Sora couldn’t believe she was twenty-one years old. She was pretty successful, she thought, as she had cinched several drama and movie appearances, along with music videos and CFs.

            Not as successful as Jungsoo, though. Lately, everyone was talking about his group’s latest songs. It was all the radios played. Everyone—little kids on the street, ahjummas selling food, even her coworkers—was doing their dance.

            With popularity like his, she couldn’t help but run into him, even if she never actually saw him. But he hadn’t been promoting lately. She couldn’t tell if she liked it better when he was promoting or not, because when he wasn’t promoting, she never saw him. Not seeing him broke her heart and at the same time, healed it.

            She celebrated her birthday with just a few friends, eating a simple dinner. They gave her presents, one of them being a Super Junior DVD and poster. She gasped when she opened it, and one of her friends asked excitedly,

            “You like it a lot, don’t you?”

            Sora was too caught off-guard to even reply. How did they know…?

            “You never mentioned Super Junior, but I always catch their videos on your computer when I come over,” her friend explained. Sora was still shocked, but she was relieved they didn’t know of her attachment to Jungsoo. She thanked her friend weakly, admitting that she did like Super Junior very much. They laughed at her and playfully about it for the rest of the night, but she barely noticed because she kept debating in her head whether to watch it or throw it out.

            Later that night, when she finally returned to her apartment all alone, she carefully placed the DVD down in her room. Scanning the room thoughtfully, she finally decided to hang the poster near her bed. Jungsoo’s face was small compared to the others, but deep down, she was glad she could at last display a picture of him without her friends questioning her. Looking at the other members’ faces, she felt like she really knew them, based on all the stories Jungsoo had told her.

            She was proud of him. She did follow Super Junior, just as her friend suspected her of doing. She knew how much he suffered, and she wished he would talk to her about his troubles, so she could make him feel better somehow.

            She changed into her pajamas and kissed the picture of his face, imagining that he was wishing her a happy birthday, just like he used to, before she shut off the light.

                                                                                                             ~*~

            Her heart wanted to break. So many articles were coming out, talking about how Leeteuk was going to have to finally enlist in the army. She would never see him now. She should talk to him. She had to, before it was too late.

            The next time she visited her home, she made a stop by the Park house. She tried her best to reason to his noona why she needed Jungsoo’s number, but she gave it to her easily, without much question.  Unbeknownst to Sora, Inyoung knew all along what was happening to Sora and her dongsaeng, and she wanted to help. Sora left quickly, bowing several times in thanks.

            After she bid farewell to her parents and was traveling back to her apartment, she called him.

            Ring. Ring. Ring.

            “Yobeoseyo? If this is a sasaeng, I don’t want to talk to you. Don’t call me again.” He was about to hang up, because to him, the caller was nothing but an unidentified number. Sora said desperately,

            “Wait! Jungsoo oppa, it’s me!”

            He stopped, because no one called him Jungsoo. “Who is this? Speak quickly, I’m busy.”

            “Oh, mianhae,” she said sheepishly, feeling silly for calling him. “It’s me Kang Sora, but I can call another time.” This time, she was the one getting to hang up, and Leeteuk said in a hushed voice, his eyes widened.

            “Kang Sora? Sora-so?”

            “Ne, it’s me,” she replied softly. “I can call again, really, it’s fine…”

            Leeteuk glanced around him. He really was busy, and he was standing in a studio, staff bustling around him, getting ready to start filming. “I have to go. But can we meet later? I won’t be finished filming until midnight or even later, though.”

            “Tomorrow, then?” Sora couldn’t hide the hope in her voice.

            “Tomorrow, for dinner?”

            “Okay,” Sora agreed, trying to remain cool.

            Leeteuk smiled and said, “Okay! I’ll talk to you soon, Sora-so. I’m hanging up now. Annyeong!” Leeteuk was going to have to clear his schedule as much as possible for tomorrow.

            Sora hung up as well. Neither of them knew how widely the other was smiling.

            The next day, Sora was glad for the first time that she had an early-morning filming, because then her hair and makeup would already be done for her by the time she would meet with Jungsoo. Leeteuk felt the same way, and both of them were inexplicably nervous for the meeting.

            Sora got there first. Kona Beans? She looked around at the café, surprised to see Jungsoo’s face on the wall.

            “Kang Sora?” Jungsoo’s mother called in disbelief.

            “Oh! Ummoni!” she greeted her respectfully, surprised to see her. ELFs around her looked at her suspiciously, clearly not recognizing her from any of her works.

            Jungsoo’s umma hugged her. “It’s been so long! You look so grown up! What are you doing here?”

            “I’m meeting oppa here! But, ummoni, what are you doing here?”

            “This is my coffee shop,” she said with a laugh. “Our boys helped us open it.”

            “Jungsoo oppa helped you do this?” She took a second look at the coffee shop in surprise.

            “Is that so hard to believe?” A familiar voice asked. She turned to face him, unable to hide her delight, just like the ELFs around her who started taking pictures and giggling uncontrollably. “Umma, isn’t it about time we close?” he asked pointedly.

            “Oh, yes, yes,” she agreed quickly, shooing out all the straggling ELFs. “Sorry, Sora-yah, but it’s time we closed. Would you like to stay and help us clean? I’ll give you some of treats.”

            Sora accepted, but not for the treats. She glanced at Jungsoo, who looked so handsome, more handsome than she could remember. His hair really suited him. He caught her staring and he laughed embarrassedly, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. “You can come with me in the back and help me mop.”

            She followed him and took the mop he offered. Together, they cleaned the floor in silence. Jungsoo racked his brain for something to talk about—he had never found it so difficult to talk to her, but all of a sudden, he had nothing to say.

            “Um,” he said awkwardly, “How are your parents?”

            She looked surprised at the question. “They’re…good. I miss them, since I’m living on my own now.”

            “On your own? Isn’t that a bit dangerous?” Jungsoo frowned.

            “No, it’s alright. My manager always takes me home, and my stylist unnis are always there in the morning.”

            “Manager? Stylists? Are you a singer?” he asked, shocked. He remembered her playing piano, but she never sang much.

            “No,” she laughed, a little ruefully. She had been following him so closely, and he still knew nothing about her. “I’m an actress now.”

            “Really?!” He remembered her telling him about her dream once, long ago. But it was still good news to Jungsoo. It would be difficult to date an idol. Wait, what did he just think? “Are you a rookie? Can I watch whatever you’ve been in?”

            “I’m sort of a rookie. I’ve been in a lot, but never with a big role,” she explained, leaning on her mop, her eyes lighting up as she talked about her work.  Acting had become something more to her than just  a way of getting to Jungsoo. “But I have a big movie coming up soon; it’s called Sunny.”

            “I’ll be sure to watch it,” he promised. He watched her mop for a little longer, forgetting about his own work. She had gotten so beautiful, he couldn’t help but notice. Her eyebrows were so nice, and so was her smile. His eyes dipped down. And so were her legs.

            His thoughts were interrupted by his mom, who came bustling in with a tray of warm tea and sweet cookies. “Here you go, kids. After you finish here, you can go home. I’ll finished the rest.”           

            “Umma, are you sure?”

            “Ne, ummoni, I don’t mind staying.”

            She smiled warmly. “Have fun elsewhere!” Then she left, and the two talked of unimportant matters while they ate. Jungsoo felt himself becoming more and more attracted to her as they spoke.

            “I’ll take you home,” he said when they finally finished, not taking a “no” from her.

            When they arrived, she shyly offered for him to come in, to let him warm up a bit. He accepted readily. She had forgotten about her poster, and when he saw it in her room, he pointed it out excitedly.

            “You like Super Junior?!”

            “Of course,” she said quietly. “Since it’s oppa’s band.”

            He recalled the words that had touched him all those years ago. I’ve been cheering you on this whole time. I believe in you, oppa. You’ll be the best one day, I know it. She still felt that way…hlooked at her tenderly, unable to contain his feelings. “Sora-so…”

            She couldn’t meet his eyes. He took her chin and forced her to face him, before leaning in for a kiss.

            Sora froze. Everything around Sora froze. Was Park Jungsoo really kissing her, or had she finally gone insane?

            As he continued to kiss her, she felt her eyes slowly slide shut, and her arms unconsciously moved to slide around him. Finally, he had to break away, otherwise he would have ended up pushing her onto her bed and doing the unspeakable.

            Clearing his throat, he said embarrassedly, “Sorry…I don’t usually do things like this.”

            “It’s okay,” Sora replied after finding her voice.

            “You don’t still have a boyfriend, do you?” he asked, horrified, suddenly recalling even more from their conversation from all those years ago.

            “No,” she said with a small laugh, her cheeks still pink.

            “Good,” he said, gently taking her hands in his. “Because I would like to be yours.”           

            Sora teared up, much to her frustration. Why cry now, out of all times? She wiped them away, futilely hoping he wouldn’t notice.

            He did, of course. “Why are you crying?” he asked nervously. Did he do something to wrong?

            “It took you long enough,” she finally choked out.           

            He only laughed and kissed her again, still holding her hands.