She stopped running and sat down.  What had just happened?  Why did she respond to him like that?   Lord please give me strength and let me do what is right.  She stared into space for what could have been minutes or hours, she didn’t know.  Her manager pulled up and apologized for being so late.  Shin Hye smiled and told him not to sweat it.  She had him laughing in a matter of moments.  The ride home was pleasant and she forgot about Min Ho and her aching heart.

He was extremely busy.  There were so many commercials to film that he thought one day he would be filming one commercial and forget and say the lines for another.  But the more work he had the better he liked it.

He had another Etude House commercial to be filmed with Shin Hye.  This one would be the completion of the first part of their contract.  They would go to Manila for a week.  Their contract for Etude House would resume in January 2010 but for now he was almost through having to deal with her for the year 2009.  The photo sessions turned out to be carefree and enjoyable.  He caught himself falling into the spirit of being in a foreign land.  He tried to be civil and friendly with Shin Hye.  He had been warned by his CEO after someone complained about his treatment of Shin Hye on the set.  He didn’t think it was her but suspected someone on her team.  He didn’t care.  He had a lot of fun teasing her.  She didn’t mind when pranks were pulled on her.  She would laugh and pull one back.  She was actually a lot of fun to be around.  The last shoot was fun and the production crew and staff seemed to love Shin Hye.  She acted like a kid and she kept everyone’s spirits high.  The production crew threw a farewell party for the whole group.  It was at the hotel where the staff and crew were staying.  There was a bar-b-que cookout and most of the younger group was having fun in the swimming pool.  That area had been closed off so the Etude House film crew, staff and models could have their farewell party in private.  Shin Hye and some of the younger female staff were jumping in and out of the pool.  Several of the younger male staff was playing with the girls and Shin Hye seemed to be their main target.  She was popular no doubt about it.  Min Ho was standing by one of the walls surrounding the area.  He was watching how easily she connected to everyone.  It would be nice to not worry about what others thought of you and just be yourself.  He had overheard Shin Hye talking to one of the producers and she seemed quite happy to not have the kind of fame that made it impossible for her to go out in public and be normal. 

Shin Hye was splashing water with some of the guys from the production crew.  She had looked around and saw Min Ho being stand-offish and acting like he wouldn’t be caught playing such childish games.  She thought he would have fun if he would just loosen up a little.  He walked next to the pool and Shin Hye saw her chance and splashed water up at him.  She was laughing at the look of surprise on his face.  Then he grinned and the chase was on.  She ran away and he chased her around the pool.  She was trying not to slip on the wet pavers but she was laughing so hard she was bent over when he caught up to her.  He picked her up and carried her to the pool edge.  The rest of the group in and out of the pool was chanting, “Throw her in! Do it! Do it!”  And he did but just as he threw her in, she twisted toward him throwing her arms around his neck.  When he let go of her she had such a grip on his neck that he wasn’t able to stay upright.  They both ended up in the pool.  Shin Hye came to the surface sputtering and laughing.  She jumped and water splashed everywhere. Min Ho didn’t go completely under but he was fascinated at her ability to have fun no matter where she was or who she was with.  He dunked her head under the water and as they went under he saw her eyes were open.  He was over top of her in the water and leaned down and stole a kiss.  Her eyes got very large and she had the look of a lost puppy.   He thought got you back little girl, got you back.  He was content with his world.

Several months later he was walking through the lobby of one of their hotels when he saw a huge poster against the wall of the lobby.  It was an advertisement for a TV drama: 

 ‘Minamisineyo’  A romantic comedy featuring Yang Geun Suk, Park Shin Hye, Lee Hong Ki and Jung Yong Hwa

So that is the show my Eomma has been talking about for weeks now.  He had heard enough about how y and cool Jang Geun Suk was as Hwang Tae-Kyung and how cute Park Shin Hye was as Go MI-nyeo and Go Mi-nam.  And if he heard once more how suited Shin Hye and Geun Suk were for each other he would – well he didn’t actually know but he would do it.  He refused to watch the show.  He could care less about her show or how well she did.  He didn’t want to hear others talking about her either.  He just didn’t care.  Not one little bit. 

He was out with his group of friends and the little club they frequented was full.  The usual clientele consisted of celebrities allowing them more freedom of movement.  They weren’t being asked for autographs or asked to pose for pictures.  They could enjoy an evening out free from the worry their movements would appear on the next day’s gossip columns.

There was a large screen TV playing current popular music videos.  He heard II Woo do a whistle and turned to see what he was watching.  It was a music video by an up and coming new singer called Taegoon.  His song was ‘Call Me’ featuring Park Shin Hye and Kim JaeJoong.  II Woo said, “Is that Shin Hye?  Whoa she is getting ier and ier.”  He couldn’t help himself.  He watched and the expression on her face was definitely y.  Her dance moves were y.  She was doing some really y moves with both Taegoon and JaeJoong.  Wonder why JaeJoong never mentioned this video?

He walked away from the TV and sat down at a bar stool.  He was pissed but he didn’t know why.  He was pissed at II Woo for drawing his attention to the music video.  He wasn’t sure why but he was pissed at the world.  II Woo was finding his behavior strangely funny.  Damn fools, he thought, acting as if I give a damn about Shin Hye acting in a music video.  After a few minutes he wasn’t really paying attention to the TV and music videos.  Several had played and quite a few were watching the videos while chatting and drinking.  He heard a bit of a murmur from the area where II Woo was hanging out.  He looked over at II Woo and several other guys drinking.  They were watching another video by Taegoon.  Across the bottom left hand corner the title ‘Superstar’ featuring Park Shin Hye flashed.  What the hell, he thought, is she dating this guy?  But he noticed she looked really gorgeous in the video.  She was playing the part of a tease it seemed to him.  Yeah, he thought, exactly.

He was busy with other commercials and other projects and had little time to think of an irritating young female actress.  In fact he wondered why he ever thought of her.  He had been dealing with his projects and working on a deal for a new drama.  He wasn’t sure if he would have time but he needed to spend some time at the Lee Ltd. Building.  He needed to go through the records room.  He suspected the clues to discovering more about the mysterious April Park lie somewhere within the old records stored in a room located in the basement of the building.  Few people ever found their way to the old records room because no one saved paper records anymore; everything was digitalized.  But he didn’t think he would find anything from the current time, it would be from records much older.

He knew she was younger than he but he did not know her date of birth or even if she were Korean or not for sure.  He found out about her when he accidently overheard his father speaking to her.  Eavesdropping might be rude but he found it had its use.  He thought perhaps he resented the sound of his father’s voice when he talked to Alice Park.  He sounded almost human.   He sounded like he cared.  So the burning question for him was why?  What connection to his father did this mysterious girl have that would cause a man who was feared and hated by everyone that knew him to sound like he cared? 

The year was winding down and he felt like he was missing something.  He felt like life wasn’t as fun or happy as it should be.  Why he wondered?  He felt that somehow the mysterious girl was part of the reason he felt so unsettled.  If his father had ever spoken so kindly to him perhaps he would not feel like he did at that moment.  He felt resentment.

The TV was on and his Eomma was watching the Melon Music Awards.  He heard her say, “Oh my, they do have such amazing chemistry, why don’t they just get married?”

He looked up to see Park Shin Hye and Jang Geun Suk co-hosting the Melon Music Awards.  He had to admit they did have something together.  He hated them both.  For some strange reason he watched Park Shin Hye and thought of Alice Park.  Maybe hate was a strong word, he thought, but he didn’t like watching them together.