Sunday arrived much faster than Hyoyeon wanted and she found herself pacing up and down in the room she shared with Seohyun worried, unsure why she was worried and feeling annoyed that she was worried. It was just Siwon, a man like any other. And yet despite trying to convince herself that it would all work out her stomach was full of butterflies. Angry butterflies fluttering up a storm.

The youngest member of SNSD peeped into the room, “Junseo says you should go down now, your flight is in an hour and he doesn’t want you to be late,”

“What?” Hyoyeon asked, somewhat dazed.

“I said Junseo says you can go downstairs now,” Seohyun entered the room, “Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah, fine. Just a little nervous,”

“Don’t worry you’ll do fine, I saw the test shots, you looked great and your poses really put the concept across. Plus you’re going to be modelling with Siwon, it’ll be even easier and comfortable with him,”

Hyoyeon smiled. If you only knew maknae, she thought with a small smile. She had never had the courage to tell anyone about her and Siwon, not even her closest friends.  Their time in Beijing seemed like a dream now and at times she even wondered if it had ever happened. She picked up her bag, strapped it over her shoulder and gave Seohyun a hug.

“You’re right, it’ll turn out great!”

Yuri who had previously done some work for the AmorePacific brand called Mamonde decided to walk her downstairs giving her some pointers and urging her to just relax and enjoy the experience.

“And you have to treat us all to something good when you get your pay check,” she called as Hyoyeon entered the van.

It was only when she got to the airport that she found out that Siwon had flown out on an earlier flight. She wasn’t sure if she was disappointed or relieved that they wouldn’t be sharing the same flight. The flight to Jeju was uneventful which unfortunately just allowed her to stew in her own anxieties.

They arrived at the hotel late in the afternoon and she thought she’d have a chance to talk to Siwon but she only caught brief glimpses of him. Super Junior fans on Jeju had found out about his arrival and an impromptu fan meeting had been set up in the hotel conference room, keeping him busy for most of the evening.

It felt as though fate had conspired to make sure that the first time she saw him would be at the shoot even though she had hoped to meet him earlier and talk a little. At least enough to thaw the figurative ice of awkwardness between them, decide on how they’d do the poses and how far to take the concept but it appeared she was going to have to wing it.

“Fighting Hyoyeon!” she murmured before closing her eyes in bed later that night.

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Siwon checked his watch for the umpteenth time that morning.

‘Where were they?’ he wondered.

“Do you have somewhere else to be?” his manager asked, a bemused expression on his face.

“What? No...why do you ask?”

“You’ve been looking at your watch every five minutes for the past half hour,”

“Have I?” he gave a nervous laugh, “I guess I’m just hap-anxious to get started,”

“I think they’ll will be here in a few minutes. I just got a call from her manager.”

“We should all have come in the same car,” Siwon said.

“Then they’d just have sat around as you had your test shots and fittings done? That doesn’t make sense.”

Siwon nodded in grudging agreement, he’d arrived about two hours earlier than the shoot’s actual start to get his outfits fitted and to allow the photographer to do some test shots. It wouldn’t have been fair to have Hyoyeon and her manager waiting in the wings for that but it didn't stop him wishing they had all come together. He fought the urge to check the time again.

How strange was it that they had yet to meet?

He had been over the moon when he’d found out who his partner would be for the AmorePacific promotions, thinking that he and Hyoyeon would get to hang out together again, just like in the old days. But somehow things hadn’t worked out that way. First he’d missed the briefing, wardrobe fitting and test shoot due to a schedule then his manager had booked him on a different flight than hers, a fact that he had quite uncharacteristically whined about. Then the impromptu fan meeting had been set up, again keeping him from seeing her. He had only managed to give her a little wave as he was being ushered to the fan meeting after she arrived the previous afternoon. There was one major consolation though.  The concept of the entire promotion.

‘A ‘lovers’ concept, it was strange and wonderful how fate worked,’ he thought.

“Ah they’re here!” his manager said pointing towards a small white van that was pulling into the parking lot.

He looked up excitedly watching the vans every movement as it came ever closer toward them before turning into a parking spot a few yards away. Hyoyeon hopped out of the van as soon as her manager pulled the door open and reached back inside for her bag. She half ran half walked towards him and his manager as soon as she spotted them, a huge smile on her face and for a moment he thought that she was just that excited to see him. After all it had been nearly a month and a half  since the last time they’d talked was at the SMtown concert. He raised his hand in greeting but instead of greeting him she first turned to his manager and bowed.

“Sunwoo, long time no see!”

“Long time no see. Ah…it’s true what they keep saying. Our Hyoyeon is becoming prettier by the day.”

Hyoyeon giggled, “Ah well I guess if they’re saying it, it must be true.”

Sunwoo laughed as well, “Our Hyoyeon will be getting thirty love calls a day from now on.”

“Ay...you’re exaggerating,” she gave Sunwoo’s arm a playful smack, “But who knows,” she winked.

Siwon had to fight the urge to gag. At last she turned to him.

“Hi,”

“Hi yourself,” he replied.

He cursed how tetchy he sounded but couldn’t help but be annoyed, why hadn’t she greeted him first? He'd clearly raised his hand in greeting.

Silence. Uncomfortable silence.

Sunwoo cleared his throat, “Hey, you guys can’t be like this. ‘Lovers’ concept remember?”

Hyoyeon looked up at Siwon, his face was an unreadable mask. What was he thinking? She wondered. Was he upset that they were doing the promotion together? The idea made her heart twist a little. Maybe he was just as anxious as she was? That thought sat better with her.

Immediately after returning from Beijing, she had avoided seeing or talking to him at all costs, there had been broadcasts where they’d performed together or been asked questions about one another but in private their relationship, if you could even call it that, had been tense. The more she avoided him the more distant they grew, the more distant the more awkward, the more awkward the more distant…a cycle that was impossible to escape from.

 It had only been recently that she had made a vow that she would begin to let go and be free around him. Their 5 minute conversation backstage at the SMtown concert had actually been one of the longest they’d had to date.

She didn’t want to think about why she was still so uncomfortable around him. The answer was glaringly obvious to anyone who took the time to put the pieces together but she still denied it. Seven years was way too long to pine over anyone, even Choi Siwon.

One of the staff members called Sunwoo away leaving them alone.

“How did the fan meeting go?”

“It was good.”

Ah why was he being like this?

"I was really surprised when I arrived. There were so many fans."

"Yeah, there were..."

Silence.

“Are you nervous?” she asked.

His eyes met hers for a second before he turned away, focusing on some distant point behind her, “About what?”

“Everything. The concept is a little…”

“Don’t you think it suits us?”

Hyoyeon paused. Try as she might she couldn’t tell if he was being serious or just teasing.

“Why would it suit us?” she asked.

When in doubt deflect, deflect, deflect.

He seemed surprised by her words but recovered quickly. He stepped a little closer to her and with his voice low replied, “You know why.”

For a lingering moment their eyes met and she felt the butterflies in the pit of stomach start up another round of their mad dance. She felt as though she'd been flung back to the moment right before their first kiss. Everything, sights and sounds, seemed to disappear as his gaze bore into her.

“That’s more like it,” Sunwoo’s voice broke through the moment. “The way you were looking at each other just now,” he held up his hand and made a thumbs-up sign. “I’ve just been told that we’ll start in about an hour, you guys should hurry to wardrobe and makeup now.”

Even though the moment was gone, its significance wasn’t.  As Hyoyeon sat through makeup she kept wondering about his words and the look in his eyes. Her heart flipped as she remembered that moment when she’d looked into his eyes and seen…thought she had seen…

‘No. The moment you start thinking like that Hyoyeon, is the moment it all falls apart!’ she reprimanded herself.