He eases himself into the leather seat, taking a breather from The Battleship Island production meeting. Filming is tough, but it is good to be back on familiar ground once again. No more romantic comedy dramas and no more comparison or what-so-ever. 

Do not get him wrong, he did have a good time filming Oh My Venus with Shin Min-a-ssi and enjoyed his time with her. But the thing is, once you have the best experience before, nothing else can ever live up to that experience anymore.

Glancing causally around him, the famous So Gan-ji merely raises a brow when he spots the newspaper across the meeting table.

“Poor Joong-ki,” shaking his head at the headline situation his young co-star Song Joong-ki has landed himself in recently.

The young starlet has gone ahead to traverse the road less travelled by dropping a marriage bomb on the media recently. The aftermath of that action was swift and painful with everyone breathing down their necks and trying to get Joong-ki to reveal more about his engagement and upcoming marriage with fellow Descendants of the Sun co-star Song Hye-kyo.

It is something that So Ji-sub will never ever do because as a senior Hallyu top star, he knows better than to bite the bullet like that.

“What’s poor about me? Oh that?” the mentioned starlet enters the scene just to hear Ji-sub’s mumbling and follows his glance only to see the infamous news article about him and Hye-kyo.

Snapping his head to the source of the sudden voice, So Ji-sub stares wordlessly at the smiling Joong-ki. That down-to-earth causal smile of that actor reminds him so much of her. Like Joong-ki, she is also known to be one of the most honest and earnest artistes in the Hallyu world. She is the someone whom So Ji-sub would believe to make the same announcement as Joong-ki if she has met the destined one.

“I know that it must have seemed foolish to all of you that I have done that, almost ruining my chance to be more popular. Hye-kyo had also tried to convince me otherwise, but I wanted to, because I didn’t want to have to hide anything. We all know that this industry has never been kind to the ladies, so if anything got out, it is those whom we love suffers the most. That's why as her man, her sworn protector, is something I would never stand for.”

Blinking his eyes at the long speech Joong-ki has delivered, Ji-sub tries to work his mind around the speech to defend his stand on silence, “but by saying it out, both of you still got hurt nevertheless.”

Joong-ki grins at the rare long reply he has gotten from his usually silent Seonbae, “But at the very least, we are in it together, all the hurt and happiness. It also helped when I made that decision to become the main person the media would go to for more details. It saves the media from harassing Hye-Kyo unnecessarily.”

“Is it worthwhile?” So Ji-sub wonders out loud, the thought of everyone breathing down his neck scares him terribly, “what if it didn’t work out at the end of the day?”

Replacing his easy-going grin with a thoughtful look, Joong-ki pauses to gather his thoughts for a moment before replying.

“It can be scary. But as long as I am certain that she’s the one, then everything is worthwhile,” Joong-ki replies seriously as he reveals an unknown side story to their fairy-tale romance, “she is the only one who could make me smile all the time and put me at ease even in a crowd. The way she understands me is unheard of and that sort of instant connection cannot be denied, even if it was difficult to convince her to take the leap of faith.”

Somehow, Joong-ki’s description of his feelings about his fiancée is sending shivers down Ji-sub’s spine, the sense of déjà vu is overwhelming. It is a description the older man can easily relate to.  

“Difficult?” Swallowing hard, Ji-sub tries to ignore the white elephant in the room and repeats Joong-ki’s one-word description of his fiancée instead, "how can Hye-kyo-ssi be difficult?".

Unlike him, Song Hye-kyo rose to fame as early as 2000s and is everybody’s favorite girl-next-door. Despite her top star status, she has always been seen as a gentle kind-hearted angel-like girl-next-door, someone whom he can never see as a difficult person.

“I was status zoned initially,” Joong-ki laughs heartedly at the surprised look from Ji-sub, “you may not know but Hye-kyo can be quite stubborn at times and she was very firm about not wanting to be in a noona-dongsaeng relationship. She had treated me like a cute little brother when we started working together during Descendants of the Sun. As actors and actresses, we all know about the unwritten rules on not falling in love with your co-stars and how the society views noona-dongsaeng relationship. But I knew she is different from the other females I have known, she is able to relate to me when nobody else could. That spark convinced me that everything is worthwhile, an intimate connection which no one else could offer me but her.”

“An intimate connection?” So Ji-sub whispers to himself with his mind racing to join the dots once again to a name he has tried to ignore for the past 4 years but fail badly each time. He hates how he would still pay attention to anyone who mentions her name. First, it was Jo In Sung who would share his experience of working with her on It’s Okay, That’s Love, giving him a full update of her after her dreadful accident, then there was Shin Min-a who would talk to him about her on a personal basis during Oh My Venus. Even his current movie The Battleship Island has a subtle link to her through their director, Ryoo Seung-wan, who is the older brother of her decade-long on-off ex-boyfriend, Ryoo Seung-bum. Sometimes, it feels as if he is never out of touch with her all these while.

“It was more than the passionate skinship and kisses on the screen,” Joong-ki tries to clarify as he sees how So Ji-sub’s eyes glazed over in the midst of his speech, “she broke down the many barriers which I had in placed and that opened my heart to her.”

“How… did you across the line she had so clearly drawn?” So Ji-sub questions the younger star earnestly, “how did you change her mind when she has so clearly said no to you?”

Surprised by his constant questioning, Song Joong-ki looks at his Seonbae carefully, trying to decode his unspoken question, “I tried to be more than she expected me to be by ignoring her words and take notice of her needs. Instead of listening to her verbally, I started caring for her more and showed her that even if she sees me only as a dongsaeng, I am ready to protect her.”

“She won’t like it if I brush her words off like that,” So Ji-sub comments with a slight smile, “she is too independent to be ignored at all.”

Song Joong-ki frowns lightly, he has a strange feeling that somewhere along the way in their conversation, they are not talking about the same person anymore, “perhaps, but that was the chemical reaction I needed to change her mind.”

“It’s not easy when you know that she is right and how she listed everything down just to make her points,” So Ji-sub counters with a shake of his head.

He can still remember the many discussions they had together on the set of Master’s Sun.

“I do envy those in a stable relationship just as anyone else would, but I know I am not ready to commit into another relationship anytime soon. The previous relationship was too long and tiring on my person, so I would like to get to know myself as a whole again and learn to love myself. For now, I will just entertain myself by falling in love with my co-stars in drama instead. It’s less messy and easier to fall out of love from when we end the drama and became out of touch.”

A simple No would have been more than enough for a rejection but when she reasons it out with more reasons, he can find no way to fight against her on it. He can feel the unmentioned in her words, she is far too jaded in love after that 10 years long relationship and is trying to protect herself now, how can he ever fight with her on that?

His Taeyong has chosen to hide from the world again, he can only watch her from far and still does till this day.

It is only a suspicion previously, but Song Joong-ki is almost certain that his Seonbae is referring to another woman instead. Someone similar to Song Hye-kyo in status, and most likely a former co-star of his Seonbae.

Shin Min-a-ssi? After all, she is his last co-star and So Ji-sub did not take on any more romantic comedy after Oh My Venus. But it is all too late now since Joong-ki has heard about her being with Kim Woo Bin now. Is it why Seonbae seems so sad?

“Let her know that is not a problem, women can be very sensitive about age” Song Joong-ki advises kindly considering the between So Ji-sub and Shin Min-a-ssi.

“? What ? A couple years of difference is nothing... I know I can convince her even when I am two years her senior despite how she insisted that she would prefer someone of the same age as her. I can offer her the attention and concern she deserves but never receives during her past relationships. But when she is saying No to falling in love again, it's the end of the story, there is nothing I can do to change her mind,” So Ji-sub butts in with a cynical smile, “how do you convince someone who refuses to give her heart away again after being burnt and used? How can I convince her that I am worthy of her trying again when she has already given up on the possibility of us?”

“I…” Song Joong-ki is taken aback by the cold hard truth coming from his Seonbae, there is no doubt in mind now that So Ji-sub is NOT referring to Shin Min- because they have an age difference of more than two years. The lady he is referring to is definitely somebody else with a story to tell, “I won’t do anything to convince her, I will show her instead with my action instead. I didn’t convince Hye-kyo to give me her heart, I gave her mine instead. It was her choice all along whether she would let me into her heart. It is our action that speaks louder than words, Seonbae.”

“And what if she never responded to your efforts to stay with her and gifts and hopped onto another romantic comedy shortly? All that waiting for her to finish filming and making efforts to chatting up her on set, were enough to hint to everyone else that I felt something different for her without saying it out loud. But she has chosen to turn a blind eye to them all on purpose,” So Ji-sub scoffs at Joong-ki’s fancy words, “claiming publicly that falling in and out of love in dramas is good enough an experience for her in her all natural trademark smile, cutting all ties between us in one move. She is truly one of the best actresses I have ever known in South Korea.”

Blinking wordlessly at So Ji-sub's spiteful words towards his lady, Song Joong-ki's mind tries to work out the identity of the object of his Seonbae's bitterness. Whoever this lucky lady is, she is the someone who has the marking of being a nonconformist, a wildcard, and a very clever free-spirited woman.

An actress who can fall in and out of love easily in a romantic comedy? There is only one actress who has openly admitted doing so as her method of acting. And the little fact that Seonbae had offered her his highest praise by publicly acknowledging her as one of the best actresses, there can be no one else but her.

Gong Hyo-jin-ssi, So Ji-sub seonbae-nim’s co-star in Master’s Sun, is the famous romantic comedy queen whom he admires as well. Someone who has sworn publicly that she will never get involved with her co-stars again despite media’s attempts to link her to former co-stars Ha Jung-woo and Jo In-sung. Someone who is always known to be true to herself regardless of the situation and lives life to the fullest regardless of other people's opinions. A rare nonconformist who lives by her own rules in their industry, but still manages to steal hearts with her cheerful personality.

The fact that the ever-popular actress manages to keep a long list of male and female best friends across age, is a living testimonial to her charming personality. The very kind of woman who will drive any potential suitor envy with jealousy because she is too approachable to everyone.

And as if it is not bad enough, the mentioned actress is one of the rare few who would openly acknowledge her relationship status and still manage to keep her former men as friends in life. A clear clean cut romance report card with men singing her praises even after breakups.  Everyone knew about her decade-long relationship with actor Ryoo Seung-bum and brief 3 months out of the blue hookup with model-turned-actor Lee Jin Wook.  

Now everything which Seonbae has mentioned earlier suddenly makes sense to him. Having experienced two extreme examples of relationships which is enough to cripple anyone’s confidence in love, it seems that their romantic comedy queen is now taking on a more wary view towards relationships.

“Seonbae, have you ever spoken to,” Joong-ki pauses to gather his courage, “Gong Hyo-jin-ssi about your thoughts instead of following all the rules laid down by her? Did your effort to reach out to her went beyond the drama, after the goodbyes? I had made it clear to Hye-kyo repeatedly that it wasn’t about lingering feeling between Yoo Si-jin and Kang Mo-yeon, it was about Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo instead. Filming can be confusing with actresses who use Meisner acting technique, and I heard that Gong Hyo-jin-ssi relies heavily on it to bring her characters to life. Perhaps it is why she felt the need to draw a line between reel and real.”

So Ji-sub falters in his action when Joong-ki mentions that forbidden name in his face, staggering backward, his mind is swirling with questions about how Joong-ki found out about her, “how?”

“I have watched Master’s Sun too,” Joong-ki smiles impishly at his shocked Seonbae, “ I am a fan too and the two of you were simply amazing in that drama. I was really amazed by your change of image in that drama and it was what that made me wish I could work with Hyo-jin-ssi. Looking at you, it seems that whatever they said about Hyo-jin-ssi being able to influence her co-stars is true. Which is also the reason why I once mentioned on National TV that I would love to act in a romantic comedy with her. For you and her, I would think that kind of rapport is not something that anyone can forget easily. Especially for someone who has invested her all emotions into the role.”

“Then why do I feel that I have been abandoned by her,” his voice fades off slowly as So Ji-sub tries to regroup his thoughts but his jealousy is obvious to Joong-ki anyway, “I felt forgotten by her almost immediately after our drama. How she skipped on to someone else immediately and even took up a drama with the ridiculous amount of kissing scenes... She could barely kiss me properly during our filming, but with In-sung, she could hardly stop kissing him.”

Snickering that the jealousy act put up by his usually cool and collected Seonbae, Joong-ki is now convinced that So Ji-sub felt more strongly about Gong Hyo-jin-ssi than he was willing to admit.

Unknown to the two lead actors, someone has entered the meeting room and is watching them with a smile, 'Seung-bum was right about them after all, something did happen between them during filming. For someone who takes acting seriously to the point of self-image destruction, it is rare for her to reject or cut short a scene. But she did that nevertheless in Master's Sun. It is obvious to anyone who had seen the behind the scenes footage when she was seriously contemplating about the director and her co-star's suggestion to deepen the kiss in that scene before rejecting it.'

For those who know her well, it is a clear sign that she is trying to avoid the heartfelt confrontation with herself and So Ji-sub-ssi by throwing herself into work and settling for the next thing that came along, instead of heeding her heart's calling.

Once bitten twice shy, they said. Apparently, what she went through with Seung-bum during their beginning years as new actor and actress and falling in love on set has scared her off more than they have realized. Beneath her happy-go-lucky mask, hides her disability to recognize and acknowledge love again.

Perhaps it is time to stop all their endless procrastination once and for all, to reach for that something that they have been denying themselves of for so long. With that thought in mind, the uninvited quiet observer decides to share his observation of her with his actors.

“Because you are dangerous to her, for the first time in her acting career there was no Seung-bum to guide her back to normalcy and she refused to be fooled again by the lingering emotions of a drama. What happened with Seung-bum was a one-off for her, when she was a newcomer and did not know how to differentiate reel and real. Since then she has sworn not to let reel take over her emotions again. Yet you confused her, scared her and forced her to run away,” Ryoo Seung-wan, their director cuts in suddenly, startling his actors.

“Hyo-jin may be all smiling and bubbly to all of you, but deep down she is a lot more sensitive and insecure than most people I know. With all the fussing from media about her relationship status after Seung-bum and her guiltiness about how other co-stars get pulled into the unnecessary limelight because of her, Hyo-jin often felt as though she is a puppet to the world. She was confused, lost and unhappy then. So when an opening came up to her, she has jumped at it foolishly much to our dismay. Not immediately, but when Lee Jin Wook-ssi approached her repeatedly during fashion shows, her doubts were formed. But before she could even consider exploring her possibilities with him, the news broke out of nowhere, she was trapped and was forced to admit what was brewing between them."

"You mean that Hyo-jin was set up?" So Ji-sub growls protectively and narrows his eyes at his director, "was it like what happened to Choi Ji-woo-ssi? There were talks about how she was being used to opening doors for his career through the grapevine."

Turning his attention to Ji-sub, Seung-wan looks on with a thoughtful expression at him before speaking again.

''We all have our doubts as well... and Hyo-jin won't say anything about it except that it was a mutual breakup... Despite her image as a confident woman and one who fights her own battles, Seung-bum also said that she is also one who needs to be coaxed and convinced repeatedly before taking a step into a relationship. Seung-bum was blankly ignored and brushed off repeatedly despite his confessions to her during several occasions until she finally got his message. The same could be said about Jin Wook-ssi as well, seeing how he set them up to meet repeatedly at many modeling showcases during that short period of time. They fought against her stubbornness before they got through to her, but you didn't. You left her to make the decision about the two of you and that gave her the necessary exit option for her to run away. So she did, by thinking that it's all the leftover emotional residue from being Tae Gong-shil.”

So Ji-sub sighs deeply as he agrees with Seung-wan, “I felt the same too. For the longest time after ending a drama, I was confused. Believing that Joo Joong-won never left me, despite my best effort to change my image, but I soon realized that it was her happy virus personality which I truly missed instead of Tae Gong-Shil. But just when I am considering to approach her... I heard her saying that she wanted to get to know herself again and learn to love herself, so I thought I was doing what she wanted, to give her time to recover from Seung-bum... only to witness her accepting Jin Wook-ssi... not knowing that I have lost her forever,” surprising Seung-wan and Joong-ki with his long heartfelt declaration.   

“Ji-sub-ssi, you are indeed a perfect gentleman,” Seung-wan laughs aloud, “but there are instances where being a gentleman won’t score you any point with a lady at all. Especially with Hyo-jin because no one has ever done that for her. Her relationships have always been clear-cut, a straight to the point heartfelt I like you confession, no bizarre mind games, no beating around the bush for her. Honesty is her one of her best traits and something she appreciates in others as well.”

Nodding in agreement, Joong-ki looks at Ji-sub with admiration, “Seonbae, I think it is amazing that you are thoughtful enough to consider so much for her. But there are somethings which women won’t get it if you don’t try to make a point strong enough. I know you don’t have the habit of asking anyone out, but sometimes for a miracle to happen, you need to do something to let her know.”

So Ji-sub rolls his eyes at the obvious mentioned by the two men, “what can I do now? It has been at least 4 years since I last got in touch with her!”

Grinning at each other, Seung-wan and Joong-ki smiled secretly at him, “you can always invite her to our movie premiere.”

“What if she rejects it?” It is strange but So Ji-sub is feeling nervous about their suggestion, “it would be embarrassing for both of us.”

“Seonbae, stop overthinking and just give us your phone,” A man of action, Song Joong-ki rather acts on it instead of allowing his Seonbae to think over it. Taking the phone from Ji-sub Seonbae-nim, the younger actor begins scrolling through the contact list excitedly.

However, to his great surprise, there is no Gong Hyo-jin recorded in his phonebook, “Seonbae, don’t you have Hyo-jin-ssi’s contact? Is that why you didn't approach her all these while?”

Refusing to be part of the harebrained scheme, So Ji-sub kept quiet, praying that Joong-ki will not find her number at all.

“Impossible, let me have a look, Joong-ki,” Ryoo Seung-wan eyes So Ji-sub thoughtfully before taking the phone out of Joong-ki’s hand, “knowing Ji-sub and his need for privacy, there is no way he would list Hyo-jin’s name in his phone. He must have a nickname for her instead.”

Palming his face, So Ji-sub's reaction to the director's words is a tell-tales confirmation for Joong-ki and Seung-wan, making them smirked at him knowingly.

Punching in the series of numbers he knew so well on the phone, Seung-wan finally found the one he is looking for. Now that he is looking at the name which Ji-sub has listed Hyo-jin under, it seems so painfully obvious to him.

“Taeyang,” Seung-wan reads out with a Cheshire grin, “so, she is still your Taeyang even now.”

“Seriously?” Joong-ki moves closer to take a peek at the phone and jokes with his director as Seung-wan composes a message to Hyo-jin using Ji-sub’s phone, “we must invite Taeyang-ssi to our gloomy movie premiere! With her around, Seonbae will definitely speak more at the premiere!”

“Done!” Seung-wan announces happily before tossing the phone back to So Ji-sub, “there’s no way Hyo-jin will reject our invitation. She is far too thoughtful to ignore a friend's invitation no matter how long you have lost touch.”

Curiously, Ji-sub reads the message which Seung-wan has sent out on his behalf, “Hyo-jin-ssi, both Seung-wan and I would like to invite you to The Battleship Island movie premiere on 20 July. We will be sending you an official invitation card soon. We hope that you will enjoy the movie!”

It is a simple invitation giving her no reason to reject either Ji-sub or Seung-wan, so none of them is surprised by her reply shortly.

“Thank you oppa for the invitation! I will be there! Looking forward to it!”

"Oppa, she still calls me oppa," finding himself grinning foolishly at her reply, So Ji-sub looks up to see Seung-wan and Joong-ki sending him an amused look and teasing him.

“Seonbae, making the first move isn’t that hard, right?” Song Joong-ki quipped playfully at him, earning him another shy smile from his bashful Seonbae.

'No, it is not hard, now that his Taeyang is finally on the en-route to his life again,' So Ji-sub thought to himself happily.

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AN: As you can see, I am itching to write something on So-Gong / Song-Song. But since I have once again arrived late on the scene, I decided to write an opening instead. It’s So-Gong with a hint of future in it. Hope you like it!