The Award
Side B

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On a clear, summer morning, Hyejin laid by the poolside with her tablet perched on her torso. A warm breeze swept through the city and across her rooftop, brushing her hair across her eyes. Absentmindedly, she tucked her hair behind her ear. She barely registered the small gesture while she was glued to the screen before her.

The opening credits began. The simple monochromatic sequence unfolded predictably with a sweeping aerial pan, and a slow zoom into the city. Unpredictably, however, something was about to happen to Ahn Hyejin.

The camera dove into the city, through a perfectly centered window, then onto the expressionless face of a girl. The girl’s face in the frame against the white wallpaper behind her, the soft features, and the slightest hint of a dimple disrupting the symmetry of the shot—she had never seen such a thing of beauty.

Hyejin sat up, and leaned a little closer.

Somewhere behind her, a door opened and closed. The sound of footsteps approached, then the clink of glass on the table beside her. Still, Hyejin did not move.

“Is that Byul’s new film?” A familiar voice said from above.

Hyejin nodded, her eyes never leaving the moving girl on the screen. Suddenly, a mass of curls filled her vision as the newcomer sat down at the edge of her seat, leaning in close to investigate the film in Hyejin’s hands.

“Oi! Unnie, get off!” The young actress growled. “You’re blocking my view!”

Her best friend and up-and-coming director, Kim Yongsun, laughed and stood. Leaning an elbow on Hyejin’s chair, she peered down to admire the over-the-shoulder shot of a girl running.

“I’m still a little shocked that she chose to produce this one. It’s so…different. Oh, but I heard that girl is pretty interesting,” Yongsun said, taking a quick sip of the drink in her hands. She attempted to direct Hyejin's attention to the drink she left on the table, but Hyejin was not listening. 

“Who is she?” Hyejin mumbled. 

“I think her name is Jung Wheein,” Yongsun replied with a shrug. “Byul said they picked a fresh face. Some art school student with the typical celebrity daydreams, I guess. They say she’s a natural, though! What do you think, Hyejin?”

“I think,” Hyejin began slowly, half listening to the whispered confrontation on screen between the girl and a shadowy man with a nefarious smile, “she’s…really good.”

Yongsun glanced at the enraptured expression of her friend. “Pretty cute too, isn’t she?” she nudged.

Hyejin said nothing as she bit the inside of her cheek, her heart only all too aware of how cute the actress was.

Over the next few weeks, Hyejin’s schedule mostly consisted of wrapping up her latest film, attending shows and interviews, and sneaking time in between to watch movies. This year featured a number of stellar productions that truly gave Hyejin and her friends a run for their money. Fierce as the competition was, it wasn’t long before she had forgotten all about Jung Wheein.

Or so she would’ve if she hadn't come across an enigmatic message on Twitter. 

A week before her birthday, Hyejin was spread across her couch, feet up on the armrest, her arm behind her head as her free hand scrolled through her obligatory social media platforms. While some celebrities may find conversing with fans to be quite cumbersome, Hyejin found it quite meditative and uplifting to be able to bring joy to these strangers so easily. Though she seldom dived too deeply into the fan culture, it was always touching to see art and literature dedicated to her and her work. She adored her modest following, and it often amused her to no end to see what sort of posts she was tagged in.

She smiled at a beautiful watercolour painting of her profile, and typed a quick message in thanks for the hardworking artist.

Then she scrolled a little further down. A fan had tagged her with the message: “Hyejinssi will notice you someday!” Curious, she clicked into the thread to see the original post.

@jwheeinofficial: Vote Ahn Hyejin for Actress of the Year!

Hyejin quirked a brow, compelled now to read the conversations that followed. A fan joked about her undying love for Hyejin, to which @jwheeinofficial replied, “My love for Hyejin is not a secret. I hope you will continue to support me anyway.” Hyejin gaped at the short message, which were followed by a storm of supportive comments and even one piece of fan art depicting the two actresses together holding hands.

She found herself unable to suppress a smile as she went into @jwheeinofficial’s profile and confirmed that it was indeed the cute, dimpled actress in Byulyi’s new film. Fascinated, she must’ve spent hours going through the tweets of Wheein and her fans, a surprising number of them boldly including her in the discussion. It truly was no secret that Wheein was a big fan of Hyejin, and it seemed to be a widely-accepted and much-beloved quirk that her fans loved to joke about. Wheein herself seemed only too eager to continue the banter as well. Once in a while, she would even contribute little doodles of her own in response to fan-made scenarios and stories.

Yongsun was right: this girl was immensely interesting.

On her birthday, Hyejin received an innumerable number of notifications from every social media platform. Yongsun and Byulyi, who had arrived that morning for a quiet birthday breakfast celebration, ended up spending the evening replying to the most amusing Tweets they found on Hyejin’s behalf. Meanwhile, Hyejin went directly to Wheein’s page. Sure enough, she found what she was looking for:

@jwheeinofficial: Happy birrthday to @RealQueenAHJ!

Byulyi leaned over. “Is that Wheein?”

“Yeah,” Hyejin said, calmly handing her phone to the producer’s outstretched hand. “She spelled ‘birthday’ wrong. How cute.” She chuckled, earning a quizzical look from both of her friends.

“I didn’t know she was such a big fan of yours,” Byulyi said incredulously as she scrolled through.

Yongsun hooked her chin over Byulyi’s shoulder. “Wow,” she said, “she must be your number one fan.” At the contact, Byulyi slid her arm around Yongsun’s waist, then handed the phone over to the curious director.

“It’s funny,” Byulyi said with a chuckle, “she’s normally pretty stoic off-camera. She’s fantastically bold and funny when the film is rolling, but she’d always keep to herself when it came to other things. Someone told me she’s a fan of yours, Hyejin, but I didn’t know it was to this extent.”

“Byul-ah, look at this,” Yongsun murmured, nudging the phone toward her. Byulyi craned her neck to appraise the quick doodle of Hyejin holding flowers for a blushing Wheein. Underneath the image, Wheein had laughed and thanked the fan for the drawing.

“She’s really good with her fans, isn’t she?” Hyejin said thoughtfully. “Makes me wonder whether this is a really elaborate PR stunt.”

“Why don’t you reply and see?”

It would be no exaggeration to say that it took the better part of an hour for Hyejin to decide how to reply to the brief message. Between the deliberation, arguments, and internal turmoil, Hyejin finally went with the diplomatic response: “Thank you. I love your work.”

She would spend days, if not weeks, kicking herself for the formal and cold response, but in truth she was not sure how to feel about the eager, young actress. While she was undoubtedly flattered and very much moved by her enthusiasm, she was more than a little intrigued to get to know her better. Beyond everything else, she wanted to see how far Wheein would go with her love. She wanted to know if it was genuine, regardless of what implications that might have of her own feelings. 

Several months later, she received an invitation in the mail. Not only was she invited to attend one of the most prestigious award shows of the year, she was also invited to present the award for Best Screenplay. She quickly scanned the list of nominees as she waited for her coffee to brew that morning, and immediately smiled when she say Wheein’s name on the cream-coloured cardstock. Best New Actress. No one deserved it more, she thought happily. 

She abandoned her coffee to make her calls.

“Hey, I need to present the Best New Actress award. Can you make it happen?”

On the night of the award show, Jung Wheein sat exactly two rows above and five seats to the left of Hyejin. She tapped her fingers on her armrest, resisting the urge to look as the butterflies stirred in her stomach.

When it was her turn, she stood, and looked back to see the young actress sleeping in her seat. She resisted the urge to scoop her up and run out of the stuffy hall with the lightly snoring angel in her arms.

When Wheein met her eyes for the first time on that stage, it was as if time stood still and they were the only two people in the room. Suddenly the trophy in her hand was meaningless, and all she wanted in the world was right in front of her, embodied in a virtual stranger who radiated pure love from her eyes.

When Wheein made her speech, declared her challenge, and allowed Hyejin to claim her lips, it was as if everything was falling into place.

When they returned to their seat and their eyes met once more, Hyejin knew that she had to follow her instincts. Since the moment she laid eyes on her, she had to admit the attraction was magnetic. Wheein had declared her love across cyberspace and now, in front of the world, and it was now her turn to reply.

She took out her phone, and waved it a little for the other woman to see.

Wheein scrambled for her own phone.

@RealQueenAHJ: @jwheeinofficial – Normally people go on a date before they make out in front of national TV. Let’s do it the other way around ;)

Hyejin looked up from her phone. Two rows above and five seats away, Wheein had shot up from her seat, hands over as she tried to contain the excitement that radiated from her red cheeks. Eyes turned to look at her, but she didn’t care. Someone, somewhere, pulled her down, but her eyes never strayed from Hyejin’s.

Finally, Wheein flashed her a wide grin that took her breath away.

@jwheeinofficial: @RealQueenAHJ – Nothing could make me happier.