[8/30/12 5:53pm]

JiHyo

It had been about a week since she and HaHa had rescheduled their meet up and today was finally the day. She was on her way to meet him at his restaurant Paljamakchang in Hongdae. She had called the store a couple days prior and arranged to pick it up earlier that day. JiHyo had it nicely wrapped in a black gift bag with a bow, just to add a feminine touch. It was common to see HaHa and his friends at his restaurant so she didn’t worry about fans making a big deal of them being there together; it would be comfortable.

JiHyo texted HaHa to let him know she would be there in little under five minutes. She had been in traffic the last thirty minutes which was to be expected seeing as this was the afternoon rush hour; could have taken the subway but she would have been surrounded by fans and cameras, so the car was best; the pitfalls of being a celebrity. Transportation was so much easier before she became famous. [I guess with anything there are tradeoffs.] JiHyo was able to find a parking spot a little down the street from the restaurant. She got out and walked in, asking the hostess where HaHa was. She was led to a corner spot in the restaurant; it was still early so it hadn’t filled up with college students yet. Right now they would be able to talk comfortably and not have to scream to each other over the loud music and voices that would fill this place soon enough.

JiHyo saw him texting on his phone, barely paying attention to anyone around him. “Ya Ha Donghoon, you don’t greet guests anymore” she yelled at him.

HaHa not recognizing who said that looked around angrily and shouted “Bo? What?” until he noticed it was JiHyo and came over to greet his sister with a hug and a smile. “Ya JiHyo-ah don’t play like that, you know my temper”, he laughed. JiHyo returned the hug and sat her bags down, taking a seat across from HaHa.

 “Song JiHyo what’s up? It has been a long time since we have dined together like this.”

“Mianhe HaHa, I haven’t been a good friend as of lately. You’re about to get married and I haven’t been of any help.”

 “Kwenchana, it’s ok. I know it was a big thing for you to be public with Baek Chang Ju Hyung-nim; especially with you being as private as you are, sometimes we go into our own little bubble when we’re in relationships” he replied to her.

“Thanks HaHa, but I don’t want to be like that; you guys are family. I was at fault; I’ll do much better from here on. That’s a promise.” JiHyo took a sip of the Oolong tea that HaHa had ordered for her.

“Oh by the way, here’s what I got for Byul. When I saw it, I knew it was perfect for her; do you want to have a look at it? What am I saying; you were going to sneak a peek anyway.” Laughing she handed the gift bag over to him. With any present, even if it wasn’t his, HaHa was like a kid in a candy store. He opened up the gift smiling like it was his and when he saw the Bob Marley picture on the front he was completely in awe. JiHyo could swear he stopped breathing for like a minute. He just carefully touched the bag, nervously the leather and tracing the words inscribed.

 “JiHyo, this is absolutely beautiful. Trust me, whenever Byul isn’t wearing this, I will be. It’s a purse but I’ll make it work for Bob Marley”, he said laughing. He continued to stare at the picture and said “You know this inscription ‘Love is the only answer’ is actually what got me into reggae. I was going through a hard time trying to get my music career started and no one would give me a chance. I was determined you know but it was becoming really hard to stay positive and I was losing hope. I was walking through this record store and picked up this record that had “Love is the only answer” written across the top. It actually turned out to be one of Bob Marley’s earliest records and it changed my life. I guess it’s only fitting that this motto is back when I’m about to make another major life change. Thank you so much JiHyo-ah, this is absolutely perfect.” JiHyo could see that HaHa had small tears in his eye; she almost started tearing up herself. These were the type of moments she had missed being in her own world with Chang Ju; moments like this with family, they were supposed to be a part of each other’s life.

“Now HaHa don’t you start crying on me, because if you cry, I’ll cry. Now tell me how are the wedding preparations going?” she said laughing, trying to draw back her tears.

“You know Byul has a chokehold on all the preparations. She pretty much told me I’m in charge of being at the altar in an ironed tux. I’m dragged to all the meetings but I really have no say between her, her mom and my mom. I don’t mind though, it’s her day” HaHa replied with a smile.

“Man things have really been changing for us. You’re about to get married, Gwangsoo has recently been really popular with the ladies, Kim Jongkook is well still Kim Jongkook, he’s been single for like the last 7 years and Gary has this woman he’s totally in love with. I feel like I’ve missed a lot, I don’t know anything.”

“Have you ever met her though HaHa? I know you and Gary are pretty tight, he told me a little about her but I have no idea who she is.”

“Hmm, really I have no idea. The only women that I know of that have been constants in his life are his mother and you” said HaHa. JiHyo experienced a slightly warm feeling in her stomach hearing that. It felt nice to know that she held a special place in her Oppa’s life; any girl would feel flattered, right?

But then HaHa remembered something. “Oh yea, there was this other women he told me about that he met earlier this year. I think he met her at an art gallery; she was friends with Gil. From what I could tell he really liked her, but I don’t know if that’s the women. She could be.” JiHyo got a slight tinge of jealousy in her stomach at the thought of another woman. She had no right to feel that way but it just naturally happened. She would have to control her emotions if she wanted to find out the truth. JiHyo wasn’t sure if HaHa knew more than he was telling but she didn’t know how to get more information without sounding more interested than she should be.

“So what happened with them? Gary just said she was gone.”

“I’m not sure, Gary really never said much about her after that” answered HaHa.

“Oh, well that’s sad. I really would have liked to meet her.” JiHyo tried to coolly and nonchalantly change subjects. “So HaHa where are you guys planning…”

[ring ring]

JiHyo was interrupted by a phone call from Kyeong-ah. “Hold on one sec HaHa, this is Kyeong-ah, it may be something important.”

“Yeah no problem, take all the time you need. I need to step to the back for a minute anyway.” JiHyo just nodded her head in thanks as HaHa left the table to head into the back office of the restaurant.

“Yae Unnie, is something wrong? I thought my schedule was clear for today.”

Kyeong-ah: “I thought so too but I got some last minute contracts for some endorsements that I need you to sign. Can you come to the office; I really need to get these faxed back tonight.”

“Ok Unnie, give me a couple minutes to wrap things up here and I will head right over. Ok, bye.” JiHyo ended the phone call as HaHa walked back to the table. “HaHa, I need to go handle some last minute business at the office, so I need to leave a little early.”

HaHa replied “No problem, I’m so glad we did this and thank you so much for the gift for Byul, I’m sure she will love it.

JiHyo gave him a quick hug and grabbed her bag to leave the store. “Me too, we will do this again soon. Thanks and I’ll see you Monday.” She waved back to him as she left the store.

*************************************************************************************

HaHa

HaHa waved back with a slight smile. Something was telling him that something was about to happen; like a tingle on his neck, like a change in the air. HaHa would always act childlike but what most of his cast mates didn’t know was that he was an observer; he couldn’t be called the “Great Schemer” without the ability to read and manipulate people. He watched all his Running Man family members, so he noticed their normal mannerisms and reactions, mostly to his benefit in the games. He could feel something changing in the air when it came to Gary and JiHyo. He knew they each had crushed on each other earlier when they started Running Man but he just assumed that the crushes both died out, especially for the fact that JiHyo came out publicly about her boyfriend. Now he wasn’t sure what was happening but the fact that she was interested in Gary’s mystery women, piqued his interest. He laughed to himself at her attempts to try to seem uninterested and act cool when he could tell she really wanted to know. In HaHa’s mind either this mystery woman was real or really Gary was talking about JiHyo and JiHyo with her “mong” character was too thick to realize it. He was betting on the latter but he would reserve judgment for a while. For the moment, he would just enjoy the ride both Gary and Mong Ji were unwittingly on. He hoped things would get real interesting real soon.

Author's Note: Hey guys don't worry 'm just building things up. The chapters from here on out may have some mature elements. Just a heads up. But I'm really hoping you like the direction the story will be moving in. Also continue to write comments, they really help me develop the story better. Make sure to leave comments everyone. They really do help me write better. Did you like it, not like it? Was it believable? Was the pace of the story too slow or too fast? Whatever you feel, write it down. All is appreciated. Thanks. Hwaiting!!