A good ten minutes have passed on the bus ride.

Jinsol was too stunned to even process what had happened. And the boy that seated next to her looked too embarrassed to say anything more. He kept his gaze down on his lap, his legs tirelessly shaking. Now that she got a good look at him, Kunhang wore a mask that covered most of his face and a cap that settled on his head. It was a surprise that Jinsol had recognized him straight away.

It's crazy how much she grew to like him.

"How did you know?" The pigtailed girl questioned.

Kunhang peered over at her, a shy expression on his face. "Both Haneul and Mira told me about it and they thought it'd be good you have someone else with you on the trip. We haven't seen each other in so long so we all thought it would be good to surprise you. So, surprise?"

"It was definitely a surprise. No wonder Haneul was asking for so much details about my trip," Jinsol sighed.

"Why didn't you tell me about it?" Kunhang asked her, rubbing the back of his neck. With a tilt of his head, Jinsol was reminded that he looked so much like a lost puppy. Her heart quaked at the cute face. He pouted. "Was it because you didn't want to disturb me with my preparations?"

Right on target. Her gaze fell.

"You said you were busy today."

"Yeah, busy going to see you." Jinsol gave his side a nudge, flushed over the cheesy comment. "But anyway, I was able to ask my manager and the producer if I could record my parts early yesterday. And since I was able to, I get to have today free!"

"That's super great, Kunhang! I hope it didn't inconvenience anyone."

"Nah, they were all cool. You know Shim Jiwoo, right?... Oh wait, of course you do! She's your, uh, cousin-in-law, right?"

At the thought of the older woman, Jinsol grinned and gave a nod.  "Apparently, she had some help with some of our songs she worked alongside with us during the recording process," Kunhang continued. "I thought she was just a manager but it was nice of her to convince the rest of the sound team, or else I wouldn't be here."

"I really should thank her when we get back then, hmm?"

Jinsol's hands was then covered by a warmth. Kunhang's hand hovered over hers and he gave it a gentle squeeze, only earning even redder cheeks on both the teenagers' faces. "Both of us should together."

The rest of the bus ride had been so pleasant since they had each other for company. Now that Jinsol thought about it, she wasn't sure how she would have sufficed the long trip on her own. Having Kunhang besides her made their time in the bus so much shorter than she remembered it being.

When they transferred from bus to taxi, Kunhang and Jinsol arrived at The Garden of Morning Calm in no time. An excitement surged through Jinsol as she tugged on Kunhang's sleeve to show him around the grand garden. There were so any things she wanted to show him; her favorite spots, the little shops with free goodies, and the destinations that were used for dramas. This place was a part of her memories.

And she gets to have some memories with Kunhang too...

Before he gets super busy.

The two of them already spent a good hour just walking around just a small portion of the garden, just east from the entrance. Jinsol put in the fun times she had whenever she came with her family, one of those times being when she had tried to pluck as many of the flowers as she can but Boram had stopped her every time.

As it was just her and Kunhang, it reminded Jinsol of their times together filming for her project. It wasn't even that long ago since then, nearly a month when that ended. She pressed her lips together, as she thought about where she stood with Kunhang now.

Deep in the Garden of Morning Calm, they arrived to the Pond Garden, the very area where they filmed scenes from the drama, Moonlight Drawn by Clouds. They found a bench to settle at so they could eat. Luckily, Kunhang had brought some goodies as well to add onto their small lunch.

Jinsol handed one of her mother's rolled gimbap to him and placed the container of sliced pears, as well as a couple more small dishes, in the space between them. Ahead of them was a view of the pond, pavilion, green trees, and high hills. The greenery that surrounded them was just right with the surprisingly perfect weather. No wonder dramas have wanted to film at this location.

The girl then gasped, realizing she hasn't filmed any of the scenery since she arrived. She peered down at her hanging camera from her neck. She had been so distracted that she forgot the main reason for her visit.

"Hey, Jinsol..."

"Yes, Kunhang?" She answered, glancing over at him.

He gulped down the bite of gimbap he had before continuing. An unsure look crossed the boy's face. You know how much I've liked you since we first met." Jinsol shot an odd glance his way, his comment so out of the blue. She could only nod, even though it made her shy thinking about it. "It may sound so hasty back then, but even now, my thoughts still stand."

"Which is?"

"I wanted to make this girl happy no matter what." Jinsol gazed at him with such wonder in her eyes. The way Kunhang could say things so easily. That was a talent of itself, just like with Haneul. Jinsol would never stop being amazed. "And I don't know how to do that if you don't tell me what's bothering you, Jinsol."

"Oh?..."

"I'm pretty sure Haneul didn't only just push me to be here so we can spend all this time together all whatever. Which, I love, don't get me wrong. But I felt it too, you're distancing yourself from me."

Astonished. Jinsol was absolutely astonished. Was she that open of a book? How could Kunhang tell so easily?

"Was it because of the internship?" He added in question.

Jinsol heaved out, "Ah you know, Kunhang... that's really nothing now. A lot of my classmates had such great entries. I didn't expect to win the internship, not when Nari and Taewoon-sunbae submitted a fantastic entry. I basically had no chance."

"Well, you clearly had no chance because you didn't even have your project be submitted in the first place." The girl's eyes widened. She had hoped she would keep that secret. How did Kunhang find out? She gawked at him in shock. "I looked at the broadcasting station's website where I knew the big internship contest was being held. Your work was no where to be found on the page amongst the other videos. I couldn't understand it. I mentioned it to Yue because she was in the room at the time when I found out... and she gave me a weird look."

Sadness swirled in his eyes. "She knew. Jiwoo knew. How come I didn't know? Because I was under contract with an entertainment company, apparently it was wrong for me to be in your video without any kind of permission."

"She told you?..." Jinsol murmured.

"Jinsol, was I the reason why you couldn't get the internship you worked so hard for?"

Jinsol was expecting the wave of emotions again, after being reminded of the incident. The crushing, squeezing pain inside her whenever life seemed so unfair to her. However, she knew better. She can't go around pointing fingers at anyone. It wasn't anyone's fault that it ended up this way.

She reached over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding him close. "Kunhang, it's not your fault. It really wasn't. It's just unfortunate." She pulled away, cupping his cheek in her hand. "Maybe fate didn't want me to have that internship, as hard as that may sound. But there will be other opportunities for me."

"There you go again, making my heart ache for you," Kunhang mumbled out. "I've honestly been so scared to face you again after I found out. I figured that was why we couldn't keep in contact for the past couple weeks."

Jinsol pursed her lips. "I won't lie, at first, I was still upset. The long hours we both have spent together because of that project felt like it had gone down the drain, since I couldn't participate. And I tried hard not to be so affected by it when you didn't know, but I guess I failed if you noticed." A sigh. "But, honestly, I changed that negative energy as motivation for my personal videos. You've seen how I've been managing my YouTube videos. I gotten quite the increase of followers since summer break began!" She caressed his cheek, a smile to her lips. "You continue being my muse, Wong Kunhang. Seeing you so passionate and enthusiastic to debut only makes me want to work harder! This is the most motivated I ever been!"

"No regrets then?"

"None whatsoever. I'd do it again because you've inspired me as a muse should."

Kunhang grasped onto her hand that was on his cheek and briskly, he gave her fingers a kiss. "Ah, I really really like you, Jinsol. You're my muse too." Without her noticing, he was pulling her closer to him. As their lips were mere inches apart, it felt as though Jinsol's heart stopped beating.

Hastily, she grabbed a sliced pear and stuffed it into his mouth. Jinsol had to control herself from snorting with laughter seeing his very disappointed expression.

"Ah, Jinsol!" He muffled through his full mouth of pear.

The pigtailed girl smirked at him. "You're so sly, Wong Kunhang!"

"Whaaat? Am I not allowed to kiss my girlfriend?"

Girlfriend.

He said it.

He said the G word.

And Jinsol never thought she would be so overjoyed to hear it leave his lips.

"Jinsol?..." His voice suddenly laced with worry. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Y-You called me your girlfriend," she sputtered out. She placed her hand to her chest, feeling the erratic thumps.

"Yeah, the same as I am your boyfriend," Kunhang uttered, his eyebrows knitted in confusion. "I don't understand?"

"I just..."

They really just going to have everything out in the open now, huh?

"I wondered where our relationship stood. After all, we only started dating because you were a rebound from my ex-crush..." This was so embarrassing to admit, but Jinsol had to confess. "But, that was never really the case. It was so easy to fall for you and I only catch myself going deeper. And... it scared me to think about because you're going to be an idol. I would have understood it if this was never official, since I knew your future was on the line..."

"Doesn't it matter more on what we feel now, though?" Kunhang replied, gazing at Jinsol. "We can't worry so much on the future because we don't know what's going to happen yet. Sure, we already are preparing for the debut into the China unit of NCT but we don't know when that would be. It could take a year, two years—"

"That's ridiculous!—"

"Besides the point, I'm saying that we shouldn't put so much worry into it. If we are both okay with it, then we should be able to date and whatever. We'll see then."

"Aren't you worried? I've seen so much crap people give idols who date. What if you get hate?" Jinsol grumbled.

"No, I'm not worried, because I have you, my friends, and my family that would support me, as well as the fans that understand. That's enough for me." He gave Jinsol a smile. "Now, I feel embarrassed now that I've already said it but I'm going to ask you anyway, are you okay with being my girlfriend?"

She returned the smile. "As long as you're okay being my boyfriend."

• • •

The day ended just as sweet.

Jinsol managed to do what she came to the garden to do, film. She'll admit, she was distracted. Besides filming the beautiful scenery like she planned to do, her camera seemed to always drift over a subject that was just as pretty.

When Jinsol arrived home at 7 that evening, she had transferred her videos into her laptop to look over, only to see so many shots taken on Kunhang. Jinsol giggled to herself as she watched the silly faces her boyfriend would make when he caught the camera. There were a couple videos that were clearly taken by Kunhang, as the main focus ended up being her. She smiled so bright amongst the colorful plants and the clear skies.

Was it narcissistic to think how this could pass as some advertisement on television?

How could someone make her so happy?

She was on cloud nine. The trip today ended up being much more healing then expected. She couldn't be more delighted at the outcome.

However, she will have some questions to answer tomorrow morning. Her mother, who usually comes home earlier from work than her father, had discovered Kunhang for the first time today, as he had brought her home from the trip (although, she had insisted he could have gone on his way home first, since his dorms were ways away from her house). Her mother froze when she saw the boy alongside her daughter, but instead of blowing up at them, she was more than ready to welcome him into the house, in which Jinsol was not ready for.

Jinsol was lucky that she managed to get Kunhang to go his way with the 'you don't want to be back late' excuse.

After that, she went to hide away in her bedroom, telling her mother that she had gotten dinner prior and won't be coming out of her room for the rest of the night.

"Ah, I thought I jumped all the obstacles, but now I gotta deal with my parents," Jinsol grumbled under her breath as she continued clicking through today's videos.

Ding!

A notification from her laptop brought her back into reality. With a swift click of her mouse, she was brought to her list of unread emails. One in particular caught her eye.

It was from Professor Lin.

Jinsol opened the email and read through the contents.

She blinked, rubbed her eyes, and read again.

She smacked a hand over her lips to suppress herself from letting out a blood-curdling shriek.

What... was this?!

Dear Miss Kim Jinsol,

Good afternoon. First of all, I hope your summer break is treating you well. The weather is getting quite warm so I hope you take care of yourself in this heat.

The purpose of this email was because one of my colleagues is interested in working with you on one of their future projects. I promise you, I had no sort of influence when they had the idea. They discovered you through your Youtube channel and thought you had a vision in filming that would match perfectly to what they're searching for. I don't have the full details on their project but I can assure you they're quite credible in their work.

I will go ahead and leave their contact information at the end of the email, so you can discuss about the project together. My colleague also suggested that if it's more comfortable for you, the three of us could meet up to talk about it.

I believe this would be an amazing opportunity for you! You'll be able to get some hands on experience on what happens behind the scenes in studios and in editing rooms. It will be the next step forward that you'll need to advance towards your goal! I personally hope you will accept this, because you are more than qualified for the job. But of course, it is your decision by the end of the day.

Don't let my thoughts influence you, think about your pros and cons. Whatever you decide to do, I will support you every step of the way. You were one of my brightest and most passionate students, Jinsol! You are destined for greatness.

May you have a good rest of the day, and I hope you let me or my colleague know about your choice.

And, here is her contact:

Park Myungsook
Creative Director — Mystic Entertainment
[email protected]
xxx-xxxx

Sincerely,
Professor Lin Sunhwa

A/n: happy birthday Ten! 😊

I'm sensing the end being N E A R. I think either the next chapter or the next two, it will be the epilogue! Seems so fast now that I gotten back into the groove!

Is there anything you guys want more insight within Jinsol and Kunhang's story? Anything for the side characters as well? I might do a chapter dedicated to them before I wrap this story up!

But anyway, now that I can taste the end being near, I'm more motivated to finish!

Until the next update~
—Bianca