‘On the day that I was supposed to

‘On the day that I was supposed to meet him, I was so excited that I went to the meeting place early. I waited for him, but he didn’t show up. I was there for more than an hour, I think. It was kind of embarrassing.’

‘You got stood up?’ Woo Bin asked in disbelief. ‘That’s just... mean.’

‘I know, right? When I got home, I was so devastated I actually felt like crying. I had thoughts like maybe, he did go to the café, but once he saw me, decided not to go through with it.’

‘Impossible. No guy in his right mind would do that to you,’ Jong Suk said.

Shin Hye chuckled. ‘Keuchi? I convinced myself he was probably a jerk and I dodged a bullet right there.’

Woo Bin nodded his head. ‘Yeah, I can see how that could make the headlines – ‘Park Shin Hye stood up in blind date.’

‘That’s not the best part,’ Shin Hye added excitedly. ‘The next day, I got a text from the guy. He apologized profusely for not being able to make it, so he asked if he could make it up to me by buying me coffee that afternoon in front of our school. I was still mad, but I got so curious so I agreed. When I got there, I saw the guy sitting at the corner reading a book. When I approached the table, he took one look at me and he froze.’

‘Ha! I can imagine this dude’s face, going to a blind date and finding out that the girl is a famous actress,’ Woo Bin said. ‘Did he faint or wet himself?’

‘Ani,’ Shin Hye replied. ‘As a matter of fact, he started laughing. And I laughed, too.’

The three guys looked at her curiously, waiting for an explanation.

She smiled. ‘Because we knew each other. My blind date was Kim Soo Hyun.’

Jong Suk’s eyes widened. ‘Kim Soo Hyun? As in You Who Came From The Stars’ Kim Soo Hyun? The alien?’

Shin Hye nodded her head. ‘Eo. It turned out he was filming Dream High then and his shoot ended a lot later than planned so he couldn’t make it to our date. It was really funny.’

Woo Bin held his hands up. ‘Chamkan. So are you telling us that… you dated Kim Soo Hyun?’

‘Of course not,’ Shin Hye replied. ‘It was just a blind date. He told me it was his first time to be set up, too. His friend was begging him to do it because he wanted to look good to his girlfriend. Since he was also curious, he agreed. So it was kind of an experiment for both of us.’

Shin Hye turned to Min Ho who was the only one who hasn’t asked her questions. He was listening keenly just a while ago. But now, Shin Hye couldn’t read his expression. Note to self: Explain Kim Soo Hyun situation to Lee Min Ho in detail later.

‘So you two…’ Min Ho finally spoke up, ‘…didn’t meet up again after that?’ His tone was curious, but also hesitant.

‘We did,’ Shin Hye answered nonchalantly. ‘But just once, and with the couple that tried to set us up. We planned to hang out but I had to film Heartstrings so that never really happened. We saw each other a year after at the Baeksang Awards and we were still laughing about it. I mean, the only reason we agreed to a blind date was to meet an ordinary guy and girl, but we ended up meeting each other.’

‘Daebak! Imagine if you two ended up dating though. Power couple!’ Woo Bin exclaimed. Shin Hye saw Min Ho and Jong Suk shoot him a look, but Woo Bin didn’t notice. ‘You didn’t like him?’

‘Ya, what girl wouldn’t like him? He’s really nice, and very good-looking,’ Shin Hye said deliberately, eyeing Min Ho. When he didn’t seem to mind, she smiled. ‘But you know, there were just no sparks there.’

‘Great story, Shin Hye,’ Jong Suk beamed.

‘Gumawo. Although I don’t know if I have any more juicy secrets to share that could top that.’

‘I’m sure you do,’ Min Ho blurted out, looking at Shin Hye in the eye. He cleared his throat. ‘Let’s move on, shall we? My turn.’

Min Ho studied the table and tried to decide which ball to target next. Woo Bin leaned closer to him and whispered something in his ear. Min Ho nodded slightly. He walked to the left side of the pool table and stooped down. His eyes were laser focused on the ball. Shin Hye thought he looked so cool like that. She leaned on her stick and sighed, looking at Min Ho’s perfect form. When he finally hit the ball, it went in. This time, Lee Jong Suk grunted.

‘Assa!’ Woo Bin gave Min Ho a fist bump. ‘Lee Jong Suk, spill it.’

‘I dated an idol,’ Jong Suk told them without batting an eyelid.

‘Chincha?’ Woo Bin smirked. ‘Who?’

‘That part, I can’t tell you because we agreed never to talk about it,’ Jong Suk replied.

‘YA! Even Shin Hye namedropped!’

‘Sorry, I really can’t,’ Jong Suk pouted. ‘But that was when she was still a trainee. Uhm. Six, seven years ago? We were really young then. I can give you a hint though.’ He fell silent as he thought about it. ‘There are nine members in the group.’

‘Omona!’ Shin Hye’s hand flew to cover her mouth. ‘Girls Generation? Nugu? Tiffany? Yoona?’ She Hye asked curiously. ‘Jessica? Sooyoung? Animyeon…’

‘Ya, he said he wasn’t going to tell us who,’ Min Ho cut Shin hye off. ‘It might not even be Girls Generation.’ He turned to Jong Suk. ‘Nine Muses? After School? UEE?’

Cham na. ‘Oppa, you told me you didn’t know a lot of idols. You don’t even know which group Hyungsik is from,’ Shin hye turned to Min Ho, frowning.

A smile was playing on the sides of his lips. ‘Of course I don’t know male idols. I only know girl groups. Every man in Korea knows his girl groups,’ Min Ho replied. ‘Right, Woo Bin?’

Woo Bin simply nodded his head. ‘It’s as necessary as military service. We’re up to date when it comes to those stuff.’

Shin Hye gave Min Ho the stink eye. He just shrugged.