Hyun Joong felt suffocated by his shirt as he strode to his room from So Min’s. He took it off and threw it on the floor as soon as he was inside. But even without his shirt on he still felt something constricting his breathing. He was sweating profusely by now, a clear sign that he was about to have a panic attack—which always happens when he’s under severe emotional stress.

So Min’s coldness just a few moments ago pierced through his heart and he could feel pain tearing through it. It was clearly psychosomatic. But the pain is real.

He struggled to sit on the couch, trying to catch his breath. He sat there in the middle of his suite’s spacious and well-appointed living room with the lights turned off, the darkness enveloping him adding to his misery. He just sat there, frozen. He couldn’t even lift his hand to turn on the lamp that stood right beside the couch. He subconsciously pushed away every thought from his mind, a trick he perfected many years ago. But he remained conscious of his aching heart.

Hyun Joong was sleeping soundly on the couch that he remained oblivious to his manager’s incessant knocking. A hotel staff had to open the door to his suite. His manager found him sprawled on the couch, shirtless, but still wearing his pants and shoes from the night before. It was already 10 AM but just by looking at him his manager could tell that Hyun Joong had been asleep for less than 3 hours. He let him sleep for half an hour more before he woke him up to prepare for the day’s activities. 

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So Min fought the tears that came like a mad flood as soon as she entered her bedroom. She tried her best to go about her nightly ritual—she removed her makeup, showered, brushed her teeth, put on her nightgown and slathered on her moisturizers—but the whole time her tears kept flowing like they have a mind of their own.

She sat on her bed, unable to sleep. Her mind went through everything that transpired earlier that day. Then she remembered what Hyun Joong said. ‘I guess he’s right, what happened between us was such a long time ago, there is no point in remembering it now.’ But why does her heart hurt like everything just happened yesterday?

Her phone rang. It was Dong Won. “Hi Baby, how was your story conference? I hope everything went well,” Dong Won said. “Oh it was great, I’m glad you called,” she replied, stifling a tear. “Hey are you alright? You sound like you’ve been crying?” “Oh this is nothing, you know me, I’m just overwhelmed by all the good things that are happening. And it doesn’t help that I haven’t slept well in the last 36 hours, so now I’m an emotional wreck.” “Oh baby, I’m so sorry I can’t be there with you right now. But don’t worry I’ll see you next week, okay?” “Okay, I’ll see you next week,” then she added softly, “Dong Won, you know that I love you, right?” “Of course, Dear, and I love you, too.”    

After their conversation So Min finally gave in to her tears. She sobbed like a baby, her tears eventually lulling her to sleep.

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The first reading left everyone exhausted. The excitement and emotional roller coaster ride of the previous day, the jetlag, and the pressure of taking on such a big opportunity finally took its toll on both Hyun Joong and So Min.

So Min thought of spending time at the resort pool to calm her nerves. She’s into a form of ‘water yoga’ these days, a personal technique that required her to hold her breath for less than 2 minutes at a time while weighing herself down as she sits akimbo at the bottom of the pool. She discovered this technique by accident and found it more calming than traditional yoga. 

She changed into one of the swimsuits she wore in her latest Cosmopolitan magazine shoot. Her stylist brought the whole set for her to use on this trip.  She leisurely walked to the pool and was soon deep into her ‘water yoga’ technique.

Hyun Joong went straight to his bedroom, planning to spend the rest of the day listening to some songs that were submitted for inclusion in his upcoming album. Since the weather was nice he decided to do it while lying down on one of the lounge chairs spread out on the verandah that was part of his suite. ‘This is the life,’ he muttered to himself as he took in the palm trees that framed the cove, the blueness of the ocean and the calming sound of a man-made waterfall that stood on one end of the large swimming pool. With this much beauty before him it did not take long before he was lured by the water. He changed into his board shorts and dove straight into the pool.

No one else was there, he realized, as he swam from one end of the pool to the other. He decided to scan the depth of the pool and dove deeper on his second lap, enjoying every second, until he bumped into something. He opened his eyes, but without goggles on he had difficulty seeing the ‘thing’ that now appeared like a person drowning. Instinctively, Hyun Joong moved towards what he now realized was another person and quickly carried the person up above the water’s surface. With quick, confident he brought the person, who, by now, has stopped struggling, to the edge of the pool. He lay the person down on the pool’s granite edge and that was when he realized the person was no other than So Min, who was now completely unconscious.

He immediately bent down to give -to-mouth resuscitation and soon enough So Min was coughing out pool water. So Min was still in a daze when she spit out the last of the water she swallowed. She vaguely remembers someone bending down as if to kiss her. She opened her eyes and saw Hyun Joong’s face barely an inch away from hers. “So Min-ah, are you okay?” With all the strength she could muster she tried to push him away but she was still too weak and Hyung Joong had her in a really tight embrace. “Hey, are you okay, don’t struggle, you almost drowned there,” Hyun Joong said.

She lay there in his arms for a few more moments, as she tried to catch her breath. Then she got up, pushing him away. “You’ve really made it your life’s mission to ruin my day, huh! I was just meditating peacefully and you try to drown me?! Didn’t I just tell you not to bother me?”

“Meditating? Peacefully? Underwater?!” Hyun Joong shook his head in disbelief, “you’re a really crazy woman, you know that? How am I supposed to know you were down there meditating? Sane people don’t meditate underwater! I was the one who was swimming alone, peacefully, until I bumped into you!” He was clearly annoyed, but relieved at the same time. A few moments ago he was really worried about her. Now he’s just angry that she’s put her life in danger doing something as mindless as meditating underwater. He was so mad and was about to go on scolding her when he realized she’s wearing the same outfit she wore on the Cosmo cover. Yes, that bunch of cords pretending to be a swimsuit.

Man, she looks way better and ier in person than in the magazine. He doesn’t remember her being this y before. Of course it helped that she was dripping wet and her s were heaving as she tried to stabilize her breathing. He was staring at her chest, naughty thoughts forming in his mind, when he felt a strong kick to his groin. “You are such a ert!” So Min stomped off covering herself with her arms.  “Ahh! That really hurt. How dare you kick me, after I just saved your life!”  So Min continued to walk away, leaving Hyun Joong shouting behind her. “You act like I haven’t seen it all before!” That stopped her in her tracks, she ily turned towards the stunned Hyun Joong, and in a bedroom-y voice said: “So what if you have seen it all before? I have nothing to be embarrassed about. I’m not the one who has an ugly blue birthmark on my .” She gave him her naughtiest smile before ily walking away.

“Yaahh!” Hyun Joong screamed. But all that was left of So Min was her y back slowly walking away from him, her wet, creamy, pinkish white skin peeking out from the cords in all the right places.