She’s Just Ji Hyo

Running Man © SBS

She’s Just Ji Hyo © fhclause

“I might be getting ahead of myself, but it’d be best if Ji Hyo and Jong Kook get married.”

Jong Kook had snorted in disbelief, almost horrified, when Jae Suk suddenly suggested that. He had quickly protested, saying she was just a family. Ji Hyo had agreed with him too—although more casually than he would have liked—and they had stopped discussing about it as if neither him nor Ji Hyo were there.

Jong Kook shook his head. Truthfully, he was a bit annoyed at that time, when the fortune teller proclaimed that he and Ji Hyo were a good match. Not that he didn’t like Ji Hyo. Anyone with a pair of functional eyes could see that Ji Hyo was a beautiful woman. If you knew her enough, you would also know she was a kind woman. If you knew her well though, you could be lucky enough for her to not show how cunning she could be—a side of her that always awestruck him by every time she showed it, especially in Running Man, and especially when he was not her victim.

So no; it wasn’t Ji Hyo he had a problem with—he merely saw her as a friend though, no matter what their friends said—it was just the timing of it. The scandal about the two of them was widely known, locally and internationally; about how they were fired so suddenly and without notice. Later, the scandal had became so big and so out of control that in the end, the upper ups decided to cancel Running Man infinitely.

But it wasn’t the fate of the entire Running Man that had made him miffed when the fortune teller played the matchmaker. It was how he specifically told him—and Ji Hyo for that matter—how they make an excellent couple. Wasn’t it the two of them that were first caught in the scandal? What was this? Some kind of compensation for trying to get rid of them in the first place? Like, ‘Hey. Sorry for last time. Maybe you two can hook up and be happy together?’ kind of situation?

He had a feeling that the PDs had something to do with it. They knew his single status was a dilemma to him, and Ji Hyo was the only female member in Running Man—perhaps the closest one in his circle of friends—so maybe they thought it was a good idea to get them together. Or maybe they were trying to create a new love line before the show ended, now that Gary was gone—he wasn’t sure which—but Jong Kook was suspicious.

Does it matter now, though? he thought, as he gazed around at the other Running Man members hugging and crying, all at once. It was their final episode that day. The slate had been snapped and the camera off ten minutes ago, and yet here they were, all nine of them, with Gary, Joong Ki and Lizzy in the mall where the first episode of Running Man was aired.

He would have joined their endless hugging-spree if he was that kind of a man.  But Jong Kook has always been reluctant to show his emotional side either in public or on camera. Not that he didn’t love them, he did, but he just wasn’t that kind of a man.

Also because he didn’t want Kwang Soo to stain his shirt with his snot.

Why did he suddenly think about that specific episode anyway? He looked around again and realized it was because he had saw Ji Hyo not too far from where he was standing. She was standing away from the rowdy group of criers, alone just like he was, but her eyes were puffy and red with tear marks on her cheeks. It still didn’t explain why specifically that fortune teller episode was on his mind and not other episodes where they paired up, but he dismissed it as he walked towards her. He knew Ji Hyo was strong, but if she was crying, alone, in the corner like that, meant she really was affected by what had happened. What would happen.

“Ji Hyo-yah.”

“Oh, oppa.” Ji Hyo wiped another stray tear on her cheek. “Sorry. I know I shouldn’t be crying...”

He smiled ruefully. That’s Ji Hyo alright. Always trying not to make others worry even when the situation called for it. “Don’t worry about it, Ji Hyo-yah. They are all crying too.”

“You’re not,” she observed.

This time he smirked. “I am the Sparta. Won’t do my image any good if I cry.” She laughed a bit, but it was still shaky with tears. “Hey, don’t cry too much. You’re going to make Kwang Soo cry harder. God knows he’s going to spam your phone with his sad face if he does.”

She laughed harder.

“And you’re going to look too girly with all those tears.”

“Oppa! I am a girl!”

She hit his arm and he winced in pain—her fist always pack a punch after all, no pun intended—but it didn’t matter. As painful as it was, he knew it wasn’t done with malice; a jostle between friends. And he was a big guy; she knew he could take it.

Most importantly though, she had stopped crying. Her outrage was far more familiar than her tears. “Are you okay now, Ji Hyo-yah?”

She nodded, almost shyly. “Thank you, oppa.”

He smiled and patted her head. Then, he saw her stared at him—like a deer in the headlights—until she suddenly launched herself at him, hugging him tightly. “H-hey! Ji Hyo-yah!”

Her voice was muffled by the lack of space between her face and his shirt,  but he heard it all the same. “I’ll miss you, oppa.”

He was flustered and definitely embarrassed, but he dampened it down. Sure, they had been this close before, but those were for games and this was—whatever this was. The most ‘hug’ he ever had with her was a shoulder-hug, like the ones you did with your long-time buddies.

But this... This was different. He didn’t know what or why; it just was.

The fortune teller episode suddenly filled his mind again. The fortune teller might say they were great with each other, but compatibility wasn’t the only thing Jong Kook searched for when it comes to marriage.

Love. Love was the most important factor.

But what he felt for Ji Hyo wasn’t love. He knew, because it wasn’t love that made him tightened their embrace, but a sense of deep fondness. It wasn’t amorous in any way—didn’t make him wanting to kiss her or anything. It just made him felt right, that he was Jong Kook. It didn’t make sense at all but it made sense all the same. It felt comfortable and safe. Made him feel safe—an absurd notion for someone as strong as he.

He knew this wasn’t love. It wasn’t burning him, it didn’t make him weak in the knee, no butterfly flying in his stomach and his heart wasn’t beating a hundred miles per hour. He was just... Jong Kook, because she was just Ji Hyo.

A feeling almost like melancholy washed over him and he pulled her tighter. “I’ll miss you too, Ji Hyo-yah. But it’s not like we’ll never going to see each other again. We can go for drinks tonight or tomorrow or even next Monday.”

Her face peeked out from his chest. “I know. But seeing each other for drinks and for Running Man are different, oppa.”

He patted her head again. “I get it, I get it.”

“Hey, you two lovebirds!” Jae Suk shouted as they broke apart. Jong Kook rolled his eyes. Jae Suk had been calling them that every time he saw both of them together. Ever since he had suggested they should get married, Jae Suk had been relentless. Oh, he never mentioned it other than that one time on camera, but off camera—he was as subtle as a honking elephant. When Jae Suk had an idea in his head, it was hard to get rid off. “Come here so we can all take selfies!”

So they both went back to the group, took more than enough pictures to fill more than half of their phone’s memory. After one last group hug, promises to have drinks and meet ups eagerly exchanged and a reluctant goodbyes from the members and the staff, they departed an hour later.

Jong Kook wasn’t worried. Like he said, they would meet each other again—outside or through work, it didn’t matter. What mattered was they were all friends and they all love each other enough to maintain their friendship, no matter what it took.

That included what he felt about Ji Hyo. No matter what the fortune teller said about them, no matter what Jae Suk did to get them together, Ji Hyo was, first and foremost, his friend. A good friend. Even if they could be more than what they were now, Jong Kook didn’t think it was worth it. He might gain a girlfriend and a potential wife, but he would lose a friend if anything went wrong. And that would be awful.

Whatever they could be, it didn’t matter.

She was just Ji Hyo anyway.