By some miracle, all members of Running Man were supposed to be on the same team in the next shooting. That meant no betraying, no yelling across to opposing teams, but it also meant more cast interactions.

And cast interactions were something Jihyo tried extremely hard to avoid since Kwangsoo dropped her that bomb yesterday. She could barely look Jong Kook in the eye this morning when he greeted her! How embarrassing!

This time the producers decided to reuse the "9 vs 1" concept from the past episodes, as per Gary's suggestion the last meeting. So when the whole cast, together with guests Hye Jung and Chun Hee, gathered earlier to study (because apparently learning never stops) for the mission, she kept her head ducked throughout. Along the years she had learnt that staying low may reduce her screen time, but it saved her a lot of unnecessary awkward trouble.

Suspiciously, Kwangsoo took a seat beside Gary. She eyed him from across the room, but he just gave her an "innocent" smile. The giraffe had something up his sleeve, she was sure of it.

She herself was sandwiched between Jong Kook and HaHa, and with the way both of them kept giving each other looks she felt like they were plotting something against her. 

Their suspicious behaviour got her brain thinking hard. Are they planning something? 

Oh God. She thought as Jaesuk frowned and shook his head at Dong Hoon and Jong Kook. 

The hidden camera is on me right?? She narrowed her eyes at the cast. No wonder they had been jumpy and strange the whole morning! And Kwangsoo claiming to meet his manager in the morning before filming started? Lies! All lies! I'm the one they are fooling!  

Then she stopped herself in her tracks before she could accuse the whole lot. But why did they leave Kim Hye Ja out of this filming if they were truly fooling her? And wasn't this a team mission? 

So Jihyo watched quietly at the bunch of grown men giving each other glances and then giggling like teenage girls as they attempted to memorize the answers. The only guy, she noticed, who was perfectly sane and no doubt as clueless as she was, was Kang Gary, who was actually concentrating on the paper in front of him. His eyebrows knitted together in the cutest way possibl- 

She slapped herself hard that moment. Stop. What are you thinking about? 

"Something wrong, Seong Im?" Jaesuk asked, worried. She looked up, noticing for the first time that they were taking a break from filming and the cameras were all pointed downwards.

"Nothing!" She cried out, and her rushed response wasn't helping in the situation. Quick on her feet, she lied,"I was just falling asleep."

"But you've already slept so soundly last night!" Kwangsoo protested, and they laughed. Once they got to hear the story of Kwangsoo being kicked out of his own room, they had right from the morning before filming even started. 

"She's always sleeping!" Suk Jin retorted, waving his hands around like a real ahjussi. Now it was his turn to be teased, and Jihyo was glad that the attention was gone. Sighing, she glanced back at the answers, trying to cram the words in her brain. 

The PD announced that they were moving to the starting location, which lead to a chorus of groans and moans like a class of students about homework. 

"But we haven't finished memorizing yet!"

"I don't understand what I'm memorizing!"

The poor PD sighed, and Jihyo almost wanted to go up to him and apologize for their childish behaviour. They reluctantly moved on to the bus though, each with their head buried in the answers. She did the same, even though nothing was getting in anyway. 

"Hey."

Stunned, she looked up from the paper. Gary initiating a conversation wasn't uncommon, but she knew that they were still awkward after that day, and it was unlike him to throw away his pride to come talk to her. She let the rest of the cast walk ahead first to avoid their suspicions, before answering, "What's up?"

"The ceiling." He answered cooly.

They stepped out into the cold winter day, and she immediately retorted, "It's the sky and that's not what I meant!"

"Well then, nothing is up." They walked in silence and she watched as the gap between them and the rest of the crew grew further apart. 

"Did you sleep well?" He asked, concerned. 

"Kwangsoo's bed was long and comfortable." She replied.

Another pause. She couldn't even see the rest by then. 

"They're plotting something." Gary blurted out just as they stepped into the car park. She could see them again in the distance, because Kwangsoo, being tall, stood out like a sore thumb. 

Surprised, Jihyo turned to him. "Walk slower," she whispered urgently. "Kwangsoo left earlier than me this morning."

"And Dong Hoon told me not to fetch him because he had to meet his manager." He said as he slowed down.

"You think this is for the show?" 

"It can't be. It's a team mission today. And the PDs are going to let us win since we're donating money to charity. Unless..." He stopped, and she followed.

"Matchmaking." He sulked, coming to a conclusion. "They want us to have alone time."

Jihyo sighed, knowing that Gary was right. "Do we ignore them?" 

Now they were meters away from the crew. She could see them sneaking peeks at the two of them, but the cast were terrible actors so they all gave it away.

"If you want to." He answered shortly, the disappointment evident in his tone.

"You still owe me that date you know." Jihyo smiled, figuring that she owed him that much after all that had happened the past few days. "But only for the show of course."

"Only for the show." Gary echoed, but he was smiling now. 

Both of them self consciously stopped talking, knowing that they were within earshot of the prying cast as they walked up to the team.

"Any slower, and we might as well film overtime." Suk Jin grumbled. "Next time date outside filming ok?" 

Behind him, Kwangsoo and HaHa smirked. Jihyo scrambled up the bus, purposely pulling on Kwangsoo's hair as she went past him. He screeched, grabbing his hair in pain, but she was glad that the smirking stopped. 

She wonders why she goes to work with such immature kids trapped in adult bodies every week. 

But she loves it anyway.

Gary was right, because after filming, when they went out for dinner as usual, all sorts of excuses and tactics were thrown to get them together.

The guests weren't free, so it was just the running man cast, all 7 of them at HaHa's restaurant again. Jaesuk joked that Dong Hoon's income mostly came from their visits, to which the latter whined that it was so not true. 

They were all throwing more jokes, and definitely happier that day, probably because they've just successfully donated a whole lot of money for charity, or maybe because they had planned some wild matchmaking scheme. Definitely the second one. Jihyo thought as Kwangsoo winked at HaHa again.

To give them credit, they did spend a lot of time and effort thinking of all sorts of excuses to get them together. The moment they had stepped into the restaurant, she found herself pushed beside Gary, because the other five had rushed upstairs to their private seats like there was a tsunami wave chasing them from behind. 

Midway through ordering, Jaesuk suddenly grimaces with his best acting face. "Sorry guys, I have to head home to babysit. Kyung Eun wants to meet her friends." 

They waved their goodbyes, and Jihyo almost believed him if it wasn't for that unnecessary wink he gave Sukjin as he left. 

"I have to head home too... Soo Jung just called me." Sukjin's acting was terrible as always, his tone rushed and flat. If they can act, she can as well, she thought as she told Sukjin to go ahead.

3 more members. They finally ordered and she was wondering how they would escape.  After all, they were predictable, and if any of them exchanged winks one more bloody time, she might just chase them all out.

Halfway through the meal, Kwangsoo was seriously drunk. Or so he tried to look like. He reached out for his glass of untouched soju, pretending to knock it over and then crashing his head onto the table. 

"He looks drunk." Ha Ha pointed out the obvious, and it took all of her willpower to not laugh. "We should bring him home." Jong Kook added quickly, as if he was reading from a script. 

"He barely touched his beer." Gary looked up quizzically. Jihyo grinned at his playful tone, wondering if she should tease them a little.

On cue, Kwangsoo moaned softly, pouring the soju down his throat. "WHY AM I STILL SINGLE?" He cried out, and this time Jihyo let herself giggle a little.

"I think you should take him home. I'll take Jihyo home." Gary grinned, looking over at her. 

"That's a great idea! I'll pay the bill!" Dong Hoon exclaimed a little too enthusiastically as they got up to leave. 

Jihyo clammed shut, sealing off the laughter that threatened to escape as she watched Kwangsoo "cry" over Jong Kook's shoulder. Dong Hoon was practically leaping up to shove them out of the restaurant. 

As Jihyo and Gary finally stepped out, she caught sight of his smirk, and finally let herself burst out laughing. Laughter is contagious, so soon he was laughing too. They laughed until her stomach ached and her cheeks were streake