Shin Hye looked around to see who he was talking to.  She suddenly realized he was asking her to dinner. 

She had no idea what to say or do.  Thoughts were randomly cycling through her mind – why would he ask me to dinner? Is this a trick? But he doesn’t really like me so why?  She would have run through more whys and whats if he hadn’t coughed and raised his eyebrow.

“Huh, well, huh, why?” Shin Hye finally spoke.

He was smiling at her like it was the most normal thing in the world.  “Because I want to start over, because I think we can at least be friendly.  I want to make up for some of the stupid things I have said, so what do you say?  It will only be a simple dinner and some conversation.  There’s a great place down on the pier that sells fresh seafood and has a spectacular sunset I’m told.  So what do you say?”

She stared into his eyes.  She was trying to see if he was just saying it to trick her later or if he were sincere.  She saw sincerity in his eyes.  So she took a deep breath and said, “OK.  I like seafood and sunsets.”

He told her to meet him in the lobby of their hotel in 2 hours time. 

She rushed to shower and change into jeans, t-shirt, long sleeved shirt, Converse shoes and a hat.  She was ready.  She exited the staircase and saw him sitting on one of the chairs in the lobby.  He was directly opposite the elevators and each time it dinged he looked up.  She liked using the stairs.  She often caught the expression on people’s faces when they didn’t expect to be seen.  She was fascinated and intrigued by his expression.  He had a look of expectation and boyish-charm.  He didn’t look like he was 26, he really looked much younger.  He smiled when a little girl came over and handed him a toy.  He was busily chatting with her and then the little girl climbed up onto his lap.  He didn’t pause just talked away to her like it was the most natural thing in the world.  The little girl looked up at him adoringly and patted Min Ho’s cheek.  He copied her and the little girl giggled.  Min Ho grinned even more and his dimples were in full force.  Shin Hye leaned against the wall and watched.  He was a natural.  He was so unassuming and so shy.  She felt herself blushing but had no idea why.  Then she felt it again – the quickening of her breath – the expectation of more to come – the fluttering of her heart and she raised her hand slowly to her heart.  What is this feeling?  Why do I suddenly feel like I want something more?  At that moment the little girl saw her mother and climbed down.  She ran to her mother and then back to Min Ho.  The little girl patted his hand and pulled his arm.  He leaned down toward her and the little girl kissed his cheek, giggled and then ran to her mother. 

Min Ho waved to the little girl as she left the hotel with her mother.  How sweet, Shin Hye thought.  He is certainly an enigma. He is so sweet one moment but acts all grumpy when he sees me.  I am trying to remember if perhaps I said something before our Etude House days, did I offend him and that is why he treated me so?  But I really don’t remember anything.  Perhaps – no – I am not going to think of this.  I am going to go over to where he is sitting and go to dinner, talk to him and watch the sunset.  Simple.  He might not be friendly like this when we return to Korea so I am just going to go with the flow of the moment – ha-ha California style so to speak!

She moved and he caught the movement out of the corner of his eye.  He turned toward her and grinned.  He slightly waved and she responded.  Slow down Shin Hye, she was thinking; don’t let him get to you because he is not for you.  He is too big a star and he would never look twice at you back in Korea so just calm down and treat him like all your other guy friends.  She could do this, right?  Right!

They were only a block from the pier so they walked.  It was nice to be able to walk out in public and no one care who you were.  They were ignored for the most part.  They strolled to the waterfront and looked out toward the ocean.  Min Ho said, “I sometimes long for anonymity and the ability to go anywhere I want – to walk freely without worry of upsetting people or fans.  What about you Shin Hye?  What do you wish for – anything in particular?”

Shin Hye was caught up in the moment of listening to the ocean’s melodious sound, Min Ho’s wistful voice and the thoughts of her childhood.  She had always been very careful of what she said about family and her past.  She was staring with such sadness out toward the horizon that Min Ho was captivated by the look of total longing in her eyes.  He wished for a split second that he could run his hand over her hair and cup her face telling her all would be right in time.  But he didn’t.  He stayed quiet and listened.

“If I could do or have anything in the world?  I would wish to find my real father and to make sure he is safe and sound.  I would thank my benefactor for making sure I was educated and fed all these years.  I would visit my mother’s grave if I knew where it was and I would pray my life had some purpose, some meaning that I had yet to discover.”  She stopped when she realized she might have said too much.  She looked at him side-ways but he was staring out to sea and apparently had not paid much attention to her words.  She breathed a sigh of relief. 

He turned to her and said, “Let’s go eat before we turn into melancholy statutes.”  And he reached down and took her hand pulling her toward a small restaurant located just back of the tide line in view of the pier.  She looked at their hands and went willingly.  Now was not the time to be fussy.  And she liked his hand holding her hand.  She liked the feel of it a lot.

They talked of their careers and what they hoped to accomplish but they only dwelt on that for a few minutes.  They talked of people and places.  Actors and actresses they had worked with, dramas they had filmed and the movies they hoped to film in the future.

Shin Hye talked about action adventure movies like Tomb Raider.  She told him of her wish to film an action genre movie using wire supports - how fascinated she was with the whole technique.  He could well imagine that voluptuous body in a form-fitting suit doing twists and turns in the air.  He was suddenly uncomfortable thinking of all the men who would see her body encased in a form fitting body suit twirling, running and jumping.  It was not a thought he wished to dwell on.

He was fascinated with the way the corners of turned up when she smiled and the way her dimples suddenly appeared when she smiled.  She was not complicated like some girls.  She didn’t hem and haw around or try to act all coy if you asked her a question.  She just answered as if she weren’t aware of the barriers between men and women.  The more he talked to her and listened to her the more he became aware she was just being herself.  She was too forthright, she was too honest and she was beginning to do more than tug at his heart.  He could sit and listen to her talk in her light, gracefully rhythmic, soft little girl voice all day.  He was going to have to watch himself carefully because he suddenly found himself gazing into her large caramel eyes.  She was a dangerous woman – far more dangerous than any woman he had ever met before. 

His reverie was broken when she asked, “And what about you Min Ho, ssi?  What sort of movie do you see yourself doing next?”

He was transfixed, glued to the spot, unable to say anything because as he looked at the woman sitting beside him he felt it – a quickening of the senses, an expectation of more and a fluttering of the heart.

He didn’t answer her question, he didn’t even try and for the life of him later he couldn’t quite figure out why he asked her the questions he did.  But at the time it was the most important thing on his mind.  First he asked her why she called him Min Ho ssi?   Could she ever find it comfortable to call him Oppa? And then the words slipped out of his mouth as if they were an entity unto themselves.  He said, “Are you in love with Geun Suk or Yong Hwa?  I really want to know.”