It’s raining hard outside her apartment. She woke up early only to find herself worrying about her scheduled taping of Strong Heart later that day. Not even the presence of her favourite dog, Jins, could take her mind away from what could possibly happen while taping the show. Last night, she tried calling her shillang who’s now in Malaysia for a series of concerts but he didn’t pick up the phone.

Though dismayed, she just took it as a sign that she should show up at the taping and Hyun Joong won’t be watching since he’s busy overseas with preparations for the tour. With that in mind, she felt a little ready to take part in the program but she silently hoped nothing untoward will happen or said that could cause another argument with her shillang.

Arriving at the studio 30 minutes earlier than the call time, she made herself busy by personally greeting the hosts, staff, and guests in the show. It’s a great help that most of the staff and even the MCs of the program were people she has worked with before in the long defunct show X-man.The setting became familiar to her and she felt less stressed.

However, this only lasted until a few minutes before the start of the taping, when finally Yunho and Seungho arrived at the set one after the other. Hwangbo felt awkward as soon as the two idols smiled her way and politely bowed their heads to acknowledge her presence. They didn’t get to talk anymore as the floor director has already begun making sure everyone’s seated at the properly places.  

She was seated in the front row along with the other female guests. Yunho was asked to occupy the seat right behind her while Seungho sat to his left. The proximity of the two idols didn’t help at all in Hwangbo’s effort to ignore the knowing smiles that the MCs were discreetly sending her way. “Oh no, this is going to be a long day” she thought to herself. 

The lights on the stage were all lit up as the hosts were given the cue to say their opening spiels. Hwangbo braced herself for whatever comes out of this guesting. Each of the guests was introduced by the MCs to the viewers by mentioning their previous and current projects. The theme of the episode is “confessions” and so they were prompted to be ready with their confessions towards the latter part of the show.

Hwangbo sat there pretending to be listening to the MCs when in fact her mind is already wandering off to another place where she would rather be. Her attention was caught all of a sudden when one of the hosts asked Yunho if he has a girlfriend at the moment. Every girl in the audience shrieked rearing to find out the answer.

Yunho who obviously dressed to impress that day, with a shy smile quickly responded “No, I don’t have a girlfriend but I have my eyes set on someone”. This response elicited excitement and curiosity amongst the people in the studio except for Hwangbo. She was silently thankful that Yunho has someone special already and thus won’t be teased to her anymore.

However, much to her surprise, the MCs both noticed how Yunho looked at her from behind when he said the phrase “but I have my eyes set on someone”. One of the MCs exclaimed “Oh! I could swear we saw you look at Hwangbo-shii when you said that you have someone in mind! Could that lady be Hwangbo-shii, eh Yunho-shii?”

 Yunho’s face turned crimson as he sat embarrassed behind Hwangbo. She in turn didn’t realize that flew open as she continuously waved her hand to gesture that that’s not the case. The other MC egged on “Could it be that Yunho-shii would like to confess to Hwangbo-shii today?” This comment made the crowd go wild with excitement and anticipation. Hwangbo was still finding it difficult to comprehend what’s happening and just froze in her seat.

Finally, noticing that Hwangbo is feeling uneasy, Yunho shushed the audience by explaining himself. “Well, as I have mentioned in my past interviews, I have always admired the “My Sassy Girl” character from the movie. I like a girl who can control me with her strong personality but at the same time has a feminine side to her. Hwangbo-shii…..uhm….aaah, I think she..she… is a strong person, she speaks her mind and I also know that she can cook well, sew, knit, and do other girly stuff. So, yeah, she fits the categories I’m looking for in a would-be girlfriend. It would be an honour if Hwangbo-shii would consider me” he ends his explanation with a smile towards Hwangbo.

Hearing these things from him made Hwangbo’s heart beat faster than normal and turned her face even redder much to the delight of the audience. She wasn’t quite sure if she heard it right, this idol fantasized by a lot of way younger girls, has just confessed his still existing attraction to her. Unable to grasp the entirety of what just happened she looked at Yunho with bemused eyes.

The MCs who were just too happy for this sudden interesting turn of events asked Hwangbo consecutively “Wow! We definitely heard a real confession of Yunho-shii’s unwavering admiration of Hwangbo-shii. However, the question is, does he plan to make any move to further express this intention? How does Hwangbo-shii feel about this confession? Is she still available to date? Is she willing to date a younger man?” the crowd just cheered on hearing these questions which they also wanted to ask the two themselves. Hwangbo was definitely put on the spot and she didn’t like the feeling.

Now, she needs to be careful with her response as she knows that Yunho’s fans would kill just to be in her place instead. She gathered all the strength and logic she has left “Uhm…I’m thankful to Yunho-shii for the kind words. He is an idol adored by almost all the young girls in this country. I’m flattered by his confession and honestly, I don’t have any issues with . All that matters is what’s inside the hearts of the people involved”.

The studio audience celebrated upon hearing her words which left Hwangbo silent as she wanted to add “but, I’m seeing someone special already and yes he is as young as Yunho-shii” However, she didn’t get the chance to say this out loud because of two things: First, she knew that the MCs would want to know the identity of this special person which will only drag Hyun Joong’s name. Second, it’s like she’s directly dismissing Yunho’s confession and his fans as well as nietizens will accuse her of thinking too highly of herself and Yunho unworthy.

The sought after idol behind her couldn’t conceal that he was delighted by her response. Just like a high school boy, he covered his face with his two hands and turned beat red. That’s when the MCs cued for a commercial gap. Hwangbo couldn’t muster the courage to look at Yuhno during this lull. All she could think of and wish for is that the taping would end now so she could go home and forget all about it. But he had other plans which he is now more than ever determined to put into action as soon as they’re done taping the program.

What both of them didn’t notice is that another person has been closely observing them, not too far away and has plans of his own.