“Sandara-ssi, you should lower the edge of your hat a little more. Your face must be hidden,” Seunghyun ordered.

Dara mutters unclearly, hands the phone she held to Jiyong, then pulls down her red hat. “At this rate I can’t see anything myself,” she sighs. “Where’s your manager? Is he looking at us or something?”

She and Jiyong are in Jiyong’s car that is parked in the parking lot in front of the building where Seunghyun is working. It’s ten o’clock and the atmosphere in the parking lot is very quiet. Jiyong, wears a black hat and sunglasses, sits behind the wheel and Dara sits next to him. While Seunghyun watches them from somewhere. All communications are done by phone. They are ready to carry out the first phase of the plan.

Jiyong attaches his phone to his ear and says, “We can start.”

He closes his phone and looks at Dara who is tidying her braids. “We are out for about a minute,” he said shortly.

“So we just need to get out of the car, stylize for a while, and then go back to the car?” Dara asked to make sure.

Jiyong nods. He is silent, then, “Well, it looks like Hyung is ready with the camera. Let’s get out now.”

The two of them get out of the car and start walking side by side.

“Why are you so far?” asked Jiyong.

Dara turns and realizes Jiyong was commenting on the distance between the two of them that is too far away. “Why? I think it’s close enough.”

“People won’t believe I have a special relationship with you if you stand that far.”

Dara stops walking and turns around to face Jiyong. “I think it’s fine. We don’t need to hug for people to believe that we have a special relationship, right?”

Jiyong laughs shortly. “What’s fine? Your body is stiff and you walk like a robot.”

Dara remains silent.

Jiyong looks back at her, then says, “We have to do something.”

Dara is shocked when Jiyong steps closer to her. “What do you want?” She asked, but she is so nervous that she can’t move from where she is standing.

Jiyong stands right in front of her. Dara just realized how shorts she is compared to that man. Her head has to look up if she wants to see Jiyong’s face.

“Hey, Jiyong-ssi, what do you really want?” Dara asked once again after a while Jiyong just stands still without doing anything. She can’t see Jiyong’s expression clearly because the man is wearing sunglasses, but Dara can see the man’s lips forming a smile.

“Me? Just give a good pose for our photos,” he said casually, then he backs away.

Dara snorts softly. “Very funny.”

***

“The mission is complete,” Dara said when they were sitting back in the car. “Hhhh ... tired. It’s really a hard job.”

Jiyong smiles slightly at Dara’s joke. Apparently this girl can joke too. Jiyong is sure that Dara is actually a friendly person, even though the girl is stiff and keeps her distance, sometimes even tends to be cold. However this is only natural considering they aren’t very familiar with each other.

“I feel like I’m playing a movie,” Dara added. “Maybe I should just be an actress. What do you think?”

“Keep dreaming,” Jiyong said as he turns on the car’s engine.

At that moment a phone’s ringing. The two of them simultaneously search for their phones. The ringing turns out to be Jiyong’s phone.

“You should better replace your phone’s ringtone,” Dara grunted as she puts her phone back into her pants’ pocket.

“Why should I? You are the one who should change,” Jiyong said before answering the phone. “Yes, Hyung... Already?”

Suddenly Dara’s phone’s ringing too. Regardless of who is calling, Dara immediately answers the telephone. “Hello?”

Jiyong sees the girl sighing and takes off her red hat. Who is calling? His thoughts in his mind dissipate when he realizes Seunghyun repeatedly mentioned his name on the phone.

“Eh, what, Hyung? ... Oh, okay. See you tomorrow,” Jiyong said before ending the call.

“Me? Now? I’m outside,” Dara said casually.

Jiyong watches Dara’s eyebrows rise when the girl listens to the answer from the other person.

“I will be home soon. If there’s something you want to talk about, talk about it later. I’m busy now. Bye.” Dara immediately hangs up the phone.

“Who?” Jiyong asked casually.

Dara turns to him. “Friend,” said the girl shortly, then changes the subject. “Are we done now? What did ahjussi say?”

Jiyong looks at Dara with a frown. “Ahjussi?” He asked in surprise. “Why are you calling Seunghyun Hyung, ahjussi? He is not that old.”

Dara is just about to open to answer when Jiyong adds, “But it’s up to you. Just call him ‘ahjussi’ or whatever you like. Hyung won’t mind as long as you don’t call him ‘eonnie’.”

Dara takes a breath and clears “So what did ahjussi say?”

“He said maybe the day after tomorrow the photos will appear on the magazine,” said Jiyong. But then his next words seem to be addressed to himself, “Must be ready to face reporters again. But at least my reputation will return to the way it used to be.”

Jiyong turns and finds Dara staring at him with a strange look. “What? What’s wrong?”

“May I ask you something?” Dara asked rather doubtfully.

“What?”

“Actually... are you really gay or not?”

Jiyong takes off his glasses and looks at Dara irritably.

Without waiting for an answer, Dara waves his hand. “Oh, alright, I won’t ask again. You are gay or not is not my business either.”

***

As Seunghyun planned, on Monday morning their photos appears on the magazine. Dara just entered the lecture room when Park Bom runs towards her.

“Yah, Sandara Park!” shouted Bom in a thunderous voice.

Dara blinks in confusion, then after recovering from her shock, she grumbles, “I told you many times don’t call my full name like that. Just Dara. Is that too hard to say?”

“Whatever, it’s not an important issue right now. Look at this!” She waves the magazine right in front of Dara’s face.

“What’s this?” Dara asked. She has to take a step back so she can clearly see what her best friend wanted to show.

“Kwon Jiyong turns out to have a girlfriend!” This time Bom’s remarks is so loud that Dara jumps in surprise.

Dara looks at the magazine page and holds her breath. She reads the main title “KWON JIYONG AND GIRLFRIEND?” printed in large size. Under the title are three pictures of Kwon Jiyong with a woman. The photos are a bit blurry, but why does Dara feel like she looks so clear?

The first photo shows them both in the car. Jiyong is holding the steering wheel and turning towards her with a smile. Dara herself is also looking at the man with her head tilted so that her face is covered in her red hat. When did they pose like that? Dara herself doesn’t remember.

The second photo was taken when they walked together. The photo was taken slightly sideways so that Dara is somewhat covered by Jiyong’s body. Dara looks at the photo and frowns. As she recalls they didn’t stand that close, but maybe the angle caused them to look close.

The third photo is when Jiyong stands right in front of her and so close, Dara herself stands tall with her head looking up at him. Again, the photo’s angle makes the photo looks great and Dara’s face is rather hidden. Plus Kwon Jiyong is smiling in the photo. Inevitably Dara is amazed at Seunghyun. It turns out that Uncle is good at taking photos.

“Do you see? Have you seen?” Bom clearly looks annoyed and a bit hysterical. “It turns out that all this time Kwon Jiyong has a girlfriend. Who is she? Artist? You know, all the fans are in shock right now.”

Dara is rather relieved that Park Bom doesn’t realize that she is in the photo with Kwon Jiyong. She folds the magazine back and returns it to Bom, then says, “Why are you upset? Doesn’t this actually prove Kwon Jiyong is not gay?”

Bom is silent and weighs up. “But if you see him with another woman, it feels like my heart… oh,” she said with a pained face.

Dara laughs amused.

“But... maybe this girl is not his girlfriend,” Bom said suddenly.

“What makes you think that?”

“The case could be the same as your case at that time. Kwon Jiyong just drove you and there’s no relationship between you. After all, everyone knows that reporters like to exaggerate problems.”

Dara quickly turns around and finds her best friend looking at her confidently. “But I think it’s true. Even this article states that there’s also a source saying Kwon Jiyong really has a girlfriend. If you think about it, isn’t this a good thing? I mean, for fans like you, the most important thing is Kwon Jiyong is not gay and likes women.”

Since Bom’s disappointed expression hasn’t changed, Dara adds, “You also don’t need to be so depressed. Even if the woman in these photos is indeed his girlfriend, there’s still possibility that they will separate. Just pray for them to break up soon.”

“You can say like that because you aren’t his fan! I’m very curious about who she is.” Bom sighed. Suddenly she claps her hands and says excitedly, “But you’re right. It’s okay, it will soon to be dis