Damn. She didn’t even know passports had an expiration date.

               Yuri ran her hand exasperatedly through her silky black hair. Behind the large dark lenses of her designer sunglasses, her eyes inspected the date on the small, stamp-filled passport. She turned back around to face the clerk behind the check-in desk, who was patiently waiting. “Can’t you just make an exception this one time? It only just expired last week!” She implored, pointing at the printed numbers. The clerk just pursed her lips and shook her head emphatically, eyeing Yuri pityingly.  

               “Look, I’m a model. I have to be in a fashion show tomorrow morning, I have people who are counting on me! I need to get on this flight,” Yuri exasperatedly explained, but to no avail.

                “I’m sorry, miss. I can’t let you on the plane. You’ll have to go to Milan some other time, when you have a legitimate passport,” the clerk replied in a forceful tone.

                Yuri knew when to back down. “Alright,” she said, forcing a sweet smile at the clerk. “Thank you for your help.” Dragging all her bags with her, she trudged over to the waiting area of the busy airport lobby. She blinked a little more often than usual, making sure her watery eyes didn’t ruin her make-up.

                The model dropped everything except her phone into a chair, and then paced back and forth along the row of uncomfortable seat, running her fingers through her hair again. Her anxious breathing only became quicker as she dialed a number onto her phone.

                A beep on the other end signaled her to leave a voice message. “Manager, sir. It’s me, Yul. I can’t get on the flight, my passport is expired.” Desperation crept into her voice, giving it a slight whining tone. “Manager, please hurry and call me back! What should I do?” Upset, Yuri hung up and sighed, flopping into the chair next to her huddle of bags. Her face slipped into a sulk as she rested her chin on a hand, elbow on the armrest, and listlessly stared out the wall of glass windows. As she watched an airplane take off, Yuri couldn’t help thinking that she should have been on that flight.

                The tempting aroma of coffee slipped through her nose. Her small eyes drifted over to a nearby in-airport coffee shop, where couples and friends were sitting at small, round tables and drinking their beverages. The young woman’s taste buds yearned for a warm sip of mocha cappuccino, but her body wasn’t in the mood to get up from its grumpy, slouched position.

                 A tall man walked past her, getting in the way of her line of sight, and distracting all her other senses. His cologne was subtle, but had a large enough presence to make Yuri forget about the scent of coffee. He emitted a charismatic aura, and the ripples of his neck showed he worked out often. He deposited his luggage and jacket into the chair 3 seats in the row away from hers, talking on the phone agitatedly. “Well, how was I supposed to know that passports expire?” He paused to listen, then snapped back a retort. “Whatever, there’s always going to be more auditions. Just get me a ride home, please. Text me when you get here.” He shoved his phone into his pocket and slumped into the seat.

                 Watching him out of the corner of her eyes, Yuri chuckled. He looked over, curious as to why she seemed so amused. “You didn’t know either, huh.” She turned to face him and initiated conversation, holding up her now-useless passport. Her lips curved into a feeble grin.

                 The stranger glanced back and smiled good-humoredly in return, showing his teeth. “You overheard me?” 

                  The model nodded reservedly, then took her shades off to get a better look at the man. “You mentioned you were going to audition for something?”

                 He shrugged nonchalantly. “Oh, well, not anymore.” He explained further. “I was going to audition for a role in an upcoming movie." Yuri just blankly stared. Still sensing her confusion, the man introduced himself. “I’m an actor. Choi Minho.” He grinned.

                “Minho,” she repeated, liking the way his name rolled off her tongue. Her rosy cheeks lifted as she beamed and her eyes sparkled.

                “And may I know who you are?” Minho raised an eyebrow, looking expectantly at her with his wide eyes.

                She stuck her right hand out to him. At the tips of her fingers, sleek and glazed French-manicured nails stood out against her tan skin. “I’m Kwon Yuri; I model for a living.” She grinned back, baring her set of pearly whites.

                 He hopped over to the seat next to her. She saw recognition in his eyes as he shook her hand. “Ah, Yuri! I’ve heard about you; you seem to be garnering some attention lately,” he excitedly said. Yuri blushed as she looked down; she was not used to such acknowledgement. He vigorously pumped her hand up and down, his strong fingers enfolding her delicate ones in a warm embrace.

                "It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he continued to say. Then he noticed he had been shaking her hand a little too long. Minho quickly released his grip and pulled his hand away, timorously scratching the back of his head and averting his eyes. “Sorry.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets. Yuri felt like telling him that she had actually enjoyed the prolonged contact, that she wasn’t uncomfortable, but decided it better to keep it to herself, nervously giggling instead. Her hand tingled.

                 They both stayed quiet, each thinking his/her own personal thoughts. “You know, actors and models are quite alike,” he broke the silence.

                  Yuri cocked her head and looked at him questioningly. “How?”

                  "Well,” he began. “Both usually sit in front of cameras to be looked at, and both are generally attractive.”

                  She raised an eyebrow suggestively, and the corner of her lips turned up. “You think I’m good-looking,” she stated coyly, a hint of teasing in her voice. Minho faltered, but continued with his analysis.

                "A- and both can endorse in commercials, and are occasionally recognized worldwide.” He counted the similarities on his fingers and held them up on one hand. “But,” he dramatically paused, and put up the index finger of his other hand. “There’s one difference between an actor and a model.” Yuri waited for his answer, her eyes trained on his chiseled face. He was mischievously grinning. “Acting actually takes talent.”

                 Insulted, Yuri gasped, then slapped the man’s shoulder, barely inflicting any pain. "No way, all the models I know have lots of talent. Anyways, I bet I could act just as well, if not better, than you, Mister Choi!" was wide open, her glossed lips forming an elongated ‘O’. Inside her mind, she was wondering why she could already feel so comfortable and familiar with this man who was moments ago only just a total stranger.

             The grin on Minho’s face grew wider, the light in his eyes shone brighter. "I'll take that bet." He sat and thought for a second, then snapped his fingers and pointed in the air, as if he had just conceived a great idea. "We'll both have to act madly in love with each other. First one to break character loses," he proposes.

              Yuri's attention was momentarily taken by someone rushing by, a coffee cup in their hand. She remembered her earlier craving and smiled, putting her attention back onto Minho. "And loser will have to buy the other coffee," she added. He nodded solemnly, accepting the terms of the bet. The model’s smile grew. "It's a deal."

                They shook hands, sealing the bet. Yuri took that chance to immediately start. She exaggeratingly put a hand to and gasped. “Oh, you’re holding my hand,” she tittered. Her hand moved down to her chest. “My heart is beating so fast; what should I do, what should I do?” She sharply turned her head so that Minho wouldn’t see her red face. She was only acting, but her heart truly did feel like it was beating faster than normal.

                Minho was wide-eyed. He had been caught off guard at the model’s strong approach, but quickly snapped back into the game. Gripping her hand tightly, he used his other hand to gently touch her chin and turn her face to his. His light brown eyes locked onto her dark chocolate ones. The actor used a finger to carefully brush a strand of her dark hair away, then softly caress her cheek. “The light shines so dazzlingly on you,” his husky voice whispered. “It adds even more glow to your beautiful face.”

                The model was stunned into no words. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from his burning stare, full of fire and passion. But then he pulled his hand away from her face and put his attention elsewhere, suddenly becoming distant. Yuri frowned. She didn’t know what trick Minho was trying to pull.

                “Hey-!” She began to say. Then she saw his eyes dart over at her for a quick second, then look away.

                She smirked, figuring out that Minho was trying to make her slip up.. Continuing the performance, Yuri squeezed his hand, and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. Thinking of the saddest things she could, she made her own voice raspy and staggered her words. “Minho,” she began, her voice almost cracking. “I- I understand how you feel now. I know you don’t feel the same way.” The model drew back, away from her ‘lover’, and directed her gaze down to her designer shoes, blinking frequently and rapidly.  

                Yuri stood, sniffing and breathing heavily. She swiped the back of her hands across her eyes to wipe away her nonexistent tears. “I- I still have feelings for you, but I won’t bother you anymore. Goodbye, Minho.” She swiveled on her toes and began to walk rapidly in the direction of the nearest ladies’ room, wondering if what she had just acted out was a scene from an old drama. Her hands dangled by her sides as she strode across the gray airport carpet.

                Then she felt something close around her wrist and tug her back. Yuri gasped as she was spun around to face a fiery Minho. He put both hands around her waist and pulled her body to his. Her arms were on his chest. Yuri noticed how muscular he felt, how warm he was. “I never said I didn’t have feelings for you.” Something about the way he said that penetrated her soul, and her face grew hot.

                “Wha- what?” she answered, flustered.

                “Yuri, don’t you know? I was cold and aloof because I was just nervous, and shy. You’re just so amazing, I didn’t feel worthy,” he explained. His eyes mimicked those of a young boy, too afraid to reveal his true feelings. “The truth is,” he began, letting his hand rest on the curve of her back, only the thin fabric of her white button-down shirt getting in between his skin and hers. “I’m in love with you, Kwon Yuri. And I can prove it.” He used both hands to pull her head closer to his. Yuri’s eyes widened, but she didn’t dare pull away, no matter how much she wanted to. She would not let herself break character. Yuri inwardly dared herself to go along with it, to make Minho be the one to pull away.

                His warm breath mingled with hers as their mouths and noses inched towards each other. Yuri let her gaze dart from his nose, to his mouth, to his forehead, to his chin, anywhere but Minho’s deep burning brown eyes.

                Their noses grazed as his mouth lingered centimeters away from hers. Loose pieces of his tousled hair tickled her skin. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up in anticipation, waiting for the kiss to happen.

                But Minho didn’t kiss her. He didn’t move any further, letting his face remain where it was, teasing her. Once again, Yuri was utterly confused by his actions, frustration seeping to the surface. Determination spurred her and she wrapped her arms around his neck and abruptly reeled him in. Their lips met.

                It was a short kiss, just a touch of the lips. Seemingly unimportant, without feelings. Yet for Yuri, it unleashed an explosion of sensations. The way his soft, smooth lips had pressed against hers had made her pulse rate quicken, made her heart swell.

                When she pulled away, she couldn’t take her eyes off his. Yuri searched his pupils; for exactly what she was unsure. Minho was the rim of his mouth, the surprise not yet gone from his expression. The model blinked a couple times, then gaped in horror at what just happened. She couldn’t believe that she had kissed a man she had just met. Yet, somewhere inside of her, Yuri felt elated about the kiss. Her cheeks were rosy; she couldn’t get the smile off her face. Looking down, she shyly mumbled, “Sorry,” and stepped back.

                Minho unexpectedly snickered and took a step towards her, closing the gap between them once again. “I lost,” he noted, a resigned smile on his face. He didn’t seem to be too sad about it, however. Yuri eyed him, her dark irises casting a dubious shadow.

                “You give up?” She couldn’t believe it. There had been many times where he had almost cornered her, almost made her break from character. How could he have given up, especially since he had been winning so easily?

                “Yes, I acknowledge my defeat to you, Miss Kwon. You are a fantastic force to be reckoned with.” Flattered, Yuri tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and continued to listen to Minho admit his defeat. “I lost,” he said again, “because one can’t act if they aren’t pretending.”

                Yuri froze, her chest constricted. “What? What do you mean?” She had a clue, but wanted to hear the truth from Minho’s own lips. Did he really mean what she thought he did?

                “Yuri.” When he said her name, it sounded so sweet, so tender. “You are beautiful. You are funny, you are charming, you are clever,” he listed. Her hands clenched into balls, her toes curled. Her eyes glued to his face, she waited for him to say it.

                But, like the time moments before, Minho stopped at the most crucial moment. Instead of speaking, he closed his mouth and chose to just stare speechless back at Yuri.

                She waited a total of 15 seconds before getting annoyed. “Aish, Minho, seriously?” She pouted and lightly hit his arm. “It’s not nice to keep a girl hanging, you know.”

                Minho chuckled, and s his hands over to Yuri’s. Grasping both of them, he spoke in his deep and quiet voice, through which she could sense his earnestness. “I’ve been cheating this whole time. Sometime today I found myself really meaning what I said and did. It may not be love, but I can definitely say that I have a head-over-heels crush on Miss Kwon Yuri.”          

                Yuri was flustered. She couldn’t breathe, her head was spinning. Sensing her agitation, Minho instinctively held on to her shoulders, giving support and holding her up. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to upset you,” he mumbled, the confidence that he had emanated before gone. Yuri pitied him, because he was wrong in his assumption.

                Giving him a genuine smile, she assured him, “No, Minho. To be quite honest, I really like you too.” Her hands clutched onto his shirt collar, she boldly reached up for another soft kiss, but on the crest of his smooth cheek. “I was just,” she started to say, pausing. A glint in her eye, nothing else came out of as she stared at Minho, waiting.

                He furrowed his brow, wondering what was taking Yuri so long to answer. Even though he gave her numerous looks, she defiantly kept quiet, grinning back. Finally, Minho remembered, and understood. “Hey, Yuri, that’s not fair,” he complained, but she just shushed him and put a lone index finger to his lips.

                She drew out her response. “I was just a little excited over the thought of winning. You have to buy me a coffee now,” she gloated, lightly dragging her finger across his lips and over to his cheek.

                Minho opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a ringing sound. Yuri’s hand shot down to her jeans pocket, and she looked apologetically at him. “I think it’s my manager.” She picked it up. “Hi, Manager, sir!”

                “Yuri! Are you okay?” The panicked tone of her manager said on the other line.

                “Yeah, manager, I’m fine,” she replied. The model eyed Minho, who was fiddling with his own phone. He seemed to be texting.

                “I’m sending a taxi for you, looks like you’ll have to skip this showing. Sorry, Yuri, maybe next time. The taxi will be there soon, go home and rest.” Despite her manager’s saddened tone, Yuri was smiling, fond eyes resting on the male actor standing in front of her.

                “That’s okay. I'll stay home this week. Maybe next time,” she repeated, and hung up. “Hey, Minho, I-“

                He cut her off. “Ah, my agent just texted me, my ride’s here. I have to go, Yuri.” Yuri’s face fell. Her smile disappeared, and grew a lump, which made swallowing difficult. She didn’t want him to leave; she wanted to get to know the actor better, maybe start a relationship. But now they’d have to part ways, possibly to opposite ends of the country, or even opposite sides of the world, depending on what happened in both of their careers. Especially her jet-setting life as a rising model. At that moment, Yuri despised the job she had worked so hard to attain.  

                Minho reached to clasp her hands in his one more time. He slickly pried her phone from her fingers, and typed something into it. “Here, you’ve got my number. Text or call me anytime, okay?”

                Forcing back tears, Yuri nodded, taking her phone back, her fingers lingering in between his for the last touch. The lump in had swelled, she could only whisper. “I will. Goodbye, Choi Minho.” She moved back, and slumped into the airport chair.

                Minho didn’t answer. He just gathered his belongings, raised his hand in farewell, and walked away down the airport terminal.

                Yuri rested her hand on her cheek and stared out the window. Her eyes were half-lidded in boredom, sleepiness, and dejection. She ignored the rush of the airport, thinking only of the man she had grown so attached to in their short period of time together at the airport, replaying all the scenes in her head. Someone rushing by caught her attention. They had a coffee cup in their hand.

                The model jerked up in her seat, straightening her back. “He never bought me my coffee!” she indignantly cried aloud, forgetting the people around her. Two dings suddenly came from her phone. Yuri read the first received text message aloud. “Hey Miss Yuri. If you want your coffee, then meet me in Seoul tomorrow. Call me, I’ll give you the address. Mister Acting Genius Minho.” Yuri scoffed at his self-proclaimed title, but her eyes crinkled as she smiled. Before doing anything else, she read the second text message, which told her that her taxi had arrived.

                Dragging her luggage down the gray carpets of the airport terminal, Yuri giggled and dialed the newest number in her phone. When the person on the other line picked up, the first thing she asked was, “How did you know I’d be home this week?”

                A voice answered, “You’re not the only one who can eavesdrop on a phone conversation.”