Jong Kook’s eyes lit up the moment Ji Hyo came into his view. It had only been a few days since he last saw Ji Hyo, but it’d felt like a thousand years. His heart quickened just the same with only a small glance. He was unable to tear his eyes off her, drinking the sight of the beautiful woman that had been occupying his mind. She looked so beautiful, even without makeup. No, Jong Kook corrected himself, she looks beautiful because she’s not wearing any makeup. He wondered how he could’ve been so blind all this time, been so stupid that he didn’t realize he’d been in love with Ji Hyo all along.

“Ji Hyo…” Jong Kook began, taking a step forward. He didn’t realize he’d moved until he bumped into Seong Moon, who stood tall between him and Ji Hyo like a guard dog. There was no trace of friendliness in the usually smiling face of the younger man as he persisted to be a living buffer between the two people.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

The tone was neither polite nor friendly. Seong Moon didn’t even use formal language when speaking, something that Jong Kook didn’t expect. “I…”

“You’re not wanted here.”

“Look, I just want to—“

“I don’t care what you want. You’re not wanted here, Kim Jong Kook-ssi,” Seong Moon cut him off harshly.

“Seong Moon, please. I need to talk to your sister.”

Seong Moon glanced at Ji Hyo, looking for a clue, but the woman said nothing. She didn’t even seem to be aware of her surroundings—her eyes were trained on Jong Kook. “My Noona doesn’t want to talk to you,” he said, stretching out his arm to block the way when he saw Jong Kook trying to move past him. “Stop! You’re trespassing our property, Kim-ssi. Which part of ‘my Noona doesn’t want to talk’ don’t you understand?”

Jong Kook’s patience was running thin, but it would be stupid to antagonize the young man even more, wouldn’t it? He gritted his teeth and jutted his chin out in defiance. “Why don’t we let her decide for herself then?” he challenged. Jong Kook craned his neck to see the woman standing motionlessly in the background. “Ji Hyo-yah, please?” I just need one minute. One minute? And then I’ll leave.”

Faintly, Ji Hyo thought he heard Jong Kook speak but she couldn’t make what he was saying. She was too deep in her thoughts—how did he know she was here? If he knew, then it meant that Baek Chang Joo also knew. What if he created another accident on Jong Kook’s way home? Her insecurities and fears spoke incessantly, and they were so loud they drowned every other noise from the outside. Then she heard him call her name. But that was all. She couldn’t catch the rest of his sentence so she shook her head to tell him that she wasn’t listening.

The two men took it as a negative answer. Jong Kook’s face fell, dejected, while Seong Moon looked smug. “See? She doesn’t want to talk to you. Now leave.” He reached for the handle of the gate and pushed the wooden frame close.

It was only then Ji Hyo grasp what Jong Kook had been asking of her—one minute of her time. She opened to say something, but nothing came out; her words were stuck in . Ji Hyo watched helplessly as the gate was closing, thinking how in a more metaphorical sense the gate represented the closing of whatever connection she might still have with the other man. Just before Seong Moon managed to push the gate close all the way through, though, Ji Hyo found her voice. “No, wait!”

At the same time, a booming voice came from behind her. “What’s all this noise?”

Ji Hyo swirled around, surprised to see her father at the door. The older man had one hand on his hip, looking sternly at her and Seong Moon. “A—appa…”

Even Seong Moon stopped in his track; his head turned so quickly it was a wonder he didn’t get whiplash. He mumbled unintelligibly when his father who it was at the door.

“It’s Jong Kook Oppa,” Ji Hyo filled in hesitantly despite knowing that it was only a rhetorical question. There was no way he didn’t know who was it—they had CCTV at the gate. She lowered her head, avoiding the scrutinizing look her father was giving her.

“Hmm… Kim Jong Kook, eh? Then what are you doing there, yah, Cheon Seong Moon?!” he raised his voice, waving a hand at his son. “We have a guest—don’t you have any manners? Let him in!”

“Aboji!” Seong Moon protested, sulking when his father glared at him. He opened the gate wider allowing Jong Kook to enter, albeit reluctantly. Seong Moon exchanged a glance with Ji Hyo before quickly closing the gate and scurried inside, dragging Ji Hyo with him.

Jong Kook’s eyes followed Ji Hyo’s retreating figure for a second, then he turned his attention back to the owner of the house. “Abonim,” he greeted meekly.

The use of the familial term made Ji Hyo’s father raise his eyebrows, amused. Keeping a straight face, the older man replied the greeting with an approving nod instead. “Come on in, Jong Kook-ssi,” he invited, leading their guest into the house. “I’m sorry about my children’s ill-manners. I didn’t teach them enough sense to treat a guest appropriately.”

***

Jong Kook soon found himself in an awkward situation—sitting on a sofa opposite Ji Hyo’s father and at the receiving end of Seong Moon’s unfriendly stare from the far side of the room. Ji Hyo was nowhere to be seen, but from the sound of it, Jong Kook suspected that she was in the kitchen getting them all some drinks.

“So,” the older man posed, “What brings you here to my house, Jong Kook-ssi?”

“I want to see Ji—eh, Seong Im.” He corrected himself mid-way.

The older Cheon smiled at the mention of Ji Hyo’s real name, thinking that Ji Hyo had probably told Jong Kook about his aversion on anyone calling his daughter ‘Ji Hyo’ in the house. Outside, she might be the actress Song Ji Hyo, but in his house, she was Cheon Seong Im—nothing else. “Well, you’ve seen her.”

It was perfectly clear where Ji Hyo got her mannerisms from; her father’s choice of words and the way he deadpanned was just like her. It was like Jong Kook was talking with an older, male version of the woman. “Yes, but I also want to talk with her,” Jong Kook said. He then added quickly, “That’s if it’s alright with you, Sir.”

“She’s an adult. You ask her yourself,” the man said, inclining his head towards something behind Jong Kook. “What do you say, Seong Im-ah?”

Jong Kook turned around. Ji Hyo was coming out of the kitchen balancing a tray with two glasses of barley tea on one hand—her other arm was still in a sling. Without thinking, Jong Kook stood up and took the tray away from her and put it on the coffee table in front of him.

“Aish.” Ji Hyo’s father clicked his tongue on seeing it. “Cheon Seong Moon, you useless boy! Did you actually let your injured sister get us a drink?” He waved his son’s mumbled apology and told him to just go to his room and stop eavesdropping.

Seong Moon left the room hastily, but not before throwing Jong Kook a murderous glare—a silent threat that he’d make Jong Kook suffer if he hurt his sister again.

“Now, where were we? Right—so, Seong Im-ah, this young man wants to speak to you; what do you say?”

Ji Hyo met her father’s eyes, reading the unspoken promise in the dark orbs: that he’d make sure Jong Kook leave if Ji Hyo decided she didn’t want to talk. Ji Hyo gave him a little smile, telling him that she understood and that she was grateful for his support.

“I just need a minute,” Jong Kook assured.

“She hasn’t agreed yet. You don’t even get one second if she says no,” the older man reminded him. “Seong Im?”

“We’ll be in the backyard, Appa.”

Jong Kook was flooded with relief. The tension that had been weighing heavily on his shoulders melted, and he felt his skin tingle with sudden warmth. Of course, he knew that it didn’t mean that Ji Hyo was going to accept him—or if he would even tell her again about him loving her—but the fact that she was still willing to talk to him was the first step in the right direction.

As he blinked, he realized that Ji Hyo was waiting for him. He stood up shakily, his legs felt like he’d been through a dozen leg days at the gym. Nervously, he followed the smaller woman through the house after he promised her father that they’d talk again before Jong Kook left.

***

“So? What do you want to talk about?”

Jong Kook was a bit surprised to hear Ji Hyo speak coldly at him once they were alone. Her face was impassive as she stood a few feet apart from him. For a moment, Jong Kook couldn’t find a word.

“How do you know I’m here?” Ji Hyo went on, not waiting for him to answer her first question. “Nobody knows I’m here.”

Jong Kook could swear there was a hint of fear in her last sentence. “Park Sun Mi-ssi told me,” he answered truthfully. “Please don’t be mad at her—I made her tell me.”

“How? Did you resort to threats, too?” It was a low blow. Ji Hyo noticed Jong Kook wince at that. She pretended not to see—her defense mechanism flared up.

“I waited for her outside your management building. No—Ji Hyo, nobody saw me there, I promise,” he said quickly before Ji Hyo could cut him off. “But that’s not what I want to talk to you about.”

“What then? If you just want to apologize, I heard it the first ten times—read the messages, too, before my dad took away my phone.”

“That’s not—… okay, that’s part of what I want to talk to you about. Wait, what did you just say about your phone?”

“My father took it away. He thinks it’d do me good to take a break from everything.” Ji Hyo shrugged. “He’s probably just old-fashioned, though.” They exchanged an amused grin for a second, then Ji Hyo sobered up. She sighed tiredly and walked to the edge of their backyard, seeing from her peripheral that Jong Kook was following but keeping his distance. “So, back again to my first question—why are you here? Your one minute was up a few minutes ago, Jong Kook Hyungnim.”

Jong Kook took a tentative step forward, trying to gauge Ji Hyo’s reaction, and was happy when the woman didn’t step away from him. “The accident. I want to talk to you about it.”

Ji Hyo didn’t expect that one. “What about it?”

“I know that you thought your ex-boyfriend was behind it.” The flash of fear in Ji Hyo’s eyes confirmed Jong Kook’s suspicion. “He didn’t. Ji Hyo, it was purely an accident. I wasn’t concentrating on the road. It was nobody’s fault but mine.”

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not. And you know I’m not.”

“I don’t know anything anymore.” Oh, God, Ji Hyo was so tired of crying. “You only said it to make me feel better.”

“Why would I cover for him if he was really behind this? It’d only make me an accessory to a crime.” Jong Kook moved closer to Ji Hyo, but not really touching. “Come on, Ji Hyo-yah, think about it—he didn’t even know which car we would be using. Heck, he didn’t even know that we’d be in one team.”

“You don’t know that for sure.”

“And do you?” Jong Kook asked, trying hard to lower his voice as not to draw Ji Hyo’s family’s attention. “Ji Hyo-yah…”

She shook her head. “You don’t know him as I do. You don’t know what he’s capable of.” Her hand reached out involuntarily, seeking Jong Kook’s. He intertwined their fingers and Ji Hyo looked at their joined hands sadly. “You’re my best friend, Jong Kook Oppa—no matter what happened between us. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I won’t.”

“You can’t promise me that.”

Jong Kook pulled her gently into his arms. They were not quite hugging, but Jong Kook could feel her warmth seeping into his skin through their clothes. “It’s you I’m worried about, you know. Whatever I do, or whatever I don’t do, you’re always the one who ended up getting hurt.”

“It’s my mess,” Ji Hyo pointed out, resigned.

“A mess that you wouldn’t be into if it hadn’t been because of me.”

She chuckled mirthlessly. “I’d still be in this mess either way. Do you think he’d just let me off that easily? You’re just collateral damage, Oppa.”

“What can I do?”

“Stay away from me?”

“Yeah, like that works the first time. And the second time. And the one after that,” he said sarcastically. Jong Kook looked around and saw Ji Hyo’s father at the window. He stepped away from Ji Hyo, motioning to the direction where her father was when the younger woman looked at him in confusion.

“He’s just worried, my Appa,” Ji Hyo explained.

“He’s got every right to be,” Jong Kook agreed. “I’m worried.”

“You’re not my dad.”

“I’m your boyfriend.”

Ji Hyo raised her eyebrows. “We broke up, remember? Actually, no—I broke up with you, as you kindly put it.”

“That was a mistake.”

“Which part?”

“All of it—us breaking up, me telling the reporters you broke up with me.” I love you, Jong Kook wanted to say, I love you.

“The mistake was us deciding to fake this relationship in the first place.” Ji Hyo smiled sadly. “I’ve ruined the both of us, Oppa. I’ve ruined our friendship. I’ve even tarnished your reputation. And for what? Purely my selfishness. We shouldn’t have done this.”

“We had this conversation before. In my mother’s house.”

“Yes, and where did it lead us? To the same conversation. In my father’s house.” She glanced at the window; her father was no longer there. Ji Hyo suppressed a smile. It was just like her father to hover in the background to make sure that everything was fine before then leaving them be. “This circle won’t break unless you leave me alone.”

“I can’t.”

“I’m not asking, Oppa.”

“Neither am I.” Jong Kook rubbed his face with both hands. “I can’t stay away from you even if I want to. Even if a thousand horses tried to pry me away from you.” I love you. “So please, don’t make me.”

“You know that what I’m asking of you is to stop pushing this fake relationship, don’t you? I’m not asking that you stop being my friend,” Ji Hyo asked. “Just… I need us not to talk publicly unless it’s about work. At least until I can figure out how to get out of this mess.”

“What if I want to stop being your friend?” I love you, Jong Kook was dying to say the three little words.

Ji Hyo threw him a warning look. “Oppa, don’t. We’re not going there anymore. We talked about this.”

“No. I’m serious. I lo—…”

“Don’t!” Ji Hyo pressed her hand on Jong Kook’s lips. “Don’t say it. Don’t.”

He pried her hand from his face and held it. “Why not? It’s true. Ji Hyo I lov—”

“No! Appa!” Ji Hyo nearly screamed for her father, pulling away so quickly that Jong Kook almost lost his balance. She gave him a tearful look before running into the house.

A moment later, Seong Moon walked out with fire in his eyes. His jaw was set and his fists were balled, ready to fight Jong Kook for making his sister cry. “What the hell did you do to my Noona?”

Jong Kook didn’t move as the younger man grabbed the front of his shirt and started to swing his fist at him. He closed his eyes, waiting. The impact never came. Jong Kook cracked his eyes open and saw Cheon Soo Kyung holding his son’s arm in a death grip.

“Get in,” he growled at Seong Moon. “I’ll deal with you later.”

“He’s hurting Noona!” Seong Moon roared.

“I said, get in!” The command was delivered in a low tone, but it was effective. Seong Moon released his hold on Jong Kook and left the scene without saying another word. Soo Kyung waited until his son had left before looking at their ‘guest’. “Follow me, Kim Jong Kook-ssi. We need to talk.”

A/N: A steady update means that I'm still emotionally unstable. But it's still a productive streak, so I welcome this distraction. Oh, and Ji Hyo's dad's name in this story is made up. Like I said, I'm tired of using epithets.