Being Yoon Chanyoung and Lee Bona was much more easier than they thought it would be at the first time they accepted the role offer. Maybe because both of them fell exactly into pieces that fit in the character, or maybe together they smiled and acted flowed naturally, or because they were born gifted actor and actress.

It was easy to read a perfectly written script, conveying it to one another as if they said the real thing they always wanted to say. Everything was so easy before.

Because now they realized, real life romance didn’t have script to be read, or direction to follow, or even cut to repair what was missing before.

He lost his words and direction when he was no longer smooth talker and romantic Yoon Chanyoung. He just came back to a full-time Kang Minhyuk, a normal man who devoted his entire life for drums with minimum experience in dating.

Or it was just him, trying to make excuse when affronted with problems.

The girl before him wasn’t either the Krystal with confidence aura on stage or sweet cute Lee Bona on the reel. She might be part-time miserable Yoon Sena on other reel now, but she never stop being Jung Soojung, who suffered with one of her close friend and cried with her only sister.

“Do you want to play pinball?” Minhyuk suddenly broke the silent, Soojung looked at him with raised eyebrows, “Well, at least, in there I could die in place of you…”

Soojung laughed, but in the corner of her eyes, some tears started to fall down to her cheeks. Her boyfriend wasn’t much of romantic or sweet talker, beside the perfect lines he uttered in most of their scenes but she understood all the same the hidden meanings between his words.

“I don’t know what to say to comfort you,” his little eyes conveyed those when his thumb brushe the tears from her cheeks.

“I didn’t actually experience it myself, so I will never understand you,” the soft but unheard sound from his mouth trying to say when he took her hands inside the comfort of both his palm, “but I’m willing to take your place, so you wouldn’t have to hurt so much.”

Jung Soojung cried at that time, in a warm silence without beautiful soundtrack or pretty angle of the camera, but with someone beside her, trying so hard not to fall apart in her tears, because he needed to be the strong rock that could always be her anchor.

It wasn’t scripted and far from romantic, but at least, Kang Minhyuk tried to give his real feelings.

***

There were several ways of loving someone, the first way might be shy little crush someone tried to hide but somehow shown anyway, or bold love trying to be known by every single person in the world, or maybe somewhere in between. Loving someone could be exclusive only to themselves or shared to the world, both had their consequence in their own distinct problem.

Kang Minhyuk wanted to tell the world that he love Jung Soojung, both in her desperation and in her fascination, but all the tears she shed was already enough to tell him that it was impossible.

So he locked the heart he longed to give, and admired her in his subtlety, like a fans to a star.

“If you truly love someone, you wouldn’t hide.” Minhyuk once said to his bandmates when he knew nothing, “Hidings only meant that your career was much more important than the one you love.”

His leader laughed as he heard what he said, and patted his shoulder like an older brother would to his little brother.

Now he knew better, that hiding was meant to respect like a lock was meant to protect. A part of loving was to respect and Minhyuk respect Soojung—herself, her hard work, and her choices...

“I think we should be friends…” Soojung said one day, in their rare run away meetings.

Maybe that’s didn’t came as surprise to Minhyuk, he knew this would come sooner or later, “Okay,” he answered while his gaze looked exactly to her eyes, where he knew the familiar tears he grown into was close to come.

“Right now isn’t the right time to date…” Soojung tried to explain, her voice started to crack so did the calm wall Minhyuk tried to maintain, “We barely even talked in phone, or even meet, and—“

“It’s okay,” He said with a reassuring smile, one so warm that it’s hurt all the same, “I’m still here for you…” Minhyuk her hair softly, “as a friend. I’m always will.”

Minhyuk remembered his leader again, and now he really knew, maybe the two of them could drink somewhere together, as brothers or as person with the same roads.

“Thank you…”

In the end, the way Minhyuk loving Soojung was the one that exclusive to themselves, with little circle of close friends and relatives to know, in the name of friendship that didn’t need to sneak around in basement parking lot or dark alleys near the studio. They didn’t exactly hide, just waiting for time to be right, because Minhyuk will stay beside Soojung to hold her tight, so even if a long time would pass, none of them would literally miss each other.

***

“Thank you, Soojung-ah, Minhyuk-ah!” Park Shinhye said earnestly with her crescent eyes smile, “You two are the best really.”

In the background, staff and artist held the same beverages with printed custom sticker of encouragements which was specially made by both Minhyuk and Soojung—Park Shinhye’s favorite dongsaengs so far.

“You always support our concert, so it only appropriate to give you something like this,” Minhyuk answered with Soojung right beside him, “This little one here just came along when I said I’m going to visit your set.”

“Well, that’s actually the other way around, Unnie. This is all was my idea, and CNBLUE just tagging for credits.” Jung Soojung boasted.

“I think I should leave you two to bicker like an old married couple,” Shinhye laughed, “beside Jongsuk-oppa already finished with all the running.”

“We’re not—“ Both of them said at the same time almost as naturally the flow of water, so it was only appropriate for Shinhye to cut them off with a “Yeah, yeah I know…” and knowing look in her face.

“Good luck at your friendship, my cute dongsaengs,” Park Shinhye then smiled while waving her hand at the two of them, and reuniting again with the reel and the script in the crisp cold set.

“You too, Unnie, You too…” Soojung stuck out her tongue facing the back of her friend-slash-figuratively older sister leaving.

Kang Minhyuk and Jung Soojung looked at each other and laughed.

The next day, articles of both of them came out, but as a close friend, which is what they are.

***

Note: I take down the complete mark because I'm that selfish...and craving both of them so much... For you who notice, yes, yes, I’m looking at both couple in the same light. And those who haven’t notice, they are the second generation of subtle pairing Yonghwa and Shinhye, the whole ‘we’re friend but super-romantic to each other’—there I lay this out to you frankly. Please bear with me. Really. Please do.