Ji Hyo was awake when Jong Kook returned to her hospital room after having made a call to his manager. The woman ignored his enquiry about her health and avoided looking at him; she asked her manager to leave them alone and waited until Sun Mi closed the door behind her before she finally met his eyes.

“Ji Hyo..., “ he began.

“He’s serious about everything,” she cut him off.

“What? Who?”

“Baek Chang Joo – he was serious. This was his first warning for us. For me.”

Jong Kook raised an eyebrow, wondering if Ji Hyo truly believed that Baek Chang Joo was the person behind the accident. “Ji Hyo-yah, it was only an accident,” he tried to reason. “Accidents happen, you know.”

“Not like that, no,” Ji Hyo countered quickly, “Accidents like that don’t just ‘happen’ in a set. The lamp had been there for hours and it’d picked just the right time to fall almost hitting just the right people? No, it wasn’t an accident.”

“You’re overreacting.”

“And you are stupid!” Ji Hyo raised her voice all of a sudden; her sudden outburst startled Jong Kook into speechlessness. Her breathing quickened as emotions overtook her and her voice cracked when she went on, “When are you going to learn that he isn’t someone you can understimate? How many coincidences – how many ‘accidents’ do you have to get ‘till you understand that this is serious?”

The older man stretched out his arms in front of his chest to calm her down, but she kept on going. “You don’t know how afraid I am for you; you don’t know how I keep looking over my shoulder even in my own house because I’m so afraid for my life!” Ji Hyo was openly sobbing now, “He attacked me in his office, goddammit – he attacked me in a building full of people! That’s how serious he is! He came to my house when I was asleep and attacked me in my room!”

Jong Kook felt as if he was stabbed with millions of knife listening to the woman in front of him. He took a couple of steps towards her. “Ji Hyo-yah...”

“No! Don’t ‘Ji Hyo’ me! You have no rights!” she snapped at him, “ you, Kim Jong Kook! You have no rights – you have no rights to call me ‘overreacting’ when you weren’t there to help me!” She hit his chest repeatedly until at one point the punches stopped; Ji Hyo held the front of his shirt in her fists and clinging to the material as if for dear life. Her barrage of words gave way into a pitiful wail as Jong Kook moved closer and pulled her into his arms.

He rocked Ji Hyo back and forth, murmuring apologies into her hair and didn’t stop even when her sobs had turned into hiccups. He could no longer think.

“I’ll make a press conference tomorrow,” Ji Hyo whispered after a while. She felt Jong Kook nod from above her. “I will give Chang Joo Oppa what he wants.”

Jong Kook tightened his grip on Ji Hyo as he was hit with a sudden wave of loss. “I don’t want to leave you to the wolves.” Not after what you just told me.

“We agreed,” Ji Hyo reminded him. “You promised.” She lifted her head from his chest and looked up. “And you’re a man of your word, aren’t you, Kim Jong Kook?”

Never in his life had Jong Kook wished he hadn’t been the kind of person who kept his promises; right now he wished that he was less honourable, that he had less manners. But what else could he do? He nodded reluctantly. “Your career...”

Ji Hyo smiled sadly. “What career?” she brushed it off lightly, but Jong Kook wasn’t fooled. There were fresh tears in her eyes as she said the words but she blinked them away. “If it’s to be over, then so be it.”

“Why?” Jong Kook asked; his throat was constricting painfully as he spoke.

“I’m tired, Oppa,” she admitted in resignation. “I thought I could handle it – all the gossips, all the hatred directed to me; I was wrong. I’m tired of being under people’s scrutinizing eyes.” She looked him in the eyes. “And I’m tired of lying.”

The muscular man was renderred speechless for some time. “I understand,” he finally said. He relented when Ji Hyo withdrew from his embrace, feeling very empty instantly when they parted.

They were silent for a while, busy with their own thoughts. Jong Kook was sitting on the chair next to Ji Hyo’s bed, massaging his temple; Ji Hyo lay on her back, staring at the ceiling and fiddling with with the hem of her hospital gown.

“Ji Hyo-yah,” Jong Kook called her name softly, breaking the silent.

“Hm?” she replied absently while keep staring at the ceiling.

“Is there anything that I can do to make you rethink your decision?”

Ji Hyo shifted to her side so that she was facing Jong Kook now. “We’ve had this conversation before, Jong Kook Oppa.”

“I know,” he said. He fidgetted with his hands, mulling over the words to say to her. “It’s just... maybe there’s something.” She shook her head. “Not even –... not even if I tell you that I love you?”

Ji Hyo’s eyes widened in surprise. He said what?! “What did you just say?”

“I... I love you.”

For a second, she lost her ability to speak. Her heart was tumphing wildly in her chest, with exhilaration at first. Then, as her brain caught up, the butterflies in her stomach were replaced by a painful twist that left Ji Hyo sick. “Get out!” she hissed in between gritted teeth.

Jong Kook blinked in confusion. This was certainly not the reaction he’d been hoping for. “Huh?”

The woman glared at him with fire in her eyes. “I said, get out!”

“Ji Hyo, I...”

“What do you think you’re playing at, Kim Jong Kook?!” How dare he use the word ‘love’ to manipulate her into doing what he wanted? Ji Hyo was furious – she felt so humiliated. “Love? You love me? All of a sudden? How convenient!”

He stood up and approached her, wanting to appease her anger, but it only sparked her fury further. “Ji Hyo, please – listen to me. I can explain.” He ducked when she threw a pillow at him.

“Get out!”

Her voice was loud enough to be heard by Sun Mi, who was sitting outside the room. She was instanly on her feet and entered the room without even knocking. She found Ji Hyo sitting up on her bed, shouting at the top of her lungs for Jong Kook to leave.

From the corner of her eye, Ji Hyo saw her manager enter the room. She turned to her. “Unnie, get him out of my sight,” she demanded. The actress was so grateful that her manager didn’t question her and quickly moved to Jong Kook’s side and firmly asked him to leave.

“Ji Hyo-yah,” Jong Kook tried again. He looked back and forth at the two women with pleading eyes as he was escorted to the door. The man took one last look at Ji Hyo before Sun Mi closed the door; he said, “Ji Hyo-yah, I really mean it.”

“ you and your words,” cursed Ji Hyo under her breath.

Sun Mi retrieved Ji Hyo’s pillow from the floor and gave it back to her, eyebrows raised in a silent question. The older woman couldn’t help but rolling her eyes when Ji Hyo avoided her gaze. “You two are the worst couple in the world,” she remarked.

“We broke up,” replied Ji Hyo.

“What?!”

“I’m giving a press conference tomorrow, Unnie. Please arrange everything for me.” She ignored the shocked look on Sun Mi’s face. “And please, don’t ask me questions now,” Ji Hyo added while covering her face with her pillow. Gosh, she wished she could just disappear. 

A/N: Annyeonghaseyo, everyone! It's been a year (or so) since I last updated. I'm sorry for that. I have a lot of things going on in my life. I'm back now but I really don't know how often I can update this story. I will finish it sooner or later, though - hopefully sooner rather than later. 

So, this is just some kind of an interlude, a short filling-in chapter before I continue with the plot. I hope you are still interested in reading it. Please let me know what you think of it (if you still bother reading, that is).

Anyway, let me know what's been going on with your lives lately :) It's nice to catch up with everyone on here. Until later, guys. Annyeonghigaseyo!