile.

“Jun Kang and Tony were the two most popular ones, do you remember?”

“Yes, yes, haha! So many girls followed them around…”

“That’s right… all the girls from your class crowd around them when we did our community service that day, but you were there playing with the kids.”

“So you were the one who came to the playhouse and play with the kids too? Are you that guy?”

“Yes…”

“So you liked me since then?”

“No, it was much later, haha!”

“Oh?”

“After graduating from High School, during the holidays, because of a lovers’ quarrel, Jun Kang made use of you to spite Chun Young to make her jealous and return to him… After your breakup with Jun Kang, your girl pals brought you to the piano bar… where I was working, during the evenings.”

“Cunto’s Piano Bar?! The one owned by CT??”

“Yes… its owned by CT, you are right.”

“Oh my god…. I can’t believe this… you are the singing-pianist?!”

“Yes I am… and you always took the corner table but you were always back-facing me...”

“You still remember!”

“Yes… I remember the lady who always tears up whenever I start playing, dabbing tissues and I had thought you were just crying over the breakup. But when John-Hoon, the other performer takes to the stage, you never had the same reactions….”

“…..” Eunhye nods her head.

“You came almost every day and at the end of the second week, I received a card from you which you had asked one of the waiters there, to pass the card to me…”

“Thank you for healing my broken heart with your voice and music.” Eunhye remembered what she wrote on the card.

“Right… I had wanted to reintroduce myself to you after I received the card, but you stopped coming the next day and day after and you never did show up again. Few months later, I left to study in the States.

“That only answers half of my questions…There’s one more that you have not answered.”

“Ahh…. I won’t tell you now.” Shin grins back.

“Fine! Shall I give you my answer now?”

“I will not…”

“Eunhye! Ok ok, you win! I’ll tell you.” Shin’s heart became so weak he didn’t think he could take a “No” for an answer.

“It was your tears.” Shin becomes serious and looks at Eunhye in the eyes.

“I cannot erase off the images of your tears… which later I found out from your card, was because you were touched by my music. Nobody has ever shed tears while listening to my music, Eunhye. All my life, I’d wanted to make music that touch the heartstrings of people, that is why I studied music therapy as my core subject for my major in the States. You kept me going, Eunhye, your tears became my source of motivation…. I thought of you all the time and it became so evident to me… that… I am in love with you.”

“And trust me, I didn’t plan for CT to bring you to me… I didn’t know it would turn out to be you Eunhye… I didn’t’ know what to do when I saw you again. I have no idea how to tell all these to you and I have no idea how you would respond…Eunhye..”

Eunhye sprang up from her seat and hooked her arms around Shin’s neck and and planted a kiss on Shin’s lips, catching him by surprise, but he soon responded to the kiss… and their lips remained locked in a wet French kiss… when Shin and Eunhye’s mouths finally parted for some oxygen… Eunhye shyly confessed ‘I think I love you too, Shin-goon. You had captured my heart with your music at that time, but I never know it was you...’.

“Eunhye, thank you! Thank you for coming back into my life!”

“Shin-goon, thank you for healing my heart and soul!”

And they continued kissing until Eunhye’s stomach started growling...



** end of flash back **



Eunhye wonders if she was possessed just now. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t hve initiated a kiss with a guy. Well, she only has one boyfriend… but the fact that Ko Jun Kang was making use of her, he never initiated any intimate contact that normal dating couples would do.

“What are you thinking, Eunhye? In a daydream again? Was that really you just now?” Shin teased.

“Yah~ I don’t do that to anyone… only to the guy who stole my first kiss…” Eunhye blushed and shyly retorted Shin..

“First kiss…. That morning was your first kiss?”

Eunhye nods her head as she picks up the chopsticks to pick out the chicken meat and put a piece into her mouth.

“Yah… its my first kiss too…” Shin lowers his head and continues speaking.

"I thought you had a girlfriend... so who were you waiting for? The Yes-and-No answer..."

"It was you Eunhye... I wasn't sure if I could give up on you, never knew if I would ever meet you again when I comes back to Korea. To be honest…I’m glad Jun Kang wasn’t serious about you at that time, otherwise I might not stand a chance at all… not back then, not now.”

Eunhye picks another piece of meat and put it to Shin’s mouth which Shin gladly accepted.

“So you bringing me out these few days was really a scheme to make me fall in love with you right?” Eunhye questions.

Shin chokes on the meat he was chewing and Eunhye quickly passed him his glass of water.

“Kwenchanah?” Eunhye quickly rushed to Shin’s side of the table and pats his back.

“Yes… yes… I’m alright…”

Shin turns to Eunhye and give her a tight hug.

“We are truly meant for each other Eunhye. We know what’s on each other’s mind! Haha!”

Shin pulls away and give a light peck on Eunhye’s mouth.

“Yah! Its oily!” Eunhye makes a face at Shin and Eunhye grabs Shin’s face and starts to plant oily kisses all over his face to get back at him.

The other patrons in the eatery, some of them smile and several of them laugh at this mischievous couple’s public display of affection.




Download (if player doesn't show up or unable to stream) Till The End

All these precious moments
With you by my side
Must be a gift from heaven
That's holding me all night
I don't know how I found you
I'm thankful that I have
Now that I have a love so true
To hold, to keep, to share

In my heart,
I can no longer hold inside
All of the love I used to hide
I'll always be
With you until the very end

In this world,
There is no place I'd rather be
You are my life, my soul, my girl
And through it all
I know that you've come to see
That you're the one
Till the end

All my friends around me
Say you'd be gone too soon
Baby, I'm gonna make them see
We've found our way
Back home

In my heart,
I can no longer hold inside
All of the love I used to hide
I'll always be
With you until the very end

In this world,
There is no place I'd rather be
You are my life, my soul, my girl
And through it all
I know that
You've come to see that
You’re the one
Till the end

We'll always be
Till the end