Two weeks later, it was time to shoot the next couple of Running Man episodes. As always, Yoo Jaesuk was first on set, prepping himself for the initial introductions and jokes. Shortly after, he noticed the caravan of his character-nemesis Kim Jong Kook arriving. He smiled as he watched his dedicated dongsaeng exit and they exchanged energetic waves. Knowing the other members were beginning to roll in, Jaesuk shifted his attention to talking to the various PDs and VDs to gain a better understanding of the missions. It had already been a few minutes and he was fully expecting to hear Jong Kook ramble on near him by then, but he was nowhere to be found. He looked around curiously, only to find the han namja carefully walking towards him, pumping ferociously with his muscular arms. Another minute passed before the two leaders met face to face.

Jong Kook was greeted by Jaesuk’s infectious laughter and mocking of his arm movements. “What is that?”, his hyung joked.

“I can’t run because of my knee, but I really wanted to see you”, Jong Kook explained while lightly hitting down the elder’s arms.

Jaesuk glanced downwards towards the knee brace on his left right leg, “What is it this time?” By now, all the smiles had disappeared and it had grown serious.

“I hurt it last week from lifting. I’m just keeping this on until surgery in two weeks. It helps me distribute the pressure on my knee so that it doesn’t hurt as much”, Jong Kook explained.

“Take it easy today, you hear? I know winning means a lot to you, but your health is number one. Don’t hurt yourself even more. It would be working against all your efforts for physical health. It's not worth it living 'til 200 if you're stuck on a wheelchair, got it?”, Jaesuk warned, concerned.

Before the discussion progressed, they heard the coarse voice of Haha echoing in the distance and the two shifted back to their cheerful demeanor to welcome him, who was soon followed by the others as they grouped in order of arrival to converse amongst themselves. Like usual, Miss Mong was also Miss Late more often than not, and stood at the end, talking with Gary and Gwangsoo.

After hearing her light giggle, Jong Kook glanced up from Jaesuk, finding her at other end, laughing heartily. He smiled from the other end of set, though still mildly jealous that the others were able to make her so inexplicably happy without him. He saw PD Jo checking the cameras one last time. Filming must be starting soon. He wondered if he’d get to speak to Ji Hyo before she went home that day.

Minutes later, the PD was calling out final instructions while the members shifted and prepared for the cameras to roll in 5...4...3…Jong Kook suddenly he felt a warm arm circle around his. He looked down to find Ji Hyo wrapped next to him, unaware of his bewildered eyes as she listened intently to the PD, her head facing forward…2…This woman should really be more conscious of actions. He was sure his face looked like a ripe tomato right now…1…Oh well, too late…Cue!

He tried to maintain his composure as he watched the camera lens face him despite his racing heart. His skin burned where in contact with hers, tingling with life from nervous infatuation. Unable to unloop his arm or talk to her about it since it would only draw attention to the situation that he was trying so hard to act normal about, he became painfully aware of every jittery muscle in his body that he was unable to control.

Noh Hong Chul was the guest today and burst from the filming crew to reveal himself in flamboyance. While the members clapped and cheered in surprise, Jong Kook took a quick second to sneak a peek at the woman beside him. She was still looking ahead, eyes focused on Hong Chul’s crazy dance with a sly smirk on her face. He nudged her with his elbow and watched her smile grow wider, though still avoiding his eyes and felt her arm squeeze tighter around his. He huffed in childish frustration as he reached over and pinched her side, promptly feeling her eyes shoot daggers into him, which was accompanied by a swift kick to his shin. The flustered man thanked the variety gods that the cameras only captured from their shoulders up and evidence of their horseplay was vaporized with each passing second.

The mini-missions each contributed to a portion of the final prize that would be awarded to the winners of the last round. The final was set in Yeouido Park with spies selected for each of the two teams. On Jong Kook’s team were Gwangsoo, Hong Chul, Haha with Ji Hyo as the spy, while on Jaesuk’s were Gary, Suk Jin, and Ji Hyo with Haha as the spy. The spies, by assignment, were on the opposing team and were the only ones who knew the location of the prize which they only had an hour to retrieve. It was a simple nametag-ripping game, but the spies’ names were kept secret. Both teams had to figure out their respective spies and prevent their nametags from being ripped in the process or else it would mean for a very painful, meticulous search for the prize.

Fifteen minutes in, there had already been three eliminations: Suk Jin, Hong Chul, and Gwangsoo.

Ji Hyo crept along the trees that surrounded the open field, wary of any sudden sounds. She needed to survive long enough to communicate with her team. From a distance, she watched Gary sprinting through the grass screaming, “Don’t rip my name tag! What if I’m your spy, what if I’m your spy?!?”, which was soon followed after by a determined Kim Jong Kook who saw straight through the other’s lies.

“Yahhh, we all know that you can’t lie! You think I’ll believe you today?”, he roared, chasing after the desperate rapper. The woman giggled in the background as she watched the Commander and Sudden-commander running closer into her view. Gary had already passed her hiding spot and was quickly disappearing into the distance to the left when she heard a yelp of agony from her right.

Her head snapped towards the sound to find Jong Kook not even having reached her hideout amongst the trees. He was crouched over with his hands nursing his right knee. She watched him try to walk it off with a noticeable limp, and within a few steps, he stopped again in pain and bent over to massage it again. Ji Hyo watched his many futile attempts, each time feeling her heart sinking a little deeper. In the end, he settled with limping across the wide field. It was only when a cameraman started nearing Jong Kook that he suddenly started running despite the clear grimace etched onto his face.

No longer able to watch his suffering any longer, Ji Hyo burst out from the trees, giving both the VJ and Jong Kook a good scare. “Stop, oppa, stop!”, she yelled, clinging onto his arm and trying to pull him to a stop. He tried to swing her hands off, but she hung on tightly with both arms, practically dangling herself on his bicep. After a few steps, he finally stopped and turned to give her an angry glare.

“What are you doing? You want to save your Monday boyfriend from me, right?”, he questioned.

He could not be any more wrong. Gary was the last thing on her mind.

She noticed the lens of the VJ’s camera in her peripheral vision and turned to the crew member. “Could you go film Gary oppa please? I don’t think there’s anyone following him. We’re just having a chat here. There won’t be anything worth taping”, she persuaded. And with a few bats of her eyelashes, the cameraman was gone.

As soon as he was out of sight, she turned off her mic and looked to Jong Kook expectantly, as he also reached down to turn his off. She worried that Jong Kook may have thought that she was up to no good again, but really, she just wanted to have a sincere conversation with him without the thought of others listening in on them.

She bent down to feel his knee brace and massage his knee. “Why are you running, oppa? You know it’s not good for you”, she looked up at him accusingly.

Jong Kook stepped out of her grasp, still noticeably frustrated at her actions. “Leave me alone. I can run if I want”, he countered.

“You know it’s only doing more harm to your body”, she replied, following him and trying to inspect his knee once again, which he promptly avoided by turning away.

“You think I don’t know that”, he answered pointedly.

“Well if you know that, why are you still running around? I know it hurts so don’t pretend like it doesn’t”.

“Because I have to run.”

There were a few seconds of silence when Ji Hyo tried to process his curt words to determine his motive. Could he be as naïve as she thought? “Is it only because you want to win? Are you really that desperate to win?”

He didn’t answer.

“Seriously, oppa? You’re willing to do this just to win? It’s just a silly prize in the end. You know that, right? This is all just a TV show, so you don’t have to take it so seriously. Whatever happens here will not transfer to reality”, she probed, genuinely amused at the simplicity of his reasoning.

He turned around suddenly to face her, arms still crossed. The anger still clearly visible in his eyes, but with it, surrounded by another unexplainable emotion. “Yes, it may seem like a silly win for you, but what am I without it? Who is Kim Jong Kook without the power and unrelenting nature?”, he challenged.

“You are still Kim Jong Kook even without it. I’m sure people will still recognize you. You can be Kookie for the time being, right? Don’t be so hard on yourself”, she reached up to pat his shoulder, but he quickly dodged it and her hand dropped through the empty space.

“Well, we all know that I’ve already peaked as a singer and my other TV show is only mediocre. People nowadays only know me as the commander from Running Man. If I don’t live up to their expectations on this show, then how can I expect them to live on? How will I survive in this industry?”, he argued, finally venting all the internal battles that had been mounting since his injury.

“Don’t say that. You know better than that”, the unsuspecting woman counseled the veteran entertainer, her hands clasping onto his right arm, tugging on it, pleading him.

“Let go. You’re not helping anything”, he shook off her grip.

“What do you keep denying me? What’s so wrong with me wanting to help?”, she tried to reach for him again, but swung his arm out of the way.

“Because your words aren’t going to change my predicament. After my surgery, I’ll have to stay off of it for six weeks, so I’ll be pretty much useless in Running Man. And when I return, what if I have to adopt a new character now, and it doesn’t fit in with everyone else’s? What if in this time, I am replaced by someone more suitable for the show? The last thing I want to do is destroy Running Man while stubbornly trying to regain my past glory from someone more deserving of it”. He hadn’t meant to be so rude to Ji Hyo, but he was so frustrated by all the thoughts that were tangled inside him. And now that he had finally voiced them out loud, physically hearing it felt so much more damning. Somehow she had reduced his indestructible demeanor down to openly admitting some of his deepest fears. As he shouted back at her, he could catch a small glimpse of tears forming in her eyes. Great. Now he had scared her to tears.

“Why do you have so little faith in yourself? You’ve already been through so much. You’ve already survived your Turbo days, and this cannot compare to your situation then. Why do you think you can’t make it out of this one?”

“Because Ji Hyo-ya, my time in this industry is dwindling. I can’t just push off my failures and say that I’ll do better next time. Week by week, there’s growing chance that there is no next time. I have to treat each opportunity as my last one, so don’t blame me for trying my hardest each and every time. Winning is about self-validation for me. It is my only source of confirmation that I am still doing the right thing.”

“Do you really think that you’re unappreciated in these circles? You think just because you’re inactive for a bit that people will forget you?”, her voice cracked halfway. By now, tears were streaming down her cheeks and she looked up at him through blurry eyes. She wanted to show him how wrong he was for believing those self-demeaning words.

Dammit. He was never good with women, especially crying ones. They weren’t close enough for him to be wiping her tears in public, but he had to do something other than what he was currently doing—standing awkwardly and watching the girl cry on her own—like the biggest jerk on Earth since he was the one who caused it. He gingerly stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly against his chest.

“Sorry, Ji Hyo-ya, sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. The last thing I want to do is make you cry.”

She nuzzled her face into him to hide and wipe her tears on his shirt, feeling his strong arms pulling her close. “Don’t you ever say that again, okay? Do you know how many people look up to you? Yes, you’re prized for your resilience, but it’s okay not to be perfect all the time. No one expects you to actually be all-capable, you know.”

Suddenly, “Gary, out. Gary, out” reverberated through the park, shocking both Ji Hyo and Jong Kook out of their thoughts. As they turned to look at each another, a sly smile developed first from Ji Hyo and then spread to Jong Kook at his realization that she was indeed his spy, reasoning that it would be unlikely for Jaesuk, the other team leader to also end up on his team. With renewed vigor, they developed a final strategy to win the match, deciding that she would remain hidden while he battled it out with the others.

And as he watched her run away, he appreciated that it was the first time she had responded to his affections and reciprocated them as well. He smiled, comforted by the fact that had not been empty gestures after all.

There were only four people remaining: Jaesuk, Jong Kook, Ji Hyo, and Haha, and it was obvious who the spies were to the team leaders, both of whom elected to hide while the leaders battled it out for the win. Ji Hyo crouched back into her hiding spot amongst the trees, her eyes trained on the disappearing figure of Jong Kook as he walked towards Jaesuk’s unofficial territory. Within a matter of minutes, “Yoo Jaesuk-OUT, Yoo Jaesuk-OUT” rang out and Ji Hyo sprung out from her hiding spot after her team leader to assist him with taking down Haha.

Nearly out of breath, she finally rounded the corner and spotted Haha sprawled out on the ground with his hyung bent over him trying to pin his arms down as he squirmed beneath his grip. Seeing sure victory ahead of her, she sprinted forth with her legs suddenly reviving at the new hope. Ji Hyo arrived at the wrestling match and grabbed one of Haha’s arms, pushing it down with all her might all the while chanting “oppa, sorry”. Seconds later, Jong Kook tore off his dongsaeng’s nametag with a loud and satisfying rip as “Haha, out. Haha, out” was announced behind them.

Ji Hyo watched Jong Kook kneeled over in relief and exhaustion, breathing heavily as beads of sweat trickled down his face. She pummeled towards him extending her arms to wrap around him in a congratulatory hug, overjoyed at the result and having been overcome with a new-found appreciation for his work ethic. There really wasn’t anything her oppa couldn’t do.

He was caught off guard at in this temporary moment of physical relaxation and the next thing he knew, he was on the ground with Ji Hyo straddling on top of him. He could hear a collective gasp from the filming crew as they watched in anticipation. Ji Hyo however, continued her antics, too involved in her emotions and thinking nothing of it and she shook his shoulders in excitement.

“Oppa, you did it! We won! Can you believe it?!”, she yelled into his face, still winded, but beaming with pride.

Jong Kook winced as she hollered her trademark daebak a bit too close to his ear along with the fact that she would wiggling much too fervently onto of him. He could feel her curves pressed up against him as she leaned down to gently brush his sweaty hair out of his eyes, wanting to see his happiness. She smiled down at him as she continued to question him about the final two eliminations she had missed.

Ji Hyo leaned down to circle her arms about his          neck and whispered, “we really do make the best couple, don’t’ we?”, with a voice still thick and raspy from catching her breath. Her hair smelled of cherry blossoms as they softly brushed his cheek.

His eyes narrowed as he looked ahead in silence, straight at the sky, frustrated at her obliviousness. He lay frozen on the ground, hoping that the cameramen would have enough sense to film something less incriminating.

“Thank you, Jong Kook oppa. Now I can really open my own jewelry store. You’re the best!”, she joked, sitting up again to give his chest a playful pat. “Oh yeah, your mom’s birthday is coming up too, right? If you need any jewelry for her, just let me know. I’m not much of a gem person anyway.”

He could feel her waiting for his response and only returned it with a slow smile, afraid of opening his mouth for it would only spew an embarrassing confession or an angry rant.

She peeled herself off of him when she heard Jaesuk’s loud yells along with Hong Chul’s behind him, followed by the filming crew who had wisely decided to capture moments elsewhere.

Jong Kook was glad filming had concluded. He could finally get a much needed break from Ji Hyo. Seeing her unknowingly flaunt herself as claimed territory stung more day by day, and he wondered to what degree she’d continue before she finally contained herself. He for one, already thoroughly enamoured, could not bring himself to stop her advances in the least bit. It was wrong to worship the subtle and not so subtle brushes of her skin against his, like vital of fire burning into him. Her touches though friendly and always innocent, had taken on a forbidden taste, as if even brushing against her was openly setting her up for an explosive scandal. He'd learn to not need to feel her smoothness of her skin or see her infectious smiles. She was just another member like Gwangsoo or Gary or Jaesuk. He should act around her as he did with all the others. That would come one day, eventually. For now, he’d rather lose himself in the infuriating but euphoric waves of flirtatious, unrequited infatuation.

-----

It was 10:30pm when Jong Kook finally arrived home, still feeling very upbeat from the day of filming. He couldn’t help but smile as he recalled Ji Hyo’s concerned eyes pleading to him as she tried to address his injury. She had never shown so much interest in his matters before and the way she openly expressed her thoughts in public, as if tending to him was the most natural thing on earth, had associated her with the actions of a doting girlfriend in his mind. Also, out of all things, why and how did she remember his mother’s birthday? Maybe he had casually mentioned it in passing, but Ji Hyo, who usually zoned out on topics not pertaining to her and managed to catch it.

Why this sudden shift in actions from Ji Hyo? Why did she suddenly pay more attention to him than ever before? Maybe she had developed an interest in him. Maybe her relationship with her fiancé was on the rocks.

He considered the last thought with much too much excitement.

His heart fluttered at the thought of finally being able to hold Ji Hyo’s hand without any disguises. Maybe, one day she would be his.

---

It was 11pm when Ji Hyo finally arrived home. After filling the water boiler and turning it on, she walked to her room to change out of her filming attire. Suddenly, her phone rang in the kitchen, sending her dashing outside to answer it, thinking it was Jong Kook calling. Their relationship had gotten much closer today with the transpiring events as he opened up a very sensitive side of him. Maybe he took her up on her offer, feeling more comfortable calling her after-hours now. She silently congratulated herself on helping him open up to the female-kind.

“Oppa” flashed on her screen instead and her smile dropped, “Hi, oppa.”

“Ji Hyo, I need to talk to you.”, Chang Joo spoke sharply.

Despite the water boiler now spewing hot steam beside her, a cold shiver suddenly shook her body. “Yes oppa, go ahead.” She sat in a nearby chair, bracing herself for what was to come next.

“Well, you know the recent deal I’ve been working on. They’ve promoted me to the international branch director and it’s at the Los Angeles office.”

Ji Hyo remained silent, wanting to stall the conversation for as long as she could while she caught her breath. She knew what was coming.

“We’ll have to move to America.”

We’ll.The word felt like a ton of bricks dropping on her head. She sat there, frozen.

“Hello, Ji Hyo? Are you still there?”

“N-neh.”, she blurted out.

“What do you think? Do you think we should go?”

She cursed silently at his cornering question. It’s not like she could have said “no”, but she didn’t want to agree so easily. She wanted to buy some time for fate to intervene with a reversal. “Well, it depends on the details. What are they offering you there?”, she countered, the best she could think of at the time.

“We’re meeting on Friday to sort it out in more detail. It was just brought up today, and I wanted to tell you after filming. I ‘ll let you know more once I find out.”

Ji Hyo sat silent for a few seconds. Hearing news of the meeting on it only further solidified its reality. She didn’t want to leave Korea. She wasn’t ready just yet. Realizing it was her turn to speak, she uttered something she didn’t quite remember and the conversation was a blur afterwards. Promptly hanging up soon after, she set the phone back down and sat in her chair, stunned, still trying to process it all. Was this really happening? Was she really going to leave with him? What about her life in Korea?

Her eyes darted to the water boiler that was still spewing steam, performing its normal functions seamlessly, as it watched mercilessly, its observer’s world slowly shatter into pieces.

She felt a slight pinch in her eye as her mind wandered to Jong Kook.

She would have to leave him.

Author's Note: Ahh, don't kill me for the ending! >_< I needed to move the story along! I'd love to hear your thoughts--any parts you liked or didn't like?