SHIN MI YEON

“Unnie! Look, a pink flower! It’s so pretty!” Se Yeon beams as she squats down to take a better look at it. I smile and follow after her. “I’ll pluck it for you!”

“Don't pluck it Se Yeon-ah! You’ll kill the flower,” I explain, shaking my head. I reach her and squat down beside her to look at the flower myself. She pouts at me, her fingers readying themselves at the flower's stem. I quickly grab her hand before she can pluck it. “Let’s take a picture of it instead. I’ll take a picture of you both. I’d prefer this over the flower itself.”

She nods enthusiastically and immediately poses beside the flower with a peace sign. I take numerous shots of them in different angles and then take my sunglasses off to have a better look at the pictures.

 “Am I prettier or is the flower prettier, Unnie?” She asks with a little smirk, her hands situated on her hips. I laugh at her adorableness.

“You of course, you’re my darling,” I tell her, keeping my phone and using my hands to lightly squish her soft cheeks. She giggles and stands up. I scoop her up in my arms with a little effort. “Shall we go have lunch?”

I receive enthusiastic nods in reply and chuckle at this little girl. We take a taxi to a restaurant that sells western food. I always come here with the casts before filming because the food here is great and it’s affordable so I really love this place. After taking our seats, we scan through the menu to choose our food.

“I’ll have a kid’s meal set A, and a lobster cream pasta, thank you,” I tell the waitress. She notes it down, bows and walks away to tender in the order. I turn to Se Yeon, who is playing with her glass of water. “We should bring halmoni here next time.”

“Yes! Can I get something for halmoni later?”

I nod my head and immediately start thinking of what to get for her. She doesn’t really like pasta or any western food at all, so it’s safe to get some seafood stew that isn’t creamy. I quickly order one for takeaway, telling them to pass it to me after we’re done. A waitress approaches awkwardly and stands at my side and I look up at her with a questioning look.

She smiles at me sheepishly. “Can I... have an autograph?”

I laugh and sign on her notebook for her. She bows and thank me profusely.

“No need to thank, it’s just a simple autograph.”

“Still, thank you so much! You are my favourite actress!” She beams, causing warmth to fill my heart. She turns to Se Yeon before turning back to me. “Is this your niece?”

I hesitate for a short while before breaking into a small smile. “She’s my little sister.”

“How adorable! She looks a lot like you. I bet she’ll grow up to be such a beautiful girl,” The waitress grins. I thank her and get Se Yeon to thank her as well. She runs off when the bell rings and then appears again with our food. “Enjoy your meal!”

Throughout the meal I keep asking Se Yeon about kindergarten. She talks animatedly, causing me to giggle at how adorable and silly she is. My love for her can never grow any more than now because I love her so damn much it hurts. We finish eating relatively fast so I collect the takeaway and fetch her home. It’s getting late and although I am all for catching up with my grandmother, I have to go home to get some sleep because I have to wake up early tomorrow. Se Yeon cries and refuses to let me go, and my heart breaks.

“I’m sorry baby, I’ll come over soon,” I promise her, giving her a tight hug. She sobs into my shoulder, her body shaking.

“You take so long to come here,” she complains. I let go of her to look at her properly.

“That’s because I’m busy. Unnie has work, Se Yeon-ah. I promise I’ll come here on Saturday no matter how busy I am okay?” I tell her. Even if I fall asleep while driving, I will still keep my promise because I want to see her as much as she wants to see me. “Halmoni, call me on Friday –wait, it’s tomorrow- to remind me please.”

My grandma nods while sighing, giving me a knowing look. I sigh too. I pass my grandma the takeaway, kiss Se Yeon on the forehead and my grandma on her cheek before leaving. I finally allow myself to cry when I reach my car. I sob into my hands. Why is life being such a to me? I’m not happy like people think I am. Everyone around me thinks that I am such a happy rich successful girl but no one knows of the lonely teenager that resides in me – my soul. Deep inside, I’m still a teenager who craves for love and attention. My heart is practically empty and broken from the past. I feel like if someone cuts me into half, all they’ll find inside is hollowness.

I give myself some time to calm down before speeding home. I walk into my house to see Luhan sitting on the floor with documents all around him. He looks up and I head straight to my room without saying a word, not wanting him to see my swollen eyes. I change into an oversized pullover and a pair of tights before putting a cap on to cover my swollen eyes. I walk out into the living room and sit down across him.

“What’s with the cap?” He asks.

“Headache.”

“Oh. Do you want to go sleep now? I can always brief you your schedule in the morning as long as you agree to wake up earlier.”

I nod. “Goodnight.”

I wash up quickly before heading straight to my bed to lie down, trying to get myself comfortable. I must have gotten too comfortable because the next thing I know, the skies are bright again and Luhan is trying to wake me up. I roll to my right to get away from him but he grabs me tightly and easily hoist me over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes.

“Put me down!” I grumble sleepily. I lazily thump my fists on his back but even sleepy me knows that it probably feels like feather touches to him. I continue to mumble incoherently until he places me down on the cover of the toilet seat.

“Wash up, shower and do whatever you need to now. You have twenty minutes,” Luhan says coolly before exiting my bathroom. I grunt at his command but oblige anyway. I shower, I wash up, I do my usual light make up and what’s left to do is to get dressed. I open the door slightly.

“What should I wear? Where are we going?” I shout. He appears in front of me out of nowhere, causing me to jump in shock. He coughs to cover up his laughter before answering me.

“Wear something warm. You have to do another CF today.”

I nod and slip into a nice, warm, white woolly pullover and a pair of hot pink skinny jeans. It may be a cold and dull day but I can at least dress a little brightly to help make the day a little more manageable. Luhan eyes my pants but don’t say anything. He pushes a plate of whole wheat toast, salad, and scrambled eggs towards me and I dig in immediately. I have to say, Luhan’s scrambled eggs are the best. It’s so fluffy, light, savoury and all in all – amazing.

After breakfast, we head to the CF venue. This time, I’m working with one of my favourite male celebrities Ahn Jae Hyun. We greet each other before I head off to change. It’s a fashion brand CF so we have to wear a few couple outfits which are just so adorable.

“Mi Yeon-ssi,” Jae Hyun calls. “We have to start now. Are you ready?”

I nod, passing my phone to Luhan before rushing into the toilet. I quickly touch up my makeup and exit the toilet, bumping into Jae Hyun in the process. He gives me a little smile that makes my stomach feels like there are fluttering butterflies in there. We have to go up to the hill for our shooting and I’m wearing heels that are really tough to walk in. Luhan is behind us carrying my stuffs.

I stumble around beside Jae Hyun when he suddenly crouches down in front of me. I give him a puzzled look.

“I’ll piggyback you up there,” He says coolly and I quickly shake my head.

“No, no. You don’t have to. I’m pretty heavy you know.”

“No, you’re so thin. Plus, I’m strong,” He winks. I oblige (happily) and hop onto his back, wrapping my arms around his neck. His natural manly scent mixed with his mild cologne engulfs my nostrils. I discreetly take in a deep breath, but I realise I’m not that discreet when I hear chuckles escaping his mouth. My face must be crimson red now. I can just see the headline on the newspaper for tomorrow. ‘Popular actress Shin Mi Yeon caught sniffing her celebrity crush like a maniac.’ I mentally face-palm myself, feeling awkward and like a creep.

I put my hand on Jae Hyun’s hand. Right when our hands are in contact, he tugs on my hand with great strength, causing me to spin into his embrace. Our noses are just centimetres away, and I look down at his pinkish lips. The lights are going off rapidly, signalling the furious captures of the scene.

“Wow, you guys have good chemistry!” The director winks. I laugh awkwardly while turning to look at Jae Hyun, who is wearing a little smirk on his handsome face. From the corner of my eye, I see Luhan’s displeased face staring at his phone bitterly causing me to wonder what's wrong. I make a mental note to ask him about it when I’m done with this. After the photo shoot Jae Hyun and I exchange our numbers so that we can keep in touch. Jae Hyun sends me all the way to my car, opening the door for me to get in like a gentleman.

“Don’t forget me,” I tell him, giving him a playful wink. He laughs.

“I won’t. Don’t you forget me either!”

I shake my head telling him I won’t before getting into the car and waving to him. Luhan gets into the car after I shut the door. He slams the car door shut and I jump up at the loudness of it. He turns back to look at me and I glare at him.

“Where’s Joo Yoon?” I ask. My coordinator has been away for many days and although I didn’t pay much attention to it at first, I start to wonder why recently. Joo Yoon never tells me anything like leaving or taking leaves because she’s supposed to tell it to the Chairman.

“Her mother fell ill so she took a long break to take care of her.”

I nod, sending a quick message to Joo Yoon to ask about her mother. The reply comes almost immediately, thanking me and telling me not to worry. “Anyway is something wrong? You seem pretty upset.”

Luhan shakes his head. “It’s nothing.”

“If you don’t want to tell me then forget it,” I tell him. “Can you fetch me to Halmoni’s?”

“Sure.”