"Whoaa! It’s been a long time since I went to beach!" Minhee said gleefully as she looked at the sea in front of her in amazement. She closed her eyes while her lips curled a peaceful smile and her arms spread wide as if she wanted to fly, enjoying the cool and salt-scented breeze brushing her face. The sound of waves splashed one after another making its way to the shore and hugged the beach sand before subsiding into white foamed bubbles; was like a soothing therapy.

Donghae eyed her antics and his lips curled into a soft smile seeing her beauty when her hair was blown by the wind. Rather than being amazed by the view in front of him, the sea, he was much more amazed to see the view next to him which he assumed was the most beautiful view he had ever seen in his entire life. He couldn’t take his eyes off her and stared at her without blinking, admiring her beauty as much and as long as possible.

Feeling a gaze on her, she opened her eyes and looked towards Donghae’s direction when from the corner of her eye she found him looking at her. Her eyebrows shot up. "Wae?" she asked.

"You're so beautiful" he confessed, his eyes glued on her.

And that got her blush. “You’re more beautiful” she replied before giggling.

“I’m not beautiful, okay. I’m handsome” he smugly said.

She scrunched up her nose upon hearing him praising himself. “Euw, you’re such a narcissist” she jokingly said and Donghae merely laughed.

“Thank you” he said sarcastically and it was her turn to laugh.

"Since the sun hasn't set yet, let's play" She grinned at him before taking off her shoes then started walking to the water.

Donghae smiled watching her. Only God knew how relieved he was when there was no longer awkwardness between them like what had happened in the car earlier. Indeed, the sea made her forget everything that just happened earlier. Even if it was just for temporary, he couldn’t be more thankful for that.

“Oppa! What are you doing there smiling alone? Let’s play! It’s boring to play alone here!” she said loudly so that her voice could be heard by him through the sound of splashing waves.

Snapping back to reality, Donghae quickly took his shoes off and rolled his trouser up then strode towards her, catching her up. Right after he reached her, to his surprise, she kicked the water towards him, accompanied with a giggle.

"Yah," Donghae quickly dodged just in case his clothes might get wet, before looking at her in disbelief. Then, without any warning, he kicked the water towards her too. That was how they started to kick the water towards each other, making their laughter and the sound of splashing waves blended together. Their already wet clothes were the least they could think of at the moment.

 "I think it will be more fun if we can get into the water" Minhee said disappointedly, kicking the wave which made its way towards her. By then, they had stopped kicking the water towards each other.

"Just swim. Your clothes are already wet anyway," Donghae said and then continued kicking the water towards her. For the umpteenth time already.

"Oppa!" she protested and Donghae laughed out of it.

"Oh, look! Sun is setting!" Donghae pointed at the sun, which was setting down and giving the sky an orange-ish color and the clouds a shade of pink.

"Wow! It's so beautiful!" Minhee cooed in awe, awed by the beautiful scene in front of her eyes; the burning light of the sun got dull and it looked like a huge disk of orange and yellow.  As she was staring at the sunset full of amazement, suddenly she felt something snake around her waist. She was shocked for a second but immediately felt her cheeks warm up when she realized that it was Donghae’s arms. He was backhugging her.

Her heart was beating faster at the position, especially at how she could feel his muscular chest against her back. Her heart beat two times faster than before when Donghae rested his chin on her shoulder, a shy smile tugging on his lips. Her hands hovered above his arms which were wrapped around her waist – she looked at her hands and his arms back and forth, debating with herself  over where she should place her hands on. Should she just put them by her sides or place them on Donghae’s arms? And thinking about the last part, it really made blood rushing up to her face yet she decided to do it.

Biting onto her lower lip, she hesitantly and shyly placed her hands on his arms. Donghae couldn’t help but smile wider at the touch. The touch sent butterflies to his stomach which practically made him hold her tighter in his arms, never wanting to let her go if that was possible.

While watching the sunset, a smile never left either Minhee's or Donghae's lips. Although their eyes glued on the sun which was setting down, but their minds went somewhere else. To be precise, they were so focused at being in each other’s arms, at their position at the time, until the sunset was long forgotten.

Suddenly, what Donghae had said at his dad’s grave earlier echoed in her mind.

“Her name is Minhee. The girl I love and who means everything for me. And even the girl I want to spend the rest of my life with”

“Please pray for me that she will love me as much as I love her”

She sighed softly. Those words of him had entered deep into her heart that she thought she wouldn’t forget it any sooner. No, she had memorized it all – because those words kept echoing in her mind ever since they came out of Donghae's lips.

'Did he mean what he just said?’ That was the question she was about to ask Donghae when they were in the car earlier. But she had to stop herself because they were filming at that time – she didn't want any viewers of the show to make any speculation about it.

‘Does he really love me? Do I really mean everything for him? Does he really want to spend the rest of his life with me? Does he hope I'll love him back because he does really love me? He didn't say that just because we're filming, right? Did he kiss me and hug me like right now because he really loves me? Or just for the sake of the show?' All those questions popped out in her mind but she felt uneasy to ask him all the questions. Sincerely, she was scared to hear his answer. She was afraid that he really did love her. Because, if he really did love her, that meant she already broke his heart even before he could confess to her, even before she could reject him. No. Actually, not her who would break his heart but her disbelief in love. People said there was no point to love someone who didn’t believe in love, because there was no possibility for them to return the love they received from the other. And breaking Donghae’s heart was the last thing…no, she never wanted to break his heart nor anyone’s heart. Ever.

'Nope. He doesn't love me and won't love me. He probably only loves me as a sister, not more than that. I'm sure he only assumes me as his sister even when we're filming. And I'm sure all the kisses and hugs he gave me were only from brother to sister, not from husband to wife.' She mentally shook her head to brush all the thoughts off her mind. But then, the moment when he had kissed her on the lips the day when he had surprised her for her birthday before, replayed in her mind.

‘Do brother and sister kiss on the lips?’ she pondered.

‘Nope’

‘Then why did he kiss me there? Does that mean…he…l-loves me?’

‘Nope! No! Impossible! He must have done that just for the sake of the show,’ she denied vigorously in her mind, oblivious to a glint of disappointment building inside her heart.

"I love you," Donghae suddenly said, as if he could read Minhee’s mind, as if he wanted to clarify to her that everything that he did for her while filming the show wasn’t for the sake of the show like what she thought. It was truly because she was special to him. So special. In his heart, also in his life. He didn’t know why he had the courage to say those words to her when he knew there was a big possibility that awkwardness would be building in between them after he said it to her. But he couldn’t hold himself. He couldn’t hold his mouth, to be exact.

Upon hearing those three words come out from his mouth, Minhee didn’t know what came over her that made her slowly turn her body to face him, making Donghae pull his arms, which had been wrapped around her waist, away as he put them to his sides. Once her body fully faced him, they looked in each other’s eyes.

“Really?” she whispered.

Donghae nodded lightly, eyes never left hers, as he was hoping inside that she would say those three words back to him – because he never heard her saying those three words before, even once. He wondered why. Even though she did not love him, couldn't she say it for the sake of the show? Or as a virtual wife of his?

It was not that he wanted her to say it just for the sake of the show, but he really wanted to hear her saying those words to him, even though she didn't mean it. But, he hoped once she said it to him she’d truly mean it. He hoped one day she would say those words to him, and not just say it but also mean it. He really hoped it would happen. Nope, it would happen. And now he was waiting for his hope to become reality. Even though the possibility was too thin.

Seeing him nod, she looked intensely at him as if searching for an honest answer through his eyes. And she believed it that he was telling her the truth. But that wasn’t enough to make her fully believe him because there was still a big possibility that he did that just for the sake of the show – because they were still filming. She didn’t want to misinterpret anything. And she didn’t want to feel guilty over nothing.

And the thought of him having feelings for her was too much for her to believe it. It was too difficult to believe it. Really. The person, whom she considered as a brother all this time, whom she thought all this time considering her as a sister, actually had special feelings for her? Seriously? She couldn’t believe it. She really couldn’t believe it.

Shaking her head in amusement (as if she was thinking something that she thought too ridiculous), she turned her body to face the sea back, back-facing Donghae again. With that, Donghae’s hope to hear her saying ‘I love you’ was broken into pieces, leaving him in disappointment.

From behind, he looked at her, in a daze. ‘She doesn’t believe it? She doesn’t believe it that I love her’ he thought to himself, bewildered, because he thought he had been too obvious earlier. He didn’t know if he should feel relieved or disappointed but to be honest, he still wasn’t sure if he was ready to let her know his feelings for her. And yet, he felt disappointed that she didn’t believe his confession. He was confused. Really confused.

"Whoaa! So beautiful!" Minhee’s voice broke his train of thought and the first thing he saw after coming back to reality was, the sun was gradually going down and by the time it almost disappeared, the sky had patterns of different colors, from light purple to a dull blue. The scene looked mesmerizing. The pleasant breeze, the sweet smell of salty water mixed in sand and the sound of waves crashing against each other completed the scene of a perfect sunset.

"You’re more beautiful" he blurted.

“I know~” she jokingly said before she laughed. Donghae joined her laughing later, feeling glad that there was no awkwardness between them after w