Today was supposed to be serious.
No jokes. No falling. No viral moments.
Just one clean, professional interview with a rising Korean singer-actor everyone in the team admired.
Noa had prepared questions.
Ren had ironed his shirt.
For once, they were in sync.
Until the camera turned on.
And Noa forgot how to talk.
—
"Question one," she began in Korean, her voice a little too tight. "You... uh, you... what was it again...?"
The celebrity—Jihwan, glowing, smiling politely—tilted his head.
Ren leaned over. "You okay?"
"I forgot everything."
"Everything-everything?"
"I can't even remember my name right now."
—
Ren smoothly stepped in, switching to English and letting the translator bridge the rest.
He joked.
He asked thoughtful questions.
He even tossed in a compliment that made Jihwan laugh and say, "Your Japanese friend is very... romantic energy, yes?"
Noa nearly choked on air.
Ren just smiled.
"Only on weekends."
—
The interview went viral *again.*
But this time, for a different reason.
A local entertainment blog posted a clip of Ren and Noa during the off-camera break, where she was fanning herself with a cue card and he gently offered his iced water.
The caption?
**"This Japanese couple is adorable. Look how he takes care of her 🥹💕"**
Noa wanted to bury herself under hotel carpet.
"They think we're dating again," she groaned.
Ren leaned over the phone, scrolling the comments. "'I want a boyfriend who looks at me the way he looks at her.' Aw, cute."
"Delete that smile."
"You're blushing."
"I am overheating."
"From what? The attention? Or me?"
She chucked a pillow at him.
He caught it.
Didn't stop smiling.
—
That night, Noa lay awake, thinking about how effortless he'd made the whole thing look.
How kind he was.
How he'd known exactly when to step in—not to show off, but to help her breathe.
She told herself it was just professionalism.
Just a good partner.
Just coincidence.
But her heart didn't listen.
It just kept repeating: *romantic energy, yes?