“Hyung, where are you going?” Jung Shin asked Yong Hwa. Jung Shin, Min Hyuk and Jong Hyun were seated on the couch watching tv and munching snacks when Yong Hwa walked out of his room wearing a thick winter jacket and holding on to a thick black scarf. “Ooo… I’m going to see the jeweler” Yong Hwa replied nervously. “Which jeweler are you going to?” Min Hyuk asked. “Actually, I’m not going to the jeweler. He’s meeting me at Min Hyuk’s father’s restaurant. Manager hyung wouldn’t let me go to the jeweler. He was afraid people or even the staff might talk. So he arranged an offsite meeting” Yong Hwa explained hesitantly. To be honest, Yong Hwa was nervous. He’s never bought an engagement ring before, if you don’t count the one 2000 won ring he bought for Seo Hyun during WGM, that is. “Are you going alone?” Jong Hyun asked. Yong Hwa nodded. “Can I come?” Min Hyuk blurted. He wasn’t sure if it was a personal affair but he felt that he wanted to show Yong Hwa some support. “Would you like to come??” Yong Hwa was hopeful. “Oh.. Well.. Yeah, I think it would be interesting” Min Hyuk said honestly. “Well, then come on!” Yong Hwa smiled, relieved that he wouldn’t have to do this alone. “Hey! Then I want to go too!” Jung Shin piped up as he got up after Min Hyuk to go grab his coat. “Hey!! Don’t leave me alone here! I’m coming along!” Jong Hyun shouted after the two boys as he too got up to grab his coat. Yong Hwa smiled as he sat down on the couch to wait for the boys. He could always count on them for support, even when they didn’t know that they were giving him strength.

Yong Hwa was literally dumbfounded at the various diamonds laid out in front of him. The jeweler, an elderly Mr Park had explained to the boys the 5Cs of diamond grading – Clarity, Cut, Carat, Colour and Certificate but it was too overwhelming for him. Thankfully he had the other three boys with him to help him decide. “Actually Yong Hwa-ssi, I didn’t bring real diamonds. These are just fakes to illustrate the different cuts. Once we have finalized the 5Cs, I will bring the real diamonds for you to pick the one you would eventually buy” Mr Park explained. “Ahh.. I see I see” Yong Hwa replied, but that still didn’t help him solve his problem. “Let’s start with colour. What colour would you like? The more common one is white, as you know. But we also have black which is slightly more expensive. Then we have pink, blue and yellow which are quite rare, hence they are quite expensive. You also have to consider your budget as well. What colour do you prefer?” Mr Park asked smoothly. He was used to handling clueless men who came to buy engagement rings for marriage proposals.

“Hyungsoonim likes pink, right?” Min Hyuk asks. “Mmm.. She does…” Yong Hwa replied, toying with the idea of buying a pink diamond. “But didn’t Mr Park say it’s quite expensive?” Jong Hyun gulped. “Money is not an issue…” Yong Hwa replied distractedly. “I think hyung will spend every last penny on her if necessary” Jung Shin joked. “Ok.. I think first, I’ll say the pink diamond. We’ll reconsider it later if it costs me an arm” Yong Hwa made up his mind. “Very well Yong Hwa-ssi. Next, what cut would you like? We have here the brilliant round cut, the princess cut, the cushion cut, the emerald cut, the heart cut…” Mr Park rattled off as he laid each cut down. “Princess cut? Because hyungsoonim is like a princess?” Min Hyuk suggested. Yong Hwa contemplated that for a minute before shaking his head, “No no… Firstly, I think we shouldn’t consider the names. It’s just a name anyway. We should consider which cut looks nicer or which cut she’d like instead of the name of the cut” Yong Hwa reasoned as he picked up each fake diamond cut to study.

After struggling to decide the diamond cut for 30 minutes, Yong Hwa suggested if they could move forward instead to something else. “That is difficult because you need to know the cut to decide the carat. A one carat brilliant cut compared to a one carat emerald cut will look very different in size. So you need to decide the cut before the carat. But maybe we can decide the clarity first? The best grade is F for flawless and…” Mr Park explained before being interrupted by Yong Hwa, “Grade F it is… There’s no compromise.” “Very well Yong Hwa-ssi. Pink diamond, grade F” Mr Park reiterated. “Now… Back to the very difficult business of the cut….” Mr Park trailed off. He knew it would be one of the hardest things to decide so he explained to them again, the pros and cons of each cut.

Half an hour later, Yong Hwa still hadn’t made much progress. He still couldn’t decide the diamond cut but had managed to narrow it down to the brilliant round cut, princess cut and emerald cut. “Yong Hwa-ssi, I will prepare a few sample diamonds in these three cuts for you to choose by next week. Because of security reasons, will it be ok if you came to my house instead of meeting here? I will send my driver to pick you up from here so that it will be less obvious. What do you think?” Mr Park offered. “Hmm.. That should be ok but I’ll still need to run that by Manager hyung. I’ll get him to call you if he has reservations” Yong Hwa replied. Ten minutes later, Min Hyuk’s father escorted Mr Park down to his car.

“Jung seobang! How may I help you?” Hyo Yeon greeted as she heard Yong Hwa’s familiar voice over the phone. “Hyo Yeon-ah, I need your help. Are you free next Wednesday? I am meeting the jeweler to pick out rings and I need your help” Yong Hwa requested as he told her all about the meeting with the jeweler today. Hyo Yeon squealed before gushing her agreement on the errand next week. After they had met with Mr Park the jeweler, Yong Hwa, Jong Hyun, Min Hyuk and Jung Shin decided they needed help from a girl badly. They couldn’t decide when there were so many to choose from. This was an SOS call to SNSD to seek their help. “Do I go alone? Or am I supposed to bring all my other members??” Hyo Yeon suddenly asked, just before they hung up. “Ahhh…. Well, I don’t know. Do you think you’d need help in deciding?? Actually, just do as you see fit… I’m too confused at the moment” Yong Hwa replied. He felt as if he just landed on an alien planet and was learning how to maneuver around.

February 2 2013

It was another day at KBS Music Bank and as usual, Yong Hwa dropped by SNSD dressing room. “Jung seobang!! You see Joo Hyun everyday at home, haven’t you already spent enough time together?” Yuri teased as Yong Hwa sank into the sofa next to Seo Hyun. “What’s that supposed to mean? I only see her during meals! And spend a little time together after but it’s not all day. I don’t live with her!” Yong Hwa retorted, burying his face in his hands pretending to sob. Sunny who was nearby shouted, “Just move in already!!” as everyone burst into laughter.

As the chatter moved onwards to other topics, Yong Hwa took Seo Hyun’s hands in his and turned to face her. “I heard the radio interview you did with Jung Sun Hee sunbaenim on January 19. I kept forgetting to ask you about it. But now that I remembered, what was going on in that room??” Yong Hwa’s eyes burned with curiosity. (Note: You can check out the radio interview translation on junecouple.blogspot.com). Seo Hyun laughed as she remembered the radio interview where her unnies were making wild gestures at the radio studio. Luckily for them, the radio interview was unviewable, meaning there weren’t any cameras around unlike MBC or KBS radio where cameras were filming as well as fans could literally stand outside the big glass window to watch everything that was going on in the studio. “The unnies were making crazy gestures!!” Seo Hyun eked out amidst her laughter. “I know! I could hear the commentary from Sun Hee sunbaenim. But what did they do?” Yong Hwa asked, his eyes pleading.

Seo Hyun tried to stop her laughter while Yong Hwa tried to be patient and let her calm down before bugging her. “Tae Yeon unnie and Tiffany unnie were making big heart shapes on their heads! Sunny unnie as well! They were just making random gestures, to signal that I was dating someone. But I think the big giveaway was Tiffany unnie who mimed playing the guitar! That was when Sun Hee sunbaenim realized who they meant” Seo Hyun laughed again, the memory of the radio interview still fresh on her mind as Yong Hwa joined in the laughter. He was shocked that they would go so far as to almost exposing them on national radio. “I don’t know what got into my unnies! They’re so bold all of a sudden! But I was thinking.. Maybe it was because I started it too honestly. I spoke from the heart but it was very vague. Then they interrupted with all the gestures and sort of explicitly said that I am dating” Seo Hyun said pensively. She couldn’t understand her unnies’ sudden change in behavior. Before this, they were fiercely protective of her secret, never breathing a word of it to the media. Although they were YongSeo shippers, they only told close friends in the entertainment circle.

Hearing Seo Hyun thinking out loud, Yong Hwa realized his discussion with the SNSD girls during the previous Music Bank recording was the catalyst for the sudden change in them. Argh… I didn’t know they would be so excited!! Yong Hwa thought to himself as a little smile crept across his face. He wasn’t upset at them, in fact, he was amused as he didn’t know they were so excited for Seo Hyun and himself and was really thankful for their constant support over the last few years. They wouldn’t have been here today if not for the constant support and love from the SNSD girls, the CNBLUE boys and FNC and SM CEOs. Yong Hwa knew how different and difficult it would have been if nobody supported their relationship. Yong Hwa made a mental note to work hard to show his gratitude to everyone.

Because they were contending for the number one spot on the Music Charts again today, CNBLUE and SNSD had another backstage interview. And this time, since Yong Hwa and Seo Hyun were not involved in the scripted interview, Yong Hwa decided to stand right next to Seo Hyun at the back of the group. This was highly unusual for Yong Hwa as being the leader of CNBLUE, he was usually in the spotlight. However today, he decided he’d just leave it to the other boys to handle the interview and he’d spend some time with Seo Hyun at the back. Although it was just a small gesture, he was satisfied as he never liked that Seo Hyun was always at the back while he was in front. Ever since he moved into Seo Hyun’s apartment complex and made up his mind to propose to Seo Hyun, Yong Hwa’s been doing small little gestures like this, like he was slowly showing the public a tiny glimpse of his world.

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As SNSD filed on stage for the final stage of Music Bank where the winner of the week would be announced, Yoona stood at the edge of the line so that she would stand next to CNBLUE when they came on stage soon. Yong Hwa, seeing that Yoona had planted herself at the end of her line, swapped places with Jong Hyun so that he would end up standing next to Yoona. “Hyung, what are you doing??” Jong Hyun hissed as Yong Hwa nudged him to the right. “Don’t pretend this is not where you really want to be” Yong Hwa whispered back between pursed lips. Jong Hyun elbowed Yong Hwa before turning to smile at Yoona.

“So, Jong Hyun, who do you think will win tonight?” Yoona asked quietly, turning her head slightly to the left towards Jong Hyun. The cameras hadn’t started rolling so they had some time to spare. “Ahh… I don’t know. I think SNSD is hard to beat!” Jong Hyun replied as he turned to smile at Yoona. Yoona was mesmerized. That smile of his has always been so enchanting. “Maknae-ya!! Let me borrow this doll for a moment” Tiffany said as she stopped in front of Seo Hyun and started to unhook the doll that was hanging on her pants. “Unnie! Why?” Seo Hyun was startled. “Because it’s PINK! It’ll be my lucky charm! Kekeke… I’ll return it to you later!” Tiffany squealed as she went back to her position. Seo Hyun shook her head and laughed. Tiffany’s obsession with pink was still going strong!

 Fifteen minutes later, the cameras started rolling and the recording for the last segment was under way. CNBLUE was in total shock as they were announced as the winner this week. They hadn’t expected it because they had just released their album two weeks ago. And to beat SNSD at that was totally unbelievable. Halfway through Yong Hwa’s thank you speech , Tiffany s something into his hands. He took a brief look and recognized that it was Seo Hyun’s accessory, which he had played with earlier backstage. As he concluded his thank you speech, he held up Seo Hyun’s doll up high as if to silently say “Thank you Seo Joo Hyun...” After his speech, Yong Hwa quickly turned to Yoona to clarify that the doll belongs to Seo Hyun to which Yoona confirmed. Smiling, Yong Hwa played with the doll for a moment while waiting for Min Hyuk to finish his thank you speech.

As Min Hyuk concluded his speech, Yong Hwa held up the doll high while doing the universal sign language gesture “I love you” with the same hand. I love you Seo Joo Hyun, I’m sorry I can’t say it out loud, Yong Hwa thought to himself. As SNSD filed past them to exit the stage, Tiffany came up to Yong Hwa to retrieve the doll. “Jung seobang, I’m sorry, we need this back. By the way, congratulations!” Tiffany said amidst the screams of the fans. “What? You mean I can’t keep it? But I want to!” Yong Hwa whined teasingly. “Sorry Jung seobang, this is just costume prop. It’s not really Joo Hyun’s. I’ll get her to buy you one” Tiffany teased as her words rattled off quickly. Tiffany knew they shouldn’t be on stage so long so she tried to speak as fast as she could. When it came to Seo Hyun’s turn, he wanted to hug her but he knew he couldn’t so he hesitated for awhile but she walked up to him instead and slapped in on the back and shouted, “Congratulations oppa!! You guys deserved it!!” Without thinking, Yong Hwa’s right grabbed Seo Hyun’s left hand briefly before she stepped away to congratulate the rest of the CNBLUE boys. Thank God the cameras were behind me! What was I thinking!?! Yong Hwa berated himself as he watched Seo Hyun walk off the stage.