“Yeah just a little bit of damage control over here, a few of the more devoted fans seem to have written some messages on her cyworld page…yes, uh huh…no, we won’t take it down, let them vent whatever they’re feeling, after this blows over we’ll take their messages down,” Mr Kim Taeguk set his office telephone receiver down and leaned back in his chair.

He smiled. Things had gone just as he had expected, for the most part. Two weeks down the line and there wasn’t a single article concerning Super Juniors Super Show 4 performance on the other hand all the entertainment media was abuzz with news of the newest celebrity couple to hit the streets of Seoul. Park Hansoo had done as he’d promised and written up a deliciously scandalous story about the two apparent lovers while still maintaining a certain air of romance that drew people in and made them sympathise with the couple that had according to the article, “been forced by circumstances to hide their feelings for the past few months.” The calls from various talk shows were pouring in, young celebrities talking about their relationships was one thing, but a celebrity of Siwon’s reputation coming out about his own relationship, that was bound to raise the ratings of any show by at least 5%...maybe even 10%.

Hyoyeon and Siwon had held a press conference in the main SM conference room a few days after they’d come back from Seoul. The article about them had come out much earlier but to give the feel of a scandal they had decided to delay releasing their own statements.

Kim Taeguk spun in his comfortable all leather office chair to face the window and taking in the view of the Seoul downtown area that stretched endlessly outside. He loved it when a PR strategy went down smoothly. And this one was one for the books. He’d actually killed two birds with one stone, getting rid of a scandal and put Siwon's name on everyone's lips. Yes, a few fans had expressed their dislike of their favourite idol dating and a number had left the fan café but for every fan that left there were another two to take their place drawn in by curiosity about the oppa that everyone is talking about?

His smile faded as his mind returned to the situation he had just moments earlier been discussing on the phone. His plan hadn’t been exactly full proof though. For the past two weeks since the news article had been published Hyoyeon’s cyworld had been bombarded by various insults and expressions of disbelief not just from Siwon’s particular fans but fans of the entire group. Quite a number of the messages weren’t even from Korean fans but international fans.

He sighed. He and the entire PR team had not anticipated that the fans would react as badly as they did. The entire idea of using a relationship as a decoy to draw the media’s attention had hinged on Hyoyeon being somewhat expendable after all, she was invariably in the bottom three members of her group in terms of popularity and even though her popularity had recently begun to soar, she was still a rookie when compared to idols with fan bases numbering in the tens of thousands. Her fans were being supportive, congratulating her on her new found ‘love’ but most were either just interested in getting as much information about the ‘scandal’ or wanted an end to their ‘relationship’.

If only they knew that this was all a PR game and that the girl they were venting all their anger on had actually saved their favourite idol and his entire band from a scandal. He spun his chair back around to face his desk. It was time to get to work. He didn’t concern himself with the lives of idols, but on some level he felt a little bad for the trouble they had caused her, some of the comments on her homepage had been downright cruel. Moreover, the antifan sentiment was seeping through and affecting the overall image of the whole of Girl's Generation.

He dialled Hyoyeon’s manager, as expected the phone only rang once before Junseo answered.

“Hello Junseo, I heard you guys are headed over for Hyoyeon’s dance practice.”

“Yes we are. Is something wrong?”

“Something’s always wrong in my line of work,” Kim said, “We need to do some damage control for Hyoyeon, you know how antifans are, they’ll seize the opportunity to start slinging mud at the rest of the group.”

“Is it that bad?”

“Not yet it isn’t, but better safe than sorry.”

“What do you want us to do?”

“Well, you’ll need to cut the dance practice down by two hours. Hyoyeon will be featuring on ‘Come to Play’,” he paused, “With Siwon.”

Junseo cleared his throat, “We haven’t prepped them,”

“That’s the point. They need to seem sincere not practiced.”

“But you know how Hyoyeon gets when-”

“Yes,” Mr. Kim interrupted, “Tongue-tied and awkward,”

Junseo wanted to deny it but it was true. Hyoyeon didn’t usually respond to serious questions in the way that was expected, more so when she was nervous and he couldn’t think of any other situation that would make Hyoyeon as nervous as being on a show where the primary focus would be on her and her newfound relationship.

“I need to call Sunwoo, you just get yourselves over to MBC in time, okay?”

Junseo was quiet.

“Am I clear?”

“Yes, crystal,” he replied tetchily.

Hyoyeon took the news well, too well. She didn’t comment on it, she merely nodded and fixed her gaze back on the road outside. She looked worn out, her face was bare and her hair tied back in a simple ponytail. Even the way she’d dressed seemed to be proof of her low mood. Black tights, a dark gray t-shirt and a black shrug sweater.

“Are you really okay with this…because I could call back and tell-”

Hyoyeon gave him a half hearted smile, “Then we’d both get in trouble. Besides I’m fine with it, all I have to do is go there and smile and pretend to be in love right? Tell them some sweet story about us, how we fell for each other? That’s easy.”

Hyoyeon stretched and tried to look livelier. This wasn’t who she was, glum and moody. She hated worrying other people, burdening them with her worries. She felt Junseo’s hand on her shoulder. She looked at him, a little surprised, Junseo was a great manager, the best even, he seemed to genuinely care about her and the rest of the girls but he had never been the sort to outwardly show his feelings. And right now, concern was dripping from every pore on his body.

She caught his gaze and in the few moments she looked into his eyes she realised that he had an idea what had her feeling so low. No, he had more than an idea, he knew what it was.

 “Don’t go feeling sorry for me,” she said.

Junseo laughed, “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“How did you know?” she asked.

“I’m your manager, I’m supposed to know everything that’s going on with you guys.”

Junseo had in some shape or form been taking care of her and the rest of the group since before they’d even debuted. He was like a weird mix between a manager and an older brother.

 Hyoyeon sighed, “Pretty pathetic huh?”

Junseo’s brows furrowed, “The situation is pathetic not you.”

“You’re kind but I am pathetic for not realising it was all some PR tactic.” Hyoyeon lowered her voice, “For a brief moment I allowed myself to think that we could actually work. Seven years older and wiser and I still got the short end of the stick. I don’t blame him, I can’t. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice-” Hyoyeon stopped short.

Something wasn’t right. The look on Junseo’s face didn’t read like one of understanding, he looked confused. Totally and utterly confused.

“Are we still talking about the comments from antis getting you down?” he asked, his voice just as low as hers had been.

“What?” she asked.

“I thought you felt pathetic about letting the antis get you down…but clearlywe're on two different chapters let alone pages,” he paused, “What did you mean by I don’t blame him? Blame who?”

“I didn’t say…” she trailed off lamely.

Correction, Junseo was more like a weird mix between a clueless manager and an even more clueless older brother. Then again, she was the one who’d assumed he knew what was really going on. And knowing Junseo he wasn't going to rest until he knew everything.

“Ignore me,” she said, “I’m just-”

He wasn’t buying it and the look he gave her told her as much, “You don’t blame…Siwon?”

Hyoyeon shook her head. The first rule of celebrity. Deny. Deny. Deny.

“You and Siwon are actually…” his eyes widened.

“No!” she hissed.

 “Seven years,” he murmured, “For seven years?”

“No…oh my god,” she cast a glance at their driver worried that he might be listening in on their conversation but he seemed to be concentrating on navigating them through the side street they were on. “Seven years ago, while we were in Beijing we were in a…” she paused, could she even call it a relationship she wondered, “We got close but before we came back he-we broke it off.”

Junseo sat staring at her for what felt like an eternity. At last he broke the silence.

“And so he used you to help him start this diversion scandal?”

“I was the perfect candidate, right?” she replied trying for nonchalance.

Junseo shook his head, “I can’t believe it, you and him…and now this.”

Hyoyeon nodded. The idea of it was still unbelievable. The morning after the incident when Sunwoo and Siwon had sat her down after breakfast to explain the situation she had thought they were trying to prank her. Siwon could barely look at her the entire time. Was it shame at his behaviour or disgust at how easily she’d allowed herself to be used? She’d hoped and still hoped it was shame.

“I don’t think Siwon is that kind of person,” Junseo said when she didn’t speak, “I worked with him and Super Junior before I was assigned to you guys and even though we didn’t really get close…I don’t think he would do that. Willingly, anyway.”

Hyoyeon paused. Every night for the past two weeks she’d lain awake in bed, debating on Siwon’s part in the whole scheme. Had he been in on it? Or hadn’t he? The only logical answer was that he had been in on it. Too many pieces had fit for it to be a mere coincidence. The kiss on set had probably not been juicy enough and so he’d purposely followed her…

She closed her eyes and cut off that particular train of thought. Thinking like that, letting the suppositions war in her head had given her more than just a few headaches over the past couple of weeks.

“Hyoyeon…”

She turned to face her manager. He was still waiting for her to agree with his idea that Siwon couldn’t possibly have been involved.

“We’ll never know that will we?” she replied.

For a brief second she thought he might insist that Siwon wasn’t to blame, and for that second she really hoped he might actually convince her that Siwon was just as much a pawn in this whole thing as she was. Instead he agreed with her.

“Yeah I guess we never will...”

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It was nearing a quarter to eleven and she and Junseo were sitting on a two seater in the green room reserved for the guests of the show ‘Come to Play’. Opposite them on a similar sofa sat Siwon and Sunwoo. The makeup artist who had for the past few minutes been touching up Siwon's face excused herself and the four were left alone in the room.

 “Siwon will do most of the talking okay?  So just follow his lead,” Sunwoo said.

Hyoyeon nodded even though she was tempted to let him know that following Siwon’s lead was dead last on the list of things she wanted to do at the moment.

“If they ask you anything that’s hard to answer just deflect.”

They both nodded.

“And keep your replies short and simple at all times.”

Again they nodded.

With Sunwoo's instructions finished they all sat in silence. 

Sunwoo kept glancing at his watch every few seconds, Junseo fidgeted in his chair and Siwon, well Siwon was being Siwon, which meant he was watching her. Intently. And if it hadn’t been for the fact that their two managers were present and they were about to go on set to profess their undying devotion to one another she was sure she’d have told him to keep his eyes to himself. Instead she kept her gaze on the floor. To call the atmosphere awkward was an understatement.

After a few more minutes of uncomfortable silence Sunwoo received a call and excused himself to answer it, leaving the three of them alone. A little of the tension left with him and Junseo at last spoke. It seemed to Hyoyeon as though he’d been holding in the urge to speak for quite a while.

“So how’s the drama you’re filming going?”

“Pretty well,” Siwon replied, “We still have a few weeks of shooting left and then some publicity shots to take and then we’ll be done.”

“What was the name of the drama? ‘If we can return to the past’ right? It’s kind of long isn’t it?”

Siwon chuckled, “It was long but they changed it to something even longer, ‘Turn Around and Say I Love You’”

“Ah,” Junseo replied, “You seem pretty good at playing those kinds of roles…'romantic leading man'.”

Hyoyeon glanced at Junseo, his tone was a little off.

Siwon didn’t reply immediately, “I’m not sure if it’s because I’m good, those are the roles they seem to keep offering me.”

 “But you are good at playing the roles. Pretending to be interested…”

She shifted uncomfortably.

“I’m not sure what you mean by pretending but yes, I try my best to do any role I’m given well.”

“Yeah I bet you do,” Junseo replied not missing a beat.

“Junseo,” she said, placing a hand over his knee.

Instead of calming her manager it seemed her action only egged him on.

“Look is there something going on here that I don’t know about?” Siwon asked.

“There’s a lot going on but I doubt you’re the one who’s in the dark about it.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Siwon sat up and fixed a steely glare on Junseo.

“You should know that better than anyone else.”

“Hyoyeon, would you care to explain what your manager is talking about? I'm not good at solving pointless riddles.”

She didn’t reply.

“Have you checked Hyoyeon’s minihompy recently?” Junseo’s voice was low and betrayed the anger he was trying to keep in check.

Despite herself, Hyoyeon felt a surge of happiness flow in her, happiness that someone was defending her, saying the things she wanted to say but couldn’t.

Curious of the answer to this question herself Hyoyeon allowed herself to look at Siwon. She’d been resisting the temptation of paying him any attention since they’d arrived at MBC but she wanted to see the look in his eyes as he answered the question. More so she wanted to see if he looked as worn out as she felt or as sorry as she thought he ought to be.

 She hadn’t seen or talked to him since they’d given the press conference after the article had come out not because she’d actively avoided him but because he had left for China soon after the press conference to shoot some scenes for the drama while she had been involved in her own group’s Japanese promotions.

Her mind turned to some of the messages posted on her cyworld homepage. It was rather amusing to think that although everyone in the world thought they were as happy a new couple as could be the truth was actually the complete opposite. People were cursing her out for not being good enough for him, calling her a temptress, a loose girl and far worse while they were in fact treating each other like little more than acquaintances.

“I have checked her page…” Siwon replied, if she didn't know any better she'd have said he sounded pained,“And I’m sorry for this whole situation,” all of a sudden he stood up and made a full ninety degree bow, “Hyo, I'm so sorry.”

Hyoyeon felt her heart skip a beat and just like that the seed of doubt was planted. Could she trust him? If it was up to her heart to decide she knew what the answer would be. She was saved from having to reply by Sunwoo’s entrance. It was time for them to head to set. As soon as they stepped out the green room door they held hands and smiled charmingly at each other and all they met.

He was really good at pretending.

Then again, so was she.