Ji Hyo got out of bed eventually, being careful not to disturb her sleeping boyfriend as she contemplated what to do. She wanted to make the next move already, going past the simple skinships of holding hands and hugs which could be experienced just through being friends, but she didn’t want to seem too forward – after all, it had only been a couple of days at the least of them being official. She wanted to kiss him, and for him to claim her as his, yet she didn’t want to come across as too forward or desperate. It went against her past relationships – normally having a five date rule before moving on to something more – but somehow she felt comfortable enough with Jong Kook that this could be thrown out the window.

“Morning beautiful.” Jong Kook whispered, pulling her out of her thoughts, as he enveloped her into a hug, holding her hands.

“Morning handsome.” She smiled widely, leaning back to become closer to him which only fitted the jigsaw of their bodies.

“Did you sleep well?”
“After I got used to your snoring.” Jong Kook teased, resting his head on her shoulder as his head travelled to her lower back, gently massaging it.

“I do not snore!” She protested, much to the amusement of Jong Kook. Even though he couldn’t see her face, he could imagine her knitted brows at feeling wronged and chuckled to himself.

“Hate to break it to you but you do.” He chuckled, the hot air tickling Ji Hyo’s exposed neck.

“Meh.” She pouted before continuing to cook breakfast – fried eggs to Jong Kook’s dismay although he didn’t vocalise it – leaving Jong Kook to set the table.

“Shi-“ Ji Hyo flinched, when the hot water made contact with her arm.  Jong Kook’s head snapped up from the newspaper that he was reading after settling the table, only to see Ji Hyo clutching her left arm.

“You ok?” Jong Kook asked, voice laced with concern as he rushed over to her, immediately placing her arm under cold water.

“I’m fine oppa. I just lost my grip and spilt some water.”
“Boiling water Ji Hyo – yah.” He frowned, lightly chastising her at her seemingly nonchalant attitude as he continued to hold her arm with one hand and turning off the gas with the other.

“It was only a little.” She murmured.

“I thought you were frying eggs, not boiling them?”
“You don’t eat fried stuff.” She shrugged.

Jong Kook smiled a small smile. “I’m touched that you thought about me Ji Hyo – yah but you didn’t have to. I’m willing to eat whatever you give me.”
“Even ramyeon?”
“Don’t push it.” Jong Kook chuckled. “Where’s your medical stuff? I’ll get some ointment and a bandage.”
“Cupboard on the left in the bathroom.”
Jong Kook had finished putting the bandage on Ji Hyo, ignoring her complaints about restricted movements of her wrist.

“I can’t hit Kwang Soo anymore.” Ji Hyo grumbled.

“Use your legs.” Jong Kook simply shrugged.

Jong Kook had served breakfast after that, as they chatted about Joong Ki’s upcoming marriage. It had been a shock initially to the members, barring Kwang Soo, but the shock was quickly overcome with joy and a little sadness – sadness at the fact that one of the youngest members was getting married so quickly.

Naturally for Jong Kook, it had also served as a painful reminder of his non – married status. Yet instead of painfully making him more aware that he was single, the news had made him aware of how long he had waited to ask Ji Hyo out – if he had asked her out earlier, they could have been married by now or at least engaged. Hell, he could even have had kids by now – little replicas of him and Ji Hyo running havoc and causing the other members to groan about the potential combined strength of the children. He smiled at the thought of her playing with her children as he cooked dinner, or her baking chocolate cookies (Jong Kook would eventually eat one… without her looking of course) as he bathed the children. Maybe, hopefully, one day it would become a reality.

“Earth to oppa?” Ji Hyo waved, as she had done for the past 5 minutes, trying to catch her boyfriend’s attention.

“Sorry Ji Hyo – yah.” He chuckled bashfully, ignoring the heat that rose to his face.

“What were you thinking about?” she asked, amused, thinking that it was something trivial.

“You.” He had spoken without missing a beat as he matched his eyes, causing Ji Hyo to be the one to ignore the flush of her cheeks.

“Oh stop it and eat.” Ji Hyo blushed profusely, suddenly paying more attention to her food.

The two had agreed to go out after breakfast, wanting to embrace the sun, with Ji Hyo suggesting a drive to the beach, knowing that most people were either at work or school. It was a nice beach that she often frequented which wasn’t too popular but was still accompanied by the beautiful the scenery that the more popular beach the neighbouring town had offered. She often drove there on her own – it only being an hour away proving there was no traffic – when she couldn’t sleep or when she was having a hard time. She’d always gone for the tranquillity where she’d focus on the lapping of the waves amongst the cries of the seagulls.

Jong Kook had insisted on driving for he wanted to Ji Hyo to relax in the passenger seat and that her left hand was restricted due to the bandage. She had agreed, not bothering to put up a fight, but on the condition that she could choose the music. She packed some fruit to eat on the way and when they got there – she tried to sneak in some cookies but found them to be put back in the cupboard when she had gone back to add more snacks – and added some drinks.

After getting coffees for the journey, Ji Hyo had insisted on paying, the pair started the hour drive. It was late morning and it being a weekday meant that traffic was minimal. Music was everchanging on Ji Hyo’s phone, it being on shuffle, as Jong Kook watched Ji Hyo sing and dance along, him occasionally joining in much to her delight. It was at that time that Jong Kook had been thankful for having tinted windows – not only did it allow them to travel together in secret but it also provided a screen so that others couldn’t see what she was doing – they would have probably she thought that she was crazy.

Apart from the music, conversation also filled the car, often either starting with Jong Kook teasing Ji Hyo’s dancing or Ji Hyo mimicking (albeit poorly) Jong Kook’s habits on stage. After more minutes of Ji Hyo dancing along to songs, adding in the occasional direction, the couple arrived at the beach. It was secluded, overshadowed by the more popular attraction the next town over, but it still offered the most exquisite views. Those who had opted for the quieter beach were often adults who were either working – Ji Hyo had bumped into an old friend of hers who was a blogger who had told her that this was a place for writers trying to break the dreaded writer’s block – or retired couples that preferred the tranquillity over the screaming children. However, not many people had known about the cave that was hidden away by the rocks at the end. It wasn’t too fancy – just a cave that was the result of years of weathering – but it offered a secrecy and a safe place… for Ji Hyo to sleep. Jong Kook had complained as to why Ji Hyo hadn’t worn a bikini (she had simply opted for shorts and a t – shirt instead) earning a small glare from Ji Hyo as he followed her to the cave, trudging through the water.

Despite it being mid – autumn, the sun was shining brightly and the wind was at a standstill, enough for someone to lie and say it was mid – summer instead. The two set up the blanket on the sand as they lied down.

“What were you planning on doing here that you had to get us away from people Ji Hyo – yah?” Jong Kook wriggled his eyebrows, which quickly turned into a frown as Ji Hyo lighted hit him. “I can see why you’d come here Ji Hyo – yah but don’t come on your own again… it’s dangerous.”
“I’m a big girl oppa.” She simply dismissed.

“I know.”
“Here, have a fruit.” Ji Hyo fed him, before he could talk about the dangers of being a pretty girl, much less a celebrity, going alone at night to a cave.

The pair were lying down, Ji Hyo resting her head on Jong Kook’s arm as she read over her script for the next day whilst Jong Kook read as well… a book on working out. In reality, Ji Hyo had stopped reading through her script a while ago, preferring to ogle Jong Kook and how handsome he looked. His brows which furrowed in concentration with his lips forming into a small circle when had had come across a new exercise that he wanted to try the next time he went to the gym. She was lost observing his chiselled jaw and the way he bit his lip or even worse – them. 

“Ji Hyo – yah.”
“Mmm?”
“Stop ogling me.”

“But you’re my boyfriend so I should be allowed to ogle you.” She reasoned.

“I can’t even deny that."

"You’re too handsome anyway.”
“Women tell me that often.” Jong Kook joked yet he felt Ji Hyo stiffen in his arms. “What’s wrong?” Jong Kook asked, confused as to why she had suddenly changed after an innocent joke.
“Nothing. I need to go through this script.” Ji Hyo promptly to her side, back against him, as she read through the script for the next day. It was a joke made by Jong Kook so shouldn’t have been offended by it, yet hearing that other women had told him beforehand made her blood boil. Of course, even objectively, he was considered handsome although one would argue that his eyes were small in proportion to his face. But for some reason having a seemingly one – sided crush on him for nearly a decade stirred a sense of protectiveness from her, as well as stirring a sense of jealousy when he talked about other women. She could understand them being friends – after all, most of her close friends were men, but the fact that Jong Kook had told her that women had go far as to complimenting him made her feel a pang of jealousy.

Five minutes had passed and so had five equal minutes of silence – the only sound filling the cave was the waves in front of them – as Jong Kook had tried to rack his brain as to what had cause his girlfriend to have a sudden change in mood. He would have blamed her irritability on hunger except they had just eaten and knew that she didn’t get hungry that quickly. He had analysed, much like he did during Running Man, his own actions when he came to the realisation – Ji Hyo was jealous. And it was beautiful because it meant that she viewed him as hers. She’s so cute he thought to himself. He had never really viewed her as the jealous type, but found it endearing when she did. Chuckling internally, he s his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

“Are you jealous?” He had whispered gently, as he intertwined his hands with hers. The fact that she had let them be intertwined so easily proved that she wasn’t angry as such, just that she didn’t like other woman being around her boyfriend.
“No.”
“Sure?”
“If you know already why are you asking?” She muttered, although the words were spit out. Jong Kook had merely chuckled, causing Ji Hyo to stiffen up again.

“Ji Hyo – yah, look at me.” Jong Kook pressed gently, trying to pull her so that she faced him. Being stubborn she resisted of course, making him prop himself up so that he was directly above her, supporting himself with both elbows at either side of her body. It was hard for him to ignore the minimal space between the two, especially her lips when she was pouting. With one hand putting down her script and another on her chin so that she had no choice but to face him, he spoke gently. “Being frank both you and I will have had advances from the opposite and still will do in the future not forgetting that we’ll continue to get compliments from the opposite as well but I will only have eyes for you. You are my girlfriend because frankly I don’t want anyone else. Honestly speaking, hearing that I’m handsome doesn’t mean that much except if it comes from you.” Jong Kook bashed, admitting to Ji Hyo that her words were special to him, either making him feel 100% rubbish or 100% joyful.

“This is so stupid.” Ji Hyo mumbled. She had regretted being jealous instantly, regretting coming off as childish.
“It’s cute.”
“I’m 36. Don’t put me and cute in the same sentence.” She grumbled.

“It’s the truth whether you like it or not.” He had merely smirked.

“Thanks oppa.”
“It’s my job Ji Hyo – yah.”

“And you do a damn good job of it.”

From then on, Ji Hyo had stuck pretty closely to Jong Kook, loving the close contact the pair had as she rested her head on his broad chest as he played with her hair. Being undisturbed for over two hours had made them feel as if they were on their own private beach in the Caribbean, thoughts of work drifting from their mind – literally out of sight, out of mind. Thoughts of Ji Hyo’s drama filming had left her where she didn’t have to worry about ratings for the last upcoming episodes, knowing that she’d have some free time before back to filming advertisements and a film that had been in the works. Equally, Jong Kook’s thoughts were void of any pressures to produce an album, especially after Turbo’s comeback album in celebration for their 20^th anniversary. The tranquillity provided an escape for the two, who were often overworked in their respective fields, as they embraced the closeness. Jong Kook’s mind drifted to Ji Hyo’s lips, specifically how tempted he had been to kiss them since a couple of days ago. It had innocently started with the whipped cream fight in the kitchen and had extended to her habits of biting them when she was concentrating or when she was nervous. But then the worse bit was when he had just been on top of her moments ago – she had looked so innocent with her doe – like eyes and tempting lips. As he was comforting her, he couldn’t shake off his involuntary tightness of his trousers coupled with the ball of sweat that trickled down his back. He had gulped hard – willing for his hormones to calm down – which was only made harder by Ji Hyo pulling him into a tight hug after Jong Kook had talked to her. The current situation didn’t help either – Jong Kook’s eyes unconsciously drifted to Ji Hyo’s chest which rose up and down as she breathed and concentrated on the script at hand. Pull yourself together he chastised. He blamed the pent-up energy of the times when he had had less than satisfactory with a random stranger when himself had still left him feeling . God, he really needed to make a move.

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Word Count: 2637

A/N: Hey Runners! So this update was earlier than my usual two week schedule but it’s because I don’t know if I’ll be able to update next week due to moving in to my new house for university accommodation and I have loads to sort there in terms of getting internet etc.

It's Ji Hyo's birthday today (in Korea anyway)!! Make sure to leave some words on her instagram or FB page wishing her good health and for her to be happy.
Have you seen the newest episode? I haven’t seen it yet so was wondering if you could tell me if it was good or not? Are there any Spartace moments? Heheh

Anyway until next time!