An Idol's Scandal

Chapter 2: Dating

Sooyoung looked at the girl in the mirror, who she thought was not herself. 

Her hair was curled into the wavy strands. The make-up on her face was thicker and more defined than what she would usually wear, even though it still did its job to make her look flawless. Sooyoung saw a frail girl in an off-shoulder white dress, the kind that she had never worn and had never thought of trying. Its hem reached to her mid-thighs were laced with small-detailed patterns, glowed lightly from the radiance of the sun. Sooyoung glimpsed at her creamy high heels, the ones that she felt uncomfortable just by looking at them. The girl in the mirror seemed gorgeous and eye-catching, but Sooyoung did not like this appearance on her. However, it was her first time dating and all she could do was follow her (should not be) experienced members' instructions.

After she headed down to the lobby of their place, she stood outside the entrance, hoping it would make it easier for Sunoo and her to start their date after he comes home from work. There, she waited, waited, and waited.

"7:45. He should be here 30 minutes ago." Sooyoung mumbled to herself as she looked at her watch.

Her feet had begun to ache from standing. Sooyoung sighed and continued to wait.

When Sunoo came and they both exited the sub-urban area, Sooyoung saw the flashes and heard almost inaudible shutters behind the bushes they walked across. She knew it was time to put up an act, yet, being with Sunoo made it more nerve-wracking than she had predicted. As she was busy being embarrassed and not knowing what to do, Sunoo abruptly pulled her waist close to him.

"Sunoo-sunbaenim!" She yelped. Quickly she realized her hands were laid on his chest and instinctively pulled them away from it. Sunoo pulled her even closer to him and whispered in her ear: "They're watching us. Don't dare messing this up."

Sooyoung obediently nodded and continued to tolerate his hand on her waist. It was difficult for her to pretend that this was nothing.

"Can we hold hands instead?" Suggested Sooyoung. She knew Sunoo found their position cumbersome, and she, herself, found it awkward. She would rather a bit of distance instead of being this close to him.

Sunoo did not budge and only looked straight. His indifference made Sooyoung hesitated to even do what she had suggested. She felt her lungs were going to burst if she made one move that dissatisfy Sunoo. Still, she mustered her courage to remove his arm from her waist and intertwined their hands instead.

Sunoo flinched the moment the warmth from Sooyoung's palm made contact with his but kept his cool afterwards by grinning pleasantly at Sooyoung. For Sooyoung, this happy side of his was delightfully blinding. After all, he has always been attractive. Watching him in slightly oversized tucked-in button-ups and black leather shoes just made him more of a gentleman than he already deemed to be.

Yet there seems to be something missing, Sooyoung thought as she looked at his outfit.

When Yoonsu asked them to choose a place for their date, Sunoo insisted on the park. Yoonsu glared at him and retorted that Sunoo could have chosen somewhere better like an amusement park or an aquarium. In response, Sunoo reasoned that it is easier to get the date over with at the park. Yoonsu was breathing fire when Sunoo said so, and the moment he was about to raise his voice at the stubborn member, Sooyoung instantly said she agreed with Sunoo's idea, leaving Yoonsu submerged in anger. Sadly and fortunately, Minho was there to ease him.

Their date was nothing extraordinary out of the blue. They held hands, talked and laughed with each other, pretended to be like other couples, bought ice cream and fed each other. Sunoo had a kind smile plastered on his face as he held out a spoon to her lips and his action tugged at Sooyoung's heart. It was inexplicable that the man in front of her can show a tender expression and be cruel to her at the same time. She was also grateful that Sunoo was taking his task seriously and took the initiative in everything that they did.

"You're cold?" Sunoo looked at her with worried eyes the moment Sooyoung was shuddering.

Sooyoung shook her head, but the man did not buy it. Sunoo brought her gently closer to his side, placing his palm on her bare shoulder, sharing his warmth.

Sunoo said: "At least you won't catch a cold by tomorrow." 

That instant, Sooyoung no longer felt that pain in the balls of her feet. She tilted her head up to look at him from below. From his parted hair, his eye smile, the soft outline of his jawline, to his Adam's apple, they gave her tingles of joy. She whispered: "Thank you." And I'm really sorry.

Click, click, click. She heard the sounds of cameras snapping from a far distance.

Sunoo stopped in his track for a bit. His eye smile faded, and a cold void filled his obsidian eyes. Yet quickly afterwards, he managed to pull a smile as he looked down at her dark eyes: "You're welcome."

Sooyoung heard the drumming in her chest along with aches brought along with each beat. Her hand rose to feel the heat radiated from her face, also with. She was thankful that it was getting dark, or else, Sunoo would have seen the moist in her eyes.

"Isn't it Sunoo? Why is he with a girl? Who is she?" Whispered a teenager from afar.

"Really? Where?" The friend in front of her slapped her arm. Her head twisted back and tilted in all kinds of directions in search for her idol.

"There. Look right, no, I mean look to your left. They're hugging- how dare she?!"

"Yah! Keep quiet. It's the girl on the news the other day, Sooyoung, remember?"

"The one who that took Sunoo's necklace for fame?"

Sooyoung sensed the stiffness from Sunoo's hand. It'll be hard for us to keep up the act if this goes on, Sooyoung thought.

"Sorry, Sunoo-sunbaenim. I need to go to the bathroom." Said Sooyoung, and before Sunoo could reply, Sooyoung pulled him to another direction from where they were walking to. Her sudden assertiveness left Sunoo lost in a daze, but soon, he snickered. His fan's words must have bothered her conscience, he thought.

"Wah! Mom, dad! Mom, dad!"

The sobs emitted from a girl caught Sooyoung and Sunoo's attention. Sooyoung released his hand and staggered to the girl in her heels. The cries from the child slowly died down as Sooyoung approached and whispered to her ear. Soon enough, relief washed the frown from the child's face and replaced it with a smile. Sooyoung then carried the girl in her arms and returned back to Sunoo's side without realizing that he was in a daze from watching her. 

Sooyoung recounted that the girl, called Doyeon, was lost from her parents whilst she was distracted by the sight of the playground and injured her knee when she was on her way finding them. Sunoo nodded, carried the child on one arm, which Sooyoung was hesitant to give her to him but did so anyway, and held her hand, to which he persuaded himself that it was because the paparazzi were near.

"Thank you, thank you so much!" cried the girl's mother.

When the three approached the entrance, they found the girl's parents and happily returned her to them. The ease of the tension upon their faces relieved Sooyoung's worries along with Sunoo's. When Sunoo realized he subconsciously copied Sooyoung's grin of happiness when she observed the reunion of the family, he shrugged his smile off.

"Um, Sunoo-sunbaenim. Sunoo-sunbaenim?"

"What?" Sunoo snapped at Sooyoung, and uncovered his heartwarming façade.

"Ah um, can you please let go of my hand?" Sooyoung sheepishly responded. The frigidity in his voice pulverized her confidence in a matter of second and subsequently caused her to avoid their eye contact.

"Why is that?" He raised his eyebrow.

"We've arrived back to our apartment, Sunoo-sunbaenim." Sooyoung murmured.

Sunoo hastily retreated his hand from hers and slammed his way in his bedroom before locking the door.

Sunoo was lost in his train of thoughts on their way home that could to remembered or noticed when they had arrived at the door to their dwelling. He only remembered the images of Sooyoung waiting for him even though he deliberately came late, the aching redness on her feet, her tender mother-like interaction with the child, and the moist in her eyes when he snapped at her. Sunoo's heart clenched when he reminisced the hurt expression on her face.

His mind was preoccupied in unending depths that night. Contradictory emotions overlapped each other in his head, almost as if fighting in an eternal battle. Yet out of the bewildering mess of warmth and frustration he received from her, a foreign feeling crept into his chest.

Sunoo buried his face into his pillow. All he thought of was Sooyoung, Sooyoung and Sooyoung.