Mi Young's POV:

When I was little, back when Mum and I still lived with my father in Orlando, we used to go to on small road trips. Most of the time, we would drive to the beach, or Disney, or even to the next town. In our little Ford truck, my parents would sit up front and I'd sit in the back on my own with our then little pup, Collie.

The thing about these little trips was that no matter where we ended up, we'd always have fun. Singing loudly in the car on the road, laughing at how bad my father was at directions, and when my mum tried to teach my dad how to speak little tidbits of Korean. He'd turn to look at my mother and give her this small smile every time he messed up; that little smile that symbolized everything in their relationship. The trust; the love; the honesty.

And then slowly, I grew older. Somehow, our road trips began to lessen. My father got more and more busy with work and my mum was left on her own at home. It was like our happiness was robbed by reality and as time passed, we eventually just stopped going on road trips altogether.

Over the years, the small smiles came and went; then one day they left as well. My father never wanted to lie to us, so when he fell in love with another lady at his office, he told us very frankly that he had. He felt that I was old enough to understand and he loved my mother too much to just go around with some other woman behind her back.

That was the difference. He loved my mother but was already in love with someone else.

"What...happened, Mum? How could he just leave us like this?" I remember asking my mother teary-eyed the night he had packed up and left.

She sat down next to me on my bed and took both my hands within hers. "The thing about love is that it's fragile. It's like an expensive piece of china. You have to polish it, take good care of it, and give it the attention it deserves to maintain it."

She then sighed and her bottom lip quivered slightly. "But if you ignore it, if you stop giving your all into keeping it shiny and beautiful, it'll start to dull. Cracks appear and you don't even know how they got there; you start to prioritize everything above that beautiful piece of china. And before you know it, you've found a better mantelpiece."

Mother started to cry then. And it was strange because I had never seen mother cry as shamelessly as she did then. She was always youthful and vibrant, never the sappy kind.

That was probably the start of my fear of people leaving me and my constant worry that I was overlooking my relationship with the people I held closest to my heart.

Always making sure I didn't let one too many people into my life and that I always gave the people I loved most my everything became my top priority.

Because like mother said, love was a fragile thing, and I wasn't about to let anything around me shatter.

@@@

"Hello ladies, mind if I join you?" Jin Young said as he walked up to Hye Sung and I.

We were at our usual spot on the school lawn and were quite surprised when the martial arts captain self-invited himself to sit with us. Well, he did ask but I doubt we were supposed to reject his request.

"Erm...sure," I said, sending my best friend a confused look.

She was staring at him with a playful almost flirty look on her face.

Okay. Since when did my best friend, who had not even the slightest interest in boys suddenly go behind my back and get a crush? That was strictly against a best friend rule if we did have a rule book.

"Man, the weather is great today huh. No wonder you guys sit out here," he commented, sitting down next to Hye Sung.

"We sit here everyday," I muttered bluntly. And just a reminder it was probably 5 degrees out. How was that good weather.

"Mi Young," Hye Sung whispered and nudged my side, giving me a look that clearly told me to shut it or be nice.

"We do. And you're welcomed to sit with us anytime," she turned back to Jin Young and said to him sweetly.

Oh yuck. Get the love-infected girl away from me and give me my best friend back.

After another hour of over nice behavior from a foreign person I refuse to identify as Hye Sung, and Jin Young's equally flirty response, I concluded that I was not having another lunch with the two of them if they were to keep this up. When the bell miraculously rang at the peak of my frustration, I quickly got to my feet.

"It was very nice of you to join us, Jin Young. But Hye Sung and I need to get back to our form class now, so, excuse us." Not giving him a second glance, I quickly yanked Hye Sung away.

"Start explaining, lady. Since when did you and Jin Young start behaving like a bunch of hormonal teenagers seeing the opposite for the first time?" I immediately questioned her the moment we were out of Jin Young's earshot.

She rubbed the back of neck sheepishly.

Uh-oh.

"Well, remember that night when you decided to ditch me for your lovely husband? I was left to hang out with Jin Young for the remainder of the night and in all honesty, it went pretty well. He's charming, sweet - oh did I mention he sent me home? He's just so-"

I watched my friend blabber away dreamily in horror.

"This is absurd!" I cut her off.

She raised an eyebrow at me. "How so?"

Um, because you never had an interest in guys? But being the supportive friend I was, I chose my words carefully.

"Hye Sung, you spent one night hanging out with him. How do you know you like him?" I asked desperately.

"And you meeting Min Ho and becoming his wife all in one day is perfectly fine?" She said acidly, crossing her arms.

That was just unfair.

"Virtual husband. It's for television, it's different." I tried to keep my cool.

We both stared furiously at each other before Hye Sung looked away and released a big sigh.

"I'm sorry. You're right, it's different for you. I know you're just worried for me because I've never had a crush before-" I winced at the 'C' word, "-but just trust me, okay? He's a good guy, and I like him."

My heart wavered and I knew she was right. If Hye Sung liked the boy, the least I could do was support her.

Uncrossing my arms, I sighed.

"Fine. I guess I could try to get along with him," I said grudgingly.

Her eyes immediately lit up and I was enveloped into a humongous hug courtesy of my best friend.

"I said try," I mumbled into her shoulder.

She laughed but squeezed me harder.
@@@

The rest of the day went by pretty uneventful until the last period of the day. As usual, Sun Hee felt like I was beginning to forget her verbal torment she gave me a few days back. So she thought it would incredibly nice of her to remind me just how much she hated me for getting on television.

Walking into class after her toilet break with her little troupe of girls, she paused for a moment before coming up to my table.

"What can I do for you today, Sun Hee?" I said in a bored voice, not bothering to look up from the piece of homework I was rushing to get done. Filming was today after school and I didn't really feel like doing any homework after.

She slammed her hand on my table, demanding my attention.

Sighing deeply, I looked up reluctantly.

"Yes?" I said slowly, staring at her in the eye.

"Oh, nothing. I just happened to notice that you were having lunch with someone slightly out of your...social class today." Her smug face was going to be the death of me, I swear.

"Who? You mean Jin Young? Well, I don't see how that concerns you." Tapping my pencil impatiently on my table, I resisted the urge to put her in a chokehold.

Her eyebrows scrunched together into a frown, obviously unhappy with my lack of reaction. She glanced back at her entourage for a second before turning back to me.

"Well, he's off limits. To you and your little shorty friend. Because if you haven't heard, Ji Won has her eyes set on him," Sun Hee warned, making reference to her the girl on her left.

First of all, Hye Sung wasn't that short. She was at around my cheek level. But even if she was, nobody was allowed to call her 'short' other than me. Second of all, Ji Won changed her boy-toys all the time. She definitely did not deserve Jin Young if she didn't like him half as much as Hye Sung did.

Setting my pencil down on my table, I decided I couldn't keep my cool anymore.

"Ji Won, my dear." I started in faux endearment, "You should start finding another guy to ask out because unless you stop putting all that crap on your face, no one's ever going to look at you and think you're anything but a clown."

Her hand immediately flew to her face and she started feeling around for anything that might be on it.

I realised she was too dumb to understand my insult, so I went straight to the point. "Your make-up."

Ji Won then gasped in shock and raced out of the classroom, presumably to the toilet.

Picking up my pencil again, I was about to start on my homework when I remembered Sun Hee was still glaring at me.

"And you-" I paused to point my pencil at the snotty girl, "-had better not make any kind of comments on my friends again. Or I will personally go to your house in the middle of the night and make sure you wake up bald the next day."

Sun Hee flinched at my threat and I know she's been hit because I've seen her touch her hair about ten thousand times a day. However, she seemed unsatisfied with me having the last laugh and just had to keep going. Bending down to whisper into my ear, she spoke so softly I knew I was the only one who could hear her.

"You can try your hardest to pretend like my words don't sting you; they don´t even have to actually. All I want you to know is that everything around you right now is fake. The attention; the friends you're making? Do you honestly they would still be friends with you if you weren't on national television? I think not." Her words cut me like a knife but I try not to let her see how affected I am.

She was about to leave when she suddenly tapped her chin in thought before punctuating the air with her finger. Bending back down, I leaned back slightly away from her.

She snickered but said softly, "And Min Ho, your husband? God, it's such a joke. He's just playing you for the audience. But you're smart right, Mi Young? At least you know that?" And with that, Sun Hee knew her job was done.

I was officially on the verge of tears.

With one last glare, she left my table and went to her desk near the back. I looked around me at the rest of my classmates and sure enough, they were all staring at me in pity. Hye Sung caught my eye from her seat and gave me a sympathetic look. I knew she wanted to say something to Sun Hee, she was a feisty girl after all. But we both agreed that Sun Hee wasn't someone worth fighting with. She always won; it didn't matter what you brought to the table. She just always had a way to out-criticize you. It was so infuriating.

Looking away from Hye Sung, I tried to concentrate on the piece of homework still lying on my table. Fluttering my eyelids close, I wanted to vanish right there and then. Go back to Florida; to our Ford truck; to the happier times of my life.

How come, no matter how hard I tried to change the course of direction of my life, I could never veer it away from me going through negative emotions? How come I could never just have a continuous series of happy moments for once? Was it really that hard for fate to just let me be?

Apparently, it was.

***

Min Ho's POV: (have you guys missed him? cos I sure as hell did. :') )

Where was she? Glancing at my wristwatch for the third time, I confirmed that Mi Young was definitely late for filming. Well, by 2 minutes (so far), but who was counting?

"Oh my! Sorry, so sorry we're late." Ms Lee said, with Mi Young, Hyun Seul and another girl trailing after her.

We were assembling at a small cafe before heading out to today's destination; a Christmas surprise for my wife. Speaking of my wife, she was looking incredibly stunning today. Her fringe was braided back and even had a red ribbon incorporated into her wavy hair; which matched her red coat perfectly. But somehow, her emotions didn't seem to match up with her festive attire and she looked sort of out of it. Sad, even.

Ms Lee walked over to the other PDs who were having a small meeting while Mi Young spotted me and started in my direction.

"Hey, great timing yeobo." I commented humourously, trying to make her smile a bit.

"Haha. Funny. Very." She shot back sarcastically, eyeing the refreshments laid out for the crew to my left.

"This is Hye Sung by the way. She's my best friend and she'll be accompanying us during filming today," introducing the girl who had tagged along with her. "Well, get along well, I'll go make myself some hot chocolate. You guys want some?"

Her friend shook her head but if she was about to cook up something for me -this counted-, I wasn't about to refuse.

"Make mine as sweet as you, yeah?" Laying my sweet-talk thick, I gave her a wink to-go.

She rolled her eyes playfully and smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Did I do something wrong? Was she mad at me? Upset?

My mind scrambled for an answer to why Mi Young was treating me the same way she did when we first met. Maybe I was expecting too much for our third meeting? But our previous one went so well!

My mind groaned inwardly in frustration as I failed to comprehend Mi Young's current attitude. Girls - so complicating.

"Don't worry about her. She's just had a really bad day," Hye Sung spoke up when her friend had left.

Looking away from Mi Young, I turned to stare down at her. Man, and I thought Mi Young was short.

"Oh, something happened at school?"

"Yeah, she's having a pretty tough time with our school's biggest snob. She isn't happy that Mi Young's been getting a lot of attention lately; especially the fact that she's 'married' to you? A superstar? That just did it for her," her friend prattled on, giving me an insight on Mi Young's school life.

My heart instantly broke for her. I was a high school student not too long ago and being famous normally didn't go well with the other popular students. I managed to whisk in and out of school only when necessary and graduated before I could get a taste of what bullying felt like.

But the most confusing thing was : If she was suffering so much, why did she just keep mum? Why didnt she tell me anything? Wasn't a couple -not to mention a married one- supposed to share their troubles?

"I don't understand, she didn't tell me anything." I mumbled softly.

"Well, don't blame her. She just doesn't want to burden you, I expect. Mi Young hates to make the people around her worry about her. She's stupid like that," Hye Sung replied just as Mi Young came back.

"What did I miss?" She asked, sounding as dapper as before.

"Nothing," I quickly said, sending a look to Hye Sung to say that our conversation was to be kept as a secret.

"Nothing at all," she caught my look and turned to give Mi Young a smile.

If Mi Young didn't want to tell me about her woes just yet, then I was prepared to wait her out. I guess, I just have to begin by trying to earn her trust. If she understood that I didn't see her as a burden, maybe she would start to tell me things.

In a way, I guess Mi Young and I were similar. Not liking to share our feelings for the fear of worrying or burdening others; we finally had a common ground. The only people I trusted with my secrets; bad times; and good times with were my bandmates, family members and a small group of friends.

Looking on at Mi Young talking to Hye Sung, I tried not to pull her into a humongous hug and not let go of her. If I could do anything to help protect her, I would. If I was an ordinary boy and could stomp into that school and track that damn snob down, trust me, I would. But see, I kind of have a...image-conscious job at the moment.

"So, what's planned out today?" Mi Young snapped me out of my daze.

A quickly gave her a smile, "Oh, nothing. Just a little surprise for you since it's Christmas soon."

"Like, you actually planned everything?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at me. It's a well-known fact that the PDs usually set everything up for us and all we do is go there and have fun.

"Well, I suggested the idea?" I gave her a sheepish smile.

Hye Sung laughed then and shook her head, just as Mr Park called us over and informed us we were leaving for the set.

"Let me guess, fancy restaurant then a stroll in the park," Mi Young Sung said, walking alongside me to the vans outside.

The cameras were already rolling so Hye Sung had to lag behind with the rest of the crew while I opened the shotgun door for Mi Young. Not answering her, I made my way to the driver's side and slid into the car seat.

"God, do you not know the meaning of 'surprise'? No guessing." Starting up the car, I turned my head to reverse out of the lot.

"Do you even know how to drive?" She asked, worriedly, totally ignoring my previous statement.

"No, I'm going to kill my own wife by attempting to drive without actually knowing how to," I said with a smile.

Turning back to face the front, I caught her rolling her eyes at me and laughing just a bit. A laugh! A laugh! And Min Ho scores!

If today wasn't hadn't been a good day for Mi Young so far, then I would really have to step up my game to ensure it went a hell lot better starting from now. Let's do this.

A/N : HELLO everybody :)

have you missed me? hahaa. betcha missed Min Ho and Mi Young more ;)) I missed them tons too.

meh, I hate Sun Hee. little beetch. so, quick question, where do you think Min Ho's taking his lady? :)

the next chapter will be good. or at least, i'll try

AND I GOT MY BANNER FROM CHRIS! HALLELUJAH! NO MORE AMATEUR BANNERS. ISN'T IT GORGEOUS. ;___; THANKS CHRIS. <3

speeeeaaking of thanks, thank you to the following

Woouforever

angelcry12

Ann_2692

munkynuts23

for suscribing! :D

comment. suscribe. whatever you want to do.

xo

BIG KISSY FOR THOSE WHO STICKED AROUND. I KNOW, 3 WEEKS IS A LONG TIME. I KNOOOOW.