Fated To Love You

32nd string - Acceptance

RIN’s POV

“Okay, we’re on standby! 5 minutes and we’ll be starting the program Rin-ssi, Henry-ssi” PD-nim informed us.

Me and Henry gave out a wide smile at him and bowed at the same time.

Today, we went for an interview that will be aired live at the same time. It’s my first time appearing on TV and I feel so nervous.

What do I do????

I looked at the far end of the studio and saw someone familiar. He waved at me and a huge grin appeared on my face.

He mouthed “Fighting!” while holding up a fist to cheer me up. At least that calmed me down and stopped me from having a nervous breakdown.

“In 3, 2, 1! Start!” The PD said and the host started.

“Annyeonghaseyo! Today Is the day many fans of this charming kid who is a member of the most popular idol group in Hallyu right now, have all been waiting for. We will witness today the truth from him and his rumored ‘girlfriend’. Let’s all welcome, SHIVA’s Henry Lau and top model Rin Lee!” The host started and the crowd roared.

“Annyeonghaseyo I am SHIVA’s maknae, Henry.” Henry greeted and waved to everyone in the studio.

“Annyeonghaseyo, I am Rin Lee.” I said quite uncertain of how I am supposed to introduce myself.

“Hello to you both. You’ve been the hottest topic for about a week now, how do you feel about it first and foremost?” The host asked.

“Well I was pretty much stressed all because of it since she was involved in the issue.”

The host looked at me and waited for my answer.

“Well… I was out of the country all the while and never knew something was going on involving me. And when I got to know about the issue I was really shocked.”

“Considering your reactions about the matter, I’d like to get straight to the point and ask you what every fan wants to know, are you dating?” A lump suddenly formed in my throat when the host asked that but Henry held my hand to calm me down.

“I want to say that… Me and Rin are not dating and I hope that this will solve the matter.”

“You seem to say that but I’m sure the fans want to know more about it. Can you actually provide us with a sort of proof?”

“A lot of my fans doesn’t know about this… and this will be the first time I will be saying this on live TV…” Then the audience in the studio started to murmur things.

“This girl beside me is my bestfriend since I was in New York. We have not seen each other for the past 4 years and seeing her in Korea is a first after so many years. She’s really a precious friend I so much cherish that people must have misunderstood how close we are.” He said firmly.

“And what can you say about it Rin-ssi?”

“I—I agree with him. Seeing him in Korea is my first after 4 years. I’ve just settled in Korea for about a month now and have been so much busy about school. I couldn’t have even met him if I’ve not seen him in their concert.”

“You seem to mean something about you cherishing her, is there actually something or nothing going on with you two? I mean, don’t you feel anything for each other? Courting?” The host pressed.

Henry suddenly chuckled and then said, “Actually, I want to be honest and say this… I like her.” And the crowd started to bust into gossips.

“But…” He continued, “I think I’ve been rejected.” He revealed and that even shocked me since I’ve not even responded to him. But maybe, just maybe, he’s considering my feelings for Marcus.

“And wait. Don’t think of it as a bad thing. I’m thankful that she had rejected me. I treasure this girl so much and she may be stubborn, she may act boyish in front of her friends, she may be foolish, and people may see her as an unlikeable person but, just being her friend made me see how beautiful she is. She cares for me, and she’s someone I could rely on, she would cook for me and do me favors, she’d comfort me when she knows I’m not okay even without me saying any word, and right now that’s all that matters to me. She’s my precious friend, and as much as I love my fans, I want to protect her from hurting her.”

To think he thinks of me like this makes my heart flutter so much.

“Hearing such wonderful words from you, I sure the fans are starting to understand you more now… but, we want to hear from Rin-ssi too, do you have anything you wanna say?”

“At first, I did not know that this kid has been so popular in my Country. To think he’s mixed Taiwanese and Hongkonger, who was raised and born in Canada and had lived in New York made it big in a country foreign to him, made me feel so proud. I’m very much thankful that he’s here with me now, because I feel so much better after going back to my country since I atleast know someone. Treating me like the usual and not treating me like a stranger, I feel very much contented. And I was even happier that he had told me how he felt for me. I feel proud that he had the strength to tell it to me directly. I may not be able to reciprocate his love but I know that he knows how much he means to me. I hope that people now understands how we truly feel, and I’m very much sorry if I’ve brought pain to so many people who loves Henry so much. I hope that from now we can be friends too. I will be waiting for the day that you will think that I am not as bad as you’ve thought of me at first.” And then I bowed.

And while I was still bowing I heard the audience clapping. I looked up and saw something I’ve never expected. All the people watching us are standing up and giving applauses.

Maybe, finally, now the have understood.

“Those are such heart-warming confessions you made. It have been hard on you and we would like to apologize in behalf of the fans who I think now approves of you… To wrap this interview up we’d like to ask you each individual questions.”

And me and Henry just gave out smiles in agreement.

“Henry-ssi, being at the peek of your career, you’ve suffered so much right now that you must have been in a pinch for a while, what would you like to say to your fans?” The host asked Henry first.

“Well, I thank them for keeping on supporting SHIVA. I hope that we could receive as much love even for 5 or 10 years that we will be together. I hope that in whatever we will do in the future that you will continue to support us.” And the Henry finally bowed to the audience.

“And to Rin-ssi, we are very thankful that you’ve actually entrusted to us this interview. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to talk to you in person and know the truth from you directly… As we have known, you are actually the daughter of the head of Lee Corporation which I think owns chains of businesses not just here in Korea but abroad, how do you feel about being at the top right now and facing these kind of things?”

“Well… people may think… ah she has it all. She’s got all the money and power, that she must have been in that spot. She has connections and must have not worked hard to get there… but, I want people to know, I’ve lived in New York earning, working, and dreaming endlessly, just to prove my independce and I gues I’ve worked hard to reach whatever I have know. I might have cried because of harsh words from people who hate me, but I thank them for hating me because that made me stronger.” I said and finally took a bow.

The TV show came into a wrap and we all went our ways with a happy heart.

Days passed on and many news have reported that people have accepted us in a good way. Friends who care a lot about each other. Everlasting friendship. Etc. They’ve entitled us to a lot of quotable remarks. A lot of offers came too. CFs, guestings, magazine photoshoots and others that demanded for me and Henry’s presence. To think that we have revealed ourselves to be just friends, now people seem to expect more from us. So absurd. But that’s the reality. The moment they knew the truth, they’d wish the rumor would have just to be true.

And here I thought I’d be living again like a free kid, but I guess this is just the start of more troubles to come.