How It Should Have Ended (A Ji Hoo and Jan Di Story)

Chapter 16

Jun Pyo watched the scene unfold from the comfort of his car. He knew where Jan Di was headed after meeting with him. When Jan Di kissed Ji Hoo, he knew he should have been furious. Instead, he felt defeated.

What have I done? He asked himself.

He knew that a part of this was his fault, his own doing. He wanted to confront them, to scream obscenities at them, but he was rooted in his seat. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He knew it was over. No amount of screaming or threats would bring her back. He had lost her for good. And it didn't just happen today.

She was lost to him a long time ago.

"Young Master?" his chauffeur asked, interrupting his thoughts. "Shall we go now?"

Jun Pyo leaned his head back on the seat. "Let's go." He had no more reason to stay.

...

Ji Hoo stood there with his eyes closed, terrified. Jan Di's lips still touched his. He was terrified that if he opened his eyes she would vanish, and that everything that just happened would have just been a dream.

Jan Di stepped back and smiled shyly at him. He opened his eyes slowly and exhaled loudly when he saw her still standing there.

"You're...real." He said this almost to himself, but she gave a nervous laugh.

He reached out to caress her face and stroke her hair, as he still couldn't believe this was happening to him. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, and his mind finally accepted the fact that this was real. He hugged her back and gave the biggest smile he had ever given in his entire life. His heart felt like it had wings – he was ready to fly.

They stood there for a long time, arms around each other, just enjoying this precious moment in time when they've finally found and accepted their love for each other.

I got lost in him, Jan Di mused, contentedly. But it was the kind of lost that was exactly like being found.

Grandfather watched the two lovebirds wrapped in each other's arms outside his bedroom window. He grinned to himself.

Finally, he thought, relief coursing through his body. He looked up to the sky and muttered a quiet Thank you.

...

"Are you ready?" Jan Di asked, excitedly. Ji Hoo nodded and took the picnic basket from her hand. Jan Di had decided to treat him to a picnic as their first official date together (well, technically, it was the second, but the first didn't really count).

She sat on the front passenger seat of his car, the picnic basket on her lap. She looked at Ji Hoo, and thought about how she got so darn lucky to end up with him. She took his free hand and locked their fingers together. Ji Hoo gave a quick glance, smiled and squeezed her hand. He drove often nowadays, his fear of driving completely gone.

"What did you make?" Ji Hoo glanced at the picnic basket on her lap.

"You'll see, just be patient!" she scolded merrily.

When they arrived at the picnic site, Ji Hoo laid a huge blanket out on the grass and put the picnic basket smack in the middle. They both sat down, and Jan Di began unpacking the basket. She made him all sorts of dishes – and his eyes widened as she opened up each container.

"I'm going to have to start working out again if you keep this up," he teased, while eating.

She beamed at him. "Maybe I'm trying to fatten you up so no one steals you from me."

Ji Hoo laughed. "They can try, but they won't succeed." He winked at her and Jan Di blushed.

After they had eaten and packed away the picnic basket, they just sat there reading, without a care in the world. Jan Di looked up at the sky. It was cloudy and dark, though it wasn't even noon yet. It even looked as though it was going to rain. The sun was almost nonexistent. And still, to her it felt like it was one of the brightest days she had ever seen in years.

I have my sunshine with me, she thought, happily.

There weren't that many people around that day due to the weather and it suited them both just fine.

"What are you looking at?" Ji Hoo looked up, trying to find what Jan Di found so interesting up there.

"Nothing," she smiled. She was sitting down, his head on her lap, and he was reading a medical magazine. She had her textbook open by her side. They had talked about doing her clinicals in the same hospital he was going to do his residency in. She had asked him if he was still going to Canada, but he said only if she wanted him to, and of course she would be coming along if he did. She hadn't decided yet, but she was certainly open to the possibility.

She looked down and noticed he was staring at her. She frowned. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

He reached up to touch her cheek. "Sometimes I keep thinking that this is all a dream, you know. That I'm probably in a coma somewhere."

She pinched his nose playfully. "What if you are?"

"I don't ever want to wake up," he grinned.

She stroked his hair gently, realizing that for the first time ever, she was truly, genuinely happy.

"Ji Hoo," she began, itching to ask a question that's been on her mind lately.

"Hmm?" he murmured, his eyes closed and his face a picture of utter contentment.

"When did you start liking me?"

Ji Hoo pretended to think for a moment.

"I think it was..." His face was scrunched up deep in concentration. Then a huge grin appeared on his face. "When you beat up Jun Pyo. It was definitely then. I thought to myself, 'This is the girl for me! This is definitely the one I want to marry one day!'" Jan Di giggled and he laughed with her.

She noticed a flash of gold around his neck. It was the necklace he wore with his mother's ring on it. His hand went to the ring when he saw where she was looking. She looked away, embarrassed.

"I didn't want to scare you by giving this to you so soon." He explained, as he held the ring up for her to see.

She arched an eyebrow. "Were you thinking of giving that to someone else then?"

He sat up quickly and took her left hand. He looked at her for signs of hesitation but couldn't find any. She gave an almost imperceptible nod and he could see in her eyes how much she loved him. Wordlessly, he slipped the ring on her ring finger. It fit perfectly. His smile widened, and for a brief moment she saw his eyes glistening on the brink of tears. She smiled and gingerly touched his cheek.

He kissed her gently on the forehead. "I love you. Saranghae Geum Jan Di," he whispered, which sent shivers down her spine.

"I love you more," she said, staring straight into his eyes. He leaned over and kissed her, ever so gently on the lips. She returned the kiss, feeling the warmth of his lips, and the outpouring of love behind it.

And then it started to rain. She felt the trickle of raindrops on her skin, but she didn't want to open her eyes, or to pull away from him. If he noticed the rain, he didn't show it either. Finally, after a few blissful minutes, he pulled away. He gave her a crooked smile. "We should probably go." The rain was pouring harder now. He took off his jacket and covered her head with it, and he held her hand as they walked back to the car.

Not many people are lucky enough to find their soulmates, she reflected, as they drove home.

Even less end up with their first love.

I'm more than lucky not only to have found my soulmate, who also happens to be my first love, but also to end up falling in love with him all over again.

He is my best friend, my firefighter, my sunshine.

My happy ending.