Chapter 10

Delaying the Inevitable

It was late morning when Ji Hyo had entered the set of her drama, carrying a cup of coffee in her right hand, when she was met with a hug from Dong Wook.

“You ok?” Dong Wook asked, concerned with his best friend after the day before. Truthfully, he was over the moon that she had found a man, although not officially hers, that made her so happy. But at the same time, he couldn’t helped but be worried about her as he knew that to her it was a one sided love as she was too blind to notice Jong Kook’s feelings.

“I only slept for 12 hours but I’ll survive.”

“Only?!” Dong Wook exclaimed, earning a laugh from Ji Hyo.

“But I know what you’re asking Dong Wook – ah, and I’m fine.” Ji Hyo reassured as she patted his arm.

After receiving hair and makeup, filming started as Dong Wook and Ji Hyo played the role of a happily married couple. What was meant to be a simple scene became a scene that took over an hour due to Ji Hyo’s mistakes. Eventually, the director had enough, slamming down his copy of the script in annoyance.

“Ji Hyo – ssi.* Is there something wrong?”
“No, sorry.” Ji Hyo answered softly, earning an exasperated sigh from the director.

“We’ll take 10 and then resume.” He shouted as Ji Hyo swiftly made her way towards the dressing room. She hated the fact that it was a man who was the cause of this – that man being Jong Kook. She had of course dated previously, but never had someone affected her as much as Jong Kook did and she hated the fact that he made her unprofessional and unable to shoot what was meant to take 30 minutes at the most. She went to wash her face and drank a glass of water when Dong Wook came in.

“Ji Hyo – yah, what’s wrong?” Dong Wook asked as he sat down.

“I don’t know… I can’t stop thinking about Jong Kook oppa.” Ji Hyo confessed meekly, playing with her sleeves.

“What?”

“I don’t know what it is but I can’t stop thinking about him. Like even this wedding scene, I can’t stop thinking that it’s Jong Kook oppa’s laugh that comes out of you and I can’t help but wishing that it was oppa that would hug me instead of you.”

To Ji Hyo’s surprise however, Dong Wook simply laughed, as her head snapped towards him in annoyance.

“Why are you laughing?”
“You’ll laugh about how absurd this sounds and come to me when the time comes.” Dong Wook smiled a knowing smile, standing up. “But for now, you need to film this scene before we can go home.”

“Sorry Dong Wook – ah. You had night filming yesterday as well didn’t you?” Ji Hyo apologised,

“It’s fine, life of an actor huh?” Dong Wook smiled yet his eyes were in need of sleep.

“Yeah.” Suddenly Ji Hyo’s phone began to ring which Ji Hyo picked up, as she signalled Dong Wook to leave and that she’d come out in a bit.

“Oppa.”

“Ji Hyo – yah! I’m not interrupting am I?”

“No, I’m on a break at the moment. What’s wrong?”

“I just wanted to say sorry for yesterday and wanted to know if you wanted to grab coffee later? I owe you one don’t I?” Jong Kook nervously asked, hoping that Ji Hyo would accept his invitation.

“You owe me two actually, the coffee that you said you’d get me last month didn’t happen.” Ji Hyo reminded.

“Ok, one of two then.” Jong Kook chuckled, making Ji Hyo chuckled as well, this being music to his ears.

“Sure oppa. I finish in about 5 hours so I’ll just go straight there.”

“Perfect! I’ll text you the address.”
“Sure. I’ve got to go now but I’ll see you later.”

“Oh Ji Hyo – yah?”

“Yeah oppa?”

“Be brilliant like you always are.” Jong Kook told her, making her smile unconsciously.

“I will.” Ji Hyo replied before hanging up the phone. She smiled at the conversation she had just had with Jong Kook and how, although she had been jealous yesterday, those feelings disappeared with a simple phone call from him. She had noticed this happening on more than one occasion. Like when she was at home resting when she was ill and he had spontaneously called, saying that he’d be at her house within the hour, making her feel re – energised. Or when she had just broken up with her boyfriend and he came bearing two tubs of ice cream (well one was frozen yogurt) and one bottle of her favourite wine to which they drank and ate into the early hours of the morning as he consoled her.

Of course, the mood uplifting was never one sided as Ji Hyo had helped Jong Kook when necessary. The days when Jong Kook’s back pain was worse, Ji Hyo had brought over seolleongtang* which helped him, although Jong Kook wasn’t sure if it was that or Ji Hyo’s mere presence. The days when he got writer’s block and was frustrated that he couldn’t come up with any lyrics for the new album, Ji Hyo often arranged an impromptu dinner and massaged his back and shoulders to relieve his stress. Of course, Jong Kook had the opportunity yet again to hink inappropriate thoughts but used it as a way to spend some time with her.

After that, filming for Ji Hyo was a breeze, shocking even the director in a good way. Dong Wook smiled knowing that it was due to a phone call from Jong Kook and secretly texted him in thanks, away from Ji Hyo, as he had told his hyung to give her a call earlier. Of course if he’d told Ji Hyo that he called because Dong Wook had told him then she would have killed him.

Five hours later and Ji Hyo was ready to leave to meet Jong Kook at the café that he was at. As always, her manager never ceased to be amazed at her sudden uplift in mood whenever she met him after work but frankly he was happy and had no objections. Being her manager for over 5 years, he had got to know her extremely well and saw her sufferings that came with first starting out as an actress and being the only female in Running Man. He remembered the times when she refused to rest when she had a cold because she looked forward to recording Running Man and the times when she’d stay up late after filming to make handmade presents for each member’s birthdays and made spontaneous cakes when the weather was cold or just randomly. He had protested strongly at first, telling her to rest more, but to no avail and he had gotten used to that and eventually stopped asking.

The drive to the café seemed to last forever to Ji Hyo who sat in the backseats applying her makeup. She had wiped off her makeup after shooting but after debating for 5 minutes, she decided on a simple touch of lip gloss, some eyeliner and eye shadow.

“How do I look?” She asked her manager as she popped her lips, meeting his eyes in the rear view mirror.

“You look great. Is it for a special someone?” He teased.

“Jong Kook oppa?”
“I never mentioned him.” Her manager teased earning a glare from Ji Hyo. As they neared the restaurant her manager reminded that she had filming early in the morning, which obviously came with protests, and that he’d come to her apartment to pick her up. Of course Ji Hyo agreed, she had no choice really, on the condition that he’d bring her some coffee and that she’d pay for his meal that he was planning to have to celebrate his anniversary with his girlfriend in return.

Ji Hyo stepped out into the darkness, which was only half filled with couples on late night dates, and was immediately stabbed by the daggers of the cold air as she thanked her manager before she watched the car drive off. She sighed heavily before she made her way into the café, with K – Pop music gracing her ears as she inhaled the aroma of freshly ground coffee as she scanned the café to see if she could see Jong Kook anywhere. Jong Kook on the other hand was waiting, impatiently mind you, for Ji Hyo to come. He had ordered her an Americano whilst he sipped on his Nokcha* as he scrolled through his phone when someone occupied the seat opposite him. He was about to say that it was already observed when he saw a familiar face and immediately broke into a smile as he realised it was Ji Hyo.

“When did you get here?” He asked as he gave her the Americano which she gladly accepted.

“Considering I just sat down about half a minute ago…”
“Very funny.” Jong Kook mocked, leaving an awkward silence between the two.

“Oppa, about yesterday…” Ji Hyo trailed off but a look from Jong Kook and she continued. “I over reacted. I mean what you said is true because I’ve known you for 6 years so if you liked me you would have asked me out right?”

Jong Kook sighed. “Ji Hyo – yah. Truthfully, that comment that I made yesterday was-“

“Oh my gosh. Could I get a photo please?” A stranger asked Ji Hyo, cutting Jong Kook off. Normally he was ok with fans but the moment that he needed to tell Ji Hyo his true feelings had to be interrupted.

“Of course! Do you mind taking the photo oppa?” Ji Hyo asked as she went to pose with her fan. He looked in his last year of university and seeing how Ji Hyo was really friendly and how she had to get close to him because of the lighting really riled Jong Kook up. Still, he took the picture and gave it to the fan, teeth clenched.
“I don’t mean to be nosy but are you two dating?”
“No! We were just talking about Running Man and oppa was asking me if I could be in his music video.” Ji Hyo defended, stunning Jong Kook as she lied so effortlessly.

“Oh I see. Anyway, enjoy the night!” The fan left as Ji Hyo sat back down.

“Where were you oppa?”

“Oh yeah! Weren’t you the one that said to confess to the girl that I liked for ages?”
“Yes I did. But I don’t see how that’s relevant to what we were talking about?” Ji Hyo answered, leaving Jong Kook at a loss for words. Crap.

“Just… you’re a woman right?”
Ji Hyo laughed in disbelief. “Would you like to confirm it?”

Jong Kook gulped and his hands began to start sweating. “Urm… how?” He stuttered.

“We can just look our throats since men have more pronounced Adam’s apple than women?” Ji Hyo stated, as if it was obvious before she took a sip of Americano. “Wait! You weren’t thinking of that were you?” She asked in surprise.

“Think about what?”

“That!”

However, Jong Kook was still clueless as to what Ji Hyo was insinuating. Ji Hyo was confused. She’d known Jong Kook for over 5 years and she’d known that he was often a quick thinker and often got jokes quickly. Jong Kook was sipping his drink when he finally, although this seemed like a lifetime to Ji Hyo, understood. “Oh! No Ji Hyo – yah. I’d never-“ 

“Relax oppa. I was just kidding.” Ji Hyo chuckled as she continued to sip her drink.

“Yah! No fair! Anyway, I wanted to say that I apologise for the comment yesterday. No matter how close we are, I still shouldn’t have said it.” He apologised. Ji Hyo looked up from sipping her drink to meet his eyes and felt his sincerity. In her view however, it was a comment that only bought some home truths to her and that she had overreacted.

“It’s ok oppa. It was only the truth. Anyways, you like someone else don’t you?” Ji Hyo asked, causing Jong Kook to groan internally. This conversation was not going the way he wanted it to, so he just smiled in response. And so, the rest of the night was filled with two close friends bonding over some hot drinks, clearing the air over a simple misunderstanding. Little did Ji Hyo know, that whilst she animatedly spoke about her drama and how much fun she was having, Jong Kook decided there and then to confess to her. He had decided to confess to the woman whom he had a longstanding crush on for the past 6 years.

 

--------------------

Word Count - 2125

A/N – Ssi – this is added to the end of someone’s name to address them formally. It’s used in a formal manner and is often standard when meeting someone for the first time etc.

Seolleongtang – ox bone soup. It’s packed with vitamins and minerals and other healthy stuff and widely used for helping conditions such as allergies, joint health, boosting the immune system etc.

Nokcha – Green tea which is widely known to have health benefits. It’s a popular drink in Korea as well as other Asian countries.

Happy New Year Runners! (Belated to those who live in those parts of the world). Even though 2016 was kinda rubbish, for various reasons plus the past month, I hope that 2017 will be better at least. Yes, Running Man is ending, but it will also be a new start for the members. Suk Jin, despite his age, will probably spend time with his family and continue to do stuff like other shows and his radio. Jae Suk is always popular and will continue to be on different TV shows. Jong Kook is probably working on another album with or without Turbo (hopefully with) and according a fan, he’s had calls from other shows on KBS and MBC (I laughed at this, indirect hate). He had a great fanbase before Running Man which has only grown as well as his music career. Gary left to work on music so will continue to do that. He seems to be having fun doing music from what I’ve seen on Instagram and Facebook. Ha Ha will continue to do his reggae music (which I love by the way) and will expand his family (I can’t wait!). Ji Hyo, despite seemingly being most affected by this, will eventually heal with time and the right people surrounding her. Her career will get better and I’m sure she’ll be cast on other shows as well (I have a feeling she might steer clear from SBS for a while) and hope she does well on her own one. Gwang Soo will continue to act and will be cast on other shows as well. Joong Ki is just getting better and better and more popular so I can’t wait for his new films and dramas! Lizzy will probably do some solo stuff and do some dramas or something? And the staff will find different shows and who knows, may make a brand new show with the members because to find a relationship like theirs is really hard.

All we can do in 2017 is continue to support them. Yes we will be sad but with the prospect that they will continue to support each other and possibly meet together on a programme one day, I will smile.

On another note, the survey was closed yesterday night and the results are as follows:

Most of you (89.5%) voted to continue to story so I will. I’ll take it as an opportunity to hopefully do justice for the memories that have been left from the past 7 years. Closer to the end of the story, I will be opening requests for any other fanfics (BTS + RM) and specific ideas you want. Once again, thank you for all the support and patience!

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
_guiax #1
Chapter 39: Hoping for an update 😭
retfhej #2
I'm waiting for an update, Hope you will continue this story!
jk_lau18 #3
Chapter 39: ❤️❤️
retfhej #4
Chapter 39: Thank you so much for update!
baybeesuga #5
Chapter 39: Thanks so much for the update. Another beautifully written chapter. Can't wait for the next! (:
shazam7 #6
Chapter 39: Thank you for the update. Your story is beautiful
rishou #7
Chapter 39: thank you for the update authornim! i had faith you would eventually update and it was absolutely woth it bc this ch was amazing!
ChoKwanGi #8
Chapter 39: wooooowww!!! thanks for the update!!!
aiiduck #9
Chapter 38: you probably won't update but I hope you are doing great and I love this fanfic sooo muchh <33