Hyun Joong and Somin were enjoying the kiss that they haven't shared for awhile, both seems can't get enough... when...

 

Click, click, click... bright lights flashing...

 

Hyun Joong annoyed with the sudden interruption, looked up and saw a man with a camera. He immediately covered his face with his left hand to shield his eyes from the bright lights and moved his body to cover Somin.

 

“Who is that? What's going on?" Somin asked. 

 

“Shhh…. keep your head down, don’t move.  I think it's a paparazzi taking pictures of us.

 

Hyun Joong removed his jacket and told Somin to cover her face with it.  He quickly turned the car engine on and drove fast away from the paparazzi.

 

While driving, Hyun Joong very concerned, looked at Somin's direction frequently. He was very upset with the paparazzi ruining the moment and possibly his chance to patch things up with her.

 

"Damn those jerks." He hit the stirring wheel hard with both hands several times. 

 

Somin was quiet, did not say anything. Her face looked sad and tears flowing down her cheeks.

 

When Hyun Joong stopped his car in front of Somin's condominium, he wanted to hug and comfort her but she raised both hands up to stop him from moving closer. She opened the car door without waiting for his assistance.

 

"Somin, please can we talk?" Hyun Joong stopped Somin from getting out of the car.

 

Somin closed the car's door and turned to face Hyun Joong. Her face is red and with tears in her eyes.

 

"Look, I just realized that there's no future for us Hyun Joong. You are a very popular Hallyu star; you have no time for anyone, and this is not the right time for you to be in a relationship." 

 

“Somin ah, I love you, please stop crying." Hyun Joong wiped Somin's tears off her face with his hands. He brushed her hair off her face with his fingers. "I am sorry of what happened earlier, it was beyond my control. I hid your face not because I was embarrased or don't want to be seen with you, but it was to protect you from having your face plastered in garbage magazine covers, newspapers and internet. You will become a target of some vicious fans. You are very special to me and I don't want anyone to hurt you."

 

Somin shook her head slowly.

 

Hyun Joong pulled Somin closer to him then cupped her face. He looked at her eyes and was about to kiss her but she turned her head and pushed him back.

 

"No please don't. The kiss earlier was a mistake. I cannot deny I missed you and I'm still in love with you; I never stopped loving you even for a minute. I tried to date other men but none of them can replace my feelings for you Hyun Joong. I am a very, very stupid woman. I am very sorry to have met you. I wanted to beat myself right now for falling crazy in love with you."

 

Somin got out of the car and run towards her condominium. Hyun Joong runs after her and caught up with her before she could enter the lobby.

 

"Please Somin, hear me out. I am begging you. "

 

Somin did not respond but she did not try to move away from him. She felt numb.

 

"Can I come up to your apartment?"

 

Hyun Joong looked disappointed when she shook her head.

 

Hyun Joong looked around and said, "Come, let's go to the park across and talk some more please."

 

Somin nodded her head and let him pull her across the street to sit in one of the benches.

 

Hyun Joong remained standing with both hands in his pocket. He looked sad and defeated. They stared at each other for few minutes then Somin spoke in a low voice.

 

"I need to ask you this. How will you handle our relationship if I decide to be with you again?"

 

"What do you mean?" Hyun Joong frowned and not sure what Somin was getting at.

 

"Are you going to hide it like what you did back then?, introduce me as your friend and nothing else?. No date nights because you are afraid someone will recognize you. We always end up having dinner at my apartment or your place and watch TV after?. Is that what you see us doing until you say it's time for you to settle down, and that's when I'm good enough to be introduced as your special someone?. Sometimes I don't see you for weeks because your schedule did not allow you to see me often."

 

Hyun Joong couldn't speak. He looked up and closed his eyes. He did not know what to say.

 

Somin continued. "I admit; I was busy too, but I gave our love a chance. You were my priority not my modeling career. I checked your schedule first before I committed to anything. And you know what?". Somin laughed sarcastically. "All my efforts were useless because I ended up spending my time off by myself anyway."

 

Hyun Joong sat down and held Somin's hands. "I am sorry.  I did not realize that I hurt you that much with my selfishness. I was too busy building up my career, thinking of no one but myself. I was an ."

 

Somin smiled sadly and shook her head. "You could say that again."

 

"Somin, the past three months my life was hell without you. I was miserable!  I did not understand why in the beginning. I missed your calls and hearing your sweet voice. I tried to call you, but you changed your number. I came here several times but every time I was told you were always out of the country."

 

"How could you have missed me Hyun Joong? I was only a friend to you, a nobody."

He took a deep breath and could not say anything at first. "Sorry for saying to you that I only care and think of you as a friend. Although I love you, I did it so you will be mad at me, and as I expected, you broke up with me. I thought you were wasting your time with me, and you deserve someone who would love you more than I do and be with somebody who would treat you better."

 

Somin looked down and pulled her hands away. "I met men a lot of men better than you Hyun Joong, but I don't know why, after few dates, I found myself running away from them."

 

"Somin can you give me, our love another chance?"

 

She remained quiet for few minutes and finally said, "I am glad that we have this talk... I am sorry Hyun Joong, I have changed. I am greedy now. I love you, but I can't endure to be in a relationship where I have to hide, pretend we are just friends. I want to be with someone who could hold my hand, hug and kiss me anywhere, anytime and let everyone know that I am the love of his life."

 

"What is it that you want me to do Somin?"

 

"I am not telling you what to do. Ask yourself of what is it that you really want or need at this time of your life. One thing for sure, I will not be waiting for your answer." Somin got up and pulled Hyun Joong up. After looking at him with her sad and teary eyes, she hugged him tightly.

 

"Somin." He could not believe the words coming out of .    

 

"Good-bye Hyun Joong." Somin in tears, left him standing alone in the park... Stunned.

 

Somin, as soon as she entered her apartment, she went straight to the bathroom and took a shower. She stayed in the shower for an hour, crying. After the shower, she put her white silk pajamas on and climb in her bed. She continued staring at nothing in the dark. She felt emotionally drained, empty.

 

*****

 

Hyun Joong arrived at KeyEast office late. It was almost 11:00 AM and his manager was waiting for him.

 

“Hyun Joong, good that you are here. I've been waiting for you. The KeyEast management has been anxiously awaiting for your arrival. HOW do you explain this?"

 

The manager handed the newspaper to Hyun Joong. There was a picture of him kissing Somin inside his car. Only her arms around him could be seen, not her face. He was glad.

 

“Kim Hyun Joong lip locking with a mystery woman!" ...in bold letters. The news basically said, KHJ was partying hard at Kim Soo Hyun's birthday party. Seen living the party at 2 a.m. with a woman and the picture is proof that they were getting hot and heavy when the paparazzi interrupted them.

 

 “Tell me that the man in this picture was not you!"

 

“Well..." Hyun Joong shook his head. He was speechless.

 

“This man in the picture better not be you! This could ruin the career that you worked so hard all your life. Tell me if this is you, so we can work on damage control immediately. You have a fan meeting scheduled in two weeks; we need to do something about this now! Do you hear me?"  The manager yelled at Hyun Joong. His face was beet red.

 

“I have nothing to say right now. I am tired of this... I'll call you!" Hyun Joong walked out...he used the private elevator down to the garage . He was able to get out and back to his mansion without being noticed by the media stationed outside the KeyEast building.

 

******

 

Ding-dong....ding-dong...ding-dong....

 

"Why is she not answering? I spoke to her last week, and told me that she would be home today. That's weird." After several knocks and ringing of the bell, Yoonji left.

 

Down in the lobby she found the building security guard and told him of her concern. He called the management and got an approval to open Somin's apartment. As soon as they opened the door, they saw Somin, unconscious on the floor.

 

Somin woke up in unfamiliar environment. "Where am I?"

 

"You are in the hospital Somin." Yoonji said. She's sitting on the chair close to the bed. "You were admitted for dehydration."

 

"Hospital? Dehydration? What are you talking about?" Somin asked weakly.  

 

"We found you unconscious in your apartment. I asked the security guard to open your door for me because I was concerned."

 

"Thank you Yoonji. I'm glad you came and found me.  I have been depressed and did not have an appetite to eat or drink anything for 3 days. All I wanted to do was sleep. The only thing I remember... I went to the bathroom and felt dizzy on my way back to my bed. I don't know what happened next."

 

"Somin honey, why are you feeling depressed? Please tell me. You look like you lost a lot of weight." Yoonji touched Somin's face, feeling very concerned of her friend.

 

Somin told Yoonji everything about what happened between her and Hyun Joong. Yoonji listened closely and felt sorry for her friend.

 

"Oh no, I am sorry. I thought Hyun Joong loved you. He told me he loved you. He was so happy and thanked me for introducing you to him. You have to understand honey...he worked hard since he was 17 years old to reach this status. He became successful and very popular all over the world due to pure determination and hard work."

 

Somin's tears started falling and said... "Yes, and I am happy for him…. Am I being selfish?, maybe, but… forget it…  hahaha...”  She laughed while tears kept on pouring. "I will be alright. You will see... just give me time, I'll be back to my old self again."

 

Yoonji put her arms around her friend and let her cry. "I have to do something" she thought.

 

Ring...ring...ring...

 

"Let me take this phone call Somin." Yoonji stepped outside the hospital room to answer Elsa's phone call.

 

"Hey where are you? We are all here in Jeju waiting for you. You are missing the fun girl. When are you coming to join us?" Elsa asked.

 

Something came up. I will try to join you, as soon as I can, okay? I will call you back as soon as I can… have fun and say hello to the girls, alright? Oh, I have to go, bye."  Yoonji ended the call before Elsa could ask her more questions.  She decided not to tell Elsa about Somin’s condition. “I will let you have fun girls. I will handle this myself."

 

*****

After 4 days of seclusion, Hyun Joong called his manager. "I have a lot of thinking to do. I need a break before the fanmeet. Cancel all my activities from today until the day before the scheduled event. You know what to do." He hang up the phone…

 

--------------------

Hi Gfs, we are back after a short break... please don't kiss us!!

Here is another update. Sorry it's not a happy chapter. Now, Somin wants a different  kind of relantionship and Hyun Joong could be jeopardizing his career.

Please, leave your comments and thank you for your support.

                            -- The D.D.

P/s. Don't forget to visit our blog --  hyunmin-gforce.blogspot.com