In Gyo-jin opened up about the turning point that led to his marriage with So Yi-hyun.
On the Oct. 21 episode of SBS’s "Invitation from Bachelor Again," the real-life couple appeared together and walked viewers through their very bumpy road to “I do.”
As co-host Lee Sang-min teed it up―after years as just friends, In finally worked up the courage to confess his feelings. But the moment he did, So reportedly called a designated driver and bolted. What really went down?
In explained that back in their early 20s, they’d joked that if they were both still single in their 30s, they’d give dating a shot. Fast-forward to a get-together with friends: caught up in the moment, he blurted out his feelings. “I was in my head, a little emotional,” he recalled. “The room went quiet, and the confession just kind of fizzled.”
When the group headed to a second spot, So called a driver and headed home. “I knew I’d misread the room,” In said. “I pretended not to notice, trying to save face―thinking, ‘She won’t actually leave.’ And then she really left.”
From So’s perspective, “He probably pictured everyone cheering when he confessed,” she said. “But that wasn’t the vibe. The second he said it, I sobered up. I just wanted out, so I called a driver and left.”
After that, So went completely off the grid for four months. “She didn’t even check in once a month,” In noted. “Even our mutual friends stayed away because they knew what happened that night.”
Why the radio silence? “Our circles overlapped for years―our families even knew each other,” So said. “If we dated and it went south, I worried we’d lose each other for good. I needed time.”
Eventually, So broke the silence and called. In, determined to play it cool, picked her up in his new car―after swinging by a department store to buy a car air freshener. “I was trying to impress her any way I could,” he laughed.
Her pick for their meetup? The same steakhouse where the awkward confession happened. They sat in silence at first, then burst into laughter. That’s when So said, “Let’s try dating.”
“And then she went, ‘Actually, no―let’s just get married,’” In revealed. A proposal before they’d even officially started dating―and the two turned a 12-year connection into a marriage that’s still going strong.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Hyo-jung)