Be With You

- friday.

Outside the KINTEX Exhibition Hall, the sight of an empty runway was quite peculiar. Normally, as the stars walk doen the red carpet, media and fans gather to get close-up pictures of the hottest actors and actresses.

But with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, their usual spot was now far from filled. Only few cameramen stood, as those were the people replacing the media.

As Hyun Bin arrives from his black van, he immediately notices that detail. It's a bit eerie and depressing without them, he muttered to himself. The usual screams of fans were replaced with the silent click of the cameras. After smiling for the photos, he now walked to his seat.

Following Hyun Bin was his leading lady, Son Yejin. She was wearing a beige dress with her hair down and straightened. The actress looked like an actual goddess who came down from the heavens, though she was only wearing a simple outfit.

The usual posing and picture-taking was already over, Yejin trudged carefully to her seat, mindful of the long dress that went down onto the feet.

—

The awarding was already halfway done, and Yejin sat on the seats at the farther back, resisting the urge to talk to the man to her right. She very well knew that they were broadcasted live and thousands of die-hard shippers were monitoring them at this very moment.

Yejin watched from the corner of her eye as Bin reacted to the different awardee's speeches. His smiles evey now and then made her heart warm.

Eventually, the hosts announced the winners of the popularity award, and the amount of votes garnered; Son Yejin with 1.6 million votes and Hyun Bin with 1.4 millon votes*.

Upon hearing their names, the two got up from their seats. Awkwardly, Bin had motioned for her to go first, but Yejin had done the same thing. Of course, this was staged to make it look like they weren't close.

They got up onto the stage, ready to give their speeches.

But just as Yejin was about to receive her award, she slipped on her long dress, stumbling.

Before she could reach the ground, Bin stepped forward and caught her in one swift motion. Looking down at the actress for only a moment, he managed to suppress the loving smile that threatened to show itself.

The whole thing only lasted three seconds, but that was enough for the fanatics who were watching the broadcast to note every little detail, down to the way Bin held her and Yejin's panicked expressions. The live chat exploded with comments from fans theorizing what this could mean; shippers and stans on Twitter got to writing and observing the situation.

Flustered, Yejin suddenly felt all the blood rush up to her face. Fixing herself up before she could react, she only muttered a quick thank you to Bin.

Meanwhile, the hosts on the other side of the stage started teasing them. "Ooh.. what a gentleman Hyun Bin sunbaenim is!" chimed Bo-gum, smirking.

"You're right," said Suzy. "He's that one guy every woman adores!" she gushed, holding up her hand to cover her bashful face.

"Aigoo, Son Yejin-ssi is one lucky woman." remarked Dong-yup, amusement laced in his voice.

After giving their speeches and thanking their fans, the two got off the stage as if nothing had happened and proceeded to the lobby, where they got thier picture taken together.

Posing for the camera, they carefully position their fingers not to touch, making up for the big red flag that they hinted. It was probably useless at this point, fans were already speculating their every move.