Shin Hye woke up to the incessant ringing of her phone. The clock caught her still-bleary eyes first, making her jerk upright. It’s already 10 AM? She ran a hand through her hair, still amazed that she slept for nine whole hours. Her body must have been more exhausted than she thought. Together with her family, she not only frolicked in the beautiful Tokimeki beach in Osaka yesterday, but did tons of walking around and shopping. She was having too much fun to notice her energy being drained.

She reached for her phone on the bedside table. After taking a quick look at the caller, she answered right away.

‘Oppa,’ she said, voice groggy and eyelids drooping.

‘Did you just wake up? I’ve been calling you for an hour,’ the voice on the other end was awfully frantic. Shin Hye furrowed her brows.

‘I’m sorry, I guess I was too tired. Is there something wrong?’

There was a slight pause before her manager spoke again. Shin Hye heard him sigh. ‘Do you have your laptop with you? I need you to take a deep breath and open the Chosun Ilbo website.’

Shin Hye hesitated, but climbed out of bed after a few seconds and headed to the table at the corner of the room where her laptop was. She had brought it with her to check emails while she was away. As she turned it on, an unsettling feeling crept over her.  ‘Oppa, what is this about?’ She asked, taking a seat.

‘Just open the website and you’ll know.’

Pressing the phone between her ear and shoulder, she typed. What’s going on? She unconsciously started biting her fingernails as she waited.

The first thing she saw were two photos placed side by side that occupied almost half of the screen. Her whole body went frigid as she took the images in. One was a close-up shot of her at her most recent fan-signing, and the other was a photo of Min Ho in China. She read the headline above the photos and gasped. Her hand shot up to cover , feeling the life drain out of her body.

‘Shin Hye. Are you still there? Have you seen it?’

‘Op... oppa, I don’t understand. How…’ felt closed up, unable to speak further. Am I still asleep? Please tell me I’m dreaming.

‘First, you need to calm down, okay? Are you with your parents right now?’

Shin Hye could do nothing but shake her head, forgetting that she was on the phone and that her manager couldn’t see her. Her heart raced as so many things ran through her mind. How can this happen? How did they find out? What are we going to do? Has oppa seen this? At her last thought, Shin Hye widened her eyes. ‘Oppa, does he know about this? Has he seen this article? I need to tell him right now!’ She could hear herself panicking.

‘He knows. It was his manager who called me early this morning to tell me about the articles,’ her manager answered. ‘I’m at the agency right now; we’re still trying to figure out what to do.’

Shin Hye’s head was a muddle. Her thoughts oscillated from Min Ho, to her family, to herself. She thought about how they were going to handle this scandal; she thought about why this had to happen now when she was so happy. It’s too soon. Too soon. It was difficult to hide relationships considering they were both in the limelight, and she had come into terms with the fact that sooner or later, they would have to come out with the truth. But she honestly believed she would have more time just enjoying Min Ho’s company without having their relationship be the subject of public scrutiny.

‘Shin Hye, I need you to listen to me carefully. I know you’re still in shock, but you need to be rational about all of this,’ her manager continued. Shin Hye tried to focus on what he was saying. ‘Min Ho’s manager told me that it’s very messy in China right now and Min Ho isn’t thinking straight. So I want you to stay put. Don’t call him or accept his calls until we straighten things out. Do you understand?’

It took a while for the last thing he said to register. She couldn’t believe what she just heard. ‘Oppa! Are you serious? I need to talk to him about this. This is about the two of us!’

‘I know, I know that. But right now, emotions are high. We don’t want you two to do things rashly. You’ll get to talk to him once things calm down over there,’ he told her. ‘President Jang is on his way here to talk to President Kim. I promise you, everything’s going to be fine. In the meantime, just enjoy your vacation with your family.’

Shin Hye stood up from her seat. She was annoyed now. ‘Enjoy my vacation? Do you really think I can do that while all of this is happening? Oppa is in China, I’m here in Japan, and you’re there in Korea. How can I stay put when I have absolutely no idea what’s going on?’

She heard him take a deep breath. ‘Shin Hye. It’s been just a few hours since the Chinese media reports came out. Right now, we’re still trying to find out how this all happened so we can determine what our next move is going to be,’ he explained calmly, but Shin Hye sensed that he was already worked up. ‘We’re doing our best to protect you and Min Ho. So please, trust us. Trust me,’ he urged.

Shin Hye sat down and looked at the article again. She wasn’t sure what to do. On one hand, she trusts her manager’s words and she knows that her agency will protect her no matter what, but on the other, she can only truly calm down once she hears from Min Ho. She wanted him to tell her everything was going to be okay, and nothing was going to change. She needed to hear it from him.

‘There isn’t much you can do there anyway,’ her manager continued. ‘Let me talk to Min Ho instead. If he hears your voice, who knows what he’ll do. You’re both emotional right now, so you need to leave this to us first.’

‘Arasso,’ she replied weakly. At this point, there was no use trying to argue. She will have to wait patiently and trust that everything will soon blow over.

‘Turn your phone off,’ he told her. ‘You’ll be getting a lot of messages and calls and it will just make you more anxious. And I don’t want you recklessly making statements to anyone about this, not even to your friends. I’ll call you through your brother’s phone.’

Shin Hye hung up and buried her face in her hands. Part of her wanted to break down and cry but the other part of her didn’t want to succumb to the feeling of helplessness. It was so unfair for her and Min Ho to have to go to such lengths just to protect their relationship, when they were the same as any other couple who just wanted to be together. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Do they really need the permission of the rest of the world to be happy? Why can’t they just leave us alone?

She was lost in her own thoughts when she heard her phone ringing again. She took one look at the caller and her heart sank. For a moment there, she wavered. But then her manager’s words echoed in her head.

‘Min Ho isn’t thinking straight… if he hears your voice, who knows what he’ll do…’

I’m sorry, oppa. Shin Hye turned off her phone and wiped the tears that started to fall.

Min Ho balled his fists and closed his eyes, feeling confused and helpless. Ever since he and Shin Hye got together, he had conditioned himself for a scenario such as this. But nothing could have prepared him for that overwhelming feeling of limbo. He had been in this position before, but back then it seemed like only his career was at stake. This time, he was holding on to a bigger fear.

‘Okay, I’ll meet him at the lobby,’ he heard his manager say. The ahjussi was on the phone with one of his staff members who went to the news agency that published the story first. Min Ho was told that they were trying to track down the writer of the article to uncover how all this uproar started. He knew that he should be more concerned about what was happening around him, but there was only one thing on his mind right now. Min Ho glanced at his phone again. It was almost twelve noon in Japan but he still hasn’t heard from her. Is she screening my calls on purpose? He shook his head. She wouldn’t do that. Impossible.

When he saw his manager hang up, he stood up from his seat. ‘Hyung, why can’t I reach Shin Hye? Have you talked to her agency yet?’ He’s been holding it together long enough, but he could no longer keep his anxiety in. He needed to know if she was okay.

‘I’ve contacted Joon a few hours ago. I don’t know if he has talked to her yet. But President Jang is at her agency as we speak. They’re trying to find a way to make this go away,’ he replied.

Min Ho let out a frustrated sigh. ‘I’m not asking you about the agencies. I’m asking you about Shin Hye. Why hasn’t she picked up any of my calls? This isn’t like her. She knows I get anxious when I don’t know where she is. I don’t believe for one second that she doesn’t know what’s happening yet. She should have contacted me by now!’ He didn’t like raising his voice at his manager, but he couldn’t control it. The three staff members who were in his room turned their attention to them, looking concerned. It was out of character for Min Ho to be acting that way.

‘Min Ho-yah, please calm down. Maybe Shin Hye is still busy with her family. You told me she’s on a vacation, right? Maybe she turned off her phone so she doesn’t get bothered. I’m sure she’s fine,’ he said calmly.

Min Ho was seething. How stupid do they think I am? ‘Listen to yourself, hyung. Does that make any sense to you? Since she landed in Japan, she’s been texting and calling me everyday. Now this happens and I can’t reach her? If I find out that President Jang is purposely blocking me from talking to her, I’m not going to let this slide!’

Min Ho stomped to the door and opened it so violently he could have torn it off the wall.

‘Ya! Where are you going?’ His manager called out to him. He di