Ji-hyun woke up from a dream where she and Chang-wook were the top searches on Naver and Oppa had told her they needed to go public with their relationship.

 

“Oppa…” she prayed. “Oppa please let that have been a dream…”

 

It was. Sure, the picture of them with his arm wrapped around her, their heads close and smiling, and the obvious intimacy was still there—she hadn’t made that part up. And there were loads of comments from netizens asking if they were dating but the top real-time searches still related to BTS and the political scandal. Not a single article appeared.

 

Ji-hyun was a little disappointed. It didn’t seem to matter what she did, the media was dead set against involving her in a dating scandal. It wouldn’t have been ideal but still… did no one think that she was worthy of a dating scandal with top star Ji Chang-wook? It hurt her pride. It cast a shadow on the rest of her day. And of all days it was the one after her CF came out and it was also a day that she had back to back lectures. 

 

She arrived at her first lecture a little pouty because even her eomma hadn’t been surprised that there was no dating scandal.

 

“Ji-hyun! I love the new CF!” one of her classmates said. She was a pretty girl with bright eyes and a determination to be friends with anyone connected with celebrity. “You are so lucky to get to work with people like Ji Chang-wook.”

 

“Orabeoni was very kind to agree to help,” Ji-hyun agreed. 

 

“Do you know if he is dating anyone?” the girl persisted.

 

“Nope. He doesn’t tell me about who he wants to date,” Ji-hyun evaded. Of course, he wouldn’t tell her because he was dating his ideal type—namely, her. 

 

“Oh, well if you ever find out tell me? I promise not to tell anyone,”

 

“QUIET!” the professor shouted as he walked in. 

 

Ji-hyun rolled her eyes. Did no one think that they were dating? Exactly what kind of scandal would she have to create for the newspapers to ask if they were dating?

 

As she waited for her bubble tea, Ji-hyun made a decision. She opened Instagram and liked the picture Orabeoni had posted. It was a bit reckless since it was the first time she had liked one of his posts since “Suspicious Partner” but she reasoned that since she was in the post she had every right to like it. She then boldly went where she had never gone before and commented: “캣독”

 

“Catdog,” she grinned. It was a long-running inside joke that she loved cats and he loved dogs but that they didn’t fight like cats and dogs… Or rather it was Chi-gu’s joke that she was stealing.

 

Chi-gu himself responded with: “Not Funny.”

 

Instagram wanted in on the joke but no answers were forthcoming. That is until Chang-wook responded: “Ggoma has no friend” 

 

That did it as far as the Korean media was concerned. The immediately posted headlines were hilarious:

 

“Nam Ji-Hyun and Ji Chang-wook Publicly Discuss Adopting a Cat”

 

“Not Dating but Married?”

 

“Netizens Fight Like Cats and Dogs Over Instagram Comments”

 

The “My Oppa” fans were angry. They flooded the message boards slamming both stars. They were angry at Ji-hyun for putting their oppa in a situation where he had to respond (he didn’t have to); they were angry at Chang-wook for having a dating scandal (not their business); but mainly they were angry at how happy everyone else seemed to be. Ji-hyun’s fans loved the interaction and urged her to get a cat as soon as possible. NamJi shippers were frankly over the moon and lost in the stars. Even shippers whose ships had now sunk had to admit that the interaction was very cute. 

 

While all the drama was happening on the nets, Ji Chang-wook, Nam Ji-hyun, their families, their managers, and their bosses were sitting in the Glorious Cafe having a PR pow-wow.

 

“Ji-hyun! What were you thinking!” Was the general reaction. But Chang-wook, in a rare, very rare, show of temper slammed his fist on the table making everyone jump.

 

“This is not her fault. How could this be her fault! I put the picture up! I was the one who did that. And what did we get? NOTHING! Not a single article. Not a single indication that people might think that we are dating. I am frankly appalled at…”

 

“Do you know how hard it has been over the years to keep your names out of the press?” His mother said. “Ji-hyun is a beloved darling and no one wants her to face any public backlash. You have an image to maintain as well. The number of times that people have offered photographs of the two of you! Just after the CF shoot as well! The lovey-dovey scene at the restaurant? Do you know that the Editor in Chief of Dispatch was having dinner with the Editor in Chief of Korean Vogue? They were shocked at your public displays of affection… practically asking them to publish the biggest dating news of the year!”

 

“Aish. Don’t bother eonnie. Can’t you see that they are impatient for everyone to poke their noses into their private lives?” Ji-hyun’s mother said. “I just wish we had taken away their phones earlier. It would have been entirely reasonable to have us control their instagram accounts.”

 

“EOMMA!” the love birds shouted, appalled that their mothers had been diligently protecting them from a dating scandal. Of course, they knew that avoiding a dating scandal was the right thing. It would complicate their personal lives and could easily damage their careers. But they were also in love and the idea that they couldn’t be together in public was always frustrating.

 

In the end, the gathered forces decided to release a joint statement.

 

“Actors Ji Chang-wook and Nam Ji-hyun would like to announce they are dating. They decided to keep their relationship private so that it would not distract from their work. They hope that the public will be understanding going forward. They hope to continue to show good work in the future. They cherish the love and support of their fans and look forward to greeting them soon with new work.”

 

Ji-hyun and Chang-wook also posted personal letters to fans which discussed how much support they received from their fans and that the relationship was a new side of them they could share with fans going forward. 

 

Some people couldn’t be happy about this. But their relationship received such a positive response from their celebrity friends that soon the news turned to other things… things more salacious than a talented and beautiful couple who were very much in love. 

 

The newly confirmed couple also brought a new joy. Ji-hyun was learning to ride her vespa and it became a kind of fun adventure for everyone involved when Chi-gu decided to post the occasional clip of Chang-wook teaching Ji-hyun. She was surprisingly capable and even ventured out on her own—to the horror of Chang-wook who was convinced that without his loving, nagging, and careful oversight Ji-hyun would crash. Eventually, several “My Oppa” fans fell under Ji-hyun’s spell when she shared a video of Chang-wook making gimbap for her. “I wish you could taste this!” she captioned the post. It led to pressure for Chang-wook to make 800 rolls of gimbap for a small fan meeting he had. “Without Ji-hyun-i, I would never have had the confidence to share my cooking with you.” He said. Ji-hyun became the person his fans realised they needed… she was the one who could get him to do even more cute things for his fans. And in return, he did cute things for her fans… including promising to get her a kitten in the new year. At first, everyone thought it was unfair that he would make her wait that long but it was revealed that the wait was because she wanted a rescue and there was currently a waiting list. There was a sudden spike in interest in adoption, which the animal rescue organisations in Korea dubbed the ‘NamJi effect’.

 

 

±±± FLASH FORWARD TWO MONTHS ±±±

 

 

Ji-hyun was a free woman. She smiled as she held up her framed diploma. No matter how many times she saw it, the diploma didn’t seem real. She was now Actress Nam Ji-hyun and her life was about to change forever. No more school work. No more juggling. Now she was a full-time actress ready to pick her next project. But first, she had a very important thing to do: a celebratory vacation with Orabeoni. A present for graduating with honours.

 

After a long discussion and schedule re-organising, they chose Australia. It was a good compromise because Chang-wook refused to go anywhere cold and Ji-hyun refused to sit around a pool all day. 

 

“Jiji, do you really want to go somewhere where the spiders can kill you?” Chang-wook asked when they met up at the hotel. To avoid excessive media scrutiny they had taken separate flights and Ji-hyun had been grateful that she could slip through the Sydney Airport without legions of fans screaming their names. 

 

“Orabeoni! Stop! You need to stop being such a 거북의.”

 

“I’m scared easily. You don’t need…”

 

Ji-hyun ran over to him and kissed him before he had a chance to defend himself any more.

 

“I don’t think there are any spiders here,” she said.

 

“Are you sure? Should we check?”

 

“Oooo… where do you think we need to check?” she giggled. “The bedroom?”

 

“No, I think they are more likely to be in the bathroom. They could climb up the drain.”

 

“OPPA! I THINK WE SHOULD CHECK THE BEDROOM… THE BED IN PARTICULAR!” she stage whispered. It was shocking that he could be so obtuse at times. But, luckily for her, when he did pick up a hint he was quick to act. 

 

Ji-hyun loved it when he piggy-backed her. There was something so loving and familiar. It brought back memories of filming with him when they first were starting to become attracted to each other and when they first started falling in love. But if she was being honest, the reason she loved Oppa’s piggy-back rides is that it meant she could kiss his ears, which due to their height difference often alluded her. Why his ears? Wel… when she had first learnt that ears were an erogenous zone, Ji-hyun had been a little sceptical. But low-and-behold! Orabeoni’s ears were very, very sensitive and he loved her to kiss them. 

 

“Ji-hyun…”

 

“Mmmm…” she murmured.

 

“I don’t plan on leaving the hotel room for a while. So if you are hungry…”

 

“We can eat later. Much, much later. And then we will eat a nice big meal. But right now,” and she emphasised the next part by lightly biting his earlobe, “I think that we need to make sure that there are absolutely no spiders on the bed.” 

 

—

 

Ji-hyun and Chang-wook emerged from their hotel suite happy, relaxed, and suitably pleased with themselves. Even though his every move had been carefully scrutinised by his fans they still had not been able to locate his whereabouts. This was in part thanks to work of Chang-wook’s friends, who had started erroneously referring to Ji-hyun as Hyung-nim because of her ability to rein in Chang-wook’s crazier ideas. They had stocked up a series of photographs which they posted of them with Chang-wook at a remote villa in Thailand. They dutifully posted these to give the impression that Chang-wook was having a great time with his friends and not on holiday with his girlfriend.

 

This meant that on a beautiful Sunday afternoon Ji-hyun could stroll along Bondi Beach her fingers interlaced with Chang-wook’s without worrying that anyone would snap a picture of them. 

 

“So this is our last day in Sydney,” she sighed. “Well until we fly out again.”

 

“Is there something you want to eat?”

 

“Yes! Lots of things.” 

 

“You know,” Chang-wook said as he looked around. “I like this. I think it is the first time in over ten years that I have been able to walk around without fearing that people would be taking pictures of me.”

 

“That is why western countries are good,” Ji-hyun pointed out. 

 

“Still they tend to be cold.”

 

“Ha!” she plucked at his t-shirt. “Oppa. What do you want to eat?”

 

“I made a reservation…”

 

He tugged her along until the arrived at a restaurant with a perfect view of the harbour.

 

“Jiji?”

 

“Hmmm?” 

 

“What do you think of this?” Chang-wook asked. He held something out for her to look at. It was a little piece of folded up paper and she frowned at it. What was it? Ji-hyun opened it up. She was only a tiny bit disappointed to find it was a print out of a map.

 

“Oppa?”

 

“Tomorrow, when we get to the resort, we are going on a bike ride!” He looked so gleeful that she couldn’t help but smile. Of course Oppa had managed to hire them vespa’s to drive through the Australian Outback. So much for being afraid of killer spiders.

 

—

 

Ji-hyun stretched like a cat. She was completely content and pleased with herself. They had managed an entire week without a single member of the public recognising either of them. Both of their instagrams had been updated with old photographs and today they would be flying back to Korea. Next to her was Chang-wook’s broad back and tousled black hair. She loved his smile but his back was her real weakness. She lent over and kissed the little freckle on his back that you could only see if you looked very, very closely. 

 

“Good morning, Chang-i,” she whispered.

 

He turned over and pulled her into a sleepy kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and her hair. 

 

“Happy?” he asked.

 

“With you? Always.” 

 

“Hmmm… let’s stay here for a bit.”

 

Ji-hyun smiled into his chest and gave it a light peck. 

 

“Nope. We have to get up. The car will be here soon and we don’t want to miss our flight.”

 

“Urgh. No.” He rolled them over and pinned Ji-hyun underneath. She looked up into his eyes. She could feel a little tear form and escape down her cheek. 

 

“Oppa. Saranghae.”

 

“Saranghae, Jiji,” and he kissed the tear away. She saw that he had a tear in his eye as well. Their magical week together was at an end and all the pressures of being in the public eye were rushing down upon them. In a few short hours, they would have to go back to their separate homes. “Hurry up and finish your next project.”

 

“What?” Ji-hyun frowned.

 

“Well, pick your next project and hurry up and finish it.”

 

“Ha. Ok,” she laughed, a little confused at his non sequitur. She reached up and pulled him into a kiss. They still had some time, after all, until they needed to be at the airport.

 

 

±±± FLASH FORWARD TWELVE HOURS ±±±

 

 

The plane landed and chaos exploded.

 

They had been spotted in the Sydney Airport by some Korean tourists and by the time they landed the press and the fans were waiting for them. Luckily their companies had had enough foresight to anticipate this and security was ready to usher them to the waiting vans. They didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye as they were whisked away from the screaming mob.

 

Ji-hyun sat back in the seat and let her head rest against the headrest. It seemed surreal to think that she had been able to amble around Sydney or sit in a restaurant with complete freedom one minute and the next she was dealing with screaming fans, many of whom were not enthusiastic about the fact that NamJi couple had gone on a secret holiday together and fooled the public.  She worried for the first time that choosing to go public was the wrong thing and that prioritising her relationship was going to hurt her future—Oppa’s future too. And while she was to discover that it meant no campus dramas, a new more exciting opportunity arrived less than twenty-four hours after she landed in Korea.

 

It was a Wednesday, of course, when her boss handed her a script with the mysterious title: “Blue House Couple”. Ji-hyun flicked through the script and felt her eyes widen. It read exactly like her dream! It was about a pair of secret agents who went undercover in the fashion world to discover how criminals were smuggling drugs into the country. Her character would fall in love with a top star but windup in a love triangle with her partner who discovers that he has always had feelings for her.

 

“This is…”

 

“I think it would be a good move for you.”

 

“It is a buddy-cop, roco, thriller. I love it!”

 

“Don’t you want to read the script first?”

 

Ji-hyun shook her head. She was too excited about the opportunity to get to play an action role. In all of her wildest imaginings, she had never thought to be considered for an action part. 

 

“Ok, ok. I’ll read it. Who are they deciding for the male parts?”

 

“Lee Soo-hyuk for the fashion model and Lee Joon-gi for the other secret agent.”

 

Ji-hyun burst out laughing. It was too perfect. On her way home, she called Chang-Work.

 

“Oppa! What are you doing tonight? Can you help me choose my next project?”

 

He told her that he would be at the villa and she took her vespa over. She was always a bit daunted by the long ride but she knew that despite the cold weather, Orabeoni would want to go for a ride tomorrow morning.

 

“Jiji! What were you thinking riding your bike here? It is so cold. They say it is going to snow! Come inside!” Chang-wook said as he bundled the freezing Ji-hyun into the large open plan living space. “Eomma left us lots of food. She has gone off with friends for a retreat this weekend.”

 

“Oh! I wanted to give her something. I guess I can leave it on her bed,” Ji-hyun pouted. At every opportunity she had, Ji-hyun did her best to impress eomonim. She didn’t have to, of course, but Ji-hyun didn’t believe in slacking off just because she could. This time had been no different. She had picked up eomonim’s favourite macarons. 

 

“You can’t eat these!” she said to Chang-wook as she put them on the island counter. “I didn’t get your favourite flavours anyway.”

 

“Ok, ok, ok. Now, what is this new project?” 

 

Ji-hyun described it and was surprised to see Chang-wook pouting. 

 

“So a model and a martial arts expert? Which do you want to be the main lead?”

 

“Oppa. Does it matter? You are my main lead.”

 

“Jiji, I’m serious! You are always so relaxed about these things but you will need to kiss one of them!”

 

“Ji Chang-wook-ssi. What on earth are you talking about? Of course I will! That is a given. I expect that a lot of my roles in the next ten years I will have to kiss someone. Though, I am hoping on getting a thriller or a real melo where there is no romance, but who knows. That is beside the point…”

 

But Chang-wook would not be moved. He was still concerned about this ultimate battle between him and the two men who could possibly be the male lead. 

 

“Aish. Fine. Lee Soo-hyuk. He has a nice deep voice. I really like it.”

 

“Do I have a deep voice?” he asked.

 

“You have a y voice. You have the only voice I want to have sing to me…”

 

That was enough for Chang-wook who pecked her lips. He looked down into her eyes and Ji-hyun felt her heart flutter. Everything about him was perfect for her. His pouty jealousy, his childish sense of fun and adventure, and his unswerving love for her.

 

“Sing to me Oppa.”

 

He took her hand and led her to the sofa. Once he was settled, he drew her head onto his laps and slowly, quietly began to sing…

 

There are so many reasons that I like you
I’ll run out of breath if I list every one
You can count up to 101 but it won’t end
But tonight, I’ll sit you down and tell you all of them

One, you have a lot of tears
You’re pretty when you cry
Second, you’re like a kid
When you smile
Third, your heart
Fourth, your heart
All of you is so pretty
You make a reason for all of my actions

…

 

Ji-hyun fell asleep listening to his calming voice. She didn’t dream that night. She didn’t need to. She was already living in a dream and one that her subconscious had decided it couldn’t top or make more perfect than it already was.