“Move it!” The guy was pulling Jihyo by the arm forcing her to walk with him. Gary took hold of his arm. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Let go of her!” He was a little loud but fortunately there was no one in sight in the basement carpark. Gary knew he is from her management company. He was containing his anger because he didn’t want to cause her trouble. He would have punched him the moment he laid her hand on her. But he thought of her. His other hand was in a tight fist by his side trying hard to stay there instead of the guy’s face.

Jihyo’s face showed that she’s hurt by the tight grip on her wrist. But she was too shocked to get herself free.  She received a call from her manager telling her to get out of Gary’s apartment urgently. CEO Baek had sent his men to search for her because he received a message that some photographers stood by the streets in front of the apartment to get her picture driving out of there.  She wanted to avoid the commotion and was going to get her mask and jacket from her car before walking out. She told her manager to wait at the corner of the road.

Gary was clueless. He didn’t hear Jihyo talking on the phone. Suddenly Jihyo went into his home office rushing her words. “I have a very important meeting I have to go to. I gotta leave now.” She didn’t know how to tell Gary because she didn’t want him upset. She planned on driving her car out of the basement carpark in front of him and parking the car at the visitor’s carpark a level up before walking out of the apartment. She didn’t expect Baek’s men to be waiting for her at the carpark.

The guy is still holding on to her wrist but looked at Gary “You should go up to your house now and keep yourself out of this. I need to get her out of here right now. There was another guy waiting in the black MPV looking on them.

“Cool it” Gary digested the situation and knew he has to keep his cool so they take good care of Jihyo. It is not wise to pick a fight with them. Jihyo was surprised to see that he could stay calm when she expected him to be angry and shouting at them. She was amazed because she saw his hand still in a tight fist trying to control his rage while his face appear so calm. She felt a sense of pride looking on him. She forgot the pain.

“She is not going to fight you… You could have asked her nicely.  I am not attacking you either. I understand your job and you are afraid that I would take her from you.” The guy realized Gary was speaking some truth and released her hand. “Sorry Miss Song,” he bowed to apologize “I shouldn’t have done that. I was afraid Boss would be mad if I didn’t get you out of here.” She nodded, accepting the apology while moving towards Gary. Gary reached out his hand to her hurt hand to see if it’s ok. “Are you hurt?” his voice full of concern. The two guys watched on. Gary turned to them. “Give me a few minutes to talk to her and you can take her with you ok?” He was asking them politely and they nodded and they both waited in the car for her.

He pulled her to the side and held her face.  “Did you know about this?” he asked softly.

“My manager called before I went to you just now. I didn’t want to upset you. I had him wait for me at the corner and I was going to drive to the visitor’s car park and walk out to him” Her head bowed down, not wanting to look him in the eyes. She was torn between him and her company.

He lifted her face up by the chin. “Hey…” his voice was a tone softer. “I am not going to be upset with you. I know it’s already hard for you to deal with them. I’ll try not to give you a hard time. She looked at the sincerity on his face and tears rolled down as she hugged him close. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want you to worry. I know you’d do anything to protect me. Thank you.”

He her back to comfort her. “It’s OK.. you should go now before we create too much trouble. Call me when you get home. I want to know you’re safely home. Please..” He felt her head moved on his chest nodding her answer. He released her from the hug and walked her to the car.

“Guys.. please take good care of her. She’s really special to me.” Jihyo blushed hearing Gary telling that to the guys he just met. The guys weren’t that mean after all. They smiled at him, understanding him as a man protecting his loved one.

Gary turned to look at Jihyo and gave her a peck o the lips. “I’ll miss you” It was so sweet she didn’t want to leave. She leaned in and whispered the same words to hi before getting in. He watched as the car drove off.

“Dear God, please give the patience and strength to endure this..” his heart was praying hard because he knew this is not something he takes easy. Jihyo knew that too.

…

In the car she called up the CEO. “Baek Ssi.. can you please stop doing this.  I got everything under control, it was going fine.  I didn’t want Gary to know. But he got to know just now.  Can you please not involve him. I am the one responsible for whatever is happening. I will do what I have to do. Leave him alone please.” She was upset but she can’t show it to the big boss. She wouldn’t put her or Gary in jeopardy. “You love him that much huh?” The CEO was mocking her. She didn’t want to answer to that and kept quiet.

“I am doing this to protect my investment. I’ve nvested in you and you’re supposed to provide me with some return. But looking at it now, if news break out I am afraid that I may not get those return.  So listen here.” He sounded intimidating and she feared for her safety. “You are going to do as I instructed. You can be in love at your free time… If you have that much time to spare. I am going to make you work hard from now on, you’ll barely have time to sleep. And if he tries anything funny against me, you’re going to have to do damage control and I can assure you, you would not like what I can do to both of your careers. He’d be begging every single producers to earn a living and so are you”  He hung up. She was dumbfounded. She had nothing to say.  The once kind hearted man that got her parents to trust him enough for her to sign on to the company finally shows his true color. And it’s pitch black in color.

….

“Hi Oppa… I am safely home.”

“Good to know. They didn’t do anything to you right?”

“No. I think they were surprised by how you reacted that they felt ashamed of themselves. They were very apologetic.”

Gary chuckled. “I didn’t know I could react that way. My brain is getting quick at common sense nowadays.”

“I think it’s not your brain… your heart wants to protect me. Thank you, oppa” He heard her smile in her voice. “I will always want to protect you. I am really in love with you.”

“But you know loving me comes with a lot of problems. I really hope you can handle them well… Because I want you to stay with me. I need you” She was hinting it to him. She wants him to pull through the tough times with her.

“I will try my best..” That was his promise. He doubted himself but he had done things beyond his own expectations so he hopes he keeps it up and prove himself wrong until she’s free.

…

The next few weeks was just about seeing her during Running Man filmings.  She never had time to spare for him.  He noticed the schedule being tight and she had to be on set out of town when they are not filming together.  She had become thinner and looked so tired.  They get to speak on the phone during her scene breaks and after she finished for the day which is really late.  He knew she would be tired and didn’t want to take too much of her time.  He tried to keep it short just to know how she is doing. She wanted so much to have him near.  But it was impossible for her to make time even if he came to her. And she would not want to risk getting him upset for not getting to spend time with her after going all the way to her.

“Oppa… I miss you so much. I am so exhausted…”

“Honey, I told you… just say it and I will come to you. I miss you too. My lyrics are getting really dark right now from missing you.”

“I wish I can but I am on standby all the time. I can’t get out of the set. And they won’t let you in either. I’ll see you on Running Man. Hope we don’t get separated much”

“Those stolen kisses in between scenes the only things I look forward to. At least it’s fun to sneak out and make the VJs miserable trying to cover for us.” He was trying to keep the mood light.  He heard her soft laugh. It sounded sincere but tired.

“I don’t want to keep you up. You go get your rest now. I’ll see you on Monday. We’ll make the best of whatever we have”

….

“jihyo!” the crews were shouting. She fainted on set. Her team rushed to her while the set manager called for an ambulance.  The medical crew on set was trying to wake her up.  She could hear all the voices around her but could not open her eyes or react to them.  The voice slowly disappeared.

She woke up in a hospital bed. Her manager was by her side.

“Did you tell him?” He shook his head. It was the first thing that crossed her mind when she woke up. She was worried about him.

“Good. Keep it a secret as long as you can.” His phone beeped. “I don’t think it’ll be long. The news just broke. You’re making headlines online”

“Call him and let me speak to him”  She didn’t want him feeling left out. She needed to comfort him.

“Oppa…” her weak voice sounded when he answered the call. “You have no idea how worried I am. I’ve been trying to call for the past 2 hours!” He was upset and raised his voice. “Can’t any of your team call me. I am your boyfriend!” She let him speak it out. She understood him well to expect him to be that upset. He realized she was quiet the whole time and started cooling down.

“Jihyo… I am sorry. You’re sick and I am shouting at you.” She smiled hearing the drastic change in his tone.

“Are you calm now?” she asked lovingly. “God, I miss your voice!”

“Oppa… can you sneak into the hospital and come to me?” She was desperate, she wanted him with her.

“I am going to hang up now and get to you as soon as I can. It may take some time to pull it off. But wait for me.”

“I will..” She was happy with that promise.

“You sleep and rest while you wait. I’ll wake you up when I get there, ok”

And Gary made calls to his friends to help him out.

By 1am he was walking into the dimmed room.  He saw her lying on the bed in her sleep.  The IV drip needle poking into her wrist was not a sight he likes. He didn’t want to wake her but he needed her to know he came as promised. He lay down next to her and gather her into his arm. She awoke instantly but was too weak. “You’re finally here” and she can’t keep herself awake because of the medication.

“I am here now.” He whispered and hugged her closer.

…