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Summary: When Woo Bin asks Ga Eul for help with 'emergency measure' date, how come Yi Jeong is the one who ends up going out with her? A little story about how Casanova manages to wrangle his second 'pretend' date with Ga Eul.

JUST PRETENDING

IV

The sky was dark outside when Yi Jeong pulled into the car park. Ga Eul had been uncharacteristically quiet during dinner and he preferred to think that it was because she had been intimidated by the restaurant he had brought her to. The menu was in French and there was a ten week waiting list even for the upper crust of society. Except for him and the rest of F4, that was. She had wanted to eat somewhere else but he told her that she owed him for the abuse his stomach had suffered.

"We're here Ga Eul yang."

"Ah, where are we?" she asked, sitting up a little straighter, unbuckling her seatbelt.

"At the skating rink where you had your double date."

Ga Eul froze, her fingers still around the belt. "Sunbae…"

"I know. It's not a place you'd want to come back to." She had told him everything that day when he had found her crying on the steps. He had been furious when he heard what her ex-boyfriend had said to her. Her potential soul-mate had turned out to be a first class jerk. "But you did say that Jun Pyo and Jan Di were having a good time skating right?"

She sighed softly. "Yes they were. I suppose that's why we're here." She smiled bravely.

"That's the Ga Eul yang I know." He touched her hair gently and they both got out of the car. "Actually, there's another reason." He had been wondering if he ought to tell her and decided to take the plunge. It was too late to turn back now anyway. "I want you to have happy memories of this place Ga Eul yang. I don't want you to avoid this place because of what happened. "

"Sunbae…" One minute he would hurt her and the next he would surprise with his tenderness. He actually cared. Would she ever figure him out?

"And I have a surprise for you and our two friends," he continued.

"Surprise?"

"For once, I'm going to take a leaf out of Jun Pyo's book." Chuckling at Ga Eul's confusion, he held out his hand to her. "Let's go skating."

………………………………..

"I'm not very good at this." Ga Eul stared somewhat enviously at Yi Jeong as he glided around in small circles while she took a wobbly step onto the ice.

"I know. You couldn't even get out of the way when that oaf came barrelling down the slope at you."

Ga Eul stuck out her tongue at him. "That's skiing and I happen to be better at that. I just panicked that day."

"So did I," Yi Jeong thought silently as he watched Ga Eul. He had been horrified to see that drunken snowboarder coming hard and fast at her. One look at Ga Eul's panic-stricken expression had been enough to tell him that she wouldn't be able to move, let alone get out of the way. He recalled brushing past Woo Bin as he ran for her, praying that he would be able to get there in time, grabbing her in his arms and pushing her aside.

"Ga Eul yang, are you alright? Can you hear me?" he had yelled as she lay there with her eyes closed. Anxiety flooded him and he shook her slightly. Wake up wake up please wake up, he had chanted over and over as he called her name. And then her lashes fluttered as those doe eyes of hers opened. The weight that had been crushing his chest lifted at that moment. She had been a bit wobbly but she had insisted on remaining on the hill. He had stuck by her side the rest of that afternoon, convinced that she was unable to take care of herself and that he had to watch over her.

"I think you had better take my hand," Yi Jeong muttered as Ga Eul narrowly avoided slipping on the ice. "Make that both hands." He pulled her closer to him, keeping one eye on her and the other on the people around them.

"Sunbae, are they here yet?" Ga Eul kept a tight hold on Yi Jeong as he was the only thing that was preventing her from falling down.

"Hold on Ga Eul yang and look to your right."

She half squealed as Yi Jeong spun her around and then burst out laughing as she spotted her friend. "Sunbae, why is Jun Pyo sunbae letting Jan Di use those binoculars here?"

"Geum Jan Di would probably high kick him if he tried to take them away." Yi Jeong half believed his own words. "This is my first time here," he said, changing the subject.

"Really? I thought you would have been here many times," she said lightly, following him as he led her around the rink. "It's quite a romantic place."

She thought he dated girls who actually wanted to come here. "This isn't where my dates usually want to go. For one thing, most of them are afraid of falling down."

"Really?" She sounded genuinely surprised. "Why would they be worried? You'd be there to catch them if they fell." She gave his hand a little squeeze.

"Well, this isn't their idea of a date, frankly."

Ah, in other words, this was a commoner's idea of romance then. She understood what he meant.

"But I'm having fun." He squeezed her hand in return. "Now, let's see if we can do a bit more than just glide around."

"No sunbae, I'm not rea—" And then they were laughing as Yi Jeong gently spun her around in circles, the warmth of his hands in hers as they clung to each other.

He couldn't recall laughing this much on any of his real dates. Ga Eul occasionally lost her balance but he was always there to hold her up. And she was game to try anything he suggested. I'm having fun, he repeated silently to himself, watching the glow in her eyes and the golden backdrop of lights that shone on them.

Finally, he slowed them down when he sensed she was tiring. Her hands felt cold too, in spite of his warmth. "It's been a long day of hard work." He didn't know what else to say suddenly. If this had been a real date, he would have… "Stop, you can't go down that path." Automatically his eyes drifted to the hotel in front of him. A real date would mean… Quickly, he let go of her hands.

"No, not really. I had a good time," she said sweetly before rubbing her palms together, blowing on them in an attempt to take the edge off the coldness.

Shrugging off his jacket, he reached around and slipped it over her shoulders, pulling it snugly around her. Again, Ga Eul looked slightly discomforted by his physical proximity to her, by the intimacy of that simple act. No, a real date with Ga Eul yang would not end up in a hotel. It would end with him taking her home with nothing more than a chaste kiss. That thought, old-fashioned as it was, held a strange appeal.

"Sunbae, look," Ga Eul exclaimed excitedly. "Jun Pyo sunbae and Jan Di…"

Yi Jeong glanced to the side and saw that Jun Pyo had encircled Jan Di in his arms, wrapping his coat around her. "I told you it would work, Ga Eul yang."

"Yes, you were right." She looked up at him, her eyes warm with approval and it made his heart beat just that much faster.

"Shall we go right for the climax?"

"Eh?"

Smiling, Yi Jeong raised his hand and snapped his fingers. He didn't bother to look at the sky to see if his people had seen the signal. He knew they had. A split second later, the sound of fireworks soaring and bursting in the night sky filled the air. But still he didn't look up. All his attention was focused on the girl before him, the delight on her face and her smile. It pleased him immensely to know that he had done that, that he had made her smile.

He always wanted her to be this way: happy. It mattered to him. She mattered, even though he tried so hard to change that.

He just had to make sure she never knew.

……………………………………

Ga Eul stifled a yawn as she finally got into Yi Jeong's car. They had left the hotel and she hoped that Jun Pyo and Jan Di would be able to work out their differences. Blinking sleepily, she leaned against the headrest and watched the streetlights whizz by as Yi Jeong drove her home. It was close to ten now and she had school the next morning. She would have to get up a bit earlier to complete the homework due tomorrow. But it had been worth it, if only for the time she got to spend with the enigmatic man beside her.

When Yi Jeong pulled up to the small street where Ga Eul's house was located, he couldn't help but wonder where the day had gone. It seemed like mere hours before when he had come to pick her up. "Ga Eul yang, we're—" he stopped when he realised that she was sleeping.

Switching off the headlights and the radio, Yi Jeong turned and watched her as she slept. She was so innocent; she still wore her heart on her sleeve. She really was a naïve country bumpkin. And she was a lot braver than he was.

Fighting the urge to reach over and brush her hair from her cheek, Yi Jeong sat there in the cool darkness of the car. If Ga Eul had opened her eyes at that moment, she would have seen all the longing in the world reflected in his.

…………………………………..

Someone was calling her name. Ga Eul burrowed deeper into the warmth of her blanket, trying to ignore the voice.

"Aish, Ga Eul yang, wake up. You're home." Gentle hands were shaking her now.

"Five more minutes," she muttered. Why did her blanket smell faintly of roses?

"Ga Eul yang, if you don't wake up now, I'm going to pull you out and bring you to the doorstep myself."

Wait a minute, that sounded like… Ga Eul blinked and opened her eyes. Yi Jeong's face over hers was the first thing she saw and for a moment, she was reminded of the ski trip, when he had leaned over her, so close she could feel herself falling into him. "Sunbae…" Abruptly he pulled back as she sat up. Something slipped from her shoulders. It was his jacket.

"It's late. Go in and get some sleep," he said as he pushed a small shopping bag into her hands. It was the lipstick and perfume from earlier that day.

Reluctantly, Ga Eul let herself out of the car. She wished him good night and was about to close the door when he spoke.

"Ga Eul yang, remember. Acting is just acting."

Ga Eul pressed her lips together, trying to ignore the sinking feeling that came with those words. Why did he have to say that after the day they had spent together?

Because sometimes a strong denial indicates that the person actually feels the opposite way. Her own words rang in her ears and she suddenly knew what she had to say to him.

"I know that sunbae. But sunbae, you're not very good at pretending." And with that, she closed the door.

Yi Jeong's mouth dropped open as he watched Ga Eul disappear through the gate without so much as a backward glance at him. What did she mean, not good at pretending? He had been great that day. He had fooled Jun Pyo into following them around the entire day. Granted, Jun Pyo wasn't the brightest bulb in the universe when it came to such matters but…

He remembered putting the lipstick on her. He remembered how he had possessively slipped his arm around her waist whenever any man shot an admiring glance her way. The softness of her hair against his cheek and his excuse in the cinema theatre just so that he could feel it again. Arranging the fireworks because he had seen her reaction in New Caledonia. Watching her sleep for almost an hour before waking her up.

She'd done it once more. She'd seen right through him into places that he blinded himself to. Sucking in a deep breath, Yi Jeong steadied his hands on the wheel as he drove off. Maybe today hadn't been a complete pretence. But he could not, would not admit to himself that it was a real date. Not yet…

By the time she reached her room window, Yi Jeong's car had disappeared from view. Sighing, Ga Eul lay back down on her bed and closed her eyes, feeling more than a little disappointed.

Reaching over to the alarm clock, she set the timer and suddenly stared at the numbers. It was close to midnight but the trip from the rink should not have taken more than twenty minutes. It had been ten when they had left the rink… So that meant…

"Oh sunbae…"she murmured softly, feeling almost absurdly happy as she realised what had happened. "You really are a lousy pretender."

Maybe, just maybe, there was hope for them after all.

A/N: Okie, that's the last chappie. Hope you all enjoyed reading this. Please let me know what you think eh?