The Accidental Star

FIRST ORDEAL

JI CHANG WOOK

I hastened my strides to cover the distance from the hotel's main entrance to the black Range Rover parked in front of the driveway.

I immediately heard shouts and saw flashes of cameras. Men in black suits quickly encircled Anne and I, paving our way to the car as they tried to ward off the paparazzi chasing after us.

The back door was pulled opened by my head of security and I let Anne get in first before I climbed on the seat beside her. The minute my two feet were inside the vehicle, the door was shut closed and the car drove out of the hotel's driveway.

" I thought most of them would have left, " Anne said in an incredulous voice as she looked at me.  " But it looked like the number of people inside the conference room tripled. "

She was wrong. Basing from what I just saw, i think the number quadrupled.

" Well, " I said lightly as I gave her a lopsided grin. " After the announcement that we've made, I wasn't expecting anything less. "

It has been ten minutes since we walked out of the press conference. It took awhile to get into the backroom because, after confirming our relationship, the room was suddenly in chaos and it took time to ward the media off. The press suddenly wanted to get a lot more comments and photos of us.

" You mean the announcement that you made, " Anne corrected. She peered at me closely. " Why did you? "

Because it didn't feel right to be lying to the world about what we have. Because the idea of hiding her and our relationship didn't sit well with me. Because when I looked at her, I saw how she struggled to hide her dismay.

" Because I didn't want to disappoint you, " I told her softly as I brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

She shook her head at me, a gentle smile tugging on her lips. " You could never disappoint me, Ji Chang Wook. "

" I almost did today, " I frowned at her.

" But you didn't. " She continued to smile as she looked at me with grateful eyes. " Thank you. "

My heart ached at her words. She shouldn't be thanking me for telling the truth about us because it should never have been denied in the first place. She shouldn't feel like I did her a favor because it wasn't a favor.  I should be telling the world about us. I should be out there expressing what I feel and not hiding the truth behind vague statements.

" You don't need to thank me. " My reply came hard and gruff.

She furrowed her eyebrows and gave me a questioning look.

The situation wasn't fair. It never was.

Anne wasn't the first woman that I had a relationship with after becoming an actor. I had a few girlfriends before her and nobody knew about them except for a handful of people. It didn't matter to me then that I couldn't be publicly seen with them. Denying my relationships at interviews didn't seem like a big deal.

But it was different now. I didn't want to lie or deny who Anne is in my life. I'm done playing Hallyu's most coveted bachelor. For the very first time, I wanted the world to know that I was in love with someone and I didn't care about the repercussions.

" I almost listened to the agency. " I said forlornly as I took her hand in mine and gave it a gentle squeeze." And the only reason why I even considered it was because I thought I was protecting you from them. They're relentless and vicious and they will strip you off your privacy."

If there was one valid reason why I considered not admitting to the press what she meant to me, it was that. I thought I was protecting her from them.