Chapter 197 - Barbeque

KJ was tapping his foot impatiently. The lyrics made no sense to him and he crumpled up the paper. 

He was frustrated to come up with proper lyrics for his comeback song but somehow ideas evaded him. Ever since he came out of his coma, he could not string together proper words. Thankfully, he regained full control of his muscles and was able to dance again but songs… What song will he write? 

"Tough time?" Dami asked, sitting next to him. She held out a can of soda for him. 

"Thanks," he muttered, taking it. 

"What happened, KJ?" she asked. "You look worried." 

"I can't come up with lyrics," he admitted. "Whatever I write, I just can't feel passionate about it." 

"This seems fine though," Dami frowned as she read off one of the numerous crumpled papers on the floor. "The heart you broke will never heal… Why is everything so bleak…" 

"Cheesy," KJ muttered. "Doesn't go with my image." 

He let out a loud yawn. It was almost 8 PM and he had been at the studio for the past 24 hours without any sleep. He had a tendency to stay awake while preparing new music. At that moment, he felt very tired. 

"How come you're always here?" Dami questioned. "You're married now. Shouldn't you be with your wife?" 

She tried to keep her tone casual. After her meeting with the new CEO, she was very curious about her relationship with KJ. All her life, she knew KJ as a loner and commitment phobic. She had tried unsuccessfully to get into a relationship with him several times but KJ had a rule to never sleep around with people under his own label. Did the CEO blackmail KJ into marriage? 

"She's resting at home," KJ shrugged. "Even though she works here all day, she still did not recover fully from her accident."

"How long have you two been together?" Dami asked. 

KJ raised his eyebrows. "A few months," he replied. 

"And you got married this soon?" Dami scoffed. "Are a few months enough to know a person?" 

"Sometimes," KJ began in a cool tone. "One day is enough to know a person's worth. And sometimes, you fail to understand a person even after knowing them for years." 

Dami stiffened at those words. She knew he was referring to Ash. 

"What he did was terrible," she said sadly. "He was a good friend of mine and yet… He hid himself well." 

"He did," KJ agreed. "Anyways, back to writing songs." 

"Can I help?" Dami offered. "Maybe two heads are better than one." 

"Sure," KJ smiled. He handed over the notes to her and they began to work on it until almost midnight. Yet, KJ was not satisfied with it. 

"Nothing is working!" KJ said angrily, throwing the papers away. "It's a mess!" 

"Let's work on it a little longer," Dami suggested. "We're nearly finished." 

Before KJ could reply, his phone began to ring. It was their new caretaker, Ms. Sejong. 

"Yes, ahjumma," KJ said into the speakerphone. 

"Sir, the young mistress has fainted!" Sejong's desperate voice came from the other end. 

KJ froze at those words. Mirae had fainted? 

"What's wrong?" Dami frowned as he quickly grabbed his things. 

"Mirae had fainted!" he exclaimed. "I should go!" 

He did not wait for Dami's next words but sprinted off towards his car. He drove like a maniac until he reached his mansion. 

Upon entering the house, Sejong hurriedly came to greet him with a grim expression on her face. 

"Where is she?" KJ demanded. 

"The garden," Sejong replied. "At the gazebo. We couldn't move her from there" 

"How did this happen?" he asked. 

"She was doing fine until suddenly, she felt dizzy and fainted on the floor," Sejong stated. "She's still unconscious. We called the doctor and-" 

KJ did not listen to the rest and darted outside. He barged through the garden

The gazebo was just upfront. He dashed towards it and-

A shower of confetti welcomed him upon his entrance. 

"What the-" 

Mirae was standing there, with a wide smile on her face and a couple of party hats. 

"Wha-" KJ started. "Didn't you faint?" 

"Nope!" she beamed. "It was just an excuse to bring you home. Sejong ahjumma is a good actress! I was highly impressed." 

"What is all this?" KJ frowned. There were boxes of food and drinks on the floor. Mirae had laid out a carpet on the floor. The gazebo was decorated with balloons and a barbeque grill was placed out in the center. 

"What's the occasion?" he asked. He tried to rack his brains to remember if it was someone's birthday. But his birthday was in October and Mirae's one was in December. And it definitely was not an anniversary. 

"There is no occasion," Mirae replied as she put a party hat on him. "It's an impromptu barbeque party!" 

She beamed at him. "But why…" he began to ask. 

"You've been going through a lot in the past few days," Mirae stated. "You hardly got any time for yourself to sit back and enjoy life. So I thought, why not organize a little night-time barbecue?" 

KJ wanted to protest that Mirae should go to bed and rest but faltered under her bright smile. 

"Do you know how to make a barbeque?" he asked instead. 

"It's easy right?" she wondered. She took out slabs of meat. "You just put the meat on the grill-" 

"No that's all wrong!" KJ exclaimed as he stopped her. "You gotta put the barbeque sauce on it first."

"On the grill?"

KJ sighed. "Let me do it," he snickered. 

Mirae watched in awe as he expertly marinated the meat and placed it on the fired up grill. Soon, the meat began to sizzle. 

Mirae felt her mouth water. The smell of the meat was too enticing. KJ noticed her staring longingly at the meat. 

"Didn't you have dinner?" he frowned. 

"I was waiting for you!" she said crossly. "I thought you'd come home early since you had no schedule but it was almost midnight and you were AWOL! Why do you think I had to use Sejong?" 

She was a little irritated at him. His habit of coming late from work was worrying her. Scheduled appearances aside, he spent way too much time at the studio even when he had nothing to do there. 

"I was writing songs," KJ answered. 

"You can do that in your personal study!" Mirae pointed out. 

"I didn't realize that time passed so quickly," KJ said but Mirae was not having it. 

"Eight PM," she announced. "You will return home by eight PM unless you have a scheduled performance. Not gonna hear any other excuses. That applies to me too." 

She gave him a strict gaze. KJ wanted to argue but her hawklike look made him cower. 

"But songs…" 

"Eight PM," she stated clearly. "I'm not stuttering here, KJ. Now, is the meat done?" 

KJ sighed. There was no getting out of this one. He put one cooked meat onto two plates. Mirae excitedly took her plate and sat on the carpet, motioning him to sit with her. 

"I also ordered chicken fry and soju!" she said excitedly. She took one of the boxes and offered him the chicken fries. 

KJ took one and bit into it. He did not realize that he was starving until then. 

"Thanks," he muttered. "For all this." 

"It's nothing, really," she told him as she chewed on a drumstick. "Amidst all what happened, all of us forgot how to enjoy ourselves. Today… I realized that if we're gonna mope on our sad times, then we can't create good memories. And you… You need happy memories the most." 

She gave him a sad smile. "You've been struggling with your song, right?" she asked. 

There was no use hiding from her. He nodded. 

"I can't come up with the lyrics," he sighed. "I don't know why…" 

"It's because you are not happy, KJ," Mirae stated bluntly. "How can you write a song when your heart isn't into it? When was the last time you truly enjoyed yourself? If you don't have good memories, then you won't be able to write anything." 

KJ slowly chewed his chicken and pondered on her words. She was right. He could not recall a single happy occasion from the past few months. With Ash's betrayal, Mirae's miscarriage to EXOTIC's disbandment, a lot of things had happened. He did not have the heart to make any new music. 

"You're right," he admitted. "My heart is not into making music anymore. I don't know what to do…" 

"Do you want to make new music?" she proved. "Do you still love that stage, KJ?" 

He was startled by her question. "I do," he whispered. "But I'm going to disappoint my fans if I can't perform anymore." 

"You will perform," Mirae said firmly. "Even if the entire world is not there to listen, I'll always listen." 

With that she got up to dash towards a corner of the gazebo. KJ looked on curiously as she picked up a large, gift wrapped box and handed it to him. 

"Open it," she said. KJ held the box. It was really large and yet felt light in his hands. He unwrapped the packaging to reveal a sleek electric guitar. 

"Nation's Idol deserves something worthy of his name," Mirae beamed. "Now everytime you go on stage with this, you'll remember that I'm always cheering for you!" 

KJ was speechless. He did not know what to say. Instead, he put the guitar aside, leaned over and hugged her tightly. 

Mirae was taken aback by his sudden gesture but hugged him back with a smile. 

"Hey Kwon Jiwon, are you crying?" she teased as he kept on hugging her.

"No...can we just stay like this for a while?" 

Mirae did not say anything but did not break off the hug. After several minutes, he let go. 

"Wanna hear a new song?" he asked, smiling. He finally found the song he wanted to write. All thanks to Mirae. 

"Ohhh yes!" she exclaimed. He picked up the guitar and stood up. Taking a few steps backwards he began to play the guitar. 

"Wait, I need to cheer!" Mirae exclaimed. She cleared out her throat. 

"Ladies and gentlemen!" she announced. "May I now present you all, the Nation's Idol, Kwon Jiwon!" 

She clapped and hooted as KJ laughed. He began to play the guitar and sing. 

"When did I fall in love with you? 

Was it during the colorful Spring day? 

Or during the frosty Winter evening? 

The feelings for you wouldn't stop growing 

Everywhere I go

I search for you

Your eyes, which pierced through my soul 

Every morning I wake up, wanting to forget you

So that I can fall in love with you again

When did I fall in love with you? 

Was it the first time I saw you? 

Or when it was the first time I kissed you? 

I don't know but I search for you

Every morning I wake up, wanting to forget you

So that I can fall in love with you again… "

He ended the song. Mirae's claps echoed the garden as she stood up to give him a standing ovation. 

"It's still not finished," he said sheepishly. But Mirae was in awe. There were tears in her eyes. 

"Jiwon, that was beautiful!" she exclaimed. 

"It's incomplete," he replied. 

"Doesn't matter! It was wonderful!" she said. "Encore encore!" 

KJ smiled and obliged her request as he picked up the guitar and began to sing again. 

Finally, after an hour, they were tired. Mirae helped KJ put away the plates and they headed for their bedroom. 

"There is one more thing which I want to give you," she said. 

"Another gift?" he frowned. 

"Not exactly," she replied as she reached for her handbag. She took out a silver box. Goo Soo Bin's box. 

KJ was astonished. 

"How did you…"

"Remember Sunye?" Mirae asked. "Song Tam Lin's lawyer? The one who helped us at Sunny Daze?" 

"Yeah…" KJ said slowly. 

"You dropped it there," Mirae explained. "She was the one who found it. I ran into her today and she handed it over to me."

She gave the box to KJ. He held it in his hands, astonished to have it back. This box… it held the secrets to his past… 

"Let's open it," he said. 

"You figured out the password?" Mirae asked. 

"I think so," KJ replied. They sat in the bed, staring at the box. Their heartbeats raced as KJ typed in the code.

111208

"Is that… The day before your grandfather died?" Mirae asked. 

"My audition date," KJ said. He pressed the green button. His hands were sweating. Please work, he prayed. 

For a few seconds, nothing happened. But suddenly, they heard the sound of the lock unlocking. The box popped open. The code had worked.