Christian-shii escorted her all the way back to her dressing room making sure to lightly press his right hand on her back in a protective manner as they found their way through the crowded backstage. She felt awkward when she first noticed this gesture of the young man, but later came to understand that he was doing it to protect her from getting squashed in the middle of the tightening crowd.

As soon as they reached the safety of her dressing room, he politely bowed his head and apologized if he took her by surprise. To which Hwangbo could only be thankful for and it made her appreciate the chivalry of the person in front of her even more. When he was sure that Hwangbo is already safe and comfortable, he timidly asked, “So, I guess this is it for now. I mean, I’m pretty sure you’ll be busy with a lot of projects before you go back to my country. But, please keep in touch on twitter. It’ll be my honour to help you with your noble cause”.  

She was pleased with the sincerity she found in his voice and eyes when he said these words that she couldn’t say anything other than “Sure! Thank you again for your generosity and your help earlier”. The man bowed his head again and smiled his sweetest before exiting the room but forgot to close the door in his rush to go back to the stage. Hwangbo went to face the mirror with a smile on her lips and started removing some of her make-up to get ready to head for home when suddenly from behind her….

 “Ahem! Hello, Buin. I see you are wearing a very short dress again”. His tone was a combination of worry and annoyance, which didn’t escape Hwangbo’s attention. She thought to herself “Shillang is being too conservative again. Sometimes I feel that this part of him is something I hate to like”. But instead of speaking her mind, she decided to respond with her sweetest smile as she knows that it would be stupid to ruin this “stolen” moment they have right now.

They haven’t been seeing much of each other since he got too busy with promoting his “Break Down” album all over Asia. This moment is one of the very few instances for the past 8 months when he had the time to see her or even say “hi” personally what with his very hectic and tiring schedule. As if determined to ignore her effort not to start an argument with him, he continued to probe “Why are you talking so casually with that singer from the Philippines? Are you good “friends” now? How many times have you met up with him, eh? Am I missing something here? I’ve only been gone for a couple of months and here you are talking to some….some…singer?!” Jealousy is written all over his tired but still handsome face and Hwangbo knows better than to add fuel to the fire.

She knew too well that all these questions are pointed towards one goal--- getting her to assure him that she has but eyes and heart for him and him alone. Thinking of this made her feel giddy inside that a short chuckle escaped her lips. To which Hyun Joong raised an eyebrow manifesting his surprise and irritation because the reaction is far from what he expected.

He was hoping that she would instead hug him tightly and kiss him senseless after appeasing his “hurt” ego. He knew that she has long realized that this is the result of the “intimacy” he saw on stage during the performance of the Filipino singer. But this reaction from his lady love is far from any of those. So, he felt a little more frustrated and said, “Why? What’s so funny? Are you gonna tell me I’m assuming things again? I saw how he looked at you. How he smiled at you when you guys got off the stage”.

Slowly, Hwangbo reached for his hands and when their fingers met, he clasped them tightly and looked deep in his eyes. “You said it yourself Shillang, HE was the one looking and smiling, not me. I was just being a polite host. Besides, he was a perfect gentleman and nothing more.  So don’t worry yourself about petty things, okay?”

He could’ve sworn he seemingly saw a halo appear on top of Hwangbo’s head as she said those words. But, not seeing her for a couple of months due to his crazy schedule, made him miss her so much and the thought of having another man kiss her hand in public really got to her nerves. Thus, forgiving her right away is not an option. She would need to do more than that and he’s not going anywhere until he gets it from her. “It’s because of this dress you’re wearing! It’s too racy. It’s too short and bare at the top. You should’ve worn something less revealing. These clothes will get you in trouble”.

Hwangbo couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Shillang, this is a major event. You know that this is part of my image. We’ve talked about this a hundred times, right? I’ve tried my best to tone down a bit when I go to other shows, have I not? That’s all because you asked me to. But, Shillang, this is the biggest gathering of stars from all over Asia. My agency strictly instructed me to dress up to the nines. Please, let this one go. I don’t want the few times we are together to be wasted on arguing needlessly”.

Her eyes were pleading and it’s obvious to Hyun Joong that if he wants to ruin his entire day he would just need to keep talking about how she dresses. But not today, he knows for a fact that they could only spend a couple of minutes together before he heads back to the dorm and get ready for his next flight to Malaysia.

Hyun Joong would definitely want to have good memories to bring with him enough to last until they get the opportunity to see each other again. After making sure that they are alone in the dressing room he quickly pulled her close and brushed his lips with hers. “Fine, I’ll let this go just this once because I terribly miss you and I just want to be with you right now”.

Hwangbo, sensing how dangerously close they are still managed to maintain her composure despite the strong urge to kiss him back “Shillang, not here and definitely not now. We wouldn’t want people knowing about us yet. You have so much at stake and we both know how my antis react, right?” She slowly tried to break the embrace and put some distance between them. It is an understatement that the Hallyu star was disappointed with the reaction he got from his Buin but they’ve agreed on this matter since they left the WGM show in 2008.

“Shish! I can’t even have my own intimate moment with MY girlfriend? Sometimes, I really hate being this famous” he uttered in frustration. “ Shhh! Don’t say that! We both know how long you’ve waited to become who you are right now. We will have our time together once you’re done with your promotions, okay?” was her response as she tenderly held his face with both hands. “Oh, alright. Maybe I’m just really tired and pressured. I just want to break away with you somewhere far from here. But, I guess you’re right. That would have to wait until I come back from my Asian Tour. I’ll see you then and always bring your phone so I could call you every day, eh?”  “ Of course! For now, go back to your dorm and fix yourself up. You still have a flight to catch at 7pm. Call me when you get home, arraso?” with that she ended their conversation with a quick peck on his lips.

The young man with a heavy heart slowly walked out of the room and before closing the door looked back at his Buin for the last time before not seeing her again for the next 5 months. As soon as the door closes, Hwangbo found herself sighing deeply and thinking to herself, “There he goes again. Until when will we have to be like this? Can we really hold on to this relationship? I’d hate to think that things are not looking bright for us. Oh, shillang….”   

Her thoughts were interrupted by her manager who entered the room to inform her of her next assignment on the coming weekend --- Strong Heart episode with Seungho and Yunho. They are two of the many young idols who have disclosed their interest on her.

Hwangbo already feels anxious of what would happen once they get to see each other again. She just hoped that the MC won’t discuss anything about “Ideal types” as she’s pretty sure it would only lead to them teasing the two idols to her. This won’t be a welcome thing for her already upset Shillang.

What she didn’t know is that the said guesting will put her back to the scrutiny of the public eye. Her name will make it to the front page of almost all gossip newspapers and online websites in all of Korea.