3 months ago

The members had separate schedules that day. Jiyoung was supposed to attend an episode of Strong Heart together with Nicole, while Gyuri had her musical, Seungyeon and Hara with their own respective appearances on different shows.

Both Jiyoung and Nicole had to be on set early to get their hair and make-up done before the recording starts. They sat side by side, watching the stylists work their magic on them.

Jiyoung eyed Nicole who was busy flipping through a magazine in the seat next to her.

“Unnie...”

“Hmm?” Nicole replied, a little distractedly.

“Do you know about the other guests attending today’s show?”

Behind her, the stylist started to perk up at their conversation while still concentrating on her job.

Nicole glanced up from her magazine for awhile as she pursed her lips together, thinking long and hard about the list for that day. She’s heard something about it...now if only she could recall it.

“Idol groups?”

Jiyoung nodded expectantly.

“Other than us?”

Again, Jiyoung nodded her head, this time a bit more urgently.

“Hmm, Super Junior?”

“They are fixed, unnie.” Jiyoung rolled her eyes.

“Oh. Yes. Oh! Wait...”

The other girl sat up straight again in her seat, feeling hopeful once again.

“BEAST’s Yoon Doo Joon and Lee Gi Kwang are going to be on the show today too.”

Jiyoung could feel her heart sinking in disappointment once again. She slumped back against her seat and just stared back at her disappointed reflection in the mirror.

She knew it would be purely coincidental, but it wouldn’t hurt to be on the same show with him again. She couldn’t even remember their last appearances together, minus the year end festivals of course. Sure, she did bumped into him a few times but she hadn’t really got the chance to have a decent conversation with him.

Not that she would have the courage to, but still...

Their stylist, who had been listening in quietly from just now, cleared loudly before speaking up in a low voice.

“Well, I did run into FT Island’s stylist earlier when I went out to get drinks for you girls.”

At this, Jiyoung’s attention was immediately captured and she shot up in her seat excitedly, forgetting that they were in presence of other people in the same room. People that didn’t know a thing about the story that happened a few years ago.

Nicole shot a curious look at her dongsaeng.

“Jiyoung-ah, don’t tell me...”

Realising what she had done, Jiyoung blushed deeply and sank back in her seat in hopes of covering up her embarrassment.

“Omo, really Kang Ji Young!” Nicole shrieked in disbelief. “I didn’t think you’d still...”

Jiyoung quickly reached over to clamp Nicole’s mouth with her left hand.

“Unnie!”

Even their stylist was giving her a sharp look and gestured towards the other people in the room. Nicole looked around apologetically and gave them an innocent smile.

“Sorry, we are just joking around here.”

After they went back to doing their own things, Nicole leaned in closer towards Jiyoung and whispered into her ear.

“Do you still like him? You guys had a clean break right?”

Jiyoung smiled coyly back at her.

“Doesn’t mean the feelings have to disappear too...”

“So today we actually have quite an impressive line-up of idol stars on our show!” Lee Seung Gi exclaimed and turned towards the celebrities seated on their individual seats. “I’m sure idol stars have many interesting stories that they can share with us. Isn’t that true, Kang Jiyoung-ssi?”

Jiyoung, who wasn’t expecting for her name to be called suddenly, jerked up her head in surprise.

“Uh, yes?”

The audience burst into laughter at her innocent, perplexed expression. Jiyoung turned to Nicole for help, but the main dancer of KARA just gave her an encouraging smile.

“Are your thoughts lost somewhere, Jiyoung-ssi?” Seung Gi playfully.

“Oh! No, no...It’s not that. But you’re right, I actually have an interesting piece of story I want to share.”

He was sitting about a few seats away from her, having a clear view of her face.

Beautiful.

She was still the most stunning woman he has ever laid eyes on.

Sure, he may have said he liked different girl idols during different times but they were all just for the sake of answering. Impossible for him to like anyone of them when it’s clear there was no one else that could replace her in his heart.

He continued to watch her carefully, completely mesmerized by her beauty when she suddenly shocked him and everyone else in the studio with her surprising confession.

“I have dated someone after my debut.”

Lee Hong Ki froze in his seat. He could see Jonghun and Jaejin’s eyes darting towards him from the either side of him.

What was she doing?

Of course, that one statement immediately captured everyone’s attention. He could see the Super Junior members leaning forward in their seats, even the BEAST boys too.

She now has everyone’s attention focused on her.

“Oh! Is it true Jiyoung-ssi?” Seung Gi asked in delightful surprise. “Is he an idol star then?”

Hong Ki swallowed hard, waiting in full anticipation for her answer.

Jiyoung paused for a moment, as if contemplating with her answer. He saw her exchanging glances with Nicole, who stared directly back at him for a second before averting her gaze away.

“I can’t say that for sure. All I can tell you is that, he’s a celebrity too.”

“Wow, daebak,” Lee Teuk intervened and came up with a question of his own. “What happened then? Are you guys still in contact?”

He could see her hesitating.

She was still hurting.

He could tell.

He could feel it.

“...no,” she finally answered, putting up a strong smile on her face. “But it’s okay. It’s for the best I guess. I mean, we also broke up because of the difficulty celebrities have to go through when they’re dating. And I was still young back then, so I felt deeply disappointed.”

Hong Ki heard the way she had emphasized on the word ‘deeply’.

She was letting him know that the pain still sting her every single day.

“But I’m more matured now,” Jiyoung continued in an upbeat voice, something which she was clearly forcing out. “So thinking back about it...it was all for the best and I have no regrets.”

I have no regrets...

What was that supposed to mean?

“Well, you do have a point there Jiyoung-ssi,” Seung Gi grinned at her. “Life is all about moving forward and you’re all grown up now. Perhaps it’s time for some changes in life huh?”

Jiyoung managed an equally huge grin back at him.

“Yes!”

“Maybe I can help you with that. Because I got to know, that one of the guests here today actually has his sights set on you for quite awhile now.”

“Oh!”Jiyoung’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really? Are you playing a joke on me?”

“No, no. I’m serious here. Who do you think it is Jiyoung-ssi?”

Hong Ki couldn’t help but to feel nervous when Seung Gi rested his gaze on his face for a second.

Did he know something?

“Hong Ki-ssi, is it you maybe?”

Jiyoung felt like as if the world was spinning around her, just waiting for the ground to open up and swallow her. She didn’t want to be there in the same room as him any longer.

She was excited before but not anymore.

She dreaded whatever that was going to happen next.

“Ah, no way,” he answered in that warm voice of his, with a hint of shakiness in it.

They couldn’t hear it because he was good at covering his emotions up.

But she could.

She could still see through him even after all these time.

“What are you talking about hyung?” He tried to pass it off as a joke, waving his hands in dismissal. “I didn’t say anything, don’t make up stories.”

Lee Seung Gi just laughed out loud at the lead vocalist of FT Island.

“I was just pulling your leg, Hong Ki-ssi. Of course it’s not you. Because Lee Gi Kwang-ssi has been eyeing me since just now. Do you maybe have anything to explain to us?”

Jiyoung’s eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

What was going on?

“Ah, hyung...” she heard Gi Kwang’s fresh voice booming from a few seats behind her. “Why are you doing this now?”

“I’m just giving you a chance to express your feelings here. This might be a good time. I heard that you’ve expressed your admiration for KARA’s maknae on a radio show before this, haven’t you?”

Jiyoung’s thoughts were running wild.

Gi Kwang said what?

The main dancer of BEAST could feel that he was being trapped. There was no use denying it now when he had clearly stated it out loud how he would love to have a chance to get close to Kang Jiyoung.

“Well...yes. I do admire Jiyoung-ssi, as a fan. I like KARA as a group!” he tried to protest in defense. “But yeah, Jiyoung’s my favourite,” he continued shyly.

What was happening?

Hong Ki whirled around in his seat to take a good look at Gi Kwang. The guy was actually grinning bashfully, proving just how true his last statement was.

Hong Ki couldn’t believe what he was hearing. They were practically close. Even the fans were aware of the close friendship that FT Island and BEAST members shared. Their tweets were evident enough.

But...he couldn’t blame Gi Kwang either.

Aside from his own members, and also the KARA girls, no one else knew about him and Jiyoung.

No one.

After the recording was done, all the guests started to leave one by one, bowing to each other as they passed by.

When Nicole and Jiyoung passed by the FT Island boys, Nicole had no hard time giving Jaejin a hi-5 and also hitting knuckles with Jonghun. She immediately broke into a chirpy conversation with the two of them, leaving Jiyoung and Hong Ki standing there together awkwardly.

Hong Ki shoved his two hands into the front pockets of his jeans and shifted his weight uncomfortably. Beside him, Jiyoung was looking at everywhere else except for him.

Hong Ki decided that it was up to him to strike up a conversation first.

“Hi,” he said timidly.

To his surprise, she turned around to face him and gave him a small smile.

“Hello,” she returned back formally, bowing down a little.

She was acting like they were just like any other idols out there, sharing not more but a peer colleague relationship.

“H-how have you been?”

He was always fond of stuttering, sometimes even in front of the camera but this time, the feeling was different.

“Good,” she replied softly, her eyes dancing with amusement as she looked at him. Weird, wasn’t she nervous at all? “What about you, oppa?”

He felt a piercing pain in his heart, as though someone was stabbing him over and over again. Just that simple word, with that magical voice was enough to destroy every ounce of strength he had left within him.

“I-I’m fine too. It...it’s been awhile, hasn’t it?”

Stop it Hong Ki, you sound like an idiot.

He eyed his band members from the side. They were still happily talking, too engrossed in their conversation to notice the tension in the air.

“Yeah...are you planning to have a comeback in Korea soon?”

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly and gave her an awkward smile.

“We are. Actually, we are currently preparing for our fourth mini-album right now. Will you be cheering for us, Jiyoungie?”

It slipped out of his mouth before he could stop himself. He hasn’t used that nickname for her in a very long time, yet it still felt right. He started to relax a bit.

She let out a small giggle, not appearing at all affected or anything but Hong Ki noticed the red blush creeping up her cheeks. It made him frowned a little. Not because of her blushing but he had just realised how much she had changed over the years. The once chubby, baby-cheeks that she had was now replaced by a more matured and more refined cheekbones.

He missed them a lot.

“Of course I would be cheering for you guys. I’ve always been a fan of FT Island, even way back in the old days...”

That hit a sore spot for both of them.

Thankfully Nicole suddenly appeared by Jiyoung’s side and started pulling her away.

“I’m so sorry! I got too carried away talking that I didn’t realise we’re actually running late,” she smiled apologetically at the three of them as they hurried away. “It was nice seeing you guys today. Hopefully, we’ll meet again in the near future. Annyeong!”

Jiyoung let herself being dragged away by Nicole, but didn’t stop her from casting a longing look at Hong Ki, who was just as disappointed as she was.

They didn’t need to say a word for each of them to know that they were both still harbouring feelings from the past.

A/N I don't know why but it seems like everytime I write an Kara - Island story, it doesn't grab much attention. Hmmm ~

@shuhadaramli - Haha, it's okay ^^ I actually love Jonghun x Jiyoung too. But since I kinda ship her with Hongki more, I wrote this first. But I might be writing another story featuring Jonghun & Jiyoung :) Thank you for commenting and subscribing btw! ^_^