Published: 28 - 01 - 2016

Sorry I wasn't able to update some more, school interfered :(

(Mind the language and different language set)

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Another day, another Running Man filming was on a go. Today, the mission was very unfamiliar and slightly impossible; a consensus thing, where all seven casts had to have the same thoughts in order to win the game and go home.

All Running Man casts were locked up in what looked like a single-room house. During that lock-up, all phones were snatched away, leaving them stuck in boredom. That was why the room was filled with toys, game equipment; many things to help them wasting time.

There were games where they were allowed to go outside, anywhere they wanted but still somewhat making a consensus between them. They got their phones back and soon all eyes were back on the small screens.

He checked his. There were two missed-calls and two messages.

Jaesuk-ssi, Jiho got a fever this afternoon. I tried to call you but you seem busy. So I took him to the doctor. Doctor said he was only exhausted, there is nothing critical. He will get better after a good rest. He is actually doing better now. Come visit anytime. Take care. –Na K. E.

...

Okay.

Damn.

Jaesuk scrunched his lips and shook his head. After reading the message, he had already intended to check on him after filming. But right now the message didn’t matter anymore since Kyungeun already took care of him. His son.

Either way, there was nothing he could do. He was far away, locked up on a busy job. She was a housewife after all. What she did was humble enough—a thoughtful thing to do for his son.

The second message though, it caught his attention.

It was a simple picture of Deanna Kim wearing a sunglasses and a beanie with her foreign friend. The background looked like small café at an airport.

Oh, she was going for a trip abroad.

“Hyung, I didn’t know you and Deanna are that close.” His dongsaeng decided to pipe in after he caught a glimpse of the photo.

Jaesuk quickly turned around, sticking the phone to his chest, as if he was caught holding something illegal. His shoulders relaxed when he saw it was only a good friend.

“Yah Jongkook-ah, you scared me big time.” Jaesuk wrapped an arm around his bulky shoulder. “What did you say, again?”

“Ani, it was just weird to have you friends with someone new, like Deanna. How did you get her contact?”

“Lee Kwangsoo did. I asked about it after her housewarming party. I haven’t got her a gift at that time. So, I asked for her phone number.”

“After housewarming? Hyung, that was almost two months ago!”

“Well, yes.”

“And you’ve chatted with her for almost what? Two months now?”

“Um, y-yes,” Jaesuk’s voice suddenly quieted down as Jongkook started to laugh at the sudden insecurity Jaesuk was showing.

“You two aren’t—,”

“YAH!!” Jaesuk burst out. “Yah, she is only a friend. And I’m not that kind of man. I won’t mess up with another woman! I still have feelings for—,”

He stopped. He stopped.

Jongkook turned around to check if there was anyone surrounded them. He spotted some cameramen, all busy with their gears. And the other casts who seemed too fond with their phones. He sighed and watched uncomfortably as Jaesuk pinched the bridge of his nose in desperation.

“Hyung?”

“Jongkook-ah, let’s just go to the car now. We shouldn’t waste more time.”

“Arasseo. That’s our car, right there,” Jongkook bobbed his head in the directions of the parking lot. “Oh, hyung, me and some others are planning to go to a bar after filming. Wanna come?”

 “No, I can’t. I have places to go.”

“Ah, I see. I understand.” Jongkook added, “That is, if we can get the mission done earlier.”

“Yah, they won’t lock us for a day. We already did two games correct,” Jaesuk chuckled and headed to the driver seat.

“Oh, Jaesuk-ah, you drive?” Seokjin asked from the back seat, “Do you know where to go?”

Jaesuk just shrugged reluctantly. “We’ll found out about that later.”

What they found was a bit unpleasant. Turned out, Jaesuk wasn’t the best person when it came down to directions and GPS. On the way back to the set, when the clock was five minutes away from failing the mission, he hurriedly took the wrong way and cost them another three minutes to make a u-turn. And sure enough, they had failed the mission pathetically. Not only that one group was late, but also they did not make any sort of consensus whatsoever.

But they finally made a group decision that led them to winning the mission. And it was one truthfully one of the most emotional win they had ever accomplished. And so they were allowed to go home.

Jaesuk-ah, don’t get lost again! That was the last joking scoff he got before heading back to her apartment.

And so he made a call to confirm that he was going.

 

***

 

Jiho was already fast asleep in his bed when he arrived. Jaesuk could only sneak in and kiss the top of his forehead, whispering an undeniable father-son love.

Right now, Jaesuk found himself sitting awkwardly on the couch, watching the woman nervously busy cleaning up the dining table.

“So...,” Jaesuk stiffly coughed out any lumps stuck in his throat before he continued, “What have you been up to lately?”

“Hmm, I don’t have anything extraordinary, unlike you, but I decided to join the parents’ organization at Jiho’s school. That’s all that’s new, really.”

“Really? That’s good. I never know you’re actually attracted to things like that,”  Jaesuk smiled, “Now you know how it feels to be in my shoes.”

“Yeah, it was overwhelming at first. The moms and dads are loud. But I found my calling, I guess,” Kyungeun nodded as she sat down across him, “How’s Running Man so far?”

“It has been going on for five years now, as you notice. So it’s fine. Well, I actually just got away from filming today. You should watch!”

“Is there any guest?”

“If you consider a local physiotherapist as a guest, then yes there is,” Jaesuk shook his head, recalling what happened to his experience in acupuncturing. “Waeyo? Do you expect 2PM to come?”

“Ah, ani, oppa!” She flushed in disapproval, “I mean, there are new faces coming in to the show lately. People I don’t recall being a TV personality.”

“Is there any guests you knew?”

“Well, I haven’t seen Deanna in a while. It was a shocking when I saw her on TV. I didn’t even know she was here,” She turned to face him directly into his eyes. “Which acknowledge me; you two seem click on right away.”

Jaesuk almost forgot about his conversation with Deanna during the filming of spy episode, in the car. The fact that Deanna already knew about his true life without his ex-wife’s permission had bothered him for a long time. He had wanted to talk about it to Kyungeun. And now was the perfect time for it. But he didn’t know where to begin.

“What are you saying? Are you jealous?” that was the last thing he could come up with.

“Oh you stop!” Kyungeun carelessly threw a small pillow to him. “But about that, I watched the episodes and I definitely knew you didn’t know her at all. I’d never thought you two would be buddies. And I think you are.”

“She seems nice and approachable. It’s not hard to be her friend,” Jaesuk sighed and went on. “And she knew about our divorce.”

There was an unbearable silence across the room. A small yet noticeable frown curved on her lips as a sense of disappointment—or anger.

“A-are you okay with that?”

“How did she know?”

“It slipped off my mind and so I clarified things—are you okay with that?”

“Honestly, no,” heavily she shrugged, folding her arms in defense. “But she already knew. Not like I can brainwash her, there’s nothing we could do about it.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t ask you first. I said it came out accidental. But she promised me not to tell.”

“Can she be trusted?”

“I trust her—”

“Can I trust her?” she couldn’t help but to raise her voice.

“Look I—I thought you and her are friends?” he suddenly felt something sickening in his stomach. His heart was beating up faster, slightly too fast, “You don’t trust your friend? She is your friend, or at least that what she told me.”

“For the record, we only met few times. So maybe she was lying to you and to herself, like what she always does. I mean, What if she messed up?”

“What you mean by—wait! Are you talking about her problem?”

“No!” she exclaimed, almost too loud. “Well, yeah. Maybe. I don’t know. She’s already having hard time going on in her life. I don’t think she should be dealing with our problem. Honestly, she is the least—”

“For God’s sakes, she is nobody to deal with this. So does everyone else we’ve agreed to talk to!! And for your information, she is actually doing better with her smoking problem. She is having an effort to get back what she used to have!!”

Jaesuk outburst still lingered around the living room and to the ears of the ones that heard, especially the woman who shuddered in thoughts. He shook his head when he realized what had just going on. Different heads, different minds; he was yelling to his ex-wife about a silly argument about their secret being exposed to Deanna. And about Deanna’s problem which suddenly came into the view out of nowhere.

Deanna Kim came into his live out of nowhere.

“Eomma, why is it so loud?” the sleepy voice at the door, had woken up both the adults from their thoughts of thoughts. Kyungeun immediately made a straight line to pick him up on her arms, entering back in to his room, bringing little Jiho back to his sleep without knowing that the confused man had already left the house.

 

***

 

At the same time, a matured woman was heavily engrossed with a book on her hand. It was a very thick book, which Deanna would never want to read. So, she read the news report instead. Fortunately the lounge provided a free reading access. So she grabbed one of the newspapers. Soon, Deanna found herself completely engrossed with the news, together with the woman sitting next to her.

Politic. Economy. Sport. She skipped so many pages until she reached for the topic that he was looking for. And then she found a small column that caught her attention, negatively.

22/09/2015 – Running Man MC Yoo Jaesuk (43) was spotted together with recent Running Man guest Deanna Kim (34). The two were seen having a lunch together, alongside Yoo Jaesuk’s son Yoo Jiho (6) and a puppy.

Below that there was an amateur picture of Yoo Jaesuk, herself, and Jiho entering what looked like a restaurant, with Burger in tow, if it was even necessary.

There were a lot of things went wrong with the news. First of all, they had put her age as two years too older for her liking. It was really defaming. She had to sue them one day. Secondly, it wasn’t even a lunch. They bought a cake for Jiho and his mother and took it home. And thirdly, it wasn’t even happened yesterday. This was after the school event and it almost a week ago. Wow, just... Wow!

But that was a gossip should be. And it would never end. She knew by tomorrow she would be chased by hungry and dirty reporters with a cavalry of paparazzi. She reminded herself to thank Louijah for buying a flight ticket tonight. She at least could escape from them.

“Jeogiyo, are you a celebrity?” Suddenly the woman with the novel turned her attention away from the book, at last. She looked up and fixed her glasses, “Yes. You are familiar.”

“Ne Eonni. Let me introduce myself,” Deanna smiled, “My name is Deanna Kim and I’m a model.”

“Model? Oh of course. Look how pretty you are.”

“Thank you so much. You too look really nice. Are you planning to go somewhere, Eonni?”

“Yes. I’m taking the flight to Australia,” the woman nodded, “My brother is going to get marry soon.”

“Ah, chukhahabnida. I wish your son and the future bride to have the best wedding in their lives.”

The woman finally closed her book, already engrossed with the woman next to her. “Are you married, Deanna?”

Hmm... She shook her head politely. That hadn’t come up to her mind for many years of her career. And after breaking up with her last boyfriend, she didn’t seem to mind a further relationship prospect. She was thirty two by now, turning thirty three next year.

Should that number mean anything to her?

But hey, there were a lot of celebrity way older than her who hadn’t got married. Jihyo, for instance. And Kang Gary too. Kim Jongkook as well. Although she hoped the Jihyo and Jongkook really got married. She secretly shipped them together. That would be an amazing Running Man plot twist.

And then there was Yoo Jaesuk. Yes, he used to be a married man but now... Not so much.

Speaking of that, holding a big secret was quite overwhelming. Whenever her friends asked about the funny Grasshopper, her mind went to a different path of thinking. She knew what happened behind every single laugh and jokes he made, so it wasn’t that funny anymore.

“Hey, you’re the woman with Yoo Jaesuk.”

Deanna was simply caught off guard, almost knocking over her phone, “Excuse me, Eonni? What did you say?”

“The news. It was you, wasn’t it?” Eonni pointed her finger to the column at the corner of the page.

“Uh, yes. It was me,” Deanna let out a sigh, and turned to her, “For the record, I’m only thirty two. Not thirty four.”

“Oh I see,” the woman was chuckling. “You and Yoo Jaesuk seem close.”

“Ah ne. We first met during the filming of Running Man. I was the guest for the day and he helped me through all of the missions and games. Yeah, he is a nice guy.”

“Yes I watched that episode. I remembered you now,” Eonni smiled and shook her head, “You know what I think; you two should be together.”

“Huh?!” That didn’t just happen. “Eonni, you do know he is married now. And we only met briefly.”

“Can I be honest with you?

“Uh, ne?”

“I don’t think Yoo Jaesuk and his wife are happy with each other—,” she was roughly cut off by an announcement throughout the speaker. The woman nodded and started to prepare for her flight, “Oh, I should be going, Deanna-ssi. Take care.”

“Ne Eonni, have a safe flight—Eonni! What’s your name may I ask?”

“Park Dinah-ibnida,” Dinah smiled and hugged her. “It’s good to meet you, Deanna-yah.”

Deanna was caught off guard of the sisterhood hug. She couldn’t help but embrace her in return “Ne, Eonni. Me too.”

By the way, what did she just say about Yoo Jaesuk marriage?

Eng-based conv.

“Hey, what were you talking with the woman?” Louijah came over and sat at the vacant seat next to her, “Making new friend?”

“Yeah, I guess I did. What time is it?”

Louijah looked around for any digital clock on the wall. When he found one, he snorted. “We still have about an hour to go.”

“Oh god!” Deanna groaned and stretched her numb muscles out. “I’m bored. I wanna go around.”

Louijah nodded ad she moved on for her own privacy.

 

***

 

Yoo Jaesuk was nervous; he couldn’t hide it. This was going to be his first time ever using the application of Skype. Kwangsoo already told him how to operate it, but he was Yoo Jaesuk after all. His ability on using up-to-date technology was below average. Not that he cared.

About a couple of days ago, he had made a promise to video-call her at seven pm, which was about ten a.m. in London, where she was currently at. Actually it was a promise either. It just popped out as a way to show him the city of London from the view of her place. Then, a video-call arrangement was made.

So now at 07.08 exact, Jaesuk was sitting in front of his laptop, waiting for the screen to change. Soon enough, the calling screen shifted away and a familiar yet new face appeared instead.

“Ah oppa, you’ve made it into Skype!” Deanna waved to him from the other side of the world.

Jaesuk smiled widely and waved back. “Yah, you changed your hair! I almost didn’t recognize you.”

“Oh this,” she reluctantly brushed her now curlier and redder hair, “I need this hair for the show. How do I look?”

“If I can say, you have too many curls. And the red looks like hell,” Jaesuk shrugged when the woman just snorted, “Anyway, how are you doing?”

“Great! The runaway is going to happen in three days. I’m so excited... And nervous~”

“Don’t be. You’re good at it. A master,” he shook his head.

“But it has been months since my last show. Almost a year now, oppa.”

“No, stop it. I still think you’ll do well. Period.”

“Ah, arasseoyo,” Deanna shrugged and leaned in to the screen,” What’s up in Korea?”

“Nothing much. I was filming Running Man three days ago. A bizarre episode, you should watch. I also will be filming new episode of Same Bed Different Dreams tomorrow.”

“Oh, it sounds sad,” Deanna frowned and raised a brow, “What is it about?”

“It’s about parents and children sharing stories about problems. Yes, it’s a bit sad.”

“I see. So... Anything else happened that I should know?”

“Well, Jiho got a fever few days ago. So I visited him.”

“Oh no! I hope him to get well soon,” Deanna paused. Something caught her mind, “Ah oppa!”

“Wae?”

“Have you read Tuesday’s newspaper?” Deanna suddenly asked, remembered the small talk with the woman at the airport.

“Oh... The news.”

So he already knew, “Is there anything happened about it so far, oppa?”

“Well unfortunately I caught by a numerous reporters the day after. They began asking questions and I just answered them,” as she already imagine. He began, “Wae? What do you want to know?”

“Nothing. It was funny news,” Deanna rolled her eyes and scoffed. She could hear a faint laughing from the other side of the screen. That made her giggled, “What they asked you?”

“You know reporters these days; they went straight to the point. One asked me if I dated you. I told them we were just friends. Of course I said no. I was a married man to them.”

Deanna took a lot of time to think about what he just said. She had never really thought about how the media saw him without knowing his story. And for months he was playing this role he would never have.

“O-kay....”

“Speaking about that, me and Kyungeun had a talk.”

“Oohh, married man, are you—I’m sorry, I shouldn’t—” Deanna’s laugh made his lips twitched into a brief smile, only for merely seconds.

“Ani, not like that. It didn’t turn out so well.”

She curved her lips downward, yet again, “Ah wae? What happened?”

“We were arguing about things and... Yeah, we argued.”

“I’m sorry about that. Tell me about it,” Deanna soon frowned, regretting what she had just said, “Or not. It’s up to you, really.”

“You’re very curious little devil, aren’t you?” Jaesuk raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure those flaming hair can bear with it? Honestly it doesn’t sound so good for ears.”

“Aniyo, oppa. It’s up to you, though.”

“Fine then, I’ll spill it up,” Jaesuk sighed and shifted his position, “Well, it’s about you.”

“About me?” Deanna furrowed her brows, not expecting the answer, “What about me?”

Jaesuk pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath, “Long-story short, I told her about you knew our divorce. She didn’t seem to be so thrilled with the news. Then we argued.”

“Oh.”

There was a thick tension of silence spread all over Skype between two persons far away. But casually she nodded her head, “Ah, I see then.”

He blinked, “You said what?”

“What? Did I say something wrong?”

“No-no, it’s just... You’re not bothered with this?”

“Not really. I can understand why she couldn’t trust me. It’s not every day to share a deepest secret on someone with darker problem,” Deanna sighed and scratched her hair randomly, “Something happened at the airport.”

“What happened?”

“It wasn’t a big deal—”

“What happened?!”

“Alright then, if you insist,” Something about his curiosity made her fluttered. Deanna smiled and shrugged her shoulder. “You see, back while I was waiting for my flight at Incheon, I decided to take it. You know what I mean.”

Jaesuk didn’t fully understand, but when he saw a gesture of smoking, he nodded, “Oh, I understand. Go on.”

“I went to the smoking area and well... I did it. I reminded myself to stay away from the men, so I did that too,” Deanna sighed once more, “But then there was this guy, old guy. When he saw me, he—he just burst out.”

“What do you mean by bursting out?”

“Hmph. He came in to the smoking area and started pointing finger and yelling that I shouldn’t be there, that I shouldn’t be smoking. He yelled so loudly that others had started to come into the scene. He was really pissed off. And it was really embarrassing,” she suddenly laughed, “He called me a crazy for smoking cigar.”

“Yah Deanna, that was horrible.”

“It’s okay. I mean, I get that a lot.”

“Not like that! What he did doesn’t make sense. He could’ve just talked nicely or, even better, ignored you.”

“Well, that’s Korea for you. It’s called social perspective and obviously he wouldn’t accept me doing it. Of course you know that.”

Jaesuk kept his words on himself. He knew that was possibly true. Jaesuk shook his head in annoyance, knowing he couldn’t deny it, “What did you do?”

“Oh no, you won’t believe what I did.”

“No, tell me.”

“Well, I really wanted to punch him in the face, but I restrained myself,” Deanna snorted, before continuing, “So I puffed out loads of smoke to him and I threw my cigar in to his face—no, I didn’t burn him, I just shoved the of my cigar to his mouth. He was about to yell something but I already left the room.”

“Wow, that’s....”

“That was bad, I know. I’m so sorry you have to hear the story,” Deanna sighed and let out a faint smile, “I guess I am too troubled for Kyungeun’s trust. I realized now.”

“No, don’t say that. I don’t know why she doesn’t trust you but I do,” Jaesuk casually confessed,” And so far you haven’t disappoint me, even after your attempt to kill that man.”

“Ha! That’s true,” Deanna let out a genuine smile crafted on her face, “We sure have so many problems to deal with, you and I. Tough life.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Jaesuk nodded, suddenly feeling a bit better, knowing that he wasn’t alone. With her, he would never be alone.

“Anyway, you’ve promised me to show your house,” he said, “Well?”

“Of course! I almost forgot about that. Let’s do it!” Deanna started by standing up, carrying the laptop and wandered off around the house, “So this is my room. And as you can see this house is actually very big. Huge! About seven people can live in here. See?”

“Seven? Now I’m imagining living with Running Man casts together,” Jaesuk looked through the screen, following wherever she took him, “But it seems empty now. Where are they?”

“Most of them were out, only me and a couple of others in here. I think they are upstairs,” Deanna put down the laptop and tied up her hair into a loose bun, “Ah oppa, I wanna show you something cool!”

Then, she brought him to the rooftop of the penthouse, saying hello to her friends along the way.

The idea of seeing the whole city from above was brilliant. But he was mesmerized to see it with the eye of a webcam. With tall buildings and the infamous Big Ben not far away, he could see it all. It was indeed a beautiful sight of London.

A beautiful sight of her as well.

 

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