She’s Just Ji Hyo

Running Man © SBS

She’s Just Ji Hyo © fhclause

What was the chance of Jong Kook seeing all the Running Man members again the day after they broke up?

None.

Some of the members like Haha or Jae Suk, maybe. But not all of them in the span of twenty-four hours.

The first people he met were Kwang Soo and Joong Ki, which weren’t that surprising, since the three of them decided to have a sleepover at Kwang Soo’s apartment. It was still quite early in the morning when he woke up. Joong Ki was in a rare state of ungraceful position, sprawled on the sofa with his mouth hanging open. Kwang Soo wasn’t too far away, half of his upper body perched uncomfortably on the table with drool mark on his cheek. He left them as they were, locking the door behind him before he called his manager.

Then, it started. He met HaHa—who hated exercising—at his usual gym. He bumped into Suk Jin and his family at the cafe Jong Kook always frequent. He saw and talked with Gary on his way to the studio. He didn’t actually saw Lizzy, but the radio did play one of her songs when she was still active.

It was all very strange. If he didn’t know any better, he might have thought this was some kind of a prank or a hidden camera thing. He called Gap Jin to make sure he didn’t have anything on schedule for a variety show that he might have forgotten about. He didn’t of course, just as Jong Kook thought.

After one last reassurance from his manager, Jong Kook hung up, looking left and right suspiciously, body tensed defensively, as if waiting for something to pop out. He was currently at JTBC’s lobby, as he had finished an interview as a guest for one of its programmes. As he was about to reach the revolving door, a hand suddenly clamped his shoulder and instinctively, he grabbed it and twisted it around.

“Yah! Yah! Kim Jing Kook!”

He let the attacking hand go and saw a familiar face. “Jae Suk hyung! What are you doing!?”

“I’m the one who should ask you that!” Jae Suk scowled at him as he rubbed his smarting wrist. “What do you think I was about to do? Rip your nametag?”

Jong Kook blinked repeatedly, like he wasn’t sure if Jae Suk was joking or not. Then he saw the older man was still holding his wrist. “I’m sorry, hyung. You surprised me. I just...reacted.”

Jae Suk raised an eyebrow. “You do know Running Man is over, right?”

“I know. It’s just...” Jong Kook rubbed the back of his neck. “Today has been really weird. I’m really sorry, hyung. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Jae Suk stared at his dongsaeng. It must have been a tough day for Jong Kook if he apologized so sincerely like that, especially to him. “Did something bad happened?”

“No, no. Don’t worry about it. It’s just something silly.”

Jae Suk shrugged before he smirked cunningly. “If you’re that sorry, why don’t buy us lunch, eh?”

Jong Kook rolled his eyes. Of course the Grasshopper would use the Sparta when opportunity arise, no matter what it was. But Jong Kook wasn’t annoyed. He still felt guilty, and this wasn’t Running Man where he could brush Jae Suk off. Not that he wanted to. Talking to Jae Suk might clear his head up.

Or riled him up. Which was as good as any.

As Jong Kook followed him to a secluded area of JTBC’s cafe, he realized that Jae Suk had said ‘us’. He wondered who the other person was until a niggling sensation tickled his gut. Jong Kook narrowed his eyes. He had met almost all Running Man members, including Jae Suk. So, if his weird day persisted, then that meant—

“Oh, Jong Kook oppa. You’re here too?”

Jong Kook blinked. The woman that greeted him was...beautiful. Radiant. The ray of sun reflected her loose hair, making the top of her head look like the shiniest bronze he had ever seen while the rest, a waterfall of heavy onyx. His eyes followed a lock of her hair, down to her exposed shoulder blades and her protruding collar blades and finally, up to her lips, pronounced with soft pink lipstick. And her face—

Her face...

Jong Kook blinked again. His consciousness felt like it was floating out of his body as his eyes tried to force his brain to understand what—who—was in front of him. But the more he looked at her, the more he didn’t understand because she was—

“Ji Hyo?” he chocked.

“Ya, Kim Jong Kook.” Jae Suk nudged his shoulder, startling him. “Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

“No, I ...”

Ji Hyo tilted her head. “Are you okay, oppa?”

“What? Oh! Uh...yeah. I’m okay. It’s just that you’re, uh...” he cleared his throat. “You look different today.”

Ji Hyo looked down confusedly at herself and then chuckled. “Ah. I just finished my shooting for Beauty View. I’m too lazy to remove my makeup.”

Jae Suk nodded. “I bumped into her at the lobby too. Told her to wait for me at the cafe while I discussed some things with my manager. Then, I saw you.”

“I see.” Jong Kook directed Ji Hyo a sheepish smile. “Sorry, Ji Hyo-ya. I just didn’t expect to see you here. And you look so different...”

“You already said that, oppa.” Ji Hyo grinned teasingly. “And don’t you mean ‘pretty’, not ‘different’?”

Jong Kook laughed. “But you’re always pretty, Ji Hyo-ya.”

Ji Hyo chuckled shyly before she instantly poker up, giving him a thumbs-up and nodded solemnly. “Very smooth, Kim Jong Kook.”

“Ya! Don’t let him off that easily, Ji Hyo-ya!” Jae Suk scolded. “He promised to treat us today. So order up.”

“Hey, I never said that!”

“Don’t you pretend now!”

“I never specifically said it. I just followed you here! Hey, you!” he scolded the waiter that came at Ji Hyo’s call. “Don’t take her order!”

The waiter widened his eyes, scribbled quickly and scrambled away. Ji Hyo grinned. “Oppa, don’t be angry. Just pretend it’s a practice. It’s good for you.”

“Practice? Practice for what?”

“For the sake of your future girlfriend and thus, your relationship status,” Ji Hyo said factually.

Jong Kook heard Jae Suk snorted with laughter, but he was too bewildered to be outraged. “Huh?”

“Don’t you remember your special episode, oppa? So Young asked if you liked to eat unhealthy food, and you lied, oppa. While that’s very good and all, imagine if you have a girlfriend for real and she asked you to eat unhealthy food—fried food—with her? You have to build a tolerance for them or you’ll have trouble in the future.”

Jae Suk rubbed his hands together gleefully, always happy to see Jong Kook suffer. “That’s a brilliant idea, Ji Hyo-ya!”

Jong Kook sent a death glare to Jae Suk and he immediately clamped up. He glared at Ji Hyo too but her grinning face told him she was not the least bit scared. Ji Hyo never was. “You’re not serious.”

“Oh, but I am, oppa. Here’s my proposal: Eat or drink at least one unhealthy food or drinks for one year.”

“You do realize I don’t need to listen to this.”

“And you do realize that I’m right. Come on, oppa. You’re the Sparta. You can always burn all the fat you gain in one measly fried chicken by exercising if you’re that scared.”

Jong Kook narrowed his eyes. Deep down, he knew Ji Hyo was right. He knew a few women who trained at the same gym as him who would—at a certain period of the month—consume something unhealthy like it was nobody’s business. Be it chocolate, snacks, cans of cola. Of course, they would exercise like crazy after that—it just baffled him on why they would do something so...counterproductive.

Maybe he just didn’t understand women enough.

Maybe Ji Hyo was right.

Jong Kook sighed.

“Three months.”

Ji Hyo waggled a finger. "Eight."

"Five."

"Six."

"Deal."

“Great!” And just on cue, the waiter served their dishes. He grimaced at that one plate full of fried chickens. “Don’t worry, oppa. Just one.”

He picked the tiniest piece, glared at grinning Jae Suk and Ji Hyo and said, “I accept your challenge!”