She never answered him. Her last words to him were formal, addressing him as Min Ho-ssi. Through texts she was polite, but frugal with words. During filming, she was professional and purely, Cha Eun Sang. In between filming…well, there was no interaction. Manager Han or Manager Jun always found a valid excuse to draw either one of them away from each other.

The only thing Min Ho had to hang upon was the fact that her ringtone was still his song, that she was still responding his texts, and that she never shied away from his watching gaze. In fact, she’d hold them for as long as she could before somebody else claimed her attention.

Even then, it didn’t sit well with him how things were left between them since they were last alone together. Now that he thought about it, she had always said she liked him.

‘Just because two people like each other, doesn’t mean they should…do stuff!’ She had remarked, the night of the confession.

‘…I really like Min Ho Oppa.’ She had told Han Hyung.

‘…and she still likes him very much.’ He recalled her saying the day Yong Hwa came to visit.

Recalling, he realized he had said ‘Thank you’ that night too. That was probably his first ‘loaded’ thank you. Was she thinking back to every single word of gratitude he had offered? Was she feeling pressured? Has his forwardness made her rethink the status of their relationship? He didn’t want to imagine a possibility where the reason he lost Shin Hye was because he had been a little loose with his thoughts and feelings.

And a little too quickly too! Min Ho thought bitterly to himself. Keunde, most females glow knowing that their namja chingu loves them! Why is she so shocked?...Yah! Min Ho-ah! She did tell you she was new to this. You should’ve considered that that’d mean you should not rush things. Such words shouldn’t be uttered so early in the relationship! At least not this early! Of course she got shocked!

He didn’t regret his feelings though. He just wished he had timed it properly. Uttering it right after being found out by Manager Han probably wasn’t so wise of him.

Their time apart and the lack of quality communication were making him desperate. He wanted to sort things out. He wanted to know how she felt. He wanted to hold her. He wanted to laugh with her. He wanted to tell her about his day… basically, he missed her.

He looked across the set and saw her reading the same book she had been reading at the filming of Bo Na and Chan Young’s party, Manager Jun lingering close by. He sighed, how can someone be so close but so far at the same time?

It left too much room for doubt.

In the days they’d been ‘apart’, he had looked to the Internet for help. YouTube videos, Wikipedia pages, fan sites…Long story short, he wanted to know her better. A bit stalker-like you say? He prefers the term, ‘Shin Hye’s No.1 Fan’. True, he could obtain first-hand information from the person in question herself. But due to their current circumstances, he was finding it a little hard to do so. Moreover, he figured, surprising her with the fact that he knew all these little things about her would make her heart swoon. If she wasn’t too scared to talk to him again, that is.

He had learnt that she was good in almost every sport she tried. He noted that she was particularly strong, after he watched a video of a younger her demonstrating her Taekwondo skills. He learned that her favourite colours were red and white. That knowledge had caused him to smirk to himself; reminded of the conversation they had regarding the colours green, red and blue. He was impressed to find that apart from sports, Shin Hye was skilled at picking up instruments quickly. Most recently, it was stated that she only took about a month to pick up the gayageum. Athletic and cultured.

In her own words, she had described her personality as, “Aigoo”, much to Min Ho’s amusement. She hopes to have an outdoor wedding, sees herself getting married at 30, and siring four children. The thought of being the father to Shin Hye’s four children made him glow, as he went to bed that night, daydreaming of their pseudo future. Unlike his fantasies, her ideal sleepwear was that of a comfortable shirt and shorts. At first morning light, Shin Hye’d drink one cup of water to start the day. When time permits, he learnt that she’d like to visit Greece.

‘We’ll go there together someday, Shin Hye-ah.’ He had said to himself. ‘When we figure all this out.’

He also learned that Shin Hye had many male friends, and male celebrity fans. Such knowledge gave him an idea about what his Hyung meant when he said Min Ho wasn’t ‘the first’. In addition, the search engines were filled with the past dating rumours between Shin Hye and Geun Suk, or Shin Hye and Yong Hwa. There were still talks of a potential GeunShin pairing. One fan had even listed all the reasons why the possible couple were so compatible. Of course he knew better, but that didn’t stop him from feeling uncomfortable.

‘Yah! They’re old news!’ He had growled, wadded fist waving at his laptop screen.

Each time he came across a video of Shin Hye with either one of the other two men, he’d feel his stomach lurch. He couldn’t quite figure out why. Shin Hye had already assured him of his insecurities. However, doubt was a terrible, terrible, festering sore. However, to be clear, he didn’t doubt her. He doubted himself.

He had cornered them into a very uncomfortable position, and he was worried that even if they came out of this one unharmed, he’d mess everything up at the next turn. As a result, he feared that with the many close, male friends she had, who were all likely to be thinking about her the same way he was…his missteps, could very likely lead her straight into the arms of another namja.

He had never worried so much about a relationship before. But this time it was different. This time, he desperately wanted it to work. This time, he was sure. She’s the one.

His memory rested on a particular video, one where the ‘GeunShin’ couple were filmed in between one of the You’re Beautiful bed scenes. His yeoja chingu sprawled on her back as Geun Suk “cradled her in his arms”. That was how he saw it at least.

He was pretty sure that somewhere in Shin Hye’s pre-Min Ho past, something must’ve gone down between the two. He could see…he could feel it. It wasn’t his place to get mad, and he wasn’t. Though admittedly, he was just a teensy weensy, micro-mini jealous.  

Suddenly, it occurred to him, and he quickly whirled his head around to look at his yeoja chingu, still bent over her book. Was Geun Suk the first namja she kissed properly?? Aisssh! This yeoja is giving me so many heart attacks.

Of course all this didn’t matter. His jealousy, his fears…not now at least. Mindless bickering over whom she’s friends with, and who she’s kissed can wait. Right now, he just wanted to know that he didn’t scare his yeoja away. Problem was, he was too chicken to breach the subject. He was afraid that doing so would only scare her more. Logic told him, when she’s ready, she’ll talk about it, but his heart yelled, HURRY AND FIND OUT IF SHE LOVES YOU TOO!