Ji-Hyun jerked awake. 

 

“Wah? Ummm… Are we there yet?” she asked.

 

“No. The traffic is still pretty bad. What were you dreaming about?” her manager asked. “You kept mumbling while you were sleeping.”

 

“I was… I was a secret agent…” Ji-hyun felt a bit embarrassed about her dream. It had felt so real but she had to admit it was wish fulfilment rather than anything else. “It was… I… I’m sorry if I disturbed you.”

 

“I’m just a little dumbfounded that you could fall asleep while we were listening to the radio and with all of the construction noise outside.”

 

Ji-hyun pulled at her seatbelt. It had been a good dream she decided… wish fulfilment but a good dream. She had gotten to play the hero, save Oppa, and… well, a dream was a dream.

 

“Manager-nim… do you think I could get out and walk the rest of the way?”

 

“Do you want to? Really?”

 

“Yes. I’m thirsty too… Oh, but that would mean leaving you here… I’ll stay.” 

 

They were stuck in traffic for another half hour so that by the time they got to the set they were over an hour behind schedule. Ji-hyun was very apologetic but the photographer was still on his way so that it wasn’t the possible disaster it could have been. Ji-hyun changed into the first outfit she was supposed to wear. It was a beautiful red turtleneck dress that fit like a glove down to mid-shin. The stylist, a big Shinee fan, was happy to gossip about various idol singers while she styled Ji-hyun’s hair. Despite only just reaching her shoulders, her hair looked wonderfully fluffy and windblown. Her make-up was warm and smokey. She was given some very delicate glass bracelets. But the final and, in Ji-hyun’s mind, best accessory was a beautiful tortoiseshell cat.

 

“Mi-mi will be with you today,” the animal handler explained. The PD hovered nearby and outlined the concept to Ji-hyun.

 

“Nam Ji-hyun-ssi. The concept behind this collection is y/comfort. That the wearer feels y but also super comfortable. The designer is a huge fan of yours and is very eager to work with you.”

 

Ji-hyun smiled. The designer was young and they had met by chance. It had surprised her to be tapped as the brand's first ambassador but she was excited about the opportunity. She still had to finish off her last semester of school but this CF felt like the right thing to do. Helping support another young artist was important to Ji-hyun.

 

“I look forward to showing off the clothes to the best of my ability," she said.

 

The photographer arrived just as the PD started to get anxious. The young man was European, which surprised Ji-hyun, but his Korean was excellent. It turned out that his girlfriend was the designer and they had met while studying in Paris. Ji-hyun felt little hearts glimmer in front of her eyes. She loved hearing about how couples met and fell in love. Of course her own story with Oppa was very romantic but to meet someone from a completely different part of the world!

 

It didn’t take long to take the first round of pictures. Before she knew it, Ji-hyun was changing into the final outfit. This was her favourite because it fit closest to her own, personal style. It was a figure-hugging, olive green, silk camisole dress that ended mid-thigh and then a thin, white t-shirt dress layered on top. Because you could see through the t-shirt to the green layer below the supposed casual look was transformed into something almost boudoir-esque. She stood in front of the mirror and fell in love with the outfit. It was just the sort of thing that she would want to wear on a date with Oppa. She would need to find out when she could buy it from the designer. 

 

On the set, Ji-hyun puffed out her cheeks and looked around while the PD’s assistants moved things around on the set. She contemplated the rest of her day. Once she was done here she could call Oppa and see if he had any free time. Since “Melt with Me” had started airing he had more time to hang out but they still hadn’t felt brave enough to go out on a proper date. One of the reasons was that with all of the celebrity gossip effecting various shows ratings they’d agreed that going for a public date would be disrespectful to the cast and crew of his drama. In fact, the most public they had been was during the filming of “What is My Line?”. But that was ok since it was about currently airing dramas where she knew the other actors. And other than Jung So-min, Won Jin-ah, and now Kim Soo-hyun, no one on the variety show had known they were dating. Still, she wanted to go for patbingsu with him or go for short trips to eat delicious foods. 

 

“Ji-hyun-ssi? Are you ready?” the PD asked.

 

“Hmm? Yes.”

 

She focused on the job. When the photographer and PD decided that they had enough to work with, Ji-hyun applauded the staff and thanked everyone for their hard work. She went back to the changing room and put on her own clothes again. The stylist sighed as they packed up the beautiful clothes.

 

“Ah! Ji-hyun-ssi!” the photographer called out, “Sorry. I meant to let you know. All of the clothes from the shoot, Ha-na wants you to have them as a thank you for all of your hard work. She was truly disappointed that she couldn’t be here today and thank you herself. I hope that is ok.”

 

“What! No. That is so kind of her.”

 

“We are huge fans. “Suspicious Partner” was the first drama I watched so I will always have fond memories… Umm… do you keep in touch with Ji Chang-wook?”

 

Ji-hyun thought he sounded a bit embarrassed by his question.

 

“Orabeoni and I still keep in touch. In fact, we are going to be in a variety show. It airs next week,” she grinned.

 

“Oh! Wow. I will look forward to watching it!”

 

“Please do. Thank you for your hard work.”

 

“You too. Thank you for your hard work Ji-hyun-ssi.”

 

They bowed to each other. Ji-hyun just about managed to stop herself from doing a happy dance right there and then. Those beautiful clothes were hers! People still thought about “Suspicious Partner”! She plopped herself into the backseat of the van with a huge grin on her face.

 

“Ji-hyun.”

 

“Yes, manager-nim?” 

 

“Where do you want to go? Shall we get something to drink?”

 

“Way!” She shouted in excitement. “Let’s GO!!! Go! Go! Go!”

 

“Ok. What do you want?”

 

“Hmmm… bubble tea?”

 

“Ok. Find a place and we will go there.”

 

Ji-hyun pulled up her phone and scrolled through her phone. Her already chipper mood received another lift when she saw that a new bubble tea cafe had just opened in a particular part of town that just happened to be near Oppa’s company. She sent him a quick text inviting him for drinks under the disguise of him going to a meeting at his company. Luck was with her and he was at the office already. 

 

“Manager-nim… We need to go by Glorious… Oppa also wants a drink.”

 

“Ji-hyun. I have a deal with your parents and the Boss not to drop you off near there in the van. I’m sorry…”

 

“Then…”

 

“I’ll drop you off somewhere else… is that ok?”

 

“Yes. Thank you!”

 

Her manager rolled his eyes. Since Ji-hyun and Chang-wook had started secretly dating, the two companies and families had been very careful with how they allowed their two love birds to meet. Since there were always fans hanging around both of their companies with hopes of seeing their favourite celebrity, Ji-hyun and Chang-wook had to be very careful about showing their faces within a kilometre of either headquarters. Ji-hyun, however, was a little reckless. So far she hadn’t met up with Oppa anywhere near his company but today she was full of happiness and she didn’t consider it too much of a risk because, after all, it was a Wednesday—her lucky day.

 

“She took the three bags of clothes that she had been given and climbed out of the van. She waved as her manager drove off. The bubble-tea cafe was styled with sawn pine and linen upholstery. She ordered for herself and Oppa and settled into a booth on the mezzanine that overlooked the main floor of the cafe. She watched out for Chang-wook, who eventually slipped inside and up the stairs. He put a sign at the top of the stairs that read: Private do not enter.

 

“Oh. What is that?” she asked.

 

“Ha. This is a new business! The boss decided he wanted a really good coffee place near the office. Plus we can close off this section for private out of the office meetings. I should have told you. But clever girl knew to sneak up anyway!”

 

“Oppa! That is brilliant.”

 

They sipped their drinks and talked about what they had been doing that day. Ji-hyun explained about her new CF and showed him some of the pictures she had taken. She had a double intention for this. One, of course, was to show him her work because he was very good at giving her feedback, especially with photoshoots. The second was to use the photos to convince him to ask her on a proper date. She didn’t show him her favourite dress because she wanted to keep that one as a surprise.

 

“You look beautiful. I think next time you can maybe look over your shoulder more?”

 

“Oppa, you should have been a model,” she teased.

 

“No. I’m not very good,” he demurred. “So. Do you think you would be free for a date soon? I know you have all of your schoolwork…”

 

“I would love to go on a date!” she jumped in. “Are you free…”

 

“On Saturday? I think there is a place we can go for a quiet dinner. No one would even to think to look for us…”

 

“Oooo! Where did you have in mind? Saturday? Yes. I’ll make sure that I’m free.”

 

“I’ll pick you up then. I need to go back now.”

 

“Already?”

 

“Sorry Jiji.”

 

“No, it’s ok.”

 

“I’ll call you a taxi.”

 

Ji-hyun was disappointed when the taxi arrived almost immediately. She plodded down the stairs after Oppa, who was carrying her bags for her. He loaded them into the boot and waved her off. Ji-hyun skimmed her messages on the ride back to her parents' apartment. She was surprised to see several messages from friends on Kakao. They all asked her where she had been shopping… Ji-hyun opened instagram and a picture was circulating of her with Oppa loading her bags into the taxi. Luckily no one had connected her with the woman in the photograph and most people were assuming that he was just helping a member of staff since the photographs were taken outside of his company. However, the label of the brand was clearly visible and real-time searches for the brand were skyrocketing. 

 

It is a women’s clothing brand!

 

Ooooo! Who is the woman? Just a stylist right?

 

OpppAAA!!! WHO IS SHE???

 

I wonder who the clothes are for? 

 

Does he have a girlfriend?

 

OMO those clothes are so pretty. I want to buy them. When does the store go live?

 

Ji-hyun was worried. She knew that the company would be launching next month and they might not want to have all this attention yet. Moreover, it had never been her, or their, intention for the brand to be connected with Ji Chang-wook.

 

She messaged the designer begging her forgiveness. The response was not what she expected.

 

“Omo! Ji-hyun-ssi. Is that you in the picture? Were you having coffee with Ji Chang-wook? Omo!”

 

“Just catching up.”

 

“Would he be interested in trying out our menswear? We are going to be starting that soon. It would be amazing. Could you speak to him for me?”

 

Ji-hyun looked at her phone in shock. How had things gone from chaos to even more chaos in the course of a taxi ride?

 

 

 

±±± FLASH FORWARD TWO WEEKS ±±±

 

 

 

Ji-hyun was once again on the set for a photoshoot. Only this time Oppa was there as well. In fact, they were about to do a photoshoot together. She took a long sip from her watermelon juice and stared at herself in the mirror. 

 

“You can do this,” she told her reflection. The problem, she realised, was not the photoshoot exactly. It was the fact that she was about to get y and comfy with her boyfriend and have to pretend that it was "pretend". If she didn’t win an award for her performance then she would just give up acting. 

 

“Ji-hyun? Can I come in?” Chi-gu asked.

 

“Sure!”

 

“Ji-hyun. We need to be careful… Wook-i is… a loose cannon. Don’t let him…”

 

“Get carried away?” she filled in the gap.

 

“Yes. Now. I’ve given him careful instructions. We rehearsed, if you remember, various poses. Just don’t let him get out of hand… You know what a disaster he can be around you.”

 

Ji-hyun nodded. How could she forget? At least “What Is My Line?” had edited out all but the necessary interactions between them. The PD had actually apologised to her explaining that he didn’t want his show to spark a dating scandal between them. She had felt bad when she laughed in his face about that. “He isn’t very good at acting sometimes, is he?” she had said.

 

“Don’t worry Chi-gu oppa. I have spoken to him. We are good. Besides it is just the bare number of staff on set.”

 

“Aish. That is what I am most worried about!”

 

Things started off normally enough for a concept that was y/comfort. But between takes is when danger began to strike. The first instance was Chang-wook tucking her hair behind her ear. The next was when he reached for her hand while he was sitting on the chair and she was standing a metre away—it might have seemed innocent, but, to an observant eye, it was anything but. Then he threw an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a sort of sideways hug. Little things built up. Then he tickled her. Then she pinched his cheeks. Then he gave her aegyo while she sat on his lap. The final set was the worst though. They pulled out an old chesterfield sofa.

 

“If you could languish, you know drape yourself, on the sofa Chang-wook-ssi. And Ji-hyun-ssi, maybe you can…” the photographer gestured to them.

 

“Like this?” She settled on the floor and rested her head on the sofa.

 

“Exactly.”

 

They took a few shots like that. Then the PD asked for something iconically them.

 

“Could you reenact the scene from ‘Suspicious Partner’ when Bong-hee was seducing Prosecutor Noh?”

 

Ji-hyun felt her blood run cold. That is a bad idea, she whispered to herself. Of course everyone else—well except maybe Chi-gu who looked like he needed a strong drink—loved the idea. Chang-wook and Ji-hyun practised a little bit because getting the look right while she was wearing this particular outfit was proving a bit challenging.

 

“Hmm… I think we need to change your outfit. Is there something else we can shoot in?” the designer asked.

 

“Oh! I have the camisole/t-shirt dress with me!” Ji-hyun offered.

 

“Ok! Great, can you change quickly.”

 

Ji-hyun nodded. Time to pull out the big guns. A bit early perhaps, she had meant to change into it for their date that night, but if they wanted y and comfortable, this was the dress to wear. When she re-emerged she heard Oppa’s gasp. Ji-hyun smirked. Yup. She knew her Oppa. All about that y/comfort for both of them.

 

This time the shoot went quickly. Not because they did it particularly well but because after about twenty minutes of shooting, Chang-wook called a halt and said that he was sincerely sorry but his schedule meant he needed to leave in the next ten minutes. Ji-hyun looked at the time… their date wasn’t for another two hours. Maybe he had another thing before that he hadn’t mentioned to her. 

 

“Ok. Well let’s review those last frames. I think everyone will be happy.”

 

Ji-hyun moved over to where the monitor was so that she could look at their work. The photographer hadn’t just captured the staged shots but also all the of their BTS moments as well. Even for the last set. The first one that caught her eye was one of her standing in front of the sofa. She had just happened to look up into the camera when the shutter clicked. Next to her was Chang-wook looking down at her with a loving smile on his face. They looked completely at ease with each other. In fact, there wasn’t a single bad frame for the entire shoot. 

 

“Wow. An absolute treasure trove. Thank you so much for your hard work,” the designer said. She gave a sweet kiss to her photographer boyfriend before moving around to thank everyone.

 

“Don’t change out of that. Meet me downstairs as quickly as possible,” Chang-wook whispered into Ji-hyun’s ear. She grinned. After everyone was thanked, and the clothes packed up—the designer was giving them the clothes this time as well… Ji-hyun had almost cried with happiness—Ji-hyun found herself in Oppa’s car heading back into of Seoul.

 

“What about dinner!?” she asked.

 

“We are still going to dinner. Just not the place we were scheduled to go to.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Because you look too good to go to that place. We need to go somewhere fancy,” he grinned.

 

They finally pulled into a narrow alleyway in Gangnam. She had never seen an alley like this in the upscale neighbourhood before so looked a little confused. He pulled into a car lift which lowered them into a secret parking garage.

 

“Where are we?” Ji-hyun asked.

 

“This is Luna-del-Mar. It is a new seafood restaurant,” he explained. They got into the people lift that took them to the top floor of the building. When they got out a woman in black greeted them and silently led them to a small booth covered in sea-green velvet. She left them and a waiter came by with the drinks menu, which they ordered from.

 

“Is it new?”

 

“Very. And very hard to get a place. I called them immediately when I saw you in that dress.”

 

“Do you really like it?” Ji-hyun’s face lit up.

 

“Very, very, very much,” He grinned back.

 

“So when do we see a menu?”

 

“They only bring the catch of the day. Don’t worry. I told them about your allergies so we won’t have to worry about that.”

 

“Thank you Oppa! By the way, I think that the photographs we took were very, well, intimate.”

 

"Oh? I think they were perfect. Don't worry. No one will think anything of it. You've never had a dating scandal and we just look really happy and comfortable with each other. Nothing salacious!"

 

Ji-hyun rolled her eyes. Trust Oppa to miss the point. Them looking really comfortable around each other was exactly the sort of thing that would lead to a dating rumour... 

 

 

±±± FLASH FORWARD TWO MORE WEEKS ±±±

 

 

Today, a Wednesady, they were finally releasing to the photographs for the CF. Ji-hyun had already shared a photograph from the BTS the day before--it was from her first shoot with the cat when she was in the red dress. People were excited and several of netizens noticed that she was promoting the same brand as the one Chang-wook had been seen carrying bags of.

 

Ji-hyun would have been lying if she said that she wasn’t nervous. They had sent over the photographs that had been chosen for the final shoot and both companies had grudgingly ok’d them. It was clear that Ji-hyun and Chang-wook were very close but they could always just chalk it up to long-standing friends and ACTING!

 

Fans, however, were not convinced that it was acting. Everywhere people started speculating that actors Ji Chang-wook and Nam Ji-hyun were dating. They had to be. Look how natural and intimate and comfortable they were with each other. The media, however, refused to cover the possibility that Nam Ji-hyun had a dating scandal. Not a single article was written. Not a single vlog was recorded. There was nothing in the media linking the two except the buzz created by a few netizens. Besides, BTS had their comeback scheduled and there was a new political scandal to capture the nation's interest.

 

Their good fortune was not to last. 

 

At approximately midnight, Ji Chang-wook posted his favourite picture from the shoot. In it he and Ji-hyun were sitting on the sofa together between takes. They were looking at something—a cat video—on her phone and he had his arm draped around her shoulders. The caption was simple: star and moon. 

 

Ji-hyun woke up the next morning to the obnoxious sound of her phone buzzing. It was earlier than normal for her but her phone was ringing and she had to answer it.

 

“Jiji… I think we need to admit we are dating…” Chang-wook’s voice melted into her ear.

 

Ji-hyun sat bolt upright. She looked online. The top ten most popular real-time searches in Korea were as follows:

 

1. Ji Chang-wook Nam Ji-Hyun Dating
2. Ji Chang-wook
3. Nam Ji-hyun
4. Ji Chang-wook dating
5. Nam Ji-hyun boyfriend
6. BTS comeback
7. what brand is y/comfort
8. Ji Chang-wook girlfriend
9. star and moon
10. Nam Ji-hyun dating