Meanwhile, back in the Jun Bros. room, they left the balcony and went back inside the room. 

            “You guys missed it. She totally laid him flat,” Junsu explained excitedly.

            “Wow, really? I wonder why…” Chansung answered. He lazily opened a banana he had found in the room. Junho reached over and snatched it from his hands.

            “That’s my snack for later. I have to eat one a day.”

            “So do I,” the maknae said, taking it back. In a quick move, he shoved the banana in his mouth and grinned at his hyung after he swallowed it whole.

            “You little…” Chansung jumped back from Junho laughing happily. Taecyeon dodged the maknae’s body and told everyone he was leaving. They all expected him to go find Haneul so they waved him off. Nichkhun called after him, “She’s in the spa.”

            Taec saluted his thanks and jogged out the door. Along the way, he ran into Yoona who was alone for once.

            “Ahnyong,” he greeted her happily, slowing to a walk. She smiled at him and bowed.

            “Hello, Taecyeon-oppa. Where are you going in such a hurry?” Yoona knew she didn’t even have to ask. But politeness and curiosity urged her to hear it from his mouth.

            “To see Hanna. She just beat-up one of the writers…” he explained. Taecyeon bowed to her and then sprinted off.

            “She beat-up a writer? Omo, maybe she really does have anger problems…poor oppa. To deal with her…” She shook her head sadly and clenched her fist. “I will save oppa from her. Hwaiting!”

            Steam was everywhere, clouding her view. Haneul let out a breath, attempting to regulate her breathing. It was so difficult in the blasted room. But, it helped her to relax. She massaged the knuckle that had hopefully broken the ’s nose. She adjusted her towel, securing it tighter in place. Well, there was no one here, so she was lucky.

            She put a hand to her hair which was curling up from the humidity. She’d have to fix it before the party tonight. Haneul pushed the stray curls back from her face and sighed. She had been in her for thirty minutes already and was getting bored just sitting here. Haneul was worried she might get dehydrated if she stayed in much longer. So, she stood up and made her way through the thick steam to the door. She pushed it open and stepped out.

            At the very moment she left, Taecyeon was walking in her direction. He tripped when he saw her, dressed only in a towel. Haneul looked none too embarrassed at him seeing her like this.

            “Hello oppa. So you’ve found me.” She said, tilting her head back.

            “H-Hanna…why are you walking around in a towel?”

            “I was in the sauna, babo. Is there something wrong with that?”

            “Yes!” he shouted. “What if other guys see you like this?”

            “Oppa! You’re crazy.”

            “Bwoh? I’m not crazy. I’m protecting your honour!” Haneul giggled and nudged him.

            “If you haven’t noticed…you’re the one who is besmirching my honour by walking in on me in such a state of undress. Can you imagine the mess if a photographer caught you like this?”

            Taecyeon rolled his eyes at her claim. “There’s no way that would happen. Like you said, no one’s here.”

            “Well, I’m going to go change and probably shower…why are you here anyway?”

            “Oh yeah…Junsu-hyung saw you beat down that writer…”

            “I would hardly call it a beat down,” she replied loftily. “He would not want me to give him a beat down. He wouldn’t be walking…”

            “I can believe that. But what did he say that set you off?” Taecyeon knew, or at least he had some idea. But he wanted to hear it from her. Haneul shrugged her shoulders, fiddling with the towel.

            “Can I change first? And then maybe we could go on a walk or something?” She gestured to her towel-clad body. “It’s weird to talk about something serious in a towel.”

            “I totally forgot,” he admitted honestly. Haneul made an annoyed noise and crossed her arms across her chest.

            “You forgot that I, your girlfriend, was standing in front of you in a towel? Tsk, tsk. I guess I’ll have to work harder.” She spun on her heel and walked towards the changing room.

            “Work harder? What is she talking about?” Taecyeon shrugged and went to wait for her in the lobby.

           It took her fifteen minutes to shower and change, during which time Taecyeon was catching up on the news. He was scrolling through the newest updates on a Kpop news site, surprised to see an article entitled, “Is JYP’s niece dating Taecyeon to get publicity for her own career?” He gasped aloud and quickly clicked the link. Upon opening it, he was surprised to find videos of Haneul and Anna performing on stage as well as photos of them in each costume. But as he read the article he found them explaining about the movie and how they were just performing for a scene in the movie.

            Taecyeon rolled his eyes. Why would they post such misleading article titles? He scrolled down the page, looking over the comments. Some were positive and a few were negative. The netizens were demanding more information on Haneul and whether or not this relationship was real. Taec went back to the home page, noticing a new article about his relationship.

            “Taecyeon Getting Hot & Heavy with Girlfriend in Jeju…” he whispered, frantically clicking on the link. The first thing he saw were two or three images of Haneul and him in the pool, a few photos from when they had gone to the beach with Wooyoung, Nichkhun and Anna and then another photo or two from the performance night when she was in her “Gee” wear and he was hugging her.

            He was very concerned about this. There wasn’t anything exactly promiscuous about these photos, but he was sure that Haneul would prefer for them to not be seen by the world.  Taec half felt that way, but he was happy to have it caught on film. They looked so good together, he thought. Closing out of the browser, he logged off the computer. As he stood up to stretch, he saw Haneul heading his way.

            She was in her clothes from earlier, a pair of khaki shorts and a white scoop-neck tank top. Only this time her hair was curly from the shower and pulled into a low ponytail. Upon reaching his side, Haneul grabbed his hand and started walking towards the entrance.

            “Now, with the writer thing,” she began, her voice low. “Anna and I were going to go tan a little at the beach…well, she was tanning, and I came along because she asked me. Anyway, we were passing them and I heard him say something like, ‘Ok Taecyeon must be blind, deaf and dumb to choose that half-monkey girl over Im Yoona.’ At first I thought maybe I had misheard, but then Anna had cursed and I knew that I wasn’t mistaken. To make matters worse, after I asked him to repeat what he said. He had the nerve to suggest I was stupid because I needed him to repeat what he considered an obvious fact of life. No real Korean man would pick a dark-skinned foreigner over one of their own. So then I punched him and his friends were freaking out and he got back up so I kneed him in the groin and then left…” She had spoken this all in one breath, her words connecting as she rushed through the story. Haneul in air quickly and then exhaled deeply. Switching to English, she said, “It hurts that he called me such horrid names. But I’m sadder because he’s probably reflects the opinion of a lot of netizens who think you’ve gone crazy or are getting paid to date me. Oh to be like Nichkhun and Anna to have a relationship that no one knows about.”

            “Hanna, there’s nothing wrong with you. If people think that way then there’s nothing we can do. Both you and I know the truth. Wait! Khun and Anna?”

            “Oops, dammit. I promised I wouldn’t tell! She just told me this morning. Ack,” Haneul buried her face in her hands. “Taecyeon, you can’t tell anyone!”

           “Aniyo, I won’t. Because they can’t be dating. That’s impossible.”

“I know she’s a little off, babo. But, maybe he really likes her. And I think their keeping it a secret because fans would go nutso if they found out he had one. He is the face of 2PM.” 

Taec’s jaw dropped and he then proceeded to pout. “But I’m beastly. I have muscles. Besides, there was a rumour of him dating a JYP trainee and no one freaked.”

“Ya, no one saw her face so it doesn’t count. And, you’re not Nichkhun. He has the sort of face that even if he cheated on you, if he smiled then everything would be okay. Plus he has lots of aegyo.”          

            “So do I!” he insisted. Haneul laughed and cupped his cheek in her hand.

            “You’re very cute. But not Khun-oppa cute. If it’s any consolation, I like you better.” The beast smiled triumphantly and took her hand, placing a kiss on her palm.

            “Of course it is. C’mere.” He embraced her tightly and kissed her forehead. “I can tell what he said is bothering you, Hanna…” She began to protest, but Taec shushed her. “Sssshhh, chagiya, it’s okay to be upset and to cry.”

            Haneul rested her head against his chest, shaking it twice. “It’s better if I don’t cry. He’s not worth it, right? Besides I lived in America, for how much inter-mixing we do, my parents’ marriage wasn’t valid for some time and there will always be people who don’t like my kind. It’s okay though. I’m prettier than the average person.” She spoke the last sentence as modestly as one could, which wasn’t much. “I have the best of both worlds: short, my skin’s lighter than most, I can wear my hair curly or straight, I have s and a ,” Haneul let out a wistful sigh. “I could go on, but I don’t want people to think I’m conceited.”

            Taecyeon chuckled, his chest vibrating beneath her ear. “You conceited? Never,” he replied aghast.

            She laughed, her eyes squinting in mirth. Haneul’s laughter faded off into a sweet smile and she ran her fingers through Taecyeon’s hair. “Omo, you have soft hair, oppa. Do you use conditioner?” Taecyeon pulled away from her laughing at her silly question.

            “You’re so cute!!” he cooed, patting his cheeks. “Aigo, I’m so lucky!” Haneul rolled her eyes at his dramatics.

            “I’m starting to see what Junsu-oppa and Junho-oppa meant when they said you’re more annoying now.” She stuck out her tongue and him and giggled at his offended expression. Twirling away, Haneul took off back towards the hotel. “I’m going to go get ready for tonight with some of the girls! I’ll see you later!”

            “Ya! You can’t leave without a kiss!” He cried out after her. Her laughter got louder and she called back, “You’ll have to catch me, oppa.”

            Haneul was not an active person, so he caught her easily. Taec captured her lips in a kiss. Letting do, he patted her on the head, mussing her curls.

            “Now you may leave, Hanna. I am finished with you.” He turned from her, showing his back. Haneul scoffed at that, but did as told and just walked away. Taecyeon stood there for five minutes, assuming she’d get huffy like usual and protest and call him names. But today she just walked away. Well actually skipped away, humming along to “Only You”, and actually looking forward to her time with the girls.