“Running Man?” the three of them said in chorus. Minho, Sulli and Taemin all showed a surprised expression, while Director Kangta just smirked at them.

“Yes, Running Man,” Director Kangta confirmed. The three looked at each other with their mouths and eyes wide open.

“Are you sure I’m included? I mean, they only guest idols and popular actors there,” Minho asked.

“Yes, Minho, you’re included. Apparently, fan girls of different idol groups are talking about you lately on forums. They find you a good-looking writer, and now that you signed a contract with us, they became more curious about you and kept searching for you,” Director Kangta explained.

“Daebak,” Taemin said slowly. Minho never realized that he became that popular with the fan girls, as he only knew of writing and arranging songs for the idol groups. He doesn’t search his name on the Internet, not even once.

“Oh well, let’s do this!” Sulli enthusiastically said. She high-fived with Taemin and they both continued talking about how excited they are for the game.

“Sulli and Taemin, you do know that most of your fans ship you two, right?” Director Kangta asked. They both nodded. “You might want to try feeding them with moments of you two.” They both laughed.

Minho nudged Sulli and whispered, “Your fans… ship… you two?”

“Yes. They call it Taelli,” Taemin butted in as he placed his left arm to Sulli’s left shoulder and smiled. “Do we look good together?”

Minho faked his smile and nodded lightly. “So, what are the missions?”

“They did not give specific details. They only said that you need a lot of energy,” Director Kangta said lightheartedly. “The shoot is next Monday and it’s going to be in Gyeonggi-do.”

~

“This afternoon, we are in front of the Seongnam Arts Center,” Jae Suk said.

“Ah, it’s really beautiful from the outside,” Haha said.

“Ne, ne. When viewed from above, this is shaped like a piano,” Jae Suk explained. They all looked amazed as they looked at the façade behind them. “It’s really unfortunate that Suk Jin-hyung and Ji Hyo are not going to be with us today.”

“Aw,” they all said in chorus. Gary looked really sad as he looked around.

“We have special guests today to compensate their absence,” the PD said to them.

“Geurae?” Jae Suk said. They all clapped and got joyful all of a sudden. “Who are these guests?”

They noticed that two masked guys are walking towards them. They’re both wearing light blue shirts that are the same with them. The five men are all anticipating and curious for the two guys walking. When they neared them, the two masked guys unmasked themselves swiftly.

“Lee Taemin! Choi Minho!” they all shouted in chorus as they pointed at them. They were all shocked as each of them shook the two guys’ hands. Taemin and Minho smiled as they stood between Haha and Gwang Soo.

After they’ve all settled down, the PD said, “Today’s episode is a special couple race.”

“Special couple race? With only the seven of us?” Jae Suk joked and they all laughed.

“Behind you is a platform with a pink separator that have seven openings covered with white cloths,” the PD said. They all faced it and they all nodded. “Behind those cloths are the girls you’ll be paired with. They will first tell you something about them, and if you like them, you can choose them by raising your hand.”

“Oh!” they all said in chorus.

“Just like a dating game,” Jae Suk remarked. He clasped his hand and said, “So, the first girl!”

The light switched on behind the first girl, making the silhouette appear on the cloth. “If you pick me, I’ll make sure that we’ll win and bring home the prize!” she said. The seven men thought that they would recognize them by their voice, but they’re wrong. Their voices were distorted by lowering the pitch.

“Aish!” Haha said as he placed his palm on his forehead. They all looked at each other, signaling who’s going to raise his hand.

With full courage, Jae Suk raised his hand. They all laughed as they patted Jae Suk’s back. “Next girl,” he said.

Again, the light switched on behind the second girl. “Pick me and I’ll treat you some strawberry ice cream!” the girl said in a cute but low voice.

Minho’s heart throbbed faster than the normal. He knew that Sulli likes strawberry ice cream since then. He looked from left to right, and without hesitation, he raised his hand quickly. “Wow!” they all said in chorus.

“You know this girl?” Jong Kook asked.

“Ne,” Minho replied shyly as he smiled.

After the seven girls introduced themselves, Taemin was paired with the third girl, Gwang Soo with the fourth, Jong Kook with the fifth, Gary with the sixth, and Haha with the seventh.

They all stepped on the platform and faced the openings. “Let’s start with Haha.” The cloth rolled up and revealed that his partner is Lizzy of After School. All were shocked as she appeared.

“It’s been a long time, Lizzy!” Haha said. They all clapped and smiled at them.

“Next is, Gary!” Jae Suk said.

Gary was anticipating for her temporary Monday Couple. As the cloth rolls up, all of them curiously looked at Gary’s couple. As the cloth neared to revealing the face, they were all surprised and became jokingly disappointed.

“Ah, Ji Hyo,” they all said as they turned back. Gary can’t hide his happiness, despite his peaceful face. He’s paired with Blank Ji Hyo. It must be fate, he jokingly thought.

“I thought you’re absent,” Jae Suk said.

“She really came for me,” Gary remarked with his straight face. They all laughed hard as Ji Hyo slapped him on his arm.

“Next is, mine!” Jae Suk said when they all settled down.

Jae Suk was paired with YoonA of SNSD, Jong Kook with HyunA of 4Minute, Gwang Soo with Yuri of SNSD, and Taemin with Suzy of Miss A.

“It’s now down to Minho’s pair,” Jae Suk said. Minho nodded. He knew he was right. It was Sulli.

The cloth rolled up and her body appeared. When her face appeared, all of their jaws dropped as Minho just smiled at her. “It’s Sulli! Sulli-yah! Sulli-yah!” the hosts said as they looked at each other. They can’t believe that Sulli would guest at their show. They all shook their hands with hers, while Minho stood still in front of the opening.

“Minho, can we switch partners?” Gary said.

“Yah, yah, yah!” Ji Hyo said as he pulled Gary away from Minho.

Afterwards, they all boarded a pink bus. They all sat beside their partners.

“So, what’s the first mission?” Jae Suk asked the PD. The PD gave them a small piece of envelope. Jae Suk opened the envelope and it stated:

Buy three pencils while carrying the girl on the boy’s back and sharpen them within 15 seconds. If you fail, you need to buy three pencils again.

Jae Suk and YoonA smiled. They announced the mission and the seven couples immediately strategized on how they should accomplish the task. When the bus neared the destination, they all readied their selves.

“Are you ready?” Minho asked Sulli.

“Yes. Fighting!” Sulli said as she smiled and showed her clenched fist to Minho.

Minho smiled and replied, “Fighting!”

The bus stopped and Minho quickly stood from his seat as he held Sulli’s wrist. They both ran towards the door. Minho got off first and he piggybacked Sulli. Minho, being ultra competitive, ran all the way to the nearest school supplies store while carrying Sulli, despite having many spectators on the sides.

“Aigoo, why are they so fast?” Jong Kook remarked as he carried HyunA.

At the middle of running, Jae Suk slowly became tired as he panted while laughing. “YoonA-ssi, mianhae. I… I just hit 41 a few weeks ago…” he said while laughing. They stopped for a while as they both kept laughing.

Haha and Lizzy also stopped for a while because Haha became tired, too. Meanwhile, the Monday Couple, Taemin and Suzy, Gwang Soo and Yuri, and Jong Kook and HyunA kept running towards the school supplies store, which is quite far from where the bus stopped.

Minho and Sulli arrived first at the school supplies store. The store is small and has a narrow passageway. They quickly roamed the store and searched for the pencils. Minho was already sweating and his glasses are starting to get moist.

“There! There!” Sulli said excitingly as she pointed out the rack that’s full of pencils. In one of the cases lie the official pencils, where the Running Man logo sticker is wrapped around the pencils. “Palli! Palli!”

Minho ran towards the cashier as Sulli paid the pencils.

“Kamsahamnida,” Sulli said politely. As they were about to walk out of the store, Jong Kook and HyunA appeared in front of them. Sulli screamed in surprise. HyunA tried to delay their exit by slapping Sulli’s arm. Sulli, on the other hand, kept defending herself by slapping HyunA’s arm, too.

Taemin and Suzy, as well as the other teams are outside the store, waiting for them to finish their fight. “Yah! Stop fighting! We’re getting delayed!” Taemin said lightheartedly.

HyunA stopped as she laughed and Jong Kook proceeded inside as Minho and Sulli exited. Minho bolted to the sharpening area, with Sulli holding the green pencils. As they arrived the area, Minho was sweating badly. He walked towards the round table where the sharpener is located. He squatted as Sulli reached for the sharpener.

“You need to put the sharpener on top of Minho’s head,” the PD said. Sulli gulped and nodded. She put the sharpener on his head. “Ready? Start!”

The fifteen-second timer started and she rapidly sharpened the pencils. Every second was nerve-wracking and pressuring. Sulli was sweating as she put force and speed in rotating the sharpener.

3 seconds. 2 seconds. 1 second.

“Aw!” Sulli said sadly. She only needed a split second to finish sharpening. She failed. “Mianhae, Minho!”

“Gwenchana,” Minho said as he continued panting. He was dead tired and heavily sweating.

“Minho-yah, your glasses are already moist,” Jong Kook remarked, as they were next in line. The cameraman focused the camera on Minho as he laughed.

Sulli laughed as she grabbed something from her pocket. “Here,” she said as she wiped the sweat on his forehead with her handkerchief. Sulli removed Minho’s glasses as she wiped it.

“Gomawoyo, Ssul,” Minho said as he smirked. “Let’s go!”

He continued running towards the school supplies store. The other couples are already done buying their pencils and are at the sharpening area already. While they’re running, one kid gave Sulli a bottle of water. She thanked him and she let Minho drink it.

They reached the store once more and bought three pencils. They exited and ran to the area once again. They became optimistic when they saw Jong Kook and HyunA, Taemin and Suzy, Gary and Ji Hyo and Gwang Soo and Yuri running towards the school supplies store. They failed. When they met halfway, HyunA tried to delay them again, but she failed as Minho drifted.

They arrived at the sharpening area with Haha and Lizzy attempting to sharpen their pencils. They also failed, and they took a break first. They lined up, while Jae Suk and YoonA attempted sharpening the pencils in fifteen seconds.

3 seconds, 2 seconds, 1 second.

Minho and Sulli’s jaws dropped when Jae Suk and YoonA successfully sharpened three pencils in just fifteen seconds. Jae Sun and YoonA continued rejoicing as they jumped and smiling from ear to ear. They received the instructions for the second mission and went to the car afterwards. They need to wait for the second team to finish first before moving to the next location.

Sulli became nervous again as she held the sharpener and placed it on Minho’s head. “Since it’s now your second try, we’re going to extend it to twenty seconds,” the PD said. Sulli had a sigh of relief. I can do this, she thought. “Ready? Start!”

She rapidly sharpened the pencils once again. One pencil was sharpened in just five seconds. Fifteen seconds more.

Eight, seven, six…

“Yes!” Minho said as he put Sulli on the floor. They both hugged each other as they jumped for joy. When they already settled down, the PD gave them the instructions.

Proceed to the W Shopping Mall and the staff will give you the instructions for the second mission.

After reading, they proceeded to the car where Jae Suk and YoonA are located. Soon after, Jae Suk drove the car and they both proceeded to the shopping mall.