Jong Kook tried to understand Ji Hyo's question. What held us back? So is she trying to say that we should be together? Fear crept into his mind. He suddenly could see his ex-girlfriend’s face in front of him. He could feel all the sorrow he felt when he went through his break up. That was the thing that held him back all this time. Fear.

“That’s the thing, Ji Hyo-ah. I like you, you like me. But you don’t love me.” Jong Kook stopped and continued again, “and I don’t love you.”

Ji Hyo touched her forehead and took a deep breath. She was really hurt to hear that and Jong Kook knew about it. He really didn’t want to hurt her, but that was the truth. He did like her, but he didn’t love her. He didn’t want to take the risk and ask her to be his girlfriend. He was scared that their relationship wouldn’t work out. The man messed up his hair, thinking that he couldn’t handle another breakup.

“It’s not that oppa doesn’t love you. Oppa was just… afraid. I’m afraid of making mistakes, I’m afraid that our relationship wouldn’t work out—“ Jong Kook tried to defend himself but Ji Hyo cut his sentence.

“You’re just afraid of falling in love.” Ji Hyo said coldly.

“No, I’m afraid of losing you.” He knew Ji Hyo didn’t feel happy about it.

“You’re not afraid of losing me, Jong Kook oppa. You’re afraid of losing yourself!” Ji Hyo stared angrily at Jong Kook. The woman could only hold her breath and bit her lips to control her emotion.

“Okay, that’s it. Even if we had a relationship, it wouldn’t work out. Look at you, look at me.” Jong Kook couldn’t control his breathe. His heart raced so fast that he could feel his own heartbeat.

Ji Hyo didn’t say anything. There was nothing else to say. She forced a smile, hoping that she wouldn’t cry.

“Oppa, just take me home now.”

Honestly, Jong Kook was surprised to see her smiling like there was nothing happened. He couldn’t believe how strong she was. The man didn’t say anything, although he realized that he was being a jerk to her. He couldn’t believe the words he said earlier too. That was the first time he yelled to a woman who actually liked him. Somehow Jong Kook regretted it. But he knew it was the best thing for now.

The two persons didn’t talk to each other for weeks. They acted so good on Running Man filming that no one could realize that. But after the filming was over, they avoided each other again. Incredibly, everyone was being insensitive about that. The running man casts didn’t notice that when Jong Kook came to dinner with them, Ji Hyo would skip, and the other way around. Honestly, they both suffered.

Ji Hyo didn’t tell this problem to anybody, not even her manager. After the day she lied to her boss, Chang Joo never tried to get near her again. He kept his distance. Sometimes Ji Hyo thought that maybe her boss knew that she lied to him. But she kept telling herself that it was impossible for him to notice the lie.

Despite of her problem with Jong Kook, Ji Hyo still liked him. She didn’t hate him at all. She even listened to his songs every night before she went to sleep. She kept wondering was he thinking about her too. Sometimes Ji Hyo stared at her phone, looking at the older man’s picture or wondering wether she needed to call him or not. He hated me. He wouldn’t answer my phone. He wouldn’t even want to see my name. Ji Hyo sighed and lay on her bed.

Suddenly, a woman came to her bedroom with a big smile on her face. It was Ji Hyo’s manager. She sat on the right side of the bed and stared at Ji Hyo with excitement.

“Aiishh Ji Hyo-ah, Chang Joo oppa is going to take me to dinner!!” She shook Ji Hyo’s body and kept laughing. But Ji Hyo seemed to be bothered with it, although she was a bit shocked to hear the news.

“Aren’t you happy for me?” The smile on her face suddenly disappeared.

“I’m happy for you, unnie…” The younger woman forced a smile.

“Come on, what’s wrong with you?? I thought you’ll be fine if I date him.”

“Yeah, of course it’s fine, unnie.” But Ji Hyo still didn’t look good. She changed her position so Sun Mi could only see her back.

“Yah Ji Hyo-ah! You dumped him to be with Jong Kook, now you’re mad at me for dating Chang Joo??!” The change of tone in Sun Mi’s voice made Ji Hyo realized that her manager was angry.

“It’s not like that unnie! I’m one hundred percent happy for you too. It’s just that I’m having a bad week.” She turned her body to face her manager. But then she noticed something.

“Wait. How do you know that I dumped Chang Joo oppa to be with Jong Kook oppa? I didn’t remember telling you about that thing, unnie.” Ji Hyo’s eyes widened. That was the moment she knew that Chang Joo knew she lied. She felt really bad for him.

“He told me you lied to him because he stalked you to the park. But he is fine now, don’t worry too much Ji Hyo-ah. You just owe him an apology.” Ji Hyo was relieved when her manager told her that.

“But forget about my relationship with Chang Joo—which is getting even better every day, for your information—what’s up with you and your Kim Jong Kook?? I am dying to ask you this since two weeks ago, but I thought it would be better to give you guys some space.” Sun Mi said, laughingly.

“He... he kinda rejected me.” Ji Hyo sat on her bed and gave her an awful smile. Anyone would know that she was really hurt when she said that. Sun Mi looked down, ashamed of her own question. She felt she was responsible for making Ji Hyo sad, although she didn’t do anything wrong.

“It’s alright, unnie. I’m fine now… Men are all like that. Let’s just get up from this bed and watch tv, okay?”

Ji Hyo got up from her bad and walked to the living room. Unfortunately, the first thing she saw when she turned up the tv was Jong Kook’s face. He was singing one of his songs live on a stage. Once again Ji Hyo sighed. Things will be alright Ji Hyo, you have to be strong.

Tonight’s show made Jong Kook felt really tired. He rushed in to her house only to find that his phone was ringing. He lazily picked it up and sat on the sofa. He thought it might be Jae Suk or Haha but all he heard was his appa’s voice.

“Ah deul, you sang beautifully tonight.”

“Thank you appa. How are you doing? You don’t sound good.” Jong Kook noticed that his father’s voice was weak.

“I’m alright, but your eomma is not. This time, it’s for real.”

The son stood up from his seat and rushed to his with his phone in his hand. He panicked and dropped some stuff on the floor. Jong Kook was a nice son, he really worried when he heard the news. There was nothing else in his head except for one thing: driving all night long to his hometown.

“Okay, I’m coming back home, appa.”

A/N: okay, I didn't reread this chapter so please just ignore all the mistakes. I know, I'm really unprofessional. But I'm having an exam tomorrow so now I can't be in front of my computer for too long. Wish me luck!

Anyway, I suppose this is not what you guys expected in the first place. You maybe think that this chapter would be all about the lovey dovey  thing and I'm really sorry for disappointing you. But I won't be too nice to Ji Hyo and Jong Kook :)