Reply 1988

Phone Call

"Hey, Jung Hwan! It's your wife on the phone!"

Jung Hwan rolled his eyes at all the heckling he received as he picked up the phone.

"Wife?" He could see Deok Sun's raised eyebrow as her voice came on the other line.

"Well, that's what they've taken to calling you here since you call me so often," he teased.

She scoffed, "Okay, then I guess I'm the only one that misses you, I'm hanging up now."

He laughed, "Wait, wait, okay, I take it back!"

"Say it," she demanded, and he could imagine her arms crossed over her chest.

He sighed in resignation and mumbled into the phone, "I miss you too."

"I can't hear you," she said in a singsong voice, clearly enjoying the edge she had over him now.

"I miss you too," he said, wincing as the other guys heckled him again.

He turned his back on them then said, "Anyway, I wasn't expecting you to call today. Is anything wrong?"

Deok Sun fell silent on the other line, and Jung Hwan instantly sensed that something was wrong.

"Deok Sun?" he said seriously, "What happened?"

He heard her take a deep breath, and his heart was suddenly gripped in fear as he waited for her to say something.

"Well... you wanted me to tell you if anything happened..." she said slowly, and he had an inkling what was coming next.

"A pilot tried to hit on me."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "What did you do?" he asked, trying hard to keep his voice steady.

"What you taught me," she said proudly, and he smiled in relief. 

"I took out the pepper spray you gave me, pointed it at him, and said--" she paused for effect, "I'm not afraid to use this."

He let out a laugh as he could see her deadpan face in his mind's eye. "Good girl," he said, wishing he could hug her tight right now.

"I'll bet they'll call me Pepper Spray Girl now, but I don't care," she shrugged. "I make sure that the pilots can hear me when I talk about my boyfriend who's in the Air Force and not afraid to use his gun."

He laughed again, "You're crazy! I don't carry a gun!"

"But you could, right?" she demanded, and he laughed again before turning serious. "So you're okay? You promise? He didn't try to hurt you or anything?"

"I'm okay, I promise, don't worry," she reassured him, "If he had tried to come closer, I really would have used the pepper spray on him."

They lapsed into an easy silence, then Deok Sun said, "Jung Hwan, I know that you'll always try to keep me safe, but you're not with me all the time. So I'm making sure that I can take care of myself, so I can always stay safe for you and not make you worry."

He sighed, "You know that I'll always worry about you, Deok Sun."

She replied, "I know, and I'll always worry about YOU every time you get on a plane. But you promise me that you'll always be careful so that I don't worry about you. So I'm promising you the same thing, that I'll always be careful so that you don't worry about me."

He sighed again and knew that she was right.

"I love you, Jung Hwan," she said softly, and he smiled, just as he always did whenever he heard her say those words.

"I love you too," he replied, this time not caring that the other guys could hear it. "So I'll pick you up this weekend?"

"Yes, it'll be nice to see everyone at Dong Ryo's restaurant opening," she said.

"That's all you're looking forward to?" he sniffed, and she laughed.

"Okay, fine, I'm looking forward to seeing you too," she said dryly and he could imagine her rolling her eyes.

"I'm hanging up now," he said just as dryly, and she cried out, "No, wait!!" 

They collapsed into laughter, until Jung Hwan reluctantly said, "Okay, I really need to go now."

Deok Sun and Jung Hwan both wished they could linger over the phone just as they always did before. How they missed the days they could kiss endlessly in the alleyway, prolonging their goodbyes for as long as they could.

Deok Sun sighed, "See you this weekend?"

Jung Hwan replied, "Yes. Be careful, okay? I love you."

"You too, be careful. I love you," she said before they finally hung up the phone.

Jung Hwan lay on his back and covered his eyes with his arm, ignoring everyone else's teasing and focusing instead of counting down to the weekend, when he would finally be reunited with Deok Sun.