How K-Reality Dating Show Couples Kept Their Relationship A Secret Until The Finale

Channel A‘s popular reality dating show Heart Signal 4 aired its last episode on August 25, revealing the final couples.

Heart Signal is a dating show where eight single people live in a house together while getting to know each other to ultimately become a couple. If two people choose one another at the end of the show, they become a couple. This season, there were two final couples.

The first couple was a barista and café owner named Han Gyeo Re and a model who also works in branding at an architecture company named Kim Ji Young.

Han Gyeo Re (left) and Kim Ji Young (right) | *Channel A*

The second couple was strategist consultant Shin Min Gyu and model and casting agent Yoo Esu.

Shin Min Gyu (left) and Yoo Esu (right) | *Channel A*

Heart Signal fans were curious whether these two couples were still dating, and the “where-are-they-now” spin-off show After Signal answered all their burning questions.

The first episode of After Signal showed what the participants were doing a month after filming ended. Both couples revealed that they were still dating their partners, and audiences saw a glimpse of how they were doing as couples.

Because they couldn’t get caught dating in public and spoil the show’s ending, the couples each shared how they dated in secret. They had to date in secret for five months after the filming ended.

First, Shin Min Gyu shared that he and Yoo Esu went to restaurants at night to avoid being seen by people.

Before the final couples were revealed, we couldn’t look like a couple outside and needed to avoid being seen. So we went to restaurants late at night, sat in the corner where we can’t be seen, and met up briefly… We met around four or five times a week.

— Shin Min Gyu

Although Min Gyu was very busy with his job and had to work on weekends, he and Esu tried their best to meet each other often. They met after he got off of work at 1 a.m., sometimes even simply meeting for thirty minutes in front of a convenience store.

I think we met whenever we had the time.

— Yoo Esu

While filming the After Signal episode, which was filmed a month after final couples were chosen, the couple couldn’t get out of the car because they didn’t want to be caught seen together.

At the time, it was three days before Heart Signal 4‘s release, and the trailers for the show had revealed Min Gyu’s face already. He was making headlines for his resemblance to actor Kang Dong Won, so they stayed inside the car.

We’ll most likely be able to go out in public around September or October, right?

— Shin Min Gyu during After Signal

The Han Gyeo Re and Kim Ji Young couple also put in effort to keep their relationship a secret until the finale episode aired.

Kim Ji Young shared that their dates were usually in one place: their cars.

We couldn’t get caught, so normally, we were in the car… We spent a lot of time talking in the car.

— Kim Ji Young

Gyeo Re explained that they often ordered take out and ate in the car at night.

We parked in the parking lot at night, but beforehand, we would get takeout pizza then ate in the car. Then at around 12 a.m. to 1 a.m., when nobody was out, we secretly walked in the park for a little bit.

— Han Gyeo Re

They also had dates at Gyeo Re’s café after closing and talked.

We had dates at my café after closing, had lots of conversations while listening to songs we like. Even if we didn’t do anything special, it was nice just to talk with one another.

— Han Gyeo Re

On After Signal, Gyeo Re revealed that he may go to South America for his work and asked Ji Young if she would like to go. She agreed to go, so they may take a trip to South America together!

Celebrities often have to date secretly, and these four participants had to do the same. It must not have been easy to go on dates late at night or in the car, but the two couples successfully kept their relationships a secret.

Now, they are free to date in public as much as they want!