Then Came You

The Things Within

The restaurant was already crowded when he arrived. Everyone greeted him, took pictures, having fun. He thank every single one of them and wished them good luck for many projects ahead. Then he caught his co-stars Kang KiDoong and Oh JungSe waved at him from the corner booth. He paced towards and join them. Actor KiDoong gave him pats on his back.

"So, where's the lady?" KiDoong slid the beer glass so it was in front of him.

"She scheduled to film a CF this afternoon..." He gulped his beer, put the half empty glass on the table.

"She was so busy lately, I feel bad for her. Can't you do something about it?" His JungSe sunbae put some dried squid into his mouth.

"What can I do? She accepted the offers, said that she wanted to work hard and everything..." He gobbled some almond nuts.

"Whoa... She really is amazing. So smart, so hardworking, so beautiful..." KiDoong praised his girlfriend. It irked him a little.

"Yah...  Hyung... Watch your words!" He went all huffy.

"Whae? It's not like she's your girlfriend or anything..." KiDoong smirked, teasing him. Their senior laughed. 

"Aish..." He squinted his eyes at his hyungs, chugged his beer again. 

They continued to have great conversations and great time. Then someone called Oh JungSe to join them, Kang KiDoong followed his track.

"Well, I better mingling for a while. If I didn't get the chance to meet YeaJi, say my regards and thank you for her, okay?" KiDoong straightened up, pat his back, and stepped away, blended with the crowds.

He just sat there enjoying his dinner alone, eyes kept glancing at the door, abiding his beloved one. No one dared to disrupt him, they just quietly knew what made him sulky.

The door then burst open. People turned their head to see who crossed the entrance. A familiar voice wiggled his ears.

"Annyeoooong!!!" She entered the venue giggling, arms opened wide.

They cheered and welcomed her, she hugged almost everyone, spreading her warmth to all corners of the room. He sneered. There she came. The light of his life. He stared at her longingly, as she still talked to everyone. He perceived exactly how tired she was. She dozed off every where, on the drive to the filming set, on her chair as she stood by for her shooting turns, on the couch in their apartments. She worked so hard but still she managed to be here.

Then their eyes collided. He grinned and tapped the booth lightly, asked her to join him. Her amazing eyes rounded, she nodded but mouthing pleaded him to hang on for a while as she haven't finish thanking everyone. The exhaustion showed in her face, yet she was giggling, smiling and laughing. How he wanted just to take her home and embraced her so tight to ease the weary away.

After sometime she finally could escape the crowd, strode towards him smiling. He felt his heart skipped a beat seeing her smile. He stood up to let her scooted to the wall.

"You look exhausted. Wanna go home early?" He took the empty glass and pour her some water.

She looked overly drained, her lips a bit pale, her shoulders hunched down. A little bit more, she could be overworked. It crossed his mind to call their manager and cancelled all her schedule for a week, minimum. But then he realized that it would only made her furious, because he knew how determined she was.