There was long, awkward silence after the greetings. The formality and use of honorific expression were like a slap for Jong Kook. He searched Ji Hyo's eyes for an explanation on the sudden change but there was only cold indifferent stare that met him.

 

"Ji Hyo-yah?" his voice came out a mere whisper, stepping closer to the younger woman.

 

"You don't get to call me that, Kim Jong Kook!" Ji Hyo whispered back, not wanting people to hear them. 

 

"Hey, we need to talk. What is wrong with you?"

 

Ji Hyo glared at the older man. "I don't want to talk to you now. You could have called if you wanted to talk," she grumbled then turned to leave after telling the PD that she was heading to the restroom. 

 

Ignoring the others and any possible gossips that could come up, Jong Kook was hot on her heels. He didn't try to stop her, knowing that she would stop when she found a private enough spot to talk - that was if she wanted to talk to him at all. 

 

Too immersed in his thoughts, Jong Kook nearly ran her over when all the sudden Ji Hyo spun around to face him. 

 

"I thought you were my friend," Ji Hyo growled in a pained tone rather than anger, pointing at his chest with a finger. "I thought you said you were going to be there for me! And yet I have received not a single phone call from you for the past few days."

 

"So this is what it was about? That I didn't call you? I was trying to protect you, Ji Hyo-yah," Jong Kook pleaded his case. "I thought it would be better if I didn't make any contacts with you."

 

"Oh please, Oppa. Better for whom? Do you know that by avoiding me altogether you have somehow confirmed the rumour of us being together?" she fired in annoyance. "I didn't ask you to be extra friendly and drop by every other day; that would be pushing it. But phone calls? I dont know how advanced the netizens and paparazzi are nowadays but I think phone calls and text messages are still private! Even Haha Oppa has more sense than that!"

 

Jong Kook went agape. He didn't think of that at all, too busy on his scheme to stay out of the radar for Ji Hyo's sake to consider other possibilities. 

 

"You don't get to call yourself my friend and then leave me in front of the lion's den, Oppa," Ji Hyo spoke so softly that Jong Kook had to strain his ears to catch the words. "You have no idea how crazy this past week has been for me!" She glared at him from under her lashes. 

 

"I...," Jong Kook had no words as everything Ji Hyo had just thrown in front of him was true.

 

"Oh Oppa, I am so angry at you now!" she growled impatiently, balling her fists and stomped in frustration. 

 

"I'm sorry, Ji Hyo-yah, Oppa didn't think."

 

"Clearly you didn't, Oppa," Ji Hyo affirmed readily; there was no malice in her tone, though. Jong Kook's expression was enough to tell her that he didn't avoid her to save his own reputation. 

 

They stood side by side without saying anything. Jong Kook looked around and saw at least three people craning their necks to 'spy' on them and he wanted so much to lash out to them. This was a private conversation!

 

"It's not worth it," Ji Hyo mumbled, seeming to be able to read his mind. "Besides, if they do talk it is your fault, Jong Kook Oppa. You're not supposed to follow me here, you know."

 

"You call me 'Sunbaenim'."

 

"You are my Sunbaenim. Do you prefer Ajjushhi instead?"

 

"Yah!" the older man admonished. Ji Hyo only smirked as a response and soon they fell back into awkward silence - both were acutely aware of where they were and how people might interpret this conversation. 

 

Ji Hyo was having her own inner battle at the moment. Yes, she was still disappointed at the man beside him, but on the other hand she could also put herself in his shoes and understand how much confusion this must have caused Jong Kook - especially given that he wasn't the type to draw people's attention by having scandals. She shook her head and let out a dry laugh, deciding to just let it go; she still wanted to be friends with him, anyway. 

 

"I was so close to march to your apartment to yell at you the other day," the woman admitted frankly.

 

Jong Kook exhaled audibly at the sudden turn of conversation; he leaned on the wall behind him. "What stopped you then?"

 

"I thought it would be more satisfying if I did it on the set," Ji Hyo said. She heard him snort and quickly she lowered her head to hide her smile. Who could be angry for too long to this Oppa?

 

"We're on the set now," he deadpanned. Ji Hyo said nothing at first and for a moment Jong Kook thought he was off the hook now. How wrong he was. 

 

"Yah! Kim Jong Kook!" Ji Hyo yelled with all her might, making the older man jump. She knew others would have been able to hear her but she was too busy laughing to care. 

 

"Yah! Song Ji Hyo, are you trying to kill Oppa?!" Jong Kook voiced his protest, his hand clutching his chest, "Aigoo, this woman!" Jong Kook could feel his heart soar at the sound of Ji Hyo's laughter and therefore had no heart to scold her. Instead, he asked if she was satisfied - if they were even now. 

 

"Not even close, Oppa. That would have been too easy," she said cheekily. "Let's see - I've been spending quite a time feeling angry at you last week so I guess you still owe me a lot, Jong Kook Oppa."

 

"How is that fair?" Jong Kook protested. "Did you know how much time I spent worrying about you last week? I'd say we're even, Ji Hyo-yah."

 

If Ji Hyo thought that there was something off with the statement, the woman didn't show it. She was just thinking of a come back when suddenly Jae Suk showed up from behind them. 

 

"Is everything alright?" Jae Suk asked, implying that he heard Ji Hyo's shouting at Jong Kook without any formal expressions. He looked at the two dongsaengs to read their expressions and frowned at the unexpected light air between them.

 

"We are okay, Sunbaenim," replied Ji Hyo. "We were just negotiating, weren't we, Jong Kook Hyungnim?" 

 

Jae Suk weren't sure if he saw right, but the two seemed very comfortable with each other. And Ji Hyo only called Jong Kook 'Hyung' when she was being playful so he thought that maybe the yelling earlier was just one of their crazy inside jokes. The senior sighed, realising that he didn't know how close the two people truly were outside the set.

 

He informed them that they were to begin filming soon and that the PD wanted to talk to them beforehand. Jae Suk noticed the change of air around them - how Jong Kook suddenly giving Ji Hyo a worried glance and how Ji Hyo quickly lost the playful spark in her eyes at the mention of talk. 

 

"It won't be that bad," he assured the younger people, "he just wants to make some things clear."

 

"He called me before; I think everything should be clear enough," said Ji Hyo grimly. 

 

Jae Suk patted her on the back. "Come on, Ji Hyo-yah. Don't be so defensive. I know the past weeks have been difficult for you but you have to remember that we are all here as your friends." 

 

She said nothing more and they followed Jae Suk in silence. She felt all eyes upon her and Jong Kook as soon as they approached the others and Ji Hyo had to remind herself to behave; it would do anyone no good if she couldn't control her emotion, no matter how tired she was of being under scrutiny.

 

True to Jae Suk words, the PD only wanted to confirm - as well as erasing all accusations and gossips - about Ji Hyo and Jong Kook's relationship with each other. 

 

"I have nothing to hide, PD-nim. And like I have said so many times before - there is nothing between me and Kim Jong Kook other than we are good friends."

 

The finality in Ji Hyo's words were enough to convince them all, or so Jong Kook hoped. He only wished that everything would be over  soon. Little did  he know that this was only the start of the spinning of his world.

 

 

 

 

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A/N: And I have to cut it right here because the chapter is too long already. Thank you for those who are still with me in this :) as I said before, there will be sparser update because I have only around 5 buffer chapters left (panicked mode: on) and I want to write more chapters before I post more, in case something stupid happens that prevent me to write. 

Thanks for joining the ride; I hope it meets your expectation. Please leave a comment when you can, I'd like to know what you think and what your speculation is for the story. *bows*

Ps. I've been listening to some KJK songs when writing this story and they give me some inspiration. Care to guess what songs? ;)