Come this much closer
So I can see myself reflected in your eyes
What kind of face do I have and am I being loved by you?

‘So this was what you were working on for the past few weeks?’ He said with a slight smirk as he flipped the jewel case over and read the lyrics, his leg idly tapping along with the fun beat. She had a CD specially made for him, but now she was beginning to regret it. He had insisted on listening to it for the first time with her around, something she hadn’t expected.

Every day seems like a dream because of you
Oh baby, I close my eyes, filled up with you
Silently entering you
My great love that I haven’t told you yet
I will leave it in your heart

He looked up and caught her eyes, with his grin only widening, ‘Chinca?’ She blushed a little, and quickly avoided his gaze. He’s going to gloat about this for the next few weeks isn’t he?

When I fall asleep on your arms
Pat me with your hands
Every moment feels good because of you
Oh baby, I close my eyes, filled up with you
Silently entering you
My great love that I haven’t told you yet
I will leave it in your heart
Our love grows
Oh baby, close your eyes, fill yourself with me
I will silently enter you
My great love that I haven’t told you yet
I will leave it in your heart

They sat in silence for the following two minutes as the song continued, his foot still idly tapping along as she hummed softly to herself. When the song finally came to an end, he was first to break the silence, ‘Yah! Chincha! I can almost envision this song as some new rom com’s theme song!...’ She peered up at him and grinned, ‘And I was the inspiration!’

Piak!

‘Yah! Wae~?’ He began rubbing the sore spot on his right arm, ‘Wae?!’

‘Am I wrong? Weren’t you thinking about me when you recorded this song?’

Shin Hye refused to answer his rhetorical question, got up, and rummaged through his fridge, ‘Why don’t you have anything in here?’

Min Ho set aside the jewel case and quietly rose from the couch. With Shin Hye’s head still stuck inside the fridge, she didn’t notice him coming up behind her, ‘I wasn’t expecting you today.’ He whispered.

She leaned back and turned her head, letting him plant a quick kiss on her cheek as she closed the fridge door and eased into the now familiar back hug, ‘Do you usually stock the fridge only when I come?’

Instead of responding, Min Ho began nuzzling her ear. ‘Yah! Oppa!’ She struggled to wriggle out of his arms, but his embrace was tight. ‘Oppa~! Why do you insist on doing this all the time?’

Min Ho chuckled, ‘That’s because you fall for it every.single.time.’ But he stopped harassing her ear, whirled her around, and made him face him, ‘So every moment feels good because of me, huh?’

‘Yah!’ She could see the cheeky twinkle in his eye, and the mischief in the curve of his lips. She opened , but nothing came out. Because fact of the matter is, she had nothing to say! She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t thinking of him as she recorded the song, but she’d be giving him too much ammunition if she admitted it.

‘The lyrics are pretty suggestive. What kind of imagery went through your mind when you were recording?’

Heat flooded to Shin Hye’s cheeks once more. Aren’t we past this? Why do I still feel embarrassed every time he does this? ‘You’re insufferable.’ Was all she could manage.

‘Aisssh! Is this how you treat your namja chingu who’s been away for so long?’

‘I didn’t write the song!’

‘Didn’t you say there were a few songs offered to you? But this one stood out to you the most?’

Shin Hye closed her eyes and let out a loud, audible sigh. I’m beginning to think that telling him everything is going to be my downfall. This punk remembers everything!

‘Arasso, arasso. I should just be glad it’s about me.’ He squeezed her a little tighter before finally letting her go. ‘Don’t think you can distract me with the song and make me forget about the something else.’

‘Mwo?’ What is he talking about? Was there something I was hiding in the first place?

‘I saw the video already.’

‘What video? Yah! What are you talking about?’

‘Your Lotte CF filmed in Jeju with Jang Geun Suk!’ He crossed his arms and leaned back onto the kitchen counter, ‘I don’t know…but I don’t think you guys have much chemistry anymore.’

‘Yah!’ She was about to punch him when she suddenly dropped her fist, ‘Eh? Chemistry? Yah! Min Nam and Tae Kyung were a hit!’

‘Chincha? Well, I guess they were. But I think MI NYEO had someone else on her mind.’

Missing Min Ho’s jive completely, Shin Hye furrowed her brows and began contemplating his words, ‘Chincha? Did it show? Do you think the fans noticed? Well, you only saw the first three instalments…Mi Nam and Tae Kyung have to warm up to each other again! She has been away in Africa…’

Aisssssh!’ He slammed his open palm on the kitchen top and stalked away. ‘This girl is impossible.’ He muttered under his breath.

Unexpectedly, she chased him all the way to his bedroom and pounced on him only to find the both of them crashing down onto his bed, ‘Aigoo! If you wanted me in bed so badly, all you needed to do was ask.’ Min Ho teased.

‘Yah! I didn’t expect you to be so weak!’ Shin Hye was all ready to hop off the bed, already rolling away, but he was quick to place a heavy, lazy leg over her torso, as he pulled her closer to him. ‘Yah! What are you doing?’

‘I haven’t been eating well lately, worrying about Mi Nyeo, gallivanting around Jeju with her pop star ex-boyfriend.’ His hand found her waist and he began tickling her, ‘Even then, the yeoja chingu should never mock her yeoja’s strength!’

‘Oppa!...Geumanhae!’ Shin Hye said in between gasps of air. ‘It’s…all….you’ve…been doing since…I arrived!’

Min Ho finally let his hand settle, choosing to rest it on the small of her hip, ‘Guess what else has happened since you were caught on a date with another man in Jeju?’

Too tired to offer a more appropriate response, Shin Hye tilted her head slightly, and looked at him, ‘Mmmm?’

‘The Heirs DVD has been sent out…released.’ He brushed a loose hair strand aside and tucked it behind her ear, ‘Behind the scenes footage of us has got the fans going crazy.’

‘Mwo?’ Shin Hye attempted to sit up again, but the idle leg that he had thrown over her earlier, held her down, ‘I wasn’t aware! What are they saying? What footage was released? Yah! Let me go!’

He hugged her tighter, ‘Any footage that matters, it would seem.’ Shin Hye stopped struggling, and he embraced her tightly, and caught a whiff of her shampoo, ‘Do you know I was obsessed with your lavender shampoo when we were filming?’

Shin Hye’s mind flashed back to a time on set where their characters were filming a back hug scene in Tan’s room. When he had pulled her back into the hug, instead of positioning his face to the side of hers, he had placed his face behind her head, and inhaled. To the camera, he had laughed it off, citing that he forgot that he needed to move his head too. At that time, she hadn’t known any better, simply believing he was being his usual playful self. Ah! So that was what you were doing…Out loud she said, ‘All your secrets are now revealed!’

It was as if something had bitten him, because suddenly he let her go, rolled to the far end of the bed, picked up his MacBook Air swiftly, and rolled back to her, and quickly resuming his previous leg position—locking her down again. To the third party viewer, it’d appear to be the most awkward position to find two individuals. However, to Min Ho, it served its purpose. He propped himself up on his elbows, and opened his laptop.

‘Neo Micheoseo?’ She said as he tapped in his password. The laptop came to life and he began pulling various webpages out. Before she knew it, she was staring at a Behind-the-Scene clip from The Heirs. ‘Which one is this?’ She couldn’t tell. Until he clicked play, all she could see was black. ‘Don’t you have the DVD? We shouldn’t be streaming it! It’s copyright!’

‘Aissssh! Shhh!’ Instead of pressing play, he switched to another tab and began slowly scrolling through some fan comments, slow enough for her to catch on.

Judging by the comments, they were talking about the closet kissing specifically. ‘Yah! Is that the video you loaded? Jugelle?’

‘It’s not everyday that a loving, young couple gets footage of their first real kiss.’ He quipped, as he continued to deliberately scroll through the forum pages.

Passport. Dropped. Waist. Hot. Passionate. ual. Just random keywords she managed to pick up, but she could tell where they were going with them, ‘How much of the BTS did they screen?!?!?!?!?!’

Through the reflection of the laptop screen, she could see Min Ho’s cheeky grin widening, ‘Let’s find out.’ Before she could stop him, the video begun.

At that very moment, Shin Hye wanted the bed to swallow her whole, ‘Yaaaa!’ She closed both her eyes momentarily, but slowly opened her left eye and peeked at the screen, watching Min Ho practice various head and kissing positions for the scene.

She was trying to tilt her head away, peering at the coaching Kang PD, but he had dragged her face back towards him. Shin Hye wailed in embarrassment while present Min Ho chuckled, ‘Why so shy? We were acting.’

‘It’s one thing to act, it’s another thing to watch yourself! And to think that this is available to everyone!’

‘Arasso?’ Said the virtual Min Ho, and present Shin Hye began biting her lip. She knew what was going to come next, she had not forgotten. Swiftly, in one motion, she watched her past self be kissed perfectly well by past Min Ho. She saw her hand shoot up to grab onto his arm, she heard the light thud of the passport Min Ho had discarded, she saw two individuals very absorbed for an on-screen kiss…She watched a desperate Kim Tan hugging Eun Sang and recalled the emotions that were running through her in those moments.

‘Where’s your mind?’

‘Aisssh!’ She finally reached past Min Ho and smacked the space bar, pausing the video. ‘When Kang PD said to give it all you’ve got, I don’t think he meant all you’ve got!’

‘Yah! Are you complaining about the kiss now?’ He rolled over a little, but still ensuring his leg was strategically placed over her torso, ‘For your information, I wasn’t intending to go all out…but your hand!’

‘What about my hand?’

‘Your hand! It was your hands fault!’

‘Neo Micheoseo?!’

‘And for the record, that wasn’t all I had!’ He smirked, ‘As you now know, I have way more up my sleeve.’

Shin Hye groaned and let her head fall back; ‘I knew I should’ve stayed in bed today.’ In the short moment that she closed her eyes, she felt Min Ho move around her, only to find him settling himself over her. Her eyes shot open, ‘What are you doing?’

In true Min Ho fashion, he conveniently ignored her question, and continued conversationally, ‘Technically, all you did was move from one bed to another,’ His left hand patting his bed. ‘And you’re welcome to continue staying in bed…so long as it’s on this one…’

Shin Hye looked at him through narrowed eyes, ‘I’m getting this strange feeling that you enjoy seeing me like this.’

‘Mmmm, I enjoy seeing my girlfriend on my bed, underneath me. That’s no secret.’

‘Yah! I didn’t mean that! I meant…’ his head was inching closer, ‘You enjoy having me annoyed at you.’

‘You’ve got different levels of annoyance. I like this one.’

His body was firmly pressed into hers, and his face was getting far too close, ‘What are you trying to do?’

‘If you didn’t know already, I’m showing you what I have up my sleeve.’ He started leaving a trail of kisses from her forehead down to her lips, ‘I’m gonna close my eyes, and I’m gonna fill myself with you.’

‘Keep making fun of that song, and I’m gonna—’

He had moved in for the kill.

~.~

‘Oh…’ Was all he could say. They had just finished watching the SNSD Healing Camp episode. Shin Hye had insisted on watching it, and now he understood why.

After a long while, Shin Hye was the first to speak, ‘I spoke to Seung Gi Oppa the other day…he said after the news came out, they went through a rough couple of weeks.’

‘Does…does he know about us?’

‘Ani…and if he does, he didn’t mention anything about it. We were just talking like we usually do…’

Min Ho glanced at Shin Hye, ‘You’ve got something on your mind.’

‘It’s just that…when he mentioned that through it all, in the first couple of weeks, their family was just there…and really helpful and supportive…and it got me thinking…’

Her voice was beginning to waiver at this point, and Min Ho quickly took her hands in his, ‘You want to tell our parents.’

‘I know we agreed that it’d be best that as little people as possible knew…but we can’t lie forever…and when…and if, the news comes out, and we have no way to deny it…I don’t want to put my family through the feeling of…sadness…that they had to find out through the tabloids, like everyone else. Above all, rather than having to deal with their disappointment, I’d like to be able to count on their blessing and support.’

Shin Hye could feel her apprehension building as she watched Min Ho contemplate her words silently, it had been gnawing at her for quite awhile now, but she had been afraid to propose this—unsure if the sudden change in plans would upset him.

His next few words made her sigh in relief, ‘Whom should we tell first?’

‘Chincha?’

‘Definitely. In fact, I’m sorry I didn’t suggest it first. We should’ve told them from the very start…and if not then, at least after the China tabloids. They didn’t ask me directly about it, but they’ve been teasing me about the denial reports…and each time I shook my head adamantly. I felt horrible for lying.’

‘I think on some level, they already know.’ Shin Hye squeezed his hand reassuringly, ‘I just feel terrible for lying.’

‘I guess we should tell yours first…? After all, I should’ve asked for your Appa’s permission…’

‘Aniya! We are a modern family! Appa’ll just be happy that we told him. Though, perhaps…the idea of you…may not be so pleasing.’

‘Wae-yo? I am handsome, I am financially stable, I am—’

‘You have good morals, good character, and are liked. Yes, yes. But you also kissed his daughter the way you did on national television.’ Shin Hye picked up Choco who had just woken up from his nap and began his back, ‘I don’t think fathers appreciate the namja’s who do these things to their daughters.’

‘They have no problems with marrying them off! What do they think happens in the marriage bed?’

Shin Hye looked up at him, in disbelief, ‘Yah! Who’s talking about marriage?’

‘Ani! But I’m just implying that the future son in-law’s do much more in marriage than in dating! Yet, they’re more than happy to release their daughter in marriage!’

‘It’s different!’

‘How is it different?’

Shin Hye opened , but then closed it again. She could see now that he wasn’t seriously asking. His face said it all. He just wanted to hear her explain it out loud. ‘Aissssh!’

‘What did you think? I wouldn’t know why? Yah! I’m going to lock my daughter up…till she’s 25!’ He looked her over, and smirked, ‘Especially if she looks like you.’

Around him, she always felt self-conscious. Not in an uncomfortable sort of way, but she just felt…more…self-aware. He made her feel more womanly than any other male ever had, occasionally there’d be sudden bouts of shyness and awkwardness…but for most parts, she found herself feeling more confident, brazen…glowing. ‘If she’s anything like me…there’s no keeping her locked up.’

He smirked, plucked Choco out of her lap, and placed him back on the floor, ‘Go find your own woman.’ He scooted over, and pulled her in, ‘I’ll practice. Starting with you.’

Shin Hye giggled, ‘If this is how you’re going to do it, I’m a little worried.’ She slapped his hand away, ‘Yah! We haven’t finished discussing the parental issue!’

‘Later. Close your eyes.’

~.~

‘Want some pepper?’ He asked, holding out the bottle of ground pepper towards her. When she shook her head, he continued pouring more into his plate.

‘Yah! Are you trying to say that my food is tasteless?’

‘Ani-ya! I just like lots of pepper in my food!’ He set the bottle down, and stirred it in, ‘Your cooking is wonderful!’ He looked up and grinned, ‘Thank you.’

‘Aigooo. One smile and you get away with all sorts of things.’

‘You’ve gotten away with a fair share.’ He set his chopsticks down covered his face and whined into his hands, ‘Aigoooo! I’m sorry!’ His voice mimicking hers. He picked his chopsticks back up again, ‘Just like that and everyone melts!’

Shin Hye opened to say something, but he cut her off, ‘Let’s just say we never had that misunderstanding, and you never admitted you liked—’

‘Yah! You admitted to!’

‘You never admitted you liked me, and we never became an item. Who, amongst the rest of the male cast do you see yourself possibly ending up with?’ The question startled her. Where was this coming from?

Shin Hye narrowed her eyes, ‘Are you trying to get me into trouble?’ Min Ho just continued looking at her innocently, ‘This is a trick question isn’t it? The minute I mention someone, anyone, you’re going to pounce.’

‘Ani! I’m just curious!’

‘Chincha?'

‘Yes.’

With the end of her chopsticks still in , she thought about it, running through all the options. Jin Hyuk Oppa? He’s pretty similar to Oppa in character, but a lot more—

‘I want to hear the thought process.’

‘Mwo? Wae!?’

He shrugged his shoulders, ‘I just want to know your elimination system.’ He set his chopsticks down and began counting the men from off his fingers, ‘Kim Woo Bin, Kang Min Hyuk, Choi Jin Hyuk, Kang Ha Neul, Park Hyung Sik…’

‘You forgot Hyun Jin Oppa, and Won Young Subae.’

‘Yah! Won Young Hyung? Yah! He’s your senior of thirteen years!’

‘Lee Min Jung married Lee Byung Hyun! They’re thirteen years apart!’

‘Yah! Won Young Hyung is married!’

‘You never know~’

‘Eh?’

‘Arasso! Arasso! I was jesting!’ She went through the list once more, ‘Woo Bin Oppa, Min Hyuk, Jin Hyuk Oppa, Ha Neul, Hyung Sik, Hyun Jin Oppa…Mmmm. I think I’ll have to remove Min Hyuk from the list.’

‘Wae?’

‘He’s a wonderful boy. But I prefer older guys. Also, I’ve always just seen him as my younger brother, and my good friend’s band mate.’

‘Aisssh! We will not talk about that guy.’

‘Yah! Why is Yong Hwa Oppa off-limits?’

‘You have a buffet of six men, you still want Yong Hwa? Yah!’

Shin Hye chuckled, ‘I’d have to rule out Ha Neul, and Hyung Sik too. Also, I’ve known Ha Neul for so long now, there’s no way I can see him anymore than a friend.’

‘Chamna, you haven’t ruled out Woo Bin.’ She could tell that he was waiting on her response, albeit too eagerly.

‘Ah~ But he doesn’t seem younger than me. As long as I’m not conscious about the age difference, it doesn’t matter to me.’

‘Pssssh!’

‘I’d have to eliminate Hyun Jin Oppa because, while he’s good looking, and very gentlemanly, and we can talk all day, our connection is more like brother and sister than potential lovers.’

‘Are you trying to say that the remaining two talk to you like they have potential to be your lovers?’

‘Aigoo! Are you getting upset? You’re the one who asked! I’ve never ever given it such serious thought.’

‘I thought perhaps you’d be smarter and say there’s no way you’d consider anyone else!’

‘Yah! Are you sulking?’ Shin Hye laughed, ‘Yah! Your question was based on a hypothetical situation!’ Aisssh! This boy.

‘He he he, so…Jin Hyuk Hyung or Woo Bin?’

‘I’d have to say, Jin Hyuk Oppa.’

‘Wae?’

‘He’s the most like you.’

‘Yah! Are you just saying that so you won’t get into trouble?’

‘Were you trying to get me into trouble?’

‘Yah! Don’t answer a question with a question!’

Shin Hye chuckled, and began eating again. Trust Min Ho to never let a dinner conversation be boring.

After a few silent minutes, he was back again, ‘So you like my character that much huh?’

~.~

They were cuddled together on Min Ho’s couch, and he was her hair, ‘Mianhae, Shin Hye-ah.’

‘Mwo?’ What is he talking about?

‘That we haven’t been able to do a single couple thing outside the confines of our homes…’ His voice trailed off, unsure as how to continue. He probably said it from the top of his head.

Shin Hye turned in his arms, and looked up, waiting for him to continue. ‘You mentioned in the TanSang interview about your couple wishes…and it dawned on me that we haven’t gone out once, hand in hand.’

An affectionate expression now replaced her previously curious one. As annoying as he can get. Underneath all the jokes, and laughter, he’s a considerate and thoughtful chap. ‘I knew from the start that we weren’t the conventional couple.’

‘Even then, you deserve to be able to go out, hand in hand, without fearing the worst.’

‘You too.’ She took the hand that was her hair in hers, ‘It never bugged me once, and it shouldn’t bug you either. I’m happy….are you?’

‘Immensely.’ His expression was soft and tender.

‘Then let it go, Oppa.’

‘Do you see us…coming clean to the public anytime in the future?’

‘Perhaps. Someday.’ She planted the back of his hands with a kiss. When she glanced at him again, the expression on his face told her that he still had things weighing him down, ‘Wae?’

‘What if your parents think I’m not good for you? What if they think our relationship is not the kind of relationship they want their daughter to be in?’

‘If it ever comes to that, we’ll worry then.’ When his expression didn’t change, she continued, ‘But I don’t think it’d ever come to that. Appa and Omma trust me completely; they trust me to make the right decisions…’ She reached out and smoothened his brow, ‘What happened to the confident Min Ho?’

‘Sometimes it hits me how lucky I am, and then my confidence falters. Suddenly I’m swarmed with all kinds of What ifs…’

Shin Hye simply smiled. Min Ho rarely discussed his deeper, more intimate feelings, and she was afraid to say anything, in case it came out like she was disregarding his feelings.

‘I spend most of the week overseas, and so do you…sometimes when I’m alone in the hotel room, and the loneliness has caught up with me, I just worry.’ He squeezed her hand, ‘Aissssh. I never thought I’d say it out loud…I’m supposed to be the “strong” one.’

‘I’m glad you told me.’ She dislodged herself from him, and stood up. This earned her a questioning look, ‘But…Did I say something wrong?’ His face read. She turned to face him, and then lowered herself onto his lap, straddling him.

‘What is this?’ Said his silent look.

‘You’re not the only one worrying. But there’s no point ruminating over it either.’

‘So your tactic is to distract me?’

‘Is it working?’

‘Mmmmm’

And he closed his eyes, letting himself get lost in the moment.

Author's Note:

I don't know if you've noticed a trend in my writing...--but I avoid conflicts at all costs.
I'm really sorry! I know the/a lack of in any story makes for a very bad story.
But I can't seem to force myself to add conflict into the fictional world when when real life 
is already so full of it! 
I guess on some level, I just want to believe that these two make use of whatever time 
they have together for happy, quality time~ Hehe.

On another note, I am really sorry for the late update! I forsee this happening a lot more!
I'm back in school, and back to independent living, leaving less time for leisure writing and 
web surfing (cue sad face). 
But I'll try my best to pop back in every so often! But fear not, there's plenty of other new Ff's 
out there! And they're amazing! <3

That being said, thank you for reading! 

**I can't wait for our lovely two's meeting at the Lotte Fan Meeting event!