At 10 o’clock in the morning of Friday, June 6, 4 days after YC’s birthday, YC and YEH met with C-Jes's CEO, some executives and management staff as well as The House Company management executives and staff at a luxurious conference room at the Lotte Hotel Seoul in Eulji-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul 100-070, South Korea, for a discussion on ideas on when, how and where they would make their relationship announcement. YC and EH decided to make it a joint meeting so that an agreement and finalization of the details can be made and whatever arrangement that needed to be made to make the announcement viable be addressed and worked on ASAP.

Although their relationship was an open secret to quite a number of celebrities and even some legitimate media people, since they were very careful, no ‘proof’ of their relationship was readily available. Everyone around them were protective of their relationship, routing for YC and EH to have the time they needed to really get to know each other very well and strengthen their blooming relationship. Both management agencies wanted the announcement to have the most positive impact on YC and EH, professionally and personally, as possible. They have to be very careful that no hint of their being a couple leaked out before the announcement is made so that their relationship will not be considered a scandal by Korean Entertainment standards.

The finalization of the plans was cemented after a tasty lunch, paid for by the couple, since the meeting extended until 11:30 am. After lunch, since both YC and EH had no further schedules planned for the day, the couple decided to visit first the Yoon family home to inform Daddy Yoon, Mommy Yoon and BanSuk of the upcoming announcement. After spending a pleasant afternoon at the Yoon home, YC and EH proceeded to the Park residence to update Mama Park and YH of the upcoming ‘event’.

C-Jes announced a press conference exclusively for invited media groups to announce updates on JYJ’s activities as a group and as solo artist in the months leading to their enlistment to be held at 1:00 pm in a banquet hall at the Lotte Hotel Seoul, on the 19^th of July.

The media practitioners who came were pleasantly surprised because aside from the usual ‘press kit’ handed to them upon presentation of their credentials at the registration table, several tables of various drinks (tea, coffee, soda, fruit juices and shakes and mixed non-alcoholic drinks), pastries (assorted bite sized cakes, brownies, cookies, croissants, pies etc.) and fruits were laid out in the huge and luxurious conference room for their consumption. It seemed like more of a celebration than a press conference but they thought nothing of it and just appreciated the great care that was given to them.

At 1:15 pm the designated emcee of the Press conference approached a podium, discreetly placed in one corner of the banquet hall where a make-shift stage was set-up, with a long table with 3 chairs, name plates and microphones were in place. The emcee respectfully invited the attendees present to take their seats in the chairs in front of the stage as the press conference is about to start.

As soon as the C-Jes executives took their seats on the chairs at the emcee’s side of the stage to the right of the media practitioners, the MC introduced JYJ individually starting with JJ, followed by YC then, finally, JS. After giving individual greetings and bowing to their guest, JYJ took their places behind the long table and took their seats. First to speak up was the manager of JYJ who announced the scheduled activities of JYJ. Then the individual managers for solo activities of JJ, YC and JS came up one after the other to announce the individual scheduled activities of each artist. YC’s manager making a special mention of the upcoming VIP Premiere of YC’s film debut in “Sea Fog”. Finally the CEO came up to announce that JJ and JS are considering enlisting later in the year or up to February of 2015 at the latest while YC is yet considering whether he will be enlisting together with JJ and JS or at a later date since the 2 are going to serve in active duty whereas YC was given a 4^th grade reservist duty status because of his severe asthma.

After the announcements the floor was opened for a Question and Answer portion for the media people to ask JYJ questions as a group or as individual artists.

As the Press Conference was winding down the emcee’s voice can be heard inviting everyone to have a snack as the interview session was now at an end. JYJ left the room as all the media practitioners gratefully moved towards the tables to have a drink and some snacks.

As soon as JJ, YC and JS left the banquet hall, YC hurriedly walked towards the waiting room that was reserved for JYJ and YEH to wait for the start of the Press Conference. The Plan was for JJ and JS to return to the banquet hall entering first then stepping aside to present YC and EH as they approached the long table that now had four chairs in front of it. YC and EH would be taking the chairs in the center with JS sitting on YC’s right and JJ sitting to EH’s left to show their support for the couple.

YC was thinking that he would find a nervous EH waiting in the waiting area but instead found a serene and calm beautiful lady waiting for him.

YC: “Ae-in, gwaenchana? Did you have a long wait? I was really worried that you would be nervously pacing around.”

EH: “Jagiya, there is nothing for me to be nervous about, we will finally be able to admit our relationship and be honest. You are beside me, what do I have to be nervous about? I trust in us, in our relationship.”

YC moved to give EH a tight hug to absorb her calm then gave her a gentle but deep kiss on the lips that they only broke away from when they both heard JJ and JS clearing their throats. Instantly shy, EH buried her face in YC chest as she heard YC say: “Oops, you guys understand, right. I got carried away. Now wipe those silly smiles off your faces, you are embarrassing my woman.”

JJ teasingly says: “EH-shi, I must commend your good taste in choosing my buddy, YC for a namja chingu. But then, YC-nie is doubly lucky to have you trust him with your heart.”

JS: “EH-shi, can we see the engagement ring YC-nie gave you? JJ and I would like to see if he made the right choice of ring for you. If not, you should return it and demand a more expensive one.

Lifting her left hand, JJ’s and JS’s gaping mouths was enough of a testament to how precious EH was to their friend, YC. Their 2 thumbs up sign to YC sealed the issue about the ring. 

They all sat companionably to wait for their cue to go back to the conference room as well as to grab a snack to fortify them.

When the media groups were almost done and about to say their goodbyes, The House Company executives and staff quietly entered the conference room and sat on the opposite side of the C-Jes group on the left side of the stage. One by one the media people in attendance became aware of this strange occurrence and started to speculate among themselves until a sense of silent anticipation prevailed inside the room.

Emcee: “Before you leave, I would like to acknowledge the presence of the executives and management staff of ‘The House Company’ seated on the left side of the stage; and I would like to welcome back JJ, YC and JS along with a very special lady to one of the members of JYJ, Miss Yoon Eun Hye.”

JJ and JS entered first, as planned, followed by EH, escorted by YC. Slight pandemonium broke out as the photographers present scrambled to take pictures of the 4 celebrities and, more importantly, of the lovely couple that YC and EH made. The ladies in attendance also scrambled to tell their photographers to take close-up shots of the ring on EH’s left hand ring finger.

There was applause from both sides of the stage as well as from some of the media people, who knew about YC and EH’s relationship and helped them protect it by keeping it a well-guarded secret. As they were promised an exclusive interview as a reward for their discretion, these media groups did not need to scramble for pictures.

Calling for silence, the emcee then asked everyone to please be seated for YC and EH’s announcement. Waiters were walking around serving everyone in the room with a flute of champagne.

As soon as YC saw that everyone was holding a flute of champagne, he stood up and took EH’s right hand in his left hand to help her stand beside him, not releasing her hand.

YC: “Please lift up your flutes and join my ae-in, EH, and I in a toast as we celebrate and acknowledge our love for each other as well as formally announce our engagement. Gun Bae!!!”

After the emcee asked everyone to be seated once again,

YC: “First of all, EH-shi and I would like to expresses our gratitude and appreciation to those of you here who already knew about EH and my dating and kept it a secret until we were both ready to make our announcement.”

EH: “We hope that you will all continue to support and encourage us in our ongoing effort to build a much stronger relationship, not only with each other but also with our respective families. I’ll leave any further announcements/statements in the able hands of my jagiya, YC-shi.”

YC: “Thank you, ae-in. To avoid any misunderstanding or misinformation regarding our relationship, we will be completely honest with you. EH and I first realized that we had a deep affection for each other while we were filming the drama ‘보고 싶어’ but we did not start dating during the filming.” With a gentle, loving smile, which had the ladies sighing in envy, and a nod at EH, EH continued: “Wanting to make sure that what we were feeling for each other was not an offshoot of the emotions of Han Jung Woo and Lee Soo Yeon in the drama, I asked YC-shi for a total communications blackout for a month or two after the wrap-up party of ‘Missing You’ to make sure of our feelings for each other.”

YC interrupted: “Aigoo, she really was digging her heels about the 1 to 2 months of no contact and I was definitely not waiting that long. I was pretty sure of my feelings but I also wanted to give EH the time she thought she needed so I was able to bring down the time away from each other to a maximum of 2 weeks.”

EH continuing where YC left off: “True to his word, YC-shi was at my door step exactly 2 weeks after the wrap-up party and we started dating after receiving our respective parent’s approval.”

YC: “We have been dating secretly since then. We are sorry that we had to keep our relationship under wraps for so long but we needed to make sure that we were protected personally and professionally as well as our respective families. As you well know, any kind of dating news between two celebrities is considered a scandal; personally, I can’t understand how a relationship based on deep love and respect for one another between 2 single people can ever be considered a scandal, but that is Korean Entertainment and netizens for you. Any whiff of a scandal could ruin a celebrity’s career as well as receive harsh judgment and bashing from people who do not even know any facts about the celebrities so we needed to put things in order before we can go public.”

EH picked up on the story by admitting: “After more than a year of dating, YC-shi proposed to me and I gladly accepted his proposal.”

YC: “When we became engaged, we both felt that the time to go public was just right, so, here we are. We have not yet decided on a definite date for our wedding but we will let you know as soon as possible. We may have a long engagement, as I still need to enlist for my Mandatory Military Service, but we may not wait that long. Just know that EH-shi and I love each other very much and are committed to each other as any married couple could ever be.”

YC: “Oh, as you can see, we are making this announcement with the whole-hearted approval of our management agencies as well as our families.” Upon saying this, Mama Park, YH, Daddy Yoon, Mommy Yoon and BS entered the banquet hall, all with happy and approving smiles on their faces, and stood around the couple.

C-Jes’ CEO took the microphone from the emcee and said: “We do not have time for a Q&A at this time therefore any request for interviews of the couple should be coursed either through C-Jes or The House Company and we will coordinate with each other to make the interview possible. Thank you so much for your attendance and I hope for your support with regards to YC’s and EH’s relationship.”

The media groups who kept YC’s and EH’s dating a secret and waited patiently for the announcement were discreetly led to the smaller conference room for the exclusive interview and photo session promised them. They were privy to the loving hugs that YC and EH received from their family members as well as from JJ and JS before they said their goodbyes and made their own discreet exits. The interview was very honest and casual and set up to be like a gathering of good friends. The pictures of the couple that came out from these media agencies showed a very relaxed, comfortable, happy and loving couple. Most of the shots were candid showing them lovingly looking into each other’s eyes, as if they were in their own private world; laughing and smiling at each other as if they were sharing a delicious secret and simply being content to be sitting beside each other and holding tightly to each other’s hands.

The pictures, videos and news update that was broadcast that night showed images of the press conference announcement and, to the lucky group, images of the candid shots in the exclusive interview that melted viewer’s hearts especially after reading/hearing the sincerity of the couple as they made the announcement as well as explaining their reason for keeping their dating a secret.

In general, the announcement of their relationship was positively received by the industry with many celebrities expressing their support and wishing them the best in their relationship. Only a handful of disenchanted fans and netizens expressed their disappointment but were easily smothered and forgotten by the joy, support and encouragement that YC and EH received from their true fans, who only wanted their happiness, in Korea and worldwide.

Unbeknowest to the public, right after the interview with the selected media groups, YC and EH used their ‘ninja’ powers and left for an undisclosed destination (known only by their families and their most trusted personal staff members) to spend some well deserved quality time together.