When I opened the door to let Myeolchi oppa and me out of Donghae’s room, I was shocked at how angry he was at Soobin. The way he was glaring at her really scared me and when Leeteuk opened his mouth to stop him, I realised the reason behind his anger and I had to quickly shield my best friend from him. I’ve known that Myeolchi oppa was a good natured person while watching the Super Junior members on television programmes and I didn’t understand why he would get angry with Soobin over something like that. As Leeteuk led us to the restaurant where the other members were at in the VIP room, I felt anger rise up at how he had treated my best friend.

“Why did you glare at her?”I questioned him as we sat down at the table.

“What do you mean why? She hurt my best friend,”he answered as if it was a given answer.

“But you can’t force love,”I argued.

“Come on, who is she kidding? She obviously likes him so I don’t get why she’s playing hard to get,”he was on the verge of rolling his eyes.

“She’s just confused and afraid, that’s all. Dating a celebrity isn’t as easy as you think it is,”I hissed.

“Woah, what’s with you two?”Heechul asked all of a sudden.

“Besides, if you want to play the best friend card, have you ever thought of my feelings before you decide to glare at Soobin?”I glared at him.

“Are we seriously playing this best friend game now? Fine, then have your best friend spared a thought for me when she decided to play hard to get with Donghae? You know how much it to see your best friend in pain…,”

“I already said that she was just confused. She needs more time….,”

“She’s hurting Donghae in the process…,”

“Yeah, well, you glaring at her isn’t gonna help, Lee Hyukjae!”was all I said before grabbing my phone from the table.

“Where are you going? We came here together in my car,”he stood up to try and stop me from leaving.

“Hey, Haemin, calm down,”Leeteuk slowly stood up.

“So? I’m a normal civilian so I can take the bus back myself,”I tried to leave again.

“What’s with you throwing a temper, huh? We’ve barely had any time together and you choose to fight on our first date?”Myeolchi oppa frowned.

“Well, good that you know that we barely have any time together. During this time, what have I done for you? I’ve been so patient about your schedules everything and not be hurt that you wouldn’t even be seen walking into the hospital with me. And what have YOU done? You decided to doubt me about Minhyuk and glare at my best friend,”

He stayed silent as he shook his head.

“I am a celebrity and I can’t help it if you’re unhappy with my schedule and with me not wanting to be seen in public with you. You should have seen that coming and I did try my best to see you as much as possible. And I’ve reasons for doubting that Minhyuk guy and being angry with your best friend…,”

“You’re not seeing things in my perspective, Lee Hyukjae. Forget it. Just have your dinner. I’m sorry to everyone for having to witness this. I’ll be taking my leave,”I pushed past Myeolchi oppa and walked away.

Deep in my heart, I wished with all my might that he would chase after me. Just like what I’ve watched in the drama series. But too bad, this is reality. He was too worried that the public would find out we’re dating to run after me. And that was what hurt the most and this was what made me realise how hard it was dating a celebrity. I thought just loving him was enough. But the times spent waiting for him to be free for a date was hard. Moreover, he had his image to take care of and he wouldn’t be able to chase after me in times like this where I needed him the most.

Could I really carry on with this relationship? I was a person who needed a lot of love from my other half but Myeolchi oppa isn’t able to give it to me due to his schedules. Was I able to forsake spending special days with him as well? If our first few days as a couple were going to be this hard, how was I going to sustain the years to come? Can I really do this? Am I capable of waiting endlessly for him to have some free time from his never ending schedules?

As I wiped my tears while walking, I felt my phone ring and I took it out to see that Myeolchi oppa was calling me. But I don’t know if I was ready to talk to him. I didn’t want him to know I had been crying. When the phone finally stopped ringing, I looked to see 5 missed calls and 2 messages from him.

[Where are you?]

[Reply me please. Where are you?]

Just then, a message came in.

[Please answer my call or reply my message. Where are you now?]

After reading that message, the phone came alive again and I decided to answer it.

“Hello? Haemin? Where are you now?”he asked.

I sat down at a bus stop with the phone at my ear. There were lots of sounds coming from the call and I could hear the members’ voices calling him an idiot or scolding him for not telling them that we were together.

“Haemin, will you please answer me? I’m getting worried here. You wanted me to teach you what a relationship is all about, right? Well, here is another thing. Even if we’re fighting, we’re still a couple and I’m dying of worry here. Where are you?”

As I listened to his anxious tone, I felt my tears fall.

“I know you’re listening to the call so please tell me your exact location now,”

“Two bus stops away…,”I mumbled.

“What? What did you say? Will you all be quiet?!”he directed the last part to s.

“Two bus stops away,”I said a little louder.

“Are you….crying? Oh god, Haemin, I’m so sorry. Don’t move, you hear me?”he hung up then.

I stayed at the bus stop, just staring at my shoes till I heard a car pull up. I lifted up my head to see the lowered window. I looked at Myeolchi oppa through the window and I could tell he was hoping I would hop on. But I just didn’t feel like getting into the car at that moment. I didn’t want to be in a vulnerable position where I was trapped in a small space with him. I wanted to be able to run when I could. Seeing as how I wasn’t moving, he grabbed a cap from somewhere in his car and pushed it down so that nobody could see it was him before alighting. He came over to where I was sitting and cleared his throat.

“Shall we go somewhere else to talk about it?”he gestured towards the car.

“Where?”I asked.

“Erm, the park up front?”he replied.

“I’ll meet you there,”was all I said as I stood up.

“What? Haemin, I’ll drive you over,”he offered.

“No, I don’t really want to at the moment,”I turned it down.

Seeing as how I was quite adamant about not taking his car, he nodded his head and just walked back to his car. I felt my heart sank as I watched him go. I knew that I didn’t mean what I said; I just wanted him to fight for me that was all. As I sighed, I began walking towards the park and when I thought Myeolchi oppa would drive and leave me here, he drove at a snail like pace to match my walking pace. Just like that, we made our way to the park that was secluded with no one around. This time, he came out without his cap and he came to sit on the bench with me.

“I apologised to Soobin…,”he spoke up.

He cleared his throat before reaching out to hold my hand in his.

“I was an idiot. I forgot how hard it would be for you keep waiting around for me. It’s just that my previous girlfriends were all celebrities so they naturally understood that I didn’t have much free time and how I couldn’t go out in public with them. I would get into a lot of trouble if we were to walk in together. Anybody who recognise me could easily take a photo and news articles will start pouring in. To be honest, I’m not worried about my image but I was worried about you. Some fans get a little extreme and they could hurt you, be it with their words or actions. The reason why I’m hiding wasn’t because I’m ashamed but I wanted to protect you, Haemin,”he explained.

He took in a deep breath.

“And I’m sorry for doubting you and being mean to Soobin. I think I just let my emotions take over me after seeing how miserable Donghae was. I was upset with his condition and I took the easy way out and blamed it on her. I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?”he held onto my hand tighter.