Done. Finished. No more filmings or scene rehearsals. All wrapped up. We have completed all episodes of The Heirs with me being a Cyber Crime Investigator and Soo Jung being a businesswoman in the last scene. But that was not the scene that shaken up both my world and hers.

It was our scene before that. The one where we ‘accidentally’ kissed.

Everyone went crazy. Jong Hyun hyung flipped when he saw that. Yong Hwa hyung, Jung Shin, and the entire FNC teased me about it. Even Han CEO joked that it was about time for a scandal to break out. A joke which I never wish to happen.

Not only those in FNC, my SM hyungs also teased me about it. Donghae hyung sent me a picture of him kissing a picture of Krystal with a text that said, ‘That’s how your face looked like in the scene. You really enjoyed it, didn’t you?’. Then Heechul hyung sent me a voice message, rapping about how he would kick me in the nuts if I ever break Krystal’s heart.

But the biggest shock came from the mighty Jessica herself.

One day after the last episode was broadcasted, I received a call from Seohyun. She congratulated me for the drama and then told me that somebody wanted to talk to me.

“Yoboseyo..”

I recognized her as soon as I heard her voice. I immediately fix my posture, as if I was meeting her in person.

“Ne.. yoboseyo, noona.. It’s been a while.” I returned her greetings as polite as possible.

“The drama ended really well, chukhahae.” She was a true Ice Princess, indeed. Because even though those were warm words, the way she said made me feel like those were pieces of frozen water.

“Ne.. kamsahamnida, noona.”

“Actually, Min Hyuk-ah,” She stopped for a second, “By the way, it’s okay for me to talk banmal to you, right?”

“Ne.. ne.. you may talk comfortably, noona. I’m the younger one, after all.”

“Geurae. That’s why.” She reasoned before continuing, “Min Hyuk-ah, I’m just gonna be straight to the point with you, okay? I don’t know if there is something going on between you and my sister. She didn’t tell me anything about it, which makes me more suspicious because she was one to tell stories to me. But if something IS going on, don’t try to do anything funny with her. She’s my sister, and I was not the only who stand by her side, if you know what I mean.”

“Ne.. I understand, noona.” I was starting to imagine all SM artists lining up behind Jessica noona. All with angry faces, pointing fingers at me if anything bad ever happened to their dearest Soo Jung. Not the kind of thought I wanted to have.

“Good. That’s all. Congratulations, again. Bye.”

And of course I did not tell Soo Jung about it. But I could not help to think about what everybody had told me the whole day. We did not tell anyone about our ‘thing’ but people kept assuming that something was going on between me and Soo Jung. It was not entirely wrong, though. But if they could assume, it should mean that something seemed fishy from their point of view.

I kept thinking about it, even during practice. My head was all over the place, I could not even concentrate.

“What’s wrong with you?” Jung Shin asked me while we were having a break from practicing in the studio.

“Nothing. Why?” I kept playing with my drum stick without looking at him. My eyes wandered at the clock that was put right above the studio door, counting down the minutes until I get to see Soo Jung again – which I did not know when, to be honest.

“It’s just… You look distant.” The CNBLUE maknae answered.

I only sighed in return. If I could give Jung Shin an honest answer, I would say, “Of course I look distant. My mind was not here during the entire practice.” But I could not say that, could I?

Truthfully, I kept thinking about my so-called-date with Soo Jung a few days ago. It was a simple date. Yet, something meaningful arisen from that kind of simplicity. It was nothing artificial. It was like… something that was beyond words.

With Soo Jung, I remembered how it felt like to be ordinary. I remembered how to laugh just for the sake of laughing itself, and not laughing because somebody else expected me to do it. I remembered how good it was to take care of somebody, and at the same time, being taken care of. It was such a nice feeling that I was not ready to give it up just yet.

It had been a few years since I stepped into this Hallyu world. Sometimes I forgot how it felt to be in the world beyond this one. And Soo Jung successfully dragged me back to those times when you can enjoy your life outside the camera flashes and people screaming out your name.

But you see, even if she could ‘figuratively’ drag me out of the showbiz world, it did not mean that we are ‘literally’ not idols anymore. There were things to be considered, stuff to be talked about, and matters to be thought of. It was not as easy as I – or maybe we – wanted it to be.

I sneaked a peek to Yong Hwa hyung who was looking all serious in the corner of the practice room while listening to one of our guide songs. I was a living witness of his struggle to make it work with Seohyun. They were still an item, of course. In fact, they only grew stronger together. But it was not an easy work, maintaining a relationship between hectic schedules and overlapped plans. I was not sure I was ready.

But then again, Soo Jung was special, indeed. She was worth the hard work, I guess.

After a few s