Minho picked up his coffee and plate. He looked about the dining area; almost all tables were occupied. He glanced at his watch and sighed at the rapidly diminishing time he had left of his break. There was a table with only a single person reading a novel, an empty cup in front of her. Maybe she was just about to leave; and so he went and asked if he could sit with her.

She looked up from the worn pages and nodded. She recognised him, the young rising SHINee star trying to make a footprint on the acting world. Choi Minho.

Contrary to his expectation, she stayed at the table. In between his hasty bites he would glance up and covertly check her out. She looked about the same age as him and possibly an office worker. Her blouse was neatly pressed and her black pants were lint free. She had slender heels, wrapped with leather straps of her shoes; he saw them because she was resting one of her legs on the other knee, bouncing it up and down as she absorbed the words of the book. He looked at its cover and almost choked on his food. She was reading Harry Potter.

Clear brown eyes regarded him above the pages, a shaped eyebrow raised. “Are you ok?” she asked him and he nodded as he hastily drank his coffee. He forgot it was freshly made and almost made a mess when he tried to keep himself from spluttering it out onto her.

He dropped his head in embarrassment, for which he was thankful because when she laughed, he could not stop himself from grinning like a fool.

“Be careful Mr Choi,” she cautioned him.

His hidden smile grew impossibly larger – she knew his name.

“You can’t make too much of a fool of yourself,” she continued and packed away her things. She said her farewell and left. And Minho thought to himself that he would be the fool for her if he could hear her laugh like that again.

Minho would enter the cafeteria with anticipation each day since his first encounter and he would walk out with disappointment. He had told the others of his mysterious vixen and they only gave him pats of encouragement. Such meetings were only fleeting and he should not hope too much.

It was a month later and his memory of her was almost faded when they ran into each other again. They were on a film location; he was visiting to give support to a new SME actor and to network with the major staff involved. He was about to leave when a Harry Potter cover caught his eye.

He did a double-take and sure enough it was her, sitting on the couch and lost in the written world. Since he had suffered a month of not knowing her name to daydream upon, he took courage and settled next to her. The dip of the couch startled her and she looked up at Minho with her clear, wide eyes.

Then her face broke into a dazzling smile.

“Ah, Mr Choi! Hello,” she greeted him. He responded in a similar manner and then hesitated. Now it came to it, he was not sure about how to get her name.

She patiently waited him to speak first because it was clear he wanted to say something. She did not miss the few minutes that passed; she was enjoying the faces he was making as he struggled to find words.

“Gwiboon!” Someone called to her from the hallway. She turned away from Minho to acknowledge it.

“Well, it has been a pleasure, Mr Choi,” she said and left him sitting there, wordlessly saying her name over and over again.

“I know her name!” Minho shouted excitedly over the phone. He was late for the next appearance.

“Oh cool,” Onew absently congratulated, not too sure who he was referring to. “Just get here now.”

Gwiboon bent her head forward in discussion with one of the event coordinators. The SBS Drama Award Show was going to be held later that night and she was double-checking the preparations were satisfactory for her own people.

She felt his presence behind her before the scent of coffee reached her eager nose. She hastily finished her meeting and turned to face Minho, her hands out to demand the coffee. He had started to bring coffee for her last week when she complained about the early mornings and missing out on her daily shot of caffeine.

 “Thank you Mr Choi,” she said and breathed in the dark liquid. Minho had given up long ago for her to call him Minho; he felt old when she addressed him so formally.

They shared a comfortable silence as they watched the rehearsal of performances scheduled for the night. Gwiboon asked if he was ready for his own performance and he nodded that it is all under control. She hummed in and said told him that she was anticipating a hot stage from him. She grinned into her coffee; she was only joking.

But it was enough for Minho to ask her again, “Will you go out with me?”

“No,” she refused him like the other times he had asked her.

“Why not?” Minho persisted.

She shrugged. She did not want to give the real reason just in case he convinced her that it didn’t matter. She made to leave – they could not be seen together for too long.

“Is it because of who I am?” Minho tried again. He grabbed her wrist to stop her from leaving and shifted in his seat so she could not avoid his earnest looks.

“Let go of me,” Gwiboon commanded and he obeyed. He sat back in his seat with obvious hurt in his eyes. She ignored it and left him staring blankly at the stage.

‘I am sorry Minho,’ Gwiboon thought to herself, ‘It is because of who you are and who I am. I hunt talent and lure them away from their agencies for others. It would be taken the wrong way.’

She sighed and threw away the empty coffee cup. She would need to start in a new division; she can no longer stay with the acting department. Minho knew how to find her there now and that can't happen.