SONG HYE KYO

As Seung Heon Oppa had guessed, our first day of shooting did end quite late. The staff were currently wrapping up the set when Seung Heon Oppa walked towards me.

"I know we already had dinner here at the set, but I still want to go out with you, what do you think about getting a couple of drinks?" He asked, a smile playing on his lips.

"Um...we can still go Oppa but.." I trailed.

"But?" 

"Well, about what you said that it's a date?" I looked at him, confused with his actual intentions of his invite.

"Ah. That." He grinned. "It's just an expression, but you can treat it like an actual date too, I don't mind." 

"Oppa, jinja." I wasn't sure if he was joking or not, but Seung Heon Oppa looked like he was having fun at my current state of confusion.

"A friendly date then. No need to rush into things after all." He smiled. "But a date, nonetheless."

My manager, who probably heard the last part of what Seung Heon Oppa said walked over to us and spoke.

"Are you going on a date? The two of you?" She was smiling cheekily at the both of us.

I was about to answer but Seung Heon Oppa beat me to it. "Well, as Hye Kyo's manager would you let her go on a friendly date with me?" He had put emphasis on the word Friendly.

My manager seemed like she was thinking about it then smiled. "It depends. Song Seung Heon-ssi, what is your intention with Hye Kyo?."

"Unnie!" I exclaimed at the bluntness of what she said.

Seung Heon Oppa laughed. "I'd like to take her out on a date, but it seems Hye Kyo is hesitant to call it an official date. So let's just say I'd like to ask her to grab a drink, catch up, get to know each other more, and then we'll go from there."

I blushed at what Seung Heon Oppa was trying to imply.

"Okay. Good answer! I'll leave you to your date then. Just remember to be discreet. After that fiasco with Dispatch, everyone's just keeping their eyes out for the two of you." My manager answered.

"Yah. Don't I have a say in this?" I asked, looking at the two of them.

"You agreed a while ago." Seung Heon Oppa pouted as he replied to me. "Are you taking it back? I even got your manager to approve."

I sighed. "Fine then. You can tell us where we should go Oppa so that Unnie can just drop me off there."

"You can drive with me, instead. I think that'll be easier." He said.

And before I can even reply, my manager pushed me towards Seung Heon Oppa. He quickly grabbed my arm and walked me towards his car. 

I looked over at my manager before getting in the passenger seat. She was grinning like a child and giving me a thumbs up, I decided to admit defeat and shook my head at how ridiculous this is.

"Where do you want to go?" Seung Heon Oppa asked while he drived his car.

"Hmm. I don't know. I thought you had this all planned out, Oppa?" I looked at him. 

"I did, but since we were reminded to be discreet I figured all the places I know might have fans that will see us together." He replied.

I thought it over and decided that there was only one place wherein I felt safe to be seen at at this time of night.

"Have you been to Ah In's TMI restaurant?" I asked.

"Ah In? As in Yoo Ah In?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm really good friends with him and he has a couple of restaurants, but the closest is his TMI restaurant in Itaewon. At this time of night, it turns into a bar and it's usually just Ah In and his friends who are allowed to enter." I said.

"Let's go there then." He smiled as he turned to look at me.

I smiled and nodded. Totally forgetting to tell Ah In that I was coming with a companion that he's been way too curious about these past few days.

T.M.I was lit up with neon lights when we arrived, a sign that the restaurant at day and bar at night was in full swing. I carefully looked at the glass doors to see if Ah In was in. I was relieved to see Ah In at the bar counter talking to a few people. Everyone inside seemed to be his friends so I decided to swing the front door open, making the small bell ring, signaling the arrival of a new customer. 

Ah In must've been surprised to see me as he stood up abruptly, even tripping a little in the process. 

"Noona!" He exclaimed, a little too excitedly.

"I did not expect you to come today!" He said, greeting me with a half hug. He seemed a little too jittery.

"It was a spur of the moment thing." I said.

"Ah...." Ah In's surprised face was in full view when Seung Heun Oppa stood beside me, placing his hand on my shoulder. I shuddered a little at the contact but ignored it. 

"Nice to meet you, Yoo Ah In-ssi." Seung Heon Oppa greeted, extending his other hand.

"Ah! Nice to meet you too Song Seung Heon sunbae-nim!" Ah In seemed to have snapped from his momentary trance as he shook Seung Heon Oppa's hand.

"No need to be so formal, you can just treat me as a Hyung. Any friend of Hye Kyo is a friend of mine too." Seung Heon Oppa smiled.

"Ah yes ofcourse, Hyung." Ah In smiled back.

"Hye Kyo suggested this place, and your restaurant looks great." Seung Heon Oppa said.

"Thank you, hyung. But this is really a surprise." Ah In nervously laughed. "Wait....is this....a date?" 

Ah In was looking at us with a mix of surprise, confusion, nervousness, and fear. Wait, what? Fear?

"I'd like to call it that. But Hye Kyo insisted that it should be friendly date first." Seung Heon Oppa laughed.

Ah In just looked at me with a panicked expression as he laughed.

"Ah In-ah, why do you seem tense? It's just your friends here, right?" I asked, still wary that there may be other customers.

"Ah yes, Noona. It's just my friends here right now. No need to worry about being caught in public." He smiled teasingly for a moment, but his panicked expression came back in an instant. 

"You can take a seat over there if you'd like." Ah In pointed to the vacant seats that was behind a divider. It was usually the place he suggest to people who do not want to be seen by anyone, and in return, you don't see anyone too.

"Isn't that a little too secluded?" I asked. I was eyeing another vacant table that was near the bar. "We can just take that table."

"No, Noona!" Ah In exclaimed, his voice was shaking a little.

"What?" I asked, a little surprise at his tone of apprehension.

"Ah I meant, isn't it better to just sit there by the divider? Since you're on a date...um I mean, a friendly date." He explained.

I eyed him suspiciously, confused as to why he was acting this way.

"I'd actually rather have the table Hye Kyo pointed at. Since Hye Kyo said this place was safe, I'm not too worried at being seen." Seung Heon Oppa said.

"But--" Before Ah In could say anything else, Seung Heon Oppa led me towards the table by the bar. He pulled a the chair for me as we both got settled in. 

With shaking hands, Ah In passed the menus over to us. 

"Yah, Yoo Ah In. You're acting strange. Are you that starstruck with Seung Heon Oppa?" I laughed, thinking that this might be the reason Ah In was so out of character.

"Uh...yes, Noona. I guess I'm just a little surprised." He laughed nervously.

"Oh. It's Friday, so that means the drinks are on the house for your friends right?" I grinned at Ah In, feeling excited at the thought of free alcohol.

"Yes, Noona." Ah In was still quivering a little. 

"Jinja, Ah In-ah. Stop being so nervous around us." I laughed at him.

"Oh--" Seung Heon Oppa looked surprised I looked over at him.

"Isn't that Jo In Sung-ssi?" He pointed behind me.

I turn to my back to look, and true enough it was In Sung Oppa. He was seated at the far back of the bar with two more men. One was sitting beside him and the other was sitting in front of him, the man's back was turned to me. I squinted to see who he was with but the lights at TMI was of no help.

"That is In Sung Oppa. What's he doing here?" I asked Ah In who was now frozen in his place. 

"Um..he...he's drinking with some of his colleagues." Ah In shakily replied.

"Isn't that Lee Kwang Soo?" Seung Heon Oppa was looking intently over at their table. "Yeah, that's him."

My eyes bulged at the mention of Lee Kwang Soo, and before my brain could even grasp what was going on, Seung Heon Oppa called them over.

"Yah. In Sung-ah! Kwang Soo-ya!" He exclaimed, waving his hands at their table, willing them to come over at ours.

I don't know why I felt suddenly nervous. I'm good friends with In Sung Oppa and Kwang Soo, and even though they are my ex-husband's friends we were still cordial. I fixed myself up, planning to greet them as they came over.

"A...Annyeonghaseyo, Seung Heon hyung." In Sung and Kwang Soo greeted as they arrived at our table.

"Oh. Hey there, Hye Kyo-ah." In Sung Oppa turned to greet me with a shaky smiled.

"Hye Kyo Noona, how are you?" Kwang Soo looked a little relaxed than the rest of our group, but his eyes still had a tensed look on them.

"Hello, In Sung Oppa, Kwang Soo." I returned their greeting with a smile as I willed myself to relax.

"I didn't expect to see you here." Seung Heon Oppa said.

"Us too, hyung." Kwang Soo replied with a pushed smile.

"Is that why Ah In is nervous? His place is star studded tonight." I said, looking over at Ah In who still had a frozen expression on his face. 

"I'm supposed to be on a "friendly" date with Hye Kyo tonight, but since you're here why don't you join us?" Seung Heon hyung raised his two hands as he air quoted the word friendly. I shook my head and laughed at what he did, blushing a little. 

"Ah no, that's alright Hyung. We're leaving anyways and we wouldn't want to...you know, interrupt." In Sung Oppa said. 

"No, no. I insist. Come on, I haven't seen the two of you in ages. Although I do pass by Kwang Soo at the office at times. But it'll be nice to hang out for a drink, right Hye Kyo?" Seung Heon Oppa turned to me.

I nodded. "Of course. Ah In take a seat too."

Like a robot, Ah In pulled a chair and sat on my right.

"No, really Hyung. It's fine." Kwang Soo interjected.

"Yah. Are you rejecting a sunbae's offer?" Seung Heon Oppa looked at them, his voice was a little stern but it was obvious that he was joking with using his seniority power over In Sung Oppa and Kwang Soo by the looks of his eyes. 

In Sung Oppa and Kwang Soo shook their heads as they dejectedly pulled up chairs to join our table as well.

"Why don't you invite the other person you're with. Is he a friend?" Seong Heon Oppa motioned to the other person that was left seated at In Sung Oppa and Kwang Soo's previous table.

"Ah yes, but he's a little shy, hyung. So I'll just talk to him and then maybe he can leave." Kwang Soo answered.

"Yah. What kind of friend are you to just leave him like that? Tell him to come over, it's fine." Seung Heon Oppa insisted.

Kwang Soo looked over at me, thinking that he was maybe asking my permission to let their other friend sit with us I smiled. "Yeah, call him over." He must be a non-celebrity that's why they're so hesitant 

"As long as he doesn't snitch on us going on this friendly date." I said, mimicking Seung Heon Oppa's airquotes of the word friendly as a joke.

"I really don't want to..." Kwang Soo mumbled with a sigh.

"Just call him over, Kwang Soo." In Sung Oppa said with a dejected tone.

Kwang Soo sighed once again and stood up to walk over to their previous table.

I resumed to talking with Seung Heon Oppa and In Sung Oppa as Kwang Soo left. We were in the middle of talking about the current drama I was working on with Seung Heon Oppa when I felt Kwang Soo loom over us, the other friend in tow.

I raised my head to see who it was, and for the second time in the past few days, I wished I hadn't. 

SONG JOONG KI

It had been a few minutes since Kwang Soo and In Sung hyung stood up to go over to Hye Kyo and Seung Heon-ssi's table. I was left alone at our table, thinking that maybe I can escape and walk out of TMI undetected as long as they were preoccuppied with chatting. I can probably escape through the kitchen doors, Ah In's staff won't mind right? I need to leave. I need to leave. I need to leave.

"Yah." Kwang Soo's arrival broke my trance.

I looked up to him, still trying to hide my face in case the people at the other table were looking at us.

"Kwang Soo-ya, I'm leaving. I'm gonna go through the kitchen door, maybe I can ask the staff to---" I was cut off by Kwang Soo speaking.

"Seung Heon hyung said you should come over and join them." 

"What?!" I exclaimed in half-whisper. "Is he crazy?"

"Yeah, they're probably a little crazy if they knew who you were, but they don't. Let's just go, even In Sung hyung said I should call you over. I guess he gave up in trying to conceal you." Kwang Soo said.

I groaned in frustration. "Just tell them I'm leaving already."

"Seung Heon hyung used his seniority powers." Kwang Soo sighed. I exhaled in the hopelessness of this situation. Curse this korean custom of always yielding to sunbaenims.