Her hand reached for the door as he pulled her into one last kiss unwilling to let her go. 

‘Can’t you come to China with me?’ he whined as he placed his forehead onto her looking sweetly into her eyes.

‘I don’t want to be killed by your fan girls just yet’

‘You’re small enough, you can fit into my suitcase.  I’ll ask Hyung to drill a few holes to let in some air and we can put a delicate tag on’

‘Oppa stop trying to keep me from going home.’ Shin Hye raised her eyebrows and turned her gaze to the clock on his dashboard that read 2am ‘you need to sleep so you can look handsome strutting your airport fashion tomorrow’

‘I just thought after the 10th try, you would see how persistent I am and give in.’ Min Ho sighed.

Shin Hye closed her eyes pushed the tip of her nose onto his and gently traced upwards until her lips grazed over his.

‘Just one last time’ she whispered and pressed her lips onto his. 

As she pulled away from the kiss, the door clicked and sprung wide open.  This was her small window of opportunity, if she let this chance pass by she might just take his suggestion and pack herself into his suitcase. 

‘Yah! Park Shin Hye, you can’t do this to a man.  You’re such a tease, you need to finish the kiss’ Min Ho yelled as she slammed the door shut waving goodbye with a sweet smile plastered on her face.

As she approached the gate to her house, she turned around and clasped both of her hands over .

‘Oppa! Safe travels. Try not to miss me too much!’ her voice echoed through the silent street.

Min Ho sat in the car and laughed watching her safely enter her villa before he drove off to catch up on a few hours of sleep on his own before his flight to China the next morning.

Shin Hye opened her bedroom door and immediately fell onto her soft, comfortable bed.  This will the first night since a year ago where she can sleep to her heart’s content, for once tomorrow she had a day off, no work, school or Min Ho.  As she was laying on her bed, she noticed Min Ho’s jacket sprawled beneath her.  She shrugged at her absent mindedness and sat up picking up the jacket while trying to fold it up so she could give it back to him when he gets back from China. 

As she folded the jacket over, two long rectangle white pieces of paper dropped out from the jacket’s inside pocket onto her floor.  She picked them up, curious to see what they were, once she turned around the two white papers her eyes widened.

Chinca?! I guess we are meant to be.  How did he know I wanted to go to LA before I told him? Other than appa I haven’t told him about applying to USC.  OMG, did appa tell him?! Shin Hye stop scaring yourself! Maybe this is fate? Maybe he wanted to bring me back to California to relive the memories we created when we filmed there last summer.  The plane ticket has a departure date of June 22nd.  Isn’t that Min Ho’s birthday? Maybe we’ll celebrate his birthday and our 1 year on this trip.  Maybe I should break the news to him now.  It’s only 2am, I’m sure oppa will still be awake and wouldn’t mind an in house visit.  Shin Hye, you can do it be truthful about your dreams and he will support you.

Shin Hye folded the two tickets and carefully inserted them into her back jean pocket.  She pulled on his jacket, tied up her hair in a messy bun and adjusted a black cap over her head to disguise herself so she wouldn’t be recognized by the taxi driver or Min Ho when she returned the surprise.  As she left her room, she stopped at the mirror to do a double take, and zipped up his jacket covering half of her petite face under the collar of his jacket.

That will do, I can now pass for a regular girl sporting an oversized jacket.

She walked onto the main street and flagged down a taxi.  When she hopped in, she asked the taxi driver to drop her off a block away from Min Ho’s villa.  She was naïve but not that naïve, she didn’t want him to know where Min Ho lived and most importantly snapping photos of her going there at 2am, the paparazzi would have a field day.

Should I call or should I show up unannounced? It is almost 2:30 in the morning.  What if Min Ho is asleep, I don’t want to be stuck being questioned by security at his building on why I was visiting him so late at night. 

Shin Hye ped the jacket’s front pocket and pulled out her phone to call him.  After a few beeps, her call was sent to his voicemail.  She decided to try her luck and call him again in 10 minutes when she would arrive by his neighborhood.

******************

Min Ho stood there in the cold late night wondering why she was standing in front of his villa waiting for him.  She was pacing side to side in front of his door, debating on what to say to him.  Should she make an excuse that she was passing by or just come out of the closet and declare her love for him? 

Min Ho’s phone began to vibrate in his jean pocket and he pulled it slightly out to see who was calling him at such a late hour.  Shin Hye’s picture flashed across the screen, as he was about to accept the call it got diverted to his voicemail.  He smiled and put his phone back into his pocket while he approached her.

‘Anneyong, it’s late.  What are you doing standing out here in the cold?’ he smiled

‘Min Ho oppa, I was passing by on my way home and thought I would stop by and say hi’ she looked away embarrassed wondering how long he had noticed she was standing in front of his front door.

‘It’s almost 3am, it’s a little late for you to coincidentally pass by my house’ he smelled a trace of alcohol from her breath when she spoke ‘have you been drinking?’

‘Ani…maybe a little’ she squeezed two fingers together to show how little alcohol she had to give her courage to show up on his doorstep unexpectedly and proclaim her love to him.

‘It’s late and cold, you should go home and rest.  I’ll walk you back’ he turned around and began to walk towards the quiet street.

She sensed that he was acting different towards her, he wasn’t his friendly self and was a tad bit cold.  She hasn’t seen this Min Ho in ages and wanted to bring back the warm, cheerful personality out of him that she fell in love with.  She decided it was now or never, if she waited for another time to talk to him about her heart’s yearning she might lose the chance to be with him forever.  She ran towards him and grabbed his wrist to stop him from walking any further and creating a greater divide between them.

‘Min Ho ah’ she turned looked down onto the ground gathering her courage to drop the bomb on him ‘can we turn back time?’ she looked into his eyes pleading for a second chance.

‘Min Young ah…’ he turned towards her and slowly took his free hand and removed her hand from his left wrist drawing a clear line in the sand.

‘Min Ho ah…please hear me out, as a friend’ her hands grabbed back onto his searching to find the connectivity that they once shared.  She gazed at him gently, while her hands found the familiar grooves to intertwine her hands with his.

When their hands connected, Min Ho felt a shock through his body coming from the vibration of his phone buried in his jean pocket.

‘Oppa, I thought what I felt for you was just a very close friendship, two best friends who could read each other like a book.  I thought after 2 years I could move on and forget.  I thought after seeing you with Park Shin Hye in Paris I was over you.  I thought our coffee date 2 weeks ago was our closu