06 January 2014 7:30 AM

The first item crossed the newswires at 4:30 in the morning. By 4:45 am, cell phones owned by anyone associated with the 2 stars started beeping with text messages and ringing incessantly. By 5 am, Vivian Park was answering calls from reporters, gossip columnists, and televisions stations as far as France and Australia, yet she still had no clue what exactly was happening. As Seoul and all of Korea woke up to the first full work week of the new year 2014, the bombshell news reverberated across the country. The morning news shows on all the channels, KBS, SBS, and MBC, had special coverage of the explosive story. The pictures that Dispatch had published that morning were now being shown in a repeating loop on every station and were being shared on every mobile device. By 7 am, dozens of reporters and camera crews were parked 500 meters down the road from Song Hye Kyo’s house, the closest that the Seoul police, which had been called in to control the crowds, would allow anyone to venture. A similar scene was playing out in front of Jo In Sung’s house.

“Hye Kyo, what the hell is happening?!” Vivian asked as she finally made it through the front door, only after presenting her ID and having Hye Kyo vouch for her over the phone. Even now, there was a plainclothes policeman escorting her, she noted…something to ask her charge about later. After trying and failing to satisfy the reporters bombarding her phones and office with questions she had no answers for, Vivian had rushed to Hye Kyo house, hoping to get the truth.

The last time these rumors had come up, Hye Kyo had reassured her that none of it was true. In Sung was just like an older brother to her. She was not dating him at all. Rather, she was dating, and apparently going to marry, Song Joong Ki. And it was In Sung who had actually set them up. That had been 8 months ago. But now, now there are pictures…real pictures…and apparently even a video. Hye Kyo and In Sung in Japan, sometime back in November, enjoying some early skiing in the mountains of Sapporo. In Sung and Hye Kyo on a romantic trip to New York 3 weeks ago, skating at Rockefeller Center and enjoying the Christmas shopping on 5^th Avenue. “What is all this with you and In Sung-ssi?”

“Ah… Vivian-ssi, I am afraid it’s my fault.” This time it was In Sung who came down the stairs of Hye Kyo’s house, so impeccably dressed that Vivian realized that he had not just only arrived before her, but most likely had spent the night…meaning that he…. “I’m sorry but Hye Kyo is still getting dressed. Would you like some coffee? Tea? It’ll take me a little bit to get breakfast ready.”

Vivian stopped dead in her tracks and just stared at In Sung as if he had 2 heads. “Wha…what?”

“Yeobo, don’t like that,” Hye Kyo admonished In Sung as she entered the living room and pulled In Sung into a hug, giving him a quick morning kiss on the lips. “I’m sure she’s very confused and want answers right now.”
 

“SONG HYE KYO…if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on, I’m going to KILL THE BOTH OF YOU RIGHT NOW!” Vivian exploded, unable to hold back any longer. She looked sternly at the couple in front of her, waiting for her answers.

The air was silent for what seemed like an eternity, and then both In Sung and Hye Kyo burst out in laughter. Hye Kyo moved to give Vivian a hug and at the same time maneuver her to the couch. It was only then that Vivian noticed the amazingly brilliant diamond engagement ring on Hye Kyo’s finger, stunningly reflecting the pale winter morning sunlight for all the world to see.

SJK SHK | SJK SHK | SJK SHK | SJK SHK | SJK SHK | SJK SHK | SJK SHK | SJK SHK | SJK SHK |

07 January 2014 12:30 AM

“I am so tired. I’m just going to sleep here tonight…I don’t need to go home.” In Sung whined as he collapsed onto the couch at one end of the meeting room, not bothering with formalities or even caring about the other people in the room. It had been a very very long day that had started with the maniacal, almost comical rantings of Hye Kyo’s agent, continued with a hastily arranged press conference and then individual interviews at the Four Seasons hotel with all the major Korean TV and newspaper outlets and even some international media, and had finally ended with a very highly visible celebratory dinner at the Park Hyatt in Gangnam. If some foreigner had just arrived in Korea and had the TV, they would have thought that In Sung and Hye Kyo were king and queen of the country instead of just 2 actors from all the coverage from the last 24 hours.

In Sung and Hye Kyo had answered the same questions a thousand thousand times.

Yes, they had been friends for a long time, going back to their teens. No, they never thought about dating until they had worked together on That Winter, The Wind Blows, where they had fallen madly in love. They had dated in secret, not even their families or agents knew.

In Sung had proposed over Christmas Eve with a ring that he had picked out at the Cartier flagship store in Paris and Hye Kyo had happily accepted.

They want to start their lives together as soon as possible, so they’re going to get married on February 14^th, Valentine’s Day, at the Myeong-dong Cathedral, In Sung’s home parish church.

Of course, his 2 best friends, Joong Ki and Kwang Soo, would be his supporters. Hye Kyo had not asked her bridesmaids yet, but she had a feeling they wouldn’t refuse her.

“Stop complaining, yeobo,” Hye Kyo countered sarcastically as she collapsed next to In Sung, just as exhausted as he was. “We can’t let all those pictures and videos of us in New York and Sapporo and Hong Kong and Lord knows where else Kwang Soo thought of to go to waste. I never realized the NIS had such talented people working for them, to be able to produce all that fake footage! Besides, this was your brilliant idea, and it better work, or else we’re going to have the entire country pissed off at us!”

“If this doesn’t work, you’ll be dead,” Kwang Soo countered as he and Joong Ki entered the meeting room that occupied the most secure floor of the NIS headquarters.
 

“Ah yes, leave it to our giraffe Kwang Soo to bring us back to reality,” Hye Kyo teased as Joong Ki sat beside her and she laid her head on his lap, her eyes already closed as he massaged her temples.

“If this doesn’t work we’ll need to go into a witness protection program because Vivian will definitely kill us,” In Sung countered, chuckling despite himself as he recalled scene in Hye Kyo’s house some 16 hours prior. “I’m really afraid of that woman!”
 

“Can I just say that I’m still opposed to this plan?” Joong Ki finally spoke up. “This is too dangerous…you 2 can’t just put yourself out there as bait like this.”

“Aiya…Joong Ki, we’ve been over this. It’s the only way to lure him out and catch him. We have to do the single thing that will drive him insane.” In Sung replied sleepily. “I promise, I will never let anything happen to Hye Kyo.”

Senior Detective Lee stayed silent as he heard the chatter and took in the scene before him. He looked at each of the 4 youngsters in the room. He loves the 3 others as much as he loves his own son. How things had come to this, he’ll forever wonder, but it’s too late to pull anything back. “Quiet, all of you. And Kwang Soo is right, this is very dangerous what we’re doing. Only 3 other people outside of this room know what’s really going on, and we have to keep it that way. Not even your parents…or grandparents can know. If Alan gets any inkling that his is fake, he will come after them as well. This is pulling the dragon by the tail and daring him to come after us.”

The elder Lee’s words seemed to bring all of them back to reality. When In Sung had first come up with the idea, back in December, the NIS, Hye Kyo, everyone had been adamantly opposed to it. But as time went on, and the small incidences, the threats, the uncertainties continued without Interpol being able to catch Alan Song, they all came to the realization that something needed to be done, to taunt him, to egg him on, to drive him into the open. And there was only 1 thing that could accomplish that. And so, when Hye Kyo had visited Joong Ki in Beijing, she was there not just to tell him the truth, but to also enlist his help. It needed to be perfect, to be flawless, to be so secretive in order to succeed.

Finally, In Sung sat up and sighed deeply before speaking. “Look, both Hye Kyo and I know how dangerous this is, but we want our lives back. We want to be able to step out the door in the morning without fear of being shot, or kidnapped, or hell knows what. We want to not to have to worry that he’ll come after one of you, or our parents, or our friends. We want…no…I want him dea…gone. Not captured, not sent back to prison, but …gone…G O N E. That’s the only way we can get back to normal.”

And with that, In Sung leaned back in the couch and closed his eyes, leaving the elder Lee staring at him, wondering exactly what In Sung had been planning all along.