A last-minute appointment with the agency's CEO was added to Myung Soo's schedule, so he walked back and forth in front of the office while waiting with apprehension for the moment he would be called inside. The CEO was a friendly man in his fifties, definitely not the intimidating kind of person, but he was summoned by his employer for the first time which made him feel anxious. His manager, however, looked relaxed so he presumed that both men had had a talk already. He tried to get the man's attention to inquire about the reason for the meeting, but the latter merely nodded in response.

They bowed as soon as the CEO appeared at the door, inviting them in. To Myung Soo's relief, he did not seem irritated or offended, he was even smiling while motioning towards the seats in the middle of the room. Myung Soo sat beside his manager, and in front of the CEO. The latter handed him a tablet and requested him to view a fan's publication that had rapidly spread over the Internet. It contained a short message and a photograph of a couple sitting on a beach. He immediately recognized himself and Eun Ae in spite of the fact that their faces could not be properly identified.

The CEO, who was smiling contentedly, asked in a joking tone : "it's a nice picture, isn't it ?"

But Myung Soo was too troubled by the man's facial expression to utter a word of response. It was obviously a good thing that he had been spotted on a date in Busan, but he could not understand the interest of his employer in this news.

It was his manager who explained the situation : "you're the talk of the town Myung Soo. Your lives are trending, they're watched by your fans, even by other idols. Everyone is interested in your love story, and these types of photographs are perfect promotional material !"

"In other words, your fake relationship not only helped you out of the scandal, it increased your fame." the CEO concluded.

They revelled in the favorable consequences and benefits of the relationship for the artist and the company. Apparently, more and more people were curious about the beautiful story of his romance, so many journalists were sending requests for an interview with the couple. The CEO had accepted one of them because the reporter was his niece, and it was a way for him to encourage her career. He had gone ahead and planned the meeting on his own accord because Eun Ae's presence was not requested. But Myung Soo and the manager were now in the office to discuss the couple's press coverage and decide whether they would like to introduce Eun Ae to the media or maintain her anonymity as much as possible. The artist was in favor of limiting her appearance to live broadcasts because they had no control on the way other programs might present her. In addition, there was no reason for her exposure in the media since she did not belong to the entertainment world. The older men were easily convinced by these arguments and agreed on protecting Eun Ae's privacy. Finally, the last minutes of the meeting were devoted to other promotional activities as well as new opportunities.

It was already lunch time when they finished their conversation. Myung Soo reached for his phone to check a message from Dong Woo that he had received earlier. Since Infinite members' schedules coincided for the first time in a while, they had decided to have lunch together at the restaurant that they frequented when they were trainees. Little did he know that his friends were eager to meet him because they had seen the photograph of his date in Songdo.

A moment later, after he reached the place where his friends were gathered, Myung Soo was welcomed by a ton of questions.

"Did you kiss her ?" Dong Woo asked.

"So, you guys aren't faking it anymore ?" Woo Hyun added.

"Did you confess ? Did she confess ? Are you dating now ?" Sung Jong inquired.

"Guys, guys. Calm down." Myung Soo was thankful towards Sung Gyu who interceded to put an end to the interrogations, until he heard the rest of the sentence : "aigoo... our little Myung Soo is in love!"

The more he tried to avoid the questions, the nastier they became. And so he told them the truth. Although the group was aware of the real nature of his relationship with Eun Ae, they were disappointed when he revealed that he had not kissed her despite an urge to do so, but they found comfort in the fact that he had chosen not to kiss her because she was a prude woman who valued skinship. Therefore, he wished to sort out his feelings for her before engaging in physical expressions of love. The idea made his friends chuckle for they had noticed his attraction to Eun Ae a long time ago.

"You always had a thing for her." Sung Yeol said.

"Did I ?"

"I don't think so, they've always acted like friends." Dong Woo argued in disagreement.

"But you don't see her as a friend anymore, do you ?" Sung Jong addressed him directly.

"I don't know." he spoke hesitantly, "she's... I don't know... She's so pretty. She's always been but, she's prettier now. I like the way she's cheerful, honest, naive, kind. And her smile. I could stare at her smile for hours. And those lips. She's too pretty. She's cute but mature, childish but y. Oh, she's so y. You don't know how hard it was to hold myself back when she was lying on the bed-" his eyes widened in realization of what he had said.

His friends quickly overcame their surprise to fire intrusive questions at him.

"On the bed ? On the... bed ?"

"When ?"

"What happened ?"

"Did you sleep together ?"

"Yah! Myung Soo! What did you do to her ?"

"Did you really sleep with your childhood friend ?"

"Guys !" he silenced them at once, "we didn't do anything. Really. I promise. I couldn't even kiss her!"

Sung Jong scratched his chin thoughtfully and said : "yeah... she probably wants to wait for your confession. She knows it'll happen soon anyways."

"She, doesn't know I'm plannin' to confess."

"What ? You're sayin' she doesn't know you didn't kiss her 'cause you're tryin' to be romantic ?"

"I... guess... she doesn't know."

"You really don't understand a woman's heart!"

"Why ?" the group asked in one voice.

"Your actions show you don't like her."

"But I hugged-"

"It doesn't matter." the youngest cut him off, "you could have kissed her, but you didn't. That's all she knows."

"But I-"

His sentence was cut midway by Sung Gyu this time : "Sung Jong is right, she must be so sad now. You better tell how you feel, 'cause I can tell you, you're in love man. You'd know that already if you were honest with yourself."

Myung Soo fully embraced the advise as the words sank in his heart. Sung Gyu was a man of great wisdom and psychological insight in spite of the image of clueless leader that he displayed on variety shows. Among Infinite members, he was the one in whom Myung Soo confided the most, and with whom he could talk about a wide range of topics, from his best experiences to his worst fears, because his friend always had the right words to inspire him. Once again, he was encouraged by Sung Gyu, and decided to acknowledge his strong interest in Eun Ae, wondering if he had developed romantic feelings for her since their first meeting. It had taken him a long time to come to terms with his emotions, but he was now determined to let her know the way he felt. He smiled at the thought that their relationship would no longer be based on pretense once she would accept him as her real boyfriend.

. . .

Sung Gyu's words were on his mind as he was answered the journalist's questions with a renowned confidence. He told himself that there was no reason for Eun Ae to reject him since he had sensed her unspoken love several times already. His only concern was confessing to her in the most romantic way and, as fate would have it, the next question sparked his interest.

"You've now turned 30, you're in a relationship, but you are yet to go through an essential moment of your life. And since we're all curious about it, let me ask, what your thoughts on marriage ?"

He was quiet for a while, not because he pondered the question, but he was imagining Eun Ae as a bride, walking down the aisle towards him, to exchange a promise of eternal love. He felt a surge of happiness upon the vision.

At that moment, he understood that there was no better confession than a proposal, so he answered heartily :

"I believe marriage is important to strengthen a couple's bond. How wonderful must it be to share your life with the person you love the most! To take care of that person every single day, or to live through the ups and downs of life together. I think it requires a lot of patience, determination, faith, and certainly a lot of love. That's how beautiful marriage seems to me."

"Does that mean you're thinking of marriage ?"

He let out a soft laughter before replying : "well, you'll find out soon enough."