“Today we have guys who lived and died for their appearance. After waiting for more than three years–for the first time in television–a famous duo finally agreed to guest in today’s episode!”

Hyewon nervously fidgeted in her seat but kept her composure as Kyuhyun, one of the show’s MC, started the introduction. Beside her, Chanyeol was grinning.

“Many fans know him as the artist behind Unit 768, Glory for the Stars, and the recently published Moonstone. Smart, charming, and witty– he never fails to capture the ladies’ heart with his cute face and amazing art. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s meet Park Chanyeol!”

A round of applause and cheers thundered from the crowd. Chanyeol stood up and bowed to show respect, waving to the fans as if he was an idol.

“The brain behind Park Chanyeol’s genius work who could build palaces out of paragraphs, this woman became the youngest recipient to win a Yi Sang Literary Award. She looks innocent but don’t be fooled. Let’s give a big hand to Jung Hyewon, Chanyeol’s partner in crime and the author of several controversial and critically-acclaimed novels!”

Hyewon bowed respectfully to the crowd and smiled tightly, feeling nervous.

“So,” Kyuhyun started once the applause died, “Do you know what date it is today?”

He was met with confused stares and shaking heads. “Today marks the day of your first collaboration’s anniversary. Three years ago, Glory for the Stars was published both as a novel and as a manga.”

“Really?” Hyewon mused. She couldn’t believe that it was three years ago. It seemed like it was yesterday.

 Chanyeol nodded. “Ah, I remember. We held a press conference for the book launch that day.”

“Oh! And only ten people attended, I think. One of them was Chanyeol’s mom.”

Laughter erupted from the audience. Hyewon couldn’t help but to laugh too as they reminisced their humble beginnings. They did a book signing for that afternoon, and by the day was over they sold over 30 copies of their books.

“Back then it was very secretive too, right? Although fans know who you are, you decided to wear masks on your presscon.” Yoohyuk, another MC, noted.

Chanyeol flashed a toothy grin. “Well, when we first posted the books online, we originally planned to keep our identities a secret because of its sensitive content,” he explained. “But by the time that we published the book, we were fairly known already.”

“Sort of famous, yes. People knew you from Unit 768.”

“Ah, yes. Hyewon was also well-known that time, so there was absolutely no reason for us to wear masks. Although fans guessed that we were trying to be low-key, it was actually because our faces were puffed up that time.”

Hyewon chuckled. “We drank too much the night before as a celebration,” she continued, “and Chanyeol decided to hug a dog even though he’s very allergic. Not even anti-histamine could cure the swell of his face.”

“And Hyewon’s face always puff whenever she drinks. So we wore masks to hide our red and puffy faces,” he finished.

“And your shame,” Kyuhyun added, drawing laughs and remarks. Slowly, Hyewon could feel the tension easing from her shoulders. She allowed herself to relax a little bit.

“So this is your first time appearing on TV and agreeing to do an interview?” Yoohyuk asked. Chanyeol nodded in agreement, “Yes that’s right.”

“Why the secrecy? It’s not like you’re keeping your identities a secret.”

Hyewon scratched her head. “We wanted people to focus on our works rather than us. We feel like going on TV shows might be a bit too much for amateurs like us,”

“How do you feel?”

She contemplated for a moment. “Nervous,” she admitted truthfully. “Although people would like to say otherwise, but I’m actually shy and reserved.”

“Ah it will soon pass,” Kyuhyun grinned. “We’ll go easy on you,” he teased.

“You both went to Yonsei University right?” Yoohyuk asked.

Chanyeol nodded. “I majored in music and she in languages.”

“So how did the two of you met?”

“Well…”

Park Chanyeol knew Jung Hyewon for almost three years now. How could he forget her? She and her eccentric ways were not something that he’d forget. Not to mention the fact that she stole his precious cat once. He guessed he never quite forgave her for that.

Whoever said that artists are weird has never met Jung Hyewon. In Chanyeol’s opinion, writers are weirder. Borderline schizophrenic, in fact. It amazed him how writers could put themselves in somebody else’s shoes.

They breathe words into life, spinning it until they’re so real you’d almost believe they’re flesh and blood. Chanyeol saw it once with Sehun as he spun words and characters into a different world, turning paper and ink into Lee Seyong, a doctor turned homicide investigator, and Song Minhui, Seyong’s detective partner.

With Sehun’s words and Chanyeol’s illustration, Seyong and Minhui became an online sensation. Unit 768 was so successful that they received offers to turn the graphic novel into a drama. Sadly, Sehun refused to give up his liberties. Chanyeol thought they should’ve taken the offer.

“Imagine all the beef you can buy with that money!” Chanyeol argued. Sehun only looked at him in disgust.

After Unit 768, the dynamic duo never worked together again even though fans were requesting a sequel. Sehun started working on a book he’s going to publish soon, and Chanyeol… well, apparently he’s going to work again.

At first Chanyeol thought that Sehun’s proposing another collaboration between the two of them but it turns out that he had someone else in mind. Chanyeol was apprehensive about working with a complete stranger, but Sehun insisted that this person isn’t exactly a stranger.

“Besides,” grumbled Sehun, “I’m working on my book. I’m past my deadlines because of the exams.” He then proceeded to complain about the workload and how he can barely manage his time as a double major of Psychology and Liberal Arts.

In those three longs years, Chanyeol and Hyewon have never formally met until last week when Sehun introduced them. When he casually mentioned to Sehun about his artist’s block and how he hadn’t drawn anything after finishing Unit 768, the younger boy suggested another collaboration.

Sehun flatly refused his offer to collaborate on a project again. This went on for a month, in which Chanyeol tried to cajole Sehun with the tempting offer of a year worth of bubble tea. Sehun almost cracked. Seeing how desperate the curly-haired artist was, he told Chanyeol that he’d arrange a meeting with a writer he knows.

It turned out that the person Sehun was talking about was no other than Jung-Freaking-Hyewon also known as the cat stealer. It was only then that they formally met and he finally knew her name. Honestly, Chanyeol thought it was a pretty name wasted on her. It sounded so delicate, so feminine and so unlike the woman staring at him across the table.

It was either she was trying to go for a boyish look or she jumped straight out from a 90s catalog. She wore ripped baggy pants and a flannel shirt with a Disney t-shirt underneath and he is positively sure that she uses men’s perfume. Her hair was in a slight mess and her John Lennon-styled glasses puts the icing on top. She perfectly looked like teenager twenty years ago.

Chanyeol had never been the one to follow fashion but he knows a disaster when he sees once. Oh God, is she going to complain that this café is too mainstream? He knew it was bad to think about things like that about her, but he can’t help it. Chanyeol’s first impression of her stuck.

They got into a loud fight that the landlord almost threatened to evict the two of them. But it wasn’t my fault, Chanyeol whimpered in his mind. He pretended to be a mature adult and tried to sort things out with Hyewon who won’t let go of his cat.

“Gunyeol-ssi, are you listening to me?” she asked, almost shyly. Chanyeol mentally cursed himself for spacing out. She was resting her chin on her palm and looking at him with an expression he couldn’t figure if it was mild disgust or annoyance.

“Chanyeol,” he corrected. “Park Chanyeol.”

“You stole his cat?” Kyuhyun exclaimed, incredulous.

“I didn’t!” Hyewon protested.

Chanyeol shot her a look. “You did, Jung.”

“Well, technically. But I thought the poor thing was starving! He kept making googly eyes at me. Shakespurr was basically begging me to feed him.”

“Your cat’s name is Shakespurr?!” Yoohyuk asked, laughing.

If Chanyeol was embarrassed by the horrible name, he didn’t show it. Instead he flashed a toothy grin at the camera, almost child-like. “Shakespurr Rapparoni’s his full name. My best friend and I adopted him and Baekhyun, my best friend, named him in honor of Shakespeare.”

“And the Rapparoni part?”

“We were listening to rap and eating a pizza when Shakes first took his dump. On the pizza.”

Hyewon couldn’t believe her ears. Chanyeol, even at 27 years old, still had no verbal filter at all. He spoke with the same enthusiasm he had as if he’s talking about something normal and in any way not related to cat s.

Although she knew Chanyeol for almost seven years, she never knew the story about his cat. Chanyeol refused to talk about him when he died. She listened intently as he recounted the story, his nimble artist hands gesturing wildly.

“So Hyewon-ssi,” Kyuhyun directed when Chanyeol finished, “It’s known among your fans the nickname you have for Chanyeol, hot fire. Why did you start calling him hot fire?”

From her side, Chanyeol buried his head on his palms. She chortled. “Funny story, actually…”

hotfirelemmehearchogiwa at rocketmail dot com? Are you kidding me?”

“Yah!” Chanyeol exclaimed, “I was in a band when I made that e-mail okay? It was years ago.” He made a mental note to create a new e-mail address.

She chortled, “Chogiwa.”

He lightly pinched her arm. Who would have thought that they’d click? Bless Sehun. The kid had always had a knack in pairing people. He should honestly be a matchmaker. Once he introduced Zitao, a meek foreign exchange student who looks like an assassin to an equally terrifying Chinese student who reminded Chanyeol of Angry Birds. They started hanging out after and turned out to be closer than brothers.

He was also the one who got Baekhyun his first girlfriend. Taeyeon happened to be walking past them when Sehun approached her and introduced himself. At first he thought Sehun’s into Taeyeon, but it seemed like he was setting Baek and her up.

“Sehun, like the Lord, works in mysterious ways,” Yixing, their Theology student friend, once said.

Chanyeol decided to put his faith in Sehun. ‘Don’t fail me, Oh Sehun’ he prayed.

“You must be glad you did,” Yoohyuk said, referring to Chanyeol’s ‘faith’ on his friend.

Chanyeol agreed. “Hyewon’s like the second best thing that happened to me,” he disclosed without a hint of reluctance or embarrassment. The crowd went wild and started screaming while Hyewon blushed.

“Second? What’s the first thing?”

“Rapokki,” he declared, not skipping a beat. Hyewon playfully slapped his arm. “Rapokki’s more important than me?!”

He shot her an unamused look. “Of course, woman.”

“No one comes between Chanyeol and rapokki,” she explained to the MCs.

They looked at them, a hint of mischief glistening from their gaze. “Well, I’m sure that many fans are curious about this. The two of you kept mostly away from the public eye so everybody’s dying to ask. Are the two of you dating?”

The pair looked at each other. It was a good thing that they knew what the other was thinking with just their body language. Chanyeol raised his shoulders lightly. Hyewon nodded.

“Yes.”