Behind the Scenes

Dong Wook, wearing the blue winter puffer coat provided by the Running Man staff, stood by the sea at Kyungsang Harbor in Pohang on that mid-December morning, holding a fold-out fan in front of his face to hide himself from Song Ji Hyo. He closed his eyes and breathed in the salty sea air, knowing that he would soon have to reveal himself to his partner.

As the cameras continued to focus on him, he thought about how symbolic this all was. He had been hiding from Ji Hyo ever since The Fugitive of Joseon wrapped up its filming and knew that, eventually, he’d have to come out from this hiding. It had just become too difficult to face her once he realized that what he was feeling for her was more than just admiration, more than just friendship.

An interviewer had once told him that he doesn’t seem like he was the type of person to take the initiative if he liked someone. He had disagreed, not wanting that image. He told the interviewer that, actually, he could be quite brave. He had believed this at the time. But with Song Ji Hyo, it was different. She intimidated him somewhat – not in a bad way, more in an awe-inspiring way, a sort of weak knees and knotted stomach type of way.

He felt that now – those weak knees and knotted stomach – when he heard Ji Hyo approaching at the harbor, calling out for her cooking battle partner. He continued to hold the fan in front of his face, but he couldn’t help but glimpse at her, and from that one glimpse, she recognized him. Her face lit up and she yelled out his name as she ran over to him.

Dong Wook pulled the fan away just in time to see her beautiful face highlighted by the morning sun and her smile so radiant as she jumped into his arms. Although he wanted to hide his happiness, he couldn’t, not even for a moment. It exploded within him, his smile plastered across his face, his heart light and filled with love. It was almost as if they were old lovers reuniting after years apart. The moment of their embrace felt magical and somewhat surreal. Dong Wook imagined the editing team later slowing down that moment and adding pink blush to his cheeks. The thought of this made him really blush. He pushed his hair aside then, trying to maintain his cool.

“Good to see you, Dong Wook-ah!” Ji Hyo said. She leaned in to hug him once more. “Happy New Year.”

“Ai, same to you,” he said, pushing back his hair again.

Ji Hyo turned to the cameras and explained to the viewers at home about the recent drama they had filmed together, how Dong Wook had played a widowed man whom her character had a crush on. Dong Wook felt himself blushing again and tried to laugh it off.

Ji Hyo jumped up and down, still excited to see him. He wondered if perhaps her excitement stemmed from feelings for him, too. Perhaps this was not a one-sided love after all, he thought. But although his heart wanted this, he knew that it couldn’t possibly be true. She had always been this friendly with him. If she had been hiding her feelings all that time, then she deserved the grandest award for her acting.

Thinking about this now, he realized that he, in fact, would need to play his biggest role today – to defy his true feelings and be to her what he always has been: just a friend.

They had just left the harbor seafood market where Ji Hyo had inadvertently purchased an entire lot of crabs at the auction – eight hundred crabs in total. He loved this about her, this almost youthful innocence. The auctioneer forgave her outrageous bid of course, seemingly as taken by her beauty and innocence as Dong Wook was, and provided her with a handful of large, succulent crabs for the cooking battle.

Having finished their ingredient shopping early, they sat down to wait for their cooking lesson, talking casually as friends do… until Kang Gary suddenly called her.

As Dong Wook held the phone out, the call on speaker, Ji Hyo asked where Gary was, and Gary said, “It’s Monday, so I’m inside your heart.”

For the first time that morning, Dong Wook’s smile disappeared. Dong Wook had always wondered if the Monday Couple loveline was more than just an act. He didn’t know if Ji Hyo felt anything toward Gary, as her heart was still a mystery to him, but he was sure that what Gary felt was sincere. He had suspected as much from watching the show, but actually hearing Gary’s voice through the speakerphone at that moment confirmed those suspicions. Just like Dong Wook, it seemed that Gary was also suffering with hidden feelings.

When Gary asked about Ji Hyo’s partner, she said that he was sitting beside her.

“Is your partner good looking?” Gary asked.

“Yeah,” Ji Hyo promptly said.

Dong Wook was still holding the phone and he felt his hand start to lightly tremble then.

“How can you say that so quickly without even a moment of hesitation?” Gary asked.

“I said he’s good looking because he really is good looking,” Ji Hyo said.

Ji Hyo had never said such things to Dong Wook directly. To hear her now speak of him this way, in this overheard telephone call to another man who was obviously infatuated with her, made him somewhat uncomfortable, but at the same time, he was enraptured by the thought that she was attracted to him.

Afterwards, as they bided their time while continuing to wait for their cooking lesson to begin, Dong Wook tried to maintain his act, hiding how enamored he was by her. But every time she lightly brushed up against him, or held his hand, or hooked her arm around his, his heart caved and he wanted so badly to sweep her off her feet – literally – and carry her off toward the sunset. Images of future moments with her flashed throughout his mind… a romantic restaurant where he would clank his champagne glass against hers, a picnic on the beach where he would sweep a strawberry across her lips, a bed with white satin sheets where he would…

He shook his head now, trying to rid himself of such fantasies. If he kept thinking such things, his role would soon show cracks and she would see through to his true self. He didn’t want that… or did he? In a way, he did of course. He wanted her to know. Only then would they be able to move on from this first confession of feelings to some sort of deeper relationship. But his doubt about her feeling the same way restrained him from confessing. He was sure that if his feelings were exposed, she would just say, “Ai, Dong Wook-ah, I just love you as a friend,” and then things would be awkward between them and eventually they’d avoid each other because of that awkwardness. He didn’t want that. These months that have passed since filming the drama, during which time he had been hiding from her, had been too difficult. He realized that he would rather suffer in her presence than never experience her presence at all.

After their cooking lesson, Dong Wook and Ji Hyo walked along the beach. For a moment, he almost forgot that the cameras were there. The crew had wanted a long shot of them at the beach and had stayed far back to capture that. That moment alone with her, with the two of them in their matching winter coats, made him feel as though they were a real couple.

But then the crew rushed over, having captured their shot, and resumed their close-up focus on the two actors. Dong Wook, too, resumed his role, doing his best to treat her like any other friend. They played a game on the beach, both kneeling together on that soft sand, and when he lost on his first turn, he playfully grabbed onto her shoulders and shook her, pretending to be upset by his sudden loss. Ji Hyo grabbed his shoulders, too, and laughed as he tousled her. It was a childish scene, a scene of friends, but to Dong Wook, it was again a test of his ability to hide. Some part of him wanted them to experience some sort of special moment where they would stop, still holding onto each other’s shoulders, and stare into each other’s eyes, both realizing that this was more than just a playful game between friends, that it was in fact a way to express something deeper happening between them, something they have only just realized now…

… But this was just his fantasy. No such moment ever happened. He had simply let go of her and she sat there on the sand laughing for a moment. He swallowed back his feelings, and when she then asked for a piggyback ride, he resorted to that playful tousling again.

“Yah!” he yelled, as he grabbed her shoulders once more, making her erupt in laughter. “Do you know how hard it would be to give you a piggyback ride in the sand?” he joked. Teasing her that he should deserve special treatment, too, he said, “I came all the way here just for you, too!”

The conversation that followed was later cut in the editing room, never shown on TV. It was a brief conversation, but one that Dong Wook would never forget.

She said, “I’m glad you came all the way down here, to my hometown.”

“Me too,” Dong Wook said.

Ji Hyo smiled, her eyes gazing upon his. “I’m happy to share this part of myself with you.”

That was it. That was the entirety of the conversation. But that cut moment between them had felt incredibly intimate. Not much was said, but a great deal was felt, at least on Dong Wook’s end. It was the way that Ji Hyo had looked at him, as if she was opening herself up to him, inviting him towards her. Only later, when Dong Wook viewed the episode and saw that they had cut this small scene, did he suspect that the cameramen had also noticed this intimacy.

The episode, when aired, had transitioned from their playful sand fight after she had asked for a piggyback ride to him carrying her along the sand while the winter sea lapped ashore and Ji Hyo sang. The viewers at home didn’t know, but that was the moment when Dong Wook decided that he had to confess. Even if Ji Hyo denied him, he needed her to know. He couldn’t keep up this act anymore. 

He decided to wait until after the cooking battle was over. He had been hoping that they would win, thinking that the excitement of a win might somehow make her more open to his confession, but unfortunately, the win went to Jong Kook and his partner, the model Kyung Ah. Still, with the glittery streamers that rained down, the air was filled with celebration even amongst those whom didn’t win.

When the PD yelled cut and the cameramen stopped filming, Dong Wook turned to Ji Hyo and gently swept a colorful streamer from her shoulder.

Ji Hyo smiled and reached for his hand. “Dong Wook-ah, what are you doing now? Want to go get a drink?” she asked.

Dong Wook smiled and nodded.

While Ji Hyo briefly talked with her manager, Dong Wook tried to think about how he could possibly tell her how he felt. He didn’t know if he should just come right out with it or maybe try to lead up to it somehow in conversation. And what, exactly, would he say? Perhaps that interviewer was right, he thought. Maybe I’m not the type to take the initiative.

He was about to give up on the idea of confessing to her when Ji Hyo suddenly returned to him and said, “I’m glad you’re coming out with me. Shall we consider this… a date?”

Dong Wook’s mouth fell open. “A… wha–?”

Ji Hyo blushed and covered as she looked down, seemingly embarrassed. “Ai, I’m just joking, Dong Wookie,” she said.

Something about the way she said that she was joking seemed off to Dong Wook. She was acting. He was sure of it. He had spent all that time filming that drama with her and knew when she was struggling with lines. But this was the first time that he had seen that struggle off camera, in a personal conversation between them. With his confidence now boosted a bit, believing that there was a chance that she did feel something more for him, he said, “Actually, I’d like for it to be a date.”

Ji Hyo looked up at him, her eyes wide, her face blank. “You would?” she asked.

Dong Wook breathed in deeply, staring into her eyes. “I’ve been wanting to ask you out for a long time now,” he said.

Ji Hyo’s expression remained blank for a moment, but then a smile broke out across her face and she lightly slapped him across the arm. “Ai, why did you wait so long?”

The two grabbed each other by the shoulders then, just as they had on the beach earlier, playfully shaking each other and laughing until their faces hurt from smiling so much.