Jong Kook knows he's been acting like an idiot, blindly overlooking Ji Hyo's poor attitude towards him. It's become a sick habit which is why resolves to treat her coldly during filming two weeks later. Two can play at that game, Ji Hyo.  

When she arrives on set, he gives her a short greeting before scurrying off to the FDs and trying to look preoccupied. When the members line up for Yoo Jae Suk's introduction, he stands at the opposite end of her. He smirks at the confused stares from the cast when they realize he's not standing the in his usual position. He looks to Ji Hyo's face, only to find her eyes glossed over. She didn't notice. Of course, she doesn't notice. Isn't it to be expected given the last few months?

During a break in filming, Jong Kook unloads from his van, a pile of snacks from his fans. He appreciates all the gifts from the mostly female army, but didn't they know he wanted to live forever? Why did they send him all this junk food?

With the help of his manager and the staff, boxes of Chocopies, Peperos, and various types of biscuits and chocolates were stacked on a plastic white table. Some were wrapped in paper dotted with hearts and teddy bears, others were decorated with colorful strips of ribbon and playful stickers.

Once word got out, the entire set (both on- and off-) flocked to the pile of treasure, grabbing at and fighting over the snacks like starving hyenas.

Jong Kook stares at his friends in disbelief as they transform into kindergarteners in front of his eyes. Haha and Kwangsoo take a sit on the soft grass, concentrated on breaking a chocolate bar into neat squares. Gary squints at the different flavors of biscuits written in Japanese, trying to discern if the green filling is wasabi or matcha. Jaesuk searches for packets of ramen along with Suk Jin. Ji Hyo plays with the ribbons and stickers decorating the gifts, pulling off all the decorations and affectionate cards and stacking them into a neat pile.

The muscled man is self-satisfied with the happiness he seems to have brought the others.

The actress busies herself with organizing the wrapping of Jong Kook’s gifts, half expecting him to scream at her for touching something so precious to him. She hasn’t been blind enough to notice the coldness from him today. Maybe she finally broke him. She finally got to his final straw. Maybe it was better this way not that he pretended like they were just acquaintances. It was what she was aiming for to begin with anyway. She’s sure this method will hurt less in the long run. Burn all the bridges before they get too deep.

She was stupid to think that he needed her friendship, needed her support. Seeing all the overly flattering fan notes made it quite obvious that there was no shortage, especially from the female species. He didn’t need her anymore, she repeats to herself again and again, as she leafs through the stack of letters and drawings.

Soon, the members disperse to search for flags as part of their individual missions. The first one to find the flag and reach the finish platform is the winner.

Ji Hyo heads for the hills where she’s positive the sly production team has hidden flags there. With her cameraman following, she sprints towards the rocky area, fueled by her sudden hatred towards her own helplessness.

She runs up the slope, searching through the low shrubbery and flipping over rocks. The actress tries to think like a crew member and rummages through everything that could be moved. After fifteen minute without results, she plopped down on a rocky ledge to take a break.

The dry winter air tosses around her hair as she glances at her surroundings. It is silent save for the soft crunching of twigs as her cameraman wanders, bored, and her labored breathing. At her elevated position, she can see the fields below. She spots their filming area, the parking lot, and the tent where they held their break. Despite that, she finds no signs of the members or anyone from the staff below. It’s like they deserted her, like they forgot about her.

The sinking feeling spreads and she begins to hunch in defeat. Is this what life was going to be like when she moved to the US? She’s not going to know anyone there and it’ll just be like this, like staring out into an open field. No one will even know of her existence to call upon her.

Those that she will eventually befriend in America will have to go through endless rounds of her scrutiny with repeated conversations only on safe, meaningless topics before she selects a few to venture with into deeper, darker topics. It’s a tiresome process, especially when she trusts so little to begin with.

Ji Hyo brings her legs up, resting her head against her knees. She’s scared about starting over, scared that she’ll fail. Scared that she’s already burned all bridges here, and there’s nothing left to do but move forward. She’s taken concrete steps towards her plan overseas, but why does the burden only feel heavier on her shoulders?

The winter wind blow once more, tossing her hair into knots, reminding her to conclude her session of wallowing. With a sign, she stands up again, much to the joy of her VJ because, honestly, he was getting really bored and starting to film twigs.

Resuming her hunt, she climbs up a nearby slope, grabbing the vines and bushes for support as she moves upwards. She spots an R sticker a few yards up and marches onward with renewed determination. Ji Hyo extends her hand outwards to hold onto the edge of the flag between her second and third fingers. She pulls hard on the flag and the dirt under her foot loosens, twisting her right foot and sending her tumbling down the hill. She lands with a groan, hearing the hurried steps of her cameraman. (He had elected to stay behind and film her from the flat ground. Smart man.)

She lays sprawled against the ground, staring into the blank sky. She blinks a few times as she regains her bearings. The face of her VJ appears in her line of sight, face marked with concern.

“Hey, hey, are you alright?”

It takes her a few seconds to process his words before she responds unceremoniously into his face, “”. She stuffs the flag into her pocket and closes her eyes temporarily to rub her hands across her face in frustration, unaware of the streaks of dirt she is now spreading across her cheeks.

The VJ swallows his smile and holds out his hand. The actress grabs it to hoist herself up. As soon as she places weight onto her right leg, she collapses again, falling into her male companion’s arms. Holding onto him again, she attempts once more, but with the same result. Having given up, she sits against his arms knowing he’s unable to support her entire weight and slowly sinks through them and onto the ground.

She leans against the slope she just fell down, needing to rest her mind. Ji Hyo hears a radio call to the PD reporting her injured status. Why can’t life ever give her a break? Hasn’t she gone through enough already?

Her pity party is over in thirty seconds when the VJ walks over to help her up. It was quite obvious that her individual race was over and she needed to wait in “jail” for the others. Leaning against him, she held onto his shoulders as she hops with her left leg. They cover the flat area and now are looking down the slope before the ground below. There was absolutely no way she was hopping down that, nor would her VJ be able to carry her weight.

“I’ll just slide down”, she tries to say nonchalantly as she sits on the uneven surface covered with rocks and vines. She swallows hardly as she prepares for a bumpy ride, using her left leg as a rudder to push herself downwards and pulling on roots to brake.

“Ji Hyo, Ji Hyo”, she hears and it’s not her VJ’s voice. She looks up from the dirt to find Jong Kook charging up to slope towards her.

Completely forgetting about her injury, she leaps up to circle her arms around his neck. He stumbles at the sudden weight before gathering her in his arms to pull her up.

“Jong Kook, Jong Kook”, she mutters as she smothers her face into his chest. His presence sparks tears of relief and she blinks them back.

He’s temporarily stunned by her sudden display of affection and the sweet wave of cherry blossoms that washes over him. She feels like the first rain after a long drought.

“Help me, help me”, she wakes him from his trance.

“What happened?”, he asks into her hair, pulling her tighter against him.

“I-I-I don’t know. I slipped and did something to my right foot”, she pushes herself away from him to point.

Not hearing a response, she looks up at him to find a goofy grin on Jong Kook’s face.

“What’s so funny?”

He cups her face with his right face and thumbs across her cheek.

Her heart thumps at his touch.

He shows her his dirted thumb.

“What?”, she quips.

“You have mud on your face like war paint.”

She shrieks in surprise and reaches for his jacket sleeve to wipe it off.

“Yah...YAHH!”, he protests but he extends his arm out to give her easier access.

The cameraman watches the intimate moment develop and can’t help but feel like an awkward third-wheeler. He coughs, but it’s masked by Ji Hyo’s giggling. He coughs once more without notice. Ji Hyo never listens to him anyway. And when she is around Jong Kook, she becomes his entire word. Dejected, he walks down the hill by himself. “No one ever appreciates the VJ”, he frowns.

Jong Kook carries Ji Hyo on her back as they steadily walk down the hill.

"Wow, you're not complaining about my weight, Jong Kook. You must've gotten stronger!"

"No, I think it's because you've lost weight."

"You think so? I wasn't even trying. Maybe my subconsciousness knows I'll need to fit into a wedding dress soon."

They both pretend that's true.

She notices him heading towards the finish platform instead of the medic.

“Hey, where are you taking me? Are you that desperate to win? You’re a terrible person for putting yourself over others, especially an injured one. You’re going to Hell for this”, she jokes, while hitting his shoulder.

He only ignores her and sprints towards the decorated area. Confetti flies in the sky and her name is displayed on the winner’s screen. It’s only then she remembers the flag in her jacket pocket that she realizes what Jong Kook’s done for her.

He lets her down on the nearby chair and she smiles at him in appreciation but doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t miss her slightly glassy eyes.

Within a few minutes, the remaining cast gathers around for closing before everyone disperses once again. Ji Hyo waits patiently on the chair for the medic to arrive.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”, Jong Kook asks with a gym bag slung over his shoulder.

She only nods, and he can feel her walls starting to come back up again. It must be his cue to go.

“Do you need help getting home?”

“No, I can hop around”, she tries to smile.

He looks around to find the area deserted. He begins in a softer tone, kneeling on one knee to speak at eye level with her. “You know, if you need help anytime, I’m here. You don’t need to try to handle everything on your own.”

She keeps her head down and only nods.

“Okay, I’m going then”, he trails off buying time and hoping for her to interject.

She doesn’t.

He stands up, gives a gentle pat on her head, and turns to walk away. Jong Kook takes a glance back to see her furiously wiping at her tears with her sleeves.

The medic greets him as they pass each other.

It’s 2am and Ji Hyo lays awake in her bed.

I’m sorry. I really haven’t been myself lately. There’s something I need to tell you.

Her thumb hovers over the ‘Send’ button. She pauses for a few seconds before turning off the screen and flipping it over on her nightstand. She rolls back into her covers, scooting far away from it. She stares at the blank black wall, wondering if there will ever be any action from her inaction.

Eventually, slumber, her trusted friend, comes to take her away.

A/N: Lately, I've been trying really, really hard to finish this story. I'm going to try to complete it by the end of this quarter D: I have 3-4 more chapters to go! Hold me accountable!! The end is coming...