Hello! This is Tuesday! Sorry for the long wait! I've passed my busy phase now and my Summer Holidays have started, so expect to see more of me more often! ^^

Thank you for sticking by me! I know how frustrating it must be... I'll make it up to you guys with more chapters ♥

Now... what I've owed you for so long! Episode 5 Paper Aeroplane- enjoy! xD

Episode 5 - 5 화 - Paper Aeroplane

"...We look forward to you joining us for the start of the Spring Ter- UMMAAA~!!"

I couldn't keep it in anymore; I was ecstatic!! But who can blame me? I got into Chung-Ang! I got into university!! Kyaaaa~!

"Umma! Ummaa~!”

Feet; hammering down the hallway, letter; flapping in my grasp, I was so elated, I didn't even care about whether the noise I was making every time my feet rebounded off the floorboards was beyond what my mother deemed "womanly possible". The dogs were barking in the yard and I was probably in for a scolding, but knowing Umma, she would end up forgiving me, she'll have to forgive me, I mean... who can blame a girl in this situation??

With Nori now bouncing at my heel, as though she wanted in on the good news too, I skidded into the kitchen- an action I have learned to perfect now whenever there was something big to share or if I was just that hungry. I approached my mother's rear view with a huge grin plastered to my face; the adrenaline from the rush probably the reason behind my itching eyes. She was pouring her special homemade chili sauce into a pot on the stove with what's left of her concentration that I most probably ruined.

"You! You!" She turned, sending me a sharp look before wiping her hands on her apron, "Again with the ruckus! Do you want your dear mother to die of a heart attack in the kitchen?" She looked down at the puppy who was just as excited as I was, "Nori! Shush!"

I grinned sheepishly as Nori sought comfort between my feet, "Mianhae, Umma, but- but-"

"Wae? What is it now?" She asks with mock-irritance before the corners of her lips slid into a sly smile, "Did son-in-law propose to you already?"

"U-Umma~!"

It's only been a few days since the first filming, and my mother has already started calling Yong Hwa "son-in-law". I honestly can't tell if she was just being genuine, or genuinely trying to annoy me... And to make matters worse, she has watched our drama closely as it was broadcast, and although she has always been a big fan of Geun Seuk, anyone could tell she had a soft spot for Shin Woo. And because Shin Woo and Mi Nyu didn't end up together in the drama, all of a sudden, Yong Hwa seems to have turned into this “perfect son-in-law” in my mother's eyes- which you have no idea how embarrassing it could be.

I shoved the letter to her, figuring that I would only get teased more if I tried to explain...

She raised an eyebrow at my uncharacteristic silence before taking it in her hands, "What is this?"

With a pit-a-pat of paws against tiles, Bongji enters the room. Her presence was confirmed the moment I felt a new coat of fur brush against my ankle and the now-added weight on my feet.

"You know how I was so worried I wouldn't get into Chung-Ang a few weeks ago...?" I began, grinning from ear to ear as my mother straightened out the letter and reached for her reading glasses.

She nods, studying the paper in her hands, "Those two weeks you almost drowned in sorrow..."

"... Well, the results finally came out and I-"

"Omona!!" I almost jumped! (And nearly stepped on my puppies…) "Saesangi... This... This..." Her eyes continued to scan down the page with delight as I stood by; smug.

"Looks like your daughter has more in her than we all expected..."

She pulled me into a side-hug and patted my back, eyes still not leaving the letter, "Keure... Keure... Aigoo! I told you everything will be fine, ddal! This is great! You did well!" She turns her head towards me with a grin, "You won't have to go to that other university!"

 I smiled, "Ne, Umm-"

"Quick! Go and decline the offers " She says shooing me to my room.

"But... the letter..." I reached out longingly.

She was still reading it, scanning the term-table attached behind it too, and it didn't seem like she was going to give it up any time soon. She looked up at me, as though she’d remembered something important, “Matda! Shin Woni!” Her eyes sparkled some more, “Quick! Send an e-mail to Shin Won! Your brother would want to know about this! Pali~ Pali~”

“A-Arasseo!” I answered, having to disband the temporary napping area that had formed around my feet, as I was verbally kicked out of the kitchen.

Making my way back to my room, this time sans-letter and 80% calmer, I was surprised to see that it was Bongji who had followed me and not Nori (who had gone out to the garden again).

I welcomed her of course!

As I lay upside down on my bed, with my hair splayed out on the duvet and Bongji dozing off and snoring softly against my stomach, I checked my e-mails using my phone.

…No replies yet.

Despite reluctance to start a new chain, I sent my brother a short message anyway, including the usual “how-are-you”s and “we’re-all-doing-fine”s before adding the news on right at the end. A surprise.

I wonder what he’ll say?

I can almost imagine him, doing his weekly e-mail checks after a long day of duties, his mouth curving into his usual warm smile, his hair in his usual tousled mass. The same brother, the same Shin Won: in a bunk somewhere in South Chungcheong.

Resting my phone against my chest, I stared up at the ceiling. I had just sent text messages to share the news with my close friends from high school. I wonder how they did? Did they get into their first choice universities or colleges as well?

I hope so!

…Is there anyone else I need to tell?

At that moment, my eyes ended their stroll across my ceiling and my beige-painted walls. After sweeping across (what seemed to be) a few dozen familiar faces that decorated my mirror, they rested on the latest photo to my collection, tucked into a blank corner of its own on the opposite side of the frame that was part of my dressing table.

From the colour of the film, anyone could tell it was printed only a few days ago. That’s why it’s only there when I’m around at home. I stared at it some more before cracking into a giggle, as if I had only just noticed the derpy faces again for the first time.

…Yong Hwa.

Should I text him?

Or call him…?

He would want to know…

Wouldn’t he?

Well… he is my… hus-

Ah!

Hong Ki!

He would want to know too!

And Geun Suk hyung!

I should text Hong Ki and Yong Hwa!

Yes! I’ll do that!

Feeling pleased that I have come to a decision; I sat up abruptly, so spontaneously that I had earned a yelp from poor Bongji who was nearly catapulted a mile forwards.

“Mianhae, Bongji ah~”

With a gruff and a yawn, Bongji curls up and settles down to sleep again- this time on the bed, which she probably figured was much safer than the abdominal of an easily-excited me.

Anticipation surging to my fingertips, a million words sieving through my mind, I carefully thumbed in a casual yet cheerful message, backtracking here and there, switching words around, before I came to a complete draft in which I read over for one last time.

That’s when it dawned on me…

Pabo.

I held my face as I cringe;

I don’t have Yong Hwa’s number.

***

“Morning, Oppa!!”

Break! “Sorry, I’m late…”

“Ani ani, gwenchana!” I beamed, shaking my head as I ducked forwards, getting into the warm back seat and shutting out the chill.

“You must’ve been cold standing out here,” Jun Oppa said sympathetically –more to himself than me- as he turned the heating up and the radio down.

For a second, I froze,

and looked at my hand.

“Oh! Mian!” He exclaimed through the rear-view mirror, “I was helping a friend move his things yesterday to his new place. Aissh… I should’ve cleaned up the car before I come…” Reaching over, Oppa hand-dusted as far as his wingspan allowed. “Is it too uncomfortable?”

I patted my hands and the back of my jeans clean before getting comfortable again; fastening my seatbelt, “It’s alright, it’s alright~” I grinned angelically, the cloth upholstery, “Saw dust or not, Jun Oppa’s car is still my favourite ride~!”

“You flatter…”

“Omo!” Clothing a giggle with my gloved palm, I peered up at the image of my manager, rolling his eyes in the mirror, “It was that obvious?”

As though in reply, Jun Oppa released the breaks and turned the vehicle onto the road.

“But seriously… For giving me lifts alone, I am already grateful, Oppa.”

“It’s nothing.”

As the world fleeted by beside me, my gaze focused on the back view of my manager, “Oppa…”

“Hmm?”

“You know I don’t mind. You can turn the radio back up.”

“It’s fine like this…”

Although it may seem uncharacteristic, Oppa’s one of those people who are usually quiet on the outside, but have music blaring loud on the inside – of his car. As ironic is it sounds, maybe it helps him think? Because he has the most thoughtful expression set on his face during driving-mode. A face not even I can imitate.

I give it a go anyway- towards the window pane. As though I was Go Mi Nyu again…

Looking for stars…

“Oh! Before I forget…”

“Hmm…?"

Jun Oppa passes some sheets of paper over to me. They were stapled together neatly, and despite a few creases here and there, it still felt crispy new. From first glance, it seemed like a contract.

“What’s this?”

“I was supposed to hand you this last time, but because we were in a rush, it slipped my mind.” I turned over the first page as Oppa continued, triggering his blinker as he switched lanes, “It’s from the WGM production team-” My eyes scanned across the monochrome print, “-a list of rules, or code of conduct if you prefer. I’m sure it’s nothing big, but it doesn’t hurt to take a look.”

You (Park Shin Hye) are hereby contracted with MBC Br….

…….

3) Arrive... on time...... located….

-anager……

………with the writers and direct-……

12) Refrain from…. important milestones… relationship…..

…together… partner….

...-lease keep skinship to a minimal… first 12 episo-…. (this includes: ki-…

18) All and any mouth-to-mouth kisses must first be discussed with the writers and directors and must NOT happen within the first 30 episodes.

…

M-Maybe I should read this later?

***

“All ready?”

After waving goodbye to Jun Oppa, I found myself in a situation where I was half having my natural makeup corrected (via powdered sponges), and half being told how ‘natural’ I should look as I ‘naturally’ walk down the path to meet Yong Hwa.

I can do ‘natural’.

I’m ‘naturally’ good at it.

I grinned amusedly. I’m pretty good at ‘naturally’ using the word “natural” too!  

To this, Writer Kim looked at me funny.

She must’ve thought I was laughing at what she said!

“Joesonghamnida! I thought of something funny… Don’t worry, Writer Kim, I got it!”

The makeup Unni clicks the compact shut and fixes my fringe as Writer Kim sends me a relieved smile before jogging off to the camera crew. I lifted my maroon-coloured beanie slightly, in an attempt to make it easier for her before tugging it on again.

Since it was our second day of being a “virtual couple”, and the first day after being introduced (or reintroduced should I say) to each other, I had wanted to dress up a bit more. But maybe it’s because my short hair makes any girlish attempt at attire seem awkward, or the February chill just plain hates me.

So instead, I just settled for a red vest jacket over a one-size-too-big white hoodie and black skinny jeans. Oh! And not to forget my maroon beanie and matching fingerless gloves!

To sum up my outfit, I was feeling pretty snug. I’m not sure about other people, but I found it quite cute and not overly boyish. Despite wearing layers, I still occasionally feel the cold gnawing at my fingertips or at the curve of my ear. The stylist Unnis didn’t say or change anything, so it must be alright…

I guess that’s “girly” out the window!

“Ready?” A call from behind.

“Ne~!” Back straight! Focus…

“Action!”

Breathe~

I started walking as though I had been walking for a while before adding a slight bounce to my steps, looking this way and that for Yong Hwa as I wondered down the pavement escorted by a stone wall on my left and a cameraman following behind.

To my right, two cars passed by, although different in design and colour, both of which the faces of their passengers’ were clearly visible. They were probably curious as to why a brightly dressed girl, who was skipping down the road without a care in the world, was being stalked by a horde of people in black. But then again, this is Seoul, where the residents are most probably used to seeing these kinds of sightings (and maybe more).

As I reached a curb in the path, I came to a stop.

Oh shucks. What do I do now?

Standing right in the middle of a T-shaped road, Yong Hwa was nowhere to be seen. Should I go left? Or cross the road and go right? Or wait here?

Sensing the VJ ahjusshi was doing a close-up of my lost expression, I buried my face into my hoodie.

Wahh… this isn’t good. My skin’s particularly sensitive in the morning- it must look so bloated rig— I yelped as a sudden weight landed on my shoulders-- “Boo!”

I turned to see a toothy grin, “Yong Hwa!!”

“Mian.” He chuckled as he rubbed his arm where the “sudden weight” was precisely returned.

“Where did you come from??” My gaze darted like a pendulum, I certainly didn’t see him coming--!

He points sheepishly at the red post box on the left, “I wanted to surprise you, so I hid.”

Sending him a mock-glare, I sighed, “This childish person…”

“Yah! Are you calling me childish right now?” He demands with mock-hurt.

“Ne!”

To that, he had nothing to say and just awkwardly patted my shoulder, “Arrasseo, mian~”

I smirked at my mini victory, knowing that the usual Yong Hwa wouldn’t have just given in without an enthusiastic debate. This is another benefit, huh…?

As we stood there, united, I finally had the chance to fully take in his view.

“Yah….”

“What?” He blinks, grinning.

“What is this??” I pointed at his blue vest jacket and white hoodie- a match with mine, laughing with embarrassment, “It’s like we planned it or something.”

He looks down at his outfit and laughs too, “Oh! You’re right...”

“Do you know what we look like right now?” I said, standing side-by-side so the camera could see.

“A couple on their honeymoon?”

“A couple on their honeymoon!”

“Now this is chemistry~” Yong Hwa stated in English, sounding as American as he could. I, on the other hand, just laughed and returned his high five.

We must seem like total idiots right now to innocent passer-bys. But this is us, I guess…

Yong Hwa and I.

I smiled, temporarily forgetting about my most probably swollen-like-ramyeon face. “Where are we going today?”

Unlike last time, nobody came over to show me the agenda for today. Strangely, not Writer Kim (who had spoken to me a lot about being natural and how I should hold myself), nor Writer Dae (who I’d only seen running backwards and forwards between the black gauze of people). I wonder if they’ve forgotten?

I’m counting on you, Yong Hwa. Please tell me you know?

***

He knew.

In fact, unbeknownst to Shin Hye, Yong Hwa was more involved than just “knowing”.

“Follow me.” Grinning, he leads a smiling Shin Hye to the road where it didn’t take long for him to hail a taxi.

As it parked on the curb, Yong Hwa opens the door for Shin Hye before getting in after her.

“Ahjusshi, we got married!” Yong Hwa informed, glowing with pride.

Shin Hye, though a little taken aback at his openness at first, just smiles and nods.

“Ah, really? Chukhadeurimnida. You are a young couple.” The driver replied sincerely, eye-smiling at them through the rear view mirror.

“Kamsahamnida… Can you take us to Samseong-dong in Gangnam-gu, please?” He says leaning forwards towards the driver.

“Ye.”

Shin Hye sits feeling rather excited. Behind them, the production crew were boarding a minivan most probably provided by the company. Shin Hye wanted to sneak a peek at it, but was pin-pointed on the spot when she noticed the camera that was strapped to the metal bar that attached the head rest to the driver’s seat. Didn’t Yong Hwa just hail this taxi by random…?

Natural… go natural…

She maintained her excitement, “Where are we going??”

Yong Hwa turns to beam at her, “It’s a surprise.”

“A surprise?” She scoffs in disbelief before switching to a teasing tone, “You and surprises today… Does this mean when we get there you will cover my eyes or something?”

“Of course!”

…

She stared at him, trying to figure out whether he was being serious or not. “For real?”

“Yeah.” He grins, “Wae?”

“Oh no… maybe I shouldn’t have said that?” Shin Hye laughs.

Yong Hwa sends her a warm smile, his eyes a serene brown, unable to hide that tinge of anticipation that seemed to ripple in his gaze. The taxi then pulls off the curb and onto the morning city road with the black minivan following close behind.

“Oh! I just remembered!”

“Hmm?” Shin Hye watches as Yong Hwa takes out his -new- phone from his pocket.

He unlocks the screen before tapping on an icon, “Did you check Twitter?”

“Twitter?”

“You know- last time? We posted a tweet about us being on WGM…”

“Oh! Yeah, I remember!”

How could she forget? That derpy picture reminds her every morning and every night.

“Did you see the responses?” He asks, trying not to sound too curious to know as he signs into MBC’s account.

…

“Ah, ani... I didn’t get to. I was busy- mian.” She lied.

She had checked 10 times.

“Ani ani~ Gwenchana. I was busy too.” He lied.

He had checked 15 times.

“We can check it now?” Yong Hwa suggests. It wasn’t because he’d forgotten to do it before arriving this morning; to be honest, he actually wanted to see Shin Hye’s reactions and hear her thoughts to some of the comments.

“Sure! Let’s do that!” But here was a person who did forget.

Swiping the screen with his index finger, Yong Hwa scrolls back to exactly 13 days ago. The post wasn’t exactly that hard to find. I mean- with their picture taking up a quarter of the page…

“Here it is!” Yong Hwa exclaims, tapping to enlarge.

Shin Hye leans over to peek at the statistics.

294 retweets.

162 favourites.

And a whole load of friendly faces in the comments section beneath.

Shin Hye’s eyes widened. Compared to the other posts (which had an average of around 10 retweets) this was “daebak”. The last time she checked, it was around 270 retweets, “Woah… This is amazing…!”

“I know right?” Yong Hwa grinned, feeling pleased.

For some reason, Shin Hye felt a warm kind of feeling as she began reading the comments one by one next to Yong Hwa.

In general, it was a very good response. Many were very pleased and expressed their excitement (which Shin Hye guessed must have been Min-Woo and Mi Nyu shippers), some pointed out that they were the youngest WGM couple so far and looked forward to cross-overs with the Adam couple, others (which Shin Hye guessed were her Starlight Angels and Yong Hwa’s Boice) were anticipating their chemistry as they knew they became close after YAB.

A small handful were a little sceptical (maybe they had wanted a more “original” couple?), and there was that one percent which discussed a previous rumour of how they heard Yong Hwa was supposed to be paired with an SNSD member.

Nonetheless, Yong Hwa scrolled onwards.

“Look at this one!” Yong Hwa laughs, stopping at a comment (which had appeared numerous times in all different forms) that read:

“Shin Woo finally got the girl!!! Tae Kyung will be sad!! ㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

“Hyung-nim!!” Shin Hye breathes solemnly, bowing her head towards the camera, “Joesonghamnida! Go Mi Nyu seems to have betrayed you.”

They both snickered, imagining what that would be like as a bonus episode to “You’re Beautiful”.

“I can imagine what his face would look like if she ever said that…” Yong Hwa chuckled amusedly.

“What would he look like?”

He pulls his best shocked-and-serious-TaeKyung face with an accurately-matching voice, “Go Mi Nam!! You--!”

Spotting a resemblance, Shin Hye doubled over in stitches before resurfacing again clapping at his efforts, “Daebak!! Yong Hwa yah, that’s amazing! I can actually see it!!”

Yong Hwa smiles smugly. They don’t call him the “Mimic Machine” for no reason!

The taxi driver must have sweat-dropped at the goofiness that was blooming in the back seat. With a flick of the blinker, the vehicle signalled right and parked itself on the lay-by. The breaks were pulled as the car came to a full halt.

“Oh, we’re here!” Yong Hwa announced looking out the window.

As he opened the door and got out first, Shin Hye glances around, not seeming to recognise the place. When both of them were standing next to each other on the pavement and the taxi (which Shin Hye later found out was pre-paid for) had left after having the camera unstrapped, the couple were once again reunited with the production crew and the lovely presence of big hand-held cameras.

“Ah!” Yong Hwa exclaims as he remembered what he had mentioned before, “You will need to cover your eyes now~” He says cupping her eyes with his palms.

A slightly hesitant Shin Hye questions his idea, “How am I going to walk if I can’t see? Is it far? You’ll let me hold onto you right?”

“Oh… that’s true,” He chuckles sheepishly before answering sarcastically, “No, I will make you lead the way blind.”

Shin Hye pouts, “That makes no sense…”

Taking his hands away from her eyes, Yong Hwa holds Shin Hye’s semi-gloved hands, moulding them into suitable blinkers, he breathes inwardly at the contact, and stops for a second to rub her hands warm, “Wahh… your hands are ice-cold, Shin Hye yah!”

She tittered, the warmth going to her cheeks, “You know what they say~ ‘Cold Hands, Warm Heart’!”

Satisfied, Yong Hwa brings the “blinkers” to her face where his palms once lay.

“You are only allowed permission to see the ground you are walking on.” Yong Hwa says in a mock-commanding voice.

“Yah…” Although she knew he wouldn’t be able to see, she sends him a soft glare anyway.

“Understood?”

“Understood.”

Hooking his left arm in hers and his right round her shoulders, Yong Hwa carefully leads a cautious Shin Hye forwards one step at a time.

***

After a couple of steps (which I silently feared for my life) and a couple more, we entered an air-conditioned building with sliding doors.

Just a guess… a shopping mall maybe?

The music playing in the background sure gave it that feel (along with the marble floor and the buzzing of people).

As much as I wanted to know more, Yong Hwa kept me in close check, warning me every few minutes not to peek. Aissh…

Now and then I could hear a few teenaged squeals and whispers of girls recognising Yong Hwa. Most of them referred to him as “Shin Woo”. I even heard one lady calling him “the oetoriya guy”, to which I suppressed a laugh and Yong Hwa threw back “I’m not a loner any more~ I have a wife now~”

Just when I thought I had begun to master the art of walking with blinkers, we came to a sudden halt.

“We’re here!” Yong Hwa chirped as he replaced my blinkers with his hands again, completely blocking me of my vision. “Ready? 3…. 2….”-I smile at his childishness-“1…. Ja-jjang!”

He lifts his hands, my vision tumbling back to me all at once.

The bright lights.

The shapes.

My eyes, adjusting, fell on the two glowing pillars in front of me before they climbed clumsily upwards to read the sign.

Pupils-widening, I paused.

This place is…!