Her back leaned against the cooler porcelain surface of her luxurious bathtub in her bathroom, where the body of warm water embraced her petite figure gently. Revitalised by the ever addictive yet calming lavender fragrance which penetrated in the depths of her nose, she caressed the tranquil iridescent bubbles that hovered around her on the surface of the water. Cupping her palms together, she lifted a handful of foam. As she watched some of the bubbled foam in her palms slowly dissipated in thin air, she blew the remaining off her palms, where they raced against each other.

All Ji Hyo desired was to have a clear decluttered mind to fully relax and let go of her worries. Yet, the undesired clung on her like a leech. Her mind was clouded with thoughts that were too cluttered to be decluttered. Helpless that she couldn’t push her worries aside, a deep sigh escaped her semi parted lips.

Due to practical reasons economically, despite having a bathtub in her bathroom, she preferred to take short showers instead. But since she had the bathtub in her house, she decided to only use it when she needed some form of relaxation or to escape from reality. With that being mentioned, she couldn’t believe that within the short period of a month, she had actually resorted to using her bathtub over the same person for the third time already.

The first time she had a bubble bath that month because of him, she was upset with him over the combination of a trivial matter and a not so trivial matter – his excessive teases and his sudden announcement of their inexistent relationship to almost everyone on Running Man’s filming set. She didn’t know which matter triggered her to be angry at him then, but she knew that she was upset with him for quite a period.

The second time she did so, was because, out of the blue, he had blatantly ignored her. That instant where the tables had turned, instead of her being angry at him and avoiding him, he suddenly avoided her like a plague. The interchanged of their roles caused her to be extremely perplexed. She had almost decided to confront him regarding this issue, but she was thankful that he took the initiative to resolve their issue when he suddenly came to her house the previous day.

The third time where she sought the spirit of her bathtub, this time, was because she was overwhelmed by his sudden revelation of his feelings for her.

The moment he went down on a knee to propose to her, confusion penetrated her brain. Other than being known to a few of the others for being a couple with him, as announced by Jong Kook during one of the Running Man filming and her family, they were not in reality – and she was certain that he knew it.

Knowing that herself, his sudden action caused her to be at a loss, where her mind instantly went blank. Yet, her heart was sceptical in thinking if it was one of the secret camera pranks for Running Man filming or any other variety shows.

When his question settled down in her mind, sudden as it may seem, she had decided to accept the sudden marriage proposal. Reminded by the thought of their said contract, the baby contract, they had to get married to each other to fulfil one of the many requirements of their contract.

However, that instance when she was on the verge of accepting his marriage proposal, he had to continue with his rambling. Abruptly, he confessed his unrequited feelings for her. That was when she was baffled by his impromptu confession – the one where his genuine feelings for her were embedded in.

Pretending to play dumb, she prompted him to continue on so that she could continue to observe his body language. Watching how his eyes were b with sincerity, her doubts were cleared – he wasn’t faking it.

That was when the pieces of her memories of all her encounters with him fell in place.

And she didn’t like that – not one bit.

Was it a ploy all along? Had he been plotting everything all along?

It was him who advised me not to date Gary oppa. It was he who knew my feelings for Gary oppa. And, it was him who insisted to sign the baby contract that she had accidentally come up with when she was drunk.

Betrayed. Cheated. Deceived.

To think that she had almost accepted his genuine marriage proposal due to a stupid written contract, which she had come up with when she was drunk, she was dumbfounded.

She had prayed hard for his proposal to be a prank, where they were filmed for the purpose of comic relief.

However, after waiting for a long enough time, when she couldn’t spot any cameraman coming to film them, she decided to play along, for two can always play a game – she pulled him for a kiss and slapped him thereafter.

Fuelled with the anger of his unrequited feelings he had for her, she sprinted away from him again.

Over the almost ten years of their partnership in filming Running Man almost weekly, she had seen him as a close friend, as an older brother and as a colleague but never as an eligible man to date. The mere thought of them becoming a couple caused her to laugh out loud. They were too close to even date, period.

Despite being revitalised by her bubble bath, she was still lethargic after her bubble bath. That day’s events were too energy draining. She knew what she needed best – a nap. Being an avid fan of sleeping, no matter what time it is, she had always loved to nap.

Snuggling under her sheets, on her pillow, she stared at the ceiling after the failure of her attempt to sleep in three seconds. On normal days, it doesn’t take long for her to sleep, and that is within the count of three seconds. However, that day was different – she had returned from a ruined lunch due to an abrupt confession – a totally unexpected one.

Staring at the ceiling, her subconscious mind-controlled her finger. Her finger lingered around her lips, tracing the area, which his lips had touched earlier on when she pressed her lips on his.

Recalling back, she was reminded that that kiss was fuelled by anger as she wanted to give a taste of his own medicine. And she was thankful that she’s an experienced actress to pull off this specialised move, for she does kiss scenes here and there, and that was enough practices for her to kiss without investing much emotionally.

Instead of heading to dreamland, her eyes trailed to her right palm – the one she had used to slap Jong Kook earlier. With her subsided anger, she couldn’t help but allow guilt to swallow her up – how could she slap her close friend?

Cheon Seong Im! You have rights to be angry! He merely treated you like an idiot!

She scolded herself, but shortly after she was counteracted by another part of herself, But… He has always been taking care of you, isn’t it obvious?

And it was refuted by the opposing side with, He had been looking after me like a little sister of his. Since when had he revealed his romantic feelings to me?

Are you that dumb? Maybe that’s why he treated you like an idiot!

And the internal debate Ji Hyo had with herself went on for minutes. When she had finally worn herself out, she fell into a deep slumber.

“Unnie.”

“Unnie!”

“Unnie, do you want to drink?”

From the pitch-black darkness, she was awakened by the gentle nudges. If it wasn’t because her ear had perked up at the word ‘drink’, she swore that she could sleep until the next day. Half-awoken, Ji Hyo responded sleepily as she attempted to stir herself from sleep by rubbing her eyes open, “Hmm?”

As she rubbed her eyes, Seong Kyung asked again, “Unnie, do you want to drink? Seong Moon wants to drink.”

Hearing her sister repeated the word that perked her ears, Ji Hyo nodded her head eagerly. When her eyes fluttered open, she realised from her window that the sky was now dark, she asked groggily, “What time is it now?”

“It’s eleven-thirty,” Seong Kyung replied.

Ji Hyo covered the yawn that escaped , “Already?!”

Nodding her head, Seong Kyung reminded her sister, “Yeah! Unnie, do you need food? You had missed dinner.”

Absent-mindedly, Ji Hyo asked out loud, “Am I hungry?”

“Yah unnie! How do I know? I’m not you!” Seong Kyung giggled at how her forty-year-old sister behaved like a four-year-old, covering while she shook her head at her elder sister.

“I don’t feel hungry though,” Ji Hyo commented uncertainly, after rubbing her stomach area.

“Really?” Seong Kyung asked for confirmation.

But watching how her sister shrugged, Seong Kyung decided, “What about you let me know if you need any food when you come to the dining table later? If you want, I can always heat up the leftovers for you.”

“Yes, unnie!” Ji Hyo joked. Although Ji Hyo was older by Seong Kyung by four years, there were times like this where it felt that Seong Kyung was the older one amongst them. During times like this, in particular, Ji Hyo would call her younger sister ‘Unnie’ during these instances.

“Yes, dongsaeng! I’ll be waiting for you with Seong Moon outside, okay?” Seong Kyung played along with her elder sister, ruffling her sister hair before leaving the room.

Shortly after, Ji Hyo joined her siblings at the dining table.

With a mischievous glint in his eyes and a cheeky smile, Seong Moon teased playfully, “Noona, you have slept through dinner. Where did Jong Kook hyung bring you to that