Chapter 36 – Under the Stars

When we arrived at the inn, I already saw Young Hyun waiting outside. I immediately went to him upon getting out of the van.

"Are you done for the day?" I asked him.

He put his arms around my shoulders. "We're on a break. We'll resume later before we sleep."

"Are we hanging out with your bandmates? I have something for them."

"For them? You don't have anything for me?"

I laughed at his cluelessness. Could he really not tell whether I was joking or not?

"Why? You already have me."

He laughed. "No. We won't hang out with them. This evening is for only the two of us."

Why did it sound so romantic?

We drove to wherever, but before we left, I took the gift I wanted to give to them. They were mini-replicas of their instruments made of wood. I had it made by a friend in PH. It arrived the day before we left to Jeju and I decided to bring them. Good thing I did.

Young Hyun was so happy with the gift. He was like a kid who just received the toy he wanted. It's cute.

We rode the car they rented. I did not ask where we were going, but I did not expect we would hang out on a roadside overlooking the sea.

The night was beautiful. The sky was full of stars. The air was cold despite the summer.

"Waa…This feels good." Young Hyun exclaimed when we climbed out of the car.

We stood side-by-side by the car's hood.

It was indeed relaxing, but it was cold. I had to wrap my coat more to my body.

"Are you cold?" He asked seeing me struggled with the breeze.

"Nah. I'm fine," I lied. It was me trying to be independent.

Yet, despite what I said, Young Hyun still took off his jacket and put it around my shoulders. Okay, enough for trying to be independent.

"Aren't you cold?" I asked him then.

He scooted closer to me. "There. I like this better."

We stared at each other for a second and laughed at the same time. It was plain funny.

"I like this better than dates in classy restaurants." He said out-of-the-blue.

I nodded and looked up to the stars. "Me too." Then I looked at him again. "But we don't have food."

I was already famished.

"Do you think I'd forget that?" He said, grinning. He went in the car and a moment after he was already holding a plastic of foods.

I forgot that he was Young Hyun, the master of food.

It contained two lunchboxes, tangerines and two bottled water. The sight of it made me hungrier.

We ate while we listened to their band's songs.

"What's your ultimate favorite out of all our songs?" He asked while chewing the egg roll.

I thought for a while, munching on the kimbap, and said, "I actually prefer your Japanese songs than the Korean and my favorite is Live Your Life."

"Excluding Japanese releases."

I had to think again before answering. "When You Love Someone."

"Wae?"

I shrugged. "Because I think it's romantic?"

"I thought because of the web drama." He said smiling.

The drama was still airing in Netflix and it was receiving good response. My executive producer in Manila even told me I should do a romantic flick next, which I just rolled eyes to.

Beautiful Feeling played next on Young Hyun's shuffled playlist and he began singing along with the song. It was cool. He was cool.

"By the way, what's 'love' in your language?" He suddenly asked while in the middle of singing.

I smiled because the answer would be interesting.

"If the noun, it's either 'pagmamahal' or 'pagsinta'. If the verb, it's simply 'mahal'. But the word 'mahal' actually has two English counterparts. 'Love' is one and 'expensive' is the other, which is an adjective."

"Love? Expensive? That's funny," he commented smiling as well.

I shook my head. "Not really. For me, it means that love is something valuable. Not something that would come cheap, but with a price. Not by means of money, but you know…commitment, respect, faith…"

"Ooohhh…" He began teasing me because of what I said. I just answered his question like duh.

"That would make a good song. I have to take note of that." He indeed took out his phone and typed the words.

He really was a passionate person. I admired him for that.

"Wae? Do I have something on my face?"

I did not even notice that I was already staring at him. Embarrassing! I quickly took my eyes from him and instead, finished the meal I almost forgot.

"I'm full," I announced which was actually unnecessary.

He already finished his food as well. I helped him clean up our trash before we went back to chatting. Like I said before, we did not seem to run out of topic. It was probably real for two storytellers who came together.

"Until when are you staying here in Jeju?" I asked him.

"The day after. And you?"

"Next week. After that, I'll be flying to Manila for the initial screening of Pearl of the Orient before we fly to China for the continuation of the shoot." My schedule was really hectic.

"You're not that busy, are you?" Young Hyun jokingly said, but I noticed he became a bit downcast. "How will we get to see each other with our schedules?"

It made me sad as well. "I wonder, if we were different persons, would the two of us meet? How would we even meet? Where?" I stared at him. "If I did not go to your concert in Manila, could have our paths cross?"

"Probably yes. Probably no." He took my left hand and looked at it. "You still would have come here in Seoul and meet through the web drama, anyway."

"But it would be different. It would be just a usual relationship among colleagues." I countered, the mood was slowly dropping.

"We would still become good friends since you're our fan, right? Then it might still probably lead to this." He took his eyes from my hand and looked at me directly in the eyes.

"What if under some unexpected circumstances, we'd part ways���"

"Ya. Geumanhae." (Stop it.) He seemed pissed. "It's getting weird. We're already here, we've already met and we won't part ways."

I smiled sadly. "Sorry. Just ugly thoughts getting on me. I often get those. It's actually my struggle being a writer." It was true and I actually hated it.

He pulled me to him and hugged me really tight. It felt comfortable, chasing the nightmares in my waking hour. "I understand. So don't worry. We were meant to meet and we'll do everything to make this work. As you said, love doesn't come cheap. But I'm willing to pay the price. Are you?"

I nodded. "Of course. By the way, it's really comfortable here. Can we just stay like this for like…forever?"

He laughed, his chest vibrating with it. How I wished the time just stop at that moment.