After a few days, in a restaurant Kamou and Juho were now sitting opposite each other. Kamou recently signed the contract for the new movie. As she promised Juho, she took him out for a treat. It was a Saturday night. Due to their busy schedules, the weekend was the only time they could go out. Both had much time; the night was young and maybe it could lead to something else.
To loosen a bit, they decided to order a few light dishes with soju. They dishes were laid on the table. The drinking began and so did the talking.
"So, we basically don't know anything about each other apart from out professional lives. Let's play a game." Juho suggested.
"What kind of game?" Kamou asked slurping her drink.
"I say a word, you reply the first thing that comes to your mind after hearing that word." He explained her the game.
"Sounds good." She replied. "But I want to go first. Lemme ask."
Juho gestured her to go ahead. With this she started with her list of five words that came to her mind.
"World"
"My family"
"Best friend"
"Yun Taehee"
"Music"
"My soul, passion"
"Fear"
"That I might not be enough"
"Love"
"Will one day marry her." Juho answered trying his best not to give any hint about his feelings for her. But slowly he felt himself opening a little and getting comfortable in expressing himself in front of her.
It was his turn now. He had a long list of questions for her. But he decided to go easy and get an overall zest of her personality.
"Peace"
"When I am alone"
"Home"
"Too far"
"Best friend"
"No one"
"Happiness"
"Temporary"
"Love"
"The reason I came to Korea"
Hearing this Juho could not resist himself from asking, "So you love someone?"
"Yeah, I love someone. More like I loved someone." She answered nonchalantly.
"And what about the reason you came to Korea?" He heard his heart shatter with her response. He couldn't help but ask.
"I came to Korea to meet the person I love." Kamou replied. Seeing Juho's blank face she then decided to give him a little detail. Maybe she was just too drunk to think straight, everything just slipped out of her mouth. Things she had told nobody yet.
"I fell in love with him when I was in college. He was an upcoming singer at that time. Talented as he was, he soon rose to fame and soon became an actor. He wasn't even aware that I existed, but I was trapped in his love. I loved him so much. You know one of those fan girls who take celebrities too seriously. I was young and immature." A tear came out of her eyes with this. Remembering the memories of a distant past, which felt like a dream that never existed.
Juho on the other hand was startled by each word that came out her mouth. Every word was like a dagger running through his heart.
"I was determined that one day I will make him mine. I was so obsessed that I auditioned for agencies in Korea. I got scouted by one, that too a prominent one. I thought my dreams would come true soon. But then something unexpected happened. I meet him on multiple occasions, but he was different. He was not the one I fell in love with. The way he used to be on screen was totally different. This hit me hard. I realized I was no longer in love with him." Now, a stream of tears came rolling down her cheeks.
"For me it was like a punishment that god gave me. It was painful. The sole reason why I left everything behind was not there anymore. I came to Korea, had no friends or family here, struggled every day, trained hard, became an actress, even met him but in the end, he was not the one I loved. I tried, tried a lot to get those feelings back for him but I couldn't. He wasn't the man I loved. The man I thought I loved actually never existed." A sudden chuckle escaped her lips.
She was so drunk that all her emotions were out of control. Maybe she just wanted to let it out. It was long since she talked to anyone.
Juho's heart ached just by seeing her like this. She was a mess right now. The pain that she might have loved anyone else was long gone. Now what hurt him the most was seeing her in this state.
Staring into the emptiness, tears flooding down. "But after some time, I was satisfied. You see I never had a perfect childhood. Yes, my parents loved me, but they never loved each other. They decided to stay together for their kids. They would fight every day, regret their decision to marry each other. I guess I just wanted to run away from there and start all over again. I just wanted to believe that I could have a home somewhere else, where I could belong."
Finally, when she was done, she pulled herself together. Gathering all her courage, wiping her tears, and giving the most beautiful smile Juho had ever seen. Indeed, she felt quite nice after letting it all out.
Juho who was witnessing her every move was carefully saving the moment in his memory. He realized he was falling deeper and deeper in love with the woman sitting in front of him. He made a promise to himself then and there.
'Kamou, I promise; I will give you that home you have longed for. I promise, you will never be in this state again because I will always be there protecting you.'
After everything settled, Juho dropped Kamou home, too worried to send her alone. She dozed off on the way home. Not waking her up, Juho carried her carefully in his arms, laid her on her bed, tucked her in. Seeing her sleep so peacefully, he didn't want to leave her side. He sat next to her for some time caressing her cheek. Finally, he planted a gentle kiss on her forehead and left her house.