"Yah, Park Shin Hye, I'm only out of the country for a few days and you've been caught by Dispatch?  Who are you cheating on me with?"  Min Ho razzed Shin Hye over the phone.  He had seen the Dispatch article right before his departure from New Zealand.  She looked gorgeous in the accompanying set of pictures.

"You know the saying, while the cat's away, the mouse plays."  Came her laughter tinged voice through his earbuds.  He missed that voice.  He hadn't heard it in 3 days.  She had been so busy running around from photoshoots and fan meets that they kept missing each other's calls.

"You need to be locked up."  He told her. With him as her jailer, of course. "Who was he?"

"Ahem, wait until you see the stills from my Jambangee photoshoots.  You might be tempted to do just that."  She laughed.  "But, if you're really good, I'll let you stay locked up with me."

"It's a deal."  He liked the idea a lot.

"Will I see you tonight?"  He asked already anticipating their reunion.

"I'm not sure I should be seeing you anymore."  She turned serious.

"Wae?"  What was she up to?

"I can't go out with a married man."  She said with a sigh.

"What?"  Now he was confused.

"Check the internet.  You're trending on social media.  Apparently, you just got married."  She told him.

"If I go home with you tonight,  how are you going to explain  to your wife that you're sleeping with a younger woman. Tsk."  She laughed out loud and hung up on him. 
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"You came." Shin Hye slurred as she settled into the car seat.

"You're drunk." Min Ho said as he helped her with her seat belt.

"Only a little."  She gestured with her hand showing a pinch.

Min Ho put his car into gear and started the drive home.

"Lee Min Ho."  She called out.  

He looked over at her waiting for her to speak.

"Lee Min Ho."  She called out again.

""Do you know? I love you." She proclaimed a little loudly.

 "I love you too." He replied affectionately.  She was such a cute drunk.

"Kiss me."  She requested.

"I'm driving."  He stole a quick look at her check her state of mind.  She looked like she was falling asleep.

She hmmmed and laid back into the seat.

"It looks like you had fun with your friends and family."  They had gathered at Shin Hye's parents restaurant for an early birthday celebration for Shin Hye.  She had invited him along, as a friend.

"Hm." Came her sleepy reply.

He looked over at her tenderly.

He had hurried back from China because she wanted him to stop by for her birthday party, as a friend.  Since it was a big group of people, there shouldn't be much speculation.  There were also some fan gifts that her Omma received on his behalf as part of the TanEun tandem that he needed to pick up.

Shin Hye's Omma was very happy to see him.  Now he knew where Shin Hye got her ability to completely disarm and disconcert a person from.

After his greeting, her Omma took his hand and held it.  She looked him straight in the eyes and told him it was a shame that he and Shin Hye weren't dating. She would have liked that very much, she told him.  And she could even imagine how beautiful her grandchildren would be.

Min Ho was shocked.  He actually felt himself blushing.  Shin Hye was giggling like a loon.

Min Ho liked her Omma. Her Appa was a nice, gentle man who clearly doted on his wife and daughter.  The feelings were mutual.

He brought Bum as an extra buffer. Bum already knew Shin Hye so he made a good buffer. Unfortunately, Bum was already half drunk when they arrived and got worse as the night wore on.  He had gotten into a fight with his girlfriend.  They had been having problems of late so he was trying to drink his problems away. When he started getting out of hand, Min Ho took him home.

He met a few of her family and friends before he had to leave.  He didn't really know her celebrity friends.  He recognized a few of them as idols and a few from various outings  he attended before and some from online gaming.

Overall everyone was nice and friendly.  Although some were taking too much liberty with touching Shin Hye.  He had an urge to go over there tell them to take their hands off of his woman, forcefully.  But Shin Hye was always able to adroitly disengage herself and move on to another group, where once again too much liberty was taken.  If it wasn't touching, then it was flirting.   The longer he stayed, the more riled up he got.  It was probably good that he left when he did.

After he deposited Bum at home, he was at a lost of where to go, home or back to the party. He decided to go home. He was headed home when she sent him a text.  She wanted to go home with him tonight. That text  went a long way into soothing his jealousy.  At the end of the day, she wanted to be with him.

"You came."  She said.

He looked over at her again.  He thought she had fallen asleep.

"You already said that." He told her.

She hmmmmed.

"I love you."  She declared.

"You said that too."  Not only was she a cute drunk, she was an affectionate drunk.

She hmmmed.

"Kiss me."  She insisted.

"I'm still driving."  He reminded her.

Her brows drew together as if she were thinking deeply. Or maybe, she couldn't quite capture all her thoughts.

"I want to kiss you but you're driving."  She stated.

"If you weren't driving then I would kiss you." She rationalized.

"If you love me, then you should kiss me."  She pouted her conclusion.  It made perfect sense to her.

They were only 2 blocks from his house but Min Ho made a quick turn to pull off onto the side of the road.  He certainly didn't want her to feel unloved.

He reached over and unbuckled her seat belt.  He pulled her in for a kiss.  She tasted of alcohol laced with sweetness. She must have snatched one of his mints earlier.

He had intended to make it a quick kiss but she had other ideas.  Shin Hye grabbed onto his bottom lip and on it.  She sent her tongue into his mouth seeking his. She drew it into and gently on it.  He was helpless when she was assertive.  He just let her do what she wanted.

He finally had to break it up.  They were out in a public street in the middle of the night.  He needed to get them home safely and unnoticed.

"Let's wait until we get home, all right?" He told her as he gently lowered her back into the seat and buckled up her sea