He stood with PD Lee watching the playback clips of the scenes they just did. Pdnim clapped him in the shoulders, grinning delightedly at the way the stars scene turned out. They had various angles taken and Pd couldn’t wait to get to the editing room to put these together.

“Good job, Hyung Sik-kie, Bo Young-ie, everybody!” he said, bowing and clapping his hands in appreciation.

He turned to Hyung Sik, “Did you learn all this is the army?”

“Some, but I’ve always liked stars and learning about astronomy, too.”

“Get some rest tonight. Did we get the OST already? I was hoping you can sing parts of it for the next scene, that’s why I didn’t film that yet.”

“I haven’t heard back. I guess I can always do old ballads. It’s only short cut scenes, right?” Hyung Sik said, looking up songs on his phone.

“Do you have any favorite ballads, Bo Young-ie?” Pd Lee said, catching hold of Bo Young just as she was walking past.

“Oh. I’m good with whatever you decide; there’s so many beautiful ballads out there.” She answered. “Whatever Hyung Sik wants to sing is fine.”

“You are both off tomorrow so try and come up with something by Friday when we film. Make sure you pick a few ones; we’ll shoot multiples and see how it goes.” Pd Lee said as he walked away.

“I didn’t know…are we meeting tomorrow?” she asked Hyung Sik, who is still going through his phone, searching through his play list.

“I wasn’t planning on it, but it makes sense, I suppose. Unless you have other things to do.”

“N-no, I was planning on just resting and doing my vlive. You?”

“No, no plans. I’ll just text you some song choices. And if there’s time, maybe we can rehearse.”

“Very well…You…You did really well on that scene, Hyung Sik-kie…”

He didn’t miss her switch to banmal, which she did subconsciously, but he didn’t draw attention to it either.

He had met up with his F4 friends last night. He had joined them at the Southside Parlor in Itaewon-dong around 8pm. He was never a big drinker but his alcohol tolerance had improved greatly after his army stint. He joined them in celebrating Daul’s birthday. They had wings and beers and shots. He had some whiskey ginger shots with the guys and generally had a great time.

They had sat down after a while, once the initial rambunctiousness of close friends catching up had settled down. He’s known these guys from childhood and have remained close, even with their paths going on different trajectories.

“How’s the filming going, Hyung Sik-kah?,” F1 friend asked. F1 is the more vocal one; the one who’s closest to Hyung Sik, and the one normally getting plenty of attention for posting about his famous friend in his Instagram account.

Hyung Sik draped an arm around his friend chummily. “Good, it’s all good. It should be out in another month of so.”

“Ah, it’s pre-produced again? Who are the rest you casted with?” F2 friend joining in the conversation; he took the seat on the other side of Hyung Sik. He gestured at the waiter to bring another round of drinks.

“Choi Min Shik sunbaenim is there in the beginning, and Jung Hae In Hyung  who plays my sergeant. Kim Hye Jo sunbaenim just guested…” and he named a few more others. They passed around piggy chips, the bar’s famous appetizer of pulled pork on homemade potato chips dressed southwestern style. There were spicy chili wings, and mini tacos also.

“Who’s the lead actress?” F2 piped up, spooning up some food onto his plate. He's obviously not current on certain events.

“It’s, um, it’s Park Bo Young,” he said, taking a big draught of his drink.

F2 choked on his chips, and Daul had to slap his back a couple of times. F1 was nonplussed, since he knew this from all the social media news circulating; he just raised his eyebrows and waited for Hyung Sik to say more.

His friends knew he and Bo Young dated a long time ago. Because, she was, in fact, there in his first ever solo fan meet, the same one which they attended as Hyung Sik’s special guests. His agency snuck her in and hid her in the sound booth, where she could watch in relative secrecy. No one was the wiser that Hyung Sik had an unnamed guest within the venue, watching the whole fan meet via the monitors, coffee in hand. The guys were encamped in the same sound booth waiting on their turn to appear on stage, so they all got to talking and enjoying Hyung Sik's singing and Siwan's teasing. Later, they all went to an after party once the fan meet was over. Only a few pictures of him and his friends were posted; the rest of the pictures, he was conspicuously absent. But he was there celebrating his successful solo fan meet, albeit in the corner with Bo Young where she kept herself out of the line of sight of anybody’s camera. They were quite inseparable those days still.

“What are you all gaping about?” He said looking at his friends. “We’re doing all right.”

F1 friend looked at him askance but F2 friend was more abrupt, “Have you reconciled?... Oww!” he grimaced after getting a kick under the table from someone.

“I told you, we’re fine. We’re talking. We’re just colleagues again, that’s all.”

“All rightie," F1 friend said, clearly unconvinced. He knew a little more than the others the state Hyung Sik was in, during the early stages of the break up. Not only that but he is working in a company whose parent institution is a big financial conglomerate. Who also happened to be the corporation that stepped up during the scandal involving Bo Young’s CEO. This major corporation was helpful in pushing forward the suit against the offending party and had truly been responsible in proving and exonerating Bo Young from any culpability. So though F1 friend was not directly involved, he knew what Bo Young went through when all this went down while Hyung Sik was already encamped in the military.

Hyung Sik went on to change the subject, clearly not wanting to delve into the topic much longer. His friends knew him well enough to leave him be and respected his privacy. They partied until the wee hours of the night.

He wasn't exactly hungover, but he did sleep in and didn't get up till midday. Today he planned to relax. So he fired up his computer and checked his messages, returned a few emails back. He made a sandwich, which he ate in front of his computer while he played a bunch of games.

Once that got tiring, he lurked around various social media sites. He chuckled a bit seeing F1 friend's post. What others would think was an innocuous picture, showing only their hands toasting with their drinks, his sharp eagle-eyed fans easily guessed his presence, even without him being tagged. The picture has already circulated everywhere and been reposted, tweeted, you name it. He smiled and shook his head in fascination.

His eye caught a post that Bo Young’s vlive is currently broadcasting. Impressively, there are still quite a bit of their shippers around, likely the staunchiest ones, even after all these years, holding onto the hope for them both still. Now that they’ve been paired up again, he could see the “dormant” ones resurfacing again, their usernames familiar from way back then.

He debated whether to click on the vlive link. He went ahead before he decided to change his mind. Just curious what she’ll talk about, he thought. He logged under a pseudonym to access the vlive.

A new window screen popped up and there she is, long into her broadcast. Here in his darkened room, away from others’ prying eyes, he gazed his fill of her.

She had her hair down; her face looking tender, as if she herself just woke up too. She's talking about putting filters on again because she is too tired looking for a proper broadcast. He itched to type a message telling her she's beautiful. He clenched his hands and moved them off the keyboard.

Some fans were commenting and asking about her new drama, but mostly the comments were full of emojis of hearts, kisses, "i love yous".

She talked about a fan's letter whose sentiments she cherished, so she wanted to share these with everybody. It was full of encouraging words and she was truly touched by them. She then promised to continue working hard to be the person her fans can be proud of. 

A few fans commented something about Dong Sung Mee, a popular korean actor on the rise. He didn't catch the gist of the comment, the posts scrolling way too fast for him, but he knew enough that she worked with the actor briefly in one of her short promo films. 

Are they being 'shipped? he wondered. He kept an eye on her vlive while he googled for more information.

Bo Young herself answered that she hasn't been with the actor after their films had completed and the last time she's seen him was on an award they jointly attended.

Hyung Sik's brows knitted at this, irritation on his face; he saw there were fans who seem to promote Bo Young and Sung Mee's pairing. 

He decided to post a comment, "Are you feeling happy today?" and his heart thudded waiting to see if she would reply.

She caught a few comments, and maybe saw his in passing because she started talking about being busy, their drama being a romantic melodrama so her mood is somber lately. But that her fans shouldn't worry. She promised to take good care of herself.

He was pleased to see a fans mentioning his name; a trace of smile ghosting on his lips, for these fans are obviously shippers, and he waited for her reaction.

But she only mentioned casually that he is also working hard in the drama.

She went on to put a few contemporary songs she's listening to, and hummed along with them. Before long, her time of broadcast was almost over. Her parting words changed from how he used to remember them. She wished all her fans to be well and to take care, and keep warm now that the weather is getting colder. She also said that we should all do our best to move forward, for our own enrichment and wellness, not just in body but in mind and spirit; that things will be ok and things will work out. 

She kissed her fingers and held it to the monitor as she signed off.

Hyung Sik drew a deep breath. Eyes still on his computer monitor, even though the screen has gone dark. His mind and heart still at war and confused. And for once in his life he is unsure how to proceed. He refused to contemplate his feelings right now. The hurt he is feeling is still deeply embedded. But he could not help himself remembering how her past vlives were. He reached over to hit replay.

[Flashback]

.

Bo Young was almost done. She had gone on the roof of her parent's house that evening to do her broadcast. She was hoping to show her fans the star lit skies in the countryside, but the evening was cloudy and overcast. She heard a noise and looked up to see Hyung Sik opening the door to join her on the roof. He had held his finger to his lips to mouth "sshh" when the door made a noise, and she was hard-pressed to concentrate after that, seeing him there. He just stood, hands looped on his pants pocket and leaned back on the wall far enough from where she was and just stared at her. She felt distracted and could not keep glancing where he was. 

She had come to visit her family with the intention of staying over, but Hyung Sik called to let her know at the last minute of being free from his engagement and could join them.  But he needed to drive back to the city after dinner for another engagement in the morning. So she decided to go back with him. He had been so busy; she hasn't seen him for days.

He moved from standing by the wall to sit on the hammock, not once breaking eye contact with her.

"Will it be okay if I become your star? Let's become each other's star," she smiled shyly, glancing at him, knowing he knew she meant the message for him, as she ended her broadcast.

She finally signed off, unable to contain her happiness, of having him here with her.

She walked to finally join him on the hammock. 

"Come here," he whispered, holding his hand out to her. She moved to lie down next to him, nuzzling comfortably in his arms.

"I thought you said you'd wait for me downstairs until I was done. Weren't you watching me downstairs?" 

"Yes, I was. I know I promised I would stay downstairs but I missed you. I was listening to your playlist and I just couldn't wait for you. I like the songs you picked." He started humming a few bars to her delight.

"I missed you too." Her voice was muffled in his chest.

They were shrouded in shadows. The rooftop was fairly dark, and only a small lightbulb from the doorway was giving out a faint light. He had his side to face her, keeping her head cradled in the crook of his arm. His eyes roamed her face, as if committing her to memory in his mind and gazed his fill of her, until she reached up to pull him down. Their kiss was gentle at first; a tasting, a nibbling, until her arms wrapped themselves around his neck to bring him close. Only then he let go of his restraints and took fully in his. Their kisses were passionate, scorching; full of promises of their love for each other.  And they lost themselves easily in their embrace.

She was breathless when she finally let him go.

"Let's go home," she whispered.