Ji Hyo was woken up by a violent shake on her shoulder. Even before she opened her eyes she knew who it was; she was all too familiar with the whiff of perfume hanging in the air - only one person she knew used this kind of perfume. Immediately she flinched from the touch, rolling away to get as far away from the invading hands. Unfortunately for her, there wasn't so much room to move about and soon her shoulders were grabbed violently and she was pulled into sitting position.

"Let me go!" She struggled in vain against her captor, her eyes were wide with terror. "How did you get in here? Unnie! Sun Mi Unnie!!"

"Shut up! She's not here - you don't need to call for her!" Chang Joo growled; his face was inches away from hers.

"What do you want?” Ji Hyo hissed, “Oppa, you're hurting me!"

The vicelike grip only tightened at the pleading and Ji Hyo whimpered in pain. "You cheap woman! So this isn't just a gossip, eh?"

Ji Hyo, still clouded with sleep as well as fear, couldn't grasp what the CEO was taking about. She kept trying to struggle but to no avail.

Chang Joo lifted a hand and Ji Hyo shrank back, thinking that he would slap her. He grabbed her chin instead, yanking it violently that Ji Hyo felt dizzy as it was forcefully turned sideways. “Look! Look at that!”

Her eyes quickly scanned the bed, wanting to find out what he was talking about. There on the bed were pictures of her and Jong Kook from the previous day’s filming. She blinked to see them better: there was one in which she and Jong Kook talked alone in quite a private spot before the filming and there were others from after the filming, when they were walking to her van with Jong Kook’s arm around her shoulder – every single one of them showed a pair of happy couple enjoying each other’s company. The only problem was that there was no couple; Kim Jong Kook and her were only friends.

“,” came the spiteful whisper.

Ji Hyo had had enough. “Let go of me!” she bellowed, furiously pushing the man with all her might that he had no other choice but to loosen his hold on her. She used the opportunity to leave the bed and back off until her back hit the wall. “How dare you!” her voice quivered, angry tears streaming down her cheeks. “How dare you barge into my house and insult me!”

"Cut the crap, Ji Hyo-yah, your tears mean nothing to me," said Chang Joo spitefully.

Ji Hyo wiped her tears in one angry sweep. “I didn’t cry to ask for pity!” she growled, "Get out of my house before I call the police!" She pointed a finger at the door. Chang Joo stepped forward to invade her personal space instead of leaving and Ji Hyo felt chilled to the spine.

"And what are you going to charge me with? Attempted ? Assault? Who do you think they would believe more, Ji Hyo - you or me?" he asked with a sadistic smile on his face. "Calling the cops will only lead you to your ruin faster. You are not stupid, you know that."

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Ji Hyo retorted, lifting her chin defiantly. “Leave now or I’ll tell everyone the truth.”

Chang Joo chuckled. “Ah, ah, ah, Ji Hyo-yah; you have to learn that empty threats don’t scare me. What proofs do you have to expose the truth? Your credibility is low enough now – who would believe you?”

"What do you want?" she asked weakly, suddenly losing all the fight in her as she knew the truth behind his words. She was the one whom people thought cheated – if she said anything against Chang Joo, people would think that she was only looking for sensation.

“Stay away from Kim Jong Kook,” he said calmly. He must have read confusion in Ji Hyo’s eyes for the next words were, “No, I don’t want you back – you’re disgustingly innocent I can’t stand you. But if I can’t have you, Cheon Seong Im; no one can.”

“Don’t call me that!”

“I’ll call you what I want.” Chang Joo glared at her. “Stay away from Kim Jong Kook, or else.” He took a step back, heading to leave the room.

Ji Hyo gritted her teeth. Who did he think he was, telling her what to do? He had lost the right when she saw him in bed with another woman! “You have no rights telling me what to do!”

Immediately he was on her again, grabbing her head with a hand and dangerously leaning in until his lips was so close to her ear that she could feel the hot air of his breath brushing her skin. “Tell me, Cheon Seong Im, what would you say if one of these days some little accident happens to your Jong Kook Oppa on set? Think about it – you may not care about your well-being, but are you stubborn enough to let your precious Jong Kook Oppa get hurt?”

The threat made Ji Hyo’s blood run cold. She froze on the spot and when Chang Joo released her, unceremoniously fell to the floor and stay rooted there until she could hear no other sound outside but her own heartbeat.

Like a wounded animal, the woman slowly lay herself down on the carpeted floor; her eyes stared vacantly to the space. She made not a single sound or movement at first. Then a drop of hot tear escaped from the corner of her unblinking eye, followed by another drop, and another one until they came without restraints anymore. Ji Hyo’s breathing grew heavier and her body started to convulse as she tried to suppress the sudden wave of emotions that swept through her. She didn’t realise that she opened to let out a small sob that soon turned into a pained howl that filled the empty apartment.

That was how Sun Mi found her a couple of hours later when she returned from an errand Chang Joo had her do. Still on the floor. Still screaming. Still unmoving.

***

Gap Jin woke his charge up with a smack on the head. It was around eight in the morning and for Jong Kook’s standard, it was pretty late. “Yah, Kim Jong Kook!” he said loudly to his ears, making the younger man jump.

“Sacred Seoul!” Jong Kook shouted in shock. He looked at his manager, confused. “What was that for?”

“That, Jong Kook-ah, was for you being stupid again,” he said, throwing him a page of printed article. “What did I tell you about staying away from Song Ji Hyo?”

Jong Kook rubbed his eyes and took the article. The headline was written in bold red, glaring accusation with its words:

'THE AFFAIR CONTINUES, RUNNING MAN STAFF CONFIRMED'.

Quickly Jong Kook skimmed through the article, sniggered at the lies and rolled his eyes at the oh-so-fake interview. He chuckled when he finally saw the pictures of her and Ji Hyo. “No one would believe this crap, Hyung,” he assured the older man.

“Don’t laugh – it’s not funny!” grumbled Gap Jin, scratching his head. “Aigoo, you two! Jong Kook-ah, can you please stop adding gray hair on my head?”

“Gray hair would look good on you, Hyung – you’re practically almost bald,” he said in good manner. “Ah, I wonder what Ji Hyo had to say about this.”

“Can you stop taking this so lightly, Jong Kook-ah?” Gap Jin admonished him, rather harshly now. He glanced at his phone uneasily. "Leon Hyung would be calling any time now," he mumbled, "Hyung wouldn't be pleased, Jong Kook-ah."

Jong Kook winced at the mention of their boss, Chae Leon. The man was a very lenient person but he despised scandals. He had personally talked to Jong Kook about keeping this down no matter what - he had bluntly said that he didn’t care if Jong Kook truly had an affair as long as he could keep it to himself. Chae Leon's only concern was the release Jong Kook's new album and how this scandal could affect the sale.

"Gap Jin Hyung, I'm in a very deep , aren't I?" the singer posed. He was quite solemn now. "Leon Hyung will kill me."

The manager threw him a look that pretty much screamed and you only realised it just now?!

Jong Kook closed his eyes regretfully. "Ji Hyo - she is in a deeper one, isn't she?"

Gap Jin grew annoyed at the question. "Stop thinking about her and look at your own situation!" he yelled at the younger man. "She is not your business, Jong Kook-ah! Why do you care about how much she is in now? It's her management's business! Who is she to you anyway? If it weren't for her you wouldn't be in any mess at all!"

"Yah!" Jong Kook suddenly bellowed in exasperation, startling Gap Jin with the boom of his voice. "If it weren't for me, she wouldn't be in this ! How can I not care?! I dragged her into this , not the other way around! If it weren't for me, the only thing she would be dealing with is the breakup news with her boyfriend - people would feel sorry for her instead of insulting her!" Jong Kook growled as if an animal in pain. "Now I dare you to tell me not to care!"

"Jong Kook-ah, Hyung didn't mean to-..” Gap Jin started, wanting to calm him down.

"No, Hyung! You don't have a say in this!" Jong Kook was breathing heavily by now. Suddenly the image of Ji Hyo's bruised wrist and the fear in her eyes when she tried to hide it from him flashed before Jong Kook's eyes, sickening him to the bone. He felt nauseous. "If it weren't for me that man wouldn't have hurt her!" He nearly choked on his own words.

He left for his room, slamming the door behind him. The implications of his words hung heavily in the air and Gap Jin sighed in exhaustion. This was worse than what he had thought before - more so because he had a feeling that Jong Kook's concern over Song Ji Hyo was more complicated than what Jong Kook himself might realise. Gap Jin lowered his head, praying that somehow Jong Kook would be able to leave all this unscathed. 

A/N: I wasn't planning on posting this chapter today since I just deleted the whole 5 future chapters I've written and went into a different direction with the story (that is my way to politely say that I was dead-stuck with the previous storyline). But I promised nae dongsaeng to post this today for after she finishes her work ;) 

I hope the spin of the story doesn't discourage you to keep reading. tell me what you think :)

Oh, and PS. Sorry about the angst and the rude word I used on this chapter.