Ji Hyo and Jong Kook were holding hands and strolling slowly in the mall as a silence that was equal parts awkward and tense settled in between the two. Neither knew not what to do or say, nor did either of them know what to make of the situation.

All Ji Hyo could think about was how warm, solid, and frankly large Jong Kook's hands were. They were hands that could protect, they were hands that could maim. It was such a simple gesture, Jong Kook grabbing her hand; and objectively, rather mundane. When you truly think about it, there is nothing so special about holding someone's hand. After all, handshakes are a customary greeting that do not tend to excite the common person, and are practically equivalent to hand holding. But holding Jong Kook's hand just felt different somehow. It made Ji Hyo's heart tingle and beat fast, then faster again every time she felt her palm get squeezed ever so slightly by him.

All Jong Kook could think about was how perfect Ji Hyo's hand fit into his. Her hand was soft, gentle, and cool to the touch, having this calming effect on him, of which were negated by the nerve-wracking thoughts of actually holding Ji Hyo's hand. In his mind, he was crossing a lot of lines and overstepping all possible boundaries. Yet, he had this strange urge to take the hand holding further by intertwining his fingers with Ji Hyo's. Of course however, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He was plenty sure he had already fully maxed out his 'courage' quota for the day(maybe even for his entire lifetime), and thus was not brave enough for any potential rejections from Ji Hyo.

Just then, Ji Hyo's stomach growled, causing Jong Kook to chuckle, and the silence was broken.

"Someone's hungry, huh?" 

Ji Hyo almost collapsed and died on the spot. There they were, holding hands sweetly on their "date", and her stomach had to go and betray her like that and make sounds befitting that of a bloodthirsty animal. 

"I'm sorry- I guess I must've waited around for my date much longer than I had thought."

Jong Kook felt consumed; half by guilt and half by worry. He stopped walking and turned to Ji Hyo.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing we're in a mall then- filled with a multitude of restaurants and other eateries. Should we postpone shopping to grab a bite? I'm famished myself."

Ji Hyo's heart felt a lot lighter at his words. She felt this reassurance that her stomach growling all grossly did not make Jong Kook want to run a hundred miles away from her, but rather it made him want to take care of her hunger. Her affection for him grew even more, which made her curse herself. 

"Yeah, that would be great. Any recommendations?"

Jong Kook reached into his pocket to grab his phone out and look for the restaurants in this particular mall. In doing so, they had to let go of each other's hands, disappointing both parties greatly.

Ji Hyo peered over Jong Kook's shoulder to look at the restaurants listed on his phone, tiptoeing as she did due to his larger height. 

That was a mistake.

Do not, do not ever, tiptoe when you're in high heels.

(Except, maybe, if there's someone hot in your way ready to catch you.)

Ji Hyo had completely forgotten that rule, had completely forgotten that she was wearing high heels. Even though she practically wore high heels on an almost daily basis.

And of course, this fact and golden rule did not occur to Ji Hyo until she found herself losing her balance and tripping. She yelped and waved her arms desperately, knowing they would not break her fall but waving them instinctively nonetheless.

If this were a movie, Jong Kook would have spun around within a split second of hearing Ji Hyo's sounds of distress and caught Ji Hyo heroically with one hand under Ji Hyo's neck as he stared deeply and seriously into her eyes. Meanwhile, Ji Hyo would have one of her legs stuck midair awkwardly for no reason as she too, stared deeply and seriously into Jong Kook's eyes. The camera would slowly pan around them as they stayed in this moment for far too long with a 30-foot mile radius of empty space between the two and all the other people in the shopping mall.

But this wasn't a movie.

And Jong Kook's hands would touch more than her neck to break her fall.

Being a man with quick instincts, Jong Kook did indeed spin around within a split second of hearing Ji Hyo shriek and moved fast with every intention of stopping Ji Hyo's fall.

But that did not allow for him to save her with only one hand like a suave movie character; in his state of panic and shock, he could only make a mad grab at Ji Hyo with his hands, causing him to drop his phone in the process.

His phone almost cracked as it hit the ground but thankfully Ji Hyo stayed mostly upright as Jong Kook had managed to catch her.

Okay, semi-upright. She had tripped after all.

The one thing that differed Jong Kook and Ji Hyo's situation from most movies was how and where he had grabbed Ji Hyo. 

Unfortunately, Jong Kook did not realize this at first. He had grabbed what he thought was the side of Ji Hyo's back, and the end of her spine.

The momentum and force with which Jong Kook threw his hands out to reach for Ji Hyo and then pull her back up backfired slightly and caused Ji Hyo to slam slightly against Jong Kook's chest.

Relieved, and slightly recovered from the momental trauma of seeing Ji Hyo trip, Jong Kook tilted his head down to check if Ji Hyo was alright. This allowed him to finally notice and realize what his hands were in contact with. 

That was not the side of Ji Hyo's back.

That was not the end of Ji Hyo's spine. 

Jong Kook's realization caused a sort of knee-jerk reaction, wherein his hands immediately moved away from Ji Hyo's, causing her to fall to the ground with the sound of her shoe's heel snapping off from the impact.

A barrage of apologies flowed out through Jong Kook's lips as he desperately helped Ji Hyo up- in an appropriate manner this time, lifting her up by placing an arm under her shoulder and gripping her other hand gently. Of course, Ji Hyo did not look too pleased, and Jong Kook could not blame her.

Ji Hyo groaned inwardly as Jong Kook helped her up, slightly peeved and frankly upset that she had broken her favorite heel and slightly sprained her actual heel. 

She was peeved because Jong Kook had just saved her from what was potentially a very painful fall, only to suddenly drop her while her balance was still off-kilter, causing her to fall to the floor like a paralyzed baby. It was all quite humiliating and disorienting.

Yeah sure, Jong Kook's hands were on her and , and yeah sure, being the gentleman that Jong Kook was he probably felt that his gestures  were inappropriate or something, but did he really have to act like he had just touched acid? 

"What was that?" Ji Hyo asked in dissatisfaction as she removed her broken shoe and began to lightly rub at her foot, as she held onto Jong Kook's arm for support. Damn, he really did have nice arms. 

Ji Hyo wanted to slap herself for that inadvertent thought. She was supposed to be mad at him! 

But those arms...

"I'm really sorry- reflex brought upon by my upbringing. My mother taught me to have manners towards women." Jong Kook was unable to believe himself; his hands had been where he wasn't even allowed to look, let alone touch. If Ji Hyo wanted to slap him, fire him, never talk to him again, he would understand.

"Well tell her thanks for nothing. Her son's good manners only gave me an injured foot and my favorite shoe snapped into two pieces." Ji Hyo was grateful that Jong Kook responded just then, as his words snapped her out of her thoughts about his arms. 

"Also I'm not in the least bit angry that your hands were... where they were just now. You were just trying to help me and had no ulterior motives. I wouldn't've sued you- except for what you did after that. I might consider suing you now. Be prepared, Kim Jong Kook. You'll need a good lawyer." Ji Hyo's voice took a teasing tone at the end, causing Jong Kook to chuckle inwardly.

"I'll have to call one of your cousins then. Given how many you have, someone's bound to have a law degree." Jong Kook's offhand comment made Ji Hyo laugh out loud, causing her to forget about the pain as it naturally and gradually subsided.

"Not if I get that cousin to be my lawyer first." 

Jong Kook feigned disappointment and despair, causing Ji Hyo to laugh again.

"Hmm... I'll consider not suing you then, Kim Jong Kook, if you agree to my punishment." 

Jong Kook regarded Ji Hyo's offer with some interest. "Depends on what punishment it'll be."

"I want you- to carry me around until my foot heals and I've bought a new pair of shoes to walk in." 

Jong Kook laughed. "Won't that be more embarrassing for you than for me? Getting carried like that around the mall?"

Ji Hyo shook her head. "Not unless you make it look like I weigh a ton. I don't embarrass that easily."

"Well then 'punishment' accepted. Although it's not exactly a challenge in any way, since you probably weigh less than your broken shoes. Speaking of which, I want to pay for your new shoes. It's only the right thing to do since I broke them." 

Ji Hyo shook her head. "You don't have to do that. Also, don't think for a moment that lifting me will be a piece of cake. I'm rather heavy."

Jong Kook laughed, and proceeded to lift Ji Hyo up immediately with both his arms like she was a mere piece of cloth. This act shocked, amazed, and delighted Ji Hyo all at once. And she couldn't complain about the warm feel of Jong Kook's arms under her back and against the back of her thighs.

"Are you sure about that?" Jong Kook said teasingly, and in all honesty, rather cockily. Ji Hyo felt so light in his arms, he could've walked around all day with her in them. 

"Okay okay you're really strong! But we haven't even decided where to eat yet!" Ji Hyo's words greatly differed from her thoughts. She knew they still had to pick a restaurant to visit, but she was reluctant to leave his strong embrace.

"Well this soup restaurant that sells amazing ginseng chicken soup has an outlet in this mall. If you have no protests about it, shall we have lunch there?" 

The thought of some warm, nourishing, ginseng chicken soup was already enough to make Ji Hyo salivate. Combining that temptation with not having to get down and look through Jong Kook's phone again for more restaurant choices? Hell yes. Ji Hyo nodded her head up and down in excitement which made Jong Kook feel this urge to ruffle Ji Hyo's hair for being so goddamn cute, but both his hands were occupied at that moment thus he settled for walking off towards the restaurant for their lunch.

On the journey towards the restaurant, Jong Kook and Ji Hyo got a few strange stares from various members of the public. But neither could bring themselves to care. Ji Hyo was too happy being in Jong Kook's arms, and Jong Kook was too happy having Ji Hyo in his arms.

Upon reaching the destination, a waitress greeted them at the counter. Ji Hyo hoped for the lady to them to a table as quickly as she could because the rich smells emanating from the kitchen combined with Ji Hyo's ever growing hunger brought about potential for her stomach to growl again. And she did not wish for Jong Kook to think that her stomach constantly made weird noises or anything.

"Well aren't you two a cute couple. Hi, I'm Kwang Ja, and I'll be your server for today. Table for two, I presume? Unless you invited some unlucky friend to be the third wheel."

"Ta-table for two... please." Jong Kook and Ji Hyo said simultaneously. And we're not a couple. 

That thought, was surprisingly not put into words by either of the two, which was confusing to both of them, but they both brushed the thought aside and continued to enjoy reveling in the moment.

Kwang Ja led them to their table and lay two menus down on it, as Jong Kook gently sat Ji Hyo down on one of the seats before taking his own seat. Kwang Ja smiled.

"I'll give you two lovebirds some time to decide what you want to order. Call me when you're ready- but don't spend too much time staring into each other's eyes or anything- we won't have enough tables and business is booming here." 

Jong Kook and Ji Hyo blushed upon getting teased by their waitress Kwang Ja. The words of denial about being a couple died on the tips of their tongues. Jong Kook awkwardly held the menu up to cover his face as he was filled to the brim with embarrassment, and Ji Hyo did likewise.

"I'm getting the ginseng chicken soup set. You?" Jong Kook asked, with the menu still held upright to cover his face.