Kims' Love Story

Part 27

The car stopped in front of a nice looking restaurant overlooking a river. It almost took half an hour for us to reach there. I did not know this kind of river existed despite living in Seoul for my whole life. He went out of the car and opened the door for me. I got off the car not taking my eyes off the breathtaking scene before me. The sun was setting making an exquisite combination of beautiful colors embracing the sky.

“Wow!” I blurted out.

“Do you like it?” Junmyeon asked with a hint of smile in his voice.

“Yes, I love it.” I said sighing happily.

The nervousness I was feeling earlier was replaced with an overwhelming feeling of content. The cool breeze was adding to the perfection. The thing about start of summers was that after sunset, the weather felt like spring. That is what I liked the most about summers. Otherwise, spring was my favorite season.

“Should we go inside?” Junmyeon diverted my attention. I realized I had been standing there for too long. We originally came for dinner.

“Oh! Sorry. Yes let us go.” I said smiling apologetically.

“It is alright. You can enjoy the view during the dinner.” He smiled leading me to the restaurant. I just laughed awkwardly. Don’t you dare be awkward again! I warned myself.

There were not many people there. Those who were there were aged and seemed like fishermen and some villagers who came to enjoy their time. I knew it because we used to visit our grandma a lot when I was a kid and people looked really friendly just like I was seeing now. We were in Seoul, and you could hardly see any village like places, so I was curious about this place.

“Would you like to sit inside or outside the restaurant? From outside, you can see the river clearly while having your meal.” We were inside the restaurant when Junmyeon asked me. He seemed to be familiar with this place.

“Outside I guess, but whatever you like.” I simply answered.

“Outside it is then.” He again smiled. He better stop smiling at me like that. My heart always forgot to function properly. I did not want to die at such a young age.

“Oh look, who we have here. Mr. Jun, welcome.” A friendly looking man in his mid-forties came to Junmyeon hugging him enthusiastically. Junmyeon returned his enthusiasm. He always surprised me. I did not think he looked like his relative or some close friend, yet they were meeting like long lost friends.

“I wanted to come, but I was so busy.” He said after their hug.

“I know you are busy. I am glad you came.” The friendly man said patting his back. Then, he looked at me.

“Who is this young lady?” He asked curiously looking at me then Junmyeon. I bowed greeting him. He greeted back.

“I am Jisoo.” I introduced myself not knowing what else to say. He laughed.

“Nice to meet you. I am just surprised that he brought a woman here. He always comes alone.” He said making me chuckle awkwardly.

That meant he visited that place a lot. To be honest, I was touched to be the first woman he brought there. I was glad Junmyeon came to rescue.

“We would have a seat there.” He said indicating towards a table that was overlooking the river.

“Of course, come here.” He told us. We followed him.

“Have your seats please. I will send the waiter in a while to take your order.” He was friendly till the end. I really liked people who were so welcoming. They make you at ease. For people like me who are shy in front of strangers, it was a good feeling. I looked at the view, and I was once again hypnotized by it.

“You seem to love this place. I am glad.” Junmyeon said offering me a glass of water. I took it from him and thanked him not being able to stop smiling.

“Very much! I did not know this kind of place existed in Seoul.” I told him wanting to know how he discovered this place. There were not young people too. So I was curious how he came to know about this place.

“It is the best place to relax. I have been coming here for seven years.” He said looking as relaxed as ever.

“Really?” I asked surprised. None of his fans knew that he visited this place so often. I was also a fan, so I knew what places he visited and where he went. I was not a stalker, but fans know such stuffs about their idols because of social media. I would not tell him that obviously.

“Yes, but why are you so surprised?” He asked chuckling. I loved this side of him. He was all cozy and relaxed, not buried in papers and documents while giving orders. I smiled.

“Nothing. It is just that there are not any young people here. So I was curious on how you came to know about this place. Is it always like this?” I asked surprising myself. Since when was I this comfortable conversing with the CEO? May be, it was because of the relaxing environment. Either ways, I was at peace knowing I could talk to him and not stutter.

“Let me tell you my secret. I hope you won’t reveal it to Dispatch.” He said looking all serious.

“No, I won’t. Why would I?” I frowned being offended but also curious to know what his secret was.

“I am kidding.” He let out a hearty laugh. I just looked at him being lost in his laugh.

“Okay, I will tell you my secret.” He said letting out a sigh.

“Idol life is really difficult. I am not scaring you as you also want to be an idol. But it is a fact. Besides its unlimited perks, you have to have a lot of patience to endure the difficulties that it carries with itself. Your whole life is under a spotlight. People know your every move. They nitpick at everything you do. Even if you have good intentions, they will bring out the bad that you did not even think of.” He said looking thoughtful and a bit sad. I did not want to interrupt him, so I remained silent.

“Being the best boy group also meant being the most talked about, that included good talks and bad talks. My members and I had a lot to deal with. I had some extra burdens as a leader because I tried not to involve them in everything that was between the company and me. I tried to solve those issues on my own. It required me to be alone and think through things not worrying my members. The man, who we met earlier, works for my father, and this restaurant is also owned by my father, so I knew about this place. When I came here first, the view and the location felt so surreal that it became a habit to visit this at least once a week. My old friend talked about his problems, and I shared about my problems. That is how we became close friends.” He said. I smiled slightly.

I was sad for him. He had to go through a lot, yet he always showed his cheerful side to his fans. He always tried to be positive and encouraging for the fans even when he did not have a good time himself. That was the time I realized that I did not waste my time fangirling over him and EXO. Most people found it a waste of time, but giving and receiving unconditional love and support is a beautiful thing to do. It is all about an idol/fan relationship. I was more than ever determined to work harder.

He ordered our food. Since I did not know about their specialty, I let him order mine as well. I was feeling as if the tiredness I was feeling a while ago evaporated completely. The place had such a magical effect.

“Tell me something about yourself.” He said all of a sudden making me look at him.

“I don’t know what to say about myself.” I said shyly. I really did not know what to say beside that I was Jisoo which he already knew.

“Okay, tell me something about your family.” He asked making it easier for me.

“Um, there’s me, my mother and Jennie my younger sister. My father passed away few years ago.” I said smiling painfully. Talking about my father always was difficult. Losing such a precious part of your life was painful, so painful.

“I am sorry!” He said sighing. I shook my head and said it was okay.

Our food arrived. Just the aroma was enough to submerge my hunger which I had completely forgotten about. It consisted of steak, grilled fish, tteokbokki and rice. The presentation was already making my mouth water. He told me to order something else, but I said I did not want anything else. I was already worried about how we would finish all those.

I had this urge to snap a picture and show it to Eva, but I controlled myself. It would seem rude to do so when I was having dinner with CEO.

Oh shoot! My phone was on silent mode, and I had not informed Eva that I would be late. She must be so worried! I thought. Excusing myself when the dinner had just been served also looked unmannered.

“You look worried about something if I am not wrong.” He said with concern.

“No, it’s just that I have not informed my roommate that I was having dinner with—with…” I looked at him with wide eyes. I was about to say with you but stopped myself mid-sentence. It was already hard for me to grasp the fact that I was having dinner with him; let alone, say it out loud. I cleared my throat.

“You can tell her that you are having dinner with me.” He smiled again. God knows I was trying my best. It should be illegal to have such a handsome face and on top of that, such a beautiful smile and above all, such sweet way of talking.

“I will send her a text, excuse me.” I excused myself to give sometime to my heart and to avoid looking at him directly. I quickly sent a message to Eva saying that I would be late and she should have dinner. Eva never pestered me to know about everything I did and everywhere I went. So did I. But I was thinking of telling her about my feelings for Junmyeon and about our encounters that I hid from her. She had become my best friend in such a short span of time.

I put my phone and looked up to see that Junmyeon had already separated the bones and had placed grilled fish on my plate. I looked at him and he just gestured for me to eat.

“Thank you.” I stared digging in. It had such a delicious taste that my plate was empty in no time.

“Try steak. You will love it too.” He said, his eyes were dancing with laughter. I shrugged and tried that as well. It felt as if I was in heaven. This restaurant would have been my favorite go to if it was not that far away from my dorm.

I was enjoying my food with closed eyes. Being shy did not stop me from enjoying my food. I was not conscious in front of him and being hungry for the whole day added to the whole thing.

“You did not tell me more about yourself.” He said in between taking a bite of his steak. I swallowed my food.

“Yeah, I don’t know what to say. Besides, you also did not tell me about yourself.” I told him casually while taking another bite. I loved this well-fed confident side of me.

“You mentioned that you were a fan of EXO. You must already know all about me.” He raised his eyebrow challenging me to deny. I forced a smile since I did not really feel like smiling. I did not want him to know I was his fan as I thought it would make everything awkward, but he had his ways.

“I don’t know much.” I lied tucking my hair. I knew about him a lot from his family to his likes/dislikes to his childhood and career. Not everything, but I knew about him a lot. I would not admit it though.

“What do you want to know?” He asked taking a sip of water.

“I don’t know…Like your ideal type or something?” I wanted to know about his ideal type, but I was mentally cursing myself at the moment for asking that question. I did not realize what came over me to ask such a bizarre question when we were not even close. God, sometimes I acted so stupid.

“That’s all you want to know?” He chuckled shaking his head. I was embarrassed to my core. I nodded my head without raising my head. There was no turning back.

“I like someone who is honest; someone who has interest in literature and arts; someone I can connect with on a different level; someone I feel comfortable to share everything about myself.” His voice held an emotion I could not decipher. I raised my head, and our eyes met. He was staring at me not eating his food or giving his attention to other things—he was only looking at me.

“Someone I can take to my favorite places.” He continued. My heart was about to come out of its ribcage.

I could only stare at him.
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A longer chapter for my precious readers.

I miss Junmyeon so much. Come back already, will you?!!