“Ji Hyo ah, you could tell oppa about your problems.” He softened his voice.

“What problems oppa? I’m a strong independent woman now. I have absolutely no problem.” Ji Hyo stated that with confidence.

“Don’t lie. I know you’re lying.” He looked deeply in her eyes.

“Aishh oppa, I’m not lying. It’s not a problem at all. I have manager unnie and mom. I’m fine.”

“Tell me. Come on, tell me.”

“Ah oppa you won’t stop until I tell you, am I right?”

“Yup.”

“Actually, I don’t know why my friends left me. Maybe I was too busy with my job or maybe I was being a jerk to them.” Ji Hyo didn’t dare to look at Jong Kook’s face.

“Ji Hyo ah….” Jong Kook couldn’t say a word.

The Ji Hyo he always knew was a happy woman. Sometimes she was clumsy and harsh, but he never saw this side of Ji Hyo.  In the running man set, Ji Hyo was being treated like a man. She was strong and brave. She could do anything that the boys could do. But at this moment, in his house, on this cloudy Wednesday, he could feel the feminine side of Ji Hyo. He could feel her sorrow.

“I don’t even remember how it felt to talk with my girl friends. We used to gossip about unimportant things and talk about our careers. They are all gone now.” Her voice cracked.

“Don’t worry, you still have us.” Jong Kook tried his best to comfort her.

“Us?”

“The running man casts.”

“The running man casts don’t make me feel like a girl. They treat me like a man. You treat me like a man. Gary oppa is the only one who doesn’t treat me like a man. He treats me like a puppy.”

You are not going to cry, Ji Hyo. You’re a strong woman. You’re a tough woman. You don’t want Jong Kook oppa to see you cry, don’t you? Don’t let the tears fall, Ji Hyo!!  She encouraged herself. But holding back tears need a concentration. She didn’t say anything for a while, trying to gain back her confidence.

“Oppa will treat you like a girl from now on Ji Hyo ah.”

The words that came out from Jong Kook’s mouth sounded like a song to her. A beautiful song that she never heard before. She covered her face with her hands and burst into tears.

“Oppa didn’t mean to make you sad… Yah Ji Hyo, please don’t cry. Oppa is really sorry.”

Jong Kook thought he did a mistake and made Ji Hyo sad. But actually, he was comforting her. The last time Ji Hyo cried was two years ago when she was left by her friends. She never talked about it anymore since then. Not even to her best friend a.k.a. her manager. Now she felt free.

 But being alone with a crying woman didn’t feel good at all. You’re so stupid, Jong Kook! You shouldn’t have asked her about her friends. You really are a jerk. You always make women cry. This time it’s Ji Hyo ah. Aish, she’s definitely going to hate you!!! He blamed herself for making Ji Hyo cried.

“Ji Hyo ah, oppa is so stupid…” He held Ji Hyo tight in his arms and let her cried on his chest.

“Oppa, you didn’t do anything wrong.” She pulled herself away after she felt better.

“But you cried because of me, Ji Hyo ah. You cried because of oppa’s stupid words.”

“You told me you’re going to treat me like a girl from now on oppa. That touched me. I cried because I was touched.” She said trying to reassure him.

Jong Kook still wasn’t sure about what she just said. He still felt bad for making a woman cried. Now I see why I can’t get a girlfriend. I have a tendency of making women cry.

“Sing me a song oppa.” Ji Hyo smiled at him.

A song? In the middle of this situation?? Come on, I just made a woman cried. I don’t think my voice can get this thing right again. Despite of his incertitude, he sang one of his songs to Ji Hyo. It was called Men Are All Like That. He sang a few lines that sounded like this:

Men are all like that, I wouldn’t be any different
I valued you at first but then I flew away
Men are all like that, I wouldn’t be any special
I had all of your heart but then I flew away
Men are all like that

(Read more: http://www.kpoplyrics.net/kim-jong-kook-men-are-all-like-that-lyrics-english-romanized.html#ixzz2KiBd943i)

Ji Hyo loved Jong Kook’s voice very much. His high vocal range was stunning and she was really amazed by it. After Jong Kook finished the chorus part, JI Hyo clapped her hands.

“Oppa, your voice is so beautiful! I should bring you home and ask you to sing me this song every night before I sleep!!”

“You’ll get bored Ji Hyo ah.” He blushed.

“I won’t! I love the song very much!!”

“But the meaning has the opposite direction from what you expected, you know.”

“You don’t remember it, don’t you? Women are all like that, I wouldn’t be any different. I knew your heart but I hoped that you’d return” She quoted a part of that song.

Jong Kook was silent. He couldn’t find the right words to say. Ji Hyo just made him paralyzed. There is something in this girl. He thought continuously. He just kept looking at her face for a few seconds not knowing how to act.

“Oppa, what are you looking at? You’re scaring me.” Ji Hyo started to feel uncomfortable.

“Uhmm, nothing.” He said quickly.

“Oppa, I think I’m going home. I’ve been causing a lot of trouble for you today. Thank you so much for everything. I’m so relieved now!!!” She stood up from his seat.

“Ah it’s okay Mong Ji, thanks for accompanying me today.” He stood up to and smiled to her politely.

“When should I return your clothes oppa?”

“You can bring it with you next week to the running man set.”

“Okay. Once again, thank you so much oppa!” She smiled and grabbed her blue umbrella.

“Ji Hyo ah, I can drive you home if you want to.” Jong Kook offered himself to take her home.

“It’s alright oppa, I can take the bus. I’m too lazy to walk back home, it’ll took perhaps an hour.”

“Be careful Ji Hyo, bye.”

Jong  Kook watched her walked further away from his house. After Ji Hyo was gone, he closed the door and stood behind it for a quite long time. He tried to remember every single thing they did that day. Wondering did that really happen. Their friendship grew so much faster than he imagined. It took only two days for them to get close to each other. Now he already felt comfortable beside Ji Hyo.

Jong Kook took a deep breath and thought again. What would the two of them say when they met each other again next week for the filming. What would he say to her after having this heart-to-heart talk with her today. "Ji Hyo ah are you still sad?" He practiced what he was going to say several times, trying to find the right words to say. "How are you today, Ji Hyo ah? You look beautiful today." He still couldn't find the right thing to say. He wanted to sound normal but in a sweet way so she wouldn't feel like she was being treated like a man.

On the other hand, Ji Hyo was walking casually. She didn't think about Jong Kook any further. The streets were still wet but it seemed like the city people had started their activities again.

Oh my!!! Tomorrow is the valentine's day! She suddenly stopped when she saw a valentine's day decoration in front of a supermarket. Damn. I'm single. I don't need to worry about this kind of thing. Aaargh I'm so desperate. I wouldn't even mind spending a lot of money for buying chocolate. Too bad I had nobody to celebrate the day with.

But those pretty little colorful boxes of chocolate brought her femininity back on. She really wanted to buy one. So, she went in to the supermarket and bought a box of yummy-looking chocolate. She didn't know who she would give it to, but she could think about it later. Maybe I should give it to one of the running man boys. Jae Suk oppa will be great. But no, I can't give it to him. The rest of the casts will go overreacted about it. So it's better to give this chocolate to manager unnie later.

Her manager was waiting in front of Ji Hyo's house when the owner arrived. Ji Hyo was scared to death. Unnie wouldn't be mad at her, but surely she would lecture her about taking a walk in the rain is dangerous and all. So Ji Hyo walked faster and avoided eye contacts with manager unnie.

"YAH. Where were you, young lady?! You are so in trouble now." The manager said

"Unnie, I was just taking a walk." Ji Hyo didn't dare to look at her manager's face.

"Where?" She asked coldly.

"Nowhere, but then I met Jong Kook oppa, and he brought me to his house."

Her manager didn't say anything to her. So Ji Hyo got curious and encourage herself to look at the manager. Is she really angry? She never stays quiet like this before. But when Ji Hyo saw unnie's face, she really couldn't believe herself. Her manager looked really happy. Like, REALLY happy.

"Ji Hyo aaaaah, I'm so happy for youuu!!! You finally find the right person! What did you guys do? Did he kiss you Ji Hyo ah?"

Ji Hyo's heartbeat went so fast she couldn't even feel her body. She blushed and turned her head, trying to look at another direction shyly.

"Unnie, what are you talking about?!! It wasn't like that!!!"

"Don't lie to me Ji Hyo, whose shirt are you wearing right now? It's Jong Kook's, isn't it?? It looks too big for you."

But before she could defend herself, her manager grabbed her arms and took her inside the house. She forced Ji Hyo to sit on the sofa and gave her a curious look.

"Yah, I didn't know you two are having a relationship. Since when?? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"It's not that I didn't tell you earl-" Ji Hyo couldn't even finish her sentence.

""Ah, you're afraid of the CEO." Manager unnie nodded her head. She seemed to have her own story going on in her head.

"Unnie, listen to me!" Ji Hyo increased the volume of her voice.

Manager unnie's eyes were sparkling. She thought Ji Hyo would tell her about her relationship with Jong Kook. But she was disappointed to learn that there was nothing going on between the two idols. Ji Hyo told her everything about the morning incident.

"Unnie, here is a chocolate for you. I'm sorry I disappoint you but there is really nothing going on between me and Jong Kook oppa." Ji Hyo handed her the chocolate she bought earlier.

"Ji Hyo ah, don't be silly. Don't give this chocolate to me. You have to give it to someone special. It's not even valentine's day yet."

"But unnie, I don't have someone special."

"Yes you have Ji Hyo. You just haven't realized it."

"But unnie..."

Ji Hyo was really confused. What did her manager mean? She didn't get the answer right away because manager unnie refused to say a single thing about it. She said Ji Hyo would understand it by herself later. After drinking soju together for an hour or more, manager unnie fell asleep.

Ji Hyo, who was drunk at that time, reached her cell phone and called somebody.

"Oppa...."

"Ji Hyo ah? Is there anything wrong?" The man on the other side of the phone asked her.

"Sing me that song again, oppa..." She said weakly before she finally fell asleep.

"What song Ji Hyo ah?"

"....."

"Hello? Ji Hyo ah, are you still there?"

"...."

"Okay I'm gonna hang up the phone. I guess you're drunk."

Baek Chang Joo, Ji Hyo's boss a.k.a. her CEO, hung up the phone and shook his head in disbelief. She called me again. She really like soju, doesn't she. She always call me 'oppa' when she's drunk. But I'm actually just 'Chang Joo ssi' to her. He sighed and continued his work.