They ended up driving to a coffee shop instead of an ice cream parlour because Ji Hyo said that she was hungry. The drive was filled with awkward silence. Both were too engrossed in their own thoughts and they ended up driving round in circles. It wasn't until Ji Hyo pointed out that they had passed the same street twice than Jong Kook realised it. She directed him to a street where she usually got her coffee and they were back with the silence.

"What are you thinking about?" Jong Kook asked after a while, he could no longer stand the silence.

"About what cake I want with my Americano?" replied Ji Hyo calmly. He gave her a weird look and Ji Hyo retorted, "What? I'm hungry!"

"When are you not?" Jong Kook teased.

"When I'm sleepy."

Jong Kook shook his head. "Honestly, Song Ji Hyo, I've never met a woman like you in my whole life. You are truly something."

"Good," Ji Hyo said, proud, "It means I'm limited edition." They shared a laugh and Ji Hyo swatted his arm when she caught him rolling his eyes at her.

As soon as Jong Kook found a parking space, Ji Hyo got out of the car and walked to the coffee shop without waiting for him. He chuckled at her antics.

"Cheon Seong Im-ssi, I know your head is full of food right now but please don't leave this humble driver behind, will you?" Jong Kook quickened his steps to catch up with her then linked his arm to hers. "You are quite unstoppable when it comes to food."

Ji Hyo stuck her tongue at the older man. "People need food to survive," she reasoned. She pushed the door to the coffee shop and happily squealed when the aroma of coffee greeted them both. It didn't take her long to place her order as she knew what she wanted already. They waited for their order to be made then chose a secluded spot in the corner to sit.

Letting Ji Hyo ate for a bit, Jong Kook thought of what he wanted to say. He waited until the woman opposite him had eaten half of her cake before starting the conversation. "Ji Hyo-yah," he hesitated. It was a sensitive topic and little can be done to make it less awkward.

“I don’t want to talk,” Ji Hyo stated rather sharply. She looked up to see Jong Kook in the eye and she repeated her words in emphasise. “I don’t want to talk about what happened yesterday.”

Jong Kook nodded. “Good,” he lied even though he wanted to know everything. “Good. Because that isn’t what I want to talk about.”

“Oh.”

How do people start this kind of conversation? Jong Kook was conflicted – do real people outside television drama actually get into a fake relationship? There were words at the tip of his tongue but he couldn’t find the words to say it. Start at the beginning, Kim Jong Kook – apologise.

“Ji Hyo,” he began slowly, “I apologise for dragging you into this mess.” He gave her a big bow from where he sat.

"Oppa!" Ji Hyo exclaimed in surprise. She grabbed Jong Kook's forearm to stop him. “Oppa, don’t be like that. People are watching.” She glanced around to see if anyone was looking; thankfully the place was fairly empty that afternoon. "You did nothing wrong, Jong Kook Oppa. I was already in a mess before this, anyway. It was your bad luck to be close to me to stumble into this."

Her attempt to make him feel better didn't work at all; it only made him feel more nervous. He glanced at Ji Hyo's wrist and swallowed hard. Even under layers of clothes he could still picture the bruise vividly in his mind. And the memory of yesterday’s event revolted him to the bone. He locked his gaze with the woman's. "Would he have hurt you physically if it hadn't been for the gossip of us being together?"

The question sounded more unfeeling than what Jong Kook had intended and something flashed in Ji Hyo's eyes, still there was no turning back now.

"Don't," Ji Hyo warned the man weakly, her trembling voice sounded more like pleading rather than a threat. She shivered when she remembered how shocked she was to see her own reflection earlier that afternoon when showering – her shoulders and upper arms were black and blue in the shape of human’s hands. It was sickening as well as horrifying. "Jong Kook Oppa, don't. You promised not to talk about it. You don’t want to know.”

"What if I do?" He was relentless. "Did he hurt you because of me or was he violent to you as a nature, Ji Hyo-yah? Answer me this."

Ji Hyo bit her lower lip in vexation. She didn't want to answer that - didn't know what to answer. She could not provide an answer that would satisfy the man before her. If she told him that Chang Joo resorted to physical threat because of the scandal, Jong Kook would feel burdened. On the other hand, if she said that her ex was a violent person by nature, which he wasn't; then Jong Kook would question her decision to stay with Chang Joo for so long.

"I don't like seeing you get hurt," Jong Kook said after a while when receiving no answer. "The idea of you getting hurt sickens me so much. Ji Hyo-yah, I think of you as family. I don't like my sister getting hurt."

"Oppa, I am fine. I promise nobody is hurting me."

"That bruise..."

"Is an accident. He didn't mean to do it, I promise, Oppa. I promise. Please stop worrying about me."

Why do you keep defending him, Ji Hyo-yah? Do you still love him that much that you will forsake your own well-being? Jong Kook screamed in his head."Easier said than done," commented Jong Kook dryly. "What accident? A man should never lay a hand on a woman, no matter for what reason."

"Oppa, please," Ji Hyo begged.

“What did he threaten you with?” Jong Kook couldn’t stop himself even though he wanted to – the vulnerability in Ji Hyo’s eyes weren’t enough to stop his anger. “You didn’t answer me earlier – what did he threaten you with? Me? What did he say he would do to me?”

Ji Hyo’s eyes scanned the coffee shop quickly, afraid of eavesdroppers even though Jong Kook’s voice was very low. This wasn’t the right place to talk about it – no place was right to talk about it, period.

“Did he say he’ll ruin my career? Did he say that, Ji Hyo?”

She shook her head. She wanted so much to leave but she knew it would cause a scene if she left abruptly. Enough gossip was enough.

“No? So what did he say? That he’ll kill me? Well, he is very much welcome to try.”

“Stop taking this too lightly!” Ji Hyo hissed, slamming her hand on the table with a startling noise. Her peripheral vision saw that the barista and several waitresses whipped their heads toward their directions in an instant. She snarled and stood up immediately, walking past Jong Kook out from the coffee shop. She could hear Jong Kook following behind her, apologising to the waiters about their abrupt leave. There would be another gossip, she knew. Screw everything.

“Ji Hyo – hey, wait!” Jong Kook called out behind her. She didn’t slow down. “Seong Im-ah!”

While she was used to hearing Jong Kook calling her Ji Hyo-yah, the sound of him calling her by her real name stopped her short. She turned around and glared at Jong Kook but later let him catch up and walk beside her. She led him to a large park near the coffee shop and kept walking until they reached a quieter spot of the park that overlook the highway. They stood side by side in silence, looking out to the space while leaning against a wooden fence that separated the park from a short cliff leading to the highway.

“I hate you,” Ji Hyo growled at Jong Kook, still not looking at him. “I hate that you treat this like a joke. You don’t know what he is capable of.” She shuddered at the sudden image of Chang Joo towering over her in the bedroom and subconsciously scooted closer to Jong Kook’s side. “Oppa, Chang Joo Oppa is dangerous when he is angry.”

“I’m not afraid of him,” replied Jong Kook. He felt the younger woman moving closer to him and he let her lean her head on his arm.

“You’re stupid not to fear him,” Ji Hyo said quietly. Silent tears fell from her eyes, unnoticed by Jong Kook as they were both looking at the view before them. “I don’t want you hurt.”

“I can take care of myself. I don’t want you hurt – not anymore.”

“He’s not going to hurt me,” the woman tried to convince him; a useless attempt, she knew, because he wouldn’t believe her and for the right reasons. He had seen her in her worst state. “He’s not going to hurt either of us as long as you stay away from me.”

Jong Kook could sense the truth in her words. “Do you love him?” It was an off topic question and he was surprised that he was so bold as to ask her that. He felt Ji Hyo shrugged beside him. It was enough of an answer. “You know I am not staying away, don’t you? That I am here to stay?”

The woman sighed. “Kim Jong Kook, you are too stubborn for your own good,” she admonished.

“That’s what my Omma said about me,” Jong Kook replied nonchalantly and he heard a laugh – felt the laugh, as Ji Hyo was still leaning against his arm. The sound of Ji Hyo's laughter was a melody to his ear and Jong Kook realised that he cared that much for this young woman; enough to protect her from the big bad wolves of the world - at least until one day she found her true white knight, or until he found his own princess. Families protected their own, right?

“Your mother must be a very patient woman to have you as his son.”

“She has her moments,” Jong Kook said.

“Your future girlfriend has to be a saint to deal with you,” Ji Hyo went on, wiping away her tears as she spoke.  

Jong Kook could feel his heart pounding wildly in his chest when he realised that the topic flowed right into the perfect direction. His ears buzzed and Jong Kook found it difficult to speak. “You deal with me just fine,” he commented.

It was a passing comment and Ji Hyo wouldn’t think about it so much if it weren’t spoken with such a husky tone. She took a second or two to digest the meaning of his words and where he was going with this but it only left her more confused. Taking a step away from the man but not quite leaving his personal space, Ji Hyo looked up at his eyes for an explanation.

He could read the question in her eyes and yet he couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He swallowed an invisible lump that seemed to lodge in his dry throat while raking his brain for the correct words to say, the best way to explain his intention to her but what came out was only a simple, “Let’s be together.”

Ji Hyo blinked in shock. “What?”

Jong Kook cringed at the response. He scratched his head and berated himself for being so tactless. “I don’t –.. I don’t mean it that way. I mean... what I meant is...” he stuttered. Yah, Kim Jong Kook! You prepared for this! He couldn’t look at Ji Hyo out of shame.

“Did you just ask me to be your girlfriend?” Ji Hyo deducted, sounding really weird. When Jong Kook nodded, she took another step back as if wanting to create as much physical distance as she could with the older man. This was not the Jong Kook she knew.

“Ji Hyo, please – give Oppa a chance to explain?” he pleaded when he saw how uncomfortable she was now with him. Damn it, Kim Jong Kook! You blew it up!

“Oppa, I don’t understand,” she said. “You don’t even like me.”

And you don’t like me either. “No, not in that way,” Jong Kook replied truthfully. “I think of you as a sister, care for you enough as a family. I’m sorry for my bad wordings earlier, Ji Hyo – but would you please let me explain?”

Ji Hyo slowly nodded. She gripped the wooden fence in front of her very tightly that she could feel the roughness of the wood against her bare palm, scraping her skin. She welcomed the slight pain, though, as it would ground her to think more clearly. Jong Kook made her unable to think – he made her go crazy.

“I know this will sound crazy but I have been thinking of the solution to our problem and this is the only one that makes the most sense so far,” he began. Jong Kook decided that it was best not to look at Ji Hyo while speaking so he cocked his head to the side and looked at the highway instead. “I am worried about you – you can say anything but it won’t change the fact that I am really, very worried about you. I don’t know what Baek Chang Joo said to you about me, about what he is going to do to me, but to be honest – I don’t care. What I know is that he has hurt you and that is the only thing that I care about.” He shifted his weight to his other foot before continuing, “I can’t let it happen again. I want to protect you.”

“I can protect myself,” replied Ji Hyo feebly, her head started to spin.

Jong Kook smacked his lips together impatiently. “You keep saying that and yet you keep getting hurt,” he hissed. “How many times should I tell you that I hate to see you hurt?”

“About as many times as I tell you that I want you to back off so you and I won’t get hurt anymore?” she replied sarcastically.

“Can you be a hundred percent positive about that?” he challenged, whipping his head to see her. Ji Hyo said nothing. “No? Say – hypothetically, if I back off, if I leave you alone, are you sure that he won’t come back and hurt you again? Are you sure that there won’t be a ‘next time’? How far are you willing to go with this twisted arrangement, Ji Hyo-yah?”

Ji Hyo grabbed Jong Kook by the lapel of his jacket, yanked it so that they were in each other’s personal space “As far as I have to,” she roared. “This is my life, Kim Jong Kook! I decide what I want to do – I decide who I want to protect.”

Jong Kook took the chance to circle his arms around her waist in turn, keeping her in place without overly restraining her. “That goes both ways, you know. This is also my life we are talking about. I decide what I want to do – who I want to protect – and that is you.”

“Why, Oppa? Why are you doing this? You don’t even like me.”

“I told you before – and I’m telling you again now. I consider you as my sister and I won’t let anyone harm you. So, please, Song Ji Hyo, please let Oppa be a good brother for you, will you? This is only temporary – until you find the right man to protect you, the man that you really love.”

“The media...”

“Doesn’t have to know about our arrangement,” said Jong Kook. “If they see us together, they will automatically assume that we are romantically involved. We don’t have to confirm or deny, do we?”

“It will ruin your career, Oppa.” It will end mine.

“We don’t know that for sure.” And I don’t care. Looking straight into Ji Hyo’s eyes, Jong Kook said very softly, “Ji Hyo-yah, please let me take care of you.”

A drop of tear escaped the corner of Ji Hyo's eyes when she slowly nodded; she was so touched by the sincerity in his voice. She raised her hand to wipe the salty liquid away but before she could do it, Jong Kook had already captured the tear with his own calloused finger and brushed it away.

“Don’t cry, Ji Hyo-yah,” he whispered, finally pulling the younger woman into his embrace until there wasn’t any space left between them. “I’m not going to let you cry ever again – not on my watch.”

Ji Hyo laughed a little, snaking her arms around Jong Kook and revelled on how relieved it was to for once let go of her worries and let someone take care of her – even though it was only for show. “You sound like a dog, Jong Kook Oppa.”

“I’ll be your guard dog if I need to,” he said jokingly, perfectly aware that he was holding Ji Hyo very closely. He realised that he was never happier in his life despite the situation. This is only for show, Kim Jong Kook, he had to remind himself. She is not really yours – she is only a friend.

“Kim Jong Kook, you are going to break billions of your fans’ hearts,” Ji Hyo pointed out as she buried her head in his chest, inhaling his scent. Then, as if waking up from a dream, Ji Hyo realised that the man holding her wasn’t really her boyfriend – that actually nothing changed between them except for outside world. Awkwardly she released her hold on him and stepped backwards, blushing furiously.

“So are you, Ji Hyo-yah, so are you,” replied the man, oblivious to the fact that Ji Hyo looked flustered. He slid his hand into Ji Hyo’s smaller one and intertwined their fingers like he had done it million times before. For a moment he stared at their joined hands, fitting beautifully around each others’ and providing warmth. Jong Kook couldn’t help but smile; there were butterflies in his stomach and he didn’t understand why. “Come on. I did promise you that ice cream treat.”

A/N: Double update - as promised, first thing in the morning. I tried to do some cutting and editing on this part for continuation sake and it still reaches around 3,000 words. I don't know if this chapter will be satisfying enough (there are many misses and glitches, I'm sure, because of the cuts) but because someone on here tells me to be proud and stop apologising, so no apology for this one ;) 

Thank you for reading and please leave a word or two (or rather, an essay if you wish) about this chapter and let me know what you think. Tata for now, yours truly is going back to sleep.