As I have nothing to give you, I give you my heart (IU Verse Book#1)

Chapter 23

     "Yeah, okay, I'll see you there Oppa," Jieun said to Park Seojoon on the line before she hung up. She put her phone back on the kitchen counter and went back to cooking breakfast, which consists of waffles and pancakes. Jihyuk and she had been falling into the routine of eating American breakfast now; just because it was easy to cook and they would spend less time cooking them, unlike a normal Korean breakfast. As she put the last layer of pancake on the plate, she heard the sound of a door opening as Jihyuk went out from their "shared" bedroom, which Jieun referred to as now instead of her bedroom. Jihyuk had moved his stuff into her bedroom so that he didn't have to go back and forth every evening and morning. They had also bought a mattress fit for him and abandoned the old spare sheets that Jieun claimed, "would ruin his back" if he continued to sleep on it. 

     Jieun offered him a smile as she put the plates of their breakfast down on the dining table. Jihyuk reached the dining table and took in the aroma of the cooked breakfast. "Smells good, Jieun ssi." He complimented. He was wearing a suit, much like he did every other day, except that his collar was loose and there was a tie in his hand.

     Jieun looked at the tie and back him questionably. "Aren't you going to put that on?" She asked amusedly. Jihyuk looked down at the tie in his hand and couldn't help but smile sheepishly. "I haven't worn it in quite a bit. The last time I wore it was during Sangil hyungnim's director promotion, and Sangin Hyung had helped me put it on. I didn't really get around to actually learning how to do it myself." 

     Jieun smiled softly and went up to him, taking the tie. She easily looped it around his neck and began tying the tie. She fingered the knot on his tie absentmindedly while he stood there, not entirely looking at her. The intimate moment had him going through a hill of thoughts, somewhere around the lines of what their lives would be like if they were a couple if this were their routine. Just how easy and fit it would have been.

     The motion of her fingers had stopped and they were no longer roaming around his tie. She smiled up at him again and said, "all done." as she moved back to admire her work. He looked down at his tie to see that it had perfectly fit well with his dress suit. He thanked her as she shook her head to dismiss it. They both moved to the dining table and began consuming their breakfast. 

     Amidst the meal, Jihyuk asked what her schedule for the day was, to which she replied that she has to go to a meeting with the dream producers and cast as they had to discuss the next step of filming, which will be done overseas. He nodded alongside her. 

     "You're meeting your mom for lunch, right?" She asked. Jihyuk nodded, his mouth full of waffles. Jieun smiled warmly at the sight. "That explains the tie." She added. Jihyuk looked up at her and let out a small smile. As they finished up their breakfast and helped each other in putting back the dishes that they finished washing, Jihyuk asked what time she was going to be done so that he could pick her up, to which she shook her head smiling. "You don't have to pick me up, Jihyuk ssi. Take a day off and spend as much time as you can with your mom, to fill the time that you spent apart. I'll be fine. Sangin Oppa will take me home." She finished with a reassuring smile, and Jihyuk felt the urge to hug her again. So he did. His arms circled around her small body easily, as hers looped around his torso loosely. This hug was more lingering than the previous one, where both found it hard to let go. It was as if this was the last hug they were going to have.

     They broke apart. Jieun smiled softly at him. "See you later, Jihyuk ssi."

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     Jieun arrived at the production company before everyone else from the cast. She went straight to the meeting room and found that it was empty. The seats were arranged by name much like the seating arrangement in the first script reading. She sat down on the seat where her name was and waited patiently for others to arrive. The director and writer of the movie arrived soon after and Jieun greeted them cheerfully. Not long after, the cast began arriving one by one, with Seojoon arriving first and gave Jieun a friendly hug. Then came Sujin, and Taehyun, who was looking everywhere but at her, and moved to sit at the far end of the table. It seemed that he had requested the production crew to put his name as far from her as possible, as his seat was beside her back during the script reading. She let out an inaudible sigh. Seojoon sat on her left side and offered her a smile, to which she returned with a tight one. The chair on her left remained empty.