8 January 2012, 8:30 pM

"Hey, stop the car in front of the K-Mart, okay?" Hyun said trying to sound as casual as he can. "I need to buy something." He was trying his best to keep a straight face. But I could see his excitement. I wanted to tease him a bit. I stopped the car in front of the mart near his apartment and turned to him, "What do you need. I can go buy it for you."

His face turned to trouble at once. "No. Eh... I need to buy it myself."

"What is that I can't buy for you?" I asked.

He thought for a second and seemed to give a really long thought. "Eh...shaving razor." He said. "You are a girl. You can't buy that."

"Girls shave too," I told him.

"You can't differentiate men's products," he snapped and got out of the car. I followed him. We walked into the K-Mart, as the part-time employee greeted us with a bright greeting. And I watched as Hyun's face went to a wide smile at the sight of her. "WooHyun shi." Han SoWon, the 22-year-old part-time worker girl smiled at him. Han SoWon was cute. Really cute. She was kind of short. But that did not really matter, it just made her cuter. She had a round face, and chubby cheeks, and tiny cute eyes. She always had a smile on her face. Her hair was short, and that suited her well. And she mostly wore light coloured sweatshirts or hoodies, and denim shorts. She was lovable and sweet and cute. And most importantly, she treated Hyun like a regular guy where else all the other girls swooned over him.

I leaned onto the pillar and watched Hyun as he was looking at the razors. He was pretending to not be able to choose between two brands. But I knew he already has a good razor at home. And he was stealing glances at SoWon shi as she was staking the fridge with more drinks.

He moved to the counter finally with one razor and the girl billed it for him. He paid her. "Eh..." he was hesitating. I did not want to interfere. So I just watched. But then he just turned around and walked out of the place. I followed him.

In the car, he seemed to be regretting his cowardliness.

I was a bit tensed for him though. "Just be a bit careful with this..." I said as I began to drive. He looked up at me confused, "With what?" He asked.
"You like her, right?" I asked. He looked stunned.
"How do you know?" He asked.
Like I won't know. I gave him a stare. I always know it when he starts liking a girl. I can see it even before him. "You make it so obvious," I told him. "And why did you buy a razor? You have one already." I turned the car to his apartment and parked it in the parking area. And tuned to him, "Hyun aa..." I called with a concern, "I just want to say, think once more, okay?"

"About what?" He asked me.

"About SoWon shi," I said. "She is a commoner. Not a celebrity."

"So?" he asked cluelessly.

"Will your fans be okay with it?" I was concerned. Hyun was popular ever since BLUE. But his popularity had risen heavily over the past couple of years. And when their biased celebrity starts stating, Korean fans go frantic. That is the usual.

"SoWon shi is just a normal commoner girl." I told him, "If your fans unleash their rage on her, she won't be able to take that. And actually, she need not even go through all that. So unless you are really sure about your feelings, or ready to take responsibility, I would not suggest you go forward with this."

And I could see in his eyes that he was hurt. He was hurt maybe because he found logic in what I was saying. "I am not saying you should not. I just want you to consider everything before you do anything. We should not forget the fact that you are a celebrity."

Hyun has never got angry with me yet or been impolite. But when he spoke his voice was at the edge of anger and cynical, "So... because I am a celebrity, am I not even allowed to have a love life?"

"No. I am not saying that."I said. "But try to date someone of your level."
"My level?" He snorted.
"Yeah. Your fans would not have anything to say if it's someone of your level. And there are girls, right? Of your level? Cindy, Joel, Shin SeRung, Yoon Hyori..." I named some of the top class female celebrities of our age. "if you date one of them, no one will have a problem."

"I am not interested in any of them," he stated plainly. I knew that. Hyun always had zero interest in the polished top class girls. His eyes always fall on the underdogs. The normal girls. Girls that go unnoticed. The last girl he liked was a girl who played a minor role in a drama he had acted in. He had no eyes for the really popular heroine. And he had developed a crush on that minor role actress. Her name was RinAh. And he had asked her out. They had gone for like three dates together.

"You remember what happened with RinAh shi's, right?" I reminded him. RinAh was never that popular of an actress. And she was Hyun's first dating scandal. I could not prevent that. The news was filled with their date picture. And Hyun's fans were enraged. They filled the internet with hate comments against her. 'She is so ugly', 'Our Oppa deserve so much better than her', 'how can she even stand against out Oppa' etc... RinAh shi was hurt by all these. She need not have gone through all of that if she dated a regular guy. She chose to leave than bear through that.

And from what I knew, Hyun liked SoWon shi ten times more than he had liked RinAh shi. He was really crazy about SoWon shi. I could see it in his eyes. "Sorry," I told him. I did not want to do this to him either. I knew this will hurt him. "But...if you can't protect her, I don't want you to start. Because it may be SoWon shi who will be getting hurt in the end."

He nodded. He had understood what I meant. 

12 July 2012, 3:30 pM

I had just returned back from a two months US trip. I had been shooting a drama in the US. And as soon as we got home, I could not wait... It was been two months since I had seen her. So I got dressed and walked out.

SoWon shi was outside the K-Mart. I knew I was not supposed to act on my feelings. But since the last few months, my feelings for her had not gone away. It had just got bigger. YuBin could see it as well. And she had just asked me to be careful. To be more sure. And I was sure now. I wanted to take action now. I had wondered about and thought about SoWon shi countless times when I was in the US. So I had decided to ask her out. And now, she was in front of my eyes. I could see her arranging some boxes in front of the mart. I was about to walk to her when I saw another guy walk to her. And she turned to him with a bright smile. I could sense something even by that smile, the look in her eyes as she looked at that guy. And I could detect the vibe. The guy held her hand and tucked a strand of her hair... I froze. But suddenly SoWon she saw me. "Oh..." she said and bowed to me. I walked closer.

"WooHyun shi..." she said. "I did not see you for a while."

"I was in the US for two months. Shooting a drama." My eyes travelled to the guy.

"Eh... This is my boyfriend." She introduced me. "We have been dating for a month," he said. I nodded. And I was again glad that I could act. My insides were kind of hurting way too much. But I shook hands with the guy and acted like nothing is wrong. But I hated everything about this situation. I liked that girl. I kicked myself for not acting when I had enough time. I was regretting everything... I wanted her to be mine. I wanted this guy to vanish so as I could tell SoWon that I liked her for the past nine months. That I wanted to date her. But...all I could do was shake hands with her boyfriend. 

14 July 2012, 8:40 PM

I walked into Hyun's living room and saw beer cans lying around the house. And he was lying on the couch with a vacant look on his face. I could not reach him on his phone for a day. That was why I came to check. And I was alarmed to see his state. Something happened. I knew. "What happened to you?" I asked at once.

"Yu Bin aa..." he called me.
"Huh?"
"Let's move out of this place." He said.
"What do you mean?" I asked.

He sat up looking at me. "I am sick of this apartment. I want to move to another house. Maybe a proper house. I have enough money to buy one now, right?" He had. "So can you please find me a place?"

I could. So I nodded. "But what is wrong? Did something happen?"

And I saw the pain on his face. "SoWon has a boyfriend." He said plainly. Oh... And I felt so bad inside. I felt like it was all my fault. I asked him to be careful. I prevented him from acting on his feelings. And I could see right now that he was totally heartbroken.

Hyun was not a complicated guy. He was simple. If he liked someone, he liked that person. And he was sad now. Like crying sadly. I walked to him... "Are you okay?" I asked. He shook his head. "If we keep living here, I will run into her," he mumbled. "I want to go away. So will you find me another place?" he looked up at me.

"Of course, I will..." I told him. But I saw tears in his eyes. And I felt hurt for him. I touched his hair, and he grabbed me by my waist and pressed the side of his head to my stomach and stayed there, hugging me around my waist. He was not sobbing. But I knew he was crying. I moved my hand through his hair. "I am sorry," I told him. I was genuinely sorry.

"No. She seemed happy," He mumbled. "I could never have given her that. She won't be smiling that freely if she is with me."