Chapter Eight: The Chase

Jong Kook folded his arms over his chest and stared out the window at the train platform below. He was fed up with Song Joong Ki. In fact, he was glad Joong Ki was on the Mission Team today; Jong Kook was in the mood to teach his dongsaeng a lesson.

After he had warned Joong Ki about the dangers of liking a coworker, Joong Ki had spent the day flirting with Ji Hyo. He’d held hands with her in the opening and spun her around in circles to celebrate being on a team together. He’d followed her around the train station, to the point of ignoring Kwang Soo, to make sure she was comfortable during the mission. He’d sat next to her on the train, warning her to be careful because the coffee was hot and asking her if the gloves were keeping her hands warm enough. Then, when they’d had to send one member to the platform complete a mission, Joong Ki had nominated Kwang Soo so that he and Ji Hyo would be left behind together, even suggesting he and Ji Hyo would go on a trip to Mok Po after Kwang Soo failed the mission.

Jong Kook had the feeling Joong Ki was purposefully ignoring his advice. Like Joong Ki had to prove that Jong Kook didn’t have any control over him.

“Why?” Jong Kook wanted to ask. He was just looking out for his dongsaeng’s best interests. Why did Joong Ki have to make it into a competition? It was proper manners to respect one’s hyungs. And even if Joong Ki didn’t want to listen to Jong Kook’s advice, he should at least avoid flirting with Ji Hyo so obviously; they were filming a show after all.

Jong Kook gritted his teeth and adjusted the black police vest he wore as part of his costume. It was too tight on his broad chest, and he made a note to have the coordinator recheck his sizes.

There was a reason business life and personal life should be kept separate. Otherwise Joong Ki would end up with a scandal on his hands that could end up affecting the entire show. The PDs were reluctant to have a love line between Joong Ki and Ji Hyo because there had been a negative reaction to the train kiss from Joong Ki’s fans. But Joong Ki couldn’t keep his feelings separate while filming, and he had acted like a love-struck dongsaeng during today’s shoot.

“Smile for the camera,” said Ki Jin, adjusting the heavy, black machine on his shoulder.

Jong Kook tried to smile through his irritation.

“I’m about to run away screaming,” said Ki Jin in a deadpan.

“Good,” said Jong Kook. “We’ll have fun scaring the Mission Team today.” He added silently, “Since we need all the help we can get.”

The doors opened at the other end of the hall, and Jong Kook looked over to see Ji Hyo dressed in a matching police uniform—except the black vest fit her much better than it did him. Her long hair was pulled back into a bun, and as she walked, she tugged on the collar of her white, button-up shirt. Her VJ and FD followed her as she made her way down the long white hallway to where Jong Kook sat on a metal bench.

“Hyung,” she said, giggling a little when she saw his outfit. “You look so uncomfortable.”

Jong Kook nodded. “The staff must be coming up with new ways to slow me down.”

Ji Hyo settled on the bench next to Jong Kook—careful, he noticed, to keep a good distance between them. “I think today is enough to slow you down even without the ill-fitting uniform.”

Jong Kook knew her feeling of dread only too well. When the PD had announced the Chasing and Mission Teams today, Jong Kook had braced himself for a loss. Him and Ji Hyo against the eight member Mission Team? Impossible. Jong Kook couldn’t have done it with Gary or Haha, let alone with Ji Hyo who had no chasing experience whatsoever. The Running Man cast were faster than they were given credit for, and the guest, comedian Kim Jae Dong, was no joke either. Jong Kook had been friends with Jae Dong ever since their days on X-Man, and they’d worked out together a couple of times; Jae Dong was surprisingly sharp and strong. But Myuk PD had been excited when he announced the day’s concept—the Commander and the Ace finally unite to take on the rest of the Running Man cast.

Jong Kook sighed. It was an entertaining idea, certainly, but realistically it asked too much of them—even if they were the Commander and the Ace. 

Jong Kook wasn’t happy, Ji Hyo could tell. He hadn’t been happy ever since Myuk PD announced that he and Ji Hyo would be the only two on the Chasing Team. To be fair, Ji Hyo probably wouldn’t have been very happy either if their positions had been swapped. He’d lost the Two Kids—with whom he had a good winning record—and had gotten an inexperienced newbie instead.

Biting her bottom lip, Ji Hyo glanced at the man sitting on the bench beside her. His arms were crossed and there was an unchanging scowl on his face. Ji Hyo’s chest twisted. She had wanted to be on his team so she could win, not so she could make him dislike her. She stared at the floor and tried to find the words to explain this to him.

“Hyung, I, uh, didn’t intend for this to happen.” She glanced over at him, made eye contact, and then quickly looked away. “Please don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad,” said Jong Kook stiffly.

Ji Hyo raised her eyebrows. Ki Jin snorted as he filmed. Even Sung Gyu was wearing a half-smile at that comment.

“I’m not mad at you,” amended Jong Kook. He glanced at Ki Jin and said, “Yah, this isn’t for the show. Why don’t you go film the scenery?”

“But, hyung, this is so much more interesting,” said Ki Jin. Despite his words, he did lower the camera and moved away to give Ji Hyo and Jong Kook a chance for a private conversation. After some hesitation, Sung Gyu followed Ki Jin.

“Of all the VJs, I got stuck with him,” muttered Jong Kook.

Ji Hyo smiled; despite his complaints, Ji Hyo knew Jong Kook and Ki Jin were friends. If nothing else, they shared the same love of working out.

“I’m not mad at you,” said Jong Kook again. “I just don’t see how we can take out eight people before they complete their mission.”

"The PDs expect too much,” said Ji Hyo. “Just because the captions calls me ‘the Ace’ doesn’t mean I am one.”

Jong Kook let out a short, bitter laugh. Ji Hyo had almost forgotten that he had a similar burden. If anyone else could understand what it felt like to have a heavy name, it was him. She had never felt closer to Jong Kook than that moment, sitting on the bench of Kwangmyeong Station. They were the Commander and the Ace—the two strongest members of Running Man. And even though they didn’t always feel like the strongest, they always had to act like the strongest.

“Ah, well,” said Jong Kook, getting to his feet and starting to stretch his arms. “There’s only so much complaining one can do.”

Ji Hyo smiled. She agreed, of course. Complaining was only allowed for a couple minutes, then one had to it up and move on. She pushed herself off the bench and started copying his stretches, twisting her arms and rolling her shoulders to loosen up her joints.

“The layout of the train station should help us at least,” said Jong Kook after a minute.

Ji Hyo blinked. She glanced around at the white corridor with its connected rooms and its wall of windows that looked out onto the platform and train tracks below. “It will?”

“Because the interior of the station is mostly glass, if we go up to the higher floors, we can look down and see into other floors. It’ll be much easier to locate the Mission Team that way.” Jong Kook switched to stretching his legs. “If we were in an office building or somewhere with solid walls, it’d be much harder to find all eight of them. That’s caused us to lose before—we couldn’t find the last member of the Mission Team in the huge building.

Nodding, Ji Hyo couldn’t help but feel impressed. She hadn’t even considered the importance of the building before. She had known that there were strategies behind the Chasing Team—such as guarding routes to the prison and cornering their prey—but she had never realized how much thought Jong Kook gave to Bells Hide and Seek.

“Jong Kook-hyung,” said Ki Jin, holding the lens of his camera in front of Jong Kook’s face as he joined them by the bench. “Sung Gyu and I just got scolded by Cho PD for filming a pretty female staff member instead of you.”

“You could have come back a while ago,” said Jong Kook. “We’re just talking strategy now.”

“If I get fired, it’s your fault,” said Ki Jin.

“It’s your fault for filming the female staff member,” said Jong Kook.

“You were filming her too?” Ji Hyo asked Sung Gyu with narrowed eyes. Sung Gyu looked down at the floor guiltily, and Ji Hyo turned to Jong Kook with a frown. “Your VJ is corrupting mine.”

Jong Kook laughed. “You’re in trouble now, Ki Jin.”

Ki Jin grinned and pointed to the camera lens. “I’m not saying a word. This thing’s recording.”

That was the cue to return to character, so Ji Hyo turned to Jong Kook and said, in her best Ace-like tone, “I haven’t done a lot of nametag ripping, so that’ll be mostly your job.”

Jong Kook nodded while stretching his hamstrings. “But if you act as my eyes, then I can corner them and rip off their nametags.”

“Can we do it before they find all five tickets?” asked Ji Hyo, unable to keep the tremble of nervousness from her voice. She hadn’t gotten a Running Ball yet today (thanks to Kwang Soo), and she really didn’t want to suffer the punishment two episodes in a row—though, by the looks of things, she was going to have to.

“We have a plan,” said Jong Kook even though that wasn’t really an answer.

He frowned, suddenly, and Ji Hyo wondered if she’d done something wrong. She stopped stretching her neck and glanced at the camera before asking, “Oppa?”

“You know if you turn your head too quickly when stretching, you put too much strain on it,” said Jong Kook. “You should focus on slow, controlled movements. Put your feet shoulder width apart.” Jong Kook showed her. “Hands at your sides and shoulder relaxed. Make sure you keep your shoulders even. Then, slowly turn your head. You’ll only cause increase tightness if you wrench your head around quickly, like you were doing. It’s all about staying relaxed and moving slowly.”

Ji Hyo was rooted to the spot, watching as Jong Kook showed her how to stretch her neck properly. She’d seen Jong Kook nag people before and Kwang Soo had told her how Jong Kook liked to coach him through creating his character, but it still shocked her whenever Jong Kook entered his coach mode. It didn’t fit with her old image of him—the cool, strong Turbo singer. A part of her wanted to travel back in time and tell her sixteen-year-old self not to waste time fangirling over someone who nagged like an old man.

A giggle crept out before Ji Hyo could stop herself.

Jong Kook stopped his lecture on proper stretching technique and stared. “What?”

“Nothing,” said Ji Hyo. She glanced at Sung Gyu and saw that he was smiling too. This, of course, only made her laugh harder.

Jong Kook opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he saw Myuk PD approaching. Ji Hyo stifled her laughter as Myuk PD explained what they wanted to do for the introduction of Jong Kook and Ji Hyo as the Chasing Team. As she listened, Ji Hyo felt he blood drain from her face. She said nothing while Myuk PD spoke, but after he left, she turned to Jong Kook—who wore an identical expression of horror—and asked, “They want us to do what?”

“I love watching other people do embarrassing things,” said Ki Jin cheerfully.

Sung Gyu nodded. “It’s the best part of being a variety show VJ.”

Ji Hyo ignored the VJs as she fought the urge to run away. The PDs wanted to do a film shoot of her and Jong Kook posing “coolly” and then have them place their hands and forehead together before looking at the camera and saying, “Mission Team, just you wait.”

“It’s so corny,” groaned Jong Kook, burying his face in his hands.

“I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it,” said Ji Hyo.

“I’d almost rather wear hot pants,” said Jong Kook.

“You signed a contract,” said Ki Jin still smiling brightly.

“As soon as that camera’s off,” muttered Jong Kook, “You’re going to regret this.”

While the VJs laughed, Ji Hyo and Jong Kook exchanged miserable looks. Ever since the teams had been announced, nothing was going right for them. They were ridiculously outnumbered by the Mission Team and now they had to embarrass themselves for the sake of a dramatic introduction scene. At least, Ji Hyo thought, some of the awkwardness had disappeared between her and Jong Kook. Mutual suffering, apparently, created a bond between two people.

Jong Kook descended the stairs two steps at a time, keeping his eyes fixed on the figure in the yellow jumpsuit in front of him. He knew Ji Hyo was somewhere up above, watching with a radio clutched in her hand.

Joong Ki raced off the platform and Jong Kook followed, ignoring the dull ache in his legs that came with running up and down stairs all evening. If the running had taken its toll on Jong Kook, then it had undoubtedly affected the weak-legged Joong Ki. Sure enough, as Jong Kook entered the first floor of the train station, he saw Joong Ki collapsed on the tile floor, panting for breath.

“You…” gasped Joong Ki, struggling to sit upright. “Do you ever get tired?”

Of course Jong Kook got tired, but he didn’t tell Joong Ki that. Instead, he said, “My partner makes it easier for me.”

Joong Ki glowered at Jong Kook as his nametag was ripped off. Jong Kook handed the nametag back to Joong Ki before heading back out to search for the rest of the Mission Team. Jong Kook probably shouldn’t have made that petty comment, but Joong Ki’s competitiveness over Ji Hyo had been getting on his nerves all day.

As he made his way up to the third floor, Jong Kook’s radio buzzed with Ji Hyo’s voice. “Jong Kook-hyung, Jong Kook-hyung—Suk Jin-oppa is hiding behind a sign on the right side of second floor.”

“I understand.” Jong Kook changed directions and started heading down to the second floor.

Ji Hyo had been far more helpful than he’d expected. He’d anticipated doing all the work during Bells Hide and Seek, since she had no chasing experience and was physically weaker than the men on the Running Man cast (except maybe Suk Jin). He’d thought that she would remain on the upper levels of the stations, trying to be helpful but staying far away from the action. However, her directions were clear and precise, and she had hunted down members when need be. If Gary or Haha had been in her position, they would have given vague instructions or left their post out of boredom. So far, Ji Hyo had done her job to perfection: she had helped him capture Joong Ki and Kwang Soo, and now she was leading him to Suk Jin.

Jong Kook found Suk Jin crouching behind a sign on the second floor, just as Ji Hyo had said. Carefully, Jong Kook snuck up behind Suk Jin and ripped off the nametag. Suk Jin cried out in surprise.

“Where did you come from?” asked Suk Jin. “You were chasing Joong Ki on the first floor moments ago. I saw you!”

Jong Kook grinned as Suk Jin was lead to jail. Scanning the second floor, Jong Kook caught sight of Ji Hyo as she headed towards the escalator. When their gazes connected, they both smiled automatically.

Ji Hyo went back up to the higher levels while Jong Kook stayed on the ground. He kept an eye on the platform below, waiting for someone to slip into one of the waiting areas, but there was no sign of the Mission Team.

A few minutes later, Ji Hyo’s voice came through the radio, “Gary-oppa and Lizzy are on the bridge.”

Keeping his head low, Jong Kook followed Ji Hyo’s directions and crept closer to the farthest metal bridge that crossed the train tracks. The bright yellow jumpsuits of the Mission Team made them easy to locate—possibly chosen by the coordinators to help the disadvantaged Jong Kook and Ji Hyo. However, Jong Kook wondered if he and Ji Hyo could do as well if the Mission Team had been wearing the usual faded blue jumpsuits—he was beginning to think they could have.

He caught Lizzy on the bridge and ripped off her nametag before she had a chance fight back. Gary sprinted in the opposite direction, desperate to escape, but Jong Kook chased him down to the second floor hallway.

Time crept by as Jong Kook walked the first and second floors. There had been no word from Ji Hyo for a few minutes, so he spoke through the radio, “Who’s left?”

“Haha-oppa and Kim Jae Dong.” Ji Hyo’s voice crackled through the speaker.

“Any sign of them?”

“They must be in hiding.”

Jong Kook nodded. “Keep an eye out.”

He attached the radio to his belt and tried to ignore Ki Jin’s smirk. However, Ki Jin was too obnoxious to ignore, and Jong Kook ended up asking, “What are you so smug about?”

“You’re having fun,” said Ki Jin.

“More than I thought, yes,” said Jong Kook. He refused to admit that being on the Chasing Team had never been so easy for him before. Usually, he would direct Haha, Gary, and Lizzy to different floors, while running around the building himself. But today, he could trust Ji Hyo to do the directing, freeing him so that he could run up and down the stairs without worry that something would slip his notice.

He was saved from Ki Jin’s questioning by Ji Hyo’s call on the radio. Haha was on the left side of the third floor.

“Haha is probably be acting out another one of his movie scenes again,” said Jong Kook as he made his way up the escalator. The bell attached to his foot jingled with every step. “This sound gets annoying after running around for an hour.”

He reached the stop of the stairs and saw Ji Hyo standing in front of a map of the station. Sung Gyu a few meters away, camera trained on her. Jong Kook glanced around the hallway, scanning the windows and benches.

“Did you catch him already?” he asked.

Ji Hyo glanced to her left once and then pointed to a seat beside three vending machines. Jong Kook almost laughed at the remorseless expression on her face. Today, during Bells Hide and Seek, Ji Hyo had paid no attention to her love lines. She’d led him to Gary, Joong Ki, and now Haha without hesitation.

Jong Kook made his way towards Haha’s hiding spot. As he rounded the corner, Jong Kook caught sight of a bright yellow jumpsuit and sky blue snapback. Haha’s eyes met his and then Haha leapt up from his cover.

“Yah!” he cried. “Song Ji Hyo—why’d you tell him? How could you do this to me?”

Ji Hyo chased after Haha with a wide smile on her face, and Jong Kook followed, laughing.

“I trusted you!” cried Haha as Ji Hyo and Jong Kook cornered him on the stairs. Ji Hyo held Haha by his jumpsuit and Jong Kook reached back to rip off the nametag.

“Song Ji Hyo!” cried Haha, who still wasn’t done with his one-man drama yet. “See if I ever save you again!”

“Sorry, oppa,” said Ji Hyo as Haha was being led to jail. “I really need a Running Ball.” She didn’t sound sorry at all.

Jong Kook laughed. “Good job.”

“Just Kim Jae Dong left,” said Ji Hyo. A look of surprise crossed her face and she said, “Hyu—I mean, oppa. Oppa, we’re going to do this. We’re really going to win.”

“We still have to find Jae Dong-hyung,” said Jong Kook, but he felt the same surprise and excitement. They’d been convinced that they would fail miserably, that there was no way they could oust eight people before the five tickets were found, but here they were. Only one member of the Mission Team left.

“You know, the title does suit you,” said Jong Kook.

Ji Hyo frowned. “Title?”

“Ace,” said Jong Kook. “You’re pretty good.”          

Jong Kook hugged her. After she’d caught Jae Dong and ripped off his nametag, Jong Kook had joined her on the bridge and given her a celebratory hug. For a second, Ji Hyo hadn’t known what to do. Her mind had gone blank and all she could think was: Kim Jong Kook has his arms around me. She returned the hug on instinct. Her mind still trying to wrap itself around the fact that she could feel Jong Kook’s hard muscles and broad chest. She could smell his cologne mixed with a hint of sweat. Her heart was hammering, filling her ears so she could barely hear him tell her, “Good job.” And then, the hug was over. And Ji Hyo was left standing on her own, trying to gather her thoughts.

The moment she came back to her senses, Ji Hyo was furious with herself. She was supposed to be over this silly crush—not losing every sane thought when he hugged her. Besides, they’d been working together for over four months and he’d shown her nothing more than polite interest in a coworker.

Shaking her head, Ji Hyo looked up and saw that Jong Kook was already heading to the jail with Jae Dong—clearly he wasn’t affected by her.

Ignoring the sting in her chest, Ji Hyo followed Jong Kook and Jae Dong to the fourth floor of the station where the rest of the cast waited for them. She walked a little behind Jong Kook and Jae Dong, listening as they chatted. It must have been awhile since they’d seen one another; the schedules of all the Running Man cast had gotten busier since the show started.

“But Ji Hyo was great,” said Jong Kook, looking back at her with a smile.

Ji Hyo blinked. She hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation. She had no idea why Jong Kook was suddenly praising her—though, she supposed it had to do with Bells Hide and Seek.

“I tried my hardest,” said Ji Hyo. “I was tired of losing.”

Jong Kook slowed down so that Ji Hyo could catch up to him and Jae Dong. Then, they took the escalator up to the fourth floor.

“You certainly ran a lot,” said Jae Dong. “You both are all sweaty.”

“You’re not,” observed Jong Kook.

“I hid most of the time,” said Jae Dong. “Besides, why rush? I already have a Running Ball.”

Ji Hyo laughed, and Jong Kook said, “I see you’ve found the flaw in the show’s format. But you know we get paid to play the games properly. We can’t quit just because we’re exempt from punishment.”

“If you didn’t play the game properly and I had to suffer the punishment, I’d pull out all your hair until you were bald,” muttered Ji Hyo.

She thought she’d spoken too quietly to hear, but then Jong Kook glanced down at her and grinned.

“Don’t mess with my hair,” he said. “I don’t use my full strength against women, but who knows what I’ll do if you pull out my hair.”

Kwang Soo and Haha teased Jong Kook for how long he spent on his hair, so Ji Hyo had no doubt he was very protective of it. Of course, that just made her want to mess up his hair even more.

“Noona!” Joong Ki’s cry broke Ji Hyo out of her fixation on Jong Kook’s hair. Her dongsaeng hurried down the hallway from where the rest of the Mission Team waited to wrap his arms around her in a quick hug. “Congratulations! Your first time on the Chasing Team was a success.”

“Thank you,” said Ji Hyo, detaching herself from Joong Ki’s arms. She always appreciated her dongsaeng’s support. “Jong Kook-hyung did most of the work though.”

“It was a team effort,” said Jong Kook. He wasn’t looking at her, however, but at Joong Ki, who had a grim, defiant expression on his pale face. Ji Hyo looked from Jong Kook to Joong Ki, trying to figure out what was between then, but after a moment, Joong Ki looked away and a smug Jong Kook walked over to the jail.

“What’s going on?” Ji Hyo asked her dongsaeng.

“Nothing,” said Joong Ki with a smile. “Hyung and I just disagree on something.”

Ji Hyo frowned; however, before she could inquire further, Joong Ki grabbed her arm and tugged her down the hallway to where the rest of the cast were waiting. Jae Dong was already arguing with Haha over his uselessness, while Jong Kook was joking with Kwang Soo.

“You were great, Ji Hyo,” said Jae Suk, giving her a high five.

“I can’t believe you found me,” added Suk Jin. “I hid so well.”

“Not that well, oppa,” said Ji Hyo with a laugh. “The yellow jumpsuits didn’t help either.”

­­“How could you give us these?” Jae Suk asked Myuk PD, who sat in front of the cameras with a smile. “Do you know how easily they found us?”

“I didn’t expect them to do so well either,” admitted Myuk PD. “The yellow jumpsuits were supposed to help them.”

“We thought we were going to fail too,” said Jong Kook. “Do you know how worried we were that we had to catch eight people?”

“You were worried?” asked Kwang Soo incredulously. “It was a massacre. We only found two out of the five tickets.” He turned to Myuk PD and said, “Hyung, you can’t pair them up again. They’re too strong.”

“They make the rest of us look slow,” added Haha.

“It’s unfair to the rest of us,” said Joong Ki.

Ji Hyo elbowed him in the ribs. She hoped Myuk PD didn’t listen to the rest of the cast. She wanted to be paired with Jong Kook again. They worked well together, and she liked being on the winning team. And, well, partnering up with Jong Kook was different than partnering up with any of the others. There was a level of excitement, something that made her constantly on edge and constantly happy, that didn’t exist when she was paired with Gary, Haha, Joong Ki, or anyone else.

As Jae Suk prepared to begin the closing segment of the show, Ji Hyo glanced over at Jong Kook. They made eye contact, and he nodded. A wide smile spread across her face even as she looked away. She hoped it was the beginning of a long partnership.

A/N: The VJs are hard to write, because with the exception of Kwon Ryeol, they don't really appear on the show so I don't know their personalities. I figured Ki Jin is pretty sarcastic/teasing with Jong Kook because in episode 93, he jokingly backs away when Jong Kook tries to hug him and in episode 261, he ditches Jong Kook in the haunted school. How do you think I did with the VJs?