Date: July 5, 2010

Location: Suwon City Jang Ryong Mun Entrance

            Ji Hyo stared out of the tinted windows of her company’s van. Just looking at the cameras and PD waiting for her to step foot outside of the vehicle made her cringe. Doing a variety show wasn’t like filming for her dramas or films. She wasn’t going to be handed a script to know what to say. She hadn’t really done an actual variety show segment since Family Outing the previous year. Ji Hyo turned her head to look at her cordi, Ju Eun, with a hopeful expression.

“You look fine. You’ll do fine. Stop worrying and get out there.”

Ji Hyo ran her fingers through her hair once more before grabbing the door handle.

“Aish! Just go eonni!”

            Pulling the door open, a smile automatically made it across Ji Hyo’s face. She was an actress for a reason. If they needed a smile, tears, anger, or nothing at all, she could produce the emotion. She carefully stepped out of the vehicle, wondering if she should have worn different shoes.

“Annyeonghaseyo!” she said with a wave to the PD and her VJ for the day.

“Welcome to Running Man, Song Ji Hyo-ssi.”

The PD motioned for Ji Hyo to look at the VJ in front of her.

“Sung Gyu will be the one following you for the next twenty-four hours.”

Ji Hyo and Sung Gyu bowed in greeting before the PD handed her the mission card. Looking down at the card in her hands, she read Today’s opening venue is at ­________. Please come to ________. *Arriving at the starting place first grants you first priority in picking your teammates. Ji Hyo stared at the hanja characters written on the card before looking up at the PD.

“Mwo? Hanja?”

“Ne, Ji Hyo-ssi. The key is to figure out what the hanja means. Figure it out and you’ll know the location. But remember, the advantage is to arrive there first.”

Ji Hyo headed through the Jang Ryong Mun Entrance of Suwon City with her VJ walking backwards in front of her. She wasn’t sure if she felt comfortable with this man and his camera watching her every motion.

“The place won’t be easily found, right?”

The smile stayed plastered on her face as the VJ grinned. She knew he wouldn’t be allowed to tell her anything. Ji Hyo continued moving forward through Suwon City, figuring the opening location had to be one of the main monuments.

“Aish! I shouldn’t have worn high heels. Walking is so uncomfortable now.”

Crossing the stone path, Ji Hyo stared at the staircase in front of her. Heels weren’t bad to walk in if it weren’t the fact that they only allowed her to take tiny steps. By the time she arrived at the top of the staircase, Ji Hyo was ready to just walk barefoot. But she knew with being an actress that it would be frowned upon. She paused at the top of one of the platforms to look around her. She thought would probably be a bit beneficial to ask the people around her. Ji Hyo saw a group of elders in front of her.

“Excuse me! Do any of you know hanja?”

One of the halmeonims of the group stepped forward.

“Ne. Do you need help?”

Ji Hyo moved forward and bowed in greeting to the halmeonim.

“Ne! Are you able to read what this says?”

Ji Hyo held out her mission card for the halmeonim to read. The halmeonim looked at it and whispered to the halabeojim next to her before turning back to look at Ji Hyo.

“Ne. It says you need to go to Yeonmudae. You need to head in that direction,” she said as she pointed to Ji Hyo’s left.

“Kamsahamnida!”

Now that she knew what the hanja characters mean, Ji Hyo knew where she needed to go. Walking as fast as she could while wearing heels, she headed towards the martial arts platform. Ji Hyo walked through the entrance gate to the platform and paused. The group of eight already standing on the platform hadn’t seen her yet. She had worked with three of the nine on the set of Family Outing: Yoo Jae Suk, Kim Jong Kook, and Lee Chun Hee. She had kept in contact with Jae Suk over the two years since Family Outing but she wasn’t sure if the other two would remember her. She wasn’t sure of the impression she had left them with.

Ji Hyo closed her eyes, breathed in and out, and formed a smile on her face once again. Opening her eyes, she headed towards the stairs leading to the martial arts platform.

“OH!”

The grin on Ji Hyo’s face became a bit more real as she heard Jae Suk.

“Ji Hyo! Ji Hyo! Ji Hyo-yah!”

“Annyeonghaseyo” she greeted as she reached the top of the platform.

Ji Hyo glanced at the others standing around Jae Suk as she moved forward. The smile on her face once again became a bit forced as she watched Jong Kook whisper not so quietly to Haha.

“Why does Jae Suk hyung act like he is close to Ji Hyo?”

“Yah! Ji Hyo and I are close!” Jae Suk said as he turned his head to look at Jong Kook.

Ji Hyo paused just before getting into the camera shots of the other members. As Jae Suk moved out of his own camera shot towards her, Joong Ki hit the slate to pause filming. She knew it was to allow time for her own VJ to join the other VJs and PDs. While filming was paused, Ji Hyo looked at the other members in front of her.

“Don’t worry Ji Hyo-yah.”

Ji Hyo turned her head to look up at Jae Suk as he stood one step above her. Her smile once more became more real. Joong Ki stepped forward once more and hit the slate again. She knew once more the cameras were focused on her as Jae Suk motioned to move forward. Walking past the other members, she bowed to each one.

“You guys don’t know Ji Hyo?” Jae Suk asked as he looked at Haha, Gary, and Jong Kook.

“Yah! Why are you acting so close? Why did you get rid of her surname? You should call her properly, ‘Song Ji Hyo-ssi’.”

Ji Hyo fanned herself with the mission card while smiling at Haha’s statement. None of the other members would know that she often went to Jae Suk for advice or just to talk. He was the one she talked to about the decrease in job offers since completing A Frozen Flower.

“You should not treat surnames lightly!”

“Do you like Ji Hyo?”

Silence enveloped the set as soon as Jae Suk’s question to Haha left his mouth. Haha stared in disbelief from behind his sunglasses at the National MC. He couldn’t believe he was trying to start a loveline with a guest. Jae Suk smirked and turned to address the cameras again.

“Because she’s my hoobae and yeodongsaeng, I can just call her informally.”

Ji Hyo ran her fingers through her hair as she laughed at Jae Suk’s comment. She wasn’t sure what Haha would be jealous about. Jae Suk and her were close in a way.

“It seems like Ji Hyo is the last one to come. Let’s see if we’re all here.”

Jae Suk turned his head to look at the members surrounding him.

“Ah! Where is Suk Jin hyung?”

Jae Suk looked at the line of PDs in front of him; hoping one of them would have an answer.

“I heard that Suk Jin hyung fainted” came from Joong Ki.

“Ah! We’ve thought this over carefully,” Jae Suk announced to the other members. Jae Suk guessed that because of Suk Jin’s condition, the staff members are having an emergency meeting.

“He was the main character last time, right?” Haha asked.

“For the time being, let’s not mention his name, for his sake,” Jae Suk continued as he looked at the camera, “this is for his own good.”

Ji Hyo laughed along with the others at Jae Suk’s comment. But at the same time, the joking bothered her in a way. Even though they were only on episode two of Running Man, the official members had such a connection with each other already. The cast members on her previous dramas weren’t even close enough to joke this way with each other. Ji Hyo covered as she laughed, knowing the comments the netizens would have about the size of her front teeth.

“Isn’t it too early?”

Jae Suk looked over at Jong Kook.

“The quicker you decide, the better!”

“The truth is, he’s actually quite a good hyung! Just passing away like this, it’s really a pity.”

All of the members laughed at the words that came out of Gary’s mouth. Knowing that they needed to move on with the show, Jae Suk brought attention back to the sorting of the teams.

“This time, our Kwang Soo…” Jae Suk paused as he looked over at Kwang Soo, “Kwang Soo, why are you holding Joong Ki’s cardigan?”

Kwang Soo looked down at the yellow cardigan in his hands. The other members leaned forward to look at him.

“You guys aren’t friends?” Haha laughed as he spoke.

“It was thrown on the side, so I…”

Laughs erupted from the members as they watched Joong Ki hide his smile with the towel around his neck.

“When I’m saying all this, he should be taking the cardigan away from me now.”

“Aish! It’s too hot.”

Ji Hyo clapped in response to Joong Ki’s comment. It was a struggle for her to maintain such a poised image for a long period of time. She felt awkward standing next to the younger idol, especially with the way it seemed as if she towered over Hara.

“Joong Ki doesn’t seem to have that kind of vibe,” laughed the National MC.

“Joong Ki and I have different styles.”

“Definitely not the same,” Jae Suk stated before turning back to the camera, “Alright, we’re all here. Let’s get into teams. Who was the first to arrive?”

All of the cast members looked down at where the PDs were sitting. Jo PD looked down at the cards in front of him.

“Lee Kwang Soo-ssi.”

Everyone stared at Kwang Soo as he bowed. None of them could believe that he arrived at the martial arts platform first.

“I want my priority to be democratic. That’s why I’m going to ask everyone if they want to be with me or not.”

Silence once again settled over the set. Nobody dared to move. Finally, Jae Suk turned to look at Gwang Soo.

“Maybe the weather is too hot and our brains aren’t working properly.”

“Even though it’s so hot, who wants to be on my team?”

This time, laughter erupted from the other cast members. Ji Hyo wasn’t sure if nobody was responding because they just didn’t want to join Kwang Soo’s team or if they were just trying to make it funny for the audience. If anything, she felt slightly sorry for Kwang Soo.

“Why don’t you pick one of the girls first?”

Ji Hyo inwardly cringed at Jae Suk’s suggestion. It reminded her of back when she was in gym class at school. She had gotten used to being one of the latter choices because of how often it happened.

“Then…even though you two must be very nervous—“

“I’m not nervous at all” Hara interrupted Kwang Soo.

Even though Ji Hyo hadn’t worked with Kwang Soo before, she still felt sorry for him. The embarrassment he must be feeling is something she’s experienced before.

“Kwang Soo might hold a grudge towards you” Jae Suk told Hara.

“Then I want to pick Noona. Ji Hyo noona.”

Ji Hyo’s smile was a bit forced as she moved to stand next to Kwang Soo. She knew that he really only picked her because of how Hara embarrassed him. She knew that he had probably wanted the pretty idol on his team rather than her. Ultimately, she had once again been picked last of the two girls.

“I’m going to pick the next team member now,” Kwang Soo paused as he looked at the line of members in front of him, “Haha hyung!”

Haha clapped as he moved across the platform to where Ji Hyo and Kwang Soo stood. He gave Kwang Soo a hug of thanks before giving Ji Hyo a double high five.

“Why did you pick Haha? What’s the reason?” Jae Suk wondered aloud.

Kwang Soo looked at the shorter hyung standing next to him before looking back at Jae Suk.

“Because he’s so cheerful and—“

The other cast members laughed as Kwang Soo began his monologue on why he chose Haha to be on his team. As Kwang Soo continued on about Haha, Ji Hyo looked at the members around her. The Running Men seemed to be so close already that she felt almost burdened to be on the show. Why would anyone want to see her on the show? She hadn’t been popular in any way since finishing A Frozen Flower.

“Kwang Soo, loosen up your necktie. You’ll feel more comfortable,” Joong Ki finally interrupted.

“I’m not going to pick you” Kwang Soo said as he pointed as Joong Ki.

Jae Suk was amazed that Kwang Soo outright said that he doesn’t like to be criticized. It wasn’t usual for him.

“Then why did you pick Ji Hyo out of Ji Hyo and Hara?”

The edges of Ji Hyo’s smile fell as Jae Suk asked that question. She didn’t need to know the reasoning. It was similar to how she felt when she had first confessed to her crush back in school.

“Hara-ssi and I don’t seem to work well together.”

Even though Kwang Soo didn’t say it, Ji Hyo knew that it was because of the embarrassment from earlier that she was chosen. She just continued to smile at the camera as Kwang Soo chose his remaining two teammates.

“Yoo Jae Suk hyung! Gary hyung!”

As the group of nine headed towards the shuttles that would take them to the Suwon World Cup Stadium, Ji Hyo lingered at the back of the group. She watched as the other members interacted with each other. They all were able to converse with one another without it seeming forced. Reaching the parking lot, Ji Hyo looked over to where her company van was parked. She really wanted to escape inside the vehicle and not worry about being watched by the numerous cameras.

“Ji Hyo-yah.”

She hadn’t been aware that Jae Suk had broken away from the group in front of her. He slung an arm over her shoulders and walked alongside her.

“I meant what I said on the platform. You are my yeodongsaeng.”

“Gomapseumnida, Jae Suk oppa.”

Ji Hyo was very thankful that Jae Suk was on Running Man. She doubted she would have even said yes to the offer if she hadn’t known someone on the cast.

The nine members split into the team vehicles after changing into their uniforms. Looking at the pink coloring of the Away Team uniforms, Ji Hyo grimaced at the bright color. Settling into the vehicle, a PD joined them in the front passenger seat. Once everyone was buckled in, they began the short drive to the stadium.

 “Filming today will be different compared to episode one. Instead of it being about finding the codes to unlock the main doors, we decided to make it a little more interesting this time.”

Ji Hyo looked at the other members in the car. They had all been a part of the first episode.

“Jo PD, what exactly do you mean by interesting?” Jae Suk asked.

“This week, only the group that has collected the most money is allowed to exit the stadium.”

“Chincha? How are we supposed to get the money?”

“There are two methods to get money. The first is to play a mini game to earn 500,000 won. The second is to find the cash-filled Golden Piggie Banks hidden throughout the landmark. But there’s a catch with the Piggie Banks. You will only know the amount of money within them right before you are to leave.”

“Aish! Do you know how big that stadium is?”

The four male teammates complained as they rode in the car. Ji Hyo watched as they joked around with each other. She still regretted coming.

So this is a style of writing I've never tried before. I've never really written fanfiction based off any tv show. For the first couple episodes that Ji Hyo is a part of, it'll be split across a few chapters because of setting up the relationships.

This whole chapter really is just the first 9 minutes of episode two. I'm going to skip over somethings and focus on others. So, if you can, bear with me for the first couple chapters while I establish everything.