They arrived at the filming site, where Jong Kook woke Ji Hyo up, and helped her to put on her coat as they got ready to get out of the car.

“Wait oppa.” Jong Kook stopped and turned round to face Ji Hyo. “What are we going to say if the members ask why we took the same car?”

“Just say my car broke down and you offered to give me a lift.” Jong Kook shrugged. “It’s not like we’re dating or anything.” I wish I was though both Ji Hyo and Jong Kook thought to themselves silently as Jong Kook stepped out of the car, smiling and waving at the other members as they greeted him. As Ji Hyo stepped out however, the other members looked at each other in confusion but met with a glare from Jae Suk as he didn’t want to arouse suspicion. So naturally, or more threatened by their leader, they went back to greeting the last two remaining members with hugs.

“Hey! How come you two got the same car?” Jae Suk asked as he hugged Ji Hyo.

“His car broke down.” “My car broke down.” Both Ji Hyo and Jong Kook replied at the same time, unintentionally of course, which arose more suspicions from the rest of the members.

“Song Ji Hyo and Kim Jong Kook you’re here!” The PD called out to them, prompting both Ji Hyo and Jong Kook to get their mics on for the show, leaving the other members to talk amongst themselves.

“Hyung, that’s strange right?” Haha asked no – one in particular as the group – Suk Jin, Jae Suk, Gary, Haha and Kwang Soo – huddled into a small group like a sports coach huddling his players at half time.

“Definitely. You sure they’re not dating?” Suk Jin pipped.

“No, they’re still the same but something definitely happened last night.”

“They didn’t… you know?” Kwang Soo hesitantly asked, disgusted at the thought of his noona doing it.

“Ya! Stop trying to imagine it!” Gary slapped Kwang Soo on the head leading him to grab it in pain.

“Do you really think Ji Hyo is the type of girl to have before making a relationship official?” Jae Suk whispered harshly, protecting someone he saw as a younger sibling.

“Yeah, have some respect!” Suk Jin scolded as he saw Ji Hyo and Jong Kook coming back over.

“Who should have some respect?” Ji Hyo asked as he stood next to Kwang Soo and Suk Jin.

“Kwang Soo.” Jae Suk replied, ignoring the widening eyes of Kwang Soo.

“What now?” Jong Kook asked as he sighed as he stood next closely next to Ji Hyo to make sure that she didn’t get cold in the autumn winds.

“He was talking about how he wanted to betray her at least once.” Gary quipped, sending a quick apologetic smile to Kwang Soo.

“Ya! I’m your noona for a reason!” Ji Hyo hit Kwang Soo, not once or twice but four times on the head, earning laughter from the cast and crew.

“I promise I won’t! I’m sorry!” Kwang Soo profusely apologised and glared at his hyungs as he turned to walk back to his seat.

“Damn we should have caught that on camera.” The PD mentioned, earning some laughter from the crew.

“Oh I’m sure we’ll get something similar during this episode.” Jae Suk quipped, earning protests from Kwang Soo, a killer glare from Ji Hyo to Kwang Soo and more laughter from the rest of the

cast and crew.

Filming had officially started and the guests were introduced, making both Ji Hyo and Jong Kook nervous as they wondered if there would be a guest of the opposite . Today, it seemed that Jong Kook was unlucky, as Lee Dong Wook was introduced as the guest, leading Ji Hyo to hug him tightly as they greeted each other. Jong Kook became even unluckier when Dong Wook was put on the same team as Ji Hyo.

As filming got underway, Jong Kook looked on helplessly as Ji Hyo and Dong Wook would stand next to each other – too close in Jong Kook’s eyes – as he tried his best to listen to the PD’s instructions and keep an eye on the pair. He would grow increasingly uneasy as Dong Wook had to piggy back Ji Hyo and looked away, much to the other members’ notice. The day was filled with Jong Kook keeping an eye on Dong Wook and seemingly finding the floor interesting whenever Dong Wook and Ji Hyo got too close to avoid looking at them. In the dodgeball missions where the boys would protect the girls, he threw the ball to Dong Wook a lot harder than necessary to at least try to release his frustration.

It came to the lunch break when Jong Kook left his own partner, Shin Hye, who was no doubt beautiful but not Ji Hyo, and hurriedly went to sit next to Ji Hyo after pushing Dong Wook out of the way, earning a confused look from Dong Wook, a bewildered look from Ji Hyo and a knowing look from the rest of the cast members. They enjoyed their meal, with Ji Hyo and Jong Kook exchanging pieces from the packed lunch they were given – Jong Kook obviously exchanging the fried fritters for Ji Hyo’s pickled cucumbers – whilst chatting to each other, not meaning to ignore the rest of the members and staff.

“Dong Wook – ah, don’t you think something’s going on between the two of them?” Suk Jin nudged towards the couple who sat smiling and laughing as they ate.

Dong Wook observed his friend carefully. He treasured Ji Hyo as a friend, trusting her with any worries that he had. Them being the same age meant that he understood her worries of the future – marriage and children – which was a frequent topic at any family gatherings. Being the same age also meant that they could joke around like brother and sister and still respect each other at the end of the day. Being that close meant that Dong Wook knew if Ji Hyo liked someone. She would get a twinkle in her eye from when her smile would be enough to meet her eyes. She’d often lean her body towards the man and laugh wholeheartedly at his jokes, albeit them being bad ones. Any hugs that she shared with said man would be tighter and longer than normal hugs and her eyebrows would furrow in jealousy whenever she had felt incomparable next to a girl whom the man showed his attention to. All these actions, Dong Wook noted, were actions that Ji Hyo had displayed throughout the day.

“Definitely. I’ve never seen her smile so much at such lame jokes.” Dong Wook agreed, looking over at the pair with suspicious eyes.

“We need to get them together hyung, she always texts me at 3 in the morning asking why Jong Kook hyung doesn’t like her.” Kwang Soo grumbled as he stuffed rice in his mouth.

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Word Count – 1169

I’m so sorry for the delay but this infection isn’t clearing up L I’ve also got exams at the end of this term so that’ll have to be my priority until they’re finished. So this will be my last chapter until the end of my exams (2^nd week of Dec) but I’ll definitely try and get 2 or 3 chapters by Christmas.

I’m also not going to explicitly address Gary’s last episode (i.e I’m not doing a chapter where they’re filming Gary’s last ep) for a couple of reasons:

1. This is a Spartace fanfic
2. Most of the content happens outside of filming anyway
3. I will be addressing him (probably in passing or by text or something similar) that acknowledges his departure
4. He probably will still appear in the fanfic (most likely as part of the RM group chat) though as it’s not like he’s disappeared off the face of the earth!

I’m always grateful for all the support so thank you!!! Keep warm and make sure not to catch a cold runners!