Running Man claims that guests who participate in the show every now and then often ask if the show’s official love line is real. As in, were they were dating. While this did happen once in a while, it didn’t happen as often as the show advertised. There was another not so official couple that guests often asked about. They were Kim Jong Kook and Song Ji Hyo.

And these are five guests that commented on their (too) close relationship:

We’ll begin with Hwang Jung Min. Out of all the guests named here, he’s the one who appeared the least, but he’s the oldest and sharpest, considering how quickly he spotted them out.

His first episode on Running Man was Episode 132. That day, Ji Hyo was Jong Kook’s spy, and the last person Jung Min thought would ever be the spy. Until Kwang Soo ripped off her name tag, of course.

He was still shocked when he went back to jail after getting eliminated.

“Ji Hyo-yah! Why did it have to be you?” He lamented as he took a seat nearby the woman. She chuckled.

“You were completely fooled by her, weren’t you?” Jae Suk laughed, having been the one Jung Min highly suspected before.

“Sunbaenim, actually, when me and Jong Kook Oppa were talking, didn’t you walk past us? You just walked away after taking a look so I thought I was done for. Jong Kook Oppa thought you didn’t even see us.” Ji Hyo quipped, arousing Jae Suk’s interest.

“I did notice the two of you talking, but I thought you two were taking a break to meet up or something-” Jung Min began explaining.

“Why would Jong Kook and Ji Hyo meet up for no reason?” Jae Suk asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Don’t couples do that? Crave to see each other? I even felt bad that Ji Hyo and Jong Kook weren’t on the same team-” Jung Min asked in a confused tone of voice.

Ji Hyo blushed. “Sunbaenim- I think you have the wrong idea… Jong Kook Oppa and I are not dating…”

Jung Min cleared his throat. “You aren’t? Ah… My bad then…”

The second time Jung Min came on the show, things were slightly different. He saw the way Jong Kook touched Ji Hyo as they hid from the staff during the game, and how they didn’t even really try to win though Ji Hyo and Jong Kook were supposedly competitors.

“What’s Jong Kook doing?” He turned to one of the members next to him and whispered. “Are they still not a couple?”

But the answer was yes, and Hwang Jung Min left the set of Running Man that day knowing he was an observant man.

-

The next guest that commented on them was Yong Hwa. Having been on Running Man countless times, literally holding the record for most number of episodes guested, Yong Hwa had seen Jong Kook and Ji Hyo’s oddly close relationship many times. When they were on different teams, when they were on the same team, and when they were all competing individually. He had seen it all.

One thing Yong Hwa amused himself with many times when he guested on Running Man was asking the other members if Jong Kook and Ji Hyo had gotten together yet. The answer was always no, and he always asked a different member. Eventually when he had run out of members to ask due to the many appearances he had made on the show, Yong Hwa had to ask some of the same members twice, yet they were never annoyed by his asking, themselves seemingly interested in whether Jong Kook and Ji Hyo were dating.

There was one episode when he appeared with the rest of CNBlue, and he didn’t say a word about Jong Kook and Ji Hyo to the boys before they filmed the show, but those that had never guested before asked him about the oddly close two. He smirked wider and wider after each member had approached himself and even Jong Hyun to ask.

He wasn’t crazy after all.

It took literally 10 appearances on the show, but eventually one day Yong Hwa didn’t leave the Running Man set with a shake of his head. It was the episode when there was a team of 3 against a team of 7. Ji Hyo and Himself were on