The red carpet was alive with action. Journalists and reporters alike were lined up along the ropes holding them back armed with microphones and note pads while their photographers worked a mile a minute trying to catch either a stunning picture or a comedic picture to share with the fans that weren’t milling around the red carpet and squealing for their oppas to notice them.

            MinHo was bracing himself to endure these people as his stretch limo pulled up to the carpet. Another celebrity had walked out before him, a superbly talented man that went by the name of JongHyun and sang like an angel. The fans would have deafened him had it not been for his ear piece. Now, as he stared at his window, MinHo could see him stalled by a reporter, microphone shoved close to his face as he conversed casually with the woman before entering the stadium where the award show would take place.

            That would be him soon… The idea didn’t appeal to him much. It was a pity he had to commemorate the ending of his vacation with this award show. Nevertheless, he felt happy to be back in the action and to be at a place where he could make his fans proud by possibly winning an award.

            “After you Mr. Choi,” the man who held the door open for him okayed.

            With a deep breath, MinHo walked onto the red carpet, polished shoes reflecting the light of the photographers’ cameras as they caught sight of him. Many people screamed around him, recognizing him almost instantly.

            He wasn’t able to discern which direction the loudest of the screams were coming from. His manager walked alongside him, though a bit farther back and allowed MinHo to smile and wave to the many people, occasionally stopping to sign autographs. This one particular magazine that he was to sign, one with his face printed on the cover, was another normal one in the masses and he signed it with his trademark signature. However, it was not totally the same as the others…

            “Kim Kibum, reporter for 4EVER magazine, Choi MinHo!” a deep voice shouted from beside MinHo.

            It was a bit lost in the disarray of voices all around MinHo, but he caught on to it and looked up to acknowledge whoever it was with a smile to at least be polite. But he was shocked to find a man with stunning cheek bones holding up slanted, cat like eyes that were lined with thin strips of glittering silver liner. His refined eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he tried desperately to catch the attention of MinHo.

            “Yes?” MinHo asked, miffed by the attractive features of the man. He hurriedly scribbled out the rest of his signature on the stranger’s magazine, only seeing now the title, 4EVER, written boldly across the top.

            “Care to answer a couple of questions for our feature?” the reporter asked (Kim Kibum was it?).

            A smile that MinHo had often practiced flit onto his face, though this time he felt traces of genuine care touch his lips as he rounded to face Kibum. “Not a problem. It’s what the red carpet is for, is it not?” he replied charmingly.

            The reporter sniffed comically and whipped out his note pad, pen tip poised on the paper and ready to write every comment MinHo doled out to him.

            “Was your vacation really just a vacation or were you off canoodling with some woman?” the reporter asked.

            Surprised at the bluntness of the question, MinHo stumbled over his words as he tried to formulate a response.

            “No, I can assure you that my vacation was mean to rest and I didn’t spend any time, what was the word you used? Canoodling? I did not “canoodle” with any women during my time off of work,” he answered, a bit miffed.

            A snort escaped the reporter but he quickly composed himself, prepared to throw out his next question.

            “So UEE, she is quite beautiful isn’t she?” he asked nonchalantly, only just beginning with his drilling interview.

            “Yes, she is quite attractive, why do you ask?”

            “So have you had any intimate relationships with her?”

            “What? Of course not! We’ve hardly even talked!”

            MinHo was getting more and more confused by this reporter. He had seemed respectable when he’d seen him and now his respect towards the man was lowering as he continued to ask him questions that had no relevance to his career or the event they were all here to attend and support.

            “Could you say,” the reporter continued, not even pausing to reflect on how ridiculous he was being in trying to catch the latest gossip, “that you are more attracted to men, then? Considering there’s been no news, or rarely any news of you wanting to be with a woman. Or even being with a woman.”

            “I’m sorry, but I must ask what business is it to you who my preference in partners is? I simply haven’t had time with my schedule to get close to any women,” MinHo defended, beginning to be a bit insulted.

            “So you come out of vacation to a prestigious event like these, unescorted, and you expect us to go with this idea that you are interested in women?” Kibum pressed on.

            At this, MinHo’s jaw dropped, staring wide eyed at the reporter whose face looked completely indifferent to his prying and personal questions.

            “I must excuse myself,” he apologized, turning to his manager who was now approaching him. “But I’m expected inside.” He turned away from the reporter, a bit annoyed by the fact that he’d wasted his time answering this man’s questions when plenty more reporters and journalist were more deserving of his time.

            The manager asked him something that MinHo couldn’t quite make out over the scream of the people and he slipped inside with him, finding his table and making mindless chit chat with the few people from his company that he was familiar with. However, even though he tried to lose himself in the lively atmosphere he wasn’t able to get that snarky journalist out of his mind. He’d simply been so rude… And upfront – entirely too bold – with his questions.

            Even when the MC’s shouted his name in unison when the prize for best leading male actor in unison he still wasn’t able to shake Kim Kibum off his mind. He accepted his award in a detached state. Though his face smiled and the speech fed the crowd and cameras he still had those cat eyes glaring at him in amusement the whole time.

            He had been more than just courageous with his questions…

            “Thank you, I couldn’t have done this without you, my fans and supporters,” he closed off before walking off the stage.

            He had been right on the dot about his love life.

HE HADN’T EXPECTED TO SEE KIBUM AGAIN. Usually, when he was ambushed with reporters and paparazzi they were always new faces. Occasionally he had that one familiar person but there were so many people that he could never be sure. So when he was dressed in his casual clothes and preparing to go for his routine jog he hadn’t expected to run into anyone that he couldn’t ignore. Especially since it was so early, usually he was able to avoid any lurking journalists.

            Except apparently Kim Kibum could not be shaken off so easily. What MinHo had thought to be a one chance encounter with the journalist turned out not to be.

He’d been on the corner of his dorm building stretching before his run when the man turned the corner, note pad in hand and blonde hair styled nicely. His eyes were decorated in a simple black liner today but they defined his eyes nonetheless, giving them a bold touch to his already frightening attitude.

            “Choi MinHo,” he sang in a convicting tone as he approached. The sway to his hips may have added a girlish touch to his physique (which was already quite slim) had it not been for the sass that had accompanied it.

            “I don’t want to answer any questions, I’m sorry,” MinHo said half heartedly, turning away from Kibum.

            “You don’t have a choice.”

            Sighing, MinHo decided that his best option was to walk away. His manager would flip out if he even so much as made a snide remark to the journalist. Image was key, he always said.

            “Don’t try walking away; I’ll only come back every day until you realize that you can’t get away from this,” Kibum threatened.

            Something cold and haunting clutched MinHo’s stomach. The threads of fear were beginning to wound in his chest, but he felt a sort of surge of adrenaline coursing through him as well. Perhaps it was the vibe Kibum was giving off, but something told him that this journalist was not like the others.

            “What do you wish to know, then?” he gave in, facing the effeminate man.

            A smirk danced on Kibum’s face, giving him a very predatory look. He flipped open his notebook, scrambling through pages until he find an empty one. The second he found a clean page he let his stare drop on MinHo.

            “I was legitimate answers to all my questions,” he warned.

            MinHo only nodded, still not sure as to where exactly this interview would lead them. Then again, he was already in trouble for agreeing to speak to Kibum without the permission or accompaniment of his manager so he didn’t have much to lose.

            “All right. Who is your girlfriend?” Kibum started with.

            “Like I’ve said to you before, I do not have a girlfriend. My schedule doesn’t accommodate time for a girlfriend.”

            “Why did you take a break?”

            “Am I not allowed to relax? Everyone needs some time off, whether they’re famous or not, no?”

            “Who did you spend your vacation with?”

            “Manager hyung and some other people from the company. I mostly spent it in London, watching the soccer games down there.”

            “Meet anyone special?”

            “No one in particular.”

            An annoyed twitch flashed above Kibum’s eyebrows. MinHo found himself being more amused than bothered now, figuring he was answering the questions in all the ways he was supposed to which is exactly why the journalist was so aggravated with him.

            “Is your life always this boring?” he finally snapped. The slight lilt to his hold on his pen told MinHo that things were no longer about his job and getting a decent interview with MinHo, but about settling a personal score.

            It was somewhat of a challenge, and if anyone knew MinHo they knew that he never backed down from a challenge.

            “I wouldn’t say my life is boring, to be honest. It’s quite packed and I’m never without something to do,” MinHo answered honestly, in a voice much too polite to be abhorred.

            “So you’re telling me that you’re always with something to do, is that it?” Key questioned, cocking one of those perfectly plucked eyebrows.

            “Yes, that may be what I’m implying,” MinHo said.

            “So then you have absolutely no one significant to accompany you in your “busy” life?”

            “No one really.”

            “No woman of your own?”

            “No.”

            “So a man?”

            “If there was, would I tell you? I mean, you would go running to your editor, wouldn’t you? And he or she would certainly have to publish such a juicy piece of gossip since I’m such an important figure in your media world and any bit of information is critical for your career, is it not?” MinHo launched a somewhat snob look at Key, meaning to look a bit superior as he was getting increasingly bored of these questions. It seemed reporters would do anything to bring him and his career down and it bugged him. Especially when all he’d been trying to do was run. He didn’t care that this boy had stuck to him like a magnet since the awards show; he wasn’t going to put up with any presumptions pertaining his uality.

            Even if they were incredibly true…

            “Is that implying that you do have a significant other and that he is a man?” Kibum suddenly asked, perking up like a cat who’d just heard dinner scurrying across the floor.

            “No, it was a judgement on the way your magazines are run,” MinHo corrected, making to leave once more.

            Some part of him wished for Kibum to call out to him, hold him back and keep asking him questions for no matter how repetitive and sketchy they were, his voice was enticing and his body all the more inviting. And his personality was certainly one he’d like to familiarize himself with more.

            “Then for your information, I’ll have you know that I’m not even working today, nor am I assigned the job of following you around. Unfortunately that was awarded to the prissy girl with the intern. I came here of my own will simply because I was curious. After all, I am a fan,” Kibum explained.

            The sudden honesty confused MinHo and made him double back. Though his words were suspicious there was a tone beneath the words that pushed him to pry deeper. There was something lurking beneath the journalist’s notes that he was inviting MinHo to discover.

            “And this is supposed to mean something to me?” he asked cautiously.

            “Yes. I don’t even work for the gossip column; I work for the fashion one. I’m here to ask you something.”

            “Ask me what exactly…?”

            “Are you free Saturday night?”

            “I don’t schedule interviews; you’ll have to take that up with my manager.”

            “Not for an interview, dumb . For a date, I’d like to have a date with you.”

            “I-I’m not into men,” MinHo stuttered, completely taken aback.

            “No matter, by the time we finish our date you will be,” Kibum said with a nonchalant shrug. His smirk transformed into a devilish grin that boggled MinHo all the more. He could only stand there dumbstruck as the journalist scrawled some digits on a paper, ripped it out and shoved it in his hand. “Call me tonight and we can talk. I promise I won’t pester you with any more questions.”

            “Uhh.” It wasn’t the most intelligent of responses but MinHo’s brain had completely shut down and words were escaping him.

            “That’s a lie; I have plenty of questions I want to ask. See you later.”

            Kibum sauntered off, flipping his notepad shut and tucking it into the back pocket of his jeans. He yanked his hood up over his head, covering the blonde hair crowned atop his cranium like a badge of honour and disappeared around the same corner he’d rounded when coming here.

            MinHo watched him till the heel of his foot disappeared and continued to stand there and watch the spot he had occupied moments earlier.

            What… In the world… Had just happened?