As soon as the director gives a signal, the emcee’s voice echoes throughout the studio as he introduces the show.

“Welcome to another episode of A Ride Down Memory Lane, where we uncover the stories behind known celebrity couples and friends! I am Woohyun –” Woohyun says as he sits comfortably on a mini sofa.

“I am Sungjong,” the younger one sitting next to Woohyun on the same sofa introduces himself with a smile and slight tilt of the head.

“– and we are your special emcees for today!” Woohyun ends the introduction with a bright greeting and then turns to Sungjong, “Sungjong, this show has been quite popular lately, huh?”

“Yes. Even I discovered a lot of things I’d never known from watching the show!” Sungjong concedes with a few firm nods at Woohyun before he continues, “But hyung, what are we doing here? We’re not here to spill Infinite’s secrets are we?”

“No, of course not! That will take more than an hour,” Woohyun laughs, “Infinite is not the guest for today’s show – maybe we will be another time but – today’s guest couple…”

“Oh,” Sungjong fakes a surprised expression as he drops his jaw wide open, “It’s a couple?”

“That’s enough, Sungjong,” Woohyun waves dismissively at the younger one with a grin, “Everyone can tell that you already knew.”

“Ah, yes,” Sungjong laughs lightly as he tucks a few strands of hair behind his ear and turns his focus back to the camera.

“Anyway,” Woohyun continues, “the couple today has just announced their relationship lately, and they’re a big hit now!”

“Hyung, did you know? Did you know before they announced?”

“What are you saying?” Woohyun blurts out with a slightly confused expression, “The whole group knew because he told us!”

“No, I mean before that,” Sungjong corrects himself.

“I knew something was going on all along,” Woohyun says smugly and then returns the question, “What about you?”

“I was there from the start,” Sungjong proudly announces, “I might have even helped in bringing them together.”

“Ah, because you were close to the girl as well,” Woohyun rounds it off, “Should we invite the couple in now? I bet the viewers are really curious now.”

“They’re laughing in front of us,” Sungjong fails to hide his smile as he points out.

“Yes… They don’t realise how much trouble they’re going to be in,” Woohyun says, seemingly thoughtfully, and then turns to Sungjong, “How can they laugh so freely like that? We’re going to grill them inside out later!”

“We probably shouldn’t keep the viewers waiting anymore, and I can see the director giving us a sign to move on,” Sungjong says as his vision falls onto the director’s frantic hand gestures, “Without further ado, we shall invite in the couple who is exceptionally well-accepted by the public and has even been dubbed as the ‘Ideal High-School Romance Couple’.”

“Our L, Kim Myungsoo, and Miss A’s Bae Suji!” Woohyun announces with much excitement. Both emcees applaud as the two walk into the studio, laughing out of embarrassment. The two are wearing matching plaid shirts and consciously bow at the camera as they walk in. Even as they take a seat on the mini sofa opposite Woohyun and Sungjong, they’re still trying hard to stifle their laughter.

“What’s wrong with them?” Woohyun says as he looks at Sungjong, slightly puzzled. Sungjong shrugs and Woohyun turns back to the couple, saying, “Excuse me, do you mind sharing the joke?”

“No –” Suzy begins and then bursts into laughter again. Beside her, Myungsoo giggles as he covers his mouth, revealing only his crescent-shaped eyes.

“It’s just that the title is really funny, and we’re feeling pretty awkward now,” Suzy states honestly after the both of them have calmed down. She fans herself with one hand.

“The ‘Ideal High-School Romance’? It is pretty strange – you guys aren’t even kids anymore,” Woohyun says as his eyes hover over them. His lips then curve upwards and he grins at them, “But the couple outfit is pretty cute.”

Myungsoo supports his forehead with one hand and shakes his head. “Who would’ve known she’d have the same shirt?”

“But yesterday you told me you weren’t wearing plaid!” Suzy retorts, pushing him a little.

“It was a last minute decision! I couldn’t find the shirt I wanted to wear!” Myungsoo exclaims, and then eyes the other two members present, “I bet one of the members took it.”

Sungjong places two hands up in a posture of surrender and says, “Don’t look at me like that; I don’t know a thing.”

“Leave me out of this too,” Woohyun pushes, and then muttered, “I bet it’s Sungyeol though.”

Myungsoo’s solemn expression crumbles into an airy laugh, “It’s fine! It’s suitable for the show anyway. The production team is so happy with us they just said they’d treat us food.”

“As expected, food solves all problems,” Woohyun smirks, and then continues after a momentary pause, “Okay, let’s begin!”

He glances at the placard before saying, “Your relationship was revealed when the giant bear that L used for his solo during our first world tour was found on Suzy’s bed.”

“Yes,” Suzy nods in agreement, “It was caught on TV during a variety show when they came into my house. I didn’t know when they were coming, so I didn’t have time to hide it. I thought people might not recognize the bear either, because there are so many of such bears around, but then fans began placing the pictures on the web.”

“But you guys could have denied it,” Sungjong points out, “Like you said, there are many of such bears around. You could have gotten it from somewhere else.”

“We could, of course,” Myungsoo speaks up, “But then we figured that since fans were beginning to speculate, it was a good time to announce it, if we’re ever going to do so.”

“We had a little discussion,” Suzy adds.

“Oppa, did you receive it too?” Suzy sounded nervous over the phone, “Fans sent me photo collages of the bear, saying how it looks like yours! They’re beginning to find out.”

“I know,” Myungsoo let out a helpless laugh, “They mentioned both of us in the tweets. Some of them are even saying ‘congratulations’.”

“What should we do now? Should I say it just happened to be the same bear? It’s believable, isn’t it?”

“Suzy…” Myungsoo paused for a few moments before continuing, “Actually, what do you think about just announcing it?”

Silence lingered for a few moments as his words sank in.

“Are we ready for that?” She finally blurted out.

“I… don’t know,” Myungsoo replied, “But I do know I want to be with you for a long time. If that is so, then sooner or later they will find out. If we lie now, the fans will feel betrayed.”

“Hmm…” Suzy thought it over as she bit her bottom lip.

“Besides,” Myungsoo spoke up again, and Suzy could hear the smile in his voice as he said, “I think they like us together.”

“It will be a little sudden, huh?” Suzy mused, “But we’ll be freer if we announce it…”

“You can think about it. I’m all for announcing it, but if you prefer not to, then let’s not. If you need assurance, I’ll protect you if any fans try to hurt you. But I’m sure it will be the minority. I’m sure Inspirits will like you,” Myungsoo said, trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince her.

“It’ll be a great commitment…” he continued, and then after slight pondering, he said in a small voice, his lips trembling as he did so, “But I’ll do it for you."

“I…” Suzy started, “I want to be with you for a long time too…” Her cheeks flushed deep pink as she said it.

It was a comfortable silence in the night as the two were clouded by their own thoughts.

“I’ll tell the company about our stance,” Suzy finished firmly.

Myungsoo smiled on the other end of the line. “Me too. We’ll face the media and the public bravely; okay, Suj?”

“Yes, oppa,” Suzy replied promptly with a grin.

Suzy and Myungsoo smile at each other as they remember the moments.

“It must have been a difficult decision,” Sungjong says thoughtfully.

“It seems to be a right one, though. You two are so loved!” Woohyun points out.

“Hyung, are you jealous?” Sungjong teases and the couple simply laughs while Woohyun makes a face.

“Anyway, getting on with the show, let’s start from the beginning!” Woohyun continues with the script, “How did you two first meet?”

“Meet?” Suzy echoes, her eyes widening slightly, “That would be quite long ago…”

“Yeah,” Myungsoo agrees as he mentally flips through his memory, “We probably first met at one of the music shows. There were a couple of times during variety shows and the Idol Sports Athletic Championships as well. We talked a bit in a group, but it wasn’t anything personal.”

“We only really started interacting individually since he guested on Invincible Youth 2,” Suzy adds.

“Ah, what happened then? We’re all wondering about the behind-the-scenes of that episode!” Sungjong leans forward slightly and exclaims, seemingly quite interested.

Myungsoo shakes his head upon witnessing Sungjong’s response and is unable to hide the big smile on his face. He points at Sungjong and blurts out, “But I told you guys almost everything!”

“I know; I’m just doing my job of emceeing the show,” Sungjong replies with a serious look, sending off peals of laughter everywhere in the studio.

“Yeah, most people know that Suzy fed Myungsoo a piece of raw squid during the show, but what else was there?” Woohyun enhances the question.

“Oh, that!” Suzy exclaims, “I had no idea then that he doesn’t eat raw food. The squid tasted really good, so I just offered him some, but that look on his face after eating it –” Suzy breaks down into giggles.

“When the cameras were off, she approached me. Eyes filled with concern, she asked, ‘You don’t like raw food?’” Myungsoo narrates the scene then, “So I told her yes, a little embarrassedly. I didn’t really mind, to be honest; it was for a show after all, and she didn’t know, so it’s okay really, but she was so apologetic about it!”

Suzy bursts into chortles, hiding her face behind her hands.

Myungsoo begins to act out the scene and scratches his head lightly. “She did this, and then looked to the ground like that and said sorry.”

“To tell the truth, you thought it was cute right?” Woohyun butts in abruptly.

“Ah,” Myungsoo is caught speechless and retorts with a light chuckle, “What?”

“You remember everything so clearly, every single action,” Woohyun points out, “You must have thought it was cute.”

“Honestly speaking… yes!” Myungsoo enunciates, grinning widely, “You want me to be honest right? Fine!”

Suzy hits Myungsoo’s arm lightly as she laughs. She is still trying to be accustomed to the idea that their relationship is now public. It feels strange yet somehow nice, at the same time, to be sharing their honest feelings so openly like that. I could get used to this, she thinks.

“What about you, Suzy?” Sungjong asks, “What was your impression of him then?”

“Then…” Suzy begins, her eyes looking upwards as she recalls, “I still didn’t know him very well, so he seemed to be very… um, perfect, and distant.” Myungsoo chuckles at ‘perfect’.

“But then you realized it was all a lie,” Woohyun finishes off for her. The entire studio erupts into thunderous laughter, knowing full well what Woohyun meant by that.

“But I thought it’d be nice to be friends,” Suzy adds, “since some of the Miss A members are already friends with Infinite members.” Myungsoo simply nods in agreement.

“Did you two exchange numbers then?” Woohyun asks.

“No, we didn’t. We talked quite a bit that day, but he seemed pretty shy,” Suzy reveals. Sungjong shakes his head with a knowing smile.

Myungsoo chuckles, “I did? I don’t remember.”

“Yeah, I initiated most of the talking!” Suzy says to Myungsoo, and then looks back at the emcess, “Oh yeah, we talked about the members too.”

“Oh, what did you say?” Woohyun immediately jerks up and looks at Myungsoo.

“You don’t need to know,” Myungsoo teases, “We’re not here to spill Infinite’s secrets today, right?”

“That’s right; we’re here to spill yours,” Woohyun grins as he says, and then he gets back on track, “So… If you didn’t exchange numbers then, when did you?”

“Technically, they didn’t exchange numbers at all,” Sungjong lets slip a small laugh.

“Oh, that!” Myungsoo points with a finger as he exclaims and starts cracking up, head buried in the sofa arm.

“That’s embarrassing,” Suzy shakes her head with a tiny smile as she covers half of her face with a hand.

“Whoa, what’s the situation now?” Woohyun lightly scoffs as he looks at the three, “I’m the only one who doesn’t know about the insider story? You guys better share it with everyone now!”

After Myungsoo recovers from his fit, he tells Woohyun with a giggly voice, “She called me one day and said, ‘Hi, I just wanted to ask you a few questions about your photobook.’” He pauses shortly as he bites his bottom lip to prevent himself from laughing. “She didn’t introduce herself or anything. I thought she was a reporter, so I said, ‘Oh, sure, can you call my manager to find a suitable timeslot?’ I was still wondering how a reporter managed to get my number. Anyway, so she was like –”

At this point, Woohyun turns to Suzy and requests, “Can you re-enact the scene, Suzy? You two are now on the phonecall.”

Both Myungsoo and Suzy use their hands to represent a phone by sticking their thumbs and little pinkies out. Myungsoo repeats the question as he said earlier.

“It’s not an interview!” Suzy exclaims, acting flustered by shaking her head vigorously, “Oppa, it’s me, Suzy.”

“I felt so embarrassed!” Suzy admits, her hands automatically going to either cheek.

“And then it was my turn to feel sorry, because I misunderstood. I was shocked for a while, and then I asked her where she got my number. Turns out that she got it from Sungjong,” Myungsoo points to Sungjong as he says this. Sungjong simply nods with a bright grin, seemingly glad that he helped in bringing them together.

“There appears to be quite a number of embarrassing incidents that occurred,” Woohyun casually comments as he flips to the next placard. “So you guys met up after that? Just the two of you?” he goes on to enquire, eyes shining with genuine curiosity.

“Yes,” Myungsoo replies earnestly, “We first met up so she could ask me questions, and I gave her advice about photography. I mean, I’m no expert either, but we learn together. The next time we met after that was by coincidence at the Han River.” Myungsoo turns to look at Suzy with a subtle smile, hinting for her to continue.

“Yes, because we both really like the Han River,” Suzy begins, “I was there taking a stroll as a way of relieving stress, and he liked to walk along the river with his camera too. I just sat at a corner looking at a river when someone stood in front, back facing me, as he took a picture. As he reviewed the picture, I thought he looked really familiar, so I went up to him.”

“Ah, was that the day you came back being all excited, L?” Woohyun teases as he turns to face Myungsoo. Suzy guffaws in response.

“That day, he offered to let you tag along when he goes taking pictures so he can further guide you on your photobook right?” Sungjong asks Suzy with a sly smile. Myungsoo rolls his eyes and buries his face in his hands as he makes a strangled sound. He then lets out a couple of dry coughs intentionally.

None of them pay any attention to Myungsoo’s distress.

“Ah, right!” Suzy confirms with a nod. She then leans back in anticipation of what he’s going to say, a wide smile hanging on her face.

“You know what he told us? He bragged that he ‘made the move’!”

“Yah, Lee Sungjong!” Myungsoo screams.

Suzy eyes Myungsoo, who has his face scrunched up in embarrassment upon her gaze, and then holds his shoulder and begins laughing wildly as well. After she stops, Suzy looks at Myungsoo again and asks, “You already liked me then?”

Myungsoo pouts in return and mutters, “I was merely interested.” Suzy breaks into a smile and gives him a light nudge with her elbow.

“So… I believe the so-called photography guidance meetings ended up being something more?” Sungjong pushes on.

Myungsoo chuckles to himself while Suzy unknowingly blurts out softly, “Yeah…”

“We ended up taking pictures of each other instead,” Myungsoo confesses as he looks up at the other two Infinite members.

“Basically, it became dates,” Woohyun concludes, turning to Sungjong, who nods firmly in agreement. Sungjong goes on to say, “At that time, I kept asking L hyung if they were dating, but he kept denying it.”

“Because we weren’t!” Myungsoo retorts, “When you asked, nothing was confirmed yet.”

“Did the Miss A members ask you too?” Woohyun poses the question to Suzy. She simply nods.

“What did you say?”

“I did this,” Suzy says and then shakes her head lightly with a suspicious smile. After which, she bursts in chortles.

“The two of you started being friends after that episode of Invincible Youth 2, so that’s around May 2012?”

“Mm hm,” Suzy sounds as the both of them confirms the fact by nodding their heads.

“Did you know he was preparing to publish a photobook?”

Suzy lets out an awkward laugh, “Yes, he was writing little notes and taking pictures almost all the time and everywhere. I was jealous, because I wanted to publish one too.” She continues smiling softly as she remembers how she was stumped by an interviewer’s harmless reference to his photobooks back in October 2013.

“You will do well, and you should prepare for it well. Just like Infinite, they published 2 photobooks already,” the interviewer casually commented after Suzy revealed her wish to publish a photobook of her own.

Suzy’s eyes widened slightly and her heart began beating wildly with the simple mention of him. She paused for a few moments and almost felt like her thoughts were being exposed, but then she calmed down and remembered that it was just a convenient mention since he had indeed published two photobooks. To avoid suspicion, she chuckled and said, “Ah, really? Such a pity, I should have published first.” Little did she know that fans would become more suspicious after her statement, because how could she not have known about his photobooks? Even if they weren’t friends, as a fellow photography enthusiast, she would inevitably have heard of his bestseller photobooks.

Suzy smiles to herself as she recalls her foolish slip-up which earned her quite a number of twitter mentions by fans yet again.

“Suzy!”

She jerks up upon hearing Sungjong call her name. “Yes?” she blurts out as she runs her fingers through her locks.

“Were you thinking of something?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

“If it’s something stupid that Myungsoo did, don’t hesitate to tell us,” Woohyun chimes in.

Suzy bursts out laughing as she gestures ‘no’ with a wave of the hand. Her eyes smile as well, just the way Myungsoo likes it. “Yah!” Myungsoo exclaims as he slaps Woohyun’s thigh, but a smile lingers on his lips nonetheless. He doesn’t mind if it’s Suzy. After all, she has the ability to make anything sound good. At least, that’s what he thinks.

A/N: I meant for this to be a one-shot, but it turned out longer than expected so I'm making it a chaptered fic, haha.