Throughout the rest of May, they fell into a comfortable routine. On Mondays and Tuesdays, while he filmed Running Man, Jennifer spent the mornings with his mom. With translation help from Jae Won, his mom taught her how to cook Korean dishes that Jong Kook would enjoy. And then, in the afternoons, she either went home to continue with her language lessons or went to the art studio that Jong Kook had rented for her so that she could paint. On the days he didn’t work, he picked her up and they went to the gym, drinking their chicken protein shakes afterward and staying up late into the night, talking and holding each other. He didn’t stay at her apartment overnight anymore, as it had become too difficult to not touch her. It was sometimes even harder for him to say goodbye at night, but he knew that it was right to wait until he proposed. He was still thinking of a way to ask her.

Sometimes, when he went to the recording studio, she joined him and watched from the other side of the glass. He had never been more inspired to sing.

What he had written in that letter to his fans was true. He was happier than he ever knew he could be, so much so that it had become difficult for him to play his character on Running Man. He didn’t have any angry outbursts; he didn’t get mad at all. In fact, he couldn’t stop smiling. Kwang Soo had tried prodding him, tried kicking him while they played the games, tried making fun of him, but Jong Kook merely shrugged it o