They sat in silence again for a few moments, after which Ji Hyo taking the cups away to the sink with Jong Kook playing around with her stereo. He browsed through the various CDs that were neatly stacked and smiled to himself when he saw all the Turbo CDs proud of himself, almost unnecessarily some would argue.

Ji Hyo had just finished washing the cups, cutlery and plates that had accumulated as a result of eating fruit and rice cakes together and was drying her hands when she heard the soft melody of Turbo’s “Love Is… (3+3=0)” leading her to chuckle slightly to herself. She hummed to the song as she walked out with a glass of water each, which had been requested by Jong Kook citing that was thirsty (which was true, but it was due to nerves that arose from being alone with Ji Hyo), which elicited a small smile from Jong Kook as he looked on with pride.

“A fan much?” Jong Kook joked.

“Me and millions of other girls.” Ji Hyo blushed, as she set the two cups on the table.

“Of course. You guys fell for this move!” Jong Kook laughed as he proceeded to dance to the song yet he exaggerated his moves which made Ji Hyo doubled over in laughter at the embarrassment she was witnessing. “Join in Ji Hyo – yah.”

“No way oppa! You know I can’t dance.” She protested firmly. However, to Jong Kook, her protests were to no avail as he took her hand and pulled her up, heart melting as her laughs resonated around the room, as Ji Hyo danced, albeit reluctantly and not very well. The song ended and changed to Turbo’s “December”, which also resulted in a shift in mood. Both parties looked at each other momentarily with panic etched in their eyes at the change in mood before Jong Kook took a step forward, putting his hands on her waists and proceeded to slow dance.

“Oppa, what -?” She was interrupted by a look from Jong Kook which told her to trust him and so she slow danced with him because it was true that she did trust him. In fact, apart from her family, consisting of her parents and two younger siblings, she trusted Jong Kook with her life. She trusted him to take care of her needs and her secrets. She also trusted him as a sunbae* to give advice with regards to her career despite her being an actress and he a singer. She trusted him as a friend to not desert her in times of needs, like the time when he had spontaneously come round and delivered a pot of juk* when she had been feeling under the weather due to a cold.

They slow danced together in silence for a few minutes, letting the music dictate their actions. Despite not speaking, both felt as if a conversation was taking place and that no words were necessary. Jong Kook silently cursed himself as he felt his heart beat quickening. He had forgot to think about the impact of being too close to Ji Hyo which resulted as a part of their slow dance. He only prayed that Ji Hyo wouldn’t notice or his sweat that formed on the palm of his hands, which were currently resting perfectly on her slim waist.

Unbeknown to Jong Kook, Ji Hyo had similar thoughts, cursing herself for not protesting to Jong Kook’s insistence in dancing as she felt a warm, fuzzy feeling course through her body and veins at the close proximity of her and Jong Kook.

Both could feel the increasing tension and both had tried, unsuccessfully, to dismiss it. It was an exact replica of a scene from the movie where the two main characters would be in their own world, oblivious to the changing world around them. The world around them was playing in slow motion and their actions resulted in a reaction in their body, which was true for both Ji Hyo and Jong Kook. Both of them also wanted to savour the moment and stay still, both rid of any stresses as they provided each other with comfort. Both wanted to be able to have these moments in the future where they just held each other and didn’t need to speak to have a conversation.

As both were in a little bubble, Ji Hyo and Jong Kook had failed to notice that the song had switched to a more recent Turbo song which they had comeback with, “Again”. Jong Kook was the first to realise however and had cleared his throat. “Urm… Ji Hyo. I – uh – need to go and grab a drink from the kitchen.” Jong Kook chuckled nervously.

“I’ve already put the drinks on the table oppa.” She pointed.

“Right you did.” Jong Kook nodded awkwardly. He mentally facepalmed himself and wanted to hide in embarrassment in front of his love crush. Jong Kook gulped the entire glass in one go which didn’t go unnoticed by Ji Hyo.

“I know you’re old but you shouldn’t be that tired after dancing.” Ji Hyo teased.

“Hey! I’m only 5 years older than you.” Jong Kook whined.

“Age still catches up with you even though you exercise like every day.”

“Not every day and yes, don’t remind me. You’re like my mother. Next thing you’ll ask me is when I’ll be getting married.” Jong Kook grumbled. He had been asked questions around dating since he debuted, with marriage becoming a hot topic after he had turned 30. He understood his parent’s perceptions on finding a good wife and having children quickly, but he also wanted to find the right woman. He had become flustered when his hyung* had asked if he liked Ji Hyo a year ago and was unable to lie to him; resulting in the occasional teasing messages from him about Ji Hyo. “Gosh, I didn’t realise the time.” Jong Kook exclaimed as he glanced at the clock. “It’s half one in the morning and we have filming at seven.”

“I still don’t understand why it’s so early.” Ji Hyo grumbled. Filming at seven meant that she had to be up by six to get ready and meet her coordi for hair and makeup. To accommodate, it meant that she had to get up earlier than usual, losing out on much needed sleep to replenish the lost sleep that she spent filming.

“I’ll get you coffee if you need it.” Jong Kook offered, knowing how much Ji Hyo valued sleep and how fatigued she was due to filming.

“Thank oppa. I can always count of you.”
“I guess I’ll leave now.” Jong Kook stated as he gathered his coat. It took almost an hour to get back to his house which he was not looking forward to.

“Why don’t you sleep in the spare room.” Ji Hyo offered.

“I don’t have any clothes Ji Hyo – yah.”
“I’ve got some from the time you left your bag in my car last time and your T – shirt that I threw up on.” Ji Hyo chuckled at the memory. Ji Hyo had just finished filming for Emergency Couple and had gone out with the cast and crew. Jong Kook had coincidentally gone to the same restaurant and had then joined them, thanks to Ji Hyo’s invitation. Ji Hyo had got drunk and after dropping her home, she proceeded to throw up on him and didn’t let him leave. The next day, she had profusely apologised and promised to wash his shirt and give it back to him. That was a month ago. Truth be told, she had it washed but delayed in giving it to him as she slept with it during nights when she couldn’t sleep.

“Even so, I can’t just-“

“I insist. It’s half one and we need to be there by 7 and it’ll take over an hour for you to get there from yours but from mine it only takes 20 minutes at the most. Just sleep here and then we can carpool.” With that Jong Kook agreed. It made sense logically and he also wanted to spend time with Ji Hyo in case they were on different teams. He helped get the spare pillows and duvet and started to get settled. Ji Hyo used the bathroom first, after Jong Kook insisted, whilst Jong Kook got changed. It wasn’t too long before Ji Hyo came to Jong Kook’s room, declaring that the bathroom was now free, was the moment that Jong Kook could truly define beauty. He had seen Ji Hyo’s bare face before a couple of times when filming for Running Man was overnight and required morning missions, but he never had the chance to fully appreciate her natural beauty. Ji Hyo had removed her light makeup for that day and looked at Jong Kook with innocent eyes. She wore a simple tight fitting vest top that hugged her curves tightly, all in the right places. Her shorts settled above her mid – thigh, exposing her smooth legs. The exposure of skin made Jong Kook think thoughts that he shouldn’t be as he unconsciously gulped as his eyes scanned her from top to bottom, resting on the bit where her vest top enabled a small glance at her cleavage.

“Oppa, my eyes are up here.” Ji Hyo chuckled at the sight of the speechless man who was known for being an occasional chatterbox.

Jong Kook cleared his throat and immediately muttered an apology before awkwardly shuffling to the bathroom.

Around 10 minutes later, Ji Hyo was on her bed reading the script for the next day of filming her drama when Jong Kook had popped his head through the door.

“Night Ji Hyo – yah.” He smiled, as he leaned against the door frame.

“Night oppa. Sweet dreams.” She replied. She tuck her tongue out, a frequent habit of hers, which caused Jong Kook to groan inwardly as couple with earlier thoughts, led to his body tingling at his imagination. Had Ji Hyo ever found out, she would have hit him by now. Jong Kook shut the door and went to the next room as he received a call from his hyung.

“Jong Kook – ah! Could I crash at yours tonight?” Jong Kook’s older brother, Jong Myung, asked hurriedly.

“Why hyung?”

“We fought.” He said simply.

“Oh.” Jong Kook left it at that. Jong Myung had always admired that about Jong Kook. Although he was younger, he was mature (probably due to being in the public spotlight from a young age) and knew that someone would tell him his problems when they were ready. “I’m not at home tonight hyung but I can send you the new passcode since I changed it a couple of days ago.”

“Sorry, are you filming?” Jong Myung apologised, thinking that Jong Kook had filming, despite not remembering anything when he and Jong Kook had talked about work over a week ago.

“No. I’m at Ji Hyo’s tonight.” Jong Kook mumbled, knowing that his hyung would relentlessly.

“Ji Hyo’s?”

“Yes. Ji Hyo.”

“Why? Did you finally confessing like what you told me?”

“No hyung.” He sighed. I wished I had Jong Kook thought. “We went to dinner and –“

“By yourselves?”
“Yes hyung. It’s not the first time. Anyway, we went to dinner and then I dropped her off but she invited me up to have some tea. By the time I looked at the time, it was already half one so she let me sleep here since we start filming early at seven.”

“She invited you up?” Jong Myung confirmed.

“Yes.”
“She likes you Jong Kook – ah.” Jong Kook’s brother smiled happily.

“Hyung no.”

“I’m serious!”

“Hyung, even if she did we can’t.” Jong Kook sadly.

“Can’t or won’t.”

“I’m tired hyung. Night. I’ll text you the new passcode.” Jong Kook changed the topic quickly.

“I’m telling you she likes you! Night Jong Kook – ah and thank you.” Jong Myung chuckled. Jong Kook ended the call and sat up in bed. What if, by some miracle, Ji Hyo did like him back? He shook his head, dismissing his thoughts and promptly went to bed.

**********

Word Count: 2042

A/N: Sunbae – someone who has more experience, and thus considered a senior, in something. As JK debuted earlier than JH, he is technically her sunbae.

Juk – Korean porridge. It’s eaten hot and helps when someone is ill because it’s so soft, bland and nutritious.

First off... I'm so sorry!! My lecutreres have decided to give essays :( ㅠㅠㅠ And I have this really monotonous lecturer that's not helpful at all -.-

But thank you for sticking with it and waiting patiently!