"Appa, I heard eomma is sick. Is that true?"

Jong Kook was talking with his father on the phone. He was at the running man set, and the casts were having a break. He stood far away from the boys, hoping that his conversation wouldn't be heard by anybody.

"Should I come home tonight? I can ask Jae Suk right away you know."

His mother was always fine before, in fact, she was really fit. But that morning Jong Kook received a message from his sister saying that their mother got sick. He was going to call his appa right away but the filming was going to start soon. So he waited until the lunch break to make a phone call. He was scared to death. He kept on seeing his eomma's pale face in his head.

"It's okay son, continue your work there. You don't have to come back home. She's fine here. It's just a fever, she'll get better soon."

"Are you sure, appa? Just call me if she gets worse, okay?"

"Yes, she'll be fine. Don't cry ah deul. You have to look handsome for your fans."

"Ah, I'm not crying appa!!"

Jong Kook was actually pretty relieved that his eomma's illness wasn't really bad. He thought she was unconscious or something. He spent his morning worrying so much that he took a long time to finish every challenge. Now he was going to spend the rest of his day trying to catch up on the other casts. After speaking with his mother for awhile, he said goodbye to her and spoke with his father again.

"Appa, promise me again. Tell me if she gets any worse, okay? You take care too appa."

"Don't worry about us. You should worry more about yourself. Get a girlfriend and get married, you're already 36 now."

"Come on appa, it's not the right thing to discuss now. Tell eomma I'll call again tomorrow. Bye appa."

He ended the phone call and headed back to the filming set where the casts were having lunch now. Haha, Kwang soo, Suk Jin, Gary, and Ji Hyo were joking and eating together. Jae suk was busy talking with the PD. They were having such a good time together. On the other hand, Jong Kook felt so lonely. Maybe it was because of the phone call.  More precisely, the married talk. He'd been struggling with his love life since he entered the age of 30. He dreamed of a girl that could make his life more colorful. By that time, he was sure that he would be happier to have a romantic date every day, instead of working out in the gym for long hours to build muscles. But those muscles were really useful, though.

"Oppa, rest  your muscles a little bit, come on let's have lunch together!" Ji Hyo moved aside a bit, providing Jong Kook a place to sit next to her.

"Thank you Ji Hyo ah. But oppa isn't hungry."

"Hyung, you should eat. Your muscles will shrink if you don't give them something to eat!" Haha hit Jong Kook's muscles, followed by laughter.

He smiled a bit. A little joke can help, he thought. He sat next to Ji Hyo and stared at her for a few seconds. Well, Ji Hyo ah is a girl. She's pretty and kind. Should I marry her? .... What the hell are you thinking Jong Kook! You barely know her!! You can't marry a random girl. He quickly erased that thought from his mind.

"What are you looking at, oppa? You're scaring me." Ji Hyo gave him a strange look. He looked away pretending that he did nothing wrong.

"Don't you dare having a crush on my Ji Hyo!!" Gary said with a made-up anger.

"It's tuesday, Gary oppa!"

"They should made us the tuesday couple, Ji hyo ah." Jong Kook said with a flirty voice, trying to make Gary jealous.

"Oppa don't say it like that. We could be an every day couple instead, you know!" Ji Hyo grabbed Jong Kook's arm and gave Gary a cunning smile.

Those silly jokes did make Jong Kook's feeling better. The running man casts were just like a family to him. They knew there was something wrong with him and making jokes were on of their ways of bringing Jong Kook's mood good again. As soon as the casts finished their lunch, the filming started again. They went to a huge building to finish their last challange. Taking off the other team members' name tag.

When the game ended, the casts were all so tired, so they went straight home after the filming was over. Jong Kook was planning to go straight home too. He walked down the parking lot and went into his car. But when he was starting the car's engine, someone knocked its window. It was Ji Hyo. She looked a little bit worried and also tired. Jong Kook opened the window to let her speak.

"Oppa, my manager can't pick me up and I didn't bring my car today. Everybody has left and I don't know is there any public transportation from here or not. So I'm wondering, can I come with you? You can drop me off at the nearest bus stop." She said casually.

"Sure, come on in, Ji Hyo ah."

She sat on the passenger seat next to Jong Kook. It was hard for them to start a conversation, so it was very awkward at the beginning. Ji Hyo couldn't stand that kind of silence so she started to ask Jong Kook about his behaviour earlier.

"Oppa, aren't you hungry? You didn't eat at all this afternoon."

"I'm fine Ji Hyo ah. Oppa ate a lot this evening."

"Aishh don't lie oppa. I saw you. You didn't finish your dinner. I know you're very concerned about your diet, but not eating is not good for your body too, oppa."

"Ji Hyo ah, oppa is fine. Don't worry. I'm just having a little problem."

"You can always tell me about that. I'll listen. I've always wanted to be your friend, you know. I saw you today before lunch. You were on the phone with someone. I guess that conversation was the one that made you feel troubled because after that you looked even more depressed than this morning. I was surprised you almost couldn't finish this morning's challenge."

"Is that really obvious? I thought I was acting pretty good."

"You acted good. But I'm a good observer."

"I didn't know you were paying that much attention Ji Hyo ah."

"Jong Kook oppa!! You can drop me off here! it's the bus stop! Ah you missed it, oppa.... Well, it's alright, you can drop me off here. I can walk back to the bus stop, it's only a few meters away."

"Yah Mong Ji, I'm not that cruel. It's already late at night, Oppa won't let you go home by yourself. It's too dangerous."

"Ah, thank you very much oppa."

"No problem. Just tell me where your house is."

"Okay. But I think it's quite far from your place oppa."

"Oppa is a grown up man, Ji hyo ah. Distance isn't a problem at all."

"I see.... So if distance isn't a problem at all, what is a problem for a grown up man like you, oppa?" Ji Hyo .

Jong Kook smiled. Speaking with Ji Hyo was not boring at all. A problem for me is: being told by appa to get married soon, he thought. Well, he spoke his thought too loud. Jong Kook was really surprised when he realized that the sentence really came out from his mouth.

"Well I'm having the same problem. My mother told me to love more and work less, but... you know this is my responsibility. Moreover, I haven't found the guy."

"You'll find one someday Ji Hyo ah."

"Yah oppa, tell that to yourself!! I'm not the one who is desperate!!" She laughed.

"Soon you'll be." Jong Kook .

After explaining to Jong Kook the way to her place, Ji Hyo fell asleep. They had such a tiring day and Jong Kook couldn't wait to throw himself on the bed and have a good night sleep.