"Hyung, I’m so sorry!" Cried Kwang Soo desperately, burying his face into Suk Jin’s neck, while he circled the older man’s shoulders in a strong grip.

Their eldest friend just glanced at the maknae in disbelief and tried to tear the arms away from him, though his efforts were in vain. The long limbs were completely irremovable as if they were glued there. "Kwang Soo, please stop" asked him the man then turned his head towards the other three, his eyes full of helplessness. The others just laughed at the situation and shook their head. No, they absolutely had no intention to interfere in this case. It was far too amusing. Kwang Soo rarely drunk himself under the table, but when he did, it was the funniest thing the whole night.

"But I’m so sorry, hyung!" The giraffe cried again, slowly making Suk Jin’s shoulder wet with his tears, saliva and and other things the man didn’t want to where did they come from. It was seriously disgusting.

"Dong Hoon, don’t you dare!" yelled the old man at Haha as he was searching for his smartphone, probably in order to film the situation. "Kwang Soo, what’s wrong?" asked Suk Jin after all, as their giant wasn’t about to tell them the cause of his sorrow.

"I’m sorry I couldn’t be at your wedding, Hyung!" Kwang Soo sniffed again, burying his head deeper into his hyung’s neck, spreading the already quite big patch of dirt he made.

The trio who watched the scene silently till then burst out in laughing now. Dong Hoon laughed so hard, he falled back to the ground, and Ji Hyo leaned towards Jong Kook, grabbing his shoulder to steady herself.

"What the…" cursed Suk Jin silently. "Kwang Soo-yah. My wedding was more than ten years ago. We weren’t even friends then."

"But still…" Kwang Soo finally released him so he can look at him. His face was drenched in tears so he used the sleeve of his shirt to dry his skin. "I should have known."

"I can’t believe it" Ji Hyo whispered, as she wasn’t able to talk any louder than that because her stomach hurt so much at this point from all the laughter.

"Kwang Soo, I’m not angry" sighed Suk Jin. He knew that in this state he won’t be able to reason with the maknae. "I forgive you. You didn’t know."

"Really, Hyung?" asked the young man, fresh tears escaping his eyes. "Thank you!" And Suk Jin found himself in a death grip again as the giraffe hugged him once more out of relief.

"I will totally send this to the others" chuckled Haha while wiping off his own tears.

"How about you help me instead?" asked Suk Jin angrily. "He’s chocking me!"

"People say love hurts" said Ji Hyo which emerged laughter from them again. In that situation and the amount of alcohol they’ve already consumed, everything seemed funny. 

Though Kwang Soo’s little episode didn’t last long. When he discovered they still had a full bottle of soju in their private room, his emotional side disappeared and he started to dance (well, if you can call that wiggling dance) to the quiet background music. Of course Dong Hoon recorded that too. This was something that had to be recorded for the future generations.

"Oppa" chuckled Ji Hyo again and grabbed Jong Kook’s short sleeve. He looked down at her and lifted his arm to pat her back. "You have to stop this madness."

"This is not madness" shook his head Dong Hoon. He put down his phone onto the table and took a sip of his drink before continuing. "Now, Jong Kook Hyung’s party was truly wild."

Upon hearing about that event, Ji Hyo froze. Her face remained emotionless, but in the inside she was troubled.

"Yah" The muscular man yelled at him jokingly. "Stop spreading lies."

"What lies" told Suk Jin though he was quite offended when Kwang Soo managed to elbow him in the back of his head during his dance break. It wasn’t even a party song, so they didn’t really understand what was going on in his head. Probably many things at the same time, or nothing at all. There is no in between. "I would never known you make alcoholic friends, knowing your principles."

"Don’t be shy" chuckled Jong Kook. "You all drink crazy lot, not just my other friends."

"That may be true, I admit mumbled Dong Hoon and glanced at Jong Kook. "But at least we have high tolerance."

As Jong Kook didn’t understand where this conversation was heading, Suk Jin decided to help him out. Haha wasn’t too great at explaining things when he was a bit tipsy. "What I think Dong Hoon is talking about is the time when some of them suggested we play a drinking game. It was interesting, but they have gone a bit far. That actor… what was his name…" As their eldest friend was thinking, Dong Hoon finished his sentence in his place. "I’m just saying that they have drank too much. I was afraid they would pass out or something. It’s hard to take care of drunken men. Especially so tall as them."

"They only seem tall comapared to you" chuckled Suk Jin.

"Hyung, that joke is as old as you are." Dong Hoon sent him an angry glare. He just hated when people made fun of his height. Suk Jin was about to insult him back, when Kwang Soo started to sing loudly which distracted them instantly.

Jong Kook just looked at the two male, his eyes filled with sorrow. It was clear that he felt bad. "Did they cause problems?" he asked with a sigh. He knew he should have spent more time with them.

Ji Hyo glanced down at her hands in her lap nervously. Did they cause problems?

At this point how much did she want to just blurt the truth out. But even in her quite drunken state, her tongue could never form the right words. As if she went mute.

"No" answered Dong Hoon. "Not at all. Don’t make that face." He nuged at his hyung with a kind smile. "They were fun guys though we didn’t talk much. I was just a bit worried."

Fun guys… fun guys?! Ji Hyo practically felt her blood boiling in her veins. She remembered Jae Suk’s words from that night. How he encouraged her to tell Jong Kook about the incident, because that man could cause problems to other women later. She knew it’s true and she wanted to tell the story, but that would mean revealing what Nam Jun Seok did to her. Even thinking about it made her nervous, she couldn’t voice it.

"And you?" Jong Kook turned to Suk Jin. "Did you feel bad in their presence?"

The older man barely opened his mouth when Kwang Soo hit his head again. He yelled at him and make the younger man sat back to the table forcefully. The giraffe didn’t seem to mind it though. His head still moved along to the music. Or he tried.

"No" said Suk Jin finally. "You party was good, everyone enjoyed themselves. I was just surprised. I mean, those friends loved alcohol so much. I can’t possibly imagine they never get your nagging about the harmful effects of it to the brain." He added with a grin.

„Well, they do. I can’t stay silent about it” sighed Jong Kook. "Especially Jun Seok, who…"

Ji Hyo’s body moved before receiving a single command from her brain. She found herself on her feet, with her palms on top of the table. The four man watched her with surprised glances, so she cleared her troat and asked. "Do you want something to drink? I’m about to buy something and…"

Dong Hoon shook his head indicating that he still has some left, while Kwang Soo raised his long arm to ask for some beer. Suk Jin declined the offer too as he was about to leave soon anyway. His wife didn’t like it when he stayed out for too long.

"And you, oppa?" The actress turned her head towards the man. Jong Kook eyed her for a bit, then shook his head. He still had water in his glass.

She was about to stood up and straighten her back, but the world started to spin a little. She wasn’t that dizzy, but the last couple of soju shots made their effect.

Before she could turn on her heels, a hand circled her wrist gently. Ji Hyo glanced down at the muscular man again questioningly. "Maybe I should go instead." he offered, worried about her physical state. She was still not as drunk as Kwang Soo and looked like she could think clearly, but he didn’t want to risk it.

"No" Ji Hyo mumbled and teared her hand from his grasp. She needed air. That room suffocated her. Whether it was the alcohol or the sudden turn of the conversation, maybe both, but she wanted to get out anyway.

She reached the door of the private room. Her steps were indeed a bit wobbly, but still stable enough to carry herself with diligence. Opening the door, the noise of the club hit her. She sighed at the thought of pushing herslef through the crowd to the counter, but even this fight seemed to be the better option than staying there.

The people in the crowd were dancing wildly to the beat of the music. The blue and green lights flashed through the room rapidly, blinding her for seconds every now and then. The rest of the room remained dark, which, she hoped, would disguise her for the time being. She barely pushed herself into the sea of people, when a hand grabbed her upper arm firmly and started to pull her along. Before she could panic about the situation she noticed the muscular arm connected to the hand. The man path her way to the counter, and she followed him close by. With his big form in front of her, she barely had to get in touch with anybody. Every now and then he had to stop for a second to ask people to move aside and during these moments she was close enough to touch his firm back and inhale his scent. The sweet mixture of fresh deodorant and a little bit of cologne lingered around him. At any other time she would’ve been happy, that the man decided to help her out, or even care about her enough to do so, but now it angered her fuzzy head that he didn’t listen to her.

They stopped before the counter and he released her. The loss of his warmth on her arms felt like getting out of the hot bathtub during a winter night. Like a sudden ice shower, goosebumps marked her skin and made her tremble. She glanced at his face, but couldn’t really made out what he was thinking. He seemed indifferent, but still stood just too close to her, as if in an attempt to protect her from the dancing people, even though they were at least one meter away. Was she imagining things? No, he was just trying to hear what the bartender was saying through the noise, there can’t be any other reason for his closeness. Probably. Her thoughts got more and more off by every minute, so she decided to stop this there and then. Ji Hyo stepped to the counter and told her order to the bartenter.

As the man was preparing their drinks she leaned against a bar stool. That sudden cold shiver ran through her body again. She was getting really dizzy now. The room was spinning around her, so her grip on the stool got stronger, and her knuckles turned white.

She felt his palm on her shoulder again, but did not glanced at him. She wanted to wait a bit longer till the spell stops.

"Could you deliver the drinks to our private room? " She heard Jong Kook asking the bartender. "Yes, room number two. Thank you." Soon the man circled his arm around her upper back and started to guide her away, but not to the direction of their room. Her shoulder pressed against his well built chest muscles and the back of her head leaned against his shoulder. It was nice to be taken care of, but at that moment she didn’t really need it. She wanted to stay away from the man till her nervousness would disappear, yet here he was, by his side. And quite forcefully.

Light breeze caressed her cheeks, which meant they’ve got outside. Seemed like they ended up at the parkinglot at the back of the building. At that late hour, not many people could be seen.

Ji Hyo soon pulled her arm away from the man and sent him a questioning glare.

"Are you okay?" asked Jong Kook worriedly. The woman just nodded. "You look pale."

"Everything’s fine. You didn’t have to drag me outside." Her voice was a bit too raspy and rough, not like her usual kind tone.

All she wanted was to get away from the man so she didn’t have to imagine what would he think about her if he knew what his friend did to her. The odds were not in her favour as he was in front of her all along. Her mind was racing again on maximum capacity. She didn’t want to think about Nam Jun Seok. Not when she was with her friends. The birthday party was barely a week ago, the memory was just too fresh. And she felt drunk and vulnerable just like then.

"I wasn’t dragging you, Ji Hyo-yah" sighed the man. The actress couldn’t decide if he was just really tired or fed up with her odd behavior. Maybe both. Maybe neither. "I was just afraid that you felt ill."

"I wasn’t going to vomit, thank you" mumbled Ji Hyo and was about to wobble back inside the building, but Jong Kook grabbed her arm again to keep her outside so they can talk.

Something snapped in her then. She teared her hand away and sent a threatening glare at the man, something she never did in her life, at least not outside of Running Man filming. "Stop yanking me, will you?!"

The man frowned at her, but raised his hands in defence. "Sorry, I just wanted to…"

"No" interrupted him the actress. "How about opening your mouth if you want to talk to me, insted of grabbing me all the time? I hate when people just go and…"

Ji Hyo stopped herself quickly. She squeezed her eyes shut at her own foolishness. How much did she drink, for god’s sake. She hated to lose the grip like this. She’s got so worked up that almost get the one thing out that she wanted to keep from him the most.

"Ji Hyo-yah…" Upon hearing his gentle tone she opened her eyes. He looked genuinely confused, though a bit sad. She didn’t deserve his concern. "Did something happen?"

Damn. Damn him for being so sober while she wasn’t. Damn him for being so observant of a person. Damn him for being so nice to her all the time. Damn him for making her go crazy about him. Damn him…

"Oppa… it’s just…" As the adrenaline rush of her sudden outburst started to fade away the dizziness slowly crept back to her head. This night felt like a disaster already and she was sure that it will last for a little while more. "Don’t worry" Ji Hyo answered after all. "Just the usual. I can manage."

Jong Kook eyed for pregnant seconds then took a step closer. His frown deepened, making his forhead slightly wrinkly. His stare was just too intense for her to bear, so the actress glanced away. "Who was it?"

His directness blown her away. How could he find out from all the nonsense she mumbled during the night? It was impossible, even for Detecive Kim.

"Who?" she asked back, still not meeting his eyes.

"You hate when people just go and… what? Someone touched you without your consen. Or someone hurt you, Ji Hyo-yah?" He was already in her personal space, but he leaned a bit forward, practically towering over her. He wasn’t an overly tall man, but his bulkiness was quite intimidating.

"Oppa, it’s okay…" she wanted to calm him down and bring up a new topic, but she didn’t succeed. Her lack of denial was a direct confirmation of his suspicion for Jong Kook. Not the right choice of words, probably.

"Hurting someone is not okay, Ji Hyo-yah! What happened? This is what you wanted to talk about?" He raised his voice. She already felt funny, so his outburst just made wince and to take a step back. "I knew something was up. You are so timid nowadays around me. Something happened?"

She sighed and tried to come up with an excuse to get out of the situation. This just wasn’t the right time.

"Ji Hyo-yah" Jong Kook called her name again, his voice painfully quiet, yet cut through the silence of the night with ease.

"It’s nothing" she whispered. In fact, she thought about the situation over and over again during the last few days, and still felt that it wasn’t anything to fuss about. That man was just way too drunk. And she, too, drank quite a bit. Her memories were a bit fuzzy about that night anyway. "I just don’t like it when others touch me so freely without asking me. They make me feel like a mere… object"

She tried to avoid looking at his face, but his next comment got her attention back. "It’s not about just touching, right? I saw the bruises." Ji Hyo turned her head towards him quickly with wide eyes. How did he know? How can he know about anything? Now it was his turn to glance away. He lifted his hand to scrape the back of his head in nervousness, but after a while looked back at her. "It wasn’t intentional though. During the game on Monday, when I tried to tear your nametag off I saw them."

She was utterly speechless. Just watched him with lightly parted lips.

"Ji Hyo-yah" he stepped closer again. "You can tell me. Touching is not okay, I understand that. And I’m really sorry if I crossed any lines. It wasn’t my intention. But causing bruises takes a bit more than just simple touching. What happened?"

The fog suddenly emerged from her mind. She was grateful for him, but still couldn’t get herself to tell him the complete truth.

"This happens sometimes." It indeed does, and how much she hates it. "Men don’t always know when to stop. It wasn’t anything serious though, you don’t have to worry." Ji Hyo lied smoothly.

She wanted to go back to the building, but Jong Kook stopped her again. Not with his hands this time, he was afraid to make this situation more awkward, but with his words. This was his true strengths. Not his muscles, but his heart.

"I’m here" he said, still watching her back, not moving from his spot. "You don’t have to keep it all in. But I won’t force you. Just know that I’m here."

Her heart started beating at an unbelievable pace. It just made her already dizzy state worse, but she endured it.

"Thank you" Ji Hyo mumbled. She glanced back at him and reached towards his hand with her own. In a sober state, she would not do such things, but drunken Ji Hyo was another story. Bolder. Braver. And doesn’t always make sense. Jong Kook took her hand with a smile and they went back to the building together. He helped her through the crowd again so they could reach the private room faster. Ji Hyo felt calmer now, but the heavy thoughts never left her brain.

Back in the room they could only find two of their friends. Suk Jin already left to go home, but Kwang Soo was still up, dancing. Dong Hoon acted much calmer, but when the two of them came back, he attacked Jong Kook right away because he wanted to discuss something. Ji Hyo sat alone and sipped her fresh drink that was brought here while they were away, when suddenly Kwang Soo hopped down next to her and circled her small body in a big and tight hug. The younger man even rested his chin on her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" She asked with a small chuckle and grabbed at his arms.

"Nothing" replied the man in a slurred tone. "I’m just happy. I wanted to tell you that I love you, noona."

"Is that so?" she smiled at him and pushed her cheek against the top of his head. "I love you too, maknae."

Although Dong Hoon told them to quit the cheesiness because he and Jong Kook were in the middle of a business conversation, she still felt a lot calmer. It just felt nice to have so caring and lovely friends.

She stole a glance at Jong Kook. He looked so big compared to Dong Hoon while sitting next to each other. But even his muscles didn’t seem bigger and stronger than his heart. She couldn’t help but adore him more and more, even if she was still a bit agnry at him for not letting the matter go.

She didn’t want him to think different of her, neither needed his pity. She just wanted to spend time with him as usual. His friendship was the thing she needed the most.

~*~

Jong Kook was behind the steering wheel with a sleeping giraffe on the passanger seat. The young man passed out completely and was currently drooling on his own shoulder. Jong Kook wondered if he should put there a tissue or anything, but decided against it. The man has to understand his limits. Maybe a nice patch on his designer jacket would be a right lesson.

The moon was still up high so the roads weren’t packed at all.

He glanced out of the windows to admire the nicely lit skyscrapers, though nothing could distract him from thinking about anything but Ji Hyo. He noticed she was a bit different for a few days now. It wasn’t anything noticable. The actress didn’t seem to talk too much to the staff as she used to, and was less physical during the games and off screen too. It was quite a sudden change.

Jong Kook wished his suspicions wouldn’t have been right.  Someone behaved in a way towards Ji Hyo that hurt her body, and as it turned out, her soul too.  He imagined someone getting rough with her and it angered him. Without him noticing his grip got tigher around the wheel making his fingers go pale. Could it be someone at the drama filming? He heard that the director of her new drama is quite a perfectionist and that they can go hard on actors, but bruising someone seemed just unlikely. If he would damage his artists, how could they act in certain scenes?

But when could it happen then? Ji Hyo has a quite busy schedule and barely go anywhere even with her friends.

He remembered back to the party. That seemed the only likely place other than the filming set where she went. He wasn’t with her all night and she left early. Could there be a conection between the two?

No. He couldn’t believe it. His friends were all nice people. Some of them could go a bit far with their drinking habits, but they couldn’t hurt a woman, let alone Ji Hyo. Everyone loved her.

He let out a big sigh. His worries grew stronger and stronger. At first he belived that the marks on her body caused by a lover, now it turned out to be a complete opposite. Not made by a lover, and certainly not made by love. It was a weird thing to think, but he couldn’t decide which one disturbed him more.

Wait.

What?

He shook his head rapidly. How could the possibility of Ji Hyo having a new boyfriend disturb him even theoretically at all, more so than the thought of a probable harassment against her. He was losing his mind too, it seemed. No, he is just tired. It was dawn already. Yeah, it must be because he is tired…

The only thing was left to find out who did this to her and teach him a lesson on how to treat women. He didn’t want this to happen again. A sudden urge to protect Ji Hyo washed over his body. Hurting Ji Hyo meant hurting his family. And he wouldn’t lett hat happen, at least not again.

Hi guys! The new semester at my uni started recently and I was quite busy because of it. I don't dare to promise anything as it seems I'm always so late with my updates, but I will do my best to continue this story and update at least once a moth, if I can't do it more often. Let's hope I can do this. 

Those who go to school as well, how is it going? :)

Anyway. The new chapter is up. Gosh I make progresses so slowly haha. Hope you still like it though.