They were separated into groups by Kwangsoo. PD had already briefed him on how he should select his group members, to have as much balance as possible according to his liking. Kwangsoo, familiar with Jihyo, chose her. Gary was on the far side secretly hoping he can get close to her. When Kwangsoo called out his name, he was so happy he went straight to high-five jihyo first although she was in the middle. He cannot control his excitement. The happiness apparent in his smile.

Jihyo noticed him the first time she went up the pavilion. She had always thought he was cool. She loves seeing him doing interviews on TV with his wits and how his friends talks highly of him.  She knows people in the industry and they occasionally talk about his music which led to talking about him as a friend.  She was curious about him.  She thinks he must be a great person to have so many talking highly of him.  She knows his music. She is a fan of his music. Those rapping that evolved from being rough to being calm and filled with sorrows at times.  She never thought someone’s rapping could emit so much emotion.  That guy is now standing next to her.

During missions, he looks at her whenever possible. He tried to stay close to her as much as possible.  Little that he know, the girl created those opportunities for him.  She walked slowly so he can walk next to her, . She stole a few glances to see him for real and to keep herself close to him without any suspicion.  She can’t wait to go home and call up her bestfriend to tell her about him.  Her bestfriend is a big fan of his too. Suddenly she felt young. 

The photo mission was a good one.  She was literally rolling and laughing especially when they put gary’s face on the screen. “Oh my God! This guy is just too hilarious and cool!” she thought to herself. He stood near her watching the screen, accidentally brushing her hand with his. Suddenly she was frozen in place. “That was weird” she ignored that thought and carried on as normal.  He then sat on the grass. Jihyo naturally turned and sat next to him without realizing him there.  She can’t just stand up and change places now.  Luckily the camera is rolling, she pretended to be looking at the others and laughed at them.

……………

The phone rang right after she sent the text to her best friend.

“AAaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!” Jihyo was shocked by the scream she threw away the phone. She can still hear Hyomin screaming on the other end. She went ant picked it up from the sofa.

“Hey woman! Are you trying to make me deaf!” Jihyo raised her voice pretending to be upset.  She will not be upset. Not at the moment. She is more excited to talk to Hyomin.  They’ve been bestfriend since her college years. Spent most weekends together, Jihyo helps her out at her boutique when she has time.  She is slowly making her name in the local fashion industry.  Jihyo felt guilty she could not help much in promoting her brand.  She didn’t have the popularity, she only meet a few people in the industry that are still supporting her, giving her a movie role every now and then.  The media doesn’t give her much attention.  She’s near the end of her shelf-life in the industry.  There are many pretty upcoming actresses to write about.  Not her. She is not interesting to them.

“Sorry, babe.  I literally screamed when I read your text, I had to let you hear my reaction so I replayed the scream for you hahaha” It is always fun to talk to her. They never grow old when they’re together.

“Hahaha! You’re that excited huh?” Jihyo is delaying her story. “Palli! Tell me. How was he? Is he as cool as we expected?”

“errmmm.. he was OK.. wait.. way better than okay.. he is soooo cool! And so funny! But we didn’t talk much. I think he is shy.”

“ayyyy! Why didn’t you talk to him?? You’re not shy!”

“ya!what are you trying to say? I am shy!”

“ok ok. So that was it? All my screaming for this? Only this??”

“Hahaha sorry, babe. But seriously I don’t know how to start. He is so quiet when he is not with the other guys. I was next to him most of the time yet we didn’t talk.  He didn’t even look at me in the eyes. I didn’t expect him to be that shy”

“Seriously?? Wait a minute… you were next to him the whole time? Is it a sit-down show or something?  I thought you’re supposed to run around doing things”

“Of course, you have no idea how tiring it is.. but it’s so much fun.  Had a great laugh.. oh yeah, Gary was sooo funny I literally rolled on the floor laughing. You should see it on TV this weekend!”

She went on telling her every single thing she observed about gary. It was a long conversation.

“Babe, you’ve been talking about him for an hour now. You didn’t even talk to him and yet you have so much to talk about.  Am I missing something?”  Hyomin is getting suspicious.

“Why? Why???”

“It’s been a long time since you talked so much about a man… and you sounded so bright and happy.  Do you like him?”

“Huh?” Now she’s confused. She didn’t realize that she’s been going on about him for an hour. She blushed. “Babe, you still there?”

“oh ya… still here. Hyomin ah… My manager is calling on the other line. I have to go. Talk to you later” She ended the call before getting a response from Hyomin. That was weird. “Do I like him?”  she walked to her bed and lied down thinking about it. It was so hard she concluded that she was just having a good time that was majorly because of him because he was the funniest of them all. And fell asleep.