Mira walked inside and saw a man wearing all black with black face mask and a black cap, which made her chuckled. Obviously trying to hint people that you’re an idol? She monologue. Hayong noticed her, and waved. Mira fastened her pace and sat opposite of Hayong. They said nothing for the first few minutes, as Hayong’s stunned with her beauty, while Mira didn’t really know what to talk. As the atmosphere gradually becoming awkward, Hayong cleared his throat. “How are you?” he asked while taking off the face mask. At last, his handsome face was revealed and it was Mira’s turn to stun. She took her time appreciating the handsome features in front her, which made Hayong to call for her. “Mira…?” He said, while drawing his face closer to her. She almost pushed herself away due to shock but she held herself from doing so. “Ah yes, I’m fine. You?” she asked. “Me too,” Hayong paused to give her the best smile he had, and continued, “Getting better after getting to see you.”

                Mira blushed. “Were you sick before?” She asked. “My waist…” Hayong answered while pointing to his waist. Mira’s concern began to show on her face. “It still hurts?” She asked again while looking worried. “Yes, but I got treatment twice a month for this. Thrice if we’re promoting,” he answered. “Anyway, you have anything to say to me?” Hayong said, while stopping a waiter to take their order. Mira didn’t even have to say what she wanted to drink as she always told Hayong about it and it seemed like Hayong remembered every details of what she said to him. After the waiter left, Mira said, “Well… The first thing I wanted to know is… Why me? Why not other girls? Why not the Barbie that you always steal glances to her?” She looked at him, demanding his answer. Hayong chuckled. He knew Mira would definitely ask this, so he’s prepared to answer it. “There’s no answer on why I like you, Mira. I just… like you the first time I ever saw you. And oh, Barbie? She had a boyfriend,” he laughed. “And no, I did not choose you because I’m sad that she’s taken. You’re the first girl that managed to melt down the iron bars around my heart,” Hayong answered.

                “So… since you confessed to me and all, what’s our current status?” Mira asked, though she was blushing like mad. She liked to be clear with her words, and she definitely didn’t like to be left puzzled after being told something that could make her thinking for days. Hayong’s smile faded. He tapped the table using the tips of his fingers, making a lovely rhythm. “Actually, I thought a lot of that before I sent you the e-mail,” Hayong stopped as the waiter put their drinks on the table. “I can date you, but you have to be understanding with my schedules, with my work requirements, you should be matured enough and not to get jealous on simplest things. We need to date in secret; you couldn’t show off anything you got from me online. It’s just… we need to do everything in silence – as if we’re sinned. I’m okay with anything, my company allowed me to date since I’m old enough to get a woman for my life, but how about you? Will you be okay, dating in ninja style?” Mira kept quiet, trying to weigh the pros and cons of dating him. She did see more cons from pros, but hey, nothing’s wrong from trying before giving up, right?

                She took a few deep breaths, took a sip of her iced Americano, and said, “I’m really confident that I can continue to love you despite the future love scenes or kiss scenes you have to do, and I definitely can do secret relationship. I never like to have a relationship being exposed unless I’m marrying the guy, then I will. One thing I want to know is, can I do the same thing I do daily? Tweeting you love messages, pictures of random things, just the usual drill that I used to do before?” Mira stopped to drink a few more sips of her coffee. “People won’t know I’m dating you since they’re so used to see me tweeting that way,” she paused, “Plus, I’m a good ninja.” Hayong laughed. “My score was higher than yours!” Hayong said and showed her a screenshot of his score in the ninja game. “Not fair!!” Mira replied after feeling a bit shocked to see the big difference between her score and his. Hayong continued to laugh, and pinched her cheek lightly as she pouted. “Stop being so cute, Mira.” Hayong said. “My love for you grows deeper each second I see you…”

***

                Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months, they’d been dating for almost a year. Never once did they get exposed that they’re dating, and Mira still continued tweeting him random words like she used to. Hayong too, occasionally tweeted ambiguous words that were meant for her. She got closer to his group members and the company even gave her own key card to enter the building. She even attended AlphaBAT’s events more frequent than before – still acted like the Mira before she dated the leader. They never argued with each other, and surprisingly, their personalities were in sync. They suited each other so much, and like one of the AlphaBAT member said, “I can definitely see Mira and Hayong getting married to each other.” Mira prepared a special dinner for tonight, as tomorrow’s going to be their first anniversary together. She hummed to their songs happily; she even learned new recipes for the occasion. Hayong was still practicing their new song’s choreography, which let Mira to have more time to prepare the dinner.

                Once finished, she dined the lamb chop with mashed potatoes on the table and went to take a bath. Even though they’re going to celebrate it in her own house, she still wanted to dress up prettily for him. She wore the mint dress that he bought for her birthday, and for her hair, she styled it into a messy bun. She then put on the necklace with H&M initial as the finishing touch. She then felt her phone vibrated – noticing her that she got a new message. She read it, and glad to know that the man was already on his way there. Mira then decided to kill some time by cleaning up the space, and sprayed perfume. She played classic piano songs on her stereo, and looked around before she smiled. Felt proud of her work, she took photos of the room and uploaded a picture on Twitter with “Living room so tidy, I’m a real woman!” as caption. She then browsed her Instagram feed before the bell rang. She quickly went to door and opened it, smiling from ear to ear to see Hayong in front of her. She hugged him, and he hugged her tighter. “I miss you,” Hayong said. “And you smell so good tonight…” he whispered to Mira’s ear, which he got a light smack on his chest. “You naughty kid,” she said, then chuckled.

               To her surprise, flashes started to fill the place and she could barely see anything. Hayong who was shocked as well, quickly drag her inside and closed the door. He looked from the hole, and saw few paparazzi were outside, holding their bulky cameras. He began to panic, and called his manager and informed him about this. He then faced Mira, who now understood they were caught by paparazzi. “Hayong, is that…” she couldn’t finish her words as Hayong said, “Yes, medias. I’m worried,” he paused. “I’m okay if I got all the hate later, but you… will you be okay, sweety?” He asked. “I don’t know how much hate I’m going to get, but I will definitely get through this with ease,” she said, affirming that she’s going to be okay. Boy oh boy, the article went out next day and as expected, the comment sections were full of hate message towards her. Though some were some being supportive since Hayong’s going to turn 30, the younger fans were not. Mira only managed to read 3 hate comments before she decided to not be on internet for a few days.

                She texted Hayong and asked if he’s okay, asked if it was a mess at the company but got no response. She tried to call him – she was brought to the voicemail instead. She decided to contact him back later but still, no response from the man that she loved. Depressed, she then called her best friend, the only friend that knew she’s dating Hayong before the scandal broke out. “Micky, what should I do… Hayong’s ignoring me, the world’s going against me. Should I take a leave and go out of the country for a while?” she asked. “You just need a good rest, Mira. I don’t think Hayong is ignoring you, he’s trying his best to save your relationship. This is just a test, please go through this with patience. Hayong is a good man, and he loves you so much, Mira. Don’t you remember?” Micky paused. “Don’t you remember the day he went to see you wearing mascot costume since you said you wanted to feel like a kid again? Don’t you remember the day he brought you to Busan because you wanted to go to Haeundae so much despite he just got back from Taiwan?” Micky pointed out so Mira would think before doing anything. “I’m the one dating Hayong but why you sounded so much like him…” Mira said, ignoring the points that Micky said before. “Anyway, thank you for listening! I’m going to call it a day then. Hoping for good news to come in tomorrow!” She said, and ended the call.

***

Mira woke up after being disturbed by the continuous calls she received. Lazily, she reached for her phone, and surprised to see the amount of missed calls she got. 13 calls from Micky, 20 calls from her mother, 11 calls from her brother, and 32 calls from Jongyun. She then checked the unread messages she got – there were more than 100 of unread messages. She went to read Micky’s kakaotalk message, which succeed to make her eyes almost popped out from her eye socket.

“HAYONG ANNOUNCED SOMETHING ABOUT YOU GUYS GETTING MARRIED. ARE YOU SERIOUS?? YOU DIDN’T EVEN TELL ME YESTERDAY AND ACTED LIKE YOU’RE WORRIED YOU LIAR! ANYWAY GO AND CHECK THE NEWS OMG CONGRATULATIONS MIRA!!!”

She quickly went on Nate, Naver, and even Daum, amazed that the first page of news were all about Hayong’s announcement of getting married. She clicked on the first article and read it, and stopped. “He discussed with my mother beforehand?” She quickly took her phone and called her mother, seeking for confirmation. “Ah hello my darling, w—“ her mother greeted but was cut in by her who’s demanding for answer. “Did Hayong really go to see you and discuss about our marriage?” She could hear he mother chuckled. “Yes, and he did plan to announce it today,” her mother said, as if she know what’s going on in her daughter’s mind. Mira would think Hayong set this up to announce their marriage, but then he’s not that bad to do so. “I’m sorry for keeping it as a secret, Mira, it’s Hayong’s request,” her mother continued. “And I do think it’s time for both of you to get married, you’re growing older! You don’t want to have your child when you’re already at the age of a grandmother,” her mother laughed. They talked on few other topics before she ended the call.

She kept on reading other articles – all of which described his statement perfectly and correctly. She was about to read the fifth article when the bell rang, so she quickly made her way to the door, knowing it’s Hayong. “Mira, honey, I’m sorry for suddenly announcing that we’re getting married since I didn’t even discuss it to you. No, I wanted to tell you during our dinner but the paparazzi made me forget about it. I’m sorry, forgive me, don’t kill me,” Hayong spurted each words right after Mira opened the door. “Whoa, slow down. Don’t rap at me, you’re a vocalist!” Mira joked around, showing that she’s not mad. “I called mama before, and she explained everything. Why should I be mad about you announcing our marriage? I should be proud of that! You could lie that we’re not in a relationship but you went forward and said we’re going to get married instead!” she gave him a hug. “This is why I love you, Hayong, and I want to be with you forever,” Mira said then gave him few kisses on his cheek. “Now that we’re an official couple, I can go on dates with you publicly, right?” Mira said then smirked. “Of course, honey. We can,” Hayong replied then bit her nose lightly. “Ouch, that hurts!” Mira squealed.

EPILOGUE

                Mira was resting at the living room while Hayong prepared lunch for her. She kept on reminding him to make it extra sweet, but Hayong kept on saying no as it’s bad for health. “It’s not for me,” Mira pouted. “Hayong junior wants it!” She said while pointing to her bulging stomach. Hayong chuckled then said, “Convey to Hayong junior that eating sweet stuffs is bad for his health!” Mira pouted. “Go on and cook, when it’s done and if it’s not sweet, I’m not going to eat it,” she said while increasing the TV’s volume. The TV was loud but she could hear voices of children laughing from the opposite room. “Minha, Minyoung! Come and watch TV with mama,” she called for her twin 5-year-old daughters. Being the obedient daughters, both of them came and sat next to her. “Mama, when will Minseok come out from your tummy?” Minha, who looked like Hayong, asked. “Yeah mama, why is Minseok hiding in your tummy? I want to see him,” Minyoung, who looked just like Mira, asked. They’re fraternal twins which explain why they didn’t resemble each other. Hayong, who was at the kitchen, laughed out loud listening to his daughters’ questions. Mira chuckled, then pull her daughters closer to her. “In a month, you can see this naughty Minseok. He’s coming out in just a month.” “Why is he naughty when he’s not even out?” Hayong asked. “Because he’s a boy like you, papa!” Minha replied, which made the whole family laughed.