Hidden Camera?

In the following week the film crew, along with Super Junior, found ways to keep Tess busy so she wouldn't notice the planning going on around her.

PD-nim thought it would be fun to put her into situations Koreans go through every day, paired with at least one of the members to see how well she coped. It would keep her out of the planning and make the filming more dynamic in the process. Like Tess' own mollae kamela.

So armed with a handful of won from the boys grocery fund, along with Heechul and Shindong, Tess got her first look at the street market.
"There's so much to look at! Have you guys ever been here before?" She turned and asked the two with her.

Shindong shook his head. "Aniyo. We just let Ahjuma do the shopping. It would cause a collapse of economy if we came."

Tess looked at him funny. "Oh?"

"Yeh. No one would be shopping they would all, swosh in on us like that." He said bringing his hands in quickly. Tess laughed at that. "I guess it would."

"Shindong-ah look, look! It's Kangin in ten years!" Heechul said putting his arm around an older gentleman who was selling bung-eoppang saogi.
The man did resemble Kangin a little, but he was shorter and at least fifty years old.

Shindong had to walk away holding his laughter in until he was out of view of the camera.

Heechul looked into the camera with a large smile and said "Kangin-ah you drank a lot. How is military?" 

He laughed through his nose but quickly straightened up too look back into the lens.

"Saranghae."
He couldn't hold it in any more and walked off laughing as well.

The older man just shook his head at them with a smile on his face.
Tess decided to buy a sack of bung-eoppang and shared it with the guys and the camera crew that was with them.

They walked down the street bundled in scarves and coats with the white steam from the fish-shaped bread flowing from their mouths.

"Ah it's nice to walk and eat this on a cold day." Shindong said.

"It's nice to eat any time isn't it Shindong?" Heechul stated.

Shindong laughed "Of course!"

Tess laughed again. "Do you guy's always do this?"

"Sure we wouldn't be us if we didn't." Heechul said throwing his arm around Shindong.

Their presence was causing quite a stir in the market and some fans were following them, but Tess was impressed that they let the stars go about their business instead of mobbing them for autographs like the fans of US stars did.

One thing about being a Korean celebrity that really annoyed her was their lack of personal life. The groups management was utterly strict about this subject. 
Something Tess learned about the hard way after making a comment about the guys needing to find good girlfriends as she watched them during a practice stage at SBS.  

Another topic that was nagging at her was Heechul.
He had been fairly nice to her in the passing week she had spent so far with Super Junior. But because she had been spending so much time with him she had began to notice his personality wasn't like everyone else.
As a matter of fact it was becoming clear to her that his actions mirrored someone that could wound her heart.

Everyday, bit by bit, she was reminded of her lost child. Everyday her heart grew heavy and her eyes sad.

Tess was determined not to show her feelings to the members or the crew, so she began to shy away from spending time with Heechul, concentrating more on her studies at the language center.  

He didn't seem to notice and the other members where finally getting to spend some time with her instead.

Yet on this trip to the market, Heechul and Shindong were selected to go with Tess as the others stayed behind to prepare the surprise party.

Thankfully Tess was distracted by all the goods and people milling about the market to think much on Heenims behavior. He and Shindong kept a dialog going that was full of puns and laughter that would engage their audiance, and Tess would keep them rolling with her attempt at bargaining.

"These ahjuma are tough." She said after haggling down the price of a few trout she was thinking of cooking that night.  

"Yah did you see her face when she saw you were a foreigner?" Heechul laughed as he pulled her along by her hand.

Tess laughed at the smile on his face. 'He can be so child like sometimes.' She thought as they walked around the vegetable stand.

"Oh look! It's Kim Heechul from Super Junior!"

They turned and saw a small group of girls standing by a jewelry stall. They all had their phones out in an instant and were taking pictures. "Is this your girlfriend oppa?" One called to them.

"Yah, why are you holding his hand?"  another yelled at Tess. She looked down and saw that he hadn't let her go and slipped her hand from his.

"Aniyo." She said waving her hands. "I am from the show 'Living with Idols'. Heechul-ssi was only showing me around. Shindong-ssi is here as well." Tess said motioning Shindong over.  

"Ahhh." The group nodded and continued taking pictures until the filming crew told them to stop due to the programe. Heechul and Shindong signed a few things for them and took some pictures for a moment and then they were left alone to continue shopping.

"That was scary." Tess said after they had moved on and the crew was changing tapes.

Heechul looked at her askew and scoffed. "If you think that was scary wait until they crowd your car trying to get a piece of you."

Shindong put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. "Don't worry nuna. Hyeong is just annoyed after stuff like that."

He saw her face pale with Heechuls' words and tried to comfort her a bit. But it wasn't his harsh words that shook her, but the manner in which he spoke. It was like watching Sara react after scolding her.

Tess started to shake a little and tears glossed her eyes. She looked around and darted toward a shop with the excuse she had to use the restroom.

"Yah, we can't wait for you forever! Be quick!" Heechul called after her. 
"Hyeong." Shndong said in a whine. "Didn't you see the look on nuna's face?"

Heechul looked at him for a moment and then turned back to where Tess had disappeared to.
He had noticed, but he didn't think it was due to his words. Not after what he had seen just yesterday.

Coming back from a late schedule he'd witnessed a massive argument between Tess and Kim PD-nim over a comment she had made on another show, in the midst of Super Junior filming a live at SBS.
She had given just as good as she got before apologizing for having a mind of her own and storming off, leaving the PD standing with his mouth open. 

She was far from sensitive. No, there was something else to this.

Tess splashed the freezing cold water on her face and took deep breaths.
Dabbing herself dry she looked into the small mirror over the sink in the miniscule bathroom cubicle she'd ducked into after leaving the two members on the street.
Her color was fine, her eyes no longer glassy. She mentally steeled herself for facing them once more. 

She wouldn't let this get to her again. Not after taking so long to get to a functioning mindset. She would not fall back into that black hole of despair. Nodding to her reflection she stepped back out into the winter sun and resumed filming.   

They stumbled into the darkened apartment with their plastic bags and kicked off their shoes.

"Why is the room so dark?" Tess said as she walked into the main living area.
Just then the lights snapped on and a room full of Super Junior all yelled Surprise and set off poppers.

Tess jumped at the sudden noise, then laughed as she realized what was going on.

"What is all this?" She said holding her hands up catching bits of the confetti still fluttering in the air.

"It's a party just for you nuna!" Sungmin said happily grabbing her hand and pulling her further into the group as Ryeowook slipped the bag from her hands. 

"Why for me? It isn't my birthday." She laughed at his cutesy tone.

"We wanted you to know how special you are." Eeteuk said, dimple smiling.

"Ah, Teukie had to get his name in again!" Heechul yelled pointing to their leader with a smile.

Leeteuk's laugh had everybody smiling, and Tess was overwhelmed at how much they had done for her.

There was a buffet style table set up on one side of the room and a big cake was set in the middle. A big banner hung behind it along the window that had messages from Super Junior, the film crew and even the fans.
The members and camera crew all tried to capture Tess' expression as the party kicked off. 

She was really happy. 
For so long she had wanted to be able to smile without faking it and now, with the help of these ten wonderful men, she could.

"I can't say how much this means to me." Tess said as the others fell silent.
"This is the most wonderful thing anyone has ever done for me. I am very grateful to you all. Thank you." She bowed very low to convey how much it meant to her.

All the members came towards her to pull her up from her bow and give her hugs. The noise was so great she really couldn't tell what they were all saying, but she felt it.

True feelings from the heart can be conveyed without language. You just know deep within what it means, and that is a blessed feeling to be given.

She was definitely a lucky girl to receive such a warm gift of the heart.

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I want to apologize for being off this story for so long. I unfortunately have some family situations to deal with as well as my Father being deathly ill. I will definitely try to update as much as I can in the following months. I think I'll skip ahead too and bring about some meetings that I had been planning. Leave me any criticisms you have and let me know if I'm totally off about something I might have over looked. Thanks guys.
Happy Lunar New Year! Well wishes to every one on AFF.