“Hyung! It’s Karin and Hyun Joong again!” Seungri bounded into their practice room noisily. Seunghyun was texting with Karin and he took a quick look at the magazine that Seungri was brandishing. It was a still shot from the time they had been filming in Jeju Island. Hyun Joong was enveloping Karin in a back hug and they were both smiling happily. Seunghyun hated to admit it but they really looked good together.

“Seungri just showed us a photo of you and Hyun Joong in Jeju. You look too happy.” Seunghyun typed. He watched the maknae flip through the magazine some more and Jiyong joined him by his side.

“Hyung! Maybe they are really dating, look!” Seungri was pointing something out to Jiyong now. It was a 2-page spread of all their off-camera moments. There were photos of them shopping at the local stores in an old Japanese town, jogging together by the beach in Jeju, enjoying a quiet moment in a cafe in Busan. There was even a photo of Hyun Joong holding Karin by her shoulder and shielding her from the paparazzi as they exited from a restaurant in Ginza with their shades on.  

“Too happy? Oppa, are you jealous? (^o^) It’s just for the cameras.” Seunghyun reads her reply. He sighs and Jiyong walks over to him. Seungri had wandered off to look for Daesung and Taeyang who were in the cafeteria.

“Wae, hyung. You know that Karin and Hyun Joong are just acting,” Jiyong tried to console his friend. “And it’s good publicity for their show.” Seunghyun knew he was right. It was Karin’s work and there was nothing anyone could do about it. He remembered how his heart sank when he saw Karin attend a recent awards show with her arms linked with Hyun Joong’s. He had only felt better when Karin had visited him at his place after the show with ice cream.

It didn’t help that she wanted to stay low and so only Jiyong, Seunghyun’s manager and her manager; Soo Yee, knew that Karin was dating Seunghyun. Even on days when she could sneak a visit to YG, the rest of the members were around and they regarded her as “Jiyong’s cousin”. At one time, the members had thought Seunghyun’s manager was interested in Karin because he was ferrying her around. Unknown to them, he was just sending her to and fro form Seunghyun’s house.

Seunghyun sighed again. Because Big Bang had their fans, they were naturally able to avoid having too much skin-ship on camera with any other models or actresses. But it was different for Karin. He had already seen many of her past works – romantic moments with co-stars, close contact with male models…

“Hyung! Look who’s here!” The members were back and they had Hyun Joong with them. They greeted each other happily, welcoming Hyun Joong back. Filming had ended and he was finally able to rest in Seoul for longer. “Hey, I brought these for you guys. Ji, Karin was embarrassed and didn’t want me to give this out so don’t tell her you received this from me,” Hyun Joong said.

“Thanks hyung! Hmm… A behind-the-scenes DVD. Anything interesting you want to show us now?” Seungri asked, tearing it open and inserting it into the player already. The menu of contents came up and the first thing everyone noticed was item no. 4 which said “Bed scene”. Seungri was already scrolling towards it.

“Yah, Seungri ah!” Hyun Joong was laughing at his enthusiasm. “That part haven’t aired yet! And Jiyong is here too!” Unbeknownst to others, Jiyong wasn’t the one who was agitated by this situation. Seunghyun’s heart was beating really fast as Seungri hit the ‘play’ button and the chapter started. There were wolf-whistles from the members when Karin appeared, hair ruffled ily and cladded in a bathrobe. Hyun Joong was topless and already waiting in bed with the covers pulled up to his waist. He was laughing nervously as Karin neared the bed and she also broke out into uncontrollable giggles. They could hear the director telling them what to do in the background while Hyun Joong continued teasing Karin.

When they finally started the shoot, Karin slipped under the covers with a tube top on, so that it looked like she wasn’t wearing anything under the sheets. They lay facing each other and Hyun Joong was supposed to brush her hair away and kiss her forehead to wake her up – a morning-after scene for the happy lovers. Seunghyun had to sit through the NGs while the rest were enjoying the show. Hyun Joong kept apologizing to Jiyong but Jiyong was more concerned about Seunghyun.

Seunghyun’s phone beeped again. “Oppa, are you angry? You’re ignoring me…” If only Karin knew what he had just gone through. Seunghyun had never imagined that it was going to be this painful to date an actress.

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“Karin ah, it’s been a while since we had time to meet like this,” Jiyong said as he poured wine into her glass. They were having dinner at a steak restaurant in downtown Tokyo. He had flown in that morning for a photoshoot with her for a local fashion magazine. It was easy for them to dine out like this – even though the paparazzi still followed them, they were cousins so there was nothing to worry about.

Karin sipped her wine and studied the menu. “When are you going to visit Seoul again? I asked Seunghyun hyung but he said he wasn’t sure too.” Jiyong said.

“There’s nothing planned yet for the next 2 weeks. I have next week off and thought of visiting my parents. Omma was nagging at me for almost an hour on the phone yesterday,” Karin said vaguely, engrossed in the menu selection.

“Hyun Joong came by our studio yesterday and gave us the DVD. I heard you said not to, but he did, so you can kill him next time you see him,” Jiyong smiled, getting Karin’s attention now.

“Aish, that Hyun Joong Oppa! So did you watch it?” She asked. Jiyong nodded, “We were all there and Seungri selected the bed scene one. Everyone was concerned about me but Seunghyun hyung was the one who was frozen to his seat. Karin ah, you should spare more thought for him.”

Karin sighed, “Oppa, I told you. Love complicates things. This is work, I can’t just say no. We have to be professional. He kisses girls too – I’ve seen some of his works.” Jiyong shot her a stern look. “Yah! You should be thankful your boyfriend is not as cold as you. I’m a guy so I can understand how hyung feels. No one wants to see his girl being touched or kissed by another guy – work or not. What’s worse is nobody knows what he’s going through because nobody knows that you two are dating. Did you think about how much he is tolerating for you?”

Karin was taken aback as Jiyong had never raised his voice at her. Moreover, they were in a restaurant and people were starting to look. Jiyong noticed too and mumbled an apology to her. It was a good thing they were speaking in Korean and the restaurant was mostly empty on a weekday night and there were only 3 other tables at the other end of the restaurant.

“Oppa, I can’t just turn down roles because there’ll be skin-ship required,” Karin explained. “I will not be able to work anymore. And if anyone finds out we are dating, the media will have a field-day, your fans will go berserk and I probably will be killed by your fans both in Korea and Japan.”

Jiyong glared at his stubborn cousin. “Karin ah, are you really so worried about your work? Is your work everything to you? Aren’t there more important things in life to treasure?” Karin glared back at him. “Oppa, we’ve only been dating for a few months. During this period, we’ve probably met up properly less than 20 times. You seriously can’t be expecting me to throw away my career for him at this point. If I do and we fall out, I will really have nothing.”

Karin gulped down her wine and filled her own glass again. Jiyong sighed, “I’m not asking you to throw your career away. Just… There are celebrity couples who have come out to the open and they’ve received their fans’ blessings. Just promise to spare some thought for hyung.”

As stubborn as Karin was, she knew Jiyong was right. She had taken Seunghyun’s love and consideration for granted. There had been many incidents in the past two months where their paths had crossed at events. But each time, they had kept their distance from each other. On a number of occasions, she had even been holding Hyun Joong’s hand and acting the happy couple to promote their mini-series. Her guilty conscience had led to her staying over in the spare room sometimes, each time leaving more and more of her own stuff behind. That had made Seunghyun happy for a while but their busy schedules meant they met as “friends” with Big Bang more often than with just the two of them. By trying to protect herself, she was starting to hurt Seunghyun.

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“Hyung, it’s dinnertime! What does Karin want to eat?” Youngbae emerges from the recording room and joins Seungri on the sofa. Daesung was leaning against the wall, checking his phone for his schedule. Jiyong smiled and shrugs.

“She said she was reaching soon so ask her yourself when she comes in later,” Jiyong starts to pack and checks his phone for messages. Seunghyun was playing a game on his phone and was mentally prepping himself to not get too excited when he sees her later. It was their usual routine when she joins Big Bang for an outing. She was Jiyong’s cousin and he was just his good friend.

“Ahnyeong!” Karin smiles as she enters their room. Jiyong stands up, ready for their customary hug before Karin greets the rest. Seunghyun is last and he’s prepared with his usual nod and smile. Karin walks over to him and takes his phone from him.

Everyone’s jaws dropped as Karin sits gently on Seunghyun’s lap. Her heart is beating very fast but she was determined to follow through with her plan. She focuses on Seunghyun’s face as she encircles his neck with her arms. He was as surprised as his friends at Karin.

“Oppa, I checked your fridge just now and you’re out of milk. If you still want to eat pancakes for breakfast tomorrow, we’ll have to buy some on the way home,” Karin says. She had gone over this scene many times in her head but still, her cheeks were blushing.

“BO YA?!” Seungri shouted, not sure if he was dreaming. “Hyung!! What is this?? You two are dating?? Jiyong hyung, did you know that?!”

Seunghyun couldn’t stop grinning and was really proud that Karin was doing this for him. She was trying to hide her blushing face from the rest and he kissed the tip of her nose. He encircles her waist with his arms and turns to his friends. “Wae? Is it strange that we’re dating?”

Jiyong smiles at his friend and pats Karin on her back. Karin gets to her feet and Seunghyun stands up after her. His heart continues to pound even faster when Karin takes the initiative to hold his hand in front of the guys. “Oppa, I want to eat barbecue.”

“Right guys,” Seunghyun says brightly, “you heard my girl. She wants to eat barbecue so let’s go!”