So, in the spring, I was introduced to Korean dramas and have been hooked ever since. One particular show called My Liberation Notes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Liberation_Notes) , inspired me to write some fan-fiction about the characters, so I’m taking this opportunity to do so. But first, if you haven’t watched the show, please do! It will give my story a bit more meaning. Here you go.
My Liberation Notes – Fantasy Season, Part 1
[Mr. Gu and Yeom Mi-Jeong]
Note: All rights to the characters belong to the show My Liberation Notes This is only a work of fan-fiction, and not associated in any way to the show.
Mr. Gu and Yeom Mi-jeong enter his apartment, smiling at each other. He veers to the kitchen and calls out to her, “Yeom Mi-Jeong! What will you drink today?”
She chuckles and says he sounds like he’s ordering at a bar. He is tipsy as he peers around the corner at her, and although he has one of his slight smiles, his gaze is intense. “If I could order a bottle of you and drink you down all day, I’d be in heaven.”
She blushes hugs her coat closer, then turns on the floor heater.
He goes back into the kitchen and returns with drinks and a snack. They sit next to the couch, waiting for the room to warm up. For weeks, their “sessions” have become more intimate. She snuggles next to him under the blanket before they both take a shot of alcohol, but lately, it seems to him that the drinking is not enough. He craves her more than alcohol, her touch, her smile, her understanding. He still feels like a thug that doesn’t deserve her affection.
“Mountains or ocean?” she asks.
“Ocean”
“Why?”
“It’s always changing. It’s moody but beautiful,” he shrugs. “It calls to me.”
“Mountains can be magical too.”
He nods, remembers their first kiss and takes another shot. Immediately, he regrets it because he wants to touch her instead. He watches her cut a strawberry then eat it.
He envies the fruit. “I miss the farm sometimes,” he says. “More than I thought I would actually.”
She chuckles. “You miss the sweat, heat and insects during harvest?”
“Yep. Even the early mornings and late evenings.”
She turns slightly to glance at him and he slowly leans in for a kiss. It’s a slow burn of a kiss that tastes of strawberries and wine mingling perfectly. He feels drunk on the flavor of it, of her.
He pulls away when he feels them tipping and sliding toward the floor when the couch slides backward a few inches.
“Your couch is shifting,” she whispers.
“My world is spinning,” he murmurs, but remains leaning over her as she now lays on the floor looking up at him. At this close proximity, every word is a warm caress of air between them. There’s so much emotion gleaming in her eyes.
“I’m reckless when I’m this drunk,” he says as an apology. “I don’t want to ruin things with you ever, but having you this close is dangerous. I…” He momentarily closes his eyes so she won’t see how much he wants her. “Forgive me.”
She seems to understand his struggle. “It’s okay.
Their eyes lock for a long moment.
“It’s just a kiss,’ she says with a soft smile.
But they both know it’s more than that. His fingers itch to caress her hair, and he is drawn to the warm wisp of air from her mouth every time she speaks. The scent of her perfume fills his head and he groans, wishing he had more restraint.
Not far from them, the floor heater kicks into heating mode again.
“At work, we keep the office cold so guests won’t take their coats off and feel comfortable,” he admits.
She nods. “So you don’t want me to take my coat off?”
He knows he should feel embarrassed, but he’s too busy visualizing it. “I don’t know why I said that, I mean I didn’t break the house heater on purpose,” he clarified.
“Oh good,” she smirks.
“But maybe I won’t fix it either. I like the way you shiver and move closer to stay warm.”
Her delicate eyebrows go up in surprise. “I’m not cold,” she lied.
His hand tugs playfully at her scarf, and he leans closer to gently blow against her exposed neck. She gasps and shivers against him.
He barely holds back a hum of pleasure.
A heartbeat later, she leans up and blows gently against his neck. This time, he shivers. He can’t resist the feel of her hair, cradling her head to pull her close for a long, hungry kiss. He loves this about her, that they can kiss as if they are devouring candy between their mouths, and as their need grows, she tugs at his coat to pull him closer.
When they finally break for air, they are both breathless and he knows things could easily get out of his control. So he reluctantly lays down beside her, cuddling her to his side. “Yeon Mi-Jeong! You’re driving me crazy…”
She’s lays her head on his chest where his heart is thumping heavily. No mistakes, he reminds himself. Alcohol might be his weakness but he didn’t have to make more of a mess in her life than that.
“I promise I won’t rush,” he vows. “I don’t want to be drunk when we … I don’t want to ruin things. “
“You won’t.”
His thoughts are jumbled by her admission, except for one truth. “You deserve to be worshipped thoroughly.”
She peers up at him. “So do you.”
The joy and fear in his heart intermingle.
Nonetheless, afraid he’d be a clumsy drunk lover, he hesitates, and they lay there for a long while. Eventually the comfort of their body heat makes them tired and they falling asleep.
That weekend, when they return to his apartment, Mi-Jeong takes a few steps into the room and realizes the floor heater is gone, but the room is warm. He stands a few feet away, watching her, as still as a statue.
Without a word, she shrugs her coat off, understanding now why he’d deliberately stayed sober all evening. It felt like he’d been avoiding her gaze earlier, but now, all the intense heat and intention is silently there for her to see.
“You fixed it.”
He nods. She smiles.
“Yet you’re still making me shiver,” she admits quietly.
“Mi-Jeong,” he whispers reverently before stepping forward and kissing her until they both can hardly stand straight. As passions flare, their hands roam, caressing, mouths pivoting to taste skin, bodies needing more urgent contact.
That night, he worships her with all the love in his soul, undressing her as if she were the most precious gift. Without the alcohol to fog his mind, he memorizes the arch of her back, the sensitive spot under her jaw, the center of her open palm, smooth thighs, slender ankles and all the other soft pleasurable curves of her body. The night stretches out like magic while he paces himself, doing everything he can to give her such pleasure that she’ll never forget how good it can be between them.
The following morning, they wake up in a mess of tangled blankets, their limbs entwined. He decides that from this day onward, starting his morning next to her means he’s already ahead in his game of trying to find 5 minutes of happiness. Especially her sleepy morning smile. The unmistakable joy makes him feel like the luckiest bastard ever. He leaves her bundled in the covers so that he can make coffee and eggs. And as they days go by, he finds that he loves this morning ritual the most.
Months go by.
On one of their visits back home to see her father, Mr. Gu reunites with the whole family and they share a wonderful afternoon eating and reminiscing about the farm days. Chang Hee, the brother, is especially happy to see Mr. Gu.
Little by little, each day he drinks less, greedily wanting to remember moments with her that he’s afraid the alcohol will steal away from him. He still feels like he can’t trust the happiness.
Several months later, on one of her routine doctor visits, she discovers she has breast cancer. The doctor says that if she gets a mastectomy right away her outlook is promising.
She doesn’t want to tell him, but he finds out when he overhears a conversation between her and her doctor.
Blindsided by how unfair life is, he doesn’t know what to do. He’s angry that it is happening to her and feels his life threatening to spin out of control. For the first time in a long time, he doesn’t meet her at the subway station after work, and he doesn’t answer her texts.
Instead, he goes on an alcoholic binge for a few days, and gets a call from the manager that once stole from him, who is seeking forgiveness. He tells him that the Chairman is about to be robbed in a turf war by his two rivals.
Eager to get his mind off Mi-Jeong, Mr. Gu calls some of his henchmen and they rush to the nightclub. The war is fierce. By unleashing all his fury into the fight, it is a bloody battle, but he manages to win in a big way.
When it is over, he realizes how much he hates the job, and how in the past, it had become his main reason for drinking, and how much being with Mi-Jeong had healed him. He finally understands that the cost to his soul is too much.
The Chairman is grateful for the show of dominant force, and as much as he wants to keep Mr. Gu, he has noticed that he is volatile, and his heart is not in the job any more. In a show of respect and honor among mobsters, he grants Mr. Gu his wish to be released, but asks that he trains his replacement.
Mr. Gu is grateful to be free, but doesn’t return to Mi-Jeong because he is deeply ashamed of himself for how he took the news of her cancer. His face still has bruises from his fights, so he watches her from a distance, too embarrassed to even visit her. She still sends him encouraging texts, reminding him to eat and take his vitamins, letting him know she’s thinking about him… anything to keep him from hitting rock bottom.
After a week, he starts to text her that he’s finally got his mind set straight, but instead decides to meet her at the subway station.
She cautiously stares, her gaze finding each of his facial bruises.
“I’m sorry,” he says gruffly. “I did warn you I was no good.”
She sighs and attempts to smile. “You did.”
His heart aches at how sad and gaunt she looks. “Did they schedule the surgery?”
She nods, looks away and asks, “How have you been?”
He shrugs.
“Are your sessions with me over?”
He feels frozen in place. Every fiber in him wants to lie and say yes, but the truth escapes his lips anyway. “No.”
She glances back at him, and looks like she wants to cry. It stabs him in the heart, to think that despite everything, she’s still worried about him more than herself.
Closing the distance between them, he takes her into his arms in a warm embrace. “I’m sorry I’m such a fucking asshole,” he says against her hair. “I couldn’t handle seeing you hurt. I thought I could protect you from anything, but then …” he sighs. “I don’t understand why you and not me? I can’t help feeling like I brought you such bad luck. I’m such a bastard. I’m so sorry.”
She hugs him back and by now, tears are streaming down her cheeks. “It’s not bad luck, it’s just life. I can take care of myself.”
“Mi-Jeong,” he hugs her closer. “Forgive me. I … I don’t know how to help, but I’ll try. Whatever you need me to do.”
She shakes her head, struggling not to sob.
“Let me take you to the doctor when you need to. I can drive you there,” he kisses her hair again. “I … I can make you breakfast every day–”
“Stop! You’re free to go and be healthy—”
“I won’t.”
For a long moment, they stand in silence while the traffic and pedestrians move around them.
“Mi-Jeong, you’ve made me want to be a better person. I’ll probably still make mistakes, but let me try to be a better person for you. Please.”
She wipes her tears. “Things could go very wrong.”
“I’ll be ready for the devil himself.”
She shakes her head.
“My body won’t be the same. Chemotherapy and surgery are going to change me physically. I’ll have scars.”
“I don’t care. I have scars.”
“I need all my energy for myself now. I won’t be angry if you want to leave—”
“I won’t leave.”
“But you did.”
He cringes. “I … stepped away for a bit. I didn’t want to make things worse for you. I won’t leave again. I promise.”
A loud honk from a passing car reminds them they’ve been standing on the sidewalk.
“Can I take you home?” he asks.
Despite her hesitation, she agrees. From that moment on, he keeps his word and helps her through the cancer treatments, seeing her when she is weak, throwing up and frightened. She agrees to move in with him instead of living with her siblings. When the surgery comes, he is very tempted to drink again, but does not. He snarls at everyone but her, and is often by her bedside, holding her hand.
When Mi-Jeong is in recovery, one of her favorite things to do is to go to the farmer’s market at the edge of town for fresh fruit and vegetables. It’s a slightly rundown place, with a dry koi pond at the entrance, but it reminds them of the old farm days. Even some of the vendors are familiar and friendly.
One day, Mi-Jeong comments that it would really be pretty if the plants were taken care of and the koi pond was filled again. Mr. Gu secretly decides to save the place from bankruptcy and make the market his new business. He builds a beautiful koi pond with nearby bench for her as a surprise, which she loves. Since the market also works like a co-op, he gets to help some of the farmers too, working in their fields.
Life settles into a comfortable pattern, and soon she returns to the work she enjoyed, and he continues to work at the farmer’s market.
During one of their visits to her father, Mr. Gu asks her father for her hand in marriage. He proposes to her on the hill where they first kissed, under a full moon. She accepts, and the finale is a celebration of their wedding.
~ the end ~
Stay tuned for Part 2, Chang-Hee’s story.