After that fateful night, Seo Hyun and Yong Hwa began contacting each other more often. Whatever they felt had held them back during their time together, they didn’t feel it now. Maybe it was because they weren’t together but regardless, they were more honest and open to each other than they had been before. A couple of times, they touched about the subject of getting back together but Seo Hyun still didn’t have the confidence. So Yong Hwa just let the subject drop. He wasn’t going to push her and he knew she had a point.

His birthday came and went. Seo Hyun couldn’t attend the birthday celebration but she did drop by CNBLUE dorm later that night with a small cake she baked and a present for Yong Hwa. On Seo Hyun’s birthday, Yong Hwa sent flowers to her home with a personal message:

To Hyu~n,

Happy Birthday my dear!! May you have a beautiful day today!

From,

Yo~ng

P/S: I hope you like the flowers. It’s the first time I’m sending you flowers! Kekeke

There was a party with other SM labelmates and some other close friends that night and Yong Hwa was invited. The photo was leaked afterwards but nobody knew Yong Hwa was there because he was the one who took all the photos. He didn’t want rumors to swirl regarding his presence at Seo Hyun’s birthday so he volunteered to become the designated cameraman. The only proof that he had attended Seo Hyun’s birthday was the picture he posed with Seo Hyun that he took with his phone.

The day after Seo Hyun’s birthday, Yong Hwa had a meeting with Han Seung Ho. “Ahhh… I think we’ve got everything in order. We’ll begin scheduling for the recording then. So Yong Hwa , how was Seo Hyun-ssi’s birthday party yesterday? Are you two back together yet?” Han Seung Ho teased. “The party was fun. I think Seo Hyun enjoyed herself. And no, we’re not back together yet” Yong Hwa admitted, feeling slightly down. “But you two are closer than you were before. What’s the hold up?” Seung Ho frowned. “Seo Hyun still doesn’t have the confidence. It causes her too much stress whenever we need to meet up. We have to disguise ourselves, inconvenience other people who help us and sneak around. It’s too stressful for her” Yong Hwa sighed. “If only we could stay together. Then that’s one BIG hurdle down” Yong Hwa said offhandedly.

“Yong Hwa-ya, you know we’ll be moving to the new office building early next year right?” Seung Ho said suddenly. Yong Hwa was puzzled by this unrelated question, “Yes sunbaenim. It will be next to SM’s building” Yong Hwa replied. “When we move there next year, your dorm will be too far. How about we find you a dorm closer to the new office?” Han Seung Ho said, his eyes emanating a weird sparkle. “Oh.. I guess that’s a good idea.. We wouldn’t have to travel so far” Yong Hwa shrugged. “Yong Hwa-ya, you’re not listening. I hear Seo Hyun-ssi’s apartment block is really REALLY near SM’s office” Seung Ho said, winking. As the realization dawned upon him, Yong Hwa’s blank expression turned into one big goofy grin. “I’ll get manager hyung to look into it!” Yong Hwa said, still grinning goofily.

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August 9 2012

Yong Hwa and Seo Hyun were out taking a walk after a late dinner along the streets of LA. It was the day before SBS’s K-Pop Super Concert in LA where CNBLUE and SNSD would be performing. Yong Hwa, Tiffany and Ki Kwang were also slated to be the MCs. It had been a busy day for everyone. Some groups had fan meetings, photoshoots, interviews, press conferences and rehearsals. Yong Hwa had managed to convince Seo Hyun to take a walk with him after he and the CNBLUE boys bumped into the SNSD girls as the girls were just returning from their hectic schedule. The rest of the CNBLUE boys had opted to hang out with the SNSD girls to give some privacy to both Yong Hwa and Seo Hyun.

It wasn’t cold but both of them had their caps on, hoods up and a scarf covering half their faces. They felt stuffy but they couldn’t risk being seen or worse, photographed together. As they were crossing the road, Yong Hwa suddenly reached across and took Seo Hyun’s hand in his and put it in his pocket. He missed holding her hand. He hadn’t held them since they broke up. “Oppa…” Seo Hyun protested as she attempted feebly to remove her hand. “Hyu~n… Maybe it’s time we got back together” Yong Hwa said as he led her across the street.

“Ne??” Seo Hyun was too stunned to give a proper reply. Her resolve was slowly breaking down each time she spent time with him. “You heard me Seo Joo Hyun. I said, it’s time we got back together” Yong Hwa said confidently as he steered her through the throng of people. “Oppa, but we’ve discussed this before…” Seo Hyun said, flustered. “Here.. Let’s go in here and discuss this again” Yong Hwa said as he led her into the first entrance that caught his eye. It turned out to be an ice cream parlour.

Thankful that there weren’t many people at this hour, Yong Hwa led her to the booth right at the end. They obviously didn’t have goguma ice cream so Yong Hwa ordered Seo Hyun’s favourite ice cream flavor after goguma since she was too flustered to respond to the waitress. Seo Hyun was having an internal conversation with herself throughout all this. I can’t… But I want to. But I can’t.. It’s… It just won’t work. We proved it the first time… But, I miss him…. I want to be with him.. But I’m scared. After the waitress took their order, Yong Hwa started to unwind his scarf and when he saw Seo Hyun still had hers on, he reached over and helped her unwind her scarf and lowered her hood but kept her cap on.

Clapsing her hands, Yong Hwa look straight into Seo Hyun’s eyes, “Hyu~n, let’s get back together” Yong Hwa said earnestly. “Oppa… But how? How do we make this work? Don’t you remember how hard it was last time?” Seo Hyun asked. “Hyu~n, I know now the mistakes I made. And haven’t I proven to you over these past 8 months that I’ve improved? We’re closer than before. I tell you everything now, more than I did. So haven’t I improved?” Yong Hwa asked. “Oppa, yes you have. Thank you, it means a lot to me. But our problems are much bigger than that. It’s too difficult to go out and meet. We have to hide and sneak around and… It’s too hard” Seo Hyun said sadly.

“Seo Joo Hyun… I already have a solution for that” Yong Hwa said, still confident. “What is it?” Seo Hyun asked, hopeful. “Why, I’m moving in with you of course! There will be no need to sneak around and fear of getting caught!” Yong Hwa joked. “What?!?! That’s worse! There’ll be scandals!” Seo Hyun freaked out. “Hyu~n, calm down, I was joking. Well, half joking actually. I’ll be moving into your apartment! Ok.. I meant apartment block. There’s a tenant who’ll be moving out next month so after some minor renovations, we’ll move in by October or November” Yong Hwa said smugly.

“Aish Oppa… That’s not a solution. There will be more gossip than anything” Seo Hyun said, deflated. Yong Hwa shook his head, “No… FNC’s new building is next to SM building remember? We have legitimate reason to move nearer to our new office!” Yong Hwa said smiling widely. “But Oppa, there are so many apartment blocks, how are you going to explain why you chose mine?” Seo Hyun was still unconvinced. “Seo Joo Hyun, we already covered that. We surveyed the area and checked the price, security and space of the other apartments nearby. Yours was the best in terms of price, space and location. So don’t worry, we have legit reasons if people ask!” Yong Hwa laughed. He was proud of himself.

“Seo Joo Hyun… My Hyu~n… Will you be mine? Again?” Yong Hwa said calmly, holding Seo Hyuns hands tightly. He knew he had won Seo Hyun over, he just wanted to ask it officially again. Seo Hyun looked at Yong Hwa intently. If I let him go now, I might lose him forever. He’s done so much for me, even when I broke his heart. Seo Hyun nodded slowly and then she smiled. “Seo Joo Hyun, tell me in words, will you be mine?” Yong Hwa asked, smiling. “Aish Oppa!! Yes.. yes, I will!” Seo Hyun said, embarrassed. “Hyu~n, why are you so shy? It’s not like we’ve never done this before” Yong Hwa . “Oppa!” Seo Hyun yelled just as the waitress brought over their ice cream.

“Hyu~n.. It seems like whenever we go overseas together, something happens between us” Yong Hwa noted. “Mmm.. That’s true…” Seo Hyun agreed. “I wonder what will happen in our next trip overseas together. Maybe we’ll get married eh!” Yong Hwa teased. Seo Hyun’s eyes bulged out and she started choking. Yong Hwa laughed, “What? Don’t you want to marry me??” Yong Hwa asked with a mock angry tone. Seo Hyun feigned ignorance, “Ne? I don’t know.. We’ll see when the time comes.” “Seo Joo Hyun! I’ll kill you if you refuse to marry me!” Yong Hwa threatened jokingly.

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By the next day, almost everybody knew that Yong Hwa and Seo Hyun were back together. It was hard to miss when Yong Hwa hardly left Seo Hyun’s side, especially back stage during rehearsals. And right now, Yong Hwa was lounging on the couch of SNSD’s changing room, rehearsing his MC script as well as watching Seo Hyun getting her hair and make up done. “Jung seobang!” Sunny and Soo Young shouted from across the room. “Oh? Ne?” Yong Hwa replied, looking around to see who called for him. “Jung seobang! Have you finished memorizing your MC script?” Sunny and Soo Young asked in unison. “Ahhh… I’m almost done…” Yong Hwa replied, knowing he got caught while Seo Hyun just laughed.

“Jung seobang… Let’s get Ki Kwang over here then we can run through our scripts” Tiffany suggested. She was sitting next to Seo Hyun, getting her hair and make up done as well. “Okay, I’ll run over to get Ki Kwang” Yong Hwa said as he peeled himself off the couch reluctantly. “Hyu~n, I’ll be back” Yong Hwa said as he reached forward to pat Seo Hyun’s shoulder. “Ne oppa” Seo Hyun replied. “Aigoo Jung seobang, it’s only gonna take you a couple of minutes” Tae Yeon teased as she sank into the couch that Yong Hwa just vacated.

“Joo Hyun-ah… Now that you’re back together with Jung seobang, treat him well ok. You know he really loves you a lot, don’t you? Always be appreciative and supportive of him” Tiffany advised, catching Seo Hyun’s eye in the mirror reflection. “Ne Fany unnie, I will” Seo Hyun replied as she reached over to grasp Tiffany’s hand. “Joo Hyun-ah, you know you can be stubborn at times right? Learn to have an open mind and listen to people’s feedback. Being in a relationship is about giving and taking. Don’t change who you are just to please others but don’t be too stubborn too” Tae Yeon added. “Thank you Tae Yeon unnie” Seo Hyun said as she looked at Tae Yeon through the mirror. “Joo Hyun-ah, don’t bully Jung seobang ok!” Yuri teased. “Joo Hyun-ah, remember to leave some of your love for us!” Yoona called from across the room.

That night, even in front of thousands of viewers, Yong Hwa couldn’t keep his eyes off Seo Hyun.