BEAUTIFUL THINGS

it seemed like a trend for jiyul to join halfway through roommate family events. once she arrived back in seoul after filming for her new movie in europe for little over a month, she was a little jet lagged, tired, but also excited to be back in korea and at the house. living in a hotel for the past month was relaxing but she would be lying if she said she didn’t miss the crazy energy the roommate house had. 

“so what do i have to do?” she asked, getting out of the tent the staff members graciously helped her set up before filming started.

Ryumin blushed, feeling embarrassed by her unnies advice. “Oh no, yes, of course. I wouldn’t plan to go out of the house having my whole back exposed to the world!” she said completely flushed. As she took one glance in the mirror she frowned. “I feel like this is more your style…you can pull off almost anything Jiyul” she said pulling at some ends. Ryumin wasn’t the best at staying confident when all her friends were way more attractive. “And on another note…why have you been avoiding Jae these past days?” she asked casually slipping it into the conversation. Ryumin had watched the two’s “encounters” on jeju island, and low key shipped them.

jiyul smiled, looking at the female in the mirror. “i guess you’re just not used to something like this?” she offered, making sure the hook was done properly to ensure nothing would slip open. “you look wonderful, don’t worry. you’ll get used to it.” she nodded, fixing ryumin’s hair so it framed her face nicely. hearing the younger female’s question, jiyul was surprised that it was even noticed at all. “avoiding?” she echoed, smiling weakly at her. “we’ve just been both busy with our own work, i guess.”

Jaegar made his way into the roommate house, not sure if he was actually meant to wait outside for somebody to open the door. He looked around for signs of anybody, but was left with seemingly nothing. “Is anyone there?” He called out, continuing to look around. He made his way from room to room until he found somebody, he walked towards them, “Ah- hello, I’m Jaegar Choi. Do you happen to know where room 22 is?”

feeling refreshed after a much needed rest after her long schedules, jiyul was surprised to see a new face. since she wasn’t in the house as much as she and the pds hoped due to her filming a new drama, she often forgot how frequently new roommates joined the ever growing cast list. “nice to meet you, i’m jiyul!” she greeted the new face. “that room’s downstairs,” she smiled,  pointing down the hall where the stairs were located. “would you like me to help you get there?”

Wasn’t that unhealthy, especially for celebrities like her. Taehyun really didn’t feel like cooking at three in the morning but looking at the other, it was hard for him to reject her.  It would have been like kicking a small puppy. “Okay then, give me a second.” he says as he finishes up a few more lines in his document before getting up to stretch from his long hours of work. “This should be an honor by the way, the only people I cook for is Lauren and my mother..so you should be thankful.” he says, a hint of playfulness in his voice. “Kidding, what do you want to eat?”

jiyul watched as he stood up, smiling at his playful comment. “of course!” she nodded, flashing a bright smile at him that didn’t match the tiredness she felt. “i’m not very picky, anything that’s easy for you.” she rested her elbows on the table, wondering what he would make. even instant noodles sounded good at this time of day. “you’re the ceo right? with all the restaurants around asia?” she questioned, not wanting to jump to conclusions.

He rolled his eyes slightly at her words, glaring back down at his paperwork. “Yeah, sure. It’s great to know that Jae’s okay. It’s great to know that he’s not passed out in the hotel bar.” He began scribbling a few words onto a paper– probably words of nonsense that he’d have to fix up later. “Is there something I could help you with or are you just gonna continue pestering me with useless questions?”

“you what?” her eyes widened, surprised to hear about that. sure, he was absent for a majority of the trip, but she just thought it was because he didn’t take part in the event. “you weren’t passed out in the hotel bar... right?” she asked since she’s never really seen him drinking at the parties hosted by ace. “that’s why i couldn’t find you.” she said, mostly to herself. “well, i’ll stop bothering you.” she said with a weak smile, standing up from the chair. “don’t stay up too late with that paperwork.”

“I’m fine.” He muttered through a clenched jaw. “Why do you only care about me now? Because there’s no other offer for you to tend to?” Jae spoke bitterly about her husband. The dude was an ass; he couldn’t believe the producers had paired her up with such a character. It’s like she’d practically ignored him on Jeju and now she was questioning his health? 

“what offer are you talking about?” jiyul questioned, genuinely confused about where his anger was coming from. a little hurt that he thought she didn’t care for him, but mostly confused. “you make it sound like i never cared for you,” she said quietly, looking down at the table rather than at him. “but it’s good to know you’re okay.”

With a heavy sigh, Jae finally brought himself to meet her eyes. “Yes, Jiyul-ssi, I was sick. Why does it matter to you anyway?” He continued to look at her for another passing moment before shaking his head, turning his attention back down towards his work. He shouldn’t be acting this way, he knew that. But he simply couldn’t help himself. Jae was angry (and admittedly, hurt) by the show’s “special treat”. What was so “special” about seeing her with some asshole and not pay any attention to him? Nothing.

jiyul-ssi. that was something she hasn’t heard in a few years from him, since her first few months being under ACE. “i mean of course i’ll be worried if you were sick,” she said, keeping calm and her voice steady. “but i hope you feel better now.” she said softly, trying to avoid his eyes. there was no need to make things worse by making her snap on camera towards him.

He clenched his jaw, recalling his time on Jeju. His mind almost vividly envisioned the empty bar he’d sat at alone for hours on the first lonely night. Knowing that she was with another man, wandering one of Korea’s most romanticized islands, absolutely killed him on the inside. Jae glared down at the paper he’d been in the middle of reading before muttering out a reply. “I was definitely sick of something.”

jiyul was confused by his answer; did that mean he was sick from the food or the weather? sick of something as in sand in his shoes? it was like he was traumatized from the trip to jeju-do, which was surprising for jiyul (but not really; she was still nervous over the jellyfish watching expedition she went on). “so you were sick?” she asked, cautious once she saw his bitter expression. she wasn’t sure if she was bothering him or agitating him, but she didn’t want to just leave him like that at the dinner table.

He shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was to see her walking over to him. It probably was a bit odd for him to just be staring at her, right? His gaze fumbled back down to the paperwork spread out before him, trying to give off a feeling of composition. When he’d sat near him, Jaejoon couldn’t help but look up at her. He hesitantly took out an earphone from his ear, words slowly forming from his mouth: “Did you say something?”

jiyul momentarily forgot about her wrist when she noticed how distant and spaced out jaejoon seemed. placing her ice pack on her wrist and not just on the table, she looked at him with a concerned expression. “i asked if you’re okay, you kind of look out of it,” she commented, biting her bottom lip. “did you get sick during the trip?”

Having returned to Korea from the Jeju trip, Jaejoon was admittedly too afraid to confront his father after his rash actions on the island. It would definitely be like him to only be noticed by his father when he’d managed to screw things up again. Still, Jae decided not to take the chance of facing his father’s wrath, opting instead to complete his work at home. He’d moved his work downstairs to the dining table earlier in the day to avoid having to walk such a long distance to feed himself, earphones placed smugly in his ears. Jae’s eyes caught sight of a familiar figure walking into the kitchen, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything; he simply remained where he was, studying quietly from the distance.

looking up after the sudden noise, jiyul was surprised to see a drained looking jaejoon sit at the dining table. to say she was surprised he was quiet would be an understatement. she was used to him greeting her with big smile and offering her whatever she looked like she needed assistance with. jiyul contemplated on going over to talk to him, wondering if he was just tired and busy with his work. sometimes she forgot the boy was four years younger than her and had such big shoes to fill. taking her phone in her hands and ice pack still against the wrist she sat down at the table, a seat away from him just in case he wanted his space. “are you okay?”