1. Jae Suk

Jae Suk has always been an observant person. He didn’t seem like it sometimes, with how talkative he is and how intense he focuses on something, but while being and doing all those, he notices things that aren’t that obvious to others.

Oh who was he kidding, he basically sees and hears things that people try to hide. No matter how unintentional or accidental the manner he found out with. So it wasn’t really that unexpected that sooner or later, he would find out about Jong Kook and Ji Hyo’s secret.

What was unexpected, though, was that the secret was actually in the form of a tiny, talking child that called Jong Kook appa and Ji Hyo eomma.

And Jae Suk didn’t even mean to find out about it. It had happened accidentally.

He was walking back towards his dressing room after having a word with the PDs about the recent ratings for the new Running Man episode. He smiled and bowed at everyone he passed by: writers, assistants, producers, managers; greeting them well with a warm smile and a small wave.

He passed by Jong Kook’s dressing room and he couldn’t help but peek in a little when he noticed that the door was slightly ajar. He had only wanted to check on him, knowing that his back was aching earlier and he had looked a little pained, but the sight that greeted him was one to behold.

Ji Hyo was sitting on Jong Kook’s lap and laughing at something they were looking at on Jong Kook’s phone, her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs crossed as if she was meant to be there, meant to sit on him and lean on him comfortably and naturally like he was made for her.

That was a shocking sight. Jae Suk didn’t know these two were dating, hell he didn’t even know they were that close! I mean, sure, he’d hear Ji Hyo’s stories about the times she went out with Jong Kook, how much fun they’d had on their little get-togethers in the gym and during their midnight trips, but her stories always included another person and that person was always Kwang Soo. And it wasn’t as if she didn’t regularly go out with the other members too; even his own wife had a designated time for when Ji Hyo comes over and spends the day with her and their kids.

But wait, if Kwang Soo always went with both of them, did that mean he was being used as their disguise of some sort, an attention stealer that would divert people’s attention away from the couple to them as a whole trio so that the two can date in peace? But if ever he didn’t know about their secret, does he even know he was being used like that? Aish, that girin really. Whether he knows it or not, he’s always the dependable dongsaeng.

But them secretly dating and sneaking around to be together, though not any of his business, was something that Jae Suk’s heart went out for. He himself knew how hard it was to keep one’s personal life private when the career chosen was as scrutinizing and public as one in the entertainment industry. It was even harder to keep a relationship out of the masses’ attention. Even more so for stars as big as him, as Ji Hyo, and as Jong Kook. It was taxing at times, and had the potential to destroy any progress made between a couple.

As he continued watching the apparent couple cuddle together and do something on the phone, no one had, thankfully, paid any sort of attention to him. They were all rushing around, busy with something that needed to be taken care of, whatever it was.

He briefly wondered how long they’ve been together, how long they were planning on keeping this a secret from them-the Running Man members, and how long they’ve sneaked around on set. But he was quickly taken aback with shock from his wonders as he heard what came out of Ji Hyo’s and Jong Kook’s mouths. And consequently, the sound that followed on the phone.

“Aegi-yah, eomma and appa will be home soon, okay? Be good for harabeoji and halmeoni until then. Saranghae!”

“Neh, eomma, nado saranghae! And I’m always an angel for halmeoni and harabeoji.”

“And that’s why you’re their favorite grandchild, huh gongjunim?”

“Ah appa, I’m their only grandchild!”

Behind him, Jae Suk suddenly hears an assistant producer shout “15 minutes ‘til call time!” and he quickly pressed himself against the wall when Ji Hyo and Jong Kook looked up from the phone and to the doorway he was standing at, praying to God that they weren’t able to see him. When he was sure he was safely hidden from them, he pressed his ear closer to the wall and continued listening.

“Gongjunim, eomma and appa really have to go now. We’ll see you later, okay?”

“We love you, aegi-yah!”

“Neh, eomma! Appa! Do well in shooting Running Man. Fighting!”

When the conversation finally ended, Jae Suk pushed himself away from the wall and swiftly walked away from the dressing room in fear that he’d be found out.

So Jong Kook and Ji Hyo had a daughter. A secret daughter. And they were also together.

Huh. How did that slip under his nose?

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2. Suk Jin

Suk Jin walked back to his van after a tiring day of shooting for Running Man. He prided himself in being able to keep up with the young ones in a show like this, especially when shooting blended from the early hours of the morning ‘til the late hours of the night, but there were just some days that he could feel his age creeping up to him.

Like today. Doing all that running and action with the other members produced an ache in his knees and on his back, but he’s sure that once he’d get a good night’s rest with some TLC from his wife, he’ll be back to tiptop shape in no time.

As he exited the SBS building and on to the empty parking lot where his manager was waiting, he caught a glimpse of Jong Kook and Ji Hyo walking together towards Jong Kook’s van. He raised his hand and was about to call out for both of them, planning on maybe treating them to dinner since it’s been awhile since the last one, when suddenly, the door to the van opened up and out came a little girl in pigtails, running towards the ace and the commander with open arms.

“Eomma! Appa!”

Ji Hyo crouched down to receive the little girl’s hug and stood up when she was safely in her embrace. Jong Kook slung an arm around Ji Hyo’s shoulders as he leaned to press a kiss on the crown of the little girl’s head.

Suk Jin’s jaw dropped in shock, his hand slowly dropping and returning back to his side. His eyes widened as he continued watching the little family of three revel in each other’s presences.

Jong Kook and Ji Hyo had a child?!

They were together?!

Since when?!

How?!

He was abruptly taken out of his reverie by the sound of the van door slamming shut. The family had left already, the van they were in turning right to exit to the highway.

Once he had gotten hold of his bearings again, he quickly whipped out his phone and called Jae Suk.

That man probably knows something about this, but if he didn’t, well, they’d surely be talking about it for a long time.

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3. Kwang Soo

Kwang Soo was a dependable dongsaeng, he knew that already. And by being dependable, that included fetching his hyungs (and noona) from late night parties, going with them on errands, being their trusty go-to person for almost everything, and keeping their secrets to himself even though he so badly wanted to talk about it to other people.

Of course, the secret that recently came to his attention was one that he couldn’t even go and talk about to the people involved in it, no less to other people who absolutely had no idea, because he only found out about it through accidental means; they didn’t come to him first and talk to him about it. At all. So, this one was going to be pretty hard to bear.

It happened on the day of a shoot for Running Man. He and his Ji Hyo noona were a couple for the race, even though he would’ve preferred to be paired with Seo Ji Hye or even Se Chan instead because he concludes he’d be more of a partner and less of a servant with them than with Ji Hyo. Ah, what’s done is done anyway.

They were currently on a break from shooting, the guests and the members had blended into groups of different conversations; however, Ji Hyo stuck by him instead, which he totally understands since he knows about how shy she usually is towards new guests, and they had barely just started filming, so she's still a little uncomfortable with approaching the new people herself.

“Kwang Soo-yah, I’ll just go to the bathroom for a second. Watch over my phone for me please,” Ji Hyo requested, handing him her cellphone and leaving his side.

Kwang Soo waved her away and moved to tuck the phone into his pocket for safekeeping, when suddenly, it lit up, indicating that a new message had come in.

He was just about to turn it off, since it wasn’t any of his business to start with, when his eyes caught the wallpaper behind the notification. He swiped the message notification away, and subsequently next widened his eyes at what he saw.

It was a picture of Jong Kook and Ji Hyo together, with a little girl in between them that looked like a mix of them both, as they squished her cheeks with kisses on each side. 

Oh, this was big. Oh, this was a grand secret. And oh, he found out about it. Oh no.

Now he has the urge to share this to the other members, to talk to them about it and wonder how the hell this managed to slip under their noses after almost 7-8 years of working together. But they probably wouldn’t know about it anyway, because if they did, he’d know about it too. Ah, what was he going to do?

He raised his head to look at Jong Kook who was seated across the room talking to Do Yeon, then back at the wallpaper, then at Jong Kook again, before noticing Ji Hyo who was approaching him (but thankfully not looking at him yet,) then back at the phone that he was holding, belatedly realizing that it was still open and that his noona would kill him when she sees that he seems to be snooping on her phone.

He scrambled to turn the screen off and place the phone back to his side as naturally as possible, trying to calm his fast-beating heart and to stop his hands from shaking. But Ji Hyo caught him right when he was about to let go of the phone. She raised an eyebrow at him and asked, “What were you doing with my phone, Kwang Soo-yah?”

“I, uhm... I-I,” he stammered, “Oh! I was going to g-give it to you b-because it seems like