“Oh good, you guys are already practicing”

A voice approaches behind Chang Wook. It’s Director-nim who had spotted them standing near the wall and came over to discuss the blocking positions for the scene. 

He doesn’t seem to notice the stunned look in Ji Hyun’s eyes or the tense expression on Chang Wook’s own face. Or, if he does, perhaps he thinks it’s part of the rehearsal.

Chang Wook swallows a frustrated protest, wanting more than anything to pull Ji Hyun aside to somewhere they can be alone. He cannot think of any good excuse for doing so though; not without raising suspicion. Especially not now that the Director has started going over the shot angles for the scene.

He looks over at Ji Hyun, trying to gauge what she may be thinking; but her eyes are refusing to meet his.

Had he screwed up?

He hadn’t planned to blurt out those words. Not in that way. But when she had said “I like you” even if it was the character in the script speaking; his heart had leapt wildly and he wanted to believe more than anything it was real.

Because he liked her. Beyond words. Loved her beyond anything.

He wanted to say it over and over. I like you, I love you. And so he had. In that moment of madness he had spoken the truth.

Nam Ji Hyun... I like you.

It had felt wonderful. It had felt terrifying.

But then they had been interrupted; and for the first time in his life, Ji Chang Wook wishes he could walk off the set so he could deal with this first.

Soon, the cameras start rolling and in a surreal dance of twisted reality, they find themselves repeating almost exactly the same words and moves from earlier, again and again except this time he rejects her. Again and again.

To make things worse, Chang Wook’s attention is shot and he seems to be making more mistakes than usual, dragging the process even longer. Finally, the Director calls it a day and signals that they are done. The crew busies themselves with breaking down the set and lights.

“Long day, huh, buddy?” The Director pats him on the back, the look on his face slightly puzzled. He seems to debate saying something but then just gives Chang Wook one more pat and heads back to talk with the assistant director.

From the corner of his eye, Chang Wook notices that Ji Hyun has already made her way to her van. Her manager and stylist are busy loading up their gear.

Seeing this, Chang Wook breaks into a run, wanting to make sure he gets a chance to speak to her before she leaves.

She turns at the sound of his approach and freezes.

“Ji Hyun, I need to talk to you.”

Both her manager and stylist are now looking too. Wondering what was so urgent it had him running there.

“Five minutes; can I just have five minutes of your time?”

Ji Hyun looks at her manager then turns to Chang Wook and nods.

“Privately,” he adds, “Please.”

At this, her stylist and manager look at each other .

“Ji Hyun…” her manager starts to say.

“No, it’s Ok Jeong Jun. Would you and Soojin-unnie mind waiting for me here? I’ll be right back.”

She turns and heads to the park nearby. Chang Wook follows along silently.

Nam Ji Hyun looks out of the corner of her eye at the man sitting on the bench next to her. They were at a small playground not too far from the filming location; but, since it was late at night, the little park lay empty.

Those words “Nam Ji Hyun, I like you” keep echoing in her mind. Only yesterday, one other man had said the exact same words. Was it a coincidence? Everything was too confusing.

Chang Wook is silent next to her; his hands fiddling with his watch. Despite his urgency earlier, he seems to be at a loss of words.

“Why did you say it, Oppa?”

He looks at her, his expression confused.

“Why did you say those words?”

“Because… well, because I like you.”

“No, why did you say it now?” she rubs her thumb in frustration. “Is it because of In Guk-Oppa?”

“What? No. It has nothing to do with him! Did he say something to you?”

His expression turns suddenly fierce. Ji Hyun now knows for sure that whatever had happened between him and Seo In Guk, well, it had gone very, very wrong.

“Since when, then? Since when have you been feeling this way?”

“I..” Chang Wook falls silent. He’s not sure if revealing the whole truth would look good on him or just scare her away.

Noticing his hesitation, Ji Hyun looks sadly away. In her fantasies, when he confessed to her, or she confessed to him, it was a moment full of bright wonder. They’d celebrate with the perfect first day, maybe even shyly share a goodbye kiss at the end of the evening.

What was it she had been telling herself about fantasies? That’s right, they’re not real.

She had loved this man for too long, that the thought he might suddenly want her because of some twisted rivalry with his friend made her feel slightly nauseous. The coincidental timing raised too many questions.

“Why do you like me?” she asks quietly.

At first it seems like Chang Wook is not going to answer that one either. After a long moment he gets up and kneels in front of her. His eyes look up into hers. Her thumbs had been rubbing her fingers agitatedly and he slowly covers them with his hands, holding them still.

“Ji Hyun,  I’m making a mess of this. I’m... I’m not good with words. I don’t know how to explain this to you, but I love you. I’ve loved you for a long time. Longer than you could imagine.”

“So please, just put me out of my misery. Tell me, can you one day feel the same way about me? Maybe not today. But one day?”

His eyes look heartbreakingly at hers. She’s not sure if she sees a glimmer of tears there; but her own eyes are getting unfocused; and before she knows it she’s wiping tears away.

Strong arms wrap around her, holding her close.

“I’m sorry, Ji Hyun. Don’t cry… I’m sorry”

This only makes her cry harder. The rollercoaster of emotions from the past few days spill out and she weeps harder than she has in a long, long time.

Chang Wook sits silently on the bench, holding on as tightly as possible to the crying woman in his arms. Every sob of hers feel like it’s ripping his heart apart. He feels so helpless.

And he’s terrified.

He’s ruined it. Everything. The fact that she was this unhappy must not be good for him. A dull ache echoes low inside him, slowly turning into sharp pains as he pictures all his dreams shattering. Is this what heartbreak felt like?

The five minutes he had asked for quickly turn into ten and perhaps more. At last, he feels Ji Hyun slowly calming down in his arms.

He thinks of what he could possibly say and finally, he decides on the truth. All of it. At this point, he thinks wearily, he has nothing left to lose.

“It was two years ago,” he starts, “two years five months and 20 days ago to be exact. That's when I fell in love with you.”

“You were wearing a sparkly dress, and you were up on a stage. We were at an award show, I don’t remember which one; they all seem to blur together. Except I remember that moment. With you.”

Ji Hyun seemed to be listening intently. Her breathing now calm as she leaned against him in his arms.

So he continued.

“Earlier that night, I had been trying to find somewhere I could catch a smoke.” he grimaces, “It’s a terrible habit, but I needed something to help calm my nerves”

“That’s when I saw you. I think you were trying to hide; but your dress caught the reflection of the light. I thought about walking by, to let you have the privacy you probably wanted. But I couldn’t”

“And when I saw your face, you looked familiar. I had seen you before at the salon. We had both been on stage earlier and I remember thinking the same thing then. And thinking you were cute” he smiles slightly at that memory.

“You were so terrified about going on stage for your performance, I couldn't help feeling bad. And even after we left that room, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I was worried.”

“But later, you came onto the stage... and, and you were amazing.”

He feels Ji Hyun shake her head at this. He looks down and he sees her laughing, self-deprecatingly.

“No, I was terrible” she hides her face against his shoulder.

“What I mean is, you’re not a singer, it’s true. And you weren’t great at the singing part.  But you... standing up there, was one of the most amazing things I’d ever seen. Despite your fears and your doubts, even though you knew how things would play out, you were up there and you were magnificent.”

“You had that beautiful smile on your face, and not even once did you show that you were afraid in front of that crowd. It was one of the bravest things I’d ever seen.”

“That night, Ji Hyun, I realized there is something special about you. And I could not get you out of my mind. But I’ve been an idiot. I’m the one who has been a coward. I should have told you years ago. I should have said something.”

“But, I was too scared to approach you. Because… because at first it seemed impossible and I was worried for my career," he admits with stark honesty, "and later I was afraid of losing whatever bit of you I had and being lonely for good.”

He laughs bitterly. He'd been running scared all this time. He worked so hard because he was scared of failure, scared of the mounting debts, scared that he would let his Omma down. He had been anxious when the job offers had not come, and later afraid that his fans would forsake him if he couldn't keep them happy. The thought of a serious relationship had terrified him. He didn't know if he'd be able to make both things work. No, he'd been too scared to try so he had picked career over everything else. 

And then, once he had her near, and he finally had his chance, he had been scared to lose her.

He sighs wearily, his breath feeling shaky and for a horrifying second he’s afraid that he will start crying, right in front of her. He slowly gets up. Not quite sure where he was going, but feeling exhausted from the emotions of the night.

A hand grabs his wrist, stopping him. He turns to see Ji Hyun standing up, tears still in her eyes.

“Oppa….” she whispers quietly.

Then slowly, as if in a dream, she moves closer and her lips touch his. So softly.

He stays frozen in amazement, not quite sure if this is real. Her hand gently reaches up to cup his face and, at that touch, he breaks free from the spell holding him. He pulls her to him, seeking more of her lips. Inhaling the feel of them molded against his. He tastes the sweet scent of her and wraps his arms around her tighter, his breath catching at the feel of her warm hands sliding around his neck as she presses her self closer. 

They stand there arms wrapped tightly around each other; lost to everything.

Not too far away, Soojin hurries back to the van. She sees Manager Jeong-Jun looking at her anxiously.

“Did you find them, Noona?”

“Ah, yes...” she says, hesitating slightly.

“So, is Ji Hyun coming?”

“Aishhh, you. Why are you so impatient! Those kids just need some time to discuss things. Here, sit here and show me how to beat this game level again.”

She pulls out her phone and Jeong-Jun happily starts rearranging the tiny little candy pieces on the screen, smiling with glee as he racks up more points.