Shin Hye was the first one to arrive. Again. Whenever she met up with any of the guys, she’s always the first to arrive – she has no idea why she keeps going early knowing that's the case. She crossed her arms and frowned. She wanted to see Min Ho badly, but she made a promise and today was the only day their schedules aligned. Plus, she was very worried about Hong Ki and she hadn’t been able to see him since his accident.
As she waited, she wondered if Min Ho’s plane landed already. She instinctively reached for her bag to get her phone but she remembered that she didn’t have it. Arggh.
‘Shin Hye!’
She turned around and saw Geun Suk sauntering towards her. He was dressed in casual clothes – just a hoodie and jeans and his trademark swagger. She couldn't help but smile. She only saw him thrice all of last year and she didn’t realize that she actually missed hanging out with him. ‘Oppa!’
Before she can react, Geun Suk pulled her up from her seat and hugged her. He had a very loose idea of personal space, especially with her. It was a good thing that no one else was in the second floor of the café. It was a small and quaint place that she used to frequent with the guys when they were still fresh from filming ‘You’re Beautiful’. The owner already knew them and was always nice enough to make considerations for them to be comfortable.
‘You look really good, Shin Hye,’ Geun Suk smiled warmly as he took the seat in front of her.
‘Thanks,’ she replied shyly. Geun Suk can be very eccentric alright, but he always knew how to make girls blush. ‘You too, oppa. And you finally cut your hair! It looks great on you.’
‘I didn’t want to do it at first but you know, it was for the drama.’
Just then, a waitress came up and put two cups of coffee in front of them. Geun Suk gave her a cute wink as he thanked her, which sent her grinning as she headed back down. Shin Hye laughed.
‘I knew that Pretty Man role suited you,’ she said as she picked up her cup and sipped. ‘I honestly couldn’t imagine anybody else in that character.’
‘You watched it?’
‘Not everything but I caught a few episodes. When did you finish filming?’
‘Seven days ago,’ he replied as he slouched on his chair, crossing his legs. ‘I’m still tired, but I just had to see you.’ He had a mischievous glint in his eyes. Of course, that glint was always there. It was what made her young heart waver at one point.
‘Oppa, you can’t easily flirt with me anymore,’ she smiled.
He furrowed his brows, but the corner of his lips twitched. ‘It’s not flirting if I’m telling the truth. I really missed you.' He paused, before continuing. 'Besides, even if I am flirting, it never works on you anyway. That's why it's okay for me to keep doing it.' He chuckled.
Shin Hye laughed lightly and went on to take a sip again. She looked down, although she could feel Geun Suk staring at her.
‘You look different,’ he blurted out.
Shin Hye looked up, making a conscious effort to look innocent. ‘What do you mean?’
Geun Suk tilted his head and squinted his eyes. ‘You look… I don’t know, different. I mean, you’re looking more and more beautiful, that’s a given. But there’s something... I can't really point it out specifically…’ he trailed off.
Shin Hye squinted her eyes, too, as if willing him to finish his sentence. When he just continued staring at her, she finally spoke up. ‘You’re seeing things.’
‘Maybe,’ he answered. ‘But all I know is you’re the prettiest you’ve ever been. And that’s a compliment because you’ve always been pretty.’
She hissed. ‘Aigoo. If you’re going to just do this all afternoon, we might as well just go to Hong Ki now,’ she snapped. She looked at her watch before scanning the room. ‘Where’s Yong Hwa?’
‘He can't make it anymore,’ Geun Suk replied. ‘He said they have an emergency meeting at FNC. Something about their flight having to be moved earlier. He texted me a few hours ago. He didn’t text you?’
‘Ah, chincha? I carelessly left my phone at home this morning,’ she said. ‘Joon oppa offered to get it for me, but it seems like he’s stuck at the agency for now.’
‘Ahh,’ Geun Suk nodded his head. He got his phone from his pocket. ‘Do you need to contact anyone? Or I could drive you home if you want, we can get your phone before we head to Hong Ki’s.’
Shin Hye bit her lip as she stared at the phone. YES YES, I need to borrow it! I wonder if Min Ho oppa can trace the call back to Geun Suk oppa’s phone. Wait. That’s crazy, Geun Suk oppa wouldn’t even have his number, and I don’t memorize it. Damn, I should have memorized it.
‘Gwaenchana?’ Geun Suk looked at her curiously.
‘Ah, yeah. Can I take you on your offer?’ Can we stop by the apartment? I’ll just grab my phone real quick. I just feel uneasy without it.’
‘Sure,’ Geun Suk replied casually. ‘But you should probably call Joon hyung first, see if he already got it for you or not.’
They were in Geun Suk’s car, heading to her apartment. For some weird reason, she was feeling anxious. Min Ho was probably wondering by now why she hasn’t contacted him, and here she was, in Geun Suk’s car. It wasn’t like she was doing anything wrong, but it still didn’t feel right. She gave Geun Suk a sideways glance. He’s not going to be happy about this…
‘Wah, I haven’t driven with you in so long,’ Geun Suk said cheerfully, interrupting Shin Hye’s thoughts. ‘Remember when we had that random road trip to Chuncheon?'
She smiled weakly. ‘Yeah. We ended up eating dak galbi and leaving right away. Which didn’t make sense because we drove for hours.’
‘It made sense to me,’ Geun Suk replied, shrugging. ‘We were spending time together and it was fun.’
Shin Hye didn’t reply and nodded her head instead.
‘And Joon hyung freaked out because he thought we were dating,’ he chuckled.
Shin Hye remembered. At that time, she still harbored a crush on him, and her manager knew. Of course what he didn’t know was that Geun Suk was emotionally unavailable. And even if he did like her back, it would never have worked out.
‘Alright,’ he said. ‘I’ll wait here.’ He smiled at her. Shin Hye looked around and realized they were already there. She immediately got out of the car and told Geun Seuk that she'll be quick.
She raced to her room where she remembered she left it. As soon as she picked up her phone, her eyes widened at the number of calls she’s missed. There was one from Yong Hwa, but the rest were from Min Ho. She also checked her messages.