Seung Ho woke up with a start the next morning, with the sun shining brightly in the room. Sohyun was snuggled with her face buried against his ribs. Slowly, he moved away and draw the curtain close, plunging the bedroom into the darkness again. He crept back into bed and moved Sohyun onto her back. He planted butterfly kisses on her face and down to her neck. Sohyun murmured in her sleep until his touch drew out a moan. Sohyun opened up her eyes, “Oppa..” she called out softly to him. He moved up and kissed her, deeply until she fully awakened and responded back to him passionately.

Seung Ho woke up again a couple of hours later because of the persistent buzz on his phone. Disgruntled, he picked up the phone to hear Manager Lee on the line. “Check your messages and SNS. CEO Kim and CEO Man want a conference call in half an hour,” Manager Lee hurriedly told him. “Hyung, what happen?” Seung Ho asked drowsily. “You and Sohyun, it’s all over the internet,” Manager Lee said it calmly.

Seung Ho hanged up the phone and checked his internet. The access to the internet was spotty so he could only read some lines of the news. But someone apparently posted a picture of them on the island, kissing. He cursed! “Sweetheart, wake up,” he shook Sohyun gently. “Hmm..” Sohyun opened her eyes. “Where is your phone? Is it on?” he asked.  She shook her head. “I didn’t turn it on since I arrived. Why?” Seung Ho explained briefly and Sohyun immediately rushed to get her phone. She had many miscalls from CEO Man, her manager, mom and friends. There were tons of messages, but not all were able to be downloaded due to the spotty wifi. “Sweetheart, go and take a shower. Our CEO wants to have a conference call in half an hour. We’ll find out what has been discovered then. There’s no point waiting for it to be downloaded.” Sohyun nodded and went to the bathroom.

Chat arrived with breakfast which Seung Ho took from the door himself. Putting the whole tray in the patio, he went to the bathroom. Sohyun was under the shower, standing still. He went to her and turned her to look at him. She was crying. Slowly he pulled her into his arms and soothed her. He washed her and himself and then dried both of them.

Sohyun slowly dressed and sat down on the bed, her face worried. Seung Ho knelt beside her, “Sweetheart, we will face this together, ok? I’m sure our CEO are capable of handling this. They can claim the photos are photoshopped or something.” He looked at Sohyun who still looked fearful. “Perhaps its time that we are open about our relationship?” Sohyun gazed at him and slowly nodded. “Why don’t you call your mom. She mustbe worried.” Sohyun called her mom and they had a quick chat. Her mom was already in CEO Man’s office with CEO Kim and the two managers.

Seung Ho’s phone rang. Sohyun gripped his hand as he answered the phone. He the speaker. CEO Man started to speak in an accusing tone, “Do you know the mess the two of you got into? How can you both be so careless?” “Annyeong. The wifi is very bad here. What photos did someone manage to get of us?” Seung Ho asked politely. “Photos? It was a video of the two of you kissing on the beach, both faces, though dark, were very clear,” CEO Man spat. Sohyun gasped.

CEO Kim intervened and spoke calmly, “There is no way we can deny the video. The only option is to admit the relationship. But, we want the announcement to be done here. So, before the reporters arrive in Thailand, the two of you have to get back here. We’ve booked tickets for both of you on Silkair from Pulau Langkawi and connected on SQ to Incheon. You need to get on the boat in time to catch the flight. Manager Lee has emailed the tickets to you, Seung Ho. Make arrangement for your boat ride now and we will call you in an hour to finalise on how to deal with it.” Seung Ho agreed and they hanged up the phone.

“Sweetheart, looked at me,” Seung Ho held her arms as Sohyun cried silently. “We deal with this together. I need you to be strong, could you?” Sohyun nodded. He pulled her into his arms and let her cry as he her hair. When she finally stopped crying, he checked his phone for the timing of the flight and called the reception. Finalising the arrangement, he stood up and pulled her along. “We need to pack. Are you up to it? I can do it for you,” he offered. Sohyun nodded as she stood and went to pack.

After they finished packing and eating a little of their breakfast, they sat facing each other on the bed. “We stick together. No matter what,” Seung Ho said firmly. Sohyun looked into his eyes, and nodded. He held her closely as he prayed that she would not be hurt from it all. The call from Seoul came and after a quick discussion, they left the resort.

The flight back was uneventful, though there were several glances in their directions at the boarding gate. Fortunately, they were seated in business class, so there were not many others in the cabin. Both Sohyun and Seung Ho was quiet, holding each other’s hand as they tried to reassure each other.  When they disembarked from the plane at Incheon Airport, there were a guest service officer that took them away on an electric cart. They were brought to the lounge to wash up and make themselves look presentable. They left via a separate exit and was met with their managers and people from their agencies. There were reporters chasing after them as they made their way to a private room at the airport.

Sohyun’s agency had arranged for a press conference and many reporters were there waiting for them. Sohyun turned pale at the sight of the many reporters whereas Seung Ho was angered. He turned and hissed at CEO Kim, “Do we need this circus?” “Just get it over and done with. It’ll be a quick one,” CEO Kim advised.

They sat quietly as the flashes of lights continued to bombard them. It only stopped when CEO Man stepped in and told them that the press conference was arranged so that Seung Ho and Sohyun can explain directly about their relationship.

“Annyeong everyone. It is unfortunate that our private moment is broadcasted without our permission. I’m sure that none of you would have liked that to happen to yourself or to anyone you know. Hence, I must admit that Sohyunnie and I are distraught that this happen,” Seung Ho started politely but there was a hardness in his tone. The reporters started throwing questions and Sohyun gasped. Seung Ho turned to look at her, her face pale and her hands were clutched tightly that it was deathly white. He pried her hands apart and took one of her hands in his. Leaning towards her, he whispered, “Sweetheart, I’m here. Everything will be ok.” Sohyun turned and gazed at him. His face was calm and composed and he gave her a reassuring smile. Feeling more assured, she returned the smile and bravely faced the crowd.

“I regret that the news of our relationship is made known in such a manner. We’d wished we were able to share the joy of our love to our fans and families at a time and in a way, that is determined by us. We did not inform our fans earlier because we wanted to be secure in our relationship first.”

One reporter asked, “When did you both started dating? During the filming of Ruler?”

“To be honest, we are not certain when we started dating. After Ruler filming ended, we did not communicate although I must admit that I was very attracted to Sohyunnie. A couple of months later, I saw her photo on the internet and decided to message her, just to tell that she looked good. That’s how our chats after Ruler started. It was only occasionally. We met several times at Ruler’s dinners but we barely speak to each other during those dinners. We grew closer over the chats and finally met up together with our friends.  We only went out together on our own, on a drive, many months later. I can’t pinpoint exactly when we started dating, we just started to talk to each other more regularly and then started to see each other, initially as friends. We’ve never even been on a proper date in Seoul. The love I have for Sohyunnie developed as we grew closer over time,” Seung Ho explained.

Sohyun tooked the microphone from Seung Ho. “I’ve had a crush on Seung Ho-oppa for quite some time. And like him, I don’t know when exactly that crush turned into something more. But it did not matter when. I am in love with him,” Sohyun clearly stated as she smiled lovingly at him. Seung Ho smiled back at her.

“I would like to apologise to my fans for not informing the news directly to them. We wanted to, at a time we are ready. Unfortunately, this is now outside our control. Please continue to love and support us,” she continued.

CEO Man stopped the press conference at that point and they left. Seung Ho insisted on getting into the car with Sohyun since he wanted to make sure she was safely home. When he got in, he was surprised to find Sohyun’s mom in the car. Sohyun hugged her mom, who held her close. Seung Ho kept his eyes out of the window, giving them privacy. He felt Sohyun touched his hand and turned to look at her. With a smile, he clasped her hand reassuringly.

When they arrived at the apartment building, there were many reporters standing by. “Are the reporters allowed inside the building?” Seung Ho asked Manager Jung. “No, they are restricted to the lobby area,” he responded quickly. “Sohyun-ah, I send you to the lift. It should be ok once you get on the lift. We’ll talk later?” he said it gently and gave her a warm smile. Sohyun nodded. “Manager Jung, could you assist Mrs Kim please?” Seung Ho requested Manager Lee.
 

The moment they stepped out of the car, flashes of light and questions were directed at them with microphones being shoved at their faces. Seung Ho firmly held Sohyun in his arms, protecting her from the reporters and guided her to the lift lobby. When Mrs Kim, Manager Jung and Sohyun got onto the lift, Seung Ho took a step back to get out of the lift. However, Sohyun continued to clutch onto his hands, her teary eyes pleading with him not to leave her alone. Mrs Kim tried to pull her inside but she still held onto him. Seung Ho took a step back into the lift, put her hand on his lips and told her softly that it would be ok and he would wait for her call. He then slowly removed her hands and he stepped out of the lift. The moment the lift closed, his face hardened and he walked past the reporters and straight to his car that was waiting for him further back. They drove away without a single glance towards the reporters.

“Hyung, I think I go home to my parents’ place. I don’t want any reporter to know I have a house in Seoul,” Seung Ho commented. Manager Lee nodded as they were conscious of being followed. Seung Ho looked out of the window as his mind thought of what had transpired in the last 24 hours. Sohyun’s face, b with tears, pleading at him earlier flashed across his mind and it pierced his heart. He gasped at the sudden pain in his chest and he took a deep breath. Manager Lee glanced at him, “Are you ok?” He grimaced but kept silent.

“You know, CEO Kim, may be pushy but he generally trusted you to handle yourself. But CEO Man is different. It could be because Sohyun is young. He is taking a hard stance on this. Sohyun-ssi may have a hard time,” Manager Lee mentioned. Seung Ho nodded, but did not respond as he had expected it from CEO Man. His concern was on Sohyun, how to ensure she was least hurt by everyone, including himself. “When does CEO Kim want to meet me?” Seung Ho asked. “He wants to give it a day or two and see how it pans out before deciding what actions, if any that needs to be made. He will have to hear from CEO Man too. He will let you know when the meeting will be,” Manager Lee responded.

No one was home when he arrived. He went to his room and lay down on the bed and stared into space. He was still unmoved half an hour later when his mom came home and found him in his room. Sitting at the side of the bed, she touched his face lightly, “Adeul, are you ok?” He held his mom’s hand and leaned into it.  Forced a smile on his face, Seung Ho tried to even out his rapid breathing before looking at his mom. “Talk to me,” his mom’s gentle words calmed him. “I’m ok mom. I’m just worried for Sohyunnie,” Seung Ho said calmly. His mom used her other hand to brush his fringe from his forehead. “Have faith. It’ll be ok,” she reassured him.

That night, when they spoke, both were subdued. Sohyun’s mom was worried for her and the negative impact on her career. “Will we be ok, Oppa?” Sohyun asked quietly. “We’ll be fine. We need to let the news died down first. Sweetheart, this means we can go out for dinner