(1/29/14 15:09:46) Shin Hye: Oppa, we’re about to board our plane back to Seoul. Good luck on the Gala. I’m sure you’ll do well. I can’t wait to see you when you get back. :)

(1/30/14 08:39:22) Min Ho: I fell asleep last night. I hope you got back fine. Will call you later.

(1/30/14 09:23:46) Shin Hye: Good morning! We did. :) Are you busy? Can I call?

(1/30/14 17:04:37) Shin Hye: Oppa, break a leg! I know you’re going to do great.

(1/30/14 23:16:17) Shin Hye: I read all the articles about the Gala. I even watched a video of you singing. So, so good. You were so handsome. Kkk.

(1/30/14 23:48:35) Shin Hye: You’re probably resting, right? I’ll talk to you when you get back. What time is your flight tomorrow?

(1/31/14 12:55:49) Min Ho: Mian. Slept as soon as I got to the hotel. Flight is at three. Will call when we land.

(2/01/14 09:29:33) Shin Hye: You never called yesterday. Is everything alright?

(2/01/14 20:34:36) Min Ho: I was just really tired. Hyung told me we have a meeting with the agencies on Monday. I’ll see you then, okay?

(2/01/14 20:38:19) Shin Hye: Yeah, Joon oppa told me yesterday. See you.

(2/01/14 20:39:45) Shin Hye: I miss you. :(

(2/01/14 22:23:44) Min Ho: Same here. Good night.

Over the course of four days, they exchanged twelve messages and only four were from him. Every time Min Ho didn’t reply or pick up her call, Shin Hye’s heart broke a little. She knew he’d be mad about her turning off her phone while she was on vacation, but she didn’t think he’d react that way. Today she decided she was going to give up trying to reach him. She couldn’t handle any more of his cold replies. She will have to wait until they see each other face to face to talk to him.

‘Are you going to just sit here all day?’

‘Wae? Are you sick of me already?’ Shin Hye cradled Bongi and made baby sounds while Nori snuggled beside her. ‘I don’t have a schedule today. And besides, I just want to spend quality time with my babies.’

Her Mother put down the magazine she was reading and looked at her daughter curiously. ‘Isn’t there another baby you’d rather spend time with?’

Shin Hye shot her Mother a stunned look and scrunched up her nose. ‘Omma. Can you not make comments like that? It’s kind of weird.’

‘Arasso, arasso. I was just trying to be funny,’ she replied, frowning. ‘Is Min Ho busy today?’

Shin Hye looked away and resumed playing with Bongji. ‘I guess,’ she replied weakly.

‘Aigoo, that boy works too much. His agency should at least let him rest,’ her Mother picked Nori up and petted him. ‘Then again it might not be a good idea for you two to meet up so soon, right? The media must still be paying attention to you both after those articles came out.’

‘Hmm,’ Shin Hye nodded her head mechanically, trying to focus on Bongji instead. She wished her Mom would stop talking about Min Ho. It only made her more anxious.

‘But you look like you need him right now. I’ve noticed you seem to be down lately. He can probably cheer you up after all those awful comments,’ her Mother continued. ‘Keunde… imagine if reporters catch you and snap a photo…’

‘Omma,’ Shin Hye cut her off and glowered. ‘You’re giving me mixed advice here.’

The older woman chuckled. ‘Am I? Sorry, honey. I’m just a concerned Mom. I’m sure you and Min Ho talked about what to do already,’ she handed Nori to Shin Hye and stood up. ‘Do you want a snack? I’m thinking of making deokbokki.’

‘Make it really spicy, omma. The type that can make you cry instantly.’

‘Eh? Why?’

‘No reason,’ she replied. ‘Then again, even if it isn’t spicy I might still end up crying,’ she mumbled to herself.

As soon as her Mother was gone, Shin Hye picked up her phone from the table. Her Mom had no idea that she hasn’t talked to Min Ho, and no, she doesn’t know what to do. It’s been two days since Min Ho came back from China but he has made no effort to meet up with her. She had a nagging feeling that something was very wrong. It was the first time since they got together that Min Ho acted that way towards her.

She’s been trying to avoid negative ideas as much as she could. Since she and Min Ho got into a fight the last time she brought up the possibility of their relationship ending, she stopped entertaining those thoughts. But the way he was acting now was starting to make her feel uneasy again. What if he changed his mind? What if he breaks… She let out a faint grunt as she tried to shake off the thought. Ani. He would never do that. He promised.

She hugged Bongji and Nori close. ‘He won’t, right?’

Min Ho took another sip from the beer bottle and stared into the horizon, trying to make sense of what’s been happening to him for the past few days. His emotions have been a blur since the news reports came out, but instead of dealing with them, he decided to bury himself in work.

After getting back from China, he slept the whole day away. He always found sleep to be his best respite, even though he knew he’d have to deal with the same things when he woke up. But he had held on to the hope that once he opened his eyes, his mind would be clearer, his heart calmer. That wasn’t the case this time.

He had no schedule, leaving him alone with his thoughts. But he found himself trying to escape still, just as much as he had been escaping Shin Hye’s texts and calls. He went for a drive, which eventually led to his friend’s apartment.

‘So tell me about it,’ Bum said as he walked beside Min Ho, holding his own bottle of beer and leaning on the railing.

‘This isn’t one of those I-need-a-man-to-man-talk moments,’ Min Ho replied. ‘I just wanted to hang out and drink a little.’

Bum smirked. ‘We’re in the balcony, holding beers and looking out into the city. This is definitely one of those moments. Besides, you would have come to Il Woo hyung’s place if you just wanted to hang out. But you came to me, which means something’s bothering you.’

Bum knew him all too well. He would have called Il Woo if he wanted a distraction, but the truth was, he needed Bum to knock some sense into him.

When Min Ho didn’t reply, Bum spoke again. ‘Are you still bothered by those articles? They’ll die down. Netizens have incredibly short attention spans. I’m sure they’ll move on to the next hot issue soon enough.’

‘I don’t give a about those articles.’

‘So what’s wrong? Are you having problems with Shin Hye?’

Min Ho sighed and took another swig. ‘I don’t know.’

Bum nodded his head. ‘So you are having problems with Shin Hye. Do you want to tell me about it?’

He hesitated. ‘I’m just scared.’

‘Scared of what?’

‘My thoughts,’ Min Ho replied. ‘I’m scared of my thoughts lately. And what I’m capable of doing with them.’

‘Hyung.’

Min Ho turned to Bum. ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I know I love her, but lately, I’m just scared and hurt and mad all the time. I feel like there’s a cloud hanging over this relationship and I can’t ignore it anymore.’

‘Hyung, if you’re worried about the scandal…’

‘Ani. It’s not that,’ Min Ho cut him short. ‘That scandal wasn’t even a bomb. More like a bomb threat,’ he scoffed. ‘But we couldn’t even come out of it unscathed.’

Bum frowned. ‘What exactly happened? The last time we talked on the phone, you told me everything was going great between you two.'

‘I thought so, too,’ Min Ho replied. ‘But after those articles were published, she shut me out. I felt so… abandoned.’

‘Maybe there’s a good explanation why,’ Bum reasoned. ‘Maybe her agency told her to do it.’

‘That’s what pisses me off,’ Min Ho looked away, frowning. ‘If she did that because her agency told her to do so…’

‘Hyung,’ Bum interjected. ‘You’re being unfair right now. If you haven’t heard why Shin Hye did that, then you shouldn’t be making assumptions.’

Min Ho turned to his friend. ‘I know that. That’s why I’m scared. What if even after talking to her, I won’t change my mind?’

Bum looked like he was about to say something, but decided against it. He heaved a sigh and sipped his drink instead. ‘I don’t know what’s going on,’ he spoke after a long silence between them. ‘But I know you and I know Shin Hye. Aside from your family, I’ve never seen you care about anybody else this much. And I’ve never seen Shin Hye bring her walls down for any other guy like this. So both of you better get your heads on straight and talk this out.’

‘Bum-ah, how did you and Geun Young handle it when the press found out about you two? Weren’t you scared of the backlash?’

‘Of course we were scared,’ Bum replied. ‘But we both knew that the only way for our relationship to work was if we were upfront about it. The moment I knew I wanted to be with her, I didn’t care anymore. I guess I’m just lucky she felt the same way,’ he continued. ‘Keunde hyung, you and Shin Hye are a different case. Just because you can’t reveal your relationship to the public, doesn’t mean it’s not worth keeping.’

Min Ho smiled and threw his arm around Bum’s shoulder. ‘Jashik. When did you grow up to be a man, huh?’

Bum chuckled. ‘I may not be the oldest or the best-looking out of us three, but I was sure from the start that I was the most mature.’

Min Ho let out a laugh and fell silent again, unaware that Bum was quietly studying him.

‘Hyung, I don’t know what you’re thinking of doing,’ Bum said softly. ‘And even if I did, I would never argue with your decision because that’s your life. But you need to know that there are some things that can’t be undone. So you better be aware of what you could lose when you finally make that choice, and whether you can live with that loss or not.’

Shin Hye stared at the screen as it rang. For a whole week, she had been waiting for that call. But now that it was finally here, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to answer it. She was scared – scared to hear something in his voice that wasn’t there before.

‘Aren’t you going to answer that?’

She looked to her left and was met by President Kim’s curious expression. She forgot that they were in the car and that the ringing was loud enough for everyone to hear. She glanced down at her phone again and rejected the call. ‘Aniyo, it can wait,’ she replied.

Shin Hye’s heart raced as soon as they stepped into the building where Starhaus Entertainment was. The last time she was there wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience. She knew that there were things needed to be discussed, but if she could avoid meeting Min Ho’s agency as much as she could, she would.

She had been told that Starhaus staff scanned the area for reporters before they went. It was starting to get warmer, but she wore heavy clothes to hide her frame. Her agency president and manager did the same to be safe from people who might be able to recognize them.

When she got into the board room, President Jang immediately rose to greet them. Min Ho and his manager weren’t there yet. A sigh of relief escaped Shin Hye’s lips. She was nervous about seeing Min Ho. It’s been two weeks since they last saw each other, a week since they last talked. She knew she had some explaining to do, but Min Ho never gave her a chance since he never returned any of her calls.

After a few minutes exchanging pleasantries with President Jang, Min Ho and his manager walked through the door. Shin Hye locked eyes with him as soon as he walked into the room. Instead of an affectionate smile, what she saw was a blank expression on his face. Her suspicions had been right; he was mad at her. But she was still hoping he’d be warmer than this. What she felt was akin to someone was pricking her heart with tiny needles. She looked down impulsively.

‘Why didn’t you answer my call?’ Min Ho asked, sitting across her from the table.

Shin Hye paused to look around; everyone heard his question but immediately looked away as if they didn’t. She met his gaze again and realized that he was talking to her.

‘Eo? I, uhh, I was in the middle of something. Sorry,’ she replied. She hated that her voice trembled, and that everyone could hear it.

Min Ho nodded his head casually and diverted his attention to President Jang. ‘Shall we start? I have an interview in a few hours.’

President Jang opened his files and took out some papers. ‘Okay. Since your drama ended last year, we received multiple offers from different companies that wanted to get both of you as couple models. I contacted President Kim since some contracts w