“Oh,” Woohyun coos as his eyes scan across a line on the placard. He begins reading silently from an extra piece of paper provided by the production team, his eyes b with excitement.

“Did you know that he wrote secret messages to you in the photobooks?” Woohyun finally asks. Myungsoo jumps up and scoots to Woohyun’s side, grabbing the materials from him. “What is this?” Myungsoo laughs helplessly as he reads the references laid out on the piece of paper and mutters, “Oh my gosh, how did they even know?”

“It seems like the fans have discovered a lot of things before you two even officially announced it,” Woohyun comments as he takes the materials back from Myungsoo.

“Can I see that piece of paper too?” Suzy says, stretching a hand out. Woohyun passes it to her and she glances through, a bright grin forming on her face.

“You didn’t know?” Sungjong asks.

“I caught some of them, but not all,” she replies, and then honestly admits without missing a beat, “I bought both of the photobooks through a friend.” Turning to Myungsoo, she says while waving the piece of paper, “What is this?”

Myungsoo scratches his head and shrugs, “I didn’t think anyone would ever find out.”

“He’s really crazy about you,” Woohyun says as he shakes his head in resignation. At this point, Myungsoo gets up, places a finger to Woohyun’s lips and shakes his head with a pleading look. Suzy simply smiles brightly and watches as her boyfriend subtly expresses his internal turmoil.

“Yah, Kim Myungsoo, you better go through my upcoming photobook really carefully,” Suzy throws a chic comment just as Woohyun was about to say something. Myungsoo’s eyes light up instantly and he unconsciously smirks. He falls back into his seat and lies comfortably, saying, somewhat proudly, “See, we’re equals.”

Sungjong chuckles all of a sudden and Woohyun looks at him, eyebrow raised. “They seem to have forgotten that they’re on a variety show,” Sungjong remarks in a whisper. Woohyun responds with a discreet ‘thumbs up’ gesture. At the same time, Myungsoo and Suzy exchange words that the emcees cannot hear clearly. Woohyun lets out a dry cough.

“We should continue,” he says with an awkward smile as he nods several times at the couple. They smile at him in return, somewhat apologetically.

“When did you two become official? Did one of you confess or?” Woohyun proceeds in asking, “Give us all the juicy details.”

“It isn’t very ‘juicy’ or anything like that. We’re a modest couple.”

Suzy breaks out in light peals of laughter, covering with one hand, after making her statement with an almost straight face.

Myungsoo bites his bottom lip and has his chin rested on one hand.  His eyes naturally go upwards as he hesitates on whether to speak.

“To tell the truth…” he slowly begins, “I…”

“I had a mild crush on her for quite some time before I confessed,” he speaks quickly this time, with a nervous voice, “I was afraid, I guess. I couldn’t be sure if she felt the same way. It was like that for a long time after we became friends.”

“Mild he says,” Sungjong turns to face Woohyun with his signature big eyes, followed by a light smirk.

Woohyun chuckles, “It was not mild, not mild at all.” He still remembers the times he caught Myungsoo glancing at Suzy, hesitating about whether to go up and talk to her, the way he would insist on watching every production she is in, and how he smiles like a child at the phone while reading her messages or updates.

Myungsoo lightly kicks Woohyun in the shin while raising a fist.

“Anyway, that’s very relatable,” Sungjong comments, followed by Woohyun who finishes off with a solo shot in the camera. “Yes. Everyone, idols are humans just like you,” he says in an exaggerated tone, “You think we’re all cool like in the dramas, but no, we’re the same.”

Myungsoo laughs awkwardly as he looks around with a fluttering gaze. “I suddenly feel like I’m filming a commercial.”

“Oh right, sorry for interrupting. Please continue with the story. So… how did you confess?” Woohyun says and gestures for them to carry on.

“Uh…” Myungsoo ponders again, his hands clammy from the thought of revealing their story to the public. Since we’ve already started this, I might as well come clean with everything.

“It was after the world tour. During the tour, we didn’t contact each other for months. Plus, there were…” he bites his lips before slurring the word ‘scandals’.

“As in, we didn’t make actual conversation other than occasional greetings and ‘hwaitings’ for each other’s events. But she was always on my mind even during the tour, so I had this sudden realization that she was more than just a friend to me. I thought about her the most during my solo.”

“Did you imagine the bear to be her?” Sungjong gives a passing remark.

“Sungjong!” Myungsoo exclaims with a bewildered expression, “How could you say that? Considering the things I do with that bear…” His tiny smile escalates into a nervous fit of laughter.

“He did,” Woohyun simply concludes from Myungsoo’s reaction and Suzy shakes her head with an affectionate smile.

“To be fair,” Suzy speaks up, “I have to confess that I had a crush on him before that too.” Her cheeks burn and flushes a deep pink, causing her blusher to seem more elaborate than usual.

“You did?” Myungsoo exclaims in great surprise, his jaws hanging open as he looks straight at her with rounded eyes.

“You didn’t know at all?” Suzy appears to be taken aback as well, “I thought you’d at least have an idea. Why do you think I’d accept your confession immediately if I didn’t already have feelings for you?”

Besides, I even admitted then that I liked you too. She chuckles at his slow processing but finds it endearing nevertheless.

Seemingly forgetting where he is, he breaks into a childish grin and naturally places one hand over her shoulders, bringing her closer. “It’s a broadcast,” Suzy whispers softly by his ear as discreetly as possible, but everything is clear on the screen.

“So I guess you confessed with that bear?” Woohyun carries on nonchalantly, hiding a smile as he pretends he didn’t see the scene before. “Which one though? You changed quite a few times right?”

“It’s the first one, the biggest one which I used for the longest time,” Myungsoo replies as he attempts to show them the size of the bear by stretching out his arms.

“Isn’t such a big bear very conspicuous? How did you manage to give it to her without arousing any suspicions?”

“I had someone send it over on a truck in a giant box in the middle of the night,” Myungsoo laughs, his dimples faintly showing.

“I scolded him because I was going to sleep, but suddenly a giant bear appeared at our doorstep so I had to wake up and get it,” Suzy says animatedly, remembering the moment vividly.

“I was getting pretty anxious then. I felt like I had to tell her immediately,” Myungsoo briefly explains.

“Did you receive it?” His voice was hushed and slightly quivering.

“What?” Suzy yawned as she stirred awake from the phone’s vibration just when she barely managed to fall asleep, “Why are you calling at this hour?” (She didn’t have to look at the screen to tell that it was him.) She glanced at the clock on her side table. 3.40 a.m. She grimaced, and then rubbed her eyes as Myungsoo stayed silent for a while.

“What’s the matter?” She said with a hint of concern after a couple of seconds. Myungsoo bit his lips and played with his tangled fingers on the other end.

At that precise moment, the doorbell rang. Suzy’s face turned into one of utter confusion and then she remembered his first words on the call – did you receive it?

She got up immediately and opened the door to find a package – a large cardboard box of something – addressed to her.

“Did you just send something?” she asked.

“Ah, so you got it,” was his simple reply.

“What is it?” she continued probing, still confused by the whole situation, “What occasion is it even, for you to give me something? It’s not my birthday yet, and I don’t remember it being any special day.”

Myungsoo took a deep breath and exhaled on the other end of the line. “Just open it,” he said firmly, “It’ll be a special day from now on.”

Suzy’s eyebrows creased further as she became more puzzled. She followed his instructions and opened up the box to see the huge white fluffy bear. Her face lit up when she saw it, and she smiled at how adorable it looked.

“Isn’t that the bear from your solo?” she pointed it out immediately.

“You’re pretty sharp,” Myungsoo chuckled, “It is. Do you remember our conversation about it?”

Conversation? Suzy paused and recalled her thoughts. Ah, it was when I saw the bear for the first time at the first concert in Seoul. Suzy had managed to attend his concert and go unnoticed by the fans since she sat in a discreet corner of the venue and wore a hoodie plus a scarf. She didn’t have the best view but it didn’t matter, because she just wanted to be there to watch him.

She remembered texting him about how adorable the bear is, and he replied asking about what he should do with it after the tour ends.

Keep it as a memento, she said, after spending so much time with it and being so chummy, you wouldn’t bear to part with it, would you?

You’re right, I wouldn’t, he replied, but if I do give it to someone, then it must be someone I cherish a lot, someone I want to share a part of me with.

Suzy simply smiled and nodded lightly at the message then, but she didn’t really know what to reply, so she settled with a simple “That figures” coupled with a smiley face.

When she finally pieced everything together, she was stunned for moments. She blinked hard a couple of times and simply stared into the air. Was he –

“Myungsoo…” she only managed to let slip a small whisper.

“You remember?” Myungsoo suddenly sounded especially gentle, even though she could still hear the nervousness in his voice. “I thought about it a lot during the world tour. I mean, I didn’t have a lot of time to think since I was busy and all but with whatever time I have left – Ah, screw that, I mean, I really wanted to find a nice time to tell you but I can’t help myself anymore. I need to tell you now. Because… I’m afraid someone else might come before me…”

“W-what are you talking about exactly?” she stuttered. Her heart was pounding so fast that she felt like it might just fall out of her chest, and her breathing lost its rhythm. She didn’t want to get the wrong idea, and she was afraid that it might just be a misunderstanding on her part. She didn’t want to assume things and then get disappointed; she won’t believe it until he says –

“I like you,” he said, promptly but a little uncertainly. He exhaled and then hit the mattress he’s seating on with a fist. “I mean, you know, not as a friend,” he stuttered as he added, “I mean, I mean – you know what I mean right?”

Tears began to well up in Suzy’s eyes even as she broke into a smile.

“You sound so hesitant,” she smiled while sobbing softly, “Say it again.”

Myungsoo breathed into the speaker. His hands were already badly shaking. I’m not a coward, I can do this. I have to, right now, he thought to himself.

“Myung, you there?” Suzy said softly after Myungsoo didn’t speak for close to a minute.

“I like you I like you I like you!” he exclaimed into the phone in a burst of courage. After a momentary pause, Suzy lightly laughed on the other end. Another sparkling teardrop rolled down her cheeks.

“It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way!” Myungsoo defended, “I hope I’m not pressuring you or anything –”

“Silly boy,” Suzy laughed again.

“W-what?” Myungsoo stuttered, his brows furrowed in confusion.

“You. Silly boy. Do you really not know? I like you too.”

Myungsoo was speechless when he heard her reply. He had rehearsed the scene in his mind thousands of times before, but when it came to the real thing, he was at a loss for words. It felt so surreal he had to question for a second if he was dreaming. But then, it eventually sank in. His eyes watered up with tears of joy and he couldn’t stop giggling to himself.

The lights in the kitchen suddenly flickered on.

“Oh, it’s just you, Myungsoo!” Dongwoo exclaimed out of relief, his hands gripping onto his chest.

“Hyung!” Myungsoo blurted out.

“What are you doing here in the middle of the night, giggling creepily like that?” Dongwoo grumbled as he poured himself a cup of water.

“Is that Dongwoo oppa?” Suzy’s voice sounded from the other end of the line and Dongwoo could hear it rather clearly, considering how dead silent the night was.

A cheeky smile appeared on Dongwoo’s face as he gave Myungsoo a thumbs up and then tip-toed back to the room.

 “It was really nice to hug,” Suzy comments vaguely. Woohyun eyes Suzy and Myungsoo, and then looks back and forth at the two.

“I mean the bear!” Suzy defends vigorously, flailing her arms around while Myungsoo guffaws.

“Yupp, the bear too,” Woohyun teases. “Do you sleep with it every night or something? I mean, it was found on your bed after all.”

“Yes, I sleep with it by my side,” Suzy says as she uses her right hand to point out the bear’s position. “But…” Suzy begins, her vision on the ground and a meek smile on her face.

“Hmm?” Woohyun encourages her to carry on and leans a little closer.

Suzy lets out a small laugh, “He told me to imagine the bear as him, then it would seem like he’s always with me.” Suzy pauses and bites her bottom lip. The smile is still on her face, now matched with a light blush.

“It’s cheesy, isn’t it?” Suzy asks, looking up at the emcees. She then points at Myungsoo. “He said it.”

Myungsoo chuckles out of embarrassment. “Well... Because, you know, we can’t meet very often with our tight schedules and what not. I was afraid she might be lonely, so I suggested that she can talk to the bear or something.”

“Am I mental? Why would I talk to a bear?” Suzy exclaims while laughing.

“But she can just call you!” Woohyun points out.

“I might be busy!” Myungsoo retorts and turns back to Suzy, “You said you tried it before, though, and that it was pretty interesting!”

“Ah, actually, that was…”

“It was a lie?” Myungsoo cries, wearing a betrayed look on his face.

“No, it…” Suzy struggles to say as she gestures ‘no’ with a vigorous wave of the hand again. “There was once I was angry with you because you didn’t pick up my calls. So I hit the bear and scolded you. It was interesting.” Suzy nods as she places a hand on her neck.

Myungsoo immediately swerves around to glare at Sungjong.

“It was effective, wasn’t it?” Sungjong exclaims, ignoring Myungsoo’s piercing stare. He gets up and extends a palm. Suzy does the same and they exchange a loud hi-five. Myungsoo simply narrows his eyes at the two.

“Anyway,” Woohyun’s voice booms, “we are a little behind time now, so we have to move on quickly to the next segment, in which we’ll answer questions by the fans!”

Myungsoo and Suzy look on with curious eyes as Sungjong carries a laptop into the studio. Myungsoo discreetly places his hand over Suzy’s smaller one and gives it a light squeeze. In return, she turns and gazes at him. A slow smile spreads across both their faces and they bask in the gentleness of the moment. Their hearts swell with happiness even if all they do is to look at each other.

Suzy’s eyes wander a little and meet Woohyun’s smirk directed at them. She retracts her hand at once and smiles sheepishly. Startled by her move, Myungsoo jerks up straight and turns to look in front, blinking several times as a smile creeps onto his face as well.