He reached across the table and pushed a lock of her hair behind her left ear.  It had fallen forward when she moved her head.  It was simply an excuse to touch her.  He had this overwhelming urge to touch her.  He suddenly wanted to kiss her.   He really was a shy guy and for him to have these feelings and want to express them took him by surprise.  Commercials and photo shoots can only show a small part of the celebrity.  Dramas were his depiction of fictional characters and he was constantly concerned that his fans mistake the pretend character for his real self.  He was a normal breathing, feeling male and it hurt to have to confine his feelings into a box that conformed to what a majority of people who would never meet him felt he should act or feel.

She was looking confused at his sudden mournful expression.  He looked at his watch and said, “I didn’t mean to keep you out this late.  We have an early call in the morning so what say we head back to the hotel?”  He stood and left money on the table.  He nodded at the waitress who came to see if he needed help.  He told her to keep the change.  He held his arm out for Shin Hye to hold onto and led the way back down the beach toward the hotel.

He walked with her to her door.  He was quiet as they approached her hotel door.  She was nervous because she was unsure of this man beside her.  When they reached the door he took her hand and softly said, “Shin Hye thank you for taking mercy on me and saving me from a lonely dinner.  Please rest well and I will see you tomorrow.”  He let her hand drop and walked down the hall to his room.  She stood and watched him walk away.  What was this ache in her heart?  Why was she feeling so emotional?  So lonely?  She shook her head and opening the door entered her hotel room.

He looked back when he heard her door close.  He stopped for the briefest of seconds before continuing to his room and sleep.

The next morning was spent listening to the technicians as they explained the electronic set-up for filming the Maserati drive.  The part he liked best about the drive other than Shin Hye being with him was the fact they would really be driving and what the viewer saw in the drama would be real.  No fake driving while on a flatbed being hauled behind a truck.  How awesome this is, he thought.

Shin Hye was basking in the sun.  He glanced over at her and had no idea if she understood what the guys were explaining to them or not.  A general discussion was going on about a connection and the audio.  Shin Hye shifted in her seat and the tech made a comment for the little lady to just let him handle it.  She opened one eye and with the sweetest little girl voice Min Ho had ever heard, “If you want a clear audio compression in comparison to the visual doesn’t the purple wire need to be where the black wire is?”  She opened both eyes and with her most engaging innocent wide-eyed look she smiled her thousand watt smile at the young man.  Min Ho saw him visibly gulp and nod at her.  Shin Hye giggled like a little girl and closed her eyes again.  Min Ho was speechless.  I will be damned, he thought.

They were on a schedule because the almond farm was only able to give them 2 hours to film.  The set-up crew had the ‘reception’ tables and accessories ready.  Cameras and sound equipment was ready to roll as soon as Shin Hye and Min Ho arrived.  The drive was mesmerizing and absolutely beautiful.  A helicopter followed them to take the aerial photos to be meshed with the film crew’s shoot. 

They had been given a general what-to-do as they drove.  But somehow they didn’t follow that – viewers had no idea when they watched the episode that what they were watching wasn’t Kim Tan and Eun Sang.  The emotions were raw and they were genuine.  They were watching Min Ho’s reaction to Shin Hye.  The filming crew was not aware of this but the PD was aware.  He said nothing because Eun-sook had told him if the two started showing chemistry just film.  And they had chemistry.  Shin Hye kept looking over at him with this look of wonderment and confusion.  Min Ho was aware of her stares and he waited till she looked away before looking at her.  He wasn’t aware of the look of longing and need that was in his eyes.  He just knew she was a woman to be desired and a treasure to seek.  Their world was within the confines of the car as they raced toward a filming deadline unaware of the emotions betrayed on film.

The almond farm shoot had not been rehearsed other than the rehearsal done on a sound stage.  The PD and Eun-sook were confident their veteran actors could accomplish the shoot in one take.  Jin-Hyuk and Min Ho were so well-balanced that it was hard not to believe they weren’t brothers.  They blended well together and were able to play off the emotions given as cues.  The encounter between the brothers was successfully filmed and the PD gave a sigh of relief.  He told Eun-sook one part down and one to go.

Shin Hye’s individual filming was easily done. But a small miracle of two kindred spirits was revealed when Shin Hye walked toward Min Ho as the sprinkler system came on.  The sprinkler system wasn’t part of the script and somehow the field agent had not given a head’s up that there was a sprinkler system set to go at a certain time.  Much was said among antis of the drama and among antis of Shin Hye about the fake look of the sprinklers going off mid-day on a hot California almond ranch.  Too bad the antis never took into account the altitude the farm was located or the fact that farms all over California have sprinkler systems that are during the hot sun.  Much was said about how the water sprayed during that time of the day would cause damage to the trees and the crop of almonds.  Too bad they weren’t current with anything to do with farming in California or America for that matter.  Water sprayed during the setting sun will cause rot and damage to the crops.  Water sprayed during the hottest part of the day can cause damage but did anyone check to see what time the water was sprayed? Any of the nay-sayers?  No. The filming was done early in the day that was why Min Ho and Shin Hye were in a time crunch and why they left for the farm so early in the morning.  But what would a Korean Drama be without the critics and those who hate anything and everything?  What would a K-Drama Min Ho was starring in be without his former co-star fans wrath at any female brave enough to have the kind of chemistry with him Shin Hye did?  Ah, what would it be?  Eun-sook was ecstatic with all the controversy – she loved it.  How could she not love it?  And while they were filming and still shots were being picked up among the different Korean drama bloggers and nit-picked to death, Shin Hye and Min Ho were in a world of their own.  The sprinklers were not in the script but the veteran actors never blinked.  They were in tune to the feelings they were portraying and never missed a beat.  They were that good.

Shin Hye was transfixed in the moment.  She looked at Min Ho standing there among the almond trees with the early sun rays shining down on him like some fallen angel – with those glorious eyes of his and she was hit with a wave of emotions.  It seemed so real.  His acting was so good that she actually felt the emotion he was conveying to his audience.  In the episode she wasn’t supposed to be aware the man who just rejected him so thoroughly was his brother.  She was looking at him and feeling what he was saying to his audience – she felt it and she felt her tears, she felt the sadness and hurt.  She looked at his eyes so full of hurt and she read very clearly that he was saying “When someone stops caring, how do you go on?”  She felt her heart ache for him and she wanted nothing more than to walk over to him and take him in her arms.  He was that good at what he did.

PD Kang and Writer Eun-sook would have a celebratory beer later that evening because luck had nothing to do with the scene just filmed.  Two people with hidden feelings for each other just revealed to the world how intensely they felt for each other.  Eun-sook smiled as she thought, am I good or what? I knew it all along, I just knew it.