Am I doing this right?

It was as if his heart was in his mouth. Struggling to contain it, he bit the insides of his mouth as he pursed his lips together. Ceaselessly, he squinted his eyes at the address that was sent by Dong Hoon in his phone screen, then he stared at the door and frowned. Restlessly, his feet shuffled on that particular spot as he waited by the said man’s verification on the photograph of that particular door.

No, he isn’t a hobbyist on collecting photographs of front doors, neither was Dong Hoon. His way of doing was a self-imposed method of self-protection. With his fame, it would be too awkward for him to wait by the wrong door. Breaking news: Running Man’s Kim Jong Kook knocks on random doors. Beware of that ahjussi-stalker! Shaking his vigorously at the horrifying thought of the made-up headline news, he puffed impatiently.

What’s taking Dong Hoon so long to reply? Impatient, he was, he dialled the younger man. Was Dong Hoon really busy or was he pulling one of his many pranks? Pressing his ear on his phone, he anticipated for the ringing of the dial tone to end.

“Yah! Ha Dong Hoon! Why did you take so long?” He shouted in annoyance. The echoed of the corridor caused him to realise that he might have been a little too loud from the door that he was standing by, that was when he increased his pace towards the lift.

From the other end of the call, Dong Hoon snickered, “Impatient, aren’t we? Hyung! I was feeling Song Yi!”

Am I that impatient? “Ah, really? I’m sorry,” Jong Kook hesitantly apologised.

“Hang on, let me check the photo you sent,” Dong Hoon informed.

“Yes, hyung. You got it, right!” Dong Hoon verified cheekily, “All the best, hyung!”

“Neh,” The older man voice was of a higher pitch, due to the butterflies fluttering around his stomach.

“Song Yi is crying again, I got to go,” The younger man informed as background sounds of a baby crying could be heard clearly on Jong Kook’s end.

Jong Kook let out a grunt upon hearing the end call tone dial. Stretching his neck, he meandered. What am I supposed to do now that I’m outside her door? Should I press the doorbell or call her instead?

After a considerable dilemma, he opted for the option that he would have preferred. He hated uninvited impromptu guests himself. Having the knowledge that she stayed with her parents, he took the courtesy to call her.

“Oppa?”

That mellifluous voice radiated into his eardrums and all the way down to his heart, where it pumped to his entire body, emitting a wave of joy. He had been yearning for her voice the entire week. And, the privilege to be able to hear her voice was a worthwhile compensation to ease his cravings.

Controlling the pitch of his voice, in case it burst from happiness, he switched his tone into his usual causal one – the one that he had used with her since forever, “Come out now, I’m at outside your door!”

Silence plagued the phone call; time had never felt so slow. Is she still on the call? He pulled his phone away from his ear and checked his phone screen. To his relieved, she was still on the call. Was she mumbling? He adjusted the volume of his call to the maximum.

“What?!”

Only to realise that adjusting his call’s volume to the maximum was the wrong move, he had to apologise to hs precious eardrum – his companion to listen to pitches and tones for his singing career, as well as his trusted organ for him to listen to the sounds of everyday life. The unexpected loud scream from the other end, caused him to wince in pain, despite his nimble reflexes which swiftly pulled his phone away.

After recovering from the unexpected shock, he inquired, “Are you coming already?”

“I am, wait up!”

“Why are you taking so long?”

“I’m coming from my room, not the living room.”

“What about now?”

“Give me a second.”

“Now?”

As each second passed, his patience was getting thinner – he had never waited at anyone’s doorstep for that long time ever. His impatient frown was instantly replaced by a gigantic grin when the door flung open revealing the lady that he had been waiting for. He didn’t mind her dishevelled hair that was tied in a lazy bun when he spotted that she was donned in a white singlet and her black short shorts.

If he thought that being able to witness her voluptuous figure beneath her fitting gym outfit was a blessing, he couldn’t be more wrong. Honourably, his eyes gawked the areas of her exposed milky white silky skin. Yet, he was concerned at how minimal coverage she had considering that it was winter. Is it not winter? I guess her home is warm enough.

“Gosh, you’re not lying.”

Like seeing an oasis in the desert, he was blessed that he was able to experience both the audio and visual of Ji Hyo – the person that he had been yearning for since his blunder, two weeks ago. If he could, he would want to give himself a little pat on the shoulder for a job well done. He was proud of himself for garnering courage for the bold move of coming to her doorstep – his first step in resolving the blunder.

His initial plan was to persevere entirely to convince her to forgive him. Observing how she avoided him like a plague and treating him like an invisible, he knew it was futile. Yet, neither did he intend to give up persevering to apologise to her nor stop hovering by her side.

However, the tables turned the moment Ji Hyo left for the washroom before the previous Running Man filming when he was left alone with both Ji Hyo’s manager and stylist.

“Hyung, can you promise me that you would protect Ji Hyo with your whole heart and not cause her to be upset?” Ji Hyo’s manager approached the dejected muscular man.

“Why hyung?” questioned the dejected man with slumping shoulders.

“Didn’t you announce your relationship with Ji Hyo last week?” Ji Hyo’s manager interrogated.

“He did!” Ji Hyo’s stylist chimed in.

“Ah, I did,” Jong Kook nodded belatedly.

“Then, why did you caused her to be upset immediately after filming that day?” The younger man pried.

“Ah…”

Jong Kook was at a loss of words, for neither could he utter the truth to them nor could he compensate his actions with words – sorry have no cure.

“Yeah, Ji Hyo rarely flares at me. She chided me for leaving my lighter and cigarettes by accident in the van. Initially, I thought she got troubled due to the on-screen teases but after many apologies, I found out that you are the reason she reprimanded me! Don’t go overboard with your teases! You should know that!” Ji Hyo’s stylist divulged.

The revelation of these details dawned upon Jong Kook as a surprise. Her close-knitted relationship with her staff was not a secret to him and it was due to her laidback personality – he had always liked. He didn’t expect that his words could cause so much hurt to Ji Hyo that she would take it out on her staffs.

Before Jong Kook could properly digest the information, Ji Hyo’s manager reminded, “Yeah, you know how chill noona is, but I can’t say the same when she’s in a relationship! As noona’s boyfriend, you should shower her more love than teases!”

Stupefied at the foreign word that her manager had uttered, Jong Kook paralysed at his spot while pressing his lips together to suppress his obvious shock.

Boyfriend – a common word that sounded foreign to his ears when he was being referred to as one. He hadn’t heard anyone used that with him as reference for many years, but he liked that – he liked to be referred to as Ji Hyo’s boyfriend.

However, the combination of both her staffs’ testimonies brought stress in Jong Kook as he felt bad for afflicting Ji Hyo’s bad temper on her staffs that she loves. How can he be her boyfriend when he wasn’t able to deem as one? That was when he had decided to maintain a distance with Ji Hyo, by avoiding her throughout filming while maintaining watchful eyes on all the male species who made a contact with Ji Hyo, including PD Chul Min who was leaving the team that day.

Although he was trying his best to avoid her that day, he had low-key expressed himself that he wanted her attention by deliberately chose a baby doll as a prop during their first mission, ‘Don’t laugh hide-and-seek’. It was no secret that he loves children and he hoped that the supposed baby contract with Ji Hyo – his only hope to have a child of his own, would not be in vain after all that persuasion.

Now, he interlocked his gaze with her as he held her wrist with his bigger palm, and he exclaimed, “Come with me!”

Lightly, he tugged her wrist. Instead of following his lead, she resisted his tug and demanded, “How do you know my address?”

“Dong Hoon told me.”

Tightening his grip on her wrist, he tugged yet again. However, she pushed his arm away and grunted, “Aish!”

Laced with hurt, he exasperated in a mutter, “Why can’t I know? We’ve been so close!”

“Then why are you here?”

Relieved that she didn’t deny their friendship despite being bothered, Jong Kook gave it another shot to get her out of her house with his gentle voice, “To fetch you for dinner. Come, let’s go!”

Blinking, she gestured over to the clothes that she donned on, and stuttered, “Like this? I need to get change first.”

“It looks fine to me.”

His thoughts were thoughtlessly slipped from the tip of his tongue. In fact, it wasn’t just fine; it’s gorgeous – with her fine body of hers, glossed with tender milky skin, clothes are just an accessory and not a necessity.

Her laser glare caused him to hold his arms up knowing that he had pushed his luck, like being held at gunpoint, he surrendered, “Fine! I’ll wait here.”

“No, oppa, don’t! Can you wait for me in your car instead? Once I’m done changing, I will meet you there instantly, okay?”

The reluctance in her protest was evident, for she was hesitant. Am I such a disgrace that you wouldn’t want your family to meet me? His inner voice found the better of him, that a pout escaped his lips, “Aren’t you inviting me in?”

By the time he realised how sulkily his voice sounded, the rosewood door had slammed in his face, after having his request denied, “No oppa! That way, I’ll be able to change quicker! See you in a while!”

Being left alone yet again, with his shuttered eyes, he rubbed his nape. Would she come? A helpless sigh was heard as worries that she might abruptly change her mind pelted his mind. If he had been able to convince her to invite him to her house to take a seat while he waited, his mind wouldn’t be overcast with anxiety.

Fear, that Ji Hyo might be even more upset at him, dwelled within him. Intuitively, his feet made way for the lift towards where his car was parked at.

“Jong Kook hyung?”

“Seong Moon?”

Am I blessed by my lucky stars?

The lift doors opened, revealing a familiar face – Seung Moon, Ji Hyo’s younger brother.

Over several occasions, including Running Man’s filmings, Jong Kook had met him due to Ji Hyo’s connections. However, that was the first when the two men encountered each other alone. It wouldn’t be strange if they met on any street or any other location in South Korea, or the world. However, there wasn’t any reason for Jong Kook to appear in Cheon’s vicinity – and that was strange.

“Hyung, you’re leaving already?” The younger man enquired which Jong Kook nodded his head, “Didn’t you just arrived?”

Instinctively, his orbs dilated as he found his feet shuffled backwards. Do the news in Cheon family spread rapidly like a forest fire? How else would Seong Moon know that he had just arrived? Pursing his lips into a fine line, he shot a quizzical look at the younger man.

Shaking his head, Seong Moon articulated his thoughts, “I went out just to get eggs.”

“Ah…”

With his slightly ajar jaw, the muscular man nodded. What Seong Moon questioned next, turned the tables around as it threw Jong Kook off-guard.

“You’re here for…?”

Paralysed on his spot, Jong Kook was thrown off-guard with his failure to utter a response.

That prompted the ever puzzled Seong Moon to answer the question himself, “You’re here for noona?”

“Ah… Yeah…”

The butterflies that were in his stomach had decided to flutter their lastest trending choreography. With all his might, Jong Kook struggled to gather them all into the net to end the butterflies show. Yet, there was a hole in his net as he succumbed to the nervousness that radiated from within in. Being nervous, he was challenged to find the right words to explain his presence to Seong Moon.

“Then, why are you leaving already? Didn’t you want to find noona?” Seong Moon wondered.

He couldn’t believe himself that the strong façade that he had always put on in front of Seong Moon, and on-screen, was crumbled into pieces the moment he was caught red-handed around Cheon’s vicinity – to be precise, it’s at the corridor leading to Cheon’s household.

“Would you want to take a seat while waiting for noona?”

Instantly, Jong Kook nodded his head. He was curious to find out the interior of Cheon’s household to find out why Ji Hyo wore so minimal at home despite being winter. Another reason being, he didn’t have the heart to reject the younger man’s hospitability,

“Omma, Jong Kook hyung is here!” Seong Moon announced whereas Jong Kook trailed behind at the entrance as he removed his shoes.

“Who?”

“Jong Kook hyung! The muscular man who is on Running Man with noona,” Seong Moon explained.

As Jong Kook’s gaze met Ji Hyo’s mother, from his recollections he had seen photographs of Ji Hyo’s mother in Ji Hyo’s phone but meeting her was the first time, he politely gave a deep bow, “Annyeonghaseyo!”

“Annyeonghaseyo!” Ji Hyo’s mother beamed.

After greetings were exchanged, Ji Hyo’s mother who was busy at the kitchen, dropped everything she was doing as she made a beeline to muscular man, donned in a white-collar shirt and jeans, standing awkwardly in the living room. 

Ji Hyo’s mother warmly ushered Jong Kook to take a seat on the grey sofa in the living room, “Make yourself home! Tell me if you needed anything!”

Nodding, Jong Kook complied by taking a seat.

“What would you like to drink? Coffee, Tea or canned drinks?” Her mother asked.

“I’m fine with just plain water,” Jong Kook stuttered.

“Hyung is very hea