Something’s wrong. It’s subtle, because Jihyo’s an actress after all, but Gary knows it, because it’s her. It’s not just in the tiredness that ades her usually bright eyes, or in the way she blabbers on nervously about nothing one minute and falls incredibly silent the next. It’s in the way she strangely has increased the number of times that she confesses to him.

Jihyo grabbed his arm as soon as she walked out of filming. “Oppa. I like you,” she said for about the tenth time that day.

“Jihyo-ssi, are you doing alright?” He asked, concerned. Without giving an answer, she sighed, releasing his arm and turning away dejectedly. After a moment, he followed behind her, grabbed her arm, and turned her around. He was surprised to see her eyes shine with tears.

“What’s wrong?” His eyes widened and he hastily reached into his jacket pocket for a tissue. She shook her head and stopped him.

“Nothing, nothing. I don’t even know why I’m crying,” she said, laughing a little as she roughly brushed the tears away with the back of her hand. “Stupid of me.” She bit her lip, hesitating. “It’s just… oppa, I like you. I know you like me, too. But I need you to give me an answer now,” she pleads, grasping at his wrists in desperation. “We don’t have much time, or I’d wait longer. But I need you to give me an answer now. Please.”

Gary frowned. “What do you mean, we don’t have much time? What’s the matter?”

“I can’t explain right now, oppa. Just please…”

After a moment’s hesitation, Gary’s lips parted, like he really was going to say something. In the heat of the moment, perhaps, Gary’s heart was working faster than his mind; he just wanted to do something, anything, to keep her from crying or feeling sad anymore. His hand reached out to brush away the glittering unshed tear in her eye.

“I love you too, Jihyo-ah,” his lips prepared to say, but just then a stage hand called Jihyo to stand by. The way her face fell at that moment haunted Gary’s mind.

“It’s not good to take things for granted, Gary-ah. If you aren’t careful, you might end up losing her someday,” Kim Jong Kook had said later, when they met at SBS- Jongkook taking a break after performing onstage and Gary waiting for Jihyo to finish emceeing.

Gary’s hand stilled from fiddling with the water bottle he was holding for Jihyo.

“What do you mean?”

Jongkook shrugged. “You think that this can last forever, with you just watching her from behind the scenes and expecting her coming back to you afterwards every time?” He jerked his head towards the screen that Gary was monitoring. On the screen, Jihyo was laughing at something her co-MC had said, her bright eyes forming the shape of crescent moons. She looked beautiful, otherworldly under those soft lights. “She’ll still come back to you for today, but one day while you just sit there watching, she’ll have moved on, and she’ll be gone.” With that, he patted Gary on the back and walked off.

Gary is still mulling over Jongkook’s words the next day as he walks through the halls of their company with Jihyo. They’re both quiet, and none of them bring up the events of the day before, but they walk in comfortable silence. Gary cherishes times like these. It’s when he can be by Jihyo’s side that he feels the most content, like he’s the luckiest man alive. He can’t and doesn’t need to be selfish and want more than that.

Of course Gary knows that he can’t stay by Jihyo’s side forever. Of course he knows that this is temporary; that one day she’ll finally lose her interest in him and leave him. Of course she’ll marry some rich, capable guy much more worthy and able to protect her and love her than Gary ever will. Of course. Gary knows all of this in the back of his mind; he’s convinced himself that this is for the better, that this is what he wants for Jihyo. He’s convinced himself that he’ll be okay.

Only a fool would invest so much into a relationship that never was, never will, and never can be. He knows this, and that’s why he doesn’t ever say yes to Jihyo’s confessions. He’s got a little bit of a crush, he tells himself. Just a crush that will go away before it ever amounts to anything.

He never counted on loving her this much.

His train of thought is broken when he hears Jihyo let out a deep sigh. He glances at her out of the corner of his eye.

“Are you alright, Jihyo-ssi?” he ventures tentatively. He’s reminded suddenly of their interrupted conversation from yesterday- her sudden desperation, his near loss of control over his feelings.

“Hmm?” Jihyo answers quickly, a ready smile hastily pasted onto her face. She’s a good actress, but he’s had four years to learn how to read beyond the emotions displayed on her face. She looks vulnerable again behind her smile, and once again, Gary feels like he might lose himself and do something crazy.

“You know about yesterday… when we were talking before you had to go and emcee…” he pauses, trying to read her face. The smile is still there, but it looks even more forced. “You said… you said something about not having much time..?”

“Ah, that,” Jihyo says laughingly. “That- it’s okay, just forget about it. That was nothing.” She comes to a halt suddenly. “I’m going to the washroom for a minute, oppa. I’ll meet you at the car!” And with that, she turns on her heel and strides into the ladies’ room, leaving Gary staring after her, confused.

After a moment, he shoulders his bag and makes his way down the hall. That’s right; it might be better to just let this thing pass as if it never happened. He can’t afford to let something slip, to cause the mere manager-star relationship or friendship between them change. Because he knows that once that happens, he will lose the one simple thing he treasures most- being by her side.

He happens across a conference room that is left slightly ajar on his way to the stairs. The voice of the CEO trails out of the room.

“..very pleased to be able to cooperate with your company, Mr. Chen.”

Gary pauses, surprised to hear the CEO’s voice, having not ever met him after that one time so many years ago after he had helped Jihyo run away from her audition.

An interpreter murmurs a few words in a foreign language- Chinese, perhaps, and then Gary hears the chuckle of a third man in the room. Gary can’t understand his reply, but he hears the CEO’s next words loudly and clearly.

“You’ll be meeting my daughter tonight during dinner. It will be good for you to meet and get acquainted with each other as soon as possible. After all, the two of you will be getting married within this next month.”

Gary, who had continued walking, freezes in place at the end of the hall by the stairs.

Married. Jihyo. Within the next month.

“It’s not good to take things for granted, Gary-ah,” Jongkook had said. “If you aren’t careful, you might end up losing her someday.”

He’s going to lose her. And suddenly, he doesn’t feel like he’s going to be okay.