During 2012.

SHINee’s comeback with Sherlock. In between breaks during practice, Minho would call Hana and tell her how his day is. He frequently mentioned how tiring the choreography is and how tired they get. How Taemin fainted once because he kept practicing the dance. During that time, Hana’s group just finished their promotions. She had surprised Minho once when she visited SME and bought lunch for SHINee. That was also the time Hana met the famous ‘M1&M2’ as the netizens call them, the boys of EXO. A lot of them were surprised to see her in SME.

“C’mon…” Minho held Hana’s hand and led the way, walking on the hallways of SME. “I would like you to meet these guys.”

“Yah~” Hana stopped walking. “You know that we’re trying to minimize the people who know our relationship.”

They’ve talked about this before. Though Minho told her that it’s fine if the public will know about them, his reason why he doesn’t want to go for it is he’s afraid that the fans will grow furious, and Hana felt like she would ruin Minho’s career is they went public. She saw how it went with Jonghyun; he lost some of his fans when he went public with Sekyung.

“Hana… you went as far as going here in SME. There are fans outside.” Minho said in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone.

Hana pouted and she let Minho drag her. “Manager oppa let me use the back door, though.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

… In the end, the EXO boys formally met Hana as Minho’s girlfriend.

--------------------

“I heard that you’re doing gymnastics.” Minho asked Hana when she put her seatbelt on. He just picked her up at CUBE. “Why is that?” He eyed her before starting the engine.

Hana looked at him innocently. “Nothing in particular. Why?” Then she went back on looking at her fingers.

“Really?” Minho was still staring at her.

“Really.” She responded.

“Just making sure.”

--------------------

Seoul National University Hospital. Hana was doing floor exercises and tumbling when something heavy fell. It shocked her and forgot to keep her balance so she ended up at the hospital.

“What went on your mind? Your comeback will be in two months. How can you prepare? Tell me?!” Hana was keeping her head bowed while their manager scolds her. Apparently, her ankle was swelling and the doctor who examined it told them it was a grade II sprain.

“Oppa, mianhe…” Hana apologized.

“This kid… Aish…” Their manager hissed. “If this is the case, you’ll be like Minho too during their Lucifer promotions.”

“Eh?” Hana asked.

“Dancing is banned, gymnastics is banned, and exercising is banned to you until further instructed by the doctor. Only therapist will be allowed to move you feet; and the audition that you are preparing for… I don’t think that you can partake on it. But the script came today…” Their manager pulled out an envelope from his bag. “I’ll leave you here first, your Yejin eonni will be here shortly.”

After their manager left, Hana opened the envelope to find a script. “Hmm… Seol Han Na? We almost had the same name. But she will be the third wheel here.” Still, she read the script and sighed when she accepted finally that she can’t participate in the auditions.

Visiting time will be over soon and her members were still at the hospital. “You still have practice tomorrow. Why don’t you go and rest already?”

“We are leaving even if you don’t shoo us.” Heerin told her slinging her bag on her shoulder.

“Okay, goodnight Ms. Accident Prone. Get well soon.” Mina bid her goodbye and she was alone after they left.”

Hana lay down on the bed, still wide awake when she remembered Minho ‘Ah, did they tell him? I’m doomed if he found out that I was doing gymnastics to audition in his drama. Phone!’ She looked for in on the side table but to her dismay, it was nowhere to be found. She can’t leave the bed because there were no crutches and her left leg was in a cast. Still she kept looking for it in her bed when the door burst open.

Her eyes widened upon seeing Minho in the doorstep waving her phone in his hand. “Looking for this?”

Hana didn’t utter a word, but she nodded in response.

Minho closed the door and walked towards her, sitting on her bed, beside her. “I ran into manager hyung downstairs and he gave me this.” He handed it to her.

“Thank you.” Hana muttered and placed it on the side table. “How did you know I was here?” She asked him.

Minho chuckled, grinning at her and tucking her hair behind her ear. “I was on a meeting today with the staffs of the drama. When it ended, I heard one of the heads listing out the artists that will be auditioning for each part, and surprisingly, I heard your name.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Then I called you and manager hyung answered the call. I thought you have a schedule today, and then he told me what happened to you.”

“I’m sorry…” Hana apologized again, twiddling with her fingers.

Minho smiled warmly. “For?” He held her chin up so he can see her eyes. “I knew you were up to something when you started doing gymnastics. I just didn’t know that you’re preparing for this.” He kissed her forehead. “You know… Seol Han Na is obsessed with me in the drama.” He winks making Hana laugh wantonly.

“You love yourself too much Mr. Choi.” Hana mockingly push him away.

--------------------

A few weeks after Hana went out of the hospital, the internet was flooded with blind item pictures of dating idols, and all were blurred. Out of seven pictures, Hana was sure that four of them were she and Minho.

Hana called him immediately. “Where are you?” She asked the moment Minho answered the phone.

…

Minho on the other side was at the parking lot of their dorm, fishing out for his car key. “I’m still in the building premise of the dorm. Why?”

…

The rest of the girls at Hana’s dorm were hovering over the laptop resting on the coffee table. “Have you seen the news on the internet?”

…

Minho got inside and started the engine. “Uh-hmm…” He replied nodding to himself. “All those blurred pictures of dating idols? I’ll be there in about ten or fifteen minutes, okay? It depends on the Seoul traffic.” He hissed when he sees that there are still quite a number of car on the streets despite the time since it’s almost midnight. Since Hana came back to their dorm, Minho just visits there since Hana is still in her cast.

…

“Then why are you still going here? Minho, with all those pictures in the internet, people will start to hunt down for couples.”

…

“You’re saying?” Minho’s mood turned heavy as he pulled on the corner of the road. “You don’t want to see me?”

…

Hana sighed heavily at the other line. “Minho, it’s not that. You know how much I want to see you right now. But we have to be careful.”

…

“Of what?! You know that I don’t really care if people will find out about us.” Minho became furious. Hana was about to respond but Minho cut her off. “Or maybe… you don’t want them to know. Are you ashamed?”

…

Hana heard Minho sounded hurt. “There you go again. Why are you thinking that way? You know that I was just thinking about your car–”

“I’m going back to the dorm. I’ll just call you later.” Hana wasn’t able to finish her sentence because Minho cut her off for the second time.

“Minho…”

*beep*

Call ended.

With the help of her crutches, Hana went back to her room, leaving the other girls still looking at the article on the internet.

--------------------

“Oh! Back so soon?” Key asked Minho just as he saw her in their door.

Minho didn’t answer; instead, he went straightly to the living room where everyone is. Taemin was playing games while Jonghyun and Onew were busy with the computers. Key just came in right behind Minho.

“Back so soon?” Jonghyun asked the same question when he saw Minho back in their dorm. “It’s been… what? Ten minutes?”

“Wait…” Onew buts in. “Don’t tell me that it’s about that article on the internet?”

“Exactly.” Minho sighed and sat on the couch. “She knows that I don’t care if we date in public, but… I don’t know. Sometimes, I feel like she’s ashamed to be even near me.”

“Why would you think that way?” Key asked. Jonghyun on the other hand just weakly smiled.

“Remember that time when we sat next to each other on the plane? We were headed to the Hallyu Concert overseas. When we arrived at the airport, she immediately went with Hyemi and Mina acting like she doesn’t know me.”

Jonghyun stood up and stretched his arms, walking towards Minho patting his shoulder. “Trust me. She’s doing it for your own good. I’m going to sleep.”

…

Minho had changed his clothes and went back to the living room to play Xbox with Taemin. “Minho hyung, you’re phone is ringing non-stop. You might want to answer the call. I think its Hana noona.” Taemin said looking at the table across them.

Minho stood up to pick his phone, rejecting Hana’s call. He went to his room and left his phone there, closing the door in the process. “Let’s have one game of soccer before sleeping.” He suggested and Taemin just nodded.

In the kitchen, Minho heard Key talking on the phone. “Stubborn as always, nothing new.” Minho suspects him to be talking with Heerin. “It’s good to hear that she’s getting better. Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow. Goodnight.”

Key walks in the living room to find Taemin and Minho playing, and Minho actually having fun playing soccer on Xbox. Key just shook his head and heads for his room, when he heard something from Minho’s room. It was Hana’s solo song. Minho’s ringing tone when Hana is calling. He turns back to the playing kids. “Very mature, Minho. Next time, try turning your phone off. It will be easier for Hana to give up calling you.”

…

Before going to sleep, Minho checked his phone to see…

17 Missed Calls

Love <3

2 New Messages

Open.

From Love <3

Minho, I am sorry if you think that 

I don’t want the public to know about us 

is because I don’t love you much. It’s not that. 

I’m afraid that I’ll ruin your career if your fans 

will find out that you and I are officially dating. 

I saw it with Jonghyun oppa. I don’t want the same 

thing to happen to you. You worked so much for 

where you are now. I will not ruin everything for you

with just a big issue. No. Please don’t doubt my love for you. 

Please. I love you and you know that. I don’t want to fight.

From Love <3

Your filming for the drama will be the day after tomorrow. 

Be sure to sleep early before that, okay? Good night. I love you. 

…

It’s 2:00 AM and Minho dialed Hana’s number hoping for her to be still awake.

“I’m sorry.” Minho was taken aback when Hana answered his call with an apology. “Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to say it that way.” He heard her sobbing.

“I love you. Don’t cry. Please don’t cry.” Minho soothed.

“You’re not mad anymore?” He heard a bit of brightness in her voice which made him smile.

“I wasn’t mad. I was hurt. I thought you’re ashamed to let the public know that you and I are dating.”

“Of course not! Don’t say things like that. You’re SHINee’s rapper, Choi Minho. Who am I compared to you?” Hana told him. “I’m hurt. It seems like you doubt my love for you.”

“No I’m not. Quit saying stuffs like doubting and all and stop calculating popularity. When you met me, I’m just Choi Minho, and I just met a random Hwang Hana. Okay?”

“Hmm…”

“You should rest. It’s not good for you.”

“You should sleep too.”

“Good night, love. I love you.”

“Good night, love. I love you more.”

“No. I love you most. Good night.” He heard her giggle on the other line. “Hang up first.”

“Okay. I love you.”

*beep*

…

Outside, Onew was passing Minho’s room when he heard him talking.

“You should rest. It’s not good for you.”

“Good night, love. I love you.”

“No. I love you most. Good night. Hang up first.”

Onew sighed, chuckling. “What a really greasy guy.”

--------------------

After being inactive for [i-don't-know-how-long] 

I'm finally back with a continuation on this Valentine's Day special.

This is not done yet though... ^^ 

Enjoy reading. :))