Annyeong! I am back with another fan-fiction (point to be noted LOL ) on YongShin, I hope you enjoy reading it :) Looking forward to your feedback. 

He needed a vacation.

He was stressed out. He didn't show it, but he really needed a break. Solo promotions had been harder than he imagined it would be. Last year had been hectic, the year began with his band's album releasing, it's promotions, followed by more than fifty concerts, shooting for a historical action drama, preparing for his solo album besides the CF shooting, variety shows, hosting not counting the odd DJing stint. 
However, none of these could prepare him for the stress of his solo album releasing. Not having his band mates around on music shows made it that much harder. He never let it show though. That wasn't his style. 

He carried on patiently, without complaining. He believed in counting his blessings rather than cribbing about the inevitable downside of fame. When he started out, his dreams seemed so outrageous that people had laughed at his audacity, yet he had achieved his dreams one by one. 
Now nobody laughs when he talks about his future plans, be it for himself or his band. They have come to accept that here was a man who believed in his dreams and worked as hard to fulfill them. The very finicky entertainment industry had started respecting him as an artist, it was one of his greatest, yet unacknowledged, achievements. 

All said and done, he was still human and he really needed a vacation.

He looked at his schedule: two whole weeks lay empty with no schedules marked. Could he dare to hope? 

As if reading his mind, his manager who had just walked in, told him the dates had indeed been kept aside for a vacation if he wanted to take one. "It's a Thank you from the company for your hard work", he smiled. He was surprised; shocked to be exact. It was the first time in five years that anything like that had happened. He accepted it gratefully, regardless. 

The next few weeks were very exciting as he made elaborate plans for his vacation during his spare time. He would travel far he decided, to a place where he could roam around unrecognized. He also came to the conclusion that he would go alone. 

As he zeroed in on places to visit and stay, the thought of being alone bothered him somewhere in the depths of his mind. Yet he wanted to get away from everything and everyone on this vacation. It was a quandary he couldn't make sense of .
It was when he was contemplating this existential dilemma that he ran into someone he considered one of his closest friends yet was someone he had been forced to stay away from for years.
Park Shin Hye.

She laughed at him almost as soon as they saw each other. Yes, laughed AT him, not smile or even grin on seeing him. He was instantly offended and sulked at her reaction. However, she couldn't stop laughing until he gave up and started smiling too. She had that effect on him. After all, they were "good friends". 

"Yaa.. Why are you laughing at me like that?"
He asked in a sulky voice trying to conceal the smile that had paved way to his face. 
"Mianne" (sorry!) she said, trying to conceal the traces of laughter that kept erupting ever so often. 

"You looked so lost right now" she said before adding, "I have seen that lost puppy look on you so many times during your Shin woo days that I couldn't help it" she said not sounding apologetic in the least. 

"Ya ya Shin hye ya"

She laughed some more before sobering up on seeing his sulky expression.

They were strange, him and her. When they first met each other during the shooting of their first show together, he was a nobody. His band was still playing on the streets of Japan. Though she was a child artiste, it was her first big role as the main lead in a drama. 

They hit it off instantly. When they met, he thought she was snooty, but it didn't take more than two days to realize how wrong he was. They became best of friends, having a blast together while she helped him with his scenes, he would be the shoulder she leant on most. They discussed everything and they often described it as a friendship between two guys. 

Life went on as they parted ways after the show, they would meet each other sparingly and talk on the phone occasionally. Expectedly, things changed as they were not constantly chattering away to each other like they were on the sets of "You are beautiful". During the shooting they were all close, four of the main cast who were the fictional band A.N.Jell but even then Yong Hwa and Shin Hye had a world of their own. Since he wasn't the main lead, they got away with all the laughing, chatting, flirting and fighting. 
Then like a dream come true, they were cast together again as the main lead couple. They had the time of their lives as they lived as two music lovers who loved each other. The dream turned into a nightmare thereafter as they were linked to each other incessantly. Initially, they shrugged it off, as their friendship was strong enough to withstand the torrent of comments from fans and anti-fans alike. 

Later as their fame grew and they met each other lesser and lesser, the dating rumors took a toll on them. They couldn't even meet each other as friends. It was hard at first, but as time, distance and work increased, the friendship suffered.

The only thing they did consistently, year after year was denying dating each other. There were other people they were linked to, somehow those rumors seemed to melt away far more easily than those with each other. 

Their unbridled friendship had taken been their downfall. He had had to clarify again, only a few months earlier that they were not dating, in fact, had never dated each other and these declarations were, yet again, met with skepticism. 

They had met face to face after what felt like ages and yet they were as comfortable as ever. Her laughing uncontrollably, him smiling at her adorable nature while sulking at the same time. 
Some things never change.

They decided to get some coffee at the office cafeteria. The place was often the breeding ground of all gossip but like she casually remarked, it's not like not meeting had put an end to the persistent rumors. 

"Ya.. You and I are going to be linked forever, there is no escaping it", She said, wagging her finger animatedly. 

He smiled at her weary acceptance of their never-ending love story that never was. 

"So... Now tell me what is bothering you?" She asked as they settled down at a table farthest from the door. 

"I am going on vacation " He said without preamble. 

She narrowed her eyebrows 

"Ya.. " she shouted "is that even a reason to be upset about ?"

"Listen.. Will you!" 

"Ok, go on... So you are going on vacation and that's umm... upsetting you?" She asked trying to keep the sarcasm in her voice to the minimum. 

"It's not that !" He said now beginning to feel annoyed. 

He pouted as he pretended to drink coffee.
"Mianne Yong hwa ya.." She held his forearms shaking them slightly.

"Ya ya.. " he said as he kept his cup of coffee down to avoid spilling it. 

"It's nothing really" He said softly.
"Ya.." She raised her voice again

"Don't try to convince yourself now. I'll do that for you later, but for that you need to tell me, first "

"I am going alone on this vacation and I don't like the idea of being lonely" He said with a massive sigh. 
"I know it's silly but it's been bothering me for a few days now" He sighed again. 

She studied his face, he was serious, It was clearly affecting him.

"Why don't you go with someone then?"

"I don't know, it's complicated. I want to get away from everything .. Yet.." He shook his head again. 
"It's nothing really, I just don't know" He sighed once again running his fingers through his hair.

"Stop sighing like that" she said sharply, "you are going on vacation and you just haven't found the right person to go with-simple as that"

"If only it were that simple " He replied morosely. 

"Ya.. Enough with the brooding, I am here so now we'll find a solution... OK?"

He drank his coffee instead of answering her. 

"Jung Yong Hwa"

"What ? Are you going to come with me? " He asked irritably. 

"Huh?" The ever talkative Park Shin Hye found herself tongue tied. 

He grinned at her bewildered expression and decided to take advantage of the sudden upper hand he had gained. 

"Ya.. Shin hye ya, seriously consider it.. You are the perfect person to accompany me.. We can do all the water sports we love; eat and drink from ordinary restaurants; sing and dance on the streets. Then you can talk as much as you want and I promise to just listen." Even though he had started it off in jest, he found himself actually enjoying the images that formed in his head. "We can hold hands as we walk along the beach on moonlit nights and kiss under the stars. It will be the best vacation of our lives." 

Yong Hwa had the courtesy to blush at his outrageous declaration

Shin Hye looked at him as if he had confessed his love to her or had gone mad, same difference actually. She hit him on his biceps repeatedly then suddenly flinched in pain and started blowing on her fingertips. She instinctively touched his biceps again.
"Wow, when did they get so big and tough" she asked in awe.

He smiled not because of her compliment, rather on realizing something.

"You are stalling" He declared confidently.
She looked startled at his statement, it was all the confirmation he needed. 

"You actually imagined everything I said" 

She remained silent. 

"You considered it ?" He asked, surprised. 

"Yaa" she screamed as she got up from her chair took her handbag and flicked it on his head.

"Ow" 

She was about to walk away when he lightly hooked his arm into hers.

"Ya ya ya.. Don't walk away like that.. You are my dearest chingu (friend) .. Aren't you? If I don't talk to you openly who will I talk to?" He asked in a -sure to melt any girl within a 20 mile radius- voice. 

Shin Hye sighed. When he used that voice on her, she always melted,it was almost like watching him perform live on stage. She was sure if he ever performed a song for her on stage and asked her to give up anything, she would-gladly. That was when he was the most charismatic and that was also when she often forgot he was her friend. She would feel giddy with happiness and often wanted to scream like a fangirl whenever he performed on stage.

She sat back down. 

"Yes, yong hwa-ssi" 
She said, deliberately trying to bring a sense of distance into the conversation. 
He, however, waved it off. 
"No need to be so formal, because we know each other so well, you can call me oppa if you want to" 

"Ya.. Yong hwa stop playing"
She was at her wits end. 

He grinned. 

"Mianne shineya" He said solemnly. "You know even though I said that for fun now that I think about it, it's not a bad idea. You and I will have a lot of fun together and I won't kiss you, don't worry,but we can go as friends right ?"

Shin Hye took a deep breath before answering "ya.. Does that make sense to you?"

"Why not ?"

"Well firstly, because we are famous - remember? Every year we religiously deny dating each other? What is this vacation supposed to be then?"

"If that's your concern, I can assure you no one will ever know, the place I have zeroed in on is absolutely unreachable to our media or fans" He answered seriously. 

"Where is this place ? Are you going to the moon or something " she asked feeling annoyed.

He laughed.
" you know Shin hye ah you want to come with me on this vacation"

"And How do you figure that?" She asked, voice laden with sarcasm.

"By the sheer fact that your concern does not involve going alone on a vacation with me but about how the world will perceive it"

"Profound, but no. When it comes to you and me, it's a package deal."

"Does that mean if the media and fans were not a source of concern, you would consider being with me?" He asked suddenly curious but with more than sufficient sincerity. 

She was silent for a while then replied softly " yes..may be" before adding "Though, with us, it is unavoidable right? Fans, anti-fans, media reports, speculations, scandals..." 

He was however not listening, instead his mind was reeling from the new piece of information that there was just a little hope that she would accept him? Really? He had always been under the impression that though she liked him as a friend, she never considered him good enough to be her boyfriend. 

She was now calling out to him, waving her hands in front of his face. He suddenly snapped back into focus and caught her hands mid-air.

"What are you doing?" She asked sounding slightly frantic, she looked around to ensure they were still alone. 

He, however, held on to her hand and brought it down to the table. 

"Ok listen here shin-ah" He said in his best honeyed voice.
"What if I can assure you that there will be no way anybody will ever find out? Don't make a hasty decision. You can trust me. I promise to take great care of you and you will not regret it"

She sat staring at him for sometime before looking at their intertwined hands. When had that happened? How had it come to this? She was not sure what he was asking anymore!

"I do trust you Yong hwa ya, do you think anybody else who asks me such a thing would be alive?"

He smiled at her statement. He knew her well enough to know it was true. 

" What I don't understand is, what are you asking me? You want me to go on a vacation with you to some uninhabited island or some alien planet?" 

He shook his head laughing at her sarcasm. Then he quickly rearranged his face into a solemn expression. 

"I would love to ask you to be my girl but I know neither of us are in a state to make any sort of commitment right now, I would rather not lose you over a relationship that seems hard to pursue at this stage"

"Ok then...?" She asked looking truly perplexed 

"Let's just go somewhere where we can be ourselves. We can do whatever we want to do, keeping only our feelings in mind. So if we want to hold hands we will. Think of it as a drama where instead of exploring the character's feelings, we discover our own without any scripts."

" That... That is just unrealistic..." She stuttered finding herself at loss of words as she felt more and more drawn to the idea. 

Yong Hwa sighed. 
"So are our lives Shin hye ah. Look at us- you are 26, I am 27 - unable to live our lives the way we want to. We can't go out on dates freely or declare our relationships without being hated upon. Even if we secretly like or date somebody, it all ends in a mess because of our busy schedules. Let's go and live a little"

She looked down at their intertwined hands again, contemplating what he had just said. 

"Just think about it okay?" 
He said softly. 

She nodded. "I will"

He grinned. It was half the battle won. 

Then she smiled "ya... Don't be too happy. I need to think alone. You are very convincing, my chingu (friend)".

He smiled smugly only to get a whack on his head from her. They spent the next few moments in silence drinking coffee but in reality contemplating what had just transpired feeling both excited and confused. 

Yong Hwa sat in his room alone absentmindedly playing tunes on his Guitar while constantly checking his phone for messages. 

He lunged at the phone when he heard it beep, nearly dropping his precious Guitar. It was a message from her on KAKAO Talk.

"I got your mail, aigoo.. Is this place in Miami really secluded? You don't think people will know us there?"

He smiled at her message. She was seriously considering his offer, that made him happy. However, he was thoroughly mistaken when he thought she would make up her mind quickly as she spent day and night sending message after message questioning him about the various practical problems and minor details of the vacation plan until he was sure she would reject the idea. 
Eventually he felt too exhausted to worry about her decision and made up his mind to let it slide. 
He felt almost as gloomy as he would if his proposal had been rejected. It was in the middle of the night, a few days later that his phone beeped again, that exclusive tone he had kept for her jolted him awake.

There was only one word in her text. 

"Ok. "

He stared at the message for the longest time trying to confirm if it meant what he thought it meant. Then he hugged the soft toys (courtesy - fans) that adorned his bed and gave a muffled scream of joy.

Yes!! He, Jung Yong Hwa was going on a vacation with Park Shin Hye.