‘Arasso, Oppa. Happy New Year to you too.’ Shin Hye voice chimed in farewell as she stepped out of the chauffeured van, ‘Happy 2015 again! I’ll see you again on Friday!”

The older man poked his head out gave Shin Hye’s beautifully coiffed hair a good pat, ‘Get some good rest. You did wonderfully tonight.’ And he sat back into the van, closing the door behind him. In the cold, winter air, Shin Hye waved and watched as the van left before she turned around and made her way into her house.

It had been a long night, and all she wanted to do was curl up in bed in the warmest pyjamas she had and call it a night. As she stepped into the warmth of her home, she saw that someone had already beat her to lighting the fireplace. Without a word, she lifted the ends of her gown, slipped her feet out of the silvery heels and padded quietly over to the sleeping beast. She lent down and planted a soft kiss on his forehead while resisting the urge to run her hands across his cheeks, but her hands were far too cold right now, doing so would only startle him.

His eyes fluttered open and he smiled lazily at her, ‘You’re back.’

She grinned in return, ‘Mmm. Were you waiting long?’

Min Ho swung his legs and placed them flat on the ground as he sat up, pulling her onto his lap simultaneously, ‘The whole night.’ He replied teasingly.

‘Yah! I told you not to spend it waiting for me!’

Min Ho held her ice cold hands in his, breathing his warm breath on in it, his eyes tender and full of adoration, ‘I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Congratulations, my best dear, I knew you could do it.’

Shin Hye felt her heart gushing with pride, was this what it was like to have a partner that supported you unconditionally? ‘Thank you,’ she whispered softly, ‘I wished you could’ve been there.’

Min Ho’s eyes directed towards the television, ‘I wasn’t too far away either.’ Then his gaze returned to her, his eyes darkening a little, ‘Tis’ good I was watching!’

Shin Hye blushed, ‘You saw.’

Min Ho leaned in closer, his warm breath now fanning her face, ‘I saw all of it.’ He gazed up at her and smirked, ‘A deals a deal.’ And he kissed her hard.

Every time he kissed her, it felt like it was the first time all over again. Her mind in a daze, her senses on absolute fire, she wanted more of him, all of him. He took her very breath away. She loved all their kisses: the hellos; the loving ones; the tender ones; the i-love-you-but-i-can’t-talk-right-now ones; the passionate ones, the angry ones—

As their lips finally parted, he breathed, ‘I’m nowhere even near done.’

Shin Hye chuckled, and the no-other-man-can-ever-be-the-last-to-have-kissed-or-touched-you ones. ‘How did I end up with such a jealous like you?’ She asked, her now warm hands tenderly sweeping his flopping locks away his face.

That y smirk spread across that oh-so handsome face of his that she loved oh-so much, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m a wonderful, supportive namja chingu who just happens to like kissing his yeoja chingu a lot.’

[After the telecast of Pinocchio’s toast kiss episode…]

‘I don’t know why, but tying a tie is really hard for me.’ Said the other man.

Moments later, Min Ho began shouting at the black rectangle box, ‘Yah! Yah! Yah! What is this?’ He squirmed in his seat, pointing, as he watched his yeoja chingu who was adjusting the man’s tie close her eyes just as the man leaned in to take a giant bite out of the toast in .

He watched as the entire scene transpired before he turned his entire body to face her, ‘Yah! That was unnecessary!’

Shin Hye turned to face him, his face was just as red, if not, redder than her on-screen father’s. She scoffed, ‘Hul! I didn’t hear you complaining when we did the “doughnut kiss”, in fact you were pretty pleased with that scene!’

‘That was different! Eun Sang offered Kim Tan the doughnut! It was teenage playfulness! Did In Ha offer Dal Po the toast? No. No he did not!’

‘Yah! Did you come over to watch or did you come over to criticize?’

Min Ho’s frown deepened.

Shin Hye eyes narrowed, ‘Can your face get any darker? Where’s my 100% supportive boyfriend? All I see is a giant, green monster! Yah! I warned you there’ll be a lot of skinship scenes when you insisted you wanted to watch! You promised you’d be on your best behaviour!’

‘Arasso! Arasso!’ Huffed Min Ho, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms, ‘No more!’

[1 week later…]

‘Yah! Yah! Yah!’ Min Ho shouted at the television for the millionth time, ‘He adjusted his nose to touch yours!’

‘Aisssh!’ Shin Hye sneered under her breath. He was at it again. ‘I’m never going to understand why you insist on us watching it together. I even warned you about todays episode bein—’

Before she could complete her sentence, her lips were sealed with his. It was deep, possessive one. She tried to pull back in protest, tried to ask where this was coming from, but he held firm, and she knew better than to fight back, so she let herself ease into the kiss, there was always later.

In the background, the onscreen lovers shared a lovers snuggle in the dingy reporters room of a police station, the man resisting the urge to reach out and smooth back wayward hair strands.

In the present, tongues clashed, breaths were ragged, and Shin Hye’s heart was beating out of her chest.

Finally, he pulled back, a smirk played on his lips.

‘What was that about?’

‘It’s a deal.’

‘What’s a deal? I didn’t agree to anything.’

Min Ho brushed a finger across her swollen lips, ‘You didn’t disagree either.’

Shin Hye’s eyes darted to television temporarily, just to check what scene they were missing before turning her eyes back to Min Ho, ‘What’s the deal?’

‘I’ve decided, every time a scene like that comes on, I have every right to kiss you senseless.’ He looked thoroughly pleased with himself, ‘You said there were going to be lots of such scenes, didn’t you?’

Shin Hye blushed.

‘What is this? You haven’t blushed in awhile.’ Min Ho teased.

‘Aissssh. So childish.’ Shin Hye finally groused. She would never admit it aloud, but his childishness did make her heart flutter a little. How could anyone be so possessive?

‘You can’t say I do not support you!’ Min Ho continued to argue his case, ‘If anything, it’s me, supporting you a 100-fold!’

Eyes rolling, she derided, ‘Yea right. More like a reminder that you’re the only man in my life that I should feel heart flutters for.’

Min Ho gave his chin a thoughtful stoke, ‘Is that so? Hmm, well, if you say so. Who am I to argue?’

Shin Hye moved to dispute, but she just could not. How could she when he was looking at her with that devilish, y grin?

‘Ok then, I see we’re in agreement.’ He leaned back into the couch and pulled her towards him, slinging an arm across her shoulders, ‘I can’t wait for the rest of Pinocchio.’

 

‘But what did he mean by “Yes” when Hwi Jae Sunbae asked him about behind-the-scenes skinship?’ Min Ho asked, snapping Shin Hye back to the present. ‘What did he mean?’

Shin Hye tried to wriggle her way out of his grasp on her; he wasn’t going to like her answer.

‘What did he mean?’ He asked again, his grip on her waist didn’t loosen.

Even though she was still sitting on his lap, that didn’t mean she had to look at him, and she quickly faced away, examining the veins on her feet that were popping from being in heels the whole night, ‘Oh…this and that.’

‘Yah! Park Shin Hye! Why aren’t you looking at me?’

‘It’s nothing!’ Shin Hye wailed, it really was nothing, but to Min Ho, nothing was still something.

Min Ho began to pout, ‘How bad is it?’

Shin Hye peered at him from behind her falling locks, ‘You know, just friendly gestures…’

‘How friendly?’

Shin Hye considered his words carefully, deciding how to frame her answer, but she just didn’t know how. How was one to tactfully reveal the friendly gestures that’s transpired between your friend and co-star who happens to be your make believe boyfriend/ uncle? ‘You know…just playful whacks, casual handholding…leaning on one another, biting—’

‘Biting?!’ Min Ho choked out, ‘Biting?’

‘He does that a lot. To anyone and everyone he’s comfortable with!’

‘What does he think you are? A teething toy?’

‘Aisssh! Didn’t you hear Hwi Jae Sunbae? The fact that Jong Sukkie was and is so open means there’s nothing to concern yourself with!’

Min Ho tsked, ‘That’s because Hwi Jae Sunbae has insider info. He knows about you and I.’

‘What makes you think Jong Sukkie doesn’t know?’

Min Ho stopped in his tracks, ‘Did you tell him?’

‘Ani.’

Min Ho huffed loudly, ‘Yah! Then how would he know?’

Shin Hye crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, ‘Do you think I wouldn’t find out?’ She raised a quizzical brow, as if giving him the chance to confess.

Uh oh. Min Ho gulped but quietened down, unwilling to voice out his confession, just in case she really didn’t know. She couldn’t have…

‘Did you really think I wouldn’t know about the drinking session you had with Woo Bin and Jung Suk? What were you thinking?’

Dammit.

‘Yah! Why do you sound so accusing! I was extremely tactful!’ Min Ho coming to his own defence.

‘Suddenly deciding that you’d join in on their drinking session is considered tactful?’

‘Why? What’s wrong with that? Why?’

‘Those two have been having drinking sessions together since the beginning of The Heirs filming, and even earlier! Don’t you think suddenly deciding you’d join them that one day is especially peculiar and curious?’

Min Ho finally released Shin Hye, pushing her off him and crossing his arms like a defiant elementary kid, ‘Pssssh! I asked him one favour! One favour! And he couldn’t even keep it!’ He muttered under his breath.

Shin Hye rested her hands on her hips, looking down at the 10-year old child before her, ‘Woo Bin didn’t tell me.’

Min Ho’s head shot up, ‘Eh? Then who did? The soju house was empty that night!’ She could see the gears working in his head, ‘Aisssh! Can’t be! Why would Hyung rat me out?’

How could he be so dim? She mused to herself, watching the idiot before her wreck his head. The idiot who let himself be so easily distracted too. She smiled quietly to herself, pleased that the skinship matter had been dropped.

‘Can you really not guess?’ She finally asked after three silent minutes of Min Ho desperately trying to guess who could’ve ratted him out.

‘Ani!’

‘I’ll give you a hint, he and I spent an hour too many in the cold, freezing snow…locking—‘

His mouth came down hard and fast. Pabo-ya! It took him this long to figure out…

When they finally pulled apart, he groused, ‘What a tell-tale! I implored him to keep it a secret from you!’ Under his breath he groused, ‘Stupid “Jong Sukkie”…I hate it when you call him that.’

‘Then what am I supposed to call him? That’s his name!’

‘Ani. His name is Lee Jong Suk.’

Shin Hye made sure he saw her rolling her eyes before she moved in for a cuddle, ‘Oppa~you’re not going to drink with all of my co-stars are you? That kind of reputation doesn’t suit your image.’

Min Ho chuckled, she had pulled out her aegyeo, he was sold, ‘No. I overstepped the line. Mianhae.’

Satisfied, Shin Hye pulled back from his embrace, ‘Arasso. Enough about Jong Sukkie, how shall we spend this New Year?’

Min Ho scooped her into his arms and lifted them off the couch, ‘I’ve got a plan or two…’ as he headed towards the bedroom, ‘I hope you’re ready, because I’m going to require all of you.’















Author's Note:

I'm surprised that some readers are still checking back here every now and then...
I'm really sorry for not updating, I'm not quite sure how to end or continue. 
So I kind of just faded away into the background, shirking the role of writer and 
taking on the role as contented reader :p

But here's a chapter I had in the backburner (as you can see, it was a long awhile ago
considering this chapter picks up straight after the SBS Awards Show)
Hopefully this short addition makes you smile :)